glitchdoka episode 10

"Well? Introduce yourself to the class!"

Kris wrung her hands together, looking down at the ground.

"Um... m-my name's Kris Randall!!"

"Kris is a brand-new student, so please help her if you can."


During lunch, students surrounded Kris, asking her about her old life. She blushed from the attention, looking away.

"Hey!" Dani said, striding into the group. "You look kinda pale, Kris. Let me take you to the nurse's office, okay?"

"Okay..."

"Sorry, girls! I'll return her soon, okay?"

As they walked to the nurse's office, Dani grinned. "Sorry about them. They're really nice, really! But transfer students are pretty rare, so I guess they got carried away."

"I, I don't really need to go to the nurse's office..."

"Maybe not, but I thought you could use a break from all those questions!"

"Oh, t-thank you..."

"You don't gotta be so nervous. We won't bite!" Dani grinned. "I might bark at you, though. Bark bark!"

"Hehehe..."

"Anyway, let's be friends, okay?"

"I..." Kris paused. "... would that be okay?"

"Of course!"


As the school day went on, it was clear to Kris that this school was far more advanced than her old one. She couldn't do the math problems or understand the literature class -- she couldn't even measure up to the advanced gym program she'd signed up for, sure that her hunting prowess would help her along.

As she walked home from school, she looked down at the ground, hopeless.

"Am I really that bad...?"

The ground seemed to shift and change, blood pouring down the street.

"Yes, you are!", said a voice inside her head.

"What should I do...?"

"If you're so hopeless, why don't you just curl up and die?!"

"Curl up and die... huh..."

Kris closed her eyes, only to open them a moment later as she realised just how wrong everything was. She stared into a maze of war figures and blood, toy soldiers ripping and tearing at each other and bleeding into the street.

"What is this..?!"

A tank rolled up, its muzzle swinging over to point at Kris. She fell to the ground, cowering as toy soldiers marched up to her...

Thin lines of paint circled around the tank and the soldiers, binding them together. A huge glowing dog leapt forward to bite at the muzzle of the tank, twisting it out of shape.

"Phew, that was a close call!" Cody and Dani stepped forward, smiling.

"But you're safe now, Kris."

"You two..."

"They're Puella Magi, meow!" A young girl piped up from behind her. "They hunt Witches!"

"Don't tell the others about our secret, okay?" Dani grinned as she blew into a whistle. The dog made of light bit into the tank's hull while Cody painted a spear which sailed towards it.


The three of them gathered in Cody's house as he explained everything to them.

"So you're fighting things like this all the time? You too, Dani?"

"Well, not me so much! I only started doing stuff like this last week. Cody's the veteren!"

"You did pretty well in this fight, I gotta say."

"Hehe, thanks!"

The two of them laughed until Kris interrupted them.

"But, aren't you afraid?!"

"Yeah, I am," Dani smiled reassuringly. "But defeating Witches is really important! It helps a lot of people out. Right, Cody?"

"Right! You'll be a pro by Walpurgisnacht."

Kris smiled.


Tick, tick, tick.

The gears of Walpurgis ground together as Kris and Dani knelt beside Cody's dead body.

"Well," Dani breathed out, standing up. "Time for me to go."

"But Cody just... Cody just died...!"

"That's why I've gotta go, Kris. I'm the only one who can stop it now."

"But no one can win alone against that thing! Cody said so! You'll die, Dani! You'll die!"

"I'm a Puella Magi, Kris. It's my job to protect everyone!"

"Let's just run away, okay?!"

"Sorry," Dani smiled. "I can't do that. But hey, Kris, I had fun with you. And when I managed to save you from that Witch... I'm still proud of that."

"Dani...!"

"Goodbye, Kris!" Dani smiled to her and leapt away, towards Walpurgis.


Kris sobbed over Dani's body. "Why?! Why did you have to die?! I wish you hadn't! I wish you'd lived on instead of saving me!"

"Do you mean that, Kris Randall?" Mila stood in the rain, smiling at her. "If you're willing to risk your soul for that one wish, if you're willing to fight, I can help you."

"I can..." Kris looked up at Mila. "I can wish for anything if I make a contract with you, right?"

"You're definitely powerful enough, meow. So tell me! How will your Soul Gem shine?"

"I want to," Kris paused, and stood, wiping away her tears. "I want to redo my meeting with Dani. I want to protect her instead of being protected by her!"

Mila reached forward, calmly, and thrust a hand into Kris's chest. She pulled out something which oughtn't be pulled, and held out the shimmering power of her soul.

Kris clasped it with her hands.

"Let loose the power of your soul!"

Tick. Tick. Whirrr. Click.

Kris felt a pulling sensation as she was flung back in time.


Kris awoke in her bed. She looked over at her desk, the admittance papers for her new highschool still lying there.

"What a strange dream..."

Then she looked down at her hand, and saw the Soul Gem there.

"... it... wasn't a dream...?"


When Kris introduced herself to the class, she ran to Dani's desk and took her by the hands.

"Dani! I'm a Puella Magi now, too, so let's work together!"

Dani looked away, grinning nervously.


"Okay," Cody said, as they walked into the abandoned factory. "Let's see what you can do."

Kris stopped time and ran forward with a baseball bat, slamming it into an empty drum again and again. Sometimes she missed and stumbled, but once time started moving again, the drum was dented heavily.

"Hmm..." Cody said, folding his arms. "Looks like you've got time magic. But you don't really know how to use it, do you?"

"Haah... not really..." Kris panted, flopped on the ground.

"That's alright. We'll show you the way."


Dani, Cody and Kris fought the Witches together as a team. They both helped Kris to grow as a Puella Magi, and Dani especially was thrilled by her progress.


Dani laid on the ground in the wake of Walpurgisnacht, writhing in pain. "Why? WHY...?!"

"Dani! Dani, what's--"

"Arrrgh!"

Dani screamed, holding up her Soul Gem. It shattererd in on itself, the metal creaking, blackening. Becoming a Grief Seed.


Tick. Tick. Whirrr. Click.

"I've got to tell her," Kris said, pushing the covers off of herself.


Sora huffed. "Are you trying to turn us against each other? You must be working with that Gabe guy, spouting all this nonsense about us becoming Witches."

"Sora... don't turn against her, okay?"

"Tch. I'm against teaming up with her. She's not trustworthy. Have you seen those guns of hers? One day she might just miss a shot and hit one of us!"

"Kris will be careful with her firearms. Won't you, Kris?" Cody turned towards her as he asked.

"Yeah, of course..."


Caelestis giggled as its giant fans struck the earth. Tightrope wire whipped this way and that. Gabe and Cody's bodies laid on the ground, lifeless.

"Stop, Sora! This isn't what you wanted! SORA!"

Wire careened towards Dani, and time stopped.

"Sorry, Sora..." Kris said as she aimed her rifle towards Caelestis's head.

The Witch screamed as time started again, and it faded, the barrier shimmering away.

Dani collapsed to her knees, burying her head in her hands. "I can't take this any more...!"

Kris approached her, laid a hand on her shoulder. "I-it'll be okay. Let's defeat the Walpurgis night together, okay?"


Dani and Kris laid together in the rain, their darkened Soul Gems in their hands.

"So this is the end, huh..?"

"The Grief Seeds..."

"Yeah."

"Hey, Dani... how about we become monsters together? We could destroy everything... that way nothing bad would even exist. Would that be okay, Dani?"

Dani smiled, and touched a Grief Seed to Kris's Soul Gem. The taint left her.

"What... Dani, why?!"

"Hehe, I still had one left..."

"But why me?! You--"

"I want you to do something for me, okay? It's something only you can do."

"Something only I can do...?"

"You can go back to the past, right? You said you'd change history, right? Can you..." Dani's voice cracked with tears. "Can you save me before I'm fooled by Mila?"

Kris took Dani's hand, not bothering to hide her own tears. "I promise! I'll save you, Dani! No matter how many times I have to go back, I promise I'll save you!"

"Thanks..." Dani smiled, and then pain took her, and her body twisted as she writhed on the ground.

"Aaaa!"

"Dani!"

"Can I - can I - ask you something else?"

"Anything!"

"Kris... I don't wanna be a Witch... there are still lots of things I love in this world...!"

"Dani..."

"Please!"

Kris pushed herself up into a sitting position, and her clothes shimmered and changed. She took a gun from her targe, and pushed it up against Dani's Soul Gem.

Bang.


Tick. Tick. Whirrr. Click.


"If no one will believe me," Kris said, staring into the mirror, "I'll just make them believe me."


Kris went to Dani's window, knocking at it. Dani pushed herself up into a sitting position.

"Huh? Who's..."

"Dani. Even if someone shows up promising you a miracle in exchange for your help, don't do it. It'll only end badly for you."

Unseen, below the window, she held Mila's corpse by the scruff of its neck.


Kris froze time as she went into the military cache. She stored all the guns away, and stalked off to fight the Witches.

Because she knew now that she had to take care of all of them herself.

She couldn't let Dani fight.


Kris leapt towards Walpurgis, gritting her teeth. Buildings flew towards her and she shied away just in time.

But another impacted against her, and she was flung into the grasp of a huge robotic limb. She was dazed for a moment, but the glimpse of Dani's red clothes made her focus.

Mila was with her.

"Dani, no!" Kris screamed. "Don't listen to her! Don't...!"

Mila turned to Dani, smiling. "Do you think she's given up? She's fighting for you, meow. But as soon as she gives up..."

"She can't do this alone! I have to help her..!"

"All you have to do is change everything! The grief, the destruction, they're only inevitable until you do something. You've got the power to do that."

"NO!", Dani screamed as the giant hand tossed her downwards. "No, DON'T! PLEASE!"

Dani turned to Mila, unable to hear Kris's cries. "Can I really do it? Can I save her? Can I save everyone?"

"Of course, meow. Make a contract with me and become a magical girl!"

"DANIIIIII!"

The light of contract glowed.


"She was really awesome when she transformed, meow. Defeating Walpurgis in just one hit? So cool! Even I never expected her to be this powerful."

"... so if she's even more powerful than you thought... what's that mean for us...?"

"Hmm, well, as the strongest Puella Magi, Madoka defeated her enemy in a single blow. As the strongest Witch, don't you think she'll defeat your planet in one blow, too?"

"Why, you..."

"Oh, well, it doesn't matter to me! I absorbed a lot more energy than our quota asked for."

Kris stood and began walking away. Mila tilted her head, smiling.

"Aren't you going to fight?"

"No. This isn't my world."

"Kris Randall, you're..."


Tick. Tick. Whirrr. Click.


"Fuck it. I'll just repeat the timeline again. I'll live through the same shit again and again, as many times as I have to, until I find a way to save you."


Kris shot Mila, again and again. Another one appeared, and giggled, running away as Kris shot at her.

Dani caught Mila as she collapsed, breathing heavily. She looked up at Kris, disbelieving.

"Why would you..."

Dani was her only friend. Dani was the one she was fighting for. If it was for Dani, she didn't mind being trapped in this barrier forever.

"Put her down," Kris said, and her voice was cold.