CHAPTER 14: IT TRULY IS A MIRACLE
#SURGAM IDENTIDEM#
Dark clouds loom over the sky, covering the city in their shadows. Homura walks forward alone. It didn't take long for a parade of colorful, poorly patched animals to pass by her as the Magical Girl continues to move forward. A mysterious large curtain comes into view. After she walks through it, she is greeted by the sight of a giant entity. An entity she's been in war through time. The ultimate Witch that she has desperately tried to defeat in order to change the fate of the one person she cares about. She stands on top of a river bank, staring at her powerful foe hovering in the sky.
The being before her appears to be a giant doll. Despite having no eyes, it possesses a painted red smile. The head and neck are white. Two horns on the head that immediately turn blue halfway. The rest of its body is covered by a large, blue Victorian dress with white frills. Underneath the dress is a series of gears. The largest gear is the same size as the bottom of the dress followed by several more gears, each one half the size of the gear before it. The noticeable thing of the entity is that it's positioned upside down. This is the final Witch that currently dwells in this world, known only as Walpurgisnacht.
"This time..." she says, "I won't fail." She swiftly swings her hand to the side, grasping a bazooka on the floor. Immediately she is surrounded by a large amount of bazookas, enough for an entire army. Her eyes narrow as she activates her magic.
At this same moment, Kairi, Sayaka, Madoka, Kyoko, and Mami are in an empty street, running towards the giant being in the sky. Though they are still have quite a ways to go. All the girls run forward with determined expressions. Kyoko however has a more aggravated face, "I can't believe she left us behind!"
"Considering that all of you are still alive," Kairi starts out, "she must want to keep it that way. Or she is counting on us to protect Madoka."
"When you put it like that," Sayaka states, "I can't blame her." Her eyes widen as does the others as they saw a storm of rockets push back Walpurgisnacht. From their current position, the explosions from the miniature missiles appear to look like fireworks.
"We need to hurry," Kairi calls out with determined eyes, despite her concerned tone. "I don't know how well prepared Homura is. But she has no chance of taking that thing out alone."
Minutes later, Homura presses a button on a remote control. Seconds later a large explosion erupts from the other side of the river. She stares at the spot with anticipation, hoping that she has finally finished her mission. Nothing occurs for a few seconds. A black beam suddenly pierces through the dust. Instantly it nearly reaches Homura, who suddenly realizes the attack. At that moment, a small wisp of light arcs around from behind the Magical Girl, stopping directly in between of her and the beam. The light turns into a dome of light in the next moment; protecting her from the attack. The barrier gets pushed back for a few yards before stopping. The dome glows before exploding into white dust.
The beam suddenly thins out and is replaced by a line of shadowy figures. Each one dancing around, the silhouettes themselves appear to be Magical Girls. The time traveler kneels down on one knee. As the dust settles, Homura looks up in surprise; seeing that her efforts were for naught but at the same time wondering how she came out of the attack unharmed. The Familiars closest to her gather around her, but are taken out by a glowing shell, an orb of light, and a small, short beam in the shape of an arrow. "That was close," said Kairi.
Homura turns her head around, finding the others running up to her; each one brandishing their respective , Kyoko, and Sayaka run past Homura before stopping while Mami and Madoka stop next to the time traveler. Homura looks at the girls next to her before looking forward, "Why are you here?"
"Sheesh!" Kyoko starts out as she looks at the smoke coming from the other side. "Isn't it obvious? We're here to save you from your stupidity," Kyoko declares as she prepares her spear.
"Listen Homura," Kairi states, "You want to protect Madoka, right?" Nothing is said for a second. "Then you need to stay by her side." Homura's eyes widen in response. "Listen, Kyoko and Sayaka will deal with the Familiars. Mami will provide cover for all of us and take a shot at Walpurgisnacht when she gets a chance." None of the others respond for Kairi had already told them of the strategy. "Madoka will focus all her power on Walpurgisnacht. You will stay close to her at all times. When Walpurgisnacht makes an attack in your direction, use her magic and get Madoka to a safe distance away from it."
"Why?" Homura asks. "Why are you all risking your lives?"
"Because Homura…" Madoka says with a concerned smile, causing the time traveler to look at the archer, "We all have something worth protecting."
"Madoka…" Homura says softly, looking at the pinkette with tearful eyes full of admiration.
"You should take this time to cleanse your Soul Gem," said Sayaka. She continues to stare at the smoke where Walpurgisnacht attacked from. Homura looks at the bluenette before nodding. She reverts back to her normal form, her Soul Gem in her hand. She takes a Grief Seed from her pocket before using it to drain the darkness in her soul, causing the gem to shine bright. She immediately turns back into her Magical Girl form before standing up.
"Everyone ready?" Kairi asks out loud. All the girls except for Homura declared that they are.
Something then dawns on Homura, "Wait, what are you going to do?"
Kairi smirks, "I'm going to keep that thing busy and bring the fight to it up close!"
*GUARDANDO NEL BUIO*
Walpurgisnacht finally appears from the smoke; moving towards them. The Witch maniacally laughs, taunting the girls as if telling them they have no hope of defeating it. After the girls take in the details of the giant Witch after a few seconds, Kairi jumps high in the air. She extends the Keyblade out before moving into a slow spin, creating five icy spheres surrounding her. She hovers for a few seconds as she brings her wielding arm to cross her body. "Freeze!" she yells out with a swing of the Keyblade. The spheres launch toward the river. As soon as the spheres hit the river, large spans of ice cover the water, turning it into a large ice rink. Kairi dives towards the ice. After landing, she immediately runs to the final Witch.
It doesn't take long for her to get surrounded by five Familiars. Two of the Familiars close in, Kairi casts Thundaga on them. They stop their advance, and Kairi takes this chance to use Photon Blade. She eliminates the two in three passes before going after another one, eliminating it with the final pass. The remaining two swoop in. Kairi cartwheels out of the way before gathering energy to cast Deep Freeze. She spins around, creating a chilling force in the area; freezing the remaining Familiars. She casts Thundaga once again to eliminate them. She immediately rushes towards the floating doll.
After Kairi runs for a minute, Walpurgisnacht laughs as the air and the ground start to shake. Kairi kneels down at that moment. Several buildings on the other side are pulled from their foundations, as well as cars, lampposts and other pieces of debris gather around it. At the same time, fissures appear in the ice. Segments of the ice field are then launched into the air. The area around Kairi also breaks off, making it into a frozen, hovering platform that the Keyblade Wielder is now on. After the platform stops ascending, Kairi stands up and prepares the Keyblade as more Familiars surround her.
After about a minute, Kairi finishes off the last of the group before charging on. She jumps on smaller pieces of floating ice to move forward. She skids on another ice platform. After stopping she is surrounded by a dozen Familiars. Two of the Familiars move closer, Kairi stands ready. A blurred figure with a streak of blue passes her and the incoming Familiars, which disappeared. The figure is none other than Sayaka. Kairi voices her surprise before asking what Sayaka is doing.
"Well," she said as she turns to the Keyblade Wielder with a casual smile, "You told me and Kyoko to eliminate Familiars. Besides, there's no way I'm letting you have all the fun." Kairi smiles at the small exchange between them. Sayaka turns around to face the Familiars at the front as Kairi focuses the ones in the rear. "One more thing. This is my way of really showing you how thankful I am for saving me." Sayaka smirks, "No way I'm backing down."
The Familiars close in. Sayaka brings back her cutlass. She jumps forward, unleashing Ars Arcanum. She destroys one familiar in the fast assault, destroys another with a series of slower attacks, and finishes a third with the finishing move. At the same time, Kairi finished off two more Familiars. She casts Firaga Burst; the hail of flames pummels on the remaining Familiars. Only two of the Familiars survive. Kairi immediately proceeds to cast Deep Freeze. After the spell is cast the Familiars are frozen in blocks of ice; floating next to each other. Sayaka takes a step back as she creates a sheath and places her weapon in it. Her stance is one that is ready to draw the blade. The next instance she appears, blade drawn out and extended to the side, behind the Familiars, which disappear as the ice on them shatters into dust.
At this moment another group of Familiars close on them; surrounding them in a circular formation. All of a sudden Kyoko bursts out of thin air, and impales one of the familiars as she swiftly dives towards. The attack eliminates it, as the shockwave from her landing damages the Familiars nearby. She immediately jumps before disappearing into the air and reappearing above another one and impaling it in the same manner. The process occurs three more times, eliminating what's left . After the final attack, she jumps towards the two, "Get going, we'll handle things here!" the spear user yells out. Kairi nods before running to the edge of the platform before jumping towards the Witch.
After jumping on seven more pieces of debris orbiting around Walpurgisnacht, Kairi reaches a floating building next to the Witch. She focuses her power as she stares at the Witch's smiling head. She fires bursts of light; 'dancing' as she hovers as she twirls the Keyblade. She gives off a bright pulse of light before aiming the Keyblade. The Keyblade turns into a large blade of light. In a bright flash, she fires a beam of pure light; pushing the Witch away. After ten seconds, Kairi's attack is exhausted and lands on the building. The moment Walpurgisnacht laughs, the building she's on is suddenly launched back towards the others on the other side of the river. Kairi realizes the Witch is aiming the building at Kyoko and Sayaka. Kairi warns them in time; both look at the incoming building with wide eyes. Sayaka snaps out of it quickly before grabbing the redhead and use her speed to get off the platform in time. The building smashes through the ice before finally ramming into the ground on the other side. Kairi is launched off the building. After soaring for a few seconds, Kairi recovers and plants her feet on an untouched building, before jumping. She lands on an abandoned street Kairi before staring at the enemy; catching sight of a few small fireballs hitting the Witch.
Madoka fires several Fire spells from her bow, aiming at the Witch. Homura stands behind a few feet behind her. She catches sight of an incoming Familiar. She takes out a machine gun from behind her shield and fires at it. The Familiar disappears in the short spray of bullets. Madoka fires several Ice spells from her bow before firing five shots of pure magic. Two more Familiars close in on them and Homura takes them out. A third one appears next to Madoka. She notices with a slight gasp before firing an arrow at it, destroying it. It wasn't log for them to realize that they are completely surrounded. A spear, broken and connected by chains, dances around; eliminating as many as possible. The spear reconnects as Kyoko lands a few yards from them. She tells Homura to get Madoka to safety. Homura nods before running to the pinkette. She takes Madoka's hand and the two disappear a moment later.
They reappear a far distance from Kyoko. Madoka takes position and fires at Walpurgisnacht. Homura keeps a sharp eye out for anymore Familiars. She suddenly gets hit from behind from a Familiar. Her grunt of pain catches the archer's attention. Another Familiar appears behind her. Before it can do anything it disappears at the sound of a gunshot. Madoka turns her ahead around before looking back and up. She finds Mami with a musket aimed towards them. She calls up more muskets and uses them to take out the Familiar next to Homura and several more Familiars that were trying to sneak up on them.
Kyoko takes out several more Familiars, but gets knocked down by one she didn't saw coming. Before she can take any more damage, the black silhouette is cut to pieces as does the Familiars next to it. Sayaka lands next to the downed Magical Girl. The swordswoman asked if Kyoko is all right. Kyoko states that she's fine as she stands up. The two burst forward in opposite directions. After taking down Familiars left and right for a minute they jump back towards each other, staring off in opposite directions. A red glare catches their attention. They look at it, only to realize it's too late. A large stream of fire from Walpurgisnacht is on top them. The stream explodes on contact with the ground. Kairi manages to catch sight of it on top of the building that she rode on. She immediately calls out their names in distressful shock. The other girls look at the explosion with wide eyes.
Sayaka's eyes are tight shut. Slowly they open up in confusion. She looks at Kyoko who is also opening their eyes. They soon find themselves and each other unharmed. They suddenly realize they are under some type of magical dome. A soft sigh catches their attention. "Looks like I made it just in time." The girls turn towards the source. To their surprise, the person standing in front of them is the boy the two fought against; the Keyblade Master, Riku. His back is turned towards the two.
"You're Riku?" Sayaka asks to confirm it's him. Riku makes a confirming statement in response with a nod.
"About time you showed up!" Kyoko said with a slight glare.
He scratches the back of head, "Listen…sorry that I fought with you two." He makes a self-depreciating chuckle, "Kairi…she can be very scary when she needs to be." A soft chuckle came from Kyoko before she glares at Riku with a smirk. Without turning around, he tosses a few Grief Seeds to them. He looks back at them, telling them to take this chance to purify their Soul Gems. Like Homura, they turned to their normal clothes in order to purify their Soul Gems. After the girls finished, they turned back into their Magical Girl forms. He lets them know that they need to start moving as soon as he releases the barrier. The two nod in response. Riku looks forward before summoning his Keyblade, Way of the Dawn.
#MAGIA#
Riku raises his free arm across his chest. After swinging it, the dome surrounding them disperses. "Go!" he yells out and the Magical Girls run forward. Riku looks at Walpurgisnacht before running towards the right. Kairi sees it all and breathes a sigh of relief. She immediately turns her attention to Walpurgisnacht, which is now hovering over the river. Kairi rushes towards the Witch.
Riku runs across the landscape, starting to be filled by pieces of debris that have been launched my Walpurginacht. He uses his surroundings to proceed; namely through grinding and wall jumping. Every few seconds, he runs into Familiars along the way but he easily dispatches them in a single blow. Riku jumps high in the air. He looks to his left to keep track of the Witch's movements. Soon enough he sees another building thrown at him. Riku tightly grips his Keyblade before bringing it back. Just before it can impact him, Riku slashes through it several times. With one final swing, the building is cut into six pieces which spread out around him. Riku disappears in blur before appearing in front of the pieces. His wielding arm crosses over his body; the Keyblade covered in a dark aura. He launches the debris in front of him with the Keyblade; covering it with darkness. He teleports to the remaining five pieces; launching them with the same aura. The building remnants impact the Witch before shattering into smaller pieces. Riku lands on the ground before continuing his run across the landscape.
Kairi, now with a white aura surrounding her, cuts her way through two Familiars, two pulses of light finishing them off, before jumping on pieces of rubble caught in the Witch's pull. She lands on another floating platform. She looks up in surprise before casting Reflega to protect herself from a blast of fire from Walpurgisnacht. Kairi struggles to keep the barrier strong. She yells out lout as she pushes the barrier to its limit. A fiery explosion destroys the platform she's on. Kairi is thrown out of the cloud of smoke, eyes closed. She snaps her eyes open before recovering in the air. She points her Keyblade at the Witch. "I'm not going to let it end like this!" she declares. Wisps of light fly from the explosion and into her Keyblade. She fires her Reflega Shot before landing on an orbiting car. The small orb of light makes contact with Walpurgisnacht before exploding into dozens of flashing lights.
Arrows built of electrical might impact the Witch, followed by a hail of large, glowing shells. On the ground, Madoka fires Blizzaga spells with her bow. Homura takes out a nearby Familiar with a handgun. Another one appears next to her, but is instantly destroyed by the Keyblade Master. The time traveler sees that they are getting surrounded. She runs up to Madoka and use her time stop magic. To Riku, the two simply disappeared instantly. Riku didn't give it much thought. Half a minute later, he takes out the last of the Familiars. He notices Walpurisnacht firing another blast of fire in his direction. Riku dashes forward before bursting into a dark laser and reappearing a few yards forward. He does this two more times before the flames hit the ground. The explosion propels the Keyblade Master forward in the air. He uses the propulsion to his advantage and glides to his next destination.
Mami uses her muskets keeping the Familiars at bay. When she finds herself in the clear, she creates four cannon-sized flintlocks from the ground with a raise of her right arm. She swings the same arm; pointing it at the Witch. At that moment, from right to left, each of the cannons fired at Walpurgisnacht. The shells make contact seconds later. Though the Witch does not take this without notice and launches a building at the Magical Girl. Before she can respond, Riku appears in front of her. Riku crosses his arm over his body, readying himself. Seconds later, Riku yells out; knocking back the incoming structure. The structure leans backwards in a near one-eighty degrees slowly. After the structure lands near the shoreline, the Keyblade Master turns around. He asks if she's okay after noticing the Magical Girl slightly breathing heaviliy. Riku tells her to purify her Soul Gem at this time. It takes Mami nearly a minute for her to turn back to normal and returning to her Magical Girl form after purifying her Soul Gem.
Riku gets an idea, "Hey, think you can shoot me over there?"
Mami looks at the Keyblade Master with wide eyes before giving an affirmative nod with an understanding smile. She creates another cannon-sized gun. Riku jumps into the muzzle. Mami takes aim at the Witch before firing. Riku is now soaring on top of a glowing shell. He jumps off before the shell impacts the Witch and lands on a floating building. He is soon surrounded by a group of Familiars. Riku makes a sound of amusement before twirling his Keyblade in a dance-like manner. After one last swing the Familiars disappear one after another as white lines cleave through the building he's on. Seconds later, the building crumbles in straight edges. Riku jumps before the remnants get blown away from each other. At that moment Riku disappears and reappears behind one of them and launches it with a dark aura. He repeats the process with remaining five. All six pieces ram into the Walpurgisnacht hard and Riku lands on a large ice platform in the air. Riku surrounds himself with a dark blue aura before jumping forward with a swing from his left to right.
On the other side of Walpurgisnacht, Kairi slices through a Familiar with a swing of her Keyblade in the same direction. Kairi bursts with light, activating the technique known as Bladecharge. She jumps on several pieces of debris before landing on a floating building. Familiars appear left and right, surrounding her. Kairi raises the Keyblade; casting Firaga Burst. She follows up with Deep Freeze. Another group of Familiars appear around her, much closer than the previous group. Kairi raises the Keyblade with a pulse of light, before spinning the light-fused blade. She eliminates all of them before jumping towards the Witch. With a defiant yell, she slams the extended sword into the Witch with a bright flash. The Witch laughs before firing a dark beam, catching the Keyblade wielder off guard. The beam pushes her back to the heroes' defensive line on the shore. The area is now completely filled with all sorts of debris from buildings, cars, and anything else one would find in a city. Kairi slowly rises up from the ground. She pops open an elixir before downing it and continuing onward after wiping her mouth.
The sky grows more dark, filled with darker clouds, lightning surges through them. Back to the ground, somewhere at the debris filled shoreline, Madoka and Homura appear out of nowhere. Homura jumps back so she can properly protect Madoka. Madoka takes aim before firing several magical arrows at Walpurgisnacht. Homura has a handgun ready to take out any incoming Familiars. A group of three Familiars appear from below the ledge the pinkette's on; surrounding her. Homura quickly dispatches two of them but the third is directly in front of Madoka. Homura activates her magic; disappearing in one moment before a flurry of gun shots is heard. The Familiar disappears and Homura stands next to her friend. Another Familiar appears out of nowhere and knocks Homura away from Madoka. The Magical Girl lands hits the ground on her head, before lying down on her stomach facing the pinkette unconscious. Madoka quickly gets rid of the Familiar. At that moment something catches her eye. A large fire stream from Walpurgisnacht is coming straight towards them. With Homura unconscious, she has no hope of escape. The stream is already a few yards away from them. She tightly close her eyes, hoping to have enough power to create a barrier in time. For her everything goes white.
#SIS PUELLA MAGICA#
For a few seconds, Madoka does not feel any burns or injury. She slowly opens her eyes. Her expression turns to surprise with a gasp. She is no longer at the battlefield. Instead she finds herself in the middle of a pink, stained glass tower in the middle of empty darkness. The stained-glass she's standing on has her in a Magical Girl outfit in the center, sleeping in a fetal position. Surrounding her sleeping image are white cutouts of her Magical Girl form; each one holding hands with one another. Madoka does not take in these details. Instead she is transfixed on a pink wisp of light a few yards from her. She finally notices that there are more of the pink lights surrounding her. The number is too much to count.
The light in front of her glows, catching her attention. She looks at it with a gasp. The light is gone, and in its place, the pinkette feels she's looking at a mirror image of herself. The light transformed into Madoka, but wearing a Magical Girl outfit. This Madoka looks at the real one with a graceful, understanding smile. She walks to the normal Madoka in the center and stops right in front of her. The latter looks at it with open eyes while the other's smile deepens. With a slow embrace, the glowing girl hugs the pinkette. The real Madoka's eyes widen. After a few seconds, she too embraces her glowing counterpart. She closes her eyes before forming the same smile as the glowing figure. "I understand," she says in a soft tone. The next moment, all the lights gather into the glowing figure. Eventually the real Madoka glows as well before everything fades to white.
A large explosion rattles the battlefield. Riku looks at it with apprehension from a building remnant in the air. Mami, standing in a torn opening in another building still in its foundations, stares with wide eyes and a hand covering her mouth. On the ground, a few meters from the building, Kyoko and Sayaka look at it with disbelieving expressions. Kairi, who is on top of fallen building on the left side of the explosion about a hundred meters away, looks at it with horror. "Madoka!" she screams out loud. A few seconds later, she notices a small light glimmering in the center of the explosion. In a flash, a large dome light appears, dispersing the fire and smoke from the explosion. The dome itself is about fifty meters wide. Kairi makes a few small gasps before her expression turns into relief. "Thank goodness," she says in a soft tone.
Homura starts coming to; her eyes slowly opening. After seeing through the haze in her vision, her eyes snap completely wide. Standing in front of her is Madoka, in the form that Homura never hoped to see again. Madoka wears a pink and white dress decorated with pink ribbon bow ties. The usual ribbons in her hair have also been replaced by similar ribbons worn in the same fashion and a red ribbon around her neck with the bow tie on the back of her neck. The hands are covered with white gloves with pink wristbands. Homura is a loss for words.
Madoka turns to her left before turning her head even more to face the time traveler with a graceful smile. Immediately Homura notices something. She does not have the usual Soul Gem in her chest. Homura suddenly realizes Madoka is glowing with a pink aura. "Thank you for everything, Homura," she says in a sweet, gentle voice. "You have protected me so many times, in this timeline and the others." Homura gasps at that statement. Somehow Madoka is able to remember all the timelines that Homura been through. "I'm glad, you've kept your promise." She offers a hand towards the time traveler. "Now…just one more time. Won't you help me?"
Homura manages to stand up before walking to the glowing girl in a trance-like state. She clasps the offered hand with both of hers. Homura nods, getting the feeling this is no ordinary Magical Girl transformation. Madoka's smile deepens before they let go of each other. Madoka turns around, facing Walpurgisnacht. Her head tilts forward, eyes closed, giving her the impression of one that has obtained clarity in mind and soul. She looks up at Walpurgisnacht with determined eyes. She tightens her grip on the golden bow in her right hand. She brings her left arm across her body. She swings her arm to the side, commanding her barrier to disperse into fragments of light. The fragments linger in the air for a few seconds.
*BLACK POWDER*
The fragments turn into wisps of light, gathering into Madoka's free hand as she slowly spins around once. By the time she completes her spin and facing Walpurgisnacht, all of the lights gathered into a semi-translucent sphere surrounding her free hand. She pulls the string on her bow, the sphere becomes an arrow of pure light. More lights gathered into the bow. She releases the arrow; the bow creating a pulse of light. The arrow soars through sky. When it is near the Witch the arrow explodes in a brilliant light, releasing thousands of light arrows. The arrows burst in miniature sparks of light as the impact their target, pushing away the massive Witch.
Kairi is running through the battlefield, eliminating any Familiar that gets in her way. Walpurgisnacht fires several dark beams at the Keyblade wielder. She dodges them nimbly, but she is soon surrounded by tens of dark silhouettes. She casts Firaga Burst, eliminating some of their numbers. Several Familiars manage to get close and knock her down a couple times. Kairi immediately stands back up before creating a barrier with a raised hand; stopping more attacks in the process. She counterblasts, staggering them, before wrapping herself in a white aura. Before she can do more damage, several yellow ribbons wrap around some of the Familiars. Kairi traces them back to Mami, who is swinging through the air on her ribbons. She creates about twenty muskets surrounding her. The muskets move in a circular motion with one musket firing after another, creating a machine gun-like effect. Her attack reduces the Familiars surrounding Kairi to seven left. Mami lands near the Keyblade Wielder.
Kairi notices that Mami is panting slightly. Concluding that she needs to purify her Soul Gem, Kairi casts a Reflega barrier surrounding him. Mami doesn't hesitate and purifies her Soul Gem within a minute. At the time, the Familiars try to break through but couldn't. After Mami is ready to go, Kairi releases the barrier, and bursts of light appear around the two, eliminating what's left of the Familiars. However, five more appear. Mami smiles before disappearing in a blur. She appears in the air, in a near-lying position, a musket trained on a Familiar. After her shot eliminates it, she disappears again to reappear in another position before shooting at another Familiar. The process continues for another five seconds. She appears next to Kairi after the last Familiar was exterminated. She thanks Kairi for showing them the Moogle shop. After telling she can handle things here, Kairi nods before charging forward into the floating debris surrounding Walpurgisnacht.
Meanwhile, Riku slashes through a horde of the shadowed girls. His Keyblade wrapped in a large blade of light and his other arm covered with darkness, giving it the appearance of a drill with black electricity sparking through it. Riku jumps on several debris before landing on another floating building next to the Witch. The Familiars surround him. Riku takes them out with several swings of both the light sword and dark drill. He eliminates the last one by stepping back before stepping forward with a thrust of his black arm forward; drilling into the silhouette before it disappears. Riku looks at the Witch for a few seconds before more Familiars appear in a single line formation. Riku smirks before charging in. He brought his darkness-covered hand to grip his Keyblade causing the two powers to merge in a dim, golden sword drill. He screams as he spins through the air, eliminating the Familiars. He is right next to the Witch. He brings back his left arm, the large drill covering it; his Keyblade no longer has any aura surrounding it. "Take this!" he yells out as he drills into the Witch. After an explosion of twilit sparks, Riku is propelled back onto the building. Walpurgisnacht laughs as the building shakes; prompting Riku to kneel down. It launches the building towards the ground.
Riku stabs his Keyblade into the building; bracing himself for a heavy impact. The building crashes into the ground. Surprisingly, it still remains intact. Riku pants as he recovers himself. Out of nowhere a Familiar knocks him hard. The hit was strong enough to send him off the building and into the rugged terrain. Riku manages to push himself up quickly before looking at the Familiar hovering over the building alongside to two others; all three are giggling. Riku's eyes harden before they open a tad. Something slashes through the Familiars at a fast speed. After they disappear, Sayaka and Kyoko appear on top of the building. The red-head sneers at the Keyblade Master, "What's wrong? Losing your touch?"
Riku makes a sound of amusement before summoning his Keyblade, still thrust into the building, back to his hand. Several explosions catch their attention. They are coming from Walpurgisnacht, which is being hailed by human-sized balls of fire. Without a doubt, Riku believes they came from the pinkette. He looks at Walpurgisnacht, noticing the two girls he saved earlier in front of it; standing on the building he was just on. Riku's eyes widen a tad as an idea goes through them. "Hey", he calls out to them, catching their attention. "Need a ride?" At first the question confused them at first, but they quickly realize Riku's intentions. They both look at each other, smirking a second later. They both turn to the Keyblade Master with a nod.
Riku brings his Keyblade to his left side with both hands. To his surprise, Kyoko points her spear towards him. The spear breaks into two, connected by a chain, the spear end launched towards him. The spear impales into the ground next to him. Riku smirks as he gets the idea. After focusing his strength, he screams out as he swings at the building. After making contact, the building is launched into the air quickly. The next moment, Riku reflexively grabbed the chain, before that end of the spear gets pulled by the flying building.
Kyoko commands her spear to return to its normal shape; pulling Riku towards them. Riku lands on the building as Kyoko's spear becomes whole. All three kneel down. Just as the building is about to impact, Riku tells them to jump. The all jump and each one landing on different pieces of debris after the building are broken by the impact on the Witch. Sayaka wastes no time and jumps from one floating piece to another. In five seconds, she lands on the side of the Witch. Immediately using her speed, as she scrapes her sword along the Witch's dress; screaming out loud as she becomes a glowing blue streak cutting around the Witch.
As Riku jumps from one debris to another. Kyoko finds herself surrounded by Familiars. Kyoko jumps into the air before performing the technique she used to help Kairi earlier (Jump). After eliminating the first group after using the skill several times, another group appears. Kyoko smirks before charging in with the head of her spear slightly growing. She cuts through one Familiar before her body is surrounded by a golden cloud for a second. What happened is that she absorbed energy from the Familiar she defeated (Lancet). She performed the technique several more times until there is only two more left.
At this time, Sayaka is about to complete her circuit around Walpurgisnacht. At exactly at the point she started she jumps off, heading towards Kyoko, who finished off the remaining Familiars. She calls out to the redhead with an extended arm. Kyoko extends her arm and she is taken by Sayaka's momentum. They are both diving towards the surface. As they get close to the ground, webbings of yellow ribbons take hold on protruding objects as well as several airborne objects. The falling girls get caught in the web, which gets stretched towards the ground; slowing their descent dramatically. The ribbons glow before dispersing and the two land without a scratch after recovering in the air. The look around for a second before finding Mami. The two smile as thanks.
Mami returns the smile before looking at Walpurgisnacht before raising her arm. Four cannon-sized hand guns appear in front of her. With a smile, fiery energy is gathering in front of each of the muzzles. "Tiro Finale: Big Shot Special!" she yells seconds later with a swing of her raised arm; now extended towards the Witch with an open palm. At that moment, the cannons launch fiery spheres one after another. It didn't take them long to impact; pushing the Witch farther back.
Kairi, surrounded by a light aura, is jumping from platform to platform; getting closer to Walpurgisnacht. During a jump in mid-air, Walpurgisnacht fires three dark beams at her. Kairi raises a Reflega barrier in time. The beams manage to push her back to the debris-filled shoreline in the ground. The beams break apart; turning into more dark silhouettes. They surround the dome of light. The barrier explodes, eliminating the Familiars. As the dust settles, Kairi kneels down panting, before looking up to glare at the Witch. Using her Keyblade, she pushes herself to stand on her two feet. She closes her eyes, taking a deep breath.
The aura surrounding her becomes stronger as wisps of light, appearing around her, gather into her. Her eyes snap open. She raises her Keyblade to the sky with both hands. The Keyblade becomes a large blade of light. She swings down her arms to her sides, the light blade divided into two light blades surrounding her arms; creating the impression of her having angel wings. With a heavy step forward, she launches into the air. The Witch fires multiple streams of fire at her. Kairi gracefully avoids them, spinning to the left or right; making it look like the flames can be dodged very easily. Just as she is about to enter close-range combat with Walpurgisnacht, tens of Familiars appear in front of her. Dozens more surround her from behind and above. Kairi charges forward as Walpurgisnacht is again hit by several large fireballs.
On the ground, Madoka fires spell after spell in a dance-like manner. Her attacks hitting their mark. Walprugisnacht responds by firing two bursts of fire at her. With a swing of her hand, Madoka erects another large dome of light. The flames eventually disperse after slamming into the shield. At the same time, her barrier is shattered. Raising the free hand, the remnants gather into her free hand before firing her own Reflega Shot. The arrow pierces through the air before releasing thousands of light arrows that are able to push the Witch back. Madoka follows up with a Thundaga Arrow before spinning once prior to launching an arrow of pure ice magic. Seconds later, the thunder arrow explodes into an electrical field. Just before the ice arrow reaches the field, it bursts as well; releasing hundreds of frozen shards. The shards pass through the field, now charged with electrical might, before impacting the Witch; pushing it back even more with the combination of the two elements.
Kairi dances in the air, eliminating Familiars left and right before going to a wild spin as she rushes in to eliminate the last of shadows in front of her. She flaps her arms fast, propelling her to the Witch. She immediately attacks the Witch head on with a frenzy of dance-like attacks on Walpurgisnacht before going into another wild spin; cutting into the Witch along with its body. Kairi kicks off of it before hovering in the air staring it down. "This is it!" she yells out as the aura surrounding her explodes. She crosses her 'wings' as hundreds of light sphere appear before spinning around her; creating a hurricane fill with light. The lights pierce through the Witch as the pass by. Kairi raises her crosses arm slightly before slamming her wings of light into the monster; "It's over!" she yells out as her attack creates an X-shaped slash on the Witch before the marks explode. Moments later, the white aura around her vanishes and her Keyblade appears in her right hand.
Swirls of fire appear in front of Kairi. Quickly, she raised a Reflega barrier before the flames burst forward. The flames pushed her to halfway to the shoreline before the shield explodes; dispersing the flames. Kairi is thrown out of the smoke and in a few seconds later hits the ground hard. After tumbling for a few seconds, she finally rests with her head pointed towards the Witch; her stomach lying on the ground. Her body is covered in scrapes and bruises. She does not move for a few seconds before her hands twitch. Slowly she pushes herself up as she groans from the pain before looking up at the Witch. Through sheer willpower she starts to move towards higher ground; despite the pain her body is in.
Walpurgisnacht laughs once more with Riku hovering next to it. "That's right. Keep on laughing," he says. He brings his Keyblade in front of him with both hands; pointing it directly to the sky. Riku weapon glows with white as his body is covered with a dark blue aura with a white outline. He raises the Keyblade as he slowly ascends for a few feet. "You're gonna lose it all!" he declares before disappearing through a ripple in the air. He suddenly appears out of a ripple in air behind the Witch; charging in with a black streak surrounded by light. He pierces through the Witch in a matter of seconds. Immediately he disappears into another ripple before performing the strike again from a different angle. He keeps it up for about five seconds. At this point the attacks become progessively faster and frequent. The next five seconds, the attack occur so fast that the streaks look like thousands of lasers piercing through Walpurgisnacht. The attacks suddenly cease the moment Riku appears above the Witch at the exact center of its body, a large white aura surrounding his Keyblade; taking the appearance of a sword that is as long enough to completely cut through the Witch. "You…" he brings back his Keyblade as if he's swinging with a baseball bat as faces downwards towards his target, "are…" He slams the blade right into the gears, "done!" The Witch immediately crashes into the ground directly below it; creating a massive dust cloud.
At that moment; all the debris in the air starts to fall down. Most falling faster than others. Among them is building remnant that crashes into the river. Riku lands on the building with a crouch before falling to one knee. He tries to catch his breath as he looks up at the dust cloud in front of him. Riku stares at it for a few seconds. His eyes widen when a burst of flame hits him directly; sending him into the air with a painful cry. Riku eyes are closed before opening them up, finding a lamppost slowly falling into the river. Riku grabs hold of it when he got close before spinning around it. He launches himself towards the shore, jumping on whatever debris that's still falling. He finally hits the shore before making a couple more jumps. He finally stops on a broken pillar protruding from a pile of rubble. He turns back, seeing Walpurgisnacht slowly rising from the dust.
About 20 meters to Riku's left, Sayaka and Kyoko look at the Witch with apprehension; wondering how it's still moving. On a stone pillar all the way to the left, Kairi stares at the laughing doll. About 20 meters to her right is Mami, holding a closed hand over her chest. In exactly between the two wielders of the Keyblade, about 50 meters away from them at a slightly lower elevation, Madoka simply stares at the Witch. Ten feet behind her, Homura looks at the Witch, unable to comprehend to how it is still alive after the barrage from the Keyblade wielders.
Nothing occurs as the Witch rises outside of the dust cloud. Riku stares at it before noticing something. The large gear protruding from Walpurgisnacht's dress is clicking. Riku can see this is their chance. "Kairi!" he yells out to his left, getting the Keyblade wielders attention. "We can take it out in one more blow!"
Kairi eyes widen, before looking at the glowing pinkette, "Madoka, focus all your power in one shot. Riku and I will try to hold it in place it!"
"Got it!" she says before pulling the bowstring. A swirl of pink lights gather into her bow, slowly forming a pink arrow of pure magic.
Walpurgisnacht draws closer to them. "Kairi!" he yells out pointing his Keyblade at the Witch with both hands.
"On it!" Kairi yells out as she points her Keyblade at the doll as well in the same manner. At the same time, particles of light gather at the tip of their weapons. Seconds later, they both fire beams of light at the same time. The beams traveled fast, hitting the Witch at its chest; causing it to stall.
"Now!" Riku declares.
"Madoka!" Kairi screams out.
"Right!" the pinkette responds with a determined eyes. One final pulse of pink light gathers into her bow before she releases it; creating a sonic boom. The arrow itself has turned into a giant spear of pure energy. The arrow pierces through Walpurgisnacht at the exact same point the Keyblades were aiming at. Her arrow hits the chest before flying out through the large gear. The Keyblade wielders stop their attack as they and the others look at the Witch. The gears on top of the Witch stopped except for the large one coming out of the dress. Every few seconds, the gear makes one click. After click for a fifth time, the gear stops moving.
Five seconds later the gear clicks once more. Immediately an explosion occurs on the Witch's body. After that another explosion. Soon explosions are happening all over the gears and doll. At this time it continues to laugh for a few seconds before its laughter turns into wailing. Beams of light erupt from it. A small light glows from the direct center. The light creates a circular glare around it. After a few seconds, the circle goes into the light and the beams retract back into it. At that moment Walpurgisnacht explodes; the light from the explosion blinds everyone temporarily.
*BEYOND THE DOOR*
After the light fades away, the sky is glittered with particles of light gently falling all over the city. Riku looks at the sight with a triumphant grin. Kairi softly smiles at the empty space where Walpurgisnacht once was. Mami is beaming with a joyous smile. Kyoko and Sayaka look on with hopeful smiles of their own. Homura looks on with wide eyes, unable to believe that they have actually succeeded. The dark clouds in the air still hover over them before rays of light break through them. Madoka looks at scenery with a wistful smile before closing her eyes. Homura stares at the pinkette before her eyes widen. Madoka's Magical Girl form dissolves into particles; the aura no longer surrounding her as she returns to her normal attire. She falls backwards; prompting the time traveler to sprint. Homura is able to catch her in time and cradles the pinkette's limp body to lay on the ground; her head resting on Homura's knees. Immediately she takes two fingers and places them on Madoka's neck. She gasps with wide eyes. Afterwards she smiles with tears in her eyes. "It's finally over…" she says in a whispery voice as a small tear runs down her face.
A few minutes later, Mami walks up to the two while Sayaka and Kyoko, placing the spear behind her neck, approaches from the other direction. The eventually stand above the sleeping girl and the time traveler. "Okay," Kyoko starts out, looking at Madoka, "How the heck did she turn into a Magical Girl?" No one could come up with anything for a few seconds.
"I have a theory," Riku says as he and Kairi approaches them. The girls turn their heads to the Keyblade wielders. Riku continues after the two stop, "She must have made contact with another version of her that dwelled in her heart. By contacting with one of them, she was able to make contact with all of the different selves that have been sleeping deep in her heart. Overall, she gained all their power; the same power that's been resting inside of her."
Homura looks back at Madoka's sleeping face. She softly smiles as she remembers how Madoka is able to remember all the timelines Homura's jumped through. "I think your right," she says in an audible whisper.
"So is she a Magical Girl or not?" Sayaka asks.
Riku makes a sound of amusement, putting a fist on his side. "I'm pretty sure it's just a onetime deal."
Mami looks at him in confusion before looking at Madoka. Her eyes widen,"Now that you mention it, I don't feel her potential anymore."
Kairi smiles, "She must have put everything in that one shot."
"So what does that mean exactly?" Kyoko asks.
"Long explanation short," Riku says, "I doubt she'll be able to use magic again."
"That doesn't matter," Homura says with a smile. "As long as she's here alive, nothing else matters."
"Looks like everything's going to be just fine," says Kairi; smiling at the time traveler and the girl sleeping on her lap.
"Not quite…" says Mami, confusing the Keyblade wielder. Kairi looks at Mami, who is back in her normal attire; using a Grief Seed on her Soul Gem with a sad smile. She turns to the Keyblade Wielder after her Soul Gem has been cleansed. "You still have us to deal with."
Kairi looks at her with a concerned expression. "What do you mean?" Though she has an idea of what Mami is referring to, she doesn't like where it's going.
"That man said that after we defeated Walpurgisnacht, all the Witches would be gone. So to make sure it stays like that…"
Kairi slightly gasps. "No…" she says softly.
"It's okay," said Sayaka, now in her school clothes, just finished purifying her Soul Gem. "I don't like it either but what other choice do we have?"
"Besides," Kyoko, in her regular clothes, says with a sad smile as she purifies her Soul Gem, "Without Witches for us to hunt, what other reason do we have to exist?"
"Like I said," Kairi said with a determined expression, "I'm going to help you get your souls back into your bodies."
"No need…" Homura says as she gently places Madoka's head before standing up. She transforms back into her normal attire before applying the Grief Seed to her Soul Gem. After the process is done, Homura turns to face Kairi with a smile. "Now that Madoka is still alive, there's no need for me to exist any longer. We don't exactly have a lot of time." She suddenly gives off an embarrassed smile, "This is my last Grief Seed after all."
"Same here," Sayaka replies. Mami and Kyoko also make similar statements.
"In that case," Riku says before walking up to Kyoko. "Hand over all those Grief Seeds," he says in calm, polite manner, "No need for you to hang on to them, right?"
"Why?" Kyoko asks.
Riku gives a soft smile, "Don't you think they deserve a rest as well?" Kyoko looks at him in confusion at first before realizing what Riku is talking about. She shuffles her pockets, taking out all the Grief Seeds she has on her. He went to the others collecting all the Grief Seeds they have on them. After he's done collecting them, he walks away for a short distance. There were too many in his hands so he sets them on the ground. After scattering them around him he kneels down with closed eyes. After he snaps them open, he slams the ground with an open palm. A black ripple expands from his position and all the used stones are launched into the air high above him. He summons his Keyblade before jumping up. In appearance, he slowly swings his weapon once he is surrounded by them. After passing through them, the Grief Seeds burst into tiny white fireworks one after another. By the time Riku lands all the Grief Seeds are gone.
"What was that for?" Mami asks curiously. Though they could not use them anymore, she still wants to know why Riku destroyed them.
"I thought that by using the Keyblade, I could free their souls much like how the Keyblade is able to free hearts from the Heartless."
Kairi's eyes widen before bringing a hand to her chin. Something Riku said, along with her experiences here, got her thinking. "I think…" she says softly, getting the others' attention. "I know how to get your souls back."
*DEARLY BELOVED (BIRTH BY SLEEP VERSION)*
"How?" Mami asks.
Kairi smiles before looking at Kyoko and Sayaka, "Remember what I said about the soul and heart are connected?" The two look at each other before turning to the Princess of Heart nodding. "If I can connect with your hearts, then I can use the Keyblade to help guide your souls back to your bodies. It's… something similar to what I did to bring Sayaka back."
"Are you sure about this?" Sayaka asks with astonishment.
"I'm not one hundred percent sure about this. If I'm wrong the worst that could happen is…" Kairi starts to trail off to the side. The Magical Girls understand that in the worst case scenario, they could die.
"How about we try it?" Mami says, surprising Kairi. "Besides I'm living a life that I shouldn't be living."
"Are you sure?" Kairi asks.
Mami nods, "I have no regrets," she says with a smile.
Kairi closes her eyes with a smile. She summons her Keyblade before pointing at Mami with both hands. Mami cups her hands with her Soul Gem in them before extending it out. At first nothing happens. To everyone else's surprise, both the blonde and the Princess of Heart glow with a strange aura. Light gathers into the tip of the Keyblade. The Keyblade releases a beam of light, which hits the Soul Gem. The beam and gem hold in place for a few seconds. The Soul Gem shines before shattering with a bright flash. Instantly Mami falls to the ground. Kairi opens her eyes the aura no longer surrounding her.
Riku walks up to the blonde before kneeling down. A second after placing a couple fingers on her neck, the Keyblade Master closes his eyes with a smirk. He looks up at his friend, "She's alive," he says casually.
Kairi eyes and smile are filled with joy. She turns to the other Magical Girls, "Who's next?"
Sayaka steps forward, presenting her Soul Gem, "I'm glad to have met you. That's all I can say." Sayaka says with a smile before closing her eyes. Kairi nods and the two start the ritual. Seconds later after the two glow and the Keyblade fires a beam at the Soul Gem, it flashes before disappearing, and the bluenette falls backwards.
Kairi turns to Kyoko. "Well let's get this over with," said the Magical Girl with a smirk. Kairi begins the process; Kyoko presents her Soul Gem with a calm face. Again, Kairi glows as does Kyoko before the Keyblade fires. Seconds later her Soul Gem is no longer seen after a flash and she falls to the side.
Kairi looks at the time traveler, "Ready?"
Homura nods with a genuine smile. "All that I can say… is thank you. For everything." Kairi nods before aiming the Keyblade at the last Soul Gem. After the two glow with closed eyes, the Keyblade fires the beam, hitting the Soul Gem which shatters with a bright spark seconds later. Immediately Homura falls as well.
Kairi walks to her as Riku checks on Kyoko. Kairi confirms Homura is alive before she stands up to check on Sayaka. The Princess of Heart smiles after finding that all the girls have survived; finally escaping the dark fate that was set for them. "You did it, Kairi." Riku says after standing up. He looks at his friend with a smile. "Honestly, I think you're the only one that is capable of doing what you've done here."
Kairi returns the smile. The landscape slowly brightens up. The two chosen wielders of the Keyblade look up to the sky. The clouds have finally dissipated; revealing a bright, blue sky with the sun shining bright on them and the sleeping girls; each one having a smile. Kairi gives a small, contented sigh. "It truly is a miracle."
Author's Note: There you have it folks.
Sorry if this chapter is longer than usual; have to make it big for a final battle.
Next chapter will be the last!
It will be up in about a few weeks give or take.
Until then, see you later.
Preview
Do you really have to go?
I will never forget you.
What are you doing here?
What took you guys so long?
WISH
Have you been practicing your magic?
Thank you for what you did for her.
How long has it been?
Next Chapter
UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN