“Glad to see someone’s got their priorities straight…” Nyxia remarked after Roche agreed that hunting Miseria would be their best course of action. As the Rule Keeper had noted, the other morons having their little spat would serve as the perfect bait for Unstoppable Doom’s real prey. Well, Unstoppable Doom plus Shatterscape. As Oros made her request for the resident voyeur to look after her pathetic partner, the Neon Tempest continued to glare at Shuuko with a mixture of annoyance and confusion. Turning to Earthshaker, she said in a low voice, “There’s also something seriously wrong with the ‘High Priestess’ over there. You should probably try to look out for her when the fighting starts.”

Quick. Evil Eye clapped her hands over her ears as Hizuki rushed by, as if expecting some kind of jet engine noise as she soared off. She watched with wide eyes as the rest of the club followed her out the window—all except for Oros. When the request came, she blinked and looked around. Even Tsubomi seemed to have excused herself and wandered off somewhere. "Mm. Of course." She nodded, floating out the window after the others. They could not really afford to wait for Tsubomi, even if they were worried about her. Evil Eye wasn't exactly known for her speed and punctuality, either—already, the new team arrangements were showing problems, but what could she do if Rei was just going to ask for her concerns only to then disregard them immediately?

---

One peculiar-looking Mogall found its way onto Tsubomi's trail. Usually, the Mogall ranged in size from that of a softball to a basketball, and this one was on the bigger side of that range. It also had vertical pupils—very cat-like. Or perhaps it was more reptilian. It could have been a dragon's eye. It was hard to say. It was, however, obviously different from the other ones, but not in any other way that was obvious. So then, it was more like a subtle kind of different. Subtle like a cat, or a chameleon perhaps. It was hard to say. A dragon wasn't very subtle, though, so maybe it was more like a snake's eye? A very 'Kiyo-like' animal, in any case.

It floated along next to Tsubomi as she kept up her unusual pace, giving her a curious side-eye—as much as a disembodied eye could give, anyway. It was a curious thing for it to do, since it could neither ask questions nor hear any answers Tsubomi might give it. In the right circumstances, if one were to look on the bright side, perhaps that made it the perfect listener. Was this one of those times? Probably not, but if Tsubomi needed help, at least she could give Kiyo some kind of signal.

---

Evil Eye was high in the sky, as she often was, though perhaps not entirely out of range of an ambitious triple jump attack from Kaeru and her two big summoned frogs. "There she i~s. My least favorite plague of Egypt," Evil Eye remarked as Willow rose up to meet her. She had one eye covered with a hand as she kept it on Tsubomi, the other closely watching the confrontation between Kaeru and Hizuki below. "Like I said, you're mistaken. She's a—project. A particularly hands-off project at that—but it's not a bad deal."

In just a moment, a single black tear formed in the corner of her eye, and with a finger, she took it and flicked it away into the air, and it expanded and formed into a Mogall. The Mogall wept, too, and very quickly, there were a half-dozen of them, with more on the way, and they flew in all directions, searching for the monkey she'd seen earlier. It was inefficient, but if doing it the slow and fun way meant that Willow would owe her, then it was a good way to spend an afternoon.

The Demon of Hibusa. Sayuri scoffed inside - was that how Rei saw herself nowadays?

"Mostly's and Maybes." the girl shook her head "The fact you tell me you're not gonna fall and know what you're doing is exactly why I am so worried."

She listened to the rest of Hizuki's speech. As it went on, Sayuri's emotions only grew in intensity. She tried listening, but the words just rung false - or Sayuri just did not want to hear them. The new girl's had some inkling of logic to her plan... but to Sayuri the ending chapter of that story was a forgone conclusion.

"You won't be." she said, matter of factly. Her arms fell down, no longer reaching for Hizuki's. "You think no one tried? I tried - with your 'Demon'. Rei. Before the club, before magic. Surprise; it led nowhere, and now we have a Depression Club worsening things everywhere they go!"

Sayuri hopped into the air and back onto the large blue frog. She hated what she heard and what she saw. She hated that Hizuki would remain among the club... but maybe, just maybe, there was a slimmer of hope. Not for the club, of course, but for Hizuki. She sighed, the grave air she had going back to her more usual casual, semi-serious air.

"Look, if you want to stay with them be my guess. You want to teach them good manners and to stop spreading misery?" her stare went dark for a second as she looked up to Willow, just as her friend was launching eyes around. "Start by teaching them not to laugh at someone's Mother's passing. Some things should be off limit, and next time I won't be as playful."

She gazed back down to Hizuki as Raijin turned around, all three of them ready to jump off and leave.

"The name is Kaeru, by the way. When you'll need me, I'm not hard to find."

---

The other light girl's response was about what Hizuki had expected. Slightly better, even, as she'd come prepared for a fight. One conversation isn't going to be enough to win anyone over. It seemed like she'd managed to deescalate the situation, at least, as Hizuki watched the frog girl jump back onto her frog. A conflict between light and dark girls that didn't end with one being beaten until they ran off or submitted was a win in her book. Her relief was short-lived, however, as it was immediately displaced by another emotion.

Daybreak whirled around as she fully processed what Kaeru had told her. Particularly, what she'd alluded to Willow saying. On seeing the catgirl floating up above, Hizuki angrily stomped the ground before rocketing up to match her alleged partner's height. "What the fuck, Willow? Why the hell would you say something like that!?" She might've paused to consider whether she was being manipulated, but it wasn't exactly a stretch of the imagination to think that Will-O-Wisp of all people might've said something awful to provoke someone else. "You can't just-"

Her phone rang, the poppy ringtone indicating the number was already in her contacts list. This new distraction interrupted her anger, dragging her further away from it as she saw who was supposedly calling her on the inside of her visor. "Eh?" Why on earth was she getting a call from Willow while she was trying to berate Willow? With a thought, she answered the phone, a small microphone extending from the side of her helmet. "Who is this?"

"Mistaken, am eyyyyyyyyyyyyyye?" Her head bobbed side to side. "Perhaps, but it is awfully strange that you’re the first person here. Well, second, but that’s only because glitter bomb down there had to show up before you’d take interest. Hell, even Oros took her time getting here. You’d think the pervert would be the first to arrive." Her grin widened. "I hadn’t expected anyone to show up other than Hizuki. I mean, Oros and Acid Drop are my favorite band mates, but Acid Drop seems a little slow and Oros is, hmmm, easily distracted. But you? No, I wouldn’t imagine the all seeing eye would go out of her way to save me. You have too many plots to make and schemes to hatch." She floated behind Evil Eye’s back and appeared on her other side. "But you also have your eye on the prize, hmmm? Maybe your aloof behavior can fool the others, but I’m much too-"

Willow flipped backwards through the air when Hizuki made a surprise jump up to her position.

"Ah! Language! Language young lady! You mustn't swear at me! I’m actually quite sensitive!" She ran a hand through her hair. "What are you talking about anyway? I was minding my own business when she sat her big stupid frog on top of my unicorn! I was concerned for his well being and I lost my temper. What would you do if someone came out of the sky, crushed Evil Eye flat, and then smugly implied that you were a coward and a weakling." She sniffed and wiped a tear from her eye. "I-I didn’t know what to do! Of course I was going to say something rude! I’m tired of her telling us that we don’t belong here! I’m tired of her blaming us for the Miseria’s appearance!" She hugged herself, but still held her violin and bow in her hands. "I-I just had a moment of weakness. I’m glad you were able to- Oh she’s on the phone." Her expression became totally neutral.

"Hey… Seems this person had your number." It sounded like Miss Black. "The cute eyeballs are everywhere. I think they have me pinned down. I was going to retreat, but there’s a black unicorn goring my friends. I don’t think I can escape without a distraction. I don’t think they’ve found me yet, but I can hear them outside. Do you think you could get the eyeballs to leave the cafe near the intersection? I’m probably being overly cautious. I’ve transformed back, but I just want to get out of here before the GEMS arrive."

Oros was standing at attention on the ground. With a sigh, she glanced upwards at the three girls floating overhead. "Nothing I haven’t seen before." She commented before looking straight ahead. "So um, are we chasing the frog or what?" It was a little awkward that the fighting had stopped as soon as they showed up. Though maybe that would be a good thing is Tsubomi was still unwell.

---

So the weird monkeys did belong to Maliss. That made sense. Kind of. It did make her wonder about the plushies she'd been distributing, though. Had she been contributing to the hunting of Kiyo's Mogall? Either way, her deciding to call right at this exact moment was awkward. If described generously. Hizuki sighed, audible to everyone listening, before gaining a bit more altitude for privacy. She continued ascending as she talked, mostly because hovering was actually more effort for her than staying on the move. It also got her further away from Willow's attempted guilt trip, which might've worked if she had any actual confidence in Willow's character. "Actually, the club was trying to get me to set up a meeting with you. They're also right outside with me and another light girl." Hizuki frowned. "Willow had my number because she's supposed to be my partner in the club for now. Why'd you steal hers instead of just, you know, calling me on your phone?" She shook her head, continuing before Black Gate could answer. "Nevermind that."

This was going to be difficult to navigate without someone accusing her of being a traitor in some shape or form. It wasn't true, of course, but it seemed like people were going to assume she was playing them for just doing her best to be helpful to everyone. "Look, the timing is pretty bad, but do you think I could set up a meeting with you, me, and Evil Eye? I promise to deal with the GEMs if they show up. Or anyone in the Detention Club if they decide to do something bad. Okay? I don't know what kind of fight you have going on with them, but we can sort it out if we talk."

---

"Wondering if any of the others will wait for you?" The voice in Tsubomi's head was tinted with sarcasm. "They shouldn't waste their time, right? I bet Evil will keep you in her sight, though."

Acid Drop shook her head, not bothering to close her eyes. In the process she noticed the strange Mogall hovering next to her.

"Bullseye."

Once more the rainbow haired head shook itself. "No, that's a wyrm's eye."

"Shut up, idiot. I didn't mean that the eye was that of a bull, it's a term that means something is accurate. Not that you'd have ever experienced that."

Now that she'd noticed her strange pace, Tsubomi instinctively slowed back to her normal speed. Or abnormal, considering she was transformed.

"You didn't come to the show."

"Even in this messed up head, there's no reason to go to a play that isn't being performed. The way you visualize things is stupid, too. If you're aware that you're acting then why pretend that it's a stage-play?"

In a very Tsubomi fashion, Acid Drop's head tilted to the side. "It just happens that way on it's own."

To the Mogall, regardless of if it could hear or not, it certainly appeared that Tsubomi was having a conversation with nothing. With no external evidence of the "other" Acid Drop or her voice, the pausing and resuming of speech would lead one to think she was crazy. Maybe she was?

"That's just yet another reason you're an idiot, then."

She couldn't help but think it was unlucky that she didn't have her empathetic magic right now. She never thought to use it on this seemingly a tulpa voice she heard, and now she couldn't. What would she notice if she could?

"Hey, moron. Just because you don't think it at me doesn't mean I don't know you're thinking it."

"Mm." A pause took over for a few seconds. "Who are you? Why are you inside my brain? Did someone put you in me? ... Are you my magic?"

"Dumbass. That's the wrong question. You know who I am."

Acid Drop's head slowly moved to tilt to the other side. "Do I?" Her eyes moved to the side and towards the floating one. "... Do you know who she is, moogle?"

As her eyes drifted back to a point that she could see in front of her, a glint of light in the sky caught her attention. Was that a magical girl? Was it the one from the other night? That was apparently Haruna, right? It seemed like she'd be below that point in a minute or two, so Tsubomi closed the script that held her conversation with herself and shelved it for later.

Part of Oros wanted to stay with Acid Drop, but it seemed like a pointless endeavor. If she wanted Oros gone, she would just have to respect her wishes. It had been several days and Suki had precious few ideas as to what she could even do to make this problem go away. There weren’t many people who could or even wanted to offer help. But really, this felt like something Oros should have been able to take care of by herself. Acid Drop was her partner, and even though she had harmed her in the past, Acid Drop had never tried to get even with her. Of course Oros had only thrown something at her because of what happened with Kate, but it was an action she was starting to regret more and more as Acid Drop’s "funk" continued. Maybe it was contagious; Oros typically wasn’t this dour. The joy she usually felt after transforming was nowhere to be found.

It was even difficult to want to pursue the frog maiden, who also seemed a lot more depressed than normal. She hadn’t been listening to the conversation as she missed most of it and was spacing out for the rest. Was she really going to leave town again? Honestly it was weird that she had come back. It was weird that she had stopped. It was weird. Frogs were weird too, but their little cold blooded bodies felt good in the summer heat. Maybe Kaeru had discovered a frog prince that took up all of her time. Then as the months wore on, perhaps passions cooled. Or maybe she learned that the frog prince had a frog princess back home, and she was just a fling. She doubted she would ever know the truth, so Oros would just have to assume a froggy affair was what had happened.

Welp, mission accomplished anyway. If Kaeru was seeing herself out, there was no reason to start another pointless fight. They had a dark girl to locate and hopefully recruit. Barring that, the miseria would be coming out of the woodwork any second now. The sun turned red as it slipped below the horizon.

Meanwhile, up above, Hizuki could hear Black Gate’s breathing stop when she mentioned a possible meet up. She hadn’t even finished explaining things before Black Gate tried to cut in. "N-no, Haruna, no, no no no nononono!" She took a deep breath. "No, I do not think that would be a good idea." Then she started to hum, as if considering it. "If you are nearby, maybe I could talk with Evil Eye. I don’t know what they want but I am sure I can’t give it to them. But you’ve done a lot for me, Miss Paladin, so I can at least hear them out. And don’t worry about the GEMs." Miss Black sighed. "I know they don’t like my friends, is all. They would never try to harm me, but I did overhear that they planned an attack on the Detention Club tonight. I wanted to get them out of here before they attacked them again."

Back below, Kaeru could hear the sound of electricity arcing. Oros could hear it too, and her eyes scanned the area to see where it was coming from. Sure enough, a certain lightning attuned magical girl in coveralls strut out from a side street. A miseria attempted to jump onto her back, bit with a twitch of her hand, a tiny lightning bolt flew from her hand and turned the miseria into blackened ash. All done with a smile on her lips.

"Sup?" She let her weapon swing down to her side and power walked towards Kaeru. "Hmmm, that dour look on your face looks kind of familiar somehow. Where have I seen that last…" After rubbing her chin for a bit, she shrugged her shoulders. "Ah, who cares? Friendship is but a chance encounter anyway. I didn’t know Hibusa had any more light girls, so it’s good to see one. I’m Bodacious Boleite, and I’m down for some miseria extermination." Her eyes flicked up to the sky. "But I’m also down for shocking the snot out of some dark girls too. What fancies you?"

Hizuki didn’t hear Bodacious Boleite introduce herself, but she didn’t have to. Of the GEMs, that was the only it could have possibly been. She was not a magical girl that Hizuki had ever met; Hizuki hadn’t met most of the GEMs. Though there were plenty of folk tales revolving around her cheerful personality that inverted once it was time for something to die. She fought with high voltage and allegedly could even change the weather to bring the literal hammer of the gods down on her opponents. There’s one story about her where Boleite pressed her strange weapon into a dark magical girl’s chest and cooked her like a hamburger. Everyone agrees it never happened, but everyone has to share it at least once.

---

What a bore. All Nyxia wanted to do was shoot some Miseria with Roche, and instead she had been dragged into some drama she didn’t give a fuck about. But it could be worse, like more annoying as fuck/creepy magical girls crawling around.

That was when a crinkled up ball of paper slapped into Nyxia’s back, and the familiar snort of a juvenile suppressing a laugh assaulted her ears. Right outside the open window was Morganite, who waved to the dark magical girls she could see.

"Iz tought fa sure ya woulda all left togethah. Dat’s fine, ya can help finish decoratin'." Her shields floated up from a nearby bush, but a long cloth had been tied between them. The shields floated apart and hovered above the windows that belonged to the detention club. At which point it became evident that the cloth had something written on it. With broad strokes, someone had written "The secret base of the stinky Detention Club, home of stinky magical girls: We stink."

Morganite’s cheeks swelled as she suppressed another laugh.

---

Hizuki might have been landing in a few minutes, but Acid Drop wouldn’t have that much time to talk to her therapy eyeball.

*CRACK*

The remains of a miseria bounced across the pavement before landing near Acid Drop’s feet. By the time she looked back up, she could see the batter was back. Her baseball bat was resting on her shoulder, and her other hand was in her pocket. Her lips were hidden behind a bubble she was blowing. It almost got big enough to cover her eyes, but then it popped. She licked it off of her lips and began chewing again.

"I was hoping we’d meet like this." The bat rolled off of her shoulder. "That ultraspeed was an impressive trick. I wonder if you can use it again though?" She continued to walk with her bat dragging behind her. "You’re kind of weird, aren’t you? With something like that up your sleeve you could have seriously hurt us. So is there a reason you didn’t?"

Her eyes moved to the other, much bigger eye floating beside Acid Drop.

"Why don’t I take care of that? Then we can have the nice talk we were going to have last time."

Diamond picked up speed and ran straight for Evil Eye’s eye. Her grip on her bat suggested she would make a strong upward swing.

Upon giving her name, Kaeru had expected the other Light girl to give hers but then it seemed a little anger took over first as Hizuki went against Willow. Kaeru herself had been ready to leave, but instead let Fujin, jump away into the night but she, and Raijin, remained. Other Dark Club Members had arrived, probably expecting a fight that did not occur. Kaeru felt something in the air though. Something coming their way.

"So um, are we chasing the frog or what?"

Kaeru scoffed - Oros. She recognized that one, whom chased her before in the mountains. "Want another go at finding your Prince?" She sat down, cross legged, on her red Toad and rested her head onto her fist. She'd decided to stick around.

As the GEM fell from the sky before them Sayuri sat straight, looking happy to see her. At least she thought she was looking happy, but perhaps Willow got to her more than she realized herself. "Don't mind it - I ran into some foul music during my own hunting. Soured my mood." Kaeru raised her hand in the air, Raijin extending it's massive webbed hand to Bodacious Boleite as if to shake it in Sayuri's stead, looking pleased. "Kaeru. Just Kaeru - Didn't get to introduce properly last time. It used to be just me around here, actually, so no fancy titles or names here!" Kaeru finally stepped off from on top of Raijin, the toad catching her onto his tongue before she hit the ground and sending her flying above Boleite and landing across her with a flip.

"Was hoping to meet you again."

The offer was tempting, but Sayuri hesitated. "I dunno... I already slapped that clown around some." she said, raisoing her hand and pointing to Willow with her thumb "But that never worked in working any kind of sense in the Club's goons."

Still she hesitated though. Hizuki was right there, and her words were fresh in Sayuri's mind. For sure if they fought, Hizuki would be brought into it. That would surely pull her ever so forward a dark path... They needed her to trust them to be better than the Club.

"The priority is the Miseria and making Hibusa city safe, and a better place - right?"

Ember let out a theatrical sigh as she heard everyone make their points, not to mention almost swarming out of the Detention Club’s room as though they had nothing better to do than rush head-first into conflict. Then again, she should have followed them up instead of arguing with her team-mates like she was about to do.

”While I agree that she is a supremely annoying individual,” spoke the schemer, ”She is also a member of the detention club. She deserves our help just as much as anyone else. That said, flanking them is a good idea, so I agree with Roche on the condition that we keep near the conflict.” Which also meant that Sylvia and her would be near easy rescue, within reach of their allies. It certainly risked Hotaru acting up with Hizuki again, but it was the choice she made between being buried under a pile of Miseria and attacking a light girl who did not deserve it.

At least both of them had a chance to intervene with the latter one. The former? The practice sessions were almost useless. The only thing they had helped with is that they would no longer be tripping over their own feet, which made them about as useful as a pair of soleless shoes.

”Ummm, Ember? Is it okay if I also watch out for Roche, and not just for you and Hotaru? She’s nice… Huh. That was also a new variable that the schemer would have to watch for. The bond between the Rulekeeper and Sylvia… Then there was Kiyo and Hotaru… and the other club members, too. Just thinking about it gave her a headache, which did not last long as another light girl appeared right outside their window, bearing some sort of silly banner.

Ember had Shuuko’s body palm her face.

”Really.” She could not help it. ”Out of all the… She is likely here as a distraction from whatever the GEMS are planning,” she said, lowering her voice so that Morganite would not be able to hear. ”This also means they can attack us at any time or even possibly aim to ruin our reputation within the school with whatever they may carry out. I suggest that at least…” She blinked. ”... One of us stay here. Unfortunately, I would be the most natural choice for the task, as I am capable of calling for help even across vast distances.”

Or in other words, it was the worst possible scenario for her. She could not exactly let it be known that she was incapable of defending herself.

”But then Roche could get hurt.”

”I know. However, Evil Eye is gone and besides her, we are the only ones who are capable of covering vast distances quickly. Hizuki would be an option as well, if she had remained here. I do not like that we have to leave our comrades alone in this case either, yet the situation leaves few other options.” Ember could practically feel the protector’s frown in Shuuko’s mental space. But was there really another option? If they started chasing Morganite around, they would be practically giving her what she wanted.

---

"Alright. I'll let Evil Eye know. . . and probably get Willow's cellphone back to her too." Black Gate's inability to use a phone continued to baffle her. The news of a planned attack was a bit confusing, too, but she supposed if those monkeys had anything in common with Kiyo's mogall, then it would explain how she knew.

Further pondering on the relationship between Black Gate and the GEMs would have to wait, though, as the appearance of yet another light girl made her blood run cold. Rumors flashed through her head as her eyes alighted on the lightning-themed magical girl, rumors and terrifying mental images. ". . . Boleite is here. I need to go." She hung up, the mic retracting back into her helmet, then zipped down below to where the other two members of the Detention Club remained.

"Kiyo, Willow, that's probably Bodacious Boleite. She uh, she might kill you. If it comes to it, let me handle her." Her voice was much lower and more desperate-sounding than usual. "I've got a couple tricks I've been sitting on that I know nobody has seen before, in case of emergency. Okay?"

---

The Rulekeeper hadn’t expected such dissonance to form from turning partnerships into teams, an addition of a single member upsetting tenuous bonds till the Club was struggling against itself like a snagged beast. A little friction, perhaps, but then again, they hadn’t expected to be so sorely tested so soon.

And several of their members weren’t operating at their best either. When Nyxia noticed someone wasn’t doing well? It was glaringly obvious to every other person in the room, though they lacked the firsthand experience of seeing Shatterscape poorly combat the Miseria.

”I’ll keep close to her while you focus on the laser show. We won’t have-” An issue was what she wanted to say, but instead a glaring issue came bobbing before the window. Because even in her wildest paranoid fits had she not considered the Light Girls of all people would be brazen enough to attack them at their own school, all but declaring there was nothing stopping the conflict from striking you at your most vulnerable.

These insane bitches. First the streets. Now our school. Are we going to wake up in our beds with a baseball bat coming to crack our skulls?! Will we be in the middle of class when a Magical Girl comes through the window for our lives?!

Indignation and fear festered as she witnessed Morganite’s bold display, Shuuko’s words rolling off Roche like water from a duck’s back. She felt herself slipping, pulled down a swirling current as the situation tumbled outside her control in an escalating conflict the Club wouldn’t survive. All because the Light Girls had crossed every line.

Earthshaker transformed as a cold weight bowed her shoulders like the phantom hand of the Grim Reaper herself. Pupils dilated to pinpricks of darkness as she found herself sagging under the weight of Rei’s expectations.

”No, none of you are staying behind. Morganite is mine. Nyxia, please lead the way to the rest of the club.” Resignation weighed heavy on her tongue and Earthshaker tugged her hood up, casting her stricken face in shadow as she approached the window and clambered onto the sill.

”You were there at the beach. We nearly died because of you, and now you come to our club room. You planned this, so you can accept the cost.” The Rule Keeper exhaled the breath in her lungs, and she dipped forward. Light as a feather she reached out, hand grasping the banner of mockery strung before them.

And shredded it with an explosion of force that sent Earthshaker rising upwards, palm outstretched to grasp Morganite like the talons of a bird of prey seeking prey as she rocketed upwards.

Nyxia whirled around when she felt the ball of crumpled paper hit her exposed back. It wasn’t painful, of course, or even annoying, but the unexpected nature of it was more than a little alarming. Yet, all she found beyond the window was that one pink-haired light girl with the shields. As the girl made her jokes and revealed her crude banner, the Neon Tempest couldn’t help but smirk in amusement. Did this moron really think such lame taunts would actually accomplish anything?

“Yeah, most of the losers in this club are pretty pathetic,” Nyxia agreed. “But at least we spend our time killing Miseria, rather than pulling infantile pranks, so I guess that makes you even more pathetic, huh?”

Shuuko then went on to state the obvious, before volunteering to remain behind to deal with the uninvited visitor, practically proving said visitor’s point about the club’s lack of competency. Thankfully, Roche was having none of that, the enraged Rule Keeper swiftly moving to engage the light girl in combat with a ferocity that made the Neon Tempest’s eyes momentarily widen.

“Come on,” Nyxia told Shuuko. “‘Shaker can handle this bitch. Let’s go kick some Miseria’s shit in!”

It was rather unfortunate that she would have to look after the “High Priestess” once again, but the Neon Tempest was confident that her partner would rejoin them soon enough. After all, if any of their number was going to win a one on one fight with another magical girl, it was Earthshaker.

"I'm here to catch monkeys" was Evil Eye's plain reply to Willow's insistence. It was the closest thing to a stern tone she would take with the other club girls outside of a one-on-one conversation, and there would be no self-reflection on her part for the accuracy of her accusation. Evil Eye would target whom she would target, and the true reasons for her obsessions had no need to be understood by anyone, Willow least of all—or least of all herself, perhaps.

As if she had no sense of irony, she continued to observe Hizuki as she attempted to navigate this impossible situation, while her minions did the allegedly more important work of searching for the monkeys. She was too far up to hear Oros' question, but it was evident in her body language. Evil Eye offered a highly visible shrug and a shake of her head that meant many things. She did not know why Kaeru was retreating, and she wasn't particularly interested in the reasons why, or in following her. Her disdain for arbitrary things like amphibians while she treated floating eyes as something natural was one of her many mysteries.

Hizuki returned, and drew her attention to Boleite. So, as she thought, she was one of the GEMs. "She does look like the type who could kill if she wanted to," Evil Eye replied truthfully, saying nothing about their meeting in the subway. Whether or not she would was hard to gauge at a glance, even for her. "I'm already in a fight, so you'll get no complaints from me," the girl added as a cryptic smile began to form on her lips.

---

The eye (which Tsubomi had decided belonged to a wyrm after all) observed the bat-wielding magical girl's approach with nothing resembling alarm. It did, however, water quite a bit as it braced for the impact. When her swing cracked it like an egg, it splattered just about everywhere. Some of it lingered in the air, however, clinging to something that wasn't quite visible yet.

It opened like a great Cheshire cat grin the size of a car bumper. A giant eye appeared, hovering off the tarmac and dragging its tendrils lightly across the ground like a balloon that had just enough helium left to float in place, but not quite fly away and up into the sky. It hovered with unsettling evenness, like an alien saucer, a dozen smaller eyes attached to the underside of its lid like barnacles on a whale. If Evil Eye had promised to keep 'an eye' on Tsubomi, she had overdelivered in more ways than one. The eye the delinquent-looking light girl splattered—indeed, it was no illusion—had been hanging by a tether that now dragged loosely on the ground. Instead of quickly flitting away like an angler fish's lure, however, it had been sacrificed like a pawn.

The great eye rolled back into a head that wasn't there. What happened next began like the feeling of being under a stage light, the whole area becoming enveloped in an uncomfortable heat, along with the dreadful feeling of being watched by many. Explosions rang down the street as the car tires closest to her popped, and a few alarms started to go off. The girl's shoes began to stick to the street as she moved—they were starting to melt. Worst of all, perhaps, was the fact that attention was being drawn to the area. While innocent onlookers could see little of what was happening, they still tended to gather and gawk.

It was a dirty trick, and there could be no doubt that it was planned.

Oros blinked her eyes at the frog priestess. She hadn’t really expected to get acknowledged, and now she was in their weird position where she felt like she should respond with something, but didn’t have anything interesting to add. But while she considered her options, she looked over the froggy magical girl. It was no secret that Oros favored light girls above all others, at least to anyone who payed attention. But she had never looked at Kaeru as a target she could pursue. She always seemed so mad when compared to other light girls. Perhaps that was why she only ever went after her frogs.

One of them had to be a prince.

Some day.

But things were about to get a little bit more complicated. While Kaeru was walking back towards the forest, the lightning magical girl made her presence known. She could feel her heart skip a beat as she came into view. She had seen this girl before, which would have been evident to anyone observing Oros right now. More specifically, it must not have been a great encounter. She took a full step backwards and hid herself behind a nearby mailbox. But this wasn’t enough. Oros needed to totally disappear.

It wouldn’t hurt to run now. There were miseria to hunt, and it didn’t seem like Evil Eye was in any danger. Her nerves forced a smile onto her face, and then she took off into a side street.

But that was where she stopped.

She couldn’t leave now, could she? Oros was sure Evil Eye would have told her if something happened to Tsubomi, but if she left and something did happen to Evil Eye that would be unforgivable. Blood skates formed on her feet, and she kicked off the ground. She hopped from wall to wall, gaining momentum and altitude. Eventually she was able to jump onto a roof, but kept her distance so as to not be seen by those at ground level.

Meanwhile, the mogalls had tracked the monkeys to "Cafe Red," which was a little corner cafe that used to be a bookstore. It was hard to get closer with so many stunted apes around the joint. No sign of a cellphone yet, but it had to be close.

"Fancy names aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. It fits if nothing else." Calling oneself "frog" was a little rough though. That would have been like Boleite referring to herself as "lightning." But at the end of the day, what mattered a lot more was what that name was attached to rather than the name itself. "Taught them a lesson already huh? Well sure, let’s nuke some miseria!"

Boleite was about to walk down a side street and continue her miseria massacre, but she stopped to take one last look at the magical girls flying overhead. She stared at the trio for a few seconds before lifting her finger towards the group. She cocked it like it were a gun, and mouthed "pow" while sharply jerking her finger up.

"Oh god! She’s gonna murder us! Save me, Hizuki!" Willow spun in place.

---

"Take this seriously!" Hizuki hissed. "You should know already, the GEMs are dangerous. Especially Boleite." Her ire was largely focused on Willow, though Evil Eye was trying her patience as well. Was the mysterious act really necessary? She could at least be a little clearer if it meant saving her own skin, not to mention the ass-beating the Daybreak had just signed herself up for in Kiyo's stead should this go poorly. "I'm going to go back down and talk to them." She floated backward in order to point at Willow with her spear. "And don't go bringing people's parents into things! There are lines."

Zipping back down to the ground, more out of a desire to escape whatever retort Willow had to say than a haste to begin this conversation. She alighted gently, kicking up a touch of dust left over from her earlier meteoric landing and subsequent launch. "You're Bodacious Boleite, right?" Hizuki glanced at Kaeru. "I never introduced myself earlier. I'm Hizuki the Daybreak," she began, before returning her gaze to Boleite, "and I'm a member of the Detention Club. We're not causing anyone trouble any more, so there's no need for a fight."

Earthshaker leapt straight into the belly of the beast, right into the thick of its teeth, as if wanting to be swallowed by it. As useless as she was, Ember knew that she could always escape if things turned tougher than she expected, or just arrange one of her bodies properly to call for help before jumping back into the thick of it. While phoning each other remained an option, it was inconvenient and so the decision she had made was between a body or two or a valuable member of the Detention Club lost to foul play.

Unfortunately, neither of Ember’s companions saw it that way. Nyxia, having seen the schemer’s weakness first-hand, likely spoke up based on it and supported Earthshaker taking the threat head-on. Fortunately, Ember had not shot all of her shots yet.

”While I would agree with you in most circumstances, there is very little that we are aware of in this situation. While my suggestion may seem foolish at a first gla-”

”Ember!” Sylvia’s mental shout almost swept the schemer away. She could not even finish her sentence as the protector’s voice filled their mental space. ”There’s something wrong outside! I feel it!” Ember’s eyes widened in response to that as she processed the warning and she shifted her gaze towards Earthshaker in order to try and figure it out.

The next second, it happened.

Shuuko’s body exploded into motion without Ember’s input. The everyday appearance burned away in a shower of reflective mirrors, transforming into Shatterscape mid-motion. Magic flared brighter than it had any right to, similar to when Hotaru boosted the body’s strength by channeling it through Shatterscape’s body so her strike could behead her foe. Pain flared. Flesh changed.

Agony. The protector could not, or would not shield her comrades from it.

Through the window. Outside. Towards Earthshaker. No time for words, only actions. Grab her shoulder. Throw her away. Green eyes - not red, or sprinkled with green - met Roche’s.

The pain reached new heights as a beam of light pierced Shatterscape’s torso. Barely an inch thick, it nevertheless blew her open and immediately cauterised the wound, almost separating the body’s shoulder from its collarbone. Indeed, had Earthshaker remained in place, kept busy by Morganite, the attack could have found its mark anywhere, disabling or even potentially killing the tribal girl. It would have only taken two attacks from different directions; Earthshaker’s shield could not have defended against both of them.

Or at least such had been Sylvia’s panicked logic when she blitzed towards Roche. Now that it was done? It did not exist anymore. Only poisonous fire remained where her body used to be, consuming all of her mental strength as she tried her best to shoulder the experience. It still bled through to everyone, including Hotaru. And while the warrior may have refused to help the other two so far… Everyone had their limits.

”I will strangle that bitch!”

Shuuko’s body changed hands two times in as many seconds as the warrior seized its lips in order to form a wolf-like howl, then smashed into the ground like a meteorite. With Sylvia taking on the pain, Hotaru could blitz straight towards the source of the beam, right arm stretched out to tear the light girl into shreds, even while her left dangled uselessly at her side.

---

From when Diamond entered Tsubomi's sight to when she noticed the heat from the eyeball(s) wasn't a long enough time for Tsubomi to register the Light Girl's words. All she actually had time to process was that some form of bat-based attack was incoming. Not when, not where, not aimed at what. 'An attack. Move.' And so she did. Slowly. When the splatter of the Mogall hit her, Acid Drop was already falling, having tripped on her own foot. The next thing she heard was the bursting of a tire, the last one to do so in response to Evil Eye's minion.

At least, that's what it seemed like to Tsubomi. She hadn't heard the voice in her head calling her an idiot as she fell, nor did she realize how hard she hit her head on the ground. What she did realize was that something was different. She couldn't put her finger on what, though. The giant eyeball monster? That might be it. The painful source of the blood running down the side of her head? Could be too.

Oh. I'm standing. And she was. She'd already stood up. Sure, she'd done so at the speed her mundane self would, maybe just a hair faster, but she was definitely standing again. She didn't remember doing that. Maybe she hit her head harder than she had assumed.

She twisted her head, first tilting to one side, then the other, then to face towards her right, then her left. There was a crowd growing. She couldn't feel them, so seeing them was the only way she could become aware of them. But they were there. Looking back at Diamond, it seemed that she was having a hard time too. Why was she here, though? Last time the two had met, she'd fought Shatterscape and left after that. If she wanted a fight, she had interesting timing, picking a time where Tsubomi couldn't.

She blinked.

When her eyes reopened, nothing new had happened. Strange, normally when she blinked, things were notably different after. Just how fast had she closed her eyes? She blinked once more, and again there was little change. The thought to count as she did passed by lazily, but she knew that her counting wouldn't be fast enough to measure with. The idea that maybe she had her magic back, enough to perform, was there, but it was fleeting. She couldn't feel it in her.

Something seemed to click inside, making Tsubomi walk over to the Light Girl. Slowly, yes, but not as slow as she'd been on her walk from the school. She stopped a few feet away, and looked directly into Diamond's eyes.

"Mm. Are you okay?"

Am I okay?

Willow blinked as Hizuki departed for the ground level. "Huh?" She blinked. "When did I bring someone’s parents into anything?" After thinking about it for 0.0003 seconds, she decided there were more interesting things to concern herself with. Willow rested her head on Evil Eye’s shoulder. "So, about my phone… It’s kind of important. I have 79 points of stamina in Pretty Derby and I really don’t want to waste it."

Boleite was all set to go slay miseria when Hizuki descended from the heavens. "Sup?" She looked like she was only half listening to Hizuki, with her eyes scanning for monsters to shoot. "Yup, that silly name belongs to me. Just Boleite is fine." Though her ears, and some of her frizzled hair, seemed to perk up when Hizuki gave her name. "Oh! Are you that girl that keeps crushing on Morganite?" She laughed. "I’m kidding! No need to look so shocked, If anything she’s crushing on you."

Hizuki hadn’t met many of the GEMs, just a few. Of them, Morganite was by far the friendliest. Many of the newbie tips she had received when she was first starting out came straight from the dual shield bearer. They never spent a lot of casual time together, however. Morganite was pretty busy with GEM meetings and missions, which Hizuki had explained she wasn’t too interested in joining. That hadn’t seemed to matter though, as she still dropped by to offer Hizuki assistance or for a quick chat. They hadn’t gotten a chance to talk before she departed the City of Light.

"I don’t imagine she’s going to be too happy when she hears your new allegiance." She pursed her lips and shook her head. "But I guess after the Detention Club used up the last poor girl, they needed a new pet." She dismissed Hizuki with a wave of her hand. "I’m only here for the shrine maiden and anyone who gets in my way. And right now, the miseria are blocking the view of the sunset." They really weren’t, but did that matter? Like a bolt of lightning, Boleite was off.

There weren’t a ton of miseria out today, but every one she killed was one less for the detention club. A group of twelve had just risen out of the street to impede her path. She aimed her weapon at them and a purple jolt of electricity smacked into its head. Immediately afterwards, it forked with crackling thunder and charred them all to ash. Boleite closed her eyes just long enough to rush through them and emerge on the other side. The bottom of her shoes were glowing blue, and she was hovering a few inches off the ground. It felt good to walk up and down the mountain, but when work needed to be done it paid to be efficient.

She continued to surf down the streets, this time allowing herself to spin while she floated along. They always liked to hide in the side streets, as any experienced magical girl knew. She fired down each one she came across, lighting them up with forked lightning and turning the miseria into ash. One homeless man had been caught in her electricity, but the worst thing that happened to him was he got a static shock. That and the hair on his nearly bald head stood up.

She hovered to a stop at the end of the street. There waiting for her was an unusually big miseria. It wasn’t special in any other way. Usually once a night, one or two abnormal miseria would show up to bother everyone. It seemed like the perfect time to test her new attack. The scientist’s weapon spooled up. Several metallic rods extended out of the weapon. Each one lit up with a different colored electricity. The weapon vibrated, lightly smoking in her hands.

Then an arrow came out of nowhere and pierced the creature, reducing it to dust.

"Hmph." Boleite released the trigger, and her weapon quietly reverted to its original shape. The arrow was distinct and hard to miss. Everything from the shaft to the fletching was made of gold, and the arrow’s head was shaped like a heart. "That only counts as one, Topez!" The only response she got back was the wind. More than likely she wasn’t even around here and took that shot from the other side of town.

No point crying over it. There were plenty more miseria to kill and even the score.

---

Nyxia was right. Earthshaker was a powerful magical girl, and likely the strongest one in the club outside of Schrade. She could take an attack from just about anywhere and redirect it to her attacker with extra force. That spoke nothing of her baseline, which was head and shoulders above everyone else in every conceivable way. Morganite on the other hand had displayed the ability to be a nuisance and little more. She was durable, but had displayed no other significant abilities other than manipulating her shields. Perhaps her high tech suit and dual shields hinted at her ability to take a beating, but taking a beating did not win fights. And that was before Earthshaker had slain a giga miseria. She was even stronger now, and her speed was something that even Morganite had not expected. Her eyes went wide, and she kicked herself away from the school as Earthshaker scrambled after her. She paused only briefly to reach for the banner hanging over head, and held it in her clenched fist. It tore at both shields with a single tug. When she lunged for Morganite, the ends of the banner fluttered in the wind like the scarf on a shinobi. Morganite’s shields were returning to her, but she would not be fast enough to block the blow. It seemed like she was going to eat this one.

But then why was she still smiling?

Poor Pearl. Of all the GEMs, she was the most forgettable. She was straight laced and direct, and looked equally unremarkable. Just a scholar in white with a cute hair style. She’d blend right in with any magical girl team you put her on. Much like her namesake, she was plenty valuable even if she didn’t sparkle like the others. She could land a hit on whatever she wanted if it was distracted long enough, and Earthshaker was plenty distracted. She had anticipated someone would attack, and had been funneling mana into her wand in anticipation. It glowed with the warm radiance of the sun, but hurt to look at directly. It would have been easy to notice if anyone anticipated more than one light girl was nearby. Her position beside the school made her impossible to see from the detention club’s window. Her shot was already lined up and Earthshaker’s vulnerable torso was in sight. There was an old adage that cooler heads prevailed, which was something Morganite’s enemies were often reminded of when it was too late.

Shatterscape didn’t need that reminder.

With no time to spare, she attempted to shove Earthshaker out of the way. While she was successful, the attack hit her instead. Everyone was reeling from the experience. Earthshaker from being spun so suddenly, Shatterscape from being blasted, and Pearl from shooting the wrong target. But not Morganite. She had already committed to throwing her shoulder into the charging Earthshaker. Though the hit she landed was only enough to get Shatterscape and Earthshaker to stumble closer to the school. She had pulled back, sensing that something was amiss. Earthshaker hand wanted her to pay the price, and she figured this should have foot the bill and then some.

"Keep da change." Morganite hopped and landed on one of her shields as it cruised past her.

Fear gripped Pearl’s heart. She raised her wand and prepared a second shot, but the distance was closing quick. That was when Morganite’s second shield struck the back of Shatterscape’s leg, causing her crippled form to faceplant into the dirt. Morganite surfed past her and snatched Pearl by the back of her collar. The little scholar nearly lost her hat, but managed to catch it before it flew away.

"W-what was the point of this!?" The condition of Pear’s nerves was reflected in her stammering. "They’re going to chase us."

"I’ll tell ya later, an’ let dem chase." Morganite explained as they flew around the corner. "Diamond and Topez are nearby, n’ if dat’s not enough? We get Boleite, she should be in da town."

But even with those two departing, the magical girls at the club could feel a powerful presence approaching. Specifically, that of a magical girl…

---

Shortly after swatting the "mogall" aside, Kiyo unveiled her ace. It’s mere sight was enough to heat pavement well beyond what the sun would normally do, and trigger mild paranoia. As it heated up around Diamond, she tipped her cap just enough to catch some shade over her eyes.

"I guess I should have anticipated as much." It had been a while since Diamond had fought any dark magical girls. The city of light wasn’t exactly teaming with them, and schemers like the one that was invoking these eyeballs were not a breed you saw often. She had underestimated her opponent. However, it wasn’t like that didn’t go both ways. "I was worried the summer was coming to an end, how fortunate today is so warm."

Diamond pointed at the creature, and M&M-laced cotton candy swirled at her side. It rose into the air like a dying hay devil, leaving behind a popcorn machine. The batter stepped behind it and shoved the contraption with her foot. Even though it hadn’t been turned on, the heat was starting to pop the kernels inside. But the popcorn they generated kept getting bigger. The machine was popping off like crazy, firing off white puffs that were the size of Tsubomi’s head. The hopper was entirely covered, and the roof of the darn thing popped open like a jack in the box. The stray popping kernels wouldn’t be hard for a magical girl to dodge, but the mountain of giant popcorn that had been created would be difficult to see through. Miseria were a priority, dark magical girls were a priority, but the magical girl equivalent of a magnifying glass wasn’t worth wasting time on. If their club was nearby, it would not be wise to get into a protracted fight with a minion.

Diamond turned to Tubomi and sighed. "You’re awfully polite for a dark girl." She wrapped an arm around Tsubomi’s waist and threw her over her shoulder. "I’ll be fine. Let’s find a place where those eyes aren’t present." Then she ran like she had just scored a home run. Only she was carrying her bat and one laid back magical girl.

---

Morganite was a nuisance, not a threat. For all that was evasive and meddlesome, and even with her weapons being of a defensive bent, nothing about her screamed to Roche that she was a serious threat. None of the mystery of Sink Queen, the overflowing power of Ashbringer, or the aura farming potential of Rei.

Roche struck with every intention she would rush down the pinkette and drag her kicking and screaming through the school campus before seeing how much she had to tear off before she had the girl’s Magical Emblem in hand. Enraged at the affront against the club and the clear escalation of the GEMS, Roche still hadn’t found herself genuinely considering going beyond the rules of the club.

That came to an abrupt change wrought not by the hands of the GEMS, but from Shatterscape’s massive gauntlet grasping her shoulder with a cutting haste and hurling her aside. Flight turned to a tumble and Earthshaker’s cloak pulled with the wind, a contrail of fabric as Earthshaker saw the horned Magical Girl looking back at her.

Then she saw her struck, a beam of light puncturing clear through one side and out the other, perforating Shatterscape with a surgical precision that would have left Vlad the Impaler flush with envy. Stunned did not even begin to describe Roche in those moments stretching into eternity where a lance of light threaded through her newest partner’s form. Till Morganite intruded, shoving past her and sending Roche bouncing off the masonry of the school.

What wicked irony that Morganite remained just the nuisance they thought her to be, but she was now one that protected some very formidable friends.

Staggering to her feet with a swirl of emotions that were leaving her feeling drowning on dry land, Earthshaker’s gaze wavered expecting to see Shatterscape strike the ground and fail to rise. Even if her brain knew damn well that Shatterscape was the most resilient of the Club, it was still an immeasurable relief seeing her sprint off with palpable fury after her attacker.

Roche was running after her when she had a front row seat to Morganite striking Shatterscape from behind, her partner hitting the ground hard while she scooped up a vaguely familiar face from the beach trip. Unassuming, but with a power that was direct, like a more innocent Nyxia.

Any other one of us and they’d be dead or crippled. Even Nyxia has never fired a laser at another human like that.

The Rulekeeper’s expression had gone beyond fury to a resolved calm as she broke off into a sprint, tearing across dirt and grass with great clods splashing her step before she took off onto the paved streets. Cratering the road as she met the earth with bounding leaps. They could run all they liked but Earthshaker was on their tail, shield in hand as she blazed with energy that built with each step, absorbing the shock of her footfall back into herself. An unwavering gaze locked onto Pearl, the frail scholar a prey she couldn’t abide laying in wait for another shot on her team.

For the Club. For my teammates. Morganite would only get to hear a crack as the sound barrier was infringed upon by a ballistically hurled shield, the leading edge blunt yet looking no less capable of harm as it gained on the airborne shield. Yet the projectile gaining on their rear was, while a threat, only a distraction from Roche launching herself high and coming down in arcing leap with her fist cocked back for a street rupturing impact.