Hello everybody! This is X the Reaper, having found inspiration to write a new story! This story's been wandering around my mind for a long while, so I'm gonna give it a shot at bringing it life!

It all started after taking the time to look up information on Homura Akemi and Sayaka Miki for my Fate stories. I was actually intrigued by the depth and intricacies of the characters of PMMM, and thus wanted to write a fanfic based on one of them. In the end, I chose Sayaka, mostly because she was the one who I felt had the most potential for what I had in mind.

So, I thought to myself, "What can I write involving a PMMM character and still feel comfortable about it?" Immediate answer? "Crossover!" "But with what?"

Then it hit me.

"...I've always wanted to see something where Sayaka Miki got to stab Yuuki Terumi in the gut with her sword... then witch out and tear him apart."

And thus, this fic was born. Other PMMM characters might be making later appearances, but don't bet on it. This is set during Continuum Shift, will extend into Chronophantasma and also the potential fourth game in the works.

Funny enough, in a morbid way, the day I finally start on this fic is the day I get into a car accident with my brother. Seriously, no joke. Thank God no one, passenger or otherwise, was hurt (I, the driver, got out just needing some stitches, which I consider a fair price to pay for my brother's life.) Ironic I start writing a story where the main character's life was ruined by a miracle gone bad after being saved by one. It was actually what gave me the motivation to seriously start writing this, actually.

'Balance means good and bad must zero themselves out', isn't that what they say in PMMM? Guess I got the lucky end of that deal, compared to Mami. And I do not mean that as an insult. But enough of my rambling, let's get on with this!

Disclaimer: BlazBlue and Puella Magi Madoka Magica are property of Arc Systems Works and Gen Urobuchi respectively and to any other parties. X the Reaper owns nothing save the story.

Alright, let's go!

Darkness.

That was all they were aware of. That was all they knew.

It wasn't always like this, they also understood. There had also been light and color. Moving objects and life, and so much of it that they could go insane from trying to process it all.

But now it was all gone. Only darkness and silence remained, nothingness in all directions. Even their very names, what defined them as separate existences, was lost to them. They were as one being with two fused minds, and not even that now.

There were still memories that either one had, but they were confusing. Many were of times and images that only one of them recalled, and only faintly at that.

A man and woman.

Parents? Warm feeling, so that seemed about right.

A pink-haired girl with matching eyes, looking at her with concern.

Friend? They couldn't quite recall: happiness, regret and jealousy all mixed together in a jumble. Happiness seemed to trump the others, so friend, yes.

Another girl with yellow hair and matching eyes. Carrying... guns? Yes, that was it.

Friend? Respect and admiration... didn't seem quite right. Idol? Maybe.

Another girl with red hair and matching eyes. Carrying a spear and with... food? Yes, she was.

Strange emotions. One side felt rivalry, but also camaraderie, friendship and... very warm feeling. Other recoiled at sight, fearful and hateful... yet strangely comforted as well.

Too confusing.

A boy and girl together, the former with a violin and the latter holding his hand.

Friends? Conflicting emotion. One side felt betrayal, regret and anger, but also saddened acceptance. Other felt hatred for the girl and desire for the boy.

Did friends hurt each other like this? They didn't know.

A white cat-weasel thing, staring at them with red eyes and ever present smile, like a cute mascot.

Thoughts of impaling it with dozens of swords filled their mind. They didn't question it and moved on.

Finally, a black-haired girl with purple eyes, staring coldly with a shield and pistol.

No conflict. Both felt a burning anger and dislike for the image, the desire to rip her to shreds becoming unbearable.

They forced the image away with effort. Friend, she was not. That, they agreed on.

After that, blurs filled their vision. It was like looking at a shoddy film made by a drunk and with poor connection to boot. They caught flashes of events, battles, swords, being told important things by others. They couldn't understand it though, as if it was all in a foreign language being said backwards.

Finally though, it cleared near the end. They could vividly see a gray room with benches everywhere. Their vision was drawn to the golden-crusted gem in their/her(?) hand, once brilliant blue and now black (to the increasing dread of one and elation of another).

The red girl came again. They talked, but again they understood nothing... until the end.

"I was stupid...so stupid..."

That was their, one of their, voice, drowning in despair and loss. Then came the darkness, and with it, the birth of the other. Together, they relived the pain and sorrow, the hatred and loss, the regret and despair, but they had refused to let it control them anymore. They would rise above it, become something greater. In response, they could feel themselves growing larger, heavier, stronger. Cold steel surrounded their form, and their legs seemed to fuse into one. A feeling of vertigo erupted, and the memories of the second arose.

Well, 'memories' was probably stretching it. Unlike the first, it was like looking at the equivalent of a shattered TV that was transmitting barely obvious images while underwater in the midst of a whirlpool. Blurs were everywhere, and they were in the midst of a grand concert hall, seats filled to the domed ceiling. An eerie, but strangely familiar and comforting orchestra played all throughout, the work of several figures around her. It reminded them of something important they had lost, but they couldn't recall what. All they knew was that this was their haven and they didn't want to leave, never to lose this island of peace in an ocean of pain.

Then came the pink and red blurs from before. Anger and fear surfaced. They would allow no one to take this from them! Words were spoken, but they did not pay attention to what were said. They were too busy striking away. How dare they intrude on this-

Pain. Fiery pain. A black-and-purple blur grabbing the pink one and moving away. Red one still there... kneeling? Spears everywhere, massive one staring them right in the face. The music slowed.

The blur on the spear became clear. Red-headed girl from before, bleeding all over. Not scowling anymore... smiling?

Why? What did she have to be happy about?

"I know, *mumble*," she said, her voice stirring something in them both. "It sucks to be alone. Believe me, I've been there."

Alone? They weren't alone. They had each other, why would they need anyone else? Yet they couldn't help but listen to the girl, a strange feeling compelling them.

What was this girl's name, the one who stirred such feelings? They wracked their memory for an answer, but found none.

"But it's okay. I'll be there right beside you all the way... *mumble*."

What was she saying? Was it one of their names? Who was she talking to?

Then an explosion of red light. Pain unlike anything they had ever experienced filled them, ripped them apart until the darkness took them, where they had been floating alone ever since.

A surge of anger towards the red girl. She said she'd be with them the whole way. Where was she now? Had she broken her promise? Had she cast them aside, just like everything else seemingly had?

No answer was forthcoming, so once again they floated in silence, their only company each other.

How long had they floated in this void? Seconds? Hours? Days? Decades? Millenia? They knew not how long or even if there was time here.

Was this what death was like? They didn't feel anything here. They didn't even know if they had form here. They weren't aware of their body moving, or even if they had eyes to see. Everything was so similar they might as well been blind. They could be a floating mist in the dark or with a flesh-and-blood body and they still wouldn't be able to tell.

Darkness surrounded them as far as the eye could see, and nothing broke the monotony of black in any direction-

Wait.

What was that?

Their 'eyes' focused on something far 'below' them, a deep blue light like a beacon in the inky black. They knew not what it was, but anything was better than the alternative of just floating. They concentrated, united in their goal, and slowly made their way towards the light. They only knew they were making progress by the fact that the light grew stronger, and after what seemed like hours, they finally arrived.

It was indescribable. They couldn't make out any details of the object in front of them, the intense light it emitted preventing any sort of identification. But the strong light did not force them to look away; instead, it made them stare into it even more. The glow was warm and beautiful to gaze upon and it brought a strange measure of peace, the first positive thing they had truly felt since entering this place.

How long they stared, they knew not. Finally, a random thought occurred to them, and they reached out to 'touch' this thing of such beauty.

When their 'fingers' made contact, it was like liquid fire was injected straight into their nerves. Intense, rolling waves of pain flashed through them, causing them to convulse and let go of the object. Despite that, the glow seemed to permeate everywhere they looked, as if they had become one with the thing. Slowly, they could 'feel' changing, as if their 'body' was transforming in response to the light.

They were suddenly aware of a loud noise filling the black, something that was strange because they had heard nothing but the passage of their thoughts all the time they had been here. It took them a moment to realize that now they had ears to hear with.

It took them another second to realize they also had a mouth and lungs now, both of which working in tandem to make the loud screaming noise her ears were picking up on through the pain, which seemed to just increase in response to the 'feeling' becoming something very real and physical. They could now even see arms, wrapped in the blue glow, flailing and convulsing about desperately to the burning.

Of course, all of this was secondary nature to them, as their 'minds' screamed just as badly as their 'body', feeling as if they were being ripped apart and then reassembled, like a sword melted down and reforged into something stronger. Until this point, they had been aware as one being with two interlocked minds, bleeding into each other so badly they couldn't even effectively function. Now, as if the light had awakened something deep with, their thoughts, through the fire, became separate, more defined from the other, as if they were truly two different persons.

After what seemed like an eternity, the agony faded. Once more, they floated before the blue light, the same as before, yet so different. Slowly, one of them attempted to move their arm. It jerked like it was just asleep, but it responded, slowly coming before their eyes. It was thin but also slightly muscled, covered in a skin-tight dark-blue, almost black opera glove that extended halfway past the elbow. Her hand was further covered by a cerulean fingerless glove with white bands around each finger, separated from the opera glove by a silver-blue band of metal about the wrist, which had what appeared to be an armored guard over it for extra protection like some sort of knight.

Slowly, she tried to flex it. The fingers responded with that same tingling feeling, but they did as she wanted. The two of them could feel their body responding as they tried more motions: Punching, spinning, kicking (they noticed that their legs were much more armored below the knee, with silver-blue steel surrounding the lower legs and feet with a similar band of armor around the ankles and knees as about their wrists, while the upper legs showed a pair of white stockings that came to their upper thigh.), even randomly flailing. Everything worked perfectly, though they could feel something wrapped about their neck and something else heavy on their head.

"...What happened to us?" They both asked at the same time, the later with a slightly higher pitched voice than the other. Their voices echoed in the vast darkness, the first time they had bothered to try and form words. "Where are we?"

"You are where all things happen."

They turned around, trying to find the source of the voice that had spoken.

"What?" the weaker presence of the two of them asked as they gazed about. This was the one who had taken control near the end of the memories, but she was damaged, shattered by the power which had sent them here and more like a voice at the back of their mind. "Who's there?"

"I am the one who guards the Azure. My dreams and memories preserve a dying world, and it by my will that time will flow and stop."

"...So you're supposed to be God?" the stronger mind asked. She was the one to whom a majority of the memories belonged to, and was the one mostly in control of their new body.

"I am the wheel of fate that restores that which is lost," the voice continued as if it hadn't heard. "and I am the fool who dares to assume fate can be changed."

Eyes narrowed at the ignored question. "We want a name," they growled, annoyed with this cryptic crap. They had had enough of that from the damn weasel (Kyubey, their recovering memories supplied) and the shield girl (Homura Akemi). "Give us something straight."

Suddenly, a chuckle. It was so sudden and so out of place that the two minds couldn't help but blink dumbfounded.

"Then tell me, young warrior: What is your name?"

The two blinked. What was their name? That blue light had certainly made sure to split them apart mentally, but they could recall no name even now. They wracked their brain for the answer, shifting through memory to recall.

"We... I am..."

They went back to their last memory of the red-head (Kyoko Sakura was her name, they recalled with some level of relief.) and desperately listened to the last part of her words.

*Mumble*

They forced themselves to concentrate, trying to break through that block.

S*mumble*ka

Sa*mumble*ka

Saya*mumble*

"...Sayaka..." she replied slowly. "Sayaka Miki. Oktavia von Seckendorff."

One of them blinked. Where had that last bit come from? However, the other seemed pleased with it.

"I don't remember ever hearing that last part. That's my name."

"But I-" 'Sayaka' tried to argue.

"That's my name," 'Oktavia' repeated calmly, though also dangerously. Sayaka was confused by the other's adamance, but decided to let it go.

"Uh... sure," she relented, feeling the other's satisfaction at winning the argument.

Turning their attention back to the darkness, the newly christened Sayaka spoke. "Well, who are you?" she tried to sound brave, but she (and Oktavia) couldn't help but feel tiny in the black, even with the glowing light behind them. "Where are you?"

Suddenly, a movement in front of them. It came into the blue glow, and Sayaka found herself staring at the sight.

It was a gigantic gold, red and white metal object, shaped somewhat like a humanoid satellite. Though it had no eyes, it seemed to stare directly at them from the black screen with a blue light near the 'head'.

"I am the Master Unit." A voice seemed to speak within their minds. "I am the one who watches over all the timelines. I record all that happens, all that has gone before and all that might still be."

Sayaka just stared dumbly for several seconds, her newly found mouth unable to put into words what she was trying to comprehend. Finally, she found her voice.

"And I... we are here-"

"You are an anomaly," the object replied, as if talking about the weather. "You do not belong in this place, in this world."

With that line, strange as it was, came an unspoken threat. Sayaka found herself trying to back up slowly, a guarded expression on her face.

"What?" Oktavia replied. "So you're just gonna kill us?"

Sayaka could feel her other's urge to fight, to resist any sort of fate that would befall them. She couldn't quite share her determination though.

'We don't even have a weapon-'

Suddenly, as if by magic, a cutlass with a blue grip and gold guard appeared in her right hand like it was always there. Sayaka glanced down and stared at it for a moment, confusion on her face. 'How did I-?'

Another memory surfaced. Conjuring a massive amount of similar swords to her grip, striking and hurling them at her enemies.

'Does it matter?' Oktavia asked, breaking Sayaka out of memory lane. 'Let's just do this!'

"Peace," the Master Unit replied. "I could not destroy you even if I wanted to now. Your body and power have been restored by the Azure, a power beyond even my ability."

Sayaka and Oktavia blinked and then looked behind them, the blue light still there. "The light?"

"The Azure has blessed you with some of its power," the Master Unit answered. "Truly you are fortunate. Otherwise, it would have obliterated whatever was left of your body and destroyed your souls, damning you to an even worse existence. While I have no desire to destroy you and lack the power to destroy anyways, the power that now courses through you would protect you from any of my efforts."

Sayaka moved back from the light slightly at that little tidbit, then back at the machine. "...Well, what do you want then?"

The machine was silent for a long moment. "A deal."

Sayaka blinked, but her suspicious look only intensified. She recalled from her scattered memories the last time she made a deal with something not human. It had led her here after all. "What kind of deal?"

"I grant you freedom from this place. Now that you have physical form, the Boundary will attempt to destroy you, and even if stay near the Azure it will eventually overload your body with its energy and kill you. I will even restore your memories to their undamaged state. In exchange, you must work to protect the world I send you to from those that would attempt to destroy it."

"Why?" she asked. "I thought you just said in your little speech you protected it."

"There are those who see my efforts to preserve the world as nothing but foolish. They seek to control this world's fate for themselves, and I cannot intervene directly."

"...But you can act through another."

"Do this, and you may do whatever it is you desire afterwards," the robot replied. "If you so desire, I will even attempt to return you to your own world, if it is within my power."

Sayaka was silent for a long moment. Honestly, anything would be better than just floating in this black void with a blue light and gold-robot-god to talk to. But still...

"What's the catch?" she asked. "I'm sensing a 'but' here."

"If you accept, you will lose all memory of our interaction here," the Master Unit answered. "You shall not recall what you have seen, at least not right away. That is the natural result of any who would leave the Boundary. In addition, your two sides will not be able to interact anymore: One, the original, shall become the dominant host of your body, though the other may surface at times. The time will eventually come when both of you will be able to interact, and even draw upon the other's powers, but until then neither of you will remember that the other even exists."

"Even knowing all of that, do you still accept?"

Moonlight Castle

Rachel Alucard sat up from her seat in the courtyard of her home, the tea in her hands forgotten as she stared off into the distance. Though her expression did not change from its normal form, her faithful butler recognized her change in mood.

"Milady, is everything alright?" the silver-haired old man in a suit asked his mistress. "You seem troubled."

Rachel was silent for a moment longer. "...It's nothing, Valkenhayn," she replied at last, her brow furrowing slightly as she placed her tea down . "However, it would appear a new piece has entered the game... one that I have no prior knowledge of in any form."

"Really?" a voice came from the red footrest where her feet were. "Who is it?"

"Really Gii?" the black umbrella with a cat face that was over Rachel's head said in response. "She just said she has no idea! ...Though I am curious as to the identity of this stranger. Perhaps a dashing young man-"

"Nago, Gii, enough of that," Rachel said calmly, punctuating her statement with her heel into Gii's stomach area.

"Ow!" Gii cried out. "That hurt!"

"Do you think it could be connected to Terumi?" Valkenhayn asked, pointedly ignoring his mistress's actions (he had grown accustomed to the fact he would never be able to force her out of the habit) and just barely keeping his distaste for the man mentioned out of his voice like a true gentleman.

"...No," Rachel replied with slightly narrowed eyes. "That disgusting snake has no need of such a new element at a time like this. No, this disturbance... it was almost as if it had come directly from the Boundary."

Valkenhayn's eyes widened slightly. "You don't think it could be-"

"I don't know," Rachel replied. "And that's what worries me."

She suddenly stood up, allowing Gii and Nago to return to their usual forms, a stout red bat and a big black cat. "Come along, both of you," she beckoned to her familiars. "We have some searching to do."

"Yes, ma'am!" they both yelled.

Rachel then conjured up a portal. "Valkenhayn, I leave things to you."

The old butler bowed. "As you command, Lady Rachel. Shall I follow after you?"

She glanced back. "Not quite yet," she replied after a moment. "Be prepared to leave at a moment's notice though."

He bowed once more. "Very well. Good luck, milady."

'To have directly come from the Boundary itself, and also feel of the power of the Azure...' Rachel wondered to herself as she passed on through her portal. 'Have you finally taken the center stage, Master Unit Amaterasu?'

Sector Seven (Kokonoe's Laboratory)

"What the hell?" Kokonoe muttered to herself as she scanned her monitors, scanning the readings and then doing so again. "What in the world's two Azure doing in Kagutsuchi?"

Normally, this wouldn't be too surprising. After all, there were at least three different Azures in existence as of the last time she checked the 13th Hierarchical City, and one of them had been destroyed by another one.

However, those had been Azure Grimoires, fakes and imitations created to draw upon but a fraction of the Boundary's power. Even that damnable Terumi's version, while perfected compared to Ragna the Bloodedge's and the 13th Prime Field Device's versions, still couldn't draw upon the original power of the Boundary.

In fact, there was only one person she knew of who possessed the true Azure that could do so, and she was currently in Kagutsuchi, blissfully unaware of her newfound power.

So why the hell were there two equally potent Azure signatures, both of such deep blue blue coloration, the mark of a true Azure, doing in the same place?

"That damned snake couldn't have done this," she muttered as she checked the readings again, as if hoping by denying it she would prove it wasn't real. No such luck. "Not even he could make a pure Azure like this, but that doesn't explain the 'how' or 'why'. Does it have something to do with that massive phenomena intervention that happened a few minutes ago?"

She got on her communicator. "Tager!" she barked into it as she sent the relevant data to him. "You seeing all of this?"

"As clear as day, Kokonoe," her 'assistant' spoke over the line. "I can hardly believe these readings myself."

"You don't have to believe them, Tager, just understand them," Kokonoe replied. "Are you in Kagutsuchi yet?"

"I'm in sight now. My current mission is the capture and detainment of Noel Vermillion, as you ordered. Would you like to add to that?"

Kokonoe was silent for a moment, then glanced over to the tank in another section of the room, particularly on the blond woman inside.

"...Not quite yet," she replied. "You might be getting some help on this mission before too long though."

"Something to do with that 'project' of yours?" Tager asked over the line.

"None of your damn business," she told him. "Do what you've been ordered to do... but keep an eye out for that other Azure reading, just in case."

"Right. Tager out."

The connection cut, Kokonoe walked over to where her most recent efforts had gone to rest. She stared up at the girl within with a neutral expression, though also tinged with some level of regret.

"Looks like you'll be seeing your first mission pretty soon, huh Lambda?" she asked the sleeping girl. "Guess we'll see if my work's paid off while you're out there."

She would have immediately just gone over to the controls to wake her from her sleep, but something stayed her hand. Instead, she just kept staring at the Murakumo she had brought back. "...You know, I just realized this'll be the first time you've ever stepped outside this place, without me to watch over your progress and make fixes. I've done all I can to prepare you, but from here on out it'll be up to your own ability to win in the coming days."

She blinked and looked away for a moment, her eyes gaining a faraway look as she realized what she sounded like. "Listen to me huh? Fussing like I'm your mother." A humorless chuckle escaped her. "After everything I've done to and taken from you, I don't deserve to be called something like that though."

She looked back, her gaze on the sleeping girl's peaceful face, remembering the horrified and hateful expression she had worn when she did what she had to preserve Lambda's sanity. 'I wonder what you'd do, if you remembered everything?' Kokonoe thought to herself. 'Would you hate me? Run away and never come back? Try to kill me? I wouldn't blame you, not for any way you decided. It's the least I deserve, even if it saved you.'

She shook her head. "Since when did I get so goddamn sentimental?" she asked herself, then looked back at Lambda, forcing her usual expression and demeanor back on. Even if there was no one else but them, she wasn't going to just start getting all sobby. "Well, I better get you awake and suited up. Don't need to keep Tager waiting too long."

'If nothing else,' she thought to herself as she took the controls, 'at least wait 'til Terumi's dead and gone, Lambda. Then maybe we'll see about making amends.'

Takamagahara System

"You're certain."

"There can be no doubt. There is in fact another Azure in addition to the Eye."

"But that shouldn't be possible. There can only be one Successor to the Azure, and that is Noel Vermillion, the incomplete 12th Prime Field Device. How can there be another?"

In the white void that encompassed the Takamagahara System, three chairs sat in a circle, upon which sat three invisible beings whose shadows were cast on the ground. These three: TA, TB, and TC, were the three AIs that governed the system, their duty to observe all the possibilities of the timeline and guide it to a favorable conclusion, all to satisfy the future in which order would reign supreme over the unending world.

To that end, they desired one thing: The destruction of the Master Unit Amaterasu, the only thing that could defy their plans.

However, even supposedly omnipotent existences as they claimed themselves to be could be thrown for a loop, as this situation was quickly proving.

"Indeed, it should be impossible," TB agreed with TC. "This is an entirely unprecedented event. Never before in this continuum shift has such a thing happened."

"But there is one thing capable of doing something so impossible." TA noted. "The Master Unit."

"Could it be that it is aware of what we intend?" TC asked. "That this is perhaps some mad gamble to force us down an unpredictable path no side can prepare for?"

"More importantly, can we reject this change?" TB inquired.

"Impossible," TA replied. "Whoever this new Azure is, she is now just as resistant to the phenomena intervention as the likes of Rachel Alucard and Yuuki Terumi. To attempt it against her will likely leave her even more aware of our involvement, no doubt all part of the Master Unit's plan."

"I can't believe this," TC muttered. "To think the Master Unit would break its own rules like this..."

"The situation is not unsalvageable," TB noted. "We simply must move with greater care and speed. We should have suspected the Master Unit would not go quietly."

"More importantly, will Yuuki Terumi be able to perform as planned?" TA asked. "This was something even we were entirely unprepared for."

"He will adapt," TC replied. "He always has. Right now, we must begin observing these new possibilities this new Azure has brought forth."

In unspoken agreement, the Takamagahara System went back to work. Nothing would stop them from their goal, no matter what the Master Unit threw at them.

13 Hierarchical City (Kagutsuchi)

'This has just not been my day, huh?'

Indeed, for Ragna the Bloodedge, today had just been one of several pretty shitty days. He had originally come to the NOL branch in the city just to blow up its Cauldron (pretty standard day for him, all things considered), but instead got involved in a whole mess of conspiracy bull all going back to the asshole who burned down his home and kidnapped his little sister, among said bull would be having to face down his psycho brother Jin (who cut his arm off that faithful day), then fighting some robot samurai hero named Hakumen and a silver-haired psycho clone of said sister named Nu. After that, he got into a fight with an NOL officer (who admittedly saved his ass during that last fight and just wanted to talk, so maybe that was just him being a bit of a dick and uncomfortable around her. Not his fault she looked just like his sister as well!), and then he got jumped by a kid with a Nox Nyctores.

"So, you were able to sense my presence," the blond-haired boy said, briefly adjusting his glasses. "I'm impressed, Ragna the Bloodedge."

"What do you want, brat?" Ragna replied, not in the least bit impressed with the fact he was facing down another Nox Nyctores user. After his brother and Hakumen, it was kind of hard to. "I don't have time to play with kids."

"You may not," the boy admitted, his tone still unflappably polite. Behind him, his giant purple doll waited silently. "However, Mr. Ragna the Bloodedge, I do."

Ragna's eyes narrowed. "Last warning, kid," he warned him. I'm REALLY not in the mood for this bullshit. If you don't want me to hand you your head on a platter, I strongly suggest you just turn around and walk away... now."

Instead of listening to sound advice, the kid took up a battle stance, his doll moving serve simultaneously as both a shield and weapon. "Did you really think mere words would deter me?" he asked sarcastically.

Ragna took up his own battle stance, one hand on his giant sword. "No," he admitted, "but it was worth a shot."

That had been about five minutes ago. Now he was standing over the barely standing kid, who was fighting to maintain consciousness while his Nox Nirvana stood protectively in front of him.

"Can't say I didn't warn you," Ragna reminded him. "It's too late for second thoughts now, you little punk."

The blond coughed deeply. "...You're very strong," he wheezed out. "Just as I suspected."

Ragna sighed, actually feeling a little bad about how rough he was with him. Even if the punk needed a lesson, he might have taken a little bit too much of his pent-up aggression out on him. "I told you from the start what I was gonna do to you," Ragna replied, turning to leave. "Now scram, kid. You bother me."

"Sis..." the boy muttered.

It was faint and not meant for his ears, but the way the kid said that word, pleading for someone to help him, suddenly made Ragna have a flash. Just for a moment, he saw another blonde in the kid's place, though much older and without glasses.

"Brother," the memory said in the same pleading voice.

Ragna's eyes widened, and he hesitated. "J-Jin?!"

Suddenly, Nirvana moved in that split-second, jabbing her finger blade right into Ragna's gut. Sharp, burning pain surged through Ragna he stumbled back, hand to his stomach, already bleeding.

"Gah!" he yelled, a bit of blood shooting out of his mouth. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid!'

The boy chuckled. "Oh, thank you, Sis. Hahaha... you're right, Sis," he muttered, his voice getting slower and softer with each word. "I still can't...do anything...without you... Yeah...thanks...Sis."

Of course, Ragna wasn't paying much attention to the boy's words, trying to do his best to staunch the bleeding. "Goddamnit!" he gasped out. "Nirvana, you bitch!"

Ragna fell to his knees. 'Dammit, how did I get so damn weak?' he thought to himself as he desperately tried to maintain consciousness. 'Even if it was a Nox, just one blow...did my fights with that masked bitch and Nu really leave me this out of it?'

Faintly, he heard the kid stumbling towards him. "I...I've got to get the Azure..."

'Damn it,' he thought, rapidly fading. 'Is this really it for me?'

"HEY!"

"Huh?" Both Ragna and Nirvana's wielder said at the same time, glancing about despite their weakened conditions. Where had that-

Suddenly, Nirvana pushed her master back with one arm, swinging its other one forward with its blades out. For a moment, Ragna thought she was aiming for him. The answer proved to be different as her arm went clang against something metal, forcing her and her wielder back a little.

"Wha-What?" her master said in surprise. "Who...who are you supposed to be?"

Ragna looked up with his blurry vision. The person had its back to him, so he couldn't see the face, but what he could see was a grey blue cloak with a high collar, along with what appeared to be some sort of long grey skirt, metal armor around the legs and arms, some sort of sword in hand, and...was that a tail?. The figure was also kind of short, probably only about Noel's (the previously-mentioned NOL officer) height, if not slightly taller. Weirdish thing of all, he could see what appeared to be a mass of spiky white hair above the collar, though it seemed to turn blue as it went down.

"I don't know where I am, why I'm here or why I look like this, or even exactly what's going on here," the figure spoke in a strong, female voice. "But I can see when someone's in trouble. Because you'll hurt, I'll give you one chance to walk away now, kid. I won't warn you again, even if you're barely standing."

Ragna slipped into unconsciousness despite himself, his last thoughts one of the strangest, yet truest he had had in a long time.

'...Why do teenage girls... always end up saving my ass?'

Oh Ragna, why do women always end up saving your ass? Anyways, this little story will probably be my newest side project. No idea how often I'll update, probably whenever I feel like it.

Also, Sayaka's got a new look! It was inspired by an awesome piece of fanart I saw of a humanized Oktavia von Seckendorff, though I will make some edits to it for my own usage. Next chapter, we'll be seeing things from her perspective to see exactly what the Master Unit and the Azure did to her.

What possibilities will the Mahou Shoujo always destined to die and become a witch bring to the continuum shift? Find out next time! Favorite, follow, and leave a review, would you kindly? I'd like to have as much feedback as possible.