I
"One thing I don't get," said Sayaka, walking along the dark city streets side by side with Mami while Kyubey trailed close behind them. "It's a Magical Girl's job to fight these witch things for the sake of protecting regular humans, right?"
Sayaka was carrying a baseball bat over her shoulder which she had taken from her basement. Mami decided to just humor her and not point out the bat would not do much good against any witches.
"More or less," Mami agreed.
"So then why the heck would Homura want to abduct Madoka?"
Kyubey looked up at her and said, "I imagine it's because she somehow knew that I was planning to contact Madoka about becoming a Magical Girl, and wants to put a stop to it."
"But shouldn't she want there to be more Magical Girls? I mean, the more there are the easier it would be to take out all the witches, right? The more the merrier, you know?"
"Not necessarily," said Mami. "The truth is, although Magical Girls fight for the same cause, more often than not they are in competition with each other. You see, when a witch is defeated the girl who beat it is entitled to certain rewards."
"Rewards?"
"GriefSeeds. They are required in order for us to cleanse our SoulGems."
"Eh... SoulGems?"
Mami smiled as she brought her hand up to the flower shaped hairpin on the side of her head. It started radiating a soft yellow light then morphed and changed form. It converted to the shape of a tiny egg concealed in a small metal frame. Sayaka awed in amazement; it was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen in her life.
"This is a SoulGem," Mami explained. "You get one when you make a contract with Kyubey. It is the source of our power and is the thing that makes us Magical Girls. Right now my SoulGem is in pretty good shape, but as time goes on and as I use magic all those bright colors will start to grow darker and darker. That's why you need to use GriefSeeds to cleanse them."
"And witches drop GriefSeeds?" Sayaka asked.
"That's right."
"I see... I guess I understand why Magical Girls would fight over it then."
"Well, we are not all like that. It's not entirely unheard of for us Magical Girls to help each other out. I've heard that in some of the bigger cities there are even groups who band together and go patrolling for witches on a daily basis. That's a bit uncommon, but it does happen. It's true that more often than not when two Magical Girls cross paths it's more likely for them to just end up fighting."
"Still, I don't get it. Why Madoka?" Sayaka asked, "Kyubey wanted to make me a Magical Girl as well, so how come I wasn't target by Homura? Mami, you actually are a Magical Girl and she has left you completely alone so far, right?"
"I may have an explanation," said Kyubey as he sped his pace enough to walk ahead of them. His little head turned around, his eerie glowing red eyes stared at Sayaka without expression as he walked with his small quick steps. "Madoka is an anomaly among my Magical Girl candidates. She has it in her to be one of the most powerful Magical Girls I have ever created! If she were to become one she would be able to single handedly keep this entire city safe from witches. More than that, even, it would not surprise me if she could handle this entire region alone!"
"I see..." said Mami. "If Homura is the competitive type of Magical Girl it would make sense then that she would want to stop Madoka from becoming one. But Kyubey, how is it that she could have known all of that? How could she have known that you were even considering Madoka in the first place?"
"Unfortunately, I have no idea. Homura is an anomaly herself. Somehow she has become a Magical Girl even though I have never even met her, and she seems to know things she couldn't possibly have any knowledge of. Not to mention her magic is unlike any I have ever seen before."
"It is all very strange," Mami agreed, "But perhaps the answer will start to reveal itself in time. For now our best course of action is to continue hunting witches and we are bound to run into Homura eventually. That is our best chance at finding and saving Madoka."
Sayaka was still stuck on what Kyubey had said about how powerful a Magical Girl Madoka could be. It was hard to believe the clumsy little schoolgirl she was such good friends with could really be that type of person.
Mami stopped as they were passing a dark alley. She and Kyubey both looked down into it's dark depths. It was littered with garbage and debris and there was a rancid smell coming from deep down inside. Sayaka noticed what they were doing and looked back and forth between them.
"Is something down there?" she asked.
"Yeah," said Mami. "Looks like we got lucky. We managed to find a witch already."
"R-really?" Sayaka suddenly felt a pull of anxiety. She was brave about the idea of fighting witches until this very moment. Perhaps it was looking down that dark alley, and staring into the unknown that got to her, but she still managed to force a brave face. "Well, alright then. Let's go get it!"
"Sayaka, you are not a Magical Girl yet so I don't want you trying anything crazy. Just stay back and let me handle things. If the witch sets its sights on you I don't want you to do anything but run. However..." She held out her hand and Sayaka could tell she was asking to see the bat she had been balancing over her shoulder. Sayaka held it out to her. Mami put her hand on it and the same bright light from earlier formed around it. When the light cleared the bat had changed. It was now shinier and imbued with magnificent crystals. Sayaka's eyes sparkled as she stared in wonderment.
"Aside from the witch we may also confront some 'familiars' in there," Mami explained. "They are smaller weaker creatures that are spawned from the witch itself. If you are attacked by one of them, and I'm in a pinch, you can use this to defend yourself."
Sayaka nodded, "Sure thing!"
"Just remember, do NOT try to fight the witch. Leave that part to me."
II
Homura hand unknowingly ended up just two steps ahead of Mami's group. As they were approaching the edge of the alley, Homura was already entering the labyrinth that waited at the end of it. This was the Mugger Witch's lair.
There have been numerous murders around this alley ever since the witch had moved in and made this its home. It kills by luring in potential thieves as well as their victims and instigating muggings. Once it did so, both the thieves and the victims would soon be pulled into the labyrinth, and after that their souls were doomed to become the witch's familiars.
In most of her past lives this witch went unnoticed by the other girls and was always an easy GriefSeed to grab if she found herself in a pinch. Every once in a while, though, the other girls did find out about it. Homura just hoped that this would not be one of those nights. She didn't think she had enough magical power left to have a confrontation with both the witch and Mami if she did happen to show up.
Inside, the labyrinth looked like a cartoon version of some bar in the wild west. Most of the patrons that sat around the bar and at the table's were just for show. Their faces had no real substance, twisting and changing in a mess of incomprehensible colors. There were a few, however, that had sneering grins with big white teeth on their cartoon faces. Those were the familiars that had come from the souls of the mugging victims.
At a table in the far back corner of the bar there sat six more identical familiars playing a game of cards, each of them had a red bandanna over their face in the fashion of a robber from the wild west. Those were the familiars that came from the souls of the muggers.
The actual witch hadn't shown its face yet. Homura had fought it before, though, and knew what it looked like; The Mugger Witch was the sheriff of this mock town.
She glanced around the bar as she planned her attack. So far, none of the creatures that inhabited it had taken notice of her, and they likely would not until she started disturbing their scene.
The familiars would be easy enough to take care of. If she had more magic at her disposal she could just stop time and take them out one by one while they were completely helpless. However, since her magic supply was so low she decided it would be best to try and take them out the old fashion way. This way she would have plenty of magic to defeat the witch with when it inevitably decided to show face. Or, lack of a face, rather.
She reached behind her gear shield and removed a handgun. The robber familiars all looked up at her and started to rise from their seats. She quickly took aim and started firing away at them. By the time they reached for their own guns she managed to take out two of them with two quick clean shots to the head. Then, for cover, she dove under a table that did not have any of the patron familiars sitting at it.
Shots rang out from that back corner of the room. The patron familiars started rising from their seats and moving toward her with slow heavy steps. Luckily, the robber familiars were the only ones with guns, so once they were gone cleaning up the rest would be a cinch. She peaked over the table and fired her gun three more times. The first couple shots were just for cover, then the third took a robber familiar clean in the head.
The patrons were getting closer with their slow zombie like movements. She rolled away from the table, stopped on her knees in mid-roll and fired four more quick shots: taking out another two robbers. She then rolled again under a new table for cover.
"Just one more."
She hadn't noticed one of the patrons who was slower to rise than the rest, and she had rolled right under its feet! It suddenly lunged down upon her. She grunted as she fell backwards to avoid it, then rose her gun and blew its head off before it had a chance to do her any harm.
The problem is she was now out in the open. She looked towards the last remaining robber who now had a clean shot on her. She moved the barrel of her gun in its direction, but in the back of her mind she knew that she had messed up big time. Her arm felt as though it were moving in slow motion, knowing she would not be able to fire her shot first. Her jaw tightening in anticipation of the bullet that would soon be piercing her body. Hopefully, it would not go crashing through her head. She has had her skull pierced before, and it was probably one of the most unpleasant feelings in the world.
However, instead of the robber firing its gun like she thought it would, it just exploded into a mess of dark colors, preceded by the sound of a different gun going off right behind her!
She quickly spun around and raised her gun, her butt still on the floor, and found herself staring down the barrel of a decorative musket, held by none other than Mami Tomoe.
"You!"
"Me?" Mami asked inquisitively. "I don't believe we've met before." She summoned another musket into her free hand which she then used to blow away a patron familiar who was getting just a little too close to her. "Perhaps now is not the best time for talking?" she asked.
"Agreed," Homura said as she quickly got back to her feet and joined Mami in shooting at the unarmed familiars who were creeping towards them with clawing outstretched arms.
Sayaka swung her bat at one of them that Mami had missed and took its head clean off. "HOMURA!" She shouted as she raised her bat against another, "What did you do to Madoka!"
"She's fine," Homura spoke coldly, her attention focused down the sight of her pistol, picking off familiars one at a time. "You do not need to worry about her."
"The hell I don't!" Sayaka swung her bat wildly at one patron and then another.
Then, a low whistle filled the air and all the patron familiars stopped their progress and began to turn around. Some of them fell to their hands and knees and started to crawl away.
"What's going on?" Sayaka asked, looking around in confusion at the retreating familiars.
"The main event," said Mami. "Stand back."
The three of them retreated to the back of the bar and focused their eyes on the swinging double door in front.
"Sayaka, it is best that you hide behind the counter for this one," said Mami. "The witch will be nothing like those familiars. This is the real deal."
"R-right," she said, and quickly did as she was asked.
Homura and Mami readied their weapons and waited. The whistling got louder and louder, and soon they could see the shadow of a tall dark figure approaching the doors.
"Can I trust you not to shoot me in the back while I'm distracted by this thing?" Mami asked.
Homura clicked her teeth and flung her hair back. "What kind of a person do you think I am?" It was ironic to hear that kind of an accusation from Mami, for in one of Homura's past lives Mami had done just that. After finding out the truth about Magical Girls and how they were doomed to one day turn into witches themselves, Mami lost her mind and tried to kill everyone in their group. She had succeeded in killing Kyoko, and would have finished off the rest of them if Madoka hadn't stopped her by killing her first. Ever since then Homura held a secret hatred for Mami, for only she knew of the kind of person Mami was capable of being.
The witch burst through the door and instantly opened fire on them.
III
Madoka had spent much of that first hour struggling and trying to free herself. She reached and pulled and thrashed her body all around, trying to slip out of her bindings, but with no success. She twisted and turned her hands around, trying to get her fingers at the knots by her wrists. No matter how hard she tried she could do no more than simply brush the rope with the tip of her little finger. Finally, with a frustrated "mmmmph!" she gave up.
If she could just get one hand free she would be out of this, but it was clear there was no way for her to do even that much.
The lights were out, but at least a window was open and some moonlight was finding its way in, so it wasn't completely dark. Madoka was not the kind of person who is normally afraid of the dark, but in this situation she thought she would be if it were completely pitch black.
Madoka stared at the ceiling. She thought how worried her family must be right now. She thought about Sayaka, wondering if she knew she had gone missing already? Chances are she did. Calling Sayaka is probably the first thing her mom did. If Sayaka did not know, then when Madoka didn't show up for school tomorrow Sayaka would probably think she was sick and rush over to her house first thing after school, bringing medicine and things to help with colds. She was that kind of friend.
Lying in that room all alone, she felt that she missed Sayaka the most. They had been best friends since childhood. Madoka didn't think they had ever gone more than two days without seeing each other.
She looked at the binding on one of her wrists and turned it around passively. Even if she did somehow get out of this, wouldn't Homura find her and just bring her right back? How was she to escape someone who could stop time and just do whatever she pleased?
She wondered what Homura was doing right now. Was she fighting one of those witch things she talked about? Madoka honestly did not even fully understand what those were, but she did get that they were dangerous. What if something bad happened to Homura while she was out there? What would happen to her then? She was stuck tied to this bed and no one else knew she was here! If Homura never came back, then...
She shook the thought away, it was too scary to think about. She looked back to the window, and couldn't see much, but she could at least see a few stars nestled against the dark night sky. She closed her eyes, trying to think of happy things and let sleep take her.
-Atomyst
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