"You're… alive?" Tsubasa uttered in shock.

For the briefest second, Kari saw what she believed was relief in Tsubasa's eyes. Her anger wavered. Both of them did, if not for just a moment.

Until a wave of nausea hit Kari in the gut and made her feel faint.

She almost wanted to forgive her?

Tsubasa took a step forward with a hand outstretched. "Hey, you okay—"

"Fuck off!" Kari backed up to the metal railings against the window that kept people from leaning on the glass. "You can try to act like you care now, but I'm not buying it."

"Explain yourself. Is Kari telling the truth?" Kanae asked, glaring at her partner.

"Yeah. It's true," Tsubasa admitted at last. "Rie was already closing in, and there were a helluva lot more points to be earned on the main street. Three head hounds on a bystreet with only two civilians as casualty? I saved hundreds of more people, killed dozens of more monsters with a single Judgement, and I would abandon you all over again to do the same without batting an eye."

"Tsubasa, you're going too far. We want Kari on our side, not piss her off!" Kanae scolded.

"If she's gonna be doing what we do, then she needs to drill it in her head that we can't save everyone. Besides, she and her friend got out alive, didn't they? Maybe they should be thanking me for putting them in a situation that turned Kari into a magical girl," she sneered.

Kari was mistaken to have thought Tsubasa could ever be remorseful for her actions.

"My friend's name… is Makina. She has posters of you and Candy in her bedroom. You don't belong on that wall, and you don't deserve to take credit for what I've become!" Kari snarled between gritted teeth, transforming into her magical girl through anger alone.

"Look at yourself. A baby throwing tantrums." Tsubasa's clothing was enveloped in bright green light, replacing the casual attire in her signature emerald robes.

Now she was Jade.

Now Kari had no qualms letting her emotions run wild.

Blinded by rage, she stared Jade dead in the eyes and shouted her most powerful skill. "STAMPEDE!"

"Molten Shield!"

Kari's fist didn't reach Jade. She instead struck an orange and red shield in the shape of a phoenix, oozing with molten lava. The area that absorbed the impact had darkened, immobilizing her fist underneath hardened rock.

"You're too emotional to be a magical girl." Jade transformed back to her normal clothes and entered the elevator without looking back.

"Tsubasa! Damn it." Flare cursed under her breath as the elevator doors shut. She transformed out of her magical girl outfit. The shield vanished between them, releasing Kari's fist. "Whew… You were really going for the kill with that attack."

There was only one other time something withstood the hit of Stampede, and it was against a broken lady. Kanae didn't so much as budge when she took the hit as Flare.

The blood drained from Kari's head and left her woozy. All the strength in her legs abandoned her, and she fell to her knees as her outfit returned to the school summer uniform. The futility of her outburst dawned on her.

Just what was she thinking attacking Jade like that? Against a magical girl who had years of experience, when Kari had only become one at the beginning of the month? That was tantamount to suicide.

Kanae waved a water bottle in her face. "Takes balls to raise your fists at Jade. You know she's the strongest of us, right? If that girl wanted to fight back, she wouldn't have to lift a finger to skewer your head like a dango."

Kari snatched the bottle and chugged it in a few gulps. She crushed the plastic into a ball, then aimed for the metal bin. It hit the lip and bounced off.

"Don't make it sound like she spared me. Is Tsubasa really the kind of magical girl you want on your team and watching your back? Someone that would leave living people behind?"

"Frankly, it doesn't matter what I want. In case you need reminding, the apocalypse is coming— or already here. Japan's survival about supersedes whatever nitpicks I have about who's on my team," she said, eyeing the crushed plastic bottle.

Kari felt her soul leave her body. It was like someone lifted the lid from her world. She was forced to watch the contents inside slowly rot from being exposed to open air. The world around her began to distort and misshapen the longer her eyes remained open.

This was her— no, their reality. Even though she didn't want to hear it, even if shut her eyes, nothing would change that fact.

Magical girls couldn't save everyone, and that somehow hurt Kari more than she ever thought possible.

Of course, Kanae was right. As the leader and voice of reason for the group, she had to make the hard decisions. That didn't make it any easier for Kari to swallow the idea of fighting by the side of someone who previously left her to die.

"Sorry if we weren't what you expected us to be," Kanae said. "Part of keeping up appearances is so that people don't lose hope. So that folks like you can keep going to school believing you're safe, and your mom and dad can go to work with that peace of mind."

"You don't have to apologize. This is just a lot to take in." Kari sighed, her mind wondering what Makina and Minato were doing right about now.

"Do you know why South Africa fell to the monsters?" she suddenly asked.

"They were overwhelmed by an incursion and Malevolent Domains," Kari answered, but slowly became unsure of herself upon seeing Kanae shake her head.

"That's the story we ran with. The truth is a lot less heroic." Kanae ignited her index finger and drew a rough outline of South Africa. She created five flames that hovered above it. "The entire continent of Africa had eight magical girls. Five went to South Africa to subjugate the apocalyptic incursion, and all five of them died."

"That's what everyone knows. What's the part that you haven't told me?" Kari asked, her patience waning.

Kanae put a finger through each flame, and one by one, she snuffed them out until only one remained.

"They let each other die, foolishly thinking they could take a bigger piece of the pie at the end of the incursion. The last one alive couldn't handle it by herself and perished," she said.

A lump lodged in Kari's throat as she digested this revelation.

So it wasn't just because they were overwhelmed. The magical girls abandoned their own companions until none were left. If something like that got out to the media, it would ruin the world's perception of their so-called heroes. Magical girls were supposed to be protectors of humanity, not hunters going after the biggest game.

An outrageous explanation like that… she found it amusingly believable. That would mean magical girls like Jade were a dime a dozen. Then what did that make Flare and Candy?

"How do you know this? Were you there when it happened?" Kari asked.

"I didn't need to be there. After all, one of the five anthems who managed to survive that apocalypse told us everything," Kanae said.

"Who?"

Kanae gave no answer and stared past her. Kari followed the gaze behind her shoulder to find Rocky, ears drooping and eyes cast to the ground in shame.

"I saw it all happen. They used to lend a hand to each other all the time, but by the end of it, every single one had their fists clenched shut. I don't want to see that again," he said.

She knew the little furball was hiding more than he let on. To think, he witnessed an apocalypse already. That only served to put weight on the gravity of their situation

"Some of Tsubasa's actions are questionable," Kanae began, "but we need that power on our side."

"And if she eventually turns on us like those magical girls did to each other in South Africa?" Kari asked.

"Then you, me, and Rie will deal with her together, not divided." She stuck her hand out for a second time.

Kari reached out to shake on it, but was surprised to clasp a sweaty hand.

"Thank goodness we got this worked out. I'd love to get to know you better, but I gotta scram. Two commercials to film in Sapporo and a movie to film in Akita later in the evening. We'll take more later, yeah?" The busy-body magical girl breathed a sigh of relief.

The two of them traded LINE IDs to keep in touch. Rie was already in her account. The only one missing was Tsubasa's, which she was fine without.

Satisfied with their somewhat fruitful meeting, Kanae said her goodbyes. She smiled and gave her trademark peace sign over her eyes as the elevator doors closed.

"That girl is more idol than magical girl. I don't like her," Kari said, long after Kanae had descended in the elevator. Her cheeks ached from putting on a fake smile to return the gesture.

"You don't like anyone! Come on, we really need to work together to stop what's coming. It's like Candy's the only one you can really be friends with," Rocky complained.

"Can't explain it too well, but Kanae's got the look of a girl who thinks she's got someone fooled. I think she pulls off her charismatic act better on TV." Kari scowled at her slightly moistened hand from Kanae's sweaty handshake.

A girl who cameoed in films, conducted countless interviews, and spoke to the public on a weekly basis shouldn't have stage fright. She was nervous. The question was, about what?