W-wait, I can’t just…this is Uzume, right? The girl who gave me that Iron Valiant model? But my parents…

“Um, h-hi, Uzume!” Shiori Panic, Shiori Panic, Shiori Panic! “A-akatsuki Uzume Imanis, right? W-what a pleasant surprise! Um, is Hikari doing okay?”

“Yeah, she’s doing alright.” Uzume gives this, absolutely gorgeous smile. “But she said she was worried about you, and she’s got too much work to do over break, so here I am!”

“O-oh, yes, that makes sense!” Oh no, oh gosh, oh dear…tentacling Hikari seems to have not caused any problems, but now I’ve got a problem because her best friend is trying to pick up a high school girl!

“So, uh, we can wait a little bit if you need to change, I know I showed up a bit early, but are you down? I know you like the aquarium!”

It’s an aquarium! A lesbian aquarium date! T-this is completely irresponsible! I shouldn’t say yes! But I’m going to anyway because oh just look at her she’s like a goddess

Shiori Panic

“Um. Yes? I would love to see some very wet animals, which I feel a very strong kinship with both in general and also right now specifically!”

Oh. Oh dear. I said yes before even thinking about it! Shiori Panic is dangerous! But she’s just very attractive and I kind of want her to wrap her legs around my head and make me eat her out! She seems like a very, um, ‘dominant’ kind of girl! The kind of girl your mother warned you about! Er, that is, the rhetorical ‘your mother’, not my mother personally, whose only warning for me about girls would be to not date girls –

“Great! I’ll be waiting out here, just let me know when you’re done.”

…right. Let me just close the door and scream internally

…

…

…that’s better.

“Asuka-chan~”

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Kagoshima, Horii Asuka has someone else to protect. To ensure nothing bad happens to. To ensure she cannot fall to evil.

(In reality, it’s nothing so simple as that. No, Asuka’s feelings are something she doesn’t quite understand herself.)

…all the magical girls know of the Princess Pure’s prophecy: that the kaiju are the harbinger of the ‘leaderess of the forces of evil’ who will emerge to fight the magical girls. Asuka has seen it, even before it happened right in front of her, that her precious friend Shiori is corrupted by darkness and becomes the Astral Queen Maledicta. Despite Asuka’s warning, Shiori went on the same ferry and became that Leaderess of darkness…

But as an old movie once said, there is another.

At the beginning of spring break, as if awakening from a deep somnesence, Asuka’s entire world changed dramatically as memories of forgotten futures opened up to her. Futures where the magical girls fought a grand war over the fate of Kagoshima…and of the world.

Because of this, Asuka learned of the second prophecy, one as yet unknown to anyone but her: that lo, from the ranks of the girls touched by magic, will come a Queen of Magic, who will create the Golden Millennium of eternal peace over the Earth.

Right here, right now, Asuka is right next to that girl, Miyamoto Kasumi, who once awakened to the greatest power of all.

(“Asuka-chan, is something wrong?” Kasumi asks, as she takes Asuka’s hand. T-this is just, to protect her, right? There’s nothing to be embarrassed about; it’s simply Kasumi’s way of expressing her friendship!)

(“…nothing you need to worry about,” says Asuka.)

(“Really? You’re always so…gallant! It’s something I really like about you.”)

(…it’s definitely just to protect her!)

The Queen of Magic will unite the entire world under her banner; there will be no quarrels between nations, and all banners and races and creeds shall pay fealty to her. She will lead a final victory against the forces of darkness, with all of the magical girls of the world kneeling to her as her resplendant knights, and once the last of the space monsters is defeated, the eternal utopia of the Golden Millennium will begin.

And yet…

The Astral Queen Maledicta will stop at nothing to corrupt this beautiful, pure, radiant future!

Once, when Asuka was the Queen of Magic’s most faithful knight, Maledicta brought down Santa Rosa’s rule from within, corrupting her own team of magical girls to drown Ultimate Kagoshima in ink! Another time, Maledicta corrupted Kasumi into a depraved presence, her consort of darkness, who used depraved powers to control minds. Yet another, the worst of all, Maledicta made beloved Kasumi a mere servant, just another in her endless army of corrupted magical girls stained black! Only once has Asuka escaped Maledicta’s clutches, but only to lead a doomed rebellion against the forces of darkness, only once can she remember.

(“You like crepes, don’t you, Asuka-chan?” asks Kasumi, as she leads Asuka through Fujisaki’s shopping arcade. Asuka was always so jealous, of how Kasumi could see something she wanted and pursue it to the ends of the earth.)

(“Ah…of course,” says Asuka. In truth, she has no real opinion on crepes, but she’ll follow Kasumi anywhere!)

The worst part is…somewhere, in the back of Asuka’s mind…

“Don’t you want to ink?”
“You would look so good with your eyes blank and waiting for commands.”
“It’s your place to kneel and surrender yourself.”

well, never mind such thoughts. After all, Asuka has such powerful thoughts of justice, that burn away any doubts in her mind.

“Protect the Queen. Create the Queen. Everything, for Kasumi.”
“Bring Shiori salvation. Free her from the darkness.”
“No matter what it takes, fight for our perfect future of the Golden Millennium!”

It’s a miracle, that Asuka has a chance, this time, to make things right. There are some aberrations compared to her fractured future memories, but perhaps that’s just the nature of whatever form of time travel gifted her these memories. Thanks to her training under the Queen, Asuka’s skill with her magic has greatly increased compared to where it was before.

(“Asuka, let’s go sit down in the park! I’ll get us some boba, okay?”)

(“Ah, if you like,” Asuka says, flipping back her hair to hide her true thoughts. It’s a risk, but Asuka can’t be in two places at once; she needs to watch over Kasumi, to ensure she awakens to her true power and doesn’t fall prey to Maledicta!)

…of course, Asuka knows Shiori isn’t truly evil. That she’s being manipulated by the dark forces that the space monsters emerged from: the concept Maledicta and her allies once called ‘the Source’. Some kind of malevolent force within the dark fluid and the laws of gravitation, a ‘Great Attractor’ that seeks to drown humanity in darkness. Whatever the nature of that true enemy is, Shiori is subject to its impulse; to surpass entropy and return the universe to a singularity. The Astral Queen Maledicta is an enemy of the world itself!

Kasumi and Shiori, before being magical girls, are Asuka’s dearest friends. It pains Asuka to isolate Shiori and brand her an enemy of the magical girls, but it’s the only way to prevent Maledicta from building enough power to match Kasumi’s potential. After all, the only way to purify Shiori, to finally free her from this madness, is with Kasumi’s true power as the Queen of Magic! Thus, Asuka has two tasks, and is forced to prioritize between them: try and prevent Shiori from gaining too much power and allies, and to ensure Kasumi’s safety and awakening as the Queen.

As long as Shiori is Maledicta, she is an enemy of Asuka’s, but…

With Kasumi’s hand in her own, Horii Asuka reaffirms her silent oath: as long as she’s alive, this world will never return to the Source!