I'm woken by a strange wailing and sit up, looking around in confusion. At first glance it seems that I'm in outer space, with nothing but stars in sight in all directions. And yet, there's something solid beneath me, and normal gravity. I get to my feet and look around. The wailing seems to come from one direction in particular, so I venture towards it, taking care with my footing… the invisible ground here seems to be rough and uneven.
After a minute or two, I round a dense mass of stars that look as if they're impossibly distant, yet still shift as if they're close by, and almost run into a frightened-looking Hiyori.
"A-ashley-chan!" Hiyori gasps, leaping forward to cling to me. "W-what's g-going on!? I just woke up here…"
"Well… I'd say it's a witch's barrier," I say.
Hiyori gasps again. "N-no… y-you d-don't mean… c-could it be… onee-san?"
"Unfortunately, I think you're probably right," I say.
"Th-then… we're going to have to…"
"Yeah… if she's turned into a witch, all we can do is end her," I say.
"W-what about Mom and Dad?" Hiyori asks.
"Chances are they've already been swallowed up… but let me see if I can view them."
I try to use my clairvoyance to scry on the Hayashi couple, and to my surprise I spot them prone on the ground somewhere in the labyrinth.
"Oh? Looks like they're still okay," I say. "Maybe we can save them if we hurry."
"Th-then let's go!" Hiyori says urgently.
Hiyori grabs my hand as we continue heading towards the wailing sound. There are no familiars in this labyrinth, perhaps because it's a newly-spawned witch, so we pass through unimpeded and eventually reach a facsimile of the Earth, with a round door encompassing all of Japan. The witch runes spell out her new name, Nokijuu. Actually, there are only six runes, with a line over the last one, but I assume that indicates a Japanese long vowel.
Hiyori reaches up and yanks the door open, and we both transform before stepping inside. The witch is right there, like an ethereal outline of a human form pasted across the starry sky. The Hayashi couple, however, are not in this room. Hiyori looks around too and also notices their absence.
"O-oh no, where are Mom and Dad?" she gasps. "W-were we… were we too late?"
"Let me check again…"
But my vision of the parents shows the exact same thing as before. This time I look a little closer to verify that they are breathing.
"They're still where I saw them last time," I say. "And they're breathing, too. They must be somewhere else in the labyrinth… once the familiars start to spawn though, they'll probably get attacked…"
"Then we'd better beat her before that happens!" Hiyori says. "Onee-san wouldn't want to hurt Mom and Dad, after all…"
"Alright," I say. "So, this could be a little tough, because she can probably use Komachi-chan's magic, which means healing and energy drain. That means two things, really… don't let her touch you, and keep up the attack no matter what."
"G-got it," Hiyori says. "Um… should I use the sonic attack, or what?"
"Hmm… you had a skill that distracts the target so they can't hit you or something right? Use that first, then switch to the sonic blasts."
Hiyori nods. "Yes… okay."
She starts up a ditty on her harp while I summon Teddy Mk II and begin to charge my ultimate attack. The witch currently seems to be moving around at random, and hasn't noticed us, so it's a perfect time to… no wait, she just turned to face us. At least, I assume she did, because her body did a full one-eighty, but the front is indistinguishable from the back. She then raises a fist above her head and brings it down.
"Look out!" I say.
We both dodge in opposite directions, and the massive fist slams into the ground between us, or what passes for ground in this strange place. I seize my sword and slash at the massive arm, getting several hits in before the witch straightens up again. I can see the wounds as bright gashes on the skin, and as I predicted, those gashes are growing visibly smaller as the witch heals herself.
"Ultimate Teddy Glittering Gunk!"
I let loose with my glittering beam just in time to deter Nokijuu from attacking a second time, and then I hop onto Teddy and fly over to attack her head. Then Hiyori starts to add dissonance into her ditty, which must mean she finished activating her bewitch skill, and as I glance down, I can see bright white marks where the sonic blasts strike the witch's body.
By extending the sword's length, I can attack the witch without even leaving my position on Teddy's head, and from the size of those gashes, I think my attacks are pretty effective. However, they're not enough to bring her down before the charm wears off, and once she starts swinging her fists at me, it becomes much harder to target her head. Thankfully, she can't hit me. I'm not quite sure whether it's thanks to Hiyori's bewitch effect or just because Teddy is that fast. I attack that arm whenever it speeds past, then target the head while she's recovering.
After a minute or two of this, Nokijuu suddenly stops attacking again. My sword must've triggered its slim chance of charm. I take advantage of the lull to zoom back and join Hiyori. To my surprise, her soul gem is almost at its limit, so I grab a grief seed and purify it. I check my own at the same time, but it's not too bad, less than half corrupted.
"Th-thanks… Ashley-chan," Hiyori gasps.
"This strategy isn't having much of an effect," I say. "Let's try pooling our power."
"W-what do you mean?" Hiyori asks.
"Something like what Komachi and I did against Claire's witch," I reply.
"Oh… I see," Hiyori says. "Um, I'll try…"
The two of us clasp hands, and I try to get the power flowing. It's tougher than it was with Komachi, since Hiyori isn't of the darkness element… though I'm not sure what element she is, I'm confident it's not darkness. However, I've already successfully pulled it off twice with Komachi, so I've gotten a feel for how it works. The power builds up in the space between our hands, and then it spills out, forming a sphere as our hands slip apart. It looks very different from the sphere generated between Komachi and me, of course. Though it's a muddy yellowish-brown in colour, its texture and feel makes me think of quicksilver. Is Hiyori's element water, I wonder? Then the sphere grows numerous tendrils and lashes out, and wherever it strikes the ground, a musical instrument spawns, played by a formless blob of the stuff. Within seconds we're surrounded by a full symphony orchestra, and not a moment too soon. Nokijuu has finally noticed us again and is now raising both her hands to pound down upon us. Some of her wounds have healed while we were charging this attack, but there's still quite a few gashes and bruises visible.
"Ready?" I ask.
"Y-yes!"
I take a deep breath and name the attack.
"Glittering Cacophonic Orchestra!"
The whole band starts playing at once, a dissonant mass of music that grates on the ears, but it's super-effective on the witch. Unlike Hiyori's sonic blasts, this attack appears to do cutting damage, and within seconds the witch's entire body is plastered in gashes of all shapes and sizes. I keep pouring power into the spell until I sense it become unstable, and then I leave Hiyori to her own devices, leaping back onto Teddy's head and zooming over to deal the finishing blow, extending my blade and dragging it right through the witch's throat.
Hiyori heaves a sigh of relief as I snatch the grief seed, and the barrier quickly begins to collapse around us. We both find ourselves in Komachi's room, and I quickly check on the parents and find them fast asleep in their bed.
"Good news, Hiyori-chan," I say. "At least your mom and dad are okay."
"Th-thank goodness…" Hiyori says. "I was… I was really scared I might not see them again…"
"Are you okay, though?" I ask. "I mean, obviously you're not okay, but like… do you think you can manage? You just lost your sister, after all…"
Hiyori shakes her head and bursts into tears.
"I'm not okay… I'm not even close to okay! Onee-san… why did this have to happen to you!? I wish it could've happened to me instead… at least onee-san won't drag you down, Ashley-chan…"
I hug her and pat her head a little.
"You don't give yourself enough credit, Hiyori-chan," I say. "You're pretty strong in your own right. I couldn't've beaten that witch so quickly without you. And besides… I have a feeling Komachi-chan would've given her own life to make sure you didn't hurt anyone as a witch…"
"Y-you might be right," Hiyori muses. "Onee-chan is very kind… do you know what she wished for?"
"W-well, I have my own theories, but she never came out and told me," I admit.
"She had an incurable disease," Hiyori explains. "So the obvious thing was for her to wish to be healed, right? But she didn't do that… instead, she wished for a general cure to be created, so other people with that same disease could also be cured."
"Oh, is that so…"
"Whereas me, I was just thinking of myself with my wish," Hiyori says. "I just wanted Mom and Dad to acknowledge my music…"
"Well, it never feels good for your parents to deny you your dream," I say. "My wish was similar to yours, in a way…"
"Ashley-chan… will you… will you stay with me for the rest of the night?" Hiyori asks. "I-if you're with me… I think maybe I can hang in there…"
"Sure," I say.
Since we're already in Komachi's room, we crawl into her bed together and, after crying ourselves out, we eventually fall asleep again.
"Wake up! Wake up!"
It's Mrs Hayashi. I roll over and look up at her blearily.
"Finally! There's an evacuation order!" she says. "We've got to get moving!"
"Don't wanna…" I mutter.
"Come on!" Mrs Hayashi insists.
Hiyori suddenly opens her eyes.
"Mom… I'm sorry…"
"What are you talking about?" Mrs Hayashi insists. "I don't know why you're all sleeping together, but it doesn't matter. There's no time! The typhoon will be here in less than two hours!"
That gives me pause, and I sit bolt upright. It's not all that bright outside, but given the storm warning, that doesn't mean much.
"W-what time is it!?" I ask urgently.
"It's two in the afternoon!" Mrs Hayashi says. "The evacuation order came two hours ago… I've been trying on and off to wake you ever since!" She blinks, suddenly realizing what's missing. "Wait a second… where's Komachi-chan?" she asks.
"Onee-san…" Hiyori tears up again. "Onee-san has gone to meet Elise and Claire," she says finally.
Mrs Hayashi blinks. "Huh? But they're…"
She looks at me, and I just shrug.
"What she said," I say.
"W-well, we can talk about this later," Mrs Hayashi says desperately. "Right now, you've got to hurry and move! Get dressed as fast as you can!"
"The typhoon should've hit the coast right around now, right?" I ask.
"That's right, but how did you know?" Mrs Hayashi asks in surprise.
"Then there's probably no more than an hour before it hits Mitakihara," I muse.
"U-um, Ashley-chan!" Hiyori says. "I can't just sit around and let others do all the work! Let's go help them!"
I blink at her in surprise, and Mrs Hayashi looks confused.
"What are you talking about? Help who with what? No, never mind that, you've got to get into some proper warm clothes!"
"R-right!" Hiyori says.
We each hurry back to our own rooms and get dressed. I get on my computer to review the document containing information from the previous timeline, so I can hopefully remember it and recreate the document in the next timeline. When we go downstairs, Mrs Hayashi hands us both a pair of rice balls, and I bite into mine gratefully.
"Thanks," I say. "I didn't realize how hungry I was until just now…"
"Come on!" Hiyori says.
The four of us leave the house all bundled up in raingear, and we pile into Mr Hayashi's car. He drives us straight to the evacuation centre, but when we all get out, instead of following her parents into the centre, Hiyori shakes her head.
"I can't go with you, Mom, Dad," she says. "I have to go somewhere with Ashley-chan."
"What? No, you'll catch a cold out here!" Mrs Hayashi says.
"I'm sorry," Hiyori says. "I have to go because it's something only I can do. If we don't see each other again… at least I'll be with Elise and Claire and onee-san. Though I'd be happy if I get to see you two again. I love you so very much, Mom. You're totally awesome, Dad. I wish I could go in there with you… but I wouldn't be able to live with myself. Farewell!"
And with that, she turns to grab my hand.
"Hold it! Stop spouting nonsense!" Mrs Hayashi protests. "What do you mean, you'll never see us again!?"
Hiyori ignores her and addresses me instead.
"Where do you think we should go to help?" she asks.
To be honest, I wasn't planning on joining the fight against Walpurgisnacht myself, but with Hiyori all gung-ho about it like this, I don't think I can disappoint her… and it wouldn't hurt to get a little first-hand experience about the witch's abilities.
"Hmm… I guess we could join Miss Oriko?" I suggest.
"Alright!" Hiyori says. "Then let's hurry!"
"Wait!" Mrs Hayashi protests.
But we're both already running off at top speed, and even if she tried to catch us, there's no way an ordinary human can keep up with even the slowest of magical girls. That's not because of speed though, but because of endurance. Both Hiyori and I aren't all that much faster than an ordinary human, but we don't tire over time when we run.
Once we're out of sight, we transform together and hop onto Teddy Mk II, speeding our progress even more. Before we know it, I catch sight of three figures standing on the roof of Shirome Middle School down below. I swoop down to join them, and one of them turns on us and points her claws at me. All three of them have transformed already. I waste a moment wondering why they're at the middle school when they just graduated last month. Well, two of them have, at least.
"Who the hell're you!?" the shortest of the trio shouts.
"Whoa there," I say. "You're Kure Kirika, right? We're only here to help."
The girl looks at me suspiciously. "And how'd you know my name?" she asks.
"It's okay, I know both of these magical girls," Komaki speaks up. "That's Miss Hayashi, from the high school district, and with her is the exchange student, Miss Taylor."
"I've been expecting you," Oriko muses. "If we pool our powers now, we may just stand a chance of beating it…"
I can't help but wonder if she truly believes that, or if she's only saying it to boost our morale. I'm pretty sure we have zero chance of winning.
"Um… l-let's introduce ourselves first!" Hiyori says. "I'm Hayashi Hiyori!"
"It is truly a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Hayashi," Oriko says. "I am very sorry for your loss."
"H-how'd you know about that…?" Hiyori asks.
"I can't always control what I see in my prophecies," Oriko says sadly.
"Well, if Oriko-chan's alright with you, then I guess I am too," Kirika says. "The name's Kure Kirika… I've seen you round school now and then right?"
Hiyori nods. "Yes, I guess I'm your senior…"
"Well, I'm Ashley Taylor," I say.
"And I'm Asako Komaki," Komaki says.
"I suppose I am the only one left," Oriko says. "Mikuni Oriko, at your service."
Then she meets my eyes and narrows them ever so slightly.
«Miss Taylor, you wouldn't happen to be planning to abandon us at the first sign of trouble, would you?» Oriko transmits.
«What? No way, I'd at least wait until the fourth or fifth sign of trouble!»
To my surprise, Oriko giggles a little, prompting Kirika to bombard her with questions about what was so funny.
«I don't blame you,» Oriko says. «I can see in your eyes that you understand the fruitlessness of this battle. If when all is lost, you choose instead to save yourself, who am I to find fault with you? But I ask that you do not abandon us as long as Kirika or Miss Komaki are still alive.»
«I'll keep that in mind,» I reply. «Thank you for your understanding.»
We wait in silence as the storm slowly draws closer.
"So remember, everyone," Oriko explains. "Do not target the witch's body. It is nearly invulnerable, and even if you do manage to damage it, she will simply regenerate. Target only the gear she hangs from. If we can at least break that gear in half, Tomoe Mami's team should be able to finish it off somehow."
Walpurgisnacht's carnival has just shown up after a long wait, so Oriko is giving us a few strategy tips. The witch herself is not yet visible, but I'm sure it won't be long now.
"So the gear's the weak point, huh?" Komaki says. "But just how are we going to get up there?"
"We will make use of Miss Taylor's power," Oriko says. "Kirika, Miss Komaki, you should join her on that flying teddy bear of hers. With that, you should be able to get on top of the gear and target it very effectively."
"Oh huh, so there's magical girls who can fly?" Komaki says, eyeing me curiously. "That sure is convenient…"
"Miss Hayashi… I believe you and I should team up," Oriko says. "If we join our powers together, I believe we could do a lot of damage to the witch."
"Y-yes!" Hiyori says. "I'll do whatever you ask, Miss Mikuni!"
"And lastly, don't bother with those familiars down on the ground," Oriko says. "They won't attack anyone, unless we provoke them. It's better to focus all our energy on the witch itself. However, you may also encounter a second type of familiar… in that case, defend yourself."
That eerie cackling precedes the arrival of Walpurgisnacht, and it's not long before she's almost overhead. I hop onto Teddy's head, and Komaki and Kirika each choose an arm, and we zoom up into the air, up above the clouds. It's startlingly bright up here, and for a moment I need to shade my eyes from the glare, but then Kirika and Komaki both jump off of Teddy, landing on the reverse side of the Walpurgis gear.
As soon as they start attacking the gear with their weapons, the familiars start to pop out, emerging from the eye of the gear. These aren't her carnival familiars, however – those merely march forward, trampling anything in their path but otherwise not attacking unless someone attacks them first. These are the other type Oriko was referring to, dark spectres that vaguely resemble other magical girls.
I float as close to the eye of the gear as I dare, extending my sword to cut down as many of those familiars as possible before they reach Komaki or Kirika. These familiars are quite strong, however, and I'm only able to thin their ranks by around ten percent. I imagine even that is only thanks to the anti-fiction effect of my blade, for Komaki and Kirika both seem to struggle even more against them than I do. I decide to hop off of Teddy Mk II so that he can participate in battle separately, sending him to back up Komaki and Kirika while I focus on taking out as many familiars as I possibly can.
While I fight, I also keep an eye on Oriko and Hiyori. It looks like they've clasped hands and are charging an attack similar to what Hiyori and I used last night. As I watch, I see the orchestra form once more, only this time they're glowing a bright white, probably thanks to Oriko's magic, which according to Magia Record is of the light element.
Unfortunately, the battle up here on the gear is not going well at all. Komaki and Kirika are so overwhelmed by the familiars that they're barely able to target the gear itself, and the only reason they're even able to deal with the familiars at all is because I'm wiping out about a fifth of them as they emerge from inside the gear. So naturally, I'm not able to get much damage in on the gear itself, either.
Then Oriko and Hiyori unleash their joint attack, and for a moment, the sky below the clouds is lit up like daytime. Every member of the orchestra emits a wide laser beam focused on a single point on the gear, and it's backed up the screeching, slicing cacophony of Hiyori's magic.
As these two powers strike the gear, it shakes, almost knocking Komaki off her feet, and an entire tooth breaks off and falls to the ground, far below. It's not much, but it seems like Oriko was right to put some stock in joining her powers with Hiyori. Still… that's just one tooth. There are still so many more, too many for me to count while engaged in battle in the middle of the gear. It may look impressive, but in the grand scheme of things, it's barely a drop in the bucket. Oriko and Hiyori seem impressed though, enough to start charging up a second shot.
A scream draws my attention to the others fighting up here with me. It seems that Komaki has fallen, a lucky blow from one of the familiars smashing her soul gem to pieces. Kirika is still somehow managing to hold her own alone, but she's clearly hard-pressed, and I doubt she'll last much longer. And then, just as I think that, one of the familiars lands a blow on her soul gem too, and it cracks.
"N-no… I gotta… for Oriko-chan…!" Kirika mutters.
Seizing her damaged soul gem, Kirika spins to face me and flings it into the middle of the familiars, pouring out all her power and detonating it. Shards fly in every direction, but the effort is almost entirely in vain. Only one familiar drops from the attack, the rest weathering it without trouble, and even that suicidal attack wasn't able to damage the gear.
I sigh. It seems like it's time for me to move on. Down below, Oriko and Hiyori are still charging their second orchestral blast, unaware that their companions have already perished. I decide to let Oriko know.
«Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but Kirika and Komaki just died,» I transmit.
«I understand,» Oriko replies. «Do not worry about me. Save yourself. I will continue to fight with Miss Hayashi until we run out of magic power, but you would do better to aid Miss Tomoe's team.»
I leap into the air, and Teddy Mk II zooms over to catch me. Then I zoom off, plunging back beneath the clouds and heading towards the evacuation shelter. Chances are that Mami and her team have already left there, but it's a good starting point for locating them. As I arrive above the shelter, I see the second orchestral blast take off a second tooth from Walpurgisnacht's gear, but it seems that that attack has taken the wind out of their sails.
"Miss Mikuni… I'm sorry I couldn't be of any use," Hiyori says.
"Please do not worry, Miss Hayashi," Oriko replies. "You were a huge help. With only me, we would have made no dent on that thing at all, but by working together, we were able to break off two whole gear teeth."
"I suppose I'll turn into a witch soon enough," Hiyori says. "Unless you have more grief seeds?"
Oriko shakes her head. "I'm afraid I used up my last one just a moment ago," she says. "But there's still a way to avoid turning into a witch."
Hiyori blinks at her. "H-how!?"
"Suicide," Oriko says simply. "Are you prepared for such an action?"
Hiyori falls silent for a moment, then nods. "Y-yes, I think so. I was already resolved to die when I came to join you."
Oriko nods. "Well then… all you need to do is take your soul gem and smash it into pieces," she says. "If you do that, you won't become a witch."
"G-got it… b-but I'm not sure I can bring myself to smash it myself… maybe you can do it for me?"
"Very well," Oriko says.
Hiyori pulls the gem off from her wrist and passes it to Oriko, who takes it and crushes it in her hand. Oriko was right – it was on the verge of witchification. Then Oriko leaps high into the air, then seizes her own soul gem from her brooch and flings it towards Walpurgisnacht, detonating it in the same way that Kirika did earlier. Unlike Kirika, her effort seems to do some actual damage, though nowhere near as much as their joint orchestral blast.
Well… all that's left now is Mami's team. I pick them up with my clairvoyance and approach slowly. By the time I come within direct visual range, Walpurgisnacht has caught up, and the three of them have begun to fight. They have pretty good teamwork, and it seems like they're doing much better than the last round. Unfortunately, unaware of the witch's weak point, they only target her body. I can't bear to watch it, so I transmit a message to Mami only.
«Tomoe Mami, I have a message from the girl who foresaw Walpurgisnacht's arrival,» I say. «Her weak point is the gear. Target the gear!»
Mami looks around in surprise, but it seems I'm too far away for her to see. Nevertheless, she tries taking my advice, summoning her cannon and aiming it at the gear.
"Tiro Finale!"
To my surprise, that attack is enough to break off another of the gear teeth… meaning that Oriko and Hiyori combined are about as strong as Mami alone? Honestly, Mami is pretty strong herself, so even half of her strength is quite respectable. Mind you, Oriko is also pretty strong, so this doesn't mean Hiyori is half as strong as Mami or anything.
«Where are you, Miss Taylor!?» Mami calls. «Can you help?»
«Unfortunately, I don't think I can get to you in time to be useful,» I reply. «I'm sorry. Besides, even if I did catch up, I've already fought her and was almost overwhelmed.»
«No, that's alright,» Mami replies. «Just the information is plenty. Thank you very much.»
At that moment, a blast of baleful flame strikes the spot where Mami is standing, followed by a chunk of a building that Walpurgisnacht tore off. For a moment, I think she's perished, but a new surprise awaits. A girl in red lands several feet away, holding Mami in a princess carry.
"Geez, the hell's wrong with ya!?" Kyouko shouts. "Spacing out in battle like that, it ain't like the Mami I knew!"
"K-kyouko!?" Mami gasps. "Why're you here?"
"Ta tell the truth, it's her," Kyouko says, hooking a finger over her shoulder at Homura. "Kyuubey told me about her and I got curious… gotta problem with it?"
"No, no, I'll welcome your help!" Mami says happily.
Turning to the other two, Mami hastily introduces her.
"This is my former student, Sakura Kyouko!" she says. "She was worried, so she's come to help us fight!"
"Hey, I never said I was worried!" Kyouko protest. "Ya shouldn't speak for others like that!"
"Alright, everyone!" Mami says. "I've just received information that the witch's weak point is the gear she's hanging from! Everyone target the gear!"
And they spring into action, targeting the witch with renewed vigour. Mami fires off another Tiro Finale, bringing the number of fallen gear teeth to four, and the Kyouko fires off a massive flaming spear, severing a fifth tooth. Madoka and Homura however aren't able to put any significant dent in the gear, and they've barely had much of a chance to try when the black familiars start to come out and swarm them.
But then Mami and Kyouko actually join hands, pooling their power into an even stronger attack, forming a massive arbalest aiming for the sky, with Mami's ribbons used as the string that will propel it upwards. The two of them raise their hands above their head, and Mami screams an attack name out at the top of her voice.
"Tiro Duet!"
To my utter shock, the attack actually snaps the gear in half, with one half staying up in the air to support the witch while the other half falls to the ground. Unfortunately, Mami and Kyouko are both exhausted from the effort, and the half gear lands directly on top of them, crushing them.
"Miss Mami… noooo!" Madoka gasps.
"W-we've got to finish her off!" Homura says desperately.
"R-right!" Madoka says.
She draws back her bow, with five arrows nocked, aims for the remaining half of the gear.
"P-pluvia Magica!" she screams.
When she lets the arrows fly, they overshoot their target, spreading out to form a magical diagram in the sky, from which a myriad of arrows emerges, speeding back down towards the witch. At that moment, Homura vanishes from her side, reappearing a short distance away, now facing her. A series of explosions herald what she was up to while time was stopped, and moments later, Madoka's arrows speed in to deal the finishing blow.
Incredible. The witch that around fifty magical girls struggled to beat in Magia Record was actually finished off by just four… no, make that six, because Oriko and Hiyori's contribution is probably important too. Maybe I could say nine, though I don't think Komaki, Kirika, and I helped very much. Is Walpurgisnacht just not as strong as I thought? Is Mami just way stronger than I thought? But she was also there in Magia Record… Is it just because they knew of the weakness? But they also learned the weakness in Magia Record… Or is it possible that Walpurgisnacht, like Madoka, actually gets stronger with each new timeline? But that still doesn't explain why no-one else in history has ever defeated Walpurgisnacht. Surely this can't be the first time that magical girls have teamed up against it. Something here just doesn't add up…
However, though powerful, it seems that Madoka's ultimate attack took the last of her magic. I can see the cracks in her soul gem as the witchification process begins. I quickly pull out my reel of ribbon and fly in closer, manipulating it with my power.
"Miss Kaname, we did it!" Homura says happily.
But then Madoka collapses, and Homura hurries over to kneel by her side. I manage to loop my ribbon around the toe of one of her shoes.
"W-what's wrong, Miss Kaname?" Homura asks. "Please hang in there! I d-don't have any grief seeds left, but I'm sure Walpurgisnacht must've dropped at least one!"
"W-why!?" Madoka gasps, squirming in pain as her soul gem morphs into a grief seed. "W-why am I…?"
Then the seed hatches, and Kriemhild Gretchen slips out, a witch in the form of a birdcage with a shadow head at its peak.
"W-what!?" Homura gasps.
Bands of light gather around Kriemhild Gretchen's head, and droplets of water are drawn towards her, formed from the ongoing rainfall. I can see signs of a barrier starting to form in the vicinity as the witch prepares to hide herself away.
"W-why… how… w-why did Miss Kaname… become a witch!?"
And with that desperate question to no-one in particular, Homura activates her shield and reverses time for the second time.