Flare and Jade fought with such intensity that they had the potential to become even more destructive than an incursion. If they were on the ground, most of the buildings around Akasaka would have been levelled.

However, it was clear as day who the stronger one was. While Flare stood high and proud, Jade was hunched over, gasping for air. Her armor had been charred black and melting in some places. The javelin which she seemingly wielded telekinetically began to wobble and dip. The human body and mind had limits even if they were magical girls.

Then what did that make Flare?

"What are you really after, Kanae? Hoarding all those points… Ordering me to leave Kari for dead… Letting Rie get hurt during that Malevolent Domain… We're done having to listen to you and just nodding our heads!" Jade shouted between labored breaths.

"You are so nosey and arrogant for someone who flunked high school. I don't have to tell you anything. Thanks to me, we've kept Japan safe for years. Why bitch and moan now?" From Flare's hands came a ball of molten rock which she fired at Jade.

Kari entered the fray in time and smashed the orb into a shower of burning debris, barely saving Jade from the attack.

"What happened… to Yuria?" Jade asked.

"Oh, bother. The pretend-hero is back." Flare rolled her eyes. "She killed her. Cut the poor girl in half."

"You did what? You were the one who wanted her alive!" she growled.

"And I got answers from her. Now it's Flare's turn to cough some up," Kari said, glaring at her next target.

"There's no point in us fighting anymore. The longer we're here, the more eyes we draw to us. What do you think Japan— the world is going to think, seeing us like this? Seeing you kill a magical girl?" Flare asked as news choppers approached from a distance.

"That's what makes you and me different. I don't care about what other people think."

"Is that why you killed almost fifty innocent people in cold blood?" She chuckled lightly.

Kari choked on her next words.

Of course Flare had seen that.

Jade ripped the helmet from her head and grabbed Kari by the collar. "Tell me she's lying. What do you think you're doing going around killing people?"

"You weren't there! They were letting themselves get eaten. If that monster had gotten stronger, more people would have died! What would you have done? Leave them like you did me?" She pushed Jade off and now it looked like they were the ones about to fight.

"Kari, I…"

"Ahahahah! Oh, my god! You're just delusional! This is way too funny… my stomach's knotting… It really never occurred to you to use your skill to pull the broken lady away!" Flare was having a hard time controlling her laughter. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She clutched her stomach and shuddered all over.

A prickling chill crept up Kari's spine. Because the truth was, it genuinely didn't occur to her to do it that way.

No…

There were people in the way. Even if she did bring it elsewhere, those fanatics would have followed. What other way could there have been?

"Ah~ ah~ Now you're trying to justify why you did it, aren't you? Give up. Accept that your brain is wired differently. You're built different! Ahahaha—"

"Shut up… Shut up. Shut up! Stampede!" Kari brought the hammer down on Flare, but she blocked it with her molten shield.

A glint of uncharacteristic fear flashed in Flare's eyes before her transformation took a turn. Fire burned across the surface of her skin, charring it as black as obsidian and fissuring with molten cracks. An incredible, sweltering heat blasted Kari in waves, forcing her to retreat.

"Kari, you make me hot all over! So much that I really can't take it, you know? But you two have been very bad girls. Maybe keeping my stats a secret was a mistake. Alright, fine. Let me tell you how strong I am." Flare cracked a smile, and in doing so, created more fissures on her face.

The projection of a gargantuan phoenix formed behind her. Nearby buildings made of cement began to melt and metal utility poles caved in. Her outfit bursted into blue flames that was going to take more than a planet of ice to put out.

"What level are you, Kari? Three, four? Well, that's too bad. My total level is 19. My stats are all in the triple digits. If I wanted to, I could incinerate you down to atoms." The fiery magical girl summoned a star in her palm, sucking up the oxygen from their lungs, then she snuffed it out by simply closing her hand.

Both of them tensed up as Flare extended the same hand towards the sky. She pressed her thumb and index finger together, seemingly encircling the sun, then lowering it to her right eye.

"If you think you can hide from me, no-no. Eye of Ra lets me see whatever the sun sees. Of course, I can't see everything at once; I'm only human. But don't think for one moment I'm not on to your little girls' club."

Both of them briefly saw the futility of resisting Flare, who was like the sun itself. Not warm and bright, but a being of chaos and destruction, an indomitable force of nature acting on its own fickle laws.

Yet in spite of this, Kari recalled the incomprehensible entity that came to her. Or rather… she had gone to it. No one, not even Flare could compare to whatever that was. To not even show an ounce of fear at Flare's empowered form seemed to have wiped the smile from her face.

"What did you and Yuria talk about?" Flare asked. "You definitely weren't fighting. At least… not until the very end, if you can call it a fight."

Kari scoffed. "If you think I'm going to spill without anything in return, you have another thing coming. First I want you off our backs—"

Flare appeared between them, throwing an arm over Kari and Jade's shoulders each. The air around them was so hot, they began to suffocate.

"Smile for the camera." She gestured for them to face the news chopper and threw two peace signs.

"You're not going to kill us on live television," Kari swallowed from her parched throat.

"I might still be okay with bargaining if we were friends. But Kari… Friends don't fuck each other, and you already fucked me once after our first date. We're not bargaining anymore now that you two know how strong I really am. I hold all the cards, suckers. One of you better tell me something I want to hear, or I'll fry you both and Candy. By tomorrow, you'll be on the front page news that some monster killed you, and your rings will be on new fingers."

"Have you always been this crazy, Kanae?" Jade quietly asked.

Flare reeled back, genuinely insulted by the insinuation. "Crazy? Come on. I'm not losing everything I've built for myself. I have a beach house in Okinawa I wanted to get to this summer, but sheesh! It's been fight after fight after fight. The day Kari got me killed I went home and accidentally strangled my spitz! I paid over 300 grand for my little Wakka, and now he's dead! Who the hell am I cuddling with when I get home now? Blaze?"

If there was one thing from Flare's rambling that she was right about, it was that she currently held all the cards. Kari knew better than to tempt an unhinged person any further than this. Folding one's hand wasn't a cowardly thing to do, it was strategic.

"The Messiah— The ones behind the persona are Yuria, Hurricane, and Chu Hua," Kari finally revealed.

The corners of Flare's twitching lips pulled up into a deranged grin.

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"The star-spangled bitch and commie puppet are out to get me? Wow! This is so the greatest news I could hear all day. If that's how they want to play it, then I guess I'll have to throw them a sleepover invitation." Flare dropped her empowered form and turned her back on them.

The projection of the phoenix reduced in size until Blaze returned to his usual form and perched on his bonded magical girl's shoulder.

"Oh, and Kari? Just so that we can make amends, how about I lend you my eye? Your friend Minato is safe in Meguro with his parents. Your parents on the other hand… You have whatever little condolences I can spare," Flare sneered, then departed with Blaze.

"My parents…?" she echoed unsteadily.

"Kari, wait! We're not done talking!" Jade's words went unheard.

Ignoring her and the rest of the city, Kari went full speed straight home to check on her parents. The neighborhood wasn't spared by the incursion and was left ravaged. Several bodies of head hounds riddled with bullet wounds showed the police and JSDF put up a fight. Among the many houses that were broken into, her home was one of them.

Her stomach churned as she arrived in front of the broken door and its frame cracked wide open on all sides. Something had clearly barged its way through. The moment she stepped in, the familiar sound of crunching bones reached her ears.

Kari was trembling, her head spun and vision lost focus with every step she took. Finally, at the threshold into the living room, a gory scene unfolded before her. A single head hound was feasting on two bloody remains, neither of which looked anything like her parents anymore. The monster took notice of her presence and sought to make her into its next meal, until she smashed its giggling head into the blood-soaked floorboards.

As the strength drained away from her legs, Kari found purchase on the couch which her family had shared for years. A strange sense of guilt welled up within her chest.

Rocky floated down onto her lap and put a consoling hand over hers.

"It isn't your fault they died. There's no way you could have known," he said.

"Let's be real," Kari began with a sigh, "it is my fault they're dead. I hate my parents, but… I used to love them…"

How could her heart feel so empty and heavy at the same time? Though despite her loss, she had no tears to shed. Weary and alone, these complicated emotions tormented Kari until exhaustion overwhelmed her at last.

Kari had at some point drifted asleep in her own ruined house, still wet with the blood of her parents. She awakened much later to the familiar sound of helicopters and blaring car horns outside. Blinding flood lights shined through the window, and people were muttering something she couldn't quite make out.

A march of massive proportions headed in a single direction. Most cars were moving at a snail's pace in one direction. Many families took their chances on foot, dragging a suitcase in one hand and a child in the other. One kid waved at her as she emerged from the house.

Police officers and JSDF soldiers went from house to house, knocking on doors to speak with people. A few had doors slammed in their faces, others went back and forth bowing.

One officer jumped when he nearly walked into Kari, coming through the gate. He appeared cautious.

"Oh, magical girl… Kari, right? I sometimes forget you guys live among us," the officer said, scratching the back of his head.

"Where's everyone going?" she asked.

"The mayor and prime minister issued evacuation orders three hours ago. Jade and Candy have told us that an apocalypse is imminent in Minato City. After what happened today— the past month and a half, I think it's about time we get out of here. If your family is still in there, you should tell them to leave the city." He peeled off his hat and wiped his sweat-soaked forehead.

"Yeah… I'll do that."

He bowed and moved on to the next house.

Flare's probably not too happy about this, Kari thought, wishing she could have seen the look on her face when the evacuation orders came.

The timing on today's Incursion lining up with Yuria stabbing her in the gut was too coincidental. It almost made sense to believe that she caused it to happen.

Then the question was how? If a much stronger magical girl like Hurricane and Chu Hua could do the same, that would be a big problem. When she had passed out and spoke with the cosmic entity, it implied that there were two factions at play— 'ancient enemy' was the phrase it used.

It seemed magical girls were even less united than she thought.

Kari clicked her tongue, regretting that she hadn't asked more questions before killing Yuria. No use crying over spilled milk now.

"Hmm…" She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Rocky, what do you know about a gigantic eyeball monster? When I was unconscious, I met something that said it granted me my powers. That must be your master, right?"

Rocky furrowed his brows in thought. "I really wish I could tell you. As far as my memories go, I just remember coming into existence with the urge to help humanity. If there is a higher being that created me, it hasn't shown itself to me. I do think it's weird that it came to you and not others."

"That's not entirely true. Apparently, it met with Yuria before they had a falling out."

Kari pulled Yuria's knife and ring from her pocket which was taken the moment she had split her in half. It hadn't disappeared even though the owner had died.

"Flare looked really scared of fighting against that," her anthem said.

These soul-carving weapons were the key to facing Flare. Or magical girls in general.

"That she was." Kari nodded, then glanced up at the setting sun and was relieved to soon be out of Flare's sights. The thought reminded her of Sachi's predicament.

As night fell, long after the Incursion in Minato City ended, Kari returned to Shuu's apartment and found Sachi still hiding in the bathtub.

"You could have at least brought me takeout," Sachi said, her eyes completely red.

With the sun down and Flare unable to see either of them, they set out into the city to grab something to eat. Both the police and military were directing people to leave as soon as possible, but ultimately the choice came down to each individual. Salary workers were still heading into their job and made for a depressing contrast to the raucous evacuation currently going on.

Kari threw a hoodie over herself as they left the apartment, and Rocky burrowed himself into her center pocket.

"Shuu really never came back?" she asked.

Sachi shook her head. "Nope. A few hours after you left, I started hearing a lot of people in the other rooms leaving. I found out everything that was going on through my phone. And… I got a call from the hospital. You already knew, didn't you? How long were you planning to hide it from me?"

"I'm sorry," Kari said. "I didn't want you running off and getting yourself killed."

"Well… I guess it didn't matter… I kind of figured they weren't going to make it, seeing how burnt they were. Cried enough in that stupid bath tub anyway…" Sachi kicked an empty can lying on the street and sucked in a quivering breath.

"If it makes you feel any better, you're free to do whatever you want now," she said to make light of their misfortune.

"No… It just makes me feel even shittier. Whoever taught you to comfort people like that needs a slap in the face." Sachi held back the urge to laugh, but quickly fell sullen again. They continued to walk in silence, and although Kari was fine with the quiet, her walking companion didn't feel the same. "How come you're not with family or friends? Never in a million years would I expect you to want anything to do with me, but here we are."

"My parents are dead, too. My friends left the city. I don't know why I'm spending it here instead of with my new girlfriend, but it feels wrong to just leave you here." Kari entered the convenience store where few families were inside browsing for supplies before leaving the city. Most of the canned and instant stuff on the shelves were cleared out.

Sachi stuffed her hands into her pockets and cast her eyes to the ground.

"I was a shitty person to you and Makina…" She sighed.

It bothered Kari that they had come this far before Sachi could finally admit being in the wrong. She was about to tell her it didn't matter anymore until she heard the name 'Kari' muttered by someone in the store.

"Hey, did you see this?" A couple of people were gossiping at the back of the store. One of them had his phone out, showing it to his friend.

"That's the new magical girl, yeah. Can't believe she killed all those people today…"

"There's no way she did it on purpose. Bet you those monsters mind controlled them or something. No one sane just walks up to those things."

"Maybe, but man… It got me thinking if a magical girl goes berserk, then we can't really do anything about it, huh?"

"Like the one Flare was fighting earlier? You're worrying too much. We just need a good magical girl to fight the bad ones."

Kari avoided the aisle and lowered the hood over her face. Sachi took her hand to pull her aside.

"There's an arcade across the street. Wanna hit it up?" she asked.

They purchased a large helping of fried chicken and went to the mostly deserted arcade. The only ones left were people who either cared little for their safety or didn't think it was dangerous to stay. Either way, only a single employee manned the counter and several older students stuck around.

Both of them played until their token cups ran dry, then bought more to continue playing. Kari was even enjoying herself in this juvenile past time with someone whose life she once wanted to ruin. Her worry and stress, the thought of her parents' death, began to wash away with every coin spent.

However, as they were seated in a racing game booth, Sachi abruptly stopped and began to choke up. All the bottled up emotions spilled out at once in this quiet section of the arcade.

"Sorry… I keep thinking about what Flare did to Ena and my parents… but no one will believe me. The police called me crazy! Now I have no one left and… I just want to…" Sachi hesitated to finish her sentence and wept into her hands.

Kari understood that feeling of helplessness. Good things only came to the people who had the power to seize it.

Like Flare.

That was why, more than words or a consoling hug could possibly solve, there was only one thing Kari could offer Sachi in a time like this.

"Nothing's going to bring them back, but I can give you a way to get revenge. What do you think about becoming a magical girl?" Kari asked, peeling her fingers back to show Sachi the magical girl ring that Yuria once wore.