Chapter Text
“Squid! Tuna! Octopus-face!” Momo Ayase grumbled to herself, kicking a discarded can across the pavement. It clattered a satisfying distance, but did nothing to dispel her frustration. Not only had her first-ever boyfriend just dumped her earlier that day, but she hadn’t even gotten to kick his ass for it! Or hurl a decent insult. Talk about unfair! She’d been wallowing in angst since that morning, and her friends’ I-told-you-sos had not helped at all.
Now that school was out, she was supposed to be heading home, but she just knew that her granny would be as unsympathetic as her friends. So she was aimlessly wandering the streets, trying to find a way to work off her anger.
A sound caught her attention. She looked across the street to see a couple of guys, probably around her own age, chucking paper and other bits of garbage at… another kid? A skinny shape in black that looked like a teen boy, at least. He was sitting on a bench, kinda hunched over a… book? Maybe a tablet of some kind? He looked over at the guys chucking garbage at him, adjusted his round sunglasses with one hand, and curled further into himself, trying to ignore them.
“What’re you lookin’ at, ya loser?” Momo heard one of the guys drawl, and saw the glint of sunlight reflecting off a glass bottle in his hand. His arm came up to throw the bottle, but he squawked and dropped it when the shoe Momo had thrown connected with the side of his head.
“How does that feel, ya asshole!” She cried, crossing the street at a run, scooping up one of the bits of discarded junk they’d thrown and chucking it at the second guy. “Littering is fucking gross, you tools!”
Both guys screamed at the sudden attack, fleeing like the cowards they were. Momo huffed out a breath, scooping up the shoe she’d thrown.
“Bunch of jerks,” she muttered, slipping it back on. “There’s nothing but scum in this world.” She walked on, completely ignoring the boy on the bench, who gaped after her in wonder.
+++
Momo ground her teeth as she stomped down the street. That little encounter had only served to piss her off even more. If she didn’t find a way to blow off some steam, she was gonna hurt somebody, for real!
“Miss! Miss, Miss, Miss, um–”
“What?!” Momo hollered at the annoying voice behind her. The boy in black from earlier flailed back, startled.
“Uh, uhm, Miss…?” He trailed off into a questioning tone.
“Momo Ayase,” she grunted, crossing her arms, waiting for the weird skinny guy to get on with it.
“Miss Momoayase!” He exclaimed, rushing her name into one word. “I am to be– Or, to say, er–”
“Spit it out already!”
His eyebrows drew together in clear confusion. “Spit…?”
“Say what you wanna say!” Momo wondered if the guy was foreign. It would explain his awkward speech.
“O-Oh. I want to say…” The boy bowed deeply. “Thank you.”
Momo waved him off, feeling suddenly awkward. “Yeah, well, don’t read too much into it. I wasn’t trying to be your friend or anything. Just forget it.” She turned to walk away, but the guy followed her, stuttering out something else.
“You deaf or something?!” Momo yelled into his face. “I just got dumped, I don’t need some stringy little nobody following me around! Now get lost!”
The boy froze. Momo turned her back on him, huffing. As she walked away this time, he did not follow.
Shame curled in her belly. That had been a huge overreaction. She stopped walking.
“I’m sorry. That was me–” She turned to face the boy again, but there was nobody there. He’d vanished, as if he’d never been. Momo stared at the empty street for a moment. Then she groaned. Great, now she was upset at herself, too. Was there no justice in the universe?
She stomped away to go find something to break.
+++
Well, this day officially could not get any worse.
After raging at herself and the world some more, Momo had stumbled upon the abandoned remains of a hospital building, just as the sun was beginning to set. She’d figured there was plenty of stuff in there nobody would mind if she smashed, so she’d slipped inside. Karma must’ve decided to bite her in the ass though, because the very last thing she could have ever predicted happened.
She’d been abducted. By fucking aliens.
Who said they were going to take out her organs.
What the fuck, universe.
The Serpo-whatever-they-were-s were using their freaky mind powers on her, and she struggled against the pressure bearing down on her, somehow from outside and inside her skull.
“You are resisting our psychokinesis. You have a strong will,” one of the aliens said, emotionlessly. It grabbed her knees in its freezing cold hands. “However, we shall begin.”
“No!” Momo screamed. “Stop!” She did not want this, she did not want to see, god, she did not–
BANG!
The alien froze. Momo’s eyes flew open.
BANG!
The whole room shuddered, the air around them flickering somehow, like a faulty television.
“Someone with incredibly bad timing is attempting to enter our laboratory,” said one alien, striding towards the wall.
BANG!
A panel flew through the air, striking the alien head-on. The force from the blow threw it backwards and embedded it in midair somehow. The space around its limp body flickered and blinked, revealing… screens? But Momo’s eyes were glued to the thing clawing its way through the new hole.
A dark mass with spindly limbs clambered into the room, covered in some kind of black… fur? Feathers? Momo could barely make any details out in the flickering lights. It straightened up once fully inside, towering over Momo’s captors. Two round, glowing red eyes locked onto them. It spread huge, moth-like wings and let out a blood-curdling scream.
“A Virbilaetian? We did not know there was one in this sector. How did it get in here?”
They know what it is, Momo thought. So it’s some kind of alien?
“Attention, Virbilaetian,” said one of the remaining Serpos. “You do not have permission to enter this place. Leave at once! If you do not…” The Serpo grabbed the sides of its face and tore it to pieces, revealing the hideous true form underneath. “We shall take your banana organ!”
“Ew!” Momo exclaimed.
“Six senses!” The Serpo exclaimed, gesturing in the newcomer’s direction with its four-fingered hand. The alien took flight at once, going so fast that Momo could barely track it. Whatever power the Serpo used left craters in its wake, but its target was left unharmed.
“It is too fast! I cannot train my psychokinesis on it!” The Serpo exclaimed, right before the dark mass slammed into it. Both aliens went flying, flailing and fighting on the floor, before the winged creature ended up on top.
Momo could see it a little clearer now, but kind of wished she couldn’t. The creature had gruesome-looking black jaws (mandibles? Pincers?), which it wrapped around the Serpo’s creepy robotic member and tore the thing straight off its body.
“Our precious banana organs!” The remaining Serpo exclaimed. “You banana thief! Serpo-grammatry!” It crossed its arms into a T shape, and an invisible force slammed into the winged alien. It hit the wall hard enough to put a crater in it, and hung there like a butterfly pinned to a board.
“We have never met such an aggressive being as you before,” said the Serpo as its captive struggled against the force that held it. “We came here to study the reproductive functions of the humans, but your strength and speed could benefit us greatly. You will give us your banana organs!”
“Re… lease… her…” the trapped alien ground out in a raspy voice. “Release… Miss Momoayase… Don’t you… hurt her…”
Okay, what?! It talks? And it knows my name?! Had it come here to save her? But why?
“Fie!” The Serpo said, and the crater the winged alien was pinned in deepend. It groaned in pain. “You are in no position to make demands. I shall proceed with the arousal.” Using one hand to hold its opponent, the Serpo turned its other hand toward Momo, and the crushing pressure in her head returned.
As Momo struggled and screamed, she thought of her grandmother. Of the ritual she’d taught her, made her do every day on the way to school.
(What had she last said to her grandma?)
She remembered the other kids pointing and laughing at her, of one boy in particular whose mocking caused tears to prickle at the corners of her eyes.
(Had she told her she loved her before she went to school?)
She remembered yelling at her grandmother, telling her she hated her, that she was a fake.
(She didn’t mean it. She’d never hated her grandmother, not once. She’d just been embarrassed…)
Firm up the muscles in your tummy…
(What if she never saw her again?)
Now picture your ki shooting up out of the top of your head…
(What if she died here?)
No.
She could not die here. She would not.
Warmth and light and power flooded every part of Momo’s body, flowing from every cell. Her eyes shot open. She was no longer tied down to that horrible chair, but floating midair in a sea of teal stars.
“She’s not a fake,” Momo’s relief and amazement almost made her laugh and cry as she spun a panel from the walls with nothing but her will. “My grandma’s an honest-to-god medium! Thanks, grandma!”
Her gaze locked on the remaining Serpo. “Now I’ve got the power to take these creeps on.” She struck out with her leg, catching the alien’s hand as it tried to block her, but she put every ounce of power and righteous anger she could muster behind it. “And send ‘em flying!”
The Serpo spun through the air and punched straight through the wall. The impact caused the entire room to shudder, panels flickering and going dark. The room began to rock and sway, like a ship caught in a storm.
“Oh, shit!” Momo realized. “I’m in a real UFO!” And it was coming down! She had to get out of there!
She stumbled to her feet, trying to see if there was a way out, a door or something. Suddenly she remembered—
“Oh, right!” She ran over to the wall where she’d last seen her mysterious savior (attempted savior?). The Serpo’s psychic power no longer pinned it to the wall, and it had crumpled in a heap on the floor, unmoving.
“Hey!” Momo crouched down next to it. “Hey, you!” What had they called it? Verbo-something? “Alien guy!”
It did not respond. Momo reached out and shook its shoulder(?), noting distantly that the black fluff it was covered in was quite soft to the touch. “Dude, wake up, we gotta go!”
“Mmrrghg,” was all the reply she got. She groaned. Stupid alien! Maybe she would be better off just leaving it, saving her own skin, but–
But she couldn’t. This alien, for whatever reason, had tried to help her. She owed it the same courtesy, at least.
The UFO had stopped swaying randomly, and instead started heading in a direction that was definitely, steadily, terminally downwards.
They were running out of time.
Momo tried to remember everything she’d heard about surviving an airplane crash while frantically scanning their surroundings. There weren’t any seats around to strap themselves into. The chair she’d been trapped in before had been smashed to bits when her powers awoke–not that she really wanted to get back in that thing anyways. “Stupid goddamn aliens and their stupid fucking spaceships!”
Wait. Her powers!
Momo looked down at her hands. She could still feel the warm current of her ki, reaching for it now was as easy as breathing. Maybe she could…
Taking a deep breath, Momo pictured her ki forming a protective teal bubble around the two of them, cupping them like a giant pair of hands. She held it together as explosions rocked the room and showered sparks down on them. Nothing could touch them so long as she kept it up.
Hold it… hold it…
With one last ear-shattering crash, the UFO finally went still. Momo peeked one eye open. The room was nearly unrecognizable after the crash, but at least they were still alive. It had worked! Momo dropped her ki with a groan, suddenly feeling bone-tired. That sucked! She couldn’t stay here, though. Small fires still burned inside the ship, and sparks occasionally flew from the walls.
She looked over at the alien beside her, still unconscious despite the ruckus. She sighed.
+++
Dragging an alien at least twice her size out of a wrecked UFO ended up being surprisingly easy. Despite how tall it was, it turned out to be very light. Once Momo figured out where its head was, she grabbed under its arms and pulled, trying to be mindful of its huge wings.
Her ki made quick work of the wall, and she dragged the alien outside and away from the wreckage. Once they had a good amount of distance, she laid it down with a groan. It might not have been very heavy, but dragging it around sure was awkward!
She examined her attempted savior in the new light of the moon (and the burning spaceship).
It was not completely black like she’d first thought. Streaks of red and even some white ran through its hair (feathers?) and formed eyespot patterns on its wings, which were about as big as its entire body. Two long black antennae, tipped in white and red, sprouted from the top of its head.
What she’d assumed to be enormous eyes were actually goggles (glasses?). Between those and the enormous black jaws that took up the bottom half of its face, she could see hints of pale skin. In fact, looking at the rest of its lanky body, it even seemed to be wearing clothes made of black fabric.
Most of its height came from its ridiculously long limbs, nearly twice the length of Momo’s. Its hands were sort of grayish in color, tipped with wicked black talons, the same on its birdlike feet.
Pretty weird, thought Momo, but honestly not nearly as frightening as those Serpo freaks. Especially since this thing had tried to save her. Hopefully not to harvest her organs for itself.
Well, if it tries anything, I’ll just kick its ass with my new amazing powers, Momo thought. Heartened by that, she knelt down and tried nudging the alien awake again.
“Yo, moth-dude. You still alive, or what?”
The alien groaned in response, shifting slightly. It made some weird creaking noises as it did so. Which continued.
Oh, wait, shit, is it shrinking?!
Momo watched in horror as the alien transformed. Limbs shortened, hair receded, wings shrank, the huge black jaws went… somewhere, until what was left was–
“Whaaat the fuuuuuuck.”
It was the boy from earlier. The one she’d shouted at.
He’d been a freakin’ alien the whole time?!
He still didn’t look totally human, now. His wings and antennae were still there, as was some black fluff sticking out of his shirt collar, and his feet still looked weirdly birdlike.
He stirred as Momo gaped at him, opening bright red eyes.
“Miss Momoayase!” he exclaimed, sitting up. “You’re okay!”
Momo pointed at him, mouth still hanging open. “You. You’re an alien, too? Just how many aliens are there on Earth, huh?!”
The boy adjusted his glasses with one hand (hadn’t he been wearing sunglasses earlier?). “Oh, uh, I don’t–”
“Nevermind, that doesn’t matter!” Momo waved her hands. She fixed Alien-boy with an intense stare. “You tried to save me from those Serpo-things.”
“Serpoians,” he corrected.
“Whatever! Why’d you bother, huh? Wait, how’d you even know where I was?” She gasped and pointed an accusatory finger. “Were you following me?!”
Alien-boy’s wings fluffed up at that. “N–! Well, yes, I was! I-I was trying to apologize properly, a-and then I saw you go into that building the Serpoians were occupying! I wanted to warn you, but I was too late. They’d already taken you.”
“So, what, you just decided to break into a spaceship and rough up a bunch of aliens for somebody you just met?” She still had a lot of questions about that. Namely how he’d done it. He’d looked like a monster in there.
He seemed to deflate. “They were going to kill you. I couldn’t let that happen to… to the first person who ever stood up for me.”
Momo stared at him. That was… kinda sad. That he’d risk his own life to help her over the smallest kindness. Well, barely even that, she had yelled at him, after all. Guilt stirred in her stomach at that thought.
“B-but if I’d known you had such strong spiritual powers,” the boy said, “I wouldn’t have been so worried! You saved yourself, you didn’t need me.”
She laughed humorlessly. “I didn’t even know I had those powers. I’ve never been able to do anything like that before today.”
“Really?” The boy leaned forward, adjusting his glasses. “Fascinating! Perhaps the stress of the situation combined with the Serpoians manipulating your brainwaves granted you access to your chakra!” He reached into his shirt and withdrew some kind of tablet and stylus, and began scribbling notes. “Was that the first life-threatening situation you’ve ever been in?”
“Guess you’re feeling better!” Momo laughed. She got to her feet and held out her hand to the boy. He stared at it like he didn’t know what to do with it. Rolling her eyes, she took his hand and pulled him to his feet. He was the same height as her.
“Thanks for trying to help me. And,” she said, suddenly feeling awkward. “I’m sorry about before. For shouting at you. I was in a bad mood, and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. So. Yeah.”
“Ah, don’t be!” Alien-boy reached up to tug at his antenna. “I am sure I made a social blunder when I spoke to you. I’ve been studying human behavior, but… I’m an awkward guy.”
Momo’s heart leapt in her chest. She silently told it to pipe down. So what if he said one of Ken Takakura’s lines by coincidence (and so what if he was nice and brave and cute, even with the alien features)?
She plastered a smile on her face. “Uhm! So, I didn’t get your name, before.”
“Oh, right. I am Kentakakura! It’s very nice to meet you.”
Momo gaped at him while the spaceship exploded behind her.