Starplus and Kurin

The Magician Arc

A Magical Girl, or something very much like one had been jumping across rooftops in broad daylight. Well… evening light, at least.

The solitary figure of Magical Girl Starplus, clad in a unique futuristic helmet and tight racing bodysuit, was moving at an unnatural pace as she scouted the area, looking for any signs of her objectives. Either she would find and spy on the local magical girls, or…

There was a sudden pause in her movement, and she looked down wide eyed.

Spectres. A common type of belowling, a creature from the world that rivalled the main Magical Realm. Like all Belowlings, Spectres are created by the welling up of negative emotions. When influenced by dark magic, those emotions become physical, and take many forms.

Fighting them is a Magical Girl’s duty. Through acts of kindness that dispel the negativity, and physically when there is no other choice.

“Three… four… five!?” She whispers to herself, amazed by the sheer number. Spectres rarely appear in such large numbers- perhaps this was a side effect of the recent catastrophe, but that couldn’t be right.

As she readied for a fight, Starplus saw that a girl with a simple, if messy, bobcut and a school uniform rounded the corner. She looked maybe a couple of years younger than herself, but stared at the Spectres in surprise.

Not taking a moment, and aware of the danger to the girl, Starplus leapt down.
“Have no fear, Starplus is here!” She declared, readying for a fight. The girl cried out in fear, possibly a little overacted, and looked up at Starplus’ back intently.

✰ Magical Girl Starplus ✙

“Have no fear, Starplus is here!” I bellow out. Like many Magical Girls, I have a flare for the dramatic. Why else would our costumes be so showy and impractical? The girl looks at me, clearly awed by my presence, and then amazed. Good. That’s the right reaction.

I leap down as the girl screams in fear, and give her a half salute with my hand to my helmet.
“Oh no, monsters!” She cries out in fear, covering her face to hide from them. Silly non-magicals are easily scared, but it’s fine. Better than acting tough and getting in trouble.

I raise a hand and leap into the fray, slamming one with a punch to the chest. As it staggers back, I roundhouse kick another, separating it into two halves. The girl is clearly looking at me in awed silence. Good.

A third rushes at me, swinging its arms like claws, but I waste no time, ducking under one slash and slamming my fist through its face-shaped-thing. Another one down… that leaves just one, right?

I look around the alleyway and take a nervous step back. Two… three… four! More of them appearing, or are they reassembling!? This is too much. I look behind me. Crap, that girl is still here!

Thinking fast, I close my eyes.
“Resonance; BIKER!” I call out, and my magical motorbike appears beneath me. Popping a wheelie to swing around to face away from the creatures, I grab the terrified girl’s arm and throw her around the back, riding fast out of the alleyways, looking for something safe and praying that I haven’t attracted the attention of the other Magical Girls in the area. I can’t let this one screw up destroy our mission. This is the first time the higher ups have tasked us with something more than standard duties.

♥ Magical Girl Rinrin ♥

Transforming to Magical Girl form was a no-go. And, to make things worse, the Spectres had begun to round on me. I assessed the situation carefully; in Human form, I may not have the reflexes, speed, or strength to fight, but if I could run… Anya must be on patrol, right? Somewhere nearby, there’s no way this many Spectres wouldn’t… another Spectre appears. They keep spawning here, growing from the ground like disturbing plants on triple-speed, bubbling black sludge pools that come to horrific life.

Then a voice boomed out at me, and what was previously a panicked situation became one of confusion.
“Have no fear, Starplus is here!” The corny line sounds out from the Magical Girl racer who appears. Unlike my own lines, which are always custom made and clever, this girl’s clearly lacking in originality, using such a cliché. I’m about to comment on it when I notice she’s looking at me expectantly… crap! I’m not in Magical Mode right now!

“Oh, um, ah!” I say, trying to look terrified and confused. I watch as she does some weird gesture, tapping her helmet. Maybe it’s some kind of a ritual gesture.

“Oh no, monsters!” I say, awkwardly, trying to act the part and praying that this newcomer is gullible. I feel myself blushing at the awkwardness of my acting and mask it by covering my face with my hands. Maybe she’s too focussed on the Spectres to notice me.

As she fights, I try to back away, but begin to focus a bit too much on the combat despite myself. This girl is good. Too good to be a new Magical Girl. A worried thought occurs to me. I’d only had brief contact with Bishop while I was in the hospital, and she’d made vague allusions to questioning by higher ups… could this be an Inspector? Had Bishop and Rook been moved to a different location, or even demoted back down to Operator status?

I needed to ask Nyamu about that.

As I’m watching, I feel pressure around my waist, and find myself flung onto a motorbike zooming out of the alleyway.

“W-what’s happening!?” I yell out in confusion as the bike rides down the roads, it turns almost like a wild animal, right at the last second avoiding obstacles.
“Calm down! I’m getting you safe!” The Magical Girl yells back, the bike roaring under us.

The wind whips at my face as we race through the streets, and I’m forced to bury my face in her back to avoid the pain. It’s amazing that no-one’s spotted us… maybe it’s part of the biker’s magic? I want to ask her, but remember my place.

“We’re being pursued… since the alley.” Starplus- that was her name, right? Hard to forget a corny introduction like hers- says, over her shoulder.
“I’m gonna lose them… whoever they are.” She adds. She’s a little bit demanding, but in an authoritative way.

We keep driving until she slows to a stop. I hop off the back of the bike and look around.

We’re in a scrapyard. Remnants of the old city are piled up here, old cars, lumps of building debris. It makes me feel a little nostalgic. My brother built a secret base in a place like this when I was about four. Mom yelled at him when he took me there to see it…

I realize we must’ve stopped for a reason, and look around. There’s a figure standing atop a large piece of demolished building, highlighted by the setting sun behind her. My eyes take a moment to adjust before I can see that it’s Anya. Sorry, she’s in form. I see Magical Girl Tama, my kouhai.

I guess we attracted her attention, and she came to see the magical bike. I would’ve done so, too. I want to wave to her, but I realize that’d be a bad idea.

“You were the one following us.” Starplus says, pushing me back with a hand on my chest.
“...Yes?” Anya says, looking puzzled at Starplus.
“...You were the one behind that crap back there!” Starplus yells. Anya tilts her head, confused by Starplus.
“...I do not understand what you mean.” She says, quietly. The air is getting tense. Starplus pushes me behind her, I don’t get the feeling she’s a bad girl, but how do I explain we’re all friends here without revealing my identity.

“Wait-!” I try to yell out, but before I can Starplus kicks her bike into speed and sends it flying towards Anya, high speed. Anya dives to the side, closing her eyes and calling her Resonance to her hand, the sniper rifle appearing in seconds.

This is getting out of hand! I look around desperately, there’s gotta be something I can do-

And then I see Nyamu.