The room was filled with the sound of rhythmic beeping and the hiss of a respirator.

  Beep. Beep. Beep.

  Joan knelt, eyes fixed on the floor. Standing above her was Harmony, dressed in a prestigious royal gown, holding a heavy sword.

  "Do you solemnly swear to protect the Princess with every fiber of your being?" Harmony asked.

  "I swear," Joan whispered.

  Beep. Beep. Beep.

  "Will you devote your life to the Princess?" Harmony’s voice was full of regal authority. "Will you follow every order and every directive as absolute, in the name of the Princess and the Celestial Kingdom?"

  "I swear," Joan answered.

  Beep. Beep. Beep.

  "Will you take heed to watch over the Princess in sickness and in health? To ensure her life is your only priority?"

  The beeping of the ECG machine became deafening. The hiss of the mechanical ventilator pulled Joan back to the present.

  Harmony was lying still in the hospital bed, breathing through a tube. Joan was still kneeling, but instead of a sword over her shoulder, she was clutching Harmony's limp hand.

  "I swear..." Joan choked on a sob.

  She collapsed, her knees hitting the cold, hard floor of the medical ward.

  Natalie ran until her lungs burned and her legs turned to jelly. She hadn't felt this weak in weeks. Without the Cutie Bracelet, the "Nebula Ninja" was gone. She was just plain old Natalie again: human, exhausted, and vulnerable.

  She collapsed against a tree, sobbing loudly, just as Courtney skidded to a halt behind her.

  "Nata... lie... Oh fuck, my lungs..." Courtney wheezed, clutching her side. "You run way too fast."

  "What do you want?" Natalie spat, not looking up.

  "I wanted to tell you that... it wasn't your fault, okay? What happened back there... it's not on you."

  "Look, if this is some sort of trauma-bonding shit, forget it." Natalie tried to push off the tree, but Courtney slammed her hands against the bark, pinning her.

  "NO! You're not going anywhere!"

  "Leave me alone..."

  "Damn it, Natalie, just give me five minutes!"

  Natalie finally looked up. Courtney’s face was red, her breath coming in ragged gasps.

  "Ten seconds," Natalie hissed.

  Courtney didn't waste a beat. "We both took advantage of being Cutie Princesses. But these last few weeks... I realized what a horrible human being I’ve been. No amount of 'sorry' fixes that. People hated me. I was disgusted with myself. I lost everything: friends, fans, and likes. But when we fought that bitch Maddy together? That was real. That was the real Natalie, and I see that now. You're my fri—"

  Natalie shoved Courtney hard. Courtney stumbled, tripping backward into a patch of wet, brown sludge. Her designer pants and expensive sweater were instantly coated in filth.

  "UGH! WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM?" Courtney shrieked from the ground.

  Natalie didn't turn back. She just kept walking, her shoulders hunched.

  "We're not done, Natalie! Goddamn it, stop the emo bullshit and listen to me!" Courtney’s voice cracked into a screech, but Natalie was already disappearing into the shadows of the park.

  Courtney sat there, trembling, and wiped a tear off her cheek. She looked down at the grime on her hand and sniffed.

  "I don't think this was mud..."

  She let out a sob of pure disgust, the reality of her new life finally sinking in.

  Deep beneath the surface of Powers Industries, Maxwell Powers sat in the flickering glow of a wall of monitors. He cycled through every news cycle in the city, and they all hammered the same questions: What happened during the fight with Maximum Climax? Who is cutting the check for the high school's wreckage?

  On screen, Principal Stone stood at a podium positioned right in front of the jagged hole where the cafeteria used to be.

  “I'll take this to the Supreme Court if I have to. Those girls came into my office and threatened me! And then they had the audacity to endanger my students and destroy the cafeteria. This is unacceptable! To Maxwell Powers, the school district will not idly stand for this. You and your mercenary girls will not get away with this!”

  Maxwell killed the feed, plunging the room into a brief, heavy silence.

  “This has been one disaster after another,” Maxwell sighed.

  The heavy vault door groaned open as the Chief of Staff led Bree Kepler into the room.

  “Sir, Bree Kepler is here.“

  “Oh good, leave us. “

  Bree stood in the center of the rug, her Sapphire armor cracked and dull. Her hands shook, making the mechanical joints of the suit click against one another.

  “Sir? About my sister… is she gonna be okay?” Bree shuffled her feet in place. The whirring of the suit made her feel robotic.

  “She'll be fine. She's got a pulse, and we can't let her get arrested and spoil our secrets, now can we?”

  Maxwell poured two glasses of champagne. The bubbles hissed as he slid one across the table toward her and gestured to the leather sofa. Bree approached the sofa cautiously, sitting across from Maxwell. She had a drink and felt its burn sizzle down her throat.

  “Bree, my offer still stands. I want to give you a solo career—a shot at stardom without that bothersome Maddy breathing down your neck. She made her choice, and now I'm offering you one. Superstardom, residuals, the works. All you have to do is sign here.”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  He slid a thick stack of legal papers across the glass table. Bree stared at the signature line, her heart hammering against her ribs. Usually, Maddy handled the numbers and the fine print; Bree was just the pretty face for the cameras.

  “I-I…” Her voice got stuck in her throat. She didn't know what to say or what to do.

  “Bree… think of your sister… you wouldn't want those medical expenses to vanish overnight, do you?” Maxwell grinned widely.

  “You're a monster….” Bree finally said.

  “Am I? Really? After all the parties I organized, the fame I brought you! I moved mountains for you and your sister, and this is how you repay me?! Well then, consider yourself TERMINA—”

  “NO WAIT! Please… I'll sign it.”

  Bree lunged for the pen, scribbling her name across the dotted line before he could finish the threat.

  “Wise choice."

  Bree looked up and asked, "So what exactly am I signing?"

  "A rebranding. This time will be different, I promise. The cameras will finally see Sapphire Spears as the hero she truly was meant to be!”

  Meanwhile, in the deepest, darkest part of space, inside a beetle-shaped spaceship.

  The holosphere flickered in the center of the bridge, casting a ghostly glow over Emperor Sylak. He watched the entire brutal fight, the incineration of Harmony, and the Kepler sisters falling apart. He cackled, rubbing his hands together.

  “So the Cutie Princesses are finished? And the Kepler sisters are just as broken? OP-ER-TU-NI-TY!” He sang out in a high-pitched tone.

  He rose from his throne, his exoskeleton clicking as he drew himself up to his full, imposing height. He cleared his throat, the air in the chamber chilling as he addressed the shadows.

  “Weevils, my minions of darkness! Today will be a glorious day for the Beetle Empire. I may not have gotten my prize, my beloved Starlight Princess, but I've gained something else. Opportunity… and you all will get your piece of opportunity! On this day, we will be the one delivering the reckoning that this world has never seen before. On this day, we will march down those streets and bring the world to its knees! ON THIS DAY, THE EARTH WILL BE OURS!”

  A wave of chittering claps and whistles erupted from the grunts. The small Weevils stomped their feet against the metal floor, cheering for their leader.

  “And now, we rise up! As I send you all to glorious battle! With my new champion, come forth Pyrochroa, THE FLAME BEETLE!”

  The heavy door to the left of the throne hissed open, venting a cloud of hot, acrid steam. Out stepped a beetle encased in thick, blood-red plating. A massive fuel tank was bolted to his carapace, connected by reinforced hoses to a heavy brass wand held in his gloved claws. His visor reflected the orange glow of the engine room, and his respirator hissed with every breath.

  “Let's roast some Earthlings!” He laughed, sounding thick and raspy.

  Natalie stormed into the house, the slam of the front door echoing through the empty hallway. She marched straight to the bathroom and rattled the handle. It didn't budge. The lock stayed clicked in place.

  “FUCK! Goddamn it, Mom, are you passed out on the fucking shitter again?”

  No response.

  “ANSWER ME!”

  Natalie kicked the door, the wood vibrating under her boot. Her chest heaved, her breath hot with exhaustion, but the silence from the other side was absolute.

  “FINE, FUCK YOU THEN!”

  Natalie pulled her bedroom door open and dove into the pillows. She let out a muffled scream, sobbing into the fabric as the day's pain finally washed over her.

  Meanwhile, Courtney trudged down the road, feeling the weight of the "not-mud" still clinging to her clothes. She felt small, gross, and completely discarded.

  “Stupid bitch… thinks she's so smart… I just wanted to be friends… God, am I just so fucking toxic that I'm incapable of making friends?”

  Before she could get her answer, a massive fireball streaked across the sky. An SUV spiraled through the air, skidding across the asphalt in a shower of sparks and screaming metal.

  “HOLY SHIT!”

  Courtney reached for her phone, then hesitated.

  “A Cutie Princess wouldn't capture all this destruction for views… but a total washout like me would!”

  She sprinted toward the chaos, weaving through the crowd of fleeing, terrified people while her camera app buffered.

  “Hey y'all! It's yo girl Courtney Sinclair! Guess who's putting her life on the line to win her respect back? That's right, I'm back, baby! Check out this shit going on! Aw yeah, look at the screaming people, and the fires, and th—”

  WOOOSH!

  A wall of orange flame roared toward her. Before the heat could touch her skin, Courtney was yanked off the ground. She shrieked as she was hauled through the air to safety.

  “What? Oh my God, I'm alive?!”

  Courtney looked at her rescuer. It was Bree Kepler, her Sapphire armor gleaming in the firelight.

  “Stay out of danger, sweetheart, and let the professionals handle this!”

  Bree flashed a practiced, heroic smile, but Courtney’s face twisted into a snarl. She balled her hand into a fist.

  “YOU! What the fuck are you doing here, you fucking faker!” Courtney spat.

  Bree flinched, her heroic pose faltering.

  “Wh-what?”

  “Don't you fuckin' touch me! You're a fuckin' fraud, and your sister is a goddamn MURDERER!”

  Bree’s eyes went wide. Between the city burning and a screaming teenager, she looked ready to break.

  “Just get to safety, citizen!” Bree stammered, turning back to the street to shove a stalled car out of the path of the crowd.

  “That bitch is stealing all my views!” Courtney hissed.

  Her eyes darted to the sidewalk where a mother and child had tripped. A Weevil grunt spotted them, its mandibles clicking as it charged.

  “Hey wait! Yo! Bree! Those people need your help! Bree!”

  Bree was out of earshot, straining against a literal ton of American steel.

  “Mommy!” The little girl wailed, clutching her mother’s coat. The Weevil leaped onto the hood of a nearby sedan, leveling its plasma pistol at them.

  “STOP!”

  Courtney scanned the sidewalk, her eyes landing on a bent stop sign. She ripped the pole from the dirt.

  “I SAID STOP!”

  Courtney hurled the sign. It whistled through the air and slammed into the Weevil’s forehead with a sickening crunch. The metal plate sheared through its skull, spraying thick, green fluid all over the terrified family.

  “EEEEEK!”

  “GROSSSSS!”

  Courtney clamped a hand over her mouth. “OH MY GOD, I'M SO SORRY!”

  The mother and child scrambled away, disappearing into the smoke. The Weevil slumped off the car, its legs twitching.

  “Oh God, ugh, fuck my life…”

  Courtney yanked the sign out of the bug’s head and brought her heel down on its skull. Her Alexandrite Birdies boots, which were worth a semester's tuition, were now coated in brain matter and soot.

  “UGH! YOU ASSHOLE! THIS SHIT COST MORE THAN WHATEVER THE FUCK YOU'RE WEARING!”

  She looked up at the sea of terrified faces. More Weevils were closing in, and no one was swinging back.

  “Oh, for fuck's sake, they're just bugs, people. Grow a fucking pair!”

  She snatched the fallen Weevil’s blaster and rushed into mob if Weevils.

  In the quiet of the medical ward, Joan was restless. She hadn't taken her eyes off Harmony for hours. A nurse stepped into the room, tapping a tablet to check the glowing vitals on the monitor.

  “How is she…?” Joan’s voice croaked.

  “Oh, you're still here? Sweetheart, visiting hours are over. “

  “No… please don't make me go..”

  The nurse hovered over the bed, her gaze softening as she looked from the sleeping girl back to Joan.

  “Ten more minutes, but please let her rest. I promise you that she'll be fine.” The nurse noted the stats on her screen and slipped out the door.

  Joan watched Harmony lie motionless, the rhythmic hiss of the respirator filling the silence. Suddenly, a faint pink glow pulsed beneath Harmony's neck. At the same moment, Joan’s own necklace flared with a sharp, warning blue.

  “Weevils!”

  Joan sprang from her seat. She hated the idea of leaving Harmony’s side, but the call was undeniable.

  “Milady, duty calls.”

  Joan snatched the blue gem from her pendant and slammed it into her Cutie bracelet.

  “By the Powers vested in me, I shall become A CUTIE PRINCESS!”

  Out in the hallway, a magnificent blue flash bled through the door’s window. The nurse ran back inside, finding the curtains fluttering against an open window. Joan was gone.

  “Huh. Weird.” The nurse shrugged, closed the window, and continued her route.

  Downtown, a swarm of Weevils descended on Bree. She was a blur of Sapphire plating, punching and kicking through the chitinous mob.

  “Sir! I'm completely surrounded! I need air support, please!”

  Maxwell Powers’ voice crackled over her comms, sounding entirely too relaxed. “Oh, sorry, no can do. You gotta show me everything you've got. Your visor is livestreaming this event, and I want Bree Kepler to earn her solo status! The cameras love you, darling.”

  Bree let out a frustrated growl. She grabbed a Weevil by its thorax and tore it in two, then punted another like a football. The grunt spiraled fifty yards into the air before detonating—a rumble that shook the street for miles.

  “Sorry. I can't hold out on my own. Please, isn't there anything you can do?” Bree pleaded.

  Maxwell took a slow sip of champagne. “You're doing great, kid. Just think of your sister and you'll be fine!”

  “You animal!” Bree shrieked.

  WHOOOOSH!

  A concentrated stream of white-hot fire roared toward her. Bree crossed her arms, bracing for the melt, but the pain never came. She looked up to see the Lunar Knight standing before her, the flames splashing harmlessly off a glowing blue shield.

  “You… you saved my life,” Bree stammered, a wave of shame washing over her.

  “Go, now!” Joan ordered.

  But Bree didn't move. She leveled her arm at Joan, her laser emitting a high-pitched, rising hum.

  “Don't take this personally, but I.. I have to kill you…” Bree whimpered.

  “You coward! If you threaten me, I'll strike you down as well!”

  “Hey, ladies! How about less chitchat and more fighting?” Pyrochroa taunted from the sidewalk.

  “I mean it! I'll take you down just as I did your sister!” Joan warned.

  Bree’s eyes widened. The guilt evaporated, replaced instantly by a cold, sharp hatred.

  “YOU WERE THE ONE THAT STABBED MY SISTER!” Bree screamed.

  She fired. Joan caught the beam on her shield, reflecting the light into a nearby cluster of Weevils and slicing them in half.

  “Gah! Now look at what you've done!” the Flame Beetle complained.

  “I wasn't going to enjoy this, but I'll get you back for what you did to my sister!” Bree cried.

  “And I'll destroy you avenging my dear Lady Celestia!”

  The two clashed with brutal intensity. Bree unleashed a swarm of homing missiles, but Joan intercepted them mid-air, her Lunar sword carving through the projectiles until they erupted in a rain of jagged shrapnel. As the smoke cleared, Joan marched forward, her blade gleaming with a bloodlust intensity.

  “I've seen through your treachery once before. Your weapons are no match for me, Bree Kepler!”

  “I'll do what I have to do. I signed a contract!” Bree screamed.

  “Hey, guys? Hello? Bad guy with a flamethrower here? Aren't we gonna fight?”

  PEW! PEW! PEW!

  A series of warning shots from a scavenged Beetle Blaster kicked up sparks at their feet. It was Courtney, standing in the middle of the street with soot on her face.

  “Look, she hurt your sister, and she hurt your bestie. But that asshole over there? He's trying to kill all of us! Let's agree to disagree and fuck him up together!”

  Joan stared at Courtney. She didn't want to admit the girl was right, and Bree—trusting no one—realized she had no other play. Joan looked deep into Courtney’s eyes.

  “You speak the truth, young maiden. Catch.”

  Joan tossed two objects through the air. Courtney caught them both, nearly dropping her blaster in the process. She stared down at the two Cutie bracelets in her palms.

  “You mean…?”

  “Aye.” Joan nodded. “But you'll do what I say and when I say. You still have much to learn, and I can really use your help right now.”

  “I won't let you down!”

  Courtney eagerly snapped on her bracelet and struck a pose. Nothing happened. No sparkles, no music—just the sound of a distant car alarm.

  “Huh?”

  She tried a different stance. She shouted every catchphrase she could think of. “Go!” “Cheetah time!” “Aurora beam!” “Umm... Prism Moon Power..?”

  Pyrochroa threw his head back and let out a raspy, metallic laugh.

  “What kind of display of patheticness is this? I haven't laughed this hard since I was a little larva!”

  Courtney’s face turned bright red. She hissed at Joan, “Dude, what the fuck?! Is this some kind of trick?”

  Joan realized the f

  law in the plan immediately.

  “The other bracelet! Lady Natalie must wear the other bracelet.”

  Will Courtney be able to convince Natalie to wear her Cutie bracelet again? Can Pyrochroa the Flame Beetle be stopped? Find out next time for another exciting episode of Sailing Star Cutie Princess!

  つづく

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