Author Notes:
Time to strike off the useless stuff. Not the Plot though. :P (It will change without much notice) I think I made myself clear already by doing that much redundancy in 10 chapters :D
And wow, I really put an effort to Hikari's backstory. XD
Speaking of other stuff… I seriously need to get OpenOffice or LibreOffice. Sometimes, Microsoft Office 2010 just sucks… -_-
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Plot:
Homura Akemi, the time traveler, has left a world line in which Madoka becomes Kriemhild Gretchen, the greatest witch of all time, and Kyubey leaves Earth. With the help of nearly 1000 mahou shoujos, including Kyouko, Sayaka, Mami, Kazumi, and a different and more powerful Homura, can they defeat this witch and bring about hope again from an impending apocalypse?
Computer Edit: 01/15/12
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"Tsk."
Homura opened the door ahead of her, as she ran and ran, trying to pursue the shadow she was trying to follow. However…
"A wide field of skyscrapers…" Homura muttered. "What a pathetic way to escape."
She looked at the scene in front of her. She knew there was no time. She knew it was just a matter of time before Gretchen's barrier could reach this town, and she could only bet her chance on that single girl.
Kazumi.
The only girl to be a spare to have her own sentience. No, Homura couldn't call her a spare. She wasn't. She was special. She was a magical girl born of sacrilege, a magical girl born out of nothing but a wish: a magical girl whose mere existence already exceeded the limits of mahou shoujo. Homura would wish she could tell all of this to the others, but no. It isn't the time yet.
Almost suddenly, a girl appeared right in front of her. It was Mai.
"I know…" Homura muttered. "We need to go."
Homura held Mai's hand, disappearing out of thin air.
Sayonara, Takanashi City.
(Play Connect ~TV Size~)
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Episode 9
"You'll never understand,"
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"It won't be long before this plan is over." The mysterious girl kept a straight face.
"Yes," Sayaka sighed. "Why does it have to come to this?"
Far in the Asunaro City Stadium, in the farthest part of the audience seating near the roof of the stadium, are Sayaka and the mysterious girl. Unlike before though, they were sipping tea, using teapots whose designs are quite unusual, being it had several Western-looking designs of dragons on it.
"Remember your 3 days ago?" the girl said as she sipped tea. "Just do it like that, ok?"
"Yeah," Sayaka nodded in agreement. "But, how do you know how things will turn out like this so much?"
The girl smiled for a bit, but suddenly changed expression to that of a bitter frown.
"This is what Homura-chan told me to do…" the girl's voice died out. "Anyway, come. Let's repeat that stupid incident, shall we?"
"You say stupid when-" Just before Sayaka continued, the girl's hand covered Sayaka's mouth.
"Shush, the target's here." The girl whispered.
A girl came through the stadium, looking around to see if anyone has come. With a twitch of a finger, several girls came by to her, this time with S marks on their faces. She could have nearly recognized the girls, if not for the cloaks. She, however, clearly remembered the target that mysterious girl was talking about. Yes… the one who was supposedly the kidnapper of it all…
"Yes, I remember her…" Sayaka couldn't forget that face. "The Original Creator."
"Yes, that girl whose real name is Kazumi…" The girl's face turned serious. "Yes, Kazumi Sakura, the long lost sister of Kyouko Sakura, the real girl who faked her own death and changed her entire personality, and the real creator of the Evil Nuts."
Sayaka couldn't believe her eyes. Seriously? Why does she have the same name as that girl? She remembered that girl whom Mami found. Were they the same? But how could it be? She stared back at Kazumi. Yes, as she knew, she had a mix of pink and black hair, unlike the girl Mami called Kazumi. But she did notice her magical costume though… it was essentially the same!
"W-what you do mean… she's Kyouko's little sister?" Sayaka responded. "And who is the Kazumi Mami found on San Francisco then?"
"Hmph," the girl's expression was as pale as ever. "Homura couldn't tell it to everyone, but she knows every little detail..."
"Once upon a time…" she started narrating, taking the last sip of her teacup. "There was a girl who wished for everyone to listen to her father. Without a doubt, it did work, only she couldn't anticipate what would have happened if her father found out. When he did, he didn't just felt disgusted at her daughter, he was disgusted how she had supported her family on a lie. He couldn't handle it. Her sister couldn't handle the situation they were in. So this little sister wished with Kyubey for one thing: to fake her death."
"It wasn't really what she REALLY wished for, isn't it?" Sayaka doubted the girl's narration.
"No, it was right." The girl assured. "Only, that wish had one implication. She could break any rule… including breaking the rules of Incubators. She faked her death, faked her identity, and even faked her appearance altogether, but the very minute she found out about the fate of mahou shoujos, she felt disgusted at Kyubey. She couldn't take it in that all mahou shoujos would eventually turn into witches… so she broke Kyubey. Or at least, a copy of it. She made a special Incubator that could lie, could absorb grief, could take a side, and could actually have emotions, and used it to literally spy on the Incubators. She caught every Grief Seed she could find, and turned it into Evil Nuts, which, rather than take on a form, take on a human or mahou shoujo, and rather than absorb grief, feed on grief (meaning mahou shoujos who consumed them never accumulate grief), to which she thought was the only way to cheat the Puella Magi System. Then, she made copies of herself. Lots and lots of them, even to the point of giving them fake memories to hide her existence, using Evil Nuts to test their potentiality to become what she vision was the perfect mahou shoujo. That is the real Kazumi. The Kazumi you and Mami found… it was her perfect copy: Asunaro City's Kazumi."
"So she really is evil, isn't she?"
"I wouldn't say it like that. It's like saying that Oriko's evil. She too is looking for a way to cheat the system, just like Homura. You can say that her greatest work is Asunaro's Kazumi. Unlike many others, she developed sentience, and she couldn't just detect Evil Nuts, she could absorb them… without fully turning into a witch herself."
"You mean…"
"Yes, most of the mahou shoujos she tested turned into 'pseudo-witches' "
"That's…terrible." Sayaka couldn't say anything, however, to contradict her point. She was right. Kazumi wasn't really all that evil. But…
"You'll never understand." the girl muttered. "We're all desperate to change our destiny...aren't we?"
"If Asunaro's Kazumi could absorb grief… then why did she-?" Sayaka tried asking, only to be interruped instead by a chant coming out of the girl's mouth.
"Sigh," for some reason, Sayaka already gave up trying to ask about that girl Homura found...
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"We have a situation," Homura declared. Here in the unusually deserted Asunaro City Amusement Center, there was the somewhat eccentric Mai, Mami, Sayaka, Kyouko, Yuma, Hikari, and her companion, all gathered with one purpose in mind, to escape Japan to the rendezvous at San Francisco, and to get a special girl – Homura's so-called trump card...
"So, we have around 5 minutes to get the help of the Pleiades Saints and retrieve Sayaka?" Mami reviewed the situation with everyone. "Seems a bit impossible to me."
"No," Homura said. "We have around 6 -10, actually. It seems as though the the witch's spread has decreased exponentially, although I presume it won't last that long."
"Anddd…" Hikari interrupted. "You know this because…?"
"I planted miniature bombs in areas as I go, which was designed to create a miniature explosion and send a signal when it moves." Homura added, showing a pin-sized signal. "I used it to detect whenever the dimension warps and matter moves by itself. The CIA has some sneaky bombs these days, you know."
"Thinking ahead, huh?" Kyouko took a Pocky from her mouth. "And this trump card you're tellin' me?"
"We would lose all hope if we don't have enough firepower on our hands…" Homura admitted. "Even I don't have the power to approach Gretchen as we speak. I have lots of magic, but unless I can use it as well, it's as useless as it is."
"So, let me guess…" Kyouko continued. "One team is to go for the Pleiades Saints and the other to Sayaka."
"Correct." Homura said. "I'm not that used to working together too well, but it just has to happen. I, Mami, and Mai will go the Pleadies Saints' residences and retrieve them, while all of you go to the designated place at the Asunaro City Stadium. We will be there shortly, as long as Mai's around anyway."
"Haiii, haiii!" Mai yawned. "You know the place? You know we can just do everything in a flash."
"Let's…" Yuma interrupted. "…just go."
As Homura and Mami held on to Mai-chan, their images started wavering until they completely disappeared... so much for the other's expectations.
"Let's just go to that stadium and get on with it." The other said.
"Imma beat the hell out of that girl for even messing with us…" Kyouko's flames of passion seemed to have ignited. "Let's go! Chop! Chop!"
"Flames of passion huh?" Yuma giggled. "She's the awesome Kyouko-sempai for a reason!"
"Oiii! Oii!" Kyouko blushed. "Don't 'ya dare call your sempai like that!"
"Come on now..." Hikari smiled. "Save the smooch for later."
"6 minutes at the least, hehehe…" the girl beside Hikari muttered.
"Hey," Yuma suddenly asked the girl just next to her. "You're Hikari-chan right?"
Hikari, with a bit of a surprised look, responded, "Yes, Yuma-chan…"
"Then," Yuma looked back to her friend. "Your name is…?"
The girl besides Hikari stumbled. It was quite unusual to see, but, to Hikari, she wasn't surprised. Yuma wondered herself, though.
"Don't be that surprised," Hikari stared at the girl beside her. "So yeah, she's called, Minasaki Hir-"
Hikari looked back at Minasaki Hiroshima. She stared at the partially pale face of Minasaki and sighed.
"Errm…just call her Minna-chan…" Hikari said.
"Y-Yeah…" Minna agreed. "Just call me Minna-chan, 'k?"
The five mahou shoujos continued on, finally starting to run as they quickly exit the amusement park, making a run for it to the stadium, which was 3 kilometers from there.
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"It's almost time." The mysterious girl beside Sayaka jumped from the passenger's area to the stadium, almost teleporting to the backstage balcony. "I'll prepare the stadium. It's time I get this show going."
"Show?"
"I told you, right?" the girl smiled. "That we're going to repeat that event? Everything should stay as they were in the past, else… "
The girl's voice stayed low.
"Everyone… no… the world would have sacrificed everything in vain… that day."
「The mysterious girl's Soul Gem: Unknown」
"Are we here?" Mami asked.
Homura and Mai nodded.
A mansion befell upon the gang. It was rather large, but otherwise typical of your regular mansion. It had a rather large gate with wide space and a garden in front, although it wasn't as good as Oriko's mansion was which had a rose garden labyrinth and all. It also had several windows evenly spaced in the mansion at the front, around 12 windows, including the ones at the attic. With a click of a finger, the three mahou shoujos quickly encompassed the gate, and made their way to the door.
"We should have knocked instead…" Mami said. "Fine, I'll do it."
Mami knocked on the door.
No response.
"Eh," Mami tried knocking again.
Again no response.
"They're not here," Homura deduced, readying her lightsaber. "Something must have happened…"
Almost instantly, the doors sliced open.
"Let's go," Homura held the two mahou shoujos' hands rather tightly, and activated her shield yet again. With the click of the clock, they quickly scout around the area, looking for the magical girls that were called Pleiades Saints.
"They're obviously not here." Mami concluded, based on the scattered objects around the kitchen, some of the bedrooms, and some of the hallways. "It seems they had a visitor before them."
"Wow," Mai commented. "That visitor sure knows to make a ruckus…"
Homura, however, kept quiet for a while.
"Let's go to the stadium." Homura said. "They're there…"
Homura knew what she was to go up against her the moment she saw those figures. Her… that girl her power mentioned.
"It was the culprit who did it," Homura explained. "It may be possible… that our trump card puella magi already turned into a witch…"
Mami took a step back. The concept of magical girls turning into witches never had occurred to her before. In fact, on the countless months… no maybe 3… or 4 years she had been a magical girl, never had she heard just an heretic statement. But… if it just is the reality of being a magical girl, wouldn't it be better to just die instead? But… but… if they all died… who would save the world from Kriemhild Gretchen? Yes, she may turn into a witch someday… but not today, not until Kriemhild Gretchen goes to the ground for good.
"T-turned into a witch…" Mami twitched. "I still couldn't accept it that much after all…"
"…so then," Mai asked. "What will happen next?"
Homura breathed in.
"If the plan does work," Homura said, breathing out. "She will turn back into a mahou shoujo."
"…Eh?" Mami looked surprised. "Witches can turn to magical girls?"
"…normally they don't," Mai's voice suddenly changed to a serious one. "I, for one, have never seen witches going back to magical girls, of all the 5 years I've been one."
"Yes," Homura nodded. "Unlike any other puella magi, she may be the only girl with the ability of absorbing her own grief into her power. I'm not going to go into details here, but this trump card I'm talking about has a special ability to change reality. In other words… sacrilege… or we should say… destruction."
Homura picked up a bent-looking Grief Seed. Rather than having a shape at the top, it had a crooked end to it. The inside of it too was on a different shape: it looked like a vehicle mashed it up repeatedly, only to be reshaped back to its bent shape.
"This is… an Evil Nut!" Homura looked around. Something was definitely wrong, very wrong. First off, there doesn't seem to be any forced entry. Second, the fact that it was only messy in the living room and kitchen may only mean one thing: Either someone who knew them was the one who attacked them, or there was no such visitor, and that only someone from the Pleiades Saints could have done something like this in such a small area without causing damage to other areas…
"An evil wha…?" Mami spotted another one on the sofa, and tried to reach out to it.
"No," Homura quickly got ahold of the Nu. "These Evil Nuts are dangerous, powerful enough to turn a normal human into a witch… or a magical girl into possession."
"Don't tell me…" Mai stared at the bent grief seed that was called an Evil Nut.
"Yes," Homura said. "Whoever thrashed this place was possessed by this Evil Nut."
Homura turned her back on the scene.
"Mai-chan," Homura ordered, her eyes brightly shining purple. "Let's go to the Stadium and meet the master of it all…"
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"That wasn't that slow was it?"
In a blink of an eye, five people found themselves looking at the center of a large stadium, with a retractable roof to it that revealed the grey, cloudy sky. The seats, unusually empty with no people looking around or people even cleaning the place, would seem to stare around its enticingly bright center, focused by all of the stages' spolights focused around it. In the center of it all, a girl looked out into the open seats with red-purple, sympathetic eyes. She suddenly stood up, however, and looked straight right to them, and as her hair, which was a mix of pink-purple and black color, fluttered, she simply smiled, as if to welcome a guest into her home.
"Ah," the girl said, although with her even with her soft voice, anyone in the stadium could hear her. "Welcome, friends of the girl named Homura… and Kyouko."
As Yuma gazed upon the scenery, she noticed a girl next to her in the girl's round, yet elegant table. It was Sayaka, for some reason unable to escape, in spite of not having any cuffs. She sat very impatiently at the table, for some reason partly bored, yet partly angry at the girl who took her. She also spotted a figure just into her right by one of the backdoors to the stadium, a shadow without a figure projecting it. It… or she was probably the one who set Sayaka, Homura, Mami, and Kyouko up. If they are to recover Sayaka, they should probably watch out for her too. And there's the unusual patches of land, as if they're preparing to be opened – they would have to watch out for them too. Who knows what would she do, after all…
"Be careful," Kyouko warned. "She may be dangerous…"
"Alright…" Hikari held the group's hands… and as she transformed into her mahou shoujo dress, the gang instantly appearing at the center of the arena.
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Hikari Kurayami
Weapon: Latern
Specialty: Search & Guide
Nationality: Japanese-Chinese
Description: Hikari is one of the few mods in Japan's branch of Magical Girl Exchange, of which not many mahou shoujos would know, due to its strict code that only constantly travelling mahou shoujos (or veteran mahou shoujos) can know its existence. True to her name, Hikari is the mahou shoujo responsible for guiding the selected mahou shoujos into contact with the Magical Girl Exchange, often through modern telecommunications or by a special flash only she can emit that can pass through any wall (even through the Earth's core). Consequently due to her wish, she can send a message to any mahou shoujo whatever the message is or wherever the mahou shoujo is mostly through cellphone or the internet, however, she only uses it on rare occasions (and mostly because it is annoying to the receiving end). Consequently, due to her powers as well, she is presently the Telecommunications Head of the MGE. On another note, she is also the very few ones whom Juubey recruited, although she keeps it as a secret. (The very existence of Juubey is being kept secret to others, after all.) On a small note, she can also find any lost item or object, and subsequently retrieve it, although she cannot magically retrieve it herself. As with her weapon, her latern (which really looks like the ones being used in the mountains) has the ability to spam fire (even one that she herself can control) to wherever its owner wants to fire. It can also be used to blind the opponent quite nicely too.
Her history dates back 3 years ago, as she visited Asunaro City on a vacation from the usual busy scenes of Tokyo. It was, however, at a time when there were few mahou shoujos at the area and no Pleiades Saints. However, her little sister was lost during a commotion at an Amusement Center. As she searched for her sister, however, she got lost in a witch's barrier, a maze full of warped watches, reversing clocks, and a central figure at the center, who looked like a silhouette of a girl with a bow. That was when Juubey came in, saying her sister is in this maze and the only way to find her is to make a wish and become a mahou shoujo. Because Hikari at the time was a huge fan of plots of heroes and becoming one herself, she quickly made her wish: to be able to find her sister. As she searched for her sister, however, she quickly made an encounter with Mai, who was, at the time, a new mahou shoujo too. Ever since that day, they became quite the distant friends. However, things were looking bad on both sides of their lives. Mai ran away from her family, while Hikari's family started being extremely strict about everything she did, resulting from her sister being lost in the first place. Her sister couldn't appreciate the help she did to her, and even pushed her away as much as possible. In merely a year, she herself found lost in a myriad of burdens, often times failing to catch witches because of this dilemma. So she took the third option: she searched for someone who she could help her… however, when that someone replied to her calling, it resulted in one thing: she found herself not being able to be recognized by her family. (No one knows who did it.) Lost to her own devices, she could only seek out her only friend, Mai, who was at the time, traumatized by her own tragedy… It didn't take long, however, before they found themselves into the MGE, who took them only because it was impossible to hide themselves someone like her, but, as in their code, they had to learn the truth about mahou shoujos… that they too were almost destined to become the ones they swore to destroy, something she is still bitter inside about until now. It was also the time when she started calling Mai The Silencer, mainly because of her quite successful assaults.
She wears a neon yellow suit patched with several flower designed with an exposed back and strings lined around both her back and her front center. She also, as with many Japanese mahou shoujos, wear a mini-skirt that's pretty much a mix of white and pale yellow, and dark yellow armbands, well suited against her fair face, if not for her light-red elliptic-sided glasses, but it does suit her beige-colored long hair. She also has quite a healthy bust size (comparable to Mami), which pretty much separates her from Mai (she is flat-chested). When dealing with mahou shoujos she do not know, she stays monotonous and as flat voiced as she can, much like a telephone operator only seemingly emotionless. However, when talking to someone she knows, her voice changes to that of a bit cheery, yet a bit empty, yet high-pitched voice. Without a doubt, she always tries reminding herself to live to those who still believe in hope, even if she herself, has little: this is, in fact, her resolve, something many mahou shoujos simply couldn't comprehend at that time. This is most likely one of the main reasons she had persevered until now.
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"Hikari Kurayami…" the girl's eyes locked into hers. "Hmmm… how nostalgic."
"Oii…" Kyouko shouted. "Don't be so damn freakishly creepy…"
Kyouko took a step forward, only to be zapped by the ground. It wasn't just a zap, however, it was something akin to a 1000 volt ground. How is this possible?
"Oii…" the girl took a sip of her English tea. "Don't be mad, just enjoy the spotlight. I'm still waiting for her you know."
"EH?" Yuma shrieked with surprise, swiftly examining what seems to be a landmine. "W-w-why is the area full of tiny wires?"
It was inevitable that they wouldn't notice it. Merely centimeters from where they're standing, is an entire stadium full of small green wires. Most of the wires were either gnawed or skinned, with small electrical sparks jumping in between, but they couldn't be seen as the grass itself covered, if not camouflaged it. It was the perfect place to kill somebody alive and crispy.
「Kazumi Sakura's Soul Gem: 60% Darkened」
"It's getting boring…"
Not that it mattered, but it's been only 10 seconds of silence. The girl took off of her seat, and casually walked towards the cautious 4 mahou shoujos.
"Say, Hikari." The girl started. "Which do you prefer… coffee, or tea?"
Sayaka stayed silent.
"Errmm…" Hikari took a few seconds to think about it. "Why do I have to answer anyway?"
"'cus I want you to," the girl's eyes glowed a bright pale red. "But anyway, it's not like it matters, right, Sayaka-chan?"
Sayaka couldn't find the words to say anything but…
"Well," Sayaka took her words as natural as she remembered. "It's not as if it's going to determine life and death, eh?"
"Wrong," the girl raised her hand. "You don't understand… The Europeans mostly consumed tea and/or coffee during the old times, yes? And… even so, this... tea we mentioned… has already contributed so much to Britain's empire… so much death and suffering… for tea… while coffee… well let's just say that it's the Spaniards who wanted that much coffee they'd be willing to sap 3 countries out of it, yes?"
"So," the girl fired a fiery stare at Yuma. "What shall it be… Coffee or Tea?"
"I'd choose Sayaka,thank you." A shot directly above the stadium fired directly at the control switch, which was just before the back door where the creepy shadow lurked.
The girl looked directly above, smiling as if seen a unique creation.
"Welcome, Homura Akemi!" the girl made a grimacing smile, as she finally met the star of the stage. "To my climax stage!"
『To Be Continued...』
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Preview:
"What is the purpose of life? Is it to fulfil it to somebody? Is it to fulfil it to the world? Is it merely to please the one who made us the way we are? Or is it just a void we merely create in nothing for our own satisfaction?"
Next episode: "I'll find my purpose."