Under the Open Sky (CWMGQ Spinoff)

Digging your toes into the sand is briefly pleasant, up until you get past the warm layer on top and hit the colder sand underneath. Dotting the parking-lot-turned-beach are orbs of fire that light up the area and turn the chill Milidia winds into a hot breeze. Shimmers of many colors drift around the magically-generated flames to brighten the place up nicely.

Two dozen Fairies are moving around with purpose, the most notable being a pair wearing heavy outfits with goggles and using long tongs to check the floating orbs of fire. Others are flying around the perimeter or poking at the bottom of the water feature. About the same number of Magical Girls dot the side closer to the plaza. Most of the MGs are relaxing on towels right underneath the fiery light sources. Those not seated are chatting around the tables with snacks.

Even if the human behavior was subdued, the same could not be said for some of the swimsuits. Prisma Drake had a ...minimalist red bikini that flaunted it's fastenings with every step, tied at the front for her top and the sides for her bottom. She's chatting with Thorn Warden, who's wearing dark green trunks. Thorn Warden also has a pair of untransformed MGs talking to him in more standard swimsuits, violet and blue in color.

Sumire Saber rests on a towel. She's wearing a black one-piece that opens up to uncover her upper back, with red and white accents. She's also wearing sunglasses and a belt to keep her sword at her side.

There's a dozing girl next to Sumire, Angel Feather has a white cloth over her face. She's in her Magical Girl form, bracers shining with iridescent light. There's a painful-looking pattern of burn blisters all over her exposed skin, standing out pale against angry-looking Healed skin. You wonder for a bit what happened to her.

Above you the haze of dust and ash hangs thick over the mountain fortress. There's a noticeable boundary where a team of higher-flying Fairies are filtering out the dust. You let your Panoply flow from its present form (a holster around your right thigh) to lift you into the air.

"Excuse me. I am Magical Girl Summit. We are guests here and I need to remind everyone not to destroy or damage this setup. Don't try digging past the sand, letting the water out, or alter the hovering flames." you address everyone.

Sumire raises a finger into the air, "Most of us know the drill. Summit very kindly assumed enforcement today so I could relax, if you have a problem with what she tells you you have a problem with me."

A few girls nod, but the group as a whole appears unsurprised. Sakura Saber appears holding a folding chair in each hand, she sets one up right under an orb and sinks into it. She's still in her Magical Girl form, having changed her usual outfit for a green and white bikini plus tilted skirt.

You land and walk over to the shore. It's been a while since you've had the chance to swim. Link is checking a map by the water while a trio are scratching at the bottom with slender rods.

"Is it safe to swim here?"

Link stares at you blankly for a few seconds, "Yes… don't get too close to the scribers and you can do what you'd like."

You slip in, bending your legs to float in the…

COLD, very cold water! You let out a surprised squawk and thrust yourself out of the water with your Panoply. Droplets fly everywhere, but the large wave you made flattens out with eerie speed. A few of the girls away from the water laugh at the spectacle you've made.

Link hurriedly says something in fairy tongue before catching herself and repeating, "This water will be very cold for a while." she gestures at the floating masses of fire, "Water gets warmer or colder slowly."

You should have just put a toe in first. An urge to shiver is suppressed as you fly over to warm up next to one of the open flames.

"There's someone every time." a girl in 'civilian' form waves at you. She has a black and blue oversized hawaiian shirt worn over a black swimsuit.

There's a card hanging from her sleeve of the right size for an ID card. You can't see what it says because it's facing the wrong way.

"I'm Steel Monsoon. My battle form doesn't cooperate with normal clothes." she says, "You've discovered the biggest factor in why we get to play in the elven beachbox."

"It's filled with water too cold to practice with?"

"Bingo!"

You drift closer to the ground and fold in your Panoply, "Have you seen Flawless Paladin anywhere?"

Monsoon grinds her teeth for a moment, "No. One of the Dark Magical Girls you dragged in said some interesting things about her. Paladin is going through a cross-examination to check on her. Command is really tense ever since a base Earthside ended up having a dozen darksider MGs."

"Ataraxia? I was there actually." you say after a moment of thought.

Steel Monsoon raises her eyebrow, "Were you a secret agent? You act the part of newbie sometimes and other times you have oodles of experience and the full confidence of every lightside spook."

You shake your head and fiddle with the sand using your toes.

"Can you tell me why the Counter Force trusts you implicitly? I've gotten a few tricky worksheets about Flawless Paladin already, but the team Captain says you've got none. Any tips would be nice."

Fuzzy memories dance in your mind's eye: Of staying under the surface of an ocean. Of standing under the open sky while the sun sent light everywhere you could see. Tearing open the wall of a hospital so you could hide. The girl with sad eyes begging you to sleep and accept treatment.
**How I screamed for me to stop and I did not listen
For a moment you thought you remembered something….

"I was, wounded, yes wounded, when I got back to Earth. My mind had been injured and I needed to let others adjust it to stop the pain." you say, voice trembling for a moment, "The Counter Force must have some records of when my mind was treated."

Monsoon covers her mouth, "Oh my God! They adjusted your brain so you couldn't defect?"

That's not right, "No. What they fixed was… I mean, the doctors must have seen that I wouldn't. Somehow. The specifics weren't explained."

"I bet they just made you forget you were a secret agent. Still not something I could do, or want to do."

You mentally run through the items you've Fused. The imprisoning artifact alone is notable, and you have a few other pieces from your escape that would be staggeringly hard to replicate.

Monsoon pulls a brush out of a nearby basket, "Let me fix your hair, the water and your flying made it the wrong kind of messy."

"You don't have to, it doesn't bother me."

"Well it bothers me." Monsoon insists, and says something else so softly you can't make it out.

You relent. Monsoon brushes damp hair away from your face and quickly alters the way it was hanging to her liking. As she's putting the last tuft in order Destined Lightning flies in from above. Raging Heart follows soon after.

The pair of high-flying Magical Girl are wearing similar outfits: a white hoodie (now opened), and a white bikini trimmed with red for Raging Heart and pink trimmed with white for Destined Lightning. They run over to the snack table. You feel a pang of envy watching Destined Lightning's long ponytail flutter behind her.

"And done. Extra fluff for a carefree look. Go forth and frolic. Or keep watch, as the situation dictates." Monsoon says, tossing the brush back into the basket..

"Thank you." it does make you feel a bit better.

Night Sky descends a short while later, in her normal MG outfit and with Reinforce shadowing her. Night Sky wanders into the group chatting with Thorn Warden and asks something about his magic.

A distraction pops up and you scold a girl who had started digging out the sand. She quickly realizes her error, lets you put the dirt and sand back down, and moves closer to the water to collect from a wider area for her sandcastle project. Once that's dealt with Reinforce catches your attention, she makes an 'ok' gesture with her hand, then jams her thumb back to indicate Night Sky.

Clear enough. You take the suggestion and walk over to say hello.

"Eee! Summit, you're swimsuit is great!" Night Sky leaps in place upon spotting you, "It's so shiny, you're like a trophy."

"Thank you. Did the battle go well for you?"

Night Sky looks downcast for a moment, "I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you out, the UD made a bunch of the Balrogs angry. Which is why I was helping the Emissaries kill them off. Oh! I wanted to ask you about the giant monster you were fighting now that we have a moment."

The dots are simple and clear to connect. If Night Sky thinks the UD roused the Balrogs you don't want to correct her right now. On further thought this is something you might want to avoid mentioning near Ninja of Light, taking into account her claim of having died twice.

You hope Insight was right about that mission.

"Which one?" there are two or three monsters that come to mind.

Your response with a question causes a number of the surrounding girls to break into laughter.

"The one where I got frozen in time! You already explained how you fought it, I want to hear about how you think the vortex monster worked. In case there's another one that shows up."

"There is an aftershock from one of my spells that scrambles magic." you begin.

Night Sky waves her arms, "I heard that already! Tell me about what it could do, how I could defeat it."

"It had an odd effect on its surroundings. I think it was spreading itself out during the fight and drawing back in the amplified pieces of itself. There was a bit of a slowdown as it did this, but the vortex of evil magic got much more powerful quickly, sticking around could end with you getting melted down. When Reinforce was fighting it was weak to getting caught by magic effects and couldn't go through solid objects very well."

Night Sky nods, "Catch it and fight from cover?"

"Right. If you have a way to suppress its magic use it. The spike in power was very unpredictable. Reinforce froze you because of a contracting spell it had, cover should work if you're careful. Assuming the next massive vortex of evil corrupting magic has the same magic and abilities." you finish.

"Harumph," Night Sky sags, "The big ones are always showing off some new trick."

"They are, aren't they." you agree.

Night Sky jabs her finger skyward, "We'll do it right back!" after dropping the pose she clasps her hands together and leans towards you, "Speaking of new tricks, I have something that should make someone else more fortunate. May I test it on you?"

You wave an arm to indicate the Magical Girls lounging about, "This isn't the place for practice. We can't leave craters before the elves get to use it."

Night Sky lunges forward and wraps her arms around you, pinning your arms to your side.

"Surprise! now you're getting a hug! I'm glad you fixed the darkness effect before the Dark Star got to us. So you deserve hugs!"

Your legs almost buckle with the added weight as you rebalance. Magical Girl Raging Heart and Reinforce start clapping softly, followed by several more of the standing Magical Girls.

"I can't carry you like this."

"The hugs will continue until morale improves." Night Sky insists.

"That means you need the exercise." Steel Monsoon quips at you.

A few clicks sound from Sakura Saber's Datamine as she takes pictures. An attempt to squirm away ends with you losing your footing and falling into the sand heavily. Night Sky lets go of you and covers her mouth, probably having to do with the loud thunk her jaw made when it impacted with your head.

"Ack, I bit my tongue."

Reinforce pulls Night Sky to her feet, freeing you to stand back up.

"She beauty, she grace, she got a swollen face." Prisma Drake calls out.

"Perhaps you can continue this when our friend isn't busy being the beachguard?" Reinforce suggests to Night Sky.

You dust yourself off a bit, "Sorry, I didn't think you were going to hold on to me all the way to the ground."

Night Sky looks away from everyone.

"Did you forget you could fly, again?" Reinforce asks, her tone making clear she isn't expecting an answer.

Night Sky shudders a bit, then recomposes herself and pulls out a card with a starry background, "Here. Send me a message so I get your number."

"I might not be here for much longer. There have been noises about getting moved elsewhere."

"You should try to get into ACES HIGH. We could use a flying tank and you could use our backup." Night Sky says.

Reinforce keeps her face calm, but holds her fingers out to form an 'x' briefly. An easy enough message to understand.

How to word this? "I'll see what happens."

"Even if that doesn't happen we should still try to be friends. I won't forget you." Night Sky waves as Reinforce nudges her towards the group around the snack table.

A few hardy souls have decided to start swimming. Notably, all three of them are in their transformed state despite their swimsuits. It's probably still cold. Perhaps Night Sky is going to use her magic to warm it up very quickly at some point?

You circle the sandy area a few times to remain visible. Everyone is behaving themselves. Blue Bandit arrives with an elf carrying her on his shoulders. Which isn't notable until Bandit jumps down and pulls off the t-shirt she had been wearing - showing that she was not wearing a wetsuit, but only the shorts that make up the lower part of a wetsuit.

She's actually wearing an almost identical outfit as her boyfriend….

"Blue Bandit! You forgot your top!" you rush over.

Bandit gives a V-sign with her fingers, "I don't need one."

"She's eighteen." Steel Monsoon shouts over, "She has an out for the decency rules the rest of us have."

"Not all of them. As a Lieutenant of the Counter Force it is unbecoming to appear naked in public."

"But you're half-naked now." you protest, face bright red in sympathetic embarrassment.

"Is it percentage based now? 90% of me might be uncovered, but Prisma Drake's bikini is at best half the material. Did you bother her about being 95% naked?"

You back away, literally and figuratively. Blue Bandit is somehow happy to expose herself and the rest of the group isn't disturbed. She strides over to the largest concentration of people and relaxes against her boyfriend while talking.

Thankfully something else appears to take your mind off of it. Twisted Metal skips into the beach, and over the beach, and right onto the water. She proceeds to glide atop the water in a motion part way between ice skating and a motorboat.

"You float now?"

She spins in place on the water with a wide grin, "Yeah! It's a new trick I just figured out. Some part of me always knew I could, so I kept being drawn to water."

Her weapon darts into the water's surface, sending droplets everywhere.

"There's more grace in your movements now, somehow." you comment.

"I know, it's great! And, uh, I really owe you one for not leaving me to drown and things." Twisted Metal fiddles with her scarf. "Both times I lost were from getting sunk, but you refloated me."

"Oh. I'm Magical Girl Summit, how have you been feeling?"

Her weapon lies down to float on the water, "Like the world turned upside-down. Two days ago I was shooting at demons coming over the walls for hours, until all of Goddess Red's choppy dudes ran out and I was holding them off alone. They just kept coming and coming while I fought and hoped someone would be there. Then I got pushed into a canal and wake up next to Red. It's weird everywhere now."

"I know what you mean. No one talks about Goddess Grey or Red and it keeps surprising me." you say.

"Yeah, I'm Magical Girl Twisted Metal by the way. Affinities are Ruin and Metal, just like my name might lead you to suspect."

"I have Discovery, Protection, and Implacable. My magic lets me see what type of magic other things have, among other things."

Twisted Metal nods, "Neat. Anyways, do you think the Counter Force is going to decide to take back Hope any time soon? There were a lot of people like me who were promised peace, and it's an outrage that our world was taken from us."

You think over things, "Something is being planned, I can tell that much."

"Thanks. I'm going to practice my sea legs for a bit. And thank you again for saving me from that crazy mindwarp thingy."

A spray of water sprinkles over you as someone makes a splashy dive. It's actually not that cold now. Twisted spins in place and zooms off. You fly up to keep an eye on the splashes and ensure that no one gets out of hand.

A premonition hits you right before the swimming group expands to more than ten girls. For the next fifteen minutes you zip back and forth, staying close to the most rambunctious action. The subdued attitude dropping away as a few characters show off. Like Blue Bandit kicking off from the shore and skidding along after Twisted Metal, or Sakura Saber generating a huge splash with some sort of super-speed-move, or Raging Heart swimming under the water to tug on legs.

You really think Sakura Saber almost provoked a disastrous escalation. Picking her up and declaring that you were just about ready to throw her quieted things a bit. Thorn Warden had inflated a few inner tubes but left with Prisma Drake hanging off his shoulder after only a couple minutes in the water. Now the swimmers are mostly staying put, holding on to floating tubes in the deeper section and chatting.

Flying another circuit doesn't turn up anything unusual. The snack table is being dismantled and the sand castle flattened out into the dust where it rose from. Angel Feather has stopped napping and is rubbing some sort of ointment over her blistered skin.

"Shouldn't you be in a hospital with burns like that?" you ask.

Feather frowns, "I wasn't burned when I left. Something burned my soul or something and I've just got to wait for it to heal on its own."

"Oh."

The whistles and thundering of the mustering elves signals the rest of the group to pack up from the water. You threaten to have any trash not picked up sent back to the person who littered and comb the sand to level it before leaving yourself.

It's unfair, you think to yourself, that Destined Lightning's hair looks and acts that way. Even wet it still streams behind her gracefully as she flys away.
----

Team GEAR was situated next to a stack of empty shipping containers. Around you the activity of the receiving docks continued as Fairy mages floated some cargo around while trucks lined up for the next portal. The haze of dust smothers the area and a faint burnt smell follows it.

A woman, no, a demon (Fire, Love) in a Counter Force uniform is perched a short distance away. Her wings fluttering behind her, she winks at you and the gesture feels somehow heavy.

Suspicious.

"Is anyone else here?" you ask as you land.

"Insight should be bringing the Judgement sisters and Juggernaut Drive here soon." Michael replies.

"I mean right now."

Lucky Star shakes her head.

The demon jerks her head towards you and shouts, "Don't shoot!"

You keep your expressed weaponry glowing and gesture for Team GEAR to look at the demon. After a few seconds of scanning his surroundings Samael speaks up.

"Captain Jubilant is waiting to deliver a packet of mail." he says, "She's been here since before we arrived, she's fine."

Jubilant waves her empty hands at you and grins nervously, "Hello Summit. It's a pleasure to meet you. The tanks you modified to fly were invaluable to my team."

Her voice is clear and steady despite the contrast to how her wings and tail twitch and wrap around her leg and shoulders.

"Stay put for a moment." you say.

"Does anyone else know about a demon named Jubilant? Perhaps as some sort of officer?" you transmit.

Samael clears his throat, "Earth to Summit, Jubilant is on our side. You can calm down now."

"She may have charmed you." you say, "I need outside confirmation."

Steel Monsoon's voice arrives over the air, "Yeah, Captain Jubilant is a succubus that proves the proverb that Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. She's a tanker officer, so you probably won't see her."

You fold up your expressed weapons and look away from Jubilant, "Which I just got."

"Uh," Lucky Star holds up her hand, "When you said here I didn't consider outside my magic breath. Fey speech uses more distinctions for proximity."

Aquilia looks you in the eyes with a flat expression.

"She wouldn't have been able to hit all of us with anything." Samael begins.

"Right! We are waiting for Insight to arrive so she can explain how Summit will save our Magical Girls." Major Roberts claps his hands

Jubilant waves as she starts striding away, "Goodbye, and thank you for staying observant!"

GEAR does a double-check of their surroundings before settling into the same positions they had before. You have a sense that Samael is glaring at you. Flying in a loose circle around them doesn't change much.

A couple minutes later Judgement Drive descends out of the haze. Judgement Core and Juggernaut Drive (carrying Insight) follow shortly after. Insight jumps out of her ride's arms and gestures for everyone to give her their attention.

"Not too long ago Solid Core, Solid Drive, Goddess White, Carnage, Red Rose, Solar Radiance, Lunar Radiance, Gabriel, Maiden of the West, and Westmaiden's nightmare daughter spearheaded an effort to retake Reluxus. And may I say that I have no idea what Solid Core promised to get a Maiden of the Apocalypse to help us. Before the rest of us could transit with them Goddess Grey engaged, which was halfway expected by her younger sister.

"We lost touch with them for a few eventful minutes. Gabriel re-connected with us to say Solid Core had won, but dropped out of contact before she could answer questions. This time something changed related to the nature of cross-dimensional contact and the portal was withdrawn to avoid a possible counter invasion. Judgement Drive rejected the idea of bringing the rest of us along. Most of the Counter Force shook their heads in disgust and declared Solid Core and the rest MIA.

"I had a different idea of what happened from the start, thanks to my previous contact with Magical Girl Summit." Insight smiles as she pauses.

"Excuse me." you hold up a finger, you want to say something now because you weren't sure what you could have said earlier, besides, you have a fair guess of what happened already, "Magical Girl Zoe… no Silver Regent, either found the artifact that a horrible ugly demon kept me imprisoned within and learned about me in connection with it, or she was tracking me and learned about the prison artifact that way. She must have taken the pieces I left behind and gotten it put back together enough to make it work on Solid Core's group. Which is why she has been trying to kill me for the last couple days - because I've already gotten free of that idea once and could free the rest."

Michael whistles, "Could you go over that again? It sounds like a lot happened here."

"Questions later." Aquilia says with clipped speech.

Insight shrugs, "Wow, the spooks should have just asked you instead of spending hours questioning Silver Regent. That's actually more than I was told. Summit is correct, Summit escaped the very item that was used against us. She is something we know can break out of it, and what's more, Summit is also a mighty and quick Magical Girl. This rescue demands nothing less than the best."

Insight bows with exaggerated manner. Judgement Core runs a hand along her weapon, Judgement Drive folds her arms and gives you a blank look.

"Is this my official mission then?" you ask, things have been less clear than you would prefer.

"Not as such, no. It's a personal time action for you in the records, otherwise we could have left earlier. But this is really important and all the spooks that know about it give it full backing. Like your commander, Achilles Black, for one." Major Roberts says.

A metallic clatter fills the air as a truck attaches a shipping container. The sky above you shimmers as wind pushes the haze at diverging speeds. Insight taps her foot.

"We can begin immediately." Insight says.

There's something she hasn't yet brought up, "What happened to Goddess Grey?"

"We don't know, I believe Goddess White forced her to withdraw." Judgement Drive states.

"You don't give Solid Core enough credit. Half of her team had fought Grey before, the Goddess of Swords is probably dead." Insight rebutes.

Not good, and worse when you think it over.

Michel interjects, "Insight, half of us right now have fought Goddess Grey before."

"I don't recommend it." Juggernaut suggests.

Lucky Star emits a quiet, high-pitched sound.
----

Accept the missionRequest?

[X][MISSION] Yes
This is about as important as events get. Free the mightiest heroes of the day!

[X][MISSION] No
Can you say deathtrap? This has to be a deathtrap, and you don't remember much about escaping the first time.
-[X][MISSION] Get transfered to False Heaven
-[X][MISSION] Write in something else Summit would rather do
----

Insight knows some people who want to do you favors… (pick one, only relevant if you select her mission, but you can pick one even if you decide against Insight's plan!)

[X][BACKUP] A Pair of Master Fairy Ninja
Sarutobi and Sasuke are highly feared ninja and masters of the fairy arts of stealth. They can't quite keep up with you, so you may have to carry them, something that may crimp their talents.

[X][BACKUP] Angelic Piloted Armored Golems
Armored Golems fielded by False Heaven were legendary before the Children of Nightmares destroyed some of the rare materials the golems relied on. Some wizards in the Counter Force got in touch with the surviving pilots/builders and provided substitutes. Activate a beacon and a pair of mighty Angels will be teleported to fight alongside you!

[X][BACKUP] Judgement Drive and Juggernaut Drive
(Juggernaut Drive = TRUE)
"We need to recover our friends first and foremost. Defending you in this would be impossible if you get us tied up in a fight."

[X][BACKUP] Machine Code's Big Box 'O Mayhem
A baker's dozen of Machine Code's battle robots, with included flight. The weapons systems suffered some kind of issue and these units have grenade launchers to make up for it. Accuracy and ammo supply are rather poor, but you can tow them easily and they would make the best of distractions if you find a target.

[X][BACKUP] The Last Invisibility Vial
Insight shows a pained expression and talks up how much she wants to keep it while giving it to you. It's enough to make you wonder if this is really the best she could do to help.
----

+3 EXP Beachguarding Successful!
+5 EXP Night Sky May Be Hitting On You…
+1 EXP Twisted Metal Backstory Hints
+10 EXP You Already Knew Insight's Big Reveal

261 + 19 = 280 EXP

[X][EXP] EXP Plan?