Ranbu Escalation (PMMM/Gaim)

[X] Follow Baron, and take Lockseeds. He would probably want to know what Homura had said about getting out...

...Madoka had to admit, she was wary of Kumon Kaito. His philosophy, or at least what Madoka could gather from conversations with him, seemed awfully darwinist. And she would be lying if she said she wasn't a bit scared after Kaito had dominated the fight that easily. The bike ride had taken her mind off it for a while, but now that she was given time to stop and think, Madoka was remembering that sense of powerlessness.

Not even one day after getting this power, and someone had proven how weak she was.

That said, she couldn't just leave him in the forest on his own. There was something disturbing about this place, and Homura had just warned them about Inves. She wouldn't have done that if they were passive, and Madoka had heard rumours of Inves Games where one competitor dropped their Lockseed and the Inves went berserk. So there was danger in this forest, beyond the obvious of being able to get out.

Not to mention that, as well.

Madoka didn't really like Kumon, but she couldn't just leave without warning him of the dangers of the forest.

"We should tell him." Madoka told Homura. "I mean, we can't leave Kumon here without telling him how to get out, can we?"

Homura's eyes darted towards the Armoured Rider, her face somewhat paler at usual. She closed her eyes, and took a breath.

"I-If you say so, M-Madoka."

Madoka nodded, as she looked after Baron.

"Hey!" She called out, as she ran up to him. "Hold on a second please!"

Kumon didn't look back, as he plucked another fruit from the tree. It shifted into a pattern Madoka didn't recognise, and couldn't really make out at this distance. He looked at the two Lockseeds in his hand, and then pulled a vine from the tree, and threaded it though the open gaps in the padlock design of the Lockseeds.

He stopped enough by that tree, for Madoka to pass the Lockseed he had thrown to the ground. A Sunflower Lockseed, by the looks of things. Homura picked it up as she passed, and pushed it into the shield on her arm.

"Kumon." Madoka stated as she got close. "We... We should talk. About the forest."

He looked over at Madoka, his expression hidden behind his helmet.

"Does your Magical Girl have any information on the matter, then?" He asked. "Is she willing to speak for herself, or is she lacking in the strength to even try?"

Madoka ignored him, as she explained.

"There are Inves in the forest." Madoka informed him. "Hostile ones, from what I gather. Right?"

She looked over at Homura, who nodded. "T-They'll... Seek the Lockseeds..."

Kumon Kaito took a moment to consider that, before making sure he was holding his spear again, ready to swipe away at anything that might come for him.

...Did you swipe a spear? Kumon was doing it early, and he was certainly looking like he was holding it in a slashing position. Madoka thought it looked more like one of those jousting lances than anything. But then, she didn't know anything about spears...

"They can try." Kumon decided. "Is there anything else, that you think I should know?"

"If you want to get out-" Madoka began, before Kumon pointed the spear at her.

"Not you." He declared, shifting the spear to point at Homura. "Her."

Homura froze, and took a step back.

"You are the one that possesses information on this forest." Kumon continued. "And yet, you use Berry as a method of avoiding conversation. You avoid that which you fear. If you're weak enough to not even be able to speak to me, then stop wasting my time, and leave."

Madoka felt her hand close into a fist, as she heard him spoke.

"Who cares who tells you the information?" Madoka asked, bitterly. "We're trying to give you information that could save your life. What are you going to do if you just get stuck here?"

"If I fail to return, then I was not strong enough." Kumon declared. "That will not be the case. When I want to leave, I will find a place to use the Lock Vehicle and leave."

"And wouldn't it be more convenient if we just told you somewhere you could find an exit?"

"Perhaps." Baron replied. "And why should I care, about what someone as weak as her thinks is convenient for me? If she can find a way out, then-"

"Over there!" Homura interrupted, shouting, pointing to the left. "There's a stream! Not deep! Need to climb, long enough to ride out!"

She was panting, at the sudden exertion of forcing the words out, and Madoka and Kumon looked at her for a moment, before Baron turned around and picked another fruit from the tree. An Acorn formed in his hand, and he put it on the vine with the other two Lockseeds.

"Is there anything else?" Kumon asked.

Madoka took a moment to swallow her frustration at the Banana.

"We shouldn't stay here long." Madoka continued. "There's..."

Madoka took a moment, to consider what Homura had said before. When the Magical Girl had warned her not to stay long, she was obviously going to say something else before then. And the way she had said it, and then not said it, made Madoka think of the obvious candidate.

"There's someone else here." Madoka warned. "I don't know who, or how long it'll be until they come to look for us. But they have a Driver, and I suspect that they'd have a stronger Lockseed than either of us."

It made sense, at least. Why would Sid sell something that could outdo what Zangetsu had?

"And..." Madoka continued, before anyone could react and Homura had time to think too hard about it. "There's... Places in the forest we should avoid. I don't know where exactly, but if Homura says we need to turn away from somewhere, we should listen."

Baron walked away, heading towards the next tree. He didn't care enough to respond to that, it seemed. Madoka sighed, and walked to a nearby tree herself. She reached for a fruit on the tree, and pulled it down.

After the usual change, Madoka found herself holding a Walnut Lockseed. She passed it back to Homura, who put it in her shield, and repeated the process with the next fruit on the tree, which turned into...

...Huh. Another Strawberry.

Madoka turned to Homura, holding out the Lockseed, and-

"Give me that Lockseed."

Madoka kept turning, and looked over towards Baron.

"I'm sorry?"

"The Strawberry." Kumon continued. "It's stronger than these Acorns and Pinecones. Give it to me."

"...Why-"

Kumon wrapped the vine with the Lockseeds around his arm, and slowly walked towards Madoka, holding his spear.

"I don't think you properly understand the situation." Kumon continued. "We aren't allies, Berry. Regardless of what this place is, we are both Beat Riders. We competing to decide who was the stronger. I have decided to take advantage of this opportunity to gain more power, and you stood next to me and thought you, my enemy, could take power without me doing anything. Hand me the Strawberry."

Madoka's hand shook, as she saw Kumon prepare his spear. She couldn't beat him, and fighting here wouldn't accomplish anything, so she should-

The world went grey for a moment, and there was a tugging at the Lockseed in her hand. And then colour returned to the world, and Madoka wasn't holding anything.

The pink-haired girl blinked, as she looked at her hand.

...That was Homura's timestop. Did Homura take the Lockseed?

Kumon Kaito was quiet for a moment, before he spoke again.

"Bring it back." He demanded.

Madoka blinked again, as she turned to him.

...She can't let Baron know that Homura took it. If he was willing to fight to get it, he would fight Homura over it. Even ignoring the obvious problem with Homura fighting someone, her Soul Gem needed to be preserved. There was no point dirtying it in a pointless battle.

"I can't!" Madoka replied, holding up her hands, defensively. "I don't have i-"

Baron's spear darted forward, crashing into Madoka's chest. Madoka was hurled back, and slammed into a tree, before slumping.

"Then I'll take the one on your Driver." Kaito declared.

"...What's the point in this?" Madoka asked, as she got to her feet. "There's plenty of fruit here. It's not like mine's unique."

"And yet you follow me, when you decided to seek fruit?" Kumon asked, as he stepped closer. Homura's eyes were wide as she backed away, and Baron ignored her, as he approached Madoka again. "You and I are not allies, Berry. Do I have to say it again? I will seek what power I can, and if you want the power to oppose me, than just stop me from taking it."

He swung his spear again, and Madoka reached for her sword. She managed to meet and deflect his swing once, twice, three times, before Baron twisted his arm and controlled the flow of the deflection. Madoka's arm was flung to the side at the force of the spear hitting her sword, and Baron spun to keep the spear's momentum, slamming it into her torso again and forcing her to her knees.

"Give me your Strawberry." Baron demanded. Madoka glared up at him from behind her helmet, but could feel a chill crawling down her spin.

...H-Homura already had one Strawberry with her, if she had taken it. Giving this one up wouldn't mean much, in the end. But...

...Madoka didn't want to lose in front of Homura again.

No, that wasn't right. All this talk about enemies and strength, about Madoka and Homura being weak and Baron seeking more power...

Madoka didn't want to give him the satisfaction.

With an exaggerated, slow motion, Madoka's left hand reached down to the Driver on her waist, as she stood. The motion was distracting enough, hopefully, from how she kept her grip on her sword with her right hand.

She could see the spot where she needed to insert the Lockseed. She just needed to...

Removing the Lockseed from her belt, Madoka closed it, but kept her transformation.

"Fine." Madoka insisted. "It's yours."

Baron made some kind of displeased sound that Madoka couldn't place without seeing his face, but before she let him reply, she slammed the Lockseed into the sword-gun she was holding, and pushed down.
Baton's spear shot forward again, pushing Madoka to the ground, but she didn't need to be on her feet to swing her sword.


A giant strawberry appeared between Madoka and Baron, pushing the Banana Rider back as he tried to follow through on his attack.

Before anything else could happen, the strawberry exploded into countless kunai, all of which shot forward at Baron in a blur of pink energy. Each one exploded on impact, be it to Baron or the forest around him, and the explosive force pushed him back. Dust filled the air, and for a moment, Madoka struggled to see through it.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw something yellow move through the woods, and turned her aim to shoot at it. She didn't know how Baron had gotten over there, but-

Madoka's eyes went wide as the belt call emerged from back within the dust cloud, away from the movement she had seen. The yellow banana-shaped beam of energy burned through the air, and Madoka froze as she saw it coming from her.

But she had just seen Baron over to the side, hadn't she?

Before the beam arced down to hit Madoka, she felt an impact to her side, and tilted her head to see Homura tackling her out of the way of the attack. Madoka fell to the ground with Homura on top of her, as the energy beam hit the ground and dissipated.

Baron emerged from the smoke, looking at Madoka and Homura, his spear still at the ready.

"Are you going to join the fight now, Magical Girl?" He asked. "Or are you going to give up now, since your special move was unable to finish the job?"

No, there was something going on here. There was someone else here, watching the fight. Trying to hide, if they were still out of sight now, even after Madoka had accidentally fired at them. It couldn't be an Inves, they weren't intelligent, it wouldn't be hiding if the Lockseeds were here and someone had shot at it, so it had to be someone watching.

But Baron hadn't noticed, and he was approaching again, even as Homura moved to the side and Madoka got back to her feet. He was going to fight until the bitter end over this. Or maybe he had noticed the other person, and was planning on dealing with them once Madoka relented?

Either way, Madoka couldn't just do nothing now. She had to stop the fight. She had to...

[X] Just give up her Lockseed, to make Baron stop, and tell him about the other person here. She could grab another Lockseed from a nearby tree if she needed one.
[X] Told Homura to give Baron the Lockseed. It'd reveal Homura's hand a bit, but Madoka had a feeling that detransforming was a bad idea...
[X] Just told Baron what she saw, and went to investigate. Maybe he'll stop. Unless he was just planning to deal with it after dealing with her...
[X] Write-in.