Takashi Agera is a classmate of one Madoka Kaname. Though they haven't interacted much, beyond exchanging pleasantries. But he's noticed, through his Device Axion, that there's something different about the girl. It's not power, directly, but he can't quite place what it is. Kyubey might call it Potential. It might be her strong heart. Or maybe it's the cumulative effect of dozens of timelines with Madoka Kaname as the focus. Whatever it is, though, it's gotten Takashi's curiosity, which is a dangerous thing.
And that's why he's been waiting to see her leave after school without one of her friends or acquaintances, walking home through Mitakihara's winding downtown streets. With nobody else in sight, Takashi puts up a Barrier; lacking the ability to control its size like a properly trained mage, this ends up shunting a good distance around them into the alternate dimension - but only Riventon, Madoka, and any strong magical entities around them. Like Kyubey, and perhaps other magical girls. In any case, the instant 'not quite right' of the world changing is very visible.
Nagisa is heading home as well after having just finished up Cheerleading Club. It's left her in pretty good spirits, so she's somewhat anxious to finish her homework so she can get to other activities. She's heading towards the King Penguin Park Library, where she likes to study, when suddenly the world changes. She slows to a stop and looks around, momentarily frightened by the shift. The darkened landscape, the barrier edge- these are strange, but she's used to strange. What really worries her is the sudden lack of any and all people that were around her. "Where did everyone go?" she asks the open expanse of the city.
Not knowing any better she assumes something very not right is happening, and with the lack of anyone seeing her she summons up her Soul Gem and transforms, possibly registering as a flare of magical energy to Axion.
"Time to practice!" she tells herself, running up to one of the shorter buildings and taking a running leap at it, letting out a happy little shout when she successfully makes it up to the roof. From there it's higher and higher, the young Puella Magi trying to get a nice vantage point to scout from.
Madoka has had A Very Long Day. It's not exactly been *bad*, and certainly not as overwhelmingly strange as her first day as an Infinity student. But with everything that happened at the hospital yesterday, her mind has been racing with worry. There's been many a furtive glance out the window, the droning of the teacher fading into background noise behind her troubling thoughts.
Chiba-senpai is okay. The doctors told her as much. She even raced up to the rooftop during lunch, hoping against hope that she'd find a tall, dark-haired upperclassman sitting there with his book. Alas, she found only empty air.
The view is much less pretty when she's eating by herself.
The girl's tried to keep her spirits up, despite the worry and confusion of yesterday, despite the stress of classes that she still hardly understands. But, as she's walking home today, loneliness like a dark cloud hovers above her, sagging her shoulders and drooping her eyes to the ground. Sayaka and Hitomi both have after school activities, so she's walking home by herself yet again.
Class alone. Lunch alone. Home alone.
It wasn't like this before...was it?
Madoka sighs, her slow steps halting as she looks up at the cloudless sky -- or, at least, what *should* have been the sky. Her eyes widen, taking in the water color of colors above her head, none of which are the sapphire blue she saw outside her window all day. "H-Huh?!" the girl exclaims, staggering backward in surprise before she looks frantically at her other surroundings. Empty, empty, everything empty -- and so dark. This is without a doubt the street she was walking on, but something is very clearly off.
"Am...am I dreaming?" she wonders allowed, unable to keep her voice steady.
Reiko Touyama is downtown! She has a shopping bag in her hand. She spins a moment in place for no particular reason, being in a good mood is reason enough. She got herself a nice new dress. It's in her bag. It isn't a koi-themed dress, but it is lovely shades of orange! She walks on past an aquarium shop.....
Then begins backing up as she pushes her nose to the window, eyes wide. Woah! This must be a new shop! She is totally going to go in- and look at all the fish and make more noseprints against glass walls. This shop owner is going to /hate her/ soon to be frequent visits. Just...noseprints everywhere on every tank filled with water! Then Something shifts as she blinks. Where did that cashier go?! and the Fish!? and why does it feel like someones turned down the brightness in real life. She steps backwards out one step of the shop and frowns, looking around. The skys all weird.
Her Chroma Crystal begins glowing, reacting to-- whatever this is.
Something is... well somethings fishy.
"Chroma Prism Orange! Transform!" she calls out.
And with a push upwards she flys kind of like a drunk moth upwards and looks all around. Where did.. all the people go!?
"Hellllooooooo?" she calls out.
Kyouko Sakura is out about town. This is how she usually passes the time when she isn't hunting witches.. just kind of wandering about. Sometimes at the arcade, othertimes not. It's kind of hard to find things to do with yourself when you have no 'job', such as it is, and don't go to school. In any case, she just happens to be in the area (this is her claimed 'territory', after all) when she spots the unusual phenomenon of the barrier going up.
"Hm.. that's just like the thing Miss White used." She murmurs to herself, idly licking the last bits of an ice cream cone off of her fingers. "Different color, though." Still, probably worth investigating, if for no other reason than it is some sort of magical happening in her neck of the woods. A moment later, in full Puella Magi form, the redhead is leaping from one rooftop to another, headed towards the barrier.. straight on into it if she can. Still, she's not necessarily looking for trouble.. she'll play it cautious for now, and stay out of sight if she can.
It's probably best not to think about how Homura just so happens to be here. Let's just say she's very dedicated to the fulfillment of her wish of protecting Madoka and leave it at that.
She watches, from atop a roof, as Madoka leaves school. She's alone? How strange. Madoka usually has friends by this point. Real, normal, not-horribly-emotionally-scarred friends. Well, /technically/ by this point Madoka is usually dead along with several of her friends, but there have been a few noticable setbacks to the usual flow of things.
Homura waits, in her henshin. Kyubey often tries to approach Madoka in a time like this, when she's walking home from school, which means that Homura has to be ready to deal with the little jerk when he shows up.
Then suddenly the world changes, similar to Homura's own timestop effect, except now that the sky has changed. She stands up suddenly. "Is it a Witch's barrier?! ... no, there's no witch around here."
She frowns as she thinks about it. Whatever it is, Madoka's caught up in it, too. She wont allow anything bad to happen to her.
Homura leans her foot against the edge of the roof, eyes scanning corners and alleyways. If anything goes after Madoka, she'll destroy it!
Riventon, Barrier Jacket and Guise on, steps out from an alleyway adjacent to Madoka Kaname. Standing tall, in his large blue robe with the silver buttons, the orange and black accents along the cuffs, he towers over little Madoka. And of course, there's the minor, and totally not evil-looking, fact that his face is covered by a mask of negative energy, expressions conveyed by two glowing red eyes and a red mouth.
He thrusts out his left, un-gauntleted hand. His voice is has an air of pleasant kindness to it, even though the words are spoken sharply. "You're going to come with me, Madoka Kaname." he says - not a question, but a demand. And yet, even as he makes his somewhat polite demand, all around Madoka, the shadows are growing longer, tendrils linking them to the device in his right hand. "Please don't try to run."
Madoka's still taking everything in -- everything from the street is still around, she's sure, but there's absolutely no people, and it's so frighteningly quiet -- when an unexpected sound behind her makes her jump. She pivots gracelessly around, desperate to see if someone else is trapped in this mysterious otherworld. Maybe, if someone's really there, they'll know what's going on.
Her schoolbag hits the pavement as she locks eyes with the figure that steps out of the alleyway.
"Wh-Who --" She's stammering, shaking, trying to understand that terrifying face that looks back at her. This has to be some kind of awful dream; after all, she's been having plenty of those lately. The stress of yesterday must have really gotten to her. That's all, right?
Things like this don't happen in real life, right?
"Who are you?" she finally spits out, taking several steps away from the threatening man. "How do you know who I am?" So absorbed in those red eyes is she that she pays no mind to the lengthening shadows around her, wholly unaware that she stands in the middle of a trap.
Kyouko arrives on the scene! Well, above it really. The redheaded Puella Magi finds herself atop one of the buildings adjacent to where Creepy Riventon is accosting his pink-haired prey. At first, she places one foot on the edge of the building, peering down with her brows furrowed. "What the hell is this guy doin.." She mutters.. then happens to glance up. She spots Homura across the way.. in nearly an identical pose. She blushes bright red. Dammit! She's not a copier, honest! She also has no interest in attracting the other girl's attention, since she might still be kind of annoyed about the whole soda thing. Hopefully Homu is too preoccupied with what is happening in the street to have noticed her.
Kyouko slips back from the edge and around the side of a roof air conditioning unit, keeping it between Homura and herself. She uses this new vantage point to keep an eye on the dude and the pink-haired girl whom she does not know.. more out of curiosity. A curiosity grown more intense since now she knows Homura is interested as well.
Homura is suddenly gone from her rooftop. Just vanished.
Moments later, a rather large magical being has just entered the barrier. Wait, that's not right... it's a normal-sized magical girl, but a giving off a large magical effect for some reason?
Is that the sound of a car?
It's not a small car, maybe a truck or a van or a...
Oh okay, it's an ambulance! Mystery solved. An ambulance, glowing purple, has entered the barrier driving recklessly through the streets. There doesn't seem to be a driver, but Homura Akemi is standing at the top of it, hand touching the roof of the vehicle.
Is that the look of murder in her eyes? Yeah, it's very distinctly the look of murder in her eyes. Her overall tone has taken on a very murdurous quality. Funny, that.
It's worth noting that she seems like she's about to run over Riventon.
Moments before the vehicle crashes, probably either into Riventon or a wall nearby/behind Riventon, Homura leaps from it and lands on the ground between him and Madoka, watching the resulting carnage.
"This one is off limits, 'Black-san'. Don't think your working relationship with White-san will save you if you insist on targeting Kaname-san."
She doesn't seem armed at the moment, but anyone who has seen her in combat knows better to assume she doesn't have weapons.
"I'm giving you one chance to back off right now. Walk. Away."
He wont take it. She knows this, or at the least she highly suspects it.
At first there's not much to go off of and Nagisa is simply moving from street corner to street corner, stopping briefly to look down them before continuing on. Eventually, however, she gets a clue- are those shadows moving? Though she may be inexperienced, but when you're looking for magical attackers writhing shadows have to be near the top of the list of warning signs. She heads towards them, a little white and brown streak bouncing from rooftop to rooftop, barely resisting the urge to shout out, 'whee!'
As she approaches she notices a familiar figure atop a different rooftop, the dark haired Homura. And off in the distance a bouncing red streak- that could be trouble in the making. But what really gets her attention is down where Homura is looking. She stops her movement in order to observe- a pink haired girl wearing the Middle School uniform of her school! And just as importantly, an enigmatic looking man whose face is covered in 'shadows', and those writhing shadows attaching to his hands.
She looks back up to where Homura is; wait, no. Where Homura -was-. Then a revving engine.
Nagisa watches dumbfounded as the Ambulance comes barreling towards Riventon, glowing with the dark haired Puella Magi on top. When the white haired girl realizes what's about to happen she acts immediately, pouring a bit of extra energy into a high, long jump that has her shooting like a streaking comet down."
And then she lands in front of Madoka right as the Ambulance is where Riventon should be. She intends to shield her with herself but- no, she's too small for that. Another burst of magic and she suddenly has an enormous silver platter in her hand, which is quickly held out in front of both her and the thus unknown to her pink haired girl, shielding them both from any fragments of stray exploding vehicle.
"Akemi-Senpai! Be careful... you could have killed her!"
Prism Keeper Orange hears the distant sound of an ambulance hitting---something.
She flutters in a small dizzy spiral in that direction--- hand flat over her eyes as she scans the horizon until she arrives at the location where everyone has gathered. She flutters downwards as carefully as she can, landing on the sidewalk.
She arrives just in time to see---- wait, that's the girl who was using guns to fight the alien!
Oh crap! That guy with the mask looks scary! Black-san!? IS IT--- MISTER BLACK!? Wait--- somethings familar.
She holds up her hand and a small red notebook appears. She flips flips flips to it. Looking between the page, and weird mask guy for a few times before the red notebook dissapears in a poof of orange sparkles. Also. Reiko has /no idea/ how she did that. Magic is really weird.
"Hey!---- jerk! Why did you take away the fish!" she insists-----
She pauses a moment.
"What I mean is! What are you trying to do here!?" she calls out.
"Everythings colored weird! So.... bring it back!"
That's what this is about, right? She's ENTIRELY late to this party.
Obviously, Madoka doesn't appear willing to take the hand offered to her. Well, he supposes he /is/ a stranger, and she probably had good parents - the thinking about parents gives him some pause, his heart aches a little.
The sound of the approaching /ambulance/ pulls him out of it though. He registers that it's Homura. On top of an ambulance. Really! Thankfully, his Device thinks faster than he does in these sorts of situations.
<NACHTABSCHLUSS!> it calls out, and a massive wall of negative energy rises up from the ground in front of him, - which is what the ambulance impacts rather than Riventon's face or the wall behind him. Thanks to Nagisa's giant platter shield, the heat of the explosion (and the ensuing debris) is kept off Madoka, as well. As the wall dissapates, Riventon speaks.
"And I don't care if you're one of Miss White's favorite little pets. But let me give you a counter offer."
<Put Out!> announces Riventon's device, and from it emerge two Grief Seeds. "You take these, and stay out of my business. Or, Miss White is going to find an opening in her payroll. Because I won't hesitate to kill you..." he looks around at Nagisa, and Prism Keeper Oragnge as well "...or anyone who tries to stand in the way of my experiments or my progress."
Even as he holds the Grief Seeds in one hand, his Device is assuming a new mode.
<KABEL FORM!Get Set!> it announces, and the gauntlet on his hand shifts, and 'bleeds' through the air to his other hand, giving him both gauntlets ready with small blue orbs on the knuckles. "Take the deal and walk away alive. The rest of you should leave as well. I'm a busy man."
Before the horrifying shadow of a stranger can answer her, there's the sound of an ambulance in the distance. Madoka turns her head reflexively -- and then her world is lit up with fire, heat, and deafening noise.
The girl tumbles backwards off her feet in an attempt to get *away*, only realizing that she's shrieking when the high-pitched noise reaches her ears, cutting through the ringing leftover from the explosion. She should be dead. That blast. It should have killed her, right? The ambulance slammed into the building just feet away from her, so why is she still...
Her eyes, in their frantic darting around the scene, finally spy the little white-haired girl in front of her.
Protective instinct immediately takes over, temporarily quelling her concern for her own safety. "You have to get out of here!" she cries, pulling herself to her feet against her every instinct, which tell her to freeze, make herself as small as possible. "There's -- there's something happening! You'll get hurt."
Wait...is that a silver shield she's holding out in front of her?
Come to think of it, what's up with that odd little outfit?
And did she just say *Akemi-san*?
Like clockwork, Madoka's gaze flits to the tense exchange a few feet away. Sure enough, there's her classmate, standing amid the ruins of the ambulance. She looks, terrified, from the black-haired girl to the wreckage of the crash and back again, mind racing with worry. Homura just called this man by name, and she wants him to back off, but she's also in weird clothes, and the stranger's gloves are shifting and glowing, there's another little girl running up to them, toward the danger--
"Stop it!" Madoka yells, running out from the safety of Nagisa's shield to stand in front of this 'Black-san.' "Don't kill anybody. Please!" Fear is written all over her, from the glimmering of tears in her eyes to the violent shaking of her hands. "I-I'll go with you, I promise."
She winces, unable to keep looking at the shadowy figure that threatens all these innocents. She shouts, "Just don't hurt anybody!"
Homura looks back at Nagisa and frowns. "She would've been fine. I would've shielded her." Nagisa's presence makes it a bit unnecessary to do that, but stopping time to move a few bits of shrapnel around is something she could do.
Leveling her gaze at Riventon, she glances between the Grief Seeds and him. "You don't get it, do you? You really think I'm not serious, don't you?"
Her mouth becomes a flat line.
"No number of Grief Seeds is going to convince me. No amount of money, no bribes, no offers, no deals, /NOTHING/ will be enough to get me to turn away."
She has sold her soul for this. She can't even concieve of the possibility of taking Riventon's deal.
"There are many things I'd be willing to let go for the sake of professionalism. Attacking a defenseless person... trying to capture a Witch for some suicidal reason... General bad attitude. This isn't one of those things..."
She tries, she really does, to reason with him, but she's dealt with him before. She knows he doesn't work that way.
"Forget it. You're way too arrogant to listen to reason. I'm just going to have to kill you. Maybe in your next life you'll learn some humility."
She has a shotgun in her hand, and-- suddenly Madoka is in front of her?!
"What the heck are you doing?!" comes a shrill voice out of her mouth. There is no way that Homura is okay with this! There is no universe or reality or alternate dimension or timeline in which this is okay!
Homura walks up behind Madoka. "Don't get involved in this, Madoka! You have no idea what this man is capable of! Do you actually think that nobody cares about you? What will your mother or little brother think if you just don't go home one day?! What will your family think if you just suddenly disappear like this?"
She can't just shoot with Madoka in the way--- Why is it always like this?!
Prism Keeper Orange listens to this threat... and she thinks over this a bit. Well, EVERYTHING she's faced so far has tried to kill her. That shade... the alien jerk... the demon in the gardens.... ---maybe not the catboy, but the rest. All serious! It's just that jerks just spelling it out. But still. The threat is one she takes seriously. She raises her chroma wand and points it at the jerk.
"Wait!? Are you trying to /kidnap/ someone!?" she says scandalized!
Then Madoka pleads and she blinks. Blink blink! "Hey!---it's... the other way around! We're supposed to be saving you!" she says with a huff at Madoka's speech! "You don't let that jerk take you anywhere!" she says.
"I, Prism Keeper Orange, will..... uh...."
"Kick that guy! In the shin!"
"....yeah!" she says with a determined pause. She means what she says! She just has a low justice speech stat.
Mental Note, work on Justice Speech. Find words that rhyme with orange.
Though directly shielded from the explosion by her makeshift shield, there's enough force that seeps around it to blow Nagisa's hair back behind her as little clangs of metal on metal ring out while bits of exploded Ambulance ping off of it. As soon as it's safe she dismisses it, letting out a sigh of relief when Madoka seems to be not much worse for the wear, if having taken a tumble.
It's then that she notices Prism Keeper Orange, momentarily taken by the colorful girl fluttering in on small fairy wings, and as her words ring out she remember why she started searching in the first place. "That's right! Give back all the people that disappeared!" She doesn't understand that this is a barrier either, and his prompting of Madoka leads her to an incorrect conclusion.
Her expression changes to a bit of confusion as Madoka walks right past her, and even up in front of Homura, and offers to just give herself away. While Homura covers the personal ground of why this is a bad idea, Nagisa strides forward, even past Madoka, and summons her trumpet into her hand, taking in a breath with closed eyes before letting it out slowly.
"We're Magical Girls," she states plainly and in a clear voice, eyes on Riventon, "You threaten to kill us... but we face danger that tries it's hardest to kill us almost every day of our lives. We will not stand by when innocent people are in danger." She looks back to Madoka out of the corner of her eye, and then back to Riventon, keenly aware of the danger represented by the appearance of that second gauntlet. It's likely akin to the trumpet held in her hand; a weapon brandished.
"If you think the risk of my life is going to turn me away you don't understand what you are dealing with at all." Perhaps oddly polite she gives the energy masked man a short bow, "I refuse your offer, but let me make one of my own- return those you have taken and leave this place and you may go in peace."
A long shot to be sure, but wouldn't it be grand?
"Well, that's a shame." Riventon says, as the two Grief Seeds return to his device. "And it wasn't a bribe, it was a business arrangement." Though to be fair. not a mutually beneficial one.
"Of course I think you're serious. Every time I've seen you, you're serious. You really need to lighten up. All this power and you're going to walk around all the time with a face that looks like your best friend just died or something." he adds. "Frankly... it's one of the reasons why I've honestly been looking forward to this so much." His own mask becomes a large, red grin. It'd be comical in other settings, perhaps. "I was worried you wouldn't give me the chance, because you were being so useful to my associate."
Then, he puts a hand on Madoka's shoulder. "You're the second smartest person here - after myself, of course. The rest of these girls are all being fools." He looks around. "Nobody's leaving again, huh?" he looks up at the Orange Prism Keeper. "Didn't I /already/ kill one of you? Or at least sent them to the hospital so they could think about what they've done?" he asks. His finger even wags a bit, like an adult telling off a small child.
Then to Nagisa. "Don't cut your young life so short! There is probably a lot of good you can do, but not here. Fighting me will serve you no purpose at all but suffering." But nobody backs down.
"Well, your choice." he adds. Then, suddenly, his device roars to life. <ERDBEBEN PLATZEN!> it announces as a huge burst of negative energy erupts from underneath Nagisa! He wraps one of his hands around Madoka, using her like a human shield! How cowardly! Yet effective. <SCHATTENSCHLAG!> and from his other hand one of his trademark bursts of dark energy blasts into the air from his hand, headed towards Prism Keeper Orange, hoping for the same effect that it had on the red one! <ALPTRAUM AUSBRUCH!> and a small group of roughly Nagisa-sized humanoids, made entirely of shadow and negative energy, erupt from the are around Riventon and rush for Homura, not unlike a squad of familiars!
He leans into Madoka's ear. "If you want to save them, tell them to run away!" he whispers coldly.
To tell the truth, Madoka has absolutely no idea what's going on. She's not entirely sure this whole thing isn't a dream, even though her face still stings from the heat of the ambulance explosion, even though she can see everything in vivid color and feel the ground sturdily beneath her feet. It's the only thing that can explain the multicolor sky, the emptiness of the street, the appearance of these girls out of nowhere who want to protect her, including one who barely knows her at all.
At least, that's what she thought. Then Akemi-san calls her by her name, cutting through her panic with pure confusion, and she can't resist the urge to turn to where she's standing, even if she turns her back on the assailant as she does so.
("Have we...met somewhere before?")
"Akemi-san..." is all the girl can manage, looking on as she gets increasingly upset with her. The words sting, and all around can see her face fall in shame by the time Homura's finished, hands clutching the edges of her skirt as a single tear rolls down her cheek. She -- she hadn't considered what her disappearing would do to her family. Vanishing into thin air, leaving her family to worry and search and grieve...it's a thought that almost gets through to her.
Were it not for the hand that grabs her from behind, pulling her in as a human shield. Madoka lets out another piercing scream, watching in horror as the shadows go rogue and shoot towards her would-be protectors.
"No, stop! Stop it, please!" She struggles to get away from her captor, but finds his grip to be like iron: unfeeling and inescapable. "Why are you doing this?!" The question is posed as much to the girls -- to Akemi-san -- as much as it is to the violent, apparently magical stranger. 'Why are you risking your lives to protect me?' 'Why am I so important?'
When the commanding whisper comes, she repeats it without thinking. No one's going to get hurt today. Not if she can do something to stop it.
One life, her life, is worth much less than three.
"Please, everyone, run away. I can't -- I don't want --" Madoka's crying now, a small, pitiful sound that interrupts her words. She has no idea what's going on; words she doesn't understand are being thrown around without explanation. And, watching the battle that plays out before her, she can't find it in herself to finish her plea.
If only she weren't so powerless.
'Of course I think your serious. Every time I've seen you, you're serious.'
Homura Grump Level +1.
'All this power and you're going to walk around all the time with a face that looks like your best friend just died or something.'
Homura Grump Level +50
Riventon places a hand on Madoka's shoulder.
Homura Grump Level +9001
Her face is the very image of sadness and rage.
No no no no no NO! Even with her timestop powers, there's no way she can use explosives on Riventon when Madoka's /right there/. Guns are also no good. A bullet could ricochet off of his armor and hit her.
Timestopping doesn't work either. Pulling Madoka in would likely pull Riventon in, too. She'd just be leaving her only allies out of the fight.
If only she had a melee weapon. The golf club doesn't count. Not in its current state.
The Nagisa-sized shadows come at Homura. She turns and waits for them to approach, seemingly doing nothing. Then she vanishes. So does a larger, particularly sharp piece of ambulance shrapnel. A rain of shotgun buckshot comes from above and rains all over the shadows.
She comes at Takashi from behind, swinging the metal chunk with force, but very little expertise. She is far, far out of her element, yet still trying. You wouldn't know it from the way she talks, though. "Coward! You're only trying to get us to run because you know you can't take us!"
Madoka pleads with Homura, but Homura doesn't listen. "There's no way that's going to happen, Kaname-san! Get away from him! You're not safe here!"
As to the question of 'why?', Homura doesn't answer. How could she? She couldn't possibly. She wanted so desperately to keep Madoka away from this world of magic and darkness, and yet it keeps dragging her back in. Why can't fate just let Homura have it her way for once?!
Nagisa doesn't regret her decision to give him the offer to just walk away, but just how true Homura's assessment of him is dawns on her as that mask lights up into a wide grin as talks about looking forward to hurting someone that looks like they're in pain. Anyone who would act like that while threatening their lives isn't going to give in so easily.
"You're a monster," she whispers, eyes widening a bit. It's one thing to fight monstrosities like witches that hurt people and take lives, but an actual breathing person with feelings and emotions that would do the same? The implications stuns the girl briefly, and unfortunately that's when the blast comes from below.
She's rocked by the negative energy, not ready for attacks not emanating from him directly, letting out a scream as she's blown skyward and then dropped to the ground quite a ways away. Everything hurts for a moment, and the negative energy clouds he mind and soul.
This is bad- she's hurt before she's even started to fight in earnest. She scrapes a the ground and twists enough to see Riventon shielding himself with Madoka. And as the dark creatures start to appear and shift the fight even numerically in his favor she realizes it might be wise to just run now while she can. This may well be a losing battle.
It would be wise. However.
She meant what she said. She is willing to put her life on the line, if that's what it takes. And what's more Homura seems to have some special interest vested in the pink haired captive- that much is obvious.
nd really, that's the straw that breaks the camels back. She closes her eyes and gathers her strength up, pushing away some of the pain and dark energy that had suffused into her, Soul Gem darkening from the effort. Then she carefully produces a Grief Seed, the one that Homura gave her, and quietly purifies her Soul Gem with it while pushing back more of that pain. It's her only grief seed, and now it's spent, her magic not quite topped off.
But it's enough.
Renewed, she pushes herself up off the ground and with sudden tears at the corner of her eyes she shouts, "I won't let you hurt the people someone cares about most!" It's different, but Nagisa knows the kind of desperation Homura is showing and it makes her own memories, so recent, cause her to well with emotion. Resummoning her trumpet, having dropped it during the initial hit, she jumps up onto one of the nearby buildings and sounds a loud note, sending a long stream of bubbles towards the encroaching negative energy minions. She can't risk an attack on Riventon himself while he has Madoka, but she in this way she can help clear the way for Homura.
Prism Keeper Orange woah, dark blasts of energy. She holds out her wand and summons up a wave of Koi--- using them as a shield. She floats backwards a bit, and lets her fishy friends handle the brunt of that attack. Playing defensive is how Orange does it! She still flinches as the orbs explode against the koi. Then she huffs! "I KNEW IT! YOU WERE THE ONE THAT SENT RED TO THE HOSPITAL!" she yells out.
"I have words for you, Mister Black! AND MOST OF THEM ARE ALL WORDS I'M NOT ALLOWED TO SAY!" she says angrily. She points her wand at the jerk. Then realizes that she's not really accurate enough with her wand to also not be sure she won't hurt Madoka.
So instead, she takes up into the air again and summons some more koi. She grits her teeth, and thinks very hard, as the koi school hovers in front of her. She agrees in her head, that--doing something, is better than nothing.
So she 'commands' two of the koi to go down, and try to latch onto Riventon's hands. Yeah, she's going to try to tickle Madoka free.
This hopefully doesn't dramatically backfire.
Riventon laughs a little. He's enjoying his control of the battlefield for once - the shadow-spawn attack Homura, and Riventon begins to prepare to make his escape! Homura's buckshot deals with some of the minions, and Nagisa's long range bubblebeam explodes around the rest! They really can't take any damage at all, the low-level magic that holds them together fading quickly.
That's when Homura comes in for her attack, from behind! A total surprise for Riventon, he barely gets his shield up in time! There's a long of power in that swing, as his arcane energy wall tries to keep itself imposed between him and Homura's anger. She might be out of her element, but she's very, very upset. Alone though, it wouldn't be enough to make him release Madoka. That's when the Prism Keeper's koi save the day, providing enough of a distraction as he swats them away that Madoka has a chance to get free, if she chooses to take it!
Madoka doesn't think when she feels the hold on her hand loosen, doesn't hesitate. Instead, she's off like a shot, putting as much distance between herself and the awful man as she can, all the while hearing the sounds of combat behind her. Homura's yelling at her to run away -- and for a moment, it seems like she is.
But when she feels like she's at a safe distance, she slows. Turns back around to take in the full picture of this battle. From her face, it's clear that she's horrified.
She's witnessing magic, plain as day. And it's horrible, dangerous, more violent than she ever could have imagined. *Children* are about to get hurt because this stranger wanted her for some reason, and she couldn't defend herself if her life depended on it.
People having to suffer because of her weakness -- Madoka can't think of a single thing that's worse.
"Terrible..." she says quietly, tears still streaming down her face at the sight of the magical warriors. "This is all so terrible. I don't want this..." The voice in her mind, usually confined to a whisper, is screaming of her uselessness, her inability to protect people, her lack of worth--
Until it's interrupted by another, more cheerful voice. One that is not her own.
/You can change it, you know. You can stop this battle if you wanted to./
"Eh?!" Madoka cries out, putting a hand to her head. "Wh-What -- who said that?" She looks around, frantic. What other surprises did this twisted world have in store for her?
An adorable white creature steps from the shadows, sitting on its haunches a few feet away as it swishes its tail back and forth. Its mouth remains totally still as it continues to speak.
/I did. My name is Kyubey, and I grant the wishes of those who can become magical girls!/ Swish. Swish. /People like you, Madoka Kaname./
Swish. Blink.
/Do you wish for your friends to stop fighting?/
Prism Keeper Orange watches Madoka bolt... she takes a deep breath and a loud sigh. Just for a moment, because she suddenly turns back to Riventon and levels her chroma wand at her. "Alright You Jerk!" she says. "You're wide open now! It's time to pay the entrance fee to the aquarium! It's time to drink the orange juice straight from the carton! It's... It's!..." 'I've run out of clever things to say' "It's time to teach you a lesson about hurting people!" she says as a beam of energy begins to charge within the tip of her Chroma wand throughout the entire talk.
"Prism Aegis Power! Orange Outburst!" she calls out--- then a rather wide orange beam of color energy erupts from the wand heading for Riventon's general location!
She unsteadies in her flight firing it, not used to firing the attack in the air yet. Luckily, she doesn't fall like a rock!
That actually worked? Homura isn't sure what to think at this moment. Well, it doesn't matter. She doesn't have /time/ to think. Madoka breaks loose of Riventon's grip, and for the moment Homura has lost all interest in fighting him. She runs past, throwing the large piece of shrapnel at Riventon as she flees.
She still wants to kill him, but protecting Madoka comes first.
She chases after her pink-haired friend, catching up to her and saying, "Come on... we have to get out of here! We have to--"
Wait. Is that white rat here? Homura looks upon Kyubey with the very eyes of fury itself, "You don't need his wishes, Madoka! I told you before, it's a trick!" She keeps forgetting that honorific for some reason, addressing Madoka in a very familiar tone. Yet the way Homura says it she doesn't seem to mean it as an insult.
Homura looks back at Nagisa and Prism Keeper Orange. She wants to just take Madoka away from here, but these two helped her save Madoka, can she really just leave them to the fighting? Realistically, Riventon wont go down easy, and while she doesn't know much about Orange's powers she knows that Nagisa is constantly at risk.
It just isn't fair. Nothing about this is fair.
"Kaname-san." She remembered the honorific this time. "Whatever happens, stay behind me. And don't make wishes!"
Homura's mind races. She needs a plan. An escape route. For all three of them. And fast.
Nagisa lets out a small cheer when Homura clocks Riventon in the back of the head and Prism Keeper Orange's Koi distract enough for Madoka to break free. The pink haired girl starts to run- good whatever happens she's sure Homura will take care of her. She'll just have to help buy a little more time. Luckily the Prism Keeper on the ball, pressing the attack and impressively so as soon as the opportunity arises.
The white haired girl considers her options for a moment, but decides the best thing right now is probably an encore. And so she lifts her trumpet once again and lets out a high note, sending a second stream of explosive bubbles in Riventon's direction, ready to blast him good if that beam of orange holds him in place like she expects it to.
Afterwards she looks to side, and to her shock, sees that Madoka is still there and no longer running. Homura is with her... and Kyubey too? What are they doing? "Don't worry about us, Akemi-senpai. Just get her out of here!" She turns her multicolored gaze to Madoka, though it might be hard to see from so far off, "It's not safe while you're still here! Run while you still can!"
Riventon realises he's let go of Madoka a little bit too late, and he reaches out. "No!" he says sharply, as he reaches for her, and from the edge of his gauntlet, a mass of black lines comes out, reaching shadows coming closer and closer to regaining his target!
That's when Nagisa's second trumpet call sounds out, bubbles popping near Riventon and his gauntlets, severing the small, wire-like lines and preventing him from getting her back. He rounds on her. The mask certainly isn't smiling now. "How dare you!" he says, all of the calm cruelty gone out of his voice, replaced with rage. He doesn't even try to blast Nagisa - instead, he's moving in on her, his fist channeling a bolt of negative energy!
This too, is stopped by the Orange Prism Keepers blast, which he takes to his back as he attempts to charge the littlest Puella Magi! The impact is enough to send him for a bit of a tumble, knocking him to the side. As he rights himself, some of his barrier jacket is a bright, bright orange, but rapidly the shadows that swirl around him seem to take that color away.
Riventon curses under his breath. He's still not used to taking hits; he spends too much energy on offense. The little strikes are cutting deeper than they ought to. "Fine! You two can replace her for now!" he shouts, full of anger, as those same black tendrils erupt from both of his gloves, his body whipping around as he sends the cable-like lines of negative energy at the two elementary school heroines! They whistle in a high pitched tone as they whip through the air at an incredible speed! "Then I'll come back and get that girl anyways!"
Prism Keeper Orange eyes go wide when Riventon manages to shrug the attack... nrg--- she needs to put more force behind that next time. As she tries to gather the koi she summoned earlier into a defensive line- it wasn't enough to stop that black tendril from breaking through, as it struck her leg, and boy, did that hurt! She cried out for a moment, and found herself ensnared by the tendril, causing her eyes to go wide. This was kind of very bad. Rivention was /upset/.
She fires a blast to try to cut the tendril away, at the same time, putting stress on those butterfly fairy wings, pushing backwards up into the air. She kind of felt like a fish on a hook and line.
Hopefully, she would not be today's catch!
The bubbles stopped Riventon from simply snatching Madoka back up with those shadowy tendrils- great! Nagisa was extra worried for a moment there. She doesn't have time to ruminate on her success however, as suddenly having to defend herself just as quickly. With him jumping up towards her for a power first of negative energy she starts to leap away. She probably would have gotten at least clipped, if not clobbered, by the attack, but the Orange energy blast knocks his aim off and gives her the time she needs to get away clean.
So he's a melee fighter! That would explain the gauntlets- she'll have to be extra careful of that in the future. As she lands back on the ground she takes a quick breath; that was close. It's a good thing the Prism Keeper is here; she'd be outclassed on her own. She needs a boost, and she knows it.
She reaches and covers her face with both hands, and then quickly throws them to the side, revealing a face as stark white as her hair, eyes now completely circular concentric rings of varying color, and a -very- wide purple grin that matches the one Riventon's mask held not so long ago, if without the cruelty. Her face might also bear a shocking resemblance to something familiar to Homura, should she catch a glimpse.
The black tendrils come for her, but now she's ready for them. She jumps over one of them, landing on her hands and hand springing away from another, only to get whipped in the arm by a third. Compared to the earlier blast she took undefended, however, she's not so much worse for the wear. After a few more acrobatic springs she holds up both hands, forming a pair of silver platters that look like they could comfortably hold a ham, flinging one towards the tendril that has caught Prism Keeper Orange and sending the second wheeling towards Riventon's head in a wide arc.
Akemi-san just called her *Madoka* again--
The shock is enough to tear her eyes away from the strange creature offering her a wish, and that moment of vulnerability, in turn, allows her to be dragged away by the purple magical girl, gasping in surprise as she finds herself running behind her, not able to catch up with her tiny legs and fragile stamina.
"Akemi-san, what are you talking about?" she yells, so that she can be heard over Riventon's din in the background behind them. "He -- He." A wave of fatigue overtakes her, and she's reduced to panting in order to breathe. "He just said I could make this all stop, if I wanted to. How is that a trick?!" Her feet continue to sound against the concrete, echoing against the barrier's empty streets. "I can't help any other way!"
'Fine! You two can replace her for now!'
Madoka stops dead in her tracks, whips around to see what the stranger is talking about.
And her heart stops beating at the sight.
"No!"
The scream rips through the air, a desperate cry against the sound of shadows and trumpets and sailing orange fish.
"No! Leave them alone right now!"
Around her body, the air turns pink with latent magic, her pigtails whipped up by the force of her soul laid bare. By her side, Kyubey's ears raise slowly into the air, responding to the unspoken wish in her heart.
/Madoka Kaname. Is this the wish that will make your Soul Gem shine?/
Homura didn't want to drag Madoka into this world of magic. She thought it might be impossible to avoid it, and it certainly is at this stage, but she still hoped she could limit it.
Nagisa says that Homura doesn't have to worry about them?! Homura wishes it were that simple, but she's still so... No, if Nagisa is ever to become dependable, then Homura will have to depend upon her. It's awful that a little girl like Nagisa has become a Puella Magi, but Nagisa is a hunter now, and she needs to develop her skills. Homura just hopes she doesn't come back after putting Madoka somewhere safe only to find whatever crazy form of Witch Nagisa turns into.
It's then that Homura notices the strange mask over Nagisa's face... What? No, no, no. What? She refuses to believe what she's seeing right in front of her.
Orange keeps fighting too, and really... Homura is just wasting their time by hanging out here.
From Riventon's words, it doesn't seem like Madoka will be safe if she's just a bystander. Homura really does need to get her to leave, or at the very least hide her somewhere. This isn't good...
Kaname's own power wells. Homura looks at her with wide eyes. How is she getting even /more/ powerful? This shouldn't even be possible, yet it's a trend she's noticed after a while.
Homura pulls a rifle from her shield, and sets her sites on Kyubey. A single pull of the trigger is probably all it takes. Hypervelocity rounds have a way of making things explode by force of impact alone.
"Kaname-san. Take my hand..."
Homura really didn't want to show her the time-stopped space. It was too close to showing her what magic really was like. It was too close to dragging her into this world. Yet, it seems like her only option.
If Madoka takes Homura's hand, the two of them will vanish, and Madoka will get to see the world from Homura's point of view, at least until they run to safety.
Despite what Riventon said, in anger, he realizes in calmness he has no need or use for the two small girls right now. They're both lashing out with their own powers, and that would make them somewhat hard to contain. Plus, as near as he can tell, the same power that drew his attention to Kaname isn't what they're showing off. He grabs ahold of the lash that has the Prism Keeper, and makes to jerk it down, ideally introducing her face to the pavement.
But when he tugs, Nagisa's first platter comes spinning through the air and cuts through the line, causing him to tumble backwards as he yanks on a line which contains no heroines. As he tumbles back, the second platter comes spinning through the air and while it misses his head, it slams into his side with even more force than it looks like it should provide. He takes it hard, and it puts him into a bit of a spin. As before, Riventon isn't truly as bulky or sturdy as his barrier jacket makes him look.
He wants to stay and fight. He really does. But he isn't here to fight, and right now a lot of his power is tied up with... other plans. Even the two young girls fighting him are putting a lot of strain on his parted Linker Core. He decides to make one last jump for his intended target, suddenly bursting past the two girls, trying one last time to grab Madoka, putting a lot of his energy into just moving quickly, greedy hands reaching out for her. "I'm not going to give up!" he shouts.
Prism Keeper Orange is released, which causes her to /suddenly/ rocket straight upwards because that's how physics work when you're putting forceforward and are suddenly let go. This ends with her crashing onto a rooftop.
She flutters back into the air as she quickly aims her chroma wand downward, and let's fly a flurry of honing koi--- weak, but highly accurate tracking shots from her wand as she aims to trip up Riventon before he can even get there.
"HEY! I WON'T GIVE UP, EITHER JERKFACE!" she yells loudly!
Madoka's not really aware of what's going on. Her eyes are fixed solely on the battle playing out in front of her, on the children that are fighting for the sake of her safety, putting themselves in harm's way because she cannot.
She wishes they were safe. She wishes he was gone. She wishes she were powerful, capable.
She wishes. She wishes. She wishes.
Maybe it's because so many wishes collide in her heart all at once -- or maybe it's because a hypervelocity bullet slams into Kyubey, blowing his body apart in a shower of red flesh and fur, staining her uniform with flecks of blood.
Either way, the contract is nullified before it is created, and the power rippling off of the girl slowly fades until she's once again a very scared, very confused Madoka.
What...just happened?
She turns her eyes to Homura just in time to see her hand thrust forward, beckoning to be taken. Stunned, she looks from the hand to her classmate and back again, not quite understanding the situation. "But we have to help them. We can't just run. They're...*children*."
"W-What happened to Kyubey? Did the bad guy get hi -- augh!"
It's then that she hears his shout of determination, feeling the rush of wind as something hurtles to her from behind. Madoka turns in time to see the incoming villain, hands outstretched toward her, poised to kidnap her and take her some place awful and unknown.
It's a choice between two hands. Madoka chooses Homura's.
And when she does, the world freezes in place, shrouded in blue and silver, so still that even the air feels dead. The pink-haired girl trembles, Riventon's grasping gauntlets less than an inch away from her face. Her grip on Homura's arm tightens.
"Akemi-san...where are we?"
Both of her silver platters find their mark, and though things don't go perfectly for either together they have just the impact Nagisa was hoping for. The Prism Keeper rocketing up and crash landing on a roof is a downside, but comparatively preferable. She hops with a fist in the air in excitement at her success, her widely grinning face tilting to the side a little with her head as Riventon disengages... only to bolt towards where Madoka and Homura were.
Wait, what's all that light surrounding Madoka? Why is there so much power building up around a normal girl?
Good questions, but not ones she can dwell on right now. She leaps after him, covering the distance in several bounds and moving quite fast in her own right and is literally bouncing off walls like an overactive child, having sped up significantly while making use of her temporary power boost. She's burning magic up at an increased rate to make up for it, however. Staying like this for too long could be dangerous- best to try and put a quick end to the fight if she can.
Landing somewhat near Riventon's target she spins around and holds her hands up in the air forming a very large trumpet. Her wide grinning mouth opens up -impossibly- wide and completely surrounds the mouthpiece and a loud, deep foghornesque note plays. Out slowly comes a single bubble, large and round. The sounding note is continuous, and it might even fade into the background in it's monotony. But that bubble keeps growing.
Bigger. And bigger.
And even bigger. Until one might look up and see a slowly formed but colossal bubble full of energy.
And what's that? Cute little clownfaced Nagisa, her ridiculous purple grin somehow growing even wider with a look of glee, reaching out with her finger. Closer and closer. Until...
---=== POP ===---
Riventon swears that he will not give up. "Nor will I," says Homura, firmly. Madoka takes her hand, and the world freezes.
Madoka wants to know where they are? Homura considers her answers. "This is my power. I can stop time. The two of us can safely run away like this. I'll go back for the other two once you're safe. I /hope/ he'll no longer have a reason to fight if you're not around."
"If you let go of my hand, time will resume as normal for you, and I won't be able to take you out of here. They'll be safe like this. They're depending upon me to get you to safety."
Homura starts walking, trying to escort (or perhaps even /drag/, if necessary) Madoka away from the barrier, and well on her way home. Does Madoka even live in the same place she normally does? Well, Madoka probably knows the way home regardless.
"I know this is a lot to take in, Madoka, but we're magical girls. Fighting is what we do. Wishing to stop the fighting isn't going to get anywhere. I know it's terrible that someone as young as those two are fighting, but... that's the world we live in. It's not going to vanish or go away just because of one fight getting broken up."
"... and if you think that's terrible, then you haven't even seen the half of it. That's why you're better off not sticking your nose into that world. I don't know what the story with the Orange girl was, but I know that Momoe-san is fighting because she made a wish, and is now paying the price for that wish."
Homura wonders just how much information she can tell Madoka before she hits a point of info-overload. Telling her nothing at this point would be a bad move, but even if she tells Madoka something Homura has to be careful about what she says.
Riventon is chasing her. He's so close. This time he'll actually get what he came for. Then he'll leave, quick as can be. He can replenish his strength later! He can almost reach out for her - there's so much power surrounding her! - and then as quick as a flash... she's gone. And in her place, there's orange lasers. And a giant bubble. Riventon can't stop in time, so he just tries to avoid them, tumbling to the side, moving quickly. But the orange lasers sear at his body, and then as he gets closer, Nagisa's childlike face. That smile, like his, but containing something. And there is a phenomenally huge explosion.
It thrusts him back - and orange is likely still firing lasers - and he's tumbling again, only now in the dirt rather than the air. His Barrier Jacket is cut and torn, revealing the skin underneath - revealing firmly that he's as human as anyone else. He can feel something else too, the hollow of his Linker Core. And pain. A lot of pain. Everything hurts. Especially, and most savagely of all - his pride.
He can't even come to his feet. Though he tries. There's a staggered step and a collapse. He's still too prideful to stop though, his hand grabbing at the ground towards where the magical girl simply isn't anymore.
It's only the sudden appearance of a shadow, as fast as any of the girls, which reaches down, grabs him, and fades out along with him, that protects him from some sort of after combat interrogation by the two elementary schoolers.
Prism Keeper Orange cheers from the top of the building! "Yay! I beat up Black for Red!" she says off of the building. She leaps down onto the street, slowing her descent and spins her wand. "Red's going to be like---so psyched about it!" she insists. Then she looks over to the other magical girl who'd helped her and she goes over to say thanks. Then she gets a good look at her. "... Nagisa-Chan!?" she says, covering her mouth in surprise with a hand! Wow, lots of people are magical girls... even the ones she doesn't expect! "I mean.. um... ah...!?" she begins fluttering backwards a bit. "I mean... um. Whoever you are. Thanks!" she says in a /really bad and obvious attempt/ to cover her tracks.
Nagisa gets blown back by the force of her own attack, knocked head over heels and tumbling. She eventually comes to a rest against another one of the buildings, not looking so much harmed by it all so much as incredibly, unbelievably dizzy, her eyes rolling around and her head wobbling from side to side. It's only when she hears her name that things start to clear for her, and she gives her head a long, fast shake. Her face reverts back to normal and she looks up, just in time to see a the very orange Prism Keeper fumbling over her words to try and backtrack.
In all her dizziness she missed Riventon's escape, but the fact the world and sky are back to normal speaks volumes. Success! "We did it!" She shouts, jumping up and hopping around for joy. "We beat him, and all the people are back!"
Indeed there are people now walking down the sidewalk, cars driving past, oblivious to the fact there had been a magical struggle in their very midst.
The other girl seems to know her name- did she slip up and accidentally say it aloud instead of 'I'? She doesn't remember. "Thank you!" she returns happily. "I don't know who you are, but together we were able to protect everyone!" She'll take a step forward as she says this, trying to take hold of Prism Keeper Orange's hands, a wide, bright smile on her face.
Prism Keeper Orange has her hands taken, and ahhhh---the smile is infectious and she perhaps begin to spin to the right with Nagisa before she says. "Um...I'm... Prism Keeper Orange... um--- that is... Reiko... remember? From... the ducks." she murmurs a little, embarassed about that whole duck mess still of course. Prism Keeper Green better not be able to summon mallards! She'll be cross!
"Ah--now I feel silly..." she admits.
The white haired Puella Magi is happy to spin playfully, laughing all the while now that the danger appears to be gone. She takes the magical name just fine, and when she gives her real identity afterwards her eyes fill with wonder. "Reiko-san! I remember." Seeing the other girl's embarrassment she shakes her head, "Don't be! You helped me. More than once, too!"
She takes a moment to look over the other girls outfit now that she recognizes her before finally commenting, "You're amazing as Prism Keeper Orange, Reiko-san."