Of course, Hanako, too, was aware of the monster presence and the threat it would pose--only, unlike Himeko she was hardly so decisive as to run off, nor so good at spinning up an excuse on the spot. Combined with her slight weight, before she could even work out what to do, the white-haired girl was being tugged along with barely an "um". But... if she got to the shrine, then hopefully Nico would leave and she'd be on her own...

And then she could come back and help before the shrine maiden, regardless of how odd she was, got eaten!

@Ammokkx@RolePlayerRoxas

When Hanako and Nico returned to the shrine, they were not alone.

"Hey, hey, Chise-chan, do you think she's out?" came a rather cheerful, youthful voice.

"I don't know... This was your idea," replied a much less enthusiastic, softer voice.

The speakers, as it turned out, were a pair of young girls. They were both quite small, seeming to be around nine or ten at the oldest, but the girl with longer hair was somewhat shorter. The girl with a side ponytail had honey-colored hair and gold eyes, while the black-haired girl had grey eyes, black hair, and a paler complexion.

"Aaah, but Chise-chan, I though she was gonna be here!" declared the slightly taller girl, waving her arms, "If she's not here, what are we supposed to do?!"

"I don't know... we could go and get sweets, like you promised, Hina-chan," Chise responded, her voice going from somewhat flat to notably excited at the possibility of getting snacks.

"Or... we could go home and get Hisa-nee to make them!" responded Hina, brightly.

Chise seemed to hesitate on that note, but the fact she her eyes seemed to be shining indicated that Hina's older sister was evidently very good at making sweets.

It was at this moment that both of the little girls realized they weren't alone.

"Oh! Look!" Hina declared, "Maybe they know where she is!"

Eagerly, the brunette headed right towards Hanako and Nico. Considerably more sedately, the black-haired girl followed.

"Do you know where the miko who works here went?!" asked Hina, "We wanted to talk to her!"

@Raineh Daze@Ammokkx

"Yep, barriers are a pretty universal feature," Tokiko said, gesturing vaguely at the buildings around them as if to indicate all the magical girls out there. "Just about everyone has them, though there's some who don't know how to use them or just don't bother. How strong they are varies, though, depending on your other powers. For example, close-range types like you will usually have tougher shields." She scowled briefly. "And mine are so weak they're almost useless... though I make up for it with range and versatility."

She stopped to yawn, surprised at how tired she felt. It's been a long day... But the Hex Night was only beginning. Forget other magical girls, she might die of exhaustion before this was all over.

"Anyhow, even if more concept-specific stuff can be tricky to figure out, a barrier is pretty simple. You just have to think about something you really want to protect, and pop! Barrier." She smiled. "Of course, the hard part is knowing when to use them. Hiding behind a barrier for too long just drains your magical energy, and even the strongest ones will break if you give your opponent time to charge up a big attack. You want to do it like boxing, see, you want to have your guard up when the enemy attacks and then, BAM! You go right on the offensive and hit them super hard—"

She kept going, her skinny arms coming up and making vague boxing motions, punching the air. For a moment, all traces of her usual surly demeanor seemed to disappear, and she looked almost happy to be getting to explain all this stuff to someone who was actually interested.

Honami Tokiko, as it turned out, was not only experienced with all this magical girl stuff, but a bit of a geek about it as well.

@VitaVitaAR

"Are... Are you going to be ok?"

Such words were not unfamiliar to her ears. Her appearance alone, this wretched state she was left in, often drew many a concerned look and words of worry. Much like her own end most interactions with friends and strangers alike typically reached the same terminus: Her condition. It was not their fault though. Much like her magic she brought that element of melancholy to pretty much everything that involved her. That sadness simply clung to her, afflicting those around her. Inevitably the same as always.

"Let's not hang around here too long. Sure, if anyone comes back and makes the connection, we'll be able to take on them no problem, but it's something we could do without."

Sophia nodded in agreement to Noriko's conclusion. As they traveled she largely remained quiet, her eyes largely fixed to the path on the lookout for bumps and cracks in the road that might give her wheelchair trouble. It seemed Fuyuko was intent on talking however.

"So, um... Where to?" Fuyuko asked. It seemed before either of them could provide any input she continued on.

"That is, of course, if you want us to stay around. Ah! I-I'm not saying we don't want to stick around! What I meant is... After that just now, and considering everything going on tonight, would you rather be alone, or...?"

_
After a lingering silence carried in the air for the moment Sophia answered.

"I am sorry... To have brought you discomfort." Her face was an unbroken mask of calm, no change to her inflection. Even despite that the weight of the pause between her words wove the apologetic subtext into her words no less.

"Nonetheless I am happy to meet you two. My welcome into this magical girl community has been much warmer than some. I fear a newcomer to the magical girl trade itself was greeted with far more cruelty from her peers."

It was something she had on her mind even throughout the tense confrontation and mysterious run-ins she experienced. This was her way of subtly steering the topic to that of the magical girl community while also providing the two insight in regards to a new arrival amidst their flock. In part she was helping them. In part she was hoping to encourage them to open up about the other local magical girls. It was a possibility they knew them better than she did.

It also didn't hurt that it steered the conversation away from the topic of herself, something she loathed to discuss. It was hard not to loath the subject when it always came back around to the same end it always did.

Inevitably the same as always.

---

@LuckyBlackCat

Himeko cheerfully waved away her two companions, who thankfully left without a fuss. It shouldn't take too long to close in on the source of discomfort, once she had a chance to transform. After ensuring the two were definitely out of sight, Himeko turned and proceeded towards her supposed destination. After finding a nice, empty side-street to duck into, and casting one more glance in front and behind, Himeko began her transformation.

A brilliant flash of light emanated from her body, clothing fading into apparent oblivion, instantly replaced by what appeared to be a modified shrine maiden's outfit. Her shoulder-length hair lengthened, cascading down to Himeko's knees in a beautiful mixture of orange and yellow, with two pointed, fluffy ears sprouting from her head. A thick, soft tail formed as well, and when the light faded as instantly as it had appeared, the shrine maiden had become a fox-eared magical girl, sleeves practically sailing majestically as she raised a hand.

What appeared to be a tobacco pipe formed in her open palm, quickly nestled between her fingers, the bespectacled fox smirking playfully. She had long since gotten used to the sensation of having such twitchy ears, and a fluffy tail to wave around at her leisure, not to mention the thrill of having such energy at her command.

With a little application of glamour magic, Himeko leaped to the nearest rooftop, unseen by normal folk. It was a basic cloaking spell that worked well enough to hide her from the public, but magical girls could easily see the distortion of air around Himeko, so it wasn't the best stealth tool. At least it meant she could travel, unhindered by prying eyes.

She could feel the nauseating pull of the Shade still. Himeko would have been very surprised if no one else had reached it first, but it never hurt to overkill these things a little, did it? The fox-eared miko leaped from her perch, sailing through the air towards that monster.

---

Considering the shrine had looked like a barren wasteland when Nico had seen it only a little while ago, it surprised her to see two really young girls hanging around near it. Nico didn't recognise them, nor was this the kind of place kids usually hung around. She slowed down her pace when nearing the two of them and let go of Hanako's hand, temporarily forgetting the other high-schooler was even there.

"Uhm..." Nico murmured as she thought of how to answer the duo's question of where the shrine maiden had gone. If she answered honestly, these two might go after Himeko, but that would mean potentially running into harm's way. If it wasn't for the shade, she might've helped the duo to look for the shrine maiden. Right now though, she couldn't risk putting more people in danger than she had to.

"Ah, well, Himeko-san went out for errands not too long ago. I think... I think if you wait on her here for a little while, she'll back. I could go looking for her. You don't mind, right, Hanako-san?" Nico asked while turning back to her white-haired junior. If she could squeeze away now while Hanako stayed with these two, she'd be able to keep everyone safe while dealing with the shade!

For how dumb and annoying Tokiko had seemed before, well... there was no denying she knew a lot about this. Hikari had to guess that it was obvious, really. She had experience as a magical girl, so why wouldn't it be the case? Hikari was new to this, so even if she knew about the way magical girls worked in all kinds of media, she didn't know how they worked in real life. Which was a surreal though in and of itself, really. Before today, she never would have thought she'd be learning about how magical girls worked in real life. But all of this made her even more curious... Just why had the Hex Night started in the first place? Something about preventing some kind of evil had been mentioned before, but beyond that...

Hikari tried to focus instead on everything else. Most of what was said about the barriers made plenty of sense to her. They worked based off of how the rest of a magical girl's abilities worked. So in that case, her barriers would be pretty strong, given she seemed to be melee-focused, wouldn't they? She might not have known much about boxing, but the basic principals made perfect sense. Know when to attack and when to defend, and you can't block forever.

The short brunette couldn't stop herself from being curious about the origin of the Hex Night, however...

"... Do you know more about why the Hex Night started?" she asked, "Something about some sort of evil go mentioned, but that's it."

@Anza

---

It didn't take too long to locate the shade in question.

In a nearby park, the seething, twisting form of the shade. At first it seemed almost snakelike, until the sharp, twisted limbs became visible. Rows of orange eyes opened across its flanks, as the monstrous shadow centipede crawled its way across the park. Where its legs touched, grass seemed to wilt, and blackened vapor seemed to rise from its strange, shadowy form. Thankfully, the park seemed largely empty for the moment, meaning no-one was in immediate danger from the shade. But it was a fairly large one, meaning it could pose quite a danger if it got into a populated area...

Suddenly, a barrage of purple lasers rained down from the sky! Almost immediately they slammed into the shade and the earth around it, burning into its body and cratering the floor.

The origin soon made herself obvious: A certain purple-clad, purple-haired magical girl, her mirrors floating around her body, descended. The shade wasn't dead yet, its body still twitching as it began to move once more.

The girl cocked her head to one side.

"Resilient, aren't you?"

It wasn't unlikely that Himeko would recognize the girl: Kagami had a reputation for her arrogance and her high degree of power, after all.

@RolePlayerRoxas

Tokiko froze mid-motion as Hikari followed up with yet another question. "Huh? Why are you asking about that?" She paused, scratching at the back of her head with one hand. "I guess I can explain, if you're curious... But it's not gonna help you fight better or anything." For a moment or two, she was silent, letting that disclaimer sink in. And then she launched into the tale.

"So, magical girls have been around for a while, right? We're talking multiple centuries. And even if the world is a pretty safe place to live nowadays, it wasn't always that way." Her head tilted backwards, her eyes looking up into the darkening sky as she delved into the horrors of the ancient past.

"In modern times it's rare to see a shade get big enough to be an actual threat. Most of them are weaker than an individual magical girl, and even the strong ones can usually be dealt with by a quick team-up. Back when there were less magical girls around, though, before the Hex Nights... they could get huge. Really huge. And every hundred years, for some reason or another, one would grow completely out of control. We're talking Shade-zilla here, literal end-of-the-world type stuff. Against something like that, the only thing to do was call literally every magical girl available to come and fight it. And even then, with a literal army of magical girls from around the world, it could be a close thing. The Hex Night can get rough, but... those ancient battles were something else entirely." She paused, her voice falling quiet. "Some people died."

There was a beat, a moment of silence, as if she were paying her respects to the fallen of the past. And then she carried on. "Anyway, the fairies thought it was a real pain in the ass to have to deal with a bullshit-strong final boss every time a century rolled around, so they started looking for an alternate route. A cheat, a trick, some way to stop the Shadezilla from even being born in the first place." She shrugged. "I'm not sure about the exact reasoning behind it, but supposedly that's what Hex Night is. By having a big ol' magical girl throwdown every twenty years, they get us to push past our limits, so that the fights between us end up pushing so much magical energy out into the world that the final boss gets split up into a bunch of regular enemies before it even shows up!"

She smiled cheerfully. "Pretty sweet deal, right? We get to skip the boss battle, and we all get a chance to win a wish! We still have to fight, obviously, but battles between magical girls are a lot more fun than just beating up shades, if you ask me." She frowned, suddenly unsure of her words. "Well, I guess it hasn't been fun for you, since you've been way outclassed so far. But once I've trained y— I mean, once you've practiced a bit more, you'll see just how cool you can really be. The Hex Night can be harsh for a newbie, but if you can rise up and compete here, then taking on shades afterwards will seem like a piece of cake!"

She jabbed one small fist up in the air, somehow managing to be motivated by her own words. "Yeah!" Then glanced over at Hikari. "How's that for a tutorial?"

@VitaVitaAR

So that was it. The reason that such a battle had been created in the first place was because it was the only way to prevent a monster like that from forming? Now it made sense to Hikari. The magical girls weren't just fighting each other for the sake of getting a wish, they were fighting to make sure no-one had to die. If that was the case... then wasn't it even more important that she participated in the Hex Night and fought her hardest? Not just her, but any magical girl. It was a part of their duty, to make sure that a horrible monster that could kill so many people in the process of defeating it was unable to form.

"If that's the case, then it's even more important that I learn how to fight and do my best in the Hex Night, right?!" she asked, turning, eyes blazing with a firm nod, "It's another way of saving people. So that means it's really important for a magical girl, right?!"

For the moment, her surly attitude was gone. It was clear that regardless of anything else, Hikari really cared about helping others.

@Anza

"...Come on now how am I first?"

Himeko sighed to herself when she came to a stop, perched perfectly atop a lamppost and watching the gruesome Shade slither around. This would be a little... annoying. From a quick assessment, the fox figured that this Shade was decently powerful, at least to the point that Himeko wasn't comfortable with a head-on battle in her current form. She'd want at least three or four tails to take on a monster of this size. Too bad she didn't have half an hour to spare.

Well, she could always play cat and mouse until someone more specialised in eradication popped up.

Preparing herself for a bothersome delaying tactic, Himeko's ears suddenly twitched, and barely a second later, multiple lasers slammed into the dark creature, devastating it and the tainted ground it stood upon. For a moment, the shrine maiden was frozen, trying to process such speedy destruction. Slowly, Himeko swept her gaze around the park and sky, finally spotting a strange figure that Himeko hadn't seen before, yet felt so strangely familiar.

Who is she...? That's a lot of power packed into that bombardment. It probably far exceeded Himeko's own output with all nine tails... well, she could place a name later. The backup she wanted had finally shown up. Rising into the air, Himeko elegantly glided closer to the mirror-wielding girl, her friendly smile returning.

"Yay, my shining knight~! Thanks for the help, you've made my job 99% easier~! ...Well, at this point, anything I throw at Scuttles down there is a tad redundant, isn't it~?"

@VitaVitaAR

"Oh?"

One of the mirrors sparked, and immediately another laser slammed into the downed shade. It still wasn't quite dead, but a hole had been burned clear through its twitching, thrashing body.

"Your job? That you weren't doing?" Kagami continued, cocking her head to one side as she floated above the centipede-like shade's quivering form. "My my, that's arrogant. To think someone like me came to rescue a piece of junk like you..."

She grinned as she spoke. It could hardly be called a friendly one.

"A coward? There's no magical girls in the world a worthwhile as me, but you certainly stand among the worst of them. Hiding?"

Kagami let out a chuckle.

"How pathetic. Go and tuck your tail between your legs and run, fox. You should give up on the Hex Night if this is your response to a shade."

@RolePlayerRoxas

---

@A Lowly Wretch

"No, it's ok," Fuyuko insisted. "You're not the one who needs to apologise." It was clear from the awkward pause that she'd been the one to make Sophia uncomfortable, not the other way round. Concern had most likely come across as condescension. Between that, having mistaken her for a shade, and the incident with the watcher, Fuyuko wouldn't have blamed Sophia if she'd wanted to go her separate way. It came as a pleasant - if undeserved seeming - surprise when the other magical girl expressed gladness to have met her and Noriko.

Fuyuko relaxed a little, only for her expression to darken with worry again at the mention of another magical girl. A new one, viewed by her peers as potential competition nonetheless.

"A newcomer?" Her gaze drifted to the city, where conflict stirred beneath the facade of evening calm, then back to Sophia. "But she probably won't even know what the Hex Night is, let alone be participating." Fuyuko barely spoke above a whisper, in case anyone overheard. She could only hope the murmured conversation didn't draw suspicion in itself.

"Yeesh, talk about a baptism by fire," Noriko commented. "Let's hope at least somebody's willing to show her the ropes, I mean there are plenty of us who aren't taking part."

Although the words brought some reassurance, Fuyuko tensed. Would they also bring awkward questions about who was and wasn't competing? "Yeah," she replied, then addressed Sophia again. "This girl... How's she doing?"

"Well, u-um..." Tokiko stuttered for a moment, surprised by the way the conversation had turned. Hadn't she been trying to warn this girl away from participating in Hex Night? How did I end up encouraging her instead?! But it was too late, she'd gotten caught up in the enthusiasm of the moment.

"Uh, yeah!! Kicking ass and saving the world, that's what we do!" Inwardly a part of her was cringing at her own words, but at them same time she was grinning, pumping her fist, almost giddy with excitement.

Okay Tokiko, calm down. She took a breath, evaluating the situation. I guess, if you look at it one way, getting a newbie up to speed is part of my responsibilities as a magical girl... so I guess I should at least see it through. Maybe she was a dummy for even letting things progress this far, for helping out Hikari instead of treating her as a potential competitor and getting rid of her. But, damn it, after everything that had happened, she'd feel like a coward if she backed out now.

"So... seeing as it's super important, we should take care of the 'learning to fight' part as soon as possible." She met Hikari's eyes, judging her resolve. "There's a warehouse not too far from here that usually isn't being used at this time of year. Should be a good place to start." Then she pulled out her smartphone. "So if you're in, text your parents and tell them you'll be out late tonight. Now that we've covered all the basic information, it's about time I put you through your paces."

@VitaVitaAR

Sonya spun and dove to the side, lashing out with the articulated metal tail as she shouted. Not in surprise or in fear, but in rage.

“Rage of Angels!”

Arcs of destructive energy burst out of her body at intersecting angles, tearing at the street and buildings around them. Sonya hit the ground and rolled, bouncing back to her feet with another flick of the tail. Sonya aimed her weapon again and gave Naoko a grim smile.

@Raineh Daze

Himeko was hardly a stranger to trash talk. When you were magical fox that indulged in a little light teasing over the years, people tended to get a little snippy on a bad day, after all. Then there were the types that saw it as no more than friendly banter between rivals. This girl's statements were nothing like that. The sheer, condescending malice displayed from Kagami momentarily stunned Himeko, her eyes wide with surprise.

Finally, Himeko let out a long whistle, shaking her head in disbelief. Her attention was seemingly taken away from the writhing, probably-super-dead Shade as she raised the pipe to her lips, studying the mysterious girl, "can't say I care for your tone, miss. Nor for your untrue accusations. Pretty sure I was here first, after all~"

A coy smile curled Himeko's lips, but she remained wary. Not just of the creature's throes, but the mirror-wielding girl before her. The fox knew she was outgunned in a straight battle, so she'd rather not goad her right into a conflict. But at the same time, she had her pride as a magical girl, and couldn't just take that attitude lying down. Worst comes to worst, Himeko would just have to rely on creativity to win the day.

"But let's put aside the tiny details~ Hex Night or no, we're fellow magical girls, united by a common cause, right? Why not be a little friendlier? Friends get fluffy tail privileges, y'know~"

@VitaVitaAR

"Ah, no, I don't mind..." Hanako mumbled, looking at the girls and feeling a twinge of irritation. They were nearly the same size as her... and she had the advantage of a hat! The world just wasn't fair sometimes. "Um... do you want my number...?"

If she was going to run off to find Himeko then Nico might end up in trouble, right? If she was in trouble she'd almost certainly call for help, and Hanako would at least be nearby if not already back there... if she could work out how to leave some children at the shrine where it was safe.

Maybe she could come up with another washing machine excuse...

@Ammokkx

"Awww," Hina visibly sagged, arms hanging beneath her as she did, "We've gotta get home pretty soon too..."

For whatever reason, it seemed as if she had really wanted to meet Himeko. Chise simply bobbed her head slightly.

"Thank you, onee-san," said the black-haired little girl, "If she'll be back soon, we can just wait. Right Hina-chan?"

For a few moments, the brunette girl was silent. Then she suddenly brightened, nodding rapidly as she did.

"Yeah! That's true! We do have a little bit of time..." she trailed off for a moment, looking thoughtful, before flashing a grin to the older girls, "Besides, as long as there's an onee-san around here I don't think I'll make Hisa-nee worry too much!"

Notably, Hina was only looking at Nico when she mentioned 'an onee-san'.

"I don't think your older sister is going to be that worried... it's not that late. You talk about her an awful lot."

"Because Hisa-nee is the best!"

Chise sighed before turning her attention to the two older girls.

"I'm Fujikawa Chise," she introduced herself, "And this is-"

"Minami Hina!" declared the other girl, cheerfully, waving, "Do you go to the same school as us!?"

She pointed excitedly at Hanako.

@Raineh Daze@Ammokkx

---

"There's no need for me to be friends with junk," replied Kagami, with a shrug, "I am not one to spend time with unnecessary things."

The centipede shade suddenly convulsed, and lashed out blindly. Another barrage of lasers fell onto its body, from Kagami's dozens of flashing mirrors. This time, the creature lay still, smoking. Moments later, its grotesque, damaged body began to dissipate, black mist floating into the air as it came apart. The shade had been slaughtered, though its death didn't rule out the possibility of other shades forming in the area, it was most certainly destroyed.

"However..." Kagami's thin smile grew wider, "You are right on one topic. You are indeed a fellow magical girl, and that means you are a potential opponent. I shall allow you the opportunity to lay down your Hex Orb and walk away. The outcome of our battle is inevitable anyway."

@RolePlayerRoxas

---

"Mhm. Your number would be nice," Nico answered Hanako. She quickly exchanged contact info and turned back to the two girls. It was amusing to see the both of them confuse her shy friend for someone around their age, but Himeko's safety was top priority right now. The two of them didn't want to stay without someone older than them around, so Nico had to quickly set the record straight.

"Hanako-san actually goes to my school... she's the same age as me. Just stick with her while I go look for Himeko-san, okay? She shouldn't have gone too far, so I'll be back soon."

With that, Nico jogged down the stairway of the shrine and left the three others by themselves. Checking behind her confirmed nobody had followed, so now all she had to do was find a spot to transform. Luckily, this side of town wasn't very busy, so she was easily able to find a not-so-busy street. One of the apartment complexes there had an open garage, a spot with no windows and limited visibility from the outside. It was perfect for Nico. A bright flash of pink light burst from within it as Nico softly touched her chest.

A small gust formed around Nico, carrying sparkles with it as her pigtails sprung loose in the wind. While her hair fluttered freely, Nico's clothes glowed around her body and slowly morphed into something else. The school uniform's top turned into a sleeveless, teal jacket over a puffy cream-coloured shirt as its skirt turned into a pair of skin-tight pants. Her hair coiled back around itself while the hairbands that previously kept it together became a duo of pink-and-blue ribbons. They tied around her new duet of braids which neatly fell in front of Nico's face. A long, pink tail shot out from behind her and waved side-to-side. A pair of whiskers, two on each side, got drawn on Nico's cheeks right as she opened her eyes, showing a heterochromatic pair in the same colours as her new ribbons, but mirrored in placement.

"Transformation... complete!"

---

Nico breathed out a sigh of relief as she finished her transformation, then looked down at her feet. Standing there was the same cat she fed some treats not too long ago, who must've stumbled into Nico doing her thing. The girl crouched down and scratched behind the animal's ears, smiling as is let out a meow in delight.

"Geez, stop finding me when I transform... you scared me half to death the first time you showed up out of the blue like this!"

The magical girl pat the cat on the head and dashed out of the garage, not wanting to stick around to get caught if one of the residents decided to pop their head out for a look-see. Little pink claws formed on the girl's hands as she ran on all four, in preparation for when she leaped up on one of the walls. Like a bolt of lightning Nico scaled it, about ninety percent sure she hadn't been seen by anyone. Her feline form made the girl pretty quick, so she positively blitzed across the rooftops towards the park she'd felt the shade's presence earlier. Oddly enough, despite her getting closer, Nico couldn't feel the shade's aura at all.

The reason why became obvious as soon as Nico arrived.

"...Oh, hi there!"

Nico cheerfully greeted the two other magical girls she saw at the park, having leapt down from one of the rooftops into a tree. Her tail was swaying side-to-side without a care in the world as Nico looked at the fading shadows from below.

"Guess I was a bit late, huh? Well, I kinda figured one magical girl was gonna show up n'd all, but two? Feels like I kinda came here for nothing, ahaha...!"

Nico's laugh was awkward, but not the least bit nervous as she scratched the back of her head. The girl was blissfully unaware of how powerful either of them were. She also didn't recognise Himeko, but there was this familiar aura coming off her... or maybe it was in response to the sheer pressure emanating off the purple-haired one.

"I'm, uh, not interrupting something, am I?" Nico asked with a tilt of her head.

Just as Tokiko had expected, Hikari wasn't backing down. After a quick message to their respective parental units, they turned aside from their homeward course and strode quietly into the night.

Some parts of the city got noisy and bright once the sun set, but this wasn't one of them. Here a deep silence descended with the dark, and window lights shone few and far between, dim rectangular stars in a gaping black sky. It was the kind of atmosphere that brought to mind things lurking just out of sight— criminals, or feral animals, or perhaps something worse. Even in the heart of civilization, there were wild places, forests and jungles where only the bold dared tread after sunset.

Tokiko moved forward without any hesitation, as only a magical girl could. What had she to fear for them things that might be creeping in the night? She was a star, a light of judgement. She didn't fear the dark, the dark feared her.

And besides, she knew this route well. Soon enough a blocky shadow loomed before the two girls, a grey and ugly building tucked away where few would look for it. At first its walls appeared featureless, but as they drew closer a small side-door could be seen amidst the gloom, and Tokiko strode towards it, pushing it open without a second thought.

At first, the inside was even darker than the outside had been. Then Tokiko flicked a switch, and dim lights flickered on high above, revealing a huge open space, its paved floor entirely barren. During the height of the summer months this place would be packed with busy workers and massive crates, but right now it stood quiet and empty, just waiting to be put to use.

"Ta-daaaa!" Tokiko exclaimed, spreading her arms out wide. "Tokiko-sensei's secret training grounds! Pretty cool, right?" She ambled forwards a ways, her footsteps echoing through the massive space. "There was a nasty shade hiding out in here a few months back, so I busted my way in to take it out. And then once I was done, I thought, 'wouldn't a place like this be useful?' Nobody else was bothering with it, and I'd already trespassed, so..." She shrugged. "I just left the door unlocked. Sometimes life really is easy!"

With a quick burst of crackling green, she transformed, the lights flickering for a moment as she did so. The huge metal coffin materialized beside her, and she rapped on its front with one knuckle, eliciting a low groan from inside. A moment later, the monstergirl from earlier pried her way out, yawning into one huge hand and blinking blearily at the lights. "Waaaah?"

"You ready?" Tokiko faced Hikari with a grin, waiting a moment for her to transform. "Okay! You remember what I said about how barriers work, right?"

While the magical girl talked, the living Archetype stepped forwards, rubbing her eyes...

"I took the time to explain everything clearly to you. Which, I have to say, was very kind of me." Tokiko's face suddenly turned serious. "So you'd better have been paying attention."

... and then a massive fist filled up Hikari's field of vision, as the monstergirl swung at her head-on!

@VitaVitaAR

Really, it was a miracle that Himeko could face this arrogant girl without letting a trace of fear show on her grinning face. Even as the Shade was brutally destroyed, with an overwhelming power the fox could not hope to match, she simply puffed on the strange pipe held in her fingers, slowly exhaling a cloud of strange, purple smoke as Kagami's generous offer was made.

Internally, Himeko was frantically trying to find a way to placate the situation. Giving up the orb was out of the question, combat would invariably lead to defeat in her current state, and those lasers would be a tad tricky to outrun. It looked like she would have to throw Kagami for a loop, but before that...

"Well," Himeko began with a cheerful tone, "I suppose that's a fair enough deal, but is that really okay with ya? I mean-" the sudden interruption of an adorable catgirl threw Himeko's tactic into a bit of a pickle. Given Kagami's apparent disposition, there was a very good chance she'd take on both of them - it was saddening to believe that the combined powers of a fox and a cat were nothing to this condescending girl.

as long as the lasers weren't flying though, the fox would just have to improvise and keep things as civil as possible. She wavbed cheerfully t othe pink-haired newcomer, "Hiya~! Just having a friendly chat, don't mind us!"

Less than a minute until she gained her second tail. If nothing else, it gave Himeko just the tiniest bit more power to work with, should this girl decide to engage in combat.

@Ammokkx@VitaVitaAR