We interrupt this fanfiction because the author would like to shamelessly plug his own work.

Ladies, Gentleman, various intermediates, androgynes and others,

Hello and welcome to the ultra-special action-packed triple-update extrrrrravaganza! Yes, I have been doing something over the last month and a half, and it culminates today in more than 12,000-words total!

First off there are these new chapters for both of my running fanfiction, "And What Yomi Found There" and "Nanoha Magica: First Contact." So it's good news to all three of you following me!

But wait, that only makes two updates, doesn't it? Well, as a matter of fact, the very reason this update is so late is that I have been in the process of launching a project that I've had in the works for over seven months. Yes folks, I have written a piece of original fiction!

Do you like Magical Girls? Do you like dark Magical Girls? Well, this announcement is good news for you. My third update, more than three times as long as anything I have submitted yet, is the first chapter of my take on the Dark Magical Girl Genre. Whether the concept appeals to you or you just like how I write, please go to this entry on fictionpress and read it when you're done here:

s/3046865/1/

This us something I'm genuinely proud of, and I need an excuse for this thing to not just exist in my brain anymore. Knowing that people are reading it is what will do that for me.

We now return you to this fanfiction.

Incidentally, since no one has said it in a review yet, Inb4 Lol Nanoha blasting Walpurgis Night in one shot.

Time-Space Administration Bureau cruiser Arthra

Chief Medical Officer's Office

One hour after start of first shift

"You wanted to see me, Doc?" Lindy asked as she stepped into the small office to one side of The infirmary. The ship's Chief Medical officer sat behind the desk, hands folded in front of her.

"Yes, Admiral, thank you for coming. Please have a seat."

Lindy took the offered seat in front of the desk. She Yawned. "That really was one long night. Far too much excitement."

"How go things on the rest of the ship now?" Doc Asked.

"We're holding position away from the world until we're certain that all of the aftershocks of the dimensional quake have settled down. We've never observed the phenomenon from this close before. We have no idea what sort of aftereffects there might be."

"That's a sensible decision. I take it we'll be heading back at the first opportunity you think it's safe, though?"

"I'm going to give it another five hours. If there are no more disturbances in that time period, I'll give the go-ahead to return. How about things down here? Is your patient doing well?"

Doc shifted in her seat. "That's what I called you in about. I gave Tomoe-san an examination; standard procedure, you know. It turned up some odd results."

"Odd how?"

"This girl shouldn't be walking around."

"I agree she should rest up, but really Doc, exercise would probably do her some good. She's recovering from mana exhaustion not a car crash."

"No, that's not what I mean. Physically, other than mana exhaustion, she's the picture of health, and ordinarily I'd see no reason to keep her here. I mean she literally should not be walking around. It should be impossible for her."

"I think you've lost me."

Doc brought up a holographic display above the desk, including an internal diagram of Mami's body and a series of graphs and numbers. "All of the different processes of her body are working. Her heart pumps blood, her stomach digests food, her lungs go in and out and perform gas exchange and so on—but there's nothing driving those actions. Her brain and spine are completely inactive."

Lindy frowned. "That's not possible. If that were true, she should be a vegetable. Not able to move around at all. It has to be a problem with your instruments."

"It's not. I already checked that. What's more, I can't find this girl's linker core anywhere either."

"She must have one; we saw her casting magic."

"I'll take your word for it on that count, but biologically this girl should not be able to cast even the most basic of spells. Without a Linker Core, she should not have any ability to control or produce magic at all."

Lindy stared out through the large window into the infirmary, where Mami was sitting propped up against several pillows. Fate and Nanoha were sitting on opposite sides of the bed, talking with her. A tray had been placed across Mami's lap, and all three of them were eating breakfast from it. Mami was giggling at some comment that Nanoha had made; for all appearances she was acting like any normal girl.

"Quite a mystery we've picked up here," Lindy said, "Here we were thinking that this girl would give us an answer, but instead we've ended up with more questions."

"You going to interview her?"

"I was going to have Fate and Nanoha help me with that, or maybe Chrono. They're closer in age to the girl, and I thought she might be more open with them than with just me. We definitely need to debrief her, though. She'll probably be able to give us at least a vague idea of what's been going on here."

The doctor nodded. "We can only hope."

Lindy stepped out into the infirmary. After a moment of thought, she began to walk over to where the three girls were sitting.

Mami smiled as she caught sight of the admiral. "Ah, Lindy-san! Good Morning!"

"Good morning, Mami-chan! Feeling better?"

"Much, thank you!" She gestured to the girls on either side of her. "Nanoha-san and Fate-san have been telling me about you and the Arthra. It sounds like I owe you my life."

Lindy chuckled. "It's Fate and Nanoha that saved you. We just happened to arrive in time to help."

"Well however it happened, I'm eternally grateful."

Lindy smiled. "Will you be able to leave the infirmary later today?"

"The Doctor says she wants me to spend another night here, but I'm free to walk around the ship as long as I don't strain myself and I have an escort."

"Think you would be up to having tea with us this afternoon then?"

"I'd love to!"

"I'll come by to get you then. I'm sure we'll have a great deal to talk about."

Time-Space Administration Bureau cruiser Arthra

Admiral's Lounge

Eight and one half hours after start of first shift

"You could have woken me up at least," Chrono complained. The three of them sat around a tea table in the Admiral's lounge. Despite it being unnecessary while on the ship, Chrono was wearing his barrier jacket. "If you're going to do something reckless like that, you should at least have had as much help as possible."

"I'm sorry," Nanoha said, "But there just wasn't any time."

Chrono huffed. "Well you were lucky that you weren't killed. As it stands, though, we're in a much better position to learn about this world thanks your actions."

"Good afternoon everyone!" The cheerful voice said. The three young mages turned to look in the doorway. Mami and Lindy stood there. Mami had evidently been able to freshen up; her hair, formerly in a state of disarray from the battle, had been returned to the neatly-formed princess curls. Her outfit, some sort of school uniform, had been straitened and smoothed, and Mami herself seemed to have much more energy.

"Ah, Mani-san!" Nanoha said, "Please, come take a seat!"

Lindy gestured to the dark-haired boy. "Chrono, this is Mami Tomoe, the girl we picked up from the planet. Mami-chan, this is Chrono, my son."

Chrono nodded a hello. "Good afternoon, Tomoe-san."

Mami stared at Chrono. "A boy?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"Are you also a…what was it that you called it, Fate-san? A mage?"

"What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing. It's just that…well, there aren't any boy mages where I come from."

"This must all still be very strange for you," Nanoha said, "It's alright, just take it slowly."

"Thanks, Nanoha-san," Mami replied, "It's still a little hard to believe, all this talk about other worlds, About Mid-Childa and the Time-Space Administration Bureau. Still, whoever you are you certainly chose the right moment to stop in at out little world."

Lindy poured tea for all of them from a small china teapot. "If it's not too much trouble," she said, "We'd very much like to hear all about your world. There's a lot we're still in the dark about many things."

Mami set her tea down. "Yes, of course! I'd be happy to answer anything you want to know, or at least anything that I know myself."

Chrono tapped a control on the table to begin recording. "Well then, let's start with you. You're a type of Mage?"

"We call ourselves 'Puella Magi'—it means 'magical girls.' as I said, there aren't any boys."

"We didn't detect any industrial magic centers on your planet," Chrono said, "How did you become a…Puella Magi was it?"

"That's a bit of a long story, really. I met Kyuubei and signed a contract with him in exchange for a wish, just like every other Puella Magi."

"And what is it that the Puella Magi do?"

"Oh, that's easy; Puella Magi hunt Witches."

"Witches? Is that how you refer to the entity you were fighting when we found you?"

Mami nodded. "Most witches aren't nearly that powerful. That was Walpurgis Night. A competent Puella Magi shouldn't have too much trouble handling weaker witches and their familiars. The stronger ones, though…"

"And what are they exactly? Some sort of magical construct?"

Mami shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "I'm sorry, I don't know much about technical stuff like that. What I do know is that they're born from curses the way that Puella Magi are born from wishes. They cause fear and depression wherever they go, growing and multiplying over the world."

Nanoha watched Mami. She knew something more about the situation, clearly, but whatever it was she was keeping to herself. She had half a mind to say something, but in the end decided it would be better not to. If it were something Mami wanted them to know, she would have said it.

Chrono continued with another question. "And so in order to fight these 'Witches,' ordinary girls with magical talent sign contracts with the group that this Kyuubei person represents?"

Mami laughed. "Oh, Kyuubei-san isn't a person. He's a…a…" Mami frowned, "You know, come to think of it, I really don't know what he really is. I never really thought to ask. Some sort of magical creature, I guess. Anyway, he's this white and pink kitty thing with red eyes, and these long tufts growing out of his ears."

"Sounds kind of funny-looking," Nanoha remarked.

Mami giggled. "I guess so."

Chrono cleared his throat. "we've been watching your world over the last few hours, and it's done something remarkable. It seems that the entire dimension it exists in has regressed in time, pretty much rewound itself, by fourty-five days. Can you explain it?"

Mami blinked. "Rewound itself? But I don't understand. How could—" Then, all of a sudden a broad grin of understanding crossed her face. "Of course! Homura-chan!"

"I beg your pardon?" Chrono was taken aback.

Mami, however, was not listening to a word. She was busy muttering to herself. "It must have been that strike from the familiar—yes, that's it. Not even a Puella Magi could recover from something like that. Of course Homura-chan survived; she's been through this too many times already to die. Poor Madoka-chan, though…If she'd only lived long enough to see Fate-san and Nanoha-San arrive. Still, Homura's going to put it right, so that'll be good."

"I'm sorry, Tomoe-San, you're not making any sense."

"Homura-chan—you must have seen her down there when you came to pick me up." She turned to Nanoha and Fate. "Black hair, violet eyes, round shield-thing on her wrist?"

Fate remembered the image of the girl in pink being cradled. She shifted uncomfortably. "Yes, I remember her."

"Well, a Puella Magi's powers always have something to do with their wish—The wish that they get in exchange for their contract I mean—even if it's just something in passing. Homura-chan's powers all have to do with time; stopping time, going back in time, that sort of thing."

"Going back in time. You mean like what we've been observing on your world right now?"

"I guess so. You see, Homura-chan made her wish that she could go back and save her friend, Madoka-chan. Apparently something went wrong the first time around, and she's been going through these time loops trying to save Madoka-chan from dying." Mami paused. "You know, come to think about it, if anyone knows what Kyuubei-san really is, or all about the Witches, it's probably Homura-chan."

"Probably? You don't know for certain?"

"Well, Homura-chan was very tight-lipped about anything she knew from the previous time loops."

"I see." Chrono finished his tea. "Thank you for your cooperation, Tomoe-san.

"Anything I can do," Mami replied.

"We're on our way back to your planet," Lindy said, "We need to make a full investigation."

"Lindy-san, I hate to ask it, but I do have one request."

"What is it?"

Mami held up her hand, showing them a ring. As she turned her hand palm-up the ring transformed into a small gem, shaped something like an egg. It was a light amber-color, and would have been quite beautiful were it not for the dark stain and cracks running through it.

"I used up a lot of magic fighting Walpurgis Night before you all showed up. I need to purify my Soul Gem here before I try doing any more magic. To do that I need a Witch's Grief Seed."

"We'll do whatever we can to help."

"Please, let me go back down to my world when you send people there. You'll need someone to help you find your way around anyway, and I can do that."

Lindy smiled. "As a matter of fact, I was hoping you'd be willing to be our guide anyway. I want Nanoha, Fate and Chrono to go down with you to observe the situation from ground level. I don't see why we can't help you find this 'Grief Seed' of yours at the same time."

"Thank you, Lindy-san! It means more than I can tell you."

Lindy simply smiled and sipped her tea.

Non-Administered Planet #113

Several miles from former epicenter of Dimensional Disturbance

Local Time: 4:30 P.M

Madoka stared at the strange landscape around her. This had not been what she had expected to find when she had followed that call for help in her mind. One moment she and her friend had been in an abandoned building, the next they had found themselves in this strange place. In some ways it was like standing in a joetrope; strings of images spun by in succession, while other objects flickered like projected images. Everything around them had an unreal quality.

She turned to look over at Sayaka. The blue-haired girl seemed just as confused as Madoka herself was. Even the most basic questions of where they were and what was happening remained unanswered; the problem of how to escape not even thought of.

Madoka could not explain why, but she sensed danger. Something made her heart beat faster and her ears strain to hear sounds she half thought that she imagined. Whatever it was, it was very nearby and posed a very real threat. There it was; almost straight ahead of them. Two moustached cottonballs detatched themselves from the background of whirling, flickering images and advanced on them. They had nowhere to run and no way to defend themselves.

Suddenly two gunshots rang out from behind them. Small golden flashes of light struck the creatures, causing them to explode like popped balloons. Madoka and Sayaka stared dumbfounded at one another.

A voice came from behind them. "Looks like you girls are in a spot of trouble."