[Magical Girl Themes, Corruption]

"Spread Your Wings..."

That phrase repeated throughout Sumiko's mind. Both in her dreams, and while she was awake. She couldn't get rid of it. She couldn't get rid of it at all.

But that wasn't the part that actually bothered her. The part that bothered her was the face that accompanied it. That sad, expressionless face that she had seen before that strange heart sank into her...

Who was that girl? Why did she look so sad? Why was she giving Sadness to somebody like her? And would she do it all again..? There were so many questions, and so few answers to what she was looking for...

"It's not like I'm ever going to meet her again..." Sumiko muttered to herself, quietly sitting on a bench in the city's park. She needed to clear her head. Staying home wouldn't let her do that, because she'd have to worry about her Mother. She'd probably understand too, if she told her why it was that she had stepped outside...

She took a deep breath, and tried to think of why somebody like that girl might want her. Why she picked her out of all people. Was she really that sad? Was that why she had given her that heart..? Or was it just because she happened to reach out while the light was glowing..?

...

Sumiko really tried to weigh the potential options, but she couldn't think of anything that might tie it all together. She'd have to see her again to figure things out. And if she saw her again, what was going to stop the girl from giving her another one of those hearts..? At least could reliably believe it wouldn't be Sadness filling her again, but what else did the girl have at her disposal..? Just thinking about the possibilities was enough to make her shiver...

"Maybe I shouldn't be thinking so much about these things..." Sumiko said as she got up from the bench. Sighing as she gazed up at the cloudy scenery. It was just as gray and cloudy as the feelings floating over her heart...

...If Aika was here, she'd probably tell her exactly why it was that she was feeling like this. She'd tell her that it was all because she empathized with the girl, and she wanted her to smile. She'd be right! Of course she would, she didn't want a girl to be that sad while causing trouble. That meant there was a reason why she was doing these things... And that reason was making her really sad.

But even if she did find her again, what would she do? What would she do if she was faced with somebody else that had transformed like she had? She couldn't just fight like that other girl had done...

Speaking of that other girl, the way that she simply cut her and the others that had been transformed down... The feelings that she felt from the expressionless girl were one thing. But her? She barely even felt anything when she gazed at her. Okay, she was transformed into a... M-Monster, when she was looking at that girl. But that didn't mean that she shouldn't be able to read her emotions...

What was that girl? And was she going to show up in time next time? It's not like she was quick to arrive at the scene last time, she had converted a good deal of people back then. Even...

Sumiko's heart skipped a beat. That's right. She had converted Aika. That was why Aika had been trying to avoid her lately, wasn't it? She hadn't been at any of the regular spots where they hung out. She hadn't been in the mall either, where she'd usually do a shift every other day just to spend some time with the regulars that knew her and adored her...

A sharp pang of pain reached through Sumiko's heart. She had hurt her friend by doing that, hadn't she? She hadn't even apologized, though it's not like she was fully aware of what she was doing when she converted her... But still, she needed to talk to Aika. So she could make sure that their friendship hadn't shattered...

"If I were Aika, where would I be now?" Sumiko asked herself as she looked around. Hand over her heart as she thought about her pink pal as much as she could. Not to the point where she might try and dress like her, but to the point where she'd be reasonably sure of where she might be. She just needed to pinpoint her location. She couldn't be that hard to find, right..?

She thought and thought, before several lights turned on inside her head. That's right. There was this big tree deeper in the park, close to where the fountain was. When the two of them were kids, Aika would always climb up there and tease her for not being able to climb all the way up. But she'd always help her up too...

If Aika wanted to hide away from her, that'd be where she'd be. She had hidden there before, why should it be any different this time around..?

So she ran. Ran and ran. For the sake of seeing her best friend again. She wasn't sure if anything bad had happened to her. She wasn't sure if anything had happened to her at all. She didn't care though. She just wanted to make sure that she could talk to her again. And apologize for what she had done. Because even if she wasn't well aware of herself when she was that M-Monster, her friend still deserved the apology..!

"Aika! Aiiiika!" Sumiko cried out as she ran over to the big tree. The tree that reached up towards the skies above. The same tree that she had spent so much time in as a kid...

And yes, she found Aika. But she wasn't the only one she found. No. There was a girl sitting at her side. A girl who made Sumiko's skin crawl as she stared at her...

It was that expressionless girl. And... She couldn't see that well from where she was standing, but it looked like she had been... crying..? Was that right..?

"Aika..! She.. She's..!" She wanted to call her dangerous. Of course she did. But her heart didn't let her use those words. She just couldn't. The sad-looking girl didn't truly evoke that feeling within her...

The expressionless girl stared down towards Sumiko, tilting her head slightly. "You... You can see me..." She muttered. Just barely loud enough for Sumiko to hear, despite the current gap in height between the two...

"I-I'm not supposed to..?" That didn't make any sense. She had seen her before, right? Why wouldn't she be able to now? More importantly... "S-Stop doing things to Aika! She doesn't deserve to get involved!"

The expressionless girl looked back towards Aika, gently patting her lap. "She cannot hear you. She has already fallen into her own emotion. Her Jealousy resonated with the Jealousy that Lady Ravenheart made for me..." She said, holding up her other hand to reveal another one of those foul hearts...

"Not fair... Not fair that I can't help her... Why does she have to be so amazing... Why can't I be that amazing... Why... Why..."

Words filled with jealousy kept on pouring from Aika's lips. And Sumiko had a counter to none of them. Just like she didn't have a counter to what the girl was doing. It's not like she was that girl... It's not like she could be just as stone-cold! Was that what it took to fight..!?

"Sink In. And Spread Your Wings..."

The girl's words filled Sumiko with dread, as the heart made from Jealousy slowly started to sink into Aika's chest. All while the girl gradually disappeared, leaving Sumiko alone with her best friend...

A best friend that started to lean forward, her seat on the branch growing increasingly precarious. Until she started to fall, head already pointed towards the ground. If she hit the ground like that, then..!

"AIKA!" Sumiko cried out as she ran towards where Aika would fall, bracing herself as she held her arms out. She wasn't going to let her hit the ground. She didn't care if she'd break something in the process! She needed to save Aika..!

The pink-haired girl fell quickly, and slammed straight into Sumiko's arms as the platinum blonde barely managed to catch her. Though they both ended up on the ground as a result, there was no way for Sumiko to keep her footing once she caught her...

"Why..."

Sumiko wanted to feel relieved at being able to save her friend. But instead, she felt an aura of pure jealousy wrapping around her. All while her friend slowly lifted her head. Slowly letting her eyes meet hers...

No. Not her eyes. Her empty face. Where... Where was Aika's face? She... No, she was becoming... No, Aika..!

"Why are you always there... WHY!?" Aika screamed, the jealousy in her body erupting as it knocked Sumiko away. All while the faceless Aika slowly floated onto her feet....

Not that she had any feet. In fact, she didn't have much of anything. It wasn't just her face that was missing, her entire body seemed to have turned into this black and blank slate. The only thing that really had any color or stood out at all was the Jealousy-filled heart that was pounding from her chest...

The leaves that had fallen from the tree over the last week or so started to fly around her, patching themselves into a pair of wicked looking wings that had the same kind of texture as these fallen leaves. Wings that then wrapped around her and collapsed into a much more portable form, a starry robe...

No. It wasn't a starry robe. Being starry would mean that there were more than her. There was only one star, and that star was the very same poisonous heart that pumped more Jealousy through her...

The robe opened slightly, as a branch-like arm emerged from within. A branch-like arm that held a face in its grasp. Aika's face. A face that had cracked, and looked even more vulnerable within that hand's grip...

"I'm not enough... I'm not enough I'm not enough I'm not enough I'M NOT ENOUGH!" Frantic jealous screams left the faceless Monster, as several more of those branch-like arms shot out from her cloak. All of them stretched out across the park, aimed for some of the people that just happened to be passing by and nothing more..!

"AIKA! STOP IT!" Sumiko cried out, but her words went on deaf ears. Especially as several screams echoed out after that, and the arms started to retreat towards their owner. Each now holding a different prize...

In the Monster's hands were several faces, much like Aika's own. Each depicts another human, though none quite as shattered as Aika's own. But holding all of them in her hands was enough to make the Monster laugh. Not out of satisfaction...

"Not enough... NOT ENOUGH NOT ENOUGH NOT ENOUGH! I NEED MORE! MOOOOORE! JEALOUSYNEBULA WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH IF I DON'T GET MOOOOOORE!" The Monster announced her name with that same frantic scream of dissatisfaction and jealousy, as she turned her attention back on the one that was at the core of it all.

Sumiko could feel her heart shaking and quivering in response. She needed to do something. But what could she do in the face of her best friend having transformed like this..? What could she do... What...

'Spread Your Wings...'

Those words flashed through her mind once more. Right as JealousyNebula sent out another one of her arms. It was a long shot, and she had no idea if it would turn her into some sort of Monster again, or maybe even something worse... But she had to try! SHE HAD TO TRY, OTHERWISE HER BEST FRIEND WOULD REMAIN A MONSTER!

"SPREAD... MY WINGS!"

A light poured straight from Sumiko's chest. A light that resonated so brightly with her wish to save her friend. The sheer sheen of the light knocked away the arm that had been aimed at her face. Saving her from having her face stolen, but more importantly...

"No! STOP! YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO TRANSFORM!"

JealousyNebula's words poured out, as each and every single one of her many arms started to slam forward. Even as they still held those stolen faces. Using them to increase the damage that they would do, should they reach her and break past that light.

But the light held. No, it wasn't light. By the time that all these punches came flying towards the light, it had turned into a set of wings. Wings that shed their feathers, one for each arm, knocking the Monster off balance as they started to separate...

Hidden behind those wings was Sumiko. Eyes closed, body currently completely naked, and hands placed over her heart, all while the wings repositioned themselves. The wings of her heart, the wings made from that wish to save her friend...

These wings gradually started to shift in shape. One set moved until it was attached to the back of her head, before collapsing around that very same head. Forming a feathered tiara, as well as a white pair of wings faintly marked around her eyes like makeup. Another moved further down, wrapping around her waist as the wings puffed out and turned into a white and feathered skirt, which gave her a new sense of modesty...

All while the last set of wings, the ones placed exactly where normal wings would be, wrapped around her chest. Just like her wings-turned-skirt, these turned into another modest garment. A small jacket, with feathers sticking out of both the top and the bottom to make it look even daintier than it already did...

Sumiko stretched her arms out, feathers falling from her hands as a pair of gloves started to take from. Ones that stretched all the way from her fingertips all the way to her elbows. Something that was replicated down below, as lifting one of her legs allowed an elegant white pair of heels to form, as well as a matching pair of white stockings that reached all the way up to her thighs...

Finally, her heart beat in her hands. And a white leotard, perfectly complemented by her vest and her skirt, covered up her torso. Capped off by a single additional accessory, a heart-adorned choker that had a similar design to the tiara on her head. That heart even shining just as bright as the light that had protected her...

"I spread my wings... Not for the emotion within, but the Wish to protect the ones I love..!" Sumiko said as she opened her eyes, her pearly white eyes shining bright. "Lovely Dove!"

Lovely Dove. That was her name now. Her name while she was in this form. A form that she still didn't know anything about. A form that she had no true control over. But did that matter? No. Being worried about something like that wasn't what she planned on doing.

She just needed to save her friend. That was all that she needed to do. And fast. Otherwise, the Jealousy running wild within her might just try and break her completely...

"No... NO! YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE LOVELY! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE MINE! MINE! MIIIIIINE! STOP HELPING AND BUTTING IN!" JealousyNebula cried out as she tossed the many masks she held in her hands away, all except for the cracked mask that was meant to be Aika's face...

Several more hands grabbed the faces that were discarded. But they weren't the owners of those faces. No, they were constructs that looked like you were peering into the empty night sky. Each of them dressed in a similar robe to the one that JealousyNebula was, but all of them only being able to use their other arm instead of many more...

So many enemies. And while many of them looked much weaker than the core Monster, she couldn't know if defeating the Monster would leave the others to disappear or persist. She couldn't let all of them down. They weren't her loved ones, but she would hate herself if people lost their loved ones because of something she didn't do when she had the chance..!

Lovely Dove put her hand up to her choker, all while the heart attached to it started to glow a sickly purple. She didn't know how to fight. But she knew what she had done once before. And while it wouldn't be the same, because the emotion wasn't anywhere near as strong as it had been when she was a Monster, she could still try..!

"From Sadness to Happiness!" The dainty heroine cried out, raising her hand into the air as her tiara unfurled into a pair of wings, power resonating from her mind! "Falling Feathers!"

Many of those mask-wielding minions ran towards her. But as they got close, they suddenly stopped. Much to the continued frustration of the one that had commanded them.

"ATTACK HER! TAKE HER FACE! SHE DOESN'T DESERVE... DESERVE..?" JealousyNebula tried to command the ones that were meant to be hers, only to see several feathers drifting down. As if a pair of wings were busy being shed in the skies above...

Each feather that landed on one of the mask-wielding minions immediately sank in, causing them to grow unresponsive. All while the mask in their hands started to crack. And many quiet mutters started to rise into the air.

"Even if they did better than me, I still did my best..." "Mommy and Daddy love me too, not just my sissy..." "So what if they have better cards? I have my partner right here..." "Even if I don't have what they have any longer, I won't betray your wish, darling..."

The jealousy that sustained the minions was starting to fracture and crack. As they found happiness, despite the frustration and the sadness that burdened them. The jealousy that had taken control of them was being wiped away..!

Even JealousyNebula could feel her heart wavering as several of these feathers landed on her head, her grip on her own mask growing stronger as that mask was on the verge of breaking. "No... No! NO! I'M NOT GOING TO ACCEPT THAT! I'M NOT GOING TO LET HER KEEP ON PUTTING HERSELF THROUGH ALL THAT JUST BECAUSE SHE WANTS TO HELP! SUMIKOOOOOO!"

The scream of frustration that left the Monster's lips were ones born from genuine feelings of worry. It's just that the heart inside her was trying to twist them into something much worse than they really were. Perhaps being turned into a Monster herself, so she could understand how these Hearts worked, was why Lovely Dove didn't feel any fear as she slowly held her hands forward...

"It's okay, Aika." Lovely Dove said, a heart starting to form between those hands. A heart that beat faster and faster as it started to compress into a ball of energy. One that was begging to be released from the hands that sheltered it. The hands that were cupping it and covering it like Lovely Dove's own wings would cover her. "There's things that only you can do. And as long as you're with me... As long as you're with me, I can do anything!"

"SUMIKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" JealousyNebula shouted as her robe flew off, her body uncontrollably expanding as the heart that served as her core, the 'Star' in her system, started to grow with the same kind of uncontrollability. She was on the verge of erupting into something much worse than what she had already turned into. All because of these feelings that had been twisted...

Lovely Dove pulled her hands away, spreading the energy's wings as it flew forth in the shape of a lance. A lance aimed squarely at the heart that had been corrupting her friend!

"Lovely Feather Lancer!"

The attack flew straight and true. Piercing through its intended target, pulling it out through the back of the Monster and pinning it to the tree. Right underneath the "SxA" that the two had carved into it, so many years ago...

Without the heart, Aika's transformation could not be sustained. And so, she let out one final scream. A scream that resonated with all of her minions. Masks shattering at the sound of these screams, as the Jealousy was purged from all of their bodies...

The minions vanished. The faces that they had carried no doubt returned to their original owners, but they were all far from where Lovely Dove was standing. Far from the Monster that had created them, who was now on her knees as her face quietly pieced itself back together and attached itself...

Leaving a crying Aika where JealousyNebula had kneeled. A crying Aika who was currently overwhelmed by so much emotion. What was she supposed to feel, now that she had gotten a taste of what Sumiko had been through? What was she supposed to do now that she had been responsible for so much corruption in such a short span of time..?

The pink-haired gal's braid had been completely undone. Causing her excessively long hair to pool around her as she tearingly looked at the heroine that her friend had become. The heroine who made her heart hurt, because this was yet another time that Sumiko had put her friends before herself. She was... She was..!

"S-Sumiko..." She didn't know what to say. All she could do was sob, even as Lovely Dove came towards her. She wanted to tell her to stay away. Because she felt that she didn't deserve it. Not after her jealousy had driven her to do something like this...

The platinum blonde put her fingers to the heart on her choker, causing all of her feathers to suddenly shed in a single moment. Transforming her back into Sumiko, who kneeled down in front of Aika. Smiling, and bowing her head apologetically. "Aika, I... I'm so sorry. I didn't know what I was doing when I was a Monster, and I... I turned you! I didn't mean to, but... But the Sadness..."

"W-What are you apologizing for!?" Aika cried out, sniffling as she grabbed ahold of her friend's cheeks. Forcing her to look straight into her tear-filled eyes. "I'm the one that tried to hurt you this time! You can't just... You can't just..!" She didn't understand. Why was she apologizing... Why..?

Sumiko grabbed Aika's cheeks in turn, a few tears drifting down her cheeks as she started crying too. "Because you had been avoiding me..! And even if you did hurt me, even if you did try to hurt people, that doesn't mean I'm suddenly better than you! You still deserve an apology..!" She said, before pulling her closer. Straight into a hug. "You were overwhelmed, just like I was... I don't blame you for what you did, Aika. But from now on... Please tell me when you're feeling like this... Okay?"

Aika nodded as she hugged her friend back. Pulling her into a hug as well, as she sobbed into her shoulder. It wasn't fair that Sumiko was like this. It wasn't. But right now, she didn't care about how fair it was. She couldn't believe that she would forgive her. But she was happy to hear it. That was why she was sobbing. Because of the girl that was here... Because of the girl that had awoken as a hero, just to save her from herself...

Their quiet sobbing echoed out, as the heart that had been pinned to the tree wrestled itself free. Not to fly towards its former hosts, but to drift into the air...

Right into the grasp of the expressionless girl, who gripped it tight as it sank towards her heart. She could feel the overwhelming Jealousy starting to take hold. Even if she didn't understand it still.

Why did seeing those two hug it out make her feel like this..? Why...

---

"Hmmm? A new Lovely? And here I thought I was the only one."

A redhead with a star clip said to herself as she held a dove's feather in between her fingers. All while subtly grinning...

Right before crushing the feather, pulling herself onto her bike as she started to ignite the engine...

This emotional city had suddenly gotten real interesting all over again...