A/N: I would like to thank a reader for pointing out a perfectly good plot that I would've wasted. That is all. Enjoy.
-Straining the Unstable-
The Onpu, Hana, Hazuki, and Ghost Pop were staring at the door. It had been sealed shut and effectively erased by a wall of steel.
"So this is the door that leads to the balcony, right?" Ghost Pop asked.
"Y-y-es," Onpu shakily replied, "A-and I ju-ust bare-ly-ly m-m-made it away f-from those things!"
"Are they really that deadly?" Hana inquired.
"They're the ones eating the wraiths," Ghost Pop explained, "Between Living Me and those things, it's no surprise there's hardly any wraiths left here."
"But why haven't they tried breaking through?" Hazuki added, "And why are they gathering there in the first place?"
"Hana-chan wishes she knew," said the white ghost, "And she wishes she didn't pull that mean prank on Pop-chan…" Hana shed a tear. "Can Hana-chan try and-?"
"No," Onpu rebuked, "What's done is done and going back to change it will just cause more problems."
Hana nodded in agreement, though there was reluctance mixed in as well. All four continued to stare at the sealed door, sporting anxious looks as they did.
Pop mulled about the room. What happened just moments ago was far more than she would have ever wanted to take. First, Hana comes out of nowhere and expresses an interest in killing her instead of turning her into one of them. Then, she tries to kill her by being as violent as possible. And then she has the nerve to call it a joke.
It was no wonder her eye wouldn't stop twitching.
"Why…?" Pop mused sadly, "What did I do to deserve this…?"
She reflected on what had happened ever since she came to the mansion. So far, everything had been going from bad to worse and showed no signs of letting up. And even when things were starting to look up for her, it always ended up in the opposite direction. Indeed, she had every reason to be frustrated. But right now, Pop was trying to muster the courage to go back upstairs and take back the Vac-Drive.
Nothing of the sort was even coming to her.
Ultimately, she was alone in saving her friends and was now literally at their mercy. She had the nagging thought that Hana had asked the others to let her pull that stunt and not interfere until then. All that thought led to was the fact that there was now nothing to stop them from coming to get her, and her ghost half already being capable of ignoring the bright lights and even protecting the other ghostified Ojamajos only made things worse.
Pop crawled back onto the bed. "Maybe if I…" Suddenly, her eyes went wide and became filled with resolve. "If they think they can turn me into a ghost, they have another thing coming!"
Pop immediately got up. No sooner than she did, she felt her strength leaving her. In moments, the red Ojamajo had fallen into a deep sleep.
In the Magic Research Center, Majo Toron was busy analyzing a small contraption. She had just finished it, but she wanted to be sure it was truly complete.
"Working on anything important?" Shadow Ruka inquired.
Majo Toron calmly turned her head to the Shadow Witch. "Yes. And when this is done, it will make things a little bit easier for Pop-chan!"
"Don't you mean 'should'?"
"No. I'm certain it will help her…if only by a little bit."
Shadow Ruka sighed. "Whatever floats your boat. Oh well." She turned toward the door leading to the cell containing Shadow Onpu and Shadow Momoko. "I wonder what our guests are up to?"
"Doing the –ugh!- nasty?" Majo Toron shuddered at the thought. That experience had been burned into her mind as a scene she likely had no interest in seeing, despite what it really was. "If you want to ask them anything, then by all means. But I don't think we're getting any more out of them."
Shadow Ruka shrugged. She then walked over to the door, entered through it, and then stopped before the cell door. There was nothing to be heard, prompting the Shadow to open the grated window and see for herself. What she saw was surprising.
There they were, sharing the cot and sleeping peacefully. Shadow Onpu and Shadow Momoko had apparently decided to pass the time and get some shut eye, and yet, the two Shadow Ojamajos looked much too happy for that to have been the case. Shadow Ruka got the feeling that something else had happened while no one was looking. A few more glances about the room revealed that they had taken off their boots, gloves, and hats; everything else was apparently still being worn underneath the covers.
Giving an aggravated sigh, Shadow Ruka left them alone and closed the window.
Pop walked feverishly down the twisting, stony corridor. The time for giving up had long since passed, but she didn't care. The red Ojamajo had vowed to save her friends and she was going to go through with it, no matter what happened to her.
In mere moments, she was at the final door. Using a brightly colored key, Pop undid the barrier protecting it and burst in. The room was the sanctum of the Shadow Ojamajos, their base of operation, their HQ, and anything else that could be similarly identified. Waiting for her was Shadow Doremi herself; and like usual, she was looking very smug and full of herself.
"So you finally made it, haven't you?" Shadow Doremi mockingly asked, "I guess I could spare some compliments, but that just wouldn't be me, would it?"
"Can it, Shadow Doremi!" Pop shouted, "Just make it easier on yourself and surrender!"
Shadow Doremi smirked at first…until she noticed the Vac-Drive and the fact that Pop had been pointing the hose at her the entire time. She knew what could come out of it and, for once in her life, made the wise decision.
"Ok, ok, ok! I give! I give!" the pink Shadow stuttered, "I'll set your sister free too! Just don't hurt me!"
Pop smiled. She had done it. Even as she thought this, Shadow Doremi was undoing the spell that trapped Doremi in the painting. Once that was done, Doremi fell to the floor and landed in a pile of herself.
"Ow~!" Doremi groaned. She quickly recovered and got up. "What took you so long, Pop-chan?"
"Onee-chan!" Pop cried. She ran up to her now-free older sister and gave her a massive hug. "I…I thought you would be a painting forever…or worse!"
"It's okay now, Pop-chan. What matters is…you've done it! You've saved us all!"
A tear was brought to Pop's eye. On the outside, Pop was always condescending toward Doremi but secretly envious and admiring of her. To get such recognition reinforced the latter feelings and brought them to the surface. For now, they would leave this empty room and return to the Mahou-Dou, where everyone was waiting with a well-deserved celebration.
It didn't take long to make it there. Even if the moon wasn't smiling down, it was more than possible to leave Majo Kai and make it to anywhere a passage to the realm existed. By now, they were in their favorite magic shop.
"I just want you to know, Pop-chan," Momoko said, "That we're sorry about trying to kill you and make you a ghost."
"It's okay, you guys," Pop replied, "I don't blame you."
"Thank you, Pop-chan!" the Ojamajos replied.
"Now we can begin!" Aiko exclaimed.
"But first," Hazuki interjected. She and Onpu grabbed Pop's arms. "A surprise!"
"Eh? Wh-what are you doing?" the red Ojamajo gasped. She tried to pull away, but the two girls had a firm grip.
"Giving you the surprise," Hana replied. She then turned to Doremi, who held a rod with a claw on it.
"Th-th-this can't be right! This h-has to be some kind of joke!"
"It will be after we're done," Doremi replied.
It was then that Pop noticed it: The eyes of the Ojamajos were glowing with their respective colors. She looked on in horror as the room darkened and as Doremi continued her approach. At the same time, the girls removed their skin and revealed themselves to be ghosts; every single one of them. Pop continued her struggle, but to no avail.
"It's okay, Pop-chan," Doremi said reassuringly. Her mouth had curled into a menacing grin while she took aim with her clawed rod. "It'll all be over soon…"
"No…No! NOOOOO!" Pop screamed. It was the last thing she did right before Doremi tore her soul out of her body…
"NOOOOO!"
Pop woke up with a start. It was just a nightmare; likely one that was just warning her never to fall asleep in this mansion again until she was finished. Still, she was breathing heavily from its intensity and therefore tried to relax.
Pop attempted to cover her mouth as she yawned…only to discover that her arms were pinned. She gasped as her eyes shot open. Glancing around, the rose-haired girl saw that her arms were wrapped by the bed sheets not unlike how they were when she first met her ghost half. At the same time, even though the room's lights were on, the room itself was almost pitch black, leaving the lights as little more than faint embers. Her blood turned to ice as she began to panic.
"Wakey wakey, Living Me!" chortled a familiar voice. Pop's blood turned to frozen nitrogen when she realized who it belonged to. "Took you long enough!"
"G-G-Ghost Pop!?" Pop gasped.
"Don't forget us, Pop-chan!" came another voice.
Pop turned her head around the room to the source of the new voice and quickly discovered it to be Onpu's. Onpu and Ghost Pop weren't the only ones with her; Hazuki and Hana were there too.
"So you're all here then," Pop surmised, "Decided to come in and get it over with, didn't you?"
"You read my mind, Living Me," Ghost Pop said, "Read it like a book!"
"But why didn't you just rip my soul out when I was still asleep? It's a better opportunity than right now, isn't it?"
"We could have," Onpu replied flatly, "But that wouldn't have been very nice of us, wouldn't it?"
Pop was about to give a retort, but Hazuki spoke up first. "You wouldn't have known you lost until you awoke. We wanted to reunite you and your ghost half while you were awake."
"And we've decided that Hana-chan, Hazuki-mama, and Ghost Pop will do it together!" Hana added happily.
Pop bit her lip. Here she was, once again at the mercy of her ghostified friends and with nothing to hope for. This time, she really had lost, and it was now time to face the music. She was going to be turned into a ghost and would have to live out the rest of her existence as an undead phantom. If there was a bright side, then the red Ojamajo was refusing to see it.
"Are we ready?" Ghost Pop asked impatiently.
Hazuki and Hana nodded. At once, all three of them raised their right hands and then plunged them right into Pop's chest. The three ghosts gave each other one final look. This was it. They were going to do it. Once done they were done with her, they were going to do the same to the Shadow Ojamajos, if only to have more than just themselves in the mansion.
Pop felt them clench their fists inside her. She closed her eyes in sorrow, awaiting the expected and forceful yank that would tear her soul out…
Just outside the room in the brightly lit hallway, Shadow Hana and Shadow Pop were watching the scene unfold before them.
"This is bad, Shadow Doremi-chan!" Shadow Hana yelled telepathically, "They're going to extract Light Pop's soul and then it'll be over!"
From the sanctum, Shadow Doremi had decided to use her own magic to view the situation. "We don't want it over yet. You and Shadow Pop-chan need to interfere as long as possible!"
"Eh?!" Shadow Pop griped, "Go against Black Queen-sama's orders?!"
"They're a bunch of loose cannons anyway," Shadow Hazuki said dismissively, "If they're not going to do things the way WE want them to, then we WILL make them!"
"Fuck yeah!" Shadow Aiko shouted, "Finally an excuse to get off my ass and get moving!"
"Alright then, we'll do our best!" Shadow Hana replied.
"Do your best at what, may I ask?" came the voice of Black Queen, "Need I remind you of your place in this?"
"Black Queen-sama, those Light Ojamajos will try to turn US into ghosts next if they get Light Pop now!" Shadow Doremi begged, "If they do that, then we won't be able to escape when THEY come after us!"
Black Queen chuckled. "Are you certain that will be the case?" she mockingly asked, "You do know the punishment for insubordination, do you not?"
"I don't care! We're stopping them right now and I won't let YOU stop US!" Shadow Doremi waited for a reply or for Black Queen to appear. When nothing happened, she counted her blessings. "Okay, you two! Time to be some big damn…uh, anti-heroes or villains? Nevermind! Are you ready?"
Shadow Hana and Shadow Pop didn't give a reply. Instead, they burst into the room just as Hana, Hazuki, and Ghost Pop were going to tear out Pop's soul.
Shadow Pop sent a wave of her magic right at the three ghost's arms. It didn't hurt them, but the surprise caused them to release their grip on Pop's soul. Shadow Hana quickly followed up with a spell and forced the Possessors animating the bed sheets out. The two wraiths resembling Fumio and Tatsuya flew out and returned to being part of their mistress' armor. While this was happening, Pop was staring in surprise at the turn of events.
"Okay, this is unexpected," Onpu said, slightly surprised.
"You crossed a line, you four!" Shadow Hana retorted, "Light Pop, now's your chance!"
Pop, dumbfounded, stared at Shadow Hana before untangling herself and getting out of the room and into the safety of the lit areas. To make sure she did so, Shadow Pop gave her some cover and managed to prevent Ghost Pop and Hazuki from going after her.
"Oh well, look on the bright side," Ghost Pop said wishfully, "I guess we can now see if you Shadows can be turned into ghosts or not!"
"You won't get the chance!" Shadow Hana shouted.
"Stay close and plug your noses, everyone!"
Hazuki, Hana, and Onpu grinned and did as Ghost Pop instructed. Shadow Hana and Shadow Pop saw an opportunity and began their attack. Just before they could fire, they were overwhelmed by an incredible stench the likes of which they had never experienced before.
Pop pressed onwards. If there was any time to find and take back her Vac-Drive, it was now. She didn't know why the Shadow Ojamajos were helping her, but she couldn't be bothered to give it any thought at the moment.
She rounded the corner in the second floor hallway and quickly came face to face with a locked door. She grabbed the bag of keys and began trying them one by one. She had no time to be thankful.
It didn't take long to find the right key. Pop entered no sooner than she did and quickly scanned the room. It was, in essence, a copy of Hana's room, though it had to exclude the spiral ladder that normally led down to the hallway in the Mahou-Dou.
At the far end was some kind of contraption that resembled a massive, deconstructed wheel. At the base of the bed was…the Vac-Drive! Two Possessors, resembling Misaki and Kazuhiro, were floating above it. They noticed the red Ojamajo and immediately took action: The Misaki Possessor took over the Vac-Drive while the Kazuhiro Possessor did the same to the wheel-like contraption. The latter device seemed to reconstruct itself and, to Pop's horror, assimilated the Vac-Drive. All of this happened well within the space of time that Pop could've cast a spell in.
"You can't be serious!" Pop shouted in anguish.
A/N: This I had meant to use a perfectly good plot that was pointed out by a reader of this fic in this chapter. Unfortunately, the planning and scenes didn't allow for it. However, I will use it eventually, rest assured.