Reunion

"It's been too long, mother." The homunculus slowly sets foot into the clearing from the edge of the forest.

"Elexi." The Lady of Tokyo regards her without so much as a smile, though neither does she frown. "Your grudge is with me. Don't bring others into this."

"..." Elexi inhales as she leans backwards. Displeasure bordering on anger creeps onto the edge of her face. "You're the one dragging others into your pointless war."

"I don't make the rules. Though, it's not like I expect a child to understand."

"I'm not a child!" Her temper suddenly gets the better of her, though she quickly reins it back in. "You don't know me."

"Hmph. I guess not." The Lady of Tokyo twirls her scythe before letting it come to a rest on her shoulder. She doesn't do it to be intimidating, rather, she just doesn't know what to do with her hands. "How did you–"

"I bonded with the Ozawa Gate while you were distracted with the others."

"...You really should learn to let others finish their sentences."

"Maybe so." Elexi shifts her weight from foot to foot.

"Do you have anything left to say before we tear each other's throats out?"

"Not to my knowledge." Elexi raises her hand, myriad dots of light arranged in an orrery dance around her clenched fist. She levels it at The Lady of Tokyo. "「Inverse Fuinjutsu - The Star」"

The Lady of Tokyo mimics her movement, raising up her own sphere. "The World…" Tendrils of light manifest from her fingertips and tie themselves onto the orb, slowing its rotation. "...Grind to a halt."

The skies freeze, breaths stop, silence reigns. The flow of time ceases entirely. Such is the will of The World's master. There isn't a single sound, not even the noise of a butterfly's wings beating. The Lady of Tokyo crosses the clearing separating her from Elexi. She raises the scythe that feels unbearably heavy in her hands and rests it on Elexi's neck. All she needs to do is swing to undo her greatest failure.

But she doesn't.

In what way is this fair? Why should her daughter be punished for her lie? Why is it that someone as black-hearted as herself is the one to be spared? After all this time, was she wrong? Does the world not need someone like her? Was it all just her futile attempt at justifying her own existence? What's wrong with that? She does not perceive it as wrong, and yet the result remains. An innocent person is about to be killed by her hands. Her own daughter. But underneath all the guilt, underneath her determination, underneath her cold logic, she can't help but feel something paradoxical. The simple joy of a mother finally seeing her daughter all grown up.

"I've learned to not hate you these past thirty years." Elexi suddenly speaks up. The Lady of Tokyo flinches away, taking her scythe with her. "I didn't know how I would feel seeing you again. I thought I would be angrier but to be honest? I'm just happy that you came to see me."

"How did you–"

"You stopped the world's rotation, so I simply made the heavens revolve around it."

"I see…" The Lady of Tokyo looks at the ground, unable to stare Elexi in the eye.

"You were right." Elexi smiles gently. "These past thirty years, I think I finally understand why you did what you did. Why you created me. Why you destroyed me. I do not forgive you. But I understand."

"I'm sorry."

"No, I should be the one who's sorry. I didn't realize that you were suffering." The scent of magic begins to emanate from Elexi in overpowering waves. A black void begins to spread from her feet. Little by little, she starts to sink in it.

"Elexi, wait–"

"It's too late. I've already opened the gate." A look of peaceful regret washes over Elexi's face. "This gate and the Ozawa City gate should give you enough prana."

"What did you do?"

"Using my own body as a catalyst, I opened a portal to the spirit realm. This way, you won't have to use the ley lines. This way, no one else has to die."

"But what about you?! Your body can't handle a spell of that level!" Panic creeps into The Lady of Tokyo's voice.

"I know. But that's okay. You created me and treated me like your own daughter. For a time, I really did feel like we were a family. It's time I returned the favor." A look of sincere peace takes over her face, masking her fear.

"You idiot!" The Lady of Tokyo drops her scythe before falling down onto her knees. She grabs Elexi's arm and starts channeling the splashback into her own body. Hysteria overtakes her mind. All that she can think of right now is saving her daughter. "Don't go deciding these things all by yourself!"

"I…" Elexi stares at the desperation in her mother's expression. "But what about your duty? Gifted people like us have to give back to humanit–"

"I don't care! I just want my daughter back!" She grits her teeth as hard as she can, taking in as much of the pain as she can muster. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I've been such a horrible mother to you! I know it's selfish, but I can't, I won't, I refuse to lose you again!"

"Mama…"

"I'll let you eat ice cream every day! I won't make you take baths anymore! I'll–I'll get married! You always wanted a papa, right?! Anything you want! Just please! Let's just go back to the way things were! Let's be a real family again! Just don't leave me!" The Lady of Tokyo frantically yells. Sharing the recoil between two people isn't enough, at this rate they'll both die. Her blood begins to burn. "Somebody! Anybody! Help!"

Something suddenly catches her eye. A shooting star. Or something that resembles one anyway. After a second's observation, it becomes apparent that it's getting closer. She squints. It's a girl. No sooner does she register that fact than they come crashing down on her. A crater opens up in the ground nearby. Something– no, someone steps out.

"I hope I'm not too late." Without asking questions, Shosuko grips onto The Lady of Tokyo's hand.

"Who are you?"

"Not… important!" Shosuko grunts under the immense pain. Every single one of her nerve endings is on fire. She didn't even think of the consequences, she saw someone who needed help, and she threw herself at them, no questions asked.

"Why are you helping me?"

"I… Don't…! Know!"

Someone grips onto Shosuko's hand. Fighting back against the pain, she manages to turn her head to greet them.

"Hey." Daisuko somehow manages to get a word out through gritted teeth. Both her arteries and veins turn luminescent from the flames.

"Hey!"

"There's really no other way to say this but… I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not telling you the truth sooner. I'm sorry for doing it in the first place. I'm sorry that it took me this long to apologize. And I know it's a selfish thing for me to even say, and that you might not even forgive me, but I just want you to know that from the bottom of my heart, I really am sorry for what I did."

"We're doing this now?!"

"...Yeah?"

"Whatever! Apology accepted!"

"Right!" Daisuko nods, extends her arm behind her before yelling out, "Need some help here!"

"I got you!" Oka grabs onto Daisuko's forearm. "Shosuko!"

"Yeah, yeah, I forgive you, whatever!"

"What? Really? Just like that?"

"I'll deal with the both of you later!"

Oka stares at Shosuko blankly, processing what just happened.

"Shosuko!" Kiara gets behind Oka, rolls up her sleeves, and donates her body to the chain. "Don't blame my daughters for what they did. Blame me, I was the one who gave the order."

"You did what you did. I understand. I don't forgive you, but I understand."

Someone grabs onto Kiara's arm. "Hope you haven't forgotten about me, hag." Nakasuko sucks in her breath as the splashback floods her body.

"Nakasuko…" The way she says her name compresses a thousand words into one.

"Whatever. I'm over it."

"I see…" That's all Kiara says before falling silent.

"Hope you don't mind us cutting in." Kasai grabs onto Nakasuko's back. "We really can't catch a break, can we?"

"Nope." Nakasuko cocks her head. "Though, it's nice to have a partner to weather the storm with."

"Hey there, buddy." Emu wraps her arms around Kasai's outstretched hand. "It's been a while."

"..."

"Oh don't be like that. It's me, Emu Awano, your friend? Remember all the good times we had together?"

"..."

"Ah, are you still upset? Remember, it wasn't me who pulled the trigger."

"Go to hell."

"Maybe later. For now, I gotta help out my friend."

"You have friends?"

"I have you, silly!"

Kasai debates whether she should shrug off Emu or not but eventually decides that they need all the help they can get.

"Just like old times?" Sumire walks up behind Emu and adds herself to the chain.

"Just like old times." Emu echoes.

"Excuse me, Miss Shirayuki." Oe grins as she sprints through the empty field towards Sumire.

"You are excused."

Oe plants both of the chainsaws sticking out of her leg into the ground before wrapping her grip around Sumire's hand.

"Oh, sweet jeezums! That– WOW that hurts."

There's the sound of air being displaced as something lands onto the grass nearby.

"Miss Momoe!" Oe grins sheepishly. "No hard feelings?"

Tami flips the musket in her hand and smacks it across Oe's face. Her head spins unnaturally before slowly twisting back into place.

"Fair enough. Would you be so kind as to lend us a hand, though?"

"I'm not touching you. Would you kindly take my place, Amaru?"

"It is my displeasure." Amaru silently grabs onto Oe's neck. Amanda follows behind Amaru, Tami follows along behind Amanda, who's then followed by Ryukko and then Isaka.

"Yo, Yuki!" Isaka calls out to the blue-haired girl. "How you been?"

"Bad. I feel like I just woke up from a really long, really awful dream."

"Great, mind lending us a hand? Call it a favor from a friend."

Yuki looks at her sternly.

"Oh, come on. Your sister's counting on you here too, y'know."

"Fine, fine." Yuki reluctantly takes Isaka's hand and adds herself to the chain.

Iko points at the girl so desperately hanging onto her daughter's hand.

"That's the Lady of Tokyo?"

"That's the bitch."

"What's our move here?"

"Hmmm…" Klara presses her hands together before raising it to her chin. "Ah fuck it. I hate unhappy endings." Then she promptly grabs Yuki's hand.

"Fair enough," she mutters to herself. "The Lady of Osaka's not going to be happy, though." Iko sighs before adding herself to the chain.

"I don't really know what's happening, but my guess is that my master needs me." Kirika wastes no time and gets behind Klara. "No hard feelings?"

"Not at all." Klara grins.

Even though the pain rises in crescendo, not a single one of them lets go. Their blood burns furiously but they stand in rigid defiance, unmoving, unrelenting. Then, right as the pain seems like it's about to hit its climax, it starts to recede.

"It's working!" The Lady of Tokyo's voice is filled with a mixture of jubilation and relief. "Just a little bit more!"

"Everybody hold!" Shosuko barks out an order to everyone in line.

"You're okay. You're going to be okay. Everything's going to be okay." The Lady of Tokyo holds onto her daughter's hand as tightly as she can. "I won't let go of you. Not again." For the first time in thirty long years, The Lady of Tokyo breaks into a smile. A tear rolls down her cheek, though it quickly evaporates. There's something like an explosion of heat within all of their bodies, then the burning stops entirely. Everyone collapses onto the ground, echoes of phantom flame still rippling through their flesh.

"Are… are we alive?" Daisuko touches her face just to make sure it hasn't burned off.

"I think so." Oka ventures a shaky guess.

"So… all's well that ends well, I guess?" Daisuko laughs half-heartedly.

"We're not out of the woods yet." The Lady of Tokyo stands up before helping Elexi back onto her feet. "She's here."

The skies begin to darken. Not because of the clouds, but because something even bigger is blocking out the sun. "Tomboy! It's so good to see you in the flesh!"

"Heyyyy…" Daisuko draws her handguns and turns to face The Lady of Osaka. "I see you've brought friends."

「The Fool - Manikin」

「The Magician - Manikin」

「The High Priestess - Manikin」

「The Empress - Manikin」

「The Emperor - Manikin」

「The Hierophant - Manikin」

「The Lovers - Manikin」

「The Chariot - Manikin」

「Strength - Manikin」

「The Hermit - Manikin」

「The Wheel of Fortune - Manikin」

「Justice - Manikin」

「The Hanged Man - Manikin」

「Death - Manikin 」

「Temperance - Manikin」

「The Devil - Manikin」

「The Tower - Manikin」

「The Moon - Manikin」

「The Sun - Manikin」

「Judgment - Manikin」

"So have you, it seems." The Lady of Osaka lounges on top of the mountain-sized Judgment. In spite of its gigantic size, the spirit is nothing more than a humongous nexus of shadowy strings arranged in the vague shape of the bottom half of an hourglass. At the spirit's very peak is a simple eye-like shape, holding all the strings together. The other spirits hover around The Lady of Osaka, guarding their master. "Um, last I checked, you promised to kill The Lady of Tokyo's soldiers, not play patty-cake with them."

"Yeah, well, there was a change of plans." Daisuko shrugs.

"So you lied to me." The Lady of Osaka's lips curl downwards. "I hate liars."

"..." Daisuko can't help but take a cautious step backwards.

"And you." The Lady of Osaka points at The Lady of Tokyo. "I thought you'd have known better than to come here yourself."

She shrugs. "There was a change of plans."

"Jeez. And here I thought I was the free spirit." The Lady of Osaka laughs mirthlessly. "Still, if it makes any of you feel any better, I never intended to keep my promise."

"You bitch!" Iko almost breaks into a sprint before Klara grabs her arm.

"Crossies! Doesn't count!" The Lady of Osaka reveals a pair of crossed fingers before sticking out her tongue. "Anyway, please step aside, I intend to claim the Ozawa gate for myself. Preferably with minimal casualties."

Elexi steps forward. "We can't let you do that."

"W-we?" Daisuko looks at Elexi. "Who is 'we?' You speaking' French?!"

"Why not?" Shosuko nudges Daisuko's shoulder before cracking her knuckles. "Seems like fun."

"Today just keeps getting better and better..." Daisuko clicks her tongue. In spite of her reservations, she's grinning.

"It's time we ended this petty rivalry." The Lady of Tokyo takes off her glasses, revealing a pair of gleaming ruby red eyes. It's the brightest they've shone in thirty years.

Nakasuko twirls her bat. "I never thought I'd end up fighting by your side again, Oka."

"You don't have to die here with the rest of us." Oka conjures hooked letter openers between her fingers. "You can go home."

"This is my fight as much as it is hers." Nakasuko looks at Elexi with a certain gleam in her eye. "Why don't you go home? I didn't take you for the type to be concerned about the fate of a few thousands."

"I've had a change of heart."

"...Hmph." Nakasuko looks at Oka's chest as though her gaze might pierce through flesh to see the contents of her heart".

"I'm just going to stop dancing around the subject." Oka sighs before forcing herself to look Nakasuko in the eye. "I'm sorry. You don't have to forgive me. I don't expect you to. But either way, I'm not going to run away anymore."

"You're right about that. I don't intend on forgiving you so easily." Nakasuko meets Oka's eyes, if only for a second. "But… you do seem different. Maybe someday we can call each other friends again."

"...Thanks… for giving me that chance." Oka smiles gratefully.

"But first, we've got this to deal with." Nakasuko looks over her shoulder. "Let's try to not get separated again, eh? Kasai?"

"Yeah, yeah, rub it in, why don't you?" Kasai wraps her hand around her rapier even more tightly. "I'll be counting on you to back me up, Yuki."

"You got it, big sis." Yuki takes position just behind her sister.

"We'll provide support fire." Kiara picks up a rock from the ground and turns it in her hands while Sumire reloads her flintlocks.

"From a safe distance, of course," Emu chimes in, unhelpfully.

"Sorry." Kiara winces. "Us yakuza heads aren't the spring chickens we used to be."

"Speak for yourself." There's the violent revving of chainsaws as Oe steps forward. "I've got a lot of internalized anger to vent out on the front lines."

"We'll join you in the frontal assault." Tami speaks on behalf of her team.

"I may not look like it, but I'm actually more effective at close range." Kirika cranks her wrists around their sockets. "If I can touch the spirits, I should be able to… 'unsummon' them with my Transmutation."

"Technically we're just undoing the magic binding them to the physical realm." Klara's metal insides begin to whir with mechanical fury.

"I was simplifying it for the laymen among us. Not that I expect you to be the one to adjust for others." Kirika conjures a wisp of blue flame that fuses the seam separating her shoulder from her torso, finishing the last of her repairs.

"I've got my own beat, of course I'm going to step to it." Klara nudges Kirika before turning to her sister. "Don't wait for me to get home, Iko."

"What are you talking about?" Iko cracks her neck before drawing her sister's sword. "No way I'm going to miss out on getting back at someone who tricked me."

"So, you've all chosen… fun. I was hoping you would choose fun." The Lady of Osaka waves her hands and dispels the bonds binding The World and The Star to The Lady of Tokyo and Elexi respectively. Both of the spirits' corporeal forms dissolve into misty wisps.

"You're sorely mistaken if you think that'll be enough to even the battlefield." The Lady of Tokyo grasps her scythe with both of her hands. Black rings of concentrated energy begin to orbit around the scythe's shaft, their rims magnetized to it. Two pairs of metal wings adorned with feathers as tall as men snake outwards from her shoulder blades. They shudder with barely contained power.

"It's been a long time, but I suppose now is a good time to put what you taught me to the test, mama." Sparks of tesla begin to fill the air around Elexi. There's the powerful smell of ozone, almost like the scent of chlorine.

"That's what I like to see!" The Lady of Osaka spreads her arms to her sides as she addresses the manikins, artificial spirits created en masse, iridescent silhouettes the color of the milky way. "Alright, ladies, I want a nice, clean, massacre. Don't stop until every single last one of them is dead!" The manikins fly downwards, charging them head-on.

Of course, the magical girls are not one to be outdone. Craters form in the ground as they jump high into the air. Someone yells, then someone else yells, then suddenly everyone's yelling. Every single magical girl present raises up their voices as one to tell the Lady of Osaka one simple thing:

Fuck You.