"Hey, Miss Murder, may I?"
Chapter 11: Soul Tethering
In this world, the uncertainties abound. However, there are things that are known to be absolutely certain by us Mahou Shoujo.
This world, our universe, is decaying due to the process called Entropy. The race called Incubators, ancient beings as old as the universe itself, wish to defeat this uncertain inevitability.
This is why they came to us: to save us from Entropy. To save us all is their ultimate goal. However, the means by which they generate energy, despite being the most efficient, comes at a price. It warps reality in multiple ways, one of which causes the negative emotions of people to manifest as dark energy, the Demons that you see.
We Mahou Shoujo fight them at all costs, to put the universe at balance. For you see, the universe is a symphony of many movements, and the Demons are the noise. We Mahou Shoujo are the tuners, and we will never let this concert end.
...
"Sayaka, you've been awfully quiet." Looking back, Madoka smiled at her friend.
Mami and Kyōko were ahead of the group, scanning the area with their Soul Gems. The sextet had just left the hospital where both Kamijou and Hitomi were staying, and on their way home they wanted to patrol for just a little while, since Sayaka had more or less said she wanted to help them.
"It's nothing," said the bluenette, trying to clear away her dark thoughts. The others had politely left her to visit Kamijou by herself, and after that, Sayaka had been unusually quiet, even compared to the weeklong silent treatment she had been giving them.
"Alright," said Kyōko, eyes glimmering as if she just caught a fish, "found one."
"Where?" Hōmura and Madoka took out their Soul Gems. "In that alley," said Kyōko, a pink light bathing her for a few moments. When she emerged from the inevitable Mahou Shoujo transformation, she was in her battle uniform, holding her spear. Mami followed her in suiting up, along with Madoka and Hōmura.
Hōmura was not surprised to see that her uniform was nearly identical to before: the sailor fuku with heeled black boots. However, the colors were slightly different, just like everyone else's was. Wherever there had been white before was now dark grey, and the skirt, ribbons, and fuku collar were now a deep plum color. Her shield was slightly larger than before, having increased by about 10%, and in her hand…was a black pistol, one that felt immensely different from the ones she normally would steal from the Yakuza.
Of course, the first time she tried transforming while in the E-sphere, Hōmura had noticed this weighty weapon, and gave Madoka a skeptical look. However, from the instant she fired a couple of lavender-tinted shots, she knew without question that she was never going back to stealing firearms ever again.
In front of them, Kyōko opened up the pathway into the Demon's Closed Space, a bright red mass of triangles lighting up in midair, and the girls followed behind the redhead when she rushed in.
…
Sneakers. Innumerable amounts of Sneakers rushed upon them, all the size of wild boars. Kyoko stepped in front of Sayaka before a large pink and white cross-trainer landed on top of the defenseless girl. Her spear cut through the Familiar with the ease of someone poking his or herfinger into a cheesecake. It easily gave way, and fell onto a heap of rubber and cloth in front of the group.
On one side was a pair of more aggressive running shoes, bright red in color, and with particularly thick soles. This one pair, along with its numerous cousins, stampeded towards the girls, but for this one they did a basic double-team maneuver.
Mami restricted their movements with her golden ribbons. This gave Madoka and Hōmura enough time to swiss-cheeseify the Familiars with their projectile weapons—Hōmura with her energy pellets, and Madoka with her arrows. The real problem was that there were so many, and after continuous spurts of running and fighting, the team was growing weary despite having a supposed "Goddess" among them.
Around them, the Closed Space was also beginning to wear on their sanity. It was a sports track on acid, the lanes uneven and curved as if it was melting as they ran.
For some reason Homura felt like there should have been some misshapen half-melted clocks on the ground as well, but she didn't comment on it.
On either side of them in the unending maze were bleachers. There were a sparse amount of Familiars sitting on the uneven benches, but they did not attack at all, simply waved their hands and shouted insults.
When the girls finally stumbled across the center of the Closed Space, they looked upwards so high it put cracks in their necks. A building, obviously a coliseum of some sort, stood before them, flags waving from the top and all.
Mami aimed two rifles at the doors before them. "Don't worry," she said to the still-trembling Sayaka. "We'll protect you, okay?" Two flashes of golden light later, and the doors were blasted open. Everyone dived into the dim space before them, and held their breaths.
EDMUND
The Demon of Sports
Nature: Tenacity
Before them was an all-bronze man dressed in track shorts and sports jersey, like the statue on top of an athletic award.
Sayaka was amazed at the how skillfully Madoka and the other Puella Magi handled the Demon. It was like watching a ballet, she realized, or some sort of supernatural gymnastics performance.
Madoka, most obviously, was their leader, with the way she gave orders and directed the group. She didn't do as much fighting as Mami or Kyōko, but that was because her power levels most likely would warp reality, as he and Hōmura tried to explain before. Such a strain on the fabric of reality was what they wanted to avoid, after all, because that was exactly what the Demons were. Anomalies caused by the reversal of entropy, which strained the universe.
Now, Mami fought, as Sayaka noticed, at a moderate pace. She had a certain steady rhythm to her movements. Mami would fire a shot, maybe several, then defend herself with glowing golden ribbons whenever she could. Often she would try to be aware of whatever lurked in her peripherals, so she wouldn't be caught off-guard. It was not a foolhardy way of fighting, but a reasonable and fairly safe system.
On the other hand, Kyōko recklessly dove right in to up-close combat. Since she was undead, and on top of that, had no soul gem to speak of, she cared less about being injured than the rest of them. After all, her vampiric healing factor was amped up to eleven when she transformed into her Puella Magi uniform. She and Mami took out most of the Familiars trying to defend the Demon.
Hōmura was the most enigmatic fighter of the lot, however. In stark contrast to the melee fighter, Kyōko, she had a pair of long range pistols. But what seemed odd was that Sayaka never saw the girl attack the Demon. She would see Hōmura appear in one spot, only to appear in another spot, her guns still-smoking. Sayaka noticed that the Demon would take damage, however, and a bright flash of purple would indicate that it was Hōmura's doing.
When the Demon's body was obliterated to small rubbery bits, Madoka held her arm out to signal a ceasefire. Kyōko still had to hold back the familiars, but that was alright. Most of them were beginning to wither without their host. Madoka gave Mami a knowing glance when the dust settled. In front of the girls was the Demon's core, a bight, glowing ball of energy.
Mami summoned her giant rifle, and aimed it for the core. She hadn't felt this amount of confidence since she first became a Puella Magi.
"Tiro Finale!"
Around them the Closed Space disappeared in a flash of golden light. Looking around the alleyway, Sayaka held her head and wondered if it all was just a strange dream.
...
Our blue-haired maiden thought over what she had seen the other day. It was just unbelievable to her how all of this, the Puella Magi, and even the Demons themselves, were unknown to Mage society as a whole. Vampires she could handle, fairies, yes, even dragons and Snow Women...but those Demons were just crazy. Next thing she knew Madoka was going to tell her that Santa was real, and that the illuminati had taken him captive.
The next day she walked alone to the hospital where both Kamijou and Hitomi were staying. It was after school, naturally, but somehow she didn't feel like going with the other girls on their patrol. She needed more time to soak it all in.
However, Kyūbey was not a very perceptive alien. He insisted on tagging along with her to the hospital, for whatever unknown reason. Whenever they visited he would get this far-off look in his beady blue eyes, whenever a nurse would walk past, but Sayaka never really noticed.
When Sayaka reached the block that the hospital was on, she nearly dropped her schoolbag. The other day during lunch she could hear Madoka's words echo in her mind like a scratched vinyl record.
'If you happen to see a dark miasma encircling an area, then a Demon is about to form nearby.'
Sayaka wanted to shut her eyes and pretend that nothing was wrong. This. Was. Not. Happening.
'Most likely, someone is about to die. Either by an accident, or...suicide.'
The last time she had visited Kamijou, he wasn't in the best mental health. His physical therapy wasn't helping much, in terms of movement, because the nerves had already died. Even though he was bandaged up and his wounds for the most part, were healed, nerves still needed extremely powerful magic to grow back. His doctors had flat out told him to forget about playing any instrument, much less studying magic.
Mana flowed through the nervous system, and if you had lost most of the important nerves that carried it, then it would never release into your medium: your wand. Obviously, at certain power levels, a medium was unnecessary, and staff-users, if their talent grew to a certain point, would no longer need it. But Kamijou was not at that point at all. He needed a staff; being from a family with a rich magical history was one of those reasons, but he was only fourteen.
Unless he was a genius, like a certain infamous red-haired teacher, then he was up the creek without a canoe.
While Sayaka continued to worry, the miasma was growing thicker. Dark clouds billowed from the building like it was on fire. Sayaka wondered it any Mundanes, or even Mages, could see was happening, but since no one was acting out of the ordinary, she didn't think so.
"Sayaka-chan," said Kyūbey, looking at the growing miasma with worry. "This doesn't look good."
"I should call Tomoe-sempai, shouldn't I?" She asked, taking out her cellphone and dialing the number. After all, Mami was the most skilled at fighting Demons, right? Mami was a veteran, so it made sense. Unfortunately Mami's voicemail was the closest Sayaka was going to get to hearing the older girl's voice.
Shaking his head sadly, the little alien looked to the sky and raised his long ears. "Mami is out of range for me to sense her thoughts," said Kyūbey. "She may be tied up somewhere." And it was true. Mami was across town fighting a Demon.
"I'll call Madoka, then," Sayaka sugessted, beads of sweat beginning to form on her forehead.
"Please hurry," said Kyūbey, his ears twitching. "I can already tell that a Closed Space is going to form."
When she heard her best friend pick up the phone, Sayaka was about to burst into happy tears. "Madoka," she sighed in relief. "I'm at the hospital, and Kyūbey and I are positive that a Demon is about to appear."
With a terrified look upwards, she saw a swirling cloud of pitch black descend upon the building. "It's going to be a big one," she whispered as the dark cloud engulfs her, Kyūbey, and the street behind them. Her cellphone clattered to the floor, and Madoka was left on the other end repeatedly screaming Sayaka's name, for the line had suddenly went dead.
"I wished I could live like a normal girl again,
so I could eat cheesecake with mommy one more time."
When the trio of Puella Magi was arrived at the hospital scene they were already suited up and ready to go. Madoka had a furious, steely gaze fixed on the barrier before them. It was unlike any Closed Space they had encountered.
For one it was enormous. Secondly, it was huge. Never before had it actually engulfed an entire building. Normally a Demon just bended the limited space around it, using dark magic, to create another dimension. However this was much different. Thirdly, the Demon was waiting for them.
HANS
The Demon of Malpractice
Nature: Carelessness
Whatever dark and disturbing negative emotions had been brewing in this place had not been enough in the past to create such a large anomaly.
So what had changed to make the despair meter on this place pop its lid? Unknown to the girls, it was because of a little girl named Nagisa Momoe, who had recently died of cancer this afternoon.
Only moments before the Demon formed, she had been wheeled into the morgue. Kamijou's despair from before had been pretty great, though, making up over 45% of the overall negative feelings, but Nagisa's mother had made the place 'hit critical mass'.
With her anger rising, Madoka stood before Sayaka and Kyūbey, thanking her lucky stars that the little alien actually cared for them in this universe. He had kept the blue-haired girl safe with a barrier of magic, and told her to try and hide. His plan worked, thankfully, and Sayaka was still in one piece.
...
An exaggeration of a human being.
The arms were too long, the legs sloped like ladders. Immense curled fingers and hunched back. One half was dressed in a patient's gown, the other a doctor in a long lab coat. In one hand was a scalpel, and the other a free hanging IV bag sill attached to the arm. It was shockingly fast, even for Madoka and Hōmura to handle.
The dark haired girl sprayed the monstrosity with a shower of energy bullets. Madoka likewise kept her arrows raining upon the Demon. However, with Kyōko helping Mami, they weren't getting very far.
Despite Madoka's power, the Demon was moving so fast that her mortal mind could not keep up. It would close in for quick close-range attacks, for which Madoka had no other defense than her arrows.
Her crossbows were better for close-range, but with the time it took for her to summon them, Hans would slash the girls up pretty badly. Homura was contemplating making bombs with her magic, and freezing time like she would often do. Maybe it would gain them some ground on defeating the Demon? But in the second she thought this, Hans had lunged forward with his scalpel.
Madoka tried firing rounds of arrows at him, but the Demon had apparently learned her attack pattern already. Her shots fired into the empty air, and Madoka cursed herself for being so confident in her power. The pink haired goddess nearly dropped her bow in numb shock:
Hans' scalpel had sliced through both of Hōmura's eyes.
A scream ripped from Hōmura's mouth as the blood gushed down her face. She kept screaming, the pain crippling her more than anything. She had tried to diminish the pain using her Soul Gem, but the sacrifice for that would be a slow reaction time from her body. Nevertheless, she was flying blind, so avoiding attacks was going to be another challenge.
Akemi sidestepped backwards in spite of the pain, but it was too late, because Hans had lashed out again with the scalpel. This time it pierced through her abdomen. From her mouth a burst of blood shot forth.
Tears in her eyes, Madoka yelled her friend's name as her bow grew in size. It was now double what it had been, and in addition, from her back two white wings had sprouted forth, and a radiant light filled the space.
"Saint Flèche!"
Madoka released a single arrow. Its blinding, radiant light shone like a miniature star as it streaked through the air.
It sent multiple shots outward, when it collided. The Demon screeched like a banshee, as the energy overtook its body; covering it in pale pink light.
The remnants of the vile creature rained down upon them like dark rain.
Once the Demon's core was exposed, Madoka went to attend to her friend. The time traveller's bleeding body was on the concrete where she had fallen. Some of the more minor injuries had begun to heal, but the major ones, like the gut wound and her eyes, were taking longer.
It was a strange, useless feeling, being bested so easily. Normally nothing like this would have happened to Hōmura before.
"I'm sorry Madoka," said Akemi with her head cradled in Madoka's. arms. Her wings were still visible, but right now Hōmura could not enjoy the sight. "I made you use your power."
"I know. It's okay," said Madoka softly. She looked at the guns still held in her friends hands and frowned. "But the strain on your body!" protested Hōmura before coughing up some more blood.
"I'm fine," said Madoka wearily. "Really. First, though, you and I have to defeat this Demon."
Around them the Closed Space wavered slightly, as if cringing from Madoka's words. She had used up a little too much power than she would have liked, and she was already drained, but she knew Hōmura still had enough magic left.
Madoka gently took up Akemi's pale, bloodstained hands and sat behind her.
"Madoka, what're you doing?"
With a sad, small smile, the pink haired girl stared down the Demon's core. "It's okay, Hōmura, I'll be your eyes." She lined up the short and whispered to the black-haired beauty the 'ok'. "With this gun," said Madoka, "we'll fulfill your wish!"
The core exploded like a fireworks show, sending a cascade of rainbow colors into the air. When the lights died down Madoka breathed a sigh.
Most of her magic was returning, since the Demon was destroyed. Even Hōmura's healing had begin to progress further. She was now blinking her eyes and sitting up again without problem. Akemi wondered where Kyūbey and Sayaka had run off to, but noticed them hiding in the bushes near the hospital entrance.
The unlikely duo ran up to Hōmura and Madoka, happy to know the girls were alright. However, something was wrong. Looking at the dark sky above them, Madoka wondered why the Closed Space had not already disappeared.
'Oh, dear,' said {Kyūbey} 'is something the matter, Kaname Madoka?'
Hōmura and Madoka heard the despicable, cold voice from behind them and prayed to the powers that be that this was just their imagination. If it wasn't then they had not stumbled across an Eden-like universe, but Hell itself. The flames were about to life them aflame, and burn their souls once again.
"No…" Hōmura saw the devil standing before them, his cardinal eyes glowing in the darkness of the Closed Space. "It can't be."
Our blue-eyed Kyūbey looked upon the intruder with a suspicious glare. 'Who are you?'
Bowing, the sociopath of an alien walked closer. 'My name is {Kyūbey}. Pleased to meet you.'
Our friendly neighborhood Incubator could hardly believe his eyes. 'This is impossible. I've never seen,' he felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise up, 'much less heard of an Incubator with red eyes.'
{Kyūbey} filed this away for further investigation. But, he chose to not acknowledge his divergent copy any further. There still was a score to settle with a certain middle school girl, as he recalled. 'I hope I've not spoiled your fun, girls.' His immobile face in the darkness was uncanny in many ways. 'It wouldn't be fair if I killed you now, would it? Nor would it be fun.'
Who of you saw that coming? Be honest, now... And the trope page is filling out nicely. Thanks everyone. I'm going to update more often I hope. Hopefully...
