"Yeah, nah," you say, frowning after a moment's of thought. "If they're friendly, then that's our mistake. But I don't think anything good'll come of letting them make the first move."
"Correct answer," Kyouko drawls, quirking an eyebrow down at you. "Gotta say, was half expecting you to want to talk it out."
You roll your eyes. A test, huh?
"I'm not
that bad," you say, scowling up at her with your own eyebrow raised. "I mean, I've been
expecting hostiles the entire day, and here they are. I'm... optimistic, not dumb."
"Cool," Kyouko says, planting her spear point-down on the top of the trellis so she can slouch against it, balancing in stark defiance of the narrow strips of wood beneath her feet. "So. What's
next?"
... that's still a test, but hey. You have an answer for this.
"I'm going to let Mami and Homura know," you say. "Just in case - we
should be fine, but let's be sure. As for our probably-Souju ambushers... honestly, Kyouko, I'm delegating and leaving it in
your hands. What's our play? And... how long do we have to figure out a plan, anyway? They can sense us from outside, yeah?"
Kyouko snorts, relaxing deliberately and putting a gentle hand on Yuma's shoulder. Yuma glances up at Kyouko at the touch, then draws in a deep breath and straightens, planting the head of her mace in the wood and likewise relaxing.
"Lazy option, but 'aight," she says. "We've got 'bout half an hour to talk it out, tops. Any magical girl can get a sense of what's happening in a Barrier, but
pinpointing what's happening 's a non-starter." She scowls. "Easiest way outta this is to have someone else hit them from behind, but I take it that's not an option, Miss Goody Two Shoes?"
"I..." You scrub your hand through your hair, looking out at the deceptively idyllic strawberry farmscape of the Barrier and the mottled brown sky above. "No, I'd rather not."
"Mmmkay," Kyouko says. "Then we gotta hit them hard and fast the moment we exit the Barrier. Focus on one, knock her down and punch through. Equal numbers of us and them, but we should be able to break out."
"Hey, uh - we just need a distraction, right? I could do it," Sayaka says. "I'll get rid of this clone and duck out to the toilet at school to send a new one out. Then we'd just coordinate by telepathy?"
"Could work," Kyouko says. "Pincer them in."
"Actually, on that note, Kyouko-" you say, frowning and raising a finger. "Four
bodies, or four Soul Gems?"
Kyouko scowls, drumming her fingers on the haft of her spear as she thinks it through.
"I'm... not sure," she concedes.
"Right," you say. You can
feel your frown deepen. "It's not impossible that the Soujus have accomplices, but given that we know she's a Soul Gem collector, it
might just be, uh, one body? And... Oriko was having trouble picking her out too, so it's possible that she fooled your senses?"
"Why
four though?" Sayaka asks. "There's... just the two Soujus, right?"
"Assume the worst case," Kyouko grunts. "
Assume there's four of 'em, and if there's only one, great, that makes life easier for us getting out of this."
"Right..." You run your hand through your hair again, thinking. Well, you've decided you're going to let Kyouko take the lead on this because hell,
she's the veteran here. You might prefer to try and talk it out, but... hostile actions are hostile actions, and if it's a misunderstanding, you'll make amends after the fact.
"Alright, so... am I getting rid of this clone or nah?" Sayaka asks.
"Hang on a sec," Kyouko says. "So, the plan's simple, because
fancy gets you killed. Three steps. One, we need t' make it seem like we haven't noticed them. That means we kill the Witch as we normally would, call it twenty minutes from now, and that's two: we
coordinate and distract them at the same time 's the Barrier vomits us out. Step three is that we come out swinging and hit them from both sides. You follow?"
"Right, yeah," Sayaka says, frowning. "It'll be maybe five minutes from here to... uh, from school to here."
"Ten," Kyouko says. "Don't rush it, you gotta stay hidden."
Sayaka nods, her expression tight.
"And
you..." Kyouko slants a look at you, crimson eyes narrowed. "Sabs, you go tell Mami first."
"And Homura," you add, raising your eyebrow. "And come to that, the Kures and the Shiogama girls too."
It's not like you don't understand what she's saying. Mami... Mami's never been one to sit by idly, has she? And Kyouko has a point there, too. You've always done your best to ensure that school time is sacrosanct for your friends, but with Sayaka here, the walls are already breaking down, and you can't see Mami
not wanting to come and help, class attendance be damned.
"Sure, whatever," Kyouko says, rolling her eyes. "C'mon, let's go find the Witch. There's Familiars to get through first."
She takes off at a dash, spear slung low at her side and boots dancing featherlight over the wooden trellises. Yuma launches herself after, while you and Sayaka decide to stay on the ground level, Sayaka shooting you a slightly nervous grin as she takes the rear. Nerves, but that's only to be expected, you suppose.
The easier ones first, then. Also the ones that give you just a bit of trepidation as you reach out across Mitakihara with telepathy.
In a way, Watanabe Noriko's the opposite of Ayase and Luca Souju - where they're two magical girls sharing a body, Noriko's a single magical girl in two bodies. A rather delightful symmetry, in many aspects, and some small voice of paranoia can't help but whisper that the Soujus might have wanted to
look in on them.
Surely they'd have called for help if they'd been attacked, though.
"
Miss Watanabe?" you say.
"
Miss Sabrina?" The girl responds quickly, the sound of her mental voice sending relief flooding through your veins even as you can picture her face - faces, rather, both of her bodies bending in worry that bleeds through to the telepathy. "
What is it? Is there trouble?"
"
I... well, I apologise for being the bearer of bad news," you say. "
We're working on handling it, but the Soul Gem thieves I warned you about are in Mitakihara. Currently they're stalking me and a couple of my friends, and we're confident of handling them, but I thought you deserved a warning."
"
Oh," Noriko says. "
Ah... I, well, Akemi and I are out shopping right now? We can come and help if you need to?"
"
There's no need," you say firmly. "
We're reasonably confident - we'll call for help if we really
need it, but it's not your responsibility."
"
We live here now, Miss Sabrina," Noriko disagrees politely. "
But... if you're sure, I admit it would be a relief."
"
I'm sure," you say. "
Enjoy your shopping trip."
"
It's just for groceries, but thank you," Noriko says.
And that's that for the Shiogama girls. You feel like you should go visit them more. They'd moved to Mitakihara to escape memories and trauma, and sure, giving them a new place to stay is
something, but it doesn't feel like it's enough. Still, it seems they're well for now, and apparently ignored by the Soujus. The next call, then.
"
Oriko?" you ask telepathically.
"
Sabrina? What's happening?" There's a note of frustration bleeding into Oriko's mental voice - frustration and stress.
"
We've noticed magical girls that are presumably
the Soujus camping outside a Barrier that we're currently in," you say. "
They haven't bothered you, yeah?"
"
They're- what
?" The frustration turns to annoyance. "
I- I still can't see
them."
"
Hey, it's OK, Oriko," you say. "
They might be running some kind of anti-scrying measure?"
"
That is... unfortunate," Oriko says, the annoyance now restrained. "
I apologise for not being able to warn you in time, Sabrina. Are you well? Do you require our aid?"
"
Not now, and... the apology is unnecessary, Oriko, but accepted anyway. You've done plenty, watching my back like this, and if a few issues slip through the crack, that's fine." you say. You
could point out that she'd given you the warning far back, but you doubt that's a good tack to take. "
And I just wanted to check that you and Kirika were safe, actually."
"
We are," Oriko says. "
What's your current plan?"
"
We're planning a counterambush," you say. "
Well, Kyouko is - I left it in her hands."
"
I see," Oriko says. "
Then... I wish you the best of luck. Please do tell me if you need help."
"
I will," you say, exhaling as you end the call. Just in time, as Sayaka swings her sword out, pointing.
"Up there!" Sayaka calls. You follow her eyes to the skyline, then up to the towering walls clawing to the blotchy brown sky in jagged crenellations of translucent, plasticky material and stretching from horizon to horizon.
"That'll be it," Kyouko shouts back, slowing to a jog, her footsteps light atop the strawberry-laden trellises. "Slow, now, we've got time. Sabs, how's those calls coming?"
"Working on it!" you say.
The last two to inform about the Soujus: Homura, and Mami. Homura would be glad for the warning, and more than willing to stay to guard Madoka. Mami, on the other hand... you worry for her. School is
important, dammit, but you're not sure she'd be willing to
stay, not with you potentially under attack. And you admit, you'd be
glad for her help, but it sits poorly with you to interrupt that.
[] Don't tell Mami about the Soujus
[] Tell Mami about the Soujus
- [] Try and persuade her not to come and help?
-- [] Write-in (word count limit: 150 words)
=====
And we're back! A shorter update this time, but on the upside, the next update should come quicker this weekend, if only because I already had a good chunk written before Sabrina barged into my head and pointed out that she
knows Mami would have Opinions.
