Lure it in with bait

“Toki. How have you somehow developed the habit of picking up every stray magical girl that tries to kill you?”

“If I knew the answer, Time, I’d find a way to stop myself.”

Even Fujiko’s little house had started to become a little claustrophobic now. Four magical girls, plus their guides all in one place. Felt like a powder keg.

“Sorry tae pit ye oan the spot, lassies, but Ah cannae help nutic a distinct lack o kidnapped rich bastards. Whit the hell happened?” asked Electron

“Yes, I do find it rather disconcerting that you left to procure high-value targets and instead returned with a new… play mate…” added Higgs

“And why are you all battered? What could have possibly gone so wrong?” finished Time.

“Alright, alright, one question at a time, Christ,” I said, sinking down into the sofa. God, my ribs were killing me. Seriously, why is it always the damned ribs?

“In short, it was a setup,” said Ryou. “None of our targets were where we had expected them to be. Mine was a body double wearing a tracker. Ms Denka was ambushed by MPs on both sides. The convoy targeted by Ms Tokiko had a pair of frightfully familiar magical girls hidden.”

“You… can’t mean…”

Time didn’t have to finish her sentence. There was only one pair that fit the description.

“Hate to say it, but if Aino hadn’t bailed me out, Z would have hit a home run with whatever fragments of my skull weren’t turned to paste. One of those bastards alone is barely manageable. Both together? May as well lay down and die like a dog.”

“And that’s without the green chick there too,” added Fujiko. “Toki’s lucky to be alive. And I can’t say Ryou or I were in a much better spot either. Message is pretty clear, innit? We don’t take their heads quick, they’ll take ours first.”

“That’s exactly right, lovey.”

“Thank you, glad to hear someo-“ Fujiko stopped dead as she turned to the source of the voice. The rest of our gazes followed. “…the fuck are you?”

“Hmm? Ah, of course, I’ve yet to introduce myself.” A pink cat with a heart-shaped patch of fur beneath its neck hopped off of Aino’s shoulder and landed gracefully on the ground. “My name is Charm, lovey. I’m charmed to meet you all.” She gave us all a weird cat bow, making sure to make brief eye contact with every one of us.

Looking in her eyes settled my nerves. So much so that it was unsettling. Funny how that works.

“Charm is my guide,” explained Aino. “She and I have been through quite the bit together, including a prior interaction with those two miscreants from today.”

“What the short and pretty girl said is all too true, I’m afraid.” Charm strutted to the middle of the gathering and pointed her front paw at Fujiko. “Those two are quite merciless. If you wish to survive their onslaught, I doubt you’ve much of a choice but to bring the fight to them first.”

Even though the idea of facing those two again made my stomach turn, she was right. This proved that, not only were our heads on the table, but they were actively hunting us. We knew that taking the fight to Kairai would likely mean facing Z, W and Graviton, but this made it clear. It was kill or be killed. And we had to kill first.

One major problem, however.

“How exactly do we ‘bring the fight’ to a pair o’ bastards that show up outta nowhere and vanish like smoke?” Fujiko voiced the question on everyone’s minds. “It ain’t like we’re talkin’ about some bigshot executive or politician here. These are assassins so good at hidin’ ‘emselves that most people in the business ain’t even heard of ‘em, and half the ones who have think they’re a myth. The hell do you hunt that?”

“The same way you hunt any wild animal, my love,” said Aino with a smirk. “You lure it in with bait.”

I mean, it sounded all wise and cool as a one liner, but what bait could we possibly hold over a pair of murderous ravenous magical girls? The only thing we even knew they wanted… was… oh no…

“Fuuuuuuuck that,” said Fujiko. “I ain’t bein’ hung out to dry just so we can fight clown face and her creepy girlfriend again. And I ain’t letting you use Toki for it either, or even Ryou. We ain’t sacrificin’ someone to drag those bastards into the fray. It’s a no from me, girly.”

I silently agreed. Sending someone into the hornets nest just so we could torch the hornets? I could never support that approach. Not least of all because we wouldn’t even know where to dangle the damn bait in the first place. It was a dangerous idea with high potential to go tits-up.

“…what if none of us had to?” Muttered Ryou after a while.

“Come again? Speak up, girl,” said Fujiko in frustration.

“They want all three- now likely all four- of us dead. That means any one of us, or perhaps all of us together, would make adequate bait. They likely believe that, with Graviton, they have us outmatched. We rely on that hubris. Not a trap. A challenge.”

“A challenge?” I asked. “No ambush or anything, just straight head-to-head combat?”

“Exactly that, dear girl. With four of us now in service, I believe the odds are roughly even. Attempting an ambush against such elusive foes? Our chances would be slim to none. I see no greater option.”

She raised an annoyingly good point. The enemy knew far more about us than we knew about them. Any trap we tried to set would almost definitely backfire.

But direct combat? We stood a fighting chance.

“One problem with your genius plan here, Ryou,” said Fujiko. “How the hell are we gonna issue a challenge to people we can’t bloody well find?”

“Oh, worry yourself less, dearie. I believe I’ve just the plan.”