Scout awoke back at the hospital.

"Get up." Homura instructed. Scout instantly got up to her command. He looked to the calendar. It was the same day as the day he found himself in her body. "As you can see, we've gone back in time. Do you believe me now?" Homura asked.

"Yeah. I believed ya ta begin wit… Wait… If we traveled back 'n time…" Scout pondered. Homura already guessed what he'd say next.

"You can try… but her life is still forfeit." Homura said.

"… Ya really gotta stop probin' my mind." Scout said.

"I can't save Tomoe Mami. Even if I stop her from getting killed by a Witch, the revelations she has whenever she finds the truth behind the Soul Gem will always do her and anyone she comes into contact with in. And I've tried countless times to know that it is only a matter of when for her." Homura said.

"Ya don't have ta save 'er, but I do. I owe 'er so many things. My apologies, my respect… Ya know wat I mean?" Scout asked.

"… Fine. We'll save Tomoe Mami. But don't come crying to me if she dies afterwards." She said.

"Don't worry. I won't regret dis." Scout said.


Episode 9: I Won't Regret This


"So wat's da first orda of business?" Scout asked. His Soul Gem glowed as the Stone Shield was summoned. He subconsciously dug into his shield and pulled out a Grief Seed. Scout recognized this Grief Seed. It was the Grief Seed Mami gave him.

"We make an offering to Tomoe Mami. Grief Seeds are hard to come by, so a Puella Magi offering one to another is either a naïve idiot or a friend trying to help out, and I know Mami enough to discern that she'd assume the latter." She said. Scout suddenly thought about the time tunnel and the many Grief Seeds. It was then that he had drawn a conclusion.

"Wait, dat's why ya have so many seeds!" Scout said.

"I'm surprised you didn't notice until now." Homura said. Scout walked out of the hospital, seed in hand.


Scout navigated the town of Mitakihara with relative ease, no thanks to Homura's memory of the place. As Scout walked, he began to talk.

"Homura, I've been thinkin'…"

"You want to spearhead the conversation with Tomoe Mami." Homura spoke up.

"Yeah. I know that you're notta noob when it comes to huntin' witches, but I am. So if ya play along with dat…" Scout's hand reached for the stone shield. Unknowingly to him, he pulled out a pair of red-framed glasses and a braid.

"I tried that approach of playing dumb in one of the timelines. It works, but only for a little while. The problem would be that we have to show our true intelligence when the time comes. And when it does, we'll break the trust of everyone we met. Though given how many times I've lost the trust of others, it stops being a matter of if and more a matter of when. And quite personally, I'm not willing to take the chance considering what happened last time." Homura said.

"… Yeeeeeaaaaah, look, no offense, lady, but I'm starting ta think you're not proper material for dis job. Lemee handle this." Scout said.

"I did and look what happened." Homura said.

"I know now wat da heck's goin' on. Tell ya what, lemee say whateva I want ta Mami, and I'll let ya say whateva ya want ta Madoka." Scout said.

"… Deal." By the time they finished the conversation, they were at Mami's door. Scout knocked on the door. There was silence for a few moments. Scout put on the glasses, with Homura assisting with the braids. "There's a good chance she's not home. Most of the time she spends after school are spent hunting down Witches." Homura said.

"Sh…" Scout could hear footsteps. Suddenly, the door cracked open. Scout held back tears of joy and remorse upon seeing Mami's face once again.

"Hello?" Mami took a moment to look at Scout's uniform. "Oh… A fellow student." She sheepishly snickered. "Is there something I can help you with?" She asked Scout.

"Yes." Scout did a double take at his own voice. He heard Homura's voice before, but it didn't sound so… innocent.

"Just roll with it. I'll explain later." Homura said. Scout sighed. With a smile, he offered Mami the Grief Seed.

"I heard that there was a Puella Magi in the area that could help me… I'm not so good at hunting Witches… The last one I defeated was so difficult…" Scout let the soft, yet cute voice take over his own. Mami poked her head out the door, looked around, and then pulled her head back in.

"Come inside." She said. Scout walked in.


Scout sat by the glass-triangle table in Mami's apartment. The scent of tea filled the air as Mami entered the room with a plate of sweets.

"It's so rare for two Puella Magi to be in the same area together. Most times it just ends in one leaving town." Mami set the plate down as Scout eyed the drink in front of him.

"Hey, I'm more of a coffee gu- girl. No offense." Scout bit his tongue as Mami gave a giggle.

"None taken. Tea's more my field though." Mami said. Scout sighed and drank the tea.

"Guess she wants me ta do da pinkie as well?" Scout asked.

"Again, roll with it. If there's one thing I know about Tomoe Mami, it's that she's very lonely. Play that to your advantage if you want to help her." Homura said. Scout noted that and made a positive hum from his throat followed by a nod.

"I'm glad you like it. Please, help yourself to these biscuits." Mami took her own teacup and drank slowly. Scout set the tea down, grabbed one of them, and ate it. The tea wasn't to Scout's liking, but the biscuit was. As soon as he let the fluffy texture settle in his mouth, he grabbed another. Mami smiled. Although, Scout could notice the smile fade.

"… Though… You're here to ask if you could be my apprentice, right?" Mami asked.

"That's the gist." Scout nodded. Mami set the cup down onto the plate. "Something the matter?" Scout asked.

"… No. Just having a bit of a migraine." Mami got up. "I'll think it over." Scout set down the Grief Seed onto the table.

"Here, a gift." Scout got up and walked off. Scout could hear Mami about to speak, but stopped herself before she could get a word out. "I'll be at the hospital if you need me. My name's Akemi Homura." With that, Scout left.


"Da hell's dat all about?" Scout walked down the street, his throat clear from the saccharine voice he put up.

"I don't know. Tomoe Mami's always been keen to let juniors join her." Homura said.

"Not dat! Da voice! I'm still gettin' used ta bein' in a girl, y'know!" Scout said.

"If you could believe it, that was what I sounded like when I was younger. Well, in a time-traveller's sense of being young. It's easy if you remember it long and hard." Homura said.

"Ya neva did tell me much about your past outside a' killlin' Madoka." Scout said.

"That's because it's a long and harrowing story." Homura said.

"You can sum it up in a few sentences, can ya?" Scout asked.

"If only it was that simple." Homura said. Scout suddenly froze.

"Wat's goin' on?" Scout realized that this was Homura stopping, not himself. Scout could see a black cat on the road and could hear the sound of a truck coming close. "Uh… Homura?" Scout asked. In no time, Scout's clothes exploded into a flash of purple light. Scout found himself in frozen time and in his Puella Magi clothes. He saw a truck almost centimetres from the cat. Scout walked over, picked up the cat, and got onto the other side of the road. Scout laid the cat down and time resumed, the truck speeding by without ever knowing about the cat.

"Sorry. It was imperative that we saved that cat." Homura said.

"Why?" Scout asked as he reverted to his normal clothes.

"Because…" Homura was about to speak some more, but a familiar voice scared both Scout and her.

"Wow! You saved her! Thank you!" Scout turned to see Madoka, who ran up to him and noticed… "Hey, we're wearing the same uniform! What classroom are you attending?" Madoka asked. Scout took a moment. When he spoke up, Homura's calm voice took over.

"I don't know yet. The school hasn't decided what class to put me in yet. Tell me, did you see anything weird?" Homura asked.

"Well… I saw the cat… then it just disappeared and then you appeared with the cat and… How did you do that?" Madoka asked.

"It's nothing to concern yourself with." Homura turned and walked off.

"W-wait! You remind me of someone…" Madoka said. Homura stopped. "I think… I think we met before… But… in a dream." Homura stayed silent for a moment. "You told me… You told me to make a wish."

"… Whatever wish you're thinking of, stop thinking it. You'll lose everything you love with such a wish." Homura left.


"Well, dat was sure charmin'. I can see how Madoka could fall head over heels for ya!" Scout said.

"Shut it. It's your fault she's beginning to think this way." Homura said.

"Hey, I had ta do wat I had ta do!" Scout said.

"And while I appreciate that, that stupid heroic outlook on life will end up with a pretty huge body count. And now because of you, Madoka's thinking that same thing." Homura said.

"So wat? Ya know Madoka woulda did it regardless!" Scout said.

"… Sometimes I believe that. Yes. No matter what I do to save her, she'll always put others ahead of herself, not knowing how painful it'd be for them whenever she sacrifices herself." Scout's body stopped as he could feel tears coming out of his eyes. "I could still remember the first time I lost her… The entire city was destroyed and I was there, kneeling before her dead body. I cried, begging her to wake up… but she couldn't…"

"…" Scout remained in silence. Even though he wasn't there to witness it, he could feel the anguish that Homura had. Scout closed his eyes and let out a few tears. "I know wat it's like ta feel like a sucka when it comes ta sacrifices." Scout began to remember the story he told Madoka long ago. "I killed a chunk of my team… and for wat? Nothin'. I sacrificed dem for nothin'." Scout said.

"We're of the same mindset then… Sacrifices will get us nowhere. While I find it pragmatic to just spare the one and leave the thousand to die, I think we've grown sick and tired of sacrificing one or the other." Scout got up and wiped his tears. "It's time for us to abolish that rule of hope requiring sacrifice." Homura said. Scout nodded. "We shall take out the first Witch of this timeline. I know of her location." With that, Scout went off, knowing full well where she was thinking of.


The warehouse. It was where he encountered Mami and the others, along with getting the Grief Seed. Homura and Scout took the time to pre-emptively transform as they entered the Labyrinth.

"So wat's da Witch like?" Scout asked.

"She is known as the Rose Garden Witch." Homura said.

"Rose garden, huh?" Scout put his index finger to his chin. "Ya know, I probably think takin' a page from the Pyro sounds like a pretty good plan." Scout said.

"I heavily advise against that. Her entire Labyrinth is a garden. If we set it on fire, we'll also be on fire. I don't want to risk that. We could use a pipe bomb to drive away the Familiars. Blow them up so that the risk of one of them surviving and evolving into a Witch is reduced. As for the Witch herself, she's pretty weak. A few well-placed shots to the head will do her in." Homura said.

"So ya fought da Witch?" Scout asked.

"Countless times. She's always the first Witch barring anomalies. I can give you a list of Witches and specific ways to beat them." Homura said.

"… Would dat include Ma-" Scout asked.

"I could never defeat her Witch though. Though considering my entire purpose is to stop her from turning into one, I never bothered to come up with a strategy." Homura said.

"… Ya do realize I meant Mami, right?" Scout asked.

"Oh, right. She's… hard to beat. But if it comes down to it, I'll advise you on how to kill her as swiftly as possible. It'd be like putting a dog down." Homura said.

"… Dat's not easy, ya know." Scout said.

"I never said it was." Homura said as Scout approached a door. "This is it. The First Witch's domain." Homura said. Scout opened the door. From there, he saw another door. He went over and opened it up, only to see yet another door. Scout opened that door. That's when Scout practically flew through the other doors as they opened up one by one.

"WAT DA CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!?" Scout shouted until he stopped right in the middle of a huge grassy garden. Butterflies flew about as he looked at a hideous monster that looked straight out of the Cthulhu Mythos, with green tentacles acting as the beard and multiple, red eyes. "DAT'S NOT A WITCH!" Scout immediately fired at it. The Witch jumped out of the way, and that's when he noticed that it was on a couch. Was. The Witch jumped up and, with one of its tentacles, threw the couch at Scout.

"Look out!" Homura forced Scout's hand to stop time as she got out of the way of the couch. The couch crashed into the green grass as they heard the Witch scream with rage. Scout noticed the tentacles sprout from her and whip towards him. Scout dodged them and fired at one of her eyes. The eye burst in a cloud of tiny butterflies. It thrashed wildly as Scout reloaded. More tentacles sprouted out, each of them carrying scissors.

"Alright, now we're talkin'!" Scout pulled out a baseball bat from the shield and waited for the scissors to come for him. As soon as the tentacles came, he struck each of them. "BOINK! BONK!" He kept punctuating each hit with a different adjective before the tentacles became so beat, they shrivelled back into the Witch, which began crawling towards him.

"We have to finish this now!" Homura said. Scout pulled out a rocket launcher.

"Got ya covered!" Scout fired the rocket towards the Witch's head, blowing it off in a mixture of fire and burnt bush. The Witch stood there, headless, before it began to disintegrate. The labyrinth broke apart as Scout grabbed the Grief Seed that fell.

"Scout… that was overkill. I just said how she's the easiest of the Witches to beat. A simple grenade down its throat would have worked. You just wasted valuable ammo." Homura groaned as Scout got back to his school clothes. "Well, I've been meaning to steal from the Yakuza at this point anyways, so might as well stock up on more weapons." Homura said.

"Thievery? Sweet! Sign me up!" Scout said.


As soon as Scout got out of the warehouse, Homura took control and went towards a pile of filled garbage bags.

"Wait…" Homura muttered. She peaked over and saw a man in a bowler hat whistling while he lugged a strolling suitcase. "That's one of the Yakuza members I frequently steal from… What's he doing here?"

"You seem to have some nerve, altering a deal like this." He said.

"He seems to be talking to someone…" Scout said.

"But who?" Homura asked.

"Aaaah, but don't you zee, Sid? What she haz is worth more than any amount she can pay." Scout's body went cold as he recognized the accent. He looked and saw the balaclava-wearing girl that he encountered in the previous timeline. Sid rolled his eyes.

"I can name one higher price." He said. The Spy walked over and kicked Sid in the leg. "OW! Watch it, kid! I don't know how you managed to become our boss, but we ain't gonna tolerate your rowdiness!" Sid said.

"Watch your tongue, dog," the Spy took out a butterfly knife and flicked it around until the blade was unsheathed. "or else it won't be your finger I'll cut off."

"Be vigilant, Scout. This might have become more than a simple thieving job." Homura said. The Spy put his knife away and checked his watch.

"Our little cauliflower will be here in a few moments. Be on your best behaviour." Spy said. He walked off as Sid sighed. A few moments later, Scout saw someone approach Sid.

"Hello. I was informed that there'd be a change in price?" Scout and Homura instantly recognized the lady tone and looked up. Mami looked at the dealer as she held a purse.

"Scout, don't do anything hasty." Homura said.

"Oh, oh, oh, that's rich. Hey, remember our deal about how I'd decide what we do regarding Mami?" Scout said.

"Well, yes. Our boss received word of you possessing a… jewel? Anyways, if you pay us that, we'll be set for life and by extension, you will be set for life." Sid said.

"No, I remembered you said how you'd deal with talking to Mami. Not being a part of her private life…" Homura said.

"You knew about this!?" Scout asked.

"A jewel? What are you talking about? I have no jewel." Mami said.

"That Tomoe Mami was dealing with the Yakuza? No. But this does explain her housing situation." Homura said.

"What are you talking about?!" Scout asked. Suddenly, there was silence between the two as Sid revealed a sketch.

"Really? Nothing like this?" The sketch was that of a Fabergé egg bounded in what appeared to be gold.

"... Scout, you know what I said about being hasty?" Homura said as she saw Mami's eyes widen and fidget.

"What do you know about that?" Mami asked.

"Let me guess… Do it?" Scout asked.

"Just… do it!" Homura shouted as she saw the Spy emerge from the shadows. Scout nodded and transformed. He ran out from the pile, pulled out a gun, and fired at the Spy. The Spy also transformed and fired at Scout. The two bullets clashed and ricocheted off each other, hurting no one in the process. Spy landed on his feet and aimed his gun at Scout at the same time Scout aimed at Spy.

"Ça va, Scout?" Spy asked.

"Hello again, Spy." Scout glared at him. Mami simply looked at the battle in shock as she tripped and fell down. "Wat are you doin' with Mami?" Scout asked.

"Nothing you should concern yourself with, mon ami." Spy smirked.

"Oh really? Because I think taking someone's Soul Gem causes a bit of concern." Scout said.

"So, will you tango with me again?" Spy asked.

"Again!?" Scout asked.

"Yes, did you think I'd forget our little encounter?" Spy asked. "Thanks to it, I've become more familiar with this magic than I did before. And with it, a better grasp of what I should be doing." Scout took the time to fire at Spy, only for Spy to fire at him. Both dodged while they kept their lock on each other. "You have to be quicker than that, boy." Spy said.

"Oh trust me, I am quicker than that." Scout tried to activate the stone shield, but Spy shot his hand. "Arrgh!" Scout was now grasping his bleeding hand.

"You remember the old saying, right? Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me?" The Spy looked at the Scout's hands. He gave a smirk and aimed at Scout's hands. "I'll assure you, your death will be painless." That's when Scout and Homura both realized where he was going to fire at.

Before Scout or Homura could move the hand containing Homura's transformed Soul Gem, they saw a flash of gold and heard two musket shots to the ground. On the ground, golden ribbons sprouted from the ground and restrained the Spy.

"Come on, we have to go!" Mami ran to Homura and picked her up. She transformed one of her muskets into a ribbon and tossed it to the roof of a nearby warehouse to create a rappel. She swung off onto the rooftop with Scout in tow. She ran across the building and jumped onto another rooftop. She continued to do this until she ran out of buildings to run on.


Five minutes later, Mami tired out. She dropped Scout. As she did, she saw his hurt hand.

"Hang on…" Mami clasped Scout's hand. His hand was bathed in a soft yellow light and soon, the bullet wound was gone.

"Thanks." Scout flexed his hand. The two transformed back to their school uniforms. Scout noticed the scowl on Mami's face.

"What were you doing out there? Were you stalking me?" Mami asked.

"No. I was just huntin' down a Witch… Not my fault it just so happened ta be at da same place an' time ya went ta do your… whateva it was." Scout said as he went back to the Mitakihara school uniform.

"…" Mami frowned and looked away. "Please… Don't tell the school about this."

"About wat?" Scout asked.

"About… Look, it's nothing for you to worry about." Mami said.

"Alright. I won't. Now, let's get back home. Your parents must be worried." Scout said. That's when he heard Homura groan.

"Scout…" As soon as she said that, Mami's already weary face just broke down. She shook her head as tears began to stream from her eyes.

"Wat? Wat did I do?!" Scout asked.

"Tomoe Mami's parents were killed in a traffic accident. She would have died too had it not been for Kyubey's contract. It's why Mami's so prone to freaking out about the true nature of the Puella Magi. Unlike me or Kyouko, who simply chose to be one, or Madoka and Sayaka, who have a choice, Tomoe Mami had no choice. To her, this is nothing more than borrowed time." Homura said.

"Why didn't ya tell me dis soona!?" Scout asked.

"You didn't as-" Homura stopped. "It didn't seem relevant until…" Scout could soon hear Homura choking up. "I'm… You're right… Why didn't I tell you this sooner? I'm no worse than that monster!" Followed by sobbing. Scout looked at Mami, who slumped to the ground on her knees and was sobbing as well. Scout took a deep breath.

He petted Mami's head and knelt down with her. Scout proceeded to hold Mami. However, his arms draped loosely onto her shoulders. He wasn't quite sure how to comfort a crier. Outside of a tub of chicken, that is.

"I'm… sorry." Scout forced the one word he wanted to say to Mami for a long time. Mami proceeded to hold Scout.

"Don't leave me…" Mami said.

"W-wat?" Scout muttered.

"I… I had mentored other girls in the past… and… as soon as they got their experience… they leave me… I'm nothing to them!" Mami pulled herself away from Scout. "Promise me… If I become your mentor… then… then you can't leave me! U-understand?" Mami held Scout's hand. Scout saw tears dripping from her face. Scout thought.

Had he been the old Scout, the Scout who went around at Dustbowl bashing people and stealing briefcases, he probably would have brushed the poor girl off. However, he remembered the battles he went through the past few days. He remembered the tears shed by Madoka, Sayaka, Kyouko, Hitomi, Homura, and even him.

He remembered that she was what caused him to change. She was what caused him to be a better person.

"… I promise." Scout said. "I won't let you die again."


"Do you have a place to stay, Homura?" Mami walked with Scout back to her apartment.

"Well, yeah. I do. I'll be ova here when I get discharged from da hospital." Scout handed her a paper slip containing the address for Homura's place. "Until then, I'm supposed to be at the hospital." Scout said. Mami smiled.

"Okay. When you're good enough, we should definitely have a sleepover." Mami said.

"Y-yeah. Lookin' forward to it." Scout said. He turned around and left Mami. He sighed.

"How many days have we got?" Scout asked Homura.

"Before?"

"Before Mami takes on the worm?"

"We bought us a few extra days. A week at most." Homura said.

"Good. Help me out wit dis one, Homura." Scout walked towards the hospital, stopping only to look at the parking lot. The place where he found out that Mami was dead. "We might just win this time."