While Willow pretended to panic, Evil Eye gazed down at Boleite, tapping the foot of her cane impatiently against her shoe as she pretended not to recognize her—deciding that Boleite, a fellow scientist, would probably do the same, for much the same reasons, should she be confronted. The meeting between them had been an aberration, something Evil Eye was, in all her self-proclaimed wisdom, ill-equipped to explain to her fellows, and the light girl would probably be no more able to explain her own intentions if she were asked. Perhaps she had lied, and an old partner of hers had, in fact, fallen to darkness, or worse—and allowing Evil Eye to escape the City of Light had been her way of letting go of the past. It had been the only theory she was able to conjure up that made any sense of it. Aside from you and Shuuko, I'm the only one taking this seriously, Hizuki... her mind objected, though her lips would not speak the words.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sensation of a head on her shoulders—usually, a welcome sensation, but this was Willow. Her uncovered eye snapped to Willow's face, briefly ceasing its coordinated wandering along with the movements of the Mogall. While she could lecture the girl for hours on sunk cost fallacy and how it wasn't accidental that gacha game corporations sold their in-game currency in multiples of prime numbers, something else happened that caused her to breathe in sharply. The hand covering her eye dipped into her pocket and retrieved her cell phone. "Acid's been taken hostage, I'm tracking her. The GEMs are regrouping; we should too." There was no time to waste, so Evil Eye spoke the message and let voice recognition do the work of putting it in the Detention Club's group chat while she flew toward the distant sound of exploding tires.

Only after the urgency of the moment would she realize that this meant Black Gate would also get the message. More importantly, if she were to switch priority and change course, she needed to get Willow off her back. "Cafe Red. That's where your phone thief is hiding," Evil Eye added as if it were an afterthought.

---

Like an old adage about boiling a frog, the heat continued to rise at a rate that was gradual but still threatening. Thankfully, unlike the proverbial frog, the locals did eventually flee the scene before they would suffer much more than a painful sunburn. Diamond's distraction would succeed for only a short time before the popcorn machine and its generously packed product would be incinerated in the ensuing laser beam. The 13(but now 12)-Eyed-Titan did not give up the pursuit. If it wasn't quite the fastest thing Hibusa's roads had ever seen, it was accelerating to highway speeds faster than its size would suggest it were capable, and it rounded corners effortlessly. The "drone" eyes were also capable of firing mini-lasers, which they rained upon Diamond without mercy. Fortunately, they seemed to be about as accurate as cover fire, and did a better job of making the prospect of turning into a side alley a risky proposition than they did actually hitting her.

Mogall were filling the skies like birds fleeing the ground in anticipation of an earthquake. This included the bulk of them that had been hounding Black Gate, leaving only a few that remained. They gazed at each other as if questioning something, reflecting what remained of their master's indecision. Then, they turned in one direction, as if anticipating the arrival of someone, or something. The number of eyes in the sky was a rare but unsettling sight. Anyone who'd lived in Hibusa a long time knew that this meant Evil Eye was sounding the alarm, even if they didn't know what it was for. For the Club, it was a cue to check their phones. For the odd light girl who'd decided not to leave the dark girls' territory, it was usually a sign to stay away—but with the GEMs in town? Kaeru would have a decision to make. Evil Eye had made hers; Mogall flocked about her in formation, shielding her with their bodies.

---

Boleite was off before Hizuki could finish spluttering about the accusation of a crush, or respond to the idea of there being a previous light girl affiliated with the Detention Club - though it was, as was becoming a trend, another thing to think about. More to think about wasn't necessarily a bad thing for Haruna, given her current state, but it was certainly a distraction in this moment. Which was, as had also become a trend, immediately followed by another, more pressing distraction, as she received the message from Evil Eye up above. She prepared to take off, but turned to give Kaeru some parting words. "Just think about how they act before you decide whether the GEMs are good people. I'll see you later."

With that, she ascended to Evil Eye's level again, weaving through the cloud of Mogall gathering. "Where's Acid Drop? If we move quickly, we might be able to get her back before the GEMs have a chance to get back together." The tension in her posture made it clear that, if provided with a location, she was liable to immediately bolt off in that direction without a second thought, sparing no time to let the team group up. "I can handle a couple of them at least long enough to get her away." Worry suffused her voice; she didn't understand half of what was wrong with Tsubomi, but she knew enough to realize the girl was extremely vulnerable. Which was probably why she'd been targeted for this little stunt. Picking on the weak and those already in pain. Some heroes you guys are.

---

"I’ll be fine-" Ah, so she wasn't right now.

"Let’s find a place where those eyes aren’t present." That would be a difficult task. Tsubomi had eyes, after all. And besides, the moogals were all over Hibusa... did this girl not do any scouting before this confrontation? Didn't she have a few friends last time they met? Where were they? Was there a falling out between them?

*Clunk*

Acid Drop hadn't realized that she had been picked up and thrown over Diamond's shoulder until the movement made her head collide with the Light Girl's bat. Suddenly she was aware that she was being carried. Why was she being carried? Hmm, the Light Girl had said something about talking, right? It felt like it had been a while since then. She blinked, and the world around her had changed when her eyelids reopened. The Light Girl had to be moving fast, if the distance from before and after was as much as it was.

*Clunk*

Another hit to the head. What did her brain do to deserve so much aggression? Ever since the beach trip it seemed like she had hit her head more than she usually did in a year. Speaking of, wasn't the beach trip about when that other voice showed up? That was a mess that seemed to have been getting worse over time. It wasn't too long before she started seeing its owner, hallucinations that she couldn't be sure weren't real.

*Clunk*

And then her magic mostly stopped working the day that the giant skeleton appeared. She had thought maybe it was connected to that, but it didn't come back afterwords.

*Clunk*

Oh, the sky was dark. Had the Light Girl been running so long that it became night? That would be impressive. Also impressive was the giant monster(?) that was chasing her. That had to come from Kiyo too, right? Kiyo was strong. Not everyone knew that, since she rarely used any of her power aside from watching things. Keep an eye on everything must be tiring. Was Tsubomi being unable to fight causing Kiyo to use more of it than she wanted to? If she wanted to continue trying to keep people's feelings in mind, then she'd have to apologize to or thank her later.

*Clunk*

Like a bad engine being kicked, each hit to the head was shifting Tsubomi's train of thought. The voice had said that she knew who it was, but she didn't. It sounded a little like her, so it being her imaginary friend made sense to her, but she still didn't know what it actually was. The running theory was still a personification of her magic, in which case she did know who it was, but the voice had waved that question away as if it wasn't the case.

*Clunk*

After the most recent bump hit her in the eye, Acid Drop shut both of her eyes in case it happened again. But she could still see. She could see the stage, but she wasn't on it like usual. She was sitting in the audience, a lone folding chair in the center of where the seating would normally be. Stranger still was that she wasn't looking at the curtain like she was used to when not playing her role; the stage was visible in its entirety.

Just to the right of the center of the stage stood a singular prop, a cutout of Rei. At least that's what it looked like from her seat. Though she couldn't see it, there were further cutouts standing behind Rei's, angled perfectly to be invisible to her current position.

*Clunk*

Why was Rei on stage? Why was Tsubomi not on stage? What happened to the audience seating?

*Clunk*

Music that she knew for a fact she had never heard before began to play from speakers, too high up to see. Her neck craned as she tried to find the source but all she could see was the loge. When did she learn that word? She was pretty certain that she hadn't ever heard it before, either.

*Clunk*

The auditorium shook. Despite the blow to her head being light, the blow to the building was closer to that of an earthquake. The shaking managed to knock down Rei's standee, showing Tsubomi that behind it was one of Roche.

Who put this set together? Looking around her chair, there didn't seem to be a script for... whatever was going on.

*Clunk*

Another earthquake, another falling cutout. This time, it was Kiyo who became visible. But unlike last time the theater shook, this time hurt. Tsubomi could feel pain in her skull, like a chip had been knocked off by someone hammering a screwdriver against it.

*Clunk*

She was certain now that a woodworker was carving her skull into a replica of a computer chip. But this time, the standee on stage stood its ground.

Tsubomi didn't know what that meant. She didn't know what the scene was supposed to symbolize. She didn't know anything, right now, except that her head was going to burst soon.

Nyxia merely rolled her eyes and gave voice to an exasperated sigh when Shuuko began her lengthy explanation for why she thought they should remain with Roche. Fortunately, a new development forced the “High Priestess” to stop her annoying ramble mid-syllable. Unfortunately, said development was an energy beam lancing towards Earthshaker from somewhere above the school building. Moving with lightning swiftness, Shuuko transformed and bodychecked the Rule Keeper out of the beam’s path, only to take the shot in her own shoulder, all while a wide-eyed Nyxia looked on. Yet it didn’t take long for the Neon Tempest to recover enough to voice her thoughts on these events.

“Fucking moron…” she hissed through clenched teeth.

While the attack had certainly been underhanded, Nyxia was positive Earthshaker could have not only easily withstood it, but also absorbed it to grant even more power to her impending strike. The same very obviously couldn’t be said for Shatterscape, and even if it was just another of the gauntleted girl’s expendable bodies that had nearly gotten its arm blown off, her rash actions had placed both herself and Roche badly out of position. Sure, the enraged Shatterscape was now launching herself at the pink-haired light girl as she and her parter zipped away on a flying shield, with an equally engaged Roche hard on their heels, but what was the point? Their foes were fleeing like the pathetic cowards they were, and thanks to Shuuko’s stupidity, Earthshaker had been deprived of her one chance to get a telling blow in. And now they wanted to chase these idiots across the city, when there were Miseria just waiting to be turned into paste?

“Damn it to fucking hell…”

With a powerful leap, Nyxia began following her two teammates, although she was careful to keep a fair distance back. These light girls had proven to be a sneaky pair, and she preferred not to rush headlong into another one of their annoying traps. Not only that, but as she bounded through the crisp autumn air, the Neon Tempest could sense the presence of another magical girl approaching, and an exceptionally strong one at that.

She only hoped that, if and when they made their presence known, they’d be considerably less annoying than the pair being chased…

Sayuri had been worried when Boleite turned to the group and pull her little finger gun move, thinking that they were going to quarrel some more after all. It felt as if it's something Boleite might have done; she somehow looked the type to jump the gun, so to speak. Then again, Kaeru didn't really know anything about her - or the GEMs as a whole. Still, she was glad her offer of taking on Miseria being more important seemed to have been heeded.

As for the other Members of the Club nearby, Kaeru was all too happy to ignore them for now.

Except for Hizuki, who was now flying back down to them. It felt like such a headache to play the mediator for that bunch... which Sayuri might have said out loud, but decided against it. For Hizuki's sake, maybe. Poor girl looked like she had too much on her plate already.

"Daybreak, huh." she simply answered, seemingly impressed. Then, in a low voice to herself; "Should I get myself a cool name like that...?" She could have commented further on the whole 'not causing any trouble' but she instead simply put both arms up, hands behind her head, waiting for Boleite's reply. Hizuki heard Sayuri's take already.

She listened on like she was listening to two friends talking about the week end. Some sort of connection between Hizuki and another member of the GEMs, and hidden curhses? Sayuri was not usually a 'Tea' enjoyer, but this were juicy tidbit of information. "Hizuki!" she exclaimed, as if shocked. "A crush, already? Aren't you a little young."

When Boleite took off, Kaeru lingered for a second as if about to say something, though Hizuki was faster than her on the answer. Whatever the Frog girl was about the say was gone, instead she just said; "I'll watch mine, you watch yours. Deal? See you around." And then the Toad she stood on leaped off after Bodacious.

Somewhere along the way Fujin, who had stepped off to be better positioned in case something went join, rejoined them. Amid bounds and leaps the trio managed to take down any Miseria they came accross that Boleite might have left behind. Presumably because she knew Kaeru was right behind. Raijin landed on one particularly unlucky Miseria that was trying to flee as Kaeru and Fujin were dispatching a second one. She'd turn around just in time to see the the arrow pierce the miseria and disapointment on BB's face.

As Kaeru stepped off of Fujin this time, a Miseria lunged at her, but Kaeru did not bother looking it's way - it was quickly grabbed by Raijin's tongue and brought back in his massive mouth. Only an arm or a leg still propped out as the Toad swallowed, sending the evil thing to whatever end.

"I imagine this means your friends are in Town?"

Normally Oros didn’t mind being part of these meetings. She rarely got a chance to provide any input, but having a lot of cute girls in one place was never a bad thing. It was rare for anyone to attack at least right off the bat. Magical girls had pretty diverse magic and the chance that one of them could hard counter whatever you did increased with their numbers. Which in turn was an invitation for a chaotic mess that no one really wanted. So usually there was a lot of diplomacy and feeling each other out. Not physically feeling, as that would be weird. At least Oros assumed as much, as people tended to not like it when she tried to touch them. But none of the girls present were interesting enough to look at, or she had seen them countless times before.

And she couldn’t stop worrying about Acid Drop.

Worry that was only going to be heightened by Evil Eye’s next words.

She could feel her chest tighten. Of all the club members that weren’t Willow, Evil Eye seemed like the silliest of the bunch. For her to respond in such a serious manner was more than unnerving. The desire to do something was overflowing and Oros couldn’t stand still anymore. She knew where Tsubomi was supposed to be and the direction Evil Eye was headed in. That was enough information for Oros to track down Acid Drop herself, she reasoned.

"I’ll get her back."

The tips of her tendrils flattened into knives, and with a flick, she sliced her shoulder blades. her wound burst open, which provided Oros with quick acceleration. Oros couldn’t fly and didn't have afterburners that could be flicked on at a moment’s notice. But she could give herself near friction-free movement that only necessitated enough acceleration to get to top speed. After that, not crashing were far more important for maintaining that speed. She made herself more aerodynamic with her blood, wrapping her body with fins and spikes to reduce air drag. Or maybe there was no science going on here, as magic took care of all that for her. Maybe Oros was doing this because it looked really metal. Either way, it wasn’t a trick she employed in the past. She skipped across the rooftops like a stone, sometimes jumping as many as five at a time.



Even as Evil Eye flew about, Willow’s head stayed perfectly nested on her shoulder. Until she mentioned the location of her phone.

"You’re not going to bring it to me?" She lifted her head up and allowed the rest of the detention club to rush past her, Evil Eye included. "Okay, but you’d better be able to get my band mate back without me. Vocalists don’t grow on trees!" It was unlikely that Evil Eye had heard any of that, but it was unlikely she would have tried any harder, so who really cared?

Cafe Red, now there was an unfortunate set of circumstances. It was a coffee and tea shop that had a wonderful European aesthetic. Apparently the owner had been inspired after a trip to Paris and wanted to theme his new business after an eatery inside a Barnes & Noble. It was quite the undertaking to build. Construction in any part of Japan is prohibitively expensive, but it was worth it in Willow’s honest opinion. The only problem was that the owner didn’t know English as well as he thought he did. So instead of naming his European bookstore themed coffee shop "Cafe Read," it was "Cafe Red." Apparently the exterior was so expensive to build that he didn’t have the money to change the name after the fact, and was forced to work with his faux pas. The interior did tend to have red elements to make up for it, but it was still the funniest story Willow never told. Instead, she’d say it pertained to the red light district that was around in Hibusa’s past. That one even got Suki to blush.

The path to Cafe Red was cleared out by some caustic faeries. Dripping with acid, the little fliers dive bombed the apes before they cleared the way for the feline magical girl. Willow pushed open the doors like she was walking into a saloon. There were several tables by the front window, and many more booths lining the walls. The wooden counter was open all the way across to give patrons a view of the pastries they could eat. In the morning this place would be flooded with sunlight and early commuters, but at this hour the orange light of the sun crept across the walls and became an after school hangout. There were a lot of plants, many of which Willow couldn’t be bothered to identify. Though she figured the plants likely enjoyed their sunny hangout. She plucked a leaf off of one and turned it in her hand, then cast it aside.

There weren’t a lot of people in the cafe, but there were enough to make searching a pain in the ass. Willow turned around to waved to a mogall before plucking a phone off a random student. After a quick scroll, she returned it to his pocket before grabbing another phone. After scrolling, she found something that interested her and the corners of her lips curled up. "I knew I wasn’t the only one who played this!" She scrolled some more and huffed. "Gold Ship is nice, but she’s got nothing on my Kitasan Black. Why don’t I just log in and..." Her thumbs began to move again, tapping the screen that only she could see. A few seconds later, her violin ringtone went off, and her eyes flicked up. More caustic farries appeared at her side as she laid the phone on a nearby table. "You really should have put that on vibrate..."

---

"Hmmm?" Boleite was aware Kaeru was nearby, but she hadn’t expected her to speak up. There were plenty of other things to focus on, and she didn’t typically strike up conversations while on a hunt. "Not necessarily. Topaz can land a shot from nearly anywhere." She slowed her pace so that she could speak with Sayuri more easily. "But it’s not impossible. Given the trajectory the arrow landed at, I’d say she’s at least near Hibusa. I know some of the other girls wanted to do something around here, but I didn’t get involved with that. The younger members know enough not to ask me to help with their pranks. But Topaz likes to play recon and support them, so maybe." The scientist could throw a probability out there, but she didn’t.

That was about all the small talk she had room for before more miseria made themselves known. One alleyway was teaming with them, and if sensing a more potent tool was necessary, Boleite switched firing modes. At least that was what it looked like, as four prongs jetted out of the end of her weapon. Electricity arced between the forks, growing brighter and brighter. Eventually the tip got so bright it left after images burning in Kaeru’s eyes. Then with a single shot, the sound of thunder echoed through the town, and a bolt of lightning ripped through the miseria. It didn’t stop with the side street, as it jumped from miseria to miseria, racing up and down buildings and down adjacent streets. Finally the lightning bolt leaped into the sky, as if to return to the hand of Zeus. But it was actually clearing some clustered mogalls out of the sky that had overshadowed the sunset.

"I said I didn’t want them blocking the sunset, and what’s the very next thing they do?" She smiled at her own joke before turning to look at Kaeru’s frogs. They were hard at work cleaning up the miseria in other nooks of the darkened street. After a brief examination, she nodded her head. "Didn’t figure you for the summoning type." She confessed. "Do you like frogs? They seem to like you." It was said that a magical girl is simply one’s ideal self. Their appearance and powers are a reflection of what they strive to be. Perhaps Boleite’s curiosity was what had manifested her Tesla-esque powers.

"Hmm, I wonder if all of those eyes are looking for Topaz." Even though Boleite had cleared the sky a moment ago, there were more of those freaky eyeballs floating off in the same direction. "Come on, we might as well go this way. If the rest of the miseria are going to be anywhere, it’s going to be hanging out around a bunch of magical girls."

---

Diamond had not concerned herself with the normies present. It might have seemed unusual, as a light girl’s mission was to selflessly protect others. Perhaps Diamond was fully aware the creature had been a deliberate trap to protect Tsubomi. She was the proverbial treasure laying in the heart of the dungeon. And once the treasure had been removed, the monster's goal had changed from protection to retrieval.

Diamond eyed the lasers falling on either side of her. They probably could have been a great deal more accurate, but weren’t accurate enough to ensure a hit on Diamond without risking Tsubomi’s well being. As if suddenly noticing that she herself were jeopardizing the girl’s health, she allowed the bat to slide in her hand until she was holding it in the middle.

"Woops."

It wasn’t like she could knock a jawbreaker into that thing’s eyes while carrying Tsubomi. Her bat in general was something best swung with two hands, and was not some primitive club to be held like a neanderthal. But even with her being at a bit of a disadvantage, she felt she had just struck a home run and passed first base. This was an incredibly lucky break and she had proper backup this time.

A finger on her bat uncoiled and she tapped her pocketed cell phone. Her lapel mic popped before going silent. She was connected.

"Topaz, I have sour skittle. Coming up to Fourth street’s second intersection. Sprinkled parfait on my tail. Requesting a napkin."

Her phone crackled to life. "Napkin in bound, tell me when it arrives." Even with the static, the voice was oddly soothing.

Moments later, Diamond came into an intersection. As soon as the monster entered it, she whipped around and dug her shoes into the pavement. The hot asphalt from earlier was wiped off of the bottom of her shoes as she skidded to a halt. As soon as she stopped moving, a hail of golden arrows slammed into the side of the beast’s body. Maybe it popped a few eyes, maybe it didn’t, but it was enough to grant Diamond that left hand turn she needed to make.

"Direct hit, thanks Topaz."

"Not a problem, hun!" she giggled. "You get yourself and that skittle here in one piece, ya hear?"

The left turn was complete. That was second base. Just two more to reach home…

... But in the wake of the creature's destruction, a red blur had followed the trail and was closing in on Diamond's position. Oros was headed towards the intersection and would be at Evil Eye's beast momentarily.

---

The earthquake stopped. The building still moved, but it was less a shaking and more a wobbling. Tsubomi could feel it swaying, but the pain had mostly stopped, lessening to a dull ache. When she reopened her eyes, she saw that the theater was still standing, its wavering movement making it seem as if the walls were made of opaque jello. But things were different. The audience seating was back, and she found that she was no longer sitting in the middle of its space. Instead, she now seemed to be sitting in a box seat, far above the ground, viewing the curtains that hung across the performance platform from stage-left.

The music that she didn't recognize still played, though it seemed to be a new piece, rather than the somber notes that had preceded her skull's explosion. She still couldn't find the speakers, but what she did find was that there was an audience. More than there seemed to be when she had ever performed. Why was she up here, instead of on the stage? How did she get here, anyway? She didn't have time to guess; the audience began clapping and broke her from her thoughts.

The curtains rose and parted, moving in such a way that from the ground floor it would seem they were not curtains, but rather waves being broken. From Tsubomi's seat it only looked unprofessional. Maybe this was a school play? The upbeat music added to the idea, but wouldn't a school play's music have lyrics? Or would that be something the children would provide?

Speaking of the actors, where were they? When the curtains fully disappeared from view there was not a single person on the stage. Instead, there were more of those cutouts. She could recognize some of them, but there were others she couldn't. Rei, Willow, and Earthshaker were there, house right. And Kiyo, Oros, and Acid Drop were opposite them. None of them aligned with any of the others, clearly prevented on purpose by the director. From her new vantage point, Tsubomi could see that there were more standees off to the side of the stage, hidden from the normal audience. She could spy Schrade, Nyxia, Shuuko, and Haruna hidden away in the darkness of stage-right, just enough light from overhead to see.

The clapping stopped, and the play began. The overhead lights dimmed to nothing and spotlights appeared around each of the standees. The whole thing seemed to pass by in an instant. One moment, Tsubomi was looking at the stage with the six characters, and the next they had all disappeared. The music died down, and the word 'Intermission' was spoken in its stead, only to be followed by much lighter sounds. The stage was empty, leaving nothing to watch until the play continued. Shouldn't the curtains be closed again?

That was when she felt something on her shoulder. Tsubomi slowly turned her head, and soon saw Acid Drop sat in the seat next to her. Her eyes were on the stage, and she didn't say anything, so neither did Tsubomi. A few seconds passed before Acid Drop turned to look at her again, pointing to her eyes and then to the stage. When Tsubomi followed them and the platform reentered her sight, the music changed again to a much slower, darker sound than before. It seemed the play had resumed.

This time the cardboard people were different. Instead of the previous lineup, this time the stage held Schrade, Suki, Evil Eye, Hizuki, and the Light Girl who wielded a baseball bat. As Tsubomi watched, the facsimiles of those she knew broke free from the stands that held them, now moving like real people, if still made of paper. Once more the play seemed to be over in a second, another blink being the transition between their first movements and the end of the Act. And again the word 'Intermission' came from the hidden speakers, once more the music changed to something more peaceful.

And yet, there was clapping from the audience. They seemed moved by the performance, whatever it had been, giving a standing ovation to the end of the Second Act. Even Acid Drop was clapping in the seat next to her, though hers was much more reserved than that of the general audience.

"What's... going on?" Tsubomi's words came at the snail's pace that she was most comfortable with, at least they did as she spoke them. It seemed that they somehow were said at the speed of a normal person at the same time.

Acid Drop sighed. "Don't you know that it's rude to speak during a play?"

Tsubomi's head tilted to the side quizzically. "Isn't it intermission?"

With the expression of an exacerbated mother Acid Drop shook her head and pointed to the stage. It seemed that the performance had begun once more. This time it wasn't the cardboard cutouts that were there, but rather it seemed to be several Miseria in costumes doing their best to put on the proper show. Their black bodies worked well as Running Crew, but less so as actors. Though at least the actors' body shapes were varied enough to be easy to tell apart. Each one wore a paper mask, fixed to their heads with a string, which bore a crayon drawing of the character they were meant to portray.

The current cast seemed to be composed of Rei, Acid Drop, Oros, and the frog girl. The scene was strange, evoking a sense of deja vu as each moment passed. Acid Drop was dropped from high up, the wire holding the actor aloft and lowering it down slowly clearly visible, and Rei's actor took off her paper mask to replace it with one bearing Schrade's visage instead. She then 'caught' Acid Drop as she 'fell,' jumping a few inches off the ground to do so before landing safely on both feet. Or rather, on all four tentacles, as this Miseria actor had.

"Hey Tsubomi. I ran into your partner earlier. Pretty sure you two got split up." The words rolled from the sound-system across the audience. Some of the viewers began to chuckle, some began to laugh. There were a few that seemed to be weeping, for some reason.

The Acid Drop on the stage stood up onto her own three feet, and more dialogue came from the speakers. "Yeah, Boss, we did get separated. I'll fix that."

A booing came from the audience below. But before they could have their opinion swayed, the actors scurried off the stage, 'Intermission' once more coming from the walls.

"Are you the director for this?" Tsubomi asked the girl sitting next to her. Acid Drop merely shook her head, wordlessly denying the accusation. Tsubomi turned her head back towards the stage, prepared for the short pause this time, and on cue the next Act began.

The platform had been filled with sand. Cacti had been placed in regular intervals across it, forming a grid pattern. Despite the implication that it was meant to be a desert, there was a kiddie pool filled with water in the center of the stage. Next to it lie a Miseriactor with Tsubomi's face drawn on its mask, and another sat crouched next to it, wearing an Acid Drop mask. The sound-system once more began its task to deliver dialogue.

"Heeey, you did it! You saved the town! Or at least the beach. Well, the rest of the club did. But hey, you at least helped!" The Acid Drop on stage began to poke the Tsubomi that lay there. "What's with the sad look? You're not supposed to be feeling anything at all."

Tsubomi didn't think that the Tsubomi on stage looked sad, despite the tears in the eyes of the mask.

"Still kinda weird to think there are Miseria that can do all that, huh? It's too bad your magic doesn't work on them; imagine what you could do with an army like that! I bet you'd never have to leave the house again!" the Acid Drop actor stood back up, giving the Tsubomi on stage a light kick to the cheek. "Aaaanyway, are you planning to wake up soon? Or do you like me enough to stick around for a while?"

Tsubomi's actor didn't move, but the audience once more broke into laughter. Some even began to cheer. Tsubomi blinked, and the scene changed completely. There was a marble wall now standing on the left side of the stage, vines of ivy covering it in a crisscross pattern. Tsubomi's actor was crouched against it, holding an unlit cigarette in one hand. It brought the cancer stick to its mouth, then lowered it slightly to mime blowing the smoke out. The actor playing Acid Drop walked out onto the stage, holding a pair of gardening shears, stopping just in front of 'Tsubomi.'

"Having magic sucks, right? It-" The speakers cut out, static playing instead of the intended dialogue. It seemed to be only momentary, as it quickly came back into focus. - so I'd have to say it's all just a wash. Catch twenty-two, ya know?"

'Acid Drop' began the mime cutting the ivy with its shears. Soon 'Tsubomi' brought the cigarette back to her mouth, and the other actor quickly cut it in half. "Seriously, do I have to do everything for you?" Static took the place of more dialogue once again, taking much longer this time to get fixed.

"Maybe I should help you a little more." On stage, 'Acid Drop' brought the shears in front of 'Tsubomi's' face and closed them, cutting her eyes and the bridge of her nose horizontally. At least, that's what it seemed to be intending. It was hard to tell, since the Tsubomi mask was sliced entirely in two by it.

This seemed to be the climax, as the audience roared to life, not a single member of it on the ground floor still sitting. A total standing ovation, the sound of their clapping and cheering deafening Tsubomi as it echoed around the theater and into her ears. The force of it seemed to be making the building's jello waver even more, much faster than before. As the crowd grew louder, the actors and cutouts all reappeared on the stage, each giving a bow or being folded down the middle to approximate one.

A glance to her left showed Tsubomi that Acid Drop was once more clapping softly as well. But the reverberations of the audience was growing, and soon the walls began to wobble too much, the theater collapsing on itself and into darkness. All that was left was the box that Tsubomi and Acid Drop sat in.

"Well, that wasn't nearly as good as I expected from the script. I think even you could have done better. Not bad for their first time, though." The rainbow haired girl said as she stopped her clapping.

"There was a script?"

"Yep." She waved a small paper pamphlet in front of Tsubomi, who slowly reached out to grab it.

Once Tsubomi began reading, Acid Drop stood up to walk around and stand behind her. She leaned over Tsubomi's right shoulder, pointing to the current line with her right hand, and rested her left hand on her other shoulder.

As she spoke, Acid Drop's left hand began to move further and further right, up to Tsubomi's neck. With each line that her finger traced on the paper, Tsubomi's headache increased in intensity. But she stayed focused on the script, as if trying to memorize it in spite of the pain in her skull.

"Now, read along with me..."

---

From outside the darkness that remained in place of the theater, it was hard to tell if Acid Drop was actually still awake as she was jostled around on Diamond's shoulder. Tsubomi's eyes were closed completely, her slow breathing adding to the impression that she may be asleep. Her face was mostly placid, as or perhaps even more relaxed than it usually was. But her mouth was wrong, contorted in a twisted mockery of the attempt at a reassuring expression that had been given to Suki in recent days. A smile, one that was far too relaxed and yet equally unpracticed, like a gear that was rusted just shy of being unusable but still spun at full speed, sat visible to the world around her.

Evil Eye turned to regard Hizuki, opening her mouth as if to say something. She had surely watched over Hibusa Town long enough to know all of the street names and landmarks, but she wasn't sure how much Hizuki would have learned by now. "It's close to the..." she began, but bit her lip, breathing unsteadily. "...Here. Just touch this, and you'll see her." She adjusted her kimono, lowering it to reveal the Udjat eye tattoo at the base of her neck. "And don't tell a soul I showed you where it is," she emphasized vehemently.

Hibusa Town almost didn't look real through the eye of the titan. Such was its size, it was as if someone had built a miniature set of the town so it could be destroyed with practical effects for a budget disaster movie. Though it looked like a fake town, the one thing reminding both girls that what they were seeing was real was Diamond, carrying Acid Drop on her back—and the field of view given to Hizuki offered more meaningful information at a glance than Evil Eye could've rattled off with the proverbial 'thousand words.' "I'm not trying to hit her, just cut off the alleys—but pretty soon she's going to—

figure that out." Evil Eye never finished her sentence.

"Aargh!" she cried as the rain of arrows fell upon the titan, as if she had felt it. No, not 'as if,' she had definitely reacted in pain. "There!" Evil Eye pushed Hizuki's hand away, pointing her in the general direction of the intersection. "She turned left! GO!!" she urged, shoving her forward. "Bring her back," Evil Eye demanded through grit teeth as more abyssal tears flowed down her cheeks and fell to the street below, spawning more creatures. "please," she muttered, unheard by anyone.

---

The arrows made contact with the side of the titan, bursting a few of the lesser eyes hanging from its underside, bringing their laser fire to an abrupt end. The rest made contact with the main body, creating a crackling cacophony like that of hailstones crashing into a windshield. Some stuck into the eyelid, but did not remain there for long as the creature blinked irritably. Enraged and full of bloody tears, it continued to pursue Diamond. Tendrils reached out for anything they could grasp, pulling and propelling the great eye forward. It was no longer steadily keeping pace with the magical girl. The mysterious unseen force propelling it forward had been slowed, somehow, but every so often it compromised with a sudden burst of forward momentum using its tendrils, staying hot on Diamond's heels but never quite within reach. The sky full of Mogall were also steadily closing in on its position, an unknown purpose in mind.

---

The gesture of trust wasn't lost on Hizuki. Internally, she marked this down for later; she'd have to return the favor, somehow. She didn't have many secrets, but nobody knew how her magic worked. Suki would soon, assuming that the lonely girl didn't just ignore her forever after the perceived betrayal of Haruna being Hizuki. Her reach was hesistant, and some incongruous part of her was acutely aware of putting her hand under another girl's clothes. "Swear on my life," she said, just a moment too late, in response to Kiyo's demand.

When Kiyo pushed her away, though, no more words were needed. Her wings flared bright, and a gate formed out of an azure shimmer before Daybreak flew straight through. Engines snapped into place and roared to life as Hizuki pursued at full speed. She split the evening skies in half for an instant before she was between the buildings, swerving in a wide enough arc to make the turn that the boosters mounted on her legs should have scorched walls and potentially set buildings on fire. Fortunately for Hibusa, if Evil Eye's plans for the erstwhile savior had not come to fruition quite yet, and so all they felt was the gentle warmth of sunlight.

"LET HER GO!" she shouted after the fleeing GEM as Daybreak rapidly closed the distance. "I won't let you take her away!"

Fury replaced the blood in Hotaru’s veins. She had told everyone. She had told them that light girls were not to be trusted and yet they did not listen! Those whores almost killed Chiaki! Fuck, if it weren’t for the warrior’s intervention, they would have killed Chiaki! And now they were back at it again with the help of their mole, the one she had to tolerate because of the foolishness of Sylvia and Ember. No more. She would not suffer at the hands of these-so-called warriors of justice. They had to go; evicted from the city, injured beyond recovery or dead.

She did not notice the hypocrisy of her own thoughts, nor did she notice the shield impacting the leg of Shuuko’s body, snapping the shin with a loud crack. The spike of pain did little to distract her from her targets, the blow swallowed by Sylvia in the back of their shared consciousness. In fact, it only caused her vision to tunnel even more as memories of past atrocities returned in flashes.

The sneers. The grins. The mocking tone. The looks that Chiaki did not notice. The jokes that went over an innocent child’s head, who thought of light girls as friends because she did not know better. And worst of all, the pretend ignorance when these supposed ‘friends’ saw the bruises on Chiaki’s skin.

”I know you remember too!” She shouted at the top of her lungs. Her voice echoed in their shared space, reverberating in the skull they called home. ”So why aren’t you taking my side? We could kick their asses if we worked together!” Her voice snapped like a whip and lashed across the protector, who whimpered, pulling her legs to her chest in an attempt to protect herself.

”It is blindingly obvious, ‘Ru,” responded Ember as she walked closer to Sylvia with a frown, her lips pursed. She lowered herself in an attempt to meet the shivering girl’s eyes, but only a strangled noise escaped from the protector when she pulled her legs even tighter, curling up into a ball. ”It is thoroughly unhelpful to direct your anger at the wrong people and you are only hurting us by doing so. I am also furious at the-”

”You don’t sound angry to me.” Hotaru’s eyes narrowed as she interrupted Ember. ”You know what you’re like? You’re exactly like those light bitches. All those niceties, all those words, Ember… they’re nothing. You’re hollow. Like a damned robot.” Ember looked at the warrior without as much as a twitch in her expression.

”I will not allow you to talk to me like that.” She straightened up to face Hotaru head on, their gazes meeting with the silent noise of steel on steel. ”Especially not because I happen to hold an opinion that differs from yours. I demand that you speak to me like a human being.”

”You and what army?” grinned Hotaru. ”You can’t get rid of me. And you can’t undo Sylvia’s wounds either.” Her hands tightened as she spoke and she too, stepped closer to the protector.

”You speak as if your words and your tone were not something that affects her, ‘Ru. She’s terrified of you.”

”Only because you filled her head with lies.” Hotaru sneered. ”What did you say to her that she now wants to be friends with those assholes?” Though she tried to keep her voice level, it once again struck as though it were thunder, causing Sylvia to let out another whimper.

”Please… please stop… don’t… like Grandma…” She spoke barely above a whisper.

”See? You’re turning her against me, because it’s convenient for you!”

”If you listened to her closely enough and really cared about her, you would hear the wish in her heart, ‘Ru.” Ember folded her hands, her eyes becoming colder than before as she regarded the warrior. ”We are res-”

”No. You’re the reason she’s like this.” Hotaru slammed her hands together and the echo of flesh on flesh made Sylvia flinch again.

”Listen to me, ‘Ru. If for nothing else, then for the sake of Chiaki and Sylvia. They have done nothing to deserve this sort of treatment. I do admit my fault-”

”The hell you do! Just listen to yourself, talking at me, looking down from your high horse!”

”So spoketh the one with the mind of a mule.” The venom in Ember’s voice surprised even herself, sounding much colder than she intended. However, instead of backing down, the warrior grinned and took another step forward, raising her hand as her fingers folded inward to form a fist. Her intention rung clear as day: to strike whom she believed to be the most hypocritical of them.

”Don’t fight… please.” The protector’s words repeated as she sobbed into her knees. But instead of sliding off the two like water off a duck’s back, something happened. On the outside, as Shatterscape’s body fell to the ground, the sound of shattering glass could be heard, seemingly coming from all directions. At the same time, fragments of mirrors came into existence all around her, scattering to the winds, each of them shattering further as they travelled, seeding her surroundings with magical shrapnel.

The body fared little better. Whatever forces worked inside, they ravaged it from the inside-out and melted it as though it had been tossed onto a funeral pyre before separating into three streams of magical energy coloured the freezing cold of ice, the gentle embrace of a verdant forest, and the faded yellow of fire preserved in amber. Entwined as they were, the three appeared to want to head into different directions before they each dove into one of the mirror shards.

Whatever happened, it left a barely recognisable body on the ground, its surroundings looking as though someone had assaulted them with a rake that had razors instead of tines.

---

Whatever happened, it lead to Hotaru waking up in full control of Shuuko’s body, her senses scrambled but intact and very much capable of perceiving a flight of Mogalls crossing the air above her. They were arranged in a thick formation, which could only mean one thing in her mind: Evil Eye was in danger.

Her heart squeezed. Never mind what happened, never mind her conflict with her comrades, if Evil Eye got hurt again- Her legs responded to the thought before she could finish the thought. She reached for her magic, not even noticing how she could only access a fraction of what she formerly could, then directed it towards her legs. She rushed in the same direction as the Mogalls did, leaving them behind even if it cost them the body in the end. After all, it was only one amongst many, was it not?

---

Whatever happened, Sylvia woke up in full control of Shuuko’s body, without the familiar presence of Ember and Hotaru in her head, but with the feeling of a sharpened knife in her throat. It felt tight - so tight she could barely swallow - because “They” fought again. Like Grandma and Grandpa. And it was her fault… her fault! Filthy, stupid, useless girl. She should have never been born. Then Ember and Hotaru would be happy. “They” would not be fighting over nothing. “They” could live like a happy family.

She knew reconciliation to be hopeless. “They” could never agree. Whatever the topic, it would repeat over and over again, because Sylvia was the one at fault. And “They” could never fix her. She could never fix herself either, because she was a bad girl. She would remain one no matter how much she tried, because her birth had been wrong.

So she did the only thing she could.

”I’m sorry… I know I’m a bad girl…” She apologised to empty air. ”Please… don’t fight. And come back… please…" Such a foolish hope. Her words would never reach “Them.”

---

Whatever happened, Ember woke up in full control of Shuuko’s body. Her head ached from the argument she had with Hotaru, a dissatisfied frown on her face as the conversation finished without an actual conclusion because…

She did not know.

She only knew that Shuuko’s magic - their magic? - did something that left her without other voices in her head and a body that was… hers? Or at least it felt as though it belonged to her. As though it were a proper vessel instead of the shared body they constructed together, belonging to all of them, but not hers in a true sense.

But it did not make sense. Sure, the control they had over their bodies had been getting better and the sudden appearance of a mansion of the mind had been strange, but there had been no signs-

The schemer could not even finish the thought if she wanted to be honest with herself. She knew little about magic, but she certainly knew that it reacted to emotions. It also reacted to thoughts, which is why the three of them could direct it. Indeed, in hindsight, they had been quarreling with each other. Developing different desires. She even pushed Sylvia to make her first friend. A friend that the protector would do anything for.

The schemer had been such a fool. The biggest fool of them all.

”Maybe I am the one with the mind of a mule,” she spoke out loud as she came to an inevitable conclusion: They had split. Not only in mind and soul, but also in body. And this time, it might be impossible to make them whole again.

Sayuri looked far ahead, as if trying to spot this Topaz Boleite was speaking of. Of course, all she saw was building and more Miseria flying about. She heard electric sounds and barely has to time to look back to Beliete and cover her ears before the massive surge of electricity flew forward, destroying any and all miseria in it's path and then some. With the sound it made, people ought to think a transformer exploded or something.

Somewhere in all this action, Fujin had jumped away and was now out and about, doing it's own things, dispatching Miseria around them on the rooftops. Around them were more Frogs of the smaller variety. Some had massed onto a miseria painstakingly holding it down while Raijin walked up to it and gulped it down. In the frenzy, some were even holding on for dear life on some Mogalls near the rooftops.

"Summoning type, uh? Something like that."

Kaeru shrugged. "Well, Frogs are kind of my family's thing in a way. The Kami of Hibusa's shrine is represented by one, so I imagine that's why my magic manifest as such. What, you don't think they're cute?" Sayuri said just as she took off her hat, a small amphibian frog jumping right out of it onto her shoulder. She then looked up, her new amphibian friend doing the same as her. "So there's you and Topaz; how many other GEMS is there?"

Her gaze turned to the Mogalls when Boleite mentioned them looking for Topaz. "Must be... Alright then - let's go!" She jumped back on Raijin, who immediately readied itself..."Race you there?"... before launching both of them up onto the nearby rooftop, and then once again but forward this time - in the direction Boleite pointed. Sayuri knew her new GEM friend was more than able to follow up.

Kaeru may not be as flashy as Boleite was, but she was still putting in some work though it did not look it. All around them was an army of various type and sizes of frogs dispatching smaller miseria. If assistance was needed to finish them off, Fujin would show up to give them a hand. If a large number of them was spotted or a stronger one, then Kaeru showed up.

Sayuri did not have a team of Gemstones or a Club at her back, so she developed her own way of covering large swats of Hibusa at night in a quiet, discreet way.

Oros ran.

There wasn’t time to consider why Evil Eye had flown off so suddenly, or why she waited until Acid Drop had been captured to say anything about it. Perhaps if she had considered it for a moment, Acid Drop was pretty much asking to be abducted with how vulnerable she had been recently. The bigger issue was that she knew that staying with Acid Drop was something she should have done, and she hadn’t because she had been asked not to. If they ever got her back, that wasn’t a mistake she’d make again. This wasn’t the first time she’d told herself that, but it was the first time it was Acid Drop’s fault.

She arrived at the intersection and wrapped a tendril around a nearby lamp post before swinging to the left and carving a crescent in the road with her skates.

That was when she encountered that stupid eye again. It had slowed down, and it was doing some dumb thing where it lunged forward and then slowed up again. Why was it relying on such a silly form of-

Ohhhhhhhhh…

As Oros passed under it, her tendrils found purchase on its "stomach" just as it was getting ready to lunge forward. when it did, she lunged at the same time. Diamond was very close now.

But she wouldn’t be the first one to arrive.

In addition to being plenty fast, Hizuki didn’t have to maneuver around buildings since she could fly. But the biggest boon to her arrival time had to be…

…

Suki pointed her hands behind her back. Her sharpened tendrils sliced off her hands, and she used the rush of blood to accelerate even faster.



Things were getting pretty frantic around Diamond.

"Topaz? Got another napkin?"

"Just a moment, cleaning the babies. Can you wait on the napkin?"

Diamond’s eyes shifted. What appeared to be a mad light girl was approaching her from the side. There was also a giant monstrosity lunging for her, and it looked like a dark magical girl was closing in as well. Meanwhile, Diamond had Acid Drop over one shoulder and was holding her bat in such a way that she wouldn’t hurt her, but wasn’t especially conductive for holding back an opponent.

"I’m good for the moment. Guard the babies."

"Thanks hun! Don’t eat too much now!"

She didn’t answer back. Diamond conjured a mobile hotdog stand and placed Tsubomi on top of it. Then she gave it a shove and hopped on with her captive. It wasn’t going to stay ahead of the monster chasing her for long, but it didn’t have to. The bumpy road caused some of the hotdogs to bounce and land on Tsubomi, whose feet and head were resting in hoppers. The batter planted her shoes around Tsubomi.

"I’m not taking her away, I’m trying to have a private conversation." Diamond said as a matter of factly. "The eyes are making that a little hard."

Hizuki had heard about the GEMs batter. The problem was that Diamond had so much talk about her it was hard to parse out what was true and what wasn’t. Every story from her being half a dark magical girl to being on a vengeful quest due to what happened to her sister had been assigned to her. The only consistency between all of these stories was that she was a powerful magical girl that wielded a bat and had access to candy or concession stand magic. Though now that Hisuki could see Diamond, she could confirm she wanted to talk to Tsubomi, though it was possible there were other desires for the girl too, or the nature of the conversation was more aggressive than she was making it sound. It was never easy to get a read on strong magical girls, especially if they were transformed.

She settled into a batting pose, and her grip tightened. The apathy fell away from her face as her brow tcrossed. The batter was ready for her opponent’s first pitch.

---

"I never said they weren’t cute! Why are you spreading slander all of a sudden?" The scientist’s smile grew under her eyes. "It’d be hard to name them all, but there are quite a few. I think we have almost twenty now? Some members don’t last long and others have been with us since the beginning. It makes keeping track of the names hard. We tend to split up into smaller groups anyway, so there’s a few members I’ve never even fought alongside." Given that Boleite hadn’t stopped moving, it might have been that she was more interested in finding out what the mogalls were doing instead of chatting. "Race? Heck yea we can race!" Though as would soon become apparent, Boleite’s speed wasn’t quite as impressive as the destructive power she wielded. Maybe it was rude for Kaeru to push ahead, but if someone was in trouble, it was best to get there as soon as possible.

…

…

…

The town was just as traversable as it had always been. Though Kaeru couldn’t choose what was the fastest route to her destination, she knew what it was. It involved some unintuitive navigation such as some unexpected U-turns, but she eventually found herself at an intersection. Visually it looked like any other. Some stop signs, walking lamps, and a road that was almost always empty. But it was the last intersection on the stretch of road out of town. It was still too far away to make out anyone, but Kaeru could see the mogall teaming in the distance. Something was coming her way, and Kaeru needed only steel herself for it.

But she also heard a voice overhead.

"Thanks hun! Don’t eat too much!"

Followed by a familiar, but unidentifiable sound.

When Kaeru looked up, she could understand what the sound was and why it was so hard to identify. She had heard the sound of a bowstring launching an arrow before, but never fired with such speed, one after the other. It was almost freakish watching those slender fingers loose so many arrows. Her quiver seemed to deplete, but her hands were only ever at her bow. And once Kaeru took her eyes off the archer’s hands, she was able to take in the unusual sight of the magical girl firing.

She looked like a combination between Cupid and Aphrodite. She had stubby white wings and an equally white outfit. Gilded lace, frilly ribbons, and loads and loads of heart shaped accessories adorned her skimpy but no less elegant outfit. Her golden hair waved about in the wind over Hibusa town, and her red eyes, glimmering like jewels, squinted as she pulled her final arrow back for a spectacular finish. And then she fired, sending a gold streak across the sky. It was hard to discern what she was firing at, but it looked like it was in the direction of the school.

"Yea!" She pumped her arm like a cheerleader before turning to face the incoming swarm of mogalls. Though that was when she noticed Kaeru, and looked down at her. "Howdy darlin’!" the girl that had to be topaz waved her hand at the shrine maiden. "Aren’t you a cutie patootie! No wonder Boley’s been lookin’ for ya." One by one, her quiver filled up with golden arrows. "She’ll be here, she gets side tracked kina easily is all." Topaz drew a single arrow and eyed up her targets. "I think we’re about to get busy. Ya might wanna stand back. I got all the miseria this way already, and I think Boley is moppin’ up what’s left."

Though as time passed on, Kaeru would be able to see the battle that was approaching her. Hizuki, what had to be Oros, and an unknown magical batter balancing on a concession table rolling down the road.

Just a normal day in Hibusa town.

---

To Shatterscape it was a trap that was sure to kill. To Nyxia it was nothing Earthshaker couldn’t handle. To Earthshaker…

To Earthshaker it was an excuse. A reason to let loose and output as much carnage as possible. It didn’t matter. She had been moved well beyond normal anger and was raging now. She was going to break physics and anything else she needed to if it meant getting her hands on that annoying runt and her ally. Dark magical girls were fueled by dark emotions, and Earthshaker was being fueled by hers. Comparatively, the foul mouthed Nyxia was proceeding with caution. Keeping up but not being baited by Morganite’s taunts.

"Yer mad bro!"

Morganite wasn’t an idiot. Compared to the enraged Earthshaker though, she might have been a genius. Earthshaker’s shield soared towards Morganite. It hardly came as a surprise to the girl, since she had been watching Earthshaker as they retreated. Her second shield came between herself and the improvised projectile and stopped it. Even though it was mostly deflected, it did hit with enough force to throw Morganite onto her back, but not off the shield. This caused the pink haired sass machine to briefly close her eyes with a wince. If this was a one on one fight, Earthshaker’s fist would likely be touching Morganite’s nose by the time she opened her eyes again. But it wasn’t. Pearl was right there, charging her wand as Earthshaker took to the sky. The rule keeper didn’t have her shield, and being airborn meant that Pearl could predict where she’d be. But in a high pressure moment like this, could she land a shot on Earthshaker's exposed torso?

The world may never know.

One after the other, golden arrows flew over the rooftops and struck Earthshaker. From where Nyxia was standing it might have looked painful, with her body convulsing with each arrow. But Earthshaker would not feel any physical pain. Each arrow that buried itself in her body filled her with something else. The glow of a boring TV show when watched with friends, the sensation in her chest when she saw Shuuko, the sound of Norica’s voice when she taught her. Many more of these sensations flooded her before a final arrow slammed into her heart. In that instant she was filled with an almost indescribable feeling. True love? Happiness? All she knew was that she hadn’t felt this complete her entire life.

Pearl continued to aim her quivering wand at Earthshaker, but didn't fire. The rule keeper's soft fist opened up and she dragged her fingers along the edge of the shield, not even strong enough to grab on before she face planted in the grass. She was crying, but she didn’t know why.

Morganite and Pearl didn’t stop moving. As they zoomed off into the distance, Morganite managed to sit up enough to flash a parting grin, just as Pearl collapsed into her lap.

That presence was still around, but it did not seem to feel it was time to reveal itself yet. Which left Nyxia alone in the presence of a sobbing Earthshaker.

---

Hizuki slowed her approach, not attacking quite yet and simply keeping pace with the fleeing Diamond. The movement might have been interpreted Daybreak accepting the GEM's words at face value, if it wasn't for sections of her armor beginning to glow, and the already-glowing bits getting brighter as she gathered power. "If you want to talk, then you can just talk! Last time I checked, private conversations don't involve ambushes, coordinated assaults, or kidnapping people who are already vulnerable!" Her anger at the situation cut clean through her voice, apparent despite the fact that she had to amplify it just to stay audible over the increasing racket on the street (a nontrivial amount of which was the whine of engines spinning up.) "I'm giving you one last chance to let her go before I do something drastic. You're getting your conversation peacefully or not at all."

As Nyxia had expected, the light girls were indeed leading Earthshaker and Shatterscape into another trap. In rapid succession, the latter plummeted to the ground amidst a burst of mystic energy and jagged mirror fragments, while the former was struck by a volley of enchanted arrows mid-leap, before also hurtling towards the ground like a stone. The Rule Keeper barely missed the light girls’ shield-turned hoverboard on her way down, allowing the annoying pair to make a swift escape. As she watched all this from her vantage point atop a nearby roof, the Neon Tempest could only make one comment.

“What the fuck?”

Ignoring Shatterscape for the moment, under the reasoning that the “High Priestess” could simply jump to a different body if her current one had become too compromised, Nyxia quickly made her way over to where Roche had landed. Upon arriving, she was surprised to see the Rule Keeper bawling her eyes out. Doesn’t look like those arrows did any physical damage… the Neon Tempest noted as she looked over her partner’s prone form. Did they do something to fuck with her mind…?

“Uh, you okay ‘Shaker?” Nyxia inquired as she tentatively reached a hand out to touch the sobbing Rule Keeper’s shoulder. “What the hell happened up there?”

Even as she said this, the Neon Tempest was still aware of that other mysterious presence, although they had, thankfully, chosen to refrain from making themselves known. Nyxia only hoped her team could recover from the recent clusterfuck fast enough to deal with this new visitor if it proved to be yet another adversary…

---

Had it only been a matter of Morganite and Pearl, Earthshaker could have handled it without issue. Even if Pearl shot her mid-leap, Roche was ready for it and would have absorbed the shot right then and there with her bare arm. Yet that focus was too narrow when the GEMS were so numerous, and once again in minutes of the first sucker punch, another took the Rule Keeper without Shatterscape to intervene.

The glimmer of gold under the iridescent lighting of a city by night was the only herald Roche had for the incoming strike, and unlike with Pearl, she wasn't prepared for it. They struck her with mercy, and the kiss of each shaft piercing her brought neither pain nor blood. How bizarre that one like Pearl could be so exceedingly lethal yet they had an Archer who could only strike at the heart in it's purest form.

Each puncture roused not pain, but memory. An attack upon her emotions, turning recollections of joy into a tool to undermine her own resolve. She faltered before it as rage was bludgeoned and battered under flashes of joy. Those moments she held dear roused not by her will, but the impetus of another to smother her heart under a heavy blanket of warmth. The Rulekeeper's fist unfurled, brushing against a floating shield in passing before coming down upon a patch of grass.

A softer fall then one would expect in such a furious trace, the folliage watered with the overflowing tears that were ripped from her by Topaz's magic. It left her with a feeling of fulfillment she had long been denied. An acceptance like her father's arm around her once more. The laughter of friends who cherished her for company. The feel of Shuuko's lips against her, meeting in a dance as old as time without any fear in their hearts.

Roche felt it all. With hot, salty tears rolling down her cheeks, Nyxia beside her with a trepidation that far more real. Because Roche knew that her friendships were not ones so lofty as exist without give and take. The club would have turned from her had she not the strength to be of use, and the desperation to bear her throat to them when the time called for it.

She knew Shuuko's fears ran so deep, and scared her so deeply, that the vulnerability would not fade for so fresh a crush as Roche's.

She knew her family was dead, and she could never have the innocence and safety she took for granted.

But most of all, Roche had felt Suki's poisonous touch warp her mind with love and lust aplenty. Try to drown resolve with bliss and humiliate her as just another conquest. To know the body and spirit could be turned against oneself, and only the mind would remain. Resistance was a losing gambit. Denial and suppression failed when the flesh was as weak as the spirit.

So the Rulekeeper didn't deny the happiness the arrows had wrought. She accepted, wept for it, and looked beyond it. Roche wanted those feelings, but Suki had taught her to want them on her terms, and her terms alone.

"I'm...Pretty fucked up right now." Earthshaker breathed, her voice hoarse and scratchy. Weak, even to her own ear. Bloodshot eyes and glistening cheeks turned to Nyxia, expression morphing into a wry, depreciating grin as she saw her partner so off kilter. Feeling her hand against her own shoulder was a relief threatening to plunge her heart back into that poisonous joy that wanted her to succumb. To drown in a lie till she couldn't even dream of facing the cruelty of reality.

Roche took in all the discomfort plain upon Nyxia's face and focused instead on how much it unsettled her to do even that much. It made it...tolerable. Enough so to rise to her feet.

"Those arrows bombard your heart with lies. Everything you could ever want. Every happy memory you...you know can't come back, till you don't have the strength left but to weep at how beautiful it would be to live in that delusion. You....You must not let them hit you, Norika. Please, don't even get grazed."

Because the city was going to have a hard time surviving what Roche would do to the GEMS. A Nyxia who experienced even a glimmer of her brother's love, only to have it torn from her by cruel reality? If Rei didn't strike her down in a heartbeat, there wouldn't be much of a Miso City left.

Magical Girls were beings of emotion, after all. The Light Girls clung to the pretty ones without substance, those lofty notions of Righteousness, Love, and Justice. They acted with surety in their actions, but it made them feel untouchable. Dark Magical Girls were a more realistic bunch. All that tripe was like junk food congealing in their veins, slowing them to a bawling mess.

So Roche looked at all of Topaz's happiness and asked herself, 'How happy would I be once the GEMS feel free to run this city?'

Her eyes turned to the direction she saw the arrows come from. Knowing it was a threat she couldn't stomach any other Club Member to suffer from. With a curl of her fist her shield was in hand once more while the other pointed in the direction of Topaz.

"I'm so tired of being smacked around without a chance to fight back. I'm exhausted from letting someone else make the first blow. Nyxia, can you do me a favor and shoot my shield over there? I need to break a few rules tonight."

With a leap Roche was airborne, turning to hold her shield out towards Nyxia to catch a ride towards the distant Archer and whomever else was waiting there for her. Drawing power from the laser itself, a bright light show that would be impossible to miss even through the swarm of Eyeballs above.

For Evil Eye, there was nothing to be done but to keep flying. Other things were happening elsewhere, and some of those things were unprecedented, but her one good eye was keeping watch for another hail of arrows while the other engaged Diamond, intent on rescuing Tsubomi. She could only engage with her top priority so long as she continued to be preoccupied with combat. The Club was scattered like mice, and the GEMs were obviously both more coordinated than them and more coordinated than a typical light girl team. Why did she leave Tsubomi alone? What could ever make her think that would be fine?

Being able to see everything is kinda creepy, Aisha. You need to let people have some space.

Be quiet. You're dead to me. If I was there, I could have done more. I should have.

Tsubomi... never called me a voyeur. She never told me to fuck off.

If she had just been there... If nothing else, she wouldn't have to worry about becoming the next target of Rei's ire and Suki's disappointment—because she would have died before letting the GEMs take one of them alive, and even most dark girls had enough courtesy to not speak ill of the dead. If nothing else, she could have poured all of her power into this newest creation instead of keeping half for a potential face-off against the frog girl. Just how strong did she think she was, anyway? Hadn't she got it through her thick skull yet that she was too weak to protect anyone? And because of her weakness, she had to show blind trust to a light girl who took pity on dark girls. Pathetic—like an overfunded, underperforming scientist seeking companionship from a lab rat.

I won't let this happen.

Delusional. Prideful. A part of her had surely known this could happen. Tsubomi had been targeted before. It was like they knew that she was vulnerable, and that made her the perfect bait. Her trap had been sprung perfectly, but she never expected the girl to just take her and run. She'd known that it could happen, but was too proud to think that it would. As always, there had been an unforeseen factor. Something had escaped the notice of the 'all-seeing eye' of the Detention Club.

No! It's true that I wanted the GEMs to make a reckless move, but I didn't use Tsubomi like that. I'm not so cruel.

But that was a lie. Evil Eye was a ruthless girl, and she could not help but scheme, and scheme dangerously.

I can't... think about this right now. I have to hurry.

---

The 13-Eyed Titan became swarmed with Mogall. They attached to it, replacing the eyes that had perished, and it once again began to speed up. The smaller eyes were more than simple turrets; they were propelling it along as it levitated through the air, and now that it had recovered its speed, it began to use its tendrils to lift itself up into the air, intent on overtaking the cart and planting its body in front of Diamond. If it were allowed to succeed in gaining ground over Diamond, the tendrils on its backside would be poised to reach out and seize the cart. Unlike Hizuki, it seemed that Evil Eye was no longer interested in trying to persuade the GEMs to back down peacefully.

Diamond scoffed. "Those who play with the emotions of others, or defile a resort for their own personal gain, are undeserving of chivalry. No rest for the wicked as they say." As Hizuki built up power, Diamond settled lower into her stance. Now she looked like a samurai, with her bat resting on her hip. She tightened her grip as her gloves filled with sweat. "I’m not opposed to settling this without violence. But your people would need to be willing-" But there was a shift in the stoic batter’s features. Her eyes went wide, her mouth curled in horror, and she might have shouted Hizuki’s name if she knew it. Instead, the next thing Hizuki heard was a shriek that vaguely sounded like Oros the Joyful.

"She’s suffered ENOUGH!"

In the time it took Hizuki to blink, several red tendrils coiled around her calves and feet. She caught a glimpse of the figure that had taken hold of her. Their body was not visible, as every square inch of them was covered in blood, and that blood was taking on a shape of its own. The creature, as it wasn’t a person anymore, looked like the skeletal remains of a dinosaur. Perhaps a Velociraptor or a Deinonychus. At least the mask sort of had the elongated face and rows of teeth one would associate with those creatures. A human torso was housed inside its rib cage, and its arms and legs were made up of tendrils of blood, stretching like muscle fibers. It didn’t have a tail, but it’s back was covered in tiny red flowers. It was difficult to notice with just a glimpse, perhaps the sudden rush of adrenaline had affected Hizuki’s perception of time. Though there was little time to do anything else, even detonate her armor, before she was swung into the street like a medieval flail. The asphalt cracked beneath her, and a plume of stone and dirt rose up from the impact. Then she was flung back over its shoulder as it charged forth.

"Tch!"

Diamond raised her bat just as a tendril threatened to impale her head. She was able to dig her feet into the concession stand enough that blocking the blow gave them some more momentum. But it seemed to realize this, as her tendrils coiled around the concession stand she stood on. Between the approaching eye and whatever that thing was, it seemed like it would be a good time to flee. With a grunt, the batter picked up Tsubomi again and hopped back onto the road, picking up speed as she did so. Meanwhile, the creature’s razor-like tendrils raced around the concession stand like a chain saw, and showered the ground with sparks. Before long, the contraption was bisected and trampled underfoot.

…

Topaz floated down to Kaeru’s side, still watching the chaos unfold. "Hot damn, looks like that one needs some lovin’ somethin’ fierce! Not that the big ol' eye is any better." She drew an arrow and pulled it tight. "Last chance to take shelter, but if yer here, I think we could team up for a little bit, hmmm?"

---

The lines had all been read, and Acid Drop's hand was around Tsubomi's throat, squeezing tightly. She could still breathe just fine, but it was uncomfortable and added to the pain in her skull.

"I don't get it."

"Of course you don't. But don't worry," the hand tightened its grip even more, "We'll keep going over it until it's stuck in our memory."

As if it had itself been an actor waiting for its cue, the darkness around them began to coalesce into an orb not much bigger than Tsubomi's palm. As the wisps began to move they donned their costumes, the various colors of the world, the final result reminiscent of a disco ball toy. As the hand on Tsubomi's neck loosened just slightly, the multicolored orb burst outward, blinding her.

When her eyes reopened, the theater was back, built around her in a perfect recreation of its former self. And she and Acid Drop sat once more in a box seat, high above the stage that stood with its curtains closed. Countless Miseria of various shapes stormed in, piling into the seating on the ground floor. Once they had all found a seat, the curtains opened slowly, the spotlight shining in the center of the stage on a lone Miseria wearing a paper mask. It bore a crudely drawn girl with blonde hair and sat under a clearly tattered and torn wedding veil.

"Let's see how well you remember. The title is..."

But Tsubomi merely shook her head. She didn't know the title. She had only seen the front cover of the script once.

"Welcome, dear guests! Tonight we will be performing, for its once in a lifetime debut, a show that is sure to delight you! We hope that you enjoy our little performance! Without further ado, we present: 'Flowering'!" Having said her(?) introduction, the Miseria on the stage bowed and the spotlight died out. The audience began clapping, but soon hushed themselves as the first actors took the stage.


Tsubomi could hear the ticking of a clock. It didn't seem to be correct, being faster than one tick per second. With each one, her headache lessened slightly, until after what seemed like a handful of minutes had passed, her pain was gone. But the stage, which had been cleared of props just before the ticking started, stood empty the entire time. She could hear the audience murmuring. The ticking continued.

Finally another actor appeared on stage, bearing a Suki mask. She stood still in the center of the stage for a few moments before Actor Drop as Tsubomi ran out and grabbed her by the arm, rushing her offstage. Immediately after they left, several more actors appeared as if from nothingness. The scene that played out was reminiscent of the beach fight, starting with the sand statue being made from Paper Mâché and more of the ketchup with red food coloring, and ending with Acid Drop speaking to Tsubomi afterwords, though both were once more played by two new Miseria.

It was at this time that Tsubomi noticed the hand around her neck was gone. She wondered why that was, but didn't look away from the stage to check. The play was still going, after all, and Acid Drop had made it clear that that not watching it fully was rude.


Acid Drop returned to her seat next to Tsubomi, holding a bag of popcorn and a drink. Tsubomi was about to comment when the curtains raised again.


"This seems familiar." The actual Tsubomi said to the Acid Drop eating popcorn next to her.

The curtains fell once more.

"I-"

"Shut up, the final act is starting."

Four Acts? A Kishōtenketsu? Wait... When did Tsubomi learn that term?


In the box seat, Tsubomi felt a shift nearby as the line was delivered. She could see Acid Drop leaving through the door to the seating from the corner of her eye. Unsure why she was leaving, she turned back to the stage. She blinked once. The instant her eyes closed, they were nearly blinded by light. And when they opened, everything had shifted.



In the waking world, Acid Drop's malformed smile faded into nothingness.

---

Confusion, then startlement. Something around her boosters. Fear, then pain. Metal screeched and plates buckled as the bulky form of her armor hit the pavement. Parts tore themselves free, other components were crushed out of existence, the lonely girl's barrier against the rest of the world spraying out in all directions in jagged steel and torn wiring. Another spike of all the previous emotions when she was airborne again, the inside of her visor displaying a cascade of warnings she was too bewildered to read.

It took a fair amount of focus to wind up her thrusters like this. For lack of a better term, it wasn't very natural. Her spirit, and thus her magic, longed to be free to soar through the skies. With that focus broken, and the armor now letting its mechanical guts fly around the street, the energy had to go somewhere. What remained of the oversized jets on her legs ripped themselves apart in staccato, energy rushing irregularly and uncontrollably out wherever it found - or made - a path. Yet another blast of shrapnel ripped into the pavement as the detonation flung Hizuki forward - or up, or left, she couldn't tell - straight toward a wall. She barely had an instant to feel the sting of failure and betrayal both before the unforgiving concrete rushed up to meet her.

---

So stubborn! What the hell do you want with her?!

Diamond wasn't backing down. She wasn't dropping Tsubomi and fleeing. The only cold comfort was that so far she wasn't using her like one would expect a hostage to be used, either. Her only goal seemed to be to lose the Mogall's line of sight. At least, if she had a destination in mind, Evil Eye lacked the information to take a guess at it, and as the rest of the Club got desperate, so did she.

The 13-Eye-Titan instinctively reached for Hizuki, trying to stop her runaway flight, but after missing two or three times came to the conclusion that this task was beyond the abilities its creator had given it. It diverted its attention back to Diamond, trailing behind Oros. The great eye closed, and it seemed to gradually disappear in a heat haze, cloaking itself as it had done before within the midst of the smaller Mogall. What advantage it hoped to gain from this while its position was still roughly marked by the swarm defending it remained to be seen.

Wait for me, Tsubomi. I have one more card to play.

This one is going to work. No light girl can resist.

---

As Diamond approached the next major intersection, a nefarious sight would greet her. Evil Eye had descended from the cloud of eyes high above. Some of them accompanied her, struggling together to carry the weight of a schoolgirl, holding her several stories high. She wore the uniform of Hibusa High, and had long black hair—but that described just about every high school girl in Japan. It would be hard to tell from the ground if it was someone the Club knew. Even so, just how far was she willing to go?

One of the Mogall let go of the girl's arm, and it dropped unceremoniously, pointing straight toward the pavement. The girl was not struggling, and likely unconscious. Evil Eye wore a sinister smirk. The threat was unspoken and obvious. If Evil Eye allowed the Mogall to drop this girl, Diamond would have to let go of Tsubomi to catch her.

Two can play this game.