~Shinji Matou POV~
"There, you guys are just on time," I said with a smile as I watched the gang of girls walk up to me.
It had been a couple of hours since I had my little rendezvous with Illya and Miyu, and since I literally had nothing to do without my magical training, I just hung out under the Fuyuki Bridge playing around with Cross Tail, which was pretty fun all things considered.
"You!" Rin and Luvia said at the same time while pointing at me accusingly.
"Come on, don't get your panties in a twist, you two; after all, I'm on your side," I said with a shrug and a smug grin on my face, causing them to be even more pissed. My expression then shifted to a more serious one as I began speaking again. "Now come on, we have work to do."
Reaching over to Kunzite, I immediately went into my Prisma Trace state. "I see you have already finished the changes," I said with a smile toward Kunzite while fiddling with the long coat I now had. And it hides the spool quite well.
"Are you two ready? After all, this will be your first fight against a heroic spirit." I asked the two young girls as I activated the mirror road spell. While Miyu was mature due to her time in her world, she was still a ten-year-old at the end of the day. Illya was much the same, only she had the genuine disposition of a ten-year-old.
"Yeah, I'm ready for anything that is thrown my way," Illya said with a smile.
"Thank you for your concern, Matou-san, but I'll be fine," Miyu said with her usual emotionless tone.
"Matou?" Rin said this in confusion while looking at me in confusion.
That's going to be annoying to deal with in the future, so I'll just leave it for future me to handle.
Without hesitation, I activated the mirror road spell, bringing us all into the mirror world.
"Damn, isn't there such a thing as being too prepared?" I said with a weak smile as I looked into the sky, where there were hundreds of huge magic circles alongside Medea.
"Ruby! Sapphire! Work with me and put your magical barriers to the max." I said as I used Cross Tail to wrap up Rin, Luvia, Illya, and Miyu, pulling them toward me.
"Hai Shinji-kun/Understood Shinji-san." Ruby and Sapphire replied in unison as they activated a magical barrier in tandem with Kunzite. As they were creating the barrier, I undid the wires on the girls, allowing them to move once more.
It happened in an instant as a rain of pure magical energy bombarded us. But even with three magical energy barriers with maximum output, the heat from the magical energy was coming through, and they were already beginning to crack.
"Prepare yourself, Miyu, Illya." I said as I reinforced myself and prepared to change Kunzite into my blade.
As soon as the barrier broke, all of us jumped away, but we were still blown away by the force behind it.
Thank God I wrapped these wires around myself.
"Master Shinji, the blade won't be as big as before, as I am making sure your magical barrier is as strong as possible," Kunzite said as the blade appeared on him, but this time instead of being the size of a katana, it was more like a big knife.
"That's fine," I said as I gathered magical energy and launched it at Medea. Miyu also launched a blast as well.
"If you want a long-range battle, then fine. Fall!" Luvia yelled out with an outraged expression.
As expected, however, Medea had already set up precautions, and the strike was blocked by a magical barrier of her own.
"What…? She deflected it!" Rin said it in shock.
"That's a magical attack deflector!? Impossible… How could she use it on such a large scale!?" Luvia said with the same amount of shock as Rin.
But I had no time to dwell on their reactions, as suddenly, despite the distance between us, I heard Medea begin to speak in an unfamiliar language.
The wind began to pick up, and in less than a second, we were surrounded by a massive tornado.
"Damn it, I almost got up there." I couldn't help but click my tongue in annoyance as I pulled back the wires I was trying to stealthily send up to try and kill her, but in these winds, it was almost impossible to control them, at least without some more practice. "And this just keeps getting worse." Up above the tornado, Medea floated with a huge and complex magic circle.
While I could fly up and try to kill her quickly, there was no telling if this was just an illusion and she was somewhere else, which would be bad if she had more spells prepared, which was almost guaranteed given how she fights. But there were also the girls, and while Illya and Miyu could probably defend themselves for a while, they wouldn't last forever from an onslaught from her.
"This would really kill us, won't it?" Illya said after looking up after Ruby pointed it out.
"We're retreating!" I yelled toward the woman as I prepared to counter Medea with a blast of my own.
"Opening the path is complete! Mirror Road formation." Sapphire said as the circle manifested under us.
Above us, Medea released her spell, and I responded in kind by sending my blast. I had no misconception that it could hold Medea off, but hopefully, this would give us enough time to escape.
The blasts of magical energy collided with each other, with mine being overwhelmed in a second. But that second is what we needed as we disappeared from the mirror world and came back to the real world.
"Whew, thank God that worked," I said while breathing heavily.
"What the heck was that enemy? They were way too strong." Rin said while breathing heavily as well.
"Yup, we completely lost that one," Sapphire said while drooping slightly.
"Oi! What's the meaning of this!? Aren't the users of kaleidosticks supposed to be invincible!?" Luvia yelled as she grabbed Sapphire and began stretching her.
"Ruby thumbling!!" Without hesitation, Ruby flew into Luvia's eye, causing her to fall to the ground in pain. "I won't let anyone bully Sapphire-chan. Also, isn't it about time you dropped the misconception about magical girls being invincible?"
"Sorry, I thought magical girls were invincible too," Illya said sheepishly.
"Well, while we do have the ability to take down almost any opponent, there is such a thing as affinity in battle."
"And that Caster is from the Age of Gods, so we had even less of an advantage," I said while dusting off my clothes.
"I see that will be a problem," Rin said in contemplation.
"I'm guessing the barrier is fixed once it has been deployed. So we'll have to fly up above it." Sapphire said.
Rin then went on to explain how that would be ridiculously hard to do, but I tuned her out in favor of trying not to laugh considering Illya, who was right behind her, was already flying herself.
"Is there something funny… Matou?" Rin asked with a glare.
"Yeah, of course, it's Illya," I said, barely restraining myself.
Rin then turned around to see Illya, her face changing from mild annoyance to shock. "What the hell!? How are you flying!?"
"Um… I just thought I could fly, and I did. After all, all magical girls can fly." Illya said with an innocent smile.
"Yeah, come on, guys, it's not that hard," I said with an innocent smile as I floated up next to Illya. As I floated, I couldn't help but take satisfaction in the looks on Rin's and Luvia's faces.
But suddenly, Luvia's face contorted before she turned toward Miyu. "I won't lose like this. Miyu! Show them how you can fly right now!"
"But… Humans can't fly." Miyu said matter of factly stunning the other and finally breaking the damn on my emotions as I began laughing out loud.
"What a dreamless child! If you think like that, you'll never be able to fly! Now come, I'll train you to fly by tomorrow." Luvia yelled out while dragging Miyu with her.
"Oh well, then the schedule is now open. Also, school is out tomorrow, and I have to think up some strategies, so make sure you can fly consistently." Rin spoke toward Illya.
"Alright, then see you tomorrow, Rin-san, Matou-san," Illya said while running away.
Once she was out of sight, I turned toward Rin, who was now pointing a Gandr spell at me. "So are you going to ask me your question?"
"How are you related to Sakura Matou?" Rin asked in a serious tone.
"She's my little sister, that's all," I said with a shrug as I walked up to her, ignoring her Gandr. "Besides, why should you care? After all, you barely even interact with her."
"...I was just asking," Rin said with an unreadable expression before she dismissed the Gandr and walked away.
"I swear, why is my family so awkward?" I said with a sigh as I boosted off into the sky.
[***]
"So what's the plan, Tohsaka?" I asked while performing some stretches to get my body ready for the upcoming fight. The entire day, I had just been practicing with Cross Tail, refining my control over it.
"A complicated plan will only lead to confusion, so we'll be using a simple one. Illya, you're good at turns and maneuvering on the fly, so you'll be the distraction. Miyu and Shinji, you both have the penetrating power to defeat her, so you both are distractions to each other if they find an opportunity to strike her down. Fly up and maintain a pincer formation to make her confused on who to attack."
"Alright then, let's get started," I declared, my voice filled with determination, as I brought us into the mirror world.
Looking up, I saw Medea had made even more intricate magic circles, which hung ominously in the sky, making me squint in scrutiny.
Without a second thought, Illya, Miyu, and I sprang into action, rapidly distancing ourselves from Luvia and Rin.
With a graceful flourish, I soared into the air, expertly avoiding Medea's rain of light spells. A quick glance back confirmed that Illya was hot on my heels, while Miyu elegantly leaped through the air.
"Come on, slowpokes!" I playfully urged them with a confident grin on my face as I accelerated, gliding gracefully above the multiplying magic circles.
Summoning the power of my Aqua Ignition spell, I conjured twenty superheated water orbs that surged toward Medea with explosive speed.
Beside me, Illya unleashed a gargantuan blast of magical energy, creating a stunning display of force.
Spotting Miyu's approach behind Medea, I knew Rin's plan to pin her down had potential, but only if Medea couldn't teleport. So I took precautions. Before Kunzite, a small orb materialized, but instead of my usual fiery radiance, it emanated an icy chill.
Without hesitation, I aimed the orb directly at Miyu, temporarily disregarding Medea, and released it, causing a focused beam of frigid water to shoot forth.
The sequence played out in a blink of an eye: Miyu attempted to install the Lancer card, but just as she did, Medea teleported behind her. Yet my icy beam had already been launched, and it collided squarely with Medea, piercing her body and encasing her in a rapidly forming cocoon of ice.
During this brief moment, I closed the distance between myself and the frozen Medea, bringing my hand down upon her. My hand transformed into a complex array of wire-like claws, crafted from the wires of Cross Tail, and it sliced through the Medea ice statue with unnerving ease.
"Are you okay, Miyu?" I inquired, my concern genuine as I turned toward her.
"Yes, I'm fine," Miyu replied, her voice steady.
"Good, but stay vigilant. She's cunning and incredibly powerful," I cautioned, scanning the surroundings and temporarily disregarding the fallen body of Medea.
"Master Shinji, above!" Kunzite's alarmed shout caught my attention. I glanced upward and witnessed the sky distorting, revealing Medea floating amidst a bewildering array of magic circles that defied comprehension.
"Miyu, get ready—I'm going to launch you up there!" I announced with determination, receiving a determined nod from Miyu, who included the Lancer card. Enhanced by my reinforcement magic and my Prisma Trace form, I easily hoisted her into the air. My magical energy spun and compressed the atmosphere around us, igniting it with a dazzling display of magical energy. I sent Miyu soaring upward while I descended swiftly to the ground.
"Now, Illya!" I cried out as I collided with the earth.
Watching from below, I saw Illya directing a powerful blast at Miyu, propelling her even faster towards Medea, allowing her to thrust her weapon through Medea's chest.
Miyu didn't fly like me and Illya. She was someone devoted to studying most of her life, so most of her deductions were based on that scientific knowledge. She could get an image of flying in her head due to it being impossible for humans in her eyes, so she simply created a platform out of hardened magical energy. So when I sent her up the first time and when Ilya sent that beam at her, we only hit the hardened magical energy, launching her forward.
"Thanks, Kunzite, for sending that message to Ruby. I didn't want to give anything away and give Medea even a slight edge."
"It is fine, Master Shinji, but please, can you not make these reckless plans so often?" Kunzite said it in exasperation.
"I can't promise that, after all, we are in a world where reckless plans like these more than often work," I said with a cheeky smirk.