Anza

Mahou Shoujo no Hex Night: A Magical Girl Battle RP

"Hmm?" Tokiko met Hikari's eyes with a curious expression. "Is that your reason?" Was she not tempted by a wish at all? Given all the possibilities that winning the Hex Night could offer, she'd have thought any magical girl would want to claim the prize, but it sounded like Hikari was driven by something different. Righteous wrath, rather than desperate greed. To fight in the Hex Night just to stop people like Kagami from winning... that's kind of mean, but... kind of noble, as well.

"Fine." She gave a serious nod. "Whatever you're fighting for, you've made your decision now, and that means you have to own it. So far you've been lucky enough to have me around to back you up, but that won't be the case forever, you know?" She tilted her head to one side, punctuating the statement with a quiet hmph. "So if you're as determined as you say, then there's only one choice. You need to get stronger."

She adjusted her glasses, eyes wandering away as she pondered aloud. "There isn't much time, since Hex Night has already started, and with so many magical girls around it won't be easy to find shades to practice on. You could try to learn by fighting other magical girls, but that's risky, since they'll be trying to destroy your Hex Symbol..."

She frowned, glancing off towards the horizon. Aaaaah, why does this have to be so difficult? There was one option, but it demanded even more effort from her, just to help one annoying girl who'd been caught up in all this by chance. I'm not doing this just for her sake, though. If she can fend for herself, that'll get her out of my hair, right? And, well... It was kind of nice walking home together. Squeezing her eyes shut, she finally relented.

"Even though you're already supposed to be way in my debt... If you wanted, I guess I wouldn't mind training you a little."

There! I said it! She looked back at Hikari, and her eyes shot wide open. She'd been so caught up in all the grand declarations and strategizing that she hadn't really noticed the lingering damage to the shorter girl's outfit.

"Ah... Y-your clothes..." She averted her eyes again, turning her face away to conceal the bright red blush that had spread across her cheeks. It's not a big deal, right? We're both girls, aren't we? All the same, it felt like her thoughts had gone somewhere weird for a moment...

"W-we should change back into our regular forms, for now!"

@VitaVitaAR

Fate/esoterica

Kazamyr Silvestrov

The sun broke through a thin layer of clouds, staining them a deep purple as its orange radiance swept past their wispy vapors and blazed high over the horizon. As the last shreds of darkness faded away with a gentle sigh, bright dawn met with earth the color of rust, each accentuating the other's natural hues and making clear from whence this town had earned its name: from stone and dirt alike turned bloody red by the touch of the morbid heavens. Viewed from afar, the landscape looked almost as if some great massacre had taken place the night before.

An omen which, as of yet, remained frustratingly unfulfilled.

Fiery light trickling through the open window of a dingy apartment, rented out a week prior, and illuminated the shape of a lanky man sat deep in thought. Kazamyr hadn't slept much. He'd rested, letting his body recover a little from the strain of using so many familiars alongside a Servant, but all the while his mind had been turning, and before the day even broke he'd risen and showered, dressing once more in pure black as he considered what needed to be done.

Clearly his enemies were playing things safe, for the most part. He supposed that he'd have noticed any Servant battles occurring, but none had, other than the one he'd instigated himself and then cut short before it stretched beyond a swift exchange of blows. His brow furrowed. Is this to be a war of attrition, then? It made sense, given the seven sides, that the obvious tactic would be to wait things out and let the other factions deal with each other. Hence the notable absence of Saber, Berserker, and Archer... A slow grind, however, wasn't Kazamyr's style. He'd spent his time waiting and setting up already, and he wasn't the kind of man to count on victory falling into his lap while he languished in inaction.

The 'alliance' was his biggest advantage. Hard to say how much that girl trusted him at this stage, but if he could secure her cooperation for at least another night or two, they could overwhelm their opponents one at a time with the combined strength of their Servants. As such, he'd been researching his targets, readying himself to confront them in the very near future.

Handwritten notes lay scattered about the room, alongside the wards and glyphs that protected the apartment from assault and observation. Notes on the Valkyries, a list of possible identities for Lancer. Brynhildr, Eir, Geirdriful... On another sheet, sparse bullet points detailing famous witches within the last millennium. On yet another, some interesting tidbits he'd found on Japanese warrior women, legends that might explain Assassin's blinding speed. Uesugi Kenshin, Nakano Takeko, Tomoe Gozen... All possible, but none of them quite seemed to fit. He'd need to dig deeper, there.

He'd also considered the known abilities of the other Servants, and how one might deal with them. Assassin wasn't much stronger than Rider, but was slippery and quick. If it came to a fight he'd need to find a way to pin her down, and if they fought together he'd want to take care to keep opponents from doing the same. Lancer was a bigger problem: likely stronger than Rider due to her class, armed with powerful magecraft from the Age of Gods, and on top of that she could almost certainly fly. Which is bad news, when our trump card is an elephant charge.

Most of all, though, he was worried about Saber. Supposedly the strongest class of all, but a complete unknown thus far. What am I up against? Where are they hiding? The thought made him shudder with dread and anticipation both. I wonder...

"Rider," he pondered aloud, "you've been able to meet some of our opponents now, and even crossed blades with one of them. So tell me— if it had turned into a serious fight last night, could you have defeated Assassin? Or defeated Lancer? What would be your chances, if you had to guess?"

@King Cosmos

Mahou Shoujo no Hex Night: A Magical Girl Battle RP

"No, you idiot, don't just charge in—"

Too late. No sooner had Tokiko opened her mouth than Hikari blasted herself forwards in a suicidal attack, and promptly got herself shot out of the air. If Tokiko hadn't been holding things in both hands, she'd have facepalmed then and there. You utter blockhead! Did you seriously just rush in without a plan?! Even with Hikari's limited powers, she should have at least been able to avoid one attack, but apparently her inexperience with using her powers was compounded by a total ignorance of basic tactics and teamwork.

Though really... this is my fault. Tokiko glanced over at Hikari's body, relieved to see that she'd been knocked out but not seriously injured. She had to give credit to Kagami there: the Empress had been careful to use just enough power to take her out without inflicting lasting harm. I knew something like this would happen from the start. Even so, I let my anger control me, and now Hikari's gotten hurt, just like I thought she would.

Her attention shifted back to Kagami, who was preparing to attack again. "What, 'junk' again? Go read a thesaurus before you trash-talk, you half-baked ignoramus!" Even if it was one-on-one now, Tokiko wouldn't go down so easily. You're not the only one leagues above a newbie like Hikari. Let me show you what I can do! The devices in her hands started to come apart, slowly disassembling...

And then Kagami decided to go off and chase a shade. Tokiko lowered her arms with a sigh. Seriously? Just as I was about to show off my awesomeness in front of Hikari...

"Yeah, sure, run away," she muttered under her breath. She didn't move to follow, though. Her main reason for even starting this fight was lying on the ground with smoke rising off her, and Tokiko's initial fury had cooled a little bit, enough for her to remember the reasons she'd wanted to avoid this fight in the first place. With a tired sigh, she let the energy around her hands wink out, her tools reassembling into their original forms.

"Dork," she said, ambling over to Hikari and crouching down beside her. "Did you think this would be like some anime, where willpower alone would be enough to make you win?" She shook her head. "Laughable. If you'd held back and listened to me, this wouldn't have happened."

She didn't seem angry, though, just disappointed. There was even a little remorse showing through in her expression. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked you to take part just now. You clearly weren't ready for it." Shoving the cigarette lighter in one pocket, she extended a hand to help Hikari off the ground. "You understand, now? This is Hex Night. This is what you're up against. And now that you've experienced it for yourself, I'll ask you one last time..."

Her eyes narrowed. "...do you still want to fight?"

@VitaVitaAR

Mahou Shoujo no Hex Night: A Magical Girl Battle RP

Mild or not, Tokiko's line had pricked sharply enough for Kagami to respond with a fucking laser beam.

She'd count that as a success, except for the fact that, well, there was a fucking laser beam now coming right at her. She barely had time to cry out and throw herself to one side before it tore past the spot where she'd just been standing, close enough for her to feel the heat of it even after moving away. It hadn't been intended to hit her directly, but that could still have hit her if she'd moved the wrong way, if it had been off-target by just a slight amount. And what about...

"Hikari-san!" She scrambled to her feet, eyes desperately searching for the other girl. "Hikari-san, are you all right?" There she was, picking herself up off the ground. A little rumpled, maybe bruised from the fall, but it could have been much worse. Tokiko let out a breath, fear being replaced by relief, even as a far colder feeling began to spread inside her.

She attacked me. She attacked Hikari.

Her fists clenched. Never mind the consequences, this was a sin that could not be forgiven.

The exchange between Hikari and the Empress was interrupted by a laugh. Not a happy laugh, not a mocking laugh, not even an oh-my-god-what-the-fuck kind of laugh, but something altogether stranger. Not a snicker, not a giggle, but a hoarse and broken cackling, so low one might have mistaken it for a sob were it not for the rictus smile that slashed across the speaker's face.

"Oh, but Kagami-chaaaan... you are."

Green lightning exploded out onto the street, buzzing and sparking, ionizing the air and causing the all the lights for several blocks around to momentarily flicker and flash. Silhouetted within, a looming coffin of twisted metal, and a figure contorting in maddened exuberance.

"A fool! A stooge! A pea-brained cretin! So blinded by your own hubris that you made the very worst mistake!" She cackled again. "Don't you realize what you've done?!"

The lightning began to fade— but unlike before, it didn't disappear entirely. Rather, it coalesced, forming two sparking auras around the gloved hands of Honami Tokiko. Now dressed once more in her long white coat, she held a cigarette lighter in her right and a radio transmitter in her left, brandishing them like weapons as she pointed the latter at her assailant.

"You've made me want to get serious." Her pupils shrunk down to tiny dots, glowing with greenish light. "Hikari-san, forget what I said earlier. Let's crush this piece of shit."

@VitaVitaAR

Mahou Shoujo no Hex Night: A Magical Girl Battle RP

Sure enough, the 'Empress' just kept yammering on about how great she was and how they had no hope against her, without actually doing anything to back it up. In spite of all the annoying self-aggrandizement, however, Tokiko smiled quietly to herself. All bark and no bite. Even when she'd insulted Kagami to her face, the other magical girl hadn't dared directly challenge her. Is it that she's too prideful to acknowledge that anything could rile her up? Or maybe she's not really as strong as she's cracked up to be... Either way, if she wasn't going to do anything about it, then Tokiko had no reason to hold back with her mockery.

"Oh? Is that what you believe?" she said, matching Kagami's grin even as she threw her own words back at her. "Very well. Believe what you will about my chances of victory, it means nothing in the end. You'll still be too much of a coward to ever back up those beliefs."

She left it at that. To Kagami, Tokiko might be just another piece of junk, but to Tokiko the self-proclaimed empress was just another irritation. Though taunting her was quite fun... She'd need to come up with some good one-liners for the next time they met.

"Sheesh," she said to Hikari as they left the other girl behind to stew in her own arrogance. "What was her problem? Fairies are supposed to choose pure-hearted girls, but... sometimes I feel like their judgement is off..."

@VitaVitaAR

Suddenly, My Favorite MMORPG has Become Real?! — A Log Horizon-inspired RP

"Inventory... oh, right!" It took Deneb's mention to remind Viri about the item storage in the game, which logically should have carried over with the rest. With a frown, she pulled up the menu screen she'd used to accept the friend requests and started poking around, eventually spotting the button marked 'Inventory.' After a slight hesitation, she poked that too, opening up another window.

Her eyes widened as she saw what was on display there. "Uh oh—"

She looked up at the ninja, only to see a big man in heavy armor come roaring down out of the sky to slaughter an innocent pig. Running it through with his blade, he stood victorious, insulted its skill, and then proceeded to get blood all over the place while trying to retrieve his weapon.

Viri stared, open-mouthed, not quite sure how to react. One hand went to her chest, and she took a deep breath, trying to string her thoughts together again.

"...oh my!"

Deneb was already taking care of most of the talking, which was probably for the best, since she still wasn't sure what to think of this boisterous stranger. She waved shyly at him over the ninja's shoulder. "Hi!" With Deneb rapidly going through basic info and negotiations, she didn't want to interrupt, but it was only polite to offer a greeting, no?

In the meantime... She'd better take care of the inventory thing before Deneb turned around. Specifically because she had, well, a lot of stuff in there. Jewels, rings, necklaces, potions, armor, weapons, cosmetics... she swiped with her hand, scrolling through the list, trying and failing to find an end to it. Oh dear. I should probably have cleaned all this up at some point, shouldn't I?

Blushing slightly, she tapped on two pairs of sturdy-looking boots, which materialized at her feet with a quiet pop! Then jabbed at the button to close her inventory, quickly hiding the window.

"I... I found us some shoes!" she said, trying her hardest not to look embarrassed.

@PKMNB0Y@Ozerath

Mahou Shoujo no Hex Night: A Magical Girl Battle RP

"Magical Empress?" Tokiko covered her mouth with one hand, stifling a laugh. "Wow, okay. I get wanting to brag about your strength, but isn't that a bit much? Maybe 'arrogance' is your Concept?" She raised an eyebrow. "No, wait, wait— how about 'crippling insecurity?' Of course someone with a Concept like that would need to puff herself up with every other word!"

This 'magical empress' was pissing Tokiko off enough that a part of her wanted to start a fight there and then, but she held herself back. For all her overblown posturing, Kagami wasn't weak. Tokiko had heard bits and pieces about her from other magical girls both on the chatroom and offline, and what little she knew was enough to be sure that this was an opponent leagues above the pair she'd fought earlier. Maybe Tokiko could take her— raw power wasn't everything, after all —but it wouldn't be easy, and even if she won she'd be left weakened enough that another magical girl might show up to pick her off. It's too risky to go all-out so early in the Hex Night... Besides, I don't want to have to use 'that' until the last possible moment.

And then there was Hikari. Dumb, irritating, and totally-not-cute (okay maybe a little cute) Hikari. Given how she'd behaved earlier, there was a high chance she'd try to help if Tokiko took on Kagami, and in a battle of that level there was no way a newbie magical girl would avoid getting hurt. And... Fine, I'll admit it: I don't want her to get hurt! I- I mean, it'd be a waste if she got taken out now, after all that time I spent explaining things, right? Plus she owes me a free lunch!

So she bit down on her pride and rage, and turned away. "Come on, Hikari. If she's not going to attack us... we should just leave." Then, under her breath, "I'll beat her up some other time, when I'm ready."

@VitaVitaAR

Mahou Shoujo no Hex Night: A Magical Girl Battle RP

"Wha—" Tokiko glanced around in surprise, wondering who had interrupted their conversation, and found the street deserted. Empty asphalt stretched out beneath the gloom of a darkening sky, still and silent but for a single, violet-clad figure who was unmistakably a magical girl. Tokiko had been so caught up in explaining things that she hadn't noticed they'd walked into a quiet area... And opened themselves up to being ambushed all over again!

Even so, her eyes narrowed. This doesn't make sense. How had this person been able to identify them while they were still in their civilian identities? "You..." she grumbled, finally looking the intruder in the eye, "How long have you been eavesdropping? It's rude to listen in on a private conversation without announcing yourself, you know?" All the anger that had vanished from her voice while talking to Hikari now came surging back with a vengeance. "Stalker! Creep! Detestable public nuisance! Go find someone else to harass!"

She casually unslung one strap of her bag, putting the tools inside within reach if she needed them. If this girl was who Tokiko thought she was, then things could get hairy if it came to a fight. Geez, just how many more irritations am I going to have to deal with today?

@VitaVitaAR

Mahou Shoujo no Hex Night: A Magical Girl Battle RP

Tokiko couldn't help but look a little smug as Hikari kept on asking questions. "You do realize I don't have to tell you any of this, right?" Then she sighed. "Fiiiine. I guess it wasn't your fault that fairy left you in the dark like that. But you better pay me back for this, okay? Buy me lunch tomorrow... or something." She turned a little red. "Ah, whatever."

With that, she launched onward into more exposition. "So shades are the reason we have magical girls in the first place, see? They're what happens when you take all the bad juju, the negative emotions and stuff that humans produce everyday, and clump them together until they manifest a physical form." Her hands waved in the air, gesturing to accompany her words. "They're kind of like these creepy... black... things. You could think of them as monsters, I guess, even if that's not exactly right. Most of the smaller ones act kind of like ghosts, haunting a specific place and making people feel gloomy or angry, sometimes stealing and breaking things. The bigger ones act more aggressive, though. They'll start stalking humans and even attacking them, and people can get seriously hurt." She shuddered. "Thankfully they mostly only come out at night, but even so... The strong ones can be really scary, and since they're just clumps of emotions, you can't kill them even if you shoot them with a gun."

Her voice had lowered slightly as she spoke, as if she were telling a spooky story. Which, in a way, she was. Tokiko figured that a lot of the old legends, about ghouls and monsters and man-eating giant spiders and stuff, were probably a result of ancient humans interacting with shades. Maybe there were fewer magical girls back then...

"But!" She suddenly brightened up, pointing one index finger at herself and the other at Hikari. "Shades are super weak against magic! So the fairies choose pure-hearted girls to become magical girls, so we can hunt them down and get rid of them before they grow too big and dangerous. We're like guardians, protecting our home towns against the monsters in the night and keeping everyone safe and happy! Though Tokyo is a big town, so you obviously need a lot of magical girls here."

She fell quiet for a moment as they passed an older couple on the street, then went on. "I could honestly go on all day about the details, but that's not so important for Hex Night, so... Archtypes and Concepts, then." She scratched her head, trying to figure out how best to explain.

"An Archetype is simple: every magical girl has a weapon, and that weapon is their Archetype. For you that's probably your hammer, and Tsukimi had her spear... but it can be a wand, a book, a machine gun, or even a living creature." She gestured at herself with that last part. "What your Archetype is depends on your Concept, which is like the general 'theme' of your power. See, every magical girl gets a power and costume based around an idea." She waved her hands vaguely in the air. "So, uh... Naoko's Concept would probably be 'Oni,' and mine is 'Mad Scientist.' I'm not sure about you or Tsukimi, though, or Sonya... A Concept can be almost anything, but I think the requirements are that it has to be 'something specific enough to crystallize as a unique idea,' and 'something existing in the public consciousness of humans.' For instance, a fictional story could become a Concept, but only if it's been published and read by enough people."

She shrugged. "That's getting into my theories, though. The important thing is that your power is based on some kind of idea, and your weapon is something related to that idea. Archetypes can have their own abilities as well, though it's usually easiest to use them if you know what they actually are. Like your hammer, maybe..." She stopped, shaking her head. "...never mind. It's probably best if you figured that part out for yourself."

She took a long breath. Aaaaah, that was a lot! She'd probably been a bit more long-winded than she needed to, as well, since she was kind of a nerd about these things. She turned to Hikari with a slight look of concern. "I... That all made sense, right?"

@VitaVitaAR

Mahou Shoujo no Hex Night: A Magical Girl Battle RP

"Hmmm?" Tokiko was snapped out of her train of thought by a seemingly obvious question. Oh, right, she's still new. Am I going to have to explain everything to her?

"Nah," she replied, her voice gradually becoming more comfortable as they spoke more. "Our magic responds to our thoughts and instincts, which makes it pretty intuitive once you get a grip on it, but nobody knows all their powers from the start. Sometimes a fairy will stick around and teach a newbie some of the basics, but in general it's like any other skill. You figure it out by trying it out, and get better with practice and experience."

She stopped briefly to yawn, still a little tired from the fight before. "Some of us have it easy... like Naoko. Her whole thing is just jumping around and smashing stuff, and superheating her body or whatever. And then you have girls like me, with weird or conditional powers that express themselves differently depending on the situation." She threw her hands up in exasperation. "It's been years for me, and there are still permutations I haven't gotten to try yet!" She'd gone through most cheap and ordinary machines she could find to figure out which ones could be upgraded into something useful, but endless possibilities still lay tantalizingly out of reach. What if I used my power on a fighter jet? Or a particle accelerator? Or a nuclear missile? And that wasn't even taking into account the possible combinations...

"Anyways," she continued with a frown, wondering why the heck she was giving away so much info for free, "that's why the situation is so bad for you right now. If you don't know your Concept and Archetype, then even if they're strong, you'll still be outclassed by more experienced magical girls who can properly use their powers. If I were you I'd find somewhere safe for the first night or two, and work on training yourself. Use a sparring partner, or find some weak shades you can beat up without putting yourself at risk."

She blinked suddenly. "Wait, you don't know what shades are, do you?" Then slapped one hand against her forehead. "Gaaah! Those damn fairies should just write an instruction manual!"

@VitaVitaAR