Update 25 - Rookie
Mortifer
Embrace your inner lunatic. Fun times guaranteed.
- Location
- Under a rock.
[X] -To ask for escape. The sooner she got out, the better. She needed to save Homura, and she refused to co-operate with the people who took her.
...Madoka wanted to hope.
She wanted to believe it wasn't wrong, to try to help Homura. No, beyond that. She wasn't wrong. She didn't make a mistake trying to help Homura. Madoka might not have done well enough to avoid this, she might not have done well enough to be the help that Homura needed, but that didn't mean she was wrong.
She hadn't made any mistakes, she just hadn't done well enough. And if all she'd failed in was doing enough, then giving up wouldn't change anything.
She'd just have to try again.
Yggdrasil...
They were the ones who were wrong. Zangetsu and the other Armoured Rider. They were the one who were willing to fight. They were the ones willing to kill. They were the ones who had started this, who had taken Homura, and were holding Madoka prisoner.
Madoka wasn't strong enough to fight them, but it would be wrong to do nothing.
And...
Even if Madoka wasn't strong enough now, even if she felt like she might not be able to be strong enough ever, there was nothing to be gained from not trying. And even if Madoka couldn't do anything on her own, she was the only one who knew where Homura was right now.
Yggdrasil had taken her without giving a reason, and even if Sagara said it was an option, Madoka didn't believe that Yggdrasil could be bargained with. If they had been willing to talk, they wouldn't have gone straight for violence. Madoka had a Driver they didn't know about, and nothing else mattered. If Madoka told them a name, all it would do was give them a piece of information, and then they could discard her, and nothing would change.
She couldn't trust the people who had Homura to let her go easily. So, instead, Madoka had to be the one to save her.
Sagara was offering her the chance. A hope. It was a faint hope, a vague hope, but it was there. And it couldn't be wrong to hope.
Her hand reached Sagara's, and she smiled, trying to show a confidence she didn't feel.
"If you can get me out of here." Madoka muttered. "If you can get me a way out... Then I'll fight. To the bitter end."
Madoka wasn't sure why exactly, she chose that phrasing, but it seemed to amuse the man.
"Good, good." He cheered. "Now, then. Help might take a while to arrive, but your escape route will be here soon enough. For now, hm..."
He paused, as he pulled his hand away from Madoka. The door opened a moment later, and before anything could go wrong, Madoka rushed for the table, grabbing her Driver and Lockseed.
Sagara pocketed the lemon he had used earlier, but left the blueberry on the table. He gestured towards it in the process, and Madoka took it. She wasn't sure why, but if Sagara was making a point out of it...
"Do you remember the way to the crack in the basement, Kaname?" Sagara asked. "You should be able to find a Lock Vehicle down there, and while Yggdrasil will try to follow you, I can promise you they'll be distracted."
Madoka nodded, as she put the Lockseed on her waist. Sagara waved a hand, as Madoka clicked the Strawberry open, and the pink-haired girl blinked when the expected declaration didn't come.
"We wouldn't want anyone to hear that now, would we?" Sagara asked.
"...Why are you doing this, again?" Madoka asked. "You said that you're an observer, but it can't just be that you want to see me succeed."
Sagara shrugged.
"Frankly, Yggdrasil has an unfair advantage right now." He stated, as Madoka put the Strawberry in her Driver. The transformation washed over her, before Sagara continued. "I don't want anyone leaving the stage before the play really begins, if you'll forgive the metaphor. Especially when we're so close to the game beginning in earnest."
He turned away, towards the door.
"I look forward to seeing what comes in your future, Kaname Madoka." Sagara concluded. "But if you would, wait a minute before leaving."
And with that, he pushed his way out of the door.
Madoka watched as the door shut, and took a moment to try to remember the route.
...Fortunately, most of the area down here was empty, so until she got to the lab with the Helheim portal, she should be home free. And the scientists shouldn't be able to stop her, considering her Armoured Rider state. The only threats were the other Armoured Riders, and whatever protection the people inside the forest camp had, but Sagara did say he had a distraction lined up. Or that he would be organising one, at least.
Madoka would just have to have faith that it was enough.
The minute passed, and Madoka pushed open the door, and started running.
She had to do this fast, before Zangetsu or the other Armoured Rider which she had never put a name to arrived. She'd be able to do this if she got away quick enough. The halls were empty, and Madoka quickly retraced the steps she had taken while being escorted here. It didn't take long, to reach the lab, and Madoka made sure to draw her sword as she arrived. To make sure none of the scientists got any ideas about stopping her, of course.
Pushing the door open, Madoka heard the echo of the door slamming against the wall. Looking down, she saw that all the people in labcoats saw it as well. They were down some stairs from her position, so Madoka jumped down, as she looked at them all.
"Lock Vehicle." She demanded, holding her sword-gun-thing and aiming at the ground. "Give me one."
The scientists scatted, creating distance between themselves and Madoka, and Madoka made sure to move her aim so that it looked closer to them. She wouldn't be hitting anything from this angle, but did they know that?
...Apparently not, Madoka thought, as one of them started fumbling with a box. A moment later, he threw a Lockseed at Madoka, and she caught it with her free hand.
Lock Vehicle. Perfect.
"Thank you." Madoka bowed slightly on instinct, before she realised she was being polite to the people who would have seen Homura being carried through her, seen Madoka being marched through here, and just watched.
Straightening her back again, Madoka ran for the crack, and burst through it.
On the other side, in the forest camp, people were aiming guns at her. Some people had grabbed some Lockseeds, and a good ten Inves emerged from nothing, with two of the more advanced forms on either side of Madoka.
...Well, Madoka hadn't waited that long for Sagara's distraction. Maybe it was still coming.
Still, she needed to get away from here before another Armoured Rider arrived. She couldn't use the Lock Vehicle while surrounded like this, so...
The bullets slammed into Madoka's armour, and bounced off of it harmlessly. Which was fortunate, since it gave Madoka time to put the Strawberry Lockseed in the gun, and prepare the special attack she had used earlier.
If it had been able to hurt Baron, then against these basic Inves...
The now giant strawberry ripped open into some kind of pink portal, and all at once, countless strawberry kunai fell from the sky.
And all at once, they slammed into the Inves. Madoka heard a screech, as they all died at once, and turned towards the Inves on the other side, charging at her. She fired, once, twice, three times at minor Inves rushing at her, before she grabbed the Strawberry Lockseed and put it back in her Driver. The advanced form Inves closed the distance as she did so, and swatted the sword out of her hand.
Another strawberry kunai appeared in Madoka's hand as the Strawberry settled in her belt again, and she stabbed forward into the advanced Inves. She let go of the kunai at the last second, forcing both of them back and getting more distance, while Madoka scrambled to get her gun again.
"Force her out of the camp!" Someone called. "Let the Inves eat a-"
"Are you fucking nuts, man?" Someone else interrupted, slapping them. "If we let one of those lose and the boss doesn't get here when she runs, we're dead."
Madoka didn't know what they were talking about, but she didn't like it. Getting back to her feet, she shot at the advanced Inves, then turned around to see another group of Inves manifesting.
...If she ran too soon, they had something in store for when she did that. If she got away fast enough, they'd be too scared to go through with it. It-
Well, that was a pointless thought, Madoka decided, as she summoned another strawberry kunai and threw it into the newly summoned group of Inves. She just had to hold out until Sagara's distraction arrived and-
"Madoka!"
The pink-haired girl's heart skipped a beat. She knew that voice. That was...
In a blur, something slammed into the scientists, knocking them down. Madoka didn't want to believe what she was looking at, but it was there, working through the crowd and throwing their Lockseeds away.
The Inves around Madoka screeched for a second, as their summoners lost control of them, but Madoka was too busy staring to take advantage of the situation.
The girl was dressed in a somewhat revealing blue and white outfit, with a sword in her hand, a fire in her eyes, and a Soul Gem resting above her exposed navel.
Moving towards Madoka with a speed that must have been a Magical Girl trait, Miki Sayaka grabbed her hand.
"I'm sorry, I'll explain later." She promised, as she pulled at Madoka. "Let's run for now-"
There was another roar, and Madoka turned, to see the advanced Inves rushing towards the scientists, and grabbing a Lockseed from the ground.
It looked right at Madoka, and swallowed the Lockseed. Then, it started expanding.
It's muscles bulged outwards, expanding painfully, as the Inves grew taller and bulkier. It only took a few seconds, for it to expand to a height where it was double Madoka's height, and three times as wide as her.
Madoka stared at the beast for a moment, noticing as the Inves around her fled at the sight of it. Then, she opened fire.
She didn't know why exactly, even as her feet moved and she ran away from the Inves. But even if the people around here were bad people, they could hardly be said to deserve dying, or being caught too close to that monstrous beast. The scientists all scrambled to get away from it, and as the shots from Madoka's gun bounced harmlessly off of the Inves' skin, it turned towards Madoka.
"Running now!" Sayaka declared, as she held Madoka's hand and kept pulling her along. The giant Inves smashed through a tent as it went after Madoka, and the girl heard what sounded like glass shattering in the process, but she didn't give it any thought beyond that.
"How did you get here?" Madoka asked her friend, trying not to let her thoughts be overwhelmed by the fear of such a large being pursuing her.
"Not really the time!" Sayaka responded, as she ducked into the trees.
"Can we use your entrance to get out?" Madoka asked, as she weaved between trees. Behind her, she heard the sound of wood smashing apart. So it had already reached the trees.
Sayaka was quiet for a moment, a she thought.
"...Long story short." Sayaka decided, as she ducked under a branch that broke against Madoka's armour. "The, uh, thing Magical Girls do to get in Witch Labyrinths? Sagara said it works for this place too. I can get us out whenever, but it'd take a while, and I'm not looking forward to getting hit by the big guy behind us. What was your plan?"
"Lock Vehicle!" Madoka shouted back, as it got hard to think over the sound of crashing trees. "If we get a big enough empty space, I can get out!"
"Great!" Sayaka shouted. "Know any?"
...Um.
"No!"
"Well that's great!" Sayaka shouted back. "Do you think we can beat the big guy back long enough to find one?"
Madoka closed her eyes and let Sayaka guide her, as she thought. The monster was catching up, so Madoka summoned and dropped a strawberry kunai. She was out of range by the time it blew up, but the Inves roared, and the sound seemed to get more distant as Madoka ran on.
So that would delay it, at least...
[X] Madoka could at least hurt it, or delay it. If she threw back kunai and kept running, they'd find an opening eventually.
[X] They didn't know where they could find an opening, but Madoka could probably hold it off with her finisher, while Sayaka did her thing.
[X] Write-in.
...Madoka wanted to hope.
She wanted to believe it wasn't wrong, to try to help Homura. No, beyond that. She wasn't wrong. She didn't make a mistake trying to help Homura. Madoka might not have done well enough to avoid this, she might not have done well enough to be the help that Homura needed, but that didn't mean she was wrong.
She hadn't made any mistakes, she just hadn't done well enough. And if all she'd failed in was doing enough, then giving up wouldn't change anything.
She'd just have to try again.
Yggdrasil...
They were the ones who were wrong. Zangetsu and the other Armoured Rider. They were the one who were willing to fight. They were the ones willing to kill. They were the ones who had started this, who had taken Homura, and were holding Madoka prisoner.
Madoka wasn't strong enough to fight them, but it would be wrong to do nothing.
And...
Even if Madoka wasn't strong enough now, even if she felt like she might not be able to be strong enough ever, there was nothing to be gained from not trying. And even if Madoka couldn't do anything on her own, she was the only one who knew where Homura was right now.
Yggdrasil had taken her without giving a reason, and even if Sagara said it was an option, Madoka didn't believe that Yggdrasil could be bargained with. If they had been willing to talk, they wouldn't have gone straight for violence. Madoka had a Driver they didn't know about, and nothing else mattered. If Madoka told them a name, all it would do was give them a piece of information, and then they could discard her, and nothing would change.
She couldn't trust the people who had Homura to let her go easily. So, instead, Madoka had to be the one to save her.
Sagara was offering her the chance. A hope. It was a faint hope, a vague hope, but it was there. And it couldn't be wrong to hope.
Her hand reached Sagara's, and she smiled, trying to show a confidence she didn't feel.
"If you can get me out of here." Madoka muttered. "If you can get me a way out... Then I'll fight. To the bitter end."
Madoka wasn't sure why exactly, she chose that phrasing, but it seemed to amuse the man.
"Good, good." He cheered. "Now, then. Help might take a while to arrive, but your escape route will be here soon enough. For now, hm..."
He paused, as he pulled his hand away from Madoka. The door opened a moment later, and before anything could go wrong, Madoka rushed for the table, grabbing her Driver and Lockseed.
Sagara pocketed the lemon he had used earlier, but left the blueberry on the table. He gestured towards it in the process, and Madoka took it. She wasn't sure why, but if Sagara was making a point out of it...
"Do you remember the way to the crack in the basement, Kaname?" Sagara asked. "You should be able to find a Lock Vehicle down there, and while Yggdrasil will try to follow you, I can promise you they'll be distracted."
Madoka nodded, as she put the Lockseed on her waist. Sagara waved a hand, as Madoka clicked the Strawberry open, and the pink-haired girl blinked when the expected declaration didn't come.
"We wouldn't want anyone to hear that now, would we?" Sagara asked.
"...Why are you doing this, again?" Madoka asked. "You said that you're an observer, but it can't just be that you want to see me succeed."
Sagara shrugged.
"Frankly, Yggdrasil has an unfair advantage right now." He stated, as Madoka put the Strawberry in her Driver. The transformation washed over her, before Sagara continued. "I don't want anyone leaving the stage before the play really begins, if you'll forgive the metaphor. Especially when we're so close to the game beginning in earnest."
He turned away, towards the door.
"I look forward to seeing what comes in your future, Kaname Madoka." Sagara concluded. "But if you would, wait a minute before leaving."
And with that, he pushed his way out of the door.
Madoka watched as the door shut, and took a moment to try to remember the route.
...Fortunately, most of the area down here was empty, so until she got to the lab with the Helheim portal, she should be home free. And the scientists shouldn't be able to stop her, considering her Armoured Rider state. The only threats were the other Armoured Riders, and whatever protection the people inside the forest camp had, but Sagara did say he had a distraction lined up. Or that he would be organising one, at least.
Madoka would just have to have faith that it was enough.
The minute passed, and Madoka pushed open the door, and started running.
She had to do this fast, before Zangetsu or the other Armoured Rider which she had never put a name to arrived. She'd be able to do this if she got away quick enough. The halls were empty, and Madoka quickly retraced the steps she had taken while being escorted here. It didn't take long, to reach the lab, and Madoka made sure to draw her sword as she arrived. To make sure none of the scientists got any ideas about stopping her, of course.
Pushing the door open, Madoka heard the echo of the door slamming against the wall. Looking down, she saw that all the people in labcoats saw it as well. They were down some stairs from her position, so Madoka jumped down, as she looked at them all.
"Lock Vehicle." She demanded, holding her sword-gun-thing and aiming at the ground. "Give me one."
The scientists scatted, creating distance between themselves and Madoka, and Madoka made sure to move her aim so that it looked closer to them. She wouldn't be hitting anything from this angle, but did they know that?
...Apparently not, Madoka thought, as one of them started fumbling with a box. A moment later, he threw a Lockseed at Madoka, and she caught it with her free hand.
Lock Vehicle. Perfect.
"Thank you." Madoka bowed slightly on instinct, before she realised she was being polite to the people who would have seen Homura being carried through her, seen Madoka being marched through here, and just watched.
Straightening her back again, Madoka ran for the crack, and burst through it.
On the other side, in the forest camp, people were aiming guns at her. Some people had grabbed some Lockseeds, and a good ten Inves emerged from nothing, with two of the more advanced forms on either side of Madoka.
...Well, Madoka hadn't waited that long for Sagara's distraction. Maybe it was still coming.
Still, she needed to get away from here before another Armoured Rider arrived. She couldn't use the Lock Vehicle while surrounded like this, so...
The bullets slammed into Madoka's armour, and bounced off of it harmlessly. Which was fortunate, since it gave Madoka time to put the Strawberry Lockseed in the gun, and prepare the special attack she had used earlier.
If it had been able to hurt Baron, then against these basic Inves...
LOCK ON
She swung her sword to the left, above half of the Inves, and a small strawberry shot into the air above them. It stopped above the group, spun, and suddenly expanded.
ONE TEN HUNDRED THOUSAND
The now giant strawberry ripped open into some kind of pink portal, and all at once, countless strawberry kunai fell from the sky.
STRAWBERRY CHARGE
And all at once, they slammed into the Inves. Madoka heard a screech, as they all died at once, and turned towards the Inves on the other side, charging at her. She fired, once, twice, three times at minor Inves rushing at her, before she grabbed the Strawberry Lockseed and put it back in her Driver. The advanced form Inves closed the distance as she did so, and swatted the sword out of her hand.
Another strawberry kunai appeared in Madoka's hand as the Strawberry settled in her belt again, and she stabbed forward into the advanced Inves. She let go of the kunai at the last second, forcing both of them back and getting more distance, while Madoka scrambled to get her gun again.
"Force her out of the camp!" Someone called. "Let the Inves eat a-"
"Are you fucking nuts, man?" Someone else interrupted, slapping them. "If we let one of those lose and the boss doesn't get here when she runs, we're dead."
Madoka didn't know what they were talking about, but she didn't like it. Getting back to her feet, she shot at the advanced Inves, then turned around to see another group of Inves manifesting.
...If she ran too soon, they had something in store for when she did that. If she got away fast enough, they'd be too scared to go through with it. It-
Well, that was a pointless thought, Madoka decided, as she summoned another strawberry kunai and threw it into the newly summoned group of Inves. She just had to hold out until Sagara's distraction arrived and-
"Madoka!"
The pink-haired girl's heart skipped a beat. She knew that voice. That was...
In a blur, something slammed into the scientists, knocking them down. Madoka didn't want to believe what she was looking at, but it was there, working through the crowd and throwing their Lockseeds away.
The Inves around Madoka screeched for a second, as their summoners lost control of them, but Madoka was too busy staring to take advantage of the situation.
The girl was dressed in a somewhat revealing blue and white outfit, with a sword in her hand, a fire in her eyes, and a Soul Gem resting above her exposed navel.
Moving towards Madoka with a speed that must have been a Magical Girl trait, Miki Sayaka grabbed her hand.
"I'm sorry, I'll explain later." She promised, as she pulled at Madoka. "Let's run for now-"
There was another roar, and Madoka turned, to see the advanced Inves rushing towards the scientists, and grabbing a Lockseed from the ground.
It looked right at Madoka, and swallowed the Lockseed. Then, it started expanding.
It's muscles bulged outwards, expanding painfully, as the Inves grew taller and bulkier. It only took a few seconds, for it to expand to a height where it was double Madoka's height, and three times as wide as her.
Madoka stared at the beast for a moment, noticing as the Inves around her fled at the sight of it. Then, she opened fire.
She didn't know why exactly, even as her feet moved and she ran away from the Inves. But even if the people around here were bad people, they could hardly be said to deserve dying, or being caught too close to that monstrous beast. The scientists all scrambled to get away from it, and as the shots from Madoka's gun bounced harmlessly off of the Inves' skin, it turned towards Madoka.
"Running now!" Sayaka declared, as she held Madoka's hand and kept pulling her along. The giant Inves smashed through a tent as it went after Madoka, and the girl heard what sounded like glass shattering in the process, but she didn't give it any thought beyond that.
"How did you get here?" Madoka asked her friend, trying not to let her thoughts be overwhelmed by the fear of such a large being pursuing her.
"Not really the time!" Sayaka responded, as she ducked into the trees.
"Can we use your entrance to get out?" Madoka asked, as she weaved between trees. Behind her, she heard the sound of wood smashing apart. So it had already reached the trees.
Sayaka was quiet for a moment, a she thought.
"...Long story short." Sayaka decided, as she ducked under a branch that broke against Madoka's armour. "The, uh, thing Magical Girls do to get in Witch Labyrinths? Sagara said it works for this place too. I can get us out whenever, but it'd take a while, and I'm not looking forward to getting hit by the big guy behind us. What was your plan?"
"Lock Vehicle!" Madoka shouted back, as it got hard to think over the sound of crashing trees. "If we get a big enough empty space, I can get out!"
"Great!" Sayaka shouted. "Know any?"
...Um.
"No!"
"Well that's great!" Sayaka shouted back. "Do you think we can beat the big guy back long enough to find one?"
Madoka closed her eyes and let Sayaka guide her, as she thought. The monster was catching up, so Madoka summoned and dropped a strawberry kunai. She was out of range by the time it blew up, but the Inves roared, and the sound seemed to get more distant as Madoka ran on.
So that would delay it, at least...
[X] Madoka could at least hurt it, or delay it. If she threw back kunai and kept running, they'd find an opening eventually.
[X] They didn't know where they could find an opening, but Madoka could probably hold it off with her finisher, while Sayaka did her thing.
[X] Write-in.
