Chapter 6

Closer to Home

Sayaka's deliberation over what musics to buy took far longer than expected. Madoka couldn't keep track of all these old composers, but it was apparently serious business to her friend. Mami too, as the two of them got into an almost heated debate which arrangement of a Mozart song was better.

Finally, however the decision was over (Sayaka seemed to have won) and everyone else could be on their way.

"So, what next?" Kyoko asked. "Because seriously, that took forever. And over some random guy who died hundreds of years ago."

"Mozart wasn't some 'random guy'! His contributions to the art and-"

"Yeah, yeah, he's your dead husbando."

"What? Why do you always go to that?"

Kyoko shrugged. "I'm hungry." Was the only response she offered.

"Good, because lunch is up next. After which we should check out the clothing store. Then the video games." Mami said. Cutting the argument before it could start and distracting Kyoko.

"Finally!" Kyoko and Nagisa lit up.

As Madoka watched the affair, she noticed something moving in the corner of her eye. When she turned to look at it, a dread chill went over her. She saw one of the shadow creatures from last night, disappearing down a hallway.

As she watched, she felt a twitch in her hands. The feeling from last night as well. She could almost feel the Keyblade in her hands.

She looked back to her friends, back at where the creature was, and then back again.

"You guys go ahead."

"Really? Why" Sayaka asked.

"There's something I want to check out. I'll meet you at the food court in a little while."

"Sure. Don't be long." Mami said.

"Right." Madoka took off in the direction of the creature, following it. It didn't appear to notice her and was instead fixated on whatever it's objective was. It went down into an area of the mall that was currently under construction, flattening and sliding beneath the gate.

Madoka paused, before taking a deep breath. This was clearly a restricted area. Should she really be doing this?

"Sometimes you just have to barrel ahead, hope for the best, and accept the consequences of what happens."

The words of her mother came back to her. She'd never find out what was going on if she backed down, even if she might get in trouble. She'd just have to grit her teeth and barrel forwards.

Alright! Let's do this.

As it turned out the gate was locked when she tried to open it. Madoka sighed, an honest mixture of disappointment and relief. Well, if she couldn't get in there, then she'd just head back to where her friends were and-

The sensation in Madoka's hand suddenly heightened. Then Crystal Clarity appeared in her grip. Madoka looked at the Keyblade, and then looked around the area, panicking. Her fears died down as she saw no monsters approaching. So why had the Keyblade appeared then?

She looked at the Keyblade. And then back to the gate. And back to the Keyblade. And then back to the gate. An idea formed in her head. Perhaps…

She pointed Crystal Clarity at the gate and she felt an energetic thrill run through her. The tip of the blade lit up forming a circle of light. From there, a beam of light shot out towards the gate, so bright Madoka had to close her eyes.

She panicked for a second, had she destroyed it?! She'd definitely get in trouble for blowing something up!

When the spots cleared, she breathed a sigh of relief. The gate was still there, though when she gave it a push, it opened.

She looked back at Crystal Clarity, and almost slapped herself. It was a giant key. Keys unlocked things. As she watched, the Keyblade faded away in her grip.

Steeling herself, Madoka walked into the blocked off area. The gate closed behind her, and instantly, the sounds of the mall became muffled, and then silent.

It wasn't long before she could hear voices.

"Well this appears to be a bust. How much longer are we gonna have to stay here?" It was a male voice.

"Cease your prattling, imbecile." It sounded like an old woman.

"But these in-between worlds always put me on edge."

Madoka slowed her movement as she got closer. She rounded a corner and quickly ducked behind a pile of construction equipment as she saw the two speakers.

"It will all mean nothing once I've found what I'm looking for."

Curious, Madoka peeked through a gap in the pile. The two figures were a very fat man with a large beard while his partner was a very tall, thin, and pale old woman, leaning on a cane. Something about these two put her on edge. It was like there was an aura about them. It made her skin crawl, reminding her of when she was engulfed in darkness in her dream.

"How do you know that it's even real? That cloaked fella could have been pulling one on us."

"The Book of Prophecies is real! Do not question me you dolt!" The old woman hissed. The fat man shied away from her, clear intimidation showing on his face. "I will have it for my own and you will keep searching until I do!"

As Madoka watched, their forms seemed to waver and flicker, almost indistinct. She then felt the same sensation in her hand from moment ago. The Keyblade was reacting to them again?

"Do you even have any leads on it though? It kinda feels like we're just hopping around randomly."

"Of course I have leads!"

As Madoka watched, she noticed the shadowy creatures were gathering around this odd pair. Were they responsible for them? She felt her hand twitch. The Keyblade clearly was reacting to them. She had to get closer. There was definitely something off about them.

She crept from her hiding spot, inching ever so closer. She needed to hear more. They definitely must know what was going on. So far, nobody had noticed her presence, and she-

Madoka gave a shriek as she tripped over a bit of debris and stumbled onto her knees.

"What was that?"

"It would appear that we are not alone."

"Don't tell me it's that stupid brat and his pals again."

"We shall see. Come out if you know what's good for you!"

Madoka remained silent. Maybe they'd think it was just the wind. Or a mouse. Maybe they'd go back to whatever they were talking about. Maybe they'd levitate the boxes she was hiding behind!

"There you are!"

Madoka felt her heart pounding in her chest. That woman's gaze was terrifying. Every instinct screamed at her to run, but for some reason her legs wouldn't respond.

The woman gestured, and Madoka was lifted off her feet and into the air. As she watched, the man and woman changed appearance. The man became more like a cartoonish humanoid cat wearing a strange jumpsuit. It was almost comical.

The woman was another story. Her dress became flowing black robes while her skin took on an unnatural green-white hue. She no longer had hair, her face instead being framed in black scales, with demonic looking horns coming out of her head. Her cane became a staff tipped with a green gemstone.

Madoka struggled and flailed, but she remained floating. Then, bands made of green flames encased her arms and legs like manacles, binding her. She was floated towards the woman, who grabbed her face with one of her clawed hands, forcing Madoka to look in her yellow slitted eyes. She shivered. Her hands were like ice.

"Who are you?" Her voice echoed loudly. Her breath smelled like burning.

"Looks like she's just a local."

"I will be the judge of that. Now answer me!" The woman's claws dug into her cheeks.

"I-I'm Madoka Kaname."

"Who sent you?" The woman asked.

"S-sent me? Nobody!" Madoka stammered.

"Fine, Madoka Kaname. Then can you tell me about a black box?"

"A what? I d-don't know what your talking about!" The woman clearly didn't like that, her expression darkening.

"Then you are useless to me!" The woman snarled. Her grip tightened, and a chill ran all throughout Madoka's body. It didn't last long, as warmth soon replaced it.

Crystal Clarity appeared in her hands. The flaming manacles vanished and she dropped to the ground, landing on her rear.

The shadowy creatures took notice at this point, all their beady, yellow, eyes focused on her.

"Aaah! Another one!" The fat cat exclaimed. "I knew she was with that brat!"

"Another one?" Madoka asked as she rose to her feet, keeping the Keyblade between her and the cat. Just holding it made her feel more confident. "And who are you talking about?"

"I'm sure ya'd love to know, but you'll be a Heartless soon enough, so what's it matter?!" The fat cat chuckled and pounded his fists together.

The demon-woman instead rolled her eyes. "Leave her. She's not our concern."

"W-what? Why Maleficent?"

"Our concern is the box. Picking a fight with a Keyblade wielder can be… time consuming... and I have no interest in wasting my valuable time with that old man's schemes."

The woman gestured, and a mass of writhing shadows appeared. She walked towards it.

"Hey, where are you going?! What old man?!" Madoka said. "What's even going on?!"

"You really are a novice aren't you? If I had a shred of empathy in me, I might even feel sorry for what you're likely in for." The woman, apparently called Maleficent, grinned. "That is, if the Heartless don't end you first!"

Maleficent gave a shrill laugh as she passed through the vortex, the fat cat waddling behind her. "Wait for meeee!"

The laughter echoed for a time, even after the vortex dissipated. In its stead, more of the shadowy creatures (apparently called Heartless?) appeared.

Madoka gripped the Keyblade, preparing herself for the onslaught as the Heartless approached. Among them were the bug like creatures from last night, though there were new ones this time. They stood on two legs, and wore odd, clam shaped helms open to reveal a face consisting of glowing yellow eyes and a jagged mouth. They bore a strange heart-shaped symbol on their chest, though most threatening of all were their razor sharp looking bright red claws.

One of them immediately rushed towards her, spinning wildly. Madoka leaped out of the way and spun to the side while slashing the keyblade, destroying it. Unlike the bug creatures, when this one was destroyed, she saw a glowing pink heart-shaped object fly up and out of the dark cloud before fading away. She marveled at it, and almost got hit when another Heartless attacked her.

Thankfully, she managed to strike it down, and then backed away as the entire group rushed towards her. She kept backpedaling, swiping at the Heartless as they mindlessly rushed towards her. When she almost fell over after backing into a pile of crates, she leaped on top of them, striking at the Heartless as they attempted to climb on.

It wasn't going to last. The Heartless were surrounding the pile and were now ramming against it, causing the crates to rock back and forth dangerously. She was going to fall into the mob!

The crates rocked even further, and Madoka struggled to keep her balance, before it gave way entirely, and was sent stumbling back towards the edge of the pile. As she did sensation of falling into darkness from her dream crept back into her mind, her skin crawling at the mere memory of it. No! She couldn't let that happen. She wasn't going to let that happen.

Madoka felt a strange sensation surge through her, like a shot of adrenaline mixed with too much espresso and a massive sugar high. Even as the box tumbled over, Madoka kicked off the corner of it, and felt herself go flying away.

Though she was moving incredibly fast, everything felt perfectly clear. She was aware of her surroundings more than she ever felt she had in her life.

It was almost trivial to see the pipe getting closer. Even though it didn't seem like it could support her weight, she grabbed onto it with ease, spinning around it, before letting go, launching herself back at the mob of heartless. As she did so, she held out her Keyblade, and felt the energetic sensation seem to move, almost "flow" through her body towards the weapon, and she saw it glow with a pink aura. As she flew over the Heartless, she lifted the blade and for a moment, everything seemed to stand still. She then came crashing to the ground, smack in the middle of the crowd. An explosion of pink light burst outwards from her point of impact.

When Madoka's vision cleared from the spots, she saw the Heartless had been scattered across the entire area, fading away into darkness, some releasing that strange object. She also saw that the pile of crates had been destroyed, reduced to splinters, and other construction equipment had been damaged or destroyed as well.

Did, I do that?! Madoka thought, with horror. The energetic feeling had left her, but she didn't feel any worse for wear. And she had destroyed a construction site. She stared at Crystal Clarity, trying to process what had just happened. What was this thing? What was even happening?

She something moving against her thigh and jumped, brandishing the Keyblade. It was then that she realized it was her phone. Her friends! They were waiting for her! The Keyblade faded away as she rushed back to the food court.

Later that night…

Whatever Junko's expectations for the day had been, the reality was even worse. As a woman it was difficult enough getting those old men to take her seriously. That so many of them were incompetent, out of touch, behind the times, and blinded by their own egos made things that much more frustrating. If she were in charge, things would be running so much more effectively. Heck, maybe she should do that. Start her own business, show them all how it's done. Junko laughed as she realized if she did that she'd have those arrogant pricks on their knees, eating out of the palm of her hand before long.

But that was a thought for another day. Now, she was on the road home, and the only thing she really looked forwards to was the warmth of her husband in one arm, and a cold drink in the other.

Yeah, that's real bliss right there…

Junko was distracted from her daydreams by movement in the corner of her eye. She turned to see a coal black face with glowing yellow eyes.

Everything after that was a blur of wild motion, skidding tires, breaking glass. Junko blacked out.

She came to, unsure of what had happened, only to take in a deep breath, and have the memories come back with the pain. She realized that her car had been flipped over. She had crashed.

Junko took a quick assessment of her body. Pains that indicated several cuts and bruises, as well as at least one broken rib.

Well, she wasn't going to let that stop her.

Gritting her teeth, she shifted her position, lowering herself to the ceiling of the car, then unbuckling her seatbelt. From there, she inched her way towards the window, thankful that most of the broken glass was either elsewhere in the car or outside. She squeezed her way through the broken window, and out onto the freeway. There she rolled over onto her back to catch her breath. She was alive, and mostly intact. She reached for her phone, first to call an ambulance, then to call her family, only to realize it was still her purse which was in the car. Damn.

It was then that she heard the sound of an approaching vehicle, slowing down and stopping. Well it seemed there were still Good Samaritans in the world after all. She turned to look at her rescuer, and squinted, not sure of what she was seeing. Maybe she had hit her head harder than she thought, because she could swear that car was standing up on its hind wheels.

Thanks to The Name Of Love for beta-reading and idea sounding.

~Dragonexx