Sweet Trick
 
By Minako Tomoka and Shyny
 
A Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Blue Exorcist Crossover Roleplay
 
 
  The full moon cast a forboding, eerie glow as Madoka Kaname snuck through the alleyways of Mitaikihara City, slipping in and out of pools of pale moonlight. Aside from that light, the only thing guiding her was the dim pinkish light of her Soul Gem. She was hunting for witches, of course, and while she usually did this dangerous task with Homura Akemi every night, Homura had been feeling ill that evening, so Madoka decided to venture out on her own in her friend`s stead. She figured it was the least she could do after Homura had done so much for her over the years.
 
  After over an hour of venturing through the night, she stopped at the dead end of a nearly pitch-black alleyway. Steam eclisped her small body as she lifted the Soul Gem to her eyes. The soft pink light began to pulsate wildly. This must be it, she thought. She pointed her gem at the wall in front of her, and within seconds, a dark, swirling vortex of purple mist, like smoke, materialized ahead.
 
  It had been a boring few months for Mephisto Pheles. There hadn't been anything near to an apocalyptic scale at the academy for quite some time, and he wasn't in the mood to just wait for something to happen. So, with nothing better to do, he decided tonight was the perfect night to experiment a little. He opened a portal next to the armchair he had been sitting in, and rose to stroll through it. "Hmm, I wonder who I'll come across tonight to play with..." he thought to himself with a smirk. He emerged inside his familiar 'connecting room', waiting to see who would approach from the other end.
 
  As Madoka stared at the insidious vortex, she took a deep sigh and gripped her Soul Gem. Well, it`s now or never, she thought. She raised her gem into the air, allowing it to shine with light as her transformation began. Luminous ribbons of soft radiance swallowed her, materializing into a frilly, puffy bubblegum-pink dress clad with white ruffles and matching ribbons. She ripped her rose bow out of thin air and struck a fighting pose. She breathed deeply and sealed her eyes shut as she leapt into the darkness ahead. What kind of witch would she find here? A massive, threatening witch, like Getrude? Or a small, unsassuming witch like Charlotte? Then again, as a magical girl, she knew appearances were a bad way to judge a witch. Every witch was dangerous, no matter what their size.
 
  A sly grin flashed across Mephisto's face when a pretty young girl entered his chamber. This was going to be fun. "Why hello, my dear!" Mephisto exclaimed, waving his cane around. "And what brings you to my humble little room tonight?" Unbeknownst to the girl before him, Mephisto had already closed the portal behind her, leaving the way back to his office as the only remaining option. He had already spotted the bow she was wielding, and was curious to see if she was able to properly use it. She certainly didn't look like a fighter, with the frilly pink dress she was wearing.
 
  Madoka couldn`t quite believe the scene that was spreading before her. She wasn`t standing in the middle of a barrier, surrounded by a grotesque witch and her angry familiars. Instead, she was in an office, and standing in front of her was a strange man, dressed in a white tailcoat and top hat. His short, wispy hair was a dark purple color, and his green eyes shined with mischief. What stood out the most to her was his pointy, elf-like ears and jutting fangs. Was this a witch? If it was, it was unlike any she had ever seen before. By now, she was used to witches that could only be described as an LSD trip. She drew back her bow and aimed an arrow of pink light at the mysterious stranger. "Who are you?" she asked. "You don`t look like a witch. What is this place?"
 
  Mephisto allowed the portal to disappear as the girl clearly began to show some agitation, much to his delight. "Why, my name is Mephisto Pheles. I'm the prinicpal of True Cross Academy! We're currently standing in my office. May I ask your name?" he said, still smiling with confidence. On closer examination she had to be a school girl, slightly younger than the usual students at the academy. Her hair was as alarming a shade of pink as her dress, and she looked the very image of innocence. "Oh, and you're welcome to discharge your bow if you wish, but I seriously doubt you'll land your mark," he added, pointing his cane toward her. He indicated around her body with a few circular motions. He had put into effect a shrinking spell, which would slowly reduce her to the height of a doll within a few minutes.
 
  Madoka raised an eyebrow. "Mephisto Pheles? I`ve never heard of you. I am Madoka Kaname, and I`m a magical girl. My duty is to hunt evil beings called witches. Do you happen to be a witch?" She then realized how silly that question was, since she had never met a witch capable of human speech before. She continued with, "I don`t plan to use this bow of mine unless I feel threatened.
If you`re not a witch, then why have you taken me here?"
 
  "A witch? Oh no, my dear, I'm not a witch..." Mephisto replied, chuckling, "...I am a demon though." He slowly began to circle around his room, quite enjoying himself, and waving at the curtains to draw themselves up so that he could have his privacy with Madoka. "I have simply called you here to...have some fun. A little game, nothing more. The rules are thus: if you win, I'll send you back home. If I win, you have to stay. I'm deciding the games, of course, but I won't take that pretty little bow off of you if it makes you feel safer." He glanced in her direction to see how she was progressing. She had already lost about a head in height, but the change was still very gradual so she might not notice for a few more moments.
 
  A shiver pulsed down Madoka`s spine. A wave of worry washed over her. "A demon?" she repeated. She wasn`t in a witch`s barrier, and she wasn`t fighting a witch, but she was going up against a demon? How could she do that? Her arm grew tired, so she lowered her bow. Whatever was happening here, she knew she was in deep trouble. She needed to get out. She spun around and raised her Soul Gem, intending to escape with it. But it did absolutely nothing. Her heart thumped. That`s right, she thought. It`s not the barrier of a witch. That means...I`m trapped here. She glared at Mephisto and hissed, "What kind of games are you talking about?!"
 
  Then, she noticed something. Her surroundings appeared taller, as if the entire room had grown bigger. Even the desk in front of her towered above her like a redwood tree. Something was very, very wrong here. Mephisto turned to face her, and she shuddered. Just a few minutes ago, he was only a few feet taller than her. Now, it seemed like the fanged demon was nearly as tall as a building. She didn`t know if he was messing with her mind or what, but something horrible was happening. Either Mephisto and the rest of the room had grown ten times taller than her, or she had shrunk ten times smaller. She clutched her rose bow in shaky hands. "W-what`s going on?!" she stammered. "What have you done to me!?"
 
  Mephisto pulled his cape from his shoulders and draped it over the back of his chair, leaning his cane against it as well. He walked over to Madoka as she became increasingly worried.
"Well, you see, I quite like to toy with my guests. And it does look like my spell worked a treat! You look absolutely adorable..." he said, squatting down to get a closer look at her. "So as you can probably guess, the games I have in mind will revolve around your new size. If you'd be so kind, please climb onto my desk so we can begin. If you can, that is." He was well aware that Madoka was freaking out quite a bit at this change in size, and he could only smile to himself at what he had planned for her next. He simply stood back up after that, and sat himself down at his desk to taunt her at how easy the action was for himself.
 
  Madoka stood slackjawed, swallowed by fear. She stared up at the desk. How could she possibly get up there? She wanted to be defiant and say no, but with how huge Mephisto was, that probably wouldn`t have been a wise idea. She gripped the wood and strained her arms, trying to pull herself up. Every muscle in her tiny body felt like it was being torn apart. She had never really been the athletic type, but she didn`t think even Homura could pull off something like this. She got up about only a few inches, which felt like over ten feet to her, before losing her grip and crashing to the floor. She laid on her back, sucking in rapid, shallow breaths. "I...I can`t do this."
 
  After a few moments, Mephisto turned his head toward Madoka, and rose his eyebrows in a curious manner when he saw how much diffculty she was having. "My my, didn't you call yourself a magical girl? I thought you'd do better than that!" he joked, bending down and picking her up by her waist. He carelessly dropped Madoka onto the desk once he sat back up, putting a finger to his lips in thought. "Let's see, you're at five inches now. If we include that little exercise there as game one...I'll say you have 3 lives. For each 'life' you lose, you get a penalty. So here's the first one!" He pointed toward Madoka and poked her in the chest. In an instant, she lost a further inch in height. "So, are you ready for Game Number 2?"
 
  Madoka clenched up in pure fright. The demon looked more massive than ever now. She lost one game. What would happen if she kept losing? Would Mephisto kill her? Would he keep her as his pet? She didn`t want that. She desperately wished for someone, anyone, to save her from this. Although she shivered uncontrollably, she forced herself to stand. "W-well...what`s the second game?" she sputtered. She tried her best to stay calm and not panic, but it wasn`t working particularly well. If this got any worse, she`d have no choice but to use that bow on him. Though, she wasn`t sure how much of an effect it would have on him now.
 
  "Well, I can't help but notice how cute you look in that little costume, so I thought a game involving candy would be fitting," Mephisto answered, grabbing a small bowl of sweets from the side of his desk. He poured its contents around Madoka. He moved the bowl to the end opposite him, and took his hat off to place next to himself. "All you have to do is get as many of these candies into that bowl over there, while I'll move them into my hat. Whoever has collected the most by the end wins. I'll give you a 10 second headstart, so get started whenever you're ready."
 
  Madoka stood dumbfounded, surrounded by pieces of candy. It was that usual kind you`d find in most kids` trick-or-treat bags. But now, each piece was almost as large as her own body. She felt humilated to be in such a state, but had no choice but to do it, or else Mephisto would shrink her even more, and then do God knows what to her. Although it didn`t seem like it, to Madoka, it was a matter of life and death. She nodded. "F-fine. Challenge accepted." She latched onto a piece of candy, struggling to lift it in her arms. It felt like it weighed 50 pounds. She struggled with the candy, ran over to the other side of the desk, and tossed it into the huge glass bowl. She was tired, but she knew this was no time for rest. She ran back and grabbed another piece of candy, repeating the process over and over again. By the tenth piece, she was exhausted, but there were at least fifty pieces of candy surrounding her, if not more. This was not looking good.
 
  Mephisto watched Madoka's struggles with delight, and when he started picking up the candies he was even generous enough to move them one at a time like the little toy before him was, to give her a sporting chance. As the pile of candies slowly reduced to just a handful, Mephisto sat back and let Madoka claim the final few, since she had already lost by quite some margin. As she picked up the last one, however, Mephisto picked it up between two fingers, and carried that candy (as well as Madoka) over to his hat. "Well, it looks like I win again!" cheered Mephisto, pointing to Madoka once again and shrinking her a further inch. "I must say, you're barely as big as those candies now! I wonder if you'd taste as good as them too..." Mephisto licked his lips as he looked down to Madoka, quite enjoying that idea.
 
  A sudden pang of fear burst in Madoka`s mind, and it wasn`t just because of the nauseating lift-up to Mephisto`s hat. She was even tinier now, about the size of the candies surrounding her. She was in real trouble now. She had to do something before she had no chance to escape at all. She stood up and pointed her bow at the demon. "That`s enough!" she shouted. "I`ve had it with your games!" Without any more hesitation, she fired a barrage of arrows at the monstrous creature. But to her horror, the arrows simply bounced off of his suit with no effect at all. Mephisto didn`t even flinch. Madoka shuddered even harder. She realized that she had probably just made a very bad decision. She didn`t know if she made him angry or what, but this wasn`t going to end well.
 
  So she really did now how to use that bow of hers. A shame that its power clearly decreased just like Madoka had in size. "Well, that was pointless," Mephisto remarked, still smiling. "But if you want to be that way, I guess we can move onto the final game! You have one minute to escape me, by any means necessary. If you're not in my mouth by the end of that minute, you win. And if not...well, I'm sure you can already guess what happens then." Without any delay, Mephisto reached into his hat, fingers outstretched to grab Madoka.
 
  Madoka finally realized it was really hitting the fan now. Mephisto was going to kill her. She let out a squeal and fired a few arrows into his huge, gloved hand, then attempted to climb out of his hat. She dug her fingers into the felt and pulled herself upward, throwing herself out of the hat. Sure, she was on the desk now, but where would she go from here? She was trapped inside Mephisto`s office, with no clear way to escape.
 
  But as the demon`s shadow closed over her, she had no time to think about that. She just had to run. She raced across the desk, her shoes rapidly tapping on the wood. She hated feeling so helpless like this. She wanted to fight back, but her bow was worthless. Her only choice was to keep running- or be eaten alive. She reached the edge of the desk and jumped without a second thought. Wind whipped through her short pink pigtails.
 
  A split-second later, she hit the ground with crushing force. She heard the cracking of bone, and screamed in agony as a sharp, brutal pain cut into her leg, which was now twisted, obviously broken. Even still, she wasn`t going to let that stop her. She hobbled along, dragging her broken leg, frantically searching for a way to escape. Time was running out, and Mephisto was right on her tail.
 
  Well, she could certainly move fast. Before Mephisto could react, Madoka was already out of his hat and sprinting across his desk. He lunged for her, his hand only just missing her and slamming onto bare wood as she jumped off. The sound of her crying out in pain delighted him, but he didn't waste a moment by pushing his chair aside and walking around his desk to find the hobbling little girl by his feet. "Well, this has certainly been fun," Mephisto remarked, quickly lifting a foot up and pinning Madoka to the floor with it, grinding his shoe into her lower body just enough to make walking too difficult for her. He squatted down and picked her up by one of her feet, the leg clearly in a state beyond repair, and dangled her over his open mouth. "Any last words?" he asked with a chuckle, teasingly sticking his tongue out and licking at her face.
 
  Madoka was horrified. Before this, she couldn`t think of anything more frightening than a witch, but now, Mephisto made even the most wicked witches look like cuddly stuffed animals. She was in unholy pain, and Mephisto stepping on her only increased that pain tenfold. His saliva clung to her face like a thick slime. "Please, don`t!" she screeched. "Please don`t eat me!" Despite her words, the demon showed no sign of stopping. This is it, she thought. I`m completely doomed.
 
  "Hmm, no can do, I'm afraid!" he said, laughing as he let Madoka fall into his mouth. He began to toss her fragile form around with his tongue as he walked back over to his desk, picking up a candy and examining it as he savoured Madoka's flavour. "I wonder how the two of them compare..." Mephisto thought with a smirk, opening his mouth just enough to pop a candy inside to go along with the little girl. Grinning, Mephisto leaned back in his chair and savoured the flavours dancing on his tongue for a good minute or so, closing his eyes and enjoying the muffled screams he so liked hearing.
 
  Darkness closed around Madoka like the jaws of a predator as she was dropped into Mephisto`s mouth. She screamed and struggled as she was batted about by his tongue. His saliva soaked her to the bone. She coughed, trying to stand upright, but that wasn`t possible thanks to all the movement. She drew back her bow, preparing to fire some arrows. Then, Mephisto`s tongue smacked her in the side, knocking the bow from her grasp. She gaped in horror as she watched it fall into the endless dark pit of his throat. Madoka slipped and fell to her knees, tears streaking down her face. Suddenly, she felt herself being dragged backward.
 
  Eventually, Mephisto decided he had toyed with Madoka for long enough. With a tilt of the head and a sharp gulp, he swallowed Madoka whole, letting out a contented sigh as he felt her fall into his stomach. "Thank you for such an exciting evening. I hope I come across more magical girls in the future, you seem very entertaining!" he said down to Madoka, patting his belly a little.
The night was coming to an end, so Mephisto popped one last candy into his mouth before making his way to his chambers, not giving a second thought to the girl he had devoured tonight.
 
  Meanwhile, Mephisto`s throat muscles had latched onto Madoka, and she let out a terrified scream as she was swallowed in one gulp. She thrashed about, trying to do something, anything to escape. It was pointless. She was shoved down all the way, until she ended up in a chamber of noxious liquid- Mephisto`s stomach. He really had eaten her. Along with the pink-haired magical girl, the contents of the demon`s past meals mainly consisted of a sickening amount of sweets and candy.
 
  Madoka floundered around, scratching and clawing at the walls of Mephisto`s belly. "No!" she screamed. "Please, let me out of here!" She got no response. He probably couldn`t feel or hear any of it. It wasn`t like he could let her go even if he wanted to anyway. Madoka sobbed endlessly, knowing she was doomed to die here. Even though she was a magical girl, her Soul Gem was right on her ring finger as a silver band. The tiny pink gem grew dark as she fell into despair. Even her Soul Gem couldn`t survive. The pool of stomach acid around her began to rise, stinging her skin like needles. There was no chance of escape now. Madoka then collapsed, drowning beneath the rest of Mephisto`s gastric fluids.
 
 
(End of Sweet Trick)