Chapter 23: Chapter 23: In the Wake of the Storm

A long metal limb pierced the AstroTurf where Emery had been standing a moment before. The mechanical centipede let out a loud hiss of steam and it scurried a few years away. Not far away, Keaton was using his buckler to predict and dodge the attacks of a large floating purple jellyfish with a cluster of lobes. The whole football field was covered in a sticky web that reached up into the seats of the stadium, but the centipede didn’t seem to be struggling at all.

“You said two or three per week!” Emery cried at Carina. “Why are they appearing in pairs now!?”

“I dunno!” Carina shouted back. “Blame Night Terror! I’m sure it’s at fault somehow!”

It had become something of a joke to pin every little inconvenience on Night Terror in the wake of its destruction. That being said, Cadence was still experiencing heightened rates of planar invasion. It wasn’t beyond reason that Night Terror’s attempted incursion had left them vulnerable.

The mechanical centipede (“A Terror Train!” Carina had called it.) climbed up into the stands and started circling the area. Emery chased after it, dodging the web. Her breathing was steady. She fired off a red lance, which pierced the creature with ease and caused it to stumble a little.

It climbed down from the stands and charged at her, mandibles stretched wide. They came crashing down against a violet barrier, metal ribbons lashing wildly at the surface. Emery stepped back and dropped the shield. An orange blast to the face caused the creature to scream. Both mandibles hung uselessly from its mouth. Several of its headlamp eyes had gone out.

Several limbs jabbed at Emery. She threw up her barrier, then jumped back. Her staff began to glow with an indigo light, as did one of the mandibles. Emery pulled, yanking the mandible free, then drew it back before firing it right at the Terror Train’s writhing mouth.

It was faster, though, and dodged. The metal shard scraped its head but was knocked away. When the creature lashed forward again, Emery smirked and summoned up a blue light. It took the form of a mecha, grabbing the creature by the head and holding it still.

“Don’t show off!” Carina shouted at her. “You’re not invincible!”

“Hey, Emery,” Keaton said, pressing his back against hers. “Trade?”

“Can do.”

They spun around so Emery was facing the Spectral Jelly. It looked a little beaten around the edges. Several of its lobes had deflated. Tentacles flailed, lashing out in every direction.

Emery fired a yellow swipe. This jellyfish moved a lot faster than the old one. Only a few tentacles were severed before it was out of the way.

This side of the field was much more covered in webbing than the other side. There wasn’t much space for Emery to move. She jumped from clear ground to clear ground, but the jelly was alway on her tail. When it got close, its tentacles hummed and little sparks started to dance between them.

Once it got a little closer, Emery fired an orange blast right at its center of mass. The jellyfish was knocked back, spinning a little. Emery followed it up with another red lance. Another lobe was punctured. A thin clear liquid dribbled out.

Green energy, this time. A glowing green hammer smashed down on the Spectral Jellyfish from above, knocking it down to the ground. Emery leaped into the air and fired three red lances in a row, pinning the creature to the ground before delivering one last orange blast as she was right overhead.

By the time Emery had landed, the creature had faded out of their reality. She looked over to see Keaton slamming down onto the Terror Train’s head, crushing it under his foot. The whole creature seized up before crumbling to the ground, then fading away.

“We did it!” she cried, giving him a quick high five.

“That was wonderful!” Wolf said, floating down and circling the two. “You’ve each gotten so much better at fighting since you started.”

“No less cocky, though,” Carina said, hands on her hips.

“Come on, it’s just a little bit of fun,” Emery said. “We had complete control over the situation.”

Carina rolled her eyes, but couldn’t hide a smirk.

Keaton checked his phone, saying, “So much for having plenty of time. We’re going to be late because of this.”

“They’re not going anywhere,” Emery replied. “Come on. The longer we take to walk there, the more time we get alone.” Holding up her staff, she added, “Battle Aurora, dismissed.”

Keaton grinned and held out his hand. Emery took it and led the way toward the exit. It was going to take them a while just to get out of the stadium.

Once they were back on sidewalks, Emery pulled out her phone.

“I should probably go ahead and watch the video before we get there,” she mumbled.

“You haven’t seen it yet?” Keaton asked.

“I’ve been busy! Schoolwork and whatnot.”

In the video, Amira stood at a pedestal covered in microphones in her magical defender uniform. Nellie hovered just above her shoulder, looking uncharacteristically stoic. Amira seemed to be a lot less nervous than Emery had been the one time she got in front of the camera.

“From here on forward,” Amira said, “the magical defenders of Cadence will be operating as a loose team, as opposed to the traditional procedure of every magical defender having their own territory to defend. This plan has its roots in the magical defender teams of generations past, but with special consideration given to the changing standards and expectations of the times. Magical defenders will continue to operate on their own, but may also call upon each other to help during fights in order to reduce injuries or collateral damage.”

There was a flurry of questions. The one that stood out was, “Amira, what are your thoughts on the new magical boy? Is this one also a trans girl?”

Amira did her best to keep her gentle smile as she replied, “My colleague’s gender is nothing for me to speculate about. Keaton Hoffman is a welcome addition to the proud collection of Cadence’s magical defenders.”

Emery said, “Well, she’s still not on board with you being here, but she’s trying not to make it obvious.”

“She’ll come around,” Keaton replied. “I think she’s trying to get used to the idea, but she grew up on stories of magical girls being these really important figures doing a job that nobody else could. It meant a lot to her, growing up surrounded by boys and teachers who looked down on her for being a girl.

“Even if she won’t admit it, part of her is afraid that if boys are allowed to participate, all that misogyny about how ‘boys would do it better’ would just become more prevalent and it’ll no longer be a job where girls are allowed to feel empowered. As excited as I am to be a magical defender, it is something I hope that the bureau takes really seriously before they greenlight having more magical boys. It’s not fair, but what Amira said was true: it’s not about fair.”

“…How do you know all that?”

Keaton blinked in surprise and asked, “Did you think I don’t talk to any of the other girls?”

“Erm, I guess not.”

“Is it a problem?”

“No, of course not,” Emery insisted. “Just took me by surprise, that’s all.”

Carina sat down on her head and said, “Speaking of changing times, I’m a little worried that exposing magical defenders to the press like this will cause them more psychological harm in the long run.”

“I don’t think so,” Wolf said. “Teaching them how to handle fame is important. We’re introducing these kids to that world, so we have a responsibility to show them how to live in it, even if its only for a few years.”

Emery, remembering her own disastrous interview, shivered and added, “I agree. Though, if I’m being honest, there are some parts of the limelight that I don’t hate.”

She returned to her phone and navigated quickly to her messages, showing Keaton the one that Roberto had sent her recently.

You are reading story Manic Pixie Magical Girl at novel35.com

“I heard a rumor that you and the new magical boy were dating!? That is so cool! I’m so jealous. He’s so awesome, right? Rushing in with just his fists. I can’t imagine being that brave. I’m so excited to see what he accomplishes!”

“He seems sweet,” Keaton said. “But these rumors are getting out of hand. Our first date isn’t until next weekend.”

“I can’t wait,” Emery said, wiggling her hips a little. “And he’s right: you’re pretty amazing.”

“Only because I have the best role model,” Keaton replied.

“Get a room,” Wolf told them.

“I know, right?” Carina asked. “Can you believe how long it took these two to realize they liked each other?”

“You’re so mean to me,” Emery whined.

“You make it so easy.”

Emery and Keaton were the last to arrive at the Silver Saucer. Jada, Coraline, and Liv sat at one table, Amira, Marisol, and Cynthia at another. Carina and Wolf rushed over to join the pixies at their own table, where they all nibbled on a pile of sugar cubes. Keaton sat down at Liv’s table and Emery sat down at Amira’s.

“I’m glad to see everyone is in one piece,” Marisol said, sipping her tea. “How is your hand?”

Emery raised it, wiggling her fingers. There was still a little bit of scarring, but like before whatever power Night Terror had to hinder healing hadn’t lasted long. The burst of energy she’d gotten when she unlocked her full powers had done a lot to help, as well.

“It still works fine,” she said. “Even without that ointment from last time, the bureau thinks I’ll make a full recovery.”

“Good thing you realized what you were missing when you did,” Marisol said. Smirking, she added, “Took you long enough.”

“You could have just told me.”

“I tried to, Emery, but you can only lead a horse to water.”

Emery snorted, then turned to Cynthia. She had her hands in her lap and was looking around. It really didn’t seem like she knew why she was there.

According to Amira, Cynthia had promised to dedicate some of her family’s resources to helping the magical defenders of Cadence and other marginalized communities around the city. Apparently, she wanted their input on what would be the best way to actually do that. She was fidgeting and refused to look anyone in the eye. Now that she was close to the magical defenders, she didn’t seem to know what to do with herself.

“How are you doing, Cynthia?” Emery asked.

Cynthia mumbled something incomprehensible in reply.

“Hey!” Jada was pointing at her phone. “Dayton Cruz is on his usual shtick again.”

“Who cares what he has to say?” Emery replied, smirking. “Let him scream until he’s blue in the face.”

Emery pulled out her phone and spun around in her seat. She held it up, doing her best to get everyone in frame before she took the picture. That done, she sent it to Zora with a quick message: “Everyone’s hanging out together. Looks like I was right about us making a a good team. >w<”

She pulled her chair a little closer to the other table to listen in on their conversation. Jada and Coraline were talking about their first date. Emery shared a knowing look with Keaton.

Liv, moving slowly so they could keep up, signed, “What about winter break?”

“You mean who’s going to be here and who’s leaving town?” Keaton asked.

Liv nodded.

“We’ll worry about that later,” Jada said, waving a hand dismissively. “You gotta stop thinking about work all the time, Liv.”

A little bit of color rose to Liv’s cheeks as she pouted.

When the drinks arrived, Amira tapped the side of her glass to get their attention.

“A toast to our victory,” she said, raising her glass.

“And to Emery,” Coraline added.

“Who’s stubborn bullheadedness got us all to this point,” Jada finished.

“Hear, hear,” Keaton said.

“I hate you all,” Emery said, breaking into a wide grin. “Thank you, so much. I couldn’t have gotten this far without a lot of help.”

“Hey!” Carina grabbed onto Emery’s hair and leaned over. “I was there, too!”

Emery chuckled.

“A toast to you, too, Carina.”

They drank and pulled the tables together so that they could all get in on the conversation. Marisol looked so much more relaxed than when Emery had met her. Liv seemed to enjoy being understood by the others, even if she had to use simple language for them to keep up. Coraline was comfortable in Jada’s arms.

“Hey, Carina,” Emery said softly. “Thanks for not giving up on me. I know I gave you plenty of chances.”

“What kind of pixie companion would I be if I gave up on a girl in need?”

“Still, I appreciate it.”

“Any time, Emery. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner.”

Emery could drink to that, too.