---

---

Suki was. . . probably not going to be fine, but it seemed like she wanted space. As much as the light girl wanted to help, it seemed like she was the absolute worst suited to the task when it came to Suki.

Really, it was starting to feel like specifying that last bit was pointless. She'd evidently done something to engender Michi's ire, despite her best efforts. Roche and Shuuko were probably going to hate her after this; after all, it'd been her insistence that brought Black Gate right up to the Club's vulnerable underbelly so she could tear into it, as she was doing now. There was a nonzero chance Rei chased her off for her meddling after this, assuming the Demon of Hibusa even cared enough about her existence to think about doing so.

Haruna glanced back at the club table for a moment. . . only to realize the absolute chaos that had erupted behind her. Furthermore, Kiyo - no, Evil Eye - had flown right up to Acid Drop, with a speed that made Haruna wonder how the dark girl hadn't clipped her on the way over. Right. The person she'd had to work the hardest to convince to trust Michi, who looked out for the Club while pretending she was just some sort of voyeur.

Normally, she probably would have worried about looking crazy in front of a mundane student. Right now, though? Who cared?

"No, I fucked up. This is all my fault."

Despite her hatred for the servant staff, Norika couldn’t help but feel relieved when she realized the maid lying on the floor before her was merely unconscious, and not dead. However, that relief soon turned to shock when the woman began speaking, soon joined by her prone companion, causing Norika to quickly recoil backwards. It soon became apparent that both women were simply dreaming, but what insights their words gave as to the contents of said dreams was enough to replace Norika’s shock wth a mixture of disgust and horror.

W-What the fuck…? the sickly girl wondered, her face contorted in a look of utter revulsion that was more suited to her magical alter ego.

Yet, she wouldn’t have long to ponder the disturbing scene before her, as the maids’ mumblings were joined by the ever-louder sounds of marching feet. And then, animalistic screeches. Her bewilderment at an all time high, Norika grabbed her cane and crawled back to her nearby room as quickly as her meager strength would allow. Slipping inside and closing the door until only a small slit remained, she peeked through it to see what form of creatures had invaded her home. To her horror, the source of the strange sounds revealed themselves as shadowy, simian-like creatures. They jumped on the sleeping maids but didn’t seem to be harming them. Even so, their presence here, in broad daylight, was concerning in the extreme, and couldn’t be allowed. Even if they weren’t Miseria, but just part of some elaborate scheme to get her to reveal to some unknown party that she was, indeed, a magical girl, Norika knew she couldn’t just let these creature run rampant through her home. Thus, when they began moving towards her hiding place, the sickly girl was about to transform on the spot and do a bit of housekeeping of her own.

However, just before she could do so, a weapon of some sort shot down the corridor and annihilated several of the shadow monkeys. As a second volley finished off the rest, a wide-eyed Norika’s dizzy mind raced to determine the attack’s source. Even if she didn’t pay particularly close attention to the other members of the club, aside from Roche, she was pretty sure none of them employed magic or weapons like the shimmering, almost ethereal rings she was currently witnessing make short work of the home invaders. Maybe they were the work of the new girl, Hizuki, she pondered. After all, the high tech light girl seemed to have plenty of interesting tricks up her proverbial sleeve. Perhaps this was one of them? But shouldn’t she be in school right now? More to the point, what were these shadowy simians, anyway, and why had they infiltrated her home? They didn’t seem to be Miseria. Were they some of The Voyeur’s dark constructs?

T-That fucking bitch… Norika seethed, her teeth grinding together as fright was replaced by fury. If she sent those things to spy on me…

Yet, that line of thinking was obliterated just as swiftly as the penumbral primates had been, when her “rescuer” rounded the corner. Striding down the hallway was a figure wearing an odd outfit, and wielding a strange gun of some sort. Upon closer inspection, he was a young boy, one who looked to be around the same age as…

F-Finn?!

While his hair was different, along with many of his facial features, there were enough similarities that Norika was almost certain that this apparent magical boy and her highly suspicious tutor were one and the same. Her certainty only grew when she heard him speak. Although he called himself “Fable”, his voice was unmistakably Finn’s. But then, what did this mean? Who had sent the penumbral primates, and who was Fable working for? Were they allies or enemies? Even the boy’s words to some unknown party provided precious little insight, aside from the confirmation that the shadow monkeys were definitely not Miseria. Norika was forced to put her ruminations on hold a moment later, when Fable began moving closer to her room. With a gasp, she rapidly moved away from the door and clambered back into her bed. Like a child trying to avoid being caught staying up past her bed time, Norika pulled the covers over her head, hiding her shuddering body and pretending to be asleep as she waited to see what would happen next.

After what seemed like an eternity of listening to the sound of her pounding heart, but was actually only a few seconds, she heard the door slowly open. Peeking from beneath the sheets, she saw Fable peering into the room, only to watch the boy retreat a moment later, her ruse apparently having fooled him. Through the door, she could faintly hear him conversing with his unknown ally again, noting that the dark magical girl responsible for the monkey minions did not appear to be nearby, bringing Norika some small measure of relief. Still, she had no idea what she should do next. Fable had mentioned that Hibusa High might also be in danger, and although she knew Roche and the rest of the Detention Club were more than capable of taking care of such minor foes, the possibility of finding whoever summoned them, and subsequently letting that individual know just how much she hated having their disgusting creations in her house, was quite appealing. Then again, if she transformed and left the house now, it would very likely confirm to Fable, and whoever else might be watching her home, that she truly was a magical girl, thwarting all her work to conceal her identity in one fell stroke. Understandably, this was something Norika wished to avoid at all costs.

Decisions, decisions…

---

The Rulekeeper had thought she was intervening to do her duty to the club, trying to drive Michi out without escalating it to the realm of full Magical Girl action. It was flagrant bullying to the mundane eye, rubbing aggressively with the line of what could be buried for the sake of the school's prosperity. She'd not have even dared to do that much if she wasn't certain Michi wasn't even a student there.

All that went out the window the moment she spoke terrible, dreadful truths. Things no one should have known with the fullness of fact, save the Fire Dragon and her allies. It made no sense that Regina's group would be trying to provoke a conflict like this when she had already reached out to bury the hatchet, and had plenty of kindling to burn them all if she didn't desire a peaceful resolution.

Roche was pulled between fight or flight, eyes darting from the viper whose poisoned words found all the wrong ears to the club members besides her. None of whom were those directly threatened by Ashbringer, but Ember....Oh Ember, she was the one at the closet. That meant Sylvia would know in due time, regardless of Michi's actions. Tension pulsed at the forefront of her skull, throbbing with racing of her mind as she staggered against the table that failed to flip under Hotaru's outburst.

A weight in her windbreaker clinked against the table and she fished it out, looking down at a possible escape from this dilemma. The very Magic 8-Ball she'd purchased from Satan was held before her and she shook it with an edge of mania-

"Ow!" Roche yelped, the ball falling from her hand as she cradled a cut and weeping finger. The source of which was made appearent as the orb turned end over end, revealing a shattered portal bereft of fluids or answers, it's contents drained and offering no answer in her time of need.

Her horror deepened, lips quivering as she fell into an ajar chair, unable to pry her gaze from the lifeless ball. I think I get it. Tou-san, I see why you left.

"I've only done what I can to save everyone here." The Rule Keeper's voice was fragile and distant, not directing her words at any one person. Indecision had crippled her and she drowned in her emotions, cut finger dripping onto her lap.

”Bold words for someone who is being selfish and disruptive herself.” While Ember’s voice remained calm, on the inside, she broke out in cold sweat. Not only did Michi seem to be extremely strong - being able to hold her wrist - she also seemed to have information about everything inside the school at least. And if the blue ribbons were also tied to her, along with the strange happenings in the school, then she was at least on the scale of Ashbringer. Which means they needed to tread carefully here.

”Shuuko, don’t attack her just yet,” she said to her other self.

”Screw her!” Hotaru snarled back. ”Why shouldn’t I when she’s being an asshole?!”

”Because you’re playing straight into her hand.” Or at least so she assumed. She could have been wrong, but at least her sentence made the warrior pause. ”If this really is all your doing - and I don’t see why it wouldn’t be - then you’ve gone about it in the most callous way I have ever seen. Do not get me wrong, I have my own fair share of dark and dirty secrets, but never before have I seen someone so desperate to show the seeds of discord amongst us. Well, I am telling you, as long as I am here, I will resist that.”

”Roche, even if what she says is true, we can talk afterwards. You can explain it. We are the Detention Club after all, aren’t we? We aren’t exactly in the business of doing good deeds.” Ember flashed a nervous grin towards Earthshaker. Hopefully, the tribal girl along with Kiyo would understand what she was doing and move accordingly.

While Michi was only using her words, it did feel like an attack on the detention club, or possibly even the entire school. At least, to everyone who wasn’t Tsubomi. She was trying to clean up the goth girl with a napkin while apologizing on behalf of the club, but Michi didn’t even look at her. Nor was she particularly interested in Roche, who was undergoing her own sort of crisis at the moment. The only one, or the only half, that confronted Michi directly was Ember and Hotaru.

"All I’ve done is spoken the truth. All I wanted was for everyone to have a good day. I refuse to take responsibility for the actions of you and yours." She tipped her head as Ember spoke to Roche, then clicked her tongue. "How trite. I suppose I can’t be surprised that a fraction of a person has the depth of a child’s cartoon." Her eyes drifted onto Evil Eye.

Then she snapped.

A gang of nightmares saundered into the cafeteria. One of them had a mop, and another was pulling a mop bucket behind himself. Once they arrived at Evil Eye’s location they started to mop up the tears. There was something odd about the water. It had a multichromatic sheen to it, like bubble blowing soap, but a stronger effect. The ape dipped the mop in the bucket and started to wipe up the tears. It must have been strong soap, because it completely dissolved the darkness in her tears.

"Next time I’ll give you something to actually cry about." Then, without looking, she grabbed Tsubomi by the back of her shirt and hoisted her up in the air. "Hands off, or I’m feeding you your fingers." she said before dropping her on the ground, and allowed her to stumble back. "Hmmm." Michi’s eyes focused on Tsubomi. "Oh, you have no idea why I’m upset, do you?" She looked at Ember. "Why I could possibly hate someone who has the same goal as me." She looked back at Tsubomi. It was true, while she had gotten heated with Suki, Tsubomi could feel the anger radiating off of her now. It was practically a blinding rage. "I get the impression that you don’t like it when things are straightforward. I think you enjoy spectacle. I think it’s your language. And what could be more spectacular than a play?" She raised her hands up to her shoulders. "Don’t worry, this one is improv. Mostly. No one needs a script. We just need some actors. And for the first scene, we’ll have Ember play the part of Norah, Hotaru as Norah’s friend number one, Zassou can be an extra, and Tsubomi can play as… Tsubomi."

She clapped twice.

Ember, Hotaru, Zassou, Tsubomi, and Michi vanished in a puff of smoke. Then a short distance away, a stage appeared. It was a very crude stage. It was a simple wooden platform made out of some crates, with some shower curtains acting as theater curtains. But they drew themselves back with the majesty of the genuine article, and revealed the set. It was just as crude as everything else, with the backdrop being a child’s render of a nightclub in crayon. Lots of black, with rays of light emerging from the scribbled out crowd in the background. A disco ball hung from the ceiling, but it was wrapped in Christmas lights. Not very lively for a rave, and the addition of so few actors didn’t help matters.

Ember and Hotaru were together at the left side of the stage. While Hotaru still looked like Shatterscape, Ember was wearing a flowing white dress, and her long hair was combed straight.

Zassou was in the middle of the stage directly under the disco ball, still transformed as Acid Drop. Michi was standing in front of her, but was looking off the stage at the rest of the cafeteria.

And Tsubomi was by herself at the right, with no alterations to her outfit.

"Zassou?" Michi handed her a water bottle. "Miracles" was written on it with a permanent marker. "Please hand this prop to Tsubomi."



"Ummmm…" Misoka looked between Haruna and Suki. One had insisted that she fucked up, and the other seemed to be equally dejected. The honor student sighed. "Well, okay." She placed her hands on the table when she addressed Haruna. "Did you want to talk about it?"

"It’s because of me."

"I um, didn’t think you wanted to talk about it?" Misoka added a nervous chuckle.

"It’s okay. I've been such a bother already." Suki wasn’t looking at anyone, and was tracing a circle on the table with her finger. "Even though everyone’s wearing a ribbon for me today, I noticed some of my closest friends weren’t. I got a little upset, but I see I was being unreasonable."

"Ah." Misoka raised an eyebrow. "Well, I’m sure they just didn’t know. Right?" Misoka looked back at Haruna, or where she hoped the girl was.

---

Zassou blinked, not in surprise, but definitely in recognition. Once again she had realized that it was much harder to remember where people were without being able to sense the emotions coming from them.

That's right, Haruna was untransformed. She suddenly stopped, a few steps away from the seat next to Misoka. While she was thinking if that made as much sense, Kiyo stopped herself from running over Zassou to make her rushed request.

"Mm. I'll try. I haven't been able to sense anything with my magic today, though." At least, except for that spark from Tsubomi earlier. She blindly tried to reach out with her magic to start giving those with blue ribbons positive feelings, but without being able to target them by their present emotions, she couldn't seem to manage it.

Zassou quickly raised her hand to try to focus further on those Kiyo had asked her to affect. If she couldn't grab them all at once, maybe one at a time? As she pointed to the nearest one, other than Misoka, she once more looked at her hand. "Too normal."

Maybe a change of perspective would help? The apathetic magi held out her palm, to her view bringing a group of mundane students to rest on it. But even when she closed her fist, she couldn't find any evidence that their emotions had been changed.

Something was nagging at her mind. If Tsubomi's Sweet Arm had been a scalpel, then even if it was warped now, was affecting many people at once the way it should be used? She supposed she'd have to try anyway, or it'd be too late. But first...

Zassou turned to Haruna, her hand outstretched with the palm up as if asking her to take it. A second later, her hand closed, and Haruna felt Zassou's, Tsubomi's, magic wrap itself around her. The Light Girl would have just enough time to notice that she was feeling more clear-headed, more calm, before Acid Drop disappeared like a car on a stage.

---

As soon as Tsubomi was airborne, her mind raced to find a way to fight back. Then how about a foot up your ass instead?

But the thought split its own way onto a side road as she was dropped and barely caught her balance. Soon enough, it replaced the wild flailings of ill intent being thrown Michi's direction by Tsubomi's subconscious with a new thought: 'The same goal?' And if that was so, why was she as angry as... well, herself up until this morning? Better question, how many times can I stab this girl before she bleeds out?

The goth girl before her continued her monologue without waiting for Tsubomi to try to find out. If she had been bodied for the past almost-year, she may have still had the instincts to lunge at the goat-girl. As it was, she simply stood there as she was talked down to further.

Then she was gone, having heard the roles but not given time to think about them.

---

"Mm." Acid Drop dutifully took the water bottle, looking over it as she rolled it in her hands.

This all seemed familiar, but she played the role she was undoubtedly unsuited for and walked over to Tsubomi to pass off her liquid baton.

For her part, the original identity recognized the bottle. At the same time that her eyes brought in the stimulus, her mind understood the 'setting' of the play. But things were too hazy for her to parse why the curtains were blue.

Consciously, she knew that this mirrored a memory of hers, one that Zassou didn't share. Like all her old memories, before the weed had grown its roots inside her, they were there, things she could see like old half-burnt photographs. But at this point, this one was more ash than paper. She'd tried her best to salvage it, but charcoal rubbings didn't show the contents of the matte paper no matter how hard she pressed.

Zassou stood still in front of her origin as the latter attempted to reminisce. She couldn't help but wonder what was taking her so long, why she was staring at the bottle for so long. At least she could understand the irony of that.

She could also understand, to some level, what must have been going through her mind. After watching that performance, put on by such talented Miseria, she had a rough understanding of the last time Tsubomi had been in such a place. At least, she assumed that's what the backdrop implied. Did that mean that the goth girl had been in attendance? She didn't remember seeing her in the seating...

Having glared a hole in the plastic, Tsubomi made up her mind. Her mind. What a wonderful concept. She couldn't decide if that meant she should be glad that the girl in black seemed to be trying to help her remember something from it, or if she should be furious that she would imply she knew anything about it when its owner had so little of it left. After another few seconds, she had made her choice.

"Sure, let's play along. Nobody here wants to watch, anyway."

"The verdict can wait." Evil Eye's admonition was short and not very heartfelt. She wanted to say something about the fact that she and Roche were the gatekeepers of Club membership, but decided she would rather not feed into the negative spiral Michi was creating. She seemed to feel many things, pulling her in different directions, but none of those feelings amounted to any action. She wanted to protect the Club. She wanted Michi to feel terror even if provoking her wasn't the smartest thing to do. She wanted to feel that her presence here was in any way justified, that she wasn't the reason everything was falling apart. She wanted to do something, anything useful.

When Tsubomi disappeared, all at once, Evil Eye's desires were silenced. The tears that had been unwillingly wiped away stopped coming, as if they had never represented her real feelings in the first place. The river of her turbulent emotions turned slow, like a rushing river rapid had become a creek of molasses. It clouded with a sediment of apathy—her desires became lost in the midst of it, like a crocodile's tears in a bayou full of filth. Only one thought made its way into her barren consciousness. Just do your fucking job.

She pulled out her cell phone and called Rei. The sun hadn't even set before Kiyo had added her to speed dial after Tsubomi had nearly been kidnapped. In some ways, it felt as if that day had never ended. It probably wouldn't matter, anyway. If she tried to flee, she would probably just find her way back to where Black Gate wanted her to be, to see whatever show she wanted to put on. If this wasn't a dream, and she could really call someone, would she be able to hear their voice? Still, though she felt as if nothing she could do would help, her checklist of contingencies remained, and needed to be marked off. Mechanically, she occupied the now-empty seat in front of her and held the speaker to her ear. She moved as if whatever had just happened inside her psyche wasn't unusual in the least.

---

---

Haruna blinked as the emotional riptide pulling her under suddenly abated, her mind turning glassy calm. She barely registered that Tsubomi had helped her before the dark girl winked away. She'd probably get swept up again later, but for now she was able to pull her thoughts in a useful direction. "She's right, Suki. I just didn't know, and neither did the others. I guess people only wanted to talk to one member of the Detention Club." She forced a smile, despite the situation. "I know it doesn't mean a whole lot to you, since. . . well, as far as I can tell, you aren't actually a big fan of me, but I do want to be your friend, you know. You can be a lot of fun to be around, and you care a lot about Tsubomi without expecting much of anything in return."

She glanced down. ". . . Honestly, I can't really deny what Michi said about me, not without thinking about it a whole lot more. Maybe it's selfish of me to always want to help the way I do. It doesn't really matter, though, because it's still not fair to say that I only hang out with you because I enjoy your suffering. I came here to help you and the rest of the club out, but I'm staying because, well, I think I'm finally starting to get along with you guys."

Haruna turned to Misoka, and gave the other girl a swift, apologetic bow. "I'd love to accept your offer to hang out, but I have something I need to do." With that, Haruna beelined for the nearest corner to duck around. She didn't even bother to make sure nobody was watching on the other side before transforming.

---

---

Hizuki flew back around the corner, putting more effort into not shooting through a wall by accident than moving up to Michi quickly. "This needs to stop, now. Whatever you're doing, Miss Gate, it's gone too far. I'm not going to let you keep saying such horrible things to the club, and I'm definitely not letting you summon a giga miseria here of all places. So cut it out, because I don't want to have to make you stop. Please." Her expression was plaintive underneath her visor, even as she took a fairly threatening pose. "I'm sorry if I pushed you too hard to come here, but messing with everyone like this isn't right."

Suki watched Haruna as she explained herself. Misoka seemed a little surprised that Haruna’s mood had improved so quickly, but simply let her finish speaking. And once Haruna was done speaking, she departed.

"That was… So yes!" Misoka forced a smile and looked back at Suki. "There you have it! It was just a misunderstanding!"

"She was lying."

Misoka looked around. "I don’t think she was, she sounded very sincere."

"She’s a very good liar, and she only lies to make people feel better."

"Maybe. But everyone lies, Suki. I even tell lies like that." It did occur to Misoka that Suki usually avoided her at all costs. She had suspected that Suki was avoiding her because she tended to play pranks on people and just didn’t want to deal with one of her victims, but maybe there was something else at play here. "I know she was being truthful when she said she wanted to be your friend. But what’s this about you not being her biggest fan?"

"I don’t know." Suki groaned. "I mean she makes me feel a little uncomfortable sometimes, but I think I’ve been nice to her for the most part."

"Uncomfortable?"

"Yea." She looked up. "She reminds me of someone I used to know."

"Who were they?"

The delinquent hesitated. "Nobody you’d know."

Misoka pursed her lips. "What were they like?"

"A cyborg."

"E-excuse me."

"If you don’t mind, I kind of don’t want to talk about it anymore. It looks like a play started." Suki propped up her head with her hand.

"Oh, well, that’s fine." Reluctantly, Misoka turned to look at the play. "Is that Tsubomi up there?"

Suki didn’t answer.

Elsewhere, Evil Eye made a phone call. Likely to someone she never wanted to ask for help. Perhaps the stranger part was that she got a response.



"Evil Eye, Interesting." That was Schrade’s voice, and the echoes of steel could only be her scythe meeting with an equally powerful opponent. "One moment, I’m going to put you on speaker."

This was a lie.

Rei did not put herself on speaker, she started a video call and cast aside her phone. The angle was not especially flattering, with the shot mostly focused on the ceiling. But Evil Eye had seen the club room enough times to know that was where Rei was. There was just enough of a bookshelf in view with Suki’s manga spilling off the top shelf. Shrade leapt up into the air and gripped her scythe with both hands, then Black Gate slammed into her with her, brandishing a puppet in each hand.

It went without saying that there was something off here. The real question was if, and what, Evil Eye was going to do about it.

Once all the tears were cleaned up, the janitor monkeys looked up at Evil Eye. Possibly anticipating her next move, possibly reminding her that they were watching.

Next to an adjacent table, some of the students started to speak.

"Sooooooooo, unsurprisingly, it looks like Misoka got picked."

"Why did we even bother signing up again?" They both laughed.

"Maybe someone else will come along later."

"Huh."

"What?"

"Was there supposed to be a play?"

"I don’t think so. The theater club should still be rehearsing. Not to mention their props are a little bit better than that."

"Right. Wonder what it’s about."

"I mean, we could watch it."

"Yea, that was what I was implying."

"It looks spooky! Would you like to hold my hand?"

"...Sure."



With Tsubomi being a square that didn’t wanna rough up anyone, Willow needed to find another avenue of excitement. Unfortunately, it looked like everything was being handled by someone, so she decided to peak over Evil Eye’s shoulder.

"Oh hey! Look at her go!" She looked away from the phone and at Evil Eye. "You know she was not that hard to fight when I got my hands on her. I think Rei might be slackin’!"



Michi gave the twins a nod once the bottle had been handed off, and then looked ahead. Of course Hizuki was there, threatening her. Any normal person would only see Michi scowling at the open air. Maybe that was why she chose to ignore her for now and focus on the students below. Yet she still had two magical girls up on stage, one of which just handed a bottle off to Tsubomi.

"I’m not summoning anything." She mumbled, just loud enough for Hizuki to hear. Then Michi lifted her head and spoke to the room. "Is everyone having a good day? Maybe you’ve had better, maybe you will have better, Maybe you don’t think today is good at all. I was told by a few people that they were not having a good day today, even though I worked hard to make today as good as I possibly could for them."

A girl sitting near the edge of the theater, one without a blue ribbon, looked up at Michi and smirked. "Is that why you look like a mop?" The joke was only "funny" enough to get her small clique of girls laughing. Tsubomi had done her best, but Michi had stopped her before she could be completely cleaned. "But seriously, who are you, and why should I care about some stupid play?"

While Michi looked reasonably agitated, her hate and desire to destroy was spreading across the room like a thick miasma. It practically choked out all other emotions in her vicinity. "You should care because you are a simple creature. You are ignorant of the world and what’s in it." Her eyes drifted away from the heckler. "This play is about my dear sister Norah, and what happened to her on a day like today."

The heckler was about to say something, but stopped when her chair was shoved into her table. When she turned to see who had bumped into her, there was a large gorilla in a suit and tie sitting behind her. She wisely chose not to say anything else.

"Our story starts on a Friday night. Most kids are planning sleepovers or going to stay up all night playing videogames, but not Norah. She plans to go to bed early so that she can wake up and do some extra studying. She also plans to go over my homework like she used to do before we were adopted. Also, it was our secret, but if I did good? We’d go to the bakery and get crepes early in the morning." She looked to Tsubomi. "Tsubomi was different too. She sold drugs to people. Not for the money, but because it made people happy."

On Tsubomi’s half of the stage, several ape extras hopped out from behind the shower curtains and landed around her. "Eyyyyyyyy!" one of them made gun fingers and pointed at her. "I hear ya got some ‘Miracles’ eh? Think ya could hook a brother up? Maybe a sistah?" Michi snapped her fingers, and Roche appeared on stage. She was still slumped in her chair. "My girl here could use a li’l TLC if ya know what I mean? Ah-heh-heh-HEH!"

With the play underway, Michi spoke to Hizuki in a hushed tone. "Why do you care so much about these sad sacks? Suki was asking for it, and I merely suggested we summon a giga miseria. Why are you assuming I’d do it in the school? Why does the detention club get a pass on everything!? Are you going to ask Roche to not throw food on people, or are threats of violence okay if it’s your friends are doing the bullying!?"

---

Aside from the snoring maids, all seemed to be quiet at the Tsukishima manor.

---

---

"I care about everyone, Michi. The Detention Club, the students here at school, all the people I go out and help every night, and you, too." She pitched her voice down to match, alighting on the ground and lowering her weapon. "No, bullying isn't okay. Yes, the Detention Club does bad things all the time. No, they don't actually get a pass on it. But, call me stupid or naiive or whatever, but I believe in the power of kindness. Do you think shouting at Suki for shoplifting is actually going to stop her? Is getting into a shouting match with Roche going to help her calm down?"

She let her rhetorical question hang in the air for just a second before continuing. "You're right, I shouldn't have assumed you would summon a giga miseria right here in school. I assumed that you wouldn't lay into everyone at the very first opportunity, but I was wrong about that, too, so I guess my intuition just isn't very good!" This last came out in an irate hiss. Hizuki took a steadying breath before she kept on. "I am grateful for you trying to give everyone a good day. I really am. But that doesn't mean you should be cruel when things don't work out as well as you hope. I don't care how much you want to destroy something, it's not right."

Norika waited, and waited, and then waited some more. The sounds of voices and combat could no longer be heard, but that didn’t mean some hidden spy wasn’t watching her at this very moment, waiting for her to slip up and reveal her deepest, most well-kept secret. But was she really content to simply hide in her room and pretend to be asleep while a battle against some dark magical girl’s minions transpired around her? “O-Oh, Kaito…” she whispered as she clutched her precious ray gun pendant. “W-What should I do?”

---

"Nobody here wants to watch, anyway." echoed through Acid Drop's mind. She supposed it was true, that she didn't want to watch whatever was about to be shown. She hadn't wanted to watch Tsubomi's repetitive shows either, when she was being carried by the bat-wielder.

As Michi spoke about her sister, Tsubomi simply stood still. She wasn't sure how the girl had learned what she knew, but it didn't matter, really. Whatever Michi thought she knew was irrelevant. To Tsubomi, it was obvious that she wasn't that 'drug' dealing person anymore.

But in the end, this was a play. A performance put on by actors. And what was an actor but someone pretending to be someone they weren't? So she ignored the desire to cringe at the lines and choreography, put on a smile, and stepped forward into her role on her way to Roche.

"Hey there," she began, pulling the cap off the bottle as she did, "Never seen you around before, but you're looking like shit." Tsubomi didn't have to try very hard to make that line convincing, with Roche's inner-conflict visible on her face.

With what would have once been a practiced pour, but now took far too much effort to measure the liquid correctly, Tsubomi filled the cap with some of the colored water, then held it out to the other girl.

"Dunno what's going on with you, but this'll help it, promise. Takes the edge off." Was that what the line was meant to be? Was that correct for the role she was playing? She wasn't sure. Knowing the motions didn't make them natural, and knowing the words didn't make them true. But she was sure that she was doing well enough that the untrained viewer wouldn't notice.

Zassou's right eye was dyed orange for a moment as she tilted her head to the side. She had no idea that Tsubomi used to be that way. Even now, after having been shown a performance going through the event, the first wearer of her skin had kept the memories of what actually happened out of reach. It was hard to believe that the rough girl had ever been that way, but she wasn't well-versed enough in the material to say that she wasn't.

Still, something told her that this wasn't quite right.

"No, I think most people are beyond helping with words." Michi answered Hizuki’s rhetorical question. That would be all she could get in before Haruna continued. The paladin was clearly agitated, despite what Tsubomi had done for her. Though she was able to prevent herself from getting too worked up before continuing her lecture. The mention of her innermost desires caused Michi’s brow to raise, if only briefly. "Ah, you know my desires too. Of course." A lazy smile crept across her face. "It must be useful to be able to understand others so easily." She placed a hand on her chest. "I can see what other people do, regardless of where it happens, but reading their innermost feelings or understanding why they do something is beyond my ability. Yet at the same time it’s so uncouth, isn’t it? You’re constantly looking at people’s most guarded secrets, like a voyeur." The corners of her lips curled into a scowl. "But what have you actually done with your gift? Have you made anyone happier?" She took a step towards the edge of the stage, with her foot partially off the edge. "Do you even know what it is that I want to destroy?"

---

The maids continued to remain unmoving, occasionally giving hints to what they were dreaming.

---

---

"If you believe that calling me a voyeur is going to get to me somehow, you're mistaken. I think about how to use this power responsibly every day." It wasn't as if she had much choice, either, as it wasn't something she could really turn off. Much like any other sense, she could muffle it, try not to focus on it, but it would still be there. "Because, to answer your second question, Michi, no, I don't. I haven't asked, and you haven't chosen to tell me. I wanted to make sense of it by getting to know you like anyone else would. I could probably dig it out if I really tried, but I chose to respect your privacy." She sighed.

"As for the first question. . . I'd like to think so. I put a lot of work into my nightly patrols, and into helping people here at school when I can. It's not always much, but as far as I can tell, everyone I help is happier for it." She glanced down for a moment, then back up at Michi. "I'd hoped you were included in that, too, even if I messed up a couple times. I guess you could have just been pretending so I'd keep doing what you wanted, but you seemed genuinely happy when we made stuffed cats." Hizuki shrugged. "So you tell me. Have I made anyone happier, Michi?"

---

By a stroke of magic that no one in the cafeteria was questioning, there was a theater and then there were actors upon it. Even Roche was upon it, slumped in the stiff cafeteria chair as those funny apes they’d spotted around town clamored behind her, making their allegiance known. Another mystery we unravel too late to matter.

For being the Detention Club’s city there were a shockingly swelling number of foreign agents acting with impunity, weaving a tapestry of manipulation that they were powerless to evade. Ashrbringer, the GEMS, and now Michi’s own ape network proved it could reach across their homes and touch upon their lives with impunity. The lives of each club member was like a raw and open wind exposed to the wind, unable to mend as the wound weeps angrily towards the relentless world.

Like the feeling of roasting alive as she thrust herself into the engines of that first Giga Miseria, yet it wasn’t fading. It festered and writhed till the discomfort was all she knew.

So Michi was aware of whatever she wanted to know and she had legions of minions to act on it? Yet another enemy having won the Magical Jackpot, and naturally she uses it to try and tear them down. It was only natural for a Dark Girl after all.

”Thank you, Tsubomi. I appreciate the offer.” Roche accepted the cap of offered water and knocked it back with nary a second glance. It was, after all, a prop offered by the monkey and not even something she’d infused with her magic. Even if it was, well, would it even matter once the dust settled and the club had a moment to turn their knives upon her?

The water did nothing for her mood, and she remained slump, as lifeless a prop as the chair she sat upon.

If there was any guidance Evil Eye sought from Rei, or any question she wanted to ask her, she wasn't able to find it. She looked around at the room, taking in the absurdity of it. Michi was still going on in her grandiose manner—a noted 180 degree turn from the shrinking violet persona—Hizuki, bless her, was still trying to negotiate. Everyone else was some degree of broken-hearted or demoralized before the battle had even truly begun, or simply not taking the situation seriously. Perhaps Michi truly didn't want to fight, but at this point, Evil Eye didn't really care what Michi wanted. She had disrupted the Club's "normal," and that was enough.

In amidst the confusion, there was one thing that stuck out to her as real, and that was the battle she saw once Rei picked up. Whatever Michi wanted to accomplish by putting on some play in front of the whole school, if it had nothing to do with summoning a giga miseria, was beyond Evil Eye's grasp. Why the whole school, including most of the Detention Club was willing to go along with it, she couldn't fathom. Defeating an obvious enemy was within her abilities to calculate. "Who cares. She's fighting the real battle while we're all wasting time here. Black was bold enough to try to overthrow our leader, so she's dangerous. Let's go," she replied to Willow.

She wouldn't be able to outpace Michi's minions while flying, so she had to take off on foot and hope that her ankle held up as well as it had on the way to school. She wasn't sure if she could really make a difference in the battle between those two, but staying here was probably what Black Gate wanted, and that was enough reason not to. Pure spite propelled her forward, and that was enough.

Willow made no sense as usual, so even though it left a pang in her heart, Sylvia did not respond. She had no idea how to handle her without Ember’s assistance, who seemed to be wrapped up in her own problems involving Hotaru. But Tsubomi…

”Look, you’re rightfully angry now and hopefully at whoever caused you that original harm…”

The sentence struck a chord deep inside Sylvia. Her furious tears kept rolling down her face, the pyre of her emotions only intensifying as she found the words she had been looking for. She had heard them countless times in her life from Ember, but the protector kept on insisting that it was her who was bad and… this whole time, she had been lied to. Hizuki told her. And it did not feel like she had been told a lie.

”There are no misunderstandings under the eyes of the gods,” Sylvia responded. ”There… there are only Them and… Their lies.” It still felt painful to say it. She also felt that Tsubomi had a point. Even if she said something that confused her, maybe she could just let it out. Sylvia did not want to act like Hotaru, but… Maybe for once, it was permissible. Maybe she would discover something again.

It would definitely hurt. But maybe she would be getting hurt for a worthy cause this time.

---

”If you truly wish for everyone for have a good day, then you should have talked with us instead of setting up whatever this scheme is, then unleash your wrath at Suki because she just so happens to not act according to the plan you concocted in your head.” Ember kept the razor edge in her voice even while her knuckles whitened. If she were honest, she would have loved to have Hotaru’s cooperation, or even Sylvia’s assurance that whatever happened, it would not be painful. She felt like worms crawled on her skin, but still forced herself to put on a mask.

”And you throw insults left and right as though they were salvation to be meted out by your truly merciful hand.” The schemer continued with biting sarcasm. However, before she could truly start trying to rip Michi apart at the metaphorical seams, Michi grabbed Tsubomi - who seemed to have been trying to pacify Michi for some reason - and shifted Ember along with Hotaru onto a stage.

What the hell.

Ember figured she knew a thing or two about teleportation, but this felt foreign to her. It was almost as though she moved through thick water, then deposited onto a shoddy stage which had not been there before. Which meant either that Michi had some sort of power that allowed her to manipulate reality to such an extent or that she kept them all in an illusion or worse. Both prospects caused sweat to pour down Ember’s face. She all but turned into a salt statue on stage, all colour draining from her form.

Hotaru had no such qualms, however.

The teleportation also had her disoriented. But instead of playing along, she watched the exchange unfold between Michi and Haruna and flared her magic, causing the stage’s wood to crumple beneath her feet when she took a step forward.

”The one and only thing that will be getting destroyed today,” her fury rung crystal clear, ”Is going to be you and whatever the fuck you’re doing to us!” Then she launched herself at Michi. Burning through her magic at a precarious rate, she intended to rip through her target in one swoop, only to be joined by a second from in the middle of her arc.

Sylvia.

What was the protector doing here?

With tears still brimming in her eyes, Sylvia had also launched herself at Michi, Shatterscape’s visage coalescing around her mid-air in a sight that resembled her leaping out of a shattered mirror. These two were as two comets; Hotaru aflame with an off-yellow light, Sylvia surrounded by golden threads concentrating around her gauntlets. Almost like she was trying to grasp them and part them at the same time.

All the while Ember watched on, unable to do anything to prevent the unfolding tragedy.

---

Ember may have felt alone, but First Shuuko also watched on. She held a similar sentiment in her heart, yet before she could reach out, something appeared on the rooftop and called out to a “Finn”. Opening her eyes - her concentration wavering as she split her focus into two - First Shuuko’s eyes widened as she beheld what seemed to be a demon.

”Excuse me. I’m sorry if I’m interrupting but… um… Can I ask you why you’re here?” She asked of the being with a somewhat nervous smile. ”Because I’m hiding. Please don’t tell anyone I’m here!” And she exaggerated her gesture with a cutesy - if, again, somewhat nervous - wink.

"Interesting play…" Misoka squared her shoulders as Michi’s show continued. She pressed her knees together and looked at Suki. "Tsubomi doesn’t look too comfortable up there."

"Nope."

"Isn’t that a concern? You guys hang out a lot, right?"

"It’s complicated."

Misoka folded her hands in her lap, twiddled her thumbs, and then set her hands on the table between them. "Is there a reason why you don’t like me, Suki?"

"Eh?" Suki looked away from the stage.

"I mean, you’ve hit on every girl in school. At least, a few months ago you had. Everyone but me."

"Well, I mean uh, you have a boyfriend, right?" Suki leaned back in her seat.

"Yes, but that hasn’t stopped you from asking others." Misoka looked away. "I don’t think it mattered if they were in existing relationships or were openly fantasised about boys. You’d ask them anyway."

"Uh, well I’m sitting with you now, right?"

"I’m not oblivious to the pranks you try to play on me. Any time there’s a smoking cigarette butt in my locker I know how it got there."

Suki lowered her head. "There are other people who smoke."

"Yet there are certain things you won’t do to me." Misoka returned her eyes to Suki. "When I was swimming with the swimming team, someone spotted you entering the locker room. When it was time to change back, you had stolen all of the girls underwear. Everyone but mine."

"I was uh, I was only collecting the pretty looking ones."

Misoka was sure most of the girls on the swim team had very normal, very unexciting underwear like herself. But it wasn’t a point worth bringing up. "Suki, Im, Hmmmm." She slid her hands together, like she was praying. "I’m not trying to call you out or anything. It’s apparent you aren’t feeling yourself. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you picked me out of everyone else because you wanted to punish yourself."

"Well-"

The honor student raised her hand. "It’s fine, Suki. I did put on the ribbon and held the silver fork like the others. We can talk as long as you like, but we could always do that, be it now or later. If you ask me though, judging by the number of ribbons around here, you probably have other people you need to talk to."

Suki looked back at the theater and sighed.



"Who cares?" Willow’s eyes suddenly looked spaced out and distant. "Well, I mean, I do, big sis. And it would mean a lot to me if you did too."

Evil Eye sprinted past the apes in her way. The janitor began hooting and hollering and pointed, at which point more of the apes started to come out of the woodwork. They were invisible to the other students, who continued to watch the play as they hopped from table to table. They weren’t especially fast, and even the weakest magical girls were faster than the swiftest humans. It was not hard for Evil Eye to outpace them.

But when she got to the door leading to the hallway, there was a very large ape blocking the way. His head almost scraped the ceiling, and he was dressed like a mall cop without pants. He tipped his head back and folded his arms, white smoke rolled out of his nostrils.

Then a nightmare unicorn plowed into him.

Riding atop the steed was Willow, who let out a war cry as the doors to the hallway were flung open. "I kicked that kid’s ass last time, and I’ll do it again!" She pointed back at Evil Eye. "Don’t even think about stealing my chance to save Rei away from me, you harlot!"

The hallway was teaming with apes, some bigger and smaller than the rest, but the diabolical unicorn was clearing a path. Behind Evil Eye, the janitor was trying to catch up to her. Screeching and stabbing its finger in her direction.

It was clear that Willow wanted Evil Eye to stay back, but what Evil Eye had to decide was where she was most needed, or maybe a better question, where would Black Gate want her less?



"How many times do I have to say it?" Michi groaned. "I’m not trying to hurt you. But when you bring up sensitive information, it’s hard not to comment on why you might have it." She wasn’t being quiet anymore. The people sitting closest to the stage were looking in her direction. "I don’t hate you, Hizuki. I could never hate someone who reminds me so much of my sister. Yet you upset me greatly, you bother me to no end, but that’s just because you’re so ignorant. My sister also believed in kindness. And-"

The twin comets closed in on Michi, but there were enough monkeys up on stage to intervene. Many of them dove onto Hotaru, who had been on stage and was the most obvious threat to intercept. They couldn’t contain her, but in slamming into her, she was knocked off target and careened directly into Hizuki.

The two tumbled through the air. This wouldn’t be the first time Shatterscape had attacked Hizuki, but it was noticeably weaker than last time. Though curiously, there was a lot more blood. It was wrapped around Hotaru’s gauntlet like a great tendril, and another one had coiled around Hizuki’s leg.

The two flew around in circles , with Oros the Joyful spinning along with them on the ground. She held them with her bloody lasso and tried to keep them from flying into the crowd while their momentum slowed.

But while the blood here was a relief to see, it wasn’t so on stage.

After Kiyo’s mad dash and Willow’s subsequent charge, there were no apes in position to stop Sylvia from rushing the stage. Michi turned just in time for Sylvia’s gauntlet to plunge into her stomach. She stumbled backwards a few steps, and her blood sprayed on the girl’s arm.

But Michi’s blood wasn’t red. It was black, like a shadow. It had no reflection of any kind. Sylvia’s arm was coated in the stuff and looked like it was fused to Michi. The blood was indistinguishable from the rest of the black on Michi’s body. Her hair, her clothes, her blood. Her face looked like a white mask floating in a sea of darkness.

A bead of black tar oozed out of the corner of Michi’s trembling lips. Her pale hand took hold of Sylvia’s arm. Despite suffering a mortal wound, her strength had not left her. Sylvia couldn’t retract her arm even if she wanted to. The golden threads on her fingers had disappeared as well, eaten by the black void before her. That wasn’t the only connection that had been eroded. She couldn’t feel a connection to her other bodies either. There were no links, she was trapped in this place.

Michi’s lips pulled back into a smile. Then her mouth seemed to grow as her smile became impossibly large. The corners of her lips went off the side of her face, and her eyes rolled up into her head. A white mask with completely white eyes. Eventually her lips parted to reveal her teeth. Clenched like the grin of a cheshire cat, but coated in that same inky darkness that made up her form. Her teeth parted as her mouth opened. The black void inside her mouth grew like a cancer, pushing her mouth open far wider than it should have been able to move. Eventually her face disappeared in the darkness and the two voids merged. There was no Michi to be seen, only darkness. And looking away didn’t help. All Sylvia could see was darkness.

Like when she closed her eyes before the beatings started.

---

The fashionable succubus was about to depart before the roof dwelling Shuuko stopped her. "Hiding? Here?" She pursed her lips. "I’m sorry, but they already found you." And with that, she disappeared in a shower of sparkles.

Suddenly, a black fist broke through the roof, gripping a series of multicolored lines in its fist, and with a ruthless twist, snapped all of them simultaneously.

---

"Is that part of the play? What the hell is going on!?"

The boy went ignored. Michi was standing on stage with a hand over her chest. To her left was Sylvia, who was locked inside a black gelatinous blob. No amount of struggling would grant her escape. Michi did not address this though, and continued the play.

"Tsubomi justified her actions because they had good outcomes in the short term."

What few remaining monkeys clamored around Roche. "Aw man, thanks Tsubomi! She’s back to her old self! I never thought she would walk again!"

"However." Michi wheezed. "There was a problem with ‘helping’ people this way. That drug was too potent. It had no adverse side effects on its own, but it made people feel too good. Demand was high, but supply was low, so people used less safe alternatives. It was a true gateway drug, and it turned many people into dysfunctional addicts. And where you have addicts, you’re going to have dealers and gangs. The sorts of people who are addicted to power." Some apes changed some of the set dressing. The disco ball was pulled out of the way and the backdrop was changed to something resembling a school hallway. It was even cruder than the last backdrop, somehow. "It was happening so fast that Norah and I hadn’t realized it was already all around us. That Saturday after we had our crepes, we went to school to pick up some of my books. But Norah suspected something was amiss. She hid me in a utility closet and waited."

Some strangely tall, human looking apes gathered around Ember. None of them looked friendly.

"They looked like the most average people in the world. From what I could tell this wasn’t the first time they had asked Norah to come with them. She refused to comply with them, but it didn’t really matter. These animals weren’t looking for her permission this time."

Hizuki, Hotaru, and Oros had slowed to a stop. The bloody tendrils immediately released the magical girls before things got weird. The three were disorientated, but in a position to act. Michi had turned towards Ember, but was looking over her shoulder. Her fingers were pressed together, ready to snap.

"Don’t look away, Hizuki. God knows I didn’t."

*Snap*

Ember and Sylvia had traded places. Only now Sylvia was untransformed and done up in the same over the top fashion as Ember had been. Worse, she found herself unable to transform. Worse still, was that the ape men converged on her. Two grabbed her arms, while a third one drove its fist into her stomach. Before she even had a chance to catch her breath, a fourth one kneed her in the ribs, then a fifth one brought the back of his hand across her face. The beatings continued, and they would not stop.

While the cafeteria looked on aghast, Michi watched the spectacle with downcast eyes, as if they were mere insects brutalizing each other.

---

The play was a personal airing of grievances, even Roche could see that in her quagmire of apathy. One that Michi was holding Tsubomi directly at fault for, though whether the club’s resident peddler of miracle water was truly at fault or the scapegoat for unresolved grievances was yet to be seen. It might have even been an entertaining little affair, all things considered, if not for the direct disruption of their lives from an act of unadulterated bitterness.

She’d seen it in Nyxia, and she’d known it herself; Blackgate was less a person and more a lingering grudge. Carried along purely by an idea of malice rather than dreams or aspirations.Quintessential Dark Magical Girl behavior seasoned with a dash of a God Complex and enough power to swing for the fences.

Her Club Mates- For however long that lasts- made an effort to overturn the production, but they instead received a taste of the nightmare she’d been chasing by her lonesome. Suki’s intervention was perplexing but Michi’s body unraveling into a nightmare of pulled skin and bared teeth was reminding her strongly of her trip to the City of Light. It would have been a sublime show, if only the target wasn’t so near and dear.

There would be a reckoning for her indiscretions, as even if they were as far from a confirmed couple as could be, the interest was evident. Roche’s weakness offered no shelter, but it not so heavy an anchor upon her neck she’d stare gaunt and witless as a snap of Michi’s fingers re-arranged the players. Ember became Sylvia, untransformed and so very, very vulnerable.

Clamoring apes were ignored as readily as the gauking, witless audience that were witnessing snuff on stage without a word of protest raised. Breaking through the malasse of madness and apathy came disgust, scorching her throat and twisting her guts into a pretzel. Earthshaker didn’t mind their eyes in the least as she transformed, cloak flung off her shoulders at the surrounded apes as she lunged across the stage.

”All this self-pity when you were the one who couldn’t find the guts to get out of the closet for your sister. The least you could have done was die alongside her.” Earthshaker hissed, passing like an arrow without a single look at Black Gate. Or the club mates standing paused to charge the stage. With a snarl of effort she crossed her arms and slammed into the tall apes brutalizing Sylvia, lashing out like a girl possessed against Michi’s creations.

---

---

There was another flurry of activity. She saw Kiyo and Willow bolting out of the room for some reason - presumably something important, as she found it hard to believe that the former would abandon this scene without cause - just before Hotaru crashed into her. Then she was spinning, then released after a timely intervention from Suki.

Then Michi crossed another line.

Hizuki didn't know everything that was going on with Shuuko. She didn't know that the girl she'd spoken to last was Sylvia, or how many parts of her fragmented identity had existed. She also didn't miss the signs presented to her. The mix of terror and reverence for authority, the way she froze up at the slightest physical contact. . . Hizuki hadn't asked, but she had a couple good guesses as to why Sylvia acted the way she did. What Michi was doing to her was heinous by itself, but to pick Shuuko of all people to subject to it was beyond the pale.

The light girl roared in an incoherent rage as she shot forward like a bullet, disorientation or no. She had enough presence of mind to put a gate between herself and the apelike familiars Michi had called to abuse Shatterscape - so when she careened into them at full speed, she was covered in armor, with six razor-sharp wings carrying her forward. Her Sweet Arm, now transformed into a sword, swung in a vicious arc, aiming to decapitate all the apes in one fell swoop.