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[negotiators]

[He was beginning to wonder if this was a prank of Kaname Madoka's.]

[But it was an unlikely possibility to begin with. Madoka had saved him; Madoka, therefore, probably did not hold grudge or hatred towards him, and such emotion would obviously not manifest itself in the form of sending Kyuubey to such an absolutely ridiculous universe anyway. Pokemon? Stuck until the 'Entralink' was fixed? It would have been easier to believe if the old man had simply said "you're here because you deserve to rot in hell for betraying and deceiving us" - not that Kyuubey agreed - but this was no hell, at least according to the human definition of hell. This was more like limbo. Was he supposed to redeem himself now? Adjust to human living? Impossible. Preposterous, even, particularly in an environment where he was supposed to adhere to rules he had not encountered previously. And the lifeform he was given - was he supposed to be responsible for it? Care for it? There was no apparent purpose for doing so; better to return it whence it came. The situation was expecting too much of him. He had never attempted to grant a wish that was impossible without the power to make the impossible possible - but that seemed to be what the world was demanding of him. But more importantly, Kyuubey had been forgiven; Kyuubey had been saved.]

[So the only conclusion to be made was that this was not Madoka's work.]

[Which meant that this world operated on a different set of rules entirely, and the most logical course of action would have been to explore those rules... but in the midst of that thinking, he stumbled into his own dream.]

[A barren landscape if anything. Obviously. Incubators did not dream to begin with. It simply paralleled one he had been in countless times before. He was lying face-up on the wreckage of a fallen building, arms outstretched, staring at the apocalyptic sky.]

— a pointless change of scenery. This is still the same world, isn't it?

Comments

/SCREAMS

[trainerhomu]

Homura stirred from the depths of a slumber she didn't recall falling into. Another dream, was this one finally her own?

But before she could answer that, she noticed one other person with her. Strangely familiar yet she couldn't quite determine who it was.

Until she saw what was around her. That cursed end result she had seen over and over again. She understood only three people could recognize this scenery.

"Kyubey," Homura greeted, more as a statement, not of surprise or of any real emotion, but simply just that. "I didn't realize Incubators were prone to dreaming."

She looked him up and down. "That's a new one. How quaint," the puella magi remarked, putting on a wry smile.

/ALSO SCREAMS

[negotiators]

"Akemi Homura."

He closed his eyes. He felt nothing, save for the faint trace of having experienced the unexpected; he wondered blearily whether or not it was her that had pulled him into this new world. But he discarded that thought after only a few moments of mulling it over - Akemi Homura did not possess that sort of power, even if her wish had surpassed entropy. She was no God. She did not constitute the rules of a new universe.

"We aren't. Is this a dream, then?" he asked, in neutral tones. "It's the first time I've experienced one. Ordinarily, Incubators don't even sleep." Opening his eyes again, he rolled onto his side, watching her carefully.

"Have I not always assumed this appearance?"

YOUR CANON IS GOING TO MAKE A PAIRING UH-OH

[trainerhomu]

That same voice, trying to be cutesy yet emotionless and serious all the while, it was without a doubt, an Incubator.

"If so I believe your kind is more prone to memory-based ones than anything," Homura supplied, sitting down next to Kyubey's body. "There is also a sort of waking dream that humans have discovered before. Dreams do not necessarily require sleep in that case."

"No, to me you've appeared to be-" Homura started, before her QB decided to plop itself on top of the puella magi's head, as an Eevee. "...non-humanoid."

Interesting! Hello brother! This is simply an astounding event that I am able to meet myself while you meet yourself! QB exclaimed. However it does seem that this world has stripped us of most of our powers. Such a shame.

Homura buried her face in her hands.

WAIT WHAT PAIRING WHAT HAVE I DONE

[negotiators]

Oh.

...oh dear.

To deny that Kyuubey was irregular was impossible now. This was no longer "the faint trace of having experienced the unexpected" - this was outright surprise. He felt... surprised at seeing himself, in a form he was not familiar with, at that.

...very interesting indeed, he replied, trying desperately to keep his rising concern out of his communications. Surely he would not attempt to kill himself, even if he did possess emotion? It is quite a shame, though of course we don't necessarily require contracts to further our goals. I imagine I'll attempt to find a suitable method of gathering energy within the confines of this world as soon as I'm able to properly explore it. No. Better to simply act as he was expected to. It was less risky.

"Is this the form you have seen me take, Akemi Homura?" Abruptly he dropped his use of telepathy. "I confess I am not familiar with it, though I have used one similar in size..."

Homura x Gijinka Kyubey POSSIBLY WITH BDSM delicious hatesex *SHOOTS SELF*

[trainerhomu]

"This is not... this QB's original form either, merely one he acquired upon coming to this world," Homura explained, eyeing Eeveebey as he hopped back and forth from each of her shoulders. "The one you speak of is the one I am used to as well."

I believe Pokemon Battling may be a suitable option. The clashing of these indigenous creatures' wills might produce enough energy to stabilize or overcome the entropy, Eeveebey suggested, cleaning his tail. You must tell me more about the universe you came from! It'd be wise to gather our intel after all.

"Only if you're willing. Though your race are quite bluntly honest about everything," Homura sighed, scanning the scenery. It wouldn't seem like anything strange would appear for the moment.

KJHDFLSAFJD SOMEONE HAS TO SHIELD MOEDOKA'S EYES --

[negotiators]

"'This QB,'" Kyuubey repeated, with something resembling disdain. Such an awkward and clumsy way of referring to the differences between him and the other Incubator. "There is no practical purpose of having two beings share the same name, so to differentiate, you may call me Ninth."

Ninth.

He felt hesitant about using that name again. It had typically been reserved to refer to different Incubators, among Incubators - Third, Tenth, and so on. And Third had shot him. Nevertheless, he did not particularly want to deal with being "that Kyuubey" versus "this Kyuubey" and so on, so it would have to be used. Besides, Akemi Homura was not the threat. Akemi Homura could not kill him.

"Kyuubey" potentially could.

Your world seems to be quite different from mine. As is this one. He fought to keep a pleasant tone. If we refer to the form I am thinking of, I abandoned it because it did not lend itself to communicating equally with all humans. That form was -

More appealing to young females would have been the bluntest truth.

- less flexible, he finished.

NINTH? NOW WE'RE GETTING INTO MIRAI NIKKI TERRITORY. Also Madokami will take pictures.

[trainerhomu]

"Ninth then, very well," Homura mused, wondering if numbers had a social standing in the Incubator race. "If you appeared in that form in my world, perhaps we could've understood each other better." Which one was she talking about now?

I see, manipulating ones appearance is certainly the best way to keep good negotiations for better response in regards to the contract, QB nodded, seeming pleased with this method. I might have to take note of this. Not that you'll remind me, QB spoke to Homura this time.

"So.... you've seen this scenery before, where I've failed so many times, have you?" Homura inquired, more rhetorically. There wasn't a reason why Ninth couldn't have.

LMAO i actually have not watched that, though i should

[negotiators]

"Of course." Kyuubey spoke with mixed authority and indifference. "Your efforts were ultimately useless. Madoka was not the sort of person that needed to be protected. If anything, he was a great leader. An exceptionally talented individual."

That's just what I've observed. He did not bother to communicate his conversation with QB to Homura; there was no point. Then again, humans never react as we plan them to. I really can't understand them.

"But I suppose you brought about a different result eventually," he conceded. "That was the outcome you desired, was it not, Akemi Homura?"

Bad censoring: The Anime. Man I should read the manga 'w'

[trainerhomu]

"...So much that she surpassed space-time interference. Perhaps repeating everything over and over led to that one true hope," Homura sighed. "....So I'm a boy in your universe am I?" Homura gave a small smirk of amusement. "Even my other self is quite desperate."

Emotions are quite irregular among our race after all, Eeveebey responded, cleaning his tail. Maybe we could've understood humans by understanding them first. Though, that's not my problem.

"...It wasn't... the thing I truly wished for, but..." Homura started, glancing to the side as she grasped Madoka's ribbon. "It was truly a favorable outcome."

It was hard to tell if it was starting to rain or that Akemi Homura was weeping.

[ryuusei_subaru]

"A-aah!"

Suddenly, a young boy ends up entering this dream as well, in a most unorthodox fashion. Unless Kyuubey could have seen the alien holding onto him before, it just seems as if he's appearing out of nowhere, seemingly held up by nothing in the air before suddenly being let go and falling onto one of the nearly submerged piles of rubble nearby. He barely manages to hang onto it, before looking up at said alien with a look of irritation.

"Sorry, kiddo, I couldn't hold on much longer at that rate." Could Kyuubey even hear that response?

"It's fine, War-Rock, but a little warning next time?" And now he's actually getting a proper look at his surroundings.

"Eh?! Where are we now?!"

[negotiators]

Kyuubey's first instinct is to bolt forward, push his weight upward, turn his head to get a better view of the situation - in short, to act out of panic. But he's not allowed to do that, not supposed to do that, so by pure self-restraint he closes his eyes and remains in his position. He counts the time in heartbeats. One, two. Two seconds for two presences. Kyuubey's not sure what to make of the first voice, but the one following that is obvious enough. A human boy's, somewhat younger than he particularly cares to deal with.

He decides to answer the question.

"Physically? A destroyed city." He opens his eyes again, watching the dying sun. "Mentally - I'd call it more of a memory than anything."

[ryuusei_subaru]

Subaru makes another noise of surprise at hearing Kyuubey speak. He stands up before pushing his Visualizer back up on his forehead.

"A memory?"

[negotiators]

"Yes, a memory. More specifically, the memories of several people." He neglects to mention the fact that he would technically be one of those people. Pointless to mention it. "Curses prevailed over blessings, and this was the result."

Kyuubey considers the air for a moment, eyes flickering blindly over the area the boy was floating in only moments before. "You have a companion, don't you?" he asks quietly. There's a displacement of energy he can't quite identify, but the fact that he can't see it indicates wave energy - not mechanical, so the second most likely possibility is electromagnetic. A sentient being consisting of charged particles? "Identify yourself."

[ryuusei_subaru]

"I do-you can see him too?!"

He shouldn't be as surprised as he is, now that he thinks about it. First Rocky, then that Astral fellow (what happened to him, anyway), and now this mysterious person can apparently see-or at least sense him-as well.

"The name's War-Rock. Who are you, then?"

[negotiators]

"I can't see your companion, but I know he's there."

A result of his adopting human form. A mistake, in retrospect. Other forms have better advantages, but now Kyuubey's stuck in this one. Still, of all the forms, it's decidedly the most comfortable - and naturally, appearing to be human leads more humans to ask less questions about him.

"War-Rock. I see." Gazing at the strip of land where Subaru and War-Rock are, Kyuubey gets up from his position on the ground and walks to the edge of his own. "You can call me Kyuubey."

[ryuusei_subaru]

"Ah...okay, Kyuubey. I'm Hoshikawa Subaru..."

[And he walks to the edge of his own little mini-island.]

"So maybe this means where we were before was another dream...?"

"How'd we jump from one dream to another?"

[negotiators]

And suddenly, once Kyuubey reaches the edge of the fallen building he found himself lying on - he is on the edge of the other island, somewhere to the left and behind Subaru. There is no sound, nor breeze, nor blur - nothing to suggest natural movement. He simply appears and reappears.

"I'm not the one to ask, Hoshikawa Subaru," he answers. "I've only just arrived in this world. To be quite honest, I have no knowledge of why I am here."

The ocean whirls beneath them, deep and condemning as the pits of damnation themselves. "But I know this place."

OH LOOK ITS YUUMA

[kattobingu_ore]

"Hehhhhh..." What kind of place has he wound up in now..?

He woke up with a jolt after one dream, tried to fall asleep again...

"AAAAAH- No way..! I'm stuck in someone's head again..!!" Because he's never seen anything here, so why would he be dreaming about it..!?

OH SNAP

[negotiators]

Loud.

Unnecessarily so, not that Kyuubey had any right to question the volume to which humans raised or lowered their voices. "Again? You have done this before?"

Somehow he's been slightly more mature than normal lately. :|a

[kattobingu_ore]

"Ah-"

Someone else..!

"Well... I went to sleep a while ago... And wound up in someone's dream I think..." ...Yea that's probably it.

Wait. "Ah- Since I don't recognize you though... Is this your dream..!?"

[negotiators]

"Technically speaking, it's more of a memory than a dream. I do not believe I am capable of dreaming."

Slowly, Kyuubey sat up, rolling his neck and shoulders in a vaguely catlike stretch. "Is this the explanation for this bizarre chain of events, then? That dreams are being made into tangible locations?"

[kattobingu_ore]

"Hnnn... Maybe..?" He has to laugh. "Aha- I wouldn't know..! How long have you even been in Unova..?"

[negotiators]

Only a brief pause.

So Unova is the name of his present location.

"Two hours and thirty-two minutes."

[kattobingu_ore]

"Well if it's only that long, then it's definitely not anything to do with this world..!" So he says with a grin.

"Ah- But then what was happening in yours..??"

[negotiators]

"Nothing." Kyuubey shrugged indifferently.

"The earth was flooded and all of humankind was killed. Nothing was happening at the time."