Does any of what I write make sense? (Because sometimes I confuse myself.)

This is the third possible ending for Child's Play. You might notice that Muse sometimes indirectly references the past endings as if they have learned from their previous experiences (similar to how a person playing a game may slowly improve their strategy over time.)

Disclaimer: Don't own Love Live.

"I think Maki-chan was the one who gave us this power." Nozomi said as the girls watched Honoka heal her broken arm by simply concentrating. Honoka looked puzzled, as did the rest of the girls, for she was certain that Maki was still an ordinary person with no special abilities that warped reality. "There's no other explanation for it." The spiritual third year said with a small shrug.

"Maybe she stole some of that demon's energy and passed it into us nya!" Rin said excitedly, confident that she had the right idea as to how they received their abilities. "Like in a game!"

"Except this is life or death for all of us, not just her." Nico reminded them.

"We should come up with a strategy. Just charging recklessly in won't work." Eri instructed. "Plus, if it's a demon, then we can't hope to defeat it."

"Then what should we do?" Umi asked. An air of defeat had settled down over the eight of them after realizing that victory wasn't an option for them.

"We can't beat it, but we should be able to create an opening long enough to escape from this place." Honoka suggested. "I mean, Maki-chan is able to open portals from any part of this dimension to another, so she should be able to open one back to the real world. Here's what I think we should do."

With Honoka's plan fresh in their minds, the girls attempted to confidently exit the portal, though their confidence vanished almost completely as soon as they saw the large intimidating figure of the enemy they were to face. Floating next to it, in a net of shadowy energy, was the nearly transparent form of their endangered friend. Maki appeared to be in a trance, her eyes open but clouded by hallucinations of another kind.

I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU TO KINDLY PRESENT YOUR SOULS TO ME FOR MY CONSUMPTION. I KNEW THAT THE CHILD WOULD NOT BE PERSUASIVE ENOUGH TO SAVE ANY OF YOU.

"Because we don't leave our friends behind!" Honoka shouted angrily, refusing to let the thing monologue the entire time. She hadn't expected to see Maki so early in the fight, having planned that the creature would keep her hidden until it needed her as a bargaining chip. But having her within their sights just meant that they would act earlier than had originally been planned. 'Maki' wasn't anywhere in view, however, and she was also needed for the plan to work. "So we're going to fight you for her!"

INTERESTING. SO THIS SCHEMING GIRL HAS THE IMPUDENCE TO USE MY OWN POWER AGAINST ME? Its face contorted into a grimace that could barely pass as a smile, if one gave it the benefit of the doubt. NOT THAT IT MATTERS. ONCE SHE IS CONSUMED, THE POWERS WILL RETURN TO ME.

"As if we'd let you!" Honoka yelled, signalling behind her back with her right hand. The plan was in action now, and she needed to first provide a distraction. The only thing she could think of was to blind the creature, and she couldn't exactly imagine herself as a giant lightbulb. So she did the next best thing, generating electricity from her own body's mechanics. It created an arc between her hands, growing in intensity and brightness the longer she focused on it. With a scream, she caused the electricity to fly out from her, producing enough light to the point where she almost looked like a miniature sun in the dark dimension. As the light dimmed once more, she sagged forward, not expecting the mental breathlessness that followed her display. But she was satisfied to see the thing blinking rapidly, as she would have if a bright light had just been shone in her eyes.

HOW DARE- I HOPE YOU ARE PREPARED FOR YOUR DEATH. It raised a fist, still dazed from the light Honoka had created. She hoped that her friends were ready with their portion of the plan as she waited for her energy to recharge. The air made a whistling sound as it swung its hand at her, with the intent of smashing her to a pulp. Which she could possibly be made into if not for Rin's perfectly timed attack. Her friends had scattered as she blinded the creature, and now the first year appeared from next to the creature, lifted off the ground in a glowing matrix in the shape of a giant cat. She swiped at the thing's arm, knocking it aside so that Honoka wasn't killed. Its attention shifted from Honoka to Rin, something which she was grateful for. It gave her time to rest, the only unexpected side effect from using the ability.

"Keep it up, Rin-chan!" Now Kotori joined the brawl, coming in from the other side and cloaked in the same glowing matrix as Rin, though hers took the form of a hawk. The duo took turns with their attacks, so that the creature wasn't able to just focus on one of them. Honoka finally managed to straighten up, her determination to escape winning out over the fatigue she felt. She wanted to rejoin the fight against the creature, as Kotori and Rin couldn't keep up their attacks if their power drained just as quickly as hers did.

"It's done, Honoka-chan!" Nozomi shouted. Honoka wanted to smack the third-year for drawing attention to herself, but the girl wasn't even fazed by the destructive intent she was faced with. Behind it, Rin's avatar disappeared and she fell the last couple feet to the ground. The cat-like first year sat up with difficulty, but she looked fine for the time being. Nozomi waited until it had tried to smash her in the same way it had tried to do Honoka earlier before lashing out. She created a river of water that started from her hands. The liquid snaked, ribbon-like, around the thing's arm. Then Eri joined the other third-year, placing her own hand on the water stream. Their combined efforts allowed Eri to create icicles within the water flow that stabbed at the arm it encircled.

"Oh, good…" Kotori fell in the same manner as Rin, but she was caught by Umi as the bluenette caught her in a slow spinning water vortex.

"Just hold on a little longer, Kotori!" Honoka paid her childhood friends no mind-it wasn't as if they would get hurt with Eri and Nozomi doing their best to irritate the creature-and hurried to where Nico was standing guard over the destroyed shadow cage. Maki was still in her trance, and 'Maki' had yet to appear to them. Honoka couldn't think of any other way to wake up her friend except to shock her back into reality.

Maki ignored the stinging pain that came from Honoka's unintentionally concentrated electrical burst and took in the situation. Rin was being covered by Hanayo, though they weren't the current focus of the creature's attack. Neither were the third years-Nico had run off to assist Eri after Honoka took care of Maki and Nozomi lost control of her water stream. Maki's escape from her cage hadn't gone unnoticed, though Umi was doing her best to protect them.

"I approve of the current action plan, but I cannot do anything until I reunify with my other half." 'Maki' materialized out of nowhere, almost as if she had been trapped by the same cage that had held Maki earlier.

"If you do that too early, then you'll be eaten up and we'd lose all chances of escaping. I'll distract, you both gather everyone into one spot." Both halves of Maki nodded and vanished into separate portals. Out of the corner of her eye, Honoka saw them choose a spot for their escape route. The creature's focus was on Umi; she was holding on far longer than any of the others had in the use of their power. One by one, her other friends dropped through the ground they were standing on, through the portals created by Maki to bring them to where they would escape, Umi being the last one.

YOU MORTALS HAVE SOME ABILITY, BUT NOT ENOUGH. WITH NO STRENGTH AND NOWHERE TO RUN, YOU'LL ALL DIE.

"I don't think so!" Honoka charged at the creature, her recharged electricity crackling through the air that surrounded her body. She had to generate enough light to blind the thing, and it would work better the closer she got. Or so she thought, as she used the electricity to boost her to the place right in front of its eyes. It hurt more than anything else, to overload her mind's capacity to manipulate so much power. Her electricity struck the thing in its eyes-she knew because it let out an anguished howl- and she could only hope that Maki opened a portal below her. Because she wouldn't be able to save herself with the exhaustion overwhelming her. She fell for a few seconds, then landed in the middle of her friends, saved from hitting the ground by Nozomi's water stream.

"Now it is time we proceed to the final point of the plan." Maki had reunified with herself, and Honoka saw her friends nodding off with her own blurred and sleepy vision. "I'll have to take back what's left of what I gave you, but this should be sufficient enough…"

YOU CAN'T ESCAPE ME!

"Watch me." Maki scoffed, and that was all Honoka knew before her eyelids closed on her.

When she woke up, she was lying on the couch in the reception room of the Nishikino household. Her other friends were strewn haphazardly around the room-Nico draped over the coffee table, Umi on the floor by the fireplace, Kotori lying on the back of the arm chair that was being occupied by Eri-but they were all present and accounted for. They had managed to escape from the dimension, she realized with a feeling of contented satisfaction. Now they could return to pursuing their goal of Love Live.

The girls may have though they won, but the creature was patient. It was angry that its prey had managed to escape, though it did give credit to the girl for using its power against it. They may have escaped this time, but they wouldn't be able to the next time they wandered into its dimension. It was willing to wait however long it took to claim the soul that was promised to it, for they had only escaped it. It still existed under the surface of their 'reality' and waited for the time when it could take what rightfully belonged to it.

Good End: Escape?

This ending has them escape from the alternate dimension, but for how long? And who promised Maki to the creature in the first place?

These questions will (maybe) be answered in the next chapter, the TRUE END. See you then!