We slated the 31st as the date where we would embark on our first joint witch hunt. I'd say it was considerate of Mami to give me a day to recover from Homura's attempted kidnapping, but that was really just how she was.

The 30th was spent actually experimenting with what I could do with my newfound power. While I couldn't really test my future sight on anything as it required me to be in danger to consciously trigger (and it preferred to activate on its own anyway), what I could do was see what exactly my sword was capable of.

The thing was pretty long, all things considered. I determined that the blade itself was around three and a half feet, with the circle and the hilt portions totaling out to about two. The energy blade added an additional two and a half feet in its natural state, for a complete length of approximately eight feet. In short, BFS.

One thing I noticed right away when scrutinizing it was that the large hole in the middle wasn't actually a hole, but was rather composed of an incredibly dense and durable glass-like material that it used to project the symbols that appeared inside whenever the energy blade was activated. Nothing I could get my hands on could even scratch the stuff, so I concluded that I could use it to catch opponents by surprise by blocking with it, then countering before they could process the fact that their weapon had supposedly been stopped by an invisible wall.

The dormant edges were also perfectly capable of cutting by themselves. Upon realizing this, I found that I could use that aspect to invoke a little "I Am Not Left-Handed" trickery by starting out with just the edges, then triggering the laser blade in the event that I needed to get serious.

While I was on that, there was also some merit in using the transformative motions of the blade to my advantage. The ability to quickly turn the laser off and on again would do wonders for my combat mix-up potential, allowing me to slip out of blade locks and even get in a cheap impalement by triggering the blade extension in the middle of a swing. Range was a very powerful aspect of battle, and being able to change mine at will would let me force my opponents to keep guessing as to where I would attempt to hit them from next.

Some of the techniques I had innately discovered during trials by fire were practiced, too. The blade beams I could shoot while the energy blade was out were fairly tall, covering a few feet more than my total body height. They could be launched at any angle - diagonal, horizontal, you name it, I could fire it like that. And not just as arcs, but also as sharp spikes that could pierce through tougher objects in exchange for AoE width. When testing just how far the blade could extend, however, I found out that if there was an upper ceiling, it wasn't in the range of realism. In layman's terms, I had no idea where the extension limit was because I was never able to reach it before it became too big to use properly. For all I knew, I could make it go all the way past Earth's atmosphere and keep going into outer space.

I also used my time to watch a couple of tutorial videos on proper swordplay. While obviously none of them covered techniques for Zweihander-type weapons like the one I was using as they were centuries out-of-style, they were nonetheless helpful in pointing out common general mistakes beginners made and how to rectify them.

On an unrelated note, I found myself unable to stop speaking in GLaDOS quotes until the day ended for some weird reason. But that's enough pop-culture references (for now, anyways).

I concluded that it would be wise for me to stay as a melee fighter. The blade beams were all well and good, but simply doing nothing but spam them wouldn't get me anywhere. They were a pressuring tool, used to lock down opponents and allow me to chase them down and get in close. The blade extension was nifty, but was to be used sparingly as it sucked up a lot of power. As such, I determined it to be ideal for finishing blow purposes.

Regarding the finishing blow, I briefly thought of nicking the 'Monado Buster' moniker for what I had in mind, because that was basically what it was - elongating the blade to the point of absurdity for a crushing two-handed overhead slash. However, I decided not to stick with it, both for copyright and symbolic reasons, though I did resolve to use it at least once for the hilarity factor. Therefore, because I was a little shit, I spurned the tired Italian conventions for finisher names in favor of the series title's use of Latin, and after a quick translation session, came up with the name of "Alba Vulnus," or "White Slash." Likely to never be used since I wasn't much of a fan of shouting attack names (that weren't references, at least), but hey, it was fun to come up with. And if you can't have fun with something, what's the point of doing it?

All told, the day proved fruitful. I gained valuable knowledge about my given skillset without giving up too much magic for my trouble. Not enough to put me in danger, anyway, or at least from what I could determine. A reserve quantification system that ran off such an arbitrary concept as the luster of a jewel obviously wasn't going to be the most user-friendly thing in the world, after all. But there wasn't much use in complaining about a system that nobody had really ever bothered to properly criticize for at least a thousand or so years.

The morning of May 31st was filled with an anticipatory apprehension. Sure, I'd already experienced a couple combat situations by this point, but all of them fell under the blanket of self-defense. This would be the first instance of me actively going 'cruisin' for a bruisin',' as an 80s (or maybe 90s) kid might have put it. I wasn't excited in the conventional sense - rather, you could say that I had more of a feeling of dread, but it was the kind of dread that gets the blood pumping and psychs you up for when the event inevitably arrives.

(Or maybe I was just waxing poetic about feelings I was supposed to be having, but wasn't, and perhaps my actual thoughts on the matter could be summed up with "aw shit, here we go again," but that's neither here nor there.)

I had a bit of free time before the hunt, and spent it reviewing some important things like my plot flowchart and what I knew of my new business partner's fighting style, and thinking up rudimentary plans for synergy and what-not. I didn't really need to do it, but I'd put up with most anything that could take my mind off just how nervous I was.

At 2:30 PM on the dot, the call to action came. I got a text from Mami telling me to head out to our specified meeting point. I walked up to my apartment door, and took a few deep breaths.

Okay… okay. Whatever gods are out there, if you're listening, could you please do me a huge favor and distract Murphy 'till tomorrow morning? Great, thanks. Alright… it's go time.

I twisted the knob and walked out.

"This is it?"

"Yes," Mami replied. "There's no doubt about it. We've found ourselves a labyrinth."

The four of us (yes, four, the incubator bastard doesn't make five because it's NOT A PERSON, DAMN IT-... ahem) gazed up to the barrier marker, which as you'd expect, did not look ordinary in any sense of the word.

Sayaka sucked in an unsure lungful of air. "Sheesh… I don't know if I'll ever get used to those things."

"Well, studies show that enough exposure to concentrated weirdness usually lets you build up a tolerance towards it," I stated. "I suggest watching or reading Jojo."

"Hey!" She protested. "Watching a guy with purple skin beat the tar out of a blonde vampire that can stop time and actually walking through a different plane of existence are two completely different things!"

I shrugged. "Death 13 begs to differ, but whatever." Then I smirked. "Alright, chums. Time's up, let's do this." A flash heralded my transformation, and I charged ahead, sword held high and screaming my head off. "LEEROOOOOOOOOOY JEEEEEEENKIIIIIIINS!"

If I'd turned my head back before crossing into the maze, I would have seen Mami blankly staring at my out-of-nowhere action, Madoka letting out a fond sigh… and Sayaka's palm slapping itself onto her face, accompanied with an exclamation that (apparently) translated to "god damn it, Audrey!" I also could've sworn that I heard Kyubey telepathically mutter something that sounded like "why do the ones who play computer games keep shouting that name? It makes no sense."

When I actually did step in, though, I immediately screeched to a halt on account of the fact that I could hardly see anything. I don't know if you've ever experienced a complete 180 on the natural day-night cycle, but take it from me - going from afternoon sunlight directly to near-pitch-black midnight is one hell of a jarring transition.

I say 'near' pitch-black because I wasn't completely blind. There was still a tiny bit of ambient light in the air, provided by a starry but moonless sky, and what appeared to be a couple of lonely warped-looking streetlights a fair distance away. But the streets they were on… well, judging by how some of the lights were placed at frankly mind-boggling angles, I'd say it was like some Inception-esque or Doctor Strange-like version of Speed Highway. The roads twisted and turned and split off in a bunch of different directions, up and down and all around. I could already tell that the further we went in, the more difficult it would be to tell which way was really 'up.' Adding to the confusion were hundreds of slides and monkey bar sets, turning all the possible routes we could take into one interconnected and nigh-incomprehensible mess.

Huh. Who knew all those games of Chutes and Ladders I played when I was a kid would come in handy now, of all times?

I heard footsteps behind me, signaling that the others had also crossed through.

"Waah! Dark! So dark!"

"Hey, hey! Don't panic, we're fine!"

"No, we're not! Where are you?!"

"I'm right here!"

"Stay calm, you two!"

"Right where?!"

"Right he-!" WHUMP! "-oof!"

"Ah-! Are you two okay?!"

"Wait, was that you?!"

"Yes!"

"Oh, shoot! Sorry!"

"It's fine, I'm okay!"

This sequence of events left me slowly dragging my palm down my face in exasperation while simultaneously trying to muffle my laughter at the hilarity of the situation. But eventually, I hit my breaking point.

"Alright, enough of the comedy routine." I fished out my phone from wherever it 'ported off to, then found the flashlight function and switched it on. A bit of searching revealed Madoka and Sayaka scrambling on the ground, with Mami standing near them and trying to get them to calm down. Upon being illuminated, their panic dissipated and they collected themselves with a blushing "thank you" before standing back up.

"Torches out, everyone," I instructed. "Mami, would you be so kind as to provide us with some headlamp straps?"

"My pleasure." She reached into her sleeve and pulled out a ribbon that segmented itself into four strips, three of which she held out for us to take. "When you're ready, hold it up to your head and it'll tie itself up."

The passage of a few minutes saw us all kitted out with makeshift flashlight headgear and walking down one of the many winding-in-more-ways-than-one roads. Soon enough, we came into contact with our first familiar. It was around the size of a large dog, but had the body of a jet black cat and a long tail, with the head appearing to be a spikeball. It was outlined by what looked like white chalk, which was fitting, as it rose up from the street we were walking on to block our path.

I briefly glanced back at the designated ranged supporter. "I can trust you to not hit me, right?"

"Have no fear," she assured, summoning a rifle to rest on her shoulder. "This isn't the first time I've fought with a melee-focused partner. I have a lot of practice shooting through gaps."

"Alright." I nodded and turned my focus back, before her wording made me think of something I ought to mention. "Oh, but just so you know, don't try to shoot through this big hole." I motioned to said hole on my sword. "It's not actually hollow."

"What about the smaller one?"

I stopped, and slowly looked at the comparatively much tinier gap in the weapon's pommel, then back to her with an incredulous expression on my face. "...you're kidding."

"Um…" Madoka piped up. "I don't mean to interrupt, but… it's coming closer."

I returned my attention back to my foe, and hefted my sword up to my side… right before a tiny yellow projectile squeezed through the opening we had just been discussing and hit the approaching familiar right in its spiky head, accompanied with the sound of a musket going off. Glowing threads began growing from the newly made hole, stabbing into the nearby ground and immobilizing the enemy for the time being.

My head slowly creaked back in the opposite direction, my lips set in a thin line and my eyes flatly narrowed. Into my field of vision came Mami, holding a smoking rifle with an almost smug grin plastered smack dab on that confident face of hers.

"Well, you're a right cheeky little bugger, aren'tcha?"

She tilted her head and I swear the grin stretched a little further. "What? You handed me the opportunity on a silver platter. All I did was take it."

I held the miffed stare for a little longer, before I groaned and brought my free hand up to my head, my other one lifting my sword up to point it at the helpless familiar. "You know what, just- just kill the stupid thing. Frickin' show-off..."

Another blast obliterated the familiar, and we marched onward. Our typical battle strategy from then on was to let Mami lock down any familiars we came across (which would also occasionally drop down from above like falling stars), whereupon I would move in and quickly dispose of them. Thankfully, this allowed me to conserve magic, or MP as I had slowly begun to call it (I'm a gamer partial to RPGs, it was inevitable), as I had no need of my weapon's energy blade - simply using the already sharp edges was enough, and that cost me nothing. This was becoming more and more important, as I hadn't been able to cleanse my Soul Gem since I'd contracted five days ago, and in that time I'd had to escape from Gertrud's labyrinth and come to blows against Homura, although the first was responsible for most of my usage as the whole kidnapping incident wasn't actually much of a fight. Point is, though, my little egg jewel was definitely looking duller than it had been when I'd first received it, and if I didn't do something about that soon, it'd be game over.

After about a half hour of strolling along the gravity-defying twisted streets and traversing sets of monkey bars, with copious amounts of sliding, we started walking through a tunnel. When he hit the midpoint, however, my future sight triggered itself, and I saw our group get jumped out of nowhere by a metric shit-ton of familiars. When I came back to the present, I directed my headlight to the tunnel walls, revealing they were covered in chalk drawings of the labyrinth's mooks.

This was obviously cause for alarm. "Crap, the walls! Watch out!"

When the others' attention was called to the sides, they immediately braced themselves. Just in time, too, as the ambushing army jumped out of their two-dimensional hiding places.

Mami was as quick on the draw as ever, summoning a garden of rifles in an instant and firing them as fast as she could pick them up. I judged that now was as good a time as ever to bring out my lightsaber, and quickly employed it to fire off silver arcs edged with gold to slice through the oncoming horde.

Fortunately, thanks to the warning I'd received, we were able to deal with the surprise mob fairly quickly, and without injury.

"Phew…" I sighed in relief. "Thank god for those visions. We'd be in a pretty terrible spot right now if they'd caught us napping."

"I'm a little shocked that none of us thought to look to the side until you got your warning," the blonde vocalized with a somewhat downcast look. "I was sure we had more spatial awareness than that."

Wuh-oh. Self-confidence alert! Can't have that - the only person allowed to needlessly demean themselves is me!

"No biggie." I brushed it off. "Just means we'll have to pay more attention in the future."

She nodded, but I had a feeling she wasn't over it quite yet. I thought of a few ways to take her mind off it, before Sayaka's enhanced bat caught my eye and I got curious.

"Oi, Sailor Mercury," I called out to grab her attention. "Mind if I take a look at that for a quick second?"

The out-of-nowhere request made her fumble a bit. "Uh… sure, I guess?" Nonetheless, she let me take the bludgeoning instrument off her hands.

Now, how did Mami say this worked again…?

About two minutes of failure and an improvised hands-on coaching session later, I got what I wanted.

Ah, here we go!

The bat was encased in a bright aura and its silhouette changed, becoming a bit longer and more streamlined. When the white faded, it revealed a black covering lined with glowing yellow highlights right where the 'sweet spot' was located, accompanied by a red handle.

Ha HA! Success!

Madoka looked at the thing in wonder before she made a connection. "Wait, is that a Home-Run Bat?"

I snapped my gaze to her in surprise. "You know what this is?"

Sayaka shrugged. "Smash Bros. is the only fighting game she's comfortable playing. She refuses to try anything traditional."

I stared a bit longer. "That… doesn't tell me much of anything, but okay." I glanced at my creation again, then brandished it. "Wanna see if it's true-to-function?"

They looked at each other, then back to me with matching excited grins. "Heck yeah!"

I then heard a skittering noise from behind. Turning around, I saw a lone familiar approaching us, completely oblivious of its impending demise.

I smirked. "Well, lookie here! A test subject! Hey, why don't you come a little closer?"

Of course, it couldn't understand me, but it saw no reason not to keep moving forward. It wasn't very fast, so I used the extra time to lower myself into a batting stance.

Alright, here we go. Just like in Little League. Wait for it…

When it got close enough, it stopped, and I saw it tense up. I responded in kind, readying myself for when it would charge.

After a few seconds that dragged on longer than they should have, it exploded into motion, briefly crouching before leaping right at me. In return, I wound up, and swung.

KREEEEEEEEING!

I could have sworn that time stopped at that moment, and my vision zoomed in on the point of impact, with the background suddenly turning dark blue and black-and-red sparks shooting out of the victim. And then the moment was over.

The signature sound of the weapon heralded a direct hit, sending the thing flying off almost too fast for me to track. The almost chrome-colored smoke trail it left behind, however, helped in that regard, allowing me to catch a brief glimpse of it before it actually broke through the ceiling of the labyrinth, smashing a star-shaped hole in whatever passed as the roof to let a solitary ray of sunshine seep in.

The sheer absurdity of the act got disbelieving laughs all around. Not even Mami could keep her giggles in after witnessing the poor evil creation fly off into the stratosphere.

Once we got ourselves back in check, I handed the bat over to its original wielder. "All righty, then. Make sure to, uh, keep the business end of that thing away from us, m'kay? I'm not sure if friendly fire's on, but if it is, I'd rather not have any accidental team-killing."

"Roger that," she affirmed while trying to hide a gulp.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that," Kyubey cut in. "Enchanted items like that bat lose a majority of their power when not in the possession of the enchanter. In Sayaka's hands, it might launch familiars a little farther than normal, but she won't be hitting levels anywhere near what you just showcased."

Said wielder let out a breath. "That's a relief. I'd like to not be a danger to anyone who might accidentally step into the strike zone."

I was more than a little skeptical of that explanation, but resolved to save the questions for later on the grounds of 'it's magic, it doesn't have to make sense.'

A little while after that, I decided I should probably check my Soul Gem to make sure I'd be okay. Removing it from its place on my outfit, I held it up to my eyes and looked closely.

Yeah, definitely a noticeable difference from when I got it. Egh, look at that black crap… almost like mold.

That reminded me of an alternate-universe manga I'd once read that featured the Holy Quintet all as adults, who used actual cleaning utensils to cleanse their Soul Gems instead of Grief Seeds.

It's probably a lost cause, but maybe I could give it a try when I get home…?

I briefly entertained the thought of that working, and covered up a laugh.

Yeah, no way. Meguca cannot simply be meguca without suffering, and that Mundane Utility shit sure as hell ain't helping the Coobmeister hit his quota. I do hope we finish up soon here, though… no such thing as being too careful with this stuff.

Thankfully, it didn't take much longer for us to reach the center of the labyrinth. The last tunnel we passed through opened up to what looked like the end of a neighborhood cul-de-sac, with houses ringing a center street arena with a massive jungle gym on top. Said center street's large circular design was also the perfect home of a very large chalk drawing that took the spikeball head of the familiars we'd faced thus far, stuck a bunch of arms on it and called it a dungeon boss. Looking up, I also happened to notice that this room was where the moon had been spirited off to, overlooking the battleground from on high.

As expected, when we approached, the drawing rose up out of the ground and grabbed onto the bars, shrieking out as witches often did when their territory was invaded.

Mami and I glanced at each other. "Here we are. Your first real battle against a witch. Are you prepared?"

My gaze swapped to the foe and back, before I leaned in conspiratorially and shook my head, keeping my voice low. "Honestly? No. Not in the slightest. But..." I then snuck a peek at our other two companions. "For their sake, I'll pretend I'm ready."

I was lucky enough to score a glimpse of her face falling for a split second, before she caught herself and projected a reassuring smile. "Well, don't worry. You have me to back you up. Just don't do anything too reckless, and we'll be just fine." She then turned fully toward the two cadets. "All right. Madoka, Sayaka, we're moving in. Make sure to stay well away, and find cover if you can."

They snapped off matching salutes and a synchronized "yes, ma'am!" before running off to the side, leaving us to deal with the primary threat.

"Okay…" I took a breath. "Plan?"

"Hmm…" The veteran analyzed the battleground, taking everything in. "I think our basic strategy should work just as well here. At least until proven otherwise. But I would recommend focusing on those arms. It doesn't seem very hardy, so if we cut off its mobility, that should give us an easy win."

I nodded, then began to advance, starting out with a relaxed walk as I drew my sword, going up to a jog, then finally capping out at a sprint as the energy blade emerged.

Immediately after, I was forced to perform evasive maneuvers to avoid the hail of star-shaped projectiles the thing shot at me. A storm of yellow bullets quickly began countering the attack, blasting away the hand-drawn spikeballs. I also retaliated with a couple ranged attacks of my own, canceling out what few stars the bullets missed and occasionally hitting the witch directly.

An extra-large star was what I received for pissing it off, but Mami's firepower was more than enough to blow it to bits before it had a chance of hitting me. I used the opening to leap up with the intention of climbing onto the bars to get a more equal footing against the enemy. And although I did end up succeeding, I had also slightly miscalculated my jump, with the bar I had intended to land on instead nailing me right in the stomach before I managed to get a good grip on it and pull myself up. The bars themselves thankfully weren't entirely cylindrical, taking on more of a squarish shape with rounded edges, giving me a steadier footing than I otherwise would have.

My vantage point gave me a better offensive angle, but I had to be careful so as to not fall off or get knocked off. Multitasking was never my strongest suit, but I'd like to say the adrenaline helped out here, as I was able to stay on the bars for the most part while taking potshots at the very mobile witch. It was so mobile, in fact, that I found myself unable to get close to it. So I called for assistance.

'Hey!' I broadcasted to Mami. 'This one's not letting me in. Can you do anything about that?'

'Probably,' came the response. 'What do you suggest?'

The answer was simple. 'Well, you've got ribbons, and there's a whole bunch of poles around here just begging to be used as anchor points. I'm sure you can figure something out.'

Her smile bled through her dialogue. 'Yes, I believe I can.'

She made good on her word the next time the black blob decided to sit still for a moment. A barrage of bright yellow bullets bombarded one of its hands, quickly extending out as strings and wrapping around the bar it was grabbing in a flash.

'It's all yours! Go!'

I was already in motion, jumping towards the restricted limb with my blade at the ready. The witch was frantically scrambling to free itself, scrabbling against the other bars to try and force its bound hand out of the knot, and consequently had no idea I was flying right at it.

It paid the price for its failure to pay attention when my weapon cleanly sliced the tied hand off in a flash of golden-edged silver. The body suddenly recoiled, snapping back as the force it was exerting on the now-removed appendage suddenly lost all resistance.

It also screamed like a little bitch. Only about… say, three or four orders of magnitude greater. The sound disrupted my focus, briefly sending me into a tumble. I recovered an instant before I hit the street again, just barely managing to turn my landing into something resembling professional. The botching didn't do my legs, arms, or back any favors, though.

Ooh-hoof! Agh… ah man, I'm gonna be really feeling that one tomorrow morning… should probably think about working on sticking those landings. God knows it'll save me a hell of a lot of unnecessary discomfort.

Nevertheless, I got right back up and leapt onto the oversized jungle gym again.

Mami and I repeated the same strategy four more times. With each successful severance of a hand, the witch became more and more desperate. It started attacking me during my jumps, and I had to destroy the projectiles it fired before they knocked me off my path and back down to the street. All the while, my Soul Gem's progressing corruption lurked in the back of my mind, steadily eating away at my composure. Thankfully, with each arm that was rendered useless, the witch also suffered impairments to its movement speed, making it easier for Mami to lock it down for me to whale away on.

Finally, when I cut through its last limb, the monster let out another ear-piercing shriek and crashed down onto the street below, helplessly lashing out with its stumps in a futile attempt to physically ward away any dangers.

Paranoid, pissed, and altogether done with its shit as I was, I signaled Mami that I was going to break things off. 'All right, I'd advise you to take a step back. I'm about to end this thing's whole career.'

Not really necessary by any means as she was already camping out in the back lines, but I figured I might as well let her know.

But with the immediate area cleared, I commenced the deliverance of the cinematic game-winning kill. Slowly walking towards the big ball of spikes, I lifted my sword up, and elongated the laser blade to a degree that even a standard shonen anime protagonist would balk at. Once I was done, I swung it back behind my head, then brought it down in a massive overhead slash.

I couldn't resist mentally screaming the copyright-infringing name as I did so.

Monadoooo BUSTER!

The giant laser effortlessly split the witch in half, separating it into two blobs of black as it gave one last scream before fading away. The labyrinth itself followed suit soon after, depositing us back in the real world.

Lo and behold, our efforts had indeed rewarded us with a Grief Seed. I quickly moved up to it, flaring back to casual wear, and swiped it up to inspect it. The pattern on the black orb took the appearance of a bunch of hand-drawn stars, with the symbol on top being a much more professional-looking star shape.

I heard the others approaching, and turned to face them and showcase the spoils of war. "Check it out. Score one for the dynamic duo, eh?"

"Indeed," my battle partner agreed. "And I must say, that was quite the finishing move. As awe-inspiring as it was deadly."

I pulled the classic embarrassed head-scratch. "Oh, that? Nothing special, really. Just another thing I ripped from some video game or another."

"That doesn't make it any less awesome!" Sayaka crowed.

"Yeah, that was one of the coolest things I've ever seen!" Madoka was quick to back her up.

As much as I wanted not to, my body betrayed me and forced my cheeks to heat up. "C'mon, you guys… cut it out with the undue praise. I mean, did you see that atrocity of a superhero landing I tried to pull after the fourth arm?"

That elicited a wince out of the three of them. It also caused a twinge of pain to flare up around my leg area. Deadpool was right - those stunts are murder on the knees.

"W-well, uh…" Sayaka fumbled, trying to regain her momentum. "Besides that, you were great! And so were you, Mami! I gotta say, you two make an amazing team!"

"She's not wrong there," I admitted. "If you hadn't covered me, I probably would have been stuck there long enough to run out of MP-eh, magic. You're a real lifesaver, you know that?"

She was evidently far more used to praise as I was, given how her only reaction was a shake of the head. "All I did was provide supportive fire. You were the real star of the show here, Audrey. Go ahead and take your reward."

I checked the Grief Seed again, and pulled out my Soul Gem in my other hand, which was now dull to a concerning degree. "...you know, normally I'd argue with that, but I'm a little freaked at how low I am, so… gladly." I held the two together, and watched as the corruption was drained away into the seed. It eventually stopped on its own, and my jewel was fully restored, shining as though it had never been contaminated.

I flipped the seed over to Mami, who caught it, but instead tossed it to the hatch on Kyubey's back, which swallowed it up.

I blinked. "Wait, did I use it all up?" She nodded, and I slapped a palm to my forehead. "Oh, damn it. Sorry, I really should have saved some for you."

"It's fine," she consoled. "You had more need of it than I did. It wouldn't be very sporting of me to deduct an unreasonable finder's fee from your hard-earned paycheck, now would it?"

I gave her a hard stare, then sighed. "...if you say so."

We spent the next few minutes going over the journey, giving out feedback on what was good and what could've been done better while we walked off. Once we finished that, I bowed out.

"All right, I think I've had enough excitement for one day." I stretched my arms above my head. "I'm gonna head home. You guys have fun with the rest of your day, yeah?"

"Okay!" Madoka smiled. "We'll see you soon, then!"

"Oh, and Mami," I remembered. "I'll contact you later so we can figure out our next hunting date."

"Sounds good." She nodded. "Now go rest up."

We waved goodbye and parted ways. Before doing so however, I gave a pointed glare at the incubator on Madoka's shoulder, and sent a private message. 'You get to live this time, you little shit. But make no mistake - sticking with those girls won't protect you from my wrath forever. I may not be able to pay you back for everything you've done, but you can be damn sure you're gonna get at least a portion of what you've got coming to you.'

Some time later, I found myself walking through the residential area once again. I decided to cut through the park for a change of pace.

That was when I was stopped yet again.

...shit. No escape, she'll just catch me if I try to run. And I'm out of telepathy range. There goes the last of my luck.

"Oooohh, wonderful," I ground out when I saw the time-traveling girl approach me with a signature hair flip. "So, what'll it be this time? Another kidnapping? Extortion? Simple verbal demeaning? Or are you just gonna try and shoot me again?"

Par for the course, no visible reaction. "I didn't come here to fight you."

"Oh, really?" I drawled. "Pray tell, then - what exactly made you approach me on this otherwise fine day?"

She paused for a second. "...I was hoping that we might have a discussion."

My eyebrows shot up, and I swore I heard the sound of a record scratch. "Uh… come again?"

Bullshit. That's BULLSHIT! This is not what the consequences of a terrible first impression should look like! What the hell is she smoking?!

"I would like to talk," Homura restated. "Please."

I picked up my jaw off the floor and clicked it back into place before attempting and failing to respond, unable to come up with anything witty.

...fuck it, I can roll with this. If she's decided she doesn't want to exploit me without considering my feelings, I owe it to her to stop treating her like a monster.

So instead, I flipped my mouth into the shape of a smile, and threw my arms out in a welcoming gesture. The out-of-nowhere shift in attitude, coupled with my suddenly cheerful next words, actually succeeded in putting an expression of mild surprise on her face. "Well, why didn't you say so before?! C'mon, then! I've got the perfect place in mind!"

A/N: As Mister Torgue would put it: PLOT TWIST!

For anyone wondering, the witch showcased here is officially named 'Suleika.' Fun fact: I actually had no idea that production notes for her existed until I was almost done with the chapter, so I had to go back and modify some things to accurately reflect what little info I had to go off with her. Anyway, when I first saw her, I thought that she looked an awful lot like a chalk drawing you'd see on the sidewalk or the street, so I took that idea and combined it with the 'Darkness Witch' moniker that her familiars' Memoria cards refer to her as in Magia Record, and built the labyrinth from there. The reason I picked this particular witch to construct a maze for is because one of her familiars actually does appear during episode 3, and is used as the catalyst for the conversation that explains how only witches can drop Grief Seeds, and not their minions.

Also: Mami is a cheeki breeki and Sayaka watches Jojo. And you can't tell me that it wouldn't still be relevant in 2046. Because Jojo is timeless. (Oh, and I guess Madoka likes Smash too. With items on, because how else would she know about the Home-Run Bat?)

But anyhow… Homu's back, but she doesn't seem to be hostile anymore for some reason. Why is that? Well, you'll just have to wait to find out. Or you could try and figure it out for yourself if you're that impatient. I doubt you will, but if you think you've got it, leave a review. We authors subside on feedback, y'know.

See y'all next time!