Magical Girl Trixie

That night, I couldn't sleep. There was too much on my mind with everything that was going on, and it didn't help that every thirty minutes or so, Dreamdrop would wake up from another nightmare. At that point, I probably should have just asked Dreamdrop to help me fall asleep, but I had too much pride to ask for Dreamdrop to do me any favors, especially since she was having such a hard time herself. Eventually, though, when I finally woke up after what could have been only three hours of sleep once the morning sun forced me awake, I looked over to see how Dreamdrop was doing to find no one there.

Without wasting a beat, I tossed my blanket off of my body and raced downstairs to her kitchen, just to find Summer Breeze, transformed back into her normal form, wearing a long apron and cooking up breakfast. “Oh!” she said with a smile. “Good morning, Great and Powerful Trixie! I hope you like bacon, ‘cause I've got some coming your way!”

This was… weird. It seemed like she was the normal, bubbly Dreamdrop that I had met two days ago, but it was a striking contrast to how she had behaved since Paradox died. Still, though, the only thing I could really do was sit down at the table and wait for her to serve me. She was providing a place for me to live, after all, and the last thing I wanted to do was be rude to my host.

“Here ya go!” she said, placing a plate of crispy bacon down on the table in front of me. “Now, which do you like better, eggs or pancakes? I can cook both if you feel like you can stomach it.”

“Listen, Summer Breeze--” I began before she cut me off with a smile.

“Ah, ah, ahhh! That doesn't sound like eggs or pancakes!”

“Uh… pancakes works for me…” With another smile, she went back to cooking, this time pulling out some pancake mix and adjusting her stove. This didn't feel right, though. We had to talk about what happened. “Summer Breeze, about last night--”

“Weee're not gooonna taaalk about iiit!” she sang happily, reaffirming my fear that she was just trying to keep everything bottled up inside.

“No, I think we need to. Trixie understands why you were so upset when she--”

“I TOLD YOU WE WERE DONE TALKING ABOUT IT!!” she screamed, throwing her ingredients onto the floor and making me flinch in my seat. I was used to being screamed at, whether by my mom, teacher or peers, but seeing Summer Breeze getting so angry at me pierced me in a way that I was definitely not used to. “Ohhh, darn it! Sorry, I'll have your pancakes in a second. I just have to clean up the mess I just made first.”

“N-no. You're fine. I'm sorry…”

There was a long pause while I ate my delicious breakfast and as Summer Breeze cleaned up the mess on the floor, which only added to the tension that the both of us felt until Summer Breeze finally broke the silence. “So, I was thinking, why don't you just stay with me for a while? I mean, I don't know how good I feel about you going home or back to the hospital any time soon, so why not just lay low here until things cool down?”

“Wait,” I began while halfway done chewing a strand of bacon. “You want Trixie to stay here? Do you mean like live here?”

“Yuh-huh! But only for a little while until things calm down. After that, I can let you go back and live with your mom. You probably want to see her as soon as you can. Would you like me to add anything to the mix? I have blueberries, bananas, chocolate chips--Oh! Let's do chocolate chips! Are you OK with chocolate chips? I'm doing chocolate chips.”

“That… really won't be necessary…”

“Oh, do you prefer plain? No problem! Let me just scoop a couple of these things back out real quick.”

“No,” I said calmly, causing her to freeze completely. “I mean… Trixie doesn't need to stay here.”

“W-what do you mean? Where are you going to go?”

The way Summer Breeze looked at me broke my heart. She had almost the exact same face that Basket Case's mom had as soon as she saw her dead daughter, but at the same time, I knew I wouldn't be able to keep my plans from her forever.

“I…” I began, nearly choking on my words. “I'm going to kill Marrow today. One of us is the game changer, and if the game continues after she dies, I'll forfeit. You don't have to worry anymore, Summer Breeze. This game will be over by this afternoon. I promise.”

“HOW AM I NOT SUPPOSED TO BE WORRIED?!” Summer Breeze screamed before setting her bowl on the counter and running to my side. “Please, Trixie! Don't do this! I can give you a good life here! We can just hide here and live normal lives! The worst that could happen is we lose our powers, but at least we would be safe! I can give you a happy life, so PLEASE! DON'T LEAVE ME!”

Summer Breeze's eyes were beginning to well up with tears, she was on her knees at my side, and she was holding onto my arm, begging me to stay by her side. She was offering me the life that I had always wanted: a safe place to call home with a loving caretaker who would protect me, but deep down I knew how imperfect I was. All my life, my mother had told me what a fuckup I was, and at that moment, I finally realized why. Even though she was offering me everything I ever wanted, I knew that I was just going to run away and play magical girl at some point. I didn't deserve her kindness.

“I'm sorry, Summer Breeze,” I said, looking down at my plate. “I'm sorry.”

Even though I wouldn't say anything else, the message seemed to sink into Summer Breeze's head. For the next several seconds, she just looked at me with traumatized eyes, not moving from her spot until finally, she got up to her feet, bawled into her hands and began walking out of the kitchen and back up to her room. The last thing I heard was a door slam, leaving me alone to eat my wonderful breakfast prepared by someone who genuinely cared about me, who I had just crushed due to my own selfish agenda.

Finally, once I had finished breakfast and allowed Summer Breeze to have some time alone, I walked back upstairs and knocked on her door. “Can Trixie come in?” I asked, standing in the hallway for several seconds before finally, the door to Summer Breeze's room slowly creaked open.

“Fine…” she said sadly, wobbling to her bed and falling down face first onto her pillow.

“Trixie… wanted to apologize.”

“What for? I was stupid to suggest a stupid idea like that.”

“Not just about this morning…”

Finally, Summer Breeze pulled herself off of her pillow and shook her head. “No, Trixie, I'm sorry about everything. This is all my fault. You wouldn't even be in this mess if I hadn't introduced you to Platinum City in the first place.”

“Summer Breeze, Trixie is still alive because of you. You giving me my powers and being here for me has saved me from being killed half a dozen times by now. Trixie would much rather have girls trying to kill her than already be dead. Besides…” Moving further into her room, I sat down on her bed next to her and pulled my arm around her waist, leaning her head on my shoulder. “This way, Trixie can protect you too.”

With tears beginning to fill up her eyes again, she collapsed onto my chest, crying her eyes out while I stroked her hair and patted her back. “Can't we just live together like this and not fight anymore? Do you really have to protect me? I'm an eighteen year old veteran and you're still a twelve year old newbie, but for some reason, you're the one everyone is trying to kill. Why are you the one protecting me?”

With a smile and a hug, I whispered, “Because Trixie is the one fighting back.”

“Do you really have to, though? Why can't you just stay here and forget about everyone else?”

“Summer Breeze, do you honestly believe that if you hide here, they won't find you?” Summer Breeze didn't answer. Instead, she just held onto my shoulder while I brushed through her naturally silky hair. “The Great and Powerful Trixie will take care of anyone who tries to hurt you. Then, maybe I really can move in here.”

Suddenly, she pulled herself up with wide eyes. “Really?! But… what about your mom?”

“Perhaps… it would be best if Trixie learned to let go of her mother for a little bit…”

Even though Summer Breeze looked excited, I could still see concern lingering behind her eyes, forcing me to drop eye contact before she managed to change my mind about fighting Marrow.

“I…” Summer Breeze began, dropping eye contact herself. “I understand why you're doing this. You have a grudge against Marrow that I will never understand. My whole life, I've basically had whatever I wanted, and with all that's been going on, I guess I’m just seeing new angles to life that I could never see before. It makes me grateful for what I have, but… it also makes me sad.”

“...Breakfast was really good, by the way. Thank you for that.”

Summer Breeze then squeezed me into a big hug, smiling as she said, “Come home tonight and I promise I'll cook for you every morning, and… next time I really will make you those chocolate chip pancakes. No, seriously, they're super good.”

With a soft giggle, I lifted myself off of Summer Breeze's bed, pulling myself out of her arms. “Time for me to get going. Trixie is going to end this game once and for all.”

“Promise you'll come back?”

I couldn't promise that. I wanted to promise more than anything that I could make it back and tell her that she didn't have to worry anymore, but deep down, I knew that Marrow was the one and only girl that truly terrified me. Either way, though, I would say whatever I needed to make sure that Summer Breeze could smile again, just like she used to when she made me a magical girl.

“Trixie promises.”

With another sad smile, she mouthed the words, “Thank you,” and with that, I grabbed hold of my teleport gem and made my way to Platinum City.

***

The walk from the gate to the fountain was the longest walk I'd ever taken in my life, especially since I was looking for a skeleton to come out of the foliage and attack me at any moment. My heart was doing jumpingjacks in my chest, threatening to pop out of my ribs if I was startled by any little unexpected event. I kept thinking to myself, if I died today, would there be anything that I would have regretted not taking care of? Was there anyone I needed to talk to? Was there anything I needed to say? Would anyone even notice I was gone? Sadly enough, the answer to all of those questions was… no.

Finally, I didn't have to think about it anymore, because as soon as I reached the fountain, there was Marrow, equipped with her skeleton and waiting for me to arrive.

“I didn't think you would actually show up, Tripsy,” she said sarcastically as she sat back on the stony edge of the fountain. “Then again, I didn't expect you to kill two magical girls either.”

“Both of them got what they deserved.”

“They both died so that you could live. I'm ending this right now!”

As soon as she took one step forward, however, I put up my hand to stop her, without using my magic, and surprisingly, she responded exactly how I wanted her to. “Before that,” I said, “can we drop our magical girl personas so I can talk to the real Lulu one last time?”

Again, surprisingly, she did exactly as I asked and transformed back into her regular form immediately. If it were even possible, seeing her in this form made me even angrier, as if it had triggered three years worth of pain that I wanted to pay her back for, but being the fair magical girl that I was, I transformed back into my normal form as well.

“There,” Lulu said, extending her arms to bring more attention to her new appearance. “Happy now?”

“I know about Fluer,” I said, tilting my glasses back and making her flinch with gritted teeth. “I know that the two of you became magical girls together. The only thing I don't know is… why did the two of you decide to stop being my friend?”

“Because you rejected us, Trixie.”

“That's not true! I never--”

“The two of us made friends with kids who were just like us. You just held us back. When we tried to bridge the gap, you pushed us away. You didn't want to be our friend.”

“You're wrong, Lulu.” My hands were shaking at this point as I fought back three years' worth of emotion that I had kept bottled up inside. “I wanted to be friends with you more than anything!”

“It's too late for that now.” Suddenly, she was engulfed in light again, transforming once more into Marrow, along with her exoskeleton counterpart. “I'm sorry, Trixie, but Discord isn't going to end this game unless you die.”

Finally, I cracked.

I began giggling quietly, but as the sensation roared through my chest, I quickly erupted into a boisterous laugh while holding onto my aching abdomen. “There is no Trixie here!” I exclaimed before laughing again. “You're speaking to the Grrreat and Powerful Trrrrixiiieee!!!”

As soon as the words came out of my mouth, Marrow charged forward with her magical girl speed, but by that point, I had already transformed, using my spear to deflect a sharp bone from penetrating my torso. Immediately, I used my magic to push her back, only sending her a few feet away thanks to the added weight her skeleton gave her. Then, switching straight to my trump card, I lifted my wrist, using my magic to pull Marrow by the neck and lift her into the air, but unlike the other girls who had been caught in my spell before, she didn't struggle or fight.

“Are you really that stupid, Tripsy? Le Blanc protects every part of my body, including my neck. You can't choke me like you did the others.”

“Then how about this?!” I shouted, releasing her from my magic and flinging my spear forward towards her heart, but without even flinching, Marrow held up her hand and blocked the attack like it was nothing. My two biggest resources in this fight were now next to useless, and if I didn't come up with something quick, I would be dead!

“Le Blanc, hold her off for a second. I think I can take care of her myself.”

Suddenly, the skeleton broke from her body, holding onto my spear to keep me at bay while the real Marrow approached me with an all too familiar switchblade in her hand. She was getting cocky, which would ultimately be her downfall. Taking advantage of the situation, I let go of the spear and pulled Marrow up by the neck with my magic. This time, she was visibly in pain, but she still didn't struggle. I tried not to let her unexpected response get into my head, but almost immediately, Marrow's skeleton threw my spear to the side and tried stabbing me once again, making me dodge roll to the side, releasing Marrow from my magic.

“You can't attack and defend at the same time, Tripsy! The minute you focus on me is the minute Le Blanc takes you out!”

She was right. At this point, I was trying to figure out if she hadn't killed me because she wasn't able to or if she was just toying with me. Either way, I needed to come up with a new strategy fast.

“You know something?” Marrow said, fusing with her skeleton once again. “If you had just made that delivery like I said, you could be rotting in a jail cell right now, but instead, you had to do the one thing that I was trying to prevent you from doing!”

“Awww. You gonna cry about it?”

With less than a second to react, Marrow closed the gap between us, sending another sharp bone towards my throat and barely missing my jugular vein. “WHY WON'T YOU JUST FUCKING DIE ALREADY?!” she screamed, which is when I saw the exact opening I needed. It would be dangerous, but if I got her angry enough, she would stop thinking clearly and create the opening I needed. I just needed to be smart as to how I did it.

“Kinda hard attacking when you've got that heavy skeleton on your body, isn't it?” I asked with a smarmy smirk. “I guess two dead bodies would be a little excessive, wouldn't it?”

With another scream, Marrow tried swinging at me again, but this time, she missed by a much wider margin. She was beginning to lose her focus, and all I needed was for her to take off her exoskeleton one more time to get the opening I needed.

“How about this?” I said, jumping back and tossing my spear to the side. “Take your skeleton off and we can settle this without weapons. It's not like you don't take off everything else you wear for that Turf Field boy anyway.”

“The fuck did you just say about me?!” Without hesitation, she separated herself from her skeleton. My plan was working. “Le Blanc, go grab her spear so she can't try anything stupid. I'm gonna need a moment alone with this bitch.”

With a grin on my face, I happily walked away from the spear lying on the floor, allowing for her exoskeleton to pick it up while Marrow approached closer. As she screamed again, she threw a punch straight for my jaw, only this time, she landed a clean hit that I wasn't expecting. Before I could even react to the pain, though, she sent a harrowing kick to my gut, making me bend over in pain and giving her an open shot at my face, sending me flying backwards onto the ground.

“This one's for Storm Rose!” she said, punching me square in the nose with all her strength as a magical girl. Even though I was used to getting hit from Lulu, getting hit by a magical girl was an entirely new level of pain. “This one's for Mind Games!” With another punch across my left cheek, I could feel a tooth or two shatter in my jaw. Suddenly, I was fighting just to keep myself conscious.

“And this…” she said, pulling out her switchblade and raising it above her head with a sick smile on her face. “This is to end this game once and for all!”

This was it! This was my chance!

Using every muscle fiber in my magical girl body to release myself from her grip, I lifted my hand to the air, using my magic to pull the knife out of her hand, and with one final sweep, the switchblade slid across her neck, piercing all the way through her throat. With her eyes wide, she tried looking down, but the moment she moved, blood sprayed from her neck, splattering the floor and fountain and covering everything around us a deep crimson.

As Marrow gripped her neck in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding, her skeleton rushed over, attaching to her once more, but by this point, it was already too late. Her skeleton just weighed her down, bringing her to the ground, but not without looking up with all the strength she had left to give me the most disgusting look she had ever given me. I could tell she wanted to give me one last “fuck you,” but with her throat sliced in half, all she could do was see my smile as her world faded to black. Finally, her skeleton and magical girl outfit disappeared, leaving the shallow husk of Lulu Lemon's body to rot on the ground.

“Heh. Heh heh. Haha! Hahahaha! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!”

I couldn't keep it in any longer. I had finally killed the bitch! I was rid of her forever! She would never cause me any more problems for as long as I lived! I was free! I was finally free!

Without wasting another second, I pulled out my magical phone and shouted, “Appear, o spirit of chaos! Discord!”

Just like all the times before, the sky turned black with storm clouds as Discord made his way out of the fountain, only this time, instead of the fountain raining water, it rained with Lulu's blood that had covered the monument just moments before. With his lion's paw, his eagle claw and snake tail, he stretched from the red shower and brought himself down between Lulu's corpse and me.

“Good afternoon, Tr--GOODNESS GRACIOUS! What happened here?!”

“Trixie took care of her. No biggie.”

“You really didn't hold back, did you?”

“Aren't you forgetting something?”

Discord looked at me in confusion before summoning a to-do list from thin air and looking it over with glasses he didn't need. “Am I?” he finally asked, with sincere confusion.

“The game!” I shouted. “Can we please end the game now? Marrow was the game changer, wasn't she?”

As soon as the question escaped my lips, Discord smiled, giving me the worst feeling I could possibly experience.

“As it so happens, no, she was not. I would say that you didn't need to kill her after all, but it seems to me like you were planning on doing that regardless.”

“No…” I couldn't believe it. I literally could not believe it. “You're lying. I KNOW YOU'RE LYING, YOU DEMONIC BASTARD!”

“Yeesh. No need to get angry at me. You were the one who jumped to conclusions after all.”

“Please, Discord,” I said, doing my best to calm myself down while pinching the bridge of my nose. “There are only four magical girls who are left alive, and only three of us can be the game changer based off of the hint you gave us yesterday. Isn't this enough cuts for Platinum City to have all the magic it could possibly need?”

“I told you before, didn't I? There is one magical girl whose magic is using up the majority of Platinum City's reserves. Without eliminating her, the game won't end, and seeing as how Palette has run off to some remote place where nobody will ever hear from her again, I doubt you'd be able to just vote anyone out like you wanted to do yesterday.”

“Trixie is begging you, Discord,” I said, now prostrating myself on the ground before him. “Isn't there anything you can do to end the game?”

“I can tell you who the game changer is.”

Suddenly, all my anxiety was being swept away. Finally, I'd be able to end this game and go back to living a normal, happy life.

“Who is it?”

Discord smiled sadistically, making my heart plummet once again.

“Dreamdrop.”