A/N: This chapter gives exposition. That is all. Enjoy.

-Twin Tales and Training-

Pop remembered this place. Even though she hadn't been there the first time her sister and her friends visited, they still told her about it. This included the exploding inventions and getting their porons refilled.

Majo Toron used her magic to summon a wheelchair. "Help me in this thing, please?"

"Sure," Pop replied. It was difficult, but she eventually got Majo Toron into the wheel chair. "Um, Majo Toron?"

"I know. I'll get right to it."

"That's not it. Before I hear anything else from you, I'd like to give my own side of things."

"Well, your side will help clear things up." Majo Toron straightened her goggles. "All right, I'm all ears!"

Pop cleared her throat.

[ { ( O ) } ]

It was early one day. I had just arrived at the Mahou Dou to help out Onee-chan and the others. It would've been just another day had Majorin not stopped by with a message.

"EH?!" Doremi exclaimed, "A mansion?! In Majo Kai?!"

"Yes," Majorin replied, "You seven have won it fair and square."

Their reactions varied. Doremi-chan was ecstatic; owning her own mansion would've practically guaranteed her having steak every night for the rest of her life.

Hazuki-chan was a little more neutral since she already lived in a large fancy house; she ultimately thought about going to visit every now and then.

Ai-chan thought about finding a way to transfer it to Ningen Kai so she and her parents could live in it together instead of their current houses.

Onpu-chan knew she would likely end up living in one anyway; she was going to receive several benefits from having her career take off when she made it to Hollywood. She did look a little worried though.

Momo-chan thought about it and decided she wanted to have it transferred to Ningen Kai. She didn't say why for some reason.

Hana-chan didn't care as long as she got to stick with everyone, though she did enjoy the idea of being treated frequently.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to live in a mansion right yet; I was still weighing the decision when I got there.

In the end, they all nodded "yes" to the offer.

"Very well," Majorin said, "I will give you a map and description of the place."

"Thank you, Majorin," Doremi replied, taking the piece of paper presented to her.

"Wait a minute, Doremi-chan," Onpu interjected, "How did we win this mansion? I don't recall any of us ever entering a contest."

"It's a random drawing," Majorin replied, "Entry isn't needed. And it's open to apprentices."

We looked at each other and then at looked at Majorin. She cast a shadow, so it had to be safe.

"Congratulations and farewell," Majorin said.

Majorin-san nodded her head and snapped her fingers, vanishing in a puff of smoke and returning to Majo Kai.

"Well everyone?" Doremi began, "The moon will be smiling tonight, so we can go check it out!"

"I don't know, Doremi-chan," Onpu replied, "Majorin was acting kind of fishy."

"She had a shadow, so it wasn't Evil Rin," said Aiko.

In the end, everyone nodded in agreement, except for, well…

"I can't, Onee-chan," Pop lamented, "I have dates with my other boyfriends." Pop then perked up. "I can come by later after I'm done!"

"Well, don't be late," Doremi replied, "Or we might have to have some 'Pop' to drink!" Doremi snickered a bit at her joke. The others didn't look impressed. "Eh heh heh! Sorry, everyone. Force of habit?"

If it was one thing I didn't like about the aftermath of that incident, it was that change in Onee-chan's personality that caused her to become a bit of a prankster.

[ { ( O ) } ]

"And that's it," Pop finished, "Did you…did you catch anything that shouldn't be happening there?"

Majo Toron gave some thought and analyzed the story. It wasn't long before she had a response. "Hmm… This has suspicious written all over it." The inventive Witch was about to get up, but the pain from her broken leg forced her back down. "Ok, bad idea." She cleared her throat. "Well, for starters, Jou-sama seldom just gives mansions away, especially in random drawings. Second, I think you actually have to enter into one of these just to have a chance at a prize."

Pop's eyes went wide. Why would Majorin do this? Why would she lure them into a trap this dangerous? What was she thinking?! What were her friends and sister thinking?!

"I also have another thing to point out," Majo Toron asked, breaking Pop's train of thought, "Did you say Majorin came to the Mahou-Dou today?"

"Well, that's kind of what I did say," Pop replied, "Majorin came earlier today to give us the news."

Majo Toron put her hand to her chin in thought. "I believe someone was impersonating Majorin. It couldn't have been her since she hasn't once been to Ningen Kai in the past week-"

"Then it had to have been Majo Isabelle!" Pop exclaimed, "She casts a shadow and she does have a grudge against Jou-sama and Majorin for ruining her plots! So she-"

"Pop-chan!" Majo Toron half-shouted, making Pop stop, "It couldn't have been Majo Isabelle either because she was taken to the clinic with severe injuries."

"Eh?"

"Someone had come in and given her a beating and ransacked her lair. From what I've heard, she was found in quite an embarrassing position." Majo Toron sighed. "I guess the humiliation is what's been keeping her quiet."

"But then, who?" Pop gave a worried look.

"Well, I can give some idea," Majo Toron spoke up, "And if I give my side, then it'll be two birds with one stone."

"Ok, Majo Toron." Pop braced herself. "I'll ask the questions, ok?"

"Yes."

"Well first off, why is that mansion haunted with all those ghosts?"

Majo Toron face-palmed. "I already told you, Pop-chan: Those aren't ghosts. Because. They're artificial!"

"Well, arti-ghosts then! Why are there arti-ghosts in there?" Pop's tone was nearly demanding. I need to use something less generic than 'arti-ghosts'.

Majo Toron face-palmed once again. "I'm sorry, Pop-chan." She sighed again. "I already said: They're being mass-produced somewhere within that mansion."

Pop looked down in self-pity. She didn't want to be a hindrance anymore and decided to get to the point.

"Do you know if Onee-chan and the others are there?" Pop asked, looking up at Majo Toron.

"I do." Majo Toron wheeled herself over to an elevator. "Come with me."

Pop followed and the two of them descended. It didn't take long for the twosome to enter another part of the Magic Research Center. Pop's eyes widened in amazement.

The room looked like a massive computerized complex. It was circular, the center of it dominated by what appeared to be a raised holo-grid. Terminals lined to walls aside from a few set aside for doorways.

"When did-?" Pop began.

"Let's just say I was rewarded with enough to expand on this place after that incident and leave it at that." Majo Toron went over to a terminal and activated it. The holo-grid activated and began glowing. In the space of a few seconds, a holographic image of a mansion appeared. There was no mistaking it: It was the same mansion that Pop had entered just a few minutes earlier. "I had a scan on it ever since it appeared a few days ago. And when a segment catches my attention, I record it."

"Wow!" Pop exclaimed. She then shook her head to get back on track. "Do you have a recording that involves them?"

"Yes! And I'll bring it up right now!" Majo Toron typed in a combination on the terminal. At once, the mansion hologram seemed to reset and changed into a cross-section view. "I just hope you're ready, Pop-chan."

Pop watched as the scene played out. There were six dots, one pink, orange, blue, purple, yellow, and white. Guessing that the different colors represented the theme colors of the Ojamajos, Pop continued watching.

She saw them enter through the foyer and go up the stairs and, predictably, enter the parlor. To her surprise, they quickly left it and tried to leave out the front door. Pop clutched her heart when she realized they had run into the same trap she did; the front door locking them in.

She then saw them entering through the bottom door and into the hall behind it. It was there that something apparently spooked and scattered them. Pop could only watch in horror as they became more and more distant.

Aiko's dot was at a far point on the ground floor when it suddenly vanished. Hazuki's and Momoko's were also on the ground floor when theirs vanished too. Onpu's was on the third floor. Hana's vanished somewhere on the second.

Doremi was a different story. She was at a far point in the basement level. Pop watched and waited, but hers did not vanish at all.

"Majo Toron?" Pop asked as she turned to the inventive Witch.

"We'll have to fear the worst, Pop-chan," Majo Toron grimly replied, "When your dot appeared, I got there as fast as I could. I made it just in time." Majo Toron looked again at the holographic mansion. It no longer showed the recording, but Doremi's dot was still at her final point in the basement level. "I re-watch it every now and then to try and-"

Majo Toron didn't get a chance to continue explaining when Pop rushed up to her and wrapped her arms around the inventive Witch.

"Thank you, Majo Toron!" Pop cried, "Y-you risked your life to save mine. Thank you!"

"It's okay, Pop-chan," Majo Toron replied. She tried to find the words, but they kept slipping before she could say them.

Pop released Majo Toron from her grip and gave a much more serious expression. "If Onee-chan and Hazuki-chan, Ai-chan, Onpu-chan, Momo-chan, and Hana-chan are trapped in there, then I'll save them!"

"But Pop-chan! You're just a child!"

"I know. But I have to do this. I have to." Pop looked at Majo Toron's leg. "You're also hurt, Majo Toron. If you go in there like that, they will kill you! Please! Let me go in there and save them!"

Majo Toron gave a long thought. "Very well. But you're not going in there without proper equipment."

"Ok, now that I've got in some practice," Pop began, having taken about three minutes of practice, "How long did you say that mansion was there again?"

"I never said," Majo Toron replied, "In truth though, it's only been there for about a week; it actually appeared a few days after Majo Isabelle got attacked."

"We really walked right into that one then," Pop lamented, "But, if it's only been there for a week, then who built it?"

"The Shadow Ojamajos," Majo Toron replied grimly.

Pop was shocked. "Eh? Eh? EH?!" the rose-haired Ojamajo shouted in confusion, "But we worked together last time! We even put aside our differences! How can they do this now?"

"That's the one thing about the Shadows," Majo Toron replied, "It's impossible to tell what's on their minds and what they'll do next. But what they did hasn't changed; they built this mansion and I'm willing to bet that they're the ones responsible for this mess."

Pop dropped to her knees. After everything they all went through in that incident and they STILL had it in them to be enemies.

Hana-chan was wrong, Pop mentally lamented, Befriending the Shadows is out of the question. Always has been and always will. Pop clenched her fist. A fire could be seen in her eyes. "I will make our Shadows pay for this. And when I come back, I will have Onee-chan and the others back safe and sound!"

"Before you go, I have to warn you about one thing," Majo Toron said urgently, "Do you remember that thing that drove off the other fiends? The thing you had asked about when we first came here?"

"Y-yes?"

"A contact of mine, Shadow Ruka, called them 'familiars'. I do not know what they really are, but they are far different from the fiends. They are immune to the Supernatural Vac-Drive and easily shrug off our magic. If you run into one, run. Don't ask questions, don't look back, just run."

Pop grimaced at the name of Majo Toron's contact. Shadow Ruka may have been against her fellow Shadows, but she was in league with another foe named Kada. As a result, trusting her was almost always out of the question even though she hadn't really seen much action.

Pop decided not to worry herself with Shadow Ruka and paid more attention to Majo Toron.

"But, maybe I can-"

Majo Toron shook her head. "I've tried. I really have tried. But my magic does little to no damage. And it's impossible to tell if they'll show up." Majo Toron turned to the holo-grid. "What's worse is that they don't show up on the scan." Pop glanced at it and saw that some of the rooms were blacked out. "I have no idea why some of them are blacked out, but they weren't like that before."

"Well, that explains that," Pop said, "Are you sure there's nothing I can do against the familiars, Majo Toron?"

Majo Toron put her hand to her chin in thought. "Well, I had sent a request to Majo Glace to study ice magic. I sent similar requests to the other Elemental Witches to study their magic. I was given Medallions for Ice, Fire, Water, Sky, Earth, Light, and Darkness...with Jou-sama's aid, of course."

"How good are they against the arti-ghosts?" Pop asked.

"I don't know. They were stolen by the Shadow Ojamajos before I got the chance to put them to use…except one." Majo Toron produced a medallion. It was jet black in color and depicted a crushing force. "The Medallion of Darkness…and its power only made the fiends stronger!"

"Darn it!" Pop got a look of confusion. "But have you tested it out on the familiars?"

"I haven't had the chance."

"Then maybe if-"

"We don't know for sure." Majo Toron rubbed her chin in thought once again. "If one of those things corners you, then try to use the Dark Medallion's power." Majo Toron produced a small trinket. "This device will let you use raw Elemental Energy. Its gauge can be refilled with a single spell, but your magic is limited. I can provide refills on Magic Spheres, but you still have to use them wisely. I only have so many."

"Thank you," Pop replied as Majo Toron use her magic to install the device.

"If you're going there alone, then you will need this." Majo Toron handed another device to Pop. It was a handheld with a screen and buttons on it, but it was no gaming system. "This is the Majo All-in-One Communicator. With it, you can scan objects at short range and keep in contact. It also has a map of the place and helps keep track of where you are in the mansion. I've also noticed that some things tend to activate when scanned though…"

Pop didn't say anything; she simply nodded in thanks.

"I should also mention that it has a translator too," Majo Toron added, "Whenever those familiars showed up, there were strange runes with them. Shadow Ruka assisted in translating them and they could hold a secret to defeating those things."

"Runes?" Pop asked, her curiosity piqued, "I don't recall any runes when that familiar showed up, Majo Toron. Sorry."

"The All-in-One has a complete list."

Pop, with a slight crash-course in operating the handheld, checked the inventory and quickly found the runes. She noted that they were based on the English alphabet and so had to refer to a translator to get them in Japanese.

This translator sucks, thought Pop, Where's Momo-chan when you need her? Pop didn't like the "translation's" quality, but she did snicker inside from the translated words.

"That about covers it, Pop-chan," Majo Toron surmised, "Unless I'm forgetting something?"

Pop shook her head. "I'll be fine."

Pop was now outside the Magic Research Center. It was originally a small building on stilts with a radio dish on top. Now it resembled a small fortress with twisting towers like those of the Castle itself…and the radio dish was still there.

I guess Majo Toron likes that dish, thought Pop.

Majo Toron was in the open doorway. "Good luck, Pop-chan!"

"Thank you, Majo Toron!" Pop replied. A quick glance around revealed that they were situated in the same dark forest as the mansion. A second glance revealed the mansion itself, though it was only visible due to its size. Don't worry everyone. I'm coming. And I will save you all!

With those thoughts of confidence, Pop summoned her broom and flew over the trees towards the mansion. She then climbed the steps once more and opened the door. Ignoring the butterflies in her stomach, Pop clicked on the flashlight and entered.

A/N: I'm fairly certain that some readers will know what I'm referring to when I say "that incident". But since I have yet to complete it, there may be spoilers to some of the events of that fic. Some existing plot holes are filled in by said fic. For those who don't know it, I am referring to "Ojamajo: The Fusion Incident".

Disclaimer: I do not own the Shadow Ojamajos; they are copyright PrettiWitchiMegChanChi and were used with permission.