Magia: A New Hope

by Pentalithia

A Madoka / Magia Record fan suddenly wakes up in the world of magical girls, as a side character. Features Ashley Taylor. Note: In case it's not obvious, you should expect massive spoilers here for nearly everything in the franchise.

82. Kamihama, Painted in Lies

Have you heard? Has anyone told you?
The Rumour of the Receiver Pendant.
When you're feeling unconfident,
when you're scared,
when you don't want to think about anything...
This is all you need!
Your mind and heart will go numb and
you won't feel any more pesky emotions!
But be careful when you use it!
This receiver will make you follow any order from the Magius.
It's the hottest rumour among the Wings of the Magius!
Your wish is my command!

---

While the others are discussing what we've heard so far, about Iroha's confrontation with the Magius as well as Kyouko's encounter with them, I'm still recalling what I was doing yesterday after school. I had to be at the airport by five o'clock while still squeezing in enough time to drop off the communicators at Kanagi's maid café, after all. Of course, that meant I had some time to see what was going on while I was on the train, so I'd chosen to use that time to follow Shizuku's escape.

---

Shizuku stepped into the chapel garden beneath Fendt Hope. It looked like every feather in the organization was gathered down here today. A buzz of conversation filled the room as people speculated what the Magius wanted to address them about. I scanned the crowd for a bit, looking for familiar faces. The Amane twins were there. There was Nanase Yukika, and Shigure and Hagumu. I spotted Tamura, Hikari, and Chihana, looking exceptionally nervous. Tomomi was there as well, and Megumi Moka, and Kuroe, and the girl I suspected to be Yuzuki Hotori.

There was a balcony overlooking the crowd, just above the entranceway. As the three Magius emerged onto that balcony, accompanied by a rumour spreader and Mami in her saint form, the conversation began to die down, and I refocused my vision on Shizuku.

"Attention everyone!" Touka shouted.

With that, the last remnants of chattering died down, and a dead silence fell.

"The day of our freedom is at hand!" she continued. "All we need to do now is gather a little more energy. Let's spread this miracle of Kamihama across the entire world! Then let's ensure it remains that way in perpetuity!"

Many of the magical girls began to cheer, and Touka fell silent, waiting for them to stop. Shizuku appeared to be cheering too, but there was an odd lack of enthusiasm to it. After a minute or so, silence reigned again, and this time Nemu began to speak.

"We want you to kill all the magical girls of Kamihama, without mercy," she said calmly. "They are standing in the way of our future."

"Huh…? No… is that… really…?" Shizuku muttered.

A shocked silence fell, and a few feathers besides Shizuku also began whispering amongst themselves.

"I understand your hesitation," Nemu continued. "However, think of the tens of thousands of future lives at stake. We must not allow them to be rendered meaningless… not by powerless, run-of-the-mill magical girls whose minds are clouded by emotion."

"This… is not a place to belong," Shizuku muttered.

At that exact moment, Shizuku's phone buzzed. Looking a touch annoyed, she pulled it out to find an email from none other than Ayaka herself.

[Shizuku-chan, I'm so sorry… I know it's annoying to keep getting these, so this is my last email. Please call if you can.]

"Ayaka…" Shizuku muttered. "Are you…?" She blinked. "R-right…"

By this point, a few of the more gung-ho feathers had recovered from their shock and were cheering. Suddenly, Shizuku pulled her pendant off, snapping the string that held it together. The golden segments scattered across the floor, leaving only the emblem of the Wings of the Magius in her hand. She squeezed the emblem so hard that it deformed, the wings folding in at awkward angles. At around the same time, the cheering subsided again, and Touka resumed speaking.

"Trust your hearts to us, and I will grant you the powers you'll need for the task," Nemu continued. "Not a drop of doubt will remain, and your mind will be clear as day. I shall grant you the pure power to massacre all magical girls. So, act as we would have you act. Carry out your orders and bring us closer to freedom!"

At that point, the feathers around her began to act strangely. They stared straight forward, uttering sounds as if attempting to speak, yet no coherent words emerged.

"W-what…?" Shizuku said, startled. "What's going on? What's happening to them?"

Suddenly, the nearest black feather turned to attack her. Shizuku dodged the initial attack, but then another feather also jumped in. Shizuku gasped, doing her best to dodge the attacks as she made for the entrance, but she was literally in the middle of a horde of enemies. There was no avoiding every attack.

Above on the dais, the Magius and Mami weren't even paying attention to the commotion below as they discussed things. The rumour spreader by Nemu's side was already repeatedly spouting the text of the Rumour of the Receiver Pendant.

"Alright, the rest is up to you, Mami," Alina said. "You can take my witch."

"Yes, I'll make good use of it for the future of all magical girls," Mami said.

"So good!" Alina said. "Once this is over, our utopia will be within our grasp. We'll make it so that there are no risks, regardless of the wish being granted."

"We magical girls will take over this system," Nemu said.

"We'll achieve the happy future we want to achieve," Touka said with a giggle.

Down below, Shizuku had finally grasped the severity of her situation.

"They'll hunt me down if I stay here," she muttered. "I have to get out, fast!"

She started to fight back, summoning her chakram-like weapons and smashing her way through the ranks of the feathers to reach the stairs. The feathers gave chase as she ran up the stairs as fast as she could. Once she made it to the top of the stairs, she paused to take out a purple crystal, which she tossed down a hallway before ducking outside. The press of feathers emerging from the basement charged down the hallway instead of following her.

However, there were two feathers waiting outside, one black, one white. They were Makino Ikumi and Midori Ryo. As Shizuku paused to catch her breath, the two of them stepped out from behind the fountain to block her way. She blinked at them in surprise. Like her, they no longer wore their pendants.

"Miss Ikumi… Miss Ryo… what is all this about?" she asked. "What do you want from me!?"

"Still haven't figured it out?" Ryo said.

"No… but it doesn't matter anymore," Shizuku said. "I'm getting out of here… I have to get out so I can help everyone."

"I see," Ryo said. "So you finally did it, Shizuku."

"Yes, it looks like you're back to your normal self," Ikumi said. "We knew you'd make a break for it once you came to your senses."

"So that's why you gave me that magic-storing crystal?" Shizuku said. "You planned this from the start? You said you'd see me off on my journey as a black feather… but you were really helping me escape."

"No, of course we never meant to let you escape," Ikumi retorted. "Then you'd stand as our enemy."

"Right," Ryo said. "If we let you go, it'd be a huge disadvantage for us. Why would we do that?"

"But… that doesn't make any sense," Shizuku said. "Come on… let's all escape together. The Magius… they're just using us, and the feathers, and everyone else!"

"Do you understand why we didn't meet the same end as you and those other feathers?" Ikumi asked.

"W-what!?" Shizuku gasped. "Now that you mention it…"

"You and the other black feathers… you all swore fealty to the Magius," Ikumi explained. "But we're different. We're loyal to the concept of liberation, instead."

"What're you saying?" Shizuku asked.

"It doesn't matter to us if the Magius betray us," Ryo said. "We can keep on going so long as we still have a hope of being freed. So we're not like the other feathers, who run the risk of turning traitor. We'll stay stationed at the base."

"Like we have been, and will keep doing," Ikumi said.

"So you're really going to fight me?" Shizuku asked.

"Of course," Ikumi said. "We won't let you escape."

"You're contradicting yourselves," Shizuku said. "Why would you help me get this far, then!?"

"Because we wanted to," Ikumi said. "And because Miss Mifuyu asked us to, as a favour to her."

"It's that simple," Ryo said. "We just felt like it."

"Plus, we thought that brainwashing you was just going too far," Ikumi said.

"Yes, I couldn't ignore something like that," Ryo said. "To force someone to join when they don't want to… that is a line they should not have crossed. Even so… you aren't getting away, Miss Shizuku. We have no idea what you might get up to once you make it outside."

"So, if you really want to get out of here, you have to beat us first," Ikumi said.

"But why?" Shizuku asked.

However, Ryo and Ikumi seemed to decide that they'd had enough talking. Ryo raised her bazooka and fired at her, forcing Shizuku to dodge, but then Ikumi leapt in to attack with that mop of hers. Even though it was just a mop, it was swung with such force that a glancing blow caused Shizuku to yelp in pain. Ikumi wielded the mop like a quarterstaff, holding it in both hands and attacking with both the head and the butt interchangeably. Shizuku bobbed and weaved, defending against a thrust with her weapon, only to go into a backwards somersault as Ryo fired another shot from her bazooka. At first it seemed as though Ikumi and Ryo had the upper hand, but after a minute or so of the back-and-forth, Ikumi suddenly seemed to fall through the ground. Apparently, while defending from her attacks, Shizuku had managed to place a portal on the ground and then manoeuvre Ikumi into it.

She instantly took advantage of Ikumi's absence to charge at Ryo with her chakrams. Startled, Ryo took a step back and brought her bazooka around as a makeshift shield. Then Ikumi landed on her feet a short distance away, having appeared from the other end of the portal in the air not far off, and leapt at the pair of them. Shizuku did a backwards somersault directly into the same portal, Ikumi narrowly pulling up her attack before hitting Ryo. They spun towards the portal's exit, and Ryo fired a shot, but instead of landing on the ground, Shizuku sank into it, the shot narrowly missing her. The pair of them looked around wildly, trying to spot her new location, only to realize the sheer number of portals in the air and on the ground around them. There must have been ten or fifteen pairs arranged all around their location, and naturally, only Shizuku knew which was linked to which.

It turned into a sort of reverse whack-a-mole, where Shizuku would emerge from one portal, dodge an attack, sink into a new portal, emerge to swing her chakram at Ryo and Ikumi, then sink into yet another portal. But it takes far longer to describe it in words than it took for it to play out. Shizuku was almost a blur, zooming from portal to portal like a deadly moonbeam for at least thirty seconds, by which time her opponents had taken enough damage to force them to their knees. At that point, Shizuku landed on the ground in front of them and turned to look back, dispelling all her portals.

"Miss Ryo, Miss Ikumi… I'm sorry," she said. "I'll probably become exactly what you expected me to. I won't forgive the Magius for betraying their allies while saying they'll save us. I can't believe in the future that those three have promised us. So I'm going to put a stop to whatever it is that the Wings of the Magius are planning."

"I won't have any regrets about letting you go," Ryo said. "Not even if you stop us. But I might cry a little, or hold a grudge. I'm starting to hate myself, too. I want to save you, but I still cling to liberation."

"I fully intend to bring about liberation, even if it means using the Magius," Ikumi said. "I feel the same as you, Ryo. I might cry a little, too… but, Miss Shizuku, please don't worry about us. We still managed to keep from crossing a line that no magical girl should cross, didn't we?"

"I knew it," Shizuku said. "You did help me. Thank you. I hope… I can meet you two again someday, under better circumstances."

"One last thing," Ryo said. "All exits and entrances to the base have recently been sealed, except one. Over that way, there's a fold in space, opening into the mountains of Hokuyo Ward."

Ryo pointed in a direction that seemed completely unremarkable, but Shizuku nodded.

"Got it," Shizuku said.

She headed in the indicated direction, and before long came upon the indicated fold in space. Stepping through, she found herself in another place, a cherry tree bare of leaves atop a large grassy knoll. She made her way down the hill and exited the barrier, only to find herself in the middle of the stragglers from the assembly hall. She dodged two attacks in a row before retreating to the relative safety of a nearby tree.

"Ugh," she muttered. "There sure are a lot of them… it might take awhile to get out of the woods this time…"

---

"Ashley! Ashley, you still with us!?" Inui asks.

I blink at her. "Ah… sorry, I was remembering the interviews, and the activation of the Receiver Pendant rumour, and Shizuku's escape…"

"Huh? You saw Shizuku escape!?" Felicia asks.

"Oh, you mean before she ran into Sana-chan and me?" Iroha says.

"Yeah, sort of," I say. "There's not much to tell, honestly… I'm sorry, where were we before I spaced out?"

"Miss Sakura had just finished explaining how she wound up at the Magius's base," Yachiyo says. "And we were also talking about what Touka and Nemu said to Iroha."

"So, that covers Miss Tamaki's mission to find the Rumour of the Eternal Sakura," I muse, nodding. "Okay… then, I'd like to hear about everyone going around town to warn the magical girls of the threat. Who'd like to start?"

"I suppose I'll go first," Yachiyo said.

"Oh yeah, I heard you ran into Riko-chan and Rui-chan," I say. "But… I guess I should let you explain things from the top."

"Actually, I never even realized you knew those two," Yachiyo said.

"Well… anyway," I say. "After Miss Yachiyo… how about we hear from the Momoko trio… then Felicia and Miss Yui, Miss Izumi, and finally Miss Yakumo?"

"That sounds fine to me," Yachiyo says.

"Anyway… let's hear what happened," I say.

"Right…"

---

Yachiyo got off a train in Kosho Ward and took out her soul gem, seeking magical girls.

"Let's see if I can sense any magic," she muttered. "Hmmm… nothing around here… I did hear most of them became feathers of the Wings of the Magius…"

It seemed like Kanagi had been right – there were no independent magical girls left at all on the east side. Either they were already gone, or they'd been hunted down… she fervently hoped it wasn't the latter.

"I should keep looking…"

She wandered through the streets, seeking any signs of magic.

"It may be a waste of time, though," she muttered.

It was around then that she passed a woman shambling along with a blank look on her face. The strange gait drew Yachiyo's attention first, then she noticed the blank look. And on closer inspection, Yachiyo realized with a gasp that the woman had a witch's kiss on her.

"A witch is definitely nearby… it should be obvious that someone's going to end up hurt if you unleash a witch."

She thought back to what Touka had said, about magical girls being more important than regular people, but then shook her head in exasperation.

"Well, no point in thinking about that now."

She followed the woman to the old railway yard, where she picked up the witch's signature. As the woman was about to hang herself, Yachiyo knocked her unconscious.

"I'm sorry," she muttered. "This'll be over soon. Please go to sleep for awhile… I'm going to clear this trap."

She entered the witch's labyrinth and destroyed it in record time, powering down as the labyrinth collapsed.

"Well, that takes care of that one," she muttered.

She hefted the unconscious woman over her shoulder.

"Hang on, this might get a bit bumpy."

Carrying the woman, she headed for a nearby park and laid her out on a bench.

"Sorry to leave you here, but someone will likely find you right away," she said.

As she turned and began to cross the street, a black feather showed up, growling, and attacked without hesitation. Yachiyo gasped.

"W-what!? In the middle of this traffic!? Stop it!"

The black feather ignored her, simply swinging those chains at her once again, so she turned and ran off, luring the feather back towards the old railway yard.

"You attacked me without considering where we were," she said. "You're clearly desperate. No-one's here. Tell me everything! Tell me how you decided that annihilation was the answer!"

The black feather still ignored her however, swinging those chains at her with a growl.

"Are you… a black feather…?" Yachiyo asked.

Compared to the last time she'd run into black feathers, this one was totally different. Last time they'd been nervous and unskilled in the use of their chains, responding to her questioning by denying any knowledge.

"Something's wrong… they're acting different."

The black feather leaped on her with a growl, chains whirling, and it took Yachiyo everything she had to dodge. Even then, the end of the chain clipped her. She also noticed something else – the girl was aiming for the soul gem dangling just below her chest.

"Ow…! They're seriously aiming for my soul gem…"

As she noticed that, several more black feathers showed up, and even a white feather.

"No time for a chat," Yachiyo muttered. "I'll be in trouble if I don't fight back."

She did just that, smacking them down as best she could, but they were strangely resilient. They growled at her the entire time, and kept getting back up after she thought she'd finished them off. However, they were still no match for her. After she'd beaten them down a little, she issued a challenge.

"You want to keep going!?" she shouted.

Whether prompted by her question or just recognizing that they were outclassed, the feathers all turned and ran off, and Yachiyo powered down.

"So you have the will to flee," she said. "But…"

They weren't just being aggressive. It was as if they'd completely lost their minds.

"Is this what they meant?" Yachiyo wondered.

If they'd used a rumour on their allies to make them stronger… in order to annihilate all the magical girls of Kamihama…

"Oh no!" Yachiyo gasped. "I should've considered what that declaration of war meant!"

Realizing she had to tell the others as soon as possible, Yachiyo took out her phone and opened a group call to the whole team, excluding Iroha and Sana since they were on a special mission that required stealth. However, only Momoko, Tsuruno, and Kaede picked up.

"What's up, Miss Yachiyo!?" Momoko asked.

"Did something happen!?" Kaede asked.

"Good timing, shishou!" Tsuruno said. "Things just calmed down over here!"

"If only you three picked up, then the others might be in trouble," Yachiyo said. "I'll keep it short. The feathers are acting strangely. They're attacking without hesitation. It's very dangerous out here. Everyone should travel in pairs for the time being."

"You found them too, Miss Yachiyo?" Momoko said.

"So you've run into them already, Momoko?" Yachiyo asked.

"I didn't just run into them," Momoko said. "They were all aiming for me. It was a real close one…"

"Are you hurt?" Yachiyo asked. "No injuries?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," Momoko said.

"Thank goodness," Yachiyo said. "How about you, Kaede?"

"Y-yeah, I'm okay," Kaede said. "But… a friend of mine was attacked by the Wings of the Magius."

"Is she safe?" Yachiyo asked.

"She didn't get too hurt," Kaede said. "But she used a lot of magic… oh, but we gave her a grief seed, so she'll be okay. So, I… I'm going to go to the Coordinator's with everyone, because I'm scared to be alone."

"Yes, do that," Yachiyo said. "It should be safe there."

"Okay!" Kaede said.

"Alright, everyone," Yachiyo said. "Please make sure you're always in groups of two or more. Let's meet up at the Coordinator's later."

"Whaaaaat!?" Tsuruno gasped. "Shishou, you didn't ask me!"

"Well, you're the mightiest aren't you?" Yachiyo said. "What do I have to worry about?"

"Even if I am, it'd be nice if you'd just ask!" Tsuruno said.

"Are you okay?" Yachiyo asked.

"They were waiting for me!" Tsuruno said. "But I kicked their butts, together with a couple other magical girls! Yep, yep!"

"See? You're fine," Yachiyo said.

Tsuruno giggled.

"Well, in any case, I'm counting on you," Yachiyo said.

"You got it!" Momoko said.

"Okay!" Kaede said.

"Yeah!" Tsuruno said. "Oh, that reminds me, shishou!"

"What is it?" Yachiyo asked.

But there was no response.

"Huh? Tsuruno? Tsuruno!? Maybe I have a bad signal…"

Yachiyo checked her phone and found the connection had dropped. She gasped at the signal icon – it wasn't just a bad signal. There was no signal at all.

"No service… it can't be," she said. "Out of range for telepathy, too… this isn't good. Our lines of communication have been cut, right when we need to meet up…"

Yachiyo left the old railway yard and continued wandering through the streets, searching for magical girls. A couple times, she checked her phone to see if she was in range again, but to no avail. Then she heard a scream from a nearby alley and broke into a run.

"That scream… it came from over here! It's a magical girl… no, two magical girls! I thought they were all gone already!"

A maniacal laugh suddenly broke out from the same direction. It was a different voice than the one who'd screamed.

"So you've come to challenge the great Fortress the Wizard, have you? Well then! Today shall be the day you die!"

Yachiyo charged into the alleyway to find two magical girls standing back-to-back and surrounded by black feathers, along with a couple of white feathers. One was Chiaki Riko; the other was Mizuki Rui.

"Who are you!?" Riko screamed. "Don't come any closer! I haven't done anything wrong!"

"How dare thee threaten my most loyal minion!?" Rui shouted. "I shall take thee down a couple of pegs, right now!"

The black feathers attacked with a growl, and Riko barely managed to fend them off with her weapon, an elaborate toothpick of the sort you see stuck in sandwiches to hold them together. Rui on the other hand swung her scythe, sending her attackers flying backwards.

"W-why are you attacking us!?" Riko asked.

They ignored her and simply attacked again. This time she was unable to block it, and screamed. However, the hit never landed, for Yachiyo leapt in and swept them away with her halberd.

"That was close," she said.

Rui gasped and spun to face her. She'd already knocked out the rest of the feathers.

"A-ah! H-how much of that d-did you hear?" she asked.

"Huh?" Riko said. "Who are you, onee-san?"

"A magical girl," Yachiyo said. "It's not the time to worry about what I heard. I just happened to be close by, so I came to help when I heard your scream."

Several of the black feathers managed to get back to their feet, growling as usual.

"Unbelievable," Yachiyo said. "They claim they have a noble cause, to save magical girls… now look at how low they've sunk. How can they say this is noble? I'm so angry I could explode…"

"Um…?" Riko said.

"Leave them to me," Yachiyo said. "I'll deal with them quickly."

"U-um, I'll help!" Rui said. "T-they're… not all that strong…"

Between the two of them, they knocked the remaining black feathers around until they stopped getting back up. Then Yachiyo powered down and turned to Riko.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Um… y-yes," Riko said, powering down.

"Thank goodness," Yachiyo said. "And, I'm sorry…"

"What? Why?" Riko asked. "I-I should be thanking you! And Rui-chan too…"

"Oh…" Yachiyo said.

Of course they'd have no idea that those girls were attacking everyone because the Magius got fed up with Yachiyo and her friends. These girls clearly had no idea what was going on.

"Um… M-miss Itsumi told me to tell you… it's not your fault," Rui said.

"Huh?" Yachiyo said. "You know Miss Itsumi…?"

Riko nodded. "Yeah! Inui-nee goes to our school! We're good friends!"

"I don't know what she was talking about," Rui said. "But, um… y-you have some idea why those girls were attacking, right? I think… she wanted you not to blame yourself… Miss Nanami…"

"I see," Yachiyo said. "Yes, you're right… I shouldn't be blaming myself for their actions, should I? More importantly, take this – your soul gems are tainted."

She took out a grief seed and offered it to Riko.

"Wow… um, thank you!" Riko said.

She accepted it gratefully and used it to purify her soul gem. Then she passed it to Rui, who did the same before passing the almost-depleted grief seed back to Yachiyo.

"T-thank you very much," Rui said.

"You're welcome," Yachiyo said.

"Um, could you tell me, onee-san… who were those people just now?" Riko asked. "Why did they attack us? I haven't done anything wrong, I swear. I really haven't done anything. But they still…"

"I know you're confused," Yachiyo said. "And I wish I could explain it all to you right now. But this is actually an emergency. It'd take too long for me to explain. For now, would you mind holding your questions and hiding at the Coordinator's? I'll explain everything to you later."

"Okay," Riko said. "We'll do that… won't we, Rui-sempai?"

Rui nodded. "S-sure… I'd like to know why they attacked, too…"

"I'm glad you understand," Yachiyo said.

"I've been told I pick things up fast!" Riko said, beaming at her.

Yachiyo chuckled, considering whether she should accompany them to the Coordinator's… but that Rui girl seemed moderately strong, so she figured they would be okay with the two of them.

"Huh? Wait, that uniform," Yachiyo said. "It's the same one Miss Tsukasa wears… Kosho Academy, right?"

"Y-yes, that's right," Riko said. "Do you know Tsukasa-sempai too?"

"A little," Yachiyo said. "Hey, are there other magical girls in this area?"

"Um, no," Riko said. "Other than Tsukasa-sempai and the two of us… and Inui-nee…"

"N-no, there's actually one other," Rui said. "Although I don't know her very well… but she left school with Miss Itsumi earlier…"

Which would mean that other girl was probably a member of the Wings of the Magius as well, if she was with Itsumi Inui. So there was no point searching any further in Kosho Ward.

"I see," Yachiyo said.

If those girls were being controlled by a rumour… if that was the cause of their peculiar behaviour… then dealing with the rumour itself would be the quickest way to resolve it.

"Thank you again for your help!" Riko said.

"You're welcome," Yachiyo said. "I'll probably see you later. Take care."

"Yes, onee-san!"

Yachiyo watched as the two girls of wildly different ages headed off together. It felt weird to be addressed that way… yet gratifying.

"Now then," she muttered. "I have to go see Kanagi."

Kanagi rounded the corner at that exact moment.

"I'll save you the trip," she said.

"Whoa!" Yachiyo gasped. "K-kanagi!?"

"Yes, it's me, Izumi Kanagi," Kanagi said. "I was just thinking we should meet up. We really do think alike, Nanami."

---

Kaede was on her way to Konomi's flower shop to warn her of the situation.

"W-what if she's already been caught…?" Kaede muttered. "Gotta hurry…"

She tried sensing magic and noticed a magical girl nearby.

"I don't think I know her… maybe she's here because she sensed a witch too…? No wait… she's coming closer…"

Suddenly a black feather leapt out and attacked her. Kaede gasped.

"W-w-w-what's going on!? A b-black feather!"

The feather just growled at her.

"Uh, um! I heard you were trying to kill everyone!"

The black feather just growled and attacked with her chains. Kaede wasn't prepared and barely managed to avoid the brunt of the attack.

"Ah! What're you doing!?"

The feather growled at her, stepping forward.

"Oh… oh no," Kaede said.

But then she imagined what Momoko and Rena would say if they could see her in this situation.

"I-I need to fight!" she gasped.

Just as she'd gotten her resolve, two more black feathers showed up.

"Oh, another one… and another over there!? Oh no, I can't handle them all by myself!"

"Kaede-chan!" a familiar voice called out.

Kaede spun to see Konomi approaching.

"K-konomi-chan!"

"What's going on!?" Konomi asked.

"I-I'll explain later!" Kaede said. "Could you, um… help me fight!?"

"Of course!" Konomi said.

The two of them transformed and drove back the black feathers, though Konomi probably did most of the work. Finally the feathers were on the ground, out cold, and the two of them powered down again, Kaede breathing heavily.

"Thanks, Konomi-chan," Kaede said.

"N-no problem," Konomi said. "I can't believe how aggressive they were… but those black robes…"

"What is it, Konomi-chan?" Kaede asked.

"Does this mean… Kako-chan ran into them too…?"

"Kako-chan!?" Kaede gasped. "What happened!?"

"Just a little while ago… she ran into the flower shop and collapsed," Konomi said.

"What!?"

"Before she lost consciousness, she said to watch out for the people in black. I think maybe she was talking about those robed people."

"Probably," Kaede said. "Um, they said they wanted to annihilate all the magical girls in Kamihama."

"Annihilate!?" Konomi gasped. "Kaede-chan, isn't that… no, let's discuss this later… right now we need to find a grief seed, as quickly as we can."

"Kako-chan… is it really that bad?" Kaede asked.

"Yeah," Konomi said. "She used a lot of magic. That's why I was looking for a witch just now."

"I'll help you!" Kaede said. "And, um, I'll explain the rest to you later!"

"Sure, thanks," Konomi said.

"You don't need to thank me," Kaede said. "You're both my good friends!"

Together the two of them tracked down and defeated a witch before returning together to Konomi's flower shop, where she'd left Kako lying on the owner's bed. Konomi stepped forward quickly to use the grief seed on Kako's soul gem. Her eyes fluttered open after a few moments.

"Ugh… Konomi-chan… and Kaede-chan…"

Konomi let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness!"

"I'm so glad we made it in time!" Kaede said.

"I'm sorry, guys," Kako said, sitting up.

"Are you sure you can sit up?" Kaede asked.

"Yeah," Kako said. "I couldn't move because I used up almost all of my magic, not because I'm hurt or anything."

"Really?" Konomi said.

"Yeah," Kako said. "I can move now, don't worry…"

Konomi sighed in relief for a second time.

"I'll bring you some chamomile tea, it should help you feel better," Konomi said. "Can you tell us what's going on, Kaede-chan? What was with those people back there?"

"Those people?" Kako asked.

"We were attacked by the girls in black robes, too," Kaede said.

Kako gasped. "O-oh no…"

While Konomi got to work making the tea, Kaede explained the situation as best she could.

"They said they want to annihilate all the magical girls in Kamihama…"

"Annihilate," Kako said. "Does that mean they want to kill all the magical girls in this town?"

"Y-yeah," Kaede said. "Someone we met told us that… that they want to annihilate us… I didn't really want to believe it at the time… but those girls we fought back there were so serious…"

"Have you met them before, Kaede-chan?" Konomi asked. "Those black-robed girls, I mean."

"Yeah… I have," Kaede said. "But they didn't used to be like that. They were much more… reserved."

"When they attacked me," Kako said. "They didn't seem to hear anything I was saying… they would only growl…"

"I don't get it, either," Kaede said. "Why are they so scary now…?"

"Yeah," Kako said. "And why do they want to kill us?"

"I think… it's because we're keeping them from freeing magical girls…" Kaede said.

"Freeing… magical girls?" Kako said.

"Oh, um…"

Kaede's mind raced, trying to decide how much to tell them.

"Kaede-chan?" Kako prompted her.

"Uh, um, well… I know being freed sounds good at first," Kaede said. "But their methods are terrible… they create rumours in Kamihama, and even raise witches…"

"They raise witches!?" Kako gasped.

"When you say they create rumours, do you mean they like to gossip?" Konomi asked.

"Um, I… a-anyway, you have to go to the Coordinator's!" Kaede said. "I'm really no good at explaining it. But if you go there, someone will be able to explain it to you properly!"

"O-okay!" Konomi said. "But what are you going to do, Kaede-chan?"

"I'll go find some other magical girls and—"

If she could just link up with Rena and Momoko, she thought she should be fine. But they were probably going to head to the Coordinator's too, so the easiest way to meet up with them was…

"I-I… I'll go with you to the Coordinator's!" Kaede said. "B-but if we run into anyone else on the way, then I'll tell them too!"

At that moment, her phone rang, so she pulled it out to see.

"Huh? Oh, it's Miss Yachiyo…"

She answered the phone. It was a group call, apparently, for she heard Tsuruno's and Momoko's voices as well. When her turn came, she explained what had happened and that she planned to head to the Coordinator's. Then, just as Tsuruno was about to say something, the connection suddenly cut off. She looked at her phone and found there was no signal.

"What's going on…?" she said. "No signal… I've never seen that before, other than some of the underground exhibits at the aquarium…"

"Whoa, you're right," Konomi said, checking her own phone. "That's crazy… has something happened to the cellular towers? But we haven't even had any typhoons recently…"

"Um… maybe… we'll find out at the Coordinator's," Kaede said. "Let's go!"

As they left the flower shop, they spotted another student from their school passing by – Minagi Sasara. Konomi hailed her.

"Sasara-kun!"

Sasara stopped and looked at the trio, blinking. The others crossed the street to join her, and they accompanied Sasara as she headed for the nearby train station.

"Konomi-sempai… and Kaede-chan and Kako-chan… is something up? I was just on my way to meet with Asuka…"

"But um… things are really bad right now!" Kaede said. "Have you not run into them yet…?"

"Run into… who?" Sasara said.

"Um… the girls in robes," Kako said.

"They attacked Kako-chan out of nowhere," Konomi said. "So, please be on your guard, Sasara-kun."

"They're probably all over town," Kaede added.

"Oh… I'll keep an eye out for them," Sasara said. "But if they're that dangerous, I definitely need to warn Asuka too…"

"So you won't come with us to the Coordinator's…?" Kaede said.

"No, I need to meet up with Asuka first, at least," Sasara said. "But I might join up with you later."

"Well… it's important to warn everyone," Kaede said. "Um, if you're sure…"

"Yeah, thanks for the warning… I'll see you later," Sasara said.

With that, she headed into the train station. The trio were just about to continue on their way when someone else unexpected emerged from the train station.

"Eh!? Akira… what're you doing here?" Kako asked.

"Well, I was about to call you when the cellular network suddenly died," Akira said. "There are dangerous guys running around, so I came to warn you…"

"Oh… those girls already attacked me," Kako said. "They ambushed me while I was alone…"

"Yeah, she was hurt really bad," Kaede said.

"But we dealt with them!" Konomi added. "And we got her a grief seed too, so she's fine!"

"We're all going to the Coordinator's now!" Kaede said. "It's the safest place at the moment… I don't think those guys will go there."

"I see," Akira said. "So I came all the way here for nothing… well, I guess I'll head on back and let Nanaka and the others know. We'll probably head over to the Coordinator's too, once we've gathered a few others."

Kako nodded. "Yes, please do," she said.

The four of them headed into the station, but only Akira passed through the ticket barrier – the others exited the station on the other side of the tracks and continued towards Mitama's place. They were about halfway there when Konomi signalled for them to stop.

"Is… is something wrong, Konomi-chan?" Kaede asked.

"I can sense magic not too far off," Konomi said. "Several signatures… they might be fighting."

"T-then we have to save them!" Kako said. "If it's the same girls in robes…"

Konomi nodded and led the way, heading away from the Coordinator's office, towards the river. After several turns, they came across the fight in an alleyway.

There was a white feather and seven black feathers attacking two magical girls, one with long black hair in white and sky blue wielding a giant paint brush, the other with orange-pink twintails in white, yellow, and orange using a microphone that seemed to function more like a megaphone. The second girl was singing a song that Kaede was all too familiar with, one of Rena's favourites – Blade-bearing Beauty. She was out-of-tune, too, though that was apparently the normal state for that song.

The three girls immediately transformed in preparation for battle.

"Um, I'll try to capture them!" Kaede said.

She called up her vines, entangling the legs of several of the feathers, but at least half of them managed to avoid the entanglement. Kako and Konomi leapt in with their spear and giant shears, respectively, knocking down the feathers who could still move. They refused to stay down, however, so the girl with the paintbrush also jumped into the fray, wielding her brush like a club and clobbering them over the head until they finally stayed down. It also helped when she used her magic, which apparently caused the enemy to freeze and stop attacking. Thanks to that, they had all the feathers trussed up in Kaede's vines in no time.

"Um… are… could you possibly be… Sayu-Sayu?" Kaede asked.

"Huh?" the girl with the microphone said, blinking. "Are… are you a fan of… of Sayu-Sayu…?"

"Not me… a friend of mine is," Kaede said.

"Oh, well, um… my name is Fumino Sayuki," she replied. "This is my friend, Kozue Mayu."

"Nice to meet you," Mayu said. "And thanks for the assist… I could stop them from attacking, but it only lasts so long, so these vines are a life-saver."

"Rena-chan's gonna be so jealous when she hears about this," Kaede mutters. "Maybe I shouldn't tell her…"

"What are you talking about?" Sayuki asked.

"Oh, um, never mind," Kaede said. "Um… these girls in robes are trying to kill all the magical girls in Kamihama, so… we're telling everyone to gather at the Coordinator's place. We were just on our way there, too…"

"Are you serious?" Mayu asked. "Why would they want to do that? I've never even interacted with these girls… not even once. This is the first time I've seen them."

"It's… partly our fault," Kaede said. "But we'll explain everything at the Coordinator's. Could I um… ask you to… come along?"

"Well, sure," Mayu said. "We were actually on our way there anyway – Sayu-chan thought it was about time for a tune-up."

"Oh! Then we can all go together!" Kaede said.

They all powered down, revealing Mayu and Sayuki to be Mizuna students, and made their way back towards the main street to get their bearings. As they emerged near one of the bridges spanning the river, they were startled to find a group of magical girls coming towards them from the east, eight in total.

"Huh?" Konomi said. "Those girls… they're not wearing the uniforms of any school here in Kamihama…"

"Magical girls from out of town?" Mayu said. "I wonder why they'd come here…"

The taller girl with short silver hair looked around for a moment, then turned to a shorter girl with long black hair.

"So… you said we're looking for a place called the Coordinator's, right, Kazumi-chan?"

"Yes," Kazumi said. "But I was only there once, so I don't quite remember the way… Umika-chan, do you remember?"

A girl with glasses and long blue hair looked around.

"I remember the route we took," she said. "But it seems we disembarked at the wrong station this time… so I'm uncertain of the route from here."

The girl with long, wavy brown hair sighed.

"Should I ask the kitties?" she suggested.

"You really think they'd know?" the silver-haired girl said.

"Well, you never know…"

"Why would a cat care about the comings and goings of magical girls?" retorted the girl with puffy pink hair.

"Hey, there's no need to argue about it," said the girl with short orange hair. "Look – there are some local magical girls right over there. I'm sure they'll know where to go."

She approached Kaede and her companions.

"Say, do you think you could show us the way?"

"The Coordinator's, right?" Konomi said. "I couldn't help overhearing your conversation… but why did you want to go there?"

"Well, apparently it's just a convenient meeting place," the girl said. "Have you heard? Walpurgisnacht is coming to this city… so we thought you guys might need a little help bringing her down."

Kaede gasped. "H-how did you… know about that!?"

"Huh? Wait, is that really true, Kaede-chan?" Konomi asked. "Walpurgisnacht is the name of a witch, isn't it?"

"I'm not sure," Kaede said. "It's just, someone else I met also said it was coming…"

"Well… certainly it would be good to have some help against a witch like that," Konomi said. "We were actually on our way there, so you can just accompany us."

"Well, in that case, we should introduce ourselves!" the orange-haired girl said. "I'm Maki Kaoru."

"Misaki Umika," the girl with glasses said.

"N-no way!" Kako gasped. "Y-you're that famous teen author!?"

"Oh, have you read my books?" Umika said.

"Only one of them… it was really good though," Kako said. "U-um… I don't have it with me now, but… m-maybe you could… sign it for me, later?"

"I'd be happy to," Umika said.

"I'm Wakaba Mirai," the pink-haired girl said.

"Usagi Satomi," the brown-haired girl said.

"Asami Saki," the silver-haired girl said.

"I'm Subaru Kazumi!" the girl with long black hair said. "And this is Subaru Michika!"

She grabbed another girl who looked like her twin but with shorter hair, hugging her. The last girl, with blonde twintails, nodded.

"Kanna Nico," she said.

"I'm Haruna Konomi."

"Oh, um, Natsume Kako… it's an honour to meet you…"

"I'm Akino Kaede…"

"My name is Kozue Mayu."

"Which leaves just me, Fumino Sayuki!"

"Well, we should get going, before those girls in robes appear again," Konomi said. "I bet such a large group is like a beacon to them."

So they all continued on to the Coordinator's together.

---

Rena wandered through Mizuna Ward, searching for magical signatures, but she found no traces of either magical girls or witches. It was strange, for there were usually quite a few magical girls in the area.

"This is so annoying," Rena muttered. "But saying that won't change anything…"

She sighed and decided to check out Mizuna Girls' School to see if anyone was there. However, there was no-one there when she showed up.

"Nobody's here, obviously," she said. "Ugh, what a waste of time…"

But then Tatsuki Asuka leapt out at her from around the corner, startling her. Minagi Sasara was with her too. They were both panting a little, as if they'd been running or something.

"Ah! Miss Rena, it's you!" Asuka said.

"Oh good, we found another magical girl," Sasara said.

"Hey, Asuka. And you're… Sasara, right?" Rena said. "Why are you so out of breath?"

"If you have time to ask questions, you should really take some cover first," Sasara said. "There are weirdos popping up everywhere, dressed in black or white. They seem to be attacking magical girls indiscriminately."

"What!?" Rena gasped.

She was obviously referring to the Wings of the Magius.

"Hey, did they look like this!?" Rena asked.

Rena transformed, taking on the shape of a random black feather.

"Yeah, exactly like that!" Sasara said. "Rena, does that mean…"

"Are you one of them!?" Asuka gasped.

"What?" Sasara gasped. "That's your question!?"

"What else would I be asking!?" Asuka asked. "Could this all be some evil plan? Were you going to wait until we dropped our guard before making your move!?"

Rena dispelled her transformation.

"What are you saying, Asuka!?" she protested. "I wasn't planning on attacking you!"

"Then I bet you just came up with this trap right on the spot!" Asuka said. "How underhanded of you to deceive us! Never say my name again! We're no longer friends!"

"W-whaaaaaaat!?" Rena gasped. "Listen to me! Quit freaking out and putting words into my mouth!"

"Yeah, you've definitely got it wrong," Sasara said. "Just like Kaede-chan and the others, Rena's seen those guys before. That's why she transformed, to show us…"

"No excuses!" Asuka said. "Come on, give yourself up, now!"

That was when several black feathers showed up and attacked without warning.

"What!?" Asuka gasped.

"They really are trying to catch us off guard," Sasara said.

"I can't believe you called for help!" Asuka said.

"Ugh, oh my god!" Rena screamed. "What a pain!"

She transformed and attacked the black feathers, and Asuka and Sasara followed her example. Once they were all down, Asuka turned to face Rena.

"Alright, that just leaves you, Miss Rena," she said.

But then Sasara stepped between them and flicked Asuka's forehead.

"That's enough," she said.

"Ow," Asuka said. "Why'd you flick my forehead!?"

"I'm sick of your pointless bickering," Sasara said. "We're trying to avoid people getting hurt unnecessarily. It's an important part of my rescue mission. So, I call for a temporary truce. Let's talk this out."

"I'm glad at least one of you understands," Rena said.

"Hmph," Asuka said.

"You still want a piece of me?" Rena asked.

"I said, stop it," Sasara said.

She powered down, and Rena and Asuka took that as a signal to do the same.

"So what's the deal with those guys?" Sasara asked. "Do you know, Rena?"

"They're called the Wings of the Magius," Rena said. "Those were black feathers… there are also white feathers who wear white robes instead of black. They want to annihilate all the magical girls in Kamihama."

"They want to annihilate all the magical girls in this town!?" Asuka gasped. "Those Wings of the Magius are unforgivable!"

Rena sighed.

"Now do you believe Rena?" Sasara asked.

"Ah… I-I'm very sorry!" Asuka said. "I jumped to conclusions and made a mess of things, Miss Rena!"

"Oh geez, just forget about it," Rena said. "You do this all the time."

"I will atone for this by killing myself!" Asuka proclaimed.

"Sure, that'd be great," Rena said.

"Yeah, it's the only way," Sasara said.

"Wait, um… h-how…" Asuka stammered.

Sasara snorted with laughter. "I'm just kidding!"

"I'm not," Rena said.

"Hey!" Sasara said.

"Is that so!" Asuka said.

"Hey!" Sasara repeated.

"I'm kidding," Rena said. "I can't really get into things here, so… mind coming with me to the Coordinator's? We can explain it all in more detail there."

"I see," Asuka said. "In that case… oh wait, there's just one more thing to take care of."

"Yeah, what?" Rena said.

"I sense a witch close by," Asuka said.

"You're right," Sasara said. "Let's take care of it before we go see the Coordinator."

"Okay, I'll help too," Rena said.

At that moment, another magical girl hopped down from a nearby building. She wore shorts and a hoodie and had her blonde hair tied into a ponytail.

"Mind if I join you too?" she asked.

"Y-you are…!" Asuka gasped.

"Yes, it's been awhile, Miss Tatsuki, Miss Minagi," the girl said.

"Do you know this girl?" Rena asked.

"Yes, she helped us defeat a witch a few weeks ago," Sasara said. "And then we helped her defeat one of those weird rumour things. She's from… Asunaro, I think it was?"

"You've defeated a rumour too!?" Rena gasped.

"Nice to meet you," the girl said. "I'm Hijiri Kanna."

"Oh, um… Minami Rena. You're from out of town? What are you doing here in Kamihama?"

"A friend asked me to come," Hijiri said. "Walpurgisnacht is on its way here, and she wants all the help she can get to bring it down."

"Huh? That's what Miss Taylor said, too," Rena mused.

"Walpurgisnacht!?" Asuka gasped. "That legendary witch that's so powerful it brings disaster wherever it goes!? It's coming here, to Kamihama!? But how do you know that!?"

"An organization known as the Wings of the Magius is summoning it here," Hijiri said.

"Those Wings of the Magius again!?" Asuka gasped. "They're so unforgivable!"

"How do you know that?" Rena asked suspiciously. "Could it be… you're a member too?"

"Not me," Hijiri said. "But I know someone who is… or was."

"A-anyway, this isn't the time to talk about this," Rena said.

"Yeah, let's go after that witch, then," Sasara said.

They headed into the school grounds, tracking the witch around to the back of the school building. There they found a girl with green hair who seemed to be hesitating over whether to step inside. She wore the same uniform as Asuka, the purple uniform of Mizuna Girl's School.

"Is there a problem?" Hijiri asked.

The girl gasped and spun to face them.

"Oh, um, no… this witch just felt so much stronger than usual, so I wasn't sure whether I could take it on alone," she said.

"Well, now you don't have to," Sasara said. "Let's all do this together!"

"Right!" the green-haired girl said. "Um, I'm Wakana Tsumugi! Nice to meet you! I know Tatsuki-sempai already, of course… but who might the rest of you be?"

"Minagi Sasara, magical knight!"

"I'm Minami Rena."

"Hijiri Kanna. I'm from out of town."

"Got it! Let's go!"

They transformed and headed inside the labyrinth, where they started taking down the familiars. Tsumugi's ability to essentially swallow attacks proved very helpful, and they progressed quickly. When they arrived at the central chamber, however, they found two more magical girls already there. There was still a swarm of familiars getting between them and the witch, however.

Ami Ria giggled as she dodged a familiar's attack.

"Familiars are no match for me, Ami Ria!" she proclaimed. "Let's go! Bella Spiiina!"

A spread of arrows fired from her bow took out nearly half the familiars in one go, but as she struck a victory pose, several of the surviving familiars made for her. She gasped as one of them attacked her.

"H-huh?"

While she stood there gaping, her companion smacked the familiar aside with her frying pan.

"Sempai!" Kurumi Manaka protested. "You have to keep moving! Focus on defeating the enemy before you worry about your pose!"

"I am Ami Ria!" she protested. "I can't believe you don't understand my elegant fighting style! What kind of education are you getting!?"

"A better one than you, at the very least!" Manaka retorted.

Another familiar attacked, causing Ria to shriek as she lost her footing and fell over, landing face down on the ground.

"Time out!" she said. "Uncle!"

"I can't believe it," Manaka said. "Did you really just say 'uncle'? And you fell flat on your face with your butt in the air. Not so elegant after all, huh?"

Ria leapt back to her feet, aiming a kick at the offending familiar that tore it in two.

"Shut up!" she shouted.

"Why don't you just fight normally?" Manaka asked.

"Ria-sempai! Miss Manaka!" Tsumugi called.

The two of them turned to look at her.

"Oh, Tsumugi!" Manaka said. "And you've brought reinforcements… perfect!"

"I thought they were in trouble," Sasara said. "But they seem to be doing okay…"

"Oh geez, more annoying girls," Rena muttered. "Why do I always have to deal with these types of people?"

"E-excuse me!" Asuka protests. "I'm more normal than they are!"

"Wow," Sasara said. "You're hopeless if you have to say that."

"I know, right?" Rena said.

"Not you too, Sasara!" Asuka protested. "I'm gonna cry!"

"Yeah, yeah," Rena said. "Let's just help them fight this witch."

"Witches are everyone's enemies, after all," Sasara said.

At that moment, Rena's phone rang.

"What?" she said. "Why's someone calling me? I can't answer right now!"

"Here, let me make this easier for you," Hijiri said, stepping forward.

"Huh?" Rena said.

Hijiri summoned her graph-like whip and leapt high into the air, flicking it at the witch. As it came in contact, the witch stopped moving entirely. It had been periodically twitching and expelling jets of water, but now it just sat there, docile.

"W-whoa!" Asuka gasped. "You can control witches!?"

"To a certain degree," Hijiri said. "There are some limits…"

She landed on the back of the witch's high chair and just stood there, firing finger bullets at the familiars swarming about the base of the chair.

"We can't let a girl from out of town one-up us!" Sasara said. "Let's take this witch out quickly!"

"Right!" Ria said. "Ami Ria will take it down with style!"

"Mmm, it's delicious!" Tsumugi said.

"Did you just swallow a familiar's attack again!?" Manaka gasped. "That's no good!"

"But it's so delicious!" Tsumugi protested.

"And here I thought at least she was normal," Rena muttered.

With the witch not even attacking, and with so many people, they only had to worry about the familiars. They made short work of those familiars, and then Ria took down the witch herself with her ultimate attack. As the labyrinth collapsed, everyone powered down.

"Fighting's a cinch with this many people," Rena said.

"That may be so," Hijiri said. "But Walpurgisnacht is gonna be at least ten times as powerful as that, so please try to preserve some magic for the final battle."

"It was just one witch," Ria said. "Miss Kurumi and I could've handled it ourselves."

"They gave us a hand," Manaka said. "Show some gratitude, sempai."

Ria gasped, then did so in a small voice. "Thank you for your help."

"Don't worry about it," Sasara said. "Helping people's in my nature."

"That witch seemed stronger than the ones we're used to fighting," Asuka said.

"Maybe it was one of the ones they raised, sent to attack us," Rena said.

"A witch was sent here!?" Asuka gasped. "And someone raised it!?"

"Crap, I shouldn't have said that," Rena said.

"What do you mean by that, Miss Rena!?" Asuka asked.

"I'm saying it was the ones in robes who attacked us," Rena said. "They sent the witch."

"No way!" Asuka gasped.

Though she said that, it was clear that the feathers were out of their minds, so it must have been the Magius themselves who sent the witch. Normally, Asuka and Sasara shouldn't have had any trouble fighting black feathers.

"N-no service!?" Ria gasped.

She had just taken out her phone for some reason or other.

"What is it now?" Rena asked.

"Oh, I was just worried about a magical girl I know, Miss Kozue," Ria said. "I was going to call her, but there's no signal…"

Rena checked her phone too.

"Oh, you're right," she said. "And that phone call earlier was from Miss Yachiyo. But I can't believe it… Miss Taylor's prediction actually came true…"

"To tell the truth, I'm a little surprised too," Hijiri said. "I wonder how they managed to bring down the whole cellular network for an entire city…"

"Huh?" Rena said. "Wait… are you saying the Wings of the Magius are behind this too!?"

"Doesn't it fit?" Hijiri said. "They've declared war on the magical girls of this city, haven't they? Communications superiority is a major advantage in a war."

"You're saying Miss Taylor knew these Wings of the Magius folks were planning to bring down the cellular network…?" Manaka asked.

"Well, she did infiltrate them as a member," Hijiri said. "Although, I don't think that particular plan would've been shared with many people in the organization…"

At that moment, Ashley's voice suddenly issued from Hijiri's pocket.

"Kanna-chi, you there?"

Hijiri fished out a communicator from her pocket and pressed the speak button.

"I'm here, what's up?" she asked. "Did they make it?"

"Just in time," Ashley replied. "Where are you?"

"I'm with Minagi Sasara, Tatsuki Asuka, and a few others," Hijiri said.

"Which would mean you're looking for Miss Kozue, right?" Ashley said.

"H-how did you know that!?" Ria gasped. "Wait… can she hear me?"

"Yes, we can hear you," Ashley said. "You don't need to worry about Miss Kozue – she's with Sayu-Sayu. Um, sorry… I mean Fumino Sayuki. They're… I think… it looks like uhh… I think that's somwhere near Miss Haruna's flower shop? They're surrounded by black feathers but are putting up a good fight."

"Oh, that's a relief," Ria said. "Wait, if you know that much, why aren't you helping them!?"

"Sorry, I'm at the airport right now, so I doubt I could get to them in time even if I flew at top speed," Ashley said. "I'm using my magic to see where they are."

"Oh, that makes sense," Ria said.

"I'll head to the Coordinator's soon," Hijiri said. "Will you be going there too?"

"Yes, but possibly not right away," Ashley said. "But I'll see you there when I get there. Ashley out."

"Miss Rena, Miss Rena!" Asuka exclaimed. "What were you saying before? Who is raising these witches!?"

"Let's discuss it at the Coordinator's!" Rena said. "I told you, I'll explain everything over there. So, um…" She looked at Ria. "Pita, was it?"

"It's Ria! We've met before! Several times!"

"Really?" Rena said. "Anyway, is there anyone else you'd like to track down?"

It felt weird to be acting like a leader for a change…

"Miss Kozue… Miss Fumino… no, I can't think of anyone else," Ria said.

"Hmm… there's Nanase-sempai," Manaka said. "And also Akatsuki-sempai…"

"I suppose I'll ask Miss Taylor about them," Hijiri said. Pressing the speak button, she continued. "You still there, Ashley-chan? They're worrying about a Miss Nanase and Miss Akatsuki now…"

Ashley's voice issued from the communicator again. "Those two are both members of the Wings of the Magius," she said. "They're probably out on the streets attacking people like all the others…"

"No, they'd never do something like that," Manaka protested. "Not even if they are members…"

"That's irrelevant," Hijiri said. "They're not acting on their own will right now. Anyway, are there any others?"

"Hmm… I can't think of anyone else," Manaka said.

"Maybe Emily," Sasara said. "She's probably at the Counselling Room."

"That's quite a detour," Rena said. "We should let Felicia take care of her – she should be in that area around now. Anyone else in this area?"

"Oh, what about the weird mushroom girl?" Asuka asked. "Um… what was her name again…? All I know is that she goes to our school and is weird…"

"You're one to talk!" Sasara said.

"I know who you're talking about, but I don't know her name either," Rena said.

"Mushroom… oh, you must mean Miss Yayoi?" Manaka said. "She lives all the way over in Kosho Ward, though. She's probably already home by now."

"Then I guess we should just head straight for the Coordinator's," Rena said. "I'm sure Kaede or Konomi will help out that Miss Kozue."

"Alright, then let's get going," Sasara said.

They headed for the nearest train station to catch a train to the next ward, where Mitama's place is.

---

Momoko found herself being chased around Sakae Ward by unhinged black feathers. After some running though, it seemed like she'd finally lost them, and let out a sigh of relief.

"I managed to get away…"

Their behaviour was so different from before that it had caught her off guard at first. They wouldn't respond when spoken to… it was like they'd completely lost their minds. It showed they were serious about their goal of annihilation, if nothing else.

As she was pondering this, she sensed another magical signature.

"Who is it this time?"

A white and black feather appeared from a nearby alleyway, growling at her.

"What!? Damn, these guys again!"

She drew them into an alleyway and turned to face them down.

"You keep coming after me when I'm alone," she said. "That's not very nice, you know?"

But they ignored her, growling and attacking with those chains of theirs.

"Ugh! You're not giving me time to catch my breath. Sorry to be rude, but I'm outta here!"

But then a few more appeared from the opposite direction.

"Geez, now they're blocking my escape. This sucks…"

Suddenly she heard a voice shouting from somewhere.

"You look like you're in trouble! Everything okay!?"

"Stay back!" Momoko shouted. "Don't get involved!"

The newcomer wasn't just any random passerby, though – it was Eri Aimi.

"Well, I can't pretend I didn't see what just happened," Aimi said. She checked her phone. "Yeah, I've got time." She nodded and transformed. "Let me help you!"

"What, you're a magical girl!?" Momoko said. "Alright, don't underestimate us! Unlike you, I have friends to protect! I can't afford to lose! Bring it on! I'll fight you as long as it takes!"

Between the two of them, they managed to knock all the feathers out cold, and Momoko let out a sigh of relief.

"Wow, you're pretty intense," Aimi said. "That was kinda cool."

"Thanks," Momoko said. "I mean, I'm sorry I got you caught up in that fight…"

Aimi took out a grief seed and used it to purify her soul gem.

"No worries!" Aimi said. "I couldn't ignore someone in that situation. Well, I'll seeya around. I've got somewhere to be."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Momoko said. "You shouldn't go anywhere alone! Those guys might attack you!"

"Huh?" Aimi said. "But I've got nothing to do with them…"

"They're attacking all magical girls," Momoko said.

"What!? B-but I have to go to karaoke with my classmates… there's, uh, how do I put this… a special someone who will be there, so…"

Momoko was almost tempted to let her go after hearing that, but she steeled herself.

"Your life is more important," Momoko said.

"Is it really… that bad?" Aimi asked.

"You just saw what I went through, right?" Momoko said. "You're pretty fearless, brushing that off… besides, they saw your face, so now they know who you are."

"You're right!" Aimi gasped. "I need to face reality!"

At that moment, Momoko's phone rang.

"Sorry, one sec," she said, checking her phone. "Oh, it's Miss Yachiyo."

She summarized what had happened, and listened to Kaede and Tsuruno's reports as well. Then, just as Tsuruno was about to say something else that seemed really important, the connection cut out.

"Huh?" Momoko said. "We got cut off… well, Kaede's on her way to the Coordinator. We should head over there, too."

"Wait, I sense magical girls further in this way!" Aimi said.

"There's quite a few of them, too," Momoko said.

"It's Kokoro, and Masara? And also… Honoka-chan and Matsuri-chan!?"

"Do you know them?" Momoko asked.

"Yeah, the three of us go to the same school!" Aimi said. "And we met the others inside one of those weird rumour things… I'm sorry, Isesaki-kun. Today, I'm choosing my friends over you!"

She spaced out for a moment, then blurted out something completely non sequitur.

"Do you… really mean that!? Hayato-kun!"

Aimi giggled a little.

"H-hey…" Momoko said.

"Okay, my daydream has pumped me up!" Aimi proclaimed. "Let's go and help them!"

"D-daydream…?" Momoko said.

"Oh, um, never mind!" Aimi said. "I was just talking to myself!"

She giggled nervously, then turned to run in the direction of the magic signatures. Before long they came into sight, four magical girls surrounded by around thirty black and white feathers. Kokoro was groaning on the ground, with Masara standing defensively over her. Two unfamiliar magical girls stood back-to-back a short distance away, barely fending off the attackers, though the feathers' aim was oddly poor. The one girl's magical girl outfit looked like an odd mishmash of two different designs, one purple, the other green. The other had a more coherent-looking red and beige outfit.

"Hey, are you alright!?" Momoko called.

"Oh, it's you," Masara said.

"Masara!" Aimi said.

"Aimi…" Masara said.

"They're the same people from earlier," Aimi said. "And K-Kokoro!? Did they do this?"

"Yes," Masara said.

"I'll never forgive them!" Aimi said.

The feathers just growled and attacked without any sense of strategy.

"They're all the same," Momoko said. "Were all their personalities destroyed or something?"

"Nope!"

The girl with the mishmashed outfit turned to look directly at Momoko as she spoke.

"I can sense their original memories in there," she continued. "But no matter how much I try to fiddle with them, something else keeps getting in the way…"

The girl's expression abruptly changed, looking a little miffed.

"Onee-san, how many times do I have to say you shouldn't be fiddling with people's memories!" she said.

Then her expression changed again, taking on a long-suffering look.

"Why do you care so much about the enemy?" she retorted.

"Uhh… what? Is she… arguing with herself…?" Momoko said.

"Um, just in case you're confused," Aimi said. "There's two girls in that one body, and sometimes they argue with each other… so no, she's not arguing with herself."

"Wait, what!?" Momoko gasped. "Is that even possible!?"

"If only we hadn't gotten separated from Arisa and the others," the green and purple girl lamented. "With them here this would be a piece of cake… by the way, I'm Hinata Matsuri. It's nice to meet you! I'm currently sharing my body with my older sister, Kagari."

"And, I'm Kanami Honoka!" the other unknown girl piped up.

"Well, we should probably take out the enemies before worrying about this two in one body business, though," Momoko said. "I'm kinda worn out, so I might not be much help… but I'll do what I can."

"Alright," Masara said.

Contrary to her words, Momoko pulled out her encouragement magic, boosting everyone else's power just a little. That, combined with the addition of Aimi as an extra fighter, was enough for them to overpower the feathers and knock them out cold.

"Thank you," Masara said. "I appreciate your help."

"Yeah, you saved us," Matsuri said. "They got between us before we could link hands and escape with Honoka-chan's magic…"

"You're welcome," Momoko said. "I was given a hand earlier myself."

"I see," Masara said, frowning slightly.

"W-what's with the face?" Momoko asked.

"You've been clashing with those girls for awhile now, haven't you?" Masara said.

"So what?" Momoko said.

"So, I don't get why we're getting caught in the middle of this. Maybe you're the cause of all of it."

"M-Masara!" Aimi protested.

"No, I can't say she's wrong," Momoko said. "But even so… we're not the ones you should be pointing your weapons at. At least let us explain, since you're so eager to put the blame on us."

"Even if I hear you out, your words may just sound like excuses to me," Masara said. "Is there really a point in talking?"

"Hmm, why don't we go to the Coordinator's?" Momoko suggested. "Maybe you'll listen to the words of a magical girl who is neutral."

"Alright," Masara said. "I have more faith in her word than yours. That's probably our best option right now."

"Alright, then let's go there together," Momoko said.

Momoko used a grief seed to purify Kokoro's soul gem, and her eyes fluttered open. She was also physically injured, though, and looked like she might have trouble walking.

"I… thank you," she said.

"I appreciate it, too," Masara said.

"I just happened to be hunting a few witches on my way here, that's all," Momoko said. "Your wounds are really bad, even after replenishing your magic… walking might be tough…"

"I'm sorry," Kokoro said.

"I could use my healing magic," Matsuri said.

"Don't worry about it, I'll carry you," Momoko said.

"No, I'll do it," Masara said.

"Okay, suit yourself," Momoko said. Turning to Matsuri, she added, "You should save your magic for now, in case we need to fight again. After all, her injuries don't look life-threatening. You can heal her once we get to the Coordinator's."

"A-alright," Matsuri said.

Momoko took out her phone to contact Rena, only to find it had no service.

"What!?" she gasped.

"What's wrong?" Aimi asked.

"There's no service," Momoko said.

"Are you kidding me!?" Aimi gasped. "I haven't told anyone I won't be going to karaoke!"

Suddenly a voice emanated from Matsuri's pocket.

"Matsuri! Are you okay?"

She fished out the communicator from her pocket and pressed the speak button.

"Pipe down, you old hag!" Kagari shouted.

"Kagari, is that you!? Where's Matsuri?"

"I'm here, Haruka!" Matsuri said.

"Thank goodness!" Haruka said. "Are you safe? Did you get attacked too?"

"Yes, but we're fine!" Matsuri said. "Are you okay? Did you find the way to the Coordinator's?"

"We got attacked too, but we're fine," Haruka said. "We're almost at the Coordinator's."

"Then we'll see you there!" Matsuri said.

---

Felicia was wandering through Sankyo Ward, searching for witches and magical girls, when she was suddenly attacked by some growling black feathers. However, when she struck back, they turned and ran.

"Hey! What the hell!? Wait up! You're the one who attacked me, and now you're running away!? Coward!"

She ran after the fleeing feathers for a bit, but they got away, so she came to a stop with a sigh.

"Ugh… all they do is growl… it's super creepy… now, where was I… right, look for magical girls and witches! Time to smash some witches and rescue some girls!""

She closed her eyes to sense magic, then gasped.

"Oh!"

It must be another of those jerks, she figured. She giggled.

"I'll catch them off guard!"

She ran around a corner and swung her hammer blindly, shouting out a sound effect, but it wasn't a black feather. It was Shinobu Akira, powered up in magical girl form.

"W-what the!?" Akira gasped. "Wait, wait!"

Felicia gasped and pulled up, the hammer narrowly missing Akira's face.

"Watch it!" Akira said. "You scared me…"

"Why aren't you wearing that black thing!?" Felicia asked. "Huh? You! You're that mean girl's friend!"

"Oh, it's you, Felicia," Akira said. "Mean girl? Do you mean Nanaka?"

"Yeah…"

"Don't hold it against us that we didn't hire you as a mercenary," Akira said. "Remember, it was that rampage of yours that caused all of that."

"I know that!" Felicia said, pouting.

"But you're still holding a grudge, huh?"

"Duh…"

"Um, this isn't easy for me to ask, given our history," Akira said.

"Whaddaya want?" Felicia asked.

"There's a witch nearby," Akira said. "Will you come with me to defeat it?"

"Really? A witch?" Felicia said. She closed her eyes for a second and gasped. "You're right!"

"We'll just be cooperating this time, though," Akira said. "It's not gonna be a mercenary thing."

"I mean, witches are for hunting," Felicia muttered. "I'm gonna go wa-bam! Then boom!"

"So you'll come with me?"

"Hell yeah!"

Akira led the way, and they headed inside the labyrinth. The two of them plowed through the waves of familiars until they reached the witch, which Felicia charged with a yell, smacking it hard with her hammer. As the witch stood there, stunned, Akira followed the attack up with a series of kicks and punches while Felicia darted around the back to bash the witch's head in again. It didn't take long for the damage to overwhelm the witch, and with the witch defeated, Felicia powered down. Akira snagged the grief seed and followed her example.

"And we're done here!" Felicia said.

"I'm impressed!" Akira said. "You're stronger than ever, Felicia!"

Felicia giggled. "It's because I'm always fighting alongside Tsuruno and the gang," she said.

"I heard you're doing mercenary work for Miss Yachiyo now?" Akira said.

"Yeah!" Felicia said. "Er, actually, no… we're teammates!"

"Wow!" Akira said. "I'm happy to hear you've found somewhere you can settle down. You're more relaxed than you used to be. I bet you can control your temper better too, huh?"

"I guess so," Felicia said. "Ugh, enough small talk! I almost forgot!"

"W-what?" Akira asked.

"That witch we just fought! Um! Um! Ummm…"

"T-take your time," Akira said.

"Um, oh yeah," Felicia said. "I think it coulda been put there by those Wings of the Magius guys."

"Wings of the Magius?" Akira said. "You mean those girls wearing those black and white robes?"

"Yeah!" Felicia said. "I ran into one of them earlier. She said they were gonna kill all the magical girls in Kamihama. So, I was looking for some magical girls around here! I'm supposed to tell them to get to the Coordinator's quick!"

"So you know what caused this, Felicia?" Akira asked. "So Miss Yachiyo does know something… just like Nanaka thought. Actually… I was attacked by people in robes, too."

"Seriously!?" Felicia said. "They killed you too!? Er… right, you're alive…"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine," Akira said. "Although one of my friends got injured. Oh, you probably know her. Her name is Kako-chan."

"Kako's hurt!?" Felicia gasped.

"Yeah, I heard she was ambushed when she was alone," Akira said.

"Oh, um, is she okay!?" Felicia asked.

"Don't worry," Akira said. "Some magical girls managed to save her."

Felicia let out a sigh of relief. "You freaked me out…"

"We were pretty scared ourselves," Akira said. "Our teammates… they're becoming victims. Would you mind talking to Nanaka for me? I'd like you to explain the situation to her."

"Aww man, I suck at explaining stuff," Felicia said. "Plus, it's Nanaka…"

"Please?" Akira said.

"Ugh… fine," Felicia said.

Akira led the way to Shizuku's café, where Nanaka was waiting along with Hazuki.

"I've brought someone!" Akira announced.

"Thank you, Miss Akira," Nanaka said. "I am glad you managed to find someone."

"Yes," Akira said. "Here she is."

She stepped aside to reveal Felicia, who had been trying to hide behind her. Nanaka gasped.

"Of all the people to bring…"

"Watch it!" Felicia said. "I didn't wanna come here either!"

"It appears you still bear a grudge," Nanaka said.

"She's a lot calmer now, though," Akira said. "It's probably thanks to Miss Yachiyo."

"That girl does have a very forgiving nature," Nanaka said.

Felicia growled at her.

"I apologize for my initial words," Nanaka said. "I was simply surprised to see you."

"I didn't know you and Felicia knew each other, Nanaka," Hazuki said.

"Yes… I've met her before," Nanaka said.

"Hey, you're Ayame's friend," Felicia said.

"Nice to see you again," Hazuki said, smiling.

"So, what do we do now?" Akira asked. "It seems Felicia knows what's going on."

"I was hoping for a more senior member of the community who would have a grasp of the situation," Nanaka said. "But it does not matter. Thank you for taking the time to meet with us, Miss Felicia. Could you please explain the situation to us? Or perhaps you feel rather guilty about something?"

"I don't!" Felicia said. "I was attacked earlier too, ya know! It's all their fault!"

"Then please, tell us," Hazuki said. "Why do those girls attack us as soon as they see us?"

"It's because they wanna kill all the magical girls in this town," Felicia muttered.

"All of us!?" Hazuki gasped. "Why?"

"They don't like that we're interfering," Felicia said.

"Interfering?" Nanaka said. "Please elaborate."

"We're interfering with them trying to save magical girls," Felicia said.

"Um, wait a minute," Akira said. "If you put it that way, you and your friends sound like the villains, Felicia…"

"Why!?" Felicia exclaimed.

"Allow me to summarize," Nanaka said. "According to your statement, you and your friends put a stop to their good deeds. As a result, our party also got involved in this conflict."

"What!?" Felicia gasped. "But they're the ones raising witches and making rumours! They're the bad guys!"

"I am beginning to understand," Nanaka said. "So, that is the root of the conflict between your group and them."

"Excuse me, but… what do you mean by rumours?" Hazuki asked.

"A rumour's a rumour!" Felicia retorted. "Some of us even got brainwashed by that crap. It was a huge mess to deal with!"

"This conversation is going all over the place," Nanaka said. "Would you mind telling us what happened, in chronological order?"

"I've told ya what ya need to know!" Felicia said. "They're the ones to blame!"

"This is getting us nowhere," Nanaka said with a sigh.

"She isn't good at this kind of thing," Hazuki said. "She is Ayame's friend, after all."

"What's your problem!?" Felicia shouted. "Trying to make me the bad guy again!?"

"Oh, hey, don't cry!" Hazuki said.

"Ugh, just wait!" Felicia said. "I'm gonna meet up with them!"

"Meet up?" Hazuki said.

Felicia fished out her phone and blinked.

"Damn, there's no signal! Tsurunooo!"

Then she took out the communicator from Ashley Taylor.

"Oh, I have this… but I dunno how to use it…"

"Allow me," Hazuki said.

Hazuki leaned forward and pressed the speak button on the communicator.

"Hellooo? Is Miss Yui Tsuruno there?"

---

Tsuruno was searching for the Magius's base in Minaminagi Ward, and had found her way to the seaside park.

"I'm pretty sure I came out around here," she mused. "Yes! It was only a few days ago! When the brainwashed Yui Tsuruno left the enemy base… I think she came out somewhere around here! Could she be right? Hmm… hmm… hmm…"

She remembered being blindfolded, but the blindfold hadn't been perfect. She gazed at the tiled walkway.

"I remember these tiles! This must be it! I could see them through the gap of my blindfold. Yep, yep! But… I don't see an entrance… that makes sense… of course they would get rid of it…"

Perhaps it would be more useful to just search for witches and magical girls, like everyone else. There should be some around the nearby school. She closed her eyes to sense for magic, and suddenly a reaction appeared.

"Beebeep! Huh? That worked!?"

But then some black and white feathers appeared.

"Shoot, they're the bad kind!" Tsuruno gasped. "One, two, three, four, there's a whole bunch of them!"

Had they figured out she'd returned to look for their base? As she was wondering that, a white feather growled and attacked her. She squealed and dodged.

"No warning!?"

Another feather growled and attacked, but Tsuruno danced out of the way. They were clearly aiming for her soul gem – the ring on her finger.

"Hey! Vicious much!? I can tell you're going for my soul gem, ya know!"

She transformed and fought back, knocking several black feathers off their feet as she spun and kicked and punched.

"You really thought you could beat me!?" she said. "I'm Yui Tsuruno, the mightiest magical girl! That'll teach ya not to mess with me!"

Perhaps they sensed that she was too strong to take on, for those still standing turned and fled.

"They weren't kidding when they said they're planning on annihilating everybody," she muttered. "I was acting all tough, but that was actually kinda close…"

Then she sensed another magical presence.

"Huh? Other magical girls…"

They could be getting attacked like she was, so she ran in the direction of the magical reaction, where she found two magical girls fending off a gaggle of black feathers. One had blonde hair and a costume that evoked stage magician vibes, with a cape and a tailcoat. She swung a baton with a pointing hand on the end as a club. The other was Miyako Hinano.

"What's this!?" the blonde girl said. "The situation looks hopeless! Meguru is surrounded by enemies on all sides with only her sempai to back her up! Can they make a comeback!?"

"What's up with these guys!?" Hinano wondered. "They were a lot calmer when I saw them before…"

"Oh! Do you know them, Miyako-sempai?" Meguru asked.

"I wouldn't go quite that far, but we've spoken before," Hinano said.

One of the black feathers growled and attacked Hinano.

"They strike!" Meguru exclaimed. "The enemy screams and swings a chain at sempai! But sempai is not deterred! No, she already has a plan!"

"Hmph, you might have greater numbers, but I've got more moves!" Hinano said. "Like these vials up my sleeve. Compounds A and B. I tweaked them a tad with some magic. They were meant for fighting witches, but I'm going to use them on you."

She swiftly poured the contents of one vial into the other, then tossed it into the middle of the black feathers, where it exploded. Several of them screamed, and those that were still conscious turned to flee.

"What's this!?" Meguru said. "She combined the compounds, and they exploded! What a surprise! No-one could have seen this coming! Watch for the flying shards of glass, folks! And it looks like that's spooked the enemy, for they've turned tail and run!"

"Bad things happen when you're not paying attention," Hinano said. "You gotta be careful when you handle chemicals!"

"Whoooooaaaaa!" Tsuruno exclaimed. "You're so cool!"

"W-who're—" Hinano began, spinning to face her, but then recognition dawned. "Oh, I haven't seen you in awhile."

"What, what?" Tsuruno said. "We've met before?"

"Well yes, but we haven't talked much before," Hinano said. "I'm sure you came here to help, but don't worry, I just finished up here."

"Ah!" Meguru said. "It's you, the one from the mirror event!"

"Ah! The MC!?" Tsuruno gasped.

At that moment, a few more feathers showed up.

"Just when they thought they were safe, more enemies show up!" Meguru exclaimed.

"Damn, there's more of them!" Hinano said.

"Let me fight with you!" Tsuruno said.

"Sure, I could use the help!" Hinano said. "But be careful, mightiest magical girl… they're behaving very strangely."

"How'd you know I'm the mightiest!?" Tsuruno gasped.

"You're the one who follows Nanami Yachiyo around wherever she goes," Hinano said.

"So you even know that I'm her apprentice!" Tsuruno said.

"That's not what I said," Hinano said.

There were only a few feathers this time, so the three of them defeated them quickly. Those that could still stand at the end turned and fled.

"Resounding victory!" Meguru proclaimed. "Total defeat!"

"There," Hinano said. "Gone for sure this time. Thanks for your help."

"No problem!" Tsuruno said.

"Hey, did something happen between you and those guys?" Hinano asked.

"Huh?" Tsuruno said.

"Well, they asked me to join them once," Hinano said. "I do remember they were complaining about you and your friends."

"Oh uh… well…"

Tsuruno pondered how to explain it without giving the wrong idea. She had to choose her words very carefully. But in the end she decided to deflect.

"Um, it's kinda a long story," she said. "So I'll need you to just trust me on this! Can you do that?"

"Just so you know, I'm not saying I don't trust you," Hinano said. "If anything, I'm concerned for you. Besides, I wouldn't trust anything these guys are saying. They've lost their minds. It's like they were drugged."

"Huh?" Tsuruno said.

Now that she mentioned it, Tsuruno realized it was true. They'd never been quite that aggressive before, and now all they did was growl. Could it be caused by a rumour…? If so, she needed to find a way to turn them back to normal…

"Anyway, you can explain later," Hinano said.

"Um, yeah, okay," Tsuruno said.

"So, since we're working together now, there's something I'd like to ask you," Hinano said.

"Ask away!" Tsuruno said. "If it's something the mightiest magical girl can do, you got it!"

"I knew I could count on you," Hinano said. "Actually, I saw them create a witch's labyrinth. I was going to go in alone, but I was hesitant because it's pretty fishy. But then Meguru showed up and we were attacked."

"Ah, now I get why I sensed a witch all of a sudden," Tsuruno said. "The feathers were up to no good! I'll totally help you! Yep yep!"

"Great, I appreciate it," Hinano said. "Meguru, you coming too?"

"Of course!" Meguru said.

"Ugh, today I've been attacked, and I saw a witch being released," Hinano grumbled. "What a crazy day."

"You can say that again!" Tsuruno said.

At that moment, her phone rang.

"Huh, hold that thought," she said, fishing it out.

"Hm?" Hinano said.

"Yachiyo's calling me."

She answered the phone and spoke with Yachiyo, Kaede, and Momoko, but just as Tsuruno was about to say the most important thing, the connection suddenly cut out.

"Huh?" Tsuruno said. "There's no service…?"

"That's impossible," Hinano said, fishing out her own phone. "There's multiple redundancy in the cellular networks. Even if one tower went down, we'd still have… huh? You're right… don't tell me… have all the cellular towers across the city been taken out!? That can't be chance… they must have been brought down deliberately… could those Magius guys be behind this…?"

"You mean they took out the cell phone network so we can't talk to each other!?" Tsuruno gasped.

"Something like that, yes," Hinano said. "It's certainly an effective strategy when waging war… cripple your enemy's communication network…"

"They did say they want to annihilate all the magical girls in the city," Tsuruno said.

"Why on earth would they want to do that!?" Meguru asked.

"I guess they're tired of people getting in their way?" Tsuruno said.

"Anyway, let's take down this witch first," Hinano said. "We can talk after that."

The three of them headed inside the labyrinth and worked their way inwards, Meguru keeping up a running commentary the entire time. Perhaps it was her boost magic that allowed them to reach the central chamber with such speed. The witch swung her pendulum at them immediately upon entering the chamber, forcing them to scatter, but Tsuruno and Hinano's powers proved to have a decent level of synergy, so they defeated the witch in short order.

However, instead of the barrier falling, it merely metamorphosed, turning into a forest of sorts. Tsuruno looked around in surprise.

"Huh? What's going on here?" she asked.

"An unexpected development!" Meguru exclaimed. "The enemy lies defeated, yet still we are entrapped!"

"I've seen this happen on occasion," Hinano said. "It means there were two witches close enough together for their labyrinths to meld together. So, we have to track down the second witch and kill it too."

Her words were supported by the crowd of brain-endowed signposts that suddenly attacked them. Tsuruno took down most of them with a Flame Dance, and Hinano and Meguru mopped up the stragglers. Then they began to search for the second witch. Finally, after plowing through several more crowds of signposts, they arrived at the central chamber.

The aura of dread weighing down on them as they entered caused them to stop in their tracks – even Meguru was rendered speechless. As the witch fired upon them with some sort of beam, Hinano was the only one who managed to break free from that dread, pushing the others out of the way.

"Damn, I've felt it before, but this is much more powerful than usual," Hinano said.

"Y-yeah… I've seen this witch before too, but it wasn't that bad," Tsuruno said.

"I-incredible!" Meguru exclaimed. "The witch stopped us in its tracks just from its evil presence, yet Miyako-sempai managed to break free to save the day!"

"Thanks, Meguru," Hinano said. "That boost helps. Let's do this!"

While Meguru continued to keep up her running commentary, Hinano and Tsuruno got to work pummelling it with their magic. It took a little while, but the witch eventually succumbed to the overwhelming damage, allowing Hinano to claim the grief seed.

They powered down as the labyrinth collapsed.

"They were a lot stronger than I thought, but we managed to take them out," Hinano said.

"Yep, it would've been tough to fight alone," Tsuruno said.

"Meguru's all tuckered out," Meguru said. "That was just too much…"

"Oh yeah, here ya go!" Tsuruno said.

She proffered the grief seed from the first witch.

"Wait, hang on," Hinano said. "Are you sure I can take this grief seed?"

"Yeah, I mean, who knows what we'll be up against next," Tsuruno said.

"True, but do you have any more of them?" Hinano asked.

"Uh, well, um…"

"Then you should take it," Hinano said. "Your sense of justice is admirable, but you need to look out for yourself. Hang onto it. I have one, anyway… plus with the other one we just earned, that makes two."

"Okay, if you say so!" Tsuruno said. "Thanks!"

"Helping is a two-way street," Hinano said. "Anyway, can you believe those guys? What were they thinking, leaving a witch out here?"

"Not only that, they're raising witches too," Tsuruno said.

"What!?" Hinano gasped. "That's absolutely insane! What are they trying to do!?"

Tsuruno sighed… it seemed there was no avoiding an explanation now.

"They're trying to save magical girls from their fate," Tsuruno said. "Um… do you know what that means?"

"I'm not sure," Hinano said. "I can make some guesses, but nothing obvious comes to mind."

"Well, the exact details aren't important right now, but apparently they need a whole lot of energy to do that," Tsuruno said. "And they can get that energy from witches somehow by making them stronger…? I don't really get it myself… but they were going to start killing people, so we decided to put a stop to it. Now they've decided to annihilate all the magical girls in Kamihama who won't join them."

"Now I understand," Hinano said. "It's all starting to come together…"

"You're amazing to be able to process that, sempai," Meguru said. "Meguru doesn't get it at all…"

"Yep, that's why we have to head to the Coordinator's as fast as we can!" Tsuruno said.

"No, now that I know what's going on, I can't possibly just go straight there," Hinano said.

"Whaaa!? Why not!?"

"I'm worried about my assistants," Hinano said. "I'm going to take a detour on my way over."

"Aww, look at you, you're so responsible even though you're so tiny!" Tsuruno said.

"Don't call me tiny!" Hinano exclaimed. "Wait, just how old do you think I am?"

"Umm… you're probably… "

"Yes?"

"A lot younger than me?"

"I'm a year older than you!"

"Whaaat!?"

"I'm a veteran, second only to Nanami Yachiyo and Izumi Kanagi!"

"Wow," Tsuruno said. "Genes do crazy things, don't they?"

"Leave my genes out of this!" Hinano shouted. "God…"

She sighed.

"Anyway, that's what I'll be doing," she said. "If I see anyone along the way, I'll take them to the Coordinator's with me. I have to find Emiri first, though…"

"Emiri?" Tsuruno said. "Emily-sensei!?"

"What!?" Hinano gasped. "That nitwit, a sensei? You must be thinking of someone else…"

"Nope!" Tsuruno said. "Emily-sensei taught me a lot… back then, she made all my worries melt away. These days, magical girls are constantly stopping by her Counselling Room!"

"Oh, right, that," Hinano said. "Sounds like she's doing better than I thought…"

At that moment, a voice issued from Tsuruno's pocket.

"Hellooo! Is Miss Yui Tsuruno there?"

"W-whoa!?" Tsuruno gasped. "Who was that?"

"It came from your pocket," Hinano said.

Tsuruno fished the communicator out of her pocket and looked at it.

"Oh… it's this thing," she said. "I forgot I had this…"

"Oh! It's a short-wave radio communicator!" Hinano said. "If you have something like that, then it doesn't matter if the cellular networks are down!"

"Oh! Awesome!" Tsuruno said. "But how do I use it…? Oh, this button is labelled 'speak'…"

She pressed the button in question.

"Yui Tsuruno, mightiest magical girl, present and accounted for!"

"Tsurunooooo! Come help me!"

"Felicia!? What's going on!?"

"They're trying to make me out to be the bad guy! I need you to explain everything to them!"

"Okay! Where are you, Felicia?"

"Somewhere in Sankyo Ward, at a café!"

"Got it! I'll be right there!"

She made to slip the communicator back in her pocket, but Hinano stopped her.

"Actually, mind if I borrow that for a bit?" she said. "You're meeting up with that other girl anyway, right? So you'll be able to use hers, and it could be useful for me to be able to contact people. Who all has these?"

"Oh, um, let me think," Tsuruno said. "Yachiyo, Iroha-chan, Sana-chan, Felicia, me, Momoko, Kaede-chan, Rena, and Kanagi. Oh, and Ashley Taylor has one on the same channel plus two? I dunno if you know her. They were her idea in the first place, actually…"

"Cool," Hinano said. "So is it alright? I can return it once we meet up at the Coordinator's, if you want."

"Sure," Tsuruno said. "Here you go!"

She handed over the communicator, and Hinano turned to Meguru.

"Anyway, I'm going to check in on that, er, sensei," she said. "What about you? Will you come with me, or go with her?"

"Um… Meguru will stay with sempai," Meguru said.

"Okay, super-sensei!" Tsuruno said.

"Huh? Super-sensei?" Hinano said.

"Because you're Emily-sensei's mentor!" Tsuruno said.

"Makes sense… wait, no it doesn't! And? What were you going to say?"

"My friend's near the Counselling Room," Tsuruno said. "I'll get Emily-sensei to come with us!"

"I see," Hinano said. "In that case, I'll let you take care of her. I'll go look for Rika instead. It really sucks that our phones don't work…"

"Okay, leave Emily-sensei to me!" Tsuruno said.

"Alright," Hinano said. "I'm counting on you!"

So they split up, with Tsuruno heading off on her own to catch a train to Sankyo Ward. When she disembarked, she headed for the shopping mall where Emily had her Counselling Room. Emily wasn't sitting outside, but muted dialogue could be heard from inside the counselling tent.

"Emily-sensei!" Tsuruno called.

She ducked inside the tent, startling Emily and the girls she was with. It was the Daito Apartments trio – Mito, Leila, and Seika.

"Oh, Tsurupi!" Emily said. "What's going on? I was kinda in the middle of something here…"

"We're in an emergency situation here!" Tsuruno said. "It's dangerous out there! We're telling everyone to gather at the Coordinator's."

"Huh? What's dangerous?" Emily asked.

"There's these guys in robes attacking any magical girl they see!" Tsuruno said. "And there's a bunch of super-strong witches, too!"

"What on earth!?" Mito said. "Why are they doing that…?"

"We're gonna explain everything at the Coordinator's!" Tsuruno said. "Just, be careful on your way over, okay?"

"Right, I gotcha!" Emily said. "Let's go see Mitama-cho!"

"Okay, let's go!" Leila said.

They all piled out of the tent and separated, Tsuruno heading for the café while the others made for the Coordinator's office. When Tsuruno finally made it to the café, she found Felicia on the verge of tears.

"Oh! There she is!" Tsuruno said.

"Tsuruno!" Felicia called.

"Whoooa!" Tsuruno gasped. "Nice work! You brought so many magical girls! Hang on, why are your eyes red?"

"T-they said if I couldn't explain everything, they'd sell me off!" Felicia wailed.

"Where the hell'd that come from!?" Akira gasped.

"What!?" Tsuruno said, feigning anger. "How dare you say that to my friend!"

"We didn't say that at all," Hazuki said.

"Didn't think so," Tsuruno said, beaming at them.

"Can we please avoid such ridiculous accusations?" Nanaka said. "Now is not the time. We were just questioning this girl on the details of the current situation."

"So her explanation didn't make sense?" Tsuruno said.

"Precisely," Nanaka said.

"Okay then!" Tsuruno said. "Leave it to the mightiest magical girl to give you the mightiest explanation!"

"Mightiest… explanation…?" Nanaka said.

"Uh-oh!" Felicia gasped. "Tsuruno, don't do it!"

"What!?" Tsuruno gasped. "Why not!?"

"If we keep having you pick up all the slack you'll turn into a rumour again! I gotta be the one who explains it!"

"You're overthinking it," Tsuruno said. "This is just a case of us covering for each other's weaknesses."

"So can we ask you to explain for us?" Nanaka asked.

"You betcha!" Tsuruno said. "Lemme handle it! So you see, these Wings of the Magius guys have thought up a way to free magical girls from their curse, but the way they do things just isn't right. They're hurting people just to gather energy, which is why Yachiyo and the others started fighting them, but now they're trying to annihilate all the magical girls in this city in revenge."

"I see," Nanaka said.

"So a way to free us from the dangers of fighting witches," Hazuki said. "The problem is their methods…"

"Yep," Tsuruno said. "I don't really get how their whole idea of freeing us is supposed to work… but, not too long ago, they tried to sacrifice the citizens of Kamihama. They used me to do it, too…"

"Hang on, I'm still trying to get my head around how huge this is," Akira said.

"They would sacrifice a city in order to secure the future of billions of lives," Nanaka said. "They may be able to accomplish their goals that way, but I can't accept their methods."

"They were trying to offer Kako-chan and me up as sacrifices, too," Akira said.

"Yep, that's what I mean," Tsuruno said. "Everything I just told you is only a tiny part of what's going on. You can hear the rest at the Coordinator's. We're having everyone gather there so we can explain it."

"The Coordinator's place is a good place to go into more detail," Hazuki agreed.

At that moment, the bell on the door rang, heralding some new arrivals. It was Meiyui, Konoha, and Ayame.

"Looks like my idea paid off," Meiyui said.

"Whoa! Meiyui-sensei's here!" Tsuruno said.

"It has been awhile," Meiyui said. "Have you been well?"

"Darn right I have!" Tsuruno said.

While they were greeting each other, Ayame was running around the place anxiously, so Konoha decided to admonish her.

"Ayame, you mustn't run inside the café!" she said.

"But I gotta find Hazuki!" Ayame said.

"Oh! Ayame!" Felicia exclaimed.

"I know that voice!" Ayame gasped. "It's Felicia! Wait, I know why you're here! You were running from those weird girls in the robes, werentcha!?"

"Running!?" Felicia gasped. "What!? Of course not! You couldn't be any more wrong! I was being a hero! I was out there saving everyone!"

"Ayame, we're in a café," Konoha said. "Keep your voice down."

"But Felicia was the one who—"

"I'll buy you an ice cream float if you stay quiet," Konoha said.

"Really!?" Ayame gasped.

"Tsuruno! I want an ice cream float too!" Felicia said.

"Don't get all competitive over an ice cream float!" Tsuruno protested.

"It's getting hard to control everyone," Akira said.

"It's only a matter of time before they ask us to leave the premises," Nanaka said. "We should leave before they ban us from the place for good."

So after Felicia and Ayame had been calmed down with ice cream floats to go, everyone piled outside again, Ayame now clinging to Hazuki. By this time the sun had fully set.

"Hmm… we should check if there are any more magical girls around here," Tsuruno said.

"Alright," Nanaka said. "We will go ahead of you to the Coordinator's shop. We will see you later."

"Yeah, laters!" Tsuruno said.

"Don't let them getcha, Felicia!" Ayame said.

"Like they could get me, stupid!" Felicia said.

"Who're ya calling stupid, stupid!?" Ayame said.

"Come along, Ayame," Konoha said. "It's time to go."

Felicia and Tsuruno watched for a minute or two as the six of them headed towards the nearest train station, and then Tsuruno sighed.

"It sure was lively back there," she said.

"How come we aren't going to the Coordinator's place too?" Felicia asked.

"I just sensed something," Tsuruno said. "I think it's the magic from another magical girl." She closed her mind for a moment to focus on the magical reaction. "I knew it, she's still there."

Felicia gasped. "Huh? Hang on, that's…!"

"Can you tell who it is?" Tsuruno asked.

"Shizuku? Right?" Felicia said.

"Oh!" Tsuruno said. "Yeah, maybe it is! Let's check again…"

She closed her eyes once again, focusing on the magical reaction.

"Huh? I can't sense her magic anymore… we'd better hurry!"

The two of them powered up and headed towards where they'd sensed Shizuku's magic. After a minute or two, Felicia spotted her, limping along at the side of the road.

"Hey! Tsuruno, look!" Felicia said.

"Shizuku-chan!" Tsuruno called.

At that moment, three feathers appeared from around a corner, growling as they leapt at Shizuku.

"Whuh-oh!" Felicia gasped.

"Knock… it… off!" Tsuruno shouted.

The two of them leapt in and smacked the two black feathers back before they could land a blow on Shizuku. At the same moment, Shizuku finally collapsed to the ground, gasping. Then the third one, a white feather, made to attack.

"Aaand another one!" Tsuruno shouted.

She aimed a kick at the white feather, but her target dodged and leapt at her. Startled, Tsuruno hopped back, creating an opening for Felicia to swing her hammer and send the girl flying.

"All clear!" Felicia said.

"Thanks, Felicia!" Tsuruno said.

"You got it!"

But then four more appeared from around the corner, growling.

"Damn, there's more of them!" Felicia gasped.

"Let's deal with… huh!?"

Just as Felicia and Tsuruno were about to bring the fight to them, a silver streak descended from the rooftops, knocking the two lead feathers clean off their feet. The streak resolved into the form of an unfamiliar magical girl with short silver hair, a white dress, and a rapier with a blood-red blade.

"W-whoooa!?" Tsuruno gasped. "Who on earth are you!?"

Her shock wasn't over, however, for a second silver-haired girl followed the first, this one with a floral wreath and a green and blue dress, her long hair flowing out as she fell. She brandished a pair of hatchets, flipping them around and using the dull side as clubs to knock out the remaining two feathers. A third magical girl joined them, a brown-haired girl in heavy armour with a shield and massive sword, but there was nothing left for her to do.

With a flourish, the second girl turned to them and did an elegant curtsey. Though she was smiling, the smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

"It is a great pleasure to meet you," she said. "We are the magical girls of St Lilliana's Academy."

"Ohhh!" Tsuruno gasped. "We've got some high-class ladies here, Felicia!"

"My name is Aoba Chika," the girl continued. "These two girls here are Chihiro Karen and Irina Kusch. Miss Kusch's parents are from Europe, so Kusch is her surname."

Irina nodded wordlessly, but Karen bowed and did her own greeting.

"A pleasure to meet you," she said. "We are called Chihiro Karen. Do either of you have any idea what's going on here? These girls just suddenly started attacking for no reason…"

"Yes, we're the ones to ask!" Tsuruno said. "But now's not the best time… we've got injured… so why don't you all head to the Coordinator's and we'll explain everything there? By the way, I'm Yui Tsuruno, the mightiest magical girl!"

"And I'm Felicia! Mitsuki Felicia! The girl on the ground is Hozumi Shizuku!"

"Pardon me, but… where might this… Coordinator be?" Chika asked. "Do you know where it is, Miss Kusch?"

"I haven't the faintest idea," Irina said.

"Oh my… I thought you would know, given your years of experience as a magical girl," Chika lamented.

"I can't believe it!" Tsuruno gasped. "You live in Kamihama but don't know about the Coordinator!? Especially a veteran like Miss Kusch… alright, if you wait a bit, you can head back with me. How's that sound?"

"That would be very helpful," Chika said. "I am terribly sorry for the inconvenience. Though I have lived in Kamihama for many years, it has been less than a year since I became a magical girl, so many things are… new to me."

"As for us, we only just moved to Kamihama," Karen added. "Though I have been to the Coordinator's, I have no memory of it."

Tsuruno blinked. "How is that possible…?"

"We did not ask for the full details," Karen said. "But apparently we were unconscious for more than a week."

"Why are you referring to yourself in such a weird way?" Felicia asked.

"Now's not the time for questions, Felicia!" Tsuruno said.

"Right! Shizuku needs help!" Felicia gasped,

With that, Tsuruno and Felicia knelt to check up on Shizuku. Her soul gem was fairly corrupted but not to dangerous levels, and there were no visible cracks either, so it seemed most of her injuries were physical.

"Thank goodness!" Tsuruno said. "Her soul gem's fine!"

"Here!" Felicia said. "Someone dropped a grief seed over there, so I nabbed it!"

"They must've attacked her right after she came out of a witch's labyrinth," Tsuruno said.

"Those jerks!" Felicia said. "I won't let them get away with this!"

Felicia pressed the grief seed up against Shizuku's soul gem, drawing out the impurities. A minute or so later, Shizuku opened her eyes.

"Hey, Shizuku!" Felicia said.

"Tsuruno…" Shizuku said, making an effort to talk. "Felicia… please… run…"

"It's all okay now!" Felicia said. "We chased those losers away!"

"Oh… good…" Shizuku said.

"Don't waste your energy talking!" Tsuruno said. "We cleaned up your soul gem, but these injuries look really bad!"

"I told… others… it was… d-dangerous," Shizuku muttered. "Several… girls… who I… ran into… I… warned them…"

"Thank you," Tsuruno said. "We need to get her to the Coordinator!"

"Yeah!" Felicia said.

"Get her on my back!" Tsuruno said.

"Alright!"

Tsuruno bent down, and Felicia helped get her onto Tsuruno's back.

"Alright! Come on everyone! Let's go!" Tsuruno said.

They headed off, Tsuruno and Felicia leading the way while Karen, Irina, and Chika followed behind.

"Say, um, Shizuku-chan?" Tsuruno said. "Weren't you with the Wings of the Magius? Are they even attacking their own allies?"

"I… didn't belong there… with the Wings… of the Magius," Shizuku said. "I… agreed to help them… again… after I left… Miss Yachiyo's… h-house…"

"Shizuku-chan, it's okay, I didn't need such a detailed anwer," Tsuruno said. "Rest now…"

"Yeah, don't push yourself!" Felicia said.

"I only… tried to be a black feather… for a little bit," Shizuku said. "But I ran away… w-when everyone… got affected by… the rumour…"

"So those rabid feathers… they're like that because of a rumour?" Felicia said.

"Yeah," Shizuku said.

"I thought that might be it," Tsuruno said.

"I'm s-sorry…" Shizuku said.

"What is this… rumour… you speak of?" Chika asked.

"Ah… it's a sort of monster, like a witch, but not," Tsuruno said. "The Wings of the Magius were using them…"

"I was shown a dream by one," Irina said flatly. "It was… quite… interesting…"

"Oh… you defeated one too?" Tsuruno said.

"Hmm… I don't think so," Irina said. "I think… it let me go…?"

"Then you're really lucky," Tsuruno said. "A lot of people have gotten trapped inside rumours."

"Yeah! They're up to no good!" Felicia said.

"Up to no good, is it?" Chika said. "Indeed, I thought something was fishy when they asked me to join them. It sounded too much like a cult, so I turned them down immediately."

"Huh, so they even tried to recruit students at your school," Tsuruno said. "Although, one of the leaders goes there too, so I guess it's a given…"

"Really?" Karen said. "There's a leader of this group at our school?"

"Yeah… I think so," Tsuruno said.

---

"Hmm," Kanagi said. "No sign of magical girls… not that I was expecting to find any."

She'd been scouring Daito Ward, searching for magical signatures to no avail. She did notice a small figure with silver hair atop a building, but she was unable to get a good look, and whoever it was ran as soon as she spotted Kanagi. A new magical girl, perhaps? Kanagi hoped she would be okay, but there wasn't much she could do if the girl was going to avoid her completely. Other than that girl in the distance, however, she hadn't picked up any sign of magic whatsoever.

"There's likely some still around," Kanagi mused. "But there can't be very many… maybe the feathers aren't troubling themselves with this area anymore?"

After all, so many girls had been enticed by the offer the Wings of the Magius had presented to them. Midori Ryo, Azumi Hagumu, Miyabi Shigure, Amane Tsukasa, and several others had all joined them. It was a symptom of the region's instability – every time Kanagi returned from the west, she was struck by the difference. It was just so messed up compared to the rest of the city – it got almost no funding to channel into repair, so nearly everything was run-down and shabby.

"I'm sure Yakumo would agree," Kanagi muttered. "These roads haven't been repaired in so long, they're overgrown with weeds… weeds… weeds, huh…"

She blinked a few times as a connection formed in her mind.

"Weeds mixed with wild mushrooms… that reminds me, there was one last magical girl."

She made her way to the Mao house and rang the bell. The door was opened a moment later by Himiji, one of the twins.

"Excuse me," Kanagi said.

"Yeah, come in!" he said. "Hey, it's Kanagi-neechan!"

"Nice to see you again," Kanagi said. "Have you been in good health?"

"Health?" Himiji said.

"Um… are you well?"

"Yeah, I'm good!" Himiji said.

"That's good to hear," Kanagi said. "I'm actually here for a reason today."

"To see Himika-neechan?"

"That's right," Kanagi said. "You're quick on the uptake. You could be a scholar one day."

Himiji giggled. "You're weird! But Himika-neechan isn't here right now. She ran out the door in a big hurry."

"I must've just missed her," Kanagi said. "What unfortunate timing."

Could it have been a witch? Kanagi could sense one, maybe even more than one in the vicinity, so it seemed like a plausible explanation. As she was pondering the reason for Himika's sudden disappearance, she heard the girl's voice.

"Yay! I found a five hundred yen coin!"

"That's Himika-neechan's voice," Himiji said needlessly.

"Thanks for your help," Kanagi said. "I'll be going now."

"I-I can't believe it," Himika gasped. "What a windfall…"

Kanagi left the house and followed the sound of her voice. She quickly found Himika, gazing in awe at the coin she'd picked up off the ground.

"Mao-kun!"

"I know that voice!" Himika said. "Hi, Miss Kanagi!"

"Have you been in good health?" Kanagi asked.

"Health?" Himika said.

"Um… are you well?" Kanagi said.

"I've been great!" Himika said. "I love to take life by the horns! Take a look at this. I found a five hundred yen coin! Hey, wait a second… it looks a little bit different… is it fake!?"

"No, it's rare," Kanagi said. "It's an old five hundred yen coin. You can still use it, but you could probably sell it to a collector for even more than five hundred yen."

"Really!?" Himika gasped. "Awesome!"

"Oh, now's not the time for that," Kanagi said. "Did you sense a witch's presence nearby, too?"

"Oh, yeah," Himika said. "I felt a few just show up all of a sudden. I figured now'd be my chance to stock up on grief seeds!"

"I see," Kanagi said. "Then why don't we fight them together? I want to talk to you about something."

"I'd love that!" Himika said. "Let's go!"

They located the first witch not far away, then transformed and headed inside.

"So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" Himika asked.

"Ah, that," Kanagi said. "You need to flee, as soon as possible."

"Flee? Huh? From what?"

"A group known as the Wings of the Magius," Kanagi said. "They want to annihilate all the magical girls in Kamihama."

"Anni-what now?" Himika said, momentarily confused, but she did manage to pick up on the word's meaning and giggled a bit. "Oh you, you're such a kidder!"

Kanagi didn't respond, just staring at her.

"Uh…"

Kanagi continued staring at her.

"Whoa, you're serious!?" Himika gasped.

"Yes," Kanagi said. "Dead serious. Many of the magical girls from Daito are taking their side. It's likely they didn't send a large number of soldiers here… but it would be wise to go to the Coordinator's before any of their underlings notice you."

"But, um, the Wings of the Magius are the people wearing those robes, right?" Himika said. "It didn't seem like they'd do something so terrible…"

"So you know of them," Kanagi said.

"Um, yes," Himika said. "They tried to recruit me before."

"I'm impressed you didn't join them," Kanagi said.

"Yeah, well… I didn't really understand what they were saying about freeing magical girls. I just kinda half-listened whenever they came, and they stopped coming after awhile."

"I've never heard of that happening before… I've always had to fight them off when they came for me."

"I don't want to cause trouble for my family by getting mixed up in anything shady," Himika said. "Besides, I've made a lot of friends since I became a magical girl. I'm actually quite content, even though it's tough sometimes being poor."

"Friends who are magical girls, huh… we do share similarities, and we are all equals, if you ignore the territory issue. I guess it is only natural to make acquaintances outside of your hometown. Like Nanami and me."

That was when the familiars decided to make their appearance.

"It's here! Time to fight, Mao-kun!"

"Okay! Wait… oh no, this isn't good!"

"What's wrong!?"

"I'm gonna miss that supermarket timed sale!"

"I wish I could say that's a pressing issue… but you'll have to give up on that today."

"Nooo!"

"If you don't leave, you might not see your brothers and sisters again."

"Nooo!"

The two of them reached the central chamber quickly, and Himika did most of the work to defeat the actual witch with her coin gun, finishing it off with a connect-boosted ultimate attack.

"I got a grief seed!" Himika crowed.

"That was easy," Kanagi said.

"Yeah!"

"I'd like you to go to the Coordinator's right away," Kanagi said.

"I will, but I still can't believe it… 'annihilate' means they're gonna kill us all, doesn't it? A lot of them are from around here… I can't believe they'd actually target us…"

"Not to mention, the black feathers are just a group of their weaker members," Kanagi said. "But that girl, Tomoe… I doubt she would declare war unless she knew she had a chance to win… by the way, Mao-kun, do you know of any other magical girls with silver hair in this area of town?"

"Silver hair?" Himika said. "Hmm… I don't see that around much at all, honestly. Other than you and Sougetsu-sempai, Miss Mitama and Mikage-chan, and one or two magical girls from the west, I don't think I even know anyone else with silver hair…"

"Mikage… she is only eleven, if I recall correctly?" Kanagi said.

"I think that's about right," Himika said.

"Hmm…"

"Why are you asking about silver hair?" Himika said.

"I thought I saw someone earlier," Kanagi said. "Though, it's possible I imagined it…"

At that moment, several feathers chose to make an appearance, coming in with chains swinging.

"W-whoa!" Himika gasped, hopping out of the way.

The feathers growled and attacked again.

"Speak of the devil, they've found us," Kanagi said.

"They're acting completely different from when they tried to recruit me!" Himika said.

"Hmm, what's going on…?" Kanagi wondered. "Hey, you!"

She stepped towards one of the black feathers, who immediately growled at her and swung her chain.

"Huh!?" Kanagi gasped.

"Miss Kanagi!" Himika exclaimed.

"Don't worry about me," Kanagi said. "Well, this is certainly a strange development. They're behaving like mindless zombies."

"P-please don't call them that," Himika said.

"Am I wrong?" Kanagi asked. "But now you see, you were right not to join this group. Had you agreed to become one of them, this could've been your fate too. You could have ended up like these girls standing before us."

She stepped forward again, brandishing her riding crop.

"Be still!"

With just a few swings, she had most of the feathers knocked down, out cold. At the same time, Himika took out the two who targeted her, with a little difficulty. One particularly persistent black feather then raised both arms, spinning her chains and growling at the two of them.

"You still want to fight?" Kanagi said.

The black feather seemed to have second thoughts and turned to flee. Kanagi powered down, and Himika followed her example.

"Even if they've lost their minds, they still know to protect themselves," she mused. "How aggravating…"

"They all attacked at full strength without even stopping to breathe," Himika said with a sigh. "That was tough…"

Kanagi had also noticed something else. They had been aiming for their soul gems.

"They're hunting their own kind… by instinct," she mused. "I wasn't wrong when I called them zombies… I know they're trying to annihilate us, but something must've happened to them…"

"Um, I… I'm going to skip the sale and go to the Coordinator's," Himika said.

"Good," Kanagi said. "Your life matters most. Also, take that grief seed from earlier with you."

"Are you sure?" Himika asked.

"The Coordinator's place is far from Daito," Kanagi said. "You don't know what you might run into, so take it just in case. Besides…"

"Huh?"

"I'm older than you. You'll need it more."

Himika giggled. "Well, that's silly," she said. "Fine, then will you take this?"

She took out a plastic water bottle from her bag and proffered it. It was filled with some strange-looking viscous dark green fluid.

"Hm?"

"Please take this with you," Himika said.

"What is it?" Kanagi asked.

"It's feral sauce!" Himika said.

"Oh, the Mao family's signature health drink," Kanagi said.

"Yeah, it's a smoothie made from wild plants, chock full of nutrients!"

"A smoothie, huh… I suppose you could call it that… alright!"

She took the bottle and uncapped it, only to be assaulted by the strong odour.

"Yes, drink up for your health!" Himika said.

"I respectfully decline!" Kanagi said, recapping it.

"Why!?"

"Your drink stings my eyes," Kanagi said. "I need to be ready for battle…"

"I see… I guess I can give it to someone at the Coordinator's place…"

"Yes, do that," Kanagi said, handing the bottle back.

"Okay, I'll be going now," Himika said.

"Be careful."

Himika turned and ran off, while Kanagi went after the other witches they'd sensed. Once those were destroyed, she paused to ponder. Having seen the zombie-like feathers, she was starting to understand some of Tomoe Mami's confidence. The only thing she didn't understand was why Mami had shown up to announce the plan at all. Was it her intent to split them up? If they were trying to defeat her allies one by one, then…

"Meeting up with the others is the safest bet, right now. Hm…"

She checked her phone, only to discover there was no service.

"No service… how unfortunate… did they plan this too, somehow…? Should I use the communicator…?"

But Yachiyo should be pretty close by, so she figured it would be easier to just locate her by her magic… and she did just that, heading west while seeking that familiar signature. Before long, she'd found her.

"Now then," Yachiyo muttered. "I have to go see Kanagi."

Kanagi rounded the corner at that exact moment.

"I'll save you the trip," she said.

"Whoa!" Yachiyo gasped. "K-kanagi!?"

"Yes, it's me," Kanagi said. "Izumi Kanagi. I was just thinking we should meet up. We really do think alike, Nanami."

"So, how's Daito?" Yachiyo asked.

"Hmm… I know of a magical girl there, so I went to tell her to evacuate," Kanagi said. "As soon as I defeated a witch, the feathers caught me off guard. And they didn't just attack me. They were indiscriminate. There's no question that all magical girls in Kamihama are being targeted."

"What an underhanded thing to do, attacking someone who's already weakened," Yachiyo said.

"They didn't want to give anyone a chance to use a grief seed," Kanagi said. "How was it on your end, Nanami? I saw you sent some girls to the Coordinator, just like I did."

"Yes," Yachiyo said. "I'd wanted to meet up with someone as well, but there was no signal, so I couldn't reach anyone."

"So it's the same in Kosho," Kanagi said. "I thought it was only Daito, but the phones must be down all over. However… did you forget about the communicators that Taylor-kun gave us?"

Yachiyo blinked at her, then let out a little groan.

"As a matter of fact… yes I did," she said. "In that case, perhaps I should contact them now…"

However, as she reached into her pocket to retrieve the communicator, Yusa Hazuki's voice issued from it.

"Hellooo! Is Miss Yui Tsuruno there?"

"Huh!?" Yachiyo gasped. "That voice… Miss Yusa? How did she get one…?"

A few seconds later, Tsuruno responded.

"Yui Tsuruno, mightiest magical girl, present and accounted for!"

"Tsurunooooo! Come help me!" Felicia's voice came through.

"Ah, Miss Yusa must be with Felicia," Yachiyo said.

"Felicia!? What's going on!?" Tsuruno asked.

"They're trying to make me out to be the bad guy!" Felicia said. "I need you to explain everything to them!"

"Okay! Where are you, Felicia?"

"Somewhere in Sankyo Ward, at a café!"

"I'll be right there!"

"I get it," Yachiyo mused. "It seems like Tsuruno and Felicia are doing just fine… so that just leaves Momoko's team."

"It sounds like Yui-kun and Mitsuki-kun are on their way to meet up," Kanagi said. "Perhaps Togame and the others have already reunited too."

"That would be the best case scenario," Yachiyo said.

She pressed the speak button.

"This is Nanami Yachiyo, please respond. Are you there, Momoko?"

After a few seconds, Momoko's voice issued from the device.

"Dangit, I totally forgot about these things!" Momoko said. "Don't worry about us! The three of us are already at the Coordinator's, waiting for you! It sounds like Tsuruno and Felicia are meeting up as well… how about Kanagi?"

"I am present and accounted for," Kanagi said. "I am with Nanami."

"So she's with you," Momoko said. "Then we're just waiting for you guys to come back… I'll seeya then!"

"Alright," Yachiyo said. "We'll head that way soon. Nanami out."

But then another voice issued from the device.

"Just checking, but I don't suppose any of you have seen Miss Ayano Rika?"

Yachiyo pressed the speak button again. "Is that Miss Miyako…? How did you get one of these?"

"I borrowed from the mightiest," Hinano said. "Since she's meeting with her friend anyway."

"I haven't seen Miss Ayano, no," Yachiyo said.

"Alright… guess I'll just have to keep searching," Hinano said. "Miyako out."

Yachiyo turned to Kanagi as she slipped the communicator back into her pocket.

"What is your opinion on how the feathers are behaving?" she asked.

"They're mindlessly acting on instinct, essentially making them zombies," Kanagi said. "I can see why they went so far as to use the word 'annihilation'."

"Yes," Yachiyo said. "This is just a guess, but I think a rumour might be the cause."

"A rumour… I didn't see what Yui-kun was like, so I can't say for sure. But I doubt they could do that to all of them without some sort of catalyst. Still, it would explain a lot if a rumour is causing that behaviour."

"It might be prudent to investigate," Yachiyo said.

"Do you have any leads?" Kanagi asked.

"I do, but only if you know where the flute sisters live," Yachiyo said.

"Hmm… there were white feathers amongst our enemies," Kanagi said. "And, if we cut off those zombies at their source, we could end their killing spree."

"Exactly what I was thinking," Yachiyo said.

"Then, that's easy enough," Kanagi said. "I've kept in touch with Tsukasa-kun. I'll show you the way."

"Alright, thank you," Yachiyo said.

They rounded a corner, only to find a few more feathers there, growling.

"Looks like they're blocking our path," Kanagi said.

"We won't get anywhere if they keep relentlessly attacking like this," Yachiyo said. "Let's fight them on the move!"

So they transformed and broke into a run, fending off the feathers as they went. Several minutes later, they exited an alleyway just across from a shop labelled "Amane Bamboo Studio", the feathers still on their tail. By this time, the sun had fully set.

"W-what was that noise!?" a male voice was heard from inside.

Yachiyo gasped and powered down, as did Kanagi. The feathers also withdrew, disappearing into the shadows of the alleyway.

"At least it looks like they won't harm the general public," Kanagi said.

"Yes…"

A young man emerged from the Amane studio, looking around.

"What the heck?" he said. "Did something happen here?"

"Nothing strange here," Kanagi said.

"Don't mind us," Yachiyo said. "I think you were just hearing things."

"No, I definitely heard something," the man said. "Hey, wow, it's Nanami Yachiyo! I've seen you in magazines!"

But before he had a chance to say anything further, an older man emerged from the same place.

"There you are, Take! Where've you been!?" he shouted. "Stop goofing off and get back to work!"

"Who cares about work right now!?" Take said. "Look, it's Nanami Yachiyo!"

"I don't care!" the older man shouted. "Tsukasa's gone off somewhere without doing her chores, too. I'm surrounded by slackers…"

"Tsukasa-chan probably ran away because you give her too much work," Take said.

"You heard that too, didn't you?" Yachiyo murmured.

"He definitely said Tsukasa," Kanagi said. "And the sign confirms we're in the right place."

"Amane… Bamboo Studio," Yachiyo murmured.

"Oh right, Miss Nanami!" Take said excitedly, proffering a school notebook. "Could you sign this?"

"Shut up and polish the floor!" the other man said. "Serves you right for slacking! Polish it until it sparkles!"

"You're asking way too much, sir!" Take said.

However, he did head back inside.

"Um, excuse me," Yachiyo said. "Do you have a moment?"

"Hm?" the older man said. "Yeah, what is it?"

"Is Miss Tsukasa not here?"

"Are you a friend of Tsukasa's?" he asked. "It's just, she hasn't been home all week… if you see her, can you tell her something for me? Tell her I'm not angry, and that she should come home soon."

"Thank you," Yachiyo said. "I'll tell Miss Tsukasa when I see her."

"Thank you very much," the man said.

He turned and headed back inside as well, leaving the girls alone in the darkness. They started to head towards the Coordinator's as they discussed it.

"More reason to suspect the rumour?" Kanagi asked.

"Yes," Yachiyo said.

"I don't understand," Kanagi said. "Why do they want to annihilate the magical girls of Kamihama so badly?"

"It would make sense if they were trying to obtain energy," Yachiyo said. "But they're not trying to draw out any doppels. They're very clearly simply attacking and trying to kill us. I get that we're in their way, but I don't see any benefit to this approach…"

"Hm," Kanagi said. "We have no way of knowing right now. Unless you want to ask if Taylor-kun knows anything. She was a member, so she might…"

"Hmm… well, not right now," Yachiyo said. "I'm still not sure how far she can be trusted… even if you're vouching for her, Kanagi."

"Their objective is completely unclear to us," Kanagi said. "Our only recourse is to try to stop them."

"Yes," Yachiyo said. "In order to do that, we'll need to get rid of that rumour."

"Might as well try reading these feathers' minds," Kanagi said. "It's the quickest way to find out."

"Alright, let's go somewhere else," Yachiyo said. "We'll find more feathers gathered in areas where there are magical girls."

They headed for Chuo Ward to the west, seeking magical signatures.

"As suspected, there are plenty more of them once you leave the east," Kanagi mused.

"Our theory was correct," Yachiyo said.

They spotted a lone feather up ahead.

"Kanagi, there's a feather over there," she said.

"Maybe there's a magical girl too," Kanagi said.

The feather hadn't noticed them, and turned into an alleyway. They transformed and followed her, finding a group of feathers ganging up on Mariko Ayaka.

"W-whoa!" Ayaka gasped as she barely dodged a swing of those chains. "I've seen you around before. Wait! Huh? Actually, you might be someone else…"

The feather growled and attacked again, and Ayaka squealed.

"Aww, how will you set up my jokes if you can't talk!?" Ayaka protested. "Wait, maybe now's not the time for that!? Are you the ones Shizuku-chan mentioned…?"

"That's right!" Yachiyo said.

She leapt in and sent the feather flying with a kick, while Kanagi took out two more with her riding crop.

"Leave this to us!" Kanagi said.

"Whoa! Superheroes!" Ayaka gasped.

"Magical girls shouldn't be alone right now, it's too dangerous!" Yachiyo said. "Go to the Coordinator's, now!"

"The Coordinator's…?" Ayaka said. "Another magical girl told me the same thing not long ago. I was just about to head over there!"

"Good. Please hurry!"

"But!" Ayaka said.

"Please, go to the Coordinator!"

"It's fine, it's fine!" Ayaka said. "If I tell myself things'll be alright, I could die one hundred times and still make it!"

"What are you talking about?" Kanagi asked.

"I'm saying a comedy trio is even better than a duo!" Ayaka said. "This stage was set for me, so the least you could do is let me perform!"

"We can't do that," Yachiyo said. "It's too dangerous!"

"Aww…"

While they were talking, the downed feathers got to their feet and started attacking again. A few more had showed up too at some point.

"Your attacks are too predictable!" Kanagi taunted.

She swept three of them off their feet in one swing, but two of them got right back up and turned to flee.

"I expected that to be the final blow," Kanagi mused. "Do they not feel pain anymore…? You're not getting away!"

She ran after them.

"Kanagi! I'll catch up with you soon!" Yachiyo said.

"Okay!"

Yachiyo turned to Ayaka, who'd taken down one of the attackers all by herself and was breathing heavily.

"Are you alright?" Yachiyo asked.

"Geez, they're like robots," Ayaka said. "It felt like my attacks weren't even hitting them."

"You've used quite a lot of magic," Yachiyo said. "You need a grief seed… I'm sorry, I don't have any on me."

"Oh, don't worry about that one bit!" Ayaka said. "I took out a witch I ran into just a few minutes ago!"

"Oh, that's a relief," Yachiyo said.

"Yup!" Ayaka said.

"Now then, I'm going to follow that girl that just ran away," Yachiyo said.

"Are you guys gonna be okay alone?" Ayaka asked.

"We'll be fine," Yachiyo said. "I'm just going to ask them what's going on. Looks like they're going to the helipad on that building over there… huh, it's the same one as before…"

She turned to head for the building in question.

"She's so cool!" Ayaka said.

But then she turned and headed in the opposite direction, presumably making for the Coordinator's. Yachiyo paused before entering the building to take out her communicator, pressing the speak button.

"Nanami Yachiyo here," she said. "I've spotted some feathers heading for the helipad in Chuo Ward and am going to investigate with Kanagi. Anything else to report?"

"We found Shizuku-chan!" Tsuruno's voice said. "But she's badly hurt… so we're taking her to the Coordinator's. Once we're done, we'll come join you!"

"I'll see if anyone else wants to join too when we're done with the explanation," Momoko said.

"Alright, sounds good," Yachiyo said.

"One curious thing is that there are a large number of girls from out of town here," Momoko said. "And it sounds like they all know Ashley Taylor… it seems she asked them to come."

"I see," Yachiyo said. "Let's hope her intentions are better than those of the Magius."

---

Mitama was sitting in her office, minding her own business, when suddenly the door slammed open. Besides herself, there were only two other people there. One was Isuzu Ren, who Yachiyo had dropped off earlier – she was now sleeping on one of the couches. The other was the client she'd just finished tuning up, a girl called Kirino Sae. Sae jumped at the sound, dropping the grief seed she'd been about to hand over and diving behind an armchair.

"W-what!?" Mitama gasped. "W-what's going on!?"

"Coordinator!" Momoko said. "Let us use this space!"

"Momoko!?" Mitama gasped. "Huh… what!?"

Momoko wasn't alone, either. Aimi and Masara followed her in, the latter carrying an injured Kokoro, and there were six additional magical girls with them whom Mitama had never seen before. They wore a school uniform she didn't recognize, so she reasoned they were probably from out of town. Realizing there was no immediate danger, Mitama leaned down to pick up Sae's grief seed and stowed it away. Sae also rose from her hiding place now that it was clear that there was nothing to fear.

"I hope your explanation will help ease my suspicions," Masara said.

"Masara… it's not nice to… be so suspicious," Kokoro said.

"Excuse me!" Aimi said. "We have someone who's injured, can we please have some space!?"

Mitama watched, bewildered, as they all streamed in and found places to sit, laying Kokoro out on one of the couches. Just as Mitama was about to ask again what was going on, Kaede showed up with a whole horde of magical girls. Kako and Konomi were with her, as well as Mayu and Sayuki, plus a group of eight magical girls who also appeared to be from out of town. Mitama recognized about half of them – Umika, Kaoru, Kazumi, and Hijiri Kanna. In fact, there seemed to be two of Kazumi… she wasn't sure what that meant, exactly.

"Kaede-chan was right," Konomi said. "Looks like girls are starting to gather."

"Um, Miss Nanaka and the rest of my team might be coming here, too," Kako said. "They're probably already on their way."

"Yeah, we went around letting everyone know," Kaede said. "So more magical girls will probably come."

Then Ria and Manaka entered, along with Tsumugi, Rena, Asuka, Sasara, and… Hijiri Kanna again. Mitama looked in confusion between the two identical girls, wondering which one was actually Hijiri Kanna.

"Now even more people will know of the lovely and graceful Ami Ria!" Ria said, giggling.

"This isn't your stage, Ria-sempai," Manaka said. "Please stop interrupting!"

"Everyone here must be magical girls who were rescued," Sasara said.

"If we were the first to get here, then I'm sure more will arrive soon," Asuka said.

"Yeah," Rena said. "Would you mind hanging around and waiting a bit longer?"

"Then I guess we don't have a choice," Asuka said.

Sae edged around the crowd of girls near the entrance, apparently aiming to leave, but Momoko stepped over to her and grabbed her hand.

"Excuse me?" Sae said with a smile. "Can I help you with something?"

"Hold on a second," Momoko said. "Are you planning to go back out there?"

"Huh? Um… yes, since my business here was done," Sae said. "Whatever all these people are here for, it has nothing to do with me…"

"Well, the thing is, it's dangerous out there," Momoko said.

"Thank you for your concern, but I think I can take care of myself," Sae said, smiling. "I am a magical girl too, after all."

"At least let me finish explaining," Momoko said. "There are magical girls in robes roaming through the streets, attacking any other magical girls they find."

Sae blinked, her smile slipping for the first time. "Huh? You can't be serious…"

"I wouldn't lie about something like this," Momoko said.

Sae frowned. "You don't understand," she said. "I know who the girls in the robes are. They've asked me to join them, several times. Some sempai at my school even joined up. There's no way they'd suddenly start attacking people without a reason."

"O-oh, so you know who they are," Momoko said. "But they're not their normal selves. Something has happened to them. It's possible your sempai is out there too…"

Sae pulled her hand free of Momoko's grasp and forced her smile back on.

"Forgive me if I don't take the word of a complete stranger over that of a school acquaintance," she said. "I'll go see for myself."

"Then you'll come back when you realize it's the truth?" Momoko said. "This is neutral ground, so it's safer here."

"I'll think about it," Sae said, her smile widening.

With that, she turned and marched right outside. Momoko sighed and headed over to where Mitama was sitting, watching the whole conversation with a look of bemusement on her face. Rena and Kaede also stepped over to join them.

"Momoko… what's going on here?" Mitama asked.

"Looks like Kaede and Rena also brought a bunch of people over," Momoko said. "We teammates sure think alike, huh…"

"You didn't answer my question," Mitama said.

"Sorry, Coordinator," Momoko said. "I'll try to keep this short and sweet."

"Okay…"

"The Wings of the Magius have made their move. They've set witches loose around town, with the intention of killing all magical girls."

"And on top of that," Rena spoke up. "The feathers have lost their minds and are acting weird."

"B-but… I didn't know any of that!" Mitama gasped. "Even if all of what you said is true… don't they want to save magical girls?"

"So you've heard of them already, huh?" Momoko said.

"I am… the Coordinator, after all," Mitama said.

"You're a neutral party, but it's not like they come to see you every day," Momoko said. "Those Magius girls might've come up with this plan after their last visit."

"Well, yes," Mitama said. "You have a point there…"

"So you know all about us… and the Wings of the Magius… right?" Momoko said. "But you've still stayed neutral. That's why I have a favour to ask you…"

"W-what is it?" Mitama asked.

"Let us hide here. Explain what you know to everyone, share everything. Tell everyone about their goals, about freeing magical girls, and what they've done."

"Are you serious!?" Mitama gasped. "I'm the Coordinator! I can't betray my clients' trust! I can't tell you everything. That would give you an advantage… that would be completely unfair!"

"That's why I'm asking you this favour," Momoko said.

"Momoko, you can't be asking me to…"

"Quit being a neutral party," Momoko said.

"I see," Mitama said.

"If you can't, then just let us use this space," Momoko said. "I'll do the explaining. I know you don't have the power to fight. I also know that's why you didn't speak up, even when you learned what you did. I don't resent you for it…"

"Momoko…"

"But I never thought you'd just sit around and watch as magical girls get slaughtered," Momoko said. "They're trying to kill us for no reason."

"Stop it, Momoko," Mitama said.

"Is protecting your neutrality really the right thing to do right now?" Momoko asked.

Mitama gasped, then sighed.

"Very well," she said. "Even if it does lose me some customers. But you see, even if I do stop being neutral… I'm only doing it for the benefit of my business."

"Quit splitting hairs," Momoko retorted.

"You're going to have to protect me for the rest of your life, Momoko," Mitama said.

While she was discussing that with Mitama, four magical girls wearing unfamiliar uniforms entered the place. After looking around for a moment, they moved towards one of the versions of Hijiri Kanna, so Mitama reasoned they were probably from Asunaro too.

"Kanna-chi, what are you doing here?" the silver-haired girl asked.

The girl addressed turned to look at them in surprise.

"Oh, I could ask you the same thing, Airi-chan," she said.

"There were robed girls lurking around the park, so we decided it was safer to wait here," the tall blonde-haired girl said.

"Ah, that makes sense," Hijiri said. "So you're not here for Coordination."

Both girls shook their heads. The girls with blue and green hair, who looked like sisters, remained silent. A little later, Himika entered together with Riko and Rui, looking around in surprise at the number of magical girls gathered.

"Whoa, there are so many magical girls here," Riko said. "I don't know most of them…"

"You're right," Himika said. "There are quite a few I haven't met before… oh, and there's even some from other cities! Amazing…"

"Oh, Riko-chan!" Mitama said. "I'm glad to see you're okay!"

Riko beamed at her. "Yeah, I was saved by Rui-chan and a girl in blue! And I ran into Himika-nee outside."

"That must be Miss Yachiyo," Momoko said. "Good to know she found some people to send here…"

At that moment, the communicators that Momoko, Rena, and Kaede had on them all buzzed at the same time, and a voice came out.

"Hellooo! Is Miss Yui Tsuruno there?"

"Huh? Isn't that… Yusa Hazuki's voice?" Mitama said.

A few seconds later, Tsuruno responded.

"Yui Tsuruno, mightiest magical girl, present and accounted for!"

"Tsurunooooo! Come help me!" Felicia's voice came through.

"Felicia!? What's going on!?" Tsuruno asked.

"They're trying to make me out to be the bad guy!" Felicia said. "I need you to explain everything to them!"

"Okay! Where are you, Felicia?"

"Somewhere in Sankyo Ward, at a café!"

"I'll be right there!"

"Why do you have those, Momoko?" Mitama asked.

"It was Miss Taylor's idea, actually," Momoko said. "Although I actually forgot I had it until just now… but anyway, I guess she knew the Magius were gonna bring down the cellular networks."

"Are you serious!?" Mitama gasped. "That's gotta be some next-level hacking to bring the network down completely…"

As they were talking, Kirino Sae re-entered the room and sidled into a corner. Momoko gave her a quick wave, but was only met with that smile again.

"Well, now that I've been reminded we have these, I should get in touch with Miss Yachiyo," Momoko said.

But before she could do anything, Yachiyo's voice issued from the devices.

"This is Nanami Yachiyo, please respond. Are you there, Momoko?"

"Gah, is there anything we can do about the triplicate!?" Momoko asked.

"There's a switch to turn them off," Rena said, taking hers out. "See? Like this."

Kaede took hers out and did the same. "There… that should do it!"

Momoko took out her own device and pressed the speak button.

"Dangit, I totally forgot about these things!" she said. "Don't worry about us! The three of us are already at the Coordinator's, waiting for you! It sounds like Tsuruno and Felicia are meeting up as well… how about Kanagi?"

"I am present and accounted for," Kanagi said. "I am with Nanami."

"So she's with you," Momoko said. "Then we're just waiting for you guys to come back… I'll seeya then!"

"Alright," Yachiyo said. "We'll head that way soon. Nanami out."

A few moments later, a new voice issued from the communicator.

"Just checking, but I don't suppose any of you have seen Miss Ayano Rika?"

"That's Miss Miyako," Mitama said. "How many people have one of these…?"

Before Momoko could respond, Yachiyo's voice came out.

"Is that Miss Miyako…? How did you get one of these?"

"I borrowed from the mightiest," Hinano said. "Since she's meeting with her friend anyway."

"I haven't seen Miss Ayano, no," Yachiyo said.

"Alright… guess I'll just have to keep searching," Hinano said. "Miyako out."

"As far as I know, the only ones who have one are the three of us, and the Crescent Moon Villa crew," Momoko said.

"And Miss Taylor and her friends are also using them, on a different channel," Rena said. "I'm sure she's all smug about that…"

"Do you have something against Miss Taylor?" Momoko asked.

"No! Not especially!" Rena said. "That said, I did run into her awhile ago at one of Sayu-Sayu's concerts…"

"Ah, I see how it is," Momoko said. "She said something bad about your favourite idol, is that it?"

"Well…"

"Speaking of Sayu-Sayu," Kaede spoke up. "Did you know she's a magical girl too? Look, she's right over there!"

Rena looked where Kaede was pointing. Sayuki was chatting with Mayu and Ria about something or other.

"N-no way!" Rena gasped. "I mean… I knew she was one… she goes on stage transformed, so it's real obvious… but…"

Rena slid aside, placing Momoko between herself and Sayuki.

"Getting all shy now that she's right in front of you, huh?" Momoko said.

"N-no! It's not like that! Hmph!"

Rena turned away and stepped out from behind Momoko, but also transformed into a duplicate of one of the non-magical girls in her class, a girl with wavy red hair tied into a ponytail.

"You're turning into random classmates again," Kaede said.

"So what if I am!" Rena retorted.

"So, if everyone has one," Mitama mused. "Where are Iroha-chan and Sana-chan? I can't help noticing they didn't join in the conversation…"

"Oh, they're looking for the Rumour of the Eternal Sakura," Momoko said.

"But that's the heart of their base!" Mitama gasped.

"Oh… you know about it?" Momoko said.

"A little," Mitama said. "It's a rumour that doesn't spread itself around, so most people don't know it… huh? Wait, how did Iroha-chan know it…?"

"She didn't tell us how, exactly," Momoko said. "She just remembered all of a sudden…"

At that moment, Emiri barged into the room with a yell.

"Howdy everyone!" she said. "Oh, there's so many people here today! And some from out of town, too! Kazumin, Kazumin, heya!"

One of the versions of Kazumi, the one with longer hair, turned to wave to her. At the same moment, the Daito Apartment trio stepped in behind Emiri – Mito, Leila, and Seika. While Emiri went around saying hello to everyone and introducing herself to the ones she didn't know, the trio stepped off into a quiet corner and settled down on the floor.

A little later, Nanaka's and Hazuki's teams entered together, excluding Kako who was already there. Ayame immediately ran over to check up on Kako.

"Kako! Are you okay!?" she asked.

"Ayame!" Kako said. "Y-yeah, I'm fine! It wasn't that bad, really… Konomi-chan and Kaede-chan helped me out."

"I was so worried when I heard," Ayame said. "I'm glad you're okay!"

A few minutes later, Hinano arrived together with Meguru and Rika. The latter spotted Ren lying on a couch almost immediately and ran over.

"Ren-chan!" she gasped. "What on earth happened!?"

Ren opened her eyes. She must've woken up awhile ago and just not wanted to get up.

"Rika-chan," she said, sitting up. "I'm fine… I was attacked by… some weird magical girls… but Miss Nanami… saved me…"

"Oh my god!" Rika said. "I was attacked too… I woulda been a goner if Miko-sempai hadn't found me… are you hurt?"

"I'm already better," Ren said. "One of the magical girls here… used her healing magic…"

"Oh, I see," Rika said. "I see… so you're not hurt… that's such a relief…"

As they had their little reunion, Momoko's communicator spoke up again. This time, it was Yachiyo's voice.

"Nanami Yachiyo here. I've spotted some feathers heading for the helipad in Chuo Ward and am going to investigate with Kanagi. Anything else to report?"

"We found Shizuku-chan!" Tsuruno's voice said. "But she's badly hurt… so we're taking her to the Coordinator's. Once we're done, we'll come join you!"

Momoko pressed the speak button and chimed in.

"I'll see if anyone else wants to join too when we're done with the explanation," Momoko said.

"Alright, sounds good," Yachiyo said.

"One curious thing is that there are a large number of girls from out of town here," Momoko said. "And from the conversation around here, it sounds like they all know Ashley Taylor… it seems she asked them to come."

"I see," Yachiyo said. "Let's hope her intentions are better than those of the Magius."

A few minutes later, Ayaka stepped in and looked around. Spotting Mitama, she sidled over to her.

"Um, have you seen Shizuku-chan?" she asked.

"No, I haven't seen her," Mitama said. "Were you looking for her?"

"She called me earlier," Ayaka said.

"Oh! So you've made up, then?"

"Um… I'm not quite sure, but I think so," Ayaka said. "But she said she was being chased by those magical girls in robes… so I'm worried…"

"Come to think of it, I think Sana-chan said she was in the Wings of the Magius," Momoko said. "But why would they be attacking one of their own…? Anyway, that aside, we just heard she's on her way here, but she's hurt."

"Oh no!" Ayaka said. "She's… she's not alone… is she?"

"No, of course not," Momoko said. "Tsuruno's with her."

"Oh, that's a bit of a relief," Ayaka said. "But she's hurt, huh…"

"There's quite a few girls here, counting the ones who took shelter here on their own," Momoko said. "But… it's starting to feel more like a medical tent in a warzone."

"Then it's true that they're killing others indiscriminately," Mitama said.

At that moment there was a crash as someone slammed the door open.

"And here comes another one," Momoko said.

It was Tsuruno and Felicia. Tsuruno had Shizuku on her back, and they were accompanied by three other girls who Mitama didn't recognize, wearing the uniform of St Lilliana's.

"Hey, sorry, but I need ya to clear a path!" Tsuruno shouted.

"We got a really sick girl here!" Felicia shouted. "Well, not sick… but she's in bad shape!"

"Tsuruno! Felicia!" Momoko said. "That girl there…"

Ayaka spotted her and ran over.

"Shizuku-chan!?" Ayaka gasped. "What terrible wounds! Did that happen after you called me?"

"Yeah…" Shizuku said. "Not right after, but… they were really persistent…"

Mitama made for the door to the back room, where she usually took girls for a little privacy during tune-ups.

"Quick, bring her over here!" Mitama said. "Get her on the Coordinator's table!"

They did as she said, taking Shizuku into the next room and laying her out on the table in question. Her soul gem had darkened quite a bit on the journey, no doubt as a result of her body's attempt to repair itself. It was only about thirty percent though, so not a worrisome level.

"Does anyone have a grief seed!?" Mitama asked.

"We already used one on her," Tsuruno said.

"Then we'll just have to wait for her to heal on her own," Mitama said. "Shizuku-chan… she doesn't have any healing abilities, does she?"

"N-no, just the magic that lets her connect different locations," Ayaka said.

"Poor thing," Mitama said. "This will take more than a day or two to heal. But…"

"B-but?" Ayaka said.

"If she's already had her magic restored, she'll get better with some rest," Mitama said.

"What a relief!" Ayaka said. "That scared me so bad I couldn't think up a single joke."

"It'd be scarier if you had thought one up," Momoko said.

At that moment, the tall blonde girl from Asunaro entered the back room.

"Excuse the intrusion… but you have an injured girl here, right?" she said. "I'm Asuka Yuuri. I can heal her."

"Oh, if that's not too much trouble," Mitama said.

"P-please do!" Ayaka said.

Mitama sighed, following the others into the main room, leaving Yuuri, Shizuku, and Ayaka alone in the back room.

"Tsuruno-chan and Felicia-chan are here now," she said. "So now we're just waiting on Miss Yachiyo and Kanagi… but they might be awhile yet…"

"Yeah, I guess they're all that's left," Momoko said. "Still, I feel bad forcing you to go to all this trouble…"

"Oh, please," Mitama said. "I mean, you've been hunting familiars and witches around my shop for so long. I was honestly just glad for the opportunity to pay you back. That's my excuse."

"Excuse, huh," Momoko said. "Hey, who are those girls from St Lilliana's? I didn't know there were any magical girls in that area…"

"I don't know them." Mitama said.

"Wait, seriously?" Momoko said. "I thought you knew all the magical girls in Kamihama."

"Those three have never come to me for coordination," Mitama said. "I do know two magical girls who attend St Lilliana's – Touka-chan and Hotori-chan – but I don't know those three. Although, I surmise that one of them is most likely the rumoured Irina Kushu…"

"Huh?" Tsuruno said. "But one of them said that she'd been to the Coordinator's before… though she wasn't conscious…"

"Even if that's true, I've never seen any of them before," Mitama repeated. "Did she perhaps move here from another city? There might be other magical girls similar to me in other cities…"

"Oh, she did say she just moved here," Tsuruno said. "So when she said the 'Coordinator', she didn't actually mean Miss Mitama, huh…"

At that moment, several magical girls stepped forward, including Asuka, Sasara, Nanaka, Meiyui, Hazuki, and Konoha.

"It's been quite awhile since we all assembled here," Asuka observed. "Don't you think it's time we heard more about what's happening?"

"Careful, or she might kill herself," Sasara joked.

"Can you please stop making fun of me!" Asuka protested.

"She has a point, though," Nanaka said. "While it's true that we haven't assembled every single magical girl in Kamihama… I think it's about time we hear it."

"If we have to wait for Miss Yachiyo, that's different," Hazuki said. "But we don't need to wait on her, do we?"

"She was on her way to the heliport awhile ago," Momoko mused.

"Oh right, the heliport!" Tsuruno gasped. "I just realized… that's probably bad news… it's the perfect place to fight where no-one else can see you!"

"Tsuruno! Let's go!" Felicia said. "She might be fighting someone right now!"

"Yeah!" Tsuruno said.

"H-hey, you two!" Rena said. "Aren't you going to wait for Mitama's explanation!?"

"We're already in the thick of it, it's fine!" Tsuruno said.

"Yeah, we'll leave that stuff to you guys!" Felicia said.

As the two of them left the office, several more magical girls entered, but Mitama didn't recognize any of them, and their school uniforms didn't correspond to any school in Kamihama that she was aware of.

"The Crescent Moon Villa girls sure are busy," Rena said.

"I wonder when we can get started," Kaede said.

"Good evening," one of the newcomers said, a girl with long ash-blonde hair. "Did I make it in time? I was told we would be discussing the actions of the Wings of the Magius."

"Yes, but who might you be?" Momoko asked. "And who told you about it…?"

"I am Mikuni Oriko, from Mitakihara. My companions are Kure Kirika, Asako Komaki, and Asako Koito. We heard from Miss Ashley Taylor."

She gestured to each of her companions as they were named.

"There is also another reason why we came, but that is not important right now," Oriko said.

"Well, we haven't started the explanation yet, so yes, you made it in time," Momoko said. "Do you know if anyone else is coming?"

"Miss Taylor wanted to be here, but it seems she has been held up," Oriko said. "And I was expecting to see Miss Kaname and her team, but it appears she has not yet arrived… perhaps she ran into a delay…"

"There's no point in waiting any longer," Mitama said. "We may as well begin."

"Yeah, I agree," Momoko said.

"Perhaps you could at least repeat the explanation for those who arrive later," Oriko suggested.

"Perhaps," Mitama said. "Everyone, please listen!"

The chattering magical girls fell silent and turned to look at her.

"I'm sorry you had to wait so long," Mitama said. "I'll tell you all I know. What I know about the Wings of the Magius, who they are, and what they aim to achieve. The reasons behind their sudden attacks. Everything. I'll have to tell you some things I'd rather keep hidden to help you understand, however. I'm sure they're things that you won't want to hear. So do prepare yourselves. If you're too scared to listen, then you may plug your ears or leave altogether."

She waited for a buzz of whispers to subside before continuing.

"If I want to tell you everything, I should lead you down the same path they went down," Mitama said. "So I'll run you through how Iroha-chan and her friends learned everything. Then you'll all know the truth. Those girls who attacked you, the Wings of the Magius, were formed just over a month ago and have been operating in secret. They were already at work in the shadows by the time witches and magical girls began gathering in Kamihama and rumours came true.

"To my knowledge, the first person to take action was Miss Yachiyo, though she didn't know everything then. She realized that there were creatures similar to witches at the root of the rumours that were coming true. Not long after, she formed a team with Iroha-chan and Tsuruno-chan, and the three started hunting down more rumours than Yachiyo had been alone. Then they ran into the Wings of the Magius for the first time.

"The first thing they learned about the Wings of the Magius was their goal – to 'free magical girls'. Of course, not many magical girls would comprehend what that meant. Iroha-chan didn't know what they meant by 'freedom' at that point, either. All she knew was that they were peculiar girls, protecting rumours that hurt people. Still, Iroha-chan and her team continued to fight rumours while in pursuit of their own goals.

"Naturally, this led to them getting involved with the Wings of the Magius again. Amidst their struggle with the Wings of the Magius, Iroha-chan and her friends came to realize the full extent of how aberrant they truly were. They learned that they were trying to use witches as well as rumours to attain freedom. At that point, Iroha-chan just thought the Wings of the Magius were a dangerous group, protecting harmful rumours and witches.

"But soon after that, she came to learn what 'freedom' really meant. What we magical girls would be freed from. What curse we are all bound by. That curse is… the curse that inflicts all of us is that we will all one day become witches. Even so, Iroha-chan and Miss Yachiyo still refused to trust the Wings of the Magius. They couldn't accept how the Wings of the Magius planned to use witches and rumours to create a world where we wouldn't become witches.

"And just as they feared, the Wings of the Magius soon began to commit heinously violent acts. They brainwashed Tsuruno-chan, Felicia-chan, Sana-chan, and Shizuku-chan. And then… they made Tsuruno-chan part of a rumour and tried to make her kill the people of Kamihama. Why would they do such a thing? It all became clear when they saved Tsuruno-chan. Here is what the Magius, who lead the Wings of the Magius, were attempting to achieve…

"Deep beneath their base is a creature that they refer to as 'Embryo Eve'. Though it resembles a witch, it is actually something else entirely. It is a mysterious existence that sucks up impurities, preventing magical girls within Kamihama from turning into witches. They plan to continue to stuff Eve full of impurities until it turns into a witch, which they believe will release enough energy to allow them to expand the system across the world, thus freeing magical girls from their curse.

"This is how Iroha-chan's group learned all about the Wings of the Magius through their encounters with rumours. So… to sum up what we've learned about them… the Wings of the Magius are a group with the admirable ambition of helping magical girls avoid their fate to become witches. At the same time, they are willing to use Kamihama citizens and other magical girls as sacrifices so that they can gather enough energy to fulfill their goals. Their words are pleasing to the ear… but when you put faith in what they preach, terrible things occur. Just look at the feathers who attacked you all, for example. The Magius will even abuse their own allies to achieve their ends. Look at what happened when Tsuruno-chan became a rumour, too. If Iroha-chan hadn't stopped her… it's likely all of your families would've eventually been pulled into this and lost their lives."

"And on top of that," a new voice spoke up. "I'm not sure where they got the idea that Eve will one day 'hatch'."

The new speaker was a blonde girl in another unknown uniform – Mitama recognized her as Ashley Taylor. She was accompanied by several unfamiliar people who weren't wearing a school uniform at all. One had short blonde hair and wore jeans and a hoody, another was tall with dark skin and cornrows. There were a pair of girls with bright hair colours, cyan and pink, the latter of whom was dressed in cute clothes while the former just wore jeans and a sweater. There was also a girl with red hair and one with brown hair, both in jeans and a T-shirt.

"What do you mean by that…?" Momoko asked.

"I mean the Magius are relying on this 'Eve' to produce a miracle when it 'hatches' into a witch, but how do they even know that's attainable?" Ashley said, complete with air-quotes. "My personal theory is that there isn't anything special about Eve… she's just a doppel that's gone out of control. But regardless of her true nature… I don't believe what the Magius are doing can turn her into a witch."

"What is a doppel?" Nanaka asked.

"It's something that happens in Kamihama instead of turning into a witch," Mitama said. "It's hard to explain, but…"

"I'd say it's like you temporarily turn into a witch and can control it, with some effort," Ashley said. "Though I don't think it's entirely safe…"

"That is… quite hard to believe," Nanaka said. "Though, your testimony has been trustworthy in the past…"

"If she's a doppel… then there must be a magical girl inside there somewhere, right?" Momoko said.

Ashley stepped forward and produced her phone, bringing up an image which she showed to Momoko.

"There is a magical girl inside," she said. "This photo is a close-up on one specific area of Eve."

Momoko blinked. "That's Iroha-chan's little sister, isn't it? She showed me this photo earlier… wait! If you have this photo, that must mean you're Ashley Taylor!?"

"Yeah, sorry, I was late so I skipped the introductions," Ashley said. "I don't know for sure that the miracle the Magius desire won't work in the way they envision. But I do know that the Magius themselves don't have the full picture. After all… they should know who that girl is, according to Miss Tamaki, but they have no idea, right?"

"Yeah, that's true," Momoko said.

"I understand what the Wings of the Magius is now," Asuka said. "But that said…"

"It's really tough to accept that we're going to turn into… witches," Sasara said.

"As long as you stay in Kamihama, it doesn't matter how many impurities you build up," Mitama said. "They will be released from your soul gem as a doppel, so you won't become one here."

"But that's assuming Kyuubey doesn't find a way to shut down the automatic purification system," Ashley said. "It's ultimately contrary to Kyuubey's interests, so if it can find a way, you can be confident it will do its best to bring an end to it."

"It also doesn't really help those of us who don't live in Kamihama," another girl said – the green-haired girl from Asunaro.

"So I have to consider the importance of my life against those of everyone around me," Hinano mused. "I know the right thing to do, obviously, but you gotta be real brave to do it."

"I think some of the girls here were too upset to even listen to the last part of your story," Meiyui observed.

Sure enough, there were some girls who appeared to have gone into shock… including the blonde girl from Hohzuki who had arrived with Momoko. Her friends were doing their best to comfort her.

"It's natural not to know what to do," Momoko said. "I couldn't even tell Kaede and Rena until pretty recently…"

"Well, speak for yourself," Ashley said. "I've told quite a few people that truth. But perhaps I was just lucky that none of them took it poorly…"

"But this involves all of us magical girls now," Momoko said. "We pretty much had to let you all know."

"I think it's almost unprecedented for this many magical girls to find out the truth at the same time though," Ashley said. "We may be living in historic times… whether that's good or bad though, remains to be seen, I guess… but I for one am hopeful."

"So the Wings of the Magius represent one way to handle what you just told us," Konoha said. "Correct?"

"That's true," Mitama said. "However… you each must consider whether or not you can accept their methods… or if you believe they can accomplish their goals."

"I won't stop you from joining whichever side you want to support," Momoko said. "That's up to you as individuals. But Miss Yachiyo and I and our teams couldn't accept how they are going about it."

"Personally, I might have been okay with what they were doing if it hadn't escalated so much in response to the resistance from Miss Nanami, Miss Izumi, and Miss Tamaki," Ashley mused. "Though, that would be assuming they could convince me that their theory about Eve is real, which would be a tough sell."

"Anyway, we went up against them over and over," Momoko said. "Well, mostly Miss Yachiyo, but still. That's why they're out for our blood now."

"Some of us here got caught up in rumours too!" Himika piped up. "So I know it wasn't just Miss Yachiyo!"

"Indeed, I too encountered a few rumours," Nanaka said.

"Yeah, even people from out of town have gotten involved!" the pigtailed girl from Hohzuki piped up.

"Yeah, but it was still mostly Miss Nanami," Ashley said.

"Right, and you all got dragged into it," Momoko said. "I'm sorry about that."

"You have nothing to apologize for, Miss Togame," Ashley said.

"Indeed, nothing you have done merits an apology," Nanaka said. "You seem to believe it was bound to happen sooner or later. I'm more interested in whether you have an alternative to what they offer."

"An alternative?" Momoko said.

"An alternative to their liberation," Nanaka said.

"Well… I'm just repeating what Iroha-chan told me, but we want to talk it through when this is over," Momoko said.

"And I have a few thoughts myself," Ashley added. "Now's not really a good time to discuss them, though."

"So you're leaving that for later?" Akira asked.

"How irresponsible," Nanaka sighed.

"I disagree," Ashley said. "It seems pretty responsible to me, given the current state of emergency."

"Yeah, we don't have time to think about it right now," Momoko said. "I think it's good we got everyone gathered here in one place, though."

"Too bad there are a few missing," Ashley said. "I don't see Karin-chan anywhere… nor Miss Yura, Miss Utsuho, or Miss Yayoi… has anyone seen them? And Madoka hasn't arrived yet either…"

"I have not crossed paths with Miss Misono for quite some time," Nanaka said. "And I have not seen Miss Utsuho for a few days."

"I haven't seen Kanoko for a day or two either," Himika said.

"Still, almost everyone is here," Momoko said.

One of the silver-haired girls from St Lilliana's wormed her way through the crowd.

"Good evening, Miss Taylor," she said.

"Oh, good evening, Miss Aoba…?" Ashley said uncertainly.

"You do not seem happy to see me…? And please, call me by my given name."

"Miss Chika, then…?" Ashley said, sounding uncertain. "I'm not unhappy, just surprised to see you here in Kamihama… I thought you'd gone back to your village."

"When you were the one who convinced me not to?" Chika said. "That certainly is quite ironic, would you not agree?"

Ashley blinked. "Did I do that? I don't remember…"

"That hurts a little," Chika said, frowning. "To think that encounter was not even memorable to you…" But then she smiled. "Then again, you were a little scatter-brained even back then, so I am sure you will remember before long."

"Right…"

"To get back on topic," Momoko said. "Iroha-chan said it would be better for us to come together and think of a solution, rather than having each of us try to think of something individually… seeing as it's a problem we all face as magical girls. I for one plan on helping her. And I think if all of us work together… we might be able to find an answer somewhere in our community."

"So if we clash, everything will crumble," Meiyui said. "Sounds like simple idealism, nothing more."

"If we aren't willing to talk about ideals, we'll lose sight of what we should aim for," Momoko said.

"T-that's… a g-good point… I think…"

Everyone turned to look at the new speaker, Isuzu Ren. Although her voice was soft and hesitant, in the dead silence surrounding her, it carried surprisingly well. Rika clung to her arm to lend support.

"T-this is… really hard," Ren continued. "It's… terrifying… I regret my decision. I feel… so pathetic… I want to do something, but… when I remember I'm going to become… ill-will incarnate… it's just… really hard… but… that's just how it is for me right now. If I can't even dream of… a way things could be better… I think I'd just plunge into the abyss… and then… I'd definitely become a witch. So… I want to set my sights on a bright future…! Y-yes!"

"Yeah," Hazuki said. "I mean, if I broaden my perspective, I realize we have the Azalea house. If we don't act, we could lose it."

"Huh!?" Ayame gasped. "Nooo! No way, José! No!"

"So which would you pick, Ayame?" Konoha asked. "A chance at freedom, or the Azalea House?"

"Azalea House!" Ayame said without hesitation.

"I see," Konoha said. "Then that tips the scales for me."

"Same here," Hazuki said.

"Hey guys, I mean, if you've made up your mind, then shouldn't we get going?" Emiri suddenly piped up.

"What do you mean, Emily?" Akira asked.

"I'm just saying!" Emiri said. "All of us gals are chilling out here, so… don't ya think those chicks in robes are probs bored outta their skulls? If I were one of them, I'd rush right over to the heliport to bust some heads!"

"An astute observation," Nanaka said. "Shall we head there?"

Ashley turned to the friends she'd arrived with and conversed with them in French and English for a few seconds, then nodded.

"My friends will stay here for the time being," she said. "But I'll accompany you. Also, Miss Yakumo… some of my friends here have never had a tune-up before, so would you mind giving them one now? I can pay you back with grief seeds after this is all over."

"I think I can manage that," Mitama said.

Ashley gestured, and four of the six stepped forward and headed over to wait their turn next to Mitama.

"So you're all on board?" Momoko asked.

"I worry that this may affect the Kashin-ryu," Nanaka said. "Miss Kako may lose Natsume Books, as well."

"Thanks for joining us then," Momoko said.

"Sir Kyuubey always seemed like he had another side to him," Nanaka said. "I was suspicious of him from the start."

"Um, I wanna help too!" Riko exclaimed.

"Are you sure, Riko-chan?" Ashley asked. "It could be dangerous!"

"Yeah, but people are talking about losing things!" Riko said. "If I lost the bento place, I'd be really sad!"

"I'll come too," Rui said. "After all, unlike most of these girls, I've already had time to think things over."

"It's bad enough what they're doing to us," Asuka said. "But these guys use their allies like tools! Who'd wanna align themselves with a group like that?"

"I'm gonna help too!" Himika said angrily. "We can leave the witch junk until later. I gotta put these girls in their place! They're trying to kill my family!"

Momoko stared at her for a moment, startled by the intensity of her exclamation, then nodded.

"Okay," she said. "Everyone who wants to lend a hand, come along with me."

"Actually, if you don't mind, I'm going to go on ahead," Ashley said. "I can probably move faster than most of you using Teddy Mk II, and even though I already sent a few reinforcements to the heliport, they're a group of weaker magical girls so I'm kinda worried about them…"

"I presume you refer to Miss Pierrot and her friends," Oriko said. "Indeed, if they were faced with a horde of those rabid feathers, they would probably only last a few minutes…"

"I'm gonna come too!" Komaki exclaimed. "Who cares about the witch junk… I can't let these people walk all over you guys!"

"Then I'll come with you, onee-san!" Koito said.

"I want to come too!" Matsuri said.

"Actually, Matsuri-chan, could I ask you to stay behind?" Ashley said. "Once the Witch of the Stage shows up, it'll be a huge help to have healers who are well-rested. With the number of people we have, Yuuri-chan's gonna be overtaxed keeping everyone healthy…"

"Aww… fine," Matsuri sighed. "We did come here expressly for that witch, after all, so I can't argue with that…"

"…what witch are you guys talking about?" Momoko asked.

"The one the Magius are about to summon," Ashley said. "I mentioned it when we last spoke, didn't I? It was the hidden goal behind the rabid feathers – sending them out on a mission to take over key parts of the city's infrastructure so that they could emit a powerful radio signal to summon Walpurgisnacht."

At that, the other silver-haired St Lilliana girl blurted out something in German, and Ashley blinked at her in surprise. Though Mitama didn't really know any German worth mentioning, she was pretty sure that phrase meant something like "Oh my god".

"Oh, wow, I'm surprised you made it here, Miss Kusch," Ashley said. "Do you know about Walpurgisnacht too?"

The girl in question nodded wordlessly. Beyond her, some of the girls present looked confused, others shocked… it was easy to tell from their faces whether they had heard the name Walpurgisnacht before.

"But there's still quite a bit of time before she arrives," Ashley said. "I'm going to head out now… please catch up as soon as possible! We'll need as much help as we can get to defeat Miss Tomoe."

With that, she ducked out of the room and disappeared.

"Right, as I was saying," Momoko said. "If you want to lend a hand, come along with me."

"I-I'm coming too!" Kaede said.

"And me!" Rena said.

"Duh, of course you are!" Momoko said. "Alright, Coordinator… I'm counting on you."

"I know you are," Mitama said. "But just wait a moment longer, will you?"

"Huh? What's up now?" Momoko asked.

Mitama disappeared into the next room, returning a moment later with a handful of grief seeds.

"You'll probably need some of these," she said

Momoko blinked. "W-whoa, are you sure…!?"

"Take them, before I change my mind," Mitama said.

"Right… thank you very much!" Momoko said.

She accepted the grief seeds and stowed them away, then led the volunteers out into the streets.

---

"Come to think of it," Mitama says. "That was a strange little chat you had with Miss Aoba…"

"Oh, that?" I say. "Yeah, um… it caught me totally off guard. I'd never met her before, so it was a bit of a shock to have her recognize me… kinda like when I first met Miss Izumi a few weeks ago."

"Ah, I remember that," Kanagi says. "How long has this Miss Aoba been a magical girl? Perhaps your meeting with her was around the same time that you encountered me…"

"Um, hold on," Iroha says. "She recognized you… but you'd never met her? You're not famous though like Miss Nanami, are you?"

"I'm not that famous," Yachiyo protests. "The magazines I model for don't circulate much beyond Kamihama…"

"They do reach Mitakihara, at least," Inui says.

"Based on what you said earlier," Nanaka says. "It must be similar to the situation with Miss Tamaki and Jeanne d'Arc, yes?"

"It still couldn't have been me," Homura said. "Is there really someone else who can time travel…?"

"I'm not sure how," I say. "But I think Miss Tokiwa is probably on the right track… the meetings Miss Chika and Miss Izumi recall are probably still ahead of me, much like Miss Tamaki's encounter with Tart is still ahead of her. I believe Miss Chika has been a magical girl for at least half a year, so the time frame fits, at least."

"I get that you don't know how it's gonna happen," Inui says. "But do you have any theories or wild guesses? Another magical girl who might be able to time travel?"

"I do know one other magical girl who might be able to time travel," I say. "Yuzuki Rion."

"Yuzuku… Rion?" Mitama says. "Not Hotori? Though Hotori-chan is no longer with us…"

"That's right, she's Hotori's twin sister," I say. "Though that's assuming she even makes a contract at all…"

"So she's not actually a magical girl after all," Mitama says. "But is instead someone who could become one…"

"Right, that's it," I say. "But I'm not quite sure what her power is… I mean, would be. I'm only guessing it'd be related to time travel somehow."

"Taylor-kun, I understand that we discussed this briefly before I destroyed the Rumour of the Stardust Time Viewer," Kanagi says. "But is it possible that Endless Mirrors has something to do with it?"

"Endless Mirrors does have the ability to link spaces with its offshoot witches," Nanaka says. "But… no, it's too much to think it could link to the past, surely…"

"Oh…?" I say. "Wait a second… you might be onto something, Miss Tokiwa…"

"You can't be serious…?" Yachiyo says. "Can the Mirror Witch really do something so nonsensical?"

"I'd completely forgotten until now, but… yes, I believe the Mirror Witch is capable of that," I say. "Well… at least that's one more mystery solved… probably…"

"You'll have to forgive me if I don't believe you on that one," Yachiyo says. "It's just too crazy to be true…"

"And yet, Miss Izumi can confirm that she met me in Endless Mirrors before I became a magical girl," I say. "While I remember no such encounter. I guess that doesn't prove that Endless Mirrors caused it, but…"

"Exactly," Yachiyo says. "I think there must have been another explanation for that occurrence…"

"Anyway… if we could get on with the story?" I say. "I believe next up would be… Miss Homura, can you tell me about how you arrived in Kamihama on that day? Maybe even what kept you? I had expected you to already be there by the time I arrived…"

"I guess," Homura says. "Not that there's much to tell…"

---

Madoka and Sayaka were all raring to go to Kamihama right after school. However, as they left school with Homura and Hitomi, an unexpected wrench was thrown into their plans.

"Say, it has been quite some time since we did something together, has it not?" Hitomi said. "Ever since Miss Homura joined us, in fact…"

"Eh? Oh, now that you mention it, that's true," Madoka said. "We've had a lot on our minds…"

"Ah… is that so?" Hitomi said. "I am sorry if I am asking too much of you…"

"Hmm? Hold on," Sayaka said. "I thought you had a music lesson today."

"The truth is, it was unexpectedly cancelled," Hitomi said. "I was so looking forward to spending the time with my friends instead…"

"W-well… we have somewhere we need to be this afternoon," Madoka said. "But… I think it can wait an hour or two! Why don't we all go have a burger or something?"

"Oh! Thank you very much!" Hitomi said.

"Yeah, we can always spare some time for you, Hitomi," Sayaka said. "I'll tell Nagisa-chan and Yuma-chan to order pizza or something."

As they headed for the burger place, Sayaka whipped out her phone to email Nagisa, while Hitomi looked confused.

"What does Miss Nagisa have to do with this?"

"Well, she was going to accompany us today," Madoka said.

"Come to think of it, what is your relationship with that girl?" Hitomi asked. "I have seen her waiting at the school gate quite frequently as of late…"

"Um, how should I put this," Madoka said. "She's sort of like an orphan that Miss Mami took in…?"

"Oh, so she's living with Tomoe-sempai," Hitomi said. "But I heard a rumour that Tomoe-sempai has been absent…"

"W-well, yeah, she has been," Madoka said. "So it's up to us to look after Nagisa-chan until Miss Mami gets back…"

"Even if she's an orphan, surely she must have some next of kin," Hitomi said.

"That's a good point," Madoka mused. "I wonder if she has any relatives… she hasn't mentioned anyone, though…"

"Enough about that!" Sayaka said. "We're here! What should we order?"

They stepped inside the burger place and placed their order, then found a place to sit. The sound of Hitomi's phone vibrating within her purse reached their sensitive magical girl ears, but they chose not to bring it up. An awkward silence fell for a minute or so, which they filled by focusing on their food… but then Sayaka got fed up.

"What's going on here!?" she asked. "Why is everyone so quiet?"

"W-well… I was just wondering that myself," Madoka admitted.

"To tell the truth, I have had a lot on my mind as of late," Hitomi said. "My apologies if you find my company unpleasant…"

"Is it about Kyousuke-kun?" Madoka asked. "I heard you confessed to him…"

"Well… you are correct that I had made up my mind to tell him how I feel," Hitomi said. "But then… that girl was so rude to me, so I was all ready to dismiss what she said, and yet, somehow, I couldn't get it out of my head."

Madoka blinked. "Huh? Are you talking about Ashley-chan…? Did she say something that resonated with you?"

"I cannot explain it well," Hitomi said. "But 'resonate' is not the word I would use. Her words stuck in my head like burrs to clothing. I did walk home with Kamijou-kun the following day, as planned, but somehow… I could not say it."

"So you didn't confess!?" Sayaka gasped. "And here I thought you guys were already dating…"

The sound of Hitomi's phone ringing was heard again, but still, the girls chose not to bring it up. Hitomi waited for it to stop before speaking again.

"Miss Sayaka, I really must ask," Hitomi said. "Am I a terrible friend for springing that ultimatum on you?"

Sayaka blinked. "Well… I wouldn't go that far," she said. "I might have been a little put out by it… and I was already down in the dumps at the time, too… but… you're still my friend, Hitomi. Such a stupid little quarrel won't change that one fact."

"While Miss Sayaka might forgive you that easily, I won't," Homura muttered. "Madoka could have been put in great danger because of that…"

Hitomi blinked at her. "Huh? What does Miss Madoka have to do with it…?"

"N-never mind that, Hitomi-chan," Madoka said. "So, you actually didn't confess to Kyousuke-kun because of what Ashley-chan said to you, right?"

"I must say, it was quite an unpleasant experience," Hitomi said. "If I were inclined to superstition, I might have thought she placed a curse on me… but of course, that's nonsense…"

Madoka blinked. «Huh? Hang on… is there any possibility it's true?» she asked. «Doesn't Ashley-chan have charm magic?»

«She does,» Homura said. «But I've never seen it last more than a minute or so…»

«Yeah… you're right,» Madoka said. «I shouldn't doubt her so easily, after all she's done for us…»

«That said… if she is capable of that, she might have used the same power on us,» Homura pointed out.

«Hmm, but you know, she just doesn't seem like the sort of person to do that,» Madoka said. «Though I guess I haven't really known her very long…»

"The thing is," Hitomi continued. "I'm certain that I have a fondness for Kamijou-kun, but I started to wonder if that was the same as love… it's so silly of me, isn't it? Then I did my best to get closer to him on the trip, and it feels like I really did get closer, but… maybe it's my imagination, but he still seems to be colder to me than to Miss Sayaka."

"I-is that so," Sayaka said, averting her eyes. "I… I didn't notice…"

"And Miss Taylor's final words angered me because she was at least partially right," Hitomi continued. "My mother has been nagging me to pick someone… she wants me to choose a marriage partner as soon as I am able…"

"Your mother is so old-fashioned," Sayaka said. "Who in this day and age thinks about marriage before they've even graduated high school?"

"I… I do not believe I chose Kamijou-kun chiefly for the reasons Miss Taylor surmised," Hitomi said. "But I cannot deny that I had those thoughts in mind, at least a little… and that is why, I lost my confidence and failed to confess to him. Miss Sayaka… I am really sorry for bringing that up without considering your circumstances."

"Well… I wasn't exactly open about it either, so it can't be helped," Sayaka said.

For the third time, they could hear Hitomi's phone vibrating. This time, however, Homura chose to say something.

"I've been wondering since we arrived," she said. "But is someone trying to contact you?"

Hitomi gasped, staring at her in surprise. "Y-you can hear that…!?"

"So it wasn't just my imagination," Sayaka said. "Yeah, we can all hear it."

"It's not like you to ignore your phone like that, Hitomi-chan," Madoka said. "Is something wrong?"

Hitomi fell silent, finishing off the last of her burger. Then she let out a long, resigned sign.

"I should not keep it from you," she said. "After all… you are my best friends in all the world."

Sayaka blinked. "Why so serious all of a sudden?"

"I thought you were hiding something," Madoka said. "Please, as your friends, we want to help you!"

"I mentioned that my music lesson today was cancelled, right?" Hitomi said. "The truth is… it was cancelled so that I could attend something else in its place. My mother scheduled a marriage meeting without even asking me…"

"Unbelievable," Homura muttered.

"Um… I don't like to speak badly of someone else's mother," Madoka said. "But… I'm honestly shocked that she'd consider such a thing without even consulting you…"

"You're lucky, Miss Madoka," Hitomi said. "You have a truly loving family. I have often envied you for that… and even Miss Sayaka as well."

"Saying they don't love you… I think that's going a bit far, though," Madoka said.

"You might be right," Hitomi said. "And yet… when she told me about it at lunch break, as if it were nothing… it took all my effort to continue playing the part of the polite, well-bred daughter. I cannot put my feelings into words…"

"I can't even imagine how that would feel," Madoka said. "I'm sorry you had to go through that…"

"Hey, you know, there seems to be a bit of a commotion outside," Sayaka said. "Look…"

She pointed out a nearby window, where a car had just pulled up. Everyone except Homura gasped at the three men and one woman who stepped out. Once they were clear and the doors were closed, the car continued on its way.

"Ah, I guess they're here for you, Hitomi-chan…" Madoka said.

"O-oh no," Hitomi said. "I was so stupid… I forgot… they can probably track my phone!"

"Who are those people?" Homura asked.

"Oh, right, you haven't been to Hitomi-chan's house yet, have you, Homura-chan?" Madoka said. "Those are all servants who work at her place."

"Exactly! They must've come to take you back," Sayaka said.

She jumped to her feet, grabbing her drink and draining the last of it, then turned to extend her hand to Hitomi.

"Let's get out of here!" she said.

"B-but it's far too late for that!" Hitomi gasped. "There's nowhere to run!"

"There's always somewhere!" Sayaka said. "And they haven't even seen you yet, right?"

"Leave your phone here," Madoka suggested. "Then they won't be able to follow us any further."

"R-right, that's true," Hitomi said.

She fished her phone out of her bag and set it on the table.

"But I wonder how we can get out without being seen?" Madoka wondered.

The Shizuki servants stepped into the place at that very moment. Only their position far from the entrance protected them from being spotted instantly. Then Sayaka pointed to a door quite close to their table – the door leading to the toilets.

"There," she said. "We can take shelter in the toilets! They'd never dare to follow us there!"

"Great idea! Let's hurry!" Madoka said.

The three of them jumped up and hurried for the door, piling inside with such haste that they tripped over each other and went sprawling on the floor. Homura sighed and got up to follow them, pausing for a moment to look back at the servants, who appeared to be scanning the tables. Then she pushed the door open again to find the others picking themselves up and dusting themselves off.

"It doesn't look like they spotted us," Homura said.

They were in a short corridor with a three doors apart from the one they entered through. On the right were the toilets themselves, first the men's and then the women's. On the left was a door marked for employees only. Homura made for that door and opened it a crack, peeking inside.

"What's in there, Homura?" Sayaka asked.

"Nothing of interest," Homura said. "Locker room or something like that."

"And no other exits?"

"I didn't see any."

"Then we have no choice but to go into the toilets after all," Sayaka said.

They entered the women's toilets and took a good look around at the place, looking for windows… and found one, a small one high above the sinks, opposite the door. There was a handle at the base that allowed it to be propped open, as it was currently, but the same handle prevented it from being open wide enough to squeeze through. Madoka did a quick check to make sure that there was no-one in any of the stalls, then turned to face the others.

"We should be able to get out that way," she said.

"W-what!?" Hitomi gasped. "I don't think I could squeeze through there so easily…"

Sayaka hopped onto the counter and peered out the window.

"It's a back alley," she said. "There's no-one around, and I'm sure it's big enough to fit through… but the downside is it looks like the window won't actually open more than a crack."

"T-then… we'll just have to hope we're not discovered," Hitomi said.

"There's no way that would happen," Sayaka said. "After all, you left your phone behind. They'll know for sure that you were here. It's only a matter of time before they send the maid in here to find us."

She used the handle to crank the window all the way closed, then snapped the handle right off, eliciting a gasp from Hitomi.

"Miss Sayaka! What on earth are you doing!? That is property damage…"

Ignoring her, Sayaka drew back her fist and punched the glass, shattering it. Then, ignoring the sharp edges, she yanked out all the pieces of glass still stuck in the frame and tossed them outside. A few drops of blood went flying along with the glass fragments.

"No! Miss Sayaka, this is just going too far!" Hitomi protested. "I can't ask you to hurt yourself like that for my sake!"

Sayaka tested the frame for any remaining shards of glass, then launched herself clear through the window in a single leap.

"Well… although I agree with you, Hitomi-chan, I think it's a bit late to complain now," Madoka said. "What's done is done… come on, you should go next."

"W-well… I suppose you are right," Hitomi admitted. "Since Miss Sayaka has already gone to such lengths, I should not waste her efforts…"

She allowed Madoka to help her up on the counter and through the window. Sayaka stood ready on the other side to catch her as she slipped through. Once she was safely outside, Madoka and Homura easily followed.

"Wow," Hitomi said. "I didn't realize you were so nimble, Miss Madoka… and Miss Sayaka, too…"

"Oh, um, well… I suppose I've been working out a bit," Madoka said.

"Is your hand alright, Miss Sayaka?" Hitomi asked. "Let me see…"

"Hmm?" Sayaka said. "It's fine, look…"

She presented the hand to Hitomi. It was completely free of injury.

"Huh? You're unhurt? But I swear I saw…"

"Um, anyway," Madoka said. "Where should we go now?"

"Somewhere that Mother and Father wouldn't think to look," Hitomi mused. "But I can't think of anything…"

"We could take her to Miss Mami's place," Madoka said.

"No, I don't think that's a good idea," Homura said.

"Then, what about Kyouko-chan's place?" Madoka asked.

"That's probably even worse," Homura said. "If Kyouko came back to find a stranger in her room, what do you think she might do?"

"Ah, um… I suppose you have a point," Madoka said. "Then… what about Oriko-chan's place? She's probably not home right now, but I don't think she'd mind that much…"

"I don't much like that idea either," Homura said. "But it's better than either of the others…"

"Um, excuse me, but… who are these people?" Hitomi asked. "Miss Kyouko… Miss Oriko… huh? Wait… you cannot possibly mean Miss Mikuni Oriko!?"

"Oh… have you heard of her?" Madoka asked, startled.

"W-what!? Are you serious?" Hitomi asked. "There was a huge scandal with her father awhile ago! And you're telling me you know her!?"

"Oh… um, yes, we do," Madoka said. "Although, I don't think Sayaka-chan has met her yet…"

"Yeah, I have no idea who you're talking about," Sayaka said. "But if you trust her, Madoka, then I'll trust you."

"Alright, then let's go!" Madoka said.

After checking that there weren't any Shizuki staff watching, the four of them left the alley and headed towards Oriko's place. Whether it was luck or something else, they saw no sign of Hitomi's pursuers. Finally, they arrived at the big house that Oriko lived in.

"Huh?" Hitomi said. "This is Miss Mikuni's residence? It's surprisingly small… considering her family's reputation…"

"Well… I don't know the full story behind that," Madoka said. "But this is definitely her place."

"You call this small…?" Sayaka said. "It's bigger than my place…"

Madoka tried opening the door, but found it to be locked. Hitomi sighed.

"Well… if she is not home, then there is nothing we can do…"

"No, it's too early to give up," Madoka said. "We can try the side door."

They headed around to the side, where there was indeed another door. The path there was overgrown with weeds, suggesting the door was rarely if ever used. It was still locked when Sayaka tried it, however.

"Allow me," Homura said.

She stepped forward, digging out a piece of wire and a screwdriver from her bag, with which she proceeded to pick the lock. Madoka blinked at her.

"I didn't know you knew how to pick locks, Homura-chan…"

"Did you think even yakuza would leave their weapons out in the open?" Homura retorted.

"Ah…"

"This… this is breaking and entering!" Hitomi protested. "This really is going too far!"

"Don't worry, I'll tell Oriko-chan about it when I see her later today," Madoka said. "I'm sure she won't mind. She's a good person, after all. Please, feel free to stay here for as long as you want, okay?"

"Y-yeah," Hitomi said. "Well, alright… I guess… if you're so sure about it… then I'll take that risk…"

They headed inside, stepping into a corridor with a thick layer of dust upon the floor. Homura locked the door behind them.

"B-but… is this really Miss Mikuni's residence?" Hitomi asked. "It seems awfully run-down…"

"I think she can't afford the maintenance or something," Madoka said. "She only uses a few of the rooms, so she keeps those tidy and neglects the rest…"

After a minute or so, they found one of the rooms in question, the living room where Oriko had always entertained them as guests. The four of them collapsed on the floor with a sigh.

"I can't believe… I actually just… I actually ran away," Hitomi muttered. "I really did it… this feels… it feels…"

"Liberating?" Sayaka suggested.

"Yes… I suppose that works," Hitomi said. "Now I can think things through without worrying about Mother finding me… I can properly take the time to really work out how I feel about all of this… thank you very much, all of you. You really are my best friends!"

"Unfortunately… I hate to leave you at a time like this," Madoka said. "But there's something else we need to do today. It's not something that can just wait… if we don't go, something terrible could happen. So… will you be okay by yourself, Hitomi-chan?"

"In truth… it may be easier to think if I am alone," Hitomi said.

"We'll be back as soon as we can," Madoka said. "Tomorrow, we'll drop by and see how you are, okay? Although, you can email us if anything changes… if you decide to return home, or anything else. Otherwise… I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, tomorrow," Sayaka said. "I'll be here for sure!"

"Thank you very much," Hitomi said. "I can't ever thank you enough…"

"Don't be silly," Sayaka said. "You don't have to thank us. We're friends… of course we'll be there for you when you need us!"

"Yeah, don't worry about it!" Madoka said. "We did this because we wanted to, because we care about you, Hitomi-chan!"

"Then I must put my all into making the most of the chance you've given me," Hitomi said. "I'll see you tomorrow… and I hope to have settled my feelings by then."

"Well, don't push yourself too hard, though," Madoka said. "It's fine if it takes you longer to work things out, you know? But good luck with everything."

With that, Madoka and the others left Hitomi and made straight for Mami's place to pick up Nagisa and Yuma, then caught the train to Kamihama. By the time they arrived, however, it was clear that something wasn't right. There was a weird atmosphere to the city… although the sun had already set, normally the streets would be crowded this early in the evening, and yet… there were only a few people around. For one reason or another, most people had apparently decided to stay off the streets today.

"Man, what's with the vibe out here?" Sayaka asked. "It's not normal at all…"

"I don't like this feeling," Homura muttered.

"I couldn't get ahold of Iroha-chan," Madoka said. "Something must have happened… our phones don't have any signal."

"So, where should we start?" Sayaka asked.

"A lead to find Mami-nee," Nagisa muttered. "Hmm…"

"We also need to find out if Iroha-chan and the others are alright," Madoka said.

"Ah," Nagisa said. "I forgot the communicator…"

"What's that?" Madoka said.

"Miss Ashley left a communicator with me," Nagisa said. "She said we could use it to keep in touch today… but I forgot it."

"Oh no…" Madoka said.

Suddenly she squealed as a black feather attacked her from behind. The others turned in surprise.

"Madoka!?" Homura gasped.

"I-I'm okay!" Madoka said.

"Hey, what was that for!?" Sayaka asked, addressing the black feather.

But the only response was a growl. A couple more feathers joined her as well, melting out of the shadows of a nearby alleyway.

"Are they lackeys for the Magius?" Sayaka wondered. "They didn't act like this before, did they?"

"No, something's wrong," Madoka said. "Why would they attack us on the street, right in the open?"

The feathers didn't wait for their targets to stop talking. They pulled out their chains and simply attacked. Homura and Sayaka both dodged the attack.

"They also seem stronger than before," Homura said.

"We have to transform and fight back!" Nagisa said.

With that announcement, she transformed and tooted her horn, capturing the lead feather in a bubble and carrying her up into the air.

"Got it!" Madoka said, also transforming. "Let's lure them somewhere out of the way. Someone might get hurt if we fight here."

"Okay!" Sayaka said, transforming. "I'll cover you guys from behind!"

Homura and Yuma transformed too, and then Nagisa's bubble popped, causing the feather to fall from a height equivalent to about two storeys. She seemed to have no problem with that, however – she flipped in midair and landed in a crouch, on her feet. The five girls then broke into a run, looking for a good place to face them. They selected a nearby alleyway and ducked into it, and Sayaka turned to face the feathers as they followed.

"Maybe this'll make you pipe down!" she shouted.

Sayaka swiped at them with the flat of her blade, knocking the lead pair back a bit.

"That's enough!" Madoka said. "You know just as well as we do, this fight's over now!"

But the feathers just growled and attacked again. One of them landed a hit on Sayaka, who'd let her guard down.

"They can't understand us," Nagisa said.

"I can't go any easier on you than I already am!" Sayaka said.

The feathers started to build up for what looked like it was going to be a big attack, and Sayaka took a stance, ready to push it back… but then, suddenly, the feathers stopped for no clear reason.

"Huh?" Sayaka said, relaxing a bit. "Wait, why'd she stop?"

"Stay on guard," Homura said. "It could be a trap."

"Right!" Sayaka said.

"Okay!" Madoka said.

"I… what was I doing…?" one of the feathers asked.

"Ugh," another said. Then she gasped. "Huh!? Y-you're…"

"What?" Sayaka said.

"What… what's going on?" Madoka asked.

The two feathers who'd spoken looked at each other, then turned and bolted, along with the rest of them.

"They ran off!" Sayaka gasped.

"Let's follow them!" Madoka said. "They might know something about Miss Mami!"

"Let's go!" Nagisa said.

But as they powered down and emerged onto the streets, there was no sign of the feathers. They began to cast around for signs of their magic, and were able to track them as far as the next corner, but then another surprise struck. All the lights suddenly went out – the shop lights, the street lights, everything suddenly just flicked off all at once. All that was left were a few reddish lights, presumably running on emergency power from alternate sources. The normally brightly-lit streets were cast into shadow, only barely illuminated by the angry red lighting that remained.

"Dammit!" Sayaka said. "We lost them!"

"I can still sense their magic," Madoka said. "But there's too much other magic around here to track them…"

"And the power went out all of a sudden," Homura mused.

"W-what's going on?" Yuma asked. "Yuma is scared…"

"Which way should we go?" Sayaka asked. "If we want to find Mami… where would be a good place…"

"Even if we can't follow those specific feathers, we should follow the magic we can sense," Nagisa said. "Those are likely other feathers, right? And where they all converge…"

"Ah! Miss Mami could be there!" Madoka gasped. "Alright… then let's get going!"

So they moved in the same general direction as all the magic sources they could sense within range, heading into Chuo Ward. They must have been walking for almost half an hour when an unexpected familiar voice hailed them.

"Hey! Is that you, Miss Akemi!?"

They turned to see the speaker. It was Utsuho Natsuki, and she was with another girl who Homura also recognized – Yayoi Kanoko. There were a few others with them as well, including the girl who had unexpectedly crashed into the battle at the heliport to carry Alina off.

"Oh, it really is!" Kanoko said.

"Huh?" Homura said.

"And Miss Miki and Miss Kaname, too!" Natsuki said. "And… Nagisa-chan, was it? I don't know the other kid…"

"Yuma!" Yuma piped up.

"So, Yuma-chan, right?" Natsuki said.

"Natsuki-chan!" Madoka said. "And… you're the girl from the helipad the other day…"

The pink-haired girl blinked. "Huh? What? Oh, were you there…?"

"Yeah, you gave us quite a shock back then," Madoka said. "Um, I'm Kaname Madoka… it's nice to meet you!"

"Oh, um… Misono Karin," she said. "This girl next to me who looks half-asleep is Yura Hotaru, and this…"

"I can introduce myself," the younger girl next to Hotaru retorted. "I'm Mai Akari."

"And I guess most of you know already, but I'm Utsuho Natsuki."

"Yayoi Kanoko… that's me," the final girl said. "Charmed."

"The name's Miki Sayaka," Sayaka said. "And miss strong and silent over there is Akemi Homura… the kids are Momoe Nagisa and Chitose Yuma."

"I'm not a kid anymore," Nagisa muttered.

"Now, since the introductions are outta the way, can you tell us what's going on here?" Sayaka asked.

"Well… we aren't too sure, either," Kanoko said.

"You aren't?" Madoka said.

"Nope," Karin said. "I was just drawing manga in my classroom, and right as I thought about heading home… everything started going crazy! I mean, the power went out all of a sudden, right? Then I almost tripped over Yura-chan sleeping by the lockers… and I ran into Akari-chan searching for her… and I can't contact Nagi-tan or Alina-sempai…"

"I sensed a strong witch and was searching for Hotaru-chan to help me fight it," Akari explained. "Once I found Hotaru-chan and Karin-sempai, we beat it together…"

"As for us, we got a really late start," Kanoko said. "I found a strong witch too and tried to take it on by myself, since I couldn't contact anyone… Miss Natsuki saved me and helped finish it off."

"I heard from a magical girl with purple hair that there were dangerous people roaming the streets," Natsuki said. "She suggested I go to the Coordinator's, but on my way there I sensed a witch and went to fight it. Good thing I did, since Kanoko was really struggling…"

"Yes, that really saved me," Kanoko said.

"After that, there were some magical girls heading over to the heliport," Natsuki said. "Miss Tokiwa and a number of others… they also told us we should go to the Coordinator first, and hear what she has to say. However, we sensed another strong witch on the way, so we took a detour to hunt it… and that's where we ran into Miss Misono. Actually, she was the one who saved us this time."

"Right, we also sensed another witch after beating the first one," Karin said. "So we thought we should take care of that one too… but it was even more powerful than the first one, so I'm glad we had the extra backup."

"But once we beat the witch, we were on our way to the Coordinator's again," Natsuki said. "That's when we spotted you guys."

"I wonder what she wants to tell us," Kanoko mused. "It sounded like some sort of deep secret about magical girls…"

"A deep secret…?" Homura gasped. "No way…"

"Yeah, it's probably…" Madoka said.

Sayaka blinked. "Things must be really bad if they're being forced to tell everyone about that…"

"You know what she's going to tell us?" Natsuki said.

"Well, we have a good guess," Madoka said.

"I have no interest in explaining it to you though," Homura said. "If you want to know, ask this… Coordinator."

"Ah, okay," Natsuki said. "So, what are you guys gonna do? You could come to the Coordinator's with us, if you want."

"Well, we were going to head over there eventually," Madoka said. "But we were also looking for someone…"

"Who?" Kanoko asked.

"Miss Mami," Madoka said. "A magical girl named Tomoe Mami."

"She's the girl I was with when we met you, Miss Yayoi," Homura added. "Do you remember?"

"Oh, her," Kanoko said. "I haven't seen her today…"

"What's she like?" Natsuki asked.

"Blonde hair, drill curls," Kanoko said.

"Yeah, that's her!" Madoka said.

"No, I haven't seen anyone like that," Natsuki said.

"Uhh… did you say… blonde hair with drill curls?" Karin asked. "Do you have any more information…?"

"I think I have a pic I took with her," Sayaka said.

She pulled out her phone and scrolled through her photos until she found it – a photo of herself, Madoka, and Mami.

"Found it!" Sayaka said, showing Karin the photo and pointing to Mami. "This is her, here."

"Ooooh!" Karin said. "Yeah, I saw her earlier!"

"Where!?" Sayaka gasped.

"It wasn't far from here!" Karin said. "Just before I ran into Miss Yayoi and Miss Natsuki, I came across one of Tokiwa Nanaka's teammates carrying her. I couldn't see her face, but there's no mistaking those twisty pigtail drills!"

"Pigtail drills," Madoka said. "Yeah, that's definitely Miss Mami…"

"You said someone was carrying her?" Sayaka said. "Did you see where they took her?"

"Um… I'm not sure," Karin said. "But they mentioned the Coordinator's shop. They were in a hurry…"

"Guys!" Sayaka said.

"Right!" Madoka said.

"Then she's at the Coordinator's shop!" Nagisa said.

"Let's go!" Madoka said.

"So you're going to come with us?" Natsuki said.

"Yes!" Madoka said. "Please show us the way!"

---

"So that's what happened to Karin-chan," I say. "Even though I was expecting it, I was a bit worried when she didn't show up at the Coordinator's in time for the explanation… did you at least explain things to her and the other latecomers?"

"Oh, I gave them an abbreviated explanation," Mitama says.

"But you did explain things, cool," I say. "Also, I'm surprise Madoka was so quick to agree to running away with Miss Shizuki… and I wonder what Oriko thought when she came home to find her there…"

"It's Miss Oriko, so I bet she was expecting it," Inui says.

"You have a good point," I say. "She didn't say anything about it this morning, though… I wonder why…"

"Maybe she did," Inui says. "She did say something about a surprise… but who knows if that's related."

"Well, there's no point in speculating," I say. "Also, do you really think I used my charm magic on Miss Shizuki? I don't remember doing anything like that… plus as Madoka said, it wears off fast…"

"I have no idea," Homura says. "It's just speculation…"

"Um, so let me think… I guess the next thing to cover would be the helipad battle, right?" I say. "Perhaps Miss Izumi and Miss Nanami can fill me in on how that went?"

"I suppose I can manage that," Yachiyo says.

"Allow me to begin," Kanagi says. "You may supplement me with additional details as necessary."

"Okay."

---

Kanagi chased the fleeing feathers towards the building with the helipad. They darted inside, and she followed, taking the steps three at a time. The two feathers however skipped entire flights, hopping up the central shaft from landing to landing. Eventually they both emerged out onto the roof, and Kanagi leapt at the feather just ahead with her riding crop, finally managing to trip her up. The feather fell flat on her face with a yelp, and Kanagi smacked her hard in the back of the head. She then fell limp, unconscious.

"Finally, she's down," Kanagi said. "Damn girl was sure determined to waste my time running about. Now, let's peek into your mind and see what rumour controls you…"

Just as Kanagi was about to activate her mind reading power, however, several more rabid black feathers appeared and attacked her. She dodged easily, getting a good look at the newcomers.

"More reinforcements, huh? I was so close, but it seems I must deal with them before she wakes up."

At that moment, Yachiyo emerged onto the roof with a shout, swinging the butt of her halberd at the feathers currently facing Kanagi.

"Focus on reading her mind!" Yachiyo said.

"Nanami!" Kanagi said.

"I'll deal with the other feathers!" Yachiyo said.

"I appreciate the help," Kanagi said. "Thank you."

While Yachiyo held off the others, Kanagi knelt by the unconscious feather, turning her over onto her back. At this close proximity, with the girl on the ground, Kanagi could see almost everything under robe – short black hair, a purple gymnastic outfit, pink stockings, and a secondary black hooded cloak.

"Now, show me what's inside your mind!"

But when she probed the girl's mind, all she felt was pure anger. There was nothing at all in there… just anger. It was so intense that she felt the backlash as a twinge in her forehead.

"Ugh!" she gasped. "What in the world?"

"Kanagi! What happened!?" Yachiyo asked.

"This could be an effect of the rumour, but what I see is utterly insane," Kanagi said. "I can't even stand looking at it!"

At that moment, Tomoe Mami stepped out from somewhere.

"Indeed," she said. "The harder you try to read it, the more painful it will be. I recommend stopping for your own health."

"Why, you…" Kanagi said.

"I knew you'd follow her to try to read her mind, and I used that to lure you here," Mami said. "I was surprised to see you with the veteran of the west… still, a happy miscalculation!"

She giggled.

"How did you two find the magical girls to be faring?" Mami asked.

"You should know better than anyone," Yachiyo retorted. "They're in terrible shape. The feathers you laid hands upon are even worse off…"

"Oh my," Mami said. "I merely baptized them. Now they can accept their freedom without hesitation. It's not too late for you. Why don't the two of you join the Wings of the Magius? You could be like all the feathers we gathered both in and outside Kamihama. You could be granted freedom in the near future, just like them."

"This girl does love to prattle nonsense," Kanagi said. "She never stops. It's impossible to believe your salvation after what happened to the feathers."

"Agreed," Yachiyo said. "Our answer stays the same."

"I see," Mami said. "Poor girls… you can't understand our glorious mission, nor the greatness of the Magius. You can't even understand the inherent loveliness of doppels."

"I pity you," Yachiyo said. "Forced to dance as the Magius's puppet on strings as long as they desire."

"And no matter how well you dance for them, soon it won't mean anything," Kanagi said.

"What do you mean by that?" Mami asked.

"We've already put measures in place to stop this latest cruel scheme of theirs," Kanagi said. "Fighting us is pointless at this stage. You're better off retreating."

Mami chuckled. "None of that matters," she said.

"What?" Kanagi said.

"I just told you that I lured you here," Mami said. "This is not the time to retreat, but the time to take action. I imagine your allies will be much easier to handle once their emotional pillars fall."

"Don't even joke about that!" Yachiyo shouted.

Mami giggled, but Yachiyo threw her halberd, striking Mami's shoulder. Mami just pulled it out and threw it away, however.

"How exhilarating!" Mami said. "To think I am about to take another step towards our salvation… come out and join us, everyone!"

A large number of feathers emerged from various hiding places, including even the Amane twins in their white feather robes. Like the girl Kanagi took down a little while ago, many of these feathers appeared to be transformed beneath their robes.

"I see you had puppets prepared for us," Yachiyo said. "And, as I suspected… not even the flute sisters were safe."

"The twins must've been taken by a rumour together," Kanagi said.

"And here I was, gracious enough to offer you a final chance to join us," Mami said. "You only have yourselves to blame for turning us down. I swear on the pride of our salvation… I will erase you from existence!"

The feathers leapt at Yachiyo and Kanagi, growling fiercely.

"Izumi Kanagi," Mami said. "Reader of minds… I will show you the path first! Your flesh shall fuel our liberation by becoming food for Eve. The gods will doubtless praise you for your sacrifice!"

"This isn't going to be easy," Kanagi muttered. Then she raised her voice. "Nanami! Take care of Tsukasa-kun and her sister for me, as well as the black feather with them! Other than Tomoe-kun, those three are probably the strongest ones here."

The black feather with the twins was a girl with short blonde hair and diamond-patterned stockings.

"Got it!" Yachiyo said. "I remember that feather… you're right, she's pretty strong… or at least very resilient."

Tsukasa growled and leapt at Yachiyo, who barely managed to get out of the way in time.

"Augh, that was close!" Yachiyo gasped. "It almost hurts to see you like this…"

Tsukuyo attempted a flying kick, but Yachiyo caught it and sent her flying.

"You'll have to do better than that!" she shouted.

But then even more feathers appeared, surrounding Yachiyo. She gasped as she realized the situation she was in.

"The other feathers!?"

However, those feathers never got the chance to attack her. A swarm of goblins appeared out of nowhere and began attacking them first, causing them to turn on the new attackers. Yachiyo looked around wildly for the source of the new magic signature and caught sight of a magical girl over by the entrance to the stairwell. No sooner had she caught sight of the newcomer than even more girls emerged from the stairwell… two, three, four, five… six! She didn't recognize any of them, however. Mami turned to look at them in surprise as they approached in a group.

"My goodness, I still can't believe you let yourself get brainwashed, Miss Tomoe!" the girl with the harp said.

"Miss Hiyori… why have you come here?" Mami asked. "This is not the place for you and your friends. You should go back to Mitakihara."

"More girls from Mitakihara?" Yachiyo said.

"We came because we want to save you, Miss Tomoe," the red-haired jester girl retorted. "Though we can't claim full credit for the idea… it was someone else's idea, and we were the ones who begged her to let us do it."

"Well, it's not like we're close or anything," the green-haired nun girl said. "But we've always looked up to you a little, Miss Tomoe. Even though you're younger than most of us, you're our sempai as a magical girl."

"What Claire-chan said," the girl with the naginata said. "But Elise-chan was exaggerating a little. We didn't beg that much, really. In fact, not at all. We just discussed the idea like normal people."

The girl who stepped forward next looked like a double of the jester girl Elise, but her outfit was completely different, something like a priestess or something. She gripped a sword fashioned like a lightning bolt.

"You just had to be lazy, didn't you, Komachi-chan?" she said. "Well, it doesn't matter, anyway. You two… your names are… Nanami Yachiyo and Izumi Kanagi, right? Though I have no idea which is which… but please, get on with whatever it is you need to do. We can handle the small fry for at least… um… how long do you think, Elise?"

She looked at the jester girl, who shrugged in response.

"Well… on my own I can probably last about five, ten minutes tops," Elise said. "After that, it would be down to the rest of you."

"Fifteen minutes, then," Elise's sister said. "We can hold the small fry off for about fifteen minutes. With luck, more reinforcements will have arrived by then."

"You will regret opposing me," Mami said quietly. "It doesn't matter if you can hold out for five minutes or fifteen minutes. All the cards are stacked against you."

"Well, we'll see about that, won't we?" Elise's sister said.

"Thank you very much," Yachiyo said. "We can do introductions later… for now… let's finish this fight!"

With the newcomers focusing on the vast majority of the black and white feathers, mainly via the strange goblin-like creatures that seemed to be under the control of that jester girl, Yachiyo and Kanagi had a much easier time of focusing on what they needed to do. As promised, Yachiyo took care of the Amane twins and that one strong black feather, while Kanagi knelt by the unconscious feather on the ground to tentatively try probing her mind again.

"I can't believe losing their restraint made them this much harder to fight," Yachiyo muttered. "If it weren't for those girls from Mitakihara, we'd be having a really hard time right now… perhaps I should've taken these sisters more seriously…"

She sighed as the Amane twins stepped forward to face her once again, growling. The other strong feather was currently on the ground where she'd been thrown moments earlier.

"You said before that you'd be fine with dying as long as everyone was free," Yachiyo said. "Did you forget how you felt back then?"

The twins responded not by growling but by calling out and executing their ultimate attack.

"Flute Blossom Resonance."

Yachiyo gasped as the spell took hold. The other white feather on the ground got up and kicked her from behind, forcing her to the ground, and because of the flute sisters' attack, she couldn't move at all.

"As… I suspected…" Yachiyo said. "It looks like… they won't come to their senses… unless I kill the rumour…"

Kanagi picked up a stray chunk of concrete and flung it accurately, striking that white feather in the head. She fell to the ground with a yelp, but she didn't seem to be out cold.

"You really have stooped to becoming a true villain, using pawn after pawn like this," Kanagi said. "But your game ends here! Checkmate!"

Then she smacked the black feather who was attacking her, knocking her off her feet. This gave her a direct route to Mami herself, which she darted through before the feathers could close it up again.

"Finally," Kanagi said. "I can face the villainous evangelist without being hemmed in by her followers."

"How could you call me a villain?" Mami asked. "I'm just doing my absolute best to save everyone."

"And using pawns to exhaust us before we face you is part of that?" Kanagi asked.

"It is," Mami said. "This isn't the time to concern ourselves with petty pride by fighting one-on-one."

"I wonder," Kanagi said. "Do you really believe that? I'm afraid I'll have to read your mind as well!"

She peeked into Mami's mind and blinked in surprise.

"What is this…?"

Mami chuckled. "My feelings were completely genuine, weren't they?" she said.

"Yes, now I understand that there's no room for us to reason with you," Kanagi said. "In other words… I have no choice but to force you into submission!"

She leapt at Mami with her riding crop, but Mami took the blow on a musket, firing it at the same moment and forcing Kanagi to twist her body to avoid the bullet. However, even as Kanagi dodged, she managed to land her foot on Mami's leg, causing her to lose her balance with a squeal of pain. Although Mami checked her fall with some judicious use of ribbons, Kanagi was able to place her riding crop against the other girl's throat.

"It's over!" Kanagi shouted.

Mami giggled again.

"Obstinate child," Kanagi said.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Mami said. "You won't be able to pretend this was easy much longer!"

At that moment, more feathers showed up. Kanagi took a moment to look around. Elise's goblins were no longer on the field, and their master had climbed onto the raised roof and collapsed.

"More backup!?" Kanagi gasped.

The other five who had come with Elise were just barely holding off the remaining feathers, but it wasn't clear if they'd be able to deal with the new reinforcements. One black feather in particular, a girl with short blonde hair, took advantage of Kanagi's momentary distraction to leap in and push Kanagi away from Mami.

"Out of my way!" Kanagi shouted.

Mami took that as an opportunity to attack Kanagi, firing a series of muskets at her and pushing her back several steps.

Yachiyo meanwhile was admirably holding back the twins and that other white feather, if just barely. It seemed the Flute Blossom Resonance didn't last very long, perhaps because of whatever rumour was affecting them. It did feel like they were constantly on the verge of defeat, however.

"If this keeps up, they'll just slowly beat us down," Yachiyo muttered. "I should call for reinforcements, but there isn't even time to take it out…"

Suddenly Kanagi stumbled into Yachiyo's line of sight, reeling from the attack Mami had just unleashed upon her.

"Kanagi!?" Yachiyo gasped.

"Nanami… are you okay?" Kanagi asked.

"That's my line!" Yachiyo said.

"You've got a point," Kanagi said. "This Tomoe Mami girl is quite the monster… and she shows no sign of wearing out."

"If she really did become part of the rumour itself… she has access to its magic as well as her own."

"That explains it."

"If we only had to handle Miss Tomoe and the Amane sisters it would be different, but… at this rate, those girls from Mitakihara are going to be overwhelmed…"

"With this many feathers fluttering about, we'll have our work cut out for us," Kanagi agreed.

"Now, stop resisting," Mami said. "I shall lead both of you – all of you – to your salvation."

"Are you even human?" Kanagi asked.

"Well, now that I know the truth, it's hard to say for certain," Mami said. "I am a magical girl, after all."

"That's not the point," Kanagi retorted. "It may just be the rumour's influence, but your heart is completely empty."

"What are you talking about, Kanagi?" Yachiyo asked.

"No matter how clean-cut and pure your emotions may be, there's always a reason you feel the way you do," Kanagi said. "But this girl… she has nothing. All I saw was pride in saving magical girls, and the drive to fulfill the Magius's plan."

"That's only natural," Mami said. "After all, that's all that I am."

"Then you should know something is wrong with you," Kanagi said. "A person's heart is given dimension by its connection to the past and future. But your heart has no such dimension. It's washed out, utterly flat."

Mami giggled. "You can try to sow doubt in me, but you're wasting your time," she said. "I'm sorry, but I can't have you buying time like this."

"Looks like I couldn't get through to her," Kanagi said.

"If she's this determined to execute the Magius's plan, I don't think we'll be able to connect with Miss Tomoe's heart," Yachiyo said.

"It doesn't look like we'll be able to peel her away from the rumour," Kanagi said.

"No… not if we can't understand her," Yachiyo said. "We're completely surrounded. There's no way out…"

Even as she said that, the girls from Mitakihara hopped back, retreating to the roof of the stairwell alongside Elise. A few feathers attempted to follow, but were swiftly beaten back. At about the same time, a rumour spreader approached from behind Mami, spouting something or other that Yachiyo couldn't quite hear.

"And we're going to have to handle the rest of the feathers now," Yachiyo added. "But if we can hear what that creature is saying, there could be an important hint…"

"Creature…?" Mami said.

"Understood," Kanagi said.

Without warning, she leapt into the air, doing a back flip over Mami to land right next to the rumour spreader, allowing her to hear as it recited the full text of the Rumour of the Receiver Pendant. As Mami spun around to face her, the rumour spreader faded away and disappeared.

"I'm not sure what you think you've accomplished," Mami said. "But even if you know the details of the rumour, it won't help you."

"We'll see about that!" Yachiyo said.

"Amane twins, Miss Nanase! Please restrain these two!" Mami shouted.

She seemed to be referring to the other strong feather, for the three of them immediately hopped out and closed in on them. To be more specific, the twins closed in on Yachiyo while the black feather, Nanase, made a beeline for Kanagi.

"Your soul gems will make fine food for Eve," Mami said. "You'll be a part of the liberation of all magical girls. You should rejoice."

"Kanagi… we should run," Yachiyo said.

"You think we're capable of that, with our magic this depleted?" Kanagi asked.

The other feathers were already starting to hem them in as well. There was clearly no way to run other than up, which had its own problems.

"If only we hadn't been separated, we could have at least worked together to break through the feathers," Yachiyo said.

"True… but it's too early to give in just yet," Kanagi said. "If we focus on opening a path connecting us…"

At that moment, Mami summoned an array of muskets floating in the air above her, all of them pointing at either Kanagi or Yachiyo.

"Now, let's finish this," she said. "Tiro Finale!"

But that was when Tsuruno and Felicia finally arrived, emerging from the stairwell at top speed.

"Shishou!" Tsuruno shouted.

"Yachiyooo!" Felicia shouted.

"Time for our combo attack, Felicia!" Tsuruno shouted. "Throw me at them as hard as ya can!"

"You got it!" Felicia said. "Here goes!"

She grabbed Tsuruno by the waist and threw her up into the air a bit, then whacked her with her hammer, sending her careening through the ranks of the feathers towards Kanagi.

"Flame Waltz!" Tsuruno shouted. "Take this!"

The flames enveloping her fans knocked feathers aside, and as she stuck her landing in front of Kanagi, she turned to face the rain of Mami's bullets, deflecting the bulk of them with her fans.

"We broke through, Felicia!" Tsuruno shouted. "Hurry!"

Felicia darted through the opening she'd created to jump in front of Yachiyo, deploying her hammer like a shield against the rain of bullets. After about a minute, the bullets stopped coming, and the smoke began to clear.

"Already on it!" Felicia shouted.

"People from Crescent Moon Villa really love getting in the way, don't they?" Mami said.

"You two!" Kanagi gasped.

"Here!" Tsuruno said. "I've got a grief seed for you!"

"Thank you, Tsuruno, Felicia!" Yachiyo said. "Kanagi!"

Kanagi took the offered grief seed and used it to purify her soul gem, then flung it to Yachiyo, who caught it and purified her soul gem as well.

"I'm glad you made it!" Yachiyo said. "We were full of ourselves, thinking we're the ones who do the saving."

"But this development means we don't have to run away now," Kanagi said.

"Do you have an extra grief seed for those girls up there?" Yachiyo asked. "It's only thanks to them that we managed to last this long…"

Tsuruno turned to look where she was pointing and blinked.

"Oh, I didn't even see them there," she said. "But I'm sorry, that was my last grief seed…"

"You don't have to worry about us!" one of the girls called down, the red-head in a priestess-like costume. "We do still have one grief seed left, though it's certainly not enough for all of us… but we'll be fine for a little while longer. I'm certain that more reinforcements are on the way. Ashley-chan should be here soon."

"Just when I was on the verge of saving you both," Mami sighed. "Alright then, I don't mind saving all four – all ten – of you now. I shall guide all of you!"

One of the girls Tsuruno had struck in her charge suddenly sat up with a groan. Kanagi realized with a start that it was the same girl who had originally lured her here, the black-haired one whose mind she'd attempted to read. She must have woken up while Kanagi was focusing on Mami.

"Ungh… those fans…" the girl muttered. "How dare you…?" Then the girl blinked. "W-wait, huh?"

"Hm?" Yachiyo said.

The girl suddenly shrieked, looking around wildly. "Nanami Yachiyo!?"

Yachiyo gasped. "You… what in the world…?"

The girl patted herself down, then looked around wildly, scanning the ground nearby.

"W-what?" she gasped. "It's not here! Where did my pendant go!?"

"Return to me at once!" Mami commanded. "I must once again baptize you… as one of the faithful who will help us realize our freedom!"

"Oh, um, r-right…!" the girl gasped.

She turned to run towards Mami.

"What? I won't let you get away with that!" Yachiyo said.

She leapt forward and stuck out her foot, tripping the girl up. As the feather struggled to regain her feet, Yachiyo turned to Kanagi, who was closer to Mami.

"Kanagi! Read that black feather's mind! She's free from the rumour's influence, so she might know something!"

"But Nanami! Who's going to hold the others off?" Kanagi asked.

"Now there's three of us, we can handle this!" Yachiyo said.

"Yeah, leave it to us!" Tsuruno said.

"I'll mow them all down!" Felicia said.

"Understood!" Kanagi said.

Kanagi leapt in the way as the feather attempted to reach Mami. Yachiyo also moved forward to join her, taking advantage of the corridor Tsuruno had opened with her dynamic entry – it still hadn't closed up yet.

"So, guess this means I'll be looking inside your mind," she said. "I'll rummage deep, deep down to your core."

"Arrrgh!" the girl gasped.

"Get out of my way!" Mami shouted.

She made to attack Kanagi, but Yachiyo jumped in between and deflected the bullets as best she could, though several made it through.

"I really can't reach any kind of understanding with you, Miss Tomoe," Yachiyo said. "Not when Iroha first unleashed her doppel, nor in our meeting at the Memory Museum. And this time is no different. When you saw Iroha's doppel, you were ready to fight us as enemies… and now you're part of the Wings of the Magius, wiping out Kamihama's magical girls! I don't understand you at all!"

"I could say the same for you!" Mami shouted. "Why do you insist on impeding our mission? No matter, everything ends here!"

She summoned a new swarm of muskets.

"I won't let you!" Yachiyo said.

She leapt into the air and destroyed the muskets with a sweep of her halberd, then reversed it to stab down into Mami's shoulder. But Mami summoned one more musket, firing it at point blank range right into Yachiyo's face, throwing the two of them apart.

"Amane twins!" Mami shouted. "Stop the boss of the east at all costs!"

"No!" Yachiyo shouted.

The Amane twins disengaged from Tsuruno and ran off towards Kanagi. She tried to follow them, but was blocked by Nanase, who wouldn't budge no matter how many times Tsuruno hit her.

"Oh, whoops!" Tsuruno gasped. "Kanagiii!"

"No need to worry!" Kanagi called.

She leapt to her feet and met the oncoming twins, tripping them with a kick aimed at their legs. The two of them fell to the ground and skidded a fair distance away, and Kanagi sighed.

"It was difficult, but I managed to read her mind," she said.

"How do we break them from their trance?" Tsuruno asked.

"The rumour involves the pendant they're wearing," Kanagi said. "Forcefully remove the pendant, and you will refute the rumour!"

"Felicia!" Yachiyo called.

"Alright, I'm the one for the job then!" Felicia shouted.

She leapt at the feathers facing her, now aiming for the pendants they were wearing, smashing them to pieces with her hammer. As she made her way through the assembled feathers like that, Yachiyo sensed another magical girl approaching… but from the air…!?

"You'll never hit me like that!" Felicia crowed, dodging a feather's chain attack. "As payback for that weak attack, I'm gonna wreck that pendant! Boooom!"

The feather screeched and fell over, the pendant now in her hand.

"Yeah, got the pendant!" Felicia cheered. "Now I just gotta… bam!"

She flung the pendant to the ground and smashed it to pieces with her hammer. At the same time, Ashley Taylor dropped from above next to her – she had apparently been riding on a giant teddy bear!?

"Looks like I got here at the perfect time," Ashley said. "That should be enough to bring out the actual rumour… I've been itching to test out my anti-rumour sword for quite some time now. You have no idea how hard it was to hold back."

"Ehhh!? You have an anti-rumour sword!?" Felicia gasped. "Awesome! W-wait, who're you…? Oh… you're that girl…!"

The rumour's labyrinth formed, sucking in everyone who was still conscious.

"Miss Taylor!?" Mami gasped. "Are you betraying the Magius!?"

"Joke's on you," Ashley said. "I was never loyal to those brats… I've been waiting for the time to strike for quite awhile now. In retrospect I probably should've made my move a little sooner… but I just wanted to see how things would play out. My curiosity'll get the better of me someday, I suppose."

At that moment, the rumour itself appeared, a sort of giant speaker attached to what looks like a transmitter, to judge by the antennas.

"Nice!" Felicia said. "So this means we went against the stuff in the rumour, right!? Then all we have to do is bash this rumour's skull in and we're good!"

"Thanks, Felicia!" Yachiyo said. "You keep tackling the feathers! Kanagi, you handle the Amane sisters and Miss Nanase! Tsuruno, Miss Taylor, please take out the rumour! They won't be easy to handle alone, but I'm counting on all of you! Last but not least, I'll be your opponent… Miss Tomoe."

"I agree," Ashley said. "Of all of the people here, I think you, Miss Nanami, are best equipped to understand Miss Tomoe's loneliness and insecurity."

"I really hope your confidence in me isn't misplaced, Miss Taylor," Yachiyo said.

Mami giggled.

"Laugh while you still can," Yachiyo said. "I'll wipe that smile off your face shortly."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure," Mami said. "You cannot stop the gears of liberation from now that they've begun to turn."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that," Ashley said. "I know about as much as you and the Magius about the ongoing plan. We won't be stopped by a power outage or a legendary witch, just you watch!"

"…what?" Yachiyo said. "Never mind, now's not the time. One way or another, we'll show you that they can be stopped!"

Felicia ran around destroying pendants left and right, giggling as she did so.

"You guys can team up in as big a bunch as you like, doesn't change nothing! I ain't afraid of you! Here I come!"

She leapt into a gaggle of feathers that had been attempting to group up against her, smashing pendant after pendant.

"I swear, you sisters have always been a handful," Kanagi said, facing the Amane twins. "Hold on a little longer. I promise I'll bring you two back to your senses."

Tsuruno stepped up to the rumour alongside Ashley.

"So um, why do you even have an anti-rumour sword?" Tsuruno asked. "Were you planning to take down the Wings of the Magius from the start?"

"Yes, but that's not actually the reason," Ashley said. "It wasn't actually designed to counter rumours. It was designed to counter Walpurgisnacht. But it just so happens that Walpurgisnacht's power has some similarities to Nemu's manifestation, so I figured it would work well against rumours too. I just haven't had a chance to test it, because I was infiltrating the Wings of the Magius, so attacking a rumour would've looked too suspicious."

"Oh, so it's just a coincidence," Tsuruno said. "That's a lot less cool than I expected."

"Well, it's not like it matters, right?" Ashley said. "Right now, our goal is to take out this rumour. Are you with me, Miss Yui?"

"You betcha!" Tsuruno said, turning to face the rumour. "You won't be brainwashing or messing with anyone's heads anymore! The mightiest magical girl, Yui Tsuruno, is here! And I'm gonna put an end to the Magius's messed up plans!"

She charged in at the rumour with her flaming fans, and Ashley leapt in behind her, slashing at the rumour. The cut was surprisingly effective, but it seemed the rumour also didn't much like fire, so Tsuruno had an advantage against it too. Between the two of them, they had the rumour dispatched in under a minute. As a result, its barrier collapsed, and all the feathers that Felicia hadn't yet got to began to come to.

"Yay!" Tsuruno said. "We did it! The rumour's dead, thanks to Yui Tsuruno and a mysterious stranger! It was way easier than I thought it would be…"

"Oh!" Tsukuyo gasped. "We…"

"We're both…" Tsukasa said.

"Looks like I managed to bring you back," Kanagi said, panting a little.

Behind the twins, Yukika groaned, collapsing to one knee.

"You still wanna keep playing?" Felicia asked the feather who'd been attacking her moments before. "I can keep going!"

The feather groaned and backed off.

"Now the tide has turned in our favour," Yachiyo said. "Though we used up a lot of our magic, now the feathers are back to their old selves. And you don't have enough followers to do anything against us."

"We took out a bunch of the witches that they had set up around here, too," Felicia said.

"I must say, it was awfully nice of you to give out free grief seeds to your enemies," Ashley said.

"Plus all the magical girls are safe at the Coordinator's shop!" Tsuruno said.

"Actually, I know of at least five magical girls from Kamihama who never made it there," Ashley said. "I really hope Karin-chan is okay… but I probably can't spare the magic to check up on her…"

"You missed your chance to get rid of us," Kanagi said. "And now your plan is in shambles."

"Um, I hate to say this," Ashley said. "But this whole thing was actually a stalling tactic…"

Yachiyo gasped. "Y-you can't be serious…!"

Mami giggled. "Miss Taylor is correct. Magical girls are going to be freed from their curse and saved. I'm just happy that we're getting closer to making that a reality."

"What?" Yachiyo said. "You didn't eliminate magical girls from Kamihama or get rid of us! You failed on both counts!"

"That was never the main goal," Ashley said. "It was more of a side goal, if anything…"

Mami chuckled. "Indeed," she said. "One should always keep their most important secrets hidden. It's just about time. The gears won't stop turning. Our designs have now come to fruition! Any minute now…"

"I don't know if that's meant to be a pun," Ashley said. "Since Walpurgisnacht is a witch born by giant gears… but if it was intentional, that's in really poor taste, Miss Tomoe."

And then… that was when the power went out all across the city.

---

Magical Girl Corner

Whenever a new magical girl is introduced, I'll include a brief profile of her here. Some details may be redacted, or contain minor spoilers. You have been warned! The numeric ranking values are on a scale of 1 to 10.

Haruna Konomi
春名このみ

Age: 17
Eye Colour: Green
Hair Colour: Red
Origins: Shinsei Ward, Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Green five-petalled florette
Soul Gem: Green diamond-shaped gem on her stomach
Element: Forest
Weapon: Pruning shears
Powers: Summoning flowers
Wish: "I want to heal the master's illness!"

Speed: 5
Magical Stamina: 6
Offensive Power: 8
Defensive Power: 5
Initial Power Usability: 7
Learned Powers: 2

Kozue Mayu
梢麻友

Age: 18
Eye Colour: Blue
Hair Colour: Black
Origins: Mizuna Ward, Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Blue paint brush
Soul Gem: Blue teardrop-shaped gemstone on her hair ornament
Element: Water
Weapon: Giant paint brush
Powers: Paralysis
Wish: "Please don't let my boss's family fall apart."

Speed: 4
Magical Stamina: 4
Offensive Power: 4
Defensive Power: 6
Initial Power Usability: 6
Learned Powers: 0 (unknown)

Fumino Sayuki
史乃沙優希

Age: 18
Eye Colour: Amber
Hair Colour: Peach
Origins: Mizuna Ward, Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Orange crossed sword and microphone
Soul Gem: Orange teardrop-shaped gemstone on her chest
Element: Light
Weapon: Microphone
Powers: Magic distribution, sound manipulation
Wish: "I want friends I can get excited with!"

Speed: 2
Magical Stamina: 9
Offensive Power: 1
Defensive Power: 4
Initial Power Usability: 2
Learned Powers: 3

Subaru Michika
昴みちか

Age: about 6 months, but appears 13
Eye Colour: Red
Hair Colour: Black
Origins: Homunculus created by the Pleiades Saints from the remains of Kazusa Michiru
Symbol: Orange treble clef
Soul Gem: Orange teardrop-shaped gemstone dangling from the tip of her hat
Element: Fire
Weapon: Broomstick
Powers: (redacted)
Wish: (redacted)

Speed: 4
Magical Stamina: 7
Offensive Power: 9
Defensive Power: 14
Initial Power Usability: 8
Learned Powers: 0 (unknown)

Wakana Tsumugi
若菜つむぎ

Age: 14
Eye Colour: Green
Hair Colour: Green
Origins: Chuo Ward, Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Green crossed fork and spoon
Soul Gem: Circular turquoise gemstone on her chest
Element: Forest
Weapon: Fork and spoon
Powers: Magic absorption
Wish: "I want to help Manaka-sempai and continue eating her food. For that reason, I want to know what I can do to help her!"

Speed: 8
Magical Stamina: 14
Offensive Power: 3
Defensive Power: 12
Initial Power Usability: 9
Learned Powers: 3

Hibiki Meguru
枇々木めぐる

Age: 14
Eye Colour: Red
Hair Colour: Blonde
Origins: Minaminagi Ward, Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Orange megaphone
Soul Gem: Oval pink gem at her throat
Element: Fire
Weapon: Baton with pointing hand
Powers: Power amplification
Wish: "I have a dream of becoming a popular MC!"

Speed: 6
Magical Stamina: 6
Offensive Power: 4
Defensive Power: 6
Initial Power Usability: 6
Learned Powers: 1

Aoba Chika
青葉ちか

Age: 16
Eye Colour: Blue
Hair Colour: White
Origins: Hokuyo Ward, Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Green leaf
Soul Gem: Green double-leaf-shaped gemstone on her tiara
Element: Forest
Weapon: Twin hatchets
Powers: Speaking with animals
Wish: "I want to live peacefully with my family, surrounded by nature."

Speed: 7
Magical Stamina: 8
Offensive Power: 4
Defensive Power: 9
Initial Power Usability: 6
Learned Powers: 0 (unknown)

Kirino Sae
桐野 紗枝

Age: 14
Eye Colour: Blue
Hair Colour: Black
Origins: Kosho Ward, Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Black butterfly
Soul Gem: Light blue kite-shaped gemstone as an earring on her right ear
Element: Fire
Weapon: Venetian mask
Powers: Shadowing the truth
Wish: "I want everyone at school to know I'm a good girl from a good family!"

Speed: 5
Magical Stamina: 8
Offensive Power: 2
Defensive Power: 8
Initial Power Usability: 4
Learned Powers: 0 (unknown)

---

This chapter ended up being longer than expected, but it still maintains the general rule of one rumour per chapter, so I guess it's fine. It also means the next few chapters will probably be a little shorter. I don't currently anticipate any problems arising that prevent me from posting a chapter next weekend.

This chapter is also the one where I dumped all the magical girls who haven't already made an appearance. So there are quite a few magical girl profiles here, aren't there? Going by the game, the only new one would have been Konomi, but I've slipped several other magical girls into the story too. I don't have much to say about the content this time.

I also updated the last batch of character profiles to include the Japanese spelling of their name (from chapters 66 to 78). Note that I'm uncertain of the spelling of Yuuki Yumi's name (chapter 76) – I could only find an extremely low-res video to swipe it from, so figuring out what kanji were used was somewhat guesswork. I'd be grateful if anyone could correct me on that spelling. Anyone who actually has access to the Japanese version of the game and has Makino Ikumi could probably easily find it by simply watching Ikumi's magical girl story, as it seems the Japanese version of the game always uses the full name in the name box.