…
When it came to having good days in his life, Tom believed that he didn’t have many. Mostly because he could remember the days where things happened badly very clearly, while the rest of the time had nothing happen at all. 
Today was an exception, though, as it was going so good, that he argued that it couldn’t get any better. Not only did he manage to get bot parts he was looking for, he did so in a very short period of time. He found out about the shop lost night, learned that it was opening early, slept well, managed to arrive just as the shop unlocked the front door, only to find that they had the last one of the things he was looking for, and that it was on sale. By his definition, and maybe everyone else’s, this day was as lucky as they come.
Tom never had experienced things like these. Especially not when his mother usually set everything up for him. Just the fact that he pulled this whole plan off filled his chest with pride. Like, he could burst into a song about every integrated circuit types right there on the spot. Or maybe even brag to his friends about how well he did. In fact, he thought, why not?
“Can you believe that I was able to get a miniature wireless camera with twelve-hundred P wide lens and an extra SD card as well? All in the same spot?” Tom raised the small thing, about the size of his thumb, and watch it gleam under the sun. “How crazy is that!? And it didn’t cost me too much, either! Aw man, this is the best day of my life! I feel like…like I can do anything! Can you guys believe all of that?”
The two other boys shared their excitement in their own, individual and supportive ways. Fotia did by grinning like a madman. Sort of someone who only just recently seen a vintage car getting ready to be thrown into a landfill and was allowed to use his hammer to compact it around a bit first. Meanwhile, there by the lamppost was Chester, his body in a form of a reverse L. He’s been having trouble keeping himself standing, so he decided to lean on something for a bit. The fact that his eyes were closed and that a snore was coming out of him did not indicate that he was falling asleep.
“I guess, we can talk about it later,” Tom posited, but still giddy on his successes. They all deserved a treat, in his mind, and maybe a threat was a mid-morning nap. Couldn’t really hurt now, could it? “Let’s go back and find Mister Mouton. He asked me to meet him for the preparations for tomorrow. We are going to together, aren’t we, Fotia?”
The white crow boy stood there motionless, the grimace still painted on him.
“Um, Sir Fotia?” Tom whispered, while leaning closer to him.
“Yes, very much so!” bursted Fotia right into his ear. The cub cleaned his ringing ear with his pinky. “You better believe we do! Do you noth think so, Young Azure!?”
The hedgehog snorted a bit and smacked his lips. After that, slid down to his knees and turned to put his other cheek on the metallic surface. Tom scratched his own neck, wondering if it was good for someone to fall asleep in the cold. And as the passerby gave them looks, he concluded that maybe they should just leave already. 
“What did you guys do yesterday?” Tom asked.
“Who? What? When?” Fotia started throwing questions in every direction. He missed Tom passing by to slowly pulled the hedgehog back up. The cat was trying his best not to touch the spikes.
“You guys are sleepy aren’t you?” Tom then heaved, finally getting Chester to let go of the metallic sleeping spot he found. “It’s not really good for your health! Typical young kids should be sleeping for more than eight hours of-“
“Young Orange Kage,” Fotia interrupted him. Tom looked up to him, yet found the former in the middle of catching himself from falling on the ground using the same post. “I assure you, that I am in full energy! I am, an epitome, of fury and passion, unshackled by the needs to put myself to sleep, in body and mind! Yet! I shall admit…that if I were to hear that monologuing of yours, I might choose to lay my eyes over here-“
“Don’t! Please!” Tom gently pushed him back. The crow wobbled into standing, and then folded his arms to show his perseverance. At the very least, Tom considered, they weren’t very far from the hotel.
“M-mm,” mumbled Chester right next to his ear. “Ma….”
Tom pursed his lips, and listened. He waited for Chester to say anything else. After a while, he shrugged and got him on a piggyback. He checked on Fotia to see if he was ready to go, to which the latter gave a thumbs up. A small setback like these can happen, Tom realized. But as a whole, this day was going well enough. Nothing could go wrong.
Suddenly, his phone rang. He looked at it, making sure the hedgehog did not slide down, and his mouth dropped open.
“Now!?”
“WHAT IS IT!?” Fotia jumped into a fighting stance and threw a hook into the air. Another passerby murmured behind them, clearly finding them weird.
“There’s a…Torque attack,” Tom said, somewhat wearily. “I think Sir Azure and Sir Kage are coming this way. The girls are in the middle of dealing with it. Um, Chester?” Tom lightly prodded Chester’s cheek. The latter just swiped it away before going in for a tight hug. When Tom tried to object, he heard, “You’re so warm, granny.”  
Tom raised his brows concernedly. 
“DO NOT WORRY, FOR I SHALL NOT FALL ASLEEP ON DUTY!” Fotia announced loudly making the poor boy skip. Even the people down the block probably heard his voice. And then he continued while leaning on the post again, “But first, do allow me to…take a moment in time here…My head feels as though there are clouds inside of it. Has the spun to you as well?”
“Oh boy,” Tom sighed, “I hope the girls can manage it.” 
Tom felt queasy, as he does whenever this important stuff happens. He couldn’t exactly abandon his original plan, not yet. It was important to him that he doesn’t. However, as he looked over to Chester, who clung on to him like a baby to their mother, and Fotia, who was seemingly in the middle of going asleep with his eyes open, he began to think whether or not he should start thinking of changing plans altogether. 
But if he does, how could he even speak to Mister Mouton about it? Could he even do so by himself? Did he have the power to do that? Will his luck continue its streak, or was this just one small glimmer he was allowed to have?
The young cat looked up to the sky and whined.
He really wanted his Mom back here.
…
Flora put the phone against her dress and watched it disappear into it. Whenever she asked Rose about how it all worked, the spirit answered in a sort of vague way about it. Something along the likes of that, being spirits, they’d essentially used their bodies to create a covering for the kids. So, in reality, everything about Flora and the others were still there, but wrapped in a roll of magical, spiritual power.
To say that it wasn’t weird for her to think about what was going on with her body would be a lie.
“This is our first fight in the city, isn’t that right?” Barbie noted, peering over the roof.
“Yeah, I guess so,” Flora agreed, and peeked as well.
“It’s exciting.”
There was a gigantic crowd of people and row of cars covered around the intersection. This one was a more frequently used one, thanks to construction that was happening not far off from them. As such, anyone who has been trying to use these roads for traversal were left disappointed and angry. Thankfully, unlike that small town with its miniature police force, the lawmen responded quickly and covered off the area from being entered. At least they are less likely to worry about catching anyone in crossfire. Because of this, both girls used a roundabout way to get to their destination. 
When Barbie asked why did Flora decided to transform without getting seen, the latter said that she had a feeling it would be better that way. When asked why, she couldn’t really explain. A hunch, she explained it to be due to.
<I must ask,> Rose spoke, <what were you doing so far in the city? I thought you were planning to stay in your hotel? Why were you not there?>
“Ummm, how about we focus on our enemy first! So, where to!” Flora looked down and focused on her magic vision again.
Rose did not say anything. The whole street got covered in a whole new color palette. The greys and browns turned into blues, reds and greens, with special attention given to the purple and black that was coming from the direction of the corner store. It was like a giant smear that one sees when pen’s ink drops on a clean sheet of paper. The only difference was that it wriggled quite a bit. 
<Have care, there are more than a single enemy,> Rose noted. <That smear is far too big for it to be a single one.>
“How many do you think?”
<Either two or three. It is not exact.>
Flora nodded, then procured her bow into her hand. As long as they were together, she and Barbie can deal with any type of Torque whatever comes their way. And considering she isn’t seeing any additional dark power from a general, they have essentially lucked out. They might even run into that Golden Girl on the way. She grabbed Barbie, who seemed all to eagerly awaiting to drop down. 
And so they did. With Flora using her powers to lessen the gravity of them, as they slowly descended into the below. Compared to the buildings in that town, there was a significantly more of height, but she made sure to go down at a significantly even pace. She checked to make sure that the emerald companion would not slip at all. Although, based on her expression, she seemed to be having a blast.
There was a shift in the type of noise that happened as they slowly got closer to the ground. Each individual voices of the citizens switched from asking and demanding about the current situation, to fully talking about the two figures appearing from the sky. Some of noise died down, mostly for a short while, mainly to see if something interesting was about to happen. This was good for the officer, whose voice got a bit coarse from shouting orders.
“Alright, now stand back please! We will not allow anyone in until we have- what in the…?” He was the last to see the two.
The officer’s eyes grew into pair of light bulbs, as he saw two taller than average women lightly defy the laws of gravity. The visual was shocking enough that he wanted to call in a radio, but then one of them approached him. 
Flora ha been checking around herself, noticing the glares from every direction. The original din has almost gone, now replaced with murmurs directed squarely at the two of them. There were even a few phones being pulled out to capture this moment. It was then that she began to realize the size of the audience that they had. Furthermore, this led her to an understanding about one of the things her Mom talked about, along the lines of different strokes for different folks. Or maybe something like that. In other words, this weren’t the same people from some small town in the middle of nowhere, who would never appreciate the beauty of popularity, of being seen. She turned her head, taking in every person whom were enamored by her appearance at the moment. All they cared about was her. No other chance could appear like this again.
<Flora…>
Look, I’m not gonna do anything stupid! 
Her spirit did not say anything, and she chose to ignore it. She gave a smile to the crowd closest to her, and did a small wave. The one man waved her back, after seemingly pointing to himself first out of affirmation. As she smiled, she turned to the policeman, making sure to keep her voice cool.
“Is this were the monster has been spotted?” 
“Erm, hmm…” The officer became flustered, apparently not entirely ready for a floating lady to give questions to him. “This is a prohibited area, Ma’am! You can’t go in here until-“
“Please, sir, we are professionals!” She lightly interrupted. He did not fight her back, which made her feel even more elated. This was becoming better by the second. “We fight monsters like these just about everyday. In fact, we are from the very same organization as your very favorite Golden Girl! Isn’t that right, Emerald?” she then spun her head to look at her companion.
The expression on Barbie’s face was scarier than any Torque they’ve faced. The best description it fell under was a smile zombie would make to its favorite meal. Even Flora got horrified.
“Barbie?” she whispered, running up to her. She tried to shake her, but it was as if she got hit by a freezing blast. “Barbie, c’mon, don’t just stand there.”
“There…are so…many people…” the latter spoke through her teeth.
Flora looked over to her eyes, and found them wandering somewhere in the sky. Of course there were many people, this was an intersection! That said, maybe they could’ve just confirmed if the monster was there and then went in. Flora bit her lip and then just sighed in exasperation. 
“Just let Zamarad speak for you!” she whispered in her ear.
<In truth,> Rose interrupted, <Zamarad cannot speak to the larger masses so well either. As soon as she looks over, she begins to count the amount of eyes she sees to calm herself, not stopping until she finishes. As you may guess, she essentially turned into a mute for several hours.>
Are you kidding me? Flora groaned and thought about stopping this, only to notice Barbie walk forward. She stopped right in the middle of the intersection. Immediately, several phones were raised high to get a good view. 
“Do not worry, citizens!” Barbie announced and then raised her fist up. Flora watched it meitculously. “We, the Defenders of Valiant! And, we shall take this monster down!!! HUZZAH!!!”
There was a bout of silence. The few looks that she garnered were enough to make Flora wonder if she made a mistake. 
And then Barbie summoned her staff to her hand. Without a warning, a crackle of lighting came down to hit it, blinding everyone, including Flora. This was following by a thunderous roar, which shook the glass and made everyone’s ears ring, including Flora’s. When the latter blinked herself back to normal, she already heard a growing noise happening. Before long, she realized the cheers that were being thrown at her. 
<Well, she is far more comfortable than Zamarad is.>
A bit too much on the lightshow, Flora replied and then tapped her ear. That said, I’m not complaining.
Flora went up to Barbie, hooking into her arm, and led her away. She could still feel the latter shake a bit next to her. This was, undoubtedly, due to how scarier being next to a crowd was being compared to being next to a lightning shot. Still, Flora thought she was doing great. As the officers tried to calm crowd down, who were really invigorated by the show, they both entered the store.  
As expected inside, it was small, cramped and not particularly attractive looking. Its only charm was that it belonged to someone who probably lived by saving money more. Flora gave the room a quick glance before taking a step further. That said, to her surprise, there were no Torques in sight. That fact alone gave her a bad feeling, something that Rose agreed to immediately.
Where are they? They both wondered.
“Oooh! Is that a key chain?” Barbie exclaimed, already approaching one of the isles. Flora was dumbfounded by her sudden switching. It felt like she could find ease better in places like this. 
Different strokes for different folks.
“Um, you do know we are looking for a monster here, right?” Flora tried to bring her back.
“Oh!” Barbie turned to her, now holding a small translucent pink cube with a butterfly trapped inside. “Maybe we can come here next time. I think this one suits you!”
“Yeah, no,” Flora shot her down immediately. She was not going to buy stuff from a shabby place.
<I like it.>
Flora rolled her eyes. You like it because it has color pink in it, right?
<Are you implying something of my tastes?>
Flora smirked and shook her head. She began to move around the store for a bit. This whole place really felt quiet here. There must be a monster here though, she remembers it. And not just one, but several. She decided to focus on her vision again.
“Put your hands up!”
Flora looked over her shoulder and saw a rather atypical scene. A man, wearing a black balaclava mask, and holding a gun. He was pointing it to Barbie, right over the counter. 
“Hey, I found someone!” Barbie announced, with her hands already up. Flora wanted to slap her own face. “Sorry about spotting you in your secret spot!”
“Shut up or I’ll shoot!” the guy screamed again. 
Barbie’s eyes went wide for a second. Flora thought that maybe they should find a way to get this guy out of there. Who knows, he might cause trouble while they were trying to take down monsters. Rose mostly asked, if that man really was a thief, then perhaps this place housed treasures, perhaps like that keychain. When Flora pointed out the open cash register, Rose’s reaction made her say that she will explain it all later. 
“Are there policemen outside?” the man asked, peering through the window.
“Yes,” Barbie answered. “Do you want them in?”
“Seriously?!” exclaimed Flora, getting the other two’s attention. “Barbie, he’s a robber! He took money! He doesn’t want the police!”
“Oh! Now I get it. Yeah, that makes sense.” She then looked over to the robber, whose gun was still leveled at her head. “Aren’t your hands a bit tired from holding this?” The reaction the robber gave her was hard to tell, but it seemed like he was contemplating on whether or not she was pranking him.
Flora remembered for the moment about Rose’s explanation, and considered if she should get worried about them getting shot. Rose explained that yes, they should.
“Just great,” Flora bit on her lip and sighed. You better not screw it up.
“By the way, is there a monster in this store?” Barbie asked.
“I don’t know what the hell is in there, but I want no part of it! Get rid of it now, and then get me to safety!” He pointed to the door, leading to the storage room. “Or I’ll shoot at you, got it!?”
“You should’ve told us sooner! See Flora?” Barbie turned to her friend, her hands politely still up. “The monsters are in here!”
Flora’s mouth was completely open. How nonchalant could that girl even be? Are you, like, not afraid of death!?
And then there was a knocking sound. All three of them look over to the storage door. Flora quickly focused on her vision, and confirmed the giant black mark she saw earlier. And it was huge, too. It was growing by the second, coupled with a chilling scraping and moaning sound that it was making, made clear that it was going to be terrifying.
“C’mon, quickly get me out, before they do!”
“What are they, exactly?” Barbie continued to ask.
“DO IT NOW!!!” he shouted, trying to climb over the counter.
And then suddenly, as if by invisible force, the man fell backwards. There was nothing in the air, but something pushed him into the door. And as he flew, the gunshot rang in the room. Flora couldn’t figure out what just happened, only to find a sharp pain coming from her arm. 
“OWW!!!”
“Flora, are you okay!?” Barbie called to her, as she was suddenly standing right beside her. 
Flora fell on her knees, clutching her arm to stop the bleeding. Albeit, there was no blood. In fact, no liquid was coming out of her, though the wound did in fact exist. The skin was torn, a hole gleaming right in front of her. It was stinging, as if someone was blowing air right under her own muscles. 
Then, there came a growl.
“Barbie watch out!” Flora shouted, already figured that the monster was ready to attack.
And then the door blew open. 
And thus their first fight started.
…