Author's Note: This story has been rewritten as of 24/6/2017. After a year of writing and rewriting countless variations of this story, I've finally come up with something decent enough to me.
Chapter 1 and 2 are mostly similar with a few changes, but Chapter 3 is the chapter with the most changes. Then again I haven't updated this story since forever, so you guys probably forgot what the story is all about ;p No harm reading the whole thing again.
Kaname Madoka awoke to an apocalypse.
Smoke permeated the crimson sky as meteorites bombarded skyscrapers and shophouses. Glittering fairies flew past mountains of rubble. Pale, deformed zombies hovered past street lamps still standing strong despite the chaos and destruction around it.
Horrified people frozen in time exploded into a gruesome mess as the zombies hovered past them. The reverberating laughter in the background seemed to be laughing at how helpless those people were.
Madoka closed her eyes, and clasped her trembling hands in a prayer. "Th-That's too much... Someone... please save them!"
She wanted to escape this nightmare, but there was nothing she could do. Her legs trembled so hard that she was sure to fall if she tried to move a single step forward.
At the epicenter of the apocalypse was a shadowy girl with the lower part of its body replaced by a mountain-sized floating skirt made of intertwining black lines.
Armored riders wielding swords and guns charged forth against the monstrous shadow, but she swatted them aside like annoying flies.
Tremors from a distorted, sweet feminine voice shook the air. "Why are you stopping me? Soon, no one will need to suffer in this world. Isn't that a good thing?"
A tri-colored rider picked itself up from the rubble. It was green and black on the left and right respectively with white in the middle. "Like hell we'd let you rule over humanity!"
Another red armored rider with a black tyre over his left shoulder slammed his sword down, "There's no difference between your Paradise and imprisoning humanity in your personal cage. It's our duty as Kamen Riders to stop you!"
They say that the Kamen Riders are humanity's symbol of hope. That they will keep on fighting evil to protect the freedom of humanity.
Madoka watched the armored riders fall one by one as the shadowy girl crushed them like a child who destroys her toy figurines because it was more fun that way.
The only armored riders still barely alive were the tri-colored rider and the red rider with a black tyre over its left shoulder.
Was this the end of humanity? Was this the moment when the Kamen Rider finally lost a battle against the monster?
Madoka wiped her tears. No matter how much she wanted to leap into the battle and save the Kamen Riders and everyone else, she was just an ordinary girl studying in Mitakihara Middle School as a second year student. All of the sadness and pain around her will never be erased by that kind of girl, and that in turn filled her heart with sadness and pain.
A new hero arrived.
But it was a hero she never imagined could appear.
The hero had the same pink hair as her, tied into short twintails. However, her outfit was a pink frilly dress with white sleeves just like a magical girl. Compared to that monster, she was barely more than a speck of dust.
"I'm... the hero?!"
This must be a dream. A girl like her could never be the hero.
Scores of glittering purple dolls and fairies emerging from the intertwining black lines of the monster's skirt flew towards 'Madoka'.
The magical girl hero 'Madoka' summoned a rose shaped bow with a confident look on her face and leaped towards the monster.
Madoka awoke to a buzzing alarm in her bedroom.
"So it was all just a bad dream..."
People torn apart by demons. Buildings brought to ruins by giggling fairies. At the center of it all was a deformed shadowy girl wearing a gigantic black skirt destroying heroic Kamen Riders who were trying to defeat her.
And when all hope was lost, the hero who arrived to save the day was a magical girl copy of herself?
Madoka couldn't forget the look on her magical girl self. She had the exact same face as her, but how could that same face radiate such overwhelming confidence? Confidence was something that felt like an impossible dream.
Madoka sighed. Given the chance, she would love to become a magical girl and save people from evil like the Madoka inside that dream, but magical girls belonged to the animated shows of her childhood, and dreams were dreams for a reason.
She pulled away the curtains to be greeted with a scenic view of lush trees and a pond near the horizon.
Madoka couldn't see the city from her house, but it must be as vibrant and lively as the city in her dream after being saved by her heroic self.
She waved at her father below watering the tomato plants in his garden, "Good morning, papa!"
He was Kaname Tomohisa, a bespectacled man with a lanky build.
"Good morning, Madoka. If you don't mind, could you check on your mother to see if she's awake?"
"Got it."
Madoka went over to her mother's room and slammed open the door to see her three year old brother Tatsuya standing on the bed, about to perform his best imitation of a signature finish by the Kamen Riders that he has been obsessed with recently.
She chuckled. That won't be enough to wake Mama up.
The pink-haired girl drew the curtains, illuminating the room with bright sunlight, before she pulled the blanket away from her mother.
Like a vampire, her mother let out a loud scream as she jumped out of the bed. After a few seconds of standing in a daze, she slowly turned to face Madoka and Tatsuya.
"Good morning."
In the bathroom beside her mother already brushing her teeth, Madoka squeezed toothpaste onto her toothbrush and started brushing as well.
Her mother gurgled water before spitting everything out at the white sink. "How's everything so far?"
"Oh, Hitomi got a love letter again. This makes two for the month already."
"Pfft. Guys that don't have the guts to confess in person are pretty worthless. She shouldn't waste her time on those kind of guys."
By the time Madoka finished brushing, her mother was almost done with her makeup. She applied some final touches on her face with a powder puff before striking a confident pose at the mirror.
"Perfect."
Sometimes Madoka wondered if she was really the daughter of this incredible woman named Kaname Junko.
Mama was always so fast, and so efficient. During breakfast, she could juggle between taking care of Tatsuya, reading the newspaper effortlessly, and finishing her food and cup of coffee.
On the other hand, Madoka was sure she would end up in a complete mess if she attempted the exact same feat as her.
"Umm... which ribbon should I pick?"
The red one on her right, or the yellow on her left?
"How about red?" Junko said.
Madoka frowned. "Don't you think it might be too flashy?"
"That's the point."
Junko put a finger to her chin, admiring how beautiful her daughter looked with those red ribbons on. "Now all your secret admirers won't be able to resist you. I'm sure you'll get more love letters than Hitomi
Madoka chuckled, "Like I'd have any secret admirers."
Secret admirer? There was nothing admirable about a girl like her. She was slow, and didn't have any particular talents like playing the violin really well for example.
"Confidence, Madoka. You have to believe in yourself. Even if you think something may seem impossible, as long as you have confidence and believe in yourself, you will realize that it wasn't as impossible as you thought it would be. That's the secret in becoming a pretty girl with tons of admirers."
If only being confident was that easy... Then again, nothing ever came across as easy for her.
If it wasn't for her notebook and pen, Madoka would have dozed off in class like her blue-haired friend Miki Sayaka two seats to the left from her.
Japanese literature classes had this strange power to put people into sleep. Or maybe it was the teacher who kept droning on and on and on and on…
Madoka took a deep breath and clenched her fists to get blood flowing into her brain. She almost fell under the curse that claimed about a quarter of the class already.
She began drawing an outline of the most perfect magical girl she could think of. An elegant, but simple white dress. Twintails by the sides with long flowing pink hair.
If she were to ever become a magical girl, that would definitely be her desired final form. The magical girl in her dream was only her base form.
Madoka shook her head. She must've watched too much Kamen Rider with Tatsuya. In Kamen Rider, the heroes will always receive an upgrade halfway throughout the show to defeat a powerful monster. That was usually their final form.
If magical girls were for girls, then Kamen Rider would be the magical girl equivalent for guys.
Madoka finished her outline, and let out a sigh before sketching another outline of her mini adventure comic series of Kaname Madoka saving Mitakihara City from the monster of the week terrorizing the city with her magical girl powers.
How nice it would be if she could be useful to people like those magical girls and Kamen Riders... but a girl like her being a hero?
She was better off being a damsel in distress. This was the only role suitable for a girl like her.
Madoka was never the best in sports, so she never looked forward to PE lessons.
The afternoon sun's heat clung onto her skin as she did arms and legs stretches at a soccer field. At least Sayaka was on the same team doing warm ups beside her. They were tagged blue while the opposing team were red.
Madoka reluctantly wore a blue tag around her waist, "Maybe I should just switch to another sport like badminton. I'll just bring the whole team down."
She could not pass the ball properly, nor run fast enough to be useful. Having her on the team was like a minus one.
"It's just a friendly match. Don't worry too much about being good. Besides, you have me."
"Still..."
If it wasn't for Sayaka, she definitely would have went for badminton.
The match started with a whistle blow.
Madoka ran about, but she soon found herself confused as the ball flew about in unpredictable directions and bumped into one of her teammates.
"Sorry."
"It's okay." The girl said before running after the ball that landed on the opposing side.
Madoka stood at a corner of her team's side where she would not end up blocking her teammates.
A girl fired a cross towards Sayaka who followed up with a left shot into the goalpost.
Madoka waved from a distance, "Good job!"
"Thanks!" Sayaka said.
Unlike her, Sayaka was really talented in sports. Unfortunately, she had zero talent in music, and her crush Kamijou Kyousuke was a violin prodigy. The story of Miki Sayaka being a renowned pianist accompanying the violin prodigy Kyousuke could only remain as a fantasy.
The match continued on.
Madoka was still in her little corner watching a game where girls tagged red and blue were chasing after a single ball being kicked around the field.
She definitely should have insisted on badminton. What's the point if she wasn't being useful to the team from her lack of participation?
Just then, the ball landed on her feet.
Madoka blinked as the nervous pounding in her chest grew faster. About five girls from the opposing side charged in her direction like stampeding bulls.
She swerved behind, the ball still under her control.
Mama always taught her to be confident. This was the time to have confidence and believe in herself to make the impossible possible.
I won't disappoint everyone!
She sprinted towards the goalpost and with a beautiful volley, the ball landed inside.
"Good job!" A girl with a red tag said.
Another girl with a red tag gave her the thumbs up. "That was an excellent volley."
Madoka smiled and nodded in acknowledgement.
Ah, so Mama was right! If I believe in myself, I can really do this.
"Madoka..." Sayaka sighed.
"What's wrong?"
Why was Sayaka and her fellow teammates so unenthusiastic about her goal? In fact, they seemed rather upset at her.
"You kicked the ball into our goal."
Madoka's face burned crimson red. "What?!"
At least I helped the opposing team scored a goal. That can't be so bad, right...?
I'm completely hopeless.
Madoka left her bag inside the classroom, so she ran back inside while Sayaka and Hitomi would wait outside near the gate.
After dashing up a flight of stairs leading towards the school building, and three more inside the building, Madoka finally reached the classroom and retrieved her bag.
The time was 5.21pm. 9 minutes more before their favourite cafe would be jam packed with students. Despite her best efforts, she was still too slow. When could she finally stop being a burden to her friends?
A shrill cry for help followed by the sound of plastic being hurled on the ground reverberated from the female toilet.
There were three girls cornering a overweight girl about twice their size. One girl pressed a mop against the overweight girl's head with a sneer while the other two girls laughed.
"Stop it!" Madoka said.
The three girls turned to face Madoka with a disgusted expression. "Are you standing up for this fat loser over here? If you don't want to become our enemy, then get the fuck out of here."
Madoka gulped, "Umm… did she do anything wrong to offend you guys? Let's talk things out and clear up any misunderstandings instead of doing this to her."
An annoyed girl with orange hair clicked her tongue. She was the leader of the trio, Kikuchi Manami. Her father was a very powerful man in charge of this school. "I just hate the sight of her. That's all."
Another girl raised the mop at her, "You have five second to get the fuck out of here before we beat the fuck out of you!"
Madoka forced herself to stay put. She almost let her cowardly instincts get the better of her. "Yo-You can't just do this because you don't like how the way she looks. That's completely unreasonable."
"I am being unreasonable. What are you going to do about it?"
There was nothing Madoka could do. She was not good enough with words to convince them that they are being completely unreasonable, and neither was she good enough of a fighter to protect the overweight girl from the bullies, but she had to try. The teachers in this school tend to ignore bullying despite the reports, and many students often pretend that there's nothing going on.
"Please just let the girl off okay?"
Manami snapped her fingers. "That's it. You've wasted enough of my time listening to your crap."
A girl stepped towards Madoka with a clenched fist. Madoka shut her eyes, body tense. She had enough of looking the other way like the rest.
"What do you think you're doing?!" A familiar voice said. It was Sayaka.
The orange-haired girl rolled her eyes, "Are you a friend of this moron?"
"Don't you dare insult Madoka. Besides, you three were the ones at fault for bullying that girl over there." Sayaka said.
Manami eyed the pink-haired girl with poorly veiled amusement, "Madoka… Kaname Madoka, right? That girl over there must be Miki Sayaka then. I know you two. You're Hitomi's friends. For Hitomi's sake, I'll give you one last chance. Leave and pretend you saw nothing, or you'll be my next target."
Hitomi wasn't very close to Manami, but both their fathers were powerful people who knew each other.
Madoka didn't know if she should accept Manami's offer and be the same coward again. Being Manami's target meant that she would kiss her peaceful school days goodbye.
"I refuse. Let the girl go."
She no longer wanted to be a coward anymore.
"You'll regret your decision."
Manami pushed Madoka aside with a sinister chuckle as her two underlings followed behind.
Madoka squeezed past a crowd inside an arcade while holding Sayaka's hand.
After dinner with Hitomi, Sayaka suggested arcades, so here she was, inside that crowded and noisy environment. Hitomi was a busy girl who had many other extra activities like piano or Japanese tea ceremony classes after school, so she couldn't come along.
"I was an idiot." Madoka said.
The stake that sticks up gets hammered down. Maybe she should have just ignored the bullying and not create so much trouble for her friends. Especially Sayaka.
Sayaka smiled. "If I were you, I would've done the same thing. I'm really proud of you. Whatever happens tomorrow, I'll be there to protect you from the bullies."
"Thanks."
Knowing Sayaka, she would probably end up in a fight with the bullies tomorrow. In fact, some of her worst memories inside this arcade was Sayaka getting into what would have been a fight if it wasn't for her.
A red-haired girl jumped onto the platform of a DDR machine just as they were about to step onto the platform. She gave off a strong delinquent vibe with her dirty grey jacket accompanied by an arrogant smirk.
"Hey, we were here first. Could you please let the both of us play against each other first?" Sayaka said.
DDR, or Dance Dance Revolution was a rhythm arcade machine where people would stamp his or her feet on the boxes to correspond with the arrows that appears on screen and the beat.
It was one of Sayaka's favourite arcade machine, and she would always play DDR without fail each time they visited the arcade.
"But I stepped onto the platform first. Get lost."
Madoka noticed Sayaka clenching her fist in anger. "Sayaka, calm down alright? I'm sure we can come to a compromise."
Madoka offered a hand to the red-haired girl, "My name is Kaname Madoka. What's yours?"
"Sakura Kyoko."
When it was clear that Kyoko would not return the handshake, Madoka awkwardly retracted her hand.
Sayaka glared at Kyoko, "What's your problem huh? She was trying to be nice."
"Are you seriously deaf? Get lost."
"But we were here first. Why should we leave?"
"Look, there's still another platform left. Why don't you two just take turns and compare scores instead? Moron."
Madoka grabbed hold of Sayaka before she could tackle Kyoko to the ground. "Fighting is wrong!"
"Let me go! That bitch is a different story!"
Kyoko leaned onto the reverse U-shaped metal safety bar, "I ain't scared of a little girl like you. If you want a fight, I'll give you a fight."
Madoka exhausted whatever strength she had left to restrain Sayaka.
"Sayaka! Kyoko! Please stop! I don't want anybody to get hurt over an arcade machine!"
The commotion attracted more and more people around them. Sayaka stopped struggling, conscious about the attention that they were getting.
"Alright, alright. I promise I won't hit that bitch even if I still feel like doing so. Could you please let me go now?"
"You promise?"
"Yes."
"Really? Will you really, really promise me that you won't hit her?"
"Yes my sweetheart Madoka, now let me go."
Madoka was reluctant, but she decided to trust Sayaka for now.
Sayaka adjusted the sleeves of her school uniform. "As a proper lady like myself, it is beneath my status to get into fights with delinquents like you."
Kyoko rolled her eyes as she reached into her pocket and took out another Pocky stick from a red box, "Proper lady? What a joke. You're just a little coward using your friend as an excuse to run away. Are you afraid that you'd lose?"
"Why you!"
Madoka leaped to restrain Sayaka again, "You promised me not to fight her!"
"If I don't teach her a lesson, she'll never learn to shut up!"
Kyoko pushed herself back upright from the metal bar. "Let's make a deal. If you win, I'll leave. If I win, I get to stay. Deal?"
Madoka jumped at the opportunity to resolve the conflict. "Of course! Right Sayaka?"
This calmed Sayaka down. "Yeah. Now let me go Madoka. We've got some ass kicking to do."
"We?"
Standing on one half of the platform was Madoka and Sayaka on the other half. There were four boxes in total on the platform, two on each side. Madoka was in charge of the two boxes on one side, while Sayaka was in charge of the other two boxes.
Kyoko raised an eyebrow, "Seriously?"
"You got a problem with that? Nobody said we can't team up." Sayaka said.
"Yeah whatever. You're still going to lose anyway." Kyoko said, her arms gripped firmly on the metal bar behind her.
Sayaka shot a smile at Madoka, "Let's do this!"
"Ye-Yeah!"
Doubts filled her mind. Would she screw this up again like her own goal during that soccer match this afternoon? No one blamed her, but she still felt extremely guilty about the incident.
At least for her best friend's sake, she would try and believe in herself again.
And so with the selection of the most difficult song in the game, the two versus one survival match began.
Madoka locked arms around Sayaka as Sayaka kept on laughing. There were only a few people left on the streets as shops began closing for the day.
"You should have seen her face when we actually won!" Sayaka said before bursting into laughter again.
Madoka chuckled, "I'll never forget how she was so shocked that the Pocky stick fell from her mouth."
Sure, they looked silly playing DDR as two person on the machine, and even that Kyoko widened her eyes in surprise at their strategy, but results are results. Like what Mama would say, it's not about how, but whether or not you succeeded in achieving what you wanted. That was usually followed up by firing a few incompetent people at work whatever the means necessary. Mama can be really scary at times.
"I should've taken a photo of that bitch's face. What a waste."
"But Kyoko was really good. We only won by a single point!"
It was the most difficult song in the whole game, and Kyoko managed to achieve full combo. Of course with flawless coordination and teamwork, they managed to achieve full combo as well.
In the end, Kyoko lost because she had one less perfect than them.
Sayaka noticed a CD shophouse already closed for the day. Compared to the CD shops in shopping mall, these kind of shops tend to sell rarer recordings normally not found elsewhere.
"That reminds me. Let's go shopping tomorrow! There's something I want to get for Kyousuke."
"Another CD recording?"
Sayaka put a finger to her chin, "Maybe I should get him something different this time... ah well, that's what shopping is for. We'll find something suitable for sure."
"Definitely."
Kamijou Kyousuke. An incredibly talented violinist, and was also Sayaka's childhood friend. Given how she tends to act around him, Madoka was very sure that she had a crush on him, and she finally got her to admit it during a sleepover with Hitomi.
Those were the memories she would always treasure in her heart. Forever and always.
After seeing Sayaka to her house, Madoka waved goodbye with a smile and left for her own house through the park.
"I guess I'm not that hopeless after all."
At least she didn't end up as a burden again to Sayaka, and that was all it mattered to her.
The starry night was like a black canvas with many tiny glittering diamonds pasted on it.
Sometimes, Madoka thought of becoming someone useful, like a magical girl that can protect people from evil. Even if she did become a magical girl, was she capable enough to protect people with her powers?
A silver briefcase landed in front of her.
Attached to the briefcase was a note with her name on it, stating that the briefcase was meant for her.
Madoka opened the briefcase. Inside, there was a belt at the top portion, a red mechanical beetle in the center, and a booklet at the bottom right corner.
"Isn't that Kamen Rider?"
It looked very different from all the other Kamen Rider shows she watched with Tatsuya, but like all other Kamen Riders, it had a belt and some kind of device to transform.
She flipped open the booklet.
As expected, it was just like Kamen Rider. Wear belt, then slot the beetle across the front part of the belt to transform.
… After transforming once, all you have to do for subsequent transformations is simply wish for it and the Kabuto Zecter will appear together with a belt around your waist.
There was a note at the end of the booklet.
Grandmother once said, make the world revolve around you, it's more fun to think that way. You are much more greater than you think you are. That's why I'm giving the Kabuto Zecter to you.
Was this some sort of a prank? She looked around to see if there was anyone filming in secret. No one seemed to be there, but maybe they hid themselves well. Sayaka and Hitomi wasn't the sort of friends who would prank people, and her classmates and clubmates had no reason to prank her as well.
Madoka decided to hand the briefcase over to the police. They would know what to do with it. Prank or no prank, this was probably the best option.
Soft footsteps from behind caught her attention.
A girl around her age floundered towards her with eyes wide open, completely devoid of any life. She collapsed and exploded into a dark mass.
Madoka closed her eyes to shield herself from the explosion. When she opened her eyes, her world was no longer the same.
"Where am I….?"
The night sky was replaced by a red canvas scribbled with white curly lines. It was a desolate world haphazardly plastered with renaissance artworks.
Madoka trembled in fear. This wasn't the Mitakihara City she knew. What exactly is this place? What was going on?!
She heard another girl's voice.
"Umm… hello. Do you know where exactly are we?"
It was from a bespectacled girl with twin braids that reached past her shoulders. A black cat stood beside her.
Madoka shook her head. "I guess we have no choice but to explore the place first. Don't worry, we'll get out of here somehow."
The fear of not being able to see her family and Sayaka again almost forced her to tears, but she had to put up a brave front and not let the frightened girl feel like there was no hope of ever getting out of this place.
The cat's meowing echoed through the bizarre atmosphere as they walked along the uneven ground.
"What's your name? I'm Kaname Madoka!"
The girl looked away awkwardly, "Umm... my name is Akemi Homura. Nice to meet you."
Madoka grabbed hold of her hand with a smile, "You don't have to be so nervous. Are you attending any school right now?"
Homura's face went red. "I... just moved into this city so right now I don't go to any school."
"What school are you planning to go to then?"
"Mitakihara Middle School. I'll be transferring to that school in a few days time."
"Really? I'm in the same school as well. We could be classmates!"
"If we make it out alive here first… By the way, what's inside that suitcase?"
"It's a Kamen Rider toy. Or at least I think it is."
"What do you mean by that?"
Madoka thought that the silver suitcase might be a prank done by someone, but now she wasn't so sure anymore.
A silver astylar monument popped from the ground together with three artwork-like monsters scuttling towards them.
"Run!" Madoka said.
As Madoka dashed across the uneven ground as she dragged Homura along, more and more monsters popped up around them.
Homura let out a scream as her legs gave way. She clutched at her chest in extreme agony.
"Wh-What's wrong?!" Madoka said. Monsters were closing in around them. This was the worst time to collapse in pain.
"Medicine... my medicine..."
Madoka frantically searched her body for any medication, but none was nowhere to be found.
"I can't find anything!"
Homura screamed again, the clutching at her chest grew tighter.
The pink-haired girl blinked back tears as she tried to find something on Homura again. She had to be faster than that. The monsters were coming.
"I've g-got to defeat the monsters or we'll both die!"
Madoka attached the silver belt around her waist, and inserted the red mechanical beetle across the front slot of the belt.
[HENSHIN]
A distorted robotic voice announced. It wasn't a toy after all!
Hexagon pixels transformed Madoka into a red, armored beetle-like figure. A beetle horn split the glowing blue visor of the helmet into two, separating each part into something like eyes.
[CHANGE BEETLE]
Kabuto pressed a button on her Zecter and flipped the beetle horn lever back and forth.
[PUT ON]
A wrist crossbow appeared on Kabuto's arm and she fired red arrows at the incoming swarm of monsters. The monsters kept coming in waves. There seemed to be no end to the monsters.
"Wh-What should I do now?!"
Was she supposed to just keep firing until every monster was dead? Or just take Homura, and run? Or what?
Her thoughts spun so fast that it blurred into nothingness. Other than firing at the monsters, Madoka could not think of anything better.
After what seemed like forever, a blue dragonfly-like armored figure wielding a spear appeared.
"You must be kidding me!" The figure said.
It shook its head at Madoka before she broke into a sprint towards the silver monument, leaving trails of exploding monsters behind her.
"Rider Piercing."
[RIDER PIERCING]
The spear in its hand glowed a brilliant blue before it hurled the spear at the monument. After a huge explosion, the strange world faded back into reality where the sky was pitch black and the ground was an even path in the park.
The red mechanical beetle flew away and Madoka's armour faded into tiny hexagon pixels.
In front of her was a red-haired girl… wasn't she Sakura Kyoko, the girl whom she defeated in a game of DDR with Sayaka just this evening?
Kyoko snapped, "Don't just look at me like an idiot! Perform CPR on the girl while I go get the ambulance."
With trembling hands, Madoka pressed down hard on Homura's chest.
"Please be okay... Please..." She muttered while tears dripped down her cheeks..
She would never forgive herself if something horrible were to happen to Homura.
The doctor had a grave expression as he exited the ER room.
Madoka took a deep breath, "So how's Homura...?"
"I'm sorry. We did our best, but we were unable to revive her. "
"I see. Thank you. "
Madoka sank back to her chair. If only she knew that destroying the monument was the key to escaping, then she would definitely have been able to send Homura to the hospital in time. Then maybe... Homura might be still alive.
"It wasn't your fault. Stop crying." Kyoko said.
"But I failed to save Homura... it was my fault that she died."
"Hey, at least you tried. If you had left her alone instead, she would have been killed by the Witch anyway. How is this your fault?"
"I'm the worst rider. I don't deserve to be Kabuto."
Kamen Riders were supposed to be heroes. What kind of a hero she was if she couldn't even save a single person's life?
Kyoko munched on an apple, "You could just quit being Kabuto. It's not like you're obliged to transform, ya know?"
How could a clumsy, slow-witted idiot like her possibly save the world with the Kabuto Zecter? Whoever gave her the Zecter must have made a horrible mistake.
"Are you the two girls who found Homura? I'm her guardian, Shijima Kiriko." A lady said. Her dress seemed like something one could get from a bargain store, but her looks were as stunning as a fashion model with her doll-like eyes and porcelain skin.
Madoka frantically wiped tears away. "Y-Yes. I'm really sorry about Homura! I really am!"
"Don't be." Kiriko said, "It was only a matter of time."
The guilt within Madoka intensified as she saw how resigned and melancholic the lady seemed to be.
A 'doctor' entered the ER room.
Akemi Homura laid at the operating bed, cold and motionless. Her death was confirmed at around 2120, or 9.20pm.
It might be unnecessarily cruel, but Homura was a dangerous girl who once took over the Universe because of her selfishness. Since all data has successfully been extracted from Homura, her existence no longer has any value, and she must not be revived ever again.
The 'doctor' took out a green memory stick from his white coat.
[CYCLONE]