Phase 2- Taking On The Magician

The Magician Arc

Saying “The fight had only just begun” would hardly be fair, considering the previous battle that had almost brought a couple of people to their knees. But in many ways, it was also the truth.

At the center of the fight was the Maniacal Girl known as The Magician.

In fury at being hit by a flying motorbike, and raging at the sudden losing situation, she’d grabbed the front and thrown the bike and its driver across the room. She stepped out of the large hole that had been dug by the force of the bike ramming into the wall. She wasn’t built for this kind of up-close combat, she was a manipulator and deceiver, she’d hide in the shadows. But that plan had been destroyed by one of the irritatingly perceptive Magical Girls in this slapdash team of rejects.

She reached down in the hole to grab her hat, but before she could grab it she found Rook running up and jumping right at her face. The Magician was fast, her arms crossing in a defensive posture as she took the blow and swung a punch, but another girl was on her other side, slamming a knee into her.

This was bad. There was no disorder for the Magician to feed off. For the first time since she had received these powers, she was truly scared. And that was something that she could not handle.

Roaring with anger, she fired off what appeared to be a blast of some kind of explosive energy, and a huge wall of fire separated her and the two attacking her, Constellation and Rook, from the rest of the group.

She just had to make this work. If she could keep them scattered, keep them occupied, she could win this. Or at least get out of there with her own skin. She bit down her teeth and looked over to Hermit, lying unmoving, but groaning faintly in pain.

Well. There would have to be a sacrifice along the way. She flipped backwards and threw a series of what appeared to be sharp daggers, causing the two pursuing her to duck for cover.
It was for the greatest good. Self preservation. No finer power could exist. She smirked, and grabbed Hermit from her daze, slapping her.

“Get up you wretch!” She scowled. As Hermit responded groggily, shakily moving onto her legs, Magician shoved her body into the oncoming enemies. That ought to buy her some time. Anything to buy more time. She had to distract them, and while they were distracted she could get out.

Fifteen would understand. She would probably glare, and snarl, and punish her, but she’d understand. Survival was the most important detail. Despite that, thinking of the image of the Queenly woman in the long dress sent a shiver down Magician’s spine. In her heart, she knew that Fifteen was truly not the forgiving type. She held grudges.

Maybe it would be best to turn herself in, then. The thought treacherously entered her mind, but she had no idea what the punishment would be for murdering another Magical Girl. More than likely, it wouldn’t be good. Then… she could assume the identity of one. She was able to disguise herself, she could find some obscure local magical girl, kill her and her family, and assume her role in the society.

Yes. That would work. She could even give insider information to get back into Fifteen’s inner circle.

This was a plan that continued to form right up until a motorbike travelling at incredible speeds leapt through the summoned fire, the driver howling like some sort of revenge-driven hellion. The Magician knew that it wouldn't be long until the others realized the fire was a bluff, another illusion.

The look on the face that was visible through that girl’s helmet sent ice through the Magician’s veins. Officially, Magical Girls were not allowed to murder. It was a grievous sin, and those who did it would soon find themselves convicted of the most serious crime any Magical Girl could commit.

That was officially. As the Hellion dove off the bike and started swiping at her, The Magician became distinctly aware that officially, Maniacal Girls did not exist.

That could be a problem.

✰ Magical Girl Starplus ✙

MY blood is ice in my veins. I’m raging in fury and hell bent on slaughtering this evil monster. Maybe my anger would be directed at both of them, but together they had done the one thing they had no right to. They had taken Sleepy Angel’s life.

Every punch I flew that connected with a loud thump, every kick that slammed into her chin, every knee I delivered into her soft and vulnerable stomach, was accompanied by a memory. Sleepy laughing, moaning about wanting to go to bed, complaining about work stuff.

My eyes are burning. My chest aches. The pain won’t stop hurting. She always had a stupid order that took forever to make when we went out for coffee. I’d always groan when she started, and Constellation would smile and order a small latte. Every memory hurt.

So it may as well hurt the monster that made it happen worse. With that thought, I grab her arm and twist it behind her back, hearing the sickening crackle of her bones snapping as I throw her across the whole pool, into one of the changing rooms.

“Starplus, wait-” A voice calls out from somewhere behind, but I run into the room after her, howling in fury. Around me, faint tendrils of darkness begin assembling into the shape of- I don't care. It's a distraction.

My heart is thundering in my ears anyway, half the words they shout not getting through. I move into the room uncautiously, and find myself stepping into a large, strangely distorted, void.

There are whispers, too. I become aware of them, whispers that are loud enough to be heard over even the racing of my heart.

You killed her. Why didn’t you wait for her? I rage and slam my fists in the air around me, but the whispers continue, on and on, driving into my skull.
You didn’t wait because you wanted to show off. If you’d been together, you wouldn’t have been caught. I growl and swing a punch at the source of the voice, a shadowy figure that dissolves into nothing the second my fist makes contact.
You wanted to ride on your own, you wanted to spend a day alone in the city. Now she’s dead, and it’s all your fault. The hissing continues. I strike at another shadow, and a kick hits me from behind. I stumble forwards and lash out at one of the shadows, briefly seeing the Magician disappear behind it.
It’s all your fault because you’re selfish. Monster. Brute. I rage and kick out, slamming into a wall. I had to… had to stop them.
How could someone like you claim to be a Magical Girl? Aren’t they pure? Aren’t they unselfish? The voice continues. I can’t detect where. I strike out at another shadowy-creature, and another. They look like spectres, but they seem to be made of nothing.
Give up. If you’d given up sooner, someone better would have taken your place. I cry out, shaking, trying to get the thoughts out of my head.
Someone better wouldn’t have let her die. I sag to my knees, panting. I can’t keep fighting. Not… not like this.
You deserve this. You deserve to end like this. I try to get the voice to stop, and see her. It’s Sleepy Angel. She walks up to me with a gentle smile on her face, and places her hands on either side of my head. Her thumbs rub my cheeks.
“Dear, dear Starplus.” She whispers softly. I look up into her eyes, pleadingly. But they turn cruel, an expression I’ve never seen before upon them.
“I don’t forgive you.” There’s a snap. The room jerks sideways.

And then there’s no pain at all.

♖ Queen-Side Rook ♖

The Magician had conjured an illusory maze of shadows through the public pool, and to make matters worse, some of the walls were real, hiding debris and traps. Walking through it slowly, arm outstretched and ready for enemies, ate up time. Time we didn’t have.

Starplus had gone in there alone. I stab forward with Gungnir, until eventually we all find our way into the changing room. I open my mouth to shout.

Starplus is kneeling on the floor, tears pouring down her cheeks, and holding her head on each side…
Holding her head is The Magician. A cruel grin on her face.

With one final crack, the Magician whips Starplus’ head to the side, snapping her neck. The Magical Girl form disperses, revealing a normal teen girl in a stylish outfit unfitting for a place like this.

The Magician notices me, blowing me a kiss, before walking out of the large hole in the wall. I try to charge forward, but find myself unable to move. Looking down, I see that my legs… my legs have become stone! I can’t move them.

"My legs... my legs are stone!" I try with all my might, but they’re stuck. Panicking, I feel the stone sliding up my body further, at this rate, it’ll reach my lungs and I’ll be-

There’s a sharp pain in my foot, and I look down to see that Constellation has stepped on it with her heel.

“If it were really stone, that would not have hurt.” She says, quietly, her eyes not moving from the body ahead of her. As if reverting to normal, the stone disappears, and I realize that the Magician had managed to use her illusions on me once more.

…And she’s getting away.

Able to run, now, I make it out the back door and look over the rooftops as The Magician disappears into the night. Even if I ran now, she’d be long gone by the time I got close to her.

This wasn’t over yet.

It couldn’t end here.

I hear everyone arrive behind me, and my shoulders sag in defeat.