My name is Akemi Homura, and I am a Puella – that's magician, in your common language. I exist mainly to protect her, the sweet-tempered pigtailed girl by the name of Kaname Madoka, but I also exist to protect fellow Puellas. I first got tricked into signing a contract by Incubator, but later overturned the clause and used the power that was bestowed upon me for my sole purpose. For this reason, I was condemned to never die, reincarnating every time I accomplished my mission in every world I lived in – in other words, I cannot permanently die, and I can only achieve my final rest by forsaking my goal. It is impossible for me to forsake Madoka entirely, so I resign myself to this curse and let my soul participate in the endless cycle of reincarnation.
I have lived many lives and walked many Earths. I also have met many versions of Madoka and other fellow Puellas, and though my role varies my goal remains the same: to ensure her safety at all costs. Thus, it was no surprise that after I completed my mission in the world of sleepy hollow (which I will elaborate when I have the time), I vanished from the world and be reincarnated in this alternate realm, aptly named "the world of heart and melting blood". What intrigues me about this world is that it's riddled with (pardon my language) a cluster-fuck of conflicts. From the war between the United States of America and Soviet Union, with Japan still recovering from Fukushima disaster stuck in the middle, to a secret war between Order of Assassins and Knights of Templar. It's amazing that this Earth has tolerated people killing each other, but I know it can only withstand such torment for such long before it decides to say "time's up!"
In this world, I expect Incubator to leave its mark as it would have done in my past incarnations, and I expect Madoka to take up the mantle of Puella as usual. To my surprise and relief, Incubator hasn't reached them. Yet. I emphasise on the word 'yet' because I know that the deceiving creature is just bidding its time before it strikes at the most inappropriate time. For that reason, I have come prepared: pistols, assault carbines, sniper rifles, shotguns, explosives, grenade launchers, surface-to-air missile system, Predator drones, tactical nuke, every type of weaponry I can conceive. Overkill? What overkill?
I would later come across the individual named Tomoe Mami. From my world-jumping experience, I expected this world's version of Mami to be the most senior Puella, or at least whatever version of superhero this world has to offer. Believe me; I have gotten cross-eyed from meeting Mami the Ghost Rider, Mami the Power Girl, Mami the Heroine of Justice, Mami the Demon Cannon Girl and so forth. Such the wonder of multiple universes, don't you think?
This is where my expectation was blown out of the water. Tomoe Mami of the world of heart and melting blood never became a hero. Instead, she's a regular schoolgirl whose only desire is to enjoy a cuppa and admire superheroes. I totally did not expect this, so I did some research and come up with an intriguing piece of information.
Incubator did, in fact, make contact with Mami but was stopped dead on its track by a mysterious woman who introduced herself as 'the purple lady of boundaries'. Not long after the encounter, which ended rather hideously for Incubator, there was a shootout near the crash site and a team of private military contractors came across her and pulled her out of the area. Incubator did not make any attempt to re-establish contact with her (or perhaps, could not; the purple lady's power was not something to be underestimated, from my observation), and Mami's life since then had been rather ordinary, for the lack of better words. It seems to me that she's protected by a mysterious power beyond even the comprehension of the Incubators, and the purple lady might have been hinting at her future role. Is she destined to be a weapon specialist, just like her rescuers?
So, under my guise of shy spectacled schoolgirl (sigh, why do I have to assume this bothersome "Moemura" identity?) I keep my sight on Mami. Perhaps there is more to the world of heart and melting blood than meets the eyes…
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HEART OF MELTING BLOOD
A NEW CHRONICLE
CHAPTER 18
BUTTERFLY OF DEATH AND REBIRTH
STAGE 04 ~ A WAKENING
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[[Previously, at Kyoto…]]
"Metal Gear!?" Mami gasped.
"Stop quoting Solid Snake, Mami," Kyouko reminded.
"No! I mean, a real Metal Gear! Over there!" The girls followed the direction of Mami's finger and saw RAY rampaging across the street. At that very instant Hikki drove past the girls on a superbike, prompting a unified gasp from them.
"Where on Earth did he get that superbike?" Sayaka asked.
"I see Matrix!" Madoka exclaimed.
"He's really using himself as a decoy! Is he out of his mind?" Mami asked.
"What do you want us to do? Help him?" Kyouko asked.
"Yes!" Mami replied. "And I want to help him, too!"
The girls could not protest. Mami was bulldogged stubborn when it came to her determination to help, and not even the end of the universe would put a dent to her effort. "If that's the case." Homura made a gesture in the air, and out of nowhere several briefcases dropped onto the tarmac in front of them. "Inside the briefcases are guns of various types. I don't have time to explain, so make use of them wisely and efficiently."
"Are you implying that we should go commando?" Sayaka asked as she opened a briefcase designated for her and took out Avtomat Kalashnikov AK-101 with grenade launcher attachment.
"Silly Sayaka, we are too girly to go commando." Kyouko's eyes were brimming in glee when the content of her briefcase was revealed: Accuracy International AS50 anti-materiel rifle. "Hell yeah. 50-cal of pure British menace."
"Rocket launcher?" Madoka asked as she examined the "Special Limited Gold Edition" RPG-7.
"RAWKIT LAWNCHAIR!" the Ruchnoy Protivotankoviy Granatomyot announced.
"And my weapon suddenly became sentient," Madoka corrected herself.
"Are you gunslinger girls or something?" Mami asked, only destined to be ignored.
Next Homura conjured ballistic vests with communicators and distributed them to the wary girls. "Wear the vest and make sure the communicator's active all the time. The last thing I want to see is anyone of you channelling Leroy Jenkins."
"Where did you acquire all of these anyway?" Sayaka asked.
"It's classified."
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[[Back to present time…]]
"Let go off her."
"What in the name of Shocker are you?"
"I said let go off her. Do you want to face the fury of the storm?"
Several Shocker Riders already formed a barrier around Apollo Geist.
"Fine. So be it."
He clenched his wind-enveloped hand. A series of wind blasts knocked the Shocker Riders off the tarmac and into the air. He flicked his hand, and in an instant they were caught in fireballs as Evaccania opened fire. Such intensity of the attacks was beyond any comprehension, and the spectators watched in horror as the minions were shredded into pieces and burnt into crisps, until there was nothing left.
He turned his attention to Apollo Geist. "Let go off her. Now."
"You're not a Kamen Rider!" Apollo Geist summoned several altered monsters and commanded them to attack Hikki. "You don't have any chance against us!" The lone fighter reacted by shooting a barrage of wind waves at the monsters. Evaccania followed suit and shot fireballs at the monsters, burning them in midair. "And yet you persist!" Another swarm of monsters was summoned, and they too met the same end as their brethren. It didn't end there, as Hikki threw a wind-enveloped punch at RAY and knocked it off the tarmac. "Who! Are! You?!" the enraged Shocker general asked, punctuated for emphasis.
"Do you really want to know?" He opened a fighting stance. The transformation of the gauntlet was complete, and Evaccania attached itself onto the weapon.
"Screw you and all." Apollo Geist pushed Mami out of the way and pointed his rapier at the adversary. "I will personally kill you for ruining my day."
"Can't let you do that," Hikki replied.
With RAY and Great Shocker in disarray, Homura and Madoka were able to get Mami to the safety of an intact cabin. "We don't know how long the barrier is going to last, but let's assume that it won't dissipate until he's finished with them," Homura said and scouted the outside area for enemies. "Though I have to say… his personality suddenly switched. Like he's letting his alter ego out or something."
"He looks scary, too," Madoka muttered. "I don't like him when he's scary."
"Stay here, Mami," Homura told the drill-haired girl. "Nobody wants to see you getting hurt."
"But I want to help Mister Hikki!" Mami complained.
"Then stay out of his way," Homura reasoned. "That's what he wanted you to do, wasn't it?"
Mami bit her lower lip. She was in no position to argue. Kyouko was right; perhaps she should have just stayed at the café and let the professionals deal with the treat. Yet she really wanted to help, if only because she didn't want Yuu to be sad if something happened to her precious brother.
But what can I do?
There was no time to contemplate. A group of Shocker Riders had walked into the cabin and headed straight toward the girls. Madoka and Homura immediately formed a defensive line and aimed their weapons at the humanoids. Seeing her friends defending her from the enemy made Mami realize how powerless she was. The image of Incubator reappeared in her mind, its smile remaining static though with visible trace of deceit. It was as if the creature had foreseen this day to come.
[Come, Tomoe Mami! Sign this contract with me and become whatever your heart desires!]
She refused. Call it a woman's intuition, but she would not allow herself to go so low and accepted whatever the abomination had to offer.
[You can't escape your destiny! Sign this contract, or watch the world around you fall into disarray!]
Mami clasped her hands. She began to pray to whatever entity that was willing to listen to her. Her only wish was to help Hikki, and that was it; everything else would have to wait. Her prayers were answered when a gap popped over Mami's head. The girls and the altered humanoids looked at the otherworldly object in confusion as an item fell onto the drill-haired girl's lap with a gentle 'pomf'. It was a rifle, but not just any rifle; it was the Lee-Enfield rifle she had admired back at the shrine. Along with it, a note came down fluttering into Mami's hand.
"Decided to give you some advantages. I extensively modified it to fire magic bullets in infinite quantity. Don't worry, you can do it. Now go, he needs you to look after his back."
Mami looked at Homura, then at Madoka, and then at the Lee-Enfield. Just as she was about to question the power that be, note came out of the gap, and it read:
"A proper lady and a rocket launcher won't make an elegant combination, will they? *wink*"
Mami stood up and glared at the Shocker Riders. At first the altered humanoid paid her no attention and continued advancing, then it was as if they had seen an unspeakable horror from within they stopped. In fact, they started backing away.
"Uh, Mami-chan?" Madoka asked.
If the altered humanoids were zombies, she could just scream a barbaric cry and blast them to kingdom, but she disagreed.
After all, a proper lady must behave like a lady should.
"My name is Tomoe Mami." She curtsied to the Shocker Riders. "You hurt my friend." She smiled to them. "Move. And I'll shoot."
Hell hath no fury like a tranquil woman scorned.
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It was said that one could find the true strength of a whistler not in their inherent ability to turn the tide of battle, or their expertise in full-contact magic, but in their utmost desire to protect the most precious. So strong their desire was, that even when stripped off their power, they could still tell destiny to screw itself and proceed to kick reasons and logic to curb.
-x-x-x-x-
"Wow! Such elegance! Very awesome! Much ass-kicking!"
"Uh, she's not a doge, you know."
"I totally did not see that coming from her."
With the grace of a ballerina, and the precision of a surgeon, Mami smashed the wooden stock of the Lee-Enfield onto an altered monster's head. The monster staggered, and Mami immediately followed by thrusting the rifle into the monster's throat. The trigger was pulled, and the monster's innards were ripped apart by ricocheting 30-cal round. She twisted the Lee-Enfield and allowed the lifeless corpse to slide down the bolt-action rifle. There was no bloodstain on the rifle, which Mami found very convenient as she did not want to be occupied by cleaning her weapon of choice while being surrounded by monsters.
But of course, she was digressing.
She pulled the bolt, allowing the Lee-Enfield to eject empty cartridge out of its chamber, and shot at a monster directly at her line of sight. "Boom, headshot," she muttered and pulled the bolt, letting another empty cartridge to be ejected. An armadillo altered monster pounced at her, and without even turning around, she slung the Lee-Enfield over her shoulder, its muzzle pointed at the monster and-
BOOM!
"There goes the monster's head," Homura commented.
"Danmaku is all about firepower," Mami mused. "Oops. Did I just quote the ordinary magician?"
Back in Gensokyo, Marisa was enjoying her lunch with Reimu when the black-white witch suddenly sneezed. "No blessing for you," the red-white miko jeered.
"Jeez, Reimu, you're stone-cold heartless as usual," Marisa quipped.
The female operators were as equally busy as Mami. Madoka was struggling to recover from each shot fired from the weapon she nicknamed 'RPG-kun' all while shouts of "RAWKIT LAWNCHAIR!" and "PEACE THROUGH SUPERIOR FIREPOWER!" were booming from the sentient weapon. Sayaka was busy lobbing grenades from her AK, levelling up her Sleight of Hand perk in the process. Kyouko could not restrain her trigger finger as she fired shots after shots of 50-cal bullets from the AS50 ala The Screaming Warrior. As for Homura, she was heard shouting "say hello to my little friend!" while firing a Minigun at the Shocker Riders.
The female operators regrouped. The altered monsters and Shocker Riders had been reduced to just half a fraction of their original numbers. Much attention was toward Mami, however, the girl who never was, and the drill-haired girl found herself blushing shyly. "What? Is my marksmanship not impressive enough?" she asked.
"The fact that your personality suddenly flips worries us more than your marksmanship," Homura reasoned.
"Yeah, you looked deathly scary," Sayaka said.
"Ah, I'm sorry. I guess I got too engrossed in it, aren't I?" Mami asked.
"I see no bayonet-stabbing action, though," Kyouko snorted. "What a shame."
"And a bomb is a poor choice for close-quarter combat," Mami joked.
"RAGING STORM!"
A powerful wind shear swept across the area. "What on Earth is going on!?" Sayaka shouted, her voice almost drowned by its roaring noise. It was followed by an explosion that was as bone-shattering as it was world-shaking.
"There! Over there!"
Everyone followed Sayaka's finger and saw Apollo Geist kneeling, his shield raised up as if he had withstood an aerial barrage. The attacker was nowhere in sight, though Madoka quickly noticed his whereabouts. So, too, was Apollo Geist as he lifted his head and looked up front.
"That murderous intention," Apollo Geist hissed. "I never thought I'd come across such intention before. It can't be!"
The attacker revealed himself as Hikki. He lifted his hand and pointed at Apollo Geist. He was brimming in fury, a cold, emotionless fury like no other. Just seeing into his eyes invoked unspoken fear in the girls. "Do you yield?" Apollo Geist did not budge and instead returned the glare. "I repeat this only once: do you yield?"
Then Mami spotted a shadowy figure out of a distance.
And she recognized the shape of the figure.
"Mister Hikki, watch out!"
It was too late. RAY already fired at him. Hundreds of high-explosive rocket warheads, countless 20mm armour-piercing bullets and barrages of laser were unleashed in all-or-nothing attack. It was too sudden not even the female operators could react. The attacks hit, detonated, exploded, and annihilated everything within the blast radius.
"No!" Mami fell onto her knees. Her senses went numb, her breaths stopped, her heart skipped. The unspeakable horror of seeing her friend blasted to kingdom come was too much for her. No one could survive such attack, and it would take more than mere miracle for anyone to survive its monstrosity.
"Well, shit." Kyouko reloaded the AS50 and glared at RAY. "You broke Mami's heart. You just had to break her heart. Die, you fifty-feet-high bastard."
"I don't want to say this, but…" Sayaka pointed at the Metal Gear. "You're going down!"
"Let's go, RPG-kun!" Madoka said and aimed the rocket launcher at RAY.
"RAWKIT LAWNCHAIR! PEACE THROUGH SUPERIOR FIREPOWER!"
And that was when an arrow shot out of the dust and struck RAY-
Leaving butterfly-shaped trails in its wake.
What… what just happened?
The girls could not believe their eyes. Out of the dust he emerged, battered, torn and covered in blood. Yet somehow he lived, and survived the odds.
"Mister Hikki! You're alive!"
The girls hurried to approach him, but they stopped. All their joy had died and was replaced with dread. Why did he look more menacing? Why did the wind shear turn dark purple? And why was there an apparition shaped like butterfly wings sprouting from his back?
"You…"
He pointed at RAY.
"Disappear."
Evaccania screamed.
"Now."
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No other groups displayed such strength of display better than gale whistlers, natural-born whisperers of the wind, and fearless riders of the storm. Lost in the river of history, their existence was shrouded in myth and legends, and many scholars argued whether they were real or not. Few people believed the gale whistlers were real, and fewer still had the opportunity to witness their power firsthand. And when they did, they wished they never meddled with their affair…
…for gale whistlers were very subtle and easy to anger.
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With a flick of his fingers, a gigantic tornado crashed onto RAY and engulfed it whole. Evaccania let out a head-splitting screech and fire barrages of various-shaped projectiles at the Metal Gear. RAY's mechanical scream of agony was deafened by the eldritch roar of the tornado as it ripped the Metal Gear's outer skin.
His eyes closed. He clenched his hand. And he started speaking-
In gibberish.
"What kind of language is that?" Apollo Geist asked.
"Whoa, what the hell am I listening to?" Kyouko asked.
"Urk, make them stop," Sayaka moaned and clutched her head in pain.
Everyone could hear. Words echoing inside their head, knocking every crook and cranny of their brain. Voiceless as they might be, cryptic as they would be, eldritch as they were. Words men were not supposed to know. Words mere mortals would not comprehend were their true meanings revealed.
Not only could they hear, they could also understand.
The tornado slowed down to a more plausible speed, eldritch it still might be. The mad chant, too, had stopped. Everyone looked at each other in utter bewilderment before they turned to the lone man. The 'butterfly wings' continued flapping, Evaccania floated over his head, and the wind shear grew darker by the seconds.
"Uh, what now?" Madoka broke the unnerving silence.
Hikki opened his palm. He muttered again. In common language.
[Doomsday. Interception. Darkened. Breakthrough. Suburb. Canal Fleet. Defensive Line. Judgment Day. Scaffold. Hellfire. Afterglow. Last Words. Taxidi Sta Outopias. Hells Tier.]
A red arrow shot through RAY, leaving behind a butterfly-shaped hole on where the central processing unit was. Another red arrow penetrated the Metal Gear, before it was followed by countless butterflies that swarmed RAY en masse.
He clenched his hand-
[No.]
Threw a punch across the area-
[Remorse.]
And RAY was obliterated in a blaze of pure, unadulterated nightmarish fuel.
He whiffed his hands, and the butterflies disintegrated into the air, leaving in their wake a speck of dust. At the same time, the boundary that surrounded the housing estate slowly began to crumble before it caved in. A sudden gust of wind signalled everyone that they had returned to the outside world.
His business with RAY done, Hikki turned around pointed at Apollo Geist. The Great Shocker general snarled in annoyance and summoned what was left of his minions. "I will take my retreat, but that doesn't mean I'm defeated! I, Apollo Geist, will get my revenge!" Having declared that, Apollo Geist got sucked into a translucent wall and disappeared. The girls tried to chase after him but stopped, for there was an urgent matter to attend to.
"Mister Hikki?" He turned around. The moment he opened his mouth, he fell onto his knees and did a face-plant on the tarmac. This panicked the girls, especially Mami, and they immediately rushed to his aid. "Mister Hikki! Mister Hikki! Please don't die on us!"
"Stop that, I'm still alive…" and there was a collective sigh of relief from the girls. He did, however, ask to be turned onto his back, and the girls obliged out of concern. An amused smile crept upon his battered face as he examined each and every one of them. "Since when I was under the impression that you girls work as PMCs?"
"Excuse me?" The girls were heads over heel by the question.
"Never mind that. What the hell happened?" he asked.
"Insanity happened," Homura answered. "Jokes aside, it was a necessary measure to defend ourselves. Guns or no guns."
"You girls need to learn the proper way to go tactical." He coughed, but quickly lifted his finger when the girls started panicking. "As for you, Miss Tomoe." He frowned slightly."Didn't I tell you to stay behind?"
"I… I'm sorry, Mister Hikki. I… I just wanted to help," Mami apologized.
He dismissed her worry with a wave of his hand. "At least you're safe. That's more important."
"We have to leave. The military's going to show up, and they won't appreciate us being here," Homura said.
"Where to?" Sayaka asked.
"I know a place, give me a sec." He fiddled with the intact communicator and spoke into its mouthpiece. "Shadow Scope, Silver Wind. Requesting immediate extraction. Also requesting, uh, six stretchers. We have injured personnel requiring medical attention."
"Copy that, Silver Wind. Big Bird is on its way, ETA five minutes. Will also provide medical support to all personnel upon arrival."
He slumped. "Yuu's going to kill me all the way to Sunday if she finds out what her Oniichan did today…"
…
…
…
The hooded man watched everything, his feet dangling in the air while he was sitting on a helipad on a radio tower far from the area. With his futuristic-designed sinister scythe resting precariously over his shoulder, he found everything about the skirmish very intriguing. Not that he was interested in the fight, nor did he intend to interfere, though he did find the prospect very tempting. It was the human elements that fascinated him. The girls' bravery in facing the odds, the involvement of Great Shocker, the appearance of Witch, the rampage of Metal Gear, the awakening.
Especially the awakening.
"The bearer of the accursed wind. From the day you were born, your existence is rejected by this world and everything that lives on it. And yet you choose to live, ignoring all prejudices and naysay. Only the hardiest of all can survive the bigotry and injustice of this world."
The hooded man stood up. Streams of cherry petals slowly enveloped him as he turned around and walked away from the helipad.
"Be strong, child of eternal magnolia. Discover your true strength and embrace it with all your heart. When that day comes, I shall come and personally judge your worthiness."
The petals were gone with the wind. So too did the hooded man. All that was left was a butterfly on the helipad, blissfully ignorant of this world of heart and melting blood…
[[TO BE CONTINUED…]]
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[[DISCLAIMER]]
This author does not own Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Touhou Project, Metal Gear, Kamen Rider, Ketsui, Deus Ex and whatnot. All original ideas in this story are subject to his creativity and authority to alter, modify or outright retcon at his behest. Thank you for reading, and please wait warmly while this author is preparing.
"Excuse me, but where's preview for the next episode?" Mami asked.
"I didn't include it, as I don't want to spoil the story," the author answered. "Besides, a bomb is a bad choice for close-quarter battle."
"Are you going to turn me into Adam Jensen?" Mami's question was greeted with a glee from both Kyouko and Sayaka. Especially Kyouko who started ogling her chest and drooling in the process. "Uh, I'll pass. I don't want my body to be augmented."
"Aw," Kyouko and Sayaka moaned in disappointment.
"You don't? What a shame," the author mused. "At least you have nerves of steel."
"Hey, stop that," Mami complained.
"RAWKIT LAWNCHAIR! PEACE THROUGH SUPERIOR FIREPOWER!" Madoka's rocket launcher went into a fit of supremacy complex as it started blasting office blocks.
"I'm worried if people want to see me going beyond their expectation," Mami said.
"Eh, don't worry, Mami. Someday in this universe, you will Tiro Finale the bad guys of this world with style and substance," the author assured.
"Uh, thanks?"
"But Mami was already a gunner in PMMM canon, so giving her a gun is redundant," Homura said.
"Since when you were under the impression that I was going to turn her into a rifleman?" the author replied. "And what do you want her to be instead? Rocketeer? Space sheriff? Smooth criminal? Ordinary magician?"
The thought of Mami wearing black-white witch dress with a totally radical hat blasting every opponent with enough annihilation of love and stealing their precious things as her reward brought unknown shivers to everyone. As if equipping Mami with twin buster rifles that also happened to be sentient was not enough, now they had to be content with kleptomaniac heroine of the blazing star?
"I'd let Mami steal my precious thing, if you know what I mean," Sayaka nodded sagely.
"Dibs on that," Kyouko agreed.
"Uh, I'll pass on that, too," Mami had the decency to decline.
"Aw."
"What a shame."
"Uh, guys, help?"
"RAWKIT LAWNCHAIR! HEAVY MACHINEGUN! DROP SHOT! UH-OH, BIG!"