10th Recipe - The Freezer

[starofpleiades]

Characters: Kazumi and You!
Setting: Floor Sixty Kitchen, Floor One Hundred Memory, any other floors
Format: Either
Summary: Kazumi ends up exposed to the dark mist and loses it... violently.
Warnings: Violence, death

[It was... cold. She'd given up yelling an hour ago. Kazumi was confident though that someone would notice she was taking too long and come check on her. Then she'd be able to get their attention. But for now, she was alone, waiting inside of the walk-in freezer. After all she'd talked about keeping others safe, falling into it herself...

It was just her and... the voices.]

[Floor Sixty]

[Perhaps you came here looking for Kazumi, or by chance, or maybe you just smelled the food burning in the oven and boiling over on the stove. In any case, you're just in time: right as you enter the kitchen, there's a loud noise, followed by a flash of light as the door to the walk-in freezer goes flying off, crashing around the room violently propelled by a beam of pure energy.]

Limiti Esterni!

[As the dust settles, a small, slim figure comes walking out of the freezer: Kazumi in her magical girl outfit, staff upheld in one hand, the other adjusting the brim of her large pointed hat.]

I won't... fail this time.

[Floor One Hundred]

[The normally empty hall is already filled with someone's memories: a large, empty hall, cold and silent, lined with the bodies of tagged girls. In the center is a seal, dozens of dark and sullied soul gems sitting on top of it. And before that seal stands a lone figure.]

[Other]

[After the above two events, Kazumi can be seen rampaging around both in partial and full witch forms on various levels of the tower. Final rights go to eternallilly though.]

Comments

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko looked around at the holographic tubes of women, both puzzled and a little scared. What in the world..?]

Kazumi..are you alright? What's going on here? Why are all these women in tubes?

[starofpleiades]

Welcome to my barrier. Welcome to... The Freezer.

[When the girl turned, there was a vaguely haunted look in her eyes, an eerie aura about her.]

These girls... are the ones we've saved from becoming witches.

[tohko_amano]

How has putting them in these tubes saved them?

[starofpleiades]

We've separated them from their soul gems, halting the corruption. It's... the only thing we can do for them. Until... until this system is changed, until we can break the Puella Magi system... this is all we can do for them...

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko stood there in shock a moment, processing everything Kazumi said.

Their soul gems. Kazumi hadn't said anything about their souls being ripped out! This was..horrible.]

Kazumi..if you separated them from their soul gems, they're not alive either! And how does this halt the corruption?!

[starofpleiades]

Well... the truth is, we are our soul gems. Our bodies are... just shells now, that we control.

And by sealing their time and consciousness, preventing them from despairing or using magic, we at least stop them from turning into witches...

I know... it's cruel, but it's the only thing we can do to save them. Otherwise, they... they'll become nothing more than monsters.

[tohko_amano]

[So Kyubey ripped out their souls..this was horrible. Tohko sighed as she walked toward Kazumi, trying to stay calm.]

..But..isn't there any other way to keep them away and still not have them become witches?

[starofpleiades]

[She shook her head]

Just by living, controlling our bodies, we use up our power... and those who can't clean their soul gems have no choice but to become witches.

[tohko_amano]

Isn't there any way to clean a soul gem though?

[starofpleiades]

There's Jyuubey... but he can't save all of them. That's why... the seven of us have to fight on for these girls. So we can put an end to this twisted system.

[tohko_amano]

And how are you planning on putting and end to this system?

[starofpleiades]

[At that, her face becomes downcast]

I don't know. Umika, Saki and the others were researching it...

[Were they? Or was the things they'd been working on all this time been...?

Was it true? How much could she even trust? What if...?]

[tohko_amano]

[At that, Tohko sighed.]

..I see. I'm not Umika or Saki, so I can't tell you how successful they'll be. However, I can tell you that this room isn't real.

[To prove it, Tohko put her hand through one of the nearby tubes. It was just a hologram.]

Kazumi, if you stay in the mist any longer, you're going to get sick. Please, for these girls, for your friends, for me..take a rest on the stairs.

[starofpleiades]

No, it's... [It's not just the room at this point, the mist as well is making her hallucinate]

I can't... I need to... [To what? She didn't know. But this wasn't right. She couldn't listen to this girl... not any longer...

Those vine-like patterns were becoming more prominent, her arms starting to darken from the fingertips on up, eyes widening, changing...]

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko watched as her friend slowly changed, the patterns on her skin growing darker. Was she turning into a witch?! There was no way Tohko was going to let her become one!

Quickly, Tohko ran toward her friend, crying out.]

Kazumi! Snap out of it! You're going to turn into a witch if you don't calm down!

[starofpleiades]

Get away from me!

[Kazumi hissed, lashing out at the approaching girl as her eyes changed into curved slits, teeth sharp as she bared her fangs]

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko flinched and stopped, but she didn't run away. She wasn't going to abandon her friend here!]

Kazumi, what's going on?!

[starofpleiades]

I can't...

[A ripple of magic rolled off of her, her whole body trembling as her eyes finished changing]

Stay back!

[tohko_amano]

Kazumi, please, don't give in to despair! Get on to the stairs and calm down, please! I don't want to fight you!

[starofpleiades]

[It's not any use though. Kazumi lets out a shriek like a wild animal and lunges at Tohko, lashing out with fingers like long, black claws]

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko bit her lip and quickly drew her dagger, trying to block Kazumi's claws.]

[starofpleiades]

[The attack was blocked, but her claws hit hard, with much more force than one would expect from such a small, skinny girl. There was a ferocity in her movements, quick and hard as she struck out again at her]

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko had been training with Saber for months, and while she didn't look it, blocking attacks wasn't too difficult for her.

Striking back was. So, while Tohko blocked again, she called out.]

Kazumi! Why are you attacking me?

[starofpleiades]

[Kazumi just hissed and lashed out; even if Tohko's technique was good, Kazumi's strength was inhuman. The voices in her head, she couldn't ignore them any longer. She just wanted to hurt everyone around her, in rage, in regret]

[tohko_amano]

[Was this what becoming a witch was like? It was pretty horrible..and scary. Tohko failed to block the next attack, and Kazumi managed to rip into her left arm. In pain, Tohko screamed and tried to move back.

..Would she have to kill Kazumi? She didn't want to..but if there was no other choice, she would have to do it, and quickly, before she bled to death and before the mist affected her. Trying to ignore the pain and blood that was pouring from her arm, Tohko's grip on her dagger tightened, and she tried to stab into Kazumi's chest. Tried.]