MUGEN Voltage

Ch. 26: The Ice Princess of Sajyou High

FLASHBACK
10 Years Ago

-Playground 3:30 PM-

Something was awry at the playground.

"M-M-Monster!" Said a young female voice. "Stay away! Don't come near me!"

The playground, otherwise occupied by children from all over, was mostly empty, save for two kindergarten-aged girls.

One sobbing and crying uncontrollably, and the other standing silently, with nary an expression on her face, as raging flames engulfed her right hand.

Lying on the sand between them was a broken doll, its head having been cut off, and its hair and part of its dress burnt.

Risa Himawari, then 5 years old, has just discovered her fire powers by accident, after a scuffle with a friend lead to said friend suffering from burns all over her face and arms.

Traumatized after what Risa did to her, the young girl couldn't bear to look at Risa straight. At that point, she didn't see her as an innocent friend. All she saw was a monster who was out to hurt her.

"But..." Said Risa.

"Go away...! I don't want to play with you again!" The young girl replied, in between sobs. "People like you are bad! Monster!"

And with those words, the young girl ran as far away from Risa as she could, never to be seen by her again. Teardrops began to fall from Risa's face and left droplet mark on the sand below her.

END OF FLASHBACK

"Shisui...?" Said Kouya. "What the..."

Meanwhile, back to current times, Kouya and the rest of the Mugen gang were rushing their way to R.E.D. Corporation's main lab. However, only minutes after they began to make their move, Shisui suddenly went missing.

Eventually, Risa remembers something she felt from a while ago.

"... Kouya." Said Risa.

"Risa? What is it?" Kouya replied.

"... I'm sorry I wasn't able to tell you sooner, but..." Said Risa. "When we went in the alley... I felt this strange cold breeze down my neck."

"It was as if... someone was tailing us." Risa replied. "Maybe that someone... got Shisui too...!"

As soon as she finishes uttering those words, Risa returns back to the alleyway, leaving Kouya and the others behind.

"Wait! Risa!" Said Kouya. "Tch, dammit."

"What do we do now?" Rock replied.

"Don't worry. We aren't just leaving Risa behind." Said Kouya. "Either way, I have a real bad feeling about this..."

As Risa was running back in the alley, she then heard screams of coming from a delicatessen shop next door.

"The deli...!" Said Risa.

Out of the deli, a woman, roughly around her 40s, was running out of the shop. From the look on her face, she seems utterly terrified.

"I-I-Irregular!" Said the woman.

"Irregular? Where?" Risa replied.

The woman points to the deli shop door, before running away. Gingerly, Risa decides to take a peek inside the shop.

-Delicatessen 9:07 AM-

Inside the deli, everything, from the cashier to the frozen meats, to the tile floors, was covered in ice. Furthermore, nobody seemed to be inside. This prompts Risa to take a step further inside, when suddenly.