Chapter 40: Falling Stars
In the ruins of Hachijo-jima, Dr. Agasa trembled, staring at the pure white creature before him. Kyubey's voice echoed in the despairing chambers of his heart.
"What kind of miracle is your soul worth? State your wish."
"PROFESSOR, DON'T!" Conan's desperate scream was lost in the roar of an explosion that sent him tumbling. He could only watch, helpless, as Dr. Agasa reached for the creature. Ran and the others saw it too, but they were pinned down, unable to break through the relentless barrage of magic from Gin, Chianti, and Korn. Every attempt to advance was met with overwhelming force. All they could do was watch as Dr. Agasa slipped into the abyss.
Just then, a furious cry cut through the chaotic night sky. "STOP!"
A massive, brilliant beam of multi-colored light shot from the heavens, scything through the Black Organization's front line.
BOOOOOOM!
The explosion ripped through their formation, sending several of the Organization's magical girls flying and creating a momentary breach in their assault.
"Who's there?!" For the first time, a flicker of surprise crossed Gin's cold face.
A dozen figures were streaking through the night sky toward them, each one glowing with the light of a magical girl. Their power levels were varied, weaker than Ran's team or the Organization's elite, but together, they were a force to be reckoned with.
It was the independent magical girls of Japan. They had arrived.
The leader, a girl in a fiery red dress wielding a long spear, hovered in the air and blasted the Kyubey that was tempting Dr. Agasa. "You liar, Kyubey! We won't let you deceive anyone else!"
"And you!" another girl in blue armor shouted at the Organization's forces. "You call yourselves magical girls, using your power to harm innocents?! Our enemies are supposed to be Witches! We will not forgive you!"
Their eyes burned with a pure, righteous fury. They saw the civilians huddled behind Ran's failing shield, and they knew what they had to do.
"Everyone, protect the civilians! Take down these villains!" the girl in red yelled, and she was the first to charge.
The independent magical girls rained down a storm of attacks, and for a moment, the tide of the battle turned. Ran and her team, given a moment's respite, regrouped and joined the counterattack. It was a chaotic, desperate melee, the night sky lit up by a hundred clashing spells.
But the reality of the situation was cruel. They were up against the Black Organization, an army of killers. Gin's cold, tactical commands coordinated his forces into brutally efficient kill squads. Chianti and Korn's magic sniper rifles were like the scythes of death, their beams unerringly finding the independent magical girls who were trying to organize a defense or shield the civilians.
Pfft.
A girl in a green dress, who had just managed to ensnare an enemy with magical vines, suddenly froze. A cauterized hole had appeared in her chest, right where her Soul Gem had been. The gem shattered. The light in her eyes went out, and her body fell from the sky like a broken doll.
The first casualty.
The brutal, instantaneous death was a bucket of ice water on the fiery hopes of the independent magical girls. This wasn't an anime. This was real. You could really die.
Fear began to ripple through their ranks.
Pfft.
Another sniper beam, and the pink-clad magical girl who had been screaming her friend's name also fell, her Soul Gem shattered. One after another, the bright, hopeful lights began to wink out, their final, desperate cries lost in the din of battle. They were just students, most of them. They had never seen anything like this. Their attacks became hesitant, their formations broke, and the Organization's forces cut through them with ruthless efficiency.
Mitsuhiko watched, his body trembling. The girls who had arrived full of such righteous anger... they were just... gone. He saw the light leave their eyes, heard their last, terrified screams. The blue Soul Gem on his chest was now almost completely black, only a faint, flickering spark of blue remaining at its core.
Despair, black and absolute, threatened to swallow him whole.
But in that endless, suffocating darkness, a single, tiny spark of light began to glow in the depths of his eyes.
It was a light of insane, terrifying calm. The light of someone who was about to give up everything.