Momentum is the Key

“Who’s there?!” Hopeless Blade unsheathed her katana. The girls next to her jumped. In her dark outfit, she had almost blended into the shadows. She was used to that kind of reaction, though. Hopeless Blade thought back to her home, when she had a place she could call home. Her team, when she had friends that she could call a team. Before she watched them get picked off one by one by the Night Eaters.

She raised her blade, ready to strike it straight into the ground. She hesitated, just for a moment, and the voice spoke again. It was high and distorted, like someone speaking through a voice filter. A little robotic, too.

“There’s no need for weapons. This is just a bit of friendly competition, after all!”

“What the hell do you mean by ‘friendly competition’?!” Nyu Twitchytail shouted into the empty air around her. “And show your face, a-hole!”

“That attitude won’t be necessary. You know, I really don’t see what people see in you.” The voice spoke. It… She? Almost sounded like Nyu’s disappointed boss, or her mother. Her tone became harsher. “Sit and listen.”

Nyu Twitchytail fell back onto the bed against her will. She tried to get back up, to shout and fight, but it was like something was restraining her. She pulled against her invisible bonds to no avail, snorting as loudly as she could through her nose. It was all the noise she could make with her mouth sealed shut and muffled.

“Who are you?” Starlight Heart was the first one to gather the courage to speak after that.

“You could call me… a fan of the magical girl genre. It’s hurt my heart to see so many of your lovely little subgenres given up on. I mean, really, when was the last time we had a cyborg or a housewife on the scene?”

Sweet Molasses shrunk into herself, hearing someone call herself out like that. Ms. Tanaka was still curled behind the bed, not even looking at the center of the room. Unfortunately for her, the voice emanated from all corners. There was no escaping it.

“I don’t understand…” Lilylala pulled at the sleeve of the girl next to her, Fleur Chouchou. “I wanna go home…”

“Ah, that brings me to my next point!” The floor flared a brighter red. “You’re all here to entertain. Be entertaining enough that no one forgets you, and I’ll forgive you for having lost the peoples’ interest. Maybe we can all leave here even more popular than we were before, hm? Wouldn’t that be nice?”

“I don’t care about popularity. I fight for justice! Now let these poor girls go!” Starlight Heart shouted.

“Speaking from a place of privilege, aren’t we? You and Hopeless Blade still pull in the big bucks, don’t you, girls?” The voice said. “Maybe the others ought to follow in your examples. Or clear you out and take your place, teehee!”

Hopeless Blade dropped into a fighting stance. “I’d like to see them try.”

Starlight Heart turned to face her. “Don’t let this villain drive us apart like this! I don’t understand, exactly, but we’re all magical girls, aren’t we? Surely we can work together and find a way out!”

The voice spoke up. “You’re certainly welcome to try! Starting from this moment, you girls have the rest of the night to convince the audience you deserve to stick around. Now go, and stoke the fires of magical girl fans everywhere!”

The floor dimmed, returning to a slick, glassy black. As it did, the doors of the warehouse swung open all at once. Outside were the streets of Tokyo, framed by a sunset, and entirely empty.

Starlight Heart stepped into the middle of the room. I know this is scary, but the best thing we can do right now is gather information. Let’s get into groups, older girls with the younger ones, and start looking for someone in the city who can help us.”

Lilylala ran up to her right away. “Can I be with you, please?”

It took Starlight Heart a moment to remember that beneath her transformation, Lilylala was probably the youngest in the room. She held out a hand, which Lilylala gratefully accepted.

“Of course.” Starlight heart said. She scanned the beds, and pointed at Clarion. “You… Fairy girl, would you like to join us? It would be helpful to get an aerial view.”

Clarion stood up, giving her wings a few hesitant flaps to join the girls, her feet just barely trailing above the ground. She was small, maybe four feet tall, but her face looked like a teenager's. “I don’t understand anything… All these harsh buildings… Where’s the forest?”

“Um… Beyond the buildings, I suppose? Help us find the person who brought us here, or at least some help, and I’m sure we’ll find your forest.”

Starlight Heart scanned the rest of the girls. Most of them seemed friendly enough, thankfully. She could pick a few out of the crowd that she could trust with leadership positions. She was the leader of all of them, of course. She tried not to be conceited about it, but her team always told her she was a natural. Even away from them, she was sure this would be no different.

The catgirl, Nyu Twitchytail, clasped a hand roughly onto her shoulder, breaking Starlight Heart out of her train of thought. Nyu’s claws dug into her shoulder like she was trying to cause her pain. Did this girl want to pick a fight?

Starlight Heart looked up at her. (Nyu was about 6 inches taller, unfortunately. Starlight Heart hated being looked down on.) Nyu just scowled. “You’re not sticking me with babysitting duty. I literally live in Tokyo. See ya.”

With that, she left the room. Starlight Heart tried not to let it faze her. “Okay, does everyone else have a group?”

There was a general murmur of affirmation among the girls. Starlight Heart put on a brave face. “Excellent. We’ll go straight out the front door, and the rest of you take the other directions. We’ll meet back here in about an hour, and bring anyone we find who can help. Any questions?”

Ugh. She noticed that while she was talking, that gothy girl had snuck away too. Well, there was nothing she could do to help those who didn’t want help. She would see her again, she was sure.

After a beat, she clapped. The housewife and those two matching girls all startled like a gunshot went off. Starlight Heart tried to give them a reassuring smile before taking the hands of Clarion and Lilylala.

“All good?” The two of them nodded, still clearly afraid. Thank goodness she was here to help. That was all. She just had to focus on helping. “Then let’s go!”