Jonen C
F.M.D.G.
- Location
- Lincopense, Ostrogothia, Suecia
The argument had been put forward that, being as she's the priests daughter and a good lapsed Christian girl she's already aware that she is a soul and only inhabiting a body.
Puella Magi Adfligo Systema
- Thread starter Firnagzen
- Start date
-
- Tags
- puella magi adfligo systema puella magi madoka magica be gay do crimes (gay) female protagonist bad decisions dating mami tomoe (tomoe mami) diabolical laughter friendship is the best ship handholding identity crises microwaving tea gets you put in the bad place names are important the body is the fursona of the soul this is not the baked goods thread we don't talk about rionna what could possibly go wrong? who in the world is azure sanfrancisco?
JIMI94
Birdman with a cauldron on it's head
- Location
- The Garden of Earthly Delights
[X] The Phoenixian
Yeah, and It would be a bit rude and uncaring of Koko's feelings. Let her know after this over lunch or something (might ask Mami how she thinks we should break it to her after this while boondoggle).
Yeah, and It would be a bit rude and uncaring of Koko's feelings. Let her know after this over lunch or something (might ask Mami how she thinks we should break it to her after this while boondoggle).
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DB_Explorer
Purveyor of alternate realities.
- Location
- San Diego, California
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Iowa: Your a soul in a rock!!
Kyouko: ..yep, now let me lock you in Plato's cave.
Actually.... Iowa being...Iowa they might not know Lich bombing somone is a thing. They might consider the 'soul is separate from the body' to be a 'well yeah' sorta thing.
- Location
- Illinois
... You-- you realize that's what is going on, yes? That we are talking to Yuki, not Fukushima as a whole? That that is what we have been doing since last update? Yuki and Kazumi, not Fukushima and Pleiades? That's why we're getting Kazumi swearing in English rather than, you know, Niko swearing in science?
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- Location
- Illinois
I wanna yank the "we'll put Kyouko on Madoka" from my vote pending discussion of it next vote. It's occurred to me that we can probably trust Kazumi implicitly, and given that my impression of Kyouko is that she wants to be part of this fight, if we can get away with having Kyouko be part of it by subbing Kazumi for her on protection detail, that would be ideal. Fighting alongside one another is a really good way to establish bonds and, well, to say the least I wasn't actually happy about leaving Kyouko, it was just the least bad option I could see.
So, I'm just gonna replace "We'll put Kyouko on Madoka" with "We'll put somebody with a lot of power who we can trust implicitly on Madoka, who specifically we'll figure out with the team in timestop"
that is the only change I am making, here
[X] Start running through messages rapidly:
-[X] To Homura: your immediate plan, pending the team's agreement, is to get a general location on Iowa, then stick someone(s) we trust on Madoka, we'll figure out who exactly as a team before departing and give her the final say on it, and have the rest of us grab our allies up into timestop and smash Iowa. If she wants to object to that she needs to do it now.
-[X] To Mami: start now.
--[X] Sayaka, Kyouko, Yuma, Mika, Homura, Mami: Sayaka should get a clone with antimagic and maybe Kazumi's power up here. Mami believes she can trace the effect, and pending the results of that you are probably going to want to destroy the scrying effect afterwards.
---[X] Homura: you'll call for her to initiate timestop in estimated 8-12 minutes. Once she's got it active she should have Sayaka help her hook up with us; we'll return to Madoka in timestop before making any subsequent moves.
-[X] Oriko, Kirika: if they're willing to come for this fight, you're bringing them. And, well, Sayaka, Homura, and Mami are coming too. Fighting on the same side heals a lot of rifts.
//Full circle.
-[X] The broad telepathy group we've been talking with: after some discussion you're going to employ Homura's magic, which is going to change the operation completely. What this means is that you need a contact point from each group considering sending members to the fight to figure out where all the other members of their group are, and then give you a clear picture of where their contact point will be in about ten minutes. Homura has largely avoided the nature of her magic getting out to anyone despite her long career and you've been working to honor that, so further details will be available at activation time.
[X] Telepathy Madoka, Hitomi, Sayaka, Homura: Madoka is your official unofficial fallback under the arrangements you made with Mr. Momoe. There isn't presently cause for alarm, but at this point you are starting to conclude that you may not make it back to Nagisa in a timely manner. You'd like her to do two things: get in contact with her dad and get his guarantee that, all else failing, he'll pick both her and Nagisa up from the mall and let Nagisa stay at the Kaname residence until Mr. Momoe picks her up, and then about half an hour from now, if you haven't made it back, get in contact with Mr. Momoe, tell him that you've had a major problem come up, and set up plans with him to handle Nagisa.
-[X] Schedule a text for half an hour from now to Momoe Shin, saying that you've had a major problem come up and have arranged for Madoka to make certain that Nagisa remains accompanied and gets back to him. If all else fails, Mr. Kaname will pick Nagisa up from the mall along with Madoka and Shin will be able to pick her up from the Kaname residence. Hitomi and Sayaka have also agreed to remain with Nagisa in your absence.
--[X] Include contact info for Madoka.
---[X] Add to abeyance at bottom of post: reminder to drop our phone with Hitomi, and rejigger the scheduling on the text to actually match objective time.
[X] If we discover the general location of Iowa as a result of the trace, immediately destroy the scrying effect and go to timestop, then break.
-[X] Otherwise, break when the trace completes and we know what Intel or capabilities we've gained from it.
So, I'm just gonna replace "We'll put Kyouko on Madoka" with "We'll put somebody with a lot of power who we can trust implicitly on Madoka, who specifically we'll figure out with the team in timestop"
that is the only change I am making, here
[X] Start running through messages rapidly:
-[X] To Homura: your immediate plan, pending the team's agreement, is to get a general location on Iowa, then stick someone(s) we trust on Madoka, we'll figure out who exactly as a team before departing and give her the final say on it, and have the rest of us grab our allies up into timestop and smash Iowa. If she wants to object to that she needs to do it now.
-[X] To Mami: start now.
--[X] Sayaka, Kyouko, Yuma, Mika, Homura, Mami: Sayaka should get a clone with antimagic and maybe Kazumi's power up here. Mami believes she can trace the effect, and pending the results of that you are probably going to want to destroy the scrying effect afterwards.
---[X] Homura: you'll call for her to initiate timestop in estimated 8-12 minutes. Once she's got it active she should have Sayaka help her hook up with us; we'll return to Madoka in timestop before making any subsequent moves.
-[X] Oriko, Kirika: if they're willing to come for this fight, you're bringing them. And, well, Sayaka, Homura, and Mami are coming too. Fighting on the same side heals a lot of rifts.
//Full circle.
-[X] The broad telepathy group we've been talking with: after some discussion you're going to employ Homura's magic, which is going to change the operation completely. What this means is that you need a contact point from each group considering sending members to the fight to figure out where all the other members of their group are, and then give you a clear picture of where their contact point will be in about ten minutes. Homura has largely avoided the nature of her magic getting out to anyone despite her long career and you've been working to honor that, so further details will be available at activation time.
[X] Telepathy Madoka, Hitomi, Sayaka, Homura: Madoka is your official unofficial fallback under the arrangements you made with Mr. Momoe. There isn't presently cause for alarm, but at this point you are starting to conclude that you may not make it back to Nagisa in a timely manner. You'd like her to do two things: get in contact with her dad and get his guarantee that, all else failing, he'll pick both her and Nagisa up from the mall and let Nagisa stay at the Kaname residence until Mr. Momoe picks her up, and then about half an hour from now, if you haven't made it back, get in contact with Mr. Momoe, tell him that you've had a major problem come up, and set up plans with him to handle Nagisa.
-[X] Schedule a text for half an hour from now to Momoe Shin, saying that you've had a major problem come up and have arranged for Madoka to make certain that Nagisa remains accompanied and gets back to him. If all else fails, Mr. Kaname will pick Nagisa up from the mall along with Madoka and Shin will be able to pick her up from the Kaname residence. Hitomi and Sayaka have also agreed to remain with Nagisa in your absence.
--[X] Include contact info for Madoka.
---[X] Add to abeyance at bottom of post: reminder to drop our phone with Hitomi, and rejigger the scheduling on the text to actually match objective time.
[X] If we discover the general location of Iowa as a result of the trace, immediately destroy the scrying effect and go to timestop, then break.
-[X] Otherwise, break when the trace completes and we know what Intel or capabilities we've gained from it.
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- Location
- The Frozen North
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I have made a thing. Using this reddit post as a guide, along and the various resources contained within, I have made a small series of MagiaRecord screen cap lookalikes of a portion of Mami and Kyouko's meeting. (As this was first thing I could think of that didn't involve Sabrina much, as she doesn't have a sprite (obviously) or an easy lookalike in MagiReco.) Despite there being an absolute crap ton of magia record backgrounds I couldn't find a bridge so I went with the closest thing I could find, and otherwise I think I did pretty good. (Though a lot of that is due to the template on the reddit post, but i digress). Anyway here they are in a spoiler to save space on the thread:
I just want to grab Kyouko and squeeze her tight and never let her go.I have made a thing. Using this reddit post as a guide, along and the various resources contained within, I have made a small series of MagiaRecord screen cap lookalikes of a portion of Mami and Kyouko's meeting. (As this was first thing I could think of that didn't involve Sabrina much, as she doesn't have a sprite (obviously) or an easy lookalike in MagiReco.) Despite there being an absolute crap ton of magia record backgrounds I couldn't find a bridge so I went with the closest thing I could find, and otherwise I think I did pretty good. (Though a lot of that is due to the template on the reddit post, but i digress). Anyway here they are in a spoiler to save space on the thread:
Girl's been through too much, she needs support.
Lowlife pt. 11
"I..." you hesitate.
Moment of truth. If you do this, you have to commit.
You trust Mami.
She knows what she's doing, and if she says that whoever's on the other side of this -you're sure it's Iowa, but there's always room for error- will know, then you believe her. They'll know. And if they know, that means you have to move fast if you're capitalizing on this.
They're raiders. You're not letting them come to your city, your home, and threaten it. You're not going to let them come close to the city, to the people you love. And worse: anyone else caught in their path to you will be laid at your feet. You have no excuse, if you know about them.
You don't have to go in swinging, on the off chance that it's not Iowa. But you are going in.
A deep breath of the humid, ozone-laden air, a chill that goes deep into your bones.
Alright.
"Homura," you murmur across the distance, as fast as you can form the thoughts. At the same time, you signal for Mami to hold for a moment. "With your agreement, I want to go for a pre-emptive strike on whoever's doing this by timestop. If this is Iowa, we can't let them come to us, and I don't want to leave the city undefended. If you have any objections, now's the time."
You pause for a second to let Homura absorb that, and then, softer, "I'd like you to come with us, Homura. We can have, um. Someone we trust, I'm thinking Kyouko, and a Sayaka clone, maybe but I'm not sure stick with Madoka, but that shouldn't be necessary - we'll stay in timestop as much as possible, and I can fly us there quickly. Mitakihara won't be undefended."
Homura's silent for a long moment. Mami glances to you with a warm smile, magic still held ready in her fist. You smile back, shifting your blob of Grief to one hand to free up the other - but only for so long, as Mami takes the implied offer. And your hand. You interlace your fingers with hers, squeezing gently. You'll sort this out. You'll sort this out together, albeit after you sort something else out first.
"Sayaka?" you murmur to your friend on another channel as you wait for Homura to collect her thoughts.
"Yeah?" She glances up at you, blue bangs almost black under the dim light of the storm.
"D'you think you can get another clone with Kazumi's power onto a roof or some other vantage point? Get ready to copy the scrying spell?" you say.
"Will that wor... Oooh. Ooh, yeah, I see. Can do," Sayaka says. "Can't believe I didn't think of that."
"Hey, I didn't either," you say. "Well, I sort of did, but Kazumi suggested it to me. And uh... bring antimagic with you? Just in case?"
"Yeah, yeah," Sayaka says. "Gimme a minute."
Lightning strobes past, a near solid sheet of white blazing through the darkness of the cloud.
"What do you intend to do when you find them?" Homura asks quietly.
"Stop them," you say simply. "I hope it doesn't come to a fight, but I think it will. I'm... prepared for that, and I'll want to end it quickly."
"... alright," Homura says. "I'll come."
"And I'd... the plan is to grab as many allies as we can to smash Iowa. Again subject to your agreement. I'd... I'd like to bring Oriko and Kirika along as well?" you add hesitantly. "If nothing else, it means that they're not up to mischief while we're away."
"You're bringing Mami and Sayaka?" Homura asks.
"Yeah," you say.
"... fine," Homura says. She doesn't sound happy about it.
"I know it's a lot to ask," you say. "But I am asking, Homura. If you're willing, I think this is our best shot at handling this before trouble comes to Mitakihara."
"I agree," Homura murmurs. "I don't trust them. I... with this many other magical girls..."
"I know. I understand," you say. "I doubt they'd try anything, but... we can keep an eye on them. Sayaka will be there too, and she doesn't trust them, either. Mami, too, and nothing gets past Mami, and Kazumi will always side with her, so..."
"I agree," Homura repeats, her voice strained. "Your plan makes sense. Taking care of Iowa before they can threaten M- Mitakihara is sound. Bringing allies is good. I..."
"Take your time, think about it," you murmur gently. "I... you can even pull me aside later to discuss it first, if you want? None of this happens without your say-so, Homura."
"... I will," Homura says. Another pause. "Tell Mami to start her search."
"Can do," you say. "You're sure, Homura? Again, this is your decision. I'll figure out something else if you don't want to."
"I'm sure," Homura says.
"Alright. Let me know, Homura - Mami says about ten minutes? But um... grab me before that ends if you need to, I'll need to make some arrangements," you say. "If not... I'll let you know when Mami's done. Grab Sayaka and link up with us?"
"Understood," Homura says quietly.
You take a breath and smile at Mami. "Alright. Alright," you say. "Mami, Sayaka - are you both ready? Sayaka, do you need to go first?"
"Got a clone on the mall roof, ready!" Sayaka says. Her first clone, crouching at the side of your flight platform, grins and flashes you a thumbs-up - the same grin you can hear in her mental voice.
"I'm ready too, Sabrina," Mami says. "I'll need to focus, and I'll be depending on you to cleanse me while I do this."
"Of course," you say. "I've got you, Mami. When you're both ready, then." You expand the call to include Mika, Kyouko, and Yuma. "Alright. Mami and Sayaka are going to do their thing to trace the storm."
"Got it!" Mika says, still somewhere far above your heads. You suspect she might actually be above the cloud by now. "Ready when you are~"
"And then what?" Kyouko asks, scowling at you.
"When we know where they are, we pay them a visit," you say. "If they're hostile, we smash them."
Kyouko snorts, but apparently that meets her standards for approval, because she doesn't say anything further, instead returning to glaring out at the clouds. She produces a pear from somewhere in her costume and bites into that, her other hand soothing Yuma, who's leaning anxiously into her side.
Mami chuckles, and pulls your arm around her shoulders. "I'll get started now," she murmurs into your ear, ducked close enough that her hair brushes against your skin as it drifts in the wind.
"Got it," you say, smiling. "You've got this."
She nods, taking a deep breath, and closes her eyes. She holds her hands out, fingers lightly cupped, and you can feel the warm glow of magic gathering between her palms - just as much as you can feel the Grief gathering within the depths of her Soul Gem. A mere trickle, but a growing one as Mami's magic starts to spiral through the air around her.
But then, that's what you're here for. You begin to draw the Grief from her Gem, draining it as fast as it might generate.
And this is where you get to work, too.
A sliver of attention: Your phone, pulled from your pocket. Not with your hands, since one is occupied with enchanting and another with hugging Mami, but with Grief. You never did get that smartphone, so the flip phone is a little hard to see in the murk of the stormcloud. You shield it with Grief, just in case, and start typing: a message to be sent later to Nagisa's uncle.
The saddest part about all this is that you won't be able to spend the rest of the day with her - well, maybe you'll be back in half an hour. You can hope.
Another sliver of attention: A mental call to Oriko and Kirika.
"Oriko, Kirika?" you say. "I'm going to take the fight to them."
"... are you sure?" Kirika asks.
"Yeah," you say. "If you're willing, Oriko, Kirika, and if Homura agrees - I'm bringing you along. We'll all be fighting on the same side, and I hope it'll help to heal some rifts. And I... I don't want to leave you two alone, not at this time. I trust you know why?"
There's a slight pause before Oriko responds.
"We do," she murmurs. "I... yes. If we're allowed to, we're coming."
"Alright. Then in that case..." you expand the mental call, reaching out to your allies scattered across Japan. Kazumi, Yuki, the Animators, the Shiogama girls. "Hey, everyone."
"Sabrina! What's happening?" Kazumi asks.
"Change of plans," you say. "Mami thinks she can get a fix on the location of whoever's doing this, so, pending a few more arrangements, we'll be going on the offense."
"A pre-emptive strike, then, as previously discussed," Yuki says. "I approve. I'll lead a team."
"... I hadn't gotten there yet, but yeah," you say. "Whoever's willing, we'd love to have you on board - but this is entirely voluntary."
"We're in," Akemi says. "If they want to attack Mitakihara... then it falls to us to defend it."
"Us too!" Kazumi chirps. "I can't bring everyone, but we're coming to. Especially if Mami's going!"
"Mami's going, huh," Masami muses quietly. "Sorry, but I'm... I'm going to sit this one out. 'sides, you need someone to play home defense, I'm sure."
"I-" You choke off your instinctive protest. You did say it was voluntary, and... it's not like you've gotten Mami and Masami back on talking terms. It'd be nearly as awkward as bringing Kyouko without having reconciled them first. "Of course. I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to."
"Good luck on the fight," Masami says, quiet regret in her tone. "We'll hold down the fort at home."
"Sorry, Sabrina," Hiroko murmurs to you and you alone as they disconnect. "I hope you understand."
"Yeah, I do," you tell her. And to everyone else, you continue. "Alright. So - we'll hopefully be leveraging Homura's power, which out of respect to her, I'll be keeping... as obscure as possible. She's managed to keep her power largely a secret, and I intend to honour that."
"What do you need from us?" Yuki asks.
"Every group needs to designate a representative," you say. "Ten minutes sharp, you need to know where everyone else is, or better yet, be together, preferably somewhere prominent. I'll check in with you, we'll come to you, then grab the rest of whoever's coming."
"Understood," Yuki says. "We'll be ready."
"Us too!" Kazumi says.
"As will we," Noriko says. "Good luck to all of us."
"Hopefully, we won't need it... no offense, Noriko," you say. "I mean, turn of phrase and all."
Noriko snickers faintly. "None taken."
"Alright. Talk to you all soon, then," you say, and end that call, only to immediately open another, simultaneously checking on Mami. Her brow's furrowed in concentration, sweat beading on her brow - you can feel the surge of her magic, twisting and dancing off into the sky around you. The very air around you hazes a faint gold, evidently something that Yuma finds fascinating with the way she stares, eyes huge.
"Hey, everyone," you say to your friends, back in the mall. Homura, Sayaka, Madoka, Hitomi - and not Nagisa, of course. "So... the situation's changing."
"What's happening, Sabrina?" Madoka asks. "We're just hanging out at the foodcourt right now, taking a rest."
"Well... the storm's being used to spy on us, and we're going to go after whoever's behind it," you say. "We won't be away for too long, hopefully, but just in case, can you take care of Nagisa for me? And Madoka, if it isn't too much trouble, I know Mr. Momoe knows your mother - so can you help get in touch with her or your father, and guarantee that Nagisa has a place to stay until Mr. Momoe can pick her up?"
"Yeah, of course!" Madoka says. "I can do that!"
"We'll stay with her," Hitomi promises.
"Thank you," you say, relieved. "Thank you both. Just... yeah. I really hate to ditch and run, but, well."
"Keep Mitakihara safe, and we'll call it even," Hitomi says. "Besides, it's hardly a chore to keep an eye on Nagisa."
"Still, thank you," you say. "Um... Madoka, I'll text you Mr. Momoe's number, and you can get in touch with him in half an hour and let him know about the situation, if we're not back yet? Hopefully we are, but again - just in case."
"Oh, yeah! That's a good idea," Madoka says. There's an air of determination in her voice, as if she's trying to reassure you. "I can do that."
"Then thank you, both of you," you say. "Hitomi, shut up and accept the thanks."
"Well I never," Hitomi says, an amused lilt to her mock-outrage. "Stay safe."
"Are we leaving anyone else behind? Me, I assume?" Sayaka asks. She stands up from her position, and judging by the way she's rubbing her eyes, giving up on trying to divine the patterns in the magic. The wind plucks at her cape, tugging it out in a rippling banner of purest white, stark against the storm.
"A clone of you, yeah," you say as you start a new text to Madoka with Shin's details. "And anyone else, uh... we'll sort out the details."
"Right, right," Sayaka says. "Got it. And, uh, got it too. The storm scrying thing, I mean."
"Fantastic," you say. "Then we're just waiting on Mami's trace."
"Sabrina," Oriko says, directly to you. "A favour, if I may?"
"Yeah?" you say, absently offering farewells for now to the others.
"If Akemi Homura agrees, could you pick us up first?" Oriko asks quietly. "I would like to speak to her, with... as little audience as possible."
"... I'll ask," you say. "But I can't make promises."
You feel Mami's magic surge, just then, and she looks up, eyes glowing.
Literally glowing, a soft, golden luminescence.
"Too late," she murmurs, a satisfied smile curling her lips.
"Mami?" you say.
"They tried to kill their technique," Mami says, the glow fading as she blinks. "I don't think they realised I could trace it. We've got them, but they know."
[] Final team arrangement, pending Homura's confirmation
- [] Include Oriko and Kirika
-- [] How do you convince Homura?
[] How do you plan to spend the trip there? It will be about an hour not including pickup times if you really push the speed, utilizing the upper atmosphere.
[] Write-in
Again, apologies for the late update.
Moment of truth. If you do this, you have to commit.
You trust Mami.
She knows what she's doing, and if she says that whoever's on the other side of this -you're sure it's Iowa, but there's always room for error- will know, then you believe her. They'll know. And if they know, that means you have to move fast if you're capitalizing on this.
They're raiders. You're not letting them come to your city, your home, and threaten it. You're not going to let them come close to the city, to the people you love. And worse: anyone else caught in their path to you will be laid at your feet. You have no excuse, if you know about them.
You don't have to go in swinging, on the off chance that it's not Iowa. But you are going in.
A deep breath of the humid, ozone-laden air, a chill that goes deep into your bones.
Alright.
"Homura," you murmur across the distance, as fast as you can form the thoughts. At the same time, you signal for Mami to hold for a moment. "With your agreement, I want to go for a pre-emptive strike on whoever's doing this by timestop. If this is Iowa, we can't let them come to us, and I don't want to leave the city undefended. If you have any objections, now's the time."
You pause for a second to let Homura absorb that, and then, softer, "I'd like you to come with us, Homura. We can have, um. Someone we trust, I'm thinking Kyouko, and a Sayaka clone, maybe but I'm not sure stick with Madoka, but that shouldn't be necessary - we'll stay in timestop as much as possible, and I can fly us there quickly. Mitakihara won't be undefended."
Homura's silent for a long moment. Mami glances to you with a warm smile, magic still held ready in her fist. You smile back, shifting your blob of Grief to one hand to free up the other - but only for so long, as Mami takes the implied offer. And your hand. You interlace your fingers with hers, squeezing gently. You'll sort this out. You'll sort this out together, albeit after you sort something else out first.
"Sayaka?" you murmur to your friend on another channel as you wait for Homura to collect her thoughts.
"Yeah?" She glances up at you, blue bangs almost black under the dim light of the storm.
"D'you think you can get another clone with Kazumi's power onto a roof or some other vantage point? Get ready to copy the scrying spell?" you say.
"Will that wor... Oooh. Ooh, yeah, I see. Can do," Sayaka says. "Can't believe I didn't think of that."
"Hey, I didn't either," you say. "Well, I sort of did, but Kazumi suggested it to me. And uh... bring antimagic with you? Just in case?"
"Yeah, yeah," Sayaka says. "Gimme a minute."
Lightning strobes past, a near solid sheet of white blazing through the darkness of the cloud.
"What do you intend to do when you find them?" Homura asks quietly.
"Stop them," you say simply. "I hope it doesn't come to a fight, but I think it will. I'm... prepared for that, and I'll want to end it quickly."
"... alright," Homura says. "I'll come."
"And I'd... the plan is to grab as many allies as we can to smash Iowa. Again subject to your agreement. I'd... I'd like to bring Oriko and Kirika along as well?" you add hesitantly. "If nothing else, it means that they're not up to mischief while we're away."
"You're bringing Mami and Sayaka?" Homura asks.
"Yeah," you say.
"... fine," Homura says. She doesn't sound happy about it.
"I know it's a lot to ask," you say. "But I am asking, Homura. If you're willing, I think this is our best shot at handling this before trouble comes to Mitakihara."
"I agree," Homura murmurs. "I don't trust them. I... with this many other magical girls..."
"I know. I understand," you say. "I doubt they'd try anything, but... we can keep an eye on them. Sayaka will be there too, and she doesn't trust them, either. Mami, too, and nothing gets past Mami, and Kazumi will always side with her, so..."
"I agree," Homura repeats, her voice strained. "Your plan makes sense. Taking care of Iowa before they can threaten M- Mitakihara is sound. Bringing allies is good. I..."
"Take your time, think about it," you murmur gently. "I... you can even pull me aside later to discuss it first, if you want? None of this happens without your say-so, Homura."
"... I will," Homura says. Another pause. "Tell Mami to start her search."
"Can do," you say. "You're sure, Homura? Again, this is your decision. I'll figure out something else if you don't want to."
"I'm sure," Homura says.
"Alright. Let me know, Homura - Mami says about ten minutes? But um... grab me before that ends if you need to, I'll need to make some arrangements," you say. "If not... I'll let you know when Mami's done. Grab Sayaka and link up with us?"
"Understood," Homura says quietly.
You take a breath and smile at Mami. "Alright. Alright," you say. "Mami, Sayaka - are you both ready? Sayaka, do you need to go first?"
"Got a clone on the mall roof, ready!" Sayaka says. Her first clone, crouching at the side of your flight platform, grins and flashes you a thumbs-up - the same grin you can hear in her mental voice.
"I'm ready too, Sabrina," Mami says. "I'll need to focus, and I'll be depending on you to cleanse me while I do this."
"Of course," you say. "I've got you, Mami. When you're both ready, then." You expand the call to include Mika, Kyouko, and Yuma. "Alright. Mami and Sayaka are going to do their thing to trace the storm."
"Got it!" Mika says, still somewhere far above your heads. You suspect she might actually be above the cloud by now. "Ready when you are~"
"And then what?" Kyouko asks, scowling at you.
"When we know where they are, we pay them a visit," you say. "If they're hostile, we smash them."
Kyouko snorts, but apparently that meets her standards for approval, because she doesn't say anything further, instead returning to glaring out at the clouds. She produces a pear from somewhere in her costume and bites into that, her other hand soothing Yuma, who's leaning anxiously into her side.
Mami chuckles, and pulls your arm around her shoulders. "I'll get started now," she murmurs into your ear, ducked close enough that her hair brushes against your skin as it drifts in the wind.
"Got it," you say, smiling. "You've got this."
She nods, taking a deep breath, and closes her eyes. She holds her hands out, fingers lightly cupped, and you can feel the warm glow of magic gathering between her palms - just as much as you can feel the Grief gathering within the depths of her Soul Gem. A mere trickle, but a growing one as Mami's magic starts to spiral through the air around her.
But then, that's what you're here for. You begin to draw the Grief from her Gem, draining it as fast as it might generate.
And this is where you get to work, too.
A sliver of attention: Your phone, pulled from your pocket. Not with your hands, since one is occupied with enchanting and another with hugging Mami, but with Grief. You never did get that smartphone, so the flip phone is a little hard to see in the murk of the stormcloud. You shield it with Grief, just in case, and start typing: a message to be sent later to Nagisa's uncle.
The saddest part about all this is that you won't be able to spend the rest of the day with her - well, maybe you'll be back in half an hour. You can hope.
You schedule that for half an hour, and you'll leave your phone with Madoka or Hitomi, just in case.SMS: 317/320 said:
Another sliver of attention: A mental call to Oriko and Kirika.
"Oriko, Kirika?" you say. "I'm going to take the fight to them."
"... are you sure?" Kirika asks.
"Yeah," you say. "If you're willing, Oriko, Kirika, and if Homura agrees - I'm bringing you along. We'll all be fighting on the same side, and I hope it'll help to heal some rifts. And I... I don't want to leave you two alone, not at this time. I trust you know why?"
There's a slight pause before Oriko responds.
"We do," she murmurs. "I... yes. If we're allowed to, we're coming."
"Alright. Then in that case..." you expand the mental call, reaching out to your allies scattered across Japan. Kazumi, Yuki, the Animators, the Shiogama girls. "Hey, everyone."
"Sabrina! What's happening?" Kazumi asks.
"Change of plans," you say. "Mami thinks she can get a fix on the location of whoever's doing this, so, pending a few more arrangements, we'll be going on the offense."
"A pre-emptive strike, then, as previously discussed," Yuki says. "I approve. I'll lead a team."
"... I hadn't gotten there yet, but yeah," you say. "Whoever's willing, we'd love to have you on board - but this is entirely voluntary."
"We're in," Akemi says. "If they want to attack Mitakihara... then it falls to us to defend it."
"Us too!" Kazumi chirps. "I can't bring everyone, but we're coming to. Especially if Mami's going!"
"Mami's going, huh," Masami muses quietly. "Sorry, but I'm... I'm going to sit this one out. 'sides, you need someone to play home defense, I'm sure."
"I-" You choke off your instinctive protest. You did say it was voluntary, and... it's not like you've gotten Mami and Masami back on talking terms. It'd be nearly as awkward as bringing Kyouko without having reconciled them first. "Of course. I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to."
"Good luck on the fight," Masami says, quiet regret in her tone. "We'll hold down the fort at home."
"Sorry, Sabrina," Hiroko murmurs to you and you alone as they disconnect. "I hope you understand."
"Yeah, I do," you tell her. And to everyone else, you continue. "Alright. So - we'll hopefully be leveraging Homura's power, which out of respect to her, I'll be keeping... as obscure as possible. She's managed to keep her power largely a secret, and I intend to honour that."
"What do you need from us?" Yuki asks.
"Every group needs to designate a representative," you say. "Ten minutes sharp, you need to know where everyone else is, or better yet, be together, preferably somewhere prominent. I'll check in with you, we'll come to you, then grab the rest of whoever's coming."
"Understood," Yuki says. "We'll be ready."
"Us too!" Kazumi says.
"As will we," Noriko says. "Good luck to all of us."
"Hopefully, we won't need it... no offense, Noriko," you say. "I mean, turn of phrase and all."
Noriko snickers faintly. "None taken."
"Alright. Talk to you all soon, then," you say, and end that call, only to immediately open another, simultaneously checking on Mami. Her brow's furrowed in concentration, sweat beading on her brow - you can feel the surge of her magic, twisting and dancing off into the sky around you. The very air around you hazes a faint gold, evidently something that Yuma finds fascinating with the way she stares, eyes huge.
"Hey, everyone," you say to your friends, back in the mall. Homura, Sayaka, Madoka, Hitomi - and not Nagisa, of course. "So... the situation's changing."
"What's happening, Sabrina?" Madoka asks. "We're just hanging out at the foodcourt right now, taking a rest."
"Well... the storm's being used to spy on us, and we're going to go after whoever's behind it," you say. "We won't be away for too long, hopefully, but just in case, can you take care of Nagisa for me? And Madoka, if it isn't too much trouble, I know Mr. Momoe knows your mother - so can you help get in touch with her or your father, and guarantee that Nagisa has a place to stay until Mr. Momoe can pick her up?"
"Yeah, of course!" Madoka says. "I can do that!"
"We'll stay with her," Hitomi promises.
"Thank you," you say, relieved. "Thank you both. Just... yeah. I really hate to ditch and run, but, well."
"Keep Mitakihara safe, and we'll call it even," Hitomi says. "Besides, it's hardly a chore to keep an eye on Nagisa."
"Still, thank you," you say. "Um... Madoka, I'll text you Mr. Momoe's number, and you can get in touch with him in half an hour and let him know about the situation, if we're not back yet? Hopefully we are, but again - just in case."
"Oh, yeah! That's a good idea," Madoka says. There's an air of determination in her voice, as if she's trying to reassure you. "I can do that."
"Then thank you, both of you," you say. "Hitomi, shut up and accept the thanks."
"Well I never," Hitomi says, an amused lilt to her mock-outrage. "Stay safe."
"Are we leaving anyone else behind? Me, I assume?" Sayaka asks. She stands up from her position, and judging by the way she's rubbing her eyes, giving up on trying to divine the patterns in the magic. The wind plucks at her cape, tugging it out in a rippling banner of purest white, stark against the storm.
"A clone of you, yeah," you say as you start a new text to Madoka with Shin's details. "And anyone else, uh... we'll sort out the details."
"Right, right," Sayaka says. "Got it. And, uh, got it too. The storm scrying thing, I mean."
"Fantastic," you say. "Then we're just waiting on Mami's trace."
"Sabrina," Oriko says, directly to you. "A favour, if I may?"
"Yeah?" you say, absently offering farewells for now to the others.
"If Akemi Homura agrees, could you pick us up first?" Oriko asks quietly. "I would like to speak to her, with... as little audience as possible."
"... I'll ask," you say. "But I can't make promises."
You feel Mami's magic surge, just then, and she looks up, eyes glowing.
Literally glowing, a soft, golden luminescence.
"Too late," she murmurs, a satisfied smile curling her lips.
"Mami?" you say.
"They tried to kill their technique," Mami says, the glow fading as she blinks. "I don't think they realised I could trace it. We've got them, but they know."
[] Final team arrangement, pending Homura's confirmation
- [] Include Oriko and Kirika
-- [] How do you convince Homura?
[] How do you plan to spend the trip there? It will be about an hour not including pickup times if you really push the speed, utilizing the upper atmosphere.
[] Write-in
[X] Drop your phone with Hitomi
=====
Again, apologies for the late update.
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- Location
- Illinois
Oh now *THAT* is what I LIKE TO HEAR!
She.
Well, Mami's got them.
Now that we have a location, we rally the troops and prepare to strike.
- Location
- Not the asylum anymore
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Hell yes.
Okay, we should probably be in timestop ASAP- give Iowa as little time as possible to react. However, however, we need to make sure Homura isn't too stressed.
Okay, we should probably be in timestop ASAP- give Iowa as little time as possible to react. However, however, we need to make sure Homura isn't too stressed.
- Location
- The Surface Of A Hostile Planet
POV: You are the Iowa Group, and you're just realizing that you might have fucked up.
Sharkijism
Bubble noises*
- Location
- Southeast Asia
- Pronouns
- They/Them
They'll never know what's hit 'em!
DB_Explorer
Purveyor of alternate realities.
- Location
- San Diego, California
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[JK] Hug Homura
[JK] High five Mami
POV: You are the Iowa Group, and you're just realizing that you might have fucked up.
GM: Mami Tomoe knows where you are
Voter: SEE I told you we should of done the happy friendship game! But no you wanted POWER... now we have to fight the girl that can summon more guns then Shirou Emiya has *swords*.
- Location
- Not the asylum anymore
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Other Voter: Don't worry, this just means they'll be dug in when we arrive. We've dealt with forewarned coalitions before. Besides, it not like they'd be coming to us. We've got most of Asia between us and them, and they'd have to leave their territory undefended- which we don't have to worry about. It might tough, but we most definitely can handle-
GM: One second has passed. A dozen magical girls are now surrounding you.
Other Voter: We most definitely can not handle this!
Nickballas
Pride is an interesting aspect of human nature.
- Location
- Greece
DB_Explorer
Purveyor of alternate realities.
- Location
- San Diego, California
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Voter: Phill I blame you for insulting the GM's dog
Phil: WHAT it was a TINY! It bounced when it barked!
GM: Mami summons a hemisphere of guns around and over you....
...actually I wonder what the likely hood of a girl basically be able to dive into computer networks due to her power is?
Speaker4thesilen
Superpower: Common Sense
- Location
- Noneya Business
Some day, girls like this are going to stop underestimating Mami. When it happens, they will just set up a DMZ around Mitakihara and sell popcorn to observers and videos of anyone stupid enough to poke Magical Girl Batman.