Titles and names are tied together, but Kei and Yuri haven't grokked that Madoka and Homura know the Slaughterhouse Samurai. Remember: Madoka hides very well as boss of the Marui-gumi and most people that see Homura end up dead.
Oh, I didn't expect our girls to recognize the Boss and her sidekick, but now that I know they've heard of the members (if not the crew), and the members are similarly famous (going by the titles), I'd have expected Yuri to come to the conclusion that it's Slaughterhouse Samurai who knows some newbie megucas rather than the other way around. She's the Big Sis Sayaka, after all, always looking for promising new girls to take under her wing and have a Big Sis moment with them.
Oh, I don't expect our girls to recognize the Boss and her sidekick, but now that I know they've heard of the members (if not the crew), and the members are similarly famous (going by the titles), I'd have expected Yuri to come to the conclusion that it's Slaughterhouse Samurai who knows some newbie megucas. She's the Big Sis Sayaka, after all, always looking for promising new girls to take under her wing and have a Big Sis moment with them.
After Madoka and her gloomy friend left, after you were able to breathe again, you dove into researching Rumors. You spent the rest of that sleepless night studying, hopped up on godly terror and Mito-senpai's Boomer Zero energy drinks.
It was easy to find basic info; the best thing about Maj being young adult women was that they talked about everything online. Between the overfiltered selfies, food pics and emoji laden shitposts, you were able to find anything you needed on Kamihama Rumors.
The thing that made Kamihama Rumors a bigger deal than anywhere else's was Kamihama Rumors had teeth. Sometimes literally; the worst of them birthed pseudo-Witches. The only info you couldn't get was where they came from; you asked Mito-senpai about it when she woke up.
Mito-senpai blamed Magius but Mito-senpai blamed Magius for a lot of things. Like why she couldn't get a boyfriend, or why they stopped making her favorite brand of cigarettes (Cherryboy Riots). You would've expected her to blame Japan's declining birthrate on them, if she hadn't told you she blamed, in her words "limpdicked herbivore manchildren." When you innocently suggested that maybe she couldn't get a boyfriend because she thought like that, she chased you out of Curry du Marche with her bat.
Which is why you're now joining Kei on a run around the block.
Well she's running, you're riding on her back. It's endurance training.
"So Yuririn, what did you find out about our next job?" Kei says through easy huffs. She's been running with you for a good two and a half kilometers and hasn't broken a sweat.
"That Ripper-chan's been hitting girls that had nothing to do with Mizuna Shrine or the Dark Offer." The easy rhythm of Kei's strides help focus your thoughts. "Girls all through Kamihama are saying they've seen her."
"Sounds spooky, dude."
"That's not the half of it. The descriptions they give don't match. East side girls mostly say it's a silver haired girl wielding hellfire, West side girls say it's a kid in rags carving up Maj with a set of seven knives. Sankyo and Chuo girls say it's a shadowy, smiling chick with a big Witch hat who eats people."
"Copycats?" Kei asks.
"Or a crew hiding something, like the location of the Mirror Witch. Apparently the Dark Offer wasn't Mizuna Shrine's first Rumor. It used to be a Summoning Shrine. If you wrote down the name of the person you wanted to see most on an Ema plaque after the sun set, at the stroke of Midnight they'd appear."
"That would be super convenient for Madoka, dude. She could just write her friends' names and get them back." Kei shifts her grip on your thighs to make sure you're secure.
"Yeah, if they aren't copies." you grunt at her forceful touch. "Five hundred yen says that's why Madoka's actually interested in the Shrine."
"You don't trust her, dude?"
"Anyone with that level of pressure isn't a low level Maj. She's hiding something." Like being a Goddess. Your Goddess. "And every Maj has an angle."
"I stab people with mine," Kei says cheerily.
"That's an edge, idiot," you huff.
"You cut with an edge. Connected edges make an angle, Yuririn," Kei says. You can feel how proud she is to remember basic geometry. And to get one over on you.
You go deadweight on her; her knees buckle but she maintains her stride. "So you're one of the smart monkeys, huh?"
"I have to be, dude; my friend's a real smartass." She looks back with a smile that begs for approval.
You look away from her, cascading hair hiding a smile of your own. "Pets don't talk back."
She shrugs you higher and tighter onto her back, you can feel her well defined muscles move as she moves. "Parrots do. And Keis."
"So you accept that you're my pet?"
"I accept you have a funny way of expressing affection, dude. Senpai always thought it was funny, too."
You go silent. Memories of terror and betrayal crawl into your head; you beat them bloody back into the basement of your mind.
Kei is the first to break the silence. "...I heard a rumor about a holy maiden, dude. From some customers. A golden haired goddess of victory, blessed with beauty. They say she offers salvation beyond the Goddess."
"Salvation?" Your upper lip twitches. "Five hundred yen says she's Magius."
"What makes you say that, dude?"
"If Elsie didn't give you that spiel, she's probably not with the Church. If she's not with the Church and she's peddling salvation, she's either a dealer or Magius."
It's Kei's turn to go silent, her sharp breaths and pounding footsteps filling dead air.
You notice there's not a lot of people out today again; it's hot, but not that hot. The few people you see, Mugs from the looks of it, seem to shimmer in the heat. The streets themselves are quiet. Kamihama was supposed to be a big city; the lack of noise was eerie.
"Saviors should do good, Yuririn," Kei says. "They don't have to be good people, but they should do good things."
"And Magical Girls shouldn't turn into Witches," you say, seeing your first Senpai's motherly smile enveloped by darkness. "So it goes."
Kei finishes her run in front of Curry du Marche and lets you off her back. She stretches and wiggles, adjusts her well worn red sneakers and digs her black spats out of her butt. "Any more Rumors, dude?"
"Rumor has it you run commando," you tease. "And you'd run naked if it weren't for indecent exposure laws."
"With boobs as big as mine, dude?" Kei frowns, aggressively shifting her sports bra under her white tank top. "I'd be getting slapped in the chin with each step."
You grimace, flipping hair from your face. "As if we could all be so unfortunate." You lean against a streetlight and toss Kei a bottle of La*Mune soda from your leather jacket. "Think fast."
She snatches it. "This isn't drugged, right?" She eyes you warily.
You put your hands up. "Heh. Try it and see."
She sniffs, shrugs and downs it in one go. "Pwaaah! Nothing like something sweet after a workout, dude."
You check your phone, Madoka and the other one texted you. They're at Curry du Marche, ready when you're ready. "Easy on the sweets. You'll get fat."
"It all goes to my boobs, dude. Any more Rumors?"
"Yeah. There's an import shop that sells Funny Fleur-de-lis, incense which makes you see wraiths and heroic spirits. It's probably a drug front, but a lot of girls claim they see Joan of Arc using the stuff."
Kei whistles. "Neat."
"The other one is if you say you aren't friends with someone and apologize to them for it, a gloomy scary monster girl will drag you to the Other Shore."
Kei nudges your shoulder. "See, Yuririn? That Homu girl's gonna come for you."
You snicker as you walk through Curry du Marche's back door. "I never apologized, idiot. That lizard girl ain't got shit on me."
☆☆☆
[How Do You Check the Ripper?]
[ ] By sneaking into the Shrine after it closes for the night.
[ ] By casing the Shrine during the day, while pretending to be tourists.
[ ] By mingling with the Mizuna Maj and seeing what they know.
[ ] By trying to summon her with the old Summoning Shrine Rumor.
Adhoc vote count started by FourthWall on Mar 2, 2019 at 12:32 AM, finished with 11 posts and 5 votes.
[x] By sneaking into the Shrine after it closes for the night.
*does his best Dennou Coil voice impression* netto no uwasa ni yoru to...
Eh, it's probably just an urban legend.
But this update makes me nostalgic for the series. The mythology potential of the Puella Magi world, where no one knows what is and isn't possible for sure, and every rumor - distorted and embellished as it may be, - could hold a spark of truth in them, is seriously underused. Makes me want to forget about the turf war, and chase after some mysterious anomaly or other. I really wish we'd see more of this aspect...
The thing that made Kamihama Rumors a bigger deal than anywhere else's was Kamihama Rumors had teeth. Sometimes literally; the worst of them birthed psuedo-Witches.
"That's not the half of it. The descriptions they give don't match. East side girls mostly say it's a silver haired girl wielding hellfire, West side girls say it's a kid in rags carving up Maj with a set of seven knives. Sankyo and Chuo girls say it's a shadowy, smiling chick with a big Witch hat who eats people."
On one hand, the Baka Dream. On the other, I am not ready to deal with that all over again... and I'd be very tempted to break her for good, now that we gave her back the semblance of sanity in the alternate continuity. What can I say, I like the 'what ifs'.
Besides, Magius are sacrifices to the Goddess. If we make them double as delicacies, we'd risk overhunting!
"That would be super convenient for Madoka, dude. She could just write her friends' names and get them back." Kei shifts her grip on your thighs to make sure you're secure.
"Yeah, if they aren't copies." you grunt at her forceful touch. "Five hundred yen says that's why Madoka's actually interested in the Shrine."
So Yuri suspects the whole mission is about investigating the Mirror Witch instead, or at least a possible connection of the Witch to the Mizuna Shrine?
[ ] By sneaking into the Shrine after it closes for the night.
[ ] By casing the Shrine during the day, while pretending to be tourists.
[ ] By mingling with the Mizuna Maj and seeing what they know.
[ ] By trying to summon her with the old Summoning Shrine Rumor.
So as far as I am concerned, the first three might lead us to the different "Shrine defenders"/Ripper candidates, but which one pursues which?
The last one looks like it may create a copy of the real one... and probably piss off Tokiwa-gumi somewhat fierce if they ever find out.
I kinda favor these two approaches, but if I had to choose...
[x] By sneaking into the Shrine after it closes for the night.
[ ] By mingling with the Mizuna Maj and seeing what they know.
Kamihama, and Magia Record in general, are about Rumors; you'll be seeing a fair chunk of it with the turf war stuff.
A pseudo-Witch is possible with enough fuckery. Usually they come from letting Grief Seeds rehatch after soaking up Grief, kitbashing and reanimating Familiars/Witchstuff together with Doppelganger tricks, or letting a Familiar grow and kill without letting it kill and eat enough to become a full blown Witch.
Under Majokko Papers rules, the Clara Dolls would be pseudo-Witches. Kazumi would be too, but she's killed enough to be a real one.
I'd be very tempted to break [Kaz] for good, now that we gave her back the semblance of sanity in the alternate continuity. What can I say, I like the 'what ifs'.
Author Voice again: The Dark Offer is the official name for what Yuri talked about in the update before this; drop a Grief Seed in the Mizuna Shrine's offertory box while saying a prayer to the Devil and Ripper-chan will kill the person you hate the most.
Yuri does suspect the Mirror Witch is involved with the Shrine and the previous Rumor, yeah. And a dealer is a drug dealer.
That's great to hear! The bullshit capacity of the setting is immense, and it lends itself perfectly to treasure seeking wars with lots of parties after their preferred McGuffins.
Aww, don't pout, Little One, I just meant we were gonna spoil you with lots of tasty treats. And new friends! You'd love to get new friends to play with, won't you? Your old ones are kinda mean and gloomy. And suicidal.
...on second thought, keep her away from me. It's too compelling.
Aww, don't pout, Little One, I just meant we were gonna spoil you with lots of tasty treats. And new friends! You'd love to get new friends to play with, won't you? Your old ones are kinda mean and gloomy. And suicidal.
...on second thought, keep her away from me. It's too compelling.
Sooo thoughts:
This Squad feels like it's overall MUCH Smarter then Pinky Violence, but then again Pinky would probably mulch them in a fight so fast it'd not even be funny. I bet a maxed raged Saya might even be able to solo the unfortunate trio, but I dunno.
On the flipside, feels like there's more room for growth/slots for more girls to join sooo we shall see.
Define 'smarter'. PV has Cheech with her "woman intuition" superpower, who sees the angles, has a massive dossier on everyone in Mitakihara, and serves as a team strategist. GC has... Mito-senpai who has connections? It might get them a broader range of information, but also a less reliable one, as anything we get is subject to personal biases and inter-team machinations.
What GC are is more wholesome - or at least they appear so. They don't have raging lesbians with a penchant for self-harm, or man-eating witches undergoing simultaneous existential and identity crises, or Clara Dolls trying to put new notches on the good-for-nothing scale whenever they feel pressured. Compared to that nuthouse, Yuririn's quirk and her back-and-forth bickering with Kei are just harmless child play.
It's a very angry pout, since SV uses sans-serif font so I can't use colon I like the Konosuba anime.
And the Crows are definitely less of a screaming horrorshow than PV, but I can see where @Zaealix is coming from on the smarts. Mito-senpai's savvy, studies hard and knows some medical stuff for RE:ject. Yuririn's clever, comes prepared and has to be quick-witted for Liar Liar and show lateral thinking for Queen's Game. Kei, the resident baka, is an IQ Fighter only held back from instinctual reading of a situation rivaling Cheech's angles by her newness as a Maj and low self-image.
Power-wise, Yuri and Aki have funky late JoJo's powers.The resident baka with the simplest power is Swords Cheech. Saya and Kaz hit stuff and Cheech thinks at, then shoots stuff. The only thing close to Yuri or Aki's level of flexibility on PV's side is Monomin using Onee-shama, Crimson Kinesis and her regen in concert.
All the Crows are at least kind of cerebral, whereas Saya is impulsive to a fault and Kaz is...special. It took awhile (and several near death experiences) for Monomin to smarten up, too. Cheech is just so smart she could hard carry those idiots, but she got played by Scurll and the Magius stink easy as Sayacchi.
Liar. Deceiver. Corrupter. Debaser. A fallen angel dyed in the curses of this fallen world. Your dark charisma clouds minds, your silver tongue sways hearts.
...there can only be one answer to the question what ambiance is more fitting for the chuuni of our caliber! *shameless shilling intensifies*
But seriously, we need a tiebreaker. Can one of the lurkers oblige? I could even switch to more of the sweet MizMaj rumors if it didn't create another tie.
So the stage is set, and its only a choice between the night and day. In that case...
...there can only be one answer to the question what ambiance is more fitting to the chuuni of our caliber! *shameless shilling intensifies*
But seriously, we need a tiebreaker. Can one of the lurkers oblige? I could even switch to more of the sweet MizMaj rumors if it didn't create another tie.
