by Avell Kro
They seemed to be deep in an argument.
“You want me to miss track for . . . combat practice? ” the dark-skinned girl with dreadlocks
demanded.
“Did you see? Daniel looked at me in fourth period!” the pale-skinned girl with a brown ponytail
squealed, bouncing up and down as she walked.
Crimson Dragon and Green Fairy, Chronos identified them. She checked their futures to confirm
that, and corrected herself. Pink Dragon. The one in dreadlocks hasn’t changed her magical girl
form yet.
“You can’t deny we desperately need it,” the blonde-haired Kendra announced, looking straight at
the dreadlocked girl and ignoring the other one. “If we’re ever going to power up again, we need
to learn the meaning of teamwork —”
“I’m going to learn the meaning of teamwork in track, ” the other girl said, starting to march away.
Kendra seized her by the end of her long dreadlocks. “No, you’re not. This is important —”
“Felicity and Daniel, sittin’ in a tree!” the other girl burst out singing, oblivious to her friends’
disagreement. “K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes . . .”
She stopped, finally seeming to notice her friends’ heavy glares.
“What?” she asked, blinking.
***
It took a lot of effort to pry Florence away from her precious track practice, so Kendra was relieved
when they finally entered the ice cream parlor.
“Okay, here’s the deal,” Kendra said, sitting down at the nearest table. She tried to ignore the fact
that Felicity, who had insisted that they hold the meeting here, was now flipping through the menu
with avid enthusiasm rather than listening. “We haven’t had an arch-nemesis since we defeated
Queen Hemlock, and I think that’s made us go soft.”
“I hope you’re not suggesting we pick a fight with someone new,” Florence said sourly. “Isn’t
saving the world three times enough?”
“Of course it’s not!” Kendra snapped. “We still have power, hence responsibility! Besides, what’s
with this attitude? Wings of Justice was your idea!”
“Does anybody want to buy me ice cream?” Felicity’s voice poked in.
“Wel , no one said I’d have to stay Pink Dragon for the rest of my life, ” Florence said angrily.
“Adults can’t become magical girls!” Kendra snapped. “You won’t be doing this the rest of your life!
That’s why it’s all the more important to put all of your time and effort and emotional investment
into this now! ”
“Doesn’t anybody want to buy me ice cream?” Felicity’s voice asked tearfully.
“Oh, so you want me to be a washed up, former magical girl whose life revolves around her glory
days?” Florence asked bitterly. “You want me to be like your mother? ”
Kendra leapt to her feet in outrage. “YOU TAKE THAT BACK!”
Florence sneered and hopped up out of her chair and headed towards the exit. “Whatever. I’m late for track.”
“Florence! ” Kendra shouted.
But the door swung shut, and Florence was gone.
Kendra sat down, her fists clenching and unclenching in fury. She admired her mother. She wanted
to emulate her mother. Her mother had kept her magical girl powers until nineteen years old,
even though most girls outgrew them between sixteen to eighteen. That meant Kendra’s mother
had been so innocent, so pure, so good that the magic had still wanted her even that late. Even
now, her mother spoke about magic with reverence and regret.
Kendra had always known that she would one day be a magical girl. And she had always known
that she would be so good, so pure, so righteous that the magic would choose her to stay a wielder
of it past high school age. Just like her mother had.
She’d based her whole childhood around that. She could have become a magical girl much earlier,
but she had chosen to wait until she was twelve, so that she felt ready to do it right. She’d studied magical girls through history. She’d taken ballet and martial arts classes. She’d even learned
German, the language of the world’s first magical girl, so that she could read books about Sönnig in
her original language.
The only thing that had derailed her plans had been Florence, her best friend, who had insisted
that if Kendra was going to become a magical girl, she wanted to be one, too. And, not content
with that, she’d wanted to be a team.
Kendra’s jaw clenched. So I based my magical girl form around being part of a team. I can’t change
my powers to be an effective solo magical girl unless I power up — and it would be very difficult to do
that without her.
How could Florence, who was supposed to be her best friend, be so selfish? She’d insisted on
shoving her way into this part of Kendra’s life. Now she couldn’t just slack off or leave or quit.
Kendra came back to herself and realized Felicity was yammering something about Daniel and
yearbook photography.
“I’ll let you obsess in peace,” Kendra said, shoving her chair back and standing.
“Hey, why are you leaving?” Felicity asked blankly. She glanced around. “Where’d Florence go?”
Why did we ever let her win the audition to join our team? Kendra wondered, marching out of the
building.
Chapter Three: The Vision
Marching down the sidewalk, Kendra continued fuming. “Pick a fight with someone new,” she said .
. . and I don’t pick fights! The FBI assigned us to the drug lord, and Queen Hemlock and Dark
Deathzone attacked us first!
Okay, granted, Dark Deathzone was a minion of our first villain, and we started the fight with Dark
Deathwave when we mistook him for Dark Deathzone . . . but that’s not the same thing!
Villains really needed to learn to use more original names.
If she’d just listened, Kendra thought, frustrated, she would have seen that I had a terrific idea. This is just like that time we lost the Magical Girl Team of the Year competition to stupid Victory’s Bloom!
Kendra still blamed her best friend for that. Florence had insisted that they use a team pose
Kendra had known looked lame, and sure enough, they’d placed sixth. Meanwhile, the winning
team had completely imploded on stage when one of the girls had accused the team leader of
hogging all the power-ups and never letting the other two do anything useful in battle.
I mean, really! Kendra thought. Our magical girl forms even looked cooler! And who names their
magical girl form “Geranium,” anyway?! It had been two years since they’d failed to win the
competition, but the memory still rankled.
But Kendra was too mad about her current grievances to focus too long on an old one. Was it too
much to ask that Florence be in a good mood so that she could persuade her to let their team
volunteer as FBI aides again?
I don’t even know why she made us quit in the first place! Kendra thought indignantly. Wel . . . okay, I do know. Florence had gotten really mad when Kendra had killed their first assigned arch-nemesis instead of capturing him so that he could stand trial. But seriously, the guy had bribed
two judges and gotten off scot-free twice already. What other way would there have been to stop
the problem?
She’d claimed it was unethical to kill someone when you could have captured them. And sure,
Kendra had worried about that, too. But their handler at the FBI had explained to her that magical
girls weren’t bound by the same regulations as law enforcement officers, and that as long as her
magic continued to think she was worthy, she could take that as a sign that she was doing okay.
That was even one of the reasons magical girl aides were so helpful to law enforcement, he had explained.
But when Kendra had passed along this wisdom to Florence, she’d blown her top. She’d said that if
they didn’t quit helping the FBI, she’d quit the team.
But that was two and a half years ago, Kendra would have insisted. We’d have a different handler
this time, and anyway, there are some regulations about magical girl aides now.
She probably would have even managed to keep from adding, “Unfortunately.”
So really, how dare Florence not listen to her? This was something they needed to do, as a team!
Otherwise they’d keep stagnating!
Kendra became aware that someone was following her.
Without a pause in her stride, without stopping to think, she threw her arms in the air and
shouted, “Cream Angel . . . fledge! ”
Her body soared up into the air, and Kendra danced and flipped through the acrobats she had
choreographed for her transformation scene.
She’d tried to choreograph awesome ones for her teammates, as well, but noooo, they had refused
to use them. “That looks too difficult,” Felicity had complained, and Florence had said, “If you think
I’m doing anything but hiding while my clothes disappear, you’re dead wrong.”
Really, Kendra thought, grabbing her halo from the air as it appeared over her head, it’s like they’re missing the whole point of transforming. It’s not like anyone’s supposed to watch you. You’re just supposed to look cool!
The last of her angelic robes appeared and shot upwards into a double-layered short skirt, and a
red sash came from nowhere and tied itself around her waist. Kendra spread her fingers like the
wings of a bird of prey, and dove down at the villain who had been behind her.
The target tried to leap aside, but Kendra was too quick. She jabbed her halo against the villain’s
throat.
“Speak, vil ain! ” she shouted. “Why were you following me?”
“I just wanted to talk to you!” the villain exclaimed.
Kendra narrowed her eyes. “All right. Talk.”
“Well, first of all, I’m not a villain!” the villain said furiously.
Kendra snorted, but her arm didn’t waver. “I grant that you look more like a hobo, but that’s just a
disguise.”
“I do not!” the villain exclaimed. “I brushed and washed my hair, and I’m wearing a skirt! It isn’t
even dirty!”
Kendra wrinkled her nose, her arm still unwavering. “Well, it smells like something.”
“Mothballs!” the hobo shouted. “That’s the smell of mothballs!”
Kendra shrugged with the shoulder that was not holding the halo. “All right. Then who or what are
you?”
“My name is Chronos,” the hobo said. “I’m a born mage.”
Kendra snorted. “Which almost certainly makes you a villain.”
“It does not!” the hobo shouted. “Put that halo away!”
“I think I’ll hang on to it, thanks,” Kendra said dryly. “Why were you following me?”
The hobo straightened, and seemed to be making an attempt to sound mysterious. “Because of my
power. I can see the future.”
Kendra burst out laughing, her arm holding the halo falling to her side as she clutched her
stomach. This ludicrous hobo, with the power of an arch-villain? Oh, yeah, right!
“It’s the truth!” the woman shouted.
Snapping her halo back into a threatening position and wiping a tear away from her eye, Kendra
jeered, “All right, soothsayer. If you’re so smart, prove it.”
The woman looked annoyed. “I didn’t say I was smart; I said I could see the future. ”
It was all Kendra could do to keep from laughing again. She’d seen carnival fortune tellers claiming
that they had magical powers before, and those claims were beyond ludicrous. They were too old
to be magical girls, and too drab to be born mages, a.k.a. villains.
“Uh huh,” Kendra smirked. “Why don’t you just . . .”
“And you’ll want to stop that child from running into the street,” the woman added, pointing over her shoulder.
Kendra spun around and saw a small child running after a ball that was bouncing straight at the
road.
“Little girl! ” she shouted, sprinting after the kid.
Kendra’s wings flared as she shot forward and grabbed the girl and ball right before they hit the
street. A second later, a car raced around the bend three times faster than it should have been
going, right where the girl would have been.
Kendra’s heart beat wildly as she set the kid down and the kid ran off towards a sandbox. There
were parents everywhere, seeing as she had been walking right beside a playground, but
somehow, no one had noticed that this kid had run off.
Was it possible . . . was it feasible . . . that the hobo could see the future?
Or had this whole demonstration just been staged?
Kendra couldn’t decide. The two seemed equally likely.
“So,” the hobo said from a seated position. She was sitting on the sidewalk, despite the fact that it
was filthy and covered with sand. “Do you believe me?”
“Maybe . . .” Kendra said cautiously.
“What would convince you?” the woman asked.
“An explanation wouldn’t hurt,” Kendra said darkly. “Why were you following me?”
The born mage hobo shrugged. “I figured it was high time someone told you not all magical girls
are inherently good.”
“What?! ” Kendra shouted.
“You heard me.”
“That’s absurd! ” Kendra burst out, shoving her arms outward. “Everyone knows our magic only
works for the pure in heart!”
“Yes, I’ve heard the propaganda,” the woman said coolly. “It’s true a girl has to be young, innocent, and well-intentioned to become a magical girl. But I’ve studied the magic system since before you
were born. After gaining their powers, magical girls can become corrupt.”
Oh, that was what she was talking about. Kendra relaxed microscopically.
“Well, sure, but then they’ll lose their powers,” she said, as if speaking to an idiot. Her halo spun in
the air over her hand. “Just as if they’d grown too old or given them up willingly —”
“— or died,” the hobo finished for her. “But, Kendra, I think you’re missing something. Only death
or voluntary loss make magical girls powers vanish instantly.”
Kendra didn’t ask how the hobo knew her name. It wasn’t the first time a villain had figured out
her secret identity. She’d never gone to much effort to keep it hidden.
“Don’t be dumb,” Kendra said impatiently. “I’ve seen recordings of defectors. Their focus items
crumble, and they lose their transformations permanently!”
I mean, really, you couldn’t get much more instant than that. The second a magical girl declared
that she was turning to villainy, all her powers and costume and transformation vanished
immediately. And it wasn’t just defectors, either. When a magical girl quit for any other reason,
the results were the same.
“There are dark magical girls,” Kendra conceded. “Is that what you mean? But they’re
brainwashed by villains. When you take away the magic brainwashing them, they go back to
normal again. They’re still pure underneath.”
The hobo brushed away this comment as if it were irrelevant. “Well, obviously. But I meant real
magical girls. Like you. The kind who look completely harmless on the surface.”
Kendra bristled. If there was one thing she did not consider herself, it was harmless. She was
mighty and powerful. She was a strong force for good.
“You say you’ve seen recordings of defectors,” the hobo said. “It’s true that the news loves to
report those rare events. It looks so convincing, doesn’t it? The instant a girl decides to turn evil,
she loses her magic permanently.”
“Right,” Kendra said, nodding sharply. She was starting to feel irritated.
“Think it through, Kendra,” the hobo said. “A girl declares her intention to join the other side, then loses all her magic. The same thing happens with all defectors. But that isn’t because they’ve just
turned evil. It’s because they’re choosing to give up their magical girl forms after turning evil. Do you really think that anyone would make such a decision out of nowhere? In a split second? Do
you really think those people change drastically overnight?”
Kendra was starting to see red. “MAGICAL GIRLS DON’T TURN EVIL!”
“. . . And yet you assume all born mages do,” the hobo said. “Why are you so quick to judge my
people, and so quick to praise yours? Haven’t you ever heard the saying, ‘Power corrupts;
absolutely power corrupts absolutely’?”
“I wrote a paper on how that doesn’t apply to magical girls in fourth grade,” Kendra snapped.
The hobo looked unsurprised, then exasperated.
“Look, it’s been nice chatting,” Kendra said, starting to walk off, “but I have combat practice to
salvage, a best friend to chew out, and —”
“I didn’t come without proof, Kendra!” the woman interrupted. “Would you like to see it?”
Kendra hesitated.
Proof?
“All right,” Kendra said slowly, turning around.
The hobo held a hand out, cupping it, and images appeared. A pair of wings; a whip; a halo. Then
a ful scene appeared, tiny in the palm of her hand. The woman pinched it, and it stretched out
wide before them. Sound began to swel from it, too.