"Your majesty, in both the battles my fairies have had with the Magical Girls, I've found a weakness of them" said Erin. "And what would that be?" asked Lydia. "The girls are too dependent on their magic. They can't do anything without it. I bet if its taken away from them, they'll be as helpless as a newborn human infant" said Erin. "I'll just have to wait for the right time." "Very well then. Do not fail me, Erin. Because if you do, there will be consequences. I won't let you get off like I did with your brother, because I am getting impatient" said Lydia. "Very well, your majesty" said Erin.
Meanwhile, school let out for the summer. All the students ran out excitedly. "Alright, three months of holidays. I can't wait to kick back and relax" said Sakura. "After everything that's happened we could use some. What with Erin and the whole nightmare thing. I can never forget that" said Minami. "So, what do you think we should do together this summer?" asked Ayumi. "Well, every year the beach hosts a competition for elementary school kids. They want to see who can build the best sand sculpture. You can do it alone or in a team. Sakura-chan and I took part last year and came second" said Minami. "And this year, we're targeting first. Wanna play along, Ayumi-chan?" asked Sakura. "Sounds fun. I'd love to join" said Ayumi. "Great!" said Sakura.
Kyo came running there just then. "Hey girls, so where are you going this summer?" he asked. "We're not going anywhere. We're going to enter that sand sculpture competition in the beach" said Sakura. "Sakura-chan and I came second place last year. Would you like to join our team?" asked Minami. "I'd love to, but my family has already booked a ticket to Switzerland and we're going there tomorrow" said Kyo. "WHAT? SWITZERLAND! Oh, I've always wanted to go there. You're very lucky, Kyo-kun" said Ayumi. "Don't worry. I'll be sure to bring you souvenirs. Bye girls" said Kyo.
Back at their respective homes, the girls told the fairies about the competition. "A sand-sculpture competition, huh?" said Maria. "Yeah. Sakura-chan and I entered last year and came second" said Minami. "Maybe we can help you girls. With a little bit of magic" said Maria. "I don't think magic is allowed" said Minami. "Oh really? Did they write it in the rules?" asked Maria. "No, but this is about our talent here. You, Sarah and Anna can help in little ways though" said Minami. "Sure, we will" said Maria.
The day of the competition soon arrived. The girls and their families went to the beach. "We're targeting first place this year" said Sakura. "There is one problem though. Kisaragi Akane and her girls are entering this year as well. When they won last year, they wouldn't stop tormenting us" said Minami. "Ugh, I remember that. But this time, we'll have the last laugh" said Sakura. "Wait, who's Kisaragi Akane?" asked Ayumi. "She's a spoiled brat who goes to the same school as Akamine Setsuna" said Sakura. "She's good at lots of things. Being nice isn't one of them" said Minami. "Were you just talking about me?" said a voice.
A girl with blond hair tied in a bun, followed by two other girls came in. She was followed by two other girls. "Well, if it isn't Mitsuki Sakura and Kirasaki Minami. Do you want to lose to me again?" she asked in her high-pitched voice. The other two girls laughed. "We'll beat you this year, Kisaragi" said Sakura. "Oh really? I'm the best when it comes to this. Oh, who's this girl?" asked Akane. "I'm Fujita Ayumi. With me in their team, they're sure to win" said Ayumi. "Ohohohohoho. Is that so? We'll see who's better when the competition is over" said Akane. "Its best not to be so full of yourself" said another voice. It was a grl with long black ponytails and dark brown eyes. "And who might you be?" asked Akane. "My name is Kasugano Eri. If anyone will win this competition, it will be me" said the girl. "Oh, we'll see about that. You're not even on a team" said Akane. "Don't be too confident, Kisaragi" said Eri and walked away. Akane and her friends walked away too.
"Something about that Kasugano Eri girl seemed off. But I can't put my finger on it" said Sakura. "Whatever. The competition is about to start. Lets get ready" said Ayumi.
The competition started. Everyone started building their sculptures. The girls chose a mermaid to build. The fairies helped them by getting them water, though they didn't allow themselves to be seen. The girls' families watched them while relaxing. "Oneechan, that's a lovely mermaid there" said Sora. "Thanks Sora" said Sakura. "Looking good, Minami" said Momoka. "Yeah. We've chosen a mermaid" said Minami. "I'm sure you'll win" said Momoka. "You have to win oneechan" said Sora. "Don't worry about it" said Sakura.
Akane and her girls finished building soon. They chose a lion. "This will surely be the talk of the contest" said Akane. "Umm, Akane, look" said one of the Akane's friends. She pointed to the girls' mermaid sculpture. "They might win with a sculpture like that" said the other girl. "Not if I can help it" said Akane. She went up to the girls. "Hi girls. That's a nice sculpture you've got there. What is it supposed to be?" asked Akane. "Oh, thanks Kisaragi. That's supposed to be a mermaid" said Minami. "Oh, a mermaid huh? Do you mind if I do THIS?" said Akane. She kicked the sculpture. "Kisaragi, what are you doing?" said Sakura. "Mermaids need water, right? My girls have got some here" said Akane. Her friends splashed the sculpture with water. The sculpture was ruined. "Now I'll win for sure. Ohohohohohohoho!" said Akane and she went away.
"That Kisaragi...she'll stoop to anything to win" said Sakura, shaking with anger. "What are we gonna do? The judges will come any minute" said Minami. "We can help" said Sarah. "In this case, magic is the answer" said Anna. "I'm sure it will be alright, just this once" said Maria. "Alright, Maria. You can use magic just this once" said Minami. The fairies got to work with their magic and made the sand stand in the shape of a mermaid. "Now girls, get some water" said Anna. The girls went and got some water. They put it on the sand. The sculpture stood still. "It looks amazing" said Ayumi. "Good thing your families are too busy to notice us" said Maria.
The judges soon came there. "Wow, what a majestic looking lion" said one judge. "I know, right? Took a lot of hard work" said Akane. The judges write in their notepads and went forward. "We're sure to win, I know that" said Akane. The judges went to the girls work. "A mermaid? That is very beautiful" said the judge. "WHAAAAT?!" said Akane. "Thanks" said Sakura. The judges moved forward. They soon came to Eri's work. She had built a giant sandcastle. "Wooow!" said a judge. "That is a huge sandcastle." "Whoa!" said Sakura. Akane stared open-mouthed. "That's not all there is. Come on inside" said Eri. She took the judges inside.
"You worked on the inside too?" exclaimed one judge. "Its got a throne and everything" said the other. "How could one person do THAT?!" asked Akane. "Kisaragi is right. There is no way one person could do all that. Something's not right" said Sakura. Eri and the judges soon came out. "Well little girl, what is your name?" asked the judge. "Kasugano Eri" said Eri. "Everyone, I pronounce Kasugano Eri as the winner of this competition!" said the judge. Everyone cheered. Eri looked at the girls and grinned. "Why is she looking at us like that?" asked Minami. "I don't know but I don't like it" said Ayumi.
"So tell me, Kasugano, how did you do that all by yourself?" asked the judge. "Oh, I didn't do it by myself" said Eri. "Then who helped you?" asked the judge. My very good friend, Undine" said Eri. Sarah gasped at that name. "Undine! She has been my rival for a long time now" she said. "You mean Undine is a fairy?" asked Sakura. "Yeah" said Sarah. "Who is Undine?" asked the judge. A fairy came out of the castle and sat on Eri's hand. "This here, is Undine. She has special abilities" said Eri. "Oooh. Care to show them to us, Undine?" asked the judge. "Sure" said Undine.
She went near the she and raised her hand. The water rose up at her command. She created a very big wave. "Undine here has the ability to control water and create waves" said Eri. Undine created a very big wave. Then she pointed her hand to the crowd. The wave moved at her command. Everyone ran helter-skelter to avoid the wave. "Hahahaha. Look at them run. I think its time I revealed my true identity" said Eri. She transformed into Erin. "Look at their panic. It will make great energy" said Erin. She used her magic and collected the negative energy from everyone, except the girls. Undine then lowered the wave. "Erin! So it was you all along!" exclaimed Sakura. "Yeah. When Undine here heard you will be in this competition, she pestered me to enter under a disguise so she could prove herself better than Sarah. I was annoyed at first but I saw an opportunity to beat you three. She used her magic and helped me build that sandcastle" said Erin. "Oh yeah? We'll see who's better after this. Girls, here are your wands. Transform and show her" said Sarah. She and the other fairies gave the girls their wands.
"SHINING SPARKLE..."
"DREAM SPARKLE..."
"SUNSHINE SPARKLE..."
But before they could say "Charge up!" Undine directed a hand made of water to take their wands. "Noooo! Our wands!" said Sakura. "Hahaha! Lets see you fight without your precious magic" said Erin. Undine directed a wave towards the girls. Without their magic, the girls were powerless. The only thing they could do was run. But the wave caught up soon and engulfed the girls.
The girls coughed. "Lets see how you'll fight evil clones of yourself" said Undine. She created clones of the girls through water. They fought with the girls. Sakura fought valiantly with her clone. But it seemed to avoid all her punches. "SAKURA PUNCH!" she screamed and threw a punch. The clone caught it. Then it lifted her and threw her.
Ayumi tried to throw stones at her clone, which it avoided. Then she tried to throw a kick, but her leg got stuck in her clone. "Ah! I...I can't move!" said Ayumi. The clone took her by the leg and threw her.
Minami tried to grab her clone by its arm but she failed. The clone extended it hands and trapped Minami in a bubble. She struggled until her clone freed her.
"Its...no use. They're too strong" said Minami. "I think I can see what we're doing wrong here. We're only fighting our clones, and they know exactly what we'll do next. So why don't we fight each other's clones?" said Ayumi. "Great idea, Ayumi" said Sakura. "I'll fight your clone, Minami-chan will fight my clone and you will fight Minami-chan's clone. Alright?" The girls split up.
Sakura came face-to-face with Ayumi's clone. "Lets see if you can predict my next move" said Sakura. Minami's clone tried to trap Sakura but she avoided it. "SAKURA PUNCH!" she screamed. She managed to land a hit on the clone.
Ayumi picked up some sand and threw it at Minami's clone. It closed its eyes and rubbed them. Then Ayumi landed a kick on it.
Minami grabbed Sakura's clone and threw it in the sand. She stamped it with her legs. Soon, the clone became a puddle in the sand.
"We did it!" said Minami. But Undine directed a water hand at them. "Nice try, girls. But lets see you survive this" said Undine. The girls struggled. But then Sakura spread her hands out and moved them. Soon she was able to come out. She helped Minami and Ayumi too. "I learnt that back when I used to take swimming lessons" said Sakura. She and the others jumped out. "Well, lets see if you can handle my wave" said Undine. She directed a huge wave at them. The girls ran but the wave engulfed them again and took them to the sea. Minami took Sakura and Ayumi's hands and swam up to the surface. "I see you're a good swimmer too, Minami-chan" said Ayumi. "What? How?" asked Undine. "You know what, Undine, you may have taken our magic wands away, but even without magic, we're still strong. If we have the skills, we can be strong, even without magic" said Sakura. "And we need to believe in ourselves. I wasn't too sure I could get us back to the surface but I still believed. And it worked" said Minami. "Don't forget you need to use your brains once in a while too. Like I did when we fought our clones" said Ayumi. "The point is, we don't always need magic to be strong" said Minami.
"And now, for the grand finale. What do you say, girls?" said Sakura. "Lets do it!" said Ayumi. The girls jumped in the water. Undine looked around for them. "MAGICAL GIRL PUNCH!" said the three girls together. They jumped out of the water through Undine's wave, hit her and knocked her to the sand. "And now, to send you to the Fairy Kingdom" said Sarah. She and the other fairies used their magic and sent Undine back. "Urrggghh! I hate you girls so much!" said Erin as she disappeared.
The others soon woke up. The sand sculptures had come back- all except Eri Kasugano's sand sculpture. No one seemed to remember what happened. The judges looked at the sculptures. They came to the girls' sculpture. "Hey, what are your names?" asked the judge. "I'm Mitsuki Sakura, and these are my best friends, Kirasaki Minami and Fujita Ayumi" said Sakura. "Well, we don't know what happened, but I pronounce these three the winners of this year's competition" said the judges. Everyone cheered- except for Akane, of course. "Hey girls" whispered Maria, coming fro the back. "We did some scavenging in the sea and managed to retrieve your wands. "Cool. But if one good thing came out of this whole experience, its that we learnt we can survive without them too" said Sakura.
Oh my gosh, this chapter was a long one to write. But it paid off. I'm most proud of this chapter. In my opinion, I think more Magical Girl shows should do the plot of "magical girl fights without her powers/magic". It shows that you don't always need magic to be strong.