Matsui cried out as she narrowly dodged another lethal swing from the zombie maid's massive mace. The impact rang through the storage room, vibrating the concrete beneath her hands and knees. They couldn't keep this desperate evasion up much longer.
Glancing left, she saw Reira barely raise a shield of fire to deflect the spiked ball before it caved in her ribs. The maid pulled the mace back, the chain scraping loudly across the floor, and prepared another crushing swing.
They had tried every magical attack in their arsenal, to no effect. The hulking zombie seemed immune to everything they threw at it. But Matsui's mind raced, grasping for any advantage to turn the tide.
Their environment - that was it! This thing's power was brute force. If they used the storage space against it...hope sparked within Matsui's exhausted mind. "The racks!" she yelled. "Help me tip them onto it!"
Reira and Jayla glanced at each other in confusion but complied, rushing to either side of a towering rack packed with boxes. Together, they shoved with all their remaining strength. The heavy frame teetered before crashing down directly onto the maid zombie with an avalanche of boxes.
The creature bellowed in rage, struggling to free itself from the debris. Matsui staggered back, wheezing. "Now, quickly! Light it up before it breaks loose!"
Understanding her plan now, Reira swept her staff across the pile. Fire lit the cardboard ablaze, engulfing the entombed zombie within seconds. They all recoiled from the heat, shielding their faces from the inferno.
But it wasn't enough. With another infuriated roar, the maid zombie rose slowly from the flames, flesh blackening and clothes disintegrating. Only hatred burned hotter than the fire in its remaining eye. Matsui's heart sank. Conventional means would never stop this monster.
"We have to use our full power together!" Matsui commanded. Regrouping, the girls aimed their staffs as one. The mace swung down, but they stood firm, magic swirling at their fingertips. One strike would end this.
The maid's blistered lips peeled back in a gruesome, mocking smile - it planned to extinguish their lights forever. But its arrogance would be its undoing. With screams of determination, the girls summoned every ounce of their bonded strength.
A single, blinding beam pierced the monster's exposed torso, cauterizing the flesh instantly. For a suspended moment, the maid zombie remained upright, frozen in its death throes. Then its head simply exploded outward in a violent spray of gore before the enormous body collapsed.
Panting and trembling, Matsui stared numbly as blood pooled around tattered maid uniforms. They had won, but it had taken everything they had. She wiped a smear of rancid fluid from her cheek, too weary even for disgust.
Behind her, Reira leaned heavily against a displaced rack. "Tell me we're finally leaving this nightmare funhouse." She cast a haunted look back at the maid's body before adding darkly, "And I'm never setting foot inside another damn maid cafe."
Matsui managed a weak smile at her friend's feeble humor. "Yeah, I think we've overstayed our welcome here. Let's keep moving."
Passing the smoldering entrance, Matsui gulped the predawn air gratefully. The smoking cafe ruins and supply store across the plaza stood as silent sentinels, enveloped in deathly stillness once more. But for the girls, the battle marched ceaselessly onward into the dusk. This nightmarish detour was merely another mile marker on the endless road ahead.
*****
The carnival lights glimmered like a beacon cutting through the gloom. Matsui paused, observing the rides and attractions still aglow with power. She hadn't seen electricity running anywhere since the outbreak hit.
"No way, it still has juice?" Jayla rushed ahead eagerly, leaning against the chained entrance gates. She turned back with a grin. "We gotta check out the rides! When's the next chance we'll get to catch some Z's on a roller coaster?"
Matsui bit her lip uncertainly. Joyful laughter and carnival music echoed in her memories here as a child, but those nostalgic feelings curdled now. She turned to their guide. "What do you think, Dorki?"
The creature's ears twitched as he surveyed the park. "While I understand the appeal, I advise against unnecessary recreation, given the urgency of our mission."
Jayla's face fell at the denial. Even Reira seemed disappointed. But Matsui nodded in resolution. "He's right, we should move on." Ignoring Jayla's noise of protest, she turned away firmly. Their duty came first, before personal desires.
Matsui halted as a distinct crying reached her ears, followed by faint pleas for help. They could not ignore the familiar pain lancing through her heart, no matter what logic dictated. Meeting her friends' cautious gazes, she said simply, "I have to try."
Passing the empty ticket booths, Matsui followed the pleas, nerves on high alert for any threats. As she approached the towering Ferris wheel, the cries' source became chillingly clear. High above, two small children trapped in a pod called down desperately, their tear-streaked faces lit by garish carnival lights.
Below, a horde of undead flocked mindlessly around the towering ride, gnarled hands grasping upward hungrily. Matsui trembled at the nightmarish sight - one false step would send the pod plunging.
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Reira and Jayla caught up, raising their staffs. "Do you think it's... them?" Jayla's voice shook with anger at the thought of more sadistic tricks. But the children's cries came from mortal terror, not malice. They were innocent and in need of help.
"We have to get them down somehow," she said. Steeling herself, she called up gently, "Hang on! We're going to help you!" The children's sobs quieted to whimpers as they clung to each other. Their faith poured renewed courage into Matsui's heart. Failure was not an option.
Surveying the scene, she rejected plan after plan. The pod's mechanisms immobilized, requiring an engineer's skills she lacked. They could battle the horde below, but any tremors risked the precarious seat plunging. Even their magic evoked unpredictable reactions lately. Matsui silently prayed for wisdom - and quickly.
Matsui's frantic strategizing halted as Reira called out urgently. "The musical stage! I can use it as a distraction for the zombies." She was already moving toward the garishly lit performance area.
Matsui blinked in surprise before the idea clicked into place - of course! With the undead's fixation on noise, music could draw them away temporarily.
"Excellent thinking," praised Dorki. "I will monitor the creatures closely and alert you if they lose interest." He floated upwards, keeping watch over the park.
Reira leaped onto the stage, grabbing an electric guitar. She fumbled to turn on the amplifier and winced as it squealed feedback. Down below, zombies turned curiously toward the sudden noise.
Strumming experimentally, Reira's fingers settled into practiced chords. As a downbeat rock melody rang out, she stepped up to the mic and began belting out an American punk song from memory. Matsui faintly recognized the lyrics from their global studies class - "Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett.
The zombies shuffled closer, drawn by the reverberating music. Soon, the ghouls cleared from the area around the Ferris wheel. Matsui nodded to Jayla. "Let's hurry!"
They rushed to the towering ride's base. Matsui blasted icy footholds into the metal scaffolding, allowing them to ascend quickly toward the trapped pod. The children inside screamed as it swayed from their movement.
"It's okay, you're safe now!" Jayla called out once they reached the pod's roof. She held out her hand, helping the terrified boy and girl climb out and onto her back.
Matsui kept a firm grip on Jayla as she carefully maneuvered back down the icy handholds with her precious cargo. The Harry Potter novel tucked in the boy's pocket reminded Matsui sharply that these were just scared kids.
Safe on solid ground again, the children clung tearfully to the girls. Between sobs, they explained sneaking in, only to get trapped when the monsters appeared. "We just want our mommy and daddy," the girl wept.
Matsui hugged them close. "We'll get you both home, I promise. But first, my friend needs help." She gestured urgently to the stage. The zombies had shuffled dangerously close to a still-singing Reira.
Handing the children off to Jayla, Matsui unleashed a barrage of ice shards to push the zombies back from Reira. But the creatures barely reacted to the magical assault. Matsui realized with dread they had become immune to her attacks now, after repeated exposure.
"It's not working, we have to retreat!" she yelled over the pounding guitars. But Reira couldn't hear, lost in the lyrics and shredding solo. She stomped her heels harder, bathing in the attention.
The zombies pressed closer, decayed hands nearly grasping the red magical girl gyrating on stage. Matsui tried freezing them in place, but the ice barely slowed their lurching advance. She screamed for Reira to run as the creatures reached hungrily.
*****
Reira's passionate guitar solo drowned out Matsui's frantic warnings completely. Lost in the music, the rebel girl stomped and head banged without care, oblivious to the zombies staggering ever nearer. Matsui flung desperate shards of ice, but the creatures marched on unfazed.
A rotted hand grasped Reira's heel. She recoiled, swinging her guitar on instinct to bash the zombie's skull in cacophonous dissonance. Snapping out of her reverie, Reira finally registered the mob surrounding her. With a panicked yelp, she leaped off the stage, sprinting for the haunted house attraction.
"Go with Dorki, I'll get her!" Matsui shouted to Jayla. Leaving the frightened children in their care, she raced after Reira into the dark funhouse. Behind her, decayed wails showed the zombies gave pursuit. She had to find Reira quickly before they both ended up trapped.
"Reira!" Matsui's voice echoed unanswered through the dilapidated rooms. Ghastly automated figures jumped out unpredictably, eliciting shrieks from Matsui's already frayed nerves. She pressed onward, ears strained for any response over the eerie soundtrack.
Rounding a corner, Matsui stumbled into a hall of mirrors. Her own panicked face flashed endlessly back at her as she felt along the warped glass. She persisted through the disorienting maze, calling Reira's name desperately.
Sweating now, Matsui finally ascended a creaking attic staircase. Cobwebs caught in her hair as she peeked into gloomy corners, where costumed mannequins posed in twisted tableaus. She was running out of the haunted house to search.
At the back wall, Matsui at last spotted a hunched figure silhouetted against grimy windowpanes. "Reira!" she cried out, nearly sobbing in relief. The shape stirred, slowly turning to face her. Matsui recoiled.
The zombie clown leered down at her, yellowed teeth rimmed in peeling grease paint. In front of its frayed, belled jester's outfit, it brandished twin axes crusted in dried carnage. Bile rose in Matsui's throat as she automatically raised a shield of crackling ice.
The clown's menacing chittering laugh bounced off the rafters. Matsui unleashed a volley of frozen missiles, backpedaling, only for the creature to nimbly dodge her desperate blows. Its stained grin stretched impossibly wider as it closed in for the kill.
With nowhere to run, Matsui stood her ground. As the deadly axes swung down, she focused her power into one last chilling blast. But her frayed nerves disrupted her magic - shards of ice erupted haphazardly, leaving her attacker unscathed.
Matsui screamed as one axe glanced off her frozen armor, the force knocking her down. She crawled back, terrified eyes fixed on certain death looming over her. This was where her light winked out, devoured by the endless night.
A deafening crack rang out, followed by blinding white energy sizzling past Matsui. The clown zombie howled as the lightning engulfed its convulsing frame before crumpling to the floor, frazzled. Whirling around, Matsui saw Jayla silhouetted in the stairwell, palm outstretched.
"Figured you could use some backup," her friend said with a grin. Matsui laughed in euphoric relief as Jayla helped her stand. Together, they made quick work of the reeling clown before hurrying downstairs, the hunt for Reira temporarily forgotten.
Back outside the funhouse, Dorki waited with the anxiously clinging children. "We heard you cry out and had to intervene," he intoned. "I am pleased to see you are both intact." As Matsui embraced the shivering kids, she made a silent vow - no more splitting up.