#saverstar

Plot

Her name was Destiny Pride, and she never really got over that. Fortunately, she was born in Ngawooin, which was a rural town in Western Australia, which basically amounted to the middle of nowhere, so the number of people who could bother her about her name was quite limited. She was content with that; she had few ambitions and she preferred to just coast on through life.

Unfortunately for her, life was not quite done being an absolute pest to her so circumstances dictated that monsters would attack her quiet home. Then, to put the cherry on it, sheer providence granted her the power to transform into some superpowered warrior that could fight these monsters. Being the only one equipped for the task, Destiny Pride reluctantly took up the mantle of Saverstar and fought back against the aggressors.

But she wished that was the end of it. As it happened, the monsters were actually the townspeople of Ngawooin, so depressed and downtrodden that they accepted the deal of a being called Goetius to transform and possess them, so she had to be careful lest she kill them. What’s more, even upon defeating the monsters, the townspeople were still in the same emotional lows that tempted them to take up Goetius’ offer to begin with. That meant she had to take care of these people emotionally as well. She had to fight evil with her superhuman might but also save people with her human heart.

She missed the days when her biggest problem was people learning her name.

Main Cast

Destiny Pride: Our protagonist and hero, however much she’d prefer not to be. When a light shoots down from the sky and into her, she gains a magical girl transformation she decides to call Saverstar. She balances her school life with fighting monsters and socialising. Roll a dice to figure out which one is the most nightmarish to her.

At least today was alright. It was surprisingly warm for a winter morning but the breeze was cool and her clothes were comfortable enough in it. She wore the standard female uniform of a white dress shirt with purple buttons and a blue skirt.

“Has anyone seen Neil today?” asked Mr Grady.

Neil? If she remembered right, he’d never missed a class before. Was he the one with that tablet laptop? No, that was Koda. Neil… He was the quiet one who had a small smile all the time and kept to himself. He had a soft face and short, kind of messy black hair and he wore his purple-and-blue Ngawooin High-brand raincoat all the time. On warm days like this, it’d be wrapped around his waist.

She took a brief glance around the class. Everyone else was saying ‘no’ while shrugging and looking around. She rubbed her forehead, brushing the fringe of her blonde bob as she did so.

“Hm. Moving on. Tory Moore?”

“Present,” said Tory as she sat still, her long black hair cascading behind her.

Right, back to looking out the window… and she saw Neil outside, walking across the yard. What’s more, he was with Riley Maddison, who was as charming and likeable as a cane toad with a flamethrower. Not that he was ugly—someone might  date him for more than just the bad boy appeal and ‘I can change him’ fantasies—but his personality was awful. He cut holes into the knees of his blue school pants and his faux hawk was dyed a deep red, possibly with the bloody tears of his victims.

“Pride?”

She didn’t hear Mr Grady. Riley was someone she expected to be looming about outside during class hours. Neil, however, was the last person that she would expect to willingly hang out with him. Riley had his arm around Neil’s shoulders as the two strolled by but, even from far away, she could see that Neil was hanging back and Riley had to pull him along while still looking casual. Odd as Neil was, even she could tell this was not his idea of a casual time. The two headed for the gym equipment shed.

“Pride?”

Suddenly, Neil broke away from Riley and made a run for it. He didn’t even get two steps away before Riley caught Neil by the  hoodie around his waist and pulled him in, grabbing him by the arm. Neil struggled as much as he could but he couldn’t stop the other boy from dragging him behind the shed, out of her sight.

“Destiny Pride!”

She jumped with a jolt. One of the things she dreaded more than anything was Mr Grady raising his voice. The other was… ugh, her full name.

Mr Grady’s gaze and expression never flinched as he crossed his arms. “Try not to lose focus at the very start of the day, Destiny.”

Now the class was chuckling at her. Which was inevitable, really; she could never avoid humiliation with a name like hers. Stupid parents.

---

That fiasco aside, the school day was uneventful, as such days normally are. It was the usual routine, aside from the thing she saw with Neil and Riley in the morning. She didn’t think too much about it; Neil had his things to deal with and Destiny had hers.

Right now, Destiny’s thing to deal with was the need to pee before she went home. She made her way to the girl’s toilets and opened a cubicle…

… only to find  Neil sitting there. His face snapped up and their surprised eyes met. His were red, much like his cheeks that looked coarse from being rubbed too much. In his hand, he held a bunch of toilet paper. His raincoat was nowhere to be seen.

She was paralysed, like she was called upon to be in a play she hadn’t even heard of. Questions ricocheted throughout her skull, pushing to the front of the line. What happened to you? Were you crying? Have you been here all day? Why are you in the girl’s toilets? Where’s your raincoat? Did Riley do this to you?

Neil gulped. “I… thought I locked the door…” he mumbled, his voice trembling.

Destiny slowly shut the door and left the toilets without a word.

Not much she could do, she thought to herself. It wasn’t like she was his friend or anything. He had a family at home. He had to have friends, maybe someone online. They could help him out. She had no business talking to him; someone else could handle it better.

She decided she could hold it in until she got to her own home’s toilet.

---

Neil, on the other hand, did not make his way home. Half an hour after the home bell rang, he made his way to a lone shed on the far side of the school yard and sat against the shadowed wall. There were no cameras here and no one seemed to use the shed. He didn’t even know what it was for. He’d be left alone here for at least a few hours until sunset.

When Destiny came into his cubicle, he was alarmed and ashamed of himself for being found in that way. However, a small spark of hope lit in him from seeing her. A part of him wanted her to ask what was wrong, what happened, if he was all right, anything. A part of him hoped so strongly for her to reach out to him, when he was too scared to reach out to anyone.

But she’d left without saying anything.

Alone, all he could do was cry. He stifled the noises he made; even if no one was around, it felt shameful to cry like he was. He needed to be alone for this. He couldn’t let anyone find him.

“What is the matter, child?”

The rebounding, gutteral voice jolted Neil. His back pressed harder against the wall out of shock as his eyes flashed up and down for the voice’s source. The last thing he expected were wisps of inky black to come from around the shed’s corner before rising in front of him, coiling and forming into one long, thin, serpentine creature. Its body curved smoothly but its arms bent at sharp angles and ended in narrow claws. It lacked eyes but it had large, sharp teeth that looked solid compared to its gaseous body.

The creature floated close to the ground. It did not loom over Neil or overshadow him as it spoke. “I apologise if I startled you. That was not my intention.”

Neil could only blink at the spectre-like snake. What was he to say? What was he to do? He thought the stress was finally getting to him and making him hallucinate.

“Allow me to introduce myself.” The demonic creature lowered its head slightly, almost like a bow. “I am Goetius. May I ask what your name is?”

Neil’s breath was rocky as his eyes traced over Goetius’ form. “Neil.”

Goetius’ head leaned in towards Neil’s face. “You seem distressed. Tell me, Neil, what is it that ails you?”

Neil didn’t answer. He frantically looked around, searching for someone, anyone. Even if he wanted to be alone, he hoped someone would see this, or snap him out of whatever weird hallucination he was experiencing.

“Is it truly that awful?” Goetius asked. “To leave you so frightened and hurt?”

Neil’s panic-stricken eyes focused on Goetius for a moment. Then, out of resignation, Neil looked down at the ground.

“I will not force you to talk. But…” Goetius moved back, “… if it will help you to share your problems, know that I will listen.”

Neil closed his eyes. His hands knotted together in his lap. “What’s the point…?”

Goetius remained silent.

“It’s just… there’s a guy I know. For, what, how many years now, he’s… been the worst thing to happen to me. I don’t know… why? I don’t know what I ever did to him. I’ve told my parents, I’ve told my vice principal, and he never stops… It’ll never… stop…”

Goetius remained silent still as Neil’s voice began to break.

Neil sighed. He looked up, his head hitting the shed’s wall. “Sorry to bother you.”

“You did not bother me,” said Goetius. “The woes of others are not a burden to me. I consider it a duty to help when I can.”

“Thanks,” Neil said, more out of habit than genuine gratitude.

“I understand your plight. I know all too well how it feels to be subjected to a tyrant’s whimsy. They prey on those who do not or cannot fight back. I find myself unable to forgive your oppressor. I would punish this tyrant of yours severely for his cruel hubris, were I able.”

Neil’s hands tightened into fists. “That’d be nice. I’m not able, anyway.”

“But what if you were, with my help?”

Slowly, Neil’s head lowered to look at Goetius’ face. “What?” He wasn’t hopeful. At this point, it was just comfortable for something to listen to him for comfort.

Goetius rose. Its long, coiling body hung in the air over Neil like a storm cloud. “Make a pact with me. He has hounded you, so he must be hounded in turn. Allow me into your body and I will grant you the power to answer your tyrant’s.”

Neil didn’t answer immediately. This was surreal, beyond anything he—or anyone else, for that matter—had ever known. “I dunno…”

“Is there anyone else who will stop this vicious cycle? Is there anyone who is able?”

“… No…”

“Then perhaps it may prove worthwhile to risk trusting me. I know I look grotesque, and I can tell you view me as such, but no one else will punish him. It falls to you.” Goetius closed in, stopping just short of Neil’s face. “No other justice will suffice.”

Neil bit his lip. “What do I need to say?”

“All I need is your permission, Neil Lowe.” Goetius smiled. “If you would permit me to enter your body, then you will gain incredible strength. You will be able to enact the justice that has eluded you for so long, that you deserve. Whatever the misery that has befallen you, I will help you make it right.”

Neil took a deep breath. Honestly, this was beyond crazy. But if saying yes to a demon ghost snake had any chance of saving him from Riley when no one else was helping him, then what else could he do? “Alright, Goetius. Do what you want.”

“Perfect.” Goetius floated back a bit. “Hold still…”

Neil obliged, even as his entire being screamed at him to move as Goetius’ smoky body slithered towards him rapidly. He didn’t know what to expect and he was all the more shocked for it when Goetius slipped right through his chest like smoke rushing into a vent.

Neil gasped and fell to his knees as he felt… something running through his body; something burning or oozing or like a rushing wind, or like something else that he couldn’t think of words to describe while Goetius’ entrance was changing him from the inside. His vision blurred and his hearing dulled, the very way he perceived the world around him warping. He struggled to see a black veil surrounding him, looking like it was made of Goetius’ body.

He felt that burning, oozing, and rushing something push against the inside of his body until it felt like it was pouring out through his skin. He felt it in his head as his despair and melancholy ignited into rage and indignation. After several moments, it felt completely natural to him. It was bizarre to recall a time he was ever weak or small.

He saw the tenebrous veil subside. He recognised the school grounds and how he stood tall above them. He was even taller than the shed he was sitting against just moments ago… and he felt strong enough to smash it, too.

He growled, his voice rebounding like Goetius’.

---

The sun was almost entirely below the horizon. Instead of being warm and cosy at home, Destiny was walking back home in the chilly evening. Squashed in her fist was the handle of a green bag containing a variety of groceries, including a couple of spaghetti packets that her dad really should’ve checked they had in the cupboard before he started cooking dinner and sent her to the general store this late. She didn’t even have a phone to call home with if she was suddenly hit by a car. Stupid parents.

As she approached a T-intersection, with Yellowfield Road continuing on in front of her or Stillgate Street splitting off to the right, the ground shook slightly every few seconds. It definitely wasn’t an earthquake but what could possibly be causing it? Destiny didn’t go out much but it’s not like Ngawooin had any elephants… right? 

Destiny turned down Stillgate Street and then her breath left her so quickly that she couldn’t even yell ‘What is THAT?!’

A fifteen-foot giant was walking down the road towards her when it came to a stop, presumably because it saw her. She thought ‘presumably’ because it wore an iron helmet that masked its face, its two horizontal eye-slits too thin for her to see between at this distance. Its entire body was clad in metal armour, which was in turn covered by a thick black tattered cloak that reminded Destiny of a judge’s robe. Two armoured arms protruded from the sleeves, the right carrying a massive axe that looked like a gavel with two crescent blades on each side of its head.

The giant picked up speed and stalked towards her, growling on its way. “Destiny…!”

It knew her name. It was talking to her. Its voice was familiar but how could she think about it in these circumstances? “Who are you?” she asked, quivering and meek.

“You abandoned me…” It loomed over her, its grip tightening against the gavel-axe’s handle. “Like everyone else…! You just ran!”

Then she recognised the voice. She tried to forget all about the toilet incident after school; she occupied herself but the memory clung to her and refused to let go, not matter how much she smothered it in idleness. She almost got her mind off it but now…

“Neil?” she asked, not believing the name that came out of her mouth could be applied to this thing that stood before her.

“Wrong!” he roared. “The name’s Judgement!” He raised his axe and Destiny was so confused and scared that she couldn’t even move as—

A car honked its horn as it sped towards Destiny and Judgement before coming to a sudden stop. Out of the car came Ngawooin’s one and only police officer: Sergeant Judy Coles. Her pitch black hair was shaved to a crew cut and, like always, she was wearing the dark blue jacket of the Western Australian Police Force.

“Hold it!” she shouted. She pointed a pistol at the monster, although she seemed frantic behind the strong front she portrayed that everyone knew her for. She couldn’t possibly have predicted she’d deal with something like this today. “Get away from her!”

Judgement snarled as he turned towards Coles. “Stay out of this!”

Coles’ eyes flashed to Destiny. “Des, run!”

At that order, Destiny went from having wobbly knees to running down the road faster than she ever had before. With a roar, Judgement lunged at her with his left hand.

Coles shot twice at the limb. The bullets bounced pathetically off the metal arm but they succeeded at drawing the monster’s attention from Destiny before he could grab her.

Destiny passed two houses before turning right. Here was a small dirt pathway between two wooden fences, a gap between two houses too small for Judgement to fit through. On the other side was Ngawooin Park, a small plot of land with two swings, a one-and-a-half metre-tall plastic slide, and a wooden bench. None of these particularly appealed to Destiny at that moment, so she turned her attention to a large, dense bush against the fence to her left. She dove in it as quickly as she could and sat.

Once properly seated and concealed in the foliage, she took a moment to get her breath back in her burning lungs. After that, she gathered her thoughts into words.

First of all, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Secondly, a giant monster that seemed to be a transformed Neil was strolling around like it owned the place. She was pretty sure this wasn’t why people moved to the bush.

Thirdly, said giant monster wanted—and tried—to kill her.

She could still feel the monster’s thudding footsteps through the ground.

What happened to Officer Coles? Destiny couldn’t hear her at all. She hadn’t screamed. Maybe she got away okay? Then… what next? Would Judgement come for her next? What did he even want? Was he just lashing out? Would he ever stop? Could she just go home with that thing on the run? He looked like he could cleave her house in two.

What was she supposed to do?

Destiny’s breath got faster again, this time out of panic instead of exhaustion. She took a deep breath through her nose, held it for a second… then exhaled through her mouth.

Her mind was still going AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH so it didn’t help as much as she’d have preferred. She felt a bit more calm but not by much.

She could still feel footsteps shake the ground.

Her head hit the fence with a sigh. Maybe she could just wait this out until everything breezed over. Maybe Coles had a rocket launcher back at the station that she could shoot at Judgement with. Also, while she was in fantasy land, it would be beautiful if Superman whizzed by and threw it over to Alice Springs. Not much she could do, anyway.

She could see the night sky through a gap in the bush; the sun had finally set. Not that it mattered to her but at least Destiny could see if Judgement suddenly appeared.

There was a bright star shining in the sky. Mum always told her that, in Ngawooin, the stars were brighter than they were in the city and that view was worth treasuring. Destiny never agreed; she’d trade the view for a stable and fast Internet connection any day.

That’s a good idea, actually. Destiny closed her eyes and mumbled quietly... “Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. Wish I may, wish I might, for good Internet so GIFs could load in the same hour we saw them. I’ll settle for in the same day if that’s too much.”

… She opened her eyes. Nothing felt different. Then again, she couldn’t be sure if it worked until she got home and checked the computer, assuming Judgement hadn’t smashed it yet. Oh hey, she could still feel his footsteps. Some things never change.

That said, that star looked like it was getting really close—

Her train of thought abruptly ended there as that bright star slammed right through the bush and disappeared into her chest. She yelped, not expecting whatsoever the sudden warm sensation that planted itself inside her.

B-dum

Why was her heartbeat so loud now?

B-dum b-dum b-dum b-dum b-dumdumdumdum

The whole area was illuminated by a bright light and it only occurred to Destiny after a moment that it was coming from her. Her entire vision was blinded by white but, rather than feeling burnt, she felt refreshed. Her entire body felt invigorated by the warmth that shined from her. When the light faded, she blinked rapidly. Her eyes felt fine but… different somehow. Like the rest of her body.

“Huh?”

She raised her hands—“What?”—and saw that they were clad in white metal gauntlets. They looked so thin but durable. The rest of her arms, including her shoulders, were clad in some blue skin-tight thing that was full of twinkling stars. She looked down—“What?!”—and noticed that it wasn’t just her arms but her entire body that had gotten a makeover. Her chest and belly were covered by metal armour that had some bow and arrow-shaped star symbol on the chest. Around her waist was a transparent purple skirt that also sparkled like it had stars inside it with three layers, the bottom layer split in two and wrapped around each thigh. Steel boots on her feet went up to her shins, while the rest of her legs were covered by the same strange skin-tight star stuff that was on her arms.

Her hands clutched her head and something else felt wrong. She ran her hands down her hair and was surprised further by how much of it she was running through. She brought two strands over her shoulders and saw her hair was now white, long enough to reach her waist, and shimmering in the same stellar way as her bodysuit. She checked to see if her fringe was still there. It was, even if it felt a bit more airy and flared than before. Unfortunately, something else was there, too; some glass-like visor that covered her eyes, giving everything a slight blue tinge.

In one night, Destiny Pride had gone from picking up groceries to running from a giant monster to being transformed into a star knight while hiding in a bush.

“WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!” she yelled as she launched out of the bush. She twisted and turned as she took in her new getup. It amazingly felt very comfortable; not a single article of clothing was too tight or too loose against her. Said comfort was purely physical, however; mentally, this was the worst she had ever been.

She felt the ground tremble more from Judgement’s gait.

Then it occurred to her: Neil was transformed into Judgement. She was transformed into whatever this was. Maybe that wasn’t a coincidence? Sure, she wasn’t the size of a building and she had no weapons, but… maybe she was meant to fight?

No. No no no no no. Stuff that. She wasn’t some superhero; she was just a high school student. She wasn’t even a school captain, let alone a soldier, and she couldn’t even get past level 2-1 in the beep test. No way was she qualified, let alone capable, of dealing with Judgement. She was going to go home and let some other warrior of light deal with this…

… but who?

Who could possibly deal with this? She didn’t think the police could handle it, even if they got here before Judgement cleaved everything in two. The army was in the same boat and they’d take even longer. Were there even any other star knights like her out there? Or was she, by some freak accident, the only one?

All Destiny could be sure of at this time was that, as far as she knew, she was the only one around who was like this. She had something flowing through her. Something glowing, something warm, something that ran through her blood like wind ran through her hair (which would probably look really cool at this point, with its new length). Every heartbeat reinforced the fact that she was stronger and faster than ever before. Her new body surpassed her old one in every way. She could feel that she was superhuman.

Destiny—or whoever, or whatever she was now—clenched her teeth and her fists.

She looked down and the light was taking form into something like… a bow? It wasn’t smooth at all for a bow; each limb bent at an angle with a prominent corner, and they bent again at the tips for small protrusions. The light faded and Destiny could see that the bow was made of metal, coloured the same as her armour. The front of the bow was bright while the back was a far darker grey. On the side of the handle was the same arrow-star symbol that was on her armour’s chest. But where was the string? Where were the arrows? What was she supposed to do with this?

A rebounding growl of “Who are you?” made her jump.

Judgement had turned towards her at some point. The light from summoning the bow must’ve caught his attention. That saved Destiny the trouble of doing it herself. Unfortunately, it now presented her with the problem of ‘What do I do now?’

“Uh, don’t mind me, just passing through,” she blurted out.

Judgement scoffed. “Then keep passing,” he said, turning around again.

Okay, that was a complete failure. Getting his attention was one thing. Keeping it was another. She needed to go back to Plan A. She took a deep breath and shouted…

… absolutely nothing again.

Well, Plan A was never going to work. She needed to do this some other way. She grabbed her bow tightly with both hands and walked forward.

She realised that walking was way too slow. She needed to run. Urging herself on mentally, she brought herself to walk a bit faster. Wow, her body was disobedient tonight.

“I said…” growled Judgement, beginning to turn, “… keep passing!”

Judgement spun around, sweeping with his axe towards Destiny. With a yelp, Destiny jumped back—surprisingly quickly—out of the axe’s path.

Okay, wow. She could tell she was stronger and stuff but actually experiencing that sort of movement was something else. What else could she do?

“Get out of my way!” shouted Judgement as he raised his axe and hammered down with it. Destiny, her legs again frozen with shock and fear, raised her bow above her.

The axe struck. The strike cratered the ground beneath her and its impact coursed through her body.

And yet she was still alive. Her body ached in incredible pain and her legs wanted nothing more than to just give and sink to the ground but she was somehow still standing. She was managing to push her bow against the axe and keep it from squashing her entirely.

Holy smokes, how strong was she? Not strong enough to push the axe away, unfortunately. If he just kept pressing down, her legs would give way eventually…

Fortunately, Judgement had other ideas. With a grunt, he lifted his axe off her and swung down again. This time, Destiny wasn’t frozen; in that brief window, she ran out of the crater in a flash, leaving the axe to bury itself where she just was.

As Judgement reached for the axe with his other hand, Destiny jumped onto the axe’s shaft with incredible speed and ran along its length onto Judgement’s arm. She gripped the lower limb of her bow and, with a mighty swing, clubbed Judgement’s helmet.

Destiny jumped away as Judgement roared in pain and stumbled back. She landed on the end of his axe with ease while it took him several moments to regain his footing.

She couldn’t help but smile. She moved like a shooting star and hit like a meteorite. She felt good! She could actually do this! “Take that, you big chump! I can do this all night!”

Judgement’s head snapped up in her direction. She could hear him breathe heavily out of frustration, shortness of breath, and pain. His helmet shook with violent force as the section that covered his mouth ripped itself open, the two halves looking like a pair of jaws. He reared back and roared at her before charging wildly, flailing both arms.

She jumped backwards as his hands clamped onto his axe where she just was. He ripped the axe out of the ground as she landed on the street. She wasn’t bothered; she could deal with this just as easily as before.

He lunged forward and swept with his axe but she ran past him and ended up right behind him. She jumped onto his back, ran forward, and clubbed him on the back of his helmet before jumping off. He lurched forward again but recovered faster than last time.

She rolled her shoulders. She’d figured out his attack patterns and she was getting used to the new powers she had. All she had to do now was…

Actually, what was she supposed to do? Was she supposed to whack him over and over until he fell on the ground? Was she… supposed to kill him? But he was still Neil, right? She couldn’t just leave him like that, could she? What could she do in this situation?

He ran at her and she ran past him again. At this rate, all she was doing was literally running circles around him and stalling for time. Did she have any other tricks up her sleeve?

She looked down at her bow. Maybe she did…

Judgement, rather unexpectedly, leapt high into the air and descended on her position. His size and weight meant he’d basically annihilate whatever was under him. Fortunately, she was too fast to be under him once he finally reached the ground; she flashed back several houses down the road right before he landed—

Destiny stumbled as his impact made the ground quake harder than ever before that night. She was expecting him to try and squash her but disorienting her with a meteor-like fall never came to mind.

Judgement bounded down the street with explosive force. Once he could reach her, he punched at her with his left hand. Although she was shaken, Destiny managed to jump over the fist and dodge the attack.

Destiny learned that night that, even with her incredible strength and speed, moving in mid-air was not one of her powers. She would’ve preferred to have learned that before Judgement struck her airborne body in the stomach with his axe.

The attack launched her like a cannonball. Her body punched right through a tree that was off the side of the road and continued to fly across undeveloped land. She hit the ground and rolled further still, creating a ditch of dirt in her wake.

As Destiny took deep breath after deep breath, as her stomach and back ached so much that just pushing against the ground felt beyond her, as her vision blurred and her ears rang, all she could think was ‘How am I not dead…?’ A massive axe swung by a giant should’ve cut her right in two, not knocked her away like a cricket ball.

She would’ve been happy about being so tough if she wasn’t in so much pain.

Destiny heard Judgement roar again. She looked up and saw the stars get shadowed by some large, dark, metal object rising in the air. Panic overtook her; Judgement was going for another seismic slam.

She grunted as she exerted as hard as she could to push herself off the ground. With a yell, she sped away right before he landed. The resulting tremor tripped her accelerating self and she rolled along the ground again, although not as far or painfully as before.

Facing Judgement, Destiny stood up again. Her legs were shaking, her vision and hearing were battered, and her stomach and back had never hurt this much in her life. All that and the dirt ground wasn’t as solid footing as the asphalt road. Yet she still stood, her eyes never leaving the monstrous form of Neil before her. She gripped her bow’s lower limb with both hands and took a deep breath.

He charged at her. Judgement’s jagged helmet-mouth parted again as he roared, swinging his axe with his right hand.

Destiny yelled at the top of her lungs as she spun and swung her bow from her left.

By some miracle, she timed it just right to knock his axe away from her. Judgement lurched forward and stumbled over next to her.

This was a window of opportunity if Destiny ever saw one. She gathered all the strength she could in her legs and kicked off.

She cratered the ground as she launched at his head. Her entire body slammed into his helmet and knocked him backwards, although he was still standing. While she was in the air, she hammered his helmet with her bow and finally knocked him down on his back.

She landed on the ground, although her legs buckled immediately and she planted her bow in the ground to support herself.

She looked at Judgement. He grunted and groaned as he tried to roll onto his side. “I’m not finished yet…” he said.

Destiny shook her head. She was strong but she’d been reminded very sharply that she was not invincible. Judgement was slow but he could do some serious damage if his blows managed to connect. Plus, he was taking hits much better than she was. If the fight kept going, she was probably going to lose. She needed to end this now. Her bow would do it.

She’d used amazing powers that day. She’d moved in a flash of light and hit harder than anyone her size ever could or should. Plus, she’d summoned her bow when she needed it. She didn’t know anything about her new gift but she knew this bow had to have a purpose.

As she looked at the symbol on her bow’s handle, looking like some cross between a star and a bow with an arrow, she had a faint idea what that purpose might be.

Destiny stood up straight and gripped the bow by its centre handle with her left hand. She held it straight in front of her; she’d never done archery before but she guessed this was how archers did it. She placed the fingers of her right hand at the centre handle and concentrated as hard as she did when she first summoned the bow.

Judgement rolled onto his side and placed one hand against the ground.

A small glow appeared at her fingertips. She pulled back and a streak of blue light was pulled along her fingers. She could feel the light’s power and its resistance to her pulling, as if it was being held by some imaginary string. She pulled back as far as she could, the glowing streak holding and waiting to be fired.

Judgement began to push himself up.

Destiny aimed at the centre of Judgement’s torso. The streak glowed brighter as her fingers trembled. She poured all her thoughts and hopes into the arrow, just as she hoped to protect herself when she summoned her bow. Her thoughts now were different from then: she thought to end this furious battle, rather than just to protect herself.

Judgement stood up once more on his two legs and turned to Destiny.

Destiny released the glowing streak.

The streak shot forward from Destiny’s grip and expanded, like Destiny was holding its compressed form and releasing it allowed it to grow to its full size. A lance of light pierced Judgement’s torso, although it opened no hole and tore through no flesh; it passed through like it had no physical form. As the arrow exited Judgement’s body, it thinned out and dissipated without leaving a trace.

Judgement gasped, his breath driven out of his body. Moments passed where he stood perfectly still until his legs finally gave and he fell to his knees. When his knees hit the ground, they dispersed into wisps of inky black that rose into the air like smoke. The dispersal happened all across Judgement’s body, from its armour to its cloak to its axe. It all evaporated in a matter of seconds.

By the end of it, Neil was lying on his side on the ground, still dressed in the same school clothes Destiny saw him wearing earlier in the day.

Above Neil was some serpentine monster of black smoke. It had no eyes but it had shark-like teeth. Its body was long, complete with thin arms that ended in sharp claws.

Destiny’s brow furrowed, and she knew this thing didn’t need eyes to look at her in the same way. “Who are you?”

“I am Goetius,” it snarled. “How typical of a Guardian Star to attack so blindly.”

“Attack?” she shouted. “You attacked my town! What did you do to Neil?!”

Goetius’ claws tightened into fists. “Neil Lowe was in despair through circumstances he had no power to overcome. I merely gave him the power he needed, which he was to put into effect. But you stopped us, so he is to be trapped in that despair.”

“Oh shut up! You don’t get to complain when you break everything!” She raised her bow and aimed at the serpentine spectre. “Now get out!”

“I shall leave but I will return,” said Goetius. “As long as hope flickers, in danger of going out like a spark in the wind, I will be there to ignite it as any times as I need to.”

Goetius’ form slithered through the air back towards the town. Jeez, if she had to deal with it ever again, it’d be too soon.

For now, she had other things to take care of, like Neil. She looked down at him. His eyes were open but he didn’t get up. He was just… lying there. Just like how she’d lie in bed when she couldn’t be bothered to do anything, only he looked a lot more sad than bored.

She looked at the town. She heard some voices and noises of people moving about. They might come closer and start asking questions.

Well, she couldn’t leave Neil to them. She picked him up and carried him far, far away down the road. When you lived in the middle of nowhere, distance was the best hiding place and super speed the best asset. She didn’t know that second part until now.

She took him to a barren area far from the town and away from the road, with nothing around except for dead grass and weeds. No one in Ngawooin or driving to or from there (as if that’d ever happen) would find them without binoculars. As she placed him down on the ground, he closed his eyes and breathed out through his nose before opening his eyes again. At least he wasn’t in some kind of coma. But why wasn’t he reacting to anything? Destiny figured being carried by some superhero would warrant some questions or something.

She crossed her arms. “Uh…” she said. “You okay?”

Neil didn’t answer.

She scratched the back of her head. “Mind telling me what happened, there?”

Neil didn’t answer.

Oh, right; if he didn’t recognise her (was it the visor? Maybe the hair?), she had to pretend she didn’t know who he was. “So what’s your name?”

“I’m sorry…” he muttered.

Destiny blinked. “Sorry? For what?”

“For…” His hand rose a centimetre or two before falling again, a vague gesture towards Ngawooin. “For that.”

“What? You mean the fight?”

Neil sighed.

“Oh, uh, no sweat. You were possessed, right? That was, uh, Goetius’ fault—”

“No, no, I mean…” Neil sat up, bowing his head and drawing his arms and legs into his torso. “I wanted… that. Well, not that, but just… being like that.”

It beggared belief. Neil Lowe, the gentle recluse of Ngawooin High School, wanted to be a titanic executioner who smashed roads and killed people? Well, maybe that was consistent with a few murderers, but to see it from Neil of all people… Destiny could hardly believe it.

“What are you talking about?” she asked. “What happened?”

Neil lifted his head. For the first time, he actually looked at her. “I was… After school, I was by myself at a shed. I just wanted to be alone since… it was a bad day. It’s always a bad day. Not a lot of good ones. So then that ghost, Goetius, it came in and said it could help me with my problems by giving me power. I said yeah, because why not?”

Destiny raised an eyebrow. “You trusted a floating snake ghost monster?”

“Look, just…” Neil rubbed his forehead. “It was really bad. Goetius said it could fix everything, I didn’t have any other way of fixing it, so I said yes.”

So this was what Goetius meant by being trapped in despair. Destiny doubted anyone would trust Goetius in their right mind but, if they weren’t in their right mind and any option to fix their problems was a good one, why would they say no to it?

“I’m really sorry…” said Neil. “I didn’t want to hurt you…”

“So you remember what happened?” she asked.

He nodded. “Everything. I was in control but… I wasn’t, if that makes sense. I was really angry and… I think Goetius helped me along with what I wanted.”

Destiny sighed. Man, this was a doozy of a time. “Okay, so… no harm done. Kind of smashed up the road a bit but no one’s dead, everyone’s fine, so… I’ll pick you up, we’ll go home, and we’ll forget all this happened.”

She walked to Neil and prepared to pick him up but stopped when he looked her in the eye.

That time in the toilet earlier. He’d probably been in there since he was with Riley that morning. And she came across him, probably the only person to do so that day, and she left him alone. Didn’t even ask how he was.

Is that why he accepted Goetius’ help? Because she left him to rot? No wonder; he must’ve been so alone that any help was better than none. Didn’t he have any friends, though? Couldn’t his family help him? Literally anyone?

Judgement seemed to be the walking ‘No’ to that. He had literally no one, so he turned to the one thing that said it could help.

And Goetius said it’d come back. It could possess Neil again, if he let it. If he was alone, he probably would.

She couldn’t leave Neil alone this time.

“Actually…” Destiny sat down next to Neil. “You, um… So what exactly was your problem?”

“Doesn’t matter,” said Neil.

“Yes it does,” said Destiny. “I want to know why you let Goetius possess you.”

Neil groaned. “I was bullied. There’s this guy and he’s been bullying me for years. I’ve tried to do something about it, it never works. No end in sight. So Goetius… transformed me… and I wanted to…” Neil didn’t finish his sentence.

Destiny didn’t need him to; she got the sentiment. “Hey, no worries. We all feel like that from time to time. Although not everyone’s bullied so badly but… you get the idea. It’s okay to be angry. And again, no one got hurt, so it’s still okay.”

“No, it’s not okay!” Neil, gritting his teeth, punched the ground. “I don’t have powers anymore so I’m right back where I started. Riley’s going to keep at it and—”

“Hey, hey!” Destiny cut in. “There’s a way, I promise. It always gets better.”

Neil glared at her. “How?”

Much to her dismay, Destiny couldn’t answer that. She wasn’t a teacher or anything that could expel Riley or even put him in detention. She was just an ordinary girl in the same place as Neil.

… Wait, no she wasn’t; she had powers. She could literally throw Riley out of Ngawooin. Not that she’d do that but, if anyone could cut this bullying short, it was her. What was Riley going to do?

“Here’s how,” said Destiny. “I’ll look after you.”

Neil stopped glaring at her and looked at her in surprise. “What?”

“Yeah. I’ll be, like, your guardian angel and Riley won’t mess with you again.”

“Really?”

“Sure.” She held up a gauntlet-clad hand to him. “I promise.”

He stared at her hand. Slowly, a smile grew on his face. It was a small smile; not really happy or relieved but appreciative. Perhaps he didn’t believe her and just treated her like he did Goetius. He slowly grabbed her hand and shook it once. “Thank you so much…”

Destiny smiled back at him. It felt much better than she thought it would. She stood up once more and stretched. “Alright, it’s about time we got back. You ready?”

“Yeah, I’m good.” He stood up as well.

“Great. Hold on tight.” She picked him up again and looked towards their town.

“Oh, right!” said Neil. “My name’s Neil Lowe.”

Oh right, he never told her what his name was. “Ah, cool,” said Destiny.

“So who are you?” he asked.

“I’m… uh…” She didn’t actually get this far. After today, she needed some kind of superhero name. Supergirl? No, taken and boring. Stargirl? No, still boring. Superstar? No… Jeez, this was tough. “You know what? I’ll get back to you on that.”

She found herself fortunate to find a space at a corner where she could sort of isolate herself and get her bearings. As she relaxed, she saw a poster. Big and sturdy, the sort that made you think a hotshot from Hollywood was in town. Must’ve been professionally made.

The poster depicted a girl with flaring orange hair decorated with a striking yellow flower accessory that held a high ponytail in place. The yellow dress followed the flower motif with a petal skirt with orange ruffles underneath and a green bow on the back that looked like a pair of leaves. The flower girl was shooting a beam of light from her hands at some black furry animal, tearing it up like a high pressure hose. Printed at the bottom of the poster with very bold text was THANK YOU, DAME DAFFODIL!

Alright, so... What was Dame Daffodil? It sounded familiar but nothing was coming to her. Was it a play? Some movie? Maybe some local model or something? The poster didn’t have any release dates or studios or... well, anything on it anywhere. Was it...

Okay, bored now. She turned away from the poster but found a girl looking at her. This new girl was a bit shorter, had dark skin, and her short brown hair was tied at the back with a high ponytail held in with a yellow flower hairpin. Quite a contrast from her, with her short blonde hair that fell down around her head and really pale skin. Then there were the stranger’s clothes, a navy blue jumper and sky blue shirt. She’d seen a few other kids her age wearing them; probably the uniform of some high school around here. It’s a shame the clothes were unkempt and messy. Much like the hair, actually. And her eyes were unfocused and red at the edges with bags underneath them.

“Hey,” the schoolgirl greeted. Her voice was like that of a receptionist who started her job bright and eager to help everyone have a pleasant day but wore down with the passage of time, yet still determined to bring joy. “Like the poster?”

She glanced at the poster once more. “It’s a’ight.”

“I think it’s amazing.” The schoolgirl walked up to the poster and looked at it with her heavy eyes. Her smile was weak and tired but it wasn’t forced. Must’ve been a fan, if the hairpin was of any indication. “What do you think of Dame Daffodil?”

“I don’t really know who she is.”

The schoolgirl’s eyes rose as she looked at her. “Really? She’s a superhero around here. She fights monsters and helps...” A yawn interrupted her, “... people.”

“Wait, what?” The tourist blinked a few times, which would’ve helped get the sand out of her eyes if she was dreaming. “A superhero? Like, a bona fide, fair dinkum superhero? Powers and all?”

“I dunno what fair dinkum means but, no joke, she’s the real deal. She basically protects the city.”

Wait a minute, she had heard about Dame Daffodil once before...

“Hey, did you hear about in England?” Penny asked her, spinning her art stylus idly.

“Mm.” She herself was content to rest on her arms crossed on the table.

“There’s a superhero now. Some girl called Dame Daffodil.”

“Mm.”

“Fires laser beams. Also really upbeat. She’s like a TV show presenter for kids except she’s cooler than that.”

“Mm.”

“Long night?”

“Mhm.”

“Alright, I’ll leave ya.”

Probably should’ve paid more attention. “Huh. Well, I just got here. I don’t know much.”

“Oh. I was wondering if I ever saw you before. Are you a tourist?”

“Nah, on holidays with the family.”

“Well I hope you have fun here.” The schoolgirl showed her teeth as she donned a smile. Kind of forced but she was definitely trying to be nice. “I’m Charo. You?”

Oh struth, the most dreaded part of meeting new people: introductions and sharing names. “Uh...” Ugh, she hated this part. “... Destiny.”

“Huh?”

“My name,” such as it was, “is Destiny.”

Destiny could see a gear stop in Charo’s head. Well, one more than those that had already stopped. Maybe Charo could stand to get a few winks too.

“Destiny?” Charo said, either as a question to Destiny, herself, or perhaps a cruel God.

“Yeah. Destiny.” Her shoulders slumped. “Parents, huh?”

The footsteps around them were so much clearer and distinct with the new quiet.

Remarkably, though, Charo didn’t blink. She beamed. “That is so cool...!”

Okay, that was new for Destiny. The top two usual reactions for her were pity and incredulity. Sparkly-eyed excitement was a completely new experience for her. It was kind of nice but it was more kind of weird.

“Oh, sorry.” Charo proceeded to stop being awe-struck. “I gotta go. Just remembered I’m visiting a friend... See you later.” With a parting wave, Charo turned and walked away.

“Bye,” muttered Destiny as she half-heartedly waved back. “Don’t trip on the way.”

That wasn’t the worst first encounter she could’ve had in this new country. She was kind of weird but kind all the same. Too bad they ended on Charo knowing her name but at least she thought it was cool. She couldn’t imagine anyone else being like that.

Wait, where was she going again? Oh yeah, home. Anyway, it was either—

BOOM!

Destiny whipped around as an explosion burst from a ways behind her. She couldn’t feel any aftershocks but it was definitely loud. What was that? A meteor? A bomb? Those never happened back in her hometown; the only big problems were...

Wait...

Oh no. This was bad. Someone was in danger.

---

Destiny didn’t stop sprinting until she reached a lamp post on the corner of the road where all the commotion was. Only then did she collapse against and wrap her arms around it, taking deep breath after deep breath to try and ease the burning in her ribs. At least she got much farther than she did in last year’s beep test.

It took a moment but her torso stopped feeling so much like it was burning that it would keep her from moving. She lifted her head to the intersection ahead. Only a bit more to go. She put one foot in front of the other, breathing cyclically as she went to ease the burden on her lungs, until she reached the corner. She peered around it to survey the damage...

There was a black dragon.

No joke, there was a real dragon. In the middle of the street, in a deep crater that splintered into fissures that reached the sidewalks, battered cars, shattered windows, and topped streetlights, was an honest to goodness, to scale, living and breathing dragon.

Sort of. Maybe.

It definitely had the silhouette of a European dragon. Long snout and neck? Check. Four clawed legs? Check. Two massive wings? Checkity. Tail? Checking check. But it was in the details how the dragon was just kind of... wrong. Its body was covered not in scales or a leather hide but some kind of furry black moss. Its wings reminded her of flower petals. The two horns growing out of the back of its head looked like stalks and the fangs and claws resembled thorns. The tip of its tail, weirdest of all, looked like a budding flower.

A closer look would probably clear up a lot of details but Destiny was not one to get herself in harm’s way for curiosity’s sake. The same could not be said for the citizens around her, as it turned out; from the corner behind which she hid, she saw folks out in the open taking pictures of the thing with their phones. All their survival instincts taught them to do was to keep their distance a bit. Given three wishes, Destiny would wish for the bystanders to rack off, decent Internet for home, and a tray of Tim Tams.

Actually, she could just use the first wish to get the dragon to go away.

Speaking of, the big brute had yet to attack anyone. Actually, it had yet to even move from its crater. It stood right in the middle as it surveyed the crowd. She could hear a low growl coming from the thing; it was probably wary of everyone, ready to strike at the first sod that tried any funny business. So was it being defensive or...? What’s going on here?

The crowd itself got caught up in the speculation, murmuring to each other.

“Oh God, I’m actually looking at one...”

“Did it just fall from the sky?”

“My car!”

“If that damn glare would get lost...”

“I’d love one as a pet.”

“Where’s Dame Daffodil?”

That last one was said quite a few times. So Dame Daffodil was really real, as were the monsters on that poster. She should’ve gotten the hint after Penny and that girl she met—Charo, that was her name—told her about the hero but an impartial bystander saying her name gave it that impersonal quality that assured her she wasn’t nuts and talking to imaginary friends. Not that superheroes were hard to digest but you never know.

Damn it, though, she just wished everyone would go away. The dragon was only growling in a warning manner but that could change in an instant. Why was it even here? It wasn’t attacking so what’s the dea—

A warm yellow glow came in through the air and landed in the middle of the street like a heavy flower petal. It was a human—no, a superhuman. The dragon directed its now dangerous snarling at her as she stood up. She was a bit shorter than Destiny. She had a green leafy waist bow. She had a yellow dress. Her hair was messy and orange and long with a ponytail held in by a daffodil accessory. No prizes for guessing who she was.

Dame Daffodil turned around and waved at the bystanders. “Hey...!” she called, not quite putting her all into it because of fatigue but she was putting in as much as she can. “Is everyone okay?”

“DAME DAFFODIL!” cheered what sounded like the entire country condensed to a single street with all the enthusiasm of a bunch of fireworks getting married.

The local superhero wore her biggest possible grin and waved at those gathered. Many of them thrust their phones higher and forward to catch her image.

Destiny, on the other hand, stood frozen at her corner. Of course she recognised Dame Daffodil. The shocking part was how she recognised her more as Charo, who she encountered only minutes ago.

How did she not put two and two together before? She was right next to the poster. One simple comparison of their faces and boom, she could tell Charo was the very superhero she herself admired in a sort of narcissistic way. Yet it never crossed her mind. Why? Well, she supposed Dame Daffodil’s face on the poster was kind of fuzzy and hard to focus on for some reason. In the flesh, Dame Daffodil had something a bit... weird... going on with her face and Destiny recognised her just fine. Was this because of the poster? Maybe cameras only saw the fuzz like a regular would and carried that across...

Oh whatever. She could figure it out later if she was still interested.

“Everyone, please get away from here!” called Dame Daffodil after the spectators had finally settled down. “It’s dangerous! Please get to safety!”

The blaring of sirens followed right after as a couple of police cars arrived, bringing with them four men. “You heard her!” they shouted into megaphones. “Evacuate immediately for your own safety!”

Finally, the civilians left. Or some of them, anyway. Destiny would bet her toy collection that some of them were staying behind after pretending to leave.

She could probably go too, really. She ducked back and turned down an alleyway. Here’s hoping Dame Daffodil could deal with that dragon in her state...

---

The hero looked at the dragon cautiously. She regarded it not as a monster but as a dangerous but ultimately innocent animal, like an angry dog. It was a bit nerve-wracking how the dragon looked so annoyed at her but she kept it together. “Easy, easy...” she said softly. “I’m not going to hurt you...”

But the dragon was not easing up. Its nostrils flared and its brow furrowed as Dame Daffodil spoke. It growled at her and bared its thorny teeth.

“It’s okay...” Dame Daffodil continued, even if she was a bit anxious. She took another step forward...

And the dragon stood on its back legs and roared to the sky with such ferocity that the superhero had to back away while covering her ears.

“Uh oh,” she said.

The dragon threw its head down and blasted a cyclonic stream of what looked like glowing green pollen at her. It was as wide as a single line and faster than a speeding car; a regular human would have to be lucky to dodge it only partly.

Fortunately, Dame Daffodil was no regular human reliant on luck; her baggy eyes portrayed a false weakness as she used her super speed to spring onto a wall and then jump off to leap back over the street, which was now stained down the middle with an acidic green. Even the asphalt was smoking. At least she evaded it in its entirety.

The dragon began to raise its head to her airborne body, the lines of its mouth starting to glow green.

“No...!” Dame Daffodil thrust her palms out together and light coalesced in between them before she fired it as a bright beam.

The attack struck the top of the dragon’s snout with an earth-shaking boom as the pollen breath spewed out, now pointed at the dragon’s feet. Smoke burst from the laser’s impact and obscured the monster and the street from view. Pollen continued to kick up at the ground for a few more seconds, whirling at the base of the smoke.

Dame Daffodil landed on her feet in the middle of the road. She looked at the pollen breath as it continued to spill out even after the dragon was blasted on the face. “It’s tough. I’ll need to hit it more than once.”

With a roar, the dragon beat its wings and dispersed the smoke. Even if it was covered in black moss, it was easy to tell the face was burned rather savagely. Same went for its front feet that endured its breath. Yet, for all the damage, it looked even more ready for a fight. It kept its glare focused on Dame Daffodil as it growled.

Dame Daffodil groaned. “I wish things would be easy for once these days…”

The dragon roared and lunged towards her in a single bound with its front feet raised. Dame Daffodil quickly bounced to the side as the dragon’s claws slammed into the spot where she just was, shattering it like a plate.

Dame Daffodil rolled as she landed and righted herself with one hand braced against the road (bare skin against asphalt and pavement hurt, by the way, especially when a dragon just puked magic acid pollen on it) while she aimed the other at the dragon. A one-handed laser was less than half as strong as a two-handed one but it was faster to aim and fire.

But not fast enough, sadly. The dragon followed up its attack immediately with a swing of its tail, which she only caught from the corner of her eye, and she hurried to duck and roll under it. She raised her head to get her bearings again but she noticed the dragon’s other immediate follow-up in the form of it opening its glowing mouth.

“Oh come on...!” she grunted, bouncing away right before another stream of pollen could engulf her. Finally, she was out of range of its melee attacks. She quickly turned and fired another one-handed laser, which she knew the dragon was too large and slow to dodge, and scored an impact. Although the blast was smaller, there was enough smoke produced for her to use as a smokescreen while she put more distance between herself and the dragon.

But she didn’t get far before the smoke cleared and she saw, to her dismay, that the dragon blocked the blast with its wing curled around its body.

“What does it take to hurt you?!” Dame Daffodil shouted.

The dragon rotated its head ninety degrees and lunged forward with an open maw. With an upper jaw to the left and a lower jaw to the right, Dame Daffodil’s instincts drove her to backflip into the air.

One vertical rotation later, her eyes were in position to see the dragon’s mouth glow green once more.

It was going to fire.

She was stuck in the air.

She couldn’t dodge.

She desperately pushed her hands together. The light was barely forming in her palms as the stream of pollen rushed her way. It still wasn’t ready to fire as the stream got close enough for her to feel how hot it wa—

Something slammed into her side and caught her and... carried her off? One second, she was about to bathe in dragon not-fire. The next, she was being carried while the stream rushed by above and behind her. What saved her with super speed rivalling her own?

She looked up and her breath caught in her throat. A blue bodysuit, glinting with stars like a brilliant night sky. Long, sparkling silver hair. A transparent blue visor. A pink skirt glimmering like a nebula. And she could never overlook the thin steel gauntlets that held her carefully, as grey as the rest of the hero’s armour that covered her torso and feet.

The new hero smiled at her. “Never thought I’d be saving you, Dame Daffodil.”

Dame Daffodil’s energy had been in tremendous decline that day. It was a miracle she could make herself go out with how much she needed rest she wasn’t getting. And yet, seeing the hero she never thought she’d meet holding her in her arms brought her to life. “YOU’RE SAVERSTAR!” she yelled, beaming.

“Saverstar...?” murmured the voice of a civilian that didn’t have the sense to run away when he was asked.

“Isn’t she from Australia...?” asked another one.

“Four of them now?”

“Here? In England?!”

“Saverstar?!”

As Saverstar lifted her head, she saw the citizens moving out of hiding to get a closer look at the new arrival. Their astonished murmurs died as their breaths were taken away from their eyes confirming the amazing; Saverstar was here in the flesh in England.

The civilians, unsurprisingly, started shouting.

“Saverstar!”

“Oh my God!”

“She’s actually here!”

“WE LOVE YOU, SAVERSTAR!”

First things first, Saverstar placed Dame Daffodil back on the ground. With her arms free, she stood up straight and waved to the forming crowd that hollered and waved back.

“Alright, that’s ENOUGH!” she shouted as she stopped waving, and it was great that the crowd acknowledged her by being quiet. “In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a DRAGON here! We’ll take care of it! Now, as Dame Daffodil said, BUGGER OFF!”

Everyone in the crowd yelped before turning around and running.

Dame Daffodil chuckled. “I wish they’d listen to me when I said that.”

“I’ll give you tips after this,” said Saverstar as she turned to face the dragon. All things considered, it was rather patient to just sit there while she introduced herself. That said, it was a lot more agitated now than when it was just Dame Daffodil; its eyes quivered and shook as it beheld her. Was it just measuring her as a threat?

Saverstar held her left hand out in front of her. Small glimmers of light sparkled one after the other in the air, getting faster and faster, as they coalesced and came together in her hand. In a flash, the lights became one and formed into a stringless bow that looked like it was made from diamond. The dragon reared back, provoked by the bow’s appearance.

She placed her right fingers on the grip of her bow and pulled back. An arrow of light appeared with the action, shaking with energy just aching to be unleashed on her target.

The dragon’s mouth glowed green before it fired a stream of pollen at the aiming archer and Dame Daffodil. Both magical girls jumped out of the way in opposite directions. Saverstar still had her magic arrow nocked and fired it into the dragon mid-leap.

The arrow of light shot right through the dragon… and it had no effect, aside from a slight shudder. All Saverstar had to show for her efforts was a slightly peeved dragon that took the moment to roar at her.

“Look out!” cried Dame Daffodil as she fired a double-handed laser that landed directly on the side of the dragon’s head. It kicked up plenty of smoke as usual, obscuring the heroes from the dragon’s view as Dame Daffodil raced to Saverstar’s side. “Are you okay? The arrow didn’t do anything!”

A faint green glow shone through the smoke. Saverstar and Dame Daffodil immediately recognised the danger and jumped out of the way as a pollen stream shot out of the smoke. The breath expelling the pollen dispersed the smoke, making the dragon visible.

“I didn’t expect it to do anything,” said Saverstar. She grabbed the end of her bow’s limb with both hands, holding it like a club. “The arrow doesn’t do damage; all it does is exorcise possessed people. If that dragon’s not possessed, the arrow won’t do anything.”

Not that she cared. The enemies of Dame Daffodil weren’t like hers back in Ngawooin; back home, the monsters were possessed townspeople wracked with grief and needed counselling on top of a beatdown. But here? They were just monsters. All she needed to do was crush them.

Dame Daffodil looked at Saverstar with concern. “Then what do you do?”

The dragon pounced towards the two heroes. Both of them stepped back before the dragon landed right where they used to be, breaking the ground with the force. Dame Daffodil’s footing shook but Saverstar still stood.

“I’ve got more than one string to my bow!” shouted Saverstar, bludgeoning the side of the dragon’s head with her weapon, eliciting a pained cry from the creature. The dragon swiped at her with a claw only for Saverstar to evade it by flashing away down the road with her super speed. Dame Daffodil joined her at the same time.

With a bit of distance between them and the dragon, they took a moment to catch their breath.

The dragon regained its bearings as well. It glared at them, snarling, and then it spread its wings wide and roared at them more viciously than ever before.

Dame Daffodil and Saverstar sped towards the dragon head-on. When they got right in front of it, they split off to either side. The two heroes jumped from road to wall, from building to building, and back to the dragon, attacking with laser after club after laser after club, alternating between the two and speeding away.

Try as it might, the dragon couldn’t keep up with them both. It lunged at Saverstar with tooth and claw, only to miss and be distracted from Dame Daffodil’s two-handed lasers taking the moment to strike it. It blocked Dame Daffodil’s lasers with its wings and whipped at her with its tail, only to be completely exposed when Saverstar ran right into it with kicks, punches, or bow clubbings.

Saverstar appeared in front of the dragon, leaping forward and kicking down at the dragon’s snout. She leapt over the dragon’s back… and the dragon promptly clapped the back of its wings against Saverstar. She raised her hands to push against the wings but that only trapped her right behind the dragon, which lifted its tail and whipped her, knocking her down to the road in front of the dragon.

The dragon’s mouth began to glow green.

Dame Daffodil appeared in a flash in front of Saverstar, pushing her palms together and building up energy between them.

The dragon unleashed a stream of pollen at the exact same time Dame Daffodil fired her two-handed laser. The laser split the stream, the pollen rushing harmlessly beyond Dame Daffodil and Saverstar on both sides, and shot right into the dragon’s maw with an explosion.

The smoke cloud was enormous. Dame Daffodil and Saverstar nervously stepped back in defensive stances, wary of a surprise attack.

But the smoke wasn’t dispersed by the dragon’s actions; it dissipated on its own, revealing the dragon slumped on the road, its face viciously burned and damaged and lying in a puddle of its own acidic pollen.

There was no mistaking it. It was down and out.

“WooHOO!” cheered Dame Daffodil, pumping her fist in the air. “We did it! We finally beat…”

Her enthusiasm drained rapidly from fatigue and her legs gave out.

“Oi, careful!” Saverstar caught her as she fell. “Gotta get home before you sleep.”

Dame Daffodil chuckled with what little energy she had. Her baggy eyes looked at Saverstar with appreciation and tired triumph. “Right, right… But I need to take care of the dragon once and for all, first. Just one more attack should do it.”

“Alright, just take it easy.” Saverstar helped her to her feet and walked with her to the lying dragon.

Dame Daffodil broke away from Saverstar and stood in front of their fallen foe. It didn’t twitch in the slightest; it wasn’t getting back up with a surprise attack.

She pressed her hands together to gather energy. She took more time to gather more energy for a laser larger than those before, something that would annihilate the animal.

She fired her final laser. It created a dust cloud big enough to engulf the entire street and both Saverstar and Dame Daffodil. It lingered for a long half minute before it dispersed.

The dragon was completely gone. From the scorched black road where its body once lied, a dark flower with six wrinkled petals and a light centre bloomed. It was hauntingly beautiful but uncomfortable to look at.

“Finally,” grunted Dame Daffodil rubbing the back of her head.

With a shake of her hand, Saverstar vanished her bow in a flash of light.

“YEAH! GO DAME DAFFODIL!” cheered a bystander from the side of the road.

More citizens gathered and cheered with congratulations for Dame Daffodil and quite a few for Saverstar as well. The crowd was electric with enthusiasm, probably due to the new hero on the scene all the way from Australia.

As exhausted as she was, Dame Daffodil smiled and waved at the crowd. “Thanks guys but I really gotta go…”

“Excuse me…! Pardon…!” muttered a man with a microphone as he pushed his way through the crowd, followed by a man carrying a camera. A field news team, no doubt.

Saverstar frowned. Dame Daffodil needed rest more than she needed an interview (and Saverstar just plain wasn’t in the mood). She ran to Dame Daffodil’s side. “Don’t suppose you want to hop it out of here?”

“Don’t you know it…!” Dame Daffodil nodded.

“Alright then.” With a roll of her neck, Saverstar picked up Dame Daffodil like she was a bride. “Buckle up.”

“What—Wait!”

But Saverstar didn’t wait for the surprised Dame Daffodil; in a flash of blue, she took off running across the city, far away from the happy fans and reporters.

---

The two of them stopped in one of the many alleyways of Birmingham. No prying eyes or curious sorts to follow them in here. They’d be safe to take a breather, even if just for a moment.

The exhausted Dame Daffodil slumped against the wall and slid down to the ground. Not the most hygienic place for that but it worked. “Whew… Jeez, I was lucky you came around today. Best luck I’ve had these last two months.”

“Looked like it,” said Saverstar. “You really look out of it.”

Dame Daffodil nodded. “It’s been rough. Monsters have been appearing more often than ever before and I’m having a hard time keeping up.”

“Well it’s good that I’m here then. I’m happy to help.” Saverstar took a moment to think and recollect. “… You’re Charo, right?”

Dame Daffodil froze. She looked at Saverstar with wide, fearful eyes. “Uh, what makes you think—”

Yeah, that was coming on a bit strong. Saverstar took that moment to detransform. Her brilliant and shining form dimmed as her hair went from long and silver to short and blonde. Her visor, bodysuit, armour, skirt, gauntlets, and greaves all vanished, leaving her in just her civilian getup.