Another Timeline gone…

She walked with her head low as she went on her way back home. She was worried… Worried not only about what was happening to the city but for Homura as well. Obviously something was up and she disliked it that she was being shut out. She wanted to help yet Homura told her not to get involved. Magical Girl business… She wondered if she too was a Magical Girl, then maybe… No. Homura wouldn't want that. She knew first-hand what it was like to be a Magical Girl…

She was afraid. She didn't know what it would be like to be constantly fighting monsters. Coming to a halt, she glanced at the front of a television store and watched the news. Nothing important but the latest weather forecast. Odd, it was as if the world was ignoring the problems it had and simply lived on. Few people, good people, struggled to correct the wrong… And these people lost hope due to being overwhelmed. Looking at her own hands, did she consider herself one of these good people?

With what she was doing, was she actually doing good by digging deeper into this Magical Girl business? She wanted to understand what Homura thought but she could never get the raven haired girl to open up to her. Of course it would be that way, they haven't even known each other for a few days… And yet…

"Why does it feel we've met somewhere before," she murmured softly.

She couldn't leave Homura alone. She could never allow Homura to fight alone. But she could also never be a Magical Girl. By becoming one, she would be trampling all over what Homura fought for. Still, she couldn't just watch in the sidelines. Now that she knew about the existence of Witches, then there's no way she could stay put when people are in danger. If only she could help somehow…

Someone passed her just then at the edge of her vision, walking right in front of her in a strange, slow gait. She immediately recognized the mane of green hair and yellow school uniform.

"Hi…Hitomi-chan?" confused, she walked towards her friend and grabbed her by the arm, "Hitomi-chan, I thought you had your lesson today—"

That's odd, Hitomi's hand was cold… Almost freezing and there was a blank look in her eyes. She let go of Hitomi's hand and stepped back, her eyes quickly focusing on the odd mark on Hitomi's neck. It was a Witch's kiss and the mere sight of it made her recoil.

It seemed only then did Hitomi notice her, a strange smile on her face as she greeted Madoka, "Hello Kaname-san. A wonderful evening to you."

"No, this isn't right… Where are you going, Hitomi?" with her eyes hardening, Madoka lowered her voice and put a tiny trickle of warning in her tone as she kept a firm grip on her friend's uniform.

"Where? Anywhere better than here," hummed Hitomi with the same airy smile, "You should join us, the more the merrier as I always say."

This was bad. If nothing was done then this could only end in tragedy. She couldn't take her eyes of Hitomi now but she knew she had to contact Homura somehow. She cursed herself for not asking the Magical Girl's number. She watched as Hitomi and a few people she presumed to be infected by the Mark too walk into the distance.

Maybe… Maybe she could save them. All by herself. Homura could be contacted later. For now, she had to save Hitomi.

Madoka ran after her friend, not knowing the battle which awaited her.

Sayaka Miki groaned in pain. Just how long was she out? Possibly a few minutes. She hazarded a few hours. God help her if she slept in again but the thing she was lying on seemed too hard and too cold to be her bed. Opening her eyes, she sat up with a jolt, looking around in surprise as she found herself inside the same park. Just… what happened? Last thing she remembered was walking down her before…

Girl. Cat. Gunshot. Pain. Blood. Dying. Fear. Wish. Death.

She fought off the urge to be sick and shut her eyes tight. Just… Was that even real? She checked her back and found that it was whole, no signs of damage and… What the hell was she wearing!?

"U-U-Um… Are you okay? A-Are you unhurt?" came a shaky voice from somewhere beside her. Sayaka rubbed her head and looked up with one eye, only to find a little girl in an orange coat and brown poofy shorts. Her long white hair cascaded on her front as she leaned forward to examine Sayaka with her orange eyes.

It was the injured girl earlier. With a breath of relief, Sayaka smiled and said, "Glad you're okay, kid. But… What exactly… happened? What the heck is this outfit?!"

"You've become a Magical Girl!" piped up a high pitched voice to her right. Sayaka's eyes went wide as she found the white animal from earlier grooming itself before turning its crimson gaze towards her, "Can't you remember? You made a wish! A wish to save Nagisa's life. The both of you were dying but instead of expiring from acquiring such a fatal wound you made a wish to save Nagisa here, ultimately turning yourself into a Magical Girl as well as saving another's life!"

What…?

Sayaka's jaw hung loose as she stared at the talking… rabbit… thing and merely forced out a squawk, "What?"

"You're a Magical Girl!" repeated the bunny cat animal with a tilt of its head.

"I get that part but seriously, what?" Sayaka had a hard time wrapping her mind around this as she placed a hand on her forehead, "But magical girls only exist on TV! Don' tell that I'm… Oh god… Damn…"

A rustling of clothes at her side and she turned her gaze at the tearful Magical Girl whom began to sob with trembling shoulders, "I-I-I'm sorry! Nagisa didn't mean to..! You weren't supposed to get involved! S-Sorry, big sister! You w-weren't supposed to be here! It's all my fault! My fault! You didn't have to be a Magical Girl! I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry—"

"Oh dear, it seems that her Gem has begun darkening once more…" observed the white animal as it stared at the candy shaped Gem on the little girl's person.

"H-Hey! What happens if her Gem darkens!" cried Sayaka as she stood up to hold the little girl into an embrace. She patted the girl's back as she looked at the white animal for answers, "Tell me!"

"She will lose her Magic. If nothing is done then I'm afraid she can't be a Magical Girl anymore," explained the animal as it stared at Nagisa.

Her grip tightening around the blue Magical Girl's costume, Nagisa's orange eyes turned into dangerous slits as she snarled, "Shut up, Kyubey! Go away!"

"Dear me, I was merely providing useful information," countered Kyubey as it scratched its face with its front paw.

"Go away! Just… Just don't talk anymore!" ordered Nagisa as she tried to control her breathing.

"Hey kid, you need to calm down!" reminded Sayaka. She really didn't know what to do in this situation… But she had a bad feeling. And her bad feelings always turned out to be right. She can't let this kid's Gem darken otherwise something bad will happen. Dread settled upon her shoulders as she tried to ignore what implications that meant. So she mustered her courage and tried to do what she could in this situation, "L-Look. I'll help you out! Just tell me what to do to stop your gem from getting dark. You don't want to lose your magic, right? Come on, kid, help out here!"

Nagisa's eyes had lost the venomous gaze they held when they were trained upon the white animal and were now dead and empty as she stared at her own hands. She was scared, she was scared and she didn't know what to do. Sayaka felt the same way but she needed answers so that she could help out. She wasn't about to bail when there's a kid in trouble right in front of her.

"A Witch… You need to kill a Witch… Witches drop Grief Seeds. Grief Seeds… They cleanse Gems," the little girl seemed to be going through physical pain as she spoke of this… Sayaka decided not to press the issue and ask something else.

"Where do I find this Witch?" she asked and the girl merely shut her eyes and shook her head.

Sayaka tried to think out of the box. If she was a magical girl now then Witches were supposed to be these monsters of the Week kind of thing, right? Things the Magical Girls fought with sunshine and rainbows and all that shit. Still, this could mean that she would have to fight too… But did she have a weapon in the first place? No, she had to find that Witch first. But how?

She glanced up ahead and found that the white animal still hadn't heeded the little girl's words earlier and was observing the situation with what Sayaka could only identify as a curious gaze. She decided to press her luck and ask ,"Hey ferret thing, how do I find Witches? Do you know where one is right now?"

"But of course," it replied before turning its direction southward, "There's a relatively weak Witch located southbound of this area. You should be able to defeat it and acquire a Grief Seed for Nagisa Momoe."

Nodding, Sayaka then stood up before scooping the little girl into her arms. Nagisa let out a yelp and struggled for a bit yet Sayaka didn't let her go, "I'm going to help you and you're coming with me. Tell me where to go."

The little girl stared at her as if she had gone insane before averting her gaze and murmuring out a reply, "I don't want to die…"

"Good enough for me," Sayaka smiled at this and ran, her instincts taking over as she stomped one foot on the ground and launched herself into the air. Huh… Maybe this Magical Girl thing wouldn't be so bad after all. She still felt like she was in some really odd dream but who cares? She had a girl to save.

She reached out to her green haired friend's shoulder and tightened her grip. Hitomi Shizuki came to an abrupt halt as she was held back by the pink haired girl's iron clamp grip. Bearing a confused expression on her otherwise blank face, she turned to her shorter friend and asked in a pleasant tone, "Is something the matter, Kaname-san?"

She was breathing hard from all the running. While she was confident in her skill to move quickly in a short amount of time, she was never cut out for running for long periods of time. Nevertheless she was glad she caught up to Hitomi before the green haired girl managed to go… wherever she wanted to go. Madoka could still see that the Witch mark was active on Hitomi's neck…

"We're leaving," murmured Madoka before realizing what she had just said. Then… If she left then would that mean that she was also leaving all of those other victims to die? No… She had to bring Hitomi to safety first and then… And then what..? She wasn't a Magical Girl… What can she do? The heavy weight in her pocket clinked together as she was deep in thought. Right… Maybe there were some thing she could do by herself.

"Sorry Kaname-san but I'd like to see this for myself," replied Hitomi before she followed the other Witch marked victims into a warehouse. Her words weren't enough and her hesitation only led to time being wasted. She clicked her tongue and entered the warehouse where the people gathered. The shutters suddenly closed as soon as she was in and her attention was turned towards the group circling around a man with an odd bucket sitting right in front of him as he sobbed.

"I'm so useless," he cried into his hands, "I can't even manage this small factory properly…"

She watched in morbid curiosity as a woman stepped forward with a bottle in her hands as the man continued to cry.

"In this day and age," sobbed the man, his shoulder trembling and his face filled with agony, "there's no way there's a place for me anymore…"

Over the man's sobbing, she studied the expressions of the people present. They were smiling and it wasn't the good kind of smile. A smile of mockery and blind bliss, as if they were asking for this to happen while relishing in the man's pain. She watched in shock to find the same expression upon Hitomi's face. Her eyes then settled upon the bottle the woman had in her hands.

Is that… Detergent!? She thought as her eyes widened, The gases will kill everyone here! This is a group suicide!

She had to move, otherwise everyone here will die! Just as she was about to step forward, Hitomi's arm shot out of nowhere and obstructed her path.

"Get out of my way! Don't you know what you're doing?!" she cried. She didn't want to hurt Hitomi. If she became violent, then who knows how much she would hurt Hitomi by the end of this.

The green haired girl's expressionless face contorted into a snarl as she barked back, "You can't interrupt them! This is a holy ceremony… We'll be travelling to another world. A better world than this one! Don't you get… How amazing that is?"

And then the people laughed. A haunted mirthless laughter which echoed all around the warehouse as the sound bounced off the walls. Even the man who was sobbing earlier was laughing, laughing at her confusion, her puzzlement and at her ignorance. It was like they knew something she didn't… They clapped their hands and whooped as the woman with the bottle came close to the bucket.

Madoka had enough of this farce and shoved Hitomi aside, dashing towards the bucket and tossing it out of the window.

There was a crash and splash outside and Madoka breathed in relief. At least now, no one would have to die… She was about to turn around when her instincts screamed at her to lean backwards. And so she did and she narrowly avoided being caught by Hitomi's clumsy swing. Madoka unconsciously jabbed her friend in the ribs twice before knocking her out with a well placed kick to the traumatized area. Coming to a halt from her spin, she gave the rising Hitomi an apologetic look before she faced the now hostile Witch marked victims.

They didn't seem to take it well for her interfering with their journey to the afterlife.

Still, Madoka didn't care. At the very least, punching some sense into them was preferable to dying by gas poisoning. The crowd muttered darkly as they converged, their eyes filled with hostility and killing intent which the pink haired girl found suffocating.

And then the first few people charged at her.

There was a storage room behind her so she could easily escape if she wanted however there was no telling when the Witch will arrive. If she could help it, she'd rather knock these people out before they willingly walked into a barrier.

She sidestepped a salary man's punch and grabbed his outstretched arm and kicked his knee, shattering it and forcing him to kneel. She then used him as a platform to launch herself upwards and kicking a woman square in the face with her foot before ducking low to avoid a punch and sending out her own into said woman's face.

She ducked low once more, rising up and sending two quick jabs to Witch marked victim's chest before grabbing his shirt and tossing him into two rushing people. She dived to the side and took out her brass knuckles, swinging upwards to meet with a pipe descending her way. Her entire arm rattled from meeting the pipe head on yet she grabbed the pipe in that split second and stole it, swinging it hard and cracking her enemy's head with it.

She jabbed the pipe behind her and caused a woman to double over before swinging across her face. Not content, she sent a foot unto the woman's gut before knocking her down with the metal pipe. She then held the pipe with both hands and forced its mid-section into a man's gut as he was about to bear upon her. He let out a strangled squawk as his eyes went wide before Madoka forced the pipe upwards. Spit and blood mixed in the air before the girl slammed the pipe into his face.

Breathing hard, she tried to regain her breath before dropping the pipe with a clatter. A pair of strong arms then took hold of her from behind while a woman had another pipe and was about to cave her face in. Madoka felt her blood run cold as her world seemed to slow down. She couldn't afford to be merciful…

After all, it's just self-defense, right? She thought as she watched the pipe descend, I was just trying to save them and then they attacked me. Now I'm just defending myself. It couldn't be helped, right? Right, so it's okay… It's okay because it's just self defense! Defend, defend, defend, defend, defend, defend, defend, defend, defend, defend, defend, defend, defend, defend, defend, defend, defend ,defend, defend—MOVE, KANAME MADOKA!

She could've sworn she curled her lips into a small smile at that moment.

She wasn't going to die… Not here, not now… So she used her weight to hold on the arms grabbing her and raised her foot. She kicked aside the pipe the woman was holding before using the momentum gained from her brief rise to smash the foot of the man holding her. Even when cursed with the Witch mark, the man could still feel pain so he let her go easily. Madoka moved like a demon as she turned around with her fist shut.

CRACK

A satisfying crack resounded as her brass knuckle caved in the man's face while her own expression was blank though filled with bloodlust. The man fell from her punch and she felt movement behind her just as he was about to rest. She recalled the woman with the pipe and figured that this person was her, so Madoka ducked low and sent an elbow to the woman's gut, smashing in her shoulder with a solid right hook and then kicking her aside.

She panted and wheezed yet she was otherwise alive. Everyone else too was alive though a bit more roughed up thanks to her ministrations. Her fists were bloody and so were a few people's faces but at least they were alive. Not exactly a job well done but it was a start.

She looked around at the bloodied appearances of what once were normal, everyday living Japanese citizens and nervously chuckled. Um… Oops?

She then turned her attention to the figure of Hitomi with a Witch mark still present on her neck. The green haired girl took one look at the scene and ran. Madoka's eyes widened and called out, "Hitomi!"

There wasn't any time to waste. These people would be okay since the Witch marks have disappeared from their bodies but Hitomi was a whole other story. She broke into a run to pursue her friend and ran out of the warehouse. To her right she found Hitomi sprinting fast and ascending a steel staircase. She followed suit and climbed up the same stairs as Hitomi ran through a set of doors.

"Wait! Hitomi, stop!" she had to save her. She had to save Hitomi…

Because that's what Magical Girls are supposed to do, right?

You're wrong…

To be Defenders of Justice, to right what was wrong, to save those who are in need.

"You're wrong!"

Madoka was then greeted by a strong gust of wind as she exited the door and found herself on top of a roof. The moon shined its silver glow above, watching over the city of Mitakihara as it went about its busy nightlife. Even then, it watched as the pink haired girl stood in shock as her green haired friend stood at the edge of the building's rooftop.

"Just where do you think do you find me wrong, Kaname-san?" questioned Hitomi with the same blank smile on her face, "I simply wish to walk over the other side where everything will be better. Where I don't have to be hurt… It's sad, you know, Kaname-san? In this world, people are always hurt yet they pretend that they're okay. I envy those people… I envy you for being so strong… Even when you bleed, get bruised, or get cut you do not cry. Just why..? Why can't I be like you? Why can't I be strong?"

"Hitomi… please… don't do this," murmured Madoka as she reached out with her right hand, "Please come back. Don't listen to the Witch!"

"Ah… The night's so beautiful… I wonder if you could still fight, Kaname-san… You'll join me soon enough…" Hitomi had a peaceful smile on her face as she leaned backwards.

She was going to die… Hitomi was going to die and there was nothing she could do about it. She cried out, begged and ran, hoping that she'll make it as her friend fell back first. She had to go faster, she had to be faster otherwise she'll never… save…

If only she was a Magical Girl… If she was a Magical Girl then could this be avoided? Is this… Her punishment? For being so foolish, for being so weak..? This is definitely…

And then she watched as the world around her gradually changed. The landscape morphed and the sky was shut out by a metallic ceiling with a series of tubes sticking out and connecting to one another. There were television boxes hanging around and showed nothing but a white screen. The building she was on shimmered and disappeared and she watched as Hitomi's body hit a television box held by two angelic looking creatures with a blank smile on their faces.

Familiars.

They had Hitomi…

Anger flushed through Madoka's veins as she clenched her fists. Those monsters had her friend…

She equipped both of her brass knuckles as they emitted a faint purple glow courtesy of Homura's magic. She may not be a magical girl yet she can fight. She wasn't someone who was going to run and cry and let people fight for her. She was… Madoka Kaname… She was going to save her friend. And anyone who dared cross her path will be punished… If they dared attack her, then she'll simply respond in kind.

After all, there was nothing wrong with defending herself, right?

Madoka Kaname was a middle school girl and she was going to face a Witch to save her friend.

Nicolas Notes: Madoka... Stop. What the hell. Homu's not around! You're gonna get yourself killed! Madoka!

Short chapter but eh. rate, review and share your thoughts. They're very much appreciated. Thanks for reading!