She was walking, always walking. She didn't really remember why she had to walk, but it was important, right? And she had to keep the black thing and the blue thing close by. Those were important too. There was a place she had to go to, probably. There were people she had to fight.

One, specific person she had to fight. (Where was he? Who was he?)

She had to do this, no matter what anyone said. And she had to keep going, had to keep walking and –

"Sayaka-chan! Are you all right?" Pink. Ribbons. Friend.

"Ma-madoka. And…you?" Black. Hat. Muscles. Unreasonably tall. "Who are you?"

The black hat boy – man? – stared uncomfortably at her shoulder. "Um. We talked yesterday. You were there."

"What's your name?" She couldn't help staring; she had definitely never met anyone like this. She would remember, right? "I don't remember ever meeting you."

"Come on, Sayaka-chan." Madoka, comforting familiar Madoka, took hold of her shoulder. "It's Jotaro-kun, remember? The guy who fell into our class?"

"I'm…" She felt her fingers twisting around the blue thing and the black thing. "I'm going hunting, Madoka-chan. You can come with me, if you like. Hermit Pink is pretty useful for finding witches."

"Hermit Pink?" She looked confused, blank, as if – oh, god, she'd forgotten Hermit Pink. How could she have forgotten Hermit Pink? She grasped Sayaka's shoulder a little tighter in her hand, and asks the expected question. "What is Hermit Pink?"

'Jotaro-kun' rumbles. (It feels weird, to think of such a mountain of delinquent muscle so familiarly. Surely, he should be '-san', or maybe 'oh fuck'.) "It's your Stand, Madoka-chan."

Whatever Sayaka expected from such a mass of anger and black, it wasn't for him to be on first name terms with Madoka, of all people. She was a good girl, didn't get mixed up in delinquency or… that type of person. (And the guy addressed her more gently than she expected, too, with a '-chan' rather than a 'bitch'. That was weird.)

Madoka looked up at the big guy in confusion. "My… Stand? I don't have a –"

"The stand you would have, if you had one. Or something." The way he blurted it out was almost cute, if she ignored the fact that he could probably punch her through a building. He… was he actually awkward, all along? But… hold on.

"You mean, you don't have one? But I thought… How did you get rid of - ?" She trailed off and stared at Madoka. The pink-haired girl stared into the distance, thinking deeply.

"Hermit Pink…" She held up her left hand. A perfectly normal hand, like her other one. The fingers moved, and she began to click the joints, one by one. It was an awful habit. "That was the name of my Stand in my dream… now why didn't I remember that before?"

"But why don't you have it anymore? How - ?" She knew, or thought she knew, what the answer was. "You'd forgotten it. Everyone in this city has forgotten something. Important stuff. I can't… I have to get going." She shook her head. It didn't matter whether Madoka came with her, whether Madoka had a Stand or not. She was going. She had to. "I have to go. I have to avenge my sister."

"Your sister?" The delinquent – 'Jotaro-kun' – looked at her shoulder again. "Were you and Mami-san related?"

That was a cruel joke, talking about some random stranger when her sister, her actual sister, was dead, dishonoured, in need of her perfect knight to come and save her, to be her vengeance and fury across the grave. "Who's that?" She looked up, deliberately, into his sea-green eyes, making sure to put as much acidity as she could into her expression. (He looked away quickly. Damn. She was good at this.) "I'm talking about my sister, dammit, and if you get in my way I'll murder you."

With that, she wrenched herself free of Madoka's clutches – gently, because Madoka didn't deserve to get hurt – and turned to go. She was going to kill a witch.


Sayaka stepped into the little alleyway. "Here." She nodded at them. "My soul gem feels a magical presence here. I don't need your help."

There was a blue flash, and she began to transform; despite himself, Jotaro watched and tried to note the differences in style between her and Mami. He saw a blue, compact helmet before –

"Stop right there!" A large spearhead, sizzling slightly, embedded itself in the road by Sayaka's feet. The three of them looked up.

A girl stood at the end of the alleyway, her face in shadow, holding the other end of the spear. There were several meters of diamond-shaped chain connecting the two ends. Red flames licked around the girl's body, highlighting her short shorts and comfortable hoodie. Her hair flickered around her, merging with the burning red around her.

"What you are doing is unwise, Miki Sayaka. The cards foretell an unhappy future if you continue on this path."

The three of them stared at her. At last, Sayaka broke the ice. "H-how did you know my name?"

A white smile appeared on the stranger's overshadowed face, bringing to mind Cheshire cats and unsettling memories. "You could say… I know the future." She looked up, and Madoka and Jotaro took in breath.

"Avdol!"