"Don't do this. It's too much!" Future Seina said, her voice distorting almost beyond intelligibility.
"No, I must," Kaguya said, her voice superior. "It's what you get for interfering with my history."
Future Seina opened her mouth to say more, but she vanished into nothing before she could complete her desperate plea.
"Oh, no! What should we do now?" Bloody sweat dripped down Seina's undead forehead in panic. They had only stopped her former mistress last time because of Arisu's help. But now the fearsome Wicked Queen was gone, dead after sacrificing herself to stop the crazed Devil Princess, Mei. There was no way the pair of them could stop a fully powered vampire queen. And that ignored whatever power Kaguya had gotten from fusing with her future self. They didn't even have Future Seina's advice to help them any more.
"Now, what should I do with you?" Kaguya said, tapping her chin. Unlike her other self, Seina sensed no warmth or familiarity reflected in the vampire queen's red orbs. They were the eyes of a stranger, cold and calculating.
Takako's nerves were taut as she prepared to defend herself. Seina stood her ground, readying her wand for action.
Her partner fidgeted, hiding behind her back. "Any ideas?"
"Well, um." Seina floundered, her mind a blank.
"I'd say you should just die already!" The vampire queen disappeared, moving so quickly that Seina's eyes lost track of her.
Then Kaguya appeared, hands extended like talons as she struck. Seina moved in slow motion as she fought to defend herself. No, she realized, it only affected her. Her friends seemed to move in a blur. Somehow, Kaguya had slowed time around Seina alone, leaving her a sitting duck. Pain exploded in her mind as a hand pierced her chest, bright crimson leaking from the wound. Seina only stared in dull-minded horror at the arm impaling right through her.
The gaping wound festered as Kaguya leaped back to avoid twin bullets to the brain, bleeding three times faster than usual. Seina realized why. Kaguya was accelerating her wound, sapping her strength as thousands of years passed in seconds. Seina collapsed, her limbs leaden as the time accelerated wound stole her strength.
"You!" Takako snarled, unleashing twin barrels at Kaguya's exposed forehead. But the vampire queen only laughed and slipped through the bullets like they were frozen statues. She laughed again as they shattered when Kaguya tapped a playful finger against them.
"Like a toddler fighting a sumo wrestler," Kaguya snickered, laughing at her joke. "You're nothing but fake magical girls, shadows compared to Arisu and Hinata. Heck, even Ono could kick your ass, and he was never even magical! What a marvelous, brave brute he'd been, a human terror like Arisu!" Kaguya continued to reminisce about the old days, ignoring Seina and Takako's floundering attempts to attack her.
"And how Arisu brought fear into Slithcar's ranks," Kaguya said, ducking under a clumsy punch that Seina shot at her. "Whenever she arrived on the scene, her enemies scattered like dandelion puffs. But here I am, getting all nostalgic, very unlike me. Starlight Dream's destruction got me thinking about the old days."
"What?" Takako recoiled, eyes wide. She trembled, her voice becoming unsteady. "Impossible. You couldn't have…"
"Starlight Dream?" Seina considered the name. "Isn't that your home, Colten?" Was that the big change Kaguya had done to destabilize the timeline?
"That maniac!" Colten said, shaking his head in disbelief. "I hated the place. It only ever caused me suffering. But it was still home and… oh, grandpa and sis…"
"No! You fool! You've unanchored the entire multiverse!" Neir said.
"It's fine. I'll make myself the center of the multiverse," Kaguya replied. "It'll be a fun project, remaking the multiverse in my own image. That was what I promised Mei all those centuries ago, a new multiverse."
"And what, make a cosmos of darkness?" Seina challenged.
"Who knows? Maybe it'll be a paradise. With my new time powers, I'll undo any mistakes I've made." Kaguya extended her hands. "I will erase all pain from the cosmos, reverse it from ever happening. Who can argue against such benevolence?"
"Like I believe that." Seina knew her former mistress. If she became a god, she'd be a neglectful one.
Kaguya clapped her hands together. "And won't Arisu be surprised when she returns? The cosmos will be a paradise. And when I become the center of creation, it'll be impossible to get rid of me. Won't that annoy the Wicked Queen to no end?"
Kaguya looked at the two magical girls over her shoulder. "I'm bored with you now. Pledge loyalty to me. I'll let you live. Killing weak maggots isn't worth bothering with."
Neir opened his mouth, but his partner stopped him. "Don't you dare, Neir! We're our own masters now, remember?"
"Which will only make us dead!" The fairy shot back.
"Well, I'm never surrendering to you!" Colten said, tears stinging his eyes. "You destroyed my sister. Jerk or not, nobody hurts my family! We're gonna kick your ass! Right, Seina?"
The pure vitriol from her fairy partner surprised her, but she took strength from his courage. Her wounds hadn't even come close to closing, but she stood strong. "Right! We'll never allow you to fulfill your insane dream!"
"Is that right?" Kaguya leaned in close, her dazzling eyes flashing thousands of paradoxes across Seina's vision. "And how do you plan to stop me?"
"Plenty!" But Seina's wild push slipped the vampire queen as she dashed away with contemptible ease. Takako's guns blazed, but they only got slapped aside. This, however, had been her friend's plan, the vampire recoiling as each bullet exploded into a miniature sun centimeters from her flesh. The rays blackened Kaguya's flesh, making it sizzle like burned meat.
"Please." But the vampire queen only waved a hand, and each sun petered out as they reversed course, returning to bullets before dissolving into nothing.
Scowling, Takako shot her twin barrels in random directions to seed suns where Kaguya couldn't easily counter. But Kaguya only flicked a hand, and Takako and her projectiles froze like statues. With another gesture, the bullets reversed motion while Takako remained stuck. She howled as her own bullets tore through her flesh.
"How fun." Kaguya laughed like a delighted child. "My time abilities have expanded beyond anything I could ever suspect."
Seina saw her chance, launching herself at her opponent. But Kaguya only yawned in disinterest, freezing Seina midair with a gesture. Her eyes widened in terror as Kaguya got into her face, her sharp fangs extended into a cruel grin.
"Seina! No!" Colten fumed in impotent rage, helpless to aid his partner.
"Don't worry, I'll make it quick. Besides, I'm doing you a favor. You're still a monster, Seina." Kaguya said. "People would still hate and fear you, regardless of your heroics. Everyone would know you'd eventually tear out their throat. It's in your nature, after all."
Seina scowled, unable to look the vampire queen in the eyes. What she said was probably true. They'd never accept her as a hero, even if she liberated them from their vampire overlords. They'd only stake her like the rest. She closed her eyes, knowing her end was soon approaching.
"Seina!" Colten cried, horrified. Seina held her breath, ready for the pain that would lead to her quick death. But she furrowed her brow as moments passed, and nothing happened. She crept open an eye, wondering what was happening. She gasped as she saw what forestalled her.
"Who the?" Seina stared wide-eyed at the white-haired stranger who'd forestalled her destruction with his sword. Steel scraped against steel as the newcomer deflected Kaguya's knife.
"Don't worry, I've got you," the mysterious, handsome stranger said, giving her a wink. Despite herself, crimson burned in Seina's cheeks.
"Who are you?" Kaguya narrowed her eyes, peering at the annoying interloper. "You're not a magical girl. You're not anything I've ever seen before. Yet, you smell familiar somehow."
"Name's Paliah," the white-haired knight said, taking a protective stance in front of Seina. "Seina's too busy keeping all existence together, so she sent me."
"Is that all?" Kaguya gave a dismissive snort. "I sense your power. You're a microbe compared to me."
"Be careful. Kaguya has the power to control entire timelines!" Seina said.
"That right? Careful vampire, you might destroy yourself by accident in your desperate attempt to find a future where you have any chance of winning," Paliah smirked, laughing at some private joke.
But Kaguya seemed unamused, her sharp eye watching this unusual interloper with keen interest. For all her boasts, the vampire queen remained cautious. She disliked this unknown element.
"Watch yourself." The knight said, his sword extended to protect Seina. But he frowned, puzzled when he noticed her pointed teeth, and shook his head in dismay. "A vampire magical girl, unbelievable. How did this abomination happen?"
"Well." Seina flustered, her cheeks aflame. It hurt her heart that this handsome stranger seemed disgusted by her vampiric appearance. Worse, unlike some, nobody had forced her into it. It'd been her conscious choice.
"The curse has vanished. My magical girl powers nullify it." Seina half-lied, responding to the handsome stranger's vitriol with a weak smile.
But Paliah didn't have time to respond, Kaguya's summoned knife struck in a blinding blur that Seina barely caught. The knight deflected the blow but grimaced as extended claws left his shoulder a bloody gash. Seina leaped past him, her fist swinging into the vampire queen's blind spot. Takako joined the action, shooting twin barrels into Kaguya's other exposed side.
"Nice try," Kaguya said, disinterested. An agile twist of her spine made Seina's blow slip past. And an extended hand froze Takako's bullets before they could explode into miniature suns.
"Tsk." Despite his wound, Paliah only increased the speed of his blade, leaving trails of light in the air. He pushed Kaguya onto the defensive, his blade glowing with light that warmed the soul. The knight's movements were erratic as he flickered through the battlefield, his attack approaches dizzying. But Kaguya kept pace, smirking as an overextension of Paliah's blade left him open.
"Got you." Kaguya put a palm on the knight's chest, pleased with herself. Panic bubbled in Seina's chest, knowing what this meant. Paliah was trapped in a timelock he'd never escape. Much to everyone's shock, the vampire queen howled in outraged pain as a blade pierced her shoulder. Huh? Wasn't Paliah trapped?
"Time powers, huh?" Kaguya said, annoyed. "No wonder I can't time-trap you. No matter."
Lashes of darkness slashed through the air, each striking where Paliah had been. But hitting him hadn't been her strategy. They hung in the air like waiting predators, striking whenever Paliah got close. Seina cursed. The vampire queen was limiting her opponent's ability to move around. Her heart skipped a beat as one wrapped around him from behind, trapping him in consuming darkness. Kaguya used the diversion to drive her blade into the helpless knight.
This only earned a smile from Paliah as his sword glowed with brilliant light. The shadow tendrils recoiled from the holy power, its touch leaving its skin smoking. Even Seina winced, blinking spots from her eyes. Kaguya screamed as a blade drove through her middle, its power scorching her flesh ashen.
"Cover me." Undeterred by her lack of power, Takako continued her offensive. From her golden gun, she fired rays of shining light. While Kaguya sidestepped the shot, the silver barrel fired into Seina. She blinked in confusion as she found herself standing next to Kaguya. But the confusion only lasted a moment, Seina delivering a punishing punch into the vampire queen's jaw.
"Gah." Kaguya adjusted her loose jaw back into place, her eyes blazing with anger. She thrust both hands forward.
"Step back before..." But Paliah's warning came too late as Seina felt her body discombobulating as the wave of distorted time disturbed her cohesion in the timeline.
It took her entire strength to keep herself from vanishing from history. Remarkably, Paliah regained his footing in history first, lashing out with his sword at blinding speed. But Kaguya caught the blade between two fingers, using her terrible vampire strength to keep the white knight at bay. The sword burned her on contact, yet Kaguya refused to budge.
Seina rushed to her new ally's aid, lashing out with her wand at Kaguya's exposed back. But the vampire queen only laughed as she ripped Paliah's sword from his hand, hurling it at her attacker. Seina gasped at the sword embedded in her chest. Its holy power burned through her, dissolving her vampiric existence. She collapsed, dead to the world. Not dead exactly, but sapped of her remaining strength. Kaguya's aim was true. She'd stuck her right through the heart.
"Seina!" Paliah said, alarmed. Before he could rush to her aid, he howled in pain as a hand drove through his chest.
"And that's him dealt with," Kaguya said, pulling out her bloody arm from her victim. Paliah collapsed like a bag of hammers, not even breathing.
"You." Takako raised a pistol to Seina's aid, but gurgled blood as a thrown knife tore through her chest. She collapsed, her breathing hard and labored. It left Seina to face the vampire queen, helpless and alone.
"Clever, right?" Kaguya said, pleased with herself. "I've used your vampiric nature against you. The knight's holy power is destroying the damsel he'd rushed to the past to save. If you were a normal magical girl, you'd be up and about already."
Shame burned in Seina's cheeks, knowing the vampire queen was right. Try as she might, she'd never be free of her vampiric curse. Her weakness would get them all killed.
"Don't listen to that nonsense," Paliah said, rising despite the fact that he should be dead three times over. "You've got all you need to win."
"Shut up!" Kaguya drove a kick into the knight's collarbone, shattering it.
Huh, what did that mean? The sword piercing through her was pure agony, like a sun had ignited in her chest. Even shifting about sent her into blinding pain. Yet, Paliah's words caught her attention, sharing some hidden truth. Even if she deciphered his meaning, she still had a holy sword through her heart.
Wait, was that it? Was the holy sword the key? Closing her eyes, she shut out her agony and focused within. It wasn't easy, but she sensed a light she'd never noticed before. It was familiar somehow. Wait, was that it? It couldn't be that simple, right? But Paliah shifted in her direction, making silent contact and confirming her suspicion.
"Colten," Seina rasped, and everything became clear. This light was familiar because it was her light. Somehow, this white knight was also her partner. That meant her own power was trapping her.
"Now, how about we finish this?" Kaguya said, leaping at her foe with terrible speed. Time froze as Seina realized she only had a split second until the vampire queen destroyed her.
If Paliah's sword was her power, didn't that mean it was hers to manipulate? A flash of inspiration struck, and Seina didn't hesitate.
"What?" Kaguya recoiled at the blade embedded in her chest, not quite hitting the heart but leaving a deep gash across her side. To Seina's amazement, the blade's holy power burned yet flowed through her.
"You!" The vampire queen launched herself backward, grimacing as Paliah's blade tore an ever-expanding hole through her chest.
"Good work," Paliah wheezed. "Get her."
"Darn it." Kaguya collapsed to one knee, eyes widening as her body struggled to reconstitute itself. It wasn't only that Paliah's holy powers interfered with her vampiric healing abilities. No, it seemed like her body had difficulty understanding which pieces fell where. "Where'd this power come from?"
Seina was confused, too. Somehow, Paliah's powers had invigorated her, like she had lightning flowing through her veins. Was it because she technically had two partners now?
"No!" Kaguya floundered as Seina landed another clean blow, leaving a deep gash across her shoulder. They watched in horrified fascination as the vampire queen's arm crumbled into rotting flesh, the limb putrefied before their eyes.
"Seems your little paradox is working against you," Paliah said, standing. "You're a living contradiction, Kaguya. Time is pulling you to pieces, trying to figure out where you fit."
But Kaguya didn't respond, staring wide-eyed at the remains of her rotted arm. She struggled to speak, words refusing to come. She grimaced as Takako blasted a bullet through her brain, howling as it erupted into holy light.
The other magical girl grinned, pleased with herself. "I might not be some holy warrior, but copying divine power is simple enough."
"You, I—" Even with a hole through her head that rotted away before their eyes, Kaguya, the Vampire Queen, refused to surrender. "I will not accept this! You can't do this to me!"
"Please, you've done enough. There's no more need to fight," Seina said, apprehension growing in her belly. She suddenly got a bad feeling.
"Forget that, just blow her away already!" Takako said, dashing forward, twin barrels ready. But she'd been too late.
"I refuse to die. I will win." Then Kaguya vanished, disappearing in a puff of smoke. Seina darted around but found no trace of her.
"Where'd she go?" Takako asked apprehensively. She held her twin pistols hard enough that her knuckles went white.
"I don't know." Seina extended her vampiric senses but found no trace of the vampire queen. If they still had their vampiric bond, it wouldn't be an issue. But now, Kaguya could be anywhere. Was she hiding out until her wounds healed? No, Seina sensed that wasn't it. What was Kaguya's plan, then?
"Guys! We need to hurry before it's too late," a familiar voice said.
"Charity?" Seina asked, dumbfounded as a white shape came into view. "Aren't you dead?" Hadn't the fairy died with her partner?
"I'm the other Charity from this time period," the fairy replied.
"Right." Stupid time travel nonsense. Did that mean another Arisu was running around somewhere?
"What's the matter?" Paliah said, limping over. Seina extended his sword forward to return it, but the knight refused. "Keep it. You might need it."
"Okay." Despite being part of her power, holding the steel, holy blade hurt. But she'd tolerate the pain until they won this battle.
"There's no time to explain," Charity said, her words rushed. "We need to get to Starlight Dream. Kaguya is about to attempt something insane!"
"But isn't Starlight Dream gone?" Takako asked, confused.
"Yes, but something still remains, the Needle of the Cosmos!" Charity replied.
"So?" Takako asked, not getting the point. Then she got it. "Is Kaguya trying to destabilize the entire cosmos by destroying it?"
"No. That was never the Needle's purpose." Despite the dire situation, Charity chuckled in amusement. "It's where Arisu sealed Kaguya's real body!"
"Right. Kaguya mentioned something about that," Seina said, snapping her fingers. "Is she trying to free herself?"
"Well, it won't work. Nothing can even scratch the Needle," Takako said, snorting.
"But Kaguya's powerful enough. But that isn't her only plan. She plans to… No! It's too late! We're out of time!" Genuine fear entered the fairy's voice. "This might be the end! Hurry, we need to go now!"
"Okay, we're going!" Seina said as the fairy's head pushed her into a portal she'd just summoned. Seina leaped into the doorway, fearful of what she might find. This wasn't what she'd expected.
"What have you done to yourself?" Seina said in horrified fascination.
"I'm fine. This is what I needed to do. Power is everything, child."
Seina gapped at the towering figure before her, dwarfing her a thousandfold. Kaguya seemed to fill the entire universe with her existence.
"It's just as I feared," Charity said grimly. "She's fused with the Needle of the Cosmos."
But Seina only stared slack-jawed, unsure what she was looking at. Kaguya was a monstrous monolith of pulsing pink flesh. The only human quality remaining was the Kaguya's massive head poking out from the pillar. The vampire queen's face stared at them with a locked, grim expression. Yet Seina caught the malevolent, mischievous glint in the head's dead eyes.
"What is she?" Takako said in horrified fascination.
"It's how she's stabilizing her power," Charity replied. "She's both fused with her true form in this timeline and using Arisu's magic to stabilize her paradoxical existence. We're in trouble. Her existence spans across the entire multiverse and even beyond space-time! She's become the supreme master of the cosmos, the linchpin of existence!"