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Aika was tired. So tired she could feel it in her bones. So tired she could feel it in her soul .
Tired in a way that Star Guardian: Guardian of the Stars wasn’t allowed to be.
She surveyed the battlefield carefully, but it was no different than it was moments ago. No different from the last time they’d done this. No different from any other time this had ever been done.
It didn’t help that every monster was born yesterday.
They were incapable of learning or trying new tactics because they never got a chance to do so. They were born and they died within the same cosmic breath, with no room for growth.
Aika sympathized, but also this was her job . As interchangeable as they were, Star Guardian wasn’t .
She didn’t have a choice either.
“Now, Star Guardian!” Her teammate called out, cuing Aika in on the fact that they’d reached the point of the battle where it was shown that their magic was ineffectual at ending it. It was time for her to step in.
Aika was tired .
But it was still her job.
She hoisted her staff above her head and called for the help of her taskmaster boss. “I invoke the powers of the stars!”
Hoshi appeared above her, like they always did. They repeated their part of the magical chant, like they always did. “Star Guardian, it’s time to wish upon a star !”
And Aika responded, like she always did. “I wish, I wish, with all my might, to have the power to win tonight!”
And, like it always did, she felt her star power charge…
Except it didn’t.
Aika blinked in confusion as a sound reminiscent of an item drop in a video game heralded the return of her staff as… a metal pipe. It thunked into her hand with a satisfying solidness that she hadn’t even realized she’d missed in the midst of magical combat. She gave it a few practice swings, her grin growing as she got used to its perfect (to perfect to be anything but magical) heft and balance. It fit in her hands like it was made for her (which it was, but don’t take this from her) and she felt more like herself, like Aika , with every move. More solid, more impactful, more real …
Less replaceable.
With every step towards the monster she grew more eager to try something, anything, new.
Alright pipe. Let’s see what we’re both made of.
*
“I can’t believe you did that!” Her teammate shrieked. Aika ignored her, her eyes still focussed on the lead pipe in her hands. It was covered in black ichor now, as was she, but there was something so satisfying about the visceral grittiness of it.
She grinned to herself then, still ignoring the scolding the others had begun weighing in on as a thought struck her like a bolt of lightning. If the monsters were susceptible to purely physical damage, that meant that Star Guardian was replaceable .
Which meant Aika didn’t have to be.