'That was amazing, Homura-sama!' said Madoka as they left IV's "arena", re-entering the hub of Heartland.

'It really wasn't,' replied Homura. 'That guy talked big, but he was a pushover when it was important.'

III and Kyubey followed the pair silently. 'I insist on caution,' whispered Kyubey. 'Homura Akemi is a major threat, and I don't even know who that other girl is, but if she's with Homura, then she's at least as bad.'

'I'm not going to fight them,' replied III. 'I'm just going to–'

He was interrupted by the gun that had just appeared before him, pointing at his forehead and wielded by Homura Akemi. Kyubey, he noticed, had immediately hidden behind his legs, as if scared of being seen by the pair.

'Why were you following us?' asked Homura, voice hard.

'I-I-' stuttered III, eyeing the weapon poised to end him.

'Tell me!' yelled Homura, causing III to trip backwards over Kyubey and send him sprawling to the ground.

Madoka shrieked, there was a flash, and Kyubey's body was instantly riddled with bullet holes, Homura now pointing a gun in each hand at III.

III stared back at Homura, his eyes wide and terrified.

'Why were you with that – thing?!' yelled Homura.

'I don't know it just turned up yesterday and I was trying to find out what it was and…' III's voice trailed off.

'Homura,' whispered Madoka. 'He doesn't know.'

Homura relaxed, the guns vanishing from her hands in an instant. 'How is he here?' she whispered, collapsing onto the ground.

'I don't know,' said Madoka. 'But it doesn't matter. He can't do anything anymore.'

'Of course he can!' cried Homura. 'I don't want to convict anyone to the pain we had to go through. Even if there's a happy ending now, that doesn't mean there's a happy middle.'

'Homura,' replied Madoka. 'We can fix it. It'll be alright. Okay?'

Homura bit her lip. 'Okay,' she whispered.

III stared at the two of them. 'Who are you?' he asked.

'I'm Homura Akemi–' started Homura, before being interrupted by a black haired boy who collided with her, throwing them both to the ground.

Yuma Tsukumo stood up quickly, and began to run off before noticing III.

'Ah!' he yelled. 'You!'

'You…' started III.

The two stared at each other, the air filled with tension.

There was noise behind the group, and a second Kyubey appeared, only for it to be immediately riddled with bullets by Homura once more. Yuma jumped and collided with III, knocking him onto the ground once more. When they looked back, the two girls had vanished.

'What the hell was that about?!' yelled Yuma, grabbing onto III's coat.

'Let go of me, I have as much of an idea as you!' III replied. 'I was just told to look for her because she beat IV-sama in a duel! I've never seen her or that creature before in my life!'

'Creature?' asked Yuma, confused. 'What creature?'

'She's very insistent, isn't she?' interrupted another voice, and III saw a third Kyubey jump down from a balcony and begin to eat the corpses of its two copies as they – or at the very least, III – looked on.

'What the hell is going on…' whispered III.


Homura and Madoka stopped several streets away to catch their breath.

'Okay, we've gotten involved in something,' said Homura. 'The question is whether or not it's worth staying around. Evidently defeating that idiot "four" had more repercussions than I was expecting.'

'It's not like we're not used to trouble though,' started Madoka.

'Madoka!' cried Homura. 'We're not getting involved in this. I refuse to. Before we know it, it'll get out of control, especially since that little vermin Kyubey is involved.'

'It's already out of control now, though,' replied Madoka. 'You know what will happen if Kyubey stays.'

Homura sighed. 'So we're going to have to stop him. I shouldn't have to deal with this anymore! We put this behind us…' Homura collapsed onto the ground. 'Why did he have to be here?' she mumbled, beginning to cry.

Madoka knelt down next to her. 'Don't cry, Homura-sama,' she said. 'It's not worth it. We can do this, okay?'

Homura stood up. 'Okay,' she said, calm once more. 'Let's go find out what's actually going on here.'


Yuma looked at the strange white creature in front of him – or rather, the space where III insisted that it was.

'So… it's some kind of magic ferret?' asked Yuma slowly.

'I think so,' replied III. 'I think it's like one of those magic animals from anime, which turns people into magical girls.'

'Well, no wonder it went after you,' laughed Yuma, causing III to glare at him.

There was a flash, and beside Yuma the spirit of Astral appeared. 'I can see it,' said Astral, and Yuma spun to face him.

'You can see it?' yelled Yuma. 'Why is it only me who can't see it?!'

Kyubey looked up at Astral. 'And what sort of a creature are you?' it asked.

'I could ask the same of you,' replied Astral. 'How are you able to see me?'

'Again, I could ask the same of you,' said Kyubey. 'Not everyone is able to see me, though I've never seen anything like you.'

'Likewise,' said Astral. 'What is your purpose?'

Yuma and III looked at their respective halves of this conversation, perplexed.

'I offer contracts in order to transform girls into Puella Magi,' said Kyubey. 'And what is your purpose here?'

'I do not remember,' replied Astral. 'However, my current purpose is to collect the "Numbers" so as to restore my memory and recall my purpose.'

'What is a "Number"?' asked Kyubey.

From his deck, III took his "Number 33: OOPArts Super Weapon – Machu Mach", and showed it to Kyubey. 'This is a "Number",' he said. 'It's kind of a magic card.'

Kyubey looked at the card, around which was a deep purple aura that made a whispering sound almost beyond his hearing range; at the very least, it was certainly beyond the range of a human.

'That is an interesting object,' said Kyubey. 'But what is your purpose having this card? What prevents you from delivering it to the amnesiac spirit?'

'What "amnesiac spirit"?' asked III, confused.

Yuma looked around at Astral and at III, who began to simultaneously talk about the "Numbers" and their purpose. He sighed, and sat down on the ground. 'I'm never going to get my last Heart Piece,' he moaned.


V arrived at IV's location almost immediately after Madoka and Homura had left, appearing in a flash of golden light just outside of the huge empty space.

IV was still sitting against the wall, a look of shock on his face. One eye was reddened and looked like it was about to start bleeding. Across the field from him were his three former opponents, looking equally shocked.

IV slowly shook his head, stood up weakly, then began to slowly walk over his opponents, smile widening insanely as he did.

'None of you saw anything,' he said in a curious, sing-song voice, whilst from his pocket he took a thin, red-hilted knife. 'And none of you ever will.'

'IV!' yelled V, entering the field. 'Stop!'

IV turned to look at V, and his eyes narrowed, but he kept holding the knife.

'IV, stop,' repeated V. 'Drop the knife. There are easier and less damaging ways to dispose of evidence.'

IV laughed, then suddenly collapsed face-first, still laughing into the dirt. V looked down at him with distaste.

'You're being childish,' he commented, before turning to face IV's victims.

'Please don't hurt us,' mumbled one, looking up at V's imposing figure.

V held his hand out, and flicked his wrist slightly. On his forehead, his seal flashed. 'You will forget everything that happened today,' he said. 'You will return to whatever you were doing before you encountered IV. You will not question this behaviour. Leave.'

The three duellists, eyes glowing a dull blue, wandered away from the field. V turned to look at his younger brother, who had now sat up, and was glaring back at him.

'I could have handled that on my own,' said IV.

V hit him across the face. 'Do you know what that would have done, you imbecile?!' he roared. 'Right now, we need you to stay just as famous and popular as you are in order for our plan to succeed. Otherwise, all of our efforts will have been entirely in vain!' He sighed. 'I can get you out of most situations, IV, but murder's beyond even my powers. And if a few corpses turn up and they happen to discover they left this morning to go duel you, that might come across as just a bit suspicious.'

IV looked up at his brother, eyes now wide, exuding false innocence and shock.

V took a breath, and scowled at IV. 'You're coming back home, now,' said V. 'III's taking care of the girl who beat you, and as soon as she's out of the picture, you can go back to your… "fanservice". Understood?'

IV nodded sullenly, and the two disappeared in another flash of gold.