Chapter 43: Codename: 'Purification'! Full-Scale Activation!
CRACK...
The space around the targeted point shuddered violently. A shimmering tear in reality appeared. The exit.
"GO!" Gin yelled, grabbing the wounded, struggling Vodka and shoving him toward the rift. The five of them—Gin, Vodka, Pinga, Chianti, and Korn—dove through the closing portal just as the last screams of their sacrificed comrades faded into silence. The rift snapped shut behind them, leaving the colossal, lonely form of Mitsuhiko's Witch to preside over its silent, desolate kingdom of despair.
They stumbled out onto the ravaged earth of Hachijo-jima, battered, bleeding, and shaken. Gin was the first to his feet. He looked at his ragged, depleted team, then back at the massive, pulsating Labyrinth. They had escaped, but at the cost of their entire magical girl support squad.
"Withdraw," he commanded, his voice a low growl. The mission was a catastrophic failure, but the Organization's work would continue.
Across the Pacific, in the shadowy depths of the Twilight Mansion, the data analysis of the global Witch transformations finalized on a massive screen. An ancient, rasping voice echoed in the darkness.
"The combat data... is sufficient."
"Too much noise... too many variables... they impede the path of destiny. And... they increase the cost of the final step."
"For the ultimate ascension of our civilization... to break free from this cradle..."
"And to lessen the immense karmic burden of the final wish... the path must be cleared."
"My great ambition... will not be denied. The weight of this world must be reduced."
"Codename: 'PURIFICATION'!"
"Effective immediately! Global scale! Full-scale activation!"
The order, imbued with an suffocating, absolute will, was instantly transmitted through untraceable channels to the Organization's worldwide network. In the corner of the dark room, next to the tall, stooped silhouette of the leader, the red eyes of a long-eared white creature glowed faintly.
Above the Sea of Japan, Gin received the encrypted directive. A cold, cruel, and utterly ecstatic smile spread across his face. "A new mission..."
"Boss?" Vodka asked, confused.
"Our target," Gin said, "is Tokyo. The Organization will provide us with a sufficient number of 'pawns'."
"Let's begin... for the Boss's so-called... evolution."
The Kudo Mansion.
The blinding blue light of the teleport faded. Conan, Ran, Kogoro, Sera, Dr. Agasa, Sonoko, Ayumi, Genta, and the few surviving independent magical girls stumbled onto the cold floor of the Kudo's secret basement shelter.
Haibara was on her knees, her arm still outstretched, as if trying to grasp something that was already gone. Her eyes were wide, vacant, and filled with a bottomless despair.
"Mitsu... hiko..." she whispered, her voice a broken, choked sob.
She was clutching the magically modified communicator. The screen was black, sparks sizzling from its cracked edges. The moment the teleport had completed, a sharp, static-filled shriek had burst from the device, and then... silence. The sound of a connection being severed. The final, terrible announcement of a Soul Gem shattering and a Witch being born.
"No... no... come back..." Haibara curled into a ball, pressing the dead communicator to her chest, as if she could still feel the last, fading pulse of his magic. He heard me. He heard me call his name. But he didn't come back. And he's never, ever coming back.
"Wha... AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" A raw, animalistic scream of pure agony was torn from her throat. Tears streamed from her empty eyes, soaking her face, her clothes. She bit her lip until it bled, her nails digging into her palms, her body wracked with violent, gut-wrenching sobs. The black corruption in her own silver Soul Gem began to spread at an alarming rate.
"Shiho!" Akemi cried out, rushing to her and holding her tight. "Shiho, calm down! Look at me! Shiho!"
Her sister's warmth, her voice, seemed to penetrate the fog of her despair, and the spread of the corruption miraculously halted. Akemi looked at her sister's broken, devastated face, and her heart shattered. If only... if only I could make a wish to Kyubey to take her place...
As if sensing her thoughts, Haibara grabbed onto her sister's shirt. "Don't..." she begged, her voice a raw whisper. "Please... don't leave me..."
"Shiho..." Akemi held her tighter, her own tears now falling freely. "You still have me..."
Dr. Agasa was openly weeping. Conan stood frozen, his face as white as a sheet, his fists clenched. Kogoro leaned against the wall, a cigarette trembling in his hand, the smoke hiding the complex emotions in his eyes. Ayumi, Genta, and the other magical girls were either sobbing quietly or staring into space, completely broken by the horrors they had just witnessed.
They had lost a friend. A comrade. Forever.
Suddenly, an alarm began to blare.