“Please, I have a family! I’ll do anything you say. Just let them live, please!”

Haruko watched the man’s pleading with the utmost indifference, disgusted that such filth would dare stain her with his mere presence. From his skeletal frame and dirt-stained rags, it was clear he’d lived in utter poverty his entire life.

“Please!” The man reached out to grasp her skirts, and she smirked as his arms exploded into bloody chunks. Serves him right for daring to try to touch his better.

“Husband!” His wife ran to his side, trying her best to staunch the bleeding. Blood further strained her already soiled apron, soaking it through. Besides her, her daughter bawled her eyes out. She cried for her papa, pleading for him to be alright. From the fading life in his eyes, her wish would go unfulfilled.

“Monster! Magical girls are meant to help people!” The mother said, gently placing her dead husband down on the dirt road.

“No, we are the arbitrators of doom,” Haruko replied, indifferent to her tears. “That other magical girl was only an aberration.”

Haruko gave the matter some further consideration. “No, she performed her job as a true magical girl quite nicely. She gave you false hope, fooling you into thinking your pitiful lives could change. It makes the despair so much sweeter now that you realized it’d all been lies.”

“You!” Enraged, the woman tossed a rock at Haruko’s head. It rebound blowing her head into bloody chunks was amusing.

“Mama! Mama!” The little girl tugged at her mother’s coattails, trying to awaken a corpse. It made Haruko smile, a perfect demonstration of misery. She abandoned the girl to her grief, knowing she’d remained broken for the rest of her pitiful life.

“We should thank the rebel.” Her partner, Kion, said. “The hopelessness on their faces when they realize the magical girl’s true nature was priceless!”

“Yes, I doubt they’ll be in any shape to recover now,” Haruko said, looking up towards the impaled head of the country’s former president. From what she’d heard, Umi had installed him herself to improve the lives of the common folk. What a laugh.

“Things are looking up! Sector 8 will soon be a cesspool of despair!”

Of the worlds they’d checked, they’d yet to locate their target. But Takako was a minor concern compared to a magical girl’s proper task. Haruko considered breaking a populous’ will a pleasant aspect of her job. It was fun watching the outraged citizenry fight back, only for it to spell their own doom instead.

“This world’s finished. Let’s…” Haruko froze, her brow furrowing. She sensed another magical girl’s presence, faint but clear.

“You think it’s her?” Kion asked, not hiding her eagerness.

“It’s Takako, alright.” She’d recognize that magic anywhere, recalling its unique taste back in their academy days.

Takako had finished last in their class, showing a pitiful amount of promise. The girl seemed to defy convention, free-spirited even amongst magical girls. Instead of doing her job, Takako preferred to instead lounge away eternity. The girl’s betrayal hadn’t been much of a surprise.

Mei Inouye gives us magical girls too much freedom. Haruko thought with distaste, though the higher-ups were cracking the whip harder these days. With luck, future magical girls wouldn’t be as pathetic as the current lot.

In fact, the rebels did Starlight Dream a favor by destroying those useless magical girls too weak to survive. Once she became a Devil Princess, her magical girl army would be marvelous.

“Aren’t you getting ahead of yourself, Haruko?” Kion asked, amused. As usual, her fairy read her mind with ease.

“Right.” Haruko coughed into her fist. As usual, she’d allowed her enthusiasm run wild. But Haruko loved being a magical girl. It allowed her a freedom few possess. It gave her the power to rule and dominate, to be untouchable. Which was why she always won. Nothing could touch her and nothing ever would. The Devil Princesses were a tricky opponent, but even they wouldn’t prevail against Haruko in the end.

“Shall we go?” Kion bowed, extending a paw toward the portal she created.

“Today, Takako’s pathetic little rebellion ends.”

---

Takako sat on her floor chair, hugging her legs. She wasn’t depressed or anything, just more morose than usual. Emiyo slept soundly across the room, still trapped in her bonds. Despite weeks passing, the lieutenant hadn’t stirred or even snored. She just laid there unconscious. The girl gave Takako a conundrum she had difficulty solving.

“I can’t kill you, but I also need my weapon if I’m to fight Haruko.” Takako said to the air. While she was confident she’d gotten stronger since their previous fight, but she couldn’t fight two lieutenants alone. Jin still hadn’t returned with the bothersome Ume and Takako’s gut told her time was running short.

“This sucks so hard!” If only Seina had returned already. This would be so much easier. They were a surprisingly excellent team. Odd considering they’d been mortal enemies a short time before.

She stroked her chin, considering the unconscious magical girl lying before her. Fate had dealt her a tough hand.

“I wonder if there’s a local black hole I could fling her into. That would keep her busy.”

“Sorry, what?” Aiko asked, walking into her room. She carried a bundle of freshly baked loves of bread in her hands. Despite it being simple fair, it appeared delightful. Takako’s stomach growled, reminding her she hadn’t eaten since breakfast.

“I’m considering what we should do about our unwanted guests. But never mind her, what’s this?”

“A gift of gratitude from an old gentleman’s who’s daughter you rescued when she got kidnapped,” Aiko said, placing the goods onto a nearby table. “He practically thrust them into my hands to give them to you.”

“Huh.” While the incident sounded vaguely familiar, She’d dealt with hundreds of annoying vampire incidents in the last few weeks. To tell the truth, she barely paid attention to them. But the gift touched her in a way she hadn’t expected. It was nice.

“Not anything that special.” Didn’t she throw that vampire kidnapper into the sun or something? Takako broke off a chunk of bread and popped it into her mouth. It was good, buttery, with the right amount of chewiness.

“Sure. But to that grandpa, it meant his entire world.” Aiko replied, amused.

Am I blushing? How stupid. I don’t get embarrassed. “Besides, don’t they have that swordsman guy, too?” Though Takako doubted he even existed. He’d only been a tall tale Masato invented to impress his acquaintances.

Aiko nudged Takako in the chest with an elbow and laughed. “For someone so egotistical, you can sure be modest.”

“Whatever.” Takako rolled her eyes, tearing off another piece of bread. “Seriously though. Emiyo’s a problem we can’t ignore.”

“Talk her into not being a bad guy?” Aiko asked, curious. “It worked for you.”

“I doubt it’d work. I know Emiyo.” Takako sighed. “She lacks the imagination to change. It’d be like arguing philosophy with a spreadsheet!”

“But we need to try, regardless,” Aiko said, refusing to drop the point. “We should talk, at least.”

Poor Aiko was too kindhearted for her own good. As Takako figured it, her redemption was a fluke. It seemed doubtful any other magical girl would turn against their masters. They either feared retribution or got their jollies off on hurting people. Most magical girls she’d encountered were mad as a monkey on a trike.

“Okay, we’ll try. Though it will be tricky to keep her awake with her escaping.”

“You should release her altogether,” Aiko said, hesitating. “It’ll be hard to convince her of our good intentions if she’s bound and helpless. We need to build a level of trust.”

Doubt crept into her thoughts even deeper. They’d need to fight Emiyo again if she failed to see reason. But Takako had to admit Aiko’s idea had merit.

“Let’s get this over with.” With her current ability, Takako figured recapturing Emiyo wouldn’t be too arduous a challenge if the worst came to the worst. She hoped.

----

“So, this is our plan, huh?” Colten asked, less than enthused. “I prefer Takako’s black hole plan. It wouldn’t kill her, but it would be an inconvenience.”

“Don’t worry. We have a contingency plan if Emiyo refuses to cooperate.” Aiko said. “It’ll take time for her to regain her strength.”

“Okay,” While still unpleased, Colten gestured for them to continue.

They stood in an empty warehouse on the far outskirts of Osaka. If Emiyo caused trouble, it’d be somewhere where innocent people couldn’t get caught in the crossfire.

Here goes nothing. Flicking a wrist, Takako withdrew her ribbon from the lieutenant. They stood silent with bated breath, eyes locked on Emiyo’s prone form. A moan escaped the lieutenant’s lips, her body twitched as it regained consciousness.

“Where?” Emiyo’s eyes darted around, blurry-eyed. She blinked, unsure where she was. She started when her eyes settled on Takako, stumbling to her feet. The lieutenant’s movements were sluggish, her body still weak.

Before Emiyo could open her mouth to sling insults and threats, Aiko thrust a can into the girl’s open hand. “Here, iced coffee. I thought you might like one after your nap.”

“What?” Emiyo said in genuine bafflement. She stared at the beverage like it was a lizard with eight eyes.

“Unless you want something else.” Aiko peered into her bag, rummaging through it. “We have other drinks, too. Are you a fan of tomato juice? Dr Pepper? Hello, by the way. I’m Aiko, Takako’s friend.”

Emiyo continued to stare, slack-jawed, like her brain had short-circuited. She soon regained her wits and glared, ignoring the offered tomato juice.

“What is this?” Emiyo asked, suspicious.

With her usual indifferent air, Takako answered. “We’d like to talk.”

“Yeah! And I thought the drinks might help relax you. You’ve had a trying time.” Aiko said with her usual cheerfulness. “Please enjoy your drink. We haven’t poisoned it, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“You can’t poison a magical girl,” Emiyo said, sipping at her iced coffee. She perked up, giving an unconscious smile when she tasted the drink. Takako figured the girl would like it. Emiyo spent countless hours up doing paperwork and figured she’d already drunk an ocean full of coffee. Their guest noticeably relaxed.

“I’m not spilling any secrets about Starlight Dream, no matter how much you torture me!” Emiyo said, glaring in defiance.

“Who said anything about torture?” Aiko replied, aghast. “We just want to talk.”

“Really?” Emiyo’s posture stiffened with obvious suspicion, assuming her captures were playing some angle.

“Do you want another iced coffee?” Aiko asked, ignoring the glare.

“Thanks,” Emiyo said with grudging gratitude. “The only reason any of you remain alive is that I love iced coffee.”

After finishing her next drink, Emiyo tossed the empty can into Aiko’s open bag and crossed her arms. “What do you want?”

Aiko, you better have something good planned. Takako had little confidence she could convince anyone of anything, likely her sarcasm would be a problem.

“The truth?” Aiko replied. “Starlight Dream is rotten. You know this, right?”

“It’s a grand organization that rules the cosmos with an iron fist,” Emiyo replied without a hint of shame.

“I don’t think you understand my point,” Aiko said. “What is it for? Why cause all this needless suffering?”

“Because that’s our duty. Magical girls exist to cause suffering.”

“But why?” Aiko stressed the last word. “It seems so pointless to me. Why are the Devil Princesses so obsessed with causing suffering?”

“Well…” Emiyo hesitated, her confidence waning somewhat. “Because it’s our right! We impose the natural order. The strong must crush the weak.”

This is going nowhere. As Takako feared, questioning anything wasn’t in the lieutenant’s nature. Before she could offer a cutting remark, Aiko stopped her with a scathing glare.

“So that’s it? Suffering for suffering’s sake? Do you realize how pointless and cruel that is?” Visible frustration appeared on Aiko’s face, barely held at bay.

Emiyo didn’t seem interested in this debate. “Pointless to you maybe, but the Devil Princesses are visionaries!”

“Visionaries for what? A dead multiverse?” Takako said, losing her temper.

“It won’t come to that. Only an estimated 58 undecillion people died last year because of our agents! It’s down by 5.4 percent from last year. The multiverse is huge, beyond understanding. That’s number’s only a small percentage!”

“Untri…” Aiko fumbled with the word, but understood the implications. “How can you even sleep at night?!”

“Are we done here?” Emiyo said, almost losing her patience with the conversation. “I’m tired of listening to you small-minded fools. Besides, its effects on the cosmos are too fascinating to overlook!”

“Sorry?” Takako asked, baffled.

“Think about it. Emotions have power! With enough suffering, it shakes the very fabric of reality, making it more malleable. It’s quite fascinating! It’s already had some deleterious effects on Starlight Dream itself. Small cracks have appeared at the Pin of the Cosmos’ base!”

Emiyo gasped, clasping a hand over her mouth. She’d spoken more than she’d intended, though what it meant was beyond Takako’s understanding. The lieutenant coughed and puffed out her chest. “Regardless, who are we to question the wisdom of Devil Princesses!” From the way she spoke, Emiyo had used this excuse often.

“But you’re hurting people! Can’t you see how wrong that is?” Aiko said, one final futile attempt to plead to the lieutenant’s humanity.

“Enough,” Emiyo said, summoning her sickle to her hand. “This debate was enlightening to your pitiful rebel’s ideals, but the time of talk has finished. Fools! While you argued your fanciful milksop nonsense, I was regaining my strength! I knew if…”

“Yes, I already knew that,” Takako said, deadpan. “It’s obvious. You weren’t fooling anyone.”

“Yep,” Aiko said, nodding in agreement.

Colten rolled his eyes. “Do you really think we wouldn’t miss the blindingly obvious?”

“Well, uh.” Emiyo flustered for a moment, deflated by everyone seeing through what she’d considered a cunning plan. “Well, it’s still foolish! You fools! With my regained strength, I can crush you all like a bug. So there!”

“Now, perish!” The lieutenant extended both arms, energy rippling around her. A nearby bird froze midair, wings stopped mid-beat. Utter silence struck Takako as time froze to a standstill, even the distant ocean waves freezing into stillness like ice. Fighting against her power proved almost impossible, making even blinking impossible. Emiyo had caught the entire planet in her grip.

“Time crush!” Much to Takako’s dawning horror, she realized what the other magical girl was planning. Emiyo was going to crush their timelines into a single singularity. It wouldn’t just physically destroy them, but eliminate them from history!

While Takako was uncertain if that would destroy her, she couldn’t risk it. She could never live with herself if anything happened to Aiko. While Takako could disrupt the field holding her, Emiyo’s time effects had stilled them to almost nothing. Power gathered within Emiyo and exploded in an almighty burst. She’d been too late!

What happened next, neither magical girl expected. A sword appeared from nowhere, the clock resuming as time returned to its proper course. Takako staggered, gapping at the scene before her.

“What?” Emiyo coughed blood, a sword protruding from her chest. She pulled away, turning to face her attacker. It was the knight Masato had mentioned in his fanciful story.

His cape billowed behind him and gave Takako a respectful nod. “That was close. Her time powers are more formidable than I expected. Are you okay, Lady Takako?”

“Lady Takako? Who the hell are you?” And what’s with the ridiculous title?

“No way? Paliah exists?” Colten said, hidden behind a nearby crate. He must have already fled to safety.

“That shouldn’t have been possible,” Emiyo said, utterly flabbergasted. “Even with time powers, you shouldn’t have countered my ability so easily! What are you?”

“That was a dirty trick,” Paliah said, ignoring the question. “They came in friendship and you tried to kill them.”

“Answer my question, you…” Emiyo collected herself before returning to a confident smirk. “It doesn’t matter. You aren’t a magical girl. You’ll just be a smear across the pavement once I’m finished with you.”

“Are you forgetting something?” Takako summoned her weapon, refusing to be caught unaware again. She turned her attention to their rescuer. “Hey you, you better know how to fight. She’s a lieutenant of the Starlight Dream, one of the greatest terrors in the cosmos.”

“Oh, I’m well aware of that,” Paliah said, a slight smile creasing his lips. “But she used a considerable amount of her power in that gambit. In her shape, she can’t fight us both.”

“Two versus one?” A new voice said. “Now, that doesn’t sound too far.”

You have got to be kidding me! Takako raised her head, finding the person she dreaded seeing the most. It was Haruko Ayaji, the Gladiolus Tyrant.