Memories of a Broken Timeline

Defense

Homura put the map on her table. She pulled the cap off of an orange marker and drew a circle. "This is where Walpurgisnacht will appear. "

"And how do you know that?" Kyoko spat.

"Statistics."

"There's no record of Walpurgisnacht ever appearing in Mitakihara CIty. Where are you getting your statistics from?"

"How long do we have?" Mami redirected.

"At this point? About three days."

Doctor Strange cleared his throat. "And are we prepared?"

"All I can do is set up at this point. Are you three ready?" They nodded.

"I'm hungry," Kyoko said, less complaint and more demand. Homura tossed her an apple. Doctor Strange turned to her.

"Where are you even finding those?"

"That doesn't matter. Now, do any of you need anything?"

"Will the civilians be safe?"

"They'll think it's a hurricane." She gestured, and two screens drifted towards them, each playing a different video in utter silence, one a news broadcast describing a massive hurricane while displaying footage of the storm. The other showed the same footage with a purple, white, and grey creature in the place of the hurricane. "There's a storm shelter in town, although the city is usually obliterated during the fight. Sometimes the shelter holds, others it doesn't."

"Is there a way to ensure that it holds?"

Mami raised her hand. "Magic could work, I suppose."

"Let's do that tomorrow." They agreed and each went home.

The next day, they met in the cafe again. Doctor Strange had arrived before them that day and ordered a cup of coffee. Kyoko was the last to arrive. Before she could even sit down, he was up and leaving. They walked out of the shop before he turned to Homura. "Lead the way." She guided them to a huge building in the center of the city. He pulled out a copy of her map and checked it. "Walpurgisnacht is supposed to appear only two miles away from here?" She nodded. "Then we definitely have to do it."

"I don't see why we should bother. Why waste our power for them? The strong survive, the weak don't. It's simple science," Kyoko objected.

"Because that's why we are magical girls," Mami explained. "To defend those who can't defend themselves."

"Don't feed me that peace and justice bullcrap, Mami."

"You don't have to do it, but we will," Homura conceded. She tossed her hair and transformed. Kyoko turned away.

"Come find me when you're ready to do something actually useful." She transformed as well before jumping onto a rooftop and disappearing.

"We have to make sure nobody else comes by and thinks we're doing something suspicious."

"Homura, you could use your power?"

"That's not sustainable for long enough to do this."

"I'll handle it," Doctor Strange decided. "Could you stop time while I do it so no one sees?" She nodded.

"Mami, could you make one of your ribbons?" He looked confused. "So that I can connect us so he isn't caught in time too without needing to hold on to him directly." She nodded. A flick of her hand, and she transformed. Another flick, and a yellow ribbon wrapped around his upper arm. She handed the handled to Homura, who let her shield slide back and watched the world slow to a halt.

He spread his hands. A series of large yellow glyphs drifted up around him, glowing until they formed a large gold hourglass, surrounded by rings of light. She unfroze time. All around them, people stood up and walked away, too many to just be a coincidence. "It'll keep them away until the sand runs out." Homura nodded, and the three of them began. Mami and Homura walked around the building, using their power to reinforce the structure and specially enchant it to be safe from familiars. Doctor Strange seemed to focus on ensuring that no one would notice the modifications, how the building had gone from grey to purple and yellow, slightly glowing.

All in all, it took them about an hour to complete the process. Assured that the structure would hold, the girls released their transformations. The hourglass dissolved into dust. The people slowly migrated back, confused. Among the confusion, no one noticed the woman on the roof.