Kyoko's fist tightened around her spear as she watched where the man in red entered the labyrinth, victims in tow. She thought back to their previous altercation. Facing this guy in the real world was enough of a headache; she'd have to be extra careful within the labyrinth. But damn if she didn't feel nervous. That intense, primal fear was still clear in her mind, but all she could do was press on. She's seen his tricks once before, so she's at least expecting it if he tries it again. Even if he's gathering power from witches, that wouldn't make him invincible.

"Any further developments, Sakura-san?" Mami asked as she approached Kyoko.

"Nah. Nothing's changed since I saw him go in."

"Which means he has yet to defeat the witch," Mami said, eyes narrowing toward where the labyrinth lay. "How many people was he with?"

"Six by my count."

"We shouldn't tarry, then. Are you prepared?"

"Hell yeah. If he tries his stupid mind trick again, I'll be ready for it."

Mami nodded, a look of determination clear on her face. Hurting a normal person didn't quite sit right with her, but this man was using innocent people to feed his own lust for power. Facing a witch was one thing, as they are mindless creatures that spread curses just by their nature. But a person who wished to use the power of witches for themselves? The notion of utilizing others to further his own power sickened her. He had to be stopped. She only had a vague idea of what this guy was capable of from what Kyoko and Kyubey had said, so she needed to be prepared for anything. As she opened the labyrinth, she could only hope the worst wouldn't come to pass.

In the deepest part of her labyrinth, the Rose Garden Witch stirred. Her loyal familiar Adelbert sounded his alarm as he spotted two intruders. Even here the Witch could feel her familiars falling prey to them, as they were shot down and sliced to ribbons.

How terrible! She wailed, howled, cried out in pain as the threat to her garden continued unabated. Why are they intruding upon her garden? All she wanted was to grow beautiful roses. She even had new fertilizer brought to her garden to make her roses bloom more vibrantly, radiantly, beautifully, but the Adelberts have yet to bring it to her. Possibly due to these intruders stopping them.

Why would anyone want to prevent her from growing roses? Her garden exists solely for that purpose; anyone who tries to stop her roses from growing… would be nothing more than a weed, wouldn't it? Weeds are detrimental- a cancer, blight, pestilence to any proficient gardener. Weeds must be eliminated, eradicated, eviscerated so as not to inhibit the growth of her roses. She could feel the weeds in her domain, their invading roots through her garden, ruining all of her hard work.

This could go on no longer. Something must be done. She would have to deal with these weeds herself. She would have to-

"You made it real hard to find you, huh? This whole place is a goddamn maze!"

The witch's thoughts were interrupted by a voice.

"Seriously, how do you walk up two flights of stairs to end up back where you started?" The voice chuckled. "At least give me a map or something!"

The witch extended her senses. She could hear the voice, which meant it was nearby, but she couldn't sense its presence at all, feeling only the sensations of those weeds drawing ever closer.

"So what's up with this place? You kidnap all those people and then what, feed 'em to your pets?"

The witch writhed. Her familiars continued to fall to those pesky weeds and now a presence existed that she could not determine. Regardless of what it was, it was a danger to her roses if it was this close. The only reason it would be here is to harm her roses. As such it had to be dealt with. Immediately.

"A real chatterbox, ain't ya?" A massive vine shot out from the ground beneath the speaker, attempting to grab them, but it was sliced in two before it even got the chance. "Hah, now we're talkin'! Let's get this party started!" The witch screamed before beginning their fight in earnest.

Kyoko heard the scream just as she was about to ascend the staircase. "That doesn't sound good," she said.

"It would seem our adversary made it to the witch," Mami said. "We have to hurry!" But before they could move further, the familiars had redoubled their efforts and were back on the two.

"Damn it," Kyoko grunted as she impaled a rank of Anthonys as they attacked. "He knows we're here!"

"Then the familiars are just trying to slow us down," Mami said. "We won't get anywhere just by fighting them! Keep pressing forward, I'll cover you!" And the two made a strong push into the labyrinth, carving a path through the familiars that kept on them. Kyoko swatted and sliced any familiar in her way as Mami formed muskets to fire on as many as she could without tiring herself. Time was running out. They needed to get to the witch as quickly as possible if they were going to save those victims.

Dante has seen a lot of shit in his day, but these witches were proving to be some of the weirdest. The first one he fought looked like two bodies sewn together. Kinda outside his normal theme, but not totally unexpected. This one looked like papier-mâché vomit; design wise, this came right the fuck outta nowhere. And were those butterfly wings stapled to the back? If he was giving out awards for "dumbest looking thing I've killed" this thing would be a shoe-in for first place. Which reminded him:

A slash parries an incoming vine holding a giant pair of scissors. He jumps, cuts the two vines approaching from the air, steps off the third, Coyote-A to the head and he lands a devastating helm breaker on the witch and it recoils.

He still had to actually kill it. Which was proving to be more boring than he anticipated: its attacks were slow and felt like a baby was trying to smack him. Admittedly, he was distracted by how it looked. Never seen a demon with that kinda look at least. And what was with the labyrinth? Pocket dimensions were straight up bullshit. His attention was brought back as the witch squealed, writhing and undulating in ways that shouldn't be possible. He really should have brought a camera. Lady and Trish would have gotten a kick outta this. When he gets outta this mess, he's definitely going to be on the lookout for these witches.

But, business is business. He smirked. Just 'cause this thing can't hurt him doesn't mean he can't have some fun. Seems the witch was ready to get on with it too. A mighty flap of its wings and it was flying around the chamber.

Time to do some gardening.

Ebony and Ivory were whipped out, firing countless shots at the witch. Despite its size, it had a high amount of mobility, dodging the majority of the bullets it was peppered with through aerial maneuvers. It dove at the Devil Hunter, seeing as he hadn't moved from his spot. Right as it approached, he jumped atop, brandishing Cavaliere and shredding pieces of the witch away with the buzzsaws. The witch shook violently as it flew, trying desperately to shake the devil hunter off as it felt the roses on its head being savagely ripped apart. Feeling generous, Dante obliged and jumped off the witch.

Only to reappear in front of its path with his Trick. He brandished Balrog, the Devil Arm eager to let loose.

One two, Three!

It counted as Dante landed a feather combo before pounding it to the ground. The force so great the rumble was felt throughout the labyrinth, and still enough power was put behind it to bounce the witch off the floor. Dante switched Balrog to kick mode and shot back toward the witch as it recoiled from the previous hit. The Friction struck true, which Dante followed up by jumping off the witch's head and landing it a second time. Now, he angled himself to move past the witch, placing him under it as it resumed its prolonged fall.

Dante could feel his Devil Arm raring to go, having been sorely underused in his previous encounter.

Ignite the flames! NOW!

And with a bit of added flair, Dante was fired up. To finish the fight in style, Dante deftly juggled his enemy with the Break Spiral; its floral physiology burnt very nicely, its screams fading away into a low moan before silence overtook them. Surprisingly, despite the floral theming, the flames didn't put an end to the witch and it lay unmoving in a charred heap in the middle of the chamber as the flames slowly died down.

SMOKIN' SEXY STYLE!

Dante disagreed, feeling his weapon was a little biased after being used for the majority of his combo.

Considering the witch was on its last legs, Dante could pick however he wanted to finish it off. So in the spirit of mockery, he conjured a rose out of his demonic power, taking a grandiose whiff before making a gallant toss.

"And you are set free."

The rose was blasted into pieces by a bullet before it reached its target. Dante turned his head to see the magical girl he fought earlier on a ledge above, standing next to a blonde girl holding a large, smoking musket.

"Seems we made it just in time," the blonde said. With a wave of her hand, another gun formed into her hand.

Well if it isn't the firebrand who stabbed him yesterday. And she brought a friend. Dealing with the witch was only part of his mission, he also needed to 'distract' these two. Better get on with it to not piss off the Little Lady that's got a hand permanently over the 'annoy Dante' button. "You're late to the party, Red!" Dante called with a shrug. "Though I guess this place must be a big deal if you brought a plus one!"

"Careful," Kyoko said. "Remember what I said before." The blonde nodded.

"I am only going to ask this once," the blonde said. "What is your plan with the witches?"

"Need some advice for a potion I'm brewing."

The witch growled.

The magical girls shared a concerned look before the blonde narrowed her eyes, her gun trained on him. "Then I suppose we have no choice. Whatever it is you're planning will end here. We will put a stop to your experiments with witches before you can bring harm to any more people."

Dante gave an amused grin. "I take it you dealt with the guests out in front?"

"You can forget about them," Kyoko said.

"We will not allow innocents to be harmed by your lust for power," the blonde continued.

Dante couldn't help but chuckle at the irony in that statement. "Well color me impressed. Guess I should thank you for taking care of that for me; saves me the trouble."

"Unfortunately I cannot afford to let you leave here," she continued. "If you surrender now, we can make this as painless as possible."

Dante gave a sly chuckle. "Think I'll pass on that deal, Goldilocks."

"Then we have no choice." She fired her gun, which Dante dodged by lightly sidestepping. The girl had jumped off the ledge and was now directly above him. With a wave of her hand, dozens of muskets materialized and prepped to fire. A chain barrier manifested in a column around him and the blonde, narrowing his escape as the guns fired down on him.

He had to hand it to them, it was a neat trick. Might even work on the average demon.

The instant he saw the guns about to fire, he whipped out Ebony and Ivory, firing at all the bullets as they appeared, shot for shot, illuminating the area with a brilliant golden hue as the respective bullets exploded when Dante hit them.

The barrier dissipated, Kyoko approached him with a stab of her spear. Dante jumped, stepping off the weapon to gain more height. The blonde had fully descended and swung at Dante with one of her guns as she approached, which Dante blocked with Ivory. The girl manifested another gun, firing at Dante, which he knocked away with his other hand causing the bullet to sail just over the witch. The girl twisted her body, using the momentum to push back, making two more guns and firing them off. In the same instant, Kyoko's spear separated into its chain form and lashed at Dante from behind. With a twist of his own, he oriented himself to the spear, dodging the bullets and kicking off the chain, backflipping over Kyoko and leaving him clear of both of them.

The longer this fight went on, the more the two magical girls impressed him. Of course, if you spend a significant portion of your time fighting against disgusting monstrosities, you're gonna get something out of it. Although they could stand to lighten up a little.

"You kids are really something," he said. "Makes me think-"

Kyoko rushed at him, interrupting whatever he was about to say. Guess she wasn't a fan of quips.

"Royalguard!" Dante called as he parried the strike by knocking her arm out of the way. A string of attacks assailed him, which he made a point to dodge. Her blonde friend leapt over them, making sure to fire him when she had a clear shot, which again he blocked with shots of his own, but now she was on his other side, and the two of them engaged him in a coordinated strike. One swing of a spear was matched with an attack from a gun that would fire at his person but steer clear of Kyoko if it missed. The two assaulted him in a deadly melee that required the utmost dexterity and finesse to endure.

So basically Dante was having a blast.

Dante elbowed the barrel of a gun away and kicked the spear point downward. "Trickster!" He called, stepping forward and using it as a spring to launch himself. Kyoko chased, her spear unfurling in a whirlwind trying to hit him from multiple angles. Gunshots followed, expert aim chasing only after their intended target while steering clear of Kyoko. He took out his gun and fired back at the blonde, parrying her bullets shot for shot.

It was official. These kids are pretty good. "Damn," he said with a grin. "You guys practice this?" They did not respond.

Fun as this was, they really weren't gonna get anywhere like this. Dante wasn't in the habit of beating up random children, powered up or otherwise, and he seriously doubted they could even handle him going easy like he did on Nero when they first met. But he was supposed to 'distract' them. He had a thought when Goldilocks was giving her little speech earlier. Seems like she, at least, really wanted to play hero. Which meant that he got to play the villain. He was gonna have to put in a bit more effort to make it believable, but he could make it work. Then he should probably let them get a few hits in. Boost their confidence and all.

And he still wanted to see what this 'magic' stuff could do.

Dante moved to kick Kyoko, who saw the strike and wrapped her spear around his leg, the serrated edges offering a firm grip. With a grunt of effort, Kyoko mustered her strength to throw him headfirst to the ground. Her partner capitalized, forming a pair of guns which, once he got close, she used as a makeshift bat and swung hard, sending him crashing to the wall, the impact strong enough to leave a dent.

The two magical girls glared as he peeled himself off the wall. Dante chuckled to himself as he mock dusted his coat off. "I'll admit," he said. "You guys impressed me. But unfortunately for you," he said pointing a finger. "We are out of time."

Three… Two… One…

The two magical girls' faces lit up in alarm, both immediately taking defensive stances.

Zero.

The moment the count finished, the witch shot its vines from below the magical girls.

The blonde jumped, successfully evading, but Kyoko wasn't as lucky, having opted to cut through the vines instead, which left her open to being attacked by the flying familiars that began flooding the room. Her partner quickly moved to intercept, and the two were immediately covering each other from the onslaught.

"The witch!" Kyoko yelled. "If he still has the power to control it, it might be best to just blow the whole place up!"

Mami nodded, her soul gem already glowing in preparation. "I'll take care of it; you'll have to cover me, Sakura-san."

Kyoko nodded, her spear splitting apart in preparation.

While the magical girls were strategizing Dante was… being ignored. All the familiars and the witch itself seemed focused on the kids instead of the biggest threat in the room. If he was being honest? It did tick him off a bit. He was even able to walk up to the witch, right to the paint splatter he assumed was its head without so much as a growl sent his way. Not what he planned, but he might as well roll with it

"The hell is up with this thing?" He said. Up close it was even more disgusting, the 'texture' of its features appearing to move.

Yeah, he was officially done with this.

Kyoko twirled her spear, creating a fierce tornado that shredded the familiars in her vicinity, allowing Mami to jump high above.l Her magic shined brightly, numerous ribbons manifesting and merging with each other, forming a massive cannon she trained directly at him.

Dante had stared down the barrel of many, admittedly mostly Lady's, guns before, but none had ever been so… huge. "...Huh."

Energy coalesced in the barrel, lighting up the place in a mystical, golden glow.

"Tiro Finale!" The blast hit the ground with an explosion, screams of the witch and familiars raised in cacophony, before echoing away with the embers of the magical blast. The light receded, the labyrinth dissolving around them as the real world came back into view.

The two magical girls glared at the man, who the blast had knocked to the ground.

Though they couldn't see it from their vantage point, a whimsical smile played upon Dante's face. Seems like his show was winding to a close. If handling every kid was like this, he might see the appeal. But as far as he was concerned, that was enough of this for now. No fun in having everything settled in one go. He still has a whole month to get through! He had to draw it out at least a little.

"Careful where you point that thing!" Dante chuckled as he rose to his feet. "I'd almost think you're trying to kill me!"

"Like I said, tough bastard," Kyoko said.

"I think we've all seen what we need to," Dante said. "It's no fun if we show our hands this early! So for now, class dismissed." In a blink, he vanished from sight. The two girls looked around in alarm. A nod shared between the two was all they needed to communicate their intentions. And as fast as their magic would allow, they split up to see where he could have possibly gone.

Sayaka Miki didn't think of herself as a judgemental person. If anyone were to ask her, she'd say she's pretty friendly, getting along well with almost everyone, and definitely not the kind of person to make fun of others for no discernible reason. With that being said…

Sayaka thought this transfer student was really weird.

Certainly not weird in the gross kinda way, what with her perfect hair and flawless skin, and not quite in the 'I kick puppies and babies for fun' kinda way (though she wouldn't be totally surprised if that was the case). But she was just… really… clingy might be the word? The moment Madoka said two words to her, she never left her side. But she couldn't really blame her- Madoka is, like, the nicest person in the world. If she was a transfer student, she's certainly feel welcomed if Madoka talked to her. But still… hanging off of her to this extent was weird. Even now, as she somehow managed to tag along on their walk home, the transfer student was walking in step with Madoka, slightly ahead of her. It's not like she was jealous or anything… but it's still weird. She guessed it was possible for people to really click as soon as they met… but still.

"Are you alright Sayaka-chan?" Hitomi asked as she walked alongside her.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Just curious about our new transfer student," she said, loud enough to get Homura's attention.

She regarded Sayaka with a sideways glance. "...What do you wish to know?"

Sayaka was going to ask what her hobbies and such were before remembering her saying she spent a whole lot of time in the hospital. If she was anything like Kyosuke, that might be a touchy subject. "...You a fan of classical music? You seem like the type."

"No," she answered curtly.

"Really? I figure a high-society type like you would be really into it."

She narrowed her eyes. "Then I fear you have misjudged me."

Crap. She just blurted that out, assuming she was a rich girl like Hitomi. Now things were even more awkward between them. Great.

"I understand you've spent a lot of time in the hospital," Hitomi said. "Is there anything you'd like to do now that you were unable to do before?" Homura glared at her before quickly moving to a more thoughtful glance. Nice save, Hitomi!

"... I would like to get ice cream."

"That's a wonderful idea!" Madoka said. "We can go to the place nearby!"

Leave it to a high class girl like Hitomi to pass a difficult speech check like it was nothing. And ice cream? She was totally down for that! "Then what are we waiting for?" Sayaka exclaimed. "Troops, this mission is of utmost importance! Tonight, we will exact our vengeance on the menace of women around the world! Lieutenant Kaname, you will lead the charge on our frozen foe!"

Hitomi and Madoka giggled at her antics. "Aye-aye, commander," Madoka said with a mock salute.

"That's 'Admiral' to you! One more crack like that and you're demoted to rear-forward brigadier!"

"Your knowledge of the military is astonishing," Hitomi said between fits of laughter. The transfer student remained stoic. She's gonna be a tough one to crack. They carried on like that until they reached the shop in question.

When they entered, the shop was empty, save for one other customer. Usually this wouldn't be the cause for any further consideration, but the appearance of this particular patron caused Sayaka to stop and stare. An older looking foreigner with a long red coat, steadily eating a double strawberry sundae. While that in itself was somewhat noteworthy, the presence this guy gave off was so…

So…

Badass.

Even while sitting she could tell he was easily over double her height, his coat boldly complimented by the black shirt, pants, and driving gloves he wore. His hair, white but with a sheen like polished silver.

Crap, she was staring. At least he hasn't looked up at them yet.

Was he in a gang? She heard sometimes foreign muscle was hired for a bunch of purposes, but if that's the case, what's he doing eating ice cream here of all places? And how did he look so cool doing it?

She easily imagined him swinging a bigass sword with wild abandon. Just like a hero. Saying things like, 'your reign of terror ends here, evildoer! Have at thee!'

Or maybe he was some kinda villain that would start off bad and then move to the good guy's side? 'Heh, you've proven yourself,' he'd say. 'I'll help you out this time, but don't slow me down.'

Yeah, that's exactly the sort of rockin' cool thing he'd say.

Neither Madoka nor Hitomi seemed to pay him any mind, but she noted the transfer student took note of his presence, which was more than she gave anyone other than Madoka today, though she couldn't rightly discern the look on her face. Annoyed? Confused? A mix of both? Then she caught Sayaka staring at her and quickly turned her face away.

If he even got the stoic transfer student's attention, he truly was a force to be reckoned with. Man, she wished she could be cool like that! Cutting down monsters with a cool weapon- she always figured herself as a sword type of girl- saving people from the forces of evil- she'd be the sickest hero ever! She'd of course need an equally cool outfit- school uniforms definitely were not hero material. Oh, and she'd need a catchphrase too. All the best heroes have catch phrases.

"Sayaka-chan?" Madoka's call brought her attention back. She and Hitomi had amused and bemused looks respectively.

"You really shouldn't space out like that," Hitomi chided.

"Sorry! Was just wondering what kind of ice cream I should get Kyosuke."

"Ah, you're seeing him after this?" Hitomi asked. Sayaka nodded. "You brought him chocolate last time, so perhaps something different?"

Sayaka continued her conversation, noting that the man was now nearly finished with his treat. If he noticed how he grabbed her attention, he didn't show it. Which was expected of course, he probably gets stares like that wherever he goes. He left shortly after they were seated.

She really needed to learn how to reign in her imagination. There's no way some random guy would be some monster hunter. As unfortunate as it was, those kinds of things just didn't exist. But it didn't stop her from wanting to be a hero, even if it was to save one specific person.

She hoped Kyosuke was in a good mood today.

Here's another chapter, tell me if it's based or cringe. Fair warning though, every review you post feeds my already inflated ego.