Homura pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose with trembling fingers as rain fell down from the dark clouds above her. To her right lay Madoka's body, face-down in a puddle, bow still in hand. To her left, Mami's body remained motionless, propped against a steel beam that was stuck into the ground. Kyubey looked up at Homura expectantly.

"I-I wish I could go back and stop all of this from happening," Homura said weepily.

"Or you could just wish to bring back everyone killed by Walpurgisnacht, or something like that," Kyubey suggested.

Homura took a shaky breath. "You're right. I wish that-"

"Nope!" laughed Kyubey, "No take backs! See you in another time-line, kid."

"But, wait-"

Several weeks passed, with Homura spending her time with Madoka and Mami once again, but this time as a fellow magical girl. She struggled to hone her new abilities under their veteran tutelage as Walpurgisnacht rapidly approached, an inevitable storm on the horizon. It arrived all too soon.

The three of them faced the daunting force just outside the city, trying to intercept it before there were civilian casualties. After an initial round of attacks, it seemed as though they were faring well. Madoka, however, was standing very still, and Homura ran towards her.

"Madoka?!" She cried as she reached her.

Madoka simply looked at her with sad eyes, her Soul Gem in hand. It was completely dark, and Homura shielded her face with her hands as it shattered and Madoka was consumed by a swirling cloud of energy.

"Come on…" Homura said.

"Oh, did I not tell you about that?" Kyubey asked.

And so Homura found herself in yet another timeline. She had greater mastery over her powers, and soon found herself in a situation prior to the arrival of Walpurgisnacht where it seemed as though her foreknowledge would be of help.

All five magical girls were underneath the city in a subway station, scouring for witches in the gloomy and empty space. Sayaka took her Soul Gem from her jacket pocket. Homura gasped upon seeing that it was completely darkened.

"Sayaka," Homura said in a voice that sounded calmer than she truly was, "You need to use a Grief Seed right now. If you don't, you will turn into a witch."

"Kyubey? Is that true?" Sayaka asked the creature, staring down at her Soul Gem.

"Nah," answered Kyubey with a shake of his head.

"Sayaka, listen to me. You have-"

Sayaka laughed good-naturedly as her Soul Gem began to splinter. "No offense Homura, but Kyubey is the expert here."

Sayaka exploded into a writhing mass of dark energy, that the other girls quickly ran towards, weapons drawn. With their combined efforts, the witch was soon brought down, and its labyrinth receding into nothingness.

Kyoko leaned on her spear, breathing hard. "I guess Homura was ri-"

She was cut off by Mami blowing her away with a musket round. The blonde then raised another and directed it towards Homura.

"First of all," Homura said, "There's no way you could beat me. I could freeze time and waste both of you right now if I wanted to. Second, why don't we all just calm down and-"

There was a bright flash of light, and Mami fell to the floor, an arrow through her chest. Madoka stood, bow in hand.

Homura sighed. "So I guess this could take a while."