Chapter 3

Descent into Ascension

Sayaka spun around, throwing a razor-edged sword at the dark shape hurtling toward the red-clad figure in front of her. The whirling blade neatly bisected the shadowy figure, its severed torso fading in a puff of inky smoke. Kyoko pivoted on her spear, vaulting back towards the blunette. At the peak of her jump, she thrust out with her spear and it seemed to burst apart in a stream of chains. The newly-minted Magical Girl took a second to admire the lithe musculature of her new friend, her economy of motion: every movement purposeful and deadly, like some great cat. As the chain-and-spear descended into the shadow figures, it pierced one clean through. Still falling backwards from her jump, Kyoko yanked her arms back, causing the chain to violently whip amongst the remaining familiars and shredding three more.

"Thanks for that. Must be getting sloppy, knowing you're watching my ass."

"Ther-huh? Am not!"

"You know what I mean."

"There are a lot of them. Ideas?"

"Not sure... Damn, these are some tough ones. And worse, more are coming."

"I see them."

"They're so frick'n stupid. Like they don't realize its pointless to resist us!"

Sayaka glanced at her red-haired companion, trying to read her mood. The rookie Puella Magi was unused to fighting as a team. She felt an odd mix of security in knowing that she had a friend to back her up, and worry that the stakes were no longer just her own life.

It had only been a few hours since the... the station. Just the thought of how close she'd been to the brink of despair made her queasy. Be strong. You've got a new lease on life, she thought. She felt different; drained, but with a feeling of limitless capacity waiting to be filled. One thing had changed for certain: less than four hours of being part of a team, and already Sayaka didn't think she could go back to being alone.

The truth was, she missed Madoka. Not Hitomi, not at all-it wasn't that Sayaka held a grudge, exactly. It was more that Hitomi represented a sort of innocent ignorance that she now found so... pathetic? Enviable? She never could quite decide on exactly what she felt, but nevertheless... The wounds were still fresh and raw, but already she felt a vast gulf separating herself from the life she had know only a few days ago... a life which included her adorable, wonderful friend.

Madoka had always been such an amazing person-friend, sister, and personal cheerleader all bundled up in that pretty-faced, tiny girl. Her enthusiastic take on life had always been a welcome balance for Sayaka's often unrealistic expectations, prone to lofty ideals and concrete extremes that it was. Madoka's excitement for the future was always enough to reinvigorate Sayaka when the shortcomings of the real world let her down. She was the best friend anyone could have; selfless, considerate and utterly without guile. Trustworthy-that was it. She could trust Madoka with anything.

But ever since her wish-remember, no regrets, she told herself. Ever since the wish, she'd crossed into a world where Madoka could not follow. She understood her friend's decision, especially when it came to not having your head bitten off by a nightmare caterpillar-not to mention the whole "soul ripped out and placed in an egg" thing.

If what Kyoko suspects is true, she grimly reminded herself, then you can add "fate worse than death" to that list...

"Follow my lead. We'll cut through that patch of 'em over there, and run like hell 'til we get to that building with the twisted tower sticking out of it."

Sayaka readied another sword, scanning the approaching shapes. Experimentally, she spun her sword showily, more for Kyoko's benefit than anything else. The older girl rolled her eyes, forcing Sayaka to stifle a chuckle. She felt alive, for the first time in days. The shadowy forms began to converge menacingly, tendril-thin arms seeming to bleed dozens of spiky fingers or claws twitching with menace-these were nothing like the cute-but-deadly-scissor-wielding mustatioed puffballs she had encountered first with Madoka. That was when life had really started to get complicated.

She had been selfish, allowing her childhood friend to accompany her into extreme danger. Into the lair of witches who'd slain dozens of other "mortals" (as she'd begun thinking of the rest of humanity). Into situations where she herself as a Magical Girl had found almost impossible to control. Kyoko didn't say it that way, exactly, but she'd made her opinion clear.

"Seems pretty stupid, bringing a kid along to feed the Witches. What would happen if you failed to protect her, even for a second? She can't even defend herself. What would happen to you, if a Witch got her claws on your pretty pink-haired friend?"

So, after stumbling around the city for what felt like hours, wanting nothing more than to shower and sleep, Sayaka and Kyoko finally tracked down Madoka. Recalling her earlier outburst-had it really only been a couple hours ago?-Sayaka was about to break down in tearful apology when her friend hugged her tightly, chattering rapidly.

"Oh Sayaka-chan, it is so good to see you! I have been so worried, I knew you could take care of yourself and your an amazing Magical Girl but I was worried I'd hurt your feelings and I missed you and-" It went on for some while, and once Madoka had to pause for breath Sayaka glanced back at Kyoko Her relief at the reunion fizzling a tiny bit from the strained look of sympathetic happiness on the red-head's face.

A red ponytail rippling within arm's reach, Sayaka raced after her friend. Dozens of the shadow-men had emerged from the twisted buildings that seemed to haunt this Witch's labyrinth. Glancing back, she was dismayed to see how close the first group had gotten-a few strides behind, their bodies rippling and flowing as they seemed to glide along the ancient-looking cobbled street. The building Kyoko was heading towards, which was slowly coming to resemble a sinister-looking cathedral, was too far away.

Kyoko turned her head, uttering something that would have made the younger girl's ears burn if she hadn't been in a fight for her life. "They're too fast! We'll have to-"

"Keep going!" Sayaka shouted, turning her head to smirk at the red-head as she zipped in front of her in a flash of rippling white cape. When she'd increased the distance between herself and Kyoko, she skidded to a stop in the center of the street, raising a cloud of gritty dust. She had time to give her friend an exaggerated wink before raising her arms to the sky, white-gloved fingers extended. She waited for a second until the red-head was safely past her, then brought them down suddenly, as if she were about to play a chord on a keyboard.

"SAYAKA WHAT ARE Y-!?" Kyoko stood watching from the an alley she darted in to, halfway to the presumed safety of the building she'd chosen. She'd singled it out purely based on its evil-looking appearance, she had a good feeling that it led further into the Witch's lair. Her previous experiences had taught her that, while there were always exceptions, most Witches were unoriginal, gravitating especially towards what Sayaka had dubbed sinister cliches. Kyoko thought of them as Same old Scary Sh-Stuff. It was momentarily a struggle between heart and mind, but despite her instincts she remained in the street, ready to reverse course.

Her first thoughts upon realizing that Sayaka was, first off, faster than her and secondly, stopping and TURNING AROUND TO FIGHT while ordering her, SAKURA KYOKO, to KEEP RUNNING... were unkind. She could admit that to herself-that's what this whole "turning a new leaf" kick was all about. But Kyoko was a veteran, and she recognized awesome displays of combat prowess-she regularly pulled them off with style. Hence the reputation. And swagger.

For a moment, her concerns vanished, and she watched with the pure thrill of a lover of violent deeds inflicted upon the bad guys.

The first group of the shadow-men approached, perhaps eight or a dozen-their forms merged like smoke, and truth be told counting was never Kyoko's strong suit anyway. A small part of her mind noted that only this group-the remnant of the one they had originally encountered at the maze's entrance-had been fast enough to catch up. The shadow-men who had emerged from the twilight cityscape were some ways back.

As Sayaka brought her arms down, her fingers stabbing toward the ground, six swords materialized, gleaming sliver points facing downward and crackling with blue energy. A crystal clear note reverberated through the street, and as its pitch shifted the swords shifted, blurring and doubling. Another note, and twice as many swords hovered over the shadows, poised-then striking. The chord seemed to hover over the battlefield, bittersweet memories of the church organ Kyoko had heard so often in her youth flooding through her thoughts.

Gleaming blue streaks hurled to the ground, the impacts felt by Kyoko two blocks away. Blinking her eyes clear, she watched shadow-men reaching out to grasp the white-caped girl with glistening, midnight black talons that seemed to grow longer the closer they were. All at once, they fell to the barrage of blades spearing down from above, jerking violently as they were torn asunder. This time, terrific gouts of inky blackness, more liquid than smoke, burst forth from their severed pieces, accompanied by a hollow-sounding scream that clashed horrendously with the fading notes of... whatever it was that Sayaka had just pulled off. The few remaining, some limbless, some untouched, quickly fell to the whirlwind of blades as Sayaka tore through their midst. The inky black remnants seemed to spin around the rampaging girl, a vortex of smokey darkness swirling momentarily before dissipating.

A quick burst of pride, with a little mix of admiration and competition present in all her relationships-attributes that shaped her into a powerful veteran in the short-lived life of a Magical Girl-was quickly replaced with annoyance. What the & #% does she &#* ing think she's #&% ing doing? thought Kyoko, finding some habits hard to break.

"What do you think you're doing?" yelled Kyoko, who had also been conscientiously trying to clean up her language a bit.

The youngblood's blood was up, that was for sure. She strode across the street-turned-battlefield, drawing the energy-laced swords imbedded into the stones, hurling them at the the nearest group of approaching shadow-men, flowing across the road in a fluid mass. Three swords found targets, scything down something with each hit... but as the three fell, and the swords vanished back to wherever Puella Magi drew their weaponry from, the remaining creatures within the shadowswarm began to move with more purpose, more confidence... and a hell of a lot faster.

Kyoko dashed back to the blunette, swinging the head of her multi-piece spear in readiness. She heard Sayaka laughing to herself gleefully-it was a laugh she well knew. Several different emotions swept through Kyoko: her own early experiences with violence, and the ultimate release it allowed from all manner of mental, spiritual or emotional pain. It was like an old friend-admittedly one of bad influence-but welcome if for no reason other than to reminisce about an earlier, sometimes better, often simpler time.

The energized shadows were approaching fast, and Sayaka continued to gather the blades. Kyoko shouted to her again, but Sayaka either couldn't or choose not to hear. That wasn't fair, Kyoko chided herself. The blood pounding in her ears is probably deafening. She could almost taste it, herself... but she wouldn't allow herself to. Not today.

A long magic-powered hop and the red-head landed in front of the girl she now considered her... what? Student? Friend? Can you really know someone so quickly? It was hard for Kyoko to process; her life as a loner was devoid of such complicated, and often frustratingly unanswerable, questions. But it also hadn't been nearly as... fun? No, more like fulfilling.

Shockingly red hair waved back and forth in front of Sayaka's intense blue eyes. She smiled, ready for more action... then-

Blinking metaphorical stars out of her eyes, the blunette found herself half-slung over Kyoko's shoulder with a mouthful of the older girl's red mane in her mouth. She had time to think, abstractly and somewhat bizarrely, how wonderful it was that her soul wasn't inside her body, which was being rattled with what seemed to be excessive force as she was carried inside a building-the one they had been heading for!

"We're in!" she exclaimed, beaming at Kyoko-but the veteran stuck a stick of Pocky in her mouth, slumped down, and put her head in her hand. "What happened there? I was killing guys left and right, and then-" She shrugged her slim shoulders, the white cape fluttering down her back.

Kyoko looked up, her eyes glinting with mischief. "You pulled off some amazing crap back there-those energy sword moves were pretty boss. But none of that means crap IF YOU DON"T USE YOUR HEAD!" she shouted, rushing over to get in her face. The mock rage, even if inspired by a kernel of truth at its core, was not enough to deter the blunette's train of thought. She rubbed her cheek, and her eyes narrowed.

"Wait a sec-did you slap me?"

Kyoko stopped the angry act with startling abruptness. "No," she said reasonably. "You had gone all battle crazy. I was shouting at you and you weren't listening. So I had to get your attention."

"Why are you smirking like that? Stop it."

"I'm not smirking. This is my normal face. You making fun of me?"

"Its creepy, cut it out. You promise you didn't slap me?"

"I promise. Cross my heart, all that crap. I didn't slap you."

"What is up with that face?"

"Sorry, its really not a smirk. There, I'll just let it go-I was trying so hard not to smile."

"Huh? Why-"

"i punched you."

"You... what? You what? You...?"

"Hey," Kyoko said, waving her hands defensively, "it was you who was in danger. Those things were closing in on you-on us! The ones you attacked seemed to get all quickened up, and we didn't have much time..." She hadn't anticipated an angry reaction-her eyes stared like a deer caught in headlights, for a moment totally uncertain of herself.

Sayaka had sat down, hard, on the floor, holding her knees to her chest with crossed arms and slowly rocking back and forth. An icy chill ran down the red-head's spine.

She hadn't meant to make her friend cry-and why couldn't she see it for how funny it was. Me, punching the one I went to such great lengths to befriend. Saving her life, probably, and all of that.

But she realized immediately that the defensiveness she felt when she was in the wrong rarely led to any positive outcomes in her past relationships. Thinking of which, Kyoko was grateful that the topic of Tomoe Mami hadn't come up yet, aside from the brief period of time the rookie had spent under her "guidance." Oddly, all of that had been before Sayaka had even become a Magical Girl. She's young, Kyoko thought. But she had the courage, or stupidity, to walk into the Witch's lair as a human-armed with a baseball bat! Either way worked for the red-head, but she was certain Mami would not have allowed a foolish disciple to endanger themselves.

Kyoko, at that moment, may have actually apologized for her behavior-possibly with sincerity, if she hadn't realized that the younger girl was laughing at her.

Blinking back tears of mirth, Sayaka dropped the pretense and almost squealed with laughter. "K-Kyoko... y-... you should have... s-seen your f-f-face!"

After Kyoko had wrestled the blue-haired junior to the ground, forcing the younger girl to make several questionable promises in the process, the two got under way.

"That... messing around and stuff. Its a mistake."

"Mmm." Sayaka mumbled noncommittally.

"We have to stay focused in here."

Sayaka, still slightly giddy from her battle-fever, was instantly sobered.

"That was a cool trick, the swords falling from the sky, but remember-save it for the Witches. Its going to be difficult enough, without making it all the way to the center and dying cuz we're all tired and weakened."

The blunette nodded. "I feel fine; in fact, I feel better than I ever did fighting alone. I don't know what it is, but somehow... fighting with you makes it... easier?"

Kyoko seemed to consider something, change her mind, then change it again. "Would you mind, I mean could I... lemme see your Soul Gem. Please," she added as an afterthought.

The gem gave off nearly as much radiance as it had when it had been replenished mere hours ago. Kyoko's eyes widened-for a second, she had thought she had seen...

"Looks good," Kyoko admitted grudgingly, her counterpart beaming up at her with confidence. "But still, until you get a good idea of your limits-the kind you don't push so you never end up like a certain someone I remember having met-"

"You- You're trembling."

"Y-yeah. I'm... cold."

"Hmm. I get cold, too. Especially when the mazes are this messed up."

"It's so dark. And those things. Yuck."

"Meh, look like big noodles to me."

"Noodles with freaky insect mouths all over them."

"Well, yeah."

"Seems like we've come a really far way."

Silence. More accurately, worried silence.

"Kyoko?"

"... Yeah?"

"Would you think I'm a coward if I asked... if you could... hold my hand?"

"Seriously? We need to keep our wits about us. I can't believe..."

It is pretty creepy, Kyoko thought to herself. And its not like anyone is gonna see...

"Hell, its so hard to see we almost need to so we can stay together. And," she continued, as she groped around the darkness for her companions hand, "if one of us gets in to trouble, the other can pull them out..."

Both girls walked further into the darkness, knowledge of each other's existence the most comforting-perhaps only comforting-thing in the world.

How was the first combat episode? As always, your thoughts and opinions are appreciated! I've been trying to include hints and drop clues about things that happened prior to the story, and what lies ahead. I hope they aren't so vague as to be lost amidst the chatter. Let me know if I'm out of character, or speech patterns don't match, or any other way I can improve.