Fighting evil by moonlight, finding love by daylight

[sonrise]

It had started... Strangely, but how could something like this start off any other way? The whole teen vigilante thing hadn't been part of Varian's plan, after all. Not even when he'd discovered he had the power of the Moondrop, no. He had other things to do! Scientific discoveries to make! School to attend! A social life to try and not drive into the ground!

But things had changed, and when Varian had found himself in a position where he had to use his powers, well... He'd discovered that he liked the idea of taking some form of power in his life. And turning that power against those who did wrong? What could be bad about that?

That was the kind of thinking that had lead to him taking on the title of Moon; that had lead him to designing the costume he was now wearing; that head lead him to prowling the streets that night, as he had been doing every night for weeks.

Actually, that night was a bit more focused than most had been lately-- He'd heard about some criminal gang trying to get their hands on a powerful text, and the rumors went that they hadn't gotten what they wanted, and were now planning to take out their anger on a couple of banks around the city. The problem was, there was only one Moon, and he could only be in one place... But that was where Varian's brain came in handy. He'd done his research and figured out which bank was most likely to be targeted by the head of the gang, and he figured if he could apprehend him there, that would send a pretty strong message. So Varian was currently making his way downtown through shadow-shrouded back alleys.

Comments

[ricebird]

So. Kotori had the least interesting possible backstory for a superhero, or even a sidekick. No special skills besides maybe an interest in cooking- easily thwarted by a fear of knives- and the only really angsty thing in her backstory was the divorce, and her mom being busy with extra work. And thanks to this new arrangement with her math teacher and his little daughter, she wasn't really the type to brood about it, or wish for some fantastic escape. And magic didn't exist... right?

So she thought, until SOMEHOW she passed by some men in nice suits- Yakuza... very definitely middle-to-high-ranking Yakuza- and in a scramble to NOT get their attention, bags and books had been switched and... well, there was a book and a pretty flower in her bag where her math homework and cooking magazines should've been. And apparently touching the flower, getting a paper cut, and sucking on it counted as "ingesting" the fabulous Sundrop flower. That had been... an evening. And for once she was glad that her mom was out late so she could cut and get rid of the MASSIVE, inexplicably gold and GLOWING tresses that had sprung up from her head, with some help from Shinobu. (Shinobu was also helpful with helping her not panic at suddenly being magical. Ramen helped.)

She's completely exhausted when she finally goes to bed... only to have a very weird, VERY vivid dream of... a bank... and some glowing blue person--

"GAH!"

She awakes at a start... and the dull brown streak that wouldn't go away is... tugging in the air. Out the window, out the door, wherever the nearest exit it.

"...... Okay, my hair is thoroughly possessed and asking me to sneak out in the middle of the night. Sure. Okay..." She yawns and she puts on a set of dark sweats and her glasses (or... maybe not, she makes a hazy note to check the prescription soon) and walks out. "You better be leading me to a 24-7 buffet..."

[sonrise]

Varian jumped a bit on hearing movement nearby, before mentally scolding himself for doing so. He'd been doing this for like a month, he needed to be more on the ball! The sound seemed to come by the main street nearby, though, and that was odd if it was in fact the gang. But a civilian going by the bank at this hour? He peeked out, carefully.

[ricebird]

Yes, totally a random civilian, in sweats and with her hoodie pulled tight over her head to hopefully hide the lock of dark brown hair darting out of it like it's being pulled by an invisible hand.

"... A bank? Seriously? It's not even open--....... oh no. Please tell me my hair's not going to send me to do crimes. I can't go to jail!"

[sonrise]

A random civilian who is... Talking to herself. Not that he can make out what she's saying, just bits of murmuring. It's not his main concern right now, anyway, what he's really worried about is her getting mixed up in this.

"Get out of here!" he hisses, before realizing he's going to speak.

[ricebird]

"AH!"

Such a fearsome reaction, her yelping and jumping back a few feet.

"S-sorry... Sorry, I... I'll go--" NOPE, the strand of hair keeps tugging out of her hood.

[sonrise]

"Well then g-- Uh... What's going on with your head?"

Look, there may be important vigilante justice to deal out, but he's also still a scientist. With that comes scientific curiosity.

[ricebird]

"Ahhhh n-nothing! Nothing, just... a t-trick of the light!"

Quick, subject change!

"I uh... w-what cosplay is that from?"

She's trying to sound genuinely curious and friendly and not at all like she's trying to hide a secret!

[sonrise]

"But it's moving!" Yeah, he's just going to play that subject change card right back at her. "I mean, your hood, or your hair, or something, it's... What the heck?!"

[ricebird]

She just... SWATS the strand to her hair like it's a mosquito, and strats flustering even more.

"It's nothing! You-you're seeing things! And you haven't answered my question, what are you even doing here?!"

[sonrise]

"I am not se--"

But the rest of the protest is cut off when Varian hears footsteps nearing. He's not about to take the time and see if they've been noticed, he's certain they have, so the only thing he can do now is grab this random girl by the hand and pull her into the nearest alleyway.

Surely that won't leave her unsettled at all.

1/2

[ricebird]

SO. About that handhold. Kotori is too stunned to resist the pull, but she does give another little yelp as they duck into the alley!

"What are you doing, let go--"

2/2

[ricebird]

Her voice dies in a squeak as suddenly, that brown streak? It's blonde now. Not just blonde but the brightest gold possible, just like when she got that stupid papercut. And it's glowing again.

"... Oh no..."

[sonrise]

At the same time the stranger notices her hair glowing, Varian notices the blue spreading from a small streak in his hair to across his bangs and, he knows, beyond that too. He yelps as if he was just zapped, and leaps away.

"Wh... What just-- How-- Why did that happen?!"

But he barely has time to get the words out when a flashlight beam shines down the alleyway. At the other end of the light are two large, intimidating men, sneering as they approach.

[ricebird]

"GAH!"

Yup, those sure are two very large men coming towards them in an alley and her hair is glowing and HIS hair is glowing and--

"AHHH!"

And suddenly those bright blonde locks STREAM out of her hood towards the thugs, slamming them into the wall like water pouring out of a dam.

[sonrise]

Varian is clearly stunned by this development, but only has a moment for that right now. Right after the girl's hair slams the men against the wall, Varian gestures out with his hand, and black rocks start to jut out from the ground beneath them. The rocks form against the wall, trapping the thugs.

His hair is now entirely blue and, indeed, glowing, as he turns to this stranger who just got a lot more interesting. "We have to get inside now, there's more of them, but then I have so many questions."

[ricebird]

What the heeeeeeeeeeeeeeck?

"... I-I... sure... sure whatever..."

SURE THING, STRANGE GLOWING BOY WITH NO CONCEPT OF PERSONAL SPACE, SHE WILL FOLLOW YOU TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.

[sonrise]

"So, this has to be your first time out, right?" he asks as he leads her back around to the front entrance, which has indeed been compromised. "I mean, no offense, but you don't seem to really have a handle on things yet."

[ricebird]

Wait, what did she agree to?

"That's...! Can't we do this once we're safe--wait why is the door broken...?"

[sonrise]

"Because... Crime?" Varian offers, as he steps through the rubble all around. His voice drops to a low whisper as he adds, "I don't know if you've noticed, but we're saving the day. It's what heroes do."

[ricebird]

"Crime? Heroes?" BACKING AWAY NOW! "Oh nonononono this is...! I'm not a superhero! I'm not even supposed to be out here! I DON'T want to be out here, this is... you're crazy!"

[sonrise]

Well then he'll just grab her hand again, not pulling her along, but keeping her in place.

"Crazy? I've been doing this for a month," he hisses, "because someone has to take care of this stuff! The people who should don't--" He stops and takes a deep breath. "Look, you run off? They're going to track you down, it's kind of what they do. You've been seen! Might as well see this through!"

1/2

[ricebird]

She stares at him for a second, wondering why the heck he's angry at her for pointing out the obvious. If this were the Inuzukas, or Shinobu, or someone she cares about, of course she'd stay and try to help, or at least talk them out of it. This... she has no idea who he is and right now he only seems to care about her hair instead of her safety. So...

"Fine. Have a good rest of your night--"

2/2

[ricebird]

And instead of puling out of his grasp and into the night, she smacks right into a wall of a man, even bigger than her father, and she screams as huge arms clamp around her.

"Well well well... looks like the bank's just icing... we've found the cake!"

Yup, time to scream and flail in his arms, hair whipping wildly around them.

[sonrise]

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Varian realizes she must be connected to whatever power source these guys were seeking in the first place... Whatever they lost that made them even angrier than usual.

But his conscious thoughts are just on doing what he does-- Saving the innocent. He has to keep his hand motions subtle, so as not to draw attention to the rumbling of black rocks behind the large man fighting with the girl's hair. But it seems to be enough; enough to knock him off his feet once it hits him, and give Varian a chance to make a grab for hair-girl's arm.

[ricebird]

"AH!"

Between the momentum of the man falling and suddenly letting her go to the force she'd been applying, she's sent stumbling and almost tripping over her own hair until the boy catches her hand (again), and her hair glows a bit brighter in response. And... well, here she is running hand and hand with him, she guesses.

[sonrise]

"Don't worry!" Varian half-whispers to her as they run. "I've got this under control, just follow my lead..." He doesn't sound entirely convinced, though.

Soon, Varian skids to a halt inside the bank's front lobby area, and looks around, expecting an outpouring of baddies... But there's nobody jumping out at him, and that has him worried. He hisses a curse under his breath, because clearly these guys are playing smart now.

[ricebird]

Okay follow his lead--WAIT NO, THIS ISN'T SAFETY?!?!?! Sure it's empty... too empty, where are the guards...? But she takes a second to take her hand back and hiss under her breath.

"One, thank you... Two... what are you doing...?! Why can't we just call the police and go home like normal people...?!"

[sonrise]

"Normal people?" he responds, as quietly as he can, as he creeps ahead. "I get that you must be new to this, but look a your hair! You're not normal anymore, miss."

[ricebird]

"Wha-- that's--- that is NOT what I mean and you know it...! And stop dodging my questions, or making me THINK you're getting me out of danger and dragging me towards it instead...!"

[sonrise]

Varian gives a frustrated groan, muffled by his hands over his mouth, then he turns back to Kotori.

"If you're not trying to help, what are you doing out here? What are you doing with that hair?"

[ricebird]

"I don't know...! One minute I'm figuring out why my textbook got switched with this book with a crumbling flower in it, the next my hair's turning blonde and glowing and growing YARDS at once...! I thought I fixed it but apparently my hair's still magic and alive now or something! IT dragged me out here...!"

[sonrise]

Oh... Oh she really has no clue, does she? Looks like this girl's a civilian after all. Just like that, Varian's demeanor softens some, though now he seems far more nervous.

"Then you'd better get out of here. I'll keep them busy, okay? But you shouldn't be part of this."

[ricebird]

FINALLY he's saying something sensible--wait no, he's being crazy again!

"Neither should you...! Look, you might have superpowers, but you're still my age! I think...? In any case, you shouldn't be a part of this either, I'm not going to just leave you behind...!"

[sonrise]

He blinks, clearly surprised by the consideration of his safety over her own. He almost smiles, but it fades quickly.

"Well, I'm part of this already, so are you sure about that? Are you sure you want to get into this?"

[ricebird]

She just... stares at him for a few seconds, before facepalming and groaning.

"I was talking about the two of us leaving together- like sane people... But if that really isn't an option... Sure, just this once. I led a good life... I have no idea what I can do, though..."

[sonrise]

He chuckles, softly, but it's all nervous energy- No mirth. "Well... I guess we'll find that out tonight. And, well-- Thanks. For staying."

[ricebird]

"Well... yeah, like I said, I'm not just gonna leave you." Sigh... "We're going to have a long talk if he make it out of this alive, though. Somewhere safe."

She means it this time.

"So... what do we do now?"