Chapter 47: Inter-Mission I

[Author's Note 1: Hello again, I'm back. What you're reading here is the first work I've done in almost six months. During that time, I've been unable to write due to my struggle with clinical depression... mid-October through February were a particularly bad period. I say this not to sound like I'm making an excuse, but to keep you readers informed of what's happening and why it's been so long. I want to let you know that I never intended to quit writing this story, and that thanks to the tireless efforts of my doctor, my therapist, my friends, and my loved ones, I've finally turned a corner. For the first time in a long time, I feel better. It may take a while longer to get back to a regular update schedule, but the important thing is that I'm officially back. Thanks for making it worthwhile. - BHS]

The Lighthouse, Vertex Point One

Rei Hino's Room

Out of the depths it emerged: a sound, a movement, a gleam where there was only silence and stillness and darkness for so long. Just a tiny thing, barely more than a flicker in the dark... but it was there, it was real, and it was more than there had been for what felt like ages.

Rei Hino sat before the flames roaring in the hearth of her Immaterial recreation of the Hikawa Shrine's fire room. Her eyes were closed as her lips moved over the syllables of her mantra: "Rin. Pyo. To. Sha. Kai. Jin. Retsu. Zai. Zen." The kuji-in was a call to all forces in the universe to reaffirm that they stood united against evil, a sacred rite to purify the mind, body, and soul. It had been a source of calm and comfort for her for so many years, so it was only appropriate that she pass it on to someone who sorely needed those things.

"Rin. Pyo. To. Sha. Kai. Jin. Retsu. Zai. Zen. Rin. To. Pyo..." Towa Akagi sat in the seiza position at Rei's side, dressed in simple, loose-fitting white robes. Firelight set the silver streaks painting her apricot hair aglow. It was Rei's idea to teach Towa to meditate; she broached the subject when she realized that they had more in common than just their signature elements. Both the shrine maiden and the elfin princess were fighting for control, both altered in some way by the evils of Dead End and the chaos they wrought. If ritual meditation could help Rei to maintain the fragile balance of the dual aspects of herself, she reasoned it could also help Towa to keep the essence of Twilight at bay.

It was during one such session that Rei saw and heard that small thing in the dark. First she felt the shiver of a premonition, faint and ghostly but unmistakable. In her mind's eye, she saw the vaguest of outlines, something so unformed that it was as if it hadn't decided what shape to be, if any. It sparkled with a feeble but warm light, and Rei heard it whisper her name: "... Rei... Rei..." That was all it said before it faded.

Towa sensed the change in the pressure and tension of the room and interrupted her mantra. "Rei-san? Are you unwell?"

Rei opened her eyes. "No, I'm fine. I had a new vision."

"Another ill omen?" Lines of worry etched into Towa's face.

She had to think about that. "No," Rei said after a long pause. She had barely more than a gut feeling to go on, but... "Not this time. I don't know why, but I feel like this one was different. It's like someone, somewhere is trying to tell me something... Something good." For reasons she could not explain, Rei smiled. How strange, to actually feel happy about a premonition for once.

*****

Crossroads

Simultaneously

The five of them sat around a great ring-shaped crystal table, which was now the only permanent feature of the Crossroads other than the doors to the Vertices. This was the first time that all of the "Big Five" had gathered together since the modest little party they held to celebrate their victory in Uminari... though "modest" was not for lack of trying by one Minako Aino, who had to be talked down from the wild blowout she initially envisioned. Nevertheless, there had been large amounts of cake, punch for the kids and wine for the adults, and a good time was had by all.

By now, all were settled into routine activities and duties, though the latter tended to shift depending on necessity. Usagi Tsukino took care of babysitting little Akemi-chan and tending to the wounded when she had the energy. Sakura Kinomoto practiced martial arts and magical combat training with renewed fervor, honing her skills in preparation for future missions. Nagisa Misumi, Cure Black, oversaw organization of the Precure and the recovery of their injured comrades. Nanoha Takamachi pulled shifts as a combat instructor alongside her partner, Fate Testarossa Harlaown, when not engaged in rehab or strategic planning. And Madoka Kaname shifted from role to role, often as a nurse's assistant, but other times as a combat training student alongside the others, as an aide aboard the Arthra, or even as a morale officer of sorts, helping out with cooking or counseling when she could.

Now the mood was decidedly nervous as Usagi looked from one face to the others. "She didn't tell any of you what this is about either?"

"Uh-uh." Madoka shook her head.

Black leaned back in her chair and made a pained but resigned face. "More bad news, knowing her."

"Everything will be all right, somehow." Sakura recited her invincible spell, her defense against bad news and anything else that threatened to overwhelm her. She turned to her right. "Nanoha-chan, how are your rehab exercises going?"

"Fate-chan still isn't happy that I had to fight against Hadenya." Nanoha chuckled, rubbing reflexively at a sore rib. "She's pushing me harder than ever... but it's working. Nurse Yugo's last round of tests said I should be up to thirty-five percent mana output and ninety percent mobility by the end of the week."

Usagi beamed and put a supporting hand on Nanoha's shoulder. "Way to go! Thirty-five is way better than I did on most of my tests in school!"

"Th-thirty-five..." Sakura's smile slipped a bit as she goggled at Usagi. "Hoeeee~..." Fortunately, Usagi didn't seem to hear.

"I'm happy for you too, Nanoha-chan." Madoka's sentiment was genuine, but there was a weight of seriousness in her voice that showed her attentions were elsewhere.

"As am I." A wash of cool blue light signaled the arrival of Fantine's holo-image in the center of the ring. The hooded figure bowed to each of them in turn. "Sorry to worry you all unduly, but the news I have to share... it concerns Vertex Three."

Black grew tense, expecting the worst.

"The Lighthouse's sensors have been picking up very faint readings from within the Time Crash," Fantine continued. "To be brutally honest, I have no idea what this means, but... I'm detecting traces of Lambda Power."

Four of the five of them stared at her, uncomprehending. It was Usagi who leaned forward. "Lambda Power?" It took a moment to come back to her, but when it did, she slapped the surface of the table, making the others jump. "Right, Lambda Power! I heard something about it back in the Cauldron, after I fought Chaos the first time. Let me try to remember..." She sat back in her chair, thinking hard. Her recollection of her time within the Galaxy Cauldron was hazy at best: caught between a state of being and non-being, simultaneously connected to all of creation and set apart from it. There was warmth, a familiar scent, and a suffusion of light. She remembered the ecstatic joy of seeing all of her loved ones again, and telling Guardian Cosmos of her decision to return to the mortal world... but other than that, it was like trying to hold water in her hands. "Sorry," she said, shaking her head. "It slipped away."

"It's all right, Usagi," said Fantine. "I can take it from here. The simplest way I can put it is that Lambda Power is... rebirth. It's the energy of new life, of infinite possibility."

Now it was Black who took notice. She knocked her chair aside in her rush to get up. It made an almost musical clanging noise against the floor as she sprung to her feet. "Hang on, hang on. Are you telling me... our universe is getting better?!"

"As I said, I don't know what this means. There's barely anything there... but there's not nothing." Fantine folded her arms within her cloak. "I questioned whether or not to tell you at all, as I didn't want you all to get your hopes up if I was wrong... especially not yours, Nagisa. But in the end, I decided that I keep enough secrets. If this can give you reason to hope for the future, then you can take it."

"I don't believe this," said Black in a whisper. A shaky grin spread across her face as she ran a hand through her ginger hair. "Guys? Maybe it's not all gone after all..."

Usagi was the first to throw her arms around her, followed closely by Nanoha and Sakura as a raucous cheer went up. Only Madoka hung back, smiling, but in the same distracted way.

"Madoka?" It was Fantine who first noticed her hesitation.

"I-I'm all right," she said, waving a hand. "I... I actually have an announcement too, but I'll wait." With that, she went in for a hug herself.

It took a few minutes and a lot of happy tears before she was ready. When Madoka stood to address the group, there was conviction in her eyes, though her voice shook a bit. "I..." she said after a deep breath. "I want to go on the next mission. And before any of you say no..." One by one, she looked each of them in the eyes. "I feel like everyone else here has been able to go out and help the Lights in some way. Usagi-san and Nanoha-chan took the lead in Uminari, and Misumi-san and Sakura-chan were on the rescue mission. I'm supposed to be one of the Three, but... but I haven't done anything."

"Madoka-chan." Sakura's face fell. "That's not—"

Fantine held up a hand. "Let her finish."

"It's not just because I want to help more," said Madoka. "I'm the only Puella Magi aside from Nagisa-chan who's still at full power... and we still don't know if Nagisa-chan is up to fighting yet. Mami-san and the others will all be okay as long as they stay here in the Lighthouse, but if they're going to go back to the fight, they'll need a supply of Grief Seeds. So I want to go..." She shook her head. "No, I need to go."

"In order to collect Grief Seeds, you'll need to hunt Witches," said Fantine. "Are you prepared to do that, knowing the truth about what they are?"

Madoka swallowed hard and clutched at the hem of her skirt. Having her memories of the past timelines restored was both a blessing and a curse, and relearning the awful truth about the nature of Witches was the latter. Her stomach twisted into knots whenever she thought about all the countless Witches she cut down in the hundreds of times that she and her friends repeated that same month... Once upon a time, she had managed to do the impossible and save them all. As things were right now, though, saving them wasn't an option. "I..." she said, trying not to choke on the words. "If we can't help them or turn them back to normal... the least we can do is put them out of their misery. It's bad enough that they're suffering, but they're being used by Joker. Even Witches don't deserve that. When I'm... when I'm back where I'm supposed to be, I'll take care of them properly. I hate the thought, but... for now, this is all I can do."

Fantine nodded solemnly and faced the others. "And as for you all?"

Dark looks passed between the other four as each waited for someone to chime in with a better solution. There were none forthcoming.

"I hate to say it," said Black, "but I think we're all used to fighting friends and allies and innocent victims by now. I don't like it any more than Madoka does, but I agree with her. We don't have any other options for dealing with them."

The others nodded sadly.

"Thank you," said Fantine."I won't pretend this isn't grueling for all of you, but I'll do my best to support you however I can. So if you're all resolved to hunt Witches... right now, the only place we can reach where we'll find them is Vertex One."

"You mean they're still all over Azabu?" said Usagi, turning pale. "I thought the Stranger got rid of them..."

Fantine shook her head. "They were driven back into the shadows by her attack, but not destroyed. It appears Usagi's world now operates similarly to how yours used to, Madoka... the Witches are hiding away in their Labyrinths, preying on vulnerable victims."

"And poor Mako-chan is down there somewhere with them." Usagi swallowed. "Is... is there a way to save her? She's not a full Witch... right?"

"I don't know," said Madoka. "I don't think so, but I need to talk with someone about that. But if there is a way to change her back, I promise you we'll do everything we can."

Storm clouds brewed on Black's brow. "So if you're planning to go, does that mean...?"

Silence swelled to fill the room, cold and uncomfortable. Here it was, the issue no one wanted to address... but there was no more avoiding it. "Yes." Madoka's reply was short, soft, and pained. "She'll probably insist on going after her Soul Gem is replenished. Maybe even before then. She'll want to go... to protect me. That's just what Homura-chan does."

A collective cringe passed through them all at the mention of her name. KNOW THAT THE DEVIL WALKS AMONG YOU...

"Can't say I'm thrilled." Black's joy from minutes before had evaporated like morning dew. No one was exactly comfortable discussing or even thinking about Homura Akemi, given what they now knew about her... but Black in particular had made her complex feelings toward the girl quite clear in the past few weeks. While part of her was of course grateful for saving her life, the lives of the rescue team, and reality in general, a larger part still refused to forgive her for not doing more when she had the chance. The way Black saw it, with the powers of a god, Homura could have easily saved all of Dead End's prisoners and healed Alph and Iona, were she so inclined... but she wasn't, and now it was too late.

"I-I'll talk to her," said Madoka, a quiver in her voice. She clutched at the hem of her skirt. "I've been putting it off for too long."

"We're here for you if you need us, Madoka-chan." Sakura reached for her hand. "Just say the word, and we'll be right beside you."

"Thanks, Sakura-chan." Madoka took it and squeezed it tight.

"So?" Black raised an eyebrow at Fantine's holo. She would put aside her issues with Homura for now. "You're okay with this?"

"Not particularly, no." Fantine hung her head. "Sending any of the Three into battle is still an enormous risk, it could bring Joker right to you. However, I tried to stop you before and everyone suffered for it, so..."

"If I may." Nanoha sat with her hands folded over her mouth, her brows knit together. "I'm not convinced that Joker would step into the fray even if we did deploy Madoka-san."

"What do you mean?"

"When Hadenya fought us in Uminari, she said she was under orders not to kill us," said Nanoha. "Even though she had us outmatched until Fate-chan arrived. Then there's what Joker said when he had the rescue team captured: 'I don't want to win... at least, not for a while yet.' Isn't that right, Sakura-chan?"

The memory of Joker's wild eyes and unhinged grin set Sakura's skin crawling. "Y-yes. That's what he said."

"So therefore, it's reasonable to assume that in order to prolong the conflict as long as possible, he would avoid taking any actions that would definitively secure his victory," said Nanoha.

"Wait." Black searched back through her memories of the rescue mission, horrible as they were. "But Joker did try to win it then and there, when he had us captured. He..." Here she cast a glance at Sakura, who instinctively clutched her chest.

Nanoha nodded. "Yes, that's true. He did try to turn Sakura-chan's Seed... but I'm guessing that he only did so because he felt he had no other option. He attacked you as soon as you indicated that you knew about Chaos, didn't he?"

"Mmm-hmm." Sakura bit her lip.

"There you have it," said Nanoha. "You forced his hand. We probably don't want to know what he would have done had you not spoken up... but I'm bettering that only extreme circumstances would make him choose to end his game so early."

"It makes sense, in a twisted way." Black scowled. "He doesn't just want to kill us. He wants to hurt us as much as he can, for as long as he can."

"Exactly. Raising Heart, holo screen, please."

"[Yes, my Master!]" the Device chimed, casting a blank hard-light slate before her.

Now Nanoha stood from her chair, drawing and manipulating lines on the screen while the others watched. "If that's the case," she said, a slow, confident smile forming on her lips, "I think I may have a plan for our next mission. If I'm right, Joker's sadism could prove to be a weakness... a weakness that we can exploit."

*****

TSAB L-Class Inspection Cruiser Arthra

Medical Wing, Rehab Facility

Later

Erika Kurumi glared daggers at the parallel bars set before her, as if she could melt them to slag with the strength of her loathing alone. Forget Desertrians, forget Dune, forget Joker, forget every villain and bad guy in the multiverse... here and now, there was nothing she hated more than these bars. Every fiber of her being screamed with vitriol for them, and she longed for the day when she could personally pound them into dust. They were history's greatest monsters.

"It's okay, Erika," said Tsubomi Hanasaki next to her, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Whenever you're ready. I'm here for you."

"So are we, ~desu!" That came from Coffret, her fairy partner, hovering over her head alongside Chypre, his opposite number, who chimed in with a "Desu!" of her own.

"Just take it easy," said Hayate Yagami on her other side. "You don't have to rush into anythin'."

"All right, all right, gimme a minute." Scowling, Erika looked down at her mismatched feet, one normal and one rubber and plastic. It wasn't even cool plastic. It was a boring dull grey that didn't match any of her favorite outfits, which pissed her off more than she would admit. "This isn't the final model," the nurses told her when they presented it to her several weeks ago. "It's a 'dummy' prosthetic, with the same weight and basic shape as your permanent leg will have, but none of the tech inside. We made it especially for your rehab." While it was undoubtedly still an improvement on being stuck in a hospital bed or in a wheelchair, once her initial excitement wore off, she found that the dummy leg was primarily a hassle. Especially when it came to the long, long process of learning how to use it. Figuring that this would take even longer if she kept stalling, Erika jutted out her lip and took hold of the hated bars with both hands, trying to ignore Tsubomi's sharp, nervous intake of breath as she did so.

"Okay," said Hayate, moving to the other end of the bars. She might as well have been on the other side of the ocean. "Let's try to break our record today, yeah?"

"Or break something," Erika muttered under her breath. "Here goes," she said aloud. She could hear Tsubomi's blood pressure rising, but for the sake of her sanity she forced herself to stay focused. Slowly, haltingly, she took a step forward with her good leg... that was the easy part. Now for the torture. Gritting her teeth so hard they should have cracked, she raised her left thigh, and the ugly grey plastic thing attached to it lifted off the floor and did a sort of undignified flump into the proper position.

"Good, Erika, that was good!" said Tsubomi. It was taking her a heroic amount of effort not to clap, Erika could tell.

The two fairies broke into a loosely synchronized cheer: "Go! Go! E-ri-ka!"

From across the ocean, Hayate nodded and beckoned to her. "That's it, Erika-chan! Keep goin', keep goin'!"

Erika groaned and slid her sweaty hands forward a few centimeters along the bars. Already her muscles were tired. Think about colors, she thought to herself. Just because it's a fake leg doesn't mean it can't have style. Maybe Mary-san can build it with a lighting system. Another step with her right leg. Or even just some swappable plastic panels in the outer housing, a pair for every color. Heck, we have replicators, I could design enough of them to match every outfit in my closet. Dozens of different patterns. Hundreds, even. Straining, she pulled with her left. Everything went wobbly for a horrifying second or two, but the dummy straightened itself out and plunked back down. As Hayate coached her, she concentrated on the possibilities: It could even have hologram projector thingies, if Mary-san will let me. There's an idea. Whenever I feel like it, I could just switch on the hologram and presto! Edward Elric's automail! Another step. Sweat rolled down her brow. Gross. Come on, Erika, you've saved the universe before. This should be nothing.But it wasn't nothing, it was sweaty and heavy and painful and exhausting and embarrassing and frequently horrifying.

As an example of "horrifying", why did her stupid brain suddenly decide to start waking her up and tricking her into thinking she still had both legs? "Phantom pain", the nurses called it. In the dark of the ship's night—sometimes multiple times a night—she would awake in a sweat, and out of instinct she would wiggle her toes... all ten of them, she swore she could feel them all there. Then she would make out the shape of her stump under the covers, even in the dark, and her heart would try to claw its way out of her chest. She screamed the first couple times this happened, and she almost scared poor Tsubomi half to death each time.

Hayate yelled something at her that pulled her back to the real world. "Yeah, sorry, I got distracted. I'll keep going, just a minute."

"No, Erika-chan, look!"

She looked, and blinked in disbelief. "Wha— Did I just..."

Tsubomi couldn't restrain herself any longer. She burst into frenzied applause. "Ohmygosh, Erika, you did it! You beat your record!"

"She did it!" the fairies crowed, high-fiving each other.

Somehow, while stewing over her problems, she had made it more than halfway down the bars. Still tired and sore and God was she sweaty, but she was halfway to Hayate. Farther than she ever got before. "H-hey," she said with a shaky smile. "All my teachers back at Myoudouin used to call me out for daydreaming. N-now it finally comes in handy..."

Hayate shone with excitement. "Don't stop now, Erika-chan! You can make it to the end, I know you can!"

"Right." Erika took a deep breath and heaved forward... but this time her balance was wrong, she could sense it before her foot ever touched the floor. A spell of vertigo claimed her, she scrambled for a hold on the bars, she slipped and went into a short freefall... CRASH. Total disaster.

"Erika!"

"Erika-chan!"

Coffret and Chypre hung motionless, mouths agape.

Erika lay in a heap atop the right bar, pinned under the weight of the dummy prosthetic, which was splayed out at a sickening angle. A knot forming on the side of her head throbbed purple and livid. Groaning, she braced her palms against the floor and pushed, to no effect. They were so slick that she slipped and ended up right back where she started.

"Hang on, ~desu!" Only now did Coffret shake himself from his trance, zooming underneath the crook of Erika's right arm to support her with himself.

"Erika, are you all right? Do you need help?" Tsubomi was at her side, hovering over her with her hands fluttering about like agitated butterflies, unsure of where, if anywhere, to touch.

Her face hidden behind a blue curtain of her hair, Erika spoke in barely a whisper. "I hate this."

"E-Erika? I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear—"

"I said I hate this!" Erika exploded. Rage and frustration colored her face bright red. "I hate this stupid... heavy..." she said, striking the dummy open-handed with each word, "worthless... ugly... piece of junk! I just want to be normal again, dammit! Why can't I just get my stupid robot leg or whatever and be done with it?!"

Hayate knelt before her. "You know that's not how it works. You gotta rebuild your muscles, or your body will never be able to handle the weight. You'd just keep fallin' over and over, an' maybe hurt yourself even worse."

The calm understanding in her voice made Erika flush even deeper. Somehow, that was worse than disappointment, or even pity. "But we've got magic! What the hell's the use of magic if it can't fix me?!"

Hayate did the unexpected: she burst into laughter.

"Glad you think it's so funny!" Erika fumed at her, her ears burning.

"S-sorry! Sorry! It's not you I'm laughin' at, promise!" said Hayate, wiping her eyes. "It's just... I'm pretty sure I said the exact same thing durin' my rehab. A couple times, even."

Erika's eyes darted from one of Hayate's limbs to the other, counting. There were four, two arms and two legs. Five fingers on each hand, and she assumed all ten toes were intact too. She shot Hayate an incredulous look.

"I never lost a limb," Hayate clarified gently, "but I couldn't walk 'til about two and a half years ago. Up 'til I was nine, I was in a wheelchair. Paralyzed from the waist down."

A terrible memory cut through Erika's anger and self-loathing: her first sight of her comrade Yuko Omori, Cure Honey, after she was forcibly cut down from the Merry-Go-Round. The skin of her arms and legs was stripped red and raw. Her next sight of Yuko had been here in this very rehab facility, with her limbs buried beneath layers of glittering bandages, being wheeled around by a nurse in a chair of her own. What Yuko was going through, not just struggling to walk again but to even use her hands and fingers... the horrible injustice of it put Erika's suffering in some kind of perspective. And here Hayate had gone through not just a temporary wheelchair, but a permanent one, for almost her entire childhood. Not just for limbs that didn't work properly, but that didn't work at all and had no hope of getting better, as far as she knew. The color drained from Erika's face as she considered the implications. "I..."

It was Tsubomi who apologized in her stead. "Hayate-chan, I'm so sorry! We didn't—"

Coffret looked up from beneath her arm. "You... you mean even when you were little, you couldn't run around and play? Or take a swim or climb trees or—"

"Nope." Hayate patted the fairy on the head. "Even after we fixed the Book of Darkness an' stopped what it was doin' to my body, it took a ton of work before I could even stand up by myself. Even more than that to learn to walk. It was about a year an' a half altogether, an' that was with the help of Shamal an' the best medics from the TSAB helpin' me the whole time."

"I'm sorry... I feel like such an asshole." Erika hung her head and groaned. "Here I am whining when I still have one good leg and—"

A finger flicked her in the center of her forehead, hard. "Stop that," said Hayate. Her lips curled into a playful smile. "You don't need to feel sorry for me, an' you don't need to apologize either. Rehab sucks, an' you're allowed to get upset about it... heck, I know I was. Lookit me, I'm supposed to be the most powerful mage in my universe, an' I was fallin' on my butt for months tryin' to get out of that chair. I lost count of the number of times I said I wanted to just give up. Yelled it at my doctors a bunch of times, too."

With difficulty, Erika readjusted the dummy and pulled herself upright by clinging to Hayate. "But you didn't..."

"Nope." She grinned like summertime. "It was painful an' I hated it an' it sucked, an' I wanted to give up, but I didn't. It took forever, but now I can walk again... someday, you will too. So you can go ahead an' be angry with the dummy leg... go nuts on it, even, if that helps. If that's what it takes to get you moving again, you can do it."

Tsubomi sniffled and plucked Chypre out of the air to hold her close, very near tears.

"You're helping Yuko too, right?" said Erika with a thoughtful frown. "I've seen you both together."

"Yup." Hayate nodded. "I volunteered. Fact is, there's not a lot else I can do right now." She stared wistfully down at her hands. "Sure, I got all this power an' I'm gettin' my mana back... but without my Book, I don't have all the spells I used to know. Without Rein, I can't even aim right. Unless you need a city leveled or somethin' an' you don't care what else gets wrecked in the process, I'm kinda... well, useless."

"Oi." Erika curled a finger and flicked Hayate's forehead. "If I don't get to feel sorry for you, you don't either."

Hayate blinked... then roared with laughter. "Th-thanks, Erika-chan," she said once the throes subsided. "Guess I needed that."

"No problem! And next time, let's get Yuko in here with us." Erika grinned. "We can fall on our butts together."

"There ya go! An' when we're done, we can talk fashion..."

"You're into fashion too?!"

"Mostly just cosplay, but I know my stuff. For example... I happen to know that during Fashion Week in New York..." Hayate shone with confidence. "They have a show for people with disabilities, the Runway of Dreams. Major labels, too."

Something lit up inside Erika, the old familiar spark. "Are you serious?!" she all but screeched. "How come I've never heard about this?!"

"It's still pretty new, but I know I've got somethin' about it on the ship's computer, there's images from last year's..."

The two descended into excited chatter, their voices overlapping.

"Oh boy..." Chypre put her face in her tiny hands. "There's two of them, ~desu."

"Tsubomi, you'd better get comfortable, ~desu," said Coffret, floating up to pat her shoulder.

"I think I rather should." Tsubomi chuckled and wiped away a stray tear. "I don't think we'll be getting back to rehab any time soon..."

*****

Vertex Point Five

Outside Homura Akemi's Room

Here she was, before the door once again. So much had changed between them since the last time she was here, but the door was no less intimidating. Madoka shifted from one foot to the other, her hands clenching and unclenching the skirt of her school uniform. At least this time she wasn't alone.

"Hey." Kyoko Sakura nudged her gently. "You know we'll go in there with you if you want us to, right?"

Mami Tomoe nodded. "We'll do whatever we can to support you, Kaname-san."

A small hand wrapped around hers and squeezed. "I'm here too," said Nagisa Momoe. "I'm right by your side, whatever happens."

Madoka was struck once more by how mature her youngest comrade could sound when the situation called for it. She smiled warmly and squeezed back. "Thank you, Nagisa-chan, Kyoko-chan, Mami-san. Just knowing you're here is a huge help."

The pocky stick clenched in Kyoko's teeth tipped upward. "What's she even been doing in there since everything blew up? Nobody I've talked to has even seen her."

"Homura-chan is a really private person," said Madoka. "If she doesn't want to let people in, they won't get in. That's part of what I'm afraid of." Lines of worry etched into her face. "After what I said and did to her... I wouldn't much blame her if she didn't want to see me."

"You did what you thought was right," said Mami. "That's all anyone can do. If Akemi-san holds that against you, it's her loss."

"I don't think she will," said Nagisa. "You know her, Madoka-san. She loves you, even after all that's happened."

Madoka's chest grew tight. Before, she would have been all too happy to hear that Homura loved her, but now? Now everything was complicated, tangled up in an impenetrable snarl of conflicting emotions. Of course, she still loved Homura too. When she said that to her back then, she meant it. But the snarl wrapped around that love, threatening to smother it under hurt, betrayal, shock, and not a small bit of anger.

Madoka hated those feelings, but standing here dithering wouldn't help resolve them at all. There were things that Homura had to hear, and none but she could say them to her. Steadying herself, she smiled at her friends. "Um... it's probably best if you guys move to the sides a bit. I don't really know how this is gonna go..."

Kyoko winced. "Yeah. C'mon, Mami."

"Of course."

The two of them stepped to the left side of the door. Nagisa gave Madoka one last squeeze for luck and pulled her hand away, taking position on the right.

Feeling slightly queasy from a mix of anticipation and dread, Madoka raised her hand and knocked three times. "Homura-chan? It's me."

A long, long silence, followed by a soft, flat voice speaking barely above a whisper: "Yes."

"Um." A lump formed in Madoka's throat. She swallowed to clear it. "I need to talk to you. May I come in?"

Another pause, even longer this time. "Yes."

The door swooshed open. Unsure of what she would find on the other side, Madoka stepped through...

It was mostly as she remembered. Homura favored a starkly utilitarian living space: spotless white walls, a spotless white floor, a few plain and simple high-backed chairs. If anything, it was even more austere than when she left it. There were still dozens of floating holo screens open, that much was the same from her apartment back on earth. If not for the absence of the decorative clock furnishings, she would have thought it was near-identical to Homura's old home.

At least, that was what Madoka thought until she saw the lamp, set on its own raised pedestal in... well, the room didn't exactly have corners, but in a corner-like alcove near where she stood. It was a gorgeous thing, with a slender, curved ebony base and a shade that reminded her of a stained-glass window in a church... all autumn colors, reds and oranges and golds. Its bulb cast a soft, inviting glow that provided the eye a relief from the blankness and whiteness of the rest of the room. Mystified, Madoka peered at it for a few seconds. The lamp lacked the telltale iridescent sheen of Immaterial, so it had to be something real. Replicated, was her guess... but why? The thought of Homura decorating her home with anything fancy, let alone a replica of an exquisite antique lamp, clashed with the image of the Homura that Madoka knew.

"You wanted to speak to me?"

She was so baffled by the lamp's existence that Homura's voice startled her, making her heart thump against her breast for a few seconds. "Y-yes, um...!" No, no hesitation. No nervousness. She needed to be strong for this. Madoka drew herself up to face her...

She was struck once more by what a beautiful girl Homura was. Every strand of silky raven hair flawless, her skin pale and smooth as alabaster, her eyes sharp and cold and mysterious like a pair of amethysts, betraying no emotion. Somehow, she even made sitting amid a cluster of holos look dignified and graceful, like some kind of impossibly lovely statue. She looked just as she did before everything went wrong... The image of her in shambles with her face and arms marred by fresh red welts flashed in Madoka's mind, and a pang of sadness and guilt roiled in her belly. I can't get distracted, she admonished herself. I can't get distracted... but oh God, I miss her. Aloud, she said simply, "I wanted to let you know... Nanoha-chan has a new strategy, and I've asked to be part of the next mission. Going into battle, I mean. Fantine-san said yes."

Homura's eyes lifted from her screen. Her gaze made Madoka shiver. "I see," was all she said.

I see? Madoka thought, flummoxed. That's... that's it?! And aloud: "I-I'm going to Usagi-san's world, to help gather Grief Seeds from the Witches there. So that you and Mami-san and the others can stay in the fight."

Homura nodded. "A sound idea."

This she wasn't prepared for. Madoka expected cold fury, she expected Homura to forbid her to go, or at least to declare that she would go with her, no questions asked. This calm acceptance, though... Madoka felt her resolve eroding. "It's not like I'm going down there alone. Th-the others will be going with me, but it's going to be a small team at first. That's part of the strategy."

"Others?" said Homura.

"Me, Sakura-chan, Chibi-Usa-chan, and Hotaru-chan to start with."

Homura stood and flipped back her hair from her shoulder, a gesture so familiar that it made Madoka ache. "I suppose I'll join you once the Grief Seeds are collected. If you'll have me."

Stab. "Homura-chan, it's not like I don't want you there—"

"Of course not."

"It's just that... after what happened..." Another stab, harder than the first. "After what happened, your Soul Gem's got to be—"

"I know," said Homura. "As I said, it's a sound idea. I'll join you when I'm able. Is that all?"

Now Madoka felt a faint stirring of irritation. This was barely getting them anywhere. "Actually, no," she said. "There's still the matter of what we do with the Grief Seeds after we use them."

"I'm listening."

And now to act on her hunch. "He's here, isn't he?"

Silence.

Somehow, Madoka pressed on. "Joker took over the rest, but I know you, Homura-chan. You always have another plan. That day when I first met Usagi-san and the others, I made a wish and got my Soul Gem back... and if it wasn't him that did that, it was you. So if you're keeping him here... I need to talk to him."

Without a word, Homura transformed into her battle costume. She reached down into her old clockwork shield, searching for a few seconds before she withdrew it: a shifting tesseract of colored light, with a small figure imprisoned in its center. Something like a cat and something like a rabbit, it blinked its round red eyes as light hit them for the first time in a long time. Madoka Kaname. Homura Akemi, said Kyubey by way of greeting.

"Kyubey," said Madoka. She tensed, for she now had many, many memories of Kyubey being an insufferable creature to talk to. "We need your help."

Kyubey folded his paws in front of himself. I'm listening.

"We're going to need you to dispose of Grief Seeds after we use them," said Madoka, looking right into those unfeeling eyes, the eyes that she couldn't believe she used to trust. "And we may need your help in other ways, too. I think it's in your best interests to cooperate."

And why is that? said Kyubey, tilting his head.

Deep breaths. "Because we're talking about the survival of all of existence. What we're up against is worse than entropy. Dead End threatens everyone, including you and the other Incubators."

Hmm. Kyubey paced within his prison. Based on my limited knowledge of the situation, that does indeed seem to be the case. I see the argument, in terms of pragmatism. The life of the universe—or indeed, the multiverse—cannot be extended if there is no universe. But of course...

Of course. Now for the catch. Madoka folded her arms and waited.

I can't assist you from inside this cage, said Kyubey. Nor can I gather viable data to assess the situation. If I were perhaps to be allowed outside on occasion...

"Done," said Madoka.

One of Homura's eyebrows twitched.

Kyubey's ears perked up. It wasn't easy to surprise an Incubator, but Madoka had done it. I... he said, I confess I didn't expect you to agree so readily. Very well, I pledge my assistance to you, in hopes of eliminating the threat of this 'Dead End'. Now, if you don't mind me asking a few questions—

"Homura-chan, some privacy, please?"

Homura waved her hand at the cage, which instantly turned pitch black, blocking out all sound and light.

"Thank you," said Madoka. "Homura-chan..." But now she seemed at a loss for what to say. This divide between them was too wide for one conversation, wasn't it? She had to try, there had to be some way to convince Homura to let her in. Fidgeting in place, she wracked her brain for something, anything... "Where did the lamp come from?" she blurted out before she could stop herself.

To her astonishment, Homura did something which Madoka thought was long beyond her: she blushed.

*****

Outside

Mami and Kyoko sat with their backs to the corridor wall. Nagisa's head was nestled in Mami's lap, gentle snoring drifting up from her lips as Mami stroked her hair.

"I've been meaning to ask," said Kyoko softly, so as not to wake the little girl. "Are you okay with all of this?"

"All of what?" said Mami.

Kyoko fidgeted. This wasn't exactly an easy subject to talk about. "Witches," she said. "I mean... you remember everything, right? From all those timelines?"

"I remember the important things," said Mami. "Why do you ask?"

"'Cause I remember you taking it... really hard. More than once." Here Kyoko rubbed the ruby jewel set into the silver ring she wore. Somehow, she wasn't sure how, she remembered the sound it made when Mami's bullets shattered it. "I'm just wondering how you're staying so calm about it this time."

A veil of melancholy settled over Mami's features like a cloud. "There's something about reliving all those memories," she said. "Whatever Sailor Mnemosyne did, however she did it, I could see everything, good memories and bad. All my triumphs, and all my mistakes. There were lots of those."

"I know what you mean." Kyoko smirked. "But I'm surprised. Little Miss Perfect ain't so perfect after all."

"Hush. What struck me was that I kept seeing the same mistakes over and over... losing my mind because I couldn't take the truth. You all suffered for it," said Mami. "I suppose, once I was back here at the Lighthouse and I had time to think about everything... I suppose I resolved to not make the same mistakes again. The truth about Witches is still awful." She shuddered and closed her eyes. "But I feel like after seeing it so many times, I think I can come to terms with it. No, it's more like I have to." Her arms slid around Nagisa. "I can't fall apart, I have too much that I need to protect."

"Yeah." Kyoko rummaged in her jacket pocket for another snack. "I guess I was just wondering... how come Sayaka couldn't do that?" Bitterness and regret twisted her features. "Like, if Mnemo-whatever did the same thing to her as she did to us... why didn't she learn from her mistakes too? Why can't she see that she's on the wrong side?"

Sighing, Mami drew her close. "I don't have an answer for that, Sakura-san. Much as I wish I did."

*****

Vertex Point One

Hotaru and Chibi-Usa's Room

"I just don't understand how you're not more scared," said Chibi-Usa Tsukino, swinging her legs off the edge of the bed.

Hotaru Tomoe glanced up from her latest book of poetry. She had finished the works of Emily Dickinson, and was now immersed in Sylvia Plath... though there was a lot less of her to get through. The corners of her lips turned up with faint amusement. "Who says I'm not?"

"You know what I mean," said Chibi-Usa. "You remember what the Time Reaper almost did to us back on Earth. I mean, I trust Nanoha-chan and everything, she's amazing at strategy, but us going back into battle knowing that that thing is still out there..."

Smiling gently, Hotaru put her book down beneath the shade of one of her many lamps. She had recreated most of her favorite pieces from her collection back home. True, being fresh out of the replicator, they weren't exactly antique lamps per se, but they brought her comfort. That was the important thing. "Chibi-Usa-chan," she said, leaning over to cup her friend's face, "I'm terrified of my dark side. You know that better than anyone. The only reason I'm not screaming at the thought of going back out there is because you're going to be with me, watching my back. If we're together, we'll be fine."

"Hotaru-chan..." Chibi-Usa closed her eyes, soaking in the comfort in Hotaru's cool touch.

"So no more worrying," said Hotaru, leaning in to steal a kiss. "Let's leave everything in Nanoha-chan's hands."

*****

Sekigahara Training Grounds

They made for an eclectic group of students: one young man, two teenage girls, and one tiny golden Beast of the Seal, all running through a kata together. Their sensei stood watching, arms folded, his face unreadable. Their field was set to an early spring evening, just warm enough to be comfortable, and fragrant breezes scented with ripe cherry blossoms drifted over them. Immaterial grass rustled beneath their feet as three of the students pivoted on their heels and shifted into the horse stance. The fourth, non-human student hovered a meter and a half above the grass so as not to be accidentally stepped on by the others, so he merely mimicked their motions as best he could in midair. Not that human martial arts were of much use to him, but he was there for support.

All of Sakura's attention was focused on completing the kata. The sequence played itself out in her head as a litany: Right downward block to the right. Left vertical knife-hand. Turn on the left foot. Right middle crescent kick. Turn on the left foot again. She was a natural athlete, she always had been... but karate wasn't like horse vaulting or the balance beam or the other stuff from PE, and it definitely wasn't like cheerleading. Karate demanded precision, control, and delicate balance. These new skills might have to save her life in the future, she couldn't afford to get it wrong. She had to stay focused purely on the kata. Pivot on left foot. Horse stance. Elbow strike. Right foot behind left... no, wait, it's left foot behind right! I messed up... That was all it took to throw off the sequence. She was already two moves behind Yukito. Stumbling, she rushed through the steps to catch up... and the next pivot made her heel slip out from under her. "Hoeeee~!" Down she went.

Kero broke out of his own kata and fluttered down to her side. "Sakura? You okay?"

Lying there in the mock-grass in front of her friends and loved ones was humiliating enough. It was even more humiliating when her sensei crouched down and rapped his knuckles against her skull. "Looks like the monster's doing laundry tonight," he said. "Remember, every time you fall on your face during a kata, that's another chore you owe me."

"Onii-chan!" Sakura fumed, flailing her arms. "I'm not a monster! And I told you, that's not fair! You're not making Yukito-san and Meilin-chan do chores when they mess up!"

Toya smirked. "Yuki and Meilin aren't my little sister. And I told you, when we're training, it's 'sensei'. Not 'onii-chan.'"

Yukito Tsukishiro sighed and reached for a water bottle. "Now, now, Toya," he said, grabbing a second one for Sakura as well.

"Hey, don't worry about it," said Kero, patting Sakura's leg. "Even Ryu had to start somewhere."

Next to them, Meilin Li's knees wobbled, her own stance shaky at best. She was soaked with sweat and faintly pale. "I'm..." she panted, "I'm not sure how long I can stay up either... th-this isn't anything like Taijiquan..."

"That's because it's not Taijiquan." Toya rose and moved over to her to correct her stance. "Karate isn't as fluid as Chinese martial arts. Come on, heels up, balance on the balls of your feet."

"I'm trying to b-balance on my feet, but I can barely hold—" Meilin teetered dangerously as she spoke, looking almost like she was standing on the deck of a boat caught in a storm. "Dáiséi! Why is this so haaaa—" Toya moved to steady her about a half-second too late to save her from toppling over next to Sakura.

It was tempting to cringe. Sakura expected to fall when practicing, and often did. She was still new at this. Meilin, on the other hand... "Meilin-chan?" she said, reaching for her shoulder. "You okay?"

"Think I'm done for today," came the muffled reply. Meilin rolled over and looked down at her soaking uniform. "My gi is a mess," she groaned. "I'm a mess. Just trying to keep my balance or hold a stance is wearing me out. Sorry, Sakura, I appreciate the thought... I just don't think it's working."

A sting of guilt pricked Sakura's flesh. This was all her idea. Sure, Meilin sacrificed her martial arts talent to travel to the Lighthouse, but Sakura figured there was no reason she couldn't learn something new. Toya was a black belt, he had more than enough training and experience to teach her... and Sakura needed to learn martial arts too, so why not train together? She expected Toya to make a big fuss or try to foist more chores on her in exchange for his help, but surprisingly, he agreed without hesitation.

The problem, though, was that Meilin had to restart from the beginning, the very beginning. And for someone who was so talented and so proud of that talent to struggle with even the most basic fundamentals... it had to be agonizing for her.

Meilin sniffled as she stared up at the sky, reddened with fingers of perpetual dusk. "It's like... I remember my Taijiquan training. I remember what I'm supposed to do. I still know all the steps, all the moves... but my coordination and balance are gone. My body just won't work like it used to, and it hurts."

Kero sighed and folded his tiny arms. "I know how ya feel."

"Huh?" Meilin stared, as if she wasn't sure she had heard correctly.

"Think about it," said Kero. "After Sakura sealed all of the Cards, I finally got all my powers and my super-cool true form back... and now I'm stuck like this again."

"I... don't think that's quite the same thing." Meilin's brows crinkled, then softened. "But I appreciate the thought. Maybe you're not so bad." After a pause and a smirk: "For a stuffed animal."

That set Kero to bristling. "Oi! And here I am tryin' to be nice!"

"You know," said Yukito, sliding into place at her other side, "maybe you can't see it for yourself, but I think you are improving, Meilin-chan. We got more than halfway through the Heian Godan today, and you were able to keep pace with us for almost all of it."

"R-really?" Meilin stared at her hands, as if surprised to see them attached to her wrists. "I was so focused on trying not to mess up that I didn't even notice." She glanced up at Toya, hope in her eyes. "Did I really get that far, sensei?"

Toya made a show of looking away and scratching his neck in a noncommittal fashion. "You still need a lot of practice, but I suppose you did."

"See?" Yukito beamed and adjusted his glasses. "Coming from Toya, that's glowing praise."

"Oi, Yuki! Don't put words in my mouth!"

With a cry of joy, Sakura seized her friend in a hug. "See, Meilin-chan? I knew you could do it!"

"Here," said Yukito, pressing another water bottle into Meilin's hands. "Why don't you take a break? You all can watch and cool off while Toya and I finish up."

"Th-thanks, Yukito-san." Taking the water gratefully, she took a long swig.

"You got something in mind?" said Toya, arching an eyebrow.

Yukito rose and brushed off his gi. Excitement glinted in his brown eyes. "Why don't we spar? It's been a while."

"Yuki..." Sighing, Toya shook his head. "You know I don't like sparring in front of other people."

"Oh, I know, but you still shouldn't neglect your training. You never know..." And Yuki was on his feet, rushing toward Toya with phenomenal speed. "... when someone will try to catch you off your guard!" His foot swept for Toya's ankles in a graceful arc.

"Dammit, Yuki! Start slow!" said Toya, hopping backwards out of the way and landing on the balls of his feet. "Fine then, if that's how you want it!"

Sakura stared in growing awe, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Meilin's jaw fall open. Somewhere down below, Kero started cheering raucously. What they saw wasn't a kata or any kind of standard form. What they saw were two people moving together. They went at it with almost no warning, each move clearly improvised and then countered so smoothly that it all seemed planned well in advance, almost theatrical. Yukito threw a right cross, Toya ducked under his arm and aimed a knife-hand strike to his solar plexus, Yuki parried his arm out of the way, and Toya used the momentum to turn into a roundhouse. It was an unbroken, seamless flow of motion. The moves weren't perfect, neither her brother or Yukito were perfect, but together... they might as well be.

Sakura felt more than saw just how happy the two of them were. Toya might make a show of being irritated by the surprise attack, but the warmth radiating from him and Yukito both was unmistakable: it was joy... no, it was ecstasy. Both bodies moved in concert, both minds ran hot and focused. Together, they were a song, a poem, a dance... it was like nothing else existed save the two of them.

Flushed and sweating, Toya and Yukito circled each other, sharp eyes watching for any sign of a new opportunity. "You had enough?" Toya smirked.

"Not a chance," Yuki said, barely suppressing a laugh. "I can go another few rounds if you can."

"Watch me." Toya thrust himself at his partner, prompting a startled cry.

And as Sakura watched, cheering and clapping her hands, she felt the slightest pang of sadness. Her brother and Yukito completed each other, together they were a whole stronger than the sum of its parts. Her life used to be like that too, before Joker. Now there were two empty spaces in her life where Tomoyo and Shaoran used to be. In a better world, they would be right here on either side of her. But it'll be like that again someday, she thought to herself. We'll go back to our peaceful lives, all of us, together. Everything will be all right, somehow...

*****

Vertex Point One

Michiru Kaioh's Room

Later

The last notes of the duet trailed off together, entwining together in harmony. Such a wistful song, Kirara Amanogawa thought... wistful, yet at the same time full of hope. Slowly opening her eyes, she raised her head from her violin's chin rest. "Okay," she said. "That's it. I think you've got it memorized."

Across from her, Michiru Kaioh withdrew her bow from the strings of her own violin. "It's a beautiful melody, Kirara-chan. I can see why it means so much to you both."

"Mmm-hmm." Kirara felt her eyes watering, and willed the tears to wait until she was out of the room. "So you know what to do, right? You promise that if you're on a mission together and it all goes bad, you'll take care of her and make sure she stays herself? Even if..." A hard lump formed in her throat. "Even if something happens to me—"

Slender, elegant arms wrapped around her. Such a familiar feeling... it was almost like she was Minami's long-lost older sister. "Shh," said Michiru gently. "We'll make sure it doesn't come to that. I promise."

Kirara nodded and sniffled. "Th-thanks, Michirun." It wasn't like her, to let herself be seen in such a vulnerable state... but there was something about Michiru's gentle embrace that made it okay. Maybe, maybe this would work after all.

*****

Elsewhere

Later

Yayoi Kise, Cure Peace, crept through the twisting, winding corridors with her senses on high alert. That didn't actually help, as everything around her was a potential source of danger, as far as she knew. A persistent thought ran through her head at regular intervals: This is the worst. They had warned her it would be weird, that things wouldn't make sense, that it would be terrifying inside. Hey, she thought when they said this, I went through some pretty scary stuff even before Dead End, including fighting Joker the first time. I should be fine.

Oh, what a mistake that was. Peace whimpered as she heard something with too many legs skitter around the edge of the nearest... well, what was that exactly? Her eyes darted up and down, taking in its shape. It appeared to be a gigantic box of Montezuma luxury chocolate. Great.

At her hip, her AMP Device chimed. "Swan to Hongo," said Madoka's voice from its speaker. "Any sign of the Mahjong on your level?"

Peace didn't take her eyes off the chocolate box for a second as she answered. "H-Hongo to Swan, n-negative on the Mahjong. This place is f-freaking me out..."

"It's going to be okay," said Madoka, gentle and soft. "We'll get through this together, I promise. What's your position?"

Peace scanned the area. To her left were irregular rows of huge, multicolored forks, sticking out of the rolling hills of cake all carpeted with frosting. Some had their tines pointing up to a sky that dripped with chocolate, others had them plunged into the cake hills. Behind her was a hypodermic needle big enough for Godzilla, half-sunken in the frosting sea. To her right, a forest of giant prescription bottles tilted at random angles. The writing on their labels was in a runic script that she couldn't make heads or tails of. She noted that there seemed to be no uniformity to the giant pills inside the giant bottles: some were round, looking like lost manhole covers, others were two-colored capsules, others were oblong. Some of them seemed to have escaped their bottles—escaped gravity, for that matter—and were floating up to the chocolate-drizzled sky... the sky which slowly shifted hue from orange to seafoam green as she watched. "I don't have the slightest idea," she said into her AMP.

"Roger. I have your locator signal, so I don't think you're too far from us. Just hang on, stay in that general area and we'll start moving toward you."

"G-general area, right..." Peace swallowed heavily. "Copy that."

The thing behind the Montezuma box made a disconcerting rattling noise.

"Um," she said, dropping her voice to a whisper, "I think there's a Binary hiding right in front of me. D-do I k-kill it, or save my energy for the Mahjong?

"If they feed too much, they'll grow into copies of the Mahjong they originally came from. It's safer to eliminate them."

"Copy. I'm... I'm gonna do that. Hongo out." Peace raised her fists and crept forward step by step, edging around the gumdrops and bonbons that studded the carpet of frosting. A world made of sweets shouldn't have been terrifying, but here they were. The edge of the box loomed dead ahead. Her nerves sang with tension, a high-pitched, fearful whine. Closer and closer. Taking a deep breath, she stepped around the edge...

There it was. A round little thing the size and rough shape of a melon, its front dominated by a white patch with circling squiggles of blue, a vague interpretation of an eye. The rest of its body was black with red polka-dots. There was a floppy mouse ear on either side of its... head...? and a nurse's cap perched between them. It stood on five sticklike legs, scanning the bizarre landscape with its "eye"... for what, she had no idea.

"Okay," Peace said to herself. "Okay. It's alone, you can do this." Fighting back a sudden onset of trembling, she extended her hand, spread her fingers into a V-shape, and called out: "Precure Peace Thunder...!"

Lightning leapt from her fingertips with a sharp, echoing crack. The Familiar never had a chance; its burnt body collapsed and crumbled into ash.

Again Peace swallowed. One down... who knew how many to go.

Her AMP chimed. "This is Gucci, I heard that! Heading in your direction, Hongo."

"Strength 8 here, I'm on my way too."

And now Madoka's voice again: "Swan to everyone, the Mahjong's magic signature just spiked, it's in motion!"

"Paganini to Swan, can you tell where it's headed?"

"Um," said Peace over the chatter of voices. She had just seen something move out of the corner of her eye, something presumably attracted by the noise of the thunderclap that accompanied her attack. "H-Hongo to everyone. I, um... I th-think I messed up..."

It wasn't just another familiar, she was sure of that now. Something was winding between the dense rows of forks, something black and polka-dotted and the size and length of a train. Her eyes grew wide with terror as the thing rippled and rose up on a wormlike body...

Her first, incongruous thought was that it was too cute to be a monster. It had a clownlike white face with round patches of cheery yellow blush, what looked like a party hat for a nose, and feathery fins, one red and one blue, standing out from its forehead. Its eyes were like something out of a Disney cartoon: big, expressive, and ringed in a rainbow of colors. It peered over the tines of the forks and somehow made her out among the sweets and pills... and Peace saw it break into what was clearly a happy, beaming smile. It was smiling at her.

She only began to scream when its smile grew wider, revealing a mouthful of gleaming, razor-sharp teeth like that of an enormous bear trap.

Peace ran for her life. "Hongo to everyone!"she howled into her AMP. "Mahjong spotted!" Behind her, she heard the Witch dive back to ground level, in hot pursuit. Risking a glance over her shoulder, she saw it plowing through the forks, snapping them as if they were no more than twigs. "It's after me!"

"It's okay, Hongo! We're on our way! Everyone, converge on Hongo's position!"

She supposed it was too much to hope that the hilly terrain would stop it. It didn't even bother going around the enormous cakes, the Witch simply bored through them and burst out the other ends. And it was fast despite its bulk, easily keeping pace with Precure speed. In no time at all, she heard it snapping at her heels, snapping with jaws more than big enough to swallow her whole.

Coming up on her right was a dessert table that stood on spindly legs twenty meters high. Peace slowed down just long enough to vault up to it. It creaked ominously under her weight, and she prayed like crazy that it would hold long enough for her to build up a charge...

The Witch ground to a halt and tilted its head back and forth, searching for its prey. She was too small for it to follow her movements... silently, Peace thanked whatever gods there were for her petite stature. There was nothing else for it, she would have to give the Witch both barrels while she still could. Wobbling atop the dessert table, she threw double V-signs and cried out with all her might: "PEACE THUNDER!"

Twin bolts struck the Witch right between the eyes as it turned to face her, having finally determined where she had gone. Arcs of electricity ran the length of its immense body... it writhed and thrashed around its seemingly endless length as it convulsed, its cartoon eyes screwing up in pain.

Panting hard, Peace spoke into her AMP again as it went through its frenzied dance. "Hongo to everyone... I think I've stunned it. I'm okay, you can co—"

One of the Witch's black, polka-dotted coils lashed out like a tamer's whip. By pure rotten luck, it snapped the flimsy legs of the dessert table. Still in mid-word, Peace found herself in freefall as her perch disappeared out from under her. She plummeted with a scream...

Her impact with the "ground" was softer than she expected. She was ready for a blow that would rattle her bones, but instead it gave beneath her weight. Lying in a perfect impression of herself, Peace groaned and attempted to sit up.

Most of her moved, but her arms and legs didn't. "Huh?" Shaking the stars from her eyes, she inspected herself... and found that her hands and feet were now sunken in frosting. Pulling at them only caused her to sink deeper. Something immense dwarfed her in its shadow. In a rising panic, Peace looked up...

The Witch loomed over her, all agrin. Slowly, deliberately, it opened those terrible jaws, and a blue, rubbery tongue the size of a car slid out and licked its lips.

"No," Peace whispered. "No, don't—"

It dove with phenomenal speed, like some great, bizarre bird of prey, jaws wide...

Peace squealed in disgust as the tongue gave her a thorough sliming, lapping back and forth over her and coating her with Witch slobber. "S-stop it! Th-that's enough, that's enough!"

From behind an upended pocky box, Mami Tomoe emerged with her arms crossed and her lips pursed in a frown. "Nagisa," she chided the Witch, "if you're not going to take this seriously, there's no point to it."

The Witch's cartoon face drooped with disappointment as it shrank back from Peace... and then its smile came back wider than ever as it faced Mami.

Mami took a few steps back. "Oh no. Don't you dare..."

Too late. Its tongue scoured Mami too, and Peace swore she heard it giggle.

Groaning, Peace tugged a hand free of the frosting and wiped her face. No good, the residue made it even more sticky. "You..." she said, starting to work on her other hand. "You guys really used to do this all the time, Mami-san?"

Mami had finally extricated herself from the attentions of the tongue, though not without some difficulty. "It was our job," she said, just a bit testy. "But our Witch hunts never ended like this..."

Perhaps sensing that it had gotten as much entertainment out of harassing them both as it could, the Witch backed off. It was admittedly fascinating to watch such an enormous thing shrink and shrink, slimming back down into a humanoid shape before it finally changed back into Nagisa Momoe, beaming as proudly as if she had just made a perfect score on a test. "Nagisa thinks that went well!" To Peace: "Don't worry, Nagisa wasn't really going to eat you. Not unless you were made of cheese!"

Peace picked herself up, her face, hair, and uniform in shambles. She needed a shower... or three. "Was all of that really necessary?"

"Sorry. Mami-nee said she wanted to give you 'an authentic experience.'" Smiling cheerfully, Nagisa plucked a miniature trumpet from the air, one that bore no small resemblance to her Witch form. "Here, let Nagisa help."

"How is a trumpet going to—"

The little girl's cheeks puffed out like a squirrel's as she blew a high B. A flurry of bubbles erupted from the trumpet's mouth, sweeping over Peace and Mami... where they touched and popped on contact, the Witch slobber melted away.

At least now she felt a little better. "Thanks, Nagisa-chan," said Peace, reaching over to give her a pat on the head.

Nagisa giggled and went in for a hug.

"In all seriousness," said Mami, brushing herself off a few more times for good measure, "I think this was a worthwhile exercise."

"Me too, actually." Madoka slid over the cap of the nearest pill bottle, having finally caught up. "Every Witch is different, of course, but at least now you have a rough idea of what to expect."

"I'll... try to keep that in mind. Where are the others?" Peace asked.

"Twinkle and Neptune fell behind me, they were doing some adjustments to their AMPs. Sakura-chan is coming from the air." Madoka leaned down to ruffle Nagisa's hair. "You got into mischief, didn't you?"

"Maaaaaaaaaaybe a little," said Nagisa, sticking out her tongue.

Sighing, Peace sat back down by an overturned strawberry. She wondered if any of this would feel normal someday...

*****

Elsewhere

Nagisa.

Soft, damp flesh engulfed her arms and legs. There was something clamped onto her face, everything was dark.

Nagisa...

Now that the pain was gone, it was the first time she was able to think clearly in... she didn't know how long. Her first thought was for her partner, her trusted friend, the person she loved most in all the world.

Nagisa!

Some tremendous inner strength welled up within her ravaged body. Perhaps it was the strength of her anger. Nagisa was out there somewhere. All alone. She had to find her... With one great, wrenching motion, she ripped an arm free of the clinging flesh... It made a disgusting, wet tearing noise, something one would hear in a butcher shop. Clawing blindly at her face, at the mask-like thing clamped onto it, she managed to hook her fingers underneath an edge and pulled hard.

Light. Motion. Hundreds of sticky, clinging threads came away with the mask, but she could see. Everything was a smear of moving colors. Groaning, she wrenched her other arm free. Now to work on her legs...

The purple blurs before her didn't seem to care for her movement. "She's... she's breaking out of the pod!" said one, its voice raised with alarm. "That's supposed to be impossible!" said the other. The blur on the right drew closer, extending a pointed end of itself...

Her fist caught it square in what she assumed was the face. Now there was just one blur, looming over her and raising something she couldn't make out.

Whatever these things were, they presumably intended to keep her from Nagisa. She wasn't about to let that happen. Both feet rose up from within the floor of the pod like twin pistons... they connected with the purple blur, and she heard a strangled cry of pain along with a sickening crack.

All four limbs. Fingers and toes, check. Gingerly she patted herself, making sure everything was still there and reasonably intact.

Her hand brushed over the pouch on her hip... it twitched. A small, shaky voice came from inside it. "Wh..." it said. "White...?"

Honoka Yukishiro, Cure White, took immediate comfort in hearing that voice. "I'm here," she said, her own voice dry and raw from disuse. "I'm here, Mipple."

"Where..." A mournful cough. "Where... are we...?"

"I don't know," said White. "But wherever we are, it's not friendly. We need to get out of here and find Black and Mepple..." Climbing from her prison was harder than it should have been, given the weakness of her limbs, but she felt a faint warmth within her heart. That warmth, and the thought that went with it, would keep her going no matter what: Nagisa. Hold on. I'm coming.

END OF CHAPTER 47

NEXT: BUT THE TIGERS COME AT NIGHT

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