"I... I can't. I just can't..." You fall to your knees. Your reality is unraveling around you. "I... I can't just leave you here Jess. How do you expect me to just run off without you?"
As you sob, the older woman smiles softly at you. Your not sure if it's because the pain has passed or that she has blocked it out. Her hand suddenly on your head catches your attention. "It's alright kid. Can't really blame you for it. Help me pull this out, would you? I'm kind of tired of hanging here."
You nod, before standing and gripping the blade. A nod, and sharp yank, and the blade is free, allowing Jessica to drop to the ground with a thud and a grunt of pain. Tossing the blade aide, she allows you to pull her into a hug, pressing her bloody face against your chest. You sit there amongst the burning wreckage, holding Jessica close, for your comfort or hers your unsure. But...
"You know. I always hated all those magical girl shows on the TV."
You blink. "Really?"
She nods, her hair brushing against your skin. "Yeah. My city had our own local magical girl. Seeing all those shows romanticizing what she went through on a regular basis always pissed me off. She was out somewhere on the D9-8 front most the time, before Reluxus fell. Me and the other kids would gather together once a month and collect letters for her from everyone in the town and ship them out. Once in a while she'd send back some responses. But... She died, right after Hope."
"Hope? But that was..." Your gut drops. Hope was a relatively small dimension. It was also where the Goddesses splintered. And the War entered it's current stalemate. It was when the Unified Light's own hope had died.
"She witnessed the battle. Got wounded from the crossfire, but died when her evacuation group was hit. She's what made me decide to join the Counter Force." She adjusts herself so she's laying flat against you, "I'm glad. That I got to help you. Even if..."
She trails off. And as the silence continues, you blink and reach for her hand. As it falls from her lap and lands in the dirt, you know what has happened.
Jessica Roberts has died.
-/LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED\-
You are numb as you pull the swords from Richard's back so you can drag him to lay next to Jessica. As you lay your former teammates next to each other you kneel next to them. "Thank you. For everything." You don't know what else to say to them. You don't have the time for a proper burial, and you're not physically strong enough to carry either of them with you away from the flames. In either form.
So you do what you can. It only takes you a few minutes to lay them flat and pay whatever respects you can, but you find yourself numb. You had known the two of them for all of four days but...
They had been friends. In the wake of your sisters death both Jessica and Richard had been there for you with the rest of Team GEAR. Sure, Richard had cursed you to continuing your stupid nickname, "Neither of you deserved this." And with that you stand, you had a team to find.
You climb from the wreckage of your helicopter. Once free, you transform into your magical girl form in a flash of light and push off from the ground to see the damage to your immediate area. All around you buildings burn lightly, yet to catch into full infernos. Michael and Samael aren't in immediate sight, but you can hear their guns around the corner. And so you follow them.
And it's immediately obvious that things are going bad for them. A small pack of demons are huddled behind broken debris from another helicopter, it's crew and passengers already slaughtered, as Sam firs short bursts from his rifle to keep them at bay. Michael, from what you can see is injured, missing a forearm, while Samael is limping from a gash in his side.
Your attack is sudden and brutal. Of the three you hit, two loose an arm, and the last a leg. The Demons are woefully unprepared for the sudden appearance of a Magical Girl, no matter how weak. Sam is able to catch one of newly de-armed demons while you lunge for another.
(Samael Full Auto: 250 Base Damage, +50 Full Auto, +50 Full Auto, +50 Full Auto, +50 Full Auto, +50 Full Auto, +10 Surprise = 510 Total Damage
Demonic Soldier: 50 Base Resilience, +5 Dice, -30 Holyshitmyarm!, -10 No cover = 15 Damage Reduction
495 Total Damage
Demonic Soldier A Health: 521 - 495 = 26 Remaining
Demonic Soldier A is Incapacitated
Purifier Beam: 45 Base Damage, +19 Dice, +10 Surprise = 74 Total Damage
Demonic Soldier B: 50 Base Resilience, Dice Negated, -45 Leg Gone Hopping = 5 Damage Reduction
69 Total Damage
Demonic Soldier B Health = 521 - 69 = 452 Remaining)
The first is blasted full of holes. It survives, but you know it's out of the fight. The one you attack takes a shot from your Purifier beam to his other knee. A roar, and he's on the ground unable to stand. The third Demon simply up and runs away clutching it's stump of an arm as you move to fire again.
(Samael Full Auto: 250 Base Damage, +50 Full Auto, +50 Full Auto, +50 Full Auto, +50 Full Auto, +50 Full Auto +500 Execution = 1000 Total Damage
Demonic Soldier A: 50 Base Resilience, -50 Previous Damage, Dice Unavailable = 0 Damage Reduction
1000 Total Damage
Demonic Soldier A Health: 26 - 1000 = -974
Purifier Beam: 45 Base Damage, +9 Dice, +500 Execution = 554 Total Damage
Demonic Soldier B: 50 Base Resilience, +2 Dice, -20 Previous Damage, -90 Legs Gone Hopping = 58 Bonus Damage
612 Total Damage
Demonic Soldier B Health: 452 - 612 = -160)
Sam euthanizes the soldier he shot while you set the other on fire with your Purifier Beam.
Once everything is over, you nearly tackle Samael with a hug. "Sam!" Thankfully you remember his wound in time to keep from tackling him and instead simply grab him in a hug.
The man grunts, but manages a grin, "Hey kid. We all thought you bit it. How's Jess?"
And like that your good mood dies. "She..." You clench a fist, and Sam suddenly sobers.
"Sorry. Was it before or after?" He doesn't need to clarify. And the way you almost curl up standing is answer enough for him as he pulls you into another hug. "Dammit. Sorry kid. We'll figure out what's going on and make sure they get funerals. Alright?" You nod into his shoulder, forcing the grief down so you can move.
"How's Mike?"
"I'm alive! But I'm not going to be much help in a fight." You jump at his voice. Michael had clambered out of the make-shift hidey hole that he and Samael had been hiding in while you had talked to Sam. His arm was bandaged up rather well, while you also realize that Sam's side was bandaged as well. "Found some first aid kits in these Helicopters. Were on our way back to Jessica to get her stabilized before we got pinned down by these demon motherfuckers. Sorry we couldn't get back sooner." You resist the urge to break down again and take a deep breath instead.
"We need to find James and Carnage. After that... I'm not sure." Your teammates both look at you in understanding.
"Last we say them they were heading towards the air field. If any helicopters from the flight survived they'd land there."
"Lets go then."
The three of you make a limping pace towards the Air Field. And strangely enough don't run into any other demons before reaching it. The confusion mounts from what you find.
A handful of helicopters had apparently managed to land, but their troops and crew had been collectively slaughtered. The dead litter the tarmac as you and Michael slowly work your way out into the open. Sam clambers atop a turned over fuel truck to give overwatch.
You are the one to find Carnage and James. And a tiny part of you wishes you hadn't.
Simply laying eyes on her nearly causes your heart to stop. She exudes an aura of power on nearly the same scale as Goddess Gold.
Your knees almost give out as someone speaks.
"Carnage! Get out of here! I'll try to hold her off."
"Not a chance! That bitch killed Nepgear!"
Kneeling in front of Grey is Carnage and James. Carnage is missing an arm. You can see it laying on the ground not far away along with her blade, a thick trail of blood crossing the ground between them. James' armor is ruined. His breastplate covering little more than his stomach, thin trails of blood leaking through rent metal. His gun is missing as he holds up a broadsword he had obviously picked up from the hundreds of weapons speared into the ground.
"No time to argue goddammit! Here she comes!"
It's an amazing sight.
(Countless Arms: 1000 Base Damage, +2949 Dice = 3949 Total Damage
James: 100 Base Resilience, +50 Seen it Coming = 150 Damage Reduction
3,799 Total Damage Trigger
25 Strain Damage
James' Health: 400 - 25 = 375 Remaining
Return to Sender: 250 Base Damage, No Dice, +1000 Stolen Blade = 1250 Total Damage
Goddess Grey: ???? Base Resilience, +38 Dice = ???? Damage Reduction
???? Total Damage Attack Neutralized)
A spear appears in Grey's hand in a flash of light, and she thrusts it forward, faster than anything you've ever seen before. And it should have ended it. There and then. But James' wasn't one to go quietly.
He moves his blade, a fraction of the speed of the incoming attack, but he moves it.
And somehow he deflects the spear. The weapon bucks in Grey's hand, and it goes wide. Opening presented he goes for an attack.
Another flash and a short sword deflects the stolen broadsword.
Back and forth it goes. Goddess Grey is like an avalanche of steel. Swords, spears, axes, maces, cudgels, flails, and more. So many weapons you find yourself nearly catatonic from the sheer variety alone. Weapons you've never seen alongside weapons out of fantasy, to weapons that could have been mass produced in an earlier era. And she wields them all with peerless skill.
And James does the impossible by holding her back. When the broadsword breaks, he snatches up a longsword. When that breaks a short sword. Then a spear. An ax. One weapon to the next as the previous fails. He does something a Human shouldn't be able to and matches one of the most powerful existences to ever exist and holds her in a stalemate.
(Countless Arms: 1,000 Base Damage, +7,028 Dice = 8,028 Total Damage
James: 100 Base Resilience, +50 Seen it Coming = 150 Damage Reduction
7,878 Total Damage Trigger
25 Strain Damage
James' Health: 375 - 25 = 350 Remaining
Return to Sender: 250 Base Damage, No Dice, +1,000 Stolen Blade = 1,250 Total Damage
Goddess Grey: ???? Base Resilience, +6,164 Dice = ???? Damage Reduction
???? Total Damage Attack Neutralized
Countless Arms: 1000 Base Damage, +1,839 Dice = 2,839 Total Damage
James: 100 Base Resilience, +50 Seen it Coming = 150 Damage Reduction
2,689 Total Damage Trigger
25 Strain Damage
James' Health: 350 - 25 = 325 Remaining
Return to Sender: 250 Base Damage, No Dice, +1,000 Stolen Blade = 1,250 Total Damage
Goddess Grey: ???? Base Resilience, +7,867 Dice = ???? Damage Reduction
???? Total Damage Attack Neutralized
Countless Arms: 1000 Base Damage, +4,412 Dice = 5,412 Total Damage
James: 100 Base Resilience, +50 Seen it Coming = 150 Damage Reduction
5,262 Total Damage Trigger
25 Strain Damage
James' Health: 325 - 25 = 300 Remaining
Return to Sender: 250 Base Damage, No Dice, +1,000 Stolen Blade = 1,250 Total Damage
Goddess Grey: ???? Base Resilience, +3,349 Dice = ???? Damage Reduction
???? Total Damage Attack Neutralized
Countless Arms: 1000 Base Damage, +8,854 Dice = 9,854 Total Damage
James: 100 Base Resilience, +50 Seen it Coming = 150 Damage Reduction
9,704 Total Damage Trigger
25 Strain Damage
James' Health: 300 - 25 = 275 Remaining
Return to Sender: 250 Base Damage, No Dice, +1000 Stolen Blade = 1250 Total Damage
Goddess Grey: ???? Base Resilience, +6,481 Dice = ???? Damage Reduction
???? Total Damage Attack Neutralized
Countless Arms: 1000 Base Damage, +3,674 Dice = 4,674 Total Damage
James: 100 Base Resilience, +50 Seen it Coming = 150 Damage Reduction
4,524 Total Damage Trigger
25 Strain Damage
James' Health: 275 - 25 = 250 Remaining
Return to Sender: 250 Base Damage, No Dice, +1000 Stolen Blade = 1250 Total Damage
Goddess Grey: ???? Base Resilience, +6,163 Dice = ???? Damage Reduction
???? Total Damage Attack Neutralized)
Sword deflected by ax. Spear by Mace. Ax by sword. Mace by ax.
Again and again he does the impossible. And you cannot help but feel humbled. But it quickly becomes obvious that doing the impossible weighs upon his merely human body. He's tiring quickly, and it's obvious he cannot last much longer without aid.
So you do yet another very stupid thing.
(Purifier Beam: 45 Base Damage, +12 Dice, +10 Surprise = 67 Total Damage
Goddess Grey: 2,000 Base Resilience, +3,396 Dice, -50 Attack from Nowhere = 5,346 Damage Reduction
0 Total Damage)
The blast from the Purifier Beam travels at the speed of light. You cannot measure the time it takes for it to lance across a distance that is less then insignificant to such.
The flat of an ax meets it halfway there, and your are stunned stupid from the bullshit.
The fighting ceases instantly. From the collective looks of surprise on everyone's faces even they hadn't expected something like that to happen. Goddess Grey stares at you. A glimmer of something beneath her eye draws your attention. Somehow visible to you, even at this distance: the slight edges of swords. Just beneath her skin.
"Holy shit."
A fragment from the destroyed ax had nicked her. And that was almost as stunningly impossible as what James had been doing before your interruption.
"Nepgear!" Carnage's voice breaks the trance, and everyone's eyes flow to her. "You're alive!"
"Umm... Yes?" Your intelligence shines through your comment.
Samael and Michael both come barreling around the corner of the overturned vehicle that had been blocking the light as Goddess Grey turns fully to you.
"You... I do not know."
Grey's voice is deceptively soft. Almost like woven velvet. But she stands unnaturally still.
"You're lucky. I have to leave before Big Sis gets here."
The surviving members of Team GEAR as well as Carnage all blink in surprise at that as she turns away. Sam tries to raise his weapon but you quickly grab it and force it down.
A wave and a black doorway opens in front of her. And after a moment, she steps through.
You let out a shaky breath as it closes.
-/LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED\-
The sun is slowly climbing over the horizon as the fires finally die out and Golden Goddess' group returns. Rei finds you shifting through the burnt wreckage of Barracks 3, pulling out the few items that had been able to survive the fire. You're trying very hard not to think about the number of soldiers that had died last night to Goddess Grey's attack.
"Hey."
You make an affirmative noise in response, but keep looking.
"Heard you met Ichi last night. Also heard about what happened to Jessica and Richard. Carnage told me you were over here going through the remains..."
You force down the spikes of emotions that the names bring. Mechanically cog what motions that didn't require their input.
"The dead are going to be given last rites later today. Then we're going to be moved to a new base. Come find me if you need me."
She turns away, probably off to salvage something herself but...
"..." Your voice cracks, and fails to form words. But the soft noise is enough to draw Rei's attention back to you. "How do you do it? How are you able to keep fighting, even though they're your sisters?"
She turns away from you and continues walking away. "I try not to think about it."
You stare at her retreating back.
-pick one-
[]Go to the Funeral.
[]Mourn with Rei
[]Mourn with Team GEAR
[]Mourn with them both
+2xp Demonic Soldiers Killed
+10 Death on the Team: Richard
+10 Death on the Team: Jessica
+250 Stared down Goddess Grey and lived
272 EXP Gained = 376 Current EXP
(Jessica Deceased
Character Profile Unlocked! Goddess Grey (Level 3))
Fucking SHIT. I knew It had to be Archer. I knew it, but I desperately hoped I was wrong, and it look like she's got all his powers and a mind breaking amount of magic to power them. SHIT. We are SO FUCKING LUCKY.
Also. WHAT THE SHIT! Is James fucking Shiro or something!!!???? He gets a FUCKING MEDAL.
Fucking SHIT. I knew It had to be Archer. I knew it, but I desperately hoped I was wrong, and it look like she's got all his powers and a mind breaking amount of magic to power them. SHIT. We are SO FUCKING LUCKY.
Also. WHAT THE SHIT! Is James fucking Shiro or something!!!???? He gets a FUCKING MEDAL.
It is possible to boast/enhance a normal human to superhuman level? I mean strong enough even hold their own against Magical girl for a short while. Maybe around 10 to 20 minute?
It is possible to boast/enhance a normal human to superhuman level? I mean strong enough even hold their own against Magical girl for a short while. Maybe around 10 to 20 minute?
