Chương 1: School Life

"Finished!" declared Stacy, putting down her pen with an exaggerated sigh. The tall fourteen-year-old girl was dressed in a blue sailor-style school uniform, and was sitting at a table in her school's library despite the official end of the school day being some time ago. Her eyes and hair were a bright green, and while her eyes could just barely pass as natural, her hair certainly could not.

However, despite her apparent utter disregard of the school's no-dyed-hair uniform code, she was ignored by students and teachers alike.

"That just leaves our English homework," said Mary, a shorter girl in the same uniform. Her eyes were blue, which was perfectly natural, but her hair was exactly the same colour, which certainly was not, and yet, like Stacy, she received no complaints about that fact.

"Bleh... Not more homework," complained Natasha.

"Haven't we done enough for today? It's not due until next Thursday, so we've got almost a week! I need a break!" Continuing the pattern, Natasha's eyes and hair were a bright yellow. Not mere blond, but actual yellow, which was certainly not a natural colour for either eyes or hair, and yet, like the other two, no-one spared her a second glance.

"This is our break," pointed out Tracy, who, despite a somewhat more serious personality, was Stacy's twin sister.

"This is already the longest we've gone after the defeat of one Bane without another one showing up. It's best to deal with our schoolwork in this brief moment of peace, because we may not get another chance." As could probably be guessed by this point, her hair was an equally unnatural colour. Red, this time, and given that it was equally applied to her eyes, the result was rather demonic looking. Another correct guess might be that no-one appeared to care or notice.

In fact, even the girls themselves didn't seem to think their colourings strange. Despite how strongly it should have caused them to stand out in a room of blonds and brunettes, it was simply never mentioned.

"They're probably too frightened," said Natasha.

"Doubtful. They've never shown any capacity for fear before, so why start now?" answered Mary.

"Argg, but look at how sunny it is! I don't want to be stuck here indoors doing work. We should be outside, eating ice cream! It's not as if I'm going to get good grades, however hard I try."

"Your grades would be a lot higher if you fixed that attitude."

"I'm kinda with Nat here," said Stacy.

"This is perfect weather for lacrosse."

"Very well... You two run off if you must, but I'm going to finish my homework. I need to keep my top grades if I want to get into a good university."

"But then you won't be around to help me when I do want to do it," moaned Natasha.

"Fine, let's aim for the record for fastest completed English homework!" Mary sighed.

"Nice to see you're all getting along," chuckled a fifth voice, despite there only being four at the table and no-one else apparently being nearby.

"William!" hissed Natasha.

"What are you doing out? Get back in my bag before someone sees you! Anyway, what part of this makes it look like we're getting along?!"

"There's no-one around," continued the mystery voice as its source—a small, white, winged, kitten-like creature—floated up from under the table.

"Did you detect another Bane?" asked Tracy.

"No... And I'm starting to get worried. This isn't like them, and they're normally as predictable as clockwork. They don't have the imagination to be inventive."

"I still don't think we should be worried about monsters not attacking people," said Natasha.

"Let's just celebrate, eat ice cream and move on!"

"Or at least finish our homework," said Mary. Natasha poked out her tongue. Despite the complaints, all four girls worked on their English homework, successfully completing it without any interruptions.

"Finished!" declared Natasha, the last of the four to put her pen down despite her stated intention to set some sort of record.

"That was certainly a nice change," said Mary.

"When was the last time we managed to finish off all our homework with no interruptions?"

"Before William showed up, I think," sighed Natasha.

"And now I need to eat all the ice cream."

"All of what ice cream?" asked Tracy.

"If you've had ice cream in your bag all this time, I suspect you're about to add an important lesson about thermodynamics to the homework you've just done."

"No, you're adding extra words that I didn't say. It wasn't 'all the ice cream I have on me', it was 'all the ice cream'. I need to eat all the ice cream in the world!"

"That might be... logistically difficult," opined William.

"It's hyperbole," pointed out Natasha.

"Oh! Well done!" exclaimed Mary.

"See, you can do it when you put your mind to it." Natasha blinked.

"What?"

"I think she's congratulating you on using a complicated word like 'hyperbole' in a sentence, albeit a rather short one," said Tracy.

"Hey! I'm insulted! I mean, I literally just finished my English homework, and that was one of the questions!" Stacy giggled.

"Come on. My friends will have finished their lacrosse game and gone home by now, so it's too late for me to join in. Let's all go for a walk and enjoy the quiet while we have it. There's always an ice cream van in the park at this time of early evening."

"Sounds good to me!" agreed Natasha.

"Are you sure we shouldn't take the opportunity to do something more constructive? Some martial arts training, perhaps?" suggested Tracy.

"Pfft, we've never lost before. Doesn't matter how big they are, we just need to punch them."

"I feel we should be revising for our exams next month..." started Mary. One of Natasha's eyebrows twitched.

"... But rest time is important too," she finished.

"Oh, phew. If you'd tried to make me revise after all that homework, I'd definitely dump you."" Dump her?" asked Stacy.

"Are you sure that's what you meant?"

"Well, I don't know the verb for defriending someone, and that was the one that popped into my head."

"... Your head is a very weird place." Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Only because it hasn't had enough ice cream!" The group of girls packed their books and stationery away, and finally left the library to enjoy their unexpected period of peace and quiet.

"Wow. That's an impressive queue," said Stacy as they arrived at the park.

"Yeah... I'm not sure this is worth it," agreed Tracy.

"But... But... My ice cream!" complained Natasha.

"Come on. She deserves a reward after sitting through that much homework," said Mary, joining the queue. Natasha peered suspiciously.

"Uh, guys? I think I found our missing Bane. Who are you, and what have you done with the slave driver you're disguised as?"

"School work is important, but relaxation is important too. Our brains need periods of downtime to work at full efficiency."

"Wait, so you're telling me that I need to eat ice cream for the sake of my grades?"

"I don't think that's quite what she said," pointed out Stacy.

"I suspect that what people say and what Nat hears are rarely fully aligned," sighed Tracy.

"Hey! I know damn well that was an insult!" And so the bickering continued as the queue slowly inched forward, but the four girls nonetheless remained together, their bonds of friendship as unshakable as ever.

"And what can I get you girls?" asked the van's owner some amount of time later.

"I would like your super-over-the-top..." started Natasha before suddenly freezing in response to someone jabbing her back. Given that her back was covered by her backpack, that could only mean one thing.

"Nat?" asked Stacy with concern.

"Now? Seriously? Not in the middle of our homework, not even while we were at the end of the queue, but now?!" The response was another jab.

"Sorry, I just remembered I forgot my wallet!" exclaimed Natasha, taking off at a sprint. The other girls, realising there was only one reason why she would sacrifice her place in the queue and it wasn't a missing wallet, followed.

"Where?" asked Tracy once they'd taken some distance from the other queuers.

"Slight right. About three hundred metres," answered William from Natasha's backpack.

"That close? We really are being unusually lucky with this one."

"I know, right?" agreed Natasha.

"We can defeat it and get back before the van leaves!"

"By 'lucky', I meant we can stop it before it does too much damage."

"Well, yes, that's good too, obviously."

"You don't normally have this much of a thing about ice cream," pointed out Stacy.

"Getting cravings? Is there something you need to tell us?"

"Hey! I don't even have a boyfriend!" Stacy giggled shamelessly. Following the directions of the Earth spirit that served as their magical mascot, it took only a few minutes for the girls to find themselves in an almost empty alleyway. Only two others occupied it; a pair of adults engaged in a rather passionate kiss, hanging around at the back door of a pub.

"Uh..." said Mary, averting her eyes.

"Now where?"

"It's okay if you take a moment to work it out," added Natasha, who very much hadn't averted anything, and was watching with undisguised interest.

"It's here!" shouted William, bursting out from the backpack.

"That's it right there! It's draining that poor lady as we speak!" The lady in question broke off her embrace and glared at the girls.

"Can't you see the adults are busy? Stop gawking and get... Uh... Wow, I must have drunk more than I thought. Now I'm hallucinating flying kittens."

"Why don't you head back inside and get a glass of water," suggested her partner.

"I'll help these lost children, then catch up with you."

"That... That might be a good idea," agreed the woman warily, keeping her eyes on William as she slowly backed away towards the pub's door, swaying slightly in a way that could have been due to alcohol. The girls, of course, had other theories. Mostly related to the fact that she had been kissing a Bane.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to show up," sighed Decay.

"Come on then, let's get this over with, one way or the other. My name is Decay, and while I wish I could say it was a pleasure to meet you... well, it is not. Oh, and also, I identify as male, so I would prefer 'he' rather than 'it'."

"You'll identify as a smear on the ground soon enough," declared Natasha.

"You spoilt my ice cream!"

"You invaders are not welcome here," added William.

"You covet our world, assault its people and seek to take what does not belong to you. Depart, now, or else be destroyed."

"I would if I could," sighed Decay.

"I really, really would. I don't suppose I can replace your ice cream and we can all be friends?"

"Be careful. Something is... not right..." carefully opined Tracy.

"You can say that again. Trying to talk his way out of a fight? What's with this guy?" agreed Stacy.

"Let's just get this over with so that we can get back to the park before closing time!" exclaimed Natasha.

"I call upon the power of the Earth!" With her exclamation, her school uniform shone a bright white.

"I call upon the power of the Earth," echoed her trio of friends, who likewise started glowing.

"Grant me the strength to protect your children," they continued, and their school uniforms burst apart into bands of light, twirling around them, thankfully at the perfect heights to protect the modesty of the suddenly naked girls.

"Grant me the courage to stand against your aggressors," they chanted, and new fabric spun itself into existence around them.

"Grant me the might..." started Natasha, and then Decay punched her right in the solar plexus, hard. She doubled over in pain and the light show cut out, leaving her back in her school uniform as she threw up.

"... to enact justice," continued the others, staring wide-eyed as Decay spun and caught Tracy in the stomach with a roundhouse kick. She grunted in pain as she went flying backward into a building, then crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

"Concentrate!" yelled William.

"And hurry!"

"You... You attacked me in the middle of my transformation...!" exclaimed Natasha, backing away.

"You can't do that!"

"Why not?" asked Decay as he grabbed Stacy by the neck and lifted her from the floor.

"Gr... Grant..." she choked out, but Decay simply squeezed harder, and words became impossible.

"Grant me the love to show mercy!" finished Mary, and the bands of light faded, revealing magical girl Graceful Aqua. Her hair had lengthened, hanging straight behind her, and her school uniform had been replaced by a royal blue dress formed of silk and lace, shimmering in the street lamps, as if the material was coated in a thin sheen of water. At the front, it came halfway down her thighs, but at the back, it reached to her ankles. A large bow was tied at the back and ribbons decorated the front.

"You will pay for that," stated Aqua.

"Perhaps," said Decay, throwing Stacy—whose incomplete transformation had already broken—at Natasha. Both of them went down, and neither got back up.

"Shall we find out?" Mary held up a hand, water condensing out of the air into a ball in front of her.

"Hydro blast!" she exclaimed, launching her magical construct at high speed towards the Bane who had dared to harm her friends. He did nothing to defend or evade, simply standing there and letting the attack hit him.

"What?!" exclaimed Mary, dumbfounded as her powerful attack failed to budge the Bane by a single inch. The ball of water simply burst on impact, flooding the street despite the lack of effect on its target. Even his suit seemed dry.

"And now we have found out," said Decay as his somewhat strained expression morphed into a sneer.

"I'll admit, I was uncertain it would work, but it appears that luck is on my side today."

"William?" asked Mary, her voice trembling slightly for the first time in the battle.

"I... I don't know!" answered the mascot.

"He's immune to your powers, somehow!"

"Indeed I am," he agreed.

"For our next experiment, shall we see if you are immune to mine?" He clicked his fingers, causing numerous ribbons of utter darkness to shoot from the tarmac around Mary.

"You won't catch me that easily!" exclaimed Mary, chopping at one with her palm, pouring enough magic into the attack that a glowing blue aura formed around her hand. The shadowy band didn't break, but simply wrapped around her wrist, then twisted, dragging her arm behind her back.

"What?! How... Urk... Why can't I break it?!" She struggled uselessly as more of the bands wrapped around her ankles, trapping her in place. Then they spun around her, winding higher and higher, binding her legs together as they slowly cocooned her. Her eyes widened in shock and fear as more of the ribbons wrapped her arms, pinning them behind her back and robbing her of all movement.

"How... I can't move... How are you... mmmph!" shouted Mary, her final exclamation silenced by one of the bands wrapping itself across her face, covering her mouth and nose. She shook in desperation as she tried and failed to draw breath.

"This really is a best case scenario. It appears that my powers don't merely work on you, but that you're completely impotent against them," smirked Decay, his mood improving by the second.

"You seem rather confused about why, though, which is a little surprising. Did that fluffy puppetmaster of yours not tell you exactly what you were signing up for? Do you never listen to those cheesy catchphrases you shout?" The mummified magical girl could do little but watch in horror as the Bane casually approached, her eyes the only exposed part of her by the time he came within striking distance.

"Stay away from her!" yelled William, ineffectually tugging at Decay's hair.

"Dammit! Natasha! Stacy! Tracy! Wake up!"

"Oh, quieten down, spirit," said Decay, casually swatting away the magical kitten.

"And as for you, Graceful Aqua, I offer my thanks for your help in proving my hypothesis, but now that I've confirmed my theories, I'm afraid you aren't needed anymore." He raised a hand, which roiled and shifted, changing from its human disguise back to its original, viciously clawed form. He pressed one of those claws against Mary's cheek.

"Nnn!" she tried to scream into her gag, the suffocating girl struggling desperately, albeit uselessly, in her panic.

"And so I only have one thing left to say to you," continued Decay as one final band plastered itself across Mary's eyes, the last thing she saw before being plunged into darkness being Decay letting the transformation of his face slip just enough to put a bit of fang on display.

"And that is: goodbye."

"MARY!" exclaimed William as Decay slowly dragged his claw down to the magical girl's throat.