"Thanks," Takako said, sipping at her noodles.
"Eat up, dear. There's plenty to go around," Aiko's mom said, her smile warm. Takako flushed, touched by the woman's motherly kindness. It reminded Takako of her own mother, whom she still missed daily. Aiko's mom's cooking was almost as good, almost. Nothing ever topped her mom's ramen. She'd always known that Takako liked little chunks of carrot in it.
"Nostalgia for the old days. I really am getting old," Takako said wryly, slurping at her noodles.
"Thanks for the meal!" Takako said after her third bowl. She'd always had a healthy appetite.
"Come around anytime, Takako. You're always welcome." The large, heavyset woman gave her a tight hug.
"You're mom's pretty cool," Takako said as they left the modest but well-appointed kitchen.
Like their daughter, Aiko's family was surprisingly resourceful at finding helpful knick knacks or appliances, improving conditions which many would consider squalor where Takako had come from. Of course, this wasn't an ordinary world, it was still recovering from a vampire infestation. It was downright fancy compared to other homes she'd seen. These people were trying their best in less-than-ideal conditions.
"I guess," Aiko said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, you feeling better?"
"I suppose so," Takako said, knowing it was a half-truth. Truthfully, she only wanted a good meal.
"You want to talk about it? You've been too quiet. It's not like you."
Typical Aiko, always seeing through her. "You know, the usual. The fact is, I can't match up with Seina. She's out there, facing certain doom against the final Devil Princess. And I'm here doing nothing when she needs my help!"
"Yeah, I'm just as useless," Aiko said with a sympathetic smile. "Still some super vampire? That's so not fair!"
"Right! Capable of draining a magical girl to death in seconds? That's cheating." Takako released a sigh. "And I'm stuck here. I'd only get in Arisu's and Seina's way. Those two are such monsters."
They walked across the road in companionable silence before Aiko finally spoke. "You're still cool to me, the baddest girl around."
"Thanks," Takako said, touched. Aiko was a staunch friend. In her younger days, she'd never really had friends. While she'd never admit it, Takako owed everything to them. They saved her from herself, freeing her from the apathetic stupor she'd been stuck in.
"I need to protect them," Whatever it takes. A sudden gasp interrupted Takako's reverie. "What is it, Aiko?"
But her friend didn't reply, pointing up with wide, frightened eyes. It wasn't hard to figure out why. The sky was burning. No, that wasn't quite correct. The sky had lost all form, being a tangled mess of everything. What the hell was happening? Had the fight against Kaguya gone that badly? Takako had a bad feeling.
"Is this the end of the world?" Aiko asked, trembling.
The ground shook beneath them, hard enough to dislodge everyone standing. This wasn't an ordinary earthquake. The entirety of everything was cracking apart. Terrified out of her wits, Takako grabbed Aiko's hand and squeezed. If she were to die, it'd be with a friend.
"No, I won't allow this," a voice said. To Takako's amazement, reality reasserted itself, and the quaking stopped. The sky hadn't returned to normal, but doom didn't seem as pressing anymore.
"Himari?" Takako said, astonished.
"Hello, Takako, Aiko," the girl said from behind them, appearing from nowhere. Behind her stood Chō, an unhappy frown on her face.
"Did you save us?" Aiko asked, amazed.
"Yes, I put a barrier around this universe," Himari replied. "It should hold for now."
"What's happening? What's Kaguya done?!" Takako demanded, blood boiling. Was that madwoman trying to unhinge all reality?
"I don't think it's her," Himari said, surprising Takako. "This power feels different, more corrupt."
"What's more corrupt than a vampire?" Takako asked.
"You'd be surprised," Himari said, but didn't elaborate further. Takako supposed the girl had seen many things on her trip to the outer cosmos. "But I'm afraid we don't have long. The entire cosmos is falling apart. Entire universes are being torn to shreds. You're lucky I was searching for you."
"A touched life we lead," Takako replied. "But what now? How can we face that?!"
"We must try," Himari said serenely. "Seina's still out there, fighting."
"Okay." What the heck. Sure, she'd likely die in seconds, but it was better than waiting for her demise. "I'm sorry, Aiko, but I'm cutting our hangout session short."
"Just kick their ass," Aiko said, beaming.
"Come, Time is short." Himari said, extending a hand. Takako took it and they disappeared.
---
"Destroy! That's all you ever do!" Seina said, jetting through the chaotic jumble. "How much more blood will you soak your hands until you're done?"
"Shut up!" Bathiko said, swirling her eldritch wings around her to summon a chaotic, destructive storm at her attacker. Endless possibilities slipped past Seina's vision, worlds that might have been and should have been vanished. More of reality cracked apart, becoming a sea of bizarre, nonexistent colors.
The chaotic storm crashed into her. Seina braced herself for the impact, knowing where she'd gone wrong when trying to protect Arisu. Bubbles formed around the chaotic swirl, engulfing them in their dimensions.
Bathiko watched in astonishment as the seas calmed within them as reality regained its equilibrium. What? How?"
"I couldn't save Arisu, but I've figured out how to fix what you've destroyed." It took some effort, confining the chaos in an almost infinite space within her bubbles, but it worked. While she still had terrible control over her abilities, she could move on a cosmic scale. Might she repeat the same for the entire multiverse?
"Please, stop this. You've won." Seina put a hand over her heart. "There's no need to fight anymore. I can…"
"No. This battle was destined." Bathiko replied, cutting her off. "There can only be one protector. You're a magical girl, Seina. You're noble and heroic, but so was Mei once."
"Why do this? Why do you hate magical girls so much?" Just who was Bathiko, anyway? Seina sensed something familiar about the odd girl, but the answer remained elusive, refusing to be dislodged.
"It doesn't matter who I am," Bathiko replied. "But I will tell you this. I've committed too many sins to back down now. It doesn't matter how ugly or monstrous I become. All that matters is fairykind's freedom! I… I didn't devour my partner for nothing!"
"What?" Seina gasped, shocked. Something clicked into place, a hunch that explained everything. She'd thought Miko's disappearance was strange. "You can't be…"
"Face me, Seina." Bathiko flew high above Seina, each wing beat causing cosmic distortion." This is how it must be."
"Fine!" Seina got into a battle stance. "I'm ready for you!"
"You're a fool. Don't you think I can't find your death as well?" Bathiko said, unimpressed.
"But I have something you don't. I'm not alone. Colten and I are fighting together to stop your madness!"
As Seina had expected, this calculated slight set off her opponent. "One of you! million? It doesn't matter! I can't lose! I can find victory in any outcome! You're a child fighting against her own inevitable doom!" Then Bathiko unleashed everything on her.
Chaotic swirls of demented reality lashed out around her, only stopping because of some quick blocks with her bubbles. Seina slipped past them, her opponent attacking more through rage and passion than reason. The impact of Seina's blade caused ripples in reality, tossing Bathiko back.
"You!" A wing slashed at Seina, but she used a bubble to speed past the attack. Seina retaliated with a barrage of bubbles which blasted into Bathiko's chest.
Seina's sword cut deep into her opponent, but the mad magical girl refused to surrender. Knife after knife slashed into Seina's flesh, their dark power cancerous and poisonous to the touch. Bathiko's aim was uncanny, never missing, even with Seina's tricks. But Seina took the hits, striking back with triple the force. Reality became more unstable as Bathiko fought with total abandon. Seina gasped as cosmic winds ripped apart an inhabited world rich with people.
"This is your protection, Bathiko? You're out of control!"
"I…" Bathiko heaved a ragged breath, overcome with emotion. "I must win! Magical girls must die for everyone's sake!"
"What everyone? You're killing them all!"
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Seina winced as another four daggers stabbed into her gut, twisting as their vile power disrupted her healing abilities.
"I am Bathiko! Protector of the Worlds." Bathiko screamed, thrashing Seina with every blow. "I must win!"
She's totally beyond reason now. Winning's the only way Bathiko thought she could live with herself. Poor thing. Seina thought before clobbering the girl with a right hook, holding nothing back.
"You!" Cosmic winds whipped at Seina, threatening to rip her to shreds. She howled as her body lost consistency, but leaped away before she got obliterated.
Seina heaved, terrified of how close she'd come to certain destruction. Another hit like that, and she'd be gone forever. "Colten, give me strength."
"Goodbye." Seina's eyes widened as Bathiko appeared suddenly behind her, wings lashing out. She summoned more bubbles to protect herself. But her opponent had already caught onto her tricks, knives piercing through them before they raised any defense. Bathiko had already known where they would appear.
Before Seina met her certain doom, something odd happened. Something pink lashed out at her, wrapping around her leg. Before Bathiko's wings connected, Seina found herself somewhere else.
"What?" Bathiko glanced around, confused about where her opponent had disappeared. She scowled as she saw the annoying interloper.
"Thanks, Takako," Seina said, relieved. "You rock, as usual."
"Damn right, I do," Takako said, her mouth quirking in a cocky smile.
"That insect won't save you. Not against my ultimate power." Bathiko grunted in pain as a barrage of laser blasts scorched her flank.
"But I'm not alone. Sorry, we're late. But Chō had a lot of drawing to do." Takako said, thumb pointing at Chō and the enormous mech suit she was piloting. Behind her stood thousands of its miniatures, ready for battle.
"Pointless!" Bathiko's wings lashed out, eager to destroy Chō's little army with a single burst. But her eyes widened as her destruction, chaotic reality burst.
Seina knew who it must be. "Himari!"
"Hello, Seina," Himari said, giving her a slight, sad smile. "I saw everything. Sorry about Colten."
"Thanks." Seina said with a sniff.
"Impossible." Bathiko scowled. "You're only an ordinary magical girl. How? Never mind, I'll crush you all the same." A dark aura gathered around the twisted magical girl, causing reality to warp in an unsettling, uneasy pattern.
Chō didn't waste time, unleashing a barrage of lasers on their enemy. With a sweep of her hand, Bathiko rendered them null and void, eliminating them from existence. But both Seina and Himari used the distraction to strike at Bathiko, hard. Blood oozed from her mouth as Seina's blade struck her gut, empowered by the full force of Seina's fury. Himari clamped her hands, trapping the twisted magical girl's wings. Bathiko was helpless against Seina's assault.
"Get! Give her everything you've got!" Takako said, wrapping her ribbon around Bathiko's neck, stopping her as she attempted to break free. Chō continued to fire on their opponent, refusing to relent. Seina used her bubbles to redirect the robot's lasers into a single point, heightening them to cause serious damage. Bathiko coughed blood as she received a punishing punch to the solar plexus.
"You!" Bathiko seethed, her body blacking as she gathered her rage into herself.
"Back away!" But Seina's warning came too late, as the twisted magical girl unleashed her hatred upon them, blowing them back.
"Seina, look out!" But Seina's movements seemed like a fly trapped in amber as she tried slipping away, grimacing as a wing tore through her stomach. The pain was unimaginable as Seina's body slipped away, destroyed to its component parts, just like Arisu. Was this it? Was this where she died?
"No! Not so fast." The pain subsided as a pink ribbon wrapped around her leg, and Seina's body regained its constitution.
"Impossible!" Bathiko said, wide-eyed.
"Why are you so surprised?" Seina said through gritted teeth. With a hand, she gripped the wing impaling her, and yanked it with everything she had. Bathiko screamed as Seina ripped her wing off, black blood oozing from the wound. "Takako's power is imagination. She refused to believe I died, so I didn't."
"Persistent little…" Bathiko howled as Himari drove a hand through another wing, severing it. While weakening her power, the twisted magical girl's wings seemed endless, filling the universe.
"With me!" Sword raised, Seina charged. The scene turned topsy-turvy as they fought to subdue Bathiko. Reality stopped making sense as they fought through chaotic space, Bathiko using her power to make everything, yet nothing possible. Was she dead? She saw herself die in a billion ways but also survive by a hair in another billion. Were all her friends gone? It was impossible to tell anymore, as all reality became more unhinged and fragmented.
"Stop it, please!" But Seina's words landed on deaf ears, howling as her head lost consistency.
"Don't worry, I got you." A comforting hand grabbed Seina, and she found Takako standing beside her. Her ribbon whipped around them, stabilizing space-time.
"It's too much. Everything's gone out of control!" Seina said, collapsing to the ground.
"Yeah, but there's a center to the storm. I can see it," Takako said, thoughtfully.
"Easier said than done," Seina said, regaining some measure of calm. She centered herself, performing the katas Mr. Kiyojiro had taught her.
"There we go. Use that to win," Takako said, beaming. "Bathiko's a storm, a maelstrom, but you are a bubble, perfectly formed, floating through a gentle wind. You are in equilibrium. She is chaos."
Seina absorbed her friend's words, making them her own. She could do it. All she needed to do was fight through the fear and uncertainty and use Takako's confidence to bolster her courage.
"But I warn you, Seina, you can't hold anything back. Fight to kill. I know that isn't your style, but Bathiko must be stopped, whatever the cost."
"Yeah." Truthfully, Seina had always held a little back, not wanting to hurt or kill anyone. Everything felt so fragile, weak. Seina had always feared she would shatter everything with a misplaced step if she wasn't careful. That was Seina's power, strength. And strength needed control, or else it brought ruin. But she supposed that was Bathiko's greatest weakness. She had great, monstrous power, but hadn't been trained to use it responsibly. She always rushed to find victory, but forgot about the consequences. That was the difference between them.
"Okay, I'm ready. I'm going to punch a hole right through this storm." Seina said, squeezing her hand tight. "Back me up. I'll need your help. I don't know how long this hole will stay open."
'Don't worry. I'll make sure you get through it." Takako said, giving her trademark smug grin.
"Pointless. So pointless. Why do you continue to fight? Why can't you understand I'm just doing what's best for everyone!" Bathiko said, voice booming.
"I'm sorry, but you've always been wrong. Seek violence, and you'll only receive and cause destruction in response!" Seina replied. With a flying leap, Seina punched with everything she had.
The force of her blow was incredible, the literal heavens splitting from its power. There in her tangle of wings stood Bathiko, eyes frightened at the display of Seina's true strength.
"Now!" With a whirl of her ribbon, Takako launched her friend at astounding speed at their mutual foe, the cause of such needless destruction.
"No!" Bathiko launched a hand forward, closing the gap between her and Seina before she could do the same. Cosmic winds whipped at her, eager to shred her into nothingness. Power gathered within Seina as she unsheathed her sword, gathering her magical might within its blade. It left her totally defenseless, but Seina wasn't worried.
"Don't worry, I've got you!" Himari appeared from nowhere, arms spread out wide. The cosmic winds battered uselessly against a dimensional barrier, unable to break free.
"What?" The panic grew into Bathiko's voice. Her wings lashed out at Seina, each tipped with a deadly blade. But none of them hit their mark. Thousands of metal bodies blocked their path, each using their mechanical hands to push them back. While many got torn to shreds, it bought her time to slip past.
"No!" More wings slashed at Seina, but a laser beam cut them to ribbons. Chō's mecha summoned a beam sword and cut down anything attempting to attack her friend. The stoic magical girl gave Seina a thumbs up before resuming the battle, keeping Bathiko's attacks at bay.
"No!" Bathiko backed away, trembling. "Please, don't!"
"I'm sorry," Seina said, voice somber. "Goodbye, Jin."
Blood coughed from Bathiko's mouth as Seina's sword impaled her chest, her eyes widening in pained shock. Tears flowed freely, horrified and saddened. "I only… I'm sorry, Miko. Was I wrong? Should I have tried to understand you? Was that where I went wrong?"
"Seraphim Annihilation!"
The gentle tears of the poor, corrupted magical girl floated, her body reduced to nothing. Faced with Seina's terrible might, she'd stood no chance. Little remained of her beyond goblets of blood, and her regret.
An icy dagger stabbed into Seina's heart. While she'd caused death before, this hurt. Bathiko had fought so hard for a better future, but her own power and hatred had twisted her dream into something monstrous. While she'd needed to be put down, it didn't make her death any less painful.
"Rest in peace, Jin. I'll fulfill your dream, but in the right way. I'll make sure nobody gets terrorized by magical girls again." Taking on her dream seemed the best way to honor her passing.
"You did it!" Takako said, beaming.
"Nice work," Himari said, letting out a breath. She wavered, obviously using a great deal of power to protect Seina. Chō only gave a grateful nod and a smile.
"Nice work indeed." A familiar voice said, and ice stabbed into Seina's heart. Impossible. How could she be alive?
"I couldn't have stopped her without you," Kaguya said. Held In her palm was what remained of Bathiko, floating and bobbing in an invisible wind.
"What? How are you still alive?" Seina asked, stunned.
The last Devil Princess only smirked in response, closing her eyes. "Didn't I tell you I couldn't die as long as a thought of me exists?" In a single gulp, she downed Bathiko's remains.
Seina cursed. That final attack had drained her of almost everything. She wasn't in much shape to fight anymore. The others weren't in any better position, mere gnats against the Devil Princess's might.
"Delicious. Her dark power suits me well. She wasn't really much of a magical girl, was she? Shall we begin again?" Kaguya opened her eyes, strange, multi-pupilled orbs staring out.