The Lemon Stand

-Three Years Ago; Vale, Downtown Area-

Cristal didn't know how she let herself get talked into this situation. She was just hoping to have a nice breakfast with her darling little sister, like she did almost every morning, and now here she was. Helping her sister set up a stand made of wood, painting a sign in all for freshly made lemonade they both squeezed and mixed with their own two hands.

"Princess?" Cristal said, wiping the sweat off her forehead, "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"I don't hear you saying a better one Cristal." Destiny rebuttal as she finished up the sign; Cristal helped her to hang it since she was having trouble, "Besides, we want to help dad in paying for everything, what better way to do that than to sell cold drinks on a hot summer day?"

Cristal couldn't help but chuckle, "I never pegged as one that likes to break the rules. Bad enough that we snuck out of the apartment, but we didn't even tell big sister that we were going outside."

"Guess I must've learned from watching you." The little one said with a smile.

Her older sister only looked amused at this as she gave a a smug look to her, "Oh, how dare you."

They soon set out the cups and pitcher and both backed up to look at their handiwork. Though the stand had been sloppily made, they were both satisfied with their work.

"Not that I'm one to toot my own horn but…" Cristal said with a smile, "... But this came out nice. Makes me want to buy one of our own lemonades now."

Destiny soon noticed a group of kids in the distance; they looked to be about her own age, "Here comes a couple of customers!"

"Alright, just like we practiced!" Cristal told her.

Destiny nodded before she retreated behind the wooden stand; she placed her brown bag just by her feet as she hid the IV tube with the help of a lightweight lavender poncho before sitting on a stool provided.

Cristal soon took a cup from the stand, and stood tall; she cleared her throat.

"Lemonade!" She said professionally as she showed off the cup, "Get your freshly made lemonade! Only 5 lien for one cup! Come get your freshly made lemonade!"

Just like that, the customers came reeling in, like that of bees attracted to sugar. The kids came in, handing their money to Cristal while Destiny was more than happy to pour them a cup. They had gotten more money than they expected, and more people came by to have a drink; eventually the pitchers that they had available had all been empty.

By the time it was, it had already been the afternoon. They had already taken down their wooden stand, and folded the sign as neatly as they could before they started to head home.

Cristal had pulled on a wagon filled with their supplies while Destiny walked beside her as she had been looking over the amount they had, within a brown pouch.

"I may not be good at math, but I think this is going to help dad a lot!" Destiny said with a smile.

"No kidding, it's more than enough!" Cristal said, "This was a good idea after all! Wait till he sees our haul! And hey… If we have some left over, maybe we can upgrade our TV to one of those holo-ones."

"But aren't those really expensive?"

"I mean, yeah granted, we're gonna have to make a lot of cutbacks, but we could get one! It'll make fright-night all the more fun, don't you think?"

"... Well, when you put it like that, it would be a good idea."

"See? Now you're speaking my language!"

Destiny only giggled as she hugged her sister.

Though as they were nearing back to the apartment, Cristal soon took notice that the air around her felt different; her body started to tense up a bit as she gripped the wagon a bit too tightly; Destiny soon took notice of this.

"Cristal?" Destiny said, as she started to sound a little scared.

Just than, voices unfamiliar to them came over their shoulders.

"Hey you, girly!"

Cristal looked over in the direction of the voices, and saw a man wearing clothing looking a bit torn and a beanie hat as he looked to have a knife in his hand. Another man seemed to have appeared in front of them, holding a weapon of his own.

"Hand over the cash, or this goes through you!" The man said.

"Cri--Cristal--" Destiny stammered as her body trembled.

"Hey! You heard 'em didn't you brat!?" The second man said, "Hand over the cash! Now!"

Destiny let out a squeak at the man's tone of voice as she tightened her grip on her sister. Cristal's body trembled but only a little; she managed to pry herself away from her.

"Princess…" Cristal soon said, "... Stay back, I'll take care of this."

"You're really thinking about fighting us?" The man said.

"You're the ones that are making the mistake of stealing from us." Cristal said, "I'll teach you a thing or too."

The men chuckled as Destiny cowered from the men that held their weapons to them. For awhile there was nothing but silence between them as Cristal had herself ready to fight. She had a bit of a smirk on her face as she gestured to the men to come at her.

"END HER!" The man shouted.

Thus they attacked with Cristal going at them.

She managed to duck from her attackers, barely managing to dodge their blades before she launched a counter. She kicked her first attacker before she punched the other across his face making him stumble and fall in the garbage just behind him.

The first man that challenged her, came at her with his blade, letting out a war cry; he attempted to pierce her arm at least, though Cristal acted fast. She was quick to grab a hold of the man's arm and flipped him over, disarming him in the process. The second man recovered and grabbed Cristal from behind, attempting to pin her; she managed to move herself from her enemy, hitting him in the face with the back of her head, before she kicked herself from him.

She spun herself around giving him a kick to the stomach making him fly back and hitting the ground hard.

Finally, she used this as an opportunity to catch her breath, as she stretched. She turned over to Destiny.

"See Princess? Nothing to worry about." Cristal said with a smile.

Destiny's eyes soon widened, "CRISTAL! LOOK OUT!"

THWACK!

Cristal felt something heavy hit her hard, making her fall face first into the ground. She tried to get back up, but found herself being restricted as she felt the man's boot press onto her back, keeping her pinned.

"What was that about teaching us a lesson you dumb bitch?" The man said before he kicked her, causing her to cough out blood.

"Cristal!" Destiny exclaimed out of worry. Without even thinking, she charged at the man, currently pinning Cristal. She tried to push him off of her, "Please! Stop!" She begged, "Just let her go!"

"STAY OUT OF THIS BRAT!" His comrade shouted.

He threw his fist at the child, causing her to fly back; she cried out as she hit the ground. Cristal's eyes widened at this as her body soon shook with anger. The man that attacked her sister soon towered over her, and grabbed her roughly by the hair, making her cry out.

"This is what happens when you decide to play hero!" The second thug said as he was ready to hit the already crying child.

At this Cristal felt something in her snap; her eye glowed a dim red glow as an insignia of a red eye appeared on her forehead. She growled as she clenched her hand into a fist; faint red marks began to appear as Cristal made an effort to pick herself up off the ground.

Though as quick as her anger came, it had disappeared when she felt the weight come off her back. The man holding her down let out a grunt while the other let out a surprised scream, as Destiny had been dropped to the ground.

Cristal turned on her stomach as she noticed a pair of white boots in front of her. She glanced upward only confirming her suspicions, when she saw that familiar pink and brown swirl.

It was Neo, and she didn't look happy at all.

"Big Sis?" Cristal and Destiny said surprised.

The two thugs got up off the ground as they glared daggers at Neo. "Bitch what do you think your--!?"

Neo cut them off as she held her blade to the man's neck making him sweat. Neo only gave a smile as she wagged her finger in a taunting way and clicked her tongue. At this the thugs ran with tails between their legs, and Neo drew back her blade.

She let out a sigh as she helped Destiny up off the ground, brushing the dirt off of her; her eyes softened when she saw a bruise on her cheek.

Destiny was about to say something though Neo motioned her not to. She soon approached Cristal and helped her, performing the same gesture as she had done with the child. Though when she was done with her, she looked sternly at the young teen sternly.

Cristal groaned as she rolled her eyes, "... We're in trouble, aren't we?"

All Neo did was nod in reply.