In all honesty, Sayaka didn't know what compelled her to follow her senpai to the roof. She still hadn't ruled out that she was just imagining everything because, come on, a talking animal asking her to become a magical girl? Honestly! What is this, some kind of anime? Things like this don't happen, and if they do, they don't happen to people like Sayaka Miki. She's not interesting enough, or smart enough, or cute enough.
If it happens to anyone, it happens to people like Mami, now that she's thinking about it. She's got the looks down, with her blonde hair in that adorable twin drill style and the way she carries herself: the epitome of ladylike elegance. If anyone would make a good magical girl, it would be her. Madoka would be a good fit too. She's the right kind of sweet with a hint of shyness and a heart bigger than the whole world. And her hair's pink too. But that still begs the question of why anyone wanted Sayaka Miki for their magical girl larping.
Honestly, it's probably someone's idea of a prank. Though, who'd pull off something like this? Yuka? She seems like the type who would. But why magical girls? Everyone knows Sayaka's more into Super Sentai; that would be way cooler. Unless that's part of the joke. A little mean spirited for her taste, but she can roll with it. Mami seemed very earnest, at least, explaining the 'duties of a magical girl'. But that begged the question of why she's in on this. They've never met before, or at least Sayaka couldn't recall meeting her before. And no one she knew hung out with any upperclassmen. Did Yuka pull a favor from the theater club or something? If true, she had to give Mami her props. Not breaking character and a great ventriloquist. The freaky animal was kinda cute; some kind of albino raccoon she guessed. Regardless, Yuka or whoever else set this up went through some amount of effort, and Sayka had enough humor to at least play along.
"So let me get this straight," she said. "You want me to make a wish… and then I'll be a magical girl?"
"More precisely, I will grant you a wish and in exchange for the wish coming true, you will become a magical girl," the animal 'Kyubey' said.
"And I can wish for anything?"
"You can't wish for more wishes if that's what you're getting at," Mami said.
"Uh-huh… so what kinda powers would I have?"
"That depends on your potential, as well as the wish you make," Kyubey said.
"Right…"
"I understand your hesitation. Miki-san," Mami said. "But it would appear our time is running short." Crap, was lunch over already? "Perhaps… a demonstration would aid in this explanation?" She closed her eyes and hummed for a moment. "Yes, that might be for the best. If you would, I would like to show you what it means to be a magical girl."
Mami was really going all in on this. Did they pay her? Fun as it all sounded though, she was gonna go see Kyosuke-
Oh. Right. And she hadn't even told Madoka or Hitomi what happened. And truth be told, she didn't want to. They'd just get mad at him when they shouldn't. He had every right to be mad. His entire life was taken away from him. She'd just… give him time to cool off.
"...Sure, why not," she relented. At least… it would give her something else to do?
"Excellent! Meet me after school and I will be happy to answer your every question as best I can!" Mami turned to head back to class as the bell rang.
Sayaka sighed. "What am I even doing…?"
The rest of the day passed by in a blur. She returned to class and said she got held up by the disciplinary committee. Hitomi scolded her and said she really should focus more on her schoolwork and Madoka tried to console her. The transfer student said that hopefully it wasn't anything too serious, which was more than she was getting from her before, so she'd take it. Making a new friend was some silver lining in all this.
Sayaka pondered if she should really go through with all this. She didn't even know how to explain some elaborate prank about magical girls, and she really didn't want to hang out with some weird upperclassman, but she already agreed to go through with it. "Me and my big mouth," she muttered with a roll of her eyes. No one was gonna say Sayaka Miki didn't keep her word. She might as well make the best of it. They already went through this much trouble, and it would just be in bad taste to ruin the joke.
She excused herself from her friends at the end of the day. They already knew she was supposed to head to the hospital immediately following school today, so she didn't have to make up any other excuse. Mami and her little animal found her the moment she left the front gate.
"Let's just get this over with," Sayaka muttered, following Mami against her better judgement.
"I thank you for extending your trust, Miki-san," she said.
"Huh? Oh yeah… sure."
"As I said, a proper demonstration is in order." Mami held out her hand and a radiant gold gem flashed into her palm, seeming to glow as the light reflected off its surface.
"You've got a lot of tricks up your sleeve, huh?" Sayaka said.
"This is my soul gem, an item that is proof of my status as a magical girl. It's the source of my magic, and with it, we will be able to locate a witch."
"Mm-hmm." Mami continued to talk about witches and magical girls, but Sayaka wasn't really paying attention.
Honestly, what was she doing here? Pranks are fine and all, but this was going a little bit more in depth than she was comfortable with. And she didn't want to be there to begin with. She should have just told Madoka and Hitomi. Sure, they'd be mad at Kyosuke, but that's just because they were worried about her. But they shouldn't really- Hitomi has enough on her plate, and Madoka would think it's somehow her fault. Sayaka didn't need them to waste their time worrying about someone like her.
"Is everything alright, Sayaka?" The animal asked her. "You appear to be lost in thought."
Sayka jumped at being called. "...I'm good," she lamely replied. She had just followed Mami blindly and found herself in some kind of parking complex, and had no idea where she was.
This was definitely the dumbest thing she's done in a while.
"Are you sure you're alright, Miki-san?" Mami asked, worry clear on her face. "What you're about to witness is not for the faint of heart. There is nothing wrong being hesitant. I just want to be sure that you truly want to follow through with this."
The only thing Sayaka wanted was to go home right now. But…
Sayaka huffed. "We came all this way, I might as well see what you wanted to show me."
Mami gave her a gentle smile. "Of course. I'll do my best to leave a good impression." Mami took a few steps forward and held out her hand. In that next moment, the air around them had shifted and Sayaka felt a wave of nausea overtake her. Her vision swam and a bright assault of colors danced in streaks around her. And before she even had time to shut her eyes, the landscape around them had changed. Gone were the pillars of steel and concrete, replaced with a colorful expanse that she would describe as a child's interpretation of 'Alice in Wonderland'. Looking around gave her a headache, as there seemed to be no logic behind this land of scribbles and she could scarcely make out one object from the background. So lost was she that she barely noticed Mami was now in an entirely different outfit, holding a gun and firing it at something in the distance.
"Stay close to me, Miki-san," she said with a reassuring smile. Mami jumped, swatting something in the air with her weapon, firing a shot and the creature exploding in a flash of gold."I wouldn't want you to get hurt," she said after an elegant landing. A wave of her hand and the gun disappeared.
Sayaka's eyes were wide with shock, the explosion of colors against the surreal landscape made her head throb and her stomach turn. But Mami stood strong, as though nothing could bother her. "What the hell is going on here!?"
Kyubey jumped onto Sayaka's shoulder. "This is what it is to be a magical girl."
"This is bullshit. Complete bullshit." Kyoko did nothing but grumble and curse to herself as she put an end to the witch before her. "Who the hell is this guy? No one's supposed to know about witches, and now everything's messed up because of him." She pocketed the grief seed as the labyrinth dissipated. "Showing up outta nowhere… hmph." Changing back to her civilian form, she headed out. "At least I'm getting something out of it. Mitakihara is good territory, and now half of it is mine. Maybe more depending on how efficiently Mami can hunt alone." But despite the grumbling she let out, she couldn't help the lingering unease she felt. That man in the red, she just didn't know how to deal with him. Sure, hunting witches before he could was fine and dandy, but what about in the meantime? She and Mami together couldn't kill him, so what now? It wasn't like she didn't try hard enough… or did she? She was still wary, no doubt about that. But was she so rattled that she was giving up before she gave it her all?
And the thought of that alone pissed her off.
She clenched her fist in renewed resolve. She would kill the man. He still bled, and that meant he could die. But still, even with all that talk, she didn't have much of a plan. If she met him while inside a labyrinth, what then? She couldn't just hope it didn't come to that, she needed to think of something damn it! Was preventing him from getting witches really all she could do? There had to be something!
Is it possible he had a weak point? Magical girls had their soul gems, so maybe he had something similar? If so, that would be pretty important to figure out. Not like she could just go ask him 'hey, what's the easiest way to kill you?' And having fought him for real now, she doubted she could actually take him one on one and make it out in one piece. He handled her and Mami together pretty evenly. Then would using a numbers advantage help? Doubtful. More magical girls would just mean fewer grief seeds, and it was extremely unlikely they'd find any other magical girls with the same fighting prowess she and Mami have. That'd just add to her problems. If Mami wanted to go down that road, she could deal with it.
So for now, it seemed like fighting witches was really all she could do. She cursed again. Playing the long game? That practically went against everything magical girls stood for. But this was a fight for survival. If she was really pressed she'd have no choice but to go all out. What was that saying? 'A cornered fox is more dangerous than a jackal'? Something like that.
So consumed was she in her thoughts, when she rounded a corner, some little pink girl bumped into her.
"Eep-" Pink yelped, falling to the ground from the impact. Her companions called out to her.
Kyoko looked at them: Pink, Green, and Black. A group of normal girls who couldn't even fathom the shit she was dealing with- well, something was off about that last one, but she was too angry to pay her any further attention. The last thing she wanted was for these fuckers to sour her mood more than it already was. Well, too late for that.
"Madoka-chan!" Green said, looking on in concern. Black quickly lept to Pink's side and was helping her to her feet.
"S-sorry," Pink said. Black was glaring daggers at her, but Kyoko hardly registered it. With everything else going on, Kyoko couldn't be assed to deal with regular people. They weren't fighting for their lives. Let them be angry at her, let them hate her. She had way more important shit to deal with.
"Piss off," Kyoko said before going on her way. She let out a breath. She was getting way too worked up over this. Anger clouds judgement and she couldn't afford to be lacking that. Maybe she'd go burn off some steam at the arcade. The best ideas always come when you're not actively thinking about them, after all.
"...Well she was rather rude," Hitomi said as they watched the red haired girl walk away.
"I don't know," Madoka said. "She seemed really upset about something…"
"Unfortunately some people just do not carry themselves with appropriate decorum," Hitomi sighed. "I suppose it is for the best that Sayaka-chan is not with us today. It would be dreadful were she to start a fight with someone in the middle of the street."
"Are you alright, Madoka?" Homura asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just… I hope she has a better day."
"...You are far too kind," Homura said.
Hitomi giggled. "Sayaka-chan often shares similar sentiments."
"Jeez, you say it like it's a bad thing…"
In Homura's mind, she acknowledged Dante was annoyingly good at getting under someone's skin. It was honestly impressive. She'd seen Kyoko angry before, but from just a couple of encounters she was in a haze of rage.
Truly Dante was doing his part. Now all she needed to do was stop Madoka from contracting. Defeating Walpurgisnacht and having Madoka safe finally seemed to be in reach. But she needed to remain vigilant. She dared not hope that she was anywhere near being in the clear. Anything could happen that would make everything go downhill.
Sayaka was shocked. No, not shocked. Sayaka was baffled. No, not even that. She was… perplexed? Bemused? Astonished? No! She was… She literally couldn't think of the right words to capture how she felt at this very moment, a whirlwind of thoughts storming through her mind, and she was using every ounce of brain power she had to assimilate this new information into her mental schema without going insane.
Magical girls. They were a real thing. They existed in the same world that she did. This whole time, magic and wishes and talking animal companions and all of the stuff little girls dreamed of were real and hiding right under her nose. Girls that were the only hope of the people, who fought to protect everyone's hopes and dreams. Girls that used magical powers to fight evil monsters. Girls that had talking animal sidekicks. And they wanted her to join them.
Sayaka pinched herself.
She was still at Mami's house and definitely not falling out of her bed.
"I wanted to speak with you because you can become a magical girl," Kyubey said. Or rather 'projected into her mind' as he explained… and she couldn't even begin to wrap her head around that. And Kyubey just nonchalantly sat on the table grooming himself. He sure looked weird enough to be a magical girl mascot. "You have the potential," he said.
"I understand this is a lot to take in, Miki-san." And her senpai, Mami Tomoe, a girl only one year above her, was an honest to goodness magical girl. Mami, who was sitting across from her, casually drinking tea that she made with magic. Just a wave of her hand and a cup of tea fell from the sky. She offered her some, but she didn't drink it because she was just so baffled about where it came from. Then again, it was made with magic. Maybe she didn't need to understand. Mami certainly seemed to enjoy it well enough.
Sayaka pinched herself again. She wasn't sure she actually believed it was real… that any of this was real. She was sure any moment her mom would wake her up for sleeping past her alarm and yell at her for being late to school.
"Yeah…" Sayaka managed to mumble. "...it's kinda hard to understand."
"If you have any questions, Miki-san, I'll be happy to answer as best I can."
Questions? Sayaka had a billion questions. How long has Mami been a magical girl? What do her powers do? How did she magic tea out of thin air? How often does she fight witches? Why are they called witches? Who are they after? Are there a lot? How dangerous are they? How many magical girls are there? Does she know any other magical girls? How does Kyubey make magical girls?
…Do they really think she can be one?
"So in order to be a magical girl… I just have to make a wish?"
"We make a contract," Kyubey explained. "A wish is granted and in exchange, you become a magical girl who fights witches."
"Or rather, that would normally be the case," Mami said. Oh good, this gets even more complicated? "You see, recently we've encountered a dangerous individual who has been harnessing the power of witches for their own ends. I cannot in good conscience allow you to continue without telling you this."
"Huh. That right?" Mami nodded. At this, Sayaka began to chuckle.
"You find this humorous?" Kyubey asked.
"Eh, kinda. It's just fitting that there's some kinda evil villain attached to all this. So, is he stealing people's hearts or something?"
"We are… not entirely sure what he is after," Mami said.
"I can only surmise he is trying to harness the power of witches to some end,"Kyubey said.
"Then I guess figuring out his goal is our plan! Ah- but I'm getting ahead of myself. Do… do, you really think I have what it takes to be a magical girl?"
"Of course!" Kyubey said.
Sayka chuckled. "Great, sign me up!"
"All you have to do is make a wish-"
"Miki-san, while I appreciate your enthusiasm, I just want to caution you that there is danger to this. You've seen what we magical girls have to face, and I want you to understand that we put our lives at risk for the sake of others. If you truly wish to go through with this, and I do believe you will make a great magical girl, I want you to really think about your wish- a wish you will fight for. You only get one, so you have to make sure it's what you want."
"But… I can wish for anything, right?"
"The wish that can be granted is directly proportional to your potential as a magical girl," Kyubey said.
"So, like, I could wish for a million yen? Or, like, a combat butler? No, a robot combat butler!"
"Both of those wishes can be granted."
"Or I could, say, use the wish on someone else?"
"That would pose no problem. Previous magical girls have used their wish on someone else."
"So I could give my friend a robot butler?"
"Yes!"
"You have quite the imagination, Miki-san," Mami giggled. "But still, at least take some time to think about what you truly want to wish for."
"And when you're ready to make your wish, I'll be there to contract you!"
"Yeah, okay. I can do that."
"Thank you, Miki-san. This is a once in a lifetime chance, and I would be remiss if I didn't encourage you to take as much time as you needed."
"Heh heh, I get it, I get it."
"Wonderful. Even so, there is much to be done; a lot of intricacies I must explain about what it means to be a magical girl. Shall I see you tomorrow, then?"
"You bet!" And with a happy wave and a spring in her step, Sayaka left Mami's home. Not that she needed time to think about a wish. She already knew what she wanted. The only problem is that the wish was 'proportional' to her potential. She never really thought she had much potential for anything, but she hoped beyond hope that if her life could amount to anything, it'd be worth enough for him. But if, for whatever reason that wish couldn't be granted, having a backup wouldn't hurt. At least, no matter what, she'd be actively working to make the world a better place. That counted for something.
When Sayaka left, Kyubey turned to Mami. "I will admit, your approach was more heuristic than I initially anticipated. I theorized Sayaka Miki would need several days at minimum to consider contracting."
Mami let out a light giggle. "No girl likes a pushy boy, Kyubey!"
"Data suggests that is not universally true. But, perhaps a reevaluation is necessary. I believed that immediately offering Sayaka Miki a wish would provide the most immediate results, but significant time would still be required."
"Some girls just need to learn things hands-on. Miki-san struck me as that type."
"...Humans are so strange."
Sayaka asked a question that made Homura's thoughts screech to a halt. Homura froze, turning to Sayaka with slight trepidation masked by the neutral expression she kept up at all times. But, things have been out of the ordinary lately. Perhaps she had misheard.
"Sorry, what was the question?" Homura asked.
"Sayaka-chan asked what would you wish for if you could wish for anything," Madoka said.
Homura clenched her fists. She heard correctly. In any other context, this would be an innocuous question. But for Homura, any talk of wishes put her on high alert.
"Quite the difficult question to spring on us so suddenly," Hitomi said.
"What, you've never thought about this before?" Sayaka asked.
"Not really, no," Madoka said.
"I'm afraid not, " Hitomi said.
"Haven't you ever seen Aladdin, Hitomi?"
"I cannot say that I have."
This was such a stupid question. Why did she have to wonder about this now of all times? There's no way this was a spur of the moment thing. Kyubey must have contacted her when she was alone yesterday. "...Why are you asking?" Homura prodded.
"Oh, no reason. Just curious."
Like hell she was 'just curious'. Homura had been foolish. She knew this would happen if she left Sayaka alone. And yet she let Sayaka go on her merry way while she spent time with Madoka. While Madoka was the priority, she definitely had the opportunity to keep Sayaka in her sights, and she let the opportunity slip through her fingers. She had been weak. Things were in control and she grew complacent just because she spent a few more moments with Madoka, precious though they were. If Sayaka contracts, that just pulls Madoka into Kyubey's machinations that much easier. Should she just cut her losses now? No, this could be salvaged. She needed to find out how much Sayaka knew.
"I don't know," Madoka said. "I'd probably wish for a pet cat. I've always wanted one."
"You could wish for anything in the world and you want a cat?" Sayaka laughed. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised."
"What were you expecting me to say? I don't really want anything like money or a butler like you would, Sayaka-chan."
"Heh, you hit the mark in one!"
"Honestly you two," Hitomi chided. "If you could wish for anything, why would it be something material? You can adopt a cat or hire a butler." Sayaka stuck her tongue out at Hitomi. "Really, the only thing worth wishing for is true love!"
"Of course you would say that," Sayaka said with a sly grin. "You're basically already a princess waiting for her prince. 'Oh my dearest Hitomi, your hair flows like water and your eyes shine like… something shiny.'"
"I think my prince needs lessons on how to charm a lady," Hitomi giggled. "Nothing less than a proper sonnet will do!"
"What about you, Homura?" Sayaka asked.
"I wouldn't wish for anything," she spat. "What need do I have to make a wish for? Everything in this life comes with a price, and no matter how good something seems, you're never prepared for the consequences, despite what anyone tries to tell you. If you are truly satisfied with your life, you wouldn't want to change anything about it. You have people who love you and care for you, more than you could ever know. There's no reason you should try and change that, Madoka!"
Homura stopped. She had let her emotions get the better of her- and worst of all, Madoka was staring at her very intently.
"How'd I become a part of this?" Madoka asked, her head tilted in confusion.
A deep breath. She tried her best to mask it as a sigh or a scoff. Somehow, Hitomi and Sayaka found what she said to be amusing, and were casting unfiltered grins in her direction.
She had to think: she needed to put this in a way Sayaka understood, a way that would deter her without keying her in just in case this really was a random question Sayaka thought of. "What I mean is: we think we know what we're getting into, but the next thing we know, but we never know how foolish our choices actually are, that we aren't as strong as we think we are, or as strong as we need to be."
The three of them stared at Homura in silence.
"...What?" Madoka asked.
And then, to their surprise, Sayaka nodded along.
"I know what you mean," she said.
"You do?" Homura asked.
"...You do?" Madoka and Hitomi added, skepticism filling their voices.
"Uh, yeah? I'm pretty sure that's the law of equivalent exchange."
"The what." Homura said, more as a statement than a question. She turned to Madoka, who shook her head in confusion.
"The more I talk to you, the more I like you, Homura," Sayaka said with a grin. "You know, you're alright."
"I'm quite certain you don't understand," Homura stressed. "Whatever it is you think you want, you cannot pay the price."
"Oh, you mean like a monkey's paw!" Hitomi said.
"Oh yeah, I guess I should have thought of that," Sayaka said.
"Then it is something you should consider," Homura said. "Whatever you wish for will only backfire."
Sayaka looked thoughtful. "Good point," she relented.
At that moment, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.
Homura couldn't find Sayaka when school was over. Not that she tried very hard. She would redouble her efforts to protect Madoka. Maybe she could be a better support after she kills Sayaka. And even better, considering the role Dante wants to play, a few nudges in his direction will keep their eyes off Madoka.
Dante, the Legendary Devil Hunter, considered himself a man of action; the kind who would get things done and look good doing it. At least, he thought as much while he was actively on a mission, despite what Lady, Trish, or Nero would say. When he found out why he was in a time loop, he was hyped. Finally! An end to the perpetual boredom he was subjected to. 'Let's get this party started!' he said.
But nothing had started. There was no party. This was a friendly Sunday gathering at best.
He couldn't wrap his head around why he couldn't find these witches. Sure, they weren't demons, but dealing with magical creatures that want to eat humans was definitely in his wheelhouse. This should have been a cakewalk! So what's the problem? He still didn't have an answer. A jaunt through the whole city turned up nothing. No trace of anything mystical or demonic; not even a single bar for people who did dirty jobs. In fact, he didn't think anything about this city could be considered 'dirty.' Bizarre is more like it. It's like the architects saw a bunch of other cities and mishmashed the most interesting parts together. How else would he explain the Burj Khalifa and Empire State Building being in the same skyline? But even more apparent in its design philosophy was how… sterile it was. Walkways that stretched over entire highways, ornate fountains in carefully crafted squares, streetlights that were practically avant garde art, and for some reason most of it was made of glass. All of it screamed 'perfectly curated to make you forget all the bad shit in the world.' Even so, he kept his nose to the ground. He should have uncovered a thread to the city's dark underbelly, and despite what they wanted him to believe, he knew it was there.
"Then again, can't find nothing if all they all became a witch's lunch," he chuckled.
He was regretting not watching more movies about the Yakuza. They probably have different rules. Another excuse to 'borrow' Nero's home theater later.
But with his regular avenues exhausted, it just left him Homura's hit list. Dante had very few things that truly annoyed him, but this was coming close.
And because of this glaring problem, he was stuck waiting around for the next witch to show up. And that brought him to right now: watching a hospital for the past several hours, where the witch was supposed to appear. He wanted to check if it moved here, but seeing as how nothing happened, he could only surmise it was already nesting there.
Despite having enough power to get one over Vergil, he couldn't open the damn door.
So he really had nothing to do but figure out how to get inside the labyrinth, which was another mystery about these witches. It took a really powerful demon to create its own pocket dimension, and these witches just had them as a matter of course. So, since that 'Kyubey' thing is pulling their strings, he must be something really tough. Well, whenever the bastard shows his face, E&I will be ready to send him back to hell. And as if responding to his thoughts, he spied Goldilocks coming through with some new, blue-haired girl in tow.
"And this is why we listen to time travelers," he mused to himself as the girl opened the labyrinth. Silently he followed behind, entering right as the entrance closed again.
The sight of the labyrinth amused him to no end. Giant desserts covered the area with fancy tables reaching high into the sky, where the horizon dripped like icing. Pancakes, cookies, and all manner of cakes and pies as far as the eye can see. Even the ground was covered in cream, and the sickening smell of sugar assaulted his senses. "Willy Wonka had a field day with this place," he joked. "The only thing we're is missing is a sundae!" If there was any ice cream, he might just be tempted to eat it. Maybe. But, as diabetic as this place was, he was here on business. No familiars or anything, only a small doll sitting on some high chair in the middle of a clearing. He heard Goldilocks giving a pep talk to the new girl. Wasn't that sweet of her? Shame he was gonna ruin their 'teacher/student' moment.
He tricked in front of them, making his presence known.
"What the-" the new girl yelped. Dante examined the doll. This was supposed to be the witch? Talk about a let down.
"It's you," Goldilocks said, disdain clear in her voice. He heard the familiar sound of a gun loaded and trained right at him.
"They don't make witches like they used to," Dante said, arms crossed, staring up at the doll-like creature. Even still, he couldn't sense a single thing from it. "No black cats or cauldrons? Hell, not even a broomstick?"
"Mami-san, is that…?"
"Yes. Our 'villain', as you put it."
"I guess word gets around, huh?" Dante said. At that, he turned to face them. He gave an amused grin to the blue-hair, her weapon held tightly in her grip. She used a sword? That just made things more fun for him. Hadn't crossed blades with anyone aside from his older brother in a bit. He didn't miss how her eyes widened ever so slightly at his visage before narrowing intently. Well, time to get this show on the road. "Alright kids," he said. "I'm gonna give you one chance to get the hell outta here. You let me have this one, and we'll pretend we never saw each other."
"You know we can't do that," Goldilocks said.
"...So you're after the witches too…" The other girl said.
"Nah, I came here for the dessert bar!"
"You… what?" Blue-hair questioned, looking around them. "Was that… supposed to be a joke?"
"Miki-san."
"Er, right. Focus."
"You are after witches, that much is clear," Goldilocks said. "What I don't understand is why."
"Why, huh?" Dante chuckled. Oh yeah, he knew exactly how he wanted to play this one. "Ain't that the question?" He began to pace before them. "See, these witches have something that I want. Those tiny seeds you all are so fond of collecting- their 'essence'? They're filled with the one thing that controls everything that goes on in this crazy world…" he paused for dramatic effect. "Power. Might controls everything… and when I get my hands on more power, heh, let's just say I'll be the one calling the shots."
"So you're trying to use witches… to take over the world?" Blue hair asked.
Dante shrugged. "I'll burn that bridge when I get there."
At that, Goldilocks fired a hail of bullets at him. Whipping out his pistols with a spin, Dante countered shot for shot and the assault, magical and demonic energies colliding in am explosion of gold and red. Dante looked at the blonde. Her eyes narrowed and her teeth grit as she looked at him with abject hatred. "Your flippant attitude belies your heartlessness. To solely attack witches is one thing… but to purposefully lead innocent people into their lair just to make the witch stronger!? You're despicable."
"Yeah!" Blue-hair said. "We're gonna stop you, right here, right now! We'll save everyone, be it from witches or from you!"
Dante smirked. "You just gotta play the hero, don't you? If I'm pissing you off so much, how 'bout you do something about it?"
No further words were needed for the magical girls. The fight was on.
Outside the labyrinth, Kyoko sensed Mami and some other person inside the labyrinth. "Damn," she said, munching on an apple she pilfered earlier. "Already got herself a new sidekick, huh? You can have this one. I'll hunt elsewhere-" She turned to see that same black haired girl from earlier standing right across from her.
"Kyoko Sakura," she said.
"...Who's askin?"
"I understand you've encountered the man in the red coat?"
Kyoko's eyes narrowed. "You know the bastard?"
"Unfortunately," the girl said with a nod. "I've been dealing with him for a while. I would like to speak with you about what you've seen."
Kyoko hummed. Maybe this day wasn't such a waste.
Vergil's hand stopped in the middle of turning the page. He knew, instinctively, that wherever Dante was, he was talking about him.
"...You mock me," he said, already half drawing the Yamato. But, he stopped himself. "...There will be time. You will suffer, Dante." Taking a sip of his tea, Vergil returned to his reading.
Here we go again! You know, I actually like Elden Ring and the Souls Series. Unlike Dark Souls 3, I don't think it was overrated. I think it was perfectly rated. But this corner isn't for game recommendations. Unless that game is Devil May Cry. Cool series, I totally recommend. The main character is this guy named Dante and he kill demons. It's kinda like DOOM if that game was cool.
