Nothing that dramatic. It's just every time I tried copying anything it's take a few seconds to load up into the reply page. I thought it was slightly amusing.
The real delay is from the fact a lot of RL distractions came up: had to tow my truck somewhere, spending the night at a relative's house, some other things...
Nothing that dramatic. It's just every time I tried copying anything it's take a few seconds to load up into the reply page. I thought it was slightly amusing.
Might not be your computer. I've found the SV post interface starts suffering lag after the first 2,000 words or so and it gets progressively worse the higher that number is. For example it just flat out refused to actually post this 15,000 word vote tally I'd put together so I had to split it up across three posts before SV would accept it.
Yeesh. Fulfilling the Eva expectations would be hard. Epic might make her too powerful. She does seem like the type to get an additional affinity too. Darkness, Ice and Dolls.
Might not be your computer. I've found the SV post interface starts suffering lag after the first 2,000 words or so and it gets progressively worse the higher that number is. For example it just flat out refused to actually post this 15,000 word vote tally I'd put together so I had to split it up across three posts before SV would accept it.
"Sega- what-?!" You are against the ground, the off-color copy of your sister pinning you there with a snarl on her face and her hands wrapped around your neck. Her hands slowly tighten even more around your throat as the second Sega, the one you somehow know is your real sister, tries pulling the false-Sega off you.
"Let her go!"
"No! If I can't have her, no one will! You can all burn and rot for all I care, but Anastasia is mine!" She releases a single hand that is then used to sucker punch your sister, tossing her aside like a ragdoll before it returns to your neck again.
You struggle. Your hands claw at False-Sega's as your feet kick against the ground uselessly as you try to twist out from under her. Why did I change back to my civilian form? But you know why, two weeks was apparently enough for you to forget tiny details of your sister, like her exact coloring. You disgusted yourself. Maybe I deserve this... I killed Candy Heart... forgot my own sister... Jessica and Richard are dead because of me... Why am I fighting?
"That's it, you die!" Real-Sega's voice shatters your death wish as False-Sega's attention snaps around. The glowing blade bites through the False-Sega's neck like it was made of paper and suddenly blood is everywhere. You stare at the headless corpse of your sister as her blood drenches you, forgetting about the still-stiff hands around your neck. "Ana!" Your vision slowly turns red as the blood that is now covering you, and then it fades to black. Unconsciousness is a welcome hideaway from the horror that your life has become in these short few minutes.
Your last conscious sight is that of Real-Sega dropping to her knees next to you, trying to say something you don't catch.
"Se... ga..." The world fades away.
-/LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED\-
Anastasia stared at the destruction she had wrought. The entire fleet she had been facing was utterly annihilated, and it would be no exaggeration to say that the waves generated from the water trying to fill the space-visible trough were tsunami-esque in scale.
"Oops—*Spritz*—waaaaaaaaah!"
Gaialeveraged her water spritzer again. "No, Bad!"
"I'm sorr—*Spritz*—eeeeeey!"
"Bad little girl! Don't do that again!"
"I'mSorryItwon'thappenagainpleasenomorewaterplease..." The soaked Anastasia looked at Gaia with huge and contrite eyes. She didn't want to be spritzed again.
"Aaaaah, darnyouradorable eyes. You've learned your lesson. We'll be having a talk if I catch you at this again though, little missy." With that final warning, Gaia walked off.
Anastasia's watery puppy eyes followed her until she disappeared, pressing little bits of guilt into her titanic mind. Maybe she shouldn't have sprayed her twice...
-/LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED\-
It seems that every time you enter the command tent, it gets more and more crowded. There's the commander for which the tent is named, of course, and there's Rei standing right next to him. She has an unusually satisfied smirk on her face -not that her smirks don't usually look satisfied, or pretty- BUT! She generally looks more infuriated and scary around him. Your maybe-honorary big sister San slouches in the corner, to the extent that the tent has a corner. You're honestly not sure where you stand with her, though you've been making an effort. She's been really distracted recently. You suppose it's understandable.
Then there's everyone else. Team GEAR, as always, stands beside you, and Carnage is nearby since you were just talking with her. Then there's Truth and Blue Sky and Judgment Core and her sister and Red Rose and White Knight and a War Angel and a couple human soldiers. Their uniforms indicate tank guys.
It's pretty uncomfortably hot in here, really, and not just because of Sam's sexy, sexy-
MOVING ON
The commander inhales, and JC stops poking people.
"Team GEAR," he says without preamble, "The cameras have caught sight of six demonic foot soldiers approximately fifteen miles west of here. Your mission is to destroy them."
You tilt your head. "Understood, sir. But… you mean the foot soldier foot soldiers?"
"Those ones, yes. Go kill them."
You haven't actually had much time to build up anything like 'pride of the magical girl,' but you feel it shatter just now. "Is this really a job for all five of us?"
As the commander begins to speak, Rei Rei-ses her hand and steps forward. It's a small step since Blue Sky is like a foot away from her, but it's the gesture that's important. "No. All-" Her eyes flick around the room, she totally had to count them. "Twenty of us. We should be able to handle this, and if not-"
Rei stops.
Your hand jerks towards Purifier Beam the instant before you see the woman appear in the tent, but you soon relax. It's only Gaia, after-
Why is Gaia in the command tent?
"Twenty-one," the personification of six times ten to the twenty-fourth power kilograms of rock and metal says.
"Fuck it, twenty-one. If anyone else would like to come along, please teleport to the outside of the tent," Rei says. Everyone else starts chattering too, since discipline has obviously become a foreign word by this point, but you tune them out.
Nobody seems to take Rei up on it, which is… good? You actually think the sheer concentration of dakka in this tent approaches enuff, and by this point you just want the day to be over.
Gaia strides towards you dramatically, but she stops three steps later. She grabs White Knight under her arms before the poor girl can react, lifts her up, turns around, and deposits her gently on the ground. Headpats occur.
You suppose if anyone has the right to unlimited headpats, it's Gaia.
Before Gaia turns back, everyone else has cleared a path between her and you. Traitors.
This time, Gaia's dramatic stride actually looks dramatic, and she soon comes to a dramatic stop in front of you. "Magical Girl Nepgear," she says dramatically.
Solid Core, it's Solid Core! dramatically
She suddenly has an arm around your shoulder and it's actually kind of nice. "So." She squeezes you, and you squeak because that's a thing that happens now. "I was watching this show, a good one, not that formulaic trash, and it was just adorable so long story short I wanna be on your team now. Powerup please."
"Right," you say. You're not really sure how this is going to work. You don't really know her all that well, but on the other hand you had didn't know Gabriel that well either. There's also the kissing thing, but you've been traumatized enough so you would like to, you know, not. You focus on the connection between yourself and Gaia- both the physicality of her arm on your shoulder and the emotional ties. You know Gaia. She helped you out before, and even if the scorpion was hilariously unhelpful you liked the WEAPONS. She tried to warn you about the kidnapping. Literally every human is a part of her, and what closer connection can there be than that? Just thinking about it you can feel the POWER of… wishful thinking. You open your eyes to see an unconnected Gaia an inch away from your face. With her lips puckered.
"I need an adult," you squeak. Your voice squeaks, that is.
"Oh, Anastasia," she breathes. "You can't get more adult than me. I am literally as old as dirt." How attractive. She leans in-
-and Gabriel punches her in the side of the head, sending her to the ground. "Sorry, no. Actually I'm not sorry, still no."
Gabriel is the best.
You need to get this over with, so you lean down and give Gaia a kiss on the forehead. You're so done with this shit, and if it doesn't work you'll just kill the monsters and move on with your life.
Gaia starts to glow. She stands up, giving Gabriel a grin.
That worked? Does that mean I didn't have to- but then I wouldn't have been able to-
Being a teenager is hard.
Gaia continues to glow, and it's actually starting to hurt your eyes.
Mike pats you on the back. "Looks like you've got competition, nightlight." Two syllables. They rhyme. It's snappy. Please don't let this be another nickname.
"And now the ground is glowing," Red Rose says. "In my experience… this has never ended well."
"Not again," says San.
The ground is glowing, but more importantly the ground seems to be growling. You actually should have expected something like this, considering that you just hooked up an infinite magical nuclear reactor to a planet. A+ planning there, but it's not like any of the supposedly responsible adults stepped in. Except Gabriel, who is best girl.
"I feel… really good," says Gaia.
That's when the earthquake starts. And maybe that's some kind of metaphor, but also a lot of people probably are about to die. So.
Rei- Goddess Gold hurls her chain through the ground, and the shaking seems to subside. She probably just bound the Earth or something cool like that. Then the quake comes back twice as violently.
San sighs.
You flail your hands, you poke Gaia, you try to do something with your magic, but nothing helps. The tent collapses, but while the crowding was amusing before nobody is in the mood to deal with it, so somebody teleports everyone outside. The base is surprisingly still standing despite the distant crashes you're beginning to hear. The Counter Force builds to last. Or they use tents. It's a sliding scale.
You're not sure, but it seems to be heavier.
One of the soldiers falls to the ground, and not from the shaking. It's definitely heavier.
"Well," Gaia observes. "This is absolutely no fun at all. I might even say that it's an absolute clusterfuck."
The commander is barking orders, but you can't hear anything but the planet beside you and below you."
Rei raises her sword, but San covers her hand with her own. "It's okay."
"People are dying! We just had this-"
Gaia interrupts. "There's no need to let this continue; I have everything I need. Do it now, White."
The sky cracks to match the shattered earth. And holy shit Goddess White just ran Gaia through.
Gaia blinks. "it didn't take?"
San shakes her head. "You're too strong, now. This better be worth it."
The first fallen soldier, now being supported by James, begins to emit a familiar glow.
"We'll figure something out. Every little bit helps."
San shakes her head. "I get it… but this is the twelfth time this week."
Rei looks like she's about to murder somebody, and it's going to be Gaia.
Gaia smiles. "What you're asking for… it's not easy, you know?"
"Hmph."
You're kind of feeling ignored, here. Most everyone else is running off to do damage control, but you're still in Gaia's arms. Everything is wrong and you can't even move. Then San walks in front of you and presses her lips to yours.
What the-oh. This is kind of nice.
Your pink mingles with San's white as Gaia accepts the sword through her neck and time and the world break.
XXXXX
San jerks.
Your hand jerks towards Purifier Beam the instant before you see the woman appear in the tent, but you soon relax. It's only Gaia, after-
Why is Gaia in the command tent?
"White," the personification of six times ten to the twenty-fourth power kilograms of rock and metal says, "That never happened."
The goddess of time nods shakily. There's something about her mouth.
You consider asking, since they seem a bit upset- but since whatever it was never happened, there's nothing to worry about. Right? You finally tear your eyes away from her lips.
You simply give Gaia a cheerful wave and refocus your attention on the matter at hand; namely, the monsters or gods or universes you're about to meet on your upcoming mission.
Gaia seems to regain some of her composure "Right, let's do this thing, everyone." She teleports to the entrance of the tent (dramatically) and walks out. Nineteen people of varying genders, species, shoe preferences, and levels of comprehension follow.
"I was supposed to say that," you hear the commander grumble. He gets out of his chair and brings up the rear.
So, after the tanketeers were en-tanked (you don't know how tanking works), you all drove/flew/ran to the place with the thing, and what you did to those six unfortunate demons was, well… they probably welcomed being sent to Hell. You seemed to have avoided the C-rank curse this time, so everyone felt a little silly about the whole thing. You can't help but feel like you dodged a bullet.
You got to help an old lady carry her groceries, too, so that was nice.
"She... really lets her guard down when she sleeps." Explained Magical Girl Goddess White. "And I sometimes use magic in my sleep, so this stuff just... happens."
You stare incredulously at her for a minute.
"This... isn't the first time this happened." She confessed. "Just the first time it's happened to her."
You turn to stare at the tiny, adorable form of Rei Mitsubishi, who is glaring at you and her sister from her place in Truth's lap.
You are Nep- I mean, Anastasia Boheart, Magical Girl Solid Core, and your owner/surrogate Big Sister has been Chibified.
It all happened last night, after San sleep-walked into Rei's bed and snuggled up to the two of you. For once, both you and Rei were enjoying a good, restful sleep so you barely even noticed her arrival.
You only noticed something was amiss after you woke up and saw the tiny, still sleeping Rei in front of you and Goddess White right behind her, snuggling up to her now-little sister with a smile on her face, fast asleep.
When your mind finally woke up enough for you to register the sight before you, you immediately jumped back and squeaked in surprise, which woke up the other two girls on the bed. The ruckus that followed quickly brought the rest of Team Gear in, who only added to the confusion. Then Truth joined in when she noticed the commotion coming from your tent, which led to your current situation.
Truth, smiling happily while she snuggled an adorable Ten year old Goddess Gold, who was glaring daggers at everyone in the room... well, her current form and position made it look more like she was pouting, really.
The rest of Team Gear, who quickly decided this was too amusing to interfere and had started clening teir equipment in strategic positions around the room so they could see his trainwreck happen with some degree of plausible deniability. You were pretty sure you caught Gabriel taking pictures when she thought no one was looking.
And finally, You and San, standing awkwardly in front of Rei.
"You really need to get this shit under control, San." Spoke the adorable engine of Mass Destruction.
San just looked away, face red with embarassment and muttering something under her breath. Truth, meanwhile, frowned and hugged Rei a bit tighter.
"Now now, you shouldn't use that kind of language young lady!" She chided. "Little girls aren't allowed to use words like that!"
Rei turned to look Truth in the face, her expression filled with fury. "Who the hell is a little girl here you crazy bitch? Now just let me go already!"
Unfortunately for Rei, her angry face just had the opposite effect on her captor. Before she could struggle to get free, Truth tightened her hug further, squishing the Strongest Magical Girl against her breasts, and squealed in glee.
"Aww, your angry face is so cute!" She said. "There's no way big sis will let you go!"
Rei sputtered indignantly, her face so red with anger and embarassment it looked like all her blood had gone to her face. "Y-y-you're gonna pay for this, you hear me?! I will have my vengeance you crazy siscon bitch!"
You tore your gaze away from the shenanigans happening before your eyes and turned to speak with San.
"Are you sure we can't dispel the effect or something?" You asked. "What if we need to deploy soewhere? She can't go out there like this."
San shook her head. "No, if we dispel it there's a chance the magic will destabilize and she'll get stuck like that for good." She explained, and then shrugged. "Besides, she hasn't gotten any weaker in this form, the change is entirely physical and her magic's unaffected."
You nodded. "Then how long will she be like this?" You gestured back to Rei, who was struggling to free herself from Truth's affectionate clutches.
San closed her eyes and hummed, deep in tought. "I'd say... around a day." Rei stopped struggling and looked at her sister, horrified. "Maybe a day and a half." She added.
Rei had stopped moving entirely, her face shocked. Truth took the opportunity to get a better grip on her and started humming happily.
By this point, Team Gear had dropped all pretenses and were openly enjoying the show. Sam had even got a bowl of popcorn from somewhere and was happily snacking, and Gabriel was constantly taking photos too.
You frowned and looked down at the floor, one hand tapping your chin, thinking of how to handle this situation.
You'd need to call the Commander and tell him that Rei was undisposed for duty, of course. Then you'd need to see if she wanted anything from the mess hall, since you doubted she'd want to be seen like that.
You glanced at Rei, who was staring at the floor in resignation while Truth hugged her and hummed a song you found faintly familiar. You were honestly getting a bit jealous now.
A wicked smile slowy spread through your face as an idea entered your mind. You looked at San and found her wearing the exact same smile a you, with a wicked glint in her eyes.
It seems both of you had the exact same idea.
You turned to Gabriel and nodded at her to get her attention. She looked at you in confusion, which turned to embarassment when she noticed you looking at the camera. You smiled at her, which caused her to visibly relax, then you motioned in Rei's direction with your head. She looked confused and pointed at her camera with a finger, causing you to widen your smile and nod in response.
Gabriel saluted you, having accepted her mission, and then you looked at San and nodded to her. It was time to put your plan in action.
It was time for the Little Sisters to get their revenge.
You and San approached Truth and you quickly snatched Rei away from her grasp. Both of them looked at you in surprise, Truth from her seat and Rei still held aloft in your arms.
"That wasn't very nice of you, Truth." You chided the other Magical Girl.
Rei gave you a look of gratitude, only to freeze when she saw the grin on your face. In desperation, she looked at her younger sister for help, but there was no salvation for her there either.
"That's right, you shouldn't hog her all to yourself!" San said with an expression of annoyance on her face but an amused glint in her eyes. "We want to enjoy our little sister too, you know!"
You set Rei down on the floor, careful to make sure you, San and Truth were in the way of any possible escape routes.
Rei looked between the three of you in horror, from your and San's matching grins to Truth's dawning look of understanding.
You kneel down to eye level and San quickly joins you, your sister in arms smiling warmly at Rei, who looks terrified.
"We're going to have looo~ts of fun today Little Sis!" San says.
You just smile happily and pat your new little sister in the head, who shivers in response.
You can hear the sound of a shutter closing repeatedly as Gabriel immortalizes this moment in a photograph. You're probably going to pay for this tomorrow, you muse, but you regret nothing. As you watch Rei's face flush with embarassment, you decide that as far as you're concerned, this is totally worth the pain.
Red lines draw your attention away from your futile attempts at recognition, tracing complex lines and circles around you. You are mildly worried, but the fugue of sleep prevents you from acting on it before the pattern is complete. It flashes once, a deep red, and then your bonds disappear. Three concentric circles, three sigils repeating, just like in your dreams...
You crumple to the floor, unexpected weakness turning an easy two meter fall into a bone jarring tumble. Your ankle hurts, and your heart thumps loudly in your chest: you feel as if you hadn't moved in weeks. When you look back up, your surroundings have changed. Gone is the dank cavern, and in its place a castle. The carved marble bricks of the corridor, still smooth and black, extend indefinitely, curving out of sight. Hateful, ever-changing light extends halfway across the hall, streaming in from thin windows to your left. You know not to touch that light...
You turn your head to those windows from your place in the shadows, curious, and are stunned by the incredible sight; dusky mountains far in the distance ring a wind swept plain, the lights of a small village surrounded by coniferous trees far below serving as a counterpoint to the incredible tapestry of twinkling stars above. You can't help but let out a miniscule gasp at the gothic beauty laid out before you.
You know instantly that you've made a huge mistake.
The sheer menace from behind you reduces you to a panicked animal, sprinting and stumbling along the cold stone as fast as your weakened legs will let you. You weave around thin pillars in an effort to avoid the light, not wishing to be seen. Your lungs burn, sucking in air greedily, the noise surely spurring whatever chases you on. The few details you can glean without looking behind you burn themselves into your mind.
It is fast. The muffled thuds of soft leather boots skitter across the ground like a staccato rhythm, unnaturally paced. Animalistic. Hisses and snarls form an irregular counterpoint to its steps, like a rabid beast. And it is getting closer. No matter how you push your body, it gains, until you fancy you can feel its breath on your neck. And when the stench—
The smell of blood and rot makes you choke and stumble, and it pounces, before you can recover. Long claws grasp your shoulders, and you tumble forward, rolling with this thing, a confusing grapple that leaves you skidding to a stop in the middle of the baleful, crimson glare of the bloody moon, and all of its tinted stars, staring up at the monster crouched over your prone form.
Her nails are long and sharp, immaculate like they only rarely were in life. Spidery fingers, achingly familiar, dig them into the thin silk sleeping gown you don't remember putting on. Her coat is leather, clean and thick, but your disturbed mind can only come up with the fact that she looks kind of like she's wearing a pirate outfit, one of those aristocratic ones with the tricorn hat, ruffled white shirt, and folded leather boots. You are only vaguely aware of the long cutlass that hangs down from her side, because all of your attention is on her face.
Her hungry face, with its sharp cheekbones, and corpse-pale skin, and long, raspy hair...
Her beautiful face, with its high cheekbones, smooth white skin, and lavender hair that extends to her chest...
Your sisters face, with her cheekbones, and her skin, and her curtain of hair that she always kept out of her eyes with those funny hair clips of hers...
She looks down, her red eyes filled with guilt, and her fanged mouth open in horror at what she nearly did.
You look up, torn between terror and hope, fear and recognition and the thinnest needle of love all apparent on your face, before your tired, frail body (when did you grow so weak?) and the tide of emotions drag you under the edge of consciousness, into the embrace of dreamless sleep.
The walls of this place have changed, reconfigured to a different theme through unthinking grief and immortal will. This throne room, a vast hall, is walled with great windows, the highest room of the tallest tower in the great castle located on the cliff over the village below.
A great river flows over the waterfall and into that village, black waters rippling under the capricious moonlight, feeding the forest that fills the valley. The mountains are hard and sharp, circling 'round this nocturnal kingdom. All illuminated by the unchanging sky and its ominous light.
Servants shift in the shadows, unseen and barely heard, about their duties. They know not to disturb their mistress in her lamentations, or to descend to the lower levels, where the castle is different and the knights walk in black, wet armor. The howl of the wind is loud enough, without any further complications.
The moon hangs above the throne, casting sharp shadows with the edges, unable to see who therein lays. The lady of the tower weeps bloody tears over the sister she cradles in her arms; of grief or joy, none can tell.
They pool at the foot of the throne, and though she could never touch her beloved sibling she thirsts...[/color][/color]
-/LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED\-
Your bed isn't uncomfortable. It's not comfortable, either, but it fails to give you any impetus to move to a new location. So you don't.
The bed protests as a shadow engulfs you. You don't look up, but this shadow makes you feel safe, in a distant, muted sort of way. It's a feeling that deserves some kind of response, so you allow gravity to pull you towards Gabriel's side.
"Hey," she says. "Rough week, huh?"
That, on the other hand, isn't worth any acknowledgement. You are absolutely not in the mood to be cheered up; you never are, when you need it the most. Which should some kind of hint, but you're not in the mood for taking hints either.
"Uh oh," someone else says. You open your eyes to see that it was Mike talking, awkwardly leaning against his bed in a crouch. Sam and James were there, too. When did they get there? "Someone else take over, she's crashing and burning already."
That's a little unfair, you think. Gabriel was just doing her best. She wraps an enormous arm, terrifying in it gentleness, around your shoulder. Almost against your will, you raise your head.
"Anastasia," James says. You could hug him for that already; you weren't feeling like a Nepgear right now. You weren't feeling much of anything, now that the monsters were all dead and even your hate shrunk to a directionless simmer. You stare at James, and you aren't sure what he sees in return but it must be something because he remains silent.
As you haven't spoken in the past hour, you decide to keep your thoughts to yourself just a bit longer.
You try not to dwell on the helplessness you felt, surrounded by darkness and fear with your own mind turned against you. It's surprisingly easy, though your nightmares might disagree. It will never happen again; you're indestructible now, for all that you can still be hurt.
The pain that had been inflicted upon you by… the Spawn of Mayhem, first, had filled you with thoughts of revenge since the instance you had become a magical girl. Even without Rei, you're sure you would have fought the Unified Darkness one way or another, for all that your desire for vengeance rarely intersected with your daily life. But there had always been a note of conflict in that. Your motives weren't pure. Shouldn't a magical girl be better than that? Shouldn't a person be better than that?
Keeping his gaze on your face, James continues. "I know it's the cliché thing to say that words aren't enough, but I disagree. I think they can help." He leans forward. "I'll start with this; we saved the world."
Heh. Even if you couldn't save your sister, there was still that. Such a victory could only be tainted so much by suffering. You had learned something, too.
It wasn't a just a Spawn of Mayhem anymore, or a Nightmare. The Unified Darkness were the bad guys, as you'd been told your whole life. You never questioned it, either, because duh. They'd invaded your planet and ruined your life, just like so many sacked countries and broken lives throughout history.
Well. Not exactly. The desperate wickedness in the human heart was nothing compared to the evil that ate them, you had come to believe. There were people like your friends, who were good and noble and true. There were people like San, who had done bad things, even monstrous things, maybe. Then there were monsters, and monsters needed to die.
Because there were too many people that needed to be saved, if nothing else, James would never be wrong about that.
"Yes," Samael nods vigorously. "What he said."
"Thank you," you say. You resolve is greater than ever, you think, and that means you're just a bit less faded. Being told you're a hero doesn't do much for your mood, though. It's having friends that care enough to tell you that makes the difference. You can't tackle-hug them with Gabriel's arm around you, and you wouldn't do it regardless. That kind of enthusiasm wouldn't be as genuine as it deserved to be right now.
Absolutely nothing restrains you from adding surprise affection ambushes to your mental checklist, though. When you're feeling better.
Mike shakes his head, but he's smiling. "Start? That was like, four words. Hey, Gabriel, I liked your story better. Tell it again."
So you learn how an angel was born. The world is huge, full of countries and ideas and so many people that they aren't people anymore. You've only seen parts of it. But you've been on a school bus before, with stuffing peeking from broken leather and whatever it was that made the back seat the most desirable. Someone's sister could be riding in a school bus, you think, and you saved one.
As Gabriel finishes her story, you squeeze her arm and stand up. You don't particularly want to go anywhere, but you especially don't want to keep sitting on your bed. It's a bit of a relief that you don't have to decide.
"So, what do you guys want to do?" you ask.
Mike hauls himself to his feet as the other two climb off of their beds. "Well," Sam says, "I heard there's some cantaloupe in the cafeteria today. I mean, I hate cantaloupe, but if that's your thing… also there's fries."
That startles a laugh out of you. And, no matter how unexpected, laughs mean that there's no excuse to skimp on the hugs. So you tackle him, giving him no chance to resist. Then you bounce to Gabriel, and her timid hug gives way to a more crushing one.
As Sam slides back up, James wraps you in a team GEAR sandwich. Mike smirks at you from near the doorway.
Mike, you think, is one of those people who acts like they don't like hugs. He's also probably a person who legitimately isn't really a hugger, but he puts up with it because you're sad and adorable.
The cantaloupe is actually nothing worth mentioning. Neither is the rest of your day. You're just a perfectly average Magical Girl team with an angel on it doing perfectly average things, and it's exactly what you need. You aren't bursting with happiness, but you're content and you're safe.
As you collapse on your bed that night, shifting to find a more comfortable spot, you hear the thumps and creaks of your teammates, your friends, doing the same. It's dark, and you don't really feel like you should be smiling so soon, but your lips are curled regardless.
Sega dodged frantically as Father Gascoigne's axe tore through the space she'd occupied mere moments ago.
"Stop! I don't want to fight you!" she cried desperately. Gascoigne's only answer was to try to take her head from her shoulders.
She jumped back to avoid the next two swipes, then jabbed at his knee with her cane in an attempt to disable him. He knocked aside her strike and pistol whipped her, making her stumble back, stunned.
Gascoigne took advantage of her opening and charged forward, dragging his axe across the ground in a spray of sparks, leading into an upward swing that met Saga's hastily interposed weapon and tossed her bodily through the air.
She cried in pain as she impacted one of the tombstones littering the area in clusters, and barely manage to roll out of the way before Gascoigne's axe came down like a guillotine.
She fired off a hasty burst from her gun, the quicksilver bullets slamming into Gascoigne like stinging hail. It only made him flinch for half an instant, but it was enough to allow her to scramble to her feet.
She backed away. This was impossible! She couldn't fight him, he was too strong! There was now way she could win. She was going to die here.
Still, though, she set aside plenty of time to watch anime, hang out with her WEAPONs, or just curl up in a nice hammock. She understood the importance of people, and she understood the importance of relaxation.
Magical Girl had helped to save the world, or close enough as to make no difference.
As the world, Gaia tended to appreciate that kind of thing.
Rest well, child. No more nightmares will disturb you this night.
XXXXX
Before Magical Girl Solid Core even opened her eyes, she knew that she was safe. She felt as if she were on a bed of clouds. This was probably because, she determined, she was actually on a bed of clouds. Looking above herself, she saw that the clarity blue sky was interrupted only by the occasional beautiful rainbow. She stood up, giggling at the bounciness beneath her feet. She saw bubbles erupting from a hole in the ground a few feet away, and she made her way towards them. The clouds beneath her acted as a trampoline. She would have liked to share the experience with Sega, she thought, but her mind gently turned away as she caught a bubble between her hands. It burbled at her happily before it popped, reappearing in the distance.
Nepgear paused, looking around. There was probably something that needed to be done, something necessary or productive, but no. She immediately realized that there was nothing more important than doing exactly what she wanted; chasing that bubble. It made a taunting loop in the air as it dashed away.
Glitter erupted from her feet as she dashed after it, the clouds solidifying in accordance with her will. She looked ahead at the bubble's most probably path. The candy corn mountains were in the distance, and the soda streams slithered down to where she ran. She could probably trap it against the Wall Made of Really Cool Swords, where it couldn't escape without fear of popping itself.
An instant later, both she and the bubble were near the Wall, though Nepgear paid the translocation no heed at all. Then, of course, the bubble floated right into a sword and popped.
Nepgear gasped.
Hearing a tinkling sound, she turned to see the bubble turn pink and blue and yellow mockingly.
"I'll get you yet!" she shouted. It was mostly bravado, though. How could she catch something that could escape at any time? She took to the air, not noticing that she was flying at a much greater speed than usual, but the bubble simply whizzed away.
The bubble blinked at her.
Of course! She had to make it come to her of its own volition. But what did she have that it wanted? Further study of bubbles would be required.
She was back at the bubble geyser. Bubbles erupted from the cloud, rose a few dozen feet, changing color and sparkling all the while, dancing with each other, and eventually popping to start all over.
It gave her an idea.
"Hey, guys!" she said. "Want to help me catch that troublemaker?"
One of the bubbles broke off from the rest, and Nepgear noticed that it was very pretty. All the boy bubbles were probably floating all over themselves to get her attention- was it a she?
"I'm sorry," Nepgear said. "I don't know what pronoun to refer to bubbles by."
The bubble winked at her that it was okay.
"Right. Then let's go!"
Putting on her most determined face, she rocketed back to where the rogue bubble was, her newest companion orbiting her happily. There it was; right on the other side of the soda stream. It was hovering more cautiously now. Ha!
"Hey," she called. "This lovely lady can't go on a date with you if you stay over there, you know."
The girl bubble blinked in protest, then consideration, then acceptance. The rogue bubble crossed the river, and then they were back at the geyser.
All of the bubbles shone in happiness that their companion had reunited with them, and Nepgear nodded with pride.
"Right," she said. "Magical Girl Solid Core, away!" Then she flew into the sky in a Superman pose.
Empty darkness. A vast space. The floor is smooth. The air is still. Your robe is hooded and veiled, sleeves extending far past your arms like a monk, or a wraith. It is cut from soft, thick cloth, as are the wrappings around your feet. You are blindfolded. A necklace with a single bead hangs around your neck.
Sounds echo oddly in this place. A drip of water is amplified into a crashing roar that flattens unnaturally quickly. The squeal of a bat becomes a monstrous, screeching cry, before it is abruptly cut off. Four skittering clicks turn into the scraping impacts of sword on stone; They are not repeated. In comparison, your small shufflings forward are utterly quiet, and for that you are glad.
You move timidly, until you reach an obstruction. Further examination with your sleeves reveals it to be a wall, or something like enough to make no difference, and you gain a small measure of confidence as you follow it to the left. It is as smooth as the floor, save for the occasional openings. Light currents of air blow through those, and you hurry past them.
The noises grow quieter as you move forward, your feet shaking less as you fail to run into anything. The openings are becoming less frequent, but the wind is not. As a result, you can feel the air silently press your robes against you when you pass. Your pendant chills with every step.
The wall has fallen away, you cannot remember when. The wind would disturb the cloth that enshrouds your form, but that would be too loud, would disturb this place. No sound is permitted, yet the air moves as if in a gale. The singular bead around your neck feels like a lump of ice, if the liquid it used to consist of was normally a gas.
The path is thinning out, becoming a ledge, you think. You don't care to check. You can feel the wind blow on you as if you crossed a mountain pass. The only way is forward. Everything is cold, and you are thankful for the thickness of your robes.
You finally stumble into a hollow. The wind stops, and the air warms. Your necklace is gone. A wall surrounds you on all sides, but instead of the smooth stone you are accustomed to it is rough. Your fingers, through your sleeves, trace the same pattern again and again.
You jump, tumbling off of the couch and hitting your head on the coffee table. With a mewling whine, you clutch your head, definitely awake. Serves you right for watching an all-night movie marathon, though. You glance at the clock, and then receive another rush of adrenalin to accompany your first shock of the day: you've only got ten minutes to prepare for school!
As you rush about the house, you hum an unfamiliar tune. A tune that sounds like—
Your thought process is brought to a halt as you round the aisle and run face first into someone standing by the rack of on-sale bakery products.
"O-oh, sorry, I didn't see you there," You say, stumbling back, before you get a look at the person you just ran into.
"Not a issue, not an issue." The leader of the Unified Darkness waves you off distractedly, too focused on the packs of pastries before him. Before you can escape, he pauses and turns an eye toward you. "Tell me, child, which do you believe are a better value, the sticky bean buns or the strawberry danishes? There are more bean buns to a package, but the danishes are 25% Off for today only."
You gape in confusion at the figurehead of evil asking you for shopping advice, before for managing to stutter out an answer. "I-I-I, U-u-uh, d-discounts are always good?"
The Dark Lord turns his gaze back to the rack of sweets before him. "Hmmm... Yes, indeed, I do believe you are right!" He grabs a package of danishes and drops it into the shopping basket held in the crook of his elbow. "Thank you, young one, you have saved me from a terrible conundrum." He says, patting you on the head.
He reaches into the folds of his robe and withdraws what appears to be an ancient flip-phone made of purple chitin, with a staring, bloodshot green eye in place of a screen. "Here," her says, pressing the abomination into your hands, "Should you ever find yourself in a similar situation, do not hesitate to call." He says with a close-eyed smile.
As he moves off to continue his shopping, humming happily, you are left to stare down at the hellphone in your hand, one single thought running through your mind on repeat.
'The Dark Lord gives really good headpats.'
-/LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED\-
The Unified Light had begun their offensive, ever sense Earth, the Akashic Pillar had joined the Unified Darkness had been put on the back foot. Earth's fortress level of nearly impregnable defenses, their several mercenary companies, and elite agents changed the battlefield to the United Light's favor. With Earth's help any land taken was secured against anything short of a major offensive, and their elite agents and mercenary companies launching sabotage missions and raids to bring more areas under their control. Among which the greatest is Militaires Sans Frontieres, or MSF, they have squads deployed all along the front with some sort of giant mecha seen fighting as well. Rumor has it that they have some sort of legendary soldier leading them, but you can't quite remember the name… it was something Boss.
You headed over to the command bunker to find out what the current plans would be due to the arrival of the angels.
There were three groups on par with an Angel, and two of them come from Earth. Magical Girls, and Fox Operatives. And while all three of them grew stronger with more around, only Fox Operatives could keep up with the force projection of a Flight, albeit through their sabotaging abilities as a Fox Team can literally bring an entire front to a standstill. Rumor had it that the earliest example of a Fox Operatives Squad was in World War II, and directly led to the Allies' victory over Germany.
You walk in to hear the Commander announcing plans to assign both a rookie Angel, and Fox Operative to your team. Honestly, considering the past missions you've been on having both an Angel and Fox Operative would be a huge relief.
A quick glance at the holo-map reveals the current focus is on the D9-9 and D9-8 Fronts, with Hope and Reluxus holding the supply lines to each respectively. The commander grunts and you look away from the map and towards him, as Truth chuckles at your predicament.
"Team Gear, Shiva is on the move. We suspect their target to be one of our research facilities, be ready to move out when we figure out which one. Unfortunately they've somehow managed to figure out ways of getting around our defensive lines, and currently all Fox Operative Squads are deployed."
"…Shiva?" you awkwardly ask.
Before Truth speaks up the commander replies, "A member, officially, of the Unaligned Front but they clearly have their own plan. Any further questions should be asked of your comm operator in your free time. Dismissed."
You and Truth quickly depart, and you overhear the commander and angel start chatting like old war buddies, and head to your tents and bed.
You keep your gun pointed at her, but you give diplomacy one last try. You aren't as adorable as Nepgear, but you like to think you have your own roguish charm. Or at least your mom thought you were cute. "Do you really want to work with the people that hurt your sister using your face?" Wait, no, that was actually kind of provocative…
Her mouth widens, but it isn't in a smile. "I haven't forgotten. Believe me. But…" She shakes her head slightly. "Better scared than dead, right? So I won't hurt you too badly~"
She moves - no time for a plan - she's in your face before you duck around and behind her. Though a member of Team GEAR is on every side of her, you feel as if you're the one surrounded. Gabriel deflects Sega's sword with her own, though not without a grimace. You're going to have to tell Nepgear you shot her sister in the back, you think, because it's that kind of day. After taking a step to the left, you fire, for all the good it does. You feel a wave of power caressing you in a completely heterosexual way.
Over the roar of your gun and his own, Michael shouts. "Dammit, girl, you're being mind controlled!" Really, man? On the other hand, you just sort of assumed it wouldn't work, so it might be nice to- Sega jerks.
She dodges around your next volley of bullets as easily as ever, but she isn't trying to hit Gabriel anymore.
Encouraged, Samael joins in, "Fight it!"
Sega glances over and starts to move- you glide a few steps and shove your gun right in where her face will be and fire.
"Guess mind control isn't as easy to break as that, huh," you say. She jerks again- but she spins around before Gabriel's sword can touch her.
"Mind control," Michael says. "You are being. Mind controlled. There are so many strings on you I don't even know where to start counting. You're being mind controlled."
She's just sort of… standing there. "Keep it up," you say. He does so.
"Okay," you say. It's a bit of a silly weakness to have, you think, but you'll take anything you can get. "Gabriel, you grab Nepgear so we can get- ohshit."
Without all of your focus, the edge of Sega's sword nicks you before you can escape. It will heal. "Huh?" she says. "Oh, wait, you guys must be Team GEAR that-"
"That brand is controlling you," Gabriel says, her face now looking only a quarter destroyed. "Darkness is corrupting your thoughts."
Sega looks disoriented, but only a bit, "Look, I don't know what you guys are into, but keep it down around-"
Michael resumes his mantra, and she stops talking.
"It's adapting," you say, as if it weren't obvious. You unclip your radio and set it on the ground; these things are almost more useful than guns. "Mike, keep talking. When we leave the room, use your radio." You walk over and haul the nearest magical girl, Hero, on your shoulder. You glance nervously at Sega. "Do the thing, and let's… do the thing." Gabriel, as the strongest, gently picks up the most valuable cargo, and Samael hoists Goddess White. Michael keeps talking, but he looks pretty annoyed about it by now.
As quickly as you can, you back out of the room.
You bump in to far too many xenomorphs, but you mostly make it out alive. Except for Maiden of the East, who only Gabriel seems upset about, and Angel, which is a damn shame. You leave plenty of corpses strewn about most of the dungeon, but the only evidence of your presence in Nepgear's chamber are bits of metal, bloodstains, and a squawking radio.
"Fuck," it says. "Next time you do it, James. I can't even think of anything but mind control now." The radio cuts out.
Back in the room, Sega blinks. "Guys, where'd you go?" She looks around. "Little sis?"
The room explodes in a burst of light, but there's no one left to fight.
H: "Alright now what happens when things get blown up?"
E: "They break."
H: "... They fly off into little bits that can hit people."
E: "Huh. And?"
H: "You don't... see anything you could do about that?"
E: "Don't get blown up?"
H: "..." "What about, maybe making it easier to blow things up away from you?"
E: "That's crazy, how would we light it on fire then? Our fire arrows can't reach that far."
H: "... maybe you could delay a fire starting?"
E: "Ohhh, get a wizard to do it!"
H: "..." *Sigh* "Without a wizard"
E: "... I've got nothing."
H: "Alright think, if your fire arrows can't reach it, and you can't use magic... how else can you set up gunpowder to go off at a distance. You need fire to do it."
E: "... ah, if I set the forest on fire, but then... that'd just burn up the enemies anyway, so that'd make the gunpowder pointless."
H: "..."
-/LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED\-
The air is filled with tension. You and Gabriel stare at each other from opposite sides of the field, waiting for the other to make the first move. Your team watches from the sidelines, their uncharacteristic silence only stressing you further. You wish again that you were transformed; it's not like you even had muscles anymore, so exercise was completely useless except as a way to build skill.
Why did you even agree to this—Oh, yes, you remember now:
Rei looks down at you from her place on your bed (that you're standing doesn't help you), glaring. "And just why did somebody who could fly fall into a pit trap?" All you can do is meep, and stutter that you weren't expecting it. Her fingers pinch the bridge of her nose, and she sighs. "Then learn to expect it. Spar with Gabriel in your untransformed state, she's fast enough for that sort of thing."
After that oddly specific command, you went to find the rest of your team... Only to encounter them all already at the training grounds, ready to 'help your reflexes', bringing you to the present.
You snap out of your flashback, gaze changing from one staring blankly ahead and a little to the right into one focused on your opponent... who had taken your spaced out features as the opening they were, and made it three quarters of the distance to you in a flash. As the incredibly huge Angel barreled down on you, fist drawn back, all you could do was flinch and—
*flumpf*
Eh? Your thoughts begin to work at a normal pace, as you try and figure out what just happened. Gabriel was coming down at you like the fist of god, and then... Something. A flash of white. And now you're in your bed, with your silky covers over your eyes. Huh, you don't remember tucking them in, so why are they so tight? You try to push them off, but they're too tight for your noodly arms, leaving you helpless. You can't even see anything. All you can do is lay back into your warm mattress and wonder what happened. Your very warm mattress. Your very warm mattress which has its own heartbeat. Oh.
You replay the moment in your mind with the new information. Gabriel was coming towards you, fist cocked back, and then... That flash of white. It must have been her wings. She hugged you with them. But, if she hugged you with them, then why wasn't she letting you down now? She won. A voice from above you, but which you could feel reverberate through her chest, interrupts your musings.
"I'm sorry, Anastasia, but this is for your own good," Gabriel says apologetically. For your own good? What was she talking about? "I'm not letting you down until we can get your sister cleared and watching over you. It's obvious that whatever she was doing to keep you out of trouble before is vastly more effective than anything we can come up with, and if we leave you alone for five seconds you'll probably run into a greater demon hiding in the toilet or something. This is the only way we can keep you safe."
She was grounding (winging?) you? Really? You try to complain, but her fluffy angel feathers muffle your open mouth, and you end up just licking them in protest. They taste like sunshine.
Gabriel must have heard your half-prayer, because her wings smoothly slide around you for a bit and your head is uncovered. You look up at her face (...well, no, you try and fail, a number of factors preventing you from establishing a clear line of sight to her eyes, but you're sure that she understood the sentiment) and pout. She sighs. Your big, wibbly eyes are turned next towards your teammates, who are all shuffling around, shame on their faces. You can vaguely make out Rei in the background, expressing just a hint of regret that she quickly buries under her standard queenly countenance. You've got nothing that can adequately express your emotions, not with them looking away from you.
You lay in your gravity nullifying prison (you can't feel anything pulling you down, only inwards. Maybe it was how her wings let her fly? In any case, it wasn't so much hanging in a sleeping bag as being trapped in a gravity defying bed, such that looking straight up in normal circumstances instead angled your head objectively forwards), ensconced below her sternum, and resign yourself to the extended hug. At least your team does you the courtesy of bringing you your Miso soup in your tent, complete with silly straw, so that they don't have to take you to the mess hall and spoon feed you there.
Gabriel is good for naps, too. Always a silver lining.
-/LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED\-
Mazalker, Lord of a tiny piece of hell, had been having a good day up until he met that fucking girl. It had been an easy assignment, too. Conquer some little Angelic backwater, kill everyone on it, open a path straight to the heart of False Heaven. Piece of cake. Then he had the misfortune of being near one of the humans' so called "Magical Girls." They were a pain in the ass, sure, but he'd tussled with some before and they only caused slightly more annoyance than those normal humans. But this one was different, apparently.
It had come after him specifically, which was unusual. Generally if they were being deployed this far from home they were smart enough to know not to fuck with Demon Lords, as even lesser ones like him could fuck up their fancy tanks and planes and shit. The only ones who would were the most powerful, and this little fairy looking girl hadn't been on any of the lectures he had attended over "Names and Faces of Magical Girls that Running Away From with all Haste is a Good Choice for Survival." So he assumed she was stupid.
Then when fighting her, not a damn thing he did left a scratch, while she tore up his armor and skin like a pack of hellhounds. So he'd gotten angry. And made his big mistake. He used his Corrupt Beam, which he had, in fact, seen cut through a mountain. And then the little bitch EXPLODED. It looked and felt like one of those nuke things the humans had. The blast left him as charred and smoking fifty feet from where he had started. As the smoke cleared, he looked over and saw the girl looked like hell. He was happy that if he was going to be crippled for until he could be healed, that at least she would be dead. And then the unthinkable happened. She started healing. In a few seconds, she was capable of standing without swaying. In another few, she was fine. She turned towards him, and looked pretty pissed about it. So, with his last remaining strength, he got to his feet, and swung at her with all his might. It barely cut her skin.
As she kicked him off of her, he had enough remaining life to ask a question.
"Why...Why won't you die?"
He remembered her reply for his remaining four seconds of life. She was smirking as she said it.
"Indestructible Core, son."
And then he was disintegrated.
-/LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED\-
"So! You finally decided to show up for our rematch!" Shouted Magical Girl Judgement Core from where she stood on the other side of the training ground. "Here I thought you got cold feet now that you can't hit me with a cheap shot!"
You are Nep- I mean Anastasia Boheart, Magical Girl Solid Core, and it totally wasn't your fault you were late. It was just the day after you got back from your holiday at the beach with your team and everyone else from the beach, so you were still tired from the trip and all the... shenanigans that happened there. Then Rei atomized the alarm clock before it could wake either of you up, so you had to rush to get ready for this battle.
"Kick her ass, Nep!"
"Make your sisters proud, Nepgear!"
Speaking of Rei, she was currently cheering you on from the edge of the training field, her arms locked with Sega and both of them holding a paper megaphone. After a few mishaps during your trip they seemed to reach a mutual understanding and became fast friends. You were honestly really happy about that, but you did wish said understanding wasn't apparently based entirely on them working together to embarrass you at every opportunity.
Meanwhile, Team Gear had unfolded a huge banner inscribed with your name and a picture of a chibified you in a victorious pose and one foot atop a downed Judgement Core, and roped San into holding one of its ends while the rest of the team cheered you on. She gave you a small smile and you replied in kind. Your fellow little sister must be as embarrassed as you are with their shenanigans.
You look away from them and back to your opponent and oh dear that's a rather large cannon she's holding, isn't it?
"I'll teach you to pay attention to me, idiot!" She snarls, and fires the cannon. you barely have time to raise your blade before the beam hits you and the worlds turns white.
...It doesn't hurt much. Really, despite the size and brightness of the beam It feels like a bee stinging you, at worst. It soon dissipates, leaving you inside the trench it created when it disintegrated the ground in its way to you. You kinda just stand there awkwardly, blade still in place and smoking a little bit, waiting to see if Judgement Core does anything else.
"Well?! How does it feel to get hit by a surprise attack, huh?!" She screams. Wow, this girl can really hold a grudge, can't she?
You slowly move your blade to the side to get a better look at her. She's still looking at you from the sights of her huge cannon.
"Um... Are you done yet?" You ask and suddenly your team bursts into cheers.
"You tell her Nepgear!" You're pretty sure it was Sam who screamed that. "C'mon, show that overcompensating weirdo who's the boss!" And that was Michael. "Don't go too hard on her, Nepgear! We don't want to hurt her too bad!" And now Gabriel too?!
Their 'encouraging' words certainly seemed to work, just not on you. The barrel of Judgement Core's Cannon starts to glow even brighter than before, but at least you can block it properly this time. You swing your Panzer Blade down vertically just as the beam hits, your own attack unable to block the beam, but together with your Indestructible Core's defenses it managed to divert most of it to the sides and nullify the rest.
To those looking from the sides, it probably looked like you tried to cut the beam in half and succeeded, the destabilized streams of Magical Bullshit arcing to the sides and above you, hitting the ground behind you. You held your position for several seconds and kept your blade up when the beam dissipated, leaving behind several new craters on the training grounds.
"All right." You said, and you could see the blood draining from Judgement Core's face when she noticed you were completely unharmed. "I think it's my turn now."
You tilted the Panzer Blade down and fired a Purifier Beam aimed straight at her head before Team Gear and your sisters could start embarrassing you again. The girl barely had time to move before your own beam hit her and knocked her back several feet. She hit the ground and skidded for a bit, but you just raised your blade in preparation for whatever trick she had up her metaphorical sleeves.
After half a minute of silent anticipation where Judgement Core just kind of laid on the ground where she landed, you decided it should be safe enough to approach. You walked towards the downed Magical Girl slowly, with your guard still up and when she still didn't get up you deemed it safe enough to give her a gentle poke with your Panzer Blade. She only whimpered a bit.
"Um..." Oh Shit. "I think I hit her too hard! Can someone please call a medic?!"
As if in response to your panicked request, Judgement Core let out a groan and brought a hand to massage the spot where your attack hit. You kneel to get a closer look at her and she opens her eyes, looking directly into your own. You spend a moment looking at each other like that until she finally speaks.
"Are you a goddess?" She asks and, confused as you are, you mind goes straight to an old movie you watched with Sega and immediately blurt out the answer she drilled into your mind should anyone ask you that question.
"...Yes?" You say, and Judgement Core nods in response.
"Makes sense." She mumbles. "You're pretty like one." And a second later what she just said registers on your mind. On both of your minds, actually, because she blushes almost as hard as you must be blushing right now.
"I-I mean, I didn't- Do-don't misunderstand-" And whatever Judgement Core was going to say is lost on you as her sister shoves you away and starts fussing over her to check if she is alright.
And thus you're left awkwardly sitting on the ground of the ruined floor of the Training Area, victorious and utterly confused, The audience still speechless save for your sister who is laughing like a madman and saying something along the lines of 'Of course she takes after her sister in that as well' in between her guffaws.
"You guys, no, what are you doing here?!" A pink-haired girl calls to the two Magical Girls from where she hangs bound in the grip of The Evil Lord of Evil Badness.
"Don't worry Friendship, we'll save you!" Dream Heart calls back, and the Terrible Demon begins to laugh.
"GUAHAHAHA!!! Save her? How foolish!! You may have defeated my minions, but you could never hope to defeat Me, The Great Demon Lord POOMBAH!!!"
"GAAAAH!!!" The Terrible Foe howls as he topples over under an avalanche of sweets, losing his grip on his captive as he does so.
"Dream Discus!" Dream Heart calls, throwing her chakram to neatly slice the ropes on the falling girl before returning to her hand.
Now freed, the pink-haired girl lands lightly on her feet and spins to face the Awful Villain. "The bonds of friendship shine brightly! Their light reaches every soul! I am Magical Girl Friendship Heart! And we the Pretty Hearts will Defeat you, Demon Lord Poombah!
"NO, YOU WON'T!!!" The Horrible Monster roars as he rises up atop a wave of shadows, hands in wicked claws and eyes glowing red.
The three magical girls thrust their hands forward, the heart shaped gems on each of their outfits glowing brightly as they called out in unison: "Heart!Heart!Heart! MagicalGirlPrettyBEEEEEEEEAAM!!!"
A three-colored beam of light lances from the girl's palms, rushing toward toward the Demon Lord as he bears down on them atop his Wave of Shadows and-
*CLICK*
The TV screen shuts off, Sega's hand on the switch. "Time for bed."
"Noooo!" You cry, "I have to know how it ends! I've gotta see if the Pretty Hearts make it out okay!"
Sega stares you down for a moment, but none can stand before the terrible might of your wibbly eyes. "Alright, fine." she acquiesces, "But only this one episode. Now scooch over."
She flips the TV back on and sits down next to you, and you snuggle contentedly into your sister's side as the two of you watch Friendship Heart and her Team fight off the Forces of Evil (for significantly more than just the one episode).
Curious but cautious, you land a dozen yards or so away from her and proceed forward on ground, skirting around the remains of a storefront that had collapsed into the street. As you get closer, you're brought to a halt by the expression on her face. The tears of sorrow streaming down her cheeks are a stark contrast to the expression of utter fury in her eyes.
You speak up, "Hello...? Do you need help?", and her face twists to add hate to the myriad of emotions. When she finally begins speaking, it's a perfectly controlled tone despite the passion you're sure she's experiencing.
"I am Magical Girl Dream Heart. I'm here to make you pay for your crime." The flicker of confusion you feel must have shown on your face, because what little control the girl has over her emotions snaps like a spider's thread. "You don't even care about what you did, do you?! I saw it in my dreams! She saved your life, and you killed her! Candy... Candy's dead." She trails off, head bowed and shoulders shaking in restrained sorrow.
You barely notice, too busy reeling from the strike of her words. As you attempt to regather yourself, your response comes out halting and jumbled. "N-no... there was a demon and sh- the Goddess Red turned her into a- she, I didn't have-"
"No," she interrupts, raising her head and once more staring at you with unbound loathing. "It's your fault, and I am going to deliver justice! You're going to suffer like I am. And then I'll make sure that you can't do this to anybody else, ever again." With that, she pulls an ornate, disc-like weapon from her belt, and you tense, shifting into a stance more conducive to evasion.
However, instead of bringing it to bear to throw at you as expected, she holds it in front of herself with both hands, as if to ward off approaching evil. Then she announces loudly to the heavens, "Nightmare Circus!" and a pulse of golden energy suddenly erupts from her in all directions. Panicking, you immediately take to the air and advance in the opposite direction, but it's rapidly outpacing you.
It's too fast- there's no cover- you need to brace yourself- it's here-
-/LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED\-
You're woken by a light jostling. Drowsily, you raise you head to see that you're being carried piggyback through the ruins of the battlefield by Rei.
"Finally awake, sleeping beauty?" she turns her head to grin back at you. "What made you think that this wasted crater of a town was a good place to take a nap? Out in the open, even."
As you attempt to rub the daze out of your eyes, you answer, "There was a magical girl on my route, she..."
Your fault.
"She...?" Rei prods, but you're too busy scanning the area for the source of the whisper to finish the thought. Instead, "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
The response comes in the form of deep, rumbling growls emanating from the building ruins around you, followed by demon soldiers crawling out of every nook and cranny large enough to contain them. Enough pour out that you begin to wonder where they're all coming from, and how you hadn't managed to notice what's effectively a small army surrounding you.
There are so many demons around you, it's... actually, it's kind of underwhelming compared to the shit you've had to deal with. Not to mention the fact that you have a god in the flesh in your company. As you climb off her back and take position for combat, you glance at her and confirm that there is indeed a less-than-impressed expression on her face. "There is no possible way that this is premeditated," she announces. "It has to be a happy accident for them. There are so many things wrong with this plan that... just... You know what? Why don't you just use this to get some combat experience, Nep? I'll sit this one out and bail you out if one of these mooks somehow gets a lucky hit in." And with that, she unceremoniously flops onto the immediate pile of relatively smooth rubble.
... Right. Time for crowd control, you suppose. Or mass slaughter, if that particular wording is socially acceptable as long as it's demons. You turn to face the crowd and heft your Purifier Beam from your back, drawing it back in preparation for the longest sweep you can possibly make. "Celestial Severance!" As your swing bisects the crowd, the growth of your power is obvious. The first time you used this spell, you were only able to remove limbs at best, not-
As you're completing the arc of your swing, you suddenly hear a wet thud, accompanied by resistance like you've never felt before while swinging Celestial Severance. You turn to see your blade three-quarters of the way through Rei's chest, having pierced from the side and removing her right arm completely in the process. Her spine severed, the only thing holding her together is a few inches of flesh.
Rei looks down in incomprehension, then back at you and attempts to speak, though she fails due to separation from her lungs and the blood in her throat. Still, you're close enough to read her lips despite the liquid flowing freely and staining them crimson. Ana-? Her eyes finally glaze over, and you watch in dread as she slips backward off of her perch and collapses to the ground, your Purifier Beam still embedded in her torso, tugged from your slack grip.
You stand there for a few seconds, blind to what's left of the swarm of demons around you, numb with shock. How? How could this possibly happen?! It makes no sense! Rei's faced opponents tens of hundreds of times stronger than you without so much as a scratch!
... This can't be real. It's not real. This isn't happening. You'll wake up and Rei will be fine and please, please be a dream a nightmare YOU CAN'T LOSE ANOTHER SIS-
-/LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED\-
You jerk awake, and realize you're restrained to a seat. You panic for a moment, before realizing that what's holding you is merely the straps of a helicopter seat. The muted flutter of the blades heard above you and the occasional jostling of turbulence indicates that you're currently mid-transit. As you process your surroundings, relief floods you; it was just a nightmare. A horrible, horrible nightmare.
The rest of team GEAR are strapped in around you. The males are deeply engrossed in a conversation about the merits of boxers. Gabriel seems to be catatonic in her seat. Weird. You let the friendly, if somewhat intense debate calm you down, your heart rate slowing back to a slow and steady beat. Seven minutes later they've thoroughly discussed how snuggly they are and how they catch balls, and you still can't tell whether they're talking about the dogs, the underwear, or the sportsmen. God willing it's dogs, because there are less traumatizing ways to stumble upon your team's orientation, and you don't want to believe they would discuss men's private matters with a teenage girl sleeping nearby.
Micheal finally notices your conscious state and announces, "Our glorious leader awakens!", drawing the others' attention to you.
You blush lightly, and grumble out, "Sorry, I haven't been sleeping well lately... Um, where are we headed again?"
James chuckles good-naturedly. "Pretty out of it today, aren't you? Carnage wrecked the face of an army that was raiding and pillaging a city. Lord knows why they were doing it. Base sent us off to help her pick off the stragglers." Ah, that's right. And that's what your dream had been about, before the magical girl. Jeez, the day hasn't even started and you already want it to be over.
The pilot calls out to get your attention, "Alright, we're above our destination, tell me where you want... Whoa." Curiosity piqued, all of Team Gear unstraps and makes way to the nearest windows. Below you, hundreds of demons have gathered into a street, with more pouring out of the ruins every moment... it's an uncomfortably familiar scene.
Samael whistles appreciatively. "Damn. And that's just what left of them. They don't call Carnage an army killer for nothing." That prompts you into action; you snatch the radio from Micheal's belt.
"How do I- Carnage! Are you in range? Where are you?"
It's a few seconds before a response comes, accompanied by stereotypical radio static. "Solid Core? I'm skimming the outskirts right now."
You bite your lip. It'll take a while for her to cross that kind of distance, and though it's unlikely, there might still be living civilians in the area. Grimacing, you make a decision. "They've gathered downtown, I'll buy time until until you get here." With that, you toss the radio back at Micheal, then make your way to the hatch, and throw it open wide.
"Nepgear? What the hell..." What ever he said after that is lost to the wind as you leap out and begin your freefall. You transform in midair, tilting your wings to slow the fall, though only just enough to blunt the impact of slamming into the ground. You absorb the rest the momentum by bending at the knees, and finally come to a full stop in a crouching position. You take a half a moment to savor how badass that probably looked, before finally straightening up to a stand.
"Miss Boheart!" You look to the sky behind you just in time to see Gabriel mimic your previous action, colliding with the ground agilely, massive feathered wings flared behind her and glowing with ethereal light. Around her, loosed feathers drift to the ground, then shatter into nothingness like phantom glass. She looks up to see your pouting face. "...What?"
That isn't fair. Angel wings are so much more majestic than... what would your wings even be called? Rounded triangle wings? Energy moth wings? Lame. "Nothing," you deflect, turning away from a visibly perplexed Gabriel to assess your surroundings.
You've landed about a hundred yards from the nearest demon in the mass of violence and filth. Keeping distance and picking off from afar would probably be best, at least until Carnage arrives. The inaccuracy caused by long range won't really be a problem as long as they stay grouped up like that; after the initial vertical adjustment, you'd have to be trying to miss. And as long as caution is taken not to stray from the straight of the road, no civvies potentially hiding in the surrounding buildings will be caught up in friendly fire.
Course of action decided, you heft your weapon, pull the trigger, and start carving through the demon horde with an unending violet beam, slowly oscillating back and forth to spread the damage along the entire front. As you work, your eye drifting across the regained ground littered with fresh demon corpses, morbidly curious whether or not you'll spot the remains of victims, your gaze lands upon something that shocks you to stillness; an impossibly familiar pile of relatively smooth rubble, splattered with blood. You're close enough to read her lips despite the liquid flowing freely and staining them crimson. Ana-? Her eyes finally glaze over, and you watch in dread as she slips backward off-
"Ana!" The exclamation jolts you from recollection, and your white-handed grip slackens enough to release the trigger, allowing the laser to taper off and cease. You turn to find that Team GEAR has finally caught up to you. "Starting the party without us, Nepgear?" There's a manly pout on James's face, "I thought we were friends." You open your mouth to retort-
Your fault.
The disembodied whisper sends a chill down your spine, and your eyes widen in panic. Your mouth snaps shut without you uttering a word. You decide that this battle needs to be over yesterday, and that Team GEAR is leaving this particular area as soon as inhumanly possible—but these demons can't be left to their own devices. Is there any possible way to clear them out faster?
Yes, your instincts say, just... unleash.
You turn back to the mob. Your Purifier Beam had carved an alley through the center while you had been frozen, first by the concentration of the beam's focus, then by the crowd parting to escape the line of fire. This observation brings the bare bones of a plan into existence. An insanely reckless one, but one that will end this quickly without risking your team.
"Wait here!" you bark, and take off in a run before anyone can respond. As you charge, you recommence fire to keep the sea of demons parted. When you start closing in to the demons, you cease fire and draw your blade back, then swing mightily as you cross the threshold, shearing in half the demons that had tried striking out in anticipation of your approach. And suddenly, you're amidst them, and it's time to follow the instinctual feeling from earlier.
"Countdown start! Core Purge!" The sound of breaking glass fill the air, and you feel your armor literally disintegrate. Something inside of you begins rushing out of the metaphysical gap it leaves...
... But something isn't right. You hear gunfire, too close by for your liking, and turn to see Team GEAR at your back, in circle formation and facing outward, firing into the flesh on all sides. They followed you. "What are you doing here?!" you shriek. Why didn't they wait?! They needed to be kept safe! The whisper... Micheal glances at you from the corner of his eye with an expression that screams 'are you an idiot', and opens his mouth to speak,
And then there was Light, and things within a certain distance start disintegrating. All of the things. It was an instant, too fast for them to suffer or even realize, but for you it was all too slow. They were stripped of cloth, baring them to the world, then of skin, exposing muscle, then of flesh, leaving bone, then there was dust, and finally, nothing. Erased, leaving no evidence of their existence but displaced air. Gone. The same scene is being played out all around you, but you don't notice. You're too busy refusing reality and why did it do that?! That's not how it works! They—should—still—be—here!
... Except you have nothing to base that thought on. You've never done this before, you have no prior knowledge, it's just instinct which clearly couldn't be trusted. When the light finally fades, you're on your knees at the bottom of a crater. You feel shredded, both physically and not, despite never being touched once in that battle. No living thing, or even dead, in observable range. It's probably better that way.
"Solid Core!" Carnage...? how did she get here so soon? whoosh, thud thud. Right, dragon. You hear her approaching on foot behind you, sliding down the edge of the crater. "What happened here? Where are the demons? Or your team?" You sit there in silence for a few moments, during which she comes to a stand a few paces behind you. When you finally respond, the words are surprisingly easy. It likely has to do with the fact that you can't muster the will to feel much of anything right now. You answer the questions in order, one at a time.
"I killed them all. The demons... I killed them all. And my friends..." When you turn to face her, whatever she sees causes her to take a step back in instinctual fear.
"I killed them all."
-/LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED\-
Usually, waking up from a nightmare for you is a sudden jolt, lashing out at the phantom cause of your fear, or else a wash of utter relief that it was just a fantasy. As you gaze up at the ceiling of the tent, the world still bathed in the shadows of predawn, all you feel is empty.
After about an hour that feels like an eternity, you feel your bed-mate shift beside you, and you turn your head numbly in her direction. "Rei..."
Eyes still closed, she mumbles, "Mnnn... g'mornin, Nep," and proceeds to let out a jaw-cracking yawn. Finally opening her eyes, her gaze lands on you, and you're suddenly embraced in a soft, warm, protective hug. "What's wrong, Ana?" she whispers, all traces of drowsiness vanished. "Why are you crying?" Encompassed in comfort, concern, and care, the dam that held back everything but silent tears collapses, and everything rushes out in a deluge of wails, hiccups, and sniffles, with nigh-incoherent words of attempted explanation bestrewn throughout.
Displaying admirable fluency in snot-speak, likely the result of being the eldest of four sisters, Rei parses your frankly hysterical utterances adeptly, and begins whispering sweet assurances into your ear, "Shhh... it's okay, it was just a bad dream, we're all here, we're all okay..." This continues on for several more minutes before you begin to gather your composure, wails trailing off to gasps, then whimpers, and finally to silence, though you continue to squeeze Rei close to you like a lifeline, face buried in her chest and legs entangled.
When you finally pull away enough to observe your surroundings, it's to see Team Gear standing around awkwardly in their pajamas, and you twinge with guilt; you weren't exactly quiet during your venting. On the other hand, relief floods you. Extricating yourself the rest of the way from Rei, then pulling up to a sitting position on the side of the bed, you hold your arms out to them in a universally recognized gesture.
They react the way any hardened military warrior would when confronted with this situation; they shuffle in for a god-damned group hug. Gabriel hangs back, unsure whether or not to get involved, before your pitiful, pleading gaze tugs her in by her heartstrings. While you drink in their presence, encased from all sides, you can distinctly feel the core connections to each of them.
... They need to be stronger. Strong enough to avoid any attack, or at least tank the ones they can't. The thought filling you with determination, you focus on the link and will it to be more. "Woah," James voices as he breaks off his embrace, the rest following suit. "I felt that. Nepgear, what did you just do?"
It suddenly occurs to you that you probably should have asked first. "I, ah, increased the output of my... battery? To all of you," you nervously explain. "Is that alright? I can't think of a way to keep you all safe, this is the best I can do." Your voice had gradually dropped to a murmur.
They look among each other with a shrug and some nods, Gabriel with only slight reservation. Samael speaks up, "Sure thing, Nepgear. Just, give a heads up next time. For a second I thought something I ate was seeking vengeance." That gets a weak giggle out of you.
"How're you holding, Nepgear? Feeling better?" Micheal prods. At your nod, he continues, "Then how about we get a head start on the morning exercises, use that to acclimate to our new performance?"
At that, Rei reasserts her presence. "You have fun with that. I'm going to sleep for as long as it takes the sun to work up the courage to disturb me." Thus decreed, she gives your head a couple of pats and flops into her pillow face first.
After switching to exercise appropriate clothes, Team Gear reconvenes in the tortured land that is the practice field, and begins with some warm-up stretches. "We seem to have the same range of flexibility," Samael notes after some time, "but there isn't the same amount of strain as before." Micheal strikes a ridiculously dramatic pose, flexing every muscle he can manage.
Your fault.
"Yeah, this feels pretty goo-" He explodes in a burst of blood and purple energy, showering the landscape for yards in every direction. You're still staring in shocked horror when James follows suit next to you, thoroughly drenching your right side in viscera. With terrified comprehension, you turn to Samael, your last teammate, and he faces you with resigned acceptance. As he backs away in an attempt to clear you from the blast zone, violet light begins leaking from him through cracks spreading across his skin, at first softly, then with a ripping violence; the only thing keeping him together likely being his direct familiarity with your affinities.
Skin shattering apart as he draws his face into a strained smile, he speaks his final words.
"It's not your f-"
-/MIND BREAK IDENTIFIED\-
"Solid Core~... Sooolid Cooore~..."
Awoken by a light shake of your shoulder, you jerk your head up from the table it was set on to see Carnage smiling coquettishly down at you. "Hard day? The mess hall isn't really the-"
She's cut off by you bolting to your feet, throwing the bench you were sitting on to a clattering topple behind you. "Get away!" you shriek as you smack her hand away. People can't be near you! They'll just keep dying over and over and over and... The look of betrayed hurt on her face makes you realize how she would interpret your action, prompting you to explain yourself. "N-no, not like that. I'm fine with your... It's me, It's not good to be near me..." As you spoke, the hurt she displayed cooled to resignation.
"Yeah, I get it. I'll see you around, Solid Core." Conversation closed, she turns away and strides off to the exit.
"Carnage, wait!" Truth's plea makes you notice her presence for the first time. She tries to intercept Carnage at the door, but she's brushed aside. After a few moments sorrowfully regarding her friend's retreat, she rounds on you, fury in her eyes. "What is wrong with you?!"
"No, it's a misunderstanding! I didn't mean it like that," you implore. "It's bad to be near me! I keep hurting people!"
"Obviously! This is yyoouurr ffaauulltt!" The Whisper speaks in eerie unison with her voice. She doesn't seem to notice. She begins stalking toward you, prompting you to withdraw a few steps, where you trip over the upended bench.
From the floor you beg, "Please! Please go away..." She continues onward, undeterred.
"No. You're coming with me, and you're going to absolutely grovel for her forgiveness, right now!" With each step she takes nearer to you, the panic crawls further up your throat. Finally, she's standing above you, and when she reaches down to seize you by your collar, you lash out in a desperate attempt to gain enough space to regain your footing and flee.
Instead of retreating as expected, she takes the blow so as to not lose ground. The strength you've never really gotten used to crumples her chest in like a soda can, and her body is sent flying across the room, caving in the opposite wall. "No!", you wail, scrambling to your feet. Taking an abortive step toward her, you bring yourself to a halt. You would just hurt her again.
From her position limply collapsed against the base of the wall, she stares at you with accusation. With what little air remains in her crushed lungs, she speaks her dying words. "You're a monster." Judgement laid, the light slowly leaves her eyes.
Truth never lies.
-/MIND BREAK IDENTIFIED\-
You regain awareness as the golden pulse of energy fades to nothingness in the distance. The monster that killed your best friend drops from the sky unconscious, crashing into the ground with a dull thud. As you approach her prone form, you begin exerting your influence over sleeping fantasies.
Your fault. She twitches in her sleep. Your fault. She starts shifting uncomfortably. Your fault. She audibly whimpers. Your fault. Tears start streaming from her eyes.
You decide it's time to end it and crouch next to her, taking steady aim for the throat with your chakram to finish it in one strike.
... This happens every time. The hesitation. It's one thing to kill in the heat of battle, demons bearing down on you with crazed eyes and crude weapons. It's another to kill them when they've been rendered helpless by your spell. Even the demons. You were never as good at this as Can-
Candy Heart. This is for her. This is Justice for a committed Evil.
Resolve gathered, you bring your weapon down sharply —TWANG— only for it to bounce off the golden barrier that flashes into existence in front of your weapon. What...?
You try again, to the same result. Over and over again, you lash out with your chakram, your attacks bouncing futilely off the barrier as She just lays there.
Crying out in frustration and sorrow, you raise your chakram above your head, and bring it down against the barrier hard enough for the rebound to tear it from your grasp.
...There's a stinging sensation in your chest. Looking down, you see your chakram embedded in your torso, right where your heart should be.
The corner of your mouth quirks up and you chuckle mirthlessly. So that's how it is, eh?
As you slump to the ground, you wonder if Heaven will be like a dream, and if Candy will be there. Something to look forward to as you drift off to sleep...
-/LIFE BREAK IDENTIDIED\-
As you wake up once more, you can feel something fighting to drag you back to sleep, but the compulsion is weakening over time. Forcing your way though the exhaustion, you drag yourself to a sitting position, to be met with the sight of a girl staring soullessly into the sky above, metal disc fatally protruding from her upper torso.
You realize that your last nightmare was a reality for once. Just not yours.
-/LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED\-
You lift your finger from the paper. The glaring light you had gathered at your fingertips had transferred nicely onto the large piece of paper that covered the platform. Taking a moment to check your magic "circle" – which was more of a cross between a spiral and a pentagram – you don't feel that anything is missing.
"I've finished, Doctor Howard." You say as you rise from your crouched position.
Dr. Howard, who has a ponytail despite receding hair, looks up from his phone with a sheepish expression. "Ah, good to hear. I'll just go and gather the others. Won't take more than a minute."
It goes much faster than a minute. By the time he had put his phone in his pocket and turned towards the flap it opened. Lariel, an angel standing ten feet tall, strides in. She holds a cardboard box in one hand and a spear in the other.
"I was watching the feed." Lariel announces to the tent. She walks to you, thrusting her carried items at you. "We expect fives for human magic by now. Put one item at each appropriate point. I already messaged Dr. Langley, she should be here momentarily."
After a bit a balancing you arrange the offered objects; The spear in front of you, the candle to your left, the goblet to your right, the bell to your left and behind, the notebook to your right and behind, and the cardboard box flung out the loose entrance flap. While you are busy with that Lariel berates Howard about the quantity and quality of his notes.
"Everything is ready on my end." You declare.
"Have you-" Lariel catches herself. "I will go and see what has delayed Dr. Langley. Please refrain from doing anything until I return with her." With that she leaps from the partition, unfurls a wing to thrust against the ground, and launches herself outside.
Dr. Howard gives you a thumbs up. "Thanks for the save. I was more than ready for someone else to deal with her." His hand rests on the pocket where he put his phone for a moment before he grabs a different clipboard.
This pause wears on you for a bit. No one had said not to leave your "magic circle", but you still thought it would be a bad idea. You aren't sure how much time has passed because you didn't have a phone, and few of the tents had been equipped with clocks. Relief comes as you hear someone approaching while shouting.
"Once more, I am not going to risk my delicate equipment to save you ten minutes. And don't you dare suggest I was dragging my feet. This scanner needs very precise references. That means twenty minutes to get into the clean room to build them, and ten more minutes to get out without ruining the clean room. Just because your school considered fresh entrails to be a reliable source doesn't mean human science is ruined by a few wasted minutes." The voice is accompanied by the squeak of a cart.
"You said you would be ready. When you give poor info -"
"I said I would prepare! At no point did I promise I could leap into action."
"This study is vital to the efforts of Unified Light. If Gabriel's performance can be understood we could cut down Hell's armies across a dozen worlds before they knew what hit them."
The bickering pair and cart pass into the tent you are waiting in. Dr. Langley, a young women with red hair worn in a bun, doesn't let up on her retorts. "Such a vital study deserves the best set-up I can manage. Wouldn't you agree?"
"Fine! Just don't delay us any further." Lariel casts a dark look at everyone in the tent before taking her place behind the partition.
Dr. Langley gives you a warm smile, "I didn't keep you waiting too long, I hope. Just give me a few seconds to line up the detector." While she talks she turns the cart so that the metal box is arranged to her satisfaction, then grabs the laptop laying the top of the box.
She walks to the partition with deliberate slowness. Once she's sat on the open desk Lariel gives you the words you've been waiting for. "Show us what you can do."
Like a reflex you didn't know you had power flows into the circle and object. The light that made up the glyphs intensified. The candle wick sprouted a flame the same color as your light, the goblet generated some sort of glowing fluid. All happening without a conscious thought, as you were mostly thinking 'finally'.
Dr. Howard squinted a bit. "Not quite there. Everything will lose the connection once it's removed from the circle. Try forcing a mark on it somehow."
For a little while nothing changed. The candle's flame would pulse with your heartbeat, but the energy felt sluggish to move into the objects. You could feel how it has moving around them. How it wasn't marking or branding them as yours.
Lariel looked up from the strands of light that stretched between her fingertips. "Fear not! Even if your presence disintegrates the items we will still learn much. Let your power into them without fear or restraint."
It doesn't take a genius to guess that Lariel's next encouragement will be harsher. You focus on the feeling of power flowing out of your core. Closing your eyes you push on something between the core and everything else. The in-between gives beneath a mental shove. The light spills forth as you open your eyes.
The glowing lines of the circle shine like the filament of a bulb. The candle's flame has grown to touch the roof. The goblet is overflowing, the strange glowing fluid spreading across the ground.
When the fluid touches your feet a deep chime seems to come from everywhere. The flames have spread to the fabric of the tent. The spear in front of you raises itself from the ground, bright glyphs appearing on it.
"Stop!" Lariel commands.
You pull the power back. The flames, circle, and fluid flare brightly, Then vanish. When the spots have cleared from your eyes all the objects – and the paper you had drawn the "magic circle" on – are missing.
Dr. Howard seems unfazed. "When you stopped it made all the items fly into you somehow. There was evidence that there was a lasting empowerment. Congratulations, any chance you can bring the things back?"
You glance at Lariel, who has wrapped herself in her wings. Then Dr. Langley, she is typing away on her laptop calmly. They're all okay.
Taking a breath to calm yourself you feel something sticking in the back of your throat. An attempt to clear your throat leads to a brief sensation of choking before you hack out a candle. One exactly like the one Lariel gave you earlier. It still has the purple flame of your magic dancing on the wick.
"Good work! That looked a bit uncomfortable, but this is a big step forward for us." Howard gives you a thumbs-up. "I'll let you know if there's anything we discover. Uh, Anything you're cleared for, that is."
Rubbing your chin for a bit you nod. Even Lariel seems happy with the results. But with the breath you take to thank the assembled scientists you feel that something else is blocking your breathing. And you can't stop yourself from picturing all the other objects that are all bigger than the candle.
Nepgear: *facepalm* Right. And you've come here personally because...?
Gaia: I wouldn't miss humanity's first practical giant robot test for anything! The colors are a bit unfortunate, though.
Sam: You tell me. I know purple is Nep's color but I didn't think they'd paint the entire set like this.
Nepgear: Yeah, I like purple but this is a bit too much. And the green looks horible. We're going to paint them as soon as we're finished here.
Gaia: Oooh I know, how about white and blue? Some classical Gundam colors?
Nepgear: I was thinking about Power Rangers color schemes, actually.
Michael: Don't we get a say in this?
Gaia & Nepgear: Nope!
You don't want to wake up. Facing the world is not something you feel that you can do.
The image of your sister's copy trying it's hardest to kill you so no one else could have you is lost amongst the mirage of images, but something like that is not so easily forgotten.
The cruelty of the dream becomes too much and you flee to the waking world and its horrors.
-/LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED\-
You wake to Firebase Momo's medical tent. Everything is quiet, but you can hear the soft sounds of the Base's day-to-day running through the walls. To your right is Rei, propped up against the edge of your bed for balance as she sleeps standing up. On the bed past her is San, also asleep and resting peacefully as she clings to several chains that lead to Rei's closed fist. You blink as you also notice that more of those same chains lead to you.
Lifting the covers of your bed you gaze stupidly down at the chains that are wrapped rather comfortably around your torso, pinning the hospital gown to your chest.
Apparently Rei decided to literally attach you to a leash. You didn't know how to feel about that. A moan and some shuffling from your other side draws your attention again.
Gabriel's massive nine-foot frame is (somehow) curled up on an extra-large folding chair, her normal outfit of uniform/armor missing, and in it's place is some kind of Roman/Greek toga mix that looked like it came out of a bad play. The image was utterly ruined though by the little pony plushy she was cuddling.
Slowly, as you watch, the young Angel stirs from her slumber. She unwinds from her packed position to stretch out her limbs, bending her back slightly over the back of the chair. As you watch you can't help but note how easily her toga catches on the edges of the small seat she had been sleeping in, as well as how well proportioned she is.
The cute angel runs a hand through her hair, scratching at the top of her scalp as she blinks sleepily. Her gaze slowly sweeps through the tent, searching for what you could only assume was changes before they came to rest on your own owl-eyed look as you gazed at her from beneath the edges of your covers trying to hide a blush.
"Anastasia! You're awake!" Her squeal jolts Rei awake, but it's too late. Gabriel leaps the foot separating her from you and your bed in a flying tackle as she gives you a blinding smile. You try to shout her down in a panic but it does nothing to help against inertia.
Nine-feet of Angel lands in your bed atop of you and the medical cot flips. Rei is nearly launched across the tent, but the chains wrapped around her arm and gauntlet that are attached to you pull her back down into the pile. San, who had been sleeping peacefully up until this point, is yanked suddenly and without warning clean out of her own bed and into the mess with a surprised screech. Her own bed goes flying.
You find yourself underneath a rather large pile of soft and malleable flesh and wonder what has become of your life. And your orientation.
-/LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED\-
Two hours, quite a bit of struggling, and more accidental groping than you're comfortable pointing out, find you and your 'room' mates sitting outside the medical tent as the staff clean up the resultant mess.
Or at least you are sitting. Rei and San are more standing next to you while Gabriel is trying to coax you into her lap so she could cuddle you for some reason. You're about to give in when another soldier shows up with a familiar figure that you're not sure if you want to see at that moment.
"Goddess Gold, ma'am? Ms. Boheart has been cleared and is now allowed to join the rest of the base. She requested that I bring her here."
Rei glances to you and then turns to Sega, who is standing somewhat behind the soldier and off to the side, her gaze directed to the ground as if she didn't want to be seen. The image is as out of character of your sister as something could be to you.
Sega Boheart had been the kind of person that had always seemed larger than life to you. Even after your mother had turned abusive, Sega had remained unbowed and unbroken, despite loving her almost as much as she had loved you. When she had moved out with you she hadn't bowed her head, and strode forward with her life without a second thought.
Until now, it seemed like there would be nothing capable of bringing your sister down. So as she stood there, head hanging as if waiting for the executioner you couldn't help but feel as if there was something fundamentally wrong with the world. Even as the image of the False-Sega that had tried to kill you remained burned into your mind.
"We'll keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't go where she isn't supposed to. You're dismissed." The soldier salutes and takes off. Rei on the other hand turns and stands in front of Sega. "So... you're supposed to be Nepgear's older sister, eh?"
Your nickname seems to shake something loose in your sister. She blinks, frowning at the ground, "I thought she hated that nickname..."
You cough into a fist, "Long story... but... it doesn't annoy me so much any more." Considering it was Richard that had originally brought it up, and the whole joke originated from Sega herself and you thought she had been dead... wait. "What happened to you Sega... I thought you were dead! I knew you were dead, I saw-" Your mouth freezes as the image of Sega's corpse doesn't so much as flash, but more fills your mind's eye.
"Um... I was dead? I think... The last thing I really remember was trying to change the oil on the truck. Then I was talking to Goddess Red about the current sate of the War and how you've been doing, and how we were going to end it... My memories are kind of shoddy from your teammates shooting me."
You look at Gabriel, who smiles sheepishly at you. "She was trying to beat us to a bloody pulp and take off with you... what did you expect us to do? Besides; we saved her didn't we?"
The conversation dies at the mention of Team GEAR saving Sega, drawing attention to the metaphorical 'elephant in the room'. Sega scratches at her cheek in a nervous tick.
"Um... Nep... Anastasia... I... I'm sorry. For not saving you sooner from... her." You know who she's talking about, though both Rei and Gabriel both turn to you. You don't look at them and keep your eyes on Sega, trying to ignore the pain of betrayal that you know isn't her fault. "It's just... I didn't want to hurt her, you know? I thought..." She ducks her head and scratches at her scalp again, "Hell. I don't know what I was thinking." She looks up and stares you straight in the eye. And you find yourself unable to look away from the desperation in her gaze. "I'm sorry. I know I have no right, but... would you forgive me? Would you let me back in, even after all of this?"
Gabriel places a hand on your shoulder, and Rei remains silent, watching everything as it happens. San stands just outside of the group behind Rei, obvious confused and looking as if she felt like an intruder on a private moment. You squeeze your eyes shut, clenching your hands in front of your chest as you ask yourself if you can. If you were capable of not holding the False-Sega's action against your real sister... and between those moments, you find your answer.
"Sega!" Your heart feels as if it is trying to leap from your chest, and you dash across the gap that had been formed as if it never was. You cling to your sister as the tears you have gathered over the last few days pour from you.
As you stand there in Sega's embrace crying your heart to the world, Rei wraps an arm around San, causing the other girl to blush, while Gabriel stands around looking sheepish.
You are simply happy to have your sister back.
-/LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED\-
"So what happened to the virus?" Thirty minutes after your minor breakdown has you, Gabriel, and Rei showing Sega and San around the base. Your own question had come up when Rei had paused to explain what exactly had happened to the other base -the name of which you still didn't know- and that lead into an explanation of the last dozen or so missions you had been on. Gabriel, who had only joined you team before the mess at the research center, had been staring at you with a slowly increasing look of utter horror on her face. And on that note, "And you! What the heck happened to your face!" How you were able to miss the huge scars that now adorned it, you had no idea, but now everyone was looking at them and Gabriel seemed to be stuck between horror from what she had heard and embarrassment over the state of the left side of her face.
"Well..." Rei shrugs off the rather mixed atmosphere of the group with her usual ease, choosing to instead answer the questions you presented. "The Virus is accounted for. Turns out Angel Weapon dropped it when she was sucked into the ground, and it wasn't brought into the caves with you. So the soldiers securing the area were able to secure it. They have it in the bio-weapons area of the new science facility. They're hoping to fix its lethality into something usable, especially since they found one of the original scientists that had been working on it. Turns out the rest of the team is dead but she survived because she had volunteered to be one of the human trials."
She thumbs at Gabriel. "This idiot apparently took a spray of xenomorph blood to her face, and her little aura wasn't strong enough to heal it fast enough before it scarred. Her armor is ruined, and she's waiting for a replacement set, but according to the science division your team passed review and is slated to get powered armor. You forgot to tell us this actually." She actually pouts at you after saying this. You smile/grimace at her, but Sega just laughs.
"So what is everyone up to? I haven't seen any of them."
Gabriel is the one to answer, desperate to draw attention away from her scars. "Samael is in his little workshop going over his spells and what he learned during the mission. Michael is over at the mech-bay helping them finalize the designs of the power armor that Team GEAR is going to be using. I have to go over there soon myself to get fitted. James was called to the command tent, something about a review of our reports."
You smile at her, "Thanks... but that brings up the question I don't think anyone answered... how long was I out? I mean... Gabriel is fully healed, Sega's been cleared, and San is vetted. The hell did I miss?"
The girls present share a glance, as Sega wraps you up in a hug. "Nep... you've been out since the day before yesterday." You can almost feel your eyes glaze over as your brain shuts down for a reboot.
-/LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED\-
You are mostly listless as Gabriel leads your little group over to where Team GEAR was to be fitted for their power armor one by one. It is a large hanger-like building with a smaller entrance roughly twice the size of a normal human or angel. Sheet metal walls arced roughly two stories in height, with small windows spaced evenly along the sides halfway up.
Inside the building itself, is a wide-open area surrounding a slightly sunken pit filled with seemingly random bits of machinery you couldn't identify. Along one wall is an obstacle course where several different soldiers were testing different equipment for some watching scientists. Everywhere else is covered by individual work stations for different teams of scientists to work on their own power armor designs.
In the far back corner, almost hidden behind three other design areas where different suits were being pieced together, you find Michael and -surprisingly enough- James as well. And in the middle of the little research area stand four white suits.
Mike is wearing all but the helmet of his suit, while James stand with arms spread for the team of scientists and mechanics to piece his own suit together over him.
"You look ridiculous." Rei's voice carries a lilt of laughter behind the remark as Gabriel shuffles around you to take her place to go next. James scoffs, but is noticeably wary of moving.
"According to the egg-heads this armor will be a lot easier to remove and put back on after the initial fitting. It's just right now they have to tailor each piece to my body exactly in order for maximum efficiency." He's cut off as yet another familiar figure ducks out from behind him. One you recognize pretty easily too.
"Anastasia! It's been a while. You never came by to visit after you asked me about open slots for armor testing." The young scientist hasn't changed much since you last saw her. Did look like she got a haircut though. "When I heard that your team got accepted I jumped on the chance to be the one in charge of designing their armor. Took a bit of work... and the first version destroyed the test dummy, but I'm positive that you all will love these things."
"Wait, what happened to the test dummies?" A note of worry had crept into James' voice. But Alex simply smiles at him.
"Oh, we overpowered the ligament boosters and the arm crunched itself before the waist segment spun itself around roughly 573 degrees or so." And just like that Michael and James are staring at her in utter horror, and you barely restrain yourself from leaping forward to tear them out of what armor they're wearing. "Oh, don't make those faces! We've already fixed the problem, and so far nothing else has come up in testing. Even the angel-model for Gabriel should work like a charm! And if we're right, we'll be able to scale it for other races as well!"
Gabriel shrugs from her place now behind Alex as the last few pieces of James' armor is put into place and one of the techs passes him a helmet much like Mike's. Once he shifts out of the way with a light rattle of armor, another tech hands over a fold of black cloth to Gabriel and the angel slips into a small portable changing room. When she comes out, in place of her cheesy toga is a black bodysuit that closely hugs her form.
As she moves to where the techs can begin to assemble her armor, Alex turns to you and the two men of Tam GEAR while Rei and San both move off to the side and out of the way. Sega though, stays within arms reach of you. "The black bodysuit is an elastic, thermal-gel layer. It's bullet resistant for low-caliber rounds, but the primary purpose for the suit is to regulate body temperature so they can be worn for longer periods of time, even in intense combat. The armor itself uses several series of Brand Craft Runelines to connect mechanical ligaments, normally used in prosthetics, to boost the user's physical strength by a factor of five. Roughly. The ligaments themselves are attached to a layer of chainmail to prevent over-extension of the joints and damage to the wearer."
As she speaks, techs lay said chainmail over Gabriel's bodysuit, long black tethers stretch across her form, outlining muscles and giving even more definition to her form. Small areas around those same ligaments, if you focused on them hard enough, you could make out almost-scratches that were tiny groups of runes that softly lit up when the under-armor was placed on the angel. Atop that, came the actual plates of the armor that were slowly and carefully adjusted a well.
"The actual plates are each roughly three inches thick and are made from some kind of hyper-alloy I don't have clearance to know about but was thrown into the armor by the project's big-wigs. I was told it's some kind of attempt at a dream-metal that went wrong and is roughly as heavy as titanium with only double the protection. Past that, they didn't tell me. On the inside of the plates though we managed to inscribe the same general protections you'd normally find on an Anti-Demon Tank. Like the Elemental Backup arrays. We also got permission from the clergy to have the armor blessed, so demonic enemies will find themselves weaker when fighting you. Good thing that, considering some of the rumors I'm hearing about you all."
You chuckle weakly as Michael grins and leans over, "Well... These are some fancy hides you're giving us. Want to help me find out how long it takes a dragon to shed it's scales?"
The technicians and even Gabriel pause in their own action as everyone within hearing distance turn to look at your teammate. Alex, after a moment of staring, rolls her eyes and presses her palm to his forehead, pushing him away. "Points for originality, but you bombed everything else." She turns away from him and to Gabriel as James helps Mike off the floor.
"That has to be the stupidest pickup line I've ever heard mate. You need a hobby."
"And you need to get laid."
You sigh and facepalm as San giggles from where she's standing next to Rei.
-/LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED\-
"Turns out Samael already got his armor and is in his workshop customizing it. So if you want to check up on him, he's in there. I need some sleep so I'll go turn in early, you know where to find me if anything happens." And with that James splits from your unusually large group towards your tent.
Rei is next. "And as much as I don't want to let you out of my sight, I need to get San and Sega here settled in. If you're not in the tent by sundown I'm going to come hunting for you, got it?" When you nod at her, your 'owner' promptly grabs San and Sega's shirts and drag the duo of sisters away after James. Once they're out of sight you turn to Michael and Gabriel.
"Don't know about Gabriel here, but I want to go see if the cafeteria ever cleaned up from that food fight. Last time I was in there, tables were still flipped." And then there were two.
A raised eyebrow and Gabriel beams at you, "I'm heading to the training grounds to find out what I can do with this thing. I'm the first angel ever to not only fight directly beside a Magical Girl, but also to try out a Human-designed power armor! I'm going down in the history books! I'd like for my death to not be something stupid like 'didn't understand her new armor and killed herself by flying into a ceiling'." You stare after here as she practically skips away, leaving that horrific but funny image stuck in your head.
You stand there insensate for several minutes.
-pick two-
[]Chase after Rei, San, James, and most importantly, Sega. You want more time with your sisters, surrogate or otherwise.
[]Find Samael, last time he was left alone in his workshop for a long period he wound up needing rescuing. Best to keep him out of trouble with a advanced warsuit.
[]Follow Mike. cafeteria chaos sounds like just what the doctor ordered after your... experience.
[]Check up on the war and what you missed. You've missed a day and your worried about the offensive.
[]Take a look around the base. You wonder if there's any new Magical Girls in residence.
[]Follow Gabriel. Training sounds like a great way to take your mind off things.
[]Drown your sorrows in icecream. You know where Rei keeps her stash.
+1xp Missed a day due to T.K.O.
+5xp Learned about the lucky resolution to the virus problem.
+20xp Reunited with Sega Boheart
+50xp Rescued by Team GEAR
+100xp Powered Armor Acquired!
+1xp Beauty is never tarnished: not! Poor Gabriel.
+135xp Reflections Through the Kaleidoscope
312 EXP Gained = 334 Total EXP
(Team GEAR has acquired Frost Dragon Armor! Character Sheets Updated!)
Since she's supposed the replacement for THE Gabriel (who did a big thing apparently), it's not AS crazy. She's also essentially spent her entire life hooked up to the ??? Core, so she might have a Divinity effect coming into play.
Nepgear is awesome that's how! But seriously Gabriel this really just means Gabriel is effectively acting as a second Magical Girl for Team GEAR which isn't that out there.
No idea what the numbers outside of parenthesis are, but the numbers inside parenthesis look roughly similiar to what untransformed Sega would be under the effect of Core Connection
If my math is right, that would be
Health: 37,500
Base Damage: 5000
Base Resilience: 5000
which is actually far higher than the base stats of Red Rose.
On that note, I think there's some Early Installment Weirdness in Red Rose's character sheet. Her growth affinity is labeled as "Legendary" instead of "Legend".
On that note, I think there's some Early Installment Weirdness in Red Rose's character sheet. Her growth affinity is labeled as "Legendary" instead of "Legend".
[x]Chase after Rei, San, James, and most importantly, Sega. You want more time with your sisters, surrogate or otherwise.
[x]Check up on the war and what you missed. You've missed a day and your worried about the offensive.
I assume Sega has not yet said anything about her being Solid Drive to anyone yet.
Also, finally some war information
[X]Chase after Rei, San, James, and most importantly, Sega. You want more time with your sisters, surrogate or otherwise.
[X]Check up on the war and what you missed. You've missed a day and your worried about the offensive.
While we probably won't spend it now that's enough to grab Covering Fire and two more levels of Purifier Beam. That would give Nepgear 2,557 Base Damage and potentially a bunch of free attacks when laying down Covering Fire for her allies.
I'll now be going off and throwing some math at our teammates new stats until something interesting pops out.
