That which was called the Enemy experimented anger. This small world that hated them so much, this small world they hated so much, it had all but killed the Enemy.
Revenge.
The dome began to coalesce into more beings, the city now once again seeing the sky. The Sun had yet to actually rise, which allowed people to get home quickly. The Enemy, what was left of it, looked at the one that had foiled it many times.
Lucas changed the axe back to a sword, the dark rain now getting thinner. Yet...
The shades moved towards her. All of them. The problem is Lucas had been put through the veritable wringer, she had gone into a black hole, survived somehow, she didn't know how, and come out. As it was, Lucas was tired as all hell.
"Merda..." - She muttered. Her liking for infuriating opponents was taking its toll, now, as the Enemy made one last effort at hitting one of the main people that had caused it so much grief, that had snatched this world from them...
...that had infuriated them beyond all belief.
The net result of it all was that Lucas was now fighting a huge swath of the Enemy all by her lonesome, especially as the others were too busy dealing with the few other beings and ensuring people were safe.
"Yeah, you sons of bitches, you may even kill me, but you still lost. How does that make you feel?" - Asked Lucas, smiling rather darkly as the Enemy clawed at her.
"It SLICES! It DICES! Look at that tomato! You can even cut a tin can with it! But you wouldn't WANT TO!" - The AI played as Lucas cut the beings. The problem is, this time they weren't flinching. They weren't focused on their continued existence, just on ceasing that of Lucas.
And then Lucas felt as if a typhoon had hit the spot where she was. She fell on her knees, but the Enemy had been blown away. She looked up to see a male angel of vengeance, the French one from the Café.
"Michel??? The hell are you doing here???" - She asked, finally.
"Tais-toi!" - Said Michel, irritably - "Why didn't you tell us, Lucas?"
"I didn't want you to get involved in this fight, to risk yourselves." - Said Lucas, panting, as close to sheepish as she could at the moment.
"We can help defend our planet, too, you know." - Said an attractive Russian succubus-type changed as she shot fireballs at some beings.
"It's not noble to go fight by yourself. It's stupid. Plus how else would I have my fun?" - Said a voice behind Lucas, one that sounded like a poisoned dagger cutting through the finest velvet. Lucas turned around to see a pretty blonde woman smiling a very violent smile, her sword ablaze.
"Deborah? You brought Deborah here, Michel?" - Asked Lucas, her tone coming as close as possible to tactfully saying 'She's a psychopath!'.
"No, Lucas, I didn't. Lois did. Now... As annoyed as I may be with you for keeping this responsibility all for yourself... Thank you for helping save us. It is our turn to save you." - Said Michel.
A veritable mini-army of angels and devils attacked the beings, Michel ensuring none came near Lucas.
Deborah laughed as she charged at the things. She wanted to make this fight last...
Lucas sat on the ground, resting. She saw Shi, the CGI girl, followed by Tiffany, the unicorn-changed.
"Oh... Hey." - Said Lucas.
"Hey. So... Uhm, Shi explained to me why I came here. And you seem to have something to do with it." - Said Tiffany.
"Well... Sorta. I only knew you were instrumental in ensuring Lilly and Jenny got to live, as was Shi..." - Said Lucas.
"Lucas, what ordinarily happens to someone that enters a black hole? Or that touches a sun?" - Asked Shi.
"They die. Quickly and rather horribly." - Said Lucas, realizing that, well, she hadn't.
"I protected you with the light." - Said Tiffany - "But don't do anything this dangerous ever again!"
"And I made sure you could interact with that universe." - Said Shi, smiling lightly.
"What was that place anyways?" - Asked Lucas.
"The Enemy's inner sanctum. Tiffany's light and my trick should last for a few more hours, but I don't recommend trying to take another trip there." - Said Shi.
"And what happens now?" - Asked Lucas.
"The Enemy flees, the potentials behave more or less normally once again... For a while." - Said Neruite.
"Is Lilly all right? And Jenny?" - Asked Lucas.
"The Enemy cast a spell of, well... Truth on Lilly. It made her see some very harsh realities. Lilly found out something very bad about Jenny's past... She... might need a while to cope." - Said Neruite, softly - "Still... It will get better. Venus will help, and so will I. Your work is done, Lucas." - She smiled - "And Hermes himself has no words to describe how proud we are of you."
"E-e-er... I, uh..." - Lucas blushed - "I just... I just did what I had to do. Really. They're children. I'm not gonna... Well... Never mind. I have to go. There's something else that needs doing." - Said Lucas.
"Of course." - Said Neruite, being quite able to tell her protegé wasn't in the best of states at that moment.
Lilly was still somewhat affected by the truth spell that had been cast at her. It was why, as Lucas landed in front of her, she viewed the angel in less than idealizing terms. While Lucas had never killed someone or - yet - done anything too evil, Lilly now knew that Lucas would be fully willing to do unspeakable things in the name of freedom.
"What?" - Asked Lilly, none too gently.
"Let me guess. You can still see some of my darker secrets, I take it..." - Said Lucas, sighing - "Lilly... I'm not here to talk you through stuff this time. But I know someone. I can take you and Sakura to him. If you would trust me."
"Okay..." - Said Lilly. Not because she trusted Lucas at the moment, but because she felt she had nothing to lose.
"Hey, Max. I need your help, here." - Said Lucas, with Lilly carrying Sakura, dejectedly, behind her.
"I assume the battle is over." - Said Maxwell.
"Yeah. I need you to talk to Lilly..." - Said Lucas - "She... The Enemy cast this truth spell on her. A thing that makes a child see reality for what it is, warts and all..."
Lilly looked at the priest. She lit up very slightly as she realized the priest had few to no "evil" traits to speak of. Someone she could trust... Plus, well, he was a tree.
"She found out some... none-too-nice things about Jenny. And... Seemingly, other stuff. My word is worth zero right now, because, well, she also knows some details about my worse nature..." - Said Lucas - "But... Well... You're one of the best human beings I know."
"I do not know if I agree with you, Lucas, but I do see your point." - Said Maxwell - "What ails you, child?"
Lucas opened a rift and Lilly talked to Maxwell while the magical girls - around Lakeside - did the final work in ensuring what was left of the Enemy became something constructive.
The conversation helped Lilly a lot. As it neared its end, a small rift opened, from which a bag of German Mandeln fell. A note was written in Lucas's trademark horrible penmanship attached to it.
I'm sorry.
Lilly walked home, now much better. She would call Jenny and sort things out once she got home.
She remembered her talk with Maxwell - how the interesting thing would be for her to become able to do magic by her effort, how she actually helped. And she made a friend. One she could actually climb.
All in all, though she wasn't yet happy about things, her spirits were quite lifted. As she got home, carrying a now-black and very tired Sakura, she saw something in her backyard. The blue seedling was quite large. While it wasn't yet a tree, it was clearly healthy and getting there.
She walked up to it, wondering if the blue branch was in any way useful for magic.
That's when Sakura leaped from her arm and bit a small branch. It vanished, consumed by the same way she consumed her former branch. And Sakura was now pink again.
Lilly knelt down and smiled.
Venus pondered that there might be more than one way to make a magical girl as she observed her chosen one from a distance. She had yet to tell Lilly that there likely was a reason - far, far beyond a tree branch changed by the Earth Element - why Lilly had managed to do very big things. Beyond saving the world, what Lilly had done in that other "world" of sorts was plain and simply impossible. Quite likely, even for Lucas herself.
For now, Lilly... Sleep well. - Thought Venus.
