Chapter Text
“It’s me… it seems Daru has been kidnapped by the organization”
A tall man wearing a lab coat(?) of all things began to rattle into his flip phone. The phone itself was, to the eyes of anyone else, turned off. Of course to the eyes of the strange man screaming in the middle of an old Raman bar the phone was, unsurprisingly, turned off as well, but he chose to ignore it. For that man, of which no known subtilty was given to the few other patrons of the noodle bar, was a “MAD SCIENTIST” - At least that was what he called himself once he arrived upon the doorway of the old bar, much to the chagrin of the other people.
“Yes yes… That would explain it… as a MAD SCIENTIST i have examined all other possible outcomes, and there remains no other possibility”
The man began grinning the same way a toddler grins after doing something they were explicitly told not to do. With the edges of his lips bending high across his face. It was almost like he was grinning at the fate of the world itself, or at the very least the other patrons, to him it didn’t seem like there was much of a difference. With a sudden motion he stood up before ushering the final stanza of his sentence.
“He had to have been kidnapped, it would explain why he was…”
And with a little click of the tongue the man shouted the following words as if only he could hear them.
“SO LATE TO THIS IMPROMPTU TWO-MEMBER LAB MEMBER MEETING, RIGHT IN THE HEART OF MITAKIHARA TOWN!!!”
Following this, and to the delight of everyone else in the building, the man became quiet. As if somehow the turned-off phone he held towards his ear was giving him great insight on what was happening. This lasted for the better half of 30 seconds.
“Very well… I will stand by and wait here for him, if in the next 15 minutes he is not here I will contact his family and organize funeral arrangements. El Psy Kongroo”.
The man slouched back down into his chair, seemingly in ignorance to the verbal commotion he had caused throughout the store, and to a lesser extent, the street and buildings surrounding the store. Although the patrons of the store were seemingly now blessed by luck, as the man became increasingly quiet from that point forward, at least for a little while.
He sat silently in his chair, almost as if he was a reflection to the man who was screaming his lungs out mere moments prior. Although far less concerned with screaming and far more focused on the question at hand.
Really…Where the hell is Daru? We still have another lecture to attend an hour from now, and I haven't seen him since the one this morning.
The man sat back into his stool, now focusing on the bowl of Raman he chose to ignore in favour of his earlier rant.
He told me he would be here 15 minutes from now half an hour ago.
The man's mind began to wonder just where the hell his, as he would put it, “fellow lab member”, could possibly be.
At the very least the noodles were good, not as good as Akibahara, although almost nothing was as good as the noodles of the man's hometown. He indulged in them just as his mind continued to question the whereabouts of his friend.
Soon however, his mind would begin racing on a more pressing issue. With a sudden jolt it seemed as if the world faded, a feeling our mad scientists were more familiar with than anyone else, or almost anyone else. A feeling that few people would like to experience, and luckily wouldn’t. The man could at least be happy, although he wasn’t - not particularly at least - that he immediately had some idea why this happened. Why he just crossed worldlines again.
For the last few months after he managed to reach Steins;Gate, he had been experiencing this phenomenon, this phenomenon of being sent to an empty world. One where only he remained.
He still had little idea on why or how it was happening, his best guess was that the Steins;Gate worldline was rejecting him because of how many worldlines he had previously experienced, although he would need to study and follow on that reasoning further if he had any hope of saying that was the definitive cause. Either way for now there wasn’t really anything he could do about it.
At most this would only last a few minutes before he’d manage to get back to the Steins;Gate worldline.
At least I have even more time to wonder about where Daru went off to.
the man's mind stated in a very unamussed tone, with a slight hint of worry and a larger hint of annoyance being visible to anyone who could have heard what his internal monologue just said. No one would however.
The man continued to eat his Raman as he increasingly wondered if he was going to be able to arrive at the final lecture of the day on time. Somehow both he and his, to put it bluntly, perverted friend, qualified to be sent to a scientific lecture about AI technology on their universities behalf. Normally this wouldn’t have been much interest to the so-called MAD SCIENTISTS, he was sure that if he and Daru were given the budget then they’d end up making a sentient AI within a week or two max.
But one of the few people in this world who truly knew the Mad Scientist Hououin Kyouma was a major researcher in this AI project. As such the man knew that he needed to be there, he felt that there was some higher reason for him to go if he was given the opportunity to. Although that was probably just his Chunni way of expressing his love for her, for the one he cared about most, for his Lab assistant and… well they weren’t exactly dating yet but he’s sure that would change eventually, especially after what happened in America. Still, no matter what the status of their relationship was, the man knew he was as excited as he could be to see Kurisu again, even if he could only express it to others in the most Chunni way possible.
Sadly for both of them Kurisu couldn’t make it back to Japan because she caught the flu just days before her flight was scheduled. Leading to Daru and the MAD SCIENTIST HOUOIN KYOUMA not being able to see their beloved lab member. And leading to Kurisu not being able to ask the Mad Scientists why he hadn’t sent her an email or letter in months.
Still tho, Kyouma and Daru had to arrive at the lecture hall in what would now be less than an hour, at the very least to see what “THE ZOMBIE”/”CHRISTINNNNNNA” (As Kyouma apparently liked to call her, he seemingly used both terms whenever the two of them were lucky enough to meet, much to Kurisu’s annoyance) was working on during her time in America.
For the strange young man sitting in a world of his own eating increasingly cold ramen, there wasn't much to ponder on unrelated to either Daru’s whereabouts or his lab assistant all the way in America.
I really should email her…
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A young girl stood with a mix of silence and an obvious loss of composure. If there was anyone around her they would obviously see it, either on her face or in her body language. Their eyes would burn daggers into the poor young woman. How could they not, really; to anyone it would be obvious - It probably was obvious to everyone, she just somehow never realised it. Or if she did she forgot about it since it didn’t matter - the only thing that mattered - just her - more so than anyone else (and especially herself) - was Madoka, but if there was no one here, besides, besides her then - where would Madoka be - she’d well, she didn’t know what to do - she couldn’t know what to do, this was… This was an anomaly, and she took care of anomalies. Some Witch she somehow never encountered before must have awakened.
Which means she’d have to put some poor former-magical girl out of her suffering, another one, and with the way anomalies tended to work, there was a very real possibility that she would need to do it again from now until whenever the final loop would be. Okay well, maybe not, with Witches you couldn’t ever be fully sure - Sometimes some wouldn’t show up, sometimes multiple wouldn’t for a few timelines before having her deal with what would feel like double the normal amount - Of course Walpurgisnacht always would, and Oktavia tended to too. How many timelines did she prevent Miki from becoming a Magical Girl? 4 maybe 5 - and in how many of those timelines did Miki die before she got a chance to? - She didn’t want to think about that. She didn’t want to think about any of that. No, just… breath, ok, just breath… We don’t need to think right now, just focus on finding the witch.. Then we will be able to…
She preferred not to think about any of it, honestly, for her own sake she refused to - It was pointless - pointless - to focus on those she knew she couldn’t save - The past timelines - They only served to remind her about how far she had fallen - Madoka didn’t deserve to have a monster like me obsessed with her - maybe they all deserved better - No - No No No No No - No. They had failed Madoka just as much as I hadn't they? No - I can’t say that - No one could have ever failed Madoka in the same way I have - No one else even knows what it feels like to be a part of this. To feel this way. And to loop again and again. If they did they would have succeeded by now.
If there was anyone around her they’d have now noticed her starting to cry - Why was she crying - Stupid Homura crying over nothing - This is why Madoka - this is why Madoka…Where is Madoka? She would be at home. Currently there is likely a witch i’ve never encountered before in this area - That would explain why there isn’t anyone around here. Okay - Breath Homura breath. Madoka is almost certainly safe, or at least as safe as she could be - So she didn’t deserve or need to cry - It was time to be logical, so she would be logical.
If I was being logical then why would I be concerned about Madoka right now? I’m on the other side of town. A fragment, stinging like a rusted needle, tore out these words into the back of her brain - her stupid brain - always arguing with herself, never being strong enough. If only I was strong enough - Was all another fragment could scream out as her head throbbed from one thought to the next. She didn’t have time for this, did she?
Maybe… Maybe. The girl seemed extremely unsure of what this burning spark of her mind was trying to say. I should try telling Madoka again. Her mind raced in all directions trying to understand where and how she could react to such a statement, her body started to throb, and her mind was following suit. She knew she couldn’t do that not again - the last time she tried… She needed to focus. Luckily for her, the control she had over her own body was enough to stop the impromptu spasms which were creeping up on her. I wish I could tell her again was the final spark that overwhelmed her brain enough for consideration in consciousness. She chose to ignore it.
The girl stood out in the middle of the street, the spasms and shaking - why was it shaking had ended. It was, as far as she knew, one of the older places in the city she called her home. Being part of the old Mitakihara town that the city was built upon back during the mid 90s. If there was to be a Witch surrounding her - then there would have to be a barrier somewhere around where she was - Of course it would mean she would need to find that barrier - But that should be easy enough. There was definitely something resembling magic radiating off of the old Ramen store. She’d been there before hadn’t she - no wait, wait… Yes, she was there before. Kyouko introduced her to it during one of the earlier loops. And once she and Madoka - Madoka - I miss Madoka - were able to enjoy a meal there together before everything went to shit.
If it’s not magic then what the hell it - or is it magic - it could be magic. The girl's mind was humming with memories of different feelings she had experienced throughout the loops. She could, for whatever reason - for some ungodly reason - remember the feelings of battle with every type of Magical Girl and Witch that she had managed to fight before. She managed to settle on the fact that it sorta resembled…
It couldn’t be her - the feeling she was getting - from that radiating building - why am I feeling such strong... somethings from that building - it almost resembled someone Homura knew couldn’t possibly be alive by this point. Maybe - No it couldn’t be - Maybe someone else then. The girl's mind raced and danced like a parade of emotion. This is something she never liked about herself - even now - so far beyond her time as someone who needed protection - she could still be easily made to freak out over something so easily, in this case, something she couldn’t understand.
Does the air feel heavy? Why does the air feel heavy… I wish - No - why do I still know that word. Homura seemed almost still as she gazed upon the building. Although with just one single memory of Madoka ringing through her head and igniting her heart - All such motions, or more accurately lack of motion, ceased. She began to rush towards the old Raman bar.
I can’t fail her again - her mind still rang out - I wont fail you, no matter what it takes - and other such words of encouragement would ring around her mind - Only she could tell her what needed to be said, at least that was the line of reasoning that permeated the few pieces of advice and hope she would offer herself.
with a single kick she made the bar's old battered door fly upon its hinges, if she put any more effort into it the door would have broken.
When she looked around she expected to enter a Witches labyrinth. This did not happen. All she saw was what looked like a 20 year old scientist(?) in an empty restaurant eating noodles and staring at her intensively. Was this man the reason for the magic I was feeling? No he couldn’t be. Maybe I’ve finally lost it.
“I apologize, this is not my building” was all Homura could say, in her distinctively monotone voice.
“WAIT!”
The mad scientists reaction was enough of a reason to get Homura to pull out her shield and leave in a blink of an eye, after all she didn't want to speak to anyone right now - And she was freaking out over nothing - She didn't deserve to sit down and eat Raman with the stranger rushing towards her anyway. They weren’t Madoka - Homura began to stop time and leave.
“HOW ARE YOU IN THIS WORLDLINE?” Now both the mad scientist and Homura were outside of the building, only being half covered by the shade the rooftop gives for those entering the old establishment. And in surroundings of a warm, confronting and barely lucid breeze.
“Worldline?” - Homura looked at her shield to see if time had stopped yet or it, it should have, so it didn’t make any sense why that man was still talking to her - Wait a second it’s going. why on earth is it going? how on earth is he talking through my timestop?
The two time travelers - now both extremely confused - wondered just who the hell the person in front of them was.
“Who the hell are you” was all the both of them could muster to explain what just happened. Both just looked more confused at the other person's statement.
“Wait,” Kyouma grabbed onto the sleeve of Homura. Making sure that she couldn’t run away, which she most definitely could, but he didn’t know that. He then began to say something that would shake Homura to the very core of her being.
“You're a time-trevealer aren’t you?” The Mad Scientist spoke in a far more serious tone than all his prior statements. If any of the Raman patrons on the Steins;Gate worldline could hear him, it is likely that they wouldn’t recognize the person as being the same man who was just screaming about his cafe-centered lab meeting. Homura on the other hand froze… The only thing capable of moving at this point was her mind, which was running at 300 miles an hour to understand what that man just said. If he didn’t say it so seriously she would have just carved it up to some loon but… Maybe… Maybe. It wouldn’t be totally impossible for someone to recognize a time traveller, would it? Maybe he is the same as me for once Homura would allow for such a strange vortex of an idea to take hold of her - She wouldn’t fight against it, at least not in the same way she did when it came to everything else - She could be fine taking the possibility seriously, although she would then come to regret, and then very much unregret, that decision.
Maybe Homura would be able to talk to someone about everything that had happened. She could, of course, ignore the man and leave. It would be the opposite of a challenge but… If there is a chance that he recognizes what she is, then is there a chance that he too had travelled through time? Perhaps, and if that was true… Homura didn’t deserve to think about that, of course she didn’t, she was probably setting herself up for dealing with a mad man. Which in all truthfulness she was doing, but that madman knew. He knew… something, which meant that, for now at least, Homura would follow through with communicating with the odd professor in front of her.
Maybe this will do her some good.
Just who the hell is this guy was the only statement Homura’s brain could make as the man turned away from her, pulled out a dead flip phone and pretended to call someone.
“We have a code Ragnarock, I might need to deploy him to deal with it. El psy Kongroo” the man spoke in a tone somehow blending the seriousness of his question with an almost jovial excitement(?).
Homura was now even more confused.