Katherine, Noh, Kabuki and Kitty stared up at the night sky as Kuro’s black hole disappeared from the lake horizon behind the castle.

“Where’d the dark swirly thing go?” Noh and Kitty asked in perfect sync.

Kabuki and Katherine gave each other a quick glance before nodding and turning back to look at the sky.

“Jackie…” Katherine began.

“She did it.” Kabuki finished.

“You mean,” Noh said, “Kuro’s gone? Jackie killed her?”

Katherine smiled. “It seems that’s the case.”

Kitty wrapped her tiny arms around the older cat girl as Noh wrapped his burly arms around the other mask-wearing man.

“We did it!” Kitty cheered.

“Looks like everything can start to go back to normal…” Kabuki sighed.

“Come,” Katherine said, pointing to the spire that housed Luna and Sumire, “let’s go congratulate Jackie!”

 

“I don’t need you anymore,” Luna leered, still pointing her gun down towards Sumire’s head. “You did this to me. And now you’ll pay for your sins.”

BLAM! In the blink of an eye Sumire opened a portal in front of her face as Luna fired the Magic Gun, opening another vortex behind Luna’s back and redirecting the blast through it. As Katherine, Noh, Kabuki and Kitty entered the tower, they saw Luna being blasted away from the bloodied Sumire with the teleported magic from the tengu’s own firearm.

“Miss Sumire!” Katherine cried, running up to the witch and lending her master her feline hand to lift her off the ground. “What’s going on?”

“Luna…” Sumire spluttered, “Defeating Kuro’s made her too powerful. She’s a mary sue. Completely out of control.”

Kitty’s body radiated a purple glow as Luna’s gun flew out of her hand and into the young maid’s paws.

“No, Kitty, d-don’t!” Sumire shouted. “All of you: stay back! Don’t use your powers! Luna can copy all of-”

As if to prove a point, Luna’s body glowed a bright violet as the champagne bottle flew off Kuro’s table and shattered against the back of Sumire’s head with an almighty CRACK!

“Ow!” Sumire screamed, spitting up more blood as Luna lifted herself off the wooden floor and stumbled over to the group. “Katherine,” the tengu growled, “leave Sumire Shakespeare here and go. I’ve got unfinished business with her.”

“Jackie,” the French maid pleaded, “snap out of it! You can go home now! You saved Phantasia!”

“Are you…” Luna questioned, “Are you challenging me?”

“K-Katherine’s not ‘challenging’ anyone!” Katherine insisted.

“There is no Jackie anymore! I am Luna Wolfe, the most powerful demon in all of Phantasia! Now bow before me and leave!”

Katherine looked back to Noh, Kabuki and Kitty before looking to the injured witch in her arms.

“D-Do as she says…” Sumire groaned.

Katherine gently placed Sumire on the ground off the stage, getting on her knees and holding her arms out before bending over in a bow. Noh, Kabuki and Kitty followed Katherine’s lead and bowed before the cruel tengu.

“That’s more like it!” Luna cackled. “Now leave me be!”

“What about Miss Sumire?” Kitty innocently asked.

Luna glared at the little kitten girl and grinned from ear to ear, “Why, I’ll kill her of course!” she beamed.

Everyone’s eyes widened in terror at the lupine tengu’s declaration of murderous intent.

“Y-You can’t!” Katherine pleaded, “What about going home?!”

“You gave me a reason to stay, remember?” Luna winked. “When I’m done here, you and Noh can both become my minions…” she paused, “And, who knows, maybe more than just minions?” she winked.

“Um, actually…” Noh muttered, “I’m with Kabuki now. S-Sorry.”

Luna crossed her eyes angrily and snatched the Magic Gun out of Kitty’s hands with the psychic powers she had mimicked from the very same girl. She pointed the gun in Kabuki’s face and frowned. “Who’s the ‘boyfriend-stealer’ now, Mishima?” she growled, shooting Kabuki directly in his single eye.

“MY EYE!” Kabuki shrieked, “I was right about you! You really are a piece of sh-”

BLAM! Kabuki’s lifeless body fell back into his new boyfriend’s arms as Luna fired a second shot.

“KABUKI!” Noh screamed in angst, “WAKE UP! KABUKI!”

“H-He…” Katherine stuttered as Kitty hid behind her back, “H-He’s dead, Noh…”

“No!” Noh trembled, “H-He’s gonna open his eye any second now and tell me to ‘man up’ or something!” The werewolf looked down to Sumire. “R-Right, Shakespeare?!” his voice cracked.

“W-We have to leave this place,” Katherine trembled, tears welling up in the corner of her eyes. “L-Leave Kabuki, M-Miss Sumire, L-Luna a-and J-Ja-Jackie…”

“How can you say that?!” Noh cried, “After all we’ve been through! All we’ve done to protect the hamlet… To protect Phantasia!”

Katherine wrapped her right arm around Noh, throwing the crying loup-garou over her shoulder and walking towards the tower’s exit.

“K-Kitty,” Katherine trembled, trying to hold back her tears, “follow Katherine. We’re leaving.”

Kitty looked at Kabuki’s corpse and Sumire with a confused expression. “Bye-bye, Miss Sumire! Bye-bye, Mister Kabuki!” the girl beamed, following the older cat woman and Noh out the doorway.

Luna held out her glowing purple hand towards the doorway as the wooden door glowed a matching color and slowly closed behind the three other demons. “Now, Shakespeare, it looks like it’s just you and me…” Luna smiled.

“No,” Sumire smirked, as a vortex appeared on the spot where she was lying, “it’s just you.” She winked as she sunk into the stone floor.

Luna scowled as Sumire and her portal slowly disappeared before her very eyes. “Hmph,” Luna grunted, “You couldn’t just let me take over Phantasia without a fight, could you, Shakespeare?” The kinkind folded her arms and sighed, looking towards the two halves of Lady Kuro’s body in the spotlight.

“The show must go on…” she grinned, turning back to the spire’s entrance and raising her glowing hand towards it.

 

As Kitty and Katherine (still carrying Noh over her shoulder) crossed the bridge, Kitty dropped the middle section back to the ground below.

“You can’t…” Noh sniffed, “You can’t just leave them…”

“What other choice do we have?” Katherine groaned, barely managing to keep a hold of the struggling werewolf.

As the cat girls and wolfman entered the other spire to descend the stairs and leave the castle, they found themselves enveloped in a familiar purple void. They looked around in confusion, as the stone room gradually shifted into a tatami room.

“We don’t have much time,” a voice said, “Luna’s going to find me here eventually.”

“Miss Sumire!” Kitty beamed, running up to her master and giving her a big hug.

“B-But Miss Sumire,” Katherine stammered, dropping Noh on the tatami floor, “I thought you wanted us to leave you?!”

“Pfft!” Sumire chuckled, “I only said that so that I could sneak away when Luna least expected it!” She looked to the three demons with a determined stare. “Now,” she smiled, pointing into the corner of her tatami room once again and opening another portal, “I made a promise to someone and I don’t intend to break it!”

“W-What promise?” Noh groaned, pushing himself to his feet.

“We’re taking young Jackie back home!” the witch beamed, “Now then… Who’s with me?”