Vitalizers Chapter 2 - Any Volunteers? (OC Bunnygirl TF)

Magical Girl Association Criticized For Lax Recruitment Policies - Atlas Times

Stage Magicians in A Time of Magic: A death, or a rebirth? - Glamour Gala

What’s your favorite Magical Girl Team and why? -Recent post on MagiGal Watch

—————

Hina Rowen was having a dream again.

It wasn’t an unpleasant one, really. Hina usually had mundane dreams - how many times had her dreams been simply chatting with friends or family, or playing a card game? How many had just been going about the mundane business of living? She didn’t really have big, dramatic dreams.

Well, usually she didn’t. What had begun as a simple dream of being in a cafe with her friends Alex, Celica, and Maya had morphed and changed into something rather different. There was an invasion of the space, and she was being captured, and her friends suddenly transformed and came to save her-

And then nothing. It was pleasantly warm, like a nice bath. The world was washed out in something bright. When she squinted, she thought she could make out the New Union skyline. Or was it earth-line from this high angle? It was blurry and indistinct, blinding bright. Her head hurt a bit-

Then she woke up.

Hina stared at the ceiling. Then she stared a bit more. “…Well that was kinda weird.” She said aloud to the empty room.

She’d been having weird dreams for the last few days. Or she was pretty sure they were weird? She usually forgot them within an hour or two and this one probably wouldn’t be any different. She only ever really remembered the mundane boring ones.

As she went about the business of waking up, putting on the electric kettle and spooning some instant-coffee into a mug while the water boiled, she tried to focus on the little bit of the dream that was niggling at her mind. She was forgetting something… was it all those major-application forms she’d left half filled out on the desk? Maybe she was forgetting to call her mom and see if she had plans for meeting up for the coming holidays…?

Click.

Bzzt bzzt.

As the kettle stopped boiling, her phone buzzed in her pocket. She checked it while she poured the water for her coffee. MGA visit, 9:00 AM, the calendar reminder said. It was 8:30 AM at the moment.

Oh. That part wasn’t a dream. It had been a few days but she still had trouble remembering that she really had seen her friends reveal themselves to be Magical Girls and she really had been recruited by the Magical Girl Association.

And she was going to be late to work.

“Damn it damn it damn it-“ Hina said as she scrambled to get dressed, pulling on her jacket and hat and her skirt- oh she’d slept in that, oh dang it no time to change. She took a second to pour some milk into the steaming mug of coffee, then took a big gulp- “Ow hot hot-“ she swore softly to herself, but the caffeine woke her the rest of the way up (or maybe the risk of scalding did) and gave her the energy to rush out the door towards her new place of employment.

—————

The young woman was hardly an athlete. But adrenaline and fear of making a fool of oneself can motivate someone well past their limits, and the speed with which Hina sprinted towards the Magical Girl Association headquarters would have impressed any track coach. She made it just in time, wiping off some sweat as she slowed down outside of the large building.

Hina had been here once a day in the few days since she’d been recruited (or press-ganged as some might call it) into the MGA. Being a Handler was no small role, or so her rapid orientation had insisted, and she needed to learn it right in order to best support the women under her care. Hina had paid careful attention. Her team - going by ‘Vitalizers’ - wasn’t just coworkers after all, but close friends!

Each of the last couple of days had been going over the magi-tech gear that would be assigned to her as a Handler, all helpfully provided by Lecroix MagiTronics(tm), leader in merging magic and science in the US since the emergence of the New Union Conflux. It was all really advanced stuff, but it was surprisingly easy to get her head around. Technology could automate a lot of the magic side, it turned out, especially when one wasn’t looking for the flexibility one would need in an active fight - and the tech side was about as hard to figure out as a particularly advanced smartphone.

Hina went straight to the office she’d been visiting the last several days, where the person handling her introduction was waiting for her. “Sorry, sorry, I sorta slept through my alarm…”

“No trouble, no trouble,” the gruff looking man said. Mr. Jankov was head of training in the MGA, usually charged with helping keep any Magical Girls who wanted the help in shape. Hina had been intimidated at first but he turned out to be a sweet older guy, eager to help even with the very short notice on Hina’s addition to the MGA. “Being on time instead of early for once? Nobody could complain.”

Hina sighed in relief. “So, what’s the lesson today?” she asked, running her hands down her ponytail as if checking for any sweat that got stuck in it.

Jankov let out a small chuckle. “Ha, lesson? No lesson today, Miss Rowen, unless you count putting on your new equipment.”

“Pardon?” Hina asked, trying to check if she heard right.

“The equipment you’ve been training to use, of course.” Jankov clarified. “It’s truly not that complicated. Head over to the gym’s locker-room; I had one of the girls leave your stuff there.”

Hina blinked in surprise and stared for a few seconds before rapidly nodding. “R-Right away!”

—————

Belts clicked together, and the harness settled in place. Hina pressed a few buttons on the wrist-pad, and a soft blue projection of a bird formed and started circling the locker room. A holographic screen formed above the wrist-pad looking down at her from a bird’s eye view. She pulled down her visor, and data scrolled across as it booted up and then settled into a more normal Heads-Up-Display, with an array of magic sources detected and labeled in any given direction she looked, even through walls.

The outfit was an array of magitech gear crammed into a single outfit that hardly weighed more than your average winter clothes, and managed to look stylish to boot. It was a bit more sci-fi than most Magical Girls outfits but it wouldn’t look aggressively out of place beside them either - it seemed some account had been made for the aesthetics of the gear rather than just it’s function.

Handler Gear consisted of a few pieces; the visor was the most important, providing a direct link to all the sensor equipment and other detection gear, as well as a link to any Magical Girls in the area of operation to keep an eye on their vitals. It was accompanied by a bevy of integrated magitech tools in the rest of the outfit; jet-shoes that would let her keep up with the Magical Girls, the wrist-pad that created and controlled scouting constructs, several different scanners of different kinds integrated into the gloves, and the overall outfit had a similar type of Glamour to the general Magical Girls to keep her identity under wraps.

Hina took a moment to look herself in the mirror, striking a pose like a Magical Girl out of some anime. “Hehehe… not quite there, but pretty close~” she said to her reflection. She wasn’t sure she looked that good honestly - she also found she didn’t much care.

She walked out of the locker room expecting Mr. Jankov to be waiting for her, but it was an entirely different group. “Oh, what are you all doing here?” she asked.

Her friends and teammates had assembled and waited for her. “What do you mean~?” Celica asked, “Can’t we come see how cute our friend looks in her new uniform~?”

“Good to see it’s going well.” Maya said with a nod. She smiled a little. “I look forward to working with you.”

Alex nodded as well, shuffling a bit awkwardly. “Y-Yeah… it looks good on you.” They said awkwardly.

Hina blushed a bit. “Aw… it’s no big deal. I just hope I’ll be more help than hurt, honestly…” she said.

“A bit nervous, hmm hmm~?” Celica said with a grin, stepping a bit closer. Hina was used to Celica’s lack of a sense of personal space at this point. “Makes sense, makes sense~ We were all nervous when we started, weren’t we, ladies~?”

“I wasn’t.” Maya said flatly.

“I, uh, was- wait-“ Alex started, then flushed as they realized what they’d responded to.

“Since Vita Sky is a girl, you count, kay~?” Celica teased.

Alex seemed liable to shrink into their hoodie, but nodded. “I-I was super nervous the first time, I tripped over myself a lot…”

“I guess it’s normal then…” Hina said quietly. “I’m just worried I won’t be able to support you…”

“We’ve made do without a Handler thus far.” Maya said, adjusting her glasses. “The chance you’ll make things more difficult and not significantly less is nearly none.”

“Maybe you have a point… I just hope we get some more training time. I think it’d be nice to learn how to work together first-“

The quartet’s phones all started buzzing at once. There was a notification on them, and it popped up on Hina’s visor as well. “A-Ah! Villain activity in Central Square, deployment orders for Vitalizers and Prisma Rangers effective immediately. Prisma Rangers to assist police in cordon, while Vitalizers take the target into custody.” She reported. Then paled. “Wait, now? Like, right now?”

The message certainly implied “right now” - and so did Hina’s friends, as they all suddenly started glowing in their respective colors. With her new visor dimming the blinding light this time, and close enough to hear them, she had a better look at their transformations. Or at least, the leadup; Celica touched something on a necklace and began to chant something under her breath, while Maya just barked a few command phrases. Alex seemed to turn inward, hand on their chest and face scrunched in focus. Then their bodies each glowed brighter, and in the blink of an eye, no longer were they the mundane people Hina had known for so long, but a team of Magical Girls called ‘Vitalizers’.

Celica had a fancy dress with an almost cleric-type feel to it, primarily yellow and off-white, and her hair and eyes had turned gold as she became Vita Sun. Maya, on the other hand, had a sleeveless top with a fancy ribbon with a gem on front, red with black elbow-gloves, and a black skirt with pink trim to match for Vita Rose. Alex changed the most. After all, they turned into a woman when they transformed. Vita Sky wore her hair in long and blue twintails, and wore a midriff-bearing top and skirt - the most traditional magical girl look of the bunch, in blues, whites, and pinks, and oddly the most feminine if Hina had to call one that.

The trio settled into their transformations, Celica giving an easy, relaxed grin, Maya bouncing foot to foot to burn off energy in a way that normally wouldn’t have been like her, while Alex seemed… while she was blushing a bit, she was smiling pretty widely.

“Come on!” Alex said, nodding towards the door, “We’ve got to go!”

—————

A few blocks away from Central Square - one of the city’s biggest intersections, usually filled with advertising billboards and neon lights, the sort of place that gets added to establishing shots in movies - the girls slowed down at Hina’s insistence.

As the Handler for the group, it was her job to survey the combat area ahead of them and get an idea of what they were going into. The dispatch reports worked off of detection of magical energy in use, and couldn’t really tell what it was being used for, just where and how much. Anywhere that wasn’t whitelisted to use magic for legitimate purposes, and produced magical energy over a certain threshold was identified as a likely villain attack, and active-duty Magical Girls were called in along with police.

Hina kneeled on the sidewalk on the surprisingly deserted street, hitting some buttons on her wristpad. It glowed softly as a familiar was summoned, a blue bird-like construct. Another button linked her visor’s view to it’s vision, and then she sent it on it’s way to check things out.

“Now let’s see what’s out there…” Hina muttered to herself.

The bird flew out into the open square, and looked down. From this view, Hina could see that there was generally a lot less activity than normal for this time of day; generally there was hardly any spare space in such a busy intersection, especially in rush hour like it was supposed to be now. But today, all that traffic was frozen. Cars empty and sidewalks clear.

In the middle of the square was a stage. There was often something like it there anyway - set up by some street performers or something - but this was rather larger and more elaborate than most, like someone had transported it outside of a theater and into the middle of the city. The people who would have been passing through the place were instead in seats in front of the stage.

“Well, I think I found the villain…” Hina said, relaying what she was seeing to the others. She pressed a few buttons on her wristpad and her view shifted, tinting blue. “And I’m pretty sure those magical readings confirm it. It looks like the audience isn’t being influenced yet, if we head over now we might be able to keep them safe.”

“No time to waste then!” Vita Sky said, already beginning to rush off.

“You follow a bit behind us, okay~?” Vita Sun said, making a point of tapping an earpiece as she started following after Vita Sky.

Vita Rose followed as well, and Hina started to walk after. The closer she was the clearer a picture she’d get of the fight, but it wouldn’t be all that smart for the Handler to charge in with her team. She pulled up an array of smaller screens in her visor, linked to each of the Vitalizers’ vision, before refocusing on the scouting construct.

There was a figure on the stage, a man in a pin-striped purple suit, with a matching top hat and a cane. He wore a domino mask covering just his eyes to complete the look. “I’m not sure what sort of look the villain’s going for. Think… maybe Magician? Or Phantom Thief?” Hina reported to her team over the communication devices. Figuring out the villain’s ‘theme’ would be a good first step in figuring out how to deal with them. Magical power tended to either hit those with a flair for the dramatic or enforce one, so most Villains ended up with some sort of theme reflective of their abilities.

The team approached the Square, and were soon close enough that they could see the villain with their own eyes. The man was looking at a pocketwatch, and snapped it closed as they began to approach. “And thus, showtime arrives! Welcome, ladies, gentlemen, and assorted other spectators to New Union’s latest and greatest show! I’ll be your not-very-humble host, the Spellbinding Sorcerer!” The man announced, winking at the audience and flashing a dazzling smile.

“I’ve never been one for magic shows!” Vita Rose called back as the team approached the back of the audience. “Wrap it up now and come quietly. That’d be a magic trick worth seeing!”

“Oh-ho! What do we have here? A trio of eager volunteers!” Spellbinding Sorcerer said. “We’ve hardly even begun, but come then! Step right up to the stage! I’ll need some assistants first, however!”

“Ah- I think he’s doing something! Magic’s moving around a lot now-“ Hina reported, but wasn’t able to finish before the spell was cast. He tapped his cane on the ground once, twice, thrice, then slipped the head up one of his sleeves. When he withdrew it, it was hooked around a colorful ribbon.

“Hm… you, and you, and you…” the man said, sweeping his cane out to one side. A long line of ribbons was withdrawn from his sleeve, which suddenly detached themselves from each other and shot out into the crowd. Vita Rose and Sky had to bat a few down to avoid being taken by them, but many went out into the civilians. The ribbons landed on their heads, and tied themselves into a new shape akin to a rabbit’s ears.

The be-ribboned civilians found themselves released from the ropes tying them to their seats, but only so they could transform. They glowed with purple light, and full-face covering, featureless masks formed on them. Their clothes all shifted, jackets and shirts jeans and skirts alike all ripping apart before reforming into new clothes - black latex leotards, sheer leggings, high heels, and a rabbit tail on the back. Even the men afflicted got the look - though, not before spontaneously growing a pair of breasts and turning into busty women to match the ladies.

In a flash, where once there had been a single foe there was now over a dozen, each bunny-girl assistant identical to the next in just about every respect but their hair. “Ladies, I simply must thank you for assisting with my show. Now, would you help those volunteers to the stage~?”

The fight was on now, with the minions surging forward to obey their master’s command. From her position a decent ways back from the front so that she couldn’t be targeted and with her remote-viewing construct, Hina had a good perspective on seeing the Vitalizers actually fight - last time she’d been far too caught up in events herself to pay that much attention.

“Fine then! I’ll have to beat some sense into you!” Vita Rose shouted - she was a lot louder in this form than she was in as Maya, and a good bit angrier as well. She fought up close, her fists wreathed in magical energy. She dived into the fray without fear, eager to get stuck in.

“Hey, leave some for me!” Vita Sky called after, pulling her wand out and starting to blast foes. While Rose was a close-quarters combatant, Sky seemed to prefer long range bursts of energy. There was some solid power to the blasts, but they were also quite precise - adequately so that she could shoot around Vita Rose without much fear. “That all you’ve got!? The Vitalizers can deal with this many easily!” she boasted. Alex was also rather more energetic in this form than normal, it seemed - usually they were pretty subdued.

“Now now, try and be careful ladies! Think of your poor support back here~!” Vita Sun laughed. As a pair of bunnies closed in on Vita Sky, they were repelled by a golden glowing shield put up by Vita Sun. She played support, focused on keeping the others safe, while keeping herself out of the line of fire - though there was nothing stopping her from bashing the enemy with her shields. Compared to the others, Celica was more relaxed as Vita Sun.

There was a problem though. Watching the battle, Hina noticed that while the number of minions wasn’t increasing, it also wasn’t decreasing. She watched as Maya smashed one minion’s mask and sent them flying. After they landed, their ribbon disentangled itself from them and floated over to a new audience member. “Ah! I think the minions are going to keep coming until you defeat their boss!” Hina reported, “You probably need to take care of Spellbinding Sorcerer or we’ll be here all day!”

“Understood!” Vita Rose called back, and started to punch her way towards the stage. While the opposing combatants far outnumbered the Magical Girls, they were weak enough that a single well aimed blow from Maya or Alex would dispatch them and Celica had no trouble at all shoving them around with her shields even if she wasn’t as directly damaging.

The team carved a path straight through the minions, and was able to leap up onto the stage to confront the masked magician. “How delightful! It seems my volunteers have delivered themselves!” the villain declared. He took his hat off and bowed, the very picture of a gentleman.

“The only thing we’re volunteering for is to kick your butt!” Vita Sky shouted back, wand ready to strike again. “Your minions hardly do anything to us, so maybe you should just give up!”

“Ah, darling, that’s because it’d be dreadfully boring if mere assistants could detain you! What kind of display would it be if the heroes fell easily? Come now, you must be able to tell I’m a showman above all.” The Spellbinding Sorcerer smiled. “It’s time for the second act to begin~!”

The man turned his hat outwards, and from within a strange mist began to spread across the stage. “Watch out, girls~!” Vita Sun called, putting up shields and forcing the mist to disperse around the group rather than hitting them head on - but it seemed it wasn’t an attack, as even when the shields faded they were fine.

From Hina’s end, the mist didn’t seem to do much but interfere with her vision - but even that not too much. The issue was more with the construct’s magical senses, as it saturated the stage such that it was all awash in the villain’s magical energy. “I don’t think I can track them anymore, so be careful!” Hina called.

“Is that it?” Vita Rose grunted - the man had yet to move, and Rose saw no reason to give him the opportunity. A burst of red light spread from her feet as she leapt at the villain, fist raised and swinging.

When it would have made contact, though, the Spellbinding Sorcerer just smiled - and vanished into thin air, mist swirling in the wake of the punch. “Ah-ah-ah~! Look, but don’t touch!” His voice rang through the stage.

The trio looked around the stage, trying to see where he’d gone - “There!” Alex called, and sent a burst of magic out towards the figure in the mist. It blew a hole through the apparition’s chest, but that faded into mist as well, a mere mirage.

“Handler, love, can you detect his magic? We need to figure out which one is real if we want to smack him around!”

There was more than one of the ghosts in the fog, popping up as fast as they were destroyed. With each one it was getting harder and harder to see. Hina tried to keep track - there was surely a tell. A swirl of magic here, or some charged attack there. But was it a trick? Was this spike of magic something that represented the true villain or was it the summoning of a mirage? “I think it’s that- no, it’s that one-“ Hina stammered. She tried to assign targets through her connection to the girls so they could see what she was pointing out, but it didn’t help when she kept changing her mind.

“Ah! Guys, I’m losing sight of you, the fog’s getting thick-“ Hina warned. Each defeated phantom thickened the mist further, inundating Hina’s sensors with magic.

“Sit still, would you? You’re beginning to piss me off!” Vita Rose shouted, as the fog grew thicker and thicker. She was annoyed - the man just wouldn’t sit still and get punched! She thought she caught a glimpse, a less-ghostly figure compared to the others. A target? An opportunity?

She leapt at the figure, and when she punched this time, she felt herself make contact with something. “Got you!” she shouted triumphantly - but her follow through revealed that she wasn’t hitting a man, but cloth.

“No, my dear - I have you!” The Spellbinding Sorcerer declared, as the magical cloth wrapped around Vita Rose and pulled her into the mist. “Now you see her~ Now you don’t!” As he spoke, Vita Sky sent a burst of magic towards the cloth to try and free her friend - but when it hit, the cloth vanished into thin air.

Transported to a dark place, Maya struggled in her bindings - trying to fight her way out. But the simple cloth was like a steel beam wrapped around her torso, leaving her paralyzed as the magic did with her what it pleased. “Can’t take me in a straight fight, huh?” she called out.

“What kind of magician lets anything be as it seems? If I was a straightforward person, I would never have taken up magic, my darling!” The Spellbinding Sorcerer’s voice replied.

A ribbon fluttered down from the void and tied itself up in Vita Rose’s hair, forming the same bunny ear look as the assistants outside. The ribbon triggered further transformation, her clothes morphing, becoming significantly less modest as the back was cut out and the front shuffled down to just barely cover her breasts, becoming a deep red leotard. “Yeah, real creative, with the bunny girls.” Maya complained, “Never seen a magician do that one before, huh!?”

“Ah, but the classics are classics for good reason.” The Spellbinding Sorcerer sighed. “I assure you that you’ll be singing a different tune soon~” The transformation of her clothes continued, her skirt vanishing to show off more skin while her leggings became fishnets, darkening to black. Her boots became dark red high heels.

But it didn’t seem like the plan was to make a minion of her - at least, not like the faceless bunnies outside. Rather than a mask forming over her face, a stopwatch dropped in front of her. Tick, tock, tick, tock, it went as it swung from side to side. It was the world’s most obvious hypnosis - but in the dark void there was nothing else to look at, and Maya couldn’t make herself break contact.

“Listen to me… you don’t want to fight back… you just want to have fun…”

“Yeah, right! Sure, I don’t want to fight you, I just want to have fun!” Maya replied, in what she thought was a snarky voice - she meant to follow up with ‘by beating your face in’, but found it was so very hard to add that in.

The ribbon-ears shifted, more firmly attaching themselves to Maya’s head as they took on a more realistic appearance as rabbit ears. A tail popped from her rear end.

“You’ve volunteered for the show, to become my assistant. And all my assistants are sexy bunnies. That means you’re a sexy bunny~” The voice insisted.

“Right… sexy bunny…” Maya grunted. No, that was wrong… but as she watched the pocket-watch swaying, it didn’t seem so.

“You’re a prop in my show~ So enjoy your role, Ruby~”

Out on the stage, hardly two minutes had passed as the fight went on. “I still can’t find Vita Rose!” Hina reported - but then she noticed a swell of magic even through the mist. “Ah, there, I think something’s happening!”

The Spellbinding Sorcerer had reappeared, this time solidly. “For my next trick, and I must apologize for being so cliche,” he said with a smirk, “will be to pull a rabbit out of my hat- come now, my Ruby Rabbit~”

The man dropped his hat again, and reached inside far deeper than the hat really ought to go. It swelled in size, until it was large enough that when he pulled, a head and shoulders could fit through - specifically, those of Maya as she was dragged by the new white bunny ears out of the Spellbinding Sorcerer’s hat.

“Making her grand entrance, Ruby Rabbit~” she cooed in a sultry voice entirely unlike her old self. Ruby Rabbit blew a kiss to the other magical girls, and then practically wrapped herself around the magician, pressing her bust into his arm. “My darling here has kindly asked that I help him in his show~ And I just can’t say no to someone so cute~”

Hina stared uncomprehendingly at what she was seeing through her visor, blushing a bit. That was Maya? Really? She’d known that villains tended to like to transform heroines, but she had never expected to actually see it happen to one of her friends.

“Focus, Handler,” Alex called over the comms, “It’s reversible as long as we win this fight!”

“Ah, you have a little birdie, don’t you~?” The Spellbinding Sorcerer said.

“That we do, darling~” the newly sensual Ruby Rabbit confirmed, “A little spy in the sky, keeping another volunteer away from the stage~”

The Spellbinding Sorcerer looked up, and directly at Hina’s viewing construct. “Another trick is due, then - It’s quite rude to film a show without permission, you know!” he said, flipping his hat once more, and with a flick of a wrist, sending a swarm of doves flying out. Hina’s view was suddenly all feathers and fury as the magically created doves rammed into the construct, sending it crashing towards the earth.

“Gah! They just took out my vision, I’ll be right over there to keep an eye from close up!” Hina called over the comm.

“Be careful, cutie! The minions are still around!” Celica warned.

Hina approached the square, the sounds of magical blasts from Vita Sky and the protective spells from Vita Sun grow louder as she went. When she arrived, she nearly couldn’t see through the mist, it was so thick it had spread off the stage and into the surrounding Central Square. “I’m here now!” Hina called - albeit quietly as she was trying to avoid the notice of the still roaming bunnies.

On the stage, the fight was turning sour - such as it even qualified, being that they couldn’t hit their foe and he just laughed, leaving his latest lover Ruby Rabbit to do the fighting. Maya was no less powerful as brainwashed arm candy than she was as Vita Rose, and she was pressing in on the two less physically adept former teammates. Darting in and out of the fog, drawing out Vita Sky’s blasts and getting closer. “Handler, this is getting kinda bad!” Vita Sun called out, “We need you to figure out which one is the real one; once we know who he is he can go down easy!”

“Preferably soon!”Alex called, as Ruby Rabbit charged in and managed to get close - too close for Vita Sky to retaliate, as she toppled her over.

“Mmmh~ You’re a cutie, aren’t you~?” Ruby Rabbit giggled, trailing her hands along Vita Sky’s curves. “Why don’t you join me~? Master does have two hands~”

“M-Maya, please-“ Vita Sky stammered, flushing brightly - and unable to stop Maya from tying one of those ribbons on her head. “H-Hey!” she cried out. Pulling her wand to her breast she blasted Maya off of her at point blank. The rabbit did a flip in the air and landed on her feet, a little worse for wear but still giggling.

“Ta-dah~! It’s not so easy to beat a bunny, and you’ll find out for yourself soon!” she tittered, fading into the mist even as Vita Sky’s clothes began to morph.

“O-Oh no- you can fight it, Al- er, Sky!” Hina called. She just couldn’t figure out where the villain was. At this point, he’d faded into the mist entirely…

“Hina, you can do this! Don’t worry about me!” Alex said - not that it was very convincing to not worry about her when she had found herself wearing a leotard now. “Just point me in a direction and I’ll blast him, and then we’re done!”

“I-I can’t…” Hina groaned. She could see things. So many things on the stage. This close, it seemed to her almost as if the fog was… thinner? But that was surely just her imagination.

“Hina, darling, yes you can. Focus, and try and work out which of these shadows is a real villain!” Vita Sun called back. “Just trust yourself for once, hmm hmm~? Your gut’s better than you think!”

The newly appointed Handler swallowed hard. Could she really? She was so unsure - every ripple seemed to hide a threat, every shift in the mist the real villain. But she didn’t have time for doubt, as Alex seemed dazed now, her outfit now completely a bunnygirl one as the transformation approached it’s climax. Soon it would influence her mind, and then they’d really be done for!

Hina took a deep breath in, and breath out. Focus. Trust your senses and the tech. Hina looked into the mist - standing on top of a car now to get a good view of the stage with her own eyes. As she focused, the mist didn’t seem so impossible to see through now. Was that it? Was that?

Another breath. She watched, and she was sure she saw something - a flash of red hair, a dark hat-shape.

It was a trap wasn’t it? She was seeing things. Just seeing things - no. Her friends trusted her, and she would trust herself, this time. “There!” She called, designating the target for the others as she did.

Vita Sky whirled around and, just before the brainwashing could begin, launched a beam of blue magic at the foe.

“Wha-“ came the no-longer smug voice of the Spellbinding Sorcerer was blasted off the stage, hat going flying. Vita Sun leapt after him, snatching his hat and his wand away and binding him with glowing golden ropes.

“Villain detained!” Vita Sun declared - and as she tightened the ropes, the magic began to fade, especially when she took the mask from his face as well. “Ruby Rabbit”, who had been coming to her master’s aid, paused in her tracks, confused as the brainwashing was broken, while assorted minions fell unconscious as the influence on them fled. Though the transformations were still there - they were still busty bunny girls, and Vita Rose and Sky were still dressed for the part - the mental component had snapped.

“Huh…?” The villain groaned, before falling unconscious.

Hina sighed in relief. It was over. She could here the sirens already, as police (along with the second hero group mentioned earlier) came to help in the cleanup and in bringing everyone who was influenced to the MGA for processing.

“Thank goodness…” she muttered softly, sitting down. She was glad she’d been of help this time. This time she hadn’t let them down.

—————

Hina disengaged her magitech gear, which collapsed into a small, metallic-feeling square, compact enough to fit in a pocket or purse. Technology could do wonders when you had the magic to ignore a few inconvenient physical laws. She returned to her original clothes, and then went to the medical ward.

Alex and Maya - both still in magical girl form, if not in their magical outfits - were there, having just been cured of the transformation that had been inflicted on them. Celica was there as well. “Good to see you both back to normal!” Hina said with relief, “I-I’m sorry that I let it get that bad, if I’d been able to find him faster…”

“It’s fine. It’s a danger of the job - we’ve all been transformed and brainwashed before at this point.” Maya cut Hina’s apology off. “You know, it’s not uncommon for Magical Girl teams to go missing entirely, only to reappear as some villain’s chief minions? As long as we won the day, you’re fine.”

Hina bit her lip. It didn’t feel fine. “I… I guess so…” she muttered.

“Well, since they’re about to discharge us, why don’t we go out to get something to eat?” Alex suggested. “I’m starving and I wanna celebrate a job well done!”

Hina blinked. “Like that?”

“Like what-“ Alex started, then blushed a bit. “I-I mean… I guess? Since we did it as Magical Girls I guess the celebration could be like that too…”

Celica popped in at this point - she was still in magical girl mode as well. “Annnd that’s the report done with! Come on, come on~! Celebrating a mission accomplished is the best part of the job~!” she laughed.

—————

“That was an interesting fight. Shame the boring girls won it. They would look cute as bunnies.”

“Maybe. We weren’t involved though - why are you here? If any of those people look up they’ll see us.”

“Oh, just curiosity. Say, didn’t the handler’s bird get shot down?”

“It did. What are you getting at?”

“I wonder how she saw through the mist then. Didn’t you say that Handler’s scanning tech is part of their constructs?”

“…I suppose they might have changed it since my time there.”

“Hmm. Perhaps, perhaps. I’d like to keep an eye on her, though…”