"Are you ready?" asked Kyubey. "Remember, due to your enormous potential, no matter how improbable your wish is, it could probably be fulfilled."
The girl standing before this little creature had been given a very long time to consider her wish. I had approached her when she was just seven years old. Unfortunately, she hadn't made her wish there and then, and over the course of these eight years, she had been given a lot of time to think about it.
I had been very patient with her. I had seen the potential within her, blazing at extraordinary levels. Once, there was a girl named Madoka Kaname with potential far greater, but she was long gone by now, all thanks to Homura Akemi. That had truly been a failure and a 'disappointment', but none of that mattered now.
In front of me was a girl with unprecedented despair. Sheer karma. And if I missed this chance, I knew I wouldn't ever get it again. Her entire life had been spent reveling in despair, and the only reason she hadn't committed suicide yet was my presence.
There was little information on her past, but what I did know was that her parents severely abused her up until the age of three, and this translated into her own abusing of her nursery friends. When she stabbed a child after he took her crayons without permission, they made the decision to sell her for prostitution. Blindly holding hope, she somehow managed to escape after nine thousand, seven hundred and thirty two hours of continuous abuse (she kept count), and went back to her home—only to find her parents dead, having committed suicide together by burning down their house alongside the nursery while the children were still inside it, for some reason. From there, she was sent to an orphanage whereupon nobody dared get close to her, and she was subject to constant abuse and torture…and this time left without access to a cutter to slit their throats, as the heartless caretaker saw fit to inform everyone else of her past.
And that was only the beginning of her ultimate tale of despair.
But it was irrelevant. It was all irrelevant. Despite all that, because she was so hesitant about everything, I told her all about the magical girl system, about my job as an Incubator, and what we intend to achieve. She didn't seem to mind.
Even though she hadn't made the wish yet, I took the wise decision of adopting her and placing her in an empty apartment alongside school. None of it protected her from the endless horrors of reality, of course. Now, after eight years of living only in more and more despair, narrowly avoiding death at every turn, she had finally made her choice.
"Yes," she replied, nodding. "Let's do this."
"Now, Aislin Hoko. What do you want to wish for so much that you'll pay for it with your very soul?"
"I wish…" She took a step forward, and took in a deep breath.
"I wish to know all the people in all realities like this one that have suffered and all of the events that surround them, yet still keep my sanity!" she declared. "That way…I'll know…how to find others, how to find a true friend…!"
"Ah."
What a complicated human.
In reluctance, I fulfilled her wish. Extraction of the soul, and condensing it into a grey Soul Gem to be safely kept. Grey light exploded from her, and for a moment she was clad in a sparkling silver outfit that looked reminiscent of Tron. Then her existence temporarily disappeared into a spinning portal, the wormhole forced open, defying reality, a singularity that would never be repeated again.
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After a moment, Aislin reappeared out of the portal's end with a smile unlike any other. As she had wished for, she had been placed outside of the multiverse for a moment to look down at all those who suffered like others, and still keep her sanity. Though since the human mind was too flawed, she might still slip into insanity over the course of the next few weeks.
"That was…amazing. I- I-"
Having no idea what she had seen, I merely tilted my head.
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The next day, I strode back into school with an ultimate sense of confidence. Mitakihara Middle School had never been as interesting as it was to me now.
…But looking around, none of my would-be favorite students were here. Miki Sayaka, Kaname Madoka, Akemi Homura, and Tomoe Mami…they were all gone in this timeline, weren't they? Dead.
Except for Homura, who I guess went into another universe to save Madoka again. That girl had a crazy amount of events surrounding her. Sometimes she would get past Walpurgisnacht, only for Kyubey to reveal that she was locked in an endless cycle, or only to face even more despair afterwards with Madoka. Sometimes she would fail in her resets, and in the end turn into an amazingly powerful witch. And sometimes she just snapped and kidnapped/raped Madoka as she took her to somewhere else far from Mitakihara Town. But she did succeed in some universes, with some unforeseen help, and went on to have more adventures. In every timeline, she kept that amazing sense of loyalty and friendship/love. I should've wished that I could meet her, but oh well, it was waayyy too late now.
I sighed, plopping back onto my seat upon entering the classroom. Looking all around me, I could see where Homura, Madoka, and Sayaka had once sat– HOLY CRAP THAT WAS SHIZUKI HITOMI.
Within moments, I was standing by her seat.
"Hello, Shizuki Hitomi!" I greeted happily.
"Um…" Hitomi turned to me with a look of puzzlement, but I could still detect that slight sadness behind it. She couldn't hide. The fears, the regret, the sad memories of her friends. "Hoko, was it? Do you need anything?"
"How's Sayaka doing? Or Madoka?" I asked, still smiling brightly.
Her serene expression changed into a stern one, and she pushed herself off her table before staring at me for a moment. No, more like glaring. Hatred boiled around her, but she was mentally strong. That was the reason Kyubey hadn't selected her as a magical girl candidate.
"Hoko-san…I've heard that you're a delinquent, but this is a bit much," said Hitomi. "Please refrain from talking about such matters in class."
"Does that mean we can talk after?!" I lit up.
"I'd rather you keep your distance away from me."
Then I frowned and returned back to my seat in slight disappointment. I didn't fully understand her, having only seen her through the eyes of her friends, but I thought…oh well. In any case, it didn't seem like she wanted to talk to me.
After school, I sullenly trotted on home.
I sighed.
Now I knew about tons and tons of people, but the ones I could relate with most weren't here any longer. Either in another country, in another universe, in the past, in the future, or outright dead. But there had to be someone. Anyone.
Before I knew it, I had entered into a witch's barrier, my surroundings distorting to become something similar to a kind of hotel. With a flash of light, my body was donned in a magical outfit, and I quickly raced throughout the lair. Familiars were torn apart by my very presence, and even the ground distorted as my feet pushed off it.
Then I stood before the witch, which kinda looked like a female version of Slenderman. Its tentacles lunged forth, but various lasers from the pods around me tore them all down. Clicking my fingers, it followed up to the witch itself, and the once-magical-girl was annihilated, effortlessly.
Everything around me reverted back into the glass city it was, and I picked up a Grief Seed from the ground. Glancing at the Soul Gem in a watch form on my wrist, it didn't seem to be corrupted much yet, so I didn't clean it.
"Is anything the matter, Aislin Hoko?"
Kyubey appeared from behind a corner.
"I'm fine," I said.
"Considering your circumstances, I doubt that," he replied.
"Shut up, Incubator."
I had no friends. No family. I was attractive enough to get a boyfriend every now and then, but most of the time they turned out to be players or only interested in getting into bed with me, and the one that I think really did love me ended up getting hit by a car. Having experienced all that, I didn't want to get close to boys any longer.
I just wanted to meet them. All those people.
She, who wished for her family to make peace and got a mass slaughter in return, who quickly fell into despair and became an arachnid witch with sentience, who struggled to fit in as every repeating cycle stole everything away from her.
She, who found herself in the body of a pink-haired girl and tried to make things better, who experienced insurmountable amounts of despair and faced hardships of mystery, who struggled to fit in despite being an alien.
She, who met this strange man who promised to return but didn't, who wished for this strange man to reappear once more out from his blue box, who ended up alienating him away as he saw what she had become for him.
She, who struggled through everything.
She, who suffered in vain.
She, whom nobody would listen to.
She, who never gave in to despair no matter what happened.
She, who eventually snapped.
She, who hoped for happiness.
She, who–
"Do you require my assistance?" asked Kyubey.
"…I don't need ANYONE ELSE!" I retorted, punching the air. "I HAVE…OUROBOROS!"
"Excuse me?"
I shook my head for a moment to regain my sanity, before looking back at him.
"Kyubey, I have a question. Are you truly emotionless, or does your race just suppress their emotions?" I asked. "Oh, and are you the only type on this planet, or are there others?"
Instead of answering, Kyubey turned away to face the skies. A silence passed by between us.
"You saw everything so you should know," he replied after a pause.
"Yeaaahhh, you're right. I guess you won't be answering any more of my questions since I already contracted," I figured, shrugging. "The only reason you're still hanging about is because you're waiting for me to turn into a witch…"
Kyubey nodded in confirmation, before turning to walk back into the shadows. He didn't seem too interested in whatever I did from now on.
Now what? I thought to myself.
I held unlimited power. I knew a lot about everything. Only oblivion awaited those that opposed me. I hated a lot of things in this world and I could take my revenge if I wanted to. I could do anything. Almost anything, anyway, but more than anybody else. So maybe there were some still hanging about in other countries, so what? I could still reach them.
And everyone else…well, there were always tons of other girls I could get to contract, to fulfill my own wishes.
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Trot, trot. Clap, clap. The sounds of satisfaction ring in my ears, not that it has a sound mind you, but it felt like it did. Oh and there was also a lot of whimpering, and screaming. The little sissies were noisy, but then again, I used to be just as noisy, didn't I? Long ago, I used to cry myself to sleep whenever I did get chance. Or was that somebody else? Maybe we just shared similarities. Anyway, it didn't matter.
Humming to myself, I went over to a green-haired girl, held upside-down with her feet wrapped in chains. She was still wearing the same school uniform she had two weeks ago, only with the addition of a green gem by her neck courtesy of Kyubey, and her expression was silent. Now she knew the truth, yeah~
I took a step back to admire my work. I counted the number of friends present. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, skip to forty, forty-one, forty-two, forty-three, forty-four, forty-four, okay there was a lot.
Looking at them again, I think I had several different versions of the same people mixed among them. That was interesting and fun.
"Friends, beautiful friends! GOOD MORNING!" I exclaimed. "Today is another wondrous day for us to hang out and screw each other and experience despair and get more friends…and stuff like that!"
"Let us go"
"YOU'RE INSANE"
"Get me back to my world or I'll"
"Where the hell is this"
"HHWEEEEELLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPP "
"Madoka ARE YOU OKAY"
"Miss can you please let us go"
"Shit this chain really hurts"
"Where are my clothes"
"LET ME DIE ALREADY"
"What a strange development"
"I shouldn't be here"
"Damn it hurts why is this thing up my"
"No noo no no no no no no no no no no nonononononononono"
"How is that even possible"
"WAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
"please"
"I hate you…so much…."
"I love you too, everyone!" I called back, waving.
Happiest day of my life ever.
"Actually, Aislin Hoko, it's midnight," interrupted coobie, walking without permission into our sanctuary. "Not that you would know the difference at this stage."
"Good morning to you too, talking marshmellow!" I replied in happiness, waving all of existence away. "Look right over there – I got someone to wish one of your bodies into a human magical girl, and there she is! Isn't she just perfect?!"
"'She' is a lifeless hunk of meat, dead."
"I know, right?!"
Coobie stared at me for a moment, as if trying to understand me, before shaking his head.
Then, all of a sudden, the windows shattered, holes were drilled into the rooftops and right beneath my feet, and tons and tons and tons and tons of alien magical girls poured into the rooms, ready for battle. My friends began crying, maybe in happiness but probably in sadness too. NO THESES ARE MY PRECIOUS FRIENDS COOBIE NOT YOUR Fine. GOTTA CATCH 'EM ALL, AGAIN.
"Having monitored your activities over the past two weeks, a projection of the future shows that it will take you seven hundred years to become a witch," he informed me. "Every time we attempted approaching you has only resulted in strange and stranger results. I cannot comprehend why you would want to eat one of us. Thus, you have forced us into intervening."
I tilted my head, scratching it.
"Why?" I asked. "What did I do to deserve this?"
"Because within two weeks, you both caused and ended a nuclear war, and the human race has been decreased by a significant 97%, alongside the absolute extinction of every male. Earth is covered in radiation and will have become a dead planet in twenty years. "
Tears fell down from my eyes. "Whatever happened to being friends, coobie?! I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME!"
"This entire time, Aislin Hoko, we have only been interested in your Grief Seed."
"NOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooo"
Screaming out, pods and more pods detached from my back and materialized into existence, scattering and sending lasers everywhere. Torrents of elemental and energy attacks met them in return, the squads of alien Puella Magi working together to hinder and bounce away all my efforts. In the process, somebody freed all my friends and now they too were working against me–
Within a split second, Homuhomu had destroyed all of my pods and now I am doomed. Chains and whips and spells wrapped around me, chaining me to the ground. I barely caught a glimpse of coobie as he took advantage of the female counterpart I made for him to grant a wish of his own, returning all my friends back to their respective universes and timelines along with the mindwipes noooo they're my friends NOT YOURS–
Pissed off, I surrounded my body with lasers and unleashed them onto my enemies, obliterating all the aliens along with the building we were in. The palace construction crumbled to the ground.
I had had enough. I was going to destroy this planet, right here and now. My eyes blaring with lots and lots of energy, I started to pour all my power into a single laser beam that I would fire into the planet's core. I am going to spite you all. You will all pay for what you've done to me. TAKE THAT COOBIE.
"Request granted."
Coobie floated before me. At first I was confused but then he revealed the darkening grey gem thingie in his grasp.
"HEY THAT'S MINE–"
Intense pain shot all throughout my body, like a thousand pikes all pushing into it. Seething heat burning into every nerve, incredibly sharp icicles coldly penetrating into every muscle, and utter destruction laying waste to everything else, yet the body still clearly existed. The laser energy stuff vanished, unable to be sustained, and I fell to my knees. It continued. Everything all the pain and suffering that was like a trillion hells falling onto the darkness that was the flames of despair and oh god after a little while I grew to like it and began to moan aha this was better than my entire life and no human will ever experience this like I do and still live to see the light of day but then again im not oh look a full moon it's so beautiful up there with the stars and I began laughing at it I'd been so occupied in getting friends that I had forgotten to go up to the moon and the pain continues and I keep on giggling and suffering and reveling in it and I wonder why i not dead yet and everything is just so perfectly beautiful and look my gem thingie is the same color as the sky now thats great I feel so happy for you oh but it just shatters and is broken now oh no OHNO I liked that gem but then again theres a black seed thingie and I should still be glad for it for having a baby but wait whats happening to me everything is disappearing the pain is going awayno NONONONONONONONOOOOO what did you just do to me coobie tell me cookie you know all the answers you always do but still what is happening i cannot feel anything anymore no no no more pleasure no more friends no more anythiI HATE YOU COOBIE NOOOOOOOO
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Hel
The witch of eternal despair, with a friendly nature. The witch drifts across space and time, searching for a true friend. She cannot understand why the many lives she drags into her barrier try to kill her.
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A pink-haired girl descended from the skies and absorbed all the despair. For the first time in several thousand years, I began to think clearly again, and everything that clouded my mind went away. The feeling she emitted was far greater than anything I had ever felt before.
"It's okay," said Madoka. "I'm here. I'll be your friend."
I smiled. Not one of pleasure, but of hope.
Even though I was filled with darkness, the pure-hearted goddess could still see the good, and could see into my very soul with understanding. She forgave me. Despite everything, she actually forgave me. I couldn't understand it, I couldn't understand how any being in existence could ever do such a thing, she was being an idiot for doing so, but she actually…
After a pause, I took her hand, brimming with excitement unlike any before.
Then she dragged me up, bringing me into a new world.