Tendrils of shadow wrapped around the shuttle, crushing on its hull until Sayaka feared it would pop like a balloon. A young man, the pilot, sat convulsing in the seat beside her. He was bleeding from nearly everywhere. The presence of the witch was overpowering. Others further back in the shuttle were in pain, but had not yet been exposed to as much as the ones right at the view port. She pitied them, only wishing they had been granted the seemingly miraculous resistance that she appeared to possess. There was only one thing she could do for them now.

Drawing the decorative blade from her side, she drove it through the pilot's heart. He stopped moving. She struggled back to where others were writhing in pain, barely managing to stumble in the right direction with the ship shaking so much. One after another, she ended their lives in the quickest way she knew how. There was nothing else she could do for them. A slaughter. A mercy. And then it was down to her alone. There was no way out but one.

Kneeling down in the center of the deck, she placed a hand on a nearby seat to stabilize herself. "This... isn't how I thought I would go." But she wasn't interested in facing whatever was doing this to the ship, neither was she interested in dying in the cold of space. "I had so much left to..."

Sayaka angled her sword into her chest and pulled it into herself.

Blood filled the shuttle, pooling on the deck. It wasn't until Sayaka fell face first in it that she was shaken back awake. Pressing her hands against the deck, she pushed herself out of the red. Her face and hair were dripping with blood, and the level of it covered her hands up to her wrists. Eyes wide with horror, she pulled her hands out of the grisly sea and sat up. Looking down, she saw the sword sticking out of her chest. The blood was still pouring from her.

The ship shook again. She grimaced, grabbing the sword's hilt and twisting it. She at least wanted to be unconscious when the shuttle broke open, but it wasn't enough. The pain was unbearable, but it only served to sharpen her alertness. Worse, when she tried to pull the sword free it refused to move. By the time she gave up fighting with it, the blood had risen to her waist. It defied sense, but it was happening. Struggling, she tried to rise to her feet. The shuttle shook, knocking her down. Red liquid splashed everywhere as she tried to get out of it. She thrashed around, vain attempts to right herself again, and only sank further into the blood and disappeared into it.

Kriemhild Gretchen released the shuttle, sensing that it had worked. She watched the tiny ship float in void for a moment, and then it burst like a balloon. As if hatched from an egg, Oktavia von Seckendorff stretched herself out. She floated in the vastness of space, looking about her. The colossal form of Kriemhild Gretchen was strangely still, watching her calmly.

Then the voice came.

"I am here."

Oktavia looked to the supermassive Witch in front of her. The voice was in her head, but she knew instinctively that she could respond the same way. "I can hear you."

"Do you remember your name?"

Oktavia found this an odd question to ask. Of course she remembered her name. It was... it was... "There's so much haze. I don't know. I can't..."

"Sayaka."

Oktavia stopped. "What... did you say?" She thought about the name. It felt right, like it had great meaning to her. It was perfect, and though she didn't understand why, she felt like she should accept the name. "Sayaka... yes."

Kriemhild Gretchen began to move, swirling black mass reaching out to Oktavia and wrapping around her. "We are going to the blue planet. There are others there I wish to free."

Oktavia gave in, letting herself be carried by the supermassive Witch across the black divide between Earth and the shattered remains of Venus.

Nagisa Momoe watched the sky. The clouds were dark and foreboding, swirling around at the tops of skyscrapers ominously. Rain pelted her face as her white hair whipped around her in the wind. She had a feeling, like something was coming and she didn't want to miss its arrival. It was something she had to see. That's why she was standing in her backyard in hurricane force winds and driving rains in her pajamas at five in the morning on a Saturday.

A small voice called to her through the storm. "What's going on?"

Nagisa glanced behind her. "Mami... go back inside, dear. You should be sleeping."

The little girl, Mami Momoe, rubbed sleep out of her eyes. "So should you."

Nagisa frowned. "It's not safe out here. You should be inside."

"Mom, if it's not safe for me, it's not safe for you."

Nagisa hissed at her daughter. "Get back inside!"

The child's face froze in fright. Nagisa followed her terrified gaze and gasped. Reaching through the clouds, dark tendrils wrapped around the tops of the buildings and snaked their way down. The black shadow emerged from the thick grey cover, blocking out the rain as it spread out. A single column of darkness shot down to the Earth in the distance, sending up smoke and dust. Another, crashing through a tower and shattering the fragile steel frame. More came down, digging into the ground wherever they hit, punching through solid stone, concrete, glass or metal or whatever else they found.

Nagisa shouted at the top of her lungs. "Get back inside!"

Her panic wasn't without reason, as the next pillar streamed directly for her and her child. She didn't have time to do more than turn back to face the oncoming crushing death before it slammed into the center of her yard. The shockwave sent her flying back into the wall of her house, shattered all the windows, and tossed young Mami through the open doorway. Nagisa opened her eyes and looked up at the solid shadows in front of her. It gave her no time to draw any conclusions about it before the whole thing opened up and released a familiar form.

Charlotte Tomoe fell out onto the ground, landing heavily and laying still. She was breathing, but was obviously in rough shape. The long appendage, stretching back up to the monstrous shape in the sky, seemed not to be moving. Nagisa took the opportunity to crawl forward and grab hold of Charlotte, dragging her back towards her house.

Halfway between the house and where she had fallen, Charlotte opened her eyes. "Na... wha..."

Nagisa stopped and held her down, shouting over the storm. "We need to get inside!"

Charlotte pulled herself up. She looked up at the sky. "Wha... what the hell is that?!"

Nagisa pulled her the rest of the way to the house, shoving her through the door. She would have followed, but something wrapped around her waist and hauled her back. Turning her struggling body around, a large mad eye stared at her from the dark pillar. It looked her over as if considering eating her, then suddenly began to bulge. It was as if the pillar was a tube, and something very large was traveling down it and distorting the shape. Nagisa felt she didn't want to see what was about to come out. An armored colossus broke out of the shadows, landing hard on the ground as the tendrils lifted Nagisa higher.

The massive hulk of Oktavia slowly disintegrated until all that remained was the bare form of Sayaka, laying sprawled out on the grass. The cold driving wind made her shiver, causing her to stir. Pushing herself up, she put her hand on her head to keep it from spinning. After a moment, she realized that there was grass under her hand. She was on some planet with grass, which narrowed it down to Earth. She couldn't remember how she had ended up on Earth. She was on a shuttle headed for Venus when...

Sayaka gasped. "Madoka!"

As Sayaka was struggling to stand, several arcs of lightning converged over her. Something in the air, something Sayaka couldn't see, shattered and broke open. A giant worm creature fell out, plummeting to the ground right over Sayaka.

Wind whipped the twin drills into her face as she recklessly sped through the streets. Kyoko gripped her seat in terror, praying silently that Mami knew what she was doing. The blond fought with the steering wheel, hauling it to one side and then the other in such rapid succession that, for Kyoko, it brought the woman's sanity into question. Making the car skid around a corner and smash through a bus stop was the last straw.

Kyoko didn't let go of her seat, but she loosed her tongue. "Okay, I get it! Whatever I said, I'm sorry! Stop trying to kill me!"

Mami reached down and switched gears. "Hold on! The city is coming down!"

"WHAT?!"

"Get your head down!" Mami shouted over the storm. "Whatever that thing up there is, it's bringing down the city! I have to get to Nagisa before it's too late!"

Kyoko watched, feeling like everything slowed down for a second, as the bottom floor of the glass building next to them flattened with several people visible inside. They disappeared in an instant. She turned away from the world outside the car, ducking down in her seat. "And we're not going to try saving any of these other people?"

"Huh?" Mami looked over to Kyoko, shocked. She didn't have any time for it to register, as in the moment she looked away a black tentacle speared the car.

Mami opened her eyes, feeling blood running down her face. Her head was resting against the steering wheel, and for some reason the collision foam hadn't activated. Her eyes adjusted, and she gasped at the sight of Kyoko crumpled against the dashboard. She reached her arm out to help her friend, only to draw back when she brushed against the black shape passing through the car from the front window to the back. It pulsated with energy, and suddenly many smaller tentacles came off of it. One such tentacle wrapped around her arm and...

Ripped her arm off.

More tentacles ripped Kyoko's door off, hauling her out into the street. Another pair of the vile things pulled Mami through the window of the driver's side door, lifting her into the air. She watched, helpless, as a long, pointed appendage speared Kyoko and set her ablaze. Screaming with all her might, Mami reached out for her friend with her remaining arm, suspended in the air as the tentacles wrapped around her head. The last thing she saw was Kyoko burning, and the last thing she heard was a horse.

...

"I will..."

"What?" Sayaka stood up, shaking her head. "You will... what? Who are you?"

Madoka stepped out of the darkness. "I heard a voice, Sayaka. A voice calling me to come. I will follow this voice. And I... I want you guys to come with me."

Sayaka shook her head. "You gu- us... who?" She checked around her and was surprised to see Nagisa standing behind her. Mami and Kyoko were on either side of her. All three were just as confused as her.

Madoka continued. "All our perceptions have been heightened to match our increased capabilities. I will launch us through space toward L Abel 275, and through it to the mystery that lies beyond! There the voice will greet us!"

Mami squeezed her arm several times with her hand, making sure it was really there. "How..." She looked up at Madoka. "That would take billions of years, even at light speed."

Madoka spread her arms out wide. "We have the time. We are immortal now!" She grinned, beaming at the four stunned women. "We are beings beyond normal Human comprehension! We thrive where no other life can! Through countless eons we persist! Hold the core of a star, touch the event horizon of a black hole, and even talk with the gods in Valhalla! We can do anything!"

Sayaka blinked. "Immortal?"

Kyoko added, "Valhalla?"

Madoka laughed. "Maybe not in these bodies, but I can launch us through the vast voids of the universe safely in our altered forms!"

Nagisa gasped, causing the others to turn and look behind them. Sayaka nearly jumped out of her skin. Mami swore. A hulking armored form swam past, followed by a trotting horse with a magnificent warrior figure wearing a kimono. The latter figure's head was a bright tongue of flame. Looking further, they saw a large spotted worm wriggling ahead of the armored mermaid. There was also a big frilly creature that seemed out of place.

Madoka gestured to them all in turn. "Candeloro! Ophelia! Charlotte! Oktavia von Seckendorff! And Kriemhild Gretchen!" For the last one, she motioned downward.

They all looked down, reacting in much the same way they had a moment earlier. The surface they were standing on was a wide, flat, black platform made from the very being of the super-massive Witch.

Kyoko held up a finger. "Okay, that's all cool and everything, but I'm still stuck on Valhalla."

Mami shot her a glare. "Leave it."

"Leave it?" Kyoko made a face that clearly said she didn't want to.

Sayaka nodded, reinforcing the argument. "Oh yeah. Leave it right there."

The dark platform suddenly began closing around them. Madoka spoke, her voice filled with awe as a gale-force wind blew across them. "Your transformations are complete, and so we must bid farewell to the world we knew."

Mami shouted over the rushing sound of the wind. "Why are we leaving?"

Madoka's voice reassured them one last time. "For these five to remain here any longer would be to bring death to all that dwell on this planet!"

Everything went dark and silent.

Madoka's voice rang out. "Discovery awaits us."