The Meetup

The Fool Arc

The Shin-Dai building is a large structure in the heart of the new city. Easily ten stories high, and topped with a large plaza area for parties and quiet contemplation, it stands proudly next to the older buildings in the district, juxtaposing the Shōwa feel of the district with a more modern aesthetic.

Naturally, when it was first designed and commissioned, the local residents complained about the shiny new building in the heart of town, but as society has moved on the complaints have ceased, moving to the next new development. The Shin-Dai building is here to stay.

♥ Magical Girl Rinrin ♥

“Where are they…” I sit on the edge of the empty rooftop pool and swing my legs in what should have been the water. Nearby, Anya is trying to figure out how to operate the ice cream machine at the back of the bar area, no results so far. She checks the noticeboard for instructions, but upon reading a few flyers, grows bored and resumes just poking at the machine.

“Shouldn't they be here by now?” I look at the fairy flying in lazy circles above us.
“Any time now, mu.” Nyamu says, floating over to me. I’m about to make a sarcastic rejoinder when a sweet voice cuts in.

“Were you waiting long?” As if on cue, a half-apologetic greeting. Bishop gently lands on the wood decking next to the pool with a small smile, followed closely by the harder-landing of Rook, who must’ve climbed up the side of the building to get here, judging from the way she flipped into place.

“Like an hour. Rook!” I run over to her, startling the knight-castle-girl.
“Are you okay? I heard you had a run in with the Maniacal.” She grumbles and looks away.
“I’m fine. Can we get down to business?” She looks over at Bishop, who has already taken a stool in front of the bar area and is watching Anya play with the ice cream machine.
“Right. Yes.” Bishop nods.

“I am afraid we need to enlist your aid. As you can imagine, our attempts to track down and stop the Maniacal have been… unsuccessful.” Bishop gives a small smile.
“Even for a Magical Girl of my generation and experience, it has proven incredibly difficult to take down, single-handed or with both of us. It always seems to escape right as we get an advantage.”
“So you want our help?” I ask. Bishop nods gravely.

“Well count me in! Magical Girl Teamups are something I’ve always dreamed of!” I thump my chest proudly with a show-off's grin, causing a giggle from Bishop. I look over to Anya, who gives a small nod.
“In.” She says, quietly. At some point, she’d given up on the ice cream plan, moved out from behind the bar, and was now sitting atop the counter next to Bishop.

“Then we work together! Delightful!” Bishop smiles. Rook grunts under her breath, and turns to us.
“I feel that the danger of the situation hasn’t gotten through to you, but I’m not looking a gift horse in the mouth.” She lets out a small breath.

“Tactically, we’ve yet to do anything more than drive it off, so we need an extra edge. So far, we’ve only been reactive, arriving after it’s begun attacking.” She explains her plan.
“If we can figure out where it will attack next, we can surprise it. But we’d need to know more about how it thinks… and all we've figured out is that after you pissed it off, it has a real hate for us.” Rook scowls a little, and I shake my head. Anya tilts hers to the side as she thinks about the question, but remains silent.

“We know another thing.” Bishop pipes up.
“We know that it only recently gained its powers.” Everyone stares at her in surprise.
“How do you figure that?” Rook asks. Bishop mimes pulling out a magnifying glass.
“Elementary, dear Rook!”
“...You know, Sherlock never said that in the books.” Rook replies, sourly, moving over to her to knock her hand back down.
“Ahem. Elementary, dear Rook. Given the amount of violence, and the way it’s escalated since the first incident, we can assume that, had it been operational longer in the city, there would be a bloodier trail. No Magical Girls, nor regular police, have reported anything that looks like a magical murder. And so we can assume that it’s still new to its powers. From that, we deduce it learns fast. Maniacals don’t seem the type to hold seminars on ‘being the best murderer you can be’, after all.” She laughs at her own joke, a melodic little giggle.
“If that’s true, and it keeps escalating… then we haven’t seen all it’s capable of.” I say slowly. Rook nods her head, and Bishop’s eyes look a touch downcast.

“That’s not all. Battle assessments we’ve gone over have shown it has very nearly awoken a Resonance of its own.” Rook says gravely. Bishop gives a solemn nod in agreement.
“When we met, you remember I mentioned that fear causes it to grow stronger? I now believe that the Resonance of that creature is linked to the level of fear it has absorbed. The fear it absorbs charges the internal reservoir that unlocks its Resonance.. Once it reaches a maximum level of fear, the Resonance within awakens.” Bishop looks at me with a serious face.

“When you fought, it got closer to Resonance the more scared you were. When reinforcements arrived, you became relieved, and that relief caused a chain reaction that weakened it, causing its withdrawal. The same happened with Rook.” Bishop states.
“The lack of fear once you received reinforcement rapidly depleted the power within it. If my theory is correct, and the Maniacal is aware of its source of power, then the next target will be a place with enough people to generate a cataclysmic amount of fear in the shortest possible time.” A grave silence fills the air. The idea of that thing on a rampage in a crowded market, or a shopping mall, and all those people powerless, terrified… more than enough fear to power itself up.
“We cannot allow this to happen. We must find it before it can unleash itself on a crowd. But for that to happen, we need to know what its intentions are. And so far, all we know is that it wants revenge on us for stopping it.” Bishop finishes laying out the objectives.

“What if you’re wrong? I mean, about revenge?” I say, slowly, an idea crystallizing that I'd been thinking about for a while.
“You’ve been thinking that it wants to kill us as revenge, but what if it just hates Magical Girls?” The trio of others look at me stunned, confused, and impressed.
“From the moment it saw me, it was fixated on killing me. It was already leaving the alleyway before I showed up, and then it changed plan to attack when I entered. Maybe it already hated Magical Girls, and saw a chance to kill one!”
“You believe it targeted you because it recognized you as a Magical Girl? How would it have figured that out?” Rook says, looking at me sternly. I steeple my fingers sheepishly, looking down.
“I may have… announced myself.”
“Announced yourself?”
“Magical Girl Blossom Spring does it all the time!” I defend, causing an over-dramatic facepalm from Rook, and a giggle from Bishop. Anya, meanwhile, hops down off the counter and walks across the rooftop to look over the city from the balcony edge.
"It was prepared to leave until I announced who I am. I'm not imagining it." I say, slowly. I know I'm right on this.
"The idea has legs..." Bishop replies, thinking. Rook gives a stern nod.
"It's a big risk. If you're wrong about this, it could send us down a blind alley and we'll miss our chance. For all we know, it could've just seen you as another victim."
"I'm right. I know what I saw." I look to Bishop and Anya for support, and they both give nods.

“So, we know that it grows in power, and that it’s stronger when there’s fear to feed from. We think it has a deep hatred for Magical Girls. And the most likely target is somewhere with a large group of people to terrify…” I summarize. Anya nods along with what I say, and Rook gives a slight pause.

“And we know how to kill it.” Rook looks over meaningfully at Bishop, who holds her hands up in mock surrender.
“It’s true. I know how to defeat it. I’ve done it before.” Bishop says. Nyamu floats and nods, bobbing up and down in the air.
“Of the active Magical Girls on duty, only one has taken a Maniacal solo.” He looks over to Bishop to explain.
“Not without sacrifice.” She says, quietly.

“The power of a Maniacal vastly outweighs that of ourselves. Even Rogue Magical Girls are envious of it. Inspiring love and hope in people is hard, but fear… fear is much easier.” Bishop looks across the city, too.
“There are two ways to stop a Maniacal. The first is damage. Cause enough damage to it, and the Maniacal will be destroyed.” Bishop that statement sink in, before continuing.
“The second is to expose, and purify, the heart. This is significantly riskier. The heart is only exposed when the Resonance is active. If you can get close enough to touch it at that time, you can pump magical energy into it. Complete Purification.” Silence follows as we consider our options.

“Purification is dangerous, we don’t need to take the risk.” Rook growls out to interrupt.
“If we can purify it in time, there’s a chance we can save the souls of those it killed.” Bishop replies, getting a little heated despite herself.
“Save…?” I look between them. Rook tsks with her tongue.
“It’s Bishop’s theory. Not even a very good theory.” She replies. But Bishop waves her away.
“Maniacals store up energy in an internal reservoir. Fear. Including that of the people they killed. Inside that reservoir are the last moments of those who died in fear of the creature. Once the Maniacal awakens, those last moments are destroyed.” Bishop begins her explanation.
“There are those of us who believe that, trapped in those last moments, are the souls of the dead. If you can purify the heart between the Resonance awakening and being used, we may be able to bring them all back.” Bishop looks triumphantly at the group. Rook looks angry at this suggestion, Anya tilts her head in confusion, and I’m lost for what to say.

“You mean… all that death... would be undone?” I ask her to repeat, and Bishop responds with a shrug.
“It is just an idea. Once Resonance is awakened and used, the fear stored within the creature is burned out. If we can purify before that moment, I believe it would save the souls of those whose fear it harvested.”
“Only it’s impossible! And it’ll get you killed if you attempt it.” Rook scowls.
“Impossible? How?” I look between the two as they stare each other down. Finally, Rook blinks.
“To purify the heart within that window, you would have to be within touching distance right as Resonance begins. In other words, should you fail, you would be completely exposed to attack. It’s a suicide mission.” Rook shakes her head to deny the idea further, and silence falls.
“We need to spring the trap before it does any more damage. Purification is a dream, and one we can’t waste time on.”

“Regardless, for either plan we need to know where and when it will attack.” Bishop replies, clearly at odds with Rook's definitive 'no' to her idea.
“In two days time. Right there.”

“Right there.” Anya repeats herself, pointing behind us. I stare at her, and so do Bishop and Rook. Turning to see what she was looking at, I feel a slight grin spreading. Slowly, Bishop nods.