"A feeling?" Rea's humanity asked.
Seiza nodded. "Yes, if your power functions similarly to Taurus, you should only be able to access it by remembering a strong feeling and holding onto it. If your finger glows, you should be on the right track."
"Oh, and also, you probably should aim at the sky so no one can get hurt. You can never be too careful," Rudabaugh suggested before he went to Yoshino's side. He moved a few meters away from the magical girl in red, ensuring there was no chance of getting hit by her magic, and also to see how Nozomi was doing. Seiza stood closer by a couple of feet away from Rea's humanity in case the latter wanted to ask anything about her powers.
"Hey, Seiza?" The delinquent called for his attention.
"Yeah?" The talking dog turned his attention away from Nozomi to answer his most recent magical girl.
"Is this going to hurt? Like it did with my transformation?" Rea's humanity asked with justifiable concern, pursing her lips in unease.
"I... can't say for sure." Seiza bit his lip. "But, if you start to feel even the slightest hint of anything bad... you can stop concentrating." The puppy tried to reassure them both.
The delinquent in red slowly nodded as she turned to stare at her index finger in thought. After some hesitance, Rea's humanity closed her eyes and tried to recall all the times she felt something strongly.
It didn't take long for her to remember the times she got into a fight against someone who proved to be a match for her. The memory of that gang of middle-school bullies the delinquent fought against in her early elementary years particularly came to her mind. It had been the first time she remembered tasting blood from her mouth after taking an, admittedly, pretty good punch to the face. It hadn't been a lot, only a small insignificant drop, but it was enough for her to feel a borderline addicting thrill she would never forget.
Rea's humanity grabbed onto that feeling and dwelled on it. After a full minute, she slightly opened her right eye and was greeted with... nothing. The magical girl in red's sentient humanity deflated slightly upon seeing there wasn't any progress. What am I missing? Surely, this should've been enough, right?
What's the holdup? I don't have it all day, y'know? Rea mentally asked.
Rea's other self sighed. I'm trying, ok? It's not my fault if it isn't enough...
Rea's expression grew into a frown. You say that, but...why are you trying to use MY memories to do it?
Because they are also mine! Or at least, they should also be... Rea's humanity trailed off with a hint of unsureness.
The transparent delinquent crossed her arms and tilted her head. And yet, you're getting no results...
The delinquent magical girl mentally rolled her eyes. Don't you even start, we both know that you also wouldn't fare much better with this magic mambo jambo! Tsujin's expression grew into a smirk. Or what? Do you think you would fare better than another part of yourself?
Rea's frown grew into a glare. Although Rea's humanity had her eyes closed, she still felt it as they attempted to pierce through her. Eventually, Rea turned away. Tsk, whatever, just finish this already so I can go home!
No need to say twice! The magical girl in red answered dryly, finishing the conversation there.
As Rea's humanity tried to recall any particular moments involving strong feelings, a thought occurred to her. Even if she was still technically Rea, she was also someone who could think independently from her other half. But if that's the case then... does it mean I need to recall having strong feelings about something that happened in the few days I had been separated from Rea for my magic to work?
The delinquent's humanity tried to remember if there was such a situation where she, not just her other self, felt strongly about anything. Soon enough, Rea's humanity recalls one moment when she felt emotionally strong. It was when Mukarramma revealed she had used Rea as bait to burn Nozomi's eyes. Could that be it? The magical girl in red wondered.
Figuring it was worth the try, Rea's humanity closed her eyes, raised her right hand to the sky, and focused on dwelling on that feeling. As she did, the delinquent's sense of humanity felt genuine seething anger against Mukarramma. To the point, she would've rushed them if her body was able to touch them. Not only that, she also felt responsible for how this magical girl in white saved her, a complete stranger, without any hesitation. It wouldn't feel right for her if she just left the person who just helped her to die.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then Rea's humanity suddenly opened her eyes in surprise as she released into the tarot card-esque sky a small torrent of flames that burst forth from her right index finger. The sudden release of flames made everyone turn their attention to it.
Both spectral and physical sides of the delinquent stared in awe at the beautiful magic flame the former produced from her finger.
As she held a tired Nozomi in her arms, Yoshino watched from afar, mouth slightly ajar, at the flames that spurred from Tsujin's finger.
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If Yoshino had to compare Rea's magic with something similar, it would be like a flamethrower, with its flames concentrated and... more beautiful than regular fire. Yoshino wasn't sure if that was the correct way to describe it, but it was the best she could come up with. She watched the magical fire from the underage smoke user dance around the tip where it ended. "What's the range of that thing..." She muttered absentmindedly to herself.
"0.0248548 miles," Rudabaugh answered robotically, also in a slight trance over Rea's flames.
Yoshino blinked a few times before slowly nodding and muttering to herself. "So 40 meters..."
Yoshino ended up not having much time to admire it as just as quickly as it appeared, the flames coming from the delinquent's finger extinguished. The magical girl in red responsible for the fire stared at the sky for a few seconds, as if from her perspective, the flames were never gone in the first place.
Rea only snapped out of her admiration when she noticed a missing index finger, making her blink a few times before her expression grew into surprise. Said surprise transitioned into panic as her eyes grew wide in distress.
Thankfully, no one needed to say anything to calm the magical girl in red down. Her finger soon regrew back into its original size after absorbing some of the fire from the arena she and everyone else found themselves inside.
Breathing a sigh of relief over having her finger back and growing a confident smile, Rea and Seiza walked up to Yoshino and everybody else. The former gave them a thumbs up. "Okay, I think I figured it out."
Rudabaugh nodded. "Now..." He trailed off as he turned to look at Mukarramma. Everybody else but Nozomi soon followed his gaze. "We can actually plan out how to deal with them."
Yoshino was conflicted upon looking at Mukarramma. On the one hand, she felt satisfaction. All the cocky attitude Mukarramma had after what she did to Nozomi was gone, no doubt because of Rea's transformation into a magical girl. But on the other hand, it raised some concerns within Yoshino. From what she could assume from how Mukarramma had laser-focused on Nozomi and was now doing the same for the newest magical girl, it was a pretty safe bet for the brunette that Mukarramma knew what a magical girl was and what they could do to them.
The thought that there was a possibility Mukarramma might have fought against magical girls before unsettled Yoshino as she clenched her best friend's hand. I wonder if Rudabaugh is also aware of this... Yoshino thought as she glanced at her mentor. "Do you have any ideas on how to beat them?" She spoke low enough so only those who were near could hear her.
Rudabaugh nodded. "Yes, although it's my first time fighting this specific darkspawn, they should still operate on a tricky, but still similar logic to others that are similar enough to it."
"That logic being...?" Seiza trailed off.
"Rules and conditions. Remember how none of our attacks came close to touching them? How do they keep announcing their moves every time they do anything? And how do they seem to use terms like Turns and Effects? I bet Henry's hat that it's all because of the rules and conditions placed on this barrier." There was a small pause when Rudabaugh finished saying that. If Yoshino had to guess, it was probably because Henry was mentally shouting at Rudabaugh to bet his own hat instead. The small, teasing smile that soon grew on Rudabaugh's face reinforced that idea to Yoshino. He was always serious when it came to that hat...
"Okay, so... do I just go for it then?" Rea asked.
After some thought, Rudabaugh shrugged. "I guess, yeah. Although I wouldn't doubt there might be rules we have yet to figure out..." Rudabaugh trailed off as he took a not-so-subtle glance at Nozomi. Her weak, tired breaths caused by the loss of blood told everyone they didn't have the luxury of time to figure out everything.
After some discussion, it was agreed that Rudabaugh would be the one to attack first to test the extent of how true their assumptions were.
Yoshino considered asking if Rudabaugh was sure about this, especially after Nozomi got her eyes incinerated, but in the end... she reluctantly decided to trust in his experience. "Hold on, Nozomi, just for a little longer," Yoshino muttered to her best friend's ear as she held her hand firm to reassure Nozomi and herself. The weak nod Yoshino received from Nozomi helped alleviate some of the accumulated stress Yoshino had acquired from watching her friend's eyes burn from the inside out.
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Rea and her humanity watched side-by-side Rudabaugh from a distance with the others. Their interests were piqued when the same ominous energy they had seen before on Rudabaugh and Yoshino when they first attempted to kill Mukarramma surrounded the cowboy again as he aimed his pistol at The Magician, who didn't look like it had any plans to dodge or defend against Rudabaugh's attack. Is it just me... or does that look familiar? The delinquent's humanity mentally asked Rea without taking her eyes off the outlaw.
Rea tilted her head as she squinted. Yeah... I do feel like I've seen something like that before... A frown grew on her expression as she tried to remember. But I can't quite pinpoint when or where... They pushed those thoughts away and kept watching to see if anything would help them remember.
Everyone's eyes, besides Nozomi's, soon grew wide with surprise, as just when Rudabaugh's fingers pressed on the revolver's trigger, Mukarramma's wooden head exploded in a sudden show of splinters and black liquid. The latter was something the delinquent and her other self never would've expected from something seemingly made entirely out of wood.
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What?! It was Mukarramma's first thought as her cerebral cortex responsible for processing information regenerated. Although she felt no pain from the injury or expended any magic healing the wound, it was still enough to make her black out for a second.
Said second proved too much, as when she came to her bearings, the first thing she processed was The Magician's destruction. This was thanks to the link they shared vanishing and the explosion blast which soon followed said destruction. Shit, too late. Did this attack get through my protection due to having no damage to me? Why didn't I think of testing that!? She berated herself. The lack of The Magician and the fire arena he had been responsible for creating anywhere when the smoke from the blast cleared served as more than enough confirmation for her.
When Mukarramma turned her attention to Rudabaugh and her other opponents, she immediately saw they were just as surprised as her with what just happened. The wooden doll frowned. Wait, if they didn't do it... She turned to search her surroundings. Then, who-
Her thought process was, again, cut short when her eyes landed on a completely new individual inside her barrier. He was clad in an obsidian dark cloak, wearing white gloves not too dissimilar from those stage magicians Mukarramma had watched from magic shows when she could afford the time. Finally, he donned a stark white mask which hid his face, with only two eyeholes where his eyes would be.
Unsurprisingly, Mukarramma's instincts flared up, alerting her that this individual was dangerous. The fact she couldn't sense any magic coming from them did little to stop her worries. Something that by all means should be impossible, since there was no way he would be able to get inside of her barrier without it. Seriously... where do all these people come from? This is ridiculous!
"What are you?" Mukarramma asked, even if it sounded more like she was demanding it.
The darkspawn of wood couldn't help but grow annoyed as the mysterious stranger ignored her, instead choosing to go to Nozomi's aid as she rested by her best friend's lap.
"Hey, I'm speaking to you! What are you!?" Mukarramma demanded from the enigmatic individual.
The masked individual didn't answer immediately. Instead, they seemed to be talking about something with Yoshino and Seiza, if Mukarramma were to guess from their reactions since she couldn't hear much from where she was.
After the mystery person seemed to have discussed what they wanted with them and done something when they grabbed Nozomi's hand for a moment, Mukarramma couldn't quite see from where she was. Finally, the mysterious figure turned their attention to Mukarramma.
"I'm the one who fights in the shadows so you can live in the light. I am, Outsider!" Outsider declared while dramatically pointing at Mukarramma. The tarot card wielder needed to double-take as she took in Outsider's artificially tampered voice.