Silence weighed oppressively over the three girls huddled in the classroom's corner. The screams and carnage in the hallway had ceased. Matsui wasn't sure if that meant the zombies had moved on, or simply devoured everyone already. She shook her head slightly, not wanting to visualize the latter possibility.

Beside her, Jayla pulled out her smartphone with a shaky exhale. "I'm gonna try calling my parents, tell them we're stuck here." She tapped the screen rapidly, only to curse. "No service, dammit!"

Matsui checked her phone - no signal either. Reira confirmed hers was equally useless. Of course, no help would come.

Jayla hurried to the window, craning her neck to glimpse outside. "Can't really see anything from this angle. There's still some weird lightning, but no sign of people." She bit her lip anxiously. "Surely someone will notice this freak storm and come help, right?"

"No one's coming," Reira stated bitterly, picking at her chipped nail polish. "The whole damn city's probably like this. We have to get out before..." She left the rest unsaid, but they could all fill in the blank. Before we're zombie chow.

Matsui wrapped her arms around herself. She knew Reira had a point - their only chance was attempting to escape. But the image of those rabid zombies overwhelming the evacuation group made her gut clench.

"It's too dangerous to leave," she argued. "You saw how quickly those... things spread chaos. We should stay put and wait for help." Even the words sounded feeble. Would help even be possible at this point?

Reira's amber eyes blazed with unexpected intensity. "So you plan to just sit here quietly until zombies find their way in? We're dead if we stay!"

"At least we have some protection in this room," Matsui shot back, anger rising to meet Reira's. "We'll die if we just run out there blindly!"

As the two girls faced off, Jayla tried intervening. "Hey now, let's all just take a breath and talk through this..." But her pleas went unheeded.

"What is your problem?" Reira hissed, getting into Matsui's face. Though leaner, she still stood several inches taller, forcing Matsui to tilt her chin up defiantly. "Do you want to die cowering like a dog?"

"And you're ready to throw our lives away for nothing!" Matsui retorted, refusing to back down. She jabbed Reira's chest with one finger. "I don't see you coming up with any brilliant plans, so back off!"

Reira bared her teeth, hand balling into a fist. Before she could escalate further, a thud against the classroom door made them all freeze. The zombies had returned.

Jayla immediately sprang into action. "Help me barricade this, now!" The other two scrambled to shove desks and chairs against the entrance, just as the pounding grew more insistent. The flimsy wooden door creaked under the assault.

Wedging one last chair beneath the door handle, the girls backed away. They could see the painted metal bending outward with each hit. Their shoddy defense wouldn't hold long. Escape was now their only option.

Matsui turned to Reira, anger fully drained away. "Okay-you win! We need to get out of this room." She tried keeping her voice steady. "I just hope we can actually find a way out in one piece."

Reira's shoulders slumped as the bravado faded from her features. For a moment, she just looked like a scared teenager again. "Yeah, me too..."

Jayla squeezed both their hands, attempting to project a calm confidence. "Come on, let's scout this place out. There's gotta be a solution."

First, they checked the windows. Desks allowed them to climb up and inspect the panes closely. They were on the third floor of the building. The windows didn't open wide enough to squeeze through. The glass also looked too thick to break without making a noise.

Next, they moved to the ventilation system. Reira gave Matsui a boost so she could tug off the grated cover and peer inside the narrow air ducts. They curved off into darkness with barely enough room to crawl through. Trying to escape that way seemed risky and claustrophobic.

"Any other ideas?" Jayla asked hopefully after they replaced the vent cover. Neither girl responded, growing more discouraged.

As if in answer, the classroom door splintered down the middle with a crack like a gunshot. Rotted fingers curled through the jagged hole, trying to widen the breach. They were nearly out of time.

Matsui glanced around the room desperately, seeking anything they had missed. But there was simply nothing useful - just posters, a globe, and educational clutter. She turned back to her two companions, seeing the same fear and despair reflected in their eyes. After everything they had survived so far, would their luck finally run out here, so close to escape?

The classroom door finally splintered down the middle with a louder crack. Rotted fingers curled through the jagged hole, grasping and tearing to widen the breach. The girls backed against the far wall, watching in horror as the zombies' diseased faces slowly came into view.

"The vent, now!" Matsui ordered, a commanding tone entering her voice. Their only slim chance was the route they had deemed too risky. But certain death awaited otherwise.

The girls scrambled to arrange chairs and desks into a makeshift staircase. Reira linked her hands to provide a foothold up to the yawning ventilation shaft near the ceiling. Jayla stepped up, balancing precariously, before Reira boosted her higher. She grasped the shaft's edges and heaved herself inside.

Turning back, Jayla reached down to help pull Matsui up next. Shards of wood flew as the zombies broke off more of the door, howling hungrily. Matsui forced herself to move calmly, planting one foot in Reira's hands and stretching for Jayla's grip. With their combined strength, she squirmed inside the vent just as a zombie lunged, jagged nails grazing her shoe.

"Your turn Reira, hurry!" called Jayla. But the redhead hesitated, staring fixedly at the classroom being overrun with undead monsters. Matsui saw her chance to flee to safety, but something held Reira paralyzed.

"Don't do this!" she cried. "Take my hand, now!"

Matsui's shout broke the spell. With a final anguished look, Reira allowed herself to be heaved up into the vent. Seconds later, the girls were crawling as fast as possible down the narrow passageway. The echoes of frustrated howls faded behind them.

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The air ducts were a claustrophobic maze of right angles and intersections. Dim light filtered through occasional gratings to the empty rooms below. At each junction, Jayla got her bearings before choosing their path.

Matsui focused on keeping up and not hyperventilating. The vent walls pressed tight, making movement slow and laborious. Each shuffle forward scattered dust and loosened debris that clung to her hair and shirt. She didn't want to imagine what else might lurk in this enclosed tomb.

Suddenly, Reira seized up behind Matsui. She craned her neck back to find the other girl frozen, breathing shallowly. Her face seemed dangerously pale, even in the low light.

"Reira? What's wrong?" Matsui whispered urgently.

"I...I can't do this. It's too small. I'm sorry..." Reira's voice sounded young and fragile. Her confident facade had finally cracked.

Matsui squeezed Reira's hand in what she hoped was a reassuring grip. "I know you can. Just keep your eyes on me and keep moving. Take it one inch at a time."

Reira swallowed thickly before giving a small nod. With Matsui's patient guidance, she slowly crawled forward again. Their linked hands remained clenched together, an anchor against the oppressive darkness.

After an eternity, Jayla halted, pointing up ahead. "I see light. I think this leads outside!" She scooted forward eagerly and kicked open the vent cover. Dazzling sunshine greeted them as she hoisted herself out onto what appeared to be the school's rooftop.

Reira collapsed in a heap the moment she cleared the vent, breathing hard. Matsui emerged last, squinting against the brightness. The open sky above felt liberating after being entombed below.

As her vision adjusted, Matsui took in the scene before them. In the distance, the skyscrapers of downtown Tokyo wreathed in smoke. Sirens echoed across the cityscape, punctuated by faint screams and gunfire. Lightning still crawled malevolently through the swirling vortex above it all.

Matsui's home had become an apocalyptic wasteland in the blink of an eye. She turned toward the other girls, seeing the same overwhelmed despair etched on their faces that she felt twisting in her gut.

"What do we do now?" Reira rasped, voice raw. "Clearly, nowhere is safe anymore if those freaks are running loose." She gestured angrily toward the streets.

Jayla just shook her head silently. For once, the bold girl seemed at a total loss. She pulled her knees tight to her chest, making herself small.

Matsui glanced between her two companions uncertainly. Only this morning, her biggest concern had been dodging confrontations with Reira. Now they were relying on each other to survive this inexplicable nightmare engulfing Tokyo. The dynamic shift left her reeling.

"Let's just...rest for a minute," Matsui finally said. "We made it this far. We'll figure out the next step together." Even as she offered the feeble reassurance, doubt gnawed at Matsui. What hope did three teenage girls have navigating this chaos?

Reira let out a harsh bark of laughter. "You really think we have any chance out there?" She flung her arm in a sweeping gesture. "We're dead if we leave this roof! Game over!"

Despite Reira's callous tone, Matsui sensed the actual terror lacing her words. She crossed over and placed a tentative hand on the girl's shoulder. "We're not giving up yet. Let's take this one minute at a time, okay?"

Reira tensed under her touch before letting out a slow breath and nodding jerkily. As Matsui settled beside the two girls pressed against her for comfort, she prayed for a miracle to deliver them from this roof.

Matsui stared out across the skyline, listening to sirens wailing in the distance. She tried tuning out Reira's pessimistic ranting beside her, instead focusing on the feeling of Jayla's shoulder pressed against hers. They would get through this somehow. There had to be an answer.

A high-pitched voice suddenly called out, "Greetings!"

All three girls lurched back with shrieks of surprise. A strange creature hovered before them - its fluffy pink body resembled a cat, but large rabbit-like ears swiveled above its furry head. A long tail curled down to brush the roof tiles.

Matsui scrambled behind Reira, peering out cautiously. She must be hallucinating under stress - some weird pink Pokémon thing couldn't be here. But the creature remained floating, regarding them curiously with gleaming ruby eyes.

"Do not be frightened, I mean no harm," it whispered. "Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Dorki. I have traveled from a distant world plagued by supernatural threats. Knowing this dimension was facing a similar crisis, I crossed the veil to offer my assistance."

The girls exchanged uneasy glances. Matsui finally found her voice. "Um, so you're...an alien?"

"In simplest terms, yes." Dorki's eyes crinkled happily. "I belong to a powerful race called Kubulls, adapted to combating dark forces that threaten worlds in the multiverse. When my kind sensed the disturbance forming here, I came alone to halt the spread of undead before your planet falls to them."

Jayla cocked her head. "Hold up. You keep saying 'undead' and 'zombie invasion' or whatever. Is that seriously what's going on here?"

Dorki's ears twitched. "Indeed. The vicious corpses overrunning your city are what we term 'undead' - human bodies reanimated by necromantic energy. I have seen entire planets succumb once they gain a foothold unless mighty protectors arise."

His bejeweled gaze passed over the three girls meaningfully. "With the proper abilities, the three of you could become those protectors - this world's best chance at salvation."

Reira crossed her arms skeptically. "Okay, I'll play along. So how are we supposed to stop a freaking zombie apocalypse? In case you didn't notice, we're just high schoolers, not action heroes."

In response, Dorki's eyes flashed brightly. Three brilliantly colored gemstones materialized, hovering before each girl. An icy blue staff appeared before Matsui, swirling with frozen fractals.

"With a bit of magic, you will possess all the power needed to combat the undead," Dorki proclaimed. "The choice is yours - will you become magical girls and stand against the coming darkness?"

The girls hesitated, eyeing the mystically glowing staffs in their hands. Could those mysterious objects grant them zombie-fighting skills? Matsui hardly felt qualified to save humanity. She glanced between her two companions, seeing her uncertainty mirrored back.

Before they could voice their doubts, the rooftop door burst open. A pack of undead faculty members and students staggered through, decaying faces turning hungrily toward the fresh meat above. Dorki's warning rang sharply through Matsui's mind - without their help, this world would fall.

Filled with resolve, Matsui reached for the icy staff. Power thrummed through her fingers where they touched the glowing gemstone. "I'll do it," she declared. "If there's any chance to stop these monsters, I have to try."

Jayla grabbed the yellow staff, crackling with electricity, meeting Matsui's gaze with a nod. Last, Reira took hold of the fiery staff, flames dancing across its surface. In that instant, brilliant light enveloped all three girls.

Matsui felt the energy course through her body, transforming her school uniform into a sleek pale blue and silver outfit traced with frost. Knee-high ice heels adorned her feet, while a short glyph-marked cape fluttered from her shoulders. Cold power hummed at her fingertips. Her long hair bloomed into a blue color.

Beside her stood Jayla and Reira, similarly garbed in yellow and red costumes crackling with lightning and fire. Reira’s pigtails remained red while Jayla’s afro changed to yellow. All three girls shone with otherworldly radiance. The zombies approaching them recoiled instinctively from the light.

Testing her new abilities, Matsui thrust her staff forward. A blast of crystallized air rocketed forth, skewering the undead creatures. Jayla's lightning bolts and Reira's fireballs quickly dispatched the rest. Within moments, their first threat as magical girls was dust.

Matsui turned back to Dorki, feeling energized by the incredible power now coursing through her. "We did it! I can't believe this is real."

Dorki nodded approvingly. "You begin to grasp your potential. Once your training is complete, we will scour the city together and eradicate the zombie hordes." His eyes glowed vibrantly. "In my world, the undead's numbers also seemed endless, until brave magical girls united and turned the tide. Have faith."

Reira ignited a flickering fire in her palm, watching it dance across her gloved fingers. "Gotta admit, these new skills are pretty badass. We might actually stand a chance now."

"Hell yeah," said Jayla, flexing her electrically charged hands. Sparks flew from her fingertips. "Together, we can totally save this city!"

Seeing her companions' confidence bolstered, Matsui felt her hopes rising. With perseverance and teamwork, they could master these supernatural gifts and take back their world from the zombie invaders. Their journey would be long and perilous, but at last, they glimpsed the light of hope ahead. The actual battle was only beginning.