Hitomi stood atop the roof of an abandoned building. She looked down at the street below to see a number of wraiths gathering beneath her. Kyubey manifested beside her, also surveying the wraiths. "You sure this is the last of them?" Hitomi asked.
"Yes." Kyubey replied. "Once you destroy these wraiths, there won't be any more left on Earth. Then if all goes as planned, you will no longer be a magical girl."
"I'm gonna hold you to that." Before jumping into battle, Hitomi closed her eyes and reflected on the year that had passed since she made her contract. At first she actually quite enjoyed the experience. Since she had to find a way to compensate for her "significantly below average" magical prowess as Kyubey put it, she decided to drop tea ceremony practice in order to learn kung fu, and it turned out she excelled at it. Perhaps her being a magical girl gave her an edge, but either way, she loved every second of it. From there she branched out into other martial arts like karate, muay thai and taekwondo, and before she knew it, she was one of the greatest martial artists in Japan, winning several national competitions despite having less than a year's worth of experience.
Of course, everything went downhill once the time Hitomi spent fighting wraiths and learning martial arts started catching up with her. Quitting her other extracurricular activities caused plenty of fights between her and her parents, and without much time to study, her grades started to tank. Not only did she fall off the honor roll, she almost didn't make it into ninth grade. And worst of all, she never had time to see Kyosuke anymore. That compounded with all their other issues ended up being the final nail in the coffin for their relationship, and they broke up about half a year ago.
To make matters even worse, Hitomi had just recently discovered that her Soul Gem was exactly that: a gem made out of her soul. Her body was an empty husk, and wasn't it the perfect metaphor for what her life had become? In making her contract, she'd ended up losing everything she once prided herself on, becoming a barely recognizable shell of her former self. At this point the only thing that kept her going was her wish: to see her friends again.
According to Kyubey, the wish Hitomi had made was beyond her power to grant, at least it was at the time she made her contract. But he also said fate would ensure that her wish would come true eventually. Taking Kyubey at his word, Hitomi took it upon herself to fight as hard as she could until fate decided she was strong enough to have her wish granted, even if that meant wiping out every single wraith on the planet. Nearly a year later, and she was only five wraiths away from doing just that. And going by what Kyubey said earlier, the hellish experience of being a magical girl would finally be over. Hitomi took a deep breath. "Let's end this."
Kyubey jumped up onto Hitomi's shoulder as he always did before battle, then Hitomi jumped off the building, transforming in mid-air. Her magical girl costume consisted of a forest green sleeveless shirt resembling a karate gi, a flowing knee-length skirt, spiked metal shoes, athletic tape around her hands and forearms, a scarf, and a headband. Her green, hexagon-shaped Soul Gem rested in the middle of the headband on her forehead. Once she landed in the middle of the wraiths, all five of them turned their attention towards her and Kyubey. Hitomi put up her fists and conjured up her weapons: a set of spiked knuckles on each hand.
Wasting no time, Hitomi rushed the nearest wraith and punched it in the stomach. As it buckled under the forceful blow, Hitomi jumped and delivered an uppercut to its jaw. She followed up with a few mid-air kicks to its head. The wraith fell onto its back, and Hitomi magically propelled herself downward to deliver the final punch to its face. The wraith was destroyed, and Hitomi got up and charged at another one.
Just before her fist made contact, her special power kicked in. Upon making her contract, she'd gained a sort of sixth sense that allowed her to foresee immediate physical danger. She could tell that another wraith was about to fire an energy beam at her from behind, although this was such a typical tactic that she probably would've foreseen that even without her magic. As usual, she jumped fifteen feet in the air to dodge, and the laser ended up hitting and killing the wraith she was charging at. Hitomi then magically changed directions mid-air and rocketed towards the wraith that shot her, punching it in the face and taking its head clean off. Three wraiths down, two to go.
One of the remaining wraiths swiped at Hitomi with its hand. She instinctively jumped out of the way, but the wraith managed to graze her in mid-jump and knock Kyubey off her shoulder. Hitomi gasped, sensing that the other wraith was getting ready to fire a laser at Kyubey. Feeling the need to save him, Hitomi launched herself at the wraith she was currently fighting and delivered a fatal kick to its chest. She then bounced off of the wraith's body and dove between Kyubey and the other wraith's laser, taking the hit for him.
"That wasn't necessary." Kyubey said as Hitomi lay there healing her body with magic. Hitomi said nothing in response. She'd long since gotten used to Kyubey's blunt, emotionless nature. He wasn't exactly great company, but he was all Hitomi had after her friends had gone missing and she'd distanced herself from everyone else in her life. No one else could possibly understand what being a magical girl was like, especially since she was apparently the only one on Earth. Part of her wondered how she'd explain all this to her friends when she finally saw them again, assuming they even believed her.
Once Hitomi recovered, Kyubey jumped back on her shoulder, then she ran towards the last wraith. It fired several energy beams at Hitomi, but she dodged each one masterfully. Once she closed the distance, the wraith swiped at her, but Hitomi grabbed its arm and flung it into the side of the building. She then launched herself at it and screamed as she unleashed a flurry of punches to the wraith's face. As the wraith's body faded away, Hitomi fell to her knees, breathing heavily with exhaustion.
"Well done, Hitomi." Kyubey leapt off of Hitomi's shoulder and surveyed the aftermath of the battle. "The wraiths have been wiped off the face of the planet. I must admit, I didn't think you had it in you, but-" Kyubey paused when he noticed Hitomi walking towards the train station. "Where are you going? Aren't you going to collect the Grief Cubes?"
"I don't care." Hitomi replied. Normally she'd use the Grief Cubes to purify her Soul Gem, but at this point it no longer mattered to her. "I just want this to be over with."
"Very well, then." Kyubey said as he gathered the Grief Cubes for himself. Once he was finished, he rejoined Hitomi and the two of them headed home.
As Hitomi opened the door to her bedroom, Kyubey leapt off her shoulder and onto the desk. Amy saw them and ran and hid under the bed as she always did. Even after almost a year of living at the Shizuki house, the cat still never got along with Hitomi, and she seemed to despise Kyubey. The Incubator didn't care, though. Considering how far beneath him humans were, why would the opinion of one of their pets matter any more?
Hitomi dropped her nearly blackened Soul Gem on her desk. Kyubey could tell that Hitomi was near the end of her rope. All she would need now was a little push, and Kyubey knew just how to make that happen. "Alright, Kyubey. You said I wouldn't have to be a magical girl after tonight. So what happens now?"
"I suppose it's time I told you the full truth." Kyubey replied. "Once a Soul Gem is depleted of magic and turns completely black, it turns into a Grief Seed, and you become a creature known as a witch." Kyubey's eyes turned to Hitomi's Soul Gem. "It won't be long now before you reach your limit. Such is the fate of a magical girl."
Hitomi reeled back in horror at this revelation. "What?! You're not-"
"I'm afraid it's true." Kyubey said. "I'm sorry your wish wasn't granted, but there's no way out of it now. You will cease to be a magical girl very soon."
Hitomi desperately shook her head. "No, you're lying! We had a contract!"
Now was Kyubey's chance. "If you don't believe me, just look at what happened to Sayaka Miki." Kyubey then telepathically entered Hitomi's mind, showing her visions of the memories from previous timelines he'd gleaned from Sayaka a year ago. Hitomi saw how Sayaka had made a contract to heal Kyosuke, how she'd saved Hitomi's life from a witch, how Hitomi had stolen Kyosuke from her, and how the despair brought on by Hitomi's actions turned Sayaka into the mermaid witch. Then Hitomi saw Kyoko and Madoka attempt to turn Sayaka back, which got Madoka hurt and Kyoko killed.
What is all this?! Hitomi began to hyperventilate taking all this in.
It's your friends' suffering brought on by your actions, Hitomi Shizuki. Kyubey replied telepathically. I trust your relationship with Kyosuke Kamijou was worth it. Kyubey could sense Hitomi's thoughts and emotions, particularly the immense guilt brought on by these visions. Hitomi initially thought that her wish didn't work because she wasn't powerful enough, but now she thought that the reason she didn't get to see her friends again was because they were no longer her friends, not after everything Hitomi had done to them. If it was a magical girl's fate to become a witch, then that was the fate Hitomi deserved. She was already a monster.
With that, the last glimmer of light disappeared from Hitomi's Soul Gem. Just as it began to crack, Kyubey's eyes lit up, and an isolation field manifested around it while Hitomi's body collapsed to the floor. He then climbed out the window and onto the roof. Before long, he observed a small mob marching towards the Shizuki house, all bearing a witch's kiss that resembled four diagonal claw marks. They were chanting variations of "kill the monster" and carrying random objects to use as weapons. It wouldn't be long before the Law of Cycles came to save them.
Thus far, Kyubey's plans had worked like a charm. A year ago, he'd manipulated Sayaka into awakening the Law of Cycles and getting Homura off his back. All that remained after that were the wraiths. Kyubey had used their instinct to only attack the Incubators to his advantage, recruiting a single magical girl to destroy them all without having to take on more of them than she could handle. And now that the wraiths were gone too, there was nothing left to stop Kyubey from repeating his experiment. This time he'd gain control of the Law of Cycles for sure.
Of course, contracting someone with as little magical potential as Hitomi might not have been the wisest decision. After all, there were dozens of stronger candidates in Mitakihara City alone, any of whom would have exterminated the wraiths much faster than she did. But there was something oddly compelling about using the only friend Madoka had left on Earth. Ever since Kyubey's ordeal at Homura's hands, he'd begun to think a bit… differently than before. Kyubey put that out of his mind for now and focused his attention skyward. "The next move is yours, Madoka Kaname."
Once again, Madoka found herself in the labyrinth of yet another friend, and she couldn't help but tear up a little. Even though she'd seen this coming ever since Kyubey targeted Hitomi, that didn't make it any less painful. Madoka had already lost Homura, Sayaka, Kyoko and Mami to despair. The goddess couldn't afford to lose Hitomi, too.
Madoka had been extremely upset with how Walpurga had handled things with Homura, and even more upset by how many of the other magical girls sided with the saint's methods. They seemed to agree that Homura was irredeemable and that the others in the Nexus of Despair were beyond saving, but Madoka refused to believe that. Such notions undermined the Law of Cycles' very mission statement.
With everything that was on the line, and wanting to avoid a repeat of last time, Madoka decided to leave Walpurga and her followers back, and only brought the two magical girls with a personal stake in the situation. She turned to her right to see Nagisa manifesting beside her. The white-haired magical girl brandished her trumpet. "I'm ready!"
Madoka nodded, then turned to her left, and the witch Elsa Maria knelt beside her. "You don't have to hide yourself. Nobody in this labyrinth will recognize you."
Elsa Maria stood up and spread her arms. The shadow witch was enveloped in crimson light, then the light faded to reveal a young red-haired girl dressed in a red robe, pink skirt and red boots that looked almost exactly like Kyoko's. The girl stretched out her right hand and conjured a golden bo staff. "I hope you're right about that."
"Y'know, you can't hide from your sister forever, Momo." Nagisa said. "You'll have to face her sooner or later."
Momo sighed. "I know."
"Let's focus on the mission for now." Madoka said. "We have to get everyone out of here before the witch wakes up. Then we break the isolation field and bring Hitomi to the Law of Cycles."
"Just like last time, and the time before." Nagisa added.
"But how long can we keep doing this?" Momo asked. "Even if we save Hitomi, there's nothing stopping Kyubey from making more contracts. He's just gonna keep doing this again and again until he succeeds."
Madoka realized that Momo had a point. But even so, it wasn't in Madoka's nature to leave anyone behind. No matter how often Kyubey tried his experiment, Madoka would just have to keep coming every time. "We don't have a choice. Let's move out!"
The three girls took a moment to observe their surroundings. Hitomi's witch labyrinth was a dark, cavernous maze covered in briar vines with a number of cobblestone pathways leading in different directions. Several of her familiars were coming into view as well. Apparently they were divided into two types: short, goblin-like ones known as Georges, and large, ogre-like ones known as Sigurds. Each George wielded a small lance while each Sigurd was equipped with an enormous greatsword.
Madoka, Nagisa and Momo began searching for the victims. Before long, the first ones they found were Hitomi's parents. Before Madoka's world-altering wish, it was tragically common for magical girls to succumb to despair in their own homes, making their families the first victims of the girls' witches. It was unclear if Kyubey planned for that this time, but apparently he did intend for Hitomi to become a witch in a place where there were plenty of people around to lure into her labyrinth. Mr. and Mrs. Shizuki were carrying a hockey stick and a floor lamp as makeshift weapons. They charged the familiars, shouting that they would kill the monster. Nagisa intervened by blasting the familiars with her trumpet, destroying them before the Shizukis could be harmed.
"What the hell was that for?!" Mr. Shizuki yelled to Nagisa.
"We had them under control!" Mrs. Shizuki shouted. Both of them advanced on Nagisa, brandishing their "weapons" at the magical girl.
Nagisa shook her head. The effects of this witch's kiss seemed to send victims into a blind rage, driving them to fight the witch as well as anyone or anything in their way. Since the effects of the kiss would persist until the witch was defeated, Nagisa's only option was to knock the Shizukis out. She waved her arm and summoned two of Charlotte's familiars: nurse-like creatures known as Polinas. The Polinas grabbed Mr. and Mrs. Shizuki from behind, pulled out syringes and injected them with a sleeping agent. Seconds later, the Shizukis fell unconscious. Nagisa then ordered her familiars to carry Hitomi's parents to the edge of the labyrinth and guard them.
"Good idea." Madoka said. "We'll round the victims up right here."
"Got it." Nagisa and Momo replied in unison. Momo called forth six Sebastian familiars and ordered them to guard Mr. and Mrs. Shizuki. Then the three magical girls proceeded further in to search for Hitomi's other victims. After a while, Madoka, Nagisa and Momo managed to locate and round up almost everyone that entered the labyrinth, luckily without causing too much of a ruckus and awakening the witch. There had been a few close calls, but no one was seriously hurt by the familiars. Nagisa then left the other two and went back to the victims, awaiting Madoka's order to take them out of the labyrinth.
Just after Nagisa turned back, Madoka spotted Kyosuke swinging his violin at a George. The familiar dodged and knocked the violin out of Kyosuke's hands. It then readied its lance and moved in for the kill.
"Kyosuke, watch out!" Madoka shouted. She then shot an arrow at the George, destroying it and saving Kyosuke.
"Madoka, you bitch!" Kyosuke shouted back. "That was my kill!" He picked up his broken violin and advanced towards Madoka, a bloodthirsty look in his eyes. Madoka flinched, but before Kyosuke could attack her, Momo whacked him on the back of the head with her staff, knocking him out cold.
"Don't tell my sister I did that. She'd be so jealous." Momo summoned a Sebastian and had it carry Kyosuke's unconscious body to Nagisa.
Madoka didn't say anything. Even though she knew Kyosuke wasn't himself right now, hearing that kind of talk from him was quite jarring. The pain of seeing Kyubey manipulate her friends like this was almost unbearable. The only thing worse about this was…
"Madoka! Just where have you been, young lady?!" Madoka winced, then turned around to see her mother standing behind her wielding a kitchen knife. "And more importantly, do you really expect to slay the monster with that thing?" Junko pointed at Madoka's bow.
"You should be more like your brother." Madoka's father added. He was standing next to Junko carrying a shovel. "He's on his way to the monster as we speak."
Madoka went into panic mode and froze up. Before entering the labyrinth, she'd seen her family fall victim to the witch, but nothing could've prepared her for seeing them like this, especially after nearly a year of watching them worry themselves sick over her "disappearance". She'd wanted to tell them what happened to her so badly, but being nothing more than a metaphysical concept, she couldn't say or do anything about it. On top of that, Tatsuya was apparently even deeper inside the labyrinth than her parents were. There was a good chance he was seriously injured or even…
"Hey, snap out of it!" Momo shouted. Madoka came to her senses just in time to see a Sigurd advance on her parents. Junko and Tomohisa prepared to attack it, but Momo jumped in between them before Madoka's parents could get hurt. "Go find your brother! I'll handle this!"
"O-okay." Wasting no time, Madoka ran for it, desperate to save Tatsuya. After several agonizing minutes of frantically searching through the labyrinth's twists and turns, she finally found him still in one piece. He was carrying a toy sword and chanting "Kill the monster!" over and over.
"Tatsuya!" Madoka ran up and grabbed her brother, holding him as tight as she could. Tatsuya tried to wriggle his way out, but his toddler arms weren't anywhere near strong enough. Madoka let out a sigh of relief, knowing her family was safe. She then took a look around and realized they were in the center of the labyrinth. Right next to them was a large pile of gold, jewels and other treasures, and around it were six stakes displaying the "corpses" of Madoka, Sayaka, Homura, Kyoko, Mami and Nagisa. In the middle of the treasure horde lay a glass casket with a caricature of Kyosuke lying inside it, and behind it, having just woken from her slumber, lay Hitomi's witch form: Hildegard, the dragon witch.
Hildegard resembled a western dragon with four clawed legs, a pair of wings and a spiked tail. Her scales were a very dark green while her wings featured a rainbow pattern. Two curved horns and a mane of viridian hair sprouted from her head. She bellowed a deafening roar, then took flight and charged at Madoka and Tatsuya from the air. But before Hildegard made contact, she was hit by a barrage of concussive bubbles. Madoka looked to see Nagisa riding on a Sebastian and brandishing her trumpet. Nagisa jumped off and landed next to Madoka, then sent the Sebastian to distract Hildegard. "We got everyone else. Your brother's the last one."
"Thank you." Madoka handed Tatsuya off to Nagisa. "You and Momo get them out of here. I have to save Hitomi."
"We're on it. Good luck." Nagisa took off. Just as she left, Hildegard clawed the Sebastian in half. She then turned her attention to Madoka. With a bellowing roar, the dragon witch swooped in for the kill.
As Momo awaited her cohorts' return, she thought about her sister's situation. Kyoko, Sayaka and Mami were still stuck in Homura's personal Hell, and as of right now Madoka still had no idea how to rescue them, if that was even possible. Though if nothing else, it at least gave Momo time to prepare for if and when she and Kyoko were reunited.
It was almost unbearable watching Kyoko from the Law of Cycles, seeing her suffer as she blamed herself for the loss of her family. Momo wanted nothing more than to ease Kyoko's pain, but when it came time to rescue Homura from Kyubey's first isolation field, Momo got cold feet. Worried about Kyoko's reaction to seeing her, she decided at the last minute to stay behind, asking Sayaka not to tell Kyoko anything just yet and having Nagisa go on the mission instead. The elder Sakura sister wasn't exactly the forgiving type, and if Momo told her what really happened, it could very well create a rift between them that would never be mended.
Momo temporarily put those thoughts to rest when she saw Nagisa come back carrying Madoka's brother. Tatsuya kept flailing around trying to escape Nagisa's grip, so she ordered one of her familiars to put the toddler to sleep. "That's the last of them." the white-haired girl said. "Now we just have to get them all outside."
"Alright, let's do it." Momo replied. With that, the two magical girls turned to the edge of Hildegard's labyrinth. Nagisa started by blasting concussive bubbles at the wall, then Momo struck at it with her staff. The two of them took turns dealing blow after blow to a single point until eventually they broke through Hitomi's Soul Gem. Nagisa then transformed into Charlotte. Momo and the Polinas loaded the victims onto the witch of sweets' back, then Momo transformed into Elsa Maria and got on as well.
Charlotte took to the air and flew outside the labyrinth. They quickly came up against the Incubators' Seal. Madoka was currently preoccupied, so it was on them to break through it this time. Elsa Maria stood up, summoned all her available magic and channeled it into a single attack. An enormous "tree" shot out her back and smashed into the isolation field. Then it spread numerous branches in every direction, widening the cracks made by the initial impact until the whole thing came crashing down.
When the dust settled, the witches and the victims appeared in the backyard of the Shizuki house. Elsa Maria and Charlotte transformed back into Momo and Nagisa. One of Momo's familiars had grabbed Amy on the way out and brought the cat outside with them.
"They'll wake up sooner or later." Nagisa said, observing the unconscious victims lying on the ground. "Then I guess it's back to the Law of Cycles."
Momo sighed. "For now, at least."
"Hey, don't worry." Nagisa said. "We'll find a way to-" All of a sudden, her and Momo's eyes went blank, and their bodies collapsed to the ground.
Madoka dodged Hildegard's attack by sprouting her wings and flying out of the way. The dragon witch looked up, and she and Madoka stared each other down for a brief moment. If Madoka killed the witch, Hitomi would die too, so that was out of the question. Fortunately, Madoka only needed to stall Hildegard long enough for Nagisa and Momo to break the isolation field. Then Madoka could take Hitomi to the Law of Cycles no problem.
Of course, as she knew from the previous rescue mission, Madoka's power was greatly diminished within the confines of the isolation field. But unlike before, Madoka was facing the witch on her own. Hildegard was a very real threat and could feasibly destroy Madoka if the goddess wasn't careful. And unlike the others who would simply go back to the Law of Cycles if they died, Madoka's death would mean the end of the Law of Cycles altogether. This would be a difficult battle indeed.
Hildegard took flight and jetted towards Madoka again, swiping at the magical girl with her claws. Madoka dodged, then nocked an arrow and shot it at Hildegard's wing, barely missing the target. Hildegard retaliated by biting at Madoka, but the goddess folded her wings and dropped out of the air before Hildegard could connect. Madoka then shot upwards, striking Hildegard's left wing. The dragon witch roared in pain as she careened towards the wall of the labyrinth.
Clinging to the wall, Hildegard glared at Madoka below. The dragon witch inhaled, then breathed a cloud of toxic gas downward. Madoka covered her nose and mouth as the treasure horde around her began to corrode. To save herself from being poisoned, Madoka took flight. Hildegard seized the opportunity to launch herself at Madoka, but the hole in her wing made for a lopsided flight pattern, causing her to miss her target by a mile. Madoka shot another arrow and pierced Hildegard's other wing from behind. Unable to fly, the dragon witch plummeted to the ground.
Madoka breathed a sigh of relief. Now all she'd have to do was stay in the air until the isolation field broke. Or so she thought, but Hildegard wasn't done just yet. She bellowed, then her familiars appeared in the small caves dotting the walls of the labyrinth. The George familiars threw their lances at Madoka. She dodged most of them, but one struck her in the middle of her back, sending her into the wall. As Madoka healed herself, Hildegard blasted her with her toxic breath. Having inhaled the poison, Madoka's body went limp and she fell to the ground below. Her vision blurred as she saw Hildegard advancing on her, certain that this would be the end for the Law of Cycles.
Suddenly, she heard the isolation field come crashing down, and her godly powers returned to her in an instant. Her body began to glow, purging the toxins and healing the wound on her back. Then in a flash of pink light, she escaped to the outside world, reappearing in her goddess form floating above Hitomi and her broken Soul Gem.
"Madoka?" Hitomi wheezed. The green magical girl could barely move her body. It was all she could do just to look up at her friend. "What… are you…?"
"It's alright, Hitomi. You won't have to suffer anymore." With that, Madoka reached out towards Hitomi's Soul Gem, ready to save her last friend on Earth.
All of a sudden, dozens of Incubators manifested in Hitomi's room. Their eyes lit up, and magical restraints appeared around Madoka's hands and feet, binding the goddess. Then an isolation field manifested around Madoka. She turned her attention outside and tried to scream for help, but Nagisa and Momo had collapsed. With Madoka trapped, those two were cut off from the Law of Cycles, rendering their bodies useless.
"We can't thank you enough, Hitomi Shizuki." one of the Incubators said to the fallen magical girl. "Without you, we'd never have captured your friend. At long last, the Law of Cycles is under our control!"
Hitomi didn't respond. With her last bit of strength, she reached out towards Madoka. Then her Soul Gem shattered, and Hitomi's body disappeared altogether.
"It's over, Kyoko!" Sayaka shouted as she swung her sword at the red magical girl.
"Not likely!" Kyoko shouted back as she blocked it with her spear. The impact threw Sayaka off-balance, and Kyoko took the chance to kick Sayaka in the stomach, knocking her to the ground. Kyoko leapt into the air and dove at Sayaka in an attempt to impale her, but Sayaka rolled out of the way just in time. The blue magical girl stood back up, then conjured eight swords from beneath her cape and threw them at Kyoko one by one. Kyoko managed to block the first three, but the rest of them struck true. While Kyoko tried to heal her wounds, Sayaka charged Kyoko and knocked her prone.
"Give up yet?" Sayaka stood over Kyoko, her sword pointed at Kyoko's throat. Kyoko merely glared back at Sayaka.
"Enough!" Mami shouted. Sayaka backed away from Kyoko in response. Mami looked back and forth between the two of them. "Point goes to Sayaka."
"Alright, alright." Kyoko said as she got back up. "What's the score now? I lost count." Sayaka and Mami both shrugged. "You too, huh?"
"Yeah, and who knows how long we've been here." Sayaka said. She then turned to Mami. "You up for a match?"
"Sure. Anything to keep us from going insane." With that, Mami stepped into the makeshift sparring ring the three girls had made out of pieces of rubble. Sayaka stood on the side opposite her while Kyoko took a seat on a rock beside the ring. Mami and Sayaka both readied their weapons and awaited Kyoko's call to start.
But before the fight could commence, the girls saw a flash of emerald light in the distance. Mami and Sayaka dropped their weapons. As all three of them walked over to investigate, they heard a familiar voice shouting "Dammit!" over and over before breaking down into incoherent blubbering. "It can't be…" Kyoko mumbled as they picked up the pace.
"I think it is." Mami said. She, Kyoko and Sayaka started running towards the source of the flash, and sure enough, they found their formerly non-magical friend lying face-down on ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Hitomi?!" Sayaka shouted. "What happened to you?!"
Hitomi forced herself to stop crying, then she slowly turned her head up to see her friends, or rather, who she once thought were her friends. Between what she'd done to them in the past and what she'd done to Madoka just now, she didn't deserve anyone's friendship. "I think I get it." she whimpered as she stood up. "I wished on a monkey's paw, didn't I?"
"You got that right." Kyoko said off-handedly, but Mami gestured for her to stop and let Hitomi speak.
Hitomi stared up at the false Kriemhild Gretchen as if she were in a trance. "Isn't it ironic? I made my wish because I missed my friends, and it turned out you'd all have been better off if you'd never met me."
"That's not true." Mami said, but Hitomi didn't respond.
"To think I caused all of you so much pain and suffering, all because of my stupid feelings for Kyosuke. I should've known he wasn't worth it." Hitomi sniffled. "And I should've known not to make that contract. I should've just let that wraith kill me. Then maybe Madoka wouldn't have been-" Hitomi couldn't even finish before she fell to her knees crying.
Sayaka approached Hitomi. "Wait, what about Madoka?"
Hitomi paused. "For some reason she thought I was worth saving and came to rescue me. I don't really understand it, but I think Kyubey used me as bait to capture her." Hitomi then went back to sobbing.
Mami, Kyoko and Sayaka reeled back in horror at this revelation. "Oh, man! This is really bad!" Sayaka shouted. "If Kyubey controls the Law of Cycles, he could bring back the witch system, or do something worse. We have to save Madoka!"
"Hey, I feel you, but we're kinda stuck in this literal hellhole." Kyoko replied.
Mami sighed, then gestured towards Kriemhild Gretchen. "As much as I hate to say it, that's our best bet at finding a way out of here." She then took a look at Hitomi. "But before that…"
Sayaka picked up on Mami's cue. The blue magical girl crouched down next to her friend. "Hitomi, it's okay-"
"No, it's not!" Hitomi interjected. "Kyubey showed me everything, Sayaka. I know you turned into a witch because of what I did. I'm the reason you're here, and I'm the reason Kyubey has Madoka. How am I supposed to live with what I did to my two best friends?"
Sayaka let out a heavy sigh. "Look, it wasn't just Kyosuke. There was a lot more going on that had nothing to do with you. Besides, all that stuff happened in another timeline, anyway."
"Huh?" Hitomi gave Sayaka a quizzical look. "Another timeline?"
"It's a long story. The simple answer is that Kyubey didn't tell you everything. He told half truths and lied by omission in order to trick you and get his hands on Madoka. Just like he always does. He did it to all of us at one point or another."
"And don't blame yourself for him capturing Madoka." Mami said as she knelt down on Hitomi's other side. "She would've come to save anyone."
"Yeah, you know how she is." Sayaka added. "Too nice for her own good."
"Yep, and now we gotta go save her." Kyoko said. "I never thought I'd say this, but let's go see Homura."
"Wait, she's here too?" Hitomi asked. Thanks to Sayaka and Mami's condolences, she'd started to feel a bit better, at least enough to stop crying.
"Yeah, but we haven't exactly been on speaking terms lately." Kyoko said bitterly.
"Why, what happened?" Hitomi asked. "And come to think of it, where are we even? How'd we all get here?"
Mami stood up. "I guess we have a lot to fill you in on." She extended her hand to Hitomi. "Come on. We'll explain on the way."
Hitomi took Mami's hand, and the yellow magical girl helped her up. As the four girls walked towards Kriemhild Gretchen, Mami, Kyoko and Sayaka filled Hitomi in on everything they knew about the situation. They told her how Homura became a magical girl in order to go back in time and save Madoka, repeating the same month numerous times and unknowingly building up Madoka's magical potential to the point where Madoka made her world-altering wish, erasing herself from existence and creating the Law of Cycles.
The girls then explained how Kyubey tried to capture Madoka once before, using Homura as bait. After he failed, Homura hijacked the Incubators' plan, became a demon and rewrote the universe into an idealized fantasy world for Madoka. Kyoko and Mami admitted to helping Homura maintain the illusion. But when Sayaka regained her memories and confronted them, Homura's world came crashing down, and her failed attempt to recapture Madoka landed all of them here in the Nexus of Despair.
As Hitomi took all this in, she wasn't entirely sure how to feel about Homura. While keeping Madoka safe and happy was a noble goal, the means by which she tried to make that happen were questionable at best and downright atrocious at worst. And of course, hurting Mami, Kyoko and Sayaka in the process was unjustifiable, although it wasn't like Hitomi hadn't gotten them hurt, either. At the very least, she could try to make amends. "Sayaka, if by some miracle we get out of this alive, Kyosuke's all yours." Hitomi said. "We broke up half a year ago and I won't mind if you go out with him."
"Uh, thanks, but…" Sayaka took a quick glance at Kyoko. "I've been over him for a long time now."
"Does… does that mean you forgive me?" Hitomi asked.
"Well, like I said, there was a lot more than just the love triangle." Sayaka replied. "But if you need me to say it, then yes, I forgive you."
Hitomi smiled. "Thanks, Sayaka."
"Well, if Sayaka can forgive you, then I guess I can, too." Kyoko chimed in. "Besides, I've got a pretty big sin I need to atone for myself."
"Yeah, me too." Mami said.
"Whoa, Mami, that was-"
"No, Kyoko!" Mami cut her off. "It might've been your idea, but I knew what I was doing when I went along with it. I could've told Madoka the truth anytime, but I didn't. I'm just as much to blame as you are."
"Look, we have bigger things to worry about right now." Sayaka said. "We'll sort out our emotional baggage once we beat Kyubey and save the world." Mami, Kyoko and Hitomi all agreed. Once they arrived at the base of Kriemhild Gretchen's looming figure, Kyoko, Mami and Sayaka each stretched out their right hands. Hitomi observed them and followed suit. In response to the girls' magical energy, a gateway into the labyrinth opened up, and the four of them stepped inside.