Finding a crazy Magical Girl would be a lot easier if you were willing to use more of your Essence.

You sneeze as you glide over the treetops, diligently scanning the forest around the burning remains of the compound your maids just raided. You sniff, wrinkling your nose as a sudden throbbing in your heart intensifies, that burning sensation that radiates out from the left side of your chest every time you breathe -

Okay, it'd also be a lot easier if you weren't still recovering from those upgrades you performed on yourself recently. Or from the other massive expenditures of Essence you blew through over the last week. Not that you regret making Kaina some adorable sex-pets, Hannah and Sophie are very cute and frankly you want to be in bed right now doting on those two, and maybe dragging Kaina into a torrid foursome.

… Actually, you should be in bed right now! You're recovering from major spiritual surgery! It's not actually that easy to tweak your mana reactor, you basically had to hotwire your soul in order to eke out this much of a performance boost-

And like that, you feel your heart pang again. Hmm. Hmm, hmm, that's not good. There's definitely a clog in your Mana Reactor somewhere that's causing some of the mana you generate to pool and stagnate and rot. Physical exertion's only magnifying the side-effects. Ooh, everything hurts, and it's not even the good kind of hurt like when Mia spanked your ass red and made you cum all over her thighs like the good slut you were-

Um.

Yeah, it's not like that at all. Unbridled masochism is enjoyable. This pain is way more mundane, and even more irritating. It's… Basically a really bad case of heartburn. Nothing seriously debilitating, but downright uncomfortable. Something you can fix later, but you'll just have to suck it up and deal with it for now.

And speaking of uncomfortable things… You growl as you scan the forest below you and find nothing. Nada. Zip, zilch. Not a single trace of an angry killer cyborg Magical Girl in the general vicinity.

Oh, sure, you find her trail but even from on high you know that trail's cold. Wherever your target is, she's long gone by now. Which makes sense.

It's been hours since the raid, and the very first thing this bad lab experiment did was carve her way out of the lab, carve a path to escape through your maids, and run for the hills. She even cut out her tracker, your maids found that bit of hardware lying in the forest before you set out to scour your immediate surroundings.

By the time you managed to pick up on her scent, well, at that point you knew it was far too late.

Still. At least you know where she's heading, the rough direction. You drop down into the forest, taking in the scattered branches, hastily shoved aside. The gouges carved in the trees, the heavy footprints sunk deep into the dirt from a cyborg who's a lot heavier than a regular human is.

This girl might have stealth systems but she can't erase her presence, and a cyborged-up Magical Girl is hardly ever going to be subtle. Oh, she can pretend to be, but you know better. You've hunted stealthier prey than this overgrown lab experiment before.

And you have a very, very good idea of where she's heading just looking at the general direction of her trail.

Subject 001's heading to Terminus City, that much is obvious.

… Which means you're going to have to make a phone call now. A phone call you'd really not have, but the risk if you don't make this phone call is too great.

Ooh, just the thought of some filthy mongrel laying their hands on your pure Kaina's perfect skin…! Sure, you're confident in your love! She's strong, the strongest! The best, one of the most beautiful girls out there! But…

… But even she can be taken by surprise. Everyone can, you know that all too bitterly well. And this girl, this filthy corporate mongrel, she was tailor-made to fight Magical Girls. You refuse to leave your love's safety and wellbeing up in the air, not like this. Nobody gets to touch your loves besides you!

Nobody!

Of course you're open to sharing with the pets and toys you've been lovingly preparing, and you certainly wouldn't mind sharing Kaina with the rest of your loves, but that's it! No other filthy sluts get to touch your wifey!

… To-be wifey. You're definitely getting ahead of yourself here. Ahem.

The point is, you've got a phone call to make. And it's going to suck, but you… Have to make it.

There's nothing else for it.

And with that, you take out your phone and give Kaina a quick call.

"Hey Kaina, so, uh… We need to talk? In person. Right now? Yeah, I'll head back, it's – it's serious, okay? Super serious… No, I'm alright. I'm alright, but are you alright Kaina? Please tell me you're alright, hello…?"

--

When you first saw Kaina you fell in love with her because of how cute she was. Here was this socially awkward girl who looked so cool, but she couldn't even order a hamburger. It was adorable, her gap-moe. Exquisite.

It's hard to imagine you're staring at the same girl right now, but in a way, it's also easy to imagine.

"So, let me summarize," Kaina begins. Her green eyes flash as she channels her mana. You can practically taste the currents of power seething within her small, slender body. Kaina looms over you, staring down at you imperiously and you find yourself… Breathless, like you always are around her.

"There's a cybernetic Magical Girl out there, the product of corporate experimentation," Kaina rattles off, and you nod nervously.

"Uh-huh…"

"She was the product of torture. Thousands of missing girls were funneled into a secret Mendesdyn Security facility in order to be tortured into Pacting, and the singular test subject who survived was then experimented on," Kaina continues, and you continue to nod.

"Yeah, that's about it…"

"And she was specifically designed to hunt other Magical Girls, which means-"

"That I called you because I'm worried about you, and I felt you needed to know. Yeah," you bite down on your lip.

"…" Kaina, no, Infinity Princess stares at you, her expression blank. Undercurrents of… Something swirl within her bright, green eyes. "… Alright."

Eh? You blink.

"Alright?"

"Alright, Alice. I believe you," Kaina says quietly. "I… I'd know. If you lied. And you weren't. You genuinely believe every word of what you just told me."

Well. That was easy!

Somehow you thought you'd have to give more of an explanation than that.

"You're not going to ask me how I know so much about this weird girl, or where I got my information, or-"

"No. It's not necessary right now. And I… Alice, can we… Talk about it later?" Kaina fidgets, before composing herself. "Considering the gravity of the… Threat you've just described to me, I believe it's best if I handle it. Immediately."

You perk up. Alright, strategy sessions with your girlfriend! Nice, awesome. Ooh, this is gonna be awesome, you get to do Magical Girl stuff with Kaina for once, oh you want to see her in action yourself, she's going to kick so much butt-

"Thank you for letting me know about this imminent threat. Now, please stay in your penthouse. I'll transform, then begin patrolling at once to eliminate this threat," Kaina turns on her heel and starts walking out the door, and you pause.

Wait. Wait, wait, that's not how this is supposed to go!

"Hold on, hold on!" You say, reaching out to grab your girlfriend's hand. "Hold on, can we – Can we talk about this?"

"There's nothing to talk about," Kaina says flatly. "You've informed me of a threat in the city I'm assigned to protect. I have to go patrol until I uncover that threat and neutralize it with judicious use of force."

… Okay, you don't like where this is going. It's actually a little unnerving how quickly Kaina's shifted into her 'combat' mode at the first sign of imminent danger.

And honestly, as much as you like how no-nonsense and professional Kaina can get... (So cool…!)

"Kaina, but I can help you-"

"For your own safety, Alice, please stay here. I can't… I don't…" Kaina halts, unable to find the proper words. "It isn't necessarily safe for you to…"

Oh.

… Oh, you get what's happening here. She's being protective. And while under normal circumstances you'd be over the moon that your girlfriend's making it clear you come first, that she loves you the most…

… Now might not necessarily be the best time for her protective instincts to flare up.

--