"Kyoko-chan!"
"Don't worry! I can handle this on my own."
The pink-haired girl cried out in alarm, but Kyoko Sakura answered without looking back.
"There's a way."
"So hang in there, Sayaka! I'm going to save you!"
"But first... I need to let you die."
She spun her lance in a wide arc, deflecting the volley of blades raining toward her. The weight on her chest, the grief that had been dragging her down since she got back, was finally gone.
After returning from the Dragon Ball War, Kyoko had stood before Sayaka's Witch form and felt nothing but despair. She believed there was no way to undo it. That this was simply how it ended.
But then she felt it. A warmth stirring beneath her ribs. A power that wasn't hers.
Monster Reborn.
The card Jonouchi had left with her.
She never thought it would survive the journey between worlds, let alone still be working. She had no idea what it could really do, but she believed in the man who gave it to her.
'If you keep on living, good things are bound to happen... right?'
'Jonouchi!'
Magical energy burst from her in a blinding surge. There was no hesitation in her movements. Not anymore.
Becoming a Heroic Spirit had apparently changed her. She was stronger now, far stronger than before. Dealing with the Witch that Sayaka had become was no longer the desperate struggle it should have been.
"I know what happens after a Witch Transformation."
"So I'm going to put an end to your pain."
"Sayaka!"
Her voice rang through the barrier, sharp and clear. And then, with her own hands, Kyoko destroyed the Mermaid Witch.
"Will it really work?"
Watching the Witch crumble into ash, Madoka whispered the question. Her voice was barely holding together.
"It'll be fine. I trust that guy."
Kyoko pulled the card from her pocket. It was glowing softly, pulsing with a warm, steady light. She held it out in front of her.
"Monster Reborn..."
"Activate!"
The lingering soul did not scatter. Did not fade. Instead, it was seized by a force that had no business existing in this world, dragged back from the Graveyard by rules that defied every law of nature.
And waiting for it was a body. Whole. Unharmed.
"Eh...?"
"Ahaha!"
"It really... worked?"
When Sayaka came to, she was sitting on the ground, staring up at two faces full of shock and joy. Kyoko and Madoka were beaming.
"Thank goodness..."
"Thank goodness..."
The tears came all at once. Kyoko lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Sayaka, and the warmth was real. Impossibly, wonderfully real. Sayaka raised her trembling hands and held the girl tight, feeling the solid weight of a living body against hers.
"I'm... still alive?"
The words came out fragile, almost afraid. Her mind was still trying to catch up.
"Yeah, you idiot." Kyoko dismissed her transformation, the lance vanishing into nothing, and flashed a wide, toothy grin. "You really are alive."
"Hmm... what just happened here?"
"I cannot comprehend this!"
A short distance away, the small white creature stood beside the black-haired girl, its tail flicking back and forth in agitation.
Kyubey couldn't make sense of what it had witnessed. None of its models accounted for this outcome.
"..."
Homura Akemi stood frozen, her eyes wide. A storm of emotions crashed through her, ones she hadn't prepared for and couldn't contain.
She had looped through this timeline more times than she could count. In none of those iterations had she ever seen anything remotely like this.
Sayaka's descent into Witchhood was supposed to be inevitable. Predetermined. Unchangeable.
And yet, right before her eyes...
"Kyoko Sakura..." Kyubey's voice carried an almost reverent quality. "She performed a miracle greater than magic itself!"
Those words echoed the exact thought running through Homura's mind.
"In human terms, I believe this would be called..."
"Defying fate?"
Every word hit Homura like a blow to the chest. There were too many questions swirling inside her, too much she needed to understand.
The hope she couldn't afford to feel, the excitement she was trying to suppress, the anxiety coiling tighter with every passing second. Homura needed to know what Kyoko had done more than she had ever needed anything.
She leapt out from her hiding spot without a moment's hesitation.
"Hmm, an unknown variable has appeared. Investigation is required."
Muttering to itself, Kyubey scurried after her.
"Hm?"
Sensing them approach, Kyoko turned. She could feel Homura's gaze boring into her, intense and unblinking.
That look, the kind that wouldn't rest until it had dug out every last detail, was impossible to miss.
But before anyone could speak, Madoka's voice cut through.
"Sayaka-chan..."
"Your..."
"Where's your Soul Gem?"
All eyes turned. Madoka's worried expression was fixed on Sayaka, who blinked and looked down at herself.
"It's gone..."
"It's gone."
She searched her body, her clothes, her hands. The blue Soul Gem was nowhere to be found.
"Does that mean... you've turned back into a normal human?"
Kyoko's jaw dropped. She hadn't expected anything like this.
"Not exactly, Kyoko. That's not quite right."
Before Homura could say a word, Sayaka seemed to realize something. She stood up, and a sly grin spread slowly across her face.
"Hm?"
Kyoko tilted her head, confused.
Then something happened that left every single one of them speechless.
A flash of light. The transformation sequence activated. A cape materialized on her shoulders. A saber appeared in her grip.
CLANG-CLANG!!
"Magical Girl Sayaka..."
"Has arrived!"
She struck a pose, fully transformed and beaming with pride. The group could only stare.
"Even without a Soul Gem, I can still transform. All my powers stayed with me after coming back to life."
"If anything..."
"Doesn't that make me the real deal? A genuine Magical Girl?"
The stunned silence was deeply satisfying. Sayaka grinned ear to ear.
"How is that even possible?"
No Soul Gem meant no need for Grief Seeds to purify it. And on top of all that, she could still wield every ounce of a Magical Girl's power while remaining fully human.
Which meant, by comparison...
Homura and the others were starting to look like flawed prototypes.
"Hey! Don't get so full of yourself!" Kyoko jammed a finger in Sayaka's direction.
"Can't help it. The new me is just better."
"You've got some nerve! Who do you think saved your life?!"
Their bickering pulled a relieved laugh out of Madoka.
'Thank goodness. Everyone's safe.'
Wrapped in that simple, warm thought, Madoka smiled.
But behind the happy reunion, Kyubey's expression had gone completely rigid. After confirming Sayaka's condition, only one thought occupied the Incubator's mind.
This is unscientific!
No Soul Gem, and she could still use Magical Girl powers? That violated every fundamental principle of their design.
No no no!
If every Magical Girl could achieve this, the entire energy-collection plan would collapse!
Magical Girls existed to become Witches. The despair produced by that transformation was essential fuel for the universe!
It could not be disrupted by some inexplicable anomaly!
Whatever method Kyoko Sakura had used, it needed to be identified and eliminated before it could spread.
"Sakura-san..."
"The method you used just now..."
"Can you tell me about it?"
Hearing Homura's voice, Kyoko paused her roughhousing with Sayaka and turned around.
She saw Homura's carefully restrained excitement. The faint tremor running through her hands.
That voice was heavy with urgency.
"Well... that's kind of a long story."
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]