The prison was much larger than Madoka had ever expected. Not all of the cells or locked rooms were filled, but there were simply too many of them for them to get through easily.

How many had the Magius locked away just because they had disagreed with them?

"We'll have to split up," Yachiyo suggested. "Cover more area, free as many people as we can, and then send out a signal once we've found Ir- Tamaki and Emiya."

"Won't that be dangerous? What if one of us gets ambushed?" Madoka asked.

"Then we immediately reconvene on the one being attacked. I don't think that'll be much of an issue though," Yachiyo replied just before something exploded and caused the building around them to start shaking. "It's already chaos up there and the people we end up freeing will make their own fair share of trouble too."

"Yo. Aren't we like totally starting a revolution here?" Felicia asked excitedly. She seemed a bit too eager about wanton chaos and destruction.

"Freedom for all the Magical Girls! Viva la Revolution!" Tsuruno shouted before running off to tear off the door of the nearest cell and melting the bars of another with her flames.

Felicia let out a scream. "Yea Freeeedoom! Revolution!" With her hammer and battle cry the diminutive girl began smashing her hammer through the door of a nearby cell, much to the fear and horror of those still within.

The two continued their rampage until they each turned a corner and were no longer in sight.

"Maybe should've rethought that plan," Yachiyo muttered to herself. She looked back at Madoka. "We'll meet back here once we've cleared the cells and found who we've been looking for. Contact us if you run into trouble."

Madoka nodded before heading off on her own to free those she could. The first occupied cell door she came upon, she drew her power, nocked her arrow, and quickly blew it off its hinges.

"Thank you," one of the girls inside said.

"You're welcome," Madoka replied as she prepared another arrow and pointed it at a nearby cell. "Do you know anything about any girls with green or pink hair that they captured recently?"

The girl shook her head. "I don't know, they've been bringing in a lot of girls recently. Been taking a lot of them elsewhere too. Don't know what happened to them."

"Alright thanks." Madoka continued on her way to free the next person.

The alarms that now rang throughout the entire base was enough to inform that the time for subtlety was over, now was the time to free as many people as they could and hopefully find the people they were looking for.

Eventually she turned a corner and came upon a Black Feather in all the chaos. She was quickly noticed by the black cloaked figure.

"Intrude-"

Madoka rushed forward and slammed the shaft of her bow straight into the poor girl's face. She immediately went limp and collapsed onto the floor.

"Sorry," Madoka quickly apologized as she dug through the girl's cloak and pulled out a set of keys. That would make things a lot easier. She didn't want to risk using up her arrows.

Keys in hand she began working through the cell block once more, even faster than before.

It was a varied bunch that she ended up meeting. Mostly Magical Girls that had refused to join or tried to fight against the Magius but also some girls who had Potential or were at the very least aware of the existence of magic. Apparently the latter had been taken during their regular lives and given the option to join or be used for their magic, whatever that meant. In the end though none of them had any knowledge of where Yuma or Iroha was.

Madoka didn't lose hope though. They'd find them. She knew they would.

Hallway after hallway, cell after cell, even if she didn't find them the people she did free were enough to push her on.

Do you know about these girls?

No?

Ok, it's alright, thank you.

Stay safe.

Those sentences quickly became routine for Madoka until she was just blurting them out by instinct, oftentimes when she was in the middle of sprinting to the next set of prisoners. There were just so many people here. So many afraid. Others were willing to fight now that they were free. It wasn't right at all what the Magius were doing to all these people and this only pushed Madoka forward.

She was helping a lot of people now. Would Mama and Papa be proud of her? Would Mami? Would Homura?

Oh Homura… Where were you? Weren't they supposed to be partners?

Eventually Madoka came upon a thick iron slab of a door. A different type of cell, clearly meant to isolate whoever it was that was inside. Probably reserved for someone who was really threatening to the Magius. Hopefully they'd be nice.

Madoka tried the keys. They didn't work. She knocked on the door instead. "Is anyone in there?"

"Madoka?"

The voice was muffled behind the thick metal but Madoka immediately recognized it. "Homura!? Is that you!"

"Yes! It's me! Madoka you need to-"

"Just stand back, I'll get you out right now!" Madoka stepped back, nocked an arrow, and began to pump her power into it. After a brief moment she released the arrow. It struck the, blasting it off its hinges, and sending it hurting into the back of the room. She immediately ran inside once her way was clear, picked up Homura off the ground, and began to hug her.

"Homura!" she shouted with tears in her eyes. "I missed you so much!"

"Madoka, you need to get out of here now!"

Huh? Why was Homura so afraid? She was practically trembling. "I was trying to find you and Mami. What happened?" Madoka asked as she let go of her friend.

"The person that threw me in here, she's too dangerous," Homura cried out.

"Who threw you in there?"

"I did."

Madoka recognized that voice… but that wasn't right. Because the one it belonged to was standing right in front of her.

She turned and saw purple. Deep purple irises that carried with it such determination… such disgust that she would've never expected to see on that face. A face that Madoka knew yet it was so very different from the one behind her. It wasn't comforting at all, it was frightening and almost alien. Like looking into a warped mirror. "Homura?"

"You shouldn't have come here Madoka," the other Homura replied.

Her expression was scary. So dark and cold and emotionless. This… Homura wasn't supposed to be like this.

"Who… How?" Madoka stammered.

"That is not something you need to know. Now just come with me peacefully, I'll take you somewhere safe."

Despite all the differences between the two Homura's Madoka almost believed her. There was an intrinsic part within that just wanted to trust her, even if this Homura might as well be a complete stranger.

"Madoka," the Homura behind her said. Fear was written on her face, fear of the person in front of her. This other her. "Run."

Madoka didn't know what to do. It was just so confusing.

The other Homura sighed. It wasn't annoyed, just weary. "That hesitation, that doubt, will get you killed. You are too kind for this world, you don't belong in it. Just let me take you away from here so I can keep you safe."

"… Like how you kept my Homura safe," Madoka muttered.

"She's a weakling. Useless. She can't protect you."

"Don't be mean to her like that. She's stronger than you think."

"No. I of all people would know who she truly is."

The other Homura took a step forward and Madoka raised her bow in response. "Stay back. You- you're not going to hurt… yourself anymore."

"Hmph," the other Homura flicked her hair. "She and I couldn't be any different."

When the other Homura continued stepping forward, Madoka aimed downwards at her feet and fired. The arrow landed neatly between her feet and she continued walking.

"You're too kind Madoka. Magic, this sort of life, all of it, it isn't for you."

Time Stop. The other Homura would have it. She could've used it and ended it in an instant. Why didn't she? Why didn't she even transform?

"Because I don't need to," Homura replied as if reading her mind. She was now close enough to push aside Madoka's bow gently and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'll do whatever it takes to protect you. Even if you think badly of me."

Something exploded in Madoka's gut. She barely had time to process the burning in her stomach or the lack of air in her lungs before she fell over. Everything faded to black before she could even hit the ground.

Yachiyo sliced through the hinges of the metal door with ease and began to lift it to the side. She had just barely set it down when she grabbed the small fist that had been thrown straight at her gut.

Decent force behind it, good form honestly. "I see your training has been put to use," Yachiyo replied sarcastically.

"Yachiyo!?" Yuma shouted, her eyes wide. "Are Archer and Kyoko here?"

"Yes."

"We need to get out of here now! They're in danger."

Archer could probably handle himself. Kyoko on the other hand… was off compared to the day they had met. "We'll find them, but I don't think they'll forgive me if I don't prioritize your safety first."

"No! We need to go find them now!"

Yachiyo sighed.

Kids.

She immediately walked up to the girl, grabbed her by the waist, and threw her over the back. She walked out of the cell, all the while ignoring the ineffective punches that were being reigned on her back.

"Let me go! We need to save them!"

Yachiyo ignored the girl as she continued walking toward the sounds of explosions, fire, and smashing. After regrouping with everyone else down here, then they could go back up and find Kyoko.

"And here I thought we were doing the kidnapping."

Yachiyo froze, recognizing that voice to her right. She had a feeling that she'd be here at this point. It just made too much sense after everything and what she knew. They always did fear the fate of every Magical Girl. It still didn't make meeting her here hurt even less.

"Mifuyu," Yachiyo said as she turned to face her.

"Yachan."

"… Why are you in a French maid's outfit?" It was kind of hard to have a fateful emotional reunion with her once dearest friend while she dressed like something straight from the Victorian era.

"Alina has… certain tastes," Mifuyu sighed as she transformed. With the maid outfit gone they could have the proper attire for their confrontation... After she threw off the headdress that had remained after the transformation for some reason. "Better than the alternative."

"Better than the alternative."

"The alternative?"

"Don't ask."

"They've been treating you well."

"When did you start using sarcasm?" Mifuyu teased with the familiarity reserved for a close friend.

That would've been the Emiya family's influence. Mostly Yuma. Girl had an attitude worse than Felicia's.

"What are you doing here?" Mifuyu asked.

"You took people from us," Yachiyo replied.

"Does that matter? You know why you decided to be alone. If anything we were protecting them from you, we weren't going to do anything too bad to them anyway."

Mifuyu's words struck her like a needle in her heart. Mostly because it was all likely true. Yachiyo had to be alone, chose to be alone, because of her wish. It was something that she had let herself forget and now other people were paying for it. She wished to survive and her wish would be granted, even if it took the sacrifices of everyone around her.

"You're right," Yachiyo admitted. "The people you took are likely in danger because of me. That's why it's my responsibility to break them free." And then empty the house of all those that had lived there. It was the only way to keep them safe, even if that meant isolating herself once more.

"Then there really isn't much else that needs to be said between us," Mifuyu said as she took out her twin chakrams.

"No there isn't," Yachiyo replied as she summoned her spear.

"Um… should I be here for this?" Yuma asked awkwardly.

Yachiyo set the young girl down and pushed her away. "Find the others down here and use the elevator. This is my problem."

"Okay… thanks," Yuma replied before running off.

Homura sprinted quickly with Madoka's unconscious form on her back. The other her had proven to be of little opposition, weeping and useless on the ground as usual. She didn't matter in the end. Madoka did.

It was a shame though that it had come to this. If Madoka had stayed in her home and just lived a normal life then locking her way until everything was over wouldn't have been necessary. Still, it had to be done. The girl would sacrifice herself for someone else otherwise.

She was too kind like that.

Still, the Magius had certainly underestimated their enemy. Maybe a change of leadership would be necessary? If only so that things went like they were supposed to.

Unfortunately plans always seemed to tend to go bad for her. Just like she had found her way barred by an entire field of floating bubbles, completely covering the route that she had planned to use. They were more curious than dangerous, clearly made of magic but certainly not enough to do much damage to her in her current state. In fact one bullet was all that was needed to break one of the bubbles and cause a chain reaction that blew the rest up.

As the area became overwhelmed by the sound of explosions Homura did not miss the tell-tale sign of an instrument being blown to her side. With a click of her shield time froze once more and she casually walked toward the Magical Girl that had tried to ambush her.

White hair and an orange poncho. Young by her appearance. She felt familiar, but Homura could not draw a name at the moment. Just that she was more dangerous than she looked.

Homura aimed her Glock and fired. Three in the head. Two in each of the limbs. Traumatic brain injuries along with turning her into a complete cripple, survivable for a Magical Girl but certainly something that would keep them out of commission unless they had an incredibly fast regeneration factor. She could've aimed for the Soul Gem… but even she wasn't for pointless murder just yet.

Time resumed once more and the girl's body fell to the ground. What remained of her head though suddenly jerked up at her and her mouth opened wide until you could fit a bowling bowl in it.

Homura's eyes went wide and she quickly jumped back as a giant cartoon worm emerged from the gaping maw. It wasn't any danger that caused her to react as she did, but rather the surprise that this Witch could take on a form like that.

Charlotte had never shown any capability to deceive much less take on a human disguise before.

"You know that was a bit rude of you," the worm spoke with the voice of a young girl before it suddenly collapsed in on itself until out popped a body of the white haired girl once more. "Just wanted to talk with you, see why you were kidnapping Madoka over there."

"I never told you her name," Homura replied. She was willing to entertain a conversation from now on. If only to learn about the creature in front of her and the threat it might pose.

"Oops well, I guess I just have to be honest here." The girl gave a military salute, her trumpet still in hand. "Nagisa Momoe. Official self proclaimed bodyguard of Madoka Kaname!"

"Not Charlotte?" Homura asked. She recognized the Witch. Hard not to considering how influential it was among the many timelines she had experienced. Tough and a genuine danger if one wasn't aware of its capabilities.

"Well. We are Nagisa. And Charlotte. Whichever form and name we like to take at the time."

How peculiar. A Witch that adopted the name of a human girl? Perhaps the same girl whose Soul Gem she came from? But… that Witch also had a Soul Gem on her belly. "What are you?"

"That's actually a bit of a trade secret. But let's just say that I'm a special Witch."

"Hmph." Homura shuffled Modaka on her back so she had room to flick her hair. A strange existence but when Magic, Magecraft, and Servants were involved such sights became much more common. "Even so. Do you really think you'd be able to stop me?"

"Oh definitely not. I don't stand a chance against you in a straight up fight," Nagisa admitted cheerfully. "That's why I'm just the distraction."

Homura spun around blocking a blade with her shield. She had a few seconds to realize that the weapon was completely invisible before a large, gauntleted arm reached over and grabbed hers. She tilted her head and found herself looking at a majestic face of gold and blue.

Fuck. Servant. One whose Strength attribute was on a much higher tier than hers. As an Assassin she was ill suited for direct confrontations like these.

"Thank you, Miss Nagisa. Your plan to hide me in your bubbles was certainly effective if not a bit loud."

"Eh. You're a Saber. You'll be fine."

Fuck. That was even worse. Time to cut her losses.

With her free arm Homura tossed Madoka at Nagisa, expecting the self-proclaimed bodyguard to catch her. The Saber reacted quickly, breaking the arm he held and slamming his fist into her gut but it wasn't pain that she hadn't dealt with before. She gritted her teeth and sliced through her entrapped arm from the shoulder. As the limb separated in a gush of blood the explosive that she had snuck out during that time and held in her hands exploded. It was an explosive empowered by magic and her attributes as a Servant but the detonation did more damage to her than the Saber. In fact the Saber came out of it with only a few scuffs at most, but it was enough to send her flying far enough so that she could reactivate her Time Stop without interruption.

Time froze and she combat rolled into her upright position after touching the ground. She looked at the man who had stopped her.

With enough time, preparation, and a good chunk of her entire arsenal she could feasibly kill if not at least injure the Saber in front of her. But it wasn't a certain thing, she had no idea how strong he truly was, and Madoka would more than certainly be caught in the crossfire. Two Servants fighting, no matter the class, was never pretty for the area around them or the people unfortunate enough to be nearby.

It simply wasn't a risk worth taking. If anything she could always find another opportunity to capture Madoka again. It wouldn't be hard, no matter the timeline she had always ended up being very predictable.

In the end she would do whatever it took to guarantee Madoka's safety. Even something like making a contract with the World was worth it if it meant protecting her.

A/N

And I'm back to this story! Hope you guys enjoy the chapter. Excuse me while I go take a nap.

Below is my Kofi account. Any tip is appreciated though I will still do my best to keep writing nevertheless.

/soul249134