Triple_R McMahon here folks, and do we have a
grrreeatt match for you tonight for this pro wrestling/magical girl extravaganza called
The Great Japanese Bash!
In the blue corner, we have
Sayaka "Symphony in Motion" Miki!
In the green corner, we have
Hitomi "The Heartbreaker" Shizuki!
Anything can happen in the World Puella Magi Federation, and that's tremendously true tonight, as a friendship violently
explodes! Will Madoka manage to patch that friendship up,
or will...
Mami Lives Chapter 9
Madoka Stands Alone
“How fitting that this is where we will fight, Sayaka.”
We’re on the roof of the old abandoned warehouse where Madoka, Sayaka, and I had rescued Hitomi before.
Hitomi finds it ‘fitting’ that this is the place where her and Sayaka now prepare to battle one another, but I can only perceive it as sick and twisted irony.
I stand far off from where Hitomi and Sayaka now gaze intensely at one another, Hitomi with a malicious smirk on her face and Sayaka with clenched teeth. The seething resentment the two now seem to feel for one another is truly palpable, and also truly tragic to me.
Standing next to me is Kyouko Sakura, and standing next to her is Akemi Homura. We’ve been relegated to mere spectators and “guardians” for this “event”, as that is what Akemi-san felt would be best.
I’m in shock and horror over how it’s come to this. In how we’ve
allowed it to come to this.
“Are we actually going to let them fight each other like this?” I ask both Kyouko and Akemi as I turn my head towards them.
“We tried to talk them down, but they weren’t interested in what we had to say.” Akemi-san replied in a slightly sombre tone, “All they see is mutual betrayal, and the boy that they both desire. It’s hardly surprising that bitter conflict would arise from such perceptions.”
“… Even if you don’t particularly care about them, Akemi-san…” I began in a slightly cross tone to her, “Don’t you think that this is a waste of their magical energies? Our magical energies are not infinite, as we’re all well aware. That’s why it’s best to save them for dealing with witches and familiars!”
“I don’t disagree with you, but it doesn’t matter given the circumstances.” Akemi replied, “If either of the three of us could have talked them down it would have been
you, as both of them seem to be fond of you. But they weren’t willing to listen to you, so there’s no way they’d listen to Sakura-san or I.”
“Besides…” said Kyouko, while scratching her head and chewing a piece of pocky, before turning her head towards me with a stern and knowing look, “You and I both know from personal experience how some disagreements between Puella Magi just can’t be solved by words alone.”
Kyouko is right, sadly. I know well of the specific instance she’s referring to…
“So we’re agreed then, Sayaka?” Hitomi asked Sayaka, while Hitomi held her halberd in one hand, and her other hand at her hip, “Whichever one of us loses this fight has to give up on Kyousuke Kamijou forever?”
“Right!” Sayaka firmly confirmed, while holding one sword with the tight grip of both hands, already taking a position indicating an eagerness to fight.
“Getting you to give up on Kyousuke forever is the only way that he might be free from your mind-altering wish, Hitomi!” Sayaka shouted at Hitomi, “So that’s exactly what I’m going to make you do!”
“
My, aren’t we confident…” Hitomi said in a saucy tone of voice, “You don’t have much more experience at this than I do, Sayaka. Don’t be surprised when I force you to
submit at the end of my halberd !”
And with that, battle was met! Hitomi and Sayaka launched themselves at each other with impressive zeal!
Hitomi and Sayaka were both very good at the thrust and parry inherent in conflicts involving lengthy bladed weapons. This resulted in scintillating sparks screeching off of Sayaka’s sword slicing swiftly against Hitomi’s halberd.
Then came a moment when the point of Hitomi’s halberd struck against the point of Sayaka’s sword, causing a bright bluish ball of crackling energy to form between the two weapons. That ball exploded violently, forcing both Hitomi and Sayaka to leap backwards to avoid getting hurt by the explosion.
But that did not dissuade either of them for long, as Hitomi and Sayaka charged once more at each other, each making battle cries! Such passionate fires flickered from the eyes of both combatants as their Puella Magi joust continued.
The two girls then pressed their weapons and torsos hard against each other, both clenching their teeth in anger. But Hitomi then quickly backed off with a stealthy backwards skip, causing Sayaka to tumble forwards a bit from remaining forward momentum.
Hitomi then took aim at Sayaka’s lower legs with a descending wide-arc slash of her Halberd! Sayaka was just fast enough to jump over the blade, but the jump was clumsy enough that it caused Sayaka to get tangled up within her own cape and fall onto the rooftop!
“
Now I have you!” Hitomi exclaimed with a gleeful grin, as she brought her halberd crashing downwards directly at Sayaka’s midsection, clearly hoping to inflict a serious wound on Sayaka.
Sayaka thankfully managed to roll out of the way of the attack just before such an injurious blow could be done to her. Sayaka then rapidly rose to her feet, and swung her sword at Hitomi. Hitomi was still trying to get back into a proper defensive position after throwing all she had into the previous missed attack, and so this created an opening for Sayaka to take advantage of.
Sayaka’s sword struck hard against Hitomi’s late and somewhat sloppy defence. Dauntless determination was all about Sayaka’s face, while Hitomi’s face winced in pain from trying to hold back Sayaka’s attack.
“You’re not bad, Hitomi.” Sayaka said to her, while the two struggled against each other with their weapons smashed against each other, “But I have a key advantage over you! It’s an advantage I have over you when we are both just normal girls, so that advantage continues on even now that we’re both Puella Magi!”
“What advantage are you talking about?” Hitomi asked with a tone of irritation, as beads of sweat began to form on her brow due to the pressure that Sayaka was now mounting against her.
“I’m
stronger than you are!” Sayaka exclaimed, as she finally exerted enough pressure with her sword to cause Hitomi’s halberd to go flying out of her hands.
“Aaaagggghhh!!” Hitomi cried, as Sayaka followed that up by slicing Hitomi across her left arm, cutting through white frilly fabric.
Hitomi had been startled by Sayaka’s show of strength, and hence was caught off-guard by this follow-up slash. Hitomi instinctively grabbed the wound left on her arm by Sayaka’s slash, and fell to her knees in pain while she tightly closed her eyes to hold back tears. Hitomi was trembling a bit.
Sayaka decided to show mercy here, by letting Hitomi nurse her wound without keeping up the attack.
“…Why are you just standing there?!” Hitomi snarled angrily in question to Sayaka, betraying Hitomi’s wounded pride.
“Because I take no pleasure in hurting you like this.” Sayaka replied softly, “So I‘m giving you an opportunity to quit now before I end up having to hurt you more than what I already have. There will be no shame in you choosing to quit now. Mami, Madoka, and I will all be friends to you once more if you choose to stop now, and make amends for the harmful wish you‘ve made by not acting further on it.”
“You would just
love that,
wouldn’t you, Sayaka?!” Hitomi loudly sneered in rhetorical question, while slowly rising back to her feet, “Then you’d get everything you want, including Kyousuke! Well, my love for him means more to me than
that!”
With renewed purpose and vigour, Hitomi then sprinted over to where her halberd had landed. I sighed as I had hoped that Hitomi would concede to Sayaka’s request, ending this brutal fight. But that was not to be.
Mere seconds later, halberd would once more crash chillingly against sword, as Hitomi and Sayaka continued their figurative “dance”. But Hitomi’s movements now seemed quicker and more agile than before. I also suspect that Sayaka’s words had only served to anger Hitomi even more, and Hitomi was now channelling that anger through breathtakingly fearless attacks and thrusts against Sayaka.
Sayaka’s eyes went wide in shock at how fearsome Hitomi’s fighting had become!
Finally, Hitomi successfully managed to cut the side of Sayaka’s right arm with her halberd, causing Sayaka to drop her sword. Hitomi followed that up by strenuously slugging Sayaka straight across the face, causing Sayaka to collapse to her knees, dazed from the blows inflicted on her!
However, bluish musical notes appeared over the cut on Sayaka’s right arm, healing it. This didn’t seem to matter much to Hitomi, though, as a proud smile washed across her face.
“It may be true that you’re physically stronger than I am, Sayaka.” Hitomi stated towards Sayaka, “But I’ve always been the
faster of the two of us!”
Hitomi then leaped on top of Sayaka, raining tight fists and kicks on her! The two started to twist and twirl along the top of the rooftop, as though they were pro wrestlers.
“This is starting to get pretty ugly.” Kyouko said, “Why are they playing it so safe? Why the hell aren’t they trying any magic?!”
“Kyouko is right…” Sayaka said to herself, low enough that I myself just barely heard her, “It’s time I took this to the next level!”
Sayaka’s cape then suddenly detached from around her neck, magically stretching out like a spider’s web! That golden-white spider’s web then caught on to Hitomi, and wrapped itself around her! Hitomi was now caught and subdued, held a couple feet off the ground by Sayaka’s vastly enlarged cape.
What Sayaka had just done with her cape reminded me of how I myself would sometimes use yellowish strands to capture or ensnare enemy familiars, witches, and Puella Magi. I wonder if that was intentional on Sayaka’s part…
A satisfied smirk spread across Sayaka’s face, as she rose to her feet, staring at Hitomi struggling in vain against the cape that now had her completely ensnared from neck to toe.
“It looks like my attempt to replicate Mami’s ensnaring strands technique worked just as planned!” Sayaka shouted, confirming my suspicions, “So you might as well give up now, Hitomi.”
“
Never!” growled Hitomi with relentless resolve.
Then I saw small greenish magical energy axes form seemingly out of nowhere just behind Hitomi. Those energy axes carefully sliced through Sayaka’s cape, freeing Hitomi of it!
Hitomi then slowly lowered herself to her feet, as though she was a descending helicopter. It was now Hitomi that had a satisfied smirk spread across her face, as she seemed to taunt Sayaka with her facial expressions.
“Now that’s more like it!” Kyouko exclaimed with a smile, “This fight is finally starting to get interesting and entertaining!”
Sayaka was now sweating nervously due to Hitomi surprisingly freeing herself like this. So I think that Sayaka had now taken a defensive stance in order to prepare for what Hitomi might do next.
“The redhead wants an entertaining fight, Sayaka.” Hitomi said, “It would be impolite of us to let her down, wouldn’t it? So let’s cut to the chase, shall we? Let me show you one of my two most marvellous magical maneuvers!”
“What are you talking about?” Sayaka asked, her voice tinged with trepidation.
“I’m talking about…” Hitomi began in a soft tone of voice, before gesturing one arm dramatically upwards and finishing in a shout, “
Gates of Brandenburg!!!”
A wide rectangle of loudly crackling greenish energy suddenly formed directly above Hitomi’s head. It seemed to suck air into it as though it was a black hole! This resulted in forceful gusts of wind sweeping across the face, clothes, and hair of Akemi, Kyouko, Sayaka, and myself. I could feel my hair flapping in the wind!
Loud laughter leapt forth from Hitomi’s mouth as she jumped high in the sky, directly in front of the magical rectangle she had created. Then, flying out of that rectangle was four dark black horses, carrying a largely greenish and ornate shimmering
chariot behind them!
Hitomi landed into that chariot, while the horses stampeded directly at Sayaka!
Sayaka screamed in pain as the hoofs of the horses struck against her head, sending Sayaka careening wildly towards the edge of the roof.
“…This is getting too flashy.” Akemi-san said, “This area is currently designated off-limits to the general public due to an ongoing police investigation, but an attack like
that one might be viewable even from far away!”
“Don’t worry.” Kyouko said, “I have a feeling that this fight isn’t going to last much longer!”
Hitomi did indeed seem to have Sayaka on the ropes, as thunderous chariot charge after thunderous chariot charge kept inflicting damage on Sayaka, leaving her off-balance and now on the defensive.
Hitomi stretched out her arms in gleeful gesture, laughing as she sensed her victory was nigh.
“Soon you will be
mine, Kyousuke!” she cried, “Soon I will deliver
vengeance upon Sayaka for how she betrayed our friendship, and
then, my dearest Kyousuke, nobody will stand between us any more!”
“
No!” exclaimed Sayaka, now being the one to display relentless resolve, “I won’t let you turn Kyousuke into your mindless play-thing, Hitomi!”
Sayaka then managed to completely evade the latest chariot charge by leaping high into the air, her new cape reflecting the glow of the moonlight!
Sayaka then summoned forth several swords, hurling them all at the horses of Hitomi’s chariot! Almost each and every sword struck against one of the horses leading Hitomi’s chariot charge, causing the horses to release neighs of pain. Hitomi’s chariot then went out of control, eventually crashing head-on into a smokestack on the roof of this old abandoned warehouse!
Hitomi shrieked in horror as the crash had caused her to fly backwards out of her chariot. Sayaka then twirled about, causing her one remaining sword to stretch out like a whip, with its various parts kept together with chains.
“Nice!” Kyouko excitedly shouted out, “Sayaka’s learned well from
both of us, Mami!”
Sayaka then wrapped her chain-linked sword around Hitomi’s torso, and used it to send Hitomi crashing violently through the rooftop below! I actually winced at the sight of it, thinking of how painful that attack must have felt to Hitomi.
Sayaka then landed skilfully on her toes, like a cat, next to the gash in the roof left in the wake of her attack. Also nearby was the crumbled debris and disappearing horses of Hitomi’s defeated chariot.
“I hope that ends it…” Akemi-san said under her breath, “If this fight continues much longer, then…”
“It’s
finished.” Sayaka said sternly, while causing a new cape to appear around her neck and back, “Hitomi won’t be bouncing back so easily from that attack!”
“Hitomi might be unconscious, Sayaka.” I said to Sayaka
“You’re right.” Sayaka stated, turning her head at a sharp angle in order to look me in the eyes while replying to me, “And if she
is unconscious, then that means the victory is mine!”
I didn’t like the idea of Hitomi being concussed into defeat, but that was certainly preferable to loss of life or limb for either her or Sayaka! So I hoped that Sayaka was right.
Sadly, she wasn’t…
“I’m not finished yet, Sayaka!” I heard Hitomi shout, as she came rocketing up through the opening left on top of the rooftop.
Sayaka breathed a sigh of irritation at seeing that Hitomi still had some fight left in her. But Sayaka didn’t flinch for long, and in only a few short moments, fierce battle broke out once more between Sayaka and Hitomi.
But the battle between them now appeared as it was when they first started fighting. Flashier magical moves gave way to the thrust and parry of conventional sword-fighting. Sayaka and Hitomi were now like two boxers in the final round of a boxing match. Their breathing had become heavier, reflecting how their stamina was finally starting to run low. It was anybody’s guess who would emerge victorious between them!
Then, for whatever reason, my mind drifted to Madoka, and how she’ll likely react to the news of her two closest friends battling it out like this…
I’ve been following close behind Kyubey for the pass several minutes, as he sprints towards where Sayaka and Hitomi are.
During my desperate rush to help my two best friends, Kyubey has spoken telepathically to me about how they’re fighting one another!
Physically, and for real! He also told me that Hitomi contracted with him to become a Puella Magi, but that decision seems to have been motivated primarily by a desire to win Kamijo from Sayaka.
I find all of this hard to believe, but as with so many bizarre events that have occurred in my life over the past two weeks, ‘seeing is believing’ for me.
Eventually, I arrived near the same old abandoned warehouse where Mami, Sayaka, and I once rescued Hitomi. At an angle, I could kind of make out a bluish blur battling against a greenish opponent on top of the rooftop of that old warehouse.
As I walked closer to that old warehouse, and squinted my eyes to try to see clearer, I could tell that Sayaka and Hitomi were both in flashy Puella Magi outfits, and that they were indeed fighting one another!
‘Kyubey… we have to stop them!’ I cried out telepathically to him, as I was very afraid of how badly Sayaka and Hitomi might hurt one another given the Puella Magi abilities and powers that they now wielded.
‘I doubt they will listen to reason, Madoka.’ Kyubey stated to me telepathically, ‘If you want to stop your two friends from fighting each other, you will need to have the power necessary to forcefully separate them. Such power can only be gained through you becoming a magical girl!’
Was Kyubey right? Should I become a Puella Magi in order to have the power to make Sayaka and Hitomi stop fighting each another?
I had decided against becoming a Puella Magi as I could think of no wish that was worth risking my life over, and that remained true.
But now I saw two large benefits to being a Puella Magi that were separate from the wish itself. One was the immediate concern of how it should enable me to stop Sayaka and Hitomi from fighting each other, and lead them into a more peaceful resolution! But the other benefit was related to a brief thought that crossed my mind… with Hitomi now being a Puella Magi, all of my closest friends are Puella Magi. If I remain a normal human girl, wouldn’t I be isolating myself from all of my friends?
Still, I could try to make Sayaka and Hitomi stop fighting each other even if I remain a normal human. I doubt that either would want to hurt me, so if I rushed between them, that should halt their attacks! There was also the option of me simply shouting out to them to try to
talk them out of their fight.
These were the only three possible solutions that I could think of in the heat of the moment. Which one should I choose? I needed to make the choice now, before Sayaka and Hitomi seriously hurt one another!
MSA Choice 1:
A) Become a Puella Magi! “I Wish for my Mama to Become Head of Her Company!”
B) Rush between Sayaka and Hitomi, hoping that this will halt their fighting.
C) Shout out to Sayaka and Hitomi to try to talk them out of their fighting.
After quick intense thinking, I have now made my choice! I dearly hope that it proves to be the right one!
To Be Continued…
--------------------
Just a couple short notes:
1) As usual, clickable bits above links to songs that I think goes well with the paragraphs to come. There's three such clickable links/songs for this update. I hope people think they go well with the Sayaka/Hitomi fight of this fanfic!
2) This might be pretty obvious, but it's very important to keep track of which choice you made for MSA Choice 1. You'll need to remember it for the next update.
Anyway, I thought I'd try a few things a little bit differently here. If you need to be refreshed on what Puella Magi Hitomi looks like, just check out her promo image above during Mr. McMahon's grand introduction.
That's all for now! I look forward to hearing back from my readers.