Chapter Three: Together Again
"Michiru-san, I would like to believe you, but I just don't think there's any way!" Ami insisted. Massaging her temples, the blue-haired girl groaned. "Sorry for sounding so on edge, but...what you saw just doesn't seem logical. If other girls like us were out there, it wouldn't make any sense for them to have not reached out to us. For example, you and Haruka-san had never met any of us before when you experienced your awakenings as Uranus and Neptune. Yet you still knew that your mission was to protect Princess Serenity." "
Don't misunderstand, I'm concerned as well," Michiru replied. "Actually, an idea occurred to me shortly after I contacted the rest of you. What if this girl is in the same situation that Vesta, Ceres, Juno, and Pallas were in? If that's the case, then that strange white cat I saw could have been controlling her in the same way Nehellenia was controlling them."
Ami nodded. "I suppose that's a possibility. Could you describe the cat again? Maybe draw a picture?" Michiru nodded, reached into her bag for a pen, and began drawing on the complementary notepad that had come with her hotel suite. After a minute, she pushed the paper across to Ami.
"It isn't beautiful, but it's accurate enough." Ami was completely baffled by the creature Michiru had supposedly seen. It did have a rather catlike build, although Ami had never heard of a cat with four ears.
"Were the rings around the ears attached to anything?"
Michiru shook her head. "No. They just floated there." Shivering, she continued. "The worst thing about it was its face. I don't think the greatest artist in the world would be able to portray it correctly. It had a smile that looked painted on and fake, and beady pink eyes that seemed to be staring right through me, analyzing me. Like they could see into my soul."
"And it spoke using telepathy? It didn't physically move its mouth like Luna and Artemis?"
"That's right. Actually, the other girl contacted it first. I think it was serving as more of a medium between our thoughts, although it did directly address me at one point. Not that I understood what it was talking about."
Ami was taken aback by that. "You mean the other girl was able to use telepathy as well? You didn't mention that before."
Michiru shrugged. "I was still rather shocked by what had all happened, it must have just slipped my mind." She paused, sighing. "If only we still had Luna and Artemis. They might have known something."
Ami lowered her eyes, clenching her fists in frustration. The two cats had mostly recovered from the injuries Sailor Galaxia had given them, but at the cost of their speech capabilities and memories of the Silver Millenium. Upon examining them, Setsuna had concluded that both cats would probably be stuck with the intelligence of average felines unless they joined Diana and Chibiusa in Crystal Tokyo. "There, Neo-Queen Serenity would probably be able to heal them," the green-haired woman had conveyed. "But although it's the more practical choice, there's no guarantee that they would be able to come back to our time. The Time-Space Doors were so damaged by Sailor Galaxia's onslaught, I'm not sure they'll ever function properly again. If we send Luna and Artemis into the future, it might be forever."
The news had been a damaging blow to everyone, but Usagi and Minako had definitely taken it the hardest. Minako had been so devastated, she hadn't spoken for three days. "You can't really blame her," Rei had remarked. "After all, she and Artemis worked together for an entire year before Usagi even met Luna."
Ami looked up, an idea coming to mind. "Do you think you could find this mystery girl again with your mirror? After all, that was how you first saw her, wasn't it?"
Michiru looked uncertain. "My mirror only acts like that when it's in the presence of something with strong magical powers. Remember its original activation, during Usagi's first transformation into Super Sailor Moon? It takes something like that happening in a close proximity to where I am. For example, it wouldn't be able to detect you right now, since you're in your civilian form. If you were transformed, that would be one thing. But as Ami Mizuno, you're invisible to its magical radar. I can't simply make it hone in on a random civilian like what you're suggesting."
Ami mulled over this information for a moment, making a slight change to her plan. "Why not use it to find this strange white cat, then? If we can find it, I have a feeling this Mami Tomoe will be close by."
"We may as well try," Michiru said, reaching across the table for her mirror. She closed her eyes, and the look on her face showed she was in deep concentration. After a few moments, she swiped her hand over the mirror, and the trident etched on the back began to glow. Several tense seconds passed. Nothing. Michiru's face fell.
"It was worth a go-" Ami was cut off by the sudden appearance on the glass surface of a strange creature that matched Michiru's drawing. Unbelievable! She actually found it! The catlike animal was perched on the shoulders of a teenage girl with curly blonde hair, just like Michiru had described. The girl seemed to be talking to the creature, although the mirror couldn't convey sound. Ami's eyes strayed to a small piece of paper next to the girl. "Michiru-san...isn't that a ticket for the concert tonight?"
Michiru nodded. "Let everyone know what we've found. And tell them to come prepared tonight. I don't want anyone to be caught off guard if there's a fight."
Sayaka Miki hadn't even wanted to come to the performance. The only reason she had agreed to three months prior was because the plan had been for Kyosuke to play a rendition of one of her favorite pieces. She certainly didn't want to watch whoever had been called in at the last minute to replace him, no matter how much her parents had sung the woman's praises for the entire fifteen-minute car ride.
Yet there she was, standing in the metal and glass lobby of the Mitakihara Concert Hall, wanting to hate it. So far, she was succeeding. The polished wood balconies with their metal railings that made up the second, third, and fourth floors hung over her head. They weren't pretty; Sayaka thought they were rather tacky and out-of-place. Hundreds of people moved around her, admiring that aspect of the architecture or expressing their excitement at getting to see this performer. Tired of hearing their obnoxiously loud voices, she turned to her mother. "Mom, I'm going to go look for Madoka. She said her family was coming, too."
Without waiting for a response, she turned around and began pushing her way through the crowd. After being momentarily blinded by a camera flash, a glimpse of pink hair caught her eye. She gave a sigh of relief as she heard her best friend calling out, "Sayaka-chan! Over here!"
Sayaka raced over as fast as her shoes would allow her. "Glad I found you! You have no idea what I had to go through on the way here!" she moaned.
Madoka's mother turned to her with a smile. "Sayaka-chan, how nice to see you! Oh my, you and Madoka look so beautiful together in your dresses!" Sayaka blushed. Her dress was a pretty shade of azure, floor-length, and sleeveless, with an ocean blue sash around her waist. Madoka's was the same length, and appeared to have been chosen by her mother, as Sayaka knew her best friend would never have gone with something strapless if she'd gotten a say.
Madoka looked flustered. "Mom, why couldn't I have worn something a little less noticeable? And the same with the hair ribbons!" Sayaka and Madoka's mother both burst out laughing. In truth, Madoka actually looked rather pretty. The dress was a pink shade of blush that matched her hair (which was done up in two cute scarlet ribbons) almost perfectly, and the fabric looked light and soft. Not like Sayaka's, with its itchy lace collar that would probably be ripped to shreds the second her fingernails touched it.
Her night would only be getting worse from there.
During all of this, Homura was creeping throughout the upper floors of the building. She had swapped out her sleeveless black dress for her standard magical girl outfit. The violet glow of her Soul Gem was the only light on the otherwise abandoned fifth floor, casting an eerie glow about the hallway. Homura supposed this floor was for storage, only accessed by crew members. With the performance starting in three minutes, it was likely they had all already taken their positions in the rafters.
Homura did have a reason to be in a dark, abandoned hallway above a crowded concert hall just minutes before showtime. Her primary goal, Madoka Kaname's safety. A hallway like this was the perfect place for a witch to lurk, and in the dark, crowded auditorium, it would be easy for Kyubey to lure Madoka into a labyrinth and convince her to make a contract. Homura was certain the white cat would be somewhere in the vicinity tonight.
There was one downside: Kyubey had finally taken note of her presence on the fourth night, when she had been forced to either transform or let a witch absorb a man walking home from his job into its barrier. Homura had emptied a round of bullets into the creature and fled before it could respawn, but the damage had been done. It knew her face now, and it was only a matter of time before it was able to track her down.
Her Soul Gem flickered brighter, but not the way it did when it detected a witch. It was reacting to a magical girl, and by the look of it, she was extremely close by. Taking a tentative step towards a door leading off to the rafters, Homura heard the distinct sound of a soda can being opened. Homura needed no more clues to discern who it was.
Reaching into her shield, she retrieved a small handgun. Opening the door, she pointed it at the girl. "I see you're prepared for a long night," she remarked.
Kyoko Sakura was not dressed for the occasion. Clad in a worn-out green hoodie and denim shorts, with a tangled mane of red hair held back by a single ribbon, her appearance would have probably given some of the more proper women heart attacks. Homura figured that was why she was perched in the rafters, almost directly above the stage, with a can of soda clutched in one hand and her Soul Gem in the other. The redhead narrowed her eyes. "And just who are you, huh?"
"That isn't important." Homura kept a firm grip on the gun, flipping some of her hair over her shoulder with her free hand. She was impressed by Kyoko's nonchalance, most magical girls would have quailed in terror the second they realized they were being held at gunpoint by an obvious veteran. "What interests me is why you're in Mitakihara when it's been the undisputed territory of Mami Tomoe for two years."
Kyoko smirked. "Could ask the same of you." Taking a slow sip of her soda, she let out a sigh. "It's gonna be a long night. Guess I've got nothing better to do. Though I'd be a little more conversational if you'd get that gun outta my face." Homura thought it over, then complied. She didn't take her eyes off the other girl, though.
Kyoko eyed Homura's shield with interest. "Should have asked Kyubey for one of those. Woulda made my life a lot easier, that's for sure." She let out a quick laugh, reaching for a brown paper bag next to where she was sitting. "Want a taiyaki? I probably took a few more than I needed from that vendor, but hey, you never know. One minute you're sitting and minding your own business, next thing you know, you got a magical girl pointing a gun in your face. Nice to have some basic comforts before you go out, y'know?"
Homura didn't accept the offer. "Are you looking Mami Tomoe or not?"
Kyoko nodded, biting into the fish-shaped cake. "Yeah. Don't get me wrong, I think she's really self-righteous, acting like she's gonna change the world or something. But everyone makes the contract thinking that kind of crap. You did, I did. But then reality hits you." Kyoko made a sweeping gesture with her hand to emphasize her point. "Nothing good ever comes from asking for the impossible."
Homura nodded. At least this was going better than her last meeting with Kyoko, during which she had been caught off guard while witch-hunting, pinned to the ground, and wound up nearly losing one of her eyes. Yes, she figured she should probably avoid that kind of confrontation if she could help it. "There she is." Homura pointed to the fourth row, where Mami sat in a low-cut, lemon yellow dress.
"Yeah, I spotted her ages ago. How could I not? Only one more obvious than her is bunhead up in the front. She wouldn't shut up until the girl next to her looked ready to knock her lights out. Looked like she told her something to that effect, too."
Homura followed where Kyoko was looking to a girl who looked to be about sixteen. Her blonde hair was done up in odango buns that had long ponytails trailing out behind them, and she wore a strapless white dress with gold trim on the bodice. Next to her was an elegant-looking girl with long black hair, indeed looking very frustrated. Now that Homura was paying attention, they seemed to be part of a group consisting of nine or ten people. "I think they're guests of one of the performers," Kyoko said in between bites. "Weird thing about them is that they've been setting off my Soul Gem all night. See, yours is doing it too!"
Homura's eyes briefly glanced back towards her Soul Gem, which was now glowing a bright shade of amethyst. Uneasiness stirred within her. It usually only glowed like that whenever Madoka used her ultimate attack. The one that only had one end. "Are you suggesting that they're magical girls as well?"
"Well, that's the thing, isn't it? Look closer. No sight of any Soul Gems, and when was the last time you saw nine magical girls in the same place without them all trying to kill each other over a Grief Seed? Nah, something more's up. That's why I came out. Figured ol' Mami would have some idea of why my Soul Gem's going crazy. She was always the best at picking up strange magic."
Homura mulled over this turn of events for a minute. It would be best to nip this in the bud if they're enemy magical girls. What good has ever come of more contractees than Madoka, Sayaka, Mami, and Kyoko in the same universe?
"What do you suggest?" she said, turning to Kyoko.
"Hang on now, I never said anything about working together," Kyoko objected. "You haven't even told me your name!"
"Akemi. Homura Akemi."
"Kyoko Sakura. Nice to meet you. Well, now that formalities are out of the way, shall we get started?" She held out the taiyaki once more. Homura thought for a moment. This could be dangerous, and she would be losing a great advantage of Kyoko was killed so early in. But nine other potential magical girls? It was simply too much of a wild card.
She took the taiyaki.
