"And the skies will thunder, the earth will shudder, and all that live shall tremble. The Queen of Magic shall rise unquestioned. She shall defend the land of her birth with her legion of two thousand. Her power will become recognized among the leaders of the world, and all will bow."

"Hello, Madoka. My name is Yoshimi Sakanaka. You can call me Yoshimi." The girl bowed.

Madoka was wary, having been approached seemingly out of the blue. All her friends were with her, making their way to Mami's after school. With Sayaka, Homura, Kyoko, Hitomi, and Mami, not one of them knew this girl. She was wearing the same school uniform as them. Her yellow eyes seemed obsessive, mad, and her black hair was disheveled and unkempt. On top of it all, she had called Madoka by her first name.

Sayaka stepped in between Yoshimi and Madoka. "Hold a moment. Who are you?"

Yoshimi blinked. "I just told you."

Madoka stepped around Sayaka, trying to at least be friendly. She would give this girl the benefit of the doubt. "Well, uh, it's nice to meet you, Yoshimi."

Stepping back, Sayaka gave the others questioning looks. Kyoko and Homura were ready to act if anything fishy started happening. Mami was always ready. Hitomi was just smiling, unreadable.

Yoshimi beamed for a moment, then reached down into a bag hanging from her shoulder. "I got this for you."

Homura and Sayaka moved forward, trying to see what it was before anything could happen. They all felt cautious around this girl.

Out of the bag, she produced a shining silver object. Homura couldn't help but gasp at the sight. It was a crown. She held it up and explained. "With this, if you will permit, I will crown you as Queen of all Magical Girls. If you will take it, I will be your loyal servant." She bowed her head and held the crown up for them all to see.

Madoka was stunned silent. Sayaka found words for her. "Well, that's pretty generous, but Queen of one person doesn't help much."

Hitomi startled Sayaka and Madoka. "Madoka, if you become Queen of Magical Girls, I'd follow you."

Homura spoke next. "Me too!"

Sayaka turned around to face Hitomi. "You're not even a Magical Girl."

Hitomi turned away. "Don't be so sure. I'm plenty magical."

Sayaka sighed. "Whatever. Well, then I'm in too."

Mami laughed. "This sounds like fun. I'm in."

A moment of silence, and they all looked to Kyoko. She noticed. "What? I gotta ask permission before I swear allegiance to anyone."

Madoka waved it off. "That's okay. It's not really anything serious, I think."

Yoshimi cleared her throat, grabbing everyone's attention. "Magical Girls in many other countries have begun banding together into dangerous forces. Just yesterday, the situation escalated when a group of fifty Magical Girls attacked another group of equal size on the America-Mexican border. The two groups represented the two countries respectively. A strike team of twelve took control of the capital building in Spain just earlier today. Magical Girls are going to war. We here in Japan need to join together or we will be an open target to the evolving world of Magical Girls."

In the shocked silence that followed, Kyoko grumbled. "I still have to make sure Yuma's okay with it."

Madoka stuttered about, trying to figure out exactly what Yoshimi was asking her to do. "You mean... you mean I'm supposed to... t-to what? Unite the Magical Girls of Japan? To fight other Magical Girls?"

Yoshimi shook her head. "While I cannot guarantee anything, if we show ourselves strong enough, we may be able to avoid a lot of fighting."

Madoka thought about it for a moment. "Am... am I the only one who can do this?"

Yoshimi nodded. "Only the most meek has the right to rule. Protect our homeland." She moved to place the crown back in her bag. "But... you cannot be crowned queen without a domain. According to Kyubey, there are two thousand six hundred and eighty-one Magical Girls in Japan. At minimum, we would want a thousand of that number to swear allegiance before crowning you would not be presumptuous. I estimate twenty-five hundred would be the high-end expectation, but doable. There may, however, be resistance."

Madoka took a deep breath. Sayaka spoke on her behalf. "So what do you want us to do to begin with?"

Yoshimi turned, looking over her shoulder. "Find every Magical Girl you can. Tell them what I told you, about the Magical Girls of the world, and ask them to help us keep our land safe. Swear allegiance to Madoka Kaname, and we can all be victorious." And then she was gone.

Kyoko let out a laugh. "Yeah, that'll work. There are a lot of Magical Girls out there who wouldn't bother to think about anyone but themselves. Only an insurmountable display of sheer power would convince them."

Mami looked to her. "What about Yuma?"

Kyoko sighed. "She'd probably love the idea, but I still have to check with her." Nodding to herself, she started off toward the apartment she was staying at. "Let's meet up at the usual spot tomorrow! Seeya!"

Mami turned back to the others, smiling. "With that thought, I have an idea myself. There's a city not too far from here with a large number of Magical Girls, and they happen to owe me a bit. They'll at least listen to me. I should go quickly, though, if I intend to be back tomorrow."

They watched Mami walking away, and Homura turned to Sayaka. "Take care of Madoka. I know of a few more that I want to try talking to. If they don't buy it, they might come after her." Before anyone could object, she disappeared.

Madoka stood, looking around in confusion, with only Hitomi and Sayaka remaining. Madoka looked to the two remaining. "Are we really doing this?"

Hitomi nodded. "I suppose so. If Magical Girls around the world are becoming dangerous, we should be prepared."

Sayaka had been staring at Hitomi. "Yeah, but... since when were you a Magical Girl, Hitomi?"

"I made the contract yesterday." The all looked together, finding Kyubey sitting on Madoka's shoulder. The little white alien bobbed its head. "I have to say, Madoka, Magical Girls going to war is troubling indeed. The more Magical Girls that unite under your leadership, the better. They won't be fighting each other, so less of them will die pointless deaths."

Madoka took the opportunity to question the Incubator. "Kyubey, why would Magical Girls fight each other like this?"

Kyubey blinked. "Isn't it obvious? They're trying to expand the borders of their own countries." Seeing the disbelieving looks on their faces, he explained. "I'll be honest, it surprised me too at first. For almost five thousand years now, about ten percent of contracting girls make wishes that effect geopolitical borders. That number was much higher, at nearly seventeen percent, just twenty years ago. It peaked at twenty-nine percent in the year 1945. The major drop only began in the 1950's. Since then, the hearts of young Human girls has related less and less to war. In all of your history, borders have been the second most common recurring subject for wishes. The most common, of course, is the wish not to die coming from girls who contract in the wake of a terrible accident, Mami Tomoe for example, at a percentage of forty-one. Third most common is wishes made for their fathers, at five percent. Fourth most common is adjustments to bust-"

Sayaka interrupted him. "So, it's actually been this way for a long time. We get it."

Kyubey nodded. "I'm actually quite intrigued by the statistics on the nature of wishes. The reason for the war-related wishes is due to the effects war has on young girls. During periods of heavy war many girls wish to be in the army, often overlapping with a wish for their fathers, or adjustments to bust."

Sayaka growled at the little alien. "Stop turning the conversation to... wait, how does that relate to bust size?"

Kyubey made a gesture that seemed close to a shrug. "Most armies throughout history have forbidden females from combat. Many girls would wish for their bust to be smaller in order to not be noticed and thus make it into the battlefield, often where there father was fighting so as to be with him. Utterly fascinating, it is."

Sayaka took a deep breath, looking to Madoka. "Well then... we should get some rest. Hmm... Homura asked me to take care of you. Can I sleep over tonight?"

Madoka smiled, nodding. "Sure. That would be nice."

Hitomi hopped up and down a few times. "Oh! Me too!"