Wraith Arc: Chapter 2

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Sayaka thinks back on the conversation she'd had with Hitomi earlier. Hitomi and Sayaka sat at lunch together as Hitomi declared to Sayaka her crush on Kyosuke. However, because Sayaka is such an important friend to her, she's willing to wait exactly one day so Sayaka can think about whether or not to confess her own feelings to Kyosuke. Sayaka walks down the street at night, debating whether or not to tell Kyosuke when Kyubey shows up, calling out to her. He tells her to turn back to the shopping street due to a strong miasma there. He leads her to where a large wraith floats in midair, sitting with his legs crossed beneath him and a large flaming staff in one hand. It's not the same giant wraith from before, but Kyubey warns he's still a strong enemy. Amongst the people it's targeting in the busy street below, Hitomi walks seemingly unaware. Sayaka hesitates for a moment before magically transforming. The wraith raises its staff above its head, charging up an attack aimed at Hitomi. Sayaka's sabre pierces through the wraith's gathered power as it turns its head towards Sayaka. The wraith raises its hand at Sayaka, swords shooting out of its palm but Sayaka blocks with her sabre as she closes in the distance. She slices the wraith's hand in half and turns only to see small squares of the wraith's power raining thin beams of fire down at her. Sayaka leaps into the air and fires the blade of her sabre from its hilt directly at the wraith, piercing the floating black symbol at the center of its face. She firmly grips a second sabre and slices the wraith down the center as she comes down from her jump. Hitomi looks behind her at the busy street. Sayaka looks down from a nearby building unseen, happy to see her friend unharmed. Before she goes, she notices Kyosuke walk up to Hitomi. As they talk, Sayaka is unable to hear anything of their conversation as they turn and walk away together, laughing and smiling.

Sayaka walks through the alleys of the city as she thinks of Hitomi and Kyosuke's meeting earlier. She asks herself if Hitomi's promise of waiting for a day was only a lie and then shakes her head, angry at herself for doubting her friend. She notices the time on a clock nearby and hurries off, late for her appointment. A noise echoes through the night.

Meanwhile at the station, Kyoko and Mami await anxiously for Sayaka's arrival. Kyoko munches down on some fast food burgers and tells Mami not to be so overprotective of her, but Kyoko's concerned look after doesn't escape Mami's eye. Mami asks Kyoko about the state of Sayaka's soul gem much to Kyoko's surprise. Mami scolds her, reminding her of the many times she told them not to fight and lecturing her on still being a bully despite wanting to change. Kyoko tries to defend herself with excuses of simply wanting to mess with her but not realizing she had been wasting her energies. As they discuss Sayaka, they notice how odd it's been that she's been forced to fight off wraiths by herself several times on the few times they've sent her out on her own. Mami speculates she may feel more responsible for protecting the city than they realize. Glad as she is that she's grown stronger due to practicing against Kyoko, Mami hasn't always feel it prudent to send Sayaka on her own but wanted to respect her efforts. She tosses some grief cubes at Kyoko since Sayaka is stubborn and wouldn't have accepted them from her. Before Kyoko can protest, Mami tells her she has to apologize sincerely to Sayaka immediately and bring her back. The last place they saw her was towards the industrial area. Kyoko complains about Mami making it sound noble but really giving the tough job for her to do and Mami shoots at her with a magically conjured gun in response. Kyoko runs off to find Sayaka and Mami transforms into a magical girl, summoning a circle of muskets around her. She complains about poor timing as she turns to face the mass of wraiths that have materialized behind her.

Sayaka continues her fight with the wraiths, doing her best against the ever increasing hoard. She pauses to look at a large sized wraith composed of only a torso surrounded by triangular symbols. Smaller wraiths crowd the streets below it. Sayaka faces them down, realizing they were targeting her all along. Sayaka stands there, offering her negative emotions to the wraiths. As they begin to absorb her energy, Kyoko cuts them in half with her spear. She summons her lattice barrier as cubes of wraith power crash down from above. She grabs Sayaka by the scruff of her cape and jumps out of the area. Once safe at the top of a nearby water tower, she apologizes to Sayaka. Sayaka kicks her away angrily, asking what Kyoko's intentions are and if she's already forgotten her promise to leave her alone. Kyoko squeezes her fist but says nothing. Sayaka thanks her for saving her and is about to go finish off the wraiths when Kyubey appears. He tells the girls they don't have time to argue since Mami is in danger right now. The giant wraith has appeared and is firing laser beams of fire at Mami, who leaps about avoiding the attacks. The building behind her takes the brunt of the attack as Mami summons a large musket and fires it ahead of her, but as the miasma dissipates the giant wraith isn't hurt. The miasma is so strong her bullets can't graze it and the cold of the miasma has frozen her magical ribbons. Mami summons more muskets around her as she continues her fight. A lattice barrier appears above her head, protecting her from the wraiths' attack and Sayaka leaps in to carry Mami out of danger. The three girls stand together to face off against the wraiths. Mami is relieved to see the two girls, but Kyoko and Sayaka immediately begin to bicker. Mami asks if they're ready to follow her lead and the girls step into action. As they gather into place, Mami outlines a plan: She's to keep attacking at the wraiths until Kyoko can find an opening. Once she's done that, she'll confine the giant wraith with her lattice barrier allowing Sayaka to stab him from inside the barrier. Mami warns Sayaka it's the most dangerous part of the plan but she trusts them both.

Mami begins the assault on the wraith, summoning a barrage of muskets which begins to fire back at the hundreds of cubes firing their lasers at her. At a tense minute, the bombardment of lasers stops and Mami begins to blow up the dense fog. Kyoko summons hundreds of chains of her lattice barrier which begin to envelope the giant wraith. Sayaka leaps down from above, sabre in hand ready to cleave the giant wraith. Suddenly, an explosion of light bursts forth. Mami and Kyoko are frozen by the burst of miasma that swept away Kyoko's barrier easily. As they look up, the wraiths surround a transparent cube of magic where Sayaka is suspended unconscious in an untransformed state, her soul gem beside her. Inside the cube, Sayaka looks on as her memories and feelings are divided and destroyed by the wraiths consuming them. Images of her childhood, moments with Hitomi and Kyosuke, her forming a contract with Kyubey, and her meeting Mami and Kyoko all pass through her mind one by one. As she's slowly consumed, Kyoko begins to scream out her name, urging Sayaka to put up a fight against the wraiths. She bares her feelings, angry and saddened she won't be able to tease and quarrel with Sayaka anymore, asking her if she values the wish she made. She quiets for a moment, then apologizes for speaking badly of Hitomi, for being jealous of her friend despite knowing Sayaka for only a short time. Sayaka opens her eyes, saying it's too late to be saying such important things now. Sayaka calls out to Mami telepathically, apologizing for failing such an important task again even after going through "special training" to grow stronger. Mami tells her not to let it bother her, even if wraiths escape they can be captured again. Sayaka then apologizes to Kyoko, even if she is still mad at her for the way she talked about Hitomi she still wants to make peace. Kyoko doesn't have to compete to be her friend, since she already is a precious one. Sayaka grabs hold of her soul gem, and transforms into a magical girl more determined than ever to defeat the wraiths and never give up hope. She grabs her sabre and slashes her way out of the cube, her attack slicing the air in every direction.

In a different scene, Kyosuke stands before an empty auditorium where Sayaka sits front and center. She turns and smiles as Ultimate Madoka reaches her hand out from the heavens. As she descends smiling, Sayaka smiles back and reaches her own hand out, clasping Madoka's. They walk towards Madoka’s heaven hand in hand. Back at the station, Mami and Kyoko wonder what happened to Sayaka before realizing she used up all of her power in that last attack and has since been guided away by the Law of Cycles. As the scene unfolds, Homura is now there and looks down at the ribbons in her hands. She says Madoka’s name and Mami and Kyoko ask her who that is.

Chapters
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Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Wraith Arc: Chapter 1	Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Wraith Arc: Chapter 2	Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Wraith Arc: Chapter 3