Puella Magi Falsus Magica (A PMMM Quest)

[] A plan. You need the number of guards stationed to keep you here as well points of interests you need to look out for. Maybe a place to dump your grief. You'll react accordingly to what it says. The Assassin should be here too... You're not done with her yet.

"I need a plan. Tell me where we are and the security detail of this entire floor," you asked it as you rubbed your wrists.

"There are five girls on security on this floor. Two are guarding the outside of your room while three are stationed before the door where the Assassin is confined," Kyubey replied as it scratched its face, "There are others on the floors above and below."

"What about outside?" You asked with a curious tone.

"Several girls have taken position in adjacent buildings to see who goes in and out," Kyubey replied with a nod, "Kaguya has taken measures to secure this place. It's an apartment complex on the edge of the East's territory."

"I see," you murmured as you rubbed your chin, "Getting out should be difficult then."

"Indeed. But that isn't a option now, is it?" Kyubey guessed as it hopped in your shoulder.

"Yes. It's much more dangerous keeping me under wraps like this," you replied as you moved to the door, "If I break, then they'll be swallowed by me turning into a Witch."

"Well considering that, I suppose you are correct in that sense," Kyubey hummed while you sensed the guards standing just out your door. They didn't seem to notice your voice as you spoke to the incubator.

"Tell me, are there any civilians I should be concerned with at the moment?" You asked it as it sat in your shoulder.

"No. As far as I know this is a Fujiwara owned building and there are no others occupants other than you and the Assassin," it replied as you considered your options and sat down on your bed.

You then asked once more, "Any place I could dump my grief without being seen?"

"Here would be adequate," was Kyubey's answer.

"That's obvious enough-" you grumbled before you froze. You looked down at your hands which was oozing with grief. You then knelt down your room and placed your hand upon the floor.

Grief began to crawl through the floor and spread through it, moving straight down as if to soak the building material beneath the carpet itself. It wasn't only that but it had begun to move towards the surface outside the room where the two guards were stationed at. The toxic corruption seeped from beneath the floor as you felt some measure of relief spread through your body. It didn't stop your collapse but it did lower the strain from your grief considerably.

Just a bit more and your seeds would have hatched violently. You waited for a bit more until you heard the guards yelp outside in a panic.

"Ho-Holy crap, what's happening in there?!" one girl cried out.

"This is creepy as hell!" another yelped in surprise.

"Oh no. Our corruption levels are rising. W-We'll need some seeds. Let's go get some and report this!" the first girl said followed by the sounds of footsteps running away.

You pulled your hand from the ground as you noticed that the entire room had been thoroughly contaminated. Your grief levels wasn't under acceptable ranges yet but it will have to do. At the very least you could get into a quick battle before you witched out. You needed to pace yourself and not fight a long drawn out battle. Moving towards the door, you dropped Kyubey to the ground and opened it a bit.

"See if there's anyone outside," you asked it before it trotted out of your sight. It peered out the hall before you noticed it pull back.

"It's clear, Yukina," Kyubey reported as you picked it up and placed it on your shoulder.

"Good. You said that this floor had five guards all in all?" you asked it with a raised eyebrow.

"Counting the ones that ran off, yes," Kyubey replied as you stepped out of the door and into the lonely hallway. You could sense faint tension and negativity in the distance, that must be where the three guards were at.

"Then the Assassin is our next stop. I need to question her before she gets taken away. Primarily, the location of Yukina's Soul Gem," you said as you quietly walked down the hall.

"Are you even certain that it exists still? There's no telling where it is or what the Assassin has done with it. Though it has interested me that she had come from the future. There are queries I wish to ask as well. She has never been the most social in our interactions," Kyubey said as it hung on to your shoulder.

"Well I'd rather you didn't. And I hope that you won't come with me. It's a rather delicate situation, more so than it is now," you replied as you placed your back against the wall. You glanced down the hall to see three girls chatting one moment and then falling one after the other in the next.

There were alarmed cries but they were quickly silenced as heavy footfalls came from ahead. You hid by the corner and crouched low before you clenched your fist at the ready. You heard the footfalls come close and just as you heard it right beside you, you threw a punch. It was caught and there was a resounding thunderclap which echoed all around.

Your fist was caught as a gas mask looked down on you.

"Well now, someone's lively for being a patient," Madoka noted as she let you go.

"Madoka!" you blinked before you stepped back, "What... What are you doing here?"

"Touko notified me of the situation. She's waiting for us outside. Kaito has given us the rundown of the situation of you being confined until you're better but we figured you would be busting yourself out. So I came to help if only to keep you from exploding," Madoka chuckled as she patted your shoulder. She then turned around and glanced down the hall, "Wasn't easy getting by the security but them's the works. I was going to question the Assassin myself. You know, being the one I'm looking for all this time."

"I... Yes, I have some business with her too," you said with a nod.

"Well that makes two of us. Don't worry, I only knocked them out. They should be up later," Madoka said as she walked back down where she came.

"Wait, tell me why are you looking for the Assassin?" you asked with a frown before you walked by her side, "I... Your name."

Madoka turned to look at you from behind her mask, "What about my name?"

"Do you know... Madoka Kaname?" you asked her with a sharp look, you braced yourself as the gas mask girl before you tensed up. She had her hand on the doorknob before turning to you.

"That's a name I haven't heard for a long time," Madoka murmured as she spoke with a somber tone, "I do. I do know of her. She's an admirable one. I look up to her as an ideal Magical Girl. One who fights for Love and Justice. It's how people here view the old Yukina, with the same dreamy look on their faces. Madoka Kaname was one such person."

"Aren't you her?" you asked.

"Me? I'm just a pretender. But I'll only reveal who I am when you're ready," Madoka said as she opened the door to the Assassin's room.

"Ready for what?" you frowned.

"Ready to fight God," Madoka said as she stepped in to an identical room as you had. It was darker though and the lamp was the only source of light within the whole room. A girl was strapped to the bed with her Soul Gem encased in a floating field of energy.

Her wounds had been healed and her appearance had been groomed to an adequate state. Her face was still riddled with those crimson lines, reminiscent of the cracked lines which marred your entire body now. She looked weak and frail but you knew better than anyone that it wasn't the case. She was powerful but right now she had been aptly reduced to a more manageable state. She was breathing shallowly as you stepped in her room.

The Assassin looked nothing more than a young, sickly girl on the brink of death. Homura Akemi, the Time Traveler from the Future. A girl flung to the past to stop a great disaster but ultimately trumped in the end to stop her murderous killing sprees. A girl filled with good intentions using atrocious methods of assassination. The one behind the murders of more than a dozen magical girls and Yukina Uchida. Madoka walked forward before Homura's eyes opened once your presence was known.

She opened her eyes to find you and Madoka looking down on her. The Soul Gem which was sealed a few ways from her wasn't rapidly filling itself with Grief anymore. Her eyes fell on you first, disregarding Madoka for a moment before she tensed up almost in fear. She began to breathe rapidly before Madoka placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

"Easy, easy there... You're fine. For now," Madoka assured her with a nod as she turned her gaze to the gas mask girl.

"I... It's dangerous. The Wish. The Wish could activate at any moment," Homura said as she glanced a wild eye at her Soul Gem, "This... This isn't good. This won't hold. You have to kill me."

"Relax, no one's going to kill you and no one's going to be killing anyone... Not when I'm here," Madoka said as she placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze, "Relax. We just want to talk."

Homura grimaced before looking between you and Madoka, she then replied to the latter with a nod, "Fine."

"Okay... I'll go first. My name is... Kannazuki. I know your circumstances and what you're going through. I also know where you came from and what led you here," Madoka began to explain as she left out her first name. You stayed quietly on the side before you turned to Kyubey and dropped it down.

"Go. Be our lookout," you ordered it before Kyubey moved out the door.

"You... You do?" Homura suspiciously frowned as she stared at the gas masked girl.

"Yes. I want to take you under my care. I have the skills and set of abilities to counteract the Wish which is compelling you to kill right now. But I need you to answer a few questions," Madoka said as her tone shifted from a patient one to one filled with steel.

Homura hesitated before nodding, "Understood."

"The world you came from, what was it like?" Madoka asked with a sharp tone.

Homura blinked before thinking hard, looking to the side as she grimaced, "It was... Like this. I've looping, retrying and turning back time for as long as I remember but... That loop, it was strange."

"What was?" Madoka asked with a narrowed look from behind her mask.

"Dolls. Dolls replaced the Witches that we were supposed to fight and... There were many deviations from the normal loops. Everything just felt off," Homura explained as she held her head, "I... It's all I know."

Madoka stepped back and clenched her fist, "Then in your time in this timeline, have those dolls extended their influence here?"

"No. I haven't encountered them," Homura said as she shook her head, "But I was just focused on my task that... I apologize. I digress."

"What's this about Dolls?" you asked with a raised eyebrow.

"My problem, Yukina. Hopefully something you won't have to deal with," Madoka said as she shook her head. She then shrugged, "I guess this Shard is safe for now but with Homura's interference... No, forget I said anything. But you, Akemi, you seem to have a few things you want to say."

You turned to Homura and found her staring at you. Her eyes were like broken glass, purple kaleidoscopic twinkles glittered from her gaze as she fixed her sight on you. You stepped forward and stood at the foot of her bed, your red eyes meeting hers as she stared right back. There was regret in her expression as well as remorse.

You moved past those expressions to speak your mind, "Where's Yukina's Soul Gem?"

Homura seemed surprised by that before looking away from you, "I..."

"I know your modus. You destroy the body and take the Soul Gem. Reports of powerful Witches have been on the rise during your killing sprees which we could only surmise as you deliberately causing Witches to be born by drawing the Soul away from the Body," You started explaining as you walked closer to her, "However there have been no reports of a powerful Witch being made. Especially not one of Yukina's caliber. Seeing your memories only made this speculation stronger. You not only didn't want to kill Yukina but hatching her Witch could prove disastrous if you went about it normally."

Homura grimaced as she clenched her remaining hand to meet your gaze, "I see. So you know that much."

"You didn't kill her out of your attachment and you didn't Witch her out of preventing the disaster you sought to stop," you continued as you placed a hand on your hip, "Where is she?"

"She's not Walpurgis. I made a mistake," Homura said as she closed her eyes.

Your eyes widened before Madoka broke her silence on the side, "What?"

"It... It wasn't her. Because if it was her then the Wish should have stopped. But it hasn't! So I kept her! I hid her away, I tried to find her help and restore her," the Assassin hissed as she grit her teeth, "She's not Walpurgisnacht, she's not the Core! So I tried... I tried to save her. And then you appeared... I was hoping it'd be you. Given that it's your power, your nature and your creation but it wasn't. It wasn't you even when the Wish compelled me a few hours ago. You're not Walpurgisnacht."

"Where.... Where is she?!" you roared as you grabbed her by the front of her clothes.

Homura met your gaze as she grit her teeth, "West. Downtown Shibuya. Tokyo. They have the Gem and they're creating Yukina her new body."

You stepped back as you let her go. You ran your hand across your face as you looked down to the side.

Madoka spoke up once more, "If Yukina's not Walpurgis, then you were compelled by the Wish to kill again and again."

"I thought it was meaningless. I thought it was endless. But I killed magical girls that would be part of the amalgamation that was Walpurgis," Homura said as she winced from the pain in her head, "But no... The Wish, it was narrowing it down. Narrowing down the suspects. And now it's certain, it knows the Core and it's going to compel me soon enough."

"Who's the Core?" Madoka asked with a grim tone.

"The Wish just needs me to kill two people... The Envoy of Tokyo, that Snake that never Dies. The Named called Jormungandr," Homura stated as she glanced your way, "And Yuri Uchida. Yukina's younger Sister has the requirements to become Walpurgisnacht."

[] You have to leave. Now. Get Madoka and escape. You're not stopping for anyone or anything. This is going to end now.
[] Have Madoka rip off the Assassin's restraints. You're taking her with you and she's going to see this mess to the end.
[] Go alone. Find Yuri. Protect her. You have to leave and find her. Have Madoka do as she pleases, you don't care about anything else.
[] Grab Homura and get her to tell you why this happened. What were the requirements?! Who got to decide?! Why? Why Yuri of all people?!
[] Write in...

[] Have Madoka rip off the Assassin's restraints. You're taking her with you and she's going to see this mess to the end.

"Madoka, get her out of there," you ordered with a firm tone.

The gas masked girl turned to you with a tilt of her head, "Are you certain?"

"We'll be needing her. And besides, you said it yourself that you can counteract her compulsions," you pointed out as you looked behind you.

"This won't be pretty for your benefactors," Madoka intoned as she crossed her arms.

"I don't have much time left either way. Please," you pleaded to her before she waved you off.

The gas masked girl then walked towards Homura and ripped off her restraints with ease. You watched as Madoka picked her up followed by the gas masked girl taking her Soul Gem from the floating cage by the bed. Homura hung on to the taller girl's neck before they turned to you.

"I don't know if I'll be of use to you... But you said you were... Madoka?" Homura asked as she met the gas masked girl's face.

"Yes. I'm Madoka. Not your Madoka however. Just Madoka," the gas masked girl said as she held tight on the Assassin's body, "Yukina, you take point. I have an escape route planned."

"I hope you do. They're not going to let us walk out of here easily," you pointed out as you crossed your arms, "Is Touko nearby?"

"Yes. She can arrange our escape from here," Madoka said as she nodded. However a moment later her phone began to ring. The gas masked girl held up a hand before picking it up with one arm carrying the Assassin. She brought it up to her ear and spoke, "Miss Okazaki? What's wrong?"

"Adjacent security forces have been knocked out. You have hostiles incoming from the front of the apartment complex," you heard Touko speak from the loudspeaker, "I've alerted the Named Captains. They should be scrambling forces to catch the hostiles. You need to leave."

"Yes, about that. We're getting some baggage," Madoka said as she nodded towards you. You immediately sensed several magical signatures making a clean sweep of the building from above and below. There's going to be a lot if the people on overwatch had been ambushed without anyone noticing. Not only that but these girls had to be professionals to manage this much.

There were two coming in hot on your location, you noticed from the crack of the door Kyubey being blasted apart by a magical shot followed by shadows calming down in their approach of the door. Madoka hung back as you grimaced and clenched your fist. No long battles, you need to disable them fast. The door opened as a magical blast whizzed past your head, allowing you to pull the offender's arm and break it, tripping her over to smash her face into the frame of the door.

A magical girl dressed in a dark cloak moved in with her dagger but you lodged your foot into her stomach before smashing her head into the frame too. You then thrust your fist into her chest to have her slam into the wall. You ducked beneath her slash before you pummeled her stomach and grabbing her head to slam it into your knee.

The girl collapsed as you turned to Madoka carrying Homura out of the room. You knelt down at the ruined remains of Kyubey and sighed. It'll be back later, it had a lot of bodies. You got up just as you heard the fighting start below you. There were crackles of thunder and roars of fire, given form by the huge spike of magic you sensed. The apartment shook before you looked out the window to see bodies being tossed out of the building. It seemed that Kyoto's security was putting up a fight.

You ran forward but before you could take a couple of steps the ceiling broke. You avoided a sword down your chest as a girl fell before you. You stepped on her blade before driving your knee into her face. Sweeping low you ruined her footwork before you palmed the ground to slam your heel into her cheek. You then moved to punch her liver and knee her head once she doubled over.

"Yukina! Behind us!" Madoka cried out as you summoned a gear to throw across the hall. It struck the attacker's shield but it gave you enough time to run up the wall and slam your leg down her shoulder.

You punched twice, your fist landing on her face before you shoved her shoulder to pull on her outstretched hand and dislocating her jaw with a palm. The magical girl fell as you held up your fists to scan the area for more foes. You then turned to Madoka after that.

"Up. The rooftop is our path. Then we can jump down to a safer spot," you told her as you detected enemies coming from the hall ahead of you. You turned and ran down the opposite path.

"You're the boss," Madoka said as she followed your lead in finding a staircase leading to the next level. You ran and climbed to the next floor just as a couple of cloaked girls came into view. You grabbed on to the railing and pushed yourself up and launched your foot into their direction.

The first girl dodged allowing you to strike her partner. The girl then drew her weapon but you spun and kicked her across the face, sweeping low to kick her legs and forced her to trip. You then stomped on her head once she fell, only for the second girl to rise up and tackle you into the wall. She grabbed you by the throat before you kicked her stomach but she refused to release you.

Madoka set down Homura to give the invader a haymaker, landing the punch and causing a stagger. Your foe's hand shined and she tried to blast Madoka apart, only for you to catch her bolt and return it back straight through her body. You and Madoka locked arms to turn as more foes came rushing at you two as you ran towards a cloaked magical girl and weaved past her rapier thrust to drive your fist into her gut. Using a gear, you pinned her foot into the ground before you jumped back to the wall and kicked off it.

Smashing your foot against her face knocked her down before you heard Madoka pulling her Desert Eagle to blast apart magical girls in her line of sight. She retreated as you dashed in and slid down the floor, knocking over the magical girl defending against Madoka's bullets. You cracked open her shield with a kick before giving Madoka the clear shot to take.

The Magical Girl was knocked back with a chunk of her lungs missing.

"Let's go!" Madoka said as she picked up Homura from the ground.

"You can just leave me here. There's no point in taking me," Homura said as she grimaced upon being carried.

"Make no mistake," you told her with a firm voice as you ran, "I'm not doing this for you but I'm not leaving you. I want you to see this to the very end. See where your efforts have gone to! And if you have errors, correct them! This is your chance!"

"There's a point. And even if there wasn't, that girl will make one for you," Madoka said as she breathed through her mask, "So chin up, Homura-chan, you're getting another chance!"

"I've had so many chances... What makes this so different?" Homura coldly questioned as she glared at your back.

"You didn't have me," was your confident reply. You ran straight up the roof and opened the door to find that it's been filled with waiting cloaked magical girls. They seemed to have secured the place and were binding up the guards which were present here. They turned to you in alarm before you charged straight for them.

You didn't wait for them to react and simply jumped to kick the jaw of a surprised girl. You fell down and swept a few more with your legs as you palmed the ground to spin. You pushed off the ground and flipped to your feet as they moved. You blocked a punch and kicked up a thrust before you grabbed a hand of one of the girls and lifted her up, swinging her around her allies and clearing a line of them as you dashed back. Sliding by Madoka's side, you looked to see that their numbers hadn't been shaved off.

Clenching your fist, you got ready but Madoka held your shoulder.

"You're dying. You should save your strength for something important," Madoka said as she set down Homura by the door. The dark haired girl sighed as she looked at the enemies before you.

"I don't suppose they're here for a meet and greet," Homura scoffed as she held her stump where her right forearm should be.

"Even if they are, they're several hours too early. Who has a meet and greet at midnight?" Madoka asked as she pulled the slide to her handcannon.

You clenched your fists and got ready, "I'll defend Homura. You be careful now."

"Incoming!" Homura blinked as you and Madoka looked up. You held your hand up as Madoka did the same, a barrier was erected before you two just as a pair of shooting stars crashed before you. The blast roared past your ears as you frowned upon recognizing this power.

Magic erupted from the crash site just as a gladius glimmered through the smoke.

"Colosseo!"

Light burst.

And soon you found yourself at a familiar arena. You turned to see the bunched up group of invaders be attacked by both steel and magic. Harpoons flew as shields were raised, the distinct figure of a person slicing and dicing through bodies with no mercy. Bones broke and cries were drowned out by the cheer of the illusory crowd. Magical Girls fell down the sandy arena as they were struck by fist, steel and raw magic raining above. A moment later the last magical girl was blasted through the arena and straight into the wall.

The crowd cheered as two figured were left standing. One was that of Chise Haruyama, the Named of the East. Spartacus. The second girl was the Named of the West, also known as Benediction, Ume Sendai. Chise met your gaze as she lowered her sword in relief. She walked up to you with a kind smile as you lowered your fists.

"We came as soon as we were alerted. Everyone all right?" Chise asked with a nod.

"For the most part. Only reason we're not overwhelmed is that the security girls are holding on their own," Madoka said before clearing her throat, "I... Um... I'm Yukina's friend."

"She's my friend," you nodded.

"Right, you were there when Yukina went to Asunaro," Chise nodded as she chuckled.

"Chise," Ume barked from the side.

"Ah, right. Sorry. We were supposed to rescue you but it seems that this just makes it easier. Come, we'll bring you to a safer placed than here," Chise said as she held out her hand.

"Wait. What is with this attack? Who ordered it?" you asked her with a frown.

"Tokyo. They've become more bold. Apparently they didn't take too kindly to one of their Envoys being killed in Kyoto grounds. Sai isn't here to mediate and the Envoy's our only solid line... With her dead we can't start peace talks," Chise said as she shook her head.

"Jormungandr isn't dead. She's alive," Homura piped up with a strained voice. She fought through the pain inside her mind and said, "I would know if she was. I wasn't... Able to kill her."

"Oh so you're responsible for that," Ume growled as she crossed her arms. Chise turned to the smaller green haired girl and held up her hand but the latter wasn't having any of it, "Nice job, Assassin."

"Either way, this isn't where we should be discussing this. Yukina, we have to go," Chise said as she turned to you.

You stared at her before grimacing, "I... I want to see Yuri. I'm going to look for her. You go ahead and help the others, I can take care of myself."

Chise winced at that before scratching her neck, "I... I know, Yukina but this is important too. You're important. Kaguya's trying to find a way to fix whatever's happening to you, you know? You should really come with us."

"Yuri's more important to me, so please. Just let us go. People will need your help elsewhere," you told her as you shook your head.

"We have our orders, GriefBorne. Don't make this difficult," Ume huffed as she struck the blunt end of her staff into the ground. She gave you a sharp look as you winced.

Chise gave you a wary look before lowering her hand, "Yukina... Are you sure about this?"



[] Go with Kyoto's Named. Gain their support, let them help you find Yukina and Yuri. Be Loyal to Kyoto until the end.
[] Find your own path and escape. This is your fight, you can't risk a war starting because of you. Break ties with Kyoto.