There was, at that moment, an enormous thud upon the roof of the convenience store. To be truthful, perhaps that was inappropriate to call it a simple thud. The entire shop shook from the impact, and Akane's widening eyes saw one of the windows crack... and, slowly, dangling its way into view, a strange black tendril seemed to ooze its way into view, across the glass. Akane's heart hammered in her chest as her gaze fixed on the strange, black tendril. It seemed to seethe with purples inside, almost as if she was looking into a nebula in space. Even if she hadn't encountered one so very close when she was young, there was no way she wouldn't recognize that strange visage. The orange-and-yellow, pupiless eye that slowly swirled down the tendril to fix on her was only the final confirmation on the nature of the tentacle.

[i]Negari[/i]. Here?! No wonder no-one was around, but... did that mean the Negari had... had...

Akane shook her head. No, she couldn't let herself freeze up! That... that would be stupid! She had to do something, she had to... had to... there were the other two girls in shop. One was... Nadeshiko-sempai? Then.. the other girl, from the other high school... She couldn't hesitate any longer! Taking a deep breath, she sprinted towards Nadeshiko-sempai and grabbed her hand, making to grab the other girl as well.

"W-we... we have to g-get out of here!" she cried. Yes... they had to leave as fast as possible. If it was a Negari, then a magical girl would be here soon too, but... she had to do something. No matter how nervous she felt, and no matter how close the Negari was, Akane still wanted to try and help if she could.

"C-come on!" she added, desperately. Akane had to help, she had to...

Even as the window cracked, and shattered inward.

[hr]

From the outside, anyone approaching would see the Negari itself. A bloated, blobby creature, not as defined as some other creatures of its kind. More like some sort of single-celled organism the anything else. Covering it were the signature orange-and-yellow eyes that marked its kind, but the worst detail was that, inside its body, there drifted the unconscious forms of many, many people.

That explained where everyone in this area had disappeared to, at the very least.