Magic Knight Erina - Episode Two: Erina Makes the Scene.




EPISODE TWO: ERINA MAKES THE SCENE.
This is why you don't talk to animals that can talk back to you.



When we abandoned our heroes in the previous episode, BOMBERMAN had just realized that ORION and ARTEMIS were miraculously alive and wreaking havoc on Bomber Star again. BOMBERMAN and the Bomberettes were also facing a brand new but rather strange threat: the Zodiac Demon LIBRA, a humanoid mutant scale.


ZHAEL:

What in Mihaele's name is THAT thing?


ARTEMIS:

Cackles.

Your death!

She jumps to a high window ledge.

Libra, be a darling and take care of these twits for me, will you? And especially rip to shreds that one priss with the crescent moon on her head!

ARTEMIS punches a hole through the window and hops through, vanishing into the distance.


LIBRA:

Cracks her knuckles.

I'll make you kiddies go "a-weigh"!


RUKIFELLTH:

Sweatdrop.

Libra makes worse puns than Zoniha does, and that's saying something!


ZONIHA:

HEY!


LIBRA:

Glaring at RUKIFELLTH.

You dare mock my refined sense of humor?

She conjures a large metal scale plate and flings it at RUKIFELLTH.


RUKIFELLTH:

Yeek!

He dives to the floor just in time to dodge it.


BOMBERMAN:

Take this, you outdated invention!


BOMBERMAN hurls four fire bombs at LIBRA. LIBRA not only blocks the attack, but actually sends the bombs flying back at BOMBERMAN.


LILITH:

Heads up!


LILITH dives at BOMBERMAN just in time and pushes him out of the way of the flying explosives, which detonate a safe distance away from him.


BOMBERMAN:

Sighing with relief.

Phew. Thanks, Lilith.


LILITH:

Patting BOMBERMAN on the head.

It's what I do.

She gets up and pulls out a laser pistol.

Hey, Libra, eat some plasma!

She fires off a barrage of laser shots, which make tiny melted dents in LIBRA's armor but don't seem to penetrate. LILITH growls.

What? Are you kidding me? CLEARLY I need to find heavier-duty firearms!


ZONIHA:

Seeker!

She sends out spheres of pulsing light energy at LIBRA, but LIBRA sidesteps them.


POMMY:

Myu! You're finished now!

POMMY jumps dramatically into the air, twisting acrobatically, and pulls the trigger on his water guns. But they emit only the most pathetic of water streams. Everyone watches uncomfortably as POMMY lands in a disgruntled heap on the ground.

Drat. Pommy's out of ammo!

POMMY gets to his feet and runs out of the center, searching for a water source.


ZHAEL:

Glowing purple with elemental energy.

Lightning Strike!


In a series of quick dance steps, ZHAEL calls down multiple bolts of lightning on LIBRA. LIBRA, however, guards herself against the electricity with two scale plates attached to her forearms.


LIBRA:

I'm sorry, was that supposed to corrode me?


ZHAEL:

Jaw drops.

That just completely defied the laws of physics! Metal's supposed to CONDUCT electricity!


LIBRA smiles and holds out her arms. The group can see that the inside of the plates, as well as the straps, are made of thick black rubber.


LIBRA:

Oh, and I'd show you the rubber suit I'm wearing under all this armor, but that would be called "indecent exposure."


BOMBERMAN:

You're bluffing!


LIBRA:

Call it, then!


ZHAEL:

Chain Lightning!

She unleashes a powerful lightning attack on LIBRA's main body. LIBRA merely stands there and smirks.

Well, I'll be damned...


RUKIFELLTH:

Throws up his hands.

NOW what?


BOMBERMAN:

Easy! We get her armor off, then her rubber suit, and then we'll destroy her!


RUKIFELLTH:

Yeah, but how do you propose we do that?


BOMBERMAN:

Blank look.

Er...

He sits down to think.

Good question.


LIBRA:

And now it's your turn to die!


LIBRA starts hurling smaller but heavier metal plates at BOMBERMAN and his friends.


ZHAEL:

Watch out!

She grabs BOMBERMAN and safely carries him with her as she jumps out of the way of oncoming projectiles.

What's wrong with you? You don't just sit down in the middle of a battlefield!


BOMBERMAN:

But I needed to think!


ZHAEL:

Is thinking so hard for you that you MUST sit down to do it?

BOMBERMAN starts to answer.

Never mind! Did you come up with a plan yet?


BOMBERMAN:

Impatiently.

Yes! We get her armor off, then her suit, and then we destroy her!


ZHAEL:

But HOW?


BOMBERMAN:

I'M TRYING TO FIGURE THAT OUT!


ZHAEL:

Hysterical.

BUT THAT'S WHAT I WAS ASKING ABOUT!


RUKIFELLTH:

Sighing.

Man, I really wish I had Darkwind on me right now. I feel a bit naked without it.

He spots a chair nearby.

Well, you gotta make do and do without.

He picks it up and rushes at LIBRA with it.

One righteous smackdown, coming up!


LIBRA takes one glance at RUKIFELLTH, and swats him aside with one of the scales hanging from her elbows. He goes flying into a vending machine, cracking the glass and knocking a few of the snacks off their racks. He's out cold when he hits the ground.


LILITH:

Rukifellth!

She run over to his unconscious form and begins to slap his face repeatedly.

Wake up, wake up, wake up!

She turns around and realizes that LIBRA is readying another attack on both her and RUKIFELLTH.

Oh, crap!

LILITH grabs RUKIFELLTH, runs for a nearby equipment closet, and shoves him in there.


ZONIHA:

Rainbow Ray!


ZONIHA fires a wave of energy at LIBRA, only to have it deflected straight back at her. She's knocked out by her own attack.


ZHAEL:

Oh, no! Zoniha!

She turns on LIBRA.

You'll pay!


LIBRA:

Snickers.

I only do check or money order!


Furious, ZHAEL unleashes another series of lightning attacks on LIBRA. LIBRA blocks with one large scale plate, and then - when she sees an opening - she steps forward and flings the plate like a frisbee. It connects squarely with ZHAEL's head and renders her unconscious.

This effectively leaves LILITH and BOMBERMAN as the last line of defense against LIBRA. They're starting to get more than a little worried, since LIBRA has easily defeated two Elemental Knights. The aforementioned monster has turned her gaze on the two of them, and is slowly marching towards them with murder in her eyes. LILITH and BOMBERMAN slowly back away.


LILITH:

Gulping.

Bomberman, please tell me you have a plan figured out or else I'm going to scream.


BOMBERMAN:

Watching LIBRA intently.

...Lilith, come here.


LILITH:

Obediently walking over.

Yes?


BOMBERMAN:

Quietly.

Here's what we're gonna do.


LILITH:

I'm listening.


BOMBERMAN:

I'm going to tell you that I have no plan...


LILITH:

Okay.


BOMBERMAN:

And you're not going to scream or do anything like that...


LILITH:

Uh-huh.


BOMBERMAN:

And we're gonna run like hell out of here. Okay?


LILITH:

Gotcha.

Pause.

YOU DON'T HAVE A PLAN?!


BOMBERMAN:

Panicking.

I told you not to scream!


LILITH:

Flailing.

WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO WITHOUT A PLAN?!


BOMBERMAN:

RUN!


LILITH:

But what about Zhael and Zoniha?


BOMBERMAN:

I'm worried too, but right now we need to save ourselves so that we can save them later!


LIBRA:

Gleefully.

Judgment Day has ARRIIIIIVVVED!


LILITH and BOMBERMAN make a run for the nearest hallway. The recreation center is a relatively big place, so it's easy to lose LIBRA for a few precious moments. The two of them scamper up two flights of stairs, and hide out in another equipment closet.


BOMBERMAN:

Okay, what now?


LILITH:

Shakes her head.

I'm tapped.

She wipes some sweat away from her face.

If even Zhael and Zoniha together couldn't take her down...


BOMBERMAN:

There's GOT to be some way of exposing her weak points.

He sits down and leans against a wall.

If we could just get past that stupid armor of hers!


LILITH:

Begins fanning herself.

Whew, is it just me, or is it hot in here?


BOMBERMAN:

Suddenly looks intrigued.

Hot...hot...that's it!

He jumps up, startling LILITH and knocking down a rack of basketballs.

We'll melt off her armor!


LILITH:

How? Your regular bombs weren't doing too much damage.


BOMBERMAN:

But I've still got my earth bombs! It'll be just like with Pibot, only hopefully without the exploding energy core!


LILITH:

Wrinkles brow in thought.

But can't you only place one at a time? Libra's slow, but even SHE can dodge something like the earth bomb!


BOMBERMAN:

That's where you come in!

He grabs her hands excitedly.

YOU are going to distract her and slow her down!


LILITH:

What?


An uncomfortable silence ensues. BOMBERMAN turns red and quickly lets go of LILITH's hands, looking away.


BOMBERMAN:

Clears throat.

As I was SAYING, you'll distract Libra. Try to get her into a corner or something so that I can trap her with the earth bomb.


LILITH:

I'll try...


Just then, there's a huge crashing noise. The equipment closet shakes, sending BOMBERMAN and LILITH crashing to the floor.


LIBRA:

Guess who's back, back again!

She kicks the door open with a loud clang.


LILITH:

Bomberman, ready your bomb! I'm gonna keep her occupied!


With that, LILITH runs headlong into LIBRA, her tiny frame somehow managing to knock the monster out of the doorway and a good few feet away. BOMBERMAN starts to charge up an earth bomb, but something suddenly occurs to him.


BOMBERMAN:

Wait a minute, I can't use the earth bomb in here; it'll bring down the whole building! Lilith, lure Libra outside!


LIBRA:

Hey, I'm a scale, not stupid!

She flings another scale plate at BOMBERMAN and knocks him out. Then she turns to LILITH.

I've got you now, my little pretty!


LILITH:

Gulps.

Uh-oh, Spaghetti-O's! I'm outta here!


LILITH rushes down another set of stairs to the first floor. She runs down a hallway, and soon ends up at the swimming pool. Not wanting to backtrack and risk running into LIBRA again, she opens the glass doors to the massive pool area and slips inside to catch her breath.


LILITH:

Man, I'm the only one left standing now! What should I do?

She hangs her head.

I don't know if I'm strong enough to deal with Libra by myself.


VOICE:

With my help, you WILL be.


LILITH:

Nearly jumps into the pool out of fright.

Dah! Who are you?


Perched atop a nearby deck chair is a bird, about five inches tall. It looks like a robin, but with white feathers instead of black.


BIRD:

My name is Moondrop, and I'm here to help you out! Though, I'm sorry for scaring you like that.


LILITH:

That's fine, it was just that -

She glares.

Hey...how'd you get in here anyway? And how do I know you're not working for the enemy?


MOONDROP:

Chirps.

Time will tell. Besides, if I were working for the enemy, surely I'd look a lot more frightening than THIS?

She flaps her wings for emphasis.


LILITH:

It's always the cute ones you have to watch out for, as Ruk would say.

She cautiously approaches MOONDROP, her laser pistol in hand.

All right, then. If you're really here to help me, then tell me what you know.


MOONDROP:

In a nutshell, your enemies are another one of those groups of idiots that like to bring their stupidity to a perfectly nice place, under the pretense that sharing is caring.


LILITH:

Snorts.

Can't argue with that one.


MOONDROP:

To answer your question from earlier, no, you aren't strong enough right now to defeat Libra on your own. But I'll give you something that'll make you more powerful. It's called the Solar Receiver.


MOONDROP flaps her wings. A small wand topped with an eight-pointed star, made of gold and silver and featuring an iridescent orb in its center, appears in front of LILITH in a burst of girly sparkles.


LILITH:

Raises eyebrow.

A piece of plastic? What am I supposed to do with it, shove it up the bad guy's butt?


MOONDROP:

Grimacing.

You COULD do that, as it would definitely hurt, but I'd recommend against it. No, the Solar Receiver allows you to use the powers of an ancient warrior known as the Magic Knight Erina Sasami. To transform, just say: "Shimmering solar reflection, transform!"


LILITH:

Backing away, looking embarrassed and flustered.

Oh, NO! No, no, NO! You have GOT to be kidding me! Me, a MAGICAL GIRL? And the phrase makes no sense at all!

She puts her hands on her hips and glares.

Is this all you have for me?


MOONDROP:

Glaring back.

Do you want to help your friends or not?


There's a long silence. LILITH sighs and grabs the Solar Receiver still floating in front of her.


LILITH:

Fine, fine, but only because I'm at my wits' end here! This is a one-time gig, understand? After this, you have to find yourself another gal. Aren't the best magical girls usually schoolgirls, anyway? I dropped out of school a long time ago, you know.


MOONDROP:

Cheerily.

Oh, you'll do just fine! You'll look great in the outfit, after all.

In a more serious voice.

I suppose it's only fair to warn you, though, that should you decide to take on the role of Erina now, you're going to have to stick with it for a while.


LILITH:

Bites lip as she thinks this over.

You, uh, wouldn't happen to have a contract I can look at, would you? I'd like to see the terms I'd be working under. Does it have an escape clause? If not, let's negotiate one or two. It'd only be fair, wouldn't it?


MOONDROP:

Flaps wings.

It would, if I actually had a contract to show you.


LILITH:

Exasperated.

What's the matter with you? You don't ask a mercenary like me to do a job for you without having a CONTRACT! Preferably a contract with LOTS OF MONEY involved!


MOONDROP:

THIS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN HONOR AMONGST PIRATES!


LILITH:

Hmph!

She turns on her heel.

Forget it, then! I'm not doing this magical girl thing of yours after all - not without knowing what I'm getting myself into!


LILITH is about to throw the Solar Receiver into the pool when suddenly LIBRA bursts through the doors, breaking the glass.


LIBRA:

Cackling.

FOUND YOU! And rounded to the nearest hundredth, too!


LILITH:

DAH!


MOONDROP:

Frantically.

Lilith, transform NOW or else we're all goners!


LILITH:

Clenches eyes shut and waves around the Solar Receiver spastically.

Shimmeringsolarreflectiontransform!


Lo and behold, under the cover of a psychedelic laser light show, LILITH performs a tastefully censored nude dance and transforms into Magic Knight Erina Sasami! She's now wearing a black cheongsam dress with gold and silver accents. The hemline of the dress reaches to halfway past her thighs, with hip-high slits on either side, but she's wearing very short black shorts underneath to prevent blinding pantyshots. The sleeves of the dress are long and flowing, perfect for dramatic poses and for billowing in the wake of powerful magical winds. The same star from her transformation wand is now a brooch on the front of her dress. Her feet sport knee-high black boots.


LIBRA:

Stares.

Whoah. Who the hell are you?


ERINA:

I wish I could tell you.

Looks over herself. To MOONDROP.

Okay, look, this is a nice costume and all, but I'm assuming that I'm not going to be able to "cute" my enemy to death.


MOONDROP:

Shakes head.

You're powerful, but you're not THAT powerful. Here, take this instead.

She flaps her wings and chirps, and a dark blue gun poofs into existence in front of ERINA.


ERINA:

Yay!

Grabbing the gun with glee.

Now THIS is more to my tastes! What is it?


MOONDROP:

Uh, um...it doesn't really have a name, but you can call it the E-77 Midnight Assault Rifle. It can -


LIBRA:

No way am I gonna let you use that on me!

She begins flinging scale plates everywhere in a frenzy.


ERINA:

Aah!

She dives into a somersault to avoid getting hit, runs, and then rolls up behind a wall that separates part of the girls' dressing room from the pool, clutching her shiny new toy. She grins.

Man, with a gun in my hands, I feel much better about this magical girl thing already!

She leans out from behind the wall and fires.


To both her amazement and to LIBRA's, the magical shots fired from the E-77 actually appear to be doing significant damage to LIBRA's armor, leaving hissing, dripping holes in it that penetrate the metal.


LIBRA:

In shock.

This...this can't be!


MOONDROP:

Erina, that's not just any normal firearm! If you concentrate, you can have it do all sorts of things!


ERINA:

Excitedly.

You mean I can curve my bullets around things like they do in Wanted?


MOONDROP:

Tilting head curiously.

Er...well, yes, you COULD if you really wanted to. But...well, it's probably best if you see it for yourself. Aim the gun and imagine it shooting out fire, and then pull the trigger!


ERINA:

'Kay!

She gets to her feet, steadies herself, and raises the rifle to her shoulder.

Aiming...concentrating...and FIRING!


FWOOOOSSSH! The E-77 spits out a wave of fire that completely engulfs LIBRA. The recoil is so strong that it blows ERINA off her feet. She hits the wall back-first.


ERINA:

Oof!


LIBRA:

NOOOOO! MY GOLD STANDARD!


The gold melts from LIBRA's armor, leaving her with only dull iron armor.


ERINA:

Blinks.

Wow. Your armor's only gold-plated? How cheap is that?

Muttering.

Though admittedly it IS more practical.

She smiles.

And it'll make my job that much easier!


ERINA aims the E-77 again and fires. This time, the gun releases a torrent of water energy. Upon contact with LIBRA's armor, it proceeds to magically rust the iron, soon rendering LIBRA completely immobile.


LIBRA:

Struggling to move.

Grrr! You little brat!


ERINA:

I'm not little, I'm just superdeformed!

She aims the E-77.

And YOU happen to be finished!


MOONDROP:

Chirping.

Wait, Erina! You can't defeat Libra with that - you have to use the Lunar Staff!


A silver staff appears before ERINA. It features a crescent moon with strings inside the curve of the crescent, like a lyre. On the strings are small jewels of various colors.


ERINA:

Frowning.

Why would I need a stick when I have a perfectly good gun to do the job?


MOONDROP:

It's part of Magical Girl Protocol. You have to use the magical power of an otherwise useless and completely ornamental object to finish off bad guys. It's about keeping your record clean as a Magical Girl.


ERINA:

Sighing and putting down the E-77, which disappears into thin air.

Fine, fine. Since you gave me the E-77, I'll put up with having to use that thing as my fatality move.

She takes the Lunar Staff and points it at LIBRA.

I have to say something to activate this, right?


MOONDROP:

Yes. Your attack phrase is "Heavenly Rainbow Wave Reform."


ERINA:

Looking embarrassed.

That's even worse than my transformation phrase!

To LIBRA.

You know, it bites to be you, being defeated by such a fluffy-sounding attack.


LIBRA:

Miserably.

Tell me about it.


ERINA:

Shaking her head.

Here we go...Heavenly Rainbow Wave Reform!


A wave of colored energy reduces LIBRA into nothing more than a pile of dust. Amid the dust is the crystal that ARTEMIS had used to obtain life energy. It shatters into pieces before disintegrating into fine particles of light.


MOONDROP:

Fluttering over to ERINA.

Not bad, Erina, not bad. You'll make quite an impressive magical girl yet.


ERINA:

Turns to MOONDROP, mildly irritated.

Is there anything else I need to know about this "Magical Girl Protocol" you were talking about just now? Since, y'know, you didn't think far ahead enough to provide me with a neat little contract that would actually discuss important-sounding things like that?


MOONDROP:

Well...


BOMBERMAN'S VOICE:

Lilith? Lilith, where are you?


ERINA:

Relieved.

Bomberman! He's all right!

Her outfit seamlessly dissolves back into her normal clothes. She starts running to the entrance to find him.

Wait 'til he hears what happened!


MOONDROP:

Quickly.

No, you can't tell him! Magical Girl Protocol forbids Magical Girls from divulging their indentities to anyone, barring other similarly-aligned Magical Girls if applicable!


LILITH:

Stops in her tracks. Looks disbelievingly at MOONDROP.

What? WHY?


MOONDROP:

Shakes her head.

I'll tell you later! Just trust me on this!


MOONDROP disappears in a tiny flash of light just as BOMBERMAN runs into the pool area.


BOMBERMAN:

Lilith! You're all right! I'm so glad.


LILITH:

Blinks and smiles.

Same to you!

She runs over and gives BOMBERMAN a hug.


BOMBERMAN:

Slightly surprised, looking around.

So, hey...where's Libra?


LILITH:

Uh...

She gives an uncertain laugh.

Gee, that's a good question! Because, you see, Libra knocked me unconscious, and then when I woke up, she was gone!


BOMBERMAN:

Worriedly.

I hope she didn't escape into the rest of Diamond City...


LILITH:

Gesturing frantically.

Oh! No! No, she didn't! She, uh...see, what happened was, when I woke up, I saw this really awesome magical girl destroy Libra! Yeah, that was it!

She simpers.

Ahahahaha...


BOMBERMAN:

Giving LILITH a weird look.

A magical girl? Really?


ZHAEL and ZONIHA enter the pool area.


ZHAEL:

Lightning sparkling around her clenched fists.

Where is she, that sorry excuse for a pile of scrap metal? WHERE?!


BOMBERMAN:

Backs away slowly.

Lilith says that Libra's defeated now. Apparently a "really awesome magical girl" did the job.


ZONIHA:

Intrigued.

You don't say? What was her name?


LILITH:

Shrugging as nonchalantly as she can.

The world may never know...



End of Episode Two.