No Such Thing (Madoka Kaname)

No Such Thing (Madoka Kaname)
Date of Cutscene:	08 April 2024
Location:	Hope Witch's Labyrinth
Synopsis:	Madoka and Gretchen have a heart to heart talk after getting into a slap fight with Sunbreaker.
Cast of Characters:	Madoka Kaname

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Hope Witch floated in the air of an abandoned plushie store, slowly tumbling. She could hear the squeaky voices of her various Chara nearby off in the distance as they chased each other and laughed. The floor and walls twisted in unnatural ways that started to make a strange kind of sense to her, stretching far into an infinite darkness. As she held onto her knees, Madoka realized that had forgotten which way was up.

Well, she supposed, it didn't really matter. This was her world. Her Labyrinth. In theory, gravity pointed wherever she wanted it to. In practice, the more she tried to control them the weaker her powers became.

Gretchen, naturally, wasn't one of the dream fairies currently running around. The Witch Chara was merged with her. Madoka could still sometimes hear Gretchen's voice in the back of her mind, whenever she wasn't getting the silent treatment.

"How can there be such a thing as... being too nice? Too kind? That doesn't even make sense to me."

Dummy! Niceness and kindness are totally different things. You don't have to be polite in order to be kind.

"Maybe, but... if all else is equal, shouldn't I be? Isn't that part of what it means to be a good person?"

Maybe. Sometimes it's better not to be rude, but you don't really owe Kyubey even a single pleasantry. Can you honestly say that you were being nice when you slapped Hinoiri? It was justified, but it's not exactly polite. What are you gonna do when decorum gets in the way of making things right?

Hope Witch had to consider that. It's true that in the moment, making sure that Yoru and Gretchen got away safely was far more important than being nice to Literally Sunbreaker, but... "... When she heard about it, Momma laughed at me."

Dummy! That's not what happened!

A ghostly image of Junko Kaname appeared before her. A Familiar made vaguely in the shape of Madoka Kaname's mother. It had the Exactly Correct amount of eyes. Madoka counted them several times to be sure. It was hard because they were always in the wrong spot and they wouldn't stay still. The recent memory she held in her mind was acted out by the Familiar before her.

The Junko doppelganger asked, "So, you wanna tell me what happened?"

Madoka heard the echo of her own voice. "You know the girl who slapped me a while ago? ... I hit her back."

Familiar-Junko looked surprised, and then laughed. "You did what? My little girl did what now?!"

Hope Witch felt her cheeks flush red with embarrassment, only for Gretchen to admonish her.

She wasn't laughing because she thought you were dumb. She was surprised. She was also proud. You stood up for yourself and didn't let someone walk all over you.

"But..." Hope Witch argued, "... she told me not to do it again."

Fake-Junko repeated the words that Madoka's mother had said not too long ago. "I don't want you forming a habit of getting into fights. Occasional self defense is okay, but if this becomes a pattern I'll need to take it up with the school."

Obviously she had to say that. Getting into fights is a big deal, and it only gets more so the more you grow older. Even so, do you really think your mother got to where she is in life without ever pushing back? Without letting her voice be heard? She might not get into slap fights outside the arcade, but you can be sure that she stands up for herself.

Hope Witch hugged her knees a little bit tighter. She still wasn't sure.

Look, being polite and cooperative can work for a child, but an adult can't afford to always be submissive. This isn't something that you should feel bad about. You're not falling from grace. You're just growing up.

Just growing up? A strange thought. Of all the experiences that Madoka had from all of the memories she shared with alternate timelines, reaching adulthood was not among them. She had always been a teenager, stuck at the threshold of a door that refused to open.

"You said before that me trying too hard to be perfect was what kept us at odds. Is this what you meant by that?" Hope asked.

Sorta, yeah! You keep yourself all wrapped up because you're worried about taking up too much space. You don't want to embrace your destiny because you don't want to have more than anyone else. This is self-crippling thinking. Do you think your mother would turn down a real chance to advance her career?

"But... this isn't just advancing my career..." quietly protested Hope Witch. "I'd stop being normal. I'd stop being human. If I stop being nice, if I'm not perfect, then what kind of goddess would I become? I don't want to be yet another overpowered jerk forcing her will onto everyone else."

That's the difference between niceness and kindness. You don't have to be meek and small in order to help people. In fact, you'll need significant power if you want to really solve people's problems!

The power to help people. There's a lot that Madoka would do with that power. Save Sayaka and Homura from their fates, for one. Maybe even all Puella Magi, or all Witches...

Gretchen had gone silent. So too did Madoka, she realized. Her mind started to wander. Her memory of past conversations echoed through the abandoned toystore once again.

"Momma, what would you do if someone offered you a position you weren't sure you were qualified for?"

"That depends," responded Familiar-Junko. "Why don't I think I'm qualified?"

"Maybe it's not something you've ever trained for, and you aren't even sure where to begin."

"Well, that'd be rough, but nothing teaches like experience! If no one else knows how to do the job, then no one else is more qualified than you."