Astral Sibyl #2: Misery Business

Kathleen was in a bad shape after her last fight. She'd only recently suffered a humiliating defeat to someone named Sakuya Tanahashi, a fellow high-flyer wrestler who injured her during a match. Her opponent fractured several of her ribs, though she recovered quickly thanks to her pendant. She walked into the diner where she swore her sisterhood with Ashley to look for her. She saw a bunch of rude customers smoking near a mother and her son. Out of her rage, Kathleen walked towards them.

"Y'all better smoke elsewhere" said Kathleen with a scowl on her face.

"So what?! You're not even the boss of us, you blonde bitch. Leave us or we'll make your eyes purple with our fists!" threatened one of the customers.

The blonde would take matters by her own hands. She would wrestle and kick the rude customers out of the diner all by herself, and they fled before Kathleen could even catch them. The woman thanked her for saving her and her daughter. She smiled back at the two and sat at the counter, waiting for Ashley to pop up.

"You're waiting for my daughter to come, right?" said Ashley's mother, Juniper.

Kathleen nodded in agreement. She realized that she haven't ate breakfast and she felt very hungry. The brunette woman looked at Kathleen and gave her a platter of food. A pancake topped with sliced bananas and apples, drizzled with maple syrup. The blonde's mouth watered in hunger as she stared upon her food. "You can have it for free since you're part of our family now! Dig in!" said Juniper.

"Thanks for the meal!" said Kathleen before she ate her breakfast. She couldn't believe that Ashley's mother would take her in as her adoptive daughter. She was homeless and she usually slept on a park's bench. She always carried her duffel bag with her and rarely taken her clothes to the laundromat. However, those days came to an end as she was finally welcomed by the McKinzie family.

"I'm back!" said Ashley as she returned to the diner. "My sister Katie is looking good today! And you're having a good meal too! Did you enjoy it?" asked her.

"Mhm, I sure do. I can feel the sweetness of the apple, banana and maple syrup in my mouth. I never tasted something so sweet like this before! Your mom is an amazing cook, but I'm not. I'm not good at cooking at all" answered Kathleen.

"It's OK, at least Mom will cook for the both of us!" said Ashley.

While Kathleen and her sworn younger sister were talking, a girl with a purple hair and a pair of white bunny ears walked in. She looked like a cosplayer at first glance. On her hand was a pack of gummy candies, a favorite treat of hers. She then sat beside Kathleen with a wide smile on her face.

"I didn't expect to see you again, Katie! It's been a long time since we used to be classmates. Well, I still remember when you used to be a very depressed person. I'm glad you're no longer that! I hope you still remember me!" said the girl.

"You're Violy, right? Violet Cross? I still remember you, of course!" answered Kathleen.

"Incredible! Anyway, I've been hunting down these creatures that has been attacking people left and right. They call them "Deviants", as they can deceive people with their shape-shifting abilities. They mimic their victims in order to lure their next prey in and kill them afterwards. I kinda want to call myself a Deviant Hunter but, I'm just running private investigations on them" said Violy.

Kathleen was amazed, and she recalled her first encounter with a Deviant, the one that killed her family and her aunt to be exact. It also mimicked her deceased mother in an attempt to kill her, but she saw through the Deviant's tricks and defeated it. She knew that her mother would not stutter while speaking, or even speak in broken sentences. The intelligence capability of Deviants are limited, as they're close to animals than humans in terms of intelligence. They only know how to kill and hunt using their instincts and adaptability.

"You fought a Deviant before?! You're even stronger than the first time I met you! Well, I have a problem. My friend and assistant Nadia is in trouble right now. I lost contact with her and I can assume that a Deviant attacked her. Mind if we fight side-by-side and and kick some Deviant ass together?" said Violy.

"Sure! Anything for my childhood friend!" answered Kathleen.

Kathleen and Violy went to a park where she and Nadia spent their time together before the incident. The two found a white-haired girl sitting on a bench with a man, who might be a close associate to her. Violy recognized her as Nadia, her friend and assistant from Poland. She was a very kind girl with an expertise in medical studies. She loves to take care both humans and animals alike, and she's always seen with a medical bag.

"You might not gonna believe me but, my crush Peter is back! I thought he was attacked and killed by those mysterious beings, but he's doing fine!" said Nadia.

Kathleen felt suspicious about the man who sat with Nadia. She then used her claivoryance to see through the man's mind. She could not find any memories related to Nadia, but rather hunger for the Polish girl's flesh. "Umm.. you might wanna leave that guy behind. I have a bad feeling about him" said Kathleen.

"What are you saying?! He's nice, see?! Just look at him smiling at me!" said Nadia in a rather panicked tone.

"Mm… My sweetie Nadia.. I l-o-ve you! Come cl-os-er!" said Peter in a rather raspy tone as he slowly grabbed Nadia's shoulders with his right arm.

Before he could even grabbed Nadia, Violy took out her pistol and shot Peter in the head. The man fell off of the bench and flopped head first. Nadia looked at his boyfriend, who was shot by the purple-haired bunny girl. She was about to be angry at the two, until she noticed her boyfriend twitching on the ground and morphing into a hideous winged mantis-like Deviant. Peter was nothing but a disguise for the ravenous scythe-armed Thorny Lacewing Deviant.

"You're not Peter! Stay away from me!" said Nadia. She then screamed in disgust as she cowered behind her friend Violy.

"Heh, this is going to be a fun fight. Let's go, Violy!" said Kathleen. The purple haired girl would take out her karambit and fight alongside Kathleen in a 2 v 1 fight. The Deviant charged first at the two, attempting to slash the two. Kathleen quickly dragged Violy out of the way and saved her in the nick of time. She then propelled herself towards the Deviant's face, breaking its jaw with her boots and her strength.

The Deviant staggered back upon the impact. It then summoned Paramecium Deviants to buy time in order to escape from the two. Violy cocked her handgun and shot some of the writhing humanoids, while Kathleen gave chase to the fleeing Deviant.

"I wonder what's taking my sister so long.." said Ashley as she waited for Kathleen and Violy to come. She felt worried ever since she took the responsibility as Kathleen's sworn younger sister and best friend. She remembered the time she was impressed by her fighting skills, but now she began to worry for the blonde tomboy. Her mom was busy handling the customers, serving the food they ordered.

The teamwork of Violy and Kathleen finally weakened the Deviant. "This is for fooling around with my friend" said Kathleen before she crushed the Thorny Lacewing Deviant's head with her boot like a bug. The Deviant then writhed in pain and died, before exploding and turning into black ash. The purple-haired bunny girl felt grossed out a bit, but she felt relieved since her boyfriend's imposter was finally killed.

"And that was also for my beloved Peter. May he rest in peace, and may that wretched bastard rest in whatever the opposite of rest in peace is" said Violy.

"Rest in… pieces!" answered Kathleen.

The two met up with Nadia again. "I'm glad you saved me from that shape-shifting monster! There's been a lot of news of people being killed and having their bodies snatched by them. Well, they turn into the people they killed in order to lure their closest ones in, and then kill them. They know nothing but to kill, kill and kill" said Nadia. The white-haired Polish girl realized that she was made a fool by the Thorny Lacewing Deviant and almost ended up as its next victim.

"We're back!" said Kathleen as she walked into the diner with Violy and Nadia. Ashley's frown turned upside down as she saw her sworn sister returned with Violy and her friend. "Hi there, you must be new here!" said Ashley.

"Mhm, I am. My full name is kind of a mouthful to some, but you can just call me Nadia. If you're curious, my full name is Nadia " said the white haired girl. Ashley was amazed to see her, and her name was like a tongue twister to her. Kathleen felt happy as she finally met her old friend again, and a new one as well. Her happiness began to grow slowly within her, and she started to overcome her trauma with each battle she fought and every Deviant she killed, including the one who killed her parents and her aunt.

Just as Kathleen defeated a Deviant, a powerful Deviant emerged within Angel Grove, where she and the McKinzie family lives. It had an armored body resembling those of primitive horseshoe crabs, and a dark yet menacing aura accompanied the Deviant. Armored troops led by a scientist fired upon the beast. "Uraaaaah!" howled the Deviant as it charged and wiped out the troops effortlessly. "Report! We have located Charybdis! I repeat! We have located Charybdis!" said Dr. Little to the woman in his phone.

"Wunderbar, zat must be the Deviant's leader. Take it zown and vring her to me! Ve shall put an end to zose wretched beings!" said the woman.

Upon laying waste on the troops, the Charybdis Deviant moved to downtown parts of California. Dr. Little followed the being from behind in an attempt to capture it, yet he felt afraid because of the aura that it emitted. "Looks like we'll have to save this one for later" said Dr. Little before he ordered retreat to the remaining troops. A new threat has arisen, yet could Kathleen overcome it?