Explosions rocked the streets.
"Someone take that bitch down!"
People ran for their lives, scarcely caring why it was happening.
"We need a long-range fighter! Heavy hitter!"
Treads rolled down the street, three large tanks in a row.
"Sayaka, get out of the way!"
The front tank pulled to the shoulder, the second going the opposite direction right behind it and the third aiming between them.
"I can't get close enough! Someone get Mami right now!"
The tanks opened fire, the shots overshooting and smashing apart an office building behind the four magical girls.
Sayaka called across the street to Kyoko. "I thought you were the heavy hitting long-range fighter!"
Kyoko nodded towards the tanks. "They're too far away, and much too strong! No chance!"
Madoka dropped down beside Sayaka. "You needed backup?"
Sayaka nodded. "Yeah, where the hell is Mami!"
Madoka shook her head. "She and Homura are two streets over. They've had to fall back past the two mile mark."
Sayaka swore. She was about to swear some more when one of the other girls came up with an idea.
"I think if I can get close enough, I can take out the tanks. Madoka, if you could use your arrows, and Sayaka throw your swords, you might be able to cover me enough to make the distance. If nothing else, I can take the treads out on the front two. Sayaka, how many swords do you have?"
Sayaka nodded, glad there was suddenly a plan. "Enough." She turned to look at Kyoko across the street. "Komaki's going in! Chisato, we need your help for covering fire!"
Kyoko shouted back. "What about me?"
Sayaka shrugged, then leaped out into the street. She unleashed a flurry of swords, sending them through the air like darts. A few missed the mark, stabbing into the ground or simply ricocheting off the heavy tank armor. Most of the swords dug in to the armor or the treads, but the effect was minimal. Chisato and Madoka joined in, firing a hail of bullets and arrows as fast as they could. Komaki rushed ahead, axe in hand, charging the tanks. Kyoko watched the plan, trying to decide which part she belonged in.
A thunderous roar nearly deafened Komaki as she ducked under the lead tank's cannon barrel. Somewhere behind her, the shell that had fired sent concrete into the air. Slashing out with her axe, she tore the lead tank's tread apart, crushing several wheels and even dislodging a few. Turning to the second tank, she stabbed the axe head straight into the armor. Whether it managed to get through to the inside was irrelevant. The tanks were empty. She pulled the axe out, taking the entire tread off.
Kyoko had made her decision, taking a huge risk. Lines of green energy ripped up the roof behind her as she jumped from one building to the next. A helicopter followed her from the sky, aiming to gun her down. She couldn't stop until she was over the tanks. She needed to take out the girl in the third tank. A bright orb flew through the air over Kyoko's head, smashing into the helicopter. The chopper's gunner leaped out, disappearing between two buildings. The now-flaming wreck spun as it fell, crashing through the roof of another building.
Komaki headed for the third tank, having immobilized the first two, just as a girl pulled herself from the last tank's hatch. The girl, wearing what almost looked like a uniform and dragging a heavy-headed spiked flail, was more than a foot taller than her. Komaki saw the second girl, much smaller, poke her head out of the hatch.
"There's two of them!" She tried to warn the others even as she raised her axe to stab at the first girl.
With a precision swing, the flail's chain wrapped around the axe pole. Yanking back, the girl ripped the weapon from Komaki's hands, sending it flying up and back behind the tank. Just as fast, the flail was brought back down. The heavy head crashed into Komaki, smashing her into the ground. The smaller girl ducked back into the tank, letting the larger one defend her. The tanks continued to aim and fire after the other girls.
Chisato pulled Madoka behind the corner of a building. "Two of them! And where'd Kyoko go?"
Sayaka dived out of the path of another shell. She took shelter beside the other two. "Damn it all! Is she dead? I can't tell?"
Kyoko looked down to see the tanks below her. Across the street, she saw where her support against the helicopter had come from. Oriko didn't even acknowledge her before sending the floating orbs she used as weapons hurtling down at the girl on the tank. The hits pummeled the three tanks, even caving in the top of the second, before Oriko had to take cover from more green energy fire coming from further down the street. Kyoko sneaked a peek, seeing the gunner from the helicopter was behind Sayaka's group.
Throwing caution to the wind, Kyoko vaulted over the edge of the roof, angling her spear at the top of the third tank. Hitting her mark, landing behind flail girl, the spearhead punched right through the armor on the hatch. Pulling her weapon free, Kyoko had to jump back onto the street to avoid being smashed by the spiked flail. She bolted away, sliding under the second tank and out of view. She doubted she had hit the girl inside the tank, so the tank she was using for cover was likely still under their control, thus making it a bad place to hide.
Sayaka watched more lines of green energy tracing their way to the nearby roof. "Damn it, I think they got behind us! Okay, wait, let me think. Assuming we've lost Komaki, which we have to, we've got two options as I see it. We either surrender, or we go down in a blaze of glory. Either way... fucked."
Chisato sighed. "That's really optimistic of you."
Hiding between two buildings, they were at the end of an alley. Madoka was quick to spot trouble at the other end. "Sayaka, there's another one!"
The three were all ready for the obvious losing fight, with their weapons draw and aimed, before they realized that it wasn't the bad kind of trouble. A second pink-haired girl joined their group, shouldering a scythe. She waved them off, striding up and looking around their chosen hiding spot as if it was a sad commentary on their decision making. In part, it really was.
Arisa hadn't even opened her mouth before Sayaka interrupted her. "Thank goodness you're here! I was running out of ideas, and I think Komaki got squashed! Kyoko probably ran off on us, too! I don't know what to do!"
Arisa pushed Sayaka away from her. "Okay... I'm the wrong person for this, I think. What's the problem?"
Madoka pointed at the street, indicating around the corner. "There's a girl controlling three tanks down there, and she's protected by another girl with a big spike ball on a chain."
Chisato nodded to other direction. "And there seems to be another one or more that got past us. Can't tell what weapon she has."
Arisa sighed. "You had five girls, they had three or four, and you are losing? How the hell are you th-"
She was cut off by what sounded like a propeller starting up. Stepping into view right in front of them, a girl wearing a flight jacket and a scarf, as well as a pair of goggles over her eyes, grinned menacingly while brandishing the spinning propeller blade. The girl was clearly laughing, but her voice was drownied out by her noisy weapon.
No one heard it, but Arisa shouted just before she charged. "This is my job!" She jumped up, kicking off the wall of the building and launching herself at the propeller girl, bringing her scythe down in an arcing slash.
Raising the spinning weapon, the propeller girl deflected the blow. She staggered back, then lashed out at Arisa with her blades. Scythe and propeller clashed, the spinning motion of the propeller sending the scythe into the ground repeatedly. After the third time, Arisa figured out why and instead attacked from the other side. The scythe blade was pushed upwards this time, giving her an opening to bring her weapon down on the other girl's head.
Spotting movement beside her, Kyoko crawled out from under the tank and grabbed Komaki, dragging her up and out of the flail girl's range. Komaki stirred, lifting her head a little. She was totally beat, her face covered in dirt, blood caking her hair, and several deep wounds on her arms and body. The two of them saw the fight in front of them, pulling Komaki into alertness. She stretched out her hand...
Arisa's scythe bounced off a barrier of energy that stood around the girl. Both stopped, looking confused. Propeller spinning, the other girl attacked only to find herself trapped in the newly formed bubble. In a rage, she smashed her weapon into the barrier. It shattered, the blades breaking apart and bouncing off the inside of her prison. A number of wounds appeared on her, earned from the shrapnel, and one piece in particular found its place in her neck. The girl choked, blood pouring down her front, then collapsed. The barrier disappeared.
"Let me go."
Kyoko looked down to Komaki. "You sure?"
The blue girl nodded. "I need both my hands."
As soon as Kyoko let go, Komaki raised her hand in the direction of the flail girl. A protective barrier formed between them just as the head of the flail came crashing down. It bounced, landing solidly on the street. Kyoko watched as the flail's chain retracted, mechanically returning to its owner. She narrowed her eyes at the tall girl, trying to discern a way to take her out of the picture.
Bolts of green energy shot past the two magical girls, followed by another volley that peppered the edge of the roof of a nearby building. Kyoko remembered who was up there. She grinned, then dived out of the way, rolling to a stop in front of the first tank. More green shots tore chunks of the street up, tossing dust into the air. Raising a barrier, Komaki deflected the shots directed her way. Further down the street, Sayaka and Chisato joined Arisa to find that they were pinned down. Kyoko spotted the attacker, recognizing her as the helicopter gunner.
Taking cover behind the burning wreck of a car, Sayaka saw Kyoko and Komaki. "Ah! We're not completely screwed!"
Arisa ducked down beside her, putting her hand to a newly-formed red line along her shoulder. "Damn it, how did you let them get behind you, anyway?"
Shaking her head, Sayaka looked back down the street. Two of the tanks were aiming their gigantic barrels straight at her. "Uh... crap."
As fast as the metal war machines fired, the large shells exploded upon impact only a few feet from Sayaka and Arisa. Komaki drew back the protective barrier she had used to cover the two, putting up a new one between her and the third tank just in time to send another shell spiraling into the air. The line of fire now clear, the gunner down the street took careful aim and pulled the trigger. A green bolt hit Komaki in the back of her knee, sending her down. Another stray shot hit the unsuspecting Kyoko in the chest, knocking her back against the tank. Chisato leaned around a building corner, firing just in the general direction of their flanking enemy. The gunner stopped firing, pulling her finger away from the trigger of her rifle, when she felt the arrow tip suddenly up against the side of her head.
Madoka didn't want to shoot the girl, but she really didn't want her friends harmed. "Drop your gun, please." Putting one hand up, the gunner girl carefully reached down to place the rifle on the ground. She said something Madoka didn't understand. Tensing up a bit, Madoka tried not to think about how much it was going to hurt the girl. She hit her alongside the head with her bow, knocking her down and out. Picking up the gun, Madoka tossed it off to the side. She looked down at the unconscious girl. "Sorry."
Oriko had been keeping close eye on the battle, and as soon as the rifle girl was out of the equation, she was back in. Sending her spheres down at the streets below her, Oriko peppered the tanks with some fairly devastating blows. Most satisfactory was when she saw that one of the tank barrels was bent from an impact. She moved her focus over to the flail girl, who had also noticed her in return. Oriko's spheres struck the girl dead on, knocking her back several times and nearly shoving her off her perch on top of the tank. Dramatically winding up, feeling much more confident about the numbers, she sent three spheres in a rapid-fire line. The attack hit the girl's shoulder, the third hit tearing her arm right off.
Gripping the handle of her weapon hard with her remaining hand, the girl swung her flail upwards. The heavy spiked head crashed into the wall just under where Oriko was standing, smashing the entire section of the building. Tearing the flail back out, she let the roof crumble under Oriko's feet, sending her opponent falling four stories down to the street. Whipping the flail around wildly, ignoring the blood streaming from her torn shoulder, she hit the tank Kyoko was resting against. The mass of armor flipped over, rolling through the storefront of the building nearest it. Kyoko was sent flying and hit the ground, unable to do more than grunt in pain.
Seeing the peril her friends and allies were in, Madoka quickly took action. She drew back an arrow and let fly. Her aim was spot on, and the arrow pierced the girl's knee, going through and burying its tip in her other knee. She screamed in agony and fury, swinging her weapon around her head. Madoka could see where it would go next. It was on an arc that would take it through the fallen Oriko and Kyoko. Steeling herself, she aimed higher.
"Sorry."
The next arrow went right through the girl's head. The flail fell to the ground, followed quickly by the girl. She crumpled into a pile in front of the tank, a pool of red blood forming under her from her missing arm and the hole in her head. Everything went silent.
Sayaka and Arisa grabbed Komaki and Kyoko, pulling them up and helping them away from the tanks.
Madoka was about to say they should go help Oriko as well when the third tank, the one the girl controlling the tanks was in, started shaking. Strange unearthly sounds began emanating from the war machine. Blue light enveloped the tank's cannon, energy building up. The metal armor of the tank began shifting form, angular blades sprouting from the sides. Electricity crackled around the cannon, even as it slid forward and to the side. First one tread moved out sideways, shifting upwards, then the other.
Sayaka and Arisa were speechless, so it was left to Madoka to speak all their thoughts. "Witch."
Second part: Battling the Witch Matilda!