"The supervillain Scalar escaped from federal prison last night. This is the third such escape this year, of superhuman criminal freelancers that have specifically targeted Council of Guardians personnel, and the director of the council, David Cartan, has alleged that the federal government is deliberately releasing these individuals in an attempt to hurt the Council.
The FBI has not commented at this time..."
Melody Carson stepped into the living room of her home. Her daughter Tanner was sprawled over the couch, luggage piled up in the living room.
Tanner and her mom were both short and curvy, though Tanner had brown eyes and black, straight hair, and her mom had brown, curly hair and green eyes.
"Hey kid, we going to be seeing Emma today?" she asked.
"Got her dropped off at home." Tanner said, rolling over to look up at her mom. "She said she had some things to deal with, so probably not." she said.
Melody nodded. "I'll make sure there's enough dinner just in case. You said she's coming out to her parents sometime during break?" Melody asked.
"Yeah. I told her I wanted to be there in case something happens, but she'd sure it'll go fine." Tanner said.
"I dunno, I knew her mom in high school and uh... let's just say I don't think she's improved at all." Melody said.
[]
Tanner's phone rang. She came into the kitchen a minute later, looking worried. "Yeah, come on, get over here. Don't worry about it... ok, good. You're good. Yeah, see you soon." she hung up.
"What's happened?" Melody asked.
"Well, she went to uh... 'rip off the bandaid' as she put it, and it uh... well. She got thrown out. She's on her way over right now."
Tanner answered the doorbell a few minutes later, letting in her friend.
Emma was tall, blonde and skinny, her breasts were small but growing and she was currently hunched over a bit, eyes red as Tanner pulled her into the house and shut the door.
Melody frowned, walking up to her and pulling her into a hug. "Hey kid." Melody said.
"Hey Mrs. Carson." Emma said, hugging her back awkwardly.
"What happened?" she asked, pulling the girl to the couch.
"Mom uh... called me some slurs and told me to leave, and come back when I'm ready to be a man." Emma said.
"Well, you can stay here as long as you need, kiddo ok?" Melody said.
"And uh, what if mom..." Emma began.
"Your mom can go to hell, for hurting you kid. If you were my kid I wouldn't treat you like that." Melody said.
[]
"She didn't let you pack up first?" Tanner asked the next day.
Emma shook her head.
Tanner frowned. "Right, well, we need to go buy you more stuff. C'mon." She said.
"You don't need to..." Emma said.
"Nonsense. You need clothes, and frankly, if you were going to need a wardrobe change anyway, you might need help. And I insist you let me help." She said.
Emma blushed, but acquiesced.
The Mall was in better shape than Emma expected, barely a handful of stores closed, a surprising number of people around shopping.
She hunched over a bit, but Tanner wrapped an arm through hers and kept her distracted talking about their college experiences thus far and their major.
They were exiting a shop, when a tremendous crash shook the mall, and in the food court a few meters from the shop, someone smashed through the skylight and crashed.
A tall woman in armored black leather, riding a peculiar flying motorbike, wielding a strange rifle that had a faint golden glow coming from vent sin its structure.
Scalar had arrived.
She casually fired her rifle at a few shoppers, causing them to seem to vanish out of their clothes. Several people nearby ran to check, and discovered that the people were alright... for a given value of alright, as they were tiny.
Then another crash heralded the arrival of Starlight Certainty, local hero and apparent magical girl, dressed in a stereotypical school uniform of deep blue and accentuated with silver stars and glitter, stiffened by panels of armor in the blouse, jacket and skirt, with greaves, gauntlets and a wide tiara of bright metal protecting arms, legs, and the front of her head.
Scalar had been cackling maniacally and firing randomly, but the moment she saw Starlight, she stopped.
"What the fuck? Where's Titan? He's usually on this beat!" she shouted.
"I suggested he find a better use of his skills." Starlight said, her voice conversational yet somehow projected well enough to be heard throughout the mall.
"You are dealing with me now. Surrender." she said, and a cold white light erupted above her palm. "Or fight. Your choice."
Scalar dropped her rifle, spun around and ran screaming for her bike, sitting hovering a few meters away.
A bolt of light melted the engine and it fell from the air with a crunch.
Starlight was now airborne, floating at a walking pace towards Scalar, limned in silver light.
Scalar spun around, drawing a pistol and opening fire with bolts of pale pink light.
"The hell are you doing HERE?!" she screamed. "I'm below your pay grade!"
"I don't draw a salary, and since Titan has failed to neutralize you, I decided I should slum it and deal with you myself." Starlight said.
She extended a single pointing finger, and a needle-thin lance of her namesake turned the pistol in Scalar's hands into a molten puddle.
She barely let go of it in time as it fell to the floor.
"You KILL THINGS!" Scalar screamed.
"That is rather the point of the Constella Maidens, Scalar. When a threat breaches a certain threshold, it becomes our problem. You are very close now to
becoming
my problem.
I don't
like it
when those sorts of things show up. The death and destruction make me rather
unhappy
." Starlight Certainty said.
Despite the calm, conversational tone of her voice, the world felt colder and far, far less safe as she spoke. Which was saying something, given the whole 'shrinking-obsessed supervillain attacking the mall to draw out a hero' thing.
She extended a hand, and the awful power of the Pole Star lifted Scalar's rifle and carried it to the Magical Girl's hands.
"But I am the Maiden of the Pole Star. The others are the warriors, the builders, the defenders. I am the strategist. The guide." she shouldered the rifle.
"I don't just lead the Maidens. I am also the PR girl. The Public Advisory person. It's my job to warn you of the monsters in the deep dark, the black magic and the other, stranger things that we fight." she pulled the trigger, and the weapon's gold beam lashed out, slamming into Scalar's armor.