By the time everyone made it out of the house, the tires of the intruder's car were already screeching and taking off. Sayaka had been hiding out down the street, but was now running towards them. Madoka had followed Leiko out of the house, and her father was close behind. When he saw Sayaka coming from down the street, he adjusted his glasses and said "Sayaka? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, hey Mr. K! Well I was coming to visit Madoka… Um, what happened just now? Was there an argument?"

"I honestly have no idea what that was about." Tomohisa said, rubbing his wrist which still hurt just a little bit "I'm thinking I should call the police, though. Is there an off chance you saw the licence plate, Sayaka?"

Sayaka scratched the back of her head "No, sorry Mr. K, I didn't think to." In reality she had, after spending half an hour chasing him through the city, but it would be no good to get the police involved because if that man was with the lab then chances are the police would end up being on his side.

"Why didn't you try to stop him?" Leiko interjected towards Sayaka. "What, did you just stand there and watch him go?"

Sayaka laughed awkwardly, then spoke to Leiko through gritted teeth. "Well what did you expect me to do, Leiko? Blow his car up with my secret magic powers or something?"

Leiko adjusted her glasses "No… that would be a bad idea." Then she turned to start walking away. "Well, I'd better get going."

"Wait just a second young lady." Tomohisa said, stepping after her. "I get the impression you know something about this, so do you mind explaining?"

Leiko turned with a bored expression on her face. "Hm? About that guy? No I don't know anything."

"You came storming into my house and said 'where is he', then went right after him. Something's going on here." Then he turned to his daughter "And Madoka, if you know anything about this…"

"N-no daddy! I- um…" She thought for a moment, her eyes shifting around the way they tended to do when she was thinking of a lie. Luckily her mother wasn't here, because she would have seen right through it. "I-I accidently took one of Leiko's stuffed animals home with me the other night, and she wanted it back really badly. Th-that's what she meant when she said 'where is he'."

Sayaka palmed her face. 'Come on Madoka, is that the best you could come up with?'

Tomohisa looked over to Leiko. "Is that true? All of that was over a stuffed animal?"

Sayaka facepalmed once again, twice as hard. 'He actually bought it!'

"Of course not, that's redic-" Leiko was cut off by Sayaka throwing an arm over her shoulders.

"Hey! No need to be embarrassed!" Sayaka laughed and tightened her grip around Leiko's neck. "The secrets out! Everyone already knows how crazy you are about those stuffed animals, so just let it go!"

Trapped in Sayaka's embrace, Leiko's voice turned cold and murderous. "I'll give you three seconds to-"

"Anyway! I'm glad I ran into you." Sayaka said as she released the small snow-haired girl. "Mami needed to see you… soooo, yup. Better get going. Come on!" Then she grabbed Leiko by the arm and started pulling her along, which warranted an even more sinister expression on the small girl's face. Sayaka then turned to wave goodbye to the Kaname's. "See you later Madoka! Bye Mr. K!"

"Oh… Ok, bye Sayaka." Tomohisa said, putting his hands on his hips and seeming really confused as the two girls continued down the street. "Well Madoka, guess we'd better… Madoka?" He turned to see his daughter rushing back into the house. A few seconds later she came back out of the house holding a small stuffed pig.

"Daddy, I know I'm grounded but I need to go give this to Leiko."

"Well, I guess that's alright." Tomohisa said, and not a second later Madoka was chasing them down the street.

It took her a minute to catch up, because they had been going at a rather quick pace. When they noticed her approaching they both slowed their pace and turned to her. Madoka was slightly out of breath when she reached them, but it only took her a moment to regain herself. She went right for Leiko and pushed the stuffed pig into her chest, forcing her to take a hold of it. "What the hell are you giving me this for?"

"So my story doesn't look suspicious!" Madoka shouted at her, with an uncharacteristically loud tone to her voice. Her face went red, she balled her fists at her sides and shouted: "Stupid!"

Sayaka cleared her throat and took a few steps back, to get out of the blast radius. It was a pretty rare sight, but it seems Leiko had managed to incur the wrath of MADoka.

Leiko adjusted her glasses, taking on an indignant posture. "Whatever, it's not like-"

Madoka cut her off before she could say any more. "Stop it! Quit acting like you don't care about anything! You really upset me the other day, you know! And why did you start ignoring all of our calls?"

"Well, I... quit the team… so…"

"You still don't have the right to ignore people who care about you!" Madoka let out a frustrated yell. "AH! You're so selfish!"

Leiko coughed and let her eyes shift away dismissively. "I mean, I never asked you to…" Madoka's face scrunched up even more, signaling that she was about to go into MADoka overdrive mode. It was about as rare a sighting as the Loch Ness Monster, and more destructive than a Violent Typhoon. As much as Sayaka would have loved to see Madoka tell Leiko off, there was another much more pressing matter to attend to.

"Hey Madoka." Sayaka said, putting a hand on her shoulder, which seemed to calm her down somewhat. Leiko had her arms folded, and that smug conceited look on her face. Sayaka really would have liked to just let Madoka loose on her, but knew this wasn't the time. "I'm sure you'll get another chance to tell her off, but I don't think now is the best time."

"I know…" Madoka said grudgingly, letting some of her anger slip as she was reminded of the bad situation they all found themselves in. "But she can't just keep…" Madoka shook her head and looked back up at Leiko. Leiko's facial expression seemed to have become somewhat more docile, showing that she at least felt some guilt. Her pride would never let her admit something like that, though.

"So Leiko, I never got a clear answer, what exactly happened in there?" Sayaka asked.

"As you know, that guy is from the lab. He saw the cat picture Homura drew sitting on Madoka's desk." She sighed and looked away from the other two girls. "You should understand now. It's all over, we've been-"

"Wait!" Sayaka's eyes widened out of fear. "Kyoko's still in there! We… we…" She started glancing around, as if she were either looking for a solution, or looking out for an attacker. "Damn it! We have to do something! We've wasted too much time already. Come on, we have to go after him!"

"Useless." Leiko said, folding her arms.

Sayaka instantly turned on her, and grabbed onto her hoodie with both hands. "Are you going to be helpful or not?" She shouted. "Because we don't have time for this! If you're out, just say you're out and go run away somewhere!"

"Sayaka!" Madoka said, grabbing onto her arm and pulling her off of Leiko. Sayaka didn't put up much of a fight, and let Leiko go. Sayaka still stared her down rather intensely, but it wasn't out of anger. It was more of a reminder that she was in no mood to have any of her time wasted.

Leiko swallowed and readjusted her glasses, her hand visibly shaking. "Look, I'm just saying. You were just barely able to keep up with him before when you followed him here, and he already has a huge head start on us. Besides, I can't travel at the same speed you can, and you would need me to track him."

"Track him? We already know where he's going, the lab!"

"If by some miracle you managed to get there first, it still wouldn't matter. By the time he gets there it's already going to be too late." Leiko's eyes suddenly shot open and she pulled her phone out of her back pocket. She quickly flipped it open, making no effort to conceal the rainbow sparks which started emitting from her fingertips. "That's assuming he didn't make a phonecall already… I'm checking now."

"Damn it!" Sayaka said through gritted teeth. She hated just standing still like this, her legs were anxious to do something- anything! But, part of her knew Leiko was right. There had to be something they could do though, and she was racking her brain for an answer.

"Good news is, he hasn't made any phone calls yet." Leiko said, "And I'm setting up a block now, so he won't be able to. I also checked his location, and verified that he is indeed on his way to the lab."

"Well, what are we supposed to do?" Sayaka asked "If Kyoko is still there when he arrives…" She shook her head, not wanting to think about that scenario.

"What about Mami?" Madoka asked "She's closer, maybe she can catch him?"

More sparks came from Leiko's fingertips, and she shook her head. "No, it won't work. She's too far, and she doesn't have any way to track him. Even if we described the car, it would be like finding a needle in a haystack in this city."

"Come on! You're a super hacker, can't you do something? Like, I don't know…" Sayaka thought hard "Force a traffic light to stay red or something?"

"If I had my computer, yes, but it would take some time… more than we have. This phone just isn't powerful enough to handle something like that, and I've never tried to do that before so I don't know how." She also couldn't be as discreet when using her phone to hack, and therefore it would put a bigger risk on herself, but she didn't bring that part up.

"AH! Well, there has to be something we can do!" Sayaka said again, feeling the panic setting in on herself more and more.

"Leave town." Leiko stated flatly. "That was my plan." Then, when both Sayaka and Madoka shot her a disgusted look, Leiko rolled her eyes and continued. "Look, I don't have any ideas. I wish I did, but I don't. The plan is probably a bust, and they are going to start squeezing Homura for information any day now. Even in the best case scenario, they now know that Madoka is involved in this thing, so there's nothing we can do!"

"You don't know that!" Sayaka shouted at her. "If Kyoko got the GriefSeed to Homura then there's still a chance!"

"Even so, it's all outside of our control. If you want, I can help you two with getting new identities and running away. I'll do that for Mami too."

"That's it? We're suppose to just run away?" Sayaka shouted again, getting riled up all over again.

"No, not 'that's it'. Do you have any idea how rare of an opportunity I'm offering is? Or how much work it would be? It's not something to say 'that's it!' to."

Sayaka stomped towards her, ready to start the confrontation all over again. But, Madoka stepped in. "Sayaka wait!" Madoka said, getting between them. "She can't do anything else, she's just… just…" Madoka briefly searched for the right way to put it, but ended up giving up and saying, "Listen, fighting just won't help right now!"

Sayaka gritted her teeth and turned her head away. "I know! But I can't stand feeling so helpless!"

"M-maybe if we called him?" Madoka said, bowing her head and feeling like it was a stupid suggestion, but it's all she could come up with.

"Call who?" Leiko asked, impatiently. "The guy who just broke into your house? And say what exactly? 'Pretty please, don't tell the other scientists what you've found?'"

Madoka's face scrunched up as she leaned forward and yelled: "At least I'm trying to think of something! Stupid!"

So, Sayaka thought, MADoka hasn't completely retired for the evening afterall. Madoka's suggestion did give her an idea, though. "Hey wait, maybe she's on to something. I'm thinking… what if we like, threatened him or something?"

Leiko opened her mouth, probably predisposed to explaining how idiotic she thought the plan was, but then she closed her mouth and thought about it.

"Come on, it's all we've got." Sayaka continued "And it's not like it'll hurt anything, we are already screwed anyway…"

"Alright." Leiko finally said, "Let's do it, as you said, I suppose it's all we've got." Then, those rainbow colored sparks emitted from her finger tips, and she magic-dialed Kaiji's number.


Kyoko entered Dr. Endou's office with a harsh look on her face. "Dr. Sakura, what can I help you with?" He asked, pleasantly.

"Homura. Just what did you do to her?"

Endou's lips curved down into a frown, putting on his more typical stoney face. "I told you, I suspected she might try putting on an act. I don't know what exactly she hopes to gain, but-"

"Bullshit!" Kyoko shouted "She was clearly high as a damn kite!"

Endou set his pen down and leaned forward "I suggest you watch your tone, Dr. Sakura, and take a seat."

"You can't tell me she was just faking it!" Kyoko said, still with a raised tone, but trying to calm herself down somewhat. "Her pupils were dilated, and her vision was out of focus. The best actor in the world wouldn't have been able to pull that off! I'm a psychologist, did you really suspect that I wouldn't know the difference?"

Endou stared back at her for what felt like a long moment, each had their eye contact locked on the other. Finally, he said, "When you started this job, I told you that I have the final say in Subject One's treatment. Yes, I drugged her, I did so because she is dangerous, and the drug we used is meant to make her more docile. So she doesn't end up hurting anyone again."

"Then why would you lie to me about it? And you put it in her food didn't you? What if I accidentally ended up taking the drug while I was in there? Did you think about that?"

"My plan is to introduce Homura to the drug slowly, and get her used to it. I didn't want to risk you flat out telling her that her supplies had indeed been altered. As for you accidentally taking the drug, I know everything that had been altered, and I was watching the whole time. I would have stopped you before you ended up taking it."

Kyoko shook her head in disgust. "Homura isn't stupid, Dr. Endou, she knows what you are doing!"

"Perhaps, but give her a few more days and it won't matter any more. She'll believe anything we tell her, and she will do anything we tell her to do. Even more so, she might thank us for the drug, as I imagine it is an improvement to her normal mental state. In a few more days, all her negative emotions will just melt away."

Kyoko's eyes widened, she could seriously jump across the table and choke this man right now. How he said it so casually, and worse than that, the thought seemed to amuse him… he was evil. "Don't you realize how wrong that is? That's just downright cruel!"

"We tried treating her humanly, but that didn't get us very far. Subject One is just that, a test subject, and perhaps in the future, something more. What matters here is results, and I'm confident this approach will give us the best results."

"She is a human being!" Kyoko yelled "She's a fourteen year old girl! What gives you the right to-"

"I told you to watch your tone!" Endou stood up from his seat. So far, Kyoko had only seen him sitting down, and didn't realize just how large of a man he was. His height combined with his thick boxy build made him look like a giant. Even with Kyoko's slightly increased height from her Kay Sakura persona, he still towered over her. "Don't overestimate your place here, Dr. Sakura. You have no authority in these matters."

"Then why am I even here? You didn't even give me a chance to work with her! There hasn't been enough time yet for me to make a real difference, and then you jump right to drugging her when the results are not instant?"

"Your job is to document your thoughts on her mental state. Nothing more. You are here to work for us, you are not here to work for the test subject. I thought you understood that."

"You may be my employer, but Homura is my patient. My dedication always goes first and foremost to my patients, I wouldn't be worth hiring in the first place if that were not the case." They stood with their eyes locked, but even the heartful Kyoko couldn't match his stony gaze for very long. After a moment, she glanced back to his desk, and caught sight of the family picture she had noticed on her first day here.

There was a slightly younger Dr. Endou in the photo, with his wife and daughter standing in front of him, each stood at least a foot lower than him. Kyoko focused on his daughter for a moment. She looked to be about thirteen or fourteen years old in the photo, she was likely a bit older now since her father was younger in the photo as well. She had black, shoulder length hair with green highlights. Her smile was bright and full of innocence. Her clothing was formal, but judging from the green highlights, that kind of attire was likely just for the picture. Kyoko wondered if she knew what kind of man her father was.

"How would you feel if it was your daughter in there? If your daughter just disappeared one day out of the blue? Homura had friends! She had a-"

Dr. Endou's hand slammed down on top of the desk hard enough it caused the picture to fall over, and the angry expression that came over his face was enough to make Kyoko take a step back. "If you came here to speak in rhetorics, I'll ask that you don't waste my time." His voice was even more slow and monotone than normal. After a moment without a response, he eventually sighed and looked at the picture which had fallen over. He picked it up, and stared at it, the anger dissolving from his face into something unexpectedly emotional. After a moment of looking at the picture, he set it back down in it's place, and retook his seat.

The look that was on his face; Kyoko use to know that kind of expression very well, because she used to see it every time she looked in the mirror.

Carefully, Kyoko said, "You lost her. Didn't you?"

"Subject One is your patient, Dr. Sakura. Are we finished here?"

"No. We are not finished." Kyoko turned around, and opened the door. Before leaving, with her hand still on the doorknob, she said one more thing. "I'm going to do everything in my power to protect Homura from you." And with that, she left.

In the hallway, the guard asked "All done?" Kyoko just nodded, and walked past him.

Kyoko could almost sympathize with him, it wasn't too long ago that she wasn't much different. There was a key difference between the two of them, though. She never actually enjoyed hurting people. For that, this man could never be forgiven.

Good luck, Homura. She thought.

Kyoko got the GriefSeed to Homura, the plan was a success. Now the rest was up to her.


Kaiji wasted no time getting back to his car and out of the neighborhood. He felt bad about how things had just gone down, but he supposed he didn't have a choice. The submission technique didn't actually hurt Madoka's father, it may have given him some temporary pain but after a few minutes there likely wouldn't even be a mark there any more.

Now, he was at a crossroad. The obvious choice would be to start making some phone calls right now, and stop Dr. Kay Sakura from leaving the lab. He glanced over at his phone, which was on the passenger seat, and considered this option. He didn't want to do it like that, not yet. Before anything else, he wanted to speak with Kay in person, so he would have a better idea of what the right decision would be.

Then, his phone started ringing. He glanced over to it briefly before putting his eyes back on the road, then took a double take when he noticed something. The screen of the phone had changed; there was normally a dialog box which stated an incoming call and the number, but now, it was sparkling with all different colors of the rainbow. What's more, he noticed tiny strings of static electricity emitting from it.

He tried to keep his eyes on the road ahead of him, but kept glancing over to the phone, not sure if he could believe what he was seeing. He heard a loud honk as a car zoomed by him, the driver making an obscene gesture as he passed. Kaiji didn't pay that much mind, but it did remind him he was driving. The ringing stopped, and he was lost in thought for a moment.

Was that some kind of glitch with his phone? He had never seen anything like that before… The rainbow color was familiar, though. It was the same light that would surround Homura's body before the ribbons started appearing and transforming her clothing.

The phone started ringing again. Kaiji found a clear spot on the shoulder and quickly pulled over, and then just stared at the phone. The tiny strings of static, which were dancing on its surface, made him hesitant to grab onto it. Then, the light got brighter, and he flinched as the static shot forth from the phone and into his car stereo. His eyes were wide as he looked at the stereo display and saw the volume turn itself up.

"So, you're ignoring our calls now. That's not very polite, Dr. Kaiji."

"What the…" He felt as though he should be past getting surprised by anything, but he was still at a loss for words.

"Speak, doctor, we will be able to hear you."

"What? Who is this? Are you…" He thought back to the voice which had guided him to uncovering Kyoko Sakura. He still didn't know exactly how Kay was related, but he had some theories, some of which sounded downright insane. The one thing he knew for sure though, is Kay is not who she said she was. Or at the very least, she had some deep ulterior motives for her interest in Subject One.

"It doesn't matter who we are, we are friends of Homura, let's just leave it at that. I'll get right to the point. We know that you have not contacted anyone about your recent discovery. That's good, and I suggest you keep it that way. Otherwise, let's just say little Tomoko might experience a very unfortunate accident in the near future."

When Kaiji heard his son's name, his heart jumped and adrenalin went coursing through his veins. "My son? Are you threatening me!"

"Looks like he is at your brothers house right now, playing with little Yuki. It's unfortunate Detective Ishida is out on patrol… somewhere downtown, it looks like. Well, it's unfortunate for you and your family anyway, not so much for us because that will just make things that much easier."

Kaiji took a deep breath. He knew what she was doing, trying to get under his skin, and keep him from thinking clearly. In a quick moment of clarity, he decided he wouldn't play into their game. "Who is this? Is it Madoka? No, I'd guess her voice sounds a bit different." He paused, and was happy to hear a moment of silence, which meant they weren't as in control as they would like him to believe. "Or, is this Leiko? That's what Madoka called you right? You're the white haired girl that stormed into the house."

"Dr. Kaiji, I would suggest-"

"That makes sense, you somehow knew where I was, and you seem to know where my family members are, so thats a solid connection. So, how does it work? That color is the same I've seen from Homura, but as far as we know we have never seen her do anything like this before."

"My associate is outside your brother's house right now. She is watching little Tomoko and Yuki playing in the backyard. Dr. Kaiji, you better stop talking and start listening, or you will force me to make good on my threats."

Kaiji glanced at his wrist watch: 5:43. "Is that right?" Kaiji said, calmly. "Why don't you cut the bullshit and just tell me what you want?"

"Do you understand what I'm saying here? I'm going to assume that the stress of the situation doesn't have you thinking clearly. You at least were intelligent enough to stop moving toward the lab, so I'll give you a chance."

"Teiai Adventure Team." He stated the words very clearly. "Have you ever heard of it? Tomoko is practically addicted to it, I don't think he has missed a single episode in the last three months. It's a kids show, but I watched a few episodes with him and I actually found it rather amusing myself. Yuki seems to like it as well, although it's more geared towards a male audience, but she always has been a bit of a tomboy."

"Don't test me, doctor."

"Want to take a guess what time the show starts? Five-Thirty. If I know my son, and my niece, there is no way they are in the backyard right now. Therefore, I'm guessing your 'associate' that's outside of my brothers house was a bluff… wasn't it?" Silence. "As I thought. Now I'll say it again, cut the bullshit, and if you threaten my family one more time I'm ending this call."

"You can't end the call, and even if you could, that would be very unwise, doctor."

"I'll throw the phone out of the damn window if I have to! That's strike two. If you threaten me or try to intimidate me one more time we are done here."

He listened closely, and could hear whispering on the other side of the line. There was some shuffling around, and then a new voice spoke to him. "H-hello? Um, hi… Mr. Kaiji?" This new voice sounded rather nervous.

"This is Madoka I take it." Kaiji said. No answer. "If it is Madoka, first I'll apologize for what happened earlier. You don't have to forgive me, but I just want you to know my actions were based on a sense of duty, and even so, I do feel terrible about it. I was careful not to actually hurt your father, if that's any consolation."

"I… I don't think I can say it's ok. Especially since you are one of the people who… um… k-kidnapped Homura. Um… But I am sorry we threatened your family…"

"It's understandable, but please tell me honestly. It was just a threat, right?"

There was some whispering and then. "Yes, it was just a threat."

"I thought as much, but I just had to be sure. Thank you."

"W-we're not bad people. Honest! B-but…" Her voice broke away, and Kaiji heard a sound that he thought was crying.

"Madoka?" He asked. "Are you still there?"

"Please!" She shouted out with a cracked voice. "Homura is a dear friend of mine, and I'm so scared for her! Y-you have a child right? How would you feel if your son disappeared one night? Or your wife, or someone else who you loved! We… we just want our friend back!"

Kaiji wondered if this Madoka was the girlfriend who Homura had mentioned to Kay. Considering how emotional she seemed right now, Kaiji thought that was probably the case, and it made him feel even more guilty about the situation.

"Believe it or not, I have spent quite some time thinking about those things. That's what makes this so difficult. I don't think Homura deserve the things that are happening to her, but you have to understand this from our perspective. Someone with her abilities can't just be ignored. For what it's worth, we at least have been trying to keep her comfortable while we have her."

"That's a lie!" Madoka shouted. "You've been doing horrible things to her! You electrocute her! Gas her! You force her to do your tests!"

"I'll admit there have been some unfortunate turns of events, but-"

"And you are starting to use drugs on her… That's just horrible! Who knows what kind of irreparable harm that can do to her! So don't you dare act like all of this is ok!"

"Drugs?" Kaiji asked. "No, there may have been some talk about that but we haven't actually done anything like that." Where would she even have gotten that idea from? It couldn't have been Kay, because she didn't even know about the drug… or at least she shouldn't. Then Kaiji remembered Endou's theory that they had been getting hacked, and this Leiko character's power seemed to coincide with that theory.

"Why are you lying!" Madoka shouted "We know everything you have done to her! You snuck it into her food to trick her into taking it!"

Endou. Kaiji realized it must have been Endou. That bastard knew Kaiji was against it, so he waited until he had a couple of days off to make his move. "I wasn't aware of that." Kaiji said, flatly. "But I do not doubt what you are saying. Listen, I'm against a lot of things regarding the way Homura has been treated, and I want things to be better for her. I really do."

He sighed and massaged his temples. What am I doing? He thought, it's almost as if I'm… what? On their side?

He was excited about the Subject One assignment because he saw it as a chance to be involved in groundbreaking research. Research that could change the world and benefit the human race. But Homura was still a human being, and she didn't deserve to have her life taken away from her. If only there was a compromise that could be reached. Something that gave her freedom, but still allowed them to do their research. Of course, if she was allowed to leave the lab, there's a chance she would disappear and never be seen again. That's why she had to be obtained forcefully in the first place; when there was still the element of surprise.

"I'm going to try to help her." Kaiji finally said, "I'm sorry, but at this point we cannot provide her with the luxury of freedom. Maybe one day, she will be able to return to her life, but for now we still need her. Until then, I'm going to try to make things as comfortable for her as I can. That is the best I can do."

"You don't sound like a bad person." Madoka said with a small voice. "But, how can you think that's alright? How can you be ok with doing that to someone?"

"I'm not, but it's the best I can do." He looked at his wrist watch. Kay Sakura, if that was even her real name, wouldn't be in the lab much longer. Therefore, he needed to end this call and get there. He hadn't fully decided how he would proceed yet. Dr. Endou was a huge problem for him, maybe more than the emergence of these other girls, but he knew if Kay left today it would likely be the last time any of them saw her. "I have to go now. I'm sorry, but Kay Sakura has committed a high class fraud, and I have to stop her."

"No! Wait!" Madoka shouted "Kay just wants to help Homura, just like you claimed." There was a shuffling noise "Um, here, someone else wants to talk to you."

The phone shuffled around some more and a new voice picked up. "Dr. Kaiji." It said, flatly.

"And who is this?"

"For now, you can just call me Saki. I'm… well, I'm sure you've figured it out so there's no harm in saying it. I'm like Homura and Leiko, I can use magic too." Magic? So that was their term for their powers. Kaiji supposed it was as good a word for it as any. "I just want to make something clear. You will never catch any of us. We will know if anyone is coming after us, and we have the ability to completely erase ourselves and just disappear. You only captured Homura because she wasn't expecting it. That is something that will never happen again.

"Also, I want you to realize Madoka is not one of us. She is just an ordinary girl. There is absolutely no point in sending anyone after her. If you don't believe me, and try to capture her anyway, she is just going to disappear. As will I, or Leiko if we think we are in danger. As for Kay…" 'Saki' suddenly became silent as she gathered her thoughts. "Kay only wants to help Homura. I can't tell you why, but if it were not for Kay's presence, your test subject would already be gone.

"Kay is willing to risk her own life for the lives of her friends. That's just the kind of person she is… She wants to save Homura, just as she saved me."

Kaiji waited a moment, then asked. "Who is she? And… how is she related to Kyoko Sakura?"

"I don't know if I should answer that." Saki responded. Then after a moment she said, "Kaiji, you said if we threatened you again, you would end the call. Well, don't take what I'm about to say as a threat, take it as a promise of future events." Her voice had grown dark, and it lowered to a whisper. Kaiji got the impression that whatever she was saying to him, she was hiding from her other two companions. "I'm not like Madoka, I'm not like Leiko, I'm not like Homura, and I'm not like Kay. I'm a murderer. There were two unexplainable deaths on a train a month ago, their bodies were torn apart as if some kind of acid had eaten them from the inside out. No known weapon could have done that, you can ask your brother about it, I'm sure he is at least aware of the case.

Those two men were in their late twenties, they looked like a couple of young business men, and they were way too full of themselves. They were really shitty human beings, I mean like, total scum, but they didn't deserve to die. I murdered them in cold blood, because I was depressed, and I thought it would make me feel better. I got to admit, it kind of worked a little bit, even though I may hate myself for it now."

"Why are you telling me this?" Kaiji asked.

"Who knows what other horrible things I might have done. I really wasn't myself back then, you see. Kay helped me, though. She was the only person who was able to bring me back to my senses. She helped me, the way she is trying to help Homura now. I'm telling you this, Kaiji, because if anything happens to Kay… I don't really know what I might end up doing."

"So what you are saying, is if something happens to Kay, you will seek vengeance on me."

"I'm saying I don't know what I'll do. Did you believe me when I said we can just disappear without a trace if we need to? Well, do you really want a person like that with a vendetta against you? If you can't find me, how will you ever be able to stop me? You've been studying Homura for the last three weeks, so you should understand what we are capable of."

"When you said if it were not for Kay, we already would have lost our test subject. What did you mean by that?"

"Magic is a finite resource, and you are depriving her of it, Dr. Kaiji. Kay has been providing her with a reserve." Kaiji thought back to that first meeting, when Dr. Endou was convinced Kay had slipped something to Homura. Kaiji had thought he was being crazy, because at the time it did seem crazy. At the time, it seemed impossible that Kay could have had a prior relationship with Homura, and therefore it was ridiculous to think she would try and smuggle something in for her. Kaiji now knew for a fact Kay was deeply involved with these people, and it no longer seemed too crazy. How could Dr. Endou have caught on to these things, though? Kaiji knew he was a highly intelligent person, but to reach those kinds of conclusions correctly with so little to go on… Just who was he?

"The point is, turning Kay in will do you no good. If her meetings with Homura were to stop, you will only end up killing Homura as well… and none of us want that."

Kaiji looked at his watch once again, he was running short on time and needed to get to the lab. He had some things to think about, but he wasn't the type to allow decisions to be made for him, and therefore he needed to get to the lab before Kay left. He wanted to meet with her, and confront her on some of the things he learned. Then, he would decide. "I have to go now. Will you end the call please? Or will I have to throw my phone out the window after all?"

"Don't make the wrong decision, doctor." Saki said. "We'll be in touch." and with that, the call ended, the volume went back down on the radio, and the rainbow light disappeared, returning his phone completely to normal. Kaiji picked the phone up and scrolled through a few of the screens, and saw that it was indeed just as it had been before, or it at least looked that way. He set the phone down, put his car into drive, and pulled back onto the highway, heading toward the lab.


"What did you say to him?" Leiko asked, snatching her phone back from Sayaka.

Sayaka just shrugged. "Maybe one day I'll give you some tips on how to properly threaten somebody. Your attempt was pretty bad, I'm surprised I was able to make him take me seriously after that pathetic display." Sayaka sighed, and sat down on the curb, combing her fingers into her hair as she stared at the ground. Leiko seemed to have ignored the jab, and just went to poking around on her cellphone.

Madoka sat down next to Sayaka and put an arm around her shoulder. "Do you think it worked?"

Sayaka shook her head. "I don't know, but it's all I can do. We just need to hope for the best now."

"Madoka, I think you are in the most immediate danger out of the three of us." Leiko said, "Therefore, I will set up your escape route first. For now, you can continue with your life normally, but make sure you always have your cell phone nearby, and I mean ALWAYS. When they come, they will come fast, and there won't be much time to waste. But, if you follow my directions, I'll be able to get you out of the city and on to a new life."

"How did things end up this way?" Madoka asked seemingly more to herself than to either of them. "First Homura, and now Kyoko is in danger too…"

Sayaka tensed up at those words, and Madoka instantly felt bad about it, thinking maybe she should be more positive. "It's alright." Sayaka said, seeming to have read the thought. Then she stood up, releasing herself from Madoka's embrace. "Kyoko is one of the toughest people I know, Homura too. If anyone can get out of this, they can." She turned toward Leiko. "Leiko, thanks for everything, and I'm sorry about before, I had the wrong idea about you."

Leiko just stared at her with a raised eyebrow.

"You didn't have to show up here, and you didn't have to put yourself at risk the way you did, but you did anyway. You really showed your true colors today, and I'll never forget it."

Leiko adjusted her glasses in her classic disinterested expression. "Don't get the wrong idea. What happens to the rest of you directly impacts my own security. I'm just…"

"'Looking out for myself'," Sayaka interjected, "Yeah, yeah, I get it." Then she smiled "I'm not sure if I actually believe that though… Anyway, your offer to make us disappear, I'm going to have to turn it down."

"Sayaka?" Madoka asked.

"Madoka, you should take it. You still have a family, one that loves you very much. Besides, it's what Homura would want. With me it's different, my parents barely have time for me. They kind of care about me, but in the end they really don't. What they care more about is their own image and how I reflect on them, more than they ever actually cared about me as a person. Kyoko is all I really have, plus she saved my life. Therefore, I'll gladly give my own life to try and save hers."

"Sayaka what are talking about!" Madoka said with a raised voice as she stood up. "How can you talk like that? What's gotten into you?"

"Whatever." Leiko said, "It's less work for me if that's really the route you want to take, but the offer still stands if you change your mind. I really don't get what you think your going to be able to do though."

Madoka ignored Leiko and continued, "Do you think that's what Kyoko would want either? She would never ask you to sacrifice yourself for her!"

"Of course she wouldn't, nor would I ever ask that of her. If it was me, it wouldn't matter how much I told her not to, nothing would be able to stop her." Sayaka sighed. "Look, don't take me too seriously right now, I'm just thinking out loud. Like I said, if anyone can get out of this, they can. I'm going to try to look at this with the glass half full for now." She put on a smile. "I bet by this time tomorrow all six of us will be sitting at Mami's drinking tea together again."


Kyoko left Dr. Endou's office, and walked right past the guard, a deep frown on her face. The guard cleared his throat and asked, "Everything alright, Miss. Sakura?"

"Dr. Sakura." She corrected him, with a dry tone of voice, not really sure why she did that but it was effective for the purpose of staying in character.

"Yes, sorry doctor."

She ended up doing more of the leading this time, but had to stop and wait for him to give his cue for the door to open. She was pissed about what they had been doing to her friend before, but after seeing Homura in the state she was in, and then speaking with that monster who was in charge of all of this, she felt a fire swelling up inside of her. At least the plan had gone rather flawlessly so far. She got the GriefSeed to Homura, and soon she would be out of here herself. If they really did have any suspicions of her, she never would have made it this far in the first place. Although, Dr. Endou seemed to be regarding her somewhat suspiciously, but there was no use worrying about that now.

Soon, she would be gone, and soon after that Homura would be able to free herself as well. Kyoko at least prayed that it would work. If it didn't… well, she didn't want to even think about that. She supposed she would have to fall black on plan A: break in and kick some ass. Though, she didn't know how that would work with all these damn metal doors to contend with.

They stood in front of another metal door, and when it hissed and slid open, there was someone waiting on the other side. It was a tall man with glasses, shaggy brown hair, and a trench coat. "Dr. Sakura." He said, walking toward her.

"Yes?" She asked, taking note of something in his body language and eyeing him suspiciously. Her escort stood at attention and gave the man a solute. So apparently, this guy was pretty important.

He looked over to the guard and said. "Could you give us a moment alone?"

"My orders were to stay with her, sir." The guard said.

He rubbed the corners of his eyes with his thumb and forefinger, acting as though he were really annoyed. "Just go to the other end of the hall, would you? We'll be right here."

The guard looked as if he wanted to complain, but seeing the irritated look on the face of someone he saw to be his main employer stopped whatever that complaint may have been, and obeyed.

After the guard left, the man didn't say anything. He was just giving her an odd look, narrow eyes, his face full of accusations. It made Kyoko feel nervous, but she was sure to hide this. She cleared her throat and spoke with a somewhat dry tone to her voice. "I'm sorry…And you are?"

"Dr. Kaiji." He said, putting on a smile and holding out his hand, although he still held that interrogative posture. "I'm the secondary lead researcher for Subject One. I'm glad to finally get the chance to meet you in person. You may not have known this, but I was one of the supporters for bringing you in." So, he was one of them, this man was just like Endou. He was one of the people who had been tormenting her friend.

Kaiji frowned slightly when she didn't accept his handshake, but he maintained his steady eye contact. It was really starting to bother her.

"Well, I thank you for that." She said kindly enough, but then her voice got a bit darker. "Sorry if I'm not in the mood for pleasantries today. I'm just a bit disillusioned with the general staff assigned to Homura at the moment."

"I don't blame you." Kaiji said. "You do seem rather dedicated to her, I'm glad she has you though. It's almost like you bring in a certain kind of magic which she desperately needs." The emphasis he put on the word 'magic' made Kyoko's heart jump. Part of her wanted to believe it was just an odd choice of words, but suddenly the look he had been giving her made sense. He knew something.

"I'm sorry, did you want something?" She said carefully, glancing at the guard down the hall who wouldn't be able to hear what they were saying.

He was quiet, and his eyes shifted away for just a moment, it seemed as though he was considering something. Kyoko glanced down the hallway, that last metal door would lead to the elevator, but she would have no way of getting to it if this man tried to stop her. Sure, she could take him out along with the guard, no problem. Except that damn door would stay shut. If he had figured her out, though, what was stopping him? Why was he even standing here talking to her?

She mentally felt for her SoulGem's power.

She had only recently gotten her wish magic back; the type of magic which allowed her to use enchantments. It was thanks to Sayaka, Sayaka was the one who made her believe in her wish again and allowed her to use her power. Her wish was originally made to help her family, to protect them. When she ended up losing them as a direct result of that wish, she lost all faith she had in magic, and gave up on the idea of protecting anyone other than herself. It was like that for a long time, until she met Sayaka, and had someone to protect again.

She had learned a lot of tricks with it since then: multiplying herself, changing her appearance, manipulating the appearance of other things… there was one other way it could be used which she hadn't had much practise with yet, but it was the only thing she had which could help her out of this situation. It was the power which she had inadvertently inherited from her father. The power of suggestion.

"Homura can't leave." Kaiji said, locking eye contact with her once again. It was as if he had suddenly come to a conclusion on a hard thought over decision. There was some doubt there, however, that was good. Her own powers of suggestion were rather weak, especially when compared to her father who could convince someone that up was down, and the sky was actually green simply by saying it. She could give nudges, though, and if someone was already partially going in the direction she wanted, she thought she might be able to push him that way further.

"She's being drugged." Kyoko said softly, pulling magic from her gem, and letting a warm smile fall over her face as she looked back at Kaiji. His own eyes suddenly softened, where before he was looking at her with a certain level of intensity. His sight was now transfixed on her in a different sort of way, as if he couldn't look away. "It's going to change her, perhaps permanently, destroying the person she once was. There is no worse form of imprisonment than that."

"I…" Kaiji blinked, and took a step back. He shook his head, trying to force himself out of the hypnosis. Kyoko lifted a hand and let her fingers brush the side of his cheek very lightly, and he became transfixed again. "I didn't know about that." He said, in a slow dull tone. "Really, I never wanted it… it's not my fault, none of this is what I…" He looked like he wanted to back away again, so Kyoko increased the pull from her SoulGem. "I... thought…"

"Homura doesn't deserve the things that are happening to her, there's no justifying it, you know this is wrong."

Suddenly, a series of images flashed through her mind, and unbidden memories sprung forth. A dark room, empty bottles of sake, and her father's voice, echoing in her head. 'You crush the faith of the people and lead them astray. What should I call you if not a witch?'

Grimacing, Kyoko put a hand to her temple and forced those memories out of her mind, but the damage was already done.

"I…" Kaiji blinked, and shook his head, fighting off her enchantment. "Stop it." he said distantly, then shook his head more violently and repeated the word with more authority. "Stop!" He took a few steps back, and the distant look in his eyes completely disappeared. He glanced behind himself, to the guard who was down the hall. Then looked back to Kyoko.

'Damn it! Lost him!' Kyoko thought, but hoping, maybe it was enough.

"Who are you?" He asked, his eyes narrowing, "What are you?" Kyoko frowned, and nodded. Her feet started moving. Kaiji flinched as she got closer, but relaxed when she ended up just walking right past him. "Wait!" He said, turning to follow her. The guard who had been staring ahead in a perfectly uniform posture now looked back in their direction, curiously.

"I just want what's best for Homura. That is all I ever wanted." She said, walking away, not looking at him.

Kaiji blinked, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, but it looked as though Kay Sakura had suddenly gotten shorter. Then, after a few more steps she stopped, and turned, and Kaiji's eye grew wide at what he saw.

A fifteen year old girl looked back at him. She still had Kay Sakura's face, though less mature, but she was not Kay Sakura anymore. She was now Kyoko Sakura, the girl who Kaiji had video of stealing from a convenience store. The white lab coat she was wearing suddenly seemed too big for her, its sleeves hanging down to her fingertips, its ends coming close to dragging on the floor. Even the glasses suddenly seemed too large, like they wanted to fall right off her face. Kaiji looked over to the guard to verify that he wasn't the only one seeing this, but it quickly became clear that was indeed the case. The guard didn't seem to take any notice of the fact that Kay Sakura had just changed.

"I don't know what happens now, doctor." Kyoko Sakura said to him, even her voice seeming to have changed, "Maybe I walk out this door, maybe…" her eyes glanced downward, in a somewhat pitiable fashion. "Maybe not…" She sighed and looked back up. "You're not like him, though. I can see it in you, you're not evil, you know this is wrong. Well, there's nothing else I can say… I'm at your mercy." Then, she turned and started walking toward the guard.

"Ready?" The guard asked as she approached him.

"Yes… ready." She said, her voice was low, the distress was clear, but the guard didn't seem to notice.

The guard did notice Kaiji staring at the two of them, and asked. "Everything alright, sir?"

Kyoko turned her head to look at him, her eyes pleading. He could stop her right now. She was like Homura, she could be another test subject. More than that, who knows what dangers she might impose to them if she was allowed to go free? All of that aside, even, it would be his duty to stop her. All he had to do was say the words, and Kyoko, or Kay, whatever her name was, would never leave this place again.

"Everything's fine." Kaiji finally said, after a long pause. "Kay, I'd like to speak with you more later, when you have the time."

Kyoko smiled and nodded. "I'll contact you. And, if there's anything you can do about the drugging situation… I don't know what they have her on, but it's not good."

Kaiji nodded "I'll see what I can do."

"Until next time?"

"Until next time." Kaiji agreed. Then, the door slid open, closing again a few moments later with Kyoko safely on the other side.


After letting Kyoko go free, Kaiji first went to the computer lab. Kyoko and her other magic friends claimed that Homura had been dosed with drugs. Kaiji didn't have any reason to doubt them, and it was perfectly in Dr. Endou's personality to do something like that. He just needed to figure out if it actually was Galazadrine Dr. Endou used on her. Kaiji had helped develop the drug, long before he even knew of Homura's existence, so he was well aware of its effects and would be able to tell if that's what she was on. If that was indeed the case, he would start pushing to have Dr. Endou removed from the team, on the grounds that he had endangered the Test Subject by dosing her with something that did not have significant human testing.

He got to the computer room, which was almost always empty this time of day, and sat towards the back corner of the room. He logged onto the security channel, which had no external connections, and logged into his account which had special privileges and full access to just about everything related to Subject One.

He quickly read through some of the log notes and saw one from yesterday afternoon which mentioned Subject One vomiting. He opened the video for that time. There were no cameras in the bathroom, but the door was open and through the audio he could hear the sounds of Homura gagging. When she came out of the bathroom again, she stood in front of the camera over the front door, and just swayed around on her feet and stared at it, as white as a ghost, and with a dazed expression on her face.

"Yoooouuuu." She said, waving a finger at the camera. "You did something! You drugged my foooood!"

Kaiji cringed and shook his head as he watched. It was Galazadrine alright. Endou was the lead researcher on the Subject One project, and even despite the refusal of other members of the organization, he technically did have the authority to make the decision to use the drug if he felt it would be safer. Still, Kaiji couldn't accept it, there wasn't significant human testing done with the drug yet, so there was a chance it could have some side effects they didn't know about. To use it on Homura, who is an invaluable and irreplaceable test subject, was poor judgement. He would use this reasoning in his case against Endou, but he was actually against it for far greater reasons than just that.

He looked through the logs some more. Whenever someone spoke to Homura on the intercom the time was documented automatically in the computer system. He opened the video footage to Endou talking to her the next day.

He watched as a more stable Homura confronted Endou about the drugging, which Endou denied.

As Kaiji watched more and more, he felt his anger rising.

Endou threatened her with the gas, something Kaiji had asked him not to do anymore. Then, the clincher was when Homura finally started eating, Dr. Endou seemed to be messing around with her, playing mind games, taunting her.

It was bad enough she was forced to stay here. Anyway you looked at it, she was an innocent person who was being imprisoned. To be in that predicament, and to constantly be at someone's mercy as Homura was, would have negative psychological effects on anyone. Then, to be taunted by your captors, and forced to see just how powerless you truly were (which is exactly what Endou was doing to her), was truly a cruel thing.

A month ago when the project started, Kaiji hoped to be able to make things up to her by at least keeping her comfortable, and treating her respectfully. He wanted her to understand things from their side, and hoped for her to work with them willingly, with mutual respect. Somehow, things had gone horribly wrong, though, and it was all Dr. Endou's fault. Kaiji decided he would put an end to it, though. He closed out of the security program, and started working on some emails. Once all that was done, he would go visit Dr. Endou in his office.


"Dr. Kaiji." Endou said, looking up from a stack of papers as Kaiji entered his office. "I thought you wouldn't be coming in today."

"I wasn't, but I decided to check in on Homura's latest appointment with the psychologist. I'm glad I did too, because I got the opportunity to speak with Kay in the hallway."

Endou set his pen down, and folded his hands to give Kaiji his full attention. He could tell Kaiji had a lot more to say.

"It's Galazadrine isn't it?" Kaiji asked. "You decided to just go ahead and dose her secretly. No, worse than that, you drugged her food. How is she ever suppose to trust us now?"

"Dr. Kaiji." Endou's voice was calm and maintained. "You should know the drug well enough to realize that trust will be a non-issue once it has had time to fully take effect. Besides, it would have been impossible to get her to take it by any other means, other than putting her to sleep first. She already has very little trust in us, to the point that she would refuse taking simple vitamin supplements. This is another reason for my decision to start with the Galazadrine doses. She is already suffering from paranoia, and considering her powers, wouldn't it be unsafe for our employees if she starts acting irrationally? As she is normally, she is unpredictable, and I do not care for unpredictable."

Kaiji listened patiently, although he could feel his blood boiling. He took a deep breath and responded with a controlled tone. "I also took the time to go through the logs from the last few days. First, I'll point out that you did not document your plans to start using Galazadrine. There is no information about the dosage levels, no observations or reports of any kind. That is entirely against protocol."

"I did document it." Endou said. "You didn't check her supply manifest. If you did, you would clearly see which items were altered, and with exactly how many milligrams."

"That's even worse!" Kaiji said, slightly raising his tone. "First of all, you know full well that Galazadrine hasn't had sufficient human testing. What if it turned out to be dangerous for her? What if it causes liver failure, or causes her body to stop producing white blood cells? What if it causes her to have a stroke?" Kaiji also didn't feel it was necessary to point at that if it was indeed on the supply manifest it was likely buried amongst everything else on the list, which would basically have been the same as not documenting it at all.

"There has never been anything to suggest any of those examples as being side effects of Galazadrine."

"We don't know, though, because it hasn't been tested on humans yet! The point is, anything could happen! Besides that, the way in which you delivered it to her, there is no way to control the dosage. What if she drank half that pitcher of iced tea, instead of just one glass? What were you thinking?"

Dr. Endou's eye's narrowed. "I was watching the entire time. If I was worried about an overdose I easily could have stopped her. Kaiji, I appreciate your input, but don't worry. I thought long and hard on this, and decided that this was the best course of action. Either this, or knocking her out with the gas and giving it to her while she was unconscious, and would you be any less upset with that approach?"

"I have been completely against Galazadrine from the very beginning, you know that. Is that why you waited untill I wouldn't be in the lab for a couple of days before making your move?"

"You are a moral person, I can respect that, but I think your morality sometimes affects your judgment. Despite that, I still wouldn't have anyone else working on this project with me. You are a brilliant researcher and I have more faith and trust in you than anyone else in our field." Endou's lips curved up into that forced smile of his. "You are a man who understands there are times when it is ok to break the rules, and to cross lines, yet you always hold onto your integrity. I didn't involve you in this decision simply so you wouldn't have to feel responsible for something I'm sure you would have viewed as an immoral act."

"Immoral. We are drugging a teenage girl! A girl who saved an entire city from a disaster which easily could have killed thousands. We are given a girl with those kinds of powers, and this is what happens to her?" Kaiji shook his head. "God help us all."

"It is an unfortunate circumstance for Homura, I understand that as well, but if we could learn about how her powers work, and find a way to reproduce it, just think of the possibilities! Yes, I understand the situation is unfair for Homura, but it was necessary."

"No, it wasn't." replied Kaiji, his eyes turning hard. "Not only was she willing to open up to Dr. Sakura, to give her a chance that as far as she knew would only end in hurting her more, but she also spoke to me completely of her own free will and asked for forgiveness over her actions. This proves that she can be reasoned with, if we show her the respect she deserves as a fellow human being. By drugging her like this, to not only trick her into it, but deliberately provoke her just to get a reaction, you have destroyed any chance we had of getting her to work with us, rather than against us." He stood up. "I'm sorry, Endou. I've already sent an email to our supervisor detailing your actions and how they have severely hurt our research. I expect that your contract with the Anomalous Research Lab will be terminated before the end of the week."

Dr. Endou's face dropped into a frown. "You think so? Kaiji, I'm afraid you are overestimating your level of authority."

"I have video of you outright taunting Homura when she tried to confront you about the drug. It'll be clear to anyone who watches it that you do not have her best interests in mind."

"There is reason behind everything I do, I would ask that you have some faith in me, but it seems you have already made up your mind."

Kaiji shook his head and went to leave the office. "I would like to, because for what it's worth, I did have respect for you. However, I can't stand idly by and watch Homura suffer needlessly any longer. We're done here."

Before Kaiji left, Endou said one more thing. "Subject One's power isn't the only thing that makes her dangerous, Dr. Kaiji. Maybe you will come to understand that eventually." Kaiji ignored this, and continued out the door. Endou stood and shouted after him. "We have to be able to control her!"

Kaiji stopped just outside the door. "Maybe, but is that control worth making an enemy out of her? I don't think so." And with that, Kaiji left.

"KAIJI!" Endou yelled, but he'd already closed the door.


Homura woke up later that night to a growling stomach. Somehow, the hunger didn't bother her. There was too much anxiety about what was to come to think about eating, if she even could trust the food enough to eat in the first place.

She sat up on her bed and massaged her temples. It was completely dark, all the lights in her apartment were turned off. That must mean it was past her scheduled bedtime. Scheduled bedtime… She clicked her teeth, those bastards. She hated herself for letting that phrase enter her head, but at least it would all be ending soon.

She got up, and felt her legs wobble beneath herself. She had slept through some of the drugs effect, but it still had her head feeling a bit fuzzy. She walked to the door of her bedroom with careful steps, holding her hands in front of herself to keep from running into anything in the pitch black room. When she got out into the living room, she just stood there, glancing around at the black silhouettes, then focusing on a spot she knew a camera to be.

"Is anyone there?" She asked. Waited a moment, then asked again. "Hello?"

The intercom clicked on, it was the softer toned guy, Kaiji. "Yes Homura, I'm here. Do you need the lights on?"

"Yes… please…" She said, and a moment later she was shielding her eyes from the light which seemed blinding compared to the total darkness she was in a moment ago. Her ears suddenly rang with the sound of the fluorescent lighting.

"You'd slept through most of the day, so it'll be alright to keep the lights on for a while tonight." Kaiji said, "We can't let you stay up too late though, so you don't end up off schedule."

Homura sighed, and walked to the kitchen. She didn't hate this Kaiji guy as much as she did Endou (or, Dr. Mono), but statements like that still had a way of getting under her skin.

Now that the lights were on, Homura waved her hand infront of her face to further test her own sobriety. She reached the same conclusion she had earlier; it seemed to have passed through her system, but she was still a bit fuzzy. If she could wait another day, until she was at a hundred percent, she would. It was too much of a risk though. What if they gassed her and forced a fresh dose of the drug on her? What if they searched her room while she was testing and found the GriefSeed? Or, what if the GriefSeed hatched on its own when she wasn't ready for it? Even if she wasn't at her best, she had to do this now. She couldn't take those risks.

"Homura." Kaiji said after some silence.

"Hm?" Homura responded passively, as she pulled a jar of peanut butter out of the cabinet and brought it to the garbage disposal.

"I heard about what happened earlier. The fact that… well, some of our associates decided to…"

"Drug my food?" Homura asked, as she opened the disposal and dropped the full jar of peanut butter down. She crouched down and listened closely as it banged and clanged its way to the bottom. Then, she straightened her posture and pondered the sounds, trying to gauge how far of a drop it was.

"Yes, that is not something that was agreed on collectively. It was the actions of a few individuals, and it never should have happened. It was a mistake."

"Ok." Homura responded, dismissively. She then went into the fridge and started poking around. She ended up removing a bag of onions, and brought those over to the garbage disposal as well.

"Dr. Endou is in the process of being reassigned. He is going to be taken off of the project… I listened back on the way he was talking to you earlier today… Homura, that is not the kind of people we are, and I know there is no way I can apologise enough for it. But, things will be different from here on out."

"I see…" Homura said, with that same dismissive tone of voice. She held the bag of onions upside down, and let them drop into the disposal. Then she closed the drawer, and listened as they rolled and tumbled, banging all the way down to the bottom.

"Same with the collars a week ago. That was Dr. Endou's doing, and nothing like that will ever happen again. We don't want to be your enemies, Homura, and we want to treat you well while you are here."

Homura went to the silverware drawer and grabbed two fistfulls of forks, knives, and spoons, and brought them back to the disposal. She opened it, and dropped them down, and listened to them clink and clang all the way down to the bottom.

"Um… Homura?" Kaiji asked, confusion in his voice. "What are you doing?"

"Kaiji, how many people are in this building right now?" Homura asked. "Specifically, here is this underground area."

"Well… I'm sorry Homura, but that is classified information."

"I see…" Homura walked out of the kitchen and started heading for the bathroom. "How many people are watching me right now? Is it just you, or is it a team of people?"

"Well, I'll say I'm not the only one who has access to this. As for specific numbers, I don't think I can say…"

Homura was only in the bathroom for a moment, she came right back out and went to stand by the living room table. "If this building needed to be evacuated, how quickly do you think you could do it?"

"Homura?"

"How quickly? Dr. Kaiji? This is important."

"I… don't know specifically, but we do have evacuation procedures… We also have a protocol for how to transport you in such a situation, but honestly I don't know what could happen that would require something like that."

"Natural gas leaks?" Homura suggested. "You know the way gasoline smells when you get it from the gas station? The oil companies actually add that, as a safety precaution, so people will know if there was a spill nearby. Gas in its unaltered form is odorless."

"Yes… I'm aware of that. Homura, you don't have to worry about natural gas leaks, I assure you that was taken into account during construction of this building." A pause, and then "Are you feeling well?"

"Just fine, I was only trying to make conversation." Then, there was a flash of light and her Magical Girl attire began to appear around her body.

"Homura, what are you doing? Why did you transform?"

She looked up at the camera, now fully transformed. Her voice had been somewhat playful before, but it now became dark. "I had another vision, Dr. Kaiji."

"A vision?" He asked, "Like when you predicted the storm?"

Her lips moved up and spread a sardonic smile across her pale face. "No… not exactly. This vision was a tad more pleasant. Before I tell you about it though, will you promise me you will do everything in your power to prevent anyone from getting hurt?"

"Why, yes. Yes! Of course, this is exactly why we brought you… well, yes."

"Good. Before I tell you about it though, there is something I want to show you." She raised her shield arm in the air. "You all have been pretty interested in learning about this shield. I'm sorry, but I don't want to tell you everything about it, I want to keep at least a few secrets to myself. I will show you one of its features, however." There was no response from Kaiji this time. That amused her. He must have been getting the idea that she was up to something.

She stuck her hand under the shield, and reached her arm far down inside of it. She reached so far that it would seem like a magicians trick, because it looked like her entire arm had disappeared. "I call this my shield space; a rather uncreative term, I know, but it sounded right." She started pulling her arm back out. "I can store anything I want in here, up to a certain size, and its space is endless. I once stored over three hundred RPGs inside of it. I know, that sounds like an exaggeration. Anyway, everything I take out is exactly the same as when I put it in, as if no time had passed, no matter how long it's been in there."

When her arm pulled out of the shield, it was holding onto a chrome suitcase which couldn't possibly have fit behind the shield on her arm. She set it down on the table, and angled it so no camera's could see inside. Then she started humming as she worked on twisting wires and connecting them to the right places which would set off a timer.

"Homura? What is that?" Kaiji asked. "What are you planning?"

"Kaiji, I had a vision that everyone in this lab is going to die tonight. Unless of course you can evacuate them within the next five minutes." When her work was done, she turned the suitcase around so that the cameras could see inside. "This case is filled with compact C4. It's a new version from the standard form which the general public doesn't know about yet. It has had significant testing, but there hasn't actually been any field use. I suppose today will be the first record taken of it being used against a real target. This will not be what kills the people in this lab, however. With a proper warning, which I will provide, everyone should be able to get out of the blast range before it goes off. The real danger is what's coming next."

"Homura, please stop." Kaiji said, a hint of panic in his voice, "I understand you have been treated poorly before, but I promise you that is going to change. If you go through with this, though..."

Homura snapped the case closed. "It's too late. You should stop wasting time talking to me, and make sure the building gets evacuated." She walked over to the garbage disposal.

"Homura! No! Stop!" She dropped it down, and listened as it banged and crashed all the way down to the bottom.

She looked directly at the camera. "Kaiji, five minutes from now anyone who is still in this lab will be in danger. If you try to put the gas on me, it will be less time. Do you believe me? In five minutes, everyone in this building will DIE!" Her room seemed to have sound proofing from the rest of the facility but with her magic enhanced hearing she was still able to just barely make out the sound of an alarm coming from behind the massive steel door.

"Ok, Homura, we're evacuating the building. Just as you asked."

"Good." She pulled out the GriefSeed which she had hidden up her sleeve, and shielded it in her palm. If she listened closely, she could hear its whispers. It just needed a touch more grief, and it would be ready to hatch. She may have purified the majority of her SoulGem last night, but there was still plenty left to put this GriefSeed over the edge, and allow its witch to be born. Just as she said, she would give the lab time to evacuate, however. Mainly to make sure the witch got baited to the outside, traveling inside its barrier would be useless if she just ended up jumping out inside another test room.

"Homura, you said you are planning something besides the C4? What is it?" Homura didn't respond. "Homura! WHAT IS IT!"

Her eyes instantly shot back to the camera. "Don't you DARE take that tone with me!" She screamed at the camera. "Don't you DARE presume to give me orders! Or try to command me! Or tell me what to do! EVER AGAIN! You should just be grateful I'm sparing your lives and giving you a fair warning! I didn't have to do that, you know, I could have waited for the middle of the day, and just allowed it to kill as many people as possible."

"Homura… please."

Her eyes narrowed "Why are you still talking to me?" She said, "My warning goes for you as well. If you don't get out of the lab, you're going to die… Doctor Kaiji." She sat down at the table, and stared at the clock. Just a few minutes left.

She stared up at the ceiling, mentally counting down, and trying to ignore the insufferable sound of the fluorescent lightning which had been tormenting her for the last month. "You really think you can make things alright?" She mused her eyes were dark and intense. "You really think you can keep me locked up down here, and as long as you provide me with games and toys, I won't mind? You're a fool Kaiji. I think Dr. Endou had the right of it. If you're going to treat me like an animal, you might as well just treat me like a goddamn animal! Anything in between, and you're just in denial."

She laughed to herself as she rolled the GriefSeed around in the palm of her hand and stared at it. "You wanted to learn about my power. Well… if you're lucky, one of these camera's might just get a glimpse of what real power looks like."

The clock ticked away the five minutes. Kaiji must have taken her advice and evacuated the building as well, because he didn't seem to have anything more to say.

Five more seconds….

Suddenly, there was an explosion which shook the ground as if there had been an earthquake. The drawer of the garbage disposal flew off its hinges, and crashed into a wall, leaving behind a steady stream of flames which shot forth from the open hole like an oversized blowtorch.

Homura held the GriefSeed against her chest, and fed it the last bit of grief needed to force it to hatch. She opened her palm and the dark object floated up into the center of the room, spinning and lashing at the room around it with black lightning.

"It's been a pleasure, Doctors." Homura said sarcastically, her hair whipping around as a strong wind blew through the confined space. Tiny embers from the fire danced around her, stinging her face. "I hope we never meet again, for your sakes."

Homura took a step towards the hatching GriefSeed; a wicked expression on her face as she became engulfed by the black lightning.


Ok, another pretty long chapter. It ended up taking longer to get out than I wanted, but I guess it's better to take a little longer and get it right rather than rush to get it out. The build up is finally coming to a head, next chapter should be pretty exciting :)

As always, my goal is to update within 2 weeks, but that is always subject to change depending on how things go.

Also, Alvaro84 has included Test Subject One in a fan art along with two other PMMM fics. Be sure to take a look! You can find it here:

alvaro84 dot deviantart dot com/art/Junkies-remake-588501927

Fanfiction doesn't let you post websites, so just make sure you replaces the 'dots' in the url :)