Disclaimer: I own nothing in regards to Mirai Nikki or Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

Chapter 3: Development

Kyoko took another bite of her apple as she sauntered over to Mami with a giant spear on her shoulder. "You're losing your touch Mami, almost getting crushed by a wraith. Maybe you should let me take full control of this territory and you can stay at home drinking tea?"

Mami smiled condescendingly. "Friendly as usual I see. And why are you here? Last time we spoke, you said you were too busy to visit.

Kyoko looked at Mami for a second before brushing past her. "I came to see the new meat. See if she was up to snuff." She paused in front of Yuno and looked her over while finishing off her apple. Yuno stood in a relaxed stance as she did so, seemingly indifferent to Kyoko's scrutiny.

Kyoko threw her apple core behind her where it landed at Mami's feet. "Hmmm, you definitely don't look like the usual magical girl. Hey Kyubey!" Kyubey's ears perked up. "How come she's dressed like some kinda skank? You can see every curve of her just fine."

Mami turned red. "Kyoko! Don't be so impolite! You're embarrassing her!" Yuno, however, didn't seem to care. She appeared as if she wasn't even paying attention to Kyoko but was lost in thought instead.

Kyubey pranced over to sit at Yuno's feet. "Clothing of magical girls is determined by the girl at the time of the contract. Your tastes, style, and personality all determine what you wear. I don't have any control over it."

"That so huh?" Kyoko put her hands on her hips and stared at Yuno for another moment before shrugging. "Well if you say so. So what's your name? Mami hasn't told me anything, like usual." Mami narrowed her eyes at her.

Yuno focused on Kyoko. "My name is Yuno Gasai," she said bowing. "It is nice to meet you Miss..."

"Kyoko Sakura, but just call me Kyoko. Only old hags insist on calling people by last names." She turned and grinned at Mami.

"I'll have you know," Mami said, "I'm starting to use first names with other magical girls."

"Finally letting some of my good influence rub off on you eh?" She turned back to Yuno. "I saw you fighting. Gotta say, I'm pretty impressed. Two wraiths at once ain't bad for a newbie, and saving Mami to boot. You might even give me some entertainment if we ever fight."

"Do you always have to talk about fighting other people?" Mami said. "There's been plenty of wraiths lately for you to get your fix."

"Come off it Mami. What's the hurt in sparring a little with each other every now and then? It's good practice and really get's your blood pumping."

"It's an unnecessary waste of energy and time. It's more responsible to be on patrol when in uniform."

"Gah! You're so boring sometimes! If you didn't make such good dessert, I don't know if I'd ever visit you."

Mami smiled at this. "As I often tell you, you are welcome to visit any time. Maybe you could join Yuno and I for some tea later?"

Kyoko spread her palms out. "Sorry Mami. Can't tonight. Just wanted to drop by to see the newbie and then I need to go slice up more wraiths. Still," she said, turning to Yuno, "how 'bout it? A quick spar between you and me? I'll go easy on you, and it'll help you practice. Whaddya say, hmmm?"

Kyubey jumped up on Yuno's shoulder. "It wouldn't be a good idea to fight Yuno. Her natural talent is the strongest of any magical girl I've contracted."

Kyoko glared at Kyubey and then at Yuno before brandishing her spear and slamming the butt of it into the ground. "And what's that supposed to mean? Sure she did okay against some wraiths but against an experienced magical girl? I'd crush in her one blow."

Mami rested a hand on Kyoko's shoulder. "Kyoko-"

Kyoko shrugged her off. "This is an invitation to Yuno, Mami. Not to you. Well Yuno? Wanna see how long "the most talented" magical girl can last against me?"

Yuno smiled cheerily. "I'm sure you are very skilled Kyoko. Have you fought many other magical girls?"

Kyoko smirked. "Of course! Loads of them! Magical girls everywhere can tell you how good I am. Whether friendly sparring or disputing territory, I always come out on top!"

"How nice! Then, you've never been defeated?"

Kyoko faltered a bit. "N-no magical girl around here can stand against me."

Yuno looked at Kyoko slyly. "But that's not the same as saying yes is it?"

"I-I mean...well..." Kyoko glared at Yuno. "What do you care? This is between you and me! That girl's probably dead and gone now."

Mami stepped in front of Kyoko and gave her a cold look. "Don't talk that way about Miss. Homura. She helped us many times and was a good friend in her own way."

Kyoko met her look. "Well for such a good friend, she hasn't been back for almost a year now. She just up and leaves, going off to do who knows what, and drops off the face of the Earth. If she hasn't come back by now or been seen by anyone then I'd say it's a safe bet she's long gone."

Mami stared at her for a moment longer before turning away. "We can't say that for sure. I prefer to have some hope that she's still out there."

Kyubey watched all this intently from Yuno's shoulder. It's tail swished back and forth, and it's eyes seemed to gleam a bit.

Mami bowed to Yuno. "Sorry about all that. Miss. Homura was a dear friend of ours. Kyoko and I," Mami looked back at Kyoko who huffily folder her arms and looked away, "were quite upset when she departed suddenly. She left a letter telling us she was traveling to continue her duties as a magical girl and then we never heard from her again."

"She's dead I tell you!"

Mami ignored Kyoko and smiled at Yuno. "Regardless, I apologize for Kyoko's rudeness and that you had to see us argue like that."

"It's no problem," Yuno said.

"Wonderful! Well, Yuno and I still need to finish our patrols, so unless you want to join us Kyoko, we must depart."

"Now hold on a minute!" Kyoko said. "Yuno never said she didn't want to spar a bit."

Yuno shrugged. "Not today I think. Perhaps later?"

Kyoko's eyes narrowed. "Oh? Too scared to fight me now? Well that's pretty smart of you, I guess. I'm not good at holding back and may have put you out of commission for awhile. Then Mami would've gotten all mad. It wouldn't really have been a good workout for me anyway."

Yuno smiled at her. "Yes, you're probably right."

"Hmph. Well, I've gotta get going. We'll see each other later I'm sure."

"And hopefully," Mami said to her, "under less hostile conditions."

"Whatever you say, you old cow."

She turned to leave, but then Yuno spoke up. "Before you go, I wanted to ask. This girl Homura sounds very strong but odd for leaving like that. Did she care for her friends? Did she help both of you when you needed it?"

Kyoko closed her eyes and appeared angry before she sighed and her face softened. "Homura wasn't what you'd call a 'friendly girl' or anything. She always looked down on you and kept you at a distance. But I will say she was there for her friends. When we really needed her help, she would give it."

Mami nodded. "Kyoko's right. Although Homura was...aloof and rarely showed her emotions, deep down she really cared for us. I...really do miss her."

Yuno pondered this for a moment before smiling again. "She sounds like a strong person and a good friend. Hopefully I get to meet her someday."

"I hope we all get to see her again soon," Mami said with a sad smile.

Kyoko huffed impatiently. "If you're done with the questions, I've got to get going. See ya around Mami. And you too Yuno. Let me know when you want to really test your skills."

Kyoko jumped away and vanished into the darkness.

Mami sighed and turned back to Yuno. "Kyoko's a bit hard-edged, but she really is a caring girl. She just shows it differently." She looked back at where Kyoko had vanished. "But I'm glad she stopped by."

Kyubey stood up a bit. "I believe there may still be a few more wraiths out here tonight."

Mami stretched her arms a bit. "Yes, you're right. You ready to keep patrolling Yuno?"

Yuno rested her katana on the palm of her hand and smiled. "Of course!"

"Then let's get going."

They ran out of the park and towards a tall building for a vantage point. Mami was indeed happy to see Kyoko and have Yuno meet her. She was also glad to talk about Homura again, but something was bothering her. As they ran, she racked her mind to figure out what it was. It was lurking just out of reach. What was it?

They got to the building, and Mami watched Yuno easily scale it with her sword at the ready and Kyubey riding on her shoulder. She followed behind, and they reached the top to scan the area. Mami looked at Yuno who smiled at her cheerfully before looking away. That's when it hit Mami.

Yuno's eyes had gone hollow when she had asked about Homura.

/人◕‿‿◕人\

Mami walked into her home and dumped her school bag on the ground before collapsing onto the couch. It had been a test day and the night before she'd been busy fighting more wraiths. To top it off, Yuno said she would be leaving for today and tonight so it would just be her again.

Mami pulled a pillow over her face and blocked out the light. She seriously considered just lying there and taking the night off. It was very tempting...

She threw the pillow off and prepared herself some tea. No slacking off now. I'll just use a bit of magic to give myself more energy. I've got some extra cubes to brighten my soul gem just for that.

She finished some homework, ate some dinner, and tidied up a bit. Just as she was getting ready to go out, Kyubey appeared at her window. She opened it up and let the creature in.

Kyubey hopped on the couch and laid down before looking at her. "Ready to go out Mami?"

"Of course. I'm just a little sad Yuno won't be joining me."

Kyubey's ears wiggled up and down. "Yuno is out of town on some business; however, taking care of the wraiths here shouldn't be a problem for someone of your experience."

Mami patted it on the head. "You're quite right, but that's not why I want Yuno here. Anyway, I'm heading out now. Want to come along?"

In response, Kyubey jumped on her shoulder. Mami smiled and headed out the door.

She decided to go to the east end of town tonight. It was the grimmer part of town so she didn't really like going there, but wraiths thrived in such locations. She hadn't been there recently and so was sure there would be quite a few there now. As confirmation, her soul gem starting glowing when she arrived. She quickly transformed into her uniform and jumped onto the top of a townhouse. She could immediately see a wraith as it "meditated" and collected energy. Not one to waste an opportunity, she summoned a dozen large rifles and sniped it to pieces in a flash.

Her soul gem was flashing more fiercely now, positively thrumming with warning. Mami carefully scanned the area but couldn't see anything. What was more surprising was that there was virtually no miasma in the air. When her soul gem alerted this much, it usually meant there was a large swarm of wraiths nearby, but that also usually meant they were polluting the air with their miasma too.

"Kyubey, there are wraiths nearby right?"

Kyubey's tail swished as it sat at her feet. "Your soul gem would seem to indicate that."

"Then why is there no miasma? The only haze I see is smog."

Kyubey's tail flicked again before it looked up at her. "I can't be sure, but has this ever happened to you before?"

It had indeed. Mami thought back to the wraith Yuno had killed when they first met. The miasma had completely cleared up and yet that wraith had been there.

What does it mean? Are they evolving? Adapting? I always thought they created the miasma to cloak themselves, but what if that isn't it?

Her gem stopped flashing completely. This usually meant there were no wraiths, but then again, so did no miasma. This happened that time too. My soul gem should have been alerting. What's going on?

"Kyubey, can wraiths cloak themselves from soul gems?"

"I've never heard of it happening, but I wouldn't say it's impossible."

First her soul gem alerting frantically with no miasma present even with a wraith nearby, and then her soul gem stopping altogether. I don't like this. She picked up Kyubi and prepared to jump to a radio tower.

Her soul gem blasted back to life, pulsing crazily. She could feel heat coming off of it, something that had never happened before. She summoned a rifle in her free hand, turning in the direction her soul gem indicated.

She strained her eyes but couldn't see anything in the darkness between the buildings. Strange. It's much darker over there. Miasma maybe?

The darkness moved, and Mami felt her heart leap into her throat.

A giant figure about five times the size of a normal wraith stepped out from between the buildings. It was covered in a writhing shroud of miasma making it hard to look at or see any details, save for it's head. To Mami, it looked like one of the demons you might see in a temple. Long, sharp fangs jutted out of it's mouth, wreathed by a bristly beard. Glowing tattoos covered it's face in a tribal pattern. It's eyes, like a normal wraith, were masked by a light mosaic but with red and black lights instead of the normal, brighter colors. An ornate hat with fierce spikes crowned it's head. Four arms jutted out of it's body where normally there would be none. It turned it's head, allowing Mami to see another face on the back. The figure let out a thunderous, ear-splitting roar.

Mami's hands started shaking and her heartbeat went crazy. What is it what do I do so strong the power what do I do can't be real fight or flee what do I do miasma shield can I hurt it what do I do that face what do I do what do I do what-

"Mami."

Mami snapped her attention to Kyubey who was studying her. It looked back at the giant. "We should run."