Rory ran down the alley faster and more gracefully than he’d ever done in his life. His new powers enhanced all his physical abilities. Even in these heels, he could put a professional runner to shame.
“Rory!” Carina cried, hanging onto one of his tassels desperately. “Where are you going!? We have to fight!”
“Too many people!” he shouted back, just as a loud roar from behind nearly caused him to lose his footing. “We need to get somewhere in the open where people have a chance to get away!”
He chanced a glance behind him at the creature approaching like an avalanche. It was a collage of bones of every shape and size, including numerous skulls that appeared and disappeared from the surface of the mass at random.
Rory turned a corner and was out of the alleyway, exclaiming, “Everyone out of the way!” just before the amorphous shape exploded out of the narrow passageway and into the street. Cars came to a sudden stop, several of them colliding. Despite the noise and movement, the creature kept its focus on Rory, who was holding one of the skulls in his hand. It was gnashing its teeth but was otherwise harmless.
“Where are we going!?” Carina demanded.
“Almost there!”
He leapt from the street onto the curb, the clattering of bones right behind him. Rory ran right into the local park. People had already spotted the monster and were taking off running. There was a big open field here. If Rory couldn’t corner it, keeping it in the open where it didn’t have a chance to corner civilians was the next best thing.
“You want it!?” he cried, spinning around and chucking the skull. “Here!”
It hit the bone pile and sank in. The mass started to shift, forming into large claws that sank into the ground. Bones of all kinds formed into a long scorpion tail. Wing-like structures emerged from the back. There was no head, but skulls popped out all across the creature’s form.
“Do planar invaders have, like, names?” Rory asked Carina, readying his staff.
“Officially? No. I think these are sometimes called Marrow Formats?”
“Awful name,” Rory decided.
“I think it’s cute…”
The skulls opened their jaws and released a wild, thunderous howl that emerged from all directions at once.
Rory started with a yellow swipe. The wave crashed into one of the wings at a joint and caused it to snap off. The momentary victory was dulled when the bones were pulled back into the mass and a new wing started to form. A red lance hit the creature at its center of mass, running through but only giving the creature a moment’s pause.
This wasn’t good. People had fallen back, but some were still watching from far away. Many of them had phones out. Rory was not doing a good job so far.
The Marrow Format charged forward. It was at least twice as tall as Rory was. He threw up a violet barrier, but ducked to the side as the creature brought its claw down. The barrier lasted for just a second, barely long enough for Rory to get clear.
From the side came the the swing of the tail. One long, protruding bone that had been whittled into a spear was coming right at Rory. Panicked, he swung his staff. An indigo light surrounded the tail and jerked it to to the side, letting Rory get by with only a scrap to the arm.
“I’m not going to be able to overpower it,” Rory realized. “Carina! I need strategy!”
“Um… Let me think!” Rory dodged another swipe of the creature’s paw. “I think Marrow Formats have a core that needs to be destroyed!”
Rory sent a few red lances toward the creature. They pierced its mass and came out the other side, but it seemed unaffected. If it wasn’t inside the creature, then where was it?
He knelt down and then leapt, jumping over the creature in an arc just as its tail came around for another attack. The training was paying off, even if he wasn’t getting any stronger. Rory kept his eyes on the creature, spotting it on the descent. One of the skulls was different: covered in little gemstones. It was something to aim for, at least.
As soon as he hit the ground, Rory spun around and released a yellow swipe. It collided with the monster’s side, and the skull opened wide to release a scream before it sank into the Marrow Format’s side. Rory started circling the beast, looking for it to appear again.
He was starting to get winded. His barriers were slower and attacks started grazing him more frequently. But he got another hit in, then another, and another. For whatever reason, the creature couldn’t simply hide its core. Cracks started to appear in the skull and the monster’s movements became more erratic.
Finally, desperate, Rory leapt at the creature, raising his staff and letting out a savage cry. Green light surrounded his staff, creating the image of a large hammer. He brought it down on the core, which shattered. His feet landed against the creature’s hide and Rory pushed himself back off as the Marrow Format let out one last roar. Rory landed just as the monster collapsed into a pile of bones, which quickly began to fade out of the universe.
Breathing heavily, Rory took off running, Carina right after him. He had to get out of there before people started converging. When he made it to the crowd, they started to part for him, but he quickly dismissed his powers and squeezed in. It took a couple of minutes, but hiding Carina in his coat helped Rory to disappear.
Rory made it to a little cafe called the Silver Saucer. He sat down at one of the outside tables and let Carina out. She took a deep breath and sat down at the edge of the table.
“Oh, this place is nice,” she said, looking around.
“Yeah. I like coming here to decompress, sometimes.”
Rory ordered himself a cup of tea, well aware of how the server’s eyes lingered on Carina as she left. He glanced around and, indeed, people were recording them. If he was ever going to get any privacy, it would have to be without Carina. But he’d be useless if there was a planar invasion without her by his side.
Carina nibbled on a croissant while Rory drank his tea. To his surprise, someone sat down across from him. He opened his mouth, but the protest died in his throat when he saw the yellow pixie hovering over her shoulder.
“Hey,” she said. “I saw your partner and figured out you must be the new magical defender. I’m Coraline. This is Birch. He’s a bit of a jerk; don’t let it get to you.”
“She means you did a bad job,” Birch replied, folding his arms.
“Hey, back off,” Rory replied, reeling in his seat.
“Okay, everyone relax,” Coraline said. “There’s no need to fight. We’re all cool here. I saw the fight in the park. You still need some practice, but you’ve got potential. I remember my first bonebag. It would have been cool to see how much I’ve grown since then, but I guess you got to it first. No hard feelings, okay?”
“Um… Okay? You’re not bothered by the fact that I’m a boy, right?”
“No? If the powers that be decreed that there should be a magical boy, who am I to argue?” She leaned in, continuing, “I really hope that you’ll be easier to get along with than the other magical girls in this city. It seems like nobody, this guy included—” She gestured over her shoulder to Birch, who was scowling. “—seems to be able to take thing easy.”
“This is a dangerous job,” Birch replied.
Carina nodded, adding, “Our primary job is to prepare you for combat and ensure your safety.” To herself, she muttered, “Which I can’t do if I don’t understand why his power is so lacking.”
“I do wish the magical girls all got along better,” Rory said quickly. “It’s kind of disappointing to see how divided everyone is. Like… We’re all working together on something super important, right? Nobody knows what this is like aside from us. That should foster some kind of empathy, shouldn’t it?”
“Exactly,” Coraline said, pointing a finger at Rory. “I’m glad someone gets it, especially since we all come from disadvantaged backgrounds.” Rory bit his tongue. “I want to be friends with people; I’m an extrovert. All this public attention makes it impossible to stay in contact with all my old friends. I was really depressed for the first couple of months.”
“Not really a problem for me,” Rory mumbled. “I only have one friend and he’s cool with it. But I do see what you mean by the public attention.”
He scanned around. People were still filming them. Some of them looked away when they saw he’d caught them.
Coraline winced and said, “Better just to ignore it. But yeah, I’d love to be friends with you. Can we start with your names?”
“I’m Rory,” he said.
Carina chirped in, “I’m Carina.”
“Nice to meet you both.” Coraline grinned. “Let’s see. I come from the east side. Growing up poor was really difficult. Part of the reason I agreed to become a magical girl was for my family. We get a stipend from the bureau. They even moved us into a nicer place with a bit more anonymity.”
“That feels… a little exploitative,” Rory said.
“There was no way the bureau wasn’t going to help her,” Carina said, “but we only have so many resources to spare.”
Birch added, “It’s only fair that girls get compensation for the work they do.”
“I’m just lucky that I had a problem that could be fixed with money,” Coraline said. “I wish it hadn’t come to that, but I’m grateful for the opportunity. Coming to terms with my sexuality was a lot harder.” She shrugged. “But what about you?”
“I… Um…” Rory rubbed the back of his neck. “I live in Elysian Towers.”
Coraline’s expression shifted almost imperceptibly. Her hands on the table curled just a little from tension. She was still smiling, but her eyes had darkened.
There was a slight edge to her otherwise peppy voice as she said, “You wouldn’t be able to relate to my experience at all, then.”
Rory didn’t answer, instead just lowering his gaze.
Coraline stood up, finishing, “I’ve taken up enough of your time. Keep practicing, Rory.”
As she was walking away, Rory raised his head and went, “Wait!” She paused and turned to him. “…Did Marisol try to get you to quit when you started, too?”
Coraline’s expression softened, just a tiny bit.
“Yeah, she did. Birch gave her an earful for it, though.” Birch just huffed. “I think that the reason she’s allowed to stay as the liaison is because even though she’s a grouch she does a good job of weeding out the people who won’t commit to the job.” She smiled sadly before adding, “Stay safe, Rory.”
Once he’d paid his bill, Rory returned home. When he got in the elevator, though, he hit the button for Keaton’s floor instead of his own. Rory really needed to be around someone who actually liked him for a little while.
When Keaton opened the door, his immediate response to seeing Rory was, “Hey, man, how—? You look like you’re going to cry.”
Rory sniffed and nodded, then fell forward into Keaton’s chest and started sobbing. Keaton wrapped his arms around Rory and gave him a pat on the back. He pulled Rory inside.
“Rory…” Carina muttered, floating in after them.
Keaton’s room was just as big as Rory’s, but a bit more sparsely decorated. He had a pool table, which meant that there wasn’t room for a couch. They had to sit on the bed to watch TV. On one wall was hanging several electric guitars, a few of which had been autographed. Keaton was also way more into sports than Rory was and posters covered a lot of the wall space.
“Here you go,” Keaton said, lowering Rory onto the bed. “I’ll put the TV on and get you some water.”
Once Rory had hydrated and wiped the tears from his eyes, he placed the cup on the bedside table and took a deep breath.
“Life as a magical boy not as glamorous as we’d hoped?” Keaton asked, sitting down next to him.
Rory shook his head, replying, “I just want people to stop hating me. I haven’t done anything, yet.”
“Keep trying, man. They just need to get used to you.”
Carina cleared her throat and pointed at the TV. Footage of the fight against the Marrow Format was playing. Keaton grabbed the remote and turned the volume up.
“—exactly what this means for the future of the magical defender program,” someone was saying. “Despite this boy’s best efforts, he doesn’t seem to be able to do much damage against the creature.”
“Oh, God, I look so effeminate in that dress.”
The screen shifted to two people on a news set, one of them asking, “What is the reason for this boy’s weak powers? The Magical Defender Bureau is currently unavailable for comment, but speculation suggests that this boy—identified as Rory Harrell—” Rory’s heart skipped a beat and his eyes went wide. “—might be so much weaker than we expect from a magical defender because the powers were intended to be used by teenage girls.”
Keaton snorted and started flipping through channels, mumbling, “Nonsense gender essentialism.”
“Wait, go back!” Rory cried, grabbing the remote and flipping back a few until landing on a familiar, unpleasant face.
“You heard that right, folks,” Dayton Cruz sneered. “There’s now a boy working alongside the magical girls. One can’t help but question the masculinity of any teenage boy who would be caught dead wearing a dress. Is this the start of a grand conspiracy in America? To feminize our young men and destroy our culture—!?”
Keaton shut off the TV.
“You’re not allowed to watch the news anymore,” he told Rory. “How about video games?”
“Sure…”
As bad as his day was going, Rory really did appreciate that Keaton was going the extra mile for him. He always cared so much for Rory. It was more than Rory deserved.
i love keaton
he's a good friend!
Huh.. reading this again, I wonder if Rory took Coraline's statement a little harsher than she meant it to be... it is, after all, hard to see people /not/ disliking you when you dislike parts of yourself
Poor Rory
The Magical Girl Act of 1999 really threw a wrench into the whole profession that it never fully recovered from, let me tell you.
lol... love the story, but that comment made me laugh out loud, I really lawled.
Keaton is great.