Infinite Stratos Plot Bunnies Collection Ch 6
Chapter 6: Puella Magi Ichika Magica – An IS x PMM Crossover Challenge
AN: Another IS crossover idea that has never been done or written before. My only condition for anyone wanting to adapt and write this crossover idea is to be knowledgeable of the Puella Magi series. You can start by watch the 12-episode anime series or watch the first and second movies Beginnings and Eternal. In addition to the TV anime series and movies, you can also consult Puella Magi Wiki for more information on all things related to the Puella Magi series – it also has information from other spin-off manga like The Different Story, Puella Magi Oriko Magica, Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice, and Puella Magi Suzune Magica. I highly recommend reading The Different Story manga- it is so emotionally sad yet it was also beautiful. Everything I have written here is to the furthest extent of my imagination for this crossover idea. If I ever did decided to write fanfiction - which will never happen because I can't - then this would have been one of my most ambitious works yet. I hope that anyone who wishes to adapt this is able to expand on this story outline further than what I could have done. I only got as far as the first major battle between ISA and the Puella Magi. To anyone who wishes to adapt this story, I wish you the best of luck and hope to see your adaptation soon.
Plot Premise: Before he was discovered as the world's first IS pilot in existence, who was Orimura Ichika? What was he like before he was revealed to the world as the first male IS pilot? Why he was a something once considered by the Incubators an impossible existence? He was the One and Only Puer Magi, or Magical Boy. This is the origin story of Orimura Ichika as he delves in the world of Puella Magi, Witches, Wraiths, anointed the Once and Future King of the Puella Magi by the blessings of the his beloved Goddess, and his role and destiny in the inevitable confrontation between Madokami and Homucifer.
Childhood Years - Introduction to the Puella Magi World
Ichika was kidnapped by an unknown organization that wanted to prevent Chifuyu from winning the Second Mondo Grosso. Ichika would only sink in despair after the kidnappers had finish making their demands to the Mondo Grosso organizers regarding Chifuyu's participation in the final match. The kidnappers left him in an isolated room with nothing but a window facing the Moon. Ichika prayed for a miracle, for someone to save him and to prevent Chifuyu from being forced to withdraw from the final match as the kidnappers had intended. Ichika looked up at the moon and saw a silhouette of a cat-like creature with red eyes staring at him. Ichika blinks and the cat was gone. As Ichika turned away from the moon, he heard a voice in the room, "Can you see me?" Ichika turns to the direction fo the voice and saw the cat-like creature as he then heard, "You can see me, can you?" Ichika was shocked by the appearance of a weird talking cat only to be told that the "cat" was communicating with him through telepathy. The "cat" after introducing himself as Kyubey then starts a conversation with Ichika to figure out how could a small boy of all people actually see in Incubator. Ichika tells Kyubey that he doesn't know why or how he can see Kyubey, only that he knows he can ssee, hear, and even pet Kyubey. Kyubey then had a bright idea to test- if Ichika could actually see, hear and talk with an Incubator, can he also make a contract to become a Magical Girl, or in this case a Magical Boy? Kyubey then proposes a solution to Ichika, make a contract with Kyubey to become a Puella Magi and in exchange his wish would be granted. At first Ichika wasn't sure but when he remembered his was still held prisoner as a result of his own weakness and inability to fight off his captors, Ichika then gathers his resolve and makes his wish.
"I wish for power…for myself…so that I can become strong for the sake of those I love and care for. So that I will never again burden others or have to experience the pain of suffering, hopelessness and despair."
Kyubey grants his wish and Ichika was able to escape his captivity, kill his kidnappers, and contacted Chifuyu to tell her that rumors of his kidnapping were false and that he was alright and safe. He sends Chifuyu a picture of himself from his cellphone to alleviate her fears and then urges her to win the Second Mondo Gross for him which she did.
In the aftermath of the kidnapping incident, Ichika would delve more into the world of Puella Magi, hunting Witches for Grief Seeds and exploring his powers more. He learned that his primary ability is Incarnation – the ability to being able to use the abilities and powers of other Puella Magi. His only restriction was that he can only use the abilities of deceased Puella Magi, not those who are still alive and living. The Puella Magi that Ichika Incarnated with when he first made his wish with Kyubey was Arthuria Pendragon, a girl who wished to become the greatest King in all of Britain. Ichika came to admire the selfless girl who only wanted what was best for her kingdom that he strives to be a heroic figure like her. He would frequently Incarnate as the girl who was the legendary Once and Future King of Britain. However he would later make use of the abilities of other past famous Puella Magi including Mordred, Jeanne d'Arc, Medea, Altera the King of Combat (otherwise known historically as Attila the Hun), Suzuka Gozen, Oda Nobunaga, Elizabeth Báthory, Medusa, Saint Martha, Marie Antoinette, Boudica, Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, a little girl who turned out to be infamous Jack the Ripper. (AN: Yes I am using names of Heroic Spirits. Why? Because I tend to frown upon OCs for reasons and because don't want to have to come up with my own OCs.)
Slowly but surely he was gaining mastery over his Puella Magi power. Kyubey classifies Ichika was the most powerful Puella Magi he had ever contracted in history (AN: Madokami didn't happened yet guy!) and due to the nature of his power he was perhaps the ultimate manifestation of all the deceased Puella Magi's final hopes, dreams, and regrets before they passed away.
Middle School Years Part I - First Failure & Encounter With Humanity's Darkness
Kyubey had sent Ichika to the British Isles to investigate the sudden rapid decline of Puella Magi in the region. While Ichika assumed that maybe there was a larger number of Witches in the region, Kyubey warns Ichika that it might also be fellow Puella Magi who are wiping out each other as they compete over harvesting large amounts of Grief Seeds as much as possible. Searching around London with Kyubey acting as guide and tracker of Puella Magi, Ichika sets off to locate the local Puella Magi. He only comes across locations where the local Puella Magi had fought Witches only to suddenly die. Ichika and Kyubey theorized that there may be there was particular Witch who was hunting Puella Magi, using other Witches as bait to draw in the Puella Magi so that the Hunting Witch could kill them while they were occupied or distracted.
While investigating in London, he saw a witch had seized a train full of passengers by trapping it in is barrier. Among the trapped passengers were Cecilia Alcott and her parents. Ichika went after the witch to save the train full of passengers, but he was intercepted by another Puella Magi who seek to stop him. Ichika asks for her name which she answered was Scáthach. The enemy Puella Magi's answer surprised Kyubey as he had assumed that Scáthach had died a long time ago in Ireland. The two proceeded to fight when Scáthach reviewed that she had no intention of helping him save the train full of people and she intended for the Witch for feed on them so that the Witch would become stronger, which translate to a bigger challenge for her when she decides to fight it. Furthermore Scáthach had been interested in rumors of a boy who supposedly became a Puella Magi (i.e. Ichika) and wanted to see him for herself and assess him herself. In the beginning Scáthach was able to keep Ichika who was Incarnated as Mordred occupied in fighting with her. Scáthach became happy over the next few minutes of fighting with Ichika, as it had been a very long time since anyone was able to hold their ground against her and a boy, no Magical Boy of all people. Eventually Ichika broke contact with her and enters the Witch's barrier to try to find the train full of people. Ichika engages the Witch's familiar swarming the still-running train, little Cecilia crying at the sight of the Witch's familiars trying to get inside the train while everyone else was unconscious. Ichika fought off hordes of Witch's familiars by Incarnating as Oda Nobunaga and unleash volleys of musket-rifle fire around the train and kill every familiar in sight. Ichika sees the crying Cecilia and embraces her in a hug, calming her down and telling her that everything would be alright, for a Puella Magi (referring to himself) - a protector of all girls' hopes and dreams - has come to save her. Ichika tells her to stay inside the train with her parents and the other unconscious passengers while Ichika goes to finish off the Witch. Cecilia asks for Ichika's name which he answer "Saber". Ichika locates the Witch and destroys it. The barrier unfolds and the running train was back in the real world. However the train appeared in front of another train heading towards it resulting in a huge train accident which killed numerous people including Cecilia's parents and injured countless others including Cecilia.
Standing from the rooftops of a building overlooking the scene of the train accident, Ichika could only look at the scene in horror at what just happened. When Ichika was about to blame himself for the accident, Kyubey rationalizes to him that it wasn't his fault that the train he saved materialized in front of another incoming train. Ichika then calms down and rationalizes that he had done all he could have to save those people and that the person truly to blame for tragedy was that other Puella Magi named Scáthach. Ichika tracked her all the way to another Witch's Barrier which he dubbed Land of Shadows. He confronts Scáthach who reveals herself to be able to control Witches and had been responsible for the deaths of Puella Magi in the British Isles. Enraged at the senseless death of all those people from the train accident, he charges at Scáthach as they set out for their one last batte with each other. It was long and hard drawn out battle that even with his large supply of Grief Seeds to purify his Soul Gem, Ichika find himself exhausted and ragged as he Incarnated through many abilities of deceased Puella Magi in attempt to find the one best fit for taking down Scáthach. Finally he settled on the incarnating Arthuria Pendragon. Scáthach and Ichika closed the distance with weapons ready for one last final strike. While Scáthach impaled Ichika's heart with Gae Borg, her spear which always aimed for the "heart", she failed to kill him as her attack did not destroy his Soul Gem. Ichika on the other hand cleaved Scáthach in two with Arthuria's sword, Excalibur, and in the process destroyed Scáthach's Soul Gem. Scáthach's dead body was consumed by the now revealed witch Morgan Ley Fey previously under her control which started to take shape of its previous master. Unwilling to let the witch finish it's manifesting its Puella Magi form, Ichika charges up Excalibur and destroys the witch.
Middle School Years Part II – Timeline Infinitum
Ichika returns home from his trip to the British Isles. Ichika felt lonely; he was told that other Puella Magi did existing in the modern world but so far the only Puella Magi that he met was the one in London who was selfish and evil. He hasn't met a decent genuine bonda fide good-hearted Puella Magi yet and it was driving him crazy. Kyubey suggests him to move to either Mitakihara City, Kazamino City, or Asunaro City (setting of Puella Magi Kazumi Magica) where there was active community of Puella Magi. Ichika moves to Mitakihara City and attends Mitakihara Middle School. Sure enough Ichika ran into a person that has come to personified all that was good, noble, and selfless of Puella Magi, Mami Tomoe. Ichika and Mami quickly became fast friends – Ichika because this was the first time he has ever met another Puella Magi who actually lived up to the image of what it means to be a Puella Magi; for Mami it is because she had been recovering from the fallout of her broken friendship with Kyoko Sakura (obscure reference to The Different Story). At first Mami was like an older sister and new mentor figure for him, which made sense given how Chifuyu was hardly ever in his life ever since she won the Mondo Grosso. As time went on however Ichika came to see Mami as a mother figure to him, even calling her "okaa-sama" which causes Mami to blush and then return a mother's adoring smile to him. It is through Mami that Ichika met the other that developed a crush on Puella Magi, Madoka Kaname. Both Mami and Madoka were surprised about Ichika's existence of being a male Puella Magi. What was once a duo became a trio and together they enjoyed each other's company in destroying witches, collecting Grief Seeds, and saving lives. The trio later saves Homura Akemi from the witch Izabel. The on the fated date of Walpurgisnacht, the witch bearing the name of the day of Walpurgisnacht appears and the battle results in Mami being killed, Madoka sacrificing herself to destroy the witch, and Ichika becoming emotionally broken once he discovered he could access Mami's and Madoka's Puella Magi powers – the ultimate confirmation of their deaths to him. As Ichika started to succumb to hollow despair and grief, Homura contracts with Kyubey wishing to redo her meeting with Madoka. Ichika saw a bright light where Homura once was before Time itself reset.
Homura repeats many timelines over and over again in her never-ending quest to save Madoka. After looping through many different timelines, she as a clear knowledge and insight of everyone's abilities and their relationship dynamics including Ichika's own power and his developing love for Madoka Kaname. What stood out to Homura was in each timeline since her first time loop was how Ichika had access to powers of Mami, Madoka, and later one Sayaka Miki and Kyoko Sakura's Puella Magi abilities despite them being alive. Ichika himself was puzzled over this mystery. Ichika did provided Homura insight into the fullest extent of his abilities when he told her that he could incarnate the powers and abilities of "past Puella Magi who have already passed away". He was also puzzled by how he could incarnate everyone's power except Homura's when they have not died yet. Homura didn't really understood what Ichika really meant until when Homura reset time again she grabbed Ichika with her. Ichika finds himself beside Homura in her hospital bed prior to her release. After he gains his bearings and came to realize the implications of Homura's power to time loop, Ichika now understood what Homura had been going through in her suffering alone trying to save Madoka. Ichika and Homura would have their emotional moment in which they cried in each other's arm and for a brief moment shared a brief heartfelt loving kiss with each other. They would feel guilty about their shared kiss – as Ichika had become Madoka's unofficial boyfriend whereas Homura saw herself as Madoka's best friend. However that moment would strengthen their bond, their one wish and hope…to save Madoka.
Ichika and Homura would loop through multiple timelines together in their shared never-ending quest to save Madoka. Sometimes Ichika would die in the main timelines whether it be sacrificing himself for the sake of Madoka or other Puella Magi like Mami, Kyoko, and Sayaka, or in the worst case scenarios when he is forced to fight Madoka's witch form Kriemhild Gretchen. Or even in times when he refuses to fight Kriemhild Gretchen due to his love for Madoka Kaname, causing him to relent and hesitate which would lead to him willingly let Kriemhild Gretchen kill him - he would rather die than fight Madoka. Even if Homura looped in time alone again time after time, she could always take comfort in informing Ichika of future events that happened in other timelines that would happen because unlike the other Puella Magi, Ichika would always believe her. He not only believed her words and her story, he also had unwavering trust and faith in her. Plus their love and bond for each other would always be rekindled in every time loop although their primary love has always been Madoka Kaname. They went through many timelines to save Madoka and tried many methods ranging from killing off Oriko Mikuni (from Puella Magi Oriko Magica) whose precognition power always lead Oriko to have Madoka killed off before she contracts to become a Puella Magi to recruiting other outside Puella Magi like Kazumi Subaru and the Pleiades Saints (both from Puella Magi Kazumi Magica).
Finally their efforts would be rewarded when they finally succeed with the final timeline. With Homura badly about to succumb to hopeless despair and Ichika exhausted after using his last energy on an Excalibur attack and now just standing in front of Homura to shield Homura from Walpurgisnacht's impending attack with his body, Madoka then contracts with Kyubey to make her wish: "I wish to erase all witches from existence before they're even born. Every witch in the universe, from the past and the future, with my own hands." Things follow the same format as Episode 12 of PMMM anime with Madoka becoming a Goddess and the Law of Cycles and new world timeline replacing the old world and the old rules for Puella Magi. Except in this story Ichika confessed his love to Madoka and Homura during their space nakedness moment and stated that he loved them equally so much that he wouldn't be able to cope with being separated from either of them that he wanted for the three of them to stay together forever. Both Madoka and Homura returned Ichika's feelings and stated their love for him; of course that was secondary with Ichika and Homura both confessing their love to Madoka. Madoka was happy with their confessions as she too expresses her love for Homura and ichika. However Madoka also tells them to not get to hanged up on her in this new world she has made, that for when their time finally comes, that she would be there to take them to Valhalla, her special afterlife realm where all deceased Puella Magi who have fought and disappear before they cause grief would go to rest in paradise for all eternity like heaven.
The epilogue of this arc shows Ichika and Homura discussing their story with Kyubey on the rooftops of Mitakihara City, who says that it's possible everything they went through could be her imagination, and there would be no way to prove otherwise. However, he remarks that the concept of harvesting witches for energy would be more efficient than the new method: because there is still grief in the world, it manifests in the form of demons that the magical girls must fight, who upon defeat drop cube-shaped pieces much like Grief Seeds. Homura reflects on the new universe, thinking that this corrupted, grief-filled world is what Madoka sought to protect - but she will never forget Madoka's wish. And neither would her lifelong, friend, partner, and lover Ichika. In Ichika's mental landscape he thanks Arthuria for always lending him her power in all the looped timelines he's been in and tells her she can finally rests and enjoy the happy peaceful afterlife provided to her by Madokami. Arthuria asks Ichika was sure about his decision, which he replied that he was sure about his choice. He had become too dependent on her power over the years and it was high time for him to stop holding onto her hand for every fight he's in. Ichika knows that his fight is not over yet as now the Puella Magi had to battle their new enemies in place of witches, Wraiths. Plus the team's dynamic worked really well when he uses abilities closer to those of Kyoko, Mami, and Sayaka. Arthuria tells Ichika before she goes to Valhalla that he is free to draw upon her power again whenever he needs it. The scene ends with them leaping upon the Wraiths, extending wings of light from her back and carrying a bow and arrow while Ichika incarnates with the power of Puella Magi Boudica.
Middle School Years Part III – Pre-Rebellion Interlude: Wraith Arc & First Encounter With Infinite Stratos
Time has passed since Madoka became the benevolent Goddess of all Puella Magi, with Homura being the prophet of the Goddess, and Ichika the divinely anointed King of all Puella Magi. Homura and Ichika been steadily dating for months, with Homura being more open to Ichika than before that starts to express more of her "Moemura" side. When the two are not on a date, hanging out with the Holy Quintet team - which includes them, Mamo, Kyoko, and Sayaka - or fighting wraiths and collecting grief cubes, they were collaborating on a new project to establish the new religion and Church of Madokami by publishing Madokami religious literature online reaching out to other Puella Magi across the world to build an online community for them. They made Mami the Pope of the newly established Online Church of Madokami and used pseudonyms to hide their identities. The online religion gains a cult following from its Puella Magi audience, however the online religion does gain some unwanted attention when it started to attract normal non-Puella Magi girls to the website and converted some them to the new online religion. One of these new adherent converts is Kanzashi Sarashiki. While she didn't buy into the existence of Puella Magi yet, she felt welcomed to a place where people didn't treat her differently because of who her sister is. Kanzashi decides to find out who the founders of this Online Church of Madokami are and see if she would be able to meet the Goddess and figure out what her wish ought to be.
She tracked the website's IP address to Mitakihara City and went there in search of the founders in finding out more about the Goddess Madoka and the Puella Magi. Kanzashi was contacted through her mobile phone from an anonymous person willing to provide her more information on Puella Magi. Kanzashi goes to an isolated back alley where some really bad guys hired by Phantom Task was lurking in the shadows was waiting for her. Kanzashi had been led there by Oriko (seeing everything from the rooftop) who had a premonition of some disaster that would affect the Puella Magi should the person named Kanzashi Sarashiki venture into the world of Puella Magi. Oriko tipped Kanzashi's presence to those who were the enemies of the Sarashiki clan – in this case the people in black suits who proceeded to kidnap Kanzashi were Phantom Task agents. Kanzashi was abducted by Phantom Task agents, shoved into a white van, and driven off to their established hideout. As the van drove off, Oriko spotted Kyubey in the area and let out a scowl at seeing the Incubator. She had her Puella Magi friend and partner in crime, Kirika Kure, kill Kyubey to prevent any witnesses. Kyubey was killed – not really as he reappeared elsewhere out of Oriko and Kirika's sight and went off to tell the Holy Quintet about Kanzashi's kidnapping and that he sensed potential in her to become a Puella Magi.
Meanwhile, the Holy Quintet arrive at Mitakihara High School to register for their high school entrance exams. The Holy Quintet had entered wrong examination hall that was meant for IS trainees and the female teacher in charge was too hassled to notice a guy amongst the group had entered and told the group to go and suit up. Still in their Mitakihara Middle School uniforms, they stumble into a restricted room where there was the IS unit Byakushiki inside. At this point, Byakushiki was just some over-glorified 3.5th Gen training IS unit. Being curious as it had been a long time since Ichika had seen an IS and to his own amusement, he touched it as a joke to get some laughs from his friends only to be damned surprised when the IS responded to his touch and transformed with him. Homura and the rest of the Holy Quintet were gasping in surprised and for a while Ichika could hardly believe that he could pilot an IS. However when they heard footsteps approaching the Ichika tried to deactivate the IS and take it off only for the IS to not respond to his command. The girls became frantic and told Ichika to hurry off and take off the IS, but that only made Ichika panic and his attempts to access the IS's operating system hectic. Homura froze time and tried to drag Ichika in his IS out of the room only to find out the hard way that the IS to too big to get through the door or window. Worse it still wouldn't respond to Ichika's commands to let him go. Time resumed and the three ISA female staff entered the room and found Ichika cladded in the Byakushiki. While the ISA staff were still petrified on shock and surprise, Homura commands the Holy Quintet including Ichika to link up hands with her, which she froze time again and pulling everyone along including Ichika still cladded in the Byakushiki. When time resumed again, the Holy Quintet was on the rooftop with Ichika still stuck in his IS. In desperation, Ichika had the girls transformed into their Puella Magi form and started to attack the IS. From what little knowledge Ichika knew about IS, they would deactivate once all its shield points reach zero. To the girls' surprise the Byakushi seemed more resilient than expected with its shield points still at 75% - then again the girls were using minimum force so as to not accidentally hurt Ichika. The 3 ISA staffers then enter the rooftops to find Ichika and the girls dressed in Magical Girl costumes.
Finally the Byakushiki deactivated and took on its closed form as a gauntlet but the Puella Magi's troubles were far from over. The ISA staffers wanted to take Ichika in and report to their superiors the discovery of a male IS pilot. The Holy Quintet's answer was to knock them out unconscious. Ichika struggles to get the gauntlet off but it remain firmly stuck on his arms. They fled the high school and hid out at Mami's apartment for the time being until they could get the gauntlet off of Ichika and come up with an explanation for when people form ISA show up looking for Ichika. Just then Kyubey showed up and informed them his discovery and the kidnapping of Kanzashi Sarahshiki, a girl he claimed had above average potential to become a Puella Magi. The Holy Quintet debated what to do for a while, but eventually Ichika came to a decision that everything involving the IS can wait, for they must go rescue an adherent follower and believer of the Goddess Madoka even if she was not a Puella Magi. As they left, Oriko and Kirika emerged from the shadows and walked up to the three unconscious ISA staffers. For Oriko, everything was starting to unravel fast as the events of Kanzashi's attempt to locate the founders of the Online Church of Madokami would attracted unwanted attention to Ichika Orimura and possibly the world of Puella Magi. Still everything was within the parameters of her premonition and there was still a chance for her to salvage this situation. Oriko commands Kirika to kill the three ISA staffers and all other ISA personnel still inside Mitakihara High School. A timed power outage planned by Oriko comes into effect, cutting off internet access and prevented the remaining ISA personnel from remaining in communications with ISA. As Kirika proceeded to kill the remaining ISA staff and personnel, Oriko checked their computers and satisfied that they have not sent word about a "male IS pilot" to ISA, she had installed a powerful virus that completely wiped ISA staff's computers wiped clean and had Kirika destroyed the computers.
Suzune Amano (from Puella Magi Suzune Magica) had tracked Kanzashi's location to the Phantom Task hideout to a rented studio in a sparse downtown area. While Suzume believed that Oriko may possibly be right with her prediction about Kanzashi, she disagreed with the methods Oriko used to "resolve" the problem. She believed it was best to dissuade the innocent girl away from the world of Puella Magi rather than just had her killed off. Infiltrating the studio at night and killing a few of the patrolling guards to get to Kanzashi was easy. Getting out with Kanzashi in tow was a lot harder when her presence was detected. She had to fight off the PT agents while protecting Kanzashi. Suzume got into a serious bind when she encountered Autumn in her Arachne IS and other PT agents equipped with IS units. Suzume was unable to go all out against Autumn as she was also focused on trying to protect Kanzashi. Just when Autumn was about to deliver a blow that would have destroyed Suzune's Soul Gem, the Holy Quintet arrived in the nick of time to save her as Ichika quickly grabbed her out of the way while Mami unleashed a volley of magical musket-rifle fire on the Arachne IS. While Autumn was disoriented, Ichika tells Suzume to grab Kanzashi and get her to a good hiding spot. Suzune nods at Ichika and then grabs Kanzashi and makes her getaway. Fighting against the IS units proved a serious challenge for the Puella Magi as they had never battled an IS directly before. Their lives were now seriously on the line as it took all of them fight the Arachne while keeping each other alive. Ichika incarnates as the past Puella Magi named Altera, or Attila the Hun as history would remember her by. Ichika was able to get a few good damaging hits on the Arachne with the Altera's sword Photon Ray: War God's Sword. The sword blows threw the Arachne into the streets with Ichika following in pursuit. Ichika and Autumn continued their fight into the downtown street of Mitakihara City while the rest of the Puella Magi were struggling to remain standing after they had dealt with the other Phantom Task IS pilots. They scavenge through their supplies of grief cubes and found themselves running low. Ichika urges them to retreat and resupply at his house on grief cubes while he holds the insane PT IS pilot at bay – his own energy running half-empty. The Holy Quintet didn't want to leave Ichika alone to fight the Arachne IS, but Homura tells them to go as she would stay and make sure that Ichika would live.
Homura and rejoins the battle by supporting Ichika with thrown pipe bombs, C4, and magical arrows decreasing the Arachne's shield points to 30%. Furious at Homura's interference, Autumn changes targets and goes after Homura. The Arachne suddenly appears in front of Homura intending to strike her down. Ichika in sheer panic unconsciously reactivates Byakushiki and intercepted the Arachne's strikes with the changed Photon Ray sword, which now took on a more futuristic look and looked augmented when Ichika was cladded in the Byakushiki while he was still in his Puella Magi form. Ichika then activates the Phonton Ray sword at and attacks it at full power. The attack completely defeated the Arachne and inflicted highly critical wounds on Autumn. Ichika would have proceeded to kill Autumn for god if he wasn't suddenly under fire from the Silent Zephyrs IS. But Suzune appears in the nick of time to push Ichika out of the line of fire. The pilot of the Silent Zephyrs, Madoka Orimura, would have loved to fight the person who seems slightly familiar to her piloting a Magical Girl styled IS who almost killed Autumn, but she was under strict orders to extract Autumn and bring her back alive. Reluctantly Madoka Orimura leaves with Autumn in tow but she tells the pilot of the Magical Girl styled IS that she hoped that they would meet again, for she would have loved to fight her. Byakushiki then dematerializes – its closed form in shape of a gauntlet started heated to high temperatures that it started to burn Ichika's right forearm. With quick thinking on her feet, Suzune severed his Ichika's forearm from his right arm to prevent the gauntlet from burning him and in effect completely severed connection to Byakushiki. Suzune then kicked up the gauntlet and slash it away with her sword away from Ichika as possible out of fear it could explode.
Ichika now lies on the street completely exhausted and out nearly out of magical power, bleeding out from his severed forearm, and his Soul Gem in danger of darkening completely. Homura arrives to purify his Soul Gem and save him from dying and entering the Law of Cycles. The Holy Quintet returned seconds later to help. Sayaka uses her power to heal Ichika's arm, a new forearm regrown in place of the severed one. Homura was angry that Suzune had served Ichika's forearm, but Suzune argued successfully that her actions had saved Ichika's life from possibly dying when the gauntlet looked like it was gonna burn him alive or worse explode like a bomb. As Kyoko and Sayaka started to lift Ichika up and shoulder-carry him, Homura and Mami glared at Suzune and demanded answers for everything that had happened because of the Kanzashi girl, Suzune promises that she would explain everything after she had dealt with Kanzashi. Homura throws a disposable phone to Suzune and tells her to meet her and the rest of the Holy Quintet at a time and location of their choosing and went off with Ichika. While Homura had gathered the IS units off of the dead Phantom Task agents, Suzune appeared back to her hiding spot where she hid Kanzashi to detain her. Kanzashi who had recorded Ichika's fight with Autumn on her smartphone took off running as soon as she saw Suzune coming back for her, dropping orher phone while running. Suzune had caught Kanzashi and used one of her Puella Magi powers to alter her memories of her kidnapping so that she would "remember" being kidnapped by Phantom Task but was able to escape and fight them to a standstill with the Byakushiki. Suzune plants Kanzashi at the scene of the battle next to the wrecked gauntlet closed form of Byakushiki just in time for emergency services and Tatenashi's anti-IS combat team deployed from ISA to arrive to find an unconscious Kanzashi at the scene of what seemed to be an IS battle. It is Suzune's hope that when they discovered Kanzashi with the Byakushiki's closed form gauntlet, they can make their assumptions that Kanzashi had fought off Phantom Task's kidnapping attempt on her and the scene was the end result. Suzune quietly left the scene not know that Kanzashi's phone had been lost on Kanzashi when Suzune had to chase and stop her. Tatenashi arrives on scene to check on the unconscious Kanzashi and had her taken to the hospital. Kanzashi's mobile phone was found and the heavily damaged gauntlet of the Byakushiki was recovered by Tanetashi's team.
The Holy Quintet including met Suzune on the rooftops of Mitakihara Middle School for her explanation. Suzune explained that Oriko first approached her with a warning that the person fitting Kanzashi's description must not come to Mitakihara City as her presence would risk endangering the Puella Magi in Mitakihara City. Oriko wanted Suzune to kill off Kanzashi to prevent her prophecy from happening, but Suzune refused as she didn't want an innocent person to die. With Suzune opposed to her proposition, Oriko decided to pursue other darker means of resolving the Kanzashi issue. The group asks Suzune if Oriko told her what her prophecy was which she replied that she did not know as Oriko wasn't forthcoming on all regarding her prophecy. Oriko then comes out of the shadows to tell them that Kanzashi's presence would risk the exposure of the Puella Magi world to the world at large. Oriko had foreseen that the event would lead to Ichika being able to use an IS and his eventual discovery of his abilities by the government. Oriko implies that if Ichika were made known to the world as the first male IS pilot and made to attend ISA, the risk of the world discovering the existence of the Puella Magi would increase exponentially and the possibility of the world that was already slowly becoming female dominated thanks to the IS to weaponized Puella Magi filled them with a sense of dread. Oriko's revelations shocked the Holy Quintet and Suzune. Oriko also said that the ISA staffers who first discovered them were killed off by Kirika to ensure their permanent silence and that she had done what she could to erase any proof of Ichika's ability to pilot an IS, but he would soon be discovered anyway as his burnt DNA was still on the destroyed gauntlet of the Byakushiki and its recorder device had recorded Ichika's usage of Byakushiki including his battle with the Arachne IS. Those two pieces of evidence would surely negate Kanzashi's false memories of the incident when Kanzashi regains consciousness and gives ISA her testimony. Oriko advices Ichika to leave Mitakihara City and lay low somewhere else for the time being until the incident dies down, offering to make arrangements to help him move out of the city without detection and providing him with a fake identity and background. Ichika states that he needed more time to think things over, but Oriko warns him that he had to make his decision soon as his inevitable discovery was soon upon them.
Chifuyu and Tatenashi are on video conference at separate locations – Chifuyu at ISA and Tatenashi still inside Kazashi's hospital room in Mitakihara City - review the evidence before them. Kanzashi had provided her statement as to what happened in Mitakihara City, but her statements were inconsistent and her memory seemed unreliable when she couldn't remember all of the details of the incident. Sure enough Kanzashi's mobile phone and the recorder device inside the Byakushiki unveil the truth of the event. That it was Ichika that piloted by the Byakushiki first at Mitakihara High School and later on when he battled the Arachne IS. That he came to Kanzashi's rescue with several other girls dressed up in magical girl costumes to the Phantom task hideout where the Phantom Task agents had taken Kanzashi to after kidnapping her. That in the earlier Kanzashi had received a message from an anonymous person willing to provide her more information on Puella Magi which led to her kidnapping to begin with. Chifuyu orders Tatenashi to detain Ichika and bring him to ISA for questioning – how was he abkle to pilot the Byakushiki and whether or not did he killed the IS staff personnel at Mitakihara High School. After many years Chifuyu was going to have a reunion with Ichika. The night is concluded when Tabane informs Chifuyu that the Byakushiki's closed form gauntlet has been fully repaired.
Ichika didn't want to leave Mitakihara City - he made so many memories as a Puella Magi here and he came to see the town as his true home. Nevertheless it was decided by him and the Holy Quintet that it would be best for Ichika to get out of Mitakihara City as soon as possible. The Holy Quintet helped Ichika packed his essentials and the private car send by Oriko had shown up at the Orimura house ready to take him to Kazamino City. Ichika held Homura's hand sadly as he bide her good bye, for her would not be able to see her as much as he would now. Homura allay his fears by promising to go to Kazamino City to find him and that since Kyoko once lives there the Holy Quintet would soon reunite with Ichika. They share a brief romantic kiss before Ichika left in the private car for Kazamino City. Ichika stares at the outskirts of Mitakihara City with only Kyubey to keep him company. The car came to a sudden halt as it was intercepted by the Mysterious Lady IS. Tatenashi had come to take Ichika into custody. Ichika tells Kyubey to go warn the other Puella Magi of the situation while he dealt with Tatenashi. Ichika pretends o be ignorant of his ability to pilot the IS even when Tatenashi told him to give up as ISA already knew he could pilot an IS although they couldn't figure out why Byakushiki's form resembled that of a magical girl. Ichika contemplates whether or not to fight Tatenashi in Puella Magi form. Ichika decides to run as he refused to reveal the existence of Puella Magi, but he was easily captured and arrested by Tatenashi to be taken to ISA for questioning. At ISA Ichika was made to operate an ISA to his great reluctance. He had been surprised by Byakushiki's gauntlet form was repaired so quickly but upon seeing Tabane with Chifuyu, he knew that he would not get things his way. He had hoped that as the gauntlet was placed on his arm to determine in front of them whethe or not he really could pilot the IS, that Byakushiki would deem him unworthy and reject him at the last minute. His hope became moot when the gauntlet shine brightly in making contact with him and Ichika was once more made its pilot. Chifuyu prepared paperwork to have him attend school at ISA formally and inform the gov't of the first male user of the IS in existence. Ichika could only look at the ocean that seperates ISA from land in despair as he knew that he would never see his friends and his love Homura again.
Meanwhile the Holy Quintet other Puella Magi held an emergency meeting after Kyubey came to them and informed them about what happened to Ichika. Homura then distributes the IS that she salvaged from the dead Phantom Task agents to discuss what to what to do about Ichika being a prisoner at ISA. It does not have to be said in words that Homura wanted to go and break Ichika free and in fact this was one of those rare moments where Homura is really expressive in her emotions – worry, fear, anger, and agitated. Oriko had been reluctant for the Puella Magi group to go rescue Ichika due to fears of the IS and of the Puella Magi being exposed. However they were persuaded by Mami Tomoe who was never the type to abandon her friends to storm ISA and save him, egged on by Kyubey who has a scheme in the works. Kyubey had met with Kanzashi in secret to truly assess her potential and sure enough he figured that of Kanzashi were to become a Puella Magi then she would surely be one of the most powerful ones Japan and perhaps the world. With Suzume restoring Kanzashi's memories, Kanzashi now remembered everything that happened that day. Kanzashi was brought to their meeting by Suzume and made to catch up on current events and quick summary of the Puella Magi world. Kanzashi had felt bad that it was because of her seeking out the founders of the Online Church of Madokami – who were Ichika and Homura – that Ichika got into massive trouble for the sake of rescuing her when she certainly didn't deserved to be save and when the Puella Magi had no obligation to go out of their way to save her. It was determined that Kanzashi would be their backup plan should their rescue attempt become a failure which it would then become a hostage-trade scenario. It was morally dicey but at the same time the Puella Magi could not risk the world discovering their existence.
With Kanzashi providing the map layout and Kyubey's help scouting the ISA, the Holy Quintet plus Suzume launch an attack on ISA to rescue Ichika. Armed with the IS that Homura recovered from dead PT agents and enchanted with their own magic, the Holy Quintet easily broke through ISA's defenses and defeated the pilots using IS trainer units only to face off against the personal users as their real opponents. Chifuyu rushes to the hospital room where Ichika is held and finds him gone as Homura had already taken him with her via her ability to freeze time. Suzume seizes the Byakushiki's gauntlet form after bypassing Tabane, linking back up with Homura and Ichika to give it to him. The Holy Quintet finds themselves pushed back since they are outnumbered by the personal users whose IS were more specialized than the normal Uchiganes and Raphael-Revives they had dealt with. When Tatenashi's attack was about to hit Mami's Soul Gem, Ichika arrives just in time to block and rebuff Tatenashi back in a Pulla Magi influenced Byakushiki, incarnated as Suzuka Gozen, saving Mami's life. Ichika attacks Laura from behind who is caught off guard since in his transformed appearance, Ichika easily looks like a younger Chifuyu. Ichika then proceeded to battle Tatenashi dealing massive damage to her, but were forced back when Chifuyu arrives on scene and intervene. Chifuyu is shocked by how Ichika eerily resembles herself and his twin sister in his mahou shoujo form. Chifuyu had grabbed Ichika in his Byakushiki and tossed him towards Laura who used Schwarzer Regen's AIC field to trap Ichika. The battle was at a stalemate but not for long as suddenly all of ISA was besieged by a rain of exploding stars. The Puella Magi including Ichika had looked up and to their surprise saw Kanzashi – dressed in her Puella Magi outfit. Kanzashi had made her wish to change herself and be her own person rather than stay in the shadows of her sister Tatenashi; her newfound Puella Magi power is Starmine Starbow (AN: Her power is just like Type Moon's Aoko Aozaki in that her magic's only purpose appears to be destruction). Kanzashi rained exploding star missiles and bombs across the battlefield, forcing the ISA side to take cover as the Holy Quintet and Suzume took their time to escape, with Mami and Ichika preparing to execute "Tiro Finale" and "Daishintou". Utilizing his floating golden sword with two tassels and a small charm with the same tassels pulled from her bag, Ichika begins a chant as they both float into the air. Upon finishing the chant, multiple circles of identical swords appear above his head. The innermost circle has the least, while their numbers increase with the outward circles. Mami, Ichika, and Kanzashithen executed "Tiro Finale" and "Daishintou" and "Starmine Starbow", raining musket rifles, expoding shooting stars, and powerfully magically enhanced swords all over ISA and forced the personal users to hide and seek cover under and behind buildings while the Holy Quintet made their escape.