Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Reconnect

by monkeycyborgninja

"I've been having some weird thoughts lately... like, is any of this real, or not?" A year has passed since Madoka returned to Japan, and when she begins to question her own memories, she sets out on a journey to find the one person she believes has the answers, all with the help of a key shaped sword.

12. And The Winner Is

A/N: Sora's in Smash! SORA'S! IN! SMAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH!

...Sorry, just had to get that out of my system. For the, like, five of you that didn't know, Sora was revealed as the final Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC fighter today, and I am just absolutely ECSTATIC over it! Super Smash Bros is like the unofficial hall of fame for video game characters, getting in means you've left a mark on video game history, and so this is a momentous occasion for Kingdom Hearts fans everywhere, arguably even more so than the release of Kingdom Hearts III! Not to mention that Sora was THE MOST REQUESTED fighter in that ballot Nintendo did six years ago, and so I can think of no better way to end the DLC package than giving the fans exactly what they asked for. #ThankYouSakurai.

Anyway, big day for KH fans, and I just so happened to get the ok from my beta reader to post the next chapter today as well, so... here you go!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Puella Magi Madoka Magica

---

And The Winner Is…

"Not bad, kid." Phil said as he handed Madoka an official pass, identical to the one Mami had been given the day before. "Not bad at all."

"Th-Thank you very much, Phil-san." Madoka awkwardly accepted the praise, and the pass.

"I guess Sora knows a thing or two about coaching after all, 'ey Phil?" Hercules said, the satyr's expression immediately souring.

"Whoa there, let's not get ahead of ourselves now." Phil rebuked. "You did alright for your first outing, kid, but there's still plenty of room for improvement." He said, stroking his goatee as he pondered on her performance in the ring. "You still got a lot of rough edges from what I can see, and if I was training you, I would have ironed those out before letting you try out for the games. Still, you did better than a lot of these other yahoos, so I guess that knucklehead is doing something right."

Madoka could only offer an awkward laugh in response to Phil's critiques, mostly because they had drawn the attention of all of the other competitors in the lobby that the satyr had just brazenly insulted. She could hear the hushed whispers of all of the recovering combatants discussing her, either trading baffled praise of her performance, or cursing under their breath that they were shown up by such a frail seeming girl.

Madoka distracted herself from the unwanted attention by looking over the small, beige pass she had been given. On the top half was printed text that read: "This pass gives the competitor (Kaname Madoka) full entry into the Hercules Cup", and near the bottom was the insignia for that particular division of the tournament: a silhouette of the hero himself flexing his arms in a heroic pose. A proud smile crossed Madoka's face as she read her name scribbled in ink on the pass, recalling a similar sense of pride that Sora had felt when it was his name that was scrawled amongst the printed text, announcing to the world that he had earned his spot amongst the greatest warriors in all of Greece.

And now, Madoka could say the same.

"So, the Hercules Cup is just going to be a regular fighting tournament, right?" Madoka inquired.

"That's right, kid." Phil replied, flipping to a page on his clipboard and showing her three separate brackets, each one labeled with the insignias of the three tiers of the tournament. "Tomorrow, the competitors that passed the qualifiers are gonna duke it out in a good old fashioned bracket tournament across the Phil, Pegasus, and, of course, Hercules Cups." He explained.

"So far, only you and two others have qualified for the Hercules Cup." Hercules chimed in. "As things stand, it'll be you, your friend Mami, and Lightning in the tournament tomorrow."

"Huh? Only the three of us?" Madoka said in surprise and confusion. She had figured that the tournament bearing Hercules' name would be difficult to qualify for, but to think that there weren't even enough finalists to fill out the bracket. "Can we even hold the tournament with only three people?"

"Don't you worry about that," Phil assured. "We've still got a couple of matches to get through before the qualifiers are over. But, if we end up not being able to fill out that last spot, we'll think of something."

"Oh, ok then." Madoka said, trusting the tournament coordinator to have it covered

"Well, whoever ends up filling that last spot, you best believe they're gonna be bringing their A-game tomorrow, so I suggest you do the same, kid." Phil warned her.

"Right, I'll do my best!" Madoka declared, Phil responding with a satisfied smile.

"That's the spirit. Now run along, unless you want to stick around and get hounded by a bunch of sore losers." The satyr said as he made to return to his duties.

Madoka's attention was drawn back to the room full of bitter competitors, every single one of them with their eyes on her. With an awkward smile and nervous scratch of her head, she hid her coveted Hercules Cup pass behind her back, in a display of courteous humility to the room full of, as Phil had put it, "sore losers".

"Maybe we better not overstay our welcome." Hercules whispered to her, suspecting that it was his own presence that kept the rest of the participants from bearing down on her more harshly.

"R-Right…" Madoka agreed, following Hercules to the exit, trying her best to ignore the cold stares as the two of them passed by. However, before they left, Madoka remembered something she wanted to ask.

"Phil-san, one more thing before I go." She called back from the doorway, regaining the satyr's attention. "Um, about the last round… why did I fight the Clara Dolls?" Madoka hesitantly inquired.

"Is that what those creepy things are called?" Phil said obliviously, much to Madoka's surprise. "Herc and I caught them lurking around the coliseum while we were wrapping up afternoon training, so we rounded them up and kept them with the rest of the challenges we had lined up for the qualifiers. Didn't think we'd end up actually using them, but some of the Heartless we had prepared ended up escaping, so we just had to improvise."

"So… they're just monsters you found yesterday?"

"That's what I'm saying. What, you know something I don't, kid?" Phil asked suspiciously.

"Huh? Oh, no, not really…" Madoka quickly denied. "I was just… curious why I was fighting Heartless the first two rounds and not the third, that's all." She clumsily explained, slowly inching towards the door. "W-Well, see you later, Phil-san. I hope you'll cheer for me tomorrow too. Bye-bye!" With that, Madoka slipped through the stone doorway and frantically closed the door behind her, breathing a sigh of relief as she escaped from being scrutinized any further.

"Are you ok, Madoka?" Hercules asked in concern.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. I guess I'm still just a little riled up from my last fight." Madoka quickly assured him.

"Yeah, I can see why. Those "Clara Doll" things are pretty nasty. I can't believe that they managed to get into the coliseum without anyone noticing." Hercules mused with crossed arms.

"Right…"

Madoka grew ever more curious with each passing second. She knew for a fact that both Phil and Hercules should have met the Clara Dolls the day before, as Mami's entourage, and yet neither of them seemed to recall the older girl's affiliation with the strange little gremlins. Then again, Madoka had experienced something similar when she had first met the Clara Dolls; she hadn't noticed that something was off about them until after they began killing Heartless to protect her and her friends.

'I guess Mami really is trying to sabotage me…' Madoka lamented to herself.

She considered speaking up about it, after all, the games had rules for a reason, and if Mami was going to cheat, then why not call her out on it and get her disqualified? But then, they would be right back where they started, with Mami wanting to take Madoka back to Mitakihara, and Madoka refusing to go. And so, she would still need to fight her, with no reward for victory other than another broken friendship.

'It's better this way. I have to win tomorrow, then, Mami-san will go back to being the friend that I admire so much. I can show her the Gummi Ship, she can meet the real Mr. Scrooge, and we can keep on fighting to save our home… together.'

"Hercules-san… I'm going to give it my all tomorrow." Madoka said, reclaiming Hercules' attention as she looked up at him with a determined gaze. "So, once I'm facing off against you in the final stage… I promise that I won't hold back!" Hercules gave a small gasp at the declaration, before a nostalgic smile crossed his chiseled face, and then settled into a competitive grin.

"Took the words right out of my mouth."

---

Madoka waved Hercules goodbye as he flew over the coliseum gates on Pegasus' back, leaving her alone in the middle of the spacious courtyard… or, so she thought.

"So, you had a few more tricks up your sleeve after all." Madoka gasped at the sound of the familiar stoic voice. She turned around and saw none other than Lightning, stepping out from behind one of the tall bronze statues that flanked the front entrance of the Coliseum.

"Lightning-san! So you watched my match after all?" Madoka said, pleasantly surprised.

"…A good soldier always airs on the side of caution when dealing with unknowns." Lightning replied with a dismissive shrug. "Besides, I needed to kill time before my training session."

"Training session?"

"…The satyr offered to "give me some pointers" after the qualifiers finished." Lightning said, venomous ire laced in every word.

"Huh? Ph-Phil-san did?" Madoka said in surprise, and no small amount of disgust. "And… you accepted?"

"He may be a perverted old goat, but he did train the strongest hero in all of Greece, the very same one you and I will be fighting tomorrow." Lightning elaborated. "So long as he keeps his hands to himself, training with him will hopefully give me some insight into how Hercules fights."

"Oh… Oh! I get it, so you're training with Phil-san so you can get an edge over Hercules-san in the tournament tomorrow!" Madoka realized.

"Admittedly, it'll only be a small advantage, hardly enough to meaningfully increase my odds of winning, but against such a strong opponent, I'll take what I can get." Lightning asserted.

"Yeah, I guess you're right…"

"Let me guess, you were planning on going in completely blind and hoping to eek out a win by just "trying your best", right?" Madoka gasped at the accusation, a flustered look on her face as she met Lightning's scrutinizing gaze.

"Huh? N-No, that's not… I just…" She struggled to reply, as the older pinkette had hit the nail right on the head. Despite knowing full well how difficult of an opponent Hercules was going to be, the thought that she should actually prepare for the match in some way never actually crossed her mind. When Madoka's frantic stuttering petered out into defeated whimpering, Lightning scoffed under her breath.

"You really are in way over your head here, kid. Just stay home tomorrow, if you know what's good for you." Lightning coldly suggested, Madoka's face falling as Lightning turned away from her and made her way to the coliseum entrance. Madoka's hands tightened into fists, shaking slightly as she listened to the sound of Lightning's armored boots climbing up the stairway to the stone doors, her armored gauntlet pressing against it and slowly pushing it open.

"…I know that." Madoka finally spoke up, Lightning pausing and looking back over her shoulder at her. "You don't have to keep telling me that I'm way out of my league here, I know that better than anyone, but still… but still, I'm going to fight!" Madoka declared, raising her head with a determined look on her face. "I may be young and inexperienced, but I'm not weak! I earned my spot in the Hercules Cup just like you did, and just like Sora did before me! I fought my way here with the very same weapon he used to fight and defeat Hercules with, and sure, I've made mistakes along the way, but will you please stop treating me like I'm just… just a weak and helpless child!" Madoka angrily demanded; throwing all of the frustration she had built up from being dismissed and underestimated at the older swordswoman.

Lightning remained silent, her narrowed gaze meeting with Madoka's, quietly gauging something before she eventually turned her head back around, away from the younger pinkette. However, rather than completely dismiss Madoka's complaints and press forward, Lightning instead lowered her hand from the door, letting the finely cut stone slab slowly close shut of its own accord.

"You sound… just like her." Lightning said, barely above a whisper.

"Huh? What do you…?"

Suddenly, in a blur of motion that Madoka was only barely able to follow, Lightning suddenly appeared at her side, her shield arm raised across her body, ready to strike. At the very last minute, Madoka ducked out of the way of the attempted shield bash, but she had no time to process the sudden attack as Lightning lifted her leg and brought it down on her in a heel kick. Madoka just barely managed to roll out of the way, the sound of Lightning's metal boot smashing against the ground echoing throughout the courtyard as Madoka leapt back to create some distance between her and her sudden aggressor.

"Not bad, but this much is to be expected of someone who passed the qualifiers." Lightning commented as she pulled her armored heel out of the slightly cracked ground and steadied her stance.

"Huh? L-Lightning-san, what are you…" Madoka's frantic inquiry was interrupted by the sounds of cheering from within the coliseum, the match after hers already well underway.

"Like I said, I need to kill some time." Lightning said as she tightened the straps of her shield.

"W-Wait, we're fighting?" Madoka asked in shock and confusion.

"Call it a warm up before my training session." Lightning said, lowering into a defensive stance with her shield ready to guard. "Tell you what, if you can make me draw my sword, we'll call it your win, and I'll stop dismissing you as a just a child."

"What? But, don't the rules say that we can't fight outside of the…" Madoka's protests were quickly ignored as Lightning lunged forward in a charging shield bash, forcing Madoka to summon the Keyblade to defend. The force of the impact sent Madoka sliding back, but she remained standing, pushing against Lightning's shield as she pushed back.

"If you don't want to fight, then go ahead, turn tail and run like you did this morning." Lightning asserted as she won the clash, sending Madoka's weapon flying out of her hand and clanging on the ground behind her. Lightning followed up with a front kick, which Madoka dodged with a back handspring, summoning the Keyblade back to her hand once she was upright again.

Despite the taunting nature of the suggestion, Madoka's eyes turned towards the open front gates of the coliseum courtyard, and before she knew it, she began to rush towards them. She should have known it wouldn't be that simple.

"Of course this time, Hercules isn't here to cover your escape!" Lightning said as she leapt up, kicked off of the nearby wall, and came down on Madoka with another charging shield bash. The younger pinkette sidestepped out of the way, deflecting the attack with the Keyblade as Lightning flew passed her. As soon as Lightning was back on her feet, she swung her shield arm back around towards Madoka, who ducked under it and brought up the Keyblade to deflect Lightning's metal boot as she threw a follow up roundhouse kick to the head. Lightning then leapt back to avoid retaliation, allowing Madoka enough breathing room to get her thoughts and feelings in order.

Lightning now stood between her and the exit, shield at the ready to quite literally block her path.

'OK, how am I gonna get passed… to the right…' Madoka shifted her stance in preparation to run to her right, only for Lightning to shift her own stance in order to block her. 'To the left…' She then shifter her stance to the left, and Lightning did the same. 'Maybe slide under…' She lowered her stance, Lightning doing the same and bringing down her shield to guard the gap between legs.

It was no use, Lightning was not going to let her just run away, which left her with only two options; obey the rules of the games and surrender, or throw the rules out the window and fight. After all of the condescension she had had to endure recently, the last thing she wanted to do was surrender and beg for forgiveness, like a child being bullied on the playground. On the other hand, she also didn't want to disrespect Phil and the games by breaking the rules, especially on the whims of some sour soldier who seemed to just be offended by her very existence. As Madoka pondered her next move, she locked eyes with Lightning, her sharp, familiar gaze piercing straight through her, the very same gaze she had worn as he fought the Heat Saber in the ring.

There's a lot more at stake here for the both of you than just a title and a trophy.

"…Alright, fine, you asked for it!" Madoka finally declared before brandishing the Keyblade and dashing forward.

Lightning was visibly surprised by how quickly she closed the distance, but still, she was faster, bringing her shield up to defend against the downward slash the younger pinkette threw at her. Madoka tried to push down on the shield, but Lightning easily won the clash, throwing Madoka's sword arm to the side and leaving her open for a spinning back kick that sent her flying back. Thankfully, Madoka landed on her feet a few meters back, but Lightning gave her no chance to think as she closed the distance with a charging shield bash. Madoka avoided the strike by rolling to the side; Lightning dashing a few meters passed her before sliding to a stop.

"Fire!" Once back on her feet, Madoka shot three Fire spells at Lighting, the battle-hardened soldier almost effortlessly blocking each ball of fire with her shield. However, the spells were only a misdirection, putting Lightning on the defensive long enough for Madoka to approach and attempt to thrust the Keyblade into the soldier's exposed abdomen. Yet still, Lightning once again out sped her, turning on her heel to completely avoid the thrust and retaliating with a swing of her shield arm.

Madoka ducked under the swing and took the opportunity to step into Lightning's guard and land and upward swing that sent Lightning flying back. Lightning quickly recovered in the air with a flip and landed on her feet on the other side of the courtyard, but Madoka was prepared for that.

"Freeze!" Madoka cried, as the moment Lightning's feet touched the ground she let loose two Blizzard spells, freezing the older pinkette's feet to the ground.

'Now, before she gets free!' Madoka thought as she dashed forward, taking the chance to put on the pressure now that her foe was stationary. She let out a fierce cry as she came down on Lighting with a jumping downward slash, and for a moment, it seemed like the strike would connect, Lightning's shield arm not moving to block the blow.

However, that was because her free arm was conjuring a bubble of water between its fingers, and with a wave of her hand, Madoka was sent flying back by a small torrent of water, falling to the ground flat on her back with a grunt.

"Ugh… you… can cast magic bare-handed?" Madoka said in surprise as she stumbled to her feet.

"If that's enough to impress you…" Lightning said as she began curling her fingers again, electrical sparks arcing between them. "Than you really are out of your league! Thunder!" She shouted as she let the bolts loose from her fingers straight into the sky. Almost instantly, three bolts of lightning rained down on Madoka from above, the girl just barely managing to avoid them with a side roll.

"Fire!" Madoka casted another barrage of Fire spells at Lightning, only for her to bring up her shield and dash forward with a charging shield bash, the balls of flame harmlessly bouncing off of the rounded piece of metal.

Madoka avoided the strike with a side roll, immediately retaliating with an overhead strike, which Lightning easily turned around to block. Madoka followed up with a low sweeping slash to Lightning's feet, the soldier leaping over the silver blade only to be sent staggering back by a powerful thrust that just barely managed to slip passed her guard. Madoka quickly reengaged with Lightning, keeping the pressure up with rapid, consecutive slashes that the older pinkette almost effortlessly blocked. Sparks flew as the silver blade of Madoka's weapon came at Lightning from every angle she could manage, only to meet the polished steel of Lightning's shield every single time.

Eventually, Lighting found a slight lull in Madoka's barrage, and slammed the shield into her exposed face to make her stagger back. Before Madoka could shake off the initial daze, Lightning kicked the Keyblade out of Madoka's grasp with a crescent kick, and before she could even think of calling the weapon back to her, Lightning sent her flying back with another torrent of water, Madoka gasping as she was slammed against the stone wall of the courtyard.

"Madoka! Are ye alright, lass?" Mini-Scrooge piped up from inside her hood.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine… she just caught me while I was off balance." Madoka replied as she quickly shook off the pain.

It was true, despite being sent flying across the battlefield, the actual force behind the spell wasn't nearly as potent as she had been expecting. She thought back to their battle against the Heartless the day before, recalling that Lightning's Water spells had conjured multiple surges of water rather than just one.

'Is she just going easy on me? Or maybe casting bare handed makes the spells weaker?' Madoka pondered. Regardless of the reason for the handicap, Lightning's skill more than made up for her lack of a proper weapon and casting focus, and while Madoka was able to hold her own for the moment, it was only a matter of time before she wore herself out trying to get passed the soldier's impeccable defenses.

'I need to end this quickly… and I think I know just the thing I need to do it!'

Madoka summoned the Keyblade back to her hand as she regained her footing, meeting Lightning's gaze as the soldier put up her shield in a defensive stance. With a deep breath, Madoka brought up her free hand to grasp the pendant hanging from her neck, a soft glow emanating from it as she called upon the power within her heart. Realizing what she was trying to do, Lightning dashed forward, shield forward in a charging shield bash, but for once, Madoka was faster.

"Lend me your strength… Mr. Rabbit!" Madoka cried, sending the power in her pendant bursting forth in a pulse of white light. The shockwave was enough to stop Lightning's approach, sending her sliding back as she shielded her eyes from the bright light. Once it died down, and visibility returned to her, Lightning looked back to see Madoka clad in the White Rabbit Cosplay, a renewed spring in her step as she lowered back into a fighting stance to once again clash with Lightning.

"Another new trick? Well, let's see what it can do!" Lightning said as electricity arced between her fingers once again. But this time, rather than send it into the sky, she allowed it to travel throughout her body, expelling outward in a ring around her as she dashed forward with a Thunder Surge. Regardless of the added elemental flair, Madoka was prepared for the forward assault, raising the Keyblade up into the air and letting lose a spell of her own.

"Haste!"

A small clock appeared above Madoka's head, the hands spinning around it with ever increasing speed. Just as Lightning's Thunder Surge was about to collide with her, Madoka dashed to side with blinding speed, stopping just outside of the range of the electrical ring.

"What?" Lightning gasped in surprise at her opponent's sudden increase in speed.

She wasn't given any time to think, for as soon as the sparks around her disappeared, Madoka came at her with a forward thrust, Lightning just barely able to bring up her shield in time to deflect the strike. However, Madoka immediately retaliated with a turning slash at her exposed back, sending Lightning staggering into the wall. She followed up with a horizontal slash, but despite her speed, Lightning's reflexes saved her, the older girl leaping over the silver blade as it slammed against the wall. She then kicked off of the cracked stone, landing with a few back handsprings to create some distance between her and Madoka. Undeterred, Madoka quickly closed the distance with a series of short hops, moving like the agile rabbit that she was imitating, and slammed Keyblade against Lightning's shield in an overhead slash.

Lightning deflected the blade away from her and brought her free hand forward to fire a Water spell that she already had prepared. Unsurprisingly, Madoka was easily able to dodge the spell, hopping to the side and retaliating with a forward thrust from Lightning's unprotected right side. But it was futile, as with a wave of her hand, Lightning redirected the torrent of water, catching Madoka right before she could reach her and sending her tumbling to the ground, barely able to recover with a shoulder roll.

"You may be faster now, but your attacks are still predictable!" Lightning declared before coming at her with another charging shield bash.

This time, however, Madoka didn't bother to try and block, instead avoiding the attack by dashing away. However, as previously stated, Lightning was easily able to predict what she would try, catching a glance of Madoka coming at her from behind as she turned her body to slam her shield against her. However, by the time she brought her shield arm all the way around, Madoka was able to halt her strike and duck out of the way of the shield. She then leaped into the air from her kneeling position, Lightning bring up her shield to block an overhead strike. But instead, Madoka used the shield as a spring board to hop towards the statues over the coliseum entrance, kicked off of one of them, and came down on Lighting with a horizontal slash that managed to cleave across her unprotected right side.

Staggering from the unexpected hit, Madoka was able to follow up with a thrust to her back that made her stagger forward. Lightning turned around and brought her shield up to block the next strike, but by the time she had done so, Madoka was coming at her from a different angle, sending her flying back with a turning slash. Lightning recovered in the air with a flip and landed on her feet, only to have to block another strike from Madoka, having no chance to counter before she had to duck under another strike that came from a different direction.

Sparks flew as the two pinkettes traded blows, Lightning barely able to keep up with Madoka's hasted speed. She wasn't moving so fast that Lightning couldn't follow her movements, but with Madoka hopping and zipping all around the battlefield, coming at her from all different angles, Lightning had few chances to counter, keeping her purely on the defensive. Suddenly, the limitations of fighting with only a shield became all too apparent. Lightning often over extending her shield arm to block a strike coming from one direction, only to be wacked by an attack from the opposite direction that she wasn't quick enough to move her shield in front of.

Eventually, Madoka came at her head first, dashing into her guard and knocking her shield arm off to the side with a powerful diagonal swing. Left completely open, Lightning's back against the wall, Madoka leapt up into the air for a flying spinning slash, a solid hit that would almost certainly turn the tables of the fight in her favor. She twisted in the air, the effects of the Haste spell ending just as the momentum brought the Keyblade crashing down on the defenseless soldier, and…

SHWING!

"GAH!" Madoka cried as she was suddenly sent flying back by a horizontal slash. The girl tumbled onto the ground, kicking up dust as she skid to a stop across the battlefield. With a pained moan, she forced herself back onto her feet, eyes widening in shock at the sight before her.

Lightning panted, taking a moment to catch her breath after the heated exchange. And it was then that she noticed it; at her side, clenched at the end of her outstretched arm, was the glimmering blade of her sword, drawn from its sheath in a moment of panic.

"…Hmph." Lightning let out a breath that sounded like something between a sigh and a scoff, before relaxing her stance and calmly sheathing her sword. "Guess you're not just a dumb kid in over your head after all." Lightning admitted, adhering to their agreement. With that brief acknowledgement of Madoka's strength, Lightning turned her back on the girl and began to make her way to the coliseum entrance.

With the impromptu battle having been settled, Madoka dismissed the Keyblade, and her Cosplay along with it. She had claimed victory, admittedly with a handicap in effect, but nonetheless she had proven herself worthy of her place in the tournament… and yet, Madoka wasn't satisfied.

"…Lightning-san!" Madoka called after the solider, who stopped at the base of the stairs leading to the stone doors. "I… I get the feeling that you don't like me very much, or, at the very least, you don't like that I'm trying to enter the games. I just… I just wanna know why! Why are you so offended by everything I try to do?" Madoka asked with a pleading look on her face that Lightning wasn't privy to with her back turned to her.

A moment passed in silence, a soft wind kicking up the dust in the courtyard and both women's pink locks, as Madoka desperately waited for an answer. Her face fell when it seemed like she wouldn't get one, but eventually, Lightning responded.

"You could have saved that girl on your own."

"Huh?" Madoka said as she looked back up to the soldier, who had now turned to face her.

"Yesterday, when those monsters were attacking that girl, there were a number of things that you could have done to protect her." Lightning lectured with the stern demeanor of an experienced soldier. "You could have propelled yourself forward with a Fire spell to reach her in time, or created a wall of ice with your Blizzard spells, or heck, you could have just not thrown away your weapon as you dove in to intercept the lance. You had plenty of options available to you, but instead, you panicked, and just pointlessly threw yourself in harms way."

There was no anger in Lightning's voice, just… disappointment. This was not a scolding, but an objective critique of what Madoka had done wrong in that critical moment, none of which Madoka could contest.

"You were right to prioritize the girl's safety, but how you ended up going about it told me everything I need to know about you. You may not be weak and helpless, but you're naïve and inexperienced, and I'd rather not have to watch some poor kid get the stuffing kicked out of her, or worse, because she took on a challenge that she's clearly not ready for." Lightning asserted, crossing her arms and sternly staring Madoka down. "Is that a good enough answer for you?"

"So… you were worried about me?" Madoka concluded after taking a moment to digest her claims. Lightning visibly tensed up, the older pinkette caught off guard by the accusation. Her only response was to avert her stern gaze, just the slightest bit of red forming on her cheeks.

Madoka tried to stifle a laugh, but it eventually came out as a fit of amused giggles, especially as Lightning looked back at her with an annoyed grimace.

"What's so funny?"

"Hihi, nothing, nothing… it's just… you're a lot nicer than I thought you were." Madoka said as she got her laughter under control. Her face then fell into a more somber expression. "I appreciate the concern, Lightning-san, and you're right, maybe I'm not ready, but still… I have to do this… for the sake of all of the people I care about, I have to at least try." Madoka declared with a soft, yet determined look on her face.

Lightning's eyes widened a bit, looking almost baffled for just a moment, but soon enough, her face softened, and the smallest of smiles crossed her lips as her gaze fell to her feet.

"You really are just like her."

"Huh? Her?"

"…My sister." Lightning hesitantly clarified.

"Oh, you have a little sister?" Madoka asked curiously.

"Yeah… Serah." Lightning said, looking up into the amber colored twilight sky. "She's a little bit older than you, but just as naïve and stubborn." Madoka pouted at the jab. "But… she was also just as kind, and just as willing to do whatever it took to do the right thing." Lightning said, a nostalgic smile on her face that made Madoka smile as well.

"She sounds like a good person."

"Yeah, she is."

"Is she here in Thebes with you for the games?" Madoka carelessly asked, but she immediately wished she hadn't.

"…No, she's not." Lightning denied, the soft smile disappearing from her face as it fell into a bitter frown.

"Oh… that's…" Madoka paused, the pieces falling into place as she saw the pained, yet determined expression on Lightning's face. She hesitated to continue her line of reasoning, but still, she pressed on. "…Is she the reason you decided to enter the games?"

"…I couldn't protect her." Lightning bitterly admitted, her hands balling into fists as she all but confirmed Madoka's suspicions.

"What happened?" Madoka inquired, not entirely sure she would even get an answer. However, Lightning relaxed her heart enough to look Madoka in the eye and respond.

"A Titan happened."

"Titan?"

Aye, terribly nasty primordial brutes that only know how to run amok. Not many are lucky enough to see one up close and live to tell the tale.

"That's right, a godlike monster of molten rock and fire, a beast most people have only heard of in legends." Lightning asserted. "It was a few days after Hercules had tried to scout me, the Lava Titan erupted out from a nearby mountain and threatened to destroy our entire city, and everyone in it. My platoon was dispatched to intercept it, but… it was just too much for us." Lightning recalled, an agonizing look on her face, as she seemed to recall the harrowing battle. "I would have almost certainly died back there, and the rest of the city would have followed suit… that is, if it weren't for Serah."

"Serah-san did?" Madoka inquired. "But, I thought you said she couldn't fight."

"She can't, at least, not nearly as well as I can; heck, she isn't even as good as you are, but she has more courage, and more heart, than anybody. I know she would have done anything in her power to protect the city and its people… and apparently, so did Hades.

"Hades!?" With that name alone, a torrent of Sora's memories came rushing forth. Memories of a cruel, hotheaded ruler of the dead, who toyed with the lives of mortals all for the sake of furthering his own twisted, selfish goals. Where Hades went, death and suffering followed, and Madoka knew in the pit of her gut that this would be no different.

"Yes. The god of the underworld approached my sister, watching the destruction from our childhood home, and made her an offer."

"No…" Madoka whispered a cold chill running up her spine as she realized what would happen next.

"That's right; her soul for the lives of everyone in the city… apparently, she didn't even hesitate."

"That… that's awful… how could he…" Madoka whimpered as tears began to well up in her eyes before she even realized it, a profound sense of empathy and sorrow rocking her to her very core.

"And that's not even the worst part…" Lightning interrupted before Madoka could begin sobbing in earnest. "When I found out what happened, when I hobbled my way back home and found my only family strewn on the floor, cold and lifeless, Hades came to me with yet another deal… kill Hercules in the games in exchange for Serah's soul."

Madoka's heart nearly stopped as she heard the impossible ultimatum, her eyes wide in sheer shock and horror and her blood running cold. There was… something… something at the very back of her mind, a feeling or a memory, which tried to rise up to the surface. It was almost there, trudging through the mess of Homura's false memories and Sora's loaned ones, but eventually, it just disappeared in the chaos, leaving Madoka with just a single horrible thought.

"Lightning-san… you… you didn't… did you…"

"Of course I didn't!" Lightning screamed, Madoka taking a step back when confronted with the volatile mix of fury, frustration, guilt, and mourning that came through in Lightning's voice. "Do you really think I'm that stupid!? What kind of idiot would actually agree to one of his…?" Lightning paused, realizing mid-sentence what she was about to imply, and in a fit of uncontrollable raw emotion, slammed her fist against a nearby pillar, slightly cracking the stone and threatening to bring down the structure it held up. "If only I had been stronger, if only I had been enough to defeat that Titan, then Serah wouldn't have had to…"

Madoka could feel her heart breaking as she watched Lightning shut her eyes tight and clench her teeth in a desperate attempt to keep tears from forming. Her opposite hand came up to grip at her face, as if to hide her shame from the world.

"…But, if you didn't take the deal, then why are you entering the games?" Madoka hesitantly asked giving Lightning the distraction she needed to compose herself and continue.

"Have you ever head of the Olympus Stone?" Lightning calmly asked.

Well, there is a stone that guards against the Underworld's curse. The gods on Mount Olympus use it whenever they have to go down there.

"Yeah, that's that thing that lets Heroes fight in the Underworld, right?" Madoka responded.

"It's being offered as the grand prize in the Hercules Cup." Lightning explained.

"Oh… Oh!" Madoka exclaimed in realization.

"That's right, I refuse to play Hades' little games, so I'm going to enter the tournament, win the Olympus Stone, and travel to the Underworld to get my sister's soul back myself." Lightning declared, resolutely gripping at the handle of her sword.

"I see… I get it now." Madoka whispered to herself, finally understanding what Hercules had told her. Lightning and Madoka were both fighting for their loved ones, and the outcome of this tournament just might determine the fate of everything either one of them had ever cared about. That's why they shared the same look when they fought, when you got right down to it, they were fighting for the exact same reason.

'So, if I end up winning the tournament tomorrow, then what's going to happen to Serah-san?' Madoka pondered to herself, gripping at the edge of her skirt as she was suddenly hit with a moral dilemma.

"…Let me guess, you're trying to decide whether you should throw the tournament out of pity for me, right?" Lightning spoke up, her flippant tone instantly bringing Madoka out of her melancholy.

"Huh? N-No, not at all…!" Madoka denied, not entirely untruthfully. She did sympathize with Lightning and her plight, she really did, but… there was too much at stake for her as well. There was no way she could back out. Lightning then let out a brief chuckle as she put on a small, subtle smile.

"Good, because I bet you have your own reasons for entering the tournament, don't you?" Madoka nodded in confirmation. Lightning then turned her back to the younger pinkette, and climbed up the steps to the stone door. "Well, know this, if you and I end up fighting tomorrow, you better not hold back..." Lightning pushed open the door and walked through it into the torch lit corridor, looking back at Madoka over her shoulder as the door closed behind her. "Because you can be sure that I won't."

With that ominous warning, Madoka was left in the courtyard alone again, the sounds of mediocre cheers signaling the end of the last match of the qualifiers. With that in mind, Madoka tightened her fists, locked her gaze to the door where Lightning had just been standing, and gave a determined nod, before turning on her heel and making her way back down to Thebes.

---

Madoka's heart pounded in her chest as she marched down the dark corridor of the coliseum. All around her were her fellow victors of the qualifying rounds, the sounds of their weapons and armor chaotically echoing throughout the stone hall as they all collectively strode towards the brightly lit exit. As they moved closer, the enthusiastic clamor of the audience outside could be heard clearly, already informing Madoka of the massive increase in attendance compared to the previous two days. Despite her mounting anxiety, Madoka pressed onward, along with the other competitors, and as soon as they crossed the threshold into the bright morning sun, they were met with a cacophony of excited cheers from a fully packed amphitheater, nearly drowning out the heroic tune of the blaring trumpets that announced their arrival.

The opening ceremonies of the Coliseum Games had officially begun.

Madoka was amazed at the sheer number of cheering fans that filled the stands. No single slab of the stone seats was visible amidst the densely packed spectators, creating a sea of colorful togas and wreaths that was just going wild at the sight of them. Madoka peaked over her shoulder at her fellow Hercules Cup contestants; Mami was following directly behind her, strutting gracefully across the stone stage as she waved to the crowd with a humble smile. Lightning, on the other hand, was as stoic as ever, face forward and hand on her sword as she marched exactly two paces behind Mami like the well-trained soldier that she was. Not wanting to be quite so rude, Madoka opted to awkwardly wave to the adoring crowd, silently wondering if Calliope and her family were somewhere among them.

Once all of the combatants had entered the amphitheater, they all separated into groups based on the tournament they would be entering; Phil Cup contestants filled the left side of the stage, Pegasus Cup contestants to the right, and the Hercules Cup contestants were front and center for all the people to see. Standing on a stone pedestal before them was Phil, who addressed the crowd with what appeared to be an archaic megaphone made from a goat's horn.

"Welcome, one and all, to the grand opening of our brand spanking new Coliseum!" Phil called out, the crowd cheering in response. "Aww, now I know you fine people of Thebes can cheer louder than that! Come on! Let's hear it for the Phil Cup!" The satyr gestured over to the Phil Cup contestants, the largest group waving as the crowds cheered in response. "Now, show me some love for the Pegasus Cup!" Phil gestured to the second largest group, half the size of the first, but gained twice as loud of a response from the audience. "And last, but certainly not least, put your hands together for the Hercules Cup!"

Ironically, the smallest group, consisting of only three young women, got the loudest, most enthusiastic response from the crowd, Mami graciously accepting the attention with a wave and a candid smile, while Lightning once again remained completely stoic.

"That's right ladies and germs, these three lovely young ladies have fought tooth and nail through the qualifiers to stand here today, but only one of them can walk away the grand champion! Now, I know what you folks are thinking, how in the blue blazes are we supposed to hold the Hercules Cup tournament, the main event of the Coliseum Games, with only three contestants!?" Phil paused to let the question sink in, the audience chattering amongst themselves as they realized the logistical conundrum. "Well… we can't."

With that flippant assertion, the crowd devolved into a mess of disappointed jeers and boos, some even throwing their snacks at the satyr as if he was to blame for the unfortunate news.

"Ow! Oi! Hey! Knock it off will ya! You didn't let me finish!" Phil said, momentarily placating the disgruntled crowd. "We can't hold the Hercules Cup with only three contestants, but, as they say in the theaters of Athens, the Show. Must. Go on!"

Phil pointed to the sky as he announced this, the gazes of every single spectator and contestant alike following the satyr's direction. At that moment, the trumpets blared once more, and appearing in front of the bright yellow sun was the unmistakable silhouette of Hercules riding atop of Pegasus' back. The audience erupted into cheers as the hero flew down just above the spectators heads, extending an arm down to high five a few lucky fans as he passed by. He did this for the other side of the stands as well, and then, as Pegasus flew over the stage, Hercules leapt off of his stead and hit the stone floor in a three point landing, before standing back up and waving to the audience as they cheered, "HER-CU-LES! HER-CU-LES!"

"That's right, folks! The last spot in the bracket will be filled by none other than the man, the myth, the legend himself; you know him, you love him, give it up for HERCULEEEEEEESSSS!"

The crowd continued to chant Hercules' name, the hero responding in kind as he boastfully flexed his muscles for his adoring fans, before walking over and taking his place next to Madoka as the fourth participant of the Hercules Cup. The anxiety over his surprise participation must have shown on her face, as Hercules gave her a playful wink before turning his full attention back to Phil. Madoka did the same.

"Now, contestants, if you would all be so kind as to direct your attention to the board." Phil instructed, everyone obeying as they turned their heads towards the back wall opposite of the entrance, where a stone slab hidden by an extravagant purple curtain was mounted. "When the curtain drops, find your name on the bracket, and that's where you'll be starting off in the tournament. Got it? Good!" Phil explained before quickly hopping off the pedestal and walking over to the curtain. "Now, without further ado, let's see our bracket!"

Madoka's heart raced anxiously as she watched Phil struggle to pull the curtain off of the board. It took a few strained tugs, but he eventually got it off, the purple silk falling on top of him as the brackets of all three tournaments were revealed for all to see. Madoka's eyes were immediately drawn to the smallest bracket of the bunch, placed center top of the board with the largest font of all three. The branches of the bracket rose up to an illustration of Hercules flexing heroically, just like on her entrance pass, and as Madoka's eyes traveled down the left most branch, she found that it ended on the name "Hercules", painted onto the board in yellow. Her gaze then drifted one branch over, to the name of Hercules' first opponent in the very first round of the tournament, and that name… was "Lightning".

Madoka looked over to the woman in question, her gaze glued to the board as her eyes narrowed on that first bracket, the only sign of distress being her hand tightening its grip on the handle of her sword.

'The first round is Hercules-san vs Lightning-san… then that means…' Madoka's eyes then went to the final two slots in the bracket, the second round of the semi-finals, and as expected, she saw her name in the third slot, followed by Mami's in the last.

"A bit anticlimactic, wouldn't you say, Kaname-san?" Madoka's attention was grabbed by Mami's words, the blonde girl looking up at their placement in the bracket pensively. "Normally, the two fated rivals would face each other in the finals, not their first match. Oh well, I suppose it doesn't really matter, after all… I don't intend on losing." Mami declared as she turned her narrowed gaze to the pinkette. Madoka met the challenging look with one of her own, silently reciprocating Mami's determination to emerge victorious.

It was then that Phil finally managed to find his way out from under the curtain, and continued to address the assembly.

"Alright, if everybody knows where they stand in the bracket, then let's get the ball rolling with the Phil Cup!" The audience cheered as the Coliseum Games were now officially underway, all of the contestants, besides those participating in the first round, filing back into the coliseum, back into the lobby to wait for their match to begin.

As it turns out, there were actually two lobbies in the Coliseum, an east wing and a west wing, and both of them together provided just enough space to fit every contestant waiting to participate in the games. Mami had retreated to the east wing lobby to await the start of her match, and so Madoka decided to wait in the west wing. Waiting in the same lobby as her opponent would do nothing but psych her out, not to mention that, after the stunt she pulled during the qualifiers, Madoka couldn't entirely trust her not to try and sabotage her again.

And so, into the west wing lobby she went, joining roughly half of the competitors as they filled the small torch lit room to the brim. The scene was almost identical to the day before, the warriors all painstakingly checking their weapons and armor to ensure they were in tip top shape for what was certainly to be the fight of their lives. Some even apparently found their equipment inadequate, and straight up left the Coliseum to quickly rectify that. Amidst the sea of gladiators, Madoka's gaze fell upon a familiar head of pink hair. Lightning was in the exact same spot she had found her in during the qualifiers, sitting at the very end of one of the benches and intently sharpening her blade with a whetstone.

With no other open seats, Madoka sat in the same spot she had the day before, right across from Lightning at the end of the opposite bench, where she had just barely enough room next to the hulking gladiator that sat next to her.

One by one, hour by hour, contestants were called out into the battlefield, some returning victorious, and others limping back with their weapons and armor completely wrecked. As the games went on, fewer and fewer contestants remained in the lobby, either their injuries were severe enough to require immediate attention, or they simply refused to stick around after their bitter defeats. Eventually, it was just Madoka and Lightning; both pinkette's anxiously awaiting the conclusion of the last round of the Pegasus Cup.

Madoka fidgeted with her skirt on her lap as she waited impatiently, sneaking glances at Lightning from across the room every once in a while. Madoka was rather envious at how calm the older pinkette seemed to be, arms crossed over her chest, head down and eyes closed in meditative contemplation, perhaps going over the strategies she would use in her upcoming fight against Hercules. The silence between them was deafening, not even the cheers and jeers from the audience outside could cut the heavy tension Madoka felt between them. Eventually, the poor girl couldn't take it anymore, and spoke up.

"So… you're fighting Hercules-san in the first round, huh, Lightning-san?" Madoka said, Lightning opening one eye to look back at her with.

"That's what the bracket said." Lightning flippantly replied.

"He was supposed to be the final challenge, but now you're facing him in the first round… are you nervous?"

Madoka flinched as Lightning narrowed her gaze at her, thinking for a moment that she had perhaps insulted her with the question. However, after a moment, Lightning let out a tired sigh, leaning her head back against the wall behind her as she spoke.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't." Lighting admitted. "After all, this is Hercules we're talking about here, calling him a tough opponent would be the understatement of the century. But… he was always going to be an obstacle I would need to overcome eventually, and as you know, it's not like he's unbeatable." Madoka nodded in understanding, recalling her own assertion that her "coach" had defeated Hercules in the past. "In the end, it doesn't matter who I fight, or when I fight them; I will defeat them… I have to." Lightning asserted, glaring daggers at the ceiling as her grip around her own arms tightened.

"Right… for Serah-san." Madoka said, Lightning just nodding her head in agreement. "…Say, Lightning-san, there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"I'm listening."

"I was just wondering… why haven't you asked Hercules-san for help with your sister?" Madoka curiously asked, Lightning turning her full attention back to the younger pinkette at the question.

"Oh, d-don't get me wrong, it's not like I don't think you can beat him!" Madoka quickly clarified. "In fact, you probably have the best chance of winning the whole tournament out of all of us, Hercules-san said so himself! It's just…" Madoka paused, taking a moment to calm down and put her thoughts into words. "Hercules-san doesn't seem to know anything about why you decided to enter the games, just that it's for more than just the sake of competition. He's more than just a strong fighter, he's a kind and caring person, a true hero willing to help anybody in need, and I can tell, he's worried about you, Lightning-san. If you told him about what happened to your sister, I'm sure he would be more than happy to help you!"

"…Yeah, he probably would." Lightning said dismissively, much to Madoka's surprise.

"Then… Then why haven't you asked him for help?"

"Because I don't need his help." Lightning asserted looking away from Madoka in dismissal. "I can rescue Serah on my own."

"Well, yeah, maybe, but it wouldn't hurt to have a legendary hero help you out a little, can it?" Madoka argued, but Lightning remained silent. "I just don't understand why you're wasting time and energy entering the games like this. Don't you want to have the best possible chance at saving your sister?"

"…Of course I do."

"Then why not just ask for…!?"

"Because it isn't Hercules' responsibility to protect my sister!" Lightning shouted as she shot up from her seat, staring down at a startled Madoka with a frustrated scowl. "I'm Serah's older sister, the only family she has left in this world; it's been my responsibility to keep her safe for as long as I can remember, and I… I couldn't do it!" Lightning bellowed before realizing that she was now looming over a frightened looking Madoka. She let out a frustrated sigh before retreating back to her bench and plopping down on it.

"I'm the one who failed to protect Serah, so I'm the one that has to rescue her… you wouldn't understand." Lightning said, looking just a small bit emotionally drained, her stoic exterior haven't yet returned to her.

"…I do understand," Lightning's gaze quickly returned to Madoka, the younger pinkette wearing a sweet, sympathetic smile on her face. "Because, I'm a big sister too." She admitted, Lightning letting out a small gasp in surprise.

"You are?"

"Mhm, I have a little brother. His name is Tatsuya, but we call him Takkun!" Madoka said, her smile widening as she recalled the youngest member of her family. "He's five years old, and goes to Kindergarten. Oh, that's, uh, like the first level of schooling for little kids where I come from." Madoka quickly explained, Lightning nodding in understanding. "You know, when Takkun was born, I promised that I would always protect him as his big sister, so I was actually really nervous about him starting Kindergarten."

"Is it that difficult?" Lightning curiously inquired.

"No, not really, it's just… when I was in Kindergarten, I was picked on a lot by the other kids." Madoka explained. "I was small and shy, so the bigger kids would tease me and take my stuff, and all I could do was cry about it."

"I see. Kids can be rather cruel at that age." Lightning said.

"Tell me about it." Madoka agreed. "I was afraid that Takkun would have to go through the same thing, so much so that I considered begging my parents to home school him instead."

"You wanted to shelter him." Lightning said knowingly.

"Yes. Of course, I never actually went through with it." Madoka admitted with an embarrassed giggle at her own frantic idea at the time. "Turns out, I was worried for nothing. Takkun loves Kindergarten, he made friends pretty much right away, and he can't wait to go back the next day!"

"He sounds like a strong kid… or maybe you were just weak." Lightning jabbed, Madoka laughing awkwardly as she was unable to deny it.

"Lightning-san, I know that what you're going through right now with Serah is… unbelievably more difficult than anything I've ever gone through with Takkun, but… as an older sister, I just wanted you know that I do understand that feeling of wanting to protect your younger sibling." Madoka declared with as much sincerity and empathy that she could muster.

"...Yeah, I guess you do." Lightning replied, with the smallest of little smiles on her face.

"HER-CU-LES! HER-CU-LES!"

Unfortunately, the moment was interrupted by the chanting of the audience outside, reminding both pinkettes of what exactly it was they were there for.

"Well, I guess that's my cue." Lightning said, her face immediately hardening as she stood up from her seat on the bench. Any trace of anxiety or doubt had been completely erased from her, leaving only the stoic expression of a battle ready soldier, determined to come out victorious against the greatest hero in all of Greece.

"Um, do you mind if I watch?" Madoka hesitantly asked.

"…There's no rule against it." Lightning replied before she began to make her way to the amphitheater.

Madoka took the aloof invitation for what it was and followed suit, walking a few paces behind Lightning as she marched through the dark corridor. As they approached the fork in the hallway that led to the entrance to the amphitheater, Madoka could hear another set of footsteps coming down the eastern hallway, and stepping into the torchlight that illuminated the fork in the hallway was none other than Hercules.

The three competitors met in the middle, Madoka taking note of just how massive Hercules was standing before them. He was the tallest of the three of them, standing head and shoulders over Madoka while Lightning only came up to about his chin, and the extra mass of his rippling muscles just made him seem that much more larger than them. Madoka was sure that Lightning was examining her opponent in a similar manner, but if she was at all intimidated by Hercules' imposing physique, than she hid it perfectly.

"So, you two heard the chanting too?" Hercules asked.

"It's kind of hard to miss." Lightning sarcastically replied, Hercules giving a nervous chuckle.

"Yeah, well, the crowd usually has to wait till the very end of the games to watch me fight, so I guess they're just… excited." Hercules awkwardly explained, unable to rid the statement of the underlying tone of humble bragging. Madoka awkwardly chuckled along with him, until she noticed the fourth competitor of the Hercules Cup was conspicuously missing.

"Is Mami-san not going to watch the match?" Madoka inquired.

"Apparently not." Hercules replied. "I guess she's just the type to want to stay calm and focused before an upcoming match, you know?" He suggested, Madoka nodding in understanding.

"Alright, ladies and germs, I think it's about time we get to our main event!" Madoka heard Phil announce, before his voice was drowned out by the cheers of the audience.

"Well, guess we're up." Hercules said as he, Lightning, and Madoka began to walk down the corridor to the Amphitheater. "So Madoka, have you decided who you're going to be cheering for?" Hercules playfully inquired, much to Madoka's surprise.

"Eh? Uh, well…" Madoka stammered. She knew it wasn't a serious question, and in any other circumstance, she would have given an equally playful answer of "both". And yet, as she was privy to the true stakes of this match, her choice was clear. "I'm… going to cheer for Lightning-san!" She declared. Hercules looked stunned for a moment, Madoka worried that she may have hurt his feelings, but his surprised expression quickly turned into a kind, understanding smile.

"Well, sounds to me like somebody's got a fan, eh Lightning?" Hercules said as the trio reached the threshold of the hallway. It was difficult to see Lightning's face in the harsh shadow of the corridor, but still, Lightning seemed to look away in embarrassment.

"She should be worrying about her own match." Lightning rebuked, earning an amused chuckle from her fellow competitors, much to her chagrin.

"Now, let's meet our first competitors!" They heard Phil say out in the amphitheater.

"That would be us." Hercules said as he did a few last minutes stretches in the corridor. "Seriously though, good luck out there Lightning, and may the best fighter win." He said to his opponent in a show of true sportsmanship.

Lightning remained silent, giving only a nod in response. It was consistent with her generally stoic demeanor, but Madoka knew that it was more than that. Regardless of how amicable Hercules tried to be, Lightning wouldn't be able to return that sincerity, not with what was at stake for her.

"In the first round of the Hercules Cup, we got the hometown hero and namesake of the bracket, up against the stunning soldier that blitzed her way through the qualifiers! Kicking things off with a bang, its Hercules vs Lightning!" Phil announced, the crowd going wild as Hercules and Lightning both stepped out into the open together.

"HER-CU-LES! HER-CU-LES!" The audience chanted, Hercules responding in kind with the waving of his hands and the flexing of his muscles.

Lightning rolled her eyes at the display as she continued to march forward towards the stage, completely uninterested in showboating for the masses like her opponent was. Hercules noticed her increased pace, and in response, the demigod hero leapt into the air, a shockwave of dust blowing passed his opponent and up into the stands as he shot himself up so high that the spectators could no longer see him. A moment later, Hercules descended from his high jump, sticking a perfect three point landing right on his spot on the stone stage across from Lightning, the crowd erupting into cheers at the incredible demonstration of his superhuman athleticism. He turned around and met Lightning's gaze with a stern, determined expression, a silent affirmation of the severity of this match, and a promise that he was going to take it seriously.

Lightning's stoic façade cracked before Hercules' display, but it returned a moment later, Lightning narrowing her gaze as she stepped onto the stage and took her proper position across from him.

"Fighters, on my mark!" Phil instructed. Together, Lightning and Hercules silently drew their blades, both falling into defensive stances as the protective barrier materialized around the stage.

"Good luck, Lightning-san." Madoka said, clasping her hands together over her heart as she anxiously waited for the match to begin.

"3… 2… 1… FIGHT!"

At Phil's behest, Lightning and Hercules sprang into action. The two warriors met in the center of the battlefield, the loud clang of Hercules' sword clashing against Lightning's ringing throughout the amphitheater. Lightning immediately realized she was not going to win a contest of strength against Hercules, and so as soon as the force he placed on her sword began to win out, Lightning leapt back, disengaging from the clash and creating some distance between them with a back handspring. As soon as her feet hit the ground, she pointed her sword to the sky and casted a Water spell, sending three torrents of water flying towards Hercules with a wave of her weapon.

Undeterred by the wisps of liquid flying towards him, Hercules charged forward. He slashed through the first geyser that came to him, before spinning on his heel to avoid a second without costing him his forward momentum. He leapt over the final geyser, closing the remaining distance between him and Lightning, and after reversing his grip on his sword, he brought the blade down on her, impaling the blade through the solid stone floor as Lightning sidestepped the attack. With Hercules' blade imbedded nearly two thirds of the way into the stone; Lightning saw her chance to strike, raising her sword over her head to bring it down in an overhead swing upon Hercules. However, rather than try and wretch his sword from the ground, Hercules released his grip on the handle, tightened his now free hand into a fist, and twisted his body towards Lightning to land a powerful uppercut into her abdomen, sending the swordswoman flying back into a pillar.

Fortunately, Lightning was able to recover in the air at the very last moment, allowing her to kick off of the pillar she was careening towards and onto the surface of another. With Hercules now disarmed, Lightning wasted no time retaliating, electricity arcing off of her blade as she kicked off of the pillar and came down on Hercules with a triple spinning slash. Or at the very least, it should have been triple, but on the second spin, the electrified blade was caught in mid-swing by Hercules' bare hand, earning a surprised gasp from the onlookers, as well as Lightning herself. It was then that she noticed the golden, divine aura that permeated Hercules' outstretched arm, his whole body alight with the power of his divine blood that shielded him from the cleaving force of the blade, and the electricity that arced off of it.

Cracking a competitive smirk, Hercules spun Lightning around by the blade of her sword and lobbed her across the battlefield like a discus. Fortunately, Lighting thought quickly and impaled her sword onto the stone floor as she tumbled through the air, using it to anchor herself to the ground and prevent herself from crashing into the pillars all the way on the other side of the field. As she recovered from being tossed, Hercules grabbed his sword from its place in the stone and effortlessly pulled it back out.

Lightning needed one or two hefty tugs to do the same.

Regardless, Hercules wasn't about to let up, closing the distance between them in a single, powerful leap. His godly aura flared as he came down on Lightning, the swordswoman aiming a Water spell directly at the ground below her, launching her up into the air to avoid the massive shockwave that came from Hercules' landing.

The impact was enough to shake the entire coliseum, hairline fractures sprawling across the shallow crater that formed under him. Most other opponents may have been intimidated enough by the display to just throw in the towel right then and there, but what drew Lightning's attention was the fact that Hercules' divine aura had faded, leaving him vulnerable to harm once again. Lightning quickly capitalized on the opening by charging her blade with electricity once again and bringing the blade down on Hercules in a downward slash, finally landing her first solid hit on the demigod hero.

"Thunder!" Lightning cried as she raised her sword into the air and brought down five bolts of lightning onto the staggered Hercules, keeping him stunned. It wouldn't last for long, which was why Lightning was quick to follow up with a double spinning slash, sending Hercules flying back, and earning the solider an amazed round of cheers from the crowd.

Undeterred, Hercules recovered with a shoulder roll and met Lightning with a swing of his sword as she charged back into the fray. Lightning brought up her shield to knock the blade to the side and retaliated with a horizontal slash. Hercules took a step back to avoid the attack and brought up his sword to parry the backswing of Lightning's blade, following up with a diagonal slash of his own that Lightning parried as well.

Madoka watched in awe as the two competitors engaged with one another with their swords, Hercules proving to be far more nimble and skillful than his powerful physique and tremendous strength would lead one to believe. He was more than capable of keeping up with Lightning's peerless swordsmanship, sparks flying every time their blades clashed, and their feet moving in a constant back and forth. Neither side was willing to give an inch. Eventually, Lightning caught Hercules by surprise with a standing split kick, Hercules needing to lean back to avoid taking the soldiers' metal boot to the chin, momentarily offsetting his balance. That moment was all Lightning needed, as she brought her shield forward, electricity arcing off of her body, as she tackled Hercules with a Thunder Surge.

The electrified shield bash sent them both sliding across the field together, but their momentum was prematurely halted by Hercules grabbing hold of the shield and digging his feet into the ground. Lightning noticed at the last minute that he had managed to put up his aura to protect himself from the strike. Once they came to a halt, Hercules pulled Lightning's shield down, reared his head back, and slammed his forehead into hers, sending her flying back across the battlefield in a daze. She tumbled across the ground, but quickly recovered, staggering to her feet as she tried to shake off the dizziness and reengage with her opponent.

As Lightning fought against her daze, Hercules grabbed his sword in both hands and began spinning, holding the blade out as he zipped across the battlefield toward her. She managed to regain her composure just in time to roll out of the way of the rotating blade, only for Hercules to swiftly change directions and come spinning at her again, forcing her to leap back to once again avoid the blade. The spinning demigod chased Lightning all across the battlefield, the pink haired swordswoman unable to maintain enough of a stable foothold to properly root her stance and block the barrage with her shield. Eventually, Hercules chased her into the crater that he had made in the stone floor, and in her haste to continue evading, she tripped slightly over a loose piece of cracked stone, robbing her of her balance long enough for Hercules to cleave into her with his spinning slash.

The strike knocked Lightning over, the soldier quickly recovering with a back roll, but not quick enough to avoid Hercules as he changed direction and collided his spinning blade across her exposed back. Lightning stumbled forward, but remained standing, Hercules coming to a sudden stop right in front of her and channeling all of his leftover spinning momentum into one final horizontal slash. Lightning braced herself, blocking the strike with her shield, but the force was still enough to send her sliding back a few feet. Despite her shield arm reeling from the impact, Lightning immediately casted a Thunder spell over Hercules, stunning him momentarily as she coated her blade with the residual sparks and closed the distance between them with an electrified jumping slash.

She immediately followed up with a shield bash to Hercules head, keeping him stunned long enough to land two more slashes across his armored chest, each one making him stagger back. Even with just that small bit of distance put between them, it was enough to give Hercules the chance to shake off his daze and bring up his sword to defend himself against Lightning's continued assault. Lightning was relentless, swinging her sword furiously, yet skillfully, as she and Hercules danced around the battlefield trying to break through each other's defenses. Eventually, Lightning found herself being pushed back towards one end of the battlefield, nearing the crater that had done her in just moments ago.

"Oh no you don't." Lightning muttered under her breath before back flipping over the crater to avoid stumbling over the unstable terrain again.

Unfortunately, this was exactly what Hercules was hoping for, the demigod cracking a smile as he slammed his foot onto the ground and made a long stone slab erupt from the other side of the crater, catching Lightning in the air and launching her straight upward.

'Damn it! He got me!' Lightning cursed in her head as she tried to stabilize herself in the air. As she did, Hercules rushed passed her in a blur of brown and blue, jumping above her in a single bound and clasping his hands together above his head as the two were about to collide in the air.

'Not yet…' Lightning thought as she quickly brought up her shield between them, Hercules slamming his fist against the metal disk and sending her rocketing back towards the ground.

'Not yet!' Lightning immediately flipped around and shot a torrent of water at the ground below, slowing her descent as much as she possibly could.

She touched down in a three point landing, the force still enough to crack the stone floor and send aftershocks across Lightning's body. She bore with the pain with gritted teeth, looking back up to see Hercules descending over her in a summersault, his godly aura flaring. At the last second, she leapt out of the way, Hercules smashing the ground where she once stood and sending a powerful shockwave all across the coliseum that Lightning was just barely able to avoid.

'I have to win this match!' Lightning flipped in the air, electricity surging through her sword as she kicked off of a nearby pillar and came at Hercules with a double spinning slash. Hercules ducked under the attack with a backward bend, sparks biting at the tip of his nose as Lightning's electrified blade flew over him.

'I have to get the Olympus Stone!' Lightning landed and skid to a stop behind Hercules, noticing right away that his protective aura had been used up in that massive attack.

'I have to… save Serah!' Lightning immediately went for Hercules' exposed back, lunging herself and her sword forward in what very well could have been a killing blow against a lesser opponent.

Unfortunately, Hercules was no lesser opponent, the hero turning on his heel, drawing his sword, and parrying Lightning's forward lunge with ease. In the same fluid motion, Hercules reared back his free hand, clenched it into a tight fist, and with Lightning's sword arm across her body, and her shield unable to make the trip to block, his fist collided with Lightning's exposed face in a devastating punch. The sound of flesh hitting flesh reverberated across the coliseum as Lightning was sent flying back, colliding with the transparent barrier that became agitated by the sheer force with which she was sent crashing into it.

Lightning slid down the flickering wall and fell limp onto the stone floor, her sword clambering at her side.

"Oh no!" Madoka gasped amidst the excited cheers of the crowd, some dazzled by Hercules' counter, others shouting words of encouragement for Lightning to get back up and keep fighting.

It didn't take long for Lightning to begin coming back to her senses, her hand reaching out and grabbing the hilt of her blade as Madoka let out a sigh of relief. As Lightning struggled to get back on her feet, Hercules brandished his own sword, ready and waiting to continue the fight.

"Come on, Lightning-san. Get up. You have to. For Serah-san…" Madoka encouraged from afar, watching anxiously as Lightning dug her sword into the stone floor to prop herself up onto her knees.

With a hearty tug, she attempted to pull herself back up onto her feet, but she almost immediately fell back down to her knees, panting heavily as she grasped the handle of her sword to keep her upright. On her second attempt, the sword came loose and fell back to the ground, Lightning catching herself on her hands and knees, but that was as far as she was able to go. With a sympathetic gaze, Hercules relaxed his defensive dance, as Lightning was clearly in no condition to continue the match.

"That's it folks, the winner of the first match of the Hercules Cup is… HERCULES!" Phil announced, the crowd erupting into cheers and applause.

Lightning remained deathly still as she heard the satyr call the match in her opponent's favor, the crowd chanting Hercules' name as if to throw salt in the wound of Lightning's defeat. She grit her teeth in frustration, her hands closing into fists on the dust and loose pebbles on the stone floor, threatening to cut into her palms as her fingers wrapped tightly around them.

"…Lightning." The voice of Hercules pierced through the chanting crowd and grabbed the defeated swordswoman's attention. She lifted her head to see that he had approached her, and was now offering his hand to her to assist her to her feet. "You fought well." He said with a sympathetic look on his face, knowing full well that the sportsmanly acknowledgement would do nothing to change things.

Lightning remained silent, looking at the hero's outstretched hand with total apathy before returning her gaze to the ground. A moment later, she reached out and grabbed her sword, plunged it into the ground, and used it to help herself back up to her feet.

"…Congratulations." Lightning said, barely above a whisper, before she made her way back into the coliseum. Hercules watched with sad eyes as Lightning limped off of the stage, certain that it wasn't just the pain and fatigue of their battle that was weighing down on the defeated soldier.

"Lightning-san…" Madoka said somberly as she watched Lightning approach the amphitheater exit. As Lightning crossed the threshold, she didn't even spare a glance at the younger pinkette, limping right passed her and deeper into the dimly lit corridor. "I… I'm sorry, Lightning-san." Madoka said, tears welling up in her eyes.

"…It's fine." Lightning paused to dismiss her sympathy.

"But, your sister…!"

"I said it's fine!" Lightning quickly cut Madoka off, startling the younger pinkette. "This isn't the end, it's just… a minor set back, that's all." She assured as she leaned against the stone wall of the hallway.

"But, don't you need the Olympus Stone to go to the Underworld?" Madoka asked.

"The stone is the best way to defend against the Underworld's curse, yes." Lightning admitted. "But there are other ways. Not nearly as convenient, but they exist. It's just a matter of tracking them down."

"But…" Madoka's protests were silenced as Lightning hefted her weight back onto her own legs and continued limping down the corridor.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'm not giving up until I save Serah." Lightning declared, her determination unwavering even in the face of her defeat.

"Lightning-san…"

In that moment, one of Sora's memories flashed through Madoka's mind. It was during his first journey, aboard a flying pirate ship, after Sora had learned of Kairi's unfortunate condition, as well as just how far Riku had already fallen into the darkness.

I just can't believe it… I really flew! Wait till I tell Kairi!

Even in the face of such monumental revelations, the young boy remained ever determined to rescue his friends, thinking not of the trials that would bar him from that goal, but of the stories he would share with them once they were all safe and sound again. In the face of both Lightning and Sora's unyielding determination, Madoka wiped away some stray tears from her eyes and chased Lightning down the corridor.

"Lightning-san!" Madoka called out to the limping soldier, catching her just as she was about to round the corner. The younger pinkette trotted up to her, grabbed the hand of her shield arm, and placed a Potion into it. "Here, this will make you feel better." Madoka said, closing Lightning's fingers around the item.

"I said I'll be fine, you need this more than I do." Lightning attempted to refuse, but Madoka wouldn't have it.

"I want you to have it, so that you can have the energy to cheer for me in my matches." Madoka almost playfully rebuked, refusing to take back the Potion.

"Cheer… I don't…" Lightning awkwardly tried to respond to the request, but Madoka saved her the trouble.

"I'm going to win my next match, and then, I'll beat Hercules-san in the finals, and take the title of champion just like Sora did before me. Then, after I'm awarded the Olympus Stone… I'll give it to you."

"What!?" Lightning gasped, meeting Madoka's bright, optimistic smile with a bewildered expression. "Madoka, you… you don't have to do that…"

"I know, but I want to." Madoka insisted. "I told you before, I'm a big sister too, so I know how much Serah-san must mean to you. I want to help you, even if it's just giving you the means to go after her yourself."

"Madoka…" Lightning looked down at the Potion she was given, then back up at the smiling girl that gave it to her. With a defeated sigh, she threw the Potion in the air, the green light healing her of her wounds and giving her the energy to stand up right on her own once again. "Well, it is your prize to do whatever you want with. If you really have no use for it… I suppose I wouldn't mind taking it off your hands." Lightning said with a small, coy smile, earning an amused giggle from the younger pinkette.

"Deal!"

With that said, Madoka made her way back to the mouth of the corridor, Lightning hanging back as she saw Hercules finally returning from the battlefield as well.

"How is she?" Hercules asked Madoka.

"She'll be fine, I gave her a Potion to make her feel better." Madoka replied, knowing full well that wasn't what the hero meant. As much as she disagreed with Lightning's decision not to go to Hercules for help, she wouldn't betray her trust.

"Good, good." Hercules said.

At that moment, the three competitors heard the sound of footsteps coming down the western corridor, Madoka and Hercules looking back to see none other than Tomoe Mami turn the corner, most likely having been informed that the next match was about to get underway.

"Well, you're up Madoka." Hercules said, patting the young girl's shoulder encouragingly. "Good luck out there. Make sure it's you and me in the finals!" He declared with a playful flex of his arm. Madoka just smiled and nodded, fully intending to make good on that request.

With that, Hercules retreated further into the corridor, trading a polite nod and words of good luck with Mami as he passed by. Silently, Mami and Madoka waited at the threshold of the corridor, waiting to be called out onto the battlefield for the second match of the semi-finals.

"…This is it." Mami was the one to break the silence. "Once we're called out, there's no turning back. Is there any chance I can get you to reconsider, Kaname-san?" The older girl asked with genuine hope and desperation in her voice.

"…Is that what you were trying to do with the Clara Dolls yesterday; trying to get me to reconsider?" Madoka replied, a pained expression coming across Mami's face as she was reminded of her treachery.

"That was… Kaname-san, I swear, I wasn't trying to hurt you. I was just…" Mami let out a sigh, trying to think of the best way to put her thoughts and feelings into words. "We may not have known each other for very long, but I still consider you a close friend, Kaname-san. I came here hoping to protect you, to take you away from all of the fighting and hardship, not to be the one to put you through it. I guess… I just wanted to avoid actually fighting you myself if I could."

"Mami-san…" Madoka looked to Mami with a sympathetic gaze, knowing with all of her heart that she was being genuine. "I… I feel the exact same way. You've always been such a precious friend to me, and a role model that I look up to. The last thing I want to do is fight you, even if it is just a tournament match."

"Then don't, Kaname-san!" Mami pleaded one last time. "It's not too late, you can forfeit right now, and we can…"

"I can't," Madoka immediately shot Mami down, her sad eyes hardening in a determined gaze. "I won't. I can't let you take me back to Homura-chan, Mami-san, not until I find Sora."

"This again?" Mami said incredulously.

"I'm sorry, Mami-san, but…" Madoka briefly glanced over her shoulder, back at Lightning, leaning against the back wall of the corridor waiting for the match to start. "There are a lot of people that are counting on me to win this tournament… I can't let any of them down."

Mami had the most heartbroken look on her face at Madoka's declaration. For a moment, she was lost for words, turning away from her friend with a mournful gaze as she squeezed her hands together into tight fists. For a second, it seemed like she might actually give in, but alas, she found her resolve again, meeting Madoka's determined eyes with her own.

"Very well, but remember, you're not the only one with people who are relying on them." Mami asserted. "Akemi-san and the others are counting on me to bring you back home safe and sound, and that's exactly what I intend to do. If you insist on going through with this wager of ours, then I will not be holding back." She declared with crossed arms and a firm stance.

"…Neither will I."

"Alright folks, sorry for the delay, but now that we got the stage looking all nice and pretty again," Phil announced to the restless crowd as the other coordinators put the finishing touches on repairing the damage done by the first match. "What do you say we get to our next match, huh!?" The crowd cheered their approval, the spectators still high off of the adrenaline of Hercules' victory over Lightning.

"Fighting in the second round of the Hercules Cup, we got a completely fresh face that took the preliminary rounds by storm, up against the young successor of the game's key-slinging reining champ! Ladies and gentlemen, it's Tomoe Mami vs Kaname Madoka!"

The crowd applauded as Madoka and Mami walked out into the open. As soon as they crossed the threshold, Mami put her poker face on, waving at the adoring crowd as she smiled graciously. Madoka tried to muster up similar enthusiasm, but was only able to give a few awkward waves and a bashful smile as she and Mami walked onto the stage.

Once both girls had taken their places across from each other on the battlefield, Mami struck a dynamic pose, raising her arms into the air as the ring on her finger began to glow. The ring transformed into her glittering Soul Gem for just a moment, before expanding into a sparkling yellow ribbon that Mami grabbed one end of and began dancing with. Sparkles leapt off of the ribbon as Mami twirled it about, the shining particles blooming into freshly picked flowers as they flew across the amphitheater. Eventually, Mami twirled the ribbon around herself in a spiral, the ribbon closing in on her until her entire body was wrapped in it. A moment later, the ribbon unwrapped as a blooming white flower, revealing Mami in her Magical Girl attire, the petals fading away in a flash of golden light as Mami struck a dazzling pose.

The crowd went wild over Mami's glamorous transformation, making Madoka more than a little self-conscious as she simply summoned the Keyblade and fell into a defensive stance.

"Alright ladies, on my mark!" Phil announced, the crowd quieting down as Mami too fell into a defensive stance. The two girls stared each other down as they waited for the satyr to officially begin the match, despite their mutual desire not to hurt one another, neither of them showed any sign of backing down, not with how much was at stake for the both of them.

"3… 2… 1… FIGHT!"

With a wave of her hand, Mami immediately materialized four muskets in the air in front of her and willed them to open fire. Madoka brought up the Keyblade in defense, the bullets all harmlessly bouncing off of the protective barrier that formed around the silver blade. Brandishing her weapon, Madoka quickly closed the distance between her and Mami and swung the Keyblade in a horizontal slash that Mami ducked under with a squat. The Magical Girl then leapt over the backswing from her crouched position, twirling in the air above Madoka as two ribbons extended from her torso, wrapped around a far off pillar, and pulled Mami across the battlefield. As she landed, Mami took off her hat and spun around, eight rifled muskets falling out and standing at the ready around her.

As Madoka turned to face her, Mami grabbed one of the firearms and shot it at her opponent, immediately following up with another shot from a second musket. One by one, Mami fired off a shot from each of her readied muskets, each one aimed at a different part of Madoka's body, forcing her to stand her ground and focus on blocking them. Once all eight of Mami's muskets were used and discarded, Madoka pointed the Keyblade forward and casted a quick barrage of three Fire spells. Unfortunately, Mami was far from defenseless, summoning forth a barrier consisting of six muskets spinning on the point where their barrels met. The flames harmlessly dissipated amongst the spinning guns before they came apart and aimed themselves at Madoka as she charged forward.

Mami shot each rifle individually in an attempt to halt Madoka's approach, but Madoka wouldn't have it, avoiding each shot with forward and diagonal rolls in order to stay safe as she closed the distance between them.

"Freeze!" Once the eighth rifle was shot, Madoka casted a Blizzard spell at Mami's feet, rooting her to the ground in order to prevent her from retreating. Brandishing the Keyblade as she closed in, Madoka raised the weapon up over her head for a downward swing. However, just when she had gotten into range to land the hit, Madoka was met with sudden resistance, the Keyblade refusing to be brought down onto her ensnared opponent.

"What?" Madoka gasped, looking up at her weapon held aloft over her head. Her eyes widened in shock to see that the silver blade of the Keyblade was being held back by a series of long thin ribbons, sprouting out from the bullet holes where Mami's missed shots had landed. Before Madoka could react, Mami waved her hand and dissipated more of her discarded bullets back into ribbons, which ensnared Madoka's feet and lifted her up into the air.

"Wah~!"

THWACK! THWACK!

Helplessly entangled, Madoka was slammed against one of the pillars on one side of the stage, and then against another on the opposite side, before she was thrown back to the other side of the battlefield, tumbling to the ground and skidding to a stop on the stone floor.

As Madoka rose to her feet, Mami summoned two rifles and shot them at her frozen feet, freeing her from the ice with two well-placed shots. She spun on her feet in a graceful twirl as long and thick ribbons extended from her body and coalesced into three medium sized ivory cannons, Madoka freezing in place at the sight of the heavy artillery.

"Tiro Volley!" Mami announced, and with a snap of her fingers, the cannon to her left lifted its barrel into the air and shot a glowing yellow cannon ball at Madoka.

The projectile soared through the air in an arc towards her, Madoka shaking herself free of her initial shock to roll out of the way as the cannon ball hit the ground where she once stood. Unfortunately, the projectile exploded on impact, Madoka getting caught on the edge of the blast radius, causing her to stagger forward in pain. Before she could recollect herself, Mami snapped her fingers again, and the cannon to her right shot another blast into the air aimed at Madoka's new location. This time, Madoka rolled on her shoulder twice, just barely managing to clear the blast zone as the cannon ball detonated on the ground, but just when she thought she was in the clear, Mami aimed the center and final cannon directly at Madoka. With a snap of her fingers, the cannon ball was shot directly at the recovering pinkette, sending Madoka flying back as the glowing projectile detonated point blank right in her face.

The crowd cheered as Madoka tumbled to the floor, some in amazement at Mami's well-placed shot, others in encouragement for Madoka to recover and get back in the fight. Madoka responded to those latter cries, quickly popping a Potion and using the boost of energy to leap back onto her feet, earning another round of encouraging applause from the crowd.

"Fire!" Madoka cried as she shot a barrage of Fire spells across the battlefield at Mami.

Just as the first spell was about to make contact, Mami jumped over it, landing on a rifled musket that materialized in the air under her feet. Using the firearm as a platform, she leapt out of the way of the second ball of fire, materializing a second Musket to kick off of to avoid the third fireball, and then a third musket to avoid the fourth fireball. Mami then kicked off of a nearby pillar, twirled in the air, and landed on top of the most central pillar on the long side of the stage. As Madoka adjusted her aim, the muskets all turned their barrels to her and open fired, rattling Madoka and sending her tumbling to the ground.

As Madoka recovered, Mami raised her arms into the air, summoning forth eight muskets that flew out of her sleeves and landed two-by-two on the four pillars on the side of the stage. Mami kept the ninth and tenth muskets for herself, twirling them in her hands before aiming one at Madoka and taking a shot at her. Madoka deflected the first shot, and then the second, before retaliating with a Fire spell, Mami vaulting over the flaming projectile and onto the pillar directly to her right, discarding her spent weapons as she landed. She took up the muskets she had prepared on the pillar and fired a shot that was blocked by Madoka. The second shot was avoided with a quick shoulder roll to the right, and as soon as she was back on her feet, she shot a Blizzard spell at Mami in hopes of halting her movements again.

Unfortunately, Mami defended by throwing her spent muskets directly at the mass of cold air and ice, the ivory weapons freezing on contact and turning into spears of jagged ice that threatened to skewer Madoka. With a surprised yelp, Madoka rolled back to the left, avoiding the icicles as they shattered on contact with the ground, and giving Mami the time to leap onto her right most pillar and claim her muskets. Madoka shook off the shards of ice that peppered her side before turning her attention back to Mami, the older girl skipping across the pillars as she shot at Madoka. The pinkette blocked the shots and then retaliated with two Fire spells, Mami reversing her grip on her muskets and using them to bat away the fireballs before leaping onto the next pillar and reclaiming the seventh and eighth muskets.

Two shots were fired and blocked, but Madoka could only retaliate with a single Fire spell as casting fatigue began to set in. Mami effortlessly leapt over the spell and claimed the last of her prepared weapons from the left most pillar. Two more shots were fired, Madoka blocking them as she tried to catch her breath. But she was offered no respite, as with a wave of Mami's hands, three cannons appeared around her, their ivory barrels all trained directly at her as their fuses were lit.

"Tiro Volley!" Mami cried as she willed the cannons to fire.

Madoka thought quickly and jumped over the cannon fire, but while she was safe from the brunt of the damage, the three projectiles collided with each other at the center and detonated, the blast radius catching Madoka in the air. Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of it, as Mami leapt over Madoka, twirling in the air, and then willed the loose sleeves of her costume to transform into two stylized arm cannons. As Madoka tried to recover in the air, Mami aimed the cannons down at her from overhead and open fired, sending Madoka crashing into the ground.

The crowd cheered as Mami stuck the landing on the stone stage and dismissed her cannons with a dramatic wave of her hands, the smoke clearing around the arena revealing Madoka writhing on the floor in pain. For a moment, Mami stood and watched, silently hoping that Madoka was down for the count. She was disappointed to see Madoka begin to struggle to her feet, but quickly put her game face back on, summoning three rifles and firing them all at once at her. Madoka rolled on the ground to avoid the attack, rising into a kneeling position once out of harms way, and then popping a Potion to heal her of her injuries. Revitalized, she hopped back onto her feet just in time to raise the Keyblade to block a second barrage of gunfire.

Madoka charged forward, quickly closing the distance between them and took a swing at Mami with the Keyblade. In response, Mami willed the four spent muskets to come together and shield her from the slash, the Keyblade striking against the impromptu shield before they suddenly spread apart, sending the Keyblade flying out of Madoka's hands. As Madoka yelped in surprise at suddenly being disarmed, Mami summoned forth four more muskets and fired two of them at her. Madoka avoided the bullets with a back roll, and then summoned the Keyblade back into her hands to block the third and fourth shot. Mami then jumped into the air and used a ribbon to pull herself across the battlefield, creating as much distance between her and Madoka as she could before she landed gracefully on the stone floor. In the meantime, Madoka used an Ether to stave off her casting fatigue, and then immediately fired three Fire spells at Mami just as she landed. Mami defended with a shield of rifles before retaliating with more gunfire, which Madoka managed to deflect.

Back and forth they went, Mami keeping Madoka at a distance with well-placed gunfire, while Madoka retaliated as best she could with long ranged magic, only for her spells to be effortlessly evaded or blocked by the veteran magical girl. Madoka knew that she was at a severe disadvantage at long range, if she wanted to win, she needed to get in close, and hit hard when she did. As Madoka rolled around the battlefield trying to find a chance to close the distance between her and Mami, memories flashed into her mind of Sora's own experience in this very ring, fighting all matter of tough opponents and besting them all before facing off against Hercules himself. As the memories flowed, Madoka's pendant began glowing with a warm light, the pinkette grasping it in her hand as the mysterious connection between her and her "mentor" transformed into tangible power.

"Give me strength… Sora!" Madoka shouted as she was engulfed in a bright light, Mami shielding her eyes to avoided being blinded as the audience was. Once the light faded, and Mami looked back to her opponent, she gasped at the sight of Madoka donning the Sora Cosplay. The crowd went wild in response, recognizing the unmistakable attire of the previous champion of the games.

Madoka narrowed her eyes challengingly at Mami as she fell back into her defensive stance, Mami rising to that challenge by materializing three ground cannons before her.

"Tiro Volley!" Mami cried as she fired the first cannon in an arc towards Madoka.

Madoka quickly rolled out of range of the blast zone before the cannonball landed and detonated where she once stood. However, when the second cannon was fired, Madoka instead stood her ground, pensively watching the cannonball arc through the air. Once she judged it was close enough, she jumped into the air and smacked the cannonball off course, sending it colliding into a pillar that was instantly demolished upon the ammo's detonation. Mami gasped in surprise at the counter, but quickly regained her composure and fired the third and final cannon directly at Madoka as she approached. As soon as the cannonball left the barrel of the cannon, Madoka halted her advancement, rooted her stance, and brought the Keyblade up to guard against the attack. To Mami's astonishment, the cannonball harmlessly bounced off of Madoka's weapon and was sent right back at her, detonating right in her face before she could even think of evading.

Mami staggered back from the explosion, but quickly regained her composure. She cleared away the resulting smoke with a wave of her hand, only to be met with the sight of Madoka sliding across the stone floor towards her.

Sliding Dash

In an instant, Madoka closed the distance between them and tripped Mami with the outstretched blade of her weapon, which Mami recovered from with a quick shoulder roll. Once they were both back on their feet, Madoka kept the pressure up with a forward thrust, which Mami narrowly avoided with a side step. Madoka followed up with a horizontal slash that landed across Mami's abdomen, staggering her enough to allow Madoka to connect with a heavy downward slash. Before Mami had a chance to retaliate, the Keyblade began emanating a faint red aura, and with a wave of the weapon, Madoka unleashed a spherical pulse of rippling red energy that knocked Mami into the air.

Ripple Drive

Madoka met Mami in the air with a leaping upward slash, followed by a midair spinning slash that sent her flying back into a nearby pillar. However, Mami regained her composure mid-flight and shot out a ribbon to pull herself away from her suddenly empowered opponent. Once she landed across the battlefield, Mami summoned eight of her muskets and trained them all on Madoka, but the pinkette was more than prepared. As soon as Mami retreated, Madoka hung in the air as she pointed the Keyblade at her opponent, a multitude of lasers orbiting the glowing tip before she let them all loose in a Ragnarok attack.

As soon as the lasers were fired, Mami retrained her floating weapons and fired them all at once. She managed to shoot down about half of the projectiles, while the rest homed in on her, Mami bringing her weapons together in a rotating shield to defend herself. She could feel the impact of each laser, her impromptu shield just barely managing to hold up against the barrage. However, as soon as Mami allowed the guarding weapons to fall, she came face to face with Madoka, the pinkette having closed the distance to land a downward slash on her. Madoka followed up with a quick forward thrust to keep Mami staggered, before sending her flying back with a spinning slash.

Madoka immediately closed in on Mami again with a Sliding Dash, but the Magical Girl hopped over the outstretched blade. Undeterred, Madoka hopped back onto her feet and threw a horizontal swing at Mami's head, the older girl ducking under it. Madoka attempted to follow up with a diagonal slash, but once Mami stood back up, she revealed a small, ivory pistol in her hand, pulling the trigger and making Madoka stagger back with a well-placed shot on her shoulder.

"What!?" Madoka gasped in shock at the unexpected retaliation.

Mami then discarded the pistol and summoned another in her opposite hand, Madoka bringing up the Keyblade to block the bullet before immediately retaliating with a forward thrust. Mami avoided the strike with a quick side roll, recovering in a kneeling position where she fired two more pistols at Madoka's exposed back. Shaking off the pain, Madoka turned back to face Mami, who had discarded her spent pistols and summoned another to her right hand. Madoka deflected the first shot with the Keyblade, but before she could advance, Mami stepped forward herself and summoned another pistol to her left hand, along with two others floating at each side of her outstretched arm. Madoka stood her ground and guarded against the trio of shots, only for Mami to summon a third pistol in her now free right hand, accompanied by a quartet of pistols that orbited around her arm.

Madoka avoided the gunfire with a diagonal shoulder roll, finally allowing her get in close enough to throw another swing at Mami. The blonde ducked under the slash and struck back with a pistol shot, which Madoka managed to avoid by simply leaning out of the way. Madoka retaliated with a low sweeping slash at Mami's legs, only for her to hop over the Keyblade and shoot another pistol, which Madoka ducked to avoid.

Madoka was amazed at the radical shift in Mami's fighting style. Having realized that the cosplaying pinkette could now more easily close any distance she tried to put between them, she instead took the opposite approach, staying within Madoka's guard and poking at her with quick pistol shots. Despite wielding firearms, Mami was able to trade blows with Madoka as if they were engaged in pure melee combat.

'As expected of Mami-san, she found a way to make her gunslinger fighting style work in close combat.' Madoka thought as she bobbed and weaved through the gunfire. 'If this keeps up, I'm not going to last much longer… all I need is just one little opening…' With that thought, Madoka stepped into Mami's guard with an upward slash, who avoided the strike with a back handspring.

'Now!'

Madoka used the momentary lull in the combat to imbue the Keyblade with a bright light, before throwing it at Mami in a Strike Raid. Mami rolled to the side to avoid the spinning blade, shooting at Madoka with her pistols once she was back on her feet, only for the disarmed pinkette to avoid the bullets with a shoulder roll of her own. In a flash of light, the Keyblade materialized back in her hand, and she threw it back at Mami again. This time, the blonde vaulted over the Keyblade and fired at Madoka in midair, the pinkette rolling forward to the opposite side of the battlefield before summoning the Keyblade back to her hand and lobbing it up at her airborne target. Mami used a ribbon to pull herself back to the ground to avoid the strike, and as soon as she was back on her feet, she transformed her sleeves into arm cannons, aimed them at Madoka, and open fired. At the exact same time, Madoka hurled the Keyblade at Mami one final time, the rapidly rotating weapon cleaving through one of the cannon shots while the other just barely slipped passed it.

The Keyblade proceeded to cleave through Mami just as the remaining cannonball detonated in Madoka's face, sending them both tumbling back into opposite ends of the battlefield. Both girls struggled back to their feet, spurred on by the encouraging applause of the spectators. Madoka could feel her stamina begin to fail her as she struggled to catch her breath from that heated exchange. She looked over at Mami from across the stone stage, the veteran fighter standing tall and proud, any fatigue she felt expertly hidden. She reached a hand up to brush a loose strand of hair back behind her ear, her fingers grazing over her Soul Gem in the form of a flower shaped hair clip. A brief flash of concern crossed Mami's face as she noticed the dark shadow that began to cloud the crystal's shining surface.

"…Well, this has been quite the impressive display, Kaname-san." Mami said in a condescendingly polite tone of voice, a subtle smile gracing her features. "I can see how you've been able to survive out here for so long all on your own. However…" Mami paused as she reached up to her neck and pulled out the ribbon that held the collar of her top together. After tugging it free, she leapt into the air, twirling the ribbon as it grew longer and longer.

"I'm afraid your little adventure ends here." She declared as she landed gracefully on the top of the stone pillar behind her. She twirled the ribbon above her before it coalesced into a giant, ivory hand cannon, elegant white vine patterns blooming from the handle and stopping just shy of the tip of the barrel. The crowd let out excited cheers at the sight of the oversized firearm, while Madoka was frozen in place as the giant barrel was trained on her.

Memories from her most recent dreams flashed in Madoka's mind, of times she looked on in awe at Mami pulling out her dazzling finishing move, vanquishing horrid creatures in a single fiery blast. It was a harrowing experience, staring down the business end of that very same weapon. Like a deer in headlights, Madoka was frozen stiff, her mind drawing a blank as to how to deal with the coming assault. However, as Madoka's grip tightened around the Keyblade, she quickly regained her composure, now staring down the barrel of the gun with a determined glare.

"No! It's not over yet!" Madoka declared, rooting her stance, taking the Keyblade in both hands, and pointing the tip at the oversized handgun. The tip of the Keyblade began to glow, the energetic lasers of Ragnarok orbiting the sphere of light.

'I can't let my journey end here, I have to win this, I have to!' The lasers became much more restless as Madoka poured all of her remaining power into the Keyblade, the radius of their orbits shrinking until it was nearly a single collective mass of bright, explosive light. 'I have to beat Mami-san and get her to come with me! I have to beat Hercules-san in the finals and give Lightning-san the Olympus Stone! I have to win, for everybody who's counting on me… and I will, with the power that Sora gave me!'

Mami saw the determination on Madoka's face as she charged her attack, the veteran Magical Girl rooting herself to the pillar with a few ribbons before pulled the trigger. The hammer on the percussion fuse fell with an audible crack, and ignited the inner mechanisms of the hand cannon.

"TIRO FINALE!" Mami shouted as the blazing ball of condensed magical flame rocketed out of the weapon at Madoka.

"TAKE THIS!" Madoka shouted back, releasing the Ragnarok lasers from the tip of the Keyblade.

While still separate projectiles, the lasers all flew out together in a long and thin spiral, focusing in on a single point as they collided with Mami's Tiro Finale. The momentum of the enormous cannon fire was briefly halted as each laser detonated against its surface, stealing away just a small bit of the projectile's power as it worked its way down the spiral beam.

But alas, it wasn't enough, the ball of flames continuing its descent as it ate up the last of the lasers. All Madoka could do was bring up the Keyblade in a desperate attempt to defend herself, Mami's Tiro Finale hitting its mark and sending a massive explosion across the battlefield that disturbed the translucent barrier.

The audience waited in stunned silence as the resulting cloud of smoke slowly began to clear. Mami looked on as well, her weapon fading away in a flash of light and a look of thinly veiled concern on her face. The veteran Magical Girl experienced a complex mix of relief and disappointment, as there in the cloud of smoke stood Madoka, on her feet, panting for breath, and supporting her weight with the Keyblade.

She was dirtied, injured, and far worse for wear, but she was still standing.

'Keep…fighting…'

Madoka narrowed her gaze at Mami as she brandished the Keyblade and fell back into her defensive stance, the crowd cheering her on in encouragement.

'Keep… fighting…'

Mami met the pinkette's glare with one of her own, leaping down from her perch and summoning two rifled muskets into her hands.

'Sora… would… keep fighting…'

With a desperate battle cry, Madoka dashed forward, Mami taking aim with her weapons, prepared to reengage with her tenacious opponent as she closed in.

Madoka took a single step with her oversized yellow shoes… and stumbled.

Mami gasped as she watched Madoka land face first onto the seared stone floor, the Keyblade clamoring forward out of her grip before vanishing in a flash of light, along with the Sora Cosplay. Mami waited in stunned silence for a moment before completely relaxing her posture, her face falling into a solemn expression as Phil called the match.

Madoka could barely hear Phil over the thunderous applause of the audience, but she didn't need to, a single thought entering her mind as she slipped away into unconsciousness.

She had lost.

---

A/N: What!? Madoka lost!? Impossible!

So yeah, you guys probably saw this coming as soon as the bracket was revealed. Just like Mami said, it would be weird for the big match between the rivals to happen so early in the tournament, unless there was a narrative reason for it. I actually got the idea for this outcome from the fact that in KH1, there are a few mandatory fights that you can straight up lose and still progress through the story: the battle against Leon in Traverse Town, and the battle against Cloud during the first visit to Olympus Coliseum. It's my personal head cannon that Sora lost both of these fights, since it shows that he still has a lot of growing to do, as a fighter, and as a hero, and that's basically the idea behind Madoka losing against Mami in this chapter. Not to mention, despite being the first one to be killed off, Mami is probably the strongest of the original Magical Girls; when she's at the top of her game, she'll most likely win a head-to-head fight like this, and since it's early in Madoka's journey, I just don't think she would be able to beat her, even with the power of plot armor.

So? How is Madoka going to get out of this one? Is she gonna let Mami take her back to Homura like they agreed on? What about Mami's bargain with Hades? Well, guess you'll just have to wait till next time to find out. Stay tuned!