Chapter 9 Part 1,

Takamachi Boot Camp, and the Puella Magi:

Mami

It was a beautiful afternoon. The sun was warm, birds were chirping merrily. I heaved a contented sigh, watching as a cool breeze swept through auburn hair, causing it to dance in weave around it's owner's head. I had to say that I was feeling quite calm and peaceful, despite everything that had happened today. This feeling obviously had nothing to do with the fact that I was staring at Nanoha as if she was the only thing on Mid that mattered.

"HIT THE DECK!"

Without much of a second thought I threw myself to the ground, narrowly avoiding getting a face-full of several magically charged bullets, as they shredded the ground where I had been standing no more than a half second ago.

"Sorry about that Fate-san!" Mami called apologetically, as the dozens of antique rifles she had arranged into a diamond shaped pattern dissolved into thin air. "I may have gotten a little carried away!"

I took the time to glance behind me as I pulled myself to my feet. The ground now resembled Swiss Cheese.

'Maybe just a little bit.' I thought dryly to myself, brushing any access dirt debris off my Barrier Jacket.

We had only just begun our first training session, and I could already tell that it was going to be full of surprises. In order to determine an optimal regimen for each recruit Nanoha needed to know what they could do. She had decided that a quick demonstration was in order. So it was with that, that we were at the biggest training ground the base could provide. Given the large size of the class, as well as the size of many of the CHILDs, we needed a lot of room to move around in. The other two groups had taken a seat on the grass; happy to quietly watch the demonstrations until it was their turn to show off.

Mami was the first one up to show what she could do. As per Nanoha's usual training routine, Mami was tasked with doing her best to land at least one hit on either Nanoha, Signum, Vita, or I. Of course whomever she selected would do their best to dodge for as long as they could. Shields would not be allowed unless our lives were in danger... and honestly when was that ever going to happen?

Nanoha; for whatever reason, decided to explain that out of their four choices, I would be the hardest to hit. She had gone on about my 'unrivaled' speed for several minutes before I had to cough loudly to get her back on track.

Naturally, since I was so worked up by all the 'slightly exaggerated' flattery she was heaping on me, that cough came out sounding more like a cat coughing up a hairball the size of your average pool ball. The fact that my face was beet red didn't help to convince people that, that wasn't going to happen, and I noticed Kiseki (who had been standing to my right.) take a few nervous steps away from me.

Once I had collected myself again, Mami took us all by surprise by selecting me as her target, regardless of the fact that Nanoha had claimed that I could fly around the earth faster than the bullet train could go from Tokyo to Unimari. Perhaps she was just trying to determine how much of a gross exaggeration that was, but judging by the smoke that was now slowly rising from a bullet shaped hole in the corner of the cape of my Barrier Jacket, she knew that if she bullet spammed everything within a half mile of me, she was bound to hit something regardless of how fast I was.

"Thanks for the warning." I grunted sarcastically in Kiseki's general direction, watching as Mami high-fived her friends in triumph.

"No problem!" Kiseki replied loudly. "I noticed that you seemed distracted, but I can't imagine what could be more important to pay attention to than the fifty-some odd loaded rifles that were all aiming at you."

I bit back the rather scathing retort that was trying to crawl it's way out of my mouth, and instead returned my attention back to Mami, who was waiting patiently for her demonstration to continue.

"Alright Mami-san!" I exclaimed, challenge working it's way into the tone of my voice. This was meant to show that I had my full attention on her this time. "Next time it won't be so easy, show me what else you got!"

Mami gave me a slightly evil grin as she tugged quickly at the yellow ribbon that rested at her throat.

"Weeellll," she drawled slyly, as her ribbon magically elongated like a slithering snake. "I am very good with restraints." She yanked her ribbon taut with both hands as if to emphasize her point.

I gulped nervously and looked to Nanoha for support, and I was greeted by the most unusual expression I have ever seen on her face. Nanoha seemed to be fighting an internal war with herself as to whether this information horrified or thrilled her... at least if her face was anything to go by, her expression shifted between these two conflicting emotions once or twice every few seconds.

I for one, was very clear on how this information made me feel, and I was aware that my face reflected that sentiment perfectly. The dreadful memory of the sensation of Jail's strange binds tightening around my throat rose to my mind, and I shuddered involuntarily. I had been trapped by magical binds many times before, including at the hands of both Nanoha and my own mother. Not once had my being restrained led to anything good, (Be it a Starlight Breaker or a whipping) so I guess it was only natural that I had developed a strong aversion to it.

Mami seemed to notice this and switched her teasing demeanor to one of gentle understanding.

"Don't worry Fate-San." Mami assured softly, in keeping with the first name basis that Nanoha had immediately enforced on everyone. "I have less unpleasant uses for this ability as well." By way of demonstration, she quickly hurled the end of her ribbon at the nearest tree. I watched in fascination as the ribbon, seemingly with a mind of it's own; wrapped itself around the trunk before making a beeline for another tree and doing the same thing. It repeated this action on two more adjacent trees, before weaving it's way back and forth between the four anchor points to form a net. I cocked my head in curiosity, as Mami made her way over to her creation.

"We cannot fly, as I've heard some of you can." She explained giving me a meaningful look as she plucked her ribbon. The thrumming noise that resounded as the ribbon vibrated harmoniously caused a satisfied smile to grow on her face. "...Well Homura and Madoka can now, and I have always used this as a means to get around more easily..." I could not help but picture Mami swinging around on that ribbon like Tarzan, and just barely kept the grin off my face. "...Plus our agility and strength are heightened, so in a way I guess we are a bit like cats; in that we have excellent jumping skills, and can survive a fall of any height without injury... as long as we land on our feet. If thrown to the ground by an attack from a witch, or what have you; that is where we will sustain injury. Our bodies can take large amounts of damage, and we heal very quickly. However being out of commission for any period of time simply wasn't an option. That's where this comes in... you know: in case of emergency."

I nodded in understanding, before I regarded the net with intense scrutiny. If this was something I was going to trust the lives of my team to, I wanted to make sure it would work. I eyed the gaps between the weaves of the ribbon with suspicion, would this thing even be able to support the weight of a person? It was clear that this ribbon was fueled by Mami's magic and was probably stronger than a normal ribbon, but would it be an effective safety net; say if we were to use it to catch Haruka in her ROBE falling at terminal velocity... An occurrence, which I had a feeling would be fairly common, once the blond started training to fly properly. I doubted that Haruka herself would be a problem, but her ROBE and mace were anything but light.

"I can vouch for it's effectiveness." Homura pipped up suddenly, causing a look of surprise to cross Mami's face. "I have been saved by her nets many, many times, and I know for a fact that the ribbon can only be broken by Mami's own will... or by her death." An aura of sorrow and unease settled around all the Puella Magi at Homura's words.

I was just about to ask how Homura could possibly know this for a fact, as she had put it, but before I could even open my mouth Mami quickly unfurled the net with a simple wave of her hand. The ribbon returned to it's original length, but rather than tie it back around her neck, she merely took to twirling it absently between her fingers.

"I do have one final 'trick' up my sleeve." She said in a more subdued tone of voice. I decided that pursuing the topic would be unwise at this point.

"Very well." I replied with a good natured smile. "Combative, or supportive?"

That sneaky smile once again graced her features as she replied:

"Combative."

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed all the Puella Magi take a sudden automatic half step back. I knew by now that in this group of very powerful mages; if anyone takes a half step back it is usually for a very good reason.

"...Alright then." I replied with slight hesitance, before masking it with confidence. "Lay it one me! Give me your best shot!"

Judging by the pained expressions the Puella Magi were now giving me, and the flash of delight that shone momentarily in Mami's yellow eyes, this was clearly a poor choice of words.

"As you wish." she gladly complied, confidence lacing every word as she faced me. Taking her ribbon by one end; with a flick of her wrist, she whipped it out in front of herself. I watched as the ribbon began to elongate at a very rapid rate, spiraling outwards until quite suddenly it transformed into a massive gun at least five times bigger than any cannon I had ever seen. I was staring into a barrel that I was sure Alicia could walk right into without hitting her head. Mami regarded me with a sly smile that said quite plainly: 'you had better start running' she punctuated her point with a mischievous wink which ignited the over sized fuse. Yellow magical energy started to collect in the muzzle of the giant barrel, reminding me a little too much of Nanoha's Starlight Breaker.

"Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me " I mumbled under my breath, unsure whether I should try blocking or dodging... whatever this was going to be. (So much for no lives being endangered during training.)

'Sonic Move?' Bardiche offered, clearly sensing my internal debate, as well as the looming danger.

"Tiro!" Mami's magical energy expanded out beyond the barrel, by this point the yellow light was blinding.

"Sonic Move." I agreed, moving into prime dodging position.

"FINALE!"

With an earth shattering explosion, Mami's gun fired. I had less than a half second to react to the oncoming projectile as at some point it had condensed itself into a smaller but far more devastating piercing bullet that could have probably gone straight through my body without the slightest drop off in velocity. Bardiche activated Sonic Move just in time for me to dodge just a few feet to the left. The bullet missed me completely, but burrowed its way so far into the ground that I wouldn't have been surprised if it had struck oil along the way.

Once the dust cleared, I saw Mami standing calmly, supporting the massive weapon by the palm of her hand.

"Hmm." She commented nonchalantly, upon noticing no new tears in my Barrier Jacket and the smoldering hole off to my right. "I missed. You truly are fast Fate-San."

"T-thank you." I croaked, my nerves still too frayed to take the compliment to heart.

"Perhaps I should try the obliteration shot next." She suggested happily, as if she was talking about switching from playing baseball to soccer.

"That won't be necessary!" Nanoha cut in quickly, coming to my rescue. "I must say Mami-San; your skills are very impressive, you managed to hit Fate-chan once on your first attack! We've also seen everything you have to offer. Which I must admit, is quite a lot. So you're done for today."

"Thank you Nanoha-San." Mami said, doing a little curtsey as the massive gun transformed back into her ribbon. After tying the accessory securely back under her throat, Mami turned an apologetic gaze on Kiseki. Seemingly understanding, Kiseki heaved a sigh and walked over to join the awaiting blond.

"I hate this part." She complained, holding out an expecting hand. "Alright, let's have it."

"I'm sorry." Mami apologized, as her clothing shone bright yellow for second, leaving her in what I could only assume was her school uniform. "Tiro Finale always takes so much out of me." I watched as an intricate yellow Chinese Egg appeared in the palm of Mami's hand, or at least at first glance it seemed to be a simple yellow Chinese Egg. I was surprised to see a black murky substance cloud the purity of the gem in the center, spreading like a cloud of inky misery. Whatever it was, I got the feeling that it wasn't good.

"I know." Kiseki said softly, gently removing the blackening gem from Mami's hand. "But, better I be all emo for about fifteen minutes, than you disappearing from existence right?"

...What?

"Anyway," Kiseki went on, before I could question any part of that last sentence. She grimaced at the gem in her hand, and placed her finger on one of the smooth sides. "Let's just get this over with; Al-Hazard?"

'Absorption.'

Like metal to a magnet, the inky blackness swimming around in the gem gravitated towards Kiseki's finger. I knew by now, that Kiseki was drawing...whatever that was, out of the gem, and by extension into her own body. Little by little, the murky taint disappeared, leaving behind a pure, healthy looking glow. Once she was done, Kiseki handed the gem back to Mami, before wordlessly walking away from the group, plopping herself down on the grass, and hugging her legs to herself in the fetal position.

"Thank you Kiseki-San." Mami sighed, watching her go, a sad smile on her face. She glanced forlornly at the brightly shimmering jewel for a few seconds before it simply vanished from sight.

I had watched this whole exchange without a word, but it still took me a few moments before I could clear my head of enough confusion to even say something.

"What the heck just happened?" I blurted, pointing madly at Kiseki who had taken to muttering incoherently to herself. "What's wrong with her? Is she okay?"

"She will be." Mami assured, her voice laden with guilt. "It's a bit of a long story, but the easiest way to explain it is that a Puella Magi's power is very much reliant on the purity of their own soul. The purer the soul, the stronger the Puella Magi. This is a Soul Gem." Mami lifted up the shimmering yellow jewel, which had reappeared in the palm of her hand. "Essentially, my soul resides in this gem, because of this my body can be fully run through with a blade, but so long as my Soul Gem is not damaged I will eventually recover."

"That is amazing." I acknowledged suspiciously. "But what does that have to do with Kiseki looking and acting as if the world was ending."

"Life is PAIN!" Kiseki moaned helpfully from her spot on the grass. All five Puella Magi sent her a sympathetic look before setting their focus back on the rest of us.

"When Puella Magi use magic, our Soul Gems become tainted by negative energy, such as despair, malice, or hopelessness." Homura explained, picking up where Mami left off. "Normally we would use Grief Seeds or Grief Cubes to draw out the taint, but there are no witches or demons to harvest them from in this world. So unfortunately we have to use Kiseki's abilities to purify our Soul Gems. Naturally, all the negative energy she absorbs from us has the same effect on her as it eventually has on us. The only difference is that Kiseki's Linker Core can change negative energy into life energy, given time. In a Puella Magi the negative energy festers and grows until the Puella Magi's soul breaks."

"That's horrible!" Nanoha exclaimed. Homura nodded sadly before continuing.

"In the past, when a Puella Magi's soul became completely tainted, their Soul Gem would become a Grief Seed, and a new Witch would be born as a result. That Puella Magi; once a symbol of hope for our world would become the very thing they were trying to save people from: a Witch; spreader of chaos and despair." Homura's cool purple eyes found Madoka's warm pink ones, as they held each others gaze no one was blind to the look of absolute adoration that grew on her face as she spoke. "Now; Madoka takes on their despair, saving the Puella Magi from a fate worse than death. This does come at a cost as the Puella Magi essentially dies after Madoka absolves them of their grief, but now they at least die peacefully, and with the knowledge that no further despair will be spread because of them."

"That is also why we joined Kiseki's quest." Mami added, turning her gaze to Hayate. "In our world, there is nothing that can be done to change the fate of Puella Magi. The five of us; but Homura specifically, went through hell trying to change the this." Homura gave her blond haired friend what could only be a very rare, and very soft smile. "Not much is known about Puella Magi, even by Puella Magi... Kyubey made sure of that. This world however, is grounded in magic as a science. Our hope is that you can study our magic, and perhaps find a way to keep our soul gems from tainting, or at least an easier way to purify them without having to worry about a dwindling supply. As it stands now, every Puella Magi in our universe is fated to be taken away by the Law of Cycles. Even the four of us will one day meet the same end."

After saying her piece, Mami fell silent, and regarded Hayate with a slightly nervous expression. Obviously these girls were seeking as much help as they were offering in turn. I frowned, These girls looked like they were only in middle school, why the hell were they forced to take the weight of world on their shoulders at such a young age? It just didn't seem fair.

"I didn't think it was very fair either Fate-chan." Nanoha said softly, apparently able to read my thoughts perfectly. "All the things you were forced to go through when you were even younger... I know Hayate will do everything in her power to help these girls, it's just in her nature. We'll help too, won't we Fate-chan." I smiled, and nodded silently in agreement, watching as Hayate pretended to contemplate what we both knew her answer already was.

"I see..." she finally said, her gentle smile immediately alleviating any doubts Mami and the others may still have. "Well, I wouldn't be much of a TSAB officer if I ignored a request for help now would I?" All five Puella Magi brightened, silently sharing their joy between each other. "So, once we're done with training today, how about you leave your Soul Gems with Shari so she can get to work on studying them?" I noticed that the girl's moods immediately became uneasy at the suggestion. They stood in awkward silence several moments, almost like none of them wanted to explain why they couldn't accept the first help they'd been offered. Finally, Kyouko snapped.

"Gladly." The fiery red head snorted sarcastically. "I just hope our corpses don't cause too many injuries when we suddenly drop dead in the middle of the hallway. You guys do know that they are called Soul Gems for a reason right?" Most of us were stunned into silence at total bluntness of that statement, and unfortunately for Kyouko, Sayaka recovered first.

"Kyouko!" She scolded while smacking her companion upside the head. "How the hell were they supposed to know about that!? Besides, you didn't have to be so crass about it!"

"Sorry." Kyouko muttered, her voice far more subdued, as she rubbed her abused head. "But I've already seen that happen to you once, I'd rather die than see it again." I had about a half second to catch a flash of soul crushing guilt as it crossed Madoka's face. Homura also seemed to notice this, and put a comforting arm around Madoka's shoulder.

Sayaka's harsh expression melted at Kyouko's words, and she quickly enveloped the feisty redhead in a crushing hug.

"Oh! Kyouko! That's so sweet!" She squealed over Kyouko's muffled cries of protest. "You really are just a giant teddy bear aren't you?"

"Yeah, well this giant teddy bear is gonna turn into a giant grizzly bear if you don't let me go soon!" Kyouko's muffled threat was completely ruined by the mere fact that we could all see that her face was just as red as her hair. Sayaka just giggled and squeezed Kyouko harder. As cute as this scene was, I felt the need to ask for a little clarification.

"What exactly are we missing here?" I asked with curiosity and mild alarm. "And why on earth would any of you just drop dead in the hallway?" Sayaka stopped trying to smother Kyouko long enough to answer properly.

"Our Soul Gems have a limited range of about one hundred meters." She explained, ignoring both the death glare and string of expletives Kyouko was throwing at her. "If a Puella Magi's Soul Gem is taken too far away from her body, the Puella Magi's body will essentially cease functioning, and become a lifeless empty shell." I didn't know about anyone else, but I knew my face was entirely blank in my shock.

"It means that we die!" Kyouko spat as soon as she regained her composure. "So if you had us leave our Soul Gems somewhere, we would all drop like a sack of potatoes as soon as we got out of range!" Sayaka shot Kyouko a warning look before continuing in a more delicate fashion.

"It isn't permanent." She added quickly, probably to address the horrified expressions we were all wearing. "As soon as our Soul Gems are brought back to our bodies, our souls can reenter them. The only way a Puella Magi can die is if their Soul Gem is destroyed or if it is totally consumed by despair."

'Oh, well that's a relief.' I thought sarcastically to myself.

"That is seriously messed up." Vita blurted, her face showing just how uncomfortable she was with this knowledge.

"...Alright then." Hayate finally managed to say after a long period of uneasy silence. "Perhaps we should address this first, and try to find a way to increase your Soul Gems' range... or better yet, eliminate it all together." All five Puella Magi looked ecstatic at the possibility, I couldn't say I blamed them for it; it sounded like being a Puella Magi brought nothing but despair, and an early death. Why on earth would any of them have wished to become one in the first place?

"But how are going to know if the range increases without, you know..." Nanoha seemed to struggle over her words. "...killing them. No matter how temporary it might be, I still find that to be highly unacceptable."

"I can help with that." Kiseki piped up cheerfully, as she rejoined the group. Apparently her body had already worked through all the misery she had absorbed from Mami. "The energy that links Puella Magi with their Soul Gems gets weaker with distance. I would be able to tell you exactly when that connection would be severed." Nanoha nodded in relief, as happy as the rest of us that these girls wouldn't have to die repeatedly while we worked on improving their Soul Gems.

Even Kyouko seemed satisfied with this, her tense posture relaxing, as she pulled another stick of Pocky out of her pocket.

"Well, now that, that is outta the way," She said with a confident smirk. "I believe that it's my turn. So..." Sticking the chocolate end in her mouth, she touched the silver ring that rested on the middle finger on her left hand. Mami had done the same thing earlier, so by now we all knew that those rings contained their inactive Soul Gems. With a blinding flash of red light; Kyouko stood before us, fully dressed in her Puella Magi outfit, with an impressive looking spear resting gently on her left shoulder. Snapping the end off the Pocky, she eyed Signum, pointing what was left of the stick of Pocky at her, or more specifically at Levantine's dormant form that hung from her neck. "You any good with that thing?"

Signum couldn't help but smile. A flash of light pink light later, and Signum stood before Kyouko in her Barrier Jacket, brandishing a full sized Levantine, as she lowered herself into her favourite battle stance.

"Why don't you come find out?"

(VERY IMPORTANT AN: I AM BACK! I did promise that this story wouldn't be dropped, and I finally managed to get my ass in gear to pick it up again. Finally watching Rebellion after I got up to this point in the chapter was both the best thing I could have done, and the worst. On the one hand it brought back my love of Puella Magi Madoka Magica with a passion, but on the other hand... it brought back my love of Puella Magi Madoka Magica with a passion. How could this possibly be a bad thing? Weeeellll... it meant that as soon as I saw the movie, my creativity with this group went nuts, and as a result I technically still have not finished writing this chapter, but only because I have literally spent the entire summer writing it. It has gotten so long, that I decided to split it up into three parts. The first and shortest would be about Mami. Mainly because it seems to be the one that is the most self contained. The second and third parts will be much longer and will focus on Kyou/Saya, and Mado/Homu respectively.

There will be spoilers for Rebellion in the next two chapters! So if you have not yet seen the movie, I would recommend doing so. It is awesome.

This pattern of splitting the chapters into parts will repeat itself with the HiMEs and the Strike Witches since they are larger groups, and it would be easier to tackle them in chunks rather than trying to cram them all into overly long chapters. I actually already have the next two parts done for the most part, so as soon as I can transcribe them, you can expect seeing them published at the same time. Lastly: I am so sorry for making everyone wait so long for this, but I am back, and I intend to keep up the new momentum I have to update as regularly as I can. I hope you all enjoy this, and as always: Read and Review!