Chapter 16

## Characters

### Appearing

Undine, Heartful Punch, Kicks, Melty Flame, Melty Frost, Zoe, Bud, Outrageous Apple, Forte Bass, Suzy, Lettie, Will, Rue, Tessa

### Referenced

The Golden One, Cassidy, Gabby, The Purple One, Team Alchemical members appear as voices

Chapter 16 began on July 29th, 2020 and ran till December 5th, 2020. It covers the day following the previous two chapters.

## Synopsis

### The next morning

As the girls filter into the school, a number of them are sporting injuries sustained from an unusually busy night.

Zoe asks Undine if she can join her club, wanting to get better at fighting. Undine promises to ask HP, and thanks Zoe for the letter she sent. When Undine and HP meet up later, HP is surprised at the request, having thought Zoe didn't like her, but is fine with her joining.

Bud continues to gather information about the Golden One for HP. Gail reports that it had led them to another team that was in trouble, but that they were unable to pursue it.

HP and Undine talk about the previous night. Concerned about how to handle Cassidy, Undine mentions that Gabby has warned about her, and HP wonders if she could have seen it coming if she had known more about Cassidy.

Undine mentions being happy about how the night had ended, assuaging Kokoro's fears that she wouldn't want pursue things with her.

### Lunch

As the girls eat lunch, Team Flash leader Lettie mentions that Cassidy had not come home the previous evening. Overwhelmed at the possibility that she may be indirectly responsible, Undine panics and flees the room. Finding her in the restroom, HP says that she mostly blames herself for missing the chance to stop Cassidy earlier.

Returning to the cafeteria, Undine apologizes to the group. Lettie, also shocked by Cassidy's behavior, thanks the others for filling her in. Undine mentions she has something to share with the group.

### The club

Undine tells the group (including Zoe) what they know about the shadow girl who has been stalking them. Vedika reveals she had known about her from accidentally picking it up telepathically. The group descends into bickering; Bud is angry at what she views as a lack of trust on HP's part, Harley accuses Bud of being self-centered, Vedika starts crying due to shame over her powers, and Zoe, new to the group, wonders if she should even be there.

The bickering continues until Undine, uncomfortable with how much this reminded her of Team Alchemical's last fight, pointedly asks them to stop. They apologize for their behavior.

### Tessa and Rue

Rue and Will are discussing court cases as Tessa walks by. Still angry at her for accusing Rue of being a fake magical girl, she tells Will that she won't put up with being talked to like that and that she's not responsible for managing Tessa's emotions. Will accepts this but remains concerned.

Later, in the first chapter interstitial, Tessa contacts the shadow girl when the barrier goes up.

## Interstitials

The first interstitial shows Tessa talking to the shadow girl. The second interstitial is another Q&A, this time with Bud and Harley. They were matched up by the Bureau of Magical Girls. Bud trains with the others by using smaller versions of her orbs she calls "stingers" (which evidently still hurt quite a bit).

## Trivia

* As they talk in the bathroom, Undine mentions that it is statistically unusual for missing magical girls to turn up fine.
* In class, a teacher mentions that it is busy nights are usually followed by quiet ones.