It's a cold night isn't it? Sitting all around in this room waiting for somebody to arrive… Isn't this a fool’s duty? To wait and wait for someone you know won't come. But maybe leaving and giving up would be even dumber.
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[Game over! Continue?]
I lost? Huh? That’s unlikely. Wait, who am I even fighting? I glanced around the arcade, it was run down with lights hanging low. Hello? I stood up from the chair and began to walk to the other side of the arcade cabinet. I stepped over the cracks on the ground and the scattered coins. I took a couple more steps, gazing forward at the dark walls and corners of the room. I arrived at the side of the cabinet, peeking over to see the blinding light radiating from the screen.
[Game over! Continue?]
I lost? Wait, no.
I turned back and ran to the other side of the arcade cabinet. A girl? She… It was sitting on the seat, its face slightly gooey and melting while still trying to maintain a wide grin. Wings sprouted from the creature’s back as it fell off the seat.
I won, aren't I cute?
I glanced down at my hands and waited for a weapon to appear. I concentrated hard but my mind felt too foggy to understand why my weapon wasn't appearing. The creature inched closer and closer, its wings flapping and producing an annoying chirping noise. I raised my foot and took steps back trying to get away from the creature but my foot slammed onto a crack on the floor. I fell to the ground quickly and began to push my feet back to crawl away from the creature. I closed my eyes and concentrated yet again, trying my hardest to summon my glaive.
Ayami?
I opened my eyes and pushed myself up and began running away. The hanging lights began to flicker slowly, moments of darkness occurring more and more as I ran. The creature flew over to me, slamming a sharp appendage of goo onto my back, cutting my flesh and school uniform. School uniform?
Huh? Why am I?
The lights were all suddenly drenched with water, crushing them into metallic chains. I took this opportunity and dashed into the darkness. Why is this happening to me? What is this monster? I ducked as a trail of sparkles flew over my head, slamming into the wall before dissipating. I slapped my quivering legs and stood up, sticking my hand into the wall and walking slowly. I don’t want to die. I don't want to die.
Shima!
The creature lunged into the wall, piercing its hands into the darkness. I grazed the sharp body of the monster and ran to the other side of the room. I came upon a door and swung it open, entering it before slamming it shut. The room was small and the floor was completely dark. I locked the door and slouched down in front of the wall. I clamped my hands over my mouth and closed my eyes.
Please please please. Don’t find me.
A loud bang could be heard as the door rattled. My heartbeat skyrocketed and my pupils bounced around my eyes. Another bang struck the door, sending shivers through my bones. Then another. Bang after bang as the door quickly began to crack under the pressure. I raised my hands as the door snapped into two.
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“Wake up!” My body was tossed to the floor alongside my comfortable blanket. I pushed myself up, still feeling a little groggy and somehow on edge. I moved my hands over to my deranged beating heart, time and time again it's still here. “What's your problem?!” I snapped my eyes to the person who threw me off the bed. “I'm still so damn sleepy.”
“Me too, haah…” Adrinia responded to me, still wearing her iconic train pajamas. “But we can't do anything about it. Emergency meeting, go to the meeting room, asap.”
“Emergency meeting? What happened?”
“Why are you asking me?” She left the room without so much looking at me. “The point of the meeting is to answer that question!” She yelled as she walked further down the corridor.
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Day twelve, it's a bad start to my day. Not only did that dream happen again, I got woken up so early in the morning. I entered the room to see some of the other magical girls sitting down at the roundtable. Okumura remained standing up, writing something on a white board. “Shima, please take a seat, this meeting is very important.” I slowly walked towards one of the empty seats, there was certainly a dark and tense atmosphere in the air in the midst of the tired looks of the council members.
I glanced around the table, eyeing each one of the members one by one. Okumura had a stern look on her face, her cat ears pointing sharply up. Mori begrudgingly sat on her seat while she took long sips of her coffee. Beside her was Kohaku I think… Im not entirely sure what her name was but she was the magical girl of time, a famous and powerful hero just like Mori and the magical girl of Love. Anyway, she nervously fidgeted with her fingers, the gears on her clothes making loud noises as they struck each other repeatedly. Next to me, the two seats were surprisingly empty. I wonder where those two were.
After a couple of grueling minutes, Adrinia returned with heavy breathing, behind her was the magical girl of combat who walked with haste. She took a seat next to me and plopped her gas mask onto the table. Adrinia followed through and stood next to me, kicking the chair away and pulling a bean bag from under the table. She sat down and stretched her arms. “Welp, I wasn't able to contact Love or that other greenhorn but I was able to wrestle this problematic child out of her home.”
“Thank you Transport.” Okumura slammed her hand onto the board, grabbing everyone’s attention. She rubbed her face and opened her mouth. “Lets begin with the important matter at hand, The magical girl of Abyss is dead.”
“Huh!” I stood up out of shock.
“Sit down.”
“Ayaka is dead? Where’s Chiasa… Is she also?”
“No. She’s somewher else.” Okumura rubbed the side of her face, looking up to the air before returning her gaze to the board. “Probably sleeping in her house. We didn't bother to wake her up because you know…”
“Ahh… Yeah.” I slipped back to my chair, it just doesn't feel real.”
“Well moving on, let's give our fallen comrade a moment of our silence…” I glanced around the room, trying to see the reaction of the other magical girl. They had their same earlier looks on their face, the only one who seemed shocked and uneasy was Combat. "Okay that’s enough.”
“Enough?! The hell do you mean? That was barely 10 seconds.”
“Look please Shima, calm down. We need to talk about some important problems.”
“Isn't this the most important matter?! Ayaka is dead! Isn't she a teammate of ours!? Isn't she our friend?”
“Listen here nameless.” Justice slammed her mug to the table and took a serious demeanor on her chair. “This is a normal occurrence, this type of thing happens all the time, magical girls die left and right.”
“Sadly it's true.” Softness tapped her forehead in a condescending manner. “There’s nothing we can do but move on and well this.” She stabbed the marker to the board and the drawing of two stick men appeared on it. “There has been news about the whole situation, some people were at the site of her demise. Apparently yesterday, she cleared out an invasion at the mall, tossing water to force an evacuation of the whole place. Afterwards, she left the mall and was greeted by an unknown magical girl. A girl with ribbons on her body, and an outfit that could only be described as gaudy. This magical girl and her fought and after some blows assumedly, Abyss transformed and awakened into a second form as a magical girl. This is where most of the news seems to turn inconsistent.”
“Dark weather sprouted on the surroundings, which made everyone sluggish and slow in evacuating. A giant ship much like the one she used way back then appeared and caused mayhem, crashing into buildings, destroying a couple blocks and killing a lot of civilians. Afterwards, she died, seemingly by the hands of the unknown magical girl. Which brings me back to another important detail, the death of Carnage which also was also assumed to be done by a person. Carnage was killed after an invasion where petty tricks and surprised attacks got the best of her.”
“With this in mind, it could be concluded that a magical girl is targeting the magical girl council members. And we just so happen to have a possible culprit for these killings. During one of the food trips done by Abyss and Protection, a magical girl came and attacked them. Protection described this girl to me as the opposite of a knight, she fought unfairly and did dangerously flashy moves while charging headstrong. She kept preaching about her ideals and was an annoying enemy capable of regeneration.”
“Regeneration?” Asked Combat, having a more interested face after hearing this statement. “Just like hers I assume.” She said pointing at me.
“I'm not sure, Protection met this person before Shima joined so she didn't really describe the regenerative capabilities of this magical girl. But that wasn't really the important part about this magical girl, the important detail is that she named herself! She claimed the title of magical girl of Cuteness an-
“HER?!” Combat angrily slammed her hands onto the table.
“You kno-know her?” I nervously asked as the terrifying memories of Cosette entered my brain.
“Yeah I do. She was an annoying magical girl fanatic who did cheap tricks while trying to kill me.”
“Fits the bill pretty well from what Protection mentioned.” Softness slid her finger down her face and pointed it towards the ceiling. “But there is one problem with her being the culprit. She's dead, Protection said that she melted her into ashes and all that remained in the battlefield was the flames and empty streets… And as quoted from her, a terrifying bird with beautiful eyes.”
“Ahh.” That bird and Cosette. They were the same person after all. Which means… She's back and she killed Ayaka… She killed Ayaka? I… I just can't fathom it. Not because I don't think she's not evil but because I don't see her beating such a strong magical girl like Ayaka. And they said she even had a second transformation. Just like how Combat had one.
Huh? Combat had one? Right? When did she? How do I know this?
“Shima, right?” She tapped on my shoulder while I was deep in thought. “Ah yeah?”
“Just making sure. I'm certain this is the first time I heard your name. Well, just telling you now you're not the first person I know with Shima as a last name.”
“Okay?”
“Well Shima.” She inched closer and began to whisper in my ear. “You better understand this clearly. You are very suspicious. Better watch your actions.” Combat, grabbed onto her gas mask and tied it to her head. “Goodbye guys, I have something important to do.”
“And what is that?” Asked Softness.
“School.” She said, releasing a puff of smoke from her mask as the words left her mouth.
“Make sure to brush your teeth before you leave!” Yelled Adrinia as Combat ran off the room.
“Well I feel like the meeting should probably end here unless any of you have details about this culprit. Right now I'm thinking either she survived or some sort of accomplice did it. But either way it's our best interest to begin a manhunt.”
I raised my hand and stood up from my chair. “Excuse me, I also need to go somewhere.” I left the room and pulled out my phone. Dialing a number and putting it near my ear.
“It's me.”