CHILD'S PLAY (Chain, Part 1)
Heavy rain hammered away at the pavement in the dying hours of the light. The sound of wheels screeched loudly into the wet tar as the sobs of a little girl, at the other side of the road, were placated by her parents' soothing words.
"It's just a teddy bear," said the father. "We'll get you a new one! Come, the department store isn't that far away."
"You wanted the talking one from TV, right?" Asked the mother, an audible smile in her tone.
The happy family left the scene. On the road, a crushed teddy bear had been forgotten and run over, a massive dark tire track painted on its white cotton exterior, puffy entrails out like a gory art exhibit. The rain poured, making the toy more and more wet as the seconds passed. Before another car could make it even more unrecognizable...
The teddy bear watched as her beloved owner left it to rot in the rain. The betrayal mounted... The sickening pit of rage swelled inside, as dark energies from another world tore through the toy, granting it new life. The teddy bear, now a Tsukumogami, crawled out of the crosswalk, creeping towards the department store. It wanted to be in the girl's arms again. This wouldn't end so easily.
The Lucky Land department store was the largest in Kageoka. It didn't compare to those in Tokyo or Osaka, but Lucky Land was the perfect place to find almost any item, big or small, at the right price! It was a favourite of families and their children, a fortress of fun with an endless arsenal of toys, videogames, clothing, furniture, electronics...
It's your lucky day at Lucky Land!
The store's slogan greeted its customers as the obnoxious theme song played ad nauseum. Happy people from all over Kageoka used the last hour or two of store service to make their last few purchases for the day. Some other people made their way over to the nearby Fancy Burger, adorned with the Fancy Duke, its smiling mascot. As for the girl and her family, the toy aisle was the destination.
"Mommy!" Shouted the little girl excitedly, grabbing a hold of a bright pink box. "It's Glitter Teddy! He talks and everything! I want it!"
"Sure, sweetheart," said the mother, taking the box and walking over to the register. As for the father, he was most likely more interested in a new flat screen TV a few aisles over.
From a window on the other side of the building's lowest floor, the disgraced teddy bear watched as his beloved owner happily waved her new toy into the air. A bigger, shinier teddy bear, with more play features. The pain was too much. The betrayal stung the stuffed animal like a second car, crushing any and all hope of reuniting with the human it had played so much with. Dark flames began to sprout from the toy's body, taking in more and more spirit energy like a vacuum, growing in rage and sorrow. Stitches began to repair its body, transforming the wide gash on its tummy into a toothy maw. Streaks of black appeared all over the toy's fur. The Tsukumogami was quickly becoming an Irate Object.
"You... Replaced me..." The being muttered. In a split second, the Irate Object connected with all the other toys in the department store. If it was going to be disgraced, it would make sure that this place of joy would become a nightmare.
"I... I am Ikarikuma... You will pay..."
The toy stumbled into the department store. The mechanical doors opened as this small, deformed teddy bear walked inside, dark energies sprawling all over the stuffed teddy bear's irate body. Those energies, however, were invisible to the clueless humans that perused the store absent-mindedly.
"Did that teddy bear just walk?" Asked a teenager. Another teenager, a delinquent type, shook his head. "Toys nowadays are somethin' else, man."
The teddy bear slowly turned its head, much to the surprise of the two teens.
"I am no mere toy... You will PAY!!!"
Before anyone else could comment, all bystanders were caught in a trance as spiritual anguish sprouted into waves of madness and entropy. The interior of Lucky Land started transforming into a deformed, hellish space, as darkness and flames of red and white transmuted the building into a budding Bleeding Zone. As per Ikarikuma's command, the toys in the toy aisle roared to life, becoming Tsukumogamis and Urban Hells. Transforming cars began rolling around, toy soldiers popped out of their buckets and started marching in formation with short "hup"s, dolls tore out of their boxes, and all the TV screens on the bottom floor displayed screeching static.
Ikarikuma roared with satisfaction. Beside it, blackened flames were sculpted into a burning, humanoid figure that stood obediently next to the Irate Object.
"My Burning Jealousy..." Ikarikuma muttered, before waving its now clawed hand. Burning Jealousy, Ikarikuma's proto-Idolon manifestation, transformed back into dancing black flames as it commanded the waves of darkness. The shadowy fireball bounced from place to place, soon exiting the department store and making its way to the Fancy Burger joint. With every bounce, a small pulse of darkness helped the Bleeding Zone spread, ever so slightly.
It didn't take long for the entire Lucky Land building to be consumed by the dark infection. All customers and personnel began leaking dark ooze from their eyes and mouths, as they dissociated, unable to react or even acknowledge what was happening. They were being held hostage by the horrors of a discarded toy -- And if no one stopped its dreary ambitions, the creature's wrath would only spread further.
On that same stormy evening, as the sun began to set, the Student Council members, minus Madoka, congregated outside the Kageoka general hospital. Silence fell over the group -- It had been two days since Kohaku Fukuzawa had gone haywire and stabbed Madoka, before being taken away by a mysterious car that blew a sedative dark into Ai. Talking about the event was tough, as everyone in the group had their own thoughts on what happened, and what to do in order to move forward. They stood under the hospital's front gate, having just visited Madoka one more time. They were supposed to have a strategy meeting... But no one dared say a word, for the time being. It hurt too much.
Shu was uncharacteristically down, not knowing how to find his shining hope in this particular situation. Madoka had been hurt before... But not like this.
Ran shared in the sentiment, being amongst one of the members that wasn't present when the incident occurred. His silent anger manifested into disappointment at himself, for not having been there to protect Madoka.
Meliaya was in tears, attempting not to bawl over the traumatizing event that had only happened two days ago. To her credit, she was handling the situation about as well as she could've handled it, considering her best friend was almost killed.
Kaoru tightened her fists, looking straight down. The otherwise quiet and analytical treasurer had shown a great feat of bravery, in what was most likely the worst mask slip she ever had thus far. It almost didn't matter. She wasn't quite ready to just tell her friends the truth -- But when someone had just stabbed Madoka right in front of her eyes, her status as a theoretical non-combatant didn't matter. She had to act.
Yae was usually aloof, but this time, she couldn't hold it together just as well as usual. The sudden heel turn was not one even she could've expected. But things couldn't just stay like this.
"...Hey, isn't it good that Madoka's awake now?" Yae broke the ice, trying to add some levity that was not immediately reciprocated. Ran and Yaya looked up, their expressions not changing, even if Yae had their acknowledgement now.
"Yeah, but..." Yaya tried to add something, but it was too tough to think clearly. "...She's... hurt..."
"Hey, you don't have to think about what happened," Ran comforted her with an arm around her shoulder as Meliaya started sobbing, incapable of holding back her tears any longer. "It's over now. Madoka's gonna be okay..."
Yae frowned, not knowing what to do. She could notice just how angry Ran was, even if he tried to hide it to the best of their ability.
"I... I should've been there. I'm sorry. Maybe if I had been there..." Ran grumbled, outraged at how powerless he was in the moment. Kaoru shook her head, crossing her arms.
"It's not your fault, Ran. You couldn't have known."
"Well, if I had been there," he continued, "maybe you wouldn't have had to--"
"Exactly." Shu interjected, much to the surprise of the others. He was just as hurt as anybody. "Why did you do that, Kaoru...? You don't even have an Idolon! That was reckless!"
Kaoru lifted her bespectacled gaze to match Shu's in an uncharacteristic moment of defiance.
"Me? Reckless?" Kaoru couldn't even begin to believe Shu's words. Her voice shook with disbelief. "Who was it that brought Fukuzawa and the Idea Destroyers in for this mission, knowing full-well that they've been forcing Awakenings and acting suspicious?"
"Kaoru..." Yae attempted to placate her fellow detective. Instead, Shu spoke up once again, taking a step forward and expressing his concern for Kaoru.
"You didn't have to play the hero! That's... That's MY job! You could've gotten hurt!"
"And let him get away?!" In a shocking move, Kaoru actually raised her voice for once. "Kaichou, he just stabbed Madoka! And Ai, who I'll remind you is also my friend, was hurt too! I'm a Student Council member, I can't just let that stand! Just like you, and everyone -- I did what I thought was right!"
Something clicked inside Shu's mind. He raised an eyebrow at Kaoru's sudden burst of confidence, as he started piecing a puzzle together.
"You don't normally act this rash, Kaoru... Is there something you're not telling us?"
Another wave of silence washed over the group as all eyes fell on Kaoru, whose fists shook with doubt. For a second, she wondered if she should tell them right then and there. But she realized, it wouldn't be right. This wasn't about her.
"You're questioning ME now?! While Madoka's in the hospital, because YOU trusted that maniac with a KNIFE?! Come on, Kaichou! You just... Pretend that everything's gonna be fine in the end -- Maybe you're that lucky, but we're not!"
The rain splashed harder as yet another pause struck the conversation like a wrecking ball. Everyone wanted to speak up, but the words wouldn't come out so easily. Shu hung his head low, in a gesture of defeat no one had ever seen from him before. It was eerie to look at -- Like something that wasn't meant to happen, ever. A fundamental law of the universe broken.
"Kaoru, I think I can take some blame for that too..." Yae knew where Kaoru was coming from better than anyone in the group, knowing her deepest secrets. She found Kaoru's anger at Shu misplaced, but it wasn't like she was entirely in the wrong.
"Come on, Kaoru, we all went ahead with the mission." Ran interjeted, defending his friend. "You could've spoken up earlier if you had so much of a problem with the IDs."
Kaoru sighed, realizing Ran was right -- Especially after her own investigations into their headquarters and her connection with Marisa.
"Okay, I can take that. But that doesn't change the fact that I've brought up their shady operations, and we took them as allies anyway."
"We... We won thanks to them..." Shu mumbled, attempting to form some kind of defense. "I didn't think he was gonna do that."
Kaoru sighed, regretting not having arrived at the battle herself. She had been asked to perform navigation and communication duties, so suddenly going offline might've been too much trouble. She took off her wet glasses, showing her crimson eyes, burning with quiet anger, in an unusual sight for most of the Student Council members. She remembered Nadeko once again, sorrows bubbling up as tears started to come together under her eyes.
"That's what happens when you trust someone blindly. There's bad people in this world, Kaichou -- They lie, they get you to drop your guard, and when you least expect it, they hurt you. They can seem like your best friends one day, and then flip on a dime the next. If you can't know what they're gonna do, you have to assume they're out to hurt you, just so you won't get hurt."
"Guys, PLEASE!" Meliaya cried out. "I... I don't wanna see you fighting!"
"Yaya, we're not --" Shu tried to placate her. Kaoru, too, dropped off her high horse. She stared at the people she had only recently started really considering friends, feeling guilty that this rift, this tear, was supported by her own secrets.
"I'm... Sorry, Meliaya." Kaoru looked to the side, not knowing how to continue eye contact as she put her glasses on once again after wiping them on her sleeve. "I just needed Kaichou to understand... This is why I don't trust anyone."
Meliaya responded with shock and betrayal. "Not even us...?"
"N-No, that's not --"
Suddenly, both Kaoru and Ran felt an electric shock-- their danger sense. Ran caught the attention of everyone else, however, only Yae knowing why Kaoru had also reacted the same way. Ran's heart sank, knowing full well what had just happened.
"Bleeding Zone." He spoke out loud, in a hushed tone. Everyone started putting on their war faces.
"No time to waste," Yae replied as she started fiddling with her pager. "Let's find the source. Everyone on the move!"
Everyone sprung into action in their own ways. Kaoru, on the other hand, approached Yae, only the two of them being privy to that conversation. A look of regret bled through her now clear glasses.
"...Sorry about that. Should I run comms again, or...?"
"You go home and rest." Yae turned around to go with the others. This was a message, a thinly-veiled order.
"We might need your help this time. Be ready."