Stranded in the Light (CMGQ again)

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"while I appreciate the point you're making Rejova, perhaps we should actually get to that bolthole before we go around table explaining what our missions were. We are still very much out in the open in hostile territory, however," she turns to Mary, "The simple answer is that none of us had the same job, and none of us knew what you needed until it was too late. We will get you what you need, but we're going t need an actual unified plan."
 
"It is decided then," Meihua says, tone making it clear that it has always been decided and it just took you this long to figure it out. "Martial Sister, if you would maintain order here, this august self shall go and acquire transportation."
 
"...can we stop on the way to get my ice cream?" Sandra asked, pouting at Meihua in what she thought was an adorable fashion. "I have so many flavours..."

A moment later her pout transformed into frown, and she tapped her lips with an air of concern. "...also, what medical stuff do you have? If it's not enough we might need to stop off to get mine, so we're ready if I rip my eye out again..."
 
NSMS said:
"...also, what medical stuff do you have? If it's not enough we might need to stop off to get mine, so we're ready if I rip my eye out again..."
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Sarah stops dead. "Well, we do have basic first aid but...nothing tgat specialized. Is this...likely to happen?"
 
kinigget said:
Sarah stops dead. "Well, we do have basic first aid but...nothing tgat specialized. Is this...likely to happen?"
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"The ticks never stop. The tick, the tock..." Sandra said, her eyes going distant as she reached one hand up to her temple. "If it gets too much, too loud..."

A twisted smile crossed Sandra's face, and she giggled. "Tick, tick, tock, tock, the broken, the shattered, the clock..."
 
Some minutes later, Meihua returns, this time behind the wheel of a vehicle. Pulling up alongside the group in an old minivan of the ugly grey-brown color that infested every urban center's roadways, she rolls down the window.
"Get in. This thing only has half a tank of gas, and the journey is a long one."
 
NSMS said:
"The ticks never stop. The tick, the tock..." Sandra said, her eyes going distant as she reached one hand up to her temple. "If it gets too much, too loud..."

A twisted smile crossed Sandra's face, and she giggled. "Tick, tick, tock, tock, the broken, the shattered, the clock..."
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"I...see. I think we can add 'figure out how to make the ticking stop' to the list of long-term goals."

LostDeviljho said:
Some minutes later, Meihua returns, this time behind the wheel of a vehicle. Pulling up alongside the group in an old minivan of the ugly grey-brown color that infested every urban center's roadways, she rolls down the window.
"Get in. This thing only has half a tank of gas, and the journey is a long one."
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"I call shotgun!"
 
kinigget said:
"I...see. I think we can add 'figure out how to make the ticking stop' to the list of long-term goals."
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"That's why I betrayed everyone..." Sandra said wistfully, still staring off into space, before abruptly shaking her head and seeming to snap out of whatever near-trance she'd been falling into. Throwing her arms around Sarah, she spent several seconds rubbing her cheek against the other girl's as she cuddled her.

"Best new friend." Sandra murmured, her heart warming as she released Sarah and smiled happily at her, glad to have such a caring new friend.
LostDeviljho said:
Some minutes later, Meihua returns, this time behind the wheel of a vehicle. Pulling up alongside the group in an old minivan of the ugly grey-brown color that infested every urban center's roadways, she rolls down the window.
"Get in. This thing only has half a tank of gas, and the journey is a long one."
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"Oooh, pretty van!" Sandra said, jumping up and down on the spot and clapping her hands, obviously completely sincere in her praise.
 
Rumia hopped into the seat next to Kenna's, mentally checking 'riding a friend's car over to their place' off her high school bucket list.

'You had to celebrate the small victories', her mom always said.
 
" Martial Sister," Meihua spoke up before Sarah could make her way to the (occupied) shotgun position, "if you would be so kind as to toss the Initiate in the trunk or something before you embark, it would be appreciated. Much as this august self would shed no tear should she be left behind in her dawdling, it would be strategically unsound to abandon the help in a random taco bell parking lot."
 
LostDeviljho said:
" Martial Sister," Meihua spoke up before Sarah could make her way to the (occupied) shotgun position, "if you would be so kind as to toss the Initiate in the trunk or something before you embark, it would be appreciated. Much as this august self would shed no tear should she be left behind in her dawdling, it would be strategically unsound to abandon the help in a random taco bell parking lot."
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Sarah answered a sloppy salute, A quick check around reveals that only Clock isn't in the van yet, and she hesitates just a moment. That one definitely had issues, and she'd seen less mentally unstable girls completely collapse to the rigors of this war. Real;ly, it was a good thing they had Rain around, a strong leader meant their chances of surviving this were much higher! Shaking out of her thoughts, she bodily picks up the other girl and hauls her into the vehicle. "you know, it's probably a good thing this van isn't white, or this would look really suspicious."
 
kinigget said:
Sarah answered a sloppy salute, A quick check around reveals that only Clock isn't in the van yet, and she hesitates just a moment. That one definitely had issues, and she'd seen less mentally unstable girls completely collapse to the rigors of this war. Real;ly, it was a good thing they had Rain around, a strong leader meant their chances of surviving this were much higher! Shaking out of her thoughts, she bodily picks up the other girl and hauls her into the vehicle. "you know, it's probably a good thing this van isn't white, or this would look really suspicious."
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"Such was the intent of its choosing. Now buckle your seatbelts."

Meihua allowed a moment for the attentive passengers of the van to comply, before peeling out of the parking lot and merging smoothly into traffic.

===

Two hours and the unbridled suffering of a road trip with Shattered Clock later, the van pulled to a stop outside a dilapidated car wash.

"Everyone out," Meihua ordered, putting action to word as she vacated the driver's seat. "Martial Sister, you remember the password for vehicle disposal, yes? Good. This self shall guide the rest to the Sanctum, rejoin us at your leisure."

Casting a glance to ensure Torcher was following, she then swept off with the air of one who didn't care what the rest did with themselves.

A few blocks down, an old hotel sat on the street corner, sign sullenly declaring no vacancy. Marching around the building, Meihua headed straight for the utility building behind it. A quick string of numbers in the surprisingly high quality number pad lock, and the door was opened to reveal... A stocked utility building. Another door with an identical lock sat further in, and this lead to a set of stairs leading down into the darkness.

"Come along, the Sanctum awaits," Meihua said as she descended into the shadows.
 
LostDeviljho said:
Two hours and the unbridled suffering of a road trip with Shattered Clock later, the van pulled to a stop outside a dilapidated car wash.

"Everyone out," Meihua ordered, putting action to word as she vacated the driver's seat. "Martial Sister, you remember the password for vehicle disposal, yes? Good. This self shall guide the rest to the Sanctum, rejoin us at your leisure."

Casting a glance to ensure Torcher was following, she then swept off with the air of one who didn't care what the rest did with themselves.

A few blocks down, an old hotel sat on the street corner, sign sullenly declaring no vacancy. Marching around the building, Meihua headed straight for the utility building behind it. A quick string of numbers in the surprisingly high quality number pad lock, and the door was opened to reveal... A stocked utility building. Another door with an identical lock sat further in, and this lead to a set of stairs leading down into the darkness.

"Come along, the Sanctum awaits," Meihua said as she descended into the shadows.
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Mary climbs out of the van and looks around nervously before following Meihua, sticking closer to the self-appointed leader than is probably wise.

"Y-you live in a basement?" She asks aloud, following Meihua down at a slightly further distance.
 
Cmd. Frost said:
Mary climbs out of the van and looks around nervously before following Meihua, sticking closer to the self-appointed leader than is probably wise.

"Y-you live in a basement?" She asks aloud, following Meihua down at a slightly further distance.
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"The sanctum of the falling star sect is a place of respite, fallback rather than default abode," Meihua responds, voice echoing up from the darkness. "Additionally, this is no mere 'basement'."

The lights flick on, allowing those who have descended the stairs view of a surprisingly spacious room of polished concrete. Three doors line each side of the rectangular space, while the far end sports a small kitchenette. A cluster of chairs and a small sofa ring a low coffee-table in the center, the entire place seeming far more cozy than fluorescent lighting and bare concrete has any right.

"Practice room, Bathroom, Pantry," Meihua said, gesturing to the doors on the right, before turning to the left. "Bedroom, Bedroom, Store-room. There are spare bedrolls in the store-room, and you may divvy sleeping arrangements among yourselves as you prefer, save this." She rapped the door of the first bedroom with her knuckles. "This is the domain of this August Self and Martial Sister. Intrude at your peril."

She then swept through the door, shutting it firmly behind her and leaving the group to sort themselves on their own.

Unseen, she flops face first onto the single twin mattress in the room with all the grace of a sack of flour, and lets out a noise somewhere between a sigh and a groan groan. 'Ugh, social interaction is exhausting. Why couldn't this just be a normal mission, why do I have to talk to people, fuck.'
 
LostDeviljho said:
Two hours and the unbridled suffering of a road trip with Shattered Clock later, the van pulled to a stop outside a dilapidated car wash.
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Despite what might have been expected, Sandra proved to be a surprisingly easy travel companion due to one single factor: her falling asleep almost the moment the van set into motion. True, the drool was something of a hazard for those next to her, but by and large she was an uncomplicated, cooperative passanger.

Once they arrived at the destination Sandra showed no signs of noticing it, however, instead continuing to sleep in the van.
 
"Woah." Kenna said dumbly as she entered the common room, inspecting the amenities. "This is way better than what I got."

With the way they'd thrown a duffel bag at her, given vague orders, and dumped her back on Earth, Kenna was fairly sure her time here was a last-second thing. Maybe her boss got news that a superior was visiting and he shoved her off to avoid his trophy MG getting poached.

Flopping down onto the couch, she pulled out her phone to continue her dailies when a thought occurred to her. "Uh," She looked over to Temple and waved the phone vaguely at her, "Should I turn this off? There's some kind of signal tracking stuff on cop shows, I dunno if that's actually a thing or not."
 
Rumia awoke to the gentle braking of the van. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, more than a bit surprised that the martial arts nut knew how to drive a car well, Rumia completely missed any of the explanation of the 'sanctum'. Like, wasn't Autumn Rain the kind of person who trained under a waterfall all day or something?

She settled onto the couch, still pretty dazed. Life came at you too fast, that was the problem with being a magical girl. No matter how much you wanted to retire, the life came after you, apparently. What'd she used to use as a catchphrase again? 'Drown in the Eternal Darkness'? God that sounded so cringe. Did she have to start practicing that line again?

Familiar said:
Flopping down onto the couch, she pulled out her phone to continue her dailies when a thought occurred to her. "Uh," She looked over to Temple and waved the phone vaguely at her, "Should I turn this off? There's some kind of signal tracking stuff on cop shows, I dunno if that's actually a thing or not."
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"There shouldn't be anything to track, unless you have a phone plan with 'Certified Dark Lord' as your name or something. Automatic Identity Protection should cover us from most things," Rumia answered. She pulled out her own phone. Two and a half bars. Did she even the data to do any dailies? Also, would Mom notice her phone plan usage? Actually, did Mom know anything? Rumia hadn't told her anything. Thinking about it more, Rumia's phone was probably the only one the police probably could track. The only one where somebody might know both of her identities, and be able to track both. The brightness of her smartphone was like flashing headlights.

She thumbed over her messenger, too tired to play any gacha. Her last text message to her mom was a week ago. 'I got the trash'. If Rumia called for help, she died like Gloaming Kiss. Kenna killed her. Or she killed Kenna. She heard the trilling of some sound effect from Kenna's phone. Rumia's stomach twisted.

She pulled the SIM and battery from her phone, and tossed the scrapped electronics in the trash.

Rumia's classmates often joked about how sleepovers were when they awakened. Her own awakening was something she'd actually known for a long time, and yet was never willing to admit for some reason: Rumia was a bad girl.
 
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LostDeviljho said:
She then swept through the door, shutting it firmly behind her and leaving the group to sort themselves on their own.
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"...so! yes! other than aforementioned 'forbidden domain', you have the run of the place. But before we all take a well deserved nap, does anyone have any questions?"

Familiar said:
Flopping down onto the couch, she pulled out her phone to continue her dailies when a thought occurred to her. "Uh," She looked over to Temple and waved the phone vaguely at her, "Should I turn this off? There's some kind of signal tracking stuff on cop shows, I dunno if that's actually a thing or not."
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"...uh"

Tarro said:
"There shouldn't be anything to track, unless you have a phone plan with 'Certified Dark Lord' as your name or something. Automatic Identity Protection should cover us from most things,"
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"thank you! Yes, honestly so long as you aren't doing or saying anything directly incriminating on a personal account, there shouldn't even be any reason for anyone to be tracking phones just yet." So she had been told and so she was very much hoping was true here. How was she supposed to live without her fanfiction! "Now" She turns to the others "did anyone else have questions? This is probably the best time and place to hash out our plans and figure out what we're gonna do and...hey has anyone seen Clock?"
 
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After a couple hours, Sandra was extricated from the car, Meihua had recovered some of her equilibrium, and Temple had finally wrangled the group into one room for their meeting.
 
Refreshed and recovered from her sleep during the van ride, Sandra greeted the other magical girls with a cheery smile as she sat down. And seeing as she was in such a good mood, she decided to take the initiative and start the meeting herself by addressing the most important and pressing issue at hand.

"So!" She said, clearing her throat noisily, "Let's get this meeting started! And for the first item on the agenda... we need more ice cream, seriously, this place has nowhere NEAR enough in stock, we are going to STARVE."
 
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