They entered the witch's barrier.
Violin music, faint but familiar, echoed from somewhere in the distance; posters from an upcoming show, written in some incomprehensible language, lined the walls. Some of the pictures featured a single oddly-shaped red earring, like one half of a broken heart.
But Sayaka didn't wear earrings… did she? Where had he seen that shape before? It was on the tip of his tongue…
"Ah, thank goodness." Kyouko jumped up from where she had been crouching, one ear to the wall. Her skin seemed just a shade darker in the dim and dusty light. "I don't think she's noticed us yet. We might have a chance to… to change her back."
"How?" It seemed odd to see Madoka so distraught, her lips trembling, and Jotaro almost felt her emotions reflecting onto him. (Strong feelings always did that to him. He couldn't stand it. It was probably too enclosed to light up a cigarette too, dammit.) "How could this have happened?"
Kyouko shook her head. "Ask Kyubey, wherever he is. My best guess is that… if you continue to wipe away the shadows on your soul, more will be revealed, and the bad feelings will come back stronger and fresher. I think there's a limit to how much you can wipe away before…"
Before you become a witch. Kyubey jumped up onto Madoka's shoulder (where had he been all this time?). That is correct. However, the fewer grief seeds you use, the more pain you will be in.
"What kind of pain, dammit?" Surprisingly, it was Kyouko who slammed her fist into the wall first, rather than him; he felt as though his last safe outlet was being taken away from him and ground his teeth. Kyouko seemed to ignore it. "I'm halfway corrupted, dammit, and I don't feel anything!"
Kyubey tipped his head, staring into Kyouko's soul, and swished his tail. Are you sure, Kyouko? You seem a little conflicted.
She looked up, her face suddenly filled with horror. (Jotaro, without any context, thought he hadn't seen her eating anything since entering the barrier.)
"My god…" Her cheeks twitched, bringing the squiggly lines on her face to life like a pair of captured snakes. "So that's how it is."
"What is it, Kyouko-chan?" Madoka reached out for the girl hesitantly, "Have you figured something out?"
With a shake of her head, Kyouko turned away. "When you next see Homura-chan, ask her about her true body. I'll… I'll explain later, if – if I can." She shouldered her weapon. "First, the witch."
There was a pulse of noise. Somewhere in the depths of her barrier, the witch that had once been Sayaka had noticed their presence. The hallway – the hallway got shorter all at once, like an accordion folding in on itself. A pair of double doors flung themselves open, close enough that the breeze ruffled Jotaro's hair in passing.
And… there she was. A monster ten times the size of Jotaro at least, with a fishy tail and what looked like the upper body of Blue Chariot, mangled just enough that it took him a moment to notice the similarity. It conducted an orchestra of who-knows-how-many violinists, a bent rapier serving as a conductor's baton; behind its neck, a red collar fanned out in the shape of a heart, with a jagged line going down the middle like those earrings on the posters. A monster. Sayaka was a monster.
"Madoka-chan." For a moment, Kyouko seemed hesitant, but the thought cleared. "You know her better. If anyone can change her back… I'll keep her familiars off your back."
Madoka nodded, grim-faced. "I'll do my best."
"Jotaro-kun…" The red-haired girl sighed. "There was something else you needed to know about this city. Something I learned with fortune telling, but…"
"You can't remember." He glowered. "Of course."
She shrugged, her face becoming resigned once more. "I'll probably remember once I've used a bit more magic. Just…" She sighed. "I think the one you call DIO is figuring it out as well. Be on your guard."
"Same to you."
She nodded calmly, and turned away to face the witch. "Madoka-chan, get talking."
"Er – right!" A shiver; Madoka cleared her throat delicately and took a confident stance to look up at the faceless nightmare. "S-sayaka-chan! Can you hear me?"
The thing waved its arms, and a trio of cogs flew down from somewhere in the ceiling, straight towards Madoka: in a flash, Kyouko had transformed and was fighting them off. The bird head cawed with exhilaration. "Keep going!"
"Sayaka-chan, I know you're in there! Please remember! Remember who you really are, deep inside! You don't have to be this way!"
A roar. It sounded as though two people were screaming together at the top of their lungs, as if they were both shouting to be heard over the sound of the monster, but in the midst of the rising music it was hard to tell what was being said. Jotaro crouched down with one hand to the ground, listening to Madoka plead with her friend.
"Sayaka-chan, it's me, Madoka! We know each other! Your Stand is Blue Chariot and your wish was –" she hesitated – "your wish was for Kyousuke-kun to be healed, I think…" She frowned, ignoring the renewed roars and attacks for the beast. "Actually, I can't remember exactly… Today you said something about your sister, but… I know you're an only child, Sayaka. You were probably thinking of Mami-san, who took us under her wing like an older sister. But…"
Another roar. One of the cogs sliced at Kyouko, cutting deep into her forearm. Madoka flinched, but continued on with a shaky voice. "I don't know which version of you is really true! Please, Sayaka-chan, come back to normal so you can tell us who you really are!"
The monster formerly known as Sayaka let out one final, massive roar. The two voices screamed out as loud as they could, shaking the floorboards like an earthquake. Jotaro listened carefully. One was definitely saying Sayaka, a screaming angry female voice with no true rhyme or melody. The other…
"Madoka-chan, keep going. I'm going to try joining you."
"You, Jotaro-kun?" Her face scrunched up with surprise. "What good will it do to have us both shouting at once!"
"I can hear… something." He scowled, and brought his hat down over his face. "Just do it already."
She frowned for a moment, then nodded. In unison, they took a breath; without pausing to listen to Madoka, Jotaro tried to find words of his own. (Dammit, why were things like this always so hard? He didn't know what to say…)
"Polnareff!" The codename echoed through the concert hall, mingling with Madoka's call to Sayaka. "Listen to me! I don't know what the hell's going on, but you have to fight this! Don't give up everything to be this witch!"
Another cog whizzed past Magician's Scarlet, opening up a gash in her other arm, and he winced. The bird-headed person seemed to falter slightly, and the tip of her weapon drove into the ground.
Which shattered.
Suddenly all of them – Kyouko, Madoka, Jotaro, and the witch – were falling into a deeper pit, flailing for ground.
Kyouko was already turning so that she would land on her feet (and, really, how were those wrist and ankle flames still burning after all this time?). He was alright, too, but… Madoka had no Stand to help her – that she could remember. So he made a snap decision.
He transformed.
There was no chorus of sweetly singing girls, no pleasant tune of violins for him: instead, an angry electric guitar riff provided the theme for his transformation, and he groaned. It wasn't even the type of music he liked.
His clothes – his precious school jacket, his ridiculous chain, even his favourite hat – seemed to dissolve into thin air. In their place, he found himself wearing an odd kind of rectangular loincloth, metal shoulder pads, and a big red… cape? Scarf? On his hands, a pair of black finger-less gloves, covered in buttons or some shit. His hair frizzed up suddenly and grew, becoming suddenly spiky, and a tiara appeared on his forehead. And there, in pride of place on his muscled chest, sat his star-shaped soul gem. Had the others had their soul gems out on display? He didn't think so, but he might have missed it.
"Good grief." He jumped towards Madoka, catching her in mid-air in his muscled arms; with a thump, they landed on the glass-littered floor of the pit.
"Jotaro-kun…" Madoka stared at his soul gem in disbelief. "No…"
Beside them, Kyouko landed neatly on the ground, blood still leaking from her arms. She noticed Jotaro, and gasped. "It can't be… Star Platinum!"
Yes, thought Jotaro calmly, setting Madoka down on her feet. That was his name in this form. Star Platinum…
