Finally back! Took a bit of a break cuz I was feeling a bit burnt out, but I'm all fired up now!

I've slowly been combing through all the previous chapters for minor revisions. Mostly grammar issues, typos, and whatnot. I want to throw them out as one big drop, so expect that update to happen alongside the next chapter.

"Center Tower, huh?"

Chuchu, Ashley, and Heather's trek finally led them to their destination. It was a building akin to a treasured mecca itself in this world. Day in and day out, the residents would feed their hopes, joys, and laughter to this skyscraper, and it in turn rewarded them with power and safety. In the past, the sheen of the crystal above would've brightened the sky like a looming lighthouse, but as months of darkness took its toll, it dimmed to a lone glistening star. Even now, the world still fought valiantly.

Chuchu bit her lips as she gazed up at the landmark. She expected this. Those two suspicious "producers" she followed had promised her a stage that would be able to carry her voice throughout MidiCity. Of course it was their main energy source itself. Whatever these two were up to, she'd have to play along just a little longer.

"I need to check to see if preparations are complete," Ashley clenched her teeth in a woefully fake smile. "Wait down here with Heather until I'm back, alright?"

"Okay," Chuchu replied as she wearily side eyed the third girl. While Ashley had tried way too hard to build Chuchu's trust, Heather didn't even bother. Her arms were crossed and she tilted both her head and eyes in what looked like the frozen image of an eye roll. Her pout was just seconds away from deforming into a straight up scowl; a side effect of enduring this dumb plan for as long as she had.

Chuchu wrinkled her nose. For as uncomfortable as the walk over was, even that wasn't as bad as being stuck alone with the conwoman who didn't even try. She supposed the least she could do in this situation was to try to squeeze any passive info out of her.

"So, I was wondering—"

Heather cut her off with a fuming groan, one that had likely been built up for a while and wasn't even in response to Chuchu's attempt at banter. The prissy teen would rather blow this whole charade off altogether than have to continue playing along to Ashley's joke of a plan. It was like she never registered Chuchu's presence in the first place. She stamped her feet into a grumpy march towards the building and left the rabbit girl cold and confused.

"Well that was rude," Chuchu huffed. In a way, this strange turn of events was a blessing. Rather than awkwardly sleuth between fragments of a conversation, she could just sneak behind her would-be watchdog instead. Lord knew Heather would even be alert enough to notice someone trail behind her with how disinterested she was in this whole endeavor. With nothing else to lose, she quietly followed Heather in.

Things were already amiss the moment she took just one step into the building. Despite having entered literally immediately after Heather had, the tall drama queen was nowhere to be seen. And while one would've assumed a still and creepy horror movie-esque scenario in a situation like this, the atmosphere was tainted by the faint hints of yells several floors up. The building was quiet and hallowed out enough that one could hear even a pin drop from a few floors away if they concentrated enough. Chuchu scrunched her face as she tried to focus her rabbit ears on the noise. It was still too far away to make anything out, but maybe if she got closer? She crept to the elevator and carefully made her ascent.

Meanwhile, on one of the topmost floors of the tower, an infuriated Ashley shook her fists in anger over the absolute pigsty the room became in her absence. Furniture had been carelessly tossed around and stray junk and paper were scattered nonsensically across the floor like someone just had the worst streak of trash can basketball in their life.

"Trent!" She boomed. Her newest coworker had kept himself busy rummaging through everything he could get his hands on. "What is this?!"

"We need access to the roof, right?" He groaned in response, annoyed that the shorty dared to question his antics. "All the security bumps in the building were annoying, so I'm getting rid of all of them? Got a problem with that?"

Uh, yes, I do actually, Ashley could feel herself fume. "I specifically said to keep everything as is to avoid looking suspicious. Heather and I have magic. Who cares about security bumps?"

"'Who cares about security bumps?'" Trent repeated her words in irritation. "Who cares about this dumb plan?"

"Shut up!" The girl normally held her tongue in favor of silent judgements, but the stress that had built up in her the past few weeks spewed out of her like a kettle. "Do you have any idea how long it took me to take over this tower just for all this? And you're just going to go off script? Why are you even trying to get to the crystal now? That is way further down the line."

"Uggggh!" Heather's agitation sounded off alongside the poof of her teleportation spell. "Literally, what's stopping us from just heading up there now and destroying the dang crystal while no one else is here, huh? Just do it already so we can get this stupid mission over with!"

"It's not that simple!" Ashley flung back. "I told you, I had this plan—"

"Yeah, and your plan is overcomplicated garbage!" Heather refused to hear her witch partner out. "'Amplify someone's music so hard that the crystal overloads and blows up'?" She recited in mockery. "Stupidest thing I've ever heard! You're just trying to get a free concert out of this. That's the whole reason you're always moping around in this world."

Ashley was flustered and taken aback. "I… You! That's not true!"

"Oh yeah? And tell me how it isn't. You go and get puke all over you and come marching right to this place to go head bopping to some bubblegum trash meant for four-year-olds like a baby who needs a lullaby to stop whining."

Ashley was taken aback at the accusation. Her mouth was open, but only half formed noises came out. She pointed at Trent who had tuned out of the argument to continue junking the place up. "Would you stop?"

"Why should I?"

"Yeah, why should you?" Heather nodded in defiance. "Just keep going."

"I'm not taking orders from you either."

"What?!" In the speed of a flick, Heather flipped her hair into the air as she turned around over Trent's audacious response. "What is your deal?! We're on the same side here."

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!" Ashley escalated into a full on tantrum. "I've been an apprentice way longer than you have. You are going to shut up and listen to me."

"Or else, what?" Heather dared her to get worse. "You're gonna hit me with a pissy little fireball?"

"Shut up! Maybe I'll do just that."

"Then do it!"

"Shut up!"

"Do it, bitch!"

Like the sudden snap of a twig, Ashley shifted out of her thinly veiled producer disguise and back into her normal witch's dress alongside the deft flick of her wand. A fireball sprouted out of the tip and singed the spot just above Heather's shoulders. The knife-like speed of the fire cleanly chopped Heather's long locks into a messy bob. Even though she was the one who egged this on, her eyes bulged out in shock. She wasn't going to go through this dumb hair thing again. With all her fury concentrated into her fist, a ferociously large clump of magical force gathered together into a ball that she too turned into a projectile.

DING!

Chuchu couldn't have come at a worse possible time. She had meant to stop at a floor or two below, just close enough to be able to make everything out clearly, but her instincts proved to be too correct and her game of guessing led her right to the exact floor. Ashley's body came flying right at her, and the force of the two colliding girls caused them both to crash right through the glass and out into the air. With how far up they were, instant death was imminent. As Chuchu screamed and screamed, Ashley fought back against the wind with all her might. Just inches separating them from the ground, she waved her wand in the nick of time with a levitation spell that forced them into a jutting halt. All sense of inertia now gone, she waved it off once more, and the two plopped down safely onto the streets.

"Y-you!" Chuchu yelled off accusingly, her voice stilted as she tried to recover her senses. "I knew there was something up with you two!"

Ashley cursed in her head. She had no time for this. Especially not with the sudden rain of asphalts that followed them. She wasn't sure if Heather's attack was just that powerful or if she had shot another one out for good measure, but bits of the upper building started to crumble off.

"Yeah, I tricked you. Boo hoo. Just run!"

The two sped off, just barely missing one particularly large chunk of metal, until they were gone and out of sight.

Back up above, Heather screeched and screamed as she gripped so tightly to the edges of her new haircut, one could even assume she wanted to tear it up even more. "I haven't even learned how to make it grow back yet!"

"Coulda killed her with that fall, you know," Trent whistled as he continued his work. His tone sounded like he had merely feigned interest.

"Like you care."

"You're right. I don't."

There was no further comment. Trent refused to pay Heather further mind. While Heather was far from an Ashley fan, this new side of Trent gave her the creeps, and she could only scowl in disgust at his nonchalance. At the very least, things were quiet now. She silently slumped on to a chair and got started on a manicure.

oOo

They ran and they ran and they ran. The twists and turns of MidiCity's streets made navigation a hectic chore. But Cyan knew her friends were out there. No matter how far they were, no matter how much Heartless got in their way, she would save them. Each step fueled her blaring determination. But when she, Cody, and Mokona finally skidded to a halt at their destination, even she fought with all her might to keep from letting her crestfallen gaze from taking over.

Alakazam and Loudred were busy pounding on to a Heartless horde that had clumped into the area. The duo was nearly indecipherable from the mob that had gathered. And right at the center of the mob, where a cryptic tune peered out, were two teenage girls who were left dazed in zombie-like states. One of them, a tan girl with long, blonde twintails like the ears of a dog, flapped her hand all over a bass like a robot going through the motions. The other, a girl decked out in all pink with fluffy cotton candy-like sheep hair, clanged onto her drum set with the might of a wartime drummer boy but with the face of a fading soul.

"Retoree! Moa!" Cyan cried out with tears in her eyes.

"It doesn't look like they've gone full Heartless," Cody said. Their looks were muted, but they seemed even less in tune with the darkness than Eva and Crona were back at Death City. "That's good."

"What do you mean that's good?!" Cyan asked in distress. "How do we get them back to normal?"

"Smack, 'em. Duh!" Mokona answered triumphantly.

"I can't do that to my friends!"

"Well, you gotta do something," Loudred's cries could be heard above the dirge. "We're getting wrecked out here!"

Indeed, the Heartless seemed rowdier than normal. Black fumes seeped from out of the two girls' instruments, and despite not performing on one of the town's specially made stages, they were powering the monsters up. It was clear what was going on. They'd have to force the two away from those instruments. But how? Cyan continued to fruitlessly call out to the duo, shielding away any attempts from the others to hit them head on. It wasn't like they wanted to, but what else were they supposed to do?

On the opposite end of the chaos, Ashley and Chuchu entered the scene. The young witch just wanted some peace and quiet to collect her thoughts, but the moment Chuchu realized what was unfolding beyond her with her three friends at bay, she knew that wasn't happening.

"We have to stop them! Do something!" Chuchu blared into her unwilling companion's ears.

"Just the worst…" Ashley let out a muffled groan. None of this had gone as planned. In fact, when was the last time anything had gone as planned?

The rabbit girl gasped. Right before her eyes, a wave of those doll-like Heartless was about ready to strike Cyan from behind. She had no fighting abilities and she was much too far away. She might as well have been seated at her friend's funeral with how useless and helpless she felt in this scenario. With nothing but desperate pleas in hand, she clawed on to her rabbit ears in a teary panic and let out a scene piercing shriek.

"CYYYYYAAAAAANNNNNN!"

!

Cyan's head flipped in all directions before she caught the string of floating mages headed her way. The Cyan of yesterday would've stood still in fear and would've surely made her end. But she was the Cyan of today. With her cheeks puffed, she deftly gripped her guitar and strummed out a loud, echoing chord. The Heartless that threatened to devour her wavered around in dizzied circles. And even more, the clash of notes spewed and split into the fumes of the corrupted instruments, weakening their effects.

"That's it!" Cody exclaimed excitedly. "Keep rocking out, Cyan!"

"You got it!" She nodded confidently. Her quick act of self defense morphed into an all out jam session. With each pluck and strum, the surrounding Heartless stumbled over from her vibrato and made themselves easy pickings for the boys. The Heartless infested square soon began to clear. Even if their faces couldn't say it, the corrupted Retoree and Moa grew frustrated with each second. They attempted to increase the intensity of their mad music, but the duo just couldn't quash out their old bandmate's might.

"Oh, wow," Chuchu looked on in awe. She'd, of course, seen her friend perform before, but not like this. It wasn't too long ago that Cyan had asked to put the band's activities on hold out of fear. Where did all this spunk come from?

Ashley examined the battle once more. It was clear who the victors would be at this rate, but that didn't necessarily mean it would end promptly. If those two continued to even play a note, Heartless would keep coming, and it was obvious no one in the Keybearer's group had any desire to actually harm them. With a sigh, she carefully aimed her wand and cast her spell. A petite pair of flames propped out and shot at the instruments like bullets. The move was enough to throw their wielders off from shock. The two collapsed to the ground, free from the cursed drum and bass that had faded off. Life returned to their eyes.

The last of the Heartless were defeated, and the pair of girls regained full consciousness. "Retoree! Moa!" Cyan joyfully ran up to the two. "Chuchu!" And of course, she couldn't forget the friend who helped her out in battle with her voice. The four girls all squealed in heartened glee over their reunion as they huddled into a hug circle.

"We were so worried, pyuru," Moa cooed.

"W-we thought we lost you guys for good," Retoree meekly let out a comforted sigh.

"Lost us?" Chuchu laughed. "I could say the same for you two."

"What is she doing here?!"

Their reunion came to a halt. The boys noticed someone else was there. Alakazam pointed to her with fury in his eyes.

"I'd like to know that too," Ashley muttered under her breath, just softly enough that she doubted anyone could hear.

"You here for round two?" Mokona egged her on while he pantomimed boxing moves.

"God, no." If anything, she'd like to leave. Now.

"Cody will barf on you again," Loudred propped up the Keybearer who looked away from embarrassment in response.

"..."

Now.

"I doubt you'd believe me, but I'm not the worst of your worries right now," she rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, right," Al continued with his outrage. "You're probably the reason behind everything."

Honestly, she couldn't exactly refute that.

Ashley opened her mouth once more, but before she had the chance to say anything, something happened. Like the flip of a switch, the city was dimmed into darkness as every single light source fizzled out. There was a brief moment of silence as everyone stood still with bated breath. But seconds later, entire swaths of screams could be heard from every building, every corner of the city. It could've been out of sheer fear of the dark or fear of the Heartless that now crawled around with easeful abandon. Either way, the world just entered its final stage.

A dim glow flickered before a bright gleam shone itself in the midst of the power outage. Up in the sky, at the very center of town, the crystal of Center Tower still held its ground.

"What did you do?!" The four boys clamored at the witch for answers.

"I didn't do anything," she barked back, with, to their surprise, just as much anger towards the situation as they had. "Those two ingrates took over the entire mission, and they're up in the tower wrecking the place. Blew off the plan, and they're gonna break that thing and end the whole world at this rate."

"Who?"

"Heather and Trent. Duh!"

Cody paused.

Trent?

He wouldn't.

He wouldn't actually stoop this…

Oh my God.

"What are you waiting for?!" A girl cried out. "Go! Now!"

Without a word, he followed along the trail of the crystal out of the square and towards the tower. His three companions trailed along with little protest.

…

"...aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Ashley threw her arms into the air as she vented and circled the square over and over again in uproarious frustration. This was a trainwreck. She was supposed to be Maleficent's right hand. How did this all happen? Why did it happen? Those two were going to destroy the crystal and ruin everything.

But…that was the point, wasn't it?

Did it matter that they followed a different path to get there?

Because she wanted to destroy the crystal too, didn't she?

Right?

Right?

It happened so quickly. One moment, Ashley was entranced in her own little house of rage. The next, she was face planted to the floor and tied tightly in ribbons, having carelessly tripped over Retoree's tail.

She completely forgot that the Plasmagica girls were even there.

"Let go of me!"

"Nuh uh," Moa teasingly wagged her finger as she and the other three lifted her up over their shoulders. "You started this mess, pyuru. You're gonna help us get out of it."

"We can't just sit back," Cyan squeaked with vigor. "We're gonna help out Cody as much as we can."

"Y-yeah, just," Retoree heaved over the weight. "You're a witch, right? Just lend us your magic for a bit."

"And why do you think I'd do that?" Ashley's eyes creased.

"Because," Chuchu smiled mischievously as she casually waved around the wand the witch had dropped in her fall. "You're not getting this back until you do."

Ashley slumped in their arms. For crying out loud…

As if they were crafty children getting away with an afterschool heist, the four girls giggled along with Ashley moping around in their arms as they too made their way to Center Tower.