A gift from Mr. Blackman

A lost little girl lay crying in the streets. Today wasn't her day at all. Yesterday some scary guy tried to kill her with a big shield and now she got separated from the nice old man that offered to take her in and protect her until she got stronger. It wasn't fair. Why did she have to be all alone? She just wanted to make it back home to her mother. Now she had no one to take care of her with the old man gone.

In her brokenheartedness, she called for her mother uselessly. Curling up like a baby, she cried louder than the day she was born. The streets coldly echoed her pleas back. No mother would come for her but fate would.

Harriet thought she would be all alone until she spotted a Hispanic woman walking down the war torn streets with a smile on her face. She look so friendly, so kind... she wished she was family to her too so she'd want to help her. As if hearing her thoughts, the woman's smile grew wider as she spotted young Harriet.

"Hey kiddo. You look lost. Do you wanna stay with me for a while?" The girl looked up at her angel and smiled, changing her tears to those of joy and relief. "Yes, please miss!" A catlike grin spread from the cat-suited lady. She carried the demeanor of a happy huntress, all too eager to train her next pet. "So polite! You were raised well, kid." Her new puppy gave her some big, psychically mutated eyes. "Thanks... Please help me find the one who raised me." "I'll try but I'll let you stay even if we can't. I'm bringing you back to my family and while you're over there you'll be a part of it."
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Back at the church, Irene's smile dropped faster than a cat's paws on a mouse. She had half a mind to kick over the sign for the Starry Wisdom Cult's leftovers. There were a thousand different faces of Nyarlathlohotep and a thousand different ways the hitwoman could hit who she was angry with. After leaving Harriet to play with the Homunculus children until the adults arrived, Irene muttered furiously into her earpiece from the seclusion of an abandoned alcove.

"Ferrucio! What was with that last line back there? If she'd been any harder to convince I'd make sure you were the one she killed first! You don't even know how to talk to kids!" The voice on the other end grumbled. "Look, Irene. Palladino was busy. I found some documents in the Detective's shortlist of reference files. The Church might be in with the Americans. If they're this close on the war we need to be careful. Everyone's mostly accounted for, but that Caster-" He shuts up quick, almost as if he were interrupted. "Ferrucio?" "Yeah, war meeting time. Caster's missing. Tell you the rest later."

Irene growled in mild irritation. "Stupid robot can't even..." The growl transitioned to a surprised hiss when she noticed Harriet had snuck up on her without warning. "Lady, who's that fat guy in the hat?" She chuckled at that one. "You must've not had church where you came from. That's a very special member of our family. He's the big daddy that gives us all the toys. Let's go see him for some, ok?" "Ok!"

The pudgy Italiano seemed larger than life to many that he had fooled. The depths of his wisdom, the breadth of the heart in his breast... it wasn't hard to see the source of his charm despite the lard on his face. Mystic eyes which soothed all that beheld them, befitting a man far greater than one of his rather base true nature. Anyone could sit and listen to him give sermons for hours but that was only due to his powers.

Such powers now directed their focus to the newcomer of his sanctuary. "Welcome, young one. I am Father Palladino. I have much to give you here. I hear you've been in want of a family. Would you like to meet the rest of us?" Harriet nodded excitedly.

A few gestures and sweeping motions later, Harriet had easily befriended the whole family. Most the kids were taken in like her but even the older people around were like siblings. There was Sister Irene with her punching bag that had a picture of Brother Ferruchio on it, Sister Bille, who was even nicer than Irene and the most important sibling to the plan of the god this church was built for, Big Sister Adi.

She adapted to her new family quickly, yet she Adi was even more special. Harriet had really taken a shine to her and inspired the fat father to playfully lecture her about always getting along and making up if they fight so no one feels bad. They got along so well that the unobservant would've taken his words purely as a joke, unaware of the laced contingencies.
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The only older individual who didn't plot to manipulate her was Billie. Once it came time to read bed time stories Billie had all the good ones to show her as Jacob snuck in plain sight to read the Noble Phantasm carelessly lying about.

She really liked stories of holy women and magical girls the best. They'd be kind like Billie and even more flashy than Adi. Her favorite was one Jacob planted in. It was a bit more... violent than what Bille would give her at a more busy time of day to read by herself. Magical Girl Raising Project was a story about a smartphone death game that gave its players the power of magical girls. The only girls who could keep their powers and the ideal selves they would transform into were those who were productive and kept the game going by continuing to kill.

Harriet alternated between having traumatic flashbacks due to the gore and moments of excitement but she pushed through to read about her favorite magical girl: Sister Nana.

She had a magical girl form that was a nun AND a magical girl at the same time. And her powers were really unique and cool: As long as she looks at someone they can do their best and break free from what stopped their potential.

As Harriet fawned over the carefully edited version of the book Jacob made to dull Nana's flaws, Palladino drooled over the power of her Noble Phantasm. How she became bonded to such an expertly recreated artifact was beyond him, yet he didn't care so much at the moment. He was already on the road to one new pawn and everything she held, but the curious writing in the book told of a secret and a prophecy : "This girl shall strive toward perfection."
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Away from the slice of life shenanigans Ferrucio trudged through the lonely battle field that held the conclusion of Kalonice and Astraia's rivalry. Nothing had been the same since the battle of tiny titans and demon slayers except the oddly preserved state of the nameless monk's corpse. Perhaps all the meditation he did was good for him. It didn't matter to Ferrucio. He had a job to do, with or without a heaping plate of Mexican insults being fed through his ear. Palladino's plans took priority and the current plan was to prepare the battle field for his lovely waitress.

A member of Team Red had been noted to frequently feed on magic rich corpses for reasons unknown. Perhaps it was the hallmark of a Berserker's madness or a strange ritual of a decoy caster. Whatever it was, it was an obvious enough pattern for Detective's information network to pick up on. With such a big item on the menu, it was only a matter of time until they arrived.

Recently, however, he didn't seem to always be alone. A wounded man of striking red hair and another man with an unusual weapon seemed to be the objects of his concern. He'd defend them like a man possessed, which was surprising for one so brutish as to eat humans with a bizarre power. Nonetheless, it was a weakness to be exploited.

Irene was to be dispatched to take care of the wounded one (likely a master, as no servant would be worthy of that care) while Adi and the newly indoctrinated Harriet were to eliminate the rest or at least gauge the strength of the youth.

The only thing Ferrucio was unsure about was gaining Caster's cooperation to preform a similar test of powers but that was a separate operation he was not assigned to...
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Sister Adi was no sister in life. She was a man who was a reminder of the evils that dwell in humanity example. There were rumors of noble goals being corrupted, but those were rumors... rumors tied to her lance. Her lance was her greatest asset and benefactor and had even helped her develop a second Noble Phantasm. And tonight, the lance stood tall, casting its shadow on the world.
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Mr. Blackman was such a happy man in this war. Such gleeful destruction and reminders of the futility of humanity and its efforts. They'd all squabble and destroy themselves. It was Mr. Blackman's greatest joy to assist.
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With Astraia dead, Joanna Roe was one of the last women of Team Black standing. Currently, she was also its only magical girl. A heroine of justice, warrior of love and secret agent of the state, or so she liked to pretend. Having powers like this was always a frequent subject of her daydreams. This time however, everything was real. The clearances, the bad guys, the adventure... it was too real. Sheer denial kept her in her fantasies as the body count of enemy magi piled higher than the clouds her head was stuck in. Forget secret agent. With her freakish magical strength she was a secret weapon. A magical cluster of warheads armed and dangerous at all times.

Had she even slept since the day she woke up as a magical girl? Of course not, justice never sleeps! Had she tired? Of course not, her love does not grow weary! Would anything stop her? No truth hides from an intelligence officer! Or rather, it wouldn't had her madness not set in.

She had only a tiny touch of Madness Enhancement. Really, you might as well just shave off the first noun and relabel it as Enhancement. It barely affected her person and personality. The madness was all on her.
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Today's patrol was going great as usual. Nothing was out of the ordinary for this extraordinary girl. But what was that? Another blood trail! She had lost the tracks of the first assassin she tailed by this method but swore to herself never to fail catching those that did. She did more cleaving than catching, but such a distinction was lost on her. Bounding through the bloody basins (a magical girl of the nation never forgets to stay sharp on her training!) she relentlessly charged towards danger. Her charge was quickly halted however. An innocent was spotted shivering and crying in a pool of blood.

Quickly rescuing the crying child, Joanna immediately switched to consoling her. Even her heroic bombasticness had limits.

One wordless embrace later, the bloodstained little girl spoke the defining words of a hero's life. "Who are you?" "I'm a Magical Girl. Magical Girl Jo. But you can call me Joanna too. "

Jo wasn't sure that announcing either of her names like that was in correct form. The light in the kid's eyes answered that quickly though. "A magical girl? A real one?!"
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Harriet hadn't had so much happiness from being held by someone since the day she was born. Her memory was getting increasingly spotty, but the things she did remember right now was her adoration of magical girls and holy women. "Joanna's a Bible name too! All your names are really really cool!"

Miss Roe was all to happy to be adored. Bonding quickly through a mutual love of magical girls, the two became an inseparable duo. The absence of magic circuits didn't stop Harriet from being trained as a magical girl. Joanna went through intense physical training before her power awakened after all and she never knew when there would be a good time for FISTS.

Harriet's psyche may have been shattered a few times but her capacity for combat was not. She moved with the precision of a trained government assassin of an ancient age. She fought just as primal as well. No evildoers could stand against a Plutonian powerhouse and a young baroness of blood.

Eventually their bloody road led to the corpse of a certain murderer and the end of what they once knew...
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Corpse after corpse he consumed. More magic. More sustenance. Something to block it all out. The pain of failure. The pain of loss.

What was Copen? A man who'd lost his family. His following stubbornness nearly cost him his life.

What was Senan? A nobody, heading for an unrecorded life. A man who destroyed his magic circuits in a reckless experiment.

What were Copen and Senan together? Researchers, driven to lose no knowledge or people. Right now, however, the latter desire was the only one to surface from his current demeanor. With combined instincts greater than the wildest of beasts, the Avenger of Red seemed to push humanity to the top of the food chain sheerly by existing within the species. It fought, it ate, it protected... everything a natural organism did besides reproduce.

In his time living in such a state, his first absent thought finally surfaced: Who was the first Murderer?

That question wasn't answered but another finally was: Who had taken his shield?
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The corpse of Murderer was planted. The one beast had fed and gained a reflection of his current nature. Now all was that was left was for psychic feedback to do its job. The huntress didn't understand much of the world of the Magi yet. But what she still knew was how to kill.
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"Copen, talk to me! It's been days! You've been running around like some wolfman most the time! You seemed like a person when we started! Now the first thing you do besides grunt is scream!"

Copen was screaming. Screaming so loud hd couldn't hear himself. He wasnt screaming in bodily pain. He was screaming to avoid mental overstimulation from the information flooding back into him. The battles that played out from all sides. The slaughter of Murderer. All that passed through here was setting his retrocognition into a frenzy. His future calculation tried to piece himself together but instead it played out alternate interpretations. Nothing brought him to the present until he went throughout the last memories of the past.
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Mr. Blackman laughed with glee. A favorite murderer had gone on a killing spree. He set it into motion but had no idea that giving him Copen's stolen shield would make it so much sweeter. If life were a game, he'd be a dirty cheater. He wasn't even playing his hand yet.
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Copen woke on the ground, next to his shield and Murderer's body. Kaiba and Odysseus were no where to be found. A note was in their stead. It simply read in letters of scrawling red: "A gift from Mr. Blackman."
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"Magical Jo! My powers! I think they're awakening! They're telling me... that man is evil!"
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Did anyone know right from wrong at this point? A warped beast, a magical hacking device of reality and the unwritten book threw themselves together in some unholy combat sequence.

Copen would chant the magic of a sin. Joanne would echo it, magically amplify it and trump his efforts. Basic bodily enhancement magic was what Copen was good at however. Magical might trembled against physical. It was rapid firepower vs fury. A sick parody of a hero show. The fated rivals fought because of what controlled them. They hadn't lost to any enemy except themselves.
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From beyond the haze of the more immediate battle, the duo of Archer and Kaiba did their best to support Avenger of Red. It was their only way of surviving. Survival wouldn't last long.
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Buff for buff, Copen seemed to finally outpace Jo. The blind hatred had given him too much fuel as it was and the buffs from his teammate's Noble Phantasm stacked against her. When... when did Archer get there? When did he get so much supportive power?
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A maelstrom of power finally let itself dissipate as the battle between the lost ones wore down. Everyone else expired before it did.
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"Finally done, eh?" When had their fighting turned into friendship? Something brought those people together. As they shook hands, Kaiba was brought to his knees...
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Shot on every marked spot a practice dummy would have, a master lost his grip on Gae Bolg just as everyone had lost their grip on reality . A mortal coil was shed before anyone could shed a tear. A second soon followed, guided by the spite of Gae Bolg landing true. A third and 4th next, impaled on a new spear....
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Adi, no!" Memories of her time at the church came back. Wings of blood formed from her back as the spear continued through everyone's fates and destinies.. "I'm magical girl... Heavenly Harriet..." A demon awakened under the black god in the form of a bloody nun. They screeched at their world's zenith.
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Everyone woke up in their beds just fine. There was a man with bestial power now. There were magical girls who had less of a body count than serial murderers. There were a servant and master clinging to life. But what happened? Copen had Oblivion correction and defenses against magical interference. He can't possibly have remembered that wrong, yet everything ended in vague contradictions....

The False Grail and the False heroes shared one thing in common. A horrible, reality bending vision. A gift from Mr. Blackman, whose chaos crawled within a Spear of Destiny....