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Gestalt
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[X] You have questions.
«Still, never thought Sophia would stir up memories of the bad old days,» Sarah muses.
The statement gives you pause. «'Bad old days'?»
«Yep. Sneaking around, ducking into alleys, hiding behind dumpsters, trying to avoid a murderous psychopath whose territory you're trespassing on…» She shrugs over telepathy (brrrrr!). «The exciting bits of being a nomad. Miss 'em sometimes.»
You try very hard not to look in her direction. In fact, you're trying very hard not to make a sound at all. «Nomad?»
«Fancy way for Magical Girls to say they're homeless without saying that they're homeless,» Sarah cheerfully explains. «Imagine doing
all this without having a nice, warm bed to come back to. That was me about… two? Three years ago?» A pause. «Huh. Three years. Remind me to have a good think about that, 'kay?»
«… Sure.»
She's bouncing on the balls of her feet, every bit a vapid bundle of giggling, joyful, oblivious energy. But you can
also see that she's watching
everything. The door, the cracked windows, the cashier, the two or so people in the store with you…
You're getting distracted. As much as you want to inquire
further about what Sarah just revealed about herself (she was
homeless?), there are other, more pertinent things you need to know.
The most immediate question, "Why is Sophia trying to get me
as a cape?" has an… obvious answer. A very painfully,
obvious, answer, rooted in the actions a certain
someone took.
Fucking
hell, Rachel!
The next-most immediate question concerns the magical girl paying at the register.
-[X] Rachel and you weren't quiet over telepathy, but you don't remember what Rachel actually did being mentioned. How does Sarah know what happened? When did Sarah figure out what happened? Does she actually know?
«Okay. How much did Rachel tell you about what happened?» you ask.
Sarah pauses while paying for her snacks. «Not much,» she admits, «By which I mean she didn't tell me
anything. All I know is that
something put Emma's panties in a bunch, the world's least effective stalker was awfully
quiet all day, and Madison almost made me feel sorry for her.»
She pays and leads you out the back entrance of the store. «Oh, and that you two had a fight over something and were being
really loud about it over telepathy. Rude, by the way.»
You ignore that. «And that was enough to tell you that
Shadow Stalker was going to…»
You trail off. What
had Sophia been hoping to do?
«… do something to me?»
Sarah telepathically waves you off, still leading you down back alleys and side streets you've never been in. «Nah; way back when Cubes told me who Sophia was, I asked him to keep an eye on her for me, » she tells you, «He told me something was up, and here I am! So, now that I've saved your skinny butt, mind telling me what Rachel did, that got Emma all murder-ish?»
You…
She's exaggerating. She's being hyperbolic. She's fucking with you.
Your words are blunt. «She told Shadow Stalker,
the Cape, that if they kept escalating with us, she'd kill them.»
Sarah doesn't even blink at that. «… Yeah, that sounds like something she'd do. To be honest, I'm kinda shocked she didn't slip up like that until now.»
«
Slip up? How is
threatening a Cape with murder a "slip up"?»
Sarah glances back at you. «Because Rachel forgot Sophia's
not a Magical Girl and
treated her like one. »
Something about your shock must've shown on your face, because she then keeps talking. «When Capes fight one another, they're
usually not fighting for their lives; villains are trying to do villainy, heroes are trying to do heroics, rouges are trying to do whatever, and so we get conflict! and drama! and so on! But, at the end of the day, killing one another's
not the end goal. There's exceptions, like the people with a kill order on their head, but… well, they're
exceptions.»
The two of you stop at a bus station. There's some old movie posters on the sides, and the roof's sagging in the middle. Sarah sits down on the bench, and you follow suit after a moment's hesitation.
«When Magical Girls fight, though?» Sarah continues, «First thing any two
reasonable magical girls will try to do is… not fight at all. Our powers can't be used for free, remember? So you negotiate, and bargain. Passing through? Just pay a toll. You'll give me half your hunts if I let you hunt in my turf? Sure thing, I'll shake on that.»
Sarah checks her phone. «But sometimes that's not an option. Sometimes the other girl's a
bitch. Sometimes she's insane, or desperate enough she might as well be. That's what
threats are for; show the other girl that you can and
will tear her head off if she keeps pushing her luck. Wave guns or swords around, break bricks with your teeth, tell them that you'll choke them with their own spine, whatever works. I knew this one girl whose wish gave her actual
wings and she met everyone by dropping down from above and just
hovering over them with a big spear. Real BE NOT AFRAID stuff. »
You interject. «So
this is all because Rachel had a
brain fart and decided to do magical girl
posturing at Shadow Stalker?»
Sarah laughs and it sounds like a hyena cackling. «Oh,
no. I mean, yes on the brain fart, but no on the posturing; if she's telling Sophia that she's gonna kill her and her friends if they don't stop, it's because she
intends to kill them if they don't stop. She's pretty straightforward like that. »
A shrug over telepathy. «Or, at least, she
intended to do that, before she remembered that Sophia wears a
cape and not a
skirt. Awkward.»
… You need to know. «Has Rachel…?»
Sarah finishes the question for you. «Killed anyone?» A snort. «Not that
I know of; but I
do know there's at least one girl who had to regrow an arm after Ray-Ray shot it off.» A pause. «Oh, pro tip:
never ask a Magical Girl what her body count is
. Heh~.»
The bus slows down to a stop with a hiss of air breaks and a metallic
screech. Sarah stands.
"And this is our ride~!" A grin. "Come on, Tay-Tay; we've got a party to get to."
You
sigh and stand up to follow her out of the bus. "What party?"
"The one I'm bringing,
duh!"
Sarah steps into the bus, and then you do. "Did you tell
anyone you're bringing a 'party'?" You ask, sounding almost as exhausted as you feel.
"Ah, that's the neat part; I
didn't."
You are Rachel Zoranski.
"…
what."
And what the fuck is this.
Emma Barnes's smile is too wide. "It's so obvious when you know what to look for," she tells you, "Why else would you stick around someone that pathetic? I bet she told you
everything the moment you so much as
smiled at her; Taylor's been starved for attention ever since her
mommy drove the car into a lamppost. Although, if you ask me, I'd say she just woke up and realized she didn't want to be Taylor's mom anymore."
…What.
You know, that explains-
Shut.
Emma giggles, and then gives a casual shrug. "Whatever. Although… I gotta ask, how
much have you told Taylor about yourself?"
Your voice is utterly, deathly calm. "How much has
Shadow Stalker told you about me?" You bluntly counter. "Don't answer that; I'm giving you five seconds to get to the
point."
Emma's smile widens.
The bus comes to a stop with a squeal of bad breaks and a hiss of compressed air. Sarah and you get off, she with a hop and you with… much less energy. Nobody else gets off, and there's a certain indecent haste in how quickly the driver puts it back into gear and pulls away.
Not that you can really blame him.
The rest of the trip to The Clinic is done in… not
silence. Sarah seems to be pathologically incapable of shutting up; an airheaded prattle in public…
"Ohmy
gosh we're gonna have
sooo much fun~!"
…and a more focused stream of anecdotes in private, over telepathy.
«First time I came here, Misty had to
carry me out. Fun times! Oh, another Pro Tip: Susan
never leaves the place. Do
not do anything that'll force her to get involved; ever seen someone weaponize stage magic, except the stage magic is
real? Yeah,
not so fun times. Girl would be prime supervillain material if she wasn't so
nice. Then again, she
does have
Alice for a boss…»
«Speaking of which: I've only been to Alice's Mad Scientist Wonderland
once. Once was enough for me. Three stars, terrible service but surprisingly entertaining!»
«School's out, so we're gonna be seeing a
lot more people than when Ray-Ray brought you. Which means you're gonna see the sort of people who keep Brockton Bay safe without any sponsorship deals. Just smile and nod and try not to stare. Or start fights. Or look like you might start fights. Or look like… actually if someone's staring a little
too hard in your direction just point them out.»
«By the way, "hanging out with friends" is
the most popular parental excuse for doing magical girl stuff before the sun's down. From a certain point of view, it's not even a lie!»
You reach the converted rail car. Sarah transforms with a twirl, turning her casual, preppy outfit into one that's armoured and
fantastical, and a sudden,
powerful surge of jealousy washes over you when she does.
You push past her to get in first. There's darkness and
discontinuity that completely messes with your sense of direction, and then you're inside. Missy Biron is right where you last saw her, and you briefly
stare at her before looking away, face carefully neutral.
Does she
live here? Is she the only bouncer Alice has, or is she just one of several and they work in shifts?
The younger girl is briefly surprised at your arrival.
Then Sarah stumbles inside, and Missy's focus sharpens.
"Hey Taylor. Sarah, where's Rachel?"
Sarah gasps, right hand pressed against her chest; grievously,
dramatically offended. "Is
this how you say hi to Auntie Sarah?
After all these years?"
Missy's glare could've curdled milk. "
Sarah."
A puff from the older girl. "I forget you're no fun," she grouses, "well, Rachel got into a fight with Tay-Tay here…"
Sarah begins to tell Missy about what's happened so far. Your focus, however, is on what lies inside the clinic itself; just as Sarah predicted, the place is much more crowded than the last time you visited. The tables are full, the bar is
packed, and just about every seat has someone on it. It's a riot of bright colours and outfits that go from the sensible to the extravagant. It's hard to focus on any one of the people inside; here there's a brunette in a frilly red and white dress speaking animatedly with two others, one in pigtails with a long, white and blue dress, and another a blonde in pigtails wearing black with a cape. There's one table filled with girls wearing different sorts of knightly armour that are having a very
animated argument. One booth's occupied by a group of girls with an Asian look to them, the most prominent of which has midnight black hair, a witch's hat, and what feels like way too little
cloth on her outfit…
You quickly look away. Surprisingly, you're not the only person in civilian clothes; there's a few scattered here and there, sticking close to who you have to assume to be their magical girl friends, and you're only slightly surprised to see that most of
those are armed –baseball bats mostly, but there's also one with a hammer and one girl in the uniform of a private school has a holster with a pistol.
Another thing you note that they're all still girls. You…
wonder why that is; is there some unspoken rule against bringing boys in here?
Sarah has finished telling Missy what's happened. The older girl pulls you into the Clinic, with the younger pushing past; you only get a brief glance at her face as she moves past, and she looks disturbed.
Only three people give you more than a casual glance when you come in. Two of them are sat together, and it takes a while for you to realize that you'd heard of them before.
Anna and Andrea are just as Rachel described them; Anna's outfit is midnight blue with a few silver and red accents, but the hooded half-cloak that she wears over pants and boots, and the mask over the lower half of her face
scream "assassin", while Andrea's can best be described as an armoured dress, white steel over blue. You can't see Anna's hair, but Andrea's is a coppery red tied up in a ponytail. They quickly realize that you've noticed them staring in your direction, and pretend to look elsewhere, in between throwing each other the
nastiest looks you've ever seen.
The other girl staring at you is one you've never seen before. She looks vaguely Asian, and is blonde, with her hair in a pair of curls that look almost like drills. White shirt adorned with a yellow ribbon tie with short, puffy sleeves and arm warmers. A beige skirt with a black edge, thigh-length socks, tall hunting boots, a little plumed hat and a corset that emphasizes her…
… you feel like the protagonist of a terrible romance novel just
thinking about it, but the first word that comes to mind is "her
curves". She's
curvy in a way that immediately makes you self-conscious. Especially since she's sitting down with her legs crossed,
teacup in one hand, radiating an aura of utter confidence. Unlike Anna and Andrea, her reaction to you looking back at her is to just
smile… and beckon you towards her.
You...
[] ... approach. This person clearly wants something from you and you want to know what and why.
- [] Pull Sarah along; you're not stupid. Plus, it's her turn to be pulled around.
[] ... stay away. This person clearly wants something from you, and whatever it is it cannot be good.
