You've been biding your time for the last couple of episodes, getting ready for your big debut. As the rival, you're one of the most important characters in the show after the main lead and the big bad, and nothing will make or break your performance better than a good first impression!
Oh of course it's not technically the first time the audience will see you. You spent a little while posing dramatically and staring down at the streets of the city from atop a building to give the show a chance to hint at your presence, as well as a few other bits that you hope they managed to catch for foreshadowing, but aside from that, you've mostly been preparing for the fight.
What have you been doing? (Select Three Character Traits, certain combinations of selections will grant additional abilities.)
[] [Prep] Working your speed.
If you can't keep up, you're not going to have the best showing no matter what you do. (Gain Character Trait: Fast)
[] [Prep] Working your strength.
If you can't hit hard enough to hurt you're not going to be much of a threat after all. (Gain Character Trait: Strong)
[] [Prep] Working your durability.
It's gonna be anticlimactic as all get out if the first hit takes you down... Better beef up those defenses! (Gain Character Trait: Unstoppable)
[] [Prep] Practicing your powers.
This isn't just some fight between ordinary humans. If you don't know how to use your powers, you won't last long. (Gain Character Trait: Specialist)
[] [Prep] Studying the protagonist.
After all, if you're going to fight them you may as well know what they can do. Know thine enemy and all that. (Gain Character Trait: Analytical)
[] [Prep] Scouting the Area.
One of the advantages of being the rival is that you can decide on where and when your first fight goes down. Preparation can be key! (Gain Character Trait: Planner)
--------
Of course you're not completely blind. You may have been busy, but you can tell that the city makes the setting fairly modern.
Aside from the city though, you only know a little bit about the setting. (Choose Two Setting Traits)
[] [City] Powered Populace. (Cannot be taken with 'Normals Everywhere' or 'Masquerade')
Everyone has a little bit of power to them. Even your average everyday joe is at least a little bit stronger and tougher than baseline human.
[] [City] Normals Everywhere. (Cannot be taken with 'Powered Populace')
Power is something that only Characters get. The rest of the population? They're human as can be.
[] [City] Powered Exponent. (Cannot be taken with 'Powered Populace')
Powers make you a serious cut above the rest. Even the weakest powers place you out of reach of unpowered humanity.
[] [City] Dangerous Streets. (Cannot be taken with 'Point of Light')
The shadows crawl with stalking monsters. Being out after Dark is dangerous.
[] [City] Point of Light. (Cannot be taken with 'Dangerous Streets')
The city is besieged by wilderness, and the things out there want in. Fortunately the city has defenses...
[] [City] Masquerade. (Cannot be taken with 'No Masks' or 'Point of Light')
The normal humans aren't aware of the powered world. They might hear rumors, and the occasional individual might stumble into it, but the majority remain blissfully ignorant.
[] [City] No Masks. (Cannot be taken with 'Masquerade')
Everyone knows about powers, even if they don't have them.
Specialist (You are skilled in manipulation of your powers)
Analytical (You know to watch, plan, and prepare for your opponents)
Gained Bonus Trait: Opportunist (You know how to take advantage of a good circumstance. Between your speed, skillful power use, and sharp eye, you are especially good at finding and targeting weak points in an enemy's defense.)
---------
You smirk as you review what you know in your head. The streets below are not safe, but up here, the moonlight is enough to keep the shadows back. Not that any ordinary shadow could really threaten you in any case, but you don't want a straight fight right now. Not here anyways... You have a fight to get ready for.
First things first your approach. How are you going to start this?
(An approach that has better synergies with your traits will establish your character more clearly to the audience, but will also give more of your character away, giving you less tolerance when it comes to pulling out new powers if you need to.)
[] [Opening] A surprise is always a good way to start. Interrupt after your hero has just finished off the enemy for this episode.
Opportunist Synergy: They'll be tired after already fighting after all.
Analyst Synergy: You'll also get some chance to watch your hero fight beforehand and learn a bit about their style.
[] [Opening] Corral some mooks of your own and be the villain for the episode.
Analyst Synergy: You'll get some chance to watch your hero fight beforehand and learn a bit about their style.
You'll get some more screentime.
[] [Opening] Challenge the Hero independently. (Gain Character Trait: Straightforward)
No Synergy
You'll take up the entire episode, make sure the fans know you're a big deal!
Once you have your approach planned, it's time to make sure you look the best you can. After all, you had dramatic shadows to conceal your face before. This is going to be your first time in full view, or at least your first time revealing more than just a voice.
So who are you?
[] [Gender] Male
[] [Gender] Female
Moreover, you have to make sure you look your part. Only one problem. You're not entirely sure what genre you're working in. Still, you can make a pretty good educated guess based on the appearance of your hero.
The hero looks like...
[] [Hero] A magical girl of some kind?
You're pretty sure you saw her do a transformation sequence at least once... (Gain Setting Trait: Magical Girls. Set Hero Gender: Female)
[] [Hero] Some sort of operative?
They seem to like their Badass Longcoat a fair bit. (Gain Setting Trait: Gothic Mystery)
[] [Hero] A total anachronism.
Honestly. You know it's Anime, but this is a modern setting. What are they doing wearing plate armour?! (Gain Setting Trait: Urban Fantasy)
[] [Hero] Disturbingly normal.
Like... Jeans and a T-Shirt under a Hoodie normal. If it weren't for their technicolor hair you wouldn't even be able to pick them out of a crowd of extras... (Gain Setting Trait: Deconstructive)
You, of course, color coordinated your outfit to look appropriately 'opposite' to the hero, so for the most part you have a dark counterpart image going on. Adjusted for your own theme and abilities of course... Or Maybe...
[] [You] Telegraph your powers.
Something sleek to reflect your speed, maybe with some sigils or signs to reflect your power aptitude, and something to reflect your analytical mind, perhaps some fancy glasses? Or a mask? (Specialist Synergy, Analyst Synergy, but not much room to pull out any surprises.)
[] [You] Conceal your powers.
Try to make your appearance a little more neutrally focused to keep the hero and audience guessing. (No Synergy, but gives you some room to pull out a surprise or two)
[] [You] Obfuscate your powers.
Go for the opposite of what would be expected for your abilities. It won't last forever, and it's risky, but if you can pull it off... (Opportunist Synergy, some room to pull off a surprise.)
You spy the hero running across the opposite rooftop, her outfit vibrant even in the darkness as a hero's should be, and as she turns deeper into the city's downtown core you follow after her, staying well back to make sure she won't detect you. Having her catch you following her to lead to your introduction might be a good scenario for some rivals, but establishing your cunning and intelligence are the key here, and getting caught out like that really wouldn't work for that at all.
Even with all your caution though, you only narrowly avoid being detected a couple times as she stops suddenly, occasionally looking around, or back int he direction she came. You tried to maneuver so that the cameras would be able to get you following in frame while she was still unaware -a little foreshadowing goes a long way after all- but your focus was more on staying out of sight, so you couldn't be sure you got it.
Still, it doesn't matter. One way or another, this is the night, this is your debut.
Fortunately, the tension of the chase doesn't last too long before your Heroine finds an appropriate threat to deal with. It's just as she's leaping across the lower and lower roofs as the city descends towards its harbour district that a scream tears from a nearby warehouse. A door bangs open, a pale figure stumbling out of the darkness and into the moonlight, but they only make it a handful of steps before something wraps around their ankle, a clawed hand made of red-tinged shadows at the end of an impossibly long arm holding the hapless victim's leg in a deathgrip.
Then you are forced to mentally reassign the man from 'victim' to 'bystander' as your heroine descends from the darkness, light coalescing around her as she thrusts out one palm. You know she has a weapon of some kind, you've seen it before, it's a...
[] [Hero] Sword
[] [Hero] Spear
[] [Hero] Bow
[] [Hero] Blaster
[] [Hero] Staff
[] [Hero] Wand
[] [Hero] (Write in if you want?)
...But like a typical fourth or fifth episode hero she's gotten a little bit cocky, using nothing but her bare hands and her magic to unleash a shimmering wave of power that blasts the shadow-arm into so many black motes. "Go on! Get out of here!" The man scrambles to his feet again, gives her one nervous look, then thinks better of the alternatives and runs off, beelining towards the nearest well-lit street.
Makes you wonder what possessed him to go wandering around this part of the city at this hour anyways. With the poor lighting in this area, monsters are basically unopposed after dusk, making even walking down the street a dangerous proposition.
You watch for a moment to see if he makes it to the road, then turn and drop as your Heroine charges into the warehouse, fists blazing as she runs. Then the building is lit from within with brilliant blue as she throws up some sort of orb to shed light on the area and goes to town on the monsters inside.
Wasting no time, you drop down yourself and hurry towards the warehouse, pulling out your own weapon...
[] [Rival] Sword
[] [Rival] Spear
[] [Rival] Bow
[] [Rival] Blaster
[] [Rival] Staff
[] [Rival] Wand
[] [Rival] (Write in if you want?)
...As you quickly find a good spot to watch the chaos unfold before it's your turn to make a move.
You're actually somewhat impressed as you watch her fight as she continues to do so without pulling out her weapon. The light she cast seems to inhibit the shadow monsters, making their limbs crackle and wither if they stretch them too far, preventing them from making their reach. They manage to land a few hits, particularly once a larger creature -some sort of boss you suspect- with eerie bone white armor covering the black shadow stuff of its body shows up to really throw down, but she perseveres.
You haven't learned as much as you hoped about how she fights with a weapon, but just seeing her do battle with magic and her body is informative in its own way. While she is powerful, that power is still unfocused and unrefined. She throws waves of blue-tinged white at the monsters but they tend to be too diffuse to actually do more than stun them for a second or two. This does a good job of setting them up for her to close in and wail on them with magic-enhanced fists, telling you that her strength and speed are nothing to scoff at, but it also gives you an idea of her limitations. You're pretty sure she would do a good deal of damage if she hit you, but you're easily just as fast as she is, if not faster, and she gets rather excited easily as well.
Combine that with her lack of range options, and you think you can start to see how you want this fight to go...
[] [Fight] You are not ready.
You'll give her a good solid ass-kicking. Try your best to outmatch her and then taunt her as you leave. That way she can get a training and bettering herself arc out of it as she works to overcome the difference in your skillsets! It's a supporting role sure, but it's a solid introduction if you can make it work...
[] [Fight] The Dark Mirror.
Try to give her an even match. Take some hits, dish some out, let her and the audience get the full breadth of your basic repertoire, then pull a special move to escape at the end. That way the audience gets a good idea of who you are and your conflict might take a little longer to resolve. On the other hand, you won't technically win so much as draw, which can be good, or it can be bad.
[] [Fight] Ambitious Underdog.
You do have some advantages, but she's pretty strong. Take a beating, and go for the angle of wanting to become stronger, that way you can recur most easily in later episodes as the one always chasing at her heels, trying to surpass her for your own reasons. Play it wrong though and you could come off as kind of pathetic. A difficult path to be sure...
[] [Fight] Just wing it.
You want to really face her before you start figuring out where to go next. It won't fit with your character, but as long as you don't reveal your lack of a plan then what the audience doesn't know won't hurt them.
[] [Fight] Write in your own plan. (Give it a cool name!)
A sound like a gunshot echoes in the cramped quarters as one of the armor plates on the shadow behemoth cracks under the force of your heroine's fists, disturbing you from your thoughts. He stumbles backwards, a guttural hissing cry of pain leaving it as she presses the assault. The plate cracks again, then shatters under a third strike, making the creature howl in pain, staggering as she leaps into the air and then plunges downwards in a diving kick, a nimbus of magical power surrounding her as she shoots straight through the shattered remains of its armour, through the wispy shadow-stuff of its body, and out the other side, landing lightly on the warehouse' concrete floor as the creature behind her burns, slumps, and finally dissolves into the same shadowy motes as the rest.
It's time for your entrance...
[] [Entrance] Smug it up
Emerge from the shadows, applaud her fight, maybe monologue a bit, then challenge her if she hasn't already tried to come at you swinging. See if you can throw down a magical trap without her noticing while you're talking to give her a taste of your superior intellect. (Synergy: Analyst. Gain Character Trait: Refuge in Audacity)
[] [Entrance] Do the creep
Stay in the shadows while you congratulate her on the fight, you never specialized in stealth of course, but if you set up some time delayed attacks to go off from one direction after you've moved to another location you should be able to keep her looking the wrong way until you've finished talking. (Synergy: Specialist. Gain Character Trait: Guile Hero)
[] [Entrance] Shadow strike
Words? What good are words? You can get your talking out of the way once the actual fight starts. Right now you have the drop on her, so take the chance and strike without warning. (Synergy: Opportunist. Gain Character Trait: Honourless)
[] [Entrance] Write in your own entrance. (Give it a cool(?) name)
You begin to clap as the dust settles and the music fades, letting the ring of your palms meeting and the heavy sound of your boots on the concrete as you step out of the shadows fill the air. Immediately the Heroine pulls herself up and whirls, eyes narrowing, and you can practically see the questions whirling through her mind. She probably suspects a rival, but with the decision to obfuscate your powers your appearance is decidedly martial with dark red plates of armor and a black cape swirling behind you, potentially making her suspect a dragon or even perhaps a big bad reveal.
Admittedly it would be a little early for one of those two but only by an episode or so. Hardly unheard of.
"Not bad, not bad at all... But sadly disappointing nonetheless."
Her magic flares again at that immediately, surrounding her with a faint battle aura, and you have to suppress a flinch at the thought that she might just immediately lunge at you. Fortunately it looks like she's got at least something of a head for traditional banter however as she restrains herself from an immediate offensive, though the aura doesn't go away either. "Who the hell are you?"
A bit of a mouth though, you hadn't been expecting something so overtly aggressive. You bow theatrically, though you keep your eyes on her just in case. Now that the talking has started in earnest you don't think she'll go off on you unless you give her a reason or make a challenge, but it's always better to be sure. "Call me... A concerned citizen I suppose?"
That takes her off guard, and you have to suppress a smirk at her confused expression. "A what?"
"A concerned citizen... A citizen with concerns. A resident of this city who is also worried about something pertaining to said residency."
She blinks, clearly trying to process your statement and figure out how to respond to it before reverting to comedy, letting just enough time pass for an appropriate 'beat' before letting her face fall into confused annoyance. "Huh?"
Ouch... You can practically feel the audience laughing, and you're not at all sure whether it's at you or at her. Quickly you try to take back the conversational initiative. "I've been watching you, trying to defend these people from the shadows... You aspire to be some sort of guardian I suppose? Typical hero of justice..."
You raise your chin slightly in a sneer, but at the same time, your fingers twitch, right hand hovering over the holster of your weapon, the left shaping the symbols of a spell, ready to throw it out at precisely the right moment.
"You're not worthy of that title."
Her aura flares immediately, reacting to her anger, and with a yell she lashes out, hurling a wave of power at you, but you've seen her do this. The magic in your left hand flares bright as you click your fingers, a swirling runic barrier springing into place in front of you. It's quick spellwork, not nearly as strong as it could be, but with her ranged attacks being so diffused it doesn't even so much as flicker as it weathers the assault. As the wave dies, you ready a second spell, a binding trap that you cast out into the floor between you, then you give her one more taunt as you let the barrier fall entirely.
"Pathetic... You'd be better off staying home."
She lunges at you with a scream, sword coalescing out of thin air into her hands, but she is barely three steps into her charge before your trap activates. If you were a straight up villain you could have probably gone for some binding ropes of light or something with all the distressing implications those entail but you're a rival, you're supposed to have class, so your trap is a good old fashioned paralysis field.
Of course, it doesn't completely paralyze her. She's still moving thanks to a combination of Heroic Willpower and the fact that even if her control is worthless, her overall strength exceeds yours. However, she struggles for every step, inching forwards. The trap will run out of power before she manages to reach the edge at all though, so you've got some more time to get your point across.
"Reckless." You admonish her. "Unfocused." You snort. "Arrogant."
"You..."
You carry right on through her enraged utterance. "The monsters fill the shadows and only the brightest streets are safe, yet you waste time taking on a single pack with fists and feet." You look her in the eye. "How many do you think have died because you decided to take your time and play around with the monsters instead of killing them?"
"D-don't you dare..." Oh? You must have struck a nerve there, must be something in her backstory, or perhaps an episode one tragedy. You'll have to see if you can find out later. Meanwhile, more monologuing.
"This isn't some game you know." You try to keep worry off your face, you can't help but feel as though you're forgetting something...
"You... Kuh..."
"Your abilities are worthless if you just play around, so it would be better if you just gave that power up to someone el-!" Your words are cut off as a sound of sparks crackling rises from your trap, and the Magical Girl within lets out an enraged scream.
"YOU BASTAAAARRRD!"
Ah yes... Heroic Willpower and high Magical Strength couldn't just resist effects like that... They could break them entirely in the right circumstances.
That's what you were forgetting.
And then there's no more time to think as she hurls herself towards you, closing what little distance there is in an instant as she swings her sword.
[] Dodge and evade her assault!
[] Throw up a magic barrier for defense!
[] Quickdraw and shoot her!
[] Flash Step and Counterattack!
[] Write In.
You skip backwards, drawing and firing your blaster as you go. The mana-charged shots detonate on contact with the earth as the recoil carries you out of the enraged heroine's range, throwing up a cloud of dust and broken concrete that covers your escape somewhat.
An instant later she skids to a halt, blinking tears from where the dust got in her eyes, sword upheld in a somewhat shaky guard as she tried to scrub at her eyes with her free hand.
"Where do you think you're looking?"
She lashes out in the direction of your voice but you've already sidestepped the thrust, raising your blaster to shoot from the hip and sinking it directly into her stomach this time, the detonation hurling her back across the warehouse to slam into the opposite wall, leaving a dent in the corrugated metal siding before she falls to the ground beneath it, panting. You probably broke a couple of her ribs with that, but if her powers are anything like yours you're pretty sure she should be able to regenerate them once she has a few minutes.
Still... You don't want to necessarily be too brutal. You're thinking you want to be sympathetic in the long run after all.
For now though, you get to condescend at her. "No preparation, no focus, wasting your time, rushing in recklessly against an unknown foe."
Still blinking dust out of her eyes she struggles, to her feet, leaning on her sword heavily with one hand as she throws the other out towards you, a massive wave of deadly magic crossing the intervening space.
You could throw up a barrier, but at this range, the wave's diffusion also slows it down, giving you time to sidestep the blast instead, flourishing your cape as you go. "Not to mention you don't seem to be any good at magic apart from self-reinforcement and empowerment of that shiny sword of yours. Did you never think to maybe bring other weapons with you? A ranged option other than your unfocused attempts at blasting magic?" She glares and you wisely change the angle of your pacing, circling her rather than coming any closer. Heroic willpower is dangerous stuff after all, and it throws off wounds even more easily than traps.
You're not going to get rushed like that again if you can help it.
You level your blaster at her and she flinches before you swing it out to the side and channel a little extra mana into the shot, overloading it as you fire to generate a massive explosion in a pile of abandoned boxes. Then you aim it at her again, the barrel glowing ominously as you charge the fifth shot in the same way. Not that you intend to fire mind you, but it makes a damn good way of getting your point home. "Give up this foolishness, hand over your sword, and leave the protection of this city to those who know what they're doing."
Her head snaps up and she glares. "You'll have to take it from me." You watch her eyes this time and there's a flash of something in them at her retort. Heroic willpower activating at the perfect time. She's about to try for a comeback.
You can even hear her theme music beginning to rise behind the tremulous tone that had faded off at your last remark...
[] [Theme] Write in (Propose a theme song for her. To play at appropriate moments.)
[] [Combat] Traps worked the first time so toss down another one. See if she's learned anything.
[] [Combat] Keep your blaster trained on her and stay light on your feet, kite her.
[] [Combat] Stand your ground and counterattack, you know she reveals an opening when she raises her sword for that overhead cut.
[] [Combat] Write in.
Current Status: Two Bullets left before reload/Ready for you this time.../Uninjured
Traps worked the first time so toss down another one. See if she's learned anything.
-Sneak in a second trap for when she avoids or breaks through the obvious one.
The ground under her feet craters with the force of her launch as she hurls herself at you, entire body ablaze with reinforcing magic as her sword comes in high. Her charge before had been fast, but here she crosses twice the distance in half the time.
"Idiot."
The trap blooms from where you set it in the floor, another paralyzing field to hold her down and stop her comeback cold,except even as the arcing bolts of power thrown off from the circle drag her to the floor, she keeps moving, running at you. For an instant, her speed is dragged down to something that resembles human, but even as you pour magic into the first trap and quickly shape a second -dual casting as your fingers burn from the sheer amount of mana flowing through them- she's speeding up again.
The next trap activates an instant later, magic trying to grab at her once more, but your eyes widen behind your helm as you realize the crucial error you've just made.
The Rule of Three...
The first encounter, a loss, the second, a draw, the third, a reversal. And you just threw down your third trap.
The fact that she's practically running on her heroic willpower after the pummeling you gave her earlier combined with the inherent character boost of her theme music means that you might be able to get her with traps again in another fight, but right now, it doesn't do a damn thing to help. The sheer weight of the magic she's throwing off with her battle aura blows your trap apart with a sound like shattering glass, and she doesn't even slow down, whipping her sword down in a vicious power-infused cut as you whip your arm out and fire to the right, using the recoil to accelerate your dodge.
For a moment, you wonder if you're about to up the show's rating by having your arm hacked off, but the sword misses your fingertips by inches, and instead slams into your blaster, hurling it out of your hand as you shout out in surprise and pain, two fingers breaking as the weapon is wrenched from your grasp and hurled across the darkened warehouse.
You jump back again, taking full advantage of your speed to create distance as she pursues you, your thoughts running a million miles an hour as you try to come up with a way to salvage this. You can't keep running for too long without turning this comedic, and given the tone so far that will just turn off the audience. You've lost your blaster though, and you don't know where to find it right now. Traps aren't going to work at all while she's like this, and even if you try once she's calmed down, she'll probably just use her protagonist powers to make sure that they won't even work next time. As it is you might still get some use out of them in future fights at least...
"Hmph!" You skid to a halt, trying to maintain your composure as she comes at you once more. You duck the first slash, feeling the breeze of its passage buffet the top of your head and acutely aware of the absolute bullshit that is a handful of crates behind you being turned into so much scrap by the air pressure of the attack. Then you spin and stand straight, evading a second slash as she whips the sword around into a rising vertical. You're running out of options though, and while you had her outspeeded before, her attacks are only getting faster in this state. "Stand still damn you!"
You have to regain the advantage now if you want to have any hope of continuing your original plan, but how?
Current Status: Disarmed/Ohfuckohfuckohfuck!/Broken Fingers, Bruised Pride
Current Tolerance: 3
[] Just a few more seconds of dodging. There has to be an opening somewhere you can exploit! (Cost: 1 Tolerance)
[] Fuck it, you're new, you can change things up. Grab her sword, stop her cold, then counterattack. (Cost: 3 Tolerance)
[] Pull out a new magic trick.
-[] Teleportation/Flash Step (Cost: 2 Tolerance)
-[] Conjure Magic Weapon (Cost: 2 Tolerance)
-[] Write in (Cost: Determined by QM)
[] Change your plan entirely.
-[] Land the strongest hit you can on her while tanking her hit on you for the sake of the opening. Mutual KO, aims for a competitive rivalry storyline.
-[] Just take a fall and try to apologize, end the fight with your loss. Aim for an underdog rival storyline.
Options hurtle through your mind, considered and discarded. Teleport and counterattack? No. You need something that can stop her theme music, this comeback is only getting stronger the longer it plays!
Dodge right, feel your arm bruise as the sword skates off your armour, striking sparks from the plate.
You can throw attacks all day, but for a spell that you can do this, you'll need time to cast, not to mention a suitably dramatic moment.
Twist aside from a diagonal slash, there's an opening there, but it's gone too fast for even you to take advantage of it, and she's durable too, she could probably just tank... The hit...
The heroine's arms are a blur as she whips the sword around again, but as you evade, feeling it bite a thin line into your side before you are away from the deadly line of that slash, you feel yourself smiling behind your visor.
That would do... That would do nicely...
Too bad it was also going to hurt like a bitch.
Glad for the helmet that lets your facial expression go hidden, you plant your foot as your latest evasion completes itself, squaring up against the heroine as you begin your spell. Your lips move, heating up as you channel your magic through your hands and your words, burning as you go faster, channeling more and more into a destructive counterblow.
"Got you!"
STAB
Of course it wasn't going to be enough...
You feel ice cold in your stomach as the sword goes through you, agony, worse than anything your teacher ever subjected you to, but at the same time, the thought of her somehow keeps you going. You can almost see her face in your mind. What are you complaining about? You literally planned to get stabbed, of course it's going to fucking hurt you imbecile!
Even if the audience doesn't get to see the little flashback, it's enough, enough to let you keep chanting, keep weaving magic together. You taste copper on your lips too now, and your fingers are burning again, searing with agony at the pressure building behind them, but you hold on, hold it until it can be completed.
The spell leaves your lips and you hear the music cut out, long enough for you to whisper one last line and watch her eyes go wide with fear.
"...Reckless again... Idiot..."
And then you clap your hands, and she goes flying as the light of your spell illuminates the entire warehouse in brilliant strobing crimson, leaving you blinking spots out of your eyes as you hear her crash through a pile of boxes.
And then another...
And a third apparently, before a hollow metal sound that you can only guess is her impacting the far wall of the warehouse.
With a grunt of effort, you reach down and grasp the sword she left behind, gasping as you feel it shift slightly inside you at the mere touch. Fuck this is going to hurt...
Again...
One hand ready with the minor healing magic you know, the other on the hilt, and then you pull, siniking to your knees as the blades comes free, crimson spattering the ground as you toss it aside and press the hand to your wound. It's not enough to fix everything, but it will stop you from bleeding out like a chump at least. Keep you functional until you can get back to somewhere safe.
Then, slowly, leaning on the sword as a cane, you pull yourself up and make your way back over to her.
Unconscious...
"Stupid reckless girl... Never even considered that I might be able to take that did you..."
You could leave her here, but even if she might not get eaten thanks to her plot armour, do you really want to be that dark?
Her pained face makes the decision for you faster than your mind can even keep up. Of course not. Your character is here to be someone for her to surpass. Someone for her to learn from, even if you started antagonistically rather than as a mentor.
Whatever else you may want, you don't want her dead.
So you pick her up, sling her over your shoulder, and with heavy gait and your gut sending white hot pain through your body with every step, you begin to carry her, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other and hoping that the monsters in the shadows will be staying well away after the light show the two of you just put on with your fight.
Just one foot in front of the other...
One... Other...
One... Other...
--------
Once you make it back into the main roads you dismiss your armor back into storage to avoid frightening anyone any more than you have to. Your stomach is a writhing mass of agony and your unpracticed healing magic -while effective at keeping you from rupturing anything or bleeding all over the place- is burning through your mana reserves fairly quickly. You need to focus so much of your thought on keeping the spell going, you barely even notice as you finally stumble across the threshold of a clinic until a nurse rushes over to you, a kindly looking young woman with a worried look on her face.
For a moment, you catch your reflection in ehr glasses, and in your dazed state, you can't help but space out for a moment staring before you respond.
[] [Appearance] One
[] [Appearance] Two
[] [Appearance] Three
[] [Appearance] Four
[] [Appearance] Link in your own suggestion
When suggesting your own pictures for this, please remember!
1: This is an anime, so anime styled pictures are preferred.
2: So far, your colours have been reds and purples as contrast to the heroine's blues and silvers.
3: Whether you voted for it or not, Bishie was the majority, so try to be in theme if possible~
"Sir! Sir are you-!? Is she-?!
"Take her..."
You don't really think you have the time or energy for anything more complete. You may not hate the Heroine, but you need to get this weight off your shoulders, the sooner the better.
The nurse dithers in shock and you descide to force the issue by pushing the still-unconscious girl into her arms. She's still in her magical girl getup, you note dimly, and you wonder if you'll actually recognize her once she detransforms. You might have to see her in both forms and transforming to draw the connections though... You don't remember why...
A lot of things are kind of fuzzy at the moment...
With one nurse taking care of your Heroine, another rushes out as you sway, grabbing you by the wrist. "You too, you should come in to get looked at as well if you had a run in with the shadows."
You blink at her slowly...
[] [Clinic] Accept. Stay the night at the clinic.
It's not free, but it's not going to break your bank either, and it might give you some more screen time next episode since narrative contrivance will probably have at least one or two shots of you while the heroine makes her way out.
[] [Clinic] Refuse. You're going home.
The Fight is done, you just want to get back home and pass out, let your body recover with magically assisted rest rather than your clumsy brute force healing you've been forcing through it. You can probably get some help from your magic teacher in the morning too...
"Sir I must insist-""No." You say it a little more forcefully, pulling yourself back up to your full height, your breath catching as a spasm of pain from your cut abdomen almost makes you double right back over again.
"I'll-. Be fine... It's nothing I... It's nothing." You contemplate a joke about how heavy the heroine is but realize a moment later that comedic timing might make her wake up at that moment in order to insist that she is no such thing, and if anything would break the tone you've got going so far, it would be something like that happening.
You take one last look at the Heroine. You probably won't recognize her out of costume even now that you've had a good look at her, that was just how these sorts of things worked after all. But if you got enough screen time studying maybe you'd be able to figure it out later. It certainly couldn't hurt to try...
What does her transformed form look like?
[] [Appearance] One
[] [Appearance] Two
[] [Appearance] Three
[] [Appearance] Four
[] [Appearance] Link in your own suggestion
When suggesting your own pictures for this, please remember!
1: This is an anime, so anime styled pictures are preferred.
2: The Heroine's colours are Blues and Silvers, so try to keep in theme with those if possible.
3: While it does not have to be included in the picture, remember that she does have a sword. Other weapons that appear will be frowned upon.
Then you turn and make for the door, ignoring the nurse behind you, glad that you already offloaded the heroine onto her. An armful of unconscious protagonist would make it pretty difficult for her to chase you down, which was good because you were pretty sure that running would tear something open right now.
You stick to the major streets on your way home, watching the shadows as you go for any sign of enemies. You're really running your mana down, walking around while healing like this, but at least your mentor's house is only a short ways outside the city center, in one of the better protected suburbs. You fumble the keys from your pocket as you climb the two steps to the front door and let yourself in as quietly as you can, doing your best not to even so much as hiss in pain for fear of waking her up. You know she'll find you and your wound eventually, but you'd rather be unconscious when she does if at all possible. You'll get scolded later, but you honestly would prefer to be lectured for two hours after a night of passive healing than a single hour's reprimand while your wound feels like it's about to reopen at any moment.
Shoes on the rack, step to avoid the creaking boards, one, two, three! You make your way up the stairs cautiously, then around the banister and into your room. You straighten up again, intending to change for bed quietly, but the sudden motion and the pain that accompanies it cause the room to sway as a dizziness sweeps over you.
Right... Mana depletion...
Your last thought is that you hope the audience can't see you right now as you collapse onto the bed with a muffled thump, unconsciousness finally overtaking you.
...
--------
...
You wake up as someone shakes you, and your eyes open, the colored blurs of vision as you blink away the haze of sleep resolving into the sight of your mentor, with a rather typically angry expression on her face.
She then pokes you right in the stomach and you promptly curl up in a ball as your half-healed wound flares with agony. You grit your teeth, a choked gasp escaping you. "W-why..."
"Because you're an idiot." She informs you bluntly, sitting back on the edge of your bed. You are under the covers rather than on top of them you note, and in your pyjamas, which means she must have come in and put you to bed properly after you passed out. Embarrassing once upon a time perhaps, but after this many years of living with her, you've come to expect it.
As the pain of being poked recedes you realize that your stomach doesn't hurt as much as it should either for that matter so at least she probably healed you too...
Typical of her...
[] [Name] What is her name? (Write in)
"You got in a fight last night." Her tone isn't a question. "You're my student, so you're better than letting a shadow get you like that, so you must have fought against another mage."
You grunt, wondering if this is a scene or not. You suppose it could be, may as well assume it is. "Some magical girl... She's an idiot, heart in the right place and a ton of power backing her up, but no training, no focus, no sense of the bigger picture, and no restraint, perfectly terrible combination."
"You sound bitter." You uncurl enough to glare at your mentor from under the covers and she smirks. "Mad because she managed to almost gut you?"
"Mad because she's exactly the sort of person that needs training and perspective and won't ever get any." You retort sharply. "She won't listen if someone tells her to slow down because she thinks that her raw power is enough even when there's no real skill behind it. I tried to make a point, she disagreed, and made me feel hers instead."
Your mentor chuckles at the pun, "oh really? And I'm sure you were perfectly diplomatic when making your overture yes? Polite and conciliatory?" You open your mouth to object, and then close it again. "I thought so..."
"It's like this every time though! Half the idiots out there are doing only a quarter of what they could be! I'm sick of watching so many prospects wasting their potential like I almost wasted mine!"
[] [Backstory] Survivor
-You were very young when your magic awakened, but raised on stories of heroes and powerful mages, you thought yourself ready when you were not, and overreached your abilities. Your family was slaughtered when the shadows invaded the slums, drawn by your reckless magecraft, and you barely stayed alive long enough for your mentor to rescue you and take you in as an apprentice.
[] [Backstory] Foundling
-You were raised in an orphanage, never knowing your parents. When you discovered your magical talent however, you saw a way to get out of that life, and sought out a teacher, eventually finding your mentor. She refused at first, but after you tried to learn from her anyways by following her out one night on patrol, you were almost killed by shadows, and seeing that you would eventually die trying to follow her against her will, she decided to take you in and train you instead.
[] [Backstory] Sacrifice
-When you first discovered your magic, you fled your village, believing it to be a curse that would draw the monsters in the dark down on your home. Travelling alone and with what supplies you could, you almost made it to the city before you were set upon by shadows. They were small ones, and you almost managed to fight them off, but the last ones managed a lucky blow that nearly slew you, until your mentor arrived and took you in.
[] [Backstory] Write in? (I worry that I may end up having to veto these pretty heavily, so only write in if you're sure you've got something good.)
Hm. A lot more serious than I characterized her, and a lot more connected. I think I can work with parts of this though, so I guess your reward is that your Mentor now has access to an information network and backup that she would not have necessarily had before.
========
"It's like this every time though! Half the idiots out there are doing only a quarter of what they could be! I'm sick of watching so many prospects wasting their potential like I almost wasted mine!"
You feel your chest hurt for a moment as memories rise up, the memories that you try to keep quiet. Of running, of fighting in desperation, the gates so close, and yet so far away as the shadows close in, and then like a bolt of lightning...
Then your stomach hurts as your mentor pokes you again, prompting you to wriggle back away from her fingers. "Ah! That really hurts Astrid! Cut it out!"
"You were thinking about the past again, and that makes you mopey. You cut it out."
You glare again, then flinch at yet another poke. "Aahaow! I'm not healed damnit! Stop that!"
"You say that like I'm not the one that healed you, you're fine, a few pokes to the stomach aren't going to kill you."
"You say that like you couldn't kill me by poking me in the stomach..."
"Well not if you were defending yourself I couldn't, I taught you better than that." Her smile returns, and you shiver. "And speaking of teaching... We haven't had a proper dance in a while. We should spar this afternoon~"
You swallow, and nod. "R-right..."
--------
She's honest about waiting until the afternoon at least, and you're thankful for that. As much as she had healed beforehand, your injury wasn't exactly light, and you were still in pain until around lunch time. Eating was particularly torturous. On one hand, your stomach was still tender, but on the other, the food was one source of much needed energy with which you could replenish your mana, accelerating the already bolstered natural regeneration and leaving you with a strange sensation like pins and needles in your digestive tract.
As you walk outside into the midafternoon sunlight, you begin to reconsider if you might be being watched. Training can only do so much when it isn't seen by the audience after all so having some attention on your for this could be useful later on.
You think you can hear some music in the background, so that's a good sign at least.
Across the field from you, Astrid gives a wave and you respond with a gimlet stare. She hasn't even drawn her sword yet, partially because she knows that she can draw it faster than you can do anything anyways, and partially because she knows it will annoy you. She knows how to take a fight seriously, but when it comes to you, she never seems to do so, always teasing, tricking, and doing everything she can to make it look like she's not even trying.
She says it's something about learning to control your temper, but while you admit to having had some... Outbursts before... At this point you're pretty sure she just does it for the fun of it. You've never seen her toy with a Shadow like she does with you after all...
You quickdraw your blaster, weapon snapping up, bucking in your hand as you whisper the incantation for a runic shot under your breath, and she reacts with precision, the sword snapping out of its sheath so fast as to be a silver blur. Even composed almost purely of magic by the time it reaches her an instant later, she cuts the magic itself in two, the deadly bundle of energy shearing into component mana strands that pass harmlessly to either side of her.
Then she crouches slightly, and that's all the warning you get before she vanishes from sight, her speed carrying her too fast for you to follow the motion as she swings behind you, right to where the trap you cast with your other hand as you fired has been waiting.
It's a familiar dance, these opening moves. The goal is for you to hold her off as long as you can, and you do so with everything in your arsenal. You know what she can do, and how she can react, but you also know that she keeps herself consistent, paces herself just slightly to keep her from overwhelming you. The goal is not to push you to the limits of your abilities. The goal is to push you to discover new things, to try different strategies, and different powers on her.
For all the years you've been under her care, you've never quite managed to pull out anything she wasn't ready for, but you suppose that when you can one day pull that off you'll have surpassed her anyways.
But you're not surpassing her today, even if you do have a few new ideas you've been working on since this morning...
You let yourself sink to the ground, rolling over and inhaling the mingling smells of lightning, mana discharge, and singed grass that permeate the aftermath of your bout. "I was wondering when you were going to do something other than explosions with those bullets of yours. The precision matches well with your keen eyes."
You wave an extended finger in the direction of Astrid's voice and are rewarded by a chuckle from your mentor. "Still couldn't touch you." "Ah but you got closer than you did last time, and I'm sure you'll get even closer than that next time."
You're not even sure what you would do if you could beat her, but for the moment at least it's well out of your reach, even if this is easily the most encouraging she's been in a long while. "Actual praise? From you? Must be an occasion..."
You smirk, but after a minute of silence following your comment you finally turn your head, looking towards your mentor to find she has a thoughtful expression on her face.
It's when that thoughtful expression is replaced with a smile that you feel a chill roll down your spine. "What?"
"You should find that girl again."
"What? Why?" Of course you know that you're going to need to find her again anything unless you want your role to just fade out of the plot, that's a rival's job after all, and trying to resist will probably just result in the narrative dropping you on her (or her on you) anyways. Still, you weren't expecting your mentor to encourage it like this.
"Because she pushed you to make the same amount of progress in a single fight as you made in the past year of sparring. Maybe it was just a one-off, but maybe fighting opponents at your own level will be better for you than forcing me to handicap myself all the time." She says this with a grin, that only gets wider as you see the spark of a fresh idea light up her eyes. "In fact, you could even train her~."
"Sorry wait... Slow down, progress aside, how am I supposed to train her? I just told you how stubborn she is!"
"You beat her didn't you? I doubt she just left you for dead, you didn't have enough bruises or broken bones for being tossed off a building or something." You try to shove that image out of your mind and she catches the disgusted look on your face. "Hey I've seen and been through weirder than that."
You just shake your head, "mental images aside, what's your point?"
"You beat her, and she's stubborn, which means she'll try to figure out how to beat you. Just shape the way you fight so that she has to learn what you want her to learn in order to win."
You scoff. "Easier said than done", but you turn the idea over in your head as you stare back up at the clear blue of the sky. It's not a bad idea at all, and fits in with what you wanted on a certain level. You're pretty sure the Cameras were on you there too, so the audience knows that your mentor wants you to train her. Still, that's not to say you don't have room to maneuver in the conversation...
[] "No, she's dangerous and one run in was enough, I'd rather try to keep my distance."
-You'll end up running into her eventually one way or another, but right now you need time to recover. Besides, if you get injured in another fight you won't be able to make it to school tomorrow.
[] *sigh* "Fine... Just be ready to patch me up if she stabs me again okay?"
-You'll go out searching for her. You should be recovered enough already to fight at top form so you'll be ready for another encounter, and given protagonist status, she's probably already out of that clinic you dropped her in.
[] "...I'll think about it, but no promises."
-You'll make up your mind on the go rather than trying to decide a long term course of action here and now.
