Day 252

[from StarLight]

“First things first...” White Star raised her wand and proceeded to blast herself in the face with a jet of cold water, forcibly waking herself up. She gasped, then shook the excess water out of her hair. “Ahh, that's much better,” she said. “Now I can actually focus on what I'm doing-”

“Excuse me! White Star!” someone suddenly called out from below. “Could I get a quick interview for-”

“Not now!” White Star yelled back. The reporter slunk away, and Sanae turned her attention back to fighting the strange spider monster, which was continuing to cause havoc in the town. “Man, life was so much easier before I became a magical girl… but I guess it still has its perks. Now then...”

With her renewed focus, White Star was finally able to aim properly at the monster. “Star Shower!” Once more, a stream of star-shaped projectiles burst forth from the White Star Wand, but this time they all found their mark, striking the monster's body. However, it seemed merely to shrug off the blows, and kept right on charging at White Star. “Well, that didn't work,” she remarked.

At the last second, White Star dodged out of the way of the charging monster, ducking underneath its body and passing between its legs. She swiftly turned round to pursue it, pondering how to bring it down. “Hmm… I'm going to have to slow this thing down somehow,” she thought aloud. “Every second I spend not destroying it is a second it spends wrecking up the place.”

“How do you plan on slowing it down?” asked Kousen.

“I've got an idea,” said White Star. “I'm gonna try taking out the legs, so it can't run.”

“Good idea,” said Kousen. “Just be careful that when it falls over, it doesn't cause any mo-”

But White Star, not listening, had already flown ahead to put her plan into action. If I create a magical rope that stretches all the way across the street, when the monster runs into it, it'll trip over the rope and fall over! Then I can quickly White Star Beam it into oblivion before it gets back up again! Simple! Having pulled out a large lead over the monster, White Star turned round to make sure it was still following her, then with a wave of her wand she cried, “Hideyoshi Attack!” A long, glistening white rope appeared from thin air, stretching across the width of the street in front of her, ready to trip the monster up when it arrived.

However, there was something White Star had not considered. As the monster approached, it suddenly took a left turning, heading towards the river and missing the rope trap completely. White Star looked on blankly as she realized her trap had failed. “Didn't see that coming,” she remarked. “Guess I'll have to try something else.”

White Star headed off once more in pursuit of the monster. Seeing that it was heading towards the river, she had another idea. “I've got it!” she said. “Arctic Blast!”

A flurry of snowflakes shot out of the White Star Wand and struck the ground in front of the monster, causing it to freeze over. As the monster reached the frozen patch of road, it lost all its grip and was sent hurtling out of control, its legs skidding and sliding as it frantically tried to regain some kind of traction. Ultimately, the monster was sent skidding straight into the river, crashing straight through the metal barrier and falling into the waters below with an almighty crash.

The sound of the monster falling into the river caught the attention of Black Star, who by now had realized that White Star was not in fact at the park as she had been promised. “Found you,” she muttered to herself, before flying off in the direction of the spray.

Meanwhile, White Star arrived at the river, ready to finish the monster off. “Here's one of the perks of being a magical girl: getting to fire off a quick pun before you finish off your opponent!” she declared. “Something like, uhh...” White Star promptly fell silent, her look of smugness freezing awkwardly on her face as she struggled to come up with a suitably pithy remark. After a few moments of mental struggle, she sighed and gave up. “I got nothing,” she admitted. “James Rond makes this look so easy… ah well, let's just get this over with.”

As the monster rose back up from the river, White Star pointed her wand directly at it. “White Star Beam!” she cried, and a beam of brilliant white shot out of the White Star Wand and blasted straight through the monster, obliterating it. As the beam faded away, all that was left was the monster's Black Heart, which dropped into the river and sank with a plop.

Having used a significant amount of energy to fire the White Star Beam, Sanae's exhaustion suddenly caught up with her and she drifted back down to the ground, yawning heavily. “Man, that fight took a lot outta me,” she said. “I think I might just… have a little nap...”

***

A short time later, Black Star arrived at the riverbank, spoiling for a fight. “Aha! I finally found you, White Star!” she exclaimed, upon spotting her rival. “It's time we finally faced off to prove which of us is truly the- huh?!”

Black Star had arrived too late: White Star was fast asleep, slumped against the broken guard rail with her wand still clutched tightly in her hand. “She's asleep?” muttered Black Star incredulously. “How am I supposed to fight her if she's asleep?!” She let out a half-sigh, half-moan. “And I was so looking forward to fighting her again… guess I'll have to just head back to the r-” Black Star's eyes suddenly jolted open in panic. “Oh crap! The roof! I gotta get back up there before Sanae realizes I'm gone!”

In a flash, Black Star hurtled off through the skies back towards Mitsuzawa High School. The noise woke up White Star, who looked around confused for a moment. “...eh? I thought I heard-” Her eyes suddenly shot open in panic as she realized the same thing Amaya had. “Oh crap! Amaya! I gotta get back up to the roof before she realizes I'm gone!” White Star raced off, unwittingly following Black Star back towards the high school.

When Black Star arrived back at the rooftop, she found Sanae slumped just where she had been, fast asleep. Black Star breathed a sigh of relief, and as she stowed the Emblem away, she transformed back into her normal self. That was a close one, she thought to herself.

***

“Wait!” said Hitomi, looking confused. “How did Sanae get back to the rooftop before Amaya?”

Mio shrugged, looking equally confused. “Well, you've got me,” she said. “By all accounts, it doesn't make sense.”