God A Sword (CWMGQ Spin off #64)

It was about half an hour later that I arrived at home, or more accurately right next to my home, standing in front of Lan's house. Gift in hand, I tapped the doorbell and waited for her to answer.

"Coming!" Lan yelled, voice muffled by the door before she opened it. "Oh, Hong, you're back."

"Yeah, it was quite the fight to say the least," I laughed before sticking out the gift bag. "Here, you told me to get you something after all."

"Y-You actually got something?" She put a hand to her mouth, "I thought you'd just forget all about it."

"Hey, I agonized seriously over what to give you."

"I-I see. Well I should probably open it right?" For some reason Lan gulped before taking the bag and opening it. Slowly, she lifted the gift before her face lost all expression.

"Hong."

"Yes?"

Her eye twitched, "What the hell is this?"

"It's a ribbon," I said carefully, "For your hair."

A tense moment of silence passed between us before Lab finally responded again with a sigh, "I'm not sure why I expected anything different. Didn't you say you agonized seriously over this?"

"I did, you know."

"Well it sure doesn't look like it." Her lips twitched upwards, "Thanks for the gift, though… Why is there only one ribbon? Do you want me to switch to ponytails?"

"No no no!" I shook my hands frantically, grabbing my phone and pulling up a picture of Xu Mei. "You see it's like this…"

And as I explained the intricacies of the One Ribbon Two Tails technique I felt Lan's gaze growing colder and colder.

"...Hong." She began as I finally finished, "Get inside."

For some reason a shiver crawled down my spine.


-----

So I told Lan how the fight went.

"Pft, hahahahaha!" Lan was bent over a couch in her living room. I'm pretty sure the entire neighborhood could hear it with how loud she was being. "You- You seriously, hahahaha!"

"It's not funny," I grumbled, "I don't see how this could be funny to you."

"She- She sat down!" Lan exclaimed, "What kind of fight even is that? That was like, less threatening than if you gotten into a street fight."

"Hey, I got hit by a bowling ball."

My blue haired childhood friend looked me in the eyes, visibly struggling not to laugh. I sighed, "...Okay so maybe trying to kick a bowling ball was a bad idea."

Lan broke out into laughter again while I just put my hands in my head.

"Oh, ha, Oh nooo!~" Lan waved her arms exaggeratedly, "Wha- What'll the children think? We can't have Tail Red be so- So-"

"Don't say it." I groaned, "Don't say it-"

"Lame! Hahaha!"

This was a mistake. This was a horrible mistake.

"Seriously Hong? Seriously?!" Lan stood up and put her foot down on the living room table. "'TAIL SLICER!!!' Ha! You can't just- Just give a move a name and call it spell!"

"Well it's not like I can really do much." I sighed, "All I can do as Tail Red is move, swing my sword, and use a bunch of miscellaneous abilities. With Grand Blazer not strong enough I needed to come up with something quick."

"You know what's going to happen now?" She beamed a smile of pure evil at me, "Soon you're going to name all your movements no matter how silly. 'Red Punch', 'Twin Step', 'Cross Storm'! Soon, snrk, you won't sound any different from the customers at your mom's cafe."

I gasped in horror, "No!"

"Don't worry." She patted my shoulder, "I'm sure spending the rest of your life in eighth grade can't be too bad. Your mom did it after all, maybe it's genetic."

"No!" I stood up, "No, I refuse! I can't be anything like them!"

"What was your catchphrase again…?" Lan tilted her head before smirking at me. "Oh right! If you continue down this path, then your existence ends here!"

"No! NO!" I looked up to the blank ceiling hoping that if there was a God out there, it would save me. "NOOOOOOOOO!"

"Ha! G-geez, calm down! I'm kidding!" Lan smiled while I did the sane thing to do and hid my face from the world and hoped I would fade away. "Come on, it's not that bad. Besides, it's not the worst thing you did in that fight."

"If you're talking about the fisticuff brawl-"

"I am."

"If you're talking about that I'm just gonna say I regret nothing."

"Hm~" She tapped my shoulder and slowly I removed my face from my hands and turned towards her, only to get a light flick in the forehead. "I guess I shouldn't really be encouraging you but… Good job. It wasn't the brightest decision but it was a duel and in the end you did stick to your morals. You'd probably be consumed by guilt if you just killed her off right there wouldn't you?"

"Yeah…" I mumbled out before repeating myself louder. "Yeah, I would."

"In a way, you're lucky." She sat down next to me on the couch before sighing, "The enemies I faced as a magical girl… Well, suffice to say those kind of things didn't happen. This might sound kind of rude since you're also putting your life on the line but the battles I fought in were more, well, life or death. I'm kind of jealous of you, really."

"Jealous?" I tilted my head, "Why?"

"I was an active magical girl, but I'm a born and raised martial artist." A small, bitter smile appeared on her face, "And martial arts isn't just about self defense, it's also a sport. Good sportsmanship requires respect from both opponents, that's what makes sparing and competing fun. But the enemies you face as a magical girl… they're just monsters. Literally, demons, nightmares, all kinds of beings who are just pure evil and don't care anything at all about things like respect or sportsmanship. They just want to cause pain and suffering."

I sat silently for a moment as her words echoed in my head.

If I went full time magical girl fighting, I'd have to fight creatures like those as well…

"Of course, I know humans can be the same." Lan continued, "Hell, there are even 'dark magical girls' who you might have to fight. It's just… those kinds of things wear you down. Unlike your fights with those Guildys, you can't go home smiling after it's done. You just have to keep fighting and fighting and fighting until you have no idea why you're fighting anymore beyond some vague notion that it's the right thing to do."

Without hesitating I wrapped my arm around Lan as she stared in the ground, bad memories coming to mind.

"I'm… sorry if I made you remember something painful."

"No it's… it's fine." She placed and hand on my own, "Like I said, I'm jealous. Whenever you describe your encounter with the Guildys it just feels so full of color. I wish all fights a magical girl faces could be like that. Not your awful fighting style of course but, well, something where you can have fun. Maybe if it was like that for everyone then things would've turned out differently…"

I sighed before nodding, "I'm just going to ignore that diss at me you put in there."

"What? Just telling the truth."

"My fighting style isn't awful!" I protested, "Okay so I make some questionable choices… And I'm bad at on the fly thinking… and other things… Okay so maybe my fighting style is awful."

"Hehe." A soft smile appeared on the blue haired girl's face. "You want to spar it out?"

"...Sure. I might be a bit exhausted though." Oh, wait a minute. "Hold still for a moment. And face your head that way."

"Oh… kay?" Lan followed my directions, "I don't see why-"

She paused as in one move I untied her twintails. It hurt me, but I quickly grabbed the ribbon I had gifted her and began to follow the directions Xu Mei had given me. Lan was completely silent as I began my work tying her hair up until her twintails had appeared again, this time with only one ribbon.

"There we go." I smiled as I turned Lan back to face me. "How's that?"

...Huh? For some reason her face was bright red and she wouldn't look me in the eyes.

With a gulp she finally spoke up, "G-get into the dojo you dork."

-----

The meeting room was dark, and the cold air of the AC gave a chill to the room that made the hairs of anybody standing in it go on edge.

It was also clearly a makeshift meeting room, not at all professional looking. Four figures sat down on chairs around a table while a projector connected to a laptop showed a clip of a video on screen.

Next to it stood a certain glasses wearing girl watching the faces of the viewers.

"TAIL SLICER!" The speakers boomed tinnily as a red haired girl cut through a pink rabbit. There was a tense silence in the room as the rabbit on screen split in half before exploding. A click of a mouse and the video was paused.

"As you can see, this is the enemy you are about to face," A familiar Commander declared, sitting behind the laptop. "Tail Red, the Magical Girl who has already vanquished Lizard, Chameleo, and Rabbit Guildy."

"Tail Red, huh?" Replied one of the members sitting down, a smirk on his face. "Well well well, this is… most interesting, commander. Just how did this girl get involved with us?"

"I debate that myself." Drag Guildy shrugged, "Be it by Chance or Fate, our paths have crossed. All we can do now is fight."

"Sounds like a pain if you ask me." Another member on the table grumbled, "Just leave her be, she'll probably just join The War and we won't have to deal with her ever again."

"Why, I'm afraid we all know that isn't an option Mr. Fox." The member from earlier replied, shifting to look at his companion. "Why, I know it all too well. Give a person a taste of something… and they'll pursue it till the ends of the earth. Besides, we all know how the higher ups get at a human sniffing into our business."

"You mean your girlfriend?"

A loud slam echoed throughout the room as the first speaker stood up to glare at the other, hissing out his words. "We are not dating."

"Sure, whatever you say Swan."

"Enough, both of you." Drag sighed, "We don't have time for this. Grasper, can you continue the presentation?"

"Yeah." The idol clicked a button before an image of Tail Red and a bunch of numbers appeared on the screen. Dark Grasper adjusted her glasses before continuing, "These are Tail Red's stats at the time of the last duel. Her weapon, the Blazer Blade, attacks with 160 damage and her body has a natural resilience of 105. I couldn't get a read on what her magic modifier was, but it's probably her lowest stat as I couldn't see any major difference in forces between her strikes. Likewise, her spell Grand Blazer, does 100 damage, and she can even activate Brake Release."

"She also has another spell as well, Aura Pillar," Drag explained, shoulders tense. "It's a binding pillar, though it doesn't seem to do any damage."

"Kukuku!" One of the members on the table who had remained silent up to this point laughed, "She doesn't seem that tough. Why, one swipe from my Annihilating Pincers should do the trick."

"Ha! You're a fool Crab Guildy." Dark Grasper smiled mockingly at the member, "What you're up against isn't a regular human or a Guildy, but a Magical Girl. The stats on this board may in fact be out of date at this very moment."

"Why are you proud of that?" Fox muttered only to shut up when the tiny girl glared at him.

"Nevertheless, now that you know who you are facing, it is time to decide who shall duel Tail Red next." Drag Guildy declared, "If you decide to volunteer, then you are a brave man. But know that the following days may be your last."

The members all of the table all stared at each other. They looked each other in the eyes, glanced at the image of Tail Red on the screen, before looking at each other again. For several long, drawn out seconds they stared at each other. Then, they began the most ancient ritual of deciding something.

"Not it."

"Not it."

"Not it."

"No-" The final member of the table who had yet to say a word began, only to realize he was too late. "Fuck."

"Good for you." Drag Guildy gave the poor guy a thumbs up, "Rabbit already lost, but sl-"

"Commander, with all due respect," The chosen warrior cut in, "if you finish that sentence I'm going to strangle you."

"Tell me when you decide a date and time." Grasper wiped her hands, walking up to the projector before turning it off and unplugging the laptop from it. "And for the love of God, don't do it in a place where it's easily spottable. There's no way I'm spending all day in the sun trying to figure out how to drive people away from the roof again."

"Fine, fine," he sighed, "Wish me luck I guess…"

"Always knew you had it in you."

"The blessing of the thunder gods is upon you!"

"Try not to make us look bad."

"Fuck off Swan."

-----

It was an hour later that Drag Guildy walked out of a room, item in hand.

"So." A voice began. The commander turned back and came to face to face with Dark Grasper, dressed in her usual track suit and glasses as she leaned against the wall. "Care to tell me what's actually going on?"

"Oh?" The commander didn't even blink, "What do you mean by that?"

"Don't play dumb Drag." Grasper glared, "I'm asking why you keep sending Guildies to their deaths."

"Ah, that." Drag sighed melancholically, "Figured you'd be asking about that."

"You ordered an issue of silence on this unit as well," The smaller girl said, adjusting her glasses. "The higher ups are starting to look this way, especially since you asked for my presence here as well… You don't actually want to defeat Tail Red do you?"

"What makes you think that?" the commander asked, "For all you know I have a pla-"

"Frankly I don't think you're smart enough to come up with a plan that requires the deaths of the unit. You're too much of a battle maniac." The black haired girl sighed, "If you really wanted to get rid of Tail Red you would've gotten the Vallah unit to do it for you."

"...Those guys are all under her sway. We both know it won't be death Tail Red faces if she finds out." A shudder crawled up both of their spines, "No, that time is… much too soon."

There was a silent pause before Dark Grasper's eyes went wide. "You aren't looking to defeat her. You're protecting her, training her! Drag what the hell?!"

"Is that what your glasses see?" The commander made a 'tch' sound, "Figures. Though I suppose in a way I'm protecting all of us."

"By sending Guildys to their deaths?!" Grasper stormed up to the warrior, "How is this protecting us?!"

"Do you know what would happen if we were to leave Tail Red alone?" Drag chuckled bitterly, "Those two leaders of ours would drag all of us Guildys into their crusade against her. The peace we have now will be broken, and all of us will die."

Grapser stared at the commander mouth slightly open before the words came to her. "...Why? What makes Tail Red so special?"

"When Tail Red appeared- No, whenever twintails like those appear, it's always a sign of change. We can't stay still any longer Gasper." Drag looked the girl in the eye, "Our only choice is to ride the wind or crash and burn."

"I… still don't get it."

The commander sighed, "Sorry, but if I told you I'd have to execute you. His orders."

"I-I see…" The black haired girl looked at the door to the room Drag just walked out of, "What were you doing in Rabbit's room anyways?"

"Oh you know, just grabbing something." Dag looked at the item before tossing it towards Grasper.

"A… Voice recorder?" She mumbled before looking at Drag, "What is this, the 90s?"

"Hey I bought them in bulk for only a couple bucks." The commander shrugged, "You'll see what's on it. I have to go check in on something, later?"

"...Yeah, later."

And with that Drag walked out of the hallway leaving Grasper all by herself. Hesitantly, she pushed the play button only to hear a familiar voice.

"Hello? Is this thing working? Fucking hell Drag I'm not old enough to know how these things work…" Rabbit Guildy grumbled, "So if anyone is listening to this, it's currently the day before my supposed 'duel'. I have no idea what's going on honestly but since the commander said to do it I guess I'll listen. I was also told to make one of these 'Last Message' type things but really, what's the likelihood that I'd actually die? Oh but if this is like one of those will things I can request anything I want right? Punch Swan in the face! And give Crab a boot to the head! Really I'd do that myself but Drag would always look at me like that and… Oh wait Drag is probably going to be listening to this as well. Shit. Sorry Commander. Anyways, I guess what I'd really want is… for nobody to go in and touch any of my boot collection. In fact, seal my room in general. Preserve that shit until it can survive the heat death of the universe. I probably won't be lucky enough to even get a grave so I suppose that'll be mine. Shows what kind of Rabbit I am huh? Ah well, consider this my footprint on the world. Mph, this audio recording is almost a minute so… Fuck it! I'm done! Make sure you follow my instructions or I'll rise from the grave to kick your ass so hard you'll be as red as a goddamn tomato! Later losers!"

The teenage girl known as Dark Grasper looked at the voice recorder before turning to the closed room.

"Sure, I will Rabbit."

-----

Sunday morning came around and for the first time in the last week I was completely free again. Dark Grasper had yet to get in contact with me and I didn't have any plans….

Well, I should probably decide to do something.

You have (4) actions.

[] Social
-[] Hang out with Lan
-[] Hang out with Twirl
-[] Hang out with your Mom (Loser)
-[] Get in contact with and hang out with Dark Grasper
[] Martial
-[] Have Lan kick your ass in Magical Girl Boot Camp
-[] Go beat up the Twirl Bots
-[] Who cares about your magical girl form, it's time to W O R K I T until your base form has those glistening abs.
-[] Come up with alternatives to Grand Blazer and train the spells you have (No, it's not ridiculous shut up)
[] Information
-[] Waste time crawling through shitposts Read threads on ToHO
-[] Man the cafe and keep an ear out on what the customers have to say
[] Time-Wasters
-[] Waste time watching TV instead of being productive
-[] Spend a chunk of the day admiring your twintails and hope no one finds out
-[] An active social life? An exciting world full of magic and wonder? Motherfucker you're in highschool. Get back to work studying and doing homework.

+12 EXP "MEANWHILE, in the Fortress of Doom…"
+3 EXP Gift Given! [Lan Affection Level increases by 1!]

Current EXP: 31