I

Homura stopped time as her feet kicked off the edge of a building top and she flipped through the air. The cars far below her on the city streets halted in their tracks as the world became silent aside from the rustling of her own clothing. Time resumed as she landed in a crouch, and all the ambient sounds of the late-afternoon city came swarming back around her. She brushed her hair away from her face as she stood, and then conferred with her SoulGem. She had been searching for the box witch but so far has been unable to pick up its trail.

Normally the witch's first attack would not have happened until later today, and Homura had planned on taking it out before then. However, on her way to the place where she ordinarily knew it to be located she caught a newspaper headline detailing a mass suicide using chlorine gas had happened yesterday.

Once again, this timeline was proving to be troublesome for her. Too much had changed and too many alternate chains of events had been set into motion to the point it seemed it was impossible for her to predict anything anymore.

Well, there is at least one event she could still count on happening. It is the one thing that never failed to come to pass and always appeared on the same exact day at the end of every timeline. Walpurgisnacht.

Homura walked to the edge of the building and looked around at the small metropolis which surrounded her. A heavy wind blew her hair and her skirt, and her eyes scanned the streets.

This city is Madoka's home town and if it were to be destroyed she would be devastated. Homura may be able to prevent her from making a contract, but her ability to save this city was a different story. She closed her eyes, just feeling the wind against her skin for a moment, and listened to the cluster of sounds rising from those streets below her.

She wanted a perfect ending that Madoka could be happy with, but the reality of what the future may hold was far too grim. Madoka would remain locked up, some of her friends would be dead and her home would be lying in ruins as she remained Homura's captive and unable to do anything about it. Homura knew that under those circumstances Madoka would end up growing to resent her, and probably even hate her. Still… Homura could accept all of that, knowing that the alternative would either have Madoka dead, or transformed into a world-destroying witch.

Homura opened her eyes and focused on her SoulGem once again. She needed to hurry and find this box witch. She hoped that the attack happening a day early did not mean Hitomi Shizuki had already died. That would be just one more failure on Homura's part, and one more thing to crush Madoka's spirit.

II

"You know, it's pretty rare for it to be just the two of us like this," Sayaka said to Nagisa as they approached the hospital campus, each wearing their respective school uniforms.

"Yeah, I didn't realize it before but I think you are right. We usually don't get together unless Mami is with us as well, huh?"

"So, how has your mom been?" Sayaka asked, "She still doing good?"

"Yeah, she's doing great! She doesn't even really need to be in the hospital anymore. Um, don't tell Mami but I almost accidentally told her about my wish."

Sayaka raised an eyebrow, "You did?"

Nagisa shrugged, "Yeah I caught myself before I said too much though. I mean, she would probably not take me seriously either way. Even if I was trying to convince her it was true it would be hard to make her believe me without some kind of proof. Since Mami told us to keep it all secret, though, of course I have no intention of trying."

"How about Kyosuke? Have you seen him around?" Sayaka asked, since his room was just a few doors down from Nagisa's mother, and Nagisa was friends with him. "I do feel a little bad about not going to see him in a while."

"I see him a little bit," Nagisa answered. "Actually I hear him more than I see him. I swear he never gives anyone a break with that music of his."

"Come on, aren't you being a bit harsh?" Sayaka asked with a grin. "You mean you don't like it even a little bit?"

Nagisa shrugged, "I don't mean I hate it or anything."

"Well, I was really just wondering how his rehab is going."

"Oh! I did see him getting around on crutches the other day, so that is an improvement, right?"

"Yeah, it sure is."

They were approaching the hospital and getting ready to go in when the door opened from the other side and Hitomi came out.

"Oh! Hey Hitomi!" Sayaka said with a smile, "didn't expect to bump into you here. How's it going?"

"Ah, Sayaka. Oh, just fine," Hitomi said, returning a bit of an awkward smile.

"Did you come to visit Kyosuke?" Sayaka asked.

Hitomi nodded her head. "Yes, my final period at school ended early so I decided to run over here and see Kyosuke for a little while."

Nagisa looked between Hitomi and Sayaka. "Oh, so the two of you are friends?"

"Yup! That's right." Sayaka laughed.

"Oh, and you and Nagisa are friends as well?" Hitomi asked.

"Huh? You and Nagisa know each other?" said Sayaka.

"We just officially met the other day," Nagisa explained. "She has been in to see Kyosuke a lot over the last week."

"Oh, you have?"

"Well, yes. Um, actually I-" Hitomi tried to say something, but was then cut off by Nagisa.

"I didn't mention her before because I didn't want you to get jealous, Sayaka!" Nagisa explained with that teasing tone to her voice.

Hitomi once again opened her mouth to speak, but Sayaka spoke first with a bright blush appearing on her face. "W-why would I be jealous of anything? Besides, me and Hitomi are besties. I have known her almost as long as I've known…" her voice trailed off. "... Um… Madoka."

Hitomi's eyes shifted around, before cautiously asking, "Has there been any updates on the situation with Madoka?"

"Yeah… It's officially a kidnapping now. The kidnapper let Madoka write a note to her family. Madoka said she is not being hurt or anything… but… I mean..." Sayaka shook her head.

"What do they want? Are they asking for a ransom?" Hitomi asked.

"Not that I am aware of…" Sayaka said, feeling bad about having to play coy. She already knew Homura kidnapped Madoka for the sake of preventing her from making a contract. At least, that was Kyubey's theory and she had no reason to doubt it.

Mami already explained how some Magical Girls turn down a dark path and lose sight of the fight for justice. Mami had seemed kind of upset as she explained that, and Sayaka suspected that Kyoko girl might have something to do with it. Mami had also explained that she and Kyoko used to be partners.

"I mean, what does it matter what the reason is?" said Sayaka as she lifted her school bag up over her shoulder. "I swear, the person who did this to Madoka is going to go down!"

"I am sure things will work out in the end." Hitomi said. "Um… listen, about Kyosuke. I-"

"Oh yeah, so how is Kyosuke?" Sayaka asked. Hitomi once again was cut off before she could finish what she was saying.

"W-well, he actually just went into physical therapy," she said.

"What?" Sayaka sighed, "ah, damn. That means I missed him, Huh?"

"Well, I don't know how long he will be… but they don't ordinarily allow visitors into the therapy room during a session, unless it is direct family."

"Hm, well I already came all this way. I might as well go in and at least see what the deal is. Worst case, I can just hang with Nagisa and her mom for a while until he is done."

"Yeah, that is fine of course," Nagisa smiled.

"S-Sayaka?" Hitomi asked.

Sayaka finally took note of Hitomi's flustered demeanor and raised an eyebrow at her. "What's up?"

"Um… so, sometime soon do you think we can talk about something?"

"Huh? Talk about what?"

"Um, after school tomorrow let's just go to the cafe. Okay?" Hitomi asked. "Just the two of us?"

Sayaka took in Hitomi's expression and said, "Yeah sure we can totally do that." Sayaka glanced to the side for a moment, then looked back at Hitomi and smiled. "Hey, don't worry too much about Madoka. I know she is going to be alright! The situation seems bad but I am sure things will work out in the end."

Hitomi still had a guilty look on her face, but she nodded an agreement. "Yeah, me too."

Sayaka wished that she could tell Hitomi what was really going on, and reveal the fact that she was going to personally take down Madoka's kidnapper. That would require explaining the whole Magical Girl thing, though. Again, Mami insisted that their status as Magical Girls needed to stay secret to all who were not involved.

The three said their goodbyes and parted ways for now, Sayaka and Nagisa going into the hospital together and Hitomi leaving the campus to head home.

"So, are all of your friends so weird?" Nagisa asked as they went up the stairs.

Sayaka sighed, "Honestly Nagisa, part of me feels like you are just the weird one."

"Hey that's not true at all!" Nagisa shouted.

"Don't you think your obsession with cheese is a little on the weird side, though?" Sayaka teased.

"No way! Anyone who does not like cheese are the real weirdos!"

"Hitomi did seem a little off today," said Sayaka. "She is very good friends with Madoka as well, so guess this whole thing has got her pretty freaked out."

"Oh… I see," Nagisa responded softly.

When the elevator door opened they had another friend waiting for them. "Kyubey!" Nagisa shouted instantly when she saw his little white face staring up at her.

"Hey there Kyubey, what's-" Sayaka started, but Kyubey responded before she could finish.

"I am glad I managed to find the two of you!" he said with his urgent little voice. "I have spotted Homura and she is in the same area as Mami right now!"

"What? Seriously!?" said Sayaka, "Damn it! I knew I should have gone with her!"

"Listen, neither Homura or Mami have discovered each other yet. However, Kyoko is also in the area and the three of them are all on the trail of the same witch," Kyubey explained. "What I am worried about is the possibility of Kyoko and Homura teaming up against Mami. Mami may be more powerful than either of them alone, but together they could easily get the upper hand on her!"

"Wait? Are you telling me that Kyoko chick from the other day is teamed up with Homura?" said Sayaka.

"I can not say for certain. However, I think there is a strong possibility it could turn out that way."

"Damn it! Well, what should we do?"

Kyubey turned and nodded his head to beckon Sayaka to follow him. "I can show you where they are. You do not have much experience scaling rooftops yet, but that will still be the quickest method of travel, so do your best."

"Alright!" said Sayaka. Then she turned to Nagisa who seemed at a loss for what to do herself. "Your mom is expecting you, right? So you should probably stay behind."

"But… if something bad happens to you and Mami…"

Sayaka put a thumb up. "Don't worry about it! Mami only needs help in case it ends up being two against one. With me helping her out, there should be no problem! Besides, you don't have any way of scaling rooftops the way I can. I am not that good either, but I can at least make bigger jumps thanks to my healing factor keeping me from getting hurt on the landings. You can't really do anything like that though, can you?"

"No…" said Nagisa, letting her eyes droop down. "Still… maybe I will be able to catch up. I will just tell mama I am busy, and make an excuse for why I can't stay long, then follow after you… except… I won't know where to go once you get too far."

Sayak grinned, "Alright then, if that is how you wanna do it. I will just leave a trail of swords behind for you to follow. Just search for my magic pulse like Mami showed you and you should be able to spot my trail."

Nagisa looked back up and smiled, enthused that she can be a part of it after all. "Okay! Got it!"

"Alright Kyubey," said Sayaka. "Let's go."

III

Wood splintered and broke away as a loud crash echoed through the abandoned halls. Kyoko stood in the dismantled doorway wearing her full Magical Girl attire. Her spear was balanced over her shoulder and a pocky stick hung from her mouth.

"Damn thing thinks it can hide from me, huh?" she said to herself as she continued deeper into the abandoned halls of the old building.

The witch had been playing a rather annoying game of hide-and-seek with her, moving its labyrinth around and trying its best to go unnoticed. Kyoko finally tracked it to the end of a long hall on one of the upper floors, and it seemed it was finally ready to just stick around and accept its fate. Or perhaps it thought it actually stood a chance against her?

Some Magical Girls did not think that witches were capable of that kind of cognitive thought, as if their mentality was more similar to an animal which operates on instinct alone. Kyoko highly doubted that, though. Some witches were like that maybe, but she has seen far too much in her experience as a Magical Girl to give them so little credit. Witches could be damn smart.

Her hand reached to the wall just beyond the threshold and she flipped the light switch up and down with no effect. She then focused magic to her eyes to allow herself to see a little more clearly in the dark and continued on her hunt. Her boots echoed with each step.

Finally, the witch's presence became more powerful, and she spotted a glow coming from under another doorway. "Finally ran out of places to hide, huh?" She ran over to it and jumped up, leading with her foot which kicked the door right under the handle. The door snapped open and the labyrinth's portal finally revealed itself to her.

She saw her own form reflecting off the orb, with a layer of white static swimming around below the surface. It's brightness would fluctuate, and as she listened closely she could actually hear radio static coming from within the labyrinth.

"What's wrong? Forgot to pay yer' cable bill?" she asked the floating orb, grinning as she crunched down on the last of her pocky stick.

She then readied her spear and prepared to leap inside, until she heard: "Hold it right there!"

Kyoko instantly spun around, jumped back a step, and then let her eyes narrow menacingly as her spear found itself pointing at her old senpai. It was dark, but Mami's silhouette caught the fluctuating brightness of the labyrinth's portal enough for Kyoko to see the outline of her drill curls and musketeer's hat. On the brighter flashes of light a stern expression revealed itself on Mami's otherwise dark face.

"Heh, figured things were going a bit too easily," said Kyoko. "But where are your two little lackeys? Did they take my advice and ditch you already?" She let out a burst of mean laughter. "That was even quicker than I thought it'd be!"

"Not at all," said Mami. "I simply asked them to stay behind because I had a feeling I would be running into you today."

"Oh? And how'd ya know that?"

"Sorry, but you are not quite as clever as you seem to think you are, Sakura-san."

"Wellp, you found me now, and If you are looking for a fight I'll warn you it's going to be different this time!" She gritted her teeth and tensed her hands on her spear. "I am not the same person I was before! If you don't give it your all this time I won't be going easy on you!"

"You are only right about one thing, and that is that you are indeed not the Kyoko Sakura who I used to know. That girl actually had it in her heart to care about people other than herself."

Kyoko's eyes narrowed. "And you never change one damn bit! Sayin' stupid shit like that!" Kyoko's feet tensed against the ground and she suddenly sprung forward. "You're my enemy now! Get it!?" Her spear spun around and slashed at Mami, but was blocked by the side of a musket that appeared in Mami's hands just in time. Mami spun it into a fire ready position in her hands and fired a shot right in Kyoko's face. Kyoko ducked out of the way as Mami then leaped backwards and sent a dozen strands of ribbons shooting towards Kyoko.

Kyoko flipped backwards, somersaulting away from the ribbons and simultaneously cutting some with her spear as she did so. When she regained her footing and took a battle ready stance, Mami already had a musket in each hand and several more floating in the air around her. "Kyoko! Stop this!" Mami shouted.

Kyoko had some snide remark on the tip of her tongue, but a powerful pulse of energy came from the labyrinth, momentarily unbalancing her. She quickly glanced over her shoulder and could see that the portal had become brighter.

"I did not come here to fight you!" Mami shouted once again.

"Course not, you just came to collect a GriefSeed, and happened to run into some competition! That's why we are going to fight for it!"

Mami stared her down for a hard moment, sighed, then tossed her muskets away. With a brush of her hand the other muskets floating around her disappeared as well.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Kyoko shouted, "Are you stupid or what?"

"Do you not realize what that witch is doing? It's watching us right now. You are speaking as though a GriefSeed is something you simply snatch up. Did you forget that you must defeat the witch as well before you can claim your prize?"

"Course I know that, idiot."

"Well then what would you do if you did manage to defeat me, but the witch pounced on you before you had enough time to heal? My guess is that is exactly what it is waiting for. It would be the same if I were to defeat you. Therefore, there is no winning this battle for either of us."

"Maybe you don't have enough magic saved up to do both, but I do! So I am not too worried about it. See? It's 'cause I've been getting to all of them first and starving you and your lackeys out! Guess it worked, right? You're actually really weak right now, aren't you?" She grinned mischievously. "Just as I planned."

"You underestimate me, and at the same time you are far overestimating yourself. Yes, I know what you have been doing, but again you are not as clever as you seem to think you are, and I promise my magic reserves are just fine."

"Let's fight then!"

Mami sighed, and let her eyes sink to the side. Kyoko grinned. Then, all of a sudden Mami's gaze shot right back at her and she sprang forward.

"Huh?" Kyoko tried to jump back and take a defensive position, but her feet were held in place and she was unable to move. She glanced down and saw two ribbons had wrapped around her ankles and tethered her to the ground. "Damn it!" She tried to slash at them with her spear, but more ribbons sprang up from the ground and grabbed her arms. More and more appeared, wrapping around her and subduing her.

The ribbons forced her arms down to her sides, and ripped her spear from her grasp. The next thing she knew she was being bound by a much thicker series of red ribbons. Kyoko had seen them before; it was Mami's most powerful binding spell.

"Ah! Damn you!" Kyoko screamed, now staring down the barrel of Mami's musket and struggling within a cocoon of red ribbons as they tightened around her. The spell finished and a steel lock formed at her chest. The yellow ribbons that had started it all were no longer necessary and disappeared.

Mami grinned. "You let your guard down, Sakura-san."

"You damn cheater!"

"Am I really hearing that from you of all people?"

Kyoko growled menacingly as she stared down the musket. She was completely bound from her chest down to her legs and dangling from the ceiling with her feet just out of reach of the floor. She could not move a single inch aside from wriggling her body within the bindings.

She realized it was useless, and her struggling ceased. "Fine." She looked past Mami's weapon and locked eyes with her. "Go ahead an' finish it then." Mami stared her down for a while then simply lowered the musket. "Ha! That figures. I knew you didn't have the guts!"

"This is not why I came here," said Mami. "I was actually hoping we could find grounds for a truce, but then you attacked me."

Kyoko rolled her eyes. "Quit screwing around. If you don't have the guts to finish me at least hurry up and get your GriefSeed so you can let me go." She struggled for another brief moment. "Seriously, I'm starting to cramp up over here!"

Mami watched her for a moment, then without a word she turned away and the ribbons loosened. Kyoko fell to her hands and knees then looked up with gritted teeth. "What the hell'r you doing?"

"You can have this one," said Mami. "Take it as a peace offering, or a show of good faith. After that, I would like you to meet up with me so we can discuss things. I hope that we can discuss an alliance, but if not…" she looked back over her shoulder. "...then we will discuss our terms of war instead."

"You can't have an alliance with me," Kyoko said, her voice ice cold. "You ought to know that by now."

Mami continued on her way, her steps echoing through the large empty hall. "I have to at least try. I will be waiting for you tomorrow after school, at the fountain where we used to meet up. Please be there."

Kyoko's hands tightened into fists. "You idiot…" she said under the breath, then raised her voice and yelled after Mami: "You damn idiot!"

She took a single step after her, raising a fist in the air and prepared to shout something else. She stopped herself, and with a grunt she turned on her heels and summoned her spear back into her grasp. She then ran toward the witch's labyrinth and dove inside, ignoring the bit of wetness she felt on her cheeks.

IV

Mami found a room with a large broken window which she could jump out of and then swing to another building from. She put a foot up on the window ledge with her other foot standing atop shards of broken glass, and focused on her SoulGem for a moment. She could feel pulses from the labyrinth as Kyoko fought against the witch. Kyoko was winning, of course.

Why does she insist on being this way? Mami wondered.

She thought back to the girl who Kyoko used to be. How kind-hearted she once was. That enthusiastic sparkle that was once in her eyes. Her good humored smiles and unstoppable resolve. Not to mention how much fun it was having her over and sharing tea and pastries with her. Kyoko was now a completely different person; just a cold-hearted cynic and far too stubborn for her own good.

Why did she come back to Mitakihara, though? Was it really because she wanted to go to war and vie for territory? Or was it something else? Mami decided she would try to give her as many chances as she could to be peaceful, but also knew she could only wait so long. She had two new kohai to look out for now, and she could not put them at risk for Kyoko's sake.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a voice inside her head. "Mami!"

She stopped and looked around. "Oh, Kyubey?"

"Over here," he said and then she spotted him peeking through the doorway she had just come from herself. His voice sounded urgent.

"What's the matter?" Mami asked.

"It's Homura! She is here in this building right now!" Mami's eyes widened and her hand subconsciously raised to her SoulGem hairpin. "I don't think she knows you are here yet, and Sayaka is also currently on the way as well."

"I see," Mami said in a low voice. "Do you know exactly where Homura is right this moment?" she asked partly to get an idea of what kind of powers Kyubey had. Despite knowing him so long she had little understanding of what he was capable of. She has long suspected that he had some sort of teleportation ability, since despite physically not seeming to be fast at all he seemed able to be in multiple places at once.

"Yes, follow me, but be quiet," said Kyubey. "You have to try and bind her before she notices your presence, otherwise she will just disappear again."

"Right," said Mami. "Lead the way."

Kyubey disappeared through the threshold, and when Mami made it back out into the hall she could already see his glowing red eyes peeking around the corner all the way down the other end of the hall. It worked that way over and over again. Whenever she was close to catching up to him he would duck into a corner out of her sight and next time she saw him again he would have covered an impossibly far distance.

At one point he disappeared into an empty elevator shaft, and when Mami stuck her head in and looked around she saw him peeking up at her from several stories down. When she attached a ribbon to the wall and lowered herself down to that floor he finally stopped with his disappearing trick and started traveling side by side with her. Padding along next to her with his tiny feet.

"She seems to have stopped," Kyubey said to her, telepathically.

Mami responded telepathically as well to avoid being heard. "She may have felt the pulses from the labyrinth and realized someone had gotten there first. She is probably wondering who it is, and if it is worth pursuing this witch or not."

Mami followed him around another corner and they stared down another dark hall with light shining around the corner at the very end.

"She's down there," said Kyubey. "Be careful, and try not to let her get away."

"Of course," said Mami, putting a thumb up. She summoned a musket into her hand and crept down the hallway. When she reached the end she stuck her back against the wall and very carefully peeked around the corner.

There she was. There were windows along this hallway, and Homura stood in the sunlight, staring at the SoulGem on the back of her head. It glowed softly, and Homura looked to the ceiling. She was in her full Magical Girl attire with her purple and gray dress and that shield of hers over her forearm. She seemed to be lost in thought.

Got you, Mami thought. Her one hand held the musket at her side, and the fingers of her other hand twirled. Her SoulGem hairpin let off a soft glow and two yellow ribbons appeared out of the ground. They slithered across the floor like snakes, rounded the corner, and made a line right for the back of Homura's heels.

Homura put her arm to the side, thought for a moment, then began to turn. She saw the ribbons on the ground and gasped, reaching for her shield and trying to jump back.

As soon as they were seen, the ribbons snapped forward like a snake and instantly wrapped around her heels.

"NO!" she yelled as she reached behind her shield to produce a pistol and then tried shooting at them. She fired three times, succeeding in severing one, but not the other.

Mami did not give her time to keep trying, as she quickly jumped out into sight with her musket at the ready. They only held eye contact for a brief moment before Homura raised her weapon at the yellow Magical Girl and they both fired.


-Atomyst

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