"What have you done?" Seina said, reaching out to the spot Kindness once occupied. While she'd been a monster, the fairy hadn't deserved obliteration.
"Whose next in line for the slaughter?" Yuuka asked, her victim already forgotten. Much to Seina's dread, the fairy's destruction hadn't affected the mad magical girl. It hadn't stolen her powers as expected. No, Yuuka seemed as strong as ever.
The villain's statement returned Seina to the here and now, reminding her feeling sorrow for Kindness's loss wasn't a luxury she could afford right now. She gripped her wand tight, ready to put down Yuuka if required. It'd probably be a mercy.
If we survive. They were facing a fully powered Devil Princess, a truly insurmountable foe. Seina quavered, knowing what little chance they stood.
And their opponent seemed beyond reasoning, attacking like a wild animal, free of any skill or reason. Her talon-like fingers slashed towards the nearest magical girl, Miko yelping in fright as they almost clawed her face. Yuuka continued with a follow-up but slipped away as Seina's staff flew toward her chest.
"Takako!" Seina said, summoning countless bubbles around her. They flew in every which direction, confusing the Devil Princess as they blew past her.
"Right!" Takako spun around her ribbon, gathering a collection of Seina's bubbles within it. Each bubble vanished, only to appear randomly around the field.
"You!" Yuuka said, howling in pain as her back bumped into a bubble. It burst apart, the force sending the Devil Princess flying.
The others used this as an opportunity to strike, Chō sent her dwindling robot forces forward. They fell to Yuuka's claws, but some clung to the Devil Princess, pushing her into another exploding bubble. But the explosion had no effect, its flames passing over their intended target like a gentle rain.
"Stole it! Stole it!" Yuuka said, proud of herself. Ume attempted an attack from behind, but howled in pain as the Devil Princess threw a robot into her. Bone shattered into splinters as Yuuka threw a fist into her chest, Ume collapsed unmoving.
Both Emiyo and Paliah attacked from opposite directions. While futile, Miko scored some lucky hits while the Devil Princess was distracted. Annoyed, Yuuka vented her fury. Clawed fingers dug into Miko's chest, Seina watching in abject horror as the Devil Princess ripped out the girl's heart with her bare hands.
"Miko!" Emiyo said, eyes wide in horror as the Yuuka crushed it with her palm like an overripe fruit. Blood seeped into her fingers, staining them crimson.
Seina blew another exploding bubble towards their foe, only for it to have no effect again. Still, it proved the perfect distraction for her partner to slip away.
"What now?" Seina said, despairing as Yuuka kicked Miko's still body like a hacky sack before throwing it aside. It twitched, proving the girl still lived. How were they to fight this monster?
"I'm not sure," Takako said, seeing they'd already lost two of their most valuable allies.
"I'll see what I can do," Himari said, her bracelet jingling as she thrust a hand forward. But her dimensional crush had no effect. The Devil Princess already knew about that ability.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!" Yuuka said, her tone singsong. Poor Himari quavered. She wasn't a fighter, like her allies. "Tear you to shreds!"
Some robots used this distraction as an opportunity to strike, only to explode into dust before their blows even connected. Chō scribbled in her notebook, trying to create something that might change the tide. But a sudden blow to the head knocked her senseless, knocking her out from the fight.
Seina kept their opponent distracted, knowing she could best take a hit. Trusty Paliah fought by her side, his blade swift as he displaced himself along time to make himself difficult to track. But each of his sword thrusts had their momentum stolen, even while attacking her blind spot. Emiyo joined the fray, but her sickle proved just as useless. Seina's bubbles proved little better, their destructive power nullified before they inflicted any damage.
It's useless. She can stop anything we throw at her.
"Emiyo, watch out!" But Seina's warning came too late, Yuuka swatting Emiyo aside with ease as she attempted a sneak attack. She crumbled like a discarded toy, bone shattered into dust.
No. The girl still breathed, but only just. The mad magical girl was tearing them apart piecemeal, and there wasn't any way to stop her.
If only we could stop her from stealing our attacks. Seina had hoped that destroying her belt would have thrown all the damage she'd stopped back at her, but apparently, that wasn't how her power worked.
Ugh, if only… Then, inspiration struck, making Seina feel like an idiot. "Cover me!"
"Okay, sure." Paliah said, beaming. As usual, the fairy has too much confidence in his partner's ability.
"Um, I'll do my best," Himari said, giving a weak smile.
With a flourish of her wand, Seina summoned bubbles across the battlefield. Her friends used them as cover, Takako striking with random beams of energy and Paliah with his sword. Yuuka ignored the attacks, charging toward the nearest opponent. The Devil Princess flew right through one of Seina's bubbles, headless of the damage it might cause. Her hands extended like talons, reaching for Takako's still-beating heart. This, however, proved a mistake. The Devil Princess howled in pain as trillions of jolts of electricity coursed through her system.
Yuuka's body jerked, her muscles seizing up. Paliah used this chance to strike, but his blade had little effect. It bounced back from her skin, only leaving a scratch. Takako's efforts were a little more successful, her ribbon leaving deep gashes in her skin. Neither, however, seemed powerful enough to inflict much damage.
"Pointless! Pointless! Pointless!" Yuuka said, already recovering from the unexpected attack.
But Seina ignored these taunts, directing Takako to throw more bubbles at their opponent. Her friend only shrugged, summoning a whirlwind to throw them at their opponent. But Yuuka was impossibly fast, slipping by them with ease. But she hadn't accounted for Paliah.
Like a madman, he used his own body to knock the Devil Princess off course into another bubble. Yuuka seemed unconcerned until hundreds of times below absolute zero struck her as the bubble burst, glimmering with a blue coat as her body froze. It hadn't been the electricity she'd been expecting. If Seina kept her bubble's effects random, the Devil Princess couldn't so easily steal their effects.
Seina took advantage of her helpless opponent, striking a blow right into Yuuka's gut. The bottom half of the Devil Princess's body shattered to dust as her frozen skin exploded. Yet, the Devil Princess recovered seconds later, the wound already healing as her body defrosted.
"Come on!" Takako said, annoyed.
"Nice try!" Spittle flew from Yuuka's mouth as she cackled from delight, unbothered by this newest attempt to defeat her. Seina flinched as a punch flew towards her face, not quick enough to dodge it.
"Ouch," Seina said, her skull ringing painfully. It hurt badly, but the Devil Princess blinked, confused by something. "She can really throw a punch."
"Watch out," Himari said, using her body to block the next blow. Seina watched in horror as she assumed her friend had sacrificed herself for her sake, but the blow did nothing despite taking a clean hit.
"What the?" Yuuka said, baffled. Takako used the distraction to hurl more of Seina's bubbles toward their opponent. She screamed as intense fire and gravity consumed her.
"How did you do that, Himari?" Seina whispered.
"Oh, that. I can alter my being to be higher than three dimensions. That means nothing on this plane of existence can really hurt me. Though I doubt Yuuka will allow that trick to work again." Himari replied.
"You can do that?" Seina said, shocked. How did that make any sense?
"My power allows me to adapt to any dimension, from one to eight thousand."
"Nope, still didn't get a word of that," Seina admitted. She flinched as Yuuka hurled her talon-like claws toward her chest, aiming to repeat what she'd done to Emiyo. Much to Seina's relief, it only tore skin. It still hurt, but at least she hadn't lost her heart. Seina responded with a headbutt to the face, making the Devil Princess recoil back.
"What's going on?!" Yuuka screamed. "Why aren't you dead?"
What was going on? Was it her imagination, or was the Devil Princess getting weaker? Had the loss of her fairy partner finally taken effect?
"It's more than that," Ume said, limping towards them. "Tell me, Yuuka, are you surprised you haven't slaughtered us all yet? By all accounts, we shouldn't have been even able to hurt you."
"What? What? How? How? Not possible! Devil Princess's invincible!" Yuuka replied.
"Being trapped in that higher existence for eons drained your power. There wasn't any suffering to feed off of. While you're still ungodly powerful, you're crippled." Ume said, smiling with some satisfaction.
So that was Ume's plan.
"Never mind, you die! You all die!" Yuuka cried, enraged past reason.
Unfortunately for Seina, the Devil Princess picked her as her target of ire. Seina fought back with her bubbles, but Yuuka kept coming, no matter what damage Seina inflicted on her.
The others tried to help, but the Devil Princess was on a mission. Their blows meant little as she either shrugged them off or stopped their damage from hurting her. Only Takako seemed to have any effect, using her power of imagination to throw anything and everything at their opponent.
Even with her powers failing, she's this powerful? Seina gasped as claw-like fingers wrapped around her throat, tightening like a python. Yuuka didn't bother stealing Seina's ability to move, instead taking delight in her frantic, failing attempts to free herself.
Despite inflicting blows that would have crumpled a normal magical girl, Yuuka only shrugged them off. Seina's wailing strikes lost their power as the Devil Princess strangled the life from her. Blood oozed from where Yuuka's nails dug into Seina's flesh. The grip tightened, aiming not to choke her to death but to pop her head off.
"No, Seina!" Paliah stabbed into the Devil Princess's back, but his blade only left slight nicks in her flesh. He wailed harder, screaming for Yuuka to release his partner. Tears stung his eyes as his attempts became more and more futile.
"Seina." Paliah's body sagged on the smaller girl's body, almost reduced to sobbing.
No, not like this! She didn't want this to be her last sight of her best friend!
"No, not yet." The Devil Princess's face contorted as she fought some inner battle, her grip weakening somewhat. "What's happening? I can't be getting…"
Wait, is that why she still has her powers? She's holding them together with pure willpower? Then, a brilliant idea struck Seina.
"Kindness." That single word was the only thing she could force through her constricted throat, but her ever-faithful partner caught her meaning.
"Takako, can you remind her of what happened to her partner?" Paliah asked, swinging around towards their only salvation.
The girl paused before giving a coy smile. "Easy enough."
"Like I could forget," Takako added, her tone becoming somber. Her ribbon lashed out and tapped the Devil Princess's forehead.
The girl jerked like someone had slapped her and released her grip. Her mad exaltation at killing Seina turned to horror and confusion. Seina took several grateful breaths, glad to be free. Except for some ugly bruising, she seemed otherwise alright.
"No! No!" The Devil Princess grabbed at her head, flinging her body around in random directions. "It can't be!"
"I'm sorry, but it's true. The fairy you destroyed was your own partner." Seina said, showing surprising kindness.
"No!" Yuuka's body heaved. Her slight body seemed to deflate, her skin thin on her frame. Was it Seina's imagination, or had the girl gained some years?
"It's a lie! It must be a lie!" Yuuka's head swung wildly, searching for her partner. "Kindness! Where are you? I need you!"
The Devil Princess kept searching and searching, zipping behind buildings and peering into alleys. But Yuuka's search was in vain, fighting back a sob as she searched. Meanwhile, her body paid the price, becoming more skeletal and aged. Each second was sapping her immortality. Seina pursued along a tricky journey as Yuuka darted across the globe.
"Kindness! Please come back to me! I need you!" Yuuka said, tears burning her eyes. "Don't leave me alone!" But, of course, her pleas fell on deaf ears.
"You! You did this!" The Devil Princess pointed an accusatory finger at Seina. "You! You!"
"Yuuka, please, enough." Seina said. "Fighting me won't help anything. I'm sorry, but Kindness is gone."
"No! It will! And you'll burn in hell with the rest of us!" Without warning, Seina found a hand slashing toward her.
"Seina!"
Seina watched in horror as Ume almost got sliced in half as she intercepted the blow, creating a mess that made Seina ill. The Devil Princess whirled around to strike Seina next, but a body grabbed her from behind to halt her. Blood stained the Devil Princess's dress as she tried fighting off Ume.
"You idiot, what are you doing?" Seina snarled.
"I'm useless. You're the only one who can finish this." Ume said, her smile weak. "If it means stopping this monster, I'm willing to pay any cost."
"Then pay!" Yuuka howled.
Then Seina watched in stunned horror as the Devil Princess's talon-like fingers split Ume's torso in half. Little remained of the girl but a head and part of her right shoulder, Ume's body leaving pools of crimson as it rolled across the broken pavement.
"No!" Seina didn't think, only acted. She wouldn't allow this monster to hurt anyone else, no matter how pitiful or broken she might be. Her wand flew towards the Devil Princess's head with all the force she could muster.
Yuuka only smirked, thinking she'd only steal the attack's momentum again. But Seina had prepared for this, sending a kick into the Devil Princess's belt before her attack struck home. The gem the Devil Princess tried to use to steal Seina's attack shattered, and Yuuka felt the full fury of Seina's sorrow.
Bone shattered as the Devil Princess's power faltered, unable to withstand the blow. After Yuuka landed in a crater in a heap, Seina threw thousands of bubbles against her foe, each with a random effect. Seina breathed hard after ceasing her attack, the devastation she'd left across the countryside was terrible.
"No!" came a weak cry. Yuuka wasn't dead, crawling like a worm across broken earth as she refused to die. Her body had become skeletal as she pulled herself from the crater, her skin like dried meat. Nothing remained of her hair besides a few strings of white.
"You're finished," Seina said, tears flowing freely for her fallen friend. They'd had their differences, but they'd been allies.
"Never." Yuuka's voice was barely a croak, almost inaudible. Somehow she forced herself back to her feet again, though she resembled a walking corpse rather than a magical girl.
But then the Devil Princess collapsed, spider web cracks appearing along her body as it struck the ground. "Kindness. Kindn…" Then, like she'd never even existed, Yuuka's body dissolved into dust and scattered to the winds. They'd done it. They'd somehow won.
"Ume!" Seina said, forgetting about any victory celebration.
"Here." A weak voice said from behind a scrub bush.
"Hang on, I'll get you to Takako, and you'll be okay!" Seina's tears dripped onto her friend's forehead.
"Unlikely," Ume said, giving a weak laugh.
"No!"
"It's okay. Please don't cry for me. I hate crying." Ume placed a bloody hand on Seina's cheek. "I'm just glad I was here to help."
"You idiot! I could have taken the hit," Seina said, incensed her friend was accepting her death so lightly.
"I couldn't risk it," Ume said, coughing. "The cosmos needs you more than me. I'm too much of a sinner."
"Don't say that!"
"I'm such a failure." Ume looked away. "Unable to live up to Hinata's standards. She'd never stand what I'd become. I sure don't."
"You wrong! You're wonderful! We still need you!" Seina said, her words broken by sobs.
"Thank you," Ume said. "You believed in me when I didn't. I didn't deserve your…" Her words trailed off, and her body went cold.
"Ume!" Seina hugged her friend's body tight, unleashing her anguish.
---
"Darn it," Miko said, pulling herself into an alley. Crimson strained the trash-ridden ground as the gaping hole in her chest bled something fierce. Without their heart, magical girls' powers operated less effectively.
She watched as Yuuka went on a manic rampage, searching for her dead partner before vanishing. Well, whatever. That was Seina's problem now. Miko was content to sit here until she recovered. Her breathing eased as her wounds healed.
A jolt of fear passed over Miko as a shadow was cast over her, but relaxed when she only found her partner Jin floating above her.
"Oh, it's you," Miko said, her tone neutral.
"That's right. I see you've survived against a Devil Princess. Not an easy thing." Jin replied, her tone similar.
"Yeah, I did," Miko said, beaming with pride. It was an impressive feat for someone who was only an intendant. An awkward silence hung between them as neither really wanted to speak to the other, but Miko finally broke it.
"Why Jin? Why turn against Starlight Dream? Wasn't I good enough for you?" Miko had only been kind to her partner, rarely even raising her voice at her. It was unconscionable that Jin would betray her.
"Some fairy had to," Jin said, contempt leaking into her voice. "The way the Princess's run Starlight Dream isn't right. It should be better. Fairykind shouldn't be used as slaves to hurt others!"
"So you choose suicide? Yeah, people die, but people always die. Nothing can fight against Starlight Dream, no matter what we think. Fighting against it is pointless." Hadn't her last battle proven this?
"That's why I've always despised you, too. And why I must do this."
Miko gasped as her partner produced a kunai knife, aiming right at Miko's barely healed heart. "What are you doing?"
"If Colten can do it, so can I!" Jin said, her grim malevolent. "Only I'm not taking only a few sips of blood. I'm eating the whole thing!"
"Wait!" But Miko cried out in pain as her partner struck with impossible precision, hitting right where it would incapacitate Miko the most. Damn, she must have tapped into her partner's special power. Miko howled again as Jin stabbed several more times, taking advantage of her partner's weakened state.
"Don't do this!" Miko pleaded for her partner to stop. "Please, I still love you!". But these pleas fell on deaf ears. Darkness consumed Miko as she struggled against each fatal blow thrown against her. Then, after seeing that Miko couldn't fight back any longer, Jin began the feast.