Chapter Text
Like most magical girls, Tatiana Slater sought out a team. The whole idea of safety in numbers was a message she knew well. When she had been moved to the Future's Promise dorm rooms, she thought it would be easy to find a team. However, fate had taken a different liking to this girl and it proved far more difficult than she had thought.
That was, until one night.
******
The barrier hadn't yet formed that night. Tatiana had been viewing the notices board earlier that day, and had picked up that this street had been short on patrols lately. She was taking a stroll through, as to familiarise herself with the area. It wasn't an area she was familiar with, as the southern portion of the city was somewhere she had never had to visit before.
While walking through the streets, she stumbled upon a team of girls.
“Who's this?” queried a light green haired girl.
“Nobody I know of.” replied a black-haired girl.
“Oh, crap.” stated a pale blue haired girl, putting her face in her hand. “I forgot to update the notices that we were patrolling here today.”
An orange haired girl looked at Tatiana, then her team, then back at Tatiana, then back at her team again. “She's alone. Should we join up?”
The blue-haired girl glanced at Tatiana. “We could do with another, and she looks strong.”
“Hey, you!” called the blue-haired girl. “Want to join us tonight?”
Tatiana was surprised. “Sure.”
The green-haired girl coughed, to which the blue-haired girl realised.
“Oh right. We're Team Breaker.” she said, “I'm Ice Breaker, but you can call me Emily.”
The black-haired girl smiled before chirping “Velia, or Magical Girl Shadow Breaker.”
The green-haired girl sighed. “Lucille.. and my title's Wind.”
“And what is your name?” asked the orange-haired girl, who hadn't taken her eyes off Tatiana.
“Tatiana. My current title is Shadow Prison.” replied Tatiana. “And, what's your name?”
“Amaya.” replied a somewhat smitten Amaya, “Title's Frisbee Breaker.”
Emily looked around. “Uh.. you sure did come alone, didn't you? Are you some sort of solo?”
“Not by choice.” stated Tatiana. “I've not had much luck finding a team to join.”
“Well, that's just shitty.” stated Lucille. “I'm sort of glad I found this team.”
“Regretting your title again, are we?” smirked Velia.
“Shut up!” yelled back Lucille.
“Can we have two Shadow Breakers?” questioned Amaya.
Emily shook her head. “That would be confusing. And besides, that's kind of jumping to a conclusion.”
Emily turned to Tatiana. “Can I ask what your powers do?”
“Well, I can trap monsters is shadow cages, like their own personal prisons.” stated Tatiana.
“And for defeating monsters?” puzzled Emily.
“I just punch them.” replied Tatiana, punching out for emphasis.
Amaya just sat on the bench, admiring Tatiana. “So strong.”
“Well, you could join this circus of misfits if you'd like?” offered Emily.
“Wait, so you're offering me the chance to join?” asked Tatiana, amazed that she was being offered a spot on the team.
“Yeah.” replied Emily, “But..”
“You can't be Shadow Breaker.” stated Velia bluntly. “I already got dibs on that one.”
“I'll still join.” said Tatiana. “I've been looking for a team for a while now.”
“Woohoo!” called out Amaya.
“Well, someone's excited” commented Lucille, jabbing Amaya with her elbow.
“I guess we could use the other part of your title” said Emily, thinking on the title thing.
“So, Prison Breaker.” said Tatiana, before groaning.
“Welcome to the bad title club” said Lucille. “I had regrets after I realised how bad Wind Breaker was as a title.”
“Yeah, it stinks.” teased Velia with an undeniable smirk.
“So welcome to the team, Tatiana.” stated Emily, who offered her hand for Tatiana to shake.
As the two shook hands, Emily realised just how strong Tatiana was. “Ow.. that kinda hurt.”
“Sorry.” apologised Tatiana.
“But wow, you really are strong.” complimented Emily.
Tatiana shrugged it off. “Eh, but I have a question. How are we going to do things tonight, boss?”
“B- Boss..” said Emily, stunned at the title. She shook it off. “Right. How we usually do things, is Velia scouts out ahead and calls out targets. Amaya focuses on flying threats, as she has a ranged power.”
“Attention all Citizens. The time is now 9:55 PM. Please make sure you are back inside your homes, with all doors and windows locked.”
The nightly announcement had interrupted Emily.
“Oh, it's a bit later than I thought.” commented Emily. “Well, that's cue that it's time to get ready.”
Emily was the first to transform. Her outfit transitioned into a blue padded jacket, with a belt around her waist which fastened with the symbol of a hammer over a snowflake. As her transformation flowed through, a sledgehammer formed in her hands, with the same symbol of a hammer and snowflake on the head of the sledgehammer. Following up were Velia and Lucille. Velia's outfit took the form of long hooded robes and a face mask all in black. A short black blade could also be seen sheathed on her side. Lucille, on the other hand, was a complete contrast. Her outfit glowed in a soft green light, with various square feathers lining the edges as a trim. As she moved, the glow followed as a trail of wind. Her hair had straightened up, with a hairband adorned with the same square feathers in a small plume of four on each side of her head.
Tatiana was the next one, she was quickly adorned by a black leather dress with a silver zip-line down the front, but no zipper attached to the line. A belt formed around her waist, while her hands adopted fingerless gloves. A pair of knee-high boots formed, with a flat sole as to suit a more sporty mobility. With this, Amaya sighed in admiration as she began her own transformation. Her outfit formed as a single-shouldered, somewhat sporty, dress which sat on her right shoulder, fitting snugly. A pair of dark orange leggings adorned her legs, going down to a pair of heelless ankle-high boots. As her transformation continued, an orange cloak formed around her neck and sat across her right shoulder, going down as far as her elbow. On the cloak could be seen the white form of her sigil – A frisbee with a four-pointed star behind it. She quickly spun on the spot, grabbing a frisbee in the process.
“I work on crowd control.” stated Lucille. “Wind powers are great for disruption, but rubbish for anything else.”
“I disagree.” stated Amaya. “You've got real good mobility. Even more than Velia.”
“Psh.” was Velia's response. “At least I can sneak up on monsters.”
“We all have our strengths.” stressed Emily. “Anyway, I work up close. Powers to freeze monsters, hammer to shatter them afterwards.”
“That's pretty cool.” commented Tatiana, not realising the pun until Amaya burst out laughing.
A short while later, the night's barrier wrapped around. A zesty lemon-yellow barrier, with a touch of lime coloured windows.
“Hey, Velia.” called Emily. “Could you-”
“On it.” called back Velia, who promptly disappeared into a black fog that filled the air.
Emily sighed. “You could let me finish talking, for once.”
“Either way, it's usually relatively safe to follow through her shadow fog.” stated Lucille, “Even if you can't see where you're going.”
“Until you trip over a trash can.” commented Amaya, with a strong glance at Lucille.
“Not my fault!” replied Lucille.
Tatiana walked to the shadowy fog. “Huh, I thought you said you can't see through it?”
“You can see through it?!” exclaimed Emily in surprise.
“I can see enough.” replied Tatiana. “Looks like Velia's coming back?”
“Huh.” said Lucille. “Let's see if you're right.”
Tatiana stepped aside as Velia burst out of the fog.
“Clear for a mile ahead.” stated Velia as her fog lifted.
The five girls spent the night walking the streets. Monsters found themselves stabbed from the darkness, caged and punched, frozen and hammered, slapped with a frisbee or spun around and crushed in the wind. The fading away of the inner barrier was a great sign, but as the girls went to leave, not all of them separated.
“Umm..” said Amaya, chasing after Tatiana.
“Huh, do you need something?” asked Tatiana.
“No..but..” replied Amaya. “I was wondering if you'd like to join me at a local diner.”
At this point, Amaya was desperately trying to hide a blush.
“I'll pay.” added Amaya. “My treat for the new team member.”
“Huh. Sure.” replied Tatiana, not realising she was being duped into an impromptu date.
“In that case, this way!” excitedly said Amaya, grabbing Tatiana's hand and dragging her through the streets in the process.