It was a crisp April day in the Big Apple. The last bits of winter’s chill were still in the air, but even a two-foot blizzard wouldn’t stop The City that Never Sleeps. Something that would, however, was on the horizon.

Brittany was getting her daily walk in, with Spark riding in her purse. She often wondered about the looks she’d get if people could actually see her magical mascot, but the dragon was invisible to anyone except magical girls, so it was all a moot point. Suddenly, two things happened at the same time: Spark sniffed the air, and her cell phone rang.

“I think you miiight want to get that, Brit.”

She checked it, and it was an alert. A monster attack? Here, in New York?! I don't think we've ever had one. Central Park... we're close... Spark glanced at his charge. "Alright, Brit. This is it. No more talking, the real deal. You ready?"

A deep breath to steady her nerves. "I am. Magical Girl! Blazing Heart! Burning Bright!

Spark rose up and breathed a jet of flame over her. Inside, her clothes shifted, and she could feel the magic awaken inside her. Finally, the flames subsided, and for the first time, Blazing Heart stood ready to fight evil and protect the innocent.

"Time to go to work."

---

Emma Lawson sighed as she watched Victoria, her daughter, play with her ex-husband's dog, Rex, accompanied by another dog and her owner, the brunette with shoulder-length hair a few years younger than herself.

"Here's your coffee."

A black-haired man with a beard said, as he put down a coffee cup in front of her. The man then looked at Emma, before turning to Victoria, then back to Emma again.

"What? You're staring daggers at them," he asks.

"I'm not staring daggers, just looking," Emma denies. The man sighs, "Yeah, I know. But you got a resting bitch face, you know that, right?"

"Gee, I don't know. It's not like SOMEONE mentioned it like, oh, I don't know, almost every chance he got when we were living together."

"What? You nagged me about my fashion sense all the time. Only seems fair."

"Yeah, well...saying you have a fashion sense is a bit too generous. Let's just put it that way."

"Hey, utility and comfort over style. It ain't too bad of a fashion philosophy."

She sighed, biting back a retort, as she chose to drink the coffee instead. It was good. Exactly how she preferred it.

"Better? Good coffee, right?" the man asked her. Realising she had a smile on her face, she composed herself as she looked away, "W-Well, this IS a cafe business. It's only to be expected you've got good coffee."

"Ah. Geez, still can't just be honest, can you?" The man remarks with an exaggerated sigh as he takes a seat beside her.

Biting back the only because you can be so infuriating at times! retort, Emma—as before—took another sip of her coffee. Despite the trades of witty remarks, there was an understanding between the two that it was mostly not serious, most of the time, anyway. Still, the back-and-forth conversations between them has always reminded Emma of days past, and she was not particularly feeling nostalgic.

Her ex-husband, Richard, spoke again, "Okay, seriously, what's up? I know trading barbs are just what we communicate mostly, but you seem a bit moody today. Something happened on the business trip?"

She shook her head, "No...it's just..." taking another glance at their daughter who was playing with the brunette and their dog, she sighed, "I didn't know she'd be here."

Richard looks at her with confusion, "Caroline? What's wrong? You guys have met before, pretty sure you two hit it off even. Vicky mentioned she wanted to teach Rex new tricks, so I figured I call in Caroline since she's free. Luna—that's her dog—won some sort of competition or something."

Suppressing a twitch of annoyance, Emma sighed again. She knew her former husband didn't do it deliberately. He was just...dense. It was true that it has been about 4 years since they amicably filed for divorce, and they've been cordial since. And yes, she had met his new girlfriend and even made fast friends, but having her here, along with the two of them and their daughter felt...intruding for some reason. It was probably that she just hadn't gotten used to it, after all, objectively speaking it should be no different than having any other friend present, but still, it was...somewhat complicated.

"...Wait, you're not...?" Richard trailed off, leaving the question hanging in the air. Emma denied it immediately, "Nope. Absolutely not. Listen here, it's just—"

Her words got cut off, as she felt a familiar sensation before a voice rang out in her head.

"Emma. I feel a monster just appeared. It's umm...somewhere around that big park near your home?"

It was Faniel, the self-proclaimed Angel of Judgment who had lent her power to Emma so she could become the Magical Girl Inquisitor.

Big Park in Manhattan...Must be Central Park. It's gonna take a bit of time from Brooklyn. Well, with a car, anyway.

"Emm? You all right?" Richard asked her. She nodded, as she took out her phone from her pocket, "Yeah, sorry. Just felt my phone vibrating."

After pretending to look at it for a bit, she schooled her expression into an apologetic one, "Sorry, uh...I have an office emergency. I gotta go, I'll pick Vicky up later tonight."

Richard frowned, "I thought today was your off day because you just went on that business trip."

"It's an emergency. It's kinda in the definition, that usually kinda implied not being planned?"

"Smartass. And here I am worried they're overworking you...Fine, go on then. Don't push yourself though, if it gets too late, I can bring Vicky to your place tomorrow morning."

"Yeah...I'll call you later if it comes to it. Thanks."

After saying goodbye to her daughter—and somewhat more awkwardly to Caroline—Emma drove into the closest parking facility, before ducking away into an empty corner.

She took out her sword-shaped keychain. The keychain shined briefly before what looked like a living angel plushie appeared beside her, floating.

"Ready?" Faniel asked her.

Emma nodded, "Yep."

She then closed her eyes as the keychain shined once more, all the while growing into a real sword as the light enveloped Emma and Faniel. A while later, a winged orange-haired magical girl in silver armour stood where Emma and Faniel were. Neither Emma nor Faniel but an amalgam of the two, Magical Girl Inquisitor.

"...Yet another one of these evil forces. Well then...Beginning the crusade, Deus Vult."

Inquisitor then took off into the sky, garnering some looks as people watched what looked like an angel soaring through the air.

Violet sighed as she massaged the bridge of her nose. Although it was only at its halfway mark, her day had already been replete with an uninterrupted series of board meetings, business meetings, reports from various section heads, and videoconference calls with the CEO of Mishima Motors and the Republic of San Borleo’s President-for-Life. The rest of the day promised to be more of the same, with several additional important meetings, culminating in a fancy dinner with the mayor at one of the city’s most exclusive dining establishments. Yet, at least she could savor this brief, fifteen minute respite as she had her meager lunch of an energy bar and protein shake. It was a time for her to rest her eyes and refocus her mind for the tasks ahead. However, this precious period of peace and quiet was soon interrupted by a sugary sweet voice echoing in her mind.

“Golly gee whiz, sweetie!” the voice exclaimed. “Like, a super duper meanie monster just appeared in that pretty green rectangley place in the middle of your city and is making people super duper unhappy!”

“A monster in central park…?” Violet wondered aloud.

“Yepperoo!” the voice confirmed, its sweet tone filled with urgency. “You, like, have to go there and help them!”

At first, Violet wanted to refuse, to say that some other magical girl could handle it, but then she remembered that there weren’t any other magical girls confirmed to be active in the city. There were rumors, of course, but nothing definitive, which meant she really had no other choice…

“Very well,” the heiress said with a firm nod, before pressing a button on her desk. “Melissa, I shall be indisposed for the next hour,” she told her secretary. “Please inform Amanda that I will need her to represent me at the Polybius Software acquisition review.”

“Of course, Miss Covington,” Melissa replied.

While the acquisition was a major boon that would certainly bolster their video game development subsidiary, Covington Arts’, already prominent position in the electronic entertainment sector, the meeting itself would be a relatively simple affair. Thus, Violet was confident that Amanda, her most trusted and capable subordinate, would be more than up to the task.

After ensuring that she had complete privacy, the heiress took a deep breath and began to recite the incantation that would transform her into her magical alter ego.

“Hearts, Candy, Sparkles, and Balloons~! Teehee~!” Violet began, her mature and stoic voice shifting into a far more childish and cutesy tone with each new syllable as shimmering pink energy swirled around her, completely transforming her body and clothes. “Sunshine, Glitter, Unicorns, and Rainbows~! Taaa daaa~! Magical Girl

is heresie~! (giggle!)”

Upon the completion of her transformation, the hyperactive and whimsical girl the refined heiress had become wasted no time in jumping up and down in childish delight, her big eyes seeming to sparkle with tiny hearts and stars.

“YAAAAY~!!! Playtime waytime in the parky warky~! Playtime waytime in the parky warky~! Tee-hee~!” she cheered, clapping her hands together. “Magical Dream Princess wuvs playtime waytime~! (giggle!)”

However, the small girl’s jubilation quickly turned to confusion.

“But, like, how does Magical Dream Princess get theresie weresie~?” she wondered tilting her head in puzzlement, before grinning broadly as a rainicorn pegasus with butterfly wings suddenly appeared before her.

“Pretty witty horsey worsey~! (giggle!)” the whimsical girl squealed, running over to the colorful creature and giving it a big hug. “Can Magical Dream Princess ride you~?!” she asked excitedly as she rapidly bounced up and down on her short legs. “Can she~?! Can she~?! Can she~?!”

The rainicorn pegasus nodded and winked at her, creating a spray of glitter, which swirled around the giggling girl and lifted her onto the colorful creature’s back.

“YAAAAY~!!! (giggle!)” MDP cheered, before bending over and giving the rainicorn pegasus a big hug. “Oooohh~! So softy wofty~! (giggle!)” the whimsical girl cooed as she nuzzled her mount’s prismatic mane. “Okie dokie, horsey worsy~!” she declared with a big smile. “It’s timey wimey for funsie wunsie, so giddy widdy up~! (giggle!)”

✩✩✩

“WEEEEEEEHEEEHEEEHEEEEE~!!!” MDP cried in unabashed joy as she and her mystical mount sped through the sky, leaving a trail of prismatic glitter in their wake. “Faster waster, horsey worsey~!” she told the rainicorn pegasus, while rapidly kicking her tiny legs against its sides. “Faster waster~! (giggle!)”

The whimsical girl had no idea who or what would be waiting for her when she reached the park, but whatever the case might be, MDP was positive that not only would they want to be friends with her, but they would also have lots and lots fun together!

---

Heidi took another sip of her coffee, and checked her phone. The original plan was for several teacher to meet at this cafe for a chat. However, several of them had had to cancel due to their children, and the whole thing had been called off. Heidi sighed. She had not had great luck with men. She had a few steady boyriends in college, but ever since she became a teacher, she just didn't have the patience to try to get to know men beyond the superficial icks that annoyed her on the first few dates. She used to have so much fun spnding hours chatting to her boyfriends about nerdy things. Now, the last thing she wants after getting home from school is anything interrupting her hard-earned peace and quiet.

A beeping sound came from her handbag. Her instictual thought was that it must be her phone. But she was holding her phone. She opened her handbag to find that the headset was flashing. So, it wasn't a dream. One week ago, a robot really had appeared in her apartment and given her this headset. On some level she knew it was real, every time she fished in her handbag and caught a glimpse of the headset, but she didn't want to think about it. The robot had told her some very outlandish things about her being chosen as a 'champion of Light', and she refused all of its suggestions and instructions at the time. She placed the headset over her ear, and adjusted the mic to the levelof her mouth.

"Apollo, Champion of Light. It is time for you to be called upon as I had forewarned," spoke a monotone robotic voice on the other end. "A Monster of Darkness has appeared nearby and your assistance will be required."

She was about to refuse when an alert displayed on her phone. It was an exactuation order. The monster had appeared in Central Park. It could hurt people, and riculous as all of this business was, if she had the power to help, she was obligated to. Plus, there was a small, deeply buried part of herself that still wanted to be a Magical Girl. She spoke back into the headset.

"I'm on my way. Cyclops, meet me there."

She finished her coffee, and put down the money and her tip onto the empty plate, before getting up from the seat, pocketing her phone and immediately flagging down a passing taxi.

Sienna had gotten herself a well-deserved day off. It was not that she did not love spending time with her children or Arthur, but at the same time, she had reasoned that everyone needs some alone time, which her family graciously gave her. They were safe now, surely hanging out at some sort of arcade or having a fun activity at home, a thought which made her heart ache. Her boys grew up so quickly, after all... in just a couple of months, even her youngest would focus on something else. Even he would get tired of hearing her stories and then she truly would have nothing left.

She should have felt happy about her day. She should have indulged herself with shopping or meeting up with old friends, but Sienna knew it would only make her more miserable. After all, she would have to keep up the facade in front of them, so what was the point? At least she could let her imagination loose as she walked in Central Park, the location giving her some piece of mind. It let her forget about the concrete jungle around her, not to mention that some of the more obscure paths would lead her far away from people. There, Sienna could sit down to think about what to do next.

Her life needed change, that much was clear. She felt she could not last much longer this way, as her creativity wanted, nay, demanded to be set free in some form and while she did indulge in make-believe with her children, not to mention her hidden sacred texts, her efforts were not enough. Her soul yearned for something else; Sienna only had to figure out what it was unless she wanted to rot away in a cage of her own making.

Seeking out a lonely bench, the woman took her seat and set down her bag, taking a drink from her bottle of water. She then closed her eyes to listen to the sounds of Central Park, trying to soothe herself with nature, but... something did not feel right. The more she paid attention to what should have been chirping birds in the background or noises that reflected animal life, the more she realised that there was a deathly quiet in the air. Normally, she would have chalked it up to the quiet before rain, but this felt different. Almost tangible.

"Maybe I should leave?" she wondered out loud, but shook her head. No, she had to get some peace and quie-

Screams echoed. Something smashed and cracked into thousands of pieces. A familiar feeling rose in her heart; a monster attack.

Sienna froze. The screams came from but a hundred or so metres away at most. She could feel them echo in her bones as her imagination conjured a scenario all too familiar: the enemies of humanity appearing out of nowhere, then terrorising people with all their might. And even though she knew the best thing she could do was run away, her legs refused to more. Indeed, Sienna felt as though she had been glued to her bench as claws sunk into her metaphorical heart, eyes shutting as though they could keep away the sounds of panic.

Had one peaceful day been too much to ask for? She only wanted some time to think for herself, but now... she was in danger. And she just could. Not move. Perhaps it was because she had never been so close to an attack, or because she thought of the innocents caught up in it, desperately wishing, no, praying that a magical girl would arrive in time to save people. More importantly, the magical girl would also save her and for a moment, Sienna would get a glimpse of what her life could have been if she had contracted.

She got a book to the face instead, resulting in a completely unintentional backflip that could have won her a figure-skater's award. It happened so quickly that Sienna did not even have the time to cartwheel her arms. The force of the impact spun her in place several times before she landed on her back, splaying out in what could be only called a magnificent T-pose, her eyes spinning from all the spinning involved.

"There is no time to explain, so please make a contract with me before more people get hurt!" Something rather loud and panicked called out near Sienna's face, who was quite busy watching the world revolve around her as though it were a carousel, thank you very much. She certainly had no time, nor the focus necessary to listen to a single word right now, never mind a sentence, an explanation or people getting hurt. After all, stars pretty!

"Oh for... Not again! I thought I had it fixed this time!" The voice complained before something bright filled Sienna's vision and the world stopped spinning.

"Right, let's try again. Sienna Hawthorne, please make a contract with me! Quickly, before the monster grows too big to handle!"

"What?!" she asked, eyes widening as she took in the floating tome before her. For the moment, she even forgot about the monster rampaging in the background as she tried to figure out what was happening.

"Please don't delay! Just know that I'm a mascot and I have chosen you as a magical girl! Now please make a contract with me so we can save those people!" The tome begged her with all of its might and though Sienna doubted herself for a split second, something deep inside of her responded to that call. Perhaps it was her awe for magical girls and the thought of becoming one proved far too overwhelming. Maybe it was her true self, locked away for all this time, screaming for a way out from her ordinary, grey and grey life. Or it could have been her desire to protect her family from harm. Whatever it was, the moment she reached out for the tome, magic started to flow between the two of them.

"Excellent! Normally, I'd give you the introductions, but I'm afraid we don't have time for that, so you'll have to learn on the fly. Please just think of a name and an appearance, fixate them in your mind, then let the magic do the work for you." Even though the tome blitzed through the explanation, Sienna understood it and did as asked... but unfortunately, while the book's spiel had worked on dozens upon dozens of magical girls before her, Sienna was an adult woman who just happened to possess the imagination of someone half her age.

"Wait... what's happening?" Motes of sickly yellow light started to gather around Sienna as she formed the picture of what she wanted to become. "I... don't think this... this is the right colour..." The skies darkened as magic gathered in the air. "Why... the heck... how... unprecedented..." The grass around Sienna's feet started to wither. "Sieanna Hawthorne, please stop!"

Too late.

With an explosion of sickly yellow, a new magical girl was born in Central Park. And her name was...

"How foolish of you, enemies of humanity, that you have not counted upon the arrival of my magnificent self... for I, Her Eternally Exalted Excellency, The Diligent Dealer of Death, Decay and Devastation, The Righteous Regent who Reminisces of Ravaging Rebellions with Relentless Rows of Revenants, Magicae Mortem Puellae Quae Dominatur Arcem Loculis, shall render onto you the greatest gift which can be offered by entropy: death!"

Something that any well to do traveler will try once in their life is staying at a hotel. Nothing really beats sleeping in a clean bed, especially when the hosts keep the place tidy. Though such establishments are far from economic, and they let you know it any way they can. Red carpets, raised ceilings, and seats with uniquely shaped cushions that beg you to comment on how fancy they are. Those are just some of the cosmetic designs for the main lobby. Others will go a step above and provide art pieces, ornate chandeliers, nothing was too pretentious. There was a certain allure to being the most luxurious hotel in a city, and the competition was fierce in a place like New York. The Big Apple had everything provided you had the cash.

Isra Mahmud decided to check in at the recently constructed “New York Ambrosia.” The Ambrosia wasn’t any more luxurious than any of the other super luxury hotels. It offered a great view of the city, top tier room service, and was expensive enough to keep all but the elite from entering its glass doors. Those were all nice features, but what sold Isra on it was its proximity to other places of interest. There was a bus station nearby that regularly made routes to Cherry Grove Beach, and also made bar hopping while enjoying New York’s nightlife a lot easier. The Ambrosia also had an indoor swimming pool, and the hotel’s exclusivity meant that it was never crowded. With any luck, she’d be able to party like she did when she visited Cancun.

Well, maybe not quite that hard.

But that was for later. For now, Isra was still recovering from her trip. She was reclining in a Jacuzzi with the water jets turned up to full. In addition to this, she had dropped no less than four bath bombs into the water with her. They tumbled through the water, rolling from jet to jet as they hissed and filled the tub with bubbles. Different colored soaps mixed underwater while their fragrances mixed in the air. Strawberry, Banana, Lime, Evergreen. Maybe that last one should have stayed out, but she still thought it smelled fine.

But Isra wasn’t here to just enjoy herself. This was very much a business trip, and her boss was never too far away.

Ira’s eyes wandered over to her make up mirror, which was vibrating just a few inches away from her head. She knew better than to keep her boss waiting. She reached for the make up mirror and flipped it open. Sure enough, there on the mirror’s reflective surface was a tiny scientist, and not just because they were appearing on a three inch round mirror.

”Doctor."

“Bath time’s over, Isra,” Doctor Nykannis, Queen of the Mad Scientists, told the bathing beauty with a maniacal smirk. “Another monster has just appeared in Central Park, and as usual, I want you to retrieve its Heart Crystal before any other magical girls show up and make a nuisance of themselves. Remember, the acquisition of those crystals is your top priority,” the Monarch of Mad Science noted with a raised finger. “But as long as it doesn’t compromise that objective, feel free to flaunt your reality plenum-shattering, Challenger-grade, super-scientific abilities to your heart’s content, preferably by making a certain pink princess of dreams bawl her pathetic little eyes out. Anyways, that’s all for now. As always, I’ll be watching your performance, so make sure not to disappoint me.”

With that, the image of the diminutive doctor winked out.

”Huh."

This was how most “conversations” with the wise scientist seemed to go. She would appear, make a specific, if verbose request, and then hang up without waiting for a reply. She chose to ignore all the red flags in her message, like how she knew she was taking a bath or the involvement of multiple other magical girls. Isra had to wonder if she had become the star of a reality TV show and just didn’t know it yet. Maybe things would make more sense after she encountered the “pink princess of dreams.” But that was unlikely. If anything, things had been making less sense as she went along. But she got to live like a princess every day so it was hard to care.

It did seem like her bath would have to wait. That was fine. The room would be waiting for her when she got back, and the fun of bath bombs watching them dissolve anyway. But now it was time to transform. She stood up, and the bubbles clinged to her body in such a way as to not get this RP locked by the mod staff. She then started to dance. Her hips shifted left, then right, Her arms were locked and she waved her fists up and down in front of herself, like she was shining someone’s boot. And then…

Her body burst into a hundred metal scarabs and raced into the ventilation system. The bath bombs finished dissolving, but the Jacuzzi’s jets continued to run.

Today was supposed to be a normal day, with normal-ish people, not my first foray into fighting for my life. I didn't even know there were others in New York City! B-but I'm getting ahead of myself... As I said, it started out as a better-than-normal Saturday...

Farrah was spending her Saturday with an old friend from childhood who'd managed to drag the introverted scientist from her apartment to see a new exhibition that the American Museum of Natural History had just opened, something about Exoplanets that had been discovered beyond the Solar System. The friend in question was Sarah, a short, strawberry blonde woman with the look of someone who took every day at full tilt and loved every second, and a sharp tongue that cut friend and enemy alike. The two had known each other since grade school when Sarah had effectively adopted Farrah as her friend. The two were dressed casually, and seemed more focused on catching up than they were on the exhibition itself at this point, having moved to the museums cafe.

"It's been too long Sarah, sorry I, ah, don't call much..." Farrah said, embarrassment plain on her face as she blew on her coffee lightly before trying it.

"It's not like that's anything new, Farrah." Sarah said with a wry smile. "I've known you for 20 years, at this point I'd sooner expect a monster to attack New York than I would expect you to initiate."

Speaking of monsters, should I tell her about Subject? I trust her, but I don't want her in danger... Farrah thought, with an internal twinge of guilt that she hadn't told her oldest friend.

As if thinking about him had summoned him, Subject 01 spoke in Farrahs mind. "Farrah! I've got a new feeling, and it's not a good one... I think a monster is about to appear, and its close. We need to be ready-" Subject 01, the mouse-like Mascot projected from his hiding spot in Farrahs purse, before being interrupted as both of their phones went off with an emergency alert.


This caused a predictably panicked exodus, as monsters had mostly left New York City alone thus far unlike what monster movies would have had you believe. As the press of the crowd started to pull the two women along, Farrah took Sarahs arm and pulled them into an emergency stairwell with the air of a mind made up. "Sarah, uh, this isn't how I wanted to tell you, but-"

"If this is how you're timing a confession, you've got even worse timing that I thought..." Sarah said, her voice uncertain and nervous.

"What? No, I-" Farrah rolled her eyes, exasperated even as she knew Sarah had never handled crises well. "No, I can do something about this. I- Something happened six months ago. Remember that cute lab rat my lab got a while back?" Farrah waited until Sarah nodded, though confusion was clear on her friends face.

"Well, ah, turns out he's a Mascot. You know, like Sugar Pink and all the rest work with. And, more, he- he's my Mascot. I can do something about this, so I'm going to. Can you, uh, hold my purse while I fight a giant monster?" Farrah finished awkwardly, trailing off as she realized she had begun to ramble.

"I- uh, holy shit. Yeah, I can- I can hold your purse I guess. We should, uh, talk about this more after you're done. Saving New York. Yeah." Sarah was in shock, and sat heavily on the stairs. "Just, make sure you come back, yeah? We're too young to be grieving."

Farrah smiled as her friends usual humor shone through for a moment, then handed the other woman her purse. With Subject 01 on her shoulder she took a deep, steady breath and focused on the magic within.

"By Dalton's model, by Newtons might, I fight to bring scientific light! Curie Heart, Go!"

A brilliant wave of rainbow light washed over Farrah, beginning the transformation as motes of magic began to swirl around her, building her costume out bit by bit and culminating in a flash as the Magical Girl Curie Heart.



With a nod to Sarah, Curie Heart sprinted up the stairs and out onto the roof of the museum, the run that would have exhausted Farrah not even winding Curie Heart as she looked out across Central park before spotting the telltale signs of magical energy building up. With practiced confidence, she stepped onto the edge of the roof. "Newtons Cradle, hold me close!" She said as she stepped into thin air, falling for a moment before she flew in the direction of the disturbance, motes of mana beginning to orbit her as her power gathered.

When Brittany got to the scene of the disturbance, what she saw was utter and complete mayhem. What looked like a giant flying hippopotamus made out of rock and razor wire was dive-bombing onlookers. It swooped down on a cyclist who managed to turn at the last second but overcorrected and crashed into a bench. The whole scene was so absurd, Brittany had to stifle a laugh. Then, the monster breathed out a beam of silver energy that blasted a ten-foot-wide crater in the neatly manicured lawn. So much for the comical mood.

"Have no fear and raise a cheer, the daring Blazing Heart is here! Brittany darted away from an aerial charge, but this thing was faster than it looked, and she got clipped in the right shoulder. "Dang, it's fast and it hits hard. Spark, any ideas?"

"Try to corral it, make it an easier target!"

"Right." Other figures were streaking towards the chaos. Other magical girls? As far as she knew, she was the only one, but that certainly didn't mean there weren't any others. "If you've come here to help, girls, I could certainly use it!

Upon arriving at Central Park, MDP was greeted with a most unusual sight, one which caused her already bright smile to broaden further and her sparkling eyes to glitter with even greater intensity.

“Awww~! That hippopotawotmusy wussy thingie wingie looks soooo super duper cutesy wutsey~! (giggle!)” the whimsical girl squealed in delight. “Oh~! And he’s playing taggy waggy~!” she added with innocent glee, her infantile thought processes unable to comprehend that this was a monster that was attacking people. “Magical Dream Princess wuvs that gamey wamey~! Tee-hee~!”

As MDP watched from her aerial vantage point, her eyes widened as she realized just how quickly the rocky, barbed wire hippo was capable of moving, even as it clipped a flying lady with striking red hair. “Golly wolly~! He’s, like, sooo super duper fasty wasty~! (giggle!)” she exclaimed, the sight of something so bulky darting around through the air with such swiftness being quite amusing to her childish mind. As she continued to watch the strange creature in wide-eyed fascination, the Princess of Dreams heard a voice call out to her.

“Helpy welpy~?” the whimsical girl wondered aloud as she tilted her head, her ADHD addled brain unable to comprehend the meaning behind those words. Was the owner of the voice also playing the game? From what little MDP remembered of how it worked, only one person did the tagging, but with how terribly fuzzy her memory was, it wasn’t all that unreasonable to assume she’d simply forgotten an important piece of information that would allow this confusing puzzle to make perfect sense. Predictably, however, MDP’s painfully limited attention span didn’t dwell on this for very long, as something new had gained her full, hyperactive attention…

“Wowie zowie~! You look super duper pretty witty~! (giggle!)” MDP told the voice’s owner as she and her rainicorn pegasus raced over, the woman’s vibrant tresses drawing the cheerful girl like a moth to a flame. “Like, Magical Dream Princess wuvs your flamey wamey hairsie wairsie~! Tee-hee~! And your flamey wamey handsy wandsies, and your flamey wamey jacket wacket, and your flamey wamey necklace weclace, and do you wanna be friendy wendies with her~?!” she asked at the end of her hyperactive ramblings, her cute, smiling face mere inches from the woman’s own. “Do you~?! Do you~?! Do you~?!”

Isra Mahmud may have entered the ventilation shaft as a swarm of bugs, but when she next appeared she would be Osiris. The bionic magical woman bounded from rooftop to rooftop, sometimes skipping entire city blocks in a single bound. A small grin crossed her face as the wind ripped past her body. She did have to wonder why the wise doctor had equipped her with so little to wear, but it wasn’t important. Even at her speed, the wind’s chill didn’t freeze her bones, nor did the insects smash into her face. It might have been an aerodynamic design, or perhaps an invisible magical barrier kept her in peak condition. Either way, the reason wasn’t nearly as interesting as the effect.

By the time Osiris arrived at the park, there were only two other magical girls present. One looked like a fairly “standard” fire manipulation girl, while the other looked… exotic. Osiris had never seen so much pink in one place before, and would not have been surprised if this magical girl shot cotton candy at people. This was probably the “pink princess of dreams” the wise doctor was talking about. Then there was her mark: giant, swift, stone and barbed wire hippo. And of course it fired death rays, because it wasn’t random enough otherwise. Truth be told, monsters like this always seemed like a fashion faux pas. They were just a bunch of random, unrelated junk mashed together. Sure, Osiris’s “Spider” and “Scorpion” augments weren’t exactly bugs, but at least she was worth looking at. No wonder nobody else bothered to show up. If it wasn’t her job, Osiris would have skipped on fighting this monster too.

The pyromancer asked for their help. It seemed like the pink princess was going to be absolutely useless, but that was fine. Her mission was to harvest the heart crystals, and the fewer people intervening with that, the easier it would be to collect them all. ”Just keep it distracted. Leave terminating it to me."

This would hardly be a battle.

The hippo could move as fast as it wanted, but with it being kited by the pyromancer and having a massive size, it wasn’t going to be a hard target to intercept. Osiris wasted no time in launching herself at the ugly pile of boulders and wire. She somersaulted through the air before extending her arm, and her nano machines constructed a massive pair of pincers to clamp down on the creature’s neck. If this were a normal statue, it would have been crushed in half with but a fraction of her power. Though something as deformed and ugly as this was. What the hippo would have a far harder time surviving what came next.

She punched the hippo with her left arm, then her right. Then a third arm joined her left punch, then two more joined her right. Before long, she had no less than six fists drilling into the hippo’s side like jackhammers. Its stone caprice was cracking, and it couldn’t have been much longer before she severed the ugly thing’s head from its body. Mission successful.

The sickly yellow of Coffin Fortress' energies lashed out at her surroundings, purging them of any grass along with some rather beautiful flowers, for, as she would say it: not even beauty lasts in the face of death, for all life is transient. Actually, that is not what she would have said, because she would have put it in a much more elaborate fashion, using at least three sentences when she only needed the one, but that was beside the point. More specifically, the point of the book that granted her the transformation almost weeping as it spoke.

"Lord," it sniffled, "Please forgive me for taking your name in vain, but could you please tell me what I have done wrong that you punish me so?"

"What manner of ridiculous utterances do you dare to let leave your unclean mouthflaps?" asked Coffin Fortress, her voice more than venomous enough to kill an elephant. "Is your emotional state not one with the utmost of joys, which, while fleeting in the face of the forces I command, is a most commendable palpitation of the heart to experience within the grand, yet unquestionably inevitable aura of my supreme being?"

"Oh God, it is so much worse than I thought."

"In the foul and unjust case that your organ of speech has no different utterance than one of foolish ridicule, I, Arcem Loculis - for I shall not sully my full and dreadful name via the manner of taking it on my lips every which occasion it is necessary to do so - do mandate you by the authority of death, to remain unheard within the depths of the void, De mortalium suscitandas et carnis ad potestate mortuae carnes!"

"My name is Salvation, you... you... you gothibaroque freak! What is wrong with you?!"

"Such epithets are ill-suited to the magnificence of your existence, and therefore I shall do my utmost to pretend I have grown hard of using my second sense." As she spoke, Coffin Fortress reached out to grab Salvation, then stuffed it between the folds of her clothes despite its rather voluminous and loud protestations. "I will only restore this great facility of mine once the peril we have been caught up in has run its due course due to my intervention." And with that, Coffin Fortress blasted off from her place, leaving behind a wake of baleful energies. The skies darkened as she blitzed towards the venue - or maybe that had been a particularly well-placed and small cloud - to see a strange creature being engaged by three magical girls.

Her normal self would have wondered what need there was for her if the beast was already under attack, but alas, she was Coffin Fortress right now and she would never give up an opportunity like this.

"O monstrous chimera of basalt, granite and marble, you have chosen the most sinful of occasions to set foot upon this world, for I, Magicae Mortem Puellae Quae Dominatur Arcem Loculis - who shall spare you the glory of hearing her full name - and my loyal companions who follow me both in life and in death, found your presence most distaseful. Begone from my sight, as omnes mortales sarcophagum amplecti cupiunt, et gratiam eis misericordiam tribuo maledictis redemptionem affero!" All but shouting her last sentence, Coffin Fortress summoned a huge coffin by herself and then poured her magic into it, sending the construct soaring through the air with a most beautiful and serene arc.

It impacted the flying hippo dead on, crushing even more of its outer shell.

---

Inquisitor arrived at the scene finding several magical girls already engaging the monster, a giant hippopotamus that was currently trashing about after being hit by a giant coffin. Given the fact that one of the magical girls had coffins flying around her, Inquisitor concluded that it was probably her doing. Alongside the girl surrounded by coffins were a girl who appeared to be equipped with mechanized parts that vaguely hearken to Egyptian motifs, a girl surrounded by flames, and a...small child?

The small child was seemingly excitingly rambling to the flame-wielding girl. The child...couldn't be older than Emma Lawson's daughter, and thus the part of Inquisitor who was Emma Lawson wanted to get the child away from the battle as a child that young shouldn't have any business around here, but the part of her that was Faniel wanted to exterminate the monster as soon as possible. Despite being a combination of the two, however, Emma Lawson was the prominent part of Inquisitor's psyche, and as such rather than engaging the monster, she flew towards the flame-wielding and childlike magical girls.

Nevertheless, Inquisitor did recognise the logic of taking down the monster as fast as possible to prevent more casualties, and so, as the angelic-looking magical girl flapped her wings, a radiant halo appeared above her head, its light illuminating the nearby area. White flames manifested on the monster, burning it, while injured civilians found their wounds started to heal. Meanwhile, though none of the magical girls had suffered injuries, they felt a surge of energy as their power started to rejuvenate.

As Inquisitor reached the flame-wielding magical girl and her childlike companion. She turned to the child who was—in Inquisitor's opinion—was wearing way too much pink. Inquisitor gave her a smile as she said, "You want to help, now is it? How about you help lead the civilian...er..that is these people away from the monster?"

They day had originally gone from good to bad, but upon arriving at the scene of the attack the day had clearly skipped bad and dove straight into the arms of the bizarre. Not only were there other magical girls in New York, but they had to be newer ones as she'd never heard of them in her research or in the news, and they'd beaten her to the fight on top of it all. Marie Curie arrived at a higher altitude due to her starting point, and took a moment to asses the situation as she arrived, noting that the others had already begun to administer a thorough beatdown to the monster, bizarre as that beatdown may be given the various powers at play.

"A firebug, a pharaonic mech, a small child, a crusader knight, and a... teenage edgelord? Wish me luck number 1, let's keep our city safe. And hope we can count on them, though it looks like they've made a good start on the issue already."

Curie Heart had built up a respectful amount of Motes on the brief flight over, and she focused some of these in front of her hand, the motes joining and elongating in front of her as the lance they formed began to spin, further enhancing their piercing design. Aiming for a section of damaged stone armor on the monstrous hippopotamus thing below, the scientist raised her arm, then mimed throwing a javelin as the Photon Lance shot toward the creature with an echoing CRACK as it broke the sound barrier. The best way to prevent both further property damage and injury, as far as Farrah knew, was to end the fight quickly and help the survivors.

The bolt of mystic light would impact the monster in a location that the others had already damaged, piercing deep into the creatures body and hopefully damaging it's internal structures and magics to make it easier to finish off. As the afterimage of the lance faded, Curie Heart flew down closer to the action though she still did her best to stay out of reach. She was no melee fighter, even with the bodily enhancements all magical girls had when in their transformed state.

---

The Taxi dropped Heidi off on the road beside the park, and she hopped out as it drove off to flee the area. She'd had to tip double for the risk of danger, but at least she was here now. But what she saw when she entered central park took her aback. Five, possibly six, Magical Girls were already engaging the monster. And they seemed to be winning between them. Heidi had always been led to believe that New York had no Magical Girls. Maybe it was just the case that it didn't get many monster attacks, but secretly had this many all along.

And what a bizzarre mix of gimmicks it was! Firebird, knight, machanical, gothic, pretty pink pricess...There was one in the shy who was wearing white but Heidi couldn't quite make out. Heidi ddn't know what her own gimmick was. Her only clue was that Cyclops referred to her as Apollo. So, maybe her gimmickis vaguely Greek inspired?

Right on cue, Cyclops, the floating robot with a single large lens for an eye, approached Heidi and floated in front of her.

"You are here, Apollo, Champion of Light. You are required to assist in the defeating of this dark threat! Please recite this phrase to begin your transformation; 'I am the Champion of Light! It is my mission to Illuminate the shadows of darkness and brighten the hearts of Mankind! Apollo!'"

Heidi glared at the robot, unmoving, for a good few seconds, before pointing to the Monster engaged in combat.

"Excuse me, I thought you said I'd need to be here! Why are there already six magical girls here before me? I don't actually need to be here at all, do I?!" she retorted to her mascot, with annoyance.

The monster writhed with agony under the furious assault. It tried to fly away, but crippled by its injuries, it was barely mobile at all. Spark quickly darted over the battlefield and saw its weakness exposed.

"Blazing Heart! There, the Void! Let's put this thing down!"

Brit saw it, alright- a big, black empty nothingness within the creature's body. It might as well have been a neon sign blaring, "Aim here, girls!" It didn't take a genius to figure out what to do next.

Brit put on a smile for two reasons. One, she was clearly enjoying herself, and second, to look good for the inevitable cell phone video to be plastered all over social media. "Time to finish this monster off! Everybody, hit it with the artillery! Blazing Beam!!"

The crimson-haired magical girl cupped her hands, releasing a devastating thermal lance that ripped through the sad, forlorn leftovers of the monster and impacted the Void. With all the magic flying around, this fight would be over in seconds- but she was curious as to what powers the other girls would break out for the coup de grace.

Other magical girls arrived on the scene, but MDP’s attention was laser focused on the fiery magical girl as she eagerly awaited her response, innocent eyes opened wide in anticipation. However, to the whimsical girl’s considerable disappointment, no response would be forthcoming. Instead, her potential new friend completely ignored her and darted off after the rocky barbed wire flying hippo, while shouting out orders, orders MDP was much too distraught to pay any attention to.

“Y-You don’t wanna be friendy wendies with Magical Dream Princess…?” the childish girl whimpered as she watched Blazing Heart shoot away in a blast of flame. “Y-You don't likey wikey Magical Dream Princess?” she continued, tears welling up, before bursting forth with all the force of a torrential downpour… “WAAAAAH!!! Flamey wamey lady wady didn’t wanna be friendy wendies with Magical Dream Princess!” the whimsical girl bawled as she continued to cry her eyes out, before a new voice caught her attention.

Wiping her eyes, the still-sobbing Princess of Dreams saw that a smiling, angelic young woman was now hovering before her, asking if she wanted to help by leading people away from a ‘monster’. Of course, that last part didn’t fully make it through to the childish girl, as the very appearance of the new arrival was of far greater interest to her easily-distracted brain than what the young woman was saying.

“Pretty witty angel wangel…” MDP murmured as she stared at the woman through tear-filed eyes. “Like, will you be friendy wendies with Magical Dream Princess, pretty witty angel wangel person werson?” she inquired. “Like, pretty pretty witty witty pleasey weasey will you?” she pleaded, clasping her tiny hands together and bringing her tear-streaked face ever closer to Inquisitor. “Will you, will you, will you?”

So the monster still lived?

So there were actually a lot of magical girls waiting in the wings?

But did it change anything?

Osiris was still hanging onto her prey. She had some close calls, as a giant coffin and an energy lance hit pretty close to her position. Though more jarring was when the creature spontaniously caught fire. Though it seemed that the flames had an invigorating effect on her rather than a harmful one. Was her immunity to the flames the wise scientist’s doing? The temptation was to say yes, but she doubted it. Surely if it was the case, she would have taken the opportunity to gloat about how invincible her new form was. If anything, the wise scientist had been far more quiet than usual. Though Osiris wasn’t familiar enough with the doctor to know if that was normal or not.

She briefly glanced in the pink magical girl’s direction. It didn’t seem like she had thrown one attack yet, but moreover, she looked like she was upset. That would certainly make her employer happy, who had made a request to make the girl cry. Why this was important eluded Osiris, as did most of the wise scientist’s requests. All she could do was satisfy them as they came.

But in looking at the pink magical girl, she had noticed the first of the two pyromancers (herein referred to as the pyromaniac) had started shouting for everyone to “hit it with the artillery”. While this would have made sense in a flashy magical girl anime, it made a lot less sense to expend extra energy on a mostly dead monster. But more pressing was that she was still hanging onto said monster and would be in the way of any big flashy attacks. But thinking about it logically, if they killed her, then that meant less competition for the heart stone. It wasn't like she knew anyone here, and who would miss a visitor to New York? As soon as she realized this was a challenge, she couldn’t help but smile at her aggressor’s thinly veiled call to violence.

If there were a bunch of incoming attacks, there was no point in waiting for the fireworks show to hit her in the back. She just needed to survive and be close enough to the monster to nab the heart stone when it appeared. Osiris swung herself on top of the hippo where she could observe her “allies” attacks and take proper evasive maneuvers. Just because she had that up her sleeve didn’t mean she wanted to waist it to avoid some “friendly fire.” The thermal lance struck the hippo, and Osiris held on to avoid getting thrown off. Time would tell if the other magical girls heeded the pyromaniac's call or not.

---

“Pretty witty angel wangel…” MDP murmured as she stared at the woman through tear-filed eyes. “Like, will you be friendy wendies with Magical Dream Princess, pretty witty angel wangel person werson?” she inquired. “Like, pretty pretty witty witty pleasey weasey will you?” she pleaded, clasping her tiny hands together and bringing her tear-streaked face ever closer to Inquisitor. “Will you, will you, will you?”

"Er...yes. Of course, I will," Inquisitor responded rather awkwardly. Emma would have been able to respond with better grace, while Faniel would have ignored her to focus on the monster, but unfortunately, this was one of the times when being an amalgam of the two left Inquisitor with the worst aspect of both.

"So for now, why don't you help us by making sure no normal people get too close to the monster? It's a very important job."

She noticed that the Egyptian-looking woman was responding to the call for artillery.

The monster was almost dead already, Inquisitor felt like using powerful attacks at this point was just risking collateral damage. Therefore, rather than throwing her own attack, she opted to attempt restraining the monster's movement, to make sure it would not trash around in desperation and limiting the 'blast radius' of the attacks to only one specific spot.

She turned to the monster, before shouting, "Halt!"

Her voice echoed through the area. It was not a mere command but an edict, one that struck fear in the hearts of those aligned with evil, forcing them to bow to her authority. This time, it was directed at the monster, a single command for it to stop its movement.

For many, the following attacks would have been considered overkill. A blazing beam of fire, what seemed to be a lance of light or perhaps just a concentrated projectile, two most exalted servants who seemed to be focused on getting to know each other as well as paralysing the creature, one who hung onto its outer shell perhaps in an effort to take it apart with her bare hands... It was truly a light show. An explosion of fireworks. A christmas tree being lit up. And therefore, it was not nearly enough for Coffin Fortress' pure and righteous black, sadistic and malevolent heart.

"Stop it!" Salvation's cry echoed through the park. "Please! I can almost hear the nonsense you're thinking! Be a proper magical girl, for God's sake!"

"It has been a thousand and three years since I have grown weary of the path that had been treaded by before me and have chosen, in my infinite wisdom, to bring innovation to the formula of those who have been granted the power to declare the life or the death of these creatures and have been given the authority over the power which warps reality like the fabric of mass warps the fabric of space-time, and therefore, it is much too late for your concern over my well-being."

Had Salvation been a human, it would have facepalmed or tried sticking its fingers into its ears. However, because Salvation was, in fact, a book, it had been forced to listen to all the nonsense she spewed, regardless of its best intentions to the contrary and thus suffered at least one dice's worth of sanity damage in tabletop roleplaying game terms. In non-game terms, it was trying its best not to open its mouth so it would not pour more fuel onto the fire. Unfortunately, that proved far too much to ask from the universe or even the Lord himself, because Coffin Fortress continued.

"My comrades in arms who have not seen the finality that death and demise brings to this world and who yet remain with light in their hearts, feast your eyes upon the power of darkness along with all that shall inevitably consume the world! Behold the magnificence that is the end of all things, bow down before the lord of the ever-trickling sands itself and fear not, for I am here to assist you! Your battles will not be forgotten until the end of time," she announced at the top of her lungs as she called upon her magic once more. "Let us unite our powers, for light is only the ouroboros of darkness biting its own tail and let us drive this foul entity that disrupts the world's balance, away from the reality which it seeks to warp!"

And with that, another coffin smashed into the creatures core. And then another. And another and another and another as Coffin Fortress lived up to her name, launching them as quickly as she could power up her spell to its full potential, not to mention properly aim the projectiles so she would not hit the Egyptian-themed magical girl on top. If one had a keen eye, they could notice she was being extra careful - no coffin came even close to hitting Isra or any of Coffin's allies.

---

"Reiterating: You assistance is required. It is the duty of the Champion of Light to protect people from the beings of Darkness. For every second they remain, the risk of civilian injury grows. The Void has just been exposed! Use your Bow of Light to target the weak point! That will destroy the monster."

Heidi folded her arms, and continued to silently watch the fight play out. It was fine. The other magical girls were ganging up on the monster and did not seem to have any trouble in taking it down between them. All she had to do was wait. That's when her eyes drifted from the battle itself and saw that there was a child cowering under a tree, close to the fight. Way to close to the fight! Why hadn't she cleared the area first! She was as at much risk of getting hit by all this collateral as she was getting hurt by the monster! Heidi immediately sprung to action. She didn't need to try too hard to recall her transformation words. They fell out of her mouth far too naturally.

"I am the Champion of Light! It is my mission to Illuminate the shadows of darkness and brighten the hearts of Mankind! Apollo!"

Heidi's whole body was enveloped by blinding light briefly, and when the light faded, Heidi was now wearing a skintight white and green bodysuit. Her glasses had become a visor, that then scanned the monster in front of her by itself, and opened a separate window showing additional information, though nothing she didn't already know from having watched the fight. In her hand was a bow made of light. She wasted no time. A child's life was at stake. She took aim that the void with her bow, which had materialised an arrow itself. The tension and adreneline of the momemt was causing her emotion to flare, and the arrow cracked with electricity that she knew was coming from her. Both the usage of her powers, and indeed how to use a bow in the first place, came instictively. They felt like things she had always known.

"Cyclops, protect the child. Eleven o'clock, under the tree. I'll take out the monster before it can hurt her." she spoke with a cold, decisive determination. There was a swiftness to Cyclops' movements as it sped a way that suggested it was pleased. Once it reached the child, it hovered in front of her and activated its shields. Heidi returned her focus to the void. She was still quite far away from the battle, and this would be a tricky target to hit at this distance.

"Arc Shot!"

She fired the arrow, which soared through the air, leaving a trail of light and crackling electricity, as it flew straight towards the Void.