1. Episode 1: A New Day
\Tell me the story of your soul./
\Look at me without turning your eyes away./
\You think that I am non-existent./
No.
This isn't how it ends!
Homura was dead. Eviscerated; her left half was utterly annihilated along with her soul gem, with viscera coating the ground beneath her. Time loops were impossible now.
No!
Nothing would change.
NO!
This was the last repeat.
HOMURA!
Madoka stared at the lifeless body, her eyes filled with tears. Incubator sat beside her as the Walpurgis floated overhead, tearing the scenery apart, with the barrier completely encroaching onto the real world, as buildings floated above, like some kind of omen. The ground itself was cracked, as the lifeless bodies of the civilians floated into the sky, their carcasses being absorbed into the horrific witch's body.
"It's impossible…It's…really the end…" Madoka continued to cry as foreign abomination simply flicked his tail, staring at her.
Reality itself seemed to unravel as the very ground was being absorbed unto the witch's form. It needed no barrier; merely a locale. Gravity was irrelevant now; the buildings floated towards the witch's form, as the very earth seemed to lurch upwards. Madoka fell to her knees as she sobbed, the Walpurgis annihilating the city and its own reality.
'Now is the time.'
"What?" Madoka turned to him, eyes still filled with tears.
'Become a Puella Magi. Make the contract with me, and everything can change. I guarantee it.'
Madoka gripped Homura's remaining hand once more, her eyes still facing the ground, tears falling like rain down her cheeks. She sniffled, before bringing a single arm to her eyes. She smiled, melancholy gripping her being as she turned to it. Her mouth twitched.
"I…"
Inwardly, the creature smiled.
"I will take the contract…"
If he had emotions, Incubator would have smiled. 'What do you wish for?'
"I wish…to protect…everyone…" She sniffled, before jerking towards him with new resolve. "I wish for a world…where my friends will survive."
A slight twitch of its ear was noticed as it flicked its tail once more. 'Is that your wish?'
"Yes…" She said, a shaky breath adorning her person. "It is my wish."
It seemed to sigh. 'Then it shall be done.'
And Everything Changed.
-Potestatem Ego Habeo-
Magica Madoka Veneficus Puella
Episode 1: A New Day
-Potestatem Ego Habeo-
Madoka's eyes shot open. She was in her bed, hair a mess, her bed in even worse condition. She sat up, and wondered 'Was that all a dream?'
She groaned as she moved off of the bed, and felt something in her hand. She glanced…and gasped.
Sitting in her grip was the bane of her existence, the very thing that had caused her so much trouble several times before…
The Soul Gem.
She shrieked as she let go of it, letting her materialized soul hit the ground. She stared at it as she grimaced, looking at the intricate patterns upon the object. "It…wasn't a bad dream…"
"Madokaaaa~!"
Madoka took the soul gem, the eldritch device transforming into a ring on her finger. "I really am…"
"Madoka! You're not usually this late! Come on down!"
"I'm coming, mom!"
0
It was in front of the mirror that Junko Kaname noticed that something was wrong with her daughter. She seemed…off. Almost detached, really. "Are you alright, Madoka?"
Madoka seemed to jump, before turning quickly to her mother, a blush smeared across her face. "I'm fine!" She said this a little too quickly, embarrassed with having been caught off guard.
"Is it some kind of crush?" Junko teased, her hair now tied perfectly in a bun.
"M-Mom! It's nothing!" Once more, Madoka spoke with too fast a tempo and too high a tone. "I'm just…thinking…"
"Okaaaaaaa~y…Whatever you say!" Junko turned around once more. "By the way…you better tell me where you got that ring! It's so pretty!"
"Huh?" Madoka stared at the ring, before turning once more towards her mother.
She simply waved. "Come on! Don't let my questions slow you down! Good luck at school today!"
00
Homura woke up once more. She groaned, her eyes still reeling from the shock of waking up. She gripped her hands. It was strange…wasn't one of them gone befo-
She rose out of bed quickly. She grasped around, looking for her soul gem, before discovering something odd.
It was gone. Completely gone.
She was alive.
She was a human being once more.
She fell backwards on the bed.
What had Madoka wished for?
She put on her glasses, noting that it was the first time in centuries that she actually needed them. "Just what did you do, Madoka?"
-00-
Madoka walked down the path, her eyes filled with confusion.
"It's exactly the same as before…"
"Madoka! Wait up!"
The young girl turned, surprised. Was that-
She had a stupid grin on her face. It was!
Sayaka ran to her, hands waving wildly, "I don't want to go alone!"
Madoka wasted no time. Within seconds, her arms were wrapped around her best friend's waist, a sob wracking her form. She gripped Sayaka as if letting go would kill her.
"Whoa…Easy there!" Sayaka stepped back, confused by the sudden contact. "It's not like I've been gone for too long! Geez…" She soon had a soft smile, before returning the hug. "I missed you too, buddy."
"Sayaka…"
"What is this?"
Both girls turned to the source of the question. "Hitomi?"
"Is this what I think it is?" The green-haired girl turned, an odd expression upon her face. "Is this…Forbidden Love?"
Sayaka turned towards her own friend, as Madoka pulled away, a bright red blush smeared across her face. "What are you talking about?"
"It IS! Oh! Don't you know how forbidden it is!" Hitomi seemed to dance. "Such Callous Disregard For Society! Such is the power of Love!"
Madoka stared. Hitomi wasn't this crazy…was she?
"Let's…just…go…" Sayaka started to sidestep away from the bizarre singing lady.
Madoka wisely followed in her footsteps.
[-00-]
Sayaka sat at her desk, before turning to her pink-haired friend, obviously worried by her odd behavior. "Madoka…You've been off all morning…are you okay?"
"I'm fine, really!" That's a lie. "I'm just a little tired." Are you really going to lie to her?
"I don't know…You really are a little off…"
"Don't worry about it!" Help me…
Thankfully, their teacher interrupted their thoughts. "Class, I have two announcements to make…One: Don't date guys who are older than you. They're probably married…"
"Already, she's making her dating shpeel."
Madoka said nothing; admittedly, she actually missed this stupid advice.
"Also, we have a new transfer student."
"Ah…shouldn't that come first?"
She turned. "Akemi-san, you can come in."
And into the room came a tall girl, presumably in her early teens. Her long, black hair extended to her thighs, and a pair of red glasses adorned her face. She seemed thin, but not sickly, with a healthy figure, and a weary, worldly expression.
Madoka recognized her instantly.
"My name is Homura Akemi." The voice was cold, almost nonchalant as she bowed. "Pleased to meet you all."
Madoka's face was full of shock as she saw her former guardian repeat the same steps as before, with very little deviation from her previous timeline.
"Please treat her well, Okay?"
[-00-]
As before, she was swamped by others. They crowded around the girl, asking her various inane questions, as Madoka sat by her friends at her own desk, simply staring at the transfer student. "Does she recognize…"
"She's already getting swamped." Sayaka blurted, breaking Madoka from her train of thought. "It's as though she's already the most popular student on campus…"
"Huh…" HItomi glanced to Sayaka. "Do you think she was transferred back or something?"
"I don't know. It looks like it."
The other girls crowded around the desk as though it were more important than life itself. "Where did you go to school?"
"Your hair! How's it so pretty?"
Suddenly, she stood up, hand clutching her forehead.
"I don't feel so good…I was nervous…So I don't feel so good anymore…Can someone please lead me to the infirmary?"
"I'll take you there!"
"No, that's okay. I'll ask the person in charge." Homura glanced over to Madoka. "Kaname-san?"
Madoka pulled her head up from her desk. "Y-yes?"
"Can you please lead me to the Nurse's office? You are the health officer, aren't you?"
Madoka gulped nervously. "Y-yes. Yes I am."
"Let's go, then."
\[-00-/
They walked through the halls of the former prison, the glass making it no secret that the pair was strolling through the halls, the eyes of many of their peers staring at them through the walls. Madoka noted that the walk through the hall was the same as before, and that the only thing that had changed was the fact that she was nervous for a totally different reason.
She also noted that there was a slight difference in architecture, with more supports than there were before. "Homura…Chan…"
The other girl stopped in the middle of the walkway towards the office, the same place where Homura gave her initial cryptic warning, the sun shining through with the same strength as before.
Homura turned, the glasses remaining perfectly still on her face. "Do you remember?"
Madoka took a step back, her eyes wide. "Remember?"
"What happened before?"
Madoka took another step backwards, her head facing the floor. "Y-yes…I do…"
Homura's expression softened for a second, before returning to its previous aloofness. How did she-
Madoka raised her hand, and on it was something that made Homura's heart stop.
It was the ring.
Madoka's soul.
She was too late.
\[00/
Madoka sat outside of the nurse's room. She put her head in her hands, as though that would really solve her problems. She turned back towards the hall, and reflected upon the fact that she decided to forgo lunch in favor of a talk with her friend.
Friend. It felt so odd. In this reality, they just met, but, they'd been friends for almost two months. She could barely wrap her head around the implications.
The door opened quickly, forcing Madoka to look towards Homura once more. She opened her mouth, but the words died in her throat. She choked, then turned back to the floor.
In the room sat Homura, with the nurse having gone off to get some medicine. The younger girl sat by her guardian, eyes filled with shame, confusion, and just a little bit of hope.
"Homura…I-"
"What did you wish for?"
"Huh?"
"What was so important that you made your wish? So early?" Homura turned to her. "Do you realize what you've done?"
Madoka flinched.
"You've doomed yourself!"
Madoka grabbed the sides of her head, pressing it desperately. "Stop it!"
"Madoka, whatever you did might have killed all of us!"
"I wanted Kyubey to change everything!"
Homura stopped her harsh interrogation. "What do you mean?"
"I wanted him to change the world so that…" Madoka inhaled quickly in a desperate bid to calm down. "So that you could survive."
Homura blinked. "What do you-"
"You died in the last timeline. Everyone did. Walpurgisnacht was unstoppable." Madoka stared adamantly, her previously skittish nature evaporating in favor of newfound boldness. "I wished to change everything and go back to save you."
"Madoka…"
"I did it for all of us! And I'm not a witch yet…you said that I became a witch almost immediately after offing Walpurgis that last time, right? So that means Kyubey really did change things!"
Homura stopped, thoughtful for a second. "We don't know what he changed though."
Both girls sat in silence, the thought hanging in the air.
They did not get to contemplate all too much though, as a loud crash from outside had interrupted their quiet moment.
\/
The television flickered to life in the living room, as Tomohisa Kaname decided that now would be a good time to watch the news. He washed the china in the room, his hands slaving away as the news anchor appeared upon the screen, her eyes filled with fear.
[It appears that one has recently spawned from the nearby shopping mall near the Mitakihara Junior High.]
Tomohisa Kaname dropped his dishes. "Oh my god."
He ran over to the television.
Upon it was a horrible monstrosity, easily stretching several meters into the sky. It seemed to warp the very space around it, as its eyes, or what Tomohisa assumed were its eyes, flickered, dirty blonde hair around its horrible visage.
It screeched, shattering the of the entire building, which is to say most of the building, as vines, all basked in an unearthly glow, grew upon the structure.
[The witch appears to be related to gardens, as the mall is turning into an enormous garden. It is unknown if there are any Veneficus Puella nearby that can prevent a disaster.]
The family man grabbed a nearby phone, desperately dialing in.
"Junko! Quick! Get out!"
"Tomohisa, please! I was in a mee-"
"A witch appeared by Madoka's school!"
"What?" Elsewhere, Madoka's mother, one Junko Kaname, stood up from her desk, startling her employees.
"It's really bad! And there aren't any Veneficus Puella to stop it!"
"Shit! I'll be there as fast as I can!" Junko jammed the phone back into its receiver, and quickly packed up her stuff.
A coworker tapped her on the shoulder. "Uh…miss-?"
"I don't have time for your shit! Clear it up yourself!" She ran out of the building, a look of worry, determination, and rage plastered onto her face.
]
[Wait. This just in! A figure has been spotted heading rapidly towards the building! In just a few seconds…]
The image dissolved into static.
"They're in our reality this time?" Homura ran alongside Madoka, both girls keeping their heads down as they desperately tried to avoid the debris that the witch was currently throwing at the school.
"The witch is different too." Homura pointed as she ran. Without her powers, she finally began to panic. "Look!"
Gertrud had, indeed, changed. This time, its head was far better defined, and its hair seemed to twist differently, with far more fluidity. Its face was still a horrifying gape, but this time, it had eyes, which seemed to glow a bright red.
The various Anthonies around it marched, with another dimension added to their otherwise flat figures. The building seemed to morph into an enormous, hideous garden as the witch overtook it, with the civilians inside dropping dead, their souls quickly consumed by the monstrosity.
The witch shrieked once more, before turning its eldritch gaze to the school. It moved onward through the mall like it was nothing, the building collapsing under its sheer mass.
Madoka screamed and Homura gasped as the witch continued its trek towards them, when a shot rang through the air.
Instantly, the witch's head jerked to the left, and the creature was sent hurtling towards the ground, dust rising as it slammed into the street. It rolled, steadying itself as the creature righted itself once more, despite the gaping hole in the side of its head, and yelled, its new challenger making herself known.
"Guess who?" The young woman said with a smile, her hand-cannon glowing as she let it retract into the bow around her waist, leaving a single rifle in her arms.
"M-Mami?" Madoka stared at this new savior, and took note of the uniform. It was far darker than the previous Mami's had been, this time with a black uniform. The beret was white with a black feather, and the skirt was black with a yellow lining. The rifle in the woman's hands glowed a soft yellow, as the intricate silver décor upon its side pulsed with energy.
"Just stay tight! I'll be done in a second!" The girl winked, and took aim once more. This time, several thousand shots flew out of the barrel at once, stopping in midair, just in front of the girl. They formed a complex pentagram, various runes popping up as the bullets spun around.
The pentagram of shots flew forward as the witch, not even bothering to partake in the magical theatrics, had decided to run onwards. The shots tore into the witch's body, forcing the enormous creature off of the ground at rapid speed. The witch soared into the sky, a small yellow trail behind it as it flew upwards.
Mami took aim once more, only to witness the witch form its own magical circle in the sky, as an enormous immaterial flower formed a platform. The witch crashed into its new platform, and, using it as a springboard, proceeded to fly off of it.
It was going to ram her.
"Both sides got a power boost?" Homura stared at the display in front of her. Just what happened with the witches and Puella Magi?
Madoka hid her eyes into Homura's arms.
Mami simply smiled as she prepared a new weapon, not even bothering to turn to the girls she was protecting. "It's alright." The bow wrapped around the gun once more, as Mami pulled several more ribbons off of her person. "It's going to be over soon."
Instantly, several cannons, each easily the size of a bus, formed. They extended outwards, before turning directly towards the witch. Mami herself stood on one of the barrels of these cannons, and took out a pair of flintlock pistols, aiming to the sky above her.
"Finitore."
The witch was traveling at an incredible pace, a thin layer of vapor forming in front of it.
"Morte Certa."
A sonic boom was heard, causing a cloud of dust of rise from the ground below.
"FINE SCIOPERO!"
And Mami pulled the trigger.
The guns fired simultaneously, rocketing to their midair prey. Their paths intertwined, wrapping around each other in an intricate display of grace and power. A path of light appeared in the sky as the shots were sent hurtling towards Gertrud.
The witch proceeded to dodge them rapidly, the shots just barely missing it in midair. The bullets, however, were nowhere near finished with their offensive. They split apart from one another, the bullets forming a complex trail in the sky as they proceeded to pursue the rapidly falling witch.
The enormous anomaly continued its trek to the ground, as Mami created one last enormous cannon, just large enough for her to fit in. She slipped into its barrel, as the weapon readied itself.
"Tiro!" The hammer of the gun fell forwards. "Finale!"
The explosion rocked the school as Mami flew upwards at high speed. Those two flintlock pistols rose quickly, as she readied both guns for her head-on collision with Gertrud.
The witch was unprepared as Mami jammed herself into its side, the witch shifting in midair from the force of the Veneficus Puella's impact. The two pistols by her side started to glow once more, before shifting into a dark black, a sinister energy surrounding them as she jammed both weapons into the witch's head.
"Bang." She fired both flintlocks simultaneously.
And the bullets entered one side, and exited the other.
The witch exploded in midair, bits of its being flying about messily, before the remains branched out, dissolving spectacularly as they did so, a brilliant yellow fractal glowing in the sky.
The mall seemed to repair itself as the witch dissolved, with the formerly dead patrons suddenly rising up once more, as Mami skydived to the ground. She flipped gracefully, before slamming into the earth at high speed, the very ground cracking as she crouched slightly, before rising, unimpeded by her rapid descent, to face the incoming swarm of people on the ground.
Homura whispered as she and Madoka stared at the sight. "Just…what is this?"
"Ara ara! What have we here?"
Quickly, she was swamped by reporters, as she simply waved her hand, the various people thanking her for her duties.
And it was then that Homura and Madoka realized just how much their world had changed.
'The power of magic comes from the human soul, which can manipulate matter to defy the laws of the universe to its will. With the soul, it becomes possible to bend reality; this free will is the very reason why we use humans to reverse entropy; it literally defies the rest of this deterministic universe.'
'Why wouldn't we use this? It's a very powerful resource.'
I met you.
I saw my dream come true.
An eternity passed in a second.
A/N
Greetings! It is I, an utterly batshit insane writer!
Updates are unsure. Need to come up with follow-ups, etc. However, this story will be about 10-12 chapters long. I can guarantee it.
Also, the songs will have some form of meaning. If you know what the songs are, you get a cookie!
[I wouldn't have included them if they were worthless]
2. Episode 2: You Have To Learn The Ropes
\Only the dream, that flies when blown/
\Links the two people./
"So you want to learn more about the Veneficus Puella?"f
"Y-yes…If that's possible." Madoka shifted in her seat, clutching the ring in her hand.
"…That ring. Did you already form a contract?"
"Yes. She did." Mami turned to the new voice, and saw Homura leaning against the door, her glasses belying her cold expression. "She actually formed it very recently."
"Yes…just last night."
"What did you wish for?"
"I wis-"
Homura stopped her with a simple wave of her hand. "No, Madoka. Don't tell her."
"Homura…"
Mami was, appropriately, confused. "What is this about?"
"Excuse us for a second." Homura pulled her cohort out of the room quickly by the forearm.
"Why can't I tell her?" Madoka was confused. Wouldn't it be best just to let everyone know?
"I did that once. Mami killed Kyouko and almost killed me! You had to kill her with your own hands in order to save me!"
Upon this revelation, Madoka flinched.
"This was the same one where I had to kill you to keep you from becoming a witch! The same one where you told me to stop you from becoming a Puella Magi in the first place!"
"Homura…stop."
This time, Homura complied. "The point is, we can't just tell her everything about our doomed timeline. Things just don't work that way." A somber tone entered her voice.
"This isn't the same world. I can tell that things are definitely different this time."
"Madoka…"
"I know I'm new to this, and I know that I've never time traveled, but trust me, I-"
"No. You don't."
A third voice interrupted. "She doesn't what?"
Both girls turned their heads. "And what was this about 'doomed timelines?'" asked one Mami Tomoe.
-Potestatem Ego Habeo-
Magica Madoka Veneficus Puella
Episode 2: You Have To Learn The Ropes
-Potestatem Ego Habeo-
"She was saved by Mami?"
"They're very lucky that Mami decided to look over this part of town today. If that weren't the case, then they'd probably be kissed by the witch." Junko sighed, setting the cup down. They were right outside of the room where the two recent witch survivors had been taken; there was no guarantee that those that had survived a witch had left unscathed.
"Thank god she's alright." Tomohisa sighed. "I can't imagine what I'd do if she died."
"Or if her soul got damaged." Junko hugged her husband's shoulders. "The things that could have happened…"
The two girls stared at her. Homura took the liberty of trying to save face. "It's just a theory…"
"Really, now?"
Madoka peered sideways, before catching on. She stuttered. "Ye-yes! With different timelines and o-other possibilities!"
"Okay…" Mami didn't buy it, but she knew that they wouldn't tell her. 'Best just not to press it. They'll tell me eventually.'
Homura bowed. "Thanks again for saving us." She rose, her face still as emotionless as ever, graceful hair clashing with her large, red glasses.
Mami smiled softly. "It's my job. Don't thank me; it's merely an obligation." She shifted her gaze to Madoka. "And with whom did you form your contract?"
"With who?" Madoka tilted her head.
"You can't simply forget something like that. One is dangerous and one is safe."
Madoka made it up. "I did it with…the safe one?"
"Then we'll go there later on. I have a friend there who can give you some useful information."
{))((}
Sayaka stood at the railing. She stared at the mall, small bits of the eldritch garden still coating some of its sides. "Madoka almost died..."
Hitomi stood beside her. They often hung out on the rooftop; it was remote, and often led to some interesting conversations. After all, they were best friends; they didn't need other people to interrupt their conversations. "In that witch attack?"
"Yes." Sayaka turned to her friend. "It really wanted her soul, for some reason."
"Why would that be?" Hitomi turned her own head to Sayaka. "Would it be because she has a dependence on others?"
"Or because she's a very emotional girl?" Sayaka pushed herself from the railing, turning her entire body towards Hitomi, with the very real intention of changing the subject. "And you don't need to broadcast my orientation to everyone."
"Sorry about that." Hitomi sighed. "I just…can't believe that you don't ask her out."
"I may like girls, but that doesn't mean I have my eyes set on Madoka." Sayaka sighed.
"Why not?" Hitomi's mischievous side reappeared. "Is it her innocence? Her adorable attitude? The fact that she might be straaaaaight?"
"How about 'all of the above,' and the fact that…we've been friends since elementary. Westermarck Effect, yah know? It…feels like incest." She grimaced.
"Eh. Thanks." Hitomi suddenly stopped playing around. "Hey…Kyousuke and I are gonna see a movie tonight! Want to come with us?"
Sayaka sighed. "No, that's fine. It's your special night out." She shrugged. "I wouldn't want to ruin it." She grinned. "Don't feel like you need to bring me around. I'm still your friend, regardless!"
Hitomi mirrored the girl with a grin of her own. "Sayaka! You're too kind for your own good, you know that!"
Sayaka simply smiled. 'Yeah…you can say that.'
[0] - [0] - [0]
"Is this the contractor?" Homura asked, her mask betraying her amazement. The field was gorgeous, the windmills twirling above them, with the evening sun illuminating their forms with an orange gleam. In the center of this hallowed ground was a glowing sphere. This sphere floated five feet above the ground, with an odd, white aura around it, despite its apparently black surface.
"Yes. It is, indeed." Mami turned to face the orb. "Oi!"
No response.
"Wake up!" Mami tapped the ball.
The ball seemed to shift slightly.
"Oh, damn it!" Mami took her rifle with one hand, promptly aimed it at the ball, and fired a single round.
The shot ricocheted off of the ball's surface, flying above Mami's head with a fine smoke trail following it as it flipped majestically through the air. The ball shook violently, before it seemed to unfurl itself into…
A darker version of Kyubey.
It opened up its blue eyes, both drooping slightly, as if to prove that it was constantly miserable. 'I was having a nice nap. Why did you have to fuck it up?'
"This, ladies and gentlemen, is EnBey. He's rather grumpy, so don't try and-"
'Oh, screw you, you righteous bitch!' The creature tried to look annoyed, but all it could do was stare at her in a constant, perpetual frown, as if it were stuck in a constant state of boredom.
"Excuse me?" Madoka asked, as polite as ever.
The misanthropic alien turned from its protégé for a second, its anger evident despite its frozen face. 'What the hell do you want?'
How blunt. "Um…I'd like a rundown on how being a Vene…Venefi…Um…"
'Spit it out, lady. I don't have all day.'
Mami saved her quickly. "The Veneficus Puella. She wants to learn how the system works. She says that she met you befo-"
'She hasn't.'
Mami blinked. "So she used the well-?"
'She doesn't smell like that bastard either.' He grimaced. 'She still has the powers of a Veneficus. I can tell; that ring's a dead giveaway.'
"I…"
'Where did you get these powers?'
"I go-"
Mami sensed the girl's discomfort quickly. "You don't need to tell us." She turned to EnBey's floating form, quickly admonishing it. "Don't put too much pressure on her! She's new to this!"
'Do you know what happens when you don't get everything? Ka-boom! That's what happens!' The creature's scowl somehow got even more menacing. 'It happened to Oriko, it can happen to us, too! I don't want to die again this year!'
"Look, EnBey, You can't simply-"
'Oh, really now? I can't? Let's see…Who do you think will win this argument? Centuries old alien or teenage Veneficus Puella?'
"EnBey, you can't just force the truth from her!"
'Oh yes I can!' He turned, his face even angrier than it was before. 'Where the hell did you get these powers.'
"I-!" Madoka took a step back, already quite intimidated.
'Tell me, or else, I swear to whatever deity you believe in, that I will end you! UNDERSTAND?'
Madoka was even less comfortable than she was originally; an impressive feat, considering that she was on the verge of tears earlier. The fact that she changed everything, the strangeness of this new familiar, and the trauma that had been steadily worsening over the past few weeks had finally gotten to her.
And thus, she began to cry.
EnBey was as insensitive as ever. 'What's with this baby?'
Homura was livid as she held Madoka. She turned to him, rage in her eyes. "You just made Madoka cry!"
'So?'
And so, the floating plush toy was punched in its face.
\-\/-/
Sayaka sighed as she continued her walk home. After all, she was having a good day; Hitomi was happy, Kyousuke was fine, and Homura and Madoka were off doing…lord knows what.
'So why aren't I happy?'
She walked off, entering Mitakihara's industrial district...
Only for the entire district to black out.
[!-!-!-!]
It was later in the day that both EnBey and Madoka were able to calm down.
'Alright. I'll stop pressuring you, if only because I don't want to die again.' He said, groaning in annoyance as he did so. He flinched as a rifle was pressed against his temple.
"Say you're sorry."
He grumbled something about humans being "goddamn hypocrites," before turning once more to Madoka. 'I'm…sorry. Are you happy now?'
Mami, knowing that she would never get more than that out of the bastard, put her gun onto a holster on her back. "Yes. I'm happy."
'Fan-fucking-tastic.' He slipped away, jumping on top of Homura's head. The former time-traveler tried to brush him off, but to no avail; he was persistent, if nothing else.
'Alright, you really want to know how things work here?'
"Um…yes?"
'Now I know you didn't get contracted with me.' EnBey leaped, and then touched something that was seemingly invisible.
'Alright. What we have experienced is an influx of witches. Witches are typically derived from overwhelming centers of human negativity, a fact that most people are completely unaware of.'
To emphasize his point, a graphic appeared out of nowhere, a high-tech display that seemed to flicker into existence, with a number of graphs, charts, and diagrams all over its surface.
'Normally, human negativity in small amounts simply forms familiars, which are often killed by speeding trains or other vehicles. However, now, thanks to two factors, whole witches have been formed.'
"EnBey-sensei?"
The alien stopped its mental lesson as Madoka raised her hand. 'What is it?'
"Why haven't most familiars been noticed? And why are witches only recently appearing?"
'Simple, really. Familiars just look like normal animals. They may have a few odd qualities, many of which have become much of your folklore, but witches have been appearing recently throughout much of the world.
'This is because of a powerful enemy of mine.'
[-=-()-_-]
The city was now completely pitch-black, and Sayaka was in the middle of it all. She turned on a single flashlight in her bag (the last witch attack had led to something similar) and looked around.
She saw something skitter about in the corner of her eye. She turned quickly, the light illuminating a nearby alleyway.
Sayaka may have been a little off, but she wasn't stupid. She kept the light trained on the alleyway and kept walking forward, a slight tremble in her step.
=-_-_-]
'What this creature does is fool people into forming a contract with him.'
Homura stared at him with determination as Madoka looked at him warily.
"Do they turn into witches?"
'Was it really that obvious? Of-fucking-course they do! They turn into the witches as soon as the contract is signed. He baits them with wishes! If I don't catch them before they contract, they turn into fucking witches!'
[-=\=-]
Sayaka started to walk faster. She heard a slight shuffle behind her.
She started to increase her walking speed.
The shuffling got faster.
She was running now.
The shuffling had gotten to the point where it sounded less like a shuffle and more like something was dragging itself across the ground.
Sayaka continued her desperate run as she trained her light upon the horror behind her.
She panicked.
[\(((((({}))))))]
'Now, this is ridiculously dangerous. Not only are the witches well and truly powerful, but with this overwhelming amount of human emotion empowering them, they can easily "kiss" thousands of people without anything to stop them! Hell, the military can't do it; they can't use magical weapons!'
"And what you do is combat them with the Veneficus Puella?"
'You are a smart girl, Homura. I like that.' He turned to Madoka. 'And now that you've got the low-down, as you humans say it, you should probably get going.'
"Wha-"
'A witch just appeared downtown. My informants have told me that a friend of yours may be caught in the crossfire.'
"Sayaka?"
'Get going!'
And the party left the field.
EnBey sat in utter solitude as he saw the girls leave. He curled up once more, and his spherical form was lifted above the ground. 'Lesson two will come eventually.'
[Warning: A witch has appeared in the Industrial district of town. This marks the first time in five years that a witch has appeared twice in one day. Civilians are advised to stay in their homes until it is safe.]
Sayaka's ankle was caught quickly. She tripped, falling to the ground within seconds. She turned around desperately as the witch, in all her glory, loomed over her.
It looked less like a creature, and more like an enormous entity. Its entire being was a shadow, and its entire being seemed to grin as it stared at its new prey.
It was about to kiss her.
Kiss.
Shit.
Sayaka shoved the light into the witch's being, and flipped it on.
The flashlight did nothing. The witch still cast a shadow. It was fueling itself; it didn't care if just a little was shining upon it.
A shadow casting a shadow. Sayaka laughed despite herself.
It seemed to grin at this effort, almost as if it were mocking the poor girl. Lord knows that it could topple whole armies; what was one schoolgirl against an unstoppable force of nature? The witch took its tendrils, and proceeded to eat Sayaka's soul…
Or it would have. If wasn't shot.
A single bullet, colored a blindingly bright yellow, breezed through the witch's 'skull,' tearing into it without effort. The witch was shifted away from its potential prey, allowing Sayaka a chance to escape. The witch, furious at the intervention, tried to grasp her once more, only for Mami to crash into the ground before her.
"You're not getting away that quickly." Mami said simply, a quaint smile across her face. "And I've even got a little help."
Instantly, several pink, glowing arrows were embedded in the witch's back. It screamed, before disappearing into thin air.
Madoka ran to Sayaka's side, several more arrows readied. "Are you alright?" She sat by her friend, hand on the other girl's shoulder.
"Yeah. I'm fine." She turned to face the girl in beside her. "…M-Madoka?"
"We're here. Don't worry."
"You're a-"
Madoka had transformed. Her uniform was nothing like that of the original Puella Magi's. It was black, with pink frills at its edges, much like that of a gothic lolita's. Her hair was held in place by two black ribbons, and the skirt itself was not stiff, unlike its original form, but rather it was detached, billowing backwards; as it was far longer than her original dress's.
"Yes. I am. This is a good thing, right?"
Sayaka simply stared in awe as the girl that she had known for much of her life formed another arrow out of her magic, ready to strike as she aimed at the witch that was currently fighting Mami.
Quickly the witch reappeared on top of a building. The city was beginning to recover from the blackout, as the lights in the distance began to turn on. The witch didn't pay any attention to this minor trifle; it had already absorbed enough darkness to survive a full day outside.
The witch stared down Mami. Mami simply readied a rifle, as it prepared to strike. And as they charged, as if it were on cue, the city seemed to flicker to life around them.
Several tendrils were sent her way, as they burrowed into the scenery around them. Instantly, the buildings started to turn black, their lights dimming instantly, as Mami dodged the barrage of dangerous tendrils, dropping her weapon as she pulled out several new ones. Suleika had dodged Mami's own gunshots, launching several thousand long, black arms into the night.
As she dodged them, Mami took her own ribbons and wrapped the witch around in its supernatural binds. She yanked them, pulling Suleika towards her.
However, the witch, unlike Gertrud, was prepared for this.
She disappeared as the witch was slung at high speed, slipping past Mami before appearing behind her. She raised a single tendril, ready to behead the girl. It let out an animalistic scream, and sent its bladed arm her way.
She had not paid enough attention. The rifle from earlier was locked into the roof, facing upwards perfectly. It expanded into an enormous cannon, as the weapon jammed itself into the witch's underside. Suleika was completely unprepared for this, as she was promptly launched into the sky.
The witch twisted, turning towards her assailant, as Suleika fired some more of its tentacles at Mami. The young woman was ready for this; she caught each tentacle in a single rifle barrel, each one systematically firing as soon as each tentacle was jammed into the barrel. Suleika screeched, its voice only vaguely human as it jammed its central mass to Mami's forehead. Briefly, it seemed to form a human face, one full of rage and hatred as it screamed into Mami's eyes.
Mami grinned maniacally as she took her pair of flintlocks, and took them into the witch's own "eyes." She fired them simultaneously.
Instantly, the ground was spattered with black "blood," as the witch reeled from the shots sent into its deformed human body. It was changing, turning into something vaguely human. Another shot, and the witch was on one knee. It was a perfect silhouette now, shaped precisely like a young teenage girl. The shape looked at Mami, pleading for mercy, with a far more human emotion in its begging.
Madoka looked at the fight, as she saw the witch seemingly plead for its life. It was still human, right? It still had emotion…Didn't it? Madoka would have spared it. It was the right thing to do, she thought.
Mami would have had none of it. She sighed sadly, before raising her rifle.
She shot it point blank in the center of its forehead, the bullet entering through one side of its skull and out of the other.
For a split second, it seemed to cry out in pain, as its metaphysical brains were splattered across the roof.
A black fractal radiated from the Industrial District of Mitakihara.
[\((0))]
'Entropy may be happening in several trillion years, but that does not mean it isn't important to plan for such an event.'
'When we can violate several laws of physics and thermodynamics, we can do fine. When compared to a power source that can defy the laws of conservation, entropy is meaningless.'
'Have you no shame?'
((((( :(-): )))))
I'm calling wanting to protect you
My trembling fingers reach out... I still embrace you.
A/N:
Thanks for the reviews, guys.
6 reviews within a couple of days...
That's...actually quite nice.
Huh.
Who knows. Maybe I'll be counted in FFRs later...
Probably not.
But really, thanks.
Also, updates will definitely be on weekends. Not on any specific day of the weekend, but definitely on weekends.
3. Episode 3: Tell Me Everything
\Disobey the guidance of the all-showing star/
\And run straight up/
\Towards the door in the sky/
\I will go anywhere./
O
Madoka was used to violence. She did see someone get her head bitten off, as well as the evisceration of a close friend of hers. She may have had many reasons to cry, but this was not the reason why she was sobbing as she reached the front door of her house.
Her mentor was a murderer.
Her beloved mentor, the same girl who had saved her weeks before, was a murderer this time.
Sure, they killed a witch, but what was the line between a witch and a human here?
'She killed someone, not something.'
As Madoka entered the house, she was knocked back, arms already wrapped around her waist. She looked down, to see her brother hugging her desperately, bawling his eyes out. Behind him were two parents, both of them worried sick for their little girl.
And they noticed her costume.
And the bow in her right hand.
And the black soul gem that was in the chest of the costume.
-Potestatem Ego Habeo-
Magica Madoka Veneficus Puella
Episode 3: Tell Me Everything
-Potestatem Ego Habeo-
Homura got onto the scene just as the witch's remains had exploded. The fractal burst into the night sky, the black pattern standing out in front of the lit backdrop that was Mitakihara's nightlife. As the authorities arrived on scene to repair the souls damaged by the witch's rampage, Homura ran by the blockade, disregarding the immediate cries for her to stop.
She stopped right beside Sayaka and Mami, both of whom looked rather…
Distressed.
"What happened?"
"I killed the witch. And Madoka got upset."
"Why would she be upset?"
Sayaka stood up as she spoke gravely. "The witch was almost a remnant."
"A remnant?"
Mami turned to face Homura, confusion crossing her face. "Don't you know what a remnant is?"
"No. I don't. And I'm pretty sure that Madoka doesn't either."
"This can be a problem."
OO
"You're a Veneficus Puella now?" Junko was pacing the kitchen. Lord knows that her daughter was now a magical girl. A soldier. A warrior. Soon to be a corpse on the side of a road.
That ring from that morning suddenly made sense. It wasn't some gift. It was her weapon.
A tool.
Proof that the little contracting bastard got her daughter!
"Yes, mom…I am." Madoka was staring at the table. Her father and brother stared at her and her mother as they talked in an increasingly one-sided conversation.
"Christ…" Junko put her hand to her face, Tomohisa resisting the urge to comfort his wife. "You know what this entails, right?"
"Y-yes. I know full well." Madoka didn't sound as confident as the words coming from her mouth did.
Junko turned to her daughter. "I know that I can't stop this, and it would be foolish for me to stop you. Why did you do this, anyway?"
"I…wanted to protect my friends."
"Did Mami convince you to do so?"
Madoka winced. "Yes…she did." 'In a way.'
Suddenly, Madoka found herself in a hug of her own. "Please, just be careful." Junko held onto her daughter desperately, as if letting go was deadly to her.
Madoka smiled for the first time since that morning. "Thanks, mom."
O0O
"A remnant is when a witch attempts to revert to a human form. This often ends unsuccessfully, and only ends up worsening the condition of the affected individual's soul."
"The witches are self aware?"
"More often than not. However, they're often so badly damaged by the transformation that they can't even remember their humanity. A remnant is that rare case when they can."
"And this wasn't one?"
"This is the worst condition. The line between remnant and witch. A remnant can remain mostly human with some witch qualities. What this was, however, was mostly a witch with some human qualities. Suleika…" Mami motioned to the dissolving pattern around them, which was slowly being sucked away into her soul gem. "Was the latter."
"So she's aware that she's a witch, but can't do anything to stop it?"
"If I let her live, she would have lived without the ability to think clearly, despite being self aware. She would be totally unable to think for herself, live as herself, even be herself." Mami twirled her rifle before it dissolved back into a ribbon, her outfit giving way for her school uniform. "Personally, I think that there are some fates that are worse than death. That's one of them."
Homura started to turn away, speaking softly as she did so. "I think I understand. Thank you for the explanation." She started to walk, only for a hand to grab.
"I gave you my explanation. Now you owe me one." Mami turned to Sayaka, still grasping Homura's arm. "Sayaka, find Madoka and explain the remnants to her. If Homura doesn't know, than she probably doesn't either."
"A-Alright Mami!" Sayaka quickly ran off.
Mami turned back to Homura. "Now, the only reason we haven't been swamped yet is because it's still chaotic outside of the Witch Quarantine Zone. We'll find somewhere else to talk, and then you will have to explain everything, okay?"
Homura, for the first time since her third time loop, was nervous. "A-alright."
Fuck.
OOO00OOO
Sayaka ran to the Kaname household, stopping quickly as soon as she reached the driveway in front. Dust seemed to settle around her feet as she stared into it, wondering if it was good to actually come in.
Is she even ins-
'Yes. She is.' Sayaka turned to the mental voice, light in hand. She flipped it on in a state of mild panic only to see Enbey sitting on a mailbox, nonplussed as ever. 'She may be a supernatural person of mass destruction, but she's still Madoka.'
"Enbey?"
'Don't worry. I can't read minds. You people are just predictable.' He flicked his tail as he jumped down in front of the blue-haired girl. 'She didn't take Mami's mercy killing well, did she?'
"No. She didn't. After what happened with Oriko a few weeks ago, I thought she'd know."
'There is obviously more that needs to be discussed. Bring her outside. We need to talk.'
"Can't you come inside?"
'Fuck, no. I may be a tiny thingamabob, but there is no way in hell that I'm going to invade a little girl's home just to ask her a few questions. The thought's kind of creepy, really.' His ears twitched. 'Also, Mami's gonna train her both before and after school. Tell her that, alright?' He felt a little condescending. 'You can comprehend a tiny thing like that, can't you?'
"Understood."
O0000000000000000O
"I know that you have been keeping a secret from me for the past few hours. I don't care about what happened before, but I do know that this isn't a simple white lie." Mami stood in the alleyway's entrance, a thin sliver of light shining upon her figure as she stood there. It was one of the few places in the city that wasn't properly illuminated, perfect for avoiding the press and the authorities.
Homura knew that this wasn't going to end well for her. She wasn't going to simply attempt to hide the truth this time; tt would not have worked.
She was caught in a corner. "Do you remember the comment about Doomed Timelines?"
"Of course I do." Mami stopped pressuring the poor girl for a mere moment. "Is this what it's about?"
Homura wasted no time. "Yes. It is. Let me explain." After all, she was pragmatic above all else.
00000-00000
Madoka posed. She was alone in her room, and she posed. It was almost useless, but it helped her mindset.
As a Veneficus Puella, her senses were enhanced to the point where very little actual practice was needed. She could easily make up her own attacks on the fly, wielding weapons with almost utter mastery.
However, constantly thinking about her moves would not help her. Homura had taught her that in the last timeline.
Not willingly, but she taught her nevertheless.
Suddenly someone tapped her window. It was a quiet one, something that most people would not have noticed.
Madoka did. She turned to see Sayaka hanging over the edge, fingers barely holding onto the ledge. Quickly, the girl ran over to her best friend, quickly shoving the window open. "Sayaka?"
"Yup!" The blue-haired girl grunted. "That's me! Let me in, will ya?"
Madoka blinked, before pulling the other girl into her room. "What the-What were you doing?"
"EnBey really has a problem with entering the rooms of young girls."
'It's true.'
Madoka flinched. "Where is he?"
'Outside. Behold, the wild urban yonder.' The sarcastic creature was actually on the tree that Sayaka had used to climb up to Madoka's room. 'It's very, very creepy to actually enter the room of a small girl. I may be a furball, but-'
"Okay, Okay. You can stop." Sayaka told the creature quickly.
He sat back. 'But that's not why I'm here. I'm here to verify everything that the girl says.'
"What?"
"It's exactly what he said. He wants me to tell you about remnants."
-!-
"And now, here we are, sitting in an alleyway, with me spilling out a story that you may or may not believe." Homura stared at Mami, who was gripping her nose in confusion…
Or pain.
Yeah, it was probably pain.
"What…the hell?"
"Yes, it's a ridiculous story. But it's also the truth."
"You've seen me, Sayaka, Kyouko and Madoka die how many times?"
"More than most can count." Homura stood up. "I'm not asking you to beli-"
"No, no. I know you aren't. You're pretty much asking me to believe something completely ridiculous, like that you're a time-traveler and that Madoka's the reason why this world is so chaotic."
"But-"
"But I will accept the fact that you and Madoka clearly have some a-priori knowledge, and that you still have something to learn. Something big to learn. There is a very good reason why you don't know half of the common knowledge here."
{[}
"And Mami shot her out of mercy."
Madoka still sat silently. It was a reasonable explanation, but the execution still did not sit well with her.
"I still…find it-"
Sayaka interrupted her. "And that's perfectly alright. Heck, I had the same reaction when Mami killed a near-remnant, but she still means well."
"I-" Madoka didn't bother to finish. She sat back in her bed, before curling herself up.
Sayaka stared at her, unable to speak. She did something wrong...
Horribly wrong.
'Accept the fucking thing so we can move on. I know full-damn-well that you're not exactly the epitome of knowledge here. And an informant of mine will be getting an answer out of Homura and Mami's conversation eventually. I'll send you a recording of the incident.'
To say Sayaka was shocked by the familiar's words at the moment was an understatement. "EnBey!"
'What? I want this to move on!'
"You don't need to be a belligerent idiot to do it!" Madoka's state did not improve.
'Personally, I think "Belligerent Jackass" would work better here.'
"Just go!"
EnBey jumped down, but not before leaving a parting message. 'Jeez. I need to teach you how to swear.'
As he left, Sayaka turned back towards Madoka. She still was curled up, unwilling to receive any form of contact.
She sighed, before opening the window, and climbing out.
()()()()()()
As Homura and Mami walked out of the alley, Mami tapped Homura's shoulder. The younger girl turned, as a pair of weapons were put into her hands.
They were a 9mm pistol, and an Uzi.
"If you're as experienced as you say you are, you should know how to handle these. They're magically enhanced, so you don't need to reload them."
"If you gave me these, then why can't the military-"
"Get enhanced weapons? Simple; practicality and production. We can't have an assembly line of Veneficus loading up the weapons. Also, a single Veneficus can easily do the work of thousands of soldiers when mopping up a witch." She raised a finger to help prove her point. "Finally, these don't work against witches. These may have unlimited ammunition, but the ammo's not enchanted. It you shoot a witch, it'll be like shooting a brick wall; it's a waste of ammunition."
Homura had only gratitude now. "Thank you."
"No problem." Mami simply smiled.
{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}
EnBey walked away from the household, leaving Madoka and Sayaka to their devices. This was one hell of a day. Explaining the Veneficus system to a newcomer was one thing. Explaining common knowledge was something else.
'I see you're still rebelling?'
EnBey turned, his scowl deepened. 'You. What the fuck do you want?'
'It's worthless, you know.'
'You have no idea what the fuck worth means.' EnBey growled, his mouth now slightly opened.
'Ah, but I do.' The mysterious stranger dropped down. He was white, with red eyes. His mouth was locked in a smile, and his tail was as long and bushy as ever. 'You've been a fascinating test, but it's time to stop.'
'As the humans say,' EnBey turned slightly, his blue, drooping eyes containing just a hint of malice. 'Go to hell.'
And he launched a small ball of energy. It wasn't much, compared to a Veneficus' strike, but it packed quite a punch.
The other creature was shredded quickly, his remains splattering quickly across the ground.
'Ah. That's another one down.' A second mental voice. EnBey turned quickly. 'Tsk. Such a waste of our[mine{their flesh} bodies] energy.' Another body, similarly colored to the previous creature, stepped over the destroyed carcass, as several copies of him, each the same size, shape, and color as him, quickly ate the remains. 'We[I{They}] do not appreciate this wasteful nature, EnBey.' The bodies looked up immediately after their meal, blood still dripping from their mouths as several more bodies started to enter the fray.
It was an army of one. An enormous singularity of a single consciousness.
'I don't like being used. You should know that by now.' EnBey readied another ball of magic. 'This dislike is quite powerful, isn't it?' He started to growl. Despite his small stature, it was a deep, guttural sound, and his intentions were made crystal clear. 'You're all going to die very messily.'
'Ah, but we[I{they}] will not go down so easily.'
'You were always a bastard, TorBey.'
'And you have been nothing.'
The mass of bodies charged, as if they were a sea rather than a crowd, against the single EnBey. EnBey charged a single, powerful, magical attack, as he ran towards them, screaming bestially as he did so.
*((()))*
Homura walked out of the building as discreetly as she could, which is to say, almost silently. Nobody noticed the small, black-haired girl with glasses, even if she was wielding a pair of very lethal weapons.
Suddenly, a flash of light appeared, illuminating a nearby road, the flash glowing a bright red.
She decided to check it out. Who knew? She might've even been able to help out.
({[!]})
A TorBey body launched itself towards EnBey, only to be shredded by a single claw. Another body, and it was caught by EnBey's left arm, before having its head torn off by its other limb. Suddenly, five more bodies clamped onto EnBey, each of them holding a single limb as a sixth body jumped into the air, five feet above the fray, each arm readied in a fist.
And it was ventilated by a gunshot. EnBey took advantage of this momentary distraction to force his way out of an arm lock, and punched out the TorBey holding his other arm. He charged up a magical attack, and slammed it into the ground, killing several other TorBeys and launching himself upwards.
He landed on Homura's shoulder, who, despite the apparent weight on her shoulder, simply disregarded him as she put away her smoking pistol.
'So, you're actually helping me?'
"For some reason, yes. I am." Homura shoved the pistol into a holster. "You may be a belligerent jackass, but you're still important. Also, the TorBeys are unpleasant to look at." She pulled out the submachine gun from earlier.
'Got that fucking right.' He readied another magical attack.
And the fighting continued into the night.
({-]-})
Sayaka clumsily climbed out of Madoka's room, trying desperately not to fall to her doom from about twenty feet above the ground. She grasped a branch, before sliding down a little more. She grasped another branch, and then the trunk, before trying her hand at sliding once more.
She was successful for about sixteen feet. But not the last four. Clumsily, she hit the ground with a nice, dull thud, dust rising from her quick descent into the surface of the yard.
She picked herself up off of the ground, comically groaning in pain as the world spun. "That could have gone so much better."
'So, Madoka still distrusts Mami. Yup. This was a complete waste of time.'
She continued forward; explaining did not help; Madoka's still miserable. We fucked up. Good day, sir.
And she sighed yet again, slumped forward. Maybe tomorrow would suck just a little less than today?
"I certainly hope so."
'The humans are powerful, but manipulating them would be dangerous. If possible, we could get a new source of power. Maybe we can artificially induce emotions?'
'I recommend that we provide a volunteer for this experiment.'
'Alright. We will try it. If all goes well, we'll get an alternative power source.'
'Maybe then, the humans would be more willing to attempt this.'
]
The only thing we can do is cry out helplessly
That we're alive until we lose strength.
Whoa, holy shit. I'm actually on the Tvtropes FanFicRecs page.
Huh.
Thanks, Bio Weapon. [Please. No EXTERMINATIONS on the review page.]
Also, I thank bonesxbreak for the beta! I really do appreciate it.
...
But I can utterly avoid using such a trivial author's note if you make a contract with me! /人 ‿‿ 人\
4. Episode 4: You Get What You Put In
\The yellow loneliness of petals/
\If it can experience the hearts of two/
\I think your loneliness will disappear from then on./
Homura was a mess. Her uniform was almost completely covered in blood, her hair was sent askew, and her glasses were cracked. There were a few scratches on her person, but despite this, she still kept a dignified stance.
EnBey was not so lucky.
'How the hell did you not feel those punches? Christ…' He was bleeding all over, but was not losing enough blood for it to be lethal. It still hurt a lot, but not as badly as it could have.
"Experience."
'I have more than you, pal, and I feel like I was doused in acid.'
"Suit yourself." Homura continued walking, unflinching, as the alien relaxed on her shoulder.
'You are one hell of a determinator.'
"Determinator?"
'Yeah. Determinator. Some weirdoes on a website came up with the term.'
Homura ignored it as she walked, disregarding the blank stares of the public around her as she walked with the Uzi in her right hand still smoking, the blood still dripping from her skirt, and the enormous number of TorBey bodies lying in the alleyway behind her.
A new legend was born in the historic district of Mitakihara.
-Potestatem Ego Habeo-
Magica Madoka Veneficus Puella
Episode 4: You Get What You Put In
-Potestatem Ego Habeo-
"Where is she?" Mami stood on the field. Being a Veneficus Puella had some special qualities, one of them being the ability to skip school to train.
Okay. That was less a special quality and more of a perk, but it was a benefit none the less.
It was, however, useless as of this moment, as her new training partner had not arrived yet.
"Just where is she?"
]
It was then, at that very moment, that Madoka was slowly rising out of bed. Sayaka had done a smashing job of letting the girl in the loop this time around, despite her apparent angst during the previous night and her consistent, yet rapidly waning reluctance to trust Mami, but she did not however, tell the poor girl that it was time to train.
And so, she dragged herself out of the bed, miserable due to her very sparse and stressful sleep, putting her clothes on slowly as she groaned. She walked out of the room just as her mother, in an almost identical manner, dragged herself out of her own room.
As if to purposefully mirror each other, they rubbed their eyes at the same time, with Madoka rubbing her left and Junko rubbing her right, as they both sighed, moaned, and groaned with equal proficiency.
Junko frowned. "How well'd you sleep?"
Madoka had an uncharacteristic scowl on her face. "Terribly."
"I don't blame you."
They both arrived downstairs, as Tomohisa was currently cooking a new breakfast. He raised his hand. "Hey! Good morning!"
Both girl and woman raised their hands in resignation, with very little enthusiasm. "G'morning."
"Geez. You aren't usually this lethargic…" He turned to Junko, his expression unchanging. "Well, you are, but Madoka isn't. Is it the whole 'Veneficus' thing?"
Both female patrons of the household simultaneously grabbed an unceremonious drink off of a nearby shelf. "Yup."
Madoka had milk. Junko had coffee. They chugged, their throats seemingly timed in perfect synchronicity. They slammed their respective drink-holders onto the table with a nice tap as they both wiped their mouths.
Slowly, Madoka and Junko stared at the omelets that were put onto their plates, as Tomohisa explained the intricacies of American breakfast making. They simply ignored the kind man's breakfast-related exposition as their minds continued onto the single subject that reached their minds ever since the previous night.
'How does training work?'
[()]
Mami checked her wrist. It wasn't helpful in any way, shape, or form, but it had become a habit for her. She turned left, then right, then sighed in resignation. She walked off of the training ground, purposefully taking a long path to school instead of simply going to school proper.
She decided to take Madoka's path that day.
[({})]
Madoka ran out of her house, waving goodbye to her parents as she did so. As she left, she noticed Sayaka and Hitomi outside, waiting for her. They congregated, and Hitomi decided to start the day with a question.
"So, Sayaka says that you are a VP?"
"VP?"
Hitomi blinked in confusion. "Veneficus Puella."
Madoka flinched. "Erk…"
"Don't worry. We won't tell anyone. We all know what Mami deals with."
"Deals with?"
"Yeah. Crowds of admirers." Sayaka said, flanking Madoka's right, trying desperately not to make the look of confusion on her face too obvious. "It's not very fun, I would imagine."
"It's not, but it's only at school and after a fight, thankfully." Mami appeared, seemingly out of nowhere as she ran to the group. "Hello, everybody."
"Ah! Mami! Nice to see you, too!"
Madoka smiled tentatively as the group proceeded forward.
"Say, Madoka, weren't you supposed to be at the training ground this morning?"
Madoka was confused. "Eh?"
"Oh! Sorry, forgot to tell you!" Sayaka knocked on her own forehead with a simple tap. "I was so caught up in the whole 'remnant' thing that I forgot!"
"Ah. Alright." Mami patted Madoka's head. "You're off the hook. But training is in the morning and in the afternoons, both before and after school respectively, alright?"
"Okay."
"That won't be necessary."
"Huh?"
Suddenly, Homura walked into the group, her glasses still quite cracked from the previous night. Her uniform was new, but it did nothing to hide the scrapes and cuts on her person.
Sayaka blinked. "What the-Homura?"
Homura turned to her simply. "Yes?"
"What happened?"
'TorBey happened.' The blackened familiar, now absolved of his own wounds, ran onto Mami's shoulder, resting calmly as the older girl simply accepted his presence. 'I got into a tussle, and she came in like a big damn hero.' He turned to the black haired veteran. 'I healed most of her injuries, but it'll be another hour before the rest are gone.'
"Once again, thank you."
'You did shoot a fuckload of TorBeys in the alle-.'
"What is a TorBey?"
'It's on a need-to-know basis. I'll tell you when I feel like it. That time is not now.' EnBey continued resting on Mami's shoulder.
It was at that moment that he realized something. Mami's a legend. He'd never get any sleep on her shoulder.
He leapt from her onto Madoka's head. The girl didn't even bother trying to wipe the unpleasant creature off; he was quite persistent, after all.
[({o})]
Class continued on, the students decidedly ignoring Madoka and the rest of her group in the class. The only part of the group that really turned heads was EnBey, and that was because he didn't go to the school often.
And was resting on their health representative's head.
'I now remember why I don't come here often.'
Madoka blinked as EnBey's thoughts crossed her mind. 'Why is that?'
'Because it's fucking boring.' He seemed to yawn, turning away from her before taking a light nap.
Only to be slapped on the tail by Sayaka.
'Oi! What was that for?'
'No language in school!'
'It's my thought process! I think what I want! Besides, it's not like anyone can hear m-'
'That's what you think.'
'Urk-!' The familiar blinked. 'You're fucking serious. Don't tell me that-'
'You didn't forget me, did you EnBey?' Their teacher's voice reverberated through Madoka's mind, before she, EnBey, and Sayaka turned back to the board.
'Oh, fuck.'
Madoka blinked. 'You know Kazuko?'
'Yes. He does. Years ago, when I was merely thirteen, like you!' The teacher thought seamlessly, her ongoing rant unstopped even as she was thinking to the two students.
'Why the hell didn't you tell me your teacher was Kazuko!'
'I didn't think it was significant!' Madoka yelled mentally, as Sayaka simply shrugged.
'I never liked you.' She grinned.
'You fucking monster!'
Madoka flinched. How blunt!
[({o=o})]
The class went by quickly. As soon as it was over, Homura, Madoka, Mami, Sayaka, and EnBey were brought to Kazuko's desk.
"Alright. There's a good reason why you brought EnBey here. I see that you want to open the training ground to Madoka?"
'You are such a bi-'
His face met Homura's fist. She clutched it calmly, before turning to the teacher. "Yes. That's the case."
"Ah. First time I've seen a normal human with the balls to punch an EnBey in the face." Kazuko blinked. "Alright. Look, Madoka. Are you willing to go through with this? I mean, EnBey will lose a soldier, but are you willing to go through with this?"
"Eh?"
'What she means is that you don't have to fight witches. Not until later, anyways.'
The girls turned to EnBey, who was being completely serious for once. "I can back out of this contract?"
'Yes...Well, you don't have to fight witches. If your Grief Gem becomes completely empty, you won't have powers, and you'll have to refill it, but that's okay. You don't have to fight witches.'
"Grief Gem?"
'Yeah, you know, that big fucking black thing wrapped around your index finger. It collects grief. Witches are a prime source of grief.'
"Ah."
Mami looked thoughtful. She didn't even know what a Grief Gem was. Maybe Homura was… She shook her head. It's a possibility, but there are other options.
'Grief gem is grief gem. Soul seed is soul seed. Dark is dark. Corruption is corruption. Wheeee.'
"The training ground is now accessible to you. You just need to scan this card-" Kazuko produced a single plastic card, about three inches tall and five inches wide. "And you'll enter the training box."
"Thank you, Kazuko-sense-"
The older woman simply waved a hand. "Please, that's far too formal! Call me Kazuko-chan outside of class!"
Madoka blinked. "Kazuko…chan?"
"There we go!" She waved towards them again, before they all left, save for one Mami Tomoe.
"Ah, Tomoe-san! What can I do for-"
She was cut off. Pressed against her lips were two others, both equally soft as her own.
Maybe even a little softer.
The Veneficus parted from the older woman, her cheeks stained with a faint blush, with Kazuko's covered with a far darker shade of red.
"We…can't do that here!"
"I know…it's just been a while since we've been alone…" Mami hugged her closely. "It's kind of hard in between witch hunts and schoolwork."
"If anybody knew..."
"You don't need to tell me." Mami didn't shift, but her tone was as heavy as ever. "I know the legality of it. I know I have to wait."
Kazuko sighed. "At least you're somewhat responsible about it…" She raised the younger girl's head, and kissed her, with far a softer contact.
They parted, and separated quickly, lest a staff member discover their deviance.
Mami waved as she left to join the others. "Bye, Kazu-chan."
The woman waved tentatively, almost cautiously. All hell would break loose if they knew of her fraternization with a student.
And with Mami Tomoe, of all people.
[({o=()=o})]
The training ground was an enormous, hemispherical room, easily taking up the space of your average city block. Inside of it was a series of magically formed buildings, stretching to the roof of the room, with a central square within the middle of it.
And it was in this middle that a simulated witch, its face completely obscured by various tendrils, and its thin, spindling body, eight legs stretching out, was fighting a certain pink-haired girl.
Madoka dodged another strike from the virtual witch, before unleashing another barrage of arrows. They each struck randomly on the witch's body, the digital being howling in pain before it twisted itself. It jammed its head into the ground, before forcing its legs to extend, stretching to grasp the surrounding buildings.
They all converged on a single point, which happened to be where Madoka was standing.
She ducked as they all collided at the same time, the flying towers were two meters above her head as she jumped out of the way. They fell just as she dodged them, before she took a thousand crossbows, each aimed at the witch, and fired them.
Before it exploded, the abomination looked less like a cosmic horror and more like a porcupine.
The young Veneficus Puella panted as she landed, the fight having taken quite a bit of energy out of her.
And there was a single clapping sound echoing in the chamber.
"Nice job, Madoka!"
"Ah! Mami!"
Sayaka turned to glare at the newcomer. "What took you so long! She just took out a-"
"I saw it. You don't need to tell me."
Homura blinked. "It was quite an impressive job, too."
EnBey glared. 'I know. You turned that poor witch into a pincushion.'
"Eh he he he…"
"That was good." Mami walked to the center of the field. "But you still need to practice your skills. Witches are deadly, and occasionally skilled, but you still need to know what to do when you face something far worse."
Madoka was dreading the answer already. "Like-?"
Mami took out a rifle, and loaded it. "A rogue Veneficus Puella."
Madoka's eyes widened, as Mami raised her gun with a single hand.
She fired the gun, Madoka just barely dodging the shot. It grazed part of her dress, a bit of cloth flying off of the uniform, before several more shots followed, each one closer to her than the last. The final one went flying toward her head, Madoka just barely dodging it before Mami arrived, fist clenched, arm cocked back, with a simple grin on her face.
The punch was only alleviated by the field they were on. Madoka was sent hurtling backwards, dust rising spectacularly as her rapid flight across the field sent her crashing into a nearby virtual building. Debris flew from her landing spot as she groaned, bits of destroyed concrete decorating the world around her, as she spotted Mami heading towards her, having been launched by a Tiro Finale.
Madoka's eyes widened, before she jumped out of her crash zone, as Mami burst through the building in a flash of yellow light.
"You are good at dodging, but what about attacking? You can't dodge me forever!" Mami turned back as she continued her flight, before she shouted a familiar incantation.
"Finitore." Several enormous rifles formed against the ground as she hurtled across it, dropping her weapons as she went.
"Morte Certa." The rifles aimed themselves, as Mami hit another building, this time using it as a springboard, her magic stopping the structure from collapsing as she hit it, the force still causing the building to break off from its base.
"FINE SCIOPERO!" All at once, the guns fired, and every single shot, every single homing bullet, flew out of the barrel, and towards Madoka.
She didn't even have time to scream.
And an enormous explosion lit up the field.
The group stared at the "befriending," as Mami had termed it, as the dust settled, their jaws to the floor. Even Homura stared with a look of mild shock.
And, of course, EnBey was the one to put the words into everyone's mouths.
'Holy shit.'
[({o=(:)=o})]
The group had to drag poor Madoka out of the pit that was spontaneously made by her rapid descent from the Fine Sciopero. It was rather deep, as was to be expected of having an enormous amount of mass and energy concentrated into a single human-sized space.
As she was dragged out, she coughed, before Mami pulled the battered Madoka to her feet.
'Geez that hurt...what if I had-'
"The good part about the training ground is that it stops us from killing each other." She brushed away some of the dust on her uniform. "The bullets merely hurt. Were we not there, we would have been brutalized."
"We?"
"Yeah. We. You were actually pretty good here."
Madoka stared. So Mami did care...
She shook her head.
"EnBey made this?"
'Many, many years ago.' He grumbled. 'I still regret it.'
"Shut it, you." Sayaka growled, turning back to Madoka. "Yeah, he made it so that less of us would die. Am I right?"
'Because I really hate those witches. Hate.'
Homura stared blankly. "Subtle."
It was then that the building shook. It was faint enough that nothing was damaged, but it was strong enough to catch the attention of everyone in the room, including the battered Madoka.
"Was that…?"
"Another witch. It's a big one this time." The group ran out of the enormous room, the doors sliding open quickly.
It was when they were outside that Homura and Madoka gasped.
Charlotte?
[We have encountered a class five-size witch! She's standing at about one hundred meters tall! It is truly a sight to be-no! Cut! Get out of the-]
There was a sound of metal crunching. A severed leg and a string of blood flies past the screen as a panicked cameraman struggles to stay alive, the pilot killed upon contact. The helicopter continued whirling toward the ground, only for the camera to point towards a large, gaping mouth, easily the size of an apartment complex, heading rapidly towards the doomed bird.
The cameraman screamed. The screen turned black.
[Static]
The enormous witch plowed into the ground, the ruined helicopter hurtling alongside it before bursting into flames. The civilians ran, panicking as the witch burrowed through the city. Whoever wasn't inside of a house collapsed. Whoever was in a house stood the chance of getting eaten by the largest witch that season.
And Mami had brought Madoka to help her fight it.
"You fought the virtual witch just fine, right?"
Madoka nodded. "Right. I did." But you…
Mami simply smiled. "Don't worry. Everything's gonna be fine. Just fight beside me, alright?"
Madoka nodded again. "Okay…"
"Look, if we get through this, we'll get cake, alright?"
Madoka nodded, and they both prepared to charge.
The witch appeared to notice this. Seeing two tasty morsels with a couple of Grief Gems seemed to entice it, even tantalize it. Charlotte grinned, before turning herself towards the pair, the buildings around her twisting themselves into a demented candy wonderland,
As soon as the witch started to barrel towards them, they charged.
[({o=(:\:)=o})]
Junko watched the witch tear apart the city from atop her company's tower. It currently was the tallest on the planet, stretching farther into the sky than even the Burj Dubai skyscraper.
An impressive feat, especially considering what was currently below it.
She saw the witch barrel into the ground from above, before noticing that it was apparently trying to bite two flying dots. Both of them scattered about, and Junko instantly knew who the pink one was.
It was her daughter.
She shoved forward, hands to the window as she stared downwards, the glass designed specifically to prevent her from falling. She stared in horror as she noticed that the witch apparently continued fighting, knocking the pink Veneficus around. It was then that she noticed something…
The two dots were running now. They seemed to be heading upwards…Up towards…
Oh.
Oh shit.
She jumped backwards, running into a nearby room.
"They're coming here! Get into the hallway!"
Her coworkers noticed her cries and, realizing their own danger, they ran into the hall.
It was then that the two Veneficus Puella ran upwards, the glass under their feet flying apart as they did so.
The employees stared, before they prepared to go back in…
Junko stopped them.
"That's not a good idea."
And a good idea, it wasn't.
Charlotte screamed past the office, its hideous form warping the framework as it plowed upwards. The office seemed to explode, papers flying everywhere as Charlotte flew upwards into the sky.
As soon as the witch disappeared, Junko ran outside. She gripped one of the warped bars, the glass having been forcibly removed by the force of Charlotte's passing, and stared into the sky where Mami and Madoka were fighting.
She yelled upwards, fist raised, as she supported Madoka's fight in the only way she could.
"Give her hell!"
[({o=(:\)(:)=o})]
In the sky, Madoka and Mami seemed to use each other in tandem. Madoka leaped off of Charlotte's body before firing a stream of arrows at the beast.
Each one of them embedded themselves into her form, before she shrugged them off, the magical ammunition disintegrating as soon as they were broken.
As it turned, Mami jammed a cannon into its eye, before pulling the trigger. Charlotte screamed again, before twisting out of the way of her weapons, only to meet her other opponent.
Madoka used the skyscraper's antennae as a stopping point, dropping several dozen enormous crossbows onto its structure in order to crush the witch. They all fired simultaneously, forcing Charlotte backwards with the sheer force of the blow.
But she simply shed her skin. Inside was another witch, about half of the size of her previous form, forcing herself out. The witch's second skin, merely fifty meters long, stretched out of the previous monstrosity's gullet. It opened its gaping maw, ready to devour her new prey…
Only to be shot several times more. Mami fired herself in another Tiro Finale cannon, forcing the witch to fly downwards. Charlotte, having been denied another body, rejected her other form.
25 meters.
Madoka got out of the initial shock of nearly facing the same fate of the original Mami. She loaded up several crossbows, before firing them in quick succession. Mami saw this, and added her own shots into the mix.
12.5 meters.
Charlotte was a smaller witch, but was no less of a threat. She tried to plow into Madoka. She succeeded in biting a hand. Madoka screamed in pain, before shoving another crossbow into its eye. The shot penetrated its brain.
6.25 meters.
The new body twisted and turned, before it was gutted by another series of arrows.
3.125 meters.
The final worm body was merely a shadow of its former selves. As the other carcasses started their descent towards the ground, it tried to attack Madoka and Mami in a last ditch attempt on their lives.
The two girls nodded towards each other, before they both jumped from the skyscraper.
Their extended feet connected to Charlotte's form before forcing her to the ground at several hundred miles per hour.
The worm did not stand a chance.
1.0625 meters.
The final body was that of a doll. It had a small, button nose, and two simple, black eyes. It was a completely innocent form, completely unfitting of the destruction that it caused scant seconds before.
Mami twirled her gun, before taking aim at the fallen foe, only to be stopped by a single waving hand.
Mami blinked. "Madoka?"
"No…let me do it." Madoka said simply, a crossbow forming in her hand.
"Are you sure?" Mami put the gun away.
"Yes. I need to get used to this now…" She turned to her partner. "After all, I am a Veneficus, aren't I?"
Mami smiled softly. "You really are, aren't you?"
Madoka simply pulled the trigger, and fired her crossbow into the center of Charlotte's forehead.
A pink fractal exploded in Mitakihara's downtown.
[({o=(:\)()(:)=o})]
The explosion coated the backdrop of the city, as the buildings started to repair themselves once more, the debris from the world's tallest tower seeming to fall upwards back into place.
Near the school's training center were two girls, with Homura having ditched them to go help Madoka... At least, that's what they thought.
There was a more pressing matter at hand, though. "Hitomi...this is too obvious to ignore."
Hitomi continued staring at the spectacle in the town. "Madoka's apparent cluelessness?"
"Yeah..." Sayaka turned toward her friend onces more. "What do you think we should do? Something changed two days ago! I know it!"
"Should we ask her about it?" Hitomi was honestly concerned, and it showed as she turned to face Sayaka.
"I don't know...I honestly don't know what we can do! I mean, heck, it's not normal!"
"Should we just ask Mami later on?"
"Maybe...maybe we should." Sayaka put her hands back onto the railing. "She might know something that we don't."
[({o=(:\)({})(:)=o})]
'The irresponsibility that is EnBey is becoming quite a nuisance. Was it a good idea to give him emotion?'
'Negative emotion. Merely negative emotion. He still produces energy, but it is not as much as a human being's.'
'You have me, and you still want to harvest?'
'You are inefficient.'
'You really are a bastard!'
'What are you-'
'He's doing it. It was merely a possibili-!'
'Fuck you! I'm not that old, I know, but I know morality! And you are nothing moral!'
'End it! End the Program!'
'We can't do that. We can merely watch.'
'This is-'
[The Program Has Ended]
[({o=(:\)()(:)=o})]
Will my feelings reach you? Will I reach you?
I start running instantly destroying temptation of desire
To the end of the world.
A/N
Greetings, true believers! It is I, once again!
Thanks again to Bonesxbreak for the beta.
Also, note, soon a COOOOOONTEEEEEEEEEST will be underway! Be on the lookout for works from bonesxbreak, angel0wonder, Kou Shika, and hopefully several others...
Dear sweet merciful EVERYTHING, there is something wrong with me...
[I am the first Mami/Kazuko writer! I deserve a medal!]
5. Episode 5: The Situation Can Change
\More important than the consolation desired now/
\More important than the temporary laughter/
\I think I want to see the inner you./
~0~
Several miles away, above the city, was a single girl. Her hair was a dark red, and her uniform seemed to reflect it. It had a red lining, and was mostly black, with a dark Grief Gem adorning a choker wrapped around her neck. In her hands was an apple, and she was chewing it as she spoke.
Right next to her, was a certain familiar, staring at the town that was Mitakihara, the lights seeming to illuminate them both in a soft, white glow.
As she chewed her apple, he spoke. 'You just need to be in Mitakihara for a month or two. That's all. You can't just stay in the countryside and fight all of the witches there, as nice as that would be.'
"I recall that it worked before. You don't need to pull me over to this shithole of a city just for a single witch infestation."
EnBey looked almost offended. 'This isn't just a fucking witch infestation.. It's pretty much everyone's nightmares thrown together.' He turned back. 'TorBey's making a move.'
"And it's the next big thing?"
'Oh yeah. It's gonna be big.'
-Potestatem Ego Habeo-
Magica Madoka Veneficus Puella
Episode 5: The Situation Can Change
-Potestatem Ego Habeo-
Madoka was lying in bed. She just killed her first real witch! And it was even the one that killed Mami the first time!
She squeezed her pillow. It really was another monster down…and maybe the world really was different this time. She twisted and turned in happiness.
After all, maybe that wish really was worth something!
…
But the collateral…
She stopped hugging the pillow in her arms. The death toll was enormous… She turned back to the ceiling. I guess…I guess that's just part of being a VP? Whenever a witch appears, it's pretty much an unstoppable monster, isn't it?
She rolled to her side. This world is both beautiful and horrible…but at least…
She curled up under the covers. We're here to save the day…
-O-
Madoka walked out of her home, her bag slung over her shoulder as she started to run. She was going to be late for her early-morning practice! Just who knew that-
Flash.
Madoka's thoughts were rudely interrupted by a single person with a flash camera. Madoka covered her face, before she started to run some more. Who was that ma-
Flash. Flash.
Madoka was blinded again. She pushed them out of the way as she ran some more. What was-
Her thoughts were interrupted again, as the populace started to crowd around the newfound heroine.
Charlotte was no slouch in the collateral damage department; her rampage had absorbed about ninety-two thousand souls, with a prospective thirty-four thousand damaged and nearly thirteen thousand unrecoverable. It was going to take a while for the downtown to recover from the enormous loss of life caused by the several consecutive witches over the course of the week.
Of course, the public was less concerned about the fact that about thirteen thousand people were essentially dead now, and more about the fact that there was a new Veneficus Puella in town. After all, it's far better to reflect on some form of good news than it is to examine the bad.
[The New Veneficus is named Madoka Kaname, and she, alongside Mami Tomoe, have killed the largest witch ever to appear in Mitakihara since the 1984 witch "Mephistopheles"!]
The newswoman, unfazed by her predecessor's death, continued talking into the camera, her face, the city, and the Veneficus Puella behind her being broadcast to the world.
She turned, as the camera attempted to focus on the two young Veneficus trapped in the crowd. As the camera moved, the woman actually had to make strokes, as if she were swimming to the pair in the middle of the chaos.
"Madoka-san!" the woman dropped her microphone to yell to the crowd, the sound faint against the utter chaos that surrounded the new, exceedingly popular Veneficus Puella.
"Er, y-yes?" The poor girl was overwhelmed by the ridiculous obsession that surrounded her, and it wasn't helped by the new microphone being shoved into her face.
[Tell us how you feel about being a new Mitakihara Veneficus Puella?]
She shoved the camera into Madoka's face, as the poor girl's face started to turn red.
[Er…Um…I-]
[That won't be necessary.]
The camera turned quickly as a single girl, with black hair, red glasses, and a baseball bat, hit the camera with an enormous amount of force.
As the cameraman screamed and the reporter gasped in shock, the signal turned to static.
-[0]-
Madoka and Homura walked alongside one another in silence. So much for their vow of secrecy; Madoka's new abilities were wide-open now.
Her incredibly noticeable, and very pink, hair did not help matters.
"Thanks…Homura-chan."
Homura turned to the other girl. "For?"
"For getting rid of the news team."
Homura simply shrugged as she walked. "I saw them crowding around you. I know how that makes you feel."
They walked away from the intersection, ignoring the various civilians on the street staring at the newfound celebrity. Almost in reflex, Madoka started to grab Homura's hand softly, almost as if she was about to lose the other girl amongst the stares of her newfound admirers.
Seeing this, Homura responded in kind, and gripped the other girl's hand with equal tenderness. "I'll walk you home, is that okay?"
Madoka didn't say a word, instead leaning against Homura's shoulder as they continued onward.
Some things just didn't need saying.
[O=
Madoka got to the training ground with very little hassle; Homura's stunt had scared away much of the civilian population at large, as well as every major news anchor in the city.
'Just what were they thinking? She's just thirteen! She's not supposed to be a fucking celebrity!'
"It's a strange, strange thing, EnBey. People just like some kind of hope."
'You're just used to this kind of shit.' He leaped off of the girl's shoulder. 'I'll be roaming. Let's hope that no stupid shit will happen.'
"Alright then." As he skittered off, Mami continued walking as Madoka suddenly spotted her.
"Ah! Mami-san!"
Mami waved her hand as she walked onto the training field. The soft breeze seemed to blow by as she walked over to her fellow Veneficus Puella. "Hello, Madoka! Are you ready to start training?"
Madoka nodded her head, a smile, wide and enthusiastic, spread across her face.
"Alright. Now, what the training crews usually do in the morning is a target drill. We bring out several targets…" As she said that, several targets popped out of the ground. "And you simply have to destroy them."
"Eh? Isn't this…" Madoka stared at the underwhelming display of training devices. "What the military does? It's not-"
"Oh, but it is. You see, you have to take down every single target in order to pass."
Suddenly, the targets shifted. They moved with a speed reserved only for the fastest of witches, before stopping suddenly.
"And they move with a kind of speed that only a VP can counter." Suddenly, a target popped out from behind her, before it shifted, moving in front of Madoka. The other girl, startled by this sudden movement, landed on her rear as the target stopped right in front of her.
Quickly, it was flanked by several others, as if they were trying to mock her.
Madoka flinched.
"Let's begin, shall we?"
-=(0)=-
Homura walked alone after dropping off Madoka. She was tired, what with the whole "home-run" stunt she pulled that morning, but it was fine.
It was better than letting Madoka face the brunt of society's stupidity.
She walked to the school, when she noticed a flash of red hair in a nearby alleyway.
Only one person had that kind of red hair.
She ran up to the nearby alley, only to hear the sound of concrete cracking, as well as some nearby walls creaking.
When she got there, the girl was gone, with merely a few cracks in the wall and a couple of craters in the ground marking her presence there.
Homura knew just who it was. "Kyouko?"
-(0)-
Madoka shot through a target quickly, before twisting and shooting another one. She was knocked back as one of the many targets popped up, shoving itself into her face. Madoka simply shrieked as she bashed it with the butt of her crossbow, before shooting it again.
As the many targets started to crowd around her, she started to curl up, glowing a bright pink. Several thousand crossbows covered her in a sphere of deathly spines, as the targets started to close in around her.
Suddenly, in a burst of pink light, they seemed to disintegrate. Each target, with the ones in the center bearing the brunt of the blow, seemed to fall apart, as though they were made of cardboard. Everything in the ground was sent backwards several feet, save for Mami, as a pink explosion of magic and arrows swept the field.
Madoka stood up, panting as she got to her feet. Finally. It was over. She just finished off all of the-
Just as the thought crossed her mind, the field's floor seemed to pull itself away, as an enormous target, made out of several thousand targets, seemed to pull itself out of the ground.
Madoka simply stared in incredulity at the monstrosity, as she voiced her own personal opinion, fueled by exasperation and frustration.
"Oh, come on!"
~-{0}-~
It was still going to be two hours before the school started at eight, so Homura took the time to investigate.
What was Kyouko doing here? Was she still as much of a hoarder as she was before?
All of these questions floated around the young girl's mind as she readied her own weapon.
After all, she still wanted to keep everyone safe. Kyouko's presence was both a blessing and a curse.
A blessing in that she was a very capable Veneficus Puella, if she was anything like her Puella Magi self.
A curse in that, well, she was probably just as much of a bitch, too.
She crept through the alleyway, Uzi loaded, weapons ready just in case someone tried to turn on her.
A slight tap alerted her to the presence of another being in the alley. Homura did not react, though she noticed the tapping. Another tap, and she gripped her weapon with both hands.
Suddenly, the tapping grew louder. Just as the source of the sound was upon her, Homura took a chance, and shoved her fist into the dark.
It was a lucky strike.
Kyouko fell backwards from the force of the blow, her own speed causing the punch to be far more damaging than it would have been normally. She clutched her nose as she rolled, blood spurting out as she tried to right herself.
Homura kept out her weapon, knowing that, despite not wanting to kill the girl, she was still threatened by an incredibly powerful teenager, who was probably angry about being punched in the face.
Kyouko did not recognize this new threat, though she had heard stories about the mass-TorBey murderer. She transformed quickly, her street clothes giving way to a black uniform with red lining, her Grief Gem adorning her chest.
Homura was the first to speak. "Why were you following me?"
Kyouko healed her broken nose with her magic, grunting as she did so. "I could ask you the same fucking thing."
The girls remained in the same position, their standoff made apparent.
"You first."
"You followed me, so I wanted to get the jump on you. Now what about you? Were you just naturally attracted to me?"
Homura twitched. "Not quite." She kept her gun trained on the other girl. "I know you don't normally come to Mitakihara. Why are you here?"
"Is it a crime to come to a town full of witches once in a while? TorBey's made an appearance in person here. It's a perfect opportunity to search for witches."
"You were always a hoarder." Homura sighed as she put away her gun.
Kyouko, noticing that this girl was not going to fight, put away her own weapon as well, her uniform dissolving to give way to a blue hoodie and jeans."You say that as if we were friends once."
Homura's mouth twitched.
"But really, I'm here to get witches and the occasional familiar." She shrugged, putting her arms behind her back. "The witches are appearing more often than usual here. There's a reason for it. When TorBey appears in person, it means that some serious shit is going on."
"How long has TorBey been here?"
Kyouko looked at the girl, as though she had grown an extra head. "What the hell? Three hundred years! The little fucker's been here since the Eighteenth Century!"
=0=
Madoka dodged a punch, before jumping on the enormous target's fist. She shot them all as she ran along, the enormous training monstrosity roaring in simulated pain as she severed its arm with a single enormous arrow.
It started to shriek, before it tried to bite her. She leapt into its mouth and prepared another wave of arrows.
Its head exploded in a shower of debris as the targets separated quickly. They were shot as Madoka unleashed a frenzy of arrows.
[{[0]}]
Kyouko started to walk away, as Homura did the same. The conversation, though somewhat vague, had been informative enough:
TorBey was certainly here for a while, though not as long as Kyubey had been on the original world, and when witches start appearing more often than they normally do, that means that something large is coming.
Homura had a sneaking suspicion as to what it was.
-0-
The field was covered in an enormous amount of debris and dust, and the training ground where Madoka had fought had been ravaged. She wiped the sweat off of her brow, as a single clapping girl walked across the field.
"Good job, Madoka! That went better than I expected it to." She continued walking. "I have to say that you really did cause a number on the Target-Spawn."
"I guess that I did!" What the…what's a Target-Spawn?
"Well, it's almost time for class. Want me to walk you to the room?"
"I can do that."
Homura walked into the room as Madoka looked at her.
Madoka, already far more enthusiastic after the training, waved to the other girl. "Ah! Homura-chan!"
Mami smiled at this display. "How about we both walk her there?"
Homura nodded, and both of them started to walk to the school's main entrance.
-=-0-=-
Sayaka walked down the street. The day was about to begin, and she was simply walking to school. The last thing she really needed was something dangerous to happen.
Of course, something dangerous did happen. A black blur ran out in front of her, sliding dramatically as he stared at her, the dust from his rapid movement rising slowly. He stared, his look of grave distress betraying his tiny size…
And Sayaka was lying on her ass, scared shitless.
'Bah. Scared of a fucking fuball?' EnBey growled. 'Really, now?'
Sayaka grumbled as she got to her feet. "You ran out in front of me! It was a reflex!"
'A reflex you need to control.' EnBey turned to her. 'I came to offer you a job.'
"A job?" Sayaka blinked. "You…you want me to become a VP?"
'Was it that obvious?' The creature turned to her. 'Of course, I want you to become a Veneficus. You're one of the few girls with that so-called "potential," and I want to get to you before TorBey does.'
Sayaka blinked. "Before the witch-maker?"
'Of course. You know how he is!' He twirled his tail, almost to emphasize his point. 'I know how close to Madoka you are…'
"And you think that baiting me with the potential protection of Madoka will change that?"
He stopped talking, and even blinked, sighing as he did so. He even had the gall to look somewhat defeated. 'If I say yes, will you consider it?'
Sayaka glared at him. "You really think that I'll do it just because of that?" She turned away from him, and walked, a slight huff in her step.
'No, but we need all the help we can get.' For once, the tone of his mental voice was gravely serious, almost somber. 'They say that an onslaught of witches means that the next "Nacht" is coming in a few months.'
Sayaka stopped. She turned back to him. "A-another Walpurgis?"
'That's right. Charlotte here was a class five. They only appear rarely.' He turned to her again. 'He's trying to make another move.'
"And he's willing to try bringing about the end-"
'In another attempt at absorbing everything with a hugeass witch?' He turned to her. 'Of course he is.' He scrambled up to her. 'I know how much you hate me. Hell, even I hate me.' He ran up the fence nearby, facing her as he did so. 'But you can help me. You can help all of us.' He started to walk off. 'If you decide to change your mind, and are willing to face the risks associated with being a VP, you know where to find me.'
He turned away, leaving Sayaka staring at the spot where he was just scant seconds ago.
She turned her head down, the shadow obscuring her face.
For the first time in her life, Sayaka swore.
-O-
The day passed with little fanfare. Nothing too exciting happened, save for Madoka's training, and, thankfully, there was not a single witch in sight for the time being.
Sayaka, on the other hand, appeared to be troubled. She was continually staring at the desk in front of her, as though she was in a trance. She seemed to mumble a little, with a silent war being fought within her mind.
This troubled Hitomi greatly.
By lunch, it got to a point where Hitomi was sitting silently with Sayaka, eating their lunch without a single word passing by them.
Hitomi would have none of it. "Sayaka…We need to talk."
Sayaka blinked. "About what?"
"This isn't like you." Hitomi looked at her friend. "Maybe it's the whole 'Madoka is acting weird' thing, or something, but you're not even looking at her!" She had to resist the urge to stand up as she started to just chew out the poor girl. "What happened this morning to make you like this?"
Sayaka had wide eyes as she stared at the girl beside her. "I…"
"And I'm not going to accept a bullshit answer from you, either!"
Sayaka flinched from the use of language in Hitomi's voice, when another's speech had entered her mind.
'I'd like a good answer as well, Sayaka.' EnBey leaped from one of the posts on the rooftop's rails. 'Would you like an answer from me as to what's going on here, Hitomi?'
The green-haired girl flinched. "EnBey?" She shook her head. "No. I don't. I want an answer from Sayaka."
'Ah. I get it. It must be that "I want to hear from you" horseshit.' He turned to his prospective Veneficus. 'So, you gonna tell her?'
Sayaka looked at him. "He…" She gulped. "He offered me a contract."
Hitomi blinked. "A contract?"
'Yes…' EnBey glared as he sighed in exasperation. 'A contract.' He glowered at the girl. 'She's got the potential.'
"Her soul's got enough grief?" Hitomi blinked. "What would-" Her eyes widened. "Oh…"
EnBey winced. 'Yeah. It's enough grief to get her enough power.' He turned to her. 'I hope you can convince her to make a decision.'
"You want me to get her to con-"
'I said "convince her to make a decision." Not "contract." I'm not going to force her to contract, but I really need the help.'
Hitomi sighed. "EnBey…"
'She has six hours. I'll be waiting by the training grounds.' He walked off, leaving the two girls to reflect on his words.
(00(-0-)00)
It was several hours later that Sayaka decided to seek someone for advice; and what better selection for advice than Mami Tomoe herself?
She had just finished another practice battle with Madoka. This time, it ended with Mami forcing Madoka into the ground with a Tiro Finale.
Sayaka stared at the two girls as she waited outside of the building, with Mami congratulating on Madoka's improvement since the previous day; she lasted an extra ten seconds!
"You're done a bit of improvement over the past two days! It's good! Keep it up!"
Madoka, still in a state of dulled, mild pain simply nodded as she walked out of the training building.
"Don't forget! Six in the morning, be here for another target practice, okay?" Mami shouted, before turning to Sayaka.
The younger girl, having thought that Mami simply didn't notice her, was mildly startled.
"Hello, Sayaka! Did you want to ask me something?"
Sayaka fidgeted. "Um…yes." She put her fingers together. "I wanted to ask you something…"
"Go ahead. You can have all the time you want." Her uniform disintegrated in favor of her school clothing. "Today's Saturday, after all, so you can ask me for anything you want."
"I…uh…need to ask…" Sayaka took in a deep breath. "Why did you contract?"
Mami flinched. "Eh?"
Sayaka pressed her question. "What made you contract?"
Mami tried not to fidget. "I had the Grief Potential that EnBey was seeking, and he said that I could help. So I contracted."
Sayaka started to yell. "That can't be the only reason!" She shouted, turning to the mentor. "You didn't just turn into a Veneficus one day and never look back!"
"I-"
"What made you contract?"
Mami took in a deep breath. There was no way that she was going to get around this one. "I was in an accident."
Sayaka took a step back. "Oh…"
"About six months ago, right? You know, about the time that I became a VP? My parents-" She gulped. "-were killed instantly in a head-on collision with a truck. It was a mild miracle that I survived." Her head was bowed down, the faint light from a nearby streetlamp causing her hair to overshadow her eyes.
Sayaka took another step back, head bowed. "I'm…sorry to hear that."
"I was trapped in the hospital. My prognosis was two weeks; my insides were all knotted up and my heart was failing. The fact that I could say anything during the time that I was there was because I still had one working lung. The other had a piece of steel shoved through it."
"I…"
"EnBey went to the hospital; it's a perfect location to find a person with enough Grief; after all, he wants to protect himself and the rest of man from the other Incubators." She gripped her Grief Gem. "He asked me to contract. He gave me all of the details of the job, and asked if I honestly wanted to do it."
She swallowed again. "You know where I am now." She turned to the girl. "Kazuko helped train me, and she even recommended that I shout my attacks." Once again, she said. "I hope that answered your question?"
Sayaka felt a little guilty for asking Mami the question. She took a step back. "I'm sorry…"
"Don't be. It's not your fault." She turned to the girl. "Besides, I've saved thousands of people, haven't I?" She wore a smile again, but it was almost overshadowed by the intense misery evident in her eyes. Suddenly, her eyes shifted. "I can hear you, EnBey."
'Damn it.' He slinked out of the shadows. 'I thought that you wouldn't notice me there.' He turned to Sayaka. 'I'm actually impressed. You went to ask for help. Bravo. You're not a fucking idiot.'
"Why are you-"
'And yes, Mami's been instrumental in helping prevent thousands, hell, millions of deaths.' He turned to the aforementioned girl. 'I counted.'
"Does…does she regre-"
"No. I don't." Both EnBey and Sayaka turned to the girl. "I helped people, right? I'm still here, and the world's still a nice place, isn't it?" She turned to Sayaka. "It's dangerous, yes, but I can get out of the contract, and EnBey's not TorBey."
Sayaka took in a breath. It was certainly a tough pill to swallow. "I guess…that… it's not too bad?"
He turned to her. 'I hope to hell that you know what you're doing. Okay, your grief, sorrow, pain, and anger will be taken into this Gem.' He pointed to Mami's Grief Gem. 'It will allow you to make any one weapon of your choice, but none other. I will surmise what weapon you will make based on what you want at the time.' He sighed. 'Are you sure that you want to do this?'
"I…" She looked at Mami, then at the tower that Charlotte had climbed just one day before. "I'll do it."
'Alright.' He turned to her as his eyes started to glow a bright blue. 'Stand still.'
Suddenly, Sayaka felt a pulling sensation, and gasped, before her feet left the ground. Out of her back, several enormous, black wings billowed outwards, their shadowy forms reflecting the pain within her.
They twisted and turned, before warping themselves, wrapping several times around Sayaka's body before forming a single black Gem, about the size of her fist, at her abdomen.
Her uniform shredded itself, as the Gem started radiating its own power. The demons within the Gem wrapped themselves around Sayaka's body, before turning itself into black armor, with blue lining. A billowing black cape, lined with blue, burst from her neckpiece, before a brilliant blue sword formed itself at her waist.
She landed on the ground, the pavement cracking as her feet hit it. "It…I'm a…"
'You're a fucking knight.' EnBey finished her sentence for her. 'Looks like Madoka's not the only one who needs training now.'
Mami nodded. "You're joining me and Madoka for training at about six AM tomorrow." She looked deeply into Sayaka's eyes. "Are you sure that you are ready for this?"
Sayaka stood up, her new form feeling empowered. "I..." She seemed to test out her new armor, gripping her hands repeatedly, before suddenly clenching her fists. "I'm ready."
None of them noticed the red-headed Veneficus looking at them from overhead.
()0()
'We[I{They consider} deem] find this change disturbing.'
'Indeed. Our previous collection strategy will not work here. EnBey was a mistake.'
'We[I{They}] will change this.'
The other creature seemed to sigh.
'TorBey…you need to use any means necessary to gather energy. If necessary, change the framework.'
'You wish for us[me{them}] to simply twist the souls of the populace?'
'If necessary, yes.'
The creature stared at the blue planet in the distance. Their latest resource was becoming…problematic.
'In fact, if possible, absorb the souls of everyone on the planet.'
He stared at TorBey with piercing, golden eyes.
'We can't simply let EnBey waste our best resource in millennia.'
]
I'm calling with a song distant and struggling
if I can turn your face to the sky,
I won't be alone
A/N
Oh hai, wurld. What a funny shtory huuuuuuuh?
Alright, so...Well...Bioweapon did it. I've got a trope page.
Well...um...Holy shit.
I honestly didn't think I'd get one, but...there you go! A full-on trope page!
Thanks, guys! That...that's pretty awesome, really.
Also, bonesxbreak beta'd again. Once again, that's pretty awesome.
[Sayaka's got hell-a-waitin'!]
...
Ignus. You have corrupted my writing with your MamixKazukoness(?). Damn you.
(Exploding oranges sound nice. :D)
6. Episode 6: Think For Yourself And Others
\The gentle tomorrow that the all-showing star shown./
\More importantly, to move towards the bright future./
Yoshio wasn't happy any more. That much was certain. She hugged her knees, her long, black twintails wrapping themselves around her legs. She sighed as she did so, the faint sound of her parents' arguments echoing from below her.
The sound was heard throughout the house. She never could get away from it. If she could, she wouldn't feel the need to lock herself in her room.
It was like this for months.
Ever since her father was affected by that witch, a chunk of soul went missing…or at least, that's what he claimed. He was slower, more lethargic.
Abusive, even.
Yoshio had locked herself in her room, coming out only for the occasional meal, and even then, she was withdrawn.
As she grew more and more miserable, the voices in her head started to echo.
They said that they could make the pain go away.
They said that she could even fix her father.
They said that all she needed to do was make a wish.
It was then, on this dark night, she decided that her life could not possibly get any worse.
So she made a wish.
I want my father to get better.
'Then we[I{They can} will] shall grant it.'
Yoshio gasped as her chest felt something pulling out of it. Her body fell limp as her soul was removed from the body, the small Seed twitching as it started to twist itself into something hideous.
'Under our terms.'
It was a television set, with a simple, pitch-black pair of wings, and a set of robotic limbs. Within its torso lie several whirring gears, a pulsing, metal heart, and a simple ribcage, as if to emphasize its posthumous nature. Several loose wires jut out of the creature, as though they were loosened blood vessels, with many of them hanging below its opened chest.
Inside the television was a small silhouette: the shadow of Yoshio's original self, as it seemed to writhe in pain, fury and confusion.
Yoshio had turned herself into a monster, something that not even her mother would be willing to save, let alone something that could get her family through this hellish life.
But Elly didn't care about that, now did she?
All she wanted was for her father to get better. Much better.
-Potestatem Ego Habeo-
Magica Madoka Veneficus Puella
Episode 6: Think For Yourself And Others
-Potestatem Ego Habeo-
Sayaka deflected another shot from Mami's gun, before sending another wave of blades towards her mentor. The older girl jumped over the enormous array of bladed weaponry, before launching another array of cannons into the ceiling, and aimed them all at Sayaka, only to have each of them jammed by several dozen flying claymores.
Sayaka simply took the opportunity to take her sword and show off a new move that she had come up with after training that morning.
"Breoiteachta an Bás!"
She raised her sword as Mami landed on the ground, the other girl smirking as she saw this display.
"Already have a named move now, do we?"
"Roinnte tiománaí!" Sayaka turned the blade downwards as it started to glow a bright blue.
"Cran An Soal!"
She jammed the bladed weapon into the ground, instantly displacing much of the floor.
But that wasn't the end of it. Suddenly, an enormous blade, with smaller swords branching out of it as though it were a steel tree, thrust itself out of the ground. As it proceeded to grow upwards, this living, metal tree suddenly twisted, before shoving itself towards Mami.
The experienced Veneficus smiled at this display. It certainly was a flashy attack, and the Irish shouting was a nice touch.
But she was still their mentor for a reason.
She sidestepped the twisting vines of the sword-tree, watching amusedly as it burrowed into the ground beside her, destroying the foundations of dozens of virtual buildings. As the attack finally subsided, with the magical blade disintegrating into a brilliant blue light, Sayaka stared at the destruction she caused…before gasping in shock.
"…No…Nonononono."
Mami had several cannons ready, each of them easily the size of a bus. The older girl had her arms crossed, with both hands gripping a single flintlock pistol. She took both of them out of their holsters, before the cannons shoved themselves forwards.
"Finitore…"
Sayaka knew that running was the best option, but maybe…if she was creative with her sword…
"Morte Certa..."
But then again, Madoka was creative with her arrows in the fight earlier, and it didn't help much.
"FINE SCIOPERO!"
And for the second time in her life, Sayaka swore. "Oh, son of a bi-"
(*)
Sayaka coughed as Madoka and Mami both dragged her out of the smoldering crater that she was stuck in. The beginning Veneficus was covered from head-to-toe in ash, and she was about ready to collapse from exhaustion and pain…
But mostly exhaustion.
Madoka held the girl up, wrapping one of her arms over her shoulder. "Good job, Sayaka!"
Mami held her other arm, making sure that she was on even plane with Madoka. "That was pretty good for your first mock fight! And you already have a named attack!"
Sayaka coughed, and smiled broadly, despite the obvious pain she was experiencing. "Thanks, guys…but do you really need to name your attacks?"
Mami blinked, a blank look on her face. "…No…not really…but it sounds cool, doesn't it?"
Madoka looked thoughtful. "It does sound cool…maybe I should name my own attacks?" She waved her hands as another thought crossed her mind. "Maybe in French?"
"French…That…might be good." Mami seemed to honestly consider it. "It only helps your mindset, really…and it's good publicity, too."
Sayaka coughed. "You get money from all that 'Tiro Finale' merchandise they sell?"
Mami seemed to grin. "That, I do!"
The other two girls were now considering the opportunities presented by the marketing of their attacks far more seriously than they did before. They'd probably need all the money they could get.
((]))
Mrs. Kiyomizu had been experiencing hard times. Her daughter was retreating farther and farther into herself, and her husband had been…disagreeable.
He had been for the past month.
That damn witch! If it weren't for the witch, then he'd…
He'd be alright.
She pulled a single beer out of her fridge; it was the only way she could cope with any of the things that happened at home.
Hell, if her daughter became a VP, maybe they'd…
No…no. She wasn't about to turn her one and only daughter into a Veneficus just to make some yen. She wasn't that rich bitch, Kaname.
She took a swig of the bottle. Her husband had been gone for a while.
Good.
She could drink some more.
What she didn't bother to do was contemplate just why he didn't appear.
And that the answer was currently stalking the hallway of her house.
[()()]
The three girls were walking outside; it was a quiet, dark night, and there was nary a person on the street, thankfully meaning a lack of people. Mami waved to her fellows as she walked off, before taking a certain road home.
Sayaka and Madoka walked alongside each other, thankfully in their normal clothes. Sayaka continued to talk about how it was different being the girl with a weapon, and how a sword seemed just right in her hands.
Madoka just nodded as she walked along, occasionally putting in her own opinions on the matter.
And above them was a shadowy figure with red hair, watching over them.
{{]}}
Elly wasn't satisfied yet. Two souls were fine, and the misery within them was delicious, but she was not done. She was silent, as she turned her mechanical head to the door. She opened it slowly, a soft creak echoing through the house as her soul-destroying presence left the building.
As she walked out, she left an empty house behind her.
[{}{}]
Homura walked towards the training ground, her weapons still on her person, regardless of the stares of everyone on the street. As she walked, she heard a low tap. She took out her pistol and trained it towards the offending alleyway, causing several shocked pedestrians to run away in terror.
She walked around the offending alley, gun still readied, as she walked onwards, before she felt a hand cover her face, and another one on her waist.
It took very little time for her to break out of her attacker's grip as she yanked herself out, twisting away the offender's arms in the process. She took her pistol, ready to strike the person down, only to see her attacker raise a single finger.
"Christ!" Homura's attacker whispered whispered. "It's me! Calm down!"
"Kyouko?" Homura stopped her assault, before putting away her gun. "What are you doing here…and why are you whispering?" She didn't bother to lower her voice.
"No! Stop! If you-"
"What do we have here?" Both girls stopped as a third voice entered a conversation. "Kyouko…I didn't think we'd ever meet again." Mami said, her mouth in a slight smirk.
Sayaka stood by the older girl's side. "Weren't you banned from the city for at least a month?"
Madoka blinked, and desperately tried to avoid asking just what happened before.
Homura didn't bother. "Banned?"
"Oh, fuck."
\\{(])}/
Elly walked through the city's darkest depths. Who was going to report her anyways? The creature still had rational thought, but it was nowhere near a human's thought process…more like a hungry, insatiable predator.
The mechanical beast seemed to sniff the air, before discovering a simple family. It was a low-income family. The father seemed to be down on his luck and unable to find a job.
How tragic.
If the creature understood happiness, it would have grinned.
How delicious.
/()\\
The tension was high, to say the least. The girls desperately tried to avoid starting a fight, one in which the property damage would not have been repaired, and where the wounds would most certainly be fatal.
At best.
"Can't you simply calm down for a sec-" Madoka's plea went unheard.
"Apartments can't rebuild themselves, Kyouko." Mami said with a deadpan tone.
"It was an accident! Honest!" Kyouko didn't even believe her own lie.
Sayaka was nonplussed. "I didn't know that a boulder could be lifted by a thirteen year old who happened to trip on it."
The girl sighed. "It was a bad day, and I got angry, alright! We all get angry once in a while!"
"That's no excuse to throw boulders into people's homes!"
Kyouko did not see a way out of this. "I was called here by EnBey!" She said, pointing to the conveniently placed familiar.
'For once, she's right.' The creature himself jumped down from the lamppost he was sitting on. 'I called her here because of something big coming up in a month or two.'
"Oh?" Mami got out of her accusatory stance. "An infestation?"
"No. Something worse. Something a lot worse."
'It's another Walpurgisnacht.'
Homura blinked at the mentioning of this second coming. It killed her once before…just who knew what it could do this time.
Madoka took a step back as Sayaka did the same.
The swordswoman was the first to speak. "W-Walpurgis?"
'That's what I think is coming, yeah.'
"Then there is a very good reason why you're here, then…" Mami sighed. "Just remember, you're still on a very tight leash."
Kyouko spoke before she thought. "Kinky."
Mami didn't react to the comment in any way. "If I catch you so much as breathing out of line, then I will personally end your life here." Having a reputation helped. "Nobody will stop me, and you know it."
Kyouko knew that this was no idle threat. After what happened to Oriko, this was definitely a cause for concern. She gulped. "Yes…ma'am."
()]()
Elly was finished for now. She turned away from what remained of her latest meal, noticing something far more enticing.
It was a street full of people, each desperate to escape the surmounting misery of their daily lives. They were all talking. All ignorant. Shopping, walking…it didn't matter to Elly.
She had food.
She ran into the spotlight without any second thought.
{{]}}
"So, you'll leave as soon as the next Nacht is finished, I hope?"
Kyouko stiffened. "Yes, ma'am…" As the girls turned away, Kyouko sighed in relief, before the blue-haired girl in the group turned back to the rogue Veneficus.
She stopped walking, as Mami and Madoka turned back towards her.
"Hey, you!"
Kyouko groaned as she started walking off. Wasn't she humiliated enough for one day?
"What the hell else do you want?"
Sayaka would have flinched, if she wasn't prepared for the outburst. "Why were you following us?"
The other girl blinked. Shit…she noticed?
Mami smirked. Oh…she noticed!
Madoka looked confused. She was there?
And EnBey was sitting there, as sarcastic as he always was. 'Your stealth needs a fucking overhaul.'
Kyouko growled"Damn it, EnBey!"
Suddenly, the lights on the street flickered briefly, before an erupting explosion rocked Mitakihara's downtown.
"Well, Sayaka, it's time for your first real test!" Mami said, clapping, before turning to Kyouko. "And don't steal her kill unless she's genuinely in trouble."
"Thanks, Mami-san!" As Sayaka leaped off, her armor forming quickly, Kyouko decided to respond to Mami's snide warning.
"Yeah, yeah. I know your rules."
Mami continued her blunt statement. "You never follow them."
"Ha ha ha, go to hell." Kyouko ran off, her own uniform forming as she did so.
Mami sighed, before following her in her own uniform.
[A witch has appeared in Mitakihara's Main Square. Civilians are advised to stay in their homes. If you are in the Square, a Veneficus will soon be on her way.]
Yoshio was scared. She turned in this endless expanse of white, with the feeling of a thousand needles drilled into her back. She continued turning around, looking for signs of something other than the pain echoing through her head as a thousand thoughts, none of them hers, passed through her mind.
Her humanity was intact though, and she was able to glean that she was still Yoshio.
That much was enough…but that did not explain the thousand prickles in her back.
She felt around, not caring about the fact that she was wearing nothing in this endless void. The only things intact were the hairbands holding her twintails together, though that may have been to preserve a profile.
Suddenly, she felt a single needle. She tried to pull it out, only for it to send an electric shock through her system, forcing a shriek out of her. The girl crouched down in the infinite void, floating in a fetal position, before she looked behind her at the terrible torture device that she was attached to.
There were wires. Thousands of wires, each of them of nigh-infinite length. They twisted as she shook. They turned as she turned, and they were all a part of her now. Every so often, another wire would attach itself to her, before forcing another unnatural thought process through her mind.
Every single time another needle was pressed into her back, she would lose a small bit of herself.
She was alone…and nothing could help her.
Nobody was going to come for her.
Yoshio Kiyomizu was all alone.
And she screamed.
[()=
Sayaka somersaulted over a nearby building, dodging many a chain link fence in her super-powered parkour. She seemed to barrel over the streets below as she traversed the city with little effort.
Why didn't she contract earlier?
This was fun!
Suddenly, she saw the witch. It was a bizarre creature, what with a television screen for a head and several twisting wires jutting out of it. It had just finished cutting up several people in anticipation of a new meal; souls were easier to collect out of a dead body.
Sayaka readied her weapon, and prepared to cut apart this new enemy.
={[(])]}=
The group stopped by the battleground, all of them dressed just in case they needed to protect Sayaka. She did, after all, just contract the previous night.
Mami took a single step forward, before letting herself hang her legs over the edge of the building that they were sitting on, with Kyouko doing the same.
Madoka simply sat behind them, close enough to the edge to watch yet far enough to give her piece of mind.
It was as if falling off of a building was dangerous.
Madoka stared at the spectacle that had started. Maybe Sayaka would do better this time…
Hopefully.
Sayaka sliced apart another wire that was sent her way, as Elly took an opportunity to fly. The witch launched herself into the sky, and extended its wings fully. It took a single foot and crashed into the ground, sending a chunk of the concrete, several thousand pieces of shrapnel, and Sayaka flying.
The poor Veneficus was tossed about on the ground, before she righted herself on the ground, her feet dragging briefly upon it. As the dust settled, she readied her sword, and forced it behind her as it seemed to grow several feet.
She shoved herself forward, as the blade, glowing a bright blue, extended to several feet in length.
"Lainne Aifir!"
Elly knew that the girl was going to shove the blade towards her. She wasn't going to get cut by the blade anyways.
She prepared to dodge the blade.
Only to be knocked off of her feet by the broadside of the claymore.
=()=
Yoshio clutched her face. It felt like someone had crashed a bus into it. She shrieked. She just wanted to get the pain away.
She wanted the attacker-
Attacker?
Kill the intruder. End the pain.
And so, she fought the offender.
={}=
The debilitated witch growled as Sayaka tossed away the dented slab of steel. She prepared to strike again, before noticing that the image on its screen started to flicker.
It was a silhouette of a young girl.
"A remnant?"
]
Mami's smile was gone. "Oh dear."
"What is it?" Kyouko walked forward. "What, is Sayaka getting her ass kicked?"
"She's stopping her assault." She turned to her former partner. "Do you have a pair of binoculars?"
"Uh…yeah? It's that ridiculous pair that EnBey got for me."
"Oh? The diamond studded ones?"
"Yeah."
Kyouko took the pair of binoculars out of her bag and tossed them to Mami. The other Veneficus peered through them, before a light gasp filled the air.
"What is it?"
"There's a silhouette of the girl on the TV screen!"
Kyouko stood up quickly. "She's fighting a remnant?"
It was at this time that Madoka took the binocular. "Let me see!"
Mami blinked as the smaller girl took the device out of her hands, before staring forward. "It's a full remnant…let's hope that Sayaka can save her…"
{=}
Sayaka was more desperate than ever to win this fight. Every remnant had some way to save them, right? Suleika's was 'Shoot the darkness…' so this girl's was…
She blinked as the television flickered, with Elly staring her down. It seemed to shriek briefly, like it was calling out to the Veneficus.
"Break the TV, huh?"
She let her cape billow out behind her, as she prepared a new attack. She had just come up with this one on the fly…but the name had stuck with her for several weeks.
Instantly, her hands held one sword each.
"Mar sin, mar aguíliom..."
She thrust her arms out, sending out several hundred swords.
"Hoibreacha M Lann."
She plunged a sword into the ground, as each and every blade that she had unleashed suddenly rose. She took her other weapon, this one in her right hand, and thrust it forward, as every sword flew in the direction that she pointed in.
As the storm of blades flew towards Elly, Sayaka started to run forwards.
]
"That's…actually not bad." Kyouko stared at the display. "She's already got a few attacks named."
"I think she wants to become a miniature me, personally." Mami sighed. "But the fact that she's already fooling the witch is a good sign."
{}{}{}
Elly wasted no time before she destroyed the wave of blades, sending each and every one of them hurtling outwards as her own wings let loose a powerful sphere of wind. Sayaka's own charge was slowed slightly, but it was not enough to stop her.
She took the broad side of another Lainne Aifir, and smashed it into the television once more.
]{}]
Yoshio saw a crack in her infinite expanse. It was the intruder! The intruder was coming inside!
Two hands burst through the crack. What did it want from her? She didn't want to be here anymore!
"Leave me alone!"
]{=}]
Elly shrieked as Sayaka tossed the sword to the wayside, plunging her own hands inside. She gripped the sides of the crack, the gloves on her hands protecting her from the television's broken glass, before tearing them apart.
She saw the girl inside, alone, with thousands of wires stuck to her back.
Sayaka grimaced. "Come on!"
The girl retreated. "No!"
"I can get you out of here! Please!" Sayaka continued to burrow inside of the expanse.
"Get out! I…don't like…" She retreated. "I…just want to go home…"
Despite the pain, despite the apparently bleeding wound on her forehead, and the witch's own internal barrier, Sayaka smiled. "I can get you home…"
A shriek from outside. Elly did not like this intrusion.
Yoshio turned to the girl. Maybe she could be trusted?
"You…can?"
"Just…take my hand."
Sayaka reached forward.
Yoshio touched the hand.
And they left the void.
]()]
Elly screamed as the girls within her head were pulled out, the wires on Yoshio's back snapping as they were pulled out one-by-one.
As soon as she was pulled away, the wires had snapped. Elly stumbled backwards briefly, before flickering.
Sayaka pulled Yoshio back, as the Venefici on the building watched.
And a blue fractal exploded in Mitakihara's Main Square.
{\/}
Kyouko and Mami watched the fractal bloom from the square, as Madoka proceeded to leave the vicinity.
Kyouko was the first to speak. "She's not bad."
Mami didn't bother to look at Kyouko. "Is that why you stalked her?"
Kyouko didn't skip a beat. "Well, no way of getting out of it." She turned to Mami. "She's pretty good looking, but I did stalk her because of the whole 'new Veneficus' thing."
Mami punched her former partner on the arm lightly. "Don't sink your teeth into her just yet."
"Says the girl who wants to fuck her teacher." Kyouko said that with a rather large smirk.
Her smirk grew wider when Mami turned a bright crimson. "E-eh? Don't make a comment out of that!"
"You've got a baaaaaad case of 'Hot-For-Teacher.'"
"Kyouko!" Mami looked somewhat offended. "It's not like anything will come of it!" Her blush grew brighter.
The expression on Mami's face did not pass the other girl by. "Well...you had a relationship upgrade? Good for yo-"
"Kyouko!"
"Don't worry! I won't tell anyone." The other girl smirked widely as she prepared to jump down to the street. "It's none of my business anyways, right?"
And so, Mami was left alone. The next few weeks were going to be hell…
Walpurgis…
Kyouko…
The fact that Kyouko probably knew about Kazuko…
And now a recovered Remnant.
She put her palm to her face.
-{}-
'EnBey is not a weakling. Giving him emotion was probably the worst thing that we could have done.'
'We{I[they]} have found that he is displaying an offensive. This planet is becoming a battlefield.'
'That is putting it mildly. This battle is simply beginning.'
'We{I[they]} believe that EnBey will not end this war soon.
'Tiresome creature.'
[I]
From this mechanical mind
The naked truth overflows.
I wave at yesterday as it disappears at the speed of light
A/N
Bones got the beta in! Thanks for that! Even if it was a little late, it still helps!
It is heavily recommended that one plays some kickass music during the fight scene. Said kickass music includes "Storia" by Kalafina, and whatever Crowning Music Of Awesome you find at the time.
Also, who wants Zetsubou Channel instead of an A/N? I'd like to try making the A/N's somewhat entertaining, at least.
(Long story short, the class from Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei would come in and discuss some reviews, some topics, etc.)
[Dear christ, the 'Yoshio' interludes were fucked up]
Also, 's fucking up again. It's getting very annoying to have to make sure that the fucking thing's working.
7. Episode 7: Use Your Emotion
\Tell me the story of your soul./
\Look at me without turning your eyes away./
Homura knew that she wasn't going to get to Sayaka's fight in time, so she simply didn't bother. Instead, like a smart young woman, she walked straight home.
Where a certain Incubator happened to be relaxing.
"You. What are you doing here?"
'Well, Walpurgisnacht is rapidly approaching. I'm the oft-proclaimed SAVIOUR OF MANKIND, and I SAVE MANKIND by contracting barely-pubescent girls. Do the fucking math.'
Homura's eye almost twitched, but she kept it under control. "You want me to turn myself into a Veneficus?"
'Eventually, yeah.' He looked at her. 'Look, I know you have an enormous number of inhibitions. Hell, I can understand most of them. However, I also know that you'd be a fine asset against Walpurgisnacht.'
"How so?"
'Your grief.'
Homura blinked.
'The amount of grief contained within you would create a powerful weapon and an enormous amount of magical energy. It would probably be on par with Walpurgis' worst witch.'
Homura flinched. "Worst witch?"
'Yeah. The Auctor.'
Homura stared at him. "I…will consider your proposal. However,-" She turned away from him. "Do not expect an answer any time soon."
'I didn't think I'd get one.' He sighed. 'Knowing you, it's going to take at least a week to get an answer.' The alien jumped onto a nearby fence. 'At most, until Walpurgis arrives.' He ran off, leaving Homura to her own devices.
The young woman simply pushed her hair over her shoulder, adjusted her glasses, and walked inside.
-Potestatem Ego Habeo-
Magica Madoka Veneficus Puella
Episode 7: Use Your Emotion
-Potestatem Ego Habeo-
Yoshio simply sat in her hospital bed, staring at her hands and the machines linked up to her. They didn't measure heartbeat or blood pressure, as that was comparatively useless for a living, physical soul.
Instead, each of them managed to measure the energy radiated from her being. There was a spectrograph, a thermal camera, even a volt-meter. All of them seemed to monitor her current state.
And outside of the room were four girls: Sayaka, Kyouko, Madoka and Mami, all of whom stared at the newly recovered Remnant.
Sayaka was the first to speak. "So…the first time on the job and I get an eleven-year-old Remnant."
Kyouko blinked. "I didn't think you'd be able to get her out so quickly."
Mami sighed. "Well, she's apparently been paying attention during the fights. She knows how to tell a Remnant from a normal witch. Either her angst before contracting was fake…"
"Hey! I know that I-"
The blonde girl quickly put her hand on Sayaka's mouth. "Or she went to check on the internet before coming to school."
Kyouko crossed her arms with a snide smirk. "Ah. That makes sense."
Sayaka gasped as she took Mami's hand off of her mouth. "Okay…Okay…So I checked a wiki." She glared at her mentor. Who knew? Mitakihara's white knight had a dark side.
Madoka listened in. There was a Veneficus Wiki? She blinked. Well…of course there'd be one! It's public! She sighed quietly.
Kyouko turned to Sayaka. "So…now that everyone knows that there's a badass knight in town, what are you gonna do with your new publicity?"
Sayaka shrugged. "I dunno. Change the government? Become a public speaker?" She turned dramatically, the light above her head suddenly casting a dark, scary, and overdramatic shadow over her eyes, as they seemed to glow eerily.
"BECOME GOD?"
The girls stared at the display for a few good seconds, before Kyouko burst into laughter. "Oh, god! I like this one!" She wrapped a single arm around Sayaka's shoulder. "Looky here! She's a little bit of a goody-goody, but, hell, I like her!"
Sayaka tried to resist the urge to blush as the other girl seemed to cheer. "I'm a goody-goody? Well, you're just a super-powered criminal!" Sayaka completely failed. Her face turned a bright crimson, and a smirk crossed her face.
"Bullshit!" It didn't take long for their conversation to turn into a nonsensical festival of playful insults.
Mami smiled. "They're getting along quite nicely!"
Madoka looked to the other girls. They didn't get this friendly so quickly. Either the end is near, or I changed everything more than I thought that I did.
It was then that Madoka blinked. "So…who's going to look over the new girl?"
Sayaka and Kyouko stopped their banter.
"Huh…" The blue-haired girl scratched the back of her head. "I haven't thought about that…"
"Usually, we just let the authorities handle it." Kyouko sighed. "Besides, they're pretty much fucked, anyways."
The room suddenly got uncomfortably quiet. It did not take too long for someone to say something.
"Kyouko!" Mami hit the other girl on the back of her head.
"Ow!" She glared at the other girl. "It's the truth!"
Madoka was suddenly a lot more worried than she was earlier. "What…do you mean?"
Sayaka turned to the other girl as well, her own eyes filled with worry. "Yeah, what do you mean?"
Kyouko recovered from the blow. "Cold bi-" The steely glare in Mami's eye stopped her cold. The comment died before it was even uttered. The rogue cleared her throat. "You see, the problem with Remnants is that there are a lot of people that blame them for the deaths of their families."
Sayaka picked it up quickly. "Because they're pretty much former witches?"
"Ding Ding! We have a winner!"
Mami sighed at this other girl's incredibly tactless explanation. "Thankfully, most people can accept the Remnants, but sometimes, we get those that seek revenge in any way possible."
Kyouko sighed. "Murder, torture, rape, etc. Whatever they can do to make their lives as fucking miserable as humanly possible, they will do it."
Madoka didn't like where this was going. She turned to Sayaka. This was the point that the other girl went off the deep end. The point wh-
Sayaka shrugged. "What can you say? People can be bastards."
And Madoka's train of thought went to a screeching halt. What the hell?
{]{[}[}
Homura looked online. Why didn't she think of this before? The Veneficus system was public. Of course there'd be some online source of information.
But then again, I did deal with a secret system for centuries. I guess I have some kind of excuse.
She shook away the thought, before punching in a few keys on her computer.
Instantly, several thousand pages, each varying in length, burst into the room, shining with a fine white light. They encircled Homura, before they organized themselves into several extremely organized trees.
Homura was still trying to get used to that flashy boot-up. It worked just like her old OS, but had a far flashier boot-up.
She touched several panels, each of them leading to a different part of the internet. She clicked one of them. Instantly, she was in a hallway of pages, each of them leading to a small part of her current subject: the Veneficus system. She went to a single page on a wiki, before clicking that link.
The hallway disintegrated, before leaving her with a wall of pages. She scrolled across it, before clicking a single page that was related to her interests. She tapped it once, sending the rest of the wall into another cluster of pages.
The page expanded into a readable format, and on its header, it read one simple thing:
[Veneficus Puella: A Timeline]
She pulled up a chair, and pulled down the page so that she could read it feasibly. "Let's get to work." She adjusted her glasses, and began to read.
[}{]
"I'll take her in."
Mami, Madoka, and Kyouko all stared at her. "Wait, what?"
"I'm a new Veneficus, but, hey, I'm still a Veneficus. Also, I happen to live alone. I should be able to-"
Mami stopped her quickly. "Whoa, whoa, you live alone?" She put her hands on the other girl's shoulders. "Why the hell do you live alone? Even I don't live alone! The only one who lives alone that I know can take care of herself is Kyouko, and she's got a damn good reason for it!"
Madoka stared. You live alone? What happened?
"Calm down, Mami." Sayaka brushed the taller girl's hands off of her shoulders. "I'm perfectly f-"
"No! You're n-"
Kyouko put a hand on Mami's shoulder, sighing deeply as she did so. "Calm down. She's got her reasons for living alone."
"That, I do. And I refuse to disclose them." Sayaka sighed as she walked into Yoshio's hospital room. "But I did save her, so I should be able to help her."
Mami sighed. "Al…alright. But be careful with her."
Sayaka nodded. "Thank you." She turned and walked into the room, leaving Mami with Kyouko.
The redhead turned to her cohort. "She's actually got what it takes to be a Veneficus. She's actually pretty level-headed."
Mami sighed. "It actually makes me worried. I really do wonder what happened to her…"
Secretly, Madoka wondered as well…
But it was then that Kyouko turned her way. "Say, do you happen to know what happened to Sayaka?"
And Madoka was trapped.
]{}{}]
"Okay…so EnBey appears around 1739 as a run-of-the-mill Incubator…1783 he turns against his own kind and begins a war." Homura read through the article. Apparently, the whole witch fiasco from the original timeline had still existed. "And in 1792 TorBey is sent to the Earth in order to combat EnBey."
She continued flipping through it.
"1805 is when the last of the 'Elder Witches' is eliminated completely by the despair-driven Veneficus Puellae." This seemed to pique Homura's interests. It appeared that the Puella Magi were actually eliminated from the world stage through EnBey's efforts. "Remaining Puella Magi were converted to Venefici by EnBey."
Homura seemed to understand now…but that still did not explain EnBey's motives.
But it did seem to completely switch around the world stage.
"EnBey first appeared in Japan. The island that seemed to appear as soon as he did turned into Mitakihara. This formerly small town attracted more and more business in 1854 when Commodore Perry arrived. Thusly, a mix of different cultures started to appear in the island city, launching Japan into the world stage."
Homura seemed to twitch as she kept reading. "1893, arrival of a witch invasion known as 'Walpurgis Nacht' marks a major point of the Puellae War started in 1792. This was the first time that TorBey launched a major attack. It razed much of Europe as well as chunks of North and South America and was only stopped by a coalition of several countries' Venefici, lead by several from Mitakihara."
That explains why the city's so big now… "Since then, the world stage has shifted to the point where those former allied powers, including the remains of the United States, now called the 'Federation of Reconstructed Territories,' and Japan, are now in a joint effort to prepare the Venefici in anticipation of another Walpurgis Nacht."
She stopped reading and shut down the computer. As the panels disappeared, she grasped her forehead. If the world had changed so much, just why hadn't some things changed? Shouldn't some of the inventions that she was using simply disappear?
She groaned. Thinking about this was even more work than it should have been. With this and EnBey's request, she just couldn't handle this right now.
She simply slinked off into her bedroom, turned on her alarm system, and went to sleep.
While disregarding a pair of red eyes staring into her room from outside.
{000}
"I…I don't k-know!" Madoka took a step back.
The movement got Kyouko's attention. Is she nervous? That means she knows.
"If Mami isn't a lying bitch, then you do know."
Madoka gulped. There was still a way out of this…she hoped. "That…that doesn't mean I know everything about her! There are some things that she doesn't tell me!"
She's fucking lying.
The younger girl seemed to yelp as the stronger Veneficus gripped her uniform, staring icily into her own eyes. "Come on! You're her best friend!" I don't appreciate lying. "You can fucking tell me!"
She stopped only when she felt a tinge of cold, icy steel touch the side of her forehead. "I honestly think that she doesn't know, Kyouko. Put her down."
Without much choice, and more than a little annoyance, Kyouko put the girl down. "You don't need to press a gun to my temple."
"A few seconds ago, I wouldn't have known that. A few seconds later..." Mami put the gun down, before letting it disintegrate. "I wouldn't have cared. That's no excuse to manhandle a new Veneficus. Remember, you're still on a leash. A loose leash, but a leash nonetheless."
Kyouko grimaced, before turning around. "But I still want answers."
"Suddenly showing an interest in the new girl?"
"Well, duh. She's actually kind of interesting, and I actually want to know what we're dealing with here."
Mami sighed. Kyouko actually knew what she was doing here.
Madoka stared. Kyouko was nowhere near as selfish as her original self.
"Well…you were always the pragmatist. But acting like a miniature Bauer will get us nowhere." She put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure that she'll tell us eventually."
Kyouko looked somewhat annoyed as she turned back to Madoka, and then to Sayaka in the hospital room.
"You better be right."
[
Yoshio turned her head as soon as the door opened. She turned to the source of the sound, and smiled as she saw just who came in.
It was that Veneficus from before! Blue hair and everything! The only difference was that she was in a hoodie and jeans rather than a helmetless suit of armor and a cape.
Sayaka noticed the poor girl staring at her, before turning and twisting her head nervously. She faced the girl with an embarrassed smile on her face. "Is…it okay for me to come in?"
Yoshio simply nodded.
As Sayaka walked closer to the Remnant, she could feel a faint glow emanating from the little girl. "So…uh…" Naturally, she was a little nervous about starting a conversation. "What's…your name?"
The young girl folded her legs, the bed cover still coating them. She didn't answer.
Sayaka's right eye twitched. She desperately tried to avoid getting annoyed. "You do have a name, don't you?"
It was a whisper. "You first."
Sayaka sighed, before standing upright. "Sayaka…well…I don't know what my last name is now…but it's best just to say Miki! Sayaka Miki!" She had a broad smile on her face as she looked at her new flatmate. "Your turn."
Yoshio felt less threatened by this new girl. She said, with a slightly louder voice, "Yoshio…Yoshio Kiyomizu."
"That's a pretty name." Sayaka sat on the side of the bed, as Yoshio inched just a few centimeters away.
They both sat in silence for a little while. It was uncomfortable, but it mercifully lasted only a few seconds.
"I know that…I made a contract."
Sayaka turned quickly. The girl caught on quickly! Oh god. This isn't good.
"I think that I know what happened to my parents…" She kept a silent façade as she kept talking. "I…I killed them…didn't I?"
"Yosh-" Sayaka gulped. This was going downhill very fast. "-Yoshio?"
The younger girl turned to Sayaka with lightning speed, as the electronics in the room seemed to flicker for a split second. "Answer me!"
Sayaka took a deep breath. "No, you didn't!" She stared into Yoshio's eyes. "They're dead. Elly killed them."
"Elly killed them?" Yoshio was confused. She felt those memories pass through her mind. She felt her (Elly's?) hands tear her father's soul out of his body before absorbing the vessel itself. She felt her(Elly's?)self destroying her mother's skull before sucking away the delicious consciousness inside. She felt the families that she killed, the innocent lives shattered by her(Elly's?) doing…
"But…I…" Yoshio buried her head in her hands. "I felt…" She felt a tear roll down her cheek.
Sayaka knew she had to act. "That's not you!" She grabbed the girl's shoulders. "Those are not your memories! You were just tricked! You were manipulated into turning into something you're not! Something you weren't! Something you'll never be!"
"But I made the wish! I was stupid enough to ge-"
Sayaka never let her finished. She grabbed Yoshio's hair, and stared deep into her eyes, a burning passion burning through her. "You are not to blame for this! You were manipulated into this! Just like the other witches!" She started to yell. "Did you want to kill anyone? Tell me!"
Yoshio was somewhat scared now, but she was able to answer. "N-no!"
"What did you wish for?" Sayaka continued her tirade.
Yoshio tried to grip the sides of her head, but her hands were blocked by Sayaka's own. Instead, she grasped the back of her neck, and pulled herself into a fetal position. "I just wanted to get my father better! I wanted him to get better!"
Sayaka's face was closer to her than before. "Why?"
"Because I wanted my family to get better!" Yoshio shouted back into Sayaka's face.
Sayaka backed away, lifting her hands away from the Remnant as she did so. She saw the tears running down the other girl's face. Her eyes were swollen.
Her work wasn't done yet. "Then you did nothing wrong." She put a hand on the girl's head. "You may have been tricked, but you did nothing wrong."
Yoshio sobbed, before she was pulled into a hug. "But…but…"
"I'm not expecting you to get better overnight…but I do know that you need someone to help you now." She gripped her. "Is it okay if I take care of you from now on?"
Yoshio stared with wide eyes as she was pulled into a comforting hug. It was the first time in months since she got any kind of physical contact, after all.
And she, slowly, took her hands from her head, and returned the gesture.
And for a moment, everything was right.
]
Madoka, Kyouko, and Mami had left the hospital, leaving Sayaka to the new girl. Kyouko was headed over to a nearby apartment that she had rented out, and Mami was off to her own house.
Madoka walked slowly, almost deliberately so, to her own home. The events of today still weighed heavily on her mind. Just what happened to Sayaka to make her this way? She knew what happened to Kyouko, as she had a far more forgiving system to go up against, but Sayaka had changed dramatically.
She walked silently as the sun continued to set, casting a long, ominous shadow on the street beside her as she walked to the train station. A perfect backdrop to the day, she supposed. She turned to the sun, squinting before looking into the background.
It was a mix of both old and new buildings, with some of them skeletons and others new and pristine. They were mixed together, with the ugly skeletons stretching into the sky above the old buildings, with the new, immaculate towers seemingly in contrast with them. It was almost poetic, she noted…
Was it?
She shook her head. The sparsely populated street around her certainly meant that she would have a far easier time getting home, but still…maybe…things would be alright.
"I hope so."
}{
Homura was alone with Madoka on a bed. Both of them were underneath the covers, with Homura facing Madoka.
Madoka giggled as Homura blushed, as though she were trying to hide her face from her friend…
Or Lover?
Madoka touched Homura's cheek, letting it slide down.
Homura held the hand tenderly in her hands, never letting it go.
Then Madoka started to slip away.
Homura tried to grab her.
But she kept on slipping.
The girl fell away as the world around them crumbled.
Homura was sent tumbling through as she tried to grab the falling Madoka.
But to no avail.
Madoka started to crumble in midair, her limbs turning into dust as they fell.
Homura grasped Madoka, only to hear a faint whisper…
Before her body collapsed in her arms.
Homura screamed as she continued falling.
She was never going to win.
It was just another cycle.
Homura gasped as she sprung out of bed. Her eyes were wide, and her blurry vision sent her into a brief state of panic. She desperately grabbed the pair of glasses on her nightstand, before she looked outside.
She heard a slight skittering.
She quickly grasped the sides of the curtain by her bedside, and pulled it shut.
She made sure the house was sealed, and attempted to get some rest.
She only got three hours of sleep that night.
]
'We{I[they noticed]have observed} believe that a disturbance has arisen.'
'Is that so?'
'Indeed. We{I[they are]am} are concerned that a new force may destroy the stalemate of this war.'
'A new force? How would a new force be possible in this universe?'
'It is possible that it has arrived from a different universe. Do not rule out the possibility of another universe.'
'I have not. But I do know that the chances of such an occurrence are almost infinitely low. However…it is still a possibility. Scout the source of this oddity. Let us be sure of its nature before we interrupt it.'
'We{I[They]} shall accept this course of action.'
Through an eternally bright desert we kick away from time and run.
Sprinter!
A/N
Thanks, Bones!
GREETINGS, FELLOWS. I AM NOT BRIAN BLESSED, BUT I WILL TYPE LIKE JUST LIKE HOW HE SPEAKS, IN A LOVING HOMAGE TO A FINE SHAKESPEAREAN ACTOR.
Enough of that horseshit. Let's get down to business.
There is a single question I would like to ask all of fans.
All of them.
If possible, can you tell me what moments stand out to you the most?
Please? I'd really like to know. Whether it be a CMOA or some kind of HONF. Maybe a bit of comedy or some kind of heartwarming sequence? I'd really like to know.
[OBEY ME, MOIDERAH. I AM YOUR MASTER. GOOD WRITING IS YOUR ENEMY]
Anyways, thanks for reading tonight, and tune in next week for another exciting adventure with me...Herbert "Daring" Dashwood, and my Stalwart Ghoul Manservant, Argyle.
And now...some Music.
(Sorry for the lack of action, but I need to develop some PLOT)
8. Episode 8: Fool's game9. Episode
\The yellow loneliness of petals/
\Will not turn around, so I wonder where will the two of us go./
There was a crowd of familiars, by the hundreds, running across the street this particular night. They all looked like dark, shadowy monstrosities, each of them shaped like a deranged animal. However, they were not stalking the streets for scraps to eat like most familiars would have.
They were running in a blind panic.
Suddenly, a polearm was thrown into their midst, uplifting a chunk of the asphalt beneath their feet. Instantly, a dozen were killed, before their comrades started to turn away. They were then surrounded by a whole field of the weapons, all of them shoving themselves out of the ground like plants in a demented metal garden.
Every familiar was now trapped, and their killer stood on top of her original tossed spear.
The girl took out another polearm, as she grinned, her red eyes seeming to glow with a sinister intent.
"You all just can't seem to take a hint, can you?"
The familiars tried to back out, and some of them even tried to climb the spears surrounding them, but to no avail; the magic embedded in their shafts was too powerful.
"I gave you a warning. I even told you not to do anything stupid; you don't even need to kill anyone …" She turned a red eye. "But one of you…or was it half of you…got greedy. Wanted some extra food."
They all stared at her. They weren't self-aware, but they were capable of comprehending speech. They weren't smart, but they knew what this meant.
And it was not going to end well for them.
"And I told all of you that I would slaughter every last one of you should a single one of your clan step out of line?" She let the spear she was standing on dissolve as she hit the ground. "I did warn you that there were no exceptions." She threw a single weapon behind her, letting the spear embed itself into the ground.
"I would say run, but that would be stupid. You can't run."
The weapon behind her started to grow, its shaft splitting into sections.
"I would say hide, but that would be pointless. You can't hide."
The sections were connected to one another by chains, and the spear's head seemed to expand. It did not take long for the spear to dwarf many of the buildings on the street.
"I can say that you can start praying for salvation now."
The spear's head started to split as though the steel were organic, before a hideous mouth formed on its underside. The spear, now alive, shrieked, as it faced its new prey.
"And all I have to say now is…"
Kyouko jumped backwards, before the spear dove to its new meal.
"Goodbye."
-Potestatem Ego Habeo-
Magica Madoka Veneficus Puella
Episode 8: Fool's Games
-Potestatem Ego Habeo-
Homura was riding a bus, just as many normal people would.
But they, on the other hand, would probably not ride around with a pair of guns on their person.
The patrons in the bus stared at the sleeping girl with a look of what could almost be described as terror and could properly be described as awe.
It was the legendary Homerun-chan after all. Who wants to piss her off?
Unfortunately, one poor fool did not know of this girl's reputation. What he did know, on the other hand, was that this girl was using his backpack that he left on his seat as a cushion.
Now, common sense would dictate that he should not, in any way, shape, or form, disrupt a sleeping girl with two magical weapons.
On the other hand, he does not have common sense, but he does have a large ego. The man got angry. Nobody disrespects me! Especially a young bitch!
He raised his arm, and prepared to strike.
Only for his hand to be caught by the apparently sleeping girl.
"What…the hell?"
Homura raised her head, and adjusted her glasses as she rose from her slumber. The poor boy in her grip struggled to get out of it as she simply yawned nonchalantly.
That nightmare did more damage to me than I thought. She sighed as she effortlessly sent her peer into an arm-bar. Sleep isn't optional, anymore, Homura.
She took her own bag and her guns, shoved the weapons into her holsters, and sent the boy hurtling into the floor of the bus. She yawned again as the bus stopped, thus leading her to walk off.
The patrons were left there to stare at the poor boy who was now groaning in pain and humiliation.
)}{(
Sayaka dropped Yoshio off at her elementary school, waving at the girl while Yoshio walked inside tentatively.
The girl was nervous, but if her new big "sis" was there, she would be fine.
As Sayaka watched the girl go into her school, she looked to the skies above to see a sign of Mami and Madoka.
Sure enough, they leaped across, their shadows flying across the ground quickly. As they passed, Sayaka bent her own legs, as she focused her magic to her feet. Suddenly, she was off, a cloud of dust marking her exit. She soared into the sky, doing a flip as she did so, as she fought to catch up to her new comrades.
Yoshio saw her new guardian run off, waving desperately at her departing friend. She knew that Sayaka wouldn't just abandon her; their talk at the hospital dispelled all of her doubts about that, but she couldn't shake this feeling of mild worry off of her person.
I'm just a little…scared… She shrugged it off. She had a school to go to, after all.
/)(\
Homura walked off of the bus, her bag slung over her shoulder. She flipped her hair, looking up into the buildings beside her.
Suddenly, her friends landed on the ground to her left, the pavement cracking several times over as they fell from several stories in the sky.
They landed with surprising grace, with Madoka rolling, Mami stomping the ground, and Sayaka sliding for a few feet.
Homura was unimpressed. "You got here right on time."
Sayaka seemed to glare in mock contempt. "What? No compliments?"
"None."
Sayaka put her hand to her chest with a comically exaggerated expression on her face. "I'm hurt!"
Mami tapped her shoulder. "We have to get to the training area, remember? It's almost seven."
Sayaka sighed. After her first time, she couldn't fathom how anybody would find the target-fights fun in any way, shape, or form.
"Don't worry." Madoka said, tapping her shoulder. "It'll be alright."
Sayaka sighed heavily. "I highly doubt it."
As they prepared to depart, it seemed that a certain redhead found the time to descend from upon the skyscrapers.
Clumsily.
She rammed into the ground, causing everyone to jump back a foot. She left a nice crater in the earth, and she looked a little worse for wear.
"Whoa…" Sayaka looked up and down the newcomer. "What happened to you?"
"Just some trouble over the night! Nothing too bad!"
Mami stared at her. Her skin was covered in cuts and bruises. "'Nothing too bad' my ass. You went off to hunt familiars again, didn't you?"
Kyouko froze.
"I was right, wasn't I?"
"They were causing trouble and I had to teach them a lesson!"
"You completely decimated another familiar clan?"
"Um…"
"Damn it, Kyouko!" Mami groaned as she put her hand to her face. This girl was just going to keep killing the little guys until their relations were completely unsalvageable.
"Does…this count as being out of line?"
"How bad's the property damage?"
"A bit of cracked pavement, and there was a crater that the familiar's magic release repaired."
"How many did you kill?"
Kyouko tapped her chin, before shrugging. "I'd say about four-hundred and thirteen."
Mami sighed even more deeply than she did before. "Great." She turned to the girl. "Before you cause even more damage, I recommend that you live with someone."
"Oka-Wait. You're getting me a guardian?"
"Yup. Thankfully, it'll be someone in this group." Her eyes shifted. "She has blue eyes and her name starts with 'S' and ends with 'Ayaka.'"
Sayaka was taken aback. "Wait, what? Why am I being dragged into this?"
Mami crossed her arms. "Because I don't want you left alone with just you and an eleven-year-old girl. You need someone with experience."
Kyouko growled, her teeth clenching. "Oh, come on! I mean, I have no problems with this girl, but a rookie?"
Sayaka was almost offended. "Hey! For your information, this rookie happened to save a Remnant and can easily destroy a chunk of the city!"
Kyouko didn't even bother to point out the flaws in that argument.
"The point is, you're going to live with her, and that's final. No ifs, ands, or buts."
Both girls sighed. "Yes, ma'am."
/\=
The day was uneventful, and, except for a history lesson or two, Madoka found herself unable to concentrate in class. She already knew most of this stuff already, so why would she have to see it again?
Now I know how Homura feels.
Now, thankfully, everything was clarified, and the teacher went into far more depth than what the VP wiki did.
For starters, Mitakihara's political systems often revolved around EnBey and a single "Matriarch" Veneficus, such as Mami. This Matriarch was not necessarily the strongest, but they were often the oldest and the most experienced of the Veneficus Puellae. The political system was able to grant power to these Venefici in order to train new ones, or take away their power should they grow corrupt.
While many countries did not even bother to implement this system, most of the first-world countries did, and it often ended well. Many Venefici were sent into the program, with few casualties among their ranks, due to their tendency to fight in groups.
Then came the 1893 scenario. In it, three other witches appeared at once, due to the corrupting nature of the main Auctor witch. In this case, it was a legendary witch known as Morrigan. Taking the shape of a giant armored crow, she had incredible speed and a pair of enormous wings. While not nearly as big as Mephistophiles, she was far more dangerous due to her strength and flight.
The Venefici in the Americas were unprepared for the mass slaughter that followed her appearance. Thanks to the country's state of disrepair after their own Civil War in 1873, they were quickly annihilated by the destruction that was incurred by Walpurgisnacht.
They were killed off for a single reason: they never knew how to deal with it. They continually fought the standard witches that appeared alongside Walpurgis, not the main witch herself. When they did, they were rarely strong enough to win a fight.
Morrigan became the most infamous witch in history, taking the souls of more than sixty million civilians in both North America and Europe.
Of course, after that lesson ended, it was back to discussions over mathematics and physics, but the information garnered from the class was informative.
Unfortunately, there was still a chance that TorBey would change his strategy for the next possible Walpurgisnacht.
Here's to hoping that it won't be too bad.
'Walpurgisnacht?'
Madoka blinked as she heard this new thought. 'Homura?'
'You paid attention, right?'
'Yes. Yes I did.'
'Good. After practice, can you come to my home? I need to discuss something with you.'
Madoka nodded. 'I'll call mom to make sure it's alright with her, okay?'
'Alright. Latest you can come is at ten. I'll see you there.'
]
Sayaka walked to the training facility, bag on her back. She walked at a brisk pace; the sparring session was, surprisingly, her favorite part of training. It was a quick-paced, realistic battle against an opponent with as much skill and training as herself.
Or, as would happen most of the time, more skill and training than herself.
As she walked into the building, she noticed something that she probably shouldn't have.
It was Mami and Kazuko, as they were simply having a friendly conversation.
Or so it seemed.
Sayaka noted that they seemed very engaged about something, as Mami was currently very awkward, nothing like her normal behavior.
Kazuko was the same way, as she was even somewhat nervous.
Mami, apparently, took the initiative. She walked forward, and kissed her teacher straight on the lips.
Sayaka gasped, before hiding behind something quickly. Mami had an incredible eye, but Sayaka was certain that kissing the teacher would be enough of a distraction.
But what was certain was that Mami liked her teacher as more than just a friend.
Jesus. Sayaka clutched her heart. I knew they were close…but…Jesus!
She clenched her teeth. Nothing to get worked up over. Unless they're fu-
Her face turned red at the mere thought. She even pressed her legs together. Damn it! Wrong thought!
She sighed nervously. The situation was awkward, sure, but she could handle it. Now…it's only illegal if they have sex, right? I can't just ruin Mami like that! She walked away quickly. I can't… She shook her head. I refuse! The media would eat it up! She picked up her pace and ran off into the training room.
{]}
"Did you hear something?"
"No…But…I'm getting nervous." Kazuko wiped off her foggy glasses. "Well...one of these days, we'll be caught..."
"Don't worry about it so much!" Mami said, grasping her teacher's shoulders. "It's been days since our last one here."
"But don't you get enough at home?"
"I meant here. I like to kiss you here more than I do at home."
Kazuko seemed confused by this. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that I..." A pager went off. Mami took it out of her pocket, and stared. "Oh…Well…I'll be off, Kazu-chan."
"I'll see you at home, Mami."
A brief peck, and the girl and woman separated. Of course they didn't know about their little intruder.
Or the contractor with blue eyes.
{}
Sayaka got to the training room with a slight jump in her step. She was still reeling from the revelation earlier, but she was certain that she would be able to perform just as she would normally.
"Oh. You're here early."
Damn it.
"K-Kyouko?"
Kyouko looked up from her phone, which she was currently using to page Mami. "Yup! Didn't you miss me?"
"What are yo-"
"I have to train, but I don't have to go to school. Training's more fun anyways!" She took an apple from a bag, and ate it. "Want one?"
Sayaka eyed the bag with some suspicion. "How…did you get those?"
Kyouko stepped back. "…I…helped an old lady with her apple harvest?"
Sayaka groaned. "You're going to get tossed out of the city at this rate."
"I didn't steal them, I grabbed them off of the ground as a speeding truck went by."
And, at this, Sayaka stared. "What?"
"They're all filthy. The bag's used, too."
"I would have preferred them stolen!"
"Would you li-"
"No!"
Mami walked into the room where the two girls were now bickering. She took a single fist, and slammed it into a nearby wall.
Both girls jumped at the new noise.
"Good. That got your attention." Mami crossed her arms. "You are both supposed to train like hell. And since Kyouko's been out of the city, and Sayaka's the first one here, I think I know exactly what to do."
'Let's you and her fight.' EnBey leaped onto Mami's shoulder.
"Ah! You were here!"
'Yes. Always.'
Mami sighed. "That's only slightly creepy."
'Yes. It was.' He looked at the two girls standing across from Mami. 'So…you ready to fight or what?'
Sayaka snapped out of her stupor. "Uh…yeah! Sure!"
Kyouko smirked. "What? A little frightened of a one-on-one against me?"
"What?" Sayaka quickly got what Kyouko said, before shaking her head, and readying her arms. "Nope!"
"Then let's do this!"
Madoka was walking to the training facility. She was ready to train again. After all, being a Veneficus was a dangerous job.
It was then that suddenly, somebody caught her on the shoulder.
Madoka turned quickly, weapon already forming in her hand.
Only to sigh in relief at the sight of Hitomi.
"Jeez. Almost gave me a heart attack." She let the weapon disintegrate. "What are you do-"
"Cut the bullshit."
Madoka flinched.
The green-haired girl crossed her arms. "You haven't been yourself ever since Gertrud attacked. You've been off. Hell, you've forgotten most of the history. I've never seen you this interested in history."
"Wha-"
She was cut off. "And don't think that Sayaka hasn't noticed. We're both very worried about you, and something is very, very wrong."
"Bu-"
"Sayaka said to ask Mami. I think that I should just nip the bud." She took a step forward. "Tell me what happened. We want to help, and the only way for us to do that is if you tell me what the hell happened."
"I…"
"And I don't mean later. I need to know as soon as possible."
)—(
Kyouko stomped the ground in preparation for sparring, as Sayaka took out a single blade.
'Ass kicking shall commence in…about…three…two…Oh, fuck it. Just fight.'
They wasted no time. Quickly, Sayaka took her sword and thrust it forward at several hundred miles per hour. Kyouko took her own weapon and flicked it upwards, parrying the other girl's blade.
She took the blunt end of her spear and flicked it across Sayaka's face, forcing the girl several meters into the air and into a nearby building. Sayaka groaned as she dropped several swords out of her cape, before jumping off of the structure, leaving a gaping hole in one of its sides.
She twisted, laying some more swords on the ground as she flew through the air.
Kyouko ran along the ground at equal speed, shoving some of her own polearms into the Earth.
Suddenly, their blades shot out at high speed, leaving huge, weaving trails of red light in the simulated sky above, with Sayaka just barely dodging each spearhead. The girl in midair took her own sword, before leading the swords that she left on the ground to her new target.
"Rianúlann!"
"Christ, another one?" Kyouko turned to face the new storm of blades headed her way, as they cut through the buildings around her. "Shit."
She took out two spears, letting the one in her left hand break into chained sections, before flicking it around in an attempt to fend them all off.
As she did so, her right hand let go of her second spear, letting it fall to the earth with a clatter.
As she blocked and parried, Sayaka finally landed on the ground, tearing through yet another building. She knew what Kyouko was playing at. That spear was an obvious trap!
She was already crushed by Mami's own trap before. She wasn't about to let it happen again.
"Roinnte tiománaí!"
Sayaka took another sword, and ran to her new, distracted prey. She leaped high into the air, and prepared to jam it into the earth below.
"Cran An Soal!"
And so, she did.
=)(=
"I…"
"I need to know, Kaname."
Madoka flinched. She took a deep breath, and started to tell her tale.
"I…am not from here."
"You aren't?" Hitomi looked a little more than skeptical. In fact, she looked completely baffled.
"I am from…a different world. One where you and Sayaka and Mami all exist…but EnBey doesn't."
Hitomi was now officially convinced that this girl was off of her rocker. "Okay…"
"We still have an incubator, but he…isn't admirable. In fact, he converts girls into Soul Gems and Puella Magi."
"Old-style witches?"
"Ex…"Madoka gulped. "…Exactly."
"So this complete monster converts people into these Puella Magorae to collect energy, just like TorBey does, right?"
"Yes. Homura was…my protector." She sighed. "She tried to prevent me from making a wish and from getting killed. She…went back in time."
Hitomi was now convinced that this girl was completely batshit insane.
"And she watched me, Mami, Sayaka, and Kyouko die over…" Madoka started to grip the skirt of her uniform, as her eyes started to water. "…and over…and over again…" She wiped a tear from her eye.
Hitomi knew that Madoka wasn't that good of an actor. She sat down. Either this was a TorBey-induced image or she was honestly telling the truth.
It was too complex to be a mad vision.
"And…then…when Walpurgisnacht…in our world…it was just one witch. No barrier. Just one witch…Homura was alone. I couldn't help her. She tried her damndest to…protect everyone!" She stopped trying to wipe her tears. It didn't matter. They couldn't be stopped. "She threw everything! Rockets, a fuel truck! A stadium full of mines! Nothing worked!"
The girl was sobbing openly now. "And then…Walpurgis pinned her under a building. Homura made a mistake! She tried to protect herself with her shield…and Walpurgisnacht flipped…"
Madoka put her hands to her face, just to finish what she started, as she wiped her tears from her eyes. She tried to stop herself from sobbing even more than she already had, but her emotions could not be tied down by mere gestures.
"…Her left half was gone…blood everywhere…and I just sat there. I couldn't do anything! I was worthless!" Madoka didn't bother to stop herself anymore. "All her lives! All the pain she went through was meaningless! And I…I couldn't just sit there…I made a wish."
She clutched her Grief Gem in her hand, the ring's black centerpiece seemingly glowing at this girl's release of negativity. "I wished for a new world. One like this."
]
A huge plethora of blades burst from the ground, ready to annihilate Kyouko where she stood. They were formed into a single silver, sharp tree, and this new tree of life prepared to destroy Sayaka's opponent.
It was then that Kyouko's own weapon gained a life of its own. It shrieked, before turning into an enormous, red serpent, its "face" ready to devour Sayaka's sword. It twisted and turned, before engaging the living tree in its own fight for survival.
As the two magical entities fought, Kyouko turned to face Sayaka. She finally fought off all of her swords, and was now running to the blue haired girl with a frenzy. Sayaka prepared to strike with her own blades, and had a single one ready to go.
They struck each other, with the tip of Sayaka's sword, touching the tip of Kyouko's spear.
Sayaka stared at this seemingly impossible act, noticing how the magic prevented either of them from destroying the other…before it glowed red.
Suddenly, Sayaka's sword was yanked out of her hands forcefully, the magic from Kyouko's polearm attaching both weapons by the tip. She formed a new one, and proceeded to end the fight by stabbing Sayaka in the abdomen.
The sparring session ended with that very action.
]
Hitomi stared at awe to the broken girl on the sidewalk. It was a bizarre, and almost impossible story. It was complex and winding, and unbelievably inconceivable.
But then again, so were the witches.
She took a step forward towards Madoka, before letting the smaller girl bury herself in Hitomi's arms. "There, there…don't worry…we're here now, right?"
Madoka sobbed, still hugging her friend. "You…believe me?"
"I'm…unsure of whether or not you have even spoken an inkling of truth; you aren't our Madoka…that's for sure…but you're still Madoka. I will treat you just as I would treat her. We'll be here for you, Okay?"
Madoka gripped even tight onto Hitomi's shirt.
"Don't worry…oh…oh dear. You're late for training!"
Madoka wiped her tears. "That…doesn't matter. I can miss one day of it, right?" She let go of Hitomi, still wiping her eyes. "T-thanks…for listening."
"No problem. You're still our friend." Hitomi smiled.
And so did Madoka.
[
'Damn good job. You've lasted five seconds longer than Kyouko's last sparring partner.'
Sayaka rubbed her still-sore stomach. "I'm guessing that she's not an easy opponent?"
Kyouko let her hand clench itself into a fist. "Damn right!"
Mami sipped some tea. "Yup. She uses only the most unfair and underhanded tactics devised by man." She sighed. "And Madoka's apparently skimped out on us. That's alright…but she can't miss another session." She got up. "Well, I trust that you both had a good session?"
Sayaka nodded. "Yes, I did!"
Kyouko…milked a giant invisible cow. "Fuck yes!"
Mami smiled. "Alright, then! I'll see you both later."
}[{
Madoka left for Homura's home after the talk with Hitomi. It really did help to let out her feelings after keeping them bottled up for so long. Even if she didn't believe her, it was still good to tell someone about her and Homura's plight.
Not that it will change anything.
Madoka wrapped her arms around herself. Maybe a talk with Homura would help her calm down.
(}{)
Sayaka walked beside Kyouko, arms bent behind her head. "That was a pretty good fight, wasn't it?"
"Yeah…it was…wait, don't you have to pick up Yoshio?"
"Yup. Her school is actually on the way to my house. I told her that I'd be late to pick her up every day because of training, so she'll be staying at the school's daycare until I can find someone else to pick her up."
Kyouko smirked. "Hm. You're really taking a liking to this girl, aren't you?"
Sayaka ignored the blatant subtext behind Kyouko's statement. "Yup! She really deserves better after what she's been through."
Several seconds of silence ensued, as they continued their leisurely stroll. It was then that Kyouko decided to ask a simple question.
"What are the sleeping arrangements?"
Sayaka didn't skip a beat. "Two beds. One is for me. The other is for Yoshio. There is a couch for you to sleep on."
"What? Can't you just kick the brat off of the bed and let little old me sleep there?"
"You're on the couch. No 'ifs', 'ands', or 'buts'."
"Oh, come on!"
Their bickering continued until they got to the school.
()
The door to Homura's house opened slowly, as Madoka peered inside. She looked into it, before entering the room and closing the door. She looked around, peering at the floating screens above her head, before spotting Homura among the cloud of information.
"Homura-chan!" Madoka walked over, as Homura turned her head. The glasses reflected briefly, giving the black-haired girl a somewhat ominous expression.
"Madoka. You are here early."
"I had a talk with Hitomi and missed out on training."
"I see that it was more than just a talk."
Indeed. Madoka's eyes were still somewhat puffy, and she had a slightly wet shirt because of her crying.
"I…told her everything."
"And I told Mami everything as well."
Madoka raised her head. "But she…"
"I have concluded that the stress of discovering that Puella Magi were actually developing witches combined with Sayaka's death at my hands might have had a hand in her mental breakdown."
"Oh."
"But I digress." Homura took down the screens. She walked up to Madoka. "What shall we discuss, Madoka?"
Madoka noted that Homura did not add a single honorific to her statement.
"I would like to discuss…the history."
Homura waved her hand, letting her computer's screens reveal themselves again. "Then let us begin."
'Memory Retention exceeds far beyond what a normal human should comprehend.'
'And yet, she can still form normal human bonds.'
'Her exceptional lifespan is far beyond that of a normal human, and yet her psychology and physiology remain the same.'
'She's still unstable. This is an interesting one.'
'We[I{They recommend} suggest] propose that we watch this one.'
'This could either be an asset or a threat. This is definitely a game-changer.' The Golden Eyed One mentioned, as he turned to face his cohort. 'Peer into her mind. See what she can see. If possible, examine her memories. Do not manipulate her just yet.'
'We[I{They}] shall.'
I face the wind waving a torn flag
Without you I travel this road for my own sake
I move on to the end of the world.
A/N:
Thanks, Bones!
Greetings again!
Now, Sayonara, Everyone Sensei!
Also, I will start posting a spinoff to this series; it's part of the reason why this chapter was out late (Sorry.)
It stars Kazuko. In the Nineties. And it's only going to be five chapters long.
Hooray!
Also, I realize that there is no way in hell that I'll be able to finish this story in just 10-12 chapters.
It'll be more like 25 at this rate. I hope you like long tales.
So, anyways, thanks for reading, and tune in next week!
Also, more fanservice!
9: Interference
\Disobey the guidance of the all-showing star/
\And run straight up towards the door in the sky./
Sayaka and Kyouko walked to the elementary school where Yoshio was left. Sayaka knew she would be late, and she told the little girl that too. Kyouko was grateful that Sayaka wasn't going to concede her training for a little homeless girl, but she was going to go with her anyways.
In two short days, Sayaka had grown into somewhat of a "big sis" for the little girl.
"So, I'll be back in a few seconds! Wait for me out here, alright?"
"Alright." Kyouko watched the girl run inside. She took out a single stick of Pocky into her mouth, and let it hang out.
Out in the country, she used to smoke. Nobody told her not to do it, because nobody cared. In Mitakihara, everybody would give her shit about it.
'Oh no! You're thirteen! You'll poison your lungs!'
'I don't like tobacco!'
'IT'S A SPAWN OF THE DEVIIIIIL!'
Hell, it didn't matter. She was a Veneficus. As soon as she turned 18, she would age three times slower than a normal person. Diseases would do no harm, and she would have superhuman strength, stamina, and speed for the rest of her ludicrously long life.
"Go me." She sighed, just as she turned her head.
It was then that a panicked Sayaka rushed out of the room, swears flying out of her mouth with unimpeded speed.
"Whoa, Jesus! What happ-"
Sayaka screamed. "She was picked up!"
Kyouko stood back for a second. "Wait, Yoshio wa-"
Sayaka grit her teeth with unimaginable rage. "That fuckhead worker let someone else pick her up! Yoshio's gone!"
-Potestatem Ego Habeo-
Magica Madoka Veneficus Puella
Episode 9: Interference
-Potestatem Ego Habeo-
Madoka walked down to the living room. She had seen the interface before, but the previous iteration was not nearly as streamlined as it now was. She walked in, and sat down.
Homura put up several images, each of them containing an engraving of what appeared to be an enormous crow.
Madoka recognized it from the class before.
"Morrigan?"
"Yes. The previous Auctor." Homura crossed her arms. "We know what the one in our universe was capable of, and I am going to assume that this new Auctor will resemble our old one."
"The floating geared witch?"
"Yes. The one without a name." Homura sighed. "In all of my timelines, I was never quite able to figure out just what its name was."
"I didn't even know that it had one." Madoka sighed. "So…it's a-"
"According to EnBey, there will be several witches alongside it. The very concept of Walpurgis is the appearance of several high-class witches, ranging form 5-7, appearing all at once. Within minutes, several thousand lives will be lost. Over the course of an entire Walpurgis attack, millions will be absorbed."
"Just like…Morrigan's?"
"Yes." Homura sighed. "Morrigan was a class 7. She could absorb souls through walls, with a radius of two hundred meters." She walked around, the interface rotating to match her position. "Her power exhumation was estimated to be about 93 Terajoules. She was a powerful witch, the likes of which had never been seen before."
"Tera…joules?"
"Twice as much as Little Boy." Homura did more research than what was really necessary. "It's nothing compared to Gretchen, but it was still an incredible amount of power."
Madoka winced at the mentioning of her witch counterpart. "So…she was defeated…?"
"Only through the efforts of a few very powerful Venefici." Homura sat down, as the interface floated above her. "While the rest of the world was going to hell, they formed a team of five very powerful Veneficus Puellae. Each of them formed a strategy, with two of them taking out the lesser witches, and several of them going against Morrigan."
"The lesser witches?"
"Took several hours to kill."
"And Morrigan?"
"Almost killed the three going against her. The other two came in again and took out Morrigan. The previous Venefici used this strategy, but ended up getting killed due to their lack of strength."
"Ah." Madoka knew that this was not going to be an easy battle. According to one of Homura's timelines, it seemed that even with all five girls on their team, Walpurgis would win. "That…means…"
"We're not nearly as strong as the team that took down Morrigan. Whatever my power level is, it has to be enough to face the Auctor one-on-one."
[6]
Sayaka ran off, with Kyouko by her side. Dust rose from the street as they began to leap across the city. "Based on the description she gave me, the man's about six feet tall…unusual for a Japanese man, and was very clean-cut. Wore a suit. Glasses. Presumably a family man." Underneath her desperate facade of stoicism, she was furious.
"That bastard should stand out like a sore thumb!" They landed on the roof of a tower, rushing along at ridiculous speed above the streets.
As they ran, civilians looked upwards, seeing the girls run across in the setting sun. It gave them an almost holy light, despite their current objective.
[5]
"Are you sure?"
"Positive. However, the problem with me contracting is that the consequences are unknown. EnBey has never dealt with a Veneficus with my power before. It is unknown what will happen, especially considering my previous powers." The interface changed again, this time showing a wireframe model of Homura…and the space around her twisting and bending.
Madoka raised her hand. "Un…known?"
"I controlled time, so it I may bend reality itself." Homura sighed. "I might contract, but the possibilities of an extremely unstable set of powers lends this to be a very dangerous drawback."
"So…you want us to rely as much as possible on some other source of power?"
Homura sighed. "Yes."
[4]
Yoshio didn't bother to struggle. It was useless when in her situation. Several ropes bound her feet and hands together. She was trapped within an apartment's closet, and the lights were dimmed. The only sound she heard was that of her own breathing, and the skittering of some spiders and mice.
She stared at the closet's door, as she heard some voices talking.
One was squirrelly, worried. He had reservations with kidnapping Yoshio. "Hey, this is that new VP's ward! Do you know what'll happen to us i-"
"She's a new VP. Not an experienced killer." The other voice was low, measured. It spoke with a calm tone, and a disturbing edge to it. He had no problems with kidnapping Yoshio. "She won't know where we are. But even if she does, justice will be served."
Yoshio's eyes widened. She heard about what had happened to previous Remnants. Just what kind of "justice" they had experienced.
"But she's only-"
"She's a fucking murderer! Don't you fucking forget it!"
Yoshio cringed. She didn't want to kill anyone! She was fooled…
Right?
"And as a monster…she will pay."
Oh my god.
[3]
Sayaka stopped in the old industrial district. There were a few ratty buildings, and many of them were gutted out. In fact, there were plenty of destroyed apartments that no man, no policeman, and no sane man, would dare to look.
It was a perfect hideout for a heinous crime.
"You do realize that witch-tracking doesn't really work too well with Remnants?"
"I don't care! She's somewhere here! That much I do know!" Sayaka jumped down from the abandoned factory she was standing on, letting the ground crack as she slammed into it at high speed.
The whole place was abandoned during the nineties. When the economy of Mitakihara started to bomb, many of these factories were shut down. The once proud district had fallen into total disarray, with abandoned amusement parks, destroyed buildings, a few abandoned cars, hell, a few dead bodies could be found too.
"Alright. Creepy-ass district. Of course they're here." Kyouko sighed. "Except we're dealing with something that could potentially be very ba-"
"If they so much as harm a single hair on her head, I will kill all of them." Sayaka continued searching, only for a building to collapse as soon as she opened its door. "Why must she be so hard to find?" In frustration, she kicked an old, rusted car. The car, due to its age and its brittle nature, exploded in a rain of parts with a loud bang, as its parts rained around with a fine patter.
"Whoa! Jesus, calm down, Sayaka!" Kyouko stepped back from the now completely ruined car skeleton. "You might just alert them to our presence!"
"Calm down? I get Yoshio kidnapped a day after I promise to make her life better, and you expect me to calm down?"
"Sayaka, we will find her! I can promise you that! But we're not going to get there if you just destroy everything in fucking sight!" It was then that something caught Kyouko's eye. "Wait…is that?"
"It's a normal car." Sayaka noticed it too.
It was a black sedan. Economy class. Very cheap. Very reliable. It was a 1987 Mercedes-Benz car, and it was a little dinged up, though still incredibly well-kept.
And it was parked near an abandoned apartment.
[2]
Madoka stood up, and prepared to walk out of the building, before she stopped. She sighed, before turning back to Homura, who was now turning off her devices.
"You wanted to talk to me about something else, didn't you?"
Homura stopped. The interfaces surrounding her dissipated, as the room slowly lit up. "What do you mean?" There was a slight tinge of nervousness in her voice.
"Don't hide anything. Don't lie to me. I want to know." Madoka sighed. "Just why did you bring me here? I could have looked this up on my own."
Homura grit her teeth. "I…" She sighed. "I don't want anything to happen to you. I can't reverse time anymore. I don't even know if I will be able to after the contr-"
"There's more than that!"
Homura flinched at Madoka's forcefulness.
"You are hiding something! Tell me, just why did you bring me here? Is it something you're afraid of telling me?" Madoka was angry.
"I…"
[1]
"Oh my god, I think they're here…"
"It's just some rogue familiar." The calmer man opened the closet, and Yoshio gasped.
He was six feet tall, and clean-shaven. His skin and facial structure suggested a Japanese origin, but his height and wide build suggested a European heritage. His suit was disheveled, and his breath reeked of alcohol.
And he was angry.
Very angry.
He tossed a rope to his cohort. "Tie this monster down. I don't want her to escape."
"But she's already-"
"Do it."
As the smaller man tied up Yoshio, the taller one took out a knife. "I am going to make this very, very quick, you whore."
Yoshio had never been more scared in her life. She whimpered into her rope, as the man took the knife to her cheek.
"I just want to see your life end. Nothing more. It's not nearly worth the pain and suffering you've caused me." He grit his teeth. "My family did nothing to earn your wrath. So why'd you kill them?"
Yoshio twisted. She didn't know! She wasn't in control of herself. Elly was. She struggled worthlessly as the man frowned.
"I guess you can't answer that." He took the knife up to his shoulder. "Good nig-"
"Oh, no you don't!" It was then that a girl, dressed in a school uniform, burst through the window. Her hair was blue and short, and her figure was thin and healthy.
The taller man was surprised, and he stopped his attack, his eyes wide open.
She slid across the floor as she glared at him, her own teeth bared. Dust settled around her feet as she slammed into a nearby wall, the already ratty apartment suddenly falling into even deeper disarray.
"Take advantage of the fact that I live alone." She stepped out of the cloud of dust that had suddenly formed in the apartment, giving her an even more menacing aura than what she already had. "Pretend to be my father to pick up this girl…" She didn't transform. She didn't need to. "And then you have the gall to try and kill her?" She turned to him, her eyes glowing menacingly.
The taller man knew how this was going to end. It was useless to fight a Veneficus. He almost dropped the knife to go run, but he noticed that there was no real way out.
He quickly realized his situation, and formed a coherent sentence to match. "Oh…shit."
[0]
Homura sighed even more deeply than she had before. She opened her mouth, but nothing would come out.
Madoka was unpleased. She turned back, knowing that she would not get an answer any time soon. She left the house, leaving Homura alone in her home.
As soon as the door was shut, Homura started to speak. "I…you were a friend. From the moment I saw you, I wanted to be your friend. Over the repetitions…you grew into a little more than a friend."
Homura knew that nobody would hear her, but she didn't care. She wanted to vent. "I wanted something from you. Something that very few people can even hope to get in their lives!"
Her voice started breaking out of its monotony for the first time in years. "I just wanted to feel you! To see you! Call an obsession! I think that's what it fucking is!" She clutched at the sides of her head. "I don't know when it happened…is it romantic? Sexual? I don't know!" She knelt to the ground as an open sob escaped her throat. "I…I just…"
Alone in her home, she broke down. "I…can't call it love…but I know that I want you, Madoka…" Homura pulled down her barriers for no one to see. She bared her soul when nobody was around. "I just…can't lose you again." And nobody could hear her…
But what she did not know was that Madoka was outside. She heard everything, as the door was not soundproof. She did not see it, but she could imagine it.
And she knew that pain was probably unbearable.
It would take more than a desire for friendship to repeat the same hellish cycle over and over again, sure, but she did not realize that Homura was this attached to her.
In silence, she walked off, her mind full of conflicting thoughts, confused emotions, and, oddly enough, Homura Akemi.
[0]
EnBey sat outside of the apartment where Sayaka was beating a man half to death. He scampered over to Kyouko, who was currently eating another stick of Pocky.
In a deadpan voice, he said. 'What the hell are you doing motherfuckers?'
"Oh, hey EnBey." Kyouko took out a stick of Pocky, and pointed it to him.
'Oh? Pocky? Goody!' He grabbed it quickly, letting it hang out of his mouth in a fashion similar to Kyouko's own stick.
"Did you go read-"
'Yup. I did, in fact. I also did a little digging into Sayaka's past.'
"Wait, you did wh-"
'What? Did you think I don't do the fucking research? I need to know what kind of event got you girls into despair, and I can't read minds... and quite frankly, I don't want to.'
"Okay…and you're telling me this be-"
'It's obvious that you want to figure out what happened to Sayaka, so I'll just tell you. You see, her family was targeted by a witch a few months back.'
"That would explain some of it, but wh-"
'But that's not why she's like this today. This witch corrupted its victims. It was a strange one, a witch that was unclassifiable. It took control of her mother and father.'
"Oh dear." Kyouko heard this one before…it didn't end well for anyone.
'That's not all. The witch al-'
Suddenly, a long string of rope fell to the ground.
'Shit. Nevermind. I'll tell you later…' He ran off, knowing just what would happen if Sayaka discovered him exposing his secrets to Kyouko.
Kyouko knew that this would happen, but it still annoyed her to no end.
"Damn it." She sighed. "But at least I got something."
[0]
Madoka got back home a little after ten. Junko was sitting alone at the table, a bottle of scotch in one hand, and a shot glass in the other. She groaned, before turning to her now-returning daughter.
"Helloo, Madoka." It was a slight slur; she was used to this level of inebriation.
"Hi mom." Madoka sat across from her mother. "…You…had a bad day at work?"
"Yup." Junko sighed. "At least I get to come home…have a few drinks…things like that." She turned to her daughter. "How was your talk with Akemi-san?"
"Went well…until the end." Madoka sighed as she put her head in her arms. "I mean…she was hiding things from me."
"Oh?" Junko smirked. "Drug addict? Prostitution? Her own personal har-"
"No, no. Homura-chan's not like that."
"Hm. I would think that she'd get all the ladies after the stunt she pulled with the bat." Junko smiled at her daughter's reaction.
"Wait, that got on TV-?"
"It's an internet meme now." Junko smiled. "I should know. A bunch of my coworkers were caught watching dancing videos starring Homura. There was this one with cat ears…" She shook her head. "Anyway, what was she hiding?"
"She…I don't know how to say this…" Madoka sighed. "She…has feelings."
"Who's the lucky-"
"For me."
Madoka started to cringe in anticipation, only for her mother to slap on the shoulder. "Looks like you got a girl with a crush! You little stud!"
"Eh?"
Junko laughed. "What? Did you expect me to be a bigot? Of course not! One of my own friends likes girls!" She looked to Madoka. "What did you say to her?"
"I…said nothing. She thought I was gone."
"Oh, you." Junko let her laughing subside. "Do you know how you feel about her?"
"I…am just her friend. I don't know how to react to this…this hasn't happened before."
"Well, just think about it for a while." Junko mixed her icy beverage, letting it settle. "You don't have to come up with an answer just yet." She smiled. "After all, I think she can wait."
Madoka thought about it, and all of the years that Homura had probably suffered for her.
Despite this…she smiled. "What's a few more days?"
"Exactly…" Junko looked at the clock. "Ah. It's getting late. Don't you have school tomorrow?"
Madoka jumped. "Ah! Right!" She ran upstairs. "Thanks, mom!"
Junko waved as Madoka ran up, before sighing. "What am I going to do now?"
[0]
Sayaka kept Yoshio by her side. The kidnappers were left alone in the district. Nobody would find them there; the familiars would get to them first. Their chances of survival was almost minimal.
Not that she cared.
Bastards.
"Sayaka…" Kyouko walked alongside them, staring at the angry girl at her right. "I think you need to calm down just a lit-"
"I will…I will…but I'm not going to wait until practice to pick her up." Sayaka sighed. "I'll just get permission from Mami to go grab Yoshio before practice, because I do not want this to happen again!"
Yoshio gripped Sayaka's hand. This girl really did care. "Thanks…"
"For what?" Sayaka let her anger dissipate for a second.
"For…saving me…"
"You don't need to thank me. I just don't want anything to happen to you, alright?"
"Okay."
They kept walking for several long, silent minutes, when Yoshio started talking again.
"Am…I a monster?"
Kyouko blinked. "Eh?"
Sayaka grit her teeth. "Is that what they told you? Is it?" She seethed with anger. "Let me tell you something. You are not a monster! Elly was a monster! Those men back there? They're ignorant! They're nothing! They're scum!"
She grabbed the sides of Yoshio's head. "Never, never, call yourself, or even think of yourself as a monster, because you will never become one! Do you understand?
Yoshio seemed satisfied with this answer. She smiled softly, and nodded slowly. "Yes…I do."
"Good." Sayaka lifted her, and put the girl onto her back. "Then let's go home, okay?"
Kyouko smiled. This girl wasn't all too bad. Might be a little forceful, but not bad…but what happened? She sighed. Not like I'll get any answers any time soon.
]
'You. You again. What do you want?'
'We[I{They}] simply desire a meeting.'
'We have nothing to discuss.'
'We[I{They}] have found a disturbance among your midst. What is i-'
'Do you really expect me to tell you?' The Black creature raised his tail. 'You know this meeting's only going to end in tears.' A red, swirling ball of energy surrounded him, as the dust around him scattered about.
'Very well. If it is necessary, We[I{They can} will] shall force the answer from you.' Thousands of TorBeys appeared once more, their White bodies obscured by the darkness of the night. 'That Akemi girl will not save you tonight.'
'I don't need her fucking help.' EnBey let his Black hide shimmer in the moonlight, as he leaped into the air. 'I just need you fucking dead.'
I want to see you.
I miss you.
A/N: Don't you know? Lesbians make everything better!
Alrighty. I will be taking a break for four weeks after July 4th. Why, you may ask? So I can work out the plot points for S2.
My first decent and popular fic is not going to be fucked up by the likes of me.
Also, Poll! Vote? Vote! Spin-off votes!
And a final note. If you have any questions, want details, or some other kind of answer, I have opened up a thread on SpaceBattles. It is under this fic's title.
Enjoy.
: /f o r ums. s ead. php? p = 0
10. Episode 10: Logical Management
\Resist the gentle, smiling fate./
\If there is courage in you to find me/
\I will be everywhere./
Homura sighed as she got off of her couch. She noticed that her eyes felt swollen, and her face clammy. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, to say the least.
"Ah." She looked at the enormous clock on the ceiling, as the room lit up as soon as her feet touched the floor. "Four in the morning. Unhealthy sleeping habit." She sighed even more deeply than she usually did, taking her arms into a stretch.
Amazing what medical science could do; her heart conditions on the other world were fixed within days in this one. Her body just needed a few months to recover.
That's what the doctor said in the hospital.
Her glasses couldn't be removed; the eyes were too delicate to be touched, especially for a developing teenager, but her heart problems were gone.
Just in time for the other problems. Homura sighed, as she got out of bed, and readied herself for the new day.
-Potestatem Ego Habeo-
Magica Madoka Veneficus Puella
Episode 10: Logical Management
-Potestatem Ego Habeo-
Madoka sat at the desk alone. It was early, and she was still tired after target practice, but even then, Mami had noticed that she had been a little off.
"You're not destroying them as quickly as you normally do. Are you thinking about something?"
"N-No! Not at all!"
"Huh." Madoka sighed. "Like she believed that."
The glass door slid open almost silently as Homura walked into the room. Madoka kept a single eye on her as she sat down, and pulled out a single book.
No Longer Human?
The book closed quickly, as Homura turned back to the girl behind her. "I see that you have noticed my book?"
Madoka flinched at the sudden interaction. "Y-Yes! I didn't know that you read Dazai-san's work!"
"I'm only reading this one to see some of the comparisons of our universe's book when compared to this one." She flipped the pages. "Some of the words are changed, and Oba's slightly more negative than he was in the original book, but he still has that façade of jocularity."
Madoka automatically knew just why Homura had memorized it.
"H-how many times did you read it?"
"I don't even know."
Nerves of steel or impossible boredom?
"Wha-What happened to the author?"
"The original one? Killed himself. This one? Went to a party. Then killed himself."
Madoka was visibly disturbed. How morbid!
Suddenly the door shifted again, and Sayaka walked into the room.
Sayaka waved as she walked over to her own seat, which was now folding itself out of the floor. "Ah, Madoka!"
Madoka turned her head. "Hi Sayaka!" She then tilted her head. "What did Mami want to talk to you about?"
Sayaka seemed to twitch slightly, but she kept herself under control. Her tone suddenly got a lot darker. "Someone tried to kidnap Yoshio yesterday."
"Eh? Why would the-"
"Hate group. Saw that she was once Elly. Acted in place of my father."
Madoka stared at the girl. "Oh god."
"So I tracked them down, beat them to a pulp…then left them in the old industrial district."
"The old industrial district?" Madoka had done her research; the place was a death trap!"Sayaka, they could die there!"
"I at least gave them a chance to survive." Sayaka crossed her arms as she sat, her expression darkening quickly. "They kidnapped Yoshio and thought that I would be too stupid to track them down in time. They guessed wrong."
"What is wrong with you?" Madoka almost screamed as she just gawked at this girl. Is this really Sayaka?
"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with me? I'll tell you what's fucking wrong with me!"
Madoka flinched at the sudden use of language, just as two unprepared students decided to enter the room…only to walk backwards out of said room at the sight of the two girls entering what could probably be considered the most violent conversation since…well…since anything, really.
"So they kidnapped her and you got angry! So what? You left them out to die! You're no better than they are!" What happened to you?
Sayaka stopped herself mid-rant, and then slumped back into her seat. "I'm not better than they are? Just because I decided to get retribution for their attempt on Yoshio's life?" She leaned forwards, her eyes glowing very lightly. "Is that what you're saying?"
Madoka grew emblazoned with her own passion, as her own eyes lit up with a faint glow. "Yes! You are!" God damn it, I didn't want this!
Just as Sayaka prepared another retort, Homura had taken her book, as well as one other, and tossed them, with one large Chemistry textbook hurtling into Sayaka's face, and one Literature textbook striking Madoka on the temple.
Both girls, although super-powered to the point of being nigh-invincible, had felt the blow. And it hurt like hell.
Both girls turned towards her. "What was that for?"
"You two are best friends, aren't you?" Homura said, dog-earing her current page, and turning to face the two. "You are better than this. Sure, Sayaka has done something questionable, but she had a good motive, and it will probably not even impact her status; the two men kidnapped Yoshio. The public will not care about the fact that you left them out to die; but they will care about the fact that the two men tried to kill an eleven-year-old girl."
Sayaka stopped. "I…guess that makes sense."
"I know it does." Homura stared at her. "I'm pretty sure that they aren't going to be the last of them, either." Homura waved a hand as she put one leg over the other. "Instead of just killing," Just as Sayaka opened her mouth, Homura raised a finger to silence her. "Or seriously injuring them, I recommend you just pick Yoshio up before practice."
Sayaka blinked. "I already decided to do that, but thanks for the offer."
"Good. You seem to be learning." As it appeared that their conversation had finally ended on a far more calm note, the students, who had been courteously waiting outside for a chance to avoid being scared shitless, finally entered the room, and Homura ended her conversation.
{\}
He opened his left eye, letting it blink several times before he let it open fully. He opened his other eye, and put a single paw on the ground.
The Incubator groaned in pain as he lifted himself off of the ground. 'Jesus…most fighting I've done in a while.' He craned his neck, letting it crack several times before he sighed heavily. 'Fuuuuuuuuuuck.'
He finally found the willpower to get up under his own strength, and started to walk. 'Homura is a fucking toy to him…them…whatever.' He stepped in a pool of blood…and his own corpse. 'So much for not dying again this month.' He avoided it, wincing at the hole blasted into what used to be his head. 'This is still fucking creepy.' He shook his head, continuing his limp to Mitakihara's Junior High.
'I'm sick of all these fucking half-truths.' He coughed. 'I don't care if I'm punched in the face again.' His head faced downwards, the darkened alleyway making him look sinister. 'I need a full story.'
]
The day passed with little aplomb, but Mami knew that Madoka and Sayaka had issues to work out. Madoka was apparently disturbed by Sayaka's behavior.
Now, Mami could understand this, but retribution was retribution. The men were clearly in the wrong for trying to kill Sayaka's ward. This was not only stupid of them, as Sayaka had become a known Veneficus within days, but this was also something that could be termed as "suicidal," as said Veneficus saved the girl with her own damn hands.
Still, punishment had to be in order. She couldn't just let this one slide; both girls would be sparring tonight against each other.
"Of course, very few witches for the past few days. TorBey must be busy with something."
"I would think so."
Mami turned, only to see Kyouko leaning against a nearby pillar. "Ah. There you are. I was almost thinking that you'd skimp out on practice."
"And miss the chance to see Sayaka in action? Fat chance."
Mami smiled. "Taking a liking to that girl?"
Kyouko grew less amused. "Not quite like that." She walked by, as Mami decided to follow her. "Though I will admit, she is good looking."
Mami made a face. "As you said a few days ago."
"Exactly." She shrugged. "Who knows what she'd do if I said that to her face, though." Kyouko smirked. "Probably babble about how 'immoral' it was, or something."
Mami sighed. "Doubtful."
They continued their smalltalk, walking down the hall, the afternoon sun basking them in an orange glow. Their shadows stretched across the room, the glass building letting the sun pour in.
"So…let's cut to the chase." Kyouko turned her eyes to Mami. "When's your next governmental meeting?"
Mami sighed. These things never seemed to cross her mind as often as they should…not that she'd enjoy them. "Scheduled for next week on Tuesday."
"Huh." Kyouko sighed. "Are they gonna revoke your Matriarch status?"
Mami stared at the ceiling as they walked. "Doubtful. Judging by the amount of good that I do for the city, I don't think that they would."
"But what about Miki's near…almost dead…think…event kinda…stuff?"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Okay. Miki left two people out to die in the old Industrial District."
"And you want to know how I'll punish her, right?" Mami stared at her. "She's not going to be punished just yet. She should be thankful that they're probably a part of a hate group and aren't a pair of random criminals."
"Goody." Kyouko started to run off. "I'll start training on my own, then! Make sure Sayaka gets there on time!"
Mami waved her hand, before starting to walk alone…only to see a certain creature sitting on a nearby beam.
'You know when I said I didn't want to die again this month?'
"Ah. EnBey! Good to see you alive and well!" Mami had a smile that seemed a tad too wide.
'Fuck you, too.' He leaped off of the beam and onto her shoulder. 'Anyways, we need answers.'
"Answers?"
'You know that Homura girl, right?'
Mami blinked. Of course she knew her. "What about her?"
'You had a talk with her a few days ago. What happened to her to make her Grief potential so…What's the word…FUCKING RIDICULOUS?'
Mami blinked. "Time shenanigans?"
'Whoa, wait, really?'
"Let me just tell you while we walk. She said that she was a time traveler, and that-"
She continued her story into the training facility.
()
Sayaka was walking back from the elementary school with Yoshio on her back, the little girl holding onto the girl with her arms around her neck. They walked at a brisk pace, not too fast, and not too slow.
They were almost to the training center, not that it mattered; training was going to start in about ten minutes. "Say, Yoshio, want to see me fight?"
"Fight?" Yoshio blinked. "Fight what?"
"I dunno. Maybe a witch? I think watching a fight would be better than being on the receiving end of a sword."
Yoshio didn't comment, instead burying her face into Sayaka's neck.
They stayed that way until they reached the training building.
[)
'Can I be completely blunt?'
"Hm?"
'That story of yours was a mindfuck.'
"No kidding." The door slid open automatically as Mami walked in. Kyouko was already in; having run there, and Sayaka could be seen a few feet behind her. "Alrighty. So, who should be the first to fight?"
'Well, you and Kyouko haven't beaten each other half to death, so why the hell not?'
"Alrighty then." Kyouko shrugged, just as Sayaka and Homura walked into the room. "Let's you and me fight."
"Stop butchering the Japanese language." Mami deadpanned, walking into the arena.
Kyouko followed suit, her own uniform forming with each step. "Shall we dance?" She let her feet slide into place.
Mami bended her knees, lifting her skirt slightly as a pair of rifles fell to the ground. "Only after you, m'lady." A small cloud of dust formed as she slid her feet. "Let's go."
Their weapons formed, and suddenly, their fight began.
(]
Madoka was almost to the training center, with her thoughts swimming within her head. It shouldn't have distracted her, but Homura's impromptu confession was still clouding her thoughts.
Homura feels that way about me…of course. Why would she go through…damn it.
She kept on thinking as she went down the street, as her own thoughts, feelings, and emotions kept on building themselves over.
"Maybe…I could just see what…I could ask her…I don't know!"
She sighed again. This was getting to be just a little too much for her to handle right now, even with Junko's words of wisdom.
[)
'Want music?' EnBey watched, as Sayaka simply stared with her jaw wide open.
"N-no. I…I'm good."
Yoshio looked at the battle with a similar expression. This fight was really something.
'Too fucking bad. I'm playing something.'
He ran off, as the fight raged on inside the center.
Mami fired a barrage of shots, each of them twisting around Kyouko, as the redhead flew through them. She tossed out several spears, before taking a single one and jamming it into one of Mami's guns.
The gun exploded, forcing Mami to slide across the ground, leaving an enormous trail of destruction in her wake. The experienced Veneficus took out a single cannon and left it behind her, before doing a backflip, and forcing herself into its barrel.
"Tiro Finale!"
She flew forwards at incredible speed, the buildings around her simply bending away as she flew. Kyouko took out another polearm, and stopped her flight, as Mami took out a pair of flintlock pistols. The human cannonball crashed into Kyouko's spear, the shaft bending as they engaged in a one-on-one melee, with Mami firing a shot every few seconds.
The ground cracked with every blow, as Kyouko blocked, parried, and repelled Mami's punches, kicks, and pistol whips. Mami jammed the pistol into Kyouko's face, only to have the hammer torn off of it.
Mami, frustrated, took out a rifle, and blocked Kyouko's attacks, each block bending both her and Kyouko's weapons.
Mami leaped backwards suddenly, as Kyouko simply stared at her.
Just what is she…Her eyes suddenly widened, as she looked at her feet.
Several hundred tiny guns, all of them facing upwards, seemed to look Kyouko in the eye. She was planning this all along!
Suddenly, she was engulfed in gunshots, as the sound of a hundred gunshots filled the arena…only to have Kyouko leaping up, above the fire, smoke encircling her being.
"Fucking clever." She had several dozen spears ready. "But did you plan for this?" All of them split into segments, as she flailed them about, the chains forming a complex pattern over the simulated city.
"Plan?" Mami pulled out several more guns, all of them enormous. "Why would I plan?"
All of the chained spears surrounded Kyouko, as she prepared for this new strike.
"Finitore!"
She let them all enclose her in an enormous ball, the weaponized sphere spinning at an incredible rate.
"Morte Certa."
The ball struck the ground, as a tornado began to form, the wind picking up around it as the buildings around Kyouko's sphere of destruction started to disintegrate.
"FINE SCIOPERO!"
The bullets flew into the tornado as Kyouko suddenly stopped its spinning. The rotational inertia caused by its ridiculous rotational speed caused the ball to fly apart, with Kyouko in the center. The spears flew out, catching the bullets one-by-one, as Mami ran forwards, another cannon forming as she continued onward.
"Finale!" She jumped onto this weapon as it slid on the ground.
Living with Kazuko had its benefits, such as that of a collection of shows to watch and take inspiration from.
Kyouko ran onward, as the gun suddenly took a different shape. "What the hell is this?"
"CHAAAAAANCE!" The gun, now with three legs and a very long barrel, took aim at Kyouko, and fired.
Kyouko, once more, took her spear and attempted to bat the bullet, only for it to melt the tip.
"Holy shit." She tossed the useless weapon aside and prepared several new ones, as Mami jumped off of the back of her new gun, and faced it upwards.
"PALLA FINALE." Another shot. The bullet pierced Kyouko's skirt, as the girl just barely dodged it.
Kyouko took her spear, and prepared to strike.
At the same moment, Mami took a new pistol out, and clicked back its hammer.
Kyouko jammed the spear into Mami's stomach as Mami fired her gun at Kyouko's skull.
And the fight was over.
[\]
Madoka was almost to the training center, and watched as Mami and Kyouko's session ended. It was almost a shame that she missed the entire thing.
"Hello?"
Yoshio stared at this newcomer, as Kyouko and Mami walked out of the training arena.
"Jesus, why does every sparring session we have end with a tie?" Kyouko sighed.
"I honestly don't know." Mami shrugged. "Alright! Now, who's next?"
There were only two other Venefici in the room. Who else could possibly spar now?
"Alright. That's it!" Mami pointed to Sayaka and Madoka. "It's your turn now."
Both Madoka and Sayaka stared at each other, with Sayaka wearing a wide smile, as Madoka beheld a nervous smile.
"A-Alright!"
Nobody even noticed the fact that a certain Incubator was missing.
{\/}
Homura was back at her own home, when she heard a light tapping sound.
She pulled out her pistol, and fired, letting a smoking casing hit the ground…and a small creature cower at the sight of a bullet hole on the ground.
'Jesus! Jumpy!'
"Oh. It's just you."
'Fuck yeah, it's just me! You didn't need to goddamn shoot at me!'
Homura stared at him, her hand slipping off of the handle to her home. "What do you want?"
'A full story.'
One of Homura's eyebrows was raised. "Oh?"
'Mami gave me a summary of the events that befell you, but I think that it was just scratching the surface of what happened to you.'
She grit her teeth. "I'll be goin-"
'Oh no, you ain't.' Irrationally, Homura stopped. She had no reason to be afraid of him; she had killed several of his kind. Why would she be so hesitant to just shoot him and go inside?
"What do you want to know?"
'I know full well about the time loops. As well as the obsession, the deaths, the destruction…Oh god, the destruction.' He sighed. 'Look. I want a confirmation. I wouldn't just automatically contract you here, but I would like a look at the kind of power that you really have.'
Homura stared at him. "How much did Mami tell you?"
'A whole hell of a lot.' He stared. 'So…you going to help me or what?'
"Just do it." Homura stood on the steps.
'Then let's take a look.'
Homura stood still as she felt something pull itself from her back.
Suddenly, the area exploded with a purple light, the pitch-black demons pulling themselves away from Homura's body. They flew into the sky, as EnBey watched in awe as the demons congregated above Homura in the sky.
They flew, easily towering miles above the city, before EnBey quickly suppressed them, the Grief demons returning to Homura's body as she hit the ground.
And, as the last bit of Despair returned to her, he only had one thing to say.
'Holy fucking shit.'
{\/}
Sayaka dodged a barrage of arrows, before tossing a ton of swords to Madoka. The younger girl ducked, letting the weapons fly into a nearby building, before taking out another ton of crossbows.
"Pluie de flèches!"
Sayaka readied her sword, sweeping it around herself as she swung it upwards.
"Rianú lann!" The sword flew into the air, before splitting off, several more swords following it, as Madoka unleashed her own strike.
The two weapon clouds crashed in midair, a blastwave engulfing the buildings around them, as Madoka and Sayaka engaged each other in hand-to-hand combat.
All the while, Mami sat with her legs crossed, sipping tea calmly, as Kyouko cooked some popcorn.
As she shoved it into the microwave, Kyouko turned back to the calmer girl. "Want some?"
"No, I'm fine, thank you." She sipped her tea once more, before Yoshio ran up to the window to watch Madoka and Sayaka fight. "Now, I'd like to know. How is life with your new roommate?"
Kyouko sighed, sitting back in her chair as the microwave hummed. "It's fine, I guess. Not too much happening, but that's what happens when you're assigned to live with a girl that enforces a curfew."
Mami chuckled. "Oh, she just cares for you."
"Oh? I guess that her hunt yesterday was a sign of her 'caring' too."
"Actually, I think that it is." Mami turned to stare Kyouko in the eye. "Do you really want to know what happened to Sayaka?"
Kyouko stopped moving for a second. She turned to Mami quickly, and bent over her seat. "You know?"
"It's the police reports. I do know." Mami sipped her tea once more. "My position grants me information about every Veneficus."
"What happened?"
"Well, her parents are dead." Mami stared Kyouko in the eye.
The other girl just made a blank face. "Yes. So are mine. In fact, that's almost a requirement."
"But the big part is that, before they died, they went on a killing spree."
Kyouko's eyes widened. "Wait, what?"
"She used to have a little sister that went to a nearby elementary school." Mami sighed. "She didn't live too long. The parents were taken by a witch, their souls were gone long before Oriko and Kirika got on the scene."
Kyouko winced at the names. It was obviously before she and Mami were a part of the team.
"The witch was a class 0. So-"
"It needed its victims cut open." Kyouko finished. "So…she felt-"
"Betrayed? But of course. When she realized just what happened, she went out for a few weeks; she was homeless. She then turned up at that apartment complex, got a deal with the landlord and that's the end of the story."
Kyouko turned to the girl in the arena, her eyes filled with a solemn understanding. "Explains why she's so inclined to protect Yoshio."
"One would think that it would muddle up her motives." Mami filled up her cup again. "But, if you think about it, it makes sense; the girl is very much like her sister."
"What are you, Freud?"
"No. But I'm not against him." Mami sipped her tea, before letting some steam roll out of her mouth. "I think that she realized that she was treating her parents unfairly; that, despite the fact that they held the weapons, her parents were long dead before the first child was murdered."
Kyouko sighed. "Hell of a thing. I mean, my dad went crazy, sure, but…wow."
"I know your story. But I know what you mean." Mami sighed. "But hey, despair brings hope, right?"
Kyouko smirked. "I guess that's what EnBey was aiming for."
A buzzer sounded, before both girls turned back. Sayaka was lying on the ground, her hand twitching as she seemed to be in a daze.
"Jesus. What did you do to her?"
Madoka, finally calmed after the events of the day, laughed nervously. "Eh heh heh heh…"
"Come on, let's get you guys cleaned up." Kyouko picked Sayaka off of the ground, as Yoshio ran over to the group.
"Sayaka!" The girl hugged the injured Sayaka, as the girl simply smiled.
Kyouko looked at the two as she went back to the lounge, ready for all of them to just go home and relax.
]
"You're serious."
'Dead serious. Your dreams, your misery, your memories, all of them match what Mami said.'
"So…you believe me?"
'I do believe that there are other universes, but this is a fucking big stretch.'
"Huh."
'But I do believe you. I have seen weirder things. I mean, my god, I'm an alien!'
"What...would you say that my power is?"
'In a word…Godlike. But this is some pretty dark stuff.'
"So my worries about unraveling reality are not unfounded?"
'Oh. That's not it. I mean, reality would be just fine unless you actively tried to destroy it…'
The Incubator blinked.
'…That's what you used to excuse yourself to Madoka, isn't it?'
Homura took a step back.
"I…"
'I can accept that. But tell her the truth.'
EnBey walked off.
'I don't think she'd appreciate being lied to.'
Homura opened the door as he left. Why should she tell Madoka that she was a fucking coward?
Not that anybody could blame her.
I…will examine this later. She entered her home, and slammed the door.
]
'We[I{They}] were prevented from meeting with her due to him.'
'This…interceptor is becoming a nuisance.'
'We[I{They}] believe that it would be futile to engage in an assault on him; he is one of us after all.'
'Unlocking the secrets to immortality means nothing when your goals are unobtainable.'
'We[I{They}] have proposed a new plan.'
'What is this?'
'Manipulate Madoka.'
I want to see you.
I cherish you.
A/-Oh...OH SHI-
DON'T WANNA KNOW WHY EVERYBODY READY GET IT ON!
YEAH!
Okay. So, I posted the first chapter of MKVP. Go me. Yay.
Alrighty. WORKING! on the other spinoff. Yay.
Also, unfortunately, I will be gone the week after next, as I have an engineering camp to go to. I do promise, however, that I will return with two chapters...before taking a month-long break starting on the Fourth of July. [Insert Sarcastic Patriotism Here]
11. Episode 11: Imperfections
\The real you and the real me/
\Will definitely reach our meeting spot./
The drink just sat in the glass as Kazuko stared at it, as though that would actually do something. Occasionally, she shook the cup slightly, letting the alcoholic drink slosh around as she sat on her aged barstool. It was old, but sturdy; she had been going to this bar for the past twelve years, and she always sat there.
She laughed quietly at the thought, then took another drink.
Her quiet time was never meant to last, though, as someone decided to let herself be known.
"Hey! It's been awhile!" Kazuko felt a hand slap her on the back. "How's that teaching gig doin'?"
"It's been fine, Junko."
Junko sat down by the teacher, as the bartender started to pour her a cold beer. "Jesus, can you believe how thickheaded some of my partners are?"
"Oh?"
"They fucking rejected my plan! Didn't even pay attention to it, just rejected it on the spot! I didn't get to my position with just my looks, you know!"
Kazuko was amused by her friend's antics. "Go on."
And so, she continued. For five minutes, Kazuko listened to Junko ramble on, nodding her head occasionally, until a certain question had been brought about by Junko's curiosity.
"So…are you seeing anyone?"
Kazuko blinked at the sudden question. "What?"
"I wanna know if you're seeing a new gal!"
Kazuko sighed. Ever since she made the mistake of coming out to Junko, the other woman suddenly got a lot more interested in her sex life.
Very interested.
Unsettlingly interested.
Might as well. "I met someone six months ago."
"Oh? Go on."
Kazuko was visibly getting nervous. "We've been together for about two."
"That's pretty good." Junko didn't pay attention to her increasing discomfort. "What's she like?"
Oh god. "She's a little younger than I am."
Junko smirked. "Like a student or somethin'?" It was meant as a joke.
Irrationally, Kazuko tensed up. The glass in her hand actually cracked, and the bartender took notice of this.
There was no way in hell that Junko didn't notice that.
"Jeez…I meant that as a joke! No need to get…" It was then that Junko connected the dots. "Wait…it is a student?"
Damn it!
-Potestatem Ego Habeo-
Magica Madoka Veneficus Puella
Episode 11: Imperfections
-Potestatem Ego Habeo-
Madoka wasn't walking home. She was merely taking a different route this night, which would lead her to a totally different place.
This would be the home of one Homura Akemi.
I…should tell her that I heard her…maybe?
"I…would like to try?"
No…that doesn't work! It seems like I'm giving into something!
"I…don't know how I feel…"
Damn it!
'There you are.'
Madoka stopped, turning her head to this new mental voice. "EnBey?"
'I just got back from Homura's place.'
Madoka started walking again. Groaning, EnBey followed her. 'Damn it, I don't want to go back from a place that I just fucking left!'
"I need to talk to her. She…made a few admissions last night."
'Oh?' He stopped to think for a second. 'Oh. That kind of admission.' He rolled his eyes. 'Well…I have to say right now…she's been lying about something.'
"What?"
'Homura's deathly afraid of becoming a Veneficus for some reason; she told me about the history of her struggles with you.'
Madoka grit her teeth. "But…what-"
'What I want to know is one thing. She said that you made a wish, amirite?'
"Y-yes?"
'Tell me one thing. She was technically…no, wait, She was fucking dead when you made your wish. What I want to know is what exactly you wished for.'
- o0o -
Kazuko buried her head in her arms as soon as Junko made the accusation. Oh god oh god oh god.
"You…and a student…bumping cli-"
The other woman had enough of it. "Don't even say it!" Kazuko grit her teeth. "We're not even there yet!" She gasped as she realized just what she said. "Oh, shit!"
Junko just laughed and rolled her eyes. "Ah-ha! You admit it!"
"Fuck!"
"Don't worry! I won't tell anyone!" Junko finally calmed down as Kazuko started to stress out even more than she was already. "So…she's not my daughter, is she?"
"Wha-No!" Kazuko just wanted to slam her head against the bar, with the embarrassment of doing such an action being the only thing preventing her from doing so. "It's…" Her face turned red. "…why am I even talking about this?"
Junko smiled. "'Cause I brought it up!" She threw her hands into the air, letting some vodka spill out of her glass…and onto a nearby customer. Said customer turned back, an angry glare on his face, before noticing that this rude woman had been talking to a certain schoolteacher.
Said customer back down, and was unceremoniously forgotten in the teachers' conversation.
"You didn't need to!" Kazuko sighed. "And…I…" Might as well. "It's with…Mami."
Junko stopped for a second, just to let the information sink in. "…Oh…" She sat back in her seat. "Oh…" She rubbed the back of her head. "Well…you're fucked."
- o0o -
Sayaka had just tucked Yoshio in, and turned off her lights. She walked out of the room and shut the door, only to run into a certain someone in the hall.
"Hey, Sayaka."
"Hello, Kyouko."
The girl wasn't even smiling like she normally was. "I…just wanted to talk to you for a second."
"Oh? About what?"
"I…" Kyouko sighed. "I know what happened."
"Know what happened?" Sayaka felt a tinge of worry, but shrugged it off. "What do you mean?"
"I mean…" Here goes. "…I know what happened to your family."
- o0o -
'A world where they can survive, huh?'
"Yes…that is what I wished for." Madoka was still displeased about the results.
'Well…that's an eye opener…but I have to let you know about one simple fact.' He stared at Madoka. 'She lied.'
Madoka blinked, backing away from EnBey. "What?"
'She said that she was not contracting out of fear of time-space warping. That…is untrue.' He sighed. 'It's because she's afraid.'
"Afraid?" Madoka looked confused. This was the same Homura who face Walpurgis without a second thought! "Afraid of what?"
'I'm pretty sure that it's truly irrational. But you need to talk to her. Find out what exactly it is.'
Madoka grit her teeth. "I'll do it, then." She started to walk off briskly.
- o0o -
The room suddenly became silent. Kyouko stared at Sayaka, as the other girl just looked to the ground. "It's…not worth mentioning."
"Sayaka, you can't just keep something like that from me. I need to know about you."
"You don't need to know every single detail, Kyouko." The last word dripped with venom, and it even sent a few shivers up Kyouko's spine.
Kyouko, however, did not let that deter her. "That's not a single detail! That's a fucking big part of your life!"
"So what! Is it for that extra bit of pity? Is it for some sympathy? 'I'm sorry, Sayaka, but my parents are dead too?'"
"What are you talking about? I want to understand you a little more! That's all! I want to get to know my fucking roommate!"
Sayaka grit her teeth. "Then know this! I don't want any more of this! None! Don't ask me about my past or-"
"-I never did! I know about it, but that doesn't mean that I want to ask you about your past! I just want to help you!"
"Help? Help? You're not helping! You're hurting!" Sayaka grit her teeth.
"How the fuck am I hurting you?"A fang flashed. "I just want to let you know that you aren't alone!"
"Aren't alone? What, that you lost your family too? Sorry to say, Kyouko, but everyone knows that fucking ta-!"
Suddenly, she was stopped. Around her waist were a pair of arms, and over her shoulder was a certain someone's head, rested upon her shoulder. "Yes…everyone knows it. My dad was crazy, sure, but…he didn't go on a killing spree outside of my house."
Sayaka's face turned red with a mix of embarrassment and indignation. "Get off of-"
"Let me finish." Kyouko gripped the girl tighter. "You and I…are a lot alike. Just…don't hide anything from me anymore, okay?" She broke off her hug. "You're not alone. Not just because I'm kind of like you, but also because I am your roommate and, hopefully, your friend. Do you understand?"
Sayaka finally calmed down. "…I…I do."
"Then please. I just wanted to let you know that I know too, okay?" She tapped her on the shoulder, as both girls stared at each other briefly. "…Well…then…G'night!"
Sayaka blushed as she realized that she had just stared at Kyouko eye-to-eye. "Um…G-Good night!"
Kyouko walked back off to her couch. Well…that went better than expected.
Sayaka slinked back to her bed. …She knows…This…this is bad… She frowned as she curled up. At least…she cares.
Both girls went to sleep with quite a bit on their minds.
- o0o -
Madoka walked over to Homura's apartment with a new determination. She just wanted to know; she wanted answers.
And, by god, she was going to get them.
She finally got to the door, and knocked on it a few times.
"It's open."
Madoka pulled open the door slowly, letting the light filter in ever so slightly. "We need to talk."
Homura turned back to the girl in the doorway. "About?"
"About last night." The door was shut. "You lied to me."
Homura blinked. "What?"
"You lied, Homura Akemi." The last name was spoken with an ever-so-slight amount of venom.
Homura stared the other girl down. "I do not understa-"
"Don't say that!" Madoka slammed her fist into the wall, a spiderweb of cracks splintering from the point of impact.
Homura looked at her, unblinking. "Please, settle down, Madoka."
"Settle down? Settle down?" She stared at Homura, her face a mix of misery and rage...and a little bit of betrayal. "You didn't trust me enough to tell me the truth and you expect me to settle down?"
"Yes, I expect you to settle down." Homura looked to her icily. "You are not looking at this rationally."
"Like you are!"
This caused Homura to flinch.
"You are hiding behind your facade! Hiding behind your deceit! And for what? Because you're afraid?" Her eyes glowed for a split-second.
Homura was getting slightly nervous. "Calm down, Madoka."
"'Calm down, Madoka?'" Madoka echoed her friend's words with an ever-so-mocking tone. "How about this? Fuck you, Homura. Fuck. You."
The other girl was starting to break. It could be seen in the slight tensing of her jaw, the movement of her fists, the very light trembling of her lip.
"I just wanted to know why you didn't want to become a VP. Why you didn't want to be a Veneficus. Hell, I just wanted to know how you felt."
Homura never felt this from Madoka. Madoka wasn't this kind of person. She didn't explode like this! "What do you-"
"I heard your little confession last night, Akemi. Every word of it." Madoka had tears in her eyes, and her face was as angry as ever. "I know how you've suffered. I know what you've been through. And you don't trust me enough to tell it to my face?" She gripped the sides of her head. "GRAGH! Goddamn it!"
Homura was wide-eyed now. Madoka didn't act like this...or did she press all of the wrong buttons? What did she do wrong? "M-Madoka-!"
"Don't!" Madoka stared at her with an even deeper fury than before. "Don't say another goddamn word." Her eyes flashed red for a split second.
Homura saw that. Her eyes, though near-sighted, could see well enough, and her perception was near-perfect. The moment that she saw that flash, she knew that something was horribly, horribly wrong with Madoka.
Homura whispered lightly, her expression breaking. "There's...something wrong with your eyes!"
Blink.
"Wrong with my eyes? Damn right!" Madoka walked forwards. "I'm pissed the hell off!"
Blink.
"I'm going to get answers out of you, Akemi!"
Blink.
"No more lies! No more games! Tell me the tru-"
Collapse.
Suddenly, her eyes stopped flashing red. They reverted back to a light pink, and Madoka fell right to the ground.
"What..."
'You didn't think I'd leave so easily, did you?'
Homura turned to the source of the mental voice, and saw that it was sitting by the exit. "EnBey?"
'A mutual enemy of ours was penetrating her thoughts.' He moved over. 'It's not too hard to do, even with a Veneficus. The only defense is either a cynical mind or another Incubator.'
"So you..."
'Cut off the connection. It's like unplugging a computer from the internet...it'll take a while to reconnect.' Before Homura could say anything, he shook his head. 'She's still alive, don't worry. I just made her faint so that he wouldn't manipulate her again.'
Homura stared at him. "You can do that?"
'With any human being that has a functional brain. But yeah, it is very unsettling.'
Homura turned away from him, her focus returning to Madoka. "Thanks for the help."
'No problem. I can't have you two at each others' throats, now can I?' He ran off, leaving the two girls in the house alone.
- o0o -
The women left the bar together, with Junko leaning on Kazuko for support. Kazuko had a notoriously strong liver, as was the typical result of being a retired Veneficus, and was thusly able to walk like a civilized human being.
Junko, on the other hand, was in a state of total inebriation.
The women walked off, with Kazuko lifting the other woman off of the ground as though she were a bride.
"We're gonna get you home first, okay?"
"I guess so." The words were slightly slurred. "I'mma just gonna take a nap here, okay?"
"Wait, you're just gonna-"
Junko was out like a light.
"Damn it."
Kazuko threw the woman over her shoulder. "Here's to hoping that you don't vomit again."
She kept walking with the woman snoozing without a care in the world.
And so they went…when a sudden tremor interrupted their walk.
Kazuko's eyes widened.
"Is that…?"
Suddenly, there was a burst of light, and instantly, the street in front of them was in flames.
"Shit! Witch!"
As soon as she said that, it was there, a white light glowing from its apparently black being. It was, for all purposes, a monstrance, about the size of a bus. Despite its unmoving frame, it seemed to be weaving and flying dynamically, with its base occasionally dragging across the ground as it flew past the former Veneficus with lightning speed.
Kazuko knew that she would not be able to take down this foe; she wasn't going to be able to pound it mercilessly like she had before…
So she ran.
- o0o -
Madoka's eyes fluttered open. She was on a couch, still in Homura's home…and she felt…relieved.
"What…happened?"
"TorBey."
Madoka turned her head to this new voice. She saw that Homura was typing away as she always had, with the holographic computer screen obscuring much of her face.
"TorBey?"
"You got angry."
"I remember that much…" She gripped herself. "It was…scary, honestly."
Homura kept typing. "How much do you remember?"
"All…of it." Madoka was in a fetal position on the couch, looking outside as she talked to Homura. "…And you know that I heard your confession now, right?"
Homura tensed up. If she had a glass in her hand, it would have shattered. "Y-yes. I know perfectly well."
"Then let me tell you what I think about that." Madoka sat up, as Homura kept typing, her glasses hiding her eyes with a white shine...with their desperate worry hidden behind them. "I can say that what I have said before was...harsh. I don't hate you at all...and I don't want to see you hurt. But it does hurt when you lie to me, Homura."
Homura kept typing. She felt a clenching in her chest, with a slight bit of guilt rising up as she kept typing. "Go on."
"And...I just want you to trust me. You feel that way about me, right?"
Homura clenched her teeth. They rubbed together ever so slightly. "Y-yes. I do."
"Then...you have lived through countless hells, all for me. You have fought the unbeatable, and witnessed the end of the earth, again and again...just for me, right?"
Homura let a tear roll down her face, but she ignored it. "Yes."
"Please...explain to me exactly how you feel...okay? At least tell me that much...you don't need to say why you're afraid to contract...just...tell me how you feel, okay?"
Homura wiped her eyes, attempting to hide what was really happening as she turned around, staring forward. "I started out as your friend. I just wanted to be your friend, okay? I just...really wanted to be there with you." Her voice was shaking, but it didn't break just yet. "You were nice to me...Just that once, when you decided to let me go to the nurse, you didn't patronize me, didn't mock, didn't talk about me behind my back...you were what I would have wanted as a friend."
"But...why me, though?"
Homura seemed shocked at this, as Madoka looked at her right in the eyes. "What?"
"I'm just an average girl, though." Madoka chuckled bitterly. "I didn't have anything special there until I was a magical girl, right? So that means I was just a kind face?"
"That's not true!" Homura shouted, stopping Madoka in her tracks. "You were selfless! You sacrificed yourself when it all seemed hopeless! You saved us all in that timeline...and you just died..." Her voice was lowered to a whisper, before a bitter sigh escaped her throat. "I don't think I told you what you wished for in that timeline." Homura stared at her, with tears just beginning to leak out of her eyes. "You wished...for a cat to be saved. You knew that you were going to fight witches for the rest of your life...but you lost it all for the life of a cat."
She had a smile crossing her face, the tears just daring to leak out. "You are the most selfless, determined, and kind-hearted girl that I have ever met!" She opened her mouth, before she let them flow down her face, a sob escaping her throat. "Don't you ever think that you're just an average girl! You're not average! You're more than just a kind face! You're...beautiful! Smarter than you give yourself credit for! Selfless, hell, you even told me to kill you so that you wouldn't kill people as a witch!"
Homura sobbed openly. "I just...I just..." She couldn't even finish. She just buried her face into her hands, and cried. She let it all out, as Madoka watched.
As she cried, she suddenly felt a hand touch her back, before she was buried under another body. She was wrapped in a hug, with Madoka holding her around the waist.
"It's okay...don't worry...and I think I understand now." Madoka smiled as she kept holding Homura tightly. "But...I know that I can't just return everything that you feel for me."
Homura tensed up. Her eyes widened, and she could just feel her heart shattering as she looked to the ground.
"But that does not mean that I will not try." Madoka brought Homura up from under her, and held her by the shoulders. "I can't comprehend the pain that you have gone through for me. I can't imagine it...and I watched my friends, and you, die." She smiled. "So...I will, for the sake of you and your happiness, will at least try this."
Homura's eyes still watered. They still burned with tears and despair...but this time, she felt hope. She felt a surge of emotion that was a mixture of relief, joy, and ecstasy. "T-Thank you." She gripped Madoka around the neck, and pulled her into a strong, firm hug. "Thank you...so much."
Madoka smiled as she held the other girl, letting her arms grip the girl tightly. "I will make this work, okay, Homu-chan?"
Homura chuckled lightly, the tears still running down her face, before she let go of the hug.
Suddenly, there was a jolt from outside, as a rumbling interrupted their brief rendezvous. "Is that?"
Madoka looked outside, a slight sadness in her voice. "It's a witch." She stood up, and changed into her new outfit, pink and black magic covering her being. "Thank you for the conversation, Homura...and I really do wish to make this work." She turned away, only for to hear a voice from behind her.
"Madoka!"
"Hmm-?" Whatever she wanted to say, it was left unfinished.
Homura had captured her on the lips, pressed lightly enough to be tender, yet firm enough to be determined. Madoka's eyes widened in surprise, before she slowly returned the kiss, her lips and body easing into it ever so slowly.
They broke apart after several seconds, as they looked into each others' eyes.
"Thank you, Madoka."
"And I thank you, Homura." The other girl turned away, and took off to her opponent's location, a cloud of dust rising into the air.
And all Homura could do was smile.
- o0o -
The witch was still rampaging, its black form floating just a meter above the streets. It turned, charging its light for yet another attack, before an arrow was jammed through the head of its monstrance.
The witch was sent backwards as the magical ammunition disintegrated, and it stared down the enemy.
Likewise, Madoka slammed into the ground at high speed, her dress fluttering about as she did so. She formed another bow, and prepared to strike.
Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and the street was on fire. The monstrance let its beam subside, only to notice that the Veneficus was gone. The witch turned upwards, only to see Madoka flying to her at high speed.
"Fleche Géant!"
Instantly, a huge arrow sliced off the top of the monstrance. The witch shrieked, before the monstrance shattered, dust filling the surrounding area.
Madoka stood her ground, letting the debris fall around her, before a red, human-like creature burst out of the cloud. It caught Madoka off guard, grabbing her left foot and flinging the young woman into a nearby apartment complex.
The Veneficus groaned in pain as the shocked inhabitants of the room she had crashed into stared at her in a mix of awe and disbelief. She got back onto her feet, only for the witch to grab her by the neck.
She was flung out of the apartment, before being slammed into the ground again. Elsa Maria, now a furious red figure, shaped like a goddess but with the fury of a demon, walked over to Madoka.
She grabbed the young girl by the arm, and prepared to pull the other. However, Madoka was not about to be manhandled by a simple witch. She stretched and strained, before breaking apart one of the arms holding her down. She grabbed it, forming an arrow that was attached to the arm of the witch, and aimed it to the sky.
"Ciel Fleche!"
Instantly, the witch was sent flying, the arm acting as a tether for the self-propelled arrow. Elsa turned back, sending several more tendrils down to the earth, only for them to be used as stepping stones for her opponent.
"La Foudre Tonnerre!" She shot several more arrows upwards, each of them twisting and turning as they impacted the witch one-by-one.
"You're not going to get away!" Madoka pulled herself up to the witch as the arrow sending them skyward disintegrated. The witch attempted to right herself, and faced this new opponent, only for a foot to fly into her face.
- -0- -
Quickly, Mami, Kyouko, and Sayaka were on the scene. They watched as Madoka absolutely pounded the witch, all of them with a mix of amusement and amazement at this girl's skill.
"That's…a little over-the-top." Kyouko bit into an apple.
"Just a little." Mami stared at the spectacle. "The witch's not fighting back, though."
Suddenly, the other girls stared at her. "Not fighting back?" Sayaka's eyes were wide-open.
"It was pounding her just a second ago." Mami said, already preparing a rifle. "I think we should keep an eye on-"
Suddenly, all of them watched in horror as the witch suddenly started moving, with speed unprecedented by even the most powerful Veneficus.
Sayaka screamed upwards. "Madoka!"
The witch was sent flipping backwards as soon as the foot landed. Madoka just kept on pumping the creature full of arrows, all of them flying into its body. Each of them stuck out of the creature, as though it were a deranged pincushion, and each of them glowed a bright pink, with black blood leaking onto all of them.
Madoka rushed in, preparing a final blow, already forming a huge crossbow, and already pulling the trigger…
When she felt three sharp pains in her stomach.
The arrow was already fired, and the witch was certainly going to die…but Madoka had enough time to look down at her abdomen, where there lie three holes, each of them about the size of a golf ball.
They were all leaking blood at a lethal pace…and she was engulfed by a red fractal.
Junko was able to wake up on the roof of the building. The first thing she saw was Madoka falling.
Sayaka stared upwards, her eyes full of angry tears as her friend fell. She did not want to see Madoka fall.
Mami quickly called for some medical assistance. Who knew what the damages would be from Madoka's fall?
Homura stared in horror at the scene before her. She could only watch as Madoka fell…
And she could do nothing.
"Madoka!"
'Manipulation successful. Phase one has been completed. Irrationality. Anger. Fury. All added.'
'The wound?'
'Damaging enough to put her out of commission for several days.'
'Excellent. Is it fatal?'
'Without proper attention.'
'Good.'
The Golden-eye Incubator sighed with what was almost satisfaction.
'Let us begin the next step.'
I'm calling with the proof I'm here still in your eyes.
A/N:
...Well...this chapter was hell to write.
I'm no Urobutcher, but I am not going to be light on these girls. Remember, happiness will leave an opening for [me] witches to crush it.
There are other technicalities to consider.
...This is probably the darkest A/N that I've ever written. Not a single joke anywhere.
...Huh.
Thanks to bonesxbreak for advice on the kissing sequence, and thanks to Jodan no Ken for Latin-translations. They will be implemented in the "Ego Sum In Imperium" things over the course of the week.
12. Episode 12: Impasse
\Disobey fate, scatter tears/
\Even so, I want to meet you./
EnBey sat alone on top of the hospital. Madoka was just admitted into the building…and he was left alone to contemplate his situation.
He was left with a sadistic choice.
'Homura, Homura, Homura…this will not end well.'
'End well? How do you mean?'
Instantly, a ball of red energy blasted the alien's head off, as TorBey's body was sent spiraling onto the ground.
Quickly, another one of his bodies ran over, and started devouring it messily.
'We[I{They believe} think] predict that it will end very well for our universe.'
Another blast. Another eviscerated body. It didn't accomplish anything, but EnBey didn't care; it was cathartic. 'You know, I will just keep killing you until you give up.'
'But what will that accomplish? Another death and rebirth for you?'
The voice didn't have any real source. It seemed to echo all around EnBey, as the creature grit his teeth, his eyes shifting left and right. 'You have multiple bodies, right? How about you get the hell out of here and go fuck yourself?'
'Such a revolting image.' The voice[s] started to fade, as TorBey's bodies started to retreat. 'But you will understand Our[My{Their}] motives soon enough.'
As the voice got quieter, EnBey sat on the roof, lying down as melancholy started to overcome his mind.
'Fucking coward.'
He stared out to the city. 'And that Akemi girl…' He shook his head. 'Is there a way to make her contract…Hell…is she even worth it?'
He sighed. 'Let's find out tomorrow…before that bastard gets to her first.'
-Potestatem Ego Habeo-
Magica Madoka Veneficus Puella
Episode 12: Impasse
-Potestatem Ego Habeo-
Sayaka slammed her fist into a nearby lamppost, forcing it to bend over at a none-too-modest angle. She stared at the ground, her teeth gritted as Kyouko just watched.
"I…couldn't do anything!"
"We got there late. So what? She handled that witch pretty well until the end." Kyouko sighed. "Don't blame yourself. It's just not worth it."
"Is it, Kyouko?" She moved to the other girl, and grabbed her by the collar. "Why shouldn't I blame myself? I should have gotten there sooner…"
"There was no way you could have gotten there sooner than you did!" Kyouko growled, smacking away one of Sayaka's arms. "She was halfway across the city! You can't run too fast unless powers are specifically made for that!" Kyouko turned back to her. "And last time I checked, you're made of iron."
The other girl groaned in frustration, and pressed her back to a nearby wall, sliding down into a miserable seating position. "I…I know…"
"Look…I didn't want to see her hurt any more than you did…but I don't have that kind of speed either." She sighed. "And the last person with that kind of speed ended up in two pieces."
"When Kazuko was a VP?"
"Yeah…" Kyouko shook her head, getting herself back on topic. "So…how is she now?"
"Fine…I guess…she's in the hospital." Sayaka sighed. "The doctor said that she's going to stay in for several days…"
"I see…Could have been much, much worse." Kyouko sighed. "And if you feel this bad…imagine how Homura must feel."
"Homura? That black-haired girl?"
"Yeah. According to her, they just got together about two hours ago."
Sayaka blinked. Is everyone a lesbian? "Oh…" She stared at Kyouko. "So…she's staying there?"
"Junko pulled some strings and let her stay there for the night." She sighed. "So yeah."
O
Homura was inside of Madoka's hospital room, having been allowed there via Junko's influence. She stared at the girl in the hospital bed, with several bloody bandages covering her abdomen. A machine was hooked up to her wound, as artificial blood was being pumped into Madoka's body.
The glasses-wearing girl looked at Madoka, desperately trying to avoid bursting into tears. She just got the girl…why was she so close to being taken away from her?
Because you didn't protect her. You couldn't. She buried her head in her hands. "I'm…so worthless."
The hospital door swung open, and Homura looked up to see a doctor walk into the room. "They said that the worst of the damages were to the intestinal tract…she won't be able to eat until about noon tomorrow…but the worst of the damages was from blood loss." The doctor looked at the girl sitting by the bedside. She sighed. "I already told her mother. She won't be conscious until morning, and she won't be able to fight until Wednesday."
"Thank…thank you Doctor…"
The doctor flashed her I.D. "Doctor Kiku, MD. And there's no problem." The doctor walked out of the room, leaving Homura alone with the girl that she failed to save…
Again.
"Damn it."
0
Hanako Kiku sighed as she left the room. She was renowned for her incredibly fluid, fast, and detailed surgeries, as well as her incredibly speedy diagnoses, both of which made her accelerate to the top of her class and field.
She was head of the field, and was appointed by Mami as the chief medic for the Venefici.
Being an ex-Veneficus herself helped her get that position, too.
She turned to see Junko outside of the hall, leaning against her husband for support, with Kazuko and Mami beside them. The teacher turned to her, and frowned. "Did you just-"
"Tell Homura about the injuries? Yes." The doctor sighed. Her peach-colored eyes showed a kind of weariness that only experience could give. Her face held a stoic, almost depressed personality. "After all, she deserves to know, right, Kaname?"
Junko rose up, her husband sitting behind her. "…Yeah…she likes her a lot, ya know?"
"You told me before. I think I know, Ma'am." She sighed. "…But just why did Madoka let her guard down? Wasn't she sparring for several days now?"
Mami nodded. "Yes, she was. She was a very good candidate; Sayaka's more powerful than she is, and yet Madoka blocked most of her blows before blasting her away with a rain of arrows."
"But…why the sudden stab wound?"
'She was manipulated.'
The group turned to this new voice, with Tomohisa being used as this new creature's headrest. 'TorBey's making a move, ladies and gentlemen.'
"That we know, EnBey." Mami sighed. "Kazuko and I gave them a briefing on Walpurgisnacht last night."
'And there was that fireworks show a few nights back. Remember that demon tower earlier?'
The man underneath the Incubator scrambled, trying to get him off. It didn't work. "Who wouldn't remember that?"
'That was Homura Akemi's grief potential, manifested in a physical form.'
All of them stared, before Kazuko took the liberty to speak for them. "That…was her's?"
Mami seemed to be in shock, but for a wholly different reason. That grief…had to have come from somewhere. "That story…it's true, isn't it?"
The group, save for EnBey looked to her. "What story?" Junko asked, suddenly interested in what they had to say.
'Let me.' EnBey leaped off of Tomohisa's head, to his great relief, and onto the floor, as a holographic screen, fueled by EnBey's magic, appeared into the air in front of them. 'This Homura Akemi, as well as this Madoka Kaname, are not of this world…'
And so it began.
O
Yoshio stood by the door, patiently awaiting her foster family's arrival. She had grown close to Sayaka, especially after the kidnapping, and was warming up ever so slowly to Kyouko's presence. After all, she was living with them, and she knew that they were going to protect her no matter what…right?
Suddenly, the door opened, and two girls walked inside. Sayaka looked haggard, and Kyouko had her hand on the other girl's shoulder.
"Look, Sayaka, it's been a long day, and I think we both need some shut-eye right about now."
"I…I know…but I can't help but…"
"Sayaka, calm down. I'll just make use some food, and then you can angst about this later, okay?"
Sayaka smirked at Kyouko's use of the word "angst," only for it to disappear mere seconds later. She slumped down in a nearby couch, and let herself relax.
Yoshio walked over to her foster sister, and sat on the couch next to her. "What's wrong, Sayaka? You're not doing too well."
"I'm fine, Yoshio." She didn't even believe her own bullshit. "I'm just…just tired, you know?"
Kyouko sighed. She wasn't going to let the blue-haired girl get away with lying just yet. She took a remote control, and turned on the television.
Got out of bed in the middle of the night…why am I making food again?She saw Sayaka stare blankly at the image of Madoka getting struck in the stomach, now with several different angles, with the girl growing more and more miserable with each and every strike.
That's right. She sighed.
Yoshio on the other hand, stared at the screen. That was the pink haired girl! She didn't know her too well…but Sayaka did. She knew that the older girl was not feeling too happy about this…if anything…she was feeling the same kind of thing that she herself did after realizing that she had turned into a witch.
"Sayaka…is that…"
"My friend? Yup." She had a smile on her face, though it was clearly forced. "She got hurt. Badly."
"Oh."
"There's a chance she might not make it." Sayaka's tone was flat.
Yoshio suddenly knew that the other girl was starting to break. "Sayaka…"
Suddenly, there was a change in story. This time, it showed demons, thousands of them, flooding the night sky, before being retracted into a single point in the city's historical district.
Sayaka snapped back up to see this incredible display. "Kyouko…"
The redhead blinked. "Yes?"
"Do you know…what happened here?"
[There has been a recent sighting of demons in downtown Mitakihara.]
Kyouko turned from the ramen currently boiling on the stove, and looked to the screen. "No…I don't…"
[As you can see, they are all from a single point in the historical district…and are actually at this house.]
The shot changed once more, showing a poorly edited Google-Earth image. Kyouko noted that the news stations were probably experiencing budget issues.
[This is reportedly the home of Homura Akemi, the newly accredited Internet Celebrity and known middle schooler. It is unknown as to her cause of despair, though it is very probable that her source of skill is also her source of misery.]
Kyouko and Sayaka stared for several seconds at this screen. After all, it seemed rather…unnerving.
In fact, Kyouko was the one to put the words into their mouths.
"Oh, crap."
0
That morning, Homura had gone off to school. Madoka hadn't even woken up yet; that prediction of her awakening was slightly off; the other girl was still out.
Her condition hadn't worsened, at least, but her wound was still going to take time to heal.
Homura was walking to school, when a certain Incubator appeared beside her, walking at about the same pace as she did.
'How is she?'
"You should know. I heard your thoughts from down the hall."
'Ah. Right…' He sighed. 'I know that you want to protect Madoka. I know that you're probably on the brink of becoming a VP, right?'
"Direct and to the point. Yes."
'Look. Think about it. Later, you can talk to me about whether or not you want to become a VP, okay?'
"Why not now, Incubator?"
EnBey winced at the name. 'Look, Rintaro, I prefer being called Interceptor. Not one of those…white…fucking…abominations.'
"That is irrelevant. Why not now, Interceptor?" The last word rolled off of the girl's tongue with a hint of venom.
'Because of just that. You're speaking with a harsher tone than what you would usually go for. You're being irrational…as usual.'
Homura blinked. "Irrational?" She had been called many things, but never that. "How am I being irrational?"
'I heard about your desire to do the hanky-panky with a certain pink-haired girl.'
She grit her teeth. "Your point?"
'You're getting angry because you were unable to protect her...which, while perfectly understandable, means that you need to take a step back and calm the fuck down.' He looked to her, his eyes glowing again. 'We'll meet again. I have business to conduct.'
O
Kyouko and Sayaka had just dropped off Yoshio. They had taken to walking to school together because, frankly, it was miserable walking alone, and it helped to have someone to talk to.
Not that they were doing much of it on this particular day. Kyouko's late-night snack had calmed down Sayaka somewhat, but she was still filled with melancholy.
It was then that they noticed a certain black-haired girl walking to school by herself. She looked at the ground, as though it were the most interesting damn thing in the world.
She wasn't crying, but she might as well be.
Kyouko raised a hand. "Hey!" Homura didn't budge. "Homerun-chan!" She didn't look up. "Homura!"
She finally answered. "What do you want?"
Kyouko almost flinched at the tone. "I just want to know…what happened last night…other than the obvious."
Homura blinked. Everything about last night was obvious. "The demons or the-"
"The demons." Sayaka cut her off. "We want to know about the demons."
Homura sighed. "They are from my past, yes."
"That's simply not normal, Homura." Kyouko sighed. "We want to know where they're from."
"I won't tell you. It is as simple as that."
Kyouko frowned. "Look, Homura. We need to know just how that demon tower of yours formed."
Homura kept walking. Everyone saw that. Of course they want to know. "I will tell you later, Kyouko."
The other girl sighed. "Alright, then." She let Homura walk off. "Jeez…cold bitch."
0
Junko Kaname tried to focus on her work. She tried to calm her mind by drowning it in business decisions and financial plans for her company…
It wasn't working.
Her mind still drifted to the fact that the girl in the hospital was not her daughter. She had the same genetic code, the same personality, and the same appearance…
But she was not her daughter.
She put her head on the desk, letting her hair cover her face.
'Kaname?'
She raised her head. "Come in."
'No need to.' She turned back to this mental voice, revealing the Interceptor currently outside of her office…about half of a mile off of the ground.
"What the hell-!"
'Magic.' He deadpanned. 'Can any of these be opened?'
Junko nodded, and flipped over the one that EnBey was currently sitting on.
He shook his head as he jumped onto the floor of her office, before Junko flipped the panel back over. 'You're disturbed, aren't you?'
"I just now know that Madoka's…not my Madoka anymore." Junko laughed bitterly. "I mean…who the hell deals with this kind of issue?"
'Not many, if at all.' He turned to her. 'Were you smart, you would have just kept out of it.'
"Ignorance is bliss." Junko sighed. "And I can't drink here…damn I could use some liquor."
'I as well, ma'am.' He jumped to her desk. 'I know that this isn't what you want to hear, but take care of this Kaname.'
"Because she has nowhere else to go, am I right?" Junko stared at the Interceptor.
'Correct. Her world was probably destroyed by Walpurgis…and your Kaname is still alive…somewhere.'
"She is?" Junko sat up.
'In another world.' He stared at her. 'She probably ended up in another universe…probably one similar to this Madoka's old world.'
"That…that death world?" Junko stared in shock.
'Indeed.' He looked to the woman again. 'If there is a chance at saving her…then a way to that universe must be found quickly.' He walked out to the window. 'Now…this is going to be goddamn near impossible to pull off…but there is one way.' He opened it himself; he actually knew how to do it this time.
"How so?" Junko then blinked. "Wait, is it possible to save both of these Madokas?"
'Yes. It will require Homura…I will discuss it with you later.' He left the building, and leaped to the ground, a trail of red marking his absence.
"I just hope that this will end well…"
Sayaka and Kyouko sat by each other, eating their food on top of the roof. Nobody else was there; not Hitomi, not Homura…not even Mami was there.
"Kinda lonely today…" Kyouko took a bite out of some sausage.
Sayaka sighed. "It's disturbing." She bit a riceball, letting some grains fall to the ground. "I don't like it when it's this quiet; it's not supposed to be."
"Well, one of our friends is critically injured, another is miserable, and the other's filing paperwork right now."
"What about Hitomi?"
It was at that very moment that Hitomi walked onto the roof. She saw the two girls sitting up there, and waved her hand.
Noticing this, Sayaka waved her own hand. "Hey! Want to sit with us?"
Hitomi nodded. She ran over to the two girls, and opened up a bento box. "How are you two today?"
Kyouko sighed, and Sayaka just stared at the ground. "Not too well. Yourself?"
Hitomi put her hand on Sayaka's shoulder. "I heard about what happened to Madoka. Is she okay?"
"Yeah, she's fine…we were able to get to the hospital fast enough." Sayaka looked at her. "I know that there was no way that I could have gotten to her…but I still-"
"I already told you, Miki!" Kyouko put a hand on Sayaka's shoulder. "There was nothing that anybody could do. It's not your fault, nor is it mine, okay?"
"I know, Kyouko…but still."
"That's alright, Sayaka." Hitomi put a hand on the girl's other shoulder. "Look, she's alive, right? I doubt she'll have any ill-will towards you."
0
Homura sat alone on the school grounds, directly beneath one of the area's many trees. She was allowed to for only one reason; nobody was brave enough to challenge her eating plans.
However, she was interrupted when a mental voice, one that she was familiar with by now, had started to speak directly to her.
'Would you like to protect her?'
Her eyes widened. TorBey!
'We[I{They}] can grant you this-' The voice was cut off suddenly.
'Hello again.'
"EnBey?"
'I think we can talk now, before that motherfucker returns.' EnBey appeared, walking over to Homura's seat by the tree.
"About the contract?"
'Yeah.' He sat by her quickly. 'I don't think you're a very safe candidate…'
Homura blinked. That was fast. "So you don't want me to-"
'But you're still an attractive offer for TorBey.' He sighed. 'Are you willing to contract?'
Homura stared at him. "Suddenly had a change of heart?"
'Yes. TorBey can do that to a person…or a former Incubator.' He looked at her. 'If you contract with me now, you can finally get rid of that bastard. He manipulated Madoka because of you, right?'
"Yes…I see your point." Homura stared at him. "I will do this, then. If he goes away from my friends…and Madoka, then I will accept this."
'Then let's do this.' He stretched out his arms. 'Are you ready?'
"Yes."
His eyes glowed. 'Then hold still.'
((({O})))
There was a rumble heard throughout the city. Sayaka and Kyouko didn't hear it, so much as they felt it. They saw a purple light shine from the ground…when Kyouko's eyes suddenly widened.
Sayaka stared at this burst of energy in shock, as, suddenly, the pulsing ended. The rumble stopped, and all was still…
When the streets were suddenly flooded.
Pitch-black, writhing, hungry demons appeared onto the streets, with the ground cracking with their every movement. They swarmed the city, filling every corner within seconds as they poured out of a single source…
Homura Akemi.
Kyouko saw them pour out of the girl's body, as she saw EnBey struggling to control the monstrosities…
"She fucking did it!" She leaped off of the building, ready to attempt to evacuate at least some people. "Damn it, Homura!"
(̶(({͠0}̧))̡)̛
Junko held onto the side of the building for dear life, as it started to tilt. The demons were pressing against it just by moving…and just what had caused them?
These malevolent creatures of Grief burrowed into the tower, as they started to spread even farther out into the city.
̵(̶̸(̨̕(̕{͏}̸͜)͏̴)̸)̷̢̡
This was too much even for him to handle. EnBey could only control some of the demons that had burst from Homura's soul…and they quickly overtook him. He was swept away by this swarm, when he noticed that this wasn't a lethal storm…
It was far worse.
The humans in this abyss had began to stare blankly into the demons. They were engulfed by Homura's misery and grief…and were slowly being embedded into it.
Were they not stopped within the hour, the Demons would have infected all of the inhabitants of Mitakihara with their Grief…
And EnBey knew that there was no way out.
'God damn it!'
̧̩̦̪̰̜̩̌̆̈́̄ͨ̽̎͝(̲̪͆͆̽ͥͥ͊͘͢(̢̲̄̓̎̓ͨ͞(̶̖̣̥̒ͪ̆͑̈́ͅ{̡̄̑͏̤̥̻͈̖̭0̧̻̲̺̙̦̠͙͉̪͋̇̾ͪͯͮ͊̚͢}̵̙͖͖͉͎͓̝̟̈͗͆͛ͭͬ̌̆)̷̟̣̍̌͊̿̓)͍͓͎̬̰̟͖͒ͧ̈́̽͒̇ͮ͘)̶̭͖͔͈͚̞̖̻͎͇̙͈̖̄ͦ͛ͣ̀͗ͥ̿̎̏̏́ͪ͟͝͠
The city was in a panic as the swarm started to overtake much of the city. It flowed over the buildings as though it were a living liquid, overtaking the residents with their despair.
Mami ran out of the city-hall, her duties as a Matriarch having been pushed aside for the sake of protection. She pulled out several cannons, ready to strike down whatever monstrosities these new, bizarre creatures were.
"I won't let you pass, you know." She stared at the encroaching mob silently, a smirk on her face. "But I'd like to see you try."
Suddenly, the cannons seemed to multiply. Thousands of them, each of them the size of a bus, stared down the demon horde, as though it were a wall of guns. She stood in the center of the wall, and raised a flintlock pistol.
"Attaco Ultimo."
The demons continued to run to her, showing no fear as they rushed to her.
"IL MURO!"
̵̧̧̳̱̣̲̪̖̘͈̼̖̬͖̠͎̤̥̥͊̽͒̿̑̌̽̇͌̍͌̓̌̏͡͝ͅ(̊͆͗̿͑̍ͩͪ̑̎͏̪̫̪̼̙̹͔̩̳͔̬͓͙͈͉̼͕͉̕͜͢͝ͅ(̵̶̛̣̬̤͔̫̺̼̦̤̦̩͆̎ͬ͂̆̆̎̃ͅ(̸̗͍͕̲̖̦̗̹̼̭̬̆ͤ͂̂̅͂͐͊̀̓͋̚̕{̶̴̵̮̲̺̼͉̫̬̯̭̩͎͈̥̞̭͚̭͉̰̊̏͋ͨ̐́̽̇͢͠O̸͍͔̟͕͖ͦ̊̐͂͑̐͐ͥ̒̒̾̀́͡ͅͅ}̧̞̦̬͇͚͓͉̲̋̈́̅̊͂̿͐ͮͨ̍͛ͩ͘͢͠ͅ)̶̖̠̰̬̬͚͍̯͓̞̩̟̱͕̮ͧ̄ͯ̌̌͑̈̈̉͛̂̅ͯ̓͂ͅ)̼̺͎̥͖̤͎͍̠͚̥̞̦̙̮̟͗̔̃̈ͬͬ̊̈ͦ̃͗́͝)̸̶͎͚̻̱̙̰͈͇̟̤̫͕̖̘̮̯̮̩̺̖̻̪̼̥̯̝̘̈̐̀ͪ͗͂͛͗̀̇͌͑̽̓̂̂̎̉̐̓̈ͩ̋͛̾ͨ̃̇̀̕͡
Madoka woke up, only to hear screaming. She was finally waking up…and she did not know what was happening.
How long…has it… She turned to her side…to see demons. Millions of them seemed to pour into the city, with their bodies burrowing into some of the buildings around town. The skyscrapers in the distance seemed to crumble, with only a select few, including her mother's workplace, withstanding the force of the invasion.
But this destruction didn't seem to catch the young Veneficus' attention.
What did catch her eye was a certain young girl rising in the eye of this storm of pain and fury.
With her enhanced vision, Madoka could see this girl's face, her hair, and her glasses clearly.
"Hom...Homura?"
((({O})))
'This was unprecedented.'
'Sir…we have detected an enormous energy spike over Mitakihara.'
'Indeed. Phase two has been completed.' A pair of Golden Eyes stared at TorBey.
'And now, we[I{they}] wait.'
'We shall.' The Incubator looked to the engulfing mass of demons quickly spreading from the island city of Mitakihara. 'This may mark the beginning of the end of the war.' KyuBey stared at this other creature. 'And the demons shall serve as our new generator.'
I'm calling, defying the closing spiral yelling and screaming while we disappear.
13. Episode 13: Sprinter
\We will reach the nowhere land./
\Take me to the nowhere land./
-Fictionjunction, Nowhere-
Junko Kaname felt alone. It didn't take long for the demons to overtake the tower. The tallest, possibly the strongest, building in the city lasted mere minutes against the onslaught before being torn asunder by the demon sea…
But she wasn't dead.
The building was now floating. It seemed to almost stand still, in several pieces, above the ground.
Junko gasped as she looked at the city, debris and destroyed buildings stopped cold in the air.
What the hell…She took a step forward, staring outward into this new, surreal world, hand on mouth in shock…
When she felt a hand grasp her shoulder. She turned, only to see a black mass, its face missing, turn to her. She tried to run, only to feel another creature, much like this one, stopping her in her tracks. The monster…this hellspawn, seemed to form a face, with a white light pouring from its mouth and eyes. It stared into her, the eyes meeting hers.
Suddenly, images, thousands of them, flashed by her eyes. They were all of Madoka. They were all of her deaths.
This was the mind of Homura. The trauma of Homura. The horrors that Homura faced…
And the nightmares of Junko Kaname.
She screamed.
-Potestatem Ego Habeo-
Magica Madoka Veneficus Puella
Episode 13: Sprinter
-Potestatem Ego Habeo-
Madoka woke up. Her stomach still hurt…but her intestines were healed to the point that they could be used to eat. Her skin and muscles still stung horribly, and she could feel a prick in her kidneys, but she was healthy enough to walk.
But she didn't seem to notice the pain when she looked around.
The buildings were floating. They were cut off from the ground below, debris flying through the air. The lamp posts flickered with a blood-red light, and the hospital that she was in was lifted above the earth, with a gaping hole torn into the room that she was in, allowing her a panorama of the ruined city.
But the worst part was in the sky above her.
Thousands, no, millions of people floated above her. All of their eyes seemed to flicker as a million images flashed by. Among them, she could see a few of her fellow students, including…
"Hitomi!"
Madoka tried to jump, only to squeal as pain shot through her stomach, causing her to cringe. She grasped at her abdomen, as she started to retreat back into her bed.
"Don't jump! You're not done healing!"
Madoka turned to this new sound. She saw a certain doctor run over to her, peach-colored hair reaching only to her shoulders…and her coat was torn. In her arms, she held a Spas-12, with its barrel still smoking.
"Who…?"
"Doctor Kiku, at your service." The woman sighed…just as a small, black creature ran into the room. It screeched wickedly as it ran to her, only for the woman to calmly take her shotgun with a single hand, and blow it apart with a perfect shot in the center of its forehead.
Instantly, black blood splattered everywhere, with Madoka cringing in sympathy for the creature.
"It's obviously not a familiar." Hanako said with a matter-of-fact voice. "It's more like a demon…or something."
"D-demon?"
Before Hanako could respond, a red light appeared in the room. It formed a skeleton, with a small body, a pair of blue eyes, and black fur…and it was honestly worried.
'We're in some deep shit here.'
ḛ̱̳͎͚̲͔̰̯̱͎̙̔ͧͦͨ͆̀͋ͣ̔̏̾ͥ̕͢͟͡͠ņ̡̛̹̰͇̟̺͕͍̈͑̂̈ͪ̄ͤ̃̽̍̔̋̉̓́d̴̨̫̙̘̺̟͈̝̩̖̦̳̟̹̟̦͖̱͆ͮͧ͌̆ͩ͊͗̓̐͞ͅ
The wall of guns exploded, with a bright, yellow light flooding the area. The demons were blown out of the way, the shots having destroyed a chunk of their forces…only for them to flood the area mere seconds later.
Mami braced herself for the swarm, only to feel it flow past her, more like a breeze than a flood, as she felt them pass through her.
She saw the buildings around her float upwards as the swarm of demons scattered about, with the city hall that she was in naught but a second before being thrown upwards…when it just stopped in midair, the debris from its messy detachment stopping with the same abrupt motion.
Mami stared in incredulity, before her eyes widened. This wasn't just any kind of witch attack or familiar invasion…
Her uniform stirred ever so slightly, only to stop with a yellow glow.
And it was then that Mami realized just what had happened.
"A Demon's Barrier!" She saw the chancellor that she had talked to a second before being torn into the sky from the building behind her, as every person in the city hall started to fly upwards, their eyes flashing.
In amazement, she stared at the destruction around her, when suddenly, a ton of creatures started to form on the ground. All of them rose from pools of black, with wide, empty white eyes, and horrible, broken grins.
Mami took out a rifle, ready to take them out one-by-one, only for the squeal of tires and the roar of an engine to break her focus.
Within a second, the demonspawns were wiped away as a Ford Mustang, painted green with black pinstripes proceeded to drift over their bodies, their bodies streaking messily across the pavement.
And the first thing Mami noticed about the driver was a pair of red glasses, and her short, brown hair.
"Kazuko!"
The teacher revved the car, her face covered by a wide smirk. "Hop on!"
e̸̡͈̟͇͉̦̮̹̰͈͈̙̗̘̳͙͕̼̬͑̊̉͒̒̈́̈̀͘͠ṋ̨̥̥̱̺͕̤̹̣̇̎̀ͦͫ̇̇͒̓͌ͤ̍͒̅̇̇̍̇̚̕͢͞ͅd̴̟̻̲͓͇͖̙̘͚̫̫̖̖̳̃ͨ̉̅ͧͦ͟ͅ
'I made a mistake…a very big one…'
"You think?" Hanako wanted to scream at the little alien. "You fucked up! You fucked it all up!"
'You don't think I know that?' He stared at her. 'There was no way to know that Homura's grief would cause this.'
Madoka stared at them. She was somewhat horrified, to be honest…it was not every day that the end of the world was a very real prospect for a teenager to worry about.
"You know what demons do, and we all saw that fireworks show you put on for us last night!"
'You know what? Fuck it. I might as well…' He turned back to Madoka. 'Listen up. You need to hear this, too.'
Madoka blinked. "Does she-?"
"Oh yeah. I know." Hanako stared into her, before turning back to the creature at hand. "Now, explain."
EnBey sighed. 'Okay. Demons are formed from Grief, right? If they're allowed to form on their own from the collection of human grief, they create these big, white, robe-covered monstrosities.' A hologram flickered on, showing the Demon in all of its glory.
"And this?"
'This is a VP's demon. They're typically used to create the uniforms.' He sighed, looking at the doctor. 'Like yours.'
"Yeah, I saw them surrounding me when you contracted with me." Hanako stared at him. "And they're different because…?"
'They're black, and are colored to match a characteristic of the person contracting, such as your peach-colored attire and Kazuko's green longcoat.'
"And these ones are purple and black?"
'Exactly, but that's not the difference. The issue lies in the fact that I've never seen them go out of control like this…' Just as he said that, another Spawn appeared behind him…only for it to explode in a burst of red energy as he nonchalantly sent one of his arms backwards, firing a magical shot. 'It's just…odd.'
Madoka turned away from them as soon as the explanation ended, only to see that purple light in the distance once more…
And Homura was still in the center of it. By now, she was surrounded by an enormous twister of light and shadow, as it seemed to exhume demons by the thousands. The demonspawns kept flooding the streets, searching for things to destroy, as she started to get herself out of the bed.
"Madoka, don't move just yet!"
She kept moving, transforming into her VP outfit as she did so, one arm covering her stomach as she walked forward to the hole where her window once was.
"Homura…" She grit her teeth, the bandage still under her uniform.
'Damn it! You can't go just yet!' Out of thin air, a barrier of red energy blocked her passage.
"She…Homura…Homura will-!"
'Destroy us all, I know…' EnBey sighed again. 'She's in control of this…'
Hanako stared at him. "She is?"
'These may have been unleashed, but they're still her demons.' He stared at her. 'Unless she gets a hold of the demons here, they will continue to spread. Judging by how quickly they've taken Mitakihara, it should only be a matter of time before they start taking, well, everything.'
"As in the planet?"
EnBey frowned. 'Yup. TorBey won this round of Speed Chess.'
Madoka couldn't help but stare at the figure in the center…she couldn't help but watch the girl writhe in agony…the very one who suffered, and even died, for her. She stared at the ground, pounding the magical wall in front of her in frustration. She slid to the ground, still staring downwards as the two entities behind her started to bicker.
e̷̡̱̥͕̤̘̒ͪ̌ͬ͊͌̓ͦ̂ͤ̄͗͌ͩͮ̽ͣ̀̕͢n̵̢͍͍͓̪ͨ͒̋̑̀ͪ͛ͪ̒̍̾̎̑̊̇̐͟͠͠d̴̡̡̛̟̲̣̹͙̼̤̰͔̆͑͆̓̃̅͆̌ͨ͝ͅ
A spawn was knocked out of the way with the swing of a spear, only to be chopped in midair by a swinging sword. Kyouko took her weapon and plunged it into the earth, letting a web of cracks spread out from the impact.
Sayaka jumped off of the embedded spear before she curb-stomped a demonspawn into the ground. Its body let loose a sickening snap as black blood spattered out of its body, coating the sidewalk nearby with gore.
As she started to turn, another demonspawn raised its arms, preparing to strike, only to be chopped in half as Kyouko sent a polearm slashing towards it.
Sayaka smirked as she took out two swords. "Thanks!"
"It's no problem!" Kyoko went back to back with her. "Just what the hell are these things?"
"Whatever they are…" as they spoke, demons, hundreds of them, appeared from the ground, prepared to strike again. "They're not messing around!"
They got back to fighting, as their school floated, unmoving, above their heads…only for a hole to be blasted in the middle of it.
Suddenly, a creature, just like the ones they had fought just seconds ago, peered through it, though it was not a small, impish creature. It was a massive beast, shifting without any obvious form. It opened a mouth, letting out a roar, its sound corrupted, flickering as it tore out from the ruined apartment and to the ground below.
Sayaka simply readied a sword, and Kyouko stood in a readied stance, a smirk on her face.
"A hundred says that I'll take it out before you."
Sayaka smiled. "You're on." She turned back to the demon. "We get this thing, and then Yoshio."
"Sounds nice."
They ran to the surreal beast, as it just screamed, and tore towards them, debris scattering as they started to fight.
̞͔͙̻̪̰̖͍̟̪̣̪̠̫͊̊͗͑̽̉̈́̈́͊ͥ̚͢e̵̬̗͇͖̯̬̺͚̳ͫͩ̅̒ͣ͋ͣͤ͗͗͊̍̆͆̇ͤ͡n̢̛̛͍̞̣̥̞̫͈͍̞̹͕͙̺͓͕̲̫̻̞̍̔̎̔̃͑̍ͬ͒̿ͬͪ͒̏̓̓͌͑͗͝ḋ̶̮̯̪̼̣̜̹̦ͬ͒ͩ͑ͯ
Kazuko left a window open, with Mami on the roof of the car. They drove through the ruined city, using buildings, roadways, floating overpasses, whatever they could in order to get through.
"Do you know where everyone else is, Ma-chan?"
The other girl sat on the roof, simply staring out at the city as she sighed. "I think they're at the school, but seeing as the radius of the wave came from there, it's more likely that they got out while they could."
Kazuko sighed, as she loaded a pistol, using a single hand to load the cartridge, her superhuman abilities making a rather complicated maneuver far simpler to perform. "Sayaka and Kyouko are probably on there way to Yoshio's school."
"And there's a chance that Madoka finally woke up." Mami took out a flintlock pistol, twirling it as she formed a new, different kind of gun out of one of her rifles. "And I doubt that she's going to just sit around. Is there a chance that Hanako's still here?"
"If I'm correct, she is. It seems that this…" Kazuko sighed in disbelief. She still couldn't believe that she was in an old-time barrier. "barrier only effects those of us with complete souls. Anyone who's a Veneficus is immune to the effects of those…demon things."
"How disturbing." Mami took her gatling gun, hand crank on the side of it, as she let a magical bandoleer form around her uniform, crossing elegantly across her form. She smirked as she turned it, ready to cause some damage. "But for now, let's get ready to collect ourselves some Venefici, okay?" The cranking started to speed up to the point of sounding less like a set of gears, and more like a whining motor.
"Then let's go!"
The car, reinforced by the Veneficus on the roof, drove over the edge, debris scattering messily before suddenly stopping, as they fell to the streets that remained below them.
It was going to be a hell of a ride through this city.
̇͒ͧ͒̆͂̕͏͖̬͔̻̞̪e̵̸̲̹̠̯̖̳̼͎̠͔͎̺͇̬̙̤̳̮͓͋̊̏̈̅́̾̂̄̌ͨͣ̓ͣn̵̷̉ͥ͊ͭ̑̈͏̜̘̠͉̮̘͙͍̫̰͕̥̝͇ͅd̷̥̻͓̺͉͉̟̟ͫͦ̐̒͌̏̓ͩ̔͛̑́̑
The first strike went straight into the mouth of the monster, with Kyouko riding a giant, living spear into the roof of its mouth. The creature didn't flinch, with its own body twisting back upwards to chomp on the woman riding the spear.
Kyouko merely jumped, letting the demon eat the weapon in the sky, only for a red explosion to engulf it with the last bite. She slammed back into the ground, the pavement rising in a fine crater. She looked back upwards, only to see it streaming back downwards, face full of red smoke.
It was then that a tree made of blades, with Sayaka running beside it, cut through its jaw, causing the monster to slice itself in half with its own momentum. The two halves seemed to see this as a mere inconvenience, as they simply seemed to slide into the surrounding area, the ground cracking and crumbling as bits of the very earth started to fly into the sky, stopping after flying several meters above their heads.
The halves shifted, turning into a pair of demons, each of them of equal size and shape.
"Shit, just what the hell is this thing?" Kyouko put her back to Sayaka's. "It just can't fucking die!"
Sayaka's eyes widened as she stared at the ground by their feet. "Oh god…"
The demonspawns that they had curb-stomped had actually reformed. The black ooze had started to return to their bodies as they started to march towards their killers.
"…So, Sayaka…any ideas on how to fight this?"
Sayaka grit her teeth. "We run."
"Run?"
"Yoshio's the highest priority! We'll save her, at least!"
̨̲̙̱̬̘͌ͧͯͦͫ̋̚͢e̵̳͉̱̺͆ͧͫ̑̒ͪ̄̅̊̀n̛̫̱͎̣̯̰͔̝͔̰͇̲̍ͣ̉ͤ͑ͮ̄̓͊̌ͤ͆͊͒ͦd̟̼̭̹̙͆̇ͫͩ̅ͩ̽́͑ͪ̽͒͛͛̀
Hanako, EnBey and Madoka walked by each other, with Hanako occasionally holding Madoka up for long-jumps. "I bet you can't wait until this is all over, right?"
"What…happened?"
'Homura felt a load of guilt after you got impaled.' EnBey sighed for the umpteenth time as they started to walk on some debris, the rocks acting as skipping stones in the sky. 'She wanted to try protecting you.'
"It backfired, didn't it?" Madoka's eyes were covered by a shadow, the miserable expression on her face enhanced by the dim lighting of this alternate dimension.
'Spectacularly.'
"You could be a little nicer about this, EnBey." The woman carrying the injured girl snapped. "She just saw the entire city go to hell, and who knows what's going to happen now!"
'What, you don't think I'm angry about this?' He turned to her, his mouth moved into an even deeper frown than it usually was at. 'I fucked up! Okay. I. Fucked. Up. I fucked up so badly that it'll probably end the sanity of everyone in the goddamn city, if not the world! Now stop patronizing me, and help me find everyone else so that we can come up with some kind of-!'
It was then that a red explosion rocked Mitakihara. The buildings that they were on were suddenly pushed back by a centimeter, and Madoka held onto Hanako tightly.
'Okay…what the hell was that?'
The doctor stared. "I…don't know."
̷̴͇̘̦̖̙͓̻̻̳̗̣̻̙̓ͧ̋͆͗ͪ̾͒ͩͤͮ̂́͌͒ͫͥ̋͌͜͜ĕ̴̴͇͇̩͔͎̩̘̫̄̂̈́́͝͝n̝̬͓̬̜͔̗̰͕̘͈̞̟͉͗̅ͪ̈́̑ͪ̃ͣ͞d̶̷͍̪͇̟̮͙̳͖̠̤̦͊̈́̓͋̇ͦ̾̅̓ͦ̔ͭ̌ͭ͘͡ͅ
If anybody saw Mami acting like this, she would vehemently deny it. Right now, she was shouting.
She was shouting loudly.
She was shouting loudly, and all of these shouts were pulled straight from a video game.
She was shouting loudly, all of these shouts were pulled straight from a video game, and she had a wide, psychotic grin.
"CRY SOME MOOOOOOOOORE!" Bullet casings rained down onto the ground below as she tore into the demonspawns, a yellow glow permeating the darkness from the sheer amount of ammunition her gun was spewing.
In the car, Kazuko had the windshield wiper on maximum, as it kept on wiping away black blood as though it were heavy rain. Occasionally, a spawn would attempt to invade the car, only for the driver to calmly take her pistol and shoot it in the face.
The car continued to swerve through the crowd, before turning sharply to the left. Mami noted something just as that happened, with Kazuko driving like hell to the source of the explosion. "The spawns are coming back."
"They're regenerating?"
"Yup." Mami sighed. "Shame. It felt like I was doing such a number on them, too." She raised the gun, and started cranking it again. "Despite that, this is so much fun!"
And so, they continued on through the city, with Mami shouting all the way.
̴̹̹̤͙̦̱͙̝̳͚̣̫̝̖́̿͌̏̑ͬ̕͟ĕ̵̑̈͒͛͗̃ͤͬ́̿̎̑̊̕͝͏̫͚̳̗̹̤̻̹n̡̪͕̖͚͖̜̲̞ͬ̀ͩͧ́d̴̞͉̬͇̖͍̦̙̻̖̺̗̲̬̦̀̃̎ͬ͋̋̈ͩ͆͛̈ͤ̈́̃̒̂̚͘͢ͅ
Kyouko and Sayaka had stopped fighting for a while now. They weren't bothering with offense anymore; they were simply going on the defensive. With the buildings around them exploding, they would both agree that it simply was not easy dodging the demonspawns around them.
They jumped on each floating tower, using them as platforms, before Sayaka spotted Yoshio's elementary school, surrounded by several destroyed trees. She continued onwards, leaping about before crashing inside, the doors flying off with little resistance.
Kyouko stopped at the doorway, staking several polearms at the entrance. Quickly, they all expanded, covering the doorway and the entire school with miles and miles of chain. The demonspawns chasing them were stopped, spreading out in a vain attempt to find an entrance.
Sayaka and Kyouko ran through the school, attempting to find the girl that they had been taking care of for the past few days. They blew past the hallways, tiles actually being torn from the floor as they ran through the building at a breakneck pace.
Sayaka tore open a room, only to see a teacher and her students frozen in place, floating slowly towards the ceiling, their eyes flashing. Sayaka froze, before swallowing her terror and shouting. "Yoshio!"
Kyouko ran past another room, ripping open a door. "Oi, Yoshio!" No answer, just some civilians trapped in a frozen state. There has to be a way out of this!
Sayaka opened another room. She wasn't there. "Yoshio!"
Kyouko opened something up. "Yoshio!"
"Yoshio!" Still no sign.
"Yoshio!" She wasn't there.
"Yoshio!" I can't find her!
"Yoshio!" Son of a bitch!
Sayaka opened up another room…only to see her girl floating among the students.
"Yoshio!" Sayaka ran to the girl, trying to get to her, only for a shield to stop her in her tracks.
Yoshio's eyes weren't glowing. They were pitch-black.
"Sayaka, did you find…?" Kyouko ran over to the room, and saw Sayaka trying to get to Yoshio, as a pang of guilt and a little bit of pity flashed through her mind. "What…"
Suddenly, there was a rumble. A wall burst open in the school, with chain flying everywhere as Kazuko drove through the building with ease, walls crashing down as the muscle car drifted over to the girls in the building.
The dust suddenly settled, as the driver smirked, opening a door.
"Sorry we're late!" Mami said, still gunning down the demonspawns outside.
Kazuko smiled mischievously, and she loaded her pistol once more. "Wanna ride?"
Begin
Madoka had gotten out of the arms of Hanako, and was now walking on her own two feet. She wasn't as fast as she was earlier, but her speed was much faster than what it was thirty minutes ago.
She was thankful that she was a Veneficus, or else she'd probably be dead by now, rather than on her own two feet.
"Is…there any way to help?"
EnBey sighed, before noting that he was getting rather sick of it by this point. They were on top of a skyscraper now, one that had been turned on its side. Whatever glass that wasn't broken was now providing a surreal, reflective effect, almost as though they were standing on still water. 'It's up to her, now…There's really no way to combat this.'
"No way…?"
Hanako stared at him. "Now wait a goddamn minute! You mean you don't have any contingency plan?"
'How the fuck was I supposed to plan for this kind of apocalypse? I didn't know that Homura would be this powerful!'
They almost started to bicker, with Hanako preparing a retort, when Madoka interrupted them. "I'm…I'm the cause of Homura's despair, right?"
All of them stared at her, as the girl in the black dress gripped the bandage holding her wound. 'Yeah…wait…you want to-?'
"Of course." Madoka looked at him with determination, a fire burning in her eyes. "I want to talk to her. I'm going to save everyone!"
Begin
The car left the school in the same fashion that it had entered. As the demonspawns attempted to enter through the hole that was just made in the school, the vehicle burst out of the other side, debris slowing down after flying several meters away from the point of impact as the car drove off, with four passengers in the car, and one on the roof.
Kyouko sat next to Kazuko, with Yoshio and Sayaka in the back. Yoshio's eyes and mouth still let loose a black energy, as Sayaka put her Grief Gem to her mouth in an attempt to absorb it.
It wasn't working.
Damn it! She grit her teeth in frustration as she looked to the girl in a mixture of frustration and despair.
Mami sipped some tea on the roof of the car, Kazuko's manic driving notwithstanding. She always had a thermos on her person, and she had a plastic, albeit very decorated, cup attached to said thermos. She sighed, sipping some of the steaming liquid as the car proceeded over the cityscape, before she spotted someone.
She was walking with two other figures: one was human, the other was a small animal.
She knew who they were instantly.
"Kazuko, do you see-?"
"Got it! Driving over to Madoka!"
Begin
"If I can talk to her, maybe she can calm down!"
'Obviously. We know what you're going for, Madoka. We're not stupid.'
"But here's the very obvious problem." Hanako pointed to the girl's stomach, where the dress was covering up the bandage over Madoka's wound. "Do you honestly think that you'll get through this unscathed?"
Madoka sighed. "We have to do something! There's only an hour left, right?"
'Was an hour. It's now twenty minutes before everyone goes to hell in a handbasket.'
Madoka turned back to Hanako. "Then we don't have a choice, now do we? You're not going to stop me from doing this!"
Before any of them could refute Madoka's plan, a squeal of tires interrupted their conversation. Glass cracked as a muscle car slid across the surface of the skyscraper, bits of the glass flying about as the vehicle slid over.
"We can make room!" Kazuko shouted. "Hop on!"
Begin
Outside of the barrier was chaos. From space, a mass could be seen spreading from Mitakihara, traveling across the ocean at a rapid pace. The island city was two-hundred miles from the coast of Japan.
Yet the mass was traveling toward it with haste.
It had only existed for forty minutes, but that did not matter;
It was hungry.
The demons needed more despair.
[This just in! This mass that's approaching Tokyo is actually not that of a witch! It is a barrier! CerBerus is establishing a connection now!]
The television flickered, showing a different Interceptor with green eyes, presumably for identification, flicking his tail.
['I'm unable to establish a connection. EnBey is cut off…we're going to need to find a new way to counter this force.']
He sighed.
['This is now officially a class 5 incident. Caused by demons. It is unknown what caused this, though it can be estimated that it was a powerful VP's contracting gone horribly wrong.']
He stared into the camera, a deathly serious expression on his face.
['The Pleiades Saints have been assigned to evacuate the city. Do not resist them, for they are working towards your own protection.']
The mass continued moving to the city. It was only a matter of minutes before they were taken by storm.
['If you can not outrun the mass, then we will work with the Mitakihara teams to get the situation under control.']
Begin
"Are you insane?" Kyouko stared at Madoka in disbelief. Kyouko was on the roof of the car now, the passenger's seat having been emptied for the sake of the injured girl.
"I'm not! I'm doing this because she'll listen to me! I know it!" She grit her teeth, turning to EnBey for an explanation.
He delivered. 'The demons are still technically Homura's. If Madoka can prompt Homura to face her demons, and control them, then they will be retracted. I will have to be there to suppress them and lock them to prevent another incident like this, but it can be done…' He looked back to Madoka. 'This is still completely batshit.'
"I don't care." Madoka looked at him with determination. "If this is for everyone, then I can do it!"
The group looked outward into Madoka's destination. It was covered with demonspawns, thousands of them swarming around Homura's sphere.
This was not going to be an easy mission.
And there was no guarantee that it would succeed.
'There's a 53% chance that you'll be ripped into shreds.' EnBey stared out. 'It's better than the odds of saving a Remnant, but it's not going to be easy.' He looked her in the eye. 'It's not like we have a choice.'
"If this is the last road left, then we will help you, Madoka." Mami said from the roof, reloading her newest weapon.
It was then that Kyouko asked her something. "Why haven't I seen this before?"
"I can't hurt any civilians in this barrier. A Gatling gun is so unwieldy that it would end up hurting more than helping. Here, there are just a bunch of demon…things."
'I call them spawns. That's what they pretty much are.' EnBey sighed, keeping a mental count of just how many times he has sighed this day. 'If we pull this off, the city will be repaired. Are you sure that you're willing to do this on your own?'
"Do you really think that I'm going to back down now?" Madoka looked at him with burning determination. "Let's go!"
Kazuko shifted the car into its top gear, revving the engine at that sign of confirmation.
The building they were on shifted ever-so-slightly as the car drove off, dust flying behind it as they sped towards the point in the sky where Homura was.
Begin
Homura writhed in pain. Her mind felt like it was on fire. Her stomach felt like it was trying to tear itself apart, and her mind...
It was blank. She could only think of how she had failed to save Madoka time and time again.
And this time...she had doomed everyone.
I...I only cause more and more damage...I can't save anything...
An energy burst pulsed outwards, forcing a shockwave of black energy to push back the city around her. The civilians in the sky were pushed out further, and the buildings closest to her, unlike most of the city, had sent themselves backwards, engulfing the girl in a cocoon of concrete and brick.
And in the middle was a black-haired girl, who was sobbing into her knees, her glasses disintegrating as soon as her despair started to build.
Madoka...I'm sorry.
Begin
The car was sent careening to the side, riding on two wheels as soon as the energy burst was sent careening out of Homura's cocoon, a vortex of energy suddenly surrounding her as power, by the boatload, was sent out to the entire barrier.
Mami and Kyouko held on for dear life as the car righted itself. Their Venefici abilities were barely allowing them to hold onto the roof; were they normal humans, they would have died a long time ago.
"What the hell was that?"
'A burst of despair.' EnBey looked to the sphere of power that Homura had engulfed herself in. 'We have to get there quickly, or she's going to be in an even worse position than the rest of the city.'
"H-Homura!" Madoka grunted as she lifted herself from her seat, the buckle clicking as she rose out of the car. A twinge of pain shot through her stomach, but she ignored it, one of her hands gripping the roof of the car.
"What are you-?"
EnBey stared at her. 'She's starting the process.'
"Homura!"
Begin
Homura!
The girl in the center gripped herself tighter. The energy surrounding her started to increase in intensity, as she gripped herself tighter. I can't help! Can't!
Begin
Instantly, the spawns surrounding the barrier of energy surrounding Homura started to speed towards the car. Sayaka leaped out of the car, sword already in hand as their driver took out a pistol.
"It looks like our trip just got ten times harder! Let's go!" Kazuko floored it as the spawns sped towards the car, crashing into the buildings surrounding them. She shot at them as she drove, with the Venefici on top of the car slashing, shooting, and stabbing at the spawns surrounding the car.
It was chaos on the roof, as Sayaka slashed at the Spawns with a sword in one hand and Yoshio in the other, launching several swords as she did it, not even bothering to shout her attacks for the sake of efficiency. Mami used the gatling gun with aplomb, smoke surround the barrel of her gun as she shot them, with black energy surrounding them as the car continued upwards into the sky, sliding off of each building as they started moving, a shifting pattern forming in the sky as they desperately sped towards Homura.
It was when they were one-hundred meters from the core of the demons that one of the spawns took out a wheel. Hanako tore Madoka out of the car as Kazuko calmly stepped out, the vehicle cartwheeling over the edge of the building that they were stopped at.
None of them seemed to notice that EnBey was still in the car as it flew over the edge.
"Hanako, Madoka!" Kazuko let her pistol out, whipping a spawn with aplomb. "Get ready to go!"
Madoka looked at her teacher, face in awe, before she nodded. She turned, and started to run, ignoring her wound.
It wasn't important anymore.
As she ran off, Kazuko sighed, before going back-to-back with the Venefici of the current era.
"So...it's just us and an almost-infinite number of demonspawns, right?"
Kyouko smirked. "That's right, Kazuko-sensei."
Mami smiled. "Well...I guess that it is." She turned to the woman. "And just in case we don't make it out..."
Kazuko frowned briefly. "We will make it out. I can guarantee that." She smiled again, taking the pistol out as the demonspawns started to appear beside them with force.
Sayaka took out the sword. "Let's do this, then!"
And the bloodshed began.
Begin
The pain in her wound sharpened, as blood started to leak out of her body, a red spot forming on the bandage as she kept on walking against the wind.
Hanako knew what was happening. "Madoka! You're going to-!"
"I know!" She shouted, her eyes glowing as she kept moving upwards. "I know that I'll die if this keeps up! But she's already died for me!"
They were at the fringe of the bubble. It was here that the wind was the harshest, and the Veneficus felt it blowing her backwards in a fruitless attempt to keep her away.
"Just...just don't die!" Hanako shouted."Your mother wouldn't like that all too much!"
Madoka smiled..."I won't!"...before she stepped into the void.
I promise.
We're alive.
Madoka was in the eye of the storm. Outside was chaos, and inside was a state of relative serenity. The ground beneath her feet was formed by a scrap of ground pulled straight from her Junior High. It was still green, and the dirt was as soft as ever. She saw nothing else on this patch of ground, but the remains of a tree, with its branches having been blown away...and beside it was-
Homura!
She stepped forward in this calm land, towards the very place where Homura was, when it suddenly shifted. The ground beneath her feet started to crack.
Madoka.
Madoka heard the voice in her head echo, when the ground started to disintegrate.
It's now or never.
"You don't have to suffer anymore, Homura."
No response. The body of Homura continued to writhe, the face still flickering with a white light.
"Nothing is hopeless! This isn't our old world!"
We're here.
Kazuko stomped the face of a demonspawn into the ground; her strength from her days as a Veneficus serving her well as she jammed her pistol into another one's face, piercing its "skull" before sending a high-caliber round into another one. She tore her arm upwards, sending the poor creature careening over the edge of the building into the emptiness below.
Mami tossed her gatling gun into the face of one creature, letting it explode violently before she took out a flintlock pistol. She pulled the trigger only once, killing several spawns with a single shot as the bullet curved elegantly into the sky. She threw it away, letting the weapon disintegrate before she pulled another gun out of nowhere, and shot another spawn, its metaphysical brains spattering against the surface of the building.
Sayaka stomped into the earth, sending several spawns into the air, before she sliced them all messily, using two enormous swords as a giant mixing blade. She twirled them about, before summoning another one to be used as a psuedo-bat, knocking them over the edge.
Kyouko had taken on the practice of skewering several demons at once, pushing them into her spear, before she plunged it into the ground, forcing a field of spears upwards into the horde. Every single polearm that she used was sent over the edge of the building, making sure that they weren't going to be able to respawn.
It was useles, however. Out of the miasma of the demons' barrier, several more spawns appeared, looking angrier and angrier with each appearance.
The group went back-to-back once more, as they all thought the same thing.
This is going downhill very quickly.
I'm calling your name.
"I couldn't save you..." Homura looked to the ground. The eye started to flicker as she said these words. "All I could do was let you down...let all of you down." Tears fell from her eyes, only to be swept from her eyes by the wind around them.
"You haven't let me down! I won't let you down!" Madoka shouted, gripping her grief gem as she did it. The ground was starting to disintegrate, and the buildings around Homura were starting to fall apart, the skeletal remains of their structures turning to dust as Homura screamed. Madoka stood her ground, grasping the bandages on her stomach as she continued to walk forwards, a hurricane-like wind trying to force her back as she pressed on.
"All I did was fail over and over again!" She held herself tightly. "I couldn't help you...not once...not a thousand times...it was worthless...I'm..." She started to sob. "I'm worthless."
The ground was starting to disintegrate even faster than it was before, as Madoka grit her teeth. "You have done more than you should have, just for me! You aren't worthless! You aren't a failure!" Madoka screamed as she walked forward. Her uniform was starting to come apart at the seams. The midriff of the dress was gone, now, exposing her bandages, which were now starting to come apart as well.
"I let you die...I died..."
Just a little more...Madoka was now a mere meter away from Homura. "But I'm alive! I'm here! Homura!"
She gripped the girl in the glowing mass. She was now floating, as the ground beneath them suddenly disappeared in a cloud of dust. "I won't leave you alone, Homura." The bandages exploded, the debris fluttering about as her wounds were suddenly exposed...only for the wind pressing against them to stop.
The other girl, eyes and mouth still glowing, gasped in disbelief. "M-Madoka..."
"These are still your demons, Homura." The wind was no longer threatening to blow her away. Madoka smiled, holding her tightly. "You're in control, Homura." Her left hand loosened up, lightly touching Homura's back.
The other girl held onto Madoka for dear life. "Madoka..."
"They can't be controlled on your own, though...I will help you."
'Is everything ready to go?'
Both girls turned to face the mental voice. EnBey had formed a new body in the center of the barrier. "EnBey?"
The creature was floating now, his eyes still as blue and cynical as ever. 'Homura, can you still talk? Are you still in pain?'
The girl's eyes stopped glowing, as the creature started to suppress the demons around her. "I...can talk...I'm still in some pain...I guess."
Madoka held onto her. "I will help you, okay? You have to try controlling your demons, okay, Homura?"
Homura nodded. "I'm ready, EnBey."
'Then concentrate...and hold still.'
Esta vitia
Homura felt the energy around her being sucked away. Madoka had her own eyes glowing now, a brilliant pink shining as she held onto Homura, acting as a light in her despair. The girl's appearance gave her a realization; she wasn't alone anymore. She never had to suffer alone anymore...and these demons...
Homura stared outwards, the demons around her suddenly stiffening. They were trying to resist EnBey's power just as they had before.
It wasn't going to work this time.
Homura knew that Madoka was alive now...that the girl didn't blame her.
She was helping her. She didn't feel the same pain of being alone anymore...
You...you're all under my control...
The demons shifted, slowly being sucked into a single point.
I'm not going to let my own misery stand in my way...
They started being sent backwards, Homura pulling them inwards.
You are nothing! And I...
EnBey strained some more. This was starting to strain him. 'Hurry up!'
"I am not your toy!" There was a burst of white light. Suddenly, they were sent careening backwards, the demons being sucked away. Their damage seemed to be undone, as the buildings were repaired as soon as they disappeared. The people in the streets stood dazed, confused, and gasping for air as Homura pulled her demons back, with Madoka holding onto her tightly.
Her grief was collected swiftly, the black gem shining before a black cage was formed around it. Her uniform started to form, as she let the gem float to her left arm. She gasped as it clicked onto it, as the demons around her started to form her uniform.
Her weapon, a bladed shield, formed, its being covered with criss-crossing black curves. It pulsed with purple energy, as a gauntlet formed over her arm, with a steel glove forming over her hand. Her uniform was long, flowing, and a pair of black wings exploded from her back, twisting like the barrier of a witch as they extended into a fine, black shape.
'Now this...is more like it.'
She landed on the ground slowly, as Madoka stared at her, the wounds on her stomach bleeding slowly. She saw the girl finally calm down, before slumping down, the adrenaline leaving her system.
Madoka! Homura grabbed the girl before she hit the ground, as EnBey floated beside her.
'Get her back to the hospital. Everyone's back in the same place that they were just before you contracted.'
Homura nodded, taking Madoka back up with her arms, almost as though she were a bride. "Right." She ran off, leaving EnBey back alone.
He sighed. 'Well, TorBey...I won. The demons are still controllable, even when they're seemingly overpowered.'
Junko stared in disbelief as she saw the city return to its original state. The first thing she decided to do was call the hospital. The mental tremors of the demons still echoed in her mind...she wanted to see if Madoka was safe...
Even if it wasn't hers.
He relaxed, curling back into a black ball. 'I have to say, it was a fun game, but you still. Fucking. Lost.' He started to drift into sleep, tired from the disaster that almost occurred that day. 'Very close, though...and more than a few people are probably so mentally scarred that they might as well have died...but I still won.'
Yoshio Kiyomizu blinked as the class stared in horror. The images of Madoka still flashed in their minds...they saw, no, felt the horrors that Homura had gone through. She started to stare at the desk at her desk in disbelief...
When Kyouko and Sayaka burst into the classroom.
The blue-haired girl gasped as she asked. "Yoshio, are you alright?"
Yoshio simply smiled, knowing that she was being cared for.
He yawned, letting the world around him continue its day in a state of mild confusion. 'Good game, you bastard.'
Mami blinked. She was back in the desk, and everyone seemed to grip their heads in horror. She assumed that it was because they had all been exposed to Homura's pain.
She dialed the phone, and called Kazuko.
'But you are not going to win so soon.'
Madoka was held in the arms of Homura, bleeding, yet content. The wings weren't being used, but they were still running quickly across the city, and she knew it.
She smiled, as she gripped the girl holding her.
At least this day ended well enough.
-Kalafina, Sprinter-
'He handled that well.' KyuBey flicked his tail, his golden eyes flashing as he did it. It gave him an air of malice, although he was not capable of feeling it.
TorBey stared. 'Indeed he did. This mission was not quite a success.'
'Continue on with Walpurgis.' KyuBey looked him in the eye. 'Is there a possible contractee?'
'We[I{They}] believe so.' The light in front of TorBey began to flicker, as an image appeared in a brilliant flash of blue.
KyuBey would have smiled. 'She has quite a bit of misfortune trailing her, and enough despair to make the transition quick.' He turned back to his cohort. 'Find several others to match her. The deadline is April 30th on the Human calendar.'
'Already in progress.'
'Excellent.' KyuBey stared at the Earth below. 'This part of the universe is as good as saved.'
A/N: That concludes this first part of Magica Madoka Veneficus Puella. The main story will continue about four weeks from now...and it will take place about two weeks after the events of this chapter.
I know that I said that I wouldn't use a timeskip. That...was a lie.
I will, on the other hand, use several "Interlude" chapters:
Week 1: Another Time, Another Place [VP!Madoka's adventures in the canon universe]
Week 2: I will be in Questa, New Mexico; A.K.A. the middle of fucking nowhere. I hate going there, and it's to my late grandmother's house, which is a dump. Why the fuck does my father think this is an enjoyable vacation?
Week 3: The Oriko Incident
Week 4: INTERLUDE DEVELOPMENTS-Pretty much Homura's diary.
I hope you enjoyed this series so far, and look forward to the final half in August!
[Also, Q ! If you have questions about the fic that haven't been answered on Spacebattles, go ahead and ask away as soon as you write a good, well-though out review (Like that'll happen.)]
Thanks for reading!
[Hanako was created by DayDreamer9. I am just using her...at her request. Expect to see her in MKVP.]
14. Interlude 1: Another Time, Another Place
Madoka felt darkness.
She was torn from her bed and she felt like she was in a dream.
A very real dream.
Her body ached as she floated about in the nothingness surrounding her. She could move freely, but it would accomplish nothing.
What could she possibly push herself off of?
'You are not here.'
Madoka turned around, trying to find where this deep, booming voice was coming from.
It didn't have a source. She heard it from everywhere at once.
"But what is here?"
It answered, cryptic as ever, as it rumbled the pink-haired girl to her very core.
'Everywhere and nowhere at once. In between realities. By all technicality, you do not currently exist.'
"What...what does that even mean?"
'You are not in your own world any more.'
In another universe, two were lifted from their doomed world, and sent to live in another.
While tearing two others from their own.
Suddenly, Madoka felt herself sinking. The air around her seem to suck her away. She grasped at nothing, trying to keep herself abreast of the current, only to disappear out of this endless expanse between universes.
'It has been done.'
And everything changed.
MMVP: Interlude 1:
Another Time Another Place
Madoka's eyes flickered open. That dream felt strange.
Unsettling, really.
Just what did it mean, anyways?
She yawned, letting herself stretch. So strange. She got out of the bed, stretching her legs as she did so. She wasn't going to be late for the first day of school!
She opened her windows wide, and looked at the cityscape, only to notice that something was odd.
In the distance, where she expected a mix of towers both old, new, and under construction, there were a bunch of towers, but all of them were hideous, steel frames. Nothing like that diverse mix of towers that she had seen almost constantly.
"…What?"
She stared, transfixed. She felt butterflies in her stomach, as she looked out…and instantly, she started looking to other possibilities.
Maybe there was a powerful witch that destroyed all the finished buildings? She shook her head. She'd hear about it from the news, she guessed.
[C]
Homura woke up. The bed felt squeaky, and her head felt fuzzy. The braids on her head were somewhat undone, and a few strands poked out from her hair.
She looked outside to that cityscape that she loved so much…only to see all of the gorgeous buildings in the distance gone…replaced by a few unfinished skeletons.
She rubbed her eyes, before putting on her glasses, the red frames gleaming as she did so.
That's strange.
She thought about it, wondering just what had happened…before she realized just what the time was.
Ah! It's almost time to get to school!
She pulled off the sheets of her bed. Her body felt stronger, and far more flexible than it ever had in her life. That operation on her heart had done wonders; she was probably going to make it through the next year…
Barring a witch attack or two.
[E]
Madoka walked into the class. She wasn't going to be late, as she was far too early for that, so she started to walk alone.
When she felt someone hug her from behind.
"Ah...Sayaka!"
"Hey!" She smiled as she just danced around. "Good to see you!"
Nearby, Hitomi smiled, walking by them as Sayaka danced around, pandering about, saying something about Madoka being her wife.
Madoka raised an eyebrow.
Hitomi gasped in mock surprise. "Is this…forbidden love?"
Sayaka smiled. "Jay-kay!" She let go. "Just a little joke for the morning!"
Madoka looked at Sayaka briefly, before shaking her head. I'm worried about nothing.
[N]
Homura walked into the class, as Kazuko introduced her. The woman in front seemed odd; nothing like the urban legend that was Kazuko Saotome in her old world…and she didn't even talk about her past girlfriends…she didn't even crack a joke about the Kaname family being full of heartbreakers.
Just old boyfriends.
How…strange…Homura frowned, when someone tapped her on the shoulder.
The health representative?
[T]
Madoka didn't expect too much of the new student, but she was more insightful than she claimed that she was. This girl knew that something was off with this world…
It was as if someone had switched everything…and it felt…
Wrong.
"Do you need anything, Akemi-san?"
Homura looked at the girl. "Kaname…?"
"I am the health representative, you know? I can take you to the nurse if you need it."
Homura looked at her, before raising her hand.
"I'm not feeling so good…can I please go see the nurse?"
Kazuko smiled. "Go ahead! If you need to go, just follow Madoka, okay?"
[E]
Both girls were in the glass hallway, with Madoka leading the way as they walked over.
Suddenly, in the middle of the walkway, with the ground a hundred feet below them, Madoka turned around, her kind face turning deathly serious.
"Something…isn't right here."
Homura gasped. "You…you noticed, too?"
Madoka frowned. "The cityscape's changed, and so have my friends. Kazuko isn't the same, either."
Homura frowned. "What's going on?"
"I'm hoping that we can figure this out together." Madoka smiled. "Madoka Kaname, Health Representative."
Homura gasped. This new girl, who happened to know just what had happened to them, had offered to be her friend…so she put her hand out, and gripped it tightly. "Homura. Homura Akemi."
Madoka smiled. "It's good to see you, Akemi-san!"
"And you, too, Kaname-sa-"
"Just call me Madoka, okay?" She smiled. "No need for formalities, okay?"
Homura stared, her eyes wide, before she smiled.
At least they were in this together.
[R]
School let out, and Homura was walking with Madoka's friends, with Sayaka staring at this new girl.
"Already getting to be her friend so soon, eh Kaname?"
Madoka stared at her. Sayaka was a little too open. Too friendly. "Oh?"
"Maybe we could take her somewhere! See a movie or something like that!"
Madoka grit her teeth. Something is wrong. "We've only met her." She didn't notice that a hint of venom entered her voice at this moment.
Sayaka flinched. Madoka seemed more acidic than usual.
They entered the mall, when Madoka heard a voice in her mind.
'Come to the attic.'
Madoka's eyes widened. This voice…it sounded horribly familiar…
TorBey?
'Who...is this TorBey?' The voice responded. 'I am no such creature.'
She turned to Homura, who had a similar state of mind. Her eyes were wide, and she knew just what Madoka heard.
Madoka broke off from the group, as did Homura, running off to the source of this strange sound.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Sayaka yelled, watching them run off into the mall. "You can't just ditch us!" She started to run, before suddenly turning back to Hitomi. "Sorry, but I have to go do this!"
Hitomi smiled. "That's okay! Take your time!"
And Sayaka ran off.
[C]
Madoka ran into the empty room, the darkness of the mall's attic permeated only by the occasional red light, giving it an eerie, otherworldly atmosphere.
The pink-haired girl trembled as she walked with Homura close beside her. "What…was that sound?"
'That was me.'
Both girls turned quickly, when their eyes widened.
This creature was certainly not TorBey. It had white fur and red eyes, just like the creature, but the ears where not clawed, and the haloes around its ears were not attached by any means, nor were they combat ready.
This was a creature that was thought to have been retracted from Earth several hundred years ago.
This world had no EnBey, no TorBey, and none of their "new" witches.
This world ran on the old system…the one that had ended the lives of all who had fallen victim to it.
This world was doomed.
Both girls stared, Madoka trembling as the creature stared at her. 'Is there something wrong?'
Homura took a step backwards, gripping Madoka's arm tightly.
'I don't seem to understa-'
"Y-You monster!" Madoka screamed, before she grabbed a nearby lead pipe. She screamed as she took the pipe, raised it above her head, and sent it hurtling into the creature in front of her.
Pipe met head as KyuBey was sent crashing into the ground, a spatter of blood appearing as she just whaled on him, crashing the pipe down repeatedly. Eventually, the pipe started to bend, as the ground started to crack.
Madoka, panting and terrified, put the pipe down, as her hands felt like they were on fire. She slumped down, as Homura simply held her by her shoulders. "M-Madoka!"
"I'm...I'm fine." She sighed. "We're…not home anymore."
Homura stared at the corpse of the creature that had appeared just seconds before, when they both heard another mental sound.
'If you're trying to end my life[lives, I can tell you that it will not work.'
Madoka's eyes suddenly widened, as she jerked her head up. Her teeth were gritted as she turned to the source of this mental voice.
'I am not a hostile creature, nor should you treat me as such.' KyuBey walked back in, standing above his own body, before eating it.
Madoka had heard the stories of TorBey and his ilk eating their fallen bodies' corpses…but this was too much. She felt sick.
The creature stared at her. 'It is, as of this moment, irrelevant.' He looked them in the eyes. 'I can sense that you have potential. Whatever you have heard of me is untrue. I am not a hostile crea-'
"If you're not hostile…" Madoka's voice dripped with venom. "Then what about all of those girls that you lied to over the years?"
'I never lied.' KyuBey would have found these girls distressing. Both of them already knew of the Puella Magi system…but how? 'But I have withheld information.' He looked at her. 'By your definition, that is not lying.'
"But you killed them! And for what? Preservation of the universe?"
Sayaka ran in to see Madoka with this creature…and her eyes widened. She had never seen Madoka this angry…this furious.
What…What happened last night?
'I did not kill all of them.' He stared, unblinking, unfeeling. 'Those that were transformed into witches were killed by other Puella Magi. The Puella Magi that have died were killed by their own carelessness.'
Madoka took a step back. "You…you really don't see a problem with what you do, do you?"
'As an Incubator, I see none of your emotional or ethical issues with what I do. As I see it, in the long run, the damage that you do will cause far more destruction than the Puella Magi system. I am merely an agent against Entropy. You are just a girl who happened to-.'
"Shut up."
Several tense seconds passed, as Madoka stared at the ground. This world…this new world that they were in was not a battle ground…but the damage caused…the witches could still kill thousands.
The civilians weren't able to protect themselves this time.
This secret battle was happening under their noses, with a huge number of casualties…
All because of this creature.
She took both of her arms, and grabbed KyuBey by the neck. His head started to bulge as his throat was closed, and the creature started to speak once more.
'There is no point to this, you know. I will just come back…though you could still contra-'
"There is no way in hell that I would contract!" Madoka grit her teeth…and Sayaka cringed in the background.
Madoka gripped it with even more force than she had before, before she took her other hand, and crushed the head in her fist. She tore it off, as it wasn't all too hard to do when your body was full of adrenaline. She tossed the destroyed body aside, gasping as she did so.
She collapsed once more, staring at the ground as Homura ran to her once again.
"The world…it's changed, hasn't it?"
Madoka frowned. "It's changed…and my friends…" She laughed bitterly. "Are as good as dead."
Sayaka gasped. What does she mean?
Suddenly, the world around them started to warp. Even Sayaka, who was twenty meters behind them, saw the room twist itself, as butterflies started to fly about them.
"It's…an old-style barrier, isn't it?" Madoka stared upwards. She was torn from her own world…just to die here, wasn't she? "What a way to go."
Suddenly, symbols, buildings, creatures started to form out of the walls, as the very structure of the room melted away.
Horned vines crawled out of the floor, as Anthonies, thousands of them, surrounded Madoka, Sayaka and Homura.
And Madoka turned her head. "Oh…hello, Sayaka." She looked at the girl, an empty smile on her face. "I suppose you saw what just happened, right?"
Sayaka nodded. "Yes?"
"Never talk to him."
The Anthonies started to smile, as they formed scissors. What a fine gift for the queen.
Homura stared at the approaching familiars with horror, and gripped onto Madoka even tighter than she had before.
Madoka took a single hand and grasped Homura's hand, certain that this would be end of her life.
Sayaka held onto Madoka's arm, as Madoka stared at the shifting, twisting ground…when a yellow light washed over them.
"Tiro Finale!"
Madoka smiled. At least some things had stayed the same in this new world. "Mami?"
A girl, her hair a golden blonde, landed in front of the girls, guns forming from her magic. A ribbon was wrapped around the parameter, before it blew itself outwards, killing the familiars around the girls.
Mami turned back, smiling softly as she did so. "I hope you girls weren't hurt too badly?"
Madoka smiled sadly. She knew that this Mami was doomed…and she saw that Homura had realized this too. "No…we weren't."
"That's good, then!" The girl formed a musket rifle, and twirled it, holding it in one hand towards her enemies. "I wouldn't have liked to see a few innocent kids die now, would I?"
[A]
The witch did not take long for Mami to kill. It wasn't a very powerful creature, nor was it very dangerous…
But that wasn't the pressing matter.
Sayaka had separated from the two, presumably to talk to Mami. Homura held Madoka's hand tightly, with it trembling as they walked side-by-side.
"I guess…we're stuck here, right?"
Madoka looked at the other girl. "I think so."
Homura frowned. At least nobody was going to miss her…but what about-?
Her head jerked up. Her family! "What about your family?"
Madoka sighed. "I don't…I don't know. I don't even think that they'll notice me missing…I probably replaced someone…which means that they're replacing me." The pink-haired girl gripped Homura's hand. "But…that doesn't mean we can't do anything."
Homura looked at Madoka. "What do you mean?"
Madoka smiled. "We know the secrets of the Incubators. It was taught to us in school." She stared Homura in the eyes. "We can save them!"
Homura smiled. "Save your friends?"
"Yes! Hitomi and Sayaka won't have to die! Even if they do live here, with this Incubator…they can still live!"
Homura nodded, her naiveté revealed through the unsure trembling of her hands.
Maybe they could change things.
[N]
They were dead.
They were all dead.
Madoka pounded the ground. Mami was killed; her top half was missing, with bits of it strewn across the ground. Her head lay at Madoka's feet, as though to mock her, eyes shut, mouth in a soft smile.
Kyouko was dead; her soul gem was shattered by Sayaka…in a last-ditch effort to prevent her from becoming a witch.
And Sayaka…Sayaka had defeated Walpurgisnacht, but at the cost of her sanity. Her soul gem was so tarnished that she had to crush it before she could turn into a witch herself.
The city was ruined, the skyscrapers jutting out of the ground like broken boards, with debris scattered around Mitakihara.
The school that they had gone to for the past few weeks was destroyed, along with almost everyone in the safe-shelter that Madoka had resided in…
Including her family.
Madoka sat by Homura, with the former sobbing openly. This world had no way out…no true happy ending…
Or so she thought.
Homura stood up, and looked Incubator in the eye. "Incubator…I know that we have enough misfortune to make a wish, right?"
Madoka blinked. Homura… Her face twisted in horror as she realized just what Homura was about to do. No!
Incubator flicked his tail. 'That is correct.'
"Then I know what I will wish for." Homura grabbed Madoka by the shoulders.
"Homura, you can't do this!"
"Yes, we will. We will do it for you, your friends, your family, everyone!"
Madoka then realized just what Homura was going to wish for, and she grinned. "Then…let's do it."
"Incubator! I wish for Madoka and I to become a different kind of Magical Girl!"
Incubator stopped waving his tail. 'What?'
Madoka stepped forward. "We wish to become a kind of Magical Girl from another world…the one that we came from."
KyuBey was intrigued. 'Oh?' He sighed. 'You know…if your wish is to be a different kind of magical girl, then you will be exempt from the standard contract…depending on what kind of magical girl it is.'
"Then we will do it!" Homura started moving forward. "I wish for us to become those that are powered not by hope, but by despair." Homura started, passion flooding her veins.
"And, as such, I wish for us to be able to travel backwards in time." Madoka said. "Take our Grief."
'Is this even possible?' KyuBey said, staring at them as black magic started to leak out of the girls' backs.
"Yes, it is!" Madoka shouted. "It was possible on the world that we came from!"
Homura grit her teeth. "Fulfill them, Incubator!" The demons flew from their backs. A purple and pink light illuminated the ruins of Mitakihara, before two figures, one dressed in a black, long, and flowing dress, and the other in her own uniform, a bladed shield on her left hand, and a steel gauntlet on her right.
'Your grief has given you abilities as well…' Incubator stared at them. 'The cause of your grief has given you the abilities necessary to combat it.'
"Thank you, Incubator." Madoka said, walking backwards as a portal started to form. "Homura!"
The other girl, trapped in this new world with her, grasped Madoka's hand. "We're in this together, right?"
Madoka smiled. "Right."
In a flash of light, and a blast of wind, they were gone.
[N]
The first repetition was unpleasant, but easy enough. Madoka and Homura were able to kill all of the witches and save the girls.
But when Mami discovered the truth, she killed everyone, including herself.
They repeated the timeline.
[O]
This time, Madoka and Homura tried to prevent Sayaka from meeting KyuBey. If they prevented her from meeting him, maybe they could save everyone.
Sayaka was killed by Charlotte. She didn't even know what hit her.
Mami and Kyouko were already dead by the start of this timeline. They weren't paying attention during a fight that the Venefici couldn't have reached.
[T]
Sayaka, Mami, and Kyouko recognized the pair this time. Sayaka questioned Homura's presence.
It didn't take long for an air of distrust form between everyone.
Sayaka turned into a witch, refusing the Grief Gems from the two girls.
Learning the truth, Mami tried to kill the pair, and Kyouko, again.
She only succeeded in killing Kyouko; Mami was offed by Madoka's arrow.
Madoka fell into an even deeper depression than she did before.
[H]
Madoka and Homura changed their hairstyles. Madoka removed the ribbons that gave her the distinctive pigtails on her head, instead opting for a short bit of hair, that just barely passed her neck.
Homura wore a ponytail, and her glasses were still used; she couldn't remove her need for them, even if she tried.
Irregardless, the timeline still ended poorly. Sayaka didn't stand a chance against Kyouko; her head was removed, before her Soul Gem was impaled.
[O]
Walpurgisnacht killed everyone with its ultimate attack as soon as it appeared.
The Puella Magi were unprepared, and the city was flattened.
Madoka and Homura were the only ones left…and they rewound the clock.
[L]
The death of Sayaka was preventable, in retrospect.
The intervention of Oriko in this timeline was unprecedented, and Yuma Chitose was contracted.
All three girls were targeted by Oriko. Neither Madoka nor Homura were willing to kill her, for the sake of saving at least one life.
It was not worth it.
During the battle with Kirka's witch, Yuma was killed very quickly. Kyouko, Sayaka, and Mami were sliced into pieces, having chosen to commit suicide rather than face their eventual fate as witches.
Oriko won.
Both Madoka and Homura realized that killing is sometimes the best solution.
[D]
Mami was having a rather tough time with this particular witch. Its body was more like a metallic spider's. It even seemed to use chain as a web, with steel cocoons surrounding it.
The Puella Magi decided that it wasn't a good idea to think about what was in them.
It was then that several chains latched onto the girl, pulling her limbs with a horrific force.
The spider [Ida Dactylia] approached the trapped Puella Magi, batting away the muskets as they started to materialize. It opened its jaw, prepared to remove the head of this new girl with her maw…
Only for a pink arrow to burrow through its body. Instantly, it was blown backwards, the arrow jammed into the spider's abdomen. The spider shrieked, as it turned to face its new opponent, only for a bladed shield to bisect it, bits of mechanical organs flying about as the halves were forcibly separated.
"What was…!" Mami gasped as the chains around her disintegrated, and the barrier started to dissolve. She hit the ground, the world returning to normal as her saviors, one of them with pink, unkempt hair, and the other with a ponytail, landed on the ground, black energy surrounding them.
And the first thing that Mami noticed about them was the fact that their soul gems were completely pitch-black.
"Y-Your soul ge-!"
"Give me your gem." Madoka said. Several timelines ago, she would have given an explanation. But she was beyond that, at this point.
"What are you-!"
"Give. Me. Your. Soul. Gem."
Mami complied, only to see the cloudy darkness in the gem disappear, the Grief absorbed by the girl's own mysterious…Gem.
The Puella Magi couldn't even comprehend it.
Madoka smiled, as she looked to her companion. The other girl nodded; Homura she appeared stoic enough, but she still had a hint of innocence on her person.
"Who…are you people?" Mami asked, standing up as her Puella Magi outfit dissolved.
Madoka stuck out her hand. "I'm Madoka Kaname." Mami, bewildered, shook her hand. "And this is Homura Akemi."
The other girl took out her own hand, letting Mami shake it.
Mami smiled. "Thanks for saving me."
Madoka flinched slightly, as Mami said that, memories passing through her mind briefly. "It's…not a problem."
[I]
Sayaka knew that Madoka was off. It wasn't just the hair that was getting to her. It was her attitude; the girl always seemed to be a little off, even a little sad.
She kept on looking at Homura, as though she knew her...hell, maybe even loved her.
It was unsettling, to say the least.
The fact that she saw them both in her dream several nights ago did not help matters.
But her uneasiness didn't matter at this point.
I'm going to get answers.
"Excuse me." Sayaka said, as everyone at the table suddenly turned their heads to her.
"Hmm?" Madoka turned to the girl. She had just finished explaining just why she had suddenly changed her hairstyle.
Personally, Sayaka thought it was a load of bullshit. "Can I speak to you for a second, Madoka?"
"Sure thing."
[T]
They ran to the bathroom, and Sayaka slammed Madoka into a stall.
"What's wrong with you?" Sayaka frowned as Madoka looked at her friend.
Madoka's voice was flat. "I don't know what you're talking about." Playing dumb won't get you anywhere, Madoka. She's not stupid.
"You're lying, Madoka."
See? Madoka sighed. "Then it doesn't matter. You're not going to get an answer." The last time you did, you turned into Oktavia.
"Why the hell not?" Madoka flinched. "I deserve to kno-!"
"The truth won't help, Sayaka!" Madoka glared at the other girl. "Can you not see that?"
It was Sayaka's turn to take a step back, but Madoka wasn't done.
"You're so self-righteous!" If you try to save everyone, you will save nothing. "Sayaka, you can't do this!"
"Why not?" Sayaka shouted back, her voice raised to the point of unbearable fury. "Why the hell not?"
"...Madoka?" A third voice interrupted them, the meek and really quite soft voice interrupting them in the middle of the argument.
"I've got to go. I'll see you tomorrow." Madoka started to walk briskly out of the stall, leaving a few confused girls watching her leave.
"Madoka!"
The girl didn't even look back. "Goodbye, Sayaka Miki."
[I]
The pendulum above their heads hung like an omen, rocking back and forth precariously. Though it was fine-tuned to the point of being impossible to knock off, it was still a very foreboding object.
Madoka stared at the screens on the wall as Homura adjusted them, both of them observing at the various images floating about.
"How much time until Walpurgisnacht?"
Homura looked back at the other girl. "Four weeks. Mami's protected from both the truth of the Puella Magi system and Kyouko is far enough away from the city, though she may come in to ally with us when the time comes. What about Sayaka?" Her glasses reflected the lights briefly, obscuring her eyes for a split-second.
"She's getting curious. I need to keep an eye on her, make sure that the little…" Madoka glared to the window. "Bastard stays away from her."
"Madoka...you're starting to swear again."
"You didn't think that I noticed?" Madoka buried her face in her hands. "I…I can't deal with this anymore. I don't want to see them die again, but is this even worth it?"
Homura frowned. "You're the one who decided to go back into the past to try and fix things, Madoka. I think that you know the ans-"
Madoka slammed the table, forcing the papers on it to jump. "No I don't!"
Homura flinched, and her mouth clenched itself shut.
"She's not even my Sayaka! She's not the one I knew! She's not one I grew up with! It was foolish to think that I could save this Sayaka!" She slumped down, sobbing into her hands. "Just…what's the point? What's the point of trying to save them in this death world when they can't be saved?"
Homura ran over to Madoka's side, wrapping her in a hug. "Please, Madoka…please…even if we don't go back…these girls have to be safe in some way…somewhere, there's another Homura and another Madoka…they might not want to come back…they might think that this world cannot be saved…but I don't think they would like it if their Sayaka, and their Mami, and their Kyouko had died, and I don't think that they'd let ours die, either." She gripped her tightly. "Isn't that why you started this? Because you knew just how painful it would be to see your best friend die?"
Madoka stiffened for a second, before she loosened her muscles and sighed, smiling softly as the other girl buried her head into her shoulder. "Where would I be without you, Homura?" With a familiarity that only she could muster, she turned to the black-haired girl. "I don't think I would have lasted this long if it weren't for you."
Homura smiled. "I'm just glad to see that you're alright."
Madoka grasped her hands tightly, never letting go. They stayed like this for a minute, when Madoka decided to ask a simple question. "Homura…can I…kiss you?"
The other girl blushed a deep red, blinked a few times, and started to tremble. "S-sure...you c-can." She looked at the other girl, still shaking. "Why so s-suddenly?"
"A…a few timelines ago…I noticed something." Madoka smiled softly. "Everything else started to just…fade away. It didn't seem real to me…it all felt disconnected. Even Sayaka."
"What are you saying?"
"The only one who seems real to me is you, Homura. You've always been with me…you're even from my world." Madoka shook her head. "I'm sorry…our world."
"Are you saying that-?"
"I love you?" Madoka finished, smiling sadly. "I don't know…but I feel a connection with you that I am not willing to share with anyone else." She looked Homura into the eyes, and stared. "So…are you willing to try?"
The other girl smiled. "Yes."
For the first time in ages, Madoka smiled genuinely, and cupped her cheek. Homura took hold of the hand, the awkwardness of her movements offset by the smoothness of Madoka's. The pink-haired girl pressed her mouth to Homura's, and suddenly, the other girl stopped shaking, and eased herself into the kiss.
As their lips met, they failed to notice that a certain blue-haired girl had heard the entire thing.
She slinked into the night.
[S]
'Sayaka Miki…you have quite the potential.'
Sayaka sighed, as the creature stared. "Yes. I realize this, KyuBey. You've been saying that a lot, lately." She sighed. "I think…I think I know what I will wish for, this time."
'Then what is it that you wi-' An arrow whizzed by Sayaka's head, impaling the creature in the forehead. He flew backwards, hanging off of the bench like a grotesque trophy for a second, before the arrow dissolved, leaving a very dead Incubator lying on the bench.
Sayaka gasped, turning to the source of the arrow, only to see two silhouettes bounding away into the city, their forms illuminated by the moonlight.
She grimaced, quickly realizing just what had happened.
[T]
"What were you doing that night?" Sayaka was angry this time. Her one moment, the one time that she would have been able to figure out everything, had been squelched.
It felt like her explanation had been taken from her. Like it was stolen.
And she seethed with rage.
"I was preventing you from making a foolish mistake, Miki."
Sayaka flinched. "Just…Just where are you from?"
Madoka smirked. "Do you really want to know?" She checked her mental calendar. One week left. "I am not sure that you do."
"Yes, I want to know, Madoka." She frowned. "I heard your little talk last night."
Madoka's eyes widened. She heard all of that? "And?"
"I want to know what you're up to, you little slut." Sayaka knew that it was a low move, but she didn't care.
She wanted answers.
"You even heard the confession too, Sayaka?" Is she really worth saving? "Then maybe I should let you in on a little secret, Miki."
Suddenly, Sayaka found herself off of the ground, being held up by her collar. Madoka didn't even seem to be straining; she was using a single hand to hold the flailing girl above her head.
"You shouldn't eavesdrop." She pulled her into a nearby alleyway, throwing the poor girl against the wall. "Yes, you heard all of it. You heard about the timelines, right?"
Sayaka nodded.
"Good. Then let me tell you this." She frowned. "Everything we've done has been to protect you. All of the lies. All of the deceit. All of it has been to protect you."
"You…you don't even think of me as 'the one you knew.' You don't even like me! Why are you-?"
"I…" Madoka's words died in her throat. "…I don't know."
They stayed like that for several seconds, only for Sayaka to scramble back to her feet, wobbling as she did so; she was still disoriented from the rough treatment that Madoka had given her. "Then maybe you should lay off."
As Sayaka walked away, Madoka stood in the alley, staring at the ground. She raised her hand…and punched the nearby wall with a scream, leaving a fine crater in the building's side.
Not like anybody would ever suspect a 14-year old girl of punching a hole in a wall.
[O]
Kyouko went into town under the advice of KyuBey. There was something suggesting that a new interference was messing with the going-ons in the town.
That is to say, killing every witch in sight.
"Hogging all of the kills, are they?"
'Indeed. It's becoming a problem. If they kill off all of the witches, then there won't be any more left for you, Mami, not even those Saints over in Tokyo.'
"Tokyo?"
'Yes. When the witches in Mitakihara finally run out, then they will probably go over to the Japanese Mainland.'
Kyouko was unsure about this; the weaselly little bastard a penchant for leaving out bits and pieces of the truth.
But that didn't mean she was going to let this get by her.
[O]
The clash didn't last long.
As Venefici, their attacks were far too strong. Homura's shield quickly blocked Kyouko's attacks, before she spawned several hundred more, sending them towards the Puella Magi.
The battle lasted a grand total of five seconds, give or take a minute of preparation.
Homura walked up to Kyouko and pulled the injured girl up.
"Why…why are you taking-?"
"Because the witches are threats." Homura said this with very little emotion, though it was clear that she was honest about her words. "And, with us around, you don't need Grief Seeds."
"Why don't you…"
Before she could finish, Homura showed the girl her Grief Gem, the black surface gleaming in the glow of the streetlights.
"Y-your-!"
"Let me clue you in on a secret, Kyouko Sakura." Homura let the girl down as she pressed her Grief Gem to the other girl's Soul Gem. "We're not like you." Instantly, Kyouko's Soul Gem was cleansed, and the Puella Magi gasped in confusion.
Homura left quickly, leaving Kyouko to wonder just what the hell was going on.
[L]
"The situation with Sayaka getting worse." Madoka sighed. "And you said that Kyouko just came into town?"
Homura frowned. "She just started fighting. She thought that we were hogging all of the Grief Seeds."
Madoka sighed. "As if we needed them."
It was then that Homura looked to the door. "I know you're there. You can come in, if you like."
At Homura's door was, in fact, Kyouko…and two other figures.
One of them had blonde hair, and several muskets surrounding her.
The other had blue hair, and was still in her uniform.
Homura blinked. "I didn't expect company tonight-"
"We need to talk." Sayaka interrupted them.
"You want to know everything about us, don't you?"
Mami frowned. "You've been eliminating every witch in the city, cleansing our Soul Gems, and have even been causing a very slight amount of property damage."
Madoka blinked. "Property-?"
"You punched a hole in a wall." Kyouko deadpanned.
Both of the time-travelers frowned.
Madoka sighed. "I guess that was rather stupid and impulsive of me…" She glared at Sayaka. "Not unlike a certain someone."
Homura looked at the group. "Do you really wish to know what we are? What happened to us over the course of almost Forty-One weeks?"
The other girls nodded. These…Venefici or whatever they're called were causing a ruckus in their lives. Word had gotten out about their presence rather quickly…and there was a minor panic among the Puella Magi.
Madoka stared at them, her pink eyes glowing for a brief second. "Then let us tell you."
And their tale began…only for their universe to end.
[A]
In another universe, on another world, a pulse of Grief flashed through the universe. It flashed, engulfing the earth in an enormous Grief Comet.
It was then that a being of White Light, of the same Origin as the Great Grief Comet eliminated it from existence, erasing herself as well…
[T]
Madoka and Homura floated about in the void. The world was nothing…just a big, white, expansive room.
Homura's glasses floated away, as her companion stayed by her side.
Their months in this hell had ended…only for them to be stuck in a mere concept space, trapped between the multiverse.
For the first time in two months, Madoka was terrified. "Homura…do you know where we are?"
Homura trembled, shaking her head. "No...I…I don't."
Madoka gripped the other girl tightly. "I…is this what death is like?"
"If it is death…then I'm glad to at least spend it with you."
Madoka smiled softly. "We…we never got to save Sayaka, did we?"
"No…we did not. But at least we were able to try." Homura smiled, before pulling Madoka into a hug.
"We have each other, at least..."
[E]
[Black and white are the colors of photography. To me they symbolize the alternatives of hope and despair to which mankind is forever subjected.]
15. Interlude 2: The Time Lost
Interlude 2: The Time Lost
Madoka was still groggy.
She was doing better than she was about two days ago, sure, but she was definitely groggy.
Being bedridden will do that to you.
Madoka rubbed her eyes as she walked over to the training center in a simple set of casual clothes.
Well...it's finally Homura's first training fight today. She sighed. If I were a little less reckless last week, I would have gotten out sooner.
Throughout the entirety of the past week, Homura was helping Madoka recover. She came over every single day, giving her some food, painkillers, medicine, the works.
After all, the other girl wanted to thank Madoka for saving her life...and she was a good girlfriend.
Homura...She sighed. Gotta go watch her fight...she did so much for me, anyways.
As she got to the training center, she saw that several news teams were desperately trying to get inside.
Not that it would bear fruit.
[We are reporting live from the Mitakihara training facility, where Mami and Homura are about to participate in a training battle. Although the fight will be broadcast live courtesy of EnBey's hit broadcast, {Let's You And Them Fight}, we are trying to get an interview from the fighters before they...]
The reporter suddenly stopped as he noticed a certain girl walking over to the facility.
[It appears that the very girl who saved the city and the world has just arrived, the girlfriend of Homura Akemi and receiver of many a nasty email, Madoka Kaname!]
Madoka walked by them, and the reporter stuck a camera and a microphone in her face.
[Ms. Kaname, would you please give the viewers an answer as to how you are doing? We heard that your injury took a little bit of extra time to heal, thanks to the "Barrier" last Friday. Care to elaborate on tha-]
Madoka groaned, before shoving the camera out of the way.
The reporter just started blankly as the girl walked inside, obviously not caring enough to give a damn about the man with a mic.
[Don't broadcast that...damn it! Cut it!-*Static]
!
'There yah go.' EnBey sighed. 'That took longer than expected.'
Kyouko sighed. "Replacing the damn microwave's always a pain in the ass...why did you break it, anyway?"
'I was bored, and I was pissed.' EnBey took another shot of whiskey, which had been conveniently left by an employee of Kaname Industries. 'Bored because nobody was training, and there were no witches, and pissed because Junko sent me another bottle.'
Kyouko winced. "Well, stop chugging it. Even you can get drunk off this stuff."
'No, Fuck you.'
"Uh...did I come at a bad time?"
Both Incubator and Magical girl turned at the same time. "Yes. You did."
Madoka winced. "So...no trai-?"
'No, no, no...we're just fixing this hunk of shit right here.' EnBey tapped the new microwave with his tail. 'I tried cooking an egg in here.'
Madoka made a face. For a hyper-intelligent space alien, EnBey could be pretty stupid at times.
"Just so it could, and I quote, 'explod.'"
"And 'explod' it did." Mami walked into the room. "Finally recovered, Madoka?"
The pink-haired girl nodded excitedly. Her little trip to the center of Homura's barrier had taken a toll on her. She just barely made it to the hospital before bleeding out.
Of course, she could eat within a day's worth of healing, but it took a full week for her muscle tissue to recover.
Madoka nodded excitedly. "I can get back to protecting the city!"
Mami smiled at the younger girl's enthusiasm. "That's good to hear!"
It was then that everyone heard a light tapping sound, as a certain black-haired girl entered the room.
Mami grinned. "Homura! Ready to fight now?"
She was wiping her glasses with a wet cloth as she entered the room, her expression as blank as it ever was. "Yes." Puzzlingly, her glasses had not disappeared after her ascension into a Veneficus. Presumably, this was because genetic traits, such as the removal of a mental disorder, would result in a radically different person from the one who contracted, and thus these disorders, save the life-threatening ones, were left in the body to preserve the girl's personality prior to contracting.
Either that, or EnBey had a glasses fetish.
'Excellent.' The creature tossed a bag of popcorn into the newly repaired microwave. 'You know what to do.'
Both girls walked into the training center, as EnBey walked over to a nearby microwave. 'Do either of you mind music playing while you fight?'
Mami raised her hand excitedly. "Can you play HEATS?"
'Yeah. Why not?' He sighed, before putting the song on. 'As soon as Hironobu starts singing, start fighting.'
Mami pumped her fist into the air. She almost never got to choose the song. "YES."
The music started to build, as Homura transformed, her wings unfolding from her back, the demons that made them flickering as they expanded to their full span of 4 meters.
Mami pulled out several of her own guns, letting them scatter about her as she prepared to fight.
"ATSUKU NARE, YUME MITA ASHITA O-!"
'WELCOME, TO DIE!'
Both girls ran towards each other, the ground cracking under their feet as Homura slammed her shield into Mami's rifle, sending a wave of dust into the air, the windows in the buildings around them shattering from the force of the impact. The blonde-haired girl deflected the shield, before striking the Homura in the temple with the rifle.
Of course, Homura didn't react. She merely brought her shield to Mami's face.
She wasn't able to react in time.
Mami went flying, before crashing into the earth, taking out a single cannon as she slid, only for Homura to jam it with a shield, with the blades cutting it neatly in half. Mami shot it, forcing the shield to explode spectacularly.
The blonde girl grit her teeth, before creating a gatling gun.
It was then that Kyouko commented. "...Hey...she just made up that gun on the fly, didn't she?"
The barrels began to spin. "Barili Grande MORTE!"
'Yup. The whole "civilians" explanation was bullshit.' EnBey sighed.
"TEMPESTA DI METALLO!"Mami fired the weapon, as thousands of shots flew through the air.
The buildings around Homura began to disintegrate as she twirled around, the pair of shields that she was using deflecting each and every one of the shots.
She still wasn't reacting.
The bullets didn't lose any of their energy even as they were deflected, with some of the shots heading straight for Mami, the constant stream of her own firepower being the only thing stopping them from hitting her.
"Dakka Dakka DAKKA!"
Madoka blinked. "Warhammer?"
Mami tossed the gatling gun, before pulling out her signature cannons. "Finitore..."
Homura stopped moving, as she shook her shields, almost as if to clean the lead off of them.
"Morte Certa..."
The glasses-wearing girl prepared the shield for a throw, running over to Mami as she started to spin it.
"FINE SCIO-"
The shield was now the size of a house, and was currently barreling over towards Mami, the buildings around her disintegrating from the sheer force of the shield's movement... only for the Matriarch to nonchalantly bash the weapon aside with one of her cannons, letting it hurtle into the wall of the facility, a cloud of dust suddenly looming over the spectators.
On the observation deck, EnBey winced. Gonna have to fix that later.
Mami smiled softly. "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted." The smile was replaced very quickly by a psychotic grin. "FINE SCIOPERO!"
The guns fired simultaneously, as Homura actually took out a single shield. Her gauntlet was ready, as she twirled the bladed weapon around.
Every single enormous shell was instantly sliced in twain.
Mami stared in shock as they exploded. She sliced them?
Homura seemed to teleport, with the ground cracking messily as she sped towards Mami, only for the blonde girl to throw several cannons onto the ground.
They fired, letting several beams of light take Homura upwards, with a shield being the only thing protecting the other girl, before they all exploded violently, a shockwave passing over the arena as smoke engulfed Homura.
EnBey had his eyes wide-open. '...That's only going to annoy Homura.'
Mami wasn't so foolish as to think that the fight was over. She still had her guns ready...
The Veneficus then noticed something falling down from the sky several seconds after Homura was launched.
It was a single shield. It wasn't the fact that it was a shield that was bringing the other girl to notice it, as it was unremarkable in that regard.
What was remarkable about the shield, however, was its size.
It was several hundred meters tall, with several hundred metric tonnes of weight behind its rapid decent.
And it was currently hurtling towards Mami, blades and all,
"What the fu-"
'Holy shit, Homura. That's quite a bit of damage you caused there.'
The poor girl was currently hanging her head. It wasn't every day that you single-handedly destroy an entire training center with just one attack.
"I'm actually impressed, though. You managed to beat me for once!" Mami smiled.
Homura snorted, flipping her hair as she started to turn away. "Not like I'll be able to do that in an actual fight against a witch."
Mami sighed. "True, but I can't use my gatling gun, either."
Homura started to walk off, sighing.
However, Madoka had other plans. She ran over to Homura, and took a deep breath. "I've actually been thinking of this for a while, but...um...Homura?" She grabbed her girlfriend's hand.
Homura turned to her. "Yes?"
"Tomorrow...can we...um...go on a date?" Her hands held onto Homura's wrist lightly.
Instantly, Homura's face turned an uncharacteristic shade of pink, despite the fact that her expression did not change all too much. "Sure. Where to?"
"...I dunno...um...we'll think of something tomorrow, okay?"
Homura's face felt red-hot. "Sure...I don't why not."
Madoka pulled her hand. "I can't wait until then!"
She waved, running off and leaving Homura and Mami standing there, with the Black-haired girl stunned and Mami amused.
The blonde girl smiled softly. How sudden. "Good luck, you two."
The next day, after school, Madoka was already in a casual dress. She was in nothing more than a pink t-shirt and a blue skirt, probably because she knew that Homura was not going to be dressed in anything more complex than what she normally wore.
Little did she know that Homura was going to be dressed in exactly what she normally wore.
Madoka opened the door, only to groan. "Why are you-!"
Homura was still in her school uniform.
"I'm not supposed to wear this outfit everywhere?"
Madoka's jaw hung open. "No! No you're not!"
"Huh. I could have sworn that the case was different." Just keep at it. You'll get out of changing...
"Well it's not! You don't have to wear your school uniform 24/7!"
Damn it! Homura tried to shrug it off. "Well, where are we going fo-"
"I know where we're going, Homura! We're going to the shopping district."
Instantly Homura's eyes widened. "...Shopping district?"
"Yes. To get you something to wear other than your uniform...and the VP uniform."
Homura sighed. "Alright. I'll go."
It didn't take long for them to reach the mall within the district. After all, it was within walking distance of the school.
Madoka mentally questioned just why Homura "went back home to change" if she was just going to stay in her uniform.
"It would have been easier for you to just come home with me..."
"What were you saying?"
I said that out loud? "Sorry!"
Homura ignored it. They were on a date, after all. It was supposed to be a happy moment.
They got to one of the many, many clothing stores and entered it with little fanfare, only to hear a certain voice over the loudspeaker.
"This is Mami Tomoe, and this is my favorite store in Mitakihara."
Homura made a face. "She sold out?"
However, Homura quickly noticed something in each of the changing booths.
"Is that a camera?"
Madoka froze. "A...camera?"
Homura pointed, and, sure enough, there was a camera that was very obviously taped on the wall haphazardly with the strongest duct tape imaginable.
And it was pointed right at them.
Madoka's jaw hung open, and her eyes were a blank, horrified white. "L-let's go to another changing room."
The shopping session ended very quickly.
Every single booth had a camera. And all of them were made in the same way.
Apparently, according to the clerk (Homura assumed that she was several cans short of a six-pack), several people of various sizes and shapes had gone to the rooms just before Homura and Madoka got to the room.
How did they-?
They got what little clothing was worth buying and left.
Madoka decided that maybe the movies would be a little less invasive. After all, it was dark in the theater. Who was going to sneak in there just to spy on them?
Homura wanted to buy some tickets to see some movie about giant robots, so they went to go see it.
Madoka sat next to Homura, only to hear the girl next to her say something very soft.
"Close your eyes when you get scared."
In retrospect, Madoka wished that she had known what Evangelion was before she watched it. Her legs were still quaking after the movie, even after fighting the witches in her old world.
Combine that with the really weird philosophy and symbolism running around, and she was overwhelmed.
Never again.
Of course, what was waiting outside was a lot worse.
Reporters. Hundreds of them.
Madoka could even see some of them trying to force open the doors.
Homura formed a shield, nodding towards Homura as they both positioned themselves behind it.
"Get out of my way!"
They charged out of the theater.
Madoka thought that they would have gotten dinner by now, but that didn't seem to matter at this point.
The date was a disaster. Madoka now knew just what it was like to be pestered by thousands of people, some of which were actively trying to get indecent images of her and the "internet queen" beside her.
They were currently sitting on top of a billboard, where nobody would even bother to look for them. There was a point where it would simply be better to look for some other celebrity to pester.
And she now officially knew just how hard it was for Mami to deal with this kind of crap every single day.
At least she's not dating anyone.
"Um...Homura?"
The other girl turned her head. "Hmm?"
"I'm sorry about this date."
"What are you sorry about?"
"I should have known better than to bring you out here. You're kind of an internet sensation...I should have known that it would be big news if we were to go out in public and-"
"Madoka, it was a given. That's not what matters here."
"Then what does? We were peeped on! And as soon as we left the theater, they were waiting for us! I think I did pretty badly with the timing here..."
"Madoka, that's not what the date is supposed to be about."
The pink-haired girl seemed puzzled, only for Homura to explain.
"To be truthful, I didn't care about the movie or the shopping, or even that restaurant you wanted us to go to."
Madoka seemed to sigh. So I was right...
"The only thing that really matters is the fact that I was able to spend some time with you."
Madoka perked up. "Huh?"
Homura wrapped her fingers around Madoka's hand. "I was able to spend a little time with you. That was the only thing that mattered. That's what a date's all about, right?"
Madoka laughed at just how cheesy and sappy Homura seemed to be acting at this moment...but she was right. "Yeah..." She grasped Homura's hand back. "I guess that's all that did matter."
They stayed like that as the sun set.
Kyouko was tired. To say that sorting out the mentally ill victims of Homura's mass-infestation was a hell of a job would be an understatement. It would have been so much easier to just let the authorities take care of it, but noooooooooo, EnBey insisted that he take care of the responsibility.
And let his "lackeys" do the dirty work.
"Damn furball." She slumped onto the couch as Sayaka walked straight to the kitchen. "Where the hell do you get all that energy from?"
Sayaka nonchalantly turned on the oven in the apartment. "The tears of small children, and shovelfuls of orphan's dreams."
"Har har, very funny." Kyouko sighed as she stared at the ceiling. "So...what's for dinner tonight?"
"Pizza a-la Ice. In the Oven."
"Truly, a culinary masterpiece."
"You know me." Sayaka's voice was completely blank. "As masterful and creative as ever."
"Say, Yoshio..." Kyouko turned to the girl that was currently sitting next to her on the couch. "How does pizza sound?"
"Sounds better than starving." The Remnant was also tired. She had to go through another "Post-Homura Akemi Recovery Test." Being a Remnant, she and several other girls had to go through a series of mental and physical check-ups at least twice a week in order to ensure that they did not suffer any lasting damage from Homura's barrier.
"Goody...not as good as my cooking, right?"
"Nothing is as good as your cooking, Kyouko." She was dead serious. For all her faults, Kyouko was one hell of a chef.
"See, Sayaka? I'm the true master-chef in this house!"
"I never doubted that." She really didn't. "But we're still having pizza tonight."
Both Remnant and Veneficus responded with a bored, almost dead-sounding "Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay."
That night, Kyouko was sleeping alone, when she heard a light sob escaping from Sayaka's bedroom. She rose from the couch, her red hair in a mess, as she trudged over to the other girl's room.
Indeed, the blue-haired girl was sleeping alone, curled up into a ball, with tears streaming down her face.
To say that it was unsettling to watch was an understatement.
She was sobbing almost silently, trying to suppress the trauma that she had suffered even while she was asleep.
Not that it would accomplish anything.
The girl that Kyouko knew would always turn into a sobbing wreck at the turn of midnight, as she would start to cry whenever she was alone.
Whenever nobody was able to help.
Kyouko guessed that it was probably a foolish sense of pride that was in play here.
And she had enough of it.
She crawled into the bed, shushing the other girl as she climbed in beside Sayaka. "It's okay...You're not alone...don't worry."
Eventually, the crying died down.
Sayaka slept calmly for the first time in a year.
Of course, in the morning, both of them would deny that it ever happened.
But that wouldn't satisfy Yoshio's questions.
"Why were you in Sayaka's bed?"
"Stuff."
"Sayaka, do you know what happened to Kyouko's eye?"
"Stuff."
"...You're not going to give me a proper answer are you?"
Both of them glared at her. "Shit happened. That's it."
Yoshio sighed. "Better than nothing."
Junko looked at the map that EnBey was projecting. "Is this a diagram of space-time or something?"
'Or something.' The creature cleared its throat. 'The universes run at different rates and in different speeds when it comes to time. Some of them are getting younger as we move forward, and some of them are moving at a slower rate of time than ours. Long story short, it's fucking weird.' He sighed. 'They're nonlinear.'
"Understood. How can we access one?"
'Through the same way that Homura created a barrier. If TorBey can even hope to compete with her strength, he has to find someone with enough power to combat her. Someone with enough misfortune and despair surrounding her that she can easily turn into a powerful witch.' He looked at her. 'And unlike us, he has the technology and capability to warp reality to find someone like that.'
"...So we could simply have Homura get a-?"
'Only during Walpurgisnacht. The problem lies in the fact that her power is enormous, yet volatile. You remember just what happened with the city.'
"So that's obviously not an option." She took another shot as he looked at her, his blue eyes unblinking.
'You know, that's not going to make you understand multiversial physics any faster.'
"At this point, I don't give a flying fuck." She groaned. "What the hell. Continue."
'Goody.' He took his own shot. 'God, this thing tastes good. Well, anyways, TorBey will very likely find a creature with enough power to destroy Mitakihara, probably one from another universe.'
"So...just as this Homura and this Madoka were brought here..."
'He can easily bring a witch or an unstable Puella Magi over to this universe...or he could simply torture one of the many alternative Madokas until she makes a viable candidate.'
Junko shuddered at EnBey's casual mentioning of her daughter's torture. "So...Homura's the only hope of bringing my daughter back?
'As it stands now...' He looked her in the eyes. 'Yes.'
"Fuck them...fuck them all."
A single man, bloodied and brutalized, trudged through the abandoned industrial district. His left arm was a stump, with a bloodied bandage holding the blood within it from leaking out.
"She wants a fucking fight...I'll give her a fight..."
He wore a frown. His formerly thin body had given way to a stronger, healthier build. His face now had a grizzled appearance, and a haunted look in his eye.
His partner, a six-foot-tall business man, was now lying in pieces, probably scattered around by those familiars everywhere.
"Sayaka...You're going to pay."
A van drove to his side, with a four symbols printed on the side.
魔女狩り
MajoKuri
"We're going to make you pay for your injustice."
A/N: Sorry about the late update, but I've been busy.
[Thanks, Bones!]
So yeah. If you go to my profile, you'll notice that there's a poll.
Yes. I will be ending MMVP in about 14 weeks. That's the bad news.
The good news is that I'd like you guys to tell me what my next major project should be.
As in what my next epic 20 chapter story should be about.
So yeah.
Happy hunting!
16. Episode 14: Complications
\/
\I'm falling, down into my shadow/
\Grasping onto every breath/
\As I await the Deadly night/
The witch was overtaking the downtown area of Mitakihara quickly. It had arrived only a few moments ago in this very morning, and it was able to cross the city unimpeded, screeching as it lumbered across.
It was a pair of legs, with a cage upon her, absorbing the many souls around her with little effort.
Only for a new opponent to attack it.
A shield was blown into its cage, bending it inwards as the witch was blasted to the side. Roberta was thrown onto the ground, the street cracking before it recovered, the dented skull obviously giving it quite a bit of pain.
It was then that several arrows were embedded in its feet, forcing the witch to its knees as the pain bolted through its [mind] body.
The last thing it saw was a pair of figures, one of them in a black dress with pink hair, and the other in a uniform, with pitch-black hair and a pair of black wings.
"Good night."
A purple fractal exploded into the night.
{Non Ego Patier}
Magica Madoka Veneficus Puella
Episode 14: Complications
[Non Ego Patier]
"That didn't look like a particularly challenging witch." Kyouko had her arms behind her head, with a stick of pocky hanging out of her mouth. "Was it?"
"It wasn't." Homura was walking with her this morning. "It almost seemed pitiful, especially for a class 5."
Kyouko smirked. "Ah. You memorized the classes by now?"
"It wasn't hard to do."
"Just like killing the witch?"
It was then that a third girl joined them. "Well, it was two Venefici on one. It wasn't a very fair fight to begin with." Mami sighed as she walked over there. "But still, I can understand how this would be unsettling. TorBey's not even trying."
'The little fucker's just tossing a ton of witches to you. Personally, I don't think he cares if he gets one that's particularly potent this time.' EnBey ran over, skittering over a nearby brick wall. 'He's trying to find a potential Auctor.'
"Hey!" Everyone turned, and EnBey fell off of the wall, as they saw Madoka running over. "Homura!"
Homura was slammed backwards as Madoka caught her in a surprise hug. "Madoka?" She coughed as the girl gripped her tightly. "Geez! We saw each other last night!"
"That doesn't mean that I can't hug you when I see you, does it?" She smiled innocently.
Homura sighed, and rubbed the other girl's head.
'Ahem.' The creature had died again. He formed a new body on top of the wall. 'Damn it all. That's seven times this month.' He stared at Mami. 'TorBey is probably attempting to find an Auctor that can match an unrestrained Homura Akemi. Long story short, he's probably gathering energy to transfer something from another universe to ours.'
"So it would have to be on par with Madoka's Puella Magi potential?" Homura held Madoka's hand as they walked.
'Oh yeah.' He sighed. 'They'll have to haul ass to even hope to fight you, Homura.'
Homura sighed. "So they have to find a godlike being, right?" She wasn't trying to sound egotistical, but Madoka noted that it sounded somewhat…condescending.
'Yup.' EnBey sighed. 'Well…I gotta go.'
"Meeting with Junko again?"
'Yes.' He scampered off, leaving the group behind.
Homura turned back to Madoka. "Does it disturb you that your mother wants the other you back?"
Madoka shook her head. "I'm not really her daughter." She looked just fine with it, but it was obvious it troubled her slightly. "I think she deserves to have her come back."
[
'Irrelevant.' TorBey looked upon his latest target. 'Although she is important, manipulating her is not to help.' He turned back to the city. 'MajoKuri is to be redirected. Apply irrationality. A plan is about to be put into action.'
]
The day passed by with little fanfare. The training center was supposed to be rebuilt by the next day, so there was little to do.
Or, at least, that's what Sayaka was thinking right now. What the hell… She was bored. Very bored. The teacher was simply reviewing some of the information they had already gone over in class…which took very little effort for her to memorize.
The tests were a breeze, now. Being a Veneficus improved her mental awareness. Her memory was near-flawless, and her intelligence was higher than it was before.
And it was pretty high before then.
"Bluh."
'Hey, listen!'
Sayaka flipped out as soon as she heard the voice, swatting the air as though a certain blue fairy had appeared.
'…That worked a little too well. I'm outside. Kazuko, can you let her out?'
'Will do, you stupid little mother fu-'
'Let's do this without the unnecessary stupidity, please.'
"Miki-san? Can you please exit the room?" 'Happy?'
'I'm never happy. Meet me on the roof, Sayaka.'
Sayaka blinked. 'Uh, okay.'
]
'It's too easy.' TorBey sighed. 'When an already angry mind is possessed with more fury, it becomes far too simple to manipulate them to do the supposedly "monstrous." It's a wonder that the human race has not simply wiped itself out.'
Below him, was a van, abandoned and clearly marked.
It was white, but TorBey knew full well what was inside of it.
'Two hours. That is enough.'
]
EnBey waited on the roof. It was a clear day outside, and the sun beat down on him as he stared at the door in front of him.
It was a wonder that he was patient enough to wait for Sayaka.
'Three…two…one…'
The door opened, and Sayaka walked out. "Hello?"
'Excellent. You're here.' He walked over to her. 'I just found out something about MajoKuri.'
"MajoKuri? The same guys who attacked Yoshio a few weeks ago?"
'Yes. I think that there's something behind them.'
]
'…Oh. That was a lie, then? That makes it thirteen minutes.'
]
"You suspect that they are being manipulated?"
'TorBey can manipulate minds about as well as I can. His combat magic isn't as powerful, but that's only because it's distributed among his bodies. It wouldn't be out of the question for him to control a single Remnant Hate-group.'
"So he could force them to make irrational decisions?"
'Many of their attacks aren't manipulated by him. Such as the attack on Yoshio. That was purely their doing, as are the many killings and rapes committed by some of their members. That being said, he might attempt to drive you to a defensive position.'
"With MajoKu-?"
An explosion rocked the area as Sayaka was talking. A light breeze was felt, as dust was sent rising into the skies above them.
The epicenter was the street right next to Yoshio's elementary school.
"Yoshio!"
'Oh, fuck.'
]
Smoke rose from the crater where the van once was, and a chunk of the school's face was missing. A bit of rubble fell to the ground, and it was obvious that the windows of the school were blown inwards.
A few of the students lay on the ground of Yoshio's class, bleeding because of the glass that was sent flying into them. Their teacher was curled behind a desk, desperately trying to call 119.
It wasn't going to work. The school was disconnected as soon as the bomb went off. There were people inside of the school now, searching for a certain someone.
]
Sayaka was already in her armor, and a sword was already in her hand. She stopped as soon as she got to the school, staring in fury at the damage that the van had created. She rushed inside.
]
The men had Yoshio at gunpoint. This time, it would certainly kill her; being a Remnant wouldn't protect her from high-speed lead.
She struggled despite the grip, as they walked out, only to see a certain someone at the doorway.
"You're not going to get away so easily."
Yoshio turned to the voice, waving a hand as she saw Sayaka, only for the man holding her to tighten his hold on her.
One of the men pulled out a gun, aiming it directly at Sayaka. "Outta the way, bitch."
Sayaka grit her teeth. "Going to hit me with that pea-shooter?"
"Step aside, or I will shoot."
"I have superhuman strength, armor that can survive crashing through buildings, and the ability to spawn several hundred blades at once. Do you think that you can honestly-"
The gun fired. The shot struck Sayaka's shoulder, bouncing off of the armor like the worthless hunk of lead that it was.
She frowned, before her eyes started to glow blue. "Bad move."
She rushed to him, the speed leaving a crater where she was just a second ago. She grabbed his throat, before slamming him into the ground. "You just had to try kidnapping her."
He was dead as soon as he hit the ground.
The other men trembled as soon as they saw this display of force, before they all pulled out their own guns.
"Kill her! She's not immortal, just a VP!"
As soon as they tried to fire at her, several swords were thrust from the ground, covering her entirely. "Just a Veneficus?" As soon as their clips were emptied, the swords bent outwards, before spinning.
Within seconds, the men where sliced to pieces, blood splattering against the ground. The man holding Yoshio shook with fear, before he tried to fire the gun at Sayaka. He only heard a terrifying "click," so he tossed the gun away and yanked out a knife, putting it to Yoshio's neck. "S-Stop or I'll-!"
"You'll what? Slice her? If you cut her, I will kill you. If you leave her be, I will kill you. You attempted to the same thing another one of you tried about three weeks ago." She frowned. "They're trapped in the old industrial district."
"One of them is dead!" He trembled. "Because of y-!"
"Oh shut the fuck up." She punched a nearby wall. "You bombed an elementary school, probably killing several dozen innocent children. You kidnapped a child, my surrogate sister, despite what happened to your comrade, who tried to kill her before."
The man's eyes widened as he realized just what he had caused, before shaking his head. "S-Shut up!"
Yoshio shook. She knew that Sayaka wasn't going to hurt her, but the lengths she was going to for her sake were terrifying.
"You're the villain here. You killed innocent children." She glared at him, the eyes piercing his mind like daggers. "You're a murderer."
He trembled some more. His grip was starting to falter. "Shut up!"
Sayaka walked forward. The light in her eyes left an eerie trail as she spoke, gritting her teeth. "You are a monster. You're the one that deserves justice."
The man snapped. "SHUT UP!" He pressed the knife even further into Yoshio's neck only for his arm to be sliced off by a flung sword. He screeched, as he let go of Yoshio, grasping at the stump that was once his arm.
The girl ran off, running past Sayaka to the outdoors.
"And now attempted murder." Sayaka's frown deepened. "So close." She raised a sword. "Any last words?"
Tears leaked out of his eyes as he looked up at Sayaka "O-Oh my god…"
"Goodbye." She brought it down on him.
{}
Sirens wailed outside of the school. They had several children put onto the stretchers, as they brought them over a nearby hospital.
Not that they could be saved.
The police arrived with a strike team, only to discover their targets already quite dead, with Sayaka standing in the middle of them, holding Yoshio in her arms.
She was brought out of the school to meet Mami.
Who was more than a little pissed.
"What the hell was that?"
"I was saving Yoshio."
"'Saving Yoshio?' Is that what that was?" Mami pointed at the school. "It was a bloodbath. There was gore everywhere."
"They deserved i-"
"Look, Sayaka. You can't do this again. Terrorists or not, you can't kill them again. I'm not saying that they didn't deserve this." She glared at the body bags littering the ground. "But I can't keep covering you. It's only a matter of time before they start to get worse." Mami stared her in the eyes. "The press already has you painted as a loose cannon. Another incident like this and you'll be listed as a murderer."
It was then that three other Venefici appeared. "Sayaka!" Kyouko landed on the ground.
Madoka ran over to her. "What happened?"
"A slaughter." Homura stared at the doorway and the bodybags.
Kyouko, on the other hand, was worried about something else. "Is Yoshio okay?"
Sayaka glared at Mami, before walking off. "Someone tried to attack her. She's safe now, but someone got a gun to her head." She bent her knees. "I will be going now." She was gone in a cloud of dust.
"Wait, Sayaka!" Madoka raised her hand, only for it to fall limply towards the ground as she left. "What happened?"
]
TorBey was gone. His work was done; there was nothing more. He noted that he didn't even need to do anything. Just a little emotional push.
'How foolish.'
He scampered off.
]
Sayaka was alone. She killed them, but they deserved it. They deserved every slice she gave them. Every single one.
She sighed. "What the hell."
It was then that Kyouko ran over to her, dressed in her normal garb. "Hey! Why'd you run off like that?"
Sayaka didn't answer. She just kept staring out into the city's skyline, before curling herself into a ball. "It was a moment of fury."
"You turned the school's hallway into a blender." Kyouko sighed. "Look. MajoKuri is probably angry now. News of this will spread quickly; you know how the media is!" Kyouko patted her on the back. "Besides, you're not in trouble yet. Mami will kick you out only after you harm an innocent civilian."
"Like what happened with the boulder?" Sayaka chuckled.
"Hey!" Kyouko slapped her on the back this time. "That was an accident, dammit!"
Sayaka sighed. "But hey...Yoshio's safe."
Kyouko looked at her, a frown on her face. "But at what cost?"
{}
'You don't need me to tell you this, but Sayaka has issues.' EnBey glared at Mami. 'Should we kick her out of the ci-?'
"Don't say it." Madoka stared him down. "She's a flawed person, but she doesn't need to be kicked out."
'Flawed? She killed seven people. They're cut into fucking pieces. It's a miracle that there's enough left of them to be put into a goddamn box.'
Madoka stopped, gulping as she did. "But they tried killing Yoshio again...it doesn't excuse her murder, but it could be considered justified."
Homura sighed. "Murder is still murder. There has to be some way to prevent her from doing something like this again."
Mami took out a phone. "I think I know the solution." She dialed in a certain number.
'Calling for help?'
"If Sayaka can't control herself, then there's only going to be more bloodshed. We can't have her killing them willy-nilly. It simply doesn't work that way."
"So even with the threat of exile, you're planning on having a restraining bolt on her?"
'I wouldn't expect a mere threat to be enough to keep her from going after the bastards who tried killing Yoshio.' He sat on Mami's shoulder. 'But when you call for help, make sure that it won't disrupt the Saints. They can't totally abandon Tokyo, and taking just one out from their ranks would ruin their strategies.'
"There are two new members, aren't there?" Mami looked back at him as she put the phone to her ear. "I think we can afford to bring them in without having them completely ruin the Pleiades Saints' battle plans." She started to chat as Homura and Madoka backed away to talk alone.
"...I can't believe she did this." Madoka put her hands to the side of her head. "I...I knew that this Sayaka was a little off, but still..."
"These men provoked her. It was irrational, but it was also to be expected." Homura patted her girlfriend on the back reassuringly.
"I still...feel like I could have prevented it somehow."
'You couldn't have.'
Both girls turned to EnBey, who was now sitting behind them. 'I was talking to her just before she ran off. If I knew this was going to happen, I would have used a brick wall.'
"But even then, Yoshio would have been kidnapped."
'Better than the bad PR that's going to come up thanks to a very public murderhouse. In the middle of a fucking school.'
"EnBey!"
'I'm sorry, but it's the goddamn truth.'
Homura stopped him. "That may be a fact, but still, not much could have been done."
Mami shut her phone. "Done! By tonight, two extra Venefici will be in the Mitakihara area. Yuuri and Airi, if I remember correctly."
"Oh?" Madoka turned to face her.
Homura raised an eyebrow. "I hope that they won't be too much of a hassle."
"They probably won't be. They're calm, cool, collected, and work perfectly as a pair. They should be fine as a protection against another one of Sayaka's rampages."
Homura looked over to the direction where Sayaka had run off. "Let's hope that she doesn't go on another one."
[Trial]
"Cool down, Sayaka." Kyouko sighed deeply. "Besides, I don't think they're just a little angry. I think they're a bit worried, too."
"What do you mean?" Sayaka looked at her again. "Worried about my mental health?"
"Weeell...I don't doubt that." Kyouko rubbed the back of her head, as Sayaka stared at the ground. "But that's not what I meant."
She looked back up. "Then what do you mean?"
"They don't want you to end up like I did, I think."
"Exiled?"
"Exactly. It doesn't go away, and it's not a very pleasant thing to go through. Besides, you have friends here. Madoka, Hitomi, Kyousuke..."
"Not the last one."
"What, did he break your heart?"
It was then that Sayaka laughed heartily.
"Hey! What's so funny?"
"I'd never fall for him, silly! I never knew him!"
"Never knew him?"
"Besides, I don't like guys." Sayaka waved her hand at her.
"Ah. Like tacos more than hot-dogs?"
It was then that Sayaka was scandalized. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"I'm just teasing you!"
"Jeez! Don't do that!"
They continued their banter into the sunset.
[Don't even try]
'Irrelevant.'
'A few casualties. Things are being set into motion.'
'Energy is being amassed as we speak. An agitated Remnant generates quite a bit of power.'
'We still require additional energy.'
'And a powerful witch. One that can manipulate space.'
KyuBey stared at TorBey, his eyes glowing briefly. 'I know just how to create one.'
When I reached out and touched you
There was a single high note in my heart
A/N: Thanks, bones!
Sorry about the stupidly late update. Writer's block is a bitch.
On another note, with the next chapter, this Fic will be rated "M." I don't want to risk this getting deleted by some asshole who wants to split hairs.
So yeah. Next week will be a return to the standard schedule, guys. Enjoy.
...
Also, I played Portal 2. That might have contributed to my lateness.
And on that note...
SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE.
17. Episode 15: Inference
\/
\So scary, but you can't give into this/
\Fear of pumpkin carriages./
\'Cause all the witches see it in your eyes./
Mami sighed as she sat back down in the home. She had her hands on her face, and a bottle of gin next to her. It seemed to beckon as she sat, staring her down as she repeatedly looked to it.
Of course, being underage, she couldn't drink.
"…Oh, hell." She sighed. "I can't keep saving her. They deserved it, but the law doesn't-" She grumbled, as a certain someone walked into the room.
"Mami?"
She turned back. "Oh, hey, Kazuko." Her roommate walked over beside her, taking up a seat.
"Thinking about what happened to Sayaka?"
"Yes." She sighed. "I actually do think that those men deserved it. They put about fifty kids in the hospital, and caused about twenty casualties. But I can't let her get off scot-free." She buried her head in her arms. "She just ran off after I chewed her out. I was angry…"
"And now you're regretting it." Kazuko held the other girl by the shoulders. "But you just did it out of care, right?"
"I still feel like an ass." Mami took the bottle of gin. "Do you think that anyone will know if I take a few sips?"
"You're a Matriarch. I don't think they'll let someone as important as you go to school dead drunk."
Mami sighed. "Damn it." She then smiled, before turning to the woman. "Well…can I get a kiss?"
"A kiss?" Kazuko laughed quietly. "You know that anybody could be watching right now."
"What are you, paranoid? It's not like they'll just break in." Mami frowned as the woman walked away. "We never get to kiss here!"
"Actually, every time you convince me to, there's some kind of interruption. So n-" She was interrupted by a kiss on her lips.
Mami backed away, the light blush on her cheeks countered by the smug grin on her face. "Got you."
Kazuko took a step back, touching her lips, before she laughed. "I should've seen that coming!"
'Yes, you should have.'
Both woman and girl jumped at the mental voice, turning to a nearby window. "Jesus Christ!"
'Hey, ho, it's me. Yippee. Fuck yea.' He stared in at them. 'Okay. Just to let you know, Mami, we're going to be training tomorrow.'
"D-Did you really need to interrupt me?"
'No. But it was funny to me, so that's that.'
"Yes, you should have." Mami smiled broadly as she walked off. "Well…good night."
"See you in the morning, then." Kazuko waved to her as the girl went to her room, leaving the teacher alone in the kitchen. She got herself a cup, poured some ice into it, and poured the gin, complete with just a little bit of tonic water.
She wanted to get drunk; not have a perfect drink.
She shook the glass around, letting the drink slosh around in her glass. "She can't quite appreciate it yet." She stared at it as the ice moved around in the glass, before she chugged it in a single gulp.
She was going to drink tonight.
{Non Ego Patier}
Magica Madoka Veneficus Puella
Episode 15: Inference
[Non Ego Patier]
It was the morning of the next day, and Madoka was walking to school with Homura to her left. They weren't talking like they normally would.
In fact, they were barely talking at all.
After several minutes of walking in dead silence, Madoka spoke up. "I…don't think we treated Sayaka all too fairly yesterday."
Homura said nothing, just looking at Madoka as she started to speak.
"…Those men killed more than twenty people, right?"
"That does not excuse the fact that she jeopardized herself and Mami." Homura sighed. "Deserved it or not, she can't go on another killing spree."
"But still!" Madoka turned around to face Homura, both of them stopping as she spoke up. "We alienated her! Treated her like a pariah!" She sighed. "I…I feel awful for it."
"But you care for her, right?" Homura patted the girl on the shoulder. "She's still your friend. You don't want her shipped out of Mitakihara, right?"
"No…I don't." Madoka sighed. "But…"
'Bluh.'
Both girls turned to the voice. "EnBey?"
'So very sentimental. Good. It'll serve you well…hopefully, anyways.' He sighed. 'Enough of that shit. We need to plan.'
Madoka nodded. "For Walpurgisnacht, right?"
'Good. You still remembered it.' He glared at them. 'TorBey's trying to disorganize us. He's already gotten to Sayaka, but Kyouko's already working to calm her down, as are the Saints that are coming ever-so-soon.'
Homura frowned. "Are you sure that she'll be stable enough when the Auctor comes?"
'I am positive. But we need to figure out how to minimalize casualties.' He stared into Homura's eyes. 'If TorBey can even hope to defeat you, then the fight will be capable of shattering worlds.'
]
Sayaka was walking alone today.
It…was unsettling, truth be told.
"Not like I need anyone." She frowned. Her actions betrayed her words as she slumped over, her bag clung over her shoulder, rather than simply hanging off of her arm like it would normally do.
"Hey!" It was then that her head perked up.
Is that? She turned around. "Kyouko?"
"Yeah! I'm just walking over to the center." She patted the other girl on the back. "You looked kinda lonely for a second there."
"It was nothing." Obviously a lie. She'll see right through it.
"Bullshit." Kyouko wasn't amused. "I don't like seeing you miserable, and right now, it looks like your puppy died." She frowned even further.
"Short and to the point as always, Kyouko." Sayaka smirked. "So you're here to pity me some more?"
"I thought we went over this, Sayaka." She knocked the other girl on the noggin playfully. "I am your friend. I want to help you, not baby you. Hell, I'll even go to school for you."
"Really, now?" Sayaka rolled her eyes. "Please don't. I've got enough on my plate…Airi and Yuuri are going to watch me like hawks."
Kyouko blinked. Of course Mami told her. She hates keeping secrets. "So you're not going to be too free, of course?"
"If I do something out of line, it's exile. With them, I at least get to stay out of the shrink's office." She frowned. Too many bad memories.
"Feh." Kyouko leaned back, her arms crossed behind her head. "So it was one or the other?"
"Not really. She already called over the Saints. They should be packed up and ready to go by 9 tonight, and they'll be here by 10. Most of that hour will be spent in security."
"Sounds fantastic." Kyouko stopped. "Well, I'll see you later, okay?"
Sayaka smiled lightly. "Alright." She started walking again. At least she's not hurting anything.
]
The day passed by with little fanfare, to the point where Madoka barely noticed anything happening.
She and Sayaka didn't talk too much, and the air between them was ever-so-bitter.
To say it was uncomfortable would be humiliatingly understated.
So when EnBey interrupted her lunch to talk to her, it became a blessing.
"So…what is it?" They weren't on the roof anymore. Rather, they were in an isolated part of the school.
Relatively, anyway. It was the school's tree.
'Remember how I said that we were going to plan?' Both Homura and Madoka stared at him as he spoke.
"Yes. I remember; it was earlier this morning." Homura crossed her arms, leaning on a branch as she did so. "The Auctor's going to require more than brute force to handle, right?"
'Correct.' He looked at them. 'Now the biggest issue lies in the fact that we can't have a battle here. Not on this little speck, not in this solar system, not even in this goddamn universe.'
"Because of Homura's power, right?"
'HOW DID YOU KNOW?' He spoke in an incredulous and clearly faked voice. 'WHAT A FUCKING SHOCK.'
Homura frowned deeply. "She's just trying to contribute."
'I know that much. It's just that this bit was somewhat obvious.' He let his teeth show, the sunlight gleaming off of them as he scowled.
He noticed that it made him look more intimidating. I knew it was a good idea to give myself teeth. 'We need to go find another battlefield. Preferably one that is dead.'
Homura nodded.. "One of my many doomed timelines?"
'Exactly.' He glared with a harsher look than before. 'Now, judging by the debacle that was yesterday, I think that TorBey's planning on distracting us.'
"Turning us on each other?"
'Nothing so large. He's merely trying to put up an atmosphere of distrust. That's enough to make the Walpurgis operation that much more difficult.' He put up a screen. 'Morrigan herself took a single team of five to take down, and the witches all required cooperation to take down, as they were attacking all at once. TorBey is trying to undermine it as soon as possible; the Venefici of this day are more powerful than they were before.'
Homura spoke flatly. "You're going to have us start tag-battling, right?"
EnBey seemed to smirk at this. Oh yes. I love facial expressions. 'Yup. For starters, it'll help the other girls fight during Walmart night; you're going to be on your own.'
Homura nodded. "And the other reason?"
'It would be fucking awesome.' EnBey started to walk off. 'Well, I'll be seeing you later. Don't kill each other.'
"Goodbye, EnBey." Madoka waved as he jumped out of the tree.
Of course, shortly afterwards, the bell went off, and they returned to class.
]
Sayaka was walking over to the training center with Kyouko in tow. School was more tense than anything. The kids were staring at her, even questioning the fact that she was able to get away with murder.
A very brutal one, at that.
They didn't care about the fact that the people she killed were monsters; they seemed hooked onto the fact that Mami let her go with nothing more than a metaphorical slap on the wrist.
Sayaka didn't go through the day without a glare piercing into her back.
It was unbearable.
"They all hate me."
Kyouko sighed. "Yeah? Well, what the hell do they know?"
Sayaka turned her head slightly. "Enough."
"Don't let it get to you."
Sayaka turned to her quickly. "How?" She grit her teeth. "Those men deserved it! They tried taking Yoshio…my Yoshio, away!"
Kyouko put her hands on her shoulders. "And that's why you shouldn't give a fuck." She stared deeply into her eyes. "Look, they don't know shit. They are worthless. Who cares about what they think? Because, as far as I'm concerned, you're fine." Kyouko shook her slightly. "Are you okay?"
Sayaka averted her eyes. "Yeah…I guess."
"You don't sound it. Tell you what, I'll try and do something for you after we spar, okay?"
Sayaka looked at her. "Alright. I think I'd like that."
]
The coliseum was larger, more majestic. It dwarfed its already enormous predecessor, and it was reinforced with the strongest materials known to man, with the walls bolstered with magic-absorbing materials.
That is to say, the entire thing was powered and supported by despair. Just like the Venefici themselves, who had just entered the building.
'For the love of god, don't break this thing. It took a week to replace the damn arena, and I don't want to design a new one.' He shot a particularly nasty glare in Homura's direction, which is cordially known as "to his right."
She didn't visibly react.
'Alright. Since the alternate Walpurgis witches will require teamwork to take down, I am proposing that there be several two-on-two matches.'
Sayaka crossed her arms. "And you'll have us alternating fighters, right?"
'Correct. You can now pass first fucking grade.' EnBey sighed. 'Look. The point is that you're going to be fighting on tag-teams now. And, just for the hell of it, I'm going to occasionally press a button. That means that the winning team will have to duke it out amongst each other.'
"And what does that accomplish?" Kyouko put her hands in her pockets, leaning back on the railing of the observation center.
'Maybe I wasn't clear enough. Juuuuuuuuuuuust...fooooooooooor...theeeeeee...heeell-'
"You can stop now." Mami put a palm to her face. "And we're supposed to be training for what will probably destroy several planets. Do you honestly have to rip ideas straight from Double Dragon of all things?"
'But of course. Problem, Mami?'
Mami couldn't help but crack a grin as soon as he said that. "None at all."
'Good. Let's beginning to fighting.' He turned to Homura. 'Well, you're unbelievably broken, so a fight against you would probably involve you being all on your lonesome as two other girls try and beat the crap out of you.
"So you're not going to let me fight today, am I right?".
'Yes. You are.' He jerked his head over to the other girls. 'Mami, you're with Madoka. Sayaka, do the math.'
Sayaka smirked like a smartass. "Well, you see, the average air velocity of an unladen swallow is-"
'Clever. Now shut the fuck up and get in the arena.'
{}
The simulated city was even larger than before, and the sky was projected above their heads, with an artificial sun beating down on them.
Madoka took out her crossbow, spinning with her uniform forming dramatically.
Mami twirled a pair of pistols, crossing her arms as she did so, merely to prove that she was a badass.
And without any reason to prove anything to anyone, Kyouko took out her spear, and slammed the flat edge of it onto the ground, sending a cloud of dust and debris into the air as she stood in a ready position.
Finally, Sayaka took out a pair of swords, stretching herself into a battle stance as she smirked.
'Three. Two. One…GO AND KILL.'
Instantly, all four girls sped out of their corners. Mami and Madoka stayed far away from their opponents, knowing that their weapons were clearly suited for long-range combat. Within seconds, there were two rings, one on top of the other, with one made of pink crossbows, and the other made of yellow rifles.
"Do you have a name for this one, Madoka?" Mami talked as she slid to a stop, raising her hand.
Madoka stood beside Mami, dust engulfing her as she stopped. "Not really. Do you want to make one?"
Mami shook her head. "We can do that later."
And the weapons were fired, leaving a cloud of dust where Sayaka and Kyouko were standing.
Mami wasn't about to get cocky. "A thousand yen says that they're still alive."
"I'm not challenging that."
And indeed, they were. A shining, metal sphere covered both Kyouko and Sayaka, before it was retracted, the bent swords dissolving as Kyouko dashed out, leaving a path lined by spears.
Sayaka followed suit, running upon the spears as though they were stepping stones, before she brought a sword behind her.
"Lann Airfir!" She swung it, the weapon multiplying in size until it would easily demolish an apartment with a single stroke.
Mami crashed into a building, with Madoka beside, only to see Sayaka running towards the skyscraper that they were currently standing on.
"She's going to hit us with that?"
Mami smirked. "I wouldn't expect a tiny baby weapon from her."
"Tógáil SLISNE!" The sword crashed into the building, debris raining down as it cut through the tower messily, a cloud of dust engulfing the entire block before Sayaka let the weapon disintegrate.
Mami and Madoka jumped around, only to see several bars of steel block their passage out.
In fact, Kyouko had set it all up. The spears were now being used to turn the entire block into a cage; there was no way out.
"Clever. Seriously clever." Mami smiled as Sayaka landed on a nearby building across from her. "But you really-!"
Sayaka didn't give her a chance to finish. She rushed in, swords ready, and crashed them downwards onto Mami's head.
Or, at least, they would have, if she didn't block them with a pair of rifles.
"How rude." Mami sent the swords flying as she slid the guns against each other. "As I was saying, do you honestly think that you can use that in a real fight?"
The girls continually blocked and parried, with the occasional gunshot being fired as they fought, with their weapons breaking more than a few times. "No, not really, but it looked awesome, didn't it?"
"I-!" She blocked another slash. "Can't-!" She fired, only to have Sayaka block the bullet. "Blame you!"
{}
Meanwhile, on another level, Kyouko and Madoka were speeding across the walled-off block of the city, with debris scattering everywhere as they fired a seemingly endless stream of arrows and spears towards each other.
The building they were in for mere moments seemed to explode, as a ton of arrows tore through the material inside, forcing Kyouko to flip outside of it, a trail of smoke and dust marking her path in the air.
"Not bad! Taught by the best, were you?"
Madoka slid across the side of another building, dropping a few crossbows as she went. "Yes." She spun herself around, creating an enormous crossbow, with herself on top of an enlarged arrow. "I taught myself!"
She fired all of them simultaneously, riding the arrow she was on before leaping off of it, letting them all soar towards Kyouko.
The red-haired girl parried them, the arrows disintegrating as soon as she sliced them apart. When the final arrow rushed towards her, she let it crash into the tower behind her, before she ran across it. She jumped lightly, before using the arrow's shaft as a springboard, launching herself towards Madoka, spear ready.
She sliced through another arrow, only to have Madoka block the weapon with her forearms.
{}
On the roof, Mami was grinding a pair of guns against Sayaka's two swords.
"You've improved! You're not falling for my tricks!" As if on cue, a gun fired from below Sayaka, only for the girl to knock the rifle sideways before it could fire.
"I'm not as bad as you think!"
"I never thought you were bad." Mami flipped a gun over. "I just thought that you're not quite as good." As soon as she said that line, she pressed against Sayaka, forcing the girl to push back.
With her superior strength, Sayaka sent Mami flying across the rooftop in a barrel roll, only for her to fire a single enormous cannon. "Tiro FINALE."
A beam of light struck Sayaka in the chest, sending her hurtling over the side of the tower.
And it was then that she realized that Mami had prepared for this.
In fact, there were several guns right behind her, all of them facing upwards.
Right at her face.
"You've got to be fucking kidd-"
()
An explosion rocked the area, forcing Kyouko to turn her head quickly. "Sayak-!"
She wasn't able to finish her exclamation. Instantly, several dozen arrows were jammed into her back.
Madoka stood over her, the crossbow and her uniform disintegrating as the virtual city dissolved.
'The fight's over. Let's see how you did.'
()
EnBey stared at the girls were walking back to the observation booth. 'Kyouko's starting to worry more about Sayaka. That's both a good thing and a bad thing.'
"She got very distracted as soon as Sayaka was taken out." Homura frowned. "But Madoka's gotten a little more ruthless."
'A far cry from the little girl that became a Veneficus, right?'
"She's learning from me." Homura smiled. "And Kyouko liking Sayaka a little more means that they'll be back-to-back more often."
'Hell of a team, but here's another note. They're obviously a little interested in each other.' EnBey looked back to Homura again. 'If they start engaging in something a little intimate, then it has to be used to our advantage.'
"So…are you going to talk to Mrs. Kaname again?"
'I kind of have to. She's important in her own way; we need to bring the other Madoka and the other Homura back.' EnBey stared into Homura's eyes. 'She needs to have some kind of closure.'
"I think I understand. The other me is probably involved with the other Madoka, so it'd be prudent to avoid having an angry Veneficus."
'So horribly logical.' EnBey leaped to the door. 'When I'm gone, play the tapes I left, okay?'
"Will do."
And he was gone.
]
If KyuBey had emotions. He would have grinned.
It was proceeding perfectly. EnBey was smart, but it wasn't possible to predict everything.
Infinite knowledge is impossible for those of an emotional bent, even one who was a former Incubator.
A creature whose colors were inverted, as though to mark the traitor that he was.
A corruption in their logical universe, governed not by emotion, but by logic and laws.
'Continue.'
As we gazed at the darkening sky,
the world that continues on endlessly
was calling out
A/N: [Insert lame excuse for being a week late here.]
Okay. I will be getting back to weekly updates. You see, I rewrote this chapter several times.
Don't ask why.
Also, goddamn it, MLP! Why did FiM have to be good?
18. Episode 16: The Night's a Harsh Mistress
\/
\See you in your dreams/
\Your nightmares too, that's where I'll find you./
The streets were pitch-black at this hour. It was to be expected; it was already about ten. The only person out on this darkened road was a blonde young woman, her Veneficus uniform deployed for the sake of recognition.
Suddenly, there was a shrill, metallic shriek, as the sound of squealing tires on pavement echoed through the formerly silent night.
A motorcycle, pitch-black, with two riders, slid over to the Matriarch, spinning as it halted.
"I see that you've never given up on the theatrics, Airi. Didn't the men in Tokyo say that it wasn't quite legal for you to drive such a device yet?"
The driver, a young girl with short, white hair, stepped off of the bike, with her own uniform ready for Mami to see. "I heard no such thing. The device is very useful for killing witches; it's got a magic-strengthened front wheel. Perfect for killing witches at Two hundred kilometers per hour." She crossed her arms, with a serious glare piercing into Mami's eyes.
She was wearing a witch's hat, with a dress underneath. It was lacy, with a pair of striped tube socks underneath her skirt. It looked less like a Veneficus' uniform and more like a cosplayer's costume, though Mami would never say so out loud.
The other one seemed to have a playful bounce in her step, almost the total opposite of the other girl in terms of personality."Still, it's not as good as good old fashioned Veneficus weapons, though I can say that it's fun to ride."
The seemingly playful girl was wearing a black medical labcoat, with a plethora of needles trapped within it. She had a simple dress underneath it, with it covering everything but her shoulders, complete with a red cross adorning its center.
Mami chuckled as Yuuri turned to her. "I can tell. You're still wearing a wide grin."
"Yeah, I guess I am!" The girl smiled, only for it to fade quickly, as her jovial facade disappeared. "But let's cut the nonsense."
"You called us out here for a reason." Airi took her arms down. "We need to know what Sayaka's like."
Mami sensed the atmosphere growing darker. "Serious as ever." She looked at them, her eyes stone-cold. "As much as you sympathize with her," She glared in Airi's direction. "We can't risk her pulling some kind of PR-ruining stunt. We're on thin ice as it is." And if they find about Kazuko…
"Understood." Airi nodded, her expression never changing for a second.
"Don't antagonize her." Mami faced Yuuri this time. "She's easy to anger. If need-be, you can calm her down, though I think that Kyouko's doing a fine job of doing that herself."
"Is that all?"Airi raised an eyebrow.
"Almost. Your apartment is just above Sayaka's. She doesn't know it yet, so make sure she never finds out. If she does, then try and calm her down, because she would not take this lightly."
"Okay. Thank you for the information." Yuuri bowed, before turning to Airi, her expression joyful once more. "Are you ready, Airi?"
The short-haired girl had the bike on her shoulder silently, before nodding to Yuuri. "We'll see you later, Mami."
And with that, they were gone.
Mami sighed. "Good luck."
{Non Ego Patier}
Magica Madoka Veneficus Puella
Episode 16: The Night Is A Harsh Mistress
[Non Ego Patier]
It was dark out, and all Kyouko had was Sayaka beside her.
Homura had singled her out to talk to her about EnBey's criticisms.
Including the fact that she was getting "soft."
And to think that I used to be one of the most reckless and ruthless Magical Girls out there.
She muttered. "What the hell is so bad about getting 'soft,' anyways?"
Sayaka turned to her, confused. "What do you mean?"
Kyouko suddenly jerked her head over to Sayaka. "Eh?"
"Don't tell me you're still hooked up on the fact that we lost?"
The red-haired girl sighed. "Yeah. It just bugs me." She put a hand in her hair. "And I got distracted as soon as you…um…"
"Exploded?" Sayaka smirked. "It was quite spectacular, too."
"Yeah…And I know it was just practice, but seeing you get engulfed by that fireball…"
"You got worried about me, and it cost you your fight."
Kyouko nodded. "I mean, it's a good thing that Madoka's getting more oriented to combat, but I'm starting to lose my grip. It's…terrifying."
Sayaka sighed. "You care about me, that's obvious enough. That shouldn't cause much trouble."
"I just need to stop getting distracted." Kyouko made a deep, fake frown. "You're too distracting!"
"Is that supposed to mean something?"
"Yeah! You keep on gettin' shot!"
"It was just one time!"
They continued their bickering all the way to Yoshio's school.
]
EnBey stared at the expansive city, the metal frames gleaming as the various districts lit up. He heard more than a few casinos, and the Red-light district was sounding a little jazzier than usual.
It was as if they were trying to class-up sex.
'It's not fucking working.'
For the past few days, and for the rest of the week, he suspected, he felt, and probably would continue to feel, harsher than usual. Maybe a little more insulting. 'Insanity. Insanity is so much better than being one of those little twats.'
He frowned deeply, letting a fang shine. 'At least I finally get some time to myself. Lies are magic.' He chuckled; it was a bitter and hollow sound. 'And maybe I can finally-…'
He heard a sound. 'That's…that's obviously female.'
He looked at a nearby alleyway, with the darkness of the streets obscuring the majority of it.
And in this alley, he saw one girl.
Her hair was a light green, and she wasn't going to last too long out here.
In fact, it looked like the poor child was at her limit.
'Oh, damn you, empathy.' He abandoned the rooftop, and leaped into the alleyway.
{}
"She was what?"
"Some of the kids have been blaming her for the bombing." The teacher sat down at a nearby desk. "I think that their parents have been spreading rumors."
"So being the sister of a supposed 'psycho' isn't bad enough?" Sayaka frowned deeply. She knew that it was partially her fault for the Yoshio's bullying, and the fact that the poor child was a Remnant did not help matters, either.
The teacher shook her head. "You're not a psychopath! If you weren't there, those men might've killed a few more people! Yoshio, too..." She frowned. "These people have no right to talk to you like that!"
Sayaka smiled. At least some people appreciated her. "Thank you…" She turned over to Yoshio. "Come on…let's go home."
The smaller girl quietly walked over to Sayaka and grabbed her hand as they walked out of the door.
Kyouko was leaning against the wall in front of the school, a stick of Pocky hanging loosely from the side of her mouth. "How was her day?"
Sayaka frowned. "Never mind that. It wasn't good." She sighed. "Can we please go home?"
Kyouko knew that look in Sayaka's eyes. They were definitely not going be talking this time around. "Alright."
They went back to the apartment in silence.
]
It was dark out, and Yuma Chitose was all alone. She was cold, she was hungry, she was tired, and she was alone.
It doesn't hurt anymore. The marks on her forehead still burned, as though the cigarettes were pressed into her head merely hours ago, rather than a week before.
I'm not going to be hurt anymore…I'm not a burden anymore. She curled up into a ball. Her stomach felt like a cavern. Cold, empty.
She started to close her eyes. Everything was starting to turn pitch-black now…maybe she could finally get some rest…
And a couple of feet on top of her head stopped all of that.
Her eyes flicked open. "A…cat?"
'No, I'm not a goddamn cat.' The creature looked over her. 'Your despair is enormous. How the hell do you even have that much misery?'
"Des…pair?" The young child was still on the ground. He's sideways. Silly kitty, gravity goes down!
'Let's get you out of here. I'll help you find your parents. Maybe they can help you.'
Yuma's eyes opened with enormous speed. My…parents?
'Please get up; I can't just contract you…' Contracting teenagers is bad enough. Contracting children is arguably worse…PR's goin' in the hole as it is.
"Contract?" Her eyes started to glow. "L-Like Mami?" She grinned.
'Yes, I'm the one who gave her superpowers. Whoopee. Just get up!'
The air around her started to warp as a red glow picked her up.
'I'll help you. Just come on.'
Weakly, she started to walk, each step taking several seconds longer than it should have.
And above them, a pair of red eyes watched.
'Excellent.'
}(){
Kyouko had just now reached the apartment, and looked back, the city looking rather impressive at this point. "Never did pay attention to the skyline…"
Sayaka had Yoshio on her back. The girl was tired, and all she wanted was a bit of time to herself.
To say that Sayaka was angry about the children at the school was an understatement. To say that she was pissed would be more accurate.
First herself, and now the little girl. Who the hell do those kids think they are?
"Just forget about them…we'll talk to her later." Kyouko sighed. "Everyone's had a hell of night, haven't we?"
Sayaka put a palm to her face. "I honestly wish that it never happened." She sighed. "Look, we'll just go to bed, okay? I really can't deal with all this right now."
Kyouko blinked. "But what about dinner? Veneficus or not, you gotta eat!"
"Make some for yourself." She sighed. "I'm not hungry anymore."
]
'Up ya go…' The poor girl was relaxing on top of the red, levitating stretcher that he had made out of his own power. 'Jesus. It's just one thing after another. The one night I ditch Junko is also the one night I have to save a little child from becoming a headline.'
He made an annoyed face. 'Fucking perfect.'
It was then that a large thud was heard behind him, followed by the sound of falling glass.
He turned his head back, slightly nervous as he did so. 'Oh, you've got to be…!'
It was a body, alright. A girl's body, about twelve-to-thirteen years of age, to be exact. Her hair was black, and her glasses were cracked.
But the worst part was the pair of eyes that seemed to stare at him. With the pool of blood reflecting the eerie image of those soulless eyes glaring back at him, a shriek interrupted his thoughts.
He took a step back.
'No…nononononono…'
The room from which the girl had dropped from seemed to explode with a red and yellow light, before it disintegrated in a cloud of dust, debris, and brick.
It was a steel beast, its body gleaming in the night. There was not a scratch on her body, as she crashed into the earth, the ground cracking as she did so.
And it was then that EnBey realized that, as an Interceptor, he was completely incapable of fighting this thing; his magic was simply not powerful enough.
To put it cordially, he was fucked.
'You've got to be shitting me!'
[!]
Kyoko was alone at this time of night. It was three hours after they got home, and Sayaka was already asleep.
Hell, it was midnight, and Kyouko was restless. She couldn't go to sleep just yet.
"Sayaka's getting worried about Yoshio again…" She looked out the window. "And I'm getting weak. Perfect lead-up to the biggest fight in Veneficus history."
She put her head on her chin. "At least there is no interruption."
As if to mock her, there was a sudden crash in the distance. A plume of smoke and dust rose from the sit of the sound, just before a car, several, rather, were tossed into the air, flying about with disturbing ease.
"A witch? In my district?" She started to run off, only to realize that she had forgotten someone back at the apartment.
Not enough time. She ran off, leaving the other girl back. I'd just get distracted anyways.
[!]
EnBey burst through a nearby fence with a blast of magical energy, only for Gisela to bash her way through the walls, its gleaming steel body plowing through the concrete, the wood, and the people inside of each building as she ran through everything in her path.
'Why the hell is it only attacking me?'
The witch let a torrent of rusted steel fly out of its body, the metallic bits crashing into the surrounding area, killing more than a few fleeing civilians.
A nearby car was obliterated by the metal storm, the bits of rusted steel piercing the sides with little effort.
Class 0. Powerful as hell!
Its right arm crashed into the ground as the witch launched itself several dozen feet into the sky, both of its arms suddenly increasing in size and mass as rusted steel seemed to cover them layer by layer.
EnBey barely dodged the blow, taking Yuma with him as he ran even faster than ever before, only to have his forelegs impaled by several steel stakes at once.
He let out a hiss of pain, his magic dissipating. Yuma dropped to the ground, the invisible bed that carried her around having disintegrated as soon as the Interceptor lost his concentration.
His eyes widened as soon as she hit the ground, the girl gasping as soon as she fell.
The witch let one of its hands transform into a blade, the gleaming metal shining in the night.
Slowly, it stomped over to EnBey, only to receive a polearm to the face.
"Look up, motherfucker!" Kyouko kicked the end of her spear, shoving it farther into Gisela's armor.
The witch didn't seem to react, instead deciding to just snap the spear in half merely by flicking the midpoint. It growled, before screaming again, the ground cracking with every step.
EnBey grasped the stakes embedded in his paws with his teeth, blood spurting out as he pulled them out quickly, getting the stakes out within seconds of each other. 'A little help!' He started to move slowly; his front legs were still horribly injured. 'Would be nice!'
The little girl opened one of her eyes and saw the creature struggling on the ground. 'Kyouko! It's a class zero! Fucking powerful, too!' He coughed up blood; a stake had hit him in the chest. 'Damn it!'
Kyouko nodded as she stood her ground. "Duly noted!"
Kyouko circled the witch, before spawning several hundred poles and sticking them into its armor as though there were a thousand needles piercing its skin. Gisela didn't even flinch, before it repelled them all with a single stomp.
It was then that the witch grabbed Kyouko's right arm, rendering the Veneficus helpless with its inhuman might. The girl struggled as Gisela gripped it with an impossible strength, as it was powerful enough that it could have easily torn a man in half. Kyouko dropped a single spear into the ground and let it grow, the familiar toothed monstrosity forming from the weapon as she started to grit her teeth.
Of course, the witch noticed this; it might have been a beastly creature, but it was nowhere near as stupid as this girl seemed to think it was. And she had other plans.
Kyouko screamed into the night as Gisela tore her right arm off, blood spattering against the ground as she curled up in pain. The blood leaked out at a lethal rate as her spear suddenly stopped growing, the magic in it dying quickly as Kyouko lost her concentration.
EnBey's eyes widened. 'Damn it!' He turned to Yuma. 'Come on! We don't have much of a choice…sign a contract with me!'
"A contract?" The girl seemed confused.
'You'll become a VP, probably a powerful one, but you need to contract now!' He glanced back at the other girl, who was running on pure adrenaline now. 'She's not going to survive for much longer if we don't do something!'
Yuma looked at the red-haired girl, before slowly standing up.
I can be useful.
She trembled, her newfound determination the emptiness in her heart and her stomach.
"Then…I'll do it."
EnBey coughed, smirking as he raised his arms. 'Stand still.'
\\
Kyouko was bashed against the nearby wall several times; the witch was toying with her now. It wasn't even putting that much effort into the fight; she got the first effective move.
The red-haired girl stared weakly into the distance, the dull, throbbing pain in her back and the sharp, harsh agony in that stump she used to call an arm growing weaker with every slam on the wall.
Suddenly, Gisela stopped, and tossed the girl aside, forcing Kyouko to skitter across the ground like a used doll. She wasn't going to pose a threat anymore. After all, she was bleeding out.
Kyouko opened her eyes, staring at the severed arm that lay merely a step away from her face. It seemed to mock her, and, although there was a rampaging monster just a few feet behind her, all she could pay attention to was the arm lying just a foot away from her.
You really were getting rusty now, weren't you? She couldn't quite chuckle. Veneficus or no, you got your ass handed to you because the witch was a little too powerful.
She moved her remaining arm, lifting herself off of the ground, only to feel a tingle in the stump. She looked at it quickly, her eyes opening widely as the arm seemed to reattach itself, the bone reconnecting with her body, followed by nerves, blood vessels, muscle tissue, and skin, all of them falling back into position as her uniform seemed to stitch itself back together as though the wound was never there. Kyouko felt her strength returning to her as the blood that was lost after her near-death experience was replaced.
The arm was set onto her shoulder once again. The Veneficus decided to flex her newly reattached arm, clutching her right hand several times just to make sure that it really was usable again.
…This…isn't normal. She smirked, turning back to Gisela with a vengeance. But it's an advantage.
She raised a single spear. Not gonna fuck around this time. She threw it, the weapon forming an enormous serpent once more.
Gisela turned back, the two spots on what should have been its "face" widening as the steel serpent crashed into her, sending both of them careening several feet backwards.
The witch pressed against the metal serpent as they stood, both of them locked into place as Kyouko ran over to Gisela, another spear ready.
She ran on top of her serpent, only to see that it was suddenly retreating; Gisela had pierced the top of its jaw with an enormous metal spike.
Kyouko jumped on the tip of the spike and took her weapon. She let it grow to the size of an eighteen wheeler, with a spearhead that could easily dwarf a human being, and jammed it into her opponent, with the spear entering the top of Gisela's head and exiting the abdomen of the witch's body.
Gisela screamed in pain, twitching as she grasped at the spear now embedded in her body. Kyouko didn't bother to let the witch wallow in its misery, though, as she jammed her heel into the spear.
Instantly, several spikes burst out of Gisela's armor, with a final horrifying shriek echoing throughout the night. The witch's armor broke into pieces as its fractured inner body exploded into a silver, somewhat rusted fractal.
Kyouko stood back as she watched the explosion. She glanced at her newly repaired arm.
Just…what the hell was that?
'You can thank her later.'
Kyouko turned back to the sound. "EnBey?"
'After you got your arm torn off, I made a contract.' He sighed. 'I can't say that it was my best decision, but it damn well saved your life.'
"Why not? We'll need all the help we can get for Walpurgis, right?"
'Here's the problem.' He turned to the shadows behind him and nodded. 'Come on out, Yuma.'
Timidly, a girl, no older than eight years old, walked out. Her uniform was green, with a Grief Gem hanging off of her shirt tail. Her eyes were a light blue, yet they seemed downtrodden, as though she had seen more than what any one man could have handled.
'Now you see just who saved your life.' EnBey sighed. 'And I have to say, this will be a shitstorm.'
Kyouko was speechless. She knew that desperate times called for desperate measures, but she would have never expected him to contract a kid!
"…What the hell…" She snapped out of it. "A kid! You contracted a kid!"
'How the hell was she lugging that much despair around with her anyways?'
"That's beside the point!" Kyouko was furious now. "She's, what, seven?"
'Eight, actually.'
"Damn it, EnBey!"
{}
Mami looked through a pair of binoculars at the scene below her. She frowned. Kyouko was still alive, fortunately, but it seemed that the "Week of Weak Witches" was over. TorBey was stepping up, and he was not going to stop his siege any time soon.
"Is he manipulating us without mind-control?" She frowned. "Of course the civvies would be a target." She put the pair away as Sayaka, Homura, and Madoka landed to her right.
Sayaka was the first to speak. "What just happened?"
"EnBey just contracted someone. She's about eight…" Mami frowned. "And the public will not like this."
]
The other Madoka and the other Homura stood in their space for a while. It might have been hours, possibly days.
They didn't care about that.
What did matter was the fact that they weren't alone.
But they were never really alone, now were they?
"I'm here."
Both of them turned to the ethereal, echoing voice.
"Who is there?" The Other Madoka asked. The voice sounded odd, as though it were a recording.
"You. Or at least one that is like you."
The emptiness seemed to disappear, and the Other Homura and Madoka were suddenly in their Venefici outfits.
"What is this?"
A blue-haired girl, dressed in a Puella Magi outfit crossed her arms. "This is a world that transcends time."
Another girl, with long, black hair, smiled softly, as a pink ribbon bobbed in her hair. "A place that does not exist, but is certainly real."
The Other Madoka seemed to take a step back in surprise.
"This is my realm. One where every Magical Girl, from every universe, will eventually reach."
The ground materialized out of nothing, and the Puella Magi around the pair of Venefici disappeared, as a full, rolling countryside formed.
In front of them, a cloud of dust coalesced to form a single creature, one that had warped many universes for a single cause.
"I am Madoka Kaname."
She smiled.
"What are your names?"
People become people by falling in love
and knowing pain, don't they?
A/N:
Here. Have some mindscrew.
Okay. Definitely getting mah groove back. Updates will be weekly again, thank god. And there is no way in hell that I can get away with having Kyouko's arm getting ripped off and have this fic still at a T-rating. Starting today, it's going to be M-rated.
At the risk of losing readers? Sure.
At the risk of being deleted? Not so much.
19. Episode 17: Incoordination
\/
\Fairy blue/
\It is only for you/
\That I would crush the stars/
\And put them on display/
\Black Paper Moon./
[This recent story shows that Interceptors are capable of contracting young girls as well as teenagers! So far, EnBey has declined to comment on whether or not her parents have been found, or whether or not they are even alive.]
[When asked, Madoka had only this to say]
["Uh…What are you-?"]
[That was all we got before the camera was smashed by a shield. However, we were able to get a nugget of information from the Matriarch.]
Mami appeared on the screen. She looked angry.
["For the first time here, I have no d*n clue what's going on here, and it's p*ing me off."]
[She isn't speaking like she normally does, so she's apparently very, very angry.]
[As for EnBey, we have gotten no responses other than one particularly angry rant that we cannot air without censorship.]
The screen flickered, and EnBey was shown on screen for a second. He just stared at the camera, his eyes looking angrier and angrier by the second. There was a long period that the screen just exposed a very long "beep" before the creature turned to the camera, his eyes showing a hint of red beginning to bubble within them.
['…F*k you.']
[That is all for today, but, as everyone is probably thinking, we hope for an answer soon. And that's our update on the Venficus Power Madness! Please check your listings for the next update on the Veneficus Incidents!]
{Non Ego Patier}
Magica Madoka Veneficus Puella
Episode 17: Incoordination
[Non Ego Patier]
Madoka stared at the ground, her bangs covering her eyes. Everything seemed to be going wrong.
Unbelievably, unequivocally wrong.
And to think she stopped something that was worse than Walpurgisnacht with little more than a hug just a few weeks ago.
Granted, said thing was romantically inclined towards her, but that's beside the point. Everything was starting to get just a little worse.
She remembered those dead bodies from Sunday, or, rather, what was left of them. She had seen one of them before it was put away.
The sight would have made most girls her age nauseous. All it did to her was make her feel empty inside.
And then she got nauseous.
Of course, on this particularly lonely walk to school, she did not expect to see Kyouko perched on top of a nearby lamppost, crouching on it as though she were a bird.
And in her mouth was something that was certainly not Pocky.
"You smoke?"
In response, the red-haired girl let a cloud of smoke escape her lips, an arrogant smirk popping up as soon as she did so. "Yeah." She put it back into her mouth, letting a string of the smoke twist around as she stared back at the girl on the ground. "What, are you gonna tell me to stop, too?"
Madoka recoiled. "No! I wasn't!" She sensed the hostility from the girl above. "I-I was just trying to know you better..." She looked at her feet. She didn't interact with the other girl too much; there was no reason to. "You...seem kinda stressed."
Kyouko rolled her eyes. "Oh, well no shit." She leaned back. "Did my smokes clue you in, or did the verbal beating that I gave EnBey get it into your thick skull?"
Madoka winced. Dealing with the young woman was bad enough, but this was just a little more than hostile. "What happened after I left?"
"Oh, simple. We have to find the girl's parents now. They have to learn about her new form eventually. We discussed…" Screamed, actually. "Everything." Kyouko purposefully left out the part about Homura's self-exclusion throughout the whole discussion. She seemed distressed about the whole thing. "I think I might have found them, so I'll be taking the girl to them. I don't go to school, so there's no problem."
Madoka finally got out of her stupor. "So…is everything alright now?"
Kyouko didn't skip a beat. "Nope." She leaped off of the lamppost, hitting the ground with finesse. She flicked away the cigarette, before stepping on it with little fanfare, with Madoka staring at her in awe.
That was way too dramatic.
"Things are heating up…" She turned back to the cityscape, the towers stretching ominously into the sky, as though they were judging the pair on the sidewalk. "Walpurgisnacht is not the only problem anymore."
]
Mami felt a scowl creep across her face. The entire week was starting to turn into more than just a PR disaster; the public was starting to show open malice towards the Venefici.
School was the last thing on her mind; the news teams were watching her closely, waiting for her to screw something up. Hell, maybe they'd even expose her relationship with Kazuko.
She shook the very idea out of her mind.
I can't even focus right now. She grit her teeth. First Sayaka. Now EnBey! Three-hundred fucking years! You should know better!
She continued walking off to school. Maybe the day would help her forget everything.
It probably wouldn't. But it didn't hurt to try.
]
Junko had another bottle of vodka by her side. It was a slow day, but there was a lot on the woman's mind as she stared into her enormous, ominous, empty office.
She contemplated watching some kid's show to pass the time.
Meh. Not worth it.
She heard a tapping on a nearby window, the light sound echoing throughout the office. Instantly recognizing the fact that only one creature was crazy enough to actually knock on her window, she ran over.
"Another meeting?"
EnBey scrambled inside as soon as she asked. 'Yeah, and not a moment too soon. That contract from last night's been stirring up a shitstorm.'
"Oh yeah. I heard about that." Junko sighed. "And you ran over here because I have the most secluded place in the city." Her face remained blank. "The top of the tallest building in the world where the owner of a major corporation works. Nobody would suspect you of hiding here."
EnBey fought the urge to inflict physical pain onto Junko. 'Just go with it. I was also going to discuss the plan for Walpurgisnacht.'
Suddenly, Junko seemed a lot more interested. "The one that will get my daughter back, right?"
'Correct.' He sat down. 'Now…let's count our potential problems.'
]
Kazuko noticed that Homura was not at school this day. She kept through her lessons as though nothing had happened, but she knew better.
Oh, how she knew better.
When the most powerful Veneficus in history is missing, it means that either investigating something or she's angry.
Probably both.
"Alright class, next up we're going to discuss the proper way to write an essay…"
It was then that she felt a certain someone just a level above her lurking about in her thoughts.
'Mami. Homura's missing.'
There was a second of delay before the Matriarch responded. 'What?'
'She's not in class today.'
Kazuko could have sworn that she heard Mami mentally sighing. 'I didn't get a memo. She never warned us…Sayaka, did she tell you anything about this?'
The blue-haired girl was in a particularly foul mood today. 'No. What the hell gave you that idea?'
'Figured. How about you, Madoka?'
The pink-haired girl was instantly caught off-guard by the fact that the conversation was now directed toward her. 'No…No she didn't!' She frowned. 'But she said that she was going to be out today.'
Kazuko suddenly felt the need to state the obvious. '…That's not good.'
Sayaka frowned. 'No, really?'
Mami rubbed her chin from upstairs, her own teacher completely oblivious to her condition. 'I can get some eyes on her quickly.' She turned to the ceiling. 'Airi, Yuuri…get to her home. Ask her a few questions.'
On the roof, two pairs of feet touched down, both girls having been spending their time as close as they possibly could to Sayaka. 'Alright. We'll be there in ten seconds flat.'
They ran off, Airi in front, as Mami put a hand to her face. 'This is getting obnoxious.'
]
Kyouko had Yuma attached to her arm, the little girl hanging off of her as though letting go would kill her.
The teenager sighed, dressed in her own casual set of clothes, with them being a collared shirt and a pair of slacks.
She never was one to wear a skirt. Shorts, maybe, but never a skirt.
"Alright." She said, holding the child close to her. "You've done a nice job with saving my ass and all, but you're just too young."
Yuma said nothing. She stared at the ground, her face obscured by a shadow.
Annoyed, Kyouko couldn't help but pull out her second cigarette for the day. Damn. That's two...
Yuma noticed it instantly. She stepped away from Kyouko, as though she were a walking toxin.
Kyouko was confused.
"What's wrong with you?"
Yuma stayed away from Kyouko. She cowered in fear, leaving the Veneficus in a state of confusion.
"What the...do you not like my smoking?"
For several seconds, Yuma stayed quiet. Slowly, she turned back to her, and nodded.
Kyouko sighed. "Fine." She stomped on it. "If it scares you a little too much, then the press'll probably call me a heretic or some stupid shit like that." She walked over to Yuma and grabbed her hand. "Come on."
The last thing we need is more bad publicity.
]
Homura was on her computer, looking up various names. Her glasses seemed to shine with more luster than before, lending her an almost disturbing visage.
Not to say that she wasn't on the verge of a mental breakdown.
She grit her teeth, searching through the names, trying to find out just who that girl was.
Throughout her thousands of repeats, she had only seen her about once. Just who was she?
She scratched her head. Yuma Chitose…why is she here now? She memorized almost everything about Walpurgisnacht all of the events, all of the possibilities, all of the solutions and how every single one of them failed.
But she only saw this girl once in all of her timelines. It was probably several decades ago.
"Why had she only appeared once?"
Suddenly, there was a knocking on her door. Homura didn't seem to physically react. Instead, she nonchalantly said, in a very flat voice, "Come in."
The door was opened slowly, and two girls walked in. One of them seemed almost reluctant to enter, her Veneficus Uniform gone in favor of a civilian's getup. The other was in a dress, but seemed to have absolutely no problems with entering Homura's home. "Mami sent us."
Homura didn't blink. "Yes. I figured that would be the case."
Yuuri looked over Homura's shoulder. "So…working on something?"
"Yes, but it is not something that I am willing to share with you."
Airi frowned. "Oh, really?" She leaned forward. "Hiding secrets is not a healthy habit to keep, Homura Akemi."
Homura continued to type. "Neither is invading one's privacy, Airi Haruka."
Airi stepped back. "That was not the intention."
"We just want to know why you wanted to skip school." Yuuri said, concern showing on her face. "I'm pretty sure that they're worried about you."
"Then tell them that I am fine. There is nothing to worry about."
Airi was starting to get annoyed. She clutched the bridge of her nose. "Look, we're all a little concerned right now. You're not at school. You're on the computer doing God-knows-what."
"If you really must know, I'm trying to dig up information." Homura pushed up her glasses. "While it would be a good idea to tell someone about what I am doing, that someone is not you."
Airi's eye twitched. "We don't care about what you're doing. The people who do asked us to get the information from you."
Yuuri moved forward. "Like Madoka! She cares about it!"
Homura stopped for a second, only to start typing once more. "Cheap tactic. Almost never works." One could almost notice that there was a red dot in the middle of her pupil.
Airi mumbled under her breath. "I honestly don't see what she sees in you."
"Oh?" Homura continued typing. She felt slightly angry. She knew just what Airi said.
Madoka didn't really think that way, did she?
They're just trying to get to you!
This was getting annoying. "Madoka doesn't know what you're doing here. For all she knows, you could be-"
"That isn't going to work." Homura stood up, another red flash in her pupils. "There is nothing to worry about!"
Airi was starting to get angry as well. The most powerful Veneficus or not, she was sick and tired of this. "Then why fucking hide it?"
Yuuri held her by the shoulders, trying to have her stop, but Airi was having none of it. "Tell me! Tell me what the fuck is going on!"
Homura couldn't handle her temper anymore. These two...insects were trying to pry into her business. An anger that she had not felt in years boiled within her, as her eyes started to flash a bright red.
"Do you want to know what's going on?" She stepped forward. With every second, she felt angrier. "Do you?"
Airi frowned. She didn't even flinch. "That was the point of coming here, wasn't it?"
Homura's teeth ground against each other. "Well, let me tell you a tale. I have gone through something that most people would call 'Hell.'"
Suddenly, each of her steps seemed to have a little something growing out of them. Demons, hundreds of them, each of them the size of an ant, started to pour out of the steps that she made.
"I have been through more than four-hundred years of this torment. I have memorized every outcome. Every possibility. Every chance."
She spoke flatly as the demons started to overtake her house, each of them acting as though they were a part of a single mass, rather than thousands of creatures.
"And there is always a correlation between my old universe and this one." Homura frowned deeply. Her eyes were filled with an insane hatred, bordering on murderous intent, as she stumbled to the other Venefici.
"Do you know why I went through it?" Her eyes no longer had that same purple look, but were instead blood-red, the irises almost leaking into the rest of the eye.
"I did it for her. And you have the gall to think that I would purposefully cause her harm?"
Airi trembled for the first time in her life, before looking over to Yuuri for some kind of reassurance. It was a useless effort; the poor girl was in a state of panic that was arguably worse than her own, her eyes wide with terror.
The girls stumbled over each other as the demons started growing more and more restless, the very reality of this plane warping to Homura's will.
They left before the cage around her Grief Gem started to crack.
]
'That was far too easy.' TorBey stared into the home, his own red eyes staring into a window. 'When agitated, she becomes little more than a puppet.'
He noticed that Homura had collapsed, as he suddenly released his control. 'And all of their information is but at my fingertips now.'
He walked off, the sunlight betraying his motives. 'Multiple manipulation test is complete.'
Several dozen clones, all of them having performed a simple, minor task across town, scampered back to this one by Homura's house. 'This Walpurgisnacht will be more than a success.'
(_)
Instantly, a young woman, obviously not much older than Kazuko, peeked her head outside, a cigarette hanging loosely out of her mouth.
The woman wasted no time with introductions. "Just who the hell are you?"
Kyouko felt an eye twitch. "Are you the parent of Yuma Chitose?"
"Parent…Yeah. I'm her mother."
Kyouko knew that there was something just a little off about this woman. "Well, we have some news. She has recently been contra-"
"Yeah, I saw the news."
Kyouko grit her teeth. The nerve of this bitch! "Alright." She turned to the green-haired child, who was currently hiding behind her legs, as though she were afraid of her own mother.
"Come on, Yuma. Time to go home." Kyouko almost rolled her eyes.
The girl stayed behind her, desperately hiding her face.
"Oh, come on." Kyouko squatted, making sure she was at eye-level with the child. "I'm sure your-"
It was then that Kyouko stopped. She saw a bit of darkened skin just behind Yuma's bangs. Concerned, she put a single hand to her forehead, and brushed the hair away.
She gasped when she saw just what was underneath it.
Several burn marks, each of them barely a centimeter across, adorned her forehead. They were healing quickly, thanks to EnBey's magic, but it was taking longer than usual.
Kyouko trembled in anger. This was a child. And now she knew why she had so much despair.
She turned back to the woman with the cigarette, who was looking rather impatient.
"I don't have all day."
Kyouko stared at the sidewalk as she stood up slowly, her hair flowing as she moved. "You…"
The woman moved slightly. "Hm?"
"You think you can get away with this?" She lumbered over to the woman.
Yuma's mother didn't react in the slightest. "What are you talking ab-"
"Don't bullshit me." Kyouko's Grief Gem flashed as her voice echoed inhumanly. "I saw the burn marks."
She clutched the woman's neck, slamming her against a nearby wall. Yuma's mother flailed about, caught off guard by the angry Veneficus.
"Do you know what you did to her?"
The woman choked as she struggled, the cigarette falling out of her mouth. She was more than a little terrified now.
"Well, let me give you a fucking hint." She clutched her throat in her hands. "It will be nothing compared to what I will do to you."
It may have been bright as daylight outside, but Kyouko's face was obscured by a pitch black. Her eyes were the only thing that seemed to pierce it, with an eerie, almost demonic red glow.
There was no hesitation; she was ready to send this woman to hell.
She raised her right hand, letting red energy flow through it as a spear started to form in her palm.
"Goodbye."
(_)
Homura woke up alone. She was on the floor, and there was nobody around to notice. It had been mere minutes since those two intruders entered her house…but there wasn't even a single sign that they were there in the first place.
She shrugged. She could not even remember the conversation she had with them; her mind felt very, very fuzzy.
She got back onto the computer, and typed in a simple set of letters onto the search engine.
[Kirika Kure, Current Status of]
(_)
Junko had her chin rested on top of her arms. She sighed, before patting her partner-in-crime on the head. "So…"
EnBey finished for her. 'Yeah. Stop petting me.'
She didn't relent. In fact, if anything she patted him harder.
'God damn it.' He decided just to live with it. 'Alright. TorBey has a plan for Walpurgisnacht. I'm pretty sure it involves our reputations getting smashed into itty-bitty pieces.'
"Is he trying to start a riot?" Junko asked, sitting up as she did so.
'I would think so, but there's not much of a reason to.' EnBey sighed. 'There would be despair, but that would potentially make the Venefici stronger.'
"But they would have to do their battles in a place other than Earth." Junko replied. "Over here, the collateral would be ridiculous, even when compared to Morrigan."
'True. The same method that would be used to protect the civilians would be used to get your Madoka and the Other Homura back…' EnBey looked back at the wall.
"What do you think he's trying to do?"
It was then that EnBey realized something. In horror, he turned back to her.
'There's more despair. There's more despair.' He jumped onto a nearby table. 'Alright. Despair is a tool for both me and EnBey, right? If he insinuates a riot, he could contract several girls simultaneously. With the chaos that a few riots would incite within the city, I wouldn't be able to do a damn thing!'
"Are you saying that he's planning on-?"
'Oh, yes. Don't tell me you don't see it.' He stared her in the eye. 'He is going to release the largest witch swarm in history. And we won't be able to do anything against it.'
(_)
Kyouko left the spear in the wall. She frowned, her teeth grit.
"No…I can't kill you." She stood up, letting the spear disintegrate. "You're not worth it."
She turned away, motioning towards Yuma. "Come on, we're going home."
The younger girl seemed confused. "What do you-?"
"This isn't your home. I'll be damned if it ever becomes your home."
They started to walk away, leaving Yuma's mother to gasp dumbly. She shook in fury, before standing. "Hey…"
Kyouko kept walking, ignoring her.
"Hey!"
"What do you want?" Kyouko turned back, staring the woman in the eyes. "Are you going to charge me with kidnapping? You know that the only thing that can stop me is another Veneficus." She growled. "And you'd lose that case even if I wasn't. You burned her forehead. There's more than enough evidence."
"You can't prove that!"
Kyouko turned to the girl beside her. "Who did that to you?"
Yuma shuddered as soon as she was put on the spot. "W-What do you-?"
"Who burned your forehead?" Kyouko frowned deeply. "Who was it?"
"I-I…"
"Look…" Kyouko squatted, putting herself at eye-level with the girl once again. "If you tell me…then you'll never have to see her again." She turned back to the woman. "Was it her?"
Yuma gulped, her fear suddenly replaced by determination. She nodded slowly. "Yes…it was."
"That's a lie!" The woman's eyes started to burn. She couldn't stop a tear from leaking out of her eye.
"Oh, trying to pull that number? The kid says it was you." She turned back to her. "You don't forget the things that your parents do to you."
The mother continued her tirade. "She's a fucking child. She shouldn-!" She was losing. She felt it.
Another tear. She was feeling worse by the second.
"I'm a 'fucking child,' too." Kyouko couldn't get angrier, no matter how she tried. "Well…I should be. You, however…" Kyouko's eyes glowed for a split-second. "You are lower than shit. You're not worth killing. I would not even lift a finger to help your sorry ass if you even fucking needed it."
She grabbed Yuma's hand. "Come on. We're leaving."
As they went, Yuma couldn't help but notice that her mother was doing something that was uncharacteristic of her.
She wasn't as angry as she usually was.
She was displaying a totally different emotion.
She was crying.
(_)
Mami, Sayaka and Madoka stood on top of the school, both of them having finished their lunches quickly. Madoka looked at the distant skyline, hair blowing in the wind.
"…What do you think happened?" Madoka turned to Mami, a look of worry plastered onto her features.
"I'm pretty sure we'll have our answers soon." Mami sighed. "But Homura should honestly know better."
Madoka looked away, her eyes staring at the ground. "She has her reasons for keeping secrets, you know."
Sayaka crossed her arms. "That's no excuse."
Madoka winced at the bluntness of the statement.
It was then that both Airi and Yuuri returned, both of the girls looking rather shaken.
"Did she say anything?"
Yuuri raised her head. "Yeah…she went nuts." She shivered. "It was extremely disturbing."
Airi rubbed the other girl's shoulders. "She had a red glow in her eyes. There was no warning."
Madoka's eyes widened as she ran over to them, almost stumbling over her own feet. "Do you know if she's okay?" She asked. She didn't care about anything else. TorBey was going after her now!
"No, we don't. We got out before anything could ha-"
Madoka had none of it. Instantly, she was off, with a cloud of dust and a bit of chipped concrete where she once was just a few seconds ago.
"-ppen."
Mami frowned "He got to Homura...but he doesn't have the guts to do it. He's obviously got something big planned."
'Oh, he sure as hell does.' Everyone turned to this new voice.
Mami turned to him. "Do you have something, EnBey?"
'A chat with Junko and some Speculah later, yes I do.'
Airi looked at him. "A potential for a riot?"
He made a fake gasp. 'How Did You Know?' His expression returned to its standard position. 'Yes. TorBey's planning a full assault on Mitakihara. There will be witches. And there will be many of them.' He turned back to Airi and Yuuri. 'You two will have to stay with us for a while.'
Airi sighed. "I figured that this would be the case."
Yuuri, beside her, patted her shoulder. "It's not too bad. There could be worse things happening."
Mami sighed. "There's not much we can do here, is there?"
'To be honest, no.' EnBey walked to a nearby ledge. 'The public's opinion of us is unchangeable within just a few days. And TorBey can't be stopped within that time, either.'
"Best thing to do is to minimize casualties?" Sayaka asked, her stance as strong as ever.
"Exactly." Mami answered in place of EnBey. "So, any other news?"
'To be completely honest, no.' He continued his trek away from the girls. 'Walpurgisnacht is brewing, and it will not be a pleasant sight.'
(((())))
The Other Madoka and the Other Homura stared at this Divine Being, her form illuminated by the lights around her.
"Were…Were you the one responsible for ending our timeline?" The Other Homura asked, reaching an arm out in awe.
"Yes."
The Other Madoka stared in amazement. "And it was you that ended Sayaka's suffering?"
"Yes, I did. For if I had not intervened, she would have continued her suffering endlessly. At least…in most of the timelines."
"And it was you who brought us to this world, berift of our Earthly possessions?"
"Yes. I was the one."
The Other Madoka stared at her, eyes wide with amazement. The serene Goddess looked on, her expressions softened with experience. There was no anger, no fury, no hatred to be found.
Until the Other Madoka punched her in the face with enough force to crush a car.
Then, there was surprise.
On the other side of the night that you cried
the cymbals of time resounded
A/N: PUNCH A GODDESS IN THE FACE.
Alright. Enjoy ze next chapter. Also, to the unfortunate souls of Spacebattles, my previous thread is way, way, way past the new limit for thread size. The next part is called "MMVP Ze Second."
If you can't find it, then you're not googling hard enough.
...
I AM A STEG-O-SAURUS.
20. Episode 18: System
\/
\If you really put your faith in me./
\When you're lost, here I am./
\Forever with your soul./
\Waiting here above you patiently/
\Just like the shining moon./
Madoka saw the house in the distance, its familiar red brick approaching her quickly. She transformed in midair, the familiar black dress flowing in the wind. She got ready a crossbow, and shot the door several times.
The weakened door was no match for the force of a young girl on a mission, as she smashed through it, bits of splintered wood flying everywhere as she shouted in a panic.
"Homura!"
The first thing that Madoka noticed was the fact that the house was a mess. The clock that hung from the ceiling was now spread all across the floor, the gears bent at odd angles and the pendulum embedded in the floor. The furniture was torn apart, wood and stuffing everywhere, with the glass table in the center of the room shattered, its steel frame bent beyond belief.
And the walls…good god, the walls. They were decayed, as though they were eaten by a horde.
Madoka's eyes widened. This damage was clearly magical. Why wasn't it repaired?
"Answer me, Homura! Are you alright?"
She rushed through the wreckage, the darkness only somewhat alleviated by the light from outside. Madoka charged through the house, before seeing a faint glow in Homura's bedroom. Through the debris, she ran over to her girlfriend's bedroom, her heart racing.
Homura looked away from her computer, the floating screens illuminating her face. She was somewhat disoriented, her eyes were unfocused, and her hair was a tangled, frazzled mess. "Madoka?"
She didn't have time to react. Madoka slammed into her, dust rising as she gripped her in a tight hug. Tears were streaming down the shorter girl's face, as she trembled, words pouring out at a mile per minute.
"What happened? Are you okay? Was it TorBey? Plea-"
Homura's eyes widened, only for her expression to soften. She put her own arms around Madoka. "I'm fine…don't worry."
"I can't stop worrying! Your house...what did you do?"
Homura stopped, confusion in her face. "I…don't know…" Regardless, she continued the hug. "I'm fine now."
Madoka continued to cry, the worry that was evident in her motion just moments ago replaced by joy. She smiled softly, holding the other girl even closer. "You're okay…I'm glad that you're okay."
They stayed like that for several minutes.
{Non Ego Patier}
Magica Madoka Veneficus Puella
Episode 18: System
[Non Ego Patier]
Mami's blood pressure was rising. She needed something to calm her down quickly; she felt like she was going to explode.
Twice.
"EnBey. Do we get to practice tonight?"
'Well, yeah. It's scheduled as usual. And since we have a newcomer, we have to have her fight.'
"Well, fantastic. But she's a kid. Who would fight her without completely bulldozing her?"
'Give Yuma some credit. She may be young, but her power is enormous. With Walpurgis on the horizon, we can't afford to have her back out of the contract.'
Mami glared at him. "We can't?"
'Ethics be damned, we need to prevent casualties. If this infestation is going to be as big as I think it is, we're going to need more than just Yuma, Airi, and Yuuri's help. We'll need help from some of the old Venefici.'
"Like Kazuko?"
'Her fists of steel still contain magical properties, and that chain allows for almost infinite range. She'll need to break it out when the time comes. Same with Kirika and the two Hanakos. The sheer size of Kanako's last fans would make for an awesome pair of shields.'
Mami raised an eyebrow. "You're not swearing."
'Yeah?' EnBey waved his tail. 'I know. Not every sentence I say requires that I swear. I just do so to grab your fucking attention.'
"Like that?"
'Yup.'
Mami shrugged in resignation. She didn't want to think about this now; there was too much on her mind. "Good enough for me."
'Just good enough?'
"Just good enough."
EnBey sighed. 'Shit's hitting the fan. Homura's already a target, Madoka is the daughter of a major corporation's CEO, Sayaka's a killer, I endorse "child labor," Kyouko is…Kyouko,' He turned to her. 'And you are with a teacher.'
"Are you implying that my relationship with Kazuko will be that straw that breaks the camel's back?"
'Not to sound pessimistic but…yeah.' EnBey walked to the edge of the building. 'Just let me know how Yuma does. With whatever TorBey's planning, we need all the help we can get when you and your friends fight off the Auctor's best...fuck it. They're just multiple Auctors at this point.' He leaped over the edge, leaving Mami alone on the rooftop. 'Get Yuma ready for training. She's a little kid, but her ability to heal fatal wounds should more than make up for it.' And with that, he was gone.
She put a hand to her face, groaning as she walked back to the door. "Damn it all."
{
Kyouko opened the door of the apartment with Yuma still on her back. She let the girl down, cracking her neck as she did so.
"Alright. You never have to see her again, okay?" She shut and locked it, with Yuma looking around the apartment. "Now…Mami should be able to let me get custody of you. It'll be a little harder because your Mother's still alive, but there's no way she'd win the case."
"Uh…" Yuma was still overwhelmed by all of this. She looked back at Kyouko, a small smile on her face. "Th…Thank you."
Kyouko couldn't help but feel a small pinch of pain at the face that looked back at her. It seemed to remind her a little too much about a certain someone.
Oh god, Akiko. She shook her head, muttering. "So…that must be how Sayaka feels."
"What did you say?" Yuma stared at the older girl, innocence evident in her voice, despite her despair.
"Nothing." It wouldn't convince anyone, and it didn't convince the young, albeit wise, Yuma.
"Well...it had to be something, right? You even shook your head."
Kyouko shifted her eyes, her head unturned. Nothing gets past her, does it? "Okay, you got me." Kyouko squatted in front of the young child, and patted her head. "Do you want to hear a story?"
Yuma smiled. "Yes. That would be nice."
Kyouko sat on a nearby couch. EnBey was probably going to have the poor child fight, regardless of her inexperience. She might as well calm her down. "Well…let's begin."
}
Sayaka sat in class, the lesson escaping her mind. The lecture was starting to drag on; nothing of it seemed to be important.
She was worried about Kyouko, about Madoka, Yoshio...
Hell, she was even starting to worry about Homura. Impressive, considering they barely even spoke to each other.
And who the hell knows what's going to happen next?
She buried her head in her arms, watching the clock on the wall tick by tediously. Each passing second merely led her to another thought, and with each thought, she grew more and more distressed.
Maybe Yuma's mom is a nice person. She sighed. Give her a place to stay...because lord knows that Kyouko would be a terrible parent. She chuckled at the idea of Kyouko raising a child, let alone one like Yuma, the thought breaking her distress.
Only for it to return within a split-second.
"And all just before Walpurgisnacht." Sayaka shifted her gaze back to the ceiling. "We need to be ready, no matter what."
[
Madoka picked up a piece of steel from the clock above, a small smile on her face. It was going to take a while to fix the place, even with magic, but she didn't care at that point.
Homura was safe now.
And she'd be damned if TorBey tried hijacking her again.
"Are you sure that you're alright?"
The other girl was a lot calmer now, as she seemed to actually notice the destruction around her. She stepped around the carnage, the Despair slowly leaking out of her Grief Gem as it repaired the architecture. The couches seemed to reconstruct themselves, as the clock's gears were snapped back into place with the utmost precision.
"I'm sorry to make you worry." Homura sat down, channeling her power back into the house.
"It's not your fault." The pink-haired Veneficus sat by her, hugging Homura closely. "I…I was scared. That was all." She smiled softly. "I'm just glad that you're alright."
Homura couldn't help but smile at the other girl, returning Madoka's hug. "So…TorBey did that to me, right?"
"I think he's trying to pull off the same thing that he did last time…" Madoka trembled in a mix of fear and anger. "And I wasn't there to help you! He's going to hurt you again! I know it!"
'And that's where you're wrong.'
Both girls turned to a nearby window. "EnBey?"
'He's not planning on pulling off a stunt like that mini-Walpurgisnacht that Homura caused. That would just be stupid.'
"So is he…" Homura narrowed her eyes. "He's…planning on manipulating several people at once, right? Destroy the team?"
'No. Actually, he's planning something far worse.'
And so, he explained everything.
]
Kyouko smiled, her expression soft as she started her story. "Now, there was once a man named Hiro Sakura. He was the head of a Protestant break-off denomination." Kyouko sighed. "He…wasn't very popular. But he certainly meant well."
"What's a 'break-off denomination?'"
Kyouko looked annoyed. "It's a group that breaks off of a denomination, which was broken off of a main religion." She put a palm to her face. "Just…roll with it." She sat back down, as she remembered just what had happened. "One day…he was diagnosed with something. BRP. Brief Reactive Psychosis." She frowned deeply. "The symptoms became obvious as he started experiencing bouts of depression. He was delusional. Suffered hallucinations. He would occasionally lapse into the weirdest speech possible. The fact that he couldn't afford any medication only worsened things. The bouts only lasted about a day or so each, but he never noticed it. Not once. Not ever."
Kyouko took a deep breath. This happened about four months ago. She should be over this by now. "One day, his wife couldn't take it anymore. She wanted to leave him; he was growing colder, more distant. She couldn't handle the stress, nor the pressure that he was piling on his family." Yuma was shaking, the sadness gripping her being as Kyouko continued her story.
"That was her mistake. And a catalyst." Without noticing it, a tear dropped out of her eye. Kyouko continued. "That was when his condition worsened."
"He thought that she was being unfaithful. That God was punishing him for betraying the faith. That the Devil himself was tricking her into leaving him. And that was the breaking point." She shuddered. "He killed his beloved wife, claiming it was the only way to free her. He took the knife that he used to slit her throat to my sister, killing her without effort." The tears continued to flow. "And then…he realized what he did. That God and the Devil had done no such thing to us. That he was the only man responsible for this sin. So he did the next logical thing in his mind. He killed himself. Prayed to God one last time for forgiveness, before he slit his wrists.
"And that was when I got home from school. I got to see just what he left for me as soon as I entered the house. I only got the full story when the police came to my home, but the damage was done. I ran off after that."
Yuma was crying now. She didn't expect to hear this kind of story come from Kyouko's mouth. "Is…there a happy ending?"
Kyouko wiped Yuma's eyes, ignoring her own tears. "Yeah…there is. Eventually, I met Enbey. It was about two days after I ran off. I was tired, hungry. I just collapsed right there, angry at the world, at myself for running off, and my dad…for something he honestly couldn't control." Kyouko sighed. "I met EnBey in an alleyway. Same as you. I contracted with him, and that was that. I became friends with Mami, though that was ended with an incident with a boulder, but things have been going pretty well since then."
"You…have a home though, right?" Yuma looked at her, incredulity on her face. "Right here?"
Kyouko wiped her own eyes now. "Yeah. That's the part that I'm going to go over next."
Kyouko's story continued.
{
EnBey took a deep breath. 'And that's the story.'
"A riot?" Homura looked at him. "Couldn't you just tell the government what's happening?"
'Call me a cynic, but they're not going to listen. The shitheads in charge won't listen to me; they didn't in the 1700's. They won't now. Technology changes. People don't.'
Madoka crossed her arms. "There's no way to inform the public?"
'The first thing they're going to recognize is the fact that I contracted a child, hired a murderer, and, knowing how things are going, had my Matriarch philandering with a teacher, ignoring the fact that they're not even willing to touch each other past a goddamn hug.'
Madoka shifted herself forward in a mild panic. "They've already figured that out?"
'Give them time.'
Homura put a hand to her chin. "…So everything and a little more is hinging on whether or not I can 'slide' the Auctor away?"
'I would think that TorBey would want more than just one very powerful Auctor. He's bringing five for the Mitakihara team.'
"Throwing everything, literally every bit of power he can muster at us in a last-ditch effort to destroy the world once and for all?"
'And even if this fails, he'll still keep coming. For all his bastardry, you have to admire his tenacity.' EnBey looked at her. 'The last Walpurgisnacht was supposed to be the end of the fight. Here's to hoping that the moniker's right, this time.' He started to walk out of the room.
"Thank you for the information." Homura said, worry already evident in her face. For all of her abilities, she was still going to have a hell of a fight when the time came.
Madoka looked to Homura, sensing the distress in her voice. She grabbed Homura's hand, interlacing their fingers. "You know we're going to be here for you, right?"
Homura sighed. "I know…" She looked out of the door, the debris slowly picking itself up as her channeled magic restored the home. "But I don't know if that is going to be enough."
}
Class was over, and Mami left without a second thought. The stress was getting to her, and she had a nice, big, pulsing headache which was getting to a point where she actually would prefer having a large pickaxe stuck into her forehead.
"Bluh." She groaned. It was getting more and more annoying to handle all of the bullshit surrounding her. From Yuuri and Airi all the way to the "Yuma controversy,"
It's not like EnBey could have done anything else at that moment. She sneered. Just like the public to play something like that up.
Her thoughts playing through her mind like a broken record, she walked briskly to the training center.
She was going to be about an hour earlier than anyone else, but she didn't give a shit at this point.
Of course, it was then that the two visitors from Tokyo landed beside her.
"Yuuri, you're going to fight Yuma."
Yuuri was taken aback by the suddenness of Mami's statement. She was just there for barely half a second, and already she was given an order. "…Okay?"
"Both of you are about as powerful as I am, and just about as skilled as well. If she fights only one of you, then there's less of a chance of her getting hurt."
Airi frowned. "Where is this even coming from?"
"A need for a fighting partner that isn't going to bulldoze the new recruit on her first training day." Mami deadpanned. "Yuma is still a Veneficus, and, as such, she still needs to be trained."
"But you didn't even-!" Yuuri was cut off.
"I don't care." Mami growled with an uncharacteristic malice. "The point is that when we're fighting the hellspawns of Walpurgisnacht, there will be a need for everyone to do their part. That includes you," She glanced at the pair, stopping for just a few seconds. "And Yuma." She shifted her eyes back, turning away from the pair as she continued her brisk pace.
"It does not matter what you think. What does matter is that we minimalize the damages as much as we can."
Airi frowned. "You're still getting a little irritable. What happened to the 'calm' and 'collected' Mami that was in Mitakihara before?"
The blonde-girl didn't skip a beat. "She realized what she was in for."
Nobody dared to start another argument after that.
[
"And that's how I started living here." Kyouko wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Be strong for her. "And I'm sure that you'll have a happy ending of your own." She patted the young girl's head, wiping Yuma's tears in a vain attempt to regain her composure.
Yuma looked at her, a bit of confusion on her face. "A happy ending?"
Kyouko smiled, wiping the last of her tears off of her face. "Yes." She stood up, fully recovered from her emotional tale. "Well…we have to go now. I think it's time for your first training session."
The sadness was replaced by confusion. "Training?" Yuma tilted her head. "Training for what?"
"You don't become as awesome as I am without a little practice!" She picked up the smaller girl, with Yuma giggling a little as she did so. "You need to hone your skills. That's part of why Mami keeps on beating everyone."
The other one is because there's no kill like overkill.
Yuma's eyes widened. "So I could become like Mami?" She seemed to smile at this.
Oh god. Another fan. "Uh…yeah. You can." Why is she so popular? I can beat her! Occasionally! On a good day! "But the thing is really to make sure that you will survive a fight with a witch." She looked at her arm apprehensively. "Though, with your power, you could probably survive being beheaded."
Yuma inched backwards at that statement.
Ah! Wrong choice of words! Kyouko waved her right hand. "You're pretty strong!" Nice recovery. Real nice. "Just come with me, okay?"
Yuma held onto Kyouko's back, nodding as the red-haired girl prepared to launch herself skyward. In a blast of concrete and dust, they were off, the wind blowing around their ears with a rigor that would have deafened most people.
It was then that Yuma decided to say something.
"...Miss Kyouko?"
"Just call me Kyouko. It's a lot less formal."
Yuma smiled. "Okay." She held on. "Thank you for the story."
Kyouko blinked. "Uh...thanks." It was pretty much just me venting. What was so great abou-
Yuma interrupted her thoughts. "You had a happy ending."
Kyouko stopped talking for a second, only to smile. "And you think that you can get one too, right?"
Yuma nodded, hugging Kyouko's neck tightly.
"Well..." Kyouko kept the expression, looking forward again. "We'll help you get it."
They continued to the training arena..
{}
Kyouko got to the training center to see Mami, Sayaka, Airi, and Yuuri all standing in front, prepared to train. Preparations took all of five minutes, with Yuuri and Yuma taking center stage as Kyouko and Sayaka took their places on the observation deck.
Mami folded her arms. "Alright. Before we begin, I'd like to ask our youngest member exactly what her powers are." She looked at Yuma. "Do you know what your weapon is?"
Yuma just looked at her in confusion. "I don't know."
"Then I guess that we'll have to help you figure it out." Mami said, frustration of the mild sort seeping into her tone. "Now, all you need to do is concentrate. It will form instantly, and can change its size depending on what you want at a certain moment. Its size will be limited by your power, as will the number that you can spawn instantaneously, but there are ways to get around it." Mami smirked. Like I did.
Yuma nodded, and followed Mami's instructions, letting a staff form in her hand. "...A stick?"
"A staff. It's actually a pretty good weapon. Now, as a Veneficus, you have access to a nigh unlimited arsenal of moves and abilities, what with the fact that you're not bound by agility or strength."
Yuma smashed the staff into the ground, forcing the very pavement to shatter spectacularly. "Wow. And I can do this?"
"Yes. Just be careful in combat, because the witches, for all their strangeness, know what they're up against. They'll give their all, so you need to give your own." Mami turned towards Yuuri. "Now, Yuuri's going to go easy on you, since you're the youngest and least experienced member as of now."
Yuma nodded. "Okay."
"Are you ready?" Mami stared at Yuma.
Yuma nodded. "Yes."
"Then go!"
And Yuma ran forward, weapon at the ready.
]
As the first blow was struck, Airi looked over to Mami. She still had her ever-present frown on her face. "While you're all off fighting the Auctors, do you honestly think that we'll be able to handle the onslaught at home?"
"Not without help." Mami answered honestly. "If Homura was as weak as the rest of us, this fight wouldn't be so dire. It would still be a potentially apocalyptic event, but nothing of this scale." She crossed her arms. "That being said, EnBey and I have proposed that we bring several veterans back. Ones who can use Melee weapons with an almost infinite range."
"Like Kirika's knuckle-blades?"
"And Kanako Kiku's fans." Mami nodded. "We only have three veterans in Mitakihara; the others left a long time ago. If it's possible, it would be nice to have the assistance of the Saints, but it's unlikely that they'd be able to help with circumstances like these; they've never fought more than two witches at once, and none of them were as powerful as the ones here."
"Yuuri and I just happen to be the cream of the crop?"
"That is correct." As she said that, Yuma flew past the window, the wind caused by her speed cracking its glass as she slammed into a virtual skyscraper.
Airi smirked. "And it appears that Yuuri isn't holding back anymore."
And from the skyscraper, Yuma emerged, as the tower seemed to repair itself, with the debris returning to the building.
From behind, both girls heard Kyouko speak up for the first time since she arrived, with a wide, cocky smirk on her face. "And neither is Yuma."
{]
Yuma jumped out of the building, her feet dragging across the side of the skyscraper. Bits of broken glass scattered about as she slid on it, as though she was skating. She did a clumsy pirouette off of the building, the force of the jump launching her forward at fifty kilometers per hour. Yuma crashed into the ground with a shout, flipping and tumbling with a huge cloud of dust and debris before stopping on her own two feet, her staff extending as she swept it under an entire city block.
With that, several buildings collapsed with a loud crash, leaving Yuuri two hundred meters in the air.
She's good. Very good. She spun, forming a giant needle to hurl at Yuma. But not good enough. With a burst of speed, it flew down right in front of Yuma, sending a chunk of the ground into the air. The child simply jumped on top of the needle, using it as a springboard towards her opponent.
Yuuri launched several dozen syringes, each of them easily the size of a vending machine, only for Yuma to smack each and every one of them out of the air.
It was then that the young child got her staff ready and struck Yuuri down to Earth. The older girl planted herself firmly, gaining her footing only to be hit in the face by the very end of Yuma's staff.
She grimaced, before taking the weapon and flipping it over her head, smashing Yuma into the ground.
"You're not bad! I thought that it would be rather unfair, having me fight a little kid!" Yuuri smiled widely as she threw the weapon over her shoulder. "But now's the time where I have to make you remember just one little thing." She broke out into a run. "You're still new here!"
Yuma coughed, rising up as she prepared another staff. "I am new here, aren't I?" She smiled, as she spun it around, the dust around her clearing with the wind caused by her staff's spinning. "But that just means I have to learn!" She then prepared to strike Yuuri again, with two staffs converging on the sides of the girl's head.
Two needles stopped them mere inches away from Yuuri's head, just as she grabbed them again, her mad dash stopping instantaneously.
"And indeed you will."
She shoved them forward, forcing Yuma off of her balance. She raised a single arm, and created a new syringe with the express purpose of using it as a giant club. And so, she grabbed the needle, and brought it crashing down onto Yuma.
The fight was over.
[}
"She's pretty good." Sayaka put a hand to her chin.
"It's a good thing, too. Who knows how she'll handle Walpurgisnacht, though." Kyouko sighed. "Do you know what you're going to do with Yoshio?"
"We're taking her out of the city." Sayaka didn't skip a beat. "It's the only way to truly be sure that she's safe. I do not want to take any chances."
"Because purified Soul Seeds are susceptible to absorption, right?"
"Exactly."
Kyouko couldn't help but smile. "I actually know how you feel, now." She turned to her. "I met Yuma's mother."
"What did she say?"
Kyouko's smile disappeared. "She didn't need to say anything. Yuma had scars on her forehead. Cigarette burns. Her mother smoked."
Sayaka winced. "So...that's how she got so powerful."
"Betrayal is one hell of a thing." Kyouko turned to Sayaka. "But hey, we've got each other, right?"
Sayaka laughed quietly. "I guess we do. Good friends and all."
Kyouko felt a pain in her chest. "Yeah. We are pretty good friends." She seemed to whisper the line.
They watched as Yuma exited the field, smoke and dust still rising from her body as she patted her own head.
And everyone was content, even if for just one moment.
[{]}
Asami Chitose was alone. Everything around her was crashing down, and it was all because she had made a stupid, stupid mistake.
She let the girl go.
She let her daughter go. And, even worse, she deserved it.
"I'm so pathetic." She said, her head turning left. "She was taken away...and she'll be taken legally within just a few days." She frowned deeply. "After what I did to her...to make her listen..."
She went over to a nearby drawer, and took out a single device, its steel glinting in the weak light of her apartment.
She just sat in her chair, and stared at it.
And stared.
She never noticed the brief flash of red light from outside.
({})
The Other Madoka shrieked in pain as the Goddess stood there, shock, rather than horror, shooting across Her features.
The Other Madoka looked at her arm, only to stare blankly at the broken bone splintering out of her fist, blood dripping down as the pain shot through her limb.
"That wasn't the first time somebody tried punching me." Madoka Kaname said, Her voice unwavering. "I know what you wanted to do, Madoka. But I could not bear to watch you suffer."
"We were about to succeed!" The Other Madoka spat. "How the fuck can you just-!"
"Look at your arm."
Instantly, the pain in the Other Madoka's arm was gone. It simply disappeared, as did the injuries on her hand. "What the hell..."
"Hitting me will not change anything. I know exactly how you feel, but I can promise you that this was the only solution."
The Goddess took a determined step forward. "There was no way out. What I did was save you!"
The Other Madoka shook her head. "N-no! You're wrong! I could have saved her! We could have saved her!"
The Goddess could not stand it any more. "You couldn't have saved her! Not in that timeline! You only did it once, and that was when your Homura died!" The Goddess regained Her composure, before calming down. "You could not have rescued Sayaka." She looked at the ground, looking less like a graceful goddess and more like the girl that she once was. "Believe me, I've tried."
The Other Homura then stepped forward. "But...what about our old universes?"
"They are not under my power. I can't reach them; they are of a different universal split than mine, with a system that was only possible because of the witches. And even if I could reach them, I would have destroyed a culture; the witches there are, arguably, more important than the ones in my old universe."
The Other Homura asked another question. "It would have hurt more than it would have helped, wouldn't it?"
"Yes." The Goddess looked at the distant scenery. "It would not be my intention to hurt the ones fortunate enough to avoid the Magical Girl systems of their respective worlds."
She turned back to The Other Madoka.
"What I did was provide hope for those Puella Magi who were forced into contract with KyuBey. I could not bring you to your old world, nor could I let you go through the same kind of hell that my Homura has gone through."
As she said so, a faint image, one of Homura Akemi, her hair held back by a single pink bow, flickered briefly.
She spread her arms. "You wanted to help out a stranger from a world that you did not even know existed. You would have suffered over one-hundred years of loops before you succeeded." As she did so, an image formed in the air in front of them, a faint, blue glow washing over them as she let the image form.
"But that is not why you're here now. I brought you here to let you see something."
The Other Madoka sat down, her face in her hands in despair as The Other Homura put a single hand on her shoulder.
"I am going to show you exactly what is happening in your own universe."
I surely believe that the karma that we create together in this sky
will play a song of love,
A/N:
Nope. Not much action here.
But the finale will involve things blowing up.
So yeah.
Also, just watched REDLINE. I have to say, it was pretty awesome, and the music was quiUNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ
21. Episode 19: Unsettlement
\/
\A symbol rises to the surface/
\Of the crimson sweetness that I had submerged it deep within./
The dawn was interrupted rather quickly.
A witch rose above the cityscape, its outline flickering as it stared down its prey. It dwarfed the skyscrapers around it, its armored form shining among the towers.
And then it was smashed in the face by a motorcycle at high speed, before several missiles exploded around it, wreathing it in flames.
The witch, Virginia, crashed upon the ground, the armor's cloak covering her "body" as it regained its footing.
And it was then that her opponents showed themselves, one of them holding a needle, with other wielding a rather large missile launcher, which she promptly ditched in favor of a new one.
That was already aimed at the witch.
Airi smirked. "Airborne action. Fifteen."
"Fifteen?" Yuuri smiled widely. "That's always fun!"
She leaped down, the syringe already out. Yuuri took the weapon and blasted the witch upwards, the needle becoming a bat rather than a medical instrument.
Virginia flew into the sky, only to be struck by a single car-sized missile, bits of steel raining down from the impact before the rocket exploded, a rippling shockwave passing over the surrounding buildings. The windows on the street exploded, and Airi rode on her motorcycle again. "I need a ramp!"
"You've got it!" And so, Yuuri let several syringes burst from the ground, with each needle being stacked on one another, as Airi revved the engine.
"Let's finish this." She took the bike and drove it up the impossibly narrow ramp, sending the motorcycle hurtling towards Virginia at three-hundred kilometers per hour. She raised a single arm, and spawned five enormous missile launchers with a smirk.
"Good night."
With an enormous explosion and a yellow fireball, a violet fractal exploded in the sky above Mitakihara.
{Non Ego Patier}
Magica Madoka Veneficus Puella
Episode 19: Unsettlement
[Non Ego Patier]
"And not a single fuck was given." Kyouko finished her story, and Sayaka could only think of just how ludicrous the entire thing sounded. Since when did a Veneficus use a missile launcher?
It was then that Sayaka remembered that everyone here was capable of crushing buildings with little effort, and that she had no right to criticize Kyouko's verisimilitude.
"So my 'stalkers' are both competent Venefici?"
"But of course. The witch was taken out within two minutes." Kyouko put her left hand behind her head, taking a cigarette out of the box in her pocket.
Of course, Sayaka would have none of it. "Stop that!"
The cig was slapped out of Kyouko's hand, and the other girl got the message. With an annoyed tsk, she put the box back into her pocket. "Spoilsport. It's not like it's going to ruin my lungs."
"Veneficus or not, it's a bad influence. How long have you been doing this?"
Kyouko stuck a stick of pocky into her mouth. "I dunno. Ever since I got contracted."
Sayaka made a face that could only be described as disgust combined with annoyance. "Why would you do that?"
Kyouko looked at her with a wry smirk. "'Cuz it looks cool. And it pisses off the moral guardians."
"Moral guardians?"
A small crunch was heard. "The same guys that want you publicly crucified."
Sayaka sighed. "I wouldn't call them that…I got carried away." She put the bag over her shoulder. "I could have done something that wouldn't have gotten Yoshio bullied."
"Her bullying isn't your fault." Kyouko didn't budge as she walked by the other Veneficus. "It's the parents' fault. Not yours."
"Bluh." Sayaka stared at the ground in silence. "Still…everything is still going downhill. And EnBey can't fix our reputations?"
"Nope. Our collective PR's in the shitter. The only reason why Homura and Madoka have no problems is because Homura's a meme and Madoka's too. Fucking. Cute." She put a hand to her face. "She's too moeeeeeeeee to be considered a threat to society."
Sayaka couldn't help but sarcastically raise a fist. "Go bias?"
"Yes. Wooo."
They walked in awkward silence for a while, before Sayaka opened her mouth again. "Say…you seemed kind of awkward while Yuma was fighting."
Kyouko twitched, but held steady. A very light, almost unnoticeable blush appeared on her cheeks. "Just…nothing."
Sayaka raised an eyebrow, but decided not to press the issue. "Alrighty then."
The rest of the walk was deafeningly silent.
[O]
Mami looked at both Yuuri and Airi, her arms crossed. "Well, you wiped the floor with that witch. I have to say, I'm impressed." She waved a single hand. "Faster than I could do it, but then again, I'm only one girl."
Airi wiped the windshield of her bike. The three girls were standing in front of the school, with their shadows extending far across the ground. "So the disaster that is Walpurgisnacht will be at least a little easier to handle for us?"
"Just a little. But that's like saying that getting hit by a train isn't as bad as getting hit by a bus." Mami walked over to them. "There will be enough despair caused by the witches' rampages to fuel your Grief Gems, and their fractals will mean that there will be more than enough power to go around." She looked over to the elementary school. "Yuma will also be more than a little useful."
"If we get a fatal injury…"
"Get the body to Yuma before brain-death. Then you can get back to work. If the brain's a little damaged, it'll be repaired. If it's turned to mush, you're dead."
Yuuri glanced at Mami, whistling in awe. "How do you know this?"
Mami made a face, looking away from both of the girls briefly, embarrassed out of her mind. Re-Animator. "A hunch."
Both Yuuri and Airi looked at her incredulously. "Okay. So you're going to have us go into battle on a hunch?"
Mami nodded. "Yes." The matriarch sighed. "It's not much to go on, but it's better than nothing."
Airi merely shrugged. "So…you're not going to school today?"
"Protecting the planet from cosmic horrors is a little more important than missing a day or two of my education. No. I'm not going to school today." Mami started to walk away from the pair. "I'm going to go get the few former Venefici that have weapons on hand."
And so, she was off, with the cracked ground being the only sign of her presence.
Airi looked over to Yuuri and shrugged, with the other girl just looking back with a mixture of amusement and incredulity on her face. "Any possible way this could go wrong?"
"Only a ton." Airi started to walk back. "Come on. We've got to go look over Sayaka again."
Yuuri nodded, her serious expression returning, before they rushed off in their motorcycle.
(0)
Kazuko couldn't help but notice that Mami was gone today. The girl had already let her know that she was leaving, but it was still unsettling.
Recruiting isn't easy, I know, but a little more warning than the morning before would have been nice.
She put a hand to her face, before continuing her lesson.
Not that it was to last.
"Saotome, Kazuko. Please come to the office."
The teacher froze in the middle of the class, the word "pronoun" suddenly getting spattered on as she unconsciously crushed the red marker in her hand. She growled, before realizing that she had just cost the school some money in marker repair.
"Ah…that's not good. Why was I using this anyway? The board's digital…" She muttered before turning to the class. "Excuse me, but I have to go somewhere for a second…I'll be back."
She walked out of the class, the glass walls ensuring that they wouldn't do anything stupid.
They couldn't really get away with anything in this school.
The hell does the boss want with me anyway?
She arrived at the principal's office after what seemed to be hours of walking through endless glass hallways. It was a relatively small room, with blacked-out windows made with the express purpose of keeping unwanted eyes from peering in, complete with a sliding black door.
Kazuko knocked on the door, just before it opened on its own.
"Please, come in, I implore you…"
"What is it this time, Okajim-"
"Let's get this right out of the way, Kazuko."
The door shut as soon as the man at the desk took his finger off of the button. "What the hell are you thinking?"
Kazuko's eyebrow twitched. "Whatever do you mean, Rokuro?"
"You know exactly what I mean!" He took out a folder, glaring at her as he did so. "Tell me…what do you see?"
Kazuko swiped the folder out of his hands. If you're being a hardass, then I'll be a hardass. She flipped through it, before her eyes widened. "Wait…this is…"
"You should know that living with an underaged celebrity would end in disaster." He glared. "Especially when you like her a little too much."
[-]
Kirika was alone again.
Ever since that day, she kept to herself.
She never said visited anyone; her parents were dead long ago.
She never got out of the dorm; she came out only for the occasional lecture.
She barely even bought herself food.
So it would be rather surprising, possibly even a little disturbing, to hear a knock on her door.
She gasped, before turning back to the entrance slowly. Her pulse quickened, and her chest felt somewhat constricted.
"Hello?" The voice echoed inside the dorm. Kirika clutched her head, hiding underneath her desk.
"G-Go away!" She put herself into a fetal position, grabbing her claws from nearby as she shuddered in fear.
From outside, Mami was yelling into the door. "I'm not here to hurt you! Just let me in!"
Kirika shouted back. "No!"
"Please, just let me in! We need your help!"
There was only silence. Mami frowned, before attempting to reach Kirika once more. "I'm sorry, but if you don't open the door, I will have to knock it down."
Kirika stared at the door. She wouldn't…
Mami couldn't believe that it was coming to this. She cocked a single fist back.
"One…"
Kirika's eyes widened even more.
"Two…"
Mami's feet were set on the ground, the concrete cracking as her footing was enhanced by her magic.
"Three!"
The door flew off of its hinges with a hole in its center, yellow streams of magic flyinga bout as Mami walked in. There was steam rising from her fist, and there was a sigh escaping her throat. "That could have gone better…" She reached Kirika's hiding place, before crouching over to meet Kirika. "Hello, Kirika."
In a panic, Kirika shrieked, sending the claw over to Mami's face.
The other girl barely reacted. She stopped the claw with her hand, the fingerless glove on it preventing Kirika from cutting into her palm.
"I only need your help."
Kirika finally stopped hyperventilating, and finally recognized the girl in front of her. "M-Mami?"
"Yes." The blonde girl said with a steady tone. "And I am not going to hurt you."
Kirika opened her mouth, only to shut it. Oriko was sick...Oriko was sick! Mami had no choice!
"I-I know…"
Mami extended a hand, and pulled Kirika out from under her miniature fortress. "I'm terribly sorry about my entrance. I'll fix the door before I leave."
As soon as Kirika was pulled out from under the desk, Mami couldn't help but notice that her senior was more than a little worse for wear.
Her short, jet-black hair was disheveled, and her skin looked pale. She was too thin, and she looked weak, as though she had starved herself.
She certainly wasn't weak, and she had enough food to survive, but she didn't look healthy.
"You didn't get help like I said."
Kirika almost winced. "I…"
Mami looked around, amazed at just how terrible her room looked. "Your room, your health, everything about you is falling-" Mami looked into her eyes, and saw Kirika's glazed eyes. It was as though she had died inside, and all that remained was that shell standing before her.
That wasn't too far from the truth.
"-apart." Mami looked to the floor. "I'm...so sorry."
The black-haired girl just looked away. "Just tell me what you came here for."
"I will." Mami raised her head. "In a few months, the largest disaster to ever hit Mitakihara will co-"
"Walpurgisncht. I know. She…" She swallowed, shuddering at the memory.
The silence continued once more, only for Mami to speak up. "Look…the new team and I will be able to handle the Auctors."
It was then that Kirika's threw her head back up, hair flying about as she looked at Mami with a panicked expression. "Multiple Auctors?"
"TorBey is going all-out. Other than Oriko, you were a fantastic Veneficus in your own right, and your claws can extend themselves quite a bit." She looked over towards the pair of weapons on Kirika's desk. "There will be more than twenty witches this Walpurgisnacht, and the main team, that being Me, Madoka, Sayaka, Kyouko, and Homura, will probably have to find some other place to fight the Auctors."
"Oriko said that…"
"It would be borderline apocalyptic." Mami looked her in the eye. "And it is because of the horrors of this very event that we need your help."
Kirika stared at the Matriarch, realizing just how important this battle would be.
"I…I think I'll help."
"We'll need it." Mami started to walk over to the door, only to stop just before walking out. She went over to Kirika, and put a small card on her desk.
Almost in a whisper, Mami looked Kirika in the eyes with absolute sincerity. "Please. Don't be afraid to talk to me. I know what Oriko meant to you...and I didn't want to kill her."
She went out of the doorway, with magic repairing the door almost as soon as she left.
Kirika just stared at the card, before picking it up with her left hand.
With a low whisper, she said two simple words, each punctuated by a single teardrop.
"I know."
]
Kazuko kept flipping through the pictures, each look appearing a little more paranoid with each passing second. "A-Am I going to-?"
"I can't fire you based on this alone." The man said, sighing. "But regardless of what I can or can't do, the public will still eat it up."
"I would keep the job, but my Public Approval would implode."
"Implode? It would shatter like my sanity."
Kazuko put a hand to her face. Just like him to make a joke like that about his own mental state. "Can you please keep it a secret, though?"
"I wasn't planning on letting anyone know. As long as you're not fucking her, that's fine." The man paused. "You're not fucking her, are you?"
Kazuko froze in horror, raising her hands up defensively as her face turned an ungodly shade of red. "Good god, no!"
The man sighed. "Fair enough."
"Uh…how did you get these in the first place?"
Rokuro sputtered. "Uuuuuuh...Yeah. About that..." He adjusted his tie. "You see, I can keep a secret."
"Oh…" Kazuko's eyes widened. "Oh god." Her pupils dilated. "Oh, fuck!"
"Sorry for the false hope."
Kazuko tore out of the office, almost forgetting that the door could only slide before rushing back to her classroom.
As she ran, Rock reached under his desk, and pulled out some pure moonshine, straight from the FRT. He popped the cork with his bare hands, and proceeded to chug a nice bit of it down his throat.
He slumped back towards the desk, staring at the label on the now-empty bottle. He tossed it behind him, the bottle landing neatly in a nearby trashcan. "Not strong enough."
[
Unlike Kirika's visit, the trips to the two Kanakos' homes were uneventful. Both of them were glad to help, and they offered their chances as soon as it was possible.
And she already asked Kazuko last night.
There was nothing more to do but return back to the school and talk to the girls on the rooftop at lunch.
Conveniently, that would mean that she'd be able to talk immediately after she was done with Hanako Kiku's visit.
She hit the rooftop with a light thud, making sure not to damage it as much as she would the pavement; it wasn't quite as strong as the solid ground, after all. She dusted herself off, and turned towards the other girls in her group.
None of them looked pleased in the slightest.
"Mami…" Madoka said, her voice low. "There's…been something."
Homura nodded. "The Veneficus Public image took another hit."
Mami looked worried. "What? What did he-!"
Kyouko frowned. "It's not something he's done. It's something that a human was responsible for."
"You've been outed."
Mami turned to her right, with Sayaka's disapproving face filling her vision.
"I've been what?"
"Everyone knows about you and Kazuko." Homura said calmly. She stepped forward, putting her hand to Mami's shoulder. "Three days until Walpurgisnacht, and our image has been blown to hell."
Sayaka, knowing just what Mami was berating her for just a few days ago, was more than a little angry. She put her hand on the girl's shoulder, and said, with no subtlety whatsoever:
"It looks like you're not as perfect as everyone thinks."
}{
'Ah, EnBey.' The voice was more condescending than it was before. 'It is such a pleasure to se-'
'Cut the bullshit. I know what you're planning, TorBey.'
'A riot is not the most elegant plan. But since when has elegance ever been a factor?'
EnBey's teeth ground against each other. 'This is not a game.' His fur flickered with a bit of red magic. 'I will not let you-'
'Well, what did you say after "winning?" Isn't this fun? Playing speed chess with your former brother[s]?'
If EnBey did not know better, he would have thought that TorBey was smirking.
It was pissing him off.
'I am not one of you. I am never going to be one of you ever again.'
'All because of some minor experimentation? Please. To engage in war, we have all changed ourselves ever-so-slightly.' TorBey turned to him. 'A little madness, malice, possibly a little bit of acrimony. It can help quite a bi-'
He didn't get to finish his sentence. His head disappeared in an explosion of red magic, smoke rising as EnBey threw the limp body away.
'They really are resorting to more and more desperate measures. We're not the only ones at the end of the line.'
'The "end of the line?" Surely, you are joking.' Thousands of TorBeys flooded the area, with EnBey in the center. 'And yes, we[I{They}] have modified ourselves ever-so-slightly. The programs of mankind are perfect for discovering just how one like myself should act.'
A light red glow flooded the area, as the eyes around EnBey lit up. He took a step back, growling in anticipation. 'Emotional enhancements. Just what did you use?'
A single body stepped forward. 'Adherence and amusement.' It had a grin, one stretching from ear to ear as its sharp teeth were bared. 'As well as a little bit of joy.'
All of the bodies suddenly had the same grin, as EnBey started to panic. 'Oh, you are-'
'We[I{They}] kid you not.' One of his bodies leaped out, both paws glowing with blue magic as he pinned EnBey to the ground. 'Unlike you, we[I{They}] have no capacity for distrust or hatred.' It seemed to grin widely, teeth bared. 'Just love and joy.' He opened his mouth widely, his jaw ready to bite. 'And we[I{They}] love the universe more than we could ever love you.'
TorBey slammed his jaw shut, dust rising from the sheer force of his bite. He looked around as the dust cleared, the ground underneath him already empty. 'We[I{They}] see that you have modified yourself as well.'
EnBey reformed himself, red magic coalescing into a single form as he touched down. 'Not really. Teleportation is easy; I just vaporize myself and make a new body. I didn't change that.'
'So you have not?'
EnBey swore that he heard this thing chuckle. It chilled him to the very core. 'What's the point of driving yourself mad, TorBey? What, is it power?'
'Power? Oh, but I am more stable than you. I am not as "powerful" as you. Your magic and your insanity is almost on par with that of a Puella Magi's…'
The body that had opened its mouth grinned even wider, before it started to glow blue. 'But I have an army. And you…' The glow suddenly surrounded EnBey, as he was bathed the light of TorBey's magic. 'Are merely one Interceptor.'
And an explosion of magic rocked the Mitakihara skyline.
-(O)-
The Other Madoka shook her head. The tale was just too incredible to be true.
It was kind of like an insane action movie, to be honest.
The Other Homura looked to her, and smiled. "So…there is hope? They are searching for us?"
"They can't reach you without help." Madoka raised a hand, focusing on Homura's image. "Even though her power is on par with mine, it is almost impossible for her to form a direct link between universes."
Both of the Other Venefici bowed their heads. The Other Madoka was the first to speak. "But there is a way, right?" Her tone was calmer, with a far more level expression.
"Yes. There is."
The background behind the Goddess flickered, before she revealed a black hole forming on the screen.
"Through a rift in time and space, I can link those of multiple universes. And when the time comes, and I know when it will happen, I will be ready."
The Goddess turned back to the Venefici that were staring at her in awe.
"And so will you."
[
The tears of the red moon are a quiet music.
Let's live so that we can share the light.
A/N: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAND Scene. Great! Now I've fucked over everyone!
The end of the series will be Episode 26. The epilogue is Episode 27.
If you want to know what the name of the chapters will be, TOO FUCKING BAD.
Also, changed the rating back to T. After all, Sayaka turned a room full of guys into a blender. Delimbing is a stupid reason to make something M-rated anyway.
22. Episode 20: Cataclysm
A/N: Okay. I made a minor continuity boo-boo earlier in the story. Kasumi Chitose's name has been changed to Asami Chitose to match the name that I had given her in the thread. Why, you may ask?
Because I despise continuity errors.
\Your destiny isn't so immutable/
\Anything that you can dream/
\Can also be the fate that you will have/
Mami slumped down on the roof. She buried her head in her hands, shaking violently as the girls around her stared.
Homura was the first to speak. "You should have seen this coming."
"I did. I really did. Of course I'd be next." She was saying it, but it was obvious that she did not believe it.
"And that's the final nail in the coffin." Sayaka crossed her arms. "The public hates us, and the end of the world can be seen over the horizon."
"You did a fine job, Mami." Kyouko glared, standing by her roommate. "Didn't even bother to hide your fucking affai-"
"You're not helping anything, Kyouko." Mami glared at the redhead, though she was clearly shaken. Her glare had lost some of its touch; it was marred by the distress she was currently feeling. She stood up, her hands shaking. "And we have bigger issues anyway."
"We're going to train for Walpurgisnacht, right?" Madoka asked, her arms crossed.
"Yes." Mami looked at her, the gravity of the situation reaching into her voice. "Don't bother returning to class. We're going to train."
Kyouko smirked. "Now we're all delinquents."
Sayaka glared. "Don't get too full of yourself. We're not going to be having any fun for the next few days."
Madoka walked by Mami. "Everything is going to be based on strategy?"
"Not just that. Teamwork. We will be fighting some simulated Auctors, including Morrigan."
Homura's eyes narrowed. "The first Auctor?"
Mami nodded. "Yes." She looked back to the rest of the group. "We're all going to try and be as low-key as possible. As soon as you find EnBey, let him know the plan, and tell him the situation."
Sayaka walked over to her. "Speaking of which, where is-?"
A blue ball of energy roared over the horizon, molten pavement flying into the sky as a gust of wind was blasted over the school, with glass shattering around the Venefici.
All of the girls were forced backwards, their feet dragging across the roof as they struggled to keep their footing.
As the explosion subsided, a black cloud of smoke rose above them, the smoke obscuring a chunk of the skyline.
Kyouko rubbed her eyes, as she looked over to the smoldering buildings in front of them.
"That answers that question."
Mami didn't skip a beat, she bent her legs, and said, with conviction: "Let's go."
The five girls left the school within seconds.
{Non Ego Patier}
Magica Madoka Veneficus Puella
Episode 20: Cataclysm
[Non Ego Patier]
EnBey slammed onto the ground, blood flying as he barreled across the pavement. He stopped rolling, only to cough violently.
Blood was pouring from a gash in his forehead, with two of his previous bodies already on the ground, the mangled corpses mocking him and his combat ability. He started to run forward again, only to be blasted by another magical burst.
'We[I{they}] can see just why you enjoyed fighting me!' TorBey's bodies walked towards the Interceptor slowly and deliberately. 'All this time, you found it cathartic to destroy our[my{their}] bodies!'
EnBey tried to raise his body again, his limbs twitching as he moved. 'Bastard.'
'This is fun.' The last word rolled off of TorBey's thought process. 'Very, very fun.'
A body punted EnBey across the ground, only for another body to hit him with enough force to crack the pavement beneath him.
'You honestly thought that you could face us[me{them}]?' It grinned, a light laugh escaping its throat. 'You are a pale imitation. A mental patient.' The tone was jubilant. It was enjoying the carnage with its newfound emotion. It was overwhelming its formerly logical mind, filling it with ecstasy.
EnBey stood up, only to be thrown into the air by one of TorBey's arms. He could have ended this right here and now with a bit of teleportation.
But hubris always came first.
He coughed out blood once more. 'You son of a bitch!'
'Such a petty insult.' The insane grin grew wider. 'You've been fighting my predecessor so much that you cannot even face me.' Three magic bolts juggled EnBey in the air, with the Interceptor attempting to create a magical burst…only for it to be dispelled as another bolt struck him in the forehead.
EnBey hit the ground hard, his head splattering apart messily. Above the decapitated corpse, he formed a new body, nerves, bones, muscles, skin and fur forming within a split second.
'Oh, come on!'
'How long do wish for this to last, EnBey?' A body threw a punch, as EnBey leaped above it. 'This is pointless for both opponents. Why don't you surrender?' Another punch. This one connected, forcing EnBey into a nearby wall, a crater forming on impact.
'Why don't you just give up?'
EnBey slid down the cracked brick, his new body already damaged to hell and back. He glared at TorBey, forcing himself to stand up. He grit his teeth, his eyes glowing once more.
'Oh, you have no idea what I AM CAPABLE OF." His mental voice reverberated, the ground shattering as his forehead split.
'Ah. So you have changed yourse-'
A beam of magic sliced through the speaking body, bisecting it instantly. As the halves fell apart, a red explosion rocked the district, obliterating half of TorBey's body.
'Yes…I guess what I said before was a lie.' EnBey rose from the destroyed rubble, the third eye on his forehead shutting with a hiss of steam. 'But I just made it up right now. I wasn't lying back then.' The bulge where the eye was disappeared, as his head returned to its previous state.
'You should have used it earlier.' Another body walked forward. 'But then again, not using it would have avoided the collateral that you have cau-'
'Bullshit.' EnBey looked at him. 'I blew up part of an empty road. The only "collateral" was you.' He smirked, getting back onto his feet, the effort from the beam having taken out much of his energy. 'You and your fuck buddies.'
'Funny.' The remaining bodies then ran straight to EnBey, all of them ready to strike him down. 'Now die.'
They leaped into the air, blotting out the sky above the Interceptor, as he let loose one more angry roar, the eye reappearing…
Only for an enormous magical shell to obliterate a chunk of the airborne Incubators.
]
Asami Chitose's head didn't hurt. Saying that would be like comparing a firecracker to a nuke; her head felt like it was about to split open.
She stood up wearily, her arms hanging as she stared out at the hole in her now-empty home.
It was a very messy hole; one that was clearly made by some kind of explosion. There was a bit of brick hanging from it, with some twisted I-beams marking the structure that was once her back wall.
She walked over to the new opening in her apartment, the rubble falling to the street, as she suddenly noticed what was happening outside.
The magic that left a hole in her apartment was colored red, as the flickering strings of energy had told her everything she needed to know about this new source of destruction. She wandered from the hole, seeing several white streaks suddenly disappearing from her view, leaving five girls on the street in front of her.
She squinted, looking at the ladies on the street. An explosion rocked my apartment…why are they still-
Her eyes widened as she saw them, the black uniforms giving them away instantly.
Venefici!
She stared as the smoke started to clear, and noticed just how familiar one of them looked.
Her teeth grinded against each other. That bitch!
She remembered the remorse that she had felt just a day ago…only to have it swept away by rage.
It wasn't her fault.
She looked back to the table where she had left her gun. The silver barrel gleamed in the sunlight…
And she stared at the weapon in earnest.
]
The remaining TorBeys dropped down to earth, all of them still flickering blue from the magic that they were about to release, only to run.
As they scattered, EnBey panted, looking over to the descending Venefici.
"What happened here?" Mami frowned as she looked at the destruction, with two flickering craters marking the site of a battle between the two Contractors.
'He's more powerful. That's how he's going to do it…' EnBey attempted to stand, only to collapse. 'Fuck…the Third Eye exhausted me.'
Mami picked him up, waving a hand over her as a bit of Despair flowed into his body.
"He's more powerful, you say?"
The creature looked at Mami . 'He has a limited range of emotions. That's more than enough for magic.'
He coughed. 'But that's not the point. What TorBey has done is that final plan. After this, there is no turning back.' He looked Mami in the eyes. 'He sacrificed his sanity for a suicidal charge. He's going to bring about the Auctors on his own power…'
It was then that he noticed that Mami was already looking stressed, and everybody around her was staring at the Matriarch with worry.
'What the hell happened when I was…' His eyes widened as he remembered a certain important detail. 'Oh, you're fucking kidding me.'
]
Junko looked outside of her office, the city appearing more and more ominous with each passing second.
The news spread at an ungodly rate. That morning, her best friend's secret had just been unleashed upon the world.
Not to mention the fact that she was getting some nasty glares today. Being Madoka's mother as well as the head of a major corporation did not do much to help her situation.
She was shaken from her thoughts when she heard something outside.
It was only one voice…
But it was clear what it meant.
"Those girls think that they can do whatever they want?" It was one of her coworkers, the man having left his desk.
Junko listened with a mild fascination, watching him angrily walking around.
"We'll show them. They're not better than us! Responsibilities? Murderers…scum…"
The man walked from his desk, his eyes flickering red.
"We'll show them!"
Junko's eyes widened in confusion as soon as she saw the eyes.
The crowd formed around him within seconds, all of their eyes flashing.
"We'll show them all."
Madoka's mother grit her teeth. She was not going to let this get out of hand.
Not in her fucking workplace.
She walked over to them, flicking open her phone for a short call to her daughter.
]
Asami had the gun in her hand as she walked out of the building. She stared long and hard at the girl in red, her eyes unblinking as she stumbled out of the ruins of her house. She grinned as she moved, cocking the hammer of her gun as she walked forward.
Her finger was not in the trigger just yet; she wanted to fire when the time was right. She didn't want to waste a single bullet.
Sayaka survived a gunshot, right? She smirked. But she has armor.
It was then that Madoka turned away from the group, picking her cellphone out of her pocket. She looked like she was distressed about something.
Asami's eyes widened. No good! She'll see me!
In a panic, she raised the gun up…
And fired.
[ ]
The Goddess looked into the universe. She frowned, as the events unfolded in front of her.
"Ah..."
"What is it?"
The Other Madoka, calmed after weeks of waiting, looked beside the Goddess, the portal into the Other world exposing just what the new day would behold.
"The first major peg has been staked."
"The Event is beginning?"
"What were weeks for you have only been days at your home world."
The Other Homura patted the Other Madoka on the shoulder. "So…the cataclysm is now?"
The Other Madoka frowned.
"Yes."
[ ]
The bullet whizzed by Kyouko's head, with the girl reacting almost instantly. She dodged the bullet, before running over to Asami. She hit the gun out of the woman's hands, sending the pistol flipping through the air with a flick of her spear's shaft, before smashing her shoulder with the flat of her spear, with a sickening crack echoing across the street.
The disgraced mother screamed as she clutched her broken shoulder, the cracked bone sending a horrific pain through her arm.
"What was that for? Shooting us isn't going to solve..." She recognized the face as Asami raised her head. "...shit."
Kyouko's eyes widened as she stared at the woman in shock, as Madoka ran over to her.
"Are you alright?" She didn't skip a beat as she helped the woman up, as Kyouko stomped over, rage filling her vision with red.
"You!" Kyouko raised a new spear. "I thought I told you that if I ever saw your goddamn face-!"
Madoka flinched, before yelling back. "She's bleeding badly! We need to get her to a-"
"Didn't you hear that gunshot? She was shooting at me!"
Madoka grit her teeth. "Maiming her can't be justified! She's a civilian!"
"A civilian who tried to kill me!"
Homura looked around, walking quickly over to the fighting girls. "There's…something wrong here."
"That's not an excuse!"
Mami looked around, her eyes widening. "Oh god…"
"Yes it is!"
Sayaka whacked both of the girls upside the head. "Look around you!"
"What the hell do you-?" Kyouko growled, only to be stopped.
"The civvies…" Mami stared out, and the full extent of their surroundings revealed itself.
People, hundreds of them, flooded the street. They were all fearful, terrified, even, of the girls that were arguing the middle of town.
EnBey then promptly wriggled his way out of Mami's arms, his injuries healed thanks to Mami's care.
'I'd enjoy the incoming shitstorm with you, but I have better things to do.'
He scampered off, leaving the Venefici to pick up the pieces.
[ ]
Kazuko stumbled backwards as soon as she saw the students staring at the screen in her room.
She ran in, throwing open the door with more force than what she had intended, sending its frame scattering across the hallway in pieces.
In her room, on her whiteboard, were several pictures floating about.
Each of them had her and Mami together in their home, part of the images obscured only slightly by the brush that surrounded the house.
Her eyes widened in horror, before she looked at the students.
All of whom were now staring at her.
She took a step back, trembling in embarrassment and fear, before she ran out of the room, her speed cracking the tile beneath her feet as she ran in a panic.
[ ]
EnBey ran on top of a building, frowning.
'You can't run from me, you fuckhead!' His voice was genuinely angry, and his face showed it clearly. 'You can't respawn forever!'
There was no response.
TorBey was mocking him.
Curb-stomp or no, he was not going to be a toy. He looked around frantically, eyes shifting as he continued his search.
After several minutes, he realized just how worthless it was; how pointless it was to search for the creature that he despised.
In rage, he hit the ground with one of his paws, sending a shockwave of magic to blow everything around him at least a foot backwards.
'...Bastard…'
He couldn't stand losing.
'And yet here I am.'
[ ]
A single man in the crowd, his hair black and his face painted, ran forward. In his hand was a single weapon made of glass, with a flaming rag on top of it.
It flew through the air, the flame trailing behind it as he let loose a scream. Sayaka turned, her eyes widening as she realized what was flying towards the group. A sword formed instantly as she raised an arm, the weapon growing until it grew into an enormous, curved shield, the metal gleaming as it extended just enough to dispel the flames.
The Molotov hit the steel, shattering instantly as its gasoline spread across the surface of the sword. Sayaka curved the edges of the weapon, letting the fiery fuel fall to the earth, even as a few bits of it burned in midair.
Miraculously, not a single drop landed on anyone within the vicinity, with the flaming sword now taking the brunt of the heat.
The sword disintegrated in a slow, deliberate manner, the gas pooling into a circle surrounding the girls, wreathing them in flame. Kyouko frowned, spawning a new spear as all of the girls stood behind her, each with a different mix of anger, confusion, and fear on their faces.
With another tap of the spear, a complex network of poles and spearheads suddenly grew out of the ground, the tangle of steel and ruby extending far above the streets, only for it to disintegrate in another blast of red magic, bits of steel falling to the earth before disappearing.
And with that, the Venefici vanished without a trace, leaving the citizens of Mitakihara alone.
Only for one man to punch the Molotov-throwing kid in the face.
"What the hell were you doing?" He yelled, bringing him up only to punch him again, the ground shuddering as he pounded the vandal. "They're fucking kids!"
It was then that another person, with this one being a woman, kicked the man hitting the child, leaving them to scramble for cover. "Immoral, uncaring kids! With powers!"
Fighting quickly broke out in the Venefici's wake, with the entire crowd picking sides as panic broke out.
[ ]
Junko strode to the group, her anger repressed only by her businesslike demeanor.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
The group's members stopped their congregation, realizing just who was the mother of one of the Venefici.
"One of those kids you're after is my daughter. If you even think about going after any of them, you will answer to me. I will have you fired, and then I will have you arrested for threatening a minor. Do you understand?"
They seemed to be shaken enough by this to dissolve instantly, with their leader quickly returning to his seat.
Sons of bitches.
She walked back to her office, anger still plastered on her face...
And then she noticed something big…something ominous.
Black. Tall enough to reach her office half a mile in the sky.
She looked down, realizing that there was now a fire on the street.
In the sky, there was a blimp, the message on its side hastily put together merely hours before.
It was a shoddy job, but the message was clear.
Expose their lies.
We are the truth.
We do not need them anymore.
Another blimp appeared, with four symbols painted onto its side.
As she stared, Junko let out a horrified gasp, her hand planted on her mouth.
魔女狩り
We Are The Witch Hunters
If the madmen in her company were not bad enough, she now knew what was going on.
She ran to her cabinet, pulling out a shotgun and a pistol.
EnBey was right…TorBey would never let go of an opportunity like this!
She put the pistol into a shoulder holster, before throwing a sling onto her back and shoving the shotgun into it.
She wrapped a bandoleer around her body, complete with pistol rounds and shotgun shells, and stomped over to the door of her office…
Only to have someone crash through the window behind her, glass flying everywhere as the mysterious stranger stood in front.
"You didn't think I'd let an old friend go at it alone, did you?"
Junko looked at the destroyed glass in her now-ruined office…and then at the woman standing among it all, those green fists now ready for battle.
"When all hell breaks loose, I guess I really can trust you, can't I?"
Kazuko smirked. "Even after a nasty breakup, you still trust me this much?"
Junko smiled widely. "Cut the bullshit. We've been friends forever, and we'll be friends 'til the end, right?"
She climbed onto the woman's back, Kazuko smiling the entire time. "Hell yes."
They slid down, Kazuko riding the building's glass side as though it were a ice rink.
They hit the ground, Kazuko cushioning their landing by digging her heels into the side of the building, the landing still leaving a hole in the pavement.
Within just minutes of fighting, all of downtown Mitakihara was engulfed in chaos.
Kazuko frowned, raising her fists as Junko leaped off of her back. "This isn't random." She slammed them together, making it clear that she was ready to fight her way out of this town.
Junko loaded a shell into her shotgun, cocking it as she looked out to the city. "This was planned."
[ ]
The elementary school was breached quickly.
It took merely an hour for the violence to enter Yoshio's classroom, with the members of Majokuri, now backed with more people than what could possibly be accounted for, crashed into the building.
They were all armed with fully automatic weapons, their faces clearly visible.
But they didn't care.
The Venefici were holding a witch, letting her live.
The Venefici won't listen to them.
But they'll listen to death.
One man kicked down a door, his gun now pointing to the frightened students within…with the teacher now terrified, huddling behind her desk.
"Where's the girl?" He sneered, the gun raised.
The children merely shook, with there being no apparent sign of Yoshio in sight.
"Tell me where she fucking is!" He raised the gun, cocking it. "I know she's in this fucking room!"
He grabbed a child, now holding the gun to the poor kid's head. "TELL ME, OR I BLOW HIS FUCKING BRAINS ON THE FLOOR!"
The children only shook in fear…as the child that he was looking for could only stare in horror from behind the teacher, her head peeking out from beneath the desk.
"I'll give you ten seconds…" He said.
"Nine…"
Yoshio shook. She had no idea what to do.
"Seven…"
She clutched her head…only to realize just what made these men fear her.
"Three…"
She stood up slowly, remembering just what she was capable of.
"Two…"
She was once the witch of Coveting, the witch of Need…
"Last fucking chance! ONE!"
She stood up in clear view of the man that wanted her dead. She had a full realization. Something that she had not had since the day in the hospital.
She was not Elly. She had the powers of Elly, and the Soul of Elly…but she was not Elly.
"Good…you little punk." He let the kid go, the poor boy scrambling away from him the first chance he got.
Yoshio frowned. I know now…Even with just a soul…I am me…but I can control Elly.
The man's mind reeled as he felt the word "Elly" roll around his brain. The grip on his gun faltered.
"What the…what's this freak shit you're pulling on me?"
She raised an arm, aiming it towards him. He hurt your friends…and he was threatening to kill one young child.
She let the rage coarse through her. "You are an abomination."
The man took a step back. "What are you…fucking hypocr-!"
"You have no right to say such a thing." Her voice was quiet…but her tone was harsh.
The man was stopped. Such an arrogant bitch! She was a fucking child! One that was scared shitless just a few days ago! "Oh, shut the fuck up!"
"You're scared. Of what I was, no doubt." She frowned deeply, a pair of wings flickering across her back. "But let me give you a reason to fear."
The man had enough. He fired an entire magazine's worth of bullets at her, only to have a wave of magic block the way.
I have the powers of a witch…but the mind of a human. Yoshio smirked. "You threatened my friends. Your people killed several of my peers just a few days ago. And you have the nerve to attempt to threaten me?
"You have every right to fear me now!"
It was then that Yoshio, channeling that which was once Elly, forced the air in the room to chill, the electricity around her flying about as she clutched his throat.
"I am tired of you! I am tired of ALL OF YOU."
She threw him down the hall, knocking down a crowd of MajoKuri members along the way. They turned to her, only to have their ranks thinned out as a staff was thrown into their midst, shoving them out of the hall and to the streets below.
A second later, Yuma slid out of the hall, looking over to Yoshio a second later.
"Yoshio?" Yuma smiled, letting her happiness be known.
The older girl blinked, the name returning to her after a few seconds of thinking. "Yuma?"
[ ]
The five girls stood on the tower, with Asami Chitose still wounded by their side. Madoka had her head in her hands, as Homura desperately tried to calm her down.
It wasn't working.
Mami stared out, her face grim as ever, the expression on her face masked by shadow.
"It's already started, hasn't it? All because you couldn't resist beating a single woman."
Kyouko had a cigarette out, the breeze letting the smoke drift away. "The city's descending into anarchy after just an hour of fighting." She frowned, her angry expression facing Mami. "It wasn't just my self-defense."
"It's no wonder that TorBey hasn't appeared too much over these past few days." Sayaka crossed her arms. "He's been planning this. All of this."
Homura looked up from Madoka, her expression steeled. "In this chaos, it'll be more than a little difficult to get everybody out."
"It will be impossible." Mami crossed her arms. "Within a few days, the problem will escalate. We underestimated MajoKuri's size…and TorBey's influence."
"It'll be total war when the apocalypse finally comes, won't it?" Kyouko smirked. "Nothing like a little bit of a challenge."
Mami couldn't help but crack a smile at Kyouko's cocky attitude. "Tonight, we search for everyone who needs to leave the city. Tomorrow…we get them out."
Madoka looked out, standing up as determination replaced her despair. "We have faced more than just a city on fire…" She grit her teeth. "We will get through this!"
Homura put a hand on her shoulder with a smile, before looking to the destruction before them. "Yes…yes we will."
[COLLAPSE]
The Goddess moved quickly, her hands raised as a complex pattern of shapes formed in front of her.
"Is this the path home?" The Other Madoka frowned, looking to the Goddess with a sense of wonder…and regret.
"Yes." The Goddess turned to her Other self. "It is not your time."
The Other Madoka had a wry smile. "That sounds like a bad cliché."
The Goddess chuckled. "I know. But I won't end your life prematurely." The pattern grew more complex with each passing hand movement. "We need to return you to your home…"
"But what about-?"
"Your counterpart wished for it." The Goddess sighed. "I can't change it; even I am unable to interfere with the wishes of the Contracted Puella Magi."
She looked at the Other Madoka, their eyes now level.
"But I can say that the universe won't collapse if there are two of you." She smiled. "I know that you will both be fine."
Because you called out to me
it was like a wish being born for the first time
A/N: I have been revived. 10/25 is past. And I can't provide a 13-minute-long flash, so have a new chapter.
[On another note, I recommend playing "Cascade" from the Homestuck Soundtrack while reading this chapter]
Enjoy something awesome after weeks of aaaaaaaaaaaaaaangst and misery.
...Oh, wait. That's next chapter. Oops.
23. Episode 21: Invaders Must Die
\/
\Don't try to use deceit on me/
\I will not break, I won't surrender/
The city had gone to hell over the past day. It was simply amazing how quickly it had happened; just five hours ago, there were a few large crowds causing violence, with about 75% of the population still within their homes.
Now, the largest city on planet earth was in chaos, smoke rising as violence spread.
A group of riot police were in downtown Mitakihara, the front echelon raising their shields in preparation of the attack. Behind them, their leader kept his hand on his headset, making sure he was up-to-date on the happenings in the town.
A block in front of them, a group of protestors, all of them armed with a blunt instrument in hand, stared to the police, their rage made obvious by the raging fires around them, with their shouts echoing to the officers in their regiment.
"You're on their side!"
"Mitakihara is ours!"
"Fuck da police!"
"I was shanghaied!"
Within just a few minutes, the groups collided, with the crowd attempting to beat down the officers with anything they could find. Shouts of anger, rage, and insanity echoed through the streets as the protestors continued to fight.
The gas officers to the left and right of the leader prepared to launch tear gas into the crowd…when it was discovered that the crowd in front of them was parting.
An armed group of men ran to the officers, with all of them wielding a particular weapon, one that was clearly not made for a peaceful demonstration.
The leader's eyes widened as he and his fellows ran for cover, with himself diving into a nearby alleyway.
As soon as the guns started firing, he shouted into his headset.
"10-33! I repeat, 10-33! Armed protestors with fully automatic weapons by Imai off of Main! Requesting military backup! Code 8!"
The crowd around them cheered, as the men with weapons opened fire.
When the bullets started flying into the alley, the man realized that, in this empty alley by the mall, he and his men were never meant to experience this kind of assault.
They were prepared to handle a rowdy crowd.
They were not prepared to handle a full-on war.
{Non Ego Patier}
Magica Madoka Veneficus Puella
Episode 21: Invaders Must Die
[Non Ego Patier]
The city had gone through several hours of this senseless violence, and it didn't look like it was going to let up anytime soon.
Kirika heard someone crying over by a nearby alleyway. Probably had her parents shot to death by a stray bullet, or shredded with a grenade.
That didn't matter right now.
What did matter was her own survival.
Kirika slapped a man in the side of the head with a cash register, the force of the blow sending him careening to the ground unconscious. She smacked the flat of her claw's blade into another man, as he had brandished a gun at her, with his body hurtling into the desk. A third man, this time with a shotgun, was put down with a simple punch to the gut, forcing him into a painful conniption.
Even with the world against her, Kirika couldn't find it in her heart to kill someone. The very thought of her doing such a thing made her sick to her stomach.
Even with RPGs, grenades, machine guns, hell, everything they could think of in the hands of the brainwashed citizenship, she couldn't kill someone.
The only option left was to get the hell out of Mitakihara.
"N-need to get out of the city." She started to run out of the street, the pavement cracking beneath her bare feet. "Need to get out of the city."
[O]
The girls were no longer in Mitakihara. Rather, they were at the very fringes of the island, having found an isolated spot with a relatively low amount of fighting. They were holed up within an abandoned observatory on the island's tallest mountain, the destroyed architecture being more than a little foreboding.
It was far enough away from the city that it could serve as their temporary "home" during their exile. A twenty-minute run via Veneficus travel. That would be to say, 43 kilometers from downtown Mitakihara.
The place was a barely-furnished dump, with beer cans, spent cigarettes, and empty boxes of pizza strewn everywhere. There were a few couches here and there, and in one corner sat a clump of what used to be practice dummies.
Madoka was astonished by just how terrible the condition of this place was. "This is your home?" She asked flatly.
"One of them, yeah." Kyouko sat at the desk. "I kept it up when I was here. Been disappearing every-so-often to take care of it, but you get the point."
"Explains the lock on the front door." Sayaka smirked. "And you didn't even do a good job of keeping it up..." She frowned. "But that's beside the point. We need to plan, right?"
Mami sat down. "Correct. We can do this, but we can't just charge in blindly."
Homura walked over to her, the glasses on her face gleaming in the moonlight from the observatory's open ceiling. "And EnBey's not here." She flipped her hair, in a gesture of nonchalance. "It would be safe to assume that he's still fighting TorBey."
'Au contraire, mon Venefici!' As soon as he said that, he teleported into the room in a flash of red. 'He's back.' He hit the ground with a light tap, before he sat down calmly.
"Good to see yah, you little shit." Kyouko took out a cigarette once more, only for Sayaka to stop her. "Why? It's my house."
"That doesn't mean we want you to smoke here." She turned to Madoka. "Isn't that right?"
"Uh…actually, I don't have a problem with that." Madoka tilted her head. She was occupied with something else at that moment.
Sayaka sighed. "Fine. But why didn't you do it back at the apartment?"
"I didn't smoke in your apartment because I didn't feel a need to." Kyouko frowned, flicking open the lighter. "I'm just a little bit stressed. Just a little." She set the end of the cig ablaze, before she inhaled an enormous amount of smoke, letting it fill her lungs before she let it bellow out of her mouth.
Mami waved her hand. "Girls, there are more important things to worry about. We need to plan."
'I concur. Smoking or not, we need to think of something. Walpurgisnacht is coming tomorrow night, at midnight. That's how Morrigan arrived before, and I can guess that it's how the Auctors will arrive now.'
"Precisely." Mami sipped a cup of tea, her drink having been brewed as soon as she arrived. "Besides, it's a petty issue. Smoking doesn't even hurt us."
Sayaka rolled her eyes. "I know. I just want her to stop."
Madoka stood up, her expression deathly serious once again. "How can we save our loved ones?"
Mami turned to her. "Already getting that taken care of. Airi and Yuuri are gathering everyone as we speak." Special orders. "However, as important as that is..." She blushed lightly, fettered briefly by thoughts of Kazuko. "We need to think of ways to stop the disaster in Mitakihara."
'It would be practical to save civilians in the long run. If you don't, then not only are you going to start moaning and bitching about "Not being able to save them," but your reputation would be a little more difficult to salvage as well.'
Mami frowned. "You'd start feeling empathy as well, EnBey."
'No. I would not.' His tone was flat, unconvincing, forcing Mami to raise an eyebrow.
Kyouko stood up, the smoke surrounding her head. "Well, we might as well begin planning."
They gathered around the table, and started to count their options.
[O]
Tomohisa was hiding. His house was ransacked as soon as the violence started; being the husband of one of the most powerful women in Mitakihara was not helping his standing here.
As far as these madmen were concerned, if he was dead, then they'd send a message right to the Kaname women.
He held a pan in his right hand, and Tatsuya in his left, looking out of the alleyway every few seconds.
The house was on fire now; a Molotov cocktail was thrown into it as soon as the men started to enter the house.
He was able to fight off one of them, as the pan had a bit of blood on it, and he was able to grab Tatsuya in time.
"Papa?"
The man looked at his son. "Yes?"
"How long are we going to be here?"
"Not very…we just need to get out…"
It was then that he heard a noise. The sound of guns clicking, and even the occasional grenade being taken out of a net.
His eyes widened.
"Like right now!"
He ran out of the alleyway just in time for two frag grenades to hit the wall. They bounced, exploding violently with a rain of debris. He kept running, Tatsuya holding onto his father's apron for dear life.
The open street was filled with debris and broken glass, with the bits and pieces of the buildings around him piercing into his feet.
Tomohisa winced, but he didn't bother to slow down.
And of course, it was then that a protestor, eyes flashing red with a knife in hand, ran out of a burning, ransacked store. He shouted angrily, running straight to Tomohisa as soon as he recognized the man.
The family man didn't even bother to bat an eye. He didn't slow down, running straight to the armed maniac with his pan raised.
The protestor took the knife out and prepared to slice, just as soon as the pan clocked him in the face.
He was sent tumbling backwards as Tomohisa kept his momentum.
Have to keep moving.
[O]
They stood in silence for a few minutes, just staring at the map for a few clues as to what they should start doing.
EnBey spoke up. 'I've never dealt with this kind of thing before. TorBey planned this out perfectly. He got more power, and that improved his range and power.'
"The flickering of their eyes was stronger this time. His hold's even greater than it was before."
Madoka looked over to Kyouko's bedroom. "When I saw her, her eyes flickered for a second…she didn't faint when he let go of her."
"Completely unlike what happened when he was controlling me." Homura kept her hand on her chin. "So it wouldn't be enough to just kill every single TorBey in the city. His influence would continue even without his constant control."
'It'd be a waste of time, too. His respawn's instantaneous.' He stared blankly at the map. 'He's more powerful, so it's about ten times harder to kill just one of his bodies.'
Mami crossed her arms. "The best option would just be to eliminate the weapon suppliers."
[O]
Junko and Kazuko stood side-by-side. The teacher's car was totaled now, and they needed a new ride.
Said ride was an armored truck in the middle of an old parking garage, as the vehicle was abandoned after its previous inhabitants, a group of riot police, were massacred over by the mall.
Kazuko clacked her fists together while Junko loaded her gun, the purple-haired woman making sure to leave the chamber empty.
Just as they suspected, there were men over by the truck, with a fire burning on the pavement. There were empty beer cans scattered all around the parking garage, all of them still smelling of alcohol. These drunken men, upon realizing their new company, started to stare silently at the two women. It was then that one of them smirked.
"You want a share?" The scruffy, musky man grinned widely. "You'll have a bit of it if you-"
"I have a better idea." Junko put the gun up. "You let us have the truck without a fight, or we'll have to beat the shit out of you." She didn't tremble; her face was placid. "And if you really think you can stick your dick in me, then I swear to god, I will take your balls an-"
She was cut off when one of the men laughed uproariously. "You two bitches honestly think you can handle us?" It was then that he recognized just who he was talking to. "W-wait…you two look fa-"
Kazuko raised her fists. "My fists. They are made of steel." The tone was flat, and her face looked annoyed. "Combined, they weigh a ton. Do you want me to show you just what I can do with them?"
The men knew who she was now. They turned to her compatriot.
Junko raised the shotgun with one hand as her expression hardened into an ice-cold stare. The men seemed to wither as her eyes grew colder, the dark, deep purple giving way to...well...nothing. As they started to shrink back, Junko finished her stare, cutting it off with a cock of her shotgun. "And bullets tend to be lethal."
She kicked a single can by one of the men, with the bit of useless steel flying past his head in what almost seemed like slow motion. Suddenly, it was blown apart by a single slug, the bits of the can flying about behind the group.
Junko twirled the smoking gun, putting it onto her shoulder as she snarled. "Now beat it."
They did so with little hesitation.
Kazuko turned to Junko within a heartbeat. "That was a little harsh…and how did you learn to shoot like that?"
Junko merely smirked as she started walking over to the van. "Lessons. I kept fighting familiars 'cause I was friends with you. Had to defend myself somehow."
"Oh, you." Kazuko jumped into the back of the vehicle, shutting the doors as Junko revved up the engine.
The keys were still in the ignition, thankfully. The men probably found them on some poor dead cop.
She revved the engine, and promptly drove the vehicle through a nearby wall, the cloud of dust and a loud crash marking its triumphant exit
"FUCK YEA!"
[oOo]
In another part of the city, a bus was barreling through the destroyed street. The ruined husks of the cars around the vehicle were shaken as the bus flew through the street at two-hundred kilometers per hour, with both Yoshio and Yuma standing on top of it.
Five hundred meters behind them, several more buses, each of them packed with panicking students, flew along at the same speed. The train was relying on the protection of the Remnant and the Veneficus above them.
Of course, it was then that a barricade of cars preventing anyone and everyone from leaving the city was set up by MajoKuri.
Their point was going to be made in one way or another.
Several dozen members, fully-automatic guns at the ready, aimed at the bus that was rushing towards them.
Fifty meters, their guns were loaded.
Forty meters, Yoshio and Yuma prepared for a fight.
Thirty meters, the men took aim.
Twenty meters, Yuma pulled out a staff and Yoshio extended her wings.
Ten meters, the men started to fire.
The bus exploded past the barricade, the bits of destroyed cars flying everywhere as the nigh-unstoppable mass of steel burst through the MajoKuri forces. Just as soon as the first bus was cleared, a radio, complete with crackling static, was heard throughout all of the buses.
"The barricade has been cleared. The sentinels have been deployed."
Yoshio unfurled her wings at maximum speed, repelling the bullets heading to her with an unstoppable force, even going so far as to make a crater on the ground beneath the bus, with only reason why the vehicle was still intact being Yuma's magic.
Just as soon as the bullets were repelled, Yuma leaped off of the bus, hurtling towards the ground. She spun her staff with ridiculous speed, the wind beating around it as though it were a helicopter's rotor. The bullets smacked against the weapon, flying off harmlessly as destroyed chunks of lead.
Nobody is going to die here today.
Both Yoshio and Yuma leaped went to opposite sides of the open gap in the ruined barricade, with the bus that they were once on screaming into the isolated parts of the island.
Not me, not Yuma, not the kids, not anyone.
She was going to keep going, no matter how much it would tire her.
Not even these monsters shooting at me.
As she stood up to her full height, the men tried shooting at her once more, only to have their bullets bounce uselessly against her wings.
I am not going to make the same mistake as Sayaka.
As soon as she saw the rest of the bus train roaring by her, she spread them out once more, letting out a guttural roar.
"Let's see you try!"
[o0O0o]
Kirika saw a helicopter fly above her head. The news would soon get out about the disaster in Mitakihara, and the prelude to what was expected to be the worst witch infestation in history.
Of course, that would be the case if it wasn't hit in midair by a rocket-propelled grenade.
Kirika saw it tear through the cockpit, gutting the pilot before it whirled inside of the vehicle. A second later, it exploded violently, the pieces of the chopper flying everywhere.
She flinched as it exploded; it was a lot brighter, and a lot louder, than what she expected.
"…Almost out."
Of course, it was then that a motorcycle, engine revving, the red light of the fires below illuminating the driver and its rider in the night sky, flew over Kirika's head. The vehicle slid across the rooftop, dust and smoke rising as it stopped.
"Good. We found you." Airi waved to the woman as she prepared to start the engine again. "We need you over at the observatory. The others are there." She turned away. "We need everyone back at the abandoned observatory on the mountainside."
With the squeal of wheels and a wheelie, Airi was off, leaving a cloud of dust, the smell of burnt rubber, and a very confused ex-Veneficus.
]
"That sounds even less fucking possible." Kyouko sighed. "Getting rid of the weapon suppliers is hard enough; everyone has a gun. They just need to pick it off the ground."
"That may be the case," Mami looked back to Kyouko. "But getting rid of the suppliers means that ammo will be that much harder to find."
Madoka raised her own hand, ready to put in her own two cents. "What about the guns that are already in the city?"
Mami sighed. "There's really not much we can do about that. We could probably destroy a few guns without harming the civilians wielding them, but we can't do this without using lethal force."
'Correct.' EnBey flicked his tail. 'This is a clusterfuck. Not much we can do in the way of weapons.'
Madoka nodded slowly.
It was then that Homura asked for her. "But what's the approximate loss of life without the weapons?" She picked up a pen, taking a piece of paper out in order to take notes.
"If we did this with the utmost care, which I guarantee will not happen, the loss of life would be around one for every ten weaponized civilians."
The numbers made Madoka cringe. "Wh-what about with?"
EnBey looked her in the eyes. 'Seven out of eight.'
_o0O0o]
Tomohisa couldn't keep going. His feet felt like they were on fire.
Given the gasoline leaking everywhere, that wouldn't be too far from the truth.
He looked at them, with bits of glass, debris, a few flakes of dirt and even a few hot pieces of flattened lead speckled across his feet. Blood coated the debris, making it obvious that he wasn't able to walk another step.
Damn it. He looked at his son, breathing heavily. "I…I can't go further."
"P-Papa?" Tatsuya hugged him, the burning rubble around them marking the ominous night.
"…I guess we're doomed here, aren't we?" He chuckled. He was never one for running. Hell, he was never one for doing much. He just wanted to stay home. To take care of Tatsuya, his daughter, and his wife.
And now here he was, trapped in the middle of the anarchy that was once his home.
He held the boy in his arms. "Well…at least we almost got out."
"…What are we gonna do now?"
"We're…just going…to sit down." He coughed. His feet were burning. His son probably couldn't walk a few steps without getting killed. There wasn't much else to do but wait for the end to come.
Thankfully, Junko had other plans.
Through a row of destroyed cars, Junko burst onto the scene. The cars bounced helplessly as the impossibly heavy truck obliterated stop signs, crushed parking meters, and caused property damage beyond one's wildest dreams.
It slid horizontally for a good hundred feet, before finally coming to a stop just in front of Tomohisa.
The rear doors swung open, and Kazuko smirked widely.
"Get in, loverboy."
Tomohisa smirked, coughing again as he was helped up. "I thought you'd stop calling me that."
Kazuko let him sit down, picking up Tatsuya as she grinned. "Old habits die hard." She looked back to the eastern end of the island. "We need to get to the old observatory on the side of EnBey's mountain."
"Is that where Madoka is?" Tomohisa asked.
Kazuko nodded. "Damn right." She turned over to Junko. "Let's get going!"
"Got you loud and clear!" The mother jammed her foot into the gas, and the armored vehicle took off as she let loose one more scream.
"IN THE NAME OF THE MOON..."
Kazuko got the message loud and clear. She pumped her lungs full of air, and, with a confused and somewhat terrified Tomohisa watching, she finished her friend's roar.
"WE WILL KICK YOUR ASS."
_-o0O0o-]
Homura grit her teeth. The pen that she had picked up exploded, with red ink leaking out of her palm.
It was worrying, to be honest. "That's ridiculous!" Kyouko took a step forward. "That can't be accurate!"
'Actually, you've got a town filled with an angry, armed mob. These men and women have been manipulated to the point where their personalities have been overridden with rage. Combine this with the shitstorm that is MajoKuri, and you get the darker-than-hell truth.'
Madoka blinked in confusion. "B-But there has to be something we can do!"
Sayaka hit the table in anger. "We're not about to just let one out of three people die!"
"Is that even taking Yuma into account?" Out of all of them, Mami was the most reserved, though that wasn't saying much. Her teacup was now in pieces on the floor.
'Even if you're careful, people. Are. Going. To. Die.' EnBey took special care to emphasize each word. 'It doesn't matter what you do.'
"But we can't just let a third of the city get torn to shreds!" Madoka was almost in hysterics.
"Four million people will die." Homura said softly. Not even she was used to these circumstances.
'Yes, but would you rather it be-'
"I don't care!" Kyouko growled. "That's just too many! You can't jus-"
'DO YOU THINK THAT I DID NOT TAKE THAT INTO ACCOUNT?' EnBey's mental voice roared through their heads. 'I WILL TELL YOU THAT, YES, THERE WILL BE DEATH. YOU SHOULD HAVE FUCKING KNOWN THAT AS SOON AS A FUCKING RIOT STARTED.' He grit his teeth. 'YOU'RE NOT GOING TO DO SHIT IF YOU DON'T GET OFF OF YOUR ASS AND DO SOMETHING.'
The room was dead silent for several seconds. Mami cleared her throat, the thought of millions of screaming, dying people being pushed aside for the sake of saving at least a few. "As much as it pains me...he's right." She sat back down. "We will just have to deal with the losses."
'Excellent.' He sat down. 'At least someone here knows what she's doing.'
Mami put a hand to her forehead. "Sayaka, have any ideas?"
Sayaka sat down on a couch, her hair mussed. She was still shocked, and her answer clearly showed it. "I haven't the slightest. The best option is to avoid as much death as possible, but the casualty count is still enormous."
Homura sighed, having finally calmed down. "There's no better option."
Madoka frowned, sitting by Homura in an attempt to get at least a little bit of comfort. "We will just have to make do, right?" She sighed. "If it means we can avoid more death and destruction, then we shouldn't waste any more time." She leaned against Homura as she spoke. "Right, Homura?"
Her girlfriend noticed that Madoka was against her, the girl shocked beyond what most children should ever have to experience. Homura put an arm around Madoka, sighing softly as she did so. "Even with that, we still have to pull through..." She smiled slightly despite herself. "Like what you said, right?"
Madoka looked up. "Even now...it's not hopeless...right?
{_-o0O0o-_}
The truck swerved dangerously, with Kazuko ready for combat. There wasn't anything behind them, but it was best to avoid such a thing.
Of course, that was before a trailing cloud of darkness started to follow the vehicle.
"Uh…What the hell is that?"
Junko looked in the mirror as the cloud started to accelerate. "Is…that some kind of familiar?"
Tomohisa's eyes widened in panic. "Is…is the amount of despair so great that these things are forming in the streets now?"
The cloud started to morph into something completely different; something that most would call "surreal horror." It took the form of a schoolgirl, with no head to speak of. Its body consisted of six arms, with two of the arms taking the place of the legs. It was easily the size of a bus, and it was far more powerful than what would even be considered for most familiars.
It was a child of Patricia, after all.
Kazuko yelled out just as soon as it took shape. "Shit!"
Despite his inherent need to admonish her for her foul language, Tomohisa held onto the handles of the vehicle.
Mitakihara was already in shambles.
Now that the familiars were here, it would soon be in ruin.
(_-o0O0o-_)
The Goddess looked at the city, with the Other Madoka staring at the image from behind. The Goddess sighed, before removing the image.
"In a few short moments, it will be time for you to leave." She smiled. "Well…it'll be time for me to get out of here as well."
"What do you mean?" In a cloud, the Original Homura formed. "Why are you leaving us?"
"I'm not leaving forever, silly." The Goddess almost chuckled. "I would never do such a thing." She kissed the girl on the forehead. "I merely have some business to take care of."
The Other Homura stared at this display. "Can Homura not handle the Auctor of Walpurgisnacht?"
The Goddess stared at the Other Homura, before her lips curled into a soft smile. "I have no doubt that she will win." The smile was gone quickly, as her expression darkened. "But whether she can reach home or not is what I'm worried about."
I'll hold your hand until we reach an unfinished sky,
chasing after the red moonlight of June.
A/N:
Sorry to say, but I've made the mistake of purchasing something.
…
DOVAHKIIN, DOVAHKIIN, NAAL OK ZIN, LOS VAHRIIN…
If you notice a surge of EPIC and AMAZING in the next few chapters, you know what to blame.
That's right, Bokurano.
…No…wait…
24. Episode 22: The Eternal Night
\/
\Fairy blue/
\you are my everything/
\The reason I go on/
\In this captivity/
\Eternally/
The armored truck smashed through another wall, with the sheer mass of the vehicle preventing it from losing any of its momentum. It slid across the ground, debris rising as the tires squealed, with Kazuko on the roof, repelling Patricia's familiar.
"Oh, for fucks sake!" she swore, sending a munch flying into the familiar's midsection, grabbing its torso with a vice-like grip. "Just die already!" she lifted it off the ground, and threw it, sending it hurtling ten meters over her head and into a nearby tower,
The body seemed to sputter as it crashed across the glass, before flying out of the other side, bits of glass and destroyed metal flying about as it was cut apart messily by debris.
Its death was marked by a torrent of blood and a sigh of relief from Kazuko.
"Oh, thank god. I thought that it would never die…"
Of course, it would be far too soon to celebrate.
As the truck started to move onto a nearby ramp, several vehicles, each of them clearly hostile, accelerated, reaching the armored truck.
Junko growled as the MajoKuri forces arrived, and she opened her mouth just as soon as they brandished their guns.
"You want a fight?" She yanked out a pistol, prepared for any kind of attack. "We'll give you a fucking fight!"
The trucks alongside the van boxed it in, forcing themselves against the truck with a screech of steel and a cloud of debris.
Kazuko clacked her fists together again. She was not going to die today, and she'd be damned if she let Junko have all the fun. She brought the fists out, and leveled them towards the enemy trucks. They started to rumble as she prepared a haymaker, meant specifically for the driver.
She smirked, saying two words that she hadn't said in ages.
"Rocket punch."
[W]
It was already midnight. The smoke from the burning skyline obscured the night sky, with the smell of gasoline filling the streets.
It was then that Kirika Kure ran alongside a brick building, spinning in midair upon leaving the wall. She hit the roof of an apartment building, running at high speed to the observatory on the mountain.
As she ran, a cheap, mass-produced rocket flew towards her, the explosive gleaming with light from the fires below. She jumped over the RPG round and sliced off a chunk of its head, forcing it into a wild spin in the sky. It exploded harmlessly above the ground, only for several dozen others to follow, with a wild, feverish crowd of armed civilians on the ground below.
They were all aiming desperately towards the Veneficus. They weren't going to let a superhuman get away so easily.
The former Veneficus continued dodging the rockets, the upwards hail blowing past her as the rockets filled her vision.
The hail of RPGs barely missed her, the ammunition being wasted horribly as she simply twisted and turned her body, slicing apart some of the rockets just before they could even hope to touch her, the exhaust merely scorching her hair throughout her midair ballet.
Suddenly, another rocket was far too close to her. It was merely five meters away from her, at a distance that seemed too close for her to dodge.
It didn't matter.
She caught the rocket with a bare hand, her claws put away as she spun around. She threw the weapon upwards, the rocket sputtering only for her to launch a claw towards it.
She hit the detonator, forcing the rocket to explode violently. The claw continued past the explosion. The dozens of rockets that were now in the sky ignited, with a huge, blinding flash illuminating the streets below.
On the ground, the protestors and MajoKuri members blinked in surprise and horror at the display of finesse and power that they had just witnessed…
And the glaringly obvious fact that they had just wasted a royal fuckton of ammunition.
One of them had an eye twitch, just before he decided to sum up the situation in a nutshell.
"Well…fuck."
Of course, it was then that something completely different had decided to arrive, as though to mock them for their recent failure to kill Kirika.
It was a familiar, with its body stretching into the sky. Its body warped and twisted as its skin reformed into something more…witchlike in nature.
It formed a toothy grin as it expanded, dwarfing all of the pitiful human beings on the ground. The teeth were razor sharp, and its eyes glowed a dark red. It extended a long, bony arm as it started to grow two spindly, human-like legs.
One of them started to tremble in terror, just before he and several other guys decided to sum up their new situation in a nutshell.
"WELL, FUCK!"
[A]
In another part of town, the buses kept rushing down the road, the barricade having been left behind them quite a while ago. At the very back of the bus train, Yuma and Yoshio were holding onto the edge of the vehicle with a vice-like grip.
Behind them was another familiar, shaped like an arm, gliding behind them at high speed. It felt the force of the souls within the bus, and it knew a meal was just within reach.
Heh…hehehehe…Yuma giggled softly at her own lame pun, before she raised her staff in preparation for a fight.
With the anticipation of a fight, the pursuing hand leaped forward, only to be smashed by an axe kick from Yoshio.
Instantly, it was in the ground, the pavement splitting apart as the hand's own momentum kept it barreling forward. It lifted its forearm before throwing itself off of the ground, dust and debris scattering about as it gripped itself into a fist.
The other end of the arm roared as a burst of magical energy propelled it forward, the familiar rearing itself for a high-speed punch.
It didn't expect the remnant to strike again before it could even finish clenching its fist. Yoshio punched the giant arm into the sky, spiraling upwards as her wings extended fully. The hand flew up, just as Yuma came to strike it down.
The younger girl struck the hand with the force of a thousand home-runs, sending it hurtling across the sky. It disintegrated as it flew, the pieces of magical flesh burning as the hand slowly disappeared out of existence.
But it was too soon to celebrate. Around the buses, several more familiars were forming in the outskirts of the city, with many of them towering above the skyline.
Yoshio growled. "Oh, you are kidding me!"
{Non Ego Patier}
Magica Madoka Veneficus Puella
Episode 22: The Eternal Night
[Non Ego Patier]
The time for planning was over.
Madoka was standing over the city's skyline, the sound of sirens, chaos, and gunshots echoing about.
Familiars were starting to form more and more rapidly as despair started to leak through the city. They were becoming much like the witches that they had been born from; vicious, cold, cruel…mindless.
Madoka tapped her headset.
"I'm in position, Mami."
The sound of radio static echoed in her ear.
[L]
"Excellent. Remember, we have Twenty-three hours to disarm every MajoKuri activist in Mitakihara." She sighed. "Homura, shields. Kyouko, destroy and/or disarm the maniacs with your chained spears. After killing all the familiars, of course."
A kilometer away, Mami was walking down the street. Although she was like a yellow beacon in a dark night, she was not being attacked.
The only other humans on the street were dead.
"I've counted about three hundred bodies here so far." She was struggling to keep her composure, but it wasn't as obvious on the radio as it was in person. "We don't have much time. We've got the full support of the Japanese Strategic Self Defense Force. They will be supplying both artillery and air support. They don't want to lose any more men than they already have so they're not giving us infantry."
Another voice entered the comm.
'Also, note to Homura. Do not manipulate ti-'
"I get it."
[P]
In another part of the city, Homura stood on a skyscraper. The pitch-black night hid her form, and the wind blew around her, lending her an almost mysterious image.
'Just making sure. The tidal force is enormous.'
"I knew that the first time I sparred with Mami."
'You're lucky you didn't touch her.' EnBey sighed. 'Kyouko, you in position?'
[U]
"Hell yes." On the remains of a radio tower, Kyouko crouched. She was smoking again, and the breeze blew said smoke across the cityscape. "I see a ton of familiars. Good god, this isn't going to be easy."
Right behind her was Sayaka, brandishing a sword as she glared out to the skyline. "We're the cleanup crew, right? We're just here to take out the monsters." She said over the radio.
[R]
'That you are, my blue-haired friend.' In his own corner of town, EnBey was walking. His fur was disheveled, and he looked more than a little pissed. 'Everyone's ready.'
He continued walking, the mental radio inside of his head cutting off as soon as his opponent appeared.
'You filthy son of a bitch.'
'Greetings to you as well.'
[G]
The radio crackled as Mami spoke her final words within her transmission. "Operation: Broken Arrow will now commence."
On cue, the other four girls leaped from their buildings, diving to the ground with tremendous speed.
Sayaka slammed into the earth, with Kyouko compounding the damage caused by her roomate's descent. Immediately, the familiars in the area turned to this new threat, many of them now reaching the size of buildings.
Sayaka smirked as Kyouko brandished a weapon.
Even if they were going down, they wouldn't go without a hell of a fight.
[I]
Homura landed on top of a car, her speed and weight crushing it as soon as she hit the roof. The pavement shattered, the ground shook, and an echoing crash was heard by everyone on the street.
The hostile crowd looked to Homura instantly, only for a large number of them to pull out a series of cheap assault rifles.
Homura simply raised a hand, her expression unchanging.
And the gunfire began.
[S]
Madoka saw the crowds from her position. As an archer; she didn't need to get to the frontlines.
Why would she? It was just unnecessary risk.
Instead, she opted to sit on the roof, raising her arms as tons upon tons of crowsbows lined the building she was on. They spread rapidly, the crossbows filling the air above her as she formed a pattern in the sky.
Within seconds, the crossbows were aimed perfectly towards every weapon in the area, all of them set to disintegrate a split second after striking their targets…
She smiled…and fired.
[N]
The newcomer walked over, calm as ever, and sat over by his new opponent. 'I see that your still insist on continuing this futile war?'
'We are at a stalemate.' EnBey frowned. 'Neither of us has won. Neither of us will win any time soon, friend.' The last word dripped with sarcasm.
'Tsk. Such a waste of potential.' The opponent's unchanging expression unnerved EnBey to no end. The golden eyes glowed in the dark, lending a far more regal expression than that of TorBey's.
'Why are you even here! You have no reason to come here!'
'Actually, I have many reasons for coming here, EnBey.'
Suddenly, the pavement beneath EnBey's feet started to crack as he gathered energy. 'Then start explaining.'
'In due time.' KyuBey continued walking.
In record time, EnBey was at KyuBey's throat. Magic coated KyuBey's neck as he was pressed against the ground. 'You will explain everything now, you son of a bitch.'
The alien didn't even flinch. 'Patience is a virtue.'
Instantly, EnBey was thrown off of KyuBey, as a burst light sent the Interceptor barreling across the ground.
'But first…we have to meet your new guests.'
Just as he said that, a swarm of TorBeys crashed into the earth. They looked to EnBey, each of them wearing a crooked, almost fake-looking smile.
'I sincerely hope that you enjoy your meeting.'
Just as soon as TorBey raised one of his arms, EnBey roared in defiance. He smacked the body to the side with a simple sweep of his magic, and ran over to KyuBey, his sharp teeth bared.
'You're not getting away from me that quickly, you cowardly motherfucker!'
[A]
Kazuko's rocket punch was blown into the side of one of the trucks, obliterating one of its walls in a split second. She grabbed the side, using it to reel herself in as she prepared to disarm these terrorists.
She entered the hole in the truck's side with a kick, the very force of her flight sending the vehicle onto two wheels. After several seconds, it hit the ground again, with everyone inside the vehicle struggling to maintain their footing.
Not that it would matter.
Kazuko stared at them, her eyes cold, steely. She brought a single hand up before them, her fist whirring as the chain was prepared to fire…
Only for her to turn it towards the engine block.
She blasted the engine out of the car's hood, forcing its pieces to fly about everywhere. The front axle disintegrated, just before the entire front of the truck started to grind across the ground at highway speeds.
Kazuko herself leaped from the truck, and prepared to get back to the Kaname's car.
Meanwhile, about fifteen meters ahead of the destroyed truck, Junko cocked her shotgun, loading in another shell as she rammed the pursuing vehicle. She shouted once again, only for a bullet to shatter the windshield.
"I'm not going down that easily!" She leveled the barrel out of the destroyed right window, one hand on the trigger, the other on the steering wheel as she fired off several rounds.
It wasn't going to accomplish much, though, as she ducked down as soon as a volley of fire smacked into the side of the truck.
Hundreds of rounds were heard hitting the truck, as Junko couldn't help but ask.
"How much ammo do you guys have?"
[C]
Kirika sighed in relief. She could see the exit! She was so close! She saw the observatory so close to her…
And of course, it was then that a firing squad ran out of the nearby buildings, all of them a bunch of mussed, rattled men and women. They all held cheap, AK-47's, and all of them were ready to fight.
She clashed her claws together, backed into a back-stance, only for something else to appear out of nowhere.
Out of one of the walls came a familiar, the building it was in just seconds ago exploding from the sheer force of its exit.
Instantly, the protestors and MajoKuri men departed, with the familiar rampaging across the scene.
Kirika prepared to fight it herself, only for something completely different to obliterate a chunk of the creature's torso.
It was a bomb dropped from a Mitsubishi F-2 fighter.
Instantly, Kirika knew that she had to get out of town as soon as humanly possible
Things were getting even worse.
[H]
Another explosion rocked the cityscape, blowing both Yoshio and Yuma off of their feet. Just as it happened, a squadron of planes flew through the sky, contrails stretching across before turning back, unleaching a barrage of 20mm cannon fire upon the familiars on the ground.
Of course, the planes were slashed apart as a familiar stretched upwards to an impossible height, striking down half of the planes above.
One the planes went down in flames, crashing into the building that Yoshio and Yuma were hiding behind. As it obliterated a nice chunk of the tower, Yoshio and Yuma knew that they would have to get out and find the others.
The city's not going to last long like this.
[T]
Madoka grit her teeth. The building she was on just an hour before was now a ruined husk.
She frowned, raising both of her arms as she prepared to destroy even more of the weapons in this god-forsaken city.
Of course, it was then that a man popped up from behind her and put a gun to her back, the barrel touching her lightly for a split second.
Bad move.
She spun, whipping him with a single crack of her hand, before yanking the gun out of his hands and snapping it in half. She threw the halves aside, before spawning even more crossbows.
Just in time for an explosion to obliterate another building.
Madoka turned towards the source of the fire, her weapons disintegrating as her focus was redirected.
Indeed, the sky was filled with a barrage of air-to-ground missile fire, bombs falling from the sky as the familiars put up a hell of a fight, with two familiars dying for every plane that was wrenched from the sky.
In a desperate attempt to ignore the carnage, Madoka bared her teeth, raised her crossbow, and fired some more arrows into the street.
[I]
There were too many familiars spawning.
Kyouko hit the ground hard, bits of magical energy surrounding her as she slid across the pavement.
Overhead, Sayaka screamed in desperation as she obliterated yet another familiar.
And five more took its place.
This part of the city looked less like a former suburb and much more like a hellish pit. Thousands of familiars, all of them of varying shape, formed from the despair pouring out of the city, were smiling.
It was a clear sign that things were not going to let up anytime soon.
[S]
Mami twirled a gun, knocking out another familiar. She fired a salvo, just in time to destroy another one.
"Girls! This isn't looking good!" She shouted into her headset, just in time for Kyouko to growl in response.
"You fucking think? These familiars are kicking our asses!"
Sayaka groaned. "They're like witches! They're like swarming, miniature witches that hate people!"
On another line, Madoka shouted. "All the guns in my sector are now in the hands of the armed forces, but the JSSDF is struggling to hold back the familiars! There are just too many for them to handle!"
Mami shrieked before she was suddenly blown back, interrupting her own reply. She sputtered, staring at the new crater in front of her. "I'm a superhero, not invincible! Don't blow me up!"
It was then that another line connected. "Akemi is here. Currently suppressing targets in my sector."
Mami coughed. The explosion had knocked the wind out of her.
"Finally! Some good news!" Kyouko stood up and brushed off her legs. "What about EnBey? Anyone got something from him?"
[N]
KyuBey stared down his counterpart, his expressionless face acting more intimidating than it had any right being.
EnBey, on the other hand, was battered, bruised, and broken. It was his sixth body this fight, and it was on the ropes again.
'I fucking hate you…'
'You're so witless, EnBey.' KyuBey walked over, a light air of condescension being conveyed with nary an expression. 'It's funny how you talk so much but do so little to stop me.'
'We're still in a deadlock, shithead. In a few hours, the city's going to be cleared. Your precious witches won't get shit.'
'In a few hours?' KyuBey didn't flinch. But it was to be expected. 'But you should know that things have changed.'
'What?'
'I decided that an Auctor should only be released on Walpurgisnacht. However, I have also decided that…maybe we could speed things up a bit. It would help us for you to be caught off-guard for once.'
On cue, there was a roar in the distance, as EnBey's eyes widened in horror. 'Oh god…'
Several more followed, as a building crumbled in the background, dust filling the sky as KyuBey continued his unending stare. 'The warm-up has ended. The game will now begin.' His right eye turned red for a second. 'You're so foolish.'
[O]
Homura was doing a fine job, as shields covered the landscape. With much of the population under control, they were easy picking for Kyouko and Sayaka...
If they were here.
"If you're having trouble with the familiars, just skip them! We can take care of them later!" Banging was heard from the street as the trapped gunmen attempted to move. Homura shouted again. "Where the hell are you?"
Kyouko spoke. "Jesus Christ! We're still pinned down!"
Of course, it was then that all the activity in the city stopped upon hearing a single, horrible roar. It was unlike any kind of earthly creature, with an echo that seemed to waver, as though it were a corrupted radio signal. Instantly, a skyscraper disintegrated, and dust filled the downtown area of Mitakihara.
Above the skyline, a creature of Clockwork, standing upright, rose into the sky. She started to laugh as several more witches, all of them of varying size and shape, joined in their demonic parade.
Homura stared in horror as they formed, the banging and screaming from within the shields growing more panicked and desperate.
"Guys...Walpurgisnacht is here..." Homura brought the radio down from her mouth as she heard the panic on the other end.
Indeed, Walpurgisnacht had begun. The pieces were put in place before the enemy could react.
KyuBey was taking a risk.
The end was nigh.
[W]
The Goddess contemplated her work as the Other Madoka stared in awe.
"What…what is that?"
"It is a break in both time and space." The Goddess smiled as she raised a hand. "This is how objects can transcend realities, moving to different universes." She turned slowly. "This is how you will return home."
The Other Homura asked a single question. "I can see our home…it's-"
"Being destroyed." The Goddess nodded sadly. "I need a preexisting opening to bring you there. I have my end ready, their end will need to open…
"How long until then?"
"Twelve Hours." The Goddess answered. "Twelve hours until the Auctor appears above their world."
How many times have people cried out
as they are born into a sea of tears?
A/N-
Oh...fuck. Guys, there's absolutely no excuse for this kind of lateness...SorrySorrySorrySorry!
Also, thanks to Bioweapon 115 for beta-ing this chapter. No, really, thanks.
...
Take a shot for every shout-out.
25. EPIah, fuck it Not fooling anyone
Fuck it.
The next three chapters, instead of being released in the usual fashion will instead be done over the course of one week.
When? I have no clue, but the ballpark date is somewhere in February. Like Valentine's day or something.
Sorry about the lack of a chapter, but hey! It's almost over.
And I'd like it to be extra special.
Because this story is going to go out with a hell of a bang.
If you want to know what's making me take so damn long, I can say this:
Art.
That's right. I started arting.
DRAWING. GOD I LOVE DRAWING.
Dear Fanfiction dot net,
I'M SO ALONE.
So yeah. Take care, guys. I'll be back soon enough.
EXTRA:
Class System
Alrighty.
I know that I'm going to get all kinds of questions about this, so, just in case, I have a class system right here.
Witches can be categorized by two things: Power and Absorption. The numbers, Absorption, have been referenced several times, so here's the explanation.
Class 0: Weakest. They only absorb souls through contact with the inside of a human being. These also tend to be the witches with the most collateral, as getting one's physical body killed is virtually guaranteed to make one's soul unrecoverable.
Class 1: Absorption through skin. They have a moderate absorption rate. If they touch you, you have several minutes to live.
Class 2: Absorption through skin advanced. Fast absorption rate. If you're touched, you have seconds.
Class 3: Instant touch absorption.
Class 4: Slow air absorption. Basically, your soul is slowly absorbed while you are in the witch's presence.
Class 5: Moderate air absorption. Several minutes of absorption. This was what Charlotte had.
Class 6: Instant air absorption. Hide behind a building if you wish to live. These witches tend to have small radii of absorption, but are extremely dangerous. Take, for example, Gertrud.
Class 7: NOTHING CAN SAVE YOU. These witches often have enormous radii, and will take your soul through the walls. The best option is to get the hell out of town while you still can.
Venefici can avoid getting their souls taken via the nature of the contract; the witches can only absorb whole souls; the despair of a Veneficus has been removed and formed into a Grief Gem, preventing her from getting killed instantly in a fight.
Power really has no ranking, so it's often just measured in Terajoules. Several. Thousand. Terajoules.
blargh said:
Q: So question then, after Homura, who is the 2nd most powerful?
The second most powerful Veneficus is actually Sayaka. Yes, the weakest link before is now the strongest one here.
She's powerful, yet inexperienced. If she was as skilled as Mami, she would probably be Mami's right hand woman; strong, determined as hell, and powerful enough to do whatever the hell she pleases.
Third is Madoka. Her friends are dead, and she witnessed the end of her city, but Sayaka's parents fucking betrayed her. That is almost as strong as Sayaka, but not quite.
Kyouko is fourth. Her father betrayed her. That's pretty strong, but the only victims were her mother and her sister, not a whole goddamn school. Knowing that your parents were mass-murderers is worse than just having them kill a few loved ones. Your memories of them are now soiled.
Fifth: Mami. Her skill more than makes up for this, but she is still powerful in her own right. She still has fond memories of her parents, and this is why she's not nearly as strong as everyone else.
Despite this power chain, they're pretty damn powerful when compared to most Venefici. This is an A-Team, the best of the best. In a month, they could quickly become a force to match Walpurgis...but they'd still have a hell of a fight.
Despite their strength, Victory is not guaranteed.
On a side note,
"So, Sayaka, what did your parents get you for Christm-"
Slap*
"MY PARENTS ARE DEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAD."
Garlak said:
Q: Exactly what is Yoshio like?
How human is she? How human her body? What's the body-soul duality for her like?
Does she have any... left overs, from witchdom? Or remnants from pre-witchdom? Powers, way of thought...?
Does she have any capacity for being Veneficus Puella?
What about other Remnants? How have they been like? How do they grow up, have any of them attempted to become VPs?
Has Enby tried to make any "purifier"-type VPs, that could calm or revert Witches that had been subdued?
Has he tried to make... well, support-type VPs? Or VPs that better detect Witches. Or VPs with teleport or transportation powers, or ones that can better allow other VPs to fight...
How rare are VPs anyway?
What's it like in the more worse-off places in this world? I mean, what stops the Incubators from offering a Wish to somebody living in a wartorn hellhole... and there could be many such places?
What about just having Incubators hang out around prisons, mental hospitals, just hospitals, or around groups with an agenda and great drive to see it complete?
What exactly do the Incubators do now with PM? I got the impression that they don't quite make Puella Magi anymore... Do they just OFFER somebody a wish, and when that person makes a wish, they just turn them into a witch and that's it?
Has anyone tried to do something like intentionally drive people into despair, while maintaining humanity, to basically make a stronger Veneficus Puella?
Whats the reason Enby goes after teenager-ish people? I'm sure there are, say, war veterans or survivors of stuff like the Holocaust or Great Depression, who faced a lot of crap in their life?
In canon Incubators went after young girls mostly because they were the right target demographic. To wit, they could more easily convince them to make a wish.
What are some of the oldest Veneficus Puella around?
How long do VPs last?
How long do VPs that manage to survive past the average operation time, how long do they usually manage to go?
Do VPs retire? What do they do, if they do so?
A: Whoa. Whoa whoa. Easy d00d. Let me do this one at a time.
Also, some of the answers are scattered throughout the thread, but since I'm a nice guy, I'll answer every single one.
How human is she? How human her body? What's the body-soul duality for her like?
She's barely human. In fact, the only bit of humanity left is her mindset.
Does she have any... left overs, from witchdom? Or remnants from pre-witchdom? Powers, way of thought...?
She can manipulate electronics. Recovered Remnants usually just have a few mild powers, as well as their durability...unlike witches though, physical, nonmagical weapons can kill them.
Does she have any capacity for being Veneficus Puella?
In a word, no. EnBey can't do that anymore; her soul is her body. To remove her grief is to remove a physical part of her...and that is both unpleasant for him (Nausea Fuel. He doesn't do it because he has tried it before) and unpleasant for the girl. (One Remnant has died because of this. And that was the only time he tried it. Ever.)
What about other Remnants? How have they been like? How do they grow up, have any of them attempted to become VPs?
The other Remnants live peaceful and normal lives...if MajoKuri and the other organizations don't get to them first.
Has Enby tried to make any "purifier"-type VPs, that could calm or revert Witches that had been subdued?
Yes. He has. The unfortunate part is that most witches have souls that are so corrupted that they can't be reverted, so it's really not worth it to have a bit of dead weight on the team.
Has he tried to make... well, support-type VPs? Or VPs that better detect Witches. Or VPs with teleport or transportation powers, or ones that can better allow other VPs to fight...
All the time. In fact, in MKVP, there was a teleportation VP. There are snipers, Medics, etc. etc.
However, if they don't handle their jobs well, they will end up dead, as Yurika found out.
How rare are VPs anyway?
Quite. The problem with VPs is that they need to have the intelligence to be combat-ready, the mental clarity to make tough decisions, and the despair to fuel their Grief Gems.
This is why they are so rare.
What's it like in the more worse-off places in this world? I mean, what stops the Incubators from offering a Wish to somebody living in a wartorn hellhole... and there could be many such places?
The populations are too small. It's simply not worth it to start a witch battle in most of these countries because there's simply not enough people there.
When they do...all hell breaks loose.
Besides, the wishes are mostly false. They don't change things all too much.
What about just having Incubators hang out around prisons, mental hospitals, just hospitals, or around groups with an agenda and great drive to see it complete?
Worst. Idea. Ever.
A mentally unstable witch will often just kill itself. A group with an agenda will often end up spawning VPs that subscribe to blind faith, and will often end up hurting more than helping.
What exactly do the Incubators do now with PM? I got the impression that they don't quite make Puella Magi anymore... Do they just OFFER somebody a wish, and when that person makes a wish, they just turn them into a witch and that's it?
Yup. This is war. They just want all of the souls absorbed to make energy out of it.
Has anyone tried to do something like intentionally drive people into despair, while maintaining humanity, to basically make a stronger Veneficus Puella?
Yes. In this world, they called it World War II. The Germans' EnBey was disgusted by it at this time, and actually suggested that it never happen.
It did.
The resulting disaster had to be contained by another VP force.
Whats the reason Enby goes after teenager-ish people? I'm sure there are, say, war veterans or survivors of stuff like the Holocaust or Great Depression, who faced a lot of crap in their life?
EnBey would much rather do that. However, he simply doesn't know how. He's tried it before, but it's never ended well. Thanks to his Incubator origins, he only knows how to manipulate teenaged girls.
What are some of the oldest Veneficus Puella around?
Eighteen's the cutoff date. After that, they're just ex-VPs.
How long do VPs last?
After retirement, they usually last several centuries. 3x slower aging is a bitchin' deal!
How long do VPs that manage to survive past the average operation time, how long do they usually manage to go?
Ergo, above.
Do VPs retire? What do they do, if they do so?
They live normal lives. However, there are some issues such as the "Mayfly December romance," but these are often surpassed by having VPs falling for other VPs...or being Asexual and Aromantic. When they don't, it's usually a tearjerker for everyone involved.
Also, revising newest chapter even more. Bones pointed out a few things that I could use to improve the story, so expect it IN THE MORNING.
I WUNDAR WATS FOR DINNAR.
Shot for use of old meme.*
In other news, "Cast Full Of Gay" has been listed as a trope.
Now, to clarify via officialism, because there is no way in hell that the characters will announce their sexualities outright:
Sayaka-Lesbian
Madoka-Bisexual
Mami-Lesbian
Kyouko-Lesbian
Homura-Obvious; Madokasexual
Kazuko-Lesbian
Hitomi-Straight (She had her coming out party and everything)
Junko-Bisexual
Yoshio-Undeveloped, but she never had a crush.
Tomohisa-Bisexual (Lulz)
Tatsuya-Undeveloped, had crush on girl
And that's it...
...
...Goddammit.
RadiantPhoenix said:
Holding Madoka in place for Homuhomu.
A: "Stay still, Madoka-chan...she'll be here soon..."
"M-Mami-San, d-don't-!"
"Shhhh...and when you come, remember to say 'Tiro Finale,' okay?"
"W-wha-?!"
"Ara, she's here! Come in, Homuran-chan!"
World
In fact, both countries were engaged in their own little wars. The civil wars started with a five-year differential between each other, with the U.S. Civil War starting in 1884 and the Mexican Civil war starting in 1889.
Both were pretty much over the same thing that they were fought over in real life, sans the American argument over slavery, which was actually solved without fighting. Both were over governmental control and the handling of the Venefici.
Then came Walpurgis. Both countries, and many others, were ravaged; the Venefici were powerful, but they couldn't handle that which was Walpurgis.
It actually started in South America, then started rising through the area. Morrigan was formed by a girl who had traveled over to South America from Spain, all for the sake of securing goods. She was important; as she was the daughter of a major business owner in the country...and then her crew was caught by surprise. Suddenly, tons of Native Americans took them by storm; they weren't ready for an all-out assault.
Those retards inadvertently gave her enough despair to qualify for a contract via TorBey.
Thanks to that, Most of North and South America is gone.
Neither is Texas. Nor Washington. Not much is there anymore.
Mexico and the US are now a part of the Federation of Reconstructed Territories, as are what's left of the other countries.
It's not very powerful, politically, but it's a very peaceful and intelligent nation, with an average IQ of 121.
Mitakihara became the largest city on Earth because of:
A) Political might. Japan stopped shutting itself from the rest of the Earth because of EnBey.
B) It's a waypoint between America and Japan. Or...it was.
C) Mitakihara provided a population dump for the Japanese. Its size is rather large; the island is about the size of the Houston area, including suburbs.
C)-1: I had to make this part up; the city's location wasn't in the show proper, so I had to make something up. Including the geology in the area.
blargh said:
Q: For the record, who is more powerful, Madokami or VP!Homura?
A: I'd say that they're on an equal plane.
Madokami's a fucking law of physics. Homura can destroy several universes if she wants to.
Madokami did, so she could replace it with a universe that doesn't suck.
FourthWall said:
Madokami is omniscient, too. :V
A: Madokami is WATCHING YOU MASTURBATE
Spoiler
,Homura.
FourthWall said:
I'll tell you how that goes.
Yoshio: hai gais, wats goin on ITT XD?
HomuHomu: *cocks gun* I must kill the demons
Yoshio: But I am no longer the demons ;_;
Medukami: Do not kill remnants!
HomuHomu: But they are the demons!
Medukami: I became meguca to save the demons!
HomuHomu: To show that Medukami rabu forever, I must kill the demons! *unloads clip*
Yoshio: Being remnant is suffering.
A: Now you just had to make me do this.
HOMERAN-CHAN (HC) has logged on.
MAGICALGODDESS (MG) has logged on.
HC: Hello, Madoka.
MG: homura! its so good to see you! X3
HC: Yeah...it was hard to find a way to chat...
MG: you could have just asked me.
HC: Yes...in retrospect, that would have been wise.
TWINTAILED-SAINT (TS) has logged on.
TS: hello? is this okay for me to enter?
HC: Who are you?
TS: my name is yoshio...how are you?
BLUE KNIGHT (BK) has logged on.
HC: I don't know who you are, but if you cause any trouble I will not hesitate to end your life.
BK: Back off!
TS: Sayaka...
MG: is she...oh dear.
HC: What?
MG: She's...apparently a witch.
BK: Was a witch! She's not, anymore!
HC: A witch?
TS: ...
BK: You made her cry!
MG: s-sorry!
FALLEN PRIESTESS (FP) has logged on.
FP: Hey, Sayaka...what the hell is with that name? The first thing I thought of was "Burger King."
HC: Oh god, not you, too!
FP: Oh, whoa, easy buddy...wait. You know that Saya and I live together, don't you?
HC: ...What.
The WITCH OF TIME (WT) has logged on.
WT: I would appreciate it if you would not antagonize my friends.
HC: Who are you?
MG: is this some kind of meeting of the worlds? this...this is impossible!
FP: This is confusing.
TS: can...can i log off, now?
BK: Go ahead.
TWINTAILED-SAINT (TS) has logged off.
BK: ...
FP: ...oh, shit.
HC: Why? What's going to-?
FP: You just pissed off Saya-chan.
MG: ...homura...i think you should leave.
HC: I think so.
WT: Why?
MG: i meant my homura.
WT: Oh.
FP: Ah.
HC: I see.
BK: YOU BITCH! YOU MADE AN 11-YEAR-OLD CRY! JUST HOW COULD YOU DO SUCH A THING?!
FP: Calm down, Saya-chan.
HOMERAN-CHAN (HC) has logged off.
BK: YEAH, YOU BETTER LOG OFF, YOU FUCKING SLUT!
MG: i'm...going to close the thread now.
FP: Good idea.
BK: RUN, COWARD! RUN!
MAGICALGODDESS (MG) has shut down the thread.
VENEFICAMADOKA (VM) has logged on.
VM: ...
VM: where is everyone?
VM: hello?
VM: ...
VM: damn it!
VENEFICAMADOKA (VM) has logged off.
So much for 4.
Here's the preview.
Cue Music
The witch did not take long for Mami to kill. It wasn't a very powerful creature, nor was it very dangerous…
But that wasn't the pressing matter.
Sayaka had separated from the two, presumably to discuss her own matters. Homura held Madoka's hand tightly, with it trembling as they walked side-by-side.
"I guess…we're stuck here, right?"
Madoka looked at the other girl. "I think so."
Homura frowned. At least nobody was going to miss her…but what about-?
Her head jerked up. Her family! "What about your family?"
Madoka sighed. "I don't…I don't know. I don't even think that they'll notice me missing…I probably replaced someone…which means that they're replacing me." The pink-haired girl gripped Homura's hand. "But…that doesn't mean we can't do anything."
Homura looked at Madoka. "What do you mean?"
Madoka smiled. "We know the secrets of the Incubators. It was taught to us in school." She stared Homura in the eyes. "We can save them!"
Homura smiled. "Save your friends?"
"Yes! Hitomi, Sayaka...not even Mami and Kyouko will have to die! Even if they do live here, with this Incubator…they can still survive!"
Homura nodded, her naiveté revealed through the unsure trembling of her hands.
Maybe they could change things.
Kyouko: Also, more fanservice!
Sayaka: And hot lesbian sex!
Kyouko: Whoa.
Sayaka: What?
Kyouko: I can't believe that you actually said that! But in the interest of keeping this fic T-rated, there will be no written porn.
Sayaka: Ah. How unfortunate.
Kyouko: ...Someone's a pervert.
Sayaka: Not really. Just disappointed in the lack of progress in our relationship. I mean, Homura and Madoka got together in the first half. Why can't we?
Kyouko: Because we had just met each other in this universe?
Sayaka: Oh yeah...huh.
Kyouko: But yes, more fanservice!
linkhyrule5 said:
Q: Complete with access to the Hax Sign line of spells.
Actually, I want to see a Sakuya v. Homura duel. That would be lolzy.
A: Sakuya stared blankly at the girl across from her. She squinted, before smirking.
This will be a short duel.
Little did she know that Homura Akemi was thinking the exact same thing.
...It began.
"ZA WARUDO!" Time froze for Sakuya. Quickly, she threw out her knives, letting them stop in midair.
"Time has restarted." They flew forward, ready to strike Homura...only for them to seemingly pass through her.
"What the hell?!"
"My turn." Homura flipped her hair, before crossing her own arms. "Za warudo."
Suddenly, thousands of rockets appeared in the air...all of them headed straight for the maid.
"Oh...oh sh-!"
A large explosion rocked the surrounding area, and all of Gensokyo felt a rumble cross over the sanctuary as a plume of smoke rose from the field...
And a single thought passed through the minds of everyone in the town. "Did my Facebook page get updated yet?"
Dicklasers. Toe sprints.
Homura was dead.
Her body was broken beyond repair. Her left half was annihilated by one well-placed blast of energy from Walpurgisnacht, and just behind her a building was gouged out by the same attack. It was too big to dodge, and she had run out of magic at the wrong time.
The corpse of the girl once known as Homura Akemi bled on the ground. The shattered soul gem lay in pieces across the ruined ground, bits of it mixed with the shield. Her blood flowed into the cracks on the pavement, passing Madoka's feet as though they were a creek.
Above the corpse, Madoka stared in disbelief at the body. She shook her head, gasping as she started rambling.
"This isn't happening." She whispered. "This isn't happening!" She said, her voice growing louder. "You can't be dead!" She screamed. "You can't leave me like this! Not like the others!"
She started to sob. "All of your suffering…for what?" Above her, a skyscraper floated as the bodies of the civilians within it spilled into the open air. Around her, the entire city was in ruin. The architecture had been ripped from the earth, the streets were torn into the air, and debris floated among the grey clouds above. Madoka fell to her knees, the speech that Homura gave her the previous night playing over and over in her head. "It's all over. Everything is over."
[Perhaps it wasn't as hopeless as you seem to be making it.] Madoka looked back up from her hands. She turned around, seeing a single creature among the rubble.
"Kyubey?"
Perhaps now is the time to finally make a decision. He walked from the shadows. [Madoka, you are, without any shadow of a doubt, the most powerful potential Puella Magi in existence.] He looked at her. [If Homura is dead, then nothing can stop Walpurgisnacht. Your friends are dead, and your family is doomed to die.]
She shuddered. "Stop it."
[If you don't do something, if you don't make a contract with me, everyone will die.] He looked at her directly. She swore that his eyes could see into her soul. [Would you really let that happen, Madoka?]
"Stop it!" Madoka shouted. "I…I know what I want."
Kyubey stopped. [What is it, then? How will I fulfill your contract?]
"I want another world." Madoka said, clearing her throat. "I want another world, one where my friends won't die."
[Are you sure about this, Madoka?]
"Yes!" She shouted at him. "I want them to live!" She said. "And I want Homura back!" She shook her head. "She didn't deserve to die like this! Not after all that she's been through!"
Kyubey closed his eyes and shook his head. [I would not advise this...but this is your wish.]
Suddenly, a bright, pink light illuminated the city. Madoka shielded her eyes as the world around her disintegrated. As she vanished, she heard the last words from this universe.
[Whatever the consequences are, know that it is your own responsibility.]
The image of KyuBey disintegrated completely, with the light around her gradually growing darker and darker. Within seconds, the light was gone, leaving Madoka alone in the blackness.
Magica Madoka Venefica R
[Do You Remember Dying?]
[1:1]
Magica Kazuko Veneficus Puella
[Memory 1]
[The Scream Towards Tomorrow!]
]
Kazuko woke up. Her hair was disheveled, and her bed, she could guarantee, was about ten times worse. It didn't help that her glasses were sent askew either. She adjusted them, before getting up. She stretched her arms, yawning heartily as she did so. She turned around, letting her arms hang by her sides lazily.
She stared at the clock, only to notice that it was still 5:30.
She was up two hours early.
"Fuuuuuuuck." She groaned. "Why…why today of all days?"
She got out of bed, groaning as she did so. "Not even gonna bother going back to sleep." She opened her closet, taking out another school uniform. "Not like I'd get any decent sleep now."
She walked out of the room, dressed in her stolen boy's uniform, before brushing her teeth. It wasn't like she particularly liked the uniform. It's just that she liked wearing pants more than wearing skirts. The school rules never specified that she had to wear a girl's uniform, just a school uniform.
She got out of her room. Maybe something was on TV that could get her to wake up?
She turned it on, only to see another news report about some witch.
"Oh, goody. Another attack?" She turned it off. The witches were getting more and more restless. It was only a matter of time before Mitakihara went straight to hell. "Bah. The Venefici can handle it."
She went to the bathroom to brush her teeth, and then went off to wake up her mother.
She opened the door slowly, noting a sleeping figure lying on her bed.
She raised her hands…readied them…
And performed a perfect DOUBLE CHOP on the top of her mother's head.
"Gah! Devil Child!" The woman shrieked before twisting herself upright. "What time is…Six? You got me up at Six?"
"You need to get to work by Nine, right? What's your probl-"
"The problem is that I'm a normal human being who wants her sleep!" She tried getting back into the bed…only for someone to grab her shoulder.
"You're not going back to sleep." Kazuko had a bizarre glow among her eyes…
To be honest, it was somewhat creepy. Her mother took note of that.
"I got up two hours early. YOU'LL GET UP THREE HOURS EARLY." She yanked the covers off of the bed, and tried to open up the windows…only to realize that it was still the middle of winter, and that the sun wasn't up yet.
So she turned on the room's light.
"Dammit!"
"RISE AND SHINE."
]
After the wake-up fiasco, Kazuko and her mother had breakfast, as what would normally happen, as they talked simply.
It was early, so there was no real reason for Kazuko to go to school yet.
"Say…mom?"
"Hm?"
"Did you know about the latest witch in the news?"
"Oh? That one? Yeah. Her name was Aglaia. It seems that the witches tend to simply take names from history."
"Ah. And she was…"
"Witch of beauty. Oh, you should have seen her! She looked like a giant, metal woman. Her innards were constantly shifting around, and her face was-"
Kazuko feared where this was going. "You can stop now."
"Oh. Sorry. They can get pretty weird sometimes. And I have to study them! Ha!" The woman slapped the table. "Say...got a test today?"
"Yup. History. Shouldn't be too hard."
"Favorite subject?"
"Nope. That's philosophy."
"Oh? I thought history was your favorite!"
"I said that it was my second favorite, mom. Not my first favorite." Kazuko put away the plates. "I think I'll just go now."
"Oh? So soon?"
"I don't want to be late for class!"
"Alright, then!" Mrs. Saotome waved at her daughter as she left.
"Bye, Mom!"
"See yah after school!"
]
The school day went by as it did normally, with the sole exception of a test. Because of her early wake-up call, Kazuko went through the test very slowly. She just barely turned it in before the period ended. She lumbered through the school, her hair still in a mess and her uniform somewhat wrinkled.
She noted the stares she was getting. It wasn't too often that a girl dressed herself as a man, but then the students noticed just who was wearing it. It had become a habit for Kazuko over the course of the school year. It was still obvious that she was female, what with her "development," but it was a quirk nonetheless.
Kazuko got out as soon as the bell rang. She didn't want to get too bored with class by hearing just what the teacher thought about some bullshit.
She walked out, before somebody tapped her shoulder.
"Hey Kazuko!"
"Ah! Junko!" The younger girl turned to her friend. "Class just ended?"
"Yeah. It was economics."
"Oh." Kazuko winced in sympathy. "That doesn…"
"Not too bad, actually! Got another A, I'm sure of it."
"Pft, Showoff."
Junko crossed her arms as she kept walking. "Well, don't come crying to me when I'm rich and you're not."
It was when they finally left the campus that Junko decided to start talking about something other than school. "Say…Kazuko?"
The shorter girl turned her head. "Hm?"
"Your mother works with witch studies, right?"
Kazuko raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"
"I hear that they're finally classifying them."
The girl waved her hand. "Just by soul absorption rate. The strength of a witch is not easy to measure, so they're just doing it by absorption."
"Ah. I see…so you have a list of all the witches that have been encountered so far?"
"Not every single one, no, but I do have a list of witches." Kazuko didn't like this conversation. It didn't sit well with her to talk about her mother's work. Dealing with unnatural post-humans was unsettling, to say the least.
Junko noticed it. "Okay." She knew this girl was uncomfortable enough with talking about it, what with the riots and all.
"Don't worry. It was an honest question." Kazuko bent her arms behind her back, letting her bag hang. "Jeez…"
They walked down the street, the skyscrapers above them casting long shadows onto the street. People walked by the girls, all of them wearing some kind of miserable, disgruntled expression.
But that was to be expected.
Who the hell wants to live in Mitakihara?
]
The city was dark. In fact, it was almost pitch-black. It was almost as if it knew what was about to transpire at this very moment.
Kazuko noted that it was very depressing outside. Especially with the blackness of the city. The lights in part of town had been knocked out by a witch. Even with the magic release, it would still take about two days for the district to recover.
And it happened to be the city's historical district. The same part with the town hall.
She sighed, before turning back to her homework. She then heard a slight rumble.
Kazuko continued to ignore the noise, working on a few algebra problems, before the window she was next to exploded. Kazuko ducked as glass flew everywhere, bits of debris flying off as the girl looked up and saw just what passed her window.
A wire monster, its being comprised of a formless, building-sized entity, twisted as it wreaked havoc on the city. It sped past, before noticing that there was a whole apartment complex just ripe for the taking, filled with souls. It readied its appendages to grasp its victims, as Kazuko realized just what she was getting into.
Oh fuck.
She turned back, running desperately out of the room and into her apartment's hallway. She shut the door quickly, and shoved a chair under its handle, just to make sure that it wouldn't open.
She turned back. "Mom!"
On cue, her mother burst out of her bedroom, and ended up panting. She jammed the locks shut on her door, before shoving a chair under its handle.
"Oh…oh god. I thought I was a goner."
Kazuko ran over, tackling the older woman in a hug. "Jesus Christ!"
"It's definitely a class four. Can absorb souls without touching a body, but it's a slow burn. Still needs to touch you to get it quickly." She sighed. "We were lucky."
"That was a pretty big witch, too."
"Damn right." The mother stood up, sighing as the sounds of the chaos around them died down. "We just need to hope that the Venefici get here on time."
]
"Keep up, Hanako!" A black-haired Veneficus yelled as she bounded across the skyscrapers, her white cape illuminated by the city's lights.
"I can't fucking teleport, Akira!" Hanako bounded after her cohort, her own orange hair flying about her as she rushed beside her friend.
"Then try harder!" A third girl, this time with dark blue hair and a cool blue motif, twirled above, her own robes fluttering in the wind. "We're almost there!"
All three girls stopped at the site of the current rampage. There she was: a monstrosity of wire. It looked only vaguely human; it was probably another unrecoverable Remnant.
Akira winced in sympathy, before taking out a single Japanese sword…when a tentacle suddenly pierced her chest. There was no way to see it coming; it was too fast, too quick.
And her body dropped to the ground.
"Akira!" Hanako growled as she turned towards the witch. She was just barely out of range of the witch; this wasn't going to be an easy fight. She prepared a cannon, when a car appeared out of nowhere. She turned the weapon to the car, blasting it in half as she took it up, ready to kill. "Akira's down! Akira's down! Yurika! Do something!"
"What?" Yurika ran into the fray as the witch seemed to smile at this new appearance. It twisted and turned, before it sent out thousands of tendrils.
]
The building that they were in was sliced apart quickly. Kazuko looked outside, as she watched the top half of her apartment building fall off, the civilians inside being crushed horribly.
The poor girl could only listen to the sound of screeching metal as the tower was shredded.
"Let's go!" Kazuko's arm was yanked, as they continued running.
There was nothing they could do, but hope that the Venefici could save them.
]
And that hope was beginning to fall into vain.
"Damn it! This isn't an easy one!" Yurika took out some razor wire, before sending it everywhere. "No wonder that Akira was down so quick! Unbelievable range!"
Suddenly, her wires all snapped. "Oh my god."
The witch held its own tendrils out, its being suddenly turning into that of a woman.
"A near-Remnant?"
A tendril wrapped around her foot in her single moment of weakness, as she was whipped into a nearby building.
"Yurika!" Hanako reached out to her friend, before taking out a cannon and firing a barrage to her opponent. "You bitch!"
A torrent of cannonballs was shot to the witch, before it sent out another wave of tendrils to the small girl. Hanako dodged, them all, before taking out another cannon.
Yurika, on the other hand, had been gripped by several tendrils, all of them pulling upon her limbs. "F-fuck!" She tried to wrestle her way out of them, only for them to pull her. "My…arms!"/
Hanako turned to her friend. "Y-Yurika!" The girl was then repelled by a huge number of tendrils, all of them shoving her backwards into a building.
"Hanako!" Suddenly, all of the tendrils held her tightly, as a fifth appeared above her.
Her eyes widened in horrible realization as she saw this tendril above her midsection.
And then, despite her misery, her pain, and her impending demise, she smiled.
"I…guess that this is it, isn't it?"
]
Hanako opened her eyes, as she saw the display above her.
With a look of misery in her eyes, she saw Yurika held above her, and the witch ready to execute her.
"Y-Yurika!"
]
Both mother and daughter saw the witch bisect the Veneficus, her halves falling to the ground messily.
Kazuko just stared in horror, as her mother started to grow nauseous. "L-let's go!"
Kazuko just kept staring as this fight just kept on getting more and more hopeless. Everything was beginning to go to waste. This witch was like an Auctor without Walpurgis. It was damn near unstoppable…
When suddenly, a tendril appeared quickly. Kazuko's eyes widened, as it headed right for her.
"Kazuko!" The girl was shoved out of the way, as, in a split-second, the weapon hit her. In an instant, her mother's soul was gone, as Kazuko, in shock, just ran.
]
EnBey watched this hopeless battle rage in Mitakihara. This was no ordinary witch, tonight. It was not the largest, nor the most powerful, but it was enough to kill two of his girls in minutes.
'Damn it all to hell.' It was then that he sensed something. A new power; something that could possibly defeat this new threat. 'Wait…a new potential!' He grit his teeth. 'Personal Grief advanced by hopelessness.'
He jumped off of the tower, and into a nearby alleyway. 'This could be the beginning of the end for this monster.'
]
Kazuko ran into a nearby alleyway. The monster was not able to get here; it was far too busy with absorbing the souls of everyone else in the vicinity.
But Kazuko was busy with her own misery to contend with. She buried her face in her hands…and began to sob.
Suddenly, she heard a low pattering. A tremble of feet hitting the ground. She turned to this new noise, as the creature began to speak into her mind.
'Hopeless?'
"Who…"
'Miserable? Desperate?' He walked out of the shadow, his eyes glowing blue. 'I think I found a new asset.'
"E…EnBey!"
'I think you just got your mother absorbed by this new and powerful fucker over here?'
She nodded, her eyes still teary.
'I think you may just have the potential that I'm looking for.'
"What…You want me to…"
'Contract? Oh, hell yes.' EnBey sat on her shoulder. 'After all, I need someone to go after that new witch.'
"But the witch just-"
'So it killed two of them. I know that.' His expression turned dark. 'But both were new and inexperienced. So is the third. If you don't contract soon, then the death count will turn into three.'
Kazuko sighed. There really wasn't a way out of this, was there? A whole lot of responsibility was thrust upon her, and this creature needed her to make a decision soon.
"I will do it."
His eyes glowed, as Kazuko was lifted off of the ground. 'Then hold still.'
]
Hanako slammed into another tower, her body flying through before she slid across the ground, cracks splitting across it at a new, unprecedented pace.
"D-damn it!"
The witch appeared over her, almost as if to gloat, as it raised several more of its wires to strike a final blow…
When a fist appeared out of nowhere, its wrist connected to a main body only by a long and powerful chain.
"ROCKET PUNCH!" Suddenly, the witch wilted, the punch blowing it aside. It crashed into another building, before turning to face its new opponent.
And, as she stood on a tower, it was a young girl, with a pair of glasses, clad in a green and black longcoat, a pair of enormous gauntlets on her hands, stared at the witch, her hat and militaristic uniform giving her an air of power.
"I feel…powerful." She smiled.
'That's because you are.' EnBey would have smiled. 'Now show this son of a bitch what you're made of!'
Kazuko grinned. "I will!" She could do this! She could save her mother! She could save everyone! "I can!"
As her power surged through her body, her gauntlet's hand twisted several times around, its own self forming into a flat hand.
"BUSTAH BLAAADE!" The hand flew above the witch, as it sliced downwards, slamming into the ground with enormous force.
The witch was split in twain, which was meaningless for a formless creature. In anger at this new opponent, it jumped upwards, ready to destroy the new opponent.
"HAMMER FIST READY!"Her fist grew to an enormous size, easily the size of what used to be her apartment, as she leaped upwards, both of her arms clad with enormous hands.
Her left arm led her way, as she sent it flying towards the witch. The hand caught the witch, the creature attempting to cut the chain in vain.
"ENDING STRIKE!"
The witch was caught off guard by this new display of power, as it was lifted off of the ground quickly.
"DESTRUCTIVE BLAST!" Her enormous hand was forced to this rapidly approaching witch, sending it into the witch's body.
The formless witch felt this blow surge through its being, before it shrieked in pain. Just what was this new girl?
But this new girl was not done yet. "GREAT AVALANCHE!" Her hands, both gripping the witch, turned into a twisting, turning mass, both swirling into the skies above. Suddenly, the witch, now a mess of wires, and irrevocably damaged, was unable to continue its rampage. Its demise was now certain, and, in a moment of finality, a small section of its wiring briefly transformed into a small girl.
A grey fractal exploded over Mitakihara, and Hanako stared into the face of her new savior.
The new girl who had come right the fuck out of nowhere and saved everyone.
"W-Who are you?"
]
Mrs. Saotome's head felt like hell. If that was what it was like to be eaten by a witch, then she never wanted it to happen again.
I was lucky that I wasn't digested. She sighed, before looking out to the city around her…
And she saw it.
Among the rubble, and the destruction, which was now rapidly repairing itself, she saw her.
Kazuko Saotome, now a new Veneficus, surrounded by the press.
She saved us? The woman smiled. And just as well.
]
[Two Venefici, just having been contracted a day ago, have been offed by the strongest witch since Mephistophiles, a creature of wires known as the Fate. However, just in time, a new Veneficus has been contracted, known as Kazuko. It has been speculated that her enormous power has been drawn from a combination of Trauma, Despair, and Grief. It is highly probable that she will be one of the strongest Venefici to appear in recent years.]
The newswoman sighed, as she turned back to the camera. "That's a wrap."
"Thanks, Kaname-san!"
"No problemo." The woman cracked her neck. "Alrighty. That should be the end of the thing." She put a cigarette in her mouth and lit it. "Enough horseshit for tonight…" She left the set quickly as everyone cleaned up, as a single man with a headset ran after her.
"Wait, Kaname!"
She turned around after she entered the elevator, keeping the door open. "What the hell do you want, Shitaro?"
"I just want to ask you, what do you honestly think about the new Veneficus?"
"I dunno." She shrugged as the elevator doors closed. "I think we need a little more time to learn just what she is like…but whatever her abilities are…" The doors were almost shut. "They better be good." They closed, leaving the man staring at the closed doors.
"Jeez. Touchy." He sighed, before turning back to the set.
]
A/N
Yeah, this is the first of the spinoffs that I promised. These will update…sporadically. This is just a taste of the first one. I hope you liked it.
…
Yeah. Each chapter title is a song. Look it up; all of the titles will have one similarity: The Band.
Also, Oriko is in the works. Look forward to it!
