Left Behind: A Magia Record Story

Warning: Angst! Ashley Taylor variety!

It was the day of the great exodus.

Iroha and Yachiyo had just come back from their latest event from the English server and went to celebrate Iroha’s birthday in the Japanese server. Waiting there for them was all the magical girls up to that point, eager to congratulate the pink haired heroine.

“Happy birthday big sis!” Ui exclaimed along with Touka and Nemu. Sakuro smiled as she placed the trio at the large table next to Iroha.

“Happy birthday Iroha!” Tsuruno, Felicia, and Sana cheered, showing her the birthday cake they all made for her.

“Mokyu~!” Lil Kyuebey said, jumping on her shoulder and snuggling her cheek.

Iroha smiled happily at everyone who was present for her birthday. Everyone was here for the anniversary and her birthday, including Tart’s gang, Suzune’s group, and even Kazumi’s squad! The entire Mitikahara group happily gave their own gifts to her.

“You made the game great Iroha! Thank you for bringing the Madoka franchise back!” Madoka herself said, making the other pinkette blush.

Just as everyone was about to slice the cake, a flash of light enveloped the room. In her holy glory was Madokami a.k.a Ultimate Madoka. Everyone squeaked in fear with the exception of Cool Homura, who just blushed at the beauty.

“Greetings everyone, I’ve come to give my congratulations on your anniversary and Iroha’s birthday.” Madokami said, clapping her hands. “Guess it’s time to inform you about the news from our developers.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?” Yachiyo asked, curious about where she was going with this.

Madokami sighed sadly, looking away. “They’ve decided to close the English servers due to low payments.”

A collective gasp came from all the girls, surprised that Aniplex would do such a thing. Some of the girls who were in Arc 2 were sad that they couldn’t meet the American audience.

“Hey! I never got to go up to 4 star! No fair!” Ayame complained, getting comforted by the rest of the Azalea girls.

“What’s not fair is that Hanna was the last girl to be released. That crazy psycho is the last thing they’re going to see.” Nanaka eyed the purple haired female from the villian side of the table.

“There’s nothing we can do I’m afraid. We knew that it would happen eventually, just not so soon.” Madokami said.

“I hardly got to debut in the latest Tart story!” Elisa shouted, jabbing her thumb towards Corbeau. “Plus, all they wanted was her!”

“At least you got two events before they closed.” Umika muttered, vaguely remembering the Kazumi event storyline.

“You have no room to complain Elisa.” Suzune agreed, narrowing her eyes at the red dragon girl.

A cry came from the Charge group at the table. Little Riko stood up, nearly knocking over her chair in the process.

“ASHLEY IS IN DANGER!” The small girl yelled, elicting the same reaction from Emiri, Karin, and Rika.

“Ash is like the only one of us not part of the Japanese version!” Emiri panicked, going for the door. “We need to, like, save her or something!”

“No way am I leaving a fellow Kirinite behind!” Karin said, running for the door too.

“She has such a great fashion sense! Plus she’s a blast gorilla everyone needs.” Rika put out, going for the door.

Riko gave Madokami a teary eyed look. “How could you!? She’s a magical girl with a doppel, a great moveset, and a tragic story! Your as cruel as Aniplex to leave her behind.” She ran to follow the others to save Ashley.

All the Arc 2 girls gave the Arc 1 girls a weird look.

“Whose Ashley?” Ryoko, the red ninja girl, asked Mitama, who was casually putting ketchup on her slice of cake.

“Oh Ashley Taylor? She was a magical girl exclusive to the English server.” Mitama took a bite of her cake. “Fought with a stuffed animal and everything. She loved Japanese culture.”

“She sounds perfect for this server! How come she can’t come over?” Sasame, a Void girl like Mitama, wondered aloud.

Cool Homura shrugged. “Guess they just didn’t want to export her. A shame, when we worked together, we were practically unstoppable.”

—-‐———————————

Ashley Taylor wandered the empty wastelands of the Magia Record English server, not a single one of her magical girl friends in sight. Hugging Momosuke, she felt a sense of loneliness as the world around her burned. Most of the players had abandoned the server entirely while some lingered to play to the last minute. Sitting down on a bench, she watched the world crumble around her.

“ASH!”

“ASHLEY-CHAN!”

The California Otaku looked up to see the four girls who she made friends with running towards her. Smiling softly, she was suddenly hugged by Emiri, who pushed her over with much force. Riko and Karin cried as they hugged her too while Rika helped her up.

“What are you guys doing here? The English server is about to die…with me along with it.” She added, gripping her arm. “You might as well forget about me.”

“We can’t! You are our best friend!” Riko tugged her along the burning wasteland towards the tunnel to the Japanese server. “We aren’t leaving you behind.”

“You can’t be left behind because of what Aniplex decided!” Rika reasoned, hands on her hips. “You are one of us, a fellow magical kawaii girl!”

“Yeah Ash, like that one movie said, we are in this together!” Emiri pushed her from behind. “Now let’s go before-!”

All four of them made it pass the portal no problem, but Ashely felt as if she hit a barrier. Rubbing her nose, tears filled her eyes as the girls desperately tried to bring her into the tunnel. After a few times slamming her into the barrier, Ashley gave them a melancholy look.

“You’ll have to leave me here. I can’t leave the English server, no matter how hard you try.” Pressing her face against the barrier, digital tears streamed down her face. “I’m sorry I won’t be able to come with you and meet all the kawaii people over in Japan. At least we’ll have the memories from my small event and story to remember me.”

“Ashley!” Riko cried, holding her hand with Ashley’s. “You were one of the first people to meet me and you loved my bento! Thank you for hanging out with me!”

Ashley hugged the small girl as she passed through the barrier. “Thank you for helping me reconcile with my father. You are a true friend Riko.” Placing her back into the tunnel, she waved at the small group. “Sayonara minna-san! It’s been fun!”

Before any of them could reply back, the door to the English server slammed close, trapping Ashley Taylor on the other side. Emiri held Riko and Karin as they wept in her arms while Rika cried on her shoulder. Together, they watched the door disintegrate into little bits of data.