Hello Fanfiction readers! Ashbel Longhart here back for a new chapter of my Ryuki story! It's been what, ten months since I last updated. I would say I'm sorry, but at this point, I'd just be repeating myself. Nevertheless, I am sorry it took so long since I wanted to get this out sooner, but this COVID thing has really done no favors for my motivation. Plus, classes are about to start again soon, so yeah, there's that. But at least I managed to get this out before that happened. Cue disclaimer!
(Disclaimer: I do not own Puella Magi Madoka Magica or Kamen Rider Ryuki. They both belong to their respective owners. Any songs or anything familiar also belongs to their respective owners. I just own this story and my OC's. Please enjoy.)
Alright, so let's recap what happened last time. Let's see: Madoka found Haru and met Suzune for the first time, Sayaka got her ass handed to her by Oriko and was told the truth about what Magical Girls really are, Takeru was saved from his fight against Gai by Shou, who then later attacked Suzune for revenge, only to be stopped by Haru who finally got his shit together and openly declared that he would stop Suzune from killing anyone anymore. So yeah, a lot of stuff happened. Now let's see what happens today? Let's ride!
If you don't fight, then you won't survive!
"Talking"
'Thoughts'
ADVENT
"Telepathy/Flashback"
"Reflection"
Wish 15: Doubts and Teamwork/First Day on the Job
(Last Time)
"Please, wait! I said I don't want to fight you!"
"And I said earlier that I don't care!"
"The way I see it, you have two paths before you: One of good fortune, and one of destruction. Which path awaits you depends on your actions and the choices you make."
"When a girl makes a contract to become a Magical Girl, their souls are taken from their body and turned into the jewels which you know as a Soul Gem. In short, Soul Gems are the literal souls of Magical Girls, hence the name."
"Wait, what did you just say?"
"And no matter how much I think about it, I can't wrap my head around it. Why? Why do you kill Magical Girls? What's the point of it? Aren't Magical Girls supposed to fight against Witches in order to protect people?"
"Naive. Magical Girls aren't as grand as you make them out to be."
"Do I have the right...to be alive right now?"
"It doesn't matter how it was started. In a fight to the death, there is no right or wrong, only whoever survives becomes the victor. That's all."
"Is that your excuse!? All the people you killed, all the blood you've spilled, is that how you justify your actions!?"
"Taking another person's life, it is never right. It is a sin. Yet, for the sake of the one who I promised to, I cannot stop. I will bear this sin of mine until the day I die."
"It doesn't matter if she lives for a few more days or not, she'll still die in the end. It's just a matter of whether it's before or after she becomes a Witch."
"Bet you thought you've seen the last of me since our last encounter. Unfortunately for you, I don't give up that easily."
"You hear me!? AS LONG AS I STILL LIVE, I WON'T ALLOW ANY MORE DEATHS!"
(Insert: Connect by ClariS)
(Kawashita yakusoku wasurenai yo me) The song starts with the camera rising up to show two figures, a boy and a girl as they were surrounded by glistening mirrors.
(Wo toji tashikameru) The boy and girl turned out to be none other than Haru Yamamoto and Madoka Kaname back to back.
(Oshiyoseta yami furiharatte susumu yo) Madoka's hair shadowed over her eyes as she looked like she was trying to hold back tears while Haru tightly but gently held one of her hands in comfort while the other hand was holding onto Ryuki's Deck Box. In the mirrors, their reflections differ from themselves as Madoka's reflections showed her in her Magical Girl outfit while Haru's reflection was that of Kamen Rider Ryuki. Suddenly, the mirrors shatter into pieces as the title appeared.
(Itsu ni nattara nakushita mirai wo) Haru along with Renji, Alex, and Takeru all wake up to start the day, still a bit groggy but got up nonetheless.
(Watashi koko de mata miru koto dekiru no?) The four boys brushed their teeth side by side before the scene fast forwards to them finishing putting on their school uniform before rushing out the door.
(Afuredashita fuan no kage wo) The boys are seen running as fast as they can as to not be late for school when Haru notices something up ahead. Up ahead, Madoka along with Sayaka and Hitomi were seen smiling at the approaching group.
(Nando demo saite kono sekai ayun de kou) The four slowed down to a stop and walked with the girls to school. Not too far from them, Mami is seen walking by herself to school, Kyoko was nearby eating as always, and Homura was walking from a distance, looking at the group, but more specifically, Madoka. While the rest of the group talked with one another, Haru and Madoka glanced at one another smiling.
(Tomedonaku kizamareta) The scene changes to show Madoka with Kyoko and Mami to her right and Sayaka and Homura to her left all transforming into their Magical Girl outfits before they go to fight a Witch.
(Toki ha ima hajimari tsuge) Haru and the boys try to run up to them but are stopped by mirrors. They bang on the mirrors to get the girls, but they didn't hear or notice them as they were too busy fighting.
(Kawaranai omoi wo nose) The boys bang and bang on the mirrors stopping them before Haru had enough and punched the thing, surprised to see that he had formed a crack. He continues to punch and punch the mirror in front of him, forming cracks as the others followed his lead, getting the same results.
(Tozasareta tobira akeyou) They throw punch after punch before finally, they all throw one single punch that brakes the mirrors right in front of them before they dash through as when they passed, they all had transformed; Ryuki for Haru, Knight for Renji, Zolda for Alex, and Raia for Takeru.
(Mezameta kokoro ha hashiridashita mirai wo egaku tame) Just when Sayaka was about to get hit, Knight swoops in and saves her just in time, holding Sayaka in a bridal position as his Contract Monster, Darkwing providing him wings to fly. Mami jumps back to avoid an attack when a whip wraps around her waist and pulls her to safety as the culprit was none other than Raia who caught her in his arms while they rode on his Contract Monster, Evildiver. An arm was about to grab Kyoko when it was shot. Looking behind her, Kyoko saw that it was Zolda who had shot the arm as his Contract Monster, Magnugiga stood behind him.
(Muzukashii michi de tachidomatte mo sora ha) Multiple hands went to grab both Madoka and Homura when suddenly flames burned the hands away as appearing from the flame were both Ryuki and Ryuga as the red Rider stood in front of Madoka protectively while the black Rider did the same for Homura as both Riders had their Contract Monsters, Dragreder and Dragblacker float next to them, ready for battle.
(Kirei na aosa de itsumo mattete kureru) All the Riders prepare to execute their Final Vents while the girls prepare to use their strongest attacks on the Witch.
(Dakara kowakunai) Suddenly, in Haru's eyes, he sees the shadow images of the other Riders participating in the Rider War before he jumps up with Dragreder coiling around him.
(Mou nani ga atte mo kujikenai) In quick shots, all the Riders unleash their Final Vents with the girls unleash their great attacks before the scene changes to a puddle where all five Rider Decks laid on as the reflection showed the girls' Soul Gems. Ryuga's reflected Homura's, Raia's reflected Mami's, Zolda reflected Kyoko's, Knight reflected Sayaka's, and Ryuki's reflected Madoka's as the song comes to an end.
(Now)
"And you're sure you're all right now?"
"I keep telling you, Mami-san, I'm fine," Takeru said to the blond Magical Girl as both groups of Magical Girls and Riders were all gathered up on, as usual, the school roof.
"It's just a couple of bruises, they'll heal in time."
"Well, if you say so."
"On another note," Renji spoke up as he went and slapped Haru in the back, getting a small 'oof!' out of him. "It's good to see you back to normal, Haru."
"Yeah, sorry for worrying you all," Haru said while rubbing his back.
"Seriously though, you had us worried what with all your brooding and stuff," Renji said.
"Sorry," Haru apologized again before turning to Mami. "By the way, how did the meeting go? I came home late last night so the guys haven't told me anything yet."
"Well, it went fine, for the most part," Mami said as she put on a neutral face. "We told them what we wanted, but we haven't reached a compromise as of yet. We agreed to give them time to think over our offer and so we're simply waiting for their reply."
"I don't see what the problem is," Renji said, biting into his ham sandwich and chewed before continuing. "We've got two crazy chicks out there hunting down other Magical Girls for seemingly messed up or no reasons at all. Teaming up to take them down should be the logical thing to do, right?"
"It's a bit more complicated than that, Yoru-san," Mami said. "While it is logical to team up, at the end of the day, we're all still strangers to one another."
"It's common knowledge that in order for any team to work properly, a certain amount of trust is needed," Alex added in.
"Then why not just get to know them better?" Madoka suggested. "If trust is an issue, then spending time to get to know them better should solve it."
"She's got a good point," Haru said, agreeing with Madoka. "We weren't there, but the girls you met couldn't have been that bad, right?"
"Well, they seemed like decent people," Alex said. "Their leader seemed level headed and this girl named Hinata was actually quite nice, kinda reminded me of Madoka-san here. Really, the only one who seemed openly hostile was this girl named Arisa."
"Then why not just get together and hunt down some Witches together, see how well you work together?" Haru suggested. "What was that saying? 'Bonds grown on the battlefield last a lifetime?' or something?"
"I'm sure you're not saying that right, but I see your point," Mami said, seeing the logic behind Haru's and Madoka's suggestion. The only problem left was seeing if the Hohzuki girls will agree to a one-night team-up. After all, it was common for Magical Girls to be competitive which also meant deciding who gets the spoils.
"Miki-san, what do you think?" Mami asked the bluenette, wanting to see what her opinion was.
...
...
...
However, much to everyone's confusion, the blue-haired Magical Girl was completely silent, her head downcast as she seemed to be deep in thought.
"Sayaka-chan?" Madoka called out to her friend, but she didn't respond. She then tried tapping the girl's shoulder to get her attention. "Sayaka-chan?"
"Huh?" Feeling her shoulder being tapped, Sayaka jumped a little before turning to see everyone looking at her in confusion and slight concern. "What's everyone looking at?"
"Sayaka-chan, are you all right?" Madoka asked, concerned. "You were zoning out again."
"I-I'm fine," Sayaka insisted, but the others didn't seem convinced.
"Are you still hurt anywhere?" Mami asked, worried that the girl still might have wounds left from her fight with Oriko. While greatly relieved that Sayaka was still in one piece, she couldn't help but worry, wondering if something happened during the fight for this wasn't the first time Sayaka had been lost in thought, having been mostly quiet all day.
"I'm fine guys, really," Sayaka insisted, flexing her arms as if to showcase that she was in perfect health. "You all know that I'm a fast healer, especially so since I became a Magical Girl. There's nothing to worry about."
"If you say so..." Madoka said but still had her doubts. After all, this wasn't the first time her friend has said that today.
"Anyway..." Sayaka spoke up, blushing a little as she asks, "What were we talking about again?"
"We were discussing teaming up with those Hohzuki girls from yesterday," Renji said whilst keeping a close eye on the bluenette. "Madoka-san suggested we work together in order to build up trust with them and we wanted to know what you think."
"I don't have any problems with that idea," Sayaka said. "We got two psycho chicks running around the city acting like they own the place, doing whatever they want. People like them need to be brought to justice as soon as possible!"
"I wouldn't exactly call them psycho," Haru said. "I mean, from what Mami-san and Takeru have told me, this Kirika girl sounds like a real piece of work, but Amano-san isn't what you think she is."
"Amano-san?" Mami raised an eyebrow at Haru, noticing the way he was addressing the Magical Girl Hunter.
"While we still don't know her motive, I don't think Amano-san is doing what she's doing out of malicious intent," Haru explained.
"Haru-kun's right," Madoka spoke up. "If anything, from the way she talked, it sounds like she's giving out mercy to those she kills."
"Mercy?" Alex raised an eyebrow in confusion at that, as did everyone else.
"Madoka, do you hear yourself right now?" Sayaka said. "That girl is out there killing people! How is that a mercy—?"
If I may be so blunt, the body of a Magical Girl is no different from a corpse. Our Soul Gems are basically preserving them.
The bodies we have right now are no different from corpses with our Soul Gems being the only thing that's preserving them.
Sayaka froze up, remembering the words of both Oriko and Homura. Despite the fact that both girls were as different as night and day, they had both said the same thing to her last night.
'Does...does she know?' Sayaka thought to herself as her eyes wander down to the ring on her finger, her Soul Gem. As she stared at it, Sayaka recalled another thing Oriko had said to her, words that she wanted so much to forget about.
Your Soul Gem has gotten quite muddy. Best I kill you now before you become a Witch.
"...ka-san? Earth to Sayaka-san?"
"Wha?" Hearing her name, Sayaka was brought out of her thoughts and looked up to see Renji and everyone looking at her in concern.
"Are you okay? You zoned out again."
"I...I..." Sayaka fumbled with her words, starting to visibly sweat. She then suddenly grabbed her things and took off running, yelling," I gotta go!"
"Sayaka-chan!" Madoka cried out to her friend, standing up to go chase after the bluenette, but she was already gone, leaving she and everyone else confused and worried.
(Meanwhile...)
*RIIIIIINNNNNNG!*
Suzune couldn't help but jump when she heard the school bell ring, still a bit jumpy from last night's incident. Taking a moment to calm down her beating heart, the silver-haired girl began to gather her things and put them away in her school bag. As she did so, she glanced over at a nearby window and frowned when she saw a red serpent body fly by. No one around her noticed the beast due to 1: They couldn't see it in the first place. And 2: the red monster was not actually outside but was in a separate dimension.
It still surprised her that there was a whole other world beyond the mirror where beings simply known as Mirror Monsters resided. It also concerned her that those very monsters could easily enter into this world and prey upon any unlucky bystander standing close to a reflective surface. Had she not experience getting snatched up and dragged into the Mirror World twice, she probably would have not believed the things Haru had told her last night. This new information made her wary to stand in front of a mirror now.
Of course, her main concern right now was how to lose the literal dragon that had been stalking her all day, no doubt under orders from its 'Contract Holder' to keep an eye on her. Knowing that no matter where she went, that dragon was always close by made it hard for her to stay calm all day. This, of course, would also make it harder for her when she went out at night.
'He really was serious about stopping me,' Suzune thought to herself as she exchanged her school shoes for her outside ones. Closing her shoe locker, the Magical Girl Hunter barely stepped outside when she stopped.
'And then there's this,' Suzune thought as up ahead, waiting by the school gates were the Hohzuki girls with Arisa, in particular, looked ready to throw down. Mentally sighing, Suzune continued walking, eventually reaching the group. She tried to move past them but was stopped by Haruka.
"Hold it," Haruka said, quickly grabbing the girl's arm.
"What?" Suzune asked, not even bothering to look at the blond. "Is there something you need from me?"
"Your life," Arisa bluntly said while still glaring at the silver-haired girl.
"Arisa..." Matsuri looked at her pink-haired friend disapprovingly.
"Do you really wish to start something here?" Suzune questioned, finally turning to the group whilst pointing out where they are right now.
At this did Haruka release her hold on Suzune, but still glared at her as she said to the hunter, "Amano Suzune. The law may not be able to touch you, but mark my words, you will pay for killing our friend."
Suzune didn't answer to that as she simply turned and walked away. But just as she was outside of the school gates, she spoke up.
"I already told you before, you're not qualified to stop me."
"What was that!?" Arisa exclaimed in anger before she was quickly held back by Matsuri. Haruka herself flinched at Suzune's words, remembering them from a few days back. Seeing that they had nothing else to say, Suzune took her leave.
"Tch! That bitch pisses me off," Arisa cursed as Matsuri finally released her. "Are we seriously just going to let her walk away like that?"
"It can't be helped," Matsuri said. "We can't fight out here in the open and we have no way of knowing when or where she'll strike next."
"Not to mention she isn't the only killer running around," Haruka added, reminding everyone of the girl known as Kure Kirika, the second Magical Girl killer. So far they have yet to meet the person in question and Haruka hoped for it to stay that way.
"And there's still that stuff about Kamen Riders and the Mirror World," Matsuri said, remembering the stuff that was explained to them by the Mitakihara Riders yesterday. She was still trying to wrap her head around the possibility of there being monsters inside mirrors.
"Ah mou! It's just one thing after another!" Arisa exclaimed, scratching her head in frustration. Between the two Magical Girl killers, the people known as Kamen Riders, and the so-called world inside the mirror, it was just one huge mess.
"What the hell happened to just patrolling and hunting down Witches?" Arisa said mostly to herself.
"For now, we should stick together as a group from now on," Haruka said as the three of them started walking. With two killers preying upon Magical Girls, the logical thing to do was to stick together to avoid the risk of being ambushed. After all, three Magical Girls were better than one. On that note...
"Have either of you decided yet?"
"Huh?" Both Matsuri and Arisa looked at their leader, confused.
"I'm talking about the offer Tomoe-san gave us," Haruka specified, bringing up the topic of teaming up with the Mitakihara group.
"Oh, that..." Arisa frowned as she hummed to herself. "I mean, I'm grateful and all that they saved you, but I'm still not so sure about teaming up with them."
"Oh? And why is that?" Haruka asked, curious as to why Arisa was so hesitant.
"I mean, we barely even know who those guys are. Plus, it's always been just us up until now. You know, me, you, Matsuri...Chisato..." At this did Arisa's expression sadden as did the other two. "It's just, ever since that night, it's been one thing after another."
"I know what you mean," Matsuri said, sharing the same feelings as her friend. But, as she brought up a clenched fist up to her chest, the green-haired girl said to her friends, "But...I think we should team up with Tomoe-san's group."
"What?" Arisa and Haruka looked at Matsuri in surprise.
"I'm...still unsure of all this talk about Riders and monsters coming from Mirrors and stuff...but, I can't just ignore that there's someone out there doing the exact same thing as Suzune-chan. Whoever this Oriko person is, and how she got someone like this Kirika girl working for her, it's plain to see that something is happening to this city."
She didn't know what it was. A gut feeling perhaps? A premonition? Matsuri couldn't exactly explain why she was so worried right now. Whatever these feelings of hers were, they were telling her...
"Something is happening...and sooner or later, we're all going to get dragged into...whatever's coming. Which is why I think it's best we team up with Tomoe-san's group." Safety in numbers, as they say.
"Matsuri..."
*bzzzzzzzzz!*
Suddenly, a buzzing sound came from Arisa's school bag. Opening it up and taking out her cellphone, Arisa saw that she received a text from Takahiro.
"What is it?" Haruka asked as Arisa took a moment to read the text.
"Its Hiro-kun...he says he got a call from that Mami chick," Arisa said before reading more of the text and let out a small laugh. "Well, isn't that ironic."
"What is it?" Matsuri asked this time.
"It seems that Mami girl is asking if we want to form a temporary team-up and go hunt Witches together tonight," Arisa said before turning to Haruka. "Well, what do you think we should do?"
"Hmm..."
(Yunagi Newspaper)
"Tadaima(I'm home)..." Suzune called out as she entered the newspaper building that was her home.
"Okairi(Welcome back), Suzune-chan," Yunagi greeted the girl the second she walked in.
"Okairi, Suzucchi," Also greeting the girl back was Mia who was behind the front desk as always, no doubt having been talking to Yunagi before she came in.
Looking around, Suzune didn't spot Dragreder from any of the nearby mirrors.
'Did it go home?' Suzune thought to herself, wondering why the dragon had stopped following her. Had it gotten hungry and left? She really didn't know what those Mirror Monsters were or how they behaved when they weren't around their so-called contract holders. It was like facing and studying a Witch for the first time all over again. A Magical Girl worth their salt needed to know the natural behavior of a Witch if they wished to properly hunt one.
"If you're wondering where Haru-san is, he'll be here soon," Yunagi said, haven interpreted Suzune looking around as looking for Haru. "He lives pretty far from here so it'll take a while for him to get here."
*ding!*
"Sorry, I'm late!"
"Never mind, here he is," Yunagi said with an amused smile as Haru came bursting through the door.
'So that's why it stopped following me,' Suzune thought as she was once again reminded that the dragon-themed Rider was working here.
"Hey, Harucchi," Mia greeted the boy with a casual wave.
"Hey, Mi—what did you just call me?" Haru was about to greet the woman back when he quickly noticed what she had called him.
"Your new nickname. I just thought it up. You like it?"
"I...guess it's okay?" Haru said unsurely.
"Okay, that's enough chatter for now," Yunagi spoke up, clapping her hands to get everyone's attention. "Now that we're all here, it's time to get to work."
"Right," Haru nodded, somewhat excited.
"Anyway, here," Reaching behind the desk, Yunagi pulled out two bags filled with newspapers before handing them over to Suzune and Haru. "Yamamoto-san, since you're still new here, and the scooter still needs fixing, I want you to go with Suzune-chan today."
"Eh? Why?"
"Like I just said, you're still new around here. I want you to go with Suzune-chan and help her pass out papers while also familiarizing yourself with the neighborhood. Run around and introduce yourself to the elderly. They're the ones reading our papers so it's important that you make some form of connection with them. It's the reason why Suzune is so liked around here."
"Really?" Haru raised an eyebrow at Suzune, finding it a bit hard to believe that the girl who hunted down Magical Girls was popular. Then again, he really didn't know anything about the girl. Plus, while he would never admit this out loud, Suzune was a very attractive girl so that might play a part in her popularity. It was one of the reasons why Mami was so popular at school.
"So, as you've heard, I want you to show him the way, Suzune-chan. Introduce him to the neighborhood and get him acquainted with the people here," Yunagi instructed before quickly asking, "I hope I'm not dumping this onto you so suddenly."
"Oh no, it's fine," Suzune said, a bit uncomfortable, but didn't raise any objections as she smiled, something which surprised Haru was this was the first time he'd seen the girl smile. "I'll do my best as his 'senpai'."
'So this is what she's like in front of people,' Haru thought to himself, a bit weirded out considering he was mostly used to Suzune being stoic most of the time. He could already tell that smile and cheerful attitude Suzune was projecting was all an act.
"All right, you two, off you go," Yunagi said, opening the door for the two as they walked out. "After you two are done passing out papers, feel free to take a break, but be sure to come back by five so as to pass out the evening paper."
"Hai~!" Both Suzune and Haru replied back as Yunagi closed the door. The second she did so, Suzune dropped her smile and assumed the neutral expression Haru was more familiar with.
"You never break character, do you?" Haru commented but Suzune simply ignored him.
"Follow me," Suzune said as she took off jogging.
"Lead the way, senpai."
"...do not call me that."
"Even though you called yourself that earlier?"
"Shut up."
(Meanwhile...)
A laboratory. That was the only way one could describe the room that had desks, papers, and computers all lined up in different sections of the area. But, what made this room stand out wasn't the great many computer screens which showcased a number of statistics, nor the papers that were thrown about with words such as [Mirror World] and [Alternetive Project] catching the passing eye. No, what stood out when one entered the room was the great many mirrors that practically filled every corner of the room.
This oddity was something Oriko had grown used to as she entered the lab, walking in to find the doctor at the center of the room, at his desk with his computer on, yet his full attention was on the full-length mirror next to him, looking at his reflection as if expecting it to suddenly change.
With a sense of familiarity that showcased how much she was used to this place, Oriko walked up behind the doctor who didn't even turn around to face her, merely glancing up at her reflection in the mirror before focusing back on his.
"Can I help you, Miss Mikuni?"
"I just came by to see how much progress you've made with the Pseudo-Rider System."
"Well..." Finally spinning his chair around, Dr. Toujou Raiden faced Oriko while playing with a lick of his silver hair. "You'll be happy to know that progress has almost reached 50% completion. Ken's fight with that Rider yesterday certainly helped with speeding up the process. At this rate, I should have the system completed by the end of this month."
Oriko nodded in satisfaction. "Good. And what about Kirika's condition?"
"It's slow, but the damage her Soul Gem sustained is being repaired. So long as she doesn't do anything strenuous and continues to rest, I predict that she should be able to return to top condition by the end of the week."
At this did Oriko allow a small smile to form on her lips. "That's good to hear. I was afraid for a moment that she would be unable to fight again."
"Had her Soul Gem taken more damage than it had, she might've. Hopefully, this experience will teach her to fight more cautiously from now on."
"Knowing Kirika, I somehow doubt that," Oriko said before turning around to leave. "Well, I'll be on my way now."
"Huh? Is that all you came here for?"
"Yes. Excuse me for bothering you while you were in the middle of your research. Please, do continue and let me know of any updates."
"Updates...Well, I got something like that."
"Oh?" Oriko stopped just as she opened the door and was about to leave. She turned back to the doctor. "What is it?"
"I got a message from Mr. Yuki. He says he's almost completed his training and should be back by the start of next month. Of course, I can't help but feel you already knew that, Miss Clairvoyance."
"Perhaps..." Oriko said with a playful smile. Yet, as she turned around and left, the doctor caught the signs of Oriko's cheeks turning red at the mention of the one known as Yuki.
Toujou scoffed to himself and muttered under his breath, "Teenagers." Now alone, the doctor turned his attention back to the mirror, showing absolute focus as his eyes flashed with brief glee. "Now then, where were we..."
(Park)
The sounds of cars driving down the road and other noises like it faded into the distance as Mami, Sayaka, and Madoka, along with Takeru and Renji, reached the city park which was mostly empty save for some people walking their dogs and a few elderly resting at benches.
"And word from Seikatsu-san?" Mami asked the boys who shook their heads.
"I called him, but I don't think he'll be able to make it," Takeru said. "It seems he's busy helping Sakura-san look after Yuma-san again."
"You know, he doesn't say it out loud, but he's really taken a shine to that kid Yuma," Renji said. "I mean, I can't be the only one who thinks he and that Kyoko chick look like parents whenever they're around that kid, right?"
Mami and Takeru didn't say anything, but they also felt the same as Renji.
"Are they really like that?" Madoka asked as she and Haru were the only ones who have yet to meet the young Magical Girl.
"They are," Mami said as she thought to herself, 'Chitose-san seems to easily bring out the good in Sakura.' Mami would be lying if she said she wasn't somewhat jealous of the young girl for easily doing what she failed to do years ago.
"So, are you positive they're going to show up?" Takeru asked Mami as they had planned to meet up with the Hohzuki girls here at this park.
"When I talked with Hanamura-san earlier, he told me that they were interested in our offer," Mami said, looking around to see if she could spot any members of the Hohzuki group. "We agreed to meet here at four so they should be here by now."
While the group was talking amongst themselves, Sayaka kept mostly to herself, still thinking about the things Oriko had spoken of last night. They were like echos, constantly ringing inside of her head no matter how many times she tried to ignore them.
'This body...' Sayaka thought to herself, looking down at her hands. Both Oriko and Homura had said that the body of a Magical Girl was just a shell, no better than a preserved corpse. Despite two Magical Girls telling her that, Sayaka could not bring herself to believe them. Recounting the things she had done all day: she had woken up after coming home late, ate breakfast with her family, went to school with her friends like normal, almost fell asleep in class, went to the bathroom to take a piss, and now, here she is.
Rubbing her hands together, she could feel the warmth coming from them. Curling her hands into fists, she could feel her nails digging into her skin. Moving her head around, she could hear her neck let out a satisfying pop as she felt her neck crack. All in all, there was nothing out of the normal with her body. It was completely fine.
'...it's a lie. They've gotta be lying,' Sayaka thought to herself, coming to a conclusion. 'Yeah, that Oriko chick probably just said all that stuff to freak me out. There's no way that—'
In short, Soul Gems are the literal souls of Magical Girls, hence the name.
And just like that, Oriko's words came back her, much to the girl's frustration. It was like the harder she tried to push them out of her mind, the more they seemed to resist and echo in her mind, putting new thoughts into her mind.
'What would happen...if my Soul Gem...' Sayaka thought negatively as she stared down at the ring on her finger. If Soul Gems were the actual souls of Magical Girls then...
"Sayaka-san?" The bluenette herself jumped, dragged out from the sea of her thoughts as she looked up to see the concerned face of Renji and Madoka looking at her.
"Are you okay?" Madoka asked in concern, having noticed that Sataka had been mostly quiet all day. After the incident on the roof, she and the others had asked what was wrong with her, but the bluenette had refused to answer, insisting that she was fine when it obvious that was not the case.
"I-I'm fine, just thinking about how this team-up will work or not," Sayaka said, trying to look as innocent as possible which didn't fool the two who still looked at her with worry. Not liking to worry her friends like this, and also to change the subject, Sayaka looked over to Mami and spoke up.
"Hey! Mami-san!"
"Yes?" Mami turned to her friend, a bit surprised to be called out so suddenly like that.
"Um..." Having acted without thinking, Sayaka didn't know what to say.
If you want confirmation, simply ask Kyubey. He's the one who turned you into a Magical Girl, after all.
"Do you know where Kyubey is? I haven't seen him all day," Sayaka asked while not knowing whether to curse the words that came to her head or to thank it.
"Kyubey? There's no need to worry about him," Mami said. "He's probably just with some other Magical Girl. It's not like we're the only ones he's granted wishes to and made into Magical Girls. He has an obligation to look after other people like us."
"Other Magical Girls..." Madoka muttered to herself as a certain dark-haired Magical Girl popped into her head. "I wonder what Homura-chan's doing right now?" She had seen the girl attending classes every day, but she hasn't gotten the chance to properly speak with her ever since the night she and the others had met Kyoko.
"Akemi-san's a Magical Girl like Miki-san and me, so she's probably out hunting Witches," Mami said, having overheard what Madoka said. Mysteries aside, Akemi Homura was still very much just another Magical Girl contracted to Kyubey.
"Speaking of other Magical Girls..." Takeru spoke up, getting everyone's attention as he pointed over to the right of them where the Hohzuki group was seen walking over to them accompanied by Takahiro.
"So sorry for the wait, we had to pick up our friend here," Haruka gestured to the only boy in their group before turning to Mami.
"It's no problem," Mami said as her ring took on its Soul Gem form. "Now then, shall we get started?"
(Back with Haru)
"Whew!" Haru let out a breath of relief as he sat down at a bench with Suzune, the both of them at a public playground which was currently occupied by two kids, a brother, and sister, with their mother and father watching over them.
"Tired?" Suzune asked as they had just gotten done with delivering all the papers Yunagi had given them earlier and were now taking a quick break here.
"Just a little, haven't jogged like that in a while," Haru said as he grabbed a water bottle he had brought from a vending machine. As he opened it, the Rider asked the girl next to him, "Do you do this kind of thing every day?"
"It's a good way to keep myself in shape," Suzune answered before she took out an energy bar from her pocket, unwrapped it, and began eating. Soon after, silence descended upon the two with only the cries of children playing in the background.
'...shit! Now what?' Haru thought to himself as he just sat there and drank his water. It was clear to see that Suzune wasn't about to start up a conversation, probably wanting nothing to do with him. They were far from friends, but Haru had sworn to himself that he would always be there to stop Suzune from targetting other Magical Girls as a strange form of thanks for helping him come to his senses. And as much as Suzune tried to distance herself, so long as he had this job, this would not be the last time they would be together. During that time, he should at least get to know her better and maybe unravel the reason as to why she was doing what she did.
'All right, here goes nothing,' Haru thought to himself before turning to Suzune and asking, "So...when and how did you become a Magical Girl?"
"Huh?"
"I mean, you seem to have been a Magical Girl for quite a while, kinda like my friend Mami-san. And every Magical Girl made a wish to Kyubey in exchange for power, so I was kinda curious as to—"
"It's none of your business," Suzune interrupted, stopping Haru from continuing further. Despite her face still bearing its stoic expression, Haru could see that her eyes alone were glaring at him.
"R-Right..." Figuring that he may be breaching a sensitive topic with Suzune, Haru wisely stopped talking and the previous silence from before returned.
'Well, that could have gone better,' Haru thought to himself, mentally sighing. 'C'mon, think Haru! What would Madoka-chan do in this situation? ...okay, she might be as nervous as me. Then, how about...?'
While Haru was busy trying to strike up a conversation, Suzune had already finished her snack was now simply staring at the boy from the corner of her eye. It was plainly obvious to see that the Rider wanted to get to know her better, perhaps even inquire about why she hunted down Magical Girls and maybe even try to befriend her like in one of those cliche animes she would see Mia watch on her phone whenever she was on break.
'Idiot.' Is what Suzune thought of Haru. He had sworn to her yesterday to stop her from killing other people without even knowing why she did it. He probably thought he could make her change her mind, get her to stop. But Suzune would not stop. Even if others disagreed with what she was doing, she would continue to do what she did because it was better than what awaited every Magical Girl down the road. With those thoughts in mind, Suzune went to get up and leave Haru behind. Perhaps if he shows up late for the evening papers, her boss would think about firing him. They were pretty far from the Yunagi residence and Haru still didn't know the neighborhood very well. If she used her speed then—
*RIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNG~!*
A familiar ringing sound filled Suzune's ears. From the corner of her eye to the left of her, at the window of a nearby building was Haru's Contract Monster, Dragreder.
'Right, he has that,' Suzune thought, remembering that Haru had only found out about Yunagi Newspapers was because he had his dragon tail her. But why was it showing up now?
"Dragreder?" Haru got up, confused as to why his Contract Monster had shown itself. Seeing the boy's confusion, Suzune thought perhaps the red dragon had come to eat him again much like last night. She had half a mind to let the dragon do just that until she noticed a faint light coming from under her shirt. Reaching into her shirt, she took out a jewel pendant with said gem flashing.
"Hey, your Soul Gem..." Haru, quickly identifying the necklace as Suzune's Soul Gem pointed it at it in alarm as both he and Suzune knew the implications of it.
"A Witch," Suzune stood up and looked around, slightly confused. This place was barely a public area yet a Witch had decided to appear here of all places.
"Kaa-san? Otou-san? Where are you going?" Both Haru and Suzune turned to see the kids looking confusingly at their parents who both had blank looks on their faces as they walked away, swaying like zombies.
"Hey, you don't think..." Haru exchanged a look with Suzune before the two of them rushed over to the parents, getting in front of them and stopping them in their tracks.
"I knew it," Suzune said as she spotted a Witch's Kiss on both of the parents' faces. Knowing what she had to do, Suzune knocked out the mother via a neck chop, while Haru...
"Sorry about this."
*POW!*
With a clenched fist, Haru dug his hand into the father's gut, knocking him out.
"Hey! What're you doing to our mommy and daddy!" Both the kids were rightfully confused as to why these two strangers had knocked out their parents.
"Sorry, kids, but believe me when I say that this was for their own good," Haru said as he and Suzune laid both the parents on the ground before standing up. Suzune looked down at her Soul Gem to locate the Witch, but Haru had different plans.
"Dragreder, lead the way!"
"Wait, what?" Suzune looked up in surprise to see Haru running off, following after his Contract Monster as if it already knew where the...
Suzune promptly followed after the Rider.
(With Mami's Group)
Moving her hand around, Mami watched as her Soul Gem dimmed and lit until she stopped in a direction where the gem glowed the brightest. Checking with the others, Arisa's gem was glowing too, as was Matsuri's.
"This reaction...it's coming from the direction of the mall," Mami said, seeing where the reaction was coming from.
"Seriously? We were literally there just yesterday," Arisa said, in disbelief at how fast this Witch had set up a Barrier.
"I'll contact the others," Matsuri said, contacting the others via telepathy.
While the green-haired girl did that, Arisa turned to Takahiro, the only normal human accompanying them. Takeru didn't count considering what he is.
"How're you keeping up with everything so far, Hiro-kun?"
"Fine, I guess," Takahiro said, having done nothing but following the three girls so far. Pointing over to Matsuri, he asked, "Hinata-chan's contacting the other group through...telepathy, was it?"
"Yes," Mami nodded. "One of the added perks of becoming a Magical Girl is that fellow Magical Girls can communicate with one another, provided they agree to work with one another, of course."
"Huh, that's convenient."
"It has its uses," Arisa said with a shrug. "It certainly comes in handy when we're out on patrols like this. Of course, Matsuri and I are normally with a different blond leader."
"I assure you, Mami has been a Magical Girl for quite some time," Takeru said, speaking in defense for his friend. "While we may not know how long you and your group have been Magical Girls, you can be sure that Mami will not slow you down."
"The remains to be seen," Arisa said, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes at the Rider. "Actions speak louder than words, you know?"
"Is that not why we're doing this, then? To see how well both sides can fight with one another?" Takeru said as the pinkette simply clicked her tongue in response, having nothing to say back as Matsuri finally spoke up.
"The other's got the same reaction as us. They're going heading over to the mall right now."
"Then we best hurry and join up with them," Mami said before the group took off running. As they did, Mami took this time to reevaluate this team-up. So far both sides have decided to work together to track down Witches, having split up to cover more ground. But under Madoka's suggestion, in order for this temporary team-up to work, it was decided that both sides trade team members and see how well they all worked with one another. So here she was, with Takeru, Arisa, Matsuri, and Takahiro while Sayaka, Renji, and Madoka went with Haruka.
'Let's hope this works out,' Mami thought to herself as the group finally made it to the mall where the other group was waiting for them.
"Oi~! Over here!" Madoka called over to them, waving.
"She's really starting to remind me of you, Matsuri," Arisa said to her green-haired friend.
"Oh come on, we've barely even met. In what way are we alike?" Matsuri asked.
"Well, for one thing, you got this friendly aura about you."
"Focus!" Mami spoke up, silencing the two as they made it over to Haruka's group. "Have you already located the Grief Seed?"
Haruka nodded. "It's at the back of the mall. Yoru-san and Miki-san are watching over it right now."
"Then we better hurry before it hatches," Takeru said before they all ran around to the back of the mall, making sure they weren't seen by any workers that might happen to be around while also dodging security cameras.
"Guys! Over here!" Renji waved over to them from behind a dumpster. Running over, the group saw the Rider and Sayaka standing over not one, but TWO Grief Seed which was both stabbed right into the wall of the building.
"What the hell? Two Seeds?" Arisa said, surprised to see two Seeds here.
"Yeah, we were both pretty surprised too," Renji said.
"So, guys? I may still be new, but I think these things are about to hatch any second now," Sayaka said, pointing out how much magic corrosion was surrounding both Seeds.
"Then we better take care of this quickly before it has a chance to damage the mall," Mami said before turning to Takeru. "Takeru-san, if you'll do the honors?"
Nodding his head, Takeru stepped forward much to the confusion of the Hohzuki group until he took out his Advent Deck and placed it in front of the Grief Seeds. The Deck glowed for a moment before a portal to the Witch's Barrier opened up, surprising the group.
"Wait! He can just do that?" Arisa said, pointing at Takeru.
"That's not all," Takeru said as he and Renji nodded at one another before they both present their Decks out as blue and magenta electricity surged out and traveled down to their waists as the V-Buckle formed.
"Henshin!" Both boys cried out after doing their respective hand motions. Slotting in their decks, the Hohzuki group was taken by surprise again when they both transformed.
"Whoa~!" Matsuri said in awe, amazed by the boys' transformation.
"So this is a Kamen Rider..." Haruka said, looking at both transformed boys. While she had seen Renji transform before during the night of Chisato's murder, seeing it again and with a second person slightly amazed the girl.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Renji said as he was the first to enter the Barrier.
"Hey! Wait for us!" Sayaka called out, transforming herself as she followed after the bat-themed Rider.
"We best follow after them quickly," Mami said, taking only a second to transform as she and Takeru followed by Madoka entered the Barrier.
"Let's go too," Haruka said to her group who all nodded and transformed as well.
"Stay close to us, Takahiro," Haruka advised their only normal member who nodded as they all entered the Barrier.
Inside, the inner labyrinth seemed to take much from the structure of the mall as there were multiple floors and enough space for groups of people to walk around. However, the surroundings all took on a more cutesy look, making the entire place look like a cross between a doll shop and a candy store. Floating around the labyrinth were what appeared to be shopping carts except the wheels had been taken off and replaced with a skirt made entirely out of wrapping paper. And carried inside these carts were all sorts of nicknacks.
"This is bad, Familiars have already started spawning," Mami pointed out.
"Which means the Witches are close to being born," Haruka said before preparing her weapons. "We better hurry. If we move fast enough, we can still strike while it's still newborn."
"Then I guess it's time to see how well we work with one another," Mami said, drawing out a pair of muskets. "So, who wants to do the honors first?"
"Me!" Arisa cried out as she jumped over both blonds and ran over to one Familiar, swinging her scythe and slicing it in two. This caused all the other Familiars in the area to finally notice the group of Magical Girls and began charging at them.
"Matsuri! Look after Takahiro Madoka-san! And at the same time, try and locate the Seeds' location!" Haruka instructed her green-colored member as everyone else sans Madoka and Takahiro jumped into the fray.
"Right!" Matsuri nodded before she holds out both of her hands as both it and her buns started glowing.
"Are you using magic to track down the Grief Seeds?" Madoka asked as the glow of Matsuri's buns reminded her of satellite dishes.
While still concentrating, Matsuri nodded. "I can fight just as well as Arisa and Haruka, but I'm just as good at support too. I can even use healing magic, though I'm not very good at it."
"Wow, that's amazing!" Madoka said, impressed by how much the green-colored Magical Girl could do.
In response to Madoka's praise, Matsuri couldn't help but blush before quickly shaking it off in order to focus back on tracking down the Grief Seeds. As for how the others are doing...
"Ha~!"
*SLICE!*
With a battle cry, both Arisa and Sayaka sliced a pair of Familiars with their bladed weapons before regrouping back to back as the two were soon surrounded by Familiars. The Familiars then all threw the nicknacks they were carrying at the two, causing a dust cloud to form as the hail of items seemingly buried the two. But as if to prove that wrong, a blue and pink figure flew out of the cloud, zipping past each and every Familiar until all of them burst into pieces as both Magical Girls slowed down. The two didn't relax yet as more Familiars began to surround them. Until...
"Attention!" Haruka's voice cried out loudly as every Familiar found themselves freezing in place. Seconds later, each and every one of them was gunned down courtesy of Mami and her many muskets floating around her. Familiars tried to attack her just as she was summoning new muskets to replace the old ones, only for another "Attention!" from Haruka to stop them in their tracks, making them easy pickings for another barrage from Mami.
"That's kind of unfair, don't you think?" Renji said to Takeru, sweatdropping at the ease of which the two blond Magical Girls were dealing with the Familiars. Compared to them, the Riders were having slightly more difficulty dealing with the Familiars.
"Yeah, I see what you mean," Takeru said, a bit intimidated at how well both blonds were working together.
"So this is a Magical Girl..." Takahiro said, watching how all the girls fought.
"It's amazing, isn't it?" Madoka said, smiling at how everyone was working together.
Takahiro nodded in agreement with the pinkette before he turned to her and asked, "So, why aren't you out there fighting?"
"Eh?"
"Aren't you a Magical Girl too?"
"Me? Oh, no!" Madoka said, waving her hands in front of her. "I mean, I do have the potential to become a Magical Girl, but I just can't decide on my wish."
"Your wish?" Takahiro raised an eyebrow at that. "What do you mean?"
"Oh! I guess you wouldn't know. You see, there's this cat-person named Kyubey who can turn a person into a Magical Girl by agreeing to a contract. In exchange for becoming a Magical Girl, Kyubey can grant a person a wish."
Takahiro's eyes widen at this. "Really!?"
Madoka nodded in response. "I want to become a Magical Girl too and fighting by my friends' side, but I just can't decide on what I want to wish for. Mami-san takes me and Sayaka-chan along with on her hunts to show us what it's like to be a Magical Girl, and told me to really think it through since this is a once in a lifetime deal."
"I see...That sounds hard."
"It really is," Madoka said, scratching her cheek as she laughed a little, only to notice how quiet Takahiro had suddenly become. Blinking, Madoka saw that the teen was in deep thought, though what he was thinking about she had no idea.
"Found it!" Matsuri suddenly exclaimed, making Madoka jump in surprise and dragging Takahiro out of his thoughts as Matsuri contacted the others via telepathy.
"Everyone, I've located the Grief Seeds! One of them is on the first floor of a clothing store while the other is on the top floor of a toy store!"
"Good work, Matsuri!" Haruka praised her friend for a job well done before she and everyone else were thrown off balance due to a sudden earthquake followed by an increase of magic in the air. "This feeling...!"
"One of the Grief Seeds had sprouted!" Mami cried out in alarm just as an explosion occurred right above them on the top floor.
Jumping down from the top floor to the bottom, what could only be described as an anamorphic stuffed bunny stood before everyone, appearing as big as a two-story house. Its entire coat was pink with stuff ears and purple button eyes with three different bows sitting on top of its head, each one being white, blue, and orange. It was also garbed in a purple polka-dotted green dress with a blue scarf wrapped around its neck and tied into a bow in the back.
This is the bunny-eared Witch, Candy.
"It's...kinda cute," Both Madoka and Matsuri commented, slightly charmed by the Witch's cute appearance.
"Don't get distracted, you two," Mami said as she aimed two muskets at the bunny Witch. "Appearances can be deceiving. It's still a Witch, after all."
The Witch seemed to take offense to that as it set its sight on Mami and leaped towards her, punching with one of stubby arms. Mami wisely jumped back, avoiding the punch as she immediately fired upon the Witch who took each of her shots no problem. Mami was then caught by surprise when the ears of the Witch suddenly extended and grew razor-sharp teeth. Just as the Witch was about to chomp down on the sharpshooting Magical Girl, she was saved by Sayaka who used her speed to grab the girl and get out just before the teeth ears could take a bite out of them.
"Mami-san! You okay?" Sayaka asked as she set down her friend/leader on the ground.
"I'm fine, thank you," Mami thanked the bluenette before turning back to Candy who was now fighting with Arisa and Haruka. "So it can extend those ears of hers. I'll have to keep that in mind."
"I'm gonna go help!" Sayaka said, readying her swords.
"Then I'll provide cover fire," Mami said as she grabbed her hat and manifested more muskets from it.
Back with the fight, Arisa held up her scythe, blocking a hammer strike from the Witch and held her ground, giving Haruka the chance to close in and slash one of its legs, causing stuffing to come pouring out of the wound. This seemed to anger the Witch as it focused on the blond girl and seemingly threw a tantrum, flailing its arms about and even swinging its ears as if they were whips. It was so chaotic that both girls were having trouble dodging the Witch's attacks.
"Heads up!" Sayaka shouted as she came from behind the Witch, slamming right into the back of its head and throwing it off balance. Stabbing one sword into the Witch to steady herself, Sayaka then ran up the Witch's head and sliced off one of the Witch's ears, causing it to scream in pain as it began flailing about, throwing Sayaka off in the process. Seeing that it was the bluenette who sliced off its precious ear, Candy glared angrily and roared at her, revealing rows of teeth inside its mouth.
"Why is it always the cute ones that are so scary?" Sayaka thought out loud, reminded of horror movies involving dolls.
Obviously very pissed, the Witch jumped towards Sayaka, arms flailing about with the intent to beat the bluenette to death...
ADVENT
Only for it to be knocked back by surprise interference from Renji's Contract Monster, Darkwing, who's appearance surprised the Hohzuki girls.
"What the hell is that!?" Arisa exclaimed, pointing at the giant bat flying around the place.
"That's my Contract Monster," Renji answered as he helped Sayaka up.
"Contract Monster?"
"Every Rider has one. Show them, Takeru."
"I think we have bigger things to worry about," The stingray-themed Rider said, having just gotten a premonition which was soon confirmed by Matsuri.
"He's right! The second Grief Seed is about to hatch!"
*BOOM!*
And just as she said that an explosion occurred from a Columbia store down below as the second Witch revealed itself, revealing to be exactly like the bunny-Witch except this one was blue and wore a purple dress with pink polka-dots.
"Dammit! Just when we were about to finish off the first one!" Arisa said, cursing at the bad timing as the second Witch immediately saw its 'sister' was in trouble and sprung into action.
To the horror and disgust of everyone, the blue Witch's eyes became hollow as its entire head split in two, revealing the bone structure within as its ears became literal mouths with razor-sharp teeth.
"Oh that's just wrong," Renji commented before he and Sayaka found themselves tackled by the blue Witch, crashing right into another clothing store. Before the two blue heroes could recover, they found themselves beset by the Witch's mouth-ears slamming right into them. They both quickly held up their swords to protect themselves and were now trying to push back the monster's ears trying to literally eat them.
"Okay! I'm starting to see why Haru-kun doesn't like dolls so much!" Sayaka cried out, reeling in disgust as she felt drool dripping down on her.
"Sayaka-chan! Renji-san!" Madoka cried out in worry from where she was at.
"I got them!" Takeru said as the Hohzuki girls were too busy with the first Witch to help. Drawing a card from his belt, he immediately placed it inside his Evil Visor.
ADVENT
From the window of a close-by shop, Evildiver appeared and immediately aided the two blue heroes, using its whip-like tail to grab the blue Witch and pull it back, dragging it away from the Rider and Magical Girl. Before the Witch could even try fighting back, Darkwing swooped in and used its wings to slice off one of the Witch's ears, getting scream of pain from it.
Seeing both Witches were in trouble, the remaining Familiars tried to run in and help, but were blinded by Matsuri's light magic despite the fact that they had no eyes. Soon after, lasers shot out from the girl's gauntlets, taking down the blinded Familiars before she ran up and punched one right into another one, sending them both crashing through another store.
"All right, I think that takes care of all the Familiars," Matsuri said before looking back down to see how the battle was coming along, seeing that both Witches have reached max capacity and were now flailing and stomping around like mad berserkers.
"Dammit! We can't get close like this!" Arisa said, hiding behind some cover as she tried to look for an opening.
"Everyone, can you hear me?" Suddenly, Mami's voice was heard via telepathy by all Magical Girls.
"What is it?" Haruka asked.
"I have a plan to finish off the Witches, but I need them to be together. I can hold them down so that they don't flail around, but you need to find a way to get them together."
"I understand." Haruka mentally nodded before looking over towards Arisa who nodded in understanding.
"Hey! Fish boy!" Arisa called over to Takeru who turned to her in confusion.
"Me?"
"Who else? Listen, I need your help getting those two Witches together. Do you or your friend have any more tricks in that belt of yours?"
"I've got one," Tkaru said as he slid open his Evil Visor. "What about you?"
"Don't you worry, I got something up my sleeve," Arisa said, gripping her scythe.
"Then it's time to roll the dice," Takeru said as he drew a card and inserted it into his Visor.
FINAL VENT
From above, Evildiver flew down where to where Takeru was, allowing the Rider to jump on his Contract Monster as he flew over to the blue Candy Witch. Meanwhile, Arisa came out from her cover and faced the pink Candy Witch.
"Here goes...Boost!" Arisa shouted before her body was surrounded by magic. With a roar, the pink-colored girl charged at the pink Witch who saw her but was soon caught by surprise as Arisa covered the distance between them in an instant and tackled it, charging right into the Witch's chest.
Over with Takeru, he flew around the blue Witch, getting its attention as the stingray-themed Rider was busy gathering speed. The Witch tried to stop the Rider by sending its last remaining ear at him, but Takeru simply had Evildiver fly right past it as he flew down and rammed his Contract Monster right in its face, causing it to stumble back where it crashed into its 'sister' who had been knocked back by Arisa's charge tackle.
"Now's my chance," Haruka said as she stepped forth and shouted, "Attention!"
While in the middle of recovering, Haruka's magic caused both Witches to turn to her who then shouted, "Release!" Soon, both Witches suddenly froze up, leaving them vulnerable as a very long string of ribbon appeared and wrapped around both Witches, tying them both together as the ribbon soon formed a tight knot so that the two Candy Witches would not be able to break out.
"It's a good thing this mall has everything," Mami said as behind her was a gift wrapping station where she was using her magic to enchant the ribbons that were currently binding the two Witches. "Now then, I think it's time we wrap this up."
FINAL VENT
"Way ahead of you!" Renji cried out as he ran past Mami armed with the Wing Lancer as Darkwing flew down to its Contract Holder and landed on his back, transforming into the Wing Wall cape. Jumping up, the cape soon wrapped around him and the Rider shot forward towards the bounded Witches, performing his Hishouzan finisher as the bat-themed Rider drilled right through both Witches' heads. But it didn't end there.
"Mami! Double-tap!" Takeru cried over to the blond girl who was already holding up an enlarged musket.
"Right! Here's the finisher! Tiro Finale!"
*BANG!*
*BOOOOOOM~!*
(Back with Haru and Suzune)
After running around for a while following Dragreder, the Mirror Monster finally arrived at where they needed to be.
"An art museum?" Haru raised an eyebrow at the building before them. From a nearby window, Dragreder roared at Haru before it flew further in. "I guess this is the place then."
"Your dragon can track down Witches?" Suzune asked as her necklace glowed brightly confirming that there was indeed a Witch here.
"Yeah. I don't know how it works, but I'm not complaining," Haru said with a casual shrug before checking his watch which showed: 4:30. "We better hurry up, or else we'll be late to deliver the evening papers."
Luckily, it seemed the museum closes at six, so the two were able to enter the building easily. Yet immediately the two noticed just how eerily quiet it was as there was nobody at the reception desk. Heck, there weren't even guards around.
"Something's not right here," Haru said, stating the obvious.
"The Witch must have already taken over this place," Suzune said though she noticed how there didn't seem to be any sign of blood, a struggle, anything to hint that a Witch's influence had taken over this place.
A distance roar was heard from further in, belonging to Dragreder as it seemed like it wanted the two to journey further in which they did. Walking past multiple exhibits, the two walked further into the museum and soon started to hear the sounds of mummering. Journeying further in, they soon came upon a room filled with people. Ignoring how there seemed to be more men than women here, the two noticed how everyone was opening praising a painting that depicted a naked woman whose body was covered by dark blue sheets and her face was obscured by dark blue hair with small white sparkles decorating it, giving the illusion of the woman's hair being the night sky.
The people seemed to be praising it like it was the most beautiful thing in the world. And while Haru my admit that it was an impressive looking painting, the amount of praising the people was doing was a bit overexaggerated. It was like they were in love with the painting.
"This obviously the work of a Witch," Suzune said, whispering so as to not alert the people that were clearly being possessed by the Witch's Kiss.
"Which means it's nearby," Haru said as he and Suzune backed away from the gathering of people before taking out their respective transformation items.
Both the Soul Gem and the Advent Deck glowed briefly before a portal opened up before them. Once it did, Suzune transformed quickly while the V-Buckle formed around Haru.
"Henshin!" Slotting his Deck into the buckle, Haru soon transformed and the two entered the portal, stepping into the Witch's Barrier.
The best way to describe the Barrier was looking at a museum through a kaleidoscope. Stars and walls were positioned in random directions with the stairs going either up, down, or even hanging upside down. Lights were the same too as they hanged from the ceiling in random lengths, some being closer to the ground than others. Lastly, a variety of paintings decorated every part of the room as they made up the walls, floor, and ceiling, with even more paintings being hung over them.
"Something tells me this Witch is a big fan of art," Haru said, blinking his eyes behind his helmet due to how many colors were assaulting them.
Suzune didn't comment back as she was focused more on locating the Witch. Ignoring the design of the Barrier as all Witch Barriers were quite intricate, nothing seemed out ordinary and that alone was already setting off alarms in her head. Cause when it came to Witches, nothing was ordinary.
*WHA-PISH!*
"Gah!" A sound akin to a whip was the only warning Suzune got before she jumped back, leaving Haru to take the full brunt of the attack as he was thrown back and crashed into one of the many paints here. Briefly checking to see if the Rider was still in one piece, Suzune tracked the attacked and found herself looking up as something dropped down from the ceiling.
It had a paintbrush-like body as the handle was carved up to give the impression of a slender female body. It didn't seem to have legs as it had a skirt composed entirely out of what looked to be hair acting as the main brush. Over the body, it wore the top half of a baby blue victorian style dress as coming out of the sleeves were even more bundles of hair grouped together like brushes as each tentacle-like appendage had these different colored stars decorating most of the hair, seemingly acting like paint on a brush. Finally, the thing had not one, but two mannequin-like heads with both having extremely long necks and two pairs of wings that looked like they were ripped straight out of a bright starry night sky. Both heads had water-like masks covering their eyes as the only thing keeping both heads connected was a very expensive-looking necklace that both heads were holding with their mouths.
This is the Witch of Adoration, Naomi.
With the Witch now revealing itself, Suzune didn't waste any time and struck fast, throwing a fireball at it only for the Witch to use one of its whip-like arms to strike the incoming flame, canceling it out by using the 'paint' on its arms. Then, it started throwing its arms out at Suzune as the said arms struck like whips. Suzune wisely moved to dodge. She was about to send out another fireball when...
SWORD VENT
"Ha!" Haru, having recovered from the Witch's surprise attack, jumped in with his Drag Saber which he used to slice off one of the Witch's arms. Instead of screaming in pain like the Rider had expected, Naomi hardly seemed fazed as its skirt formed stubby legs and the Witch kicked the Rider away who skidded back and crashed against a wall. Haru went to get up but found himself frozen stiff.
"Wha-? I can't...move!" Haru gritted out as he looked and saw that that starry-like paint that covered the Witch's brush-like appendages was all over his chest armor.
Over with Naomi, the arm which Haru sliced off grew back in seconds and it wasted no time attacking Haru in revenge. Luckily for the Rider, Suzune came in and grabbed the Rider, pulling him away before dumping him back on the ground.
"Oi, get up," Suzune said to the still frozen Rider.
"I can't!" Haru exclaimed, finding his entire body as stiff as a board.
"Hmm..." Suzune hummed to herself, looking at the paint on Haru's body before looking back at the Witch who was swinging around its arms.
'That paint, it must freeze the body of anything it touches,' Suzune noted in her mind before widening her eyes when the Witch started spinning its arms around like cartwheels and set a barrage of paintballs at the two. Now knowing that touching the paint was dangerous, Suzune summoned flaming swords and sent them to intercept the incoming paintballs before she grabbed Haru again and jumped away to gain some distance.
Once away, she set the Rider down and said to him," Stay here."
"Wait!" Haru cried out but Suzune was already gone, going back to deal with the Witch herself.
Seeing Suzune coming, the Witch once again set a barrage of paint at her which she wisely dodged, using her smaller size and speed to evade. To any that she would unable to dodge, she dealt with easily by summoning flames to protect herself. Seeing that its attacks were doing no good, the Witch stopping spinning its arms around and began using them like whips again, trying to strike the charging Suzune. Just as one was about to hit her, Suzune quickly teleported using Kagerō(Heat Shimmer), dodging the whip arm and running up it to get to the Witch's head.
'Since it has two heads, I'll just cut them both off at the same time,' Suzune thought as she was about to wisely swing her sword when the Witch did something that caught her by surprise.
The necklace that both heads were holding was seemingly slurped up as if it were a noodle. And because both heads were holding onto the necklace, they ended up kissing. The second both heads locked lips, something happened to Suzune.
'So...beautiful...' Suzune thought to herself as she found herself before what looked like a shadow puppet show and a myriad of colors that seemed to do something to Suzune as she lowered her sword and her body relaxed.
It was so beautiful. The colors. The shadows. The woman in front of her. Especially the woman. She was...lovely. There was no other way she could describe it. It horrified her how she could raise her hand against something so beauteous. She felt regretful, ashamed, disgusted. It was much like when she killed another Magical Girl, despite how much she tried to—
STRIKE VENT
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
A torrent of flame followed by an ear-shattering scream snapped Suzune back to reality as she found herself pulled away by Haru just in time before she got sucked into the Witch's bosom who had opened up her dress and had tried to suck her in while she had been entranced earlier.
"Oi! Amano-san! Get a hold of yourself!" Haru shook the Magical Girl Hunter.
"Wha...?" Suzune blinked in confusion, barely noting how Haru had none of the Witch's paint on him anymore, instead he was now slightly covered in soot.
"You suddenly froze up just as you were about to finish off the Witch. You didn't even try to escape when it grabbed you and tried to eat you earlier," Haru said, informing Suzune of what had just nearly happened.
Still blinking in confusion, Suzune soon realized what had happened to her and frowned at herself.
'Charm Magic, and a powerful one at that.' The Witch had completely taken her by surprise. Had it not been for Haru, she would have...
"Anyway, get your act together. We need to finish this now or else we'll be late to deliver the evening papers," Haru said, pushing down his Drag Visor and drawing a card. "I don't know about you, but I do not want to be fired from this job yet, I just got it after all."
Suzune didn't respond back as she stood up and glared over at the Witch who had finally put out the flames Haru had bathed it in. Suzune didn't give it a chance to rest yet as she held up her hand and said, "Sakuraka(Cherry Flame)."
*SHOOM!*
A torrent of powerful flames shot out from Suzune's hand and struck the Witch, once again bathing it in fire as it once again let out a glass-shattering scream.
'Wow, she is pissed,' Haru thought to himself before he inserted the card he drew into his Visor and closed it.
FINAL VENT
From behind Haru and Suzune, a mirror appeared before Dragredder came flying through it, entering the Witch's Barrier. Despite the Witch being bathed in fire right now, the presence of the Mirror Monster seemed to trigger something as it screamed at the dragon. Dragreder roared back at it before it flew down to Haru who finished getting into his stance before he jumped up. The Witch tried to stop the Rider by sending out is flaming whip arms to intercept, but they were sliced off by Suzune who soon jumped back to allow Haru to finish of the Witch.
"Haa~!" With a battle cry, Haru roared as Dragreder rocketed him towards the Witching, striking it with his Dragon Rider Kick. The end result was more...explosive than Suzune expected.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOM!*
An explosion completely devoured the Witch, killing it as Haru leaped out of the smoke, landing right in front of Suzune.
"Whew! Been a while since I did that," Haru said before turning to Suzune and gave her a thumbs up. "Great teamwork, Amano-san! Thanks for the assist near the end."
Suzune didn't respond back as she caught the Grief Seed left behind by the Witch and promptly left.
"Amano-san? Amano-san! Hey, come on! You know we couldn't have defeated that Witch without working together!" Haru said as he followed after the silver-haired girl.
Suzune would admit that if she didn't have Haru with her, today's battle may have been her last...but she would never tell that to the Rider. She would, however, have to thank him later. Because until she found a way to get him fired and figure out how to avoid that dragon of his, she was stuck with the Rider.
(Back with Mami and group)
"I think today turned out quite well, don't you think?" Mami asked Haruka as the entire group had returned to the park.
"Yes, it was very beneficial for both of us," Haruka said as both blonds split today's earnings; the two Grief Seeds with one going to both sides to take.
"Gotta say, you weren't so bad despite still being a greenhorn," Arisa said to Sayaka.
"Thanks, I guess?" Sayaka said, unsure if she should accept the girl's compliment.
"You were pretty gutsy out there yourself," Renji joined in on the conversation as the three began talking.
"You were amazing, Hinata-chan!" Madoka praised the green-haired girl. "The way you were shooting lasers out of your hands, and how you defeated every Familiar that came after us!"
"Oh, it was nothing, really," Matsuri said, blushing a bit under Madoka's praise. "I wouldn't be as good if not for my friends. Also, please call me Matsuri. It's fine."
"Then, Matsuri-chan!" Madoka said as she grabbed the girl's hands and shook them with a smile that Matsuri returned with her own.
"They seem to be getting along quite well," Takahiro noted.
"Well, Madoka-san has a talent of attracting people to her," Takeru said. "How are you, by the way? This is the first time you've seen your friends fight, isn't it?"
"Yeah, and well, I guess I'm still trying to process everything," Takahiro said. "I still can't believe they've been doing stuff like this behind my back."
"I know how you feel. I was quite surprised as well when I first discovered Mami's secret," Takeru said before taking out his Advent Deck and looking at it. "When I became a Rider, I think a part of me was glad that I could help her like this."
"And how exactly did you become a Rider?" Takahiro asked, looking at Takeru's Deck with interest.
"Well, it's a long story."
While everyone else was talking, both blond leaders watched their friends converse with one another.
"Everyone seems to be getting along nicely," Haruka said.
"Yes," Mami nodded before turning to Haruka. "So, now that we've seen what both sides can do, and what we can do together, what are your feelings about my offer?"
At this did everyone turn to their respective leaders. Today's team-up had been a sort of practice run to see how both teams functioned together. Madoka in particular stared anxiously, wondering what Haruka's response would be.
"...I will admit, I am still unsure about forming an alliance," Haruka admitted, doubt still lingering inside of the girl.
"Then, does that mean...?"
"However," Haruka interrupted Mami, still not finished speaking. "Despite my doubts, I do think teaming up would benefit both of us."
"Really!?" Madoka said and Haruka nodded.
"Haruka, are you sure?" Arisa asked, still a bit doubtful.
"I am," Haruka nodded. "As Matsuri explained to us earlier, something is happening to this city, evident by the fact that we have two killers out there hunting down Magical Girls like us. Whatever is happening, we need to get to the bottom of it, which is why I believe that teaming up with Tomoe-san's group will be beneficial to all of us."
"Then we are in agreement then," Mami smiled before she offered her hand to Haruka for a handshake. "I look forward to working together with you, Kanade Haruka-san."
"I as well, Tomoe Mami-san," Haruka said as she shook the girl's hand.
"Hooray!" Both Madoka and Matsuri cheered before they high-fived one another.
"Well, I guess we'll be working together from now on," Arisa said to Sayaka and Renji.
"Yeah," The Rider nodded.
"Well then, why don't we all celebrate this occasion?" Takeru suggested before turning to Mami. "Mami, is that cafe you mentioned to me still open at this time?"
"I believe so. It's not that far from here, in fact," Mami said before smiling. "Yes, that sounds like a wonderful idea."
"I'm down for some cake," Arisa said with Matsuri nodding in agreement.
"Then follow me," Mami said as she guided everyone in the direction of a certain cafe.
Renji was about to join them when he noticed Sayaka looking down at her Soul Gem which was back in its Ring form.
"Sayaka-san?"
"Huh?" Hearing her name, Sayaka looked up at Renji who was looking at her in concern.
"Are you sure you're all right?"
"Umm...yeah," Sayaka said before hiding her ringed hand behind her back. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Renji didn't seem the least bit convinced, but before he could ask more Sayaka ran off to join the others, forcing the Rider to save his questions for later in order to catch up.
As the group walked away from the park, none of them noticed a newspaper flying in the wind. Dated back a week ago, its headlines said in bolded letters:
{HIGHLY WANTED CRIMINAL ESCAPES PRISON! LAST SIGHTING SEEN HEADING TO MITAKIHARA CITY!}
And...done! Huh, that turned out better than I expected. Granted I had to make a few changes here and there, but all in all, not a bad job this time. Compared to the last chapter, not a lot of stuff happened this time. This was mostly made so that everyone could get to know each other a little better. Of course, there are a few problems I saw, but I'll try to fix those as best I can. As for that little tidbit I left at the end, well, that character may or may not appear in the next chapter. I've already got enough characters I need to juggle so I'm gonna see if I can thin the herd so to speak before doing that. But that won't be for a while since I'm gonna be busy real soon. So until then, this has been Ashbel Longhart here, signing out. Until the next ride!