Ranbu Escalation (PMMM/Gaim)

[X] Madoka should tell her everything. Right up to how this Zangetsu person apparently kills her, in the future.

The stage had lost it's audience, by the time Sayaka arrived. Neither Madoka nor Hitomi were standing on it, but since they were the only ones around, it didn't take Sayaka long to spot the two.

...Well, here went nothing. Madoka and Hitomi had agreed that they should tell Sayaka everything, but Madoka wasn't looking forward to it. She needed to be honest with her friends about this, but...

Well, Sayaka was protective. She probably wasn't going to like anything about Madoka's role in any of this. Madoka couldn't back down and leave Homura on her own, but with confirmation that Madoka could lose her life over this, Sayaka was less likely to back down either. Meanwhile, Madoka...

Well, she didn't know. She wanted to help Homura, but standing here without having to be strong for the other girl, Madoka would have thought she would have been thinking about the implications of dying more. Was she avoiding thinking about it because she was being strong for Homura, or because she didn't want to think about it? Even in her own head, she was a coward...

"Hey." Sayaka called, as she ran up to the two girls just standing in front of the stage. "So, uh, how was your day?"

"It was as good as it could be, considering the circumstances." Hitomi replied.

Sayaka raised an eyebrow. "As... Okay, forget about subtlety. What the hell happened? Madoka became a freaking superhero, and there's apparently some circumstances which made the day not too good?"

"W-We..." Madoka began. "...Well, it's a long story..."

"Come on." Sayaka replied. "There couldn't have been that much that happened while I was away."

"Well, we ran into another Magical Girl." Hitomi explained. Sayaka seemed surprised, but not too shocked. "She never gave a name, and was rather cryptic, but she knew things, somehow. She waited until Akemi wasn't around, then told us to pass on a message. I... Don't recall the exact wording, but it was to tell Akemi that she wasn't going to accomplish her goals if she kept waiting before giving Madoka the Driver."

"Driver?" Sayaka asked. "Is that how Madoka..."

The pink-haired girl nodded. "I-It apparently only works for me? I mean..."

She took the Driver off of her waist, and the belt dissolved into light, leaving just the centrepiece.

"You can try it, if you want." Madoka offered. "Apparently, Homura said the future version of me used it, and that meant only I could use it now?"

Sayaka frowned as she looked at the device at her hands, and she put it against her waist much like Madoka had. Nothing happened.

"...Okay, then." Sayaka continued, as she passed it back to Madoka. "Magical Girl had this with her. Maybe from the future. Maybe something else. Not confirming it any way, but that's... What the hell was that Armoured Rider thing?"

"We know as much as you do." Hitomi confessed. "It's... Well, after the call, another mysterious figure turned up. Some kind of... Rabbit thing? A magical creature, by any account."

Sayaka was looking very confused, by this point.

"It called itself Kyubey." Hitomi explained. "Akemi got very worried when she thought it would follow Madoka, so we met with it, and talked with it for a bit. It has some kind of connection to Magical Girls. It did say that Tomoe from Danza would be able to contact it, and that it was trying to make sure Akemi wasn't doing something that would threaten Magical Girls."

"Hold on, I'm confused." Sayaka stepped up. "I... Honestly, I don't know how to ask for it to be explained in a non-confusing way. I don't suppose this starts making sense soon?"

Madoka and Hitomi exchanged a glance, and after a moment, Madoka sighed.

"...I'll explain it." Madoka decided. "Um, Sayaka, bear with me for a moment? This might take a while..."

Sayaka nodded, and Madoka took a moment to try to think how to start her statement.

"...Okay." Madoka decided, after a moment. "Remember how Homura said something bad was supposed to happen in the future?"

"Is this going to be relevant to Akemi's story?" Sayaka asked.

"...This'll go a lot easier if you stopped doubting it every time I tried to reference it." Madoka stated.

Sayaka blinked, then sighed. "...Sorry, sorry. Wasn't thinking about it. Go on."

"Well, basically..."

Technically, Madoka hadn't told Hitomi what Homura had said about Yggdrasil being involved in the bad thing in the future, but given that Hitomi was probably smart enough to have figured it out from Kyubey's words...

"...There's apparently at least some people, working in Yggdrasil, who might be behind it." Madoka explained. Sayaka blinked again, and Madoka continued. "Kyubey was worried that Homura might be leaking information to Yggdrasil because I had the Driver, and Kyubey mentioned someone else tied to Yggdrasil who they knew had a Driver. Someone who..."

Madoka trailed off. She didn't want to say it. She really didn't. But if she didn't, Hitomi would, and-

"...Well, that's going to be all we talk about once we actually say it." Madoka eventually decided. Delay, for just a bit longer, there was more they hadn't explained. "Kyubey also thinks Sid has ties to Yggdrasil, and is selling the Lockseeds because of that."

"...Well, if Sid's involved, then I'm gonna guess he's the bad guy." Sayaka decided. "That guy was an asshole. But hold on, I'm curious now. Who's this other guy with a Driver."

"Kyubey called them Zangetsu." Hitomi spoke up. "We didn't hear too much about him. Akemi broke down as soon as Kyubey mentioned the name."

Sayaka seemed like she was going to say something, but reconsidered after a second, and took a moment to think about what to say instead.

"...I'm going to need a bit more to go on here." Sayaka explained. "What's the deal with this Zangetsu that made Akemi freak out?"

Hitomi looked at Madoka, and the pink haired girl thought she saw something expectant in those eyes.

...So she's going to have to talk about it anyway...

"Apparently..." Madoka began, before changing tracks instantly. "W-When Homura was breaking down, she said something about-"

"NOT AGAIN! I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU DIE AGAIN!"

...Just say it, Madoka said to herself. Just say the words. She'd been killed. There's someone who kills her. Someone who does it right in front of Homura, too. Someone willing to do something like that, and capable of it too, even with apparently more Lockseeds and Magical Girl powers.

...How the hell were things going to get bad enough for Madoka to end up dying? If...

W-Wouldn't one of her friends have stopped her? Sayaka, Hitomi? Wouldn't they have told her to run, or helped her get away? Madoka wasn't some kind of action hero who had the courage to go into a fight to save her friends, so she couldn't have been fighting to save them. And why would she have been fighting anyway? She... Right now, she was being strong for Homura, but there was a limit to how much she could do that.

Actually going into a fight? Staying even when she was losing bad against someone who was willing to use lethal force? Did the Madoka of the future not understand what was happening to her, or had things somehow gotten so bad that even she had ended up being pushed to risk her life for...

What would even push Madoka that far? Or was she on the defensive there? Was there someone who had hunted her for a specific reason?

...She was thinking herself in circles she just needed to say it she just needed to say it she needed to-

"Madoka!"

The pink-haired girl opened the eyes she hadn't realised she'd closed, and looked up to see a worried Sayaka.

"What the hell?" Sayaka asked. "You- Are you okay? What happened?"

"I..." Madoka gritted her teeth, as she took a breath.

Just say it say it you useless-

"Zangetsu kills me."

There was a moment of silence, after that.

Madoka looked at Sayaka and Hitomi, trying to see their reactions. Hitomi looked like she was watching their reactions as well, waiting for having to step in. And Sayaka...

"What?"

The blue haired girl was torn between confusion, and just... Worry, maybe a bit angry. Madoka really couldn't tell. It was a mess of emotions and-

"She's lying." Sayaka decided, eventually. "She... This is a joke, right? Haha, very funny, make Sayaka worry about her friends because she spent the day doing something else, right?"

"...That's what happened." Hitomi stepped in. "I... Akemi seemed distressed enough that I'm willing to believe her here. I think-"

"Then we need to put a stop to this." Sayaka decided. "Madoka, give me your Driver."

"...Eh?"

"I'm not letting anyone hurt you." Sayaka explained. "So I'm getting rid of any reason why."

"Wha- No!" Madoka exclaimed. "Sayaka, I'm not just going to get rid of this, not when I can-"

"When you can get yourself killed?" Sayaka asked. "Madoka, if someone in Yggdrasil hurt the future you, then I'm not going to let anything happen to the you of now-"

"You didn't even believe that Homura was from the future, until now." Madoka pointed out. "Are you going to trust her now? Stop being so suspicious of her?"

"If these are the stakes, I don't want to be taking chances." Sayaka answered. "Madoka, I don't want to see you be hurt-"

"So what do you want us to do, then?" Madoka asked. "Leave Homura on her own to deal with the problem? To deal with someone who scares her so bad that just the name makes her break down? Let anyone else deal with this?"

"I don't know!" Sayaka objected. "I just don't want anyone else getting hurt. So let's just-"

"You don't know what we should do." Madoka continued. "So why stop now? Homura needs me-"

"She could be lying!" Sayaka objected. "She-"

"If Homura's lying, then there's no reason to think I'm in danger." Madoka interrupted. "Sayaka, you're not making sense. Calm down, please."

"Ca-"

Sayaka cut herself off, and took a breath.

"...Gah." Sayaka complained, after a moment. "I'm... You're not going to give it up, Madoka?"

"No." Madoka stood firm. "Homura hasn't given me any reason not to trust her. If you think we should do something else, at least come up with an idea, before suggesting we leave her on her own."

"...Yeah, alright." Sayaka sighed. "...Sorry, Madoka. I..."

The blue haired girl looked up and away, and Hitomi stepped forward.

"Sayaka?"

"...I'm gonna head home." Sayaka decided, after a moment. "I... Might be late for the dance tomorrow too, by the way."

"...Sayaka?" Madoka asked, stepping forward. "Did... I'm sorr-"

"Don't apologise." Sayaka cut her off. "You didn't do anything wrong. You're the good person here."

Sayaka didn't give anyone else time to respond, before she walked away. Madoka wanted to say something, but she got the feeling that as she was now, Sayaka wasn't going to hear any of it.

"...Hey, Hitomi?" Madoka asked, looking over at the green haired girl. "Should... Should I have just listened to Sayaka?"

Hitomi watched after Sayaka for a moment, and sighed.

"...I don't know." Hitomi admitted. "I... Would have wanted to keep you away from something dangerous, yes, but..."

She watched Sayaka walking away still, in earshot even as they talked, and it was a moment before she spoke again.

"...I'm not sure what to think right now." Hitomi admitted. "Perhaps we should all go home for the day. We can talk tomorrow, maybe, and figure out an answer then."

"...Alright, I guess." Madoka agreed, looking down.

...If only she had been able to talk about this better. Tell this to Sayaka in a way that wouldn't have made her all protective, or convince her to let it go in a way that didn't obviously offend her. If only she was better, she could have found a way for everyone to walk away from this meeting happy, instead of miserable.

But what else could Madoka do right now? She wished she was better at this, but she just didn't know what to do. She could barely keep someone who looked up to her as much as Homura happy and together, how was she supposed to deal with people who didn't rely on her to some degree?

Neither girl remained out for much longer after that. Madoka waved goodbye to Hitomi as the two girls left, heading on different paths home, and for a while, Madoka was left alone to her thoughts.

Upon returning home, Madoka...

[X] ...Decided to talk with her mother about this. Maybe she'd have some advice, even if it would be hard to ask her without giving too much away.
[X] ...Just acted like nothing was wrong, and went to bed early. She'd had a day. Maybe in the morning she'd be able to think of something.