the gravity queen.

Kat’s status as some sort of hero didn’t help, either. Heros were just a fantasy, a silly notion for people who didn’t know better – who were too weak or stupid to save themselves. So, to be saved by Kat, to have the other try and help her, it was a damage to her pride.

“– Just… Shut up, already…” She mumbled, hands now returned to their position on her face and brow. 

Why? Her mind was filled with the one word question; why would Kat help her? Why should Anemone believe her? Trust her? Why should she? Anemone didn’t – couldn’t – trust anyone.

She was exhausted, regardless. There was no energy to argue, to put up a fight either vocally or physically. It was obvious, and she hated that too. Yet, a small voice of reason chirped in that if the other girl had desired to harm her, she would have done it already! … Unless, of course, she wanted to steal from her apartment. But most of the things there didn’t belong to her, so, what would she care of her roommates’ things? It was a fifty-fifty shot.

The pilot was cautious to a fault, causing the shifter unneeded anxiety. If this plan didn’t sell to her, how in the world would she ever get her to cooperate? At least there was some semblance of open-mindedness in her statement, even if it was buried in toxicity. Then a thought arose. What if she just took her hand, said nothing, and did it anyways? ...Terrible idea.

“Tch – !!” 

Oh, it was easy: she was one of those self-gratifying types! The worst of them all! They acted good, all high and mighty, just so they would get praised, so they could feel better about themselves. That had to be it, she was just in it for the thanks, for the recognition. Disgusting, she was just like him.

“So, so what?!” She couldn’t deny that, not back pedal on it, not when it was so obvious; that just made it all the more humiliating. “Who cares?!”

Now she was just getting mad to be mad.

She clicked her tongue in agitation, in annoyance. Her eyes went back to the mass of lights that hissed at her… Or, what sounded like a hiss. She couldn’t quite tell. Truly, she wasn’t one to talk, given her own strange pet, but Gulliver wasn’t there now. No, he was sleeping in her apartment, and she out here in the fray.

Anemone’s trail of thought wasn’t too far off, but missed the mark. Sure, Kat enjoyed the recognition that came from being a hero, but every action done was a part of her. She believed in the duty to help those in need, and those who can’t protect themselves. Kat had gotten herself into avoidable trouble countless times with that thought process, but it was worth it in the end. This was the same deal.

“Who cares, huh? Let’s see... I’m just spit-balling here, but I guess you do? I know we just met, but you can trust that I’ll keep you safe. Even if you are a little...grating.”

Now that the pilot opened up to her vocally, Kat could notice the wild difference between their voices. The shifter wasn’t aware of the Japanese-French accent she carried at all; she simply thought Anemone sounded weird.

However, due to the break from the blur of a crowd, the discord in the air that she was so surprisingly sensitive to, the intense pain in her head eventually began to ebb. Not all the way, as she would have so desired, but enough to be manageable, to be ignored enough to focus on other things.

Like, the other girl sitting next to her, for example. What was her problem, what did she want? No act of kindness came solely from nothing, or so Anemone believed. No one was a good person, just because they wanted to be. Everyone wanted something. She turned to glare at her, now making up in annoyance for what it lacked in former hostility; she had nothing to offer, and herself wasn’t an option.

What a pain in the ass.

“ – Whatever.”

“Cut to the chase already,” she sighed in annoyance, staring down Kat. “I don’t have any money, if that’s what you’re after.”

It was true, she was broke. All her money had been spent on impulse after impulse.

Finally, she started to take in the other girl as a whole; tan skin, fair blonde hair, strange black clothes… Weird, and – wait. What… the hell was that thing in her lap? Some bundle of lights in the shape of something akin to an animal, and a small one. Was she really losing it? First blur-people and now a disco ball lap dog! … Cat… Thing.

Now the shifter was the one with the throbbing headache. From all the complaining.

Kat sighed and crossed her arms, still confused about the entire interaction. Last time she checked, Anemone had called out to her. Asked her to wait, and to look at her. As far as she was concerned, her and the pilot were the only two people unaffected by this time anomaly. Yet with the treatment the shifter recieved, it was unclear what exactly the pink haired girl wanted. She had given her help, and she brushed that away, as if it were nothing. Of course.

“Last time I checked, you’re the one who called out to me! I thought you wanted help and that’s what I gave you! I don’t want money or anything; I was just doing what I thought was right. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Ahhh. There’s that temper. The first time she had her heroics met with such disgust, she felt so hurt. It was because the Shifters were strange to the people of Heskeville, and they had a bad reputation. This time, Kat knew she was in the right, so her anger came full force. Maybe they didn’t teach manners wherever the pilot came from. Dusty seemed to have a temper as well, his back craning and a hiss emenating from a mouth...shape on his face. First Anemone takes a stab at her, then her cat? Oooogh, she was getting on the shifter’s last nerve. Just like Raven did.

Not in this moment she didn’t.

The glare was moreso out of habit than anything, as she usually only needed a stern enough gaze to deter anyone from getting too close when she was like this. Yet this was worse than usual, and she didn’t have enough strength to protest more vocally, even if she knew she really needed someone else’s help. It was just a matter of pride, really.

– Eventually, she realized she’d been holding on to the other’s arm, and snatched it away quickly, only to use it to cradle her head in both hands. In her pain, she hardly noticed the appearance of a feline-shaped bundle of stars, but heard the majority of what was said to her.

Didn’t like her; well, she wasn’t far off, but, Anemone didn’t like anyone outside of her own pet. Something about those words, that she just couldn’t leave, it really pissed her off – so much so, that if the pilot had the energy, she would have shoved her away physically. That would teach her, teach her to leave well enough alone. But, the pilot could barely sit up right without leaning on the alley wall for assistance. She was all too aware of that.

“Fine,” she sounded more like she forced the words out, rather than agreeing to the other’s declaration. There really wasn’t much she could do about it, and she was starting to feel some relief, however slight, just from being out of the crowd.

Then she did what she hadn’t done in a while. Think back to her past. The one she had woven with Syd, the citizens of Heskeville.. Raven.

“...”

The only other person who had the same powers that she did. The person who drove her into the most frustration that she had ever felt. Syd was up there, but Raven took the cake. Disconnected, insubordinate, sharp-tongued, cold... Misunderstood. Raven even tried to kill Kat twice and Kat still cared to learn more about her enemy turned ally. She had motives that were just, and fought for them tirelessly. Did anyone know that before her attempts at silencing the Gravity Queen and stepping on her endlessly?

Absolutely not.

Maybe this girl was the same way.

“Thought you could get rid of me? Well, too bad. I’m staying riiiight here until you can actually stand on your own. Trying to move you myself is way too risky.”

Anemone barely heard her, but she looked up and was surprised to see the girl she’d called out to; she looked different up close, but maybe it was just a trick of the light around them. Dark skin, blonde hair, strange clothes… She looked so different, just like so many others in this city.

– Was she okay? Of course not! She wanted to recoil from the other’s almost touch, to snap at her stupid question, but instead a furtive and temporary glare was all she could manage, a mutter of words tumbling out of her mouth, words she did not hear nor acknowledge. If Kat heard her, those words perhaps sounded like a mix of ‘Don’t touch me,’ or ‘I don’t need you to help me.’ The latter being a false statement, clearly, as she could almost hardly stand.

To have to depend on another was a sacrifice her pride wasn’t quite ready to give in to, but in a mass of blurs for people, with only one other person being the outlier, what else could she do but hopelessly lean upon the other as she was guided to an alley?

– Well, it wasn’t like she’d say thank you any time soon.

“Ugh…” She let some more unintelligible words slip past her lips as she sat and reclined in the alleyway, a hand still on the forearm of the other girl – if she knew she was touching her, she probably wouldn’t be. Her other hand, however, was on her brow,as if it might ease the pain she felt.

“Yikes... Sorry.”

This was what she had signed up for. A heroine’s tasks were never easy. Thankless, even. Her duty was to cut through the girl’s icy exterior, and do what was right. No matter how much of a chore it felt like. Motions of city denziens remained stagnant, feet sinking into the concrete. Such an odd thing to watch, and it oddly made the shifter sick. Sickness could wait. All that mattered right now was if the pilot would recover.  At times, she ran into the somewhat living statues, thinking that they would eventually speed up. Thin arms scrambled to ensure that Anemone wouldn’t lose her footing. A few scratches on the girl’s fair skin from Kat’s nails was a small price to pay for help... Hopefully.

Once they arrived in their new-found haven of sorts, the pilot sat down, back sliding against the brick. Crimson eyes focused on Anemone, who’s face twitched and winced in pain. She wasn’t sure if she could take her forearm back or not. As impatient as the shifter could get at times, she waited. Crouching down with an appropriate distance from the girl, Kat struggled with what to say. A cluster of constellations, in the shape of a cat, had crawled onto Kat’s lap, acting as a sort of comfort. Aw... That Dusty. What a guy. She nearly forgot he was there in all of that chaos.

“Okay... So you clearly don’t like me and that’s fine. But is there anything I can get you? Or anywhere I can take you? As much as you may dislike me, there’s no way I can leave you here. No matter how angry you are.”

She really wasn’t sure how it had happened, but, it had happened none the less – everything around her, people, cars, even the wind all appeared to be… Slow. That wasn’t to say that it was a quiet day, no; it was as if everything, and everyone, around the pilot were moving at a snail’s pace. Everyone except her, horrifically enough.

It was confusing, strange, and ultimately freaky.

Her head was throbbing in pain, every sight adding to it, and she was close to just hiding away somewhere she could collapse safely. Whatever it was that spurred her to look around again, she didn’t know. But, to see someone else that wasn’t a creeping blur was an immediate relief, even if she had no idea who the person was.

“H, hey! Look, look at me, I’m – ” she stopped, to clutch her head, as she called out to the other girl. Look at me, she meant to say, look how I move like you, like normal!

It felt weird for the shifter to walk at her normal pace. She felt as if she was flying with the rate everyone else was going at. Kat’s eyes widened in surprise as she turned and met directions with someone who was calling for her specifically.

Well... as specifically as you could call a stranger, of course.

Her eyebrows knit together in worry, she ran with as much speed as she could muster, hoping that the pilot wouldn’t collapse before she could catch her. Her heels skid against the concrete, causing a grating noise to resonate in the air.

“H-Hey! Uh... I’m not sure what you want me to look at but are you okay?”

Bronze hands hovered over the girl’s shoulders, unsure if they should even come in contact. Her body shifted in front of the girl, in hopes that she could obstruct her view. All the while, her eyes darted around, looking for an escape from it all.

“Don’t worry, kiddo. I’ll get that balloon back for ya, or my name isn’t Samejima!” The demon turned to the street lamp while completely ignoring Kat’s question. Well, not like ignoring. He’s just gonna solve this problem before checking on her.

But enough of scene description, it’s time for manly action! Samejima grabbed the lamp and bent it down with his super strength, until it got close enough to the ground that the child could easily get the balloon by themselves. They stopped crying immediately and ran to grab it. Samejima watched from afar with a proud smile on his face.

Well, so much for that idea. She stood there, slackjawed in shock that the guy bent the street lamp with little to no effort. She had destroyed her fair share of light fixtures, but falling at a high velocity was completely different than bending it with her two hands. She wasn’t upset that he took her thunder; not at all! Helping people was her top priority and having others participate in that brought her an immense amount of joy.

“...Y’know, I get the feeling that I don’t need help with that anymore. Since you already took care of it. Thanks for that! Getting help with those kind of things is always so satisfying. You made that little boy pretty happy too!”

Yukimura, his rival. He’d promised to meet him head to head in the finals, but how could that happen now? Unless time flowed differently here, he kind of needed to get back to Fuji. 

A pause in his thoughts. Escape was probably on any newcomer’s mind, an instinct that would flare because of the ones they knew back where they come from. So, panicking wasn’t what Toshiie was about to do right this second, all things considered. 

He’d deal with that was in front of him now, which was that he was new in a city that was completely foreign to him. 

     “…Hah? What was that?”

A noise alerted him to another’s presence, turning in time to catch an aura of red as a figure jumped down from above. 

…And after all of that she asked him a question as mundane as that? He’d calmly gaze at them for a moment before he’d let out a chuckle. 

Come to think of it, she wasn’t quite normal either, was she? She stifled a small laugh at her own thoughts. Kat shifted her attention back to her new acquaintance, amazed at how he could acheive such a hairdo. Maybe with a little gel and some falling, she could get the same results!

...Er... It wouldn’t look so nice on her.

“That’s awesome! With all the falling I do, you can’t even imagine how messy my hair gets. But that’s not really a huge bother where there’s something more important to worry about!”

It had been a while since she had an enjoyable conversation. Although it wasn’t the most exhilarating topic, Kat still found joy in it.

        As soon as he heard it was gonna be made up to him, he began to worry. She seems the type to make matters far worse than they need to be, but he’ll hear her out. What else can he do at this point?

Alright, okay. This guy’s attitude was starting to get to her. Maybe he shouldn’t have been walking right below a construction site. Whatever, just a thought. The shifter puffed her cheeks in frustration, watching Leon type on her phone screen. All heroes were different, and handled things different. Maybe she should’ve just let the wrench hit him in the head, but what kind of heroine does that? Hands on her hips, she waited. 

“Well maybe I wouldn’t have been as clumsy if you paid attention to where you were walking. I still think that a wrench to the head is much, muuuuuuuuuuuuch worse.”

Eh, what could she do. Other than give him her name of course.