When Homura pushed the red button, she disspelled her Magical Girl-attire as well. Madoka could not know that she and Lilly had been in the mall already, thus her surprise. Unfortunately, Kyubey had gotten one message through. The time traveler missed it once.

All the other times, the Incubator had not existed long enough to call for help. Either Homura shot it with a clean hit or Lilly ate it. Though the Witch did that with every of its bodies and kept out of sight for the remainder of the time. Kyubey might not even have noticed her, though both of them doubted that.

It was about time to leave this place. The rat had not come back and from what she just heard, it had not tried to talk to Madoka directly, either. Which was a relief.

But why is this going so smoothly?
Something about this was wrong. It never was this easy.

With measured steps, the raven-haired girl started walking. She had to get out of this area before the staff of the mall found her.

While she was on her way, Homura thought about everything that happened in these past ten days. She was living together with a Witch. With her own Witch.

It was a paradox, that was for sure. Madoka's wish crossed the boundaries of reason and made something that the time traveler did not understand why she did it. Why would she do something as to create her own persona again, but in its final form?

Could it be...

Knowing Madoka, she might have understood something Homura never actually stated. Something elemental about herself that had become the core of her mentality.

The original Akemi Homura was no more, gone in all the tragedies and atrocities. What was once her became stronger and formed the being that is now called Akemi Homura, with a will of iron and a heart of ice. She knew that. However, sometimes when she was around Madoka, her old self could break through. It was still there, a small spark of humanity. And this posed a problem.

Because even when Homura had come to terms with what she had become, she hated her former self with a passion. Hated what she once was for what she was: weak.

But never before had anyone understood this, not even the gentle pinkette. Lilly, however, did. Since they were basically the same person, there was someone who understood her in full for the very first time. Apparently, this was also the reason for her accepting the Witch to some extent.

I vowed not to rely on anyone anymore... so I would turn down every being except for myself... Madoka, you...

Once again, her friend had done so much for her and she did not even realise it at first. And again, Homura failed to save her. So for this time, she as well as her Witch would succeed.

However, the conditions Lilly named would make this more difficult than anything she had tried ever before. All of the other Magical Girls had to survive. And on top of that, they must not learn about her twin being a Witch. If they did, at least two out of three would snap and start a coursing where they might very well end up being the prey.

Of course, this meant to be even more cautious. Lilly could only be by her side in public or with time stop being active. Otherwise, she would be noticed in the end and by now, Homura suspected that Kyubey kept an eye on her anyway to scout.

A sigh escaped the girl while she reached for the handle of the door, but as she felt another presence nearby, she stopped. There were two, to be exact. One of them was a Witch, most likely the creature of the rose garden. The other one was easily recognizable and far more concerning, so Homura turned around as she heard the footsteps.

A blonde was coming her way, looking somewhat displeased and with Kyubey sitting on her shoulder. She stood upright and looked right back at the time traveler, but Homura could not see open hostility in her posture. Not yet.

Once Tomoe Mami was close enough to not have to shout, she started to talk: "While I do not mind sharing my territory, I prefer being asked about it beforehand. It is well known that Mitakihara is mine, so why would you just come here, Akemi Homura-san?"

With slight annoyance, she flicked her hair and thought about what to reply. Normally, she would just answer rejectively and be done with it, but Lilly had made it a given that Tomoe needed to survive. So when this was to happen, she had to get along with her somehow. That was why she decided to try a somewhat different approach, measuring the well-endowed blonde proficiently.

"I will be honest: I have not come to take this territory and neither do I wish to fight with you over resources. There is something I have to do and once this is done, I will leave. In the meantime however, I do not wish to become your enemy, Tomoe Mami."

"Oho", the other girl replied with a disbelieving smile. "What business do you have in this city, then?"

Homura weighed her options; telling a part of the truth would tip off Kyubey. Besides, Mami would most likely not believe her. So instead...

"I don't trust you. Therefore, I won't tell you now, but I might do so in the future if we get along."

She received a measuring look and the older girl crossed her arms in front of her chest. "That's a lot to ask from me, you know? I don't know or trust you, either, so why should I allow you to do whatever you want in this city without even knowing why?"

She knew that stance, this slight furrowing of the blonde's eyebrows. Tomoe Mami became antagonized by her behaviour and it would not take much longer until that changed into hostility.

After all this time of working around or against her, Homura felt strange trying to get on her good side now. But she had an advantage, which was enough knowledge to get this done the right way. At least if she played her cards right, that was. And fortunately, a looming presence made itself noticeable in the distance again, making Mami turn her head. This she would use.

"May I make a proposal?"

The girl turned back to her while raising an eyebrow. "I'm listening."

Homura nodded and then motioned in the direction of the Witch who's presence both of them could feel. "Originally, I wanted to leave this Witch for you to kill, but as it stands, we could kill it together. As a means to get familiar with each other."

While she spoke, Mami's other eyebrow had risen as well. Now, she stood there and thought about it. While she did, Kyubey's soulless stare was focussed on the time traveler and the creature hopped off of the other girl's shoulder, getting a surprised look in the process. It walked towards where she stood and gave her a closer look. Then, its high-pitched voice filled Homura's head: 'I do wonder, though. I have no memories of forming a contract with you. Would you mind telling me what your wish was about and why I forgot about it, Akemi Homura?'

She flicked her hair yet again and gave the creature a cold stare. "I do mind. You forgot about me for a reason and I prefer it to be this way. Don't expect kindness from me, Kyubey. I can tolerate your presence, but this is everything I am ready to give you."

"Now why would you be so cold to him? Kyubey is our greatest friend after all", Mami chimed in, looking at her critically. Homura tilted her head ever so slightly and returned the stare. She and Lilly had a discussion on how to answer to this particular argument. Neither of them wanted to start an act, so they needed a good reason for their dislike of the Incubator. In the end, they found one that was easy and also true.

"You may call him that, but I will never think of him this way. While it is true that Kyubey's miracles are just that, he grants them to any girl that asks as long as she has enough potential. Many of them do not even know what they are bargaining for. Even more of them die when they could have long and good lives. You might say that this is their fault for making a wish lightheartedly, but I don't share that view. To me, Kyubey is at fault for this."

At this point, her eyes became smaller as she stared the other girl down. "I have seen so much death that I lost count of how many I saw die. And a lot of them found their end because of just this."

She kept quiet over the fact that it had always been the same four girls that died. Everything else was true, after all.

Mami on her part had paled slightly and bowed her head, the surprise being evident on her face. "I'm sorry, I did not want to bring up bad memories."

Homura just waved it off, though a bit surprised about the sudden apology. "I dealt with it and you couldn't know. For now, just know that I will not just let him contract every girl he finds, only those that definitely need the wish."

The blonde nodded slowly, turning in the direction of the Witch again. "Alright. I would not want someone to die because they were not ready, either. But before you decide on who needs a wish and who does not, please talk to me."

A moment of silence passed where she pondered whether this repsonse was good or bad, then the older girl looked at her with a small smile. "Shall we get going, then?"

The initial surprise subsided within fractions of a second and Homura nodded. However she managed to convince Tomoe Mami right now, it did work.

. . .

At the same time, Akemi Yuri stood in a restroom and washed her face. She had eaten too hastily, seeing that crumbs of Incubator were all over its lover half. But that was alright. As long as Kyubey did not see it, there was no reason to worry. But people had been looking, so she decided to wash up anyway.

Next up... what to do? Hm...

Fortunately, the question answered itself in form of a small pinkette walking into the restroom, stopping in surprise upon recognizing Lilly.

"Homu... no, Yuri-chan?"

She looked up and nodded with a small smile. "I'm indeed Yuri. Good afternoon, Kaname-san."

She dried her face and shook her head once, having her hair flying around before coming down like it was before. Then, she sent the other girl a questioning look. "Is something wrong?"

Madoka had been fiddling with the hem of her skirt again. Now she looked up with a worried expression. "Well... I don't really know. Homura-chan told me to wait for her and look for you, but I didn't really expect to find you in here of all places..."

So spelled out, this meant...

"Ah, I see. I'll wait outside then."

She went past the pinkette and left the room, leaning against the wall next to the door. A lucky coincidence, though she had felt the nice aroma of Madoka's being around the mall for a while now.

Going by what day we have, I suppose she was discussing our introduction with her friends...

This might have gone rather well. After all, the twins' first impression at school had not been as overwhelming as Homura used to be. Especially since Lilly managed to embarass herself in every subject, failing every question she was given... unfortunately, she still lacked that part of Homura's memories. She understood everything once it was said or written down for her to read, but before that... well, no one mentioned it because she had "been in the hospital for so long". Also, she told Homura to keep it down beforehand, so her "sister" aced everything in terms of equations, but deliberately failed the other questions she was asked. Including the examination in P.E., where both of them scored a height slightly above average. Of course, Lilly could have gotten higher, but that would have meant using magic. Homura could do it without that except for establishing a new prefecture-record, but she remembered what they agreed upon beforehand.

Lilly sighed and shook her head to get rid of the memories. She failed everything... the mere thought of that had her cheeks redden in a mixture of anger and embarassment. She was Homulilly, Mortal World's Witch! She was superior! A humiliation like this... was worthy of punishment.

And at this point, she stopped her train of thought and discarded it. No matter how much she wanted to just go and kill a few humans, maybe the teachers... she could not, must not do it. First, because she would get in a lot of trouble, being unable to hide away in her barrier. Second, because this would definitely scare Madoka. Third... there was no third. The only reasons she did not do it were to protect her own wellbeing and knew her love would not like it.

Wait... am I becoming more human?

The sudden thought had her freeze up, then relax and pinch the bridge of her nose. Silly me... as if I would ever become a creature as lowly as those... cattle to my kin, nothing else.

Again, the thought was discarded. She should keep her superiority hidden until she could actually establish it. Right now, there was far too much the Witch was lacking in. No barrier, no minions, no actual means to attack or defend... the only things she could do were hiding and running.

With her deep in thoughts, she did not even notice the time pass and almost jumped when Madoka talked to her, having emerged from the bathroom at last. "Um... Yuri-chan?"

"Wh-... Ah, yes. Sorry, I spaced out."

The pinkette just shook her head with a small smile. "It's fine, I took a while."

Then, her expression became somewhat sheepish. "Um... could we go this way? I haven't told Sayaka-chan anything, so she might get worried..."

"Sure."

They got going with Madoka in the lead and after a few seconds, Lilly continued where they left off: "So, what's up?"

To that, her secret love blushed ever so slightly and scratched the back of her head. "You see, about what you told me at school, I think something like that happened."

"Huh..."

So Kyubey had been able to contact her when they slaughtered it time and time again. From the sound of it however, the pinkette did as she asked her to and called Homura instead of going to look for what exactly was going on.

"So you called Onee-chan?"

Of course she should not let on about her deductive abilities. Being underestimated was a big advantage for Lilly's cause, though Madoka would most likely not be her enemy. Ever.

"Uhu, I did. She said that she wanted to sort things out herself. Do you know what she meant?"

Fortunately, there were not many people around as they were closing in on the music store. Lilly smirked. "I assume that she meant escorting you and Miki-san out of the danger-zone. As it stands, the two of you are the only ones that might become this creature's targets."

Unfortunately for the Incubator, Lilly was smart. Smart enough to use its own means against it by carefully wording everything. Like this, she could always say that she meant Gertrud, the Rose Garden Witch instead of Kyubey, should they encounter Mami anytime soon.

"Sayaka-chan and I are in danger?"

They came to a stop now, looking at each other while the Witch thought about what to say. Now she understood fully just why Homura struggled so much with keeping Madoka out of this: this girl was too caring a person as to not get involved. Thus, Lilly sighed, pondering the situation for a moment longer. Then she sighed again and shook her head. Every possible outcome of this day would be Kaname Madoka learning about Magical Girls.

Well okay, I could abduct her and keep her away from the world for the years to come, but that wouldn't work well...

It was a silly thought to begin with. Something like this would only happen if she was really, really desperate. So instead, she decided to take the most advantageous route there was right now. Motioning for the store, Lilly started: "I will tell you, but you should get Miki-san first so that I can bring you somewhere safe."

At the same time, she felt the scent of Gertrud change slightly. Also, Homura's and Mami's presences vanished. Apparently, those two had entered the Witch's barrier.

While she tried to sense something, anything, she spaced out again. When she returned to reality, Madoka had already come back from the store with a suspicious blunette in tow.

Lilly bowed slightly to greet her classmate, then motioned for the exit. "Shall we get going, then?"

"Whoa whoa, wait a second, transfer student", Sayaka waved her hands. "Just what exactly is going on here?"

The Witch shook her head and sighed. "As I said before: I will tell you, but not here. It's not safe."

Another wary glare was sent her way, then Sayaka looked at her smaller friend. "Do you really think we can trust her?"

The pinkette looked at them alternately a few times, then nodded. "Yes, I do."

That had her heart skip a beat, even when she knew that it did not mean much.

"Fine with me then..." However, the tomboy's eyes said something entirely different, promising a lot of pain should she try to hurt her friend. This made Lilly smile. Not a malevolent or cruel smile, but an amused one.

How cute. I could stare you down with ease, but I don't want to scare you, Miki Sayaka.

The sudden change in her expression apparently confused the other girl, but the Witch ignored it and started moving. The other two followed suit.

. . .

Entering the barrier had been an easy task. But even then, Mami could not shake off this strange feeling while walking next to the raven-haired Magical Girl. Something about her felt odd, but she would not address it now. She was still slightly embarassed about stepping on so many landmines before.

However, it also felt nice not to be alone in this for a change. Even when her companion did not talk. They just walked down those twisted corridors, taking down every minion they could spot. While they did, Mami was amazed at the skill Akemi showed in handling her weaponry. She kept something that looked like a rifle in her hand, unleashing shells at anything that moved in short and controlled bursts.

"You are doing really well with those firearms, Akemi-san."

Aside from pistols and rifles, her temporary companion had not used anything yet. No magic, either. Mami received a nod. "I practiced for a long time."

A cryptic statement again. Either did she do it on purpose, or she was just so used to it that she did not even notice. Mami could not decide whether of those it was or which one she preferred. The first one would be an open display of distrust, the second one implied that the other girl had been doing this for a really long time.

When another crowd of minions tried to rush them while clicking their scissors, the duo took them down with ease; Mami summoned three muskets, one in her hand and two on the ground next to her. Then she shot each of them, killing off as many minions in rapid succession. Akemi on her part took aim and mowed down the the five in the second line with a short burst from her rifle, then reloaded. While she was busy exchanging the clips, Mami leaped forward and clubbed the remaining two minions to death with the hilt of her third rifle.

Once the last one was down, she turned around with a smile. "We have a good synergy, it seems."

These creatures were no match for one of them to begin with, but it was a lot easier with someone else watching one's back. Akemi nodded again, now holding a set of two pistols instead of the rifle.

Strange... She always changes her weapons when I can not see her doing it...

The blonde pondered this for a moment, then put it aside. She could think about it later, now was not the time.

"This Witch is not particularly strong, so we should..."

As if on cue, the floor started to move. Mami quickly returned to the other girl's side with Kyubey sitting on the ground between them. They were moved fast, several sets of doors opening in front of them whenever they came close until they reached an oval-shaped room in a mixture of various colours, mostly red and green. A few minions were floating around the ceiling and a gargantuan couch was placed on the ground that was about twenty meters lower than they stood right now. On this couch, a large creature with the body of a slug lay, its large head of moss covered in roses that were most likely its eyes.

This was the Witch's lair.

Mami sent a glance at Akemi, who was studying the Witch and her surroundings. Then the strange girl returned her gaze and nodded. "I doubt that this creature is as slow as it looks like."

"Hm..."

The blonde nodded as well, then flashed a small smile. "Shall we kill it, then?"

As an answer, her companion jumped, her magically empowered feet carrying her through the whole room. When she was directly over the unsuspecting Witch, she let something fall down. Mami could not exactly see what it was because she had jumped to the floor at this moment. When the veteran landed however, a set of explosions ripped apart the couch and blew up black smoke. Before it even had dissipated, a swarm of small familiars formed to a slender but long vine that went for Homura, only to never hit her. While the raven-haired girl had reached the opposing wall and used it to make another high jump towards where Mami stood, the blonde sent out one of her ribbons and had it tie down the vine. Another one was forming beneath her, but Akemi crushed it under her feet upon landing. Then she flicked her hair and motioned for the clearing smoke.

"That should have ripped off her wings. You can kill her easily now."

It was as she said: the slug was sitting on the ground amidst the remainder of its couch, trying to flap the remaining half of one butterfly-like wing. Its body was partly blackened by soot and small trickles of blood flowed down to the ground. Mami grinned at that and gathered her magic while the Witch turned her head to look at them.

"I have to compliment you on that, Akemi-san. You are really efficient in fighting Witches."

She did not get an answer, but that did not matter right now. Because of the two working together, what should have been a somewhat even fight turned into a one-sided slaughter. At least, this was how Mami saw it when a large set of yellow ribbons dashed out of her sleeves, some of them binding the Witch that was trying to jump away. The rest started to glow and formed a large cannon as the blonde jumped upwards.

"Tiro..." She took aim and pulled the trigger with her magic. It was impossible to reach it normally anyway. "Finale!"

The large projectile hit the eldritch creature with the force of a train and shred it to pieces upon exploding.

While Mami landed and took a sip from the cup of tea that materialized in her hands, the barrier around them faded. They stood in the unused part of the mall again and with a light clinking noise, the Witch's Grief Seed fell to the ground. Akemi was closer and gathered it with an unreadable expression, then held it out to Mami who looked at her in surprise.

"We agreed on one usage each. Since I do have some left, you can take it until it's time to use it."

Reluctantly, the blonde took the small object while still eyeing the other girl. "I thought you didn't trust me?"

Another flick of her hair. "I gathered information about you before coming here. Therefore, I know that you stay true to your word."

It was true that she was known for being one of the very few veterans, so Mami was inclined to believe it. She pocketed the Grief Seed with a smile and bowed slightly. "Would you mind joining me for dinner, then?"

For a few seconds, she got no answer. This was all it took to make her hopes deflate almost completely.

Did I go too far?

It did not show on her face, but Mami had really hoped to get along with this girl, maybe even teaming up with her. She was strange, but not hostile. Besides, like this she could keep an eye on her to see whether her thoughts were right. But as it stood, she just blew her chances by being too casual too soon.

"Very well."

"Huh?"

Since she already stealed herself for being turned down, the acception caught her off-guard. However, she got a hold of herself quickly. "Wonderful! Please follow me, then."