Lady Justice Madoka Chapter 5

The next evening, Sayaka was out with Madoka, walking into an empty city alley together lined with gas valves. Madoka was carrying a Hope Crystal to prepare for the next battle. Sayaka already transformed as she wandered.

The background began to change and twist itself. The walls turned plain blue-green, dotted with stars, buttons, and animals. Crayons of many colors with runes rained down from above. Several larger ones were beside giant children's blocks, having runes on the sides. The two girls knew it meant one thing, a Witch or familiar was here.

Sayaka had a smile on her face. "About time." She got a cutlass and pointed it to the ground. "Summon familiar!" And the vortex came up to bring out Oktavia.

During the summoning sequence, Madoka also transformed with the Hope Crystal, which finished in less than a second. The crystal shaped itself into a bow that she grabbed. Both her transformation and Oktavia's summoning ended simultaneously. Soon, a distorted creature came by. It looked like a scribbled-in toy plane on the side with a big headed girl having a tongue sticking out. It giggled a little as it flew all over the corridor as the girls prepared their weapons.

Sayaka covered herself with her cloak, then revealed a number of cutlasses. She took one and threw it at the plane. The creature looked intimidated by the attack as it tried to evade. It returned with a set of scribbled missiles at the trio. Madoka pulled up an arrow, aiming at the missiles heading towards Sayaka. The arrow launched and collided with a missile to destroy it. Madoka picked up another arrow and tried to aim. Oktavia tossed several wheels at the plane and the missiles, but they only hit one and blocked Madoka's view. Madoka still aimed for the leading missile and fired, but missed. Fortunately, Sayaka threw another cutlass to destroy the missile behind, then jumped backwards to avoid the last one as it impacted onto the ground.

Madoka continued to aim at the flying plane. Oktavia and her master threw more wheels and cutlasses at it, but continued to miss and hit only the missiles it fired back. The plane then started moving forward towards them with its child girl head frightened. Sayaka saw this a good opportunity to strike and grabbed another cutlass.

However, they were interrupted when unexpected slash came on the girls. They were knocked down in shock and Oktavia roared out violently as the familiar flew away. As the barrier vanished back into the city alley, the duo looked around hesitantly. Oktavia, who never changed direction, let out another roar. The girls faced the same way and let out surprising gasp by the sight of another girl.

Kyoko Sakura, transformed with her spear, walked from the opposite end of the alley. She was spinning her weapon rapidly with her right hand as she approached the girls. "Could you see that was a familiar there?"

Sayaka put down her cutlass in concern. Madoka lowered her bow in worry. Oktavia was very cautious and raised her cutlass, but Sayaka waved her hand, signaling it to stand down. Sayaka walked up forward a while and asked, "Now why do you say that!? And why did you interrupt our fight?"

"If you really are going have a duty as a magical girl, then you should not waste your time fighting with mere familiars. You should have just let it go and prey on civilians until it became a Witch. Only then will you'll really get reward for it."

"Why would you say such a thing!" Sayaka said angrily.

Kyoko had a mischievous grin. "It's the best way you're really going to get Grief Seeds."

"I don't follow that kind of a rule here! And besides, we weren't here for find Grief Seeds anyway!"

Oktavia roared.

Kyoko looked up to her. She grew a fit as she looked up at Sayaka. "I'm pissed off by the fact you think you can just make up your own rules." She turned to Oktavia again. "And that you could follow someone else's at the same time."

Sayaka looked to Oktavia, then back at Kyoko. "Who are you? And how do you know about Aya's system?"

Kyoko walked up a little more as Sayaka raised her cutlass. "Thought you'd hear of that name." She stopped for moment and two raised weapons at each other's throats. "I don't know much. Just the fact of there being rumors going on about some bozo getting magical girls to switch systems. I decided to come along and see for it myself." She stopped in the center and turned to the group. "Until you showed up that is."

"Why shouldn't we follow it!?" Sayaka called to her.

It's not like we need to hurry," Madoka said with little confidence. "We don't need them. All we were doing was practicing with the new system."

"Yeah," Sayaka agreed. "Tell us what's wrong with that!"

Kyoko was getting more annoyed. "You really think that this is all some kind of game to you?" She readied her spear with her left hand. "I'm even more pissed that you believe you can simply handle two systems at once so easily."

"Like we would follow your idea! Just seeing familiars cause harm and doing nothing is worse!"

Madoka remained worried as she looked at her friend. "Uhh...Sayaka."

"Heh," Kyoko spun her spear a few times. "Well then, I'll just have to force it upon you!"

As Kyoko raised her spear, she stopped as she heard a voice. "That will not be necessary."

All the girls looked around and realized the voice was coming from above. Kyoko looked up first and jumped backward in shock as a dark figure fell from above. The figure landed in a crouched position, still hiding its face. But seeing the cloak and the sword, Sayaka and Madoka knew who it was.

"Aya?" the friendly duo spoke as the girl stood up to reveal herself. Aya turned to the two and the familiar and gave a grin. The duo returned with an uneasy grin. Aya eased on hers afterwards.

Kyoko lowered her spear and squinted at the newcomers. Then gave a mischievous grin that attracted the duo on the other side. "So you're the one I've been hearing about. Aya Masa?"

Aya looked to her challenger and down again. "Yes, that's me. The so-called bozo you've been speaking. Believing I'm trying to replace your system."

This surprised Sayaka and Madoka. Even Kyoko was hit emotionally. "You mean you-"

"Yes, I heard the whole thing. Just wanted to check on these two to see what you'd do." Aya looked up again. "Actually, WE wanted to know what you all would do."

Sayaka and Madoka were in surprise.

Kyoko squinted even more. "And what do you mean by 'we'?"

Aya looked up. Kyoko did the same with her spear grabbed with both hands. Madoka and Sayaka followed them with a glimpse of two bright lights of dark purple and yellow. The girls covered their eyes as the two objects from above came down. When they uncovered their eyes again at Oktavia small roar after, both turned out to be Mami and Homura.

Kyoko gave more agitated grin, not by seeing Mami siding with Aya as she already knew that, but how she came aware of her arrival. She merely smiled by her sighting. "Well, if isn't my old friend, Mami Tomoe."

"Kyoko!" Mami said in a serious tone. Kyoko looked to her long black-haired companion. "And who may you be?"

"Just a friendly magical girl," Homura just spoke calmly. "Whose rivalry with Mami was recently settled."

Kyoko turned to Mami. "So what happened to you now, Mami? Didn't you get a replacement for old friend as well?"

"I don't recall replacing you," Mami said disgusted. "Nor do I recall completely switching systems."

Kyoko looked to Homura "And why are you here?"

"That's nothing of your concern."

Kyoko reacted violently, "I get the right to know what I'm concerned with!"

"You're not yet trusted."

Kyoko looked away for a moment, then faced Aya. "Anyway, if you believe you can simply take over another system this easily," She prepared her spear again. "Then, I'm gonna show you how we do things around here!"

Aya held tighter onto her sword. "This isn't necessary, Kyoko. It's best if we don't end up making a mess here."

"And I say its better to show you how we do things!"

Suddenly, multiple chains of red diamonds manifested around the girls and Oktavia. They wrapped around behind Aya, trapped their captives separately, and attempted to cut Aya off from them. Aya was shocked by this and immediately dashed to them. She barely made inside the narrow field of barriers, but also found herself stuck. Fortunately, Aya was able to fit through the chains and find her way through the barriers. Aya got a sight of Kyoko, who was approaching at a struggling Oktavia. Kyoko readied her spear as it extended and bend like a tendril. The mermaid creature continued to struggle helplessly and screech loudly at the red-dressed magical girl. Even the wheels it created were still not good enough to break the magical chains. Kyoko grinned as her tendril-like spear raised into the air, pointing towards Oktavia. She was about to strike until Aya got in the way.

Aya was breathing heavily. She didn't have much time to stop Kyoko. Based on Kyoko's observation, she had to slice her way through the chains with her sword. This shook her rival, who paused to stare at her.

"Hm, puzzling how you were able to get here so fast. There's rarely anything that could get through my barriers around here."

"I'm not letting you hurt this creature, Kyoko." Despite already worn, Aya still held on and grasped one the chains below her feet. She raised her sword up to Kyoko and her spear, preventing her from striking Oktavia. "I'm not letting you hurt any of my allies here."

"And what are you doing to do to keep me from striking such a Witch? It's all part of the food chain, isn't it? You're someone who I'd like to put out of commission. You're all alone and worn out while your so allies are helpless."

"Actually, you have two things very wrong here." Aya looked around the chain jungle at Kyoko puzzlement. "First," looking at Oktavia. "This is not a Witch." She looked back at Kyoko. "And second, I'm not alone. I've brought someone else around here." Aya's words were heard and even surprised the entangled girls, for they were unaware of this.

"Hm? And who would that be?"

"One you wouldn't want to end up fighting, especially when you have metal objects like this jungle of chains. And she can be quite a brawler."

"Would like to see her myself then."

"I suggest not. You definitely wouldn't want to hurt her friends. Otherwise, it would be you who will be put out of commission. And I don't want that."

"Like I'd listen to an opponent."

Aya was even more serious. "I'm just trying to warn you. This is no longer necessary and I don't want anyone else getting hurt here. So why don't we settle this the easy way?" Aya took her right hand off her sword and pointed to Kyoko's spear. "Where you don't use that," She then pointed to the sky. "And this other girl doesn't make a mess. Okay, Kyoko?"

A pause came from everyone. The trapped girls just stared. Oktavia gave a low growl. Kyoko only stood there with a smile. A moment later, Kyoko answered, "I'd prefer not." She raised her spear to attack.

Aya raised her sword up to the spearhead to defend. She stopped upon seeing another black figure falling from the buildings above and hastily jumped backward onto another chain. Kyoko merely looked up to see the figure coming on top of her. Before it could hit her, she backed up as it impacted the ground.

The result was a huge explosion of debris spreading throughout the alleyway. Aya covered her eyes and the other girls by her side turned away as the debris blew into their faces. Oktavia was unscathed; the smoke only passed around and up to the Familiar's body. About ten seconds have passed when the smoke begun to clear to up and the air became breathable again.

Aya, who was also covering her mouth, turned around to see her friends. Sayaka also covered her face, but looked like she took the edge of the blast. Madoka was turning away, crouching down, and even shaking a little. A large wall made of ribbons that connected to a nearby pipe covered where Mami was. But Homura was nowhere to be seen. Aya ignored this fact for now and turned around completely to find Kyoko. As the smoke cleared up more, Aya could see her challenger.

Kyoko moved her head up and down as if she was breathing heavily. She was also kneeling and held her spear in front like a pole for support. It wasn't long, however, until she got up again and spun her spear before pointing it in front of her rivals. This time, she wasn't pointing at her rivals, but at the recent figure that stood up. In response, an end of a lead pipe with sharp nails and screws was swung and stopped at her head.

"You want to pick a fight with Aya?" the figure said in a tough female voice. "Step up and fight me first!"

The rest of the smoke was blown away by the swing. On the crater made on the pavement from the impact, the figure revealed itself to everyone.

She appeared to be another girl with short red hair. She had red clothes resembling much like Kyoko's. She had a metal guard on her right shoulder and shoes with red and metal grey colors. From Kyoko's perspective, she had aggressive red eyes and blue star sticker on her left shoulder. Her rope-like outfit had a strap connecting diagonally from her shoulder guard to the large red-orange belt she wore. Her legs were also protected by yellow-orange armor. She had a metal skull near left breast light grey gloves wielding her weapon.

Kyoko's eyes squinted. "So who are you? Some kind of bodyguard?" she talked back to this new girl.

"Who are you calling a bodyguard?" the same girl answered back.

Kyoko became even more aggravated when she heard Aya let out a short laugh. "Now, what's so funny?"

"You're the second person to say that to me," Aya replied. "That is when I had a first friend as magical girl."

"Magical girl? Friend?" Kyoko gave a mischievous smile. "You call such a magical girl your friend?"

Suddenly, she felt the sharp points from the girl coming closer to her. She twitched as she saw the end back out. They came towards her again. Then back. And again. And back. And again. And back.

"Friends don't watch friends get hurt with the intent of doing nothing." The girl repeatedly lanced her pipe forward and back with her right hand. "I'm just lucky to be with someone who would encounter you as an enemy, tough girl."

Kyoko narrowed her eyes even more.

"Haku," Aya called out to her. "Try not to make this harder than it already is!"

"Too late!" Kyoko shouted as she suddenly extended her spear. The head went on a curve and aimed straight for Aya. Seeing the attack, Aya put her sword up to block.

But then, the spear stopped. The girl referred to as Haku suddenly reached out with her left hand, grabbed the chain of the spear, and stopped it dead in its tracks. The next moment, Haku squeezed tightly and pulled onto the chain. The whole chain shattered as she took hold of the spear section. All of the nearby girls, including the shocked Kyoko, were left in silence by this instance.

"I told you before," Haku threatened the opposing redhead. "You want to reach Aya? Come fight me first! I dare you…"

Kyoko had reached her limit in patience. Driven mad, she dashed back and raised her spear into the air. Within seconds, red auras of energy circled around the weapon and rebuilt the broken half. Once the reparation was complete she swung her spear downward.

Haku countered by effortlessly swinging her broken spear. The two spearheads deflected each other with equal momentum. Kyoko's bounced back to its original position. Haku's struck a pipe on the wall, releasing high-pressured water into the surrounding area. Sayaka and Aya both covered their face. Madoka turned around in panic, but Mami let the steaming yet warm water spray. Oktavia still remained in its prison of chains.

Kyoko and Haku were too focused on their battle. The former turned her spear sideways and swung it horizontally. Haku just charged at her opponent, holding her now-shortened pipe perpendicular to the incoming attack. She ripped her chained spearhead from the wall, releasing more water as the other characters continued to cover themselves.

Haku hoped to both swing her spear and block the attack at the same time. However, this attack became much stronger than the previous one and her body was tossed to the right. Her spear also changed course and struck wall again, spraying even more water. Her head swung to wipe off the water and finds her shadow of her opponent. Looking up, she saw Kyoko coming down for an aerial attack.

Haku extended her pipe and grabbed it with both hands. Her rival's spear struck the middle of the pipe and the two weapons were locked. At first, Haku struggled to keep up with her opponent's power. She put more strength into her hands for a few more seconds. She pushed her rival back with overwhelming force, who recovered quickly and rested onto a set of chains connected between the buildings.

Haku held her pipe towards her opponent, who watched her on right side of the wall, and extended her pipe to an impossibly long length. Kyoko made a short jump to the left side as the long pipe struck the side. Haku retracted her pipe and extended it once more at Kyoko. Kyoko dodged and jumped to a lower set of chains as the pipe end missed. Haku retracted her pipe again and extended it a few more times at Kyoko.

Meanwhile, the other girls brushed off the water observed the battle between the two red-haired girls. Sayaka reached under her cloak, but Aya raised her arm to the side.

"I wouldn't do that."

"You're friend is fighting alone! We should help her!"

"No, that isn't necessary."

"What do you mean it's not necessary?"

"Hakusho isn't the kind of girl who would accept help during a battle. As I said, she makes a mess in her fights, so giving her any help will only leave you injured. Plus, she's aware and prefers fighting alone because of it. It's best to watch and wait until she's down to intervene."

"But-"

"Plus, that goes against my own code. I will not disrespect that decision unless it is necessary."

Sayaka hesitated, undecided about what to do. She sighed and her arms were put down. She continued to look up with her friends to the battle standing before them.

After a final retraction for her pipe, Hakusho stopped. The distance between her and Kyoko were too long and another attempt to strike her wouldn't make any difference. It was pointless, she thought.

Seeing Kyoko's eventual smirk, Hakusho narrowed her eyes. She looked at the broken spear, then stared at the sets of chains made her opponent. Sending a smirk back, Hakusho lashed out the broken spear chain.

Kyoko shot back another smirk as she prepared to jump. Her face expression changed when the spearhead suddenly changed. Now, it was some kind of hook that circled around one of her chains. Kyoko could only groans as the hook locked itself into place.

As soon as she heard the hook tighten up, Hakusho put the end of her pipe behind. As the metal shortened in length, she felt a dramatic increase in velocity and height. She aimed at Kyoko, who had her spear ready for attack. With enough speed and distance, Hakusho let go of the chain and launched herself. Holding the pipe on her left side, she took a swing that ground with the wall. Debris of the wall began crumbling from the side and large chunks fell onto the alleyway as the girls below observed.

Hakusho and Kyoko struck each other's weapons, sending Kyoko flying to another set of chains. Hakusho pursued as she the chains transformed into solid steps. Kyoko regain her balance blocked another incoming attack from her rival's pipe.

The two continued to clash a few times as Hakusho struck the walls, pouring out more debris to the ground. As the chucks fell to the ground, so almost landed onto the girls below. Madoka continued to cover herself, while the others broke apart the big chunks. Oktavia also helped by cutting a few chunks with her sword backed up by wheels.

Hakusho was once push onto the walls, recovering from another counter attack. As Kyoko charged in, she saw another pipe on the side. Hakusho touched it and the pipe melted into another chain, releasing more water onto her opponent. Kyoko became more aggravated by Haku's cheap tricks and blocked the incoming spray of water with her spear. She swung again onto Hakusho's hand and knocked out the chain that was recently made. To cover the opening, Hakusho extended the back of her pipe to block the next attack. She lashed out at Kyoko for another attack.

Kyoko continued to fight restlessly along the chains and steps, noticing how strong her
opponent was. Unlike her, Hakusho was higher in raw power as every blow became harder to defend than the last one. She also fought cleverly, extending her lead to cover her weak spots and taking blows aimed at her shoulder guard, meaning she was very experienced. But Kyoko saw one major flaw; her opponent was slow and therefore predictable. With her higher agility, Kyoko easily blocked most of the force from her enemy's attacks and attempted to sneak her chained spear around like a snake. After one attack, she nearly got a good hit on Hakusho, bypassing her pipe and slashing her clothing by the sides.

But then, Hakusho leaned forward and latched onto Kyoko's face. Lifting her whole head up, Kyoko was shocked by how tight and strong her opponent was physically. The pressure of her hand felt enough to crush her skull should she be a normal person. Hakusho jumped from the steps and fell to the ground. Kyoko was thrown forward as her rival held onto her face. She could feel the impact of her back hitting several sets of chains behind her. The two collided onto the ground with Kyoko taking most of the force and another explosion of smoke burst.

The nearby characters covered again until the smoke cleared. Hakusho slowly rose up, staring at the worn out Kyoko. She could hear her rival heavily breathing.

"Are you done now?" Hakusho said to her downed opponent.

This only set off an aggressive, but defeated look from Kyoko.

The other girls expect Aya and Oktavia froze at the end of the fight. Mami was the most shocked of the group. Knowing Kyoko, she even felt terrified by the punishment this new girl took and gave to her friend.

"That's Hakusho for you," Aya spoke. "She'll teach you that messing with the wrong girl or set of girls will be the biggest mistake of your life."

No one even dared to talk. They only saw the Hakusho walking back.

Suddenly, Hakusho felt a shock and turned to see Kyoko's spear aimed at her. Hakusho barely had the reflexes to grab hold of the spear, but was pushed back a few meters after the impact. She squinted at the restless Kyoko, who began standing up again.

"You think were done yet?" Kyoko taunted. "That I would just give up after that!"

Hakusho narrowed her eyes.

"Stop this!" Aya spoke up to the redheads as they looked back at her. "We have no more time to fight senselessly like this!"

"Heh, and why not?" Kyoko protested.

A moment later, Aya and the other girls heard a loud sound coming from the alley. Facing Kyoko's direction, the girls turned around as saw a large dot growing in size. As object drew closer, it took the form of a gray-colored missile aimed at them.

"One word for a reason why not!" Aya answered as she jumped to the side, quickly tackling Sayaka and Madoka to the ground. "Incoming!"