Fight the Monster

To Tripp's surprise, not only is there no crater , but Samantha - Sparrow - is still standing, along with all the people. The pink magical girl is holding both hands out in front of her, and a pair of huge golden wings made from light are spread out from behind her, creating a glowing barrier around her and all the citizens.

She looks winded, dropping her arms and falling to her knees, panting. The barrier falls, too.

Tripp - Dove - runs over to her with the young girl, and drops down next to his friend to help her up. "Sparrow! Are you okay? What was that?" he asks, helping Sparrow to her feet.

"I... don't know," she answers, "It just kind of happened. I knew I needed to do something to help these people, and it just kind of came to me, like an old memory."

Tripp is about to say something, but the monster roars, cutting him off. The beast turns, looking right at them, with fire literally in its eyes.

"Sparrow, you're in no shape to fight anymore. Whatever that shield thing was, it looks like it drained you. And besides, one of us needs to help these people to safety. Leave the rest to me and get to a safe distance."

Sam's face softens a bit. "Tripp, I -" She starts in a whisper, reaching out towards her friend.

"- I said go!" Dove commands.

Sparrow looks like she's about to say something, but then closes her mouth and nods, turning to escort the citizens away as commanded. Tripp thinks this is odd, because Sam normally wouldn't back down so easily. But maybe the urgency of the situation changed things for her, somewhat. Either way, they both had their duties now, and Tripp could worry about his friend later - if he survived.

He faces the Minotaur monster, craning his neck to look up at it from the street. It looks down at him with empty, fire-white eyes.

All at once, the chaos begins anew. The beast throws a punch with all the size and **** of a semi truck behind it. Dove leaps out of the way just in time, but a follow-up punch chases her to the ground. She rolls to the side to avoid it, then leaps into the air, landing on the corner of a nearby building.

In a few minutes, the bystanders and Sam have gotten a reasonable distance away. Sam turns and watches the battle with bated breath, along with the citizens. Some of them film the whole thing.

The Minotaur launches several kicks at Dove, who barely manages to dodge them one after the other. Tripp has no idea how he's doing any of the acrobatics that have been saving his life - they just happen when he needs them most, like muscle memory. His movements are graceful, too. He flips with ease, like a well-seasoned gymnast, floating through the air, feet together, spiraling and turning at all the right angles so that it looks easy and elegant.

In reality, however, it's slowly draining his stamina. His breathing becomes heavy and he knows that, soon, he won't be fast enough to dodge the punches, the kicks, and the fireballs.

He clenches his fist, landing on another rooftop at chest level with the titan.

"I have to end this here," he says out loud to no one in particular. "If I don't, this city will be destroyed... And then I'll never get to experience college life!"

Tripp leaps off the building with zero plan in mind, and dives towards the monster. He thinks frantically - how can he defeat the monster? He has to... he has to save the city! He has to at least go to one awesome college party!

Inspiration hits him like a lightning bolt. Just as Sam described - he can feel something like an old memory roiling up inside of him, and knows exactly what to do!

Dove stretches her arms out to either side, and (to Tripp's absolute humiliation) cries out, "Pretty Protector - Ribbons!" and thrusts both arms straight up above his head. Pink ribbons materialize around his wrists and forearms in a dazzling, glittery light.

The golden magical girl swings his right arm out like he's throwing something, and the ribbon on that arm shoots out in a spiral, like he's performing a ribbon dance. It stretches all the way to a building on the other side of the monster and constricts instantly around a flag pole.

Tripp kicks both legs out and swings on the ribbon and into the monster with a powerful kick. The sound of the impact echoes through the empty city streets like a dynamite blast.

The monster careens backwards into the street with an air-chilling howl. It crushes several cars to dust, while Tripp leaps safely to the street below, dashing out of the way of oncoming debris.

The monster lies in the rubble of the crater it made when it crashed to earth like a meteor, completely still. And something in Dove stirs again. Another memory bubbling to the surface. And again, Tripp knows instinctively what to do to finally end this unwelcome interruption.

He spreads his legs shoulder-width apart, raises both hands, and shouts, "Pretty Protector - Magic Wand!" And in the same dazzling light as before, a short, pink magical wand with little wings materializes in his hands.

He points it at the fallen Minotaur and says, purely on instinct, "In the name of peace and beauty - evil monster, begone! Pretty Protector Avian Dove - Purity Beam!" and a massive laser shoots out of the front of the wand and into the Minotaur. It glows in a beautiful white light for a few seconds, then disappears altogether. When it's gone, so too is the Minotaur. Only a monster-shaped crater remains where the beast had just been.

There's a hush for a minute. Nothing moves - not Dove, or Sparrow, or any of the bystanders - then all at once, everyone bursts out into a cheer. Sparrow and the people - the ones Sparrow rescued as well as many more that had escaped earlier - rush to Dove. The two magical girls are thrust together, chest-to-chest, while people rain praise and thanks onto them. Several reporters push their way to the front of the crowd and begin snapping pictures and asking questions.

"Girls, girls! Who are you? Where did you come from? What are your names?" One asks.

"What's a 'Pretty Protector' and was that real magic you were doing?" asks another.

To Tripp's embarrassment, a third asks, "Girls! Do you have boyfriends, or are you on the market?"

Sam puts her hands out, backing the crowd away and giving her and Tripp some room to breath, and answers, "Uh, well... we're magical girls, of course! We're here to protect this island from... you know, evil-doers and stuff! I'm Sparrow, and this is Dove! I'm sorry, we can't answer any more than that. Just rest assured knowing that when evil rears its ugly head, us magical girls will be here to save the day!"

And with that, Sparrow grabs Dove's hand and leaps the both of them up and over the crowd, and out of the city.