Earlier, the day after Enorme’s defeat…

  “Wake up, you maggots!” Magia Sulfur yells, as Azul and Magenta transform in front of her. “We’ve sent Enormita packin’, more or less, but they’ll be back soon enough. Alice’s mom looks like she’s just as tough as Auntie, so I wanna be sure we’re ready for it. I’ll be goin’ full La Verità on you both, so don’t hold anything back!”

  “Sir yes sir!” Azul yells, saluting to Sulfur. (Though, inwardly, she’s thinking, wouldn’t this approach work better with Leoparde –)

  (and then immediately, Azul dismisses that thought so she doesn’t have to think of Leoparde and Baiser together. Seeing them all lovey-dovey is bad enough…)

  “Sir yes sir!” Magenta snaps into her own salute. “Though, um…p-permission to speak freely?”

  “Heh. Always, Magenta.”

  “Shouldn’t we wait for Leo and Baiser to show up?”

  “Eeh, dumpling head said she’s lookin’ for Magia Baiser. She went and confronted Auntie st night, and she hasn’t seen her since –”

  “She’s not coming back.”

  Leoparde steps into the gde, all eyes on her, with a completely serious look on her face. Not a hint of her usual mood. “Not anytime soon, at any rate.”

  Just from seeing Leo like that, not a hint of her usual manic energy? All three of the Tres Magia know to expect the worst.

  “D-did…did Enormita get her?” Magenta asks. “Is she okay? With my new healing power, I’m sure we can help her!”

  “No, it’s not like that. She didn’t get into a fight or anything.” Leoparde shakes her head, wandering toward the waterfall, kicking some rocks into the spring. “Like I told ft-chest, she went back home – her civilian home, I mean. Confronted her mother. And somehow, she’s gone even crazier.”

  “Crazier?” says Sulfur. “She’s already fifty-two cards short of a full deck! How could it get any worse?”

  “Well, she was breastfeeding The Artist Formerly Known As Lord Enorme when Baiser walked in, so…”

  “Oh.” Sulfur grimaces at the mental image. (She doesn’t see how both Azul and Magenta blush at the idea.) “Okay, yeah, I see your point.”

  “It’s not surprising,” Vatz says as she hovers in. “The grief and grudges of an adult create terrifying power, but those same grudges warp their desires.”

  “Fuck off, mascot,” Leo mutters. “I’m not in the mood. Anyway, she’s deciding that she wants to be one big happy perverted lolicon family with her and Alice’s mom and Enorme and Alice as Baiser’s sisters and…and it just, it’s gone too far.”

  “But, she can still fight, right?” Magenta puffs her cheeks. “That’s just all the more reason to want to defeat her! So we can save her!”

  “Nah. She cracked her transformer. Crushed it so hard her hands bled, and then tossed it right into the Pacific.”

  “She…” Azul looks away. Could she really have…?

  “Can’t say I bme her.” Sulfur huffs. “That ma ain’t right. Even less right than her serial pervert of a daughter –”

  In mere seconds, Leoparde has closed the difference, and holds a pistol right to Sulfur’s head.

  “One more word, and I blow your brains out.”

  …everyone can feel it. Leoparde is sloppy, unserious, and pretty easygoing once you get to know her. Even her rivalry with Sulfur cked bite after that battle together. They wouldn’t call her a friend, exactly, but they knew what to expect of her.

  And now, it was gone.

  “I don’t care about any of you. You understand? That bitch hurt the most important thing in my world enough that she abandoned everything she loved. If any of you decide that Magia Baiser is just as bad, then I’ll be your enemy, too. Even if it costs me my life.”

  …

  …

  “…alright. You made your point.” Sulfur raises her hands. “Kinda jealous, though, I gotta admit. Magia Baiser’s got someone who cares that much for her, enough that she’d take on the whole world…”

  (Despite herself, Sulfur can’t help but look toward Magenta, for the briefest of moments.)

  “Okay, that’s, I know everything is very tense right now, but it’s time to continue training, right?” Magenta ughs nervously. “We’ve got a lot of work to do –”

  “You mean…Magia Baiser…she gave up being Magia Baiser?”

  Azul’s question, asked with trembling fear, draws everyone’s attention.

  “I can’t…I can’t believe it.”

  It was bad enough. It was bad enough, having to see Baiser and Leoparde like that. It was bad enough, knowing that she’d never be able to feel those hands around her neck, those toys upon her body. Knowing that even if she did, she would always be second best.

  And now, she’s not even Magia Baiser anymore?

  How could she? It’s like…it’s like Azul is invisible to her…

  “I don’t like it either!” Leoparde shouts at Azul, growling and spinning around in frustration. "In fact, I absolutely hate it! You think I wanted this? The way she smiles when she’s in full bloom, it’s the cutest thing in the world! It’s her passion! Her devotion!

  “But…but I love her, you know? I love everything about her. I love all the things I absolutely can’t tell any of you. All the things about her that aren’t Magia Baiser. If this is what it takes for her to feel safe, if she feels like she can’t stand up to her crazy bitch of a mom like that, then it’s my responsibility to support her. And, y’know, before today, I don’t think I’ve ever said the word ‘responsibility’ in my life, but…” Leoparde shrugs. "Love changes you. It’s not just about those moments of passion. It’s about carrying each other.

  “I can’t, even knowing how much is stacked against us, stand here and tell her to be Magia Baiser when she has to look at that hag. And if she’s never Magia Baiser again…you know? I’m okay with that. If that’s what it takes, that’s what it takes. Our love might’ve started in a weird pce, but it’s still real. And hey, my mom would never forgive me if I mistreated my fiancée, y’know?”

  Fiancée.

  “Fiancée? Really?” Magenta smiles brightly and cps her hands together. “That’s amazing! I didn’t think you two were taking such a big step already, you know?”

  “U-uh, yeah. It’s kinda, it’s not official. I mean, we’re too young for that. But that won’t stop my mom from making wedding pns…”

  Fiancée.

  “If nothing else, I guess you gals are made for each other.” Sulfur smiles and shakes her head. “Just don’t invite me to the wedding.”

  Just like that, Azul broke, and knew that she’d never be the same again. Just like that, Minakami Sayo knew that she’d never have what she want.

  And just like that, she remembered, the way Baiser’s mother treated her, and the promise those cable-tentacles held for her…

  And her friends didn’t even feel a thing.

  And Leoparde just stood there, taunting her.

  How could she do all this, and feel absolutely nothing? How could she look her in the eyes, like she hadn’t stolen away what Azul wanted most, before she even had the chance to realize what she wanted?

  How could she…

  “Heh.” Sulfur shrugs, Azul’s feelings completely missed. It was like she wasn’t even there. Like she wasn’t needed. Even Sulfur liked Leoparde better… “Like I’d invite you anyway, ft-chest –”

  “Hey!” yells a certain shadowy transformed heroine as she steps into the gde with her very best friend. “Change Leopardon! We need to talk to you!”

  “Don’t yell, Leberblume! They can hear you!”

  Another interruption. Another invasion of the Minakami Shrine. And quite possibly at the worst possible time, too.

  Needless to say, Leoparde and the Tres Magia were annoyed.

  With the presence of three transformed heroines, a whole cavalcade of weapons – spear, gun, and fist – are pointed toward the two invading vilins, Loco and Leberblume, both looking rather annoyed…and sheepish.

  “We’ve been chasing you all week!” yells Loco Musica, huffing and puffing. “You’re lucky we happened to be visiting the shrine when you arrived!”

  Huh, must’ve been untransformed, then, Leoparde thinks.

  “Last I checked, bitches, four was greater than two,” Leoparde yells. “And I’m already pissed at all of you, so just one word and, bang, pow, straight to the moon!”

  Looking at one another, Loco and Leberblume sigh. The former removes her hat, the tter removes her hood, and they both fall onto the ground in a deep, abiding dogeza.

  Once more, two former vilins abandon Victricia Baiser and surrender themselves to the mercy of the Tres Magia.

  Needless to say, they’re substantially less impressed this time around.

  “Again?!” Sulfur rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. “I mean, I don’t like Auntie any better than anyone else, but this is gettin’ a bit ridiculous. We’re gonna run out of proper vilins at this rate.”

  “You’re an embarrassment,” Leoparde mutters, lowering her guns. “Seriously, show some dignity. You’re vilins, not maids.”

  “Hey, we’re victims too!” Leberblume shoots up, raising her fist. “That bitch Mommy Fucker is a worse boss than the Bed of Ch*os!”

  “Right. Victims.” Sulfur rolls her eyes. “That’s exactly why it took you so long to come to us.”

  “W-well, we had some stuff going on…” Loco looks aside. “You know, civilian stuff. My dog fell down a well, and then ate Leber’s homework.”

  With that me excuse, the only person not giving a withering stare is the ever-trusting Magenta.

  “Uh-huh,” says Sulfur. “Lemme guess. You took the money and ran, then you blew through all of it, and now that you’ve run out you’ve realized maybe it’s a bad idea to let your old bosses take over the world? How fuckin’ noble of you!”

  Magenta raises a finger, attempting to protest, but she quickly notices the sheepish looks and attempts at deflecting attention from the duo; even for her, that’s more or less an admission of guilt. “How’d you know, Sulfur?” she asks.

  “…well, they’re losers, so I can’t imagine Auntie wanted them around.” Sulfur shrugs and smirks as she stares down the pair. “Two and two always makes four, you know? Doesn’t take a genius to figure you gals out.”

  “Ugh!” Leberblume tries to leap forward, with Loco barely restraining her. “Fuck you! 1v1, Iron Keep, right now –”

  “But, lucky you, we need all the help we can get. Ain’t payin’ ya though, until you work off your debt. Most of that money’s stolen from Vatz’s little nest egg in the first pce, you know?”

  “Don’t mess with ft-chest, girls.” Leoparde grins and snickers. “Besides, I think I outrank you now~”

  Loco and Leberblume sigh, reluctantly, and admit defeat. Neither of them are great people, and they’d be the first to admit it, but they also know it’s not the time to argue against the transformed heroines that took down Lord Enorme. World domination would be bad, because they live there, and it’s starting to look like a distressingly realistic prospect.

  “Fine, fine, whatever.” Leberblume sighs, and stands up, dusting herself off. “I don’t care about the money, anyway. I just care about seeing Victricia dead.”

  “You’re not killing my fiancee’s mom,” says Leoparde. “…but I understand what you mean. I’d sure like to wipe the smug grin off the old hag’s face, at least.”

  “Hey, aren’t there supposed to be three Tres Magia?” says Loco, as she puts her hat back on. “Where’s the blue one?”

  “…”“…”

  Leoparde and Sulfur look at one another. And then look all around. No sight of Azul whatsoever.

  …evidently, Azul had wandered off without anyone noticing. Highly unusual for her, a girl who takes her duties deadly seriously. Sulfur and Magenta know that sometimes she has to do shrine duties, but she’s not scheduled for that today.

  “Is it that big a deal?” Loco tips her head to the side. “Even magical girls need to take bathroom breaks, right?”

  “Without tellin’ us?” says Sulfur. “No way.”

  “It is pretty weird, ft-chest. She’s got such a stick up her ass that I didn’t even think she’d need a bathroom break.”

  “Funny, though, dumpling head, that she’d disappear right when these two gals arrived –”

  “W-we just got here!” Loco yells. “She wasn’t here when we stepped in!”

  Everyone looks around awkwardly, uncertain how to expin the disappearance of the most dutiful magical girl, and they start bickering and accusing one another, pulling out weapons and arguing about it all, until…

  “Huh. I think Azul’s just worried about Baiser, you know? Since she’s got a crush on her at all.”

  With that casual little decration by Magia Magenta, tossed off as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, everyone immediately stops bickering and jostling and stares right at her.

  “Eh?” She blinks. “Did I say something wrong?”

  Needless to say, no one expected to hear that. Least of all Magia Sulfur.

  “I’m sorry, what? Azul’s…what?” asks Sulfur. “Her? What the fuck are you talking about, Magenta?!”

  “Didn’t you notice, Sulfur? I thought it was pretty obvious. I just figured, y’know…it’d be awkward to bring up?” Magenta presses her fingers together. “Since Leoparde and Baiser are dating. I didn’t think it’d be right to ask, so I didn’t pry.”

  The other transformed heroines all look at one another awkwardly, as Magenta smiles brightly, apparently completely unaware of the deeper implications of Magia Azul having a crush on a woman who was, not too long ago, their sworn and eternal enemy. A woman who, until recently, was performing acts of sexual harrassment and assault upon all of them.

  Kiwi knew, though.

  Kiwi didn’t like thinking things through. It just wasn’t very fun. Life wasn’t something to take seriously; her mother always taught her that life is meant to be enjoyed. ‘The Goddess gave us just one life to live’, she’d say.

  But when she had to, she was pretty good at it.

  And all it takes is a few moments of thinking of all those times they’d fought, the way Azul reacted to being toyed with, and the way Azul acted in training. The way she avoided their gaze. Kiwi’s honestly ashamed of herself for not seeing it earlier. God, she’s an idiot! Sure, she isn’t going to give Utena up to anyone, least of all a member of the Tres Magia, but all that PDA surely drove Azul mad!

  It’s just an infatuation, though – Azul might know Baiser, but she doesn’t know Utena. It’s just sexual, just a little crush. Which wouldn’t be a problem as such, but then Kiwi remembers what happened when Victricia got her stupid fucking tentacles on Azul, how she reacted then, and…

  Oh, god. She’s totally gonna…

  And with that, Leoparde immediately starts running off. Magia Azul’s way faster than she is, and she’s got one of Vatz’s stealth devices, but hopefully she can find her before…

  “Hey, wait! We’re not done training yet!” Magenta reaches out, and rushes off toward Leoparde, following her out of the gde. “Don’t just leave us like this! Where are you going?”

  “To stop Magia Azul from doing something really stupid.”

  Magenta doesn’t really get it, but Leoparde looked determined, so she nods and runs after her. Loco and Leberblume start to follow, but before they can move, they’re both grasped in Sulfur’s giant fists.

  “H-hey, let us go!” Loco squirms in Sulfur’s grasp. “Don’t you think we should all go after her?”

  “Uh-uh. You two are stayin’ where I can keep an eye on you. Gotta have someone holdin’ the fort down in case Enormita attacks, and sadly, you losers are all we got.” Sulfur chuckles. “Dumpling head knows Magia Baiser better than anyone, and Magenta always knows the right thing to say to make things right…so assumin’ they can catch up, those two should be more than capable of talking her down.”

  “Ugh, maidenless cunt,” mumbles Leberblume, as they both squirm in Sulfur’s grasp. “You’re almost as bad as Mommy Baiser.”

  “Really? Then you’d both better do what I tell you, because I can always be worse than Auntie.~”

  Magia Magenta, on the other hand, keeps rushing toward Leoparde. It won’t be difficult to catch her, at least. It’s no good for Leoparde to rush off alone –

  “Magenta! Wait!”

  And then, Magenta is stopped by Vatz, floating in front of her, holding a padded jewelry box.

  “Vatz! I’m sorry, but I really need to go after her! I don’t know what she’s thinking, but if she’s worried about Azul, I need to go too!”

  “Yes, that’s exactly why! I need you to get this to Leoparde, Magenta.” Vatz holds out the box, and Magenta takes it in her hands. “I…haven’t told Vena about it, and she’s not going to be happy, but this goes to Magia Baiser. Or at least, whoever Magia Baiser really is.”

  “To Magia Baiser? But she’s quit, hasn’t she?”

  “…the higher-ups aren’t happy about it, but I pulled a couple of strings. I’m not willing to let rules and regutions cause humanity to go extinct!”

  Magenta peeks into the jewelry box, and her eyes go wide. “Wait, this is –”

  “I thought something like this might happen, so I had this prepared, just in case. It’s the only one I have left right now, Magenta; be sure it gets into the right hands. The fate of the world depends on it!”

  Magenta csps the box shut, and nods in determination. Things may have started out weirdly enough, but now she knows that Magia Baiser isn’t a bad person – just like she always suspected.

  If anyone deserves this, it’s her.