My body slammed into the ground, skidding across the white tiles, my head cracking against something hard. My vision swam, the world becoming a blur of white and red. I could hear shouting, but it sounded distant, muffled. Like I was underwater.

  I blinked, my eyes trying to focus.

  Through the spots swimming in my vision, I could see the Gatekeeper. It was still standing, its four arms smoking.

  Was that... was that a dream? What just happened?

  My blast had done... something. The panels on its arms were blackened, but it wasn't destroyed. And Reimi...

  Reimi was slumped over me, weighing me down. A jolt of adrenaline shot through me, and I pushed at her.

  Only to be greeted by a rock-solid, heavy weight that barely budged against my arms.

  Oh, god.

  Val really wasn't exaggerating. The girl was made of bricks and grudges.

  Her shirt was torn. There was a nasty-looking gash on her arm, but it wasn't bleeding. Instead, it was glowing. A soft, pinkish-red light, pulsing gently, like a second heart.

  I looked down at myself. My Star Morganite armor was back, but it was... different. The pink was brighter. The gold filigree seemed to hum with a new energy.

  I felt... full. Not like I'd just eaten a whole pizza, but... magically full. My Mana bar was topped off. And then some. It was overflowing, spilling over the edges, a warm, tingly sensation that made my fingers feel like they were buzzing.

  I heard a sickening crunch as the Gatekeeper’s other two arms slammed into the floor on either side of me.

  The robot loomed over us, its single red eye boring into my soul. Its arms shot out again. Not with lightning this time, but with a pair of massive, three-fingered claws threatening to skewer me.

  "Maya! Watch out!" Linda shrieked.

  I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for the impact.

  It never came.

  Instead, I heard a gasp.

  I opened my eyes.

  The claws were frozen inches from my face. And Reimi's hand was up.

  Her small, pale hands were holding the massive, three-fingered claws back in a wide stance. Her head was bowed, her shaggy, dark hair hiding her face.

  A shimmering film of pink energy had erupted from her palm. It wasn't solid, like Althea's shield. It was... wobbly. Raw. Untamed. But it was holding and it coated her entire arm. The Gatekeeper was straining, its arm shaking, but it couldn't break through.

  She looked at her hand, at the pink energy, then down at me.

  "You..." she whispered. Her red eyes were wide, a look of pure shock on her face. "What did you just...?"

  "Um," I mumbled, my head still fuzzy. "Hugs are, uh, kinda my thing? And maybe I, like, magical-shook you? You know, like an Etch-A -Sketch for your brain?"

  She stared at me. The shock on her face slowly faded, replaced by something else. Something I couldn't read. It wasn't anger. It wasn't gratitude. It was... something else. Something... sad?

  But then her face hardened. The moment of vulnerability was gone, replaced by the familiar wall of ice and irritation.

  She looked at the Gatekeeper, her jaw tight.

  "Okay, you oversized tin can," she growled, her voice a low, dangerous rumble. "You want to play?"

  She tightened her grip, reaching out with her other arm as well.

  CRACK!

  The Gatekeeper's two lower arms shattered, exploding in a shower of sparks and shrapnel.

  It stumbled back, its red eye flashing wildly as it droned.

  "ERROR. ERROR. STRUCTURAL DAMAGE EXCEEDING ACCEPTABLE PARAMETERS."

  It opened its two remaining arms, and fired a volley of small rockets. They screamed through the air, trailing smoke.

  Reimi didn't even flinch.

  She just... moved.

  A black corset formed over the loose t-shirt I'd lent her in a swirl of black energy. Frills bloomed over her shoulders, and a skirt that was so dark it seemed to drink the light unfolded itself over her legs.

  Her hair, usually messy and unkempt, seemed to defy gravity, floating around her head in a nimbus of shadow, shot through with streaks of flame before settling in neck-length, silky raven black.

  Her eyes weren't just red anymore.

  They were burning.

  And the next thing I knew, it was over.

  As soon as the black thigh-highs formed on her legs, she shot through the construct's body in a blur, leaving a hole clean through its central torso.

  The Gatekeeper froze, its red eye flickering.

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  It exploded in a shower of sparks and shrapnel, and fell forward.

  Silence descended on the station, broken only by the sound of my own ragged breathing and the distant hum of the void.

  Reimi landed on the ground a few feet away, her boots making no sound on the white tiles.

  She stood up straight, brushing the dust off her new skirt.

  The weird, glitchy white station began to flicker. The holographic signs vanished. The white tiles melted away, revealing the rusted, grimy floor of the Railyard dungeon.

  The world was returning to normal.

  Or, well, as normal as a monster-infested alternate dimension pit got.

  Reimi turned around, her red eyes burning in the gloom.

  She looked at me.

  Oh boy, she was mad.

  "What the hell did you do?" she snarled. "I felt you. Saw you running through my head."

  "I... I..." I stammered, scrambling to my feet. "I think... I think I hugged you? In your brain? With the sparkles? And the sad little you?"

  Her face contorted.

  "You saw," she whispered. It wasn't a question.

  "I... I think so?" I said, wincing. "There was a lot. A lot of sad, a lot of fighting. A couple of girls? And a boy with a super-flowy white scarf who was a total hottie but also, like, tragically heroic? Very dramatic."

  She flinched, like I'd slapped her.

  "Don't," she snapped. "Don't talk about that man."

  "Right," I said, holding up my hands. "No scarf-boy talk. Got it."

  "Maya!" Linda shouted, running over to me. "Are you okay? What was that?!"

  "I'm... I'm fine," I said, my head still spinning. "I think."

  "Whoa," Valentina whistled, looking at Reimi. "New look. I approve. Very gothic-lolita-chic. That's... very you."

  Reimi didn't even look at her. Her eyes were locked on mine.

  "You... you had no right..." she hissed.

  "I didn't mean to!" I protested. "I don't even know how! I just... I wanted to help! You were having a magical seizure, and we were all about to get, like, pureed by a killer robot, and... and it just happened!"

  She just stared at me, her jaw tight.

  "Ugh. You stupid. Infuriating little shits..." she sputtered, her fists clenched at her sides.

  "Hey!" I shot back, my own anger flaring. "I'm not the one who decided to take a magical nap in the middle of a boss fight! And I saved us! Us. And hello! Jules is still having a Miasma meltdown in there! And you were the one who got all sparkly and powerful here, so maybe a little 'thank you' is in order?"

  Her eye twitched.

  But then, she took a deep breath. The anger seemed to drain out of her, replaced by that familiar, weary exhaustion.

  She looked at the golden dome where Julian was still trapped.

  "Is he...?" she asked, her voice softer.

  "He's... hanging in there," Althea said, her own voice weak. The golden dome was flickering violently now. "But I'm running on fumes here, Reimi. I can't hold it for much longer."

  Reimi nodded.

  She walked over to the dome, her new black skirt rustling softly.

  She looked at Julian, who was groaning in agony on top of Star Topaz's mana stretcher.

  "This shouldn't take too long. Miraculously, I am at 17% capacity now. I'm not even going to ask how you pulled that off."

  She held out her hand, her fingers glowing with a dark, inky energy.

  "The rest of you, stay back," she commanded. "This is going to get messy."

  She pressed her hand against the golden dome.

  The shield shattered like glass, showering the area in golden light.

  Julian gasped, the Miasma beginning to enter his lungs.

  Reimi didn't hesitate. She grabbed him by the front of his hoodie in a blur of motion.

  "Hey!" I shouted, stepping forward.

  "He'll be fine," Reimi said, not looking at me. She held him up with one arm, her other hand glowing.

  She placed her glowing hand on his forehead.

  "Sleep," she commanded.

  Julian's eyes rolled back in his head, and he went limp, freezing in a block of creepy-looking purple energy that covered him completely.

  "I told you not to render my friends unconscious!" I protested, stamping my foot. "And don't give him a creepy-case-of-the-frosties! He's not a popsicle!"

  "He'll live," Reimi said, lowering him to the ground. "The stasis field will protect him from the Miasma until we get him out of here. And it'll keep him from experiencing more things that he shouldn't."

  She looked at the frozen, terrified expression on Julian's face.

  "This is better than the alternative," she added.

  She turned around, her red eyes sweeping over the three of us. "Now, let's find that core and get the hell out of this dump."

  She started walking.

  "Reimi, wait," I said, my voice softer this time.

  She stopped, her back to me.

  "Who was that back there?" I asked.

  She didn't turn around.

  "What do you mean?"

  "I talked to... Zero-Zero-Four-Zero."

  The name seemed to hang in the air, heavy and sharp.

  I could feel the muscles in her back tense up, even from a distance.

  "How do you know about her?" she asked, her voice dangerously low.

  "I... I saw her," I said. "In the... in the dream. The huggy-dream-thingy. She was sad. And scared. And she called you Sister. I gave her a name, too. Daisy."

  She was silent for a long moment.

  "I don't want to talk about it," she said, her voice flat and cold.

  "Okay," I said, taking a step closer. "But... for the record? She was super-brave. And she was really, really glad you were her big sister."

  Her shoulders slumped, just a little. A tiny, almost imperceptible release of tension.

  She didn't say anything.

  "I'm not going to push," I said. "I'm not. But... I'm here. If you ever want to, you know... talk. Or not talk. I can just... sit. I'm a very good sitter. And I make excellent hot chocolate. With the mini marshmallows and everything."

  She turned around, glaring at me.

  "Don't," she said. "Just... ugh. Touchy subject for me."

  Then, she turned and walked away at an almost stomping pace, disappearing into the gloom.

  I watched her go, my heart aching for her.

  Val sighed, strutting up to me and popping her hip out. "Well, that was… a thing. So, the new girl is actually a sad puppy beneath all that bite with a tragic backstory and a bleeding heart, huh? Groundbreaking."

  "New girl?" Alfie grumbled, walking up to Julian's tilted form. "So she's on the team now? Like, for-real-on-the-team? Did we vote? I feel like I missed the memo."

  "Did you not see her punch a hole through a Level 55 or so Riot Golem that had us dead to rights?" Linda asked, jogging up to us, her Sapphire Lens flaring. "I mean, that's not all it takes of course. But that's a pretty compelling application. And that magical girl outfit? Fierce."

  "I just want it on record," Alfie said, crossing her arms and glaring at the spot where Reimi had disappeared. "That I am not a fan of the whole 'flash freeze our civilian best friend like a TV dinner' protocol. We're going to have a few words about that."

  Val snickered, leaning over and poking the purple block of ice that used to be my neighbor. "Knowing her, he'll be fine. Jules is just gonna have a killer headache and a new fear of the color purple. It builds character."

  I sighed, running a hand through my hair.

  My head was still spinning. The memories weren't gone. They were... there. Like a movie I'd watched. A movie about a girl who had been broken, and put back together with duct tape and rage.

  "Yeah, yeah... But real talk for a second. She's a walking, talking case of PTSD with a side of 'I-got-my-magical-powers-from-a-very-sad-place'," Linda said, leaning in and checking me over. "I'll admit she really isn't as bad as I thought she was, but we should definitely be careful with that one."

  "Hey, she saved us," I countered. "She... she got a power-up from my... magical brain-hug."

  "Yeah, about that," Linda said, her Sapphire Lens glowing. "I'm still trying to figure out what happened. I've never seen anything like it. The mana readings were... off the charts. It was like you two were... syncing. Like your mana signatures were... I don't know, resonating?"

  Resonating?

  That word sent a shiver down my spine. What the heck was going on in here?

  "Okay," I said, shaking my head. "Let's... let's not think about that right now. We have a job to do. Let's go find that core and group back up with Reimi."

  An explosion suddenly erupted from somewhere close by in the gloomy, floaty railyard.

  And then another, and another.

  "Um. I...I think that's our cue to hustle?" I squeaked.