"Long day, Madoka?" Sayaka asked. It wasn't often that you saw Madoka Kaname with bags under her eyes and looking like a cat that had been dragged out from the tree.

A sharp contrast to the actual cat that followed her.

"It was," Madoka admitted as they made their way to school.

"Meow." Amy walked up and rubbed against Madoka's leg.

"Why you're so tired?" Hitomi inquired.

"I think…" Madoka mulled over her words. She was having trouble explaining it. "I learned about something that I shouldn't have. Or maybe it wasn't something I was ready for yet."

Sayaka tilted her head. "That time of the month?"

"Sayaka!" Madoka shouted red faced and scandalized.

Hitomi wasn't doing so well either, having covered her mouth with her hands. "Do you have to be so crude?"

"Sorry, sorry," Sayaka raised up her hands in apology. "Just thought I'd try to lighten the mood a little."

"That isn't a good reason to talk about something like that," Madoka muttered.

"I'm sorry," Sayaka apologized again. "But seriously what's got you so bothered? Something to do with your family?" She glanced at that cat who looked at her innocently. "With Amy?"

"Meow," was the cat's reply.

"My family and Amy are fine. It's just… I was with Homura-"

"Oh, hanging out with the cute transfer student," Sayaka began to tap Madoka's side with her elbow. "Getting a little alone time with her."

"Sayaka," Madoka groaned.

"Sayaka please stop making such insinuations," Hitomi shook her head. "It's unreasonable."

Hitomi was a good friend, but she and her family could be a bit old fashioned when it came to stuff like this. It was something that Sayaka and Madoka, mostly Sayaka, had to deal with. Well, at least she wasn't off running away hysterically shouting girls couldn't love girls… again.

Though that did raise a question. Did Madoka like girls? Though she expressed her desire to be asked out on a date, she never seemed to show any actual interest in any of the boys in their class. Honestly she didn't really show interest in anyone until Homura showed up and that could just be her being nice as usual.

"So, what happened with Homura?" Sayaka squinted her eyes. "Did she do something to you?"

"No! Homura was very nice. She wouldn't do anything bad to me. Its just that her life is a bit complicated."

"How so?"

"Her parents are dead, and she lives alone. There're also some other things in her life that's been bothering her. I've been trying to help, but-"

"It's a bit out of your league. Isn't it?" Sayaka finished for her.

"Yea…"

"Don't worry." Sayaka wrapped her arm around Madoka's back. She then raised her other arm, made a fist, and pointed it to the horizon. "Sayaka Miki's here to provide backup. We'll tackle what's troubling the transfer student together!"

Madoka smiled. "Thanks, Sayaka."

During lunch, Sayaka found herself eating on a bench in the courtyard along with her friends. Before she had taken her first bite, she had noticed that Homura's and Madoka's lunch were very similar.

Actually, scratch that, they were completely the same.

"You sharing a lunch?" Sayaka asked.

"Um… yes," Homura replied.

"Papa made an extra portion for Homura to take home last night."

"Lucky," Sayaka teased. "Madoka's dad makes the best food."

"I know and I'm very grateful," Homura replied.

Homura was a polite girl. A bit shy and occasionally weird, but she was a nice person. Plus, her presence seemed to activate some sort of latent motherly genes within Madoka. Whatever the reason, it was nice to see Madoka be a bit more assertive. Even if it was for the sake of someone else.

Honestly that girl could learn to be a little bit selfish sometimes. It was just so easy to take advantage of her if she wasn't being protected.

"Thanks for keeping Madoka company Homes," Sayaka said. "Was worried she'd get lonely without me or Hitomi."

Madoka rolled her eyes. She actually rolled her eyes! Maybe they could get her to start using sarcasm with enough work.

"What did you do yesterday Sayaka?" Hitomi inquired.

"Just went with my parents to Kazamino. Some accounting thing, it was really boring. What about you?"

"Dinner with some family friends. The food was good and nothing… unusual happened during the meal."

"So, it was boring."

"Well… yea," Hitomi admitted. "Not the best company if I'm being honest. Seems both of us had a rather dull day yesterday."

"Well actually it actually got a bit exciting when I was getting lunch. Met this girl. She was a bit of a piece of work."

"Kyoko?" Homura suddenly asked.

"Yea," Sayaka immediately turned to Homura in confusion. "How'd you know?"

"I was just guessing. She has a…" Homura glanced at Madoka who seemed to be picking up on something. "Reputation."

"Well I guess it's hard to miss her." Sayaka would've asked if Homura had been the girl Kyoko had talked about knowing in Mitikihara, but the transfer student only moved here recently so the timeline wouldn't really fit. "You ever talk to her?"

"Not yet. No."

"Well, I'm not surprised that girl has a reputation. I mean who just stands there in front of a mugger like it's nothing?" Sayaka asked.

"She was mugged!" Madoka shouted. Sweet empathetic Madoka, as always, was worried about a complete stranger she hadn't met. "I hope she wasn't hurt."

"Nah. Mostly the mugger."

"Did she beat him up?" Homura asked casually. It was clear that was she expected had happened.

"Well it was actually me. With a fire extinguisher."

"Why is it always an extinguisher?" Homura muttered to herself.

"What was that?" Sayaka asked.

"Nothing."

"You assaulted a criminal? Do you know how dangerous that was?" Hitomi chastised her.

"The girl was in… well actually she might not have been trouble, but I couldn't just sit by and do nothing. What would you have done?"

"I would've kept my distance and called the authorities," Hitomi replied calmly. "Perhaps create a distraction, but I wouldn't confront him directly. Doing so would risk me getting hurt or worse. I can't imagine how my parents would feel if something happened to me. I'd imagine it'd be the same for yours."

Sayaka scratched the back of her head. Hitomi did have a point. She hadn't really been thinking about her loved ones would feel if she got hurt. There was also Kyosuke to consider, who would take care of him if she got hurt?

"I'm glad you're fine at least," Madoka said, relieved. "And you made a new friend too."

"Uh… yea no. She's definitely not a friend."

"Was there something about her you disliked?" Hitomi.

"Honestly? We probably would've started punching each other if it wasn't for that little girl she had with her."

"Always so quick to pick a fight," Hitomi shook her head.

"Little girl?" Homura asked.

"Girl named Yuma. Green hair. Short. Practically has Kyoko on leash."

"I couldn't imagine Kyoko being tied down by anyone."

"Well that girl did it. Has Kyoko acting like a mother wolf around her. Kind of hard to start decking each other with her around."

"But… you helped her." Oh no now Madoka was starting to give them her sad face. Hurting her was like hurting a crying puppy, no reason to do it and it made you feel like an absolute jerk. "Can't you two get along?"

"It's…" Sayaka looked away. Do not stare into the puppy eyes. Do not drown in the heart wrenching tears. "We probably won't see each other again anyway. It's fine."

"Maybe," Madoka admitted. "But it's sad knowing that you two left hating each other."

"I don't hate her. It's just… complicated. I don't think she's a bad person…" A bad person wouldn't take care of a little kid, value their food, and pay for a meal… Probably. "It's just that we won't get along. It happens."

"That is true," Hitomi conceded. "It's optimistic to assume that everyone will get along. Some people just don't match, through no fault of their own."

"Exactly," Sayaka agreed. "Me and this Kyoko girl will never get along."

Kyoko sneezed.

"Allergies acting up?" Archer asked.

"No. But I do have an urge to punch something."

"Dojo's out in the back. Also why did you put a blue wig on one of the dummies?"

"You better wear that skirt Madoka picked out for you Homes. Don't want to make her sad," Sayaka teased as the four of them made their way back from the mall. It was a rare moment that Hitomi didn't have anything planned, so she was going to enjoy the time that she spent with them.

"It's fine Homura. You don't have to wear it if you don't like it," Madoka replied while shooting a dirty look at Sayaka.

"N-no. I like it… it's pretty."

"It suits you, though it's certainly different from what Madoka usually wears," Hitomi commented as she turned to Madoka. "You seem to be quite aware of the fashion that suits Akemi."

"I just think purple looks good on her," Madoka replied sheepishly. "You know, like how red works on you."

"I still say that Hitomi should wear a nice green dress," Sayaka said playfully. "Match that hair of hers"

Hitomi shook her head. "I'd prefer not to look like stick of celery, thank you. Some contrast is... is… contrast needed." Hitomi shook her head again.

"Yo. You alright there?" Sayaka waved a hand in front of Hitomi's face. She didn't get a reaction, in fact it looked as if Hitomi's eyes had completely glazed over. "Hitomi?"

"I should… get dressed," Hitomi suddenly turned around and began walking elsewhere.

"Homura we need to stop her!" Madoka suddenly shouted, her voice frantic.

"Uh, uh. I got this!" Homura shouted before running up behind Hitomi and karate chopping her on the back of the neck. Hitomi immediately went down and fell to the ground, unconscious.

"What the hell Homura!?" Sayaka shouted.

"That isn't what I meant!" Madoka shouted.

"I-I'm sorry, I panicked," Homura replied frantically.

"Why the hell did you karate chop her!?" Sayaka screamed.

"We needed to stop her before she went into the Labyrinth!"

"Homura! Isn't this supposed to be a secret?"

"Actually, its fine with Sayaka. She has Potential too."

"What!?"

"What the hell are you two talking about!?"

"Sayaka please just take Hitomi somewhere safe," Madoka begged. "There's something that Homura and I need to do."

"Are you seriously abandoning me with Hitomi!?"

"It's dangerous we don't want you to get hurt."

"What are you two doing that's dangerous?" Sayaka asked. "And if it's something that could get you hurt, then I'm coming too."

"Madoka the Witch is coming here!"

"Sayaka! Hurry! Get Hitomi out of here."

"For the love- Fine! You two owe me an explanation though." Sayaka reached down and tried to pick up Hitomi with Homura's help. The transfer student was surprisingly strong and soon Sayaka had Hitomi completely lifted on her back. She was only able to take a few steps though when the world around her suddenly began to change.

"What the hell," Sayaka said as the colors and space seemed to shift all around her.

"Too late," Homura said.

"Sayaka. Stay behind us," Madoka said.

Eventually reality reoriented itself and Sayaka found herself in a completely new world. It was such a weird place. There didn't seem to any ground beneath them, just an endless expanse of blue sky all around. The four of them stood precariously on one of many tightropes that somehow hung throughout the skit. Hanging on them were countless numbers of what looked like school uniforms.

It took all of Sayaka's discipline to not lost her balance and fall off the edge with Hitomi. Thankfully the tripwire they were on was significantly wider than the rest, meaning that there was some room to maneuver on her feet.

The sky itself was actually kind of pretty. Plus the uniforms and tightropes sort of gave it a sort of fancy art feel. Too bad it was kind of hard to focus on that with the army of disembodied legs that were dancing aggressively towards them.

Sayaka blinked.

The legs did not disappear. They apparently weren't a figment of her imagination. Didn't help that they had some sharp looking ice skates underneath their feet.

"Uh, where are we?" Sayaka asked.

There was a sudden flash of purple light to the side. Sayaka turned her head and saw that Homura now wore some of sort of elaborate cosplay outfit.

"M-Madoka," Homura immediately turned to Madoka. "Keep Sayaka and Hitomi safe. I'll deal with the Witch."

"Are you sure you can handle it by yourself?" Madoka asked. Apparently, she knew something about all of this.

"I-I'll try. Just stay safe. Please," Homura begged.

"I will."

Homura nodded before by jumping at least fifteen feet in the air, landing on another tightrope, and then running atop with the ease of a circus acrobat.

As for the enemy the transfer student was running to fight, it was probably that giant amalgamation of twisted legs coming out of skirt that had been hovering menacingly in the distance. Sayaka wasn't entirely sure how she'd missed that until now, but it looked dangerous and the transfer student didn't exactly sound confident fighting it. That would've been worrying if Sayaka hadn't been trying to frantically to process everything that was happening.

"What are those things over there!? Why did Homura's clothes change!? Where did she get a gun!? Why do you have a bow!?" Sayaka shouted frantically as she finally noticed the weapon that had just popped out of nowhere into Madoka's hands. Unlike Homura though, Madoka's clothes stayed very much the same.

"I'll explain later," Madoka shouted as she created some sort of pink magic arrow, of course of it had to be pink, and nocked her bow.

"Just stay behind me," Madoka pleaded as she let loose an arrow and shot down one of the weird leg monsters that had been coming for them.

"Seriously what's going on!?" Sayaka shouted as she set Hitomi down and tried to shake her awake. This was insane! How did they end up here? Why were monsters trying to kill them? And why was sweet gentle Madoka shooting them down ruthlessly like friggen Legolas?

"I said I'll explain later!" Madoka shouted frantically as a trio of monsters got close. She was able to shoot down two of them before the third got in range and reared up for a kick. Madoka ducked under it, twirled an arrow around in her hand, and then used it to stab the monster. At a sensitive spot right between its legs.

It was brutal, badass, and quite frankly scary. Scary enough to watch that Sayaka put a hand protectively over her skirt. Hopefully Madoka would never have a reason to do that to her.

There was a good chance Madoka might never get the opportunity though. The pink hair girl was shooting the monsters down like flies, but they just kept coming and Homura was starting to get swarmed too as she tried to make her way toward the giant monster.

The transfer student suddenly disappeared and a few seconds later an explosion took her place. Sayaka then noticed Homura on a completely different clothesline taking potshots with her shotgun.

It was at that moment that the giant pair of legs suddenly decided to move. It swung a leg down taking down the all the wires around Homura. The transfer student tried to jump to another one, but that too gave way. Soon she was free falling down into the sky.

"Homura!" Madoka shouted frantically as she ran towards the falling girl. She would never make it though. There was nothing that they could do.

Sayaka noticed a flash of yellow in her periphery. She barely had time to turn before a line of yellow, shot forward and rested itself under Homura. The transfer student landed and was cushioned by what was apparently a giant line of cloth.

"I'm glad I got here in time," another voice called out.

Sayaka looked to the very end of the line of cloth. It was being held by a girl with blonde hair wrapped in pigtails. She wore a yellow outfit, a beret… and probably had one of the most impressive chests she had witnessed.

Damn, how much milk did this girl drink?

"Mami!?" Homura shouted in surprise.

"Ah. I see me reputation precedes me." The girl named Mami curtsied with her hand still holding onto the ribbon. "I should live up to it."

Suddenly an entire line of overly large and old-fashioned muskets appeared in the air above her. A resounding click filled the air and then the furious sounds of what could only be described as a one-man firing squad. Wave after wave of bullets flew, completely destroying anything they touched.

Mami somersaulted through the air and began running along a tripwire towards Homura. The transfer student had recovered from the fall at this point and was beginning to add her own firepower to the mix.

Together, the two of them made their way towards the giant monster. They worked well together surprisingly, despite this likely being the first time they had met.

Mami led the charge. Dancing and weaving between monsters, shooting and striking them with the barrels of her guns. After firing a shot, she threw a spent musket into a group of enemies. The musket began cracking with yellow lights before exploding violently and taking out the entire group.

The way clear, Mami elegantly gestured toward the giant monster in front of them. "Do you wish to do the honors, or should I?"

"Y-You can do it," Homura replied.

Mami pulled off a ribbon wrapped around her neck and let it loose into the air. The ribbon transformed into a giant gun that Mami casually caught and aimed with just a single arm.

"Tiro Finale!"

Sayaka and Madoka could only stare in awe at the resulting explosion that followed. The giant monster that had seemed to be the biggest threat of all had been taken down in a single glorious moment. As its remains fell and disappeared into the sky, Sayaka had only one thing to say.

"Holy. Shit."

Homura had predicted that Mami would show up at one point, her Senpai was always reliable that way. What she didn't expect was for Mami to show up even stronger than she had remembered from the previous timeline. Her senpai's movements were more concise and bullets struck with greater force behind them. Also, her guns exploded. They didn't do that before.

"Why did your guns explode?" Homura asked.

"A little trick I picked up from someone a few years ago," Mami replied. "If you purposefully add flaws to your Magical Constructs you can get some particularly explosive results."

"Who taught you that?"

Mami hesitated for a brief moment before replying. "Someone you won't have the misfortune of dealing with."

It was probably the most that Homura was going to get. Mami didn't really like talking about the people she knew in the past. Kyoko had come as a complete surprise in the previous timeline when she just showed up one day, announced herself, and then ended up punching Sayaka in the face. To be fair Sayaka was the one who had thrown the first punch, but neither of them were free of fault. Hopefully something like that wouldn't happen again.

"Homura!"

Homura was completely unprepared for the short pink haired projectile that tackled her and sent her onto the ground. She really should've been. This wasn't the first time this happened to her.

"I'm so glad you're safe! I was so worried," Madoka sobbed as she gave her a tight hug, their cheeks practically touching each other.

Homura simply smiled and let Madoka have her way.

Madoka could be a very… touchy friend. She had done nearly the exact same thing the last time they had fought that leg Witch, though this time it was under more stressful circumstances.

"I could still use an explanation over here!" Sayaka shouted as she slowly carried Hitomi over to them. "What were those monsters, what are those outfits, and why are you fighting them?"

"I believe it would be best to explain in a more comfortable," Mami suggested. "You can all come to my apartment if you'd like." She then turned to Homura. "There is much we have to talk about, after all."

Homura nodded. "We do."