Princess Justice...more like Princess Stupid.

     Sometimes, bad things just happen.

     Sometimes, dreams will never rise. Some lives end much too soon. Some evil will never ever die. 

     Not all wars end in peace. Not all heroes choose the right side.

     The world is not a happy place. There are hardships and struggles. Every now and then, every day just feels like another day of torture. But people move forward, keep on going with their lives and do everything they can to at least feel content with what they have.

     Other people have a strong desire to help others. To right the world, and rid the world of as much pain as possible. Charity hosts, policemen, soup kitchen chefs, people like them are often the kind souls that will help others in need. They’re the angels of the world, people that everyone should look up to, yet too often disguised as beetles.

     And then there’s the folk with such a strong sense of justice that it makes you want to slam your head onto a table.

     In the fantasy Victorian city of Cauilla, there lived the Queen of the entire country. She was the ruler of everything in the Kingdom of Tamarin, maker of laws and savior of the people. She founded the prospect of police in Cauilla, as well creating a team of elite nobles that would handle anything the police couldn’t do. They were outside the law.

     Theoretically speaking, the police and the Elites should have been able to handle any problems that the city encountered. 

     But then alien creatures with superpowers come crashing down from the sky, and a vigilante with a moral compass the size of Jupiter shows up to protect the city and save everyone.

     Queen Maria was not amused.

     With a signature flowing neon cape and pink sapphire crown, Princess Justice was the superhero that all the civilians loved and adored. They documented every single one of her adventures, from stopping a giant mutant zombie from destroying the city to handling a supervillain jailbreak at Pearlpool Max Security Prison. Everyone was enamored with the superhero in pink. Every time something went wrong, from the smallest mugging to the biggest apocalypse, they expected Princess Justice to come along and save the day.

     Quite frankly, most of the police force even counted on Princess Justice to solve any case bigger than a small-scale robbery or murder. 

     The Elites absolutely loathed the self-proclaimed superhero.

     The Baigna family, the Gifford family, the Guri family, and the Surica family were the nobility that were part of the Elites. They aided the Queen in any way possible, handling crimes that the police couldn’t handle, and keeping an eye on what was going on in the Underworld. Queen Maria didn’t care how they did it, only as long as they managed to keep Cauilla safe from any potential threats or Underworld uprisings.

     There was a new case in the city. A murderer was brutally killing elderly couples. It wasn’t the doing of yet another supervillain that had established themselves in the city; just an ordinary murderer with extreme talent. Queen Maria specifically asked the police to keep it from Princess Justice, and let the Elites solve this one.

     It was no secret that the Elites hated Princess Justice. But nobody expected it to come to heads during this specific case.

***

     Cerelia Baigna. the heiress to the Baigna household. She was only 19 and had already been the head of the family for 3 years by then, but only because her parents met their untimely demise in yet another skirmish between Princess Justice and a supervillain. It was the one that produced toxic sludge or something. Cerelia was extremely glad that Princess Justice had banished that creep back to his own planet. But that was about as far as her appreciation for Princess Justice went.

     Cerelia and her personal bodyguard/assassin/friend Eclipse were on their way to see Wan, an agent of theirs in the Underworld who dealt with drugs on the poorer side of the city. He was incredibly annoying, with his unexpected visits all the time, but still useful now and then. He could still be of use this time around, especially since most of the murders had been on his turf.

     Wan’s center of operation was in an abandoned warehouse, where his men took raw materials and turned them into drugs. It was dark, cold, and musty, a place where Cerelia didn’t want to be there for long. She shivered and tugged her cape closer to her body, trying to keep off the chills that crawled up her spine.

     “Let’s hope Wan actually has useful information this time.” Cerelia murmured to Eclipse, who was also eyeing the ‘abandoned’ building warily. “Things that will make this trip worthwhile.”

     Eclipse led the way to the half-broken, moldy door that led into the warehouse. She pushed open the door, and stepped aside to let Cerelia in first.

     “Wan! Are you here—” Cerelia shouted, but stopped when she noticed the very noticeable differences since the last time she had visited.

     All of the conveyor belts and assembly lines had been wrecked, torn apart and tossed aside. There was a huge, gaping hole in the middle of the roof, where something—or someone—had obviously crashed in. All of Wan’s goons were tossed aside, unconscious, and Wan himself was tied up in a chair in the middle of the room. With Princess Justice standing right beside him.

     One of Princess Justice’s signature ‘tranquilizer darts’ shot out from her fingers at the speed of lightning, which Eclipse deflected with one of her scimitars. The black-haired assassin pushed Cerelia aside, standing protectively in front of the Countess.

     “Who are you? Associates of this villain here?” Princess Justice called out in that heroic, proud, dastardly annoying voice of hers. 

     “What gives you the right to be treating my associates in such a poor manner?” Cerelia pushed Eclipse aside, stepping into the warehouse with a cold look in her eyes. “I’m here on behalf of the Queen.”

     “This man is evil. He has done illegal drugs, and good shall always prevail over evil!” Princess Justice declared. “If you are associated with that man, then you will fail in trying to rescue him. At the end of the day, it will be the light that sees the next sunrise, not the darkness.”

     Cerelia twitched an eyebrow. 

     “Your sense of justice is extremely strong.” Eclipse noted, narrowing her dark violet eyes. “To the point where it disgusts me.”

     “I couldn’t have put it any better, Eclipse,” Cerelia sighed, touching a finger to her temple. “The Queen knows perfectly well that I am associated with that man. She has given me and all the other Elites permission to use any means necessary to solve the case that we have been assigned.”

     Princess Justice’s eyes flashed with shock. “The Queen?” She muttered to herself, sounding dazed and lost. “But…why would such a symbol allow such injustice to continue?”

     Cerelia let out a low, psychotic chuckle. Quickly, the chuckle escalated into mad laughter. It was to the point where Cerelia’s stomach was even beginning to hurt! 

     “You…you really are a child, aren’t you?” Cerelia wheezed, still winded from all that laughing. “Evil can never be vanquished. There will always be others to take its place. Besides, the light cannot exist without darkness. We are two sides of the same coin. You have to be the dumbest superhero in the world not to understand that!”

     Cerelia continued to laugh at a stunned Princess Justice. Oh, how childish and naive the city’s so-called ‘savior’ was. If she had just ended some of her opponents permanently, and not throw them in a jail that they could break out of twenty minutes later, then maybe the city would finally get some peace!

     In other words, it was Princess Justice’s fault that the city was plagued by most of the monsters in the first place.

     Truly stupid.