futuredated to saturday night- lip's nightmare
A dark, dank city. Neon lights, blinding. People, shiftless, drifting through life, eyes sunken and dark. Not everyone is just looking to get home, either. Somewhere, someone is getting mugged in a dark alley. Sinister thoughts, sinister actions.
That's where Lip comes in.
She's walking with purpose now, not in her school uniform, not in her clothes from the forest, but in a different set than she was used to wearing. Pants, pinstriped, the rest of the suit hidden beneath a trenchcoat. A Stetson on her head. The ensemble felt familiar, but she wasn't sure from where. She certainly never wore these clothes before. But they made her feel powerful. And she reached the alley quickly, rounding the corner to see the absolute scum of the earth holding a rusty knife up to a poor business woman's neck. She made quick work of him. Broke his arm in a few places, dug the rusty knife into his upper thigh, see how he likes being stabbed. The man howled, and Lip let the corner of her mouth twitch upwards into the smallest of smiles, what did it matter? He couldn't see her face. But he glared at her as if he could. Called her a freak. She glared right back and growled in a voice that was far too gravelly to be hers. He fell. She sent a sideways glance at the business woman, checking her status as a followup, but that was strange. This woman was her mother.
"Lip," She called, brow furrowed, "You have to wake up now. You can't sleep all day. Future Queens have duties, you know."
Nope. She wanted to sleep all day. This was an awesome dream.
"You have to wake up now, Lip. I let you sleep an extra hour. Time to wake up."
No! She didn't want to wake up.
Now her mother was shaking her by the shoulders, Lip let out a surprised yelp in her new voice.
"Lip! I'm not joking around, now. Wake up!!"
Behind her mask, Lip squeezed her eyes shut.
Just five more minutes... !