Whisking Away, Part 2

"Came so far, only to fail in the end."

 So the leading knight said, slinging his giant blade over his shoulder with a smirk. "You caused a lot of trouble for us. Never before had anyone slipped by our security and climbed all the crystals to the very top, even with our guards and security system chasing you at every corner."

"First time for everything," Juan replied curtly, holding the little princess's hand gently. He could see the red wisps swirling around the knights, with an aura of yellow shining from their leader. He continued, "I guess it'll be your first time losing, too."

 The princess turned to the tall man and asked, "Princess? Why are they all looking at you like that?"

 "Because he's a God of Death!" the lead knight yelled, pointing directly at Juan with his blade. "A murderer, a villain, wishing to whisk you away and rip your soul from your very body?"

 Juan sighed. Oh, here they go again. Always mistakening him for that freak show. So just because he used a few spirits and had a scythe to go along meant that he was snatching babies from the cradle and ripping out their souls? "Does it look like I'm a mindless murderer to you?" he asked bluntly, staring at the knights as if they were dumber than a sack of rocks. "I mean, I was kind enough to only hamper you guys, not outright kill you." He paused to scratch at his chin. "Oh, okay, maybe I destroyed one or two of your robots, but I didn't kill any of your force, did I? Does that sound like something a God of Death would do?"

 The knights turned to each other, whispering and gossiping. It was true: the most he did was injure them. Every one of the force was still alive and well. It took slamming a giant sword into the ground to get their attention again.

"And yet, here you are," the lead knight growled, "snatching away our princess like villains of yore. Here to take her to the Netherworld, just like the prophets predicted!"

 Uh oh. A prophet predicted he would be here? So much for avoiding self-fulfilling prophecies. Juan took a glance over to the side, noticing light shining from the window by the girl's bed. He held up his hand and snapped his fingers, runes lighting up on his arms as a blast of energy crashed into the window and shattered it into tiny pieces. He grabbed the princess and led her over, only for the knights to take another step further.

"You would try to escape, even when I, Baron Yulrick, have alerted everyone to your presence?" the knight asked. "Even when I can cleave your head off with a single swing?!"

 He certainly didn't expect the "god" to wink at him and smile. "Trust me, if you wanted to cleave my head off, you would have already done it by now," Juan said casually. "Many have tried, but as you can see, this good princess's head is still attached!"

 "You little rat... you think I won't?"

 A pause. Juan placed a finger on his chin before he grinned right back at his opponent.

 "Nope!"

 He leaped out the window with his charge, just as Baron swung his blade.  It was one helluva way back down, but he had his plans, even while drones were firing at him from every angle.  He held out a hand and mumbled something the princess couldn't understand. She could hear one word she did recognize, though...

"FAERIE!"

Magic did not fly out from his palms like it did before. Rather, a spirit appeared, blooming into a small little fairy. "You called, Juan?" she asked. "I was in the middle of getting a manicure-"

"You didn't have to come if you were busy," the man replied, too casually for someone falling down to his doom. "Think you can light up a path?"

 The faerie considered this before she smirked and snapped her fingers. "I'll do you one even better!" With as much effort as she could muster, the spirit shot out a blast of light, revealing a path down to safe ground. Well, not a path. Rather, a slide. One that Juan and his charge managed to fall onto.

"This will do!" Juan said. "Hang on tight, ah... Oh, I don't think I asked for your name, princess."

 The little girl's eyes lit up as they began slipping and sliding down the path of light the fey kept up, with lasers and energy bursts wizzing past them. "My name's Shiela! And what about you?"

 "Juan. Juan Lyon. Or maybe it should be Juanita? I am a princess, as you know!"

 A quick check of the watch before they reached solid ground revealed that there was only 10 minutes left before the portal closed. Now it was time to get worried. Moreso now that Juan heard Baron screaming, "Release the Cerebus!"

 The duo barely touched solid ground when both could hear the growls and barking of a gigantic three headed dog, fur black as soot, rushing right at them. Juan whistled out, hoping that man's best friend didn't turn away with his tail between his legs just yet. The princess was confused, though. "What was that for, princess?" she asked quietly, her eyes darting back and forth between her kidnapper and the monster getting closer and closer.

 Juan only smiled. "I'm just calling our fair steed, that's all!"

When Shiela heard "steed", she imagined a big, white unicorn, mane flowing in the wind as it shot rainbows out of its horn. Elegant and beautiful, just like herself. It would talk to her and tell funny stories and keep all the big, bad guys away! And then they could have a meal of apples and carrots and whatever else Unicorns eat!

She didn't expect it to be a giant, black lab with a blade on its snout, donned in midnight blue armor and a saddle on its back. She also didn't expect it to pick her up with its mouth and hurl her onto its mouth while Juan hopped on and took the reins. "Good boy, Jasper," the man said while scratching the giant pooch behind the ear. "Now let's hightail out of here, before that portal closes!"

 With a loud, "Aroof," the cu sith bounded away, Cerebus slowly catching up and belching flames from its three mouths. It shamelessly stepped on houses and farms close to the castle, caring not for the casualties it brings. The grass rustled as the dogs' paws reached the forest area, trees and bushes flashing by in a blur. 

As the Cerebus caught up, its massive jaws snapped at the steed, Shiela yelping and pressing close to her kidnapper.  Juan glanced at his watch again. 3 minutes. Did it really take that long for his steed to get here? And the portal was still far away... Shit! All he could do was shoot jets of water from his hands to counteract the fierce flames the Cerebus was determined to singe them with.  He was in no mood to toss his weapon like a boomerang, especially if the spirit inhabiting it didn't feel like returning like it should. He didn't want to force a spirit into doing what he wanted, anyhow.

3 minutes turn to 2. 2 turned into 1. The portal was within reach, cunningly placed on the mountain right ahead. If someone tried to chase after them after the portal closed, they would find themselves crashing into a wall. On the downside, if the trio didn't reach it in time, they'd be stuck in a giant rut. Juan urged the cu sith to go faster, the portal slowly beginning to shrink. Faster...faster! Cerebus was right on their tail,  one of the heads opening its jaws and ready to snap them up. Do or die-


Whoosh! SLAM! Too late. The Cerebus couldn't get its meal in time, instead ending up with a mouth full of rocks, dirt, and broken dreams. The intruders had escaped.


The King won't be too pleased to hear about this, will he?

Whisking Away, Part 1

 Over the years, many villains and thieves have broken into castle walls. Sometimes its to plunder the treasures for all their worth. Other times, its to leave a warning to all, with a King's head on a stick, eyes wide with terror and drained of color. Most times, however, some dragon or cunning man sneak away the princess, cackling through the night as their key to victory was in their very hands. Knights would scramble across the world, trying to seek the fair princesses and free them from their evil captor.

 Man, did Juan Lyon ever envied those villains, as high winds nearly blew him off the edge of the floating Crystal Castle, a hand firmly holding his brown hat and messy black hair. They probably didn't deal with competent security, harsh weather, and advanced technology  when they snuck away their prizes. They didn't have to go from floating crystal to crystal, higher and higher, until their legs nearly popped right off from walking up dozens of stairs. Why bother when most of them knew how to fly?! Not Juan, though, oh no. He asked an old spirit of a harpy if he could borrow her powers, only to be turned down. Nope, have to earn it through a trial he had no time to do!

 He sighed as yet another laser from a floating security bot grazed his cheek. The dark man took a moment to look at his watch. Good, half an hour left until the portal back to the Netherworld closed.  Sure, there were knights trying to shimmy around the edge to try to chase him as he tried to reach the next set of stairs, but at least he had time to spare before his cu sith steed decided to ditch him. Wouldn't that be nice, having your best friend ditch you to save his own skin? Well, Juan certainly wouldn't blame him.

When he reached the next window, he tumbled right on in before scrambling up the stairs. One look behind him and he could see swirls of red as angry knights chased him, swords in hand and glaring hard enough to make the tall man wonder if they were about to shoot lasers. Juan held out his arm towards them and whispered a few words, watching as ancient runes lit up on his arms. Water gushed out from the palm of his hands before freezing up, leaving the poor knights to slip on the stairs and tumble down like broken slinkies. Wisps of red turned into wisps of green as they scrambled to get back and follow the intruder.

Juan spent no time dilly dallying, much as he'd like to make fun of them. He was on a schedule. His boss wanted the princess due to some '"PROPHECY" and wanting to foil it. "Stupid fortune tellers," he once said, "thinking that the future can't be changed. That prophecies fulfill themselves at any time. Everybody fulfills their own prophecy because they don't know any other way!" Everything else the boss said was drowned out by a fellow subordinate talking loudly on what was "a MePhone". Everything aside from, "Don't let this prophecy come true, or shit will hit the fan harder than Yursarsh bitchslapped that tiny knight."

 "Sure won't, boss," the tall man muttered to himself as he ran up another flight of stairs and knocked a guard right down with a swipe of the scythe. "Levia's already seeing hard days, ever since that knight failed..."

Dozens of stairs and close calls with guards and robots later, the ragged Juan staggered over to the final door. The princess's bedchambers lay beyond. The watch ticked. 20 minutes left. Good time for something that felt like an eternity. "Would it kill them to put some escalators in this castle?" Juan grumbled, pulling out his scythe as his boots clanked against the red crystal floors. "I know a little exercise wouldn't hurt a little, but damn if my legs aren't tired. Gotta thank that undine for that water magic, that was helpful. Wish I could talk to her now, but she said she was busy hosting a pool party. Ah, whatever."

After scouting the area, Juan stared at the door intensely. No wisps of anything aside from faint red wisps. Nothing from within the room, though, so he figured that the knights and guards were still pissy about their uninvited guest. Whomp, whoomp. They'd  have to deal with it. One step closer to getting the job done and getting the hell out. Juan reached out for the golden handles of the bedroom doors, swinging them right open.

For a princess's room, it was rather...empty. Only a small bed, a dresser, and a small mirror lay within. Well, that, and a brown haired princess snoozing soundly. The man could only wonder what the little girl was dreaming about. Maybe dancing through strawberry fields? Or growing a farm? Or even launching herself into a pile of puppies!

No, wait, the last one was his last dream. Whoops!

Juan walked over to the bed and was about to lift the girl up when she sat up, rubbing her eyes with her tiny hands and staring at him. "Who are you?" she asked, a wisp of white surrounding her.

The man sighed and replied, "Anything you want me to be."

She staired. The white wisp turned into a yellow aura as the girl's eyes lit up. "So you're a princess, too?!" she asked now, standing up and throwing the sheets off her bed. "Oh good, I've always wanted to talk to another princess!"

A... princess? Huh. "Yep! A princess, sent here by the Queen, to bring you to a new home."

"A..a new home? Am I getting married to a prince?"

"Oh, no! You're too young for that. I believe the queen can explain better than I can why we need you in a new home!" Well, it was true! Juan didn't know the details of this "PROPHECY" his boss spoke of. All he knew was that it couldn't and shouldn't happen. Not at all. "So lets get you dressed up and-"

"No. You're not going anywhere."

Suddenly, red. Red everywhere. A dozen blades were pointed at him, with little flying robots pointing guns along with the knights.  One man stood out from the rest, donned in silver armor and a ridiculously long, flowing cape, with his black hair slicked back. In his hands, he held a sword bigger than his entire body.

Juan could only think one thing as his heart filled with anger and his new charge glanced around, curious as to why her knights were bothering a princess like herself.

Shit.

One Girl's Lightning is One Monster's Nightmare, Part 4

With new powers abound and confidence swelling inside her, Sammy was not gonna let Carlos do all the hard work. Her yo-yos spun and spun until she tossed them, watching as the blades spun and carved a new wound in the kracken's face. The beast hissed in pain and flinched, leaving the newly-born psychic to zoom over and shoot lightning out of her hands and into its face. Paralyzed, the beast had no choice but to sink to the bottom, at least until it recovered. One look at Carlos was all it took to know that he appreciated it, judging from  his smile and thumbs up.

"I knew you could do it," he said, adjusting his hat before it fell right off his head. "Especially after your hand was sparking while you were talking to me about Last Legend!"

"Huh, what?!" Sammy replied, raising an eyebrow. "My hand was sparkin back then? Geez, soooorry, I was just so frickin hyped! I mean, VIDYAH GAEMS!"

"Well, that's how I knew you were a psychic. Or at least, one whose powers were held back by something. Did you ever notice something whenever you got hyped like that?"

Sammy opened her mouth to answer, but the kracken recovered and rose from the bottom of the lake, all three heads ready to rumble. "Less talky, more fighty!" she squealed before once again tossing her yo-yos and carving marks into the snake beast's faces. The monster couldn't dodge fast attacks like that, so they spat acid at her in unison, only to find that acid flung back into their faces.

"I think they forgot I'm a psychokinetic," Carlos mused out loud as the heads screamed in pain, blinded by their own attack, their scales flaking off and sizzling. The electrokinetic took advantage and wrapped her yo-yos around the middle snake head before trying to tug. It was harder than it looked, though, even with how long the strings were and how sharp the blades were. She just didn't have the raw strength to rip through a monster's head with buzzsaw yo-yos. Disappointing!

She could have sworn she heard Carlos sigh before an invisible force helped her pull and pull. The blades carved deep into the middle kracken head slowly, leaving the other two heads to try to find the duo by scent. Too late, as just when they realized where they were, the head was cut off, the petals withering as its scales became pale and plopped into the red lake. Blue blood leaked from the giant wound, leaving the remaining heads to writhe in pain.

"Team Sammy, one! Team Stupid, ZEEEROOO!" Sammy cheered, her hands sparking brightly as if she had electrified pom-poms.

There wasn't much time to cheer, though, as the heads regained their composure and attacked in unison, petals around their head spinning like buzzsaws as they cut away chunks of ground. "Looks like this guy's in desperation mode!" Sam commented as she was forced to retract her yo-yos and back off. "Bah, worst part of the boss! I always keep losing some battles because of that damn mode! Like, jeeez, do you HAVE to blast me with the most powerful spells known to man?"

"I dunno, I kind of like them," commented the elder psychic with a shrug before putting a hand on his head. "Ugh... I can't keep this up for much longer, I'm getting a headache. Got any brilliant plans?"

"Nope! I thought you were the mastermind, Carly-o!"

"Wonderful, just wonderful. I can't think straight as it is, so I'm trusting you not to do anything that'll get us all killed."

If Sammy wasn't already pumped, she was pumped to all hell now. In charge of saving the entire team? Planning?! Hell yeah, she was gonna be a hero! She took a moment to think and recalled Kenny's wimpy hadoken.. Maybe she could do one better?

No, not maybe. She can.

 Sammy held her hands back, charging up an orb of electricity between her palms, letting her psychic energy run wild. The krackens were getting closer and closer as they circled the lake and cut through more and more ground. When they were right in front of her, a voice echoed through the skies...

"EAT THUNDERBRAND!"

The electric orb was sent flying, although it was off course. Looked like Sammy needed to improve her aim! She glanced over at Carlos apologetically. The elder psychic sighed and held out his hand, "grabbing" the electric orb and sending it downward into the lake.

The monster stopped in its tracks and  flailed about as every inch of its body was electricuted with thousands of volts of electricity, not helped by all the water covering them and conducting it. With one final roar, the kracken finally fell over into the lake belly up, petals wilting away. Diana and Kenny came out from the bushes and poked the beast. It was as dead as dead could be.

Sammy cheered and cheered. "Hell yeah! Beat my first major boss! All those delicious EXP points are mine! Woo, just like in those video ga-"

 She stopped dead once she noticed everybody was staring. The sparks left from her hands as she meekly looked away. "Er, I was... I got carried away, sorry."

Diana crossed her arms and glared for a moment. "Oh yeah," she said, "You really got carried away." She then broke into a smile. "Got carried away and beat a kracken doing it! That's awesome, Sammy!"

"You defeated the fearsome beast without my aid!" Kenny added, nodding his head in his infinite wisdom (or so he thought). "That deserves some kudos, especially for a newly born psychic!"

"Well, I can't take all the credit," admitted Sammy, turning to Carlos. "Carlos here helped me out. Without him, we would have been toast, right?"

Diana took one glance and paled. "Y-yeah, really toast. Mmmhm, yep!" She looked up at the sky and noticed that it was starting to get dark. "Now would you look at the time! Its time to celebrate at home! Lets-a go, Sammy, we need to scram!"

Diana grabbed Sammy before she could protest and tried to run. Unfortunately for her, something was holding her back. "No you don't," said Carlos grumpily, glaring daggers at the redhead. "You took a newcomer to the Feywilds. Without telling anyone. With an Alpha. You should be glad I knew you were up to something, because otherwise you, Sam, and Kenny would have been another casualty."

"But it all turned out oka-"

Sammy could see the glow in the barista's eyes intensify as he clenched a fist. "You ALWAYS say that! So if you pull this again, I swear, there WILL be consequences!"

The redhead whimpered a "yessir" before slumping and heading home. Sammy decided to hang back, watching as Carlos took deep breaths and let out a sigh, unclenching his hand and letting the green aura fade away.  "She needs to stop pulling this for the excitement," he sighed, taking his hat off scratching his head of black hair. "A quick buzz doesn't mean anything if you end up dying at the end." He turned to Samantha with a frown and an apologetic look. "I'm sorry about this. Having all of this sprung on you... the whole feywilds thing, being a psychic, nearly getting eatten by a monster... It must have been stressful."

Sammy shrugged. "Well, its over now. I just feel kinda weird... I mean, I shot electricity out of my hands. How weird is that?"

"You haven't lived until you've seen someone shooting sugar cubes like a gattling gun with their fingers, Sam."

"Wait, so you're saying I'm not the weirdest?"

"Could be weirder. All I know is that you're nice enough." Sammy stared at him dumbfoundedly before he continued, "And thats all that matters, really. So anyway, if you need to talk about psychic stuff, you can come to me, alright? I'm usually at the cafe, unless I have the miracle of being off."

Sammy couldn't find the words to even thank him. All she could do was nod and wave as she bolted off.

Part of her wished she could live a normal life now, but  she knew this wasn't possible. After seeing what was in that trippy place, it would never be possible. Besides, she found a friend! Someone she could trust.

And, to be honest? That's all she could ask for.

One Girl's Lightning is One Monster's Nightmare, Part 3

 "What do you mean, 'We're not going home yet?'"

 Sammy found herself in unfamiliar territory, filled with grass and trees. Diana was more than happy to keep moving and ignore her, but that only made the chubby girl nervous. Where was she taking her? Why did they have to go to this weird forest? Okay, it wasn't exactly weird yet, but with all the signs saying, "WARNING: LEAVING CITY LIMITS" around, she figured that some serious shit was gonna go down if they went too far out of the city.

 After what felt like ages, Diana stopped walking, leaving Sammy to catch her breath. "Seriously, Diana," Sammy grumbled, adjusting her glasses with a finger, "Where are we going?!"

 It took a moment for Sammy to realize two things: One, Diana was talking to some kid in a hall monitor uniform, who seemed to be posing dramatically as if he was a super hero, and two, they weren't in a normal forest. All the colors were inverted like they were in a Bizzaro World. Birds  were flying upside down. Worms were huge and a pale blue with huge suckers on the bottom.

 "Diana, where are we?!" Sammy stressed, sweat rolling down her face. "This isn't cool at all!"

 Diana finally turned to her with a smile. "We're in the Feywilds, silly!" she said happily. "We're gonna give you the full tour of the place! Gotta know what we're up against, in case the fairies invade! Before we do that, meet our tour guide... Kenny!"

The hall monitor bowed. "Greetings, for I am Kenny Hartworth! I come from Augusta High, and I shall guide you through the trecherous terrain! Young lady, do you have anything to defend yourself with?"

"I don't," Diana replied. "What about you, Sammy?"

Sammy stared before nervously pulling two things from her pockets. Kenny took them and examined them for a little while before blades popped out from the side.

"Ouch!" he yelped before the toys dropped to the ground, leaving Sammy to pick them up and blush in embarassment. "Normally, I would scold you for making a dangerous weapon from a toy! Kids might actually USE them!"

"S-sorry, they just pop out and dad gave 'em to me for self-defense!" the girl stammered, sweatting bullets.

"...However... We are in the Feywilds. Many dangerous creatures lurk, young lady! So keep them by your side, however dangerous they may be! But if I ever see you in the city limits using them against a poor civilian-"

"She gets it, Kenny," Diana groaned. "Just lead us to the kracken, alright?"

Sammy gulped. "But didn't that Carlos guy...?"

"Pffft, he's a huge stick in the mud! Don't worry, with Kenny here, that Kracken's nothing! His pyrokinesis will roast him! Now, off we go!"

With Kenny leading the pack and Diana following right along, Sammy walked alongside them, eyes darting around the forest carefully. With all these monsters, it was certainly starting to look like they were in the middle of Last Legend. A very poorly prepared Last Legend team, that is. She could have sworn she heard footsteps behind her, but when she turned around, all she could hear was the wind, brushing against the purple leaves of the trees and her long, brown hair.

--------------------


"Are we there yet?"

"No!"

"Are we there NOW?"

"Noooo!"

"Are we-"

"YES!"

Diana sighed in relief as Kenny stopped in front of a red lake, cracking his knuckles. "Welcome to the Feywild Lake! It is here where we see the legendary Three Headed Kracken!" Almost as soon as he spoke, the waters began to part as a massive, three-headed snake monster rose from the depths, its petals flowing in the wind, letting out a massive roar. Birds took flight from the trees, worried that they were going to be up next for dinner.

"BEHOLD!" Kenny continued. "The majestic Kracken! Look at how wonderful it is, how fearsome, how-"

"KEEEE-UUUUTE~" Diana squealed before taking out a camera and snapping pictures.

Sammy remembered Carlos's words and took a few steps back from the lake. She even took out her yo-yos for good measure. The last thing she wanted was to be eatten on her first real day here. Sammy Steak? No thanks.

On the other hand, the monster did look as silly as Diana described, with blue skin and pink polka dots and petals. Was Carlos just saying all those things to get a rise out of her? But then why would he sound so serious when talking about it? Who could she trust: Her new bubbly, yet stubborn roommate, or the serious, yet friendly barista?

It was a good thing she didn't think for too long about it, though, as she noticed the Kracken sniffing around with its noses and tongues. And if its sniffing around, that could only mean one thing.

"Guys, look out!" Sammy said as rushed and pushed the two away, before the Kracken lashed out and took a chunk of grass and dirt out with one set of teeth. It growled and lashed again, this time  to no avail, as it got a fireball down its nose.

Kenny's finger smoked as he smirked. "You're no match for me, Kracken," he said quietly. "Now taste my flames of fury, petulant beast!" The pyrokinetic sent out an impressive flurry of flames, nailing the foul beast all over. It hissed before  all three heads lashed out at Kenny, only for Kenny to move out of the way. The heads comedically bonked each other, disoriented from their own attack.

"Now, I finish you!" Kenny said as Diana cheered from the sidelines. His hands glowed with a fiery fury before he held his hands out in what Sammy thought was  a 'Hadoken'. Was she really gonna see that in real life? That burst of flame did look it...

Unfortunately, it was pretty small and only tapped the Krakken on its middle nose. "Oops," Kenny said meekly before the snake roared and spat acid at him, leaving a nasty mark on his arm.

"What the hell was that?!" Diana scolded. "And you call yourself a psychic!"

"S-sorry, ma'am! I need more practice! Oh, once Jill hears of this.."

"If she hears about it, she's gonna be disappointed! Seriously, you can't even keep a girl protected?"

"Again, I'm sorry, I-"

"Sorry to interupt," Sammy said, coughing to get their attention, "But...less talking, more dodging?"

Diana opened her mouth to speak, but she promptly closed it and followed Sammy's advice, taking Kenny with her in hiding. Sam, on the other hand, thought long and hard about what to do. Could she use her yo-yos? Not as they are now. They'd be too weak, wouldn't they? And she didn't have any impressive powers or anything. Ugh, if only she was told about this earlier! Then at least she could have an excuse to make weaponized bottle rockets.

She might have thought too long, as Diana was screaming, "SAMANTHA, LOOK OUT!"

"Hu-" She looked up.

She was almost gluped up by a kracken head. Almost being the key word: The head had its mouth wide open, but its jaws were struggling to close. Almost as if something was holding it back.

And then..she heard a familiar  voice.

"I knew you'd get into trouble. Classic RPG fare: You tell someone to not do something, they do it anyway. Alright, you monster... back off."

Just like that, the head was knocked away by an invisible force, back to where it belonged. Samantha turned to see Carlos, now wearing a black shirt, a leather jacket and hat, and jeans, glowing with an odd green aura. "Y-you saved me..." she told him, half in disbelief.

"Thank me later, Sammy," he replied. "For now, I need to know: Are you a psychic?"

"I AM!" Kenny shouted from behind a purple bush.

"Not talking about you, Ken," Carlos grumbled as he slapped another Kracken head away from the group. "You're an ALPHA psychic. An Alpha Pyrokinetic, which is useless against a water monster."

"It was effective before..." Kenny pouted before covering his face in shame.

Carlos rolled his eyes and paid attention to Sammy instead. "Anyway, are you a psychic?"

Sammy shook her head. "I don't think so... what could a fat girl like me even do as a psychic?"

"A lot more than Kenny over there." The barista winced as he heard the Kracken roar again. "Listen, we don't have much time. I'm gonna hold off that kracken, and you can go focus. Because I'm gonna need help, and I know you have potential."

Sammy stared at him as if he told her she just won the lottery. "Are you kidding? I don't have potential! Not that kind, anyway! I'm just some dumb girl-"

Carlos shook his head. "Instead of putting yourself down all the time, try believing in your self a bit. Anyway, remember what I told you!"

Before Sammy could protest, he was off. She could see his eyes glow green as invisible forces seemed to pelt the kracken from all sides. He dodged acid and sharp fangs as if he had done it all his life, even knocking some teeth out from one of the kracken heads. Was that psychic power? If so, he was pretty strong, stronger than Kenny. She only wished she was that-

"Instead of putting yourself down all the time, try believing in yourself a bit."

But...why? She wasn't really impressive. Hell, she was too scared to use what her father gave her.

"Don't worry about what other people think about you!"

But...but...

"I know you have potential."

Po..

Potential? He said she had potential.

Po...ten..tial.

Somewhere in her mind, everything seemed to click together. All of her doubts about herself faded away as she focused on that one thing. That she had potential.

Sparks began to fly from her hands as she stood up, eyes closed. When she opened them up, one could see lightning in her eyes. A grin spread across her face as she took out her yo-yos and spun them.

"IT'S SHOWTIME, YA LIZARD FUCK!"

One Girl's Lightning is One Monster's Nightmare, Part 2

 Samantha sort of wished she was back in bed, curled up between the warm blankets as she enjoyed a nice game of Kaiju Battle and smacking people around with a giant angel. Diana wasn't having any of that, though, and forcibly dragged her out of bed. Sammy was glad for it, though, as she could finally see the tall buildings and colorful houses that made up Augusta, taking in the bright sun on her fair skin and the sounds of kids squirting each other happily with water guns. The warm weather gave her a chance to wear her rose shirt and some shorts, too!

 As the duo were walking, Sammy turned to Diana and asked, "So, where are we going, anyway? School doesn't start until September, doesn't it?"

"Who said we're going to school?" Diana huffed. "No, we're going to find out about this big monster outside of the city limits!"

"Isn't that..dangerous?"

"Dangerous if you don't have a guide. The fey don't really bug us much. But really, listen! I heard that it was like a giant, blue, pink polka-dotted snake with stupidly pink petals around its three heads! It can spit out acid and use their petals as buzzsaws, and they even have long, sharp teeth! I wanna find out more about it from one of the local psychic hangouts- Oh, here we are!"

Diana stopped in front of a small corner shop, pulling Sammy to her side. Sammy looked up at the sign above. "Nature's Cafe," she read aloud. "Is this really a hangout?"

Her friend didn't reply. She only took her in with a playful grin playing about her lips.

When she stepped in, it was hard to take in everything at once. Sammy could hear a coffee grinder crushing coffee beans into what she always thought was coffee dust. She could smell the coffee brewing, see the coffee be poured into a happy customer's cup. That wasn't all, though: all the decor was all the shades of brown you could imagine, with plenty of plants and flowers to complement. There were even a couple of paintings of people picking coffee beans from coffee plants in the field.

The only thing that managed to snap Sammy of her facsination about everything in the shop was a quiet, "May I help you, ladies?" She turned towards the source and found the barista, cleaning up the machines and glancing over at the duo with curiousity sparkling in his brown eyes.

"Carlos, dear!" Diana replied, making dramatic, sweeping motions towards the counter, as if she were a ballerina on stage. "Please, please bless us with coffee, so we may stay awake!"

Carlos narrowed his eyes. "You say that every time you want more than just coffee, Diana."

"I do?"


"Yes, you do. Who's your friend there?"

Sammy froze. Wait, he was asking about her? What about her? "Well, uh, I'm Samantha Goddard," she said meekly, avoiding eye contact.

"Not the talkative type?" Carlos asked,  giving her a worried look.

"No, not really.. Sorry." Sammy thought hard as to what she could do to avoid talking about herself, then pulled out her Game Girl Advance and started playing Last Legend V.

The barista watched her carefully for a little bit before starting to pour Diana a cup of coffee. "So, what did you come here for, Diana?"

Diana fluttered her eyelashes and smirked. "I came here to know about that three headed Kraken the psychics are all abuzz about. You know the one, don't you?"

A sigh slipped through Carlos's lips. "You, too? That's the fifth time this week. I know about it, enough to say that it's stupid for you to even try to see it. Its strong enough to crush a man's bones, and hungry enough to tear a man to pieces."

"But its all pastel colored, it can't be that threatening!"

"That's how it decives people. It looks so stupid, it can't be a threat! Then it gobbles the naive people up before sinking to the bottom of the Feywild Lake. No, wait, better way to explain it: The fey look cute and cuddly, but then you realize that they're responsible for half the deaths of anybody without enough brain cells to run the hell away when they're up to no good. Even Siren nearly killed me, and would have done so completely on accident if I didn't have good earplugs on!"

Diana puffed her cheeks up in indignance. "Well, I just want to show my new roomie the sights and sounds of the Feywild, and what better way to do it than to show her-"

"-a goddamn monster that will shorten her lifespan within a matter of seconds," Carlos snipped back. Sammy could have sworn that the coffee cup he poured the dark brew in floated into Diana's hands, albeit a bit shakily. "You're better off introducing her to the locals."

Samantha tried hard to focus more on her game the more intense the argument got. She was so close to getting to the Wavey Crystal with her team of Yellow Mages when Carlos stared at her again. When she started feeling uncomfortable, she asked, "What do you want?"

She didn't expect him to say, "How far in the game are you? I'm actually at the Blaze Crystal, fighting off ther Fiery Giant."

"What team are you using?" Sammy asked, a surge of excitement running through every inch of her body. "I'm doing something nuts and using all Yellow Mages!"

"Huh. I'm guessing you beat the Last Legend all Yellow Mage challenge? Mine is just a Monk, a Knight, a Yellow Mage, and a Blue mage. Do you need any help?"

"No, but thanks! Seriously, though, this team is weak as all hell, but just you wait! They're gonna be spammin holy spells like there's no tomorrow! Boom boom, mothafucka! Messed with the wrong mages today! Even ol' granddady mage gonna beat yo ass!"

Sammy had to be careful not to bounce off the walls, giddy as could be. Another Last Legend lover, at last! Was it destiny? Was it fate? Wait, there wasn't a difference, was there? "What other games you play, broseph?" she asked, knocking Diana out of the way as she zipped to the counter. "Come on, help a sistah out!"

Carlos smiled back at her before closing his eyes and holding his chin in his hand. "Lets see... Sarah Sisters, StarBound, Half-Death, Gang Castle-"

The chubby girl couldn't help but squeal, hands sparking in glee. "GANG CASTLE'S MY FAVE, DUDE! WHO YOU PLAY AS?"

"Speedster, clearly. Nothing more satisfying than bonking someone on the head with a frying pan!"

"Pleaase. Healster's the best if you make him right. Needle surprise, bitches!"

Diana tapped Sammy gently on the shoulder, although she didn't make eye contact with her. "Lets not get carried away here, Sammy. We should get going." Without letting Sammy get in a word of protest, she dragged her out of the coffee shop.

Before she was completely out the door, though, Sammy said, "I'LL SEE YOU LATER, CARLOS!"

When the door shut, she couldn't even hear what Carlos was saying to her.

"Trust me, Sammy... We'll be seeing each other sooner than you think."

One Girl's Lightning is One Monster's Nightmare, Part 1

David Jones was expecting someone nice to help with the appartment's rent in old Augusta, MD. He heard that his roommate managed to wrangle someone over to help out, a "sweet girl from Miami, FL." He could only imagine a hot babe, with long, lushious hair and  curves in all the right places, a supermodel of a woman. He imagined her slim arms wrapping around him, her voice smooth and sweet. David's heart jumped when he heard knocking on the door and rushed towards it, more than eager to meet the girl of his dreams.

So imagine his surprise when not a supermodel was there to greet him, but a chubby girl with freckles and square glasses. "Erm...do you need something?" he blubbered out, refusing to believe that this girl was actually going to be his new roommate.

"Uh..can...can I speak to Diana?" the girl replied quietly. "She said I could take a room and move in."

"Wait...you're the girl from Florida?"

The visitor shuffled uncomfortably and avoided eye contact. "I don't look it, do I? But yeah, I'm from Florida. I got a scholarship over at UMD Augusta, so I thought it would be okay to move here." David stared at her for a moment before she continued, "Do..do I have the wrong address?"

"N-no, you have the right address," the lanky man answered before leading his new roommate to a door decorated with carefully made hearts and pink dragons, secretly damning the gods for crushing his dreams and sending..whoever this chick was.

----------------

Not that the girl was pretty happy about how her new roommate was treating her. Staring at the wrong places? Jaw wide open? She could only hope he didn't keep looking at her like she was a whale with brown hair and glasses. Once a familiar face peeked out from the heart-covered door, relief came over her. "Diana!" she squeaked, pushing the door open and extending her arms out for a hug.

"Samantha~!" Diana replied, giving her friend a firm hug before flicking her red hair out of her eyes. "Oh, its so good to see you again! Had any problems getting here?"

"Nope!" Sammy replied. "I even got sent to the right side, instead of having to drive through what you said was a jungle of crazy. Is it okay if I move in?"

Diana smiled as she opened the door wide and pointed over to a room on the other side of the hall, decorated with green dragons breathing paper flames all over. "Sure! That's your room right there. I took the time to decorate it while waiting! I'll even help out, hold on!"

David looked back and forth between the chubby girl and his more slender roommate and asked, "But I thought you said she was a super model?"

"Well, that's your fault for thinking I was serious!" the redhead replied as she put on some black boots to go with her green dress. She shot David a glare as she continued, "And as if a super model would seriously move into Augusta! Seriously, if you treat my roomie like shit just because she's not what you wanted, supermodels will be the least of your problems."

Sammy looked away from them as they argued, quickly heading out the door to get her stuff. Was that how he felt? And why did Diana have to tease him like that? Her heart sank as she went out into the night, hoping that this would be the last awkward moment they would have together.


------------

A few hours later, Sammy was finishing putting up the Sarah Sisters poster over her bed and straightening out her Last Legend collection. Her game system would have to wait a while before they were unpacked, as she was tired of just putting thing after thing after thing in their appropriate places. She was glad Diana was there to help and talk with her as they sorted out mythology books and fantasy books in the bookshelf her dad was more than happy to buy.

She recalled Diana asking her, "So, I guess you know about Augusta's weirdness, huh?"

"Yeah, I heard from dad. Said it had fairies and demons and stuff. Just like in my video games."

"Did he tell you about the psychics?"

"Um...he did mention people acting like wizards-"

The elder girl chuckled and smiled at her. "Those are psychics, alright. They're all over the place, keeping the city safe. People outside of the Big Five fear them, but we love 'em, for the most part. You'll fit right in!"

Sammy gulped. "But aren't they weird? I mean-"

Diana playfully slapped Sammy's shoulder and said, "Don't worry about what other people think of you, girl! You're fine! You're like Super Sarah, all short and chubby! Bet you can jump like her, too! Me, I'm a stick!" She put her hands on her hips and grinned. "I bet I can't tank hits like her!"

"Oh, come on!" Sammy smiled right back. "You're the Ariel to my Sarah! You can probably play basketball with those leaps, gurl! You'd probably be like one of those Yellow Mages in Last Legend, pelting the Nasties with Holy magic! All like, 'Bitch, please, I ain't got time for villains gettin up and startin shit!' And givin errybody some good ol' fashioned healing!"

"Yeah, I guess! I rather be one of those rogues, though. I'd steal Imps lunch money. Not like anybody cares about imps, right?"

"Pffft, they're the easiest monster to beat ever. They're a joke!"

"Not if you merge all of them into a super imp!"

"Just use Blaze on it and they'll go up in flames. Pow, mission complete!"

The two talked and talked about games until Diana left for bed, leaving Sammy to finish what she started and change into her bird-covered PJs. As she tucked herself into bed, she remembered one thing that stood out the most...

"Don't let things that other people say about you get you down, alright?"

Easier said than done, Samantha thought sadly before drifting away into dreamland.