Chapter Text
A flash of blue light, tinged with gold, and Benzine was Rock Blitz. Name pending something better, maybe. "So uh... what do you think?"
Steffi almost squealed. "Oh mein Gott, that uniform is amazing! You look all knightly!"
Techno nodded. "The blue and gold trim is a nice combination. It should fit well with the rest of our colour schemes."
Chandra crouched a little, staring at the buckle on Benzine's belt. "Ooh, you get a metal sigil! That's so cool!"
Benzine knew this was a good reaction but still felt exceedingly awkward. She was surprised how quickly the three of them had adapted to the fact that she was a Magical Girl and, well, a girl. Founder knows she certainly hadn't yet.
Steffi pointed, excited. "Hey look! Your boots are the… same as mine…" She trailed off a little as the significance of this detail dawned on her.
Benzine reached a similar conclusion. "…oh." She turned red.
"…huh." Steffi turned red.
"Hrrrnnnnn." Chandra turned red for other reasons.
"It makes sense," Techno observed, not turning red. "You and Steffi are quite close."
"What does THAT mean?!" Benzine squeaked, before realising Steffi had squeaked the same. Eyes locking momentarily, they quickly, furiously stared down at their boots. This didn’t help.
Techno, ever helpful, provided a distraction. "So, what are your abilities?"
They all turned to Benzine. A gentle breeze ruffled their uniforms. Benzine stared a thousand yards away. "I…" The vowel stretched into the night. Somewhere, a mouse dropped a pin.
"…I don’t know, now that you ask."
"…and make sure the streets are clear of monsters…"
De-transforming, Steffi threw an arm around Benzine. "Come on, don’t worry about it! It was your first night out. I’m sure you’re not the only magical girl who took a bit to work out her powers. Remember how long it took me?"
Benzine huffed. "You knew straight away."
"Well, yeah but-"
"You zapped me three times before you hit that first monster."
Steffi brightened. "See? I couldn’t even aim properly my first time."
Benzine rolled Steffi’s arm off her shoulders, scowling. "You still can’t. Anyway, get off me, you’re all sweaty."
"Wh- Hey! I’m trying to be supportive here, you dumb baby!"
"Stop talking, you’re making it worse! I tried everything you suggested and nothing happened!"
Chandra and Techno allowed a respectful distance to grow between them and the shouting. "It was a strange night, don’t you think?" Techno mused.
Chandra snorted. "Wull yeah! Ben’s a girl and everything! Wait, is she still called Ben?"
"Doubtful, but that's not what I was referring to. Did you sense something interfering with your powers tonight?"
"Oh yeah! I did! I couldn’t aim my claws right all night. They’d just sorta… change direction, outta nowhere."
Techno nodded. "I noticed something similar with my familiars. Odd."
Chandra could sense when Techno was deep in thought, like right now. "What’cha thinking? Do ya think Be- uh, GirlBen’s powers mess up magic or somethin’? You should tell her!"
Techno grimaced a little. "I don't think this is the right moment…"
Back at the front, the best friends were in full flight. "You think you’re sooooo smart!" Steffi roared. "What, you were gonna just waltz out here, night zero, and blow up monsters left and right like some veteran? What did you expect?"
"I didn’t expect ANY of this, idiot!" Benzine roared in return. "That’s the point! I didn't even think about powers because I spent all day dealing with… THIS!" She gestured at her uniformed form.
"Besides, you didn’t even NEED to think about electricity, you just knew!" She wasn't even looking at Steffi at this point. "What if that's significant? Why don't I know? What if that proves this was some big mistake, and I’m not- I'm not act-" Her voice caught on something.
The fire melted from Steffi’s bearing. "Oh… Benzine, wait a minute…"
Benzine realised what Steffi was reacting to. Her face felt wet, her throat thick. The sympathy on Steffi's face... “Augh… damnit.” Benzine span, taking off, unable to bear that look from her friend.
It was a short flight. The lamppost she ran into made a resonant metallic clang that would have been pleasant in another context.
Powerless, crying, apparently a girl and with a lump rapidly forming on her forehead, Benzine was certain she’d never felt stupider in her life.
"Augh, DAMNIT!" She threw every ounce of frustration into her foot, lashing out at the inanimate, blameless post.
The post shot out of the concrete, at least sixty feet straight up in the air.
Turned out Benzine could feel stupider. "Uh…" Her teammates watched on, feeling equally dumb.
The post tumbled, end over end, tracing an arc as it began its descent.
Right towards an untransformed Steffi.
"STEFFI!" Benzine screamed, reaching out to her. Steffi instinctively threw her arms over her head, ducking, waiting for the blow.
A gentle breeze ruffled her shorts. That mouse dropped her pin again. Sensing this was taking too long, she looked up at the post. It was hovering a couple feet above her head.
She looked over to Benzine. She still had her arm outstretched towards Steffi, but she was focussed on the metal post. "…oh."
Steffi looked back to the post. "…huh."
Techno nodded, satisfied. "I suspected as much."
It was a genuine attempt to set the lamppost back in place on Benzine's part, well after it was clear it wouldn't stay upright. She didn't feel right leaving behind property damage on her first night out, nor did she find Steffi's arguments that she'd done just that plenty of times all that persuasive either.
Techno had tried to explain why the damaged sidewalk would not support the pole, but Benzine insisted she could make it work. Techno let the matter slide; she suspected Benzine's mind was clouded by excitement at the moment.
Finally, the pole seemed to be in place, if a bit crooked. Satisfied, Benzine released her magnetic grip. The pole lurched sideways and crushed a mailbox.
They ran.
They were stopped a few blocks away, immobilised by their own laughter. Benzine was lightheaded, barely able to breathe. Objectively it really wasn't that funny. But laughter isn't always about funny stuff. Sometimes it's relief.