Beautiful Okayama, Japan's self-declared "Land of Sunshine." Not sunny at the moment, but at midnight few places were. It was, however, clear, pristine, and quiet - the perfect place for a munitions test. It was far from Tokyo, yes, but as Liza was an unparalleled genius, long distances and high speeds were no trouble at all. Nosey school officials eating into her profit margins, young men who might possibly be disabused of their naivety, these were problems. Even this late at night and far from any real action, there would be witnesses, but they'd still have no idea what they'd seen. Hence the excursion, and the testing. Her own devices always worked perfectly, of course, as would her special enhancements to this one, but it wouldn't do to sell a sto- borrowed design untested. Besides, with the original plans calling it a "P Shooter," she couldn't respect herself without making absolutely sure she'd boosted it enough. Liza had taken a few minutes mounting the plasma cannon on the tripod, a few moments to aim the weapon at a prominent landmark a few miles from the surrounding homesteads. She pressed the firing mechanism. The cannon leapt and roared, knocking its way backwards off the tripod. A shockwave bolted from the weapon, shattering windows in all directions and cracking Liza's own custom built spectacles. The target, well, if the great blinding flash was any indication, it would be gone - or at least completely slagged. Oh, and she'd have to be far away before the Self-Defense Force got there. And get to school in the morning. Well, supergenius, after all. It was still a successful test, if a little more destructive than she'd planned. The morning papers reported 63 shattered windows and 1 missing stone monument. It was only 12:01 in the morning, but it pretty much set the tone for the entire day. **************************************** Dark Heart High Netherworld Educational Institution for the Universal Propagation of Evil Started by Mads **************************************** Chapter Fifty-One: Defenestrations! Written by: Bradley Wilton **************************************** The scion of the Steel Thorn Clan gazed into darkness. "Ki!" In betrayal of all his training, the youth flinched. "Ki! Why?" For reasons Ki couldn't explain, the accusing tone in the young woman's voice stung him. He could feel himself sweating. "KI!" The darkness broke to reveal Pretty Princess Snow Crystal, Tomoyo, floating before him, ghostly and ethereal. "You loved me, Ki! How could you kill me?" Ki tried to answer, tried to say that he was evil, that he was using her the whole time, but the words stuck in his throat. He tried to strike out at her, disrupt her, somehow stop the accusation... Nothing. Tomoyo stopped, and smiled wanly. She reached toward him, and he felt his heart twinge - he wasn't sure with what. Ki tried to run, push her away, anything to escape... Saw her draw closer, felt a chill from her approaching limb... And sat bolt upright in his bed, in a cold sweat. Heart pounding. His black, cursed heart, right where it shouldn't be. Right where it could cost him his life, disrupt his Plan. To hell with the trophy room. Once he got the blessed thing back in its jar, Ki swore, he was going to pull it back out and crush it. ***** So far as Ki was concerned, there was only reason to be glad he had his heart: It made it much easier to Hate things. Like his heart, and its being there in his chest. He Hated it. Hated his pulse, hated his feelings, and Hated his dreams and daydreams about Yuri and Tomoyo distracting him from his studies and his Plan. In short, having a heart was proving a very hateful experience. That much, it was good for. He was even hating school at the moment. Granted, with all of the varied classes at Dark Heart High, having Basic Villainy for homeroom was probably a good thing. It didn't matter if your friend (or enemy) was taking Death Ray Physics while you were stuck trying to understand Aklo Thaumatology. It was all villainous, and Kurosawa-sensei was all villain. And even though they covered a different topic every day, the class was still the glue that held the curriculum together. Yesterday: Political Graft. Today: World Conquest. "Supposing you and your legions of evil are getting started on the road to world conquest, starting with a small country and preparing to expand your base of power, when the peasants in one of your villages dare to rebel against you. How do you make an example of them?" A hand raised in the back. A dragon-boy, er... just a dragon really, with v-shaped scales and one big beefy arm. "Yes?" "BURNINATE THEM!!!1" The offending student was suddenly frozen and tossed in the hellmouth. "HA HA!!!1 BURNINATION!!!1" The instructor scowled even more than usual. The frozen dragon-boy popped out of the hellmouth, re-froze, and then flew out the window. "Any serious answers? No? Angeleye-kun!" Amy stood up. "Well, world domination isn't in my plans, but I'd probably send a few squads of my best elite troops to raze the village, press the adults into slavery, and slaughter the children." "I see. And the reasoning behind this... unorthodox approach?" "Several famous heroes started out as children orphaned by war. Killing the children would prevent this, by demotivating the parents and crushing their hopes for the future." Kurosawa nodded, and probably would have responded had the door not crashed open at that very moment, revealing a female figure wearing Sakura Arts colors. As Ki gazed on in shock, Tomoyo, looking exactly as he had left her, was flash-frozen from the neck down. "Shall I assume you can explain yourself, young lady?" The corpse's teeth chattered. "Sensei, it's me! Ryuji Seihachi! My old body got hit by a train on the way here and this was all I could find!" Kurosawa glared, and the corpse froze over the rest of the way. "So, in addition to interrupting, you expect to be excused for being killed by something that each one of your classmates obviously managed to avoid, and the only replacement you can find in a city full of bodies is a former magical girl." The frozen vessel pitched into the hellmouth at the back of the room. "See me after school." Ki clenched a fist in anger. Even a Blue Winter Rose should have lasted that bumbling merkla at least a few days. He wasn't the least bit concerned about Yachiyo, but having Ryuji running around as Tomoyo felt... wrong. Disgustingly, Hatefully wrong. He would force him attention back to his studies for now, but Ki couldn't help thinking that later Ryuji would have to be punished. Painfully. ***** House in the suburbs, two stories plus basement. Blue paint, pink trim. Key under the doormat, tsk. How foolish. Entering a house this way wasn't legal, but neither were public brawling and vigilante-ism, or other acts performed by Sakura Arts students on a regular basis. Or, in the case of blackmail, on an irregular basis. Andrea fought the urge to whistle. Lily had been obviously loyal to her mother, but the poor dead girl was a bit clueless. She'd talked gladly about little gifts her mother had given her, magical artifacts that - although Lily didn't know it - ought to have been lost or destroyed. Admittedly, that wasn't quite enough to follow up on, but Lily's mind had wandered. And then she'd slipped. She'd stared into space and hummed for a moment, then commented that some 'Best of Elder Gods' CD sounded a lot like a music box her mother had in their basement. She'd caught herself, and Andrea hadn't gotten anything else out of her, but that alone was enough to justify this trip. The basement door was fairly obvious. It had wards to repel several strains of demon, and to protect against evil beings in general. For an indignant mother with a lockpick, it was no problem at all. ***** Lunchtime began, and it was a time of great evil. Well, actually it wasn't, but even evil has to start somewhere. And the relative freedom of lunchtime was a boon. Money changed hands, lunches were served, and evil refueled. Students ate each other, and evil- er, pruned. Conversations flowed, and evil propagated. Or attempted to. There were certain malicious rumors to contend with. It had been noted getting too near certain people - Mikagami, Balabalalde, Maimsworth, Tamaida, Angeleye - had resulted in fatal accidents for a growing number of students. Word had it that this was intentional, a concerted effort to skew the curve. And naturally, any survivors must have been in on it. Which left Yasuko's prospects rather limited. Sakazashi, an easy lay, had been dead for weeks. Mordred, a good one, had gone back to Darker Heart this week, and Seichorou, another promising challenge, had returned with him. All together, it easily explained why Yasuko was seated opposite Amy today, and bent over her bentou just 'so.' Her effort did not go unnoticed. "What the hell do you want?" "Isn't it obvious? I want the same thing I always want-" "-Softened cowhide?" The succubus let it slide. "Well, sometimes, but not the kind you're thinking of. That's beside the point. I can help you, Amy. You've been pretty obvious about Yuri, but we both know she doesn't swing that way." "Starting to annoy me..." Amy growled. "Hey, if a door doesn't swing right, you just have to fix the hinges. I can show you how-" "-If I sleep with a boot-humping bitch like you. No deal." As Amy turned and stalked away, a light gust of wind afforded the succubus an... interesting view. Girls always made harder targets. "Damn." ***** Violet wept in spite of herself. An entire week, and not only had her daughter not been avenged, but several of the best fighters from both Knight School and Sakura Arts had died in the effort. It was shameful... ridiculous! For these kind of casualties, they should have at least beaten one of them! Just one - her daughter was worth it! She'd have given her own life for Lily, if not for... if not for that damned alignment shock... Her first time doing... that, and her powers, her beautiful valkyrie war make-up... lost forever. For not the first time since her daughter's death, the ex-magical girl collapsed into hysterics. She was forced out of her reverie by a knock at the office's door. Violet stood, stifling her tears. "Enter." Andrea Angeleye stepped into the room, closing the door behind her. "Andrea... Is there something I can help you with?" The other woman chuckled, like it was some private joke. "Oh, I just felt like reminiscing. Is that okay?" "I'd rather not." "Just humor me a minute. Why, I remember a girl that never seemed to run out of tricks. Versatile Valkyrie Violet, now she had a trinket for each and every occasion..." "Andrea, I really am busy today-" "Just hear me out. I've been thinking lately... You remember how our enemies kept pulling out exact duplicates of artifacts we thought we'd destroyed, right? And how you always had just the right magic item to counter with?" "Councilwoman, if you have a point..." "You know, it's really interesting what you have in your basement." Violet paled. "My basement?" Andrea's glasses twinkled. "Yes, in your basement." "You broke into my house!" "Take some responsibility. Seventy percent of all households keep a key under the doormat. You should know better than that. And trading captured artifacts? For shame, Violet. The council would be most displeased." Violet scowled. "I suppose you want me to call off the ice cream party." "Oh, I hardly think that's necessary. After all, we both know how Hikari-sensei feels about these sort of things. She called me up not half an hour ago to apologize for your 'misguided actions.' What I want, Violet, is your resignation, and for you to stay away from my daughter." ***** Afternoon. After school. At Dark Heart High. With her heart very literally in the hands of her enemy, Midori found herself in a sticky situation. Do the soulless bastard's bidding, or die. And Sei had bidden her find the knife that had broken Balabalalde's final seal, so that he could trace it to its owner. A knife last seen in the hands of Principal Hamaji Amakusa. How she was expected to steal from the most powerful being in several worlds hadn't been specified. But if she couldn't steal it, she would have to display an unhealthy amount of interest asking about the subject. So far, she couldn't even be sure it was on the school grounds. Still, he'd given her a week. She'd find Sei his knife... or she'd find a way to stop him. ***** At some point, it had been noted that Sakura Arts didn't have any room suitable for declaring a bounty. On the other hand, almost every room was good for calling one off - that is to say, they were well lit and possessed of vibrant acoustics. Particularly the auditorium, since in a lesser school... well, it wouldn't be in a lesser school. It could almost have been designed for formal-wear dances, except that Sakura Arts had a separate, and much nicer room, for those. The figure at the podium was shrunken by old age, but no less regal for it, and was dressed in a businesswoman's version of the student uniform. She seemed to project an aura of grandmotherliness which, while it might have been intentional, couldn't be doubted, because Principal Hikari Okashi was possibly the kindest, wisest, most patient person any of her students or faculty could remember meeting - a realization made all the more surreal when it was considered that she once had been a magical girl herself. Still, she was nothing if not respected, and the auditorium fell silent when she began to speak. "My dear children, I ask you here today to correct an error. I am sure many of you know by now that last week, one of our number left this life for the next, that she was a casualty in our eternal battle against the forces of evil. Before I go on, let us hold a moment of silence for poor Lily." The auditorium was filled with sound as no less than seventeen girls suddenly caught hiccups. It's a magical girl thing. If the principal noticed, she gave no indication. "Since Lily's death, we have continued to lose students for reasons I cannot approve. Our own vice-principal brought the best of you aside, asked for vengeance, and offered a reward. She should not have done this. This is the error. "We are magical girls, yes, but what is a magical girl? A magical girl is everything that a girl is supposed to be: beautiful, cheerful, tenacious, and pure! Magical girls are the light of hope for the downtrodden and pure of heart! We are the protectors of the innocent! We fight evil, yes, and sometimes we have to smite them. But we're better than them, girls. We do not get involved with their lives. We do not make it personal! "Yes, it was wrong for them to kill Lily. Murder is always wrong. It was just as wrong for Violet to offer a reward for her revenge. Her choice to send you, our beloved children, out to kill or be killed against the children of our enemies was a poor one, and as such was unbecoming a Sakura Arts alumnus or any other magical girl. "I do not ask that you forget. The people we have lost were your friends, your sisters in arms, and I cannot ask you to abandon their memory. However, I do ask that when you fight, it is for peace, love, and hope - not for ice cream." She paused. "Violet has given me a list of names, and tonight I will be calling parents." ***** After school let out for the day, Leilei had managed to wrangle Yuri, Amy, Ki, and Ryuji into accompanying her and Bala to a new shopping center, ostensibly to try out some 'festering entrails' flavored ice cream that she had heard of. Whatever her real reasons, it seemed to be a good chance to relieve some of the stress from the last few days, in which most of them had had multiple attempts on their lives. Others had been invited... Craig had been busy with a shop project. Yasuko had claimed a previous engagement. Midori... had scowled and said something about a murder investigation and how it was a personal problem. And while all of this was going on, monkeys ran off with a 'wet floor' placard. Still, relaxation was a good thing. Ice cream was a good thing. And it all might have been a better thing, as Leilei was paying for her and Bala's ice cream and the rest of the group headed for the seating area, had Bala not tread upon a certain section of floor that had been freshly waxed, then buffed, then re-waxed, which was, for some strange reason, completely unmarked, had his chains not caught upon an errant chair as he attempted to regain his balance, and had he not, in falling, knocked Yuri to the ground, splattering her ice cream over the freshly waxed floor, and landed with his body partially atop hers. Indeed, as Yuri blushed furiously and Bala made a hasty strategic retreat, it was still somewhat positive so far as Ki and Amy were concerned. And it was not until after Leilei had gone to retrieve her charge that the first grenades hit. Fortunately for most everyone, they were thrown with typical magical girl accuracy. And even though Ryuji was blown out one of the food court's massive windows onto a two story drop, you must admit, it wasn't much of a loss. ***** On the plaza below, Liza yawned. The day had been going fairly well, even after her date had been called away, but she had been also been up late. Supergenius though she was, she was not prepared to see a mutilated corpse hit the ground in front of her. She eeped and stepped back before composing herself. Plastered to the pavement in front of her were the remains of what had obviously been a beautiful woman. 'Had been' being the key words. Her clothing, a Sakura Arts uniform, was torn in several places, suggesting some rather nasty sword wounds. Her white-blue hair was falling out in clumps. Skin that had probably been snowy in life was now tinged with the ashen pallor of death. In fact, she looked like she'd been dead at least a day... Blink-blink. "Oh, hi Liza!" If Liza was surprised at all, it didn't show. "I don't remember having any customers at Sakura Arts..." The corpse blinked again, dropping an eyelid. "It's me, Ryuji!" A merkla demon, Liza remembered. Nurse Sybil had asked her to read up on his strain after the events of the blood duel. Just the kind of person who could use... Liza turned on the salespitch. "Have you ever considered cybernetics?" "Huh?" "A genius like myself would have no problem fixing that body to stay together. I could even throw in a few weapons," ~And a secret remote control and some surveillance equipment...~ "...For a small fee." "Well, my folks do say I should try any body once... Can you make it sturdy enough to summon hellfire?" "Not a problem." ~Sucker.~ "Let's get you to my lab and we'll discuss your payment options..." ***** "Being bad is wrong! In the name of Justice and Eichi-kun's grades, we shall punish you!" The girl's speech was followed by a concerted jump from the mezzanine, which the two ridiculously garbed magical girls and their accompanying kamen actually pulled off without error. One of the girls, a blue haired one, pulled out a pistol. The kamen drew an ornamented sword. The remaining girl settled into a strange magical girl pose. The blue-haired girl glanced around. "What happened to Usako?" The other girl shrugged. "Who knows? She'll turn up." The kamen noticed Ki, and groaned. "Not you again..." Ki drew his own sword and smirked. "Well, if it isn't the H-twins." "Hey! That's not fair!" the Kamen protested. "Yeah! Our souls are destined to be together!" the unarmed girl exclaimed. "It's not our fault we were reincarnated with the same parents!" "-Ha-chan... Ixnay on the arentspay..." "Wha- Ooooh... I get it! Onii-chan wants you bad guys to know that us having the same parents is just a Maltese rumor spread by our tractors." "-a malicious rumor spread by our detractors..." "...And our parents weren't brother and sister, neither!" "-why do I even try... Ha-chan, just..." Ki took up a fighting stance. "If it's any consolation, I don't care what sick incestuous acts you and your sister have committed. I'm more than ready for a rematch." "Can I help, onii-chan?" Eichi sighed. "Go fight the evil girl, Ha-chan." "For justice! Wai!" Yuri summoned her armor. "Do we have to do this?" "The summer of Justice is here! PURITY BLOSSOM SHOWER!!!" As might be expected, the ridiculous attack seemed to consist of the other girl posing and flinging flowers at her, but Yuri had seen enough mahou shoujo attacks in the last week to know this could be painful. And she'd left her sword at home today. Lacking an alternative, she threw her arms up to guard herself and waited for it to hit. ***** The blue-haired girl stood still for a moment. "Amy..." The pychic raised her rifle. "What was your name again?" "Mika. I'm Mika." "Let's get this over with." ***** Magical Princess Heavenly Haruna knew the evil Yuri girl was dangerous. After all, she was evil and killed people. So she'd started immediately with her most powerful move, the flower blossom attack that was supposed to paralyze any evil. Except that it didn't. Not only did the flowers not paralyze the Yuri girl, the ones that touched her screamed and wilted. In her shock, she barely had time to realize this before the corrupted blossoms blasted back at her, lifting her off her feet and back out the already-broken window. Yuri watched the other girl fall in shocked silence. She wasn't sure what she had done or how she'd done, only that she hadn't meant to. She'd stepped gingerly over to the window. Magical girls were tough, right? Surely, a two story drop would get her so easily... Yuri arrived just in time to see the magical girl sitting up in the cratered street, trying to get her bearings. She was hurt, but Yuri hadn't killed her, and she felt her heart lift. Then, with a great screeching of brakes, the bus hit. ***** Beneath the chains and bandages, the face of Balabalalde burned with humiliation. All the things he would do for Yuri, all that he wanted to protect her from, it couldn't ever seem to overcome this bright blotch on his efforts, the humiliating accidents that seemed to seek him out whenever he went near her. He really wanted to kick something right now. Hard. "Hiya! My name's Usako!" Bala found his internal reverie interrupted by a very young girl, a sickeningly cute bunny-eared lass sporting pink eyes, pink fur, and a frilly pink jumpsuit. He blinked. "I know you, you're that guy on Eichi-kun's poster! He's gonna buy me ice cream after I beat you up! BUNNY KICK!!!" The effect of an eight-year old (maybe) bunnygirl trying to out-kick the scion of the Wargmere-Agherukk, who had been beating people senseless with his hands tied for most of his young life was flat-out comical. He wasted no time in gently knocking her to the floor, then punting the excessively cute waif through the safety-glass window at breakneck velocity. Literally. In a way, it was therapeutic. One moment later, Yuri, running from her own battle in tears, collided with his back. ***** After several minutes and multiple gunshots, the food court had been cleared out except for the four remaining combatants. Ki and Eichi continued to battle fiercely. Despite considerable property damage, Amy's old acquaintance had yet to hit her, and Amy had gotten only a few shots in with her less maneuverable weapon. A fast-paced almost-dance had ensued between the two, dodging and weaving, trying to get a clear shot at the other, until they reached the final stance. That is to say, they stood at arms length, with guns to each other's heads. The blue-haired girls eyes began to tear up. "Amy, I don't wanna do this..." "Well, that's too bad, Mika, because I do. Am I supposed to forgive you for attacking my friends?" "We were friends, Amy! I don't wanna kill you!" "Friends?" Amy spat. "I helped you on a math test. Pity. That's all it was." "But- But... You're not supposed to be evil! You're supposed to be one of us!" "One of us? How stupid are you? You see any real mahou shoujo packing pistols? You're one of them, all right: You're all morons." Amy saw the other girl blink. ~Damn, I could have got her then.~ Mika sniffled. "I... I-" "How can you blink in a situation like this?" "Wha- I didn't blink..." Then she did. Amy moved in a flash, jerking out of the other's line of fire and grabbing Mika's pistols with her spare hand. Mistypuff's barrel dropped to the other girl's chest, but that didn't matter. What did matter was that when they both fired, only one of them was still in the path of a bullet. A moment later, the meaty sound of a sword sliding between human ribs indicated that Ki had just finished his own duel. As she turned to look, he sliced deeply into his foe's chest to cut out the ex-Knight's heart. "You passed up a headshot." Amy shrugged, and grabbed the other girl's gun from where it had been dropped. "So she lives. The last time I killed someone, she became more annoying than I could possibly have imagined." ~I'm not ready to cross that line again.~ "Isn't that a little gory for your 'suave and sensitive' routine?" He shook his head as blood dripped down upon his sleeve. "I'm giving that up. Too many... complications." ***** Yuri was crying. Bala wasn't sure why, but he didn't like hearing her cry. She didn't like it when he kicked things. Did she see the bunnygirl? Did that count? "Why?" She had to have seen. She must hate him now. "Why do they keep attacking me?" He felt a tug. Maybe she didn't see. Maybe, if his arms weren't chained to his sides, he'd have put them around her, even though she liked Ki more. Another tug. An unusual honking sound. "Bala?" Something wet seeped through his chains. He craned his head to look... Yuri had blown her nose on one of his wards. "I'm so sorry! Let me clean that up..." For a moment, Bala almost wanted to leave that ward on forever. He blinked at the thought. Didn't he want to be free? To use his full power, ravage worlds and show everybody what a monster he was? However, the girl mopping at his ofuda was undeniably... he wasn't sure what it was about her. She was important. To him, important. He wanted to be around her, to protect her... Why? He was sure the Agherukk didn't do that sort of thing, it wasn't in their natures. The Wargmeres had servants, but that was... he wasn't sure. He didn't mind Leilei, but Yuri was different. Yuri could control him without wards, keep him from killing people. Did he want to not kill people? It had made sense when she'd asked him. The tugging stopped. Bala blinked. He watched as Yuri looked out through the window. Wind ruffled her hair, and she glanced back at him. "I must seem so awful." Bala tilted his head. "I asked you to stop killing, but... I wish... Fencing club is really fun, but this kind of fighting isn't." She turned back to the window. "Why are heroes like that, Bala? Why do they fight like one side has to die?" Something within Balabalalde wanted to comfort her now. He was better than Ki. He would kill, or even not kill, for her. Couldn't she see that? She could be *his*. He blinked. She dried her tears and looked into his eyes. "I'm sorry. I haven't been a very good friend lately. Maybe you should be asking me to stop." What was that supposed to mean? "You'll do it, won't you? Help me keep from hurting people?" Blink-blink. "Thanks, Bala." She giggled. "You really are a good friend." Right. A friend. Bala blinked. "What were you doing up here, anyway? Leilei ran off looking for you." What had he been doing before Yuri started crying on his wards? He shrugged. It probably didn't matter. ***** As any villain worth his salt would readily admit, the Tokyo Tower was a fine and glorious landmark that would be the perfect base for a demonic invasion, apocalyptic summoning spell, or just to animate and wreak general havoc with. However, Craig, who would probably be upset at just having his worth measured in salt, hadn't thought of this yet. Ignorance being bliss, he was quite content to stand on the observation deck, exulting in the departure of his brother, and thinking, for practice, about how clouds could be used for evil. In part thanks to the unusual exertion, he managed to miss all the signs of a three-and-a-half foot bunnygirl approaching his midsection at supersonic speeds. Fortunately, his armor held, and he was left uninjured even as he crashed, along with the human projectile, backwards through a large plate of window glass that a pair of construction workers had inexplicably been carry by, dazing the armored boy and proving that the chibi mascot's comic resistance to damage did not carry over to massive jagged shards of glass. Craig, in a moment of inspiration, loudly cursed the foiling of his evil plans and performed a perfect villainous retreat. He was halfway home before he realized not only that none of his plans had been foiled, but also that he had dropped his wallet. ***** Like many families, Sakura's had a shrine. And, naturally, there was a section reserved for family members... her father... her grandparents... her magical girl aunt... but there was also a place for friends. Kauko and Michi, her teammates, both dead at the hands of the girl who had humiliated her. Lily, a classmate, who had been randomly slaughtered by the same. There were others, both from Sakura Arts and Knight School, the most recent was Tomoyo, another classmate. Sakura hadn't known her very well, but she had died for the same reason. Admittedly, Sakura was smarter than the others. Ice cream would have been nice, but she had better reasons to kill Yuri Mikagami, and every reason to be careful about it. That... that monster had already beaten her once, and she'd been weakened from fighting half the fencing team. Once bitten, twice shy, and so on. She would not be careless. It was the reason she was getting help. Admittedly, she hadn't been given any explanations, but Vice-Principal Ringoshima had invited Sakura to visit. Given the common enemy and the vice-principal's sudden resignation, it wasn't too hard to imagine why. Arriving at the home in question, the girl otherwise known as Poppy Princess Cherry Cherry Bang Bang knocked once. The door opened almost immediately. "You wanted to see me, Vice-Principal?" "Please, call me Violet." ***** Author's Notes: Continuity Date: Tuesday Yuri corrupting a magical girl attack - Chapter 14 Ryuji dealing with Liza - 17 Ryuji summoning hellfire - 17 Reference to Strong Bad Email - I feel dirty. Maybe the Star Wars ref makes up for it... As strange and poorly thought out as this may sound, when I originally outlined this chapter, I had about five objectives, one of which was to break as many windows as possible. Fortunately, the more important objectives - and time constraints - won out in the end, and a lot of the stupider scenes I had in mind never even got written. It seems like I'm cutting off all sorts of neat plot threads, but we do have to move on eventually. As much as Yuri killing heroes is a nice way to build towards Yuri killing Amakusa, Yuri doesn't actually want to kill anyone. Of course, even if the magical girls aren't getting ice cream, there might be some other than Cherry that just want a piece of Yuri, and, obviously, the Knight School Fencing Team is still after her head. I've heard it suggested that it was the sword that reversed Cherry's attack in Chapter 14... but to me it looks like the sword is just a part of the process. I have difficulty believing that a magical girl's purity sword would produce " a sickly purple heart-shaped skull with shimmering silver eye sockets" without something coming from Yuri. I also think that it's perfectly in-genre for a quasi-magical girl - like Yuri - to discover a new ability in the middle of a life-or-death fight. Thanks to: Mads (starting it all) Segev (prereading, especially typos) Smlee (being cool and helpful, prereading) Sharyna (brainstorming and lots of advice, and prereading) Lawrence Chu (for being a way cool admin and granting an extension) http://www.pref.okayama.jp/chiji/kocho/daisuki_e/outline.htm (all info about scenic Okayama prefecture) ***** In an almost quiet corner of the shop classroom, Lily floated in the fetal position. The advanced classes had been working on torture, and try as she might, she couldn't get the sounds out of her head. It was almost as bad as listening to 'Best of Elder Gods, Volume IV.' Almost. "Hello, Lily." Suddenly finding herself face-to-face with Vice-Principal Akurei, the former magical girl's shriek came fairly close to one that had emanated from station 17 earlier in the day. "P-please don't eat me..." Lily's insubstantiality was not enough to prevent Akurei from grasping her neck in his claws. "Stupid human. You've been dead far too long to be worth eating." "What do you want?" "The faculty needs something done about you. Dead or not, we can't let you stay here, interfering with classes and learning our secrets, when you aren't likely to experience any of the torments of Hell." "You're here to exorcize me?" Lily whimpered hopefully. "No, human, I'm here to inform you that you're no longer excused from participating in shop class." Lily quailed. These monsters wanted her to... to... "W-which period?" "All of them." Akurei grinned evilly. "Also, you will no longer be allowed to remain on campus after six o'clock." "But-but... I can't... I'm stuck here..." Akurei smiled - a wide, toothy, reptilian grin. "I know." In the cavernous classroom, her tortured screams resounded for quite some time. ***** A phone ringing. A family dinner interrupted. A mother rising... and answering. "Hello, Mikagami reside- Mom?!"