Black
Ah, central Mahora. A bustling metropolis of bright lights and sky scrapers. It's a place filled with personality and night life. It's one of the worst places for a Core to appear, so of course they show up here pretty often. Still not sure if it's a coincidence or deliberate malice.
I hate coming here at night. With the power running through me the place is almost blinding. So much energy, so many people, all flowing around together in one big complicated mess. It gives me a headache just to look at. Being right in the middle is almost overwhelming. Unfortunately I have to be prepared to get to any of the other fights as fast as possible if any of them turn out to be to dangerous to handle safely, which means I have to be here.
Luckily most people aren't idiots. They've gotten fairly used to Core attacks in the past two years, enough to know to run the hell away when one shows up. That means I get a clear space to work, which helps a little. Unluckily, I had to put a 'most' in there, because right now there is a very angry looking gentleman storming up to me, paying no heed to the Core as I send it skidding down the road with a good kick.
“You! You're one of those Magical Girls, aren't you!”
“How very astute.” I reply, keeping my eyes on the Core. I still haven't managed to work out where-
“What the hell do you think you're doing!”
It turns out my concentration is vulnerable to pure stupidity. I look at him incredulously.
“Excuse me? What am I doing?” I ask, wondering how the hell he can miss the giant mutated football monster I'm fighting.
“You heard me! Who the hell do you think you are, showing up out of nowhere and destroying half the street?!”
“You think I- Excuse me,” I interrupt myself, stepping backwards and yanking the fool out of the path of football-head's charge. Looks like it's favouring it's left side a bit... “You think I'm the one responsible for all of this?”
He ignores the fact that I just saved his life. “Of course you are! Your act doesn't fool me, you stupid little girl!” What did you just call me? “You have the same powers as these beasts, you must be related to them! This is all just some scheme you've cooked up to play hero or something!”
What the hell is this idiot saying? No one could be that stupid! Is he really trying to-... Oh. Oooh! Of course. If I'd been paying attention I'd have noticed earlier. Wow, I bet he thought it was his lucky day. Moron.
“That, sir, is ridiculous,” I state calmly, returning my attention to the Core. Ah, so there it is, third scale from the left. Now I just need... I glance at the idiot. He has a pen in his front shirt pocket. Convenient, “Now, if I can borrow this for a moment...” I mutter, snatching it before he can protest. One two three and jump...
It's a neat jump. I reach the Core just as it starts to turn around, long before it can even think of trying to defend itself. I let a trace of the power seep into the fool's pen, just enough to empower it for a few seconds. I don't want this thing to still be magical when I hand it back to him. Then I strike quickly, hammering the now strengthened pen into the Core's weak spot. Kaede would make a rather obvious joke about pens and swords here, but happily that's not my style. Instead I just walk back over to the still ranting idiot and hand him back his pen as the Core fades to dust.
“Well? Aren't you going to say something?” he glares. Ok, now he's just going overboard.
“Yes. You're a fool.” My voice is still level. His glare becomes even more intense, then he spins around to walk off. My hand on his shoulder stops him.
“What are you-”
“Did you honestly think I wouldn't notice?” My other hand whips out faster than he can see and snatches his hidden voice recorder from under his jacket. He goes pale. “Normally I would be inclined to let this go, but you deliberately tried to make me angry so you would get a better 'interview'.” I put enough sarcasm in the word to kill a small rabbit. “Congratulations. You've succeeded wonderfully.” I squeeze my fist hard. There's a crunch, and then I let the wrecked recorder fall to the floor in a worthless lump.
“Wha... wha... you... You little-! You'll pay for this!” Hmm, he seems to think a lot of himself for some random reporter who got lucky. I wonder why he had that mike on him, there's no way this guy could have predicted a Core would show up. I hope it interrupted something important.
I reach out and grab his face between my hands, making a big show of studying his face. He doesn't seem particularly smart, and this trick is kind of fun.
“What are you doing?!” Oh yeah, now he's worried.
“I'm committing your face to memory. I don't like you sir. Once the Cores are done for the night, I am going to track you down, and if I see any evidence of you attempting to make my life, or any of my allies lives any more difficult than they already are, I will make you suffer.” Worry has taken a sharp swerve for fear. May as well help it along, “I remind you, Sir, you don't know who I am, what I truly look like, nor do you have any idea of the extent of my powers, however I did just destroy a monster the size of a small car without getting out of breath, so you should be picking up on some warning signals. Now that I know your face, I can find you any where, and time. It would be a very good idea if you never tried to bother me ever again. Am I clear?”
Some of that was a bluff, some wasn't. It doesn't matter, he's scared out of his wits. Perfect. I let him go with a small pat on the cheek, and he runs off whimpering. I doubt he'll be any more trouble, but even if he is, it's not like I care. The media has been after us for a long time now, and they're still split on whether we're heroic saviours or demonic attackers, depending on what brings the ratings in.
Suddenly my com-set starts hissing. Great, someone's in trouble. I hope Yellow can handle both Cores for a little longer. As long as it's not her calling it in. Then Red's voice comes through.
“Guys, there's something odd about this Core. I think it's trying to copy me or... whatever. Something weird's going on.” I frown as I jump up to the rooftops. Copy her?
“What do you mean it's copying you Red? What did it do?” I ask, wondering if this is worth delaying giving Yellow a hand.
“It tried to speak! I yelled at it and it started trying to talk back to me! It keeps trying to repeat what I said!”
I almost miss a step, catching myself just before I fall back down to the streets. A core trying to speak? That's never happened before... Damnit, I need to get a look at it.
“Yellow, are you going to be okay if I investigate?”
There's only a slight pause before: “I'll be fine. Found both of them. They're giving me a good work out, nothing I can't handle. Go check it out.”
I nod, even though no one can see it. “Alright. Red, keep it occupied. I'm on my way.”
“Roger.”
What could this mean? Is it intelligent? Maybe it will hold some clue as to what all this is about? Or maybe it's nothing, and this is a waste of time. Thoughts like that run around in my head as I manage to catch a train on the city line as I head past the rails (Travelling this way is much faster, if you can duck the tunnels).
Whatever it means, this is a rare opportunity. I have to be there.
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(Posted Thu, 21 Aug 2008 22:43)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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