"All I've wanted is a helping hand. But no one came, so I did it alone. And I needed them. They are the ones you see building one another up, instead of tearing each other down."

Gene Rick woke up to both the burning rays of the sun and forced herself to close the window blinds just as white as herself and the sound of the news on her television discussing the circumstances of missing girls from urban districts around her suburban locale.

Once again, another sixteen year old girl with similar features to her was front and center, next to images of other girls that made her skin crawl and gag in disgust from their much larger features, diverse hair colors, and other normal body alterations. Below there are much smaller images of several other missing girls with different and darker skin colors the news anchor talked about that she could care even less about.

The thought of someone like her getting kidnapped and attacks was completely beneath her, and anyone dumb enough to not fight back or do anything beyond screaming and staying in one place from their tormentor was absolutely don't. She wasn't like them. She had the money to take care of herself anyways and wouldn't be dumb enough to do something dumb like leave the window open at night for someone to be watching. 

Gene believed she would fight back in that situation. Though it seemed the news would talk about it for long, her slight intrigue brought her outside of the room to talk about it more before heading out to the bathroom in her two story house for school.

Unfortunately her brother had rushed in and locked the door right in front of her eyes, and sucked her teeth complaining to her parents would do nothing special since she knew exactly which side they would take. They both had to get ready for school anyways.

But now she was forced to go back to her room and use the many supplies in her room that would make a struggling lower class kid water from the mouth. One side had two couch cushions, a massive disco light bulb,and her television. The other side had video games she fought her family to keep instead of giving them to her brother, bookshelves of content only she would read and thought the other girls at school wouldn't find interesting, two dressing tables, her own king size mattress, a miniature tree model she could climb on to finish the decorations and posters with real music.

Nothing like what she and her mother thought it was trash pop by skinny "hoes," or "fatties who need to go to the gym instead of rapping about music", ghetto rap by people with plastic surgery, or vapid pop songs about banging several people, making money by killing people, stealing people in committed relationships, and driving fast cars. To her, it wasn't like there was music about people with body disabilities and trying to embrace their positive attributes, discuss inequalities in the world, discuss hardships and situations that made them the way they are now, and embracing the money they acquired like she does with her allowance.

Gene didn't realize her hypocrisy as she peered into the mirror to study her reflection, something many people older than her would complain would be completely unrealistic for anyone to ever do. After all, mirrors only existed for things that was possible to definitely accomplish in reality such as:

Breaking the mirror into pieces of glass so that they could bend it into shards and perform hyalokinesis.

Smashing it from giving into their rage.

Spotting dead bodies conveniently placed right behind them.

Spotting masked serial killers with elaborate plans about to attack semi-innocent people.

Summoning demonic serial killers spirits born from racial inequality.

Talking with the symbiotic or possessed life form that inhabits one's body.

Forming contracts with mechanical animalistic creatures that require to eat lesser monsters or human bodies that allow the user to transform into armored superbeings who can use said animal parts to fight one another for the sake of humanity.

But shadowboxing in front of a mirror to build confidence? Checking on acne to make sure she was taking care of herself despite her beliefs she didn't need makeup? Dealing with that eyelash that fell into one's eyes and using a tweezer to take it out was seemingly too unrealistic. Gene recalled several girls making fun of her when she used to apply it. When she defended herself, she was attacked and had her face smashed into a mirror.

Gene saw herself as plain, but if the movie adaptation of her mental thoughts were projected into a movie, she'd be played by one of the most attractive actresses in their mid twenties with a thirty-three percent chance of convincing the audience she's a teen.

She wasn't like other girls, but had no actual idea what exactly that meant. She flipped her long, straight brown hair with blonde tips that surged down her back, large blue eyes with thick lashes that would make Seto Kaiba blush, and yet suffered from no acne. Sometimes good showers were all that one needed.

Slightly taller than her mirror at a reasonable 5'3, thinner than a malnourished Victorian paperboy in need of more than disgusting Kale smoothies, and tired of waiting for Exodus to get out the bathroom, she resorted to just stripping down her clothes. Her overbearing strict parents would never allow her to breast boobi...ahem...streak down downstairs to use their restroom, something only a select few of her age had the luxury of doing in the first place.

Now, someone with skewed priorities watching Gene akin to a stalker or have little experience describing how they and other people look would go into detail about her breasts being compared to apples, oranges, pomegranates, grapes, melons, bazookas-which weren't even round or oval shaped. Or they spend every waking second describing the naked parts of a teenager.

If having a B size bra was that important to learning about a person, then her brother would be the type to not give a damn about his man-boobs, tease anyone else for their size, and probably break into her room and use hers as a slingshot. Wouldn't be the first time the mayor's son embarrassed the mayor's daughter in front of her. But she quickly changed into a long blue skirt that went down to her knees, leggings that covered everything, one of her many plaid shirts and clothes, leaving just her hands vulnerable to gather the rest of her belongings for the start of her junior year.

Her breasts may not be able to smile unless she drew an upside down semicircle on her chest, but her mouth definitely could as she elected not to wait, and rushed outside to the dreary, yet warm atmosphere of her small town in Texas. At the park she could view from her window, she saw the statue of the Demon of the West, a gunslinging cowboy with a wicked grin. The majority was made up of white and silver material, but the exterior of whoever it was had an exterior made up of obsidian black clothing.

It's almost like the creators were saying they were good and filled with light until they were evil and became dark.

She vaguely remembered visiting it as a child, but couldn't remember all the details, barring an image of a woman with the same skin complexion as her best friend that vaguely crossed her mind before dismissing the thought until she got to school.

There she met her best friend, Token Verse, with a moody scowl completely different from her, adjusting her glasses, with a more relaxed and subdued hairstyle in cute tight locks that Gene didn't find all that appealing, yet was scrolling through her phone about the news sightings.

"You're not worried at all? What if whoever's responsible attacks us next?"

"They're only going after thots anyways."

"Judgy much? Didn't you see all the other kids. The victims aren't just girls like you, they're even targeting those like me."

"First of all, I'm not like other girls. Second, they're only going after pretty ones. You'll be fine."

Token sucked their teeth and had an equal amount of reason to be upset with that, but Gene didn't sense the clear animosity from her best friend furiously blowing off.

"Anyways," gritting her teeth to calm down, "let's just be a bit careful. Mom's helping out the other members of the law enforcement around but we should keep our guard up, or try to figure out what's going on. Maybe we could hang out with Zhang like we used to, actually make more friends, walk home together like we used to or you know-do something I want for a change besides helping you with homework," and that last one made Gene suck her teeth.

"You don't have to tell me what to do all the time, you're not my parents."

"That's hella rude. Just tryna help."

""Ugh, whatever." At first Gene though Token had a point, but then again, she wasn't dumb enough to be worried about some potential loser with mommy issues trying to hurt a woman because they rejected him. And neither should Token. In her eyes, her best friend was slightly less attractive and too sassy for anyone to want to put up with her: not viritous and moralistic like herself.

If she was the quarter, then Token was more like a....penny. Real girls that were worth dollars never got it officially, whatever the hell that meant.

Though it wasn't personal, they were like sisters despite having completely different skin tones. Yet Token's words led to her questioning something. Did her black best friend have a love life, family, or home? It was almost like she existed solely for her sake, and nothing else.

Gene decided to ask. "Hey, what type of guys are you interested in anyways?"

"Hmm. I guess the ones that don't call me slurs behind my back or a himbo with a semblance of a brain. The odds of that happening in this town after so long are slim to none."

"That's bs," slapping her back, "you're one of the good ones," not realizing how she sounded nearly identical to the member of the fictional Armitage family.

"More like the only one in this town," Token scoffed. "Easy for you to say."

"Why do you sound like I'm oblivious to all the men who desire me. I'm just an average plain girl."

Token's eyes swing like a pendulum to spot other pairs' eyes on them, specifically Gene. "Right," rolling her word and eyes.

"Exactly they only care about the girls with the massive tiddies. It's not like someone's just going to randomly show up and just ask me out."

"Hey, Gene, I know I've asked you this before, but wanna go on a date this week before school starts getting hectic?"

Out of the blue, the two were greeted by Celin Revent, an adorkable, yet, confident peer of theirs with scruffy brushed up fiery red hair, brown eyes with hazel shades, wearing a dirty white sweater with stains and blue lines across the arms. He was decently built, and pretty good on the eyes. But Gene sucked his teeth. It was only him who did it.

Token snorted while giggling. "Case in point." It was pretty clear what his intentions were, he asked this of her at least once a month.

"Look Celin, you're sweet. Almost too sweet, but I'd walk all over you. You can't handle me." Her real reason: all he was is nice. They were friends, she was sweet to him and he was kinda cute growing up, but he always asked her out, and she barely knew anything about him and his hobbies.

And she didn't find his hobbies all that entertaining. Stuff like building Legos, watching anime in the school library, spending time trying to befriend the kids who would make fun of his hair, using the headset to play games with while the other guy were smoking weed and ratings girls on a scale of one to ten, being a teacher's pet, and whatever weird reason he had for wanting to invite her to a bizarre list of things he wanted to do such as going to the abandoned quarry outside of the school that even Token had questions about.

She needed someone more interesting, filled with personality, to free her of this boring and mundane life of navigating social dynamics, being related to a powerful governmental figure in her town, and intoxicate her with fascination, even if she knew absolutely nothing about him.

Then by pure coincidence, the three of them caught high pitched screams of people who backed up into some sort of awkward human assembly line on both ends.

And in the middle, she found exactly who she was looking for.

Around the same time, a creature wrapped in the darkness of the town saw a few shines of light in their captivity as a humanoid kneeled in their presence.

"You've awakened for good, my god?"

Unable to lift their bodies in the encased prison of stone, crystal, and light, they projected their voice after energy swarmed around them, cracking a slight piece off to expose their voice to their underling.

"Your efforts have not been in vain. I still require more resources before my unveiling can reach its final stage. Has the other one already left?"

"Yes," he claimed, regal, precise, and with the cadence of an English professor. "They are doing quite well aiding in your resurrection."

"We must hurry. That unsightly being has found themselves the next heir to that chosen power. Every step they take in that accursed place, they've grown stronger and stronger."

"Should I advise them to speed up their efforts?"

"No, the plan remains the same. But warn them to be cautious. I sense someone with a similar aura. Almost, a guardian of sorts, about to cross paths with that carrier of purity. If I'm not mistaken, that extra power could undermine everything we have accomplished up to this point," now aggressively pitched in tone.

The light started to flicker, and the voice chuckled. "It's gone into an untrained teenager, ripe for the purging and cleansing themselves of such wickedness," before encasing themselves completely. "Monitor their progress and make sure that this time, any of that evil's followers has been reduced to just the girl."

"And if any acquire the source of it's power?"

"Then bring them to me," flicking a wave of power into his body. "The key for Divine Judgement is near."

He stood up and bowed.

"Yes, sternly gripping his fist and emitting a force of energy that sliced a large crystal behind them. "Tama." 

---

The objection of her affections roared his Suzuki Hayabusa GSX1300R into the school floors. He flaunted his white and black leather jacket, brushed his hair back and forth so frequently it could catch on fire. It quickly did, forcing him to briefly take it off alongside his shirt, which was just as white and vanilla as he was. Gene was too busy distracted by his absurd fourteen pack abs that Token thought was just too unreasonable as he whipped the fire down like it was nothing.

She knew what she wanted him to whip next: Alpha's sanctimonious face.

Then she ignored Token pointing out the water dripping from her mouth. As he got closer and closer, she performed a thorough investigation of his body and aroma.

He was the type to call himself tall, dark, and handsome, despite the fact his skin color was paler than the printing paper at their school that would barely serve much of a plot in a generic teen rom con.

In his mind, somehow he believed he could turn lesbians straight, wet the loins of asexuals, and turn Christian boys gayer than closeted priests. They didn't exist within his eyes, which he made very clear.

She couldn't see those signs, too mesmerized by how perfectly his appearance captured her heart to bother with him casually pushing aside Garrett and Will's makeout session, groping Erika's assets without a care in the world, not affected when the aforementioned girl tried reasonably punching him for it, and smiled at her while casually knocking a nearby girl in the wheelchair aside and rolling towards the nearby staircase.

"Zhang!" Token raced to stop her other best friend from losing more limbs but the boy stuck out his foot in her path. While she sucked her teeth and rose back up, a few seconds later, he and Gene were face to face.

She couldn't help herself from stuttering. He slid his hand down her neck effortlessly, like he could break her.

"You're mesmerizing, innocent? How pathetic."