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This is a spinoff to PK. Atomyst's story "Homura Akemi: Test Subject One" and as such may contain spoilers for the main story. I strongly recommend that you read the first few chapters of TSO to get a good idea of the situation and why Madoka is behaving so… odd… (canonically, this story would happen after Chapter 10, but it also pretends Chapter 11 never happened :P )

To find his story, simply insert the following link into the URL bar on the FFN homepage: ( /s/11408944/1/Homura-Akemi-Test-Subject-One ).

Also, before we begin, I'd like to point out that certain characters say things that they shouldn't know (e.g. the amount of times Homura has repeated time). This does not indicate that these characters know everything in the main storyline, it's just an oversight on my part to improve the narrative :/

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Madoka stood on the balcony of Mami's apartment, leaning against the railing and staring out onto the dark cityscape.

The other girls were busy preparing Kyouko for her next appointment with Homura, and she'd asked to take a breath of fresh air to clear her head. In reality, she couldn't bear to be in that room any longer, listening to them talk about maintaining Kyouko's cover as a psychologist, rather than talk about freeing Homura. It sickened her that they seemed to care more about Kyouko's well-being than the well-being of the one she loved.

Of course, she understood that if Kyouko was captured, they'd lose more than the red haired girl. It would trigger a witch hunt for the rest of the Mitakihara Magical Girls, and as ironic as a witch hunt for them is, it would spell disaster for everyone. But that couldn't stop the resentment she felt, nor the immerse guilt that immediately followed it. She just wanted her Homu-chan back with her.

"You could always just wish her free." said a voice next to her. "That would be the logical thing to do."

Madoka didn't even face him. "I have nothing to say to you, Incubator. Leave me alone."

Kyubey wandered into her line of sight. "I am serious, Madoka. You have more than enough potential to free Homura and bring her back in perfect health."

"I don't care. I promised Homura I wouldn't…" Her thoughts wandered through the statement he just made. "What do you mean, perfect health?"

Kyubey flicked his tail, staring at her with those emotionless red eyes of his. "Didn't your friends tell you? The scientists started dosing Homura with the drug Galazadrine earlier today."

Madoka took a step back, the shock sending her mind reeling. They had started drugging Homu-chan? Didn't Leiko say that Galazadrine was extremely dangerous? Why were they giving it to her? "She… She'll be ok, right? Homura's stronger than that."

The Incubator sat down on the railing, as if he were a normal cat instead of the evil demon he was. "It's true that Magical Girls can detach themselves from physical sensations, Sayaka Miki has become quite adept at this skill. But while one's Soul Gem contains their mind, it is still affected by the state of the physical body, if they don't prevent it. Because of this, I'm afraid that Homura Akemi has already fallen under the influence of this chemical compound."

"Th-then, why wouldn't she just stop it?"

"Unlike Sayaka, detaching isn't an instinctive process for Homura, it's a conscience one. If she wasn't made aware of the drug in her food before she ate it, how could she defend herself?"

"No…" Madoka stumbled back, the implications striking her very core. It was one of her worst fears. Her Homura-chan was being drugged! Drugged with something that was going to kill her!

This… this shouldn't have happened. It… IT CAN'T HAPPEN! She felt something break inside her, and suddenly her hands were around the rat's throat, squeezing the soft, furry creature tighter than she ever thought she was capable of.

"This is all your fault, Incubator." she said, surprising herself with the amount of coldness in her voice. "If it wasn't for you, none of this would have ever happened!"

"On the contrary." he replied, his voice unaffected by the fact he was being strangled. "This outcome happened as a result of Homura's actions, not mine. I did not interfere with any of the events over the last two weeks."

"LIAR!" Madoka screamed, squeezing even harder. She felt something give under her hands, and suddenly the quiet night air echoed with the sound of the Incubator's neck snapping. She stared at the limp form in her hands, eyes widening at what she'd just done. Then she heard something light fall to the ground behind her, and she finally relaxed her grip.

"You know that's a futile action." said the new Kyubey, as it walked over to the fallen corpse of it's predecessor. "You witnessed Homura kill me many times, so you knew that would achieve nothing."

"Shut up." Madoka said. "You don't even care about what's happening to her!"

She watched Kyubey lean over his old body and start eating it. She supposed she should have been more bothered by the sight; Kyubey ripping into the spongy flesh of his old disposed body. He made a slurping noise as he dove in, and started pulling pieces into his mouth. Madoka let her eyes sink away, and stare back out over the city lights, trying to ignore the alien creature.

Kyubey licked up the last drops of blood from the ground, and left the spot as clean as if nothing was ever there at all. Then he looked back up at Madoka with his beady red eyes, and his typical curt little smile. This creature's outer appearance certainly gave no hint to what it truly was, and she had been fooled by him once before. "I understand your anger, even if I cannot comprehend it. But your application of it is very inefficient. It could be applied a lot more effectively."

"And how's that?" Madoka said, dryly.

"Well," Kyubey said, oblivious to the sarcasm in Madoka's voice. "While we Incubators prefer to harness the energy release from the fluctuation of Hope and Despair, Anger is also a valuable resource, albeit a much more finite one. If you made a contract right now, with your emotional state as it is, you'd have access to a tremendous amount of power."

Madoka shook her head. "Do you care about nothing but your precious contracts?"

"Of course I do. I care about keeping reliable sources of energy functioning, which is why I'm asking you again, even though you've made your position on the matter clear. And while Homura denies it, the truth is she has become an invaluable resource for us. We truly do care about her wellbeing. But if you don't contract, Homura Akemi's physical body may not survive the week."

A cold chill crept into Madoka's heart. "What?"

Kyubey jumped up onto the railing. "This drug you call Galazadrine hasn't had sufficient testing by your human standards, so we Incubators decided to analyse it ourselves. It is like what Leiko Amaya feared. The chemical structure is quite unstable, and when exposed to gastric acid, it breaks down and begins to release toxins. Not enough to kill Homura outright, but enough repeated exposures to these toxins will eat through her intestinal lining and allow them to enter her abdominal cavity. From there-"

"STOP IT!" Madoka yelled, clutching her head. "Just stop!"

Kyubey tilted his head. "As you wish. I just wanted you to understand exactly how dire Homura Akemi's situation is. She can't heal as rapidly or instinctively like Sayaka can. The longer she's unaware of these problems, the more likely the damage will become fatal, which according to our models will be in around four days. Of course, this won't actually kill her, just destroy her body, but the corruption her Soul Gem will obtain while she dies will be more than enough to initiate a transformation into a Grief Seed."

Madoka shook her head in disbelief. "No… this can't be happening… Kyouko can help her! At her next appointment she can warn Homura!"

Kyubey sighed. "Do you really think I would bother you if that was the case?"

Madoka shot him a look. "Yes."

"Unfortunately, that is not a viable solution." Kyubey replied, his voice showing no signs of hurt from Madoka's jab. "As Homura is now controllable, Dr. Endou has decide to cancel Dr. Kay's contract with them, something unthinkable for my people. It's just his paranoia causing him to make rash decisions, but in this case his paranoia is quite well founded, wouldn't you say?"

Madoka's mind was running out of control. Could Kyouko force her way inside to warn Homu-chan? No, the guards would stop her. But if Mami and Sayaka were with her, could they overpower the guards and force their way inside? But Mami would never agree to attack the lab, and Sayaka would say it was too much of a risk. She shook her head. They were Magical Girls, surely there was something they could do! Homu-chan was in danger… they had to do something!

"There's an obvious solution." Kyubey's voice cut through her thoughts like a knife. "You are the product of many timelines compressed into one being. Your immerse strength would have been more than enough to kill even Walpurgisnacht. With that strength, you could undoubtedly rescue Homura Akemi without any problems. Just make a contract with me, and become a Magical Girl!"

"I already told you, I promised Homu-chan I wouldn't." Madoka said, but she could feel her resolve wavering.

"But if you don't make a contract, Homura Akemi will die. What is more important? Your promise, or her life?"

Madoka fell silent. Unlike other times, Kyubey was just telling her the facts. Just the straight, horrible facts. Homura was going to die. If Madoka didn't save her… she would die... But, if she made a contract, everything would be fine. Just a few words, and she could save Homura. She would be able to get her out. But… she made a promise to Homura…

'Sometimes doing the wrong thing for someone is the right thing to do.'

Her mother's words echoed through her mind, and struck her to the core. The wrong thing… yes, that was what making a contract was. It was the wrong thing to do, but it would save Homura, and nothing, not even her own soul, was more important to her than that.

I'm sorry, Homura.

Madoka turned back to Kyubey, feeling the guilt of her choice even as the words left her mouth.. "Ok. You've convinced me, Incubator. I'll… I'll make a contract with you."

Even though she knew it was impossible, Madoka swore that the Incubator's eyes lit up at that sentence. "Very well, Madoka Kaname. Now, tell me the wish that will make your Soul Gem shine."

Madoka took a deep breath, and spoke before she could talk herself back out of it.

"I wish to become strong enough to save Homu-chan, and never let anyone take her away from me ever again!"

"Look, all I'm saying is that you need to take this stuff seriously, Kyouko." Sayaka said, holding out the flash card. "You're the one in the most danger. Get any of this wrong, and you could be captured to."

"I get that, alright?" Kyouko replied. "None of these words make any sense to me! Unlike the rest of you, I don't exactly have a middle-school education to fall back on."

"You don't need an education." Leiko said. "You just have to actually try for once."

Kyouko scowled. "Well sorry I'm not some weird super genius, and I am trying! Ok?"

"Whatever." The white-haired girl stood up. "I need to get away from your stupidity for a bit." Leiko stormed out of the room. Idiots. All of them. Didn't they realise that if they didn't get this perfect, they'd all end up like Akemi? She walked into the kitchen and started making herself some tea, piling on the sugar. If this was going to be another long night, she needed to stay alert.

Leiko paused at a sound. At first she thought it was nothing, but then it came again, louder this time. She strained her ears, and began walking towards the balcony. As she got closer, the sounds turned into voices, and she recognised Madoka talking. Leiko frowned. She sounded distressed, and judging from the fact she couldn't hear the other half of the conversation, she could guess why. The white rat was probably trying to entice her again.

As she moved closer, the words started making sense. "...inced me, Incubator. I'll… I'll make a contract with you." Leiko's eyes widened, and she started moving faster towards the door, getting there just in time to hear "I wish to become strong enough to save Homu-chan and not let anyone take her away from me ever again!"

Leiko threw the door open and was immediately blinded by a bright pink light. She felt a wave of magic wash over her as the laws of reality were twisted, the signature of a recent contract, and a powerful one too. Blinking to clear her eyes, Leiko looked and saw Kyubey sitting on the railing, with Madoka lying on the ground clutching a freshly formed pink soul gem. Oh no. She marched over to Madoka and glared at the Incubator.

"Scat!" Leiko shot a strand of static electricity at the creature and sent him flying off the balcony. She knelt down by Madoka and shook her slightly. Madoka's eyes flew open, and Leiko swore that they were glowing. In fact, her whole body seemed to be overflowing with power. She sat up, then clutched her chest.

"Yeah, having your soul forcibly removed hurts, doesn't it?" Leiko said. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

"I'm fine…" Madoka pulled herself up. "What are you doing out here, Leiko?"

Leiko's eyes narrowed. Was that… resentment in her voice? "Trying to figure out what the hell you were thinking! I thought you weren't going to form a contract with that rat!"

"I had too. Homu-chan's in danger, and I'm the only one who can stop it."

"What are you talking about? We have a plan, remember? Kyouko may be a screwup, but she'll pull through. There was no need for…"

"She'll pull through?" Madoka's voice turned hard, harder than Leiko had ever heard it. "If you believe that, then why did you lie to me?"

"What?" Leiko was really confused now.

"Why didn't you tell me that they'd started using Galazadrine on her!" Madoka yelled. "Why didn't you say that Kay's appointments had been cancelled!"

Leiko swore internally. Damn that rat. "We didn't tell you about the Galazadrine because we didn't want you to worry. And what makes you think that Kay's appointments had been cance…" Her phone buzzed, and a quick magical check confirmed her fears: Endou had just informed them that Kay's services were no longer necessary. Dammit Kyubey, why did you have to tell her that before it had actually happened?

Madoka saw her face fall. "You see? The plan's failed." A rainbow light spread out from her Soul Gem and covered her body. Her clothes ripped away and vanished, quickly replaced by glowing pink ribbons. They wrapped around her chest, morphing into a pink and white bodice, then quickly moving down, forming into a six-pointed basque around her waist, tying into bows on her sides, before finally spreading out in a downwards curve, creating a frilly skirt. Some of the ribbons moved further down, becoming red laced shoes, while others moved down her arms, creating white gloves. A single red ribbon wrapped itself around her neck, and from it hung Madoka's Soul Gem, it's teardrop shape blazing bright beneath the night sky.

"What are you doing?" Leiko said, realising what the Incubator must have said to her.

"I'm getting my Homu-chan back." Madoka started to climb onto the railing.

"NO! STOP!" Leiko yelled. "If you go to the lab, you'll only get captured. Do you have any idea how bad that'll be? If they find out that there's more than one Magical Girl out there, they'll hunt us all down! You'll doom us all!"

"I don't care." Madoka replied, an edge now added to the coldness of her voice. "I'm bringing her home."

"Look, just come back inside. Talk to Mami and Sayaka first, before you do anything rash." Leiko was panicking. If Madoka ran off, then she wouldn't be able to stop her. On top of that, she wasn't behaving like herself. It was like she was an entirely different person now. But if she could get her inside, maybe her friends could talk her down, and if not, subdue her. It felt like a betrayal to think like that, but she was running out of options.

Madoka looked at her, her expression unreadable as a bow appeared in her hand.

"Madoka, seriously, just come inside and-" A searing pain erupted from her left arm. Leiko screamed. She looked down and saw a bolt of pink magic sticking out of her just below her shoulder. As she slumped down against the wall, it vanished and blood started pouring from the wound. She clutched her hand over the wound as she looked back up, glaring at the pink haired girl.

Madoka turned away from her. "I'm sorry, but nothing gets between me and Homura." Then she jumped from the balcony into the night sky.

Pressing her hand against the wound, Leiko watched her go. She had jumped impossibly high, and was already running across the rooftops, making a beeline for the lab. She heard noises behind her and the balcony door was flung open as Mami, Sayaka and Kyouko ran out. "We heard screaming, what happened?"

Leiko tried to roll her eyes, but a fresh wave of pain from her arm caused her to wince instead. "What do you think? Madoka contracted."

Sayaka's body flashed as she transformed and pointed a sword at her. "She wouldn't have just done that on her own. Start talking."

"Heh, waving your sword in my face won't do much, I already have a hole in me." Leiko laughed despite the situation. Must be shock. "Look, I heard Madoka talking to the rat. He told her about the Galazadrine and that Kyouko wouldn't be returning to the lab, which by the way, I only just found out about myself. She contracted and decided to break Homura out herself. When I tried to stop her…" She gestured at the wound, allowing blood to spurt from it again.

Sayaka dematerialised the sword and pressed a hand against the wound. Leiko smiled slightly as a warm feeling spread through her arm, washing away the pain. "This wound isn't too serious. Mami, you take care of it. I'm going after Madoka."

Mami nodded and held her Soul Gem over the healing wound. "Ok Leiko, stay still while I fix this, I don't want to mess it up."

"I wasn't planning on moving." Leiko retorted, then she looked at Sayaka. "Don't be an idiot. Madoka is strong. Crazy strong. And something about that wish changed her. You don't stand a chance."

"I'm just going to talk to her." Sayaka said. "I'm sure I can make her see reason, that there's a better solution that violence. She not like that."

"She also doesn't normally hurt her friends." Leiko countered. "And she's rescuing her girlfriend. She won't let you stop her."

"That doesn't matter now." Kyouko said. "If that girl does anything stupid, Homura will kill us. Come on, Sayaka!"

"No." Sayaka said. "Kyouko, you exhausted your magic at the lab. Fighting another magical girl is suicidal for you."

Kyouko clenched a fist. "I'm fine! I can take that newbie!"

"No… you can't. You know exactly how strong she is, and like Leiko said, she isn't acting like herself. We don't know how far she's willing to go." Sayaka glanced in Mami's direction, then dropped her voice slightly. "If you're Soul Gem isn't at it's best, she may end up hurting you, or worse."

"Madoka doesn't have the guts to do something like that." Kyouko replied, not elaborating on the worse part.

"You may not give her a choice." Sayaka shook her head. "Please Kyouko, stay behind and let me handle this."

Kyouko scowled, then sighed. "Fine, but at least wait until Mami finishes healing Leiko."

"Same problem." Sayaka looked at her mentor, who had her eyes on the wound on Leiko's arm. "Mami, when was the last time you purified your Soul Gem? And don't lie like you have been, I know the number of Grief Seeds I bring in."

Mami shifted nervously, but kept her attention on healing Leiko. "I… I haven't purified since our first battle with Leiko."

Kyouko balked. "WHAT!? That was almost a month ago!"

"Three weeks, two days." Leiko offered, before shaking her head. Of all the magical girls in the world, she just had to fall in with the biggest idiots of the bunch.

Kyouko clenched a fist. "Mami, what the hell?"

The veteran magical girl sighed. "Between your requirements and Leiko's payments, there hasn't been enough for me. Sayaka was already stretched to her limits, so I didn't want to bother her. I was planning on going hunting in a few days, but…"

"Well that's just perfect, isn't it." Kyouko spat. "Leiko, you have any spares on you?"

She shook her head.

"Kyouko, I have to go. Now."

Kyouko shook her head. "Sayaka, even at full strength, you won't be able to stop her if she refuses to see reason. Don't do this."

Sayaka turned towards the direction Madoka had gone, not meeting Kyouko's eyes. "I've been her friend for as long as I can remember. If I can't get through to her, who can?"

And at that, she jumped after her friend.

Kyouko stared after her, then scowled again. "Dammit."

Mami stood up as Leiko checked over the wound. Not a scratch left on her. The older girl joined Kyouko. "You need to have faith in her, Kyouko. I'm sure she'll be alright. Both of them."

Madoka ran. She ran with determination across the building tops, towards the magical signature that she knew was Homura. She could feel the power within her. There was just SO MUCH! Kyubey was right, she was strong. She felt like she could drag the moon out of it's orbit if she so wished. With all of this power, rescuing her Homu-chan would be a piece of cake.

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she failed to notice that the building in front of her was higher than the rest. Before she could register her mistake, she was already flying straight towards it's windowed walls. With the velocity she was moving at, she smashed through the glass easily, and plowed straight into what appeared to be office cubicles. She cried out as the pain hit her, her body cut in multiple places and several bones broken. But with the pain came a sense of calm, and she reached into the massive font of power within her.

She screamed as the pain suddenly intensified. Her bones snapped back into place and fused together. Her multiple cuts and gashes glowed an intense pink light as they forcibly sealed shut. After barely a minute, the pain faded and she pulled herself up, dusting herself off and checking her body. There wasn't a scratch left on her.

"Well, that was a fast healing. Almost as fast as me." said a voice. Madoka spun back to the hole she'd made, staring at the caped silhouette framed by it. "You could work on your aim though. One floor lower and you wouldn't have hit anything. It's completely clear down there."

Madoka climbed out of the wreckage. "I didn't intend to crash into the building. I wasn't paying attention."

Sayaka grinned. "Yeah, that tends to be the case when you demolish an office block." Then her expression dropped, and a look of sadness came over her. "Why'd you make a wish, Madoka? You promised Homura that you wouldn't. You promised me after I almost become a witch that you would never make a contract!"

"Kyubey checked the Galazadrine for us." Madoka replied. "It's deadly. It will kill her if I don't get her out now."

"Then why didn't you just tell us!" yelled Sayaka. "We had a plan, we were almost there! If you had informed us about that, we could have-"

"THE PLAN FAILED!" Madoka yelled back. "It failed when those bastards decide to drug Homu-chan! Now I'm going to bring it to an end."

Sayaka expression changed slightly at Madoka's profanity, then it hardened again. "And how's that? Are you going to hurt them like you did Leiko?"

Madoka shook her head. "I was careful not to hurt her in such a way that you wouldn't be able to heal her. She is my friend, after all. With them, I won't show the same mercy."

Sayaka stared at her, with something like… fear?... in her eyes. "Madoka… what happened to you?"

Madoka ran a hand through her hair, knocking loose some stationary that had gotten tangled in it. "I faced reality. Nothing more." She took a step towards Sayaka. "If you're not going to help me, then get out of my way. Homura's waiting for me."

Sayaka didn't move. "No! I'm not going to let you do something you'll regret for the rest of your life, Madoka!"

Madoka opened her hand, and her bow appeared in it. "I won't let anyone get between me and Homura. Not even you…"

Sayaka clenched a gloved fist. "Dammit Madoka, I don't want to hurt you!"

"Then get out of my way!"

The two magical girls stared at each other for several intense seconds, thunder rumbling in the distance. Lightning cracked through the sky, briefly lighting the dark office. Finally, Sayaka reached up to her neck and unclasped her cape, letting it fall to ground. Then she materialised a sword in each hand. "So be it, then."

And then she leaped at her pink haired friend.

Madoka barely had time to leap out of the way, Sayaka's sword grazing the edge of her dress as she flew past. The blue haired girl responded by twisting around, slashing upwards and then driving the blade towards her heart. Madoka jumped back, realising just how out of her depth she was. Sayaka may be a rookie, but she still had a month of experience that she lacked, and the maneuver showed just how intent she was on stopping her. After all, when you have enough magic power to regrow entire limbs, what's a sword through the heart of your best friend going to do?

She smiled. Sayaka wasn't the only one who has magic. All she had to do was get some distance and-

Sayaka used her earlier motion to reverse her body's position and land feet first on what remained of a desk. Barely missing a second, she sprang back at her, one sword pointed at her chest, the other at her neck. Madoka swung her bow, catching the lower sword on the bowstring and pulling it up into the upper one. Sayaka twisted again and, with her swords tangled in her bow, kicked Madoka in the stomach.

The force of the blow pushed Madoka back several metres, but Sayaka used it to propel herself away from her. With her bow still entwined around the swords, it was pulled out of her hands and flung across the room. Sayaka swung her blades out to her sides, grinning smugly.

"You can't beat me Madoka. I've always been the fighter, not you."

Madoka concentrated. She didn't have her bow, but the magic tied to it was still at her fingertips. "Maybe that's just because I never had something worth fighting for. Until now!" She summoned a magic bolt into her hand and threw in at Sayaka's head.

To her credit, Sayaka reacted quickly. She brought her blades back up and sliced the bolt out of the air, inches from her face. As predicted. The bolt exploded, the magic encasing it pierced by the sword blades, and Sayaka was thrown back. Dazed, she never saw the second bolt coming. It struck her shoulder and launched her back again, this time through the already shattered window into the open air, far above the city streets.

Madoka summoned her bow back into her hand and leapt after her, the rain stinging her cheeks as she descended. Wasn't the sky clear when she contracted? She didn't spare it much thought though, because the sword rushing up to meet her indicated that Sayaka was still in the fight.

She spun in the air and dodged the flying blade, shattering it with another bolt as it went past to ensure it wouldn't bother her again on the way down. Seeing the blue clad figure below her, she pointed her bow and let loose a volley of magic bolts towards her. While she was capable of just forming them through sheer will, it was a lot easier to let the bow do it for her. And since it was easier, she could create more at once. Like, one hundred times more.

Whatever attack Sayaka planned to unleash against her next was forgotten as the bolts came down upon her. She raised her sword above her head and started swinging madly, trying to deflect the bolts away from her. Madoka frowned. Sayaka was still falling, but way too slowly. Interesting, but irrelevant right now.

Seeing some scaffolding below her, she maneuvered to land on it and raised her bow. Now that she had stopped falling herself, she could take a much more accurate shot. She pulled back on the enchanted bowstring and took aim, the arrow practically bursting with magic.

"I'm sorry it had to be like this." She whispered, then channelled her magic and released the all-powerful arrow.

The shaft of pink light shot towards the blue clad figure. Sayaka dissipated her swords and thrusted her hands forward. She pushed outwards, like she was opening a door, and suddenly a circle of music staffs appeared in front of her, blocking the arrow. Madoka blinked. Barrier magic? When did Sayaka learn-

Kyouko. Kyouko must have taught her. That's why she was falling so slowly, she had been forming barriers under her feet. Madoka shook her head, she couldn't think that she knew all of Sayaka's secrets and tactics. Although Madoka had more natural power, she couldn't underestimate the value of the experience Sayaka had over her.

The arrow hit the circle, and seemingly slowed for a second. Then the barrier shattered and the bolt engulfed Sayaka's position. It continued on and slammed into the opposite building, the air rushing away from the resultant explosion, and the rain temporarily reversing its descent.

But Sayaka wasn't there.

The blue haired girl rode the explosion up, rising high above Madoka, before creating another barrier at her feet and leaping at her best friend again, swords at the ready.

Madoka took aim again and fired another bolt. Sayaka twisted in the air and dodged, but now spiraled off target. She flew past below Madoka, slashing at the supports, before grabbing one of the scaffolding beams and utilising her momentum to fling herself up and and behind Madoka. Madoka turned, just as the whole structure shuttered and began to tip.

Sayaka spun towards Madoka, her swords catching the raindrops as they cut through the air. Madoka jumped back, sliding down the wet and now-slanted surface. She raised her bow and tried to get a shot off, trying not to fall for Sayaka's disarming trick again, but the bolt sailed over Sayaka's shoulder, singeing the girl's skin. Sayaka hissed in pain, then lunged forward, driving her sword straight towards her chest.

Madoka swung her bow and batted the sword away, then threw another bolt at her friend. But Sayaka had also learnt from her mistakes. Instead of slicing through the bolt and triggering another explosion, she jumped to the side. Madoka frantically swung her bow at Sayaka, hoping that it'd be effective as a club. Sayaka crossed her swords and caught it, the enchantments in the wood being the only thing preventing the bow from being sliced in half.

Struggling to maintain her footing against the strength of the assault and the swaying, damp platform, Madoka looked at Sayaka's face. Her brow furrowed with determination, her cheeks blackened with burns surrounded by magic circles and slowly knitting themselves back together. Her eyes, her blue eyes held a stubbornness within them, and Madoka knew, Sayaka would not stop. She would not tire. She would keep fighting to the last breath until she was victorious.

The hopelessness of the situation hit her. Her friend was faster, stronger, and more experienced than her. Her only chance was to put some distance between them, but Sayaka would not be caught off-guard again. At close range, Sayaka was the master. There was no conventional tactic that could beat her. The only way to win, the only way she would get past her friend and go back to saving the one she loved, was to fight unconventionally.

Madoka spat in Sayaka eye.

Sayaka recoiled and stepped back, reflexly raising a gloved hand to rub the liquid out of her eye. Madoka quickly brought her bow up and fired, hitting her in the chest and throwing her into the side of the building. The scaffolding shuttered again, groaning under the strain. Madoka quickly fired another shot, this one longer and thinner than the rest, more like a javelin than an arrow. It speared Sayaka in the leg, going straight through and into the wall behind her, pinning her there. Sayaka tried to move, pulling her trapped leg and gasping in pain. She looked back, just in time to see Madoka fire another all-powerful arrow straight at her.

Madoka was launched back by the force of the point blank explosion. She tumbled through the air for a few short seconds before brushing up against the opposite building. She spun in the air and ran her hand over the wall, quickly finding a handhold and halting her flight. Madoka looked back, and saw the scaffolding fall to the wet ground, metal screeching as it bent and warped in ways it had not been designed to take. Barely a second later, Sayaka fell into the debris pile, alongside a chunk of the wall.

Madoka smiled and leapt to the ground, practically floating down the last couple metres. "I've won, Sayaka. There's no point in continuing."

Sayaka moaned, her charred body struggling to pick itself out of the debris pile.

"Stay down, Sayaka. You can't continue with your body like this. Don't push yourself." Madoka said. She felt a twinge of guilt, seeing what she had done to her friend, but it was quickly silenced by the knowledge that she'd heal her injuries quickly enough. She turned and began to walk away. "Soon, we'll be able to sit in Mami's apartment together. All of us, together, without anyone ever trying to pull us apart."

"Do you real-" Sayaka stopped, coughing up a mouthful of blood. "Do you really think that'll actually happen? If we helped Homura break out on her own, the government would search for her, but they'd eventually give up."

Sayaka pushed herself up high enough for her haemorrhaging eyes to meet Madoka's; their usual blue colour now more similar to Madoka's natural pink. "If you attack them, they'll treat it as an act of war. They won't give up, Madoka. They won't stop until they've captured every damn Magical Girl in this whole country!"

"It doesn't matter." Madoka replied. "As long as Homura's with me, everything will be fine."

She turned away again, but stopped when she heard rasping laughter. "Do you honestly believe that? You're a fool." Madoka looked back and saw that Sayaka's whole body was glowing with magic, her wounds slowly healing. "Homura will never forgive you."

"You don't know that."

The blue haired girl slowly stood up, pink flesh replacing the burnt remains of her limbs. "I think I do. Homura went back to save you, Madoka. I'd say she'll view this as another failure. She'll jump back the moment she sees you in that Magical Girl uniform."

"Homu-chan wouldn't do that!" Madoka yelled.

Sayaka laughed again. "Who knows how many times she has gone back already. I'm sure one more wouldn't faze her too much." She flexed her regrown fingers, then summoned another sword into her hand. "If you truly loved her, you wouldn't have gotten involved! You would have waited!"

"SHUT UP!" Madoka's arm snapped up and she fired a bolt into Sayaka's shoulder, severing her arm completely.

Sayaka looked down at the limb, then back at her. "That's not going to stop me, Madoka. It won't even slow me down." The magic flowed up to the new wound, abandoning all the half-healed wounds on her lower body and focusing on regrowing her entire arm, her Soul Gem flashing an intense dark blue.

"Sayaka..." Madoka said, glancing down at the rapidly darkening jewel on Sayaka's navel. "You'll become a witch if you keep using magic like that."

"So what." spat Sayaka, the blood clearing from her eyes. "If I have to become a witch to bring you down, then I'LL DO IT, MADOKA!"

Her arm finished healing. Eyes intense, Sayaka lept at Madoka again.

Madoka jumped back, barely dodging the blade trying to take her head off. She barely had time to raise her bow before the next blow came. Sayaka moved ferociously, slashing at Madoka again and again and leaving her with almost no time to dodge or block her strikes. She tried throwing a bolt at Sayaka's leg, but it had no effect. Sayaka didn't even try to get out of the way, nor did her expression change when it tore through her thigh. She just kept up the assault, not even reacting to the torrent of blood pouring from the wound, moving like a machine with only one thought on her mind: Win, at any cost.

Madoka's foot slipped on the wet ground, and for a second she was off balance. Sayaka immediately exploited her temporary weakness, stabbing Madoka's side. Madoka screamed at the pain, but Sayaka only response was to sweep her leg out, breaking Madoka's ankle as it connected. Madoka fell to the ground, quickly trying to scramble back. Sayaka summoned a second sword, and drove them through both of her friend's legs and into the road, pinning her there just as she'd pinned Sayaka mere minutes ago.

Sayaka summoned a new sword and yelled, bringing her blade down towards her head. Madoka threw a bolt, pumping in as much power as she could through the pain, franticly trying to save herself. She looked away, not wanting to see her doom, as the bolt connected and a cracking sound filled the street.

Sayaka lurched slightly, then her eyes went blank and she fell to her knees, a blackened hole where her navel used to be.

Madoka's eyes widened as the swords pinning her dissipated and her friend's magical girl costume vanished forever. "SAYAKA!" She grabbed her arm and searched for a pulse, despite knowing full well that she wouldn't find one. "...no, no, I didn't want this… Sayaka, I'm sorry."

She hugged the body of her dead friend, forgetting her own injuries, tears streaming down her face and the rain stinging the back of her neck. "I'm so sorry. You idiot, why couldn't you just stay out of my way? You knew you couldn't win! Why did you have to throw your life away like that? I didn't want to kill you, forgive me please..." Her voice faded into dull sobs as Sayaka's limp form bled onto the wet street, her blood mixing with her own.

She could hear sirens in the distance, attracted to their fight like moths to a flame. She couldn't stay here. Sniffing, Madoka laid Sayaka body on the ground and stood up, preparing to continue towards the lab. It was still some distance away, so they couldn't have witnessed the fight. She still had time to get there before they locked the place down. Then she would break Homura out and return to Mami's-

She almost collapsed as the ramifications of what she'd had done hit her hard. She'd killed Sayaka. Kyouko would never forgive her for murdering her girlfriend. She'd hunt her down with the same relentlessness she currently had. She won't give up, conflict was inevitable, so she would have to kill her too. But if she killed Kyouko, Mami's first and sole remaining Kohai, any chance of making peace with the most powerful Magical Girl in Mitakihara would be shattered. Mami would have to die as well.

Madoka squeezed her eyes shut. This wasn't right. All six of them were supposed to be together, happy, not just her and Homura sitting on the bodies of three of their friends and Leiko too afraid to come anywhere near them. It wasn't suppose to be like this. Then the words both Sayaka and Leiko had said to her wormed their way back into her mind. They were right, too. The government wouldn't give Homura up that easily. When she attacked, they would respond in force. Homura and her wouldn't be able to stay in Mitakihara. They'd have to leave. Fine, they could do that. She just had to convince her parents that they had to leave.

Her parents. Madoka fell to her knees. How could she ever face them again when she had just murdered the same girl they'd watch grow up alongside her? How could she face Tatsuya with Sayaka's blood on her hands. She looked down and stared at her reflection in the wet street. A girl in a pink, blood-stained dress stared back. She looked normal enough, but inside, she was a monster.

The sirens were so close now that she could hear the wheels turning on the road. She couldn't stay here any longer. Madoka stood up, ignoring the protests of her injuries, and jumped just as the police cars came into view. They would probably investigate the scene, scratching their heads and trying to understand what had happened here. As if they could ever understand. Nobody could understand why she had to do these things, why she had to hurt everyone around her. Nobody… except for one person who'd do the same for her.

She reached the top of the building and lept again, towards the girl she'd sold her soul for.

Homura clutched her head. Damn it, if she'd known her food had been drugged, she wouldn't have eaten any of it. She was lucky to have spotted the symptoms this early and cleared out her system, but it had already affected her greatly, and it was taking way too long to wear off. The throbbing headache she had wasn't helping.

Wait… the throbbing hadn't been there a minute ago. And it was irregular, only every few seconds, not alongside her heartbeat. She listened closely, pressing an ear against the smooth surface of the wall. That sound… she recognised it. It was the same sound that echoed in her mind, and filled every labyrinth she attacked. Explosions.

She leaped off her bed. What was going on? Kyouko hadn't said anything to her about an attack. Had she missed a message? Did Kyouko convey something and didn't realise that she hadn't understood? Or had something changed so drastically that they needed to act now and expose themselves? No matter. She stepped into the living room. Whatever was going through their heads, she had faith that Mami, Kyouko and Sayaka would reach her. She needed to be ready.

Homura pressed an ear against the metal door that was the only exit. Yes, the explosions were coming from this direction, she could feel the vibrations. They were close. She put her hand on her chest and felt her Soul Gem's power flow through her, transforming her clothes and forming her shield on her arm. She'd need to move quickly once those doors came down, chances were that reinforcements had already surrounded the place. As soon as she was free, they all needed to escape this place.

The explosions stopped, then she heard a tapping on the door with muted words she couldn't make out come from the other side. The meaning was clear: Get Back.

Homura quickly jumped back and took cover behind the couch. The explosions resumed, much louder this time. The room shook with every blast, dust falling through cracks that were forming on the ceiling. She hoped the explosions wouldn't rupture any of the valves the lab staff used to gas her, being knocked unconscious now when she was so close would be very annoying.

Another explosion, now evident by the way the metal door was buckling. Homura frowned. Those explosions… they didn't sound like Mami's gunshots. She'd assumed that Mami had been Tiro Finale-ing the whole place, but now that they were closer she realise they were nothing like the sound of her weapons, nor were they the sound of regular explosives either. It was more like a sound she hadn't heard since…

Homura's eyes went wide just as the door broke and crashed into the opposite wall, and a vision from her nightmares stepped into the room.

Her throat went tight. The person before her, to others would have been a sign of hope, a sign of salvation. To her, it was everything she'd fought to stop. The pink and white bodice, the six-pointed basque, that frilly skirt. When drawings of that dress first appeared in her girlfriend's notebook, her heart had stopped so suddenly that she thought she was having another heart failure. Somehow, memories of the previous timelines had bled through to the current one, manifesting in a rough sketch that seemed to mock her every move. And now here it was, before her, being worn by the one person she never again wanted to see wearing it.

Madoka Kaname, the Magical Girl.

Madoka's eyes lit up. "Homu-chan!"

Homura said nothing. Maybe, this was all just a dream. Yes, it had to be, a simple hallucination induced by those drugs they snuck into her food.

Dissipating her bow, Madoka ran up to her and threw her arms around her. "I'm so happy to see you, Homura! Don't worry, everything is going to be alright now."

She could feel the warmth in her arms and the truth in her embrace. Please… please let this all be a bad dream.

Then, like the unwelcome rat he was, Kyubey's voice cut through her thoughts and echoed in her mind. "This is not a dream, Homura Akemi. Madoka Kaname contracted with me not even an hour ago."

Madoka released Homura and grabbed her shoulders. "I know. I broke my promise and made my wish. But that doesn't matter now, because you're free! No one is going to stand in our way, we can walk right out. We can finally be together again."

Homura stared at her, her expression blank. Madoka's joyful face fell slightly. "Homura? What's wrong?"

"Why…?" Homura whispered, her voice weak.

Madoka sighed. "I couldn't stand by and watch you get hurt anymore. After Kyubey explained how bad things were for you and how they're started poisoning you with that drug, I wished to be able to save you." She smiled again. "Don't you see? All this time you've been protecting me, now I can protect you! This is our chance to be happy, together, as equals! Aren't you glad?"

Homura opened her mouth, but no words came out. She'd failed. Even with Walpurgisnacht dead, despite all the warnings she'd given, Madoka had made a contract. It was only a matter of time before she became a witch. Homura couldn't let her go through that suffering again. This part of the endless maze was just another dead end.

Except…

Homura looked into Madoka's overjoyed eyes. Kyubey had tricked her again, but did that matter this time? Without Walpurgisnacht to drive her to action, Madoka could manage her magic usage. Therefore, it was possible for her to avoid her fate. She wasn't in danger anymore. It would be like when she first contracted, fighting witches side by side and protecting everyone.

Maybe, just maybe, we could be together…

She looked back at Madoka, the hopeful expression on her face inviting her to accept this outcome, and she wanted nothing more than to do so.

And then she saw what was past her, and felt her blood run cold.

Behind Madoka, through the ruined wreckage of the doorway, was the broken body of one of the guards. His crumpled body laid below an impact crater in the wall, and blood seeped from a wound on his head, staining his white uniform. His youthful form was twisted and bent. If he was still alive, he'd be howling in pain. Homura recognised him. He was the guard that had tried to be friends with her earlier today. What was his name, Kotaro?

Madoka frowned slightly, then followed her gaze. "Oh." She smiled again. "You don't have to worry, Homura. No one in this place is ever going to hurt you again."

He wasn't like the others... he tried to be nice… he wanted to be friends…

Madoka stepped in front of her and wrapped her arms around Homura in a tight hug, blocking her view of the fallen man.

"They will never be able to touch you, Homu-chan." she whispered. "I made sure of it."

This… this wasn't Madoka Kaname. This wasn't the sweet, innocent girl she had spent so long trying to save. She'd always known that Madoka would, and had, move mountains to help her friends, but this… this was a sick perversion of her one true friend, a cruel aberration that should never have existed. The Madoka she loved would die to protect everyone. This one… was willing to kill just to protect her…

Homura pulled out of the embrace. Madoka looked at her, a confused look on her face. "Homura?"

"H…" Her voice cracked. "How many, Madoka? Tell me."

Madoka shifted. "...All of them. I killed the guards… I killed the doctors. I killed Endou, Kaiji, anyone that got in my way…" She paused, and her eyes became tearful. "Even… Sayaka… she didn't stand a chance against me..."

Homura looked away. "I'm… sorry…"

"But that doesn't matter!" Madoka said quickly. "I don't care what happened, what's important is that I got you bac-"

"No."

Madoka blinked. "Homura?"

Homura didn't meet her gaze, she didn't want to see those eyes anymore. "Madoka… a long time ago, I made a promise. I promised… that I would save you. I thought that I had succeeded… but…"

"Homura, look at me." Madoka said, panic creeping into her voice. "I'm safe, I'm here. You've suffered so much already, don't call it all a failure!"

The Time Traveller raised her head, her emotional armor crumbling. "This… this isn't a success. I'm sorry Madoka, but I refuse to break my promise. No matter what it takes, I will save you… I swear it."

She reached for her shield.

"NO!" Yelled Madoka, her bow suddenly raised. Before Homura could react, she fired a bolt straight into her shield.

Homura sensed more than heard the glass breaking. She looked down, and saw the red sand pouring out of the shield's hourglass. It trickled through the glass shards, catching the light as it fell, twisting through the air, before fading into the aether.

And with it, Homura felt her magic vanish.

No…

Her eyes went wide, and she quickly raised her shield, angling it to stop the flow of sand, but it was already too late. The hourglass was empty, the sands of time were no more.

Homura twisted the shield, first a quarter turn. Time remained in motion. A full half-turn. The room stayed as it was, no flash of blue, no sensation of falling.

She tried again.

And again.

And again.

This… this cannot be...

"I'm sorry, Homu-chan." Madoka said, smiling again. "But I can't let you run away from me. Now we have to be together, forever!"

Homura looked back at Madoka, an expression of complete disbelief on her face. She fell to her knees, tears flowing from her eyes...

...as her Soul Gem turned black.

Kyubey sat upon a ruined skyscraper, watching the battle unfold with mild interest. Homulilly had emerged from the ruins of the lab mere hours ago, shortly followed by Kriemhild Gretchen. Together, they had begun to lay waste to Mitakihara City. Hundreds, maybe even a thousand people had died before Mami Tomoe and Kyouko Sakura arrived. He could see them now, Red and Yellow lights, tiny ants dancing around the two most powerful witches in existence, hoping to somehow bring them down.

Well, to continue that analogy, Kyubey supposed he had given these ants some venom, but ant venom only works effectively if it's used with hundreds of other ants, otherwise it's just a mild annoyance waiting to be crushed. Really, they should follow Leiko Amaya's example and flee. If they did, they'd be able to recover their strength, round up some other Magical Girls and launch a more powerful attack. It wouldn't be effective, of course, but it is the most logical course of action.

Kyubey scratched an ear as Homulilly brought down her bony hand and snuffed out the Red light. He had to say, this outcome was one of the better ones predicted by his models. He'd expected Madoka Kaname's emotions to get in the way more, but as much as human emotion interfered with his plans, they also clouded judgement. Say the right words, imply a particular outcome, and humans would do anything without thinking.

A cannon appeared in front of the yellow light. It was at least twenty times larger than the girl who summoned it, but from this distance it looked like a toy, especially compared to the massive beings she hoped to use it against. The words 'Tiro Finale' echoed across the landscape, the words themselves as ineffectual as the actual attack.

Even after all these millennia, it still baffled him how fast humans were willing to act on so little information. Yes, Homura was in danger from the Galazadrine, but it was the same danger that every compound of medicinal value had. And considering the way the Lab staff were drugging her, a risk of overdose was very likely. She would have to eat all the drugged food provided to her at every meal time to achieve the situation he'd described, but that was still within the realm of possibility.

The Incubator got up on all fours as the Yellow light vanished beneath Kriemhild Gretchen's massive form. Well, their quota had been met, and this planet wouldn't be safe for much longer with these two witches on the loose. It was time to go.

He looked back at the destruction just in time to see the enormous witch swat two fighter jets out of the sky. The humans didn't stand a chance. It was a shame, really, to destroy such a valuable resource, but from this planet they'd been able to study what kind of environment a civilisation like this were likely to emerge from, and had adjusted their search algorithms appropriately. They had already scouted out eight planets that filled out the necessary criteria, and three of them already had a sentient species that showed a lot of promise in becoming human-like, given time.

Humanity was no longer an abnormality in the universe, and the creation of these two all-powerful witches was acceptable within the parameters of their mission to prolong the life of the universe. They would now abandon this world to the witches altogether; attempting to save it would be a futile waste of energy.

Simply put, they were humanity's problem now.

On February 22nd 2016, I created this document. 8 months and 9,864 words later, it is complete. In that time, Atomyst has written 99,292 words over 8 chapters in TSO alone, not including the Perfect Crime rewrite, it's new chapters, the odd touch up on Rites, and another project in the works that I'm not allowed to talk about yet. DEAR GOD, I'M SLOW!

Anyway, this story popped into my head just after I started Lovesick: Shadows of the Mind (which you should read if you like Yandere girls). Atomyst was a little stuck with writing Chapter 14, and I jokingly suggested that Madoka should go all Yandere on Kaiji, which resulted in this paragraph:

Then madoka ran into the room with a knife and started stabbing Kaiji.

"Madoka! What are you doing!"

"Die die die! You hurt Homu-chan!" Madoka screamed wildly.

"AAAAaaaaaaa!" Kaiji screamed.

Obviously, this was cut out (extreme OoC much?), but it made me realise that for 2 months, Madoka had been going through psychological hell, first at the hands of Kyubey throughout the flashback chapters, then indirectly at the hands of Endou. There's only so much trauma that one can take, and as seen in Episode 10, even the most level-headed and idealistic characters can snap. Really, it's a miracle that Madoka hasn't contracted yet in the Main Storyline (although, that could just be because the rat hasn't poked his head in for a few chapters. He'll probably try again soon). So, this is my interpretation of the events that would unfold if Madoka were to contract under these conditions, and what it'd mean for the rest of the world.

I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. This was the first time I have written an action fight scene in about 3-4 years, and I'm really nervous about it. Passive Aggressiveness (i.e. Character's behaving violently without it being a fight, like Melino shooting a hostage) is my comfort zone. I can write a character punching, shooting, even torturing another person easily, but I can't quite grasp action. I need to fix this, of course, otherwise all my stories will just be one character beating up the other one at a time, and that isn't what I want.

Feel free to Favourite and leave me a review, and if you want to read more of my stories, go check out Lovesick and Ransom, and maybe even follow me. I guarantee* you won't be disappointed.

*satisfaction is not covered by guarantee, it entirely depends on what kind of stories you like :P

PS. In case you are wondering where "she" is, why "she" didn't interfere… well… I started this back in February. I didn't know anything about "her" back then, so I never included "her" in the plan. Even if I had known, I'm already pushing the 10k word limit I put on this story, so I wouldn't have had room for a fight with "her" anyway :/