Brian tapped the wheel of his car with two fingers as he drove through the grimy streets of Brockton Bay. Homura seemed nice enough, as she responded to Aisha's casual discussion of various subjects with short statements. But he couldn't shake the feeling there was something dangerous about the girl. He didn't fully believe Aisha yet, but he didn't want to get his sister riled up about it, and Tattletale could always verify her story. But this girl … the look in her eyes was dead inside like the marine he met once at his gym.
He was broken out of his reverie by arriving at the hideout. He took Aisha and Homura through the first floor and to the second floor of the loft. He knocked on the stairwell a few times.
"It's the code for masks on." he explained, giving them a minute before entering. Homura walked in coolly without consideration of a mask, which put another notch in the theory that Aisha was right.
Bitch was sitting up on the couch with the dogs while Regent played some video games
"Who the fuck are these people?" she asked
"They're not here to join the team, they're here for Tattletale's help. She's my sister." He thumbed at Aisha who raised her eyebrows at Bitch's obvious hostility. Then he pointed at Homura. "And she's my sister's friend."
"Hmph. Fine," Bitch said, before laying back down in the cuddlepile. He knocked on Tattletale's door, who opened it with a mask on and a grimace.
"Ugh, I was sleeping, Grue," she complained before zooming in on Homura. "Holy shit, where'd you pick up this one?"
"She says she's from another dimension," Brian replied, watching Lisa's eyes widen and peer at Homura more closely.
"Hmm … why … interesting …" She opened the door and urged them to come inside. She sat on her chair, twirling towards Homura and pointing at the jewel on her left hand. "That jewel's important right?"
"Yes," Homura stated simply. Aisha flopped on the bed, oohing at how soft it was.
"Like, source of your power important right?" Tattletale tilted her head. "No, holy shit, kills you if it breaks important."
Homura grimaced. "Yes."
"Tattletale, could you tell me if she's the real deal or not?" Brian asked, sounding slightly annoyed from where he was leaning against the wall.
"Yeah she is, I figured that out when you mentioned it." Tattletale waved him off. He nodded, taking it in.
"We're in a chatroom called a node that has a moderator called ModDog," Aisha called out from where she was ensconced in a fluffy blanket. "We can summon each other, it's fucking cool. Homura needs Tinker devices that are powerful that she can use to destroy some kind of monster in her world."
Tattletale looked at Homura again and grimaced.
"That bad huh? Well, I suppose I could contact our boss but I don't know if Brian could afford something that powerful."
"I can stop time and take any item that can fit in my shield," Homura offered. Lisa's eyes glinted brightly. "In exchange for your assistance in this matter, I can steal items for you that you would otherwise have difficulty getting."
"Holy shit, that's an incredible power," Lisa said, smiling. Brian agreed; the heists they could pull with that kind of power ... He was suddenly struck by the fact that Aisha had powers. She was involved in the cape scene whether she wanted to be or not. He resolved to talk to her seriously soon.
"It's not an infinite amount of time," Homura warned.
Lisa's eyes flickered to her gem and her smile dropped. "Right. Well, let me search up some leads and look down some rabbit holes."
(❍ᴥ❍ʋ)
The mall food court they were sitting at was clean and well kept. Sayaka Miki, Madoka Kaname, and Hitomi Shizuki sat at a table, enjoying their after school meals. As Madoka winded down from her retelling, Sayaka stared at Madoka in disbelief. "Huh?! She said what!?"
"It doesn't make any sense does it?" Madoka said, looking down.
"Just when I was thinking she was someone gifted with both brains and beauty, it turns out she's a psycho!" Sayaka exclaimed, frustrated. "Exactly how far was she going to keep up that weirdo character act? Is that what makes her moe?!"
She dramatically grasped herself and thudded her head against the plastic table.
"Madoka, are you sure you've never met Miss Akemi before?" Hitomi asked, used to Sayaka's antics.
"Hmm...Well, the sensible answer is 'yes', but …" Madoka said, hesitantly.
"What's that supposed to mean? That you have met her before in some 'insensible' way?" Sayaka asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Last night ...I first met her … in a dream …" Madoka muttered."Or something."
Sayaka and Hitomi laughed.
"Awesome! You're acting like you're an anime character, too!"
"That's mean! This is really bugging me!" Madoka protested.
"Well, it's obvious now. You must have known each other in a previous life and were brought by fate across time and space to meet once again!" Sayaka declared dramatically.
"You said you met in a dream. What kind of dream was it?" Hitomi asked, a little more sensitive to Madoka's feelings.
"It was… To be honest, I can't really remember anymore," Madoka said, frowning. "I do know that it was a really strange dream, though …"
"Then maybe you actually have met Miss Akemi somewhere before."
"Huh?" Madoka blinked.
"Though you may not consciously remember, your subconscious could have taken note of her and later brought her out in a dream."
"Isn't that a little far-fetched? I mean, that's some coincidence," Sayaka argued.
"I suppose." Hitomi looked at her phone. "Oh! It's already this late? I'm sorry, I'd better go."
"Piano lessons, right? Or is it Japanese classical dance today?" Sayaka asked.
"Tea ceremony lessons. Even though entrance exams are right around the corner, I wonder how long Mother intends to make me continue with them," Hitomi said, mildly exasperated.
"Whew! Makes me glad I wasn't born rich," Sayaka said with a laugh. She turned to Madoka. "Should we get going too?"
"Yeah," Madoka said, grabbing her bag.
Sayaka leaned forward. "Madoka, do you mind if we stopped at the music store on the way home?"
"That's fine. Buying another CD for Kamijo?" Madoka teased.
"Sorta," Sayaka said, embarrassed. They said their goodbyes and left for their respective places. While Sayaka browsed the CD titles in the music shop tablet, Madoka tried on some sample music headphones.
Help me … Help me Madoka ...
Startled, Madoka took off her headphones and looked around. There was a voice in her head!
Please help me!
Madoka started walking away from the shop and headed towards the closed down section of the Mall, where the voice seemed to be gaining in volume.
"Who's there? Who is it?" Madoka asked.
Help me …
She opened a door to the rest of the section and headed inside cautiously.
"Where are you? Who are you?"
Help me ...
Madoka shrieked as an air duct fell open and a white cat thing fell out. She froze as she looked upon the injured creature, remembering Homura's words of caution. Hearing footsteps, she looked up to see Homura in a strange costume.
"Homura …?" Madoka asked, confused.
"It is as I told you." Homura said stonily. "It's faking for sympathy. It has numerous bodies."
Madoka swallowed as she looked upon the heavy breathing of the creature. "I-it looks pretty real. Just, please, don't do something cruel."
"This has nothing to do with you," Homura said, coming closer.
"But he was calling for help!" Madoka protested, picking him up into her arms.
Homura seemed to sigh and wait for a moment as if listening to something. "Madoka, I-"
Fire extinguisher foam suddenly sprayed Homura. Sayaka was there, spraying her.
"Madoka! This way!" she shouted as Madoka scrambled up and started to run.
"W-what is with that girl?! Now she's attacking people in cosplay?!" Sayaka exclaimed as they ran. "And what is that thing? That's not a stuffed animal is it? It's alive?"
"I …" Incubator echoed in her mind. "I don't know."
Then the walls seemed to melt and change as white puffballs with malicious mustaches started to surround them. Iron thorns with chopping scissors approached with grim intent.
"Something's wrong," Madoka said, eyes wide.
"Haha, I'm dreaming right, Madoka …?" Sayaka said, afraid. Madoka opened her mouth to respond, but then there were multiple explosions, and Homura appeared in front of them, hair swaying as she looked concerned— no, afraid?
"Madoka, are you alright?" she asked, when another girl appeared suddenly. Her smile was warm, but her eyes were cold as she looked at Homura with a glowing egg in her hands. The strange apparitions suddenly disappeared, as if they were never there to begin with. Sayaka and Madoka looked back and forth between them.
"Thank you for saving him. Kyubey is a friend of mine," the stranger said. "I'm Mami Tomoe."
Mami eyed Homura. "If you go now, you can finish the witch off."
"I have business here," Homura said, icily.
"You don't read between the lines very well, do you?" Mami said, coolly. "I'm telling you I'll overlook what you did this time."
" … Madoka, remember what I said," she said, before turning on a heel and walking off. Mami spent some time healing Kyubey, with Madoka sitting uneasily. Sayaka watched with wide eyes.
Thank you, Mami! You're a lifesaver!
"If you want to thank anyone, it should be these two," Mami said, with a smile. "I was just following the witch."
Kyubey turned to Madoka and Sayaka.
Thank you very much. I came here because I have a request for you two.
"Request?" Madoka asked, feeling sudden dread.
I want you to make contracts with me and become magical girls!
Madoka turned pale.
Homura was right.
(❍ᴥ❍ʋ)
"Where could she be!?" Zuko roared, slamming his fists on the map of the world. Team Avatar, Uncle Iroh, and Mai were in Zuko's private chambers.
"Zuko, calm down, have some tea," Iroh implored, offering a cup to Zuko. He took it gratefully and sipped at it.
"Thank you Uncle," Zuko said, still frustrated. "Agh, if I get my hands on Ty Lee …"
"Let's focus less on her and more on Azula," Katara spoke up, raising her eyebrows. She stepped to the table and pulled out the map of the fire nation capital from a box next to it. She spread it out on the table and put polished rocks on the corners.
"We searched the entire area already," Zuko said irritably.
"Zuko even had me sweep the secret tunnels underneath the city," Toph added.
"Yeah, but even so, we've only had a couple of days. And you know there are sympathizers to Azula," Mai muttered.
"What I don't get is how she managed to disappear! And that strange explosive device she used," Katara exclaimed, folding her arms.
"It's very interesting …" Sokka remarked, poking the remains of the device.
"Sokka, focus. We gotta catch Azula before she burns down a whole kingdom or something," Suki scolded.
" … I guess I have to put out a bounty," Zuko muttered.
"Dead or alive?" Mai said, half joking. Zuko gave her a sharp look.
"Alive of course," he snapped.
"We could contact June," Aang said. "Her shirshu is great at tracking people down."
"Yeah, but I don't think she could handle Azula," Toph observed.
"Yeaaahhh, that wouldn't go down well. It's too bad we can't just go after her like old times," Sokka said.
"We have responsibilities now," Katara said with a sigh. "We need peace. Our jobs are to stabilize the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom."
"Ugh," Toph said, flopping back.
(❍ᴥ❍ʋ)
It was a miracle by all accounts. Saito Igarashi had survived his attack by Himiko Toga and stabilized, though he was still in a coma to recover. There was even talk about getting the famous Recovery Girl involved, but he was still in a delicate phase and no one wanted to accidentally kill the boy by having his body ravage what little resources he had left.
Mito Iraraka sighed as she twirled in her chair. From the witnesses and evidence she gathered, it seemed like a confession gone wrong. Though her parents painted a far more disturbing picture, one of a monster in waiting, her teachers and friends said she was a good girl that was the model classmate. She didn't know which account to believe, so she decided to wait until she could speak to the girl herself. That was proving to be far harder to do than anything else, despite her quirk, Smell Sense. Her antennae had already picked up the trail; following it was the problem.
Toga had managed to get through multiple districts, which had caused her … bureaucratic problems. She couldn't go to those districts without stepping on toes even for a simple matter like this. There were some detectives that believed that any case that entered their 'territory' was now theirs and some that didn't believe a woman should be a detective. They were delaying their responses to her requests to investigate as long as they could and giving her the runaround as much as possible.
It was frustrating, and made her a little bitter that because of pride, runaway kids like Toga would inevitably become villains. But maybe, as she worked on the paperwork, if she tried her best like All Might, she could get to her in time.
Maybe.
