Perhaps For Love, Or Maybe Justice (A Tokusatsu/Magical Girl Quest)

This is a serious situation, and from what you've seen so far, it's also completely real. Both the mode of blackmail, the logo, and the spying on webcam methods all scream Assassin's Guild.

It takes you a bit to respond, but eventually you lean forwards towards the computer screen.

You
> Why don't we make a deal? You versus me, in a Duel. I win, you leave both me and Akemi alone.

???
> hmph. Looks like Boss Hanzo was right after all. Only an ex-assassin would go out of her way to capitalize that word.

Back in your days as part of the Guild, there was only one way to advance up the ladder, where maybe you'd get less missions, more desk jobs, and less risk. Killing.

Whether that be that your assigned targets, or your assigned bosses.

Rei.

While it didn't matter who started it, enforced it, or died in it, actually participating in an Honored Duel was almost mandatory. Whoever won was almost always promoted, assuming that each duelist was similar in strength, and a refusal meant that both persons involved would get demoted, likely meaning death. You only participated in a duel once, against—

&/)27$:9:!>

Nope, don't even think about touching that.

Rei.

They challenged you, and you won. This will be your second Duel. And to be honest, you aren't even freaking out as much as you think you should be! You can totally win with your new amazing powers! Totally!

Rei!
[JUST WHAT ARE YOU DOING]

You're snapped out of it, by Atry and Gargoyle appearing straight up in your face, Gargoyle still a sprite, but Atry in her full MG get up.

"You were completely out of it. What happened?"

You blink out a tear from your eye, before trying to push away the spirit. It fails, since she's transparent, but Atry moves away anyways. "Thanks, Atry. I was just having a bad time there. I'll be fine, though."

???
> Fine then. I'll meet you at 9 tonight, wherever you choose. Be there.

You type in a response, before leaning back in your chair. Despite your panic, one clear thought goes through your head.

"Man. I've got to get some quick training in today, or I'm screwed."

---

Rei gains 30 EXP! (20/200)

-Rei has leveled up! (Level 2)
-Over Damage has increased to 2.
-You may gain 1 +3 boost to one of your five stats.

[ ] (1st Upgrade) Physical
[ ] (1st Upgrade) Mental
[ ] (1st Upgrade) Social
[ ] (1st Upgrade) Technical
[ ] (1st Upgrade) Magical

The next part, you can vote for. You may pick from one of the following lists of options.

General Buff

Gain two extra +3 upgrades to two unique stats on top of the one buff you already have. So for example, you could get 2 Magical upgrades and one Mental upgrade, or a Physical, Mental, and Social upgrade.

[ ] (2nd Boost) Physical
[ ] (2nd Boost) Mental
[ ] (2nd Boost) Social
[ ] (2nd Boost) Technical
[ ] (2nd Boost) Magical

Please note that you cannot go with 3 upgrades into one stat. Don't do that.

Assassin Training
Alternatively, have Rei remember one of the skills that she learned as an assassin, and have her train in it again.

-[ ] Pressure Points
-[ ] Weaken Target
-[ ] Sudden Kill

[Pressure Points]
[Passive]

Signature Passive of the Assassin's Guild. Crit Threshold reduces to 90 during combat. This cannot be stacked with other Crit Threshold lowering enhancements, unless they are related to the Guild.

Weaken Target
DC: 60
(Usable two times)

Signature Attack of the Guild. Deal 1d8 piercing damage to one character. For every 10+ this rolls over DC, lower Crit Threshold when attacking that character by 5 instead of applying Over Damage.

Sudden Kill
DC: 90
(Usable one time)

Signature Attack of the Guild. Deal 4d8 piercing damage to one character. If this Crits, deal x4 damage.

???
Unfortunately, you won't be able to do this yet. Seek out [REDACTED] for more info.

Plan Templates:

[ ] Plan Stat Buff
-[ ] 1st stat
-[ ] 2nd stat
-[ ] 3rd stat

[ ] Plan Assassin Skill
-[ ] Stat Upgrade
-[ ] Assassin Training Upgrade

---

9:00 PM, Somewhere Secluded
February 15th, 2080. Saturday.

The grassy outskirts of Tokyo are refreshing. While the switch to clean and magical energy's been felt in the city, nothing beats the fresh beach air. You sit down on an old, washed up log, watching the tide flow in and out. You absentmindedly consider taking a smoke to look cool, before realizing that you both would rather save that money for something else, and also don't have a lighter on you anyways.

Eventually, somebody comes down, and sits down next to you on that log. They're silhouetted by the moonlight, so you can't tell anything aside from that they're short. A raspy voice speaks. "You are…?"

You lean back a bit. "Rei. I assume you're that hacker I talked to?"

They lean in, and as they do, you can just make out their face. She's got almost snow-like pale skin, and her hair is black and cut to neck level. Also, for some reason, the edges of her hair… they're white. And not the gray of old age, it was clearly bleached out by something.

She holds out her hand, smiling with this strangely toothy grin. "Well, they call me Kuromi! Himari Kuromi."

You reach out your hand to shake hers. But then, the moonlight seems to shift, and you notice a glint. From out of nowhere, her formerly empty hand is filled with a knife, and you barely manage to jerk your hand away before you lose a limb.

You jump away from the log, landing a few feet away from her on the sand. "And I assume this "Kuromi" is the rookie assassin that Guild Hacker sent to represent herself?" You snark.

She smiles, but her grin is devoid of mirth this time. She stares into your eyes, and you can't help but notice that her eyes look so empty.

"Nope, but you're half right! I'm a rookie assassin and advanced hacker! I'm good at blackmail, larceny, and I'm decently good with hidden blades." she cheerfully says.

What is it about those eyes? (DC 80/100, Social?)
[Total: 55+17=72. Fail.]

You can't be sure what you're looking at, as you try to stare at her. The lack of sunlight isn't helping either. Are those contact lenses? Glyphs? Either way, what you are sure of…

Is that just looking at her, with that knife in hand, is reawakening some kind of primal fear in you. The same fear that animals have of being devoured, the same fear that plants have of being burnt. A fear intrinsic to all living things.

You… could really die here.

Is this how your targets felt?

[Next Critical Success this week nullified!]

She laughs. "Alright! You're the challenger here, so show me your moves. I'll give you five seconds. Five…"

You didn't want to use these powers, but if you don't, you'll get completely destroyed, almost no doubt about it.

"Four…"

Driver On!

The belt from before seems to appear out of thin air, just like that knife that Kuromi had. It snaps on to your waist.

CHANGE! SYNCHRO!

You snap your fingers, before hitting a button on the belt, and inserting Atry's card from your pocket. "Henshin."

"Three and two…"

LET'S DUEL! CARD SET - EMBLEMA!

Blue and white armor flies out of the belt, before locking on to you. Face plates and chest armor slide and clank into place, before fitting back on to you like a glove. As your helmet finishes its integration, two helmet windows like bug eyes lock on where your eye sockets would be on your mask.

You strike a pose, your arms crossed in front of you, your right hand on top of your left arm, before getting into a battle stance. Left foot forward, right foot back. As always.

Psst. This is the part where you say something cool!

[ ] Say a cool catchphrase?
-[ ] Catchphrases are for nerds. No.
-[ ] "Now, I'll be winning this duel."
-[ ] "By any means necessary, I'll defeat you!"
-[ ] ??? (Write In, Recommended)

Whatever your catchphrase (or lack of) was, Kuromi just smiles, before nodding. "One. Well, this is going to be more interesting than I thought. Looks like you're actually going to be able to keep up with me." She smirks, before she puts a hand out and starts to dissipate into… blue pixels?!

What is she doing? (DC 60/80/100, Mental]

[Total: 60+17=77. Pass.]

Blinking away your surprise, you rush in, and try to punch her before she gets away with whatever Magic she's using.

"You'll have to try a little harder than that, my coworker."

"I'm not an assassin anymore, you fuck!"

No dice. She dodges, seemingly rolling through the air, before she fully seems to pop out of existence.

You summon Atry's spear to your hands, and start to drag both it your feet into the ground to stop the momentum from your lunge, and just as you do, you feel a tingling sensation behind you. You look behind you, and roll out of the way just in time to dodge Kuromi, who appears out of a pixelated portal, trying to hit you with a quick punch.

You find your footing again, before turning around and pointing your spear at Kuromi. "A back attack? Really?"

As she fully emerges from the portal, you notice that she's definitely changed. She's in a white jumpsuit, tinged with streaks of blue and purple. Holographic bracelets and screens seem to line her limbs, lighting her up in the night. Her face has changed most of all with the addition of a black face mask, and her empty eyes changing to a dark shade of purple. She's a… Magical Girl.

On one hand, you want to be surprised that Magical Girls are real. On the other hand, part of you has already half resigned yourself to the insanity, so fighting God is already somewhere on your new bucket list, along with beating up…

And on the secret third mutant hand, get your head back in the game, Rei!

Right. You shake your head and readjust your spear stance. As for your comment, she just shrugs, before getting into her own combat stance. "Hey, it works on most normal people. Now, let's start this Duel for real."

Be careful. She won't be as easy to beat as the skull guys.

Still though, that doesn't mean that you should just give up already. It's all or nothing, and if you falter for one second, you'll end up dead.

And you can't do that. Not until you know that Akemi, Mai and Arata are safe.

---

What is your combat strategy?

[ ] Plan Stab Or Block, Check Out This Glock
-Use whatever is your strongest move at all times.
-The one exception to this is your gun. The second it seems that Kuromi has a Pierce weakness, SHOOT HER WITH THE GUN!
-If it misses; we just deal with it!

[ ] Plan Start With A Finisher

-Do anything to get into Gargoyle form. Anything. Yes, including the "stand there and transform" move.
-The second you do that, IMMEDIATELY go for the Sealing technique. It should do numbers, and while she's sealed, you'll be able to recover and use Flowing Fluidity.
-If the finishing move misses, we improvise.

[ ] Plan (Write-in)(?)
-QM Notes: Trying to be smart with things like "saving up moves for later to hit weaknesses", "using the environment", or "using your one spell right on the spot" has a chance of fucking up, thanks to flaw [Those Who Cannot Change]. While this can be averted with a few Mental saving throws, chances are currently iffy.
-Talking is considered a free action.
-All plans should have "Plan" in the name, and have a small description of their intended purpose and strategy in -[X] boxes below.

All votes should be on separate lines, so that the vote tallies everything separately.

Gargoyle II's Advice:
[THIS HACKER MAKES ME FEEL] []

Atry's Advice:
Emoticons! That's a rare occurrence. Anyways, pick a plan and pray. I'm mostly just saying to go with your gut, especially considering that "everybody has a plan right before they get punched in the face."

---

Author's Note:

Yes, this is how Rei gets introduced to Magical Girls. Not with a nice introduction, (Akemi) but an insane weirdo/NEET (Kuromi). Sorry, Rei! The suffering will continue until the Quest ends.

Shorter update this time, to get me ready for a big combat scene. Sorry if there seems like there's not that many options for fighting rn. Most form changes and extra movesets are currently locked behind meeting [REDACTED] and learning what the Mysterious Deck actually does, which you were supposed to do this week.

And if you don't know what to do, check both the character sheet and the new Quick Combat Sheet.

Oh, and see you all next time. Happy voting, heroes!