PASSION!!! Just Another Day For Your Local Magical Girl! [Part 2]

It wasn’t long before I arrived at my destination: a ritzy outdoor shopping center full of clothing stores, upscale restaurants with outdoor patios, and niche shops like a store dedicated to hundreds of different kinds of vinegar and nothing else. Makes me wonder how many different types of vinegar exist so that a store dedicated solely to it can stay in business…

But no time to ponder that! A deafening roar of screams suddenly erupted from the center of the mall, followed by a stampeding crowd fleeing for their lives. Arms raised above their heads and everything…

“Yikes!” I yelled while hopping onto the nearest roof, allowing me to dodge the mob charging forward. One second later, and I would’ve had my face stepped on!

When I looked down below me, I saw the source of the mayhem.

“Nya ha ha ha!” cackled a lively young woman. She dressed like she was about to head to some 80s post-apocalypse-themed party. Wearing a red and black leotard, large metallic red shoulder pads, and a shredded black cape with a red underside blowing in the wind, she was the definition of “sticking out like a sore thumb.”

If that wasn’t weird enough, she also sported a pair of dark green furry cat ears and a matching cat tail. These features weren’t just for decoration, not that I’d put it past you to assume that. No, they were the real deal. She wasn’t a human but a member of The Monster Race! Beings from The Monster Realm that cause chaos and spread misfortune to create negative energy. And it’s up to magical girls to stop them!

The monster girl laughing maniacally happens to be Red Sandrea (that arch nemesis I mentioned earlier).

“You can just taste that sweet, sweet nyegative energy in the air!” Red shouted, holding up a jagged-looking crystal. It was blacker than the blackest… black that I’ve ever seen. A dark aura appeared around the crystal as it began absorbing the negative energy generated by the terrified shoppers. The more fear created, the more energy the crystal could absorb. And the more energy absorbed, the bigger the crystal grew. And once the crystal absorbed enough negative energy…

Um…

I don’t exactly remember what’ll happen. It was explained to me when I first became a magical girl and, well… Look, I had a lot on my mind at the time, so it didn’t stick with me. And now it’s been so long that I’m too embarrassed to ask!

Red lowered the crystal to look at it, seemingly disappointed. “Hrmm,” she mumbled. “This is taking too long. How about we step things up a notch!”

With a snap of her fingers, dozens of dark, swirling portals appeared around her. Incredibly long black cats came spewing out from the portals like giant feline noodles. They cried “nyyaaaaa~!” as they invaded our world.

“The Shadownyans!” I mumbled to myself.

These massively long cats defied gravity as they snaked through the air, stretching out all around the shopping mall to wreak havoc. They purposely blocked people’s way, making it difficult to move past them;

invaded restaurant patios and knocked customers’ meals off tables with their cute tiny paws; busted through the bookstore windows and plopped themselves onto books customers were reading but had no intent to purchase; shoppers browsing the vinegar store were greeted by a Shadownyan’s butts between bottles.

Absolute havoc!

Maaaybe “wreaking havoc” is selling it a tad too much. Wreaking inconvenience? Wreaking annoyance? Wreaking adorable jerk cat behavior?

What I’d give to be able to hug one tightly and scratch their cute little heads.

…

Moving on! Here’s the thing about Red Sandrea: she doesn’t actually hurt anyone. Heck, I haven’t seen her do as much as lay a finger on a single person. Can’t say much about other members of The Monster Race as I’ve yet to encounter any, but Red Sandrea’s M.O. was all about being as irritating as possible.

Some of her past deeds included: using the self-checkout lane with an entire cart of groceries and holding up the line, putting her feet on the bus seat in front of her, and taking up two spots in the front of the parking lot. Stuff that could get on your nerves, but things you’d forget about relatively quickly and move on with your life.

Her lack of doing anything dangerous didn’t stop people from flipping out whenever she showed up. Honestly, I question why they’re so freaked out by her. Kids didn’t seem to mind. Heck, sometimes I’d see little kids walk up and ask her about her appearance and play with the Shadownyans! But the adults would get one quick look at her and feel immediately offended and scared. Did it have something to do with losing that sense of magic and wonder when you become an adult or something?

But I digress.

“Nyow, that’s more like it!” Red Sandrea said, holding the crystal before her as the dark aura grew thicker. She placed it under her nose, taking a big whiff. “Aahh… Nothing like the sweet smell of inconvenience! The most delectable of all nyegative energy!”

I stood up from my hiding spot. “Looks like it’s time for me to get in on the action!”

I leaped high into the air, where I planned to land on the building directly across from Red Sandrea.

As I flew overhead, she caught sight of me and smirked. “She’s here.”

“Not so fast, Red San–” I shouted as I came flying down, only to cut myself off as I missed my landing and fell from the edge of the roof.

But before I could crash into the sidewalk, one of the Shadownyans happened to fly under me. I fell onto its back, causing it to cry out in pain with a loud “NYYYAAAAAAAH!!!” I then bounced off and landed squarely on my butt.

“Oooow ow ow ow,” I cried in pain.

“Ya alright?” Red Sandrea asked, sounding legitimately worried.

“Y-yeah,” I said, blushing from embarrassment. “I think I bruised my tailbone.”

Red Sandrea cringed. “Ouch. Yeah. Yer gonna be feelin’ that for a while. So, um, ya wanna take it from the top again? Or…”

I stood up and dusted myself off. “No no. I’d look silly if I did my whole intro spiel after that.”

“Alright. In that case.” She then cleared her throat, took a step forward, and thrust her finger in my direction. “Shadownyans! Attack!”

All the Shadownyans came flying at me, minus the one I landed on. That poor cat floated back into the portal it came from, presumably for an ice pack. The cute kitties bared their fangs as they extended their claws, ready to claw my eyes out.

Their long, furry bodies snuck up from behind and tried to trip me. With swift, careful movements, I dodged their attacks. Well, that’s if you disregard the one tail that managed to slap me across the face, but that was totally unintentional on their part, so it doesn’t count.

Following their continuous onslaught, their attacks ceased. Not because they wanted to, but amidst the battle, all the Shadownyans managed to get themselves tangled up like the wires for old video game controllers. They hissed and cried as they tried to free themselves from one another, which only made things worse.

Red Sandrea hung her head back, groaning. “Seriously?! You knyow how long it takes me to untangle you all!? Geez!!!”

Deciding they were useless, Red Sandrea opened a portal and rolled the massive ball of Shadownyans through it.

“I’ll worry about that bunch later,” she said. Turning her attention back to me, she gripped the crystal in her hand, causing it to poof away in a cloud of smoke. “As for you, here’s for disrupting my banquet!”

She lunged forward at me with her hands up, preparing to scratch me with her razor-sharp fingernails.

I stepped back just as her hands came swiping down.

“Yipes!” I yelped. If I had been just a second slower, my face would’ve looked like confetti from a paper shredder!

Unlike the Shadownyans, Red Sandrea was a competent fighter. Her movement appeared swift and intentional, whereas I stumbled and tripped over my feet like I had just gotten off a roller coaster. It took my all just to not get hit while she went about her attack casually.

Was she toying with me?

Despite my physical weakness, I did have an ace up my sleeve. I just needed the right moment…

“Quit dancing around and perish, you twerp!” she shouted, continuing her barrage.

She clenched her fist and threw a punch. Before she could land a hit, I jumped high into the air.

SMASH!

Her hand went through the brick wall that stood behind me, becoming stuck.

“Crap!” she cursed, struggling to free her imprisoned hand.

She looked over at the roof where I gracefully landed with a smirk on my face.

“You were planning this all along!” she yelled.

I didn’t, but hey! If an opportunity presents itself to me, I’ll take it!

I thrust my hand into my pouch, felt around for a bit, then yanked it out. Gripped in my hand was a large sword that stood taller than me. The handle was meticulously crafted with colorful gems while its silver blade glistened brightly. It acts as a catalyst for me to perform offensive magic.

Now, why didn’t I have this out from the beginning? There’s several reasons for that. One, which I’ve already established, is that I’m a bit clumsy. It’s difficult enough to dodge attacks without an added obstruction. Add a six-foot-tall blade that weighs like a bajillion pounds to the equation, and yeah.

I speak from experience. Painful experience.

The second reason is that preparing a magic attack takes time. It’s not like I can hold up the sword, go “pew pew!” and spit out some spells. I have to build up my magic first. Only then can I unleash an attack.

And before you ask, no, I can’t use it as a regular sword. It’s a magic casting sword. Just roll with it, okay?

A white glow emanated off my body as tiny orbs of light the size of marbles rose up from the ground. My hair and outfit began to ruffle from the increased levels of magic gathering within me.

“Uh oh,” Red Sandrea said, struggling even harder to free herself from what was to come next.

Once there was enough magic energy, I unleashed it all in a single attack.

“Heart Prism Beam!” I shouted.

I thrust the sword into the roof, releasing my magic. Seven large orbs, each sporting a different color of the rainbow, traced the outline of a giant heart. Combined, they formed a blinding white heart, where a massive energy beam shot outward.

Where Red Sandrea once stood was a massive explosion, resulting in a colorful mushroom cloud.

“Direct hit!” I cheered.

When the rainbow of smoke dissipated, Red Sandrea was flat on the ground. Her hair and tail puffed out. She groaned as she struggled to get to her feet, gripping her left arm in pain.

“You win this round, Magical Knight Lune, but nyext time–”

Red Sandrea hacked out a plume of green smoke.

“...I need some ibuprofen,” she murmured as she opened a portal and shuffled away in defeat.

Victory achieved, I returned my sword to my pouch and made a cute pose to the crowd below who stuck around to watch the fight. They cheered and clapped, shouting my name.

I gave a slight bow as a huge grin spread across my face. The recognition wasn’t necessary, but I’d be lying if I didn’t enjoy it just a teensy bit.

Fine, a bit more than a teensy bit.

I stuck around for a while afterward, checking in on everyone to make sure they were alright and helped to clean up the mess that the Shadownyans left behind. A job wasn’t finished until the place looked just as it did before the attack.

Except that hole Red Sandrea punched in the wall. Not much I could do about that! Hopefully, the owner’s insurance covers it, because if they tried hitting me up for money, they’re gonna be all outta luck. I can barely afford school supplies, let alone patching a brick wall!

Once I felt okay leaving, I said my goodbyes and left the scene.