Another timeline gone…

She died. She died… An eight foot long sharp spear pierced her heart, her shield and her Soul Gem. By all accounts, she was supposed to be dead, gone, erased. But here she was, lying on the same spot she found herself once she entered this Barrier. Upon realizing this, she sat up with a jolt, a Beretta falling out of her shield and into her hand, its safety switched off while she swept the area for any Familiars out to kill her. She was on her own, all alone just like last time…

"What in the world..?" she murmured before standing up on her shaking legs.

Death was something she was comfortable staring at five inches away from her face but to actually experience it did things to her mind that she never thought was possible. Cold, unrelenting fear wrapped around her mind and nearly suffocated her, almost convincing her mind that she really was dead.

She was aware that the destruction of one's Soul Gem was a Magical Girl's ultimate death other than the transformation into a Witch. Seeing the event unfold with her own eyes almost made her give up. Her suffering should've ended at that moment but something held her back… Yes, dying there would've meant leaving Madoka to die with her and that was something she did not find acceptable.

But in all seriousness, what just happened? Barriers tended to have different sorts of gimmicks to efficiently kill anyone, human or Magical girl, and consume them. That was what made Witch Barriers so dangerous due to the fact that they were never consistent, never the same, the only thing one learning from them was that they were always going to try and kill you no matter what you did. She had survived, witnessed and experienced different sorts of traps when exploring Barriers in all of the timelines she had come across and it took her a moment to realize that everything that just happened was just an illusion.

Of course Madoka doesn't know that.

With that thought securely placed in her head, she dashed off the same direction she went the last time. If dying back then meant that she would be relocated back to where she had woken up then Madoka should be where she had left her. Of course, that could also mean with her death, their 'deaths', that Madoka would also be sent back to where she started. But why would that be? Witches fed of human beings or turned them into Familiars so why would it go this far or construct a Barrier like this?

Familiars are made once humans have come in contact with a Witch or are absorbed by the Barrier. But how did that process occur again? Kyubey should know but the farther that little bastard mutant cat was away, the better. It would be a waste of ammo to shoot him every time she met him. Nevertheless, the result of dying left her a bit more drained than usual. With a wary look, she checked her Soul gem and was surprised that it had now turned muddy black.

The last time she checked it was an hour ago and it wasn't this dark back then. That meant if she were to die the next time, then she'd sooner turn into a Witch once her Soul Gem reached its limit. But if that were the case, then this Witch would've done the same to other Magical Girls. If other Magical Girls were to turn into a Witch in another Witch's Barrier then that would mean…

"Fusion…" dread washed over her as he continued to run; eventually coming across the same pink door she went through last time, "This is turning into a more complex situation that I thought. Engaging the Witch would be considered low priority for now. Finding Madoka takes priority."

Passing through the door, she finally arrived at where she supposedly died. Technically, she died a few hundred meters from where the door was but this was also the place where she found Madoka beating a Familiar with a brass knuckle out of all things with a few cuts on her face and arms.

She will never get used to the sight of Madoka doing something so… barbaric…

But as she scanned the surrounding area, she found no sign of the pink haired girl anywhere. Just as panic began to make itself know at the very pit of her stomach, she tried to keep a cool head and track her down with her Soul Gem's pulse. The reception would be pretty bad due to the Barrier's interference but it was worth a try. She just hoped that the landscape hasn't shifted just yet, Barriers tend to be the most unpredictable places to be in and if just being inside could do unspeakable horrors to a Magical Girl's mind then what were the chances of it affecting Madoka badly?

Recalling the usually cheery and gentle girl she vowed to protect beat up a Familiar pointed her to the answer. Barrier Effects…

Swallowing down the lump forming in her throat, she kept the gun in her hand at the ready while properly performing trigger discipline to prevent accidental misfires. She pulsed her Gem once more to get reading of Madoka's location and fortunately for her there was a response some ways to her east. The downside of it was the trio of Familiars lurking around, one headed her way with ill intent.

She died once so she wasn't about to make the same mistake again. Aiming high, she strummed her Beretta's trigger and punched four holes into the monster's body before it stopped moving. The resulting gunfire alerted the other two Familiars yet they didn't even have the chance to react before a well-placed rifle round tore through their bodies. Lowering her sniper, she continued her charge towards finding Madoka, not even sparing a glance to the fallen Familiars.

A light tremor passed through the ground and a number of objects appeared as they rose from the multi-colored floor.

The shift was already happening. Pulsing with her Gem once more, she found out that she was getting closer to where Madoka was. A few more Familiars obstructed her path though she made quick work of them by dealing with them with just one bullet. No sense in wasting valuable ammo. She'd hate to spend a school day raiding the military base again.

Kicking off the ground, she landed on top of a particularly large replica of a cellphone. Scanning the ground, there was still no sign of Madoka. However she did find a particularly large group of Familiars lumbering about. Somehow, a shiver ran down her spine and she found herself jumping off the phone with her eyes fixed on the spot she once stood on. She watched as the lead javelin whizzed past above her and hit a stray Familiar down below.

Cursing under her breath, she retrieved a pair of sub-machine guns from her shield and landed into a crouch. She didn't waste any time giving the monster the day to react and proceeded to shred them with a hail of bullets as she walked to the center. They all fell laughing at her as they were riddled with numerous holes and gunshot wounds, not a single one of them even touching her. Another chill sent the hairs at the back of her neck to stand and she dived wildly to the side to dodge a particularly sneak javelin.

She had to two options at the moment. The first was to run and keep searching for Madoka someplace else… Or.

She could investigate the manhole at the center of the clearing she just cleaned up. Either way, it seemed that the Witch was intent on making her play its game. Firing off a few stream of bullets at the sky in spite, she then bolted towards the sewer drain and pried the lid off. Jumping in without hesitation, she plummeted downwards, hopefully to where Madoka was at the moment. But then gravity and physics decided to flip her off and send her back up again.

Hitting the ceiling hard, she let out a pained groan once she had her body pressed against it. But then she realized she wasn't being pushed on the ceiling but was lying on cold hard solid ground. The resulting landing sent her into a daze. Right… A Barrier was an isolated dimension under the absolute control of the Witch. Couldn't forget about that part.

Sighing sharply, she pulsed her Gem one last time and found a firm and concrete trace of Madoka just around her. And then she was suddenly tackled to the ground a blur of pink and yellow.

"You're okay! You're okay! You're okay!" sobbed Madoka, tears in her eyes and a little bit more disheveled than she was earlier. However this time, she bore no wounds or cuts she had accumulated from her scuffle with one Familiar earlier. Though she did look a bit more tired than usual, "I thought I lost you! I really thought I lost you!"

"W-W-Wait! Kaname-san! Please, I need to move—" she protested as she tried to pry off the tearful girl before her. She had to admit, this kind of felt nice but her attention was then caught by the sight of a group of monsters headed their way.

Moving a bit from her, Madoka looked at her in the eye and relayed the current situation, "Being chased. Please help."

"Way ahead of you," she murmured as she activated her Time Stop, the gears of her shield exposing themselves as the blood red orbs on its surface shined an eerie crimson glow, "Grab hold."

Complying, Madoka grasped her hand on the Magical Girl's shoulders just as said girl drew out another sub-machine gun from her shield. The flow of time was once more subjected to the will of a lone Magical Girl, causing the entire world to freeze in place as a metallic color enveloped everything save for herself and the human girl hugging her from behind.

Being a firm believer that conserving ammo was the best course of action at times before fighting anything huge, powerful and over all deadly, she set her weapon to controlled bursts and made sure to actually hit something instead of carelessly spraying bullets everywhere. With the help of her Time Stop keeping her targets stationary, she just had to make sure she applied enough bullets to take each Familiar down. As soon as the bullets left her gun, they froze in mid-air all ahead towards their designated targets.

Once this was done, she lowered her sub-machine gun and patted Madoka's hand on her shoulder, "Let's go. We're getting out of here."

The very least she could do was escape while her Time Stop was still active. It couldn't be more than a few more minutes before her Soul Gem reaches critical but she had enough Grief Seeds for a proper cleansing.

Nodding, Madoka gestured to the opposite path to their right.

This side of the Witch's Barrier was the complete opposite of the side she had woken up to after dying. It was dark, devoid of the bright colors which made up most of the ground. The objects which where bolted on the ground were far more sinister and the colorful baubles were replaced with the sight of the number zero dripping with black ink.

They passed a set of mirrors before stopping to rest once Madoka voiced her exhaustion. Keeping an alert mind, the Magical Girl stood on guard while her companion caught her breath. She was not going to die again, not this time. Sparing a glance at the pink haired girl, she couldn't help but a feel a little bit guilty. She wasn't even a week into this timeline and Madoka was already in danger to this extent.

"I'm sorry," she muttered over the clicking of her shield, "But this is the true heart of the matter you're investigating."

"Really? I thought it was just my bad luck acting up again, hahaha!" Madoka nervously laughed as she held her sides. After a few more moments, she stood up a little straighter while keeping one hand on the Magical Girl's sleeve, "I died too after you did."

Her eyebrow shooting up from that piece of information, the Magical Girl didn't really know how to react to that. Of course, it reminded her of her own stupidity but maybe the thought hadn't even registered in her mind yet in the grand scheme of things.

"How..?" she blurted out while in the middle of her own thoughts.

Madoka shuffled her feet at this and awkwardly replied, "Uh… I got… speared too. Not long after you did. Woke up where I started out from when the entire place suddenly… changed."

"Oh…" of course that was the kind of answer she was going to get. What did she expect?

"I'm going to have nightmares and panic attacks after this, aren't I?" asked the shorter girl with a helpless smile.

She turned to look at the girl she vowed to protect, the same girl whom gave her the drive to become what she was in the first place. She gazed long and hard at those round pink eyes, studying them intently as she gathered her thoughts. Madoka Kaname was someone she respected and cared for even all throughout the timelines she had looped in. Madoka was strong, stronger than she thought she was and very kind. But she was also human…

Humans had the natural instinct to fear, to run, and to hide from the sight of danger in an act to preserve their own life. It was normal for a Middle School girl to be afraid, to cry, and to beg for help when all seemed helpless… Once upon a time, Homura was just like that too. Timid, shy, weak, but she got over that fact once she fought for what could be years. But this Madoka… This Madoka reminded her of herself. Not the girl who was too scared to even hit a Familiar with a golf club… But the girl she had become after suffering so much.

This Madoka knew more than any other Madoka from the previous timelines, making her different, an anomaly… She was strong in a different perspective, therefore giving her and Homura sort of connection. Kindred spirits? She would've chuckled if not for the fact that she was vulnerable to dying once again. She could think about this once she was sure she was going to make it out alive.

Finally, she broke her gaze and took a look to somewhere to her right and replied, "For the first few days, yes. I'm going to assume that being pitted against a large number of armed individuals and coming out with only minor bruises, this would be something you could shrug off. But still, I couldn't help but be curious as to how you ended up the way you are."

"It's a sensitive topic, Homura-chan," Madoka reminded gently.

"Did something bad happen in your life perhaps?" she hazard a guess while looking once more into those pink eyes, "It's only been a few days so I can't tell what you've been through, but I'm currently concerned of your mental state seeing as you've recklessly engaged something that could've killed you awhile back… Barring the fact that you've already died once in this Barrier. Maybe telling me could allow me to gauge your reactions and keep you from doing something that would compromise our current situation. I'm going to protect you seeing that I dragged you into this and I'm going to see it through that you make it out here alive."

Blinking as she was taken aback by this statement, Madoka lowered her gaze to her feet.

Seeing the shorter girl's reaction, she decided not to press further and instead get ready to disengage her shield, however a hand then firmly placed itself on her silver metal disk. Glancing back once more, she found Madoka sighing lightly.

"Nothing bad happened," began the girl, working up the courage as she continued in a rather somber tone, "Nothing bad happened to me and I'm quite sure this is as bad as it could get. I know where you're coming from and I understand what you're thinking, Homura-chan. But don't worry, I'm all right. Maybe I've been watching too much movies that it's been a bad influence."

Raising an eyebrow, she couldn't help but ask even if it was just to sate her curiosity, "Movies?"

"I like kung fu movies," giggled Madoka, her eyes lifting up to look at the metallic heavens while within the Time Stop, "They're entertaining, almost educational for someone like me. Some people would even get surprised when I admit that I like that kind of stuff. I never really get why they think it's weird. I mean, everyone's entitled to do what they want yes? Given that it's within reason."

"From my perspective, I don't believe applying the things you learn in movies into real life is 'within reason'," pointed out the Magical Girl in a deadpan, "but if that's the case…"

"Then you realize that there's nothing particularly wrong with my life, hm?" the pink haired girl swayed where she stood as she continued, "I have a loving mother, a caring father, a brother who'd greet me when I come home and friends who'll look out for me. And yet here I am, flirting with death. I mean, even before coming here, I'm risking my life once a week putting my nose where it shouldn't be. I think that the problem doesn't lie in how my life goes but in who I am. I'm pretty stupid sometimes."

Allowing herself a small smile, she then used the hand holding her gun and ruffled the other girl's head a bit, "That's an understatement and you know. However, I think you're being selfish. You're blessed, Madoka Kaname. Be content with what you have and I doubt you'll get yourself into these kind of situations any further. Don't give up something that few people could only hope to have."

"H-Homura-chan!" protested Madoka under the weight of the gun as well as having her hair messed up, "We're running for our lives here! At least be serious!"

"Irony is the first step to becoming a comedian," muttered the Magical Girl before studying the girl beside her, "Are you okay now?"

"I can run again," confirmed Madoka before having her eyes dart around nervously, "How long can you keep this going?"

"Not for long, let's go," with that they broke into a run once more as the world around them somehow grew smaller and smaller. Even within the Time Stop, the two girls noticed how the landscape warped and twisted, making it seem like they were entering a long dark tunnel. The only sound to be heard was the clacking of their shoes and the whirring of the shield which seemed to be on the verge of coming to a grinding halt. She figured that this wasn't going to do her Soul Gem any good.

Still, one of the perks of moving within frozen time was the lack of hostiles meeting up and forcing her to fight every step of the way.

Just as the path they were traversing was about to get any smaller, they finally broke out into a wide spaced area, another part of the Witch's Barrier. Cursing under her breath, she figured that the Barrier was made up of a number of levels. First being the white world, then the dark world filled with Familiars, and now what seemed to be a thick forest of some sort. Usually, Barriers were created from the last thoughts of Magical Girls as well as memories which impacted their lives greatly.

The keyword to that state meant was 'usually'.

Charred, leafless trees met their eyes as they passed through them in hopes of finding the exit. Finally, her shield gave out as it uttered on final metallic whine before shifting itself shut, the blood red orbs obscured by the metallic plate protecting them. The world reverted back to normal almost instantly with whatever nastiness the Barrier formerly had being active once again.

The surrounding area was then filled with activity, a cold damp breeze drifting in the air and causing the dead branches of the charred trees to creak and squeal. The fallen branches uttered a loud crunching sound every time they stepped into one, causing the both of them flinch at them. She noted Madoka's current state and found out that the pink haired girl was having trouble breathing.

Seeing that wasn't particularly a good sign, she pulsed her Gem to determine a path towards the exit and ending up finding a cobblestoned path.

"Are we finally getting out?" asked Madoka timidly as she peered over the Magical Girl's shoulder.

"I'll go first, keep behind me and stay alert," she ordered the pink haired girl while keeping her pistol at the ready.

The path led on for a few more minutes, allowing the girls to traverse through a different part of the forest with much lesser trees and more green shrubs sprouting from the ground. Though curiously, a few of these shrub bloomed coins instead of flowers, prompting her to snap at Madoka if the pink haired girl so as tried to get near the things.

When inside a Witch's Barrier, it was healthy to think that everything was trying to kill you.

The scent of burnt wood and paper filled her nostrils, she could hear the girl she was protecting behind her gag from the stench. She murmured quietly for the other girl to bear with it and that it would be over soon. She just hoped she was right though.

A few more moments later though, the two of them came across a wide clearing with more oversized items stuck to the ground, similar to the ones that they had found in the white world. Nothing else was of note about the clearing save for the fact that the burnt trees and shrubbery formed a near perfect circle around the clearing.

"Is this it? Is this the exit?" asked the pink haired girl as she walked to the Magical Girl's side.

She frowned as she scanned the area. Judging from the pulse her Gem sent out earlier, they should be at the exit by now, an area within the Barrier where the link between the Real World and the Witch's dimension was the weakest. Once there, she should be able to brute force their way out with her Soul Gem and magic. But if things were to be this way then that could only mean…

"Homura-chan…" whispered Madoka from behind her, "Um, can I say something?"

"At the risk of jinxing us, go on ahead, please," replied Homura as she let out a shaky breath.

"This is the exit, yes?"

"Correct."

"But there's no exit in sight."

"Yes."

"So is this the part where—"

"No, please, don't say it."

"But—"

"Just… Just please let me gather my thoughts, prepare my mind and soul and form plan, an escape… something!" she let out an exasperated breath as she pinched the bridge of her nose. This was not good, this was not good at all. She could already feel it travelling underground… Whatever it was, it was big and deadly. A minor vibration could be felt raveling up her legs from the ground as the surrounding trees began to quake and quiver from where they stood.

The temperature dropped like a stone, above them the odd alien sky began to flicker as the dark baubles from the white world fell and hung from thin threads barely visible to the naked eye… And their size were huge, almost as big as a small house, their front glimmering with a faint ominous glow as a clean set of human looking teeth grinned , their dot like eyes fixed upon the girls at the clearing.

Familiars. Probably used by the Witch to keep track of her victim's movements. Possibly the same way those lead javelins kept hitting their marks.

Raising her pistol, she kept Madoka behind her as she slowly made her way to the center. Something was flickering through the tree lines, phasing in and out existence. It was light, it was huge, it was something she was going to be remembering for the next three days.

"Homura-chan!" at Madoka cry, the Magical Girl tensed and aimed her gun towards the trees, her breathing steadily growing more erratic as she strained her eyes to see up ahead.

"Hide behind the objects!" she snapped at her companion.

"I can fight to! Just let me—"

"This is a Witch, Madoka! A Witch that fused another one, just stay out of this!"

And then the heart of the clearing burst with an explosion of dirt and corruption as the cackling Witch made its presence known. It was shaped similar to a cracked snow globe, the miniature village under the ruined and crumbling glass decaying as black snow stormed its way in all direction. A lone humanoid figure could be seen at the center of the dome, its limbs bearing a melted look as if its body was fusing with the Witch itself, resembled the fragments of a Magical Girl with her face contorted in pain as flowers bloomed from her eye sockets and blue tears cascaded down her eyes.

A haunting laugh filled the clearing, the dark presence which flitted through the trees remaining where it was, watching in deep amusement as the human girl and the Magical Girl found themselves in the face of a fused Witch.

Madoka dived for cover behind an oversized plastic cup to avoid the black snow storm while Homura braved the unrelenting winds with her shield and gun in hand. She felt the wind slap her face, the cold and familiar weight of her weapon in her hands as she aimed through the buffeting snow. She was trembling, she was shaking from her hands to her toes. If she died this time, would she wind up all the way back to the white world?

No, of course not. Not without Witching Out and being absorbed by this Witch. That's what its Barrier is all about. It seemed like this Witch really lived up to the name of its species. Spreading despair, forcing its victim to give up and lie down to die, that's what Witches are after all. It was strong, dangerously so and this was the kind of Witch she loathed facing on her own. Usually, such high level Witches was recommended to be fought by a pair of Magical Girls. If Kyouko Sakura or Mami Tomoe were here, she'd even find it in her heart to accept their aid.

But there wasn't anyone with her but herself and Madoka.

Real sweet, Walpurgisnacht hasn't even arrived and yet…

Gritting her teeth, she pulled the trigger while rushing forward, the gun spitting hot lead until the magazine runs dry before she ducked behind an enormous chair's leg. Judging from how the wind seemed to intensify, she only succeeded in making the Witch angrier. Small arms were out of the question so something with more fire power? She'd really hate using her flamethrower here and she'd have to get close just to give the thing a good shotgun blast to the face and be done with this farce so those options were out of her plate.

Having a sniper propped up in an open battlefield like this with the Witch giving her its full attention was going to be difficult without her Time Stop. She wasn't sure she could manage another one until the corruption in her Soul Gem was cleansed with a Grief Seed.

A scream from her right and she immediately knew Madoka was in trouble. Cursing under her breath, she made a wild dash of her friend, but was swept off her feet by a wild gale. Blown a few meters away from target, her eyes ignored the unholy wailing form of the freak of nature right in front of her and focused her mind and remaining magic to rescue Madoka. She then faltered and performed a front flip just as a lead javelin flew where her torso was a split second ago.

Rolling along the ground, she scrambled to her feet as more javelins fell from the heavens in an attempt kill her yet she managed to make it to cover where she left Madoka. The girl in question was busy kicking away a sneaky inky black tendril of corruption, her right hand donning the brass knuckle she used to beat a Familiar senseless as she tried to punch out the tendril holding her to no avail.

Taking a ballistic knife out of her shield, she twirled it once in her hand so that the blade was facing downwards before she pounced at the tendril and hacked it with her blade. Her body didn't even had the chance to come to a halt when she kicked off the ground and grabbed Madoka by the waist and head back for cover. Unfortunately, a falling javelin managed to get a lucky shot at her and hit the back of her leg, sending her stumbling along with her precious cargo.

Madoka fell into the ground grunting in pain before she found Homura prone behind her.

"Not again, you don't!" she cried before taking Homura's outstretched hand and pulled her to safety. Catching her breath, she then helped the Magical sit up while speaking, "Homura-chan… You can't fight while protecting me and we can't escape without dealing with that… m-monster. You n-need your hands f-f-free…. Is there anything… anything you could do to help me? I can defend myself just fine but can you give me the chance to do just that? Homura-chan!"

She spaced out, her head a swirling mess of disorientation and half-coherent thoughts she, Homura, tried to wake herself up by just following Madoka's voice. Right, she shouldn't be sitting around. She should be shooting things. She was particularly good at shooting things. Even more so than Mami Tomoe.

Turning her gaze towards the human girl and at the fading argument said girl had just laid out for her, she allowed herself a split second decision. Madoka was right, she wouldn't be able to handle two things at once without relying on her Time Stop, otherwise she'd sooner get herself torn apart or Witch Out just from attempting such a feat. But then again, that would leave Madoka vulnerable with nothing but her fists to defend her until Homura took out one Witch or at least defeat the main one keeping the others together.

"I—Ugh!" her leg was still a bleeding mess. She couldn't waste any more time, the Snow globe Witch was getting more agitated by the passing second and its other half was still lurking in the tree line. Letting out a small sigh, she checked her Gem once more. She grimaced, even Madoka was surprised to see the bright purple Gem glow faintly in all the darkness it had accumulated. Shooting Madoka a sharp look, she then said, "Give me your weapons."

Turning her uncertain look into a determined expression, the pink haired girl presented her brass knuckles and had the Magical Girl enchant them with a tiny trickle of her Magic, making them more potent against otherworldly enemies.

She felt sick, so sick that she wanted to throw up right then and there yet she held on. Her wound had healed enough that she could actually stand again and breathe in relief. While the human girl marveled at her now purple glowing metal implements of brutal punching over the mad cackle of the demented Witch, Homura hacked and coughed before pulling out an M16 Carbine fixed with a fresh magazine off a storage house. It was sleek with an easy grip and a comfortable weight. It even looked freshly oiled as the same day she procured it from the nearest military base.

"I'm going," she growled before glancing at Madoka one last time, "Keep safe. Stay here. Don't move a muscle unless you're attacked."

"Come to my house for dinner after this!" yelled the pink haired girl as the Magical Girl burst through her cover and went out loud.

She'd love dinner at the Kaname household.

She just had to make sure her limbs were intact to make the trip.

She had the Witch on her sights and did not hesitate on unloading a three second burst fire while making her way towards the next cover available, preferably a whole lot closer to the Witch. Peeking out of her cover, a huge wardrobe with half of its body digging into the ground, she tried to take out the humanoid part of the Witch in hopes of it being the weakness. But she knew with a Witch of this caliber, such methods wouldn't be of much use.

She had to get close, close enough to lob a grenade or something. Maybe ten grenades. Bombs were always easy to make and acquire so she had no reservation in using all of them on this Witch. Maybe one day she'll nab a Davy Crockett when she had the time.

A burst of black snow was sent her way and judging from the numerous thumps at the back of her cover, she would've be shredded if she was caught in it. Suddenly, her left arm was a whole lot more twitchy than usual.

She has never been shot by shotgun before but she wasn't going to stick around to find out. The Witch slammed another wave of snow into her cover, the wood groaning from the amount of damage it was receiving. Sooner or later it would collapse. She had to move so she did, rushing out of the enormous cabinet's protection and heightening her senses. Allowing a small amount of magic to flow in her legs, arms and eyes, she entered into a brief trance where she aimed her sights at the Witch while her heartbeat pounded in her ear.

And then she fired, a stream of bullets launching themselves and hitting their marks with magnificent accuracy rivaling a skilled marksman.

The snowstorm came to a halt, the black snow falling dead into the ground with a series of thuds. The Witch's cackling only grew louder at this while Homura used this chance to get close, refusing to give the abomination a chance to recover by spraying it with lead.

It screamed in agony as its body was riddle with holes.

She knew it was distracted, now was her chance. Positioning herself ten feet away from the Witch, she took her time to retrieve her flamethrower from her shield, hoping to grill it to death. Yet just as she was about to bring out the full length of her fiery weapon of Witch Extermination, an ethereal black hand slammed itself between her and her intended target. Looking up, she found the second half of the Witch, a twisted black mass of corruption with eyes bawling with red tears while bearing a demented smile on its face.

She didn't have time, she aimed high and lit the Witch up. The grin on its face turned into an angry frown as it received a full face of cleansing fire, enveloping its head and arms in flames.

Low guttural roar escapes its burning lips as blood red ooze dripped from its mouth and into the ground. No, she was not touching those things. She was going to try and distance herself enough to actually torch—

"Homura-chan, watch out!" warned a voice behind her and she only realized that the Snow globe Witch had gathered enough power to bend the black snow under its will once more. The black ice swirled up and formed a miniature tornado before dispersing towards her direction.

Oh so this was what it felt like getting hit by a buckshot.

She managed to raise her shield and protect her Soul Gem from breaking once more but at the cost of being wounded heavily, knocking her into the ground and spraying her blood into the grass. The Witch only cackled once it saw she was down. Cursing her own stupidity, she discarded the flame thrower and reached for her shield once more as it dispenses a Desert Eagle, the hand cannon weighing down in her hand yet she felt at ease knowing she had a trusty weapon in her hand.

Now the problem lied in actually doing something.

The burning behemoth of hate and despair had recovered enough to zero its eyes on her lying on a pool of her own blood on the grass and it wasted no time rushing towards her. It would've succeeded in killing her right then and there had she not sat up and punched five rounds of lead into its eyes and knocking it off course.

It growled before roaring, rearing its head up while rubbing its face with its still flaming arms. This beast she could handle yet what about the—

"HAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Just as the Snow globe Witch was about to summon another deadly storm to finish Homura off, a girl's high pitched war cry pierced through the clearing. Madoka had taken the initiative to take the heat off Homura while she was wounded by charging headlong towards another abomination that could easily kill her with a thought. The flaming giant of twisted corruption was beginning to recover and raised its fist to crush Homura while the Snow globe Witch had the intention of diverting its snow storm towards the human girl. At this rate, they'll both die, again, and she'll Witch Out while Madoka dies a horrible death.

No, she was not going to let that happen. Seriously, the things she does for love.

Firing blindly at the Snow globe Witch, Homura kept a wary gaze at the rising fist just as it fell down with the speed of a truck. Lucky for her, she managed to roll out of her way and raise her Desert Eagle to shoot its eyes out once more. However this time her luck deservingly ran out once she realized the magazine was empty.

The snow storm never came so did she perhaps manage to land a lucky shot?

The giant was about to crush her with another first. She wasn't so sure that she could roll out of the way of this one. But will everything really end here? Her Soul Gem, she could feel it darkening, slowly… Numb… She felt numb… In her dimming vision she tried to catch a glimpse of the Snow globe Witch.

But instead she found Madoka, clearing the last few feet between her and the Witch just as the abomination was summoning another deadly storm.

It was here Homura watched as Madoka raised a glowing purple fist imbued with the time-traveler's magic and drew it back, her eyes emotionless and filled with only bloodlust as she gritted her teeth.

"MADO=/=PUNCH!"

….

…

…What?

The Witch then receives a fistful of magically enhanced brass knuckle, distorting its face and shearing off its lower jaw of its humanoid body part. Madoka only paused for a moment to see what she had just done before charging in once more and punching out the rest of the Witch's humanoid head.

"Homura-chan, now's your chance!" yelled Madoka as she glanced at the fallen Magical Girl and at the giant Witch of black ooze and hate above her. Homura turned her gaze at the Witch that was about to kill her and found that it was flickering. She was still reeling from what just happened but this could be the golden opportunity she had been waiting for.

With great difficulty, she focused her mind and tried to retrieve a weapon that had enough firepower and could clear the distance between her and the Witch enough to deliver a fatal blow. That was when she held the stock of an Anti-Material Sniper Rifle and pulling it out gently from its storage. She checked it as she propped it up before her. She couldn't really stand due to her injured legs and she couldn't spare the time to heal with the corruption eating away at her Soul Gem.

With a steady breath, she ignored the peculiar sight of Madoka pummeling the Witch with her fists, completely unaware that if she let the Witch even recover by a split second and she was dead. Homura trusted Madoka, Homura had faith in her, Homura wouldn't be giving her everything if she didn't even follow Madoka's intentions. The lumbering mass of twisted emotions above her continued to flail as its connection with the other Witch began to wane, robbing it of its power from the earlier battle.

And then she finally leaned her cheek against the cold hard surface of her gun and peered through the sights, aiming to get a clear shot so as not to hit Madoka whom was currently busy wrecking the miniature village with her hands. Homura smiled, feeling the magic she had used to enhance those brass knuckles whittle away on her own reserves.

And then she put on a hard look and called out, "Madoka! GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

At this, the pink haired girl didn't even stop to ask but merely jumped right out of the sniper rifle's line of fire. A heartbeat later, Homura's finger hugged the trigger and the thunderous report of the rifle pierced through the clearing like a stone through glass.

The bullet hit and sent an explosive display of Witch flesh and glass into the air, a hell bound shriek escaping the Witch as it thrashed.

It still wasn't down. It just prepared itself to release a whirlwind of—

BANG

A large piece of its back portion burst into a blast of wood and inky black blood. The Witch's attack was canceled yet it only—

BANG

The right part of its humanoid torso was shot off—

BANG

The center portion was pierced—

BANG

BANG

BANG

BANG

Armor piercing rounds were sent flying one after the other, Homura cursing and cursing under her breath as she wished for the damnable thing to just lie on its back and keel over. However with every shot, she only seemed to be making it angry after the first three report so she made sure to empty the entire magazine unto it without a hint of mercy left in her eyes. She wanted it dead.

She wanted it dead so much…

BANG went the last round as the spent casing flew to Homura's right while she watched as it revealed an important looking case at the heart of the Witch's ruined village set. It shined an eerie light of dark blue which enveloped almost the entirety of the clearing. The Witch's laughter had long since ceased and was replaced by its voice screaming non-stop. She couldn't fire anymore, her arm went dead on her and she couldn't lift it up even when she tried. Not without using Magic and she knew doing so would bring her closer to Witching Out.

Her Soul Gem was already close to blackening completely.

"I got this! It's weakness is there, right?!" called Madoka as she rushed in once more, throwing caution into the wind as she came upon the object which seemed to be the Witch's Core keeping it connected with the other Witch. It seemed that Madoka had figured out the connection and didn't waste any time raising a glowing purple fist and crushing it. The clearing then exploded in a brilliant azure glow as the Witch's dying screams faded into nothingness, Madoka falling a feet into the ground but was otherwise unharmed.

Breathing heavily, the pink haired girl turned her gaze at the slow descent of a pointy black sphere which bore the symbol of a dome on its surface.

"Ma…doka!" groaned Homura with the last bit of her strength as she held up her shield arm, it was here the pin haired girl immediately understood her and got into a pitcher's stance.

"GO!" she cried before throwing the newly acquired grief seed through the air and into Homura's open palm.

Right, she had been waiting for this. She had been waiting for this for a long, long time and she was going to enjoy it as much as she could. She was going to kill some Witches, get her Grief Seeds and go home after making sure Madoka was perfectly safe from anymore reality warping abominations from the eight Buddhist hells.

The Seed almost sailed past her palm but stopped in mid-air just a few inches away from the back of her hand where her Soul Gem was placed. She watched as the darkness surrounding her Gem was sucked away as the Seed consumed all of the corruption and leaving a perfectly clean purple Gem which radiated a bright purple light. Homura would've grinned like a madwoman at this point but she was busy tapping her shield for a reload for her Anti Material Sniper Rifle.

"Homura-chan, are you—" the words in Madoka's throat died as she watched the wounds the Magical Girl gather slowly but surely healed. Not all at once but one at a time starting with the most damaging ones to the smallest cut on the raven haired girl's cheek.

"I'm fine. Just going to clean up over here," she breathed out before giving the pink haired girl a small smile and then winking out of existence.

While Madoka was left puzzled, frozen in time from the sudden activation of Time Stop, Homura was already hard at work. With the world coming to a grinding halt, she quickly raised her sniper rifle and walked towards the fallen Witch of corruption's head and released five armor piercing rounds. Having done that, she fished out the ten grenades she had promised using earlier, yanking off their pins at the same time and placing them at a strategic location somewhere on the Witch's body.

Moving away, she then grabbed Madoka's hand and allowed her to move within the Time Stop once their hands connected. Albeit perplexed by the sudden dive within a world where time refused to flow, Madoka knew better than to do anything out of line, especially while in the Time Stop. She was led away by Homura to a safe distance before the time traveler's whirring shield fell into silence.

The world regained its color and just as the remaining Witch was about to get up—

BOOM

It exploded.

Madoka shielded her face from the resulting ring of force spread outwards as well as to keep herself from being blinded by the white hot light. The Witch uttered one final shriek before dissipating into nothingness after relinquishing its Grief Seed. The Seed descended into the ground as the Barrier dissolved around the two girls. The forest broke apart and the grass clearing melted, giving way to cold hard tiles and the humid interior of a rest room.

They were back.

She let go of Madoka's hand and walked towards where the second Grief Seed had fallen. The symbol it had on its sphere was the smiling visage of the monster it once was. It should be good for three cleanses with the Snow globe Witch having three too with one cleanse spent.

Two Seeds with six charges all in all, and that's when she was barely breathing and bleeding on the ground. At the back of her mind, this called for some celebration, however, she turned to look at the pink haired girl behind her and sighed heavily. This was going to be a long Timeline, wasn't it?

But seeing that innocent smile on the girl she vowed to save was enough. Otherwise, she'll really snap and lose it.

"This is what it means to be a Magical Girl," she spoke, her voice grave as she tossed the Grief Seed up and down her palm, "Do you understand now? The nature of what you're trying to get yourself into? You saw how we died back there. At best that's the only thing that you would experience, death."

Madoka stepped back, the soft look on her face never wavering before she finally hit her back against a locked stall door and slid downwards. She seemed exhausted, Homura couldn't blame her. It would take a few hours for the Barrier Sickness to subside at best. If not, then this was going to be a troublesome night for the pink haired girl. Homura couldn't do anything to comfort her, to help her and it was painful that the fact that she could do nothing for Madoka whenever the girl was like this.

She could only watch and give her warnings. Those were things she could do.

"Death… Was it?" murmured Madoka as she stared at the ceiling, the surreal feeling of having died once in that Barrier and having to fight through it just to survive still lingering within her mind, "Then then what are you fighting for, Homura-chan? Those horrifying things, I doubt that this is the first time you've fought those monsters but you need to have some sort of reason, yes? Otherwise you would've run away like any normal person would have."

She narrowed her gaze before avoiding Madoka's eyes, "I'm not normal. I could never be normal. What am I fighting for? Well that's a secret. Maybe I just don't want others to suffer the same fate as I did. Not you, not your friends, not any other girl in this city."

"Right, because no one deserves such a fate. But is it all right? To handle all that burden by yourself?" Madoka sighed lightly before giggling, "That's no good at all, Homura-chan!"

Blinking in surprise, Homura looked at the girl before her and at the Grief Seed in her hand. Clenching her fist, she stored the Seed in her shield before walking to where Madoka was and sitting by her side. They must've been quite the sight. Two disheveled girls with the one in the costume covered in bloodstains. She was feeling miserable, hungry, cold, and tired but being by Madoka's side made all those bearable for at least for that moment.

Maybe she was right. It's not good at all dealing with this on her own. It's possible that complications would arise by involving Madoka this early and yet…

"Yeah, no good at all," she murmured to herself while the girl by her side smiled at her.

Homura Akemi was a Magical Girl and she had just survived the day by the skin of her teeth.

WITCH CARDS:

AGNES

The Witch of Repetition, her nature is Endless Recurrence. Content on reliving her everyday life on her own pace, this Witch forever experiences the fragments of her past life alongside with her Familiars. Snow symbolizes her transition from her youth to adulthood. Aptly named as the Snow Globe Witch due to its appearance.

FAMILIAR

ERNEST

The Repetition Witch's minions. Their role is to be creative. Intelligent creatures with grinning teeth upon their bodies, these Familiars fill in the role of reminding the Witch of her creations, logs, records as well as achievements. They are the Witch's Best Friends.

JOHN DOE

The Repetition's Witch's eyes. Their role is to scrutinize. As the Witch is busy overseeing its miniature village, these Familiars serve as her sentinels, returning to the Witch's side to report their findings. Though they may seem harmless, these minions are capable of raining lead javelins from the heavens, tools of the Witch to create Ernests. These beasts are turncoats and would rather Watch the Witch suffer than aid it in battle.

WITCH CARDS:

LYNETTE

The Witch of Smog, her nature is to Corrupt. Having been absorbed by the Witch of Repetition, this Witch lurks within the first Witch's home, leaving behind the dark, twisting world for the Agnes' home. It hides within the trees, taking nutrients from the unwary souls that have been given up hope and succumbed to despair. It is a subject to the Witch of Repetition's will, cut the line and kill it.

FAMILIAR

N/A

Nicolas Notes: So the full name of Madoka's punch is 'Mado Unequal Punch'. I have no idea where that came from. Don't ask. Heh, I based the Witches on people I know in real life. This is fun.

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