The Last Ring

Chapter 3: Ya' Know, This Could of All Been Avoided If You Didn't Throw Out Your Cheese Stick At Lunch Sayaka

Glad to see you again. Nexal here, and I was hoping you'd stay. This story is so dear to my heart, and I'm glad to have the chance to tell it. I hope you're enjoying their suffering as much as I am. It really is delightful don't you agree?

Well then, it seems the show's about to start.

Have fun

It was raining. The sound of the drops were as bullets ending the life of her home. Thunder and lightning shook the skies. The heavens themselves were crying out in agony. And her head was still ringing from the sound. Sozo said it would be better in the morning. She didn't know whether to believe him or not. In the course of one day the world had turned upside down for her. What would she do?

And then there was nothing. It was as if the world had stopped. She had fallen asleep. And once again, the world was at peace.

"Kamijo, I have a question." Sayaka asked. "What would you do if your friend tried to protect you but ended up hurting you?"

Kamijo wasn't used to giving advice. Of course Sayaka was going to see him anyway, so she figured she might as well ask him.

"So, this friend hurt you, and the other person hurt you too?" Kamijo responded.

"No he succeeded." Sayaka rebutted hastealy. "But if you were caught in the crossfire..." Her voice trailed off.

"Well then" Kamijo stated, finally getting into his role of a 'wise- man'. "If the person is your friend, I would forgive him. After all, he only tried to help you."

Sayaka thanked him for the advice, then after a while longer, headed off to school.

Classes flew by fast, and as soon as they were done the girls left for the roof. Only to find Sozo and Homura, in her Puella Magi outfit, talking on the roof. Now that they thought about it, the two weren't at morning classes. Had they been here this whole time?

"I'll say it one more time." Homura angrily stated. "If you harm them one more time, even if by accident-"

"And I'll apologize one more time." Sozo replied, cutting her off. To this, Homura grabbed him by the neck with one hand. Thankfully Mami covered Madoka's eyes so she didn't see what Homura did with her other hand. With her other hand, she took out the gun that shot Kyubey and put it to his temple.

"If you say another goddamned word in Latin now, I'll blow your brains out. Are we clear?"

"Clear as crystal." Sozo replied. Though, his voice did hesitate.

"Fine then." Homura backed off and returned the gun to her shield. After returning her clothes to normal, she walked away.

But was interrupted.

"Homura, you never asked me to apologize to you. So, I'm sorry."

She immediately walked back and punched him in the right eye. As hard as she possibly could. She then spoke.

"All I wanted was your reason for doing what you did yesterday. Nothing more, nothing less. It's them you should apologize to."

She gestured over to the three who were there, Mami still covering Madoka's eyes in case there was to be a murder.

"But, thanks anyway."

Only Sozo heard that last part. It was a telepathy link between the two of them, how she called him out to the roof in the first place. Homura stormed off and Mami uncovered Madoka's eyes.

"What just-" Madoka started, but was cut off by Mami.

"Trust me. You don't want to know."

It was time for round two of the interrogations to begin.

Sozo really felt like he was being interrogated. After all, Homura dragged him out here despite his explanation the other day. Proceeded to question him with rage to rival that of Brooklyn. Almost killed him. Punched him in the face when he apologized to her.

And then strangely thanked him. Sozo expected everything but that. After all, she didn't seem the type. No, nobody would seem the type to harm someone before thanking them! But he had no time to think, as the other three, plus Kyubey, were approaching. It was time to answer the questions he had said he would the other day. He already did for Homura, now it was their turn.

"So why?" Sayaka was the first to speak. She got right to the point. Hopefully his answer would suffice.

"I wanted to protect you. After all, I'm supposed to."

"So you only did it because it's your job?" Sayaka said, not missing a beat. The glare she gave him could kill an army of Witches!

"No. I wanted to protect you because you're my friends." Sayaka loosened her muscles and listened. "Truth be told, my job was never important to me. If it was I'd hound you for a contract as much as Kyubey. You girls are my friends. It hurt me, but if I didn't act you could have died. I'm sorry for hurting you."

Sayaka then looked him in the eyes and said to him.

"Someone very dear to me is in the hospital right now. Earlier today I asked him what to do. He said that if you're my friend and didn't mean to harm us, I should forgive you." She then smiled. "I actually forgave you the moment I heard that. Sorry for grilling you, I just had to make sure that you really were only trying to protect us."

Sayaka then laughed. She laughed hard and loud up to the sky. Sozo joined in. Then Madoka. Then Mami. Then even Kyubey. They all laughed at the misunderstanding they had just solved. They all laughed at the fact that they were now so much closer than before because of it. And they laughed at Sozo's black eye that Homura had given him.

And then, the bell rang. Not just any bell, the late bell. Meaning obviously that they were late. Words can't describe how fast they ran to class, leaving their lunches behind.

After school Team Contract, minus Mami, were walking home. They passed the hospital that Kamijo was staying in and saw it.

Grief Seed of Charlotte, the Dessert Witch

"Madoka, call Mami! We can't let the Labyrinth form!" Sayaka ordered swiftly.

"Ok! Let me just-" Madoka stated. "Oh no! I forgot to get her number!"

"Do you have it Sozo?" Sayaka asked, now trying to calm down.

"I don't have a phone. Sorry." Sozo replied. "But if worst comes to worst, I can fight the Witch. It's just-"

"Just what?" Sayaka questioned.

"If I have to fight all the familiars, I might not have enough energy left to fight the Witch. I uses the darkness in the Soul Gems I purify to fuel my power. I used a lot of energy yesterday to fill Gertrud's chamber, so I may not have enough left to fight, and then I would die."

Those last three words hit them like lead. He could die. If Mami didn't show up, they would be next. And if they ran away, the whole hospital would be wiped out. Someone could die.

It was decided that Madoka would leave to find Mami with Kyubey. The other two would stay behind to watch the Grief Seed in case it hatched. They wished each other good luck. Then parted in silence.

Something had been bugging Sayaka though.

"You mentioned a Gertrud. Who is she?" Sayaka asked Sozo.

His reply then came.

"The Witch we fought yesterday. That was her name."

"How can you tell?"

"Well I don't know how I know but I know that I know ya know?"

After analyzing the response, Sayaka gave one of her own.

"You watch Haruhi too?"

"You recognize the line?"

"Yeah."

Sayaka and Sozo continued to talk about anime, but then the Labyrinth formed. And they were dragged into it.

By dragged, I mean fell. Unlike the other time-lines, they fell on top of a giant cake. After getting up, Sayaka was the first to speak.

"We need to find a place to hide."

"Mmm, tasty."

It was Sozo. He had fallen face first into the cake and had gotten some in his mouth.

"I mean, how about over there behind that cookie?" He said as he quickly recovered. Sayaka turned to him, wondering if the thought even crossed his mind that the cake might not be edible. They then went over to the cookie and hid behind it.

"You know what this reminds me of Sayaka?" Sozo asked. "That game Catherine."

"You have that too?" Sayaka asked.

"Anything by the Persona team." He then continued. "Three was the best."

"I prefer Devil Survivor."

"Yeah, your dead to me. Just kidding." Sozo replied. Sayaka laughed a little. They then went searching for the Grief Seed after some Familiars had passed. Stopping only for Sozo to talk to Mami over the telepathy link or to hide from another familiar. Eventually, they got to the seed.

"Sayaka?" Sozo asked.

"Yeah?" Was the response.

"After this is done, would you and the others maby like to go hang out this weekend?"

Sayaka wanted to say yes, but there was always the Witch factor.

"What about the Witches?" Sayaka questioned.

"I'll hunt them early in the morning. If Mami helps it'll get done twice as fast. So what do you say?" Rebutted Sozo.

"Well, in that case-"

At that very moment the Witch awakened, pulling the two into her chamber. It took them by surprise. Sozo acted quickly, using his power to filter out noise from Charlotte's ears. Hopefully it would buy them more time. Luckily it did. Mami, Madoka, and Kyubey appeared. Team Contract was back together again. Before the fight began, Mami told the two about Madoka's and her plan to become a duo. It was a happy time, and Sozo even got to make a reference before the fight.

"Charlotte has appeared. It's the killer! Do not die!"

BANG! The sound of Mami's muskets firing off at Charlotte echoing around the chamber. She had gotten the first strike. Sozo took this opportunity to uncast his spell on Charlotte, and cast it on everyone else. Including Homura, who Mami explained was there also. Just in case.

The shot launched the Witch around the room. It didn't stop Mami. She kept firing at her while she was moving and hit every shot. Grabbing Charlotte out of the air, Mami then threw her to the ground and shot her in the head. She then picked her up and grabbed her by the neck. A gun was put to her temple and a shot rang out. Sozo shuddered, remembering what had almost happened to him earlier that day. After a second, Sozo got over himself and couldn't resist making another reference. He jumped out from behind their hiding spot and yelled. "FINISH HER!" Mami heard and obeyed. Tossing Charlotte into the air, she called out. "Tiro Finalle!"

Then it happened. To everyone else it seemed quick, but for Mami and Sozo, time slowed down. Charlotte's true form appeared and was moving in to eat. Sozo saw this and shot noise at the Witch to confuse her. It did. Instead of eating her head...

Charlotte ate her right arm.

Charlotte wasn't satisfied, so in a daze it swung itself at Mami again. This time claiming her left leg. Nobody could hear her scream, the shock blocked out their senses. Sozo on the other hand, didn't have the luxury of being shocked. He ran over to Mami and touched her Soul Gem. This served two purposes. The first being to absorb the darkness in it, which was now growing out of control. And the second was to force her out of her Magi form. She fainted from the shock. So she didn't see what came next.

Claws. Claws of moving darkness pierced through the fingers of Sozo. They couldn't hear the claws. They were too shocked to realize what they were. Interference. Virus. Glitch. Noise. As Charlotte came back for another chance at Mami, Sozo grabber her by the mouth. Noise was launched into her mouth, stretching her out. With the strength of a thousand rhinos, Sozo ripped the Witch in half.

But the fun was just getting started. Charlotte shed her skin and came back undazed. The first thing the new Charlotte did, was eat her old halves. This made Sozo puke. Trying to retain focus, he then realized that the cake they were standing on was no longer white with frosting. But now it's color was a disgusting green, and a screaming crimson.

BAM! The sound of a blast. The Witch had blown up. It was Homura. Yet another Charlotte appeared to take the place of the old one. This one however, charged straight for Homura. Sozo jumped up on it from behind and slammed it into the ground. He then shredded her to pieces with his claws. Homura took this opportunity to toss more bombs into Charlotte's mouth. She knew a new one was appearing, and coming right toward her. But Sozo wasn't done yet. He stuck his claws in the Witch's head and filled it with the most ear-shattering screech, in thousands of different pitches. That was it. Charlotte exploded and covered everyone. It was over.

Homura picked up the Grief Seed once the Labyrinth had dissipated. In another time-line Sayaka would have told her to return it to Mami. But not now, now Sayaka was trying to keep her alive. Sayaka rushed into the hospital, and Sozo finally fainted.

Next chapter preview. By Homura.

Seems that Mami will no longer be able to fight the Witches. Anyway, in the next chapter I get to take a look in a book Sozo's been keeping. Also Hitomi attempts suicide. And will Sayaka become a Puella Magi in this time-line too?

In the next chapter of The Last Ring

Being Born Into A Rich Family, It Naturally Comes As A Surprise That You Want To Kill Yourself

The time, is mine.