GLLK: Giant Monsters All Out Attack
(Alexh4070)
NOTE from author: GLLK stands for Godzilla, Lana (Loud),
Ladybug, King Ghidorah.
Chapter 1. Memories: The Past
Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. July 28, 2002.
7:35 P.M.
————————————————————
Another beautiful night in the Shibuya Ward
in Tokyo. People were going from work to home, while traffic continued at a
steady pace. Surrounding the busy Shibuya station was the commercial store, and
to the East Gate, the Tokyu Department Store. This was the hottest area for
nightlife in Japan. Seven year old Alix Kubdel strolled along the streets with
her brother, Jalil Kubdel, her uncle, Tazio Tachibana, and Yuri Tachibana, her
uncle's daughter and Alix's cousin. Alix had blue eyes and pink hair tied up
into a ponytail. She wore a small sailor fuku, red tie, green skirt, and black
shoes. The pinkette was visiting Japan with her brother and father to see her
uncle and cousin for a week. So far, it went fine. Alix was especially
fascinated to hear her uncle's stories about his job at the JSDF, the battles he
fought in, and Yuri's feelings to a teenage male at her school, much to the
latter's embarrassment. Of course, what made Alix, Jalil, and Yuri hang on the
edge of their seats was his tales about the King of the Monsters, Godzilla.
Godzilla, as Tazio describes him, was a
radioactive dinosaur mutated by atomic bombs tested on deserted islands by the
Manhattan project in 1950. He stands 60 meters tall, is 85 meters from nose to
tail, and weighs around 30,000 metric tons. His skin is rough, with charcoal
black scales, and has 60 smooth, bone-white plates running down his back. He has
four fingered hands, with each finger ending in sharp claws, and three-toed
feet, each toe sporting strong, sharp, and white talons, with a vestigial claw;
similar to a bird’s foot. Because of being mutated with radioactive energy, he's
able to spew a blue and white, streamlined, focused beam of atomic energy,
obliterating anything it touches. He knew all this because of what he saw in
1954, when Godzilla first rose up from Tokyo Bay.
Tazio was a man in his fifties. He stood at an average height, had short
black hair, and a short black black mustache. He wore a silver short-sleeved
shirt, black shorts, and black slip-on shoes.
"The sky was blood red, filled with smoke
billowing from the burnt remains of wherever he laid death and destruction,"
Tazio said to his daughter, niece, and nephew. "And through it, a devil
appeared, it's face twisted with rage and hatred!"
Alix shivered. Well, it was actually Jalil
shivering in fear, hugging the pinkette closely near him while they walked
along, his vibrations made Alix shake, too. That didn't last long, however, as
he released his grip on his sister.
Jalil was a bit taller than Alix, with
chin-length reddish-brown hair and dark blue eyes. He had glasses, an orange
scarf, a plaid shirt under a blue jacket, crimson pants, white socks, and black
shoes.
"If it hadn't been for JSDF, that monster
would've taken over the world." The young man continued. "He would've enslaved
us, forcing us to work everyday, and making us do… HOMEWORK!"
Alix giggled at her uncle's joke. She liked
his bravery and experience as well as his humor.
In reality, however, Godzilla wasn't killed
by the JSDF, and wasn't even trying to take over the world. It, in fact, was a
victim of nuclear warfare, and attacked humanity as an act of revenge. It was
only by the combined might of the JSDF and Dr. Serizawa's Oxygen Destroyer that
finally ended the mutated creature's rampage and killed him.
However, in the years that followed, more
and more creatures like Godzilla emerged from beneath the Earth, from the ocean
depths, and from outer space. It wasn't until 1984 that another member of
Godzilla's kind emerged and ravaged Japan in attempt to avenge its fallen. The
creature, however, was lured back into the ocean before it could cause more
damage. Since then, it remained under the depths of the ocean, and hadn't
attacked since.
"Some say," Tazio continued, "that the
first Godzilla's spirit still lurks around the streets of Japan, looking for
children to take back with him beneath the waves, and force them to worship him
everyday."
"No way!" Yuri replied. She was around ten
years old and had chin-length, reddish-brown hair. Her attire consisted of a
pink v-neck t-shirt, a blue skirt, and white flip-flops with a red strap.
"I'll fight him," Alix chirped. "I'll make
sure he'll never make anyone worship him. I want to be like you, Uncle."
"Well then," Tazio whispered "First you'll
have to face the… Tickle Monster!"
Alix laughed as she ran around her uncle,
trying to avoid being tickled, until Yuri and Jalil joined in. The tomboy dashed
straight pass the others, and turned left into an alley. While the others
followed her, she stopped and taunted them before continuing running. The fun,
however, ended when Alix stepped into a large puddle, splashing water all over
her shoes, pants, shirt and face. Her pursuers stopped three feet behind her,
and observed the puddle.
"That's one big puddle of water," Alix
commented.
"It wasn't raining today," Jalil said,
breaking the silence.
"Then how'd it get here?" Alix asked.
"Maybe someone dropped a bucket of water
accidentally."
"From up there?" Alix pointed at the
building next to them.
"Not up," Tazio answered, pointing down at
his feet. "Down."
Everyone looked beneath them. Indeed, the
water was spouting up from beneath the sewers.
"A clog?"
"A damaged sewer pipe?"
"None that I know of," Tazio said,
worriedly. "Come on, Alix. Let's get you back to the apartment and get you a new
change of clothes."
"Arigato, Uncle Tazio," Alix exclaimed,
jumping for joy. She skipped out of the alleyway with her uncle, brother, and
cousin behind her.
By the time the four had headed out of the
alley and back to Tazio's apartment, a shadow emerged from the corner of a
building. Soon, a enormous insect emerged from the shadows. It was 2 meters
long, and weighed around 500 lbs. The insect was light brown in color, had spiky
and smooth skin, compound eyes, black lines around its three segments, two
mantis-like pincers, six legs with two claws on each foot, antennae, a fanged
mandible with hair underneath, and a pair of wings folded on its back. This was
Meganulon, a species of insect related to dragonflies and damselflies that
survived the Carboniferous by hibernating under the Earth's surface for
300,000,000 years. Like Godzilla, they were also affect by the Manhattan
Project's bomb. The tremor caused by the explosion awoken them, and radiation
mutated the creatures from half-a-meter long arthropod eagles, to the Kaiju like
creatures we're familiar with.
Behind the first giant arthropod, five more
came out from the dark. Three were Meganulons, while the other two resembled
brown dragonflies, except they had mantis-like pincers on their front limbs, and
a stinger on their tails. These were Meganula. Adult Meganulons. And they were
preparing for a hunt.
————————————————————
3 Minutes Later
————————————————————
Two blocks away from where the sewers were
flooding, a young man named Koji entered an area near a barrier fence for a dig
site. As he sat down and listened to music, he pulled out a lighter to smoke on
a cigarette. Suddenly, something bumped against the fence, caused it to vibrate.
However, Koji's headphones blocked out the sounds, so he couldn't hear anything
else.
Just then, a Meganulon bursted through the
barrier and attacked Koji, who screamed once he saw it. The arthropod secured
the man with its pincers, ensuring that there was no chance of escape. The
creature then opened it mandibles and loomed downward onto its victim. Koji's
headphones fell to the ground, as the bug continued its assault.
Just fifteen seconds after that, Koji's
girlfriend appeared with drinks for her and her boyfriend. She then saw his
headphones on the ground, and, while holding her cup between her teeth and
putting Koji's drink down, picked them up. They were covered in a gooey-like
substance, which frightened her(causing her to drop her cup in the process). As
she turned around, the same Meganulon appeared again, and attacked her. She
screamed and wailed as it grabbed her with its tail and dragged her behind the
barrier where it proceed mauling her… or so thought.
In less than a minute after that, Koji and
his girlfriend were thrown upwards before landing down onto where they were
attacked. Not bothering to hesitate, they ran out of the area as fast as they
could, leaving the drinks and Koji’s headphones behind. On the other side of the
barrier, the Meganulon rose up, a proboscis hanging from its mouth, which slowly
rolled back into its mandibles like a party horn recoiling after being blown.
Blood leaked from its mouth. It then crawled up a building, and hunched down.
Suddenly, its back opened up, and the
insect emerged in its Meganula stage. Thanks to the blood it sucked from its
prey, its wings quickly became light, but strong, sharp, and sturdy.
Alix, already dressed up in PJs, looked out
the window, sighing. She had been here for six days, and tomorrow, they had to
leave her uncle and return to Paris. "Wish I could stay here forever," Little
Alix sighed.
Suddenly, she saw something flying in the
distance. She thought it was a bird, like a gull or a falcon. But as she got a
better look, she saw that the thing in the distance resembled a dragonfly.
Impossible, she thought, dragonflies grew big, but not THAT big. She rubbed her
eyes to make sure she was hallucinating. Unfortunately, she wasn’t. The flying
creature zipped up to the sky out of sight, then flew real close to Alix as it
passed. It was enough to make her literally jump out of her seat and onto the
floor. After recovering from her shock, the pinkette looked out the window to
see if the creature was there, but it wasn't. Sighing in relief, she crawled
into bed and fell asleep. Wait until she told everyone her dream the next
morning.
————————————————————
Tokyo Bay, Japan. July 29, 2002.
11:45 A.M.
————————————————————
Today was the last day before Alix and her
family returned to Paris. Mr. Kubdel had work to do at the Louvre, and Alix and
Jalil had to get ready for school. However, to keep themselves happy, they all
decided to hangout together in Odaiba near Tokyo Bay before the Kubdels headed
to Haneda Airport to get a plane to Shanghai, then another plane to Moscow, and
finally, a plane to France.
Alix had her cap on to keep the sun’s rays out of her eyes. Jalil wore his
usual attire, minus the scarf. Yuri
wore sunglasses, an orange t-shirt, a blue skirt, gray leggings, and green
summer shoes. Tazio wore his glasses to see better, but wore a black JSDF
uniform. This was because he had a meeting later to discuss the history of the
JSDF to some new recruits.
Yuri enjoyed Odaiba. This place was home to
the Fuji Television Studios (which broadcasts her favorite superhero show,
Mirrorman) a replica of The Statue of Liberty, and the famous Rainbow Bridge,
which crosses from Odaiba and Shibuara across Tokyo Bay. Her father often took
her across the 798-meter long bridge on many occasions. It always made her happy
just crossing it. Her favorite spot was the Odaiba Seaside Park. Every summer,
her father took her there to play on the beach. She loved it there. And now, she
wanted to share that joy with her cousin.
"Dad, can me and Alix go to the seaside
park?"
"Sure, what's the harm of playing on the
sand?"
By the time the group came to the park,
they were expecting a bustling crowd. Instead, they found policemen, army men,
and a couple of tanks. There was even a member of the JSDF directing the rest of
the men at the site. The man looked at Tazio and walked over to him. He was
about the same height as Tazio, and wore the JSDF suit. He had brown hair,
silver eyes, and a pimple on his right cheek.
"Daisuke," Tazio said. "What's happening
here?"
"A whole lot. No pun intended. First, a
couple, some children, and a group of eleven year olds claimed they were
attacked by a giant monster last night, now a sinkhole formed right in the
middle of the beach," Daisuke answered. "It's only three meters in diameter, but
it's strange."
"Why?"
"It's like something big was tunneling
through the sand. The area around the hole seems to be covered in some sort of
saliva…"
While Daisuke was talking, Alix, being
curious, crept stealthily away from her family to the hole, and stopped in front
of the police tape. She knew that crossing tape would cause her serious trouble.
But she still wanted to find the answer. Suddenly, something caught her left
eye. She looked and saw a piece of plastic-like substance.
"Daddy, I found something." She exclaimed.
Hearing her calls, Mr. Kubdel rushed over
to his daughter and looked at the flap in her hand. He wore thin-rimmed
glasses, a purple undershirt, a dark gray vest with a gold Egyptian hieroglyph
pattern, gray slacks, and black shoes. He stood a medium height with pale blue
eyes and orange-brown hair, and a mustache.
"Tazio? Daisuke? What's this?"
Daisuke picked up the flap in looked
closely at it. He gasped. Tazio knew Daisuke will only gasp if something was
wrong… and surprises.
"It's a piece of a shell… from an insect's
exoskeleton. And by the looks of it, a giant insect's exoskeleton."
"What are you talking about?" Jalil
questioned. "Insects don't grow that big."
"They did in the past," Tazio corrected.
"In 1954, a group of ants were mutated in the New Mexico desert by bomb tests.
Fifteen years later, three giant mantises were spotted on Solgell Island. And
three hundred million years ago, oxygen levels provided growth for giant species
of insects, one of which called Meganula."
"Meganula?"
"A giant dragonfly the size of a biplane.
It had sharp pincers, large wings, and an aggressive attitude. They lived in
swarms and weren't hesitant to think twice before attacking. This piece of
exoskeleton seems to have belonged to one."
"I've seen them in pictures. But don't
worry, they're extinct." Alix's father nervously said.
"Not even so. In 1958, a swarm was
discovered residing in a mine tunnel. They attacked miners and scared the
villagers. The hive was ordered to be exterminated with bombs by the government
to protect the village."
"Then how do you explain that?" Jalil
pointed at the flap of shell.
"A Meganula must've survived the bombing
and burrowed here. That might explain last night's attack."
"And Alix claimed she saw a huge dragonfly
last night, too." Yuri added.
"She claimed it to be a dream" Jalil objected, but he was having doubts
about it. "But what if she didn’t dream it?"
"Does this mean…" Alix asked before being
cut off by a tremor. Suddenly, from beneath the ground, six huge insects erupted
from out the hole. They resembled giant dragonflies with pincers and tail
stingers. “Meganula! I knew what I saw last night was real!" Suddenly, the
warning alarms in the general vicinity went off. In a matter of seconds, people
were scrambling to emergency shelters, subway stations, basements, anywhere that
they felt was safe from danger.
"Joél, take Yuri, Jalil and Alix to one of
the emergency shelters. Me and Daisuke will take care of this." Tazio said.
"Follow the evacuation and keep going no
matter what."
Mr. Kubdel nodded and ushered the three
children to the shelter and the four ran as fast as their legs could carry them.
However, one of the Meganulas spotted them and sped after them while the rest of
its swarm fought the police and army. It hovered about the ground and dodging
trees, trying hard not to reveal its presence. Of course, this didn't go
unnoticed by the group.
"Uncle Joél, there's a Meganula behind us!"
Yuri shouted.
"Keep going!" Mr. Kubdel replied. "Don't
stop no matter what!"
Due to her healthy body, build, and daily
exercise, Alix was able to keep ahead of the pursuing arthropod, passing the
others with ease. But this came with a price. Putting herself first before the
others, literally, now made her a target, as Meganula now chose her as its next
victim, and zeroed in. Mr. Kubdel was the first to notice this as he felt the
breeze from the insect’s beating wings when it flew above him.
"ALIX!" He shouted, "LOOK OUT!"
Alix heard her father and looked back to see Meganula flying towards her.
She tried to run even faster, but the insect quickly caught up to her. It raised
its tail stinger, ready to impale Alix with it. The young girl knew there was no
escape from this 'terror from the skies'. She waited for the killer blow…
…
…
…
…
…
…but it never came
Suddenly, something shiny shone light into
the arthropod's eye, causing it to screech in pain. Alix quickly leapt out of
the insect’s path as it flew into the streets and bumped into a lamppost. It
recovered from the blow as it made a sharp turn and sped towards the pinkette…
…only to get splattered after being hit by
a oncoming truck. Yellow liquid splashed in every direction, while the lower
half of the dead insect landed right in front of Yuri, much to her disgust.
"Eww!" She commented while getting up.
"That was so EPIC!" Jalil cheered. The loud
chirps and buzzing of the swarm, along with the sounds of gunfire and
explosions, quickly brought it to an end.
"This way!" Mr. Kubdel instructed.
The four ran past the Daiba Nursery.
However, Alix stopped and looked at one of the trees in the mini-gardens. She
saw a golden-yellow amulet resting on one of the roots. It had three orbs
adorning it, one brown, one blue, and one bright gold. In the center was a
circle with six triangles on it. But what really caught her eye were the symbols
on it. Next to the brown orb was some kind of dinosaur with a nasal horn and
what looked like big ears. Next to the blue orb appeared to be a butterfly, but
nothing like the ones she encountered. Finally, underneath the golden orb was a
black creature with what looked like three heads, a pair of wings, two feet, and
two tails.
But what caught her curiosity the most were
the symbols next to the circle. On the left side was a silhouette standing next
to a giant shoe. And on the right was a black dinosaur with four fingers and
spikes adorning its back. The image was all too familiar with Alix. She realized
the dinosaur resembled…
"Godzilla," she said to herself.
"Alix!" Her father called. "Hurry!"
"Coming!" She replied. She jogged over to
the tree and grabbed the amulet before she ran back to her father.
————————————————————
On the beach, the military appeared to have
the upper hand. Two Meganulas were blown to bits by the tanks, and another was
shot down by SWAT fire. Tazio and Daisuke, now armed with a rocket launcher and
Howa Type 89 Assault Rifle, dodged and shot at the remaining insects while
avoiding their enemies own attacks. One of the two remaining dragonflies managed
to deflect a tank shell using its large wings to create a gust powerful enough
to send it flying towards a SWAT van, causing it to explode in a big ball of
fire. Luckily, it was abandoned before the shell crashed into it.
"These bogies are tough," Daisuke said.
"Shall we retreat?"
"No!" Tazio replied. "If we retreat now,
more lives will be lost, including my family's. We're soldiers! We brought down
a giant space jellyfish with only wasps and bees. We fought off a giant walrus.
We even drove Godzilla back into the sea. These bugs are nothing compared to
that. Now, are you with me or not?"
Daisuke remained silent, still thinking
about his comrade's words. A sudden shriek got their attention as they looked
up. One of the remaining Meganula left the safety of the skies and dived down
toward the two men, like a gannet diving into the water after fish. Daisuke
looked at his friend and said, "Let's do this!"
"That's the spirit," Tazio congratulated
him.
They aimed their weapons at their target as
it dropped swiftly toward them. Daisuke fired his rifle at the arthropod with
rapid succession. Although the bullets didn't pierce the insect's exoskeleton,
it was enough to rip small holes in its wings and confuse it while Tazio
steadied his launcher.
"Daisuke, hold your fire!" He shouted.
"It's my turn!"
Once he locked onto the quickly descending
dragonfly, he pulled the trigger and fired. The grenade rocketed up through the
sky as fast as the diving Meganula. In seconds, they collided with each other in
a massive explosion. Pieces of exoskeleton, legs, wings, and even the whole tail
rained down on the men, who didn't care about it.
"We did it!" Daisuke exclaimed.
"You bet your weapon-handling experience we
did."
Their celebration was cut short when the
last Meganula rammed into Tazio and pinned him to the ground.
"TAZIO!"
The insect tried to stab him with its
pincers, but moved his head to avoid the attack. However, he felt exhausted and
the sudden collision injured him. The dragonfly struck its pincers on each side
near Tazio's head and prepared to maul him instead.
Luckily, Daisuke aimed a Nambu pistol at
the creature's neck and fired, severely wounding it and causing the insect to
stumble off its prey. Hearing the shot, the police and military gunners aimed
their weapons at the bug and opened fire. Despite its hard exoskeleton, the
bullets bursted through the shell and bombarded the Meganula until it couldn't
take anymore and dropped to the ground, motionless.
Daisuke helped Tazio onto his feet and
walked him over to some army men. Tazio sat down on a crate as Daisuke kneeled
beside him.
"Arigato," He replied silently enough for
Daisuke to hear.
"Hey, we're JSDF members," Daisuke said
calmly. "You know the Army Credo: No man gets left behind. And I wouldn't leave
you behind no matter what."
Both men looked at each other and smiled.
They shook hands before Tazio stood back up. "I have to make sure my daughter
and the others are okay," he said. He gave him his rocket launcher. Daisuke
looked at his friend, who gave him a salute.
However, the moment ending when a
high-pitched squeak filled the air. Everyone looked toward the Meganula, which
was still alive, but barely. It crawled toward the edge hole in the ground it
emerged from. With a final, long, high-pitched squeak, the insect dropped down
dead and fell into the hole. After what seemed like half a minute, the ground
began to quake. Cracks emerged from the hole as banks of sand fell into it.
"MOVE! MOVE!" Tazio shouted. The men didn't
bother to hesitate, and the area was cleared in seconds before the ground
erupted as a huge object bursted out of the sand. SWAT vans, military vehicles,
weapons, tables, police cars and supplies rained down on the beach, some falling
down the hole. The men looked up and couldn't believe their eyes. The object in
question let out a high-pitched shrill, longer and higher than the Meganula.
————————————————————
Alix, Jalil, their father, and Yuri all
heard the shrill by the time they reached one of the evacuation shelters: a big
building behind the Daiba Nursery. This didn't go unnoticed by the other
civilians, either. They all turned toward the direction of the sound, and
gasped.
"OH… MY… G!" Jalil managed to stutter.
Hovering over the beach it emerged from was
a giant dragonfly. A huge dragonfly like no one ever saw before: fifty meters
long with an eighty meter wingspan, and weighing in at 12,000 metric tons. It
looked like a cross between a Meganula and a theropod. It had purple brown skin
and greenish spikes all over its body. Its head resembled a reptile rather than
an insect, lacking antennae and having a toothy jaw instead of mandibles like an
actual dragonfly. It also had visible pectoral and abdominal muscles on its
underside. The tail was like that of a Meganula, long and ended with a sharp
stinger. The underside of the tail was marked with several bright purple spots.
This was Megaguirus: queen of the Meganula and Meganulon.
"That's the biggest bug I've ever seen,"
Alix said. And it was.
Like her minions, Megaguirus was also
mutated by the bomb in the Bikini Atoll. As a Meganulon, it needed energy to
complete its metamorphosis. Luckily, after the second Godzilla was driven away
from Tokyo, her swarm attacked it and managed to gain its energy, even though
the majority of the swarm was killed by the King of the Monsters. After gaining
the blood from the dinosaur via energy transfer by her minions, she swam all the
way to Tokyo Bay and burrowed underneath Odaiba Seaside Park a few nights before
Alix and her family visited, without being noticed. The remaining Meganula
emerged from the hole they dug to reach her, and take care of her, to protect
their queen. The last Meganula's cry awoken her and, being fully grown with
large wings, allowed her to burst out of the ground to avenge her fallen.
The insect let out another shrill before
moving to the shelter. She now had a taste for vengeance, and everyone seemed to
understand it, because they were now all stampeding into the shelter.
Unfortunately, Alix, her brother and father, and Yuri were last in line, and
Alix was in the way back, behind her father. Megaguirus, sadly, picked her out
of the many people pushing and shoving their way to safety(presumably due to the
fact the she had some drops of yellow liquid from the dead Meganula on her
shirt). The insect clapped her wings together with enough force able to create
an almost-visible sonic wave that crashed into the top of the building, causing
it to explode into pieces. Alix looked up and saw several large chunk falling
towards her. Knowing she wouldn’t make it inside in time, she ran back in the
opposite direction just as the pieces crashed onto the ground, creating a
shockwave that sent her flying two meters from her spot and onto the streets.
She recovered quickly and sat back up, only to find that her only safety was
blocked by rubble. She was now a sitting duck.
————————————————————
Meanwhile, Jalil, Mr. Kubdel, and Yuri, who
were blown forward during impact, realized Alix was still outside. They tried to
pull the rubble away, but it was too heavy and too compacted to find a hole
large enough to climb through.
'Alix,' Mr. Kubdel prayed to himself.
'Please be safe. I don't want to lose you.'
'Be safe, sis!' Jalil thought. 'Be brave no
matter what happens. When we get out of here, I promise I’ll find you and come
to your aid.’
————————————————————
Megaguirus hovered after Alix, who was now
running for her life. She ran across the deserted road, but stopped when she
reached the freeway, with high walls two buses tall. She didn't have time to
make a move because an explosion caused by another of Megaguirus' sonic booms
sent her flying across the entire Metropolitan Expressway. She screamed as she
fell closer to the ground. But, miraculously, she landed in the bed of a pickup
truck parked near a store, which had pillows and feathers in it. She crashed
down, sending feathers flying in all directions(which floated back down).
"Wow!" She exclaimed as she recovered. "And
I thought that only happened in cartoons!"
The shrill of her pursuer reminder her to
keep running. She vaulted out of the truck and sped down a path. However, her
speed didn't match that of the fifty meter insect slowly flying above her. She
looked up and saw it descending upon her. However, she was too busy looking at
Megaguirus that she wasn't watching her step. She tripped on a rock and fell to
the ground on her left side. Despite some bruising, there wasn't any serious
damage. As she rolled onto her back, she shrieked at the sight of huge, toothy
jaws bearing down upon her. Alix closed her eyes and covered her face to avoid
seeing her death coming.
However, it never came. All she felt were
gusts of wind blowing on her. By the time she opened her eyes, all she saw was a
spiked, stinger-tipped tail moving out of view above her. She got back up and,
despite the danger, limped after the giant insect. She climbed up the hill and
quickly hurried across the Symbiotic Promenade Park bridge.
When she reached West Promenade, she
quickly took cover behind the Gundam Statue, for Megaguirus was hovering right
over W. Promenade.
'What's it doing?' She thought to herself.
The answer came when Megaguirus released a
shrill and slowly ascended to the skies. Suddenly, an explosion of water rose
from the bay, and a loud roar quickly arose from it.
'SKKKRREEEEEEOONK!'
Megaguirus responded with another shrill.
What both her and Alix saw amazed them. When the cascade of falling seawater
cleared, both saw a dinosaur sixty meters tall. It had four-fingered hands,
charcoal-gray skin, and bone white dorsal plates emerging from its back. It had
razor sharp teeth with prominent fangs coming in its mouth. Alix easily realized
that this was the dinosaur her uncle told her about.
"Godzilla!"
The King of the Monsters uttered out
another roar, this time with a trumpeting sound in it that sounded like an
elephant. Megaguirus answered back, and descended to the ground to confront her
new opponent. Alix, meanwhile, tried her hardest to stay out of view of the
Kaiju, and hoped that the battle wouldn't be catastrophic.
"Alix."
The pinkette heard her name being called.
It sounded like a young girl's. She looked around from her spot to find the
source of the call.
"Alix."
She then looked at Godzilla and was
surprised to find the voice was coming from the reptile. She knew Godzilla
roared, but she never thought it could talk. But it was.
"Alix," the Kaiju called. "Alix!"
Alix didn't move, nor did she respond to
the dinosaur.
"Alix!" "ALIX!" "HEY, PINK-HAIR!"
————————————————————
June 15, 2010
2:45 p.m.
————————————————————
Alix woke up with a jolt. She looked around
to find she was no longer in Odaiba, but instead on a plane. She exhaled in
relief.
She was no longer the little girl she once was. She was now fifteen years
old, and her appearance had changed dramatically. Her pink hair was now in a
messy, bob cut style(although she did have some of her hair on the right side of
her head tied into a ponytail.) She sported a
black cap with a black old English S logo that was outlined in white on the
front. She wore a black long-sleeved, slate gray shirt underneath a dark brown
tank top. Each sleeve had a lime green scale patterned fabric snake, starting
from her shoulders and coiling around her arms until their heads stopped at her
wrists. She also wore black jean shorts with pink stitching and black lace at
the cuffs, black 1/2 hose length socks with two pink horizontal stripes, and
black high top shoes with pink lace, black and lime green checkered sides with a
wavy orange line over it, and white soles.
'It was all a dream,' She thought.
"About time, I thought you were deep in
your sleep," a familiar voice said.
Alix looked down beside her and saw a
younger brunette looking at her. She had thick black hair pulled back into a
short, high ponytail. The brunette was wearing a red and white jersey with a red
"1" on it, red-and-white track shorts, and black cleats with striped knee-high
socks. She had freckles and purple-grey eyelids. She looked like a preteen
instead of a teenager. In her hand, she was holding a pill-shaped object wrapped
in foil.
"Well, thanks to you, I'm not," Alix
replied
"That's a bit rude," the brunette replied
back.
"Sorry, I just-"
"I like your attitude. You remind me of my
oldest sister, Lori."
"I'll take that as a compliment, uh… What's
your name?"
"Lynn Loud Jr," said another voice. Alix
looked up and saw her friend, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She looked half-French and
half-Chinese, because her mother was from a Chinese family and her father was
French. She had bluebell eyes and medium-length black hair with blue
reflections. Similar to Lynn, she had her hair pulled back into two
pigtails. Marinette wore a dark gray blazer with rolled up sleeves, with the
blazer lined up in white with pink polka dots and a black trimming. Underneath
she wore a white T-shirt with black stitching and a design(pink flowers and
black leaves) below the collar. She had rolled up pink pants with the inside
also lined in white with pink polka dots. She also wore black earrings and was
carrying a light pink purse with a black strap over her shoulder. "Her family is
from Royal Woods, Michigan. Apparently, they're on summer vacation, too."
"Marinette, here, told me that you're a
professional skater. You've even competed with someone named Kim in a race, and
won," Lynn told her.
"It's true," she replied. "I'm excellent
when it comes to skating." That was mostly true. After surviving Megaguirus'
defeat at the hands of Godzilla, she and her family went back to Paris where
Alix and Jalil went to school. After entering College Francois Dupont at age
fourteen, Alix met Marinette Dupain-Cheng and many other students, including her
rival, Lê Chiên Kim. The two always got into disputes that were often put to
rest at the hands of their fellow classmates.
When Alix turned fifteen a few months ago,
she was given a special watch passed down through many generations by the
Kubdels on their fifteenth birthdays. Her father said that the creator of the
watch was "ahead of his time." Alix gladly kept the watch with her and promised
to keep it safe, but asked a girl named Alya Césaire to hold onto it while she
raced Kim. However, Alya asked Marinette to hold the watch while she was
recording. During the race, the lunette almost dropped it, but luckily, a boy
named Adrien Agreste caught it. Marinette felt light as a feather every time she
saw him. For alas, she was in love with him. During the final lap, however,
another girl named Chloé Bourgeois snatched the watch from Adrien, who she loved
as well. Curious, she opened the watch, but was spooked and almost blinded by
the blue light that shone from it. In fear, she dropped the watch on the
racetrack, which Alix accidentally broke after skating over it. When she saw
what happened, she angrily blamed Chloé, Alya, Adrien, and Marinette for what
happened. That's when it started.
Although not as dangerous as the Meganula,
Parisian super villain, Hawkmoth, was one of the most malevolent foes Earth had
ever experienced. His best known superpower is to turn anyone into super
villains via akumatization(when a butterfly he infects with akuma energy touches
an object a person is in contact with and dissipates in said object). Cunning
and feared, Hawkmoth chooses those with negative emotions to do his bidding. He
lets them do whatever they want, and in return, they have to give him the
Ladybug and Cat Miraculouses. And that's exactly what happened to Alix Kubdel.
After an Akuma made contact with her roller
skate, she was transformed into Timebreaker, a villain with the power to steal
life essence from anyone she touched and convert it into chronological energy
that allowed her to travel back in time. With this power, she could go back and
save her watch from destruction. Kim was the first to fall victim to her
villainous form, followed by Rose Lavillant, Mylène Haprèle, Alya, Chloé and
her servant, Sabrina Raincomprix, and many other civilians who were unlucky to
be there at the time. Luckily, Paris' superheroes, Ladybug and Cat-noir, arrived
just in time. Of course, they were Marinette and Adrien with Ladybug and Catnoir
Miraculouses respectively. Unfortunately, Cat-noir sacrificed himself to
Timebreaker to save Ladybug, giving the villain a huge amount of essence. To
alter the timeline, Ladybug used her yo-yo to hold onto Timebreaker as she
zipped back to two minutes before her watch was broken. Unfortunately, the
appearance the villain made Chloé drop the watch on the ground. The Alix of that
time almost blamed her future self until Timebreaker claimed Ladybug was
culprit. This, of course, made the Alix of that time vulnerable to
akumatization. With both Alixes akumatized, it took the combined effort of
Ladybug, and the Ladybug and Cat-noir of the Past, to de-evilize the two. Thanks
to Ladybug's Miraculous Ladybug, the damage caused by both Timebreakers were
undone(with Future Timebreaker and Future Ladybug being erased from history as
their timeline was replaced with a new one), returning Alix back to normal, and
repairing the broken watch as well. Alix apologized to Ladybug and thanked her
for fixing her watch, promising that from now on, she'll keep it safe.
Alix never forgot that day, and while she
was furious about Hawkmoth making her take the lives of innocent people, she
admitted that seeing Kim scared made her feel giggly. But that was then. Now,
Alix and her class were visiting Japan for a school project.
"Well, I've done lots of skating and
sports, and I think it wouldn't compare to yours," Lynn replied.
"Thanks," Alix replied back. Suddenly, they
heard a low growl coming from Alix's rumbling stomach. "Sorry, I didn't realize
I was hungry."
"No worries," Lynn said. "I've brought this
in case of something like this happening."
She gave the pinkette the wrapped
object. "I'll be right back!" She said before walking down the aisle behind
Alix. The teen unwrapped the wrapping paper to find a meatball sub in her hands.
Lynn then walked back up and sat next to her, holding her own sub.
"Meatball subs," she said before taking a
bite out of her sandwich. "My favorite food for lunch and dinner."
Alix looked at her sub and licked her lips.
'It does look appetizing,' she thought. She moved it up to mouth and took a
small bite out of it. She chewed for a moment before her eyes widened. She
swallowed and said, "This is delicious."
"Told you," Lynn said with her mouth full.
"These things are packed with protein and are super good. Can't help to have a
couple of these things."
Marinette watched as the two tomboyish
girls munched away their lunch, with her own stomach rumbling reminding her
about the little breakfast she had. "Excuse me, girls? Can I have a small piece
of either of your subs?"
Lynn gulped what was already in her mouth
before looking at the lunette. "I don't know," she answered. "These things have
a kick in them. Not to mention spicy."
"She's right, Marinette," Alix said in
agreement. "I don't think you can handle spicy food."
"Pfft, it's just a little spice. What's the
worst that could happen?"
Despite her tomboyish personality and her
fierce rivalry with Kim, she's kind to almost everyone else, including
Marinette. She knew the lunette hadn't had anything spicy to eat for a long time
due to her parents making her lunch for school everyday. But when Marinette
wants to try something new, there are relatively few ways to stop her, and this
wasn't one of them. She watched as Lynn ripped off a small piece of her own sub
and offer it to Marinette. "Here you go," the brunette said. "Now take it or
leave it, Ms. Macho."
"Gladly."
"Be careful, Marinette."
"I'll be fine, Alix. Like I said, it's just
some spice."
Marinette took the piece from Lynn and
popped it into her mouth. She put her hands on her hips to prove herself, all
while she still chewed. Then, she swallowed and looked triumphantly at Lynn.
"I'll get some water," the sporty girl
said. "Feel free to come along if you want." Marinette took a seat on the other
row next to Alix, still looking at Lynn and giving her a cocky smile. "Okay,
your funeral." The brunette stood back up, putting her sub on her seat, and
began to walk down the aisle to where she came from. Alix, still eating her sub,
looked worriedly at her friend.
"You shouldn't have done that, you know,"
the pinkette said before taking another bite out of her sandwich.
"Pfft, please. I've created a feathered hat
for Adrien, made the banner for the bet between you and Kim, won the class
president election against Chloé, helped Max win in the Video Game tournament,
fought off Princess Fragrance, made a cover for Jagged Stone's new DVD hits, and
made him the pair of glasses he wanted when I couldn’t find some for him. I'm
sure I can handle a sub."
Alix swallowed her mouthful. "But you
haven't eaten spicy food for a long time. Are you sure you can handle it?"
"I'm fine," the lunette said just as Lynn
got back with a bottle of water.
"Sure you're fine, girl?" Lynn asked.
"Sure I am. Compared to the danger villains
bring to Paris, this is no-" Marinette felt like her tongue was burning up.
"This is not-" She tried to ignore the burning until it got to the point where
she couldn't take it anymore. "Okay," she managed to say calmly despite the
hotness in her mouth. "This is just as bad as the akumatized villains Ladybug
and Cat-noir fight." She then emitted a long, loud and painful "HHOOOOOOTTT!"
Lynn was audibly cackling at the time while
Alix watched in sorrow, despite it was Marinette who took the risk. "Here, drink
this!" She said loud enough for her friend to hear as she took the water from
Lynn and held the bottle up for Marinette to take it, which she did. She quickly
unscrewed the cap and drank the entire bottle until there wasn't a single drop
left.
"That's better," she sighed in relief. She
plopped back down in her seat in a heap.
"Come on, I liked it!" Lynn disappointedly
replied. "You were literally on fire there for a second."
"Lynn!" Alix angrily said. "A simple
apology would've been nice." She stared at the sporty tomboy, upset that she
didn’t say “sorry” to Marinette (even though the lunette started the trouble).
"Fine" Lynn sighed, knowing she was no
match for an older girl anyway, especially one who was friends with the girl she
laughed at. She looked at Marinette and uttered a hearable "Sorry about that."
“Louder.”
“Okay! I’m sorry for laughing at your
misfortune, Marinette.”
"It's fine. I'm the one who should be
sorry. I shouldn't have been so foolish."
"You and me both," Lynn said back before
she picked up her sub and sat back down. "Now that that's out of the way, time
for some lunch." Before she could take a bite out of her sandwich, Alix quickly
leaned in and took a chomp out of it before sitting back up. "Hey!" The sports
girl exclaimed.
Alix chewed for a moment before swallowing.
"That's for laughing at my friend," she said.
"I said I was sorry. You don't have stoop
up to my lev-"
*Bbbbbrrrrraaaaaaaaauuuuuupppppp!* Alix
burped in Lynn's face, prompting a giggle from Marinette. "And that's for waking
me."
"I deserved that! I did that to my
comic-loving brother once," the brunette chuckled. Alix offered Lynn her
sandwich, which she accepted by taking a bite out of it.
"Did he enjoy that?" Marinette asked. Lynn
swallowed and was about to respond until…
"For your information, I did not enjoy that
at all."
The three looked from their seats to find a
white-haired, buck-toothed boy with a tuft of white sticking out, blue jeans, an
orange polo shirt, and white sports shoes with red stripes. Like Lynn, he had
freckles.
"Hey, Lincoln," Lynn said. "I was telling
these girls about the time I-"
"Yeah, yeah," Lincoln said. "I know.
Luckily, your burps aren't as smelly as your Dutch Ovens."
"Wait," Alix spoke up. "You did a Dutch
Oven on that poor boy."
"Lincoln's not just any boy. He's my
brother," Lynn said proudly. "And even though I may do some things to him that
he doesn't like, I still love him." Lincoln responded by hugging his sister, who
didn't care that Marinette and Alix were watching them.
"One question," Alix asked. "Why do you
have white hair?"
"That's a mystery me and my buddy Clyde are
still looking up on."
Marinette looked behind Lincoln and saw a
chocolate munchkin slowly rolling down the aisle. It went under Lincoln and
stopped just in front of the four. Suddenly, something fast bursted from behind
the curtain and bolted down the aisle. It screeched to a stop in front the
munchkin, almost knocking Lincoln over in the process. It was a blonde girl,
younger than Lincoln. Like Marinette, she had two pigtails, only they facing
downward and tied down with red scrunchies. She was wearing a red baseball cap
backwards, white sneakers with blue stripes, and a murky green t-shirt under
blue overalls.
"Lana," Lincoln said. "Please be careful
where you're going. You could've hurt someone, like me."
Lana picked up the munchkin and stood up,
turning to face Lincoln, Lynn, and Alix. "Sorry, bro," she replied. "Just didn't
want to lose this munchkin. It's so good." Alix and Marinette could see she was
missing two of her front teeth.
'Another sister,' Alix thought. "Um, Lana,
is it? That munchkin's been on the ground for at least ten seconds. I think it's
best if you-"
She didn't have time to finish as Lana
popped it in her mouth and swallowed it in one bite. Marinette and Alix looked
shockingly at the young blonde.
"Y-you j-j-just ate a munchkin that was
lying on the dirt-covered ground for ten seconds," Alix stuttered.
"That's Lana for you," Lynn said while
finishing her sub. "She plays anywhere that's dirty, eats anything disgusting,
and is a certified plumber and mechanic."
"Sometimes you got to get your hands dirty
to survive."
"Um, Lincoln?" Alix asked. "How many
sisters do you have?"
"Ten. Why?"
"You have ten sisters?"
"Yeah, that’s what I was going to tell
you," Marinette replied, "Until my stomach reminded my about lunch."
Alix was about to unleash a whole wall of
questions until Lincoln interrupted her. "Well, I know what you're thinking.
'Lincoln, how can you survive in a family that big?' Well, it's not easy, but it
isn't impossible either. Despite that some of my sisters give me a hard time,
they also face some problems I face. But, in the end, we still one, big, happy
family." Marinette suddenly felt like crying when she heard the most beautiful
sentence coming from a boy from a big family. "I know you're crying, Lynn."
"Dang it."
Alix felt better after that, but not for
long. After finishing her sub, she looked down at the ocean from out the window.
She knew that somewhere down there was Godzilla. She was wondering if he would
return.
"Hey, Alix?" Lana asked. "Are you okay?
"I'm fine, Lana."
"I don't think looking out the window with
a frown is fine, Alix," Marinette agreed.
"I'm just thinking about someone."
"Kim?" Lynn guessed.
"Your brother?" Lincoln joined in.
"I'm right, here!" Said a voice. Jalil was
sitting two seats in front of the others. He heard everything they said and
almost chuckled at Marinette's misfortune.
Like Alix, his appearance also changed. Although he retained his glasses
and orange scarf, he now sported a
white shirt with a golden Eye of Horus on it, a grayish-green jacket, beige
jeans, and sandals. A scarab pendant hung around his neck.
"Hi, Jalil," Marinette responded. "Sorry
about that. Alix said she thinking about someone. And Lincoln thought it was
you."
"I think I know who, or what, Alix is
thinking about," the older brunette male said.
"Who?"
…
…
"Godzilla," Jalil said silently.
…
"Godzilla?" Lincoln finally spoke. "You
mean the dinosaur that attacked Japan in 1954?"
"Why would she think about the demon who
fell victim to the Japanese army?" Lynn replied.
"Godzilla's not a demon!" Lana argued.
"He's a dinosaur mutated by radiation from the depths of the ocean. I'd think
he'd make the perfect pet."
"I still think thinking about a monster
wouldn't make you frown. Unless, it killed someone close to you…"
"It's true," Alix finally said. Everyone
looked at her. "I am thinking of Godzilla, but not the first one."
"There's another Godzilla?" Lana asked.
"Another member of its species arose and
attacked Tokyo in 1984. It was driven away by the JSDF, but it emerged again
eight years ago to fight a dragonfly the military dubbed Megaguirus," Jalil
answered. "And we were there at the time. After the battle, we were lucky to be
alive."
"On that day, I found an amulet next to
Daiba Nursery," Alix said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the
amulet. "Ever since then, I wondered if it has to do something related to
Godzilla, because after he defeated Megaguirus, he went back into the ocean
without causing more destruction."
Lincoln, Lynn, Lana, Jalil and Marinette
all looked at the amulet. They were amazed at the symbols at it. Lana found the
dinosaur with ears to be cute, while Marinette was amazed at the butterfly's
appearance. Jalil, however, was curious about the black dragon. It was like
nothing he'd ever seen.
"My biggest question is the symbol of the
silhouette next to the foot and the dinosaur that resembles Godzilla. I wonder
if this has a secret power to it."
"Well, why don't you ask Sailor Moon about
it?" Lincoln said.
"Sailor Moon?" Alix asked, confused.
"A Japanese super-heroine said to have come
from the Moon Kingdom. She's the guardian of peace and love, and defender of the
Earth."
"You mean like a Japanese equivalent of
Ladybug?" Marinette asked.
"Exactly. If anyone can help you identify
the power of that amulet, it's her."
"I hope you're right," Alix said,
nervously, before looking out the window again. "It's only a matter of time
before Godzilla might appear again, and who knows what'll happen when he does."
Unfortunately, she would be right.
————————————————————
30 meters from the Bonin Islands
280 meters below the waves, a familiar
gigantic dinosaur lied drowsily on the ocean floor. After defeating Megaguirus
eight years ago, Godzilla retreated under the waves and fed on nuclear energy
from sea stacks and nuclear waste. It had left humanity alone for the time. To
conserve energy, it entered a state of torpidity, slowly feeding off the nuclear
energy it stored in its dorsal plates. However, it wasn't going to last.
Zooming across the ocean floor, a dark
shadow made its way to the sleeping giant. It slowed down and entered through
Godzilla's left internal ear. It made its way through the ear canal and followed
the auditory nerve to the brain. There, it latched onto the organ and encased
itself around it.
On the outside, it appeared normal.
Suddenly, Godzilla's eyes opened up. But they were now pure white with no
pupils. The creature slowly got up, and stood on his two hind legs. Inside its
brain, the shadow mercilessly controlled the Kaiju. Then, purple eyes, a light
blue mouth, and a diamond-shaped object emerged from the dark purple haze. This
was a fragment of the now deceased Queen Metaria, the evilest and most
malevolent of villains.
"Now, Godzilla," she telepathically said
the kaiju. "You are now under my command. If you don't want your brain fried,
you'll do what I say. Got it?"
The reptilian colossus nodded, knowing he
had no other choice. His dorsal plates began to glow a bright blue as he opened
his mouth, which also emitted a bright blue glow, before firing his atomic
breath.
————————————————————
Chapter 2. The First Guardian,
Reunion, And A Giant Pink-haired Girl
Mt. Myoko, Niigata Prefecture,
Japan. June 15, 2010.
3:10 P.M.
After recovering from the event that happened eight years ago, Japan was
finally free from the wrath of Kaiju. Despite some attacks in some areas,
these were only from villains who wanted to conquer Earth. Yet they were
dealt with by the Sailor Guardians and their leader, Sailor Moon. The only
challenge for these girls was the King of the Monsters: Godzilla.
Thankfully, no one had seen Godzilla for over a decade, and presumed that he
either died or went into hibernation. Despite this, the Japanese continued
to live life free from monsters. But that didn’t stop some to make it look
like monsters were still roaming Japan.
At the foot of Mt. Myoko, near a
large estuary, stood Yuri Tachibana and a film crew. Like the majority of
the populace, she survived the attack of Megaguirus and Godzilla. Now twenty
years old, Yuri had decided join Bridgestone Digital Q, a TV station
notorious for making low-budget mockumentary films. The company wasn’t well
praised for its work, but at least they did make money. It was a first step
for Yuri towards filmmaking, even if the films she was in were just fake.
Today, the company was doing a
fake documentary about a supposed monster living in the area. As the camera
turned to the redhead, the director gave the action signal to Yuri. She
spoke into a microphone as the crew started recorded the scene.
"Traditionally, Mount Myoko was thought to be the gateway to the lost world.
We’re here to solve a mystery as old as the mountain itself, and that
mystery concerns the monster of the mountain.”
Just out of sight of the camera, the director quietly moved to a boy wearing
a orange cap. A pat on his shoulder gave him his cue. The boy hurled a rock
he held in his hand as hard as he could. It splashed into the lake, causing
Yuri and the cameraman to turn to the sound. The camera caught ripples made
when the rock landed in the lake, making it appear as something had dove
down to the depths after being startled. The camera then turned to Yuri as
she quickly faced the camera.
"What was that?! The monster?!”
"And cut" the director said after checking his watch. The success didn’t
last long, though. Two men, one carry a blue folder with paper in it, came
walking out of the forest angry.
"Stop shooting! You hear me!" One of men, the village headman, shouted. "You
said you were doing a documentary, not some fake news."
"Call it docudrama if you like" the director responded. "We have a permit to
film here."
"Not anymore you don’t!" The headman detested.
"I’ve looked up your company. Specialized in low budget drama films.
Favorites include ESP and alien sightings" His partner replied.
"We don’t want your kind ruining the reputation of honest villages. Now
scram, you dil-weeds."
"Please don’t be like that, sir" Yuri pleaded to the headman. "Think of the
kids. They love stories about ghosts and monsters. In the states, there are
stories of witches that made some of the villages famous worldwide. Godzilla
could do that, too. If Godzilla did come here, think of it: everyone in
Japan would want to come here."
"And if he doesn’t come…"
Before Yuri could answer, an earthquake struck the area. Everyone panicked
as some lost their balance and fell. Yuri held onto the headman and vice
versa. A nearby tree fell over on its side. Thankfully, it fell in the
opposite direction from the people. As the earthquake subsided, a
bloodcurdling road echoed across the terrain, heard by all. Thankfully, no
one was hurt during the quake.
"It’s alright" Yuri said to the still-shaking headman. "It’s over."
"Gee, that was something."
"So may we continue filming?"
"Sure, go ahead. Your film’s going to attract thousands of tourists."
As the crew celebrated, the headman and his assistant left. Yuri was proud.
The quake miraculously was the company’s big break. As the crew began to get
ready for the next scene, Yuri looked at the forest. Suddenly, her
expression turned dark.
Watching her from the forest was an old man. Yuri assumed he just got lost
from the quake and accidentally stumbled upon them by mistake. She looked at
her director, who was busy comforting the headman.
'No use interrupting him about this' She thought. When she looked back at
the forest, the man was gone. It was like he vanished into thin air. 'Did I
just see a ghost? No, it can’t be.' But Yuri still believed she saw a ghost,
and kept it to herself.
10:45 P.M.
The headman was now in his car,
chatting to his wife about the day. He was happy now knowing that the
village would be famous after the film would be released.
"I even got interviewed on
camera."
"Who knows" his wife said. "You
might even become a movie star."
This cheerful moment didn’t last,
however, as something leapt onto the hood on their car, spooking them. It
took only a few seconds for the couple to realize that it was only a
Japanese Serow. A member of the bovine species, they normally wandered into
the village and got along well with the local goats and cattle. Luckily,
they posed no threat.
The serow sensed danger and
hopped off the car before running into the forest. As the couple watched,
another serow ran in front of their car. Then another. And another. Before
long, a stampede of serows came into view. They ran around the car, some
leaping onto the hood and roof before leaping back down and running into the
forest. The headman and his wife huddled as the hoofed herbivores kept
coming.
It wasn’t long before the
stampede disappeared into the forest. As the couple looked beyond the trees,
a whistling snort caused them to look at the direction the serows came from.
One individual had been left behind, and was running to keep up with the
herd. Chasing it was a Red Fox, one of the serows natural predators. As the
serow leapt onto the hood, the fox pounced onto it and both fell off the car
onto the pavement. As the serow recovered, the fox managed to cut off its
escape path. The headman watched as his hopes of the village being famous
were slipping away. If tourists saw a carcass on the parking lot, they would
think the village wouldn’t be safe enough.
Thankfully, that fear never came
true as a gang of motorcyclists arrived, honking their horns and vrooming
their motors. The noise caused the fox to abandon its hunt and run into the
forest, with the dizzy serow following close behind. However, during their
escape, one of the serow’s hooves clipped a loose rock, causing it to roll
downhill into a statue, crashing into it. The statue’s head broke off and
rolled alongside the rock before coming to a stop at the bottom of the hill.
This shocked the headman majorly.
"Did you see that? The shrine’s
wrecked."
The motorcyclists soon surrounded the car, with one man knocking on the
roof. The wife lowered the window as the man stuck his head into the car.
Fortunately for her, it was her daredevil son.
"Hey, Mom. Paps. I’ve heard our village is going to be famous soon. I told
my biker gang about it and they decided to check out the monster. You don’t
mind, do you?"
"Of c-course not, son" the headman said. He was still shocked about the
statue. It had been in the village for a long time and served as a shrine,
according to the headman. But the cost for repairing the statue wouldn’t be
the only issue the village would have to face. There was another BIG purpose
the statue served, and I mean BIG.
On a freeway that runs by the village, a truck driver was on his way home
after a long day’s work. He reached the tunnel he drove through multiple
times when doing his job, but tonight would be different. Another earthquake
struck the area. This time, it was bigger than the last one.
Back at the village, the quake caused those still on the motorcycles to
serve. Some couldn’t cope with the shaking and fell off their bikes or crash
into other motorcyclists. The headman’s son ordered the gang to stop.
Fortunately, no one was hurt.
"We’ll wait out here until the quake subsides. Nothing bad can happen out
here."
Well it was true for the village, at the tunnel, the driver was about to get
the shock of his life. He pressed on the brakes, stopping right outside the
tunnel. Suddenly, loose cement and concrete rained onto the road as the
tunnel caved in. From his cab, the driver could see the left side of the
tunnel burst outwards as a large head appeared from the hole. From the
light, he could tell whatever it was, it had big ears, large eyes, a nasal
horn, and a big mouth full of sharp teeth. The creature looked at the truck
and growled at it, making a sound similar to a leopard. Clearly, it didn’t
like bright lights. The truck driver leapt out of his truck, only to trip
and land on his rear. He looked at the gargantuan creature and screamed in
fear.
June 16, 2010
10:45 A.M.
The next morning, the tunnel was
blocked by twenty tons of rock, cement, concrete and dirt. The roads to the
tunnels were closed for safety protocols. Only JSDF members were allowed to
enter the blocked off area.
To clear the rubble, the JSDF
were using a Taiho, a modified army truck equipped with twin cannons joined
together. The ammo for that cannon were newly built weapons: D-03 missiles.
Designed for detonation only after the boring mechanism has shut down, they
were the only drilling tools available. The military had to be very careful
when operating on these. One wrong move and the results could be
catastrophic.
First, the missile was carefully
lifted out of their crates and loaded into one of the slots of the cannon.
Next, the cannon was aimed at the blockage. One of the men used a
microscope-like object to guide the cannon to aim it at a specific area in
the blockage. After finding a suitable area, the general was informed and
ordered to open fire.
The Taiho cannon fired the
missile. During flight, the cover of the drill broke off as the D-03
jettisoned itself from the lower half of the missile as it landed perfect on
its target. The supports extended and grabbed hold of the rock as the weapon
got to work drilling through the dirt and rock quickly. The mission was
going smoothly, but some were worried about the weapon’s use.
"And will it explode once
inside?" A concerned officer asked a soldier. "What if the explosion’s to
strong?"
"Don’t worry about it…" the soldier replied. "It’s all under control. You
did say there was a witness, right?"
Inside a black van, the truck driver, huddled in a blanket, was shaking like
the quake last night. He was too frightened to speak of what he saw. But
when the soldier came, he was able to stutter out the description of the
creature.
"It… had a big… head… and a big… mouth… filled with r-razor… s-s-sharp…
teeth."
"And you said the thing was alive?"
"Yeah… Godzilla… It’s Godzilla!"
Somewhere in Yokohama.
5:05 P.M.
At a restaurant, Yuri was with
her friends having dinner, but she wasn’t happy. When she told her boss
about the quake and how she thought the epicenter had moved, he just told
her that they specialized in only low budget fake documentaries, not
investigations. This really disappointed her as she wanted to prove what
happened was no natural occurrence. However, she did notice her boss being
surprised at something before walking off.
"Sometimes I wish I were born a
man" she said to her friends.
"Why’s that?" Asked the guy next
to her. He had short black hair and was wearing a dull buttoned-shirt. "I’d
think you’d make a great cook."
"Because I’m NOT allowed to make
the programs I want to make! As a women, you’re expected to do as you’re
told."
Fortunately, Yuri‘s lament
wouldn’t last for long. She heard a waitress say "Good Evening, Miss" and
turned to see who it was. Suddenly, she froze in place. Her friends looked
at her, then towards what she was looking at. Or rather who she was looking
at. A short, pink-haired teenage girl.
Alix, her class, Jalil, and
Lincoln’s family had arrived in Japan earlier in the afternoon. They went
their separate ways for the day as they explored Japan and its wonderful
sights. It was until dinner that the two groups reunited at the restaurant
to have dinner. This might’ve seem strange to Alix, but things got more
stranger when she stepped into the restaurant. When she walked in, she also
froze in place when she saw Yuri.
"So who’s that?" One of Yuri’s
friends asked.
"Alix!" Yuri shouted in
happiness.
"Yuri!" Alix shouted as well. She
ran toward the table her cousin was. Yuri got up from her seat and the two
girls embraced each other in a bear hug. Might be strange to you, but hey:
these girls haven’t seen each other in eight years. "It’s
nice to see you again, itoko."
"Same to you, cousin."
"So who’s this?" Another one of Yuri’s friends asked.
"This is Alix Kubdel, my cousin from Paris. I haven’t seen her in eight
years."
"You mean since the incident in 2002?" One of her lady friends asked.
"The same one!" Alix replied as she and Yuri broke off from the hug. She
then looked to her left and called out. "Jalil, look who’s here?"
Jalil stepped into sight and couldn’t believe his eyes. "Yuri!" He ran to
her cousin, happy as a clam. But he wasn’t watching where he was going, and
accidentally bumped into a waitress carrying drinks. Luckily, the waitress
was able to regain her balance and keep every drink on the tray from falling
over. But Jalil wasn’t as lucky and fell on the floor, sliding to a stop in
front of Alix and Yuri.
"Sorry about that" Yuri apologized to the waitress before looking down at
her cousin. "Still as clumsy as ever I see."
"Am not! Well… only a little."
"Little is right. Be glad I’m not as big as Godzilla, or else I would’ve
stuffed you between my toes."
"*Gulp* I’m definitely glad you’re not that big."
"Speaking of big, you’ve grown a bit since I last saw you. But you’re still
smaller than Jalil, Alix."
"Yep, it’s great having your big brother follow you everywhere you go" Alix
sarcastically remarked.
"I’m worried about you. Ever since I heard what happened on your fifteen
birthday, plus the fact what happened last time we were here, I didn’t want
you to get hurt."
"And is being a tutor for your sister on a field trip helping her be safe
from all danger?"
"I didn’t want you to get bad grades."
"Field trip?" Yuri asked.
"Yeah, the reason we came here was because Ms. Bustier wanted my class to
find similarities and differences between the cities of Japan and France"
Alix replied. "Akhenaten, here, decided to join to help me get good grades
and protect me from harm. Plus, Dad wanted him out of his hair for a while."
"Thanks to my expert geological skills and knowledge in history, my little
sis will certainly pass" The brunet said.
"You mean the same skills and knowledge you used in order to try to unlock
the secret of the revival of Nefertiti?" Alix asked. Just a few days after
Alix turned fifteen, Jalil was akumatized into a Pharaoh-themed villain. He
was brainwashed into resurrecting Nefertiti by almost sacrificing Alya at
the Louvre.
"Besides that!"
Yuri sat back down and made room for Alix, who sat down next to her. This
would’ve been like violating someone else’s personal space, but they were
family. Jalil, however, had to sit at the opposite end of the table, much to
Alix’s relief.
"You said you were on a field trip with your class," Yuri said. "But where’s
your class?"
"Right here!" Said a voice.
Alix and Yuri looked at the entrance and saw Marinette and her best friend,
Alya Césaire, walk towards them. Alya was tan-skinned and as tall as
Marinette. She had way, reddish-brown ombré hair that grew slightly past her
shoulders, with the tips of her hair having a light shading of copper red.
She had a beauty mark above her right eyebrow. She wore a light berry
colored lipstick and black rimmed glasses, with a white spot on each side.
Her outfit consisted of a white tank top underneath a short-sleeved plaid
shirt with white, orange, and purple stripes; light blue jeans, and white
sneakers with black tops.
"You didn’t forget about us, did you girl?" Alya asked.
"Absolutely not!" Alix replied. "But I’m glad you’re here."
"Um, Alix?" Marinette asked, concerned. "Didn’t Ms. Bustier tell us about
personal space on the ride here?"
"Don’t worry…" Yuri said, "I’m her cousin. It’s fine."
Marinette and Alya couldn’t believed their ears. Alix had told them she had
a cousin, but she never described her. Yet, here she was. Just happening to
be at the same diner they were stopping at.
"You’re Alix’s cousin?" They said at the same time.
"Yep, Yuri Tachibana. Pleasure to meet you two."
Marinette and Alya managed regain their composure and introduced themselves.
"I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng."
"And I’m Alya Césaire. Pleasure to meet you, Yuri."
Alix stood up and walked to the entrance. "I’m going to get the rest of my
class. Be right back." She walked out of sight, and came back a few seconds
later with the rest of her class. She introduced them one by one to her
cousin.
First up was Rose Lavillant; the cutest and nicest girl you would’ve ever
saw. She was petite, standing at 5’0, with a blonde pixie cut hairstyle,
pink lipstick, and periwinkle eyes. She wore a shirt with light pink sleeves
and top front, pink and white stripes on the front, a pink back that had a
golden wing design, and a string tied around her waist. She also had a pink
mini skirt with two white edges at the bottom of her cloth, white leggings,
two pink bracelets around her right wrist, and pink dress shoes. "It’s so
nice to meet you, Yuri. I’m glad Alix has a cousin like you." This made Yuri
blush.
Next was Rose’s gothic friend, Juleka Couffaine. She stood at a medium
height with copper eyes and long black hair, which had violet tips, and
bangs that covered her left eye. She had pale lavender lipstick, and wore a
black shirt with a swan-necked collar, a sea green lined collar (and side
pockets), and black laced short sleeves. On her hands, she wore black
fingerless lace gloves with a diamond pattern design that ended halfway up
her forearm. She also wore purple pants with holes cut above the knees and
black high top sneakers with white soles. Her fingernails were painted grey,
with black nail art of intricate patterns on each one. "Awesome." Juleka was
normally shy and was a girl with few words.
She then introduced Ivan Bruel and Mylene Haprèle, the classmate couple.
Mylene was short and chubby with golden brown eyes and blonde hair(some
strands having been dyed blue, green, and magenta) put in dreadlocks. One
dreadlock on her left side had a purple cat bead, with another dreadlock on
the same side having a golden loop. She wore a pink bandana to hold her hair
back, and a necklace with a stone pendant. She also wore a periwinkle shirt
with a white silhouette on the front of a small bird holding a branch with
leaves, which was underneath an olive green hoodie jacket with a number of
the buttons on the right side; dark gray jean shorts, black leggings, and
dark purple and white sneakers. Ivan, meanwhile, was large and bulky with
gray eyes. His hair: all short and black, with the exception of a tuft long
hair above his forehead that was dyed blond. He wore a black T-shirt with a
white design of two crossing bones printed on the chest. He also wore black
slacks with large belt loops and large pockets, along with white socks and
khaki-colored work boots. Despite his looks, he had a tender heart. They
bowed at Yuri together to be polite.
Next was Lê Chien Kim, Alix’s rival. He was muscular and taller than the
average student at school, probably why he and Alix were rivals. He had
olive skin and gray eyes, and his hair(which he styles) is black with the
end(a sharp quiff) being dyed gold, similar to Ivan. He
wore a red, short-sleeved hoodie jacket with big front pocket (and hoodie)
and some white outlines at certain places. On the front of his jacket was a
white logo: a downward-pointing pentagon outline outside of a smaller,
filled-in pentagon with a red corner and a star. He paired his top with navy
blue track sweatpants, and red, white, and black sports shoes. "It’s nice
finally meet pinkie’s cousin, and you’re a lot taller than her. Guess that
makes you feel superior to her like me."
"Ahem!" Kim looked back to find his
teacher, Ms. Caline Bustier, staring angrily at him. She was tall and
light-skinned, with reddish-orangish hair, pulled back in a high bun. She
had teal eyes, thin light pink lips, and freckles. Her attire consisted of
a light blue jacket, with a teal collared shirt, and a white undershirt
beneath; pair of white earrings, a small gold necklace dangling from her
neck, light blue pants and white dress shoes. "First, it’s inappropriate to
mention a girl’s height. Second, what you said would’ve embarrassed Alix in
front of Yuri’s friends."
"Sorry, Ms. Bustier." Kim then turned
to Alix and Yuri. "Sorry, Alix. Sorry, Yuri. You really do love your cousin,
do you?"
"Yeah. She’s awesome. But I don’t mind
if you make fun of her brother."
"Why me?" Jalil screamed.
"Nope. I’m just going to wait until introductions are done before I can sit
down next to glasses boy."
"Just don’t go too far, Kim" Ms. Bustier reminded Kim before turning to
Yuri. "I’m delighted to meet you, Yuri. I’m Ms. Bustier, the teacher."
"Alix must be lucky to have a teacher like you."
This made Ms. Bustier blush. It wasn’t too often she did that.
After Kim came Max Kanté, who was short, had dark skin, curly brown hair,
and brown eyes. Max wore black-rimmed
glasses, a light green polo shirt, and tan and brown checkered jeans. He
also had suspenders with a light tan line between two dark tan lines and
silver buckles, along with light grayish blue sneakers and a blue watch on
his right wrist. "Salutations, Yuri."
Then came Nino Lahiffe. He was tall,
with short dark brown hair, tan skin, and amber eyes. He wears a plain red
cap atop his head. He also wore black-rimmed glasses, with a pair of dark
gray, blue, and orange headphones found around his neck. He wore a
short-sleeved blue shirt with an eye design on the front, having a black
pupil, white sclera, dark gray upper eyelid with lashes, and light blue
lower lid. Around his jeans was a brown belt. While most of it was hidden by
his shirt, one tip sticks out a little bit below it. He wore lime green,
pink, red, blue, and yellow bands around his right wrist; blue-gray jeans,
and red and white high collar shoes with a white knight design on the
tongues. "A pleasure to meet you, dudette."
Alix then introduced her best friend,
Nathaniel Kurtzberg. He was around her size, with turquoise eyes and messy
red orange hair. He has long bangs that are brushed to the left side of his
face. He wore a red t-shirt with a black design on the front. Over his
shirt, he wore a gray dress jacket with a folded collar, folded sleeves, and
side pockets. He wore purple jeans that are rolled up at the bottom, and his
shoes were gray with white lace, with a white section where his toes would
be. "P-pleasure to meet you, Yuri." Like Juleka, Mylene and Ivan, Nathaniel
was shy and spent most of his time drawing.
"Nathaniel makes cool drawings" Alix
acknowledged Yuri. "He likes to draw his adventures with Ladybug as a hero
called Evillustrator."
"I’d like to here all about it." Yuri
recommended.
Next was Marc Anciel, Nathaniel’s
friend. Marc stood at an average height, and had messy black hair, jade
green eyes, thick eyebrows, pink lips, and a slender face with a pointed
chin. He wore a red hooded jacket with white edges near the zipper and a
white section on the back of the hood. It was lined with pink material.
Underneath was a multi-colored rainbow shirt. It appeared that he wore black
fingerless gloves, ripped dark grey jeans with silver studs along the
pockets and around the waist with a silver buckle, and black boots. His
nails are painted black and he has a black choker around his neck. Like
Juleka, he was very shy and nervous around others… too shy to greet Yuri
(although he did wave a friendly hello to her, which she responded to with a
wave of her own).
Then came Chloé Bourgeois, one of the
meanest girls at school. She was the same height as Alya, with light honey
blonde hair pulled back into a high ponytail, and light ocean blue eyes. She
wore makeup, including light blue eye-shadow, nude lipstick, and light
peach-colored blush. For accessories, she had a gold chain necklace, with a
gold sphere charm. She also had white-rimmed sunglasses on her head.
Additionally, she wore a yellow long-sleeved jacket over a white shirt with
black stripes around the waist. The rest of her outfit included white jean
capris with a belt that has diamond-shaped studs and white dress shoes with
black lining and soles. She gave Yuri an intimidating glare, giving the
redhead the impression that the blonde wasn’t your average student. And she
was right.
Chloe was daughter of the mayor of
Paris, which made her feel that she was the most important thing in the
world. Her subordinate and friend, Sabrina Raincomprix, was around to make
sure she did look important. Sabrina was short, and had orange hair in a
bob style and sea green eyes. She wore a white hairband and glasses with a
pale brown and gray rim. On her lips, she had light pink lipstick. Her
attire consisted of a purple and blue argyle vest, and underneath that, a
white long-sleeved dress shirt with a gray bow tied to the collar. She had
bright blue shorts with a brown belt, black leggings with a dark blue argyle
pattern, bright blue socks, and white sneakers with black soles. Sabrina
crouched behind Chloe, hoping that she wouldn’t get them into trouble.
"So, you’re Alix’s cousin, right?" The blonde asked selfishly. "Well then,
have I got an important question for you…"
Sabrina shrunk behind Chloe. The moment was tense between the blonde and
Yuri. Silence (with the exception of the bustling and chatty customers in
the restaurant) took over. Alix hoped that Chloe’s actions wouldn’t result
in Yuri being akumatized (even though the distance between Yokohama and
Paris was 6,063 miles as the crow flies), and that could be catastrophic.
Finally, the blonde spoke.
"…Does this restaurant serve sushi? Please tell me!"
That shocked everyone, even Sabrina. Even Ms. Bustier was surprised. Never
before had Chloe asked politely without being instructed to. Not to mention
that the blonde rarely ever said please.
"Of course!" Yuri replied. "There’s not a single restaurant in Japan that
doesn’t serve sushi."
"Thank you so much!" Chloe said happily. "As of now, you and I, along with
your cohorts, are now officially my acquaintances!"
"Chloe?!" The blonde turned to see Ms. Bustier staring at her. "Of all the
things I thought you were going to say……… that wasn’t even on the list. I’m
actually very surprised you said please without being reminded."
"This is Japan. Sushi is the main dish here. It’s like I was made for this
place. Plus, maybe Ladybug was right." That surprised Marinette. As Ladybug,
she had asked Chloe to be politer around others. And now it seemed to be
working.
Then came Lila Rossi, a new student from Italy. Lila
stood at an average height. She had olive green eyes and long chestnut brown
hair with bangs. Her hair was loosely tied at the tips with orange bands
where she had two shorter strands of hair. She had red-orange wristbands on
her right arm. Her attire consisted of a red-orange jacket over a dark gray
romper that has tiny white spots, light gray tights and brown high heel
boots.
Like Chloe, Lila was self-obsessed with herself and sought fame. But she
used lies and deception to make friends. This backfired when she first
encountered Ladybug (who the redhead falsely claimed that she and her were
best friends when she’d never actually met the hero before in her life).
Even after being de-akumatized, she loathed the bug-themed heroine and has
done so ever since.
"If you must know, I’ve been to Japan multiple times, and I’ve learned
almost every word here."
"Well then, Lila…" Alix replied, sensing another fib, "can you say hello to
my cousin in Japanese?"
"Well… I-I-I-I… um… Ciao?"
Yuri giggled when she heard that. "It’s Konnichiha", she corrected.
"Right! Sorry. Guess I can’t lie out of every problem."
The next three people weren’t even part of the class, but came for their own
reasons. The first, Luka Couffaine, came with the class to look after his
sister on behalf of their mother’s request. Luka's
eyes were an intense aqua, and had medium-length black hair that had been
dyed teal blue at the tips. His lips were a pale pink and he had a Roman
nose. His attire included
a white shirt with a black imprint of his favorite rockstar, Jagged Stone,
and black jeans ripped at the knee. He also wore a brown leather bracelet,
yellow and orange wristbands, and his fingernails were painted black. He
also had a sky blue jacket with a navy blue hoodie underneath, as well as
randomly patched high top converse. He wore a black ring with silver
outlining on his left pointer finger and black gauges(plugs for people who
stretch their ears). "Don’t worry about introducing yourself. I can feel a
calmness from your heart." Yuri felt a little bit creeped out, but
understood how kind a person Luka was.
Kagami Tsurugi, meanwhile, had
came back to her home country for a visit after transferring to College
Francois DuPont when she moved with her mother to Paris. She stood at an
average height, and had pale
skin, freckles, light brown eyes, and short black hair with blue
reflections(similar to Marinette). She wore a light gray formal vest with a
white short sleeved sailor fuku with a dark red ribbon tied in the center,
gray skirt, white knee-high socks and black shoes. On the ring finger of her
right hand, she wore a black ring that had her family's crest, which
resembled the Japanese kanji for "female" (女) augmented by a long vertical
line dividing it down the middle and a small curved line at the top of the
longer line, which together resembled a rapier. Two long outward spikes
stretched from the mark. "Konnichiha, Yuri-San." she said as she bowed in
front of Yuri, who responded by giving a bow of her own.
Last in the line of three was Manon Chamack; the only young child in the
group. Manon was short with tan skin,
messy dark brown hair pulled back into two ponytails, golden-brown eyes, and
two upper front buck teeth. She wore a white t-shirt, purple denim overalls
with a light purple flower pattern, and red dress shoes with black soles.
The reason why she came with the class was because Marinette and Alya had
promised her mother, Nadja Chamack, that they would look after her while she
was on a business trip(even if it meant bringing the "Little Monkey" with
them). "Who are you?"
"I’m Yuri; Alix’s cousin." Yuri
replied. "I’m a documentary reporter at Bridgestone Digital Q."
"Like Mom? She’s a news reporter at TVi
Studios back home. Her catchphrase is 'Don’t be bemused, it’s just the
news!'"
"Yeah, similar to that. But my
company’s documentaries are a little more… fictional."
"Fictional?" The little brunette
pondered. "You mean your company makes fake documentaries based on Japanese
myths and legends just to earn money and bring fame to the places you
visit?"
"Umm… Yeah." Yuri was amazed of how
well the little child was able to figure out what she meant.
And last, but certainly not least, was
Adrien Agreste, son of Parisian designer Gabriel Agreste, and Marinette’s
personal crush. He stood a head taller than Marinette, around 5'9". He had
brushed-back blond hair and olive green eyes. His skin tone was fair with a
rosy tint, especially on his cheeks, nose, and the tips of his ears. He wore
a white button-down shirt with an upturned collar and sleeves rolled up
above his elbow, which he keeps unbuttoned. Underneath, he wore a black
shirt with five horizontal stripes around the chest which are colored, from
top to bottom, yellow, olive green, bright green, dark green, and
periwinkle. He wore blue jeans and orange sneakers with white laces and a
logo of a black butterfly in a circle on the sides. "Pleasure to meet you,
Madam."
Yuri, however, was frozen in awe. Alix
caught this, and turned to Marinette, Chloé, and Lila. The lunette was
trying to keep herself calm, but the blonde and brunette were green with
envy: growling angrily(with Sabrina fanning Chloé to keep her calm).
Jealousy was always a thing between Marinette and Chloé, as both had a crush
on Adrien. But now with Lila thrown in, things were going to get ugly.
"Are you alright, Yuri?" Adrien asked.
"Sorry. It’s just that…"
"Yes?"
"Behind you."
Adrien turned around and found what Yuri was looking at. Or rather… who Yuri
was looking at. A young boy with white hair. Lincoln Loud.
"Let me guess," the aforementioned boy said, "It’s because of my white hair,
isn’t it?"
Yuri just stood dumbfounded. How could someone so young have white hair?
"Well, you might think this is weird," Ms. Bustier said to Yuri, "but he
looks so extraordinary with that kind of hair."
"I agree," Rose added, "He’s so cute. Almost cute enough to kiss."
"You really think so?" Lincoln asked.
A small peck on his cheek answered him. Lincoln jumped in surprise. He
looked beside him and became annoyed.
The one who kissed him was a girl around the same size and age as Lana, and
looked just like her. Blonde hair. Two front teeth missing. Cute look. But
the similarities ended there. Instead of pigtails, she had her hair worn
down, with a tuft of hair on her head pointing to the right. Her attire
consisted of a long pink gown and sash, a white pearl necklace, long pink
gloves, white earrings, pink heels, and a black tiara on her head. In a
nutshell, this was like a princess version of Lana.
"Lola! Why?!"
"She has a point, Lincoln. You do look cute."
"And so do you," Rose said to Lola.
"Aw, thanks." Then she looked at Alix. "Hey, Alix. Who’s the brunette with
her mouth open?"
"This is my cousin, Yuri Tachibana."
"WHAT?!"
"No need to shout, Lola" Lincoln said. "But Alix, you didn’t tell me you had
a cousin."
"Well, now you know."
"Was she with you during the incident eight years ago?"
"Yes," Yuri replied, "We were lucky to be close to a shelter. But Alix was
trapped outside when Megaguirus attacked. I don’t know how she was able to
survive, but when I saw her in one piece, I cried."
"It was a terrible incident" one of her friends added. "At least a dozen
people were killed. Hundreds were injured. And it took almost a week to
dispose of the burnt insect carcass."
"Ew!" Lola exclaimed.
"Burnt?" Alya asked. "You mean…"
"Godzilla killed it," Alix answered. "Two blasts of his atomic breath turned
Megaguirus into a monstrous ball of fire."
"And Little Miss Hero here claimed she helped the beast," Jalil interrupted.
"We pretended to accept it, but I find it highly implausible for that to
happen. And she still believes it"
"Says the guy who cried for the entire plane ride back to Paris after seeing
me alive."
"I couldn’t help it. I was worried."
"Well, if you must know, that was a big risk I took."
"Well, you might be worthy of becoming the 'Princess of Risks'" said Lana,
whose sudden appearance spooked everyone.
"Lana," Lincoln exclaimed, "I almost thought you were Lucy."
"You called?" The girl in question said, scaring everyone with her sudden
popup, which somehow had a crow cawing.
Lucy had very pale skin and long black hair that covered her eyes. She was
thing, and slightly smaller than Lincoln. Her attire was black and white,
wearing long striped arm sleeves and stockings, a black dress worn over a
white shirt, and, you guessed it, black shoes.
"Glad to see my technique is rubbing off on you, Lana."
"Actually, Lucy, I just walked up to see what the hubbub was all about, and
no one happened to notice me."
"Sigh. Sadly, no one here must like my spookiness."
"I do," said a voice. Lucy turned to see Juleka crouched at eye-level,
smiling. "I wasn’t aware of someone else who was into gothic customs like
me."
"You’re a goth, too?"
"Definitely, and it’s awesome."
"One question. Have you watched Vampires of Melancholia?"
"You mean that show with vampires? What goth wouldn’t watch that?"
"If I had a heart, it would be on the verge of happiness."
While this was going on, Yuri was busy admiring the twins. "You know
something?" She said, "Even though you’re both different, you also look so
cute."
Lola looked at her twin, who was busy picking her nose. She pulled out a
booger-covered finger and stuck into her mouth. "You call that cute?" the
girly twin replied.
"Frankly, yes."
"Well I’m glad I’m not like her."
"And I’m glad I’m not like her," Lana replied. Both twins gave each other a
high-five.
"Well then," Lincoln interrupted, "guess I better bring in the rest of my
family." And with that, the white-haired boy walked out of the restaurant.
"How many siblings does that kid have, Alix?" Yuri asked.
"Ten."
"Ten?!"
"I know. I was surprised, too. Perhaps his parents went a little bit
overboard on the Circle of Life, if you know what I mean."
"We can hear you, you know!" Said Lucy, Lana, and Lola.
"Sorry."
After a few minutes, Lincoln returned with the rest of his family. To Yuri’s
surprise, the siblings were all girls. What kind of family would have only
one boy, and ten girls?
"Yuri," Lincoln began, "meet my family. First up, Lori."
"I literally don’t know why we even came to this restaurant in the first
place," the blonde said. Lori was the tallest sibling and had long blonde
hair. She wore a light blue tank top, brown cargo shorts, blue slip-on
shoes, and blue eyeshadow. She was holding a blue phone, which she seemed to
be texting on.
"Mom said this was closest to our location," Lana replied.
"Just as long as they have sushi, I’m fine. Even though I never actually
tasted sushi before."
Suddenly, she found Chloe standing in front of her. This almost caused her
to drop her phone. She was now looking into the sea-green eyes of whoever
this girl was.
"Did you say you never tried sushi?" Chloe asked.
"Never," Lori nervously replied. "I only dreamed of trying it."
"Well, now’s your chance. Sit by me and I’ll order all the sushi you can
eat."
"Really?"
"Of course. Besides, you kinda remind me of myself."
"I think I’d better check with mom, first."
"Don’t worry, I’m the daughter of the Mayor of Paris."
"What?"
"No need to gawk. Ms. Bustier, can Lori please sit with me?"
"It’s fine by me if it’s alright with her parents, Chloe."
"Mom," Lori asked her mother, Rita. She wore a pink buttoned shirt with a
white collar and cuffs, and purple pants. She had big blonde hair and white
earrings. She also wore blue eye shadow, red lipstick, and black low tops.
Like Lincoln, she had bags under her eyes. "May I please sit Chloe?"
"I don’t see why not," she replied.
"Thanks! Come on, Chloe. Let’s find a seat."
"Sure thing, Lori."
As they walked to a nearby table, Ms. Bustier walked over to Rita. "I never
seen Chloe this nice before. She must be happy to have someone that thinks
just like her."
"She’s not the only one," Rita reminded. She pointed to Lucy, who was
smiling with Juleka.
Next up was Leni Loud. She had long, pale-blonde hair, with side-swept
bangs, and three pairs of eyelashes. As the second oldest Loud, she was
almost as tall as Lori, but taller than the other siblings. Her outfit
consisted off a sea-foam green dress, with white frills, and triangular
sleeves. She also wore red hoop earrings, white sandals topped with light
green bows, and a pair of rounded white sunglasses with black lenses on top
of her head.
"Nice to meet you, Yuri. I’m Leni. My favorite color is zebra. My favorite
food is lunch. I wear a special dress on days that don’t end in 'y'. And the
secret to a great smile is…"
"Yeah, Leni kinda gets carried away," Lincoln interrupted, covering his
sister’s mouth. "But she does have a great taste in fashion."
"Just like Marinette here," Alya said.
"Really?" Yuri asked.
"It’s true," Adrien agreed, "She made a feathered derby hat for my design
show."
Marinette blushed when she heard that. She couldn’t believe Adrien would
back her up. Did he know about her crush on him? Well, she did forget to put
away her posters of him during the "Fill in my Shoes" show, and she did kiss
him on Heroes’ Day. Maybe he might say yes. Hearts started to surround her.
"Creative, yes," Alix said, "But she can be a klutz."
"And a bit overreactive," Adrien added, before smirkingly looking at
Marinette. That caused the hearts surrounding the lunette to shatter. She
then looked away from the blond and whistled nonchalantly. The blond then
turned his attention back to Yuri. "But she’s a good friend. I’m glad to
have someone like her." Marinette looked back at her love with hearts in her
eyes, before looking away when Adrien turned his attention on her.
"Sounds like Leni," Lincoln said, "Creative, klutzy, and very kind."
"Thanks, Linky," the airhead blonde said before looking at Marinette. "Come
on, Marionette. Let’s go sit and talk about fashion designs."
"It’s Marinette, actually."
Leni started walking to a nearby table, hands pronated, and mouth grinning.
But because her eyes were closed, she didn’t see a wall in front of her.
Luckily, Marinette came and grabbed her right before she hit the wall.
"What?"
"Your welcome."
As the two fashion designers walked to their table, Lincoln introduced Luna,
the rockstar of the family. Shorter than Leni, she had short brown hair
styled into a pixie cut, freckles on her face, and light purple eyeshadow.
She wore a purple t-shirt with a white skull, a torn crew neck, and
triangular sleeves; a plaid, lavender skirt, a white belt, high purple
boots, paperclip earrings, three black brackets around her wrists, and a
choker around her neck. "Hello, Yuri. Ya into music?"
"Well, I do like some music. I’m interested in this high school band called
'After School Teatime.'"
"Sounds interesting. Maybe I can hear some of their songs."
Then came Luan. Two words: Full Prankster. She had prominent buck teeth, which
sported silver braces on her upper and lower teeth, and light brown hair
worn up in a large ponytail with a small swirl at the end by a yellow
scrunchie, with two long protruding hairs sticking out from the center of
her forehead. Her attire consisted of a
white sleeveless shirt, a yellow skirt with a checkerboard pattern, yellow
socks with a line pattern that are worn all the way up, and brown shoes. She
also wore three pink flowers, one on her shirt, and one on each shoe, that
served as gag squirt-flowers. "Nice to meet you, Yuri. Want to know how you
sink a battleship?"
"How?"
"You put water in it. Hahahaha. Get
it?"
The Loud siblings groaned at the joke. Yuri, meanwhile, giggled at the joke.
Next up was Lynn. "I didn’t know that Alix had a cousin. Are you into
sports?"
"Well, no. I’m more into movie-making."
"Well, I hope you do sports movies. I’m into those things."
After Lynn came Lisa. For a four year old, Lisa looked like a scientist. She
had short, shaggy brown hair and wore large glasses to help her see. She
wore a green turtleneck sweater, pink pants, and brown shoes, somehow adding
up to her stoic demeanor. "Greetings, human."
"Um," Yuri sputtered. "Hi?"
"Alright, we’re done," Lisa said as she walked to the table Leni and
Marinette were sitting at.
"Sorry about Lisa," Lincoln said to Yuri. "She’s a bit antisocial."
Finally, there was Lily, the youngest Loud. She had a buck tooth and a tuft
of blonde hair on her head. Because the Louds were out in public, Lily had
to wear a lavender t-shirt and blue pants. Yuri found Lily to be cute.
Holding the baby Loud was the father, Lynn Sr. He had a long pointy nose,
brown eyebrows, and curly brown hair thinning at the top. He wore a sea
green sweater over a light green checkered collar and cuffs, brown slacks,
and brown shoes. "Nice to meet you, Yuri. Say hi to Yuri, Lilster."
"Hi, Ui."
The brunette giggled at the remark. She then looked at Alix’s classmates and
the rest of the Loud siblings. They seemed to be well alike in their own
way.
"Pops," Luna asked her father, "can we sit down with Alix’s class?"
"Well…"
"I’m fine with it," Mrs. Bustier answered. "Class, feel free to sit with the
Louds and chat." She then looked at the parents. "I guess we can chat, too.
If you want."
"I’m fine with that," Rita answered.
"I’m going to sit with Yuri," Alix told her teacher. "Keep up to date with
what’s been going on with each of us."
"Well, she’s your cousin, Alix. I’m quite alright with that."
——————————————————————
As Alix sat next to Yuri, the rest of the class, and Louds, were sitting at
a table opposite of them, and sat next to who they thought had similar
interests with them. Ms. Bustier sat with Rita and Lynn Sr. (who was holding
Lily), Lisa sat with Max, Lila, and Kagami; Lola sat with Rose, Lana with
Nino, Marc and Nathaniel; Lucy with Juleka, Lincoln with Adrien, Lynn with
Kim, Luan with Manon, Luna with Luka, Leni with Marinette and Alya, and Lori
with Chloe and Sabrina. The two blondes were busy munching away on sushi.
"It’s so delicious," the oldest Loud sibling replied.
"Told you," the daughter of the mayor replied, "I always order sushi for
breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It’s a delicacy."
"But don’t you order anything else? Like escargot?"
"Nope?"
"Baguettes? Pastries?"
"Pastries, no. Baguettes, sometimes. But it’s only just long bread."
"What about pizza?"
Chloe almost choked on her mouthful when she heard that word. She swallowed
and looked angrily at Lori. "Why would I even order that peasant food?"
"Why wouldn’t you? I’m the oldest, yet I eat pizza almost every night."
Chloe’s anger dissipated into curiosity. She hadn’t figured out why she
didn’t order pizza. Maybe it was because she felt superior to her peers.
"Well, when I get back to Paris, the first thing I’m going to do is order
some pizza. With anchovies."
"Let me guess. Because you like sushi."
The two blondes laughed in happiness. Meanwhile, Sabrina watched in
curiosity. Chloe had never been this friendly before. The others, meanwhile,
were busy chatting about their hobbies.
"Leni," Marinette asked, "why are you into fashion?"
"I, like, do it creativity. It’s something I’m into. What about you?"
"Same reason as you."
"But she mostly does it for Adrien, right?" Alya said.
"Alya!"
"Sorry, Juliet."
——————————————————————
"Mick Swagger, eh?" Luka said to Luna, "I’ve heard of him. He was in Paris
last week. People said he rocked."
"That’s Mick Swagger for you, dude," Luna said. "Any famous musician you
like?"
"Jagged Stone. Legend."
"Bro, that’s totally rocking. Probably as good as Mick Swagger."
"Maybe."
——————————————————————
"How do you get a one-armed man out of a tree?" Luan asked Manon.
"How?" The toddler asked.
"You wave!" The two giggled while the rest of Luan’s siblings groaned. "Now
it’s your turn."
"Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side."
Luan frowned. "That joke’s been overused a lot. No wonder it’s at the bottom
of the 'pecking' order. Get it?"
Once again, the two laughed. And once again, the siblings groaned.
——————————————————————
"So Lynn," Kim asked, "What sport are you good at?"
"All of them," the sporty brunette replied, "I have a championship gaming
system called FLIBBR."
"FLIBBR?"
"Football. Lacrosse. Ice Hockey. Baseball. Basketball. Roller Derby."
"Unbelievable. You’re like the queen of sports."
"I prefer champ. Queen is too girly for my taste."
——————————————————————
"So, how do you manage to live in a large family?" The blond
asked.
"It takes some time, but you get used to it," Lincoln responded.
"What about you?"
"I’m an only child. My mother disappeared. And my father hasn’t
been the same ever since."
"I’m sorry to hear that."
"He’s very stressed and protective. And it feels like he’s hiding
something."
"Well, he’s your dad. He’s probably worried of losing you. Maybe
you can work something out. Take the stress off him."
"Thanks, Lincoln. You’re so inspiring."
——————————————————————
"What’s your favorite part of Vampires of Melancholia?" Juleka asked Lucy.
"Edwin, of course. I have a bust of him with me. Sigh. Sadly, I couldn’t
bring it in."
"Well, maybe you can show to me before you leave."
"Are you girls talking about VoM?" Lori asked.
"Groan," Lucy groaned, "I wish you’d stop calling it that."
"You’re interested in vampires, too?" Chloe asked, creeped out.
"Of course not," Lori responded. "I’m interested in this guy in the show
named Blake Bradley."
"Wait, the Blake Bradley?"
"Yes!"
"I’ve heard about him. He starred in a French Movie I loved. He’s
incredible."
"I know, right?!"
"Groan!" Lucy groaned again.
"And this affects you, how?" Sabrina asked.
"Lori and Leni only watch it because of Blake," the gothic Loud replied,
"But they’re my sisters. So as long as they’re happy, I’m happy."
——————————————————————
"So, how do you avoid being mistaken for a boy?" Nino asked Lana.
"Pigtails, duh. I may play in the mud and eat worms, but I still feel like I
should at least look like a girl."
"Do you always play in the mud?"
"Of course not," Lola joined in. "Sometimes, she likes to help out dad with
chores. She’s an experienced mechanic and plumber."
"Really?" Nino said before turning to Lana. "Bet you’re great around the
house."
"And proud of it," the tomboy replied.
Lola then focused her attention on Rose. "Have you ever tried out for a
pageant?"
"I haven’t. They’re very crowded. I mainly stick to music and drawing."
"Just like us," Nathaniel said from across the table with Marc. They were
busy drawing their next comic.
"I know how you feel," Lola said. "When I entered my first pageant, I was
scared and nervous. But I got the hang of it."
"Good for you," Rose said. "If you can do it, maybe I can too."
"If you want to start a pageant," Lila said, "I can help you. I’ve won many
pageants."
Suddenly, she heard a beeping sound. The brunette looked behind her to see
Lisa holding a device. It looked like a Nintendo DS, but with a red light
attached to it.
"What’s that?"
"My Fib Feeler," Lisa replied. "It blinks when it senses a lie."
"So, that means…"
"Affirmative. You’re lying, Lila."
"So, you haven’t won any pageants?" Rose asked.
"Only one," the Italian girl truthfully admitted.
"Well, maybe you can teach me. Once we get back to Paris, that is."
"Of course."
Meanwhile, Max looked at the device with great awe. "Amazing. For a four
year old, your creative skills are off the charts."
"You’d be surprised about Lisa," Lana said. "She has a college degree, was
nominated in chemistry, and has at least three robots."
"Three?"
"Correct, my fellow hominid. Three workable, robotic units. There’s
Friendbot 1000, Mr. Reinforced Titanium Alloy Arms, and Todd."
"Todd?"
"What? Despite my large cranial capacity, even I can’t resist taking
shortcuts. Plus, it sounded catchy."
"Is there anything you can’t do?"
"Negatory. Except for the fact I’m not allowed to hold a butter knife."
"Is that why I’m cutting your food for you?" Kagami asked. She was, indeed,
using her knife to cut Lisa’s food.
"Technically speaking, yes. I’m also interested in how you were able to
adapt to your current habitat after migrating from your former territory."
"Nani?"
"How did manage to handle moving to Paris from Japan?"
"Well, it was tough at first. The people. The city. Everything. It was so…
different. I was afraid. Stressed. I didn’t know if I could fit in."
"Classic neophobia symptoms."
"But then, I met Adrien. And he helped me adapt to my new life in Paris."
"Normally, I don’t care for these obsolete human emotions, but…" Lisa then
took out a tissue and blew her nose with it. Tears filled her eyes and she
sniffled. "…that was so beautiful."
"Arigato."
Meanwhile, Marinette had heard the whole thing. "Isn’t Adrien the greatest?"
She said to herself.
"Uh…?" Leni said.
"Let’s not interrupt her, Leni," Alya said. "It takes a few minutes for her
to snap out of her Adrien moment."
——————————————————————
"You sure have an interesting class, Ms. Bustier," Rita said.
"And you sure have a big family, Mrs. Loud."
"Well, according to Lincoln, we wouldn’t trade for the world."
"Poo-poo," Lily agreed.
——————————————————————
"Really?!" Alix asked.
"That’s what he said," Yuri answered. She was telling Alix about her meeting
with her boss. "As I told my friends, 'As a woman, you’re expected to do as
told.'"
"I’m happy for you being who you are. Another boy in the family and I’d ask
my father to disown me."
"Hey!" Jalil shouted from the other side.
"Joking!" Alix responded. She then turned to Yuri. "Seriously, Yuri, it’s
just best for you to do what he says until he decides it’s time for the
company to produce an 'actual' documentary. It’s not like the answer to your
lament is going to walk through the door."
Alix was wrong. Yuri heard a man saying "good evening" to someone and turned
to find out who it was. A young man with short black hair and glasss. He
wore a black suit over a plaid-shirt, and with dull-colored jeans and black
shoes. He was slightly taller than Yuri. And he appeared to be walking
towards their table.
"Um, cuz. We have a visitor."
The man walked over to the right side of the table. Alix felt uncomfortable,
while Yuri was delighted to see him.
"You got my message," the brunette said to the man. "So?"
"I’m afraid no one believes about the story about the moving epicenter," he
said. He took out a bag with a book in it and gave it Yuri. "But…"
As Yuri opened the bag, she read the cover of the book. The title translated
into "The Guardian Monsters" in English. Yuri was confused, and so was Alix.
"This book might contain clues to what happened yesterday," the man said.
"The context in here is very interesting and mysterious." He then looked at
Alix. "Who’s she?"
"I’m Alix. Yuri’s cousin from Paris."
"Sorry, it’s just that Yuri mentioned she had a cousin in Europe. But I
never thought it was you."
"Well, now you know. Right, Yuri? Yuri?"
She looked at her cousin. Her face showed expressions of shock and
curiosity. Alix then looked at the book she was reading, and couldn’t
believe her eyes. On the pages Yuri was reading were pictures of three,
outlandish creatures. One was a dragon with three heads, two tails, and
fours legs, with the forelimbs having wings like a bat. The second creature
resembled a dinosaur with a nasal horn and big ears, and bumps which
resembled rose petals. And the final creature looked like a butterfly or
moth, but not like any she saw.
"Alix?" Jalil asked. He stood up and walked to where Alix was sitting. He
then looked at the pictures and gasped.
"What is it?" The man asked.
"Those creatures…" Jalil began. "They… they…"
"They resemble the pictures on my amulet," Alix finished. She took out her
amulet and showed it to the man. "I found this during the Megaguirus attack
in 2002 by the Daiba Nursery. I didn’t know what the pictures meant, until
now."
Yuri looked at the amulet, then at the book. "They have similar pictures.
The symbols of the creatures next to the orbs…"
"…must represent the Guardian Monsters. This amulet must be linked to them."
"Then listen to this," the man said, "the dinosaur with ears is called
Baragon. The insect is called Mothra. And the three-headed dragon is called
Ghidorah."
"Baragon, Mothra, and Ghidorah. The Guardian Monsters." Alix then took a
look at the orbs each symbol was next to. "What do the orbs represent?"
"According to the book, the monsters are worshipped as gods. Baragon is
known as the 'The God of the Earth'. Mothra is the 'God of the Sea.' And
Ghidorah is the 'God of the Sky.'"
"Earth, sea, and sky." Jalil memorized the thoughts in his head.
"Does the book say anything about the foot next to the shadow?" Alix asked,
"Or the dinosaur that looks like Godzilla?"
Yuri quickly flipped through the pages. "No. There’s nothing in here about
any of those."
"Well, we know what the orbs and the symbols next to them stand for," Jalil
said, trying to cheer his sister up.
And it worked…
…just a bit.
Alix was still curious on what the symbol of the foot and dinosaur meant.
Could it be linked to Godzilla? Or was it something entirely different?
——————————————————————
6:00 P.M.
——————————————————————
After everyone finished their meals, they all walked out of the restaurant
feeling content. Well, almost everyone. Alix was still concerned about the
amulet. Yuri, meanwhile, had accidentally become drunk and had a hard time
moving on her own. So the man who gave her the book decided to give her a
ride home in a taxi.
"I’m sorry about my cousin, Mr…"
"Takeda. Teruaki Takeda."
"Sorry, Mr. Takeda. I hope she wasn’t too much trouble."
"Are you that guy Yuri talks about as a boyfriend?" Jalil asked.
"No, I’m not her boyfriend. I’m just a friend trying to help her."
"Sorry about that."
"It’s fine. Almost everyone gets me confused as her boyfriend."
"Alix," Ms. Bustier called out, "time to go."
"Guess we’ll have to say goodbye to Yuri, Alix," Jalil said.
Just then, Alix had an idea. "Maybe we don’t."
"What?"
"Stay here," the pink-haired girl said to her brother and Takeda. She walked
over to her teacher and her class. "Ms. Bustier, can we please sleep at
Yuri’s house tonight? Her father, my uncle, would be proud to see us."
"While I’m aware of how much you miss her, I don’t want you and your brother
to get lost and miss the class assignment."
"Who said it was just me and Jalil?"
"Wait, you mean?"
"Why not let the whole class sleep at my uncle’s house for the remainder of
our field trip?"
"I’m not sure if he’ll be happy to have a whole class sleep in his house for
six days."
"Don’t worry. I’ll take full responsibility of it."
"Okay, Alix. You win. But I’m not sure if all of us can fit into a cab."
Alix then looked at the Louds, who were getting into Vanzilla, the family
van. She then smirked. She had another idea.
——————————————————————
Tachibana Apartment Residence
6:30 P.M.
——————————————————————
Takeda guided the drunk Yuri through the entrance of the apartment and to
her uncle’s door. Alix and Jalil followed suit. Then, the door opened, and
out came Tazio Tachibana. He hadn’t changed since Alix last saw him. He was
wearing a white buttoned shirt and black trousers.
Takeda looked at him nervously, then at Yuri. "I just brought Yuri home,
sir," he stuttered.
"Thank you," Tazio replied calmly, "I’m very grateful."
Yuri then opened her eyes and saw her father. "Daughter Yuri reporting for
duty," She drunkly joked.
"I don’t find any of this funny," her father replied. He then looked at
Takeda. "I’m sorry for all the trouble." Then, he saw Alix and Jalil
standing behind Takeda. "Alix? Jalil?"
"Konnichiwa, Senpai," Alix greeted.
"Hi, uncle," Jalil said.
Alix walked over to her uncle, who responded by giving her a big hug. "I
missed you very much."
"Me too. I haven’t seen you for eight years."
"Why are you here?"
"I’ve came here on a class field trip."
That’s when Tazio released Alix from his embrace. "And where is your class?"
"That’s the thing. I asked my teacher if they could sleep here for the
remaining six days. I promised I would take full responsibility. I promise
if anything goes wrong, I’ll do anything in my power to make it up to you.”
"Alix, you’re still as brave and responsible as ever."
"So?"
"I guess it can’t hurt me if I don’t say no."
"So that means…"
"I’d be happy to allow your class to sleep here for six days. Just make sure
they don’t do anything foolish."
"Arigato, Uncle Tazio."
"So, where’s your class?"
——————————————————————
Alix showed her uncle Vanzilla, where her class and the Louds were waiting
for the stamp of approval.
"They’re all in there?"
"Yes, and I think they won’t like staying in there for much longer."
"Well, let them out."
"Okay, but stand back."
"Why?"
"I’d wouldn’t want to get hurt in the avalanche."
"What avalanche?"
Alix and Jalil opened the back doors of Vanzilla. Just as they did, an
avalanche of Alix’s classmates and the Loud siblings fell out onto the
parking lot. Manon and Lily were on the top of the heap of exhausted and
bruised students.
"That avalanche," Alix answered. "So?"
"You didn’t tell me how many students were in your class. And who’s the
baby?"
"That’s Lily. She’s from the family who offered their van to give us a ride
here."
"I’m sorry, Alix. But I don’t think my apartment room can fit all of them."
Alix looked at her classmates, depressed. "But, that doesn’t mean I won’t
accept them."
"Really?"
"Of course. Some of them can sleep in our room. The rest can sleep in the
two rooms above us. They’ve been vacant for three years. No one has ever
bought either of them."
"Sounds like a deal," Ms. Bustier said from the pile.
——————————————————————
As soon as everyone else managed to free themselves from the pile, they
introduced themselves to Tazio and made plans on who would sleep where.
Along with Alix and Jalil, Lincoln, Lana, Lucy, Lisa, Juleka, Marinette,
Sabrina, Manon, Nathaniel, and Marc would sleep in the Tachibana residence.
Meanwhile, Rita, Lynn, Kim, Alya, Rose, Lola, Leni, Kagami, Mylene, and Ivan
would sleep in the room to the left. Lynn Sr., Luna, Luka, Lori, Chloe,
Luan, Max, Lila, Nino, Adrien, Ms. Bustier, and Lily would sleep in the room
to the right.
Yuri had already been put to bed after Tazio agreed to Alix’s request. Alix
and Jalil decided to sleep with her. Just to be safe. Manon, Lincoln, Lana,
Marinette, Marc and Nathaniel slept in the living room, while Lucy, Juleka
and Lisa slept in Tazio’s room(as they were the quietest of the group).
It wasn’t long before everyone was sound asleep. Well, almost everyone. Lana
prayed to God that he keep her animals safe until she came back. They were
being watched over by Bobby Santiago, Lori’s boyfriend. And let’s just say
he was having difficulty.
——————————————————————
8:30 P.M.
——————————————————————
Just two hours later, and everyone was fast asleep. Yuri was starting to
feel better, as her body was getting rid of the alcohol in her body. It
seemed as if everything would be fine.
But, it wouldn’t.
Just a few seconds later, Marinette sleepily opened her eyes. She had woken
up for a glass of water. The lunette tiptoed to the kitchen to get a drink.
Her purse hung on the coatrack. Suddenly, something phased through it. It
was 4 inches tall, and resembled a ladybug, with two antennae, and a large
black spot on its forehead, back, on each side of its head. But it lacked
wings and flaps, had a mouth like other vertebrates, and had three,
feathered tips vertically aligned. This was Tikki, Marinette’s kwami and
best friend.
"Evening, Tikki," Marinette whispered.
The kwami yawned and looked at her friend. "Evening, Marinette," she replied
silently. Her voice sounded hoarse, even though she was whispering.
"You sound parched," the lunette said, "I was just helping myself to a glass
of water. You can have some if you like."
"Thanks."
Marinette picked out a glass cup from the cupboard and put it in the sink,
under the faucet. She turned it on and the cup with filled to the rim with
water. Then, she turned off and let Tikki take a big sip of water. After the
kwami was done, the lunette picked up the cup and chugged down the rest of
the water until the cup was empty. Then she filled the cup with more water
and left it in the sink. Then she tiptoed back to her sleeping place.
Or she would’ve… had it not been for one thing…
Marinette soon felt like she was being watched. She looked to her left and
almost gasped. Watching her from the window was a young girl. She had bright
pink hair done in cone-shaped odangos that resembled rabbit ears with puffy
pigtails, and red eyes. She appeared to be wearing a white, short-sleeved
sailor fuku with single white linings at the ends of her sleeves, a blue
pleated skirt, and white socks and shoes. She had four red bows on her, one
on the center of her fuku, one on the back of her skirt, and two on the
front of her shoes. The girl waved to her then dashed off into the night.
"Did you that?" Marinette asked her kwami quietly, only to realize she
wasn’t there. "Tikki?"
"Sorry, Marinette," The kwami said as she phased through the purse again,
"But you know I can’t be seen by other humans except for Master Fu."
"It’s alright, Tikki." The lunette then looked back out the window. "That
child must be lost. It’s not safe for children to be out at this hour. I
have to find her, then bring her back to her house."
"And by you, you mean 'Ladybug', right?"
"You always know what I mean, Tikki." The lunette then tiptoed to the door,
then she opened it very slowly and quietly. After she and her kwami were
outside, she quietly closed the door and rushed onto the parking lot. She
took a peak around to see if anyone was out. She didn’t want to be spotted.
Thankfully, no one was outside at the moment.
"Time to transform, Tikki," Marinette said. Soon, her blacks earrings
suddenly sparked and turned red. "Tikki, spots on!" The lunette said as she
brushed her left earring. Tikki flew into it and the five black dots
appeared on the earring, giving off the pattern of a five-spotted ladybug.
Marinette then brought her hands to her face and brushed them on it as a red
mask with five black spots on it, symmetrical in design, formed around her
eyes. Then, she spun around as a red suit with blacks spots on it formed
over her body. A ladybug-themed yo-yo materialized on her hips. Red strings
sprouted from her ponytails. She was now "Ladybug", the defender of Paris.
Ladybug took out her yo-yo and swung it at a ventilation shaft on another
building, which coiled around it like a grappling hook. Then, she let the
yo-yo pull herself up to the roof of the building. Once she reached it, the
yo-yo untangled itself, and Ladybug put it away for the moment. She scanned
her surroundings for any sign of the pink-haired girl.
Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of something running down the street. It was
small and had pink hair.
"Bingo," Ladybug said.
Suddenly, the child took out a round object that looked like a cat’s head,
with an antenna. Then, the girl bounced it, and the ball burst into a puff
of smoke, before it turned into a small biplane. Ladybug couldn’t believe
what she was seeing. 'An akumatized villain?' She thought. The girl got in
the plane and started it up. Ladybug quickly took out her yo-yo and started
swinging it like a lasso. As the plane took off into the sky, the masked
lunette threw her yo-yo at it, grappling it around the hind wheel. She held
on tight to the string as she was pulled up into the air by the plane. If
this was an akumatized villain, she had to stop her.
——————————————————————
Lake Ikeda
10:05 P.M.
——————————————————————
Ladybug felt like her fingers were going to fall off. She’d been holding on
to her yo-yo for over an hour. But if she let go, she’d fall to her death.
How long would it be until this girl landed? Unless, she knew she would
follow her.
She didn’t have to worry long. The plane slowly began to descend, and
Ladybug finally had a chance to get back on the ground. She let the yo-yo
untangle itself and allowed herself to fall into the forest beneath her. She
then use her yo-yo to grapple a tree branch as she swung under it and onto
the forest floor, and reeled her yo-yo in.
The lunette then scanned her surroundings. The good news was she was on the
ground. Bad news was that not only had she lost the plane, but she was in
unfamiliar territory. How was she going to find her way out of here?
Suddenly, she heard rustling in the foliage behind her. Ladybug quickly
turned around, expecting the girl. Instead, she found a sika deer grazing
nearby.
"Silly, Marinette," The lunette said to herself, "Scared by a deer. What’s
next? A squirrel?"
Suddenly, loud popping noises echoed through the forest. The deer got
spooked and took off. Ladybug looked towards where the sound was coming
from. She followed it towards the lake.
When she got out of the forest, she saw a group of teenagers on the
lakeside. They were lighting fireworks and having fun. It was typical for
teenagers to stay up at night and do crazy things. But then she remembered
about the girl. She’d better get these people to safety before anything bad
happens, even if they didn’t recognize her.
"Excuse me," Ladybug said as she jogged out of the forest. "I’m sorry to
interrupt your moment but…"
"Whoa, nice costume," one of the teenagers said. "But, isn’t it a bit too
early for the comic-con?"
"Um, actually, I’m not a cosplayer. I’m a superhero. My name’s Ladybug."
"Okay, Chiharu," a female teen said, "We get it. You always let us know
about the comic-con by wearing a costume two days before it happens."
'Chiharu,' Ladybug thought, 'Who are they talking about?'
"So, are you going to come have fun or not?"
"Well, actually, I thought I saw something moving through the woods," The
lunette replied. If she wanted to get these people out of here, she had to
trick them into leaving. "I thought it was a bear. Are there bears here?"
"Sometimes."
"Well, I think I saw a bear. We should leave."
"Come on, Chiharu!" One of the teens replied, "Are you scared of just one
bear?"
"No, I’m scared of you all probably getting killed by it."
"Okay, we’ll go…" said one of the teenagers, probably the leader.
"Finally," Ladybug sighed.
"…after we get some drinks from the convenience store."
"Convenience store?"
——————————————————————
*CRASH*
The sound of smashing glass was like the school bell for Ladybug. She wanted
the teenagers to leave for their own safety. Instead, they seem to be
completely ignoring her warnings. If she had told them the truth, the result
would be the same, with her being laughed at.
She angrily sat outside the store, with a barking guard dog to keep her
company. Inside, some of the teenagers were ransacking shelves and coolers
for food and drinks. If this is how many Japanese teenagers behaved, she was
out of her league. Or maybe it was because they’ve never seen nor heard of
akumas before.
"Hey, Chiharu," one of the male teens replied, "Do us a favor and help
Shusuke and Kow find something big?"
"For what reason?" The lunette replied.
"To put something on top of that stupid dog so it can drown in the lake," a
female teen replied. "I hate dogs."
"And why would I do that?"
"Because you always volunteer to do something," the leader replied. "And for
once, you’ll do something useful."
"Okay! That’s it. Breaking into a convenience store is one thing. But
drowning an innocent dog in the lake? Are you crazy?!"
"You’ll do as told."
"But what about the bear?!"
"We have fireworks. We can scare it off."
"And with we run out?"
"Then, we leave."
Ladybug was now between the lesser of two evils. On one hand, she could get
the teens to leave by simply doing one simple task, but said task meant
drowning an innocent dog. On the other hand, she could save the dog and get
as far away as she could, but that would mean the teens would get attack by
the akumatized villain. Whose life was more valuable: the dog’s or the
teens’?
"Hey, Kiyotaka," said Kow. He and Shusuke were coming back from the lakeside
with a small statue in hand. "We found something."
"Excellent," the teen named Kiyotaka said. He then turned to Ladybug. "Guess
you weren’t needed after all."
"Well, guess not. But, you can’t drown that dog."
"If you want us out," Shusuke began, "you can talk to that old man we saw
back there and apologize to him."
"And why would I want to do that?"
"Do that," Kiyotaka said, "and we’ll bring the dog to a kennel or something.
Okay?"
"Fine!" The lunette fumed as she walked to the location Shusuke said he saw
the man. 'These teens are even worse than Chloe or Lila,' she thought.
When she reached the location, she saw an old man watching her from the
brush. He had a beard, mustache, and hair that went down to his neck; all
white. He had a rounded hat on his head and was dressed like a hermit.
Scarlet-colored buttoned shirt, a black vest, and black pants.
This was the same man Yuri saw when she was on Mt. Myoko.
Ladybug was a bit creeped out by his appearance, but she had to do this.
"Excuse me, mister. My name’s Ladybug. You probably never heard of me, but
that’s okay. The important thing is that I’m sorry for what those teens did.
Basically, I’m just trying to warn them of bears around here, but they
aren’t taking it seriously, and now they want to drown…" As Ladybug looked
back at the teens, she could see Shusuke putting the statue in a box, with
the dog inside. "I can’t believe! They lied to me! Don’t worry, mister. I’m
going to try and…" But as soon as Ladybug looked back at the man, he was
gone. Vanished.
"Okay." She quickly ran back to the area the teens were hanging out. "Guys,
I think we should leave, now."
"Did you take care of the man?" Kiyotaka asked.
"Forget the man!" Ladybug shouted. "We need to get out of here! There’s
something more stranger out here. And I don’t want to stick here to find
out!"
"Relax," one of the female teens said. "What could go wrong?"
"Wait, weren’t there more of you?"
"Shusuke, Mori, Kow, and Maasaki are on a boat. They’re taking the dog
across the lake."
"Tell them to come back. They’re going to get killed!" Ladybug’s ranting was
followed by silence before being answered by laughter.
"And what pray tell would kill them? The Loch Ness Monster? The Kappa?
Godzilla?"
Suddenly, a loud splash got their attention. They looked out at the lake.
The boat the teens Kiyotaka mentioned were used had suddenly turned over,
and they fell into the lake. The rest of the group rushed to the edge of the
lakeside to get a closer look. Ladybug, meanwhile, stayed put, for she saw
something moving under the water. The four teens on the boat surfaced.
Shusuke was the first to surface, followed by Mori, Kow, and Maasaki. "What
the heck is going on?" He said before he was pulled forcefully underwater.
"What’s the matter?" Mori sarcastically said to Shusuke(even though he was
fifteen feet under the surface). "Can’t you…" was all she could say before
she, too, was pulled underwater.
"Help!" Kow shouted before he and Maasaki met the same fate.
The rest of the teens watched in horror. It had been thirty seconds, and
neither of the four had surfaced. Ladybug was now shaking, terrified. Never
before had something scared her this much.
Suddenly, the water where the teens were exploded upwards, and out came
Shusuke, Mori, Kow, and Maasaki. The four were launched out of the depths
and into the sky. Then, gravity took hold and the four fell into shallow
water, splashing the others.
"What happened?" Kiyotaka asked.
"Something big knocked over the boat. It dragged us underneath, yet it
didn’t eat us."
"What did the thing look like?" Ladybug asked, running over to the others.
"It had pink hair, glowing blue eyes, and human-like hands. No way am I
going back in there."
"The akumatized villain," Ladybug said to herself. She almost forgot she was
among others.
"What?" One of the female teens said.
"Nothing."
"You said something about a villain, didn’t you Chiharu?"
Ladybug couldn’t take it anymore. She had to tell the truth, even if it
meant getting laughed at. She took a deep breath and said, "Yes, I did. And
my name’s not Chiharu. It’s Ladybug. I’m a super-heroine who traveled from
Paris to follow a group of school kids to protect them. That is my mission.
Yet, while out on patrol, I thought I saw a young girl with a ball that
turned into an airplane. I thought she was akumatized because in Paris,
there’s a villain named Hawkmoth who evilizes others to do his bidding. I
followed the girl here to stop her. But when I found you, I lied about the
bear so you could all leave. But you didn’t care, you wanted to steal food,
drown a dog, and let me handle an old man, who, by the way, disappeared when
I looked back at him. And, now that you’ve seen something scary in the lake,
we should all get out of here before we all get killed!"
The teens remained silent. The only sounds were the crickets, the waves, and
the box with the dog in it washing ashore. It pushed the statue off of it
and ran into the convenience store.
"Seriously, Chiharu," Kiyotaka said, "During a moment like this."
"Alright, mister!" Ladybug snapped. "You asked for it!" Before she could
tackle him, she saw the water rise up. The lunette gasped and tripped as she
stepped away from the lake. "Behind you!"
The teens looked back as the rising water rained back into the lake,
revealing a giant humanoid. It looked exactly like the girl Ladybug saw, and
probably was the same girl. Mori screamed as she and the rest of the teens
ran back to their cars. Kiyotaka, however, bumped into Ladybug and the two
fell onto the ground. Before either of them could get up, two giant fingers
picked up Kiyotaka by his hoodie and dangled him in front of a pair of blue
eyes.
"So, you’re the leader of this troublesome group of teens, huh?" The
giantess asked.
"Yes," the teen said with hints of fear. "Please don’t hurt me."
"Well, as much as I’d love to crush you or eat you, you get your wish." The
pink-haired giantess placed the frightened Kiyotaka on the ground. "Now get
out before I change my mind." The teen didn’t need to be told twice. He
scampered away as fast as he could. The giantess watched as he disappeared
into the foliage. She then turned her attention to Ladybug. "And as for
you…"
"Please, don’t eat me!" The lunette said. However, she heard giggling and
saw the giantess laughing. "What’s so funny?"
"Why on Earth would I eat Ladybug, the Parisian superhero?"
"You heard of me?"
"Of course, who hasn’t? You’re very popular in Japan."
"Thanks. So, you aren’t an akumatized villain?"
"Nope, just a young girl zapped by a growth ray, Marinette."
"Unbelievable. How do you have a shrink… Wait, what did you call me?!"
"Marinette. As in Marinette Dupain-Cheng."
"How do you know who I am?"
"To tell you the truth, I’ve asked Sailor Pluto to let me visit Paris to see
what life is like there. I disguise myself as either a Parisian or turn
invisible. And I’ve seen you transform on certain occasions."
"I can’t believe it. Wait, did you say Sailor Pluto?"
"Yes. I call her Puu for short."
"Is she related in anyway to Sailor Moon?"
"Duh."
"Do you know Sailor Moon?"
"Know her? She’s my big sister."
"What?!"
"Actually, her civilian form, Usagi Tsukino, is. Her future form, Princess
Serenity, is my mother."
"Future?"
"Yep."
"Which means?"
"I come from the future. My name is Chibiusa Tsukino. Also known as Sailor
Chibi Moon."
"So, there are other Sailor heroes?"
"Yep. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, and my best friend,
Saturn."
"Lincoln didn’t tell me about them," Ladybug said to herself again. And once
again, she forgot about being next to someone else.
"Lincoln? As in Lincoln Loud?"
"Wait, you know him?"
"I only saw him once. I know his sister, Lisa Loud. She claims she’s better
than Mercury, called her an ignoramus. She tried to get my time traveling
secrets. She even asked BiggerBetterBarbie to deliver an envelope to me."
"What did it say?"
"Said I’m a fool if me and the Senshi were the only ones to use time
travel."
"Well, she doesn’t seem as simple-minded as the rest of her family."
"There, see?"
"Now, can I address the elephant in the lake? What were you doing?"
"I just felt like growing and rampaging. And Yokohama seemed like a good
place. But when I saw you in the window, I realized I had to confront you
and meet you face-to-face. I’d knew you’d come after me. You didn’t think I
realize you were hanging on to your yo-yo, right?"
"No?"
"Liar. But when I saw those teens down there, I couldn’t resist growing. I
decided to drink a potion that would not only make me big, but also allow me
to breathe underwater."
"Well, I was scared out of my wits when you emerged from the lake. I thought
you were akumatized."
"And is that how you treat all people you don’t know by appearance?" Ladybug
remembered when she thought a Santa lookalike who brought Adrien to his
house was an akumatized villain. This actually made him akumatized by
Hawkmoth. The lunette smiled nervously, and Chibiusa could see through it.
"Thought so."
"Well, now that those troublemakers are gone, better return this statue to
its rightful place." But as soon as she picked it up, suddenly, a strange
band of energy ran into her body and electrocuted her. It was as if the
statue was like an electric fence. Then, she felt herself being thrown off
the ground and landed in the bushes. Chibiusa walked towards her. When the
lunette recovered and stepped out of the brush, she realized she was no
longer Ladybug. She was now plain-old Marinette. "What happened? Tikki?"
The kwami emerged from the shrubbery, shaken, but not seriously hurt. "I’m
not sure, but apparently, that blast was powerful enough to separate us. It
was almost like it was absorbing our DNA."
"DNA? How?"
"Not sure."
"Maybe, it’s a magical statue," Chibiusa said.
"Maybe," Tikki agreed.
"Well, that’s probably the craziest…" Marinette said before she realized
something. "Hold on. Tikki, why aren’t you freaked out by the fact there’s
another being here? You said you’re supposed to be seen by only me and
Master Fu."
"Well, the Sailor Guardians once helped the Keepers of the Miraculous in
fighting evil. They were use to seeing kwamies."
"Well, now that that’s out of the way, may I continue in saying that the
statue being magical is probably the craziest I’ve ever heard?"
"Well, you just said it," Chibiusa said
"And there is magic in this world," Tikki added.
"Okay. So if the statue was magical, why would it zap us and take our DNA?"
She was going to find out. Suddenly, the water began to rise as something
big and round moved towards the shore. Chibiusa, Marinette, and Tikki looked
out and slowly stepped(or hovered in Tikki’s case) away from the lakeside.
"Please tell me that’s a friend of yours."
"Actually, I wish it was either Ami or Michiru. But it’s not." And she was
right.
As the water fell of the object’s back, it revealed it to be a giant
caterpillar. A giant, brown, segmented caterpillar with tusks, vertical
mouth, and blue eyes. If you haven’t already guessed yet, this was Mothra,
the Guardian of the Sea.
"What do we do?!" Marinette asked the giant pink-haired girl.
"I got this," Chibiusa said before turning to the caterpillar. "Alright,
fiend. Back down or get ready for a fight. Because in the name of the moon,
I’ll punish you."
Mothra didn’t heed the warning. It chirped and inched closed to Marinette
and Tikki.
"HHHEEEEEELLLLLLLLPPPPPPPP!"
——————————————————————
Chapter 3. The Second Guardian, Transformation, Meeting, and The Rise of
Godzilla
Lake Ikeda
10:15 P.M.
——————————————————————
Marinette closed her eyes tightly as the giant caterpillar closed in. She
wanted to transform, but was too scared to do so. Even if she could conquer
her fear, Tikki was exhausted, and she hadn’t brought any food along either.
She couldn’t use the food from the convenience store, because she would feel
guilty. And if she did, it would be too late.
There was only one option left…
Quickly, Marinette opened her eyes and turned to face Chibiusa. If she was a
sailor guardian, she could handle this thing no problem, thanks to her size.
"Chibiusa!"
"Already covered!" The young giantess said as she took out a heart-shaped
brooch from her pocket. It had a pink diamond-like object in the center,
surrounded by a golden casing. The top of the object resembled a crown, with
a shiny pink oval in the center, and two small circles (green on the left,
blue on the right). This was Chibiusa’s transformation brooch, which she
used to transform into Sailor Chibi Moon.
"Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"
As soon as the young pink-haired girl shouted those words, the brooch
opened, revealing a shiny crystal. This was the Silver Crystal she brought
with her from the future. The brooch then closed itself up, and attached
itself to Chibiusa’s body.
The pink-haired girl began to illuminate as pink ribbons shot out from the
brooch, surrounding her body. They wrapped around her upper body before
forming into a sailor fuku, with a pink collar (with two white lines)
equipped with it. A red bow spouted from the brooch. More ribbons wrapped
around her legs, forming pink boots, followed by a equally pink skirt, with
another bow forming on it. Red gem earrings formed on her ears. White gloves
formed across her arms, with bright pink ends. A pink choker with a yellow
heart at the center appeared on her neck. Two feather-like barrettes formed
on her odangos, each with a red orb under one. Three smaller barrettes
formed above her eyes. Finally, a golden tiara (with a red gem in the
center) formed across her forehead. As all of these formed, pink hearts
popped up. Chibiusa then struck her final pose. She was now Sailor Chibi
Moon.
In addition to her appearance, her eyes also reverted back to red(the blue
eyes being a side effect of the potion she drank).
"I am the pretty young guardian who fights for love and for justice. I am
Sailor Chibi Moon. In the name of the future Moon, I’ll punish you."
Marinette stared in awe at the guardian’s appearance. Sure, she was big, but
she was also beautiful. 'I have to ask Lincoln about this when I get back,'
she thought to herself.
Mothra stopped her advance when she saw Chibiusa transform. She turned to
face this new opponent. The caterpillar chirped tauntingly at the giantess.
"Luna-P, lend me my Pink Moon Rod."
As soon as she said that, the cat head object from before appeared, hovering
next to the giantess. Then, in a puff of smoke, it was replaced by a pink
rod, which Chibiusa caught. The top had a heart-shaped object similar to her
brooch, but with a pink star(which resembled the star of a Christmas tree)
on top(with gold ball on each of the corners). The heart stood on what
looked like a queen crown, with wings sprouting from it(all magenta in
color). Finally, there a red star-like button at the front. This, of course,
was Sailor Chibi Moon’s weapon of choice, the Pink Moon Rod.
Suddenly, the heart on the rod began to glow as Chibiusa swung it and spun
around, with a trail of hearts following it.
"Pink Sugar Heart Attack!"
A bunch of big, pink hearts appeared around the young sailor scout and flew
towards Mothra. They struck her with great force, causing her to squeal in
pain.
"Direct hit!" Marinette said.
"That’s why it’s my favorite," the giantess said. During the fight with the
Death Busters, Chibiusa and the other scouts faced off against the
spider-like Daimon, Staff. After accidentally coming into contact with a
vial of growth goo that was suppose to enlarge Staff(which it did, of
course) she grew to a height of thirty meters(half the size of Godzilla).
After seeing Staff(which was as tall as her shoe) down at her feet, she used
her attack on it, instantly pulverizing the beast into almost nothing.
Of course, this was how she started enjoying herself as a giantess, fyi.
But because the giantess was facing an opponent her size, the attack was
only enough to hurt the giant lepidopteran larva. In retaliation, the
caterpillar suddenly sprayed a silk-like substance from its mouth. It
wrapped around the Pink Mood Rod, along with Sailor Chibi Moon’s hands. In a
matter of seconds, the giantess’ arms(along with her moon stick) were cuffed
together by the sticky substance.
"I can’t pull my hands apart," the giantess said. "What is this stuff?"
"It looks like silk," Tikki replied. "Judging by how strong and sticky it
is, that thing probably uses it in defense."
"So it spits silk," Chibi Moon said. "Big deal. It’s not like it has any
other attack."
The giantess would be wrong. The larva suddenly reared up as its chest
suddenly glowed blue. Then, it shot a bluish-green beam of energy from it,
which struck Chibi Moon, sending her flying.
"Ahhhhh!" The giantess screamed.
"Chibiusa!" Marinette cried. The pink-haired scout landed on the convenience
store, crushing it(and everything in it) under her back(the dog managed to
escape when Mothra rose up from the lake). Fortunately, she wasn’t seriously
hurt. But because her hands were stuck together in webbing, it would take a
few minutes to get free and stand back up. Marinette wanted to run to assist
the giantess, but couldn’t because Mothra was directly in front of her.
Having seen what the silk could do to a giantess, she tried to perish the
thought of what it would do to a human.
"Marinette!" Tikki shouted.
"Please!" Marinette suddenly said to the mammoth lepidopteran. "I’m sorry if
we disturbed you, but we were only trying to scare away some teens from the
lake. We didn’t mean you any harm. If you let us go, we’ll promise to let
everyone know about you and that you shouldn’t be disturbed. Okay?"
The caterpillar stared at Marinette with its blue eyes. The lunette hoped
she managed to convince it to leave(even though it was simply a caterpillar,
and it didn’t even understand human languages). Suddenly, the larva began to
glow bright red. Marinette and Tikki shielded their eyes from the intense
brightness. Meanwhile, Chibi Moon, who just recovered from the attack, could
tell something was happening from the glow she saw from the corner of her
eyes. She had to see this clearly.
"Pink Sugar Heart Attack!"
The Moon Rod(still cocooned in the silk) began to glow pink. Suddenly, the
webbing exploded off the giantess’ hands, freeing them and the Moon Rod.
Chibi Moon got up and gasped when she saw the glowing Mothra.
Soon, the light died down. Marinette and Tikki opened their eyes slowly,
only for them to pop out when they saw…
…a giant Tikki looking at them. It stood where the caterpillar once was, and
was around the same height as it. (Author’s note: Mothra Larva was 5 meters
tall, Chibiusa was 6 meters tall).
"Tikki, did it…?" Marinette asked.
"…transform? Undoubtably."
"But why?" Chibi Moon said, walking towards them.
They didn’t need to figure out for long, as the giant Tikki-like creature’s
antennae suddenly began to glow. Then, the three of them began to hear
voices.
Do not worry, the voice said, I mean you no harm. At least, right
now.
"Who are you?" Marinette asked, suspiciously looking around. "And for that
matter, where are you?"
Right here.
"Wait," Chibi Moon said, looking at the giant Tikki. "Are you talking to
us?"
Yes, but only telepathically. I am called Mothra.
"Mothra? Well, you look like my kwami, Tikki. It’d be weird calling a giant
ladybug 'Mothra.' Maybe if you could revert back to your original form…"
"Marinette," Chibi Moon said.
"Sorry. Just an idea."
Mothra giggled. I’m afraid I am unable to revert back to my original
form. Once I’ve inherited the DNA transferred by my statue from whomever
touched it, I’ll remain in this form until my time is up.
"So it is a magical statue," Chibi Moon said.
You can call it that, Mothra said.
"So I was right, huh?" The giantess knelt down and leaned her face close to
Marinette, smirking.
"Yes, I was wrong and you were right," The lunette replied, annoyed.
"And you doubted us," Tikki joined in.
"Tikki! Who’s side are you on?!"
Once again, Mothra giggled. Then, Chibiusa thought of something.
"Why did you take Marinette’s DNA?"
Well, I actually copied it, and the kwami’s DNA.
"How do you know Tikki?" Marinette asked.
Well, this may sound weird and embarrassing, but it was something the
maker of the statue came up with.
"Come again?" Marinette asked.
It’s a long story.
"Then can you give us the abridged version, please?" Chibiusa and Tikki
looked at the lunette unamused. Marinette got the hint and sighed. "Ugh.
Fine. Tell us everything."
During ancient times, I lived in Japan alongside my fellow beasts,
Baragon and Ghidorah. We coexisted with the land, the sea, the sky, and all
those who dwell in them. However, our lives were ended when we were slayed
by Japanese warriors, the strongest ones we’ve ever encountered. My soul
still remained in my old body even after death, and I was placed in this
lake as my grave.
"So that’s why you attacked us," Tikki said.
Correct. But I don’t hate humanity entirely. During the following years,
generations of warriors prayed to me like a god, hoping that one day I would
rise up and defend Japan against the most powerful of enemies.
"And the statue?" Marinette asked.
Oh, that. Well, as a sign of respect, a sorcerer forged a magic statue
that would grant me powers I couldn’t even imagine. And I would gain that
power when someone touches my statue, which will show me their DNA and
powers to me, and after copying them, I’ll become stronger.
"But two boys touched your statue before I did. Don’t you have their DNA in
you?"
Do I look like a boy to you?
"No."
Right. The someone who will show me their power and DNA has to be someone
who is one with nature, a soul who is willing to protect their home, and
have a large heart that holds everything he/she loves.
"Are you telling me… I’m that someone?"
Actually, you and that kwami.
"Again, how do you know Tikki?"
Among those that coexisted along us were the kwamis. They were one with
nature, were willing to protect their home, and had a big heart to protect
everything they loved and cared about.
"It’s true," Tikki agreed.
"And me?"
Your heart is mostly filled with some blond boy.
"Hey, Adrien is not some blond boy! He’s the blond boy! And how did
you know that?"
I managed to sneak a peak in your mind while scanning your DNA. But
in that Adrien-obsessed heart, you also care for your friends, family, and
all who live among you. Besides that, you are willing to protect your
home, even from the most dangerous of foes. You might be scared at first,
but you gradually become determined. When you fly through the air, you
become one with nature. The sky. The sea. The land.
"Um, thanks."
You’re welcome. And now that I’ve managed to copy your DNA and powers,
I’ll become stronger than I once was.
"You’re saying that like you’re evil," Chibiusa said.
Sorry. It does sound that way. But like I said, I’ll use these powers to
defend Japan against the evilest of foes.
"Even me?"
That depends. Are you going to be stomping around Japan in a
Godzilla-like fashion?
"It’s Chibizilla, and I think maybe not. You did cover my hands in silk and
blast me back with a chest beam."
Indeed, I did. And I’m sorry for that. But you did hit me with your wand.
"Yes. And I’m sorry, too. But you were going to attack Marinette."
So I did. Already apologized. I can sense you are a hero yourself.
"Sure am. Saved the Earth from two great threats twice, with the help of
some friends.
And I can tell you did great with it.
"Mothra?" Marinette asked. "I mean, Ladymoth? Are you sure you can defend
Japan when you’re like a giant version of Tikki?"
I was a caterpillar. This is just my larval state. When I
become a butterfly, or a giant heroine, that’s when I can defend Japan.
"Even against Godzilla?"
To you humans, Godzilla looks like a threat. But to me, he’s another one
of Mother Nature’s creatures. I may try to persuade him to leave humanity
alone for some time, and if he disagrees, let’s say there’ll be fists
flying. But killing him is not an option. For us ancient creatures, killing
an organism is like killing off a part of us. It’s the number one law that
shan’t be broken.
"And what about the other guardians?"
Same thing with them, too. Speaking of which, I can only feel Baragon’s
presence. Woke up yesterday, yet his soul doesn’t have the copied DNA of a
worthy one. I fear his statue was destroyed.
"And what about the third one? Hydorah?"
Alas, Ghidorah has yet to awaken. His soul is still hibernating. But I
have hope that he’ll wake up soon.
"And can Ghidorah copy the DNA of a worthy one as well?" Chibiusa asked.
Sadly, no. It seems that his body makes him unable to do so.
"Then, what can he do?"
Ghidorah is, by far, the most powerful of us guardians. He came from the
heavens in a ball of fire, and has the ability to shoot lightning from his
heads.
"Heads?" Marinette stuttered.
Ghidorah’s a three-headed creature. But each head has shown no sign of
hostility to us or any other life on Earth. He’s a benevolent creature.
"Benevolent?"
"It means kindly and well meaning," Chibiusa explained.
"I know what it means. I’m just confused about why a creature with three
heads would be… kindly."
He’s a guardian of Japan. If he wanted to show hostility, he would’ve
done it by then. But he didn’t.
"But…"
"Marinette," Tikki said. "Remember that kwamis were around when the
guardians were alive. And so was I."
"So?"
"So, I would’ve seen Ghidorah destroy everything in his path. But I didn’t.
He protected the land with Mothra and Baragon. He protected all life on
Earth, including us."
"Tikki…"
"Marinette, when have I ever lied to you?"
Marinette thought about what Tikki said. Never once had the kwami lied to
her. Ever. If she wasn’t lying, then what she and Mothra said about Ghidorah
was true. She looked at the transformed guardian. "If Tikki is telling the
truth, then I believe in her and you."
Very wise decision. But there aren’t any right or wrong answers. However,
I’m glad you believe.
"Um, thanks." Just then, the lunette saw the moon emerging from the clouds.
It shone down on Marinette, Tikki, Sailor Chibi Moon and Mothra. Stars
twinkled in the sky like diamonds. Mothra looked up and smiled. She then
looked at the others.
My time has come, she said telepathically.
"Time? You mean like…" Marinette asked.
It is time for me to take on my imago stage. I’ll be more powerful in
that form.
"Imago? You mean your butterfly form?" Chibiusa asked.
Precisely. In that state, I’ll be able to protect the land from even
greater dangers.
"So, this is goodbye," Tikki said.
It is not goodbye. It’s more like see you later.
"Well, then," Marinette said. "See you later, Ladymoth."
We will meet again, Ladybug. And by the way, Ladymoth sounds like a good
name for me.
Mothra… ahem. I mean…
Ladymoth looked up to the sky and started spraying silk from her mouth and
antennas. She was forming a cocoon. When caterpillars reach a
certain point of age, their development instinct kicks in. First, they must
eat their own weight in leaves to satisfy themselves. Then, they make a
cocoon to protect themselves. The process of adulting can take between ten
to fourteen days. But because of Ladymoth’s size, who knew how long it would
take for her to reach her imago form.
Sailor Chibi Moon picked up Marinette and backed away a few feet, so they
wouldn’t get caught up in the webs. Well, a few feet for her. In actuality,
her backing up went from the lakeside to the edge of the forest.
A few minutes past, and, eventually, Ladymoth was now fully concealed inside
her cocoon. The area became quiet, with the exception of crickets chirping
and the waves washing on shore.
Marinette and Tikki looked at Chibi Moon, astonished at what happened.
"Well," Marinette said, breaking the silence. "That was one heck of a doozy,
wasn’t it?"
Suddenly, they heard barking. The three looked towards the destroyed shack
and saw the dog from earlier barking at them. It was no longer afraid of
Chibi Moon’s giant form.
"Shall we get out of here?" Chibiusa asked.
"We shall," Marinette agreed.
Chibi Moon placed Marinette and Tikki back on the sandy shore, and reverted
back into her civilian self. Her Pink Moon Rod transformed back into Luna-P.
Then, the pink-haired tyke slowly began to shrink back to normal size. When
she did, she let out a hiccup.
"What happened?"
"Potion wore out. And good thing, too."
"I thought you said you hit yourself with a growth ray."
"I was being sarcastic about that. Anyway, we should get moving." Chibiusa
pointed to the dog, which was creeping closer to them.
"Luna-P. Transform into my helicopter." In a large puff of smoke, a
helicopter stood where Luna-P was floating. Chibiusa got inside with
Marinette and Tikki following. However, the lunette noticed no one in the
cockpit.
"Wait. Who’s driving?" Marinette asked. Her came when the helicopter started
to power up, all on its own. The rotors spun rapidly as the chopper began to
rise up into the air. "Your ball is amazing."
"That’s Luna-P for you. It can become anything."
"Do you think you can drop us off back at the apartment you visited? My
class is staying there."
"Sure thing." Chibiusa then spoke to the Luna-P. "Luna-copter, head for that
apartment in Yokohama we stopped by."
The chopper turned towards the direction of the apartment and headed in said
direction. Along the way, Marinette had some questions for Chibiusa.
"Chibiusa, you said you were at the lake to play Chibizilla, right?"
"Yep."
"Then, why did you stop at the apartment?"
"I felt a strange aura from inside. I thought it might’ve from be you. I
waved to you so we could meet."
"And was it?"
"Sadly, no. I didn’t feel it from you even after I rose from the lake. It
must’ve been from something else."
"I don’t what you sensed, but I’m sure it can’t be good."
"Actually, the aura wasn’t the evil kind. But, it did have a strange power
in it."
"I hope you’re right."
——————————————————————
Tachibana Apartment Residence
10:45 P.M.
——————————————————————
It wasn’t long before they reached the apartment. Despite the rotors still
spinning, miraculously, the noise didn’t wake anyone up. Marinette hopped
out(with Tikki flying behind her) and turned to face Chibiusa.
"Thank you, Chibiusa. Or should I say, Arigato."
"Vous êtes le bienvenu, Marinette."
"Wow. Nice French."
"Merci."
"So, you’re heading home?"
"Back to Azuba-Jūban. My parents would freak if they find out I’m not at
home." As Marinette turned around and walked towards the door, Chibiusa
shouted to her. "One more thing. How do you know Lincoln Loud?"
The lunette looked back and replied, "Believe it or not, his family’s with
my class."
"Even Lisa?"
"Especially Lisa."
"Well then, can’t wait to finally catch up on events." Before Marinette
could ask, the Luna-copter rose back into the sky headed towards Chibiusa’s
home town.
"What did she mean 'catch up on events?'"
"I think she and Lisa have some sort of history," Tikki replied.
"Well, that doesn’t matter. What does matter is me getting back to sleep."
"Well said, Marinette."
When they reached the door, Tikki phased through and unlocked it. Marinette
carefully opened it as she stepped inside before closing it. She tip-toed
back towards the couch as Tikki phased back through Marinette’s purse to get
some sleep.
The lunette was almost to the couch when…
"Marinette?" Marinette froze when she heard that. She turned and saw Marc
rubbing his eyes. "What are you doing up so late?"
"I… I needed a glass of water. I was parched. Now, I’m going back to sleep.
"Well, okay then. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Marc." Marc laid down and fell back asleep. Marinette then
crawled onto the couch and laid down on it. Before she closed her eyes, she
looked at her purse and whispered, "Goodnight, Tikki." Then, she looked out
the window. "Goodnight, Chibiusa. Goodnight, Ladymoth."
With that, the lunette closed her eyes and fell into a deep slumber.
——————————————————————
Tokyo Bay, Japan. July 29, 2002.
12:00 P.M.
——————————————————————
Alix opened her eyes to find herself not in the Tachibana residence, but
kneeling behind a Gundam statue. It took a while for her to realize that she
was at the West Promenade in Odaiba. It was daytime and the brightness of
the sun was enough for her shield her eyes with her hands…
…which were surprisingly smaller than she thought. She turned around (back
facing towards the sun) and studied her hands closely. They were smaller,
and her fingers were much shorter than usual. But that didn’t end there…
She was wearing black shoes, but not the ones she wore. She was also wearing
a green skirt, a small Sailor fuku and a red tie.
'It can't be,' she thought. She looked at the building behind the Gundam
Statue and saw her reflection. It looked like her when she was seven. No,
she was seven. Only one conclusion came to mind.
'I’m dreaming about what happened eight years ago.'
SKKRREEEEEOOONNK!
A familiar sound proved her theory. The young girl looked behind her and
saw…
"Godzilla."
Indeed, the King of the Monsters was making his way out from Tokyo Bay and
onto land. The radioactive dinosaur waded past the Museum of Maritime
Science and stepped onto the road. There was an elevated railroad bridge in
front of him, but he didn’t care. As he moved forward, the part of the
bridge in front of him buckled as his lower body plowed through.
Fortunately, due to the announcement of the Meganula, the trains were
delayed for the time being.
Alix was amazed at the sheer power of Godzilla's whole body alone. She had
heard of how Godzilla could knock over a building with a kick of his foot,
and how he could flip a bridge over like a bale of hay. It was little wonder
of how hard it was for the JSDF to take down the first Godzilla. This one
appeared to be no different.
Suddenly, a bone-chilling shrill caused Alix's skin to get goosebumps.
Looking to her left, the pink-haired toddler saw another monster; one that
was all too familiar: Megagurius. The giant dragonfly descended from her
skies to confront the intruder. Alix, meanwhile, crouched behind the Gundam
statue to avoid detection, while also taking a quick peak to view the
battle.
The monsters stood(or hovered in Megaguirus' case) about fifty meters from
each other. Both locked eyes on each other. This monster mash would be
different from others. It was a battle between an airborne insect and a
terrestrial reptile. Size vs. speed. Brains vs. brawn. Only one would remain
standing.
Megaguirus started to maneuver to the right. Eyes trained on Godzilla, she
studied him very carefully. In her point of view, everything moved a
fraction slower than it actually did. Godzilla also kept his eyes on
Megaguirus. The tension started to build…
…until Megaguirus stopped hovering and charged forward. Wings out, she
glided towards Godzilla. The King of the Monsters was quick to sidestep, but
not quick enough. As Megaguirus glided by, the tips of her wings revealed
their sharpness. The right wing sliced the upper half of a crane clean off
its base. The left wing, meanwhile, sliced Godzilla's scaly skin. Although
not sharp to leave a wound, it was enough to cause the reptile to fall onto
his side, roaring in pain.
Godzilla quickly shook it off and got back up. However, Megaguirus came back
around and snuck up on the Monster King before ramming her left claw onto
the back of his head, causing him fall face first onto the earth. The
dragonfly continued flying as her opponent struggled to recover from the
blow.
Meanwhile, Alix watched the battle from afar. She couldn’t believe what she
was seeing. Godzilla, a super-creature born from radiation, a monster that
resisted several attacks at the military, a terror that destroyed Tokyo,
being bested by a big bug.
Suddenly, the young girl heard a thundering sound from the sky, and it was
getting louder. She looked up and saw several jets zoom above her. There was
no doubt that these were fighter jets. The JSDF had requested back up.
The jets were followed by a squadron of army helicopters; ammo at the ready.
The Air Force had arrived to take care of Megaguirus, but with Godzilla in
the fray as well, things were going to get difficult.
The jets blasted missiles at the dragonfly, concentrating on the wings and
back. Despite several direct hits, they were ineffective against the
insect's exoskeleton. Meanwhile, the helicopters fired their own missiles,
along with a barrage of bullets from their Gatling Guns. Like the jets, the
missiles were useless against the armor, while the bullets just bounced off.
Having enough of the torture, Megaguirus perched herself on the Giant Sky
Wheel and observed Godzilla. The radioactive dinosaur had yet to move after
his knockout. The dragonfly readied her wings in preparation.
Suddenly, the dorsal plates of Godzilla began to glow a bright blue,
starting from the tail then moving towards the back. As they glowed, they
started flashing at the same time. Only one could guess what was going on.
Megaguirus flew off her perch and towards Godzilla. The reptile stood back
up on his two feet and opened his mouth as a blast of blue atomic energy
surged out of it and towards Megaguirus. However, the insect dodged it. She
flew past Godzilla, who turned to face her. The dragonfly kept flying until
she stopped in front of the Grand Nikko Tokyo Hotel and spun around to face
her opponent.
The insect taunted Godzilla with shrill. The dinosaur roared in retaliation
and marched forward. Suddenly, Megaguirus flapped her wings faster and
faster. As she did, they emitted a buzzing sound that got louder as they
moved faster. Godzilla stopped in his tracks when he saw this. The amount of
wind produced by the dragonfly's wings kicked up a cloud of dust and dirt
that grew as it expanded. But it didn’t end there.
Megaguirus' buzzing was loud enough for Alix to cover her ears. But it
wasn’t just noise the wings produced. As the Air Force closed in for another
round, something went wrong. Megaguirus' wings created high frequency waves
that jammed the controls and electronic units of the aircraft. The fighters
now spun out of control.
Fortunately, it didn’t last long. Godzilla charged up another atomic blast
and fired it at Megaguirus. However, the dragonfly dodged the beam as it
struck the Grand Nikko Tokyo Hotel instead. The beam blasted through the
middle of the building and coming out the other end. As it stopped, the
building stood for a few seconds before an explosion split the hotel in two.
The top half crumbled as it fell from its base and landing on the ground
with a massive bang.
Godzilla just blinked at what he did, as he was more interested in
Megaguirus. As he searched the perimeter for her, the dragonfly buzzed up
behind him. Hearing the noise, the dinosaur froze in place. Slowly, he
turned to the right to check out the source of the buzzing. But Megaguirus
buzzed away before he could see her.
Unamused, Godzilla turned back around to continue searching. Suddenly,
Megaguirus zoomed in and tackled him. The reptile roared in surprise as he
was forced back a few feet from the ambush. He then charged his breath
attack again and fired it at his attacker, but the dragonfly dodged it
again. Godzilla, however, didn’t stop as he aimed it at the insect,
following her wherever she went. As the dragonfly flew over a parking lot,
Godzilla's beam followed, causing an explosion as it trailed the bug.
Godzilla halted his attack when he realized he lost the insect. Frantically,
he scanned the entire perimeter, but the bug was nowhere in sight. Suddenly,
she flew up his face and squealed. Startled, Godzilla stepped back and
roared in surprise. Megaguirus then grabbed the reptile's throat with her
claws. The King of the Monsters tried his best to free himself, but to no
avail.
Meanwhile, behind the Gundam Statue, Alix watched the battle as the air was
filled with the sounds of the monsters fighting and roaring. Suddenly, she
heard a new sound, and it was getting louder. She looked up and saw a jet
screaming straight towards her. The young girl tried to run, but she felt
pain in her leg. She was still injured, so despite the danger, she could
only limp for her life.
Just as she was clear, the jet smashed into the Gundam Statue, destroying it
in an explosion. The force of impact sent Alix flying. She landed on the
ground and rolled to a halt. The pink-haired girl managed to recover quickly
and got back up. Thankfully, she wasn’t hurt.
Alix looked back at the statue to find it in ruins. One second later and she
would’ve been incinerated. Despite her close encounter with death, she hoped
no one was in the jet at the time.
Another explosion grabbed her attention. She turned to see the source of the
explosion, only to see part of a propeller spin straight towards her…
——————————————————————
Tachibana Apartment Residence. June 17, 2010
7:45 A.M.
——————————————————————
Alix jolted up from her sleep, gasping for breath.
After a few seconds, she calmed down. She checked her surroundings and found
that she was back in the apartment. Another dream come and gone. Hopefully, she
didn’t wake up Yuri or Jalil. When she checked the bed, they were gone.
Alix got out of bed and walked into the living
room. She found the others wide awake and already getting on with their day.
Lucy and Juleka were chatting about goth stuff. Marc and Nathaniel were
discussing about art. Lana and Manon were roughhousing. Marinette was seeking
love suggestions from Lincoln. Finally, Lisa was… looking at her.
"Greetings, human. Glad to see you have regained
consciousness from your eight-hour rapid eye movement sleep."
"What now?"
"I was saying good morning and glad you're up."
"Oh, thanks. Good morning to you, too." Then she
remembered. "Have you seen Jalil and Yuri?"
"Your archaeologist brother and your mockumentary
documentarian of a cousin? I hypothesize they are currently engaging
communication with your retired World War 2 veteran uncle."
"You mean, they're talking with my uncle?"
"You say tomato, I say Solanum lycopersicum."
"Okay? By the way, have you seen Sabrina?"
Just as she said that, the closet door next to
them opened and out fell a tired Sabrina Raincomprix. Her eyes were bloodshot
red.
"Sabrina? Are you alright?"
Alix was usually not one to ask Sabrina a question
like that because of the latter's alliance with Chloé. But seeing her fall out
of a closet was enough to make her body succumb to concern. She watched as the
bespectacled, orange-haired girl slowly got up, her eye twitching from lack of
sleep.
"Better never. Do why Alix ask?"
"Uh, Lisa?"
"Say no more. I know what to do."
To be continued...