Basalisk120

Oouugghh I have such exploitable weaknesses,,, my attacks are so clearly telegraphed, I always raise my big axe in the air for a few seconds before swinging,,,, my weak spot glows so brightlyyy

“Ohhhhh, look at you!! So cute!” Madoka squealed, taking in my new “look”. We’d quickly realised that while I’m not that much taller than she is, it was enough that anything designed to be long looked extremely dumb on me. So instead, after half a dozen increasingly cutesy outfits I ended up with some fleecy little shorts and a kind of crop-top-slash-hoodie thing with big soft bunny ears. Some blue-and-yellow stripey socks completed the look.  Madoka herself was even cosier somehow, wrapped up in a lilac onesie with removable mittens.  “I look stupid.” I replied. I didn’t feel entirely stupid, though.  “But you’re so precious! Come on, look in the mirror!” I let her lead me to the mirror she had. Set up next to her desk, and looked at myself. The Kyouko who looked back at me wasn’t a hardened warrior. She wasn’t a rough, tough, no-nonsense girl who sent gangsters running and killed Witches.  She was… Cute. I hadn’t considered the idea of being cute. I hadn’t known how. But right now, I really looked like I belonged in this soft pastel bedroom, in this luxury lifestyle.  I didn’t know what to think.  “Oh! Let’s take a photo together!” Madoka declared, beaming at me.  The version of me she’d first met would have told her to take a running jump. The version of me from right now was tempted to say the same. But that soft, squishy part of me that put this silly outfit on in the first place, that laughed and smiled and craved physical contact from Sayaka…

It was a cool autumn morning in the Eastern limits of Mitakihara. Well past the train lines, the embankment and the wind farm, even out past the industrial sector that we spent so much time patrolling. It was inconvenient enough that very few people bothered coming all the way here from the centre without good reason. Getting there, especially before dawn like this, would have required a train, a bus, and a ten-minute walk. You know, if I wasn’t a Magical Girl. The sun greeted my sore and tired eyes as it rose, shining in vivid golds from behind the church. For the shortest moment the black silhouette against the sky showed none of the damage from the last two years. It stood tall and grand, proud against the sky as I hiked through the dew-wet grass. In that brief moment I could have imagined myself a little kid again, bounding up the hill for mum’s breakfast and dad’s morning sermon. Instead I fiddled anxiously with the ring sitting on my left middle finger, as the collapsed roof, broken windows and scorched walls were slowly revealed by the light of day.  I walked stiffly through the gaping doorway, surveying the trash-strewn and water-damaged floor.  It looked, and smelled, even worse than it had back in March.  I ducked back outside, leaving the filthy old skeleton to rot beneath the cloudless sky. I wasn’t here for this old wreck, anyway.

For more pilot posting perfection (and artwork of the anthro plane AND the pilot, check out Sparkle's amazing art here and here!