She was back in empty space, back to that place where she had turned into a Demon and taken control of the Incubators. All was dark, not a single star was visible. Not even the Incubator was here, and he was usually omnipresent. She floated around, her long black dress trailing behind her like a stygian waterfall. Alert purple eyes darted to and fro, trying to discern her current bearings.

Had the world fallen back into discord while she was distracted with keeping Madoka safe? Had another Puella Magi risen to power while she was preoccupied with her precious Madoka and recreated the universe? She continued to float onwards, beating her bony raven wings slowly. Fear welled up in her chest - she cannot allow another Puella Magi to become god. Her plans for Madoka would be ruined, for the pink-haired girl would surely remember her godly purpose if such a powerful stimulation were to take place.

She halted, spreading her wings apart to stop the forward momentum. Lately, she had been having recurring nightmares. Always, there would be three strange Puella Magi attacking her; the first on a mounted beast, the second wielding twin swords, the last with claws as huge as a tiger's head. There would be crushing earth around her, trapping her like a helpless deer. This would be followed by icy winds which tore and shredded at her skin, the intense frigidity giving her frostbite. Searing fires then sang in dirge-like wails, burning the ice and melting her to the bone.

The end was always the same for her. She would die - her god-powers and immortality would not save her. She would be dethroned and Madoka would revert to Madokami, shouldering the Grief of all Puella Magi once again. Her work would have been entirely in vain.

She finally halted, her wings hanging limply on her shoulder blades. Her instincts told her that trouble was brewing. Far off in the infinite darkness, she heard the roar of a beast. Her stomach gave a twinge of fear as she realised what it was. She beat her wings quickly, flying headlong into the unknown, away from the beast.

It was the strange trio of Puella Magi! It must be! No other beast sounded like that besides the one mounted by the earth-controller. With a mighty propulsion of her wings, she shot ahead with the speed of a bullet.

The roaring of the beast became louder. Fragments of ice and large fireballs sailed overhead, nearly catching her. Out of nowhere, the beast jumped in front of her, fangs bared, its rider looking at her with impassive green eyes. The other two Puella Magi were now behind her, wraith-like and frowning. She was trapped. The earth-controller pumped her fist into the air, raising a chunk of ethereal rock that smashed into her, breaking every single bone in her body. The ice-summoner sent glacial shurikens to slice her apart, and the fire-singer blasted her with white hot flames, melting her into a puddle. She couldn't do anything to resist the onslaught. She was helpless.

With the last wisps of her consciousness floating away, she saw the earth-controller leaping down from her beast. Her green eyes stared at the puddle that used to be Homura Akemi.

"Your reign is over, Demon. The Goddess of Hope is now ours. It is time to begin a new era."

***

Homura bolted up, trembling uncontrollably. Her hands were shaking like leaves in a winter storm. Clasping them to her heart, she looked at her body to make sure that it was all just a terrible dream, that she was still in one piece and the three Puella Magi were not real. Panic seized her as she remembered the earth-controller's words. She quickly scrambled up and ran to the opposite side of her room, where she had put Madoka.

Surely, it was just a stupid nightmare and nothing more. Those three must have been a figment of her imagination. Madoka wouldn't be gone. She can't be gone.

Homura stumbled to the bed and swept off the covers. Madoka was still sleeping peacefully, her child-like face serene. Tears of relief flooded into Homura's eyes. Slowly, she covered the bedsheets over Madoka again and went out of the room, closing the door softly. She was still shivering slightly from the shock of the nightmare. This one had seemed all too real.

After she had become the Demon, her apartment room had gone through a considerable amount of makeover. The many depictions and diagrams of Walpurgisnacht were now gone, replaced by live, moving pictures of various places around the world so that she may constantly monitor them. A swirling portal lay hidden behind a door, a portal which enabled her to travel to any place on Earth in just the blink of an eye. The Incubators came and went using that portal, allowing Homura to check and control their movements. Her gears were still hanging from the ceiling, and the large scythe-like pendulum still swung in its slow, lazy arcs. All sorts of time pieces - sand-timers, sun dials, water clocks - were present, scattered around the room to form the shape of a large shield which was once her most trusted weapon. To the human eye though, her room would look like any other normal room, nothing weird, nothing out of the ordinary.

Kyubey walked into Homura's living area surreptitiously, not noticing the Demon who was standing in a dark corner. He almost jumped out of his skin when Homura stepped out, a gun in her hand.

She aimed it at his head, asking coldly, "Where have you been the whole day, Incubator? Sneaking around spreading rumours to Puella Magi while I was busy or asleep?"

The alien cat looked at the pistol warily, jumping up onto a chair and sitting down. He knew the pain of being shot all too well. "You know, Homura Akemi, you shouldn't accuse me of things that you yourself are not sure of. What makes you think I've been spreading rumours to others? What good would it do to me?"

Still keeping the gun level at Kyubey's head, she spat out, "Stop denying it, Incubator! I know you've been up to no good lately, skulking in and out of the room like a guilty thief."

Kyubey's tail twitched irritably. "You have no proof of me being a rumourmonger. I was just going out for a stroll, so stop aiming that gun at my head and let me get back to my home planet. And, why are you so grumpy all of a sudden?" Two red eyes glowered back at her as he said coolly, "Had an earth-shattering, icy, fiery nightmare, Homura Akemi?"

Homura gasped, her hands fumbling with the pistol. How did Kyubey know about her nightmare's details?

"If I find out that you were behind my many horrendous dreams..." began Homura, her finger itching to pull the trigger on the annoying cat, "...I'll see to it that you get a dozen bullets in your head."

Kyubey gave away no sign of shock, still wearing the same jovial expression. It seemed as if his face muscles were stuck in that position. "Again, you accuse me for your nightmares. You just love accusing me of everything. It's just your wild imagination working up after I've told you about the existence of elemental Puella Magi." His ears flattened on his skull, a sure sign of annoyance, yet his face was smiling. "Now, if you don't mind, Homura Akemi, I'll be going home. If you need anything, which I personally hope you don't, just call and I'll be here, most grudgingly."

"Save your sweet words for others," hissed Homura, lowering her gun and allowing the Incubator to get off the chair and strut past her. However, before Kyubey took more than three steps, Homura had caught him by the scruff of his neck, swinging him up to eye level. Kyubey wanted to complain, but she glared at him hostilely, saying in a dangerously low tone, "I know you Incubators are planning something behind my back. You must be worrying over the entropy being used up faster than it is produced, and are wondering why I'm not allowing Puella Magi to remember their duties as Wraith and Witch slayers. Well," she shook him once, violently. "Do not ponder over these questions, Incubator. Let the universe expand and be destroyed as it pleases. Let nature take its own course. Do not interfere in my venture, or I will be very angry. Now, get out of my sight!"

She threw him onto the floor roughly. Still with that sickeningly adorable smile plastered on his face, Kyubey got up and told Homura, "Even if you have taken control of us Incubators, we will never lose sight of our goal. You cannot stop us from doing what we were meant to do, and we are a very tenacious race. See you later, Demon." With that, he scampered quickly into the portal, not very keen on prolonging the unpleasant encounter.

Homura fumed inwardly, flinging the pistol at the portal door after Kyubey had left. Then, afraid that the noise would awaken Madoka, she stole back to the bedroom, opening the door quietly.

Madoka was still asleep, thankfully. Homura sat at the foot of the bed, twiddling with her fingers. She talked to the slumbering girl in subdued murmurs, knowing that she wouldn't be able to listen to her words anyways. "Madoka... You don't know the pain I'm going through to save you from your horrible fate. I can't tell you. I can't tell anyone. I've no one else to turn to... They simply wouldn't understand..." A tear dripped off her nose. "The Incubators are plotting against me, I just know it, and I can't do anything to stop them. And lately, I've been having these horrible nightmares of three Puella Magi killing me. Am I going to die, Madoka...?" She shook her head hard. "No! I'm not afraid of dying, I'm more afraid of leaving you alone when I'm dead, for you will surely become the Goddess once again. What should I do, Madoka? What should I do?"

Knowing that her friend was not likely to wake up from her mind-induced torpor, Homura let herself fall onto the bed next to Madoka, hugging her close. Tears spilled down onto the sheets, dampening them. "I don't want to make enemies. I don't want to be feared or hated. I just want to be accepted and not be treated like an outcast, and you were the only one who loved me for who I am. You taught me to build my own self-esteem, gave me confidence, showed me things that made me grow wiser. You have done so much for me, and what did I do for you in return?" She dipped her head towards her chest, her voice almost breaking with emotion. "I made things hard for you, bullied you into listening to me, forced you to follow my rules... And yet you still forgive me and think of me all the time. You are selfless... So selfless... But how else can I stop you from becoming a Goddess? How?!" Her arms wrapped around Madoka even tighter as she sobbed, her heart-breaking cries bouncing off the room walls hollowly.

Homura remained in that position for around half an hour, holding onto Madoka like how a remora clings to a shark. Feeling decidedly calmer, she flipped onto her back and stared at the dark ceiling with a poker face, her hand clasped in Madoka's. Determination flooded her whole being.

"For you, Madoka, I would do anything..." A wild glint flashed across her eyes. "And now, with all the Puella Magi coming back and threatening to awaken you through broken memories, I'm afraid my subtle tactics of giving them amnesia are no longer going to work." She sat up and walked out of the room, heading for the portal door with unwavering steps.

"It's about time for me to take things to a whole new level!"

***

Kyubey seated himself on a chair in the research lab, placing a paw on another Incubator's shoulder.

"I'm back, Xyubey, and I'm glad that I'm still in one piece."

Xyubey, a sable-furred Incubator with dark brown mottles looked up from a folder he was studying. His face was unlike Kyubey's, who looked cute and innocent. Instead, it was sly and cunning. Two small fangs gleamed as he said in a deep voice, "You look hassled. The Demon caught you going out to meet with Shika Kiyomizu?"

Kyubey nodded. "Thankfully, she didn't ask too much. She just accused me of spreading rumours and making her have nightmares. I don't think she knows of our plan just yet, and I hope she doesn't find out."

"And Shika? Has she begun the search for the third Puella Magi?" asked Xyubey, flipping the folder shut.

"Oh, her." Kyubey waggled his ears testily. "She's being more difficult than expected. You'd think that a docile person like her would just take orders blindly without resistance, but she is proving herself to be a girl of her own mind. No worries though, I'll soon force her into obeying me. Moving on, any news from your Research Department?"

Xyubey slitted eyes landed on him. "News? It's more than news. Check it out yourself."

He tossed the folder over to Kyubey, who caught it with his ear extensions. Eagerly, he started leafing through the papers, and although his expression didn't show it, he was more than dumbfounded. "What is this supposed to mean, Xyubey? Madoka Kaname isn't supposed to exist?"

Xyubey nodded his dark head. "Affirmative. Looking at past records and studying the history of Earth, there seemed to not be any word or mention of the person known as Madoka Kaname, yet she exists now, sheltered in the home of the Demon which we reluctantly serve."

"I feel like this is deja vu..." muttered Kyubey, handing over the folder to Xyubey. "Why do I feel I've gone through this scene before? This defies the logic of science."

"Search me." Xyubey slid off the chair and went out the lab, whisking his long tail. "I'm going to conduct more research. Look for me in the Upper Library if you need my help." With that, he ran off, sable fur gleaming like oil.

The white Incubator remained on his seat. Madoka Kaname, the anomaly of time and space... He had heard of this before, but from where? He was rudely interrupted in mid-thought. Homura's voice rang in his head like brazen bells, saying curtly, "Kyubey, I need you to come over now. Quick."

Irritated, Kyubey hurried over to the portal which was located in the heart of the Incubators' city. What did she want with him now?

***

"You want me to do what?!" exclaimed Kyubey, clearly shocked, yet still smiling.

"Yes, I'm very sure of it," said Homura. "I know you are more than capable of carrying out my orders."

"I'm fine with the first part, but the second part... What if it goes out of control? How can you be so sure we can control such a monstrosity?" urged Kyubey.

"I've told you the details of how to make it," said the Demon impatiently. "Should it ever run amok, you know what to do."

"I'm still not sure about this, Homura Akemi..." replied Kyubey uncertainly.

"Just do it!" commanded Homura. "You are under my control and must do as I say. Now go!"

The Incubator grumbled, slipping into the portal. "... As you wish, Demon..."

Homura watched him depart, her heart heavy with remorse. It was a desperate plan, and she was loathe to do it, but now that she had given her orders, she must see it to the end.

"I'm sorry, Mami, Kyoko, Sayaka, everyone... And I'm sorry, Madoka, but it's all for your own good."

Sorry, another late update, I was busy again... I realised that Incubators are always smiling despite the seriousness of the situation. It is somewhat funny to imagine Kyubey smiling all throughout all those hostile conversations with Homura XD
Btw, Chapter 10 and 11 happened on the same day, and this chapter takes place after Kyubey leaves Shika and after Homura kidnaps Madoka. I hope this is not confusing... =_='
*Heart thumps in suspense* Just what is Homura up to now?? I'll leave you people to mull over it XD And if you like it, don't forget to vote and comment :D

~SaitheVivana