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Homura didn't dare to lay her eyes upon the scene in front of her.
Madoka’s lifeless body stayed silent, half of it soaked in a puddle.
-...I have failed once again...- Homura muttered, to no one in particular
Walpurgis was long gone, is exchange of Madoka’s life. The rain poured heavily on Homura, though she didn't really care
-If you know this is the outcome, why do you keep trying? - A voice rang from behind. Homura slowly turned around, knowing exactly who’s voice it was.
-Incubator...
-Are you going to use that power of yours now? I think I've figured it out. Isn’t it right, time traveler? - Kyubey continued. Homura didn’t really care if that thing knew about her power, after all, nothing much could be done now.
-It will only be a matter of time before you turn to despair, no matter how much your determination shines, it will falter at some point.
-...
-I’m really curious of seeing what kind of enormous power your witch will have, Homura.
-Enough. - Homura placed her hand on her shield, ready to go back in time as always. She wouldn't listen to anything that psychopath had to say. She would not waver.
-Akemi Homura, before you go...- Homura stopped in her tracks, curious of what it had to say.
-I may have no proof of it or any way of proving it, but that ability of yours is way too unstable. If I were you, I wouldn't be so carefree.
...
If that’s everything it had to say, Homura was set to go, ignoring those idiotic words.
After all, Homura was well aware of it. Homura didn't dare to see the sight in front of her.
No matter how many times she had seen it, she couldn't bare staring at Madoka’s lifeless body.
-...I have failed once again...- Homura muttered, to no one in particular
...........--....................--....................--................
-H-Homura-chan...! - Madoka tried to reach out for Homura, who didn't bother to look the other two.
In this timeline, Homura had been able to save Mami from being beheaded, thinking, that if played correctly, it would be easier to keep Madoka away from witches, and an extra help to exterminate them. Although, Homura had let her guard off, as Miki Sayaka had met her destiny- turning into a witch. - And even worse, she had let Mami get too close to Madoka, and imposed her ideals into her.
Now, Sayaka was laying down in the floor, breathing, as Madoka stood by her, dressed up as a magical girl.
-Don't you ever listen to me, Madoka? - Homura didn't face her.
-...Even after you’ve learnt the truth I've been hiding from you... You still decide to throw yourself into the pit like that? Do you perhaps loathe yourself? As you're so eager of dying? - Homura felt her fists clenching in rage, although keeping a neutral tone, despite her harsh words.
-Don't be so hard on her, it was me who- Mami tried to say, before being abruptly interrupted by Homura clutching her collar.
-And what do you have to say about this?! It's YOUR fault Madoka has to go through this! Only because you’re so selfish that you want others to feel YOUR pain! - Homura was losing it. Either way, it wasn't the first time she had fought with mami, and presumably, wouldn't be the last.
-Well, why do you get to say what she can and can't do?! You can't choose what you want for her! Its HER choice if she wants to save her friends! - Mami pushed her away, also beginning to rise her voice at her, tired of always letting Homura get away after saying whatever hurtful and insensitive things she wanted.
-I AM trying to save her! - Homura was ready to be the one to start the fight, right here, right now. It didn't matter if Madoka was here to see, she would apologize later.
Just as Homura was about to strike the first hit, a sword sliced between them, forcing them to look down to a Sayaka weakly trying to dismiss the fight.
-Now, exchange student, it wouldn't be fair to have Madoka see all of this, would it? - Sayaka weakly tried to get on her knees, with a mocking smile present in her lips, despite her clearly disadvantage.
-Sayaka! - Madoka ran towards Sayaka, placing her arms around her, preventing her from doing any stupid decision. Mami looked at both of them and sighed, letting her guard down.
-Sayaka is right, we don't want any extra fuss... plus...- Mami agreed, turning around to face the ominous labyrinth portal that was towering over them.
-We have greater stuff to deal with.
-Now, you wouldn't be so ungrateful to let us deal with this alone, would you? - Mami smirked at Homura, tempting her, as she entered the portal, Homura could turn around and walk away but...
Homura felt a hand in her shoulder.
-Homura-Chan, it’ll be alright, ok? - Madoka let go, letting an astonished Homura behind, entering the portal, with Sayaka following shortly behind.
-I guess us magical girls have no breaks huh? I can't let her go in there by herself...- Sayaka, now feeling slightly better and more energetic, faced the portal with the raven head by her side.
-Listen, exchange student, I don't like you. At all, but I do look forward to your help right now... so you better not let me down. - Sayaka winked at her, while transforming to her magical attire, passing right through the portal.
Now Homura had no other choice, did she?
-...yare yare daze...- Homura did not know why she said this, out of all things, but there was no time to question it.
...time to work as a team... once again.
Homura passed right through the portal...
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-Akemi-San! Cover my back please! - Mami yelled at Homura, Homura obliged. It had been a while since she had fought back-to-back with Mami Tomoe, but had to say, she was a pretty solid fighter. Even if she refused to say it, the two of them made a great duo.
Madoka was in a lower platform along with Sayaka, that struggled to stand up, of course, being just resurrected from the death wouldn't be easy to anyone, but she was holding them back either way.
Mistakenly, an attack from the witch went towards Madoka and Sayaka, who did their best to dodge it, bringing attention to them, being the target of the lace-witch.
-Hold there you two!- Mami hurriedly used her ribbons to reach for the other two, leaving Homura alone. Homura clicked her tongue, getting distracted.
-Homura-Chan watch out!- Madoka screamed, as one of the witch’s legs was being thrown quite directly towards Homura, the surprise made her loose her balance, falling down into one of the labyrinth's pits. Madoka was quick to notice.
-Mami-San! Homura is-!
-I got it! - Mami quickly extended her ribbons to catch Homura, who was desperately attempting to stop time for her sake, while one of Mami’s magic ribbons reached just for her shield, making a bright white light emit from it.
-No...! It can't! - And, as Mami was in contact with the shield, having Madoka grabbing her shoulder while carrying Sayaka... being all 4 of them connected...
They all went back in time.
Before it was even supposed to be able to.
Finally, breaking the fabric of time for once and for all.
..............--..........--...........--...........
Homura darted her eyes open.
Her head was spinning, making it difficult to make out her surroundings.
Was she still in the witch labyrinth?
After readjusting her vision a little bit, she figured she was in a dark alley, sitting down in the cold floor.
Looking down at herself, she was now in her school uniform, but no visible wounds.
She tried standing up, using the help of a random cardboard box.
If she had to guess, the rest had defeated the witch while she was unconscious, and abandoned her there.
She tried not to feel hurt. She shouldn’t feel hurt.
After all, it’s not like they were friends. Homura opted for focusing on saving Madoka. For the others, she was just a stranger. Someone they couldn't trust. She wouldn’t trust them either way.
Homura pushed back her moody teenager thoughts, now heading towards the exit of the creepy alley. She would simply find her way back to her apartment.
After all, she knew Mitakihara pretty well. Of course, searching and hunting witches had to be made by foot, and after so many timelines, it was just a matter of time that she knew Mitakihara’s streets like the palm of her hand.
Except-
Homura stopped dead in her tracks, wide-eyed
Except,
This did not look like Mitakihara at all.
Homura looked around frantically. Everywhere she looked seemed unfamiliar.
She was in what seemed the middle of a neighborhood, there were picturesque houses, with a light rural charm to it. Clearly nothing like the urban look of the entire Mitakihara.
Before she could freak out even further, someone bumped into her.
She stumbled back, and almost fell to her back. She looked up to the man that didn't even apologize with a pissed gaze.
Inspecting the man closer, he seemed to be in his late 20’s or early 30’s. He was wearing a formal attire, he had well-kept blonde hair, and was looking down at her with impaling blue eyes.
-Look where you’re going. - Homura declared, pushing the man away from her path. She was just turning away, when she felt the man grab her hand tightly.
He brushed his fingers against her nails and skin carefully.
-I see you take very well care of your hands, miss. - The man spoke, too absorbed in her hand to even look at her face.
Homura quickly retrieved her hand, staring at the man with confusion and shock. Homura took a few steps back, not breaking eye contact. Was this guy an aesthetician or something?!
-I didn't say you could touch me. - Homura said with more annoyance than before.
The man just stayed quiet, rubbing his fingers, as if trying to feel Homura’s hand essence to the last bit.
-Haaa... What am I even doing? I don't have time for this...- The man resignated.
-Killer queen. - The man pointed at her and she felt a rush of power come at her, she reacted and jumped back quickly. Startled and out of pure instinct she pulled out a glock from her shield and pointed.
-So gentle hands like that shouldn't be handling that kind of things...- The man squinted his eyes and smiled widely.
-Haa... I'm getting aroused...- Homura cringed. She felt that rush of power come at her again, and before she noticed it, her own headband exploded.
Homura fell to the ground, rolling by the impact. She was stunned and confused. What just happened??! Was this man a... magical girl of a sort...? Probably not. He was an old fella. And also, a man.
Her ears ringed, but at least, her soul gem hadn't been damaged.
This man was clearly a menace.
Homura transformed without a doubt. She moved through the smoke the explosion had produced, trying to find a way to flee, just when she saw what seemed, some kind of pink energy move in front of her.
-Hum. I'm impressed you survived that. - She was startled by the man’s voice. She didn't know where it came from.
-Why are you attacking me?? Who even are you?! Reveal yourself! - Homura blurted out of nervousness, pointing her gun at all directions. This was something she hadn't witnessed before. What did this man do? It was clearly some kind of super natural power... but what? Maybe it could be a witch kiss? She had never heard of a witch’s kiss give powers to the victim but...
-Over here. - Her thoughts were interrupted by the man grabbing her shoulder from behind.
This time, Homura was fast enough to escape from his grasp, and with a swift movement, stop time.
Time around her stopped, letting her get a closer look to the situation. There was the man, frozen in time, with a weird... blurry pink glow. Inspecting further, it looked like a pink humanoid figure... with... cat ears...?
Homura didn't try to think much of it. Loading her gun and aiming.
“One shot will be enough” Homura thought. She pulled the trigger just once. And time ran again.
-ACK-! - She heard the man yell. She was certain she had hit him.
As the smoke dissipated, she could see the man bleeding in the ground, with a hole piercing just above his lung.
Homura stared quietly down at him. The man gritted his teeth, and with a bit of struggle, he fled. Homura was not going to chase after him. Let it be someone else’s problems. Right now, her priority was to get back to find out where the heck she was.
She marched backwards when she hit a wall. A wall that she didn't remember being there.
And as it seemed, it was definitely not a wall. It was a man. Another one.
He was dressed in all white, with a cap of the same color hiding his face. He was pretty damn tall too. And buffed.
-Yare yare daze... Looks like we finally meet, Yoshikage Kira.
Who?
-Didn't expect you to be this young... or a girl for this matter.
-Pardon? You must be mistaken. I am not Yoshikage Kira. Nor do I know anyone named that for that matter. - Homura held her gun close, sensing an aura of danger around this new man.
-You know, I can't stand scum like you. I don't care if you are a little girl. - He finally met her with his turquoise eyes. As the other man, a purple blurry glow appeared magically next to him. Homura furrowed her brows. How long was this gonna be this day?
-Listen old man, I don't want any- Homura saw right before her eyes a purple fist going directly into her face, making her practically fly backwards. She fell face-flat in the ground. Her entire face hurt. She felt how her nose started bleeding, and her senses were out of control. Weird enough, the man hadn't moved an inch.
She got up and wiped her blood.
-This is how it's gonna be, huh? - Without hesitating, Homura fired the remaining bullets in his direction. All aiming to his head.
That’s when Homura felt a familiar chill run though her entire body. One she knew way to well.
She turned around and found the man standing there. Untouched. It barely looked as he moved a muscle.
-Y-you...! - Homura blurted out. She gulped before continuing.
-It seems as you can also stop time, isn’t that, right? - The man’s skin jumped. The word “too” was pretty disturbing.
-Oi, I thought you job here was to explode things like a maniac...- The man readjusted his cap. Homura didn't waste a moment to start shooting up again.
The man literally ran past the bullets, Homura kept firing everything she had at him.
In a moment, she lost the man from her view, and the next thing she knew was that a trash lid flew directly to her head. Homura stumbled, but quickly jumped back, just quick enough to evade the man’s punch that fractured the concrete below them. Homura tried firing again, but it seemed as she had run out of bullets.
-What are you going to do now without your gun? - The man talked as if it was a child’s game, as he slowly walked up to her.
-This. - Homura pulled a machine gun from her shield, leaving the man shocked for a moment. Giving Homura the enough seconds to manage to shoot him directly. The man used his ‘power’ to knock out the weapon from Homura, and despite being literally shot, he got up on his knees.
Homura could now see more clearly this ‘power’. It was throwing punches at her, but this time Homura used her shield to block these.
-ORA! - The thing threw a strong punch, sending Homura flying towards a wall. It followed shortly after her, ready to strike another hit. Homura gasped, and reached for her shield to stop time just mere inches away from her skull being demolished.
Homura made her way to the ground again. She probably had fractured a couple of ribs by now. She rounded the creature, giving it a quick glance before firing as many bullets as she could.
Time ran again. She heard the bullets hit something hard, looking up, she saw the thing intact, standing there now facing her.
-W-what?!- Homura was sure at least one bullet should’ve hit it!
-Did you seriously try to shoot a stand? - The man looked at Homura as if she was stupid, with a dumbfounded expression.
-What the fuck is a stand?!
The man wasted no time, as he knocked Homura down. He stomped down on her, preventing her from getting up. Looking down with disgust to her being.
-Your days of madness end here, Kira.
-Again, I am not Kira! - Homura managed to kick the man’s robust leg away from her, stopping time once again.
Now pissed more than ever, Homura threw away the emptied gun, opting for pulling out another machine gun instead.
Homura fired the whole thing, and when she ran out of bullets, she just whipped another one and emptied it too. Satisfied with this, with a click, Homura resumed time.
The man wasted no time and used his power to punch away the bullets. Of course, he couldn't block every single one, and he just got hit over and over, leaving him badly injured.
Homura was now towering over him, aiming now a small pistol to his skull.
-Are you gonna use that power of yours to try to block this out too? - Both Homura and him knew that at this distance, it’d be practically impossible to block it out.
The man spit blood over the ground below them, looking up at Homura.
-Bastard... you don't even seem to know what a stand is...
-I don't have a “stand” to begin with.
-So, you’re simply a piece of shit, Huh? - The man huffed. Looking down to his feet.
-Well, why don't I teach you a little bit about stands then? - Suddenly Homura got punched on her side, sending her flying once again. She felt the air being forced out of her lungs, coughing up some blood along with it. She rolled on her stomach. Both the man and her were on the floor now. Homura tried standing up. The “stand” was covering its owner. Ready for any attacks.
The stand rushed to her. Prepared to strike another strong punch.
Ah, fuck it.
Homura didn't give a fuck about wasting magic now.
Homura stopped time, peacefully walking over to the man crouched in the floor, deciding to shoot at his leg.
Time was resumed,
And the man grunted, feeling his leg going limp, as Homura stood there with her usual calm expression.
The man punched, to where the girl was standing before, but ended up punching the air instead.
-Over here. - Homura kicked the man to the floor, appearing behind him.
-Star Platinum! The world! - The man yelled, stopping time himself this time. He backed away, grabbing a gun Homura had thrown away earlier.
Due to his insane luck, it still had just one bullet left.
2 seconds left
He fired, just before time started.
And just as he did, Homura disappeared in front of his eyes, pointing a loaded gun to his neck from behind.
-Did anyone teach you that taking other’s stuff is wrong? - Homura mocked in a flat tone.
The man was confused. He had seen the girl stop time just a couple of seconds ago. How could she be stopping time again?! Didn't she had any kind of limit?!
-I’ll say it one last time. - Homura still held the gun close to his head. The man stayed still.
-I am not Yoshikage Kira. I’ll give you two options. You either believe my words, and we pretend this never happened. You go your way, and I go my way, or you die right on the spot. - Homura declared, putting her finger on the trigger now. Waiting for the man’s response.
The man gulped. Looking down.
-I believe you.
-Good. - Homura retrieved the gun from his head. Slowly backing away.
-Don't try anything funny now.
-J-Jotaro-San!!- A white-haired short boy yelled out presumably the man’s name, Jotaro. Without thinking twice Homura started firing at him. The boy was lucky enough to hide behind a tree and avoid the shots.
Homura felt her shirt being tugged.
-Wait! - Jotaro called out Homura’s attention.
-He... has nothing to do with this. If you want to sort things out, come get me. - The men struggled to breath. Probably as his lungs were pierced. Homura heard the man out.
-Koichi! Stay put where you are! It's an order! I have this under control. -He, in fact, did not have the situation under control.
Homura stayed in place. She didn't want to waste extra magic anyways.
-Go get Josuke, and quick...-
-J-Jotaro-san! Are you under att-?!
-I said go! - The short boy pondered for a moment, before taking off, on his way to find this “Josuke”
Homura and Jotaro stayed silent. None of them moved a muscle. Either because of exhaustion or untrust.
-If you don't have any business left, then go.- Jotaro stated.
-Actually, I do. -Homura crouched to his level.
-You’re going to explain to me a couple of things, if you don't mind. - Homura gave him the illusion of free choice, as she held her gun tightly.
-First off, who in the world is Yoshikage Kira? Why’d you assume I was them? What’s your problem with them?
-One question at a time, don't be greedy.
-You’re in no place of asking that. - Jotaro looked away, biting his lip. He was sure Homura wasn't affiliated with him in any way... but he could not just info dump to a stranger, so he decided to leave the answers vague.
-He’s a... killer we’re chasing. Right now, we don't have a face for him yet... what we do know though, is his modus operandi. He explodes his victims... That’s why I assumed you were him. I heard explosions and I saw you standing there. - He explained. Homura’s interest was piqued at the mention of “explosions” reminiscing that blonde guy.
-Huh. A murder mystery... how interesting.
-Now, the part I'm more curious about, - Homura continued.
-What is exactly a “stand”? Is it that power you used against me?
-A stand is... an ability some people awaken. A stand is a reflection of one’s soul, and each stand has a different ability. To put it simply. - Homura listened attentively.
-Sound similar to soul gems...
-To what?
-I’m the one asking the questions. - Homura raised her gun again. She wasn't gonna let any slip-ups. Homura finally stood up.
-I’m done for now. Consider yourself happy. I let you live this once. But There’s not gonna be another time. Just as she was walking away, she heard someone coming.
-Jotaro-saaannnnnn!!!!!!!!!!- Three boys were coming their way. The short boy from before, a guy with an “x” shaped scar on his face, and a steak hair. Homura watched from afar.
-Jotaro-san! Are you alright? ...Well, you clearly aren't...- The steak hair spoke with softness in his tone, looking down to the man soaked with blood and filled with holes.
-Who did this to you, huh?! I swear I’m gonna beat their ass!!- The other big guy exclaimed, throwing his fists to the air. Homura didn't say a thing.
-Okuyasu, stop. We don't want any extra trouble...- Josuke tried calming his friend down, who was hyped, since they haven't gotten in any stand fight lately.
-Jotaro-san is that the one who...- The white-haired boy spoke softly to the man in the ground, Homura was listening anyway.
-It’s ok, she isn't the enemy. It was simply a misunderstanding...- Jotaro sighed, hoping the other three wouldn't do anything stupid for once. In this state he couldn't be protecting any of them.
Now, the three of them were looking at Homura. Who just glared at them back.
They exchanged quick glances at each other, Josuke was the first to speak up.
-Do you uhm... need to be healed...? - He suggested.
Homura thought “fuck it” and just walked there, expecting the worst.