Why Exactly Are You Taking Over The World?!

I found myself slowly getting frozen to death by the evil Magical Actress Tsubaki. She had already cast the ice spell twice, which meant the ice had already crept up past my knees. My feet were frozen in place, rendering me unable to dance.

However, I watched all 411 episodes of Star Soldier. If there was anything I learned from watching all that sickly sweet drama, it was how to lure the villain into a false sense of security. Hopefully, by letting the villain monologue to her heart's content, I could buy myself some time to come up with a plan before I became a magical icicle!

“Why are you doing this?” I asked Marie. “The Flower Powers are supposed to be used for good!”

“Well, darling,” Marie said in response, “I'm glad you asked. I'm sure you know by now that the goal of our Coven is to take over the world…”

While she was busy rattling off her villainous exposition (I had stopped paying attention, honestly), she fired off a couple more “Eternal Freeze” spells, once at my waist and once at my hands, right where I was holding my staff. Was she really one step ahead of me at all times? Each use of that spell only accelerated the rate the ice was spreading across my body.

But then, I realized something very important…

On her right wrist, Marie wore two blue bands, which looked very similar to the chains her Hollow, Tsukiko, was wrapped up in. That must have been how Marie was able to use such powerful magic without dancing! She had been siphoning the mana out of her Hollow. The plan that was quickly forming in my brain seemed simple enough. Somehow, I needed to get those chains off of Tsukiko to weaken Marie's magic. But how…?

“Flower Girl!” Marie then shouted. “I asked you a question!”

Wow, I had actually been so caught up in my own thoughts that I forgot she was even monologuing.

“I'm sorry… What was the question?”

“Ugh!” Marie groaned. “Magical girls can't do anything right! While I was busy reveling in my inevitable victory, you weren't even paying attention! What am I supposed to do with you?!”

“You could let me go…” I playfully offered.

“Now, why would I do that?” Marie asked me.

“What, do you expect me to just stand here and die?” I asked in response.

“No, I…” Marie quickly paused to correct herself. “Yes, exactly, I expect you to DIE! Once you do, I can steal your Flower Power for myself! And after that, all the other Flower Powers will be forced to join us or die as well. Nothing will stand in our way.”

Okay, so maybe I mistimed that plan a little… I wasn't expecting her to keep talking for that long… I then noticed Aichi had been standing next to me the entire time. What was he doing all that time? I knew exactly what to do now. But I had to do it quickly because the ice had now crept up to my shoulders. Any longer and I wouldn't have had enough time left to act.

“Aichi…” I whispered.

“You finally got a plan?” Aichi asked me.

Trying to not get Marie's attention while she continued monologuing, I merely nodded in the direction of the mouse Hollow.

“So, Flower Girl, have you got any last words?” Marie finally asked me at the end of her monologue.

“Just four: Aichi! Get the toy!”

“~woof!”

Marie knew what we were planning. She tried to freeze Aichi with the “Eternal Freeze” spell, but Aichi shouted “Pulse Field!” in order to block it. That bought Aichi enough time to rush past the evil magical girl and grab a hold of the mouse with his mouth.

“~squeak!”

The magical chains were caught neatly in his little puppy teeth.

“Don't move, ~woof, or the mouse gets it!” Aichi shouted with the chains dangling from his lower jaw.

“~squeak, I suggest doing what he says, mistress!” Tsukiko cried out in a panic.

“You stupid pooch!” Marie scolded him. “Give me the mouse!”

“Make me, ~woof.”

“Oh, I will!” Marie boasted. “Soothing Slumber!!!”

“Spinning Dash!!!” Aichi countered. He spun his way through Marie's sleeping spell and flew right into her, sending her flying right into me! The force of the impact shattered the ice, freeing me from my wintery prison. However, the impact also knocked my staff out of my hands.

In a desperate move, Marie lunged forward, grabbing my staff before I could retrieve it. She proceeded to whack me around several times with it.

“Enough is enough!” Marie shouted with all the hatred and anger she could summon. “I have had it with you sappy do-gooders! Prepare to die!”

A large green light began to appear at the tip of my staff. Marie prepared what I assumed was the most powerful spell she could muster when Tsukiko suddenly appeared between us. It turned out Aichi's spell did more than help break the ice. It also freed Tsukiko from those nasty magical chains.

“Extinguish the Light!”

However, the light suddenly disappeared before the spell could do anything. Everyone at the scene was surprised at what had just happened, or rather, didn't happen.

“What's going on?!” Marie asked. “I cast Extinguish the Light!”

“You'll be doing no such thing ~squeak!” Tsukiko warned her.

“Out of my way, you insolent rodent!” Marie shouted angrily. “If you won't let me use my magic, then I'll just kill this girl the old fashioned way!”

“Marie Sendou, you have failed to hold up to your end of our contract ~squeak,” Tsukiko explained. “Failure to use your powers for good means our contract is terminated!”

Marie then attempted to whack the mouse Hollow with my staff as if she were little more than a baseball. Before it could land a hit, however, my staff as well as Marie's magical outfit disappeared in a shower of tea leaves and snowflakes.

“You won't be practicing magic in this town ever again, ~squeak.”

“You little…” Marie said, gritting her teeth in rage. She attempted to attack Tsukiko once again, but the little mouse Hollow countered by putting Marie to sleep with a “Soothing Slumber” spell.

As soon as the battle was over, we were met by the sound of police sirens.

“~woof! We gotta get out of here!” Aichi shouted.

“Wait, why?” I asked.

“Because they'll want to throw you in prison for being a sorcerer like they did to Meteron, silly!” Aichi explained. “Let's go ~woof!”

•

The four of us (Masuda was unfortunately still knocked out) gathered at a nearby park to quietly discuss what was happening, far away from the spotlight.

Tsukiko was the first to squeak, uh… I meant speak.

“Thanks for saving my life back there ~squeak,” she told us.

“And likewise, thank you for saving us,” I told her. “I'm just glad we were able to pull that plan off as well as we did.”

“Oh, did you plan all that out, Ayame?” Aichi asked me playfully.

“Oh, I remember now I wanted to give you something ~squeak!” Tsukiko said as she produced a large glowing ball of magic. “It's the Flower Power of the camellia. Use it wisely ~squeak!” She then tossed the ball of magic at me. It exploded in a puff of snow and ice and tea leaves as I absorbed this new Flower Power.

“You can just give magic to people?” I asked. “Why couldn't you-”

“You humans have your laws and customs and legally binding contracts ~squeak,” Tsukiko further explained, “so do us Hollows. Very complicated rules and stuff that I'd be here all day explaining ~squeak. Long story short, the contract between me and Marie was broken, so her Flower Power was free for anyone to claim. Enjoy ~squeak!”

“Uh… thanks, I guess…” I attempted to be grateful for Tsukiko's… I guess… gift of magic.

“Well, I'd better get going ~squeak,” Tsukiko then told us. “I gotta go scout out more Flower Peeps. Here's hoping they'll turn out better than Marie ~squeak. Toodles!”

After she flew out to who knew where, Aichi and I were left to figure out what to do with Masuda.

•

Later that night, Masuda woke up on my couch, startled more by the fact that she wasted the entire day sleeping than by anything she had experienced that day.

“Oh… what a strange dream,” Masuda told me when she woke up. “I dreamed that we were scouting out a lead and we got captured by an evil magical girl and you became a magical girl and…”

“Oh, yeah, that does sound like a crazy dream,” I lied to her through my teeth.

“Well, I'd better be g- going,” Masuda then told me as she got off the couch.

“Leaving so soon?” I asked her.

“Yeah, I g- gotta be getting ready for w- work in the morning,” she explained. “As th- they say, f- fall seven times, stand up… up eight.”