Puella Magi Rei ♥️ Magica: Afterglow

Chapter 4: "Ascension"

Click... Click... Click...

Homura's heels clicked against the shiny, black floor, a pistol clutched tightly in her hand. She made her way down an empty hallway, boxes littering the floor. The people that once owned the Chi Tower left in a hurry, it seemed. They didn't even take their belongings. What caused them to abandon such a tall, prominent tower?

..Or was this part of the farce that surrounded her?

".. Alright, witch.." Homura glared, her eyes flaring with determination as she adjusted her glasses. ".. Let's see where you are!"

Holding up her soul gem, a bright violet glow illuminated the corridor, as a magic circle would slowly appear in front of her, a crude design of a book and quill plastered across it.

"... Well.. That was simple..-"

Suddenly, the wall beside Homura began to cave in, as a white mass would pierce the room. Sunlight began to pierce through as Homura quickly stopped time, gasping in horror as she fell backwards in shock.

"W.. What the?!-"

She stared at the white mass, noticing it appeared to be some amalgam of some kind of fabric. Slowly standing up, she raised her pistol, narrowing her eyes as she slowly stepped to the side. However, upon noticing that the ribbon seemed to stretch far out of the tower's vicinity, Homura lowered the pistol ever so slightly.

".. This is from outside the witch's range?.." She blinked, before quickly unpausing time.

The white mass would begin motion again, now stopping in the center of the hallway as the fabric began to pull away, revealing a small, two-seated car, in perfect condition as it is slowly lowered onto the floor.

The passenger door flies open, as Tsuki falls down to her knees, holding her stomach as she tried her best not to puke.

Ring slowly crawls out of the driver's seat, trembling. ".. Wh-.. What the hell just happened?!" She shrieked.

"T-Tsukiumi?! Ring?!" Homura gasped, placing her pistol back into her hourglass as she quickly ran over to help Tsuki stand. "Wh-.. What are you doing here?! Did you contract with Ryu too!?"

"Contract with Ryu?-" Ring tilted her head, in question. ".. Uh.."

"Yes! We did!" Tsuki quickly lied, as she stood up with the help of Homura. ".. We felt the witch's signature from miles away!"

"I see.." Homura pondered, in thought. ".. I assume you still live near the Southward Square.. So.. I-If you were able to feel the witch from that far away.. This must be a pretty powerful monster."

"All the more reason to put an end to it's existence." Tsuki nodded, looking at Ring like a deer in headlights.

Ring looked down at herself, now fully taking it in that she was a magical girl again, as she slowly crawled over the hood of the car, taking position next to Tsuki. "... D-Did you find the labyrinth?"

"I-.. I think so.. Look." Homura nodded, pointing toward the floating magic circle.

"... That's the entrance, all right.. It's got witch written all over it." Tsuki whispered, as she approached the magic circle. ".. Should we head in?"

".. I.." Homura stared at the magic circle, before nodding. ".. M-.. Yeah.. Come on.. I can pause time.. I don't know if it works on other magical girls, but..- If I could just figure out a way to pause time without pausing the two of you, we could head in and get a good look around.. Kind of like scouting.."