The Tale of Ragdoll

New Life, Who Dis?

I lifted my face from the dewy grass it was currently resting on. My head protested with a sharp and persistent pain emanating from my forehead but spreading outwardly to my entire skull. My face felt uncommonly sticky and warm and the smell of copper was ever present. I willed my stubborn body to move as I rolled over to my side. My eyes were sticky when I blinked. That's probably grand. The splitting headache was very distracting. I fumbled around, lying on my back, and fought my body to sit up. I seemed unusually floppy today; wait, how do I know it's unusual? I tried in vain to remember anything about myself. My hair color, my height, my name. All drawing blanks. The headache continually drew my attention back to more pressing matters. Why wasn't the pain easing up? What had I done? My hand clumsily slumped to my forehead to find a small hole in the middle of my forehead; it was painful to the touch, and I didn't want to deal with more pain at that moment, so I elected to leave it alone. Where was I? How did I get here? Why was I here? But most importantly, who am I? I ejected myself from my grassy seat onto woefully unprepared wobbly legs that didn't hold me for long until I fell back onto the ground like a new born fawn, or so I guessed. I'm not sure I even understood what a fawn is. Baby deer, right? Have I seen one before? No idea. Great. I tried once more to stand up, only to clumsily take a couple of very unbalanced steps before I crashed to the ground, hitting my head and abruptly reaquainting myself with oblivion.

"Hey, you awake?" A small tender voice whispered. I couldn't see anybody, nor did the voice seem to awaken my memories.

"obviously I'm not awake if my eyes are shut." I replied with an annoyed monotone that seemed pretty natural to me.

" Your eyes are closed right now, yet your talking to me." The voice responded playfully.

" Maybe I am dreaming and just talking out loud in my dream?" The voice ruefully teased.

" Do you know me?" I asked sheepishly for some reason.

" No, but I saw you get shot and I was going to help, but you woke up." The voice explained.

" Shot?" I asked quizzically. I knew what being shot meant as well as its implications. Someone, somewhere, disliked me enough to try to take my life and remove me from this world. Why? What had I done to them? Was I bad? Was I a bad person? Maybe I had a good reason?

"yeah, some hot blonde guy ran up to you, said something about how you should have stayed in Celpi and remained queen. Yeah, then he shot you right in the noggin." she continued while walking around inspecting me.

" What's Celpi? Why did he say I was queen of it?" I asked while checking my head for some sort of crown.

"No idea. Never heard of it before. Hey! I have an idea!" she said , singing a song while fiddling with a pink fluffy tutu.

Now that I was looking at her, this person was very odd. She had mocha skin with a green Mohawk atop her head. She wore this domino mask with a leather choker and some sort of leather vest with a corset on top. Then she had a tutu and those leather pants underneath that had the knees and thighs sliced. She also had this green cape. Did I know this strangely dressed person? Was this how people dressed? At that thought, I quickly looked down to look at my own clothes. Leather armor, shirts and pants, and what seemed like a cloak around my neck and shoulders. I wore boots that were stained with something that glowed different colors. My clothes were dark in color; browns, blacks, and greens.

She stopped her infernal bouncing and prancing and kneeled next to me, the way I imagine a parent kneels to a child. She placed a weirdly heavy hand on my shoulder as she awkwardly smiled at me. "You should join me!" She said triumphantly.

"join you in what?" I asked, removing her hand from my shoulder and tucking my legs under myself so I could stand.

"Bringing justice! Doing what we want, when we want! We could run this place!" she said while standing up and holding outstretched arms and circling them the way a child does in the rain.

At the mention of running this place, all other thoughts and questions left my mind. The thought of running any place filled it hungrily and greedily to fill all the spaces it did not already occupy.

"whoa! That's gross!" She remarked while stopping her spinning and pointed to my head. Your giant head wound was shrinking.

The strange woman held out her hand and a mirror appeared. I looked on as the tiny hole in my head began to shrink.

"What's your name?" I asked absent-mindedly. I didn't care.

"They call me Shenanigunz!" She said proudly while posing with her hands on her hips, her chest puffed out and her head looking to the side.

"Who calls you that, and why" I asked, touching the empty spot on my forehead that used to be the tiny hole. This I did want to know.

"Everyone, the media, people, the family of the people I bring to justice." She said, fiddling with her fingernails now.

" OK, but why?" I asked, now, looking at her intently as she squirmed like a child being scolded for some error.

"Cause I told them to!" She scoffed before skipping around me in a small circle. "You gonna join me or do we have to fight?"

"We could fight, but I think justice is subjective. What do people do? What do you do to bring them to justice?" I asked, trying once more to stand up. This time I was slightly more successful before I fell and we collided into a mess on the floor. She laughed manically, grasping her stomach as her belly laughed.

"They steal, cheat, lie, r**e, pillage, all manner of not good stuff. I put them down for a nap with these." She said as she held up her hands to make finger guns. In front of my eyes her hands changed into those giant Tommy guns that melded into her skin. I must have given her a face because she sat down next to me and changed them back into normal hands before taking off a green emerald ring on her finger and handing it to me. Something about the ring seemed off, felt wrong; something told me I shouldn't even touch it. I put up my hand and politely said no thanks before she nodded and replaced the ring on her finger.

"Its a magic ring, it changes me into this and allows me to bring justice to those who often get away with crimes. The good cops are outnumbered by the bad cops and the bad cops only help those who can help them in return. This world is flawed, but that shouldn't mean it can't be safe for a woman of color to walk alone at night, or any woman for that matter. The poor are killed or kidnapped and none bats an eye. This ring helps me change that." She slipped the ring off before holding it up and looking into the gem thoughtfully. "Every trickster, god, or mischief maker in myths and legends created a ring, it has their specific power encased in it. This one, I think, was made by Loki." Every time she removed the ring, she reverted to what I assumed was her normal self. She was about five feet, maybe five and a half feet tall. She had those green eyes and long brown and green hair. She wore a button-up with the sleeves rolled up and a black tank top underneath. She had on jeans and black leather boots, but no other jewelry. She looked a bit skinny, like she regularly skips meals, but her hair was kept nice and neat and clean. Her clothes were understated and simple; she didn't have money. After a moment, she replaced the ring and went back to shenanigunz. She wasn't some rich kid with a penny to spare and some time on her hands, she was doing this for herself.

"I'm in." I replied dryly. I didn't know who she was or what exactly her motives were. I didn't give a story about her justice or any underdog story. This girl has her mouth in a firehouse of chaos. Eventually, she wouldn't be able to control it anymore; it would consume her. When that happens, she makes a great weapon to amass power and control. One I will happily use.