Puella Magi Adfligo Systema
- Thread starter Firnagzen
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- puella magi adfligo systema puella magi madoka magica be gay do crimes (gay) female protagonist bad decisions dating mami tomoe (tomoe mami) diabolical laughter friendship is the best ship handholding identity crises microwaving tea gets you put in the bad place names are important the body is the fursona of the soul this is not the baked goods thread we don't talk about rionna what could possibly go wrong? who in the world is azure sanfrancisco?
Telling everything at once directly will end in tears- while hiding everything indefinitely forever isn't an option and we are going to have to tell some of the people some of the things over time, we are surrounded by emotional timebombs.
The blueberry is a stubborn, suicidal Paladin with an alignment of Lawful Stupid, perfectionist tendencies (sometimes), and a side order of guilt and feelings of inadequacy.
Kyouko uses Darwinian philosophy and being a jerk to cover for ALL OF THE TRAUMA~ and is entirely too keen about breaking people's limbs/feeding them to Witches.
Mami is...Mami. MAMI NEEDS A PET/SABRINA TO HOLD BECAUSE OH GOD CRIPPLING LONELINESS.
Madoka has a chronic martyr complex, no self-esteem to speak of, and badly concealed fears of uselessness.
Homura is slowly going batshit insane, and after 100 timelines, I don't blame her. Oh, and feelings of worthlessness, an unhealthy obsession, and self-loathing, though that last list was pretty par for the course for meguca.
Oriko has daddy issues, social isolation/bullying, and feeling like she has no real purpose other than that given to her by her wish.
Kirika literally has brain damage making her murderously genki.
But at least Sabrina's a model of emotional stability and rational decision making!
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AuraTwilight
The Sorcerer of Smiles
- Location
- The Silver City
Why would it?
Well, yea, but she doesn't need to know that.
But yea Hypothetical Plan: Timestop Madoka, tell her EVERYTHING except Homucifer. Tell her we're working on fixing it, and that she can help us without contracting, such as Mamifriendship.
Tell her that we've 'seen' her try a lot of wishes that seemed like great ideas that went wrong, and that if she thinks of something, we'll atleast check if she's done it in a previous universe or if we see any problems with it. Telepathically tell Homura we don't intend to let her contract, we're pacifying Madoka.
As already implied, Homura is there to help during the talk. If she wants to, Homura can disclose everything about how she's been doing the loop-de-loop. "You're my one and only guidepost...let me protect you."
Let Madoka see the girls' pains at their most open and emotionally vulnerable. "Magic can't fix this, Madoka. But you can. Your greatest strength isn't your potential to contract, but the warmth you bring into their lives. You're like the sun, and the light you've given was bright enough to cause all this (alluding to Homulooping). You're more than you think you are, and magic will only rob you of it."
Krecart
Not for throwing.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Minus the last bit about the full time stop info dump, I see nothing wrong with what Aura proposed.
I forgot the sarcasm face, sorry.
Dirtnap
Kanmusu Affecionado
You better not be bad talking best buddy. She'll know.
AuraTwilight
The Sorcerer of Smiles
- Location
- The Silver City
To be fair to the highway overpass that was more because she was listening to JUNKO'S DRUNKEN ADVICE.
AuraTwilight
The Sorcerer of Smiles
- Location
- The Silver City
It's for her benefit. Make her think she actually has a card to play in an emergency without letting down Homerun-chan.
Also we can't say for sure there's nothing we wouldn't approve. Homura's another story, but we technically wouldn't be lying. It's great.
"Yea, you became a God. Then the universe blew up. That timeline's gone now. It's so gone Homura doesn't even REMEMBER that loop. Don't fucking do it."
Guys we know shit even KYUBEY AND HOMURA can't call us on. We can totally lie and get away with some things. If we were inclined to.
...Let's not be inclined to. 
Yeah, I'm not sure "technically but not really" not-lying would do that much for us, but that's just a matter of preference. If we actually get called out on it or she doesn't believe us on something we can't confirm, that's some of our credibility lost for the future- which is pretty vital where Madoka's involved.
Yeah, I'm not sure "technically but not really" not-lying would do that much for us, but that's just a matter of preference. If we actually get called out on it or she doesn't believe us on something we can't confirm, that's some of our credibility lost for the future- which is pretty vital where Madoka's involved.
AuraTwilight
The Sorcerer of Smiles
- Location
- The Silver City
It's not like we even need to 'not-really-nudge-nudge' not lie to her. It could be as simple as "Sabrina I want to make a contract for <xxx>" and we can just honestly explain every reason why we think she shouldn't.
We could also just tell her that if she does, it's very likely that Homura will reset the timeline. So.
We could also just tell her that if she does, it's very likely that Homura will reset the timeline. So.
[] Hug Mami. Console Mami.
[] You know, all our wishes were made when we had no other choice. I was dying. Mami was dying. Homura...
-[] Look to her for permission / as a prompt.
--[] Homura had lost everything she cared about.
[] But in exchange, we sacrificed more than just our souls. You heard us talking after school. Dropping out of school clubs. Growing distant from friends. We have to isolate ourselves from everyone who doesn't know the secret. Not one magical girl in Mitakihara lives with their families. I... I couldn't even think of smalltalk that wasn't about magic.
[] Subtly direct this at Madoka:
-[] It would be wonderful if we had more normal in our lives. To help us remember that we're still human.
Updated in a few pages
[] You know, all our wishes were made when we had no other choice. I was dying. Mami was dying. Homura...
-[] Look to her for permission / as a prompt.
--[] Homura had lost everything she cared about.
[] But in exchange, we sacrificed more than just our souls. You heard us talking after school. Dropping out of school clubs. Growing distant from friends. We have to isolate ourselves from everyone who doesn't know the secret. Not one magical girl in Mitakihara lives with their families. I... I couldn't even think of smalltalk that wasn't about magic.
[] Subtly direct this at Madoka:
-[] It would be wonderful if we had more normal in our lives. To help us remember that we're still human.
Updated in a few pages
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AuraTwilight
The Sorcerer of Smiles
- Location
- The Silver City
[x] SWB
@SynchronizedWritersBlock
Parts 2-4 work great for the intent and made their point fairly well (which should probably come up later in the conversation...), but isn't 5 something we want to fix and have been vocally saying isn't inherent? Presenting it as an inherent, inevitable downside in front of Mami and Homura seems a bit problematic.
The last bit is setting off my alarm bells for making it sound worse than it is to the point of Madoka un-meguca'ing all three of us with a wish made out of compassion. It also doesn't tackle her "I'm not brave enough to contract!" complex.
Parts 2-4 work great for the intent and made their point fairly well (which should probably come up later in the conversation...), but isn't 5 something we want to fix and have been vocally saying isn't inherent? Presenting it as an inherent, inevitable downside in front of Mami and Homura seems a bit problematic.
The last bit is setting off my alarm bells for making it sound worse than it is to the point of Madoka un-meguca'ing all three of us with a wish made out of compassion. It also doesn't tackle her "I'm not brave enough to contract!" complex.
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Part 5 is a subtle prompt to see if Madoka won't jump on any kind of out we give her to help us without contracting. I do think the use of the word wish is problematic, but it can be fixed. I understand SV doesn't do subtle, but this is the best I can think of to place some suggestions in 'Doka's mind. The phrasing was chosen to explicitly reminds us MGs we're human, rather than playing that we aren't. I can improve it, though.
The coward complex isn't really relevant. We know she's brave enough to make a contract. If we were to tackle it, we'd make the problem worse. What we need to do is nudge her towards making any kind of difference that doesn't involve contracting. Sabrina Speeching it at her isn't going to work.
e: Made an edit to the vote.
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AuraTwilight
The Sorcerer of Smiles
- Location
- The Silver City
It's pretty fucking true right now, though. We can talk to them about it again after we change the entire world.
This part is true, though, but I don't think Madoka is that stupid. She knows that Sabrina's exact powerset is what's letting Homura and Mami lead the pleasant lifestyle they are right now, iirc.
If nothing else, it's not in Madoka's character to deprive people of their agency, and un-megucaing is in strict violation of her truest character. She won't even do it to save the life of her best friend.
Because it wasn't meaningless.
I...don't think we want to be subtle with that. Mostly because I doubt we can pull it off, but mostly because flat out stating it later in the conversation, along with commentary on our wishes, would probably work better.
The coward complex is only a problem because Madoka frames it in those terms- change it so she doesn't equate not contracting with cowardice.
@AuraTwilight
Rubbing that fact in Homura and Mami's faces is unhelpful.
And she was about to do exactly that when Homura stopped it. There's definitely a lot of precedent for her stepping in if she thinks it'll make things better. We don't want to risk that.
The coward complex is only a problem because Madoka frames it in those terms- change it so she doesn't equate not contracting with cowardice.
@AuraTwilight
Rubbing that fact in Homura and Mami's faces is unhelpful.
And she was about to do exactly that when Homura stopped it. There's definitely a lot of precedent for her stepping in if she thinks it'll make things better. We don't want to risk that.
It's incredibly dumb to comment that wishes are monkey's paws, as a magical girl who very much made a wish that wasn't one. Wishes are what you make of them.
aeqnai
Nerdy Homu
- Location
- Laniakea Supercluster
- Pronouns
- She/Her
AuraTwilight
The Sorcerer of Smiles
- Location
- The Silver City
Yea, Madoka was going to improve the world at the cost of her non-existence.
And the only time Madoka ever even considered un-megucaing was when Sayaka was like "BLUH BLUH BLUH IM A ZOMBIE WAITING TO DIE I HATE LIVING." Like, yea, of course she'd consider it THEN.
But unless Sabrina and the posse make it clear they regret contracting, she's not going to do it.
Re: My Monkey's Paw comment, that was basically a "Points not prose" thing. Monkey's Paw was a bad terminology. Replace with "bluh bluh wishes karma distortion it was their wishes that betrayed them herpderp"
The idea that wishes aren't worth the cost, ruin your life, etc, is fine and well... except Madoka will wish anyway if she thinks doing so is worth all that. We can point it out but ultimately it isn't a relevant argument to stopping Madoka from making a wish. She already uses that logic as per canon.
AuraTwilight
The Sorcerer of Smiles
- Location
- The Silver City
Right. And the main reason for all that being a problem is the lack of communication. Like, what happens if we get her into the mindframe of EP11 Climax, and then add "Yea you made this wish before and it broke reality in a bad way don't do it"?
Like, we really, REALLY need to be a proper mediator between Madoka and Homura, here. We can't just throw our weight in with Homura and keep Madoka in the dark and not contributing. At the very least, informing her and having her promise to reserve her wish until we deploy her is better than Homura's status quo.
Like, we really, REALLY need to be a proper mediator between Madoka and Homura, here. We can't just throw our weight in with Homura and keep Madoka in the dark and not contributing. At the very least, informing her and having her promise to reserve her wish until we deploy her is better than Homura's status quo.
SO.
I have been gone for about a month. In that time, I have been...planning.
Any time a Quest catches me enough for me to read through the whole thing and isn't done by the time I do, I like to show my appreciation by writing an omake for it. Here, I'd figure I'd take care of two in one go.
@TheBleachDoctor , you might be interested.
I have been gone for about a month. In that time, I have been...planning.
Any time a Quest catches me enough for me to read through the whole thing and isn't done by the time I do, I like to show my appreciation by writing an omake for it. Here, I'd figure I'd take care of two in one go.
@TheBleachDoctor , you might be interested.
Not for the first time, Sabrina found herself thankful for her brain's grasp of languages. There really weren't any words more appropriate than "clusterfuck" for her recent adventures.
She sighed heavily, resting her chin on the table. Mami wouldn't be home for another few hours and had just checked in a few minutes prior, so she had free reign to gallivant about to her heart's content. Despite the allure of bending physics over the couch and whaling on it with a riding crop made of Grief, though, she couldn't muster up the motivation to head out and SCIENCE!
Despite being relatively free of casualties, the war weighed down her thoughts. She wondered, for the hundredth time, whether she could have avoided the fighting in the first place, kept Akiko from breaking down. She wondered if her actions made her a tyrant.
What thoughts she managed to dredge up from beneath the weight hovered around Mami. Seeing the vibrant gunslinger in such a state was absolutely crushing. She brought up her phone and began Googling some ideas to deal with co-dependency before, with another sigh, putting the phone away and re-optimizing her moping posture.
Maybe a therapist would help? She didn't have to spell out everything about the situation, just say that one of Mami's "friends" had been manipulating her.
Of course, that could still be enough to prompt the little rat to wipe the therapist's memory. There was always the Groundhog Day approach of having a hundred first sessions, at least.
Maybe he'd be willing to work with both of them.
She brought her face down on the table. And there's the existential crisis over whether she constituted an actual person or merely a manifestation of the will of a goddess who, technically, didn't even exist in this timeline.
The phone blared unexpectedly, snapping her out of her one-woman pity party. Shin's number. She brought the phone up to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Big Sis? There's a talking cat here."
Her blood froze, then boiled over in quick succession. If that little white shit thought it could mess with Nagisa without getting sent into low-Earth orbit...
"Big Sis? Are you still there?"
Sabrina realized she'd been too wrapped up in plotting vengeance to hear the rest of what Nagisa was saying.
"I'm still here."
"Um...I don't think it's the one you told me about, though. It's black."
That threw Sabrina for a loop. Maybe it was a new Incubator? "Kurobey" or something?
"Has it said anything to you about a contract?"
"No, it's only really said 'pet me' and rubbed its cheeks on everything. Also, she says she's not an 'it.'"
This did not compute.
"Errr...do you think you can bring her over?"
"Okay. Uncle Shin is taking me to a movie in a little bit. I'll ask him if we can stop by."
"Thanks, Nagisa. Be careful, okay? If she asks, don't make any kind of deal."
"Okay, Big Sis. See you soon."
Sabrina put the phone down, her internal forum on DEFCON 1. Theories flew back and forth, ranging from "her" being a new disguise for Kyuubey to her being some sort of cat spirit with very low standards for amusement. She brewed herself a pot of tea for thinking purposes, looking longingly from the old pot to the microwave.
It was so tempting, but she couldn't bring herself to pollute Mami's house like that.
After a brief period of intense internal debate and subsequent nonsensical internal rambling after a course of action had been settled upon, a series of knocks from the lower portion of the door alerted her to Nagisa's arrival. After lowering her center of gravity to avoid being bowled over, she opened it and accepted the younger girl's ballistic hug.
Once she'd been released from Nagisa's impressively-iron grip, she looked her over and, with some confusion, noted that there was no evil feline temptress to be found. Nagisa looked at her oddly for a moment before realizing what she was looking for.
"You can come out now," she said, reaching up to poke at her hair. A lump arose from her mane and slowly inched forward until a tiny black head poked out from her bangs.
"Hi, White Girl!" they heard in their heads. Sabrina, nonplussed, was about to question the kitten's focus on race before the latter scrunched her brows in apparent confusion.
"Wait, YOU'RE White Girl," she said, looking down at Nagisa. The kitten seemed to agonize over this dilemma before reaching a solution.
"I know!" she said, a small paw emerging from Nagisa's hair to point at Sabrina. "You can be Big White Girl! OOOOH WAIT WAIT! GREAT White Girl! Rawr!"
The kitten wriggled in a shark-like fashion, which failed to intimidate but did succeed in getting her hopelessly tangled in Nagisa's hair. She fell from her perch and dangled forlornly in a white web, Nagisa tilting her head to compensate for the increased weight.
"Best Cat down! Help!" she wailed as the two girls worked hard to extricate her. Thankfully, they managed to do so before the kitten took matters into her own claws. Once free, she latched firmly onto Sabrina's shirt and was only removed through a considerable effort.
"I have to go, Big Sis," said Nagisa as Shin stuck his head out the window. Sabrina nodded, trying to dislodge the kitten that had now taken up residence in her own hair.
Once the Momoes had left, Sabrina gave up her efforts to remove her new headwear, which had enthusiastically claimed ownership of "Mount GreatWhiteGirl." Resignedly, she sad back down at the table, sipping at some tea.
"So, who are you, exactly?" Sabrina asked.
"I am Best Cat!"
"Do you have a name?" Sabrina prompted when no further explanation seemed forthcoming. The kitten, seemingly baffled that her previous answer was insufficient, hopped down onto the table and puffed herself up.
"I am Amy Percival Venticus Akemi, but you can call me Homura!"
Sabrina's brain attempted to shift gears, but apparently missed the clutch, resulting in temporary cessation of function. When she awoke, "Homura" had already planted herself next to her cup of tea and begun stealing tonguefuls in a manner much less subtle than she probably thought. Sabrina elected to ignore this, instead reaching out to the less-fluffy of the known Akemis.
"Homura?"
"Yes, Sabrina?"
"Where are you right now?"
"Walking Madoka home. Is something the matter?"
"No...just checking up."
"...alright. Talk to you later."
Sabrina looked back down at the kitten she would think of as "Amy" for clarity's sake. For the first time, she noticed her collar, on which sat a miniature version of Homura's shield and a soul gem. Out of curiosity, Sabrina poked at it with her Grief sense as Amy yawned and rolled over onto her back.
Nothing. Not a speck of Grief.
Luckily for Sabrina, the assorted prior impossibilities served to lessen the impact of this one, allowing her to remain lucid. Taking a deep breath, she decided some more questioning was in order.
"So, where are you from, Amy?"
The kitten spun back onto her paws, scrunching her face in contemplation.
"Well, first Pink Girl Madoka took me into her house and loved me but then Upside-Down Girl made her dead and then Bunnycat said 'You are Best Cat so I will help you' and he made Pink Girl not-dead. Then I met Big Sis Mami and Blue Girl and Red Girl and we did fun things and I fought Big Fish Witches and everyone said 'You are Best Cat' and I told them 'Yes I am Best Cat' and they petted me. After that, Upside-Down Girl came but we made her go away and everyone was really happy and gave me lots of tuna. Then I went to sleep and Pink-Gold Girl said 'Best Cat, some more people need your help.' I said 'But I want to stay with Pink Girl Madoka' and she said 'You can go right back to her after. There is another Pink Girl Madoka who needs help.' I said 'Okay' because Pink Girl Madoka is the best and then I met you and Little White Girl and now I'm here!"
Amy nudged at Sabrina's hand with her head, implicitly demanding petting for telling such an amazing story. Sabrina, having figured out the kitten's naming conventions, idly patted her on the head as she processed the story. Was she from another dimension? Did she actually beat Walpurgisnacht? Why did her story sound so much like Homura's?
She stood up, carrying Amy in one hand as she made her way over to the couch, where she flopped down heavily. Yet more craziness to sift through.
Even with a kitten in her hand, she found herself falling back into a slump. So much going on and now this curveball. Noticing her discomfort, Amy patted her way onto her chest, looking her in the face.
"What's wrong, Great White Girl?"
"It's Sabrina," she mumbled.
"What's wrong, Great White Girl Sabrina?"
"There's just so much going on!" she admitted. "I just dealt with a war, Mami's a wreck, there's something even worse than Walpurgisnacht coming, you just showed up, Akiko is sfgrbkasdn..."
Amy, who had been batting at Sabrina's mouth as she spoke, had lost patience and simply latched onto her face, Alien-style. Sabrina plucked her off by the nape of the neck, but before she could respond, Amy piped up.
"Big Sis Mami is not-dead, right?"
"Well, yeah, but-"
"And Pink Girl Madoka and Blue Girl and Red Girl are not-dead, right?"
"Yes-"
"And now Best Cat is here, so everything will be okay!"
Sabrina opened her mouth to respond, but somehow failed to find fault in the kitten's logic. She giggled, placing the tiniest Meguca of them all on her lap.
"Pet me."
Sabrina acquiesced, just enjoying the feel of Amy's soft fur and the jet-engine purring that, by all rights, her small body should not have been able to produce. They remained that way for some time until Amy spotted a Grief sphere that Sabrina had yet to store with the others.
"What's that?" she asked as she bounded over to it, giving it the standard kitten inspection of batting at and gnawing on it in various places.
"Oh, that's Grief. I can actually control it," Sabrina answered.
"What's a Grief?"
Sabrina was about to explain when she had a stroke of inspiration.
"I'll show you! Hop on," she said with a grin. When Amy obliged, the sphere rose.
Sabrina sent it careening around the room, kitten in tow. Her own laughter and Amy's telepathic "Wheeeeeeeee!" filled the air with a joy that had been sorely lacking in recent times.
Neither noticed initially when the door creaked open and a certain time-traveler entered.
"Sabrina? You sounded concerned and I wanted to check..."
Homura attempted to take in the scene, Sabrina nearly falling over laughing as a kitten rode one of her Grief spheres like a runaway helicopter. At the sound of her voice, Sabrina attempted to compose herself while the kitten hopped off of the now-immobile sphere to land at Homura's feet.
With a pop, a girl that looked exactly like Homura save for a pair of cat ears, a tail, and a look of sheer elation that seemed utterly alien on the time-traveler's face stood in front of her.
"Hi, Best Not-Cat!"
Homura, very slowly and deliberately, fainted to the ground with a worrying *clunk*.
She sighed heavily, resting her chin on the table. Mami wouldn't be home for another few hours and had just checked in a few minutes prior, so she had free reign to gallivant about to her heart's content. Despite the allure of bending physics over the couch and whaling on it with a riding crop made of Grief, though, she couldn't muster up the motivation to head out and SCIENCE!
Despite being relatively free of casualties, the war weighed down her thoughts. She wondered, for the hundredth time, whether she could have avoided the fighting in the first place, kept Akiko from breaking down. She wondered if her actions made her a tyrant.
What thoughts she managed to dredge up from beneath the weight hovered around Mami. Seeing the vibrant gunslinger in such a state was absolutely crushing. She brought up her phone and began Googling some ideas to deal with co-dependency before, with another sigh, putting the phone away and re-optimizing her moping posture.
Maybe a therapist would help? She didn't have to spell out everything about the situation, just say that one of Mami's "friends" had been manipulating her.
Of course, that could still be enough to prompt the little rat to wipe the therapist's memory. There was always the Groundhog Day approach of having a hundred first sessions, at least.
Maybe he'd be willing to work with both of them.
She brought her face down on the table. And there's the existential crisis over whether she constituted an actual person or merely a manifestation of the will of a goddess who, technically, didn't even exist in this timeline.
The phone blared unexpectedly, snapping her out of her one-woman pity party. Shin's number. She brought the phone up to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Big Sis? There's a talking cat here."
Her blood froze, then boiled over in quick succession. If that little white shit thought it could mess with Nagisa without getting sent into low-Earth orbit...
"Big Sis? Are you still there?"
Sabrina realized she'd been too wrapped up in plotting vengeance to hear the rest of what Nagisa was saying.
"I'm still here."
"Um...I don't think it's the one you told me about, though. It's black."
That threw Sabrina for a loop. Maybe it was a new Incubator? "Kurobey" or something?
"Has it said anything to you about a contract?"
"No, it's only really said 'pet me' and rubbed its cheeks on everything. Also, she says she's not an 'it.'"
This did not compute.
"Errr...do you think you can bring her over?"
"Okay. Uncle Shin is taking me to a movie in a little bit. I'll ask him if we can stop by."
"Thanks, Nagisa. Be careful, okay? If she asks, don't make any kind of deal."
"Okay, Big Sis. See you soon."
Sabrina put the phone down, her internal forum on DEFCON 1. Theories flew back and forth, ranging from "her" being a new disguise for Kyuubey to her being some sort of cat spirit with very low standards for amusement. She brewed herself a pot of tea for thinking purposes, looking longingly from the old pot to the microwave.
It was so tempting, but she couldn't bring herself to pollute Mami's house like that.
After a brief period of intense internal debate and subsequent nonsensical internal rambling after a course of action had been settled upon, a series of knocks from the lower portion of the door alerted her to Nagisa's arrival. After lowering her center of gravity to avoid being bowled over, she opened it and accepted the younger girl's ballistic hug.
Once she'd been released from Nagisa's impressively-iron grip, she looked her over and, with some confusion, noted that there was no evil feline temptress to be found. Nagisa looked at her oddly for a moment before realizing what she was looking for.
"You can come out now," she said, reaching up to poke at her hair. A lump arose from her mane and slowly inched forward until a tiny black head poked out from her bangs.
"Hi, White Girl!" they heard in their heads. Sabrina, nonplussed, was about to question the kitten's focus on race before the latter scrunched her brows in apparent confusion.
"Wait, YOU'RE White Girl," she said, looking down at Nagisa. The kitten seemed to agonize over this dilemma before reaching a solution.
"I know!" she said, a small paw emerging from Nagisa's hair to point at Sabrina. "You can be Big White Girl! OOOOH WAIT WAIT! GREAT White Girl! Rawr!"
The kitten wriggled in a shark-like fashion, which failed to intimidate but did succeed in getting her hopelessly tangled in Nagisa's hair. She fell from her perch and dangled forlornly in a white web, Nagisa tilting her head to compensate for the increased weight.
"Best Cat down! Help!" she wailed as the two girls worked hard to extricate her. Thankfully, they managed to do so before the kitten took matters into her own claws. Once free, she latched firmly onto Sabrina's shirt and was only removed through a considerable effort.
"I have to go, Big Sis," said Nagisa as Shin stuck his head out the window. Sabrina nodded, trying to dislodge the kitten that had now taken up residence in her own hair.
Once the Momoes had left, Sabrina gave up her efforts to remove her new headwear, which had enthusiastically claimed ownership of "Mount GreatWhiteGirl." Resignedly, she sad back down at the table, sipping at some tea.
"So, who are you, exactly?" Sabrina asked.
"I am Best Cat!"
"Do you have a name?" Sabrina prompted when no further explanation seemed forthcoming. The kitten, seemingly baffled that her previous answer was insufficient, hopped down onto the table and puffed herself up.
"I am Amy Percival Venticus Akemi, but you can call me Homura!"
Sabrina's brain attempted to shift gears, but apparently missed the clutch, resulting in temporary cessation of function. When she awoke, "Homura" had already planted herself next to her cup of tea and begun stealing tonguefuls in a manner much less subtle than she probably thought. Sabrina elected to ignore this, instead reaching out to the less-fluffy of the known Akemis.
"Homura?"
"Yes, Sabrina?"
"Where are you right now?"
"Walking Madoka home. Is something the matter?"
"No...just checking up."
"...alright. Talk to you later."
Sabrina looked back down at the kitten she would think of as "Amy" for clarity's sake. For the first time, she noticed her collar, on which sat a miniature version of Homura's shield and a soul gem. Out of curiosity, Sabrina poked at it with her Grief sense as Amy yawned and rolled over onto her back.
Nothing. Not a speck of Grief.
Luckily for Sabrina, the assorted prior impossibilities served to lessen the impact of this one, allowing her to remain lucid. Taking a deep breath, she decided some more questioning was in order.
"So, where are you from, Amy?"
The kitten spun back onto her paws, scrunching her face in contemplation.
"Well, first Pink Girl Madoka took me into her house and loved me but then Upside-Down Girl made her dead and then Bunnycat said 'You are Best Cat so I will help you' and he made Pink Girl not-dead. Then I met Big Sis Mami and Blue Girl and Red Girl and we did fun things and I fought Big Fish Witches and everyone said 'You are Best Cat' and I told them 'Yes I am Best Cat' and they petted me. After that, Upside-Down Girl came but we made her go away and everyone was really happy and gave me lots of tuna. Then I went to sleep and Pink-Gold Girl said 'Best Cat, some more people need your help.' I said 'But I want to stay with Pink Girl Madoka' and she said 'You can go right back to her after. There is another Pink Girl Madoka who needs help.' I said 'Okay' because Pink Girl Madoka is the best and then I met you and Little White Girl and now I'm here!"
Amy nudged at Sabrina's hand with her head, implicitly demanding petting for telling such an amazing story. Sabrina, having figured out the kitten's naming conventions, idly patted her on the head as she processed the story. Was she from another dimension? Did she actually beat Walpurgisnacht? Why did her story sound so much like Homura's?
She stood up, carrying Amy in one hand as she made her way over to the couch, where she flopped down heavily. Yet more craziness to sift through.
Even with a kitten in her hand, she found herself falling back into a slump. So much going on and now this curveball. Noticing her discomfort, Amy patted her way onto her chest, looking her in the face.
"What's wrong, Great White Girl?"
"It's Sabrina," she mumbled.
"What's wrong, Great White Girl Sabrina?"
"There's just so much going on!" she admitted. "I just dealt with a war, Mami's a wreck, there's something even worse than Walpurgisnacht coming, you just showed up, Akiko is sfgrbkasdn..."
Amy, who had been batting at Sabrina's mouth as she spoke, had lost patience and simply latched onto her face, Alien-style. Sabrina plucked her off by the nape of the neck, but before she could respond, Amy piped up.
"Big Sis Mami is not-dead, right?"
"Well, yeah, but-"
"And Pink Girl Madoka and Blue Girl and Red Girl are not-dead, right?"
"Yes-"
"And now Best Cat is here, so everything will be okay!"
Sabrina opened her mouth to respond, but somehow failed to find fault in the kitten's logic. She giggled, placing the tiniest Meguca of them all on her lap.
"Pet me."
Sabrina acquiesced, just enjoying the feel of Amy's soft fur and the jet-engine purring that, by all rights, her small body should not have been able to produce. They remained that way for some time until Amy spotted a Grief sphere that Sabrina had yet to store with the others.
"What's that?" she asked as she bounded over to it, giving it the standard kitten inspection of batting at and gnawing on it in various places.
"Oh, that's Grief. I can actually control it," Sabrina answered.
"What's a Grief?"
Sabrina was about to explain when she had a stroke of inspiration.
"I'll show you! Hop on," she said with a grin. When Amy obliged, the sphere rose.
Sabrina sent it careening around the room, kitten in tow. Her own laughter and Amy's telepathic "Wheeeeeeeee!" filled the air with a joy that had been sorely lacking in recent times.
Neither noticed initially when the door creaked open and a certain time-traveler entered.
"Sabrina? You sounded concerned and I wanted to check..."
Homura attempted to take in the scene, Sabrina nearly falling over laughing as a kitten rode one of her Grief spheres like a runaway helicopter. At the sound of her voice, Sabrina attempted to compose herself while the kitten hopped off of the now-immobile sphere to land at Homura's feet.
With a pop, a girl that looked exactly like Homura save for a pair of cat ears, a tail, and a look of sheer elation that seemed utterly alien on the time-traveler's face stood in front of her.
"Hi, Best Not-Cat!"
Homura, very slowly and deliberately, fainted to the ground with a worrying *clunk*.