Olivia

It was a struggle to keep my smile up in front of white as my two ‘hostages’ walked out the door with Violet and Red. In truth, they were just ooze clones - eating up the store’s inorganics had given me a ton of extra mass to work with, and I’d put it to good use creating and controlling those dummies. 

Unfortunately, they were kinda hard to control from a distance. It got even worse when the doors closed behind them - it was all I could do just to keep them in their proper shape. Hopefully the other magical girls wouldn’t get too suspicious by the lack of dialogue - I mean, ooze wasn’t exactly known to speak in the first place…

“Well?” White Heart pressed, tapping her foot against the ground. “You wanted to talk to me alone, didn’t you?”

“Completely alone,” I replied, putting on a bright smile. “That means no crystal listening in - but don’t worry, Chrys will keep your little crystal occupied.”

If by occupied you mean shut down! Just don’t let your guard down, alright? You’ve seen how these girls can get when they’re off their leashes.

“No friends,” White Heart said, “no crystal… Why are you so determined to get me alone? To interfere with our teamwork?”

“Actually… I was hoping we could talk,” I said, sighing. “Believe it or not, I’m not actually the bad guy - or girl? Whatever. I’m not the bad girl here.”

“Could have fooled me,” White replied, arching an eyebrow. “Possessing people, taking hostages, wrecking stores…”

“Look… it’s a long story… but could you at least hear me out? Violet wouldn’t even let me get a word in on the subject, and Red kinda went crazy, so you’re my last chance at actually peacefully resolving everything.”

What I didn’t say was that if things went wrong again I planned to give up on the diplomatic approach for good. I didn’t know if it was the crystal’s interference, or just the girls’ twisted personalities, but so far my every attempt had gone horribly wrong. Honestly, I kinda expected this attempt to go the same way, but then…

 “…Alright,” White Heart said. “Explain.”

“…Wait, really? You’re not going to go crazy and start shooting at me for no good reason?”

“Why in the world would I do that?”White Heart asked, frowning at me. “We’re both clearly perfectly civilized beings. Why wouldn’t we talk?”

“I…”

Careful, Olivia! It could be a trap.

My brow furrowed at that, but I shook the thought off. What sort of trap involved talking? Even my distant connection to the clones was enough for me to tell that the two magical girls hadn’t moved.

“Well?” White Heart asked. “Are you planning to talk or not?”

“Sorry, I just… it’s such a relief to finally be able to just talk, you know? Especially with a magical girl. I mean, an actual magical girl! It’s so exciting, I could just…”

“Ah-hem?”

“R-right…” I trailed off, blushing. “So, look. I’m not really some sort of alien ooze queen, or whatever.”

“Alien?” White asked, arching an eyebrow. “Are you implying that the ooze comes from space?”

“No, that’s… I’m trying to say I’m just a normal person! Or I was until my crystal got corrupted in the middle of our contract binding or whatever that was… Now I’m all ooze but I’m still a person underneath! I don’t actually want to fight you! And I’m betting you don’t want to fight me either! It’s just those crystals messing with your heads…”

“Messing with our heads?” White asked. “What do you mean?”

“Well, according to Chrys, they suppress parts of you. Stuff they don’t want you to feel. Don’t you feel different with yours being silent?”

“Not really,” White Heart replied, shrugging. “But then, I don’t think Heartemedies needs to worry about me in that regard. I’ve always been quite strict with myself - never letting my baser tendencies get the better of me.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, a little confused. Wasn’t she taking this a little too well?

“I mean that Heartemedies hasn’t changed my mind in the slightest,” White said. “I’d have noticed.”

“Well, they sure as hell changed the others! You should have seen how Red got when her crystal shut down…”

“Of course. Violet is a being of anger, at her core, while Red is someone who cares so much about those around her that it’s almost smothering. It makes sense they would need a strict hand in order to keep them in line. Though, really, Heartie could do a better job with Violet in particular, I think. Assuming what you’re saying is true.”

“Why don’t you seem that worried about this!?” I demanded.

“Because it’s only natural for higher beings to control those lower than them,” White Heart replied, shrugging. “Think of all the harm those two might cause with their power if they weren’t in some way restrained… I shudder to think what they might get up to.”

“That’s… the crystals gave them that power to begin with!”

“Well, perhaps they could have picked better,” White Heart admitted, “but there’s something to be said for making use of the refuse, don’t you think? People who would have been problems for society have instead become productive members… it’s wonderful, when you think of it.”

“You… You’re crazy…”

“Crazy?” White Heart asked me. “Is it crazy to want the best for my teammates? To want them to be at their best, working beside me?”

“Yes!”

“Then call me crazy,” White Heart replied with a shrug. “But I’ll be calling you dead.”

“D-dead?” What the hell? Was this really one of the magical girls I’d spent my whole life looking up to?

“Of course. You’re a risk. I don’t even need my crystals to tell me that…” White Heart lifted her wand, its tip glowing brightly. “The way you can shut down our crystals, and put my teammates out of order…”

“But that’s Chrys’s doing!”

“I suppose it is,” White agreed. “But I doubt I can extract her from you without you dying, so I’m afraid you’ll both have to go.”

“You…”

Before I could say anything, her wand unleashed a beam that cut though my chest and obliterated my heart.

***

Rachel

***

Standing at the forefront of a spectating crowd, I wondered at the strange twists of fate that had brought me here. To a Martymart, where a girl I kinda liked was terrorizing my former teammates. All three of them, seemingly, which was impressive considering two of them were standing outside. I didn’t know what sort of trick Olivia had pulled to split herself like that, but…

“Ugh…” What was I even doing here? According to the plan I should have driven off somewhere and come back to pick up Olivia later, but instead I’d left the car and come here… as if my presence could actually make a difference in whatever crazy plan Olivia had come up with this time.

I was on the verge of turning around and slinking back to my car when it happened - the copies of Olivia in front of the doorway went stiff, and then fell apart, turning into indistinct piles of goo on the floor. People screamed, dancing backwards, but I just stood there staring, not understanding what had happened. What this meant. What Olivia was planning.

Then the door opened. “Get your ass in here and help me contain her! She collapsed into goo after I got her, but if we don’t eradicate every trace of her there’s no telling if she’ll come back.”

Red and Violet shared a look. 

“Why don’t you go and help with eradicating what’s inside, dear?” Red suggested. “I’ll take care of this mess."

“There’s two of them, though,” Violet pointed out. “What if they do something to you?”

“It seems fairly clear the real deal was inside, doesn’t it?” Red pointed out. “Go ahead and take care of it. If I run into any trouble, I’ll help you.”

Violet hesitated a moment, before glaring at the crowd.

…No, not at the crowd. At me. The only idiot who hadn’t stepped back. “You! You’ve got guts, staring at us like that. If that goo starts moving, I want you to run in and get me, no matter what, alright?”

I stared, my mouth opening and closing for a moment, with no sound coming out.

“I said alright?!”

“A-alright,” I promised, forcing a smile as my former teammate glared at me. Not because I was special, not because she recognized me, but because I was too much of an idiot to back up like everyone else and mingle with the crowd.

My response was apparently all Violet needed from me, because after getting it she simply turned around and strode into the building. At the same time, Red bent down, drawing her wand and using it to poke at the puddle of goo at her feet.

“You might want to back up,” she warned me with a friendly smile. There was something fanatical in her eyes, though. “This one’s about to be erased from existence… unless she chooses to put up a fight, instead of simply playing dead at my feet?”

There was a moment of silence. Then the puddle of ooze rippled, lifting up and taking on a form I knew well - Olivia, in all her purple glory.

“How’d you know I was here?” she asked, frowning. She probably meant it to look intimidating, but it was honestly more like a cute pout from my perspective. She really should have taken on some more regal features if she was going to pull the queen bit.

More importantly, though… “You’re alive?”

“More or less,” Olivia replied, shrugging. “Turns out I can swap my consciousness through ooze under my direct control!”

“Though only when there’s no obstacle, hmm?” Red added. “You didn’t come to inhabit this puddle until after the door opened.”

Olivia, wisely, kept her mouth shut at that.

Personally, I wanted to yell at her for talking about her abilities in front of her enemies at all but I was caught short by the look Red was giving me.

“Are you the one who interrupted my fun with my dear Violet Queen last time?” she asked.

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

“I really should thank you, you know,” she murmured. “I wasn’t quite myself at the time… All those naughty impulses running through me - I can honestly only half remember it all, but I know I would have done something I’d regret if not for you… Still, it’s a naughty girl who helps the enemy, you know.”

“…What are you going to do with me?”

“Nothing,” she replied. “Other than remembering your face. I figure I owe you one, from last time, still - and you, too, Violet Queen… I truly was dreadful to you, after all…”

“So… you’re saying we’re free to leave?” Olivia interjected. “Just like that?”

“Just like that,” Red agreed. “I’ll tell the others you overpowered me. It’s only a one time deal, though!”

“Right…” I muttered. Something was off about this. That much was obvious. But what was I supposed to do? The woman could magically obliterate me in a heartbeat. Hell, she wouldn’t even need to use magic - she could probably just punch me out.

So, I did the only thing I could.

I walked back to my car, Olivia trailing behind me, and got into the driver’s seat. Then, with one last look in the rearview mirror, I drove out. Trying very hard not to notice the fact that Red was smiling and waving at me the whole damn time.

Things were going fine. 

Everything was going to be okay.

…Right?

***

Red

***

Are you really letting them go?

“Of course not!” I replied, still smiling and waving at the traveling car. “We’re going to follow them. Or rather, you are - you can access the traffic cameras, right?”

…Of course. But why let them go in the first place?

“To see where they’ll lead us, of course,” I replied. It definitely wasn’t that I simply wanted to know more about the Violet Queen. Like where she lived. Where she slept. What she ate…

That would be ridiculous.

Princess_Kay

Wrote this when I had insomnia, which might explain why I don't recall much of note about the chapter... That, or the fact that it's just been a while and time is soup. One of the two!

To be honest, I haven't had much drive for this story as late - my focus has mostly been on My Own Villainess. At the same time, though, I know this is the second most popular of the series I'm currently writing so... I really do wanna deliver for the fans, at least.

Still, we'll see how it goes? I'm maybe handing focus over to a... uh. Headmate of mine. (I might be plural. Don't worry about it. Point is someone in this head will be writing it.)

As a side note, you can - as always - read two chapters ahead on Patreon for as little as $1! You'll get to read two chapters ahead on pretty much all my other series, too~!