Chapter 10

I Won't Rely on Anyone Anymore

"It all began several days ago in another timeline, before I met you and everyone else in this time," Homura began.

Inside Miss Saotome's classroom, Homura stood before the class, as she twiddled her school bag in her hands. She still wore the same school uniform like most of the other girls, but she had on a pair of red rimmed glasses, and her hair was tied into braided twintails.

"Okay, go ahead and introduce yourself," she said."Um, my name is…. Homura Akemi. And, uh, I… It's really nice, I mean…I'm pleased to meet you," greeted Homura.

"Miss Akemi was in the hospital due to a heart condition. Since she's been away from school for so long, she might need some help adjusting, so let's all help her out, okay?" explained Miss Saotome.

After class, the students began asking Homura questions about what she liked most of all, but the poor girl was unsure of how to answer them, when Madoka approached her.

Miss Akemi, didn't you need to go to the nurse's office right now? Do you know where it is?" asked Madoka.

"Huh? Um… no," replied the dark haired girl.

"I can take you there if you want. I'm the nurse's aid for our classroom," she said.

The pinkette then explained that Homura had to go to the medical ward for her medicine. The other students quickly apologized and parted ways with Homura, so that she could go with Madoka to the nurse's office.

"Don't mind them. They're harmless, I swear. They're all just excited because we usually don't get many transfer students here," said Madoka.

"Oh, um, thank you very much for that," replied Homura.

"Hey, you don't have to be so nervous around me. I mean, we are classmates now," assured the pinkette.

She introduced herself to Homura, and even suggested that she call her Madoka, despite her confusion, until she asked to call the other girl by her first name, which made Homura's heart start to beat rapidly.

"Well, I… I, uh… I don't really get called by my first name very much. It's kind of a weird name," she said hesitantly.

"What? It's not weird at all. It means flame, like you flare out passionately or something. I think it's cool," remarked Madoka.

Sora knew what that meant, because of his first meeting with another girl who's name was also Homura.

"I'm not really like that though," sighed Homura.

"Come on, how can you say that? If you were blessed with such an awesome name, then you have to make it your mission to be just as cool," explained Madoka.

While Homura was unsure of what that meant, she was soon asked to try and solve an equation, until the teacher suggested that she try and ask one of her friends to help her out. The same could be said for P.E. when the students talked about how she had passed out due to being bed ridden for a full year and a half. The poor girl slowly walked across the bridge after school that evening, even though Madoka's encouragement rang in her mind. However, Homura believed that she couldn't do anything, and was nothing more than just trouble, unable to do anything right and causing trouble for many people. Suddenly, a voice told her that she would have to accept her demise, as it was her destiny. Right as Homura was about to accept it, she was suddenly in another dimension, and looked about in pure unrelenting terror at what she was seeing. An archway rose up, and several creatures began stalking towards her with intent to kill, causing Homura to stumble back in shock and dismay. It was Izabel the Artist Witch. Before they could strike her down, there came the sound of gunfire, followed by several arrows of light which destroyed the creatures.

"That was a close one. Wasn't it?" said the blonde called Mami.

"Don't worry, you're safe, Homura," Madoka assured her friend.

"What are you doing here?' Homura questioned the pinkette who was wearing what appeared to be a pink frilled dress.

"Why, they're magical girls. They're girls who hunt witches," explained Kyubey.

"Oops. Our secret is out. Just don't tell anyone else in class, okay?" the pinkette said, and she and Mami fired at the archway, reducing it to ruins.

Homura was in awe. Moments later in the apartment of Mami Tomoe, everyone was sharing tea and cake with each other, as Mami set her tea cup down.

"Miss Kaname, I was wondering. Do you fight those things all the time?" Homura asked.

"Hmm… not all the time. Mami's pretty much the veteran around here. You wanna know the truth? I only made a contract with Kyubey about a week ago," replied Madoka.

"You handled yourself pretty well today. That was an excellent performance for a rookie," Mami said.

This made Madoka giggle.

"But doesn't it bother you? I mean, don't you get scared?" Homura asked.

"Oh, sure, we're bothered by it, and yeah, it is kind of scary, but when you look at it, the more witches you take out, the more people we save, so it's worth the effort," explained the pinkette.

Homura didn't know what to say, until Mami warned them that Walpurgisnacht would be coming, so that Madoka would be fully trained to defeat it. Then sometime later, the witch known as Walpurgisnacht had arrived, and she floated over the ravaged city, just as Madoka told Homura that she would be moving out to fight, after Mami was slain. Bravely, Madoka declared that she was the last Magical Girl standing, and that only she had the power to destroy that witch, despite the dark haired girl's protests, but the pinkette was firm in her belief of protecting the people of the city, but she bravely assured her friend that everything would be alright, as well as was happy to be friends with her, and that she was truly proud of becoming a magical girl of her own making. Poor Homura stood watching as she tried to call to her friend, her eyes streamed with tears. Then, a few hours later, Madoka lay motionless on the rain soaked ground, as Homura wept for her, as well as howled about how she wanted to live, until Kyubey asked her if she desired it most of all, after offering up her soul in exchange for that wish.

"If I make a contract with you, will you grant any wish?" she asked through choked sobs.

"Absolutely. You have more than enough potential. So tell me, what is the one thing you truly wish for that will make your soul gem shine?" the cat-like creature said.

So Homura decided on her wish, to meet with Madoka once more, so that she would be her guardian angel, rather than let her be her guardian angel. The instant she did, the dark-haired girl soon felt something that felt like a sharp pain in her chest, and she saw a shimmering violet light appear before her. The contract had been fulfilled, signed in Homura's own blood. Homura Akemi had now become a magical girl. Time and space reversed around her, as the clockwork mechanisms in the shield clicked and turned, and she was now back in the hospital bed, before everything that happened before, had simply hadn't.

"I see. So that's how you became a magical girl, to save Madoka from death. You wanted to try and find a way to ensure that she would be under your protection," Sora said quietly, even as he listened.

"Yes," replied Homura.

Soon, she got up and looked about, confused as to why she was in the hospital, then noticed a strange object in her hand. It was a soul gem. Somehow, it wasn't a dream at all. The events played out before with Homura introducing herself without hesitation, but when she ran up to Madoka and told her she was a magical girl and that they would be working alongside each other, everyone seemed confused and unsure of why that was, even as Madoka's face turned beet red. Under Mami's tutelage, she charged forth after transforming, and time seemed to slow to a crawl, then stopped as she struck at the oil drum with a golf club. She failed the first few times, but then struck it again, harder and harder, until it was badly dented all over. Once it restarted, Homura was on the ground, as Madoka asked Mami what she thought, and the blonde drill-tail decided that despite stopping time, she still needed to find a way to properly use it in a fight. That was when she began making explosives that night, so that they would fight against a witch that was using strings with blouses attached to them as weapons. Chairs and desks fell all around them. Madoka and Mami knew that this witch was none other than Patricia the Class Representative Witch, as they ran on the narrow lines, whilst evading Patricia's attacks. Quickly, Madoka fired an arrow of light at the witch, causing the familiars to scatter about, which in turn gave Mami the advantage as she tossed her ribbon towards the other lines, creating a makeshift bridge for Homura, who ran with everything she had. Time and Space stopped around her thanks to her time shield, and she ran forward with everything she had. She soon activated the pipe bomb, and with a great leap, she tossed up the skirt of the witch before, then time began flowing normally, as she fell away from the explosion, just as Mami caught her.

"Did I do it?" she asked.

As she was slowly lowered onto the ground, Madoka ran up to her friend, and hugged her, congratulating her in an ecstatic tone. Even Mami had to agree, until several days later, tragedy struck Madoka, after her victory over Walpurgisnacht. Her soul gem had turned black, and she writhed and screamed, as Homura asked what was wrong. Her soul gem had now become a grief seed, and soon, a terrible darkness began oozing out, causing Homura to realize that she was becoming something terrible, after her apparent victory over the most powerful witch in existence. Huge clouds of black smoke appeared in the sky, and Krimhilde Gretchin, the Witch of Misfortune had arisen.

"Just like what happened to Sayaka, when she lost herself to darkness, and became Octavia, the Mermaid Witch," Sora said in shock and awe at what he was hearing from Homura's story about her past.

He continued to listen to her story about what went on after she traveled back in time.

Unsure of what it meant, Homura soon traveled back in time yet again, awakening in the same hospital as before. She had to tell everyone that Kyubey was deceiving them. This led to her meeting Sayaka Miki before she became Octavia in the third timeline, making her skeptical about whether Homura was working with Kyoko Sakura after her explanation about Kyubey's deceit, the renegade Magical Girl, causing Madoka to stop her friend from picking a fight with her. Scoffing, Sayaka decided that she would not work with someone who would use explosives, even though Madoka and Mami used ranged weapons, due to her dislike of explosives going off in her face. Mami had to agree, and asked Homura if she could use something other than explosives. Using her timestop magic, Homura soon raided many police stations and military bases, and took several firearms she could find. Handguns, smgs, shotguns, assault rifles, RPG launchers, grenade launchers, sniper rifles, and several grenades that would suit her needs. Carefully, she loaded them into her shield, due to it having plenty of room inside, so that she would use the weapons that prove useful to her. However, the magical girls soon began clashing with Octavia, but in this timeline she had different familiars that resembled Madoka's friend Hitomi, even as they fought against Sayaka's dark side. It was a fierce struggle, until Homura came to Madoka's rescue and destroyed the rolling wheels that came towards her, but she soon apologized to Sayaka as she activated the detonator, which obliterated the witch, as time resumed once again. Kyoko Sakura cursed herself at how her rival had become a witch, but Madoka took it even harder than she realized, until Homura was wrapped in ribbons by Mami's power. Suddenly…

BANG!

A gunshot rang out destroying Kyoko's soul gem, causing the crimson rogue to topple down to the ground like a limp ragdoll. Homura turned to see Mami, her eyes wild and filled with shock and terror, as she ranted and raved about how both magical girls and witches were indeed one and the same, their only course was to face death without hesitation, until Madoka stopped her, by firing an arrow that destroyed the blonde's soul gem. Another shot rang out, and Mami collapsed as well, which in turn made Madoka cry out in anguish at what was going on, even as Homura broke free. But as Madoka wept, Homura assured her that everything would be alright, and they'd destroy Walpurgisnacht together. Sometime later, both girls lay battered and beaten, but were wondering if this truly was the end. When Homura asked if Madoka had another grief seed on her, she decided that they would become witches of their own making, and ravage the worlds and the people who lived in them, until the light and the darkness were well and truly gone. However, Madoka used whatever strength she had left to purify Homura's soul gem with a grief seed she had on her person, making the dark haired girl realize that she had lied. Homura tried to protest against it, but Madoka assured her that it was better for her to live, after realizing that her friend had the power to traverse time and space, so that she could make a difference for everyone, including herself. Homura agreed to it, until Madoka cried out in shock, and asked for her friend to deliver the punchline. Nodding somberly, even as she said Madoka's name, Homura agreed with her, then after transforming, she pulled out her handgun, and pulled the trigger as she howled in anguish. After traveling back in time, a now changed Homura got out of bed, walked off, and made a declaration about her plan to destroy all witches on her own, even as she warned Madoka after catching Kyubey, the deceiver, that nothing was true about wishes coming true and to never trust those who would lie to her, without the need of relying on anyone any more. Having accepted that she would never care about whether anyone understood her or not, Homura soon set to work trying to alter the course of destiny, as she destroyed Roberta, as well as refused to allow Madoka to fight of her own volition, by choosing to make every decision for her, as well as destroying all those that were lost in darkness alone, if need be, and vanquish Walpurgisnacht for good. Soon, she engaged Walpurgisnacht in battle, and the fight was on.

"That's horrible!" Madoka cried out in shock.

"You can't help it. One person can't handle this alone. But she knew that, and came here anyway," Kyubey replied.

Homura was sent flying into a large bit of debris, as she and the incubator watched from below.

"No! This isn't right! It's too much for her!" she protested, inadvertently drawing her attention towards her.

"No, Madoka! Don't listen to anything it says!" called Homura.

"If she gives up, it's over," the creature stated coldly.

This made Madoka worried.

"But, you have the power to change this destiny," he said.

This both surprised and shocked her even further.

"All this tragedy, all this destruction, you can change it, if you want. The power to do so, lies in you," continued the cat-like being.

"I… can change it?" asked the girl.

"It's trying to trick you! Don't listen to it!" cried the dark haired time traveler.

"Even someone like me, can do something like that to help? Can I really change how this ends?" she questioned.

"Of course you can. Just make a contract with me, and become a magical girl," replied the cat.

The girl nodded slowly, then her eyes filled with determination as Homura screamed in anguish, as she watched Madoka be engulfed in light.

"When Madoka transformed, that was really amazing, wasn't it? I had no idea she would become the most powerful Magical girl in the world, but I never dreamed she'd take down Walpurgisnacht with one shot," Kyubey explained.

"Did you know what would happen afterwards?" Homura asked bitterly.

"Her fate was bound to happen sooner or later. She was the strongest of all magical girls, and she destroyed her greatest enemy. It's only natural she'd turn into the wickedest witch of all, and in her current state, I'm estimating that it'll take her no more than ten days to destroy Kingdom Hearts. Oh well, it's the problem of all people now. We pretty much filled our quota and have more than enough energy," answered the cat.

But Kyubey had spoken too soon, because Homura turned away, stating that she would fight in another time, rather than in this one. Time soon rewound once more, as Homura soon made her vow to redo it as many times as she needed to, until she'd find the light at the end of the tunnel, and the loop would end for good, once Madoka's destiny would truly be averted, and that the light would triumph over the darkness, as long as she was trapped in the eternal labyrinth she created of her own making.

Once she had finished, Sora looked somberly at Homura, then turned slowly away from her.

"Hearing what you said…makes me want to save Madoka even more, just like you want to, Homura," he said.

"No one else can help me, Sora. No one at all. I've chosen this path, and I will continue to walk it alone, until I decide to give up what could be viewed as a pointless crusade," Homura replied quietly.

"That's where you're wrong. No one is alone, Homura Akemi. Madoka's future can be changed, but only if you agree to open your heart and let us help you, and accept that nothing has been set in stone by the false god, Kyubey," Sora protested calmly.

He walked quietly out the door, and began contemplating what to do next, as he called his friends on his gummi phone.