Chapter 15: Breakpoint part 2
I do not own PMMM or Magia Record. PMMM is own by AniplexNA. Magia Record is owned by f4Samurai
Yachiyo ducked under the magic brush attack before sliding past several familiars. The sarcophagus like familiar slammed into the ground where she had previously stood. Before the coffin could respond, Yachiyo summoned a spear and shot it towards the creature. The spear tore into the familiar, killing it instantly.
Satisfied, Yachiyo paused to survey the field. All around her, magical girls were engaged in combat against familiars. While this wouldn't typically be a problem, several of these familiars were special. The witch was able to create almost perfect copies of various magical girls, which caused chaos and confusion amongst the girls.
She watched the flute twins engaging a magical girl familiar, their sound waves knocking the familiar back. Yet Yachiyo could tell the twins were holding back. They didn't want to kill other magical girls, even if they were actually familiars in disguise.
Well at least most of the other girls had the same problem. The exception fell to four particular girls.
Naturally, Homura had experience in this area and had no hesitations killing the fake magical girls, shooting several fakes in the face. Yachiyo cringed internally at the thought of her using that on a real magical girl.
In similar fashion, Meiyui Chun also had no such reservations, slashing and ripping apart a false girl with her steel claws. Homura had mentioned Meiyui had a Yakuza background. Perhaps she had gotten her experience there.
She was mildly surprised to see Masara Kagami fighting without hesitation. The cold hearted beauty dashed in and out of combat, stabbing familiars and false magical girls alike. It was like watching a cruel and heartless dance of steel.
And finally, Karin Misono. Yachiyo was actually quite proud of her protégée. After all the training, the former coward and weakling had grown into a master warrior in her own right. The purplette slashed one with her scythe only to steal a fake girl's hammer and slam it into the girl's head before swapping to the next available weapon. Yachiyo watched the efficiency and creativity her protégée exhibited as she continued her deadly dance.
Regardless of their efforts, the team had yet to find the witch yet, only prolonging their fight. Yachiyo rushed over to Homura and sent a series of spears into the familiar the raven haired girl was fighting. "We can't keep fighting here. We need to push forward."
Homura nodded, glancing around. "Some of us should hold the familiars back while the rest of us go after the witch."
Yachiyo found Hinano and set a series of spears towards her opponent. "Hinano, you and Kanagi take the other girls and cover us. We're making a run on the witch!"
"Got it!" The smaller girl ran ahead to the others.
Yachiyo turned to Meiyui and Karin, who had just finished off their opponents. "Let's go!"
Karin followed the girls as they delved deeper into the labyrinth. As glanced around the constant mirrored walls distorting her appearance made her shudder. It was as though the witch was watching their every move.
"Karin, hurry up." Yachiyo's voice called.
She shook her head to clear it and rushed after the group. She just hoped all the other girls would be alright by the time this was over.
She found Yachiyo crouching in front of a mirror.
"What's that?"
Yachiyo frowned, "This room is a dead end, but I can sense the witch further below us."
"Which means that there's another way to go lower." Homura concluded, "But how do we get there?"
Karin looked at the mirror Yachiyo was watching. Unlike other mirrors that were straight up, this one was tilted at a 45 degree angle.
"Hmmm…" Karin wondered as she tried to touch the mirror. When she touched the smooth surface, she had not been expecting for her hand to go right through. She had most certainly not been expecting the mirror to yank her arm through as well. Before she could even scream, her entire body had been sucked into the mirror. For a brief moment, her vision blurred as she fell through the mirror. When her vision cleared, she realized she was falling into a large chasm.
Immediately, Karin summoned her scythe and stuck it between her legs. Focusing her magic, she brought her fall to a halt 10 feet above the ground.
"Whew, that was close." She muttered as she began a much more gradual descent to the bottom.
"Karin, are you ok?"
She looked up to see the rest of her team, jumping down using Yachiyo's spears as steps.
"I'm fine." Karin called out. "It looks like we found a portal."
Meiyui landed on all fours before glancing upwards. "I don't we found just any portal. I think we found the witch."
Karin turned around and took a step back in surprise.
Before the four girls, a massive witch stood before them.
Yachiyo gazed up at the huge witch and gave a short whistle. The witch was the size of a small building, with two large rams heads, one on each side. Yachiyo wanted to bet the core was up there. She looked over her teammates. Karin's steal ability wouldn't be much use here but her scythe and flight ability were still invaluable. Meiyui was a loose canon, one that she wasn't sure how to integrate. So far the other blunette was a brawler and assassin, both of which were less than effective against such a large witch. Finally, Homura was her critical tool. Her arsenal would be vital to taking down the witch. But in the end, Homura was still one magical girl and her magic was already quite depleted.
Yachiyo glanced around and made a plan quickly.
"Karin, use your flight to attract its attention. Meiyui try to find a weak spot on its legs. Homura, go ahead and set up, but don't bring out the big guns yet. I'll begin probing above!"
"Got it!" the trio called as they sprung into action. Karin mounted her scythe and flew into the air, zooming in a direct path towards the witch.
The witch screeched and lashed out a tendril towards the purplette. Karin was ready though, ducking and diving in a series of tight maneuvers. Weaving through the attacks, Karin zipped past the witch and headed towards the back of the cavern. The witch roared as it turned its massive body to face the purple and pink fly. Yachiyo smirked as she gesture to Meiyui.
The bluenette nodded and two blunettes rushed forward. Yachiyo summoned spears to begin scaling up towards the witch's back. As she did so, she hurled her spears across the witch's rear.
Meiyui dashed around the witch's legs, cutting and slashing the thick legs.
After a minute of barrages, Yachiyo frowned as she observed the carnage. Having taken several power attacks, the witch had its backside riddled with holes and slashes. But the witch barely seemed fazed as it continued it's relentless swipes and attacks at the flying magical girl.
"Hey Yachiyo, any luck?" Karin's voice resounded in the cavern, "I'm running out of room to maneuver!"
Yachiyo nodded as her mind formulated a different plan. "Karin fall back. I'll take over baiting. Homura start peppering the witch's frontside. Meiyui-"
"Actually I have an idea on how to occupy the witch!" Meiyui cut off.
Yachiyo wondered what she was going to do, but nodded, "Go ahead!"
The other blunette concentrated as Yachiyo sensed her flair her magic. The girl rushed forward, dashing underneath the witch while scraping her claws through its legs.
Yachyio watched as the witch roared as it changed targets to the blunette, giving time for Karin to fly away. It raised a tendril and shot it towards the girl. To Yachyio's surprise, the tendril missed by several feet. And so did the next one, and one after that.
"Ahh, she's using her magic." Homura's voice came from behind her.
Yachiyo spun around, "What?"
Homura didn't seem to care. "Meiyui can alter perception. In short, she's changing where the witch thinks she is and thus is able to avoid attacks."
Yachiyo nodded as she took in that information. The ability to alter perception of her targets had a lot of potential. She quietly wondered just how far that perception alteration ability went. Yachiyo shook her head as she cleared her head. Those thoughts could wait. They had a witch to handle.
She sensed another girl drop in behind her.
"Yachiyo!" Karin called, "I think the witch's heads are its eyes! If we knock out the heads, we should be able to blind it."
So those heads were important. The blunette took that in mind as an idea began to take shape. "Karin, Homura, when I give the word, go low and go for its legs. I'll take out the eyes!"
"Right."
The trio leaped into action. Yachiyo summoned spears to scale the cavern until she was directly above the witch's head. From there, she let herself fall. As she flew towards the ground, she came face to face with the giant witch's heads. Smirking to herself, Yachiyo summoned a dozen spears and sent them flying point blank into the witch's face.
The spears tore through the twin heads with ease. It's vision blinded, the witch cried out in pain, flailing tendrils in all directions. Yachiyo summoned spears to counter the ones flying towards her but was knocked back into the back of the cavern, falling hard but relatively unscathed.
Thankfully, the work had already been done.
"Now!" The falling girl called out.
Working in tandem, Karin and Homura rushed forward, Karin using her scythe to make several deep cuts into the witch's legs while Homura lodged bombs into the gashes. Their work done, the two rushed towards Yachiyo and Meiyui. Together, the four observed their work. The bombs detonated, blowing up the witch's legs.
The witch screamed in agony before it fell onto its back, leaving its front and bottom exposed.
Yachiyo smirked, "Let's finish it!"
Together, four girls charged one final time, running up the witch's deformed legs and onto its chest. Karin and Meiyui slashed the exposed stomach, leaving deep cuts and gouges across its chest. Homura dropped another series of bombs across the body of the witch. Finally. Yachiyo rushed for the head, summoning the largest halberd she could. She took a running leap and raised the halberd over her shoulder. With a single swipe, the large bladed head cut through the witch's neck, severing it from its body.
Yachiyo landed on her legs and one hand as the witch's body detonated behind her.
Satisfied, she turned to her teammates. "Good work there."
Karin nodded, panting hard. "That must have been the toughest witch ever."
Homura frowned and Yachiyo could have sworn she heard her say "I've fought stronger."
Meiyui held out a fist to Yachiyo. "We make a good team."
Yachiyo turned back to the crumbling witch and ran towards the center. Scooping her hand through the deteriorating body, she pulled out a single grief seed. "All this effort, all this fighting, for a single burst of life."
Homura nodded, "Tis the dark reality of magical girl life."
Karin watched the two, a frown forming across her face.
To the relief of the team, the rest of the girls had survived, though several had taken serious injuries.
"Geez Rena, you just had to get hurt." Momoko muttered as she helped the shorter girl limp out of the collapsing labyrinth.
"Shut up, it's not my fault Kaede is so pitiful."
"I-I'm sorry you needed to save me. And thank you Rena!"
"Ahh, Kaede! Stop it! Just because I have a broken leg doesn't mean you can grope me!"
…
"Sister, you need to see a doctor."
"But I'm fine Tsukasa. Really. It's just a small bruise."
"But that burn can become much worse if it's not taken care of."
Tsukuyo pulled Tsukasa in a tight hug. "I appreciate your concern, but all I need is your ever loving presence and I'll be satisfied."
"Née!"
…
"So like, I need to make plans! I gotta figure out tours, venues, locations! I'm going to go places I know it! I'll be going, going, gone! You know, like Goingon!"
"You do know that this was all your fault."
"Ahh Masara, you shouldn't have to feel so bad! All you got is a few cuts and bruises. Some might even call it Masa-cussive!"
"…" Masara fought the urge facepalm.
"Get it? I'm so stoked! I've finally broken through the barrier and have achieved true comedy!"
…
Yachiyo walked over to the boss of East. "Thanks for covering us."
The petite white haired girl nodded solemnly. "You did good work as well."
She looked around at the night sky of Mizuna. "To think, we would be the ones to put down Mikoto Sena's witch."
"Were you close?"
Kanagi shook her head. "I wish. Sena had a complicated family background, one which makes mine pale in comparison. So she was very secluded and isolated. She never really got along with me and Tsukasa." She sighed. "I just…I wish I had tried a bit harder."
"You can't change the past." Another voice interjected. Yachiyo saw the even shorter Hinano walk up behind them. "There are plenty of girls I wish I had known better before I took out their witch. Least I can do now is work to ensure my Chuo girls are happy and content with their lives."
Yachiyo nodded in understanding. "I guess you're right. I've been wondering how I can live on knowing the truth. But your advice makes sense. The least I can do in make sure we live happy and fulfilled lives. That when we do make the change, we can go knowing we lived well.
"Perhaps," Yachiyo added, "we should try to get along more. Our border conflicts have been going on for years. If we can cement some sort of official truce, then I think we can all rest easier."
Kanagi nodded, "After what happened here, I would not be opposed to that."
"I can work with that," Hinano agreed.
Yachiyo's phone buzzed and she glanced down to see a text from Mifuyu. She smiled before turning to the other two leaders. "Perhaps we can get started. I've just been told that Mifuyu, Kanae, and Tsuruno have been discharged from the hospital. Would you all be interested in joining us for a victory party?"
Kanagi raised a single brow. "Oh?"
To say that magical girls knew how to party would be an understatement. The reunited Mikazuchi team alongside the members of the strike force made for a lively celebration that went long into the night.
Even Homura opened up and had been enjoying a round of drinks with Meiyui and Kanagi, apparently sharing their most daring stunts.
Momoko and Tsuruno were engaged in some wild debate on comedy with Ayaka. Kaede and Rena were chatting about some obscure topic with the sisters.
Kanae found Mifuyu at the table, writing on letter paper. "Hey," she wrapped her arms around her lover, "What's going on?"
Mifuyu nuzzled her head into her arms, "I'm writing a formal complaint."
"For the Azaela House?"
"Yes," Mifuyu's nodded, "If I can convince the right people, I can get some inspectors to check out the Azaela House on charges of abuse and neglect. And maybe even get that supervisor fired."
Kanae smiled and gave her sweet, kind, and caring lover a chaste kiss on the cheek. "And Hanna?"
Mifuyu blushed at the affection, "Yachiyo said she would like Hanna to move here. If I pull the right strings I could even get her transferred to KMU, to escape the bullying in Mizuna."
"Looks like you really thought this through."
A small tear rolled down Mifuyu's cheek. "Hanna has suffered so much even without the truth of magical girls bearing down on us. The least I could do is make her regular life as comfortable as possible."
Kanae tightened her embrace before a voice interrupted them.
"Hey lovebirds, if you're done flirting, we're having a toast!"
The two looked over to see Momoko and Tsuruno calling them over. As they entered the living room, they found Yachiyo holding a glass of champagne. Upon seeing them, she smiled.
"Girls, it's been a long evening and we're exhausted and tired, but we survived. And we couldn't have done it without the efforts of all of you. This was a team effort. Not just of the West, but of the East, Center, and West. This was a Kamihama effort. Kanagi, Hinano and myself have agreed to a official pact, sorting out territory, recruitment, and assistance, so that no magical should ever worry about being attack for going into the wrong district. And to celebrate the defeat of this witch I raise my glass."
Homura raised her glass and smiled softly, "To Kamihama."
"To Kamihama!" The girls cheered, but no one noticed the one abstained cheer.
The merrymaking continued far into the night. As the morning rays broke the horizon and the sun came up, a single girl arose.
Staring around her, she found over a dozen magical girl bodies slumped around the villa, sleeping on couches, chairs, and on a few poorly spread futons. Karin felt grateful she had found a comfy couch to crash on. As she glanced around, she noticed a single entity also wandering around the villa.
The white catlike creature looked up at her. "Ah, hello Karin Misono. I take it that you are awake."
Karin's eyes narrowed. "Hello Kyubey."
"I see you have successfully defeated the Mirrors witch."
"Is that what you called it?"
The beady eyes showed no emotion. "Yes, that is what we call Mikoto Sena's witch. You and your team defeated the mirrors witch to satisfactory results."
"That's right. We defeated it. We gave Mikoto her rest. Now why are you-"
"Are you satisfied with the results?"
Karin froze. "What do you mean?"
"You saw Yachiyo Nanami, Kanagi Izumi, and Hinano Miyako discuss how to proceed with handling Kamihama magical girls. Are you satisfied?" The incubator swished its tail calmly.
Karin glared at the creature. "Why do you care?"
"The mental health and satisfaction of magical girls in our care is an important factor in our evaluations."
Karin rolled her eyes, "You guys actually have evaluation forms?"
"Yes! The importance of bureaucracy is essential in maintaining an effective and efficient energy system."
Karin sighed, "Never mind. Look, Yachiyo and Kanagi mean well. They have a lot to deal with and they really care about everyone. But like, it just feels a bit defeatist."
"Defeatist?"
"It means that they won't do anything to prevent magical girls from turning into witches. They just want to keep them happy until they do." Karin muttered bitterly.
"And that does not satisfy you?"
Karin shook her head. "No it doesn't. It makes me quite angry actually. Like they just decided to sit there and let people die."
"But it is their fates." Kyubey confirmed.
"To hell with their fates!" Karin shot back, "I refuse to accept a world where my fate is to just roll over and die. Not as long as I have a fighting chance."
"I see. And so?"
Karin let out a breathe. "But in the end, Yachiyo is my leader and I'm still a rookie."
"I do not perceive you as a rookie Karin Misono." Kyubey interrupted.
Karin raised a brow, "You don't?"
The creature hopped onto her shoulder. "You are strong Karin. You defeated the Mirrors witch. An ordinary magical girl would not be able to defeat such a witch."
Karin frowned, "I guess I am pretty strong then."
"Are you suggesting that strength be the determining factor in who lives and dies?"
"What? Of course not!" Karin interjected. "I'm a Kirinite, a follower of the Phantom Thief Kirin! She doesn't cower because she is weak. Instead she steals from the strong to give to the weak!"
"Sounds like an interesting role model." Kyubey commented.
Karin paused. "You're right. And if Kirin could save the weaker ones. I can too! Watch out world, Phantom Thief Karin will save all magical girl kind!"
Karin clammed her mouth shut as she realized she had been shouting. "Sorry!" She whispered.
She then turned back to Kyubey. "You're coming with me."
And so she scooped up the incubator before tiptoeing her way out the door of the Villa. And with that, she was gone.
An instant later, Yachiyo's eye jerked open. "Well that is troubling."
Note:
Karin? No…bad Karin…don't…
