glitchdoka episode 6

Sora pushed himself up into a sitting position, while the mysterious boy turned to face Kris.

 

"Hey, you... you're cramping my style."

 

Sora pulled himself up, pulling the knife from his midsection and tossing it away. "I won't let you get away with thi--"

 

He staggered forward, falling to the ground, because Kris was suddenly behind him and striking at his neck with the back of her hand. He was out cold.

 

"... so whose side are you on?", asked the boy with the knives.

 

"I'm with rational people, not idiots who pick useless fucking fights. So which one are you, Gabriel Foster?"

 

"You some kind of stalker?"

 

"Maybe."

 

They met each other's eyes, staring each other down. Gabe shrugged.

 

"You guys aren't worth my time. I'll leave for now."

 

"Good."

 

He leapt away.

 

"Kris..." Dani began, looking up at her from where she'd crouched next to Sora. "You saved us!"

 

"How many times, Dani? How many fucking times do I have to warn you? You're an idiot! Don't. Get. Involved."

 

"You can't just..."

 

"If you do something stupid, I'm not showing any mercy."

 

Kris walked away. Dani curled a hand at her chest.

 

"Kris..."

 

"She's planning something, don't you think?" Mila asked in her innocent girl's voice.

 

 

Sora placed his Soul Gem next to the Grief Seed, and let it absorb the inky darkness.

 

"There! That's better. But now this thing's totally black..."

 

"How dangerous! If it absorbs anything else, the Witch could be revived!"

 

Sora gasped, but Mila just smiled. "Don't worry! Give it to me!"

 

He handed the Grief Seed to her, and she tossed it up and down a few times before tossing it into her chest. The teardrop design of her shirt seemed to open, for a moment, absorbing it and letting off a bright light.

 

"There! It's safe now."

 

"Um... what'd you just do?"

 

"Taking care of Grief Seeds is one of my jobs! But you'd better find another one, meow, or you won't be able to purify your Soul Gem!"

 

"Is it really that important to keep it purified...?"

 

"You saw Gabe's power, riiight? That comes from having a bright Soul Gem! If your gem is bright, you can use magic all you want!"

 

"But she sacrifices people to get those Grief Seeds. I won't allow it."

 

"Hey, the more you use your magic, the dirtier your Soul Gem gets. If you don't have a Grief Seed to clean it up, you shouldn't make it dirty! And that means you can't beat Gabe."

 

"Egh..."

 

Sora flopped down on his bed, sighing. "... but hey, Cody didn't have enough Grief Seeds, did he? But he kept fighting. Was that her talent?"

 

"I guess so!"

 

"Isn't that cheating?!"

 

"That's just how it is, meow! Gabe's powerful and experienced. You know, there are some Puella Magi who could beat him just with their talent, no experience required!"

 

"Like who?"

 

"Like Dani Martin!"

 

"Seriously?"

 

"Yeah! If you want someone to help you fight, you should definitely ask Dani!"

 

"No way. I'm not getting Dani involved in this." Sora frowned, looking away. "I'm gonna protect her. That means not getting her involved."

 

 

 

Gabe danced in the arcade, focusing on the movements. Regardless, he heard Kris as she stepped up behind him.

 

"So what do you want now, creepy girl?"

 

"I'm handing things over to you. Don't fuck it up."

 

"Huh, really?"

 

"You'd make a good Puella Magi. Sora wouldn't."

 

"Well, I was gonna do that anyway, but thanks for cooperating. So what about Sora? He's gonna have something to say about this."

 

"I want this handled delicately. Can you understand that word? Delllicately. That means you don't do shit, Gabe. Let me handle it."

 

"Yeah, whatever. So, hey, question."

 

He turned as he won the round of DDR.

 

"Who are you? What's your plan?"

 

He turned back to the dance pad as another song started to play.

 

"Walpurgis Night. It's coming in two weeks."

 

"And how do you know that?"

 

"Secrets. But once I defeat that, I'm leaving. You can do whatever the fuck you want once I'm gone."

 

"Walpurgis Night will be pretty tough alone. Both of us together could probably win."

 

 

 

Dani walked through the same alleyway that the two boys had fought in once before. She overheard Mila's voice, and pressed herself against the wall.

 

"It's way too late, meow! There's no way we can track the Familiar now."

 

"You reckon...?"

 

Dani stepped forward, interrupting them. "Hey, Sora!"

 

"Hey, Dani, what's up?"

 

"If you keep hunting Witches, you'll run into that guy again, won't you?"

 

"Yeah, I will."

 

"If you run into him, try talking to him, okay?! I don't want you to argue!"

 

"... you think we were just arguing last night?" Sora breathed out, shaking his head. "That was a deadly battle. We were going for each other's lives."

 

"Don't do that, Sora! You're not like that!"

 

"You just want me to talk to the guy who's letting people die?! I can't understand a guy like that!"

 

"But you became a Puella Magi to fight Witches, not other Puella Magi! If you two right, you can get along! You both want to hunt Witches, right?! And Kris's the same!"

 

Sora grit his teeth.

 

"If Cody had gotten along with Kris..."

 

"You're dead wrong! You saw what happened. Kris didn't come to defeat the Witch until after she was sure Cody had been killed! She murdered Cody, Dani! Murdered her for a Grief Seed!"

 

"No way, that's not true..."

 

"That creepy girl, and the guy with the knives, they're all the same! They only care about themselves! Well you know what?" Sora stood lax, head down, looking at the floor. His eyes darted to Dani, but his head didn't move.

 

"I get it now. Cody was different. Other Puella Magi? They're all like those two."

 

"No!"

 

"That familiar might have been small, but it's still a killer! What if your sister were next, huh?! Is that okay with you, Dani?!" Sora's voice went deathly quiet as he asked, "... would you forgive them if that happened?"

 

Dani's voice hitched as she stared at Sora, disbelieving.

 

"Well lemme tell you, Dani. I didn't take this power just to fight Witches. I want to protect you... yeah, and I want to protect everyone. As far as I'm concerned, Puella Magi like that are even worse than Witches. And I'll fight them, too."

 

"Sora, you're acting insane..!"

 

"I think I might be the only sane one left." Sora turned and walked away.

 

"Mila... Mila, say something!"

 

"It's too reckless, meow. Sora can't beat either of them yet. But he won't listen to reason, will he?"

 

 

Dani laid in her bed, listening as Sis took her shower. She went downstairs, her bare feet padding on the stairs. Krypto followed her, a good and loyal dog.

 

When her sister came out of the shower and fetched a late dinner, Dani was there, sitting at the table. "Hey, sis... can I ask you something?"

 

Her sister could hear the desperation in her voice. She sat down at the table with her food. "Sure."

 

"There's someone I like a lot... but he's in trouble. He's not doing anything wrong, but... whenever he tries to do the right thing, he makes things worse."

 

"That's normal."

 

"Huh?"

 

"The right thing doesn't always end up well."

 

"But... what should I do?"

 

"You can't fix this sort of thing with words. Try doing something. Take some action... do you mind if the end result isn't perfect?"

 

"Then try making something wrong."

 

"When everything's all right and proper, sometimes something needs to be put out of place. If you're really stuck, try messing up a little and see where it leads you."

 

"But will he know I'm doing it for him..?"

 

"Probably not. Definitely not soon. It's not a perfect solution, after all..." Her sister sighed. "You're a good kid, Dani. You're nice, you care about your friends. You're no trouble at all. But you've gotta learn to make mistakes."

 

"How to make mistakes...?"

 

"If you learn now, while you're still young, it'll help you later."

 

"I guess so..."

 

 

Sora went to the hospital, up to Dane's room. But...

 

"It's empty..."

 

A passing nurse heard him. "Oh, Dane left the hospital yesterday!"

 

"Huh?"

 

"His rehabilitation was going quite well, so we pushed his schedule ahead."

 

"I see..."

 

He walked to Dane's house, but he hesitated outside. What was he going to say to him? Ask him why he didn't let him know? Demand to know? ... no.

 

He turned away, and came face-to-face with the knife-throwing boy.

 

"You're just gonna go home? That's pretty weak, after you kept trying to find this guy."

 

"You..."

 

"This is your friend, right? The one you made a contract for. You seriously wasted your miracle, man."

 

"Someone like you could never understand!"

 

"You're the one who doesn't understand. The point of magic's to make your wishes come true! If you use it for someone else, that's pointless!"

 

He leant back, eying Sora. "Didn't Cody even tell you that?"

 

"Don't talk about Cody like that!"

 

"What? Don't you like me putting down your idol?"

 

"I don't like you at all."

 

"Wanna make something of it?"

 

"... yeah." Sora glared. "I'll get you this time."

 

"Then let's go find a place to do this."

 

 

Dani sat at her desk, staring at her homework and thinking of what her sister told her, when suddenly she heard Mila's voice.

 

"Dani! You've gotta hurry! Sora's in danger!" She was at Dani's doorway, gesturing to her. "Follow me!"

 

 

Sora and Gabe stood above a freeway on one of the huge platforms.

 

"This'll do just fine, don't you think?"

 

Gabe transformed, his clothes shimmering and shifting. Sora held out his Soul Gem to do the same, when he heard Dani's voice.

 

"Sora! Wait!"

 

"Get outta here, Dani! You'll get hurt!"

 

"You can't do this, Sora! It's not like you!"

 

"So it's true," Gabe said, twirling a knife between his fingers. "Annoying people really do attract annoying friends."

 

Behind her, Kris commented, deadpan: "You got something to say about me?"

 

Gabe looked behind him, scowling.

 

"We talked about this," Kris said. "You had one job. The job was to not do shit. It should've been the easiest job you ever had!"

 

"Your plan's way too slow," Gabe huffed. "We're all ready to fight over here."

 

"Then I'll fight her. Do your job. Which is to say: Don't. Do. Shit."

 

"Creepy bitch. You've got five minutes."

 

"That's enough.

 

"Are you making fun of me?!" Sora demanded, holding out his Soul Gem in preparation. Dani acted quickly, darting forward.

 

"Sorry, Sora!"

 

She grabbed his Soul Gem and threw it over the edge of the bridge. It landed on top of a truck.

 

Kris disappeared.

 

Sora gasped in shock, running to Dani. "What have you done?!"

 

"I had to --"

 

The light dimmed in Sora's eyes as he fell forward. Dani caught him, confusion on her face.

 

"Sora...?"

 

"Oh wow, Dani." Mila folded her arms, smiling up at her. "You're pretty ruthless, you know that?"

 

"What?"

 

"You just threw your friend away, meow!"

 

"What... what do you mean...?"

 

Gabe ran forward, grabbing Sora's body by the throat and hefting him upwards. His expression went from angry to disbelieving as he recognised what was going on.

 

"What the hell is this?! He's dead!"

 

He threw Sora's body down, and Dani ran to it, shaking him.

 

"Sora? Sora, please! Wake up! I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to do this! SORA!"

 

"What the fuck is going on?" Gabe growled, glaring at Mila.

 

"Puella Magi can only control their bodies within a one-hundred meter radius!"

 

"And what do you mean by that?!"

 

"Usually you keep it with you! This almost never happens."

 

"What... what are you talking about, Mila?! You've got to help Sora! You can't let him die, you just can't!"

 

"Dani..." Mila sighed. "That's not Sora, that's Sora's shell.   "

 

"Wh..."

 

"You just threw Sora over the rail, meow."

 

"What are you talking about?!" Gabe said, covering his Soul Gem with a hand.

 

"You can't fight Witches with a normal body, silly! A Puella Magi's former body is kinda like one big robot. Your soul's in a form which can use magic much more efficiently! And since your real body's smaller, it's safer, too!"

 

She raised her chin, smiling up at them. "My job's to take out souls and make them into Soul Gems!"

 

"You fucking bastard," Gabe grasped his knife, shaking with rage. "What the hell did you do to us?! You've turned us into fucking liches!"

 

"But this is sooo much better for you! Even if your body gets super hurt, you can just repair it with magic. You're invincible so long as your Soul Gem's safe! Way better than fighting with a human body."

 

"How could you...?" Dani was close to tears as she grasped Sora's hand.

 

"Geez... you guys are all the same. Every time I tell someone, I get this sort of response. Every time! I don't get it."

 

"Then you're a fucking moron!"

 

"Why do you guys care so much where your souls are?"

 

 

Kris flickered as she disappeared and reappeared on the street, each time getting closer to the truck which carried Sora's Soul Gem. She clambered onto the back of the truck, staggering over to it, grasping it in her hands. She held it up, staring at it - staring at Sora.

 

She disappeared again, this time reappearing back on the bridge. She placed Sora's Soul Gem back in his hand, and the light returned to his eyes. He gasped, and pushed himself up into a sitting position, looking around at everyone.

 

"What... what happened?"