Crystalwatcher's Magical Girl Quest!

Grey clouds hang heavy through a soft blue sky. Shafts of light shine silently onto the fading wreckage that litters the ground below, shattered swords, splintered shields, and corpses long since rotted away. Bones and metal, slowly being swallowed by the returning greenery that had once been burnt away and trampled underfoot.

Two sisters sit upon a hill, the sound of hammers striking metal echoing quietly from the stone walls behind them.

"Two weeks."

Their grey guards shift uncomfortably at the words. Ashen feathers fluttering to the ground.

"Hn?" Ichi Mitsubishi—Goddess Grey—lowers her bow, the borrowed arrows she had been shooting off into the distance returning to a rest stance. "Two weeks for what?"

"Two weeks before the end arrives." Ni Mitsubishi—Goddess Red and Ichi's sister—replies. Her Spawn stand silent and unmoving behind her, her knight never far. "The Light is gathering for something. Most likely an attempt to retake Hope... and if the first battle was anything to go by, the assault is likely going to be the end of the War."

Ichi frowns in thought before nodding firmly. "That'd be nice. Though I kind of hoped I'd never have to go back there again." The Grey Goddess of Man chuckles deprecatingly. "I'm pretty pathetic. Not wanting to reach my end so soon. Sometimes I hate the fact heroes don't get happy endings... though I don't regret it."

"You'll never regret it..." Ni smiles forlornly at her sister. "Though if the Hero isn't allowed a happy ending, then I'm fine being the Villain." She pushes off the grass, standing straight. "That ass Arkos wants me for something, and my free time is up. You take care, alright Ichi?"

The older sister gives a lackadaisical wave over her shoulder. "Who me? I'll do something stupid soon enough, don't you worry. Just make sure you don't get into another argument with one of the Dukes again. I might not be available to play mediator." Ni gives a soft but affectionate scoff before she walks away, her knight and spawns following after her. Long after she leaves earshot, Ichi sighs.

"Silly Ni. Villains get the most tragic endings."

The Priestesses share an uncomfortable look as their mistress returns to firing arrows into the vast grave beneath her.

-/LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED\-

You look at Michael... well, no. You stare at Michael.

The supposedly adult soldier tries grinning back at you around all the fifty-caliber rounds he's shoved into his mouth and fails miserably. One of them falls out, leaving behind a slight trail of drool.

Giving that up for a lost cause, you instead turn to look at Aquila—who has far too many arrows sticking up and out of her uniform's shirt to be a good idea—and give a decidedly unimpressed eyebrow to her. At least she doesn't have her mouth full of deadly weaponry like the humans of your team. "To be fair, it sounded like a fun idea at the time."

"Fun idea? Not going to try with 'good idea' or 'great idea'?" you ask in response.

The elf-turned-scarecrow shrugs as much as she is able. "When Sam brought it up it sounded like a really stupid idea, and we all agreed."

"Then why do it?"

She smiles brightly at you. "It sounded funny as shit, and we were bored out of our minds. James walked in half way and instead of stopping us like he should have he joined in, so it's technically all his fault. Blame him."

Still unimpressed, you turn to look at the 'leader' of your team, who instead of bullets in his mouth or arrows in his shirt, has swords—actual honest to Cosmos swords—shoved down his pants. "I just finished writing the reports for the mess on our last mission and needed to unwind. Add in that it honestly looked like far too much effort would be required to stop them anyway... the good news is it'll be easy to clean up."

You stare at him for a moment before slowly turning to Samael who was... technically wearing his uniform but had too many knots in it and was showing far too much flesh for you to be comfortable with. "You guys are aware young girls are supposed to come through here regularly for a variety of reasons, right?"

Sam nodded. "True, but most of them have seen far worse than me. If anything this is so normal it might help with said things they've seen." He waved his Datamine. "Also, photos for the wife."

You raise a finger before lowering it slowly. "I'm just not going to poke that. Please get this all cleaned up before we get sidelined. I'm aiming to accept a mission later."

Michael spits out all of his bullets, "Another mission? Damn, that was quick." Wiping a hand across his mouth he pressed his lips together and blew air through them, "Where we going?"

"Florida apparently. The Horsewomen are supposed to meet us there, something about it being their turf." You shrug, "Apparently the last time anyone saw the Maidens of the Apocalypse they were working with one of the WEAPONs on something, and now everyone's flipping their shit. We're one of the few groups around strong enough to not splatter when whatever it is hits the fan."

Seriousness overtakes the otherwise silly scene at your words. "If that's the case then we'll be ready." Putting action to words, James starts to pull the sword in his pants out. "How late we leaving?"

"Not for a while yet. I've got some stuff on my agenda still, and you were wanting us all to meet up for that how-do-we-shoot-web session later that I think would be a good idea to do first. Though..." You take a quick look around. "Lucky and Gabriel don't seem to be here and... when Aquila met me on the landing pad, she said something about you guys having some new stuff?"

This time all four of them grin maliciously in giddy anticipation. "Ooooooh do we ever." Sam practically bounces in place as he practically hops over to where their collective equipment was scattered across a table. "You know those Soul-Severers we had? They worked, and could fire even after you kept beating someone over the head with them, but their caliber was way too small to be useful. So Alexandra's team cooked up some different weapons. The first is a new sword that's a bit heavier than what should be usable if not for the strength enhancements given by the Frost Dragon armor. The other is a very nice rifle with a similar problem with it's recoil but same solution."


The gun he picks up makes him look positively small in comparison without his armor, but in turn looks sturdy enough to act like a shield in a pinch. "The F-13 Dragonslayer. This bad boy fires fifty caliber rounds in single-shot, burst, and full auto fire modes with a mag size of thirty rounds each. If it wasn't for the Frost Dragon, just using burst could knock me flat on my ass. That's not even mentioning that the bullets are manufactured in a factory blessed by priests straight from the Vatican. Not only can I blast a demon's arm off from fifty yards, the son of a bitch gets set on fire immediately afterwards as well! And that's not even the best part!" The giddy soldier carefully sets down the gun to pick up a large mechanism that resembles a fanny pack that had been lying next to it. "See this thing? It's hooked into the Bounty System in such a way that it clones whatever bullets are currently inside. So not only does the poor bastard loose an arm and burst into flames, but his soul is sacrificed to God so God can give me new bullets to do the same with all of his buddies! It even has an auto-loading mechanism for my magazines, so I don't have to stop and reload them along the way, or carry dozens of them! All it needs is field testing!" He hugs the thing to his chest with a brilliant grin, "Magic is awesome!!!"

You stare for a moment as Sam comes down off of whatever... high he was on, and a few seconds pass before he gets his breathing under control. "So..." His attention immediately snaps to you, but somehow you don't flinch... probably because you're still out of fucks to give after the mess with the Knights earlier. "... How does the recoil not rip itself apart?"

"Oh, that's easy." Sam shrugs. "There's some brandcraft arrays inside the gun itself to reduce the backlash from firing the actual weapon so it doesn't explode in my hands. Would have had a backpack with a belt feed if the idiots designing the stuff didn't shoot it down because it would ruin the aesthetics."

"If this stuff wasn't as high quality as it is, their opinion on aesthetics would get us killed," Aquilla snarks. "Regardless, the new swords they gave us can cut through magical barriers and reinforcements and my new bow is a fucking beast. Also solid metal arrows, can't remember the name of it to save my life."

"Sam here also got a bunch of research in on his spells, and Lucky said something about figuring out how to use the magic you're feeding us to make some new ones of her own," James chimes in, pulling his shirt on over his head. "Either way, enough fangasming over our new toys Sam. Let's all get out to the training grounds so we can figure out these stupid super forms. Aquilla, go get Gabriel and Lucky?"

You glance, and do a double take, as the elf—now free of arrows—hops over the table, snatching up a large black bow and her helmet, to get out the door faster. "Already on it, sir." When did she...?

"Ready to go Nepgear?" You turn back to James to find that he, Sam, and Michael were already dressed in their own armor—with a sword, gun, and another sword respectively—and moving to the exit as well.

"Ah- Yeah. Just give me a moment, it seems like I'm a bit behind today."

-/LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED\-

"This might only make sense to magic users since it's kind of like describing color to a blind man, but what you do is mentally reach for that connection Anastasia gave us that's feeding us power. From there it should be easy to feel the thing on the other end, and then pull it through."

"You're right. That made no sense." Most of you chuckle at Michael's joke, but the levity only lasts a few moments.

Sam sighs, "Ass, alright does anyone else have a better suggestion?"

"I might." Everyone's attention turns entirely to you. "The first step is actually finding it. I think it's a bit different from everyone but it should be something that stands out to you; for example, my magic is this warm feeling through my heart—I think—and when I want to use it, I mentally picture my hand reaching for that warmth. Everything tends to go from there on it's own."

"A warm feeling huh?" James mutters with a thoughtful frown. "Now that you mention it..."

"Ever since you... well, you know, I've always had this weird feeling of a light around my gut." Michael shrugs, "You mean something like that?"

"Yeah! Exactly like that!" He blushes at your smile. "From there, as I said, I just picture my hand reaching for it. Doesn't have to be that though, so long as you 'mentally reach for the power'. Can be anything, from a fishing line like my sister says she uses, or it just coming closer like gravity is pulling it to you."

"The rest should come automatically on it's own, no extra effort required!" Lucky chirps from her place next to Gabriel, "Once you have a solid grasp on it, you should be able to feel the creature on the other side of it. Just pull it through and you'll transform like I did."

"... Maybe we should get a bit of distance from each other." Sam carefully cuts in, "With how large Lucky was when she transformed, I don't want to know if we'll accidentally fuse or something if we're too close." His words cause you all to stumble to an effective halt at the implications.

You look right at James. "Sam has a good point. As hot as you all are, I don't feel like becoming one with your feet." And promptly jog away. Gabriel giggles nervously as they take that as a cue to scatter a bit across the training ground.

A training ground that was mostly empty both because of the damage you and Uni/Judgement Core had done earlier, and the gossip mill distributing out that Team GEAR was "testing their super modes". The latter had what seemed like a good chunk of the base had turned out to witness it considering all the elves, fairies, and angels in the mix as well as several individuals you recognized form the command staff.

"Should we shout 'Henshin!' or something when we transform? I remember there being some kind of rule for this or something!" You hear Lucky shout over the low hum of conversation from the side lines.

"You're totally right!" Comes Samael's immediate response. "In the name of love, fuck off!"

Not even five seconds later, the other two human members of Team GEAR jump on the opening.

"Counter Solder Power! Henshin!" There goes Michael...

"By the power of Greyskull!" Oh dear why James? What would Jessica think?

"Honey Flash!" And... Gabriel why are you-?!

"Witness me!" Lucky... we trusted you...

"AOU: CAST OFF!" Aquila... the fuck?!

At least the explosion of power distracts everyone from the sheer silly that your support team has devolved into...

Or at least it would have if the insanity didn't continue.



The smallest -Lucky's- is ten meters tall. The tallest -Gabriel's- is fourteen. Samael and Lucky have both turned into amorphous masses of fractal crystal that seem more liquid than solid. Michael, James, Aquila, and Gabriel are solid in form, but output far less magical energy (the former two almost suffocating in their auras).

This wouldn't be too bad... if they weren't...

All...

T-posing.

It was an honestly reasonable stance to take in a situation with unknown growth and power: it kept their arms up and out of the way from accidentally crushing things, and the stance itself lent well towards catching themselves if they found their balance thrown out of whack by said growth...

But it didn't stop the image of six large beings—four of which were highly mechanical in design—looking like a silly glitch in video game avatars. Which is probably why a good third of the audience burst into laughter once the glow faded. You find yourself covering your face in embarrassment even as Rei chokes down her own laughter. You did not weep. Sega is a filthy liar.

It isn't until James' super form falls over from his own pose that the laughter finally starts subsiding and your team starts taking things seriously again. You also refuse to join them until they're gathered in the rough middle of the training ground as well, but that's mostly because you didn't want to only be referenced to the silly poses made by giant robots.

...

Oh god, what is Gaia going to think? It's a well known fact she's been advocating figuring out giant mecha for years.

"This feels really weird." James' voice booms through the air as his 'mecha' rhythmically clenches it's hand. "It feels just like my body, but it doesn't move exactly the same. Like I'm wearing some kind of heavy armor that's contradictorilly as light as a feather."

"I don't think that's an actual word James." Sam replies, his own form flashing through a myriad collection of colorful lights with each word. "And you think you have it bad? At least you have limbs."

"That lack of limbs isn't to bad." Lucky's own shape twists like that blue diamond out of that one old anime Sega stayed up late to watch a few years ago, "Its really reactive. I can change the shape of its body with little more than a stray thought. Which is pretty cool. Some practice and I'm sure we can figure out how to make graspers or something to hold stuff with."

"This is so cool!" Gabriel's super mode hops about behind them. "It can do pretty much everything we can do normally, but I still feel a drain on my stamina. It's nothing debilitating, but it's definitely not sustainable." She holds one of 'her' hands out, a massive blade sized to fit her new form's hand appearing. After a moment to test her grip, she swings, causing a shock wave strong enough to split the ground for several feet in front of her. "We're also definitely stronger than normal as well. If not faster."

"Though it will take some getting used to." Aquila raises her own hand to summon a bow of similar proportions. "I'm probably the strongest elf alive right now. Aurea eat your heart out~." She tests the draw string for a moment before sighing. "Sadly though, she could probably still kick my ass..."

"Aurea?" Michael asks Aquila.

"My aunt. Also Royal Champion and Legate of Tebaerin. She could probably kick our asses up and down this training field even with all... this." She waves a hand to indicate Team GEAR's transformed states. "It's totally unfair, especially since she's not egotistical about it so I can't hate her over it."

"Sounds rough."

"Its not... which is kind of the problem?" Aquila huffed. "Never mind, it's nothing to worry about."

"Hey Aquila?" Your elf teammate looks at you, "It's okay. If you ever need to talk, I'll listen, alright?"

Several moments pass before she nods with a sigh, "Alright. Thanks Nepgear. Let's get back to finding out what we can do with these, shall we?"

"Right!"

-/LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED\-

You don't find San.

She ends up finding you.

The White Goddess of Man is still wearing Rei's pants, but instead of the pink blouse from yesterday, it's now a thin hoodie that's only partially zipped up and shows an ample amount of cleavage. She also looks like she didn't get as much sleep as a doctor would likely recommend, but these days you wouldn't be surprised if the Top Twenty in their entirety were finding themselves lacking such.

"Anastasia." You stop just outside Command as she calls for you, drawing quite a bit of attention from soldiers as they walk by, "I've been thinking about what you said. About what we want to be remembered as when our time comes."

She heaves a deep breath, hand on hip. Nodding firmly, San Mitsubishi gives you a look full of determination. "I've decided." Her announcement causes those few still within earshot to come to a stop, some strange feeling drawing them like moths to a flame as her presence seems to awaken from a cold sleep. "I want to be remembered as Goddess White. Even if the fighting never ends, I want those that pick up a history book to know that I refused: that I refused to give into that despair again.

"It won't be easy, and I might never be forgiven, but that doesn't matter. I'll fight for that end I want to see. I'll strive for it on my own two legs, and grasp for it with my own two hands. Rei wants her challenges, Ichi wanted her glory, and Ni wanted our happiness. I want our future. So no matter what comes, I won't run any more. I'll keep advancing.

"So..." She stick her hand out before her, open and inviting, "If you need help, don't you dare hesitate to ask. You got it?"
And so it begins...
Smiling, you grasp it. "Perfectly."
In Memoir - The White Complete
-/LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED\-

Did you hear? Time is meaningless. The fortress of the soul has been always defined by the power of the mind. To give shape to the journey ahead, one must understand themselves and where they are going. The White Goddess...

-/LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED\-

"We're going to Florida. It's about an hour's flight from here, but don't get comfortable. According to the Fairy Seekers, this area is going to be the most likely place that the Maidens of the Apocalypse and WEAPONs will be for the next few days. They're looking for something, but we have no idea what... and its our job to find that out."

The Skybound's rotors roar as James gives a general outline to the rest of your team.

"Solid Drive won't be with us on this one, Juggernaut Drive and the Old Guard are being let out of the hospital tomorrow morning, and they asked to be there."

"Wait, didn't we kick their asses just yesterday?" Samael points out. "How the fuck are they getting out tomorrow?"

"Two reasons: one, healing magic is a hell of a drug. And two: the weakest of them could demolish the hospital in a few swings, do you really want to tell them 'no, you're not allowed to leave until we're done monitoring you'?"

"... Objection withdrawn. Carry on."

"That's what I thought. Regardless, not our problem. The Horsewomen of the Apocalypse are going to meet us just outside of our drop zone; it's this tiny place called Hawthorne. Pretty much middle of nowhere Florida. We're to go in, take a look around, figure out what's going down if we can manage, and try not to start a fight." He chuckles at the last part, "Apparently we have a reputation of being miracle workers, who'da thought?" The rest of you give a short laugh at that as well.

"Anyway, settle in for the rest of the flight and hope nothing happens."

"Yes sir!"

-/LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED\-

"There's a sinkhole in the middle of..." You frown, thinking it over before taking another look around. Once you're sure, you correct yourself. "Okay, not the middle of town. But still, where'd the sinkhole come from?"

"It wasn't done by our quarry, that's for sure." You and the rest of Team GEAR turn around at the voice.


"My name's War. It's nice to meet you. Me and my Sisters usually handle this area on our own, but when word came down that several of the not-so-friendly Top Ten were in the area, we asked for help..." Eh, makes sense but... "Please tell me you're not all they sent." War definitely looks worried. And honestly? You don't blame her.

"Don't worry." James reassures her, "All evidence points to a fight being unlikely. If one does break out, we'll be able to disengage easily, or at least lead the fight away from civilians."

"I'd rather not test that, if it's all the same to you," War sighs. "Either way, welcome to Hawthorne. The sinkhole seems to have been building for a while, but this area's so quiet no one caught it before it opened and swallowed a couple houses. Happened last week, so as far as we can tell it has nothing to do with why our guests are poking around here. Do you guys have any leads?"

"Um," You scratch your cheek nervously as War focuses on you. "Actually, we might. Twelve days ago"—and holy shit was that shockingly recent—"me and my Team stumbled across a nest of Nightmares up in Boston. Somehow it was hiding from Gaia; she was completely unaware of it, and no one knows how. So chances are, there were signs of something similar in this area and the WEAPON was dispatched to investigate on her behalf... the Maidens were also involved in the Boston Mess, so they're likely seeing if there's anything that could be a threat to Sil... but that's only a guess."

"Makes sense..." Aquila mutters from your side. "Divine beings aren't much for playing nice with each other unless there's something to be gained, outside of a few special cases. If something can hide from Gaia, that means there's stuff that can hide from Shiva. I don't think either of them would like that idea."

"... It's the best lead we've had for the last few days." War grumbles. "I don't like it, but there doesn't seem to be much choice in the matter. My sisters are around around and about asking questions. I'll go let them know you're here and what you've shared with me. Feel free to poke around yourself, or ask them what they've learned."

"Will do, it's been nice to meet you War."

The girl chuckles, "That's a pretty rare sentiment. Stay cool girl." And with that she turns and walks away.

James shrugs, "Well then. It's a lot quieter than I was expecting, but we better keep our guard up just in case." He pats his new sword and straitens his stance. "Whelp, what do we do 'boss'?" You roll your eyes at his joke.




Status of Team Gear:
Nepgear: Ready
James: Ready
Samael: Ready
Michael :Ready
Gabriel: Ready
Lucky: Ready
Aquila: Ready



Status of The Horse(wo)men:
Pestilence: Unknown
Famine: Unknown
War: Active
Death: Unknown






+5xp Met War
+250xp In Memoir - The White
+100xp Golems Unlocked!
+25xp Team GEAR Upgrades~!

+380 EXP = 2,355 Total EXP



(Team GEAR Upgraded!
Unlocked Character Profile! Goddess White (Level 3))