Titles: Puella Magi vs Songbird, Puella Magi Songbird Chase, Puella Magi Skyhook Chase
Premise: Madoka Magica, Bioshock Infinite. Madoka, Mami, Sayaka, and Kyoko are in Columbia, and are being chased through the skylines by Songbird.
Date Posted: 12/16/13
Personal Comments: An idea that came to me in the car the other day. I was listening to "Escape from the Dragon" from the Shrek soundtrack (as I did while writing this) on my phone, and this idea came to me. That was an awesome chase scene from the movie, and this music is just epic! Often when listening to music, stories like this come to my mind.
Still played that song many times on loop while writing this. Probably won't want to hear it again for a while.
Also listened to "Battle for Columbia III" from the Bioshock Infinite Soundtrack. My favorite fighting music in that game.
I also imagine that the witch form of my OC, Karasu, would be something similar to Songbird. Or maybe something like a two-headed vulture. A two-headed creature as a reflection of her desire for companionship.
I've been wanting to write a Songbird chase for a while. I thought of an MLP one that would be another off-shot of King Antler's "Heart of Raven Black".
Madoka dashed toward the end of the hall. As she approached the corner, she skidded to a halt, nearly slipping on the marble floor, and turned to run around the corner, down the next hall. She had been running for so long already. She was panting heavily, both from excitement and from fatigue. She knew in any moment, if she stopped running or not, her life could be ended. It was this fear that kept her moving.
She glanced behind her at her three companions; Mami, Sayaka, and Kyoko. They were all just as tired as she was, and just as scared, though Kyoko hid it better than the other two.
A sudden screech caused Madoka to snap her head ahead right before a gigantic metallic arm burst through the wall and felt around her her. She skidded to a halt mere inches from the arm's reach. Her companions stopped right behind her.
"It's the bird!" Sayaka cried.
"Really? ya don't say!" Kyoko snapped back sarcastically.
Kyoko whipped out her spear and stabbed the arm, the tip penetrating the suit's thick leather. The beast let out a screech of pain, though it was more irritated than hurt. A swift swipe of the arm sent Kyoko flying back.
Sayaka and Madoka lept up and caught her, then help her back to her feet once they landed.
Mami charged ahead as the bird withdrew its armed and poked its head in. Mami pulled a rifle from her chest and aimed at the bird's red glass eye. Just as the bird peered down at her, she fired her rifle.
The glass eye shattered, and the bird screeched in pain, louder than usual. Kyoko and Mami cringed while Sayaka and Madoka covered their ears.
Mami then whipped out her massive Trio Finale cannon, and fired straight at the behemoth's chest.
The blast made an impact. The force of the blow threw the beast from the wall, sending it tumbling down the side of the floating building.
"Come on!" Mami called back. "Before he gets back up!"
The four girls charged after her.
Finally, they made it to the exit. They burst out the door and onto the front porch, looking out on the beautiful floating city of Columbia. There was no time to admire the scenery though.
They looked around for the first for the nearest skyline they could ride.
"There!" Madoka pointed down to the nearest, which was down below. "Let's go!" Madoka pulled out her skyhook and pulled the trigger, causing the blade to spin. She jumped down and let the pull of the hook carry her to the line. The hook latched on as Madoka skidded up ahead along the line.
Mami pulled out her own skyhook and headed down, taking a breath before jumping off the edge.
Kyoko and Sayaka had theirs out. Sayaka hesitated before jumping down.
She took one second too long. Kyoko gave her a playful shove as she fell off the edge.
"YOU BITCH!" Sayaka screamed back up at Kyoko as she plummeted towards the skyline. She caught onto it with her hook as Kyoko jumped down after her.
"Should have jumped sooner!" Kyoko retorted.
The four flew across the skyline. It was a thrilling experience, the strong wind in their face, the city flying past them on all sides, their grip on the metallic devices the only things between them and five-thousand foot plummet. It was like being on a zipline or roller coaster, only with no secure harness, and they were fully aware of the giant mechanical bird chasing them. They were on full alert.
"Where are we meeting Homura again?" Mami called out to Madoka. She had to shout over the wind.
"She said Shantytown," Madoka called back.
They suddenly heard another blood-curdling screech. Their eyes darted towards the direction where it came from: Off to the side.
Songbird appeared out of a cloud like a massive phantom. And drew closer to the skyline, flying just as fast as the girls were going. Its clawed hands were stretched out and opened as it closed in on Kyoko and Sayaka.
With her free hand, Kyoko held her spear like an Olympic Javelin Thrower, and hurled it at the beast's heart. The harpoon hit its mark. It did not go deep enough to injure, let alone kill the beast, but it staggered enough to get thrown off course, and tumble down through the skies, missing his target.
"Great shot!" Sayaka called back to her.
Kyoko smiled proudly.
Down below they could see the Songbird swoop past them, its copper wings outstretched, shimmering in the sunlight. It now flew faster and farther ahead than the girls. Once far enough ahead, and close to one of the many bridges of Columbia, the behemoth swerved around and darted straight through the skyline, breaking apart the beams, and emitting a loud mix of clangs and groans.
The girls each panicked. They would go flying off into nothing when they reached the end.
"Don't turn around!" Madoka called back. She was still unsure though. She knew they could not go back. The bird would surly catch them then.
Luckily, Sayaka's eyes darted below to find another skyline. "Down there!" She shouted. "Another line!"
"Jump!" Madoka ordered. As she was approaching the end, she swung to her left, and dove down, head first, towards the new line. Mami and Sayaka managed to follow suite. Before Kyoko could, Songbird came right up from under her, shattering the line, and throwing Kyoko off-balance as she tumbled down.
Once Madoka was close enough, she flipped into a belly-down position before she caught onto the line with her hook. After some swinging, she had a firm, stable grip on the line.
Mami and Sayaka caught on as well. Because she had been thrown off, Kyoko missed it.
"Kyoko!" Sayaka cried after her.
Thinking quickly, Mami released a long yellow ribbon from her sleeve which snaked down and caught Kyoko's wrist. With a firm tug, Mami pulled Kyoko up towards her.
"Sayaka! Catch her!" Mami shouted back at Sayaka.
The ribbon flew up and dropped Kyoko into Sayaka's free arm. Sayaka held her close while Kyoko wrapped her arms around her snuggly.
"Now's not the time for this, Kyoko," Sayaka muttered, rolling her eyes.
Songbird was coming around for another strike. Mami whipped out a rifle with her free hand and started firing like a trigger-happy redneck. The shots seemed to bounce off the creature's wings.
Madoka looked back and saw the monster closing in on her friends. She realized she'd have to take a big risk to throw this creature off their tracks.
First, she spun around on her hook with amazing acrobatics until she were hanging upside-down, her feet holding on to the hook. Her bow and an arrow appeared in her hands. Her eyes focused on the bird as she drew back, and let the arrow fly.
The arrow struck the beast in the knee, again causing it to stagger enough to loose its balance and plummet into the clouds.
Madoka flipped around held onto the hook with her hand again. Ahead there was a tall skyscraper. Thinking quickly, she came up with a plan.
Once they were close enough, Madoka swung, and jumped down onto the balcony of the building. It seemed to be a restaurant, judging by the many outdoor tables. Thankfully, they were all empty.
The other girls slowed down, but did not stop.
"Madoka! What are you doing? Let's go!" Mami shouted frantically.
"You three head for Shantytown!" Madoka ordered sternly as she prepared another arrow. "I'll take care of the bird."
The girls first gave her a quizzical look, then looked between each other. Finally, they nodded.
"You better meet us there!" Sayaka shouted, a confident smile on her face.
"I will, don't worry!" Madoka nodded.
And with that, the other three zipped off ahead, just as the bird ascended from the clouds once more. It was about to charge after them again before it was struck in the side by another arrow. Unlike the other times though, this time, he did not falter, and merely hovered in the air, his wings flapping.
"Hey! Over here!" Madoka called out to it sternly. "Come and get me." She let fly another arrow, which struck the behemoth in the sides.
After another screech, the beast rocketed straight up into the sky before bending its back and performing the apex of a loop.
Madoka could tell what was coming next. She turned on her heels and ran straight for the restaurant door. She knew the door would be locked if the place was empty. She simply tucked and rolled through the door, shattering the glass. She was lucky enough not to get cut on any shards.
She had to hurry. looking across the room, she could see the window on the other side. She sprinted towards it. As she got closer, she heard a loud crash, and then the sounds of many more furniture and silverware being upset. She knew the bird had crashed through the wall to give chase. She dared not look over her shoulder.
She dove through the window once she was close enough. This time, her arms and cheek and dress suffered a few cuts. Aside from the brief moment of irritation in her arms and face, Madoka paid them no mind. She had bigger problems at the moment.
Moments after she crashed through the window, Songbird crashed through the building as well, sending tons of debris falling down along side her. After another loop, he dove down after her.
Madoka dove down head-first for velocity. There was no skyline below as she could tell. Trying to push such fearful thoughts out of her head, she drew her bow again, set an arrow at the ready. She channeled her soul energy into the arrow, charging it with pink magic. She had to make this one hurt him.
She knew he was gaining on her, his head aimed down straight at her.
Another second, and finally, she spun around, pointed the arrow up, and released it. A streak of pink fire shot up straight at the beast's head. The arrow exploded on impact, and the beast screeched in pain, as well as diverting its head. It seemed to loose consciousness, as its diving form seemed to falter and it relaxed into a freefall.
Before it could hit Madoka, something grabbed her by the waist, held her in a tight squeeze, and yanked her out of its way. She looked down at it; it was a yellow ribbon.
She was suddenly caught in Mami's arm, as the two rocketed along a skyline up to garden-like platform where Kyoko and Sayaka were waiting for them.
"That was the best plan you had?" Mami said teasingly. "What if I wasn't here to save you?" Madoka could only chuckle as they jumped down onto the platform.
"Alright, we all made it!" Sayaka exclaimed. "Way to go Madoka!" She slapped Madoka a high-five, then Mami.
"You two should have seen her take out the bird," Mami smiled.
"Yeah, great job, Madoka," Kyoko said. She glanced over the edge. "Guess he'll be off our tail for a while."
Suddenly, Mami collapsed on the ground. In a flash of light, her magical-girl suit disappeared, revealing her casual school clothing.
"Mami," Madoka exclaimed, suddenly worried. She ran over to her side. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah," Mami panted. "Just a little tired. I think that was a though fight for all of us."
"You know, come to think of it, you did use a lot of magic in that fight," Kyoko stated. "How's your soul gem?"
Mami's gem suddenly appeared in her palm as she showed her friends. It seemed pretty dull and shadowy, only a little shimmer of light reflecting.
"Yeesh, looking a little dim there," Sayaka noted. "Do we have anymore grief seeds?"
"I think I might have a few," Madoka said as she searched through her pocket. "Here we go." She pulled on out and handed it to Mami.
"Why don't you take it easy for a bit?" Sayaka asked as Mami cleansed her soul gem. "You can sit the next fight out." She helped Mami to her feet before they headed off down the sidewalk.