The Arena
Chapter 1
Homura was enraged.
Her world now hanged in the balanced, hanging from a thin red thread of love and fate.
An old foe had taken up her sword, and had aimed it directly at this thread.
"Damn you, Miki Sayaka!" Homura exclaimed at her currently ensnared enemy, "Have you any idea of what you have done?!"
-a
The scene is a bizarre place, both real and unreal. A place a mere doorway away, but only those familiar with the Puella Magi world can enter through that door. This place feels eerie, and cosmic. It is like standing in the midst of outer space, with spiraling solar systems providing a mesmerizing backdrop. There is no clear ground underneath, only the blackness of space and the sparkling of stars. But still, there is a firm footing, and the physical readily mingles with the magical.
In this place, Homura is garbed in the attire of her ascendency. She casts a decidedly imposing image, of elaborately exquisite elegance blended with an otherworldly nature of magically mythological might.
Sayaka Miki had been tied with black ropes to a cold steel cross, her arms outstretched. She is in her Puella Magi outfit, and her face is slightly red. That was from absorbing a slap to the face from Homura.
-a
"I know exactly what I have done." Sayaka answered Homura, "I have told Madoka the truth. The truth of the pile of lies that your world is based upon!"
Fiery eye contact is made between Homura and Sayaka, both now gritting teeth angrily at each other.
"This world is not based on lies!" Homura protested, "It is based on what is truly best for Madoka. On what is best for her personal happiness, even if she herself does not recognize that."
"Who are you to decide what's best for Madoka?!" Sayaka asked angrily, "It is her life, her choices!"
"So if you had a dear friend who chose a self-destructive path, one compromising her own basic well-being, would you idly stand by and casually say 'well, it's her choice'?" Homura asked in turn.
Sayaka's mind raced to try to think of a good response to that, but one didn't come quickly. And so a tense pause hanged in the air.
"You don't have to answer that." Homura said with a touch of condescension in her voice, "I know how little you care about your supposed friend's happiness, Miki-san."
"What is that supposed to mean?!" Sayaka asked angrily.
"How many times have your reckless actions endangered Madoka?" Homura asked, narrowing her eyes menacingly, "How many times has your valuing of some hopeless silly crush over a perfectly loyal friend put that friend in harm's way? I would never betray Madoka like you have!"
"Huh? What nonsense are you getting on with?!" Sayaka asked, "You totally betrayed Madoka the moment you divorced her from the Law of Cycles! You denied Madoka her most deeply-held wish. I would never have betrayed her like that!"
Homura was shaking in boiling anger and frustration over Sayaka's words. But now it was Homura's mind that was racing to try to think of a good response. Finding it difficult to conceive of one, Homura briefly focused on the being most responsible for the current situation.
"Why did I let the Incubators live?" Homura asked, "Why did I not strip them of their memories as well? I allowed myself to become too satisfied with my defeat and torment of them. I gave them but a momentary freedom, and with that alone they have unravelled everything by telling the truth to Miki-san!"
"Hey, I'm right here, you know." Sayaka stated, "Speaking of which, you better let me down soon, or…"
"Shut up!" Homura exclaimed, "I should have eliminated the Incubators and you!"
Homura then took a step back, and with a steely look in her eyes, she gestured one arm outwards, with an open palm gesturing towards Sayaka's face. Greenish-colored condensed magical energy began to form into a ball only a centimeter away from Homura's open palm. Sayaka had already been sweating nervously, but now her anxiety neared a fever pitch.
"Thankfully…" said Homura, narrowing her eyes and with her face now displaying calm resolve, "It is not too late for me to make amends for my previous mistake. Good bye, Miki…"
"That is enough, Homura-chan."
-a
Sayaka breathed a deep sigh of relief, and Homura's eyes widened in tense shock. For the first time in Homura's life, this voice was not music to Homura's ears.
Homura tentatively turned about, beads of sweat on her brow, as she faced the origin of that voice.
Standing there, in a brilliant pinkish-hued whitish glow, was a majestically angelic figure with incredible golden eyes. She was once more garbed in the attire of her ascendency.
"M-Madoka, I…" Homura began, desperate to say something to her most beloved person, but verbally hobbled by two conflicting desires, one to justify and the other to apologize.
"It's Ok." Madoka said softly, "I know and understand why you did what you did. I will not hold it against you."
Were Homura's eyes fooling her? Was Madoka blushing slightly as she said that?
"Then…" began Homura in earnest reply, "Will you agree with me to have this world continue as is? For you to continue to enjoy this life I have given back to you?"
Madoka's eyes relaxed as her eyelids lowered slightly. She appeared calm, but also deeply contemplative, in this moment.
"…It is time for me to be completely honest with you." Madoka said, "I… never lied to you. Never! But there were things that I felt would be too troubling for you to know, things I decided to keep from you."
"What are they?" asked Homura.
"…I won't lie." Madoka began in answer, "In this new state of being, one that I found wondrous and deeply fulfilling, I still missed my family and friends."
"Yes!" Homura exclaimed, "Then what you said to me back then, in the dream world arising from my soul gem and the Incubator's cruel machinations…"
"Was the truth" Madoka said, "It's true that, under different circumstances, I would never part with my family and friends."
"Then take this life I have given back to you!" Homura pleaded to her, "Enjoy it. You deserve it more than anyone!"
Madoka smiled slightly at those words.
"You are very kind, Homura-chan." Madoka stated, "And you are very smart. But things are not always as… binary as you perceive them."
"What do you mean?" asked Homura.
"While I missed my family and friends" Madoka began in answer, "I was also comforted in knowing that they would live happily without me, or, in the case of Sayaka and Nagisa, they would be close at my side in helping me fulfill my wish. So I was completely content and at peace in my new role, the role I had given to myself through my wish. It is time for me to serve this role again, and for you, Homura-chan, to enjoy a normal human life."
Madoka smiled warmly and brightly while saying that. She had intended her words to Homura to be comforting, but they had unfortunately had an almost completely opposite effect.
"But…" began Homura in counterargument, "You are so very self-sacrificing. You would give everything of yourself to help others! So how can I be confident in what you have just said?"
"Have you ever known me to be deceitful?" Madoka asked, a bit tersely.
"No, but…" Homura began in reply, "You can have it all now! You don't have to miss your family and friends. I can fulfill the role that you once did. So why not…"
"To sustain this world…" Madoka stated, interrupting Homura, "To sustain the barrier you have put the entire universe in… it is draining a lot of energy. Energy taken directly from the maju. Energy that would otherwise go towards combating entropy."
"You care about entropy?" Homura asked.
"I don't embrace the cold vision of the Incubators" Madoka replied, after a brief pause, "But I also do not want this universe to come to a much quicker end than necessary just for my sake. I feel that it would be very wrong and selfish of me."
"It would not!" Homura protested.
And then, at last, silence reigned. It was dawning on both Madoka and Homura that no meeting of the minds could be met between them. A third person had been listening carefully to their conversation, and realized this quicker than they did.
"I told you." Sayaka said to Madoka, "I told you that she would not listen to reason!"
"Stay out of this!" Homura shouted angrily at Sayaka, after turning to face her.
"Sayaka has a right to speak on this." Madoka stated, "She is also a close friend of mine, Homura."
Homura then betrayed the slightest degree of anger towards Madoka.
"So do you agree with her?" Homura asked Madoka, "Do you agree that I won't listen to reason?"
"…I don't know if we can ever have a meeting of the minds on this." Madoka said, "It saddens me deeply to say that, but…"
"I am now convinced that you were, in fact, happier as a normal human girl." Homura stated, "And so I am not backing down on this! I will remove your memories once more, and…"
"No." Madoka said, firmly.
"It's the only way." Homura said.
"I will resist if you try it." Madoka stated, "This time, I am prepared to resist such magic."
"…Do you intend to fight me, then?" Homura asked, feeling a chill go up her spine and deep melancholy, over this very thought.
Madoka's eyes became very sad and misty over the same thought. Thankfully, inspiration struck for her.
"There is another way." Madoka said, "A way to settle our dispute. A fair way. It will require… a honest wager of sorts."
"A wager?" Homura asked.
"Yes, and we must promise each other to abide by the outcome of that wager, no matter what." Madoka stated, "It is the only fair way to settle our dispute without us literally fighting each other."
"So what do you intend for us to wage on?" Homura asked.
"Each of us will choose a champion" Madoka stated, "Each champion will be a Puella Magi. Our respective champions will battle each other in an agreed-upon arena of competition. Victory will be achieved by the rules of pro wrestling. A three second pin or submission. If my champion wins, then you will transfer most of your power to me, and I will destroy your barrier and resume the role I held before you stripped me of that role. If your champion wins… then I will concede to you, and allow you to remove my memories and return me to how I was before Sayaka told me the truth."
"Madoka!" Sayaka protested.
"It is only fair, Sayaka." Madoka said to her, smiling slightly.
"But I can't just stand by and let this…" stated Sayaka
"I know." Madoka interjected, with a knowing smile, "That's why I intend for you to be my champion."
Sayaka's eyes lit up at that.
"Yes…" Sayaka said, excitedly, "Yes! I will not let you down!"
Homura's eyes shifted back and forth between Madoka and Sayaka, carefully contemplating Madoka's offer.
After a brief pause, focus now shifted back to Homura.
"So…" said Madoka, "What do you say, Homura-chan? Can you agree to this?"
Homura smiled, a seductive smile of confidence and renewed hope at seeing a glorious opportunity open before her.
"Yes." Homura stated, with a blissful look on her face, "I can agree to that. For it assures that my final victory and hence your ideal life awaits!"
"…What if your champion loses?" Madoka asked with a playful grin, raising an eyebrow.
"She won't." Homura stated, "But I will certainly abide by the outcome of our wager. I would not lie to you on a matter of this importance, requiting mutual trust."
"Good." Madoka said, "I am relieved to know that everything will soon be settled. Now… who will be your champion?"
"There is one person who defeated me more soundly than anybody ever has." Homura admitted, "And it is one person that I strongly doubt Miki Sayaka can defeat."
"Oh yeah?" asked Sayaka, in a playfully combative tone, "So who is this high and mighty tough girl, huh?"
"Mami Tomoe." Homura answered, as a delicious grin spread across her face.
Sayaka's eyes lit up in a mixture of shock and horror at hearing this. Even Madoka looked somewhat surprised and alarmed.
"That's not fair!" Sayaka shouted, "Mami-san would never fight for you against Madoka! She would…"
"You will soon be surprised, Miki-san." Homura said, with a devious grin, "Let us all meet back here in 24 hours to begin this grand contest of champions! Soon my ultimate dream will become an unquenchable reality! Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
Homura then teleported away in a puff of billowing smoke. Simultaneously, the ropes about Sayaka's arms, and the steel cross that she was held upon, disappeared into thin air. Sayaka stealthily landed on her feet, like a cat. Sayaka and Madoka then looked at each other nervously.
Madoka was confident that Sayaka could defeat almost anybody. But Mami Tomoe was not in that list of "almost anybody", a champion choice by Homura that truly startled Madoka.
In 24 hours, the greatest Puella Magi rivalry of all-time would be forever resolved, as mentor battles protégé in a contest for the ages…
To be continued…