*Makoto’s POV*

I wake up in a museum. A very strange museum. There is no set theme for it. Everything are mixed together in a big hall way. From stone age picture of the first fire, an old model of compass, the wall full of ancient characters, to modern age symbols: a passenger aircraft, a culture of bacteria, a VR headset. Even jumbled together, it gives a strange sense of harmony that can tell its visitor how great the human invention is during the flow of history. In the center, there is a fountain with a big globe representing earth floating in the air.

Sitting on the fountain border, a girl is reading book. Her outfit gives her appearance of a witch but with a very unique style. Her silk black cone hat has an emblem of platinum pair of bird wings at the bottom of the cone. The solid brim is decorated with golden embroidery. She wears a white long sleeve blouse with brown corset on the waist and black pant. The way she sits cross leg while reading is elegant, emitting an aura of intelligence.

Noticing my gaze, the girl closes her book and it disappears in the air. She raises her head up and I finally see her face. A face looks exactly like mine but has a mysterious feeling that I do not possess.

“Who are you?” I ask.

“I am you.” She replies shortly.

“How can you be me while I am in front of you?”

“This place is inside your heart and I am a different side of you.” She answers as if she expects that questions. “But this is not important. You come here because you are desiring strength, right? Then I should be the one asking and testing you, not the other way around.” The other me stands up and adjusts her hat.

“Can you give me strength?” I ask in doubt.

“Yes, the power same as Hinami and Yuuko. They probably experienced the same thing as you right now, meeting the other self of their. However, the requirement to have their help is different from person to person though. Ok, enough of questions from you. Let me ask: How do you see this room?” The witch me answers me willingly and asks back.

“It is strangely amazing. Even all of the things here are not the first of their kinds, they can display how mighty the human history is with their antiqueness. Each of them solved a very big problem or helped mankind advance into a new age. Although the order is messed up, I do not find it disturbing. I can’t really describe this feeling well in words.” I answer honestly

“I will take that as compliment. Although they are not the first when they were invented, they are the first model that were commonly used by the whole population. In fact, there are also a lot of other inventions that fit your description, they are not used by the whole mass, thus they are not included here. But I have to admit that this collection may also miss many things as well. Now another question, what did you feel when you saw the red world and everything you encountered so far?”

“It is a hell, a nightmare. Many people are dead, killed brutally for no reason. And we are forced to go through hardship just for survival. There is nothing but bad feelings to describe this situation.” I answer her with a little bit angry voice. I am not sure why she is asking that question but I feel that I do not really like it.

“No, that’s a lie. It’s not just bad feelings alone.” The other me refutes

“Really? Right, I did feel glad when Lexar came for me, when we were saved by Hinami and Yuuko, and hope when we knew that we can escape here. Is that enough an answer for you?” I impatiently answer her.

“You know that’s not what I mean, do you? It’s just only two of us here. There is no one else. Remember when you first saw Hinami transformation.” She says in a enticing voice.

Why does she want me to say it? She is also me so she should know how much I hate that thought when it came to me.

“Remaining silent? Do you really hate me that much? Why can’t you embrace yourself more? People often say “Be yourself, be unique”, right. You can at least be honest to yourself. Nobody is going to criticize you here.” She keeps persuading me to say it out.

After several minutes of conflicting myself, I decide to say it. I don’t want to lie to myself at least.

“It’s excitement.” I answer

“Oh, can you elaborate it?” She asks in anticipation.

“When I first saw Hinami military form, I could see the hope to escape but at the same time, for that one moment, I felt lucky for this situation to occur. Even people death looked so trivial to me in this situation. I realized this whole world may be a big discovery, a very big discovery that can change humankind if we can understand it.” I stop for a moment “I do not know what this world is, but I understand that it is not just a random mysterious phenomenon. There is definitely a reason behind and a high possibility that someone controls it. And if such a world can be controlled, I want to know how. The whole thing happening right now can help the history turn a new page and a new era is born.” A smile tries to form on my face but I stop it.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“And now, you are right inside that page, the page that is the beginning of a whole new era. You’re excited about what you are going to do to write yourself on the history book.” The other me finishes the rest with a smile.

“That’s the reason I find myself disgusting: to even think about fame at such a time when my friends are in danger fighting those monsters. You are perhaps that ugly side of me or else I can’t even think of a reason why you make me say all of these.” I face her with complex feeling.

“It looks like you still don’t understand much about yourself. But that’s enough for now. You have accepted me as yourself and it’s time for me to lend you my power. With the current you, I doubt that you can use my full potential but dealing with that monster is probably no problem.” The witch claps her hand and a book appears in her hands again.

I suddenly feel hazy and the museum starts spinning in front of me.

“Remember, your desire is not really fame and it’s not as negative as you think. See you later.” Those are the last words the other me says.

*At the school gate*

Makoto stands in front of the bandage man but her appearance is not in the student uniform. She is wearing a costume of a witch, similar to her other self. The Sugihara house are already lost at words. Their mood has swung too many times that they feel there is something wrong with their heads. The only thing in their mind right now is to expect Makoto to say something.

However, the witch girl remains silent after her entrance. Due to disagreement with herself, her personality is not influenced much like with Hinami and Yuuko. Her power is also limited as she can only inferior form of her true ability. Even so, Makoto still finds them very powerful and thinks that she can defeat the monster in front of her with them.

Seeing the transformation, the bandage man roars in anger. The hatred from being killed by Hinami once still remains and now there is another one same as her. Understanding the danger posed by two people, he does not underestimate them anymore and act with a strategy in mind.

“ustuj on nihsub nigaK” Unknown language comes from the man.

The fire in the surrounding intensifies and 50 flames taking form of human gather around him. They all have the same build as the bandage man and hold machete made of fire in hand. After given the order, they move around and corner the students in a circle. Their plan is to attack both Hinami and Makoto at the same time. Since one is unconscious, Makoto has to protect her and the others at the same time. This will leave a gap in her defense and the true attack will come when it is found.

Makoto luckily finds a fire extinguisher near her feet. Most of the equipments the previous group brought were left at the school gate in case Hinami still needed them, near her position. With them, Makoto finally finds a chance to turn this situation around.

The fire extinguisher in her hand suddenly vanishes into white particles and gets absorbed into her body. She then picks up the other things and absorbs them. The other students look at her in confusion while the bandage man immediately orders those flame clones to attack.

“Too late though.” Makoto smiles and snaps her fingers.

A whirlwind of white foam envelops her and the students. The moment those fire bodies get contact with it, they are swept by the flow and fly in the air. Holes form on their bodies as the flame is gradually extinguished. In a few seconds, all of the clones are finished.

“Now, it’s my turn.” Makoto claps her hand two time as she says.

All the white foam gathers in front of her and shoots toward the bandage man in a form of torrent. It knocks him in the air and quenches the fire on his body. After hitting the wall, he slides down then vanishes like he is fire extinguished by the foam.

Noticing something no right, Makoto controls the white foam wall around her. Suddenly, many fire arrows glide in the air at her direction. The arrows are washed away before they can hit her. Suddenly, two arrows pass through the foam and hit her on the shoulder. They are not made of fire but real arrows made of wood and feather.

Makoto claps her hands again and a wall of ice forms behind the foam layer. Multiple crashing sounds come as the real arrows hit the ice. She breaths a sigh out of relieve but gets interrupted by a new attack.

The bandage man abruptly appears in front of the barrier. His machete becomes many time bigger and gets covered in fire. He swings it horizontally, cutting through the 2 layer barrier and the girl behind it.

Makoto figure is cut by half behind the ice wall. The students scream of fear while the man laughs in victory. However, the two half suddenly become hazy then disperse. White mist covers the whole area round the man and suddenly explodes.

When the smoke are clear, the bandage man is in tattered clothes with burnt on his body. Behind him, Makoto makes her appearance with a hammer in hand. It was the same sledge hammer that Yuuko used to hit his head but now it has white flame covering the head. The witch spins around for momentum then strikes heavily the man’s head. A loud thud comes and the man rolls twice in the air before falling down. His head is smashed to pieces.

The surrounding becomes quiet as the fight ends. Everyone stares at the headless corpse with uneasy feeling.

“Is it over?” Meiya makes a sound.

“I don’t think so. His corpse has not turned to white ash yet. There may be something else.” Takagi says while staring at the corpse intensely.

As if confirming his word, black liquid flows out vigorously from the carcass and engulfs it. Makoto frowns her eyes then makes a white fireball, throwing it at the black puddle. Unfortunately, the liquid is many time denser than the amount blocking the gate. The flame is extinguished right after it makes contact. The puddle boils furiously as it extends and a figure rises from it.

It is the bandage man again but his build reaches 5 meter this time. His machete is now replaced with a two meter long scimitar. His shirt disappears and reveals a whole skeleton on fire inside. The eyes are glowing in red with madness inside. The man now turns into a monster completely.

Makoto looks at the monster with a calm face but inside, she is already confused what to do. The enemy becomes stronger each time they defeat it. Her current power is not enough to face head on with it. Her white foam cannot even reduce the fire intensity, let alone damage him. Right at the moment she is stuck what to do, a voice calls out to her.

“Sorry for making you wait, Makoto” Hinami says while smiling.