Fandom Madoka Magica: Matsuyama Mystery (IC)

[Lil Shirou]

Asami didn't really like that this girl was trying to blow her cover. She wanted to keep her identity a secret for as long as possible. It wasn't like her skills required a team. " I guess you have to find out sometime..." Asami said when everything around them changes as they enter the witch's territory.

" you should probably transform to your Magical Girl form . " Asami said as she pulled out her soul gem from under her shirt. The gem glowed brightly as Asami concentrated for the first time on her transformation. A red cloak appeared in front of Asami as her attire changed . She put on the cloak. The length being around her knees. A large sniper rifle appear in front of her as if something out of a video game.

Asami dodge the strike made by the witch on the train barely. Asami ran to an area that gave her the best opportunity attack the witch's familiars. Asami picked her target through her scope and zeroed in on it and fired. A loud sonic boom echoed out into the air as her target is strucked. Putting a hole through the familiar midsection. The familiar falls to the ground and disappeared. The witch didn't like this and started to target Asami.
Karcen Dolches

 

[GrieveWriter]

Komi Murasa
Interaction/Mention: Karcen Dolches Nellancholy
Location: Bellstar's Labyrinth

Hearing Red-eye explain herself only made Komi chuckle again, "So you're here to show us how to have more fun with 'em?" she Tussled Poke-Girl's hair "Should'a started with that instead o that playin' nice crap, here I was thinkin' you'd be boring or something!"

Her mention of a foil witch was less interesting than Poke-Girl's confusion over it, which she was eager to indulge in, "Won't even need to be magic, pal! You clearly don't know the true power o tin foil, but maybe I'll fill ya in some day."

But the chuckles just weren't meant to last, as the Train taking off seemed to spark some kind of realization in Poke-Girl, who seemed distraught over missing her stop. Komi couldn't really bring herself to care much, wondering if the girl was even aware of how fast she could travel as a Magical Girl. Though she probably didn't have Komi's knack for speed, A magical Girl's need to keep up with Witches should mean she could catch some high speeds.

Just how green was she, anyway?

These thoughts were interrupted by the realization that the train had gotten far emptier than she remembered. It wasn't even people getting off, it was as if the crowds of students and commuters had just fades away. Even Poke-Girl's little monsters were taking note of it, but Komi was struck by a sudden sense of familiarity that brought up a feeling of annoyance.

"Seriously?" she asked nobody in particular as she took a look outside of the train "She couldn't find a sweeter hiding spot?"

Red-Eye informed the others that they'd entered a Labyrinth, Komi appreciated not having to fill in the new blood. It gave her an opportunity to crack open a window and lean out to get a better look at the janky looking fake desert the train was now barreling through. She guessed it was cool, the fact the train was still going gave it a sweet high stakes chase aesthetic. To that end, she was looking behind them even before the Banditos showed up.

The Witch rode at the front of them, already ready and willing to start blasting if the speed with which she blasted a hole in the train was any indicator.

Already the other girls were transforming, with Nui grabbing Poke-Girl and making for the roof of the train while another girl Komi hadn't been paying too much attention to stepped up. Being one of the few others to remain after entering the Witch's domain, Komi had had similar ideas as Poke-Girl, who'd asked if she was a Magical Girl outright. Given how many had just popped up around her in such a short time, Komi would've been more surprised if she wasn't a Magical Girl and had somehow gotten swept up in the Barrier with them despite that.

But no, soon both Nui and her were doing the whole transformation thing while the Banditos continued their pursuit. Komi's eyes snapped around to find Ol Red Eye on the ground having some trouble. For all that good stuff she was saying earlier, Komi had expected her to be one of the least affected by the transformation. But as she recognized the physical features that began changing her frown deepened.

It was Nui's voice that brought her back to the situation at hand, calling from outside a nearby train window for a plan of attack.

"Pfft, only ever been one plan, pal." Komi snickered as she approached the large hole in the train and ever so casually tossed her skateboard out of it "Kill them before they kill you..."

"And have fun doing it!" she declared before leaping out of the train as well.

As she neared the ground, she spun with her soul gem glowing the same as her skateboard. As the Banditos passed it, the glowing form grew before taking off carving through several familiars as it zipped right towards the train. Before Komi had even hit the ground, she reached out and took hold of the speeding motorcycle that was Fafnir as it passed by the train. Komi pulled herself atop the speeding motorcycle before standing in its seat and giving a stretch as she glanced towards Nui and Poke-Girl.

"Oh, and I guess you can cover her while she's learning or whatever." she suggested before pounding her chest "As for me, there's a moustache twirling witch asking me to cave her chest in."

And with that, Fafnir swerved in front of the train and sped towards the approaching Banditos trailing Komi's laughter the whole time.

 

[Dolches]

The girl didn't seem to like Agotta's question, so she was probably also a Magical Girl. That left them with everyone left on the train being a Magical Girl. Why's that? Agotta saw the window behind Asami and her jaw dropped. Instead of the urban scenery one would expect to see in the city of Matsuyama, the window showed that the train was now chugging through a vast expanse of desert. Cacti littered the landscape, mountains could be seen clearly in the distance, and tumbleweeds danced across the stage. However, it was just that, a stage. It looked as if it had been ripped straight from a cartoon. Agotta loved cartoons! This place looked great! She stared outside the window in amazement. Then, she heard the sounds of hooves, and some things hitting the train. She moved to another window with no people, and smushed her face against it for a better look. Horses with guns for heads?! Was this real?! She glanced back to Marowak and Cubone to make sure they were alright, and in the process confirmed to herself that this was likely real. What were they here for? Did someone summon them too? She looked around a bit more and saw an even bigger horse creature, but this one was half human and had more legs! She heard something hit the train near the window she was looking out of. The little gun horses were shooting at the train? She watched one shoot and knock itself over, then heard another *dink* against the train. They were definitely shooting at the train, but to little effect. They were pretty cu-

As Agotta was thinking about how the witch's familiars were cute, a giant bullet tore through the part of the train her and Asami were just at. It passed through the train like a spoon through pudding. She looked on at what had just happened, her awe now replaced with the biblical use of the word. Would that happen to her if she got hit? Was that one girl she was just talking to hit like that? No, the girl got out of the way, and had transformed. It seemed that everyone was transforming, including Komi's friend, who had just grabbed her. Komi's friend grabbed her and swung them both onto the top of the train. Her Pokémon were still back in the train. She heard the ninja girl tell her to transform. Why didn't she wait for her to do that in the train? Oh well, she felt very nervous being on top of the train, but it strangely didn't feel any different than being inside. She took her soul gem out of her pocket and then held it in both hands.

She then grasped it in her right, reeled back, and threw it forward. Before it got more than a few feet from her, however, it dissolved into hot pink energy, and then began to change Agotta into her costume. It formed the type of outfit you'd expect a male protagonist of the Pokémon TV series to wear, complete with a snapback and everything. Her soul gem was embedded on her cheek, under her eye, in the shape of a thunderbolt. Now she was ready! The ninja asked Komi if she had a plan, and Komi gave her a rather cool answer. Wait, kill them?

Agotta hadn't ever thought about the fact they'd actually be killing witches and what not. No, they were evil, right? Yeah, the Kyubey that granted her wish told her they killed people! This witch must be evil to, so that calmed her down a bit. She dug around in her pocket, and found her weapon. A slingshot that looked like a toy. She then realized something. How do you use a slingshot? She dug in the other pocket and pulled a perfectly round ball made of her magic. She put it in the bouncy part of the slingshot, and thought for a second. So... This part bounces like a trampoline. When you jump on a trampoline, it bounces you back up. When you walk around on it, it goes down... She tried pulling the bouncy part back, holding it and the ball in her hand. She pulled it back as far as it would go, then let go. The accuracy was abysmal, but the power was passable in more ways than one, as it passed through one very unlucky familiar. She looked back at the main witch to find that it was staring at her. She stared back, feeling pretty scared. Their contest lasted for three seconds before Bellstar raised her revolver and aimed at Agotta. Agotta dove out of the way in fear, and felt a giant bullet pass by her feet.

She felt like a sitting duck, just standing on the train's roof without knowing how to properly use her weapon. Marowak and Cubone weren't effective at a range, and weren't fast enough to keep up with the train, much less the witch. She should probably summon a new Pokémon. She was very glad she had grabbed her bag while talking to Ms Komi, and opened it up and dug for her bag. She hurriedly glanced between the witch and her book, trying not to get shot while reading. A Pokémon that was fast and durable... Agh, if only she had a Pokédex! Then she could probably ask it for an answer! She skipped and scanned for something that fit the situation. Maybe it'd be best if it flew since Ms Komi was already riding around on the ground on her motorcycle... Her skateboard transformed into that? Could she also put magic in things to transform them like Ms Komi's skateboard. She looked in the distance, hoping for inspiration. There were silhouettes of birds flying in the distance. They looked black like crows. She remembered a specific Pokémon she had seen on TV yesterday. It was a metal bird Pokémon! It fit this situation perfectly! She got up turned her snapback to the left, and put her hand on her soul gem. It began to glow very bright, even through her hand. Energy shot out, and began to form into a very large bird Pokémon. Standing at a whopping seven feet tall, the energy turned black and took the form of a giant creature that looked like a crow with armor. It was almost twice as tall as her! She could feel that she had used over half of her magic already. She got on the creatures back and then looked at Ms Komi's ninja friend.

"Hey! Do you wanna fly with me and Corviknight?" She asked Nozomi from atop the giant crow.

Interactions:
Nellancholy

 

[Karcen]

Aza frowned as she recovered taking a bit of time if only to secretly test Komi, thus far she was less than impressed. Komi was the only pick for a leader of the group to Aza as she had taken charge, though she needed to be tempered and running off ahead of everyone was not the makings of a proper leader. She needed to observe and think of a quick strategy to use the abilities of the girls around her. Thinking quickly and on your feat was as important as being seen as the mother of the group. Emotion was important as the body for a magical girl. Still getting close was one way to deal with the witch. Unless she got you in her sights, luckily this should be her only form. Aza would have to intervene in a support role for now. Telepathy was a skill of the incubators so they could talk to humans and could allow humans to talk to one another.

" You girls need to come up with a better strategy, you are lucky this is a normal witch" Aza's voice rang out in all their minds as Aza now looking like an anthropomorphic kyubey was the one lacking ranged combat, though she could help in other ways and could defend herself. " Simply running at will not always work think of your skills and how to use them" Aza continued. this was far more than most magical girls got in terms of training already, forming groups normally happened by chance. Aza would see who bothered to think up a strategy and how well Komi listened if she didn't think it up. The witch might prefer to shoot but she could easily kick a pesky motorbike if it got to close and got unlucky.

 

[Nellancholy]

Hoisting herself back onto the roof of the train, Nozomi took another look at Agotta, still figuring out her weapon. Did she really not know how to use a slingshot? Kids these days...

It still kind of worried her that a kid in elementary school was put in this kind of situation. But...she hadn't yet seen a magical girl get really hurt. Aside from those disappearances not long ago.

It was just like an anime, right? Kids becoming superheroes and never suffering too bad despite the danger they were put in. Yes, that was a good enough way to look at it in order to assuage her concerns.

Agotta promptly conjured up some massive, menacing bird, no doubt expending more of her energy.

Nozomi looked out into the desert, where Komi was already running wild. She didn't need to keep pace with her ferocious speed, as long as she could get closer to the horde that was perfectly ready to fight and get beaten.

"It's okay, we should split up anyway." Nozomi glanced at Agotta. "Don't get too close to the familiars, alright?"

Resting her hand briefly on Corviknight's wings, Nozomi's soul gem glowed, generating a red mist that solidified into a smaller, similar pair on her shoulders.

Kicking off the ground, she glided into the air, making herself a harder target for the familiars. In a flash, shuriken appeared between her fingers, and she swung her arms. Each one landed perfectly between the hammer and chamber of one of the familiars, and the moment they tried to fire again, each exploded from the misfire.

But the concentrated fire from the survivors was too great, and their bullets tore through Nozomi's conjured wings. Despite having made a dent in the familiars and leaving the witch open, Nozomi found herself screaming as she plummeted towards the burning sand.

GrieveWriter Dolches

 

[Lil Shirou]

Asami couldn't save the girl ( Nozomi ) from her fall to the ground but she can lessen the damage a bit. Asami used her third ability. Remembering kyubey warning not to over use it. Asami took aim at the girl. Calculating the speed she was falling at and fired at her. She healed the girls existing wounds . Asami was visibly shaken from the skill.

Asami could see what look like kyubey girl hybrid. She thought of what kyubey said when she met it. They were telepathic and communicate to magical girl charges that way. " you magical kyubey girl. You are telepathic right? Can you link all of us together? " Asami said so loudly in her mind that she also verbalize it out loud. Asami wasn't used to talking with her mind.

Karcen Nellancholy

 

[Karcen]

A Mental sigh would be heard in all the girls minds after the mental shout from Asami " Yes you are all already linked or did you not hear me just now?" Aza replied even her mental tone was laced with sarcasm " Just focus for a moment and you should all be able to hear one another " She explained wishing Kyubey had bothered to explain the telepathy thing to the girls, but it didn't come up often enough to add to his normal minor lessons.

Asami was the newest of the girls and it seemed she would be one of the more difficult people to wrangle if she had wanted to keep her identity a secret. She also seemed to lakc self control or at leats understanding of her own powers, which was understandable, and was using things that drew to much to early. " A lesson for you all when you transformed into magical girls your pain tolerance and damage thresholds were increased" She started wording it very carefully as transformed could mean when they made the contract or when they activated their outfits " Thus you do not need to worry about healing anything less than a mortal wound, otherwise you are wasting magical power" This was mostly aimed at Asami but the other girls needed to understand that other didn't need constant healing from just what to a magical girl was a minor fall.

" That said Asami I suggest you provide covering fire, if a familiar or bellstar aim for the other girls shoot them before they can try. Komi be careful around her legs, you might be fast but witches are unpredictable. Everyone else try to focus on the witch the familiars will die when she does and try to conserve power there is only one grief seed here" Aza said trying to give the girls a start of a plan that they could build on as they learned more, but right now she was more detracted with the two girls that were wasteful with their energy. Aza might have to do another favor for one of them as she couldn't have anyone turned so fast.

With that sorted Aza decided to start her own assault on the witch jumping out from the train car and seeming almost to float and speed up as momentum was changed, directions altered. She had to get close to fight, or at least fight normally without using to much energy. the energy she worried about was not the same the magical girls did but rather the kind the incubators gathered as that was what she tapped into just like kyubey to grant wishes and caused magic to exist. She would also need to give the girls her name as going by kyubey as if it was a term for the incubators over being a proper name was slightly annoying. Aza would run faster than a normal human but not even close to super human as a large bullet was launched at her. Aza saw it coming and as it came she twirled her arm tendrils grabbing the projectile and as she turned releasing it sending the attack right back at the familiar. Ahead Bellstar was mostly focused on Komi who was the closest and started firing her revolver at the girl and stomping her hooves all the while screeching something that almost sounded like words.

Lil Shirou GrieveWriter Dolches Nellancholy

 

[Nellancholy]

Nozomi threw out her hook again, but hit only air. Her cry was cut short as she hit the ground, rolling over a few times. The sand lessened the impact, but scratches covered her arms and legs as she got to her feet.

Suddenly, a cool sensation washed over her as the bruises and cuts vanished like stains from a cloth. She turned, looking at Asami. "T-thank you..."

Even with the supposed telepathic connection, she had no idea what she was thinking.

As for Aza...she knew more than she was letting on. Still, attacking the witch only made sense.

Taking advantage of Komi and Aza drawing the witch's attention, Nozomi leapt into the air, landing on the back of one of the familiars while balancing on the balls of her feet. Effortlessly, she hopped to another, then another like they were stepping stones.

Finally in range, she landed on the witch itself, clinging onto its side.

"I'm counting on you guys to follow up!" Producing an archaic cherry bomb with explosive tags stuck all over it, Nozomi swung as hard as she could, flinging it upwards.

It went off with a bright, colorful flash and bang, blowing a hole in the witch's upper body.

 

[Dolches]

Agotta nodded to Nozomi's suggestion. Yeah, the familiars, while a little silly, were still powerful, and would likely still be able to hurt Corviknight if they shot it a lot. Nozomi had her own wings, literally, and ascended into the air, completely disregarding her own advice. She soon got shot down after taking out a good amount of familiars. Agotta had to do everything in her power to resist immediately flying Corviknight out to help her. She'd be fine... Right? She was fine, the sniper girl had shot her with a healing shot. Her eyes widened as she heard Ms. Kyubey talking to her. She looked around and saw nothing. She was using telepathy like the Kyubeys?! That was really useful! 'Um... Everyone can hear me?' Agotta thought. 'How do I use a slingshot?' She continued with, without waiting for an answer. She listened to Aza talk about how things hurt less or something. She didn't really understand what pain had to do with taller, but it sounded good. She listened to the plan, and since she wasn't given anything specific she assumed she was supposed to be on the attack with Ms. Komi and her friend. She waited anxiously for her own plan to finish its set up, and loosed some very inaccurate shots at the familiars. While Corviknight was durable, she remembered reading her book before. Apparently it learned a move called "Iron Defense", which even a kid like her could infer the function of. It raised the Pokémon's physical defense, but took a while to use. She would've gone in immediately but she felt that she owed Corviknight some form of protection for just suddenly summoning it in the middle of a battle. It was surprisingly cooperative, so she'd have to feed it something good later. What does it even eat? Just as she finished thinking about that, Corviknight finished raising its defenses, and she gave it the command to take off.

Agotta hadn't considered the fact that Corviknight would actually be flying, with her on its back. It began flying high... Really high... Agotta couldn't stop herself from looking down. After all, that's where the familiars were. Some of them were looking at her and her ride, but she didn't notice that over the distance between herself and the ground. She clung to Corviknight and only looked ahead at Bellstar, assuring herself that the familiars weren't an issue because of Iron Defense. This was part of Ms. Kyubey's plan, so maybe it was a good thing. The familiars would vanish when the witch was defeated, right? Therefore, they had to target it above them. Bellstar turned its gun on Agotta, who stared in terror before realizing that she had to do something. "Down down down down!" She said to Corviknight repeatedly. The large metal crow began to dive as a giant bullet whizzed above both it and its master's head. With the dive came a boost in speed, right towards Bellstar, who's next shot missed because of Nozomi's explosive attack. They were already going low, so Agotta thought quickly. Even with its current speed, any attack Corviknight could pull off wouldn't finish the witch off. Miss Kyubey and Miss Komi were both on the ground, so they wouldn't be able to take much advantage of Miss Ninja's attack. This, however, could be fixed if she got the witch down.

"Corviknight, aim for the front legs! Use Brave Bird!" She called aloud to the crow. It stretched its wings for their entire span, and began to accelerate even more, its body enveloped in hot pink magical energy. It quickly dove through Bellstar's front four legs, greatly injuring the witch. She knelt down with the hit to her legs, and moved her horrendously long arms to prop herself up. However, she made a big mistake, stretching her arms out like the hypotenuse of a right triangle. 'It's arms are like a ramp!' She thought to the other magical girls. The one who could take the most advantage of this was likely Miss Komi, but Miss Kyubey and Miss Ninja probably could as well. Agotta and Corviknight began to fly a ways away and circled around, slowing down. Although the move Brave Bird was powerful, it also had "recoil", meaning that it also damaged Corviknight in the process. Agotta would've like to pick a different move, but something like Peck would be centered on Corviknight's beak. With Brave Bird, its whole gigantic body was the projectile. With that being said, how'd they get through Bellstar's legs without either creature losing appendages? Must've been magic. She pet Corviknight and anxiously watched Bellstar, hoping that her choice to open Bellstar up even more was the right one.

Interactions:
Nellancholy Lil Shirou Karcen GrieveWriter

 

[Lil Shirou]

Asami ignore the Strange girl with the pokemon and slingshot for a second, while she found a new location to fire from. "Does she really not know how to use a slingshot? What an idiot?" Asami said out without thinking she quickly reply back with an apology. Asami wasn't trying to insult anyone. " just put whatever you use as a projectile between the rubber bands and shoot it at the target." Asami stated.

Asami saw the explosion on Bellstar. Bellstar had a gaping hole in its chest when the smoke cleared. " well that's one hell of an opening ninja girl." Asami said as she took aim at Bellstar's head. Concentrating on the pentatrating power of this bullet. Asami fired creating a puff of dust around her and her gun, as well as a loud sonic boom. Suddenly a couple bellstar's familiars block the path between Asami's bullet and bellstar's head. It goes threw each one and penatrates only the skin of bellstar's head. "What the hell!!!" Asami said out of frustration.
Karcen Nellancholy GrieveWriter Dolches

 

[GrieveWriter]

Komi Murasa
Location: Bellstar's Labyrinth
Interaction/Mention: Lil Shirou Nellancholy Karcen Dolches

Komi was enjoying herself far too much for the situation.

That would be come clear to anyone who watched her zip around, swerving her way in-between attacks from both Bellstar and the Familiars. But while it looked as though she was just busy avoiding projectiles in the heat of battle, she was actually juggling her maneuvering with taking stock of her comrades. Given that apparently the last magical girls had up and dissappeared, these were apparently the girls that Kyubey had chosen for taking up the mantles. Save for any others that had avoided getting rounded up on the train as they had.

Komi wanted just a taste of what they could, hopefully see some other badass powers before they curbed whatever the hell this witch thought she was doing.

What she got was a mixed bag.

The Mystery Girl was decked out with some kind of rifle, which she used to assault the witch and her cohorts from a distance. When she took aim at Nui however, who had been trying to cover for Poke-Girl at first, Komi gave a coo of interest. Kyubey had not held back when discussing the topic of Magical Girl infighting, so Komi wondered if one the newbies was already trying her hand at clearing out competition.

But after getting shot, Nui seemed better than before, even uttering a word of thanks that Komi wouldn't have been able to hear if not for the telepathic link ole Kyu-Girl over there set up for them.

Speaking of which, she'd been trying to teach and organize the greenies throughout the battle. Komi rolled her eyes at most of it, until she warned her to be careful of the witch's legs due to their unpredictability.

Of course, Komi was ecstatic at the prospect, "Oho! You're damn right they are!!!" was her only reply before speeding towards the Witch's legs immediately

It wasn't as though the others weren't focusing their fire on the witch anyway, Kyu-Girl over there had managed to draw their attention away from the Familiars enough to start dealing damage. But every time she focused on one of the others, there was Komi weaving through her rampaging limbs even as hooves tore up the ground beneath her. Torn chunks of the ground threatened to obscure her vision, but Komi clashed with the threat with aplomb. As Fenrir swerved betwixt those limbs, its jagged edges would cleave through them and throw off her movements.

Of course, Kyu-Girl's warnings had not been for naught. Whilst doing this Komi had to dodge not only Bellstar's immense revolver rounds and sporadically flailing legs, her Familiars kept swerving in to chase her off even when it led them to be trampled or tossed aside by their master.

Of course, having to dodge the attacks or remains of the Familiars just made Komi's heart beat faster, and she couldn't get enough of it.

Speaking of familiars, Poke-Girl was actually doing better than Komi thought she would, using her Pokémon to keep high above the battle as Nui used the various familiars as springboards. Nui's explosive tore out a large chunk of the Witch, but it hadn't put her down. If anything it just pissed her off even more, prompting Komi to give an impressed whistle as she swerved back around for another pass.

But before she could take advantage of Nui's attack, Poke-Girl actually swerved in with one of her own. She sent one of the Bird Pokémon she'd summoned directly at Bellstar's legs and sent her stumbling forward. Komi didn't even need her to Speak, as she saw what she had the moment the Witch went down.

"Aw, I knew there was something I'd like about you, kid!" she laughed as she diverted her course "Now let's put this bitch down!!!"

She swerved through the Familiars as they tried to give Bellstar a chance to recover, but Komi couldn't care less for their attempts. he had her target now, and sped Fenrir along her arms just as she was starting to raise them. Komi pulled high on Fenrir, placing her feet on the seat as Bellstar took note of her and began turning her head her way.

But as one of Mystery Girl's rounds pinged against the witch's head, Komi leaped backwards off of Fenrir after ramping it off the Witch's shoulder. As she spun backwards Fenrir was plunged directly through the side of Bellstar's head, forcing another of those jumbled yell's from the Witch's head right before the bike exploded, tearing a hole through the front of her face as Komi sailed down. She landed feet first atop one of the familiars, cracking its neck to the side as she looked up to take stock of the damage.

 

[Dolches]

With the combined efforts of the girls, Bellstar was defeated. The last attack was the straw that broke the camel's back, and Bellstar began to fade. Her familiars all fell over and vanished in a cloud of smoke, and the very ground around them all did the same. Everything seemed to wave as the energy keeping the labyrinth fluctuated. The labyrinth was not on the train, but actually at its previous stop. The labyrinth's scenery changed to one of a train station. Despite all the intense action and movement performed in the fight against Bellstar, everyone found themselves in front of empty tracks. The clouds and mountains that seemed to be in the distance, and even the shadows of buzzards that pretended to be cast, all illusions of the witch's stage dispersed into the sea of reality. The only thing that stayed as proof of the fight with Bellstar was her grief seed, which was balanced upright on the platform opposite of the train tracks.

The ragtag group of magical girls has succeeded in vanquishing their first witch, and the reward stood before them.

Karcen Nellancholy Lil Shirou GrieveWriter

 

[Nellancholy]

Nozomi's vision swam as she returned to normal, her soul gem moving back to her hand. Out of habit, she dropped it back into her pocket.

She couldn't see much further, but the grief seed that had alighted onto the platform shone in her perception like a blinding light.

She'd fought solo a few times already, and it was a matter of fact that she could just grab the grief seed and use it to cleanse her soul gem.

But now there were others who fought alongside her, especially that kid who seemed to be spending much of her power so quickly...

Without a word, she hesitated. Maybe someone else might move to claim it...

 

[Karcen]

As the labyrinth faded reality made itself known the girls had started working together, though Aza was calling it more luck than actual team work. They had gotten lucky to get things to work out over any of them aside from her trying to direct the others. Komi if she wanted to be the one in charge needed to direct the girls. Still that would come latter hopefully she had been watching the girls and learning their powers and personalities. Now there was one last little thing to deal with. The grief seed magical girls had fought and died over the limited supply of them. Two of the girls had used a lot of their power and needed it the most, while 2 others if they weren't crazy with powers likely could go another battle or two without reaching their limit. Still the seed could be shared all the girls could use it and cause it to be on the verge of resurrecting the witch. This was a critical point any one of the girls could try to kill the others and take the seed for themselves alone and break the team before it was truly born.

Aza did not change back she stayed in her kyubey form watching the others and the seed, she did not need and would need to be in this form to consume the grief seed anyways. Nozomi it seemed had flinched waiting for others, a guiding voice to say what should be done. " The prize is yours now how shall it be used, two girls have used a great amount of power, but did they do enough?" Aza mentally spoke to the girls " Two others used less, but a clean gem is always good" She continued " So who will you pick?" She asked wording her question very specifically to make it seem more like there could only be one. it was to test if the girls could be selfless and give up the reward or if they would be greedy and take it without hesitation. Aza would of course revealed they could all use it no matter the answer.

Lil Shirou Dolches GrieveWriter Nellancholy

 

[Dolches]

After seeing Komi bust a hole in Bellstar's head, Agotta had a feeling they had won. The familiars froze and then keeled over, confirming that feeling. She landed, but she felt... Strange. She thought she'd be happy now that they had won, but there were things in the back of her mind that resurfaced now that the rush of battle left. Were the other people on the train safe? How does she heal her Pokémon? Why did the witch stare at her before shooting when she was first seen? What was that little thing across the train tracks? One of these was more urgent than the others, and she hopped onto the train tracks and walked to it without a second thought. She looked at it closely, then listened to what Aza was saying. "Huh? Oh, this is a grief seed!" She exclaimed upon realization. "Cool!" She looked at it, and then pulled her soul gem out of her pocket. She went to put the two together, but then stopped. "Oh yeah, we all need it, right?" She hopped back onto the main platform with everyone else. "Let's compare our soul gems and see who needs it most!" She suggested, pulling her own gem out. While it still shone, it was getting a bit dark, as if it were approaching a sunset. She inspected it closely. She currently had three Pokémon by her side, so she could make through another battle with her new friend by her side if she were wise, but being wise isn't exactly her strong suit, considering how she summoned Marowak and Cubone.

"Mine is... pretty dark." She said, stating the obvious to anyone who could see. "What about you all?" She asked.

GrieveWriter Nellancholy Karcen Lil Shirou

 

[Nellancholy]

"It's all yours, kid."

Nozomi wanted to say that, but didn't. That strange girl...Aza the Kyubey, she certainly didn't seem to worry about her own soul gem.

Asami had helped Nozomi out, saving her the need to regenerate her minor injuries using her own soul gem's power. If it was her call to make alone, she'd have handed over the grief seed no problem. But it wasn't her choice to make.

Komi had probably spent a fair bit of energy fueling her fearsome vehicle...and her assertive personality might make her act impulsively if she felt she wasn't getting what she wanted.

It was late morning. She was going to be in trouble at school either way. The air grew tense.

Nozomi took two steps towards Agotta, the better to intervene if something happened.

Lil Shirou GrieveWriter

 

[GrieveWriter]

Komi Murasa
Interaction/Mention: Karcen Nellancholy Lil Shirou Dolches
Location: Train Station

Having been standing atop one of the Familiars when Bellstar perished, Komi nearly fell with it once it keeled over. Instead, she leaped from it and skidded on her feet as several more familiars fell around her, grinning as the entire labyrinth began coming undone. As their surroundings faded, Komi raised an eyebrow at the fact that they were at the last bus stop. Had the entire bus they'd stepped on just been part of the Witch's magic? She wouldn't put it past them, but figured she could just bug Kyubey about it later.

For now, came the pickings.

While Komi had been in the midst of viewing their surroundings to gauge how much had been fabricated by the Witch, Kyubey Girl began speaking in their heads again. It drew Komi's attention to the other side of the tracks, where Poke-Girl was approaching the Grief Seed the Witch had dropped. Komi actually raised an eyebrow as she nearly brought the gems together, only to frown as she seemed to be reminded of the rest of them and returned to the platform.

When she offered that they all compare gems to see who needed it most, Komi didn't hide her amusement. When Poke-Girl revealed her own dark gem, Komi just gave a short laugh and turned to her. She noted Nui stepping forwards, but just gave a shake of her head.

"Really, kid? That's how you wanna play this?" she shrugged before approaching Poke-Girl herself "I'll do ya one better."

She bent down and grinned before pointing to the Grief Seed, "Either you use that right now, or I'm taking it from you." she stated before raising three fingers "You've got three seconds, go!"

 

[Lil Shirou]

Kyubey explained the concept of grief seeds to Asami. She also knew she didn't need this one. " I don't need the grief seed." Asami said quietly to her . The selfishness of some of the girls were showing and tension over what to do next was growing. Not liking the feeling Asami walked off towards the school.

Asami didn't want to be late to school but because of the unexpected encounter. She was now late. She was unsure with teaming up with all the girls. To many personality traits going on. She never really knew any of the girls being in a different class and new to this school.

Karcen GrieveWriter Nellancholy Dolches

 

[Dolches]

Agotta looked at everyone. Instead of anyone talking about how dirty their soul gems were and going along with her good idea, two of them approached her. Nozomi took two steps, and Komi skipped the counting bit and just got in front of her. She crouched down and then threatened her. Agotta spent her first second wondering if Komi was serious or not, then the second wondering what to do with the time. The third second was spent tapping it to her gem for half a second.

"I, uh... I used it." She said sheepishly, wondering if her gamble for the loophole in what Miss Komi said would be accepted, or if she'd still take it. "Um... how dark is yours?" She asked, doubling down on her idea. She looked the older girl in the eyes, incredibly nervous.

Nellancholy GrieveWriter Lil Shirou Karcen

 

[Karcen]

" Humans" The voice of Aza would echo in all but Asami's mind. She sounded a bit disappointed and somewhat annoyed. She had expected this greed was human nature but she had also expected someone to plead to her about sharing it to ask how it could be done, instead they had done as all humans did. Well aside from Asami but she had just decided to leave not likely knowing what not cleaning your soul gem meant.

" Always so greedy. " She continued " You didn't even ask if more than one person could use the seed" She had implied one could use it but that was a test and she was a teacher. The girls needed to learn to look out for each other. The girls would have done well if they were not to be a team, working solo ant trying as get as many grief seeds as possible. Aza was falling into her habit of separating herself from humanity as she wasn't truly part of it and it was hard to not separate ones self when you saw people acting in a negative manner. " You are meant to be a team, you can each use to seed. It will be close to bringing the witch back, but I am here and I can take the seed in. If kyubey or myself are nearby you can push a seed to the edge and even over it as even fully filled it takes a little while to resurrect with witch" Aza chastised the girls " So use it all of you and remember to look out for one another on and off the battle field" Aza finished her mentality transmitted monologue sounding very much like a teacher at the end.

Dolches GrieveWriter Nellancholy

 

[Lil Shirou]

Asami arrived at the front of the school by herself. She was well aware how late she was. She was shock the girls were still not coming, but it probably be better if they arrived separately.

Asami went up to the door and opened it. She went to the office to get a hall pass. She hopeful that all she get was a slap on the wrist. She was never late before. The assistant principal appeared in front of Asami. He was a tall man compared to Asami anyway.

"Ms. Arikara you are late today." Said the assistant principal with an authority tone.

" I know sir and I apologize for being late." Asami said trying her best not to be sarcastic or make any excuses. She was hoping by owning her being late would be enough punishment. He wasn't known for being hard on his charges.

" just heads to your next class the bell going to ring soon. Consider this a warning dont be late again. " the assistant principal said.

Asami headed to her next class. Now the only thing that stuck with her now is that she need to kill a witch and get her own grief seed soon.

 

[Nellancholy]

"You heard her." Nozomi tilted her head towards Komi. Concentrating on keeping Aza at a distance, she stepped over to Agotta.

"You're okay?" Gently taking the kid's hand, she guided her to offer the partially-depleted grief seed to Komi.

It was definitely the best way to defuse the tension, not to mention get that Kyubey to stop nagging into their heads. Nozomi was sure she could just shut them out whenever she wished; at least it wasn't too invasive.

Someone like Asami who could mind her own business wasn't too bad, and Komi's insistence on treating her fights like a game was worse, but most dangerous of all was Aza who clearly knew more than she was letting on and was trying to dictate to them what to do.

Still, her main priority was making sure Agotta was safe.

Dolches GrieveWriter

 

[GrieveWriter]

Komi Murasa
Interaction/Mention: Nellancholy Dolches Lil Shirou Karcen

To Komi's delight Agotta hadn't wasted all of her three seconds being confused. While she didn't want to have to go ripping things from the hands of kids, seeing as there wasn't much challenge to it, a lesson had to be learned and learned thoroughly. But thankfully, Komi wouldn't have to put the boot down today, as Agotta went ahead and brought her soul gem close to the grief seed. This time, they got to watch as the seed drew out the darkness of the gem and returned it to a glimmering hot pink.

Once the transaction was complete, Komi took note of one of the other girls leaving. She hadn't even offered her gem for Agotta's little test of who needed it most, and her straightforward refusal actually sparked something of gratitude in Komi. But even with one of them going off to continue with her day, Komi wasn't given long to drink in that feeling. No, because Miss Q went ahead and started doing the mind-speak again. The moment its lecturing tone kicked in again, Komi distinctly tuned it out to focus instead on Agotta's offer.

Though she'd expected Agotta to offer the rest of the seed to 'whoever needed it most' again, she instead seemed curious about how dark Komi's gem was.

"Heh," Komi snorted with humor as Nui stepped in to support the little Poke-Girl "Gonna double down on the offering, eh?"

She gave a shrug before slipping a fist into the pocket of her shorts and closing her eyes, "A dark gem is dangerous, if the peanut gallery's to be believed, but fighting for your life with only one arm sounds like a hell of a fun time!"

She slid her hand out of her pocket, gem completely obscured by her clenched fingers, "So I could give less of a shit if I get first picks, hon. You decide whether I'm in the danger zone."

With that, she held up her fist before covering her eyes with her other hand, grinning as she finally unclenched her fingers and revealed her gem to the others, "But don't take too long, sweetheart, I got stunts to pull."

 

[Karcen]

Aza did not know how Kyubey dealt with humans so much she was annoyed by just these 4 and he dealt with every magical girl in the world all at once. it was something she had noticed ever since she had become what she was Aza had grown to be less able to really understand other and given she lacked the cute form Kyubey had it was harder to coral girls. Kyubey also couldn't get annoyed at the girls while Aza could and did. Sometimes Aza whished her change had been more complete rather than the half and half it seemed to be at least then she would not have to bother with the annoyance she felt and she could focus on the mission. In truth on Agotta seemed to like her at all, Nozomi seemed to look at her with caution, Komi was Komi and was to wild to listen to reason, and Asami seemed to want nothing to do with anyone. Well Nozomi seemed to want to protect Aggota so that could be used if need be to keep her around. Komi looking for a challenge would coming running to anything if a challenge was hinted so the challenge was keeping her alive. Agotta was still young and innocent she would think of this like a cartoon till she no longer could, she would be easy to manage in that way. Asami so separated from the others would be hard to draw in, but keeping her separated would mean there was a a girl in reserve that might not learn what these girls did should they uncover something Aza didn't want them to. A team this was not, but teams rarely worked out well at the start, perhaps Aza had misjudged who should be the leader, Komi might just not have the nature for it but another was starting to display it. Really it was much easier to play the girls against each other than to force a team, but Kyubey wanted it and Aza was part of that so in a way she wanted it. Really it was just to keep the girls alive, and yet Aza felt perhaps there was sympathy in the order even if the incubators weren't meant to feel feel emotion.

" Of course you would find it fun" Aza said though this time not using telepathy she had gone back to speaking normally " But that is to be admired in truth " She continued trying to be a bit nicer to perhaps improve a little bit of how the girls thought of her. It also helped she was telling the truth about that quality being admirable even if the bravery was reckless. " Though I suspect you have more than stunts to pull Komi school is starting and even I must attend" She continued trying at banter though even she knew she was no longer any good at it.

They were all late and getting latter with Agotta having the furthest to go. The rest of them would be mostly in the same school the age difference being very minor between them all. Aza would have to use this to get a bit closer to Agotta as she did need to be close to at least one of the girls and two of them here it seemed would be dead ends. " Also it seems we missed Aggota's stop so I will take her there " She decided by herself. Komi likely wouldn't care and Aza could argue that having a nearly blind girl walking the streets alone was as dangerous as letting a 9 year old do it. " That is after we get rid of the grief seed, or well after I eat it being kyubey's replacement and all. " She continued not explaining what all that entailed as they just needed to know to give her grief seeds to stop witches from returning.

 

[Dolches]

Agotta heard what Kyubey girl had to say. She had thought that the grief seed could be shared, but the Kyubey girl didn't even ask if anyone thought that before insulting them. "I thought that..." She mumbled. Still, her explanation of how much they could use the grief seed was good to know. It made her think. Why not bring a grief seed to resurrection in a forest and then bring the witch down again? It'll drop another clean grief seed, wouldn't it? Ninja girl gently grabbed her hand and offered the seed to Komi. She was going to do it herself, but having someone help her put her at ease. Well, it did, until Komi started doing one of the things she seems quite fond of: Presenting a high-stakes dilemma to a literal child. Agotta held the grief seed in an open palm, thankfully it didn't fall over from her hand shaking like autumnal leaves. Komi calmly held her hand open and displayed her soul gem as if in direct contrast to Agotta. Still, Agotta thought for a few seconds. If Komi liked stunts, she'd get stunts. Agotta swiped for Komi's soul gem as quickly as she could. It was probably slow enough that Komi could react to it, but she was counting on her being too surprised to swipe it away. She didn't want to risk Komi pocketing her soul gem if she tried to bring the grief seed to it, saying something about being a daredevil, and then walking away.

If she had succeeded in nabbing it, she'd place the seed and gem next to each other until Komi's soul gem was purified, and then give it back.

If she failed, she'd look shocked. Was she this slow? Was Komi that fast? Was she expecting this?

Either way, she looked up sheepishly at Komi. "I- I didn't want you to hide your... um... Soul Gem... If I brought the Grief Seed to it... So I tried to do it the- um... the other way..." She pushed her pointer fingers together. "It was rash of me, but-! But I thought that you'd like something rash!" She still had the grief seed, and Nozomi hadn't used it at all.

"Miss... Um.. Miss Ninja?" She asked Nozomi. "Do you need it?"

Karcen GrieveWriter Nellancholy