Chapter 26
Rumble in Motogawa
Crouching to avoid the swinging chain, Sayaka pushed up and back, hurling herself into the air, spinning before hitting one of the walls of rusting shipping containers that were scattered throughout the environment. She saw the girl's eyes widen in surprise as she flew directly toward her, the razor-thin plane of her sword slicing toward her chain-wearing and -wielding opponent... Sachi-something or other.
The bitch who couldn't keep her mouth shut. Who wanted to kill them.
Sayaka slammed into the pavement where her enemy had been an instant before. The long, trailing chain pulled away as the black-clad Puella Magi leapt to the side. Turning, Sayaka was clipped by the links of chain flying past-
A wave of agony, horrendous pain. She felt nauseous, her nerves burning with an instant of torture... then it was gone, along with the slinking chains being pulled around the corner of a nearby stack of the huge metal boxes. Shaking her head, the twisted feeling in her stomach fading, she spared a quick glance back, trying to catch her partner's eye.
Kyoko had been keeping an eye on the other two girls who had decided to ambush them. The way they kept glancing at one another, the tightness of the muscles in the robed one with long green braids as she held that strange crossbow... the sweat on their brows. They didn't seem fully committed to the fight... something they would soon come to regret.
Noticing the blunette pause as Maeko fled, she focused her thoughts. Go ahead, these two will be no problem for me. Be ca-... Go kick her ass. She felt the amused gratitude her new friend chose to share with her, and watched her leap, first up to the top of a nearby stack of containers, and then high, high into the air.
From the corner of her eye, of course. Her attention was still focused on her two opponents. The two girls continued to circle Kyoko, eyes intent on the point of her long, wide-edged spear as it spun lazily through the air. The red-head began moving, turning to keep her opponents in view, changing position to keep them from flanking her.
"Pretty much your last chance to run," she said conversationally, her toothy, eager grin flashing under the industrial-strength floodlight that lit this portion of the shipyard.
Cursing the darkness, wide blue eyes scanned the shadowy maze of metal below her, once again managing to pick out the movement of her prey. Leaping across the tops of the maze of metal, Sayaka dove headfirst towards the darting, shadowy figure that ran in front of her. Spinning, the strange girl hurled the weighted end of the chain portion of her weapon. The blunette, rocketing toward the girl, rolled, spinning through the air. As the chain passed below her, she stopped the spin and with a throwing motion with her left hand, a crackling, forward curving blade appeared, spinning through the air towards her opponent less than 10 meters away with the sound of a thrumming bass guitar.
Her opponent brought up her hand, the long, wicked looking sickle-blade attached to the opposite end of the handle as the chain. The dagger was deflected, but in the fraction of a second it took this Sachi-girl to react, bringing her weapon up and leaving her left side undefended, Sayaka had closed the gap, driving her sword far, far into the girl's lower abdomen. After the first meter penetrated all the way out the short red-haired girl's torso, she seemed to go limp, and the blunette continued to slowly walk forward, driving the sword ever further. Unable to help herself, Sayaka's eyes roved over her defeated enemy, searching for... it must be somewhere, unless it was hidden like her own...
A wave of guilt washed over the young Magical Girl... to even consider targeting her opponent's Soul Gem, the receptacle of whatever she and every other Puella Magi had left of a spirit... it was abhorrent. It was against everything she stood for. She'd fight, and beat this girl bloody, teach her a lesson she'd never forget... but she couldn't...
Her eyes caught a slight glimmer through the hole her sword had created in the leather covering the girl's abdomen.
Before she knew what had happened, the black-leather and silver-chained girl had thrust herself forward, the blade sliding effortlessly through the hole below her chest. Her eyes were wild, a manic grin etched across her face as she reached out...
Sayaka felt her body seize up, every muscle seeming to tense as a wave of all-consuming agony washed over her. Open mouthed, unable even to gasp, the blunette's sword disappeared, leaving a long slit of a wound, pumping blood liberally out of Sachi's jacket, coating the silently swinging chains, spattering the dirty, worn pavement. Her hand grasped Sayaka's shoulders, and through the haze of pain the blunette was dimly aware of her opponent bringing back her arm, a curved sickle blade gleaming dully in the dim night...
Remembering the lesson Kyubey had tried to teach her... if it hadn't just been sadistically torturing her, Sayaka embraced the pain. She recalled the feeling as shadowy, razored tentacles had slashed into her, while she had laughed and hacked and slain the thing that had tried so hard to destroy her...
A slim, white-gloved fist connected with Sachi Maeko's jaw, spinning her head and rattling her thoughts for a moment. She recovered almost instantly, but in that instant the follow-up elbow hit her square in the nose. She stumbled back, choking.
"Fuggen bidge!" her enemy screeched, putting a hand to her nose, face twisted with dismay.
Sayaka was amazed at the sight of the girl's shattered nose, blood pouring out from both face and chest. WIth a bubbling scream, the girl took off, the wild look in her eye now reflecting a deep uncertainty... almost panic.
Grinning like a wolf, the blunette materialized a pair of swords, and followed.
Kyoko enjoyed a good game of cat-and-mouse... but she was growing bored.
"You've made your decision, it seems." She feinted with her spear, stabbing at the samurai-girl with short black hair, Bringing up her naginata, its curved blade slimmer but longer than Kyoko's spear tip, she assumed a defensive posture, ready to block and riposte with a spin of her polearm.
Instead, Kyoko's spear flicked out in a different direction entirely, catching the crossbow wielding girl completely off guard. The strange weapon spun off into the darkness, Kyoko's initial swing connecting solidly, and she willed her spear to extend, chains clanking in the still night air... the only other sounds were slightly heavy breathing, the shuffling of feet on a hard surface, the gentle sound of the water lapping along the coast... and for a moment, off in the distance, a scream.
She smiled. She felt that she'd know if Sayaka had been hurt... it didn't sound like her scream anyway. Good for her, Kyoko thought, feeling a little twinge of jealously. Time to end this.
On the return stroke, the chain-spear wrapped itself around the robed and newly-disarmed girl's legs, yanking her off her feet. By now, samurai girl... Keiko, was it? She was advancing, a look of alarm on her face as her eyes flickered between the red-headed veteran and her green-braided companion laying at her feet.
Something about that look... not lovers, but something close, Kyoko thought. Then she glanced down at the downed girl as she struggled to get up, a look of determination on her face... matched almost exactly by the face of the girl now approaching her with raised naginata, concern for her friend melting in a furnace of protective rage...
I don't like this, she thought in dismay. Not one bit. It hit... very close to home. Reassembling her spear and holding it before her, she took a step backward, away from the slowly-standing-up figure. So slow... even for a regular human. She'd been down for seconds.
"Look, I'll give you one more chance. I don't want to kill either of you. Me and my friend-"
The black-haired girl interrupted, eyes narrowed and looking ready to pounce. "You're invading our city! You're nothing but a thief! Give us the Grief Seeds!" Her voice got louder and louder, finally shouting the words hoarsely. The red-head sighed, her pony tail swishing through the air as she shook her head emphatically.
"You don't seem to understand..." Kyoko paused as she noticed the samurai chick glance over at a dimly lit building, back in the general direction they had come. This was the second time. Curious, she took another step back, sparing a quick glance at the area...
Ah, shit.
Sayaka was furious. Her blood felt like it was literally boiling, bubbling in her veins with roiling, unspent energy. She'd come close, so close... but still that damn chain-wearing girl continued to elude her. The blunette had refrained from using much of her repertoire, fearing the damage and attention a mass of exploding swords was likely to cause... and even more than that, she didn't want to destroy the girl she chased.
She just wanted to beat her into submission.
Sometimes you fight fire with fire. Sometimes, you bully a bully to get them to stop. The justification for imminent violence came easily. The foul-mouthed girl had spent the last several minutes taunting Sayaka, heading farther and farther along the waterfront, away from Kyoko and her battle. The blunette's pride would not allow her enemy to escape... she didn't want to return to her friend empty-handed, so to speak. She had no doubt the girl could handle herself against the two remaining opponents. Besides, she'd contact her telepathically if something was going on, like she had as Sayaka had lain under her covers, hiding from the world while sinking into despair, so, so long ago.
This was her first duel... at least, her first duel with a Magical Girl who wasn't Sakura Kyoko. She understood her friend's fascination with fighting, and despite her own reservations, couldn't help but think that she had to win this one, to prove herself to her new friend.
It was too much to ask for Kyoko to have resolved her situation without violence. Those girls hadn't said much, but hadn't seemed so bad...
Not like this filthy little... "Grrrrr!" Sayaka unconsciously growled like she'd heard Kyoko do so many times before, the verbalization a perfect expression of the frustration she was feeling. She just wouldn't shut up: insulting Kyoko, implications about Mami-san's honor, questioning Sayaka's own parentage... her crude insults were obnoxious, and the blunette meant to put a stop to them. And make certain the girl couldn't follow up on her threat to kill her friend.
She just had to find her target first.
Momentarily wrapped in a whirling spiral of blade and chain, Kyoko spun around, looking at the newcomers as the naginata-wielding girl hovered warily at the edge of the spinning vortex, while the robed one stood up shakily, another strange crossbow materializing before her. The box-and-lever on top looked so awkward...
Two shadowy figures slowly resolved as they entered the pool of harsh illumination. Keen eyes... the eyes of a predator, picked out details. Wild purple hair, baggy pants and bare midriff, a massive, iron-studded club held in both hands, preparing to leap forward. A bulky, camouflaged figure, wearing some kind of body armor, of all things, her face hidden behind the helmet, visor faintly glowing yellow, seeming to cradle something in her arms. The red-head heard a distinctive sound that she'd only heard in movies and video games, the unmistakable racking of a shotgun.
Sayaka, she thought, hating to interrupt her friend during combat but needing to update her on the situation. We might have a problem. Two more have arrived.
Dammit! came the blunette's frustrated response, unable to completely remove the worry from her thought. On my... oh crap, Kyoko, she's doubled back... she's heading back toward you!
You might want to get the hell out of here, Kyoko began, but was furiously interrupted by a wave of pained disappointment.
I'm not leaving you! The thought cut off with finality.
The wild-haired girl wielding the immense club took a giant leap, coming towards her. The armored figure brought her weapon to bare, lining up a shot, while the other two girls seemed to regain some of their confidence, the green-braided one beginning to cock back the lever, aiming...
Kyoko thought fast, assessing the situation. If Sayaka had fled, she could have gotten away from these girls, as galling as the thought was. But with her determined to come here, well... that didn't leave the red-head much choice. Her mind had already assessed the most potentially dangerous target, and her body was instantly in motion.
A burst of ruby light lit up the surrounding walls of containers, brown and magenta. Even as four phantasmal Kyokos appeared, the real Kyoko was moving, hurtling toward the armored figure.
BOOM. The shotgun fired, muzzle flash erupting in a cone of bright flame. Kyoko felt the shot tear into her outstretched left arm, dozens of metal pellets shredding skin, ricocheting off bone... her grin of anticipation becoming a snarl, the red head descended, the glowing tip of her spear stabbing down at the helmeted head, piercing the armored magical outfit in a wave of shimmering heat, blade sinking into the head...
The yellow glow of the translucent visor went dark.
"Nooooo!" a voice screamed behind her, high pitched, while Kieko's harsh, choked voice cried out "Rei!"
Pulling her spear out and twirling it to get the blood off, Kyoko turned to face her shocked, upset, and outraged opponents... all of whom were at least partly occupied by the doubles... quadruples? By the copies of herself... her phantasms.
One arm hanging at her side in tatters, she gave herself a moment to begin re-knitting the ruined flesh before advancing back toward the fight, spear in one hand at the ready. You dug this grave for yourselves, ladies, she thought, attempting to project her thoughts to the nearby girls, but it was impossible to know if they received her message. Certainly their faces remained unchanged: stunned or enraged." I can't abide double-standards, and despise hypocrites. Allow me to demonstrate with some excessive force."
Sayaka, growing increasingly impatient and furious with both herself and the elusive Sachi, had spent what seemed like forever searching for her opponent. Why won't she fight me? she thought in disgusted frustration. Cowardly little-
Then she'd seen her, leaping in the distance... away from her. Back towards...
Shit!
The blunette stood there, stunned beneath the stars, overwhelmed by furious self-recrimination. She tricked me...
Eyes narrowing, Sayaka forced herself to redirect the anger. Dropping her swords and allowing them to dissolve back into motes of nothingness, she crouched down, balancing on her fingertips as she pushed off, speeding through the corridors of rusted metal.
Sachi Maeko struck at the moment of Kyoko's victory.
Kyoko had watched two of her four phantasms dissapate under a withering hail of luminescent darts that the green-braided girl Noemi shot out of that strange crossbow contraption, dart after dart huring out each time she cranked the lever. One had been engaging her, the other Kelko, both her original opponets. The other two were keeping the remaining newcomer busy, the kanabo-wielding hulk of a girl bleeding from a shallow cut along her outer bicep.
Thinking to end the battle quickly and with a flash of irony, Kyoko rushed at the newcomer's exposed back, taking advantage of outnumbering her opponent. Also, she thought... foolishly hoped, perhaps, that the other two wouldn't be as eager to continue the fight as this one would.
One of the mirage!Kyoko's burst apart into nothing, the girl's massive wooden club banded with studs of iron, connected with the ground, so powerful that the red-head felt it from a dozen meters away.
Her spear thrust forward, seeming to grow as the sections came apart, chain extending. As the tip pierced the giant below the ribcage, Kyoko willed her spear to come together, maximizing the force of her momentum with the once-again solid pole. The spear first buried itself into the girl's ribs, from behind, then Kyoko continued the stroke, bringing her up, impaled on her spear.
The tall girl screamed briefly, drew a ragged breath, then seemed to lurch down the upheld spear, ribs cracking as gravity pulled the sharp tip of Kyoko's spear through her straining ribcage. This time her scream was truly bloodcurdling.
Kyoko glared into the eyes of her remaining opponents, the younger looking Noemi with a look of abject horror on her face, while Keiko seemed to gaze in outrage at the abominable state of her former battle-buddy.
"Last chance-" Kyoko's intentionally frightening and creepy smirk died on her face as, painfully loud, Sayaka shouted in her mind Watch out! She saw the movement out of the corner of her eye, too late, amazed that someone could still manage to sneak up on her, hating herself for having allowed it to happen.
As the first silvery links of the chain touched her, everything around her seemed to fade into black as an all-consuming wave of pain washed over her. Nerves burning, seeming to light up every single pain receptor throughout her body, Kyoko was barely aware of the way her muscles had clenched, or that she now lay on the ground, her arms and torso wrapped in silvery chain. She latched on to a sound... an evil chuckling... getting louder. Approaching. She pushed herself, trying to focus enough to increase her pain threshold, use her magic to somehow break out of this trap...
The pain faded, slightly. Instead of burning inside of the sun, she was merely doused in gasoline and lit on fire. Still agonizing, still paralyzed, she could dimly make out the sound of conversation around her.
"I... I don't like th-this," the faint voice of Noemi said, the girl too shocked and appalled by the night's events to continue the conversation telepathically. "Th-this isn't w-what you t-t-told me it would be l-like!"
"What dafuq are you talkin' about? That bitch killed Rei!" The large girl stopped pulling at her disheveled purple hair, picking up her massive club and advancing threateningly on the bound red-head.
"She's mine!" Maeko hissed, extending her arm and pointing at the scratched and battered larger girl, who backed off for the moment, suddenly wary. The wicked, gleaming sickle blade rose up into the night sky, flashing down in an instant.
Part one of two.
Many thanks for all the reviews, I especially enjoyed hearing about last chapter since it was kind of important to me. Hopefully it came off as sincere, Madoka's so wonderfully, impossibly nice, I don't think she could stay mad at anyone once she got to know them as human beings, especially if they are sad or unhappy human beings.
Leafy, I am really sorry to have offended you. Yeah, its kind of gross, disturbing even. I tried to warn you and everyone else, rated m for a reason and such, but I'll be more... explicit in the preview. There's a point to it all (consider Homura's mental state before and after), but the M content is completely unnecessary to the greater story, which I've tried to explain. And, well, motivations and perspectives will be made clearer as things progress. Sincerely sorry though, hope you get this message of apology. I appreciate the feedback, and will try to provide more forewarning.
I'm still probably a bad person, though.
If that previous paragraph has you intrigued, dear reader, you're probably a bad person, too.