Once they entered the portal,their surroundings changed drastically.The dark alley was gone,replaced by a dense,dark jungle.Swaths of spider webs hung from the tall trees,which were covered in runes.

"Are we in the barrier?"Manka looked around,her fear returning. Kyubey nodded,"Yes we are,and…"He eyed the portal," another puella magi should be here by now…"

"Kyubey!Sorry to keep ya waiting!"

Another figure appeared from the portal,and waved at Kyubey.He was wearing a light set of blue-black armor,and he held a halberd with his right hand,which was protected with a gauntlet.A blue-green,trianglar gem was set on it.
That must be his soul gem,Manka thought.

"Glad to see you,Delta.Never thought you'll go witch-hunting this far from your land"

"Yeah…we're running out of witches back there.No choice,"he motioned at Manka,"And this is…?"

"Manka,the newest recruit.Care to show her the ropes?"

"Gladly.Nice to meet you,Manka.Just call me Delta,"Hoisting his halberd on his shoulders,Delta briefly shook Manka's hand,"Alright,time for work.Follow me closely,and don't panic!"

Manka nodded,then followed Delta as he made his way through the dense jungle.Distorted,screeching spiders dropped from the webs left and right,trying to claw at the two.Delta gritted his teeth and swung his weapon,cutting down the swarms of spiders.

After what seemed like hours of running through undergrowth,Kyubey called out,"The witch is up ahead,get ready!"

Delta stopped in his tracks and held his halberd tightly.In front of him was an overgrown spider,looking like as if it was made of rusty metal.Manka stared in horror,is that the witch?

"I'll deal with the witch this time,you help me fend off the familars,OK?"Wait what familars?Is he talking about the spiders they saw previously?"But how?"

"Just transform!Hold out your soul gem and let it do the rest!"

Manka held out her gem and closed her eyes,feeling energy wash over her.When the feeling was gone,she opened her eyes and found herself in a different outfit.She was wearing a set of orange robes,and a long hooded cloak fastened in place with her soul gem.In her hand was a staff tipped with an orange crystal.

"Split up!" Delta dashed forward towards the giant spider,while Manka turned at the smaller familars.She whacked the spiders with her staff as quickly as she can,but there were too many of them!"Kyubey!Help!"

"Focus,Manka!You can use magic!"
Manka focused,holding her staff out.Suddenly,a blast of energy shot out from the staff,taking out several spiders at once."I did it!" Feeling pumped,Manka fired more blasts at the swarm,stopping their advance.

Meanwhile,Delta has landed blow after blow on the witch,causing the spider to reel back,severly injured."Now it's time!" Delta started to glow blue-green,then he suddenly phased out,teleporting above the spider.Then he brought his halberd down with incredible speed,right onto the witch's head.The witch gave a loud screech,then fell down dead.

As the witch and her barrier dissipated,Delta picked up a small black object,the only object left behind.He tossed it to Manka,"Here,take this.Touch your soul gem with it."

Manka did so,and saw the black specks in her soul gem dissapear,the gem returning to its usual luster,"What just happened?"

"That's a grief seed,something a defeated witch leaves behind.You purify your soul gem with it."

Manka pocked her soul gem,and Kyubey trotted towards her,"Well done,everyone.Manka,that wasn't too tough,was it?"

"No,that was easy."

And so Manka lived a double life.By day,she stayed with the niisens as before,then she met up with Delta and Kyubey at night to go witch-hunting.
At first she only fought familars,but eventually Manka was good enough to start taking on witches.This is easy,I can handle this,she thought.

Too bad things weren't as easy as it seems…

---------------------------------------------------------------

This witch is definitely the toughest they have fought so far,Manka remarked as she and Delta faced the witch,a hulking behemoth with sharp teeth and sharper claws.They have tried striking countless blows at the beast,but it shrugged them off as if they were mere scratches.

Delta gripped his halberd tightly,"Change of plan,we're exhausting ourselves this way.Let's make this quick." He phased out,reappearing in front of the beast.As the witch lunged at him,he dashed out of the way and struck the witch on the leg.The beast roared in pain,but the halberd strike  barely made a dent.Manka frantically fired blasts at the beast,but it also shrugged the wounds off.

Delta continued to attack the witch,darting all over the place as he tried to dodge the beast's claws and teeth.This was easy at first,but eventually Delta found the move more and more tiring.

Finally,fatigue chose this time to strike.Delta stopped glowing,and he stopped,exhausted,to catch his breath.

Big mistake.

Seeing its opportunity,the witch swiped one huge paw,slamming Delta against the ground.His soul gem,broken from the impact,shattered into pieces.Manka froze.This couldn't be happening…

The witch bit into Delta's ear,than raised it off the ground.

"No...don't...."

The witch swung its head sideways fiercely,shaking the lifeless body like a ragdoll.

"Stop…stop it…"

With one fluid motion,the witch sent the corpse flying,which rebounded off a pillar and flopped onto the ground.The beast then slowly stepped towards Manka…

Manka turned and ran,tears streaming from her eyes,trying to find a way out from the barrier.Must find a way out,out from all of this…fast.

Unfortunately,the beast,despite injured,was still faster.It bowled over Manka,pinning her firmly down.Claws slashed against her,one of them slashing right over her right eye.Manka felt a burning pain erupt from her eye,as if a red-hot poker was pressed on it.The right side of her vision went black;her eye was torn beyond repair.The witch raised its claws,ready to take out the other eye…

"NO!!"

Ignoring the pain and mustering all her strength,Manka shoved her staff straight up,ramming it through the witch's throat.Unable to roar,it could only stagger in pain,then it collapsed,gargling through its torn throat.

The barrier faded out,leaving behind Manka,Kyubey and the witch's grief seed.Still shaken,Manka picked up the seed and purified her soul gem with trembling hands.

"What's wrong?"Kyubey sounds concerned,but his face still had the same small smile.

"Kyubey..."

"Yes?"

"I've had enough.This is far too hard for me.I thought this would be an easy task,yet…"
Manka tried to fight back her tears,which stung her wounds,"Delta died DIED fighting that witch right there,and I would have suffered from the same fate!I was lucky not to die,but my eye…!"

She sighed,"I'm quitting."Kyubey perked up,but said nothing.
"I don't want to be a puella magi anymore.This is far too much for me.I want to be normal,to be back with my family…"

Kyubey finally spoke,"Sorry,Manka…I cannot allow you to do that."

"What?!"

"It's impossible to do so.Once you agree to become a puella magi,there is no turning back."

"You said it's going to be easy work!"

"Now now,you can't blame me for this.My only role is to form the contract and grant your wish,you're the one who chose this path,I'm afraid."

"You--!"

"I've got to go now,there's still more things to prepare.From now on,you'll have to work without another puella magi helping you.Good luck."

Kyubey padded off,leaving Manka seething with rage."He tricked me into this!And now I cannot turn back!",angry thoughts filled her head.
Finally she made up her mind.She will continue to fight witches,to hone her skills.When she is strong enough,she will take her revenge and kill that smiling bastard.

After the last battle,Manka rested for a week or so to get used to life with only one eye.She then returned to her witch-fighting role,acting like she had no grudge against Kyubey.Luckily,the white rat did not notice anything different,except that Manka was fighting much more aggresively,and often actively looked for witches to battle.
Kyubey was pleased,as he thought he finally can see Manka working hard to help him achieve his goals.However,he did not know that Manka had different plans…

Manka used to believe what Kyubey said about saving the universe,but her optimism soon faded out,turning into the weariness of a battle-hardened fighter.To her,witch-hunting has become a routine,merely a way to train her skills and to prevent her soul gem from getting tainted.

Meanwhile,Manka has also uncovered many horrifying details about being a puella magi,details Kyubey never revealed to her.Details such as what a soul gem really was,how witches drove people into suicide,things like that.She figured that Kyubey was deliberately hiding the truth from her,and that he shouldn't be trusted in the first place.

The same experience also took its toll on Manka's emotions.As she has seen far too much despair around her,Manka has slowly become indifferent,almost cold,towards things happening around her.Was she only trying to escape?To ignore?She didn't know,nor did she cared.To her,emotions were only a hinderance,affecting her road to her goal:To kill Kyubey and quit being a puella magi.
Every time she finished off a witch,Kyubey was always there,to congratulate her and to tell her about the next witch's information.Manka longed to kill Kyubey right away,but a part of her held her back from doing so,

"Not yet,"it said,"You're not ready."

--------------------------
Finally,she was ready.

Manka sat on a small ledge near a crumbling city wall,the usual site where she and Kyubey meet at.She was already in her puella magi outfit,and she kept her staff ready as she waited for the target to appear.

"You're quite early today,Manka,"Kyubey trotted up and hopped onto the ledge,"It may not be a good idea to work this hard though.After all,it's almost time for the arrival of Shimed-"

WHAM!

Pointing her staff at Kyubey,Manka fired a large blast of energy at him.He was thrown back against the wall behind him,with a sickening crack as his backbone broke from the hit.Kyubey fell onto the ground,dead.

Manka almost jumped with joy.She finally killed him!

…Or did she?

From the shadows on top of the wall glowed a pair of red,unblinking eyes…a pair of very familar eyes.It then revealed itself as…another Kyubey?!

The new Kyubey jumped down from his perch,and started to eat his own corpse,chewing and swallowing until nothing was left.Manka gasped in horror,"How did…but you were just…!"

"Ah yes,I haven't told you yet," Kyubey calmly gulped down the last bit of his remains,"You see,I cannot be killed.Once you kill me,another Kyubey will simply take my place."

No!This is impossible!Manka sent Kyubey flying again with a burst of magic,yet another Kyubey took its place.She tried again and again,but the bastard kept showing up…

"See what I mean?I have many reserves."

Manka ignored him,continuing to fire more blasts at any Kyubey copies showing up.

"Stop it,Manka.You'll fully corrupt your soul gem if you continue doing that."

That also fell into deaf ears.Panicking,Manka kept up her barriage of attacks.She figured that there's a limited amount of Kyubey copies,and she will mow down every single one of them.
What she didn't notice was her soul gem being tainted by specks of black.

WHAM!

"I told you it won't work,why won't you listen?"

"Shut up!"

WHAM!

What used to be black specks,turned into black splotches…

WHAM!

 "That's enough,Manka."

"I said shut up!"

WHAM!

Black smoke…

WHAM!

A murky,black fog…

WHAM!

"Hey,I think you should check your gem,it's turning b-"

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!

Pitch black.

Manka collapsed,lying face down with her eyes blanked out in grey.Her soul gem hovered above her head and disintergrated,turning into a grief seed.
A great surge of energy exploded from the seed,and out poured numerous runes,all spelling out numbers.No…a murderous mantra.

Trois Sept Cinq Six Quatre…

3 7 5 6 4…

Minna goroshi…

Kill everyone…

Flashes of the newborn witch's barrier appeared,revealing chains,blood,an incinerator,hell's fire,the omnious,mournful sound of a flute…

Finally,more runes poured out,giving the witch her name:

Joubutsu Niisen.

Observing the whole ordeal from a safe distance away,Kyubey gave a genuine smile.

Just as planned.

Let's say Ryougen and his gang finally finishes Joubutsu
up (without the whole respawning thing),and Joubutsu drops her grief seed

Ryougen and the others have no knowledge about witchs,and Kyubey's
not around,so they have no idea what to do with the seed.But they figured
that it could be a Chekov's gun with some use to them in the future,so they
kept it with them for the time being.

Well,it IS a Chekov's gun,but not the kind they wanted.

Thing is,Shimedore has hijacked the seed,using it as a vessel for
gathering and storing energy to help him break the boundary
between the spirit and mortal world.Once enough energy is collected,
Shimedore will make use of the seed to enter the mortal world
and open his barrier there

Manka's transformation into Joubutsu was because of her attempt to escape from her burden,yet now she,as Joubutsu,had to bear a much heavier burden--as the witch goddess/representative of death itself.Ironic hell,I suppose?

Joubutsu was forced to stay in her barrier the darker parts of the spirit world,made to endure the pains and sufferings associated with death.She was also forced to face all this alone,because hey,no one wanted to be friends with Death,amirite?

Naturally,Joubutsu wanted to escape from this role like before,but this time it's even more difficult to do so.She tried breaking the boundaries and get to the mortal world countless of times,yet her powers were insufficient to do so.She even tried killing herself,but she simply got resurrected as her role forced her to become somewhat immortal.

All this was of course frustrating,and it allowed Shimedore to plant a malicious thought in Joubutsu's mind:If you cannot escape from your suffering,then drag everyone else in to suffer with you.Cue the whole burn-down-the-world thing.(alternatively,you can remove the influence of Shimedore and make it a result of Joubutsu's mental breakdown)

In short,IMO Joubutsu is quite a tragic character.Her actions may be far from being acceptable (since when is destroying the world acceptable?) but in the end it all stemmed from her lonliness and suffering.

Remember Far East of East?That limbo
I'm talking about?I'm still keeping it,but for a different purpose.

Here,Far East of East is part of the underworld,a place where
all of the dead have to go through before entering either
the spirit world or to Joubutsu's realm.
Fuushi used to be a headstrong warrior in Shimizu village,and he
died in battle,fighting till his last breath (IDK who he's fighting with,
that'll be up to you)As he was unwilling to part from his previous
memories and regrets,he was not ready to enter the spirit world.
However,he wasn't fated to enter Joubutsu's realm either,so he had
to stay in Far East of East,with a rather important job.

Fuushi's job is to escort the dead across the area,and direct them
to their final resting place.Those who have found inner peace are
sent to the spirit world while others either stay in the area to purge
their mortal bonds,or are sent to Joubutsu's realm to become her familars.
It's a tough job (there are plenty of mavelovant demons in the area,and
sometimes youkai drop in to wreak havoc for the lulz) but Fuushi held on
without complaining.In his spare time he visits Joubutsu (Manka's soul is still
in Joubutsu) and helps her get used to her new role.
In a way,he's the reason why Joubutsu didn't break down completly right
from the start.

This didn't last long though.Byakko wanted to select its next
representative,as the successor of Kachou.This needed someone
in the Byakko bloodline,so in the end Fuushi was selected.He was
taken back to mortal world,reborning in his current form.

Joubutsu was alone again,but that's not the only effect on her.
Fuushi's rebirth proved that it is indeed possible to return to
the mortal world,as long as there's a chance for one to do so.
Thing is,Joubutsu didn't have that chance.And she probably
won't ever have such a chance.

(current situation:Joubutsu's fighting with Ryougen)

Joubutsu suddenly grabbed Ryougen by his cape,throwing him at the wall and pinning him against it.Before Ryougen could react,she has withdrawn a sharp dagger from her robe,holding it in front of his torso where his heart is.Ryougen kept struggling,but her grip was far too strong.He closed his eyes,and waited for the strike.

Meanwhile,the bandages on Joubutsu's face began to unravel,showing her intact right eye.The eye was in the same shade of icy blue (I know it's supposed to be brown,but I have to ignore that here,sorry) but it was different from the other eye.Instead of the usual cold malice,the eye only showed confusion and horror.Once the eye became fully visible,Joubutsu froze.

As it turns out,Manka's soul did not fully disappear into Joubutsu's soul.It was merely trapped in the depths of Joubutsu's soul,sealed there by the witch's bandages.These bandages were damaged during Joubutsu's battle with Ryougen and unraveled,allowing Manka's soul to take over her body temporaily.
Manka's soul remained in the dark about Joubutsu's antics,only by now did she realized what her witch form was planning to do.Manka never wanted to kill anyone,yet here she was,with a dagger poised to strike,about to kill Ryougen and complete the plan to destroy the world.The world was about to end,and her witch form,and in a way she herself,was responsible for that.

Her arm trembled,then fell limp,dropping her dagger which hit the ground with a loud clatter.

Hearing the clatter and noticing that he was still alive and breathing,Ryougen blinked open his eyes.In front of him was Joubutsu,on her knees and in tears.Ryougen wanted to finish her right there and now,but his consience(sp?) stopped him.This was not Joubutsu,at least not the Joubutsu he was fighting a while ago.

Still sobbing,Joubutsu,now Manka,began to speak.

"I'm…I'm sorry.I'm sorry for all of this…I never wanted to commit murder,but now the world is going to be destroyed all because of me…I have become a monster…a complete monster…"

She looked up,looking right into Ryougen's eyes,"Please,if my other form takes over again…destroy her,OK?I don't want to suffer anymore,nor do I want to cause any more suffering…"

"Please?Just…please?"