Chapter 11

Stormbreak

Homura glared at Sayaka. Always the defiant one, the wannabe hero, ignorant and bullheaded, who dragged everyone else around her down, selfishly putting them at risk. Thinking herself the invincible savior, but at always the weakest when faced with cold reality.

She had her cutlass back now, brandishing it at Homura, and she had to assume that the others had their weapons as well. They were ultimately irrelevant, but her heart sank at the sight of Madoka. Here she was, bruised, burned, bleeding, and afraid.

Homura then stiffened as she saw Madoka follow Sayaka's lead and drop into a fighting stance.

After everything I've done for her?! This is how she thanks me?! I- No… No… She's right to hate me. And she's afraid, hurt, she doesn't know what's happening. Don't worry Madoka, I'll fix this.

It was clear the current setup hadn't worked. Instead, she'd bring Madoka to the castle. Turn that place into a fucking stronghold. They'd start over. Madoka would forget all this horror, and live with her in luxury. She could be a princess. A queen. Her queen.

She didn't like it. She hated it. She hated herself for wanting it. Madoka deserved better than her. But there didn't appear to be any other choice.

Homura gestured, and the world warped around Madoka, prepared to take her to the island. Instead, Madoka's eyes glowed. It was brief, but it was enough. For in that moment, Homura saw the Goddess. A tall beautiful woman in a white and pink dress, her angelic wings spread wide. Her expression was neutral, dispassionate, but with a hint of sorrow. Homura was horrified all the same.

"No! Stay away from her!" Homura cried. She raised her bow, arrows of violet fire forming. The Goddess did the same, an arrow of pink fire readied. "You won't hurt her any more! I've made sure of that! She's safe! She's free!"

Homura fired at the same time as the Goddess, and their arrows collided. From the clash came a roar of noise and pain. Homura felt herself be lifted off her feet, and hurled about as if in a storm.

When the light faded, Homura found herself lying on the ground. The wall she had created had crumbled, nearby windows had shattered. The others lay in the area as well, groaning. She felt sore, and had a headache, but she pushed through it. She couldn't stop here. She turned to Madoka who lay against the car, attempting to rise to her feet as well.

She held out her hand, intending to try again, only to be shocked when nothing happened.

"What?! My powers?"

A voice sounded in her head. {It's the Keyblade! It's interfering with your influence over this World! The Goddess is still trying to reassert herself!}

Was that Kyosuke? She responded telepathically. {What should I do?}

{You need to-}

The communication went silent suddenly, and the area became cold. A shadow passed over them.

Homura looked up to see what she initially thought was a Wraith, only to quickly realize that it was a Heartless when she recognized the symbol.

The Wraith-Heartless lifted a burning javelin, and prepared to hurl the explosive projectile downward, only for something to hit it head on.

Madoka had thrown her Keyblade, impacting the javelin as it was about to be thrown, causing it to explode and knocking the Heartless into a building.

Homura watched as the Keyblade reappeared in Madoka's hand, and she leaped towards the enemy, a pink aura surrounding her.

She wasn't going to run this time. It would pay for what it had done to her family. Even if they were gone forever, they'd at least be avenged.

As the Heartless extricated itself from the building, Madoka leaped towards it, and slashed Crystal Clarity across it's chest. A wound was scored, though like the fiery heartless from before, it didn't go down it one hit.

Instead, as Madoka kicked off of it, she saw a large disembodied hand began floating towards her.

She held her Keyblade out to guard against the attack as the hand attempted to grab her, only for it to be engulfed in a violet explosion.

As she landed, she saw Homura look to confirm her safety, before continuing her volley of arrows. Mami and Nagisa joined in on the assault.

The blasts kicked up a large cloud of multicolored smoke, briefly obscuring the Heartless. After a few tense seconds, a barrage of razor sharp swords emerged from the cloud. Madoka rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding decapitation as one of them came uncomfortably close to her neck.

After the swords, she saw a flash of light, and instinctively leaped away again, as a fireball exploded. Beneath her, Sayaka rushed forwards. As the cloud cleared, she leaped up and struck a blow against the Heartless' arm, just as it was about to hurl it's javelin again. The shot went wild, flying into a nearby storefront and exploding.

Kyoko followed Sayaka's example, extending her spear, and slashing at its disembodied hand. As it reeled away, she returned the spear to its normal state, and then hurled it, striking the hand in the palm and pinning it to a wall.

"Hit it!" Mami shouted.

Homura, Mami, and Nagisa opened fire on the arm, a barrage of arrows, bullets, and bubbles that utterly destroyed their target.

The Heartless attempted to back away, flying up into the air.

"No! No escape!" Homura shouted. With a thrust of her wings, Homura took off. She was faster than the Heartless was, and got above it. From there, she rained down arrows, bursts of violet fire cutting it off, and forcing it back to the ground.

As it turned and attempted to retaliate with fireballs, Madoka leaped up and struck it in the back, releasing a burst of pink colored energy as she did so. The strike drew a jagged blue glowing wound across the monster and it went spiraling to the ground with a large crash.

From there, it attempted to rise, only to be impaled upon Kyoko's spear, while Sayaka charged at it, slashing wildly.

Both were forced to fall back when the Heartless released a burst of flame. It righted itself and swung the flaming javelin. Both narrowly avoided the series of thrusts.

When the moved out of melee range, the Heartless immediately turned towards Madoka and hurled a fireball.

Before it could approach her, a burst of purple fire intercepted it. Homura landed in front of Madoka, and began opening fire on the Heartless.

"Madoka, stay back!" Homura shouted.

"What?! No!" Madoka said. She leaped over the scowling Homura, and struck the Heartless in the side of the head, knocking it back and drawing another glowing blue wound.

The creature attempted to fall back again, though Madoka wasn't having any of that. The energetic pink aura surrounded her again, and she leaped off the ground. As she did so, the Heartless materialized it's javelin again and hurled it. Madoka twisted in the air, leaping off the weapon and straight up towards the Heartless.

At the apex of her jump, she channeled the aura into the Keyblade, and came crashing down on the Heartless. A massive blue glowing wound was torn across it's chest, nearly splitting it in half. Madoka grabbed onto the robe of the Heartless and used it to hurl herself even higher into the air while the The Heartless jerked and writhed as it fell back to the ground.

From her second jump, Madoka came crashing down again like a pink meteor, striking the beast head on, slamming it into the ground, and releasing a massive explosion of pink energy.

As the aura faded, Madoka leaped off, bouncing back as the Heartless slumped on the ground. The creature's body began breaking up, parts of it sloughing off and dispersing into wisps of darkness. Finally, the main body exploded in a burst of darkness, and from that cloud emerged a gigantic glowing heart-shaped crystalline object, that rose into the air and faded away.

"I-is it dead?" Nagisa asked.

"I think so." Madoka answered.

"Then this is concluded." Homura said. She turned to the others, her eyes still with those severe bags and hint of sadness.

"Alright, then." Sayaka said. "Howsabout you tell us what's going on then."

This didn't seem to go over well with Homura. She scowled, tilting her head. "And why? It won't matter in the end."

"Why? You owe me that much!"

"Owe you? Owe you?!" Homura's eyes blazed. "After everything you've done, you have the nerve to think I owe you? You?!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sayaka asked.

"Sayaka the simpleton. Sayaka the lovestruck. Sayaka the judgmental. Sayaka the arrogant. Sayaka the self righteous. Sayaka the insecure. Sayaka the stubborn. The narrow-minded petulant fool who's selfish crusade only harms those she thinks she's protecting. Who despite all this, is a weakling with a heart of glass, easily breaking, the shards tearing into those closest to her. Why should I owe you anything?"

Sayaka backed away, shock, confusion, and outrage on her face. Above, lightning flashed in the sky constantly. Bolts began striking, first buildings, then the ground.

"Homura?" Mami stepped forwards. "Perhaps if we all calmed down."

"Calm down? That's rich from you!" Homura said. "Mami, the girl with a will as hard as diamond, and as brittle as diamond. A girl so lonely, that's she's willing to put others in harms way and set them down a path to their own doom just to escape the emptiness. Who can't handle the truth about the world, and breaks, like all the others."

"What the hell is this all about?" Sayaka demanded. "And what are you talking about."

"I apologize, Madoka. Placing you with them was clearly a mistake on my part. I should have gone with my original plan. Don't worry. I'll fix what's gone wrong with you and shall strive to do better in the future."

Be wary. She is unstable. Don't trust her.

"W-what?" Madoka asked. Was that the not-voice from her dream?

I agree. It is a shame. Poor girl.

And the other voice!

"Fix her?! What the hell?! Explain yourself!" Sayaka brandished her sword. The others readied their weapons as well.

"Irrelevant." Homura said. The world around them began to distort. "The rest of you are irrelevant. Madoka is coming with me."

"I'm not going anywhere with you." Madoka said. She pointed Crystal Clarity at Homura, who's eyes widened. The distortions receded. She almost looked on the brink of tears. Madoka began to think that perhaps Homura could be talked down. Her expression hardened however, and her wings spread out. An aura of violet flame engulfed her.

"No! No! No! No! No!" The world around her twisted and distorted. From those distortions came strange and otherworldly creatures. Dolls dressed in funerary attire. Strange wind up soldiers. Animate teeth. Unnatural looking birds. The ground cracked, and red spider-lilies sprouted up. "No! No! No!"

You won't be able to hold her for long!

I concur. I can help you again child, but for this, you must provide me with a direct means of entry!

"What?"

Yes! Hold your Keyblade to the sky! Focus on the storm above!

Homura watched as Madoka lifted the Keyblade into the air. The tip of it glowed and then lightning struck down from the clouds above, directly into Madoka's Keyblade. The electricity expanded outwards, weaving through the air to form some sort of crackling magic circle.

Then the most unexpected thing happened. A massive lightning bolt struck the ground behind Madoka, and didn't relent, forming into some sort of pillar of energy connecting the ground and the sky.

Then from within the pillar a massive hand emerged. It went straight for Madoka, grabbing her and the others.

The pillar faded, revealing their abductor. A gigantic old man with an incredibly long beard, wearing a flowing robe. Electricity crackled all over him. The being glowed with a radiant light as he lifted a staff into the air.

Lighting erupted from the tip of the staff and washed over the entire area. Buildings were blasted apart, cars exploded, power lines went haywire, and her familiars were scoured from the world.

Homura held up her hands, and a purple barrier formed, intercepting the bolts aimed against herself.

The being began to float into the air.

"No! Give her back! You won't hurt her!" Homura's voice resonated as she spread her wings and took off towards the giant man.

The man responded by calmly lifting his staff into the air. Lightning struck it repeatedly, causing it to absorb the shocks until it was completely limned in voltage.

He then raised the staff, and hurled it. Homura, who reacted too slowly, found her world engulfed in blinding light and searing pain.

The Devil stood before the Goddess.

"What have you done!" The Devil raged. "What have you done to her!"

The Goddess said nothing. She merely looked upon the Devil with sadness. Her eyes were filling with tears. Slowly, she turned away, and began to leave.

"Don't you dare ignore me! Answer my question! What have you done with her!" Sadly, the Devil did not receive an answer.

She hurled herself after the Goddess, only for her to vanish. The Devil fell.

"Why would I ever want to play with you, freak?"

"Yeah, haha! Freak! No one wants a loser like you! Get lost, freak!"

"Yeah, her I bet her mom's a crack-whore."

"Stop! Please!"

"Crack baby! Crack baby! You're dad probably didn't want you! Small wonder!"

"You don't know that!"

"Nobody wants you, crack baby! Get lost!"

"Crack baby! Crack baby!"

"STOP!"

Impact. Pain. Falling. Tears. Blurry vision. Her glasses were broken. Sobs.

"What's going on here?!"

"Homura was being mean!"

"She hit me!"

"She was pulling on my hair! I had to make her stop!"

"No! That's not true!"

"Don't lie to me!"

"Yeah! Liar!"

"What can you expect from someone like her though?"

She began to feel weak. Her chest was hurting. The tears were coming all the faster.

"It's clear you need to be disciplined! Come with me!"

Homura ran.

Everything hurt. Her body had been burned black and skeletal, though it still moved. Slowly, organs began to reform, followed by veins, muscle, and then flesh and braided hair. Finally, a set of clothes formed. A school uniform, followed by a set of glasses.

Akemi Homura stood up.

"Madoka? Madoka?"

Where was she? What had happened? She looked around at the glowing crater she had been lying in, and up at the dark clouds, finally after so long, releasing rain. When it landed, it steamed from the heat. She remembered the giant. Madoka was gone. She couldn't find her. He must had taken her.

"MADOKA!" Akemi Homura sobbed. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Boy did you ever screw this one up. It was obvious it would happen though."

Akemi Homura turned to see who had spoken and gasped. She looked very similar to herself. However, she was wearing a lacy black dress. She had long black hair with red spider-lilies embedded it it, and bare feet. Strange red spiderweb markings descended from her eyes, making Akemi Homura think of tears. Strangest of all however, were her arms, which were purely skeletal.

Akemi Homura smiled, and collapsed to her knees, breathing a sigh of relief, even laughing a bit.

"What's so funny?"

"This isn't real! This isn't real! This is just another nightmare! Madoka's fine! She's safe!"

A solid fist struck Akemi Homura in the cheek, and she was sent sprawling to the ground. Homulilly straddled her, her skeletal hands around her throat.

"Did that feel like a dream to you?! Does this?!"

"What?!"

"Madoka is gone! And it's your fault! Because you were too weak and cowardly to do what needed be done to keep her safe. And now it's your fault she's gone!"

"No! She was happy!" Akemi Homura voice was merely a rasp, struggling to speak through Homulilly's grip. She tried to pull her off, but the grip was like iron.

"Happy? We could make her happy and safe if we had kept tighter control of her!"

"Control her?! She's not some doll in a dollhouse!" It was getting hard to breathe now. Her sight was going blurry, and her arms felt tired.

"And look what happened! It's your fault!"

"Is this a bad time?"

Homura turned to see Kyosuke standing nearby. She then looked back. She was in her Puella Magi uniform. She didn't have her glasses. Her hair was loose. Homulilly was nowhere to be seen.

"Kyosuke." Homura picked herself up.

He looked frustrated as he gazed up at the sky. "Ramuh the Stormbringer. I have to say, I did not anticipate the interference of an Esper."

"Ramuh? Esper? What are you talking about?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. This World wouldn't know about such things."

"This World?" Homura stepped back, and aimed her bow at Kyosuke again. "How do you know about these things?"

Kyosuke shrugged. "I suppose this guise has worn out it's usefulness."

"Guise? So you aren't Kyosuke!"

"No. Kyosuke's appearance was simply a convenient cover while I observed things here. I must be careful when I travel, for there are those who would do harm upon me. But first introductions." Kyosuke's body flickered and warped, and wisps curled off of him like some sort of mist. When the cloud faded, in his place stood a tan-skinned elderly man in a black longcoat and white undershirt. He was bald though his eyebrows and goatee indicated silver hair. His eyes were yellow. When he spoke, his voice was deep and raspy. "You may call me Xehanort."

Again, thanks to The Name Of Love for beta-reading and idea sounding!

~Dragonexx