Jamie Roberts
Hávamál 127
- Location
- N/A
- Pronouns
- she/her
Don't listen to 'em, Mollusc! True Genius is never appreciated in its time!
Subsumption (PMMM Faux-Quest) (Witch MC)
Don't listen to 'em, Mollusc! True Genius is never appreciated in its time!
- Location
- Sunset City zone
That would be a ridiculous and complicated thing to do.
hillo315
Intact but Tactless
- Location
- Somewhere. Somewhere else.
Therefore, only a monster would bother posting updates like that. QED.
- Location
- Sunset City zone
You know what would be really ridiculous? If Ashtaroth was used as a witch on a Madoka magica rp. I mean, not in the face that she at least has her sanity. I mean more from her subsumption ability and if she ate a bunch of magical girls.
Tempestuous
Words are wind, so I write.
- Location
- CA
So the subsumption ability to nom, regurgitate, and body-jack meguca in a canon-behavior witch?
...that is absolutely horrifying.
- Location
- Sunset City zone
And just imagine the difficulties of working with that if you were doing a Madoka magica rp. What would have to be done when MGs are subsumed by her would be the tricky thing of sorts. The only plus would have to be how Ashtaroth has her sanity, meaning she wouldn't be doing normal witchy business.
Nervos Belli
Don't think this means you've won!
- Location
- Murica
You could make it an RP about survival in a city that is almost entirely controlled by a less benevolent and sane Ashtaroth. Having to fight off her puppet magic girls to avoid being forcibly consumed and repurposed. Overarching plot would be trying to find a way to sever her control and weaken her to the point where killing her becomes possible.
hillo315
Intact but Tactless
- Location
- Somewhere. Somewhere else.
Ashy apparently can't use usurped magic herself while the rightful user is active, so puppeted magical girls can simply refuse to cooperate. It would make her a lot easier to fight, if nothing else.
Think of it like the Omega Flowey fight. Ashy relies on quashing her subjects, but she can't completely rid them of individuality or will. Once the souls rebel, she'd easily lose to any worthy opponent.
- Location
- Sunset City zone
Ooooooooooo! That seems like a good enough weakness about Ashtaroth there. Undertales also one of my favorite games as well. At the very least, Ashtaroth doesn't want to be a normal witch, and find a way to perhaps become human again. Maybe if she met Kazumi and the Pleiades Saints. They could always make her a witchling, er Hyades. Witchlings just what we refer to those dewitched the Kazumi method on the Madoka rp server I run on discord.
Confrontation 23: Shot Chances
Flairina
Least Omnipotent Goddess
- Location
- The next infinity over
> Ask everyone if they'll let you temporarily witch kiss them.
…you get the feeling you don't really have any "good" options here. Mami isn't exactly making a secret of just how little she trusts you, so you certainly don't want her and Tira inside your barrier, positioned to attack you at a moment's notice. Trying to leave is likely to just get you hunted down and killed. And while she seems somewhat less abrasive towards you than she was yesterday, you don't think you can trust Sayaka to relay what you say to her without letting her bias against you heavily color the words. Which leaves only one other possibility you can think of, and… well, witch kisses are apparently safer than you'd previously believed, at least. It's still kind of an uncomfortable idea, but you should be able to sell this.
"Okay," you start, "in that case, I can-"
"I said immediately." Mami testily reiterates.
"And I heard you, but I have to at least tell you the other option first, don't I?" you ask, trying not to sound annoyed.
Mami considers that for a moment before slowly, reluctantly nodding.
"Thank you." you say, relieved. "Anyways... the most convenient alternative to just talking like this would probably be telepathy, I think."
"Telepathy?" Tira remarks. "Are you actually capable of that?"
"No, I'm not." you reply, before stopping to actually think about it for a moment. "Or at least, not with you, I don't think…? Hang on."
You make a quick attempt, aiming your efforts first at Mami, then Tira. The mental words go absolutely nowhere, as expected.
"...yeah, no." you confirm. "I'm not on the same... um, 'network' as you, I guess. But I can speak with Sayaka using telepathy, which I think is because of the connection I have with her right now. So, if I can create a similar connection with the rest of you, we should be able to talk that way as well."
<I'm not entirely sure where you're going with this,> Sayaka warns. <but you better not be trying to->
<No Sayaka, I'm not planning on subsuming them.> you interrupt. <That would be slightly counterproductive, don't you think?>
<Like I know how your mind works.>
"…I mean no offense," Tira says, sounding somewhat awkward, "but… 'connecting' with a witch does not sound especially safe, whether or not that witch is you."
"I agree," Mami adds, "particularly given that the entire goal of this meeting is to remove the magical bond chaining Miki-san to you."
"T-this isn't the same thing." you clarify, trying to dispel any concerns similar to Sayaka's. "The only effects of what I have in mind would be entirely temporary, I promise."
You were hoping that would be reassuring, but Tira and Mami still don't seem particularly convinced.
"Ashtaroth-san," Hitomi breaks in, reminding everyone of her presence at the table, "could you not simply use the symbol writing you used to speak with me? I imagine that might be a less… contentious solution."
You sigh. She's just trying to help, you know she is, but you'd really have preferred that she not bring that up right now. Though, you suppose Tira might have said something even if Hitomi hadn't.
"Those… cost me magic." you reply, not untruthfully, but leaving out the fact that the cost is so minimal you can't actually feel it. "It's also slow, and more than a little clunky, so it's not exactly preferable."
You can tell from Mami's gradually deepening frown that she's beginning to lose her patience with you. Thankfully, Tira cuts back in before she can say anything this time, though she's frowning too.
"Before we agree to anything, perhaps you could explain what exactly this process would entail?" she suggests. "That would go a long way towards easing my misgivings with the idea."
...well, no side-stepping a question that direct. You've been trying to sort of slowly ease into it, but if you wait much longer you're just going to sound like you're deliberately hiding something anyways, so you suppose you'll answer her honestly. Hopefully the fact that you're being up front with the idea will be appreciated, rather than immediately blowing up in your face. Here goes...
"Alright, this might sound a bit odd at first, but hear me out." you start. "I'm not entirely sure about this, but I think I can create a mental link with someone by giving them a witch's kiss-"
*BANG*
You jolt in your seat as Mami slams her hands down on the table, the resulting sound not unlike that of a firecracker going off as she pushes herself out of her chair.
"So, as I thought. In the end, you are just like every other witch."
You flinch backwards, both from the statement itself and the cold anger in Mami's tone. "Wait, let me finish, I swear I'm not trying to-!"
"You have stolen Miki-san's autonomy, twisted the source of her magic, and now you are attempting to inflict your curse upon the rest of us." Mami continues, heedless of your protests. "You have made your intentions exceedingly clear."
A flash of light engulfs her, then quickly disperses, revealing Mami to now be wearing a relatively subdued-looking magical girl outfit. The process only takes an instant, and somehow there's virtually no one else around right now, but the sheer brazenness of her choosing to transform almost completely out in the open still shocks you.
<Why would you even ASK that?!> Sayaka yells in your head.
<I just SAID why!> you yell back. <Here, you take over!>
You shove Sayaka back into the pilot seat of her body, hoping it will appease Mami before it's too late, but before Sayaka can even do anything the other girl turns away.
"Kaname-san, Shizuki-san, please wait here. Narumi-san, follow me."
Despite her unsure and rather reluctant expression, Tira stands from her seat and transforms as well. Madoka is rapidly looking from side to side with panic written across her face, and Hitomi is actively trying to object, but the pair of magical girls are already bounding up to the roof of the café.
"Mami-san, wait-!" Sayaka cries, jumping up from her seat to follow, only to immediately trip and fall due to a ribbon wrapped around her leg, the other end tied to the base of the table.
"What the-?!" Sayaka yelps, tugging uselessly at the binding in an attempt to remove it. "When did she do this?!"
You have no time to ponder that yourself, as Mami and Tira are already leaping over the rooftops in your direction, quite obviously well aware of where you are. You scramble to move your barrier upwards and back into the air, cursing yourself once for handling that so poorly, then again as you realize where your body — your real one — currently is. You've been concentrating on the outside so much that you haven't been paying attention to your real self, which has been floating next to the barrier's entrance since you first let Sayaka out. You find yourself regretting that oversight as you hastily start moving back towards the Canvas, trying to prep shatterwords as you go while continuing to move your barrier up and out of easy jumping range.
"Hey!" Sayaka yells at the air. "Transform me! I need a sword!"
You spare a moment of your attention to do that, not really caring if anyone else is around to see right now, and Sayaka's magical girl uniform flashes into existence. In the brief instant you're distracted, a golden netting made of what appears to be countless interlaced yellow ribbons extends upwards and attaches itself to a nearby building. Mami and Tira quickly start running up it, their footing as sure as if they were running on solid ground. You swerve away, and another ribbon netting follows to a different building, but not close enough or high enough to reach you. Thank goodness you're still in a residential area.
You distance yourself from any other buildings, beginning to drift back towards Hitomi's house- then stop, hesitant to go any further. Unless you're okay with abandoning her body at the cafe, you can't actually leave until Sayaka gets back inside…!
<Sayaka, we need to get out of here!> you telepathically warn, abruptly reversing direction. <Your friend is trying to kill me!>
"Oh really?!" Sayaka retorts as she summons a sword and cuts through the ribbon tethering her to the table. "Gee, I wonder why!"
<Not the time! I'm heading back towards you; try and meet me halfway!>
"I can't see you, remember?!"
<Just get in the air and look for the distortion!>
Sayaka growls, but moves to follow your directions anyways. Just as she tenses to jump however, Madoka jumps up instead and puts a hand on Sayaka's shoulder.
"Sayaka-chan, wait!" she pleads. "Mami-san- you can't- please don't fight each other!"
"It's not like I want to, Madoka!" Sayaka angrily exclaims. "But if Mami-san kills that witch, I might end up going down with her! Even if it's just running away, I have to do something!"
Twisting away from her friend, Sayaka launches herself into the air, a glowing cerulean platform appearing beneath her feet at the apex of her jump. She immediately springs off of it and lands on another one, platforming her way forward in much the same manner as yesterday.
"Yeah, great plan there, offering to give everyone witch kisses!" Sayaka sarcastically comments. "What did you THINK was going to happen?!"
<So maybe it wasn't my best plan!> you quickly shoot back as you move to meet her. <I wasn't exactly overflowing with options! What was I supposed to do?!>
"How about literally anything else?!"
Something behind you flashes with a glint of blue and green. You focus your barrier vision backwards just in time to see Mami and Tira rising into the sky, now atop the back of one of the latter's giant peacock paintings. The painting flaps its wings once and shoots forward in your direction, far faster than your barrier can move, but you have enough distance that you're still able to juke to the side before they can reach you. A portal appears on the outside of your barrier for a few seconds as they zoom past, getting far, far too close to you for comfort.
Evidently realizing that they've missed, Mami and Tira begin to turn, circling around to make another pass. Luckily, at the same time Sayaka spots where they were aiming and adjusts course, now making a beeline in your direction. Trying to make things easier for her, you move downwards to get closer to her current level. You'd tell her to get higher up, but height is no longer an advantage with Mami and Tira being flight capable. In fact, the exact opposite is true, since they won't be able to pursue you inside a building while riding that- actually, new plan!
You push your barrier down towards the tallest building in the vicinity, intending on doing the very thing you just considered. Unfortunately, the fact that you're still in a residential area is now working against you, as even the tallest building doesn't exceed five stories or so, and you're still too high up to immediately reach any of them. Mami and Tira finish turning around, and a second later the peacock is screaming towards you again, diving down like a hawk that's just sighted its prey. Damn it, you're so close-!
Sayaka moves to intercept the pair, shouting at the other girls to listen to her all the while, but her words are lost to the wind as Mami and Tira plunge right past her. You try to repeat your previous dodging feat, but you just don't have enough distance this time — the portal reopens, and Mami and Tira plummet through it. Which is appropriate, as your chances of survival just did roughly the same thing.
You immediately bring your barrier to a halt, further evasion abruptly becoming pointless as you watch Tira's bird burst inside, not nearly as far in the distance from you as you'd like. Sayaka jumps in as well a fraction of a second later, still trying to get Mami and Tira's attention, but the other magical girls are already speeding off without her, leaving Sayaka stuck running and jumping through your barrier's virtual forest of grass as she futilely attempts to catch up with them.
Though you've made some progress towards the Canvas, your towering size makes you far too noticeable for Mami and Tira not to immediately set eyes on you. As they approach, features rapidly coming fully into view, you're briefly overcome by the sudden desire to take them; to seize them; to make them one with you. Familiar with this by now, you drag yourself back to your senses… only to realize you've stopped floating away from your attackers, and started drifting towards them instead.
You hurriedly stop yourself, but realize at roughly the same moment that it doesn't really matter: that bird is far too fast for you to outrun, and the pair of magical girls riding atop it will be on you in a matter of seconds. You're all but certain Mami isn't going to listen to you at this point, so your options now come down to either dying, or fighting and defeating a very powerful magical girl who you've evidently managed to quite royally piss off, along with another, assisting magical girl who likely could have killed you two days prior.
…yeah, you're so dead. But like hell are you planning on going down without a fight.
As soon as the peacock comes into range, you send forth a barrage of shatterwords, aiming them to impact with each other directly in its path. Tira's creation swerves upwards in response, but your attack is too widespread to totally avoid, and numerous shards of black shrapnel end up piercing through its body anyways. Splashes of paint rain down on the grass below as the flying mount's injuries cause it to careen wildly off to the side, forcing its riders to jump off before gravity dumps them off anyways.
Mami lands atop a glitch pillar on the ground below, while Tira lands on a nearby skyroad, seeming to have no trouble finding purchase on its unevenly curved surface despite the rather tall heels she's wearing. Meanwhile, the injured peacock continues onward like a runaway carriage, multiple streams of deep blue bleeding off behind it as it falls towards you in a suicidal charge. You sway to the side to avoid it, and the animated painting screams right past you, audibly splattering into the grass as you refocus on your real opponents. Tira seems to have stopped to draw something, while Mami is bounding forward from pillar to pillar, quickly closing the remaining distance with you.
Judging the latter to be of greater priority, you start throwing more shatterwords her way, trying to stop her from getting too close as you continue retreating backwards. Without a moment's hesitation, Mami sends out a ribbon that lashes to another nearby pillar and uses it to pull herself out of the line of fire. As she lands atop the corrupted-looking structure, she extends her free arm to the side, a flash of light appearing within it and elongating into-
You both hear the sound of the gunshot and feel the pain of the small hole that's just ripped itself out of your stalk before your mind actually manages to catch up and realize that Mami is now holding a rifle in one hand. She lets go of it, allowing it to fall to the ground and dissolve back into light, only for another one to immediately appear in her grip. You swerve away as she fires again, almost tilting over horizontally in your haste to not get hit. What the hell?! She's only supposed to use ribbons! Ribbons!!! Not GUNS!!!
Even as you think this, Mami creates and extends one of those very ribbons upwards, holding tight to one end while the other wraps around a nearby skyroad. As soon as it has, the magic cloth swiftly and dramatically shortens, pulling Mami high into the air while half a dozen more of her ornate firearms form all around her. You manage to straighten and swing Tome up in front of yourself just before they all fire in tandem, Mami apparently not needing to actually pull the weapons' triggers to make them shoot, but the girl herself is still swinging forward, a look of stoic, self-assured determination locked upon her face.
Tome falls back down, the book's weight too great for you to keep it up in front of you for any longer. Knowing you're almost certain to be shot if you don't do something, you send forth another stream of shatterwords, aiming them not at Mami, but the ribbon tethering her to the skyroad above. The cloth is shredded in moments, but even as Mami begins to fall, another ribbon is already unfurling upwards, a nigh-constant stream of gunfire keeping you from preemptively shooting it down. More of your straps are shot through, some splitting apart entirely as Mami flips back into the air like an acrobat, not stymied by your efforts in the least.
You drop back down into Tome as much as you can, trying to minimize your profile as you continue retreating backwards and returning fire with your rapidly dwindling supply of shatterwords. Giving Mami a smaller target only seems to concentrate her aim however, and as she's all but on top of you at this point, virtually every shot is hitting home, while none of yours are doing more than scratch her. It hurts, badly, and in an effort to at least mitigate the damage you abruptly rise back up from Tome's pages, swinging all four of your arms at Mami in an attempt to catch her off guard. She dodges it with the same ease she has everything else, another staccato of gunfire perforating the tip of one ribbon as she swings around behind you, forcing you to reverse course and start moving back the way you just came. Really? She can't even let you have that?!
As you float back under a skyroad you already passed half a minute ago, several shots impact it, tiny bursts of dust and noise cracking overhead. For a moment you think maybe Mami's aim is finally starting to err, until dozens of golden strings suddenly bloom forth from the points of impact, cascading down and lashing around your stalk to keep you from retreating any further. Oh no, oh NO; you're already slow as is, if you can't get free of this-!
You try to raise Tome again to defend yourself, but Mami just swings upward, performing a midair backflip graceful enough to make an Olympian gymnast jealous before falling down towards you like a star. As she does, what looks like an entire artillery battery forms around her, gun after gun popping into existence until over one hundred barrels strong are preparing to fire down at you; you can't raise Tome high enough to block any of those, you can't even move-
"MAMI-SAN, STOP!"
Sayaka, having finally managed to catch up, jumps upwards and throws herself directly in front of Mami and her oncoming rain of guns. Mami's eyes widen, and every one of her weapons abruptly disappears in a near-blinding flash as she scoops Sayaka right off the platform she just made. Lassoing hold of another skyroad, Mami swings off into the grass some distance away, Sayaka still held tightly in her arms.
Relieved, you use the last of your shatterwords to shred the wires chaining you to the road above you. Once free of your bindings, though with the remnants of a few still hanging off your damaged stalk, you look down at Novella and hurry to make more ammunition- only to be beset by a swarm of small, painted birds before writing more than two sentences. Oh, come on!
You swivel around, furiously whipping your arms at the air to keep the miniature avian assault at bay, only to recoil when you see that Tira has by no means been idle while you've been trying and failing to deal with Mami. Riding alongside three enormous, serpentine dragons, all drawn in an oddly colorless style that makes them look like they were plucked straight off some ancient Chinese wall scroll, Tira surges forward atop yet another peacock, already almost upon you. She quickly outspeeds her larger creations and comes into range, rapidly stabbing at the air with her penbrush. Each jab flings a large spike of ink in your direction, which you reel away from, causing most of the attacks to go wide. One of the projectiles still manages to splash Tome however, and a burning sensation shoots through you as the dark substance begins to eat through the paper like acid.
Even as you're busy trying to deal with this, you can't help but also be aware of Sayaka as Mami lands next to a pillar and quickly sets her down.
"Miki-san, please do not interfere." Mami says, her tone cautious and wary. "I would be glad to let you assist were the circumstances different, but given what the witch has shown itself capable of-"
"No, Mami-san, listen!" Sayaka interrupts. "That witch has my soul gem!"
You throw half of the few shatterwords you managed to make at Tira, not caring if they've had time to grow to full size yet, then toss the remaining ones at the oncoming dragons. The attack successfully diverts Tira for a moment, but has seemingly no effect on her creations, which are clearly made of stronger stuff than her previous mount.
"What?" Mami says, sounding genuinely surprised.
"I'm serious! Look!" Sayaka says, gesturing to the empty crescent outline on her navel. "It's in that giant book she has floating in front of her!"
Before you can try anything else, the dragons roar in tandem and speed up, rushing towards you like flying freight trains. Two of them split off to the side to attack you from the left and right, while the remaining one rushes to meet you head on, teeth opening wide to bite through your stalk in one fell swoop. In response, you swing Tome up to block the one on the right, then quickly shut Novella, physically lift it into the air, and smash the lead dragon in the face with it just before it can barrel into you. The blow diverts it off to the side to crash into its compatriot on the left, while the remaining dragon impacts Tome mouth first, doing little more than judder you slightly to the side and probably hurt its teeth. Hah, eat book, jackasses!
"…I see. Is that how the witch is controlling you?" Mami asks.
"I don't know!" Sayaka replies with clear frustration. "I guess?! It doesn't really matter right now though!"
Having had to stop whipping your arms around in order to hold Novella, the birds waiting on the periphery of the battle dart back in, while Tira starts flinging more acid ink. A couple more of your straps snap from a flurry of overly sharp beaks, and you take two hits of ink on the arm Mami already put a bunch of holes in. The magic liquid swiftly eats through the remaining material, and what's left of your arm below where it was hit falls off entirely.
"You can't kill her!" Sayaka continues. "Not without killing me too! It's horrible, and I still don't want to believe it, but my life might depend on my soul gem, and if the witch dies with it still inside of her book, then I'll- I'll probably-!"
Overcoming their disorientation from their failed attack, Tira's dragons back away and retreat to the air, beginning to circle around you head-to-tail like a three part Ouroboros. Tira herself makes to continue her assault, until a bunch of small, colorful blurs suddenly swoop down from the sky and start divebombing her from above, neatly interfering with her ability to do so. You quickly recognize the blurs as a group of the bird Ummashtart, and take the chance to spit out another sentence or two of shatterwords, grateful that your familiars have finally decided to get involved.
Sayaka squeezes her eyes shut for a moment, shaking her head hard from side to side. "Mami-san, I'm begging you! Please, please don't do this!"
Mami's expression drops into one of sympathy.
"...I understand, Miki-san." she says a few moments later.
You try to escape from the circling dragons, only for one to break away the second you get close, lunging forward and snapping at your arms. You dodge to the side like a bullfighter and the creature passes by, rejoining the circle in the same fluid motion and continuing to pen you in.
"However, your soul gem is not your life." Mami continues, her tone becoming solemn. "You are worth more than your magic, and I will not let you be used by a witch that seeks to exploit that."
Apparently unable to effectively combat the Ummashtart up close, Tira has her peacock speed away from them, eventually ending up on the opposite side of you. Your familiars give chase, but are met in mid-air by Tira's own fake birds, paper clashing against paint in an impromptu battle for supremacy. With the distractions removed, Tira turns back towards you and thrusts her penbrush forward again, and this time an entire fountain of ink begins to pour forth, dribbling down on to the grass below and causing it to smoke and dissolve where it's hit.
Sayaka's mouth drops open. "No, no you don't understand-!"
Before Sayaka can finish her sentence, dozens of golden ribbons suddenly extend from the broken pillar behind her and wrap around her limbs like coiling snakes. An instant later, they contract, pulling her off her feet and forcibly binding her to the column they originated from.
"Mami-san?!" Sayaka yelps as a large ornate lock forms at the center of the ribbons, directly on top of her chest. "What are you doing?!"
Waving her weapon in graceful looping motions, Tira has her mount begin slowly gliding forward, forcing you backwards towards the edge of the "arena" she's created. Realizing you're being cornered, and knowing by now that you're too stupidly big to dodge everything, you decide to try a different tact — just as Tira closes in to douse you, you turn to the side and lunge for one of the dragons. As expected, it lunges right back at you, but instead of dodging, you take hold of its head and swivel back around, the painted creature's momentum and surprisingly light weight making it easy to drag in front of you. Tira's eyes widen, but before she can cut off her attack, the fountain of ink splashes all across her own creation's midsection. The dragon roars in pain as its entire side dissolves, prompting you to let go as the living artwork loses its form and slops down to the ground.
"I hope you can forgive me for this," Mami apologizes with a small bow, "but until we've removed the witch's ability to control you, I'm afraid I can't trust that you are truly you, Miki-san. I will do my best to extract your gem without damaging it, but if such proves impossible, your freedom must come first."
The irony of that statement doesn't seem to occur to her as Sayaka strains desperately against her bindings, finding herself almost completely immobile in their grip.
With their circle broken, the remaining two dragons give up on containing you and rush at you again. You quickly drop into Tome to avoid them, letting them pass right over top of you, but as soon they've cleared away another flying spike of ink hits Tome, Tira apparently having reverted back to her previous, more precise strategy. Off to the side, you see your familiars falling from the sky, clearly fighting a losing battle with their less-solid counterparts. There's too many enemies to deal with here; you need something more widespread!
You rise back out of Tome as your galaxy lines begin to shift. Tira immediately flies upwards and away, the magical girl already having seen what comes next. Surprisingly, her dragons follow after, while her birds break off from the few surviving Ummashtart and speed towards you in an attempt to cut you off. They're not fast enough to stop you — you release the tornado, and the force of the resulting wind knocks Tira's minions out of the air without the attack proper even touching them. The cyclone also ends up drawing your remaining shatterwords into itself as it forms, the runes breaking and filling the colorful wind tunnel with jagged black shrapnel as it bursts upwards into the sky.
Mami looks backwards at the sound of the ascending tornado and spots Tira fleeing from it, both of them high enough to be easily visible to her and Sayaka even over the ten-foot tall grass. Tira manages to steer her peacock safely out of the way, but the directed natural disaster clips both dragons, sending them spinning off in completely different directions. One smashes into a skyroad and folds over on itself, immediately bursting into ink, while the other's head is pierced through by shatterword pieces flying into it at over a hundred miles an hour, sending it falling from the sky like an elongated meteor.
"I must assist Narumi-san." Mami hurriedly states. "Stay safe."
"Mami-san, you're going to MURDER me!!!" Sayaka shrieks, even as the other girl leaps away.
As your attack dissipates, you look up to see that Tira seems to have retreated back to the sky for the moment, perhaps wary to be near you after what you just did. As well she should be — with your counter having been even more effective than you'd hoped, she has no defenses left besides herself, making this an excellent time for you to strike back. However, the other situation that's been occurring while you've been busy fighting her seems to have just wrapped up, and with Sayaka no longer tying up Mami's attention (and in fact quite thoroughly tied up herself), this is likely about to get-
You don't even get to complete the thought before Mami jumps out of the nearby grass, rifles at the ready and already firing at you. You rise away from her and swing Tome in her direction to block, but then Tira comes diving back down, slashing at the air and sending multiple "blades" of ink at you. You swing Tome back the other way and miraculously manage to avoid them, the ground below becoming increasingly overtaken by greenish slurry as Tira's attacks continue to melt the grass into a giant puddle of goo. Though, you can't help but notice that everywhere else, the grass now seems to be rustling, almost heaving in places-
A ribbon curls upwards and holds fast, this time to you as it furls itself around your stalk. Down on the ground, Mami yanks on it and the fabric retracts, sending her upwards to meet you. Not having any shatterwords left to sever the ribbon, you instead lean down and grab hold of it before swinging it upwards, the force of your pull whipping Mami upwards far faster than she intended to go and sending her flying over you. Before you can crack the ribbon back down however, Mami lets go, a decad of rifle shots covering her fall back to the ground. She lands so perfectly next to Tira that you'd almost think it was intentional... just before a length of what appears to be ripped newspaper suddenly lashes out of the grass from her side.
Like seemingly everything sent her way, Mami notices the coming attack and quickly slaps it away with a ribbon, prompting her attacker to emerge from cover. It's an Ummashtart — the girl-shaped one with the prehensile paper hair. And she's apparently not alone, as dozens more Ummashtart of all shapes and sizes suddenly begin pouring out of the grass from all around the two magical girls. Mami and Tira look around at your familiars with wide eyes, quite obviously caught off guard by this, then glance over at you, presumably thinking you called them here. They're wrong, as you aren't any less surprised by this than they are, but whether your familiars are here to help you or just displeased about Tira's ongoing destruction of their habitat, you don't really care, as their presence is undoubtedly a good thing either way.
On some unspoken signal, your paper minions rush in, surging forward almost like a singular entity. Tira flies upwards again to get out of their range, but Mami instead begins to spin and twirl in every direction, initiating what looks almost like some sort of gun-based dance routine as rifles form around her and are immediately tossed into the air. What is she-?
You realize what she's doing before the thought can even complete, as none of the guns end up hitting the ground. Instead, the magical girl proceeds to catch each and every one of them out of the air, repeatedly doing so at the precise angle and moment to blast one or more of your familiars to pieces. The girl who attacked initially whips out with her hair again, only for her head to explode into paper scraps. A giant venus fly trap leans down to bite at Mami, and its stem is abruptly severed from the rest of it. An elephant charges forward, and a bullet tears its trunk off, sending it careening to the ground. Nothing so much as touches Mami at the center of the storm, while your familiars continue dying off in droves all around her. It's an utterly ridiculous show of skill, and you honestly can't help but think that it's... kind of incredibly cool-looking.
Impressive though Mami's maneuver is, it still isn't enough to keep you from trying to capitalize on her momentarily distracted state, short though it appears that's going to be. Tira, however, is enough, taking potshots at you and keeping you too occupied to do anything more complex than dodge away as ink rains down from above. In the course of your evasive maneuvers, you find yourself floating directly over top of Mami, and Tira stops, evidently not wanting to accidentally hit her ally in the crossfire... and at roughly the same time, you see the last of your Ummashtart die off, the few survivors having retreated back into the grass to lick their wounds. Well, that didn't last long.
Taking advantage of your unintentional position, you let yourself drop down at Mami, attempting to flatten the magical girl beneath you. She back flips out of the way without even looking, then front flips right back, effortlessly landing directly on top of Novella. A ribbon appears in her hand and drops to the book's surface, one end of the length of fabric glowing brightly, but before it can do whatever it's intended to you heave Novella upwards, tossing Mami off of you. This of course just prompts her to start shooting you again, causing you to sag to the side as more and more of your straps snap in two. She then swings herself back forward, dropping right back towards Novella again. This isn't working; Tira's a problem, but nothing even seems to slow Mami down! You need something else, ANYTHING else, just something that can get in her way for a few moments-
A glowing blue music platform suddenly appears beneath Mami, to both your and her obvious surprise as she smacks into the oddly angled surface and falls off of it into a non-melted patch of grass below. You quickly check to see where Sayaka is, but she still seems to be struggling against Mami's ribbons, the angle her wrists have been bound at preventing her from even forming a sword to cut her way free. Wait, so then...
A trio of Tira's black birds fly at you from the side, presumably freshly made. You gesture, and another music platform appears in front of them, causing the birds to smack into its surface like a window and break apart on it. Apparently you can do this now???
Too preoccupied to question it at the moment, you immediately form an entire wall of platforms in front of you, all of them vertically oriented so as to better defend you. Just in time, as Mami sprints out of the grass with a circle of guns orbiting around her, each one firing as it rotates to face you. Several of your platforms break, too weak to take more than a single blow, but you replace them in an instant, the skill being extremely quick and simple to use now that you know you have it, and not even costing that much energy. Tira joins in a moment later, but her ink projectiles just splatter on your impromptu shields.
Sayaka, unable to see any of this taking place over the grass, suddenly stops struggling, hanging limp with her head facing the ground. Just as it seems she's given up however, her eyes widen, snapping open as if granted new life. Gritting her teeth, Sayaka stares intently down at the ground beside the pillar… and a trio of swords rise from the dirt, cutting through the restraining ribbons as they emerge. Sayaka falls to the ground next to them, coughing, before scrambling back to her feet and jumping on top of the pillar she was just tied to, the extra height allowing her to easily spot you fighting in the distance.
It's then that Mami apparently gets fed up, as an utterly ENORMOUS cannon forms on the ground in front of her, almost ten times the size of the girl herself. Balking at the sight, you form an entire stack of platforms in front of the massive weapon's barrel and hurriedly swing Tome into its path, just in time for Mami to do something entirely unexpected.
"Tiro!" the magical girl calls out. "Finale!"
With a noise like thunder, the cannon fires, a titanic shell exploding forth and breaking through your shields like they aren't even there before smashing into the bottom of Tome like the fist of god. The impact sends you spinning end over end through the air, helpless to control your path, until you crash to the ground some distance away, thankfully landing in a clearing rather than in the middle of all the grass goop.
(...did she actually just announce her attack aloud like Sailor Moon, or did you imagine that?)
You struggle to reorient yourself and get back up again, but only manage to make it maybe five feet into the air before ribbons sprout from the soil and tie around Tome's corners, tethering you to the ground. You mentally slap more words onto Novella's pages, needing the ammunition to free yourself, but even as you do so you see Tira's peacock curving through the air towards you, Tira herself sketching out the same lance you saw her make Saturday atop its back. Meanwhile, Sayaka jumps up to a nearby skyroad and sights Mami calmly striding out of the grass behind you, clearly intending to end this here and now.
<Sayaka-!>
[-] Tell her to distract Tira...
[-] Tell her to distract Mami...
[-] Tell her to free you from the ribbons...
[-] Write in.
+
[-] ...while you use your shatterwords to free yourself.
[-] ...while you throw your shatterwords at Tira.
[-] ...while you throw your shatterwords blindly backwards at Mami.
[-] ...while you make an illusion.
[-] ...while you pretend to surrender.
[-] Write in.
…you get the feeling you don't really have any "good" options here. Mami isn't exactly making a secret of just how little she trusts you, so you certainly don't want her and Tira inside your barrier, positioned to attack you at a moment's notice. Trying to leave is likely to just get you hunted down and killed. And while she seems somewhat less abrasive towards you than she was yesterday, you don't think you can trust Sayaka to relay what you say to her without letting her bias against you heavily color the words. Which leaves only one other possibility you can think of, and… well, witch kisses are apparently safer than you'd previously believed, at least. It's still kind of an uncomfortable idea, but you should be able to sell this.
"Okay," you start, "in that case, I can-"
"I said immediately." Mami testily reiterates.
"And I heard you, but I have to at least tell you the other option first, don't I?" you ask, trying not to sound annoyed.
Mami considers that for a moment before slowly, reluctantly nodding.
"Thank you." you say, relieved. "Anyways... the most convenient alternative to just talking like this would probably be telepathy, I think."
"Telepathy?" Tira remarks. "Are you actually capable of that?"
"No, I'm not." you reply, before stopping to actually think about it for a moment. "Or at least, not with you, I don't think…? Hang on."
You make a quick attempt, aiming your efforts first at Mami, then Tira. The mental words go absolutely nowhere, as expected.
"...yeah, no." you confirm. "I'm not on the same... um, 'network' as you, I guess. But I can speak with Sayaka using telepathy, which I think is because of the connection I have with her right now. So, if I can create a similar connection with the rest of you, we should be able to talk that way as well."
<I'm not entirely sure where you're going with this,> Sayaka warns. <but you better not be trying to->
<No Sayaka, I'm not planning on subsuming them.> you interrupt. <That would be slightly counterproductive, don't you think?>
<Like I know how your mind works.>
"…I mean no offense," Tira says, sounding somewhat awkward, "but… 'connecting' with a witch does not sound especially safe, whether or not that witch is you."
"I agree," Mami adds, "particularly given that the entire goal of this meeting is to remove the magical bond chaining Miki-san to you."
"T-this isn't the same thing." you clarify, trying to dispel any concerns similar to Sayaka's. "The only effects of what I have in mind would be entirely temporary, I promise."
You were hoping that would be reassuring, but Tira and Mami still don't seem particularly convinced.
"Ashtaroth-san," Hitomi breaks in, reminding everyone of her presence at the table, "could you not simply use the symbol writing you used to speak with me? I imagine that might be a less… contentious solution."
You sigh. She's just trying to help, you know she is, but you'd really have preferred that she not bring that up right now. Though, you suppose Tira might have said something even if Hitomi hadn't.
"Those… cost me magic." you reply, not untruthfully, but leaving out the fact that the cost is so minimal you can't actually feel it. "It's also slow, and more than a little clunky, so it's not exactly preferable."
You can tell from Mami's gradually deepening frown that she's beginning to lose her patience with you. Thankfully, Tira cuts back in before she can say anything this time, though she's frowning too.
"Before we agree to anything, perhaps you could explain what exactly this process would entail?" she suggests. "That would go a long way towards easing my misgivings with the idea."
...well, no side-stepping a question that direct. You've been trying to sort of slowly ease into it, but if you wait much longer you're just going to sound like you're deliberately hiding something anyways, so you suppose you'll answer her honestly. Hopefully the fact that you're being up front with the idea will be appreciated, rather than immediately blowing up in your face. Here goes...
"Alright, this might sound a bit odd at first, but hear me out." you start. "I'm not entirely sure about this, but I think I can create a mental link with someone by giving them a witch's kiss-"
*BANG*
You jolt in your seat as Mami slams her hands down on the table, the resulting sound not unlike that of a firecracker going off as she pushes herself out of her chair.
"So, as I thought. In the end, you are just like every other witch."
You flinch backwards, both from the statement itself and the cold anger in Mami's tone. "Wait, let me finish, I swear I'm not trying to-!"
"You have stolen Miki-san's autonomy, twisted the source of her magic, and now you are attempting to inflict your curse upon the rest of us." Mami continues, heedless of your protests. "You have made your intentions exceedingly clear."
A flash of light engulfs her, then quickly disperses, revealing Mami to now be wearing a relatively subdued-looking magical girl outfit. The process only takes an instant, and somehow there's virtually no one else around right now, but the sheer brazenness of her choosing to transform almost completely out in the open still shocks you.
<Why would you even ASK that?!> Sayaka yells in your head.
<I just SAID why!> you yell back. <Here, you take over!>
You shove Sayaka back into the pilot seat of her body, hoping it will appease Mami before it's too late, but before Sayaka can even do anything the other girl turns away.
"Kaname-san, Shizuki-san, please wait here. Narumi-san, follow me."
Despite her unsure and rather reluctant expression, Tira stands from her seat and transforms as well. Madoka is rapidly looking from side to side with panic written across her face, and Hitomi is actively trying to object, but the pair of magical girls are already bounding up to the roof of the café.
"Mami-san, wait-!" Sayaka cries, jumping up from her seat to follow, only to immediately trip and fall due to a ribbon wrapped around her leg, the other end tied to the base of the table.
"What the-?!" Sayaka yelps, tugging uselessly at the binding in an attempt to remove it. "When did she do this?!"
You have no time to ponder that yourself, as Mami and Tira are already leaping over the rooftops in your direction, quite obviously well aware of where you are. You scramble to move your barrier upwards and back into the air, cursing yourself once for handling that so poorly, then again as you realize where your body — your real one — currently is. You've been concentrating on the outside so much that you haven't been paying attention to your real self, which has been floating next to the barrier's entrance since you first let Sayaka out. You find yourself regretting that oversight as you hastily start moving back towards the Canvas, trying to prep shatterwords as you go while continuing to move your barrier up and out of easy jumping range.
"Hey!" Sayaka yells at the air. "Transform me! I need a sword!"
You spare a moment of your attention to do that, not really caring if anyone else is around to see right now, and Sayaka's magical girl uniform flashes into existence. In the brief instant you're distracted, a golden netting made of what appears to be countless interlaced yellow ribbons extends upwards and attaches itself to a nearby building. Mami and Tira quickly start running up it, their footing as sure as if they were running on solid ground. You swerve away, and another ribbon netting follows to a different building, but not close enough or high enough to reach you. Thank goodness you're still in a residential area.
You distance yourself from any other buildings, beginning to drift back towards Hitomi's house- then stop, hesitant to go any further. Unless you're okay with abandoning her body at the cafe, you can't actually leave until Sayaka gets back inside…!
<Sayaka, we need to get out of here!> you telepathically warn, abruptly reversing direction. <Your friend is trying to kill me!>
"Oh really?!" Sayaka retorts as she summons a sword and cuts through the ribbon tethering her to the table. "Gee, I wonder why!"
<Not the time! I'm heading back towards you; try and meet me halfway!>
"I can't see you, remember?!"
<Just get in the air and look for the distortion!>
Sayaka growls, but moves to follow your directions anyways. Just as she tenses to jump however, Madoka jumps up instead and puts a hand on Sayaka's shoulder.
"Sayaka-chan, wait!" she pleads. "Mami-san- you can't- please don't fight each other!"
"It's not like I want to, Madoka!" Sayaka angrily exclaims. "But if Mami-san kills that witch, I might end up going down with her! Even if it's just running away, I have to do something!"
Twisting away from her friend, Sayaka launches herself into the air, a glowing cerulean platform appearing beneath her feet at the apex of her jump. She immediately springs off of it and lands on another one, platforming her way forward in much the same manner as yesterday.
"Yeah, great plan there, offering to give everyone witch kisses!" Sayaka sarcastically comments. "What did you THINK was going to happen?!"
<So maybe it wasn't my best plan!> you quickly shoot back as you move to meet her. <I wasn't exactly overflowing with options! What was I supposed to do?!>
"How about literally anything else?!"
Something behind you flashes with a glint of blue and green. You focus your barrier vision backwards just in time to see Mami and Tira rising into the sky, now atop the back of one of the latter's giant peacock paintings. The painting flaps its wings once and shoots forward in your direction, far faster than your barrier can move, but you have enough distance that you're still able to juke to the side before they can reach you. A portal appears on the outside of your barrier for a few seconds as they zoom past, getting far, far too close to you for comfort.
Evidently realizing that they've missed, Mami and Tira begin to turn, circling around to make another pass. Luckily, at the same time Sayaka spots where they were aiming and adjusts course, now making a beeline in your direction. Trying to make things easier for her, you move downwards to get closer to her current level. You'd tell her to get higher up, but height is no longer an advantage with Mami and Tira being flight capable. In fact, the exact opposite is true, since they won't be able to pursue you inside a building while riding that- actually, new plan!
You push your barrier down towards the tallest building in the vicinity, intending on doing the very thing you just considered. Unfortunately, the fact that you're still in a residential area is now working against you, as even the tallest building doesn't exceed five stories or so, and you're still too high up to immediately reach any of them. Mami and Tira finish turning around, and a second later the peacock is screaming towards you again, diving down like a hawk that's just sighted its prey. Damn it, you're so close-!
Sayaka moves to intercept the pair, shouting at the other girls to listen to her all the while, but her words are lost to the wind as Mami and Tira plunge right past her. You try to repeat your previous dodging feat, but you just don't have enough distance this time — the portal reopens, and Mami and Tira plummet through it. Which is appropriate, as your chances of survival just did roughly the same thing.
You immediately bring your barrier to a halt, further evasion abruptly becoming pointless as you watch Tira's bird burst inside, not nearly as far in the distance from you as you'd like. Sayaka jumps in as well a fraction of a second later, still trying to get Mami and Tira's attention, but the other magical girls are already speeding off without her, leaving Sayaka stuck running and jumping through your barrier's virtual forest of grass as she futilely attempts to catch up with them.
Though you've made some progress towards the Canvas, your towering size makes you far too noticeable for Mami and Tira not to immediately set eyes on you. As they approach, features rapidly coming fully into view, you're briefly overcome by the sudden desire to take them; to seize them; to make them one with you. Familiar with this by now, you drag yourself back to your senses… only to realize you've stopped floating away from your attackers, and started drifting towards them instead.
You hurriedly stop yourself, but realize at roughly the same moment that it doesn't really matter: that bird is far too fast for you to outrun, and the pair of magical girls riding atop it will be on you in a matter of seconds. You're all but certain Mami isn't going to listen to you at this point, so your options now come down to either dying, or fighting and defeating a very powerful magical girl who you've evidently managed to quite royally piss off, along with another, assisting magical girl who likely could have killed you two days prior.
…yeah, you're so dead. But like hell are you planning on going down without a fight.
As soon as the peacock comes into range, you send forth a barrage of shatterwords, aiming them to impact with each other directly in its path. Tira's creation swerves upwards in response, but your attack is too widespread to totally avoid, and numerous shards of black shrapnel end up piercing through its body anyways. Splashes of paint rain down on the grass below as the flying mount's injuries cause it to careen wildly off to the side, forcing its riders to jump off before gravity dumps them off anyways.
Mami lands atop a glitch pillar on the ground below, while Tira lands on a nearby skyroad, seeming to have no trouble finding purchase on its unevenly curved surface despite the rather tall heels she's wearing. Meanwhile, the injured peacock continues onward like a runaway carriage, multiple streams of deep blue bleeding off behind it as it falls towards you in a suicidal charge. You sway to the side to avoid it, and the animated painting screams right past you, audibly splattering into the grass as you refocus on your real opponents. Tira seems to have stopped to draw something, while Mami is bounding forward from pillar to pillar, quickly closing the remaining distance with you.
Judging the latter to be of greater priority, you start throwing more shatterwords her way, trying to stop her from getting too close as you continue retreating backwards. Without a moment's hesitation, Mami sends out a ribbon that lashes to another nearby pillar and uses it to pull herself out of the line of fire. As she lands atop the corrupted-looking structure, she extends her free arm to the side, a flash of light appearing within it and elongating into-
You both hear the sound of the gunshot and feel the pain of the small hole that's just ripped itself out of your stalk before your mind actually manages to catch up and realize that Mami is now holding a rifle in one hand. She lets go of it, allowing it to fall to the ground and dissolve back into light, only for another one to immediately appear in her grip. You swerve away as she fires again, almost tilting over horizontally in your haste to not get hit. What the hell?! She's only supposed to use ribbons! Ribbons!!! Not GUNS!!!
Even as you think this, Mami creates and extends one of those very ribbons upwards, holding tight to one end while the other wraps around a nearby skyroad. As soon as it has, the magic cloth swiftly and dramatically shortens, pulling Mami high into the air while half a dozen more of her ornate firearms form all around her. You manage to straighten and swing Tome up in front of yourself just before they all fire in tandem, Mami apparently not needing to actually pull the weapons' triggers to make them shoot, but the girl herself is still swinging forward, a look of stoic, self-assured determination locked upon her face.
Tome falls back down, the book's weight too great for you to keep it up in front of you for any longer. Knowing you're almost certain to be shot if you don't do something, you send forth another stream of shatterwords, aiming them not at Mami, but the ribbon tethering her to the skyroad above. The cloth is shredded in moments, but even as Mami begins to fall, another ribbon is already unfurling upwards, a nigh-constant stream of gunfire keeping you from preemptively shooting it down. More of your straps are shot through, some splitting apart entirely as Mami flips back into the air like an acrobat, not stymied by your efforts in the least.
You drop back down into Tome as much as you can, trying to minimize your profile as you continue retreating backwards and returning fire with your rapidly dwindling supply of shatterwords. Giving Mami a smaller target only seems to concentrate her aim however, and as she's all but on top of you at this point, virtually every shot is hitting home, while none of yours are doing more than scratch her. It hurts, badly, and in an effort to at least mitigate the damage you abruptly rise back up from Tome's pages, swinging all four of your arms at Mami in an attempt to catch her off guard. She dodges it with the same ease she has everything else, another staccato of gunfire perforating the tip of one ribbon as she swings around behind you, forcing you to reverse course and start moving back the way you just came. Really? She can't even let you have that?!
As you float back under a skyroad you already passed half a minute ago, several shots impact it, tiny bursts of dust and noise cracking overhead. For a moment you think maybe Mami's aim is finally starting to err, until dozens of golden strings suddenly bloom forth from the points of impact, cascading down and lashing around your stalk to keep you from retreating any further. Oh no, oh NO; you're already slow as is, if you can't get free of this-!
You try to raise Tome again to defend yourself, but Mami just swings upward, performing a midair backflip graceful enough to make an Olympian gymnast jealous before falling down towards you like a star. As she does, what looks like an entire artillery battery forms around her, gun after gun popping into existence until over one hundred barrels strong are preparing to fire down at you; you can't raise Tome high enough to block any of those, you can't even move-
"MAMI-SAN, STOP!"
Sayaka, having finally managed to catch up, jumps upwards and throws herself directly in front of Mami and her oncoming rain of guns. Mami's eyes widen, and every one of her weapons abruptly disappears in a near-blinding flash as she scoops Sayaka right off the platform she just made. Lassoing hold of another skyroad, Mami swings off into the grass some distance away, Sayaka still held tightly in her arms.
Relieved, you use the last of your shatterwords to shred the wires chaining you to the road above you. Once free of your bindings, though with the remnants of a few still hanging off your damaged stalk, you look down at Novella and hurry to make more ammunition- only to be beset by a swarm of small, painted birds before writing more than two sentences. Oh, come on!
You swivel around, furiously whipping your arms at the air to keep the miniature avian assault at bay, only to recoil when you see that Tira has by no means been idle while you've been trying and failing to deal with Mami. Riding alongside three enormous, serpentine dragons, all drawn in an oddly colorless style that makes them look like they were plucked straight off some ancient Chinese wall scroll, Tira surges forward atop yet another peacock, already almost upon you. She quickly outspeeds her larger creations and comes into range, rapidly stabbing at the air with her penbrush. Each jab flings a large spike of ink in your direction, which you reel away from, causing most of the attacks to go wide. One of the projectiles still manages to splash Tome however, and a burning sensation shoots through you as the dark substance begins to eat through the paper like acid.
Even as you're busy trying to deal with this, you can't help but also be aware of Sayaka as Mami lands next to a pillar and quickly sets her down.
"Miki-san, please do not interfere." Mami says, her tone cautious and wary. "I would be glad to let you assist were the circumstances different, but given what the witch has shown itself capable of-"
"No, Mami-san, listen!" Sayaka interrupts. "That witch has my soul gem!"
You throw half of the few shatterwords you managed to make at Tira, not caring if they've had time to grow to full size yet, then toss the remaining ones at the oncoming dragons. The attack successfully diverts Tira for a moment, but has seemingly no effect on her creations, which are clearly made of stronger stuff than her previous mount.
"What?" Mami says, sounding genuinely surprised.
"I'm serious! Look!" Sayaka says, gesturing to the empty crescent outline on her navel. "It's in that giant book she has floating in front of her!"
Before you can try anything else, the dragons roar in tandem and speed up, rushing towards you like flying freight trains. Two of them split off to the side to attack you from the left and right, while the remaining one rushes to meet you head on, teeth opening wide to bite through your stalk in one fell swoop. In response, you swing Tome up to block the one on the right, then quickly shut Novella, physically lift it into the air, and smash the lead dragon in the face with it just before it can barrel into you. The blow diverts it off to the side to crash into its compatriot on the left, while the remaining dragon impacts Tome mouth first, doing little more than judder you slightly to the side and probably hurt its teeth. Hah, eat book, jackasses!
"…I see. Is that how the witch is controlling you?" Mami asks.
"I don't know!" Sayaka replies with clear frustration. "I guess?! It doesn't really matter right now though!"
Having had to stop whipping your arms around in order to hold Novella, the birds waiting on the periphery of the battle dart back in, while Tira starts flinging more acid ink. A couple more of your straps snap from a flurry of overly sharp beaks, and you take two hits of ink on the arm Mami already put a bunch of holes in. The magic liquid swiftly eats through the remaining material, and what's left of your arm below where it was hit falls off entirely.
"You can't kill her!" Sayaka continues. "Not without killing me too! It's horrible, and I still don't want to believe it, but my life might depend on my soul gem, and if the witch dies with it still inside of her book, then I'll- I'll probably-!"
Overcoming their disorientation from their failed attack, Tira's dragons back away and retreat to the air, beginning to circle around you head-to-tail like a three part Ouroboros. Tira herself makes to continue her assault, until a bunch of small, colorful blurs suddenly swoop down from the sky and start divebombing her from above, neatly interfering with her ability to do so. You quickly recognize the blurs as a group of the bird Ummashtart, and take the chance to spit out another sentence or two of shatterwords, grateful that your familiars have finally decided to get involved.
Sayaka squeezes her eyes shut for a moment, shaking her head hard from side to side. "Mami-san, I'm begging you! Please, please don't do this!"
Mami's expression drops into one of sympathy.
"...I understand, Miki-san." she says a few moments later.
You try to escape from the circling dragons, only for one to break away the second you get close, lunging forward and snapping at your arms. You dodge to the side like a bullfighter and the creature passes by, rejoining the circle in the same fluid motion and continuing to pen you in.
"However, your soul gem is not your life." Mami continues, her tone becoming solemn. "You are worth more than your magic, and I will not let you be used by a witch that seeks to exploit that."
Apparently unable to effectively combat the Ummashtart up close, Tira has her peacock speed away from them, eventually ending up on the opposite side of you. Your familiars give chase, but are met in mid-air by Tira's own fake birds, paper clashing against paint in an impromptu battle for supremacy. With the distractions removed, Tira turns back towards you and thrusts her penbrush forward again, and this time an entire fountain of ink begins to pour forth, dribbling down on to the grass below and causing it to smoke and dissolve where it's hit.
Sayaka's mouth drops open. "No, no you don't understand-!"
Before Sayaka can finish her sentence, dozens of golden ribbons suddenly extend from the broken pillar behind her and wrap around her limbs like coiling snakes. An instant later, they contract, pulling her off her feet and forcibly binding her to the column they originated from.
"Mami-san?!" Sayaka yelps as a large ornate lock forms at the center of the ribbons, directly on top of her chest. "What are you doing?!"
Waving her weapon in graceful looping motions, Tira has her mount begin slowly gliding forward, forcing you backwards towards the edge of the "arena" she's created. Realizing you're being cornered, and knowing by now that you're too stupidly big to dodge everything, you decide to try a different tact — just as Tira closes in to douse you, you turn to the side and lunge for one of the dragons. As expected, it lunges right back at you, but instead of dodging, you take hold of its head and swivel back around, the painted creature's momentum and surprisingly light weight making it easy to drag in front of you. Tira's eyes widen, but before she can cut off her attack, the fountain of ink splashes all across her own creation's midsection. The dragon roars in pain as its entire side dissolves, prompting you to let go as the living artwork loses its form and slops down to the ground.
"I hope you can forgive me for this," Mami apologizes with a small bow, "but until we've removed the witch's ability to control you, I'm afraid I can't trust that you are truly you, Miki-san. I will do my best to extract your gem without damaging it, but if such proves impossible, your freedom must come first."
The irony of that statement doesn't seem to occur to her as Sayaka strains desperately against her bindings, finding herself almost completely immobile in their grip.
With their circle broken, the remaining two dragons give up on containing you and rush at you again. You quickly drop into Tome to avoid them, letting them pass right over top of you, but as soon they've cleared away another flying spike of ink hits Tome, Tira apparently having reverted back to her previous, more precise strategy. Off to the side, you see your familiars falling from the sky, clearly fighting a losing battle with their less-solid counterparts. There's too many enemies to deal with here; you need something more widespread!
You rise back out of Tome as your galaxy lines begin to shift. Tira immediately flies upwards and away, the magical girl already having seen what comes next. Surprisingly, her dragons follow after, while her birds break off from the few surviving Ummashtart and speed towards you in an attempt to cut you off. They're not fast enough to stop you — you release the tornado, and the force of the resulting wind knocks Tira's minions out of the air without the attack proper even touching them. The cyclone also ends up drawing your remaining shatterwords into itself as it forms, the runes breaking and filling the colorful wind tunnel with jagged black shrapnel as it bursts upwards into the sky.
Mami looks backwards at the sound of the ascending tornado and spots Tira fleeing from it, both of them high enough to be easily visible to her and Sayaka even over the ten-foot tall grass. Tira manages to steer her peacock safely out of the way, but the directed natural disaster clips both dragons, sending them spinning off in completely different directions. One smashes into a skyroad and folds over on itself, immediately bursting into ink, while the other's head is pierced through by shatterword pieces flying into it at over a hundred miles an hour, sending it falling from the sky like an elongated meteor.
"I must assist Narumi-san." Mami hurriedly states. "Stay safe."
"Mami-san, you're going to MURDER me!!!" Sayaka shrieks, even as the other girl leaps away.
As your attack dissipates, you look up to see that Tira seems to have retreated back to the sky for the moment, perhaps wary to be near you after what you just did. As well she should be — with your counter having been even more effective than you'd hoped, she has no defenses left besides herself, making this an excellent time for you to strike back. However, the other situation that's been occurring while you've been busy fighting her seems to have just wrapped up, and with Sayaka no longer tying up Mami's attention (and in fact quite thoroughly tied up herself), this is likely about to get-
You don't even get to complete the thought before Mami jumps out of the nearby grass, rifles at the ready and already firing at you. You rise away from her and swing Tome in her direction to block, but then Tira comes diving back down, slashing at the air and sending multiple "blades" of ink at you. You swing Tome back the other way and miraculously manage to avoid them, the ground below becoming increasingly overtaken by greenish slurry as Tira's attacks continue to melt the grass into a giant puddle of goo. Though, you can't help but notice that everywhere else, the grass now seems to be rustling, almost heaving in places-
A ribbon curls upwards and holds fast, this time to you as it furls itself around your stalk. Down on the ground, Mami yanks on it and the fabric retracts, sending her upwards to meet you. Not having any shatterwords left to sever the ribbon, you instead lean down and grab hold of it before swinging it upwards, the force of your pull whipping Mami upwards far faster than she intended to go and sending her flying over you. Before you can crack the ribbon back down however, Mami lets go, a decad of rifle shots covering her fall back to the ground. She lands so perfectly next to Tira that you'd almost think it was intentional... just before a length of what appears to be ripped newspaper suddenly lashes out of the grass from her side.
Like seemingly everything sent her way, Mami notices the coming attack and quickly slaps it away with a ribbon, prompting her attacker to emerge from cover. It's an Ummashtart — the girl-shaped one with the prehensile paper hair. And she's apparently not alone, as dozens more Ummashtart of all shapes and sizes suddenly begin pouring out of the grass from all around the two magical girls. Mami and Tira look around at your familiars with wide eyes, quite obviously caught off guard by this, then glance over at you, presumably thinking you called them here. They're wrong, as you aren't any less surprised by this than they are, but whether your familiars are here to help you or just displeased about Tira's ongoing destruction of their habitat, you don't really care, as their presence is undoubtedly a good thing either way.
On some unspoken signal, your paper minions rush in, surging forward almost like a singular entity. Tira flies upwards again to get out of their range, but Mami instead begins to spin and twirl in every direction, initiating what looks almost like some sort of gun-based dance routine as rifles form around her and are immediately tossed into the air. What is she-?
You realize what she's doing before the thought can even complete, as none of the guns end up hitting the ground. Instead, the magical girl proceeds to catch each and every one of them out of the air, repeatedly doing so at the precise angle and moment to blast one or more of your familiars to pieces. The girl who attacked initially whips out with her hair again, only for her head to explode into paper scraps. A giant venus fly trap leans down to bite at Mami, and its stem is abruptly severed from the rest of it. An elephant charges forward, and a bullet tears its trunk off, sending it careening to the ground. Nothing so much as touches Mami at the center of the storm, while your familiars continue dying off in droves all around her. It's an utterly ridiculous show of skill, and you honestly can't help but think that it's... kind of incredibly cool-looking.
Impressive though Mami's maneuver is, it still isn't enough to keep you from trying to capitalize on her momentarily distracted state, short though it appears that's going to be. Tira, however, is enough, taking potshots at you and keeping you too occupied to do anything more complex than dodge away as ink rains down from above. In the course of your evasive maneuvers, you find yourself floating directly over top of Mami, and Tira stops, evidently not wanting to accidentally hit her ally in the crossfire... and at roughly the same time, you see the last of your Ummashtart die off, the few survivors having retreated back into the grass to lick their wounds. Well, that didn't last long.
Taking advantage of your unintentional position, you let yourself drop down at Mami, attempting to flatten the magical girl beneath you. She back flips out of the way without even looking, then front flips right back, effortlessly landing directly on top of Novella. A ribbon appears in her hand and drops to the book's surface, one end of the length of fabric glowing brightly, but before it can do whatever it's intended to you heave Novella upwards, tossing Mami off of you. This of course just prompts her to start shooting you again, causing you to sag to the side as more and more of your straps snap in two. She then swings herself back forward, dropping right back towards Novella again. This isn't working; Tira's a problem, but nothing even seems to slow Mami down! You need something else, ANYTHING else, just something that can get in her way for a few moments-
A glowing blue music platform suddenly appears beneath Mami, to both your and her obvious surprise as she smacks into the oddly angled surface and falls off of it into a non-melted patch of grass below. You quickly check to see where Sayaka is, but she still seems to be struggling against Mami's ribbons, the angle her wrists have been bound at preventing her from even forming a sword to cut her way free. Wait, so then...
A trio of Tira's black birds fly at you from the side, presumably freshly made. You gesture, and another music platform appears in front of them, causing the birds to smack into its surface like a window and break apart on it. Apparently you can do this now???
Too preoccupied to question it at the moment, you immediately form an entire wall of platforms in front of you, all of them vertically oriented so as to better defend you. Just in time, as Mami sprints out of the grass with a circle of guns orbiting around her, each one firing as it rotates to face you. Several of your platforms break, too weak to take more than a single blow, but you replace them in an instant, the skill being extremely quick and simple to use now that you know you have it, and not even costing that much energy. Tira joins in a moment later, but her ink projectiles just splatter on your impromptu shields.
Sayaka, unable to see any of this taking place over the grass, suddenly stops struggling, hanging limp with her head facing the ground. Just as it seems she's given up however, her eyes widen, snapping open as if granted new life. Gritting her teeth, Sayaka stares intently down at the ground beside the pillar… and a trio of swords rise from the dirt, cutting through the restraining ribbons as they emerge. Sayaka falls to the ground next to them, coughing, before scrambling back to her feet and jumping on top of the pillar she was just tied to, the extra height allowing her to easily spot you fighting in the distance.
It's then that Mami apparently gets fed up, as an utterly ENORMOUS cannon forms on the ground in front of her, almost ten times the size of the girl herself. Balking at the sight, you form an entire stack of platforms in front of the massive weapon's barrel and hurriedly swing Tome into its path, just in time for Mami to do something entirely unexpected.
"Tiro!" the magical girl calls out. "Finale!"
With a noise like thunder, the cannon fires, a titanic shell exploding forth and breaking through your shields like they aren't even there before smashing into the bottom of Tome like the fist of god. The impact sends you spinning end over end through the air, helpless to control your path, until you crash to the ground some distance away, thankfully landing in a clearing rather than in the middle of all the grass goop.
(...did she actually just announce her attack aloud like Sailor Moon, or did you imagine that?)
You struggle to reorient yourself and get back up again, but only manage to make it maybe five feet into the air before ribbons sprout from the soil and tie around Tome's corners, tethering you to the ground. You mentally slap more words onto Novella's pages, needing the ammunition to free yourself, but even as you do so you see Tira's peacock curving through the air towards you, Tira herself sketching out the same lance you saw her make Saturday atop its back. Meanwhile, Sayaka jumps up to a nearby skyroad and sights Mami calmly striding out of the grass behind you, clearly intending to end this here and now.
<Sayaka-!>
[-] Tell her to distract Tira...
[-] Tell her to distract Mami...
[-] Tell her to free you from the ribbons...
[-] Write in.
+
[-] ...while you use your shatterwords to free yourself.
[-] ...while you throw your shatterwords at Tira.
[-] ...while you throw your shatterwords blindly backwards at Mami.
[-] ...while you make an illusion.
[-] ...while you pretend to surrender.
[-] Write in.
Last edited:
Kalibrius
God of reflection
- Location
- The other side of the mirror
[x] telepathically tell sayaka's to throw/ her swords at Mami and tira, preferedely at the neck to disable them and mainly at mami, alert her that we are going to try bring the cavalry and she should keep an eye out for Charlotte
[X] while we free ourselves from the ribbons with shatterwords while calling for shemesh or Charlotte
I knew things would go pear shaped
[X] while we free ourselves from the ribbons with shatterwords while calling for shemesh or Charlotte
I knew things would go pear shaped
Last edited:
- Location
- Maybe?
Magical girls can break witch kisses, no? Is she literally just judging us by the most tenuous of surface appearance?
Nervos Belli
Don't think this means you've won!
- Location
- Murica
It's impressive how Ashtaroth can put her foot in her mouth so well despite lacking feet and a mouth.
- Location
- Sunset City zone
If they can't, then they dispell it from killing the witch that made the kiss.
BlackoutSampler
So Easily Forgotten
So... negotiations broke down. At least we can all say we've learned something today. Like not offering "Witch Kisses" to the veteran Magical Girls, what the hell Asteroth?
And Tina has learned the magic of friendship apparently, becoming fast friends with Mami in a half a second.
And Mami has learned that Soul Gems are delicious, and are totally not a vital part of a Magical Girl's constitution.
That's nice and all, but TIna was pretty set on giving us a chance, and Asteroth's word choice here pretty much murdered that. So now we're fighting two magical girls instead of one.
And Tina has learned the magic of friendship apparently, becoming fast friends with Mami in a half a second.
And Mami has learned that Soul Gems are delicious, and are totally not a vital part of a Magical Girl's constitution.
That's nice and all, but TIna was pretty set on giving us a chance, and Asteroth's word choice here pretty much murdered that. So now we're fighting two magical girls instead of one.
Last edited:
- Location
- Sunset City zone
obviously, what we need to do is subsume Mami and Tina so they can realize what Sayakas trying to tell them. SUBSUME FOR SAFETY!
Tempestuous
Words are wind, so I write.
- Location
- CA
A lot of quest (and, apparently, pseudo-quest) characters can't talk their way out of a paper bag. I'm not sure if it's a problem with trying to plan an entire argument that doesn't survive first contact with the other person's viewpoint or consensus-based discussion not mapping well to human interaction, but it's a pattern. Now, obviously, there are exceptions, but by and large quest diplomacy seems to flow from the point of a sword and not from any actual ability of an MC to convince anyone of anything.
- Location
- Sunset City zone
Obviously, what we should do is follow our witchstincts and subsume Mami and Tina. That way, they can know just what situation Sayaka is in, and why attacking Ashtaroth is a bad idea to do.
- Location
- Somewhere
...
-grabs popcorn-
Illusions cost a lot of magic outside of Canvas, yeah? Hopin' Ashy tells Sayaka to distract Tira: she may be swayed where Mami can't be. Also I'm wonderin' where best sphere is, and Charlotte. And Sayaka magic, get?
Ashy's between a rock and a hard place and that has a history of going Witchstincts or Surprise Intervention.
Interestin' times
-grabs popcorn-
Illusions cost a lot of magic outside of Canvas, yeah? Hopin' Ashy tells Sayaka to distract Tira: she may be swayed where Mami can't be. Also I'm wonderin' where best sphere is, and Charlotte. And Sayaka magic, get?
Ashy's between a rock and a hard place and that has a history of going Witchstincts or Surprise Intervention.
Interestin' times
- Location
- Sunset City zone
Now what would be bad is if we subsume Mami. And when we summon her, she starts off missing her head and we have to search the book for her head.
- Location
- Sunset City zone
Hopefully we just manage to convince Mami of Sayakas situation if we do subsume her. And that her head doesn't go loose in the book and drift in it.
That would be awful... and hilarious... but mostly awful.
- Location
- Sunset City zone
Her head is just adrift in the book with some Mami trivia being prone to losing heads. Just be lucky she isn't the tea Queen Mami.