Chapter Text
Kaijudo – Into the Dark
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Chapter One: Looking into the Past , Looking Towards the Present Day
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The summer sun was warming against her skin as the waves crashed along the sand shore. They were all so happy; going off om a family vacation of three, right before she was going to be in the fourth-grade next year. So happy!
So, at peace.
“Allie!!”
“ Allison, don’t go out too far –
“ Mama??”
She looked down, the water was black as tar as she couldn’t get away. Her eyes saw only a sheer veil across them as the woman she knew was …was….
The family she knew…
This was fake.
“ Wake up, you dummy! It’s just…a bad dream …come on! Who’s messing with –
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Fifteen.
She had one more year until high school. Face flat on the floor with her legs still in bed, the alarm was murder on the last two minutes she had to press that snooze button.
“ Weird dreams, new school year….ah! School! Shoot!”
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“ Allison?? Allie, you can’t be late on your first day. Are you done in there?”
Mr. Underhill had his morning paper and a cup of piping coffee in hand as he called for his child, his teenager now – and dear God if this Kaijudo nonsense wasn’t the worst part.
“ What could she –
“ Sorry! I…overslept!”
“ Allie??”
Running with her navy green skirt, slouch black socks and a coffin shaped hairpin swaying in the wrong direction, her school uniform was on the list of things she really hated about the school that she’d transferred to only a few minutes from the old. Rai and Gabe still hung out, and by next year they’d be in cars, going out like real teenagers. Fir now, her grade was to get that far along, and being late was certainly a no - no in her book.
Since Rai had his dad back in his life, being treated by the Light council to undo the Choten’s little “ modifications,” or Gabe had signed up to join a home improvement group that built houses to the underprivileged, or…or…
Or that she still felt like nothing had changed…but not to despair as Allie waved to her dad, a piece of toast in her mouth and sneakers laced up. “ Bye! See you after classes!”
The door shut as the bus pulled up, her eyes scanning for a rushing start.
“ Made it!”
The back had two of her old friends from her last school, their accessories less un – cute as her goth – fascination.
“ Alls? You look too…is that a vintage?”
“ I know. Ray took me to this shop with his mom before the last last month hit of school... and it's so cute right? Matching set! Let me sit in back with you guys.”
“ Wow, so confident on your first day, Allie?” Her second bestie, Lucy was also pushed into uniform as eves went to her
“ Ray couldn’t go into this school since he’s been busy with, you know?”
“ Extracurricular?” Allie Giggled as she sat beside an old foe turned super bestie. “ How is our favorite “ hero?” Allie snuggly asked.
“ He meets up on …wait, are you saying you haven’t seen him all summer?”
“ No…I was, with family, in London over the summer…” She pulled her shirt collar and the punk style tie as her friends all crowded around her.
“ Hey, hey! It was only a week we stayed. I was …stuck with stuff, and we did talk but only online mostly. And as soon as we start today, I’m gonna make up for it!” She promised with a clap of her palms together.” Promise! So, please don’t say I hate anyone…” It’s…. cool, Alls. I was just worried. You pull back when it comes to being too close to too many people lately.”
The others nodded. “After you said your dad and…you had that anniversary coming up but she’s not like, dead?”
“ Me??” Allie waved the thought back. “ Look, did I not just stop the world from ending or something?” She raised a brow with a nervous laugh.
“ No, you just took time for yourself. Anyway, this new school I heard won’t take any crap. I mean it. My brother’s sister went to it and she was in detention when her uniform had the wrong length.”
“ LIKE A NUN?” One of the girls gasped. “ I got this half price, but…but…anyone have a sewing degree!”
“ Will…my socks be okay?” Allie pointed to them as Lucy shrugged. “ I’m getting better cause my dad got a new job and mom is getting a promotion soon. But still, we only made just enough to get me in. It has a great civics department or just as much as money can get you in this town.”
“ Right…but for Rai and Gabe?”
“ It’s not great to be em, but we’ll stick together.” Lucy put out a fist bump as Allie felt a bump nearly knock her over “ Sitting, sitting.” She said, her eyes on the bump. “ Later, okay? U don’t wanna go flying off into Jane Carthrow's book bag. I think she keeps an entire laptop inside it.”
“ Major pain, buy sure. After school, or lunch Iis fine?”
“ Unless they call it a half day, or a Kaiju screws up today?”
“ I can live with it.” Lucy smirked back.
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The assembly was boring and right after, they lined up to get their first lesson plans together. Plans for the future. Fifteen and not free at all.
“ Why did dad enroll me in this death March campus?” Ally trudged hone up the steps as she had missed a note on the fridge.
Working late….so tired…
Up she went to rinse, redress and sit around for one hour before one hour or more of the books she’d been given with homework up the wazoo to finish – and thankfully, it had all fallen on a Friday!
She turned up her radio and let the sounds perk her up with her tablet held up, an mmorpg with Rai and Gabe on the Katherine line. Lucy was still studying or nit on yet according to her login status.
“ I’m on my way. New party? Where’s the fire, Ray?”
She typed out as her next move was to make a call. Three way while the game’s sounds and her skull dotted pajamas were cozy bliss to such worn metal fatigue.
~ Yo, Allie! You made it? Hoe was the new school? The one we’re in is lousy too.~
“ Lousy or an authoritarian nightmare?” Allie chuckled. “
First the gang gets split up, and now Lucy is watching to make sure I don’t end up in detention for those nuns dissing my wardrobe. I live the clip set you gave me by the way…” She blushed as Ray cleared his throat.
Actually that was their good ole humble Gabe.
~ Are you two serious? We are on a kill mission in cyberspace! The raging king of flames is a raging –
“ Woah, where did that come from, Gabe?”
~ You never lose your temper that quickly. Or try to have us cover up your profanities.~ Ray was as concerned as Allie said interested.
~ Sasha and i….we had to break up…and my brothers are ten times worse now that they are better at sports…and….and…where is another monster battle when you need to release sone tension? Huh? We went back to being, well…lame!~
“ Ah, the existential crisis of Gabriel Wallace.” Recited Allie with a fake British accent.
~ I’m building a new home fir the less fortunate tomorrow. You do have a day off Saturday , right? Lucy will be there?...~
“ Ah, are you….” Allie swallowed..” Are you two, going out, Ray?”
~ We prefer to take things slow, so not really. She really wants to go to a good college and…I’m busy with my folks these days. We went to Osaka for the summer. How about y – Gabe! Four o’clock! Mud – slime!~
Gabe yipped through the link as Allie turned down her metal music in the background. “ Ow! Are you trying to give me early hearing loss, or what? And no big. Lucy us really, really smart. If she needs time, don’t push. Ah…and the school has a dress code.”
~ Like a catholic school?~ Gabe gawked.
~ Like a rich prep school, nice? I think? ~ Rai scratched hos head with a pencil while his drawing remained half finished.
~ You must be pretty ready to revel about now. How is your fashion sense even going to clash with the sister squad?~
“ Easy.” Allie hummed contently. “ I take from the master of prep – attude. I went to the U.K and even saw a few live performances with my cousin Angela. Dudes, she told me the dirty deets-
~ Details, if you please onbthat logic?~ Gabe gulped. ~ Not, getting expelled?~
“ No, just. Play it cool while still looking like you wanna. As long as my skirt is the right length, I'm alright you guys…”
Her eyes switched over to a text on her phone as Allie plucked up her second piece if tech for the night “ Dad’s home in a few. I need to clean up and finish the books. Crash time, immanent.”
~ We’ll save you a place in the great hall of the juat once ye shalest’ return, Lady Ravenclaw.~ Rai chuckled back, Allie rolling her eyes before logging out with a piece sign up. “ Later Sir Dorkus.” She grinned back.
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Yeah, life was fine after the Choten had been put on trial for creature and human experimentation without the right to take lives away from the innocent. Even Ray never wanted to lose sonething that precious. Now that Suguro was no longer the same person, or had to regain his entire life’s essence, Allie wondered if she was feeling too sorry for herself.
While she was stuck between an equation and the First World War, her phone rang.
Ah, a comrade.
She plucked it up, swinging freely in her desk chair. “ Heey, future world leader. How did the session go –
~ My parents are dragging it out of me, but I really do want to make them proud. Ah, also, I’m not busy on Sunday. My teachers and some of those nuns said I needed new shoes because they don’t fit the dress code.~
“ What size are you?” Allie dropped the question.
~ Think I'm like an eight but when I went last time it was in men’s sizes so –
“ You could be smaller, bigger. Got that. Think I'm like maybe a seven but still growing my Gramma says. The sizes overseas make no sense…tell ya what? I’m gonna do you a big solid and we can go shopping for your preppy loafers. Whatever they need from ta. On me.” Allie beamed at the idea. Lucy was a good friend and a few skin off of her teeth didn’t hurt a bit.
~ Really? I gotta hope to pay you back. Can I get shakes when we’re out? I don’t want you to put yourself –
“ Literally, it’s my gift for you being so cool, Luce. And….how is... your fling with Ray? Are you not hanging, you know, out?”
~He is...kind of more into his secondary “ job” with the masters.~ Lucy sounded unhappy with how her words seemed to wallow with her.
Also, he said his dad, not the masters....
“ No big, then you and me. The mall, noon, sharp. Got a rode or can I stay you on dad’s down time?”
~ Isn’t he busy it something? Ah, and non my dad can drive us it’s also on me, that’s Allison.~
“ Just buy the coolest thing so they don’t tell you to ever take em off. It makes me even more happy to know that you look that great in green navy. I had no clue you were like a model, mama?”
Lucy laughed as Allie even offered to dress them both in something sweet that day.
Yeah, time…it never lasted. Nit until the sun went down, with her homework not yet completely ready to set back into her bag.
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Another dream.
She squirmed inside the abyss where light could not save her.
Voices…
She heard ...
~ Allison!! Help! Help me!! ~
“ Who are you??” She looked around, the walls swaying as her eyes shut with a scream.
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Gasping awake, her clock read ten p.m. Two hours ago, she’d fallen asleep at her desk, a stray inky blot on her face from the pen marks she’d not gotten to fix.
“ Allison…?”
The door creaked open as her father Arthur walked over while rubbing his eyes with a yawn. “ Are you alright, pumpkin?’”
“ I’m fine dad…also…” She bit her lip. “ I’m helping my friend Lucy buy a pair of shoes for school –
“ That nice girl whose…” Arthur smiled. “ How much is the pair you want?”
“ We aren’t going that far with it.” She stretched the thought innocently. “ But….can…a little more for a Sunday off do, papa?”
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Saturday was the housing project; as a hard hat and overalls she’d cut off and cuffed over a black crew neck top and fingerless mitts made the cut. Her boots , black and purple were good enough for the site as Ray waved back while Gabe was too busy lifting up some wood to say hello yet.
“ You made it, trooper. And….well, nice?”
“ I missed being me.” Ally grinned. “ Are we starting yet?”
“ YOU TWO!” Gabe called over his friends as the hammer fell.
“ Owch!”
“ He has a new fixation, I see.” Allie cocked her head at the work site. “ Where do we stand on…all of, this?”
“ We go in, no strings.” Ray chirped, jogging over as he took some wood and a saw, the instructor pulling it away with a tut of his finger.
Ally giggled below her hand as Ray shrugged innocently back.
We’re they…no, Lucy was all insight. All the time. Maybe Ray and she …
She walked on, an omen that was never to be bugging her once Ray had a message that pulled him from the group.
“ On our way.”
He turned to Gabe, who was far too busy to do any other heavy lifting.
“ Dude, what’s up-
“ Allie, will…the masters are going on a mission across the veil. They need us.”
“ Glove?”
Allie pulled the old thing out of her back pocket as Ray looked elated to see it. “ We’ll make it up to the teddy beat when we get back. Doable?”
“ Let’s.” Ray nodded.
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This is fun. Is it?? Or will it get darker?