Sonic was left unaware of the plight of the Magical Girls in Nabuka City. He'd heard a lot more rumors about sightings over the past few nights, but never really paid it much mind.

So when he heard Fav's voice on the other end of a rooftop entryway, he sat right up to listen.

"Is this article true?" An unfamiliar voice asked.

"It might be a tall tale, or it might be the truth, pon! Calamity Mary looks and behaves like an outlaw, so her behavior can be a bit reckless at times, pon."

"Sometimes?" Sonic could detect the sarcasm in the female speaker's voice.

"It's not my place to confirm whether or not it actually happened. Nobody likes a tattletale, pon!"

"Right. What about this? There's been too many sightings. I think you should say something."

"It's because Snow White works the hardest out of everyone, pon." The mention of Snow White got Sonic's attention back. "What you see is just the tip of the iceberg. Now that I think about it, weren't you looking at that page earlier, pon?"

"So what?"

"Viewing them as rivals is a good thing, pon! And competing against each other will be lots of fun, pon!"

'Competing?' Sonic wondered. 'What's he talking about?'

"It's not like you gave us much choice. You set this all up."

"That's a baseless claim. All we did was create fair rules to decide how to halve the Magical Girls, pon!"

'Halve the Magical Girls? Now I'm really curious.'

"Maybe. But it's your fault there's too many of us-" The speaker then stopped, as if noticing something. "Come on out, hedgehog. I know you're there."

"Heh, guess I am." Sonic chuckled, walking out from behind his bit of cover. "Ripple, wasn't it?" He asked, and the ninja simply scoffed.

"What are you doing here?" Ripple questioned.

"Oh, y'know. Stuff."

Ripple scoffed again. "Great, as if you weren't annoying enough already..."

"What was that?"

"Oh hey!" A familiar voice called from above. "I know you!"

"Hey, Top Speed!" Sonic greeted. "Good to see you again!"

"Same here! Is Ripple giving you a hard time? Just looking at her is letting me know her tsundere game is strong tonight."

"No kidding..." Sonic chuckled.

"I could've run away sooner if I wasn't dealing with a tadpole..." Ripple muttered.

"Why would you run away from me?" Top Speed asked. "Aren't I your super-awesome partner?"

"I never agreed to be on a team with you or anyone else."

"Tell her, Fav!" Top Speed said, pulling out her Magical Phone. "You said that whoever has the least amount of Magical Candies at the end of each week will drop out one by one, right?"

"Correct, pon!"

"Wait, what?" Sonic questioned.

"Oh, that's right, you wouldn't know, pon. Basically, the mana in this city is going to dry up quickly with all these Magical Girls draining it constantly, so we decided to halve their number to eight, pon!"

"And you wanted the most able ones to remain, so that you have a similar production level with less cost, right? That's why everyone's competing for these Candies?"

"Indeed, pon!"

"Not to mention, we're getting a new girl next week on top of the fifteen we already have!" Top Speed revealed. "Wah! I can't believe this competition is going to drag on for eight more weeks!"

"A new girl? Man, I've really been left out of the loop!" Sonic chuckled.

"For real, pon. If only there was a way you could- Wait, pon! I have an idea!"

"An idea, huh? Well, don't leave me hangin'!"

"Hold out your hand, pon!"

Sonic obliged, and watched as a sort of multicolored vortex opened a few inches above his palm, and dropped a familiar egg-shaped device into his hand. A Magical Phone.

"Woah, wait, hold on. You're seriously giving me one of these?"

"A sort of different version, but yes. Since you aren't officially a Magical Girl, you can't earn Candies, pon. So instead, this device will keep track of your Rings and other collectibles instead, pon! And you can still use it to contact the other Magical Girls. And since I'll be able to reach you at any time, you shouldn't have to worry about being left behind, pon!"

"Interesting..." Sonic muttered. "I'll have to see what all it can do. Thanks, Fav!"

And he sped off into the night, leaving Top Speed and Ripple to perform their usual patrol.

"That was a very risky plan, Doctor." Orbot stated.

"Yes, I know." Eggman sighed. "But it'll let me keep tabs on that rotten hedgehog, so I'll know if we need to change plans."

"Ah, I see. And he still suspects nothing?"

"Not a clue as to what's really going on. So far, the plan is going swimmingly! Proceed as planned!"

"Yes, Doctor. Is there anything else?"

"Get me another latte. And some fried chicken, too. I'd like some snacks while I enjoy the show!"

"Affirmative, Doctor. I will return shortly."

When Koyuki entered the Chatroom after a long night out, she wasn't expecting to find a certain blue hedgehog there looking around.

"Oh, hey!" Sonic greeted. "Surprised to see me?"

"A little..." Snow White responded. "I just didn't know that you could get into the Chatroom."

"I just got here a little bit ago. Fav gave me one of those phones so I wouldn't be left out of the info loop. I didn't even know that you were in a sort of competition until a few hours ago when I met up with Top Speed and Ripple."

"Really?" Koyuki asked. "Anyway, what have you been doing?"

"Not really anything. Most remarkable thing that happened tonight was that house fire earlier."

"You were there?"

"You make it sound like you were."

"I was... La Pucelle and I saved the elderly couple inside. It took barely half a minute, so I don't blame you for missing us."

"No, I saw you alright, I just wasn't sure if it was you or someone else."

"It was a first for me, so I'm kind of excited. Y'know, because I've never saved anyone before."

"Yeah, I get what you mean. It was like that for me the first time I defeated Dr. Eggman."

"Doctor who?"

"Oh, just someone from back home."

Meanwhile, in an undisclosed location, Dr. Eggman sneezed.

"Anyway, I bet if the others were here, they'd be super happy for you." Sonic continued as if he hadn't just revealed that he potentially dealt with a mad scientist on a frequent basis. "Speaking of, Nemurin was just here a little bit ago."

"Nemurin?"

"Yeah. She's kinda spacey, but really nice once you get to know her. Apparently she sleeps most of the afternoon, which is why she was here so late. When I asked her why, she said that her magic allowed her to enter other people's dreams."

"Wow, I can't believe there's a power that cool- Wait, how late actually is it?"

Sonic froze for a bit, and she wondered what he could be doing wherever he was. "2:23. If you have any sort of life outside being a Magical Girl, you might wanna get some shut-eye."

"You're right." Koyuki agreed. "I'm going to head to bed now, see you later!"

"If you see her, tell Nemurin I said hi!"

And that was when Koyuki shut her Magical Phone off, setting her head down on her pillow and attempted to get some sleep.

Sonic, once again, was lounging atop Ruler's hideout. Why? He was bored.

"Right then, report your earnings for this evening." Ruler stated from within.

"Together... We earned 28 Candies!" He heard the Peaky Angels say.

"So only 28 between the two of you?"

Sonic could almost feel the Angels' dejection from his perch.

"...101." An unfamiliar voice said, which Sonic guessed was his attacker from the last time he was here, judging by the fact he'd never heard her speak.

"Swim Swim! Yay!" The Angels cheered.

"Well done!" Ruler congratulated.

'That doesn't-'

"Is what I would say if I were impressed!"

'There we go.'

"I earned 124!"

"Way to go, Ruler!" One of the Angels said. "Yeah! That's why you're the leader!" The other finished.

"Stop prattling, you worthless fools! Tama!"

He heard a yelp from within, and already figured that Tama had probably earned the least amount of Candies that day.

"And how many did you earn?"

"Um... I had a rough time..."

"Are you saying you failed to earn even one Candy today?!"

"Yeah, sorry... I promise I tried! Sorry..."

"Yes, well, 'I tried' is quite possibly the worst excuse I've ever heard! You really are a useless mutt!"

'Give her a break...' Sonic thought. 'Can't win 'em all.'

"Hear now! I refuse to let anyone on my team drop out of this competition!"

A moment of almost silence followed.

"Huh? Are you leaving?" One of the Angels asked.

"Yes, it's late." Swim Swim responded.

"What about the announcement?"

"Even if Snow White's at the top again, you should still listen."

"You know she is."

"Can you believe there's a whole website dedicated to her?"

"Show off..."

Sonic pulled out his own Magical Phone after hearing the words of the Angels.

'So... Whoever loses tonight, we have to say goodbye to forever...'

Little did he (or anyone else for that matter) know, saying goodbye forever would involve a lot more heartbreak than expected...