"WHAT?!?"
The manager fiddled with her long, blonde hair awkwardly as her client stared at at her, arms flailing about. The gray dragon on his white sweater seemed to glare at her in a "oh goddamn it not again" sort of way.
"Y-yeah," she said nervously, her fingers wrapping around the ring on her ring finger and fiddling with that as she looked right into Kevin's eyes. "Unfortunately, it seems like the creator and producer is... pretty eager on spreading the Magical Girl influence across worlds."
"I can understand that, but I... I didn't agree to go for the Sacred Flower Festival," came the meek reply. "Please tell me they're joking, Cindy. Please."
Cindy shook her head and sighed, "Tried telling them that it wasn't agreed to beforehand, but then they flew into a fit. Something about firing both of us if we didn't try."
The actor soon slumped into a chair and let out a groan. "We lose either way, Cindy. This whole city is all about being grand and who can empty their wallets faster for something fashionable. If we try, we're going to get smoked out of the competition in no time flat. I mean... Have you heard what they said...? They said I was out of style... and not even that pretty... and...."
He trailed off, his mind focused on the malicious laughter and sneers of other women around him. Too small. Too fat. Not even in style. What a loser, a poser, a fake.
Probably not even a real woman.
His skin crawled as that played over in his head, over and over, imagining women ripping off the dress and revealing what was underneath. His career, his life's mission, everything, crumbling down.
So focused on the horror of losing everything that it took a few minutes before the sounds and sights around him came back into view.
"-vin? Kevin! Kevin, are you okay?!?" Cindy cried out, hands clasping at his shoulders, eyes wide with shock. He slowly sat up and noticed that he was no longer in the chair he was sitting in. "I was so worried," his manger continued, "since you suddenly fell over and started to sob and oh god I am so not good with these sorts of things, I'm so sorry!"
He forced himself up and said, "I-it's fine. Sorry for that, I... I just get those from time to time. S-sort of. Thanks, though..."
Cindy didn't let go. Instead, she pulled him in for a tight hug. She was a full head bigger than him, so it was a little awkward when she rested her chin on his head. "I'm sorry for putting you through all this! First that weight loss, then this, and my hands are all tied to do what they say... Being a manager sucks when you wanna do something different from your own bosses." She then let go and added, "I should learn about some loopholes to make your life a little more comfortable, but I'm kind of a rookie at this managing business... I mean, didn't you have a different manager before I came in?"
"Yeah. He was pretty much unbearable to be around. Unbearably creepy." Kevin shuddered, recalling one particular moment where he took a chance to grope the actress who played Queen Bee, Quisha Baker, and say something reaaaally dirty. "Fortunately, he got fired for sexual harrasment, considering he was surrounded by women and... well, let's just say that my friend has more of a spine with dealing with shitty bosses than I do."
"That's something we both need to work at," Cindy admitted before walking towards the window and opening the flower-themed curtains, enjoying the view of the city from above. "Learning to stand up for ourselves and for others in a dog-eat-dog company... Yeah, that's definitely something we gotta work on. And maybe make you super pretty, too."
"Good luck with that; I hear it's an impossible task."
"Don't talk down on yourself, cutie!"
"I am not a cutie!" Kevin retorted, flailing about with his dragon sweater and blushing furiously.
Cindy couldn't help but giggle until, from the corner of her eye, she saw plumes of flame. She stared outside the window for a moment before she turned to the white-haired actor with a serious look on her face.
Kevin was about to ask what was up until he heard her say sternly, "Get dressed up as Kogasa, prep your powers, and get your umbrella. If we play our cards right, we might not need to joing the Sacred Flower Festival to gain a ton of fans."
---------------------------------
"Away, you foul, ugly beast! Begone from this world!"
Icicles crashed into the monster's face, angering it enough to shoot plumes of flames at its attacker. Fire met steel as a knight jumped in front of his ally, taking the brunt of the damage. The beast knocked them both away with a mighty swipe of the tail. Its roars drowned out the screams of festival contestants and regular passerbys, sending the entire city into a panic.
"Well, looks like we have a bit of a fiery one, don't we?" Ringabel grunted as he got back on his feet and drew his rapier, holding it up high as he launched another Blizzara.
His knightly companion groaned. "Now's not the time for jokes, Ringabel," he said as he drew his sword and used it to prop himself up. "We have to handle this dragon now, before anyone else gets hurt!"
"That is what I'm trying to do, Tiz!" the blonde retorted, dodging the mighty bite of a dragon with ease. "Dragon scales are rather hard to pierce through, so magic is most effective, is it not?" He was not so lucky with the next bite, but a mighty swing of a sword and an arrow flying into the beast's eyes was enough to distract it, Tiz charging forward and striking at its underbelly while Ringabel tended to his own wounds.
Another arrow flew from the skies, piercing through the scales and allowing the knight to break through. The dragon roared in pain as arrows rained upon it. It swiped Tiz away and tried sniffing out the one who dared pierce its mighty scales, only for more ice to pelt it right into the face and a shadowy ghost of a woman summoned a blizzard, freezing its legs in place before she swiped at it with cold, dead hands. Tiz turned back with a smile, giving a thumbs up to two women providing backup behind him.
"Mrgrgr!" Edea grumbled. "Why doesn't this thing die already?! I'm getting tired of looking at its stupid, scaly face!"
"I know not when this beast will fall," Agnes said quietly, "but I won't allow it to harm any others!"
"That's right!" Tiz agreed before turning towards the dragon, sword and shield at his side. "Come on, everyone! Let's go!"
The beast reared its head back and belched flames once more as Tiz held up his shield, The ghastly woman held up her hands and showered the dragon with ice, helped by Ringabel's fancy Blizzara. Angrier and angrier the dragon did get until its eyes shined bright. Ringabel opened his mouth to command the others to take cover, but too late: the beast unleashed flames no greater than the last one, but burned the skin much more. The flames were apparently powerful enough to banish the sea banshee back where it belonged, Agnes yelping and staggering back in pain as if she had taken the blast herself. Tiz could barely hold on, gritting his teeth as he bore the pain of heated steel.
When the fiery breath was over, the group was in pretty bad shape. A bit harder to tell with Edea, though, as the first thing she did once it stopped was fire a barrage of arrows right into its snout. Ringabel didn't bother asking if everyone was alright; a quick Cura on everyone would be enough to hold them together. At least, until the next fire breath.
The dragon reared back as if about to finish off what it had started when a voice boomed out, "May I have some decorum, please?"
Dragon, adventurers, and townspeople alike turned where spotlights (why were there spotlights? Nobody remembered putting them there!) shined down on a professionally dressed woman, who adjusted her glasses accordingly. The audience whispered among themselves, confused by this, while Ringabel took advantage of the confusion to heal his allies up to full health.
"Thank you," Cindy said, a sly smile on her face. "Now, I know you're so busy handling a big, bag group of adventurers like they were just bugs-"
"Who the heck are you calling a bug?!" Edea shouted from the rooftops, stomping around angrily.
"-but, I'm afraid I have some terrible news." The dragon snorted at the suggestion that things could go any more wrong, but it seemed to be listening regardless. "For you have attracted the attention of Orion's greatest Dragon Slayer, the one who turned nightmares into sweet dreams, my client..."
More spotlights turned on, revealing Kevin- or rather, Kogasa, in her full, magical girl glory.
"KOGASAAAAAAA YAMAMOTOOOOO!"
If the crowd wasn't confused before, they certainly were now. Kogasa was almost certain that they were commenting on her, spreading rumors, and her confidence waivered, even as she posed dramatically and said, "Hiiii, everyone! Kogasa-chan's here, and I'm ready to kick dragon butt! Florem's safe with me! Now let's go!"
Even when there was no response from the townspeople, at least someone was excited. "My ever darling Kogasa!" said the red mage, hearts in his eyes. "You've returned! Oh, to hear your sweet voice once more makes me surge with strength!"
Kogasa briefly wondered if that was actually an innuendo before she noticed that the dragon was, quite frankly, tired of waiting. Before it could lunge at her and try to eat her in one gulp, though, she made use of one of the powers she was more than happy to get from Power Randomization.
The dragon stopped in mid lunge and started to flail about, confused. The onlookers stared as it shot fire into the air and roared, trying to reach its head with such tiny, tiny arms and failing miserably. The crowd wondered what in the Crystals' names was going on, but Kogasa could only smile to herself. Only she knew that with a bit of mental manipulation given from Power Randomization, she could give a dragon the catchiest, most earworm-inducing song she knew. She didn't even need to keep focusing on the dragon: once it was in, it would stay in, whether the dragon liked it or not.
As the dragon continued seizing from this mysteriously cutesy song stuck in its head, Agnes paid attention to the magical girl and noticed a roulette appear before her, spinning round and round until it stopped and disappeared. In the next instant, the gloves came off as claws of pure energy sprouted from her knuckles and she pounced on the dragon, shearing off dragon scales with relative ease, especially after Edea had already pierced through.
Agnes turned to Tiz and Ringabel and asked, "Is... is this truly alright? Should we really allow her to fight the battle we have picked?"
"It was kind of out of nowhere," Tiz admitted. "But five people fighting a dragon is better than four, right?"
"And we can't turn down her generocity and kindness, oh no!" Ringabel added. "Ah, she descended like an angel from the heavens, ready to rain rightous fury on the ugly bea-"
"We get the point, Ringabel!" Edea shouted from the rooftops. "Whoever it is, we should really stop focusing on if it's okay and start fighting before that dragon hurts her!" She quickly took out her bow and nocked an arrow on the string, pulling back and aiming carefully at the dragon's eye before letting it fly. The tip pierced through, blood spurting from the beast's eye, distracting it from another claw swipe from the magical girl. Tiz and Agnes exchanged glances and shrugged before the knight charged in and bashed his shield against the beast, the summoner calling forth Ziusudra's Sin once more and commanding her to summon cold winds. Ringabel was more focused on protecting the kind and very, very pretty lady by casting Shell and Protect on her.
The beast found itself in a very, very bad position now, especially now since the new girl was taking advantage of the weak spots the hunter made for her, the group had renewed vigor, and all were showing no mercy. Also not helping was the professional woman trying to get everybody to cheer. Successfully, too, as they chanted, "Ko-ga-sa! Ko-ga-sa!" The beast tried to bite this newcommer for allowing its prey to recover, but teeth only broke against the barrier of love (as Ringabel would call it). Not only that, its tongue was nearly cut right out, due to its carelessness. Trying a tail slam only resulted in Tiz jumping in and taking the blow before countering with a powerful sword stroke. Add all of this up with an eye that was so pierced with arrows, it was useless and magic was flying at every turn. Damn it, damn it all!
But it had one good eye left. One was all it needed. The red mage could have sworn the dragon was grinning for a moment, and when he realized just what it was about to do, he shouted, "Everyone, take cover! It's about to use its fire breath!"
Too slow to avoid the Scorching Eye, he knew. Once everyone saw that glint, it was a sign to run. Tiz held his shield up high while Agnes took cover behind him and unsummoned the watery banshee, while Ringabel used what little time they had left to put up Shell and Protect and join them.
Kogasa didn't see this as a chance to run, though, as she stood in front of Tiz and retracted the energy claws. Neither did Cindy, apparently, as she commanded, "Kogasa! Unleash your umbrella's full power! End this nightmare once and for all!"
"Got it!" the magical girl replied with a wink, taking out her umbrella and opening it up, pointing it at the dragon's mouth as it inhaled deeply. The blue ribbon and trim began to glow dimly, becoming brighter and brighter before the energy seemed to channel towards the pointed tip. Her heart beat quickly, the thrill of using this skill in the first time in an actual battle since beating the Wendigo coursing through her.
Tiz saw this and shouted, "No! You're going to get hurt like this! Get behind me!"
"You mustn't do this!" Agnes cried. "Please, stop this insanity!" She then turned to Ringabel and asked him, "Are you just going to let her do this?!"
"Well, why not?" he said calmly. "She seems to have an idea. Why not let her execute it?"
"But... but..." She then turned to Edea. "Edea, please, stop her!"
"I would," Edea replied with a shrug, "but she looks like she's not gonna listen either way."
Agnes turned to to her comrades once more before turning back to the magical girl and crying out once more, "Please, I beg you, stop this! You mustn't risk everything for us! Please!"
Kogasa did not respond. She knew the risk she was taking. She always did. But for everything she hated about herself, all the things she wasn't sure about, all the things she was anxious about...
She was confident that she could win.
Just as the dragon unleashed the flames, Kogasa yelled, "NIGHTMARE-SLAYING BEAM!" from the top of her lungs. From the tip of the umbrella, a massive blue beam met flames. The group, the audience, the manager could only look on the odd scene, holding in the excitement and shock.
The flames dyed out just before it reached the umbrella. A loud gurgle echoed through the city, followed by a thump. The audience let out a collective gasp.
Cindy walked over to her client, raised her arm up, and said, "THE DRAGON IS SLAIN! SLAIN BY MY CLIENT, KOGASAAAAAAAAAAAAA YAMAMOTOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Cheers of joy and excitement and newfound love for the mysterious magical girl shook the city to its core. Agnes had passed out from worry, Tiz taking her off to the side to rest, although not without giving Kogasa a pat on the back. Ringabel, on the other hand, was more than happy to get reaal close to her.
"Oh, my angel!" he swooned. "To come and save us in our time of need, oh, my heart threatens to burst from my chest! Shall I place a kiss upon your head, your cheeks, or your lovely li-"
Before he could finish, a certain blonde hunter slammed down on him from the skies with her feet, pushing him to the ground. She quickly removed her mask, pulled some paper and a marker, and asked, "That was amazing! You were something else! You're a superstar, right? Autograph, please!" With a bit of thought, she added, "Oh, don't mind what Ringabel says. He flirts with anything with two legs, really."
"Oh, it wasn't a problem," Kogasa said meekly, her cheeks burning red. She took the paper and asked, "Who do you want this signed to?"
"Edea Lee. That's me! Ooh, should we talk a little more over parfait? I heard one of the restaurants here have some super yummy sweets! Is that okay?"
"Uuuh, I have to talk to my manager first, but if she's alright with it-"
"Then it's settled!" Edea announced cheerfully. "We're all eating out together and celebrating our victory over parfaits and sundaes!"
Kogasa chuckled a little as Edea skipped away happier than Quisha with a jar of honey, taking her time to regroup with Tiz and Agnes. As for Ringabel, he slowly got up, but he clearly looked disappointed.
"And I assume that'll be coming out of my wallet again," he sighed. "Not that I mind, especially not for her, but I do wish she would ask first."
Kogasa cast a glance at the casanova before saying, "Well, I could help foot the bill, if you want..."
The red mage opened his mouth to protest, but upon thinking about it, he closed it.
Who was he, to turn down a lady's generocity?
"Hopefully it won't strain your finances too much, but if you could..."
The magical girl winked at him and said, "Don't you worry! Kogasa's got your back~!"
Amid the cheers, Ringabel's smile, Cindy's squeals of delight...
Kevin was sure that today was the best day ever.
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