Fate is a Game.

A game where you draw cards

and try to make a winning hand.

A game where you roll the dice

hoping things line up in your favor.

Fate is a Game.

A game where you learn the rules

and follow them to stay alive.

A game where you follow the ladder,

and hope you don't hit a snake.

Yes, I'm sorry.

Your fate is just a game.

And though you may try to deny it,

you're not even the one who is playing it.

Game of Fate : Prologues are Confusing :

Shugo Yumeno stood in place, frozen by the horrible hopeless nature of his situation. A simple walk home from an evening with friends had been shattered by a magic psycho after his blood.

It was as strange to him as it sounded.

Magic was for storybooks.

Psychos were for distant news stories that didn't touch his life.

And the only valuable thing about him was probably the watch his mom had bought him for his birthday.

So why there now a magical psychopath chasing his sister and him around the dark city streets was beyond him. It really shouldn't be possible. In the real world, things like this didn't happen. Especially not to thirteen year olds like him.

"B-Big brother! I don't hear her anymore! I think that we lost her!"

Reality was catching up to them in the worst way possible; Shugo was reminded of the fact that the cutesy shoes his sister wore with her Lolita dresses were not made for running for your life in. Similarly, he was not in shape and could not dodge blasts of purple magic for more than ten minutes at a time.

"We can't stop yet! Just a bit longer! We're almost there!"

"Wh-where? There's no where to run, Big Brother! We can't lead her to moms! She'll hurt them!"

"Geh...!" She had a point. Even when their parents were very comforting people, they wouldn't stand a chance against the crazy magical nightmare chasing them around.

"Ehehe! That's right, you've got no where to run!" The laughter above them made his blood run cold. Laced with a tone of insanity and the sweet confidence of a girl who shot craters into pavement, and reminding Shugo of why he was running. "And there's no where to hide! You Golden Mages are mine for the killing!"

"Yeek! Big Brother!"

The familiar whooshing sound that accompanied the purple haired girl's magic blasts alerted Shugo to the danger. Without thinking it through beyond the initial action, Shugo turned around and ran back to his slow sister, tackling her out of the way and trying to use himself as a shield. He could hear the loud impact of magical energy clashing with the paved road and choked on the dust that was thrown into the air, but felt no pain.

"Huh...? No way!" The psycho's voice caught his attention. Slowly, Shugo lifted his head to see why the blow at never come for him.

"Tsk tsk tsk! Picking on kids? That's not very nice!" Standing in front of him was a girl. She had short red hair and was dressed in an outfit almost as frilly as what his own little sister wore. There was a huge pink ribbon on the side of her head, tied in neatly with her short hair. Based on her height, she could be no older than ten years. Her back was to him so he couldn't see her face, but it sounded like she was smiling. "Bullying kids is worth being smacked over, but I'll letcha off with just a scolding this time, okay?"

"Why you...! You little brat! Don't interfere!"

"Wow, you're bossy. Sorry, but I don't take orders from bullies."

As Shugo's vision refocused, he saw that there was some sort of glowing barrier between the two girls. Based on his knowledge of the magical girls (which made him temporarily grateful for his little sister's obsession with the genre), Shugo assumed she had created a shield to deflect the earlier attacks.

"Drop your shield and step aside! I don't need to involve you if you leave quietly!" Now that he wasn't running for his life, Shugo could properly see the woman that had been chasing them. Her hair was longer than he personally considered acceptable and colored just as unnaturally; a pale purple shade that bordered being grey, with a black sailor's cap on her head to contrast the pale colour. She wore a black trench coat that had been cut to above her knees on the right side, revealing a skirt colored similarly to her hair, but remained asymmetrically long on the left. With the coat buttoned up so tightly, Shugo couldn't tell if she was wearing a shirt.

In her hands, beyond the puffed shoulders of her long sleeves, she held an intricately decorated scythe.

She screamed cliché bad guy.

"Like I said. I don't take orders from bullies. And I definitely don't make a policy of fighting losers." The younger girl held a proper magical girl staff; the tip was pink and U-shaped, with a blue spade-shaped gem in the center. "Give it up, Annabelle! You're not escaping this time! We won't let you!"

"Grr... You little brat!" 'Annabelle' pointed the scythe at the younger girl, creating a magical circle in the air and pulling together an orb of purple magic in front of it. "If you're not moving on your own then allow me to make you! You've got ten seconds!"

"Oh dear... Why are all crazy ladies crazy." The little girl sighed and lowered her weapon nonchalantly, even as Annabelle's threatened countdown began. Shugo's shoulders tensed. He could feel his sister hiding behind him, cowering against her brother's back.

"H-hey... I don't know who you are, and thanks for helping, but you've gotta go! She's serious! That crazy woman is serious!" He warned the younger girl, his spirits sinking when she turned around and tilted her head somewhat dumbly at him.

"Oh yeah, I know that. I'm not really a match for a crazy person all by myself." She replied with an uncaring shrug. "But that's why I'm not here all by myself."

"Five... Four... Three... Two... One... You're toast brat- eh?" Annabelle looked over her shoulder. Shugo didn't know what she was looking at, until a bright flash of pink magic shot from no where and slammed into her. With a shriek of alarm, Annabelle went from confidently floating overhead to being shoved into a nearby building. The confusing evening had only become more confusing, as the third magical girl made her presence violently known.

"Sorry for the wait!" A brunette, with hair longer than the smaller girl and two thin pink ribbons tied in rather than one, dropped from the sky and landed in front of them. She wore what looked like a black version of a standard Japanese school uniform and held a pink staff with a heart tip. If the psychopath screamed cliché bad guy, this girl screamed cliché good guy in every way possible.

"I was trying not to hurt the building, but it looks like I went a bit too far... Is everyone okay?" Her smile was light and gentle, helping Shugo relax despite all of the chaos around him.

"Sis! Holy moly, that was awesome!" The young red haired girl hopped to her apparent sister, taking three big jumps to get there and grabbing the other girl in a hug. It looked like this older sister girl was around Shugo's age, though she was a bit short... "I've already hacked Annabelle's barrier! Is it time to bring her down?"

"Ehehe. Mm, of course. Just remember; Miss Annabelle-san is wanted for a reason. We need to be extra careful."

"Yup~! Since she's also extra stupid and unpredictable!"

"Ah... Th-that's rude, Masume..."

"But it's true~!"

The sisters exchanged carefree dialogue, seemingly oblivious or at least unconcerned as Annabelle peeled herself off of the building and stumbled to her feet. Shugo might not have noticed that she was moving either, if she didn't announce her recovery by shooting at them again. The red haired girl, Masume, quickly pulled away from her hug and stepped in front of Shugo and his sister. A pink shield went up instantly, with her older sister jumping into the air and sending her own storm of pink shots at Annabelle.

"That's not very nice, Annabelle Raye!" The older sister's legs had bee tucked up against her body, but she lowered them and stood on a magic circle that hung in the air and acted as a platform. "This is the last crime you'll commit! Your spree of terror ends here! Give it up and surrender to us peacefully, okay?"

"Dammit... Like hell I will!" Annabelle snapped, her attention turning to the girl that stood in the air. "I've come too far... I'm finally in Willowing City! I've finally found that brat!"

Shugo shuddered, stepping closer to his sister and putting an arm around her protectively.

"Oh geez. Why do stupid heads always have to make stupid things more stupid?" Masume sighed, looking over her shoulder at Shugo as his shoulders tensed. "Don't worry, though! Sis and I've got this covered!"

She seemed really at ease in this crazy situation. Shugo was beginning to feel light headed and overwhelmed, a sharp contrast to the cool and collected older sister that was now fighting Annabelle. Just as Shugo was beginning to at least get used to the idea of having Masume shield them, she stepped out from behind the shielding and left it to hang in the air with only Shugo and his sister behind it.

"H-hey! What are- where are you going?"

"Hm?" Masume stopped, looking over her shoulder and waving her hand to dismiss his worried tone. "I'm going to help Sis! Don't worry! I've got my eye on you and that shield won't go anywhere!"

Shugo swallowed, still nervous. "What's even going on? Why're you doing this? Why is this even happening?"

He listed off questions, making Masume laugh quietly and spin her staff.

"Sis will tell you all of that later! For now!" Wings appeared on her heels and she turned to face the fight, "Just know that we're Magical Girls! We've got you covered, Shugo Yumeno! Usao Tamura!"

"That doesn't help at all-!" But it was too late. Masume jumped into the air, leaving Shugo and Usao to stand behind the shield alone.

Yup, this was really crazy.

Yup, this was really confusing.

There was no way it could be happening.

But it was. And it was only about to get more hectic