In which theories are tested.
"So... I think I know why Cranberry just called us out to a quarry." Sonic remarked.
"No shit." Calamity Mary agreed.
"I think she's upset with the current situation." Magicaloid theorized. "The case we have against her, I mean."
"I'd hardly call it a 'case'. It's just a bunch of guesses."
"Yeah, well. I guess we'll see if we're on the right track or not." Sonic sighed, taking a bite out of a chilidog.
"Good evening." A familiar voice called from the distance, making Sonic's ear twitch. And from the shadows emerged none other than Cranberry, the Musician of the Forest. "Calamity Mary, Magicaloid, Sonic."
"Heh, took you long enough!" Sonic quipped, keeping up his act as he slid down the small cliff-face and down to Cranberry's level. "I don't think you and I've met outside the Chatroom."
"Indeed. Though I see you are exactly how I imagined you were."
"Alright, mind tellin' us what all this is about?" Mary wondered. "I was about to make a deal with the rat here before ya called us."
"I'm not a rat, I'm a hedgehog..." Sonic muttered under his breath.
"Really? I thought you already knew."
"We would just like you to confirm it for us." Magicaloid said.
"I already know you're working with Sister Nana, Sonic."
"What about it?"
"Give it up." Cranberry remarked. "You're just getting in the way, and frankly, it's ruining the game."
"'Game'?" Sonic asked. "So that's what this is to you? A game!? Innocent people are dying, and you think it's just some game!?"
"I thought you'd already pieced that together." And then she launched a sweeping kick at Sonic, who was barely able to parry the strike. The battle began as Sonic curled into a ball and shot forward at Cranberry while she was recovering from the blow. But her crimson eyes flashed briefly, and she elegantly sidestepped, making Sonic shoot right past her like a bullet, uncurling and bouncing on his foot to a stop.
'She dodged my spin attack! No one's ever done that before...'
"How predictable..." Cranberry muttered, and Sonic could've sworn she heard her licking her finger lightly? What was up with that? He didn't have time to question it as Cranberry shot forward. Sonic once again curled into a ball, but this time to leap over Cranberry's head. Even if she'd seen it coming, she'd have no way of grabbing him without harming herself, especially since Sonic's quills made rolling almost like a sawblade.
Cranberry skidded to an abrupt halt and turned to face Sonic. She likely expected him to uncurl any second now and be vulnerable, but that wasn't the case as he uncurled instantly and began spinning horizontally, his foot outstretched. Multiple blades of energy shot out and towards Cranberry, who began running a wide circle around him to bait the projectiles. But Sonic wasn't blind to Cranberry slowly closing the distance between herself and him.
"I must admit, Sonic. I wanted to fight you from the moment I first heard about you. And once you started digging, I knew I would get my chance." Cranberry explained as the projectiles ceased, and Sonic began falling to the ground. "You may be strong, but you're careless. You leave yourself open to too many counterattacks. For starters, your mobility is extremely reduced in the air." She said as she leapt for Sonic, arm wound back to launch a vicious punch once she was in range.
"Yeah, you're right. I can't move too well in the air." Sonic agreed as Cranberry's fist flew out. However, said fist hit only empty air as Sonic whipped around and was now primed to attack Cranberry's open backside. "But 'not too well' is still better than none at all."
Sonic launched his foot out and finally got a good hit. Cranberry grunted and flew forward a bit from the impact, allowing Sonic to launch a Homing Attack after her, keeping her airborne so he could launch a few more attacks faster than Cranberry could react. Sonic then shot upwards and slammed down hard on Cranberry's chest, slamming her into the ground and creating a massive cloud of dust.
"Too slow!" Sonic quipped as he landed a short ways away from the dust cloud, charging a Spindash and launching forward. The sound of a brutal impact rang out as a shockwave cleared away the cloud of dust. And when said dust cleared, Cranberry was still standing, holding the spinning Sonic with one hand. Sonic then stopped spinning, and found Cranberry's cold hand on his forehead. "Uh oh-" He began.
"Forte." Cranberry stated calmly, and an ear-splitting sound echoed from her palm as a bright flash of magic engulfed the two. Once said light cleared, Cranberry was still standing, relatively unharmed. But Sonic was gone. He had been flung back into the wall he'd slid down to reach the arena. A few Rings sat scattered between Cranberry and Sonic, and the formed picked up and examined one.
"I see." Cranberry said. "The rumors were true. Those Rings you collect protect you from otherwise fatal damage. I wonder what would happen if I had done that while you had none..." She gave a quiet chuckle as she walked over and placed a hand on Sonic's neck, lifting him up slightly. Her hand began vibrating slowly, but before Sonic could drop more Rings, he curled into a ball once more. Too fast for Cranberry to stop, and he sent her spinning with him, slamming her into the ground over and over again, creating a deeper and deeper crater in the ground with each impact.
He finally ended with one final slam, knocking Cranberry into the air with the force of it. Sonic shot out in a Homing Attack, yet Cranberry was ready for this one. Her eyes once again flashed crimson, but Sonic suddenly uncurled, his eyes flashing cyan as he crackled with energy for just a moment before launching an unrelenting combo, striking Cranberry again and again. Ending by initiating a Loop Kick, which connected right with Cranberry's chin and sent her to the dirt.
Sonic landed, breathing heavily as Cranberry got back up. The two locked eyes for a moment, emerald green clashing with a vibrant crimson. But, to Sonic's surprise, Cranberry relented, turning away from him.
"I must admit, you're more fun to fight than I thought. It would be a shame to eliminate you now."
"Huh?"
"I've met very few who have been able to throw me off my guard, and even fewer who are fast enough to keep up with me. So for now, I'll let you live. But unless you get stronger, you won't be so lucky next time."
And just like that, the Musician of the Forest walked away without another word.
"That... Could've gone worse." Sonic shrugged.
"Hmph, you mean better." Calamity Mary countered. "We all woulda been better off if you'd managed to kill that crazy whore."
"Speaking of. Why didn't you help me?" Sonic asked. "If you wanted her dead so bad, you could've done more than sit there."
"I wanted to test you, obviously. See how capable you are, and so I'll know how to take you out if you get out of line or don't take my offer. Which, you haven't gotten back to me on. So? Had time to think about it? If you want this purty little thing, all you gotta do is work with me." Mary offered, referring to the Chaos Emerald she had.
"Fine. Just because I don't trust you with it." Sonic conceded.
"Really? You want it that badly?"
"If you knew what they could really do, you would do the same. Now hand it over, we had a deal."
"I s'pose." Mary sighed. "A deal's a deal." She said, holding out the Emerald for Sonic to take, and one of the seven Emerald indicators on his Magical Phone lit up yellow. One down. Six to go.
"You're letting them go?" Fav asked as Cranberry left the scene. "I thought you said you were going to eliminate Sonic, pon! If you let him live, he's only going to ruin the game, pon."
"The hedgehog is more fun to fight than I imagined. Not to mention that because of him, I actually had to use my magic."
"You said it yourself. Those stupid Rings he collects keep him alive. You definitely would've killed him if he wasn't constantly stockpiling them, pon."
"Hmm, let's put that plan on hold, then."
"That's irresonspible, pon!"
"I don't care if the game progresses. I just want to fight someone strong. To either kill them or be killed. That's the only thing I crave right at this moment."
"Well, the plan matters to me, pon..."
"We'll find the girls closest to him, and then eliminate the strongest among them. Well, Fav? Does that plan sound like it would be a fair compromise?"
The next day, Kano Sazanami, AKA Ripple, was making her commute home. While doing so, she was scrolling through the forums dedicated to Magical Girl sightings in the city.
Sightings increased! The headlines read. Blue hedgehog spotted in harbor! Potential new magical girl?
3: The white magical girl worked until her hands were black helping my little brother change the tubes on his bike tire.
13: I saw her stroking the head of a crying child. She looked like she was about to cry too, though. I wonder why...
As the train she was on gained ground upon and slowly passed a bus, though, she was unaware of said Magical Girl on board. Koyuki Himekawa was also making her commute home from school, but even in her human life, she couldn't escape the horrible situation she and so many others were in. Her mind wandered to Nemurin, then Tama. The two dropouts now dead and buried because of this awful turn of events.
"What's wrong, Koyuki?" Sumire asked, noticing her friend's downtrodden look and quiet demeanor. "You've been kinda down lately."
"Yeah, what's your deal?" Yoshiko questioned.
"Aha! Nothing's wrong, I'm perfectly fine!" Koyuki lied.
"I got it!" Sumire said, and Koyuki hid the fact that her heart dropped. She would be mortified if Sumire said anything related to Magical Girls. "Did you get rejected?"
Koyuki breathed a mental sigh of relief, although she was still a bit red in the face by the outrageous claim. "N- No way! Sumire! That's just crazy talk!"
"...Is it though?" Sumire countered with a smug grin, looking back at Koyuki.
"That reminds me." Yoshiko spoke up. "I hear Emi just found herself a new boyfriend."
"Found? They're not puppies, Yo-chan."
"I'm so jealous..." Yoshiko remarked as Koyuki's mind once again wandered to her life as Snow White, particularly to her partner, La Pucelle. She was the only one who knew the true identity of the knight, Souta Kishibe. Her childhood friend. Her face flared red as she processed the thought.
'Souta? Why did I think of him just now...?'
Another night, another meeting called by Sister Nana. Sonic was obviously first to arrive at the rendezvous point (the abandoned warehouse), dropping in through the broken skylight.
"So, what's the scoop?" He asked, walking towards Nana and Winterprison.
"Hm, well, actually, not everyone's here yet." Nana revealed.
"Oh? Really? Who else should be here?" Sonic questioned, only for his ear to twitch as he heard footsteps from his left. And from the shadows walked a pale young girl dressed in black, wearing an almost Victorian era outfit and holding a stuffed rabbit plush. Her dull violet eyes stared blankly at the group, as if she was on autopilot.
"Are you the new Magical Girl?" Nana wondered. "Hardgore Alice, right?" She continued, and the new girl simply nodded in confirmation.
"H'okay, definitely not creepy at all..." Sonic muttered, earning a side-eye from Winterprison.
"Now is the time we need to come together." Nana stated. "Our magic is meant to bring joy to others. I don't think it should be used for evil."
Alice didn't respond.
"Listen, did you hear what she said?" Winterprison demanded. "None of this would've happened if you hadn't become the sixteenth Magical Girl, so the least you can do is acknowledge her."
"Aw, give her a break." Sonic said, pulling Winterprison back a bit. "It's not her fault. She had no way of knowing this would happen when she became a Magical Girl, so cut her some slack."
"I'm sorry." Nana apologized. "We're kind of on edge. There have been attacks, and someone even tried to steal Snow White's Candies. Oh, she was probably targeted because she always has the most Candies. Poor thing, I shudder to think what would've happened if Sonic here hadn't intervened."
"Don't get me thinking about it..."
The mention of Snow White finally made Alice's expression change, her eyes widening slightly. "You said it was Snow White who was attacked..." She muttered, her voice light and slightly raspy. "Is she the Light Magical Girl?"
"Uhm, yes, that's her..." Nana confirmed.
"I need to find her. Tell me where she is."
Nana looked to Winterprison and then to Sonic, none of them having any clue where Snow White could be at the moment.
"Eh, gimme about a minute and I could probably find her." Sonic offered.
"Yes, please d-" Alice started, but didn't even finish as Sonic blasted straight past her and out of the warehouse to search for Snow White.
"I'll never get over how he can just do that." Winterprison remarked, trying to swat some of the dust away.
However, Snow White and La Pucelle were not in their usual spot on the southern radio tower.
"We need to change where we meet up. Somewhere new every night." La Pucelle explained, sitting on a rooftop, her back to Snow White's.
"Yeah, okay."
"And we should sit with our backs to each other so we can watch out for attacks."
"Okay..."
A moment of silence between the two as La Pucelle tried to find anything to talk about.
"Hey, Koyuki...? You've always been a crybaby."
"Uh, I guess..."
"Even if it didn't involve you. You'd always cry when someone was in a fight."
"I can't help it. I don't like conflict..."
"I know. Which is why this whole thing must be hard for you. You gotta hang in there, though."
"Right..."
La Pucelle moved her hand back and brushed against Snow White's arm, pulling her hand back slightly before resting it atop her partner's. Snow White's face flared red at the sudden contact. "Okay. I'll do my best. With you here, I know I can keep going!"
In his secret lair, Eggman was still at a loss from the events of a few nights prior.
"So, that pesky Musician is the cause of Fav's insolence..." He mused. "Although, she can give Sonic a run for his Rings... Maybe if I can convince her to turn her bloodlust on him..."
"One thing at a time, Father." Sage remarked, floating up behind him. "You may need Sonic at some point or another."
"Bah! When has that ever happened?"
"The Starfall Islands, Father."
"That was a one-time thing!"
"Did you not say the same about the Lost Hex incident?"
"Twice!"
Sage sighed. "Still, my calculations show that it is not a good idea to eliminate Sonic just yet. He may prove useful in the future."
"I'll keep that in mind- Wait, what is that?" Eggman muttered, having been lazily flying Magicaloid through the city. Looking closer, it was two figures. One of which he did not like. "Oh. That's not good. That's not good at all."