Nevada Desert, Ten Weeks before Kyubey's Ultimatum

Arthur stepped off the plane, with the two agents flanking him. The plane, a VTOL tilt-jet, had taken off from a patch of woods near where Arthur lived, and flown him for hours across the country to an empty patch of desert, where it made a landing. That patch of desert had begun dropping down into the ground, revealing a massive cargo elevator.

"Welcome to the Department of Other Investigations. Special Branch." Agent White said.

"Department of Other Investigations?" Arthur muttered. "What's that?"

"It's clear that there is something going on in this world beyond the purely normal." Agent Black said. "The patterns are there for anyone who cares to look. Disappearances, for one thing. Once you accept that something is going on, you look at all these unexplained mass suicides, and so forth, and the pieces start to fall into place."

"That's where we come in." Agent White continued. "Department of Other Investigations is an Agency devoted to figuring out just what is happening in our world, clandestinely. We investigate claims of magic, alien activity, and just about everything else imaginable."

"And all of this?" Arthur said, gesturing at the elevator shaft.

"We're pretty well funded." Agent Black said.

"But if you found something, wouldn't it become common knowledge eventually?" Arthur asked. "How do you stay funded if you've never found anything?"

Agent White coughed. "We spend most of our time as errand boys for the CIA. It's not our intended purpose, but it pays well."

Arthur closed his eyes for a moment. "And how did Maria come into contact with you?"

"We are in the phone book." Agent Black said. "She spent long enough navigating the phone trees until she found one of our operators. She sent us a video of herself doing magic, and when our computers said the video hadn't been tampered with, the Department sent us to investigate."

"Unfortunately, you sister passed away before we could arrange a more substantial meeting." Agent White said.

"Yeah." Arthur muttered, his fingers brushing across the handle of the pistol his sister had given him. For some reason, it hadn't disappeared like the rest of her Magical Girl paraphernalia, and the agents had given him a holster for the weapon on the plane.

Arthur couldn't shake the feeling that, whatever happened, he was the one who had gotten his sister killed. If he hadn't run away when he had, maybe she wouldn't have gotten hit. Maybe he could have taken the hit for her or... Something.

He was shocked out of his thoughts by the elevator dropping out of the shaft and into the main hangar space. Arthur looked around in amazement.

Tilt-jet aircraft with folded wings like the one he had arrived on sat in neat rows on both sides of the elevator. As they dropped lower, Arthur could see dozens of people scurrying around the hanger engaged in a variety of tasks. The sound of machinery was clearly audible, and a massive banner bearing a seal of an eagle holding a telescope hung from one massive wall.

The elevator reached the ground and settled into place, rocking its occupants. The two agents stepped forward, White beckoning Arthur to follow.

They walked forward, following a path through the bustle in the underground hanger. An elevator rose in another part of the room, carrying a tilt-jet bound for parts unknown.

After walking for more than a minute, the trio came to a man in a suit standing at parade rest. A bubble of calm seemed to surround him, and as he stepped forward, the bubble moved with him.

Arthur and the two agents stepped into the region of calm surrounding the man, and Arthur got a better look at him. He was rather short, with brown hair and a plain, unassuming face, with a slight smile on it. He had a pair of shiny glasses on, which he adjusted as he looked intently at Arthur.

"Hello, Mr. Roberts." The man said. "I am Director Gray. I run this little... Organization. I understand, at least as well as most people could, what has happened to you. Now, I understand that you have something that our research teams might be very interested in."

Arthur reached into his pocket and removed the Grief Seed. He hesitated for a moment, then handed it to the director. It could be dangerous, after all Arthur thought, and these people will probably have a better idea of what to do with it than I will.

"Thank you." Director Grey said. "I'll take this down to Research immediately. Now, I'm sure that you want some time to rest and recover after what you've been through, but if what your sister told us was even partially true, we'll need to start debriefing you in the morning.

Arthur nodded. He definitely needed some time to just... Sleep. "Thank you." He muttered.

Director Grey smiled, then looked at Arthur, with eyes that seemed to look straight through him. "But tomorrow, we must discuss the contents of your sister's wish."

[x]

Arthur lay in bed in a room granted to him by the Department of Other Investigations. It was a drab and, being underground, completely lacked windows, but despite that, the bed was rather comfortable.

However, Arthur didn't feel able to fully enjoy it. His sister was dead. His sister was dead, and it was his fault. He had run away. He couldn't stop replaying the scene in his head. If he hadn't run away, he was sure that he could have done something to protect her. He could have shot the dragon, or taken one of the attacks meant for her or... something.

But what do I do now? Arthur wondered, staring up at the ceiling. He supposed he should try to contact his parents, but he just didn't feel like that was the right thing to do. I don't think I could handle the guilt, though. Arthur thought. Besides I might be able to do more good here at Other Investigations than I ever could back home, he thought, rolling over and reaching out a hand to the pistol, taken from Maria, that rested on his nightstand.

I could avenge her.

[x]

"So," The tall man said. He had the pale skin of someone who rarely saw sunlight, and faint bags under his eyes. "I'm Anderson, the Chief of Science her at Other Investigations. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Arthur said, though it was clear his heart wasn't really in it.

"So, according to the report your sister filed, her wish was for technology, and you were there when she made her wish with this... Kyubey, correct?"

"Yeah, that's right." Arthur muttered. "Though I didn't know the rat thing was called a Kyubey."

"You sister's report was quite exhaustive." Anderson said, sounding proud of the fact. "And while some details remain mysterious, that makes sense. We are Other Investigations, After all."

Arthur shrugged.

"I had a look at the object you brought us last night." Anderson said. "It was quite interesting, though so far I have been unable to stimulate a response from it. Such a strange object. It was called a 'Grief Seed', correct?"

"That's what she called it."

"Excellent. An Excellent name." Anderson said, and steepled his fingers. "Now, about your sister's wish. It was for technology, correct?"

"Yes." Arthur said. "But I don't see any railguns or jetpacks, so I don't think it came true."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Anderson said, reaching into the pockets of his lab coat and removing a notepad and pen. "Now, what do you know about the Westinghouse Equations?"

[x]

Arthur came too. It was a slow process, and a painful one. His head pounded like a giant and been hammering on it, and his vision was swimming. He thought he could make out two figures standing over him, but he wasn't sure. He could hear voices around him, but he couldn't quite make them out.

176 pulses of the slow, painful beating in his head, later, Arthur's vision had cleared enough for him to make out Director Grey and Anderson looking down at him.

"What... happened?" Arthur muttered, blinking his eyes in a vain attempt to clear his vision.

"Congratulations, son." Anderson said. "You solved the Westinghouse Equations."

Arthur's eyes started to clear. He appeared to be lying on the bed in the room given to him by Other Investigations.

"What do you mean?" Arthur asked, rolling his head on what he was only now starting to realize was the ground. "I don't even know what they are."

"That notwithstanding, you presented a satisfying answer to the equations." Anderson said, sounding excited about something. Arthur didn't think anyone should be allowed to be excited when his head hurt so much. "It took you nearly half an hour, but you did it."

"Ok, so they're a big deal." Arthur said. "But what are they?"

"The specifics aren't important," Director Grey said, "But the equations have to do with plasma, radio waves, gravity, and electricity."

"The Westinghouse Equations-" Anderson began, but Grey cut him off.

"Not the time." Grey said, and made a slicing motion.

"Anyway, I need to write a paper on his." Anderson said. "That prize is as good as mine."

"What prize?" Arthur asked.

"One of those Swedish ones." Grey said. "I'm sure it's some kind of scientist thing. In any case, now that your value is clear, I'm afraid that we can't be letting you leave."

"What... What do you mean?"

"You solving the Westinghouse Equations proves that your sister's wish came true," Grey said, pointing a finger at Arthur's head, "In there. We have no idea what other knowledge may be hiding in your skull, and we can't let you leave until we do."

"What if I don't want to stay?" Arthur asked, confusion plain in his voice.

"I hope it doesn't come to that." Grey said. "We'll give you some time to recover, but them we will have to debrief you about what you encounter in that... What did your sister call it? That Barrier, and the 'Witch' you encountered there."

"Why?" Arthur asked. "It doesn't seem to be a big deal, I mean, wouldn't we have noticed something if it was?"

"We have noticed something." Grey said. "The general public has not. They have, I suspect, been normalized to the disappearances."

"Disappearances?"

"Like you would have become, had your sister not intervened, I imagine." Grey said. "From what your sister told us, I believe they are people trapped in these 'Barriers' and killed by the resident Witches. Of course, that is just a hypothesis, but the disappearances are real enough."

"To many to blame on some crime syndicate, I'd imagine." Arthur muttered.

"Not only that, but too uniform." Grey said.

"So how do I figure into all of this?" Arthur asked. "Why do you want my knowledge and to know about this Witch so badly?"

"Why, to make weapons to fight them, of course." Grey said. "I hope you don't think I'd be content with some unknown species preying on humanity. We need to stop this, and to do that, we need your help."

Anderson looked down at his wrist. "I have several experiments running on that Grief Seed, and I need to go check on them. You'll have to excuse me."

"And I'll let you rest." Grey said. "But I hope you'll consider helping us."

The two men turned and left.

I hope you don't think I'd be content with some unknown species preying on humanity. We need to stop this, and to do that, we need your help. Arthur though back to Director Grey's words. When he put it like that, was there even a choice?

[x]

Department of Other Investigations Base, Nine Weeks before Kyubey's Ultimatum

Arthur stood on a balcony overlooking the D.O.I. Hanger, leaning on the railing at the edge of the overlook. It was, for whatever reason, a nice place to unwind and relax, despite, or perhaps because of, the hustle and bustle below. The hanger seemed busier than it was when he had first arrived, which Arthur figured made sense. D.O.I. finally had a fish on the line, so it made sense that they'd be calling up the reservists.

He had spent the last week being interrogated about his sister's wish, to no avail. There were no more great breakthroughs like the first one.

The door leading to the Balcony opened, and Director Grey entered. This was the first Arthur had seen of him since he'd solved the Westinghouse equations, and the man looked like he hadn't gotten enough sleep in the intervening week. He was wearing the same suit as he had that day, and he had a grave look on his face. He adjusted his glasses before he began speaking.

"I have disturbing news." Director Grey said. "Anderson has gone insane, as have two of his lab assistants. We believe his studies into the Grief Seed is to blame."

Arthur turned around slowly. "What?"

"I wanted to deliver this news in person, as you may feel you have a personal connection to this news." Grey shook his head. "However, not all is lost. Before his... incident, Anderson made significant progress into using your solution to the Westinghouse Equations to produce a weapon to fight the Witches."

"What kind of weapon?" Arthur asked.

"Come with me." Grey said, becoming Arthur to come toward him.

Arthur complied, wondering what was going on. He and Grey walked out of the Balcony, and were joined by two bodyguards. They came to a small electric car waiting on an underground track, one of the type used to navigate the underground base.

"What are you doing with the Grief Seed?" Arthur asked.

"We're sealing it in concrete," Grey declared, "And burying it in the deepest vault we have."

Arthur sighed. There went his sister's last gift. He had driven a great scientist insane my bringing it here, and now it was coming to naught. As they boarded the car with the bodyguards, Arthur sighed. Can I do anything right?

They drove for a while, longer than Arthur would have expected possible. The base must have been bigger than he expected.

Eventually, they came to a door, guarded by two men wearing battle dress uniforms and carrying assault rifles. The door itself was heavy, and looked strong enough to withstand a shot from a tank cannon. Grey began entering something a keypad next to the door, and after a moment, the door slid open silently. Grey gestured Arthur forward.

Arthur walked into the door, and found himself on another balcony. This time, he was overlooking what appeared to be a scaffold that rose to level with the balcony.

"What am I looking at-" Arthur began.

"This is Seraph Assault Vector-01, our prototype weapon for bringing the fight to the Witches." Grey said. "In layman's terms, a giant robot."

"There is no way you starting building a giant robot in what, like a week?" Arthur said. "These things are..."

"We may have had some contingency plans." Grey said, with a slight smile. "In any case, we are calling in specialists in every field imaginable to help us get this thing ready. I'd say we should be ready for field tests in about three months."

"There's no way that's possible." Arthur said. "The F-35 took years to develop, and that was much less complicated that this has to be."

Grey smiled.

Arthur sighed. "Why are you showing this to me?" He asked.

"Because we want you to know what you're helping with." Grey said. "You are a critical component in a-"

"I want to be more than that." Arthur said, something igniting in his eyes. "I want to pilot it."

"What?" For the first time since Arthur had met the man, Grey seemed surprised. "We should let someone who-"

"Knows what they're doing pilot it?" Arthur asked. "No one knows what they're doing. This is a mech, and I'm not even sure why you're building one, but there isn't a person in the world who knows anything about piloting this thing. So I'm as good a choice as anyone, right?"

"Well, you aren't-" Grey began, but Arthur cut him off.

"I'll enlist, or go to OCS, or do whatever it takes to get in that cockpit." He said. "They took my sister, and I'm going to fight back."

Grey closed his eyes. "We'll see what your aptitude for piloting seems to be." He said. "If you seem likely to be good at it, I'll let you try. But the military may want you to sign up, once we go public with this thing."

"Fine." Arthur said. "What do you need me to do?"

[x]

Hours before Kyubey's Ultimatum

With a groan, Maim Tomoe pushed a piece of roofing material off herself and sat up.

Mitakihara city was trashed. Wrecked buildings and broken glass were the only things visible as far as the eye could see. That made sense, she supposed, given the massive storm that Walpurgisnacht had summoned, but some of the wreckage, like the piece that had covered her, looked like it had been damaged by fire, not something frequently seen in a typhoon.

She look to her left. Kyoko was sitting on a crooked, waterlogged couch, still in her Magical Girl costume, eating what appeared to be an apple.

"You're alive." Kyoko said, looking at Mami and taking another bite of her apple. "I'm glad."

"What happened?" Mami asked, looking around at the destruction. "I just remember a flash of light and- Nothing."

"We were fighting Walpurgisnacht." Kyoko said. "We were probably losing. Then it started raining missiles."

"Missiles?" Mami exclaimed. "Did Homura do something?"

"Too big to have been her." Kyoko said. "These would have to have been ship or truck launched. I doubt they would have fit in her shield."

"How do you know about missiles?" Mami asked, eyeing Kyoko.

Kyoko shrugged. "A girl has her interests."

Before Mami could respond, a pile of rubble shifted, and Sayaka stood up out of it.

"I'm alive?" She muttered, sounding surprised. "What happened?"

"Walpurgisnacht. Missiles. Town trashed." Kyoko said. "Beyond that, Mami and I are still trying to figure out."

"I'm alive."

All three Puella Magi look around. The voice sounded a lot like-

Houmra was standing just behind Mami. Her hair was slightly disheveled, but other than that, she appeared no worse for the wear. Unlike the others, she had shifted back into her street clothes, which were completely undamaged.

"Glad to see you made it, Homura." Mami said.

"Did we do it?" Homura said, suddenly sounding frantic, at least by Homura standards. "Is Walpurgisnacht dead? Did Madoka contract?"

"I don't think so." Sakura said. "I don't think she left the evacuation shelter."

Homura let out a sigh of relief. "I... Did it."

"Hey! I've got some live ones over here!" A male voice called. The magical Girls all turned and saw a yellow-vested rescue worker crest a hill of rubble, waving what looked like a metal detector over his head.

[x]

"Name?" The board-sounding clerk said,

"Kyoko Sakura." Kyoko said. She, along with the other survivors of the attack, were being processed to determine who survived.

"You're not in our database." The clerk said.

"I was traveling." Kyoko said.

"Fine. You can go."

Kyoko walked over to the other Puella Magi, all wearing their street clothes. Homura seemed on the verge of tears.

"What's her problem?" Kyoko asked, pointing at Homura.

"I don't know." Sayaka said. "She keeps muttering that she finally save Madoka. I don't really get it, but whatever. The forces of justice triumph over evil."

"I suppose they do." Kyoko said. "Now that Walpurgisnacht is dead, though... I don't know? What do we do now?"

"Walpurgisnacht. That a good name." An American-accented voice said. The girls turned and saw a man in a U.S. Navy uniform approaching them. "I may have to suggest we use that on the official reports. Anyway, if you girls are looking for something to do, you could help out Dr. Akimoto and I investigate the thing that attacked this town.

"What do you mean?" Kyoko said, "and who are you?"

"Lieutenant Jefferson, USS Okinawa, ship's engineer." He said. "And there's a massive corpse sitting in the middle of the town, shot full of holes from the old girl's missiles."

"What do you mean, a corpse?" Kyoko asked, sounding suspicious. "I don't think that- never mind. I thought it was a typhoon that destroy the town."

"Nope.' Jefferson said. "You came under attack by some kind of alien, and we're investigating it now. We need help moving some equipment into place, and the Okinawa can't spare any more sailors."

The Puella Magi all shared a knowing look.

"We'll help." Mami said, after a minute. "I'd like to know more about whatever did this to us."

[x]

Madoka Kaname looked up at the massive corpse in amazement. To think that this was the creature that had plagued Homura for so long, forcing her to repeat the same month over and over again.

Madoka was still thinking over the fact that Homura had done so much for her. It was almost impossible to fathom-

Arms wrapped around her. Madoka turned her head in surprise. It was Homura, resting her head on Madoka's shoulder.

"I finally saved you." She muttered. "Finally."

Madoka wasn't sure how to respond. She caught sight of the other three Magical Girls approaching her, led by a man in a U.S. Navy uniform. Homura detached from Madoka and walked over to him.

"Is your ship the one that defeated his Witch?" She asked.

"Yeah, but we had some new tech. That was the only reason that we were able to see the monster, what, what did you call it?"

"Who developed this technology?" Homura asked, ignoring Jefferson's question.

"I don't know." Jefferson said. "Rumor has it some boy in a lab in Nevada somewhere did it, but I don't know anything concrete."

"I must find him." Homura said, and started to turn away.

Jefferson grabbed her shoulder. "What did you call this thing, and why do you sound so familiar about it?"

Homura said nothing.

"I think I need to report this to the Captain." Jefferson said.

[x]

Arthur stepped out of the emulation pod for the Seraph. "How'd I do?" He muttered, exhausted from the twelve-hour simulation process.

Abruptly, a bucket of something cold washed over him, instantly soaking him and chilling him to the bone. He looked around in confusion.

"Congratulations." Richardson said, putting down an empty bucket.

"You made the cut." Stevenson said, barely able to keep the grin off his face. "The Director talked with a congressional council, and got several billion dollars to really get the Seraphim project off the ground. And you're our first test pilot."

Richardson and Stevenson were two scientists working on the development of the Seraph Assault Vector. They were overseeing Arthur's testing and Pilot training, and were monitoring his training.

Arthur nodded, then looked around. The testing chamber was empty, a far sight from how it had been at the beginning of the test. "Where is everyone?"

"Something happened in Japan." Stevenson explained. "We think another Witch attacked a city there, but the USS Okinawa engaged it with some of the experiential weapons we've developed here, and destroyed it."

"And what happened after that?" Mark said. "Why is everyone gone?"

"Captain Isaac, the C.O. of the Okinawa, reported that one of his sailors working on shore found more Magical Girls." Richardson said. "Director Grey is in the situation room, and most of the staff are preparing their departments in investigate. We've got pieces of the Witch, or whatever attacked, already in flight here."

"Will we need the Seraph?" Arthur asked.

Jefferson shook his head. "It's not ready yet." He said. "It'll be two more weeks, at least.

"But why would one of them come out of its Barrier and attack like that?" Arthur asked. "What makes this one different?"

Stevenson gave him a blank stare. "Dude, none of us actually know anything about this.

The lights all went out at once, plunging the room into complete darkness.

"What's happening?" Richardson said.

"Where's the emergency power?" Stevenson asked.

Abruptly, all the readout screens in the control console flickered on. The Image of the creature that Arthur had seen in Maria's room appeared on the screen.

"People of Earth, I am Kyubey." Its voice echo in the minds of its audience. "I am what you may call an incubator. For countless millennia, we have watched your species, guided it. Everything you are is as a result of us."

"What's going on?" Arthur muttered.

"I have no idea." Stevenson said.

The creature blinked, then continued. "For those aeons, certain events have occurred, matters which involved only a small fraction of a percentage of your population. Now, however, actions of certain military units of the nations you call 'Japan' and 'The United States' have irreversibly revealed these events to your species, and my kind is forced to take a different approach."

"What is he talking about?" Stevenson whispered.

"All we ask is a small tithe. Girls, in their second stage of development. Allow us to contract with these girls without interference, and maintain your society in such a way as to make this process as efficient as possible. More information will be made available to your leaders as needed."

Arthur's fist clenched. There was no way he was letting this Kyubey take more girls like it took his sister.

Another pause. "Please understand that your cooperation is essential to the continued survival of the universe! There is a grave threat to the continued existence of everything, one which only we incubators can successfully fight."

"What is he talking about?" Richardson muttered.

"Hell if I know." Stevenson replied.

"However, we understand that you humans can be emotional creatures, and so we have prepared a demonstration the consequences of failure to comply with our request. The demonstration will commence one hundred and eighty of your seconds after the conclusion of this message."

The screens went blank. A moment later, the lights came back on.

"What just happened?" Arthur asked. "Did we get hacked?"

"I don't know." Stevenson said, walking over to one of the consoles and activating it. He looked through it for almost a minute before he said, "It looks like we haven't been compromised, but I can't say for sure. I'm not a cybersecurity expert."

Richardson walked over to a box attached to the wall in the cornier. He entered a password in the keypad next to the box, then pulled the front of the box.

Inside were guns. Lots of guns.

Arthur spotted five M16 assault rifles, their distinctive carrying handles visible. Five pistols were in a neat row across the bottom of box, and clips filled every spare space in the box. Richardson pulled out an M16, checked the mag, and tossed it to Stevenson. He repeated the process, and tossed the rifle to Arthur.

Arthur nearly fumbled the catch, managing to gain control of the weapon at the last second. He looked down at the weapon in his hands. "Why are we breaking out the long guns?" He asked, sounding slightly confused.

"Because whatever that just was, it may be a precursor to an attack." Richardson said, tugging on bottom of the magazine in his rifle. "And I want to be ready."

"You really think this base is going to come under attack?" Stevenson said. "This is a secret location. There's no way that-"

Everything shook slightly, and dust fell from the ceiling.

"I think we may be under attack." Arthur said, checking the magazine on his M16. He had shot the assault rifle before, with his father, but that was a far cry from having any idea what he was doing with it. He knew firearms safety, though, as well as the basic of using an assault weapon.

Richardson removed the back from the gun locker, revealing tactical vests. He put one, on, then tossed one to each Stevenson and Arthur. Richardson then began removing magazines from the gun locker and putting them into place on his vest.

"Everyone grab as much ammo as you can carry." He said. "We don't know when we'll have the chance to stock up again."

Arthur complied, grabbing twelve magazines from the locker and sliding them into pockets on his vest. They were heavy, but his he was about to walk into a war zone, he wanted all the ammo he could carry, to make up for his lackluster aim.

The two technicians loaded up as well, and each person grabbed a pistol and several magazines of those as well. Arthur took a few steps, feeling the weight of the full load as he walked. It was heavy, but manageable.

It took the group several minutes to load up, and by the time they were fully loaded, something had occurred to Arthur.

"Where do we go now?" He asked, sliding the last magazine into his vest and closing the Velcro strap over the pouch. "Do we have an evacuation plan?"

"Yeah, we make our way to an evacuation rally point." Richardson said. "But I'm not sure-"

The distinctive rapport of gunfire echoed in the distance. The three men all looked at each other.

"We've got to get out of here." Stevenson said, running over to one of the terminals. He did something for several seconds, then said, "Done. I've wiped the hard drive. That should make it harder for them to get anything from this machine."

"Good thinking." Richardson said. "Remember, only point your gun at something you want to destroy, account for muzzle rise, and don't waste ammo. Now, let's move out."

More gunshots echoed in the distance as Stevenson walked over to the door and opened it. Richardson swept the muzzle of his gun across the open door as soon as the door hit the wall, but there was nothing there.

The trio advanced out cautiously, attempting to cover each other, with limited success.

"Which way?" Arthur asked.

"This way." Richardson said, pointing to the right.

The trio checked their backs, then began to advance slowly in that direction. When they came to the corner, they heard more gunfire, closer this time.

What's going on? Arthur wondered. And who's attacking us?

The sound of childish singing echoed around the next corner. All three men raised their assault rifles. Whatever was producing the sound was getting closer. Stevenson looked at Richardson, uncertainly clear on his face.

A shadow slid around the corner. It looked like the silhouette of a child, features impossible to make out, but it stood upright, walking toward them, the singing sound issuing from it.

Arthur had seen enough weird shit. He shot the thing. His M16 roared three times, and the burst of bullets tore into the advancing creature, knocking it backwards and sending shadowstuff flying.

Richardson and Stevenson fired a moment later. Each of them fired six bullets into the thing, knocking it off its feet in a spray of shadowstuff. It fell to the floor, hard, then exploded in a burst of darkness. The lumps of shadowstuff lingered for a moment, then vanished, and the way ahead seemed clear.

Arthur looked to Richardson for direction.

"I guess we keep moving." Richardson said, after a moment of thought.

"What the hell was that thing?" Stevenson muttered.

Arthur shook his head. "A Familiar, maybe. My sister mentioned something about them. If they're here, then there's probably a Witch nearby, but that's really all that I know."

Richardson shook his head. "Pity your sister didn't tell us more about these things."

"I'm sure she told you everything she knew." Arthur said. A dreadful thought occurred to him. "That Kyubey thing said that there would be a demonstration. What if this attack isn't an isolated incident? What if this is a general offensive?"

"Then we're in deep trouble." Richardson said gravely. "This country isn't set up to resist a direct attack, and much of our military is on leave, in reserves, or abroad. If this is a broad offensive..."

"We need to get to somewhere where someone will know what's going on.' Arthur declared. He could fell his fear ebbing away as he spoke, overcome by the need to stand and take action. "Will the evacuation station coordinator know what's happening?"

"Probably." Stevenson said. "This base is pretty heavily wired up. They should be feeding the evacuation coordinator information on what's happening."

"Then let's keep going there." Arthur said. "I mean, should we keep going there, then?"

Richardson nodded.

The group took off at a trot down the hallway. They rounded a corner, and spotted two Familiars standing over a fallen woman in a lab coat. She lay in a puddle of her own blood, and the Familiars were both making a singsong sound, slightly out of tune with each other.

"Waste em!" Stevenson shouted, opening fire with his assault rifle.

Arthur and Richardson fired more carefully, each placing a burst in the upper body of one of the shadow familiars. They went down to the human gunfire, both exploding in a burst of shadows.

"Let's keep moving." Arthur said.

[x]

Tomohisa Kaname was a simple man, with few desires in the world. He loved his wife, Junko, his children, Madoka and Tatsuya, and he loved his well-kept home.

So naturally, when some giant alien monster came through and wrecked the entire city, he was understandably upset.

Then, his daughter wandered off with some friends, and the last he heard, she was helping some America sailors with... something. He was somewhat worried about this, but trusted his daughter not to do anything stupid.

Now, however, some alien ferret he had a sneaking suspicion he had seen somewhere before came on the TV at the refuge center, demanding that humanity surrender to it and present girls as a tithe. He didn't know what was going on, but if there was a chance that people would want to stop girls from contracting, it couldn't be a good thing.

Now, he was trying to figure out what was going on. It had been a few minutes since that 'Kyubey' thing's broadcast, and Tomohisa was looking for his daughter. He was wandering through the devastated cityscape, with piles of rubble that looked to have been cleared by bulldozers all over the street.

A gunshot echoed. Tomohisa froze. What was that? He thought. It sounded a lot like a gunshot from TV, but the only ones with guns around here were the police, and the America sailors on shore helping with disaster recovery, and the soldiers who had been flown in, and-

Three more gunshots. Then a scream. Tomohisa walked forward slowly, toward where the gunshots had come from. There was a destroyed store on the street corner blocking his path, and as he rounded the corner, he saw something horrible.

A creature, which looked like a massive rat, with bat wings and cat ears, was chewing on the corpse of a police officer, who lay spread eagle, his gun in on hand, and a massive wound decorating his chest.

The creature turned its head toward Tomohisa. He looked around frantically as he stepped backwards. His eyes fell on what looked like a street sign, with a lump of concrete attached to the end.

Tomohisa grabbed the signpost as the creature spread its wings, hissed, and jumped towards him, beating its wings once as it did so. Without hesitation, he swung the sign, smashing the lump of concrete into the skull of the creature.

It struck with a sickening think, and smashed in the creature's head. There was no blood, and the tissue appeared to simply deform around the impact. It dropped, falling to the ground with a slight squeak.

Tomohisa looked down at the dead creature in front of him, then dropped the signpost and stated at his own hands.

The signpost was rather heavy. His hands kinda hurt.

He walked forward and picked up the dead officer's firearm. The man would have no further use for it, and Tomohisa Kaname would defend his family.