"I think that's everybody!" Shouts Sabrina, trying to make herself heard over the heavy rain.
"Not yet!" Says Mami. "Tachibana-san's bringing one more group..."
Vwwp.
"...And here they are." She finishes.
A group of girls in frilly outfits materializes out of the blue in front of their eyes. Immediately, they start looking around, dazed, before realizing they're getting soaked in rain water and running for the nearest cover. Unfortunately...
"Witch!" Weapons of all sorts are brougth out of nowhere in an instant.
Mami sighs, stepping forward before anybody could start swinging. "Greetings, everybody! Please ignore the witch-like signature, it's simply a byproduct of our friend Sabrina's power!"
Everybody stops and looks at the white haired girl, awkwardly waving at them. Before a word could be spoken, there's some yelling as somebody shoves her way out of the tense Magical Girl group.
"Get off! Let me through! Teleporting so many people's tiring work!" Forward comes Sakura, who simply looks up at the grief construct while holding a Soul Gem out to Sabrina, who quickly cleanses it. After a moment, Sakura looks as Sabrina, raising an eyebrow. "Really? You want us to meet in your Labyrinth?"
Sabrina pinches the bridge of her nose, eyes closed. "It's not my Labyrinth, it's just a building made out of grief. We needed to get out of the rain, and I've been warned against grief awnings."
Sakura narrows her eyes at Sabrina, before sighing and moving on inside, though not without a parting shout: "And why a warehouse, of all things!"
Sabrina looks down, morose. "I... I had to. After what happened to Warehouse-kun..."
Mami goes to move closer to Sabrina, but hesitates, a look of plain confusion in her face. Before she can decide on what to do, a clap interrupts Sabrina's thoughts, as she looks to see Kirika standing beside her, supporting hand in her shoulder.
Sabrina gives Kirika a grateful smile, before turning to the other Magical Girls, who seem to be reconsidering their presence at this particular place and time.
"Well," she says, "come on! With you here, we can get this meeting started!"
Sabrina, Mami and Kirika turn around and enter the grief-warehouse, leaving the other girls looking at each other for a moment, before they consider they're now short one teleporter and they'd rather get out of the rain, than going back home on foot.
Inside is controlled chaos. Girls in outfits representing all the color of the rainbow moving around, shouting conversations, some sitting around, snacking on some food and drinks spread around for that purpose. The sound of the rain could barely be heard over the general chatter.
A few big tables are set up in a big circle, one of them slightly raised; there sits Oriko, calmly observing the room, shouting a sharp word here and there to the mass of magical girls; waving at Kirika as this one claims for her attention; sometimes quickly stealing a nervous glance to Homura standing behind her. For her part, Homura's eyes twitch back and forth, trying to keep track of everybody moving around, but mostly she rests her gaze on the back of Oriko's head, and waits.
Sabrina takes a seat on the table to the left of Oriko's and, after waiting for Mami and Kirika to sit at her sides, she gives the girl with the bucket-hat a thumbs up.
*THUNK* "Order!" Calls Oriko, hitting a gavel on a sound block.
Only the sound of rain remains for a moment as the mass of Magical Girls looks around, and slowly starts taking seat.
The mood shifts a bit, as everybody finishes settling down, some of the previously animated girls now tensely looking around, as if just now realizing something big is going on.
Oriko starts: "Welcome everybody, to the first meeting of the Magical Girl Foundation. It is my pleasure..."
"Hey," Kirika elbows Sabrina, "Magical Girl Foundation?" She smirks.
Sabrina grumbles, "I wanted to call it Mahou Shoujo Youkai, but everybody just looked at me weird when I said it."
Kirika raises her visible eyebrow at Sabrina, and snorts.
Sabrina huffs and rolls her eyes.
Mami absentmindedly puts a hand on Sabrina's elbow, and they both take a moment to smile at each other.
Sabrina looks around. Every Magical Girl she could find in the surrounding areas is in this room, everybody forming their little groups sitting slightly apart from everybody else: The girls form Ishinomaki are mostly paying attention; Kyouko and Yuma are still snacking, though Kyouko does seem to be lending an ear to the proceedings; both Sendai groups sit at opposite sides of the circle, everybody present, even Akiko, though the straight jacket gets some odd looks...
"Hey!" Kirika elbows Sabrina again. "They're talking about you!"
Sabrina starts, realizing Oriko's stopped talking, and now a girl in a grey and green armour, Ueda, is standing, talking to the room at large:
"...d such concerns aside, we're hopeful that this arrangement will improve the lives of magical girls everywhere. Already, we're seeing benefits, simply due to the reduced necessity for hunting Witches, though we'll continue to do so as is our duty." Udea stops for a moment, before continuing. "Anyway, I wanted to thank Miss Sabrina for her generous work in helping all of us instead of using her powers for ulterior motives."
Ueda goes to sit down, when she's interrupted.
"Wait, what?" Exclaims Sabrina. Ueda stops as everybody's attention turns to the white haired girl. "Of course I've got an ulterior motive!" Sabrina smiles while banging a fist on the table.
Everything's silent. Only the sound of raining remains. Up at her table, Oriko grabs her head in her hands, while Homura's mouth hangs open, hands twitching. Besides Sabrina, Kirika and Mami give her looks, clearly questioning the wisdom of such a proclamation.
"I KNEW IT!" Sakura stands, pointing at Sabrina. "You admitted it, Witch Girl! You're up to no good!"
The chatter starts back up, heightened in intensity, now not so half casual, half nervous as when everybody was settling in, but alarmed, a feeling of fear filling the room, as girls start looking around at the very walls which surround them, wondering if it was a good idea to enter the crazy white haired girls' terrain.
"ORDER!" Bellows Oriko. In the brief silence that follows, she throws a glance at Sabrina, seeming to weight her chances. Before an uproar can erupt again, Oriko points at Sabrina. "Explain."
Sabrina smiles, confident as she stands up. "I want a world where no Magical Girl must fear for her life! I aim to rid our world of the constant need for hunting, for seeds; to do away with that Sword of Damocles you're all so very used to have hanging above your heads. I want to destroy the bad blood that stands between us, so we may live our lives, happy as we should be! So we will support each other, not fear each other!"
"Get to the point!" Shouts Sakura.
Sabrina closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, before re-opening, a burning passion within. "I will destroy this wretched system. I will give back to every single one of you, the closest I can give you to a normal life, one without the constant fear of death, without worrying that your life might expire any day you can't keep up the constant fighting; I'll erase the fear you have for each other, so you won't be enemies of necessity, no territories to protect. You will never lack for Grief Seeds, you will never hoard territory, you'll never hope to find a Witch you can kill.
Sabrina smirks, "And once all that is done, once you all can live happy, normal lives, and you accept your new circumstances, free of hate and fear... I... Will... Be able... TO SHIP EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!" She bellows and throws her arms up in the air, laughing maniatically. *KRACK-A-THOOOM* The room is suddenly filled with light, as thunder roars outside. Sabrina stops laughing, frowning at the ceiling, "So now it works." She mutters.
Once more, the room goes silent as everybody processes the news. There's some uncomfortable glances thrown at Sabrina and between many girls of each group. Sakura's eyes slide over to Rin, sitting beside her, before snapping back forward. Just in time, everybody turns to look at her, waiting for an answer.
"I... Ah... That's... not so bad?" She stammers.
There's murmurs and quite a few blushes around the room as girls debate the merits of being "shipped" with each other and whether that's worth a life without needing for Seeds. Some are rather positive, or uncaring, while others seem to give the matter some deep thought.
"I can live with that."
"It's mad, but... in a good way?"
"That's crazy enough to work..."
Sabrina smiles at Homura and Oriko, giving them a thumbs up, to which they just give her resigned nods, before Sabrina turns to to Mami and opens her mouth to talk.
Before she can say anything, she's interrupted by a hand gripping her shoulder, as she's forcibly turned around to look at Kirika. This one firmly looks at Sabrina in the eyes, with an intensity she's seldom witnessed. "Sabrina?" asks Kirika.
"Y-yes?"
Kirika looks down, eyes shut tight. "I... I didn't know..." Suddenly, her eyes openwide as she smiles radiantly, "you had such noble goals!" Kirika takes Sabrina by both her shoulders. "I want you to know, I'm with you on this, all the way." She states solemnly.
Sabrina tentatively smiles, "Ah... T-thanks, best buddy." Sabrina lifts a fist in the air between them.
Kirika grins. "You're welcome." She fistbumps Sabrina.
"Order! Order!" Calls Oriko...