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It had been a rough couple of weeks, what with the moving and the onslaught of the divorce between her parents. It was sudden, and in all accounts, more disturbing than Christa herself would even admit. She held her parents' marriage in higher regard than she had ever imagined, which was painful to say the least. Still, moving into her aunt and uncle's house was therapeutic so the teen could focus on school and not on the home life that was now uncomfortable since her mother's apparent transformation into a greedy piece of...

Christa sighed.

It was nearing eight o'clock by her watch, and the gray-haired teen was spending a great deal of her day at the library. It was Friday, and while most girls her age would be out and about with friends, Christa spent the time preparing her essay for her English exam with the help of the friendly librarian. She forgot his name, but he lent her some books on Turn of the Screw and other symbolic literature to help in her comparisons. Her body felt tired, but her mind was energized - an odd combination in theory, but common in practice. Christa smoothed some of her wild hair to the side and looked both ways before crossing the street. Goody two-shoes? Probably, but better safe than kissing pavement. When she reached the other side, the corner of her eye lit up with a flickering street lamp and a shadow. That was weird... Turning, the teen saw a flash of what appeared to be a rather large dog, so she payed it no mind at first. Tucking herself into her sweater, she continued along the pavement, trying to block out the distinctive clicking sound she heard approaching her.

It's just the wind, or the trees, or someone's heels. It's not the dog. Why would the dog follow me? I don't have any food...

Her brain couldn't process any further thoughts before a howl pierced the night air, and a weight came rocketing into her legs. Christa hit the pavement with a shriek, books, notes and backpack scattering. It was a very large and vicious... no, it wasn't a dog. Ooze dripped from its maw and it had hundreds of teeth, but possessed no eyes. Its fur seemed to be made of shadow itself and it flickered like a candle in the wind. The dog was very large, the size of a motorcycle, and its howl sounded like it came straight from Hell itself.

"HELP! Someone help, PLEASE!"

Being knocked prone to the ground, Christa didn't have much time to worry about her books and things. She currently had a scrape across her cheek and forearms from being shoved to the ground with the force of something large and very, very upset. Christa thought maybe if she kept very still, she'd be alright. Maybe it would just sniff her and go away, but the ooze dripping from its maw and its apparent lack of eyes made it easy to believe this thing wasn't of this world. It was some kind of monster, just like the ones Christa had seen on television and read about in the newspaper, but the teen simply attributed it to widespread hysteria. She didn't once think she'd be face-to-face with something pulled straight from a nightmare. The teen saw bits and pieces of her life come into view, especially her family. Would this thing chew her to bits and she would never be seen again? Where were the police when things like this happened?!

Before she had a second thought, she heard someone's heeled footsteps nearing her with great speed. Snapping her arm up before jaws closed around it, Christa looked up to see someone positively cloaked in... ribbons. What on earth? It wasn't Halloween yet! Maybe this girl could distract the dog, or call the police, or something! Anything! The gray-haired teen was about to ask her whether or not this was the best idea, and whether the girl had a shotgun handy when a tiny, wall-eyed kitten rolled up to her.

And spoke.

Christa was dumbfounded. "Wha... you..." was all she could say before the beastly thing looked straight at the kitten like she was some sort of fuzzy morsel. Like a talking chicken nugget. Any attempts on behalf of the teen to elbow it in the throat proved to be useless, and the beast simply focused on the little kitty with a hat on her head. It growled and had one leg placed firmly on Christa's back. She couldn't move. "Kitty... you have to get away!"

Whoever this strange-dressed ribbon lady was, she was kicking and punching the crazed beast standing on top of her. Christa was silently very grateful and tried to push one of the creature's legs to assist in some way. The kitten's screeching set the monster off guard and it whined, shaking its head. Another swift kick to the jaw sent it toppling to the side, laying in the gutter of the street. Christa found the opportunity to stumble and get up, running to stand behind the woman in the strange outfit. Breathing heavily, the teen watched as the creature lurched up again, not-eyes staring straight at the fluffy kitten. Compulsively, Christa snatched the little one up from the ground to try and save her from being eaten alive.

"I would ask you who you are but I think a thank you would be in order first!" Christa sputtered, watching as the thing went into stalking mode, shoulders moving under velvety shadows like a lion on the savannah. It growled deep in its throat, wanting nothing more than to chomp on the kitten and gut the other two for a good meal. Christa backed up with the kitten in her arms, mind clearly focused on staying alive as the first priority, then questioning the talking cat and the ribbon lady as a close second. Couldn't the teen do anything? Looking around, she tried to find a pipe or something to swing at the beast as soon as she could get the kitten to safety.

"Uh, little kitty? We have to hide you somewhere!"

Christa didn't have time to ask questions or complain as she was dragged by this strangely dressed lady into a back alley. First, there was the crazed demon dog. Then they showed up with a talking, wall-eyed cat wearing a hat. How could things get any stranger? As the trio disappeared into the alley, the youma was busy shaking its head, trying to clear its vision from the kick Albali had given it. It grunted and grumbled, howling for a while before its vision stopped swaying and it looked up, seeing its prey was gone. Damn, that fluffy chicken nugget looked delicious. Leaning its nose down to the ground, the youma started to sniff out their position, steadily closing in on them.

The teen was dumbfounded at the kitten's speech, but then her spinning and the sparkles and all that were utterly insane. Was she dreaming? She had to be dreaming. Christa was shaking her head in shock as it was all happening, a red pen landing on her foot. She picked it up and stared at it in numbed disbelief before looking at the kitten for an explanation. She had to be dreaming. Any moment now, she'd wake up with her face planted firmly in a good book. This couldn't be happening.

"What is this for? A laser pointer? Am I going to blind that thing with this?"

Turning to look up at the one called Albali, Christa blinked at her and then back at the pen. She was supposed to shout something? What, did it summon a gun? Or maybe a Deep One? The cat was bounding up and down like she was nothing but a furry bouncy ball. Getting up to a steady standing position, Christa felt self-conscious more than anything. The beribboned woman looked encouraging, but what on earth could this thing possibly do? Shaking her head, she didn't see anyone else around, but what could she shout? Cthulhu fhtagn? Would that summon the Great Old One?

Well, no, scratch that. That would be a bad idea for the monster and all of humanity. She hoped it didn't actually do that.

Whatever she had to say, it better be good. Albali was right - they were running out of room and she could hear the dog's guttural grunts and groans not too far from her position. Closing her eyes, Christa bade her mind to come up with something, anything at all that was decent. Suddenly, her vision swam with the surface of... what looked like a rock. A rock out in space. What the hell? What is this place?

Kallichore.

Opening her eyes, Christa was silent for a moment. She felt ridiculous but her heart pounded in her chest. "Kallichore power, MAKE UP!" she shouted, soon engulfed by swirling clouds that looked like crimson smoke, faces appearing periodically in them. Before she knew what was happening, Christa took a step back and yelped. "What the hell? What is this? What happened to me?!" The pen was gone, to be replaced by what looked like a skirted swimsuit, and it had been through the ringer. It was torn all around and shredded in placed, her gloves having great holes in them. Her new boots, bound by black leather, had sections cut out. It looked like her entire outfit was horribly used and in desperate need of repair.

"What is this?!"

Now she was a terrorist? Christa blinked at the one called Sailor Albali. If they were terrorists, then why was the monster attacking them? Didn't the newspaper say it was the terrorists that used the monsters and their powers to bring destruction to the city? Nothing made sense yet. Albali hoped that she 'was one of the useful ones', and after her explanation of how her own powers worked, Christa held the same hope. At least Albali was polite and concise about it all.

Looking back down the street, she saw the black dog quickly approaching. It wouldn't be long before they would be seen, and in the alley, there wasn't much room to run. Albali's kicks gave it a good beating and it was listing to the left, but not enough to bring it down. Derpraline, that must've been the kitten's name, pronounced that she was 'madness', whatever that meant. Christa now had powers too? She couldn't believe it. Kallichore? She was called Kallichore? That was a lot to take in. Looking down at her hands, the new senshi wasn't sure what to do.

Before long, the growling started and the youma had spotted the trio in the alley. A quick and decisive howl gave the indication that it was out for the kill now, that tasty, wall-eyed morsel was in Ribbonlady's arms. Well, her arms would simply have to come off then! Lunging for the senshi and their kitten charge, the youma opened its great maw in anticipation. Kallichore gasped and shoved Albali and her kitten into the street. She herself fell backwards into the alley, and the youma slammed head on into a metal dumpster by the store.

It then grunted and fell over with a thud, one leg twitching in the air. Kallichore stepped over it quickly and ran to the others.

"Did we win?"

Moving out of the way, Kallichore stood watching what was happening, taking in Albali's explanation. Any perverse undertones were completely lost on the newbie senshi, and she simply blinked at Albali when she explained what to do. Words? Like how she transformed the first time? Derpraline's attack was surprisingly effective - the youma had writhed and twitched in pain from its crash landing into the dumpster and now from bloodied cuts from a tiny cream kitten. Things were not going well for the youma. It stumbled to its feet, trying to snap its huge maw at the furry chicken mcnugget. Kallichore couldn't have any of that.

She closed her eyes just as she had done when the pen was in her hand. Where had the pen gone? No, she didn't have the luxury of time to consider such a thing. Shaking her head, she willed herself to concentrate very hard on what she was meant to do. She was madness, after all. The idea that she drove people insane with her magical powers made a smile come to her lips. Christa opened her eyes just as the Youma made a sloppy lunge for the cream kitten and raised her hands up, shouting.

"Pulse of the Maddened!"

A gray mist swirled up at the senshi's feet and flew towards the youma, impacting it like smoke. The beast stopped as if it had forgotten what it was doing just moments before. For a while, it stood there, stock still, drooling mindlessly. Kallichore blinked in confusion and looked to Albali for guidance when the youma suddenly turned about face and threw itself into the dumpster with a loud CRASH! Not once, not twice, but three times before a sharp snap! indicated it had broken its own neck. The body slumped over like a sack of potatoes and slowly rotted, dissipating into black tar that dried into ash.

Kallichore released the breath she didn't know she was holding. Was Derpraline sure she was a senshi of madness and not suicide?

Kallichore blinked stupidly as Derpraline begged for waffles. That was the last thing on the senshi's mind at this time - food. She took up Albali's hand and gave it a firm shake without really knowing what she was doing. Is this what the terrorists did? Killed these beasts before they hurt anyone? That sounded like a decent enough job. Although... all jobs have some risk to them. This one was that you could end up wounded, or worse. "Um... we're supposed to kill those things, right? That's our job?"

That was really the only thing Kallichore could think to ask, or rather, the only thing that came out in a full, comprehensible sentence. The rest was a jumble of, what do we do about school? How many more of us are there? What happens if there aren't others around to help out? What happens if we get injured? Is there a training school?

If her brain was functioning, she would have asked all those questions bullet-style. Instead, Kallichore simply blinked in confusion.