Chapter 36

Armageddon XV

Two=One

The walls around the first level of the barrier started to fall apart and crack under its own weight. Flames engulfed both Sky and Earth. A once-beautiful holy azure sky was now drowned in a sea of red and black. Screeches of inhuman origin drowned all other noise. "SQEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

It was piercing enough to bled someone's ears out. The intensity of the screech was maddening. It felt like several hundred claws scratched the surface of a broken blackboard.

"G-guh…." Her smooth black hair frizzled comically, Homura pushed her arms on the already-dissipating floor. She glanced over to her shield. Just barely functional. "I-I survived?"

"SQREEEEEEEE!"

"G-GAHHH!" The screech felt like tiny little needle worms penetrating Homura's brain. It was driving her insane. When she tried to cover her ears out of instinct, the magical girl felt drops of blood flowing out of her ears. "W-what the hell?!"

Her eyes drifted to the source of the crazy screams and saw a black silhouette contorting and twitching like a dying fish. Then, the silhouette noticed her and started to speak.

"MADOHOPELESSLYTENDECADESNOWORTHNONEXISTENTIADYINGPRETTYPINKBIRDIEDEADEDLIARLIARLIARLIARTHEYALLWORTHLESSDYINGALLTHETIMETIMETIMETIMETIMETIMEINCUBATORTIMEAGAINAGAINAGAINAGAINAGAINAGAINAGAINDYINGOVERANDOVERMADOKAADOKAMADOKAMAGO-MAGO-MADO-GAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAHOPELESSDESPAIRHOPEWATHLESS!WORMIESDANCINGINMYBRAAAAAAIIIIINDEADIEDEDEADEDAEEADEAAAAAAAAD."

The Demon's face contorted, her eyes replaced by gouging red vessels that were ready to pop at any moment. Her once-enchanting skin color turned a sickly gray with black blood vessels dripping out of her skin, bleeding black blood.

Her wings were replaced by hideous centipede-like tendrils that moved erratically. They had a foul stench.

The raven-haired magical girl observed this monstrous doppelganger and clearly noticed something absolutely disturbing.

Her counterpart's stomach would, at times, bloat as if something was wriggling inside her stomach. Sometimes, she'd see a hand stretch out from the innards of the twisted deity's stomach, other times it'd be a full-fledged mummified face. Homura winced.

Homura's vision burned in red as a drop of blood from her forehead slid into her eyes. She blinked and breathed slowly. Instinctively, she took a step back.

Immediately, The Demon froze as still as a statue. Homura reached into her shield and pulled out an RPG, crouched and aimed it directly at her opponent. Her hands were sweaty and her aim was unsteady. Quite frankly, she was afraid. She blinked.

The depraved angel disappeared.

Feeling an intense weight lifted off her shoulders, Homura collapsed. "Gah…not even…Walpurgisnacht made me feel that way…"

Standing up, Homura flipped her hair and placed the RPG back into her shield. Shaking off her nerves, she decided to head to Madoka. "Hold on just a little longer…Madoka."

[]

"That damn idiot!" Kyouko yelled, furious. A vein popped out of her forehead, indicating her mood. "Didn't we tell her not to do anything stupid?!" The redhead tapped her feet, while Mami tried to mediate the mood, when Madoka shrieked.

"W-wow, what is it, Madoka?" Sayaka glanced at the owner of two golden eyes. Her hair started to float against gravity, and the air around her was distorting. But her surprise turned into shock and fear. Sayaka winced, noticing her friend's reaction. "U-uh, what's wrong? Did something happen to Homura?!"

"…She's here."

"…Her…huh?"

Madoka felt a dozen seals being torn down and destroyed, closing in faster and faster to her location, until suddenly, a crack in the false sky materialized. Beyond the crack was pure darkness. A shadow dropped from the crack in reality.

"LOVEDISGRACENEVERLETGOYOULIARIKNOWWWWLIESOLDERTHANILOOKLOSTINTIIMMEEEEEWHEEEEEREEEEDOOON'TTUUUURRRRRNOFFFFTHELIGHHHHHHTTSSSSMOOOOMMMYYYI'MMMLONEEELLYYYYYSUICIIIIIIIDEJUSSSSTDIIIIIEEEEEEABANDOMNENTWORTHLESSNESSPAAPPPAAAAALEEEEFFFFTMEEEEEEEEEWEaaaaKKKKKHEArTTTTTTTT!"

"What….the hell?" Nervous sweat dripped from Sayaka's neck. Fear crept inside her. Nervously, she unsheathed her sword and stepped in front of Madoka, shielding her. "Look at what you've become. You're nothing more than a monster now."

"I-I'm scared!" Yuma broke out in tears. Nagisa held her close, easing her.

"Look, we have to do this…Yuma-chan. We need to. So please, look at me, Yuma-chan." Nagisa slapped her hands onto Yuma's cheeks, knocking the fear out of her, "We are magical girls! We never lose!"

"U-uhuh!" Yuma desperately tried to mimic the same amount of bravery.

Kyouko shook her head, looking away from the deity, while Mami glared fiercely without saying a word.

The demonized creature glanced at Madoka. Without a second's notice, she charged headfirst to the pinkette, but Sayaka bridged the gap between them and swung her sword. "Oh no you don't!" Sayaka screamed as she tried to swat the mutant away. It was like trying to push a fast-moving meteor out of the way.

The blue knight flew back like a ragdoll, landing on her ass when the female creature jumped on her, raising her claws and slashing at her relentlessly. "Shit!" She raised her blade, trying to block the monster's slashes, but piece by piece, parts of her own flesh started to fly off. Her azure hair became frizzled and messy. She couldn't keep up with the speed.

Then, The Demon froze. Dozens of yellow ribbons wrapped around the angel's arms, pulling her back. In that instant, Sayaka spawned several swords, and in rapid succession stabbed her nemesis' face and kicked her off.

Madoka clasped her hands together. "Just a little more…just a little more…"

Mami tried to pull the creature back, only to be dragged into a tug of war, one she was losing. Kyouko wrapped her hands around her senpai's waist and put strength into her back. "Pull!"

Sayaka quickly backed up as she saw a white hammer being thrown like a boomerang. It hit straight at the eldritch angel's head, stunning her, before a massive bubble spawned in front of her, exploding ferociously.

"SCREEEEEE!"

"Oh GOD!" Everybody's ears popped, and blood dripped from them. Madoka winced in pain, but kept her eyes open.

The Demon's claws extended toward the paralyzed quintet, her tendril-like wings wrapped themselves around Nagisa and Yuma, ensnaring them. "Gahh!" They screamed. Bit by bit, their lungs were being pushed out of their chests. Their ribcage started to break.

Immediately, without any thought, Kyouko jumped to the abomination, spawning dozens of illusions to attack. "GREAAAAAHHHHHHH~~~~~!" The monster screamed again.

The airquakes cut through the illusions, and her hand grabbed Kyouko's temple, and smashed her onto the barrier's rose-covered floor. Blood spilled out of the redhead's mouth.

Mami summoned her Ultimate Tiro Finale, but in a flash, The Demon destroyed the giant tea-cup musket, and sent a foot into the blonde's gut. Next thing the veteran knew, she was up in the air. The fall was harsh, and her body numbed from the intense vertigo.

The blue knight tightly grasped two blades firmly in her palms, and gulped. Her opponent's raven-black hair ominously floated against gravity, her teeth grew into canines. She no longer had any vestige of humanity in her left.

"Catch." A melancholic voice echoed through the barrier. Something clanked below the creature's legs. She looked down and noticed a green canister. "Shut your eyes!" The magical girl yelled.

Sayaka shielded her eyes with her cape and Madoka covered her eyes with her hands. The blinding light slowly died down, and when Sayaka hesitantly opened her eyes, she noticed several automated turrets placed around The Demon. Consequently, the tendrils loosened their grip on Nagisa and Yuma, dropping them like ragdolls.

Homura pressed the red button on her palm.

A stampede of metal tore through The Demon's skin. Covered in Madoka's holy magic, each bullet burned. The Demon was about to scream, but Homura fired an RPG, incapacitating her.

"That's enough, Homura-chan, Sayaka-chan. You can leave the rest to me." A beautiful, tranquil and otherworldly voice reached their ears. A visage of white and pink overflowed the barrier. A long white dress stretched out in front of her demonized friend. "It's okay, I'm here."

Shaken, The Demon quietly stood up and gazed over the Law of Cycles. "Madoka."

"Yes, it's me." She confirmed.

"Madoka," Her feet sped up slightly to her.

Homura and Sayaka aimed their weapons at the creature, but Madoka raised her hand and shook her head silently. "Madoka," the angel repeated.

"Yes."

The raven-haired black deity known as Homura Akemi wrapped her arms around her friend. She hugged Madoka tightly, without any visage of letting go. "I'm here, Homura-chan. There's no need to be afraid. I'll always be with you."

"…yes…" She whispered. "…always…" She slowly opened her hands, and her claws extended, slowly reaching into Madoka's back with the intent of separating Madoka from the Law of Cycles again.

Until she felt something burning in her back. "GAAAAAHHH!" She fell back, her soul torn apart. A bright flash of light started to burn its way into her back, her dark bloody veins slowly emanating light.

"I'm so sorry," Madoka apologized. "I'm so sorry."

"GAAAHHHHH!" Her dying screams would forever haunt Madoka's nightmares. "NOOOOOOO!SAVEMEMADOKAAAAAMADOKAAAAAMADOKAAAAASAVEEEEEMEEEEE!"

"I'm so sorry…"

The human Homura looked away in silence. Sayaka looked onwards, searing this memory into her brain, so that something like this would never happen again.

"GRAAAH!HEARTDISEAAAAASEGEERRRRRMAAAAANWALPURGIAAAASNACHTABANDOOOONMEEEEENTMADOOOOKAAAA!"

"When you fused with my witch…You became vulnerable to me, since you aren't just a partial witch anymore... I'm sorry…this was the only way I could think of…apart from…"

The Demon uncharacteristically looked away from Madoka and stared directly at her human counterpart. Still howling in pain, the creature threw her arms back.

Then, against her will, the raven-haired magical girl threw her arms back. "W-what the-" She felt her feet float in the air. Looking at her crazy doppelganger, she noticed the same thing happening to her, like a twisted mirror. She knew what was going to happen. "No!-"

"No! Sayaka-chan, stop her!"

"Shit!" Sayaka pushed her legs as Madoka flew to stop them. Unfortunately, they were just a bit too late.

The human Homura met with the demon Homura, a dark cloud consuming them.

Fallen to her knees, a look of pure despair wormed its way on the Law of Cycles.

Homura Akemi was whole again.

Chapter End

Author Notes

That was actually pretty fun to write. Though I have a feeling I rushed it and maybe even made it a little underwhelming, dunno.

Just a tip, you don't have to read The Demon's ramblings, but if you do, it adds some insight to her personal thoughts. Kinda like the Shaft Monogatari text scenes.

One more chapter before the grand finale(s).