Chapter 10: Chapter 10 – Hero

Makina's room was about as girly as the women's section of a furniture and decor catalogue. Large stuffed animals sat together at the edge of her bed, upon sheets and pillows with prints of the same plushies. Large posters of Candy and Jade were taped next to each other behind her desk. The walls were painted a light pink, made brighter by the sunlight and room lights switched on.

"Makina!" Rocky dropped his invisibility and fluttered up to her face in panic. "There's—"

Before he could say another word, Kari chucked him out the door. She shut it closed, leaving herself and Makina alone in the room.

"Rocky looked like he had something important to say. Was that really okay?" she asked.

"Nah. He just likes babbling. More importantly, are you okay? I went to check the nurse's office, but Ms. Wakana said you went home before lunch," Kari said, taking Rocky's place in front of Makina.

Even though they were inches apart, it seemed like the space between them numbered in the miles. Makina took a seat on the floor, back pressed up against the bed and trembling. Shaky fingers clenched the sleeves of her shirt in a vain attempt to keep them still. Fed up with the emptiness in her hands, she grabbed a stuffed animal from the bed to hold and buried her head into its back.

You can hold on to me instead, Kari wanted to tell her friend.

Though she wasn't sure where the line was drawn, and if she would be overstepping that boundary by taking advantage of Makina's pain. Kari sat down next to her friend and considered putting a hand on her shoulder, but then lost confidence to do it.

"Is it about what happened on sunday?" Kari asked.

Makina nodded.

"Did… Tetsuo and the other guys do something to you?" she asked after swallowing her hesitation.

Again, Makina nodded.

Kari's mind was spinning. Did she really want to know? What else could those bastards have done to a girl by herself, especially when she had discovered Makina in a messed up state like that?

The word was at the tip of her tongue. The question was waiting to be asked.

An hour must have passed, but when she glanced up at the clock, only a minute had gone by. 

The silence had to have been just as unbearable to Makina, until she posed a question of her own.

"You're not going to ask more?" Makina asked in a quivering voice without looking up from the plushie.

Either way, Kari knew one thing for sure— although Makina wanted her to forget about it, Tetsuo would get his one day. When that day came, it'd have nothing to do with revenge, but everything to do with settling a score.

"Not unless you want to tell me." Kari shook her head. "You told me not to confront Tetsuo and ignore it this morning because you wanted to put it behind us. If it hurts you, then I'd rather not know."

No matter how much Makina tried to hide the hurt, Kari saw the tears beginning to stain the stuffed animal. When she pulled away from the plushie, their eyes met. Dried tear stains caked her cheeks, lips puffy from sleeping in so much, and her eyes were redder than a tomato.

"My best friend turning into a magical girl was the last thing I expected. I was afraid of losing you. Should I congratulate you or beg you to stay being the Kari I always knew? Then I got my answer when you showed up at the karaoke place. Even now you're being considerate of me. You make it really hard for me to support what you've become, you know?" Makina pouted, cheeks puffing up so much she turned into a hamster.

Kari had half a mind to deflate those cheeks with a pinch.

"If I could change that easily, my parents would have a personal marionette. I'm still Kari. Just think of the magical girl part of me as a DLC."

"Uninstall it! Tell Rocky to uninstall it!" Makina cried.

The two of them burst into laughter.

"When you're out there being a hero to everyone… don't forget to be my hero, too," she pleaded.

"You bet. I'll be the best damn hero you've ever seen." Kari stood up and transformed her uniform into the magical girl outfit. Then she saw herself in the mirror and frowned. "Just… not a very cute one…"

Makina fell into a giggling fit. The second positive reaction she'd given all day. She got to her feet to inspect the outfit, then lifted the skirt to look underneath. Kari jumped back and pushed the skirt back down.

"W-What was that for?!" she asked, feeling her face heating up.

"I just wanted to see if your underwear also changed. Spoiler alert: it's still the same blue and white striped panty," Makina said. She approached, but Kari instinctively took a step back, fearing that she might lift her skirt again or find another way to tease her.

Instead, Makina came just a step shy away from butting heads.

The smile that Kari adored so much returned to Makina's face. Even if it was at the expense of her dignity. Makina reached out to tighten the ribbon that held her mantle together. She put a finger to her chin and scrunched her brows together.

"Uh, Makina?"

Kari watched as her friend undid the ribbon on her waist entirely. It didn't fasten anything to begin with and was just there as decoration. She then used it to tie Kari's hair into a ponytail, then pushed her up to the mirror.

"What do you think?" Makina asked.

"I… like my hair down better? What am I supposed to say?" Kari shrugged and was then met with Makina's pouting reflection.

"Flare wears her hair like this, too. It makes you look heroic!" she declared

To each their own. Kari rolled her eyes. But this isn't so bad.

The dark colors of her costume didn't seem like such an eyesore anymore. To be called heroic was a first, and it came from Makina no less. The magical girl that stared back at her was grinning like a fool.

Why? Just because of a silly compliment?

No, not just any compliment. Not just from anyone.

Kari couldn't contain the joy welling up within her chest. She threw caution to the wind and wrapped her arms around Makina, who squeaked a little when it happened but returned the embrace.

When they let each other go, Makina took a seat at the digital black piano. She pulled the cloth away from the keys and rested her fingers above it. 

"Do you know why I play the piano?" she asked.

"I thought it was because you just liked playing?" Kari answered.

Makina shook her head. "My dad got me started. I hated it. I wanted to grow out my nails, but they always got in the way. That's why it's not hard for me to tell you find being a magical girl troublesome. If you could, you wouldn't bother, right?"

As shameful as that was, Makina was right. Helping people sounded like a pain. Maybe this was why Jade ignored them that day?

"Wait a minute… So, do you still hate it?" Kari asked, recalling all the times Makina so happily played the piano in front of her.

"Nope! I absolutely love it now," she declared gleefully. "It didn't just grow on me. I want to play for more people, on a big stage one day. Oh! Maybe get big on television or Youtube."

If only she shared that same level of ambition Makina had with the piano when it came to being a magical girl. She stared into the palm of her hand and clenched.

"You have people to go help, don't you? Rocky doesn't act all panicky unless you're bullying him or there's trouble," Makina said, spinning in the seat to face her.

Maybe she didn't need much. Makina saw a magical girl in Kari where her parents saw a worthless kid. That was enough.

"You got me. Just wanted to make sure you were alright before I left. If you see a magical girl on the news, you'll know who it is." Kari smirked. She transformed back just in case and opened the door. Rocky had to have had his ears pressed to the door because he tumbled in like a bowling ball.

"Sometimes I wonder if Makina would have been a better magical girl." The anthem sighed.

Makina picked him up, smoothed out his fur, and scratched behind his ears.

"I can't think of a better person to be a magical girl than Kari. Take care of my best friend out there." She handed him back to Kari

"You betcha!" He saluted Makina's request.

Before exiting the room, Kari took another look at the posters of magical girl on the wall. Maybe one day, she would be up there, too.

The stray spawns emerged in a plaza between a large commercial plaza and Tamachi Station. Kari and Rocky arrived to see a line of police forming a barricade around the perimeter. They were too busy pointing their guns into the plaza and shaking in their shoes to notice, so Kari hid behind a building to transform out of public sight.

"You're always pulling shit out of nowhere. Can you use your magic to make me a mask?" Kari asked her anthem.

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"What am I, a 3D-printer? I can't just poof a mask for you." Rocky found a black and gold masquerade mask laying on the ground. It only covered the right side of the face, had black feathers sticking out of the top, and felt shoddily made.

It was better than nothing. She didn't want to reveal to the world who she was. If she were to fight in broad daylight, people were going to snap some clearer pictures than the ones at night. Thanks to Makina, the ponytail might throw some people off who were more familiar with Kari's face.

She slid the mask on, making sure the cheap elastic band wasn't frayed and would snap in the middle of battle. It fit just right, as if she was meant to wear it. The color clashed with her outfit, but Rocky worked his magic to change its color from black and gold to black and red instead.

As soon as they stepped out of the alley, Rocky shivered like a chill had run up his spine.

"Getting cold feet when I finally got over mine?" Kari teased.

"There is definitely something stronger than a head hound up ahead…" He folded his arms across his chest and fell into thought.

"Can't be that much stronger. Whatever it is, I'll beat it up like the rest."

They took a running start and vaulted over the barricades, landing on the other side where a police captain confronted her. The rest of the police officers stared in awe and had a mixture of shock, relief, and confusion on their faces.

"You're… real?" The police captain took his glasses off and put them back on.

Kari cleared her throat. And again. Maybe too many times that it made both of them uncomfortable.

"Th-That's right. I'm as real as they come by. I even have one of these." She pointed to Rocky, who floated down next to her shoulder and waved at the officer. "Can you tell me the situation?"

"Captain Ogata. We've secured the entire perimeter and evacuated as many people as we can. Any breaches I'll hear from the radio, but so far— none. By witness accounts, there are at least seven head hounds lurking within the plaza and the buildings. Several reported about a monster that looked like an octopus." The police captain spread out a map of the vicinity on the hood of his vehicle. Locations marked in red were where the monsters were last seen and arrows detailed their movements.

The mapped out plaza wasn't very large and was mostly contained within the block. They were currently at the southwest entrance which looked clear for now. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to think some monsters might try to pin or ambush her if she went in alone. But exactly how smart were head hounds? Including the octopus-like monster Captain Ogata described?

Behind the barricade of police vehicles and yellow partitions, people were beginning to gather in mass. What was originally fear and apprehension, relief and hope showed on their faces. All it took was a magical girl appearing before them.

Kari turned away just as some pulled out their phones to take pictures and videos of her.

"You're really a magical girl? Not just some girl in cosplay?" Captain Ogata asked, taking off his cap to scratch his balding head.

"Huh? Y-Yeah, of course! Is my anthem not proof enough?" She stuttered over herself, completely unlike how a hero was supposed to act.

It was no wonder the officers around her were skeptical. Nothing but a doddering mess when all eyes were on her.

"Captain! There's one hound coming this way? Permission to open fire!" one of his officers shouted. The rest took cover behind the vehicles and aimed their handguns at the hound, giggling and cackling as it ran at full speed.

"Permission gr—"

"Save your ammo. Let me handle it from here!" Kari charged head on to meet the head hound.

[Apocalypse System activated.]

No need to use skills on a single small fry.

"I'll take you out with a single punch!" Her fist caved in the hound's head and sent it flying into a tree.

[+1,000 Apocalypse points.] 

The addition of points signified the head hound's death.

"She… She really is a magical girl!"

"Japan's fourth!"

"Kick those monsters' asses!"

Police and citizens alike erupted into cheers like she took down an entire horde. They saw her as their hope, just as Makina did.

As great as it felt to bask in their praise, now wasn't the time to be complacent. Six head hounds and an unknown monster remained.

"Ahahahahaha!"

"Ahehehe!"

"Ahehehaha!"

Cheers morphed into horrified screams. The hyena-like giggling of head hounds stole Kari's thunder. Six of them prowled into the plaza, carrying bloodied body parts in their jaws. She readied herself to fight them, but goosebumps crept across her skin.

"It's here! The thing that's stronger than the head hounds!" Rocky exclaimed into her ears a little too loudly for comfort.

"God, I wish you'd be more specific and not yell in my ears!" she screamed back, causing him to pull his ears down.

Terrified screams echoed across the plaza. The mass of people who had gathered to watch Kari fight monsters took off running where they had come. Several of the police officers fell on their asses, and the braver ones left standing continued to point their guns but went pale.

Their fear was palpable.

Because crawling towards them from the plaza, was a monster that struck terror into the depths of their hearts. It walked on dozens of elongated arms, towering over the hounds below it. A woman's body sat connected atop the mass of limbs, undulating back and forth like it was seizuring. The faceless and hairless head twitched as it approached.

Its terrifying visage gave Kari pause, but the beating blades of a news helicopter flying above brought her back to her senses. People were watching. Makina was probably watching, too.

"I'll use my strongest skill to finish them all at once— Stampede!" Kari charged forward, focusing on the new monstrosity as the primary target and turning the remaining head hounds into roadkill along the way.

[+1,000 Apocalypse points.] 

[+1,000 Apocalypse points.] 

[+1,000 Apocalypse points.] 

[+1,000 Apocalypse points.] 

[+1,000 Apocalypse points.] 

[+1,000 Apocalypse points.] 

The final blow should deal 500% of her physical strength. It should be more than enough to defeat it.

"Kari, wait!" Rocky shouted too late, but she couldn't stop the skill from reaching its end path.

Her fist impacted hard. Whatever this thing was should be a bloodied mess on the—

A single open palm had blocked her attack. The creature before her was unhurt.

She choked on her own spit. "But… how?"

Gangly fingers clamped down on her fist. She couldn't pull away. The creature then raised a fist of its own.

"Stand—"

Too late.

It flung her around like a doll in a child's hand, the first smash knocking the wind out of her lungs and repeatedly wailing her into the ground. She was brought up to its faceless, twitching head, and then thrown into a statue.

Every inch of her body screamed in agony. If she wasn't a magical girl, then she would have been a smear on the pavement.

The tantrum of attacks took out a chunk of her health, dropping from [150/150] to [45/150].

Suddenly, she didn't feel so heroic anymore.

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