Outsider Chronicles: Puella Magi Madoka Prisma
Getting reborn as a girl was...interesting. Getting reborn as a girl destined to either be a destroyer or a literal Goddess was a pain in the ass considering I don't fancy being either. I certainly didn't expect to take a staff to the face and dragged into a quest searching for cards. Maybe Kyubey would have been a better choice...
And we're back. Last time I made a rather foolish assumption that having Zelretch and Ruby's attention on you was worse than Kyubey and, while I still stand by the fact I don't want any of them anywhere near me (even though I'm technically not at risk of two of them, being a bloke...although I wouldn't put it past Ruby to stick me in a dress anyway), I agree that Zelretch is much better. You might die a painful and humiliating death, but at least your soul will be intact. Anyway, ONWARDS!
Chapter 2
I was awoken by a foul smell being shoved under my nose.
"HURK!"
I jolted back, my eyes snapping open as I fell off my bed with a crash.
"Owww, that hurt," I muttered, "And what was with that dream? Why would I…"
I trailed off as I opened my eyes and saw, to my utter lack of surprise, that I hadn't been dreaming. Nope, Ruby was still floating there, now holding an open vial of purple liquid that had purple smoke seeping from the top that I'm sure was forming into the shape of the screaming faces of the damned. Her past vic...partners maybe?
"Oh good, your awake," said Ruby, sounding a little put out, "I must say, I've never had someone faint upon meeting me...oh well!"
The vial vanished and she zipped forwards.
"Sooo, what do you say little girl?" she asked, "Do you want to be a Magical Girl? If you lend me your power, we can save the world~!"
"You know, this is the second offer like this I've got today," I said as I shifted into a cross legged position on the floor, "And somehow, it still seems too good to be true."
Ruby let out a theatrical gasp.
"Ohh my, could it be that children today no longer wish to become Magical Girls?!" she wailed, "Ohh, I wish I had tear ducts to cry!"
My eye twitched. At least she wasn't even trying to hide the fact she was trying to manipulate me, so that was a point to Ruby at least. Just 999,999,999 to go! On the other hand, thats still better than Kyubey who was sitting at negative infinity.
"If your planning to trick me into making a contract, don't bother," I said with a put-upon sigh, "Being a Magical Girl sounds cool and all, but I honestly have better things to do than fly around saving the world. Sounds to much like hard work."
"Ohh, but theres so much more to being a Magical Girl than just that!" said Ruby, "You can fly around, blast evil doers with laser beams and even use love magic to make the object of your desires fall madly in love with you!"
Despite myself, I twitched and my cheeks warmed as the image of droolworthy legs in black, high heeled boots and silky black hair appeared in my mind and...holy shit, where the fuck did that come from?! I mean, I was a bit distracted when she first arrived, but now thinking back on how Homura looked in her uniform was making me feel a little hot under the collar...
"Ohh, does the innocent little girl have less than innocent thoughts about someone?"
Ruby's voice snapped me out of my daydreams and I went fire engine red.
"S-shut up, its none of your business!" I yelled.
"Oh, defencive," said Ruby, "And you have a nosebleed."
She swept the blood off my face.
"SO, who is it? Give me the juicy details! A classmate maybe? Or perhaps an older man?"
I snorted and looked away. No way in hell I was giving this thing the satisfaction of…
"Ohh, or maybe its the cute new transfer?"
Aaand theres the blush again, I certainly didn't miss you! I snapped my head around to stare at the sentent stick, eyes wide and with steam practically billowing from my ears.
"Oh my, how scanderless!" gasped Ruby, "Then again, it would be perfect! The knight in shining armour, here to save your very soul!"
"S-shut up, its not like that!" I yelled, not even bothering to ask how she knew about that.
"Or maybe you want to be the knight saving the Princess?" said Ruby, "After so many attempt, she must be tired. Don't you just want to hug her tight and make all her worries go away? To toy with her until she screams for mercy…"
"SHUT UP!" I screamed, reaching out without thinking and grabbing the sticks twisting shaft.
Then I stopped as I realized what had just happened.
"Oh you sneaky little…!"
"Hehehe, that was easier than I thought!" said Ruby, her jovial tone now taking on a more sinister edge, "Your blood forms our pact, touching me makes you my Master and the power of your pure hearted love drives me! I got everything I needed without a hitch! Now then, shall we move to the final step?"
I shook my head rapidly, keeping my mouth firmly shut as I tried desperately to let go of the evil little Mystic Code.
"It won't be long now, just one incy wincy little thing!" continued Ruby, completely ignoring my struggles, "Now, won't you tell me your name?"
Despite my best efforts, Rubys will was simply to powerful and I couldn't keep my mouth shut. Plus, by this point, it was practically a given she'd won considering she could probably keep me here as long as she wanted without issue. Even so, I wasn't about to let the Kalido-stick win without a fight, so ikn the time honoured tradition of stubborn teenagers, I kept my teeth gritted for as long as possible. Which was about three seconds.
"M-madoka K-kaname!" I spat out as my body moved to bring the Kalido-stick in front of me.
"Oh, and that concludes your registration as my Master!" said Ruby and my vision was filled with a kaleidoscope of light.
Compact full open, Mirror World circuits, maximum engage!
I was floating through a golden plane full of falling feathers, my body nude and glowing brightly as energy flowed through me, making me feel stronger than ever before. A pulse of light erupted from me, turning the feathers closest pink. I reached out and grabbed on, the soft energy shifting into an orb of purple light that covered my hands in dark blue energy that formed into pink, elbow length gloves, before I brought my hands together and another, shorter pair of white gloves appeared.
Next was my top and skirt, followed by my boots and a pair of feathery ribbons pulling my hair into my usual twin-tail style. Transformation done, I turned and struck a pose.
Introducing, Kaleido liner Prisma Madoka! TADAAAAA!
And with that, the glowing plane faded and I found myself outside and slowly floating down to the floor. I could feel Ruby's power flowing through me, making me feel absolutely fantastic. Unfortunately…
"WHAT THE FUCK AM I WEARING?!" I yelped as I took in my new outfit.
It was identical to Illiya which I suppose was better than Rin's Kaleido Ruby form or, god forbid, Madoka's canon Magical Girl outfit, but even so, it was a far cry from what I'd normally wear! And on the subject of embarrassment…
"AND WHAT AM I DOING OUTSIDE?!"
"Well, it was a bit cramped in there," said Ruby, not sounding in the least bit sorry.
"B-But my clothes disappeared," I said, "ARE YOU TELLING ME I WAS OUTSIDE NAKED!"
"Well, your not anymore," said Ruby, "That look rather suits you."
My eye twitched as I remembered what happened next.
"Ruby, please tell me I'm not going to have to put up with a pissy Rin now," I growled.
"Oh, don't worry about that," said Ruby, "Your my first Master in this world, so you don't need to worry about that shriveled up hag!"
I breathed a sigh of relief, before once again fixing the Kaleido-stick with a glare.
"Alright, so if your not here with Rin, why are you here?" I asked, "I highly doubt the old geezer would send you here for nothing."
"Ah yes, about that," said Ruby, "It seems that a mix of that little rodents meddling, Homura's time travel and your presence has resulted in some rather odd effects on the fabric of reality. As a result, distortions are forming which could be...problematic."
"So in short, I'm hunting cards," I said.
"Pretty much."
"Lovely."
I sighed.
"Well, since I know arguing with you would be a waste of time and energy, I guess I don't have a choice," I grumbled.
"Nope!"
"But first, since I'm not dumb enough to go into battle with some of the greatest heroes in history with no idea what I'm doing, tomorrow you and I are going to find somewhere I can practice with you," I said, shaking the stick.
"Oooh, I suppose that'll have to do," grumbled Ruby, "I haven't found any of the Cards yet anyway."
"Good. Now please get me back inside before my Parents find me!"
"Oh very well."
As Ruby flashed me back into my bedroom and my pink, feathery outfit changed back to my normal tank top and shorts I wore to bed, the only thing I could think was that this entire thing was going to be one massive pain in the arse.
Thankfully, I got enough sleep, despite Ruby's antics, and the next morning I wasn't a complete zombie and was able to go about getting ready without to much trouble.
"So, did you have fun last night?" asked Mom.
"Umhmm," I said, before spitting out my toothpaste, "Yeah, Sayaka and I have been getting some extra tutoring from an upperclassman. She knows her stuff and makes the best cakes and tea!"
"Well, don't eat to much, you don't want to get fat," said Mom.
"Not much chance of that," I muttered.
I'd be burning off all the calories fighting against beings from legend after all. Somehow, despite me not bringing up the issue of wishes, Mom still ended up muttering to herself over how she'd go about becoming CEO of her company and, I have to agree with my Canon self, she's got really scary eyes when she gets started on that line of thought.
After breakfast, I caught up with my friends on the way to school, shoving down the urge to glare at Kyubey who was with Sayaka, in favour of keeping my normal slight grin in place.
"Hmm, so THATS the little rodent whos causing so much trouble," said Ruby from where she was hiding in my bag, "Revolting, I can practically smell the blood on him…"
My smile became a little strained. Ruby was a manipulative bitch, a nasty piece of work and likely proud of it, but apparently even she had standards.
"Good morning Madoka," said Kyubey.
"Apparently we're the only ones who can see him," said Sayaka telepathically.
I cocked my head slightly.
"Huh, this is interesting," I said, "I wonder how it works?"
"I'm acting as a transmitter," said Kyubey, "Its a handy trick, right?"
"Feels kinda weird," said Sayaka.
"Um, excuse me, but whats going on between you two?" asked Hitomi, "Why do you keep staring at each other like that?"
"Oh, well, its just, um…" said Sayaka, casting around for an excuse.
Apparently Hitomi jumped to conclusions on her own though as she dropped her bag with a look of shock on her face.
"I can't believe it!" she gasped, "Just by looking at each other you know what the others thinking!?"
She gasped.
"For two people to become that intimate after just one night...what happened between the two of you after I left yesterday?!"
"I can't believe shes going there," muttered Sayaka.
"Well, to be fair, a lot did happen," I said.
"N-no, thats enough!" said Hitomi, "Your both girls! Girls can't love girls!"
She ran off towards school, repeating herself as if trying to convince herself.
"And that right there is why you shouldn't shelter your kids," I said, "I wonder how she'd react if she saw my browser history?"
"You know Madoka, I can never tell if your being serious or not," said Sayaka, "Anyway, we should hurry, she forgot her bag."
"I wonder if something happened?" I said, "I mean, shes acting just like you today."
Sayaka twitched.
"Whats that supposed to mean?!" she demanded.
"Noooothing," I said with a grin as I started heading towards school again.
"Ohhh, I'm really starting to like you Madoka~!" said Ruby, "I think we're gonna get along juuuuust fine~!"
After getting to class and apologizing to Hitomi for freaking her out, Sayaka and I headed to our seats to wait for class to start.
"Are you sure this is OK?" asked Sayaka, "Tagging along to school I mean?"
"Why not?" asked Kyubey.
"That psycho chick who tried to kill you yesterday just transferred to our class," said Sayaka, "Your sorta risking your life being here."
"I highly doubt she'd be stupid enough to start something in a public place," I said.
"Indeed," said Kyubey, "Besides, Mami's here."
"Mami's on the other side of school!" said Sayaka.
"Don't worry, I can hear you all perfectly," said Mami's voice in our heads.
"Shes not that far, so I can reach her without trouble," said Kyubey.
"Morning," I said.
"I promise I'll keep a close watch over you," said Mami, "Besides, like Madoka said, I don't think she'll attack you in public."
"If you say so," said Sayaka.
At that moment, the door opened and Homura walked in. The moment she did, she fixed Kyubey with a glare, before turning her attention to me. I just grinned and waved, making sure she got a good look at both hands and my fingernails. Upon seeing the lack of ring or marking, she relaxed slightly.
"Speak of the devil," said Sayaka, glowering at the time traveler, "Don't worry Madoka, if she gets outta line, I'll punch her lights out! Besides, Mami's here!"
"Thats right, so don't worry, everything will be fine," sadi Mami, "Regardless of Sayaka and her punches."
"Hey, whaddya mean regardless?!"
I couldn't help but snicker at the exchange, before the sound of something shifting slightly made me glance down at my bag to see Ruby work her way out far enough to see out of the bag.
"Huh, so thats the famous Homura," said Ruby from my bag, "I must say Master, you have good taste."
I blushed brightly and attracted some rather odd looks by stomping on my bag repeatedly.
Once class let out for lunch and Hitomi hurried off to her lunchtime club (does that girl ever stop?), Sayaka and I headed up to the roof to enjoy out lunch. We sat quietly for a while, before Sayaka spoke up.
"Hey Madoka, have you given any more thought about what you wanna wish for?" she asked.
"Hmm, not really," I said, "I mean, there are things I want, but nothing that needs a wish to come true. Honestly, I'd rather not wish for them, its so much more satisfying to earn things like that after all."
"Yeah, same here," said Sayaka. "I guess its the whole 'risking your life' part thats holding me back. Nothing I want is worth that much…"
"I've got a few things," I said, "But, again, their things that I should earn for myself."
"Thats so odd," said Kyubey, "Most girls accept my offer right away."
"Then I guess we don't know any better then," said Sayaka.
"Or we do know better," I said, "The fact we're not willing to waste a wish on a shallow reason seems like a good thing in my book."
"Heh, I guess thats true," said Sayaka, "Still, I can't help but feel that we're blissfully ignorant. There are plenty of people who want something badly enough to risk their life for it, people with a lot less than us. We can't figure out what to wish for because we don't know what its like to want something that bad."
I shifted slightly and lay back on the bench, staring up at the clouds.
"Its not a crime to be born lucky," I said, "I know I'm lucky to have a loving family with enough money for a good life, but I'm still not about to throw that away because someone else has nothing. Lifes unfair, its that simple."
"You know, your rather cynical for such a young girl," said Kyubey.
"Heh, you get used to it," said Sayaka, "Madoka may look cute, but shes always been like that."
I smiled.
"I like to think of myself as a hopeful realist," I said, "I believe things will get better, but I also accept that they probably won't. Or at least, not unless people try."
At that moment, the door slammed open and Homura marched through onto the roof. Sayaka tensed and stepped in front of the bench where Kyubey was sat while I sat back up to watch.
"Don't worry, I'm here," said Mami's voice and I glanced over at one of the towers that were level with the roof we were on where the Ribbon user was stood.
Homura also noted the other Magical Girl's presence as she crossed the roof and stopped a short distance away.
"Back for more?" asked Sayaka.
"No, I'm not here to fight," said Homura, "I wanted to kill it, before it made contact with Madoka Kaname, but its to late for that now."
She looked up and met my eyes.
"So, what now?" she asked, "Are you going to become a Magical Girl?"
"Like thats any of your business!" snapped Sayaka before I could respond.
That was probably a good thing because I'd have to lie to keep her from overreacting. Maybe it was a foolish move and I knew I couldn't hide it forever, but I kinda wanted to keep Ruby a secret for now, at least until I had some Cards.
"I warned you," said Homura, "Remember?"
"Yes," I said.
"Good," she said, "Remember the warning. Goodbye."
She turned on her heel and walked away.
"Homura," I called, getting to my feet.
The time bender paused and glanced back at me.
"Remember what I said to you as well," I said, "And remember this while your at it. The night is always darkest before the dawn, but no matter how dark it gets, the light WILL come. Plus, the darks not as scary with friends."
Much later, after class, Sayaka and I approached Hitomi to beg off our usual post school hang and chat due to reasons of Magical Girl training. I was tagging along with the intention of getting to see a genuine veterine in action. While it was true that Kyubey's type and Ruby's type of Magical Girls were fundamentally different, the fact remained that a skilled fighter is a skilled fighter and I'd be a fool to turn down the opportunity.
After Hitomi had completely got the wrong idea and Sayaka had stopped blushing, we headed out to meet Mami and headed back to the shopping center where we'd first met. Mainly because it was the only place that three middle school girls wouldn't get funny looks for hanging around.
"Well, time to start lesson one of the Magical Girl Experience," said Mami as she put her cup down, "Well, thats what I'm calling it anyway. I hope your ready."
I tapped Ruby, who I had hidden in my lap, and the Kaleidostick dutifully started recording.
"I don't know if it'll help, but I brought this!" said Sayaka, pulling out a wrapped baseball bat and holding it proudly aloft, "I mean, its better than not having anything, right?"
Mami looked rather amused, even under her ever present smile.
"Lets just say I'm glad your going in with that spirit," she said.
"What about you Madoka?" asked Sayaka, "What did you bring?"
"I didn't know we were supposed to bring anything," I said, "Although if your interested, I did do these."
I dropped my notebook on the table, opened at a page that was full of sketches of me in my Magical Girl outfit, along with Homura, Mami and Sayaka's, along with a sketch of Homura with Sapphire. What? All Magical Girls need a best friend/totally not lesbian lover, right?
"I got bored," I said by way of explanation.
After that, the three of us headed out and, in the interest of brevity, I won't cover the trip. It wasn't that different from how it went down in canon anyway. Not like theres much that COULD change without me whipping out Ruby and blasting some Witches with Prana cannons, something I wasn't about to do until I had some training and at least one Class Card. Or until the fight with Charlotte. No matter what, Mami would NOT be dying in this timeline.
"So, did you get it all?" I asked once we arrived back home.
"I did," said Ruby, "And I have to say, I fully agree that that rodent needs to die. To twist a Soul like that...even the most deranged of Magus would pale at such a thing!"
"Nice to know that even amoral pricks consider eldritch horrors to be untenable," I said, "But thats for later. For now, we need to find somewhere to train and you need to locate us some Cards to find."
"Oh very well," said Ruby, waving her shaft at me, "Come on, lets get you suited up!"
I grabbed her and, in a flash of light, I was back in my Magical Girl costume. I opened my window, stepped out and floated up towards the clouds.
"W-wha...how did you do that?!" spluttered Ruby.
I blinked and looked at my staff.
"Do what?" I asked.
"Fly!" yelled Ruby, "Its an incredibly advanced spell and you know it!"
"True, but you also run on belief," I said, "And I believe that all Magical Girls can fly, so take your complex spell and shove it."
"I...oh, fine, lets just go!" grumbled Ruby, "I have a feeling that you're going to be causing me a few headaches…"
"Consider it payback," I said as I swooped down towards an abandoned stretch of beach no one would mind gaining a few craters, "Now, lets see, how does this work…"
I lifted Ruby and waved her in the general direction of the ocean. I wasn't expecting a beam of Prana the size of a bus to come shooting out though and, by her startled yelp, neither had she. I quickly cut of the Prana flow and watched with wide eyes as the water crashed back into place to fill the deep trench my attack had carved into the waters surface.
"Ruby...what was that?" I asked weakly.
"That was what happens when you use your power without preparation," said Ruby, "It seems that you have a set of high quality Magic Circuits, enough that I'd never had believed that you were from a non-Magus family if I had not scanned them to be sure. I'm not sure where they've come from, but I imagine it has something to do with your Soul's nature and whatever it was that the Akemi girl did to make you so damn important."
"How many's an absurd number?" I asked.
Ruby sighed.
"You have a total of 20 Circuits," she said, "Thats average for a Magus, but what isn't average is the fact that, with those 20, you could channel over 1000 units of Mana."
My eyes went round.
"Holy shit!"
"Holy shit indeed," said Ruby, "Still, on the upside, your not hurting for power."
"No, but controls gonna be a bitch," I grumbled, "And I was hoping to learn Reinforcement as well…"
"Oh, don't worry about that!" said Ruby, "I can handle control, I just wasn't expecting you to output that much power. As for Reinforcement, I can teach you it. It'll take some work, but its doable."
I stared at the Kaleidostick, not entirely sure if I should trust her to teach me something that could seriously mess up my body if I fucked it up.
"Oh don't worry," said Ruby, apparently catching my expression, "I would never do anything to harm my Master! Humiliate and embarrass, yes, hurt, no."
I blinked.
"Um, thanks?" I said, "I think?"
"Oh don't worry about it dear!" said Ruby, "Now, I believe you were planning to train, yes? I believe that we should start by putting up a Bounded Field. It wouldn't do to be interrupted after all."
I sighed, before smiling and raising Ruby again. I spent the next two hours firing off Prana cannons of varying sizes to get used to how the Kalido-stick actually worked, before heading home and letting Ruby walk me through the basics of using Magecraft.
That would be the pattern of events for the next week, by which point I'd finally figured out how to channel my Prana though my body and achieve the most basic level of Reinforcement, a feat that astounded Ruby, but I attributed to getting experience channeling my Prana through Ruby herself. On the Friday after the whole thing kicked off, I found myself on my own as Hitomi had one of her classes and Sayaka had gone to visit Kyousuke. That wasn't a problem though because I had plans of my own. Ruby had finally located the first Class Card and it was time to go and collect it!
"So, this Card is located in the next city over?" I asked as I flew above the clouds, my invisible barrier serving to keep me toasty, "They're not all going to be like this, are they?"
"No, I doubt that they'll be to spread out," said Ruby, "They are focused around you after all."
"Hmm, then I wonder why this one is outside of the city?" I asked.
"Perhaps there's something here attracting it?" suggested Ruby.
"Hmm, nothing I can think of," I said, "I think the only time I've been out here is on a trip to the aquarium."
"Hmm, strange…" said Ruby, "Oh, its down there."
I followed her directions and swooped down to land in a decent sized park.
"Ahh yes, this is definitely the place," she said, "Now, lets get started."
I took a deep breath and readied myself as a circle of endless, twisting lights within an infinite nether appeared at my feet.
"Adding imaginary axis to the fifth instrumental variable," said Ruby as the Magic surrounding me began to rise, causing my hair and clothes to billow out as if in a powerful wind, "Beginning inversion process. Confirming that complex space exists."
The world around us began to blur and distort as Ruby began to glow brightly.
"Central coordinates established."
A magic circle in the same pink as my outfit appeared in the void bellow my feet.
"Establishing mirror road with a two-meter radius. Beginning partial inversion of mirror world circuits."
Then, with a feeling of everything being flipped, the light and magic faded, leaving me standing in the exact same spot with the only sign that anything had changed being the skys transformation into countless shards of twisting either.
"Well, that was interesting," I said as I looked around carefully.
I didn't really want to be blindsided by the Servant.
"Yes, wasn't it jus...DUCK!"
Without thinking, I did so, just in time to avoid a massive beam of pink energy that passed close enough to scorch the tips of my hair off.
"What the fuck was that?!" I spluttered as I spun around, looking around wildly for my attacker.
"I-I don't know!" said Ruby, "It looked like a Prana Cannon, but the make up was different!"
"Different how?" I asked.
"I don't know exactly, but it was like they used a similar, but different source," said Ruby, "However, we can consider it later, for now, we need to find the Card and take it down!"
I nodded, before letting out a yelp and stumbling forwards a few steps as a number of small shots hit my back. They didn't penetrate Ruby's barrier, but they sure stung. I spun around and looked up, only to freeze in shock as I beheld the corrupted Servant.
"Um, Ruby, please tell me I'm seeing things!" I said.
"Ah...I think that you might have had more of an affect than we thought," said Ruby, "On the other hand, at least we know why the Prana Cannon had a different composition now! And having her will make befriending people SO much easier!"
"Your really not helping Ruby," I grumbled as I shifted into a ready stance, already prepping the strongest barrier I could.
I'd need it to because, despite this Servant being a Caster class and not even all that old, I still knew that she'd be as hard to beat as Midea, if only because I'd have to avoid being 'befriended'. Yep, for those not keeping up, the Class Card was the White Devil herself, Nanoha Takamachi!
And done. Next time (if indeed there is one), Madoka vs Nanoha! I see no way this can go badly.
On a completely unrelated note, Nanoha isn't even the craziest Servant I have in mind because not one of them is Canon and they are all from different franchises. I have no intention of spilling who they are, but I will give some hints. Those who guess correctly get to suggest Noble Phantasms for them! Here we go!
Archer: A lonely girl who changes her entire world.
Assassin: A beautiful Goddess with a love for naps and milk.
Rider: A tortured girl whos soul was shattered by a world to cruel for her simple wish.
Saber: A man torn apart by war and loyalty to his family and his code.
Berserker: A girl cursed to be a monster filled with so much rage, her body simply creates new flesh when injured.
Lancer: An innocent, honest soul forced into war with an all devouring Darkness.
Caster: Nanoha Takamachi.
Some are obvious, some less so. I'll be surprised if anyone gets Berserker though. I currently plan to have Madoka get the cards from the bottom of the list up, mainly because her Archer card is OP as hell. No, its not Gil.
I like the look of Illiya's outfit, so thats what Madoka gets.
Is Madoka OP? Ehhh, not really. Shes not actually any more powerful than Illiya is at the start, with the soul exception being that she knows what shes doing...sort of.
Anyway, time to sign out. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!