It's a surprisingly warm spring day and the last of the cherry blossoms have fallen, reducing the number of interesting things to do for students who get off school by one. Luckily there are plenty of other things available, especially if you have someone to spend that time with.
It's late afternoon and the air is just starting to cool from it's midday heat and Madoka and Homura are out on an afterschool date at the Roaring Bayside Theme Park. Madoka hasn't bothered to change out of her school uniform in order to get to there a little quicker, not having considered asking Homura to help her cheat time to change into something cooler. Luckily being a bit warm means plenty of excuses to share popsicles, and there are plenty of rides that move quick enough to put wind in her face and hair.
It's been a fun day and most of the more thrilling rides have been ridden, though Madoka avoided and shied away from the bumper cars. Now that she feels more comfortable as the temperature cools Madoka grabs onto Homura's arm with both of her own and start leading her off in one direction. The destination is fairly obvious: the large farris wheel that rises high enough into the sky to give an amazing view of both the themepark and the surrounding area of Tokyo.
"Let's ride that next, Homura-chan," she says happily, a bounce in her step. She calms for a moment and leans in, "I bet the view from the top will be really romantic~!" She giggles teasingly and continues on, moving a bit faster. As they move further away from the more thrilling rides they pass by some the concession and game stands, prompting Madoka to smile, "Once we're off the wheel maybe you could try to win me a prize..."
A few minutes later and they're getting onto the wheel, let into their own private gondola, big enough for four people with two bench seats. Naturally Madoka chooses to sit next to Homura rather than across from her, quietly slipping her hand into the dark haired girl's and giving it a squeeze.
Homura didn't change out of her uniform either, wanting to get here as soon as she could and thinking that Madoka might do the same. While she technically does keep a couple of changes of clothes in her shield, those are mostly for emergencies on the order of 'a youma sprayed cake batter literally everywhere and I need to go back to being social with muggles'. It's also... well, one's a school uniform, and the other is a fancy back-up dress.
So while Homura would have been more than happy to help Madoka change before, well, in this exact situation it's not really going to help. Besides, given the option, Homura would be more than happy to share popsicles with Madoka.
Homura laughed and giggled as they rode the more thrilling rides, and if avoided looking directly at the bumper cars. The one time she did, she looked away with a small amount of embarrassment. Times were much different back then.
When Madoka starts pulling her towards the Ferris Wheel, Homura is curious at first as to what Madoka's plan is. Then she hears the whisper and sees the size of the gondolas and it occurs to her that they'd give them another chance to cuddle. Was that Madoka's plan? Homura doesn't know. It's Homura's plan now, though!
"I bet it will be~." Homura's tone is playful. "Let's go find out, shall we?" At the mention of winning Madoka a prize, she looks at the various games. Well, she'd have the dexterity for some of them at least, and it's not like she can easily say no to Madoka. "We can if you want to."
As they load into the gondola, Homura looks down at her lap first, and then at Madoka as her hand is squeezed. She smiles at her girlfriend, returns the squeeze, and leans against her. "I don't think I've done this with you before."
Madoka laughs happily and lets out a small, "Yay!" when Homura agrees to try and win her something later. Candy is one of the prizes, sure, but there's also stuffed animals for those that do especially well. It's not too hard to imagine that Madoka would enjoy getting Matilda a stuffed friend. "Thank you!"
Once they're on the gondola it quickly becomes apparent that the two had the same thoughts to what they could do when relatively alone. Madoka leans back against Homura, closing her eyes for a moment and letting out a happy sigh. There's a small lurch and the wheel spins a slight bit, only to stop as another set of passengers is let on.
A soft shake of her head has one of Madoka's twintails brushing against Homura's shoulder, tickling a bit at her ear. "We haven't, but I've wanted to! I was just waiting for it to get a bit warmer before I asked you to come here alone with me." Pause, "Though maybe that was silly, because I know you're more than happy to help keep me warm."
After speaking Madoka lifts her hand, the one holding Homura's, so that she can press a small kiss to some of her girlfriend's interlaced fingers, leaning her cheek against the back of her hand and nuzzling it afterwards. "Any time I get to spend alone with you is wonderful."
Another lurch and this time the wheel begins it's slow rotations, drawing the gondola away from the platform they got into it on and then up into the sky in a very slow sweeping circle. "So," Madoka asks with a little side to side sway, turning her head towards Homura so that she can more easily look into her eyes, "was I right? Is it romantic?"
'Stuffed Animal' was the first thing that Homura thought of, and she wouldn't settle for less. Though she might get Madoka some candy, too.
Homura puts one arm around Madoka, cuddling up to her as the view reflects in her purple eyes. The feel of Madoka's hair against her skin makes her smile. "I'm always happy to keep you warm, my dear. No matter what time of year it is~."
Homura's hand is kissed by Madoka, and then nuzzled, and she blushes again. She regards her beloved with half-lidded eyes and a soft smile. "You always manage to find some way to get my heart racing, don't you my little angel?" She leans forward to kiss the top of Madoka's forehead. "It is wonderful. These moments are amazing. I wouldn't trade them for anything."
At Madoka's question, Homura looks past her girlfriend, and then ahead at the view. Eventually she turns back to her angel with a smile and leans in. "It's perfect."
She spends a few good moments, looking into Madoka's eyes and smiling, holding her hand and being close to her. She could do this all day, and their past dates more than prove that.
After a moment her smile falters, and she leans back, still holding onto Madoka's hand. Homura clears her throat. "Um... there's something I've been meaning to tell you, though I'm not sure if maybe you've heard it already. It's... it's good news! Sort of, but... it'll remind you of... something sad."
Homura looks away for a moment, closes her eyes, and then after a moment's hesitation she opens them to look into Madoka's. "Sayaka-san told me that she met Anshi's little sister. I haven't gone to see her yet... but... at least she's alright? ... I know that Kyubey had approached her, but Sayaka has already warned her about the dangers of being a Puella Magi. I'm... I admit I don't really know how to approach that."
Madoka scoots up against Homura as the arm goes around here, snuggling against her with a smile on her face. She giggles softly at the words about keeping her warm, "I'll be sure to ask you whenever I get cold from now on." She returns the look into her girlfriends eyes, "I always try. If I always succeed it's only because I love you so much, Homura-chan."
She closes her eyes as the kiss is given to her forehead, sighing happily and resting comfortably against Homura, keeping their enclosed hands together between them, resting between their laps. "I'm glad you like it," Madoka replies softly. A few moments of close up gazing into Homura's eyes is all she can take, and she leans in and kisses her softly on the lips. It's more sweet than passionate, and she draws away and relaxes happily beside the dark haired Puella.
When the smile falters Madoka tilts her head and makes a soft, "Hm?" only to sit up a tiny bit. Good news but reminding of something sad?
She waits in mild confusion as Homura hesitates, blinking a little when the explanation finally comes. "Oh..! So she's okay after all? That is good to hear... though if Kyubey is bothering her it could be a problem." She lets out a half nervous laugh, "To think that Sayaka-chan would be warning people of the dangers of becoming a Puella Magi... she's sure come a long way. I know she took what happened to Anshi-chan very hard. I think all of us did..."
She turns her head, looking out over the expanse of Tokyo. The gondola is about halfway up now, giving a good view over the smaller buildings but still low against the skyscrapers. "If Anshi-chan had known her sister was alright..." she trails off, seeing her own pensive expression in the window with Homura's appearing behind her. A sigh, "It's probably not good to think too much about the past and what we could have done differently. We already know how hard it is to change even one thing in particular, don't we?"
She looks back towards Homura and smiles, a tinge of sadness in it. She looks into her eyes and leans against her, a little bit for support this time as well as the usual enjoyment of being close. "Thanks for letting me know, Homura-chan."
Homura giggles at Madoka's response, still blushing. "Well, I never mind being loved by you, Madoka-chan. It's just my heart's way of saying that it's happy to see you." The sweet kiss is accepted, and Homura reaches up with her free hand to squeeze Madoka's shoulder during the kiss.
Madoka takes the news of Anshi's little sister... about as well as Homura could've expected. She looks away as Madoka starts to bring up what might have been different if Anshi had known... and then she shakes her head. "If alternate timelines were that easy to predict, it wouldn't have taken me nearly a hundred times to find a single timeline where... well, you know."
"People say that hindsight is twenty-twenty, but really it isn't. Hindsight is every bit as bad as foresight, sometimes even worse. As a time traveller, I can say tell you that there's a big difference between the fantasy of going back and doing it better and the reality of being in the same situation and fixing one problem only to watch five more appear."
She rests her head against Madoka's shoulder, looking out over the city skyline. "I'm not saying she was doomed from the start, but I am saying that saving her isn't as easy as you might be tempted to think. Those of us with the potential to become Puella Magi usually do, for one reason or another."
Madoka thanks her, and Homura nods. Really, she doesn't know much about it other than what she said. Sayaka was the one who actually met her, and maybe Homura would be better off not getting involved.
"This is a nice view. I'm glad I get to share it with you."
Madoka smiles after the kiss, eyes peeking away from Homura's eyes for a moment to get a look at her blushing cheeks, which give her a giddy feeling. "I'm always ready to love you and make you feel loved, Homura-chan. The happier you are to see me the happier I'll be."
When Homura responds to her thoughts the pink-haired girl can't help but nod softly as the veteran time traveler puts into words all the reasons she knows wanting to go back and change the past is a mistake. "I know you're right, but a little part of me thinks it's bad of me not to want to change it. I can't listen to that part of me this time, though. You're the one who can go back in time," or at least can when Pluto isn't stopping her, "and after all it was me who told you all the reasons it wouldn't be worth it in the first place. Even if I could... I think there's far too many good things that have happened that might change."
She squeezes Homura's hand because their relationship is obviously the foremost of these. It isn't the only one, though. "What if I made some mistake that ended up letting the Dark Kingdom win? If I was the reason evil was able to take over the world..." she shakes her head a little. Another thought not worth bearing out.
In the end she quiets and settles back down, settling against Homura and closing her eyes. "It'll be okay, because I have you. I can't fix every tragedy, but maybe we can prevent a few more to make up for it." Madoka smiles again at her girlfriends words, turning her head and opening her eyes back up to enjoy the view, looking past her own reflection this time. "It is. ...I wonder how long they'll let us stay on?" she adds after a moment with a giggle.
Only a few moments later they would both be able to feel it, the presence of a Witch nearing quickly. Perhaps it was fleeing a confrontation with another Puella? Or maybe it found a source of easy victims, because as it fades into their magical senses it seems to come to a stop. It isn't in the park, but it must be within a few blocks of it.
Madoka tenses a bit against Homura, and then relaxes as she takes in a big breath lets out it out as a sigh, "I guess we won't be able to sit here together as long as I wanted." Soft pink eyes look knowingly up into Homura's and only now does she let go of Homura's hand, her ring shimmering and transforming into her egg-shaped Soul Gem. "It looks like tonight has more planned for us than just a date."
"Wanting to change it is normal," says Homura. She doesn't go on about how futile it is because, well... she's already given her opinion on that and the girl sitting next to her is living proof that it isn't that futile. "It's just not an option. Well I can't say that for sure, in this world. It might be possible, just not through anything that I know how to do. I tried to warn Anshi-san. Maybe I could have done more... but there would be a cost for that, too."
Homura holds Madoka close as she settles against her, enjoying the moment of closeness. Yeah, moments like this are worth everything she had to do, or may yet still have to do. "We can't fix everything, no. But... we've saved the city once, saved the world once, and many lives besides that. I think we do alright as magical girls, and for being technically undead I think we live pretty good lives."
Homura feels the presence of a Witch about the same time that Madoka does, and frowns as their date is interrupted. On the subject of saving lives...
The veteran nods as her partner henshins, holding out her own hand to create a purple ball of energy. It splashes over and washes over her uniform, changing her into her henshin and forming her shield. "That's right. Looks like we have work to do."
She looks down over the edge of the gondola, judging the distance to the ground below. In her henshin, she could probably make it, but then she'd land among people. So she goes with a different plan. Her feet jump up to the ledge, and she holds onto the railing with one hand, extending the other to Madoka.
"If we fly, we should be able to catch it."
"There might have been more I could have done. I thought she was going to wait to think about her wish more. I didn't realize there was something she wanted that badly all along." She gives a little shake of her head, "She knew all of the risks it isn't too dangerous to warn people about too, as much as I did. I think the only way to stop her would have been to tell her how badly things would have turned out for her, but from your experiences it doesn't seem like very many people are willing to believe their wishes can turn out so badly. If you have a wish that big it's hard to think you might have it wrong."
Madoka can only agree with how much they've been able to do. She can't take credit for Walpurgisnacht except to say she made it past without contracting with Kyubey, but she is proud of her actions at the North Pole. She can't help but giggle as Homura says they live good lives. "My life is wonderful! Even if I have to fight I have lots of friends, I get to help people all the time, and I have the most amazing and beautiful girlfriend ever." She giggles and nuzzles against Homura, only to be interrupted by the presence of the Witch.
Homura henshins with a splash of purple and Madoka follows up, pink magic spreading over her and then popping all at once into her Magical Girl dress. She looks at Homura's hand and gives her a nervous look, closing her eyes and laughing a little before taking it. "I... don't actually know how to fly when I'm like this. You might have to carry me!" She climbs up onto the ledge of the gondola beside Homura while holding her hand. "Let's go!"
Even if Madoka can't trust herself to succeed, she trusts Homura to keep any failures from being too great.
Homura nods. "No one likes to think they'll be a statistic. They want to think that it won't happen to them, and that they'll get to be the exception to the rule. That's part of the lure, because no matter how terrible someone tries to tell you it could be there's always a chance it won't happen to you."
Homura counts Madoka as being there even if she didn't have powers at the time, and even if certain other Puella Magi see it differently. Madoka did provide medical care for at least one magical girl, and she was brave enough to do what she could. That puts her on the same level as everyone else as far as courage goes. Then again, it's not as if Homura isn't biased towards Madoka to begin with.
"I have it wonderful, too. I have a nice house, and good friends. I get to be with the girl I've always loved, and I get to see you happy and feel your warmth all the time."
Homura's hand clasps around Madoka's. "If that's how it is, then allow me." Her other arm wraps around Madoka's waist, and she holds her girlfriend tightly. "It'll be just like old times. If only I had a cute fuzzy hat for you to catch." When Homura leaps out of the gondola, she does it with confidence. She's flown before, and she's also flown with Madoka before. This time around, she doesn't even have as far to go. Of all the things that could go wrong, she doesn't expect that this will be one of them.
Homura will happily carry her girlfriend if necessary, and if not she'll be happy about Madoka's success in learning. Either way she doesn't waste time trying to get to the Labyrinth, and hopefully, between the crowds below and the privacy of the ferris wheel, no one will notice the sudden absence of the two girls.
"You can feel my warmth as often as you like. It means I get to feel yours, too."
Case in point as Homura wraps her arm around her waist. She can't help giggling playfully as Madoka wraps her other arm around Homura's neck to hold on. She jumps when her girlfriend and partner does, launching up into the air with her pink pigtails flying out behind her behind the long black hair of Homura. As the wind whips around them from the speed of it she giggles, squeezing herself closer, "We don't cuddle very much in these clothes, do we? I wonder if this counts."
She doesn't want to flirt so much that she distracts Homura while she's trying to fly, not knowing how much concentration it takes, but she can't help doing it just a little. Especially when her Puella Magi outfit is all but made to flutter prettily in the wind as she moves, skirt and it's many petticoats brushing against Homura's legs and side as the two of them fly through the air.
The Labyrinth entrance and thus the Witch itself has settled up on the roof of an old folks home, not quite a nursing facility but filled with the weak, frail, and vulnerable nonetheless. As soon as they arrive Madoka looks to Homura with wide eyes while stepping away and judging their surroundings, "This is a such an awful place. We might have to hurry with this one, Homura-chan!"
With a flash of pink she summons her bow, taking aim towards the Labyrinth entrance and firing a single pink arrow that strikes it in the center and opens up a portal wide enough for the two of them to enter, the Witch's emblem of a pair of crochet needles and a spindle to look like a skull and crossbones emblazoned upon it.
Madoka rushes ahead and jumps through, revealing a maze of crisscrossing and oddly angled tubes that upon further inspection are enormous threads of fuzzy yarn. This Witch is also clearly not newly hatched, it's familiars all active and a thrum of activity, caricatures of flies, bees, and fewer but larger and more threatening butterflies with bodies resembling sheep, goats, and alpaca. They fly about from strand to strand collecting the fuzz from the yarn, acting more like a hive of ants than the yellow and black bees some of them resemble.
The nearest of the swarm detect the newcomers, and soon a very fuzzy sheep-fly with shears for wings is buzzing over to inspect the intruders.
As she flies through the air with her beloved, Homura hears Madoka's flirting, and responds with a giggle. "Do you like my henshin? I can cuddle you like this too if you'd like. As long as we're not in front of anyone we mind seeing us like this."
Even this might be considered a romantic image. Homura and Madoka holding each other as they fly through the sky, the wind playing with their hair and fluttering their clothes, the two of them held together by their affections and trust even as they intend to go into combat together.
Finding out that the Witch is in an old folk's help puts a damper on Homura's mood. This is a terrible place for a Witch to be, and that's all the more reason why the two Puella Magi have to act quickly. "Well. The sooner we get rid of it, the sooner we can be sure these people will be okay, right?"
Homura watches as Madoka opens the portal, and she goes in shortly after her girlfriend. When she looks inside, she sees the yarn, and the woolly familiars, and... flies? Butterflies? Sheep? Bees?
BEES?
Homura frowns at the sheep that comes their way, and without waiting to see if they'll be attacked she pulls a rocket launcher from her shield and puts it over her shoulder.
"Knock Knock."
She aims at the shear-winged sheep and fires.
"Of course I like it! It's almost like a suit and has a very pretty skirt to go with," Madoka replies quickly. She giggles in return, "I'll take you up on that. Though if we ever went to an anime convention we could probably wear these and cuddle in front of people just fine~." With the obvious 'downside' that they'd no doubt draw a LOT of people taking pictures.
And speaking of pictures, if Homura had any drones out right now this would make a fantastic one.
Madoka nods in agreement as Homura says killing the Witch faster will help ensure no one will get hurt. Once inside she blinks as Homura pulls out her rocket launcher. The bizzare sheep-like fly gets annihilated by the explosion of the rocket, the Witch magic holding it together disintegrating with little pieces of the rockets casing flying and clattering against the 'ground' of various strands of yarn.
That gets attention of all the familiars, and soon there's a mad rush for the two Puella. Madoka pulls out her bow and begins firing, running while launching magical arrows. The flies and bees seem to go down easily enough, but single arrows seem to only engrage the butterflies, which soon start chasing after her. She lets out a squeak and dives off the side of her perch to another string of yarn below, tucking into a roll and then, perhaps oddly, firing at several more butterflies, which similarly charge after her, crashing into and smashing the yarn strand right before she jumps up to another higher one, the impact cutting it in half and sending both ends crashing downwards, playing havoc with those below.
She keeps this up for a short while, collecting an ever larger swarm of the clearly more dangerous familiars, only to shout, "Homura-chan!" to get her partner's attention before dashing past her, a clean dozen of the larger familiars close behind.
She trusts Homura to know how to handle a clumped up grouping like that, even if she has her own swarm of sheeplike 'flies' and goatlike 'bees' to deal with.
Homrua smirks. "You like it for that? Alright. I'd be happy to cuddle you like this, any time you'd like." The thought of them being at an anime convention makes her giggle, but the thought of pictures being taken of them... huh. Well, maybe some people would. She's not sure she cares if they do or not.
Since they're going into a fight, now's a good time to pull a drone out of her shield and setting it to follow them, right? It can't be helped that Madoka is being cute at the time, Homura muses, because Madoka is always adorable. Besides, she's not going to build a photo album by not taking pictures, is she? Homura reaches into her shield to release a drone, and the small thing flies up and away, hovering after them.
The drone follows her into the labyrinth, but Homura has no intention of being naive about it. That drone could be taken out in one shot, and she prefers to rely upon redundancy. So when the swarms of new familiars come, she holds her shield horizontally and fifty or so drones pour out and scatter, taking images of the fight from several angles but mostly being unobtrusive and avoiding familiars that get too close.
Homura tosses the now-empty rocket launcher aside, and pulls out an assault rifle and starts shooting the weaker familiars. She keeps an eye on Madoka as her partner starts gathering a train of familiars following her. Homura notices that the butterflies are gathering behind Madoka, but after a moment she suspects that Madoka is doing it on purpose. Especially when she keeps doing it.
When Madoka calls out her name, the intent becomes obvious. With all of those butterflies following her in a clump, they're vulnerable to several of Homura's potential weapons. Suddenly, and without warning, there is a cloud of grenades in the air, each explosive flying between the butterflies. If one looks closely, one might have enough time to see that the pins have been pulled before one's sight was filled by a cascade of fiery explosives.
Homura runs down the line of yarn, opposite of Madoka's direction. When they pass, she says, "Thanks for the easy target."
She discards her current assault rifle, and produces another. She's always got more familiars to deal with.
"Yay!" Madoka cheers, hugging onto Homura extra tight for a moment before they land.
She is unfortunately a little busy to see the amazing spectacle of dozens of drones swarming out of Homura's shield, but she certainly notices their presence in the 'sky' of the Labyrinth. She takes care not to get too close to any of them because needless losses don't serve any purpose. She jumps from place to place gathering up the butterflies, her instinct to trust her partner working perfectly as the bundle of grenades goes off in their midst, the exploding fireball catching the entire group up and destroying them completely, gone to nothing before the smoke even clears. "You're welcome, Homura-chan! Thanks for never letting me down~."
The assault rifle also proves to be plenty powerful enough to kill the smaller and more numerous Familiars, and once the larger ones are cleared out Madoka begins firing multiple shots at a time out of her bow, focusing on covering behind Homura so that they can't get close enough to bring any of those snippy wings to bear.
In this way they're able to make progress, though it isn't fast progress. This Labyrinth is one that deserves it's name, mazelike and confusing to the senses, prone to leading people around in circles. There is a clue, however- though each strand seems to thicken and thin in random directions the magical sense of the Witch only gets stronger as the strands of yarn gets thinner, the fuzz picked clean from them. Aside from that they oh so slowly get stickier, which at first helps keep footing on the quickly shrinking strands but quickly starts to become an impediment.
"Why would the yarn be smaller if it's closer to the Witch?" Homura wonders out loud. As trippy as Labyrinths often are, they usually make some kind of sense. While she doesn't quite figure out the 'why' of it, she does trust her senses and instincts.
What she doesn't trust is the slowly escalating level of stickiness at the bottom of her shoes. It becomes a hinderance to her, and she's starting to feel like she should fly instead.
She glances sideways at Madoka, in betwween taking down groups of familiars. If she flies now, wouldn't she leave her partner behind? Not only that, but Madoka won't get the experience she needs if Homura runs off by herself, and there's no telling if something would happen to Madoka if she had to face these monsters alone. In the end, it's better if they don't split up. Carrying Madoka isn't much of an option either, because both of them need to have their weapons out in order to fight these monsters.
So Homura soldiers on. If she needs to dodge or pull Madoka out of the way, she can still stop time.
"With our footing being sticky like this, and also thinner, we'll be less agile. It'll take longer to move. You'll have to anticipate and react a lot quicker, and sometimes it might be easier to stand your ground. Though... if you do that at the wrong time, and don't kill the familiar in time, you'll be in trouble."
Homura pauses in order to gun down another wave of familiars coming at them. "At the same time, you might be less likely to lose your footing, but don't rely too much on that."
"Maybe because the Familiars are picking it apart?" Madoka muses in response. "But why the Witch want that? This is it's own Labyrinth..."
Homura's instincts serve her well and progress is made, the feeling of the witch getting stronger and stronger. As the yarn thins to the size of thick rope a change occurs. The various strands at first seem to start to run parallel, only to spread so far apart only the strand they're on can be seen. As the waves of Familiars fall to a hail of gunfire and arrows something can be seen in the distance; what appears to be a fallen and hollowed out tree the size of a skyscraper, clearly the center of the Labyrinth and the home of the Witch. All the strands of yarn seem to stabbing through the center of it, seeming to emanate from a single place through the bizarre, twisted space of the Labyrinth.
Progress is slow due to the now very sticky yarn, but so many familiars have fallen between the two ranged Puella that they're only few and far between now. Even the larger butterflies go down quickly to combined firepower of Homura and Madoka.
"It's getting really hard to move," Madoka half notes and half complains. The yarn seems to be nearly soaked in some kind of awful sticky substance now, and the pink-haired Puella is having a hard time making progress. "It might be easier just to cut it and fall down... but I have no idea what direction we might fall."
She looks down, below herself and past the sticky strand of yarn she's on, seeing only the disconcerting background beyond, effectively unknown nothingness. " I have an idea!" Madoka says suddenly, looking to Homura, "I'm going to try moving the rope, be careful." Holding her arms out for balance she carefully drops into a crouch and then pushes with her legs, the strand of yarn bowing down slowly and then rebounding with the same gentle motion.
Madoka looks to Homura with a bright smile, "If we get it to bounce fast enough, we can use it to jump!" Nevermind that Homura could straight up fly if she had to. She repeats the same process as before and this time continues in time, creating a wave along the strand of yarn but more importantly bouncing the Puella up and down more and more. It eventually becomes almost violently powerful, but the stickiness of the yarn keeps them from being thrown clear- magical strength and balance is enough to help with the rest, though a normal person would likely fall and get stuck.
"On the count of three lets jump, okay?" Madoka bounds a bit harder once, twice, "One... two..." she speaks when the bouncing reaches it's height rather than it's depth. "Three!" She jumps, letting out a squeal as she's thrown free from the wildly swinging strand of yarn... without her pretty red shoes, which are stuck firmly to the yarn. Her arms pinwheel as she arcs through the air towards the top of the fallen tree, tripping and falling forward when she lands, cheek against the old and musty bark with her butt in the air while making a dizzy and disoriented, "Ahhhhhhh..."
Good thing she has all those petticoats! This is exactly what they're for.
Homura shrugs at Madoka's question. "Who knows? Maybe it's a trap, or maybe they're harvesting it. Maybe it'll make more sense when we actually see the Witch."
As the two Puella trudge on, Homura notices the skyscraper-sized tree trunk. How long has that thing been there?! It's huge! Her black hair swings back and forth as she looks around at the expanses to either side. That one place seems to be the focal point of all the threads, and it's most likely where the Witch herself is. She tilts her head, wondering just what route would be best to take.
Her girlfriend complains, and Homura looks down at Madoka's feet, then her own. Progress is getting slower. It's not hard to see why. "Cutting it might not be the best idea. Labyrinths are under no obligation to follow conventional physics."
Madoka gets an idea, and Homura nods at her. The veteran Puella is pretty sure she can recover if she needs to, or save Madoka if she needs to, so she's willing to see how the idea plays out. The robe starts bouncing, Homura wobbles a little to keep her balance, and when Madoka explains her intent Homura blinks.
"Okay, let's try it." Madoka can't really learn if she can't experiment, right? Homura's still here to be her safety net, so it makes things a bit safer. Madoka counts down, and Homura bounces along with her, trying to increase the tension on the rope and the force of the launch. On three, she jumps, soaring towards the tree as her hair whips behind her. She looks aside at Madoka, sees her pinwheeling her arms, and shouts, "Try to control your fall! You're going to--"
Homura winces, and then crashes into the top a moment later, rolling as she hits the ground to disperse the force of impact. She quickly gets up onto her knees, and then her feet, looks around and sees... Madoka face planted into the ground. "Hm." Petticoats may protect Madoka's decency, but she's still in an embarrassing position. Homura comes up to her, trying to wrap her arms around Madoka and pull her back onto her feet again. "Are you alright, honey?"
Having two people bouncing the yarn rope make the progress go much quicker, and Madoka flashes Homura a smile when she wordlessly begins helping. It's things like that that make it so Madoka knows just how much she can rely on her Witch hunting partner.
The launching off was a lot more forceful than she was expecting though, and even as she takes Homura's advice to try and prevent it she takes a dizzying spill- it would have been a dangerous one for someone not in henshin.
When Homura helps her up she leans heavily against her for a moment, letting out a dazed, "Uuuu..." before nodding her head, "I'll be fine once I get my balance back." Her lean becomes lighter, and she hugs Homura gently, "Thank you. I think I might to work on that. It's usually easy, but I wasn't expecting how fast I'd go and I got mixed up." Madoka lets out a self-conscious sigh and hangs her head minutely, "If the Witch had been around you'd have had to stop time to save me."
A moment later she smiles and tightens the hug, "But you -were- here to save me." She looks down at her feet pointedly and pouts at her missing shoes. With a bit of magic a new pair pops into existence on her feet.
Feeling mostly sorted out she steps away from Homura and looks around at all the strands of yarn. "It's strange. At the entrance they were going all kinds of different directions and were huge, then it seemed like they were going the same direction, but now they're all coming together? I knew Labyrinths moved and changed, but this one seems to be even more warped than normal," Madoka observes. "I don't even see any Familiars from here," she adds a bit nervously. A second later she remembers their circumstances, "Oh no! I forgot, we have to hurry!" Suddenly half panicked she runs about, looking for a way to make progress. "Should we go to one end and go in that way?" She asks, pigtails flying as she looks this way and that, only to stumble onto a broken off branch, a hole leading into the hollowed out log where it once grew. "Here's a way. Are we ready?" She'll wait for Homura to get over to her before jumping in, waiting if she's told to.
Homura holds Madoka, at first to support her, and then to continue the embrace as Madoka holds her back. She's silently happy for the hug, and a part of her wishes that they were still on the Ferris Wheel. They still would be, if not for the Witch, but Homura couldn't ignore something like that and neither could Madoka. Such is life for a Puella Magi.
"Well, that's why we're hunting together. Safety in numbers, right?" Homura smiles down at the slightly shorter Madoka. She's happy that she still gets to protect Madoka, even if the pink-haired Puella doesn't need it quite as often. When she notices the lack of shoes she starts to worry, but Madoka makes another pair and Homura giggles.
She releases Madoka as the other girl steps away, giving Madoka the time she needs to gather herself. When Madoka remembers that they need to hurry, Homura says, "It's better that you be ready for the fight, Madoka-chan. Once it starts we won't have a chance to catch our breath."
Aside from that, she doesn't argue, though she resists the urge to squee at how cute Madoka's running around is. Sure, it's a serious situation but... oh my god she's so cute! Homura clears her throat instead of making any other noise.
Madoka seems to have recovered, and if she's ready to go then that's good enough for Homura. As Madoka notices the broken-off branch, Homura walks towards it and looks inside. She frowns in thought, looks down at her assault rifle, puts it into her shield, and produces another with a full magazine. After loading the chamber, she turns to Madoka and nods. "Let's go." When Madoka goes, Homura jumps in after her.
The two might be jumping into a trap, but Homura does have the ability to stop time.
It's a sign for how much she likes Homura and being close to her that Madoka hugs onto her in a situation like this. She has always wanted to be able to protect people and keep them safe from Youma and Witches ever since learning about Magical Heroes. That desire hasn't faded a bit now that she's capable of it but even when doing exactly that her affection for Homura can be the center of her attention. She has always been the type to enjoy herself while fighting as a Magical Girl when no one is in immediate danger, though.
"I'm glad I have you to help keep me safe, Homura-chan," she responds while close. "I know you're strong enough to be able to rely on yourself, but I hope having me around makes it easier on you, too." She looks the slight distance up into purple eyes and smiles.
"I'm ready now!" she says to try and assure her partner and girlfriend while running around looking for an entrance. She so focused that she doesn't notice anything odd about Homura when she clears her throat, a serious and slightly worried look on her face. If she did know just how much Homura enjoyed the bounciness of her clothes and hair and the flowing of her ribbons she'd be very happy. There is a reason she designed the outfit to exemplify all those things and she'd be pleased to hear it worked as intended.
Homura readies a new weapon and Madoka gives a firm nod when she says she's ready, jumping in immediately after.
What's found inside isn't a trap, but it is the Witches domain. All the threads of yarn, now incredibly thin, converge in the center of the log on a single plane, a spiral of other yarns extending from the center outward and covering it's nearly entire area and making obvious their true nature: a web. There were no Familiars outside the log, and here there are only a few, flying to and from via the ends of the enormous, hollowed out log. The landscape is a wasteland of discarded clothing, blankets, and other crocheted items, coating what otherwise looks to be a grassy meadow.
A shears-winged sheeplike 'fly' familiar with compound eyes flies past, struggling to fly with all the yarn-fuzz it has collected held in it's six legs, baaaing as it goes. In the center of the web an enormous shape moves in the jerky motions sometimes associated with Witches, turning it's head towards the Familiar. It turns on the web and the monstrosity can be seen more clearly. It's huge and red, with the body the shape of a yarn spool, eight jutting legs angling out of it made out of pairs of disjointed crocheting needles. It's head is an almost unrecognizable mass that vaguely resembles a yo-yo, only with a pair of wicked fangs protruding from it.
With two legs it holds what appears to be some kind of seeming victim covered in webbing, only to reach out and pluck the fuzz from the fly Familair. There's a frenzy of impossible crocheting activity, two of it's other hooked legs moving in a well practiced blur. When it stops a freshly minted bee Familiar is seen, which buzzes around it's masters head gratefully, only to start flying erratically before taking a path straight towards the two Puella Magi. The Witch takes notice and roars in protest of the intrusion, shifting closer to them on it's web and rears up on it's legs to prepare for something nefarious.
"Oh my god," Madoka says in a slightly queasy voice after witnessing the construction of the Familair. "If I wasn't ready to kill it fast already I would be now." She creates her bow in a flash of pink magic and draws it at the same time, taking aim and firing at the bee to destroy it while breaking into a run.
Homura closes her eyes. "Having you around makes it a lot easier on me. I feel a lot better, knowing that you're safe, getting to be with you, and besides that... you never know when I'll come across an unpleasant surprise and need someone to help me."
After all, Madoka became a magical girl specifically to safe Homura. It may be the case that Homura's the veteran, Madoka's very much someone she's relied on before. Even if that wasn't the case, and she got absolutely nothing out of working with her, Homura would still want to spend time with Madoka.
Homura's glad to hear that Madoka's ready. She looks around to see if a drone is capturing it. Sure enough, a few of them have followed them all this way. Excellent. This is also going into the album, one way or another.
Dammit, Homura, take it seriously! You're in a Labyrinth!
I know I know, inner voice, but she's so---
>:|
Okay, okay fine.
They jump into the hole, and end up in a strange room. Large web, discarded clothes, a few familiars... There's a theme here, Homura's sure. "Well, at least we know why it was sticky... but if there's a spider's web here then..."
She trails off as the sheepfly flies overhead, and then gets closer to the enormous... thing. It doesn't take her long to realize that this is the Witch, and... as far as Witches go, it's one of the freakiest that Homura has seen in a long while.
"Yeah, agreed," she says to Madoka's exclamation. The Witch approaches, and Madoka's shooting and fleeing. Homura flees in a different direction, trying to make sure that Madoka and Homura are attacking from different angles so that at least one might be able to get past whatever this thing has for protection.
As she runs across the web, she sends a spray of assault rifle fire at the enormous Witch, letting out rapid bursts at it and keeping an eye out for more familiars. More camera drones seem to have followed them inside, though some of them have apparently been hit by something or other along the way.
Madoka makes a happy sound and smiles a bit wider while closing her eyes in response to Homura's sweet words.
She notices the drones, careful to not let her guard down just because there don't seem to be familiars nearby, but isn't considering that they might have their cameras recording her specifically. When she finds out how useful they can be for reasons other than training she'll be pleased!
The few Familiars that are around move in to attack, though their harassment isn't nearly what the swarm near the Labyrinth's entrance was. They are, however, a nuisance and distraction. One of the larger butterfly Familiars starts chasing after Madoka, who dodges a series of frenzied attacks, rolling across the soft and fluffy ground before popping back up to her feet. She has to pull a red sweater off of her face and toss it aside. It's a little disturbing just how genuinely soft, fuzzy and well made it is. If it wasn't made of Witch magic she might even like it.
A few more dodges with shots taken right after and the Familiar goes down. It's true she could have dealt with it with a single decisive attack, but this way was more magically efficient. Unlike at the North Pole she can't afford to use everything in a single huge attack. It'd probably work, but it'd be a massive waste. Part of being a skilled Puella is knowing when to use her magic carefully and when to use it freely and the pink-haired girl is making a concerted effort to learn.
Things then get a lot more hectic as the Witch itself acts, lifting it's bulbous rear section ahead of itself as Homura's rifle shots punch holes into it and firing huge sticky masses of yarn webbing at the two, splitting it's shots between them equally. The large masses of sticky red offer some defensive utility as well, absorbing a fair amount of Homura's direct gunfire, though the bullets do tend to tear through them and render them mostly harmles mid-flight. This Witch seems to unfortunately be more intelligent than average as well, or at least more tactically keen, focusing on whichever Puella is pressured harder by it's Familiars.
Madoka gets clipped by one of the disgusting blasts, one hand getting pinned to the ground. The Witch starts reeling her in by a thin connected wire, using the webbing like a net, but Madoka is able to free herself by pulling her hand out of her glove. "Why do I keep losing clothes!" she cries indignantly, letting her entrapped bow vanish before reforming it in her hand, though not thinking to create a new glove to go along with it.
While on the run she starts firing more powerful arrows at the Witch, trying to hurt and distract it. Some are caught up by the webbing shots themselves just like Homura's bullets but others make it through, causing the Witch to roar again and redouble it's efforts, even as the last of it's nearby Familiars are cleared out.
Homura is glad that Madoka isn't being too inefficient with her magic. There are times when decisive strikes are needed, and then there are times when one can stall and trade time for magic efficiency. She's glad that Madoka is demonstrating she knows there's a difference.
However, she can't pay too much attention to her girlfriend other than for what's a basic necessity for whatever tactical choices she'll need to make. The Witch demands her focus, especially as the Familiars fall, with Madoka having taken care with perhaps one of the strongest ones around.
When the red yarn comes at her, Homura jumps over the first string, and then to the side of the next, and manages to keep this up until she suddenly finds that she's out of room. She steps onto one red string, trips and gets hit by another, and then several more, legs tied together fast and her shielded arm getting locked onto her chest next. She manages to save her right arm from getting encased by holding up her rifle to take the rest of the hits, only to have her weapon ripped out of her grip.
As she's dragged towards the spider, she lifts her left arm and angles it the slightest bit, so that her right hand can still reach into her shield. She pulls out a rocket launcher, firing at the Witch directly, before tossing the rocket launcher at the red yarn. Quickly, she repeats this several times, not using time stop but instead her own agility to fire rocket after rocket at the Witch.
But she keeps getting dragged along, towards the Witch, and her eyes go down to her legs which can barely move, no matter how hard she tries. How is she going to get out of this...?
As soon as Madoka is free from the webbing she spares a look towards Homura gasping when she sees her so entangled. "Homura-chan!" she shouts while breaking into a sprint, rushing over as quickly as she can. She isn't sure what to do at first, but she does remember the conversation they had a while back about getting bound or otherwise caught up. She fires a spread of arrows at the Witch, but mainly intends to use them to take out any more webbing coming their way. She looks upset and worried as Homura gets dragged along, trying to frantically think of what to do. There's so much that freeing her won't be as simple as pulling off a shoe or cutting one rope.
Madoka has two choices that she can see, either attempt to finish the Witch quickly herself, or do something slightly less desperate to buy time. As worried as she is, she chooses the later, lifting her bow and firing a shot towards the sky.
She doesn't even look as the symbol forms above them, instead tossing away her bow to the side without a thought and dropping down beside Homura. Her face is as serious as the other girl has ever seen it as soft pink eyes survey her form. She holds up her right hand and a shimmering magical arrow forms in it, which she slides beneath one strand of yarn webbing and jerks upwards.
To her great relief the webbing gives way, better freeing up Homura's arm she's using to fire rockets.
"Homura-chan," the pink-haired Puella Magi begins as she gets up and moves near her girlfriend's feet, "stop time as soon as you can." All around pink arrows begin to rain down, taking out what few Familiars remain. It isn't the most powerful version of the attack she's ever used, quite the opposite really, but it is strong enough to destroy any more webs thrown at the pair before it can reach them. It does some damage to the Witch itself, but stopping any more binding attacks is by far the most important.
Because it gives her time. The first thing she does with it is hack through the webbing connecting Homura to the Witch, followingup with trying to cut around and free up Homura's other arm and shield. She isn't messing around at all, their best option now is to keep their opponent from acting.
They had better do something soon, however, as the Yarn Witch is also done messing around. Seeing that it's shot webs are no longer having an effect as soon as the rain of arrows is over it spins a long piece of webbing between six of it's freakish legs into a sticky cat's cradle, leaping off it's with the other two to try and pin it's two opponents while they're together, fangs bared.
Homura is busy trying to figure out how to get out of it on her own when her girlfriend suddenly comes to her rescue. The arrows provide a good cover, and it's something Homura hadn't considered before. She slows her firing when Madoka draws close, and stops when she moves down Homura's feet, not wanting to hit her darling by accident.
When she's told to stop time as soon as she can, Homura nods. Really, the only thing that makes impractical is the fact that the webbing is still tied to the Witch. If she stopped time too soon, she'd drag the Witch into the time stop and essentially remove Madoka from the fight, but not from danger. So she waits until the bonds around her feet are cut before she does stop time, reaching out with her now more mobile foot to touch Madoka and bring her into her private grey-tinted world.
"Thanks, Madoka-chan," she says, once they're both together here. With her free hand, she reaches out to grab some part of Madoka to ensure that she won't be time-frozen along with everything else. Once most of the bonds are cut, she looks up at the Witch, and then at Madoka. "How much magic did you use?" she asks, looking at Madoka's Soul Gem.
Homura stands up, looking at the menacing fangs and webbed cat's cradle of the Spider Yarn Witch. Her first instinct is to move out of the way, and she'll get to that eventually, but for now the two of them are in an ideal situation to attack the Witch. She looks at her partner, and then at the now cut sticky yarn. She reaches down to pick up a piece of yarn, sticks one end to herself, and the other end to her partner, temporarily sticking the two of them together. She releases Madoka and says, "Sorry it's so gross, but using this we can keep our hands free."
Even Homura's rockets are weak, but thanks to recent events she actually does have one option in this case. She holds out her hand as a black bow appears in her grip. In her other hand, a purple arrow appears as she makes a motion of nocking it. She waits, allowing it to charge, as a purple flame ignites on the top of it. When she decides she's spent enough magic on it, she releases the arrow, where it flies forward slightly before losing some of its color and holding still in time.
She then says to Madoka, "When you're done, we should reposition before I start time again."
However long the two of them take, Homura makes sure that when time does resume, the two of them are far away from where the Witch expects them to be.
Madoka wasn't sure if the web was enough to keep Homura from stopping time or not. She's noticed by now that she does it by rotating the shield, and getting something sticky on it to gum it up is plausible enough that she doesn't want to risk it, and continues cutting Homura's primary tool free despite the grey and frozen world around them.
"You're welcome; I'm just glad you're safe," Madoka replies to Homura's thanks, a sentiment she imagines the other girl can appreciate. She keeps on cutting through the web until Homura is completely free, looking slightly embarrassed as Homura reaches out and holds onto her. She forgot something important, but Homura remembered.
Once Homura stands up she gives a small shake of her head, "Not that much. No more than a normal Witch so far." Though the Spider Yarn Witch is still very much alive. She looks shocked when suddenly stuck with a piece of the sticky yarn, and then momentarily confused, only to giggle when it's made clear why. "That's a good idea! I guess I shouldn't mind being glued to you, anyway," she says in a flirty tone.
It's only temporary, however, as Homura manifests her own black bow and takes a shot. Madoka is suddenly serious again. "I don't want to see what else this has ready for us. Let's destroy it now and not give it a chance to catch us off guard again." It seems Homura getting webbed was a closer call than Madoka is willing to accept.
She manifests her own bow, drawing it and firing a pair of charged pink shots to go with Homura's, taking the advice afterwards and moving well out of the way. Her eyebrows lower a little and she draws her bow again, glancing down at her Soul Gem and gauging how much magic she's used. Her bow is drawn again and she charges third final shot even more, empowering it with magic until she's used enough of her reserves that it'll take one full use of a Grief Seed's two to replenish.
Even if she wasn't physically hurt she was pressured enough to feel so annoyed that she'll be happy with a net even trade with it all said and done. Ok, an even trade with the fight and the other time spent since her last Witch Hunt; it's a better deal when you factor in the cuddle time!
When time resumes the Spider Yarn Witch lands on it's hindmost legs, slamming down it's cat's cradle of webbing with it's other six while striking downward right where Madoka had been cutting Homura free with it's fangs. It roars and screams in pain and confusion when instead of delivering a decisive blow it takes three powerful shots to it's center, it's yarnspindle body ravaged enough to blast a hole through it, it's legs barely holding together, sickly webbing goo oozing from it's body.
It doesn't have long to rage and lament, however, as Madoka's final arrow and whatever else Homura might decide to contribute streaks in from the side, erupting into a large pink explosion that finishes off the Witch and collapses the barrier around them, leaving Homura and Madoka standing side by side on the roof of the retirement house, sans the sticky yarn webbing holding them together.
Madoka flirts about being glued together, and Homura winks. "Well when you put it that way, I don't mind at all!" When Madoka then says that she doesn't want to see what the Witch has in store, Homura nods sharply. "Me either. Let's take care of this thing here and now." It was a pretty close call for Homura, but ended up being less of a problem with Madoka here. Wasn't Madoka just saying how she hoped it made things easier for Homura to have Madoka around?
As Madoka fires off several charged shots, Homura watches and joins in with her own, firing her own purple arrows alongside Madoka's pink. It costs her more magic than her rockets to do this, but she doesn't want to put all of the burden on Madoka, either. It's not quite the same as the rocket spam she's used to, but it's bound to be more effective.
When the last of the arrows hit, and the bombardment is complete, the Witch is gone and the two of them are right where they started. Homura looks around the roof... and then her eyes go towards the Grief Seed.
She reaches down, snatches it up, and hands it to Madoka while her focused, narrowed eyes scan the horizon. "Looks like we're done here." She turns her head, looking the other way to be sure, before then turning back to the ferris wheel and the park they were just at.
With a smile, she turns back to Madoka. "Rough night, right? I think we came out okay, despite complications." She leans closer to Madoka, reaching out to clasp her girlfriend's hands. "Want to go back, my little angel?"
The wink and response gains Homura a blush from Madoka and a brighter smile before they get down to business. She's happy when Homura agrees that ending the fight decisively is the best option, watching as pink and purple magic streaks in and ends the threat of the Witch.
When the Grief Seed is handed to her she uses her portion of it right away, cleansing her Soul Gem of the darkness that had entered it before handing it right back to Homura. "Thanks." She smiles shyly when her hands are taken afterwards, looking down demurely before stepping closer to Homura. "It was, but rough is okay since everything turned out good in the end."
She peeks upwards into Homura's eyes, and the look of them gives her a seconds warning before she lifts her chin and presses a soft kiss to her girlfriends lips, lingering and savoring the moment before stepping close enough to press lightly against her.
"I do, a little," she responds quietly afterwards, lifting her hands and setting them on Homura's shoulders. It's then she notices she's still missing one glove, but pays it no mind after the initial surprise. "But right now I think I'd rather just stay close to you and hold you for a while." She peeks meekly up at Homura through her eyelashes, "Is that okay?"
Homura glances down at the Grief Seed, and then down at her own Soul Gem. She doesn't use her magic as fast as Madoka might, but she still used a significant amount. Besides, if she gets cheap with Grief Seeds then Madoka might start worrying again. Homura presses the Grief Seed against her diamond-shaped Soul Gem and cleanses it, soaking up all of the darkness into the black ornament.
"It did turn out good in the end, and I'm pretty sure I got some cute pictures of you, too." She smiles brightly, squeezing Madoka's hands. The look in Madoka's eyes is familiar, but Homura doesn't shy away from what comes next, closing her eyes and taking the kiss. One hand releases Madoka's and moves up to hold Madoka's chin, one finger softly tracing the edge of Madoka's jawline.
After the kiss, Homura's arms move to embrace Madoka, holding her close in her arms. She happily looks at her beloved, nodding slightly. "Of course, Madoka-chan. We can stay up here for as long as you like."