"Is that what I think it is?" Sachi gasped, her eyes reflecting the glimmer of the ring's silver jewel.

Snatched from Yuria's finger the moment she was cut in half, the ring had slipped right off like it was lubricated with soap. Just like with Aiko, their death was what allowed it to come away so easily. Kari's own remained stuck, as if a part of her body or a second heart that had blood flowing through it.

"This ring will turn you into a magical girl," Kari began. "It won't make you stronger than Flare, but you'll be stronger and can grow stronger than who you are now."

"I wouldn't say you have the biggest potential, but I think you might make for a good magical girl!" Rocky chimed in.

Although it was silent between them, video game soundbites erupting all around seemed to have grown dull in the ring's presence. Sachi stared long and hard at the piece of jewelry, causing Kari to grow envious because this was more time than she was given to make the same choice that fateful day.

And at that time, there was no choice at all.

Sachi reached forward, her index finger and thumb only centimeters away from taking it.

"I can be like you and Flare. Or Jade and Candy?" Her voice trembled.

"You'll probably be colored differently, but yeah. We'll be magical girls together," Kari answered, slightly bothered that Sachi had paired them in that way.

Color drained from Sachi's face. The same hand snapped to her mouth. She hopped out of the racing seat and beelined it for the restroom.

Kari raced after her but stopped at the entrance, unsure why she was feeling any semblance of worry to someone who didn't deserve it. Not long ago, she wanted to see Sachi suffer and was willing to use her to get to Ena.

What changed?

"Can't you just admit you want to be friends with her?" Rocky floated up to her face and asked like a disappointed parent.

"Friends?" She scoffed. "The only friends I need are Minato and Makina. I don't care about anyone else. In case you don't remember, I didn't shed a single tear for Gouda and Chie."

"But if Candy was really in danger, you would go save her. You even saved Jade from getting bombed by Flare," he reminded her.

"Don't go making excuses for me. I make enough for myself."

Sighing, Kari entered the bathroom to find Sachi inside a stall, hunched over and vomiting into the toilet. She wet some paper towels over the faucet to hand over.

"I'd ask if you're okay, but throwing up all that fried chicken can't possibly feel good," Kari remarked, taking a step back.

"Wouldn't be so bad… if we ordered something sweet instead of spicy…" Sachi wiped her mouth and spat into the toilet, then staggered over to the sink to wash her face. "When I saw the ring, I started thinking about Ena. Her body was still swinging on the rope when I got to her house… and my parents, they… I'm sorry, Kari. I can't do it. I'm just not strong like you."

It wasn't looking like Sachi had any interest in becoming a magical girl. Even after losing her parents and best friend, she showed no urge to see through enacting her own revenge. Kari knew herself well enough that if their positions were reversed, the world would sooner come to ruin before Flare could continue living in it.

They played in the arcade for a little while longer until it was finally closing time. The employee kicked out the place's only customers with little remorse.

"Where are you headed now? Got family somewhere outside of the city?" Kari asked.

"No one that I'm close with. Don't worry about me though. There's probably plenty of pent-up, middle-aged men that need company if they're crazy enough to stick around. I'll bum off 'em." Sachi stretched her arms above her head and sighed. Once the pedestrian light turned green, she glanced over her shoulder and smiled. "Thanks, Kari."

When Sachi left, the city somehow felt a lot colder. And it was summer.

Kari thought about making a quick stop in Meguro to visit Minato, then to Okinawa to see Makina again. With her haste, she could make those trips before morning came.

However, just before she could take off, a gruff voice called out to her. "Kari Tachibana."

Dressed in a long, brown overcoat and smoking a cigarette was Police Captain Ogata. A black cap concealed his eyes, but it was obvious they were trained on Sachi's back as she headed straight for an izakaya, a place that had no shortage of salarymen coming off work.

"That just now was Sachi Tamura. Same year and friends with Ena Mizushima. The same Ena who was found hanging in her house, both who were friends with Daisuke and Tetsuo," the seasoned officer said almost accusingly, the thick smell of tobacco only partially masked the scent of alcohol.

"Nice to see you again, Officer Ogata. Aren't you supposed to be helping to evacuate the city?" Kari turned around and pulled the hoodie off her head.

"As you can see, all those who wanted to leave have already left." He threw his arms out to show the mostly deserted block, then walked ahead of her, convinced that she would follow. "Let's take a walk. I think you're going to want to hear what I have to say."

Kari squinted at him, trying to glean anything off that he might be trying to pull. Was this some sort of trap? The last time they met was at the police station, and the officer undoubtedly suspected she was involved with Tetsuo's death.

With little to do anymore other than to wait for the apocalypse to arrive, Kari followed after him.

Though Captain Ogata gave no clue to where they were headed, Kari recognized this part of the city. Once the streets became familiar, she saw by the police tape around the small park sandwiched between multiple apartment complexes that this was the same place where Tetsuo and the others had died.

Kari understood then that Ogata knew.

He stepped over the bright yellow tape and walked up to the dried bloodstains in the cement.

"You let them die that day, didn't you?" Ogata began, back still turned to her. "Took Tetsuo's phone, turned it on once at a manga cafe and again at Roppongi Hills. I checked with the phone company that provides his service thanks to his still mourning parents."

Something told her this was more than just an accusation. An officer wouldn't have confronted her alone. Blood rushed to Kari's head as she grew desperate to find an excuse. Her thoughts went directly to the quickest solution: from here, she could Stampede his body into nonexistence if it came to that.

Kari folded her arms and stood on the opposite line. "I don't know anything about that. I've already said all I knew."

"Not here to interrogate you. Just looking to bury some old ghosts for my sake. Doesn't matter anymore because the police chief fired me this morning. Said I was digging too much into magical girls, because guess what I found? You ladies aren't the sparkly heroines everyone is making you out to be." Ogata faced Kari at last and raised his head enough for her to see the redness in his eyes under a flickering lamppost. A swarm of flies buzzed incessantly at the bulb, but soon left to find new light when he exhaled a puff of smoke. The cigarette between his cracked lips had run its course, and he pulled a carton out only to sigh at it having gone empty, crumpled it, then tossed the piece of trash to the ground.

"It's too bad most people don't see it that way. So what did you find?" Kari humored him.

"That you people are a menace. Flare can turn a man into ashes, you can slaughter a mob, Jade and Candy deal billions in damage to infrastructure just by fighting, and magical girls hiding in plain sight… You're all nothing like Batman. You're teenage vigilantes doing whatever the fuck you want, and folks in high places are letting you get away with it," he growled.

"Then you should bring it up to them, not me. You're drunk. Go home." She turned to leave but froze to the click of a firearm's hammer.

Rocky chewed on his paws, flicking his gaze between Kari and the disgruntled man who had his gun drawn at her back.

"P-Please, put the gun down. We can still talk about this," the anthem said, putting himself in the line of fire behind her head.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Move, Rocky. I'm not risking you dying," she said.

"But… Okay…" He flew into the trees to hide.

"You magical girls are tough bastards, but that's if you're transformed. Can you change faster than a bullet fires?" Ogata asked.

Kari clenched her jaw, seeing no way out against a man who had just lost his job and was on her tail this entire time. "Do you really want to test that? Say you put a bullet in my head. What happens tomorrow? Where will your daughter be when the monsters come again, and I'm not there to stop them?"

"My little girl and wife died today!" he yelled, choking up and startling her as his composure faltered. "One of those flying monsters carried them into the sky while they were out shopping. Where were you? Where were the others?"

They were fighting amongst each other. But she couldn't tell him that. The only one who was really out saving the day was Candy.

"I can't be everywhere at once… There were bigger monsters causing a lot of damage everywhere. What did you want me to do? I'm not going to waste time trying to explain my—" Kari took a step forward in an attempt to leave, but a gunshot rang out and kicked up dirt next to her feet.

Despite the noise that should have attracted attention, no one came. Not through the alley, not even from the windows of the apartments which surrounded them.

The city was nearly a ghost town by now.

Ogata sighed. "That's the crux of it, isn't it? We can put a whole mag into a head hound, but no amount of ammo is going to kill something walking out of a Malevolent Domain. We have no choice but to need you. That gives you the right to play hero? Play with people's lives like you did that crowd of protestors in the streets or high school boys who were here?"

"My best friend got raped because of that fucker!" Kari screamed, her outburst louder than she expected. Even now it still hurt to think about. It wasn't a question about why Makina had to go through that. It always came back to asking herself why she didn't do something sooner.

"I feel for you. If that happened to my… my daughter. I'd want to choke the bastards to death. But an eighteen year old girl taking matters into her own hands is exactly what's wrong here. The difference is, I'm capable of letting the law do the work. Are you? Which side of the law are you on?" he asked.

The buzzing insects returned.

"I'm not a hero, chief. You want to find a real one, her name's Candy. If you're trying to shoot a fake one, you're better off pointing that peashooter at Flare instead," she said.

"What about you? Should I be pointing this gun at you?" the former officer asked.

Their standoff seemed like it lasted hours. Kari's own pulsing heart became a harsh dissonance in her ears.

"You brought this on yourself," she murmured, then transformed as multiple shots rang out. "Stampede!"

By the time it was over, all that was left of Ogata were a mist of blood and his coat landing at the other end of the park. A photo of him, his wife, and daughter drifted to the ground. The little girl in it didn't look much older than a grade schooler.

"Nnh…"

A sharp pain ran up her spine. She clutched her left shoulder which became wet with her own blood. A bullet had grazed her. It must have happened right before she transformed.

"Why am I injured?" Kari asked.

"Same reason why Candy was battered even though she was transformed. Any injury sustained out of form affects you in this one. You'll have to heal naturally for it to go away," Rocky answered, unrolling gauze for her to use.

After getting stabbed in the stomach this was almost nothing. Didn't stop it from hurting like hell though.

Kari flew to the nearest hospital, hoping to get stitches on her wound. The area outside the building was swarming with JSDF vehicles and personnel. There were so many injured civilians and soldiers alike that occupied beds that were pulled out to the lobby, and only a few were being treated on the spot.

"I need help," Kari said, walking up to the front desk with [Incognito] on.

The nurse saw the wound on her shoulder and bowed apologetically. "Someone will come see you as soon as they can. Please understand that it might take some time."

With all the people in here, some time was an understatement.

Even while not in magical girl form, she somehow felt unwelcomed. Anyone who was conscious had their eyes fixed on the television, where it replayed footage of her killing the fanatics in order to get to the broken lady, shots of her calling forth the helicopter, and close-ups of her cutting Yuria in half.

"I was there when it happened. It was like magical girl Kari didn't hesitate," a man whose arm was put in a cast remarked.

"The Messiah is brainwashing people with propaganda. What was she going to do?" another man came in defense of Kari.

"Killing all those people is still wrong. What kind of example is that setting to other magical girls?"

More people began to chime in with their own opinions, splitting them into ones that defended her action and those that were horrified by it. Kari swallowed the urge to say something and left the hospital before she did.

They didn't know a damn thing. They weren't in her shoes and neither did they have to make that choice.

While acting on autopilot, she found herself at Suginuma High and broke into the infirmary from the window to help herself. With blood soaking through the bandages and dripping down her arm, Kari and Rocky ransacked the cabinets for fresh gauze and disinfectant.

The infirmary lights flipped on and nearly blinded them.

Iori Wakana was standing at the door. She was out of breath and covered in sweat, like she had been running all over the city. Just like Ogata, her eyes were bloodshot red, and Kari knew exactly why that was.

"Oh, Kari… You're hurt. What happened?" the nurse asked deliriously, walking into the room. "You should sit down and let me treat you."

"No, wait—!" The moment Kari backed into the cabinet, Iori grabbed a pair of scissors and lunged forward.

The metal point bit into Kari's palm.

This wasn't a struggle. She could easily overpower Iori, but would that be the end of it?

"I saw it! I saw how you killed Yuria! That was my little sister!" Iori screamed, tears streaming down her face. "You didn't even flinch… y-you cut her in half! I asked you to help her! You were supposed to help her! I'll never forgive you!"

"Iori, stop! Let me explain!"

Kari stared into the eyes of a crazed and grieving woman. She shoved Iori back so hard, her head smashed into a bookshelf. Rocky gasped and went over to check the nurse's pulse, then shook his head.

She ripped the scissors from her palm and had trouble closing her left fist. Everytime she tried, a sharp pain rushed up her arm.

"Damn it… I didn't mean to! Fuck!"

"But she attacked you first! Y-You're not in the wrong," Rocky said.

"I told you to stop making excuses for me!" Kari yelled at her anthem, then knelt down next to Iori's still body.

There was nothing that could be done. Iori was dead.

Kari shut the poor woman's eyes and finished patching herself up with Rocky's help. They left the school together, but the blood loss made her lightheaded. She wasn't sure where to go anymore. People were turning against her. The only ones who could give her a hand were out of the city, and she didn't want Candy or Jade to see her in such a state.

How would she be able to tell them that she killed a police officer and nurse? Would they even forgive her after seeing the videos of what she did?

The chill of night began to cut into her bones even though the summer humidity enveloped her. As she dipped in and out of consciousness, Rocky grew worried.

"Let's land down somewhere to rest. Or… Or maybe call Shuu?" he suggested, but his words didn't register. "Oh, no— Wake up!"

Kari crashed hard into the deserted streets. She was no longer in her magical girl form. Everything hurt. Beyond the physical pain, her chest ached more than anything. Hot tears dripped to the cool asphalt grinding against her cheek.

A group of people made a wide berth to pass around her, thinking she was a corpse on the road.

"Kari! Kari!" Rocky shook her and tried to pull her off the street to no success.

"I just need to close my eyes for a bit. Keep watch for me, will you?" Kari asked of her anthem. She was about to drift to sleep until another group of people, rowdier than the last, was making a big commotion.

"Let go… Let go of me!" a familiar voice cried.

"Come on, baby. We're the only ones left in this city."

"We're gonna die at any moment, so let's have a little fun together!"

"You were trying to hit on a bunch of old shits anyway. We'll show you a lot more fun instead."

Kari peeled her eyes open to a trio of playboys across the street dragging Sachi towards a closed love hotel. One of them grabbed a brick from the ground to break the door open.

"Hey… The girl isn't interested," she said, climbing to her feet and lumbering over to them.

"K-Kari? What happened to you?" Sachi exclaimed.

"Who's this? Your friend wanna play, too?" the pushier one asked.

"Geez, she looks like a fucking zombie. I don't wanna fuck that! Hahaha!"

The third, who seemed to have taken interest, came closer to throw an arm over her. "On second thought, you're kind of cute. You remind me of that one magical girl… Flare or… Kari?"

Without a word, Kari grabbed his arm and twisted the joint out of its socket, then shoved him back to his friends.

"Fuck! The bitch messed up my arm!" he screamed.

The other two jumped in to get her, but Kari tripped one and smashed a foot through his skull, smearing the cement red. She threw the second one across the street where he landed hard and stopped moving. The last one with the broken arm backed himself into the wall.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Please, let me—"

Kari headbutted him with a sickening crack. Blood poured down his nose, and he soon crumpled to the ground.

"Y-You really killed them all…" Sachi whimpered.

"Trash like them…" The exhaustion and blood loss finally caught up to Kari. She almost fell, but Sachi slung an arm around her and pulled her into the building to lay her down on the lobby couch.

A hand rummaged through Kari's pocket and found Yuria's ring.

"I think… it's about damn time I start owing you back," Sachi said, voice filling with determination.

"How is this… happening?" Rocky asked himself. "Her potential is growing…"

"Sachi, wait… You'll—"

It was too late to stop her.

Sachi slipped on the ring. Her shining clothes blinded Kari and transformed into a sparkling, silver dress. She cupped her hands together to catch an egg that materialized from thin air. It cracked and splintered until a butterfly emerged from it, unfurling beautiful wings like the curtain of a starry night.

"My name's Iggy!" the butterfly anthem introduced himself, flying circles around Sachi. "Are you my magical girl?"