FINALE: ARE YOU WAITING TO WAKE UP? (3)

I rush for Sonora, ready to swing my hammer. ...I feel uncomfortable swinging this thing against another sapient, but it's for the greater good-

?!

A gunshot rings out. R-Rifa-chan...? I didn't call her to fire yet. I mean... she doesn't have to answer to me, but it was working so well before.

Sonora seems completely unphased, as though Rifa-chan missed. That's not right, is it? It looked like she made her shot dead-on. Yet, it's as though the wind bullet disappeared as soon as it made contact with her target.

"I'm s-sorry, I... ......Ju... just fucking die, Sonora...!!!"

Rifa-chan fires off another shot-- then another, and another, and another... all of them dissipating into nothing once they make contact with Sonora, who approaches slowly... before knocking her to the ground with her shovel.

"F-Fuetchi!!! RrrraaaaAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!" Wantus-chan is the next to attack, claws out as she charges for Sonora.

"W-Wantus-chan, wait...!!"

My words fall on deaf ears. She slashes, slashes, slashes at Sonora, putting everything into her attacks. She's throwing her hands wildly, like a rabid animal fighting for dear life. It's as impressive as it is depressing. But... it's not enough. She, too, falls to Sonora's shovel.

I turn to Seco-chan. "D-don't... don't do this."

She stares at Sonora... then to me, before whispering something, rushing at her ex-girlfriend with her chainsaw. D-damn auditory processing issues... what did she say?!

No, wait. I know what it was. Two words. Two... simple fucking words.

'I'm sorry.'

Against all odds, her chainsaw makes direct contact with Sonora...! No, wait. I thought it was, but on second glance, it's not doing anything to her. She's receiving friction, she's grinding against something, but nothing's happening. It's as though she were just using a prop... or, more accurately, as if Sonora had a barrier protecting her.

Sonora looks sadly at her ex... not out of pity, but out of genuine heartbreak.

Drop.

...

That just leaves me... right?

Okay, w-w-what the fuck do I do, here?! She's taking all of our hits like they were nothing...!

She looks at me, a shiver running down my spine.

"There's still time, Chisaki."

She flinches slightly, a massive fireball hitting her on the back as Seco-chan uses her powers. Wantus-chan throws out high-pressure water at her. Rifa-chan, a torrent of wind. All fall useless to her.

"R-run... Chisaki...!! RUN!!" Rifa-chan forces herself back up, moving to charge down Sonora.

"N-no...!! F-FUEKO!!!"

She collides with the wolf lady, pushing with the force of her entire body in the vain attempt to throw her to the ground. Unstoppable force against immovable object. ...It's then that I notice something.

Fue-chan's... changing, isn't she? Her arms weren't that long before, right? Hands weren't always that big?

Oh... no.

Sonora effortlessly overpowers her, before gasping as she seems to realize it too.

...Her look of shock and guilt dissolves into a resolute sternness, as she flicks her fingers. "Sit and stay."

All three of them respond with obedience.

All three of them are turning into Anxi.

She kneels down to Fue-chan's level, sliding off the plague mask as if to better examine her handiwork.

This is my opportunity to do something, isn't it? I-if I remember, the only times we've ever made headway with her was with the element of surprise, right?

But none of the others' attacks were working-- not even any of their magic. So what do I do now, when violence seems to fail me?

...

.......

?!

That's, w-wait a minute.

We've got it all backwards... don't we? This entire time.

Yeah... that's right. It's something we've always kept to heart, even if we were never really good at following it. A core tenet, amongst us magical girls.

Violence should never be our first resort.

I dismiss my hammer, dismiss my outfit... then, I walk over to Sonora...

...and wrap my arms around her, giving her a hug from behind.

"?!"

She gasps, caught off-guard by my gesture. "W-what the hell...?"

"You uh... you looked like you needed a hug."

Coming into contact with her body, I'm caught by surprise by a sudden sensation of... ??

It's... abstract. I-I'm not entirely sure how to describe it. Her body is cold, like a corpse... yet, now that I'm touching it, I feel strangely energized... as though I'm feeling something more than death. It's as though I'm holding onto the void, yet feeling a limitless potential in doing so. Like... as if I came into contact with raw, creative energy.

She recoils to my touch. "Y-you're... w-we're enemies, right...? You c-clearly don't intend to join me, so why in the world would y-you do something like this?!"

I turn her around delicately, looking into her cold, lifeless eyes. "Are we really enemies, though... Sonora?"

"W-what do you mean?"

"Shovels aren't the most lethal of weapons."

She pulls up her dagger in response. "I-I have this, though...!"

"Yet you've not used it at all during this fight."

"I-I w-w-was..."

"You're m-more than capable of murder. We all know that. But b-be honest with yourself, Sonora...You don't actually want to kill any of us."

She growls at me, clenching her weapons in her hands until her fists run white. "A-are you saying that I'm a coward, Chisaki? Is t-that what you're getting at?!"

"No, o-of course not!" I wave my hand dismissively. "Not at all."

"Then what? Huh? THEN WHAT?!" She's lucid again.

"...You're hurting. Your heart's hurting." I smile warmly. "I'm willing to help shoulder your pain."

"Nnnn.... nnnnn..... nn..."

?

"NnnnnnnnnnnnNNNNNNNNGGGGAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

She shoves me away with a shrill scream. Then... her body begins to change. Shifting, melting, merging, growing, growing, growing... S-she's becoming an Anxi.

"N-no!! S-Sono-chan...!" I rush for her, only for her to shove me back again.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!!" Her voice gets lower and lower, shaking the ground as her body keeps getting bigger and bigger. She's... g-going to absorb the others! "WE ARE NOT FRIENDS, CHISAKI. FUCK RIGHT THE HELL OFF."

There's no way I can get to the others in time, even if I use my magic. S-shit...! I-I can only hope they'll be fine after all of this...

She's... finished growing. God, I'm getting dizzy staring up at her immense scale. She's... the largest Anxi anyone's ever seen. Like a g-goddamn kaiju...

I leap into the air, trying to use my newfound wings to fly over to her terrifying, misshapen face-

!!

-only for her to swat me down like a fly.

"DON'T... DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!!"

I-I think... I'm going to need to approach this differently.