glitchdoka episode 4

Sora knocked on Dane's door, and tried opening it. It was locked. He frowned at the doorway, and some passing nurses noticed him.

"Oh, are you looking for your friend? He's in the Rehabilitation Room right now. He's got a lot of tests to go through!"

"Tests, huh... okay. Thanks."

Sora walked off, and the two nurses looked at each other.

"It's nice of him to come visit, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is. Dane used to be a very talented performer before his accident... he's helped him a lot, I think. Weren't they in a circus act together?"

"I think that's right. He was a magician, wasn't he? But with the accident..."

"Yeah, he'll never perform again. Not with that sort of damage."


Sora looked at his hands as the elevator pulled him downwards, and thought bitter thoughts to himself.

"Shit. Why'd it have to be Dane? He's so talented, and he loved his stuff..."

Sora shook his head. "He'd be happy if I wished for his health, right? I just... he's gotta be one of my best friends."

He breathed out, quietly, clenching his fist. "But miracles cost more than I thought..."


Dani looked down at her sister's cooking, looked down at the egg. The egg which was cracked. Cracked like the sound of Cody's head as it...

She broke into tears.

"What? What's wrong with my cooking?" Her sister asked, concerned.

"Nothing... it's really good... it's so good..."

It was so good, and Cody would never eat anything like it again.


As Dani and her friends walked to school, Sora kept up a running commentary.

"... and she said, 'girlfriend, that dress does NOT go with those shoes!' Can you believe it?!"

Dani thought to Sora, telepathically: "Um, Sora..."

And he replied by thought, "let's talk about it later, okay?"

He ran forward, keeping up his cheerful fashion diatribe. Dani looked at his retreating back, her face knitted in a frown.

School was quiet, a morbid affair. They barely listened to the teacher's rants. When it came time for lunch, Sora and Dani went to the roof again, followed by Mila.

"Everything's different now," Dani said, biting at her lip.

"Yeah. Witches and barriers, and Cody... none of our friends know. Nobody knows."

"We're different people now, aren't we...?"

"I guess so. But the world's different, too. It's been different for a long time and we just... we didn't know."

They were silent. Sora eventually spoke up again.

"... do you still want to become a magical girl?"

Dani looked as if she were near tears. Sora put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay. It's normal to feel like that."

"No... nothing about this is normal! Cody's death, that wasn't normal at all!" Dani shook her head, balling her fists in her lap. Sora slipped an arm around her and held her, quietly.

"It wasn't... god, it wasn't. Cody was a great guy. He wanted to show us the right way to do things."

He held her close, resting his head against hers for a moment. Then he looked up.

"Hey, Mila. What's gonna happen to our town? Who's gonna fight the witches now Cody's gone?"

"This place used to be Cody's territory. Now he's gone, other Puella Magi are gonna move in. Someone else will come and hunt Witches soon enough."

"But they're not gonna care about the people, are they? They'll just want the Grief Seeds!"

"That's right, meow! Cody was a pretty unusual guy. It's normal to calculate this sort of thing verrry carefully! Everyone wants to be rewarded properly!"

"So that means..."

"But only Puella Magi have the right to criticise each other, I guess! Anyway, it's too bad you two don't want to be Puella Magi, but there's nothing I can do. Looks like this is goodbye."

"Sorry, Mila..."

"I'm sorry too, for getting you two involved. We didn't spend much time together, but I had fun, meow!"

Mila walked away, and Dani whispered: "I'm sorry."


Dani went to Cody's house, looked at all his paintings. She cried, there, apologised again. When she left his apartment block, Kris was there.

"Dani Martin."

"Kris..."

"This isn't your fault. No one's blaming you. And if anyone does, I'll fucking eradicate them."

Dani's eyes widened, shocked by the violence in her voice.

"Looks like you took my advice, though."

"... yeah."

"Good. I'm glad."

They walked back together in a silence which Dani eventually broke.

"If I'd listened to you earlier, would Cody have...?"

"No."

"I see..."

"But you were able to save yourself. I'm happy I was able to save you."

"You sound experienced, Kris, but... you really sound different to Cody!"

"Yeah, that's right. I'm not like that idiot."

"... how many people have died in front of you?"

"Too fucking many."

"Hey... has his apartment always been like that?"

"What do you mean?"

"Filled with paintings, with no one else there..."

"He doesn't have any living relatives. No one's gonna call in his body."

"No one will realise he's gone?"

"That's the life of a Puella Magi. If you die on the other side, you're gone forever. He'll be a missing persons case from now on."

"But that's awful..."

"It's the fucking truth. That's how we end. No one to mourn us. No body to bury."

"No way...!" Dani stopped, wringing her hands together. "Cody was fighting for us, all of us! I can't believe no one would notice him! It's... it's no good!"

"We signed a contract. It's our own asses we put up for sale here. It's normal to just get forgotten like yesterday's shitty fad."

 "Well I'm not forgetting Cody! Never!"

Kris took a step back, looking away.

"That's just like you. You'd probably make him happy, saying that... gotta be honest, I'm jealous."

"No, you too! I won't forget about you, either! I won't forget that you saved me, Kris!"

Kris balled her hands into fists, gritting her teeth. Dani faltered, concern on her face.

"Kris...?"

"You've always been too fucking kind, you know that? Word of advice. Kindness will fuck you up."

With that, she walked away, leaving Dani standing in the street.


Sora sat next to Dane as he listened to his music.

"Hey, bro. What're you listening to?"

"The Girl With The Flaxen Hair."

"Debussy, yeah?"

Dane didn't reply.

"Everyone looks at me and just sees a fashionista, they'd never expect me to like music. I have you to blame for that, bro. I get a lot of respect, being able to name pieces off the top of my head... and it's all because of you, yeah?"

"... hey, Sora."

"What's up?"

"Are you tryin' to torture me?"

"What... no! What do you mean?"

"Making me listen to the sort of thing which'd play when I was performing... you're being cruel."

"But you like music--"

"I hate music! It just reminds me of what I can't do!" Dane slammed his hand down on the CD, smashing it, cutting his hand. Sora reached over to grab his wrist.

"Damnit... I can't even feel the pain in my fingers... this hand is useless!"

"No, don't you worry. There's definitely a way for you to perform again."

"They told me to give up! The doctors told me to give up! It'd take a miracle to get me better!"

"... miracles exist. I'm telling you they do."

Dane just stared at him. Sora heard movement from behind him, and turned towards the door. Mila stood there, smiling at him, her hand on the doorframe.


Dani walked down the street, thinking to herself about Kris. Couldn't she have been Cody's friend? Couldn't they have fought witches together..?

Then she saw one of her friends, and brightened, running towards her.

"Hey! What's up? How are you--"

Then she noticed the mark on her neck, the strange way she was walking.

"Hey! Hold up!"

"Miss Martin! How nice to see you!"

"What's wrong with you?!"

"Why, nothing's wrong! Come with me, Miss Martin. I'm off to a wonderful land! Come, come...!"

Dani followed her, concerned, as she walked down the street. Others joined her, walking in a strange, lurching fashion.

"I should call Kris..." Dani thought, before realising she didn't have her number. With nothing else to do, she just kept on following her friend as she walked into a factory. She couldn't abandon her.

"Heh..." A man laughed, quietly. "I can't do anything. I'm useless. I can't even run this place."

A woman took a bucket, placing it down on the ground and filling it with bleach. Another man approached with ammonia, and Dani remembered something her sister had told her.

Mixing those two things...!

"Stop! You can't do that!" Dani ran forward, but her friend caught her around the waist, smiling.

"Don't interfere, don't interfere! This is a holy ceremony."

"But everyone will die if--!"

"Shh," her friend lovingly touched Dani's mouth with a finger, smiling at her. "That's right. We're going on a journey to a beautiful place. Your body's just holding you back... you'll understand soon, Miss Martin."

The crowd gave her a rousing round of applause.

"No... I won't allow it!" Dani wrenched away from her and grabbed the bucket, running for a window. She tossed it through, shattering the glass.

All of the Witch-kissed people turned to her, then, moaning in anger. Dani backed away, fear gripping her, and tried to open the window -- but it was jammed shut.

She backed along the wall, and when her hand chanced upon a doorknob, she opened it and threw herself inside. She slammed the door against them, locking it. Her face showed her terror.

"What do I do?! They're going to kill themselves out there, but I, but I--!"

A shroud floated before her, bubbling with strange voices.

"Oh no... the witch..."

Ghosts flocked to her, grabbed at her, seemed to rip her apart.

"Someone please, help me!"

She felt herself floating, as if she weren't herself, her skin glitching at the edges. Parts of her data corrupted, her fingers clipping through themselves. Ghostly images of Cody's death and the events proceeding it played before her eyes.

"Is this my punishment..? Because I couldn't keep my promise...?"

Dani's voice quivered. "I don't... I can't..."

Ghosts grasped at her, pulled her corrupted body this way and that.

And then they let her go. Slash, slash. The sound of two fans whizzing through the air, whirling with a knightly figure as he struck the ghosts down.

Sora fought with grace and power, slamming his bladed fans into the ghosts. He struck the right one, and the barrier faded.

As everyone tried to recover, Sora grinned to Dani.

"Not too bad for my first go, huh? Sorry I wasn't here earlier."

"Sora... you..."

"I guess I had a miracle in mind after all."

Dani looked at him, disbelieving. He smiled.

"Hey, don't worry about me! I'll be fine! I did a great job, didn't I?"

Footsteps. Kris approached them, her expression stern.

"You're a fucking idiot."

"And you're late, creepy girl."

Kris just looked at them, something unreadable in her eyes.


Dane awoke, and clenched his hand into a fist. His fingers obeyed his commands perfectly.


Mila hopped up onto a boy's lap, smiling at him. He rolled his eyes. "Don't get all cute at me."

"I didn't expect you to come here, meow!"

"Well, I heard Cody bit the dust. So what's going on? The situation's changed?"

"It looks like a new magical boy's already taken this area. He just made the contract with me a few minutes ago."

"Damnit, Mila! You're killing me here. Geez, you think I'm gonna let some rookie take the perfect hunting grounds from me? I might've left Cody alone, but not this tool."

"So what are you gonna do, meow?"

"I'm gonna fuck his shit up."