The great clock tower chimed once again signaling Mokou’s freedom from these educational confines. It was all she could do to keep from running out of the school as fast as she could. Given her... fateful encounter that morning, she had to exercise some caution. Another run-in like that was not what she needed right now. The teachers were on high alert about her as well, given the fight before break, and even the slightest hint of her fighting would be more than enough. They’d threatened her with expulsion this time.

Waiting for just the right time, Mokou slipped out the front gate in a gaggle of other girls. No doubt Remilia would be behind the school, waiting for Mokou to slip out her normal way. ‘The joke’s on you Remilia. I’m not so stupid as to fall for the same trick twice.’ Mokou thought smugly, consciously ignoring the fact that if Remilia was back there, she’d won a small victory by making Mokou use the proper entrance.

Once clear of the school, Mokou made a beeline for her usual path. Crowds of babbling school girls were not something she usually chose to spend her time with. As she merged onto her normal path she let out a sigh. ‘Finally, some peace and quiet’ her pace slowed considerably. Meeting Kaguya after school meant that Mokou had considerably more time than if she had to rush home. So much more peaceful to spend it strolling along the streets, taking her sweet time to reach the station.

Usually more peaceful, anyways. Strolling down the street in front of her was one of the brats from the other day at the convenience store.

“Oi! You brat! Stop!”

The girl whipped around, a horrified look on her face. Mokou, almost in a dead run already, ran towards the girl. With amazing speed, the girl turned and fled. “Get your sing-song ass back here, you little bitch! You’re gonna pay for those popsicles!”

===========

‘God DAMN what speed that little shit has.’ Mokou was panting and gasping for breath. She’d chased that girl for quite some time, never really gaining on her, until she had finally lost her. The girl must have run in circles or something, Mokou figured, as she was back near the school. Well, she could see it anyway. She’d never really been this direction from it before, though. ‘Ugh. I wonder how much time that cost me’ Mokou wondered idly, finally catching her breath. She was about to leave, after looking around to get her bearings when she heard someone shout. Glancing around the corner of a nearby alleyway, she was shocked to see Meiling and Keine.

“What do you think you’re doing to her!” Meiling roared. “Get off of her!”

The three ignored Meiling, continuing to shout and struggle with Keine.

“Fine. I warned you.” Meiling charged forward and leapt. One of the girls went flying as Meiling’s kick connected firmly. She spun back around and nailed another one squarely in the face with her fist. The third released Keine and charged Meiling. Sliding her foot forward, Meiling flipped the girl into the wall. She slid down the wall, landing on her head with a dull crunch. Feeling that the situation was now well in hand, Meiling reached out, offering her hand to Keine.

She smiled brightly at the battered girl. “Are you ok?”

“T-They’re not down. They’ll be back up in a minute! You have to run. Now!” Keine was frantic.

“They’re not going anywhere for a while,” Meiling chuckled, “I may not look like it, but I’m actually quite skilled in martial arts.”

“Look out!”

The girl Meiling had punched now lunged at her. Meiling was barely able to sidestep in time.

“Blue. Green. Rise.” The one who was still standing called out to the other two.

The girls spun around on the ground and were jerked to their feet. They hung there in the air limply, arms and legs dangling down, feet floating just off the ground as if they were held up like a puppet on strings. The unseen puppet master then pulled the strings taut.

“What the...?” Meiling stepped back, throwing her arm out between the girls and Keine. “Get out of here” She growled to the girl who had been getting beaten on a scant few moments ago.

“No... It’s me they’re after. Run!” Keine’s voice was barely above a whisper.

“Not a chance of that. Looks like the chance to run has passed anyways.” The three girls, now fully regrouped, charged Meiling.
Mokou watched the fight from her vantage point at the end of the alleyway. Meiling was getting her ass handed to her now that the three were working together. ‘Damnit. I may not like the girl, but I’m not about to sit here while she gets the shit beat out of her.’ Mokou was just about to charge in to help Meiling when there was a sharp tugging at her school bag. ‘Eh? What the...?’

“You can’t beat them like this!” A gruff voice spoke from within her bag.

“THA HELL?!” Mokou shouted.

Unseen by her, one of the girls started towards the noise.

“No time to explain. Take this,” A pink pen shot out of the bag at Mokou. She managed to catch it, somehow, before it impaled her face.

“Now, repeat after me. ‘Magical Pretty Super Special Awesome Transform!’, quickly now!”

“Like HELL I’m saying that!”

“There’s no time! Do it now!”

“Fuck this. ‘M-Magical... Ergh. ‘MAGICAL TRANSFORM’”

“No you--”

Mokou was enveloped in a bright light. As it faded away, she seemed to be wearing something entirely different. “Oh HELL no. No. no. no. No. I am NOT wearing this. This is worse than Kaguya’s costumes.”

“We can deal with it later, now DUCK!”

“Wha-?” Mokou barely dodged in time as the girl with blue eyes rounded the corner and swung at her.

“Eh? A Magical girl..."I don’t recognize you...”

“Don’t worry about her. Your primary attack is ‘Conflagration’. Call out it’s name and then shoot the flame into the doll!”

“I don’t really get what’s going on but... CONFLAGRATION!” Mokou’s fist burst into flames.

“Good! Now aim it at the girl and concentrate. It’ll shoot off at her!”

Mokou looked at her fist, engulfed in flames. “I’ve got a better idea.” Rearing back, she punched the shocked girl square in the face. Instead of flying back, like Mokou expected her to, her head just exploded into a fine dust. “Oh shit! Oh SHIT! I just killed her!”

“Don’t worry about it. She wasn’t a person, she’s just a doll. See?”

The body crumpled to the ground as Mokou watched, horrified. A fine smoke was released from the body and a card appeared as the body finished evaporating from inside the clothes. Horror turned to shock, turned to disbelief.

“Wh-What the fuck was that?!”

“Now hurry! The other two will be taking notice now.”

Mokou dashed into the alleyway to just in time to see the girl throwing Meiling to the side.
“You have severely damaged our compatriot. You will be suffering quite a bit at our hands now.” The green and red eyed girls launched themselves at Mokou.

“Con.. Con.. Damnit what was the attack again?”

“Conflagration! Hurry!”

“Right! ‘CONFLAGRATION!’” Mokou’s fist burst into flames again, with out a moment to spare. The first girl barreled down on her. Taking a step back, Mokou wound up and punched as hard as she could. Her fist went through the first girl’s head and into the second one’s head a moment later. ‘They’re not very smart it seems’ Mokou allowed herself a moment to relax. “Now, just who in the hell was telling me all this crap?”

A small, round, red bird waddled into the alleyway. “Sup. Name’s Phoenix.”

“Uh...” Mokou blinked a few times just to make sure she was really seeing what she thought she was seeing.

“Phoenix! What did you do?! Why didn’t you stay with that girl who’s bag I snuck you into?” Keine rushed over to the small animal and scooped it up into her arms. Cradling it she turned to Mokou. “Where did you find him, anyways? He should have still been with that girl.”

“Eh? Whatcha talkin about? I’m the girl who’s bag you shoved him into, apparently. Given that you’re still the same hobo lookin girl, and those three... things were still the same bitches they were the other day...”

Keine got right up in Mokou’s face, her brow furrowed in concentration. “You... you kind of look similar... I guess. It must be some effect from the transformation.”

“While this is all nice and good,” Phoenix interrupted, “We’ve got more pressing problems. One of the other MG’s are coming, and fast too. We need to get out of here!”

Mokou glanced down at Meiling. The girl was a little beat up, but still conscious. She seemed to be recovering from the beating much faster than Mokou would have thought. ‘She’ll be fine here on her own.’

“Alright, let’s get going.” Mokou went to leave the alleyway.

“Y-You’re just going to leave her here?” Keine sounded quite upset, “She risked her life to save me! You can’t just leave her here!”

“You may not always agree with me, cutie, but we need to get out of here. The thing that’s coming is two to three times more powerful than the neophyte over here.”

“But... but...” Keine stomped her foot. “Fine! I’ll turn myself in. Just to make sure that they leave her alone! Unless you help her!”

“Yeah, sure, fine, whatever,” Mokou really didn’t like the sound of two to three times more powerful, given that she had just punched through three girl’s heads. “I’ll grab her, now you two just hurry up and--”

“And what, prey tell.” A new voice spoke from the end of the alleyway. All eyes were upon the newcomer as she entered. Striking violet eyes with wavy blonde hair down to mid-back, she was clad in what appeared to be some kind of pajamas. A strange nightcap rested on her head with a crescent moon pin attached. “Are you hurrying up to do?”

“Ah...” Mokou moved between the new arrival and Keine. “And who th’hell are you?”

“So crass.” The girl waved her hand, “But I could ask the same of you, and why you interfere with our re-capturing of a valuable specimen. I’ll kindly ask you to hand the girl over, once,” The girl coughed, “After that, I’ll have no choice but to force you two.”

“Not a chance in hell, Sagacity!” Phoenix shouted from the ‘safe’ confines of Keine’s arms.

“Oh? The phoenix is here as well? It would seem that I have stumbled upon quite a bounty. Quite a bounty indeed. Now, this is your first, and only, warning. Hand them over and leave quietly before I’m forced to unleash my powers upon you.” Taking notice of the semi-conscious Meiling, the girl speaks again. “Unfortunately, it seems that there’ll be collateral damage as well.”

Mokou grit her teeth. “Keine, get Meiling out of here.”

“Eh? Wha-”

“JUST DO IT.”

“Don’t think that I’ll be allowing you to do as you plea-”

“CONFLAGRATION!” Mokou’s fist burst into flames for the third time in as many minutes.

“Your body can’t handle the strain! Don’t do it!”

“Oh? So you’re aligned with fire?” Sagacity grinned, “It’s been a while since I’ve seen any magical girls aligned with the primary elements. Very well then, come. Test your mettle, novice.”

The girl’s eyes opened wide in surprise as Mokou charged her. Just before her fist connected with Sagacity’s head, however, it was stopped by some unseen force. Mokou drove forward with every ounce of strength she hadh, but in the end she was repelled, body and all, from the girl.

“How exciting!” Sagacity cried, “It’s been quite some time since someone managed to get that close to me! Exquisite!!” Excitement showed plainly on the girls face. Her hands moved quickly, forming some sort of archaic pattern, while she chanted quickly.

“We have to get out of here! Now! If she finishes that spell...” Phoenix gulped loudly.

“Fuck!” Mokou dashed back and supported Meiling with Keine on the other side. They half dragged her down the alleyway before running into a barrier similar to the one that had stopped Meiling’s fist.

“Shit. Well, I’m sorry I dragged you into this, kiddo.” Phoenix hung his head. “The best thing we can do now is pray for a mir-”

“UWAAAA~” Sagacity cried out. Mokou turned back to see what had just happened. Out of nowhere a short girl with wavy black hair had slammed a comically sized wooden mallet into Sagacity’s face. The girl clutched her face in her hands, calling out curses as her assailant. Mokou and Keine stared in shock at the scene unfolding before them. Their pint sized savior waved for the group to follow her while pointing down a manhole cover. Not hving to be told twice, Mokou dragged Meiling over to the hole.

“N-no! I’m not going down there!” Keine stared at the hole with great apprehension. “You can’t get me down there!”

Phoenix barked out at Keine.“There’s no time, kiddo, Get moving!” To which Keine simply blanched.

“I-it’s too dark... and cramped... and, and...”

Mokou was already half way into the hole, Meiling perched precariously on her shoulder. “Look, I don’t care if you stay or come, but I don’t think that other girl’s gonna wait much longer for you to make up your mind.” Mokou descended quickly into the darkness.

Sagacity was stumbling back to her feet, and seemed to be preparing to cast again.

Keine swallowed hard. “A-alright.”

After Keine and Phoenix had descended safely, their silent benefactor followed closely behind them, pulling the manhole cover back into place.

“T-This was a mistake... I have to get out of here!” What little color remaining in Keine’s face drained away rapidly.

“Too late for that now. We should probably follow our hostess, though.” Phoenix nodded at the rapidly disappearing girl with Mokou in tow.

“Don’t leave me here alone!” Keine called out running after the other girls.

=====

Their silent guide continued making her way through the passages, seeming to know instinctively which intersections and junctions to turn at. Mokou really couldn’t tell the difference. Keine, however, seemed to be growing more panicked as they continued. Frequently glancing about, she seemed to think that Sagacity or her goons were going to be crashing down upon them any moment.

Meiling groaned slightly from her position on Mokou’s back. Those girls from before had given her quite a working over, she looked like she was going to be in quite a bit of pain when she finally came to.

It was surprising how light she was. Phoenix had been surprised when Mokou mentioned it. He had explained that while most magical girl transformations bestowed amazing powers and abilities, those were usually magical in nature, not physical. So while they may be truly fearsome with their spells, physically they were still little girls. Mokou, on the other hand, besides being aligned to a ‘primary’ element, seemed to get a physical boost from her transformation. Given how rare either one was to have both was truly an oddity indeed.

While Mokou continued following the group, she thought about what she and Phoenix had been discussing. She almost ran into Kiene when she suddenly stopped.

“What th...” Mokou trailed off, looking at the gateway before them. It was immense. Ten feet tall or more, and looked to be made of some sort of solid black material. Keine ran her hand over the surface of the door.

“Obsidian? It’s certainly smooth enough to be, and solid enough to be, but this much...” Keine seemed to be distracted from her claustrophobia, and the fear of reprisal from Sagacity by the strange door.

The diminutive raven haired girl toddled up to the door. Both Mokou and Keine watched in shock as she pressed up against the door, then passed right through like it wasn’t there.

“Hey! Wait! Don’t leave us alone out here! What if Sagacity comes back?!” Keine’s panic started to return.

Mokou glowered at the other girl “Humph. What kind of a name is Sagacity, anyways? It doesn’t even sound like a real name.”

“It’s not. Magical girls don’t use their own names so as to protect their identity. They’re also almost impossible to recognize unless they reveal themselves to you. You could see a magical girl who was your best friend, and unless she transformed in front of you, or she told you her true name, you wouldn’t recognize her. Your own mother wouldn’t recognize you right now.” Phoenix paused to placate Keine again.

“Eh? What do you...” Mokou looked down at the outfit she was wearing, really drinking in how bad it was for the first time. She had thought it horrible before, but upon close examination it was far worse than she feared. Knee high red boots with bows, that were somehow baggy as well. A poofy red mini-skirt, with several tags/talisman of some variety plastered on there. A split white vest with an overly fancy bow on her bust, with a phoenix pin attached there. Detached sleeves that also partially covered her hands completed the ensemble. It was absolutely horrifying, and totally girly.

“Oh. No. Oh HELL no.”

“Why are you so upset?” Keine seemed to have forgotten her panic again.

“Am I going to have to wear this damn thing every time I transform? And why am I so upset? Would it have killed whoever made this to have given me some pants?!”

Phoenix chirped up at this point. “No... We can alter the outfit to suit your needs, but, personally? I think it looks good on you.” The small, round bird mimicked taking a drag off of a cigarette. He blew a few lazy smoke rings into the air. “I really think that I did an excellent job with it. Really, I do. Has to be my best work yet. You just look so very cute.”

A hand closed around Phoenix while he sat there, blowing smoke rings into the air. It clamped down tightly on him.

“AShsghash! That hurts!”

“It should, Bird. I don’t do cute. You’re gong to change this. And change it now.”

“I can’t do anything about it right now! You’d have to de-transform, and if you did that you’d reveal your identity to these people.”

“So?”

Phoenix squawked in pain. “You haven’t been listening to me, have you? Magical girls go to quite extreme lengths to protect their identities. Too many problems arise from people knowing you’re a magical girl... It’ll also put your friends and family at risk.”

“So. You guys are saying that you’ll be a threat to me?” Mokou sneered.

“I can’t say right now.” Keine stated bluntly, “If you bring any real physical harm to Phoenix, then we’d be quite at odds. I don’t know what your story is with that girl, though, so it’s really your call. Another thing you might wish to consider - we don’t know who else may be watching this doorway right now.”

“Fine, fine. Whatever. But you and I are having a long talk later. Understood, bird?”

Phoenix flinched in Mokou’s grasp. “Y-yes, ma’am.”

“Good.” She dropped the small red bird who immediately fled back to the safety of Keine‘s bosom . “So now what? I really don’ think that little girl is coming back.”

Hardly were the words out her mouth when there was a loud noise from the door. A split appeared up the middle of the giant stone door and half of it swung back into whatever interior lay within. The black haired girl popped her head out, a large grin plastered on her face. Much less frantically than before she waved for the group to once again follow her.

Once inside, they were quickly ushered down a long hallway into what appeared to be an atrium of some sort. Huge arches supported the ceiling with a hole in the center. Light streamed in from somewhere far above through it. Across the room, some ten feet away, sat a girl upon a rather nice high backed chair. In front of her was a small solid wooden desk, above it a semi-transparent image floated. The lavender haired beauty behind the desk seemed to be arguing quite fervently with the image, her eyes pressed shut. Whether this was in concentration or for some other reason remained to be seen.

Mokou looked over at the space their guide had occupied moments ago only to see empty air. “Uh... where’d she run off to?”

“She’s over there.” Phoenix waved a wing in the general direction of the desk.

The short statured escort waved them over.

As they approached, they could more clearly make out the argument between the image and the lavender haired girl. This side of it, anyway.

“Yes, yes. I’m well aware... It was most unfortunate, yes... yes, yes” The girl sighed, rubbing her still closed eyes, “Did I not just say that I’m well aware? Now, if you would just... Yes, I know the deal, I was the one who brokered it in the first place, remember? ... Yes, No...” Visibly upset, the girl slammed both of her hands down on her desk, driving herself into a standing position. Now staring down at the image, she began anew. “No. No more of this foolishness. We both know that you’re not really upset by Tewi’s actions. Nor were you even hurt in the slightest. At most, she startled you, broke your concentration, and, at worst, embarrassed you. Hardly enough to warrant breaking the alliance just to come down here and attack me. What you’re doing here is trying to get information for free, which isn’t going to happen for something like this. I know that you’re not stupid enough to try it either. You and I both know that the risks far outweigh any of the benefits you could reap. Consider it this way, for the time being. The new girl is under my protection, and you were about to assault her... Yes. Yes, I’m quite certain that you have more pressing matters to attend to. It was, as always, a pleasure speaking with you, Sagacity.”

Reisen sank back into her chair, letting out an exhausted sigh. Tewi runs up next to her, and whispers in her ear.

"Oh, our guests are already here? Thank you, Tewi." Their host patted the shorter girl on the head. "Welcome to our home. I’m sorry you had to hear that little... exchange, but it’s becoming quite frequent any more. With out an enemy to fight, the various groups are turning on themselves. So sad really... Oh! Please forgive my rudness, I haven’t introduced myself have I? "

Reisen stands once again, feeling her way around the desk before extending a hand to the air.

"My name is Reisen Udongein Inaba, but you can feel free to call me Reisen."

Reisen smiles brightly.

Mokou adjusted Meiling on her back again. "Sorry, My hands are a little full right now."

"I’m sorry?"

Tewi pulled at Reisen’s sleeve, trying to get her attention. Reisen knelt down next to Tewi who quickly pressed her face up to the side of Reisen's head, whispering in her ear.

"Ah! I understand now. You'll have to forgive me. I lost my sight quite some time ago... Tewi, be a dear and fetch some chairs please."

Tewi nodded at Reisen. She quickly vanished off the way everyone had come in, presumably off to get a chair.

"You must be exhausted after an encounter like that. Especially on your fist day. You must be quite strong willed to be able to pull out your attack three times in a row so soon after awakening to your power, though, I suspect that you had some help." Reisen grins knowingly, turning towards Keiene and Phoenix. "I don’t suppose you’ve had time to explain everything to her?"

"How did you..."Er... Well, not exactly, it’s been a bit... Busy. I told her the basics, but I haven’t had time to fill her in... Wait, how do you-"

"Information gathering is my specialty. Given that Sagacity was going on about my interference with a neophyte, the abilities she displayed, and the fact that her description matches no known magical girls, it's easy to draw the conclusion that she is, indeed, a novice."

Keine eyed the blind girl warily, clutching Phoenix more tightly to her.

"I'll take your silence as confirmation that I'm right. So," Reisen turned back to Mokou, "Just what has your little familiar told you?"

"Well, ah, something to make my hands start burnin, and somethin about magical girl secret identities."

Tewi returned with several stacked chairs and quickly set them up. Mokou eased the unconscious meiling into a chair, while Keine and Phoenix took a seat in another. Mokou, however, remained standing.

"Oh, and some 'magical... Somethin, somethin, transform' thing."

Reisen giggled, "Yes, the transformation phrase. Usually long, involved, and completely embarrassing."

"Oh god yes. I don't think I'll ever remember tha whole thing. Luckily, I managed to get by with only half of it though."

"Hm? Half of it? That's quite unusual..." Reisen tilted her head to one side, whether it was because she was listening or concentrating was unclear.

"Ah!" Reisen seemed to realize something, "So he hasn't filled you in on the histories, or what is currently going on... Shall I explain?"

Phoenix cleared his throat. "I do believe that's my job. I may not have had a chance to explain to her yet, but I will do it."

"What, you gonna tell me that I'm some long dead princess, resurrected to fight the evils of the world or somethin?" Mokou put her hands on her hips, glaring at both Reisen and Phoenix.

Reisen and Phoenix looked at one another for a moment before bursting out laughing.

"I see someone's been reading too many comics." Wiping away a tear, Reisen continued, "It's nothing like that at all, really. Almost never is, really. Just about anyone can become a magical girl, supposing they fulfill a few requirements. They need to be female, of course, have a degree of magical talent, and are generally under twenty. The age requirement seems to be only there if you're becoming one. Once you've become one, it seems to be a life long profession. As of right now, there are at least 4 known magical girls who are over the age of twenty."

"Ok? So what's this 'history' thing you keep going on about?"

"Ah, yes." Reisen Nodded, "The history. The history begins with the moon, as often times it does..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This story doesn't begin 1000 years ago, as many of the comics would tell it. It began a little over fifty years ago. The Princess of the moon was a strong, beautiful, and intelligent woman. She had lead the moon into an unprecedented period of peace and prosperity. But nothing like that ever lasts forever. A great doctor, renown across the moon for her skill and brilliance, invented a strange new elixir.

It was supposed to grant immortality.

The princess, who had no interest in such a thing, was eventually swayed by her advisors and by the doctor herself to take the medicine. If she were to die, or proved unable to produce an heir? Everything she would have would be lost to the annals of history. The princess, while opposed to the immortality, did concede the points.

What she did she did for her people.

The elixir worked! However, there were some serious side effects which caused the princess to... Change. No longer was she the kind and loving Princess that had been known and loved by the people. She became far more introverted, dealing with people less and less, until one day. She strode forth from the room, emboldened, fire burning in her eyes.

She declared war on the Earth.

It was an ancient feud, to be certain, but it had died off to the point that few even thought of it. Even if they humans came, and even if they came in force, there was little they could do to us. Several years of intense research had revealed that the craft that they had sent to the moon were little more than exploratory vessels. Not military invasion landing craft as many had feared when they first landed. The humans were little more than curious about their nearest neighbor and wanted to learn more. This allowed most people to simply be content to sit back and watch them send their funny little craft. The princess, however, was no longer content to sit there and watch. She said that she had learned, from some unnamed source, that the humans were actually planning an attack, and that it was coming soon.

Nobody believed her.

Forty years passed. Then, out of nowhere, the humans slammed something into one of the residential districts of the moon. Some sort of probe designed to impact the planet. Nobody had seen it coming, and the devastation and casualties it had caused were unbelievable. What the princess had warned was coming did, and she was quickly able to raise an army.

Not everyone agreed with the princess, however. One of her maids-in-waiting, the one who had been closest to the princess, had seen how much she had changed. This was not the princess everyone had known and loved, she had been corrupted by this vile drink. Gathering what she could, both in terms of people and magic, she fled the moon to the earth. But not before a terrible curse was placed upon her, costing the maid her sight.

The princess lead her troops towards the earth, intent on conquering Japan, the land closest to the moon throughout all of history. The maid, on the other hand, using the magic she had stolen from the moon created several forces to stand against this threat.

This was the birth of magical girls.

For years the war raged, secretly, in the shadows. Neither side was able to gain traction against the other. The moon was unable to gain a stronger foothold, and the earthbound magical girls were unable to reach the moon to truly end it once and for all. Until, one day, a mysterious new magical girl appeared. Her powers far exceeded that of any of the current magical girls.

Her name was Yukari.

Yukari fought valiantly, tearing huge swaths through the troops that seemed to come without end, recruiting allies from all the various groups that had splintered away from the original maid. When finally, she had gathered what she felt to be the four most powerful magical girls to fight along side her, she revealed her final power. She used her great powers to manipulate the boundary between truth and lies. On the night of the full moon, she did this to a body of water, legendarily connected to the moon, and plunged headfirst into it. They had done it, they had finally reached the moon. The stronghold of their hated enemy.

The battle was fierce, and nigh unending.

Exhausted, battered, bruised, and very nearly beaten, the earthbound magical girls reached the throne room of the princess. The pitched battle raged for hours. In the end it seemed that the immortal princess was too much for Yukari and her fellows. So, in a final act of desperation, Yukari borrowed the powers of those who had come with her, using her immense powers to separate the elixir from the princess and scattering them both to the ends of the universe.

This much power, however, always comes at a price.

That price was Yukari's very existence. By ripping the princess from the evil that consumed her, Yukari's existence was torn asunder. Split into three parts that flew off to points unknown. The remaining girls, fearful, distraught, forlorn over losing their leader were forced to flee back to the rapidly closing portal as Yukari's influence faded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"And that brings us to the present." Reisen sighed, leaning back against the desk. "It's quite a long story, and quite a bit to absorb, I know."

Silence passed between everyone present.

"So, where's that leave us now? Still fightin the moon or somethin?" Mokou folded her arms.

"Oh, no the moon was rather thoroughly trounced in that battle. They've made no movement in the past ten or so years, I believe that it's safe to assume that they were fairly well crippled by Yukari's final attack. We have a much more pressing concern now, this 'Underground Empire' as they call themselves. Which brings me to my next point." Reisen pushed off the desk and walked over to Mokou. "I'd like to enlist your help. We need every able bodied magical girl at our disposal to fight back this new threat, and I'd be honored if you'd agree to aid me."

"Uh...?"

"Oh! Here I go again, getting ahead of myself." Reisen knocked herself in the head playfully, "As you may have figured out, my group, deals primarily with intelligence. We gather and trade in it. While I normally abhor violence, I do know that it has it’s place. I am not particularly skilled in it, nor is any member of my group. Which is why I would like to enlist your aid. I would very much like your protection, if you'd be willing to provide it. I could help train you and further unlock your powers as well! And providing shelter to your friends here wouldn't be a problem at all. There's so much that could be gained from our working together..."

"Well, I..."

[ ] Will work for Reisen.
[ ] Won't work for Reisen.
[ ] Need more time to think about all of this.

[x] Won't work for Reisen.

[x] Will work for Reisen.

Might as well make the process easier.

This is possibly the least-retarded idea and backstory for a magical girl series, ever.

Clever inclusion of the water-finding probe, too.

I'd like to vote for working with Reisen, but I'm not too keen on doing it unconditionally. Plus, it doesn't seem like Mokou's the kind to sign on so quickly.

>>104630
That really should have been "least retarded" because it's actually a good one, and magical girl series... yeah. i don't need to say anything more about them.

You're doing just fine with this, Kira. This is much more lik, what I'd hoped for out of this series, especially in terms of Mokou, her abilities, and her general attitude about the whole thing.

Well done.

Now keep fucking writing.

[x] Won't work for Reisen.

[x] Won't work for Reisen.

Mokou isn't really the type to join up in groups.

[0] Won't work for Reisen.

>>104636

So she'd prefer to blunder in blind to what she's going to be dealing with?

Since in many magical girl shows, said girl rarely has an effective support network, just a nigh-useless cute side kick that needs protecting.

Reisen's offering such a support network, sure there might be a few strings attached, but it's better than being blinder than Rumia in her dark orb.

That and this might result in Mokou having to deal with two groups instead of just one.

[x] Will work for Reisen.

No point being unhelpful just for the sake of it.

[x] Won't work for Reisen.

[x] Will work for Reisen.

[x] Won't work for Reisen.

[x] Will work for Reisen.

[x] Won't work for Reisen.

[x] Will work for Reisen.

Fine.

>>104630
Which is why the option for "[ ] Need more time to think about all of this." was presented.

[x] Will work for Reisen.
-[X]"Under one condition, I want get paid, money is hard enough to get without having stingy parents."

[x] Need more time to think about all of this.

[X] Will work for Reisen

[x] Won't work for Reisen.

I'd rather not.

[X] Will work for Reisen

Tied vote.

[x] Won't work for Reisen.

Let's see how badly this will bite Mokou in the ass.

writing.

>>104786

hooray!

"Well, I've gotta say, No. I don't think so. Never been good workin with others, So I'm gonna have to pass on it." Mokou nodded.

"Mn. I certainly can't say that I'm pleased with your decision, but it is indeed yours to make. The offer still stands though, if you ever change your mind. Until then, I'll still extend my protection over you until you manage to get your legs. None of the other groups will attack you on sight, but if you're not working for me, it's not something that I can extend to you forever." Reisen leaned back against the desk again. "I will, in good faith, extend my offer of protection and shelter to your friends here. They can stay here, and come and go as they please."

"I don't need your charity." Keine spat.

Before anyone could respond, Reisen suddenly grabbed her head and sharply inhaled. "Ah, I'm sorry, I do believe that it's time for you to be going." She stumbled around the desk and collapsed into the chair. "Tewi will show you out."

"Uh... You OK over there?"

"Yes, yes. I'm quite fine, I just need to rest for a moment. It will pass. Now, if you would, Tewi?" Reisen, still clutching her head, waved for Tewi to lead the group out.

With some reluctance the group left the room.

-----------------

Reisen clutched her head in her hands, breathing sharply against the pain.

From the shadows behind the chair, a woman with single long grey braid running down her back appeared, tray in hand. She quickly made her way around the chair and placed the tray on the edge of the desk. "The headaches are back again? I've told you that you need to take your medication regularly. It's good for you."

Reisen didn't reply.

The woman just affixed Reisen with a worried look. "They're getting worse aren't they?"

"I can handle them. They're no more awful than in the past."

"But at this rate, you'll burn out. Please..."She lifted up a cup containing a few pills and glass of water.

Reisen took both. "Alright." The pills went into her mouth first, followed quickly thereafter by almost half the glass of water.

"Now open."

Reisen complied, opening her mouth. The woman took the younger girl's face in her hands quite forcefully, examining Reisen's mouth. She even went so far as to lift Reisen's tongue to make sure the pills weren't hidden there. Finally convinced, her hands loosed themselves from the jaw. "Good, good. That's a good girl." A bare hand gently stroked Reisen's lavender locks. She slumped back into the chair, her face slowly going slack.

"That girl, was she the new one you were interested in? I'm afraid I don't know what you see in her. Too much of an unknown at this point, and you, of all people, should know how dangerous an unknown is..."

" 'esh masshhaa..." Reisen slurred.

-----------------

It was late afternoon when the group finally emerged from the twisting path that Tewi had lead them through. Bidding their stalwart, diminutive guide farewell, Tewi disappeared back down into the sewers.

"So. You got a place to go?" Mokou asked Keine shortly after Tewi had vanished.

Keine stared back defiantly. "Look. I don't trust you, or Reisen for that matter, any further than I could throw either of you. So don't go suddenly acting all concerned about me. I can take care of my self." She turned away and began walking off. Phoenix, who was still cradled in her arms, jumped down to the ground.

"What are you doing, Phoenix. I thought we were going?"

Phoenix sighed as he looked up at Keine. "Sorry, kid, I gotta stay with my ward. I made her, It's my responsibility to look out for her."

"Oh. Fine. I see how it is. Need I remind you that it was I who saved you from that lab, at great personal risk to myself, only to be abandoned now so that you can go with her! Fine then! I don't need you! I don't need anyone!" Keine took off running.

"Wait! Kid! It's not like that! Wait! KEINE!" Phoenix shouted after the rapidly disappearing girl to no avail. He sighed deeply. "And once again, I've screwed up..."

"What the hell was all that?" Mokou stared on mystified at Keine's abrupt about-face.

"It's nothing. Shouldn't we be getting your friend home?" Phoenix hopped over to Mokou. "I'm sure her parents are probably worried about her by now."

"She's not my friend."

"Oh? So you were rushing in to save Keine from those dolls earlier?"

"That’s not... Well, partial... Ergh. It's complicated, alright? Shut up. I'm just going to dump her near the school. She takes naps there sometimes. It's not like it'll be out of the ordinary for her."

Phoenix hopped along as Mokou headed back towards the school. "If you say so. Ah. Wait up, I can't keep up with you long legged freaks."

"Why don't you just fly then?" Mokou snorted, "You're a bird ain'tya?

"I would if I could, girl. But I'm still injured. So either slow down, or let me up on your shoulder."

"Fine fine. Just don't get used to it, bird." Mokou knelt down so that Phoenix could climb up her arm. Getting a tight grip on the material on her shoulder, he nodded to her.

"Oh. One more thing, I should probably explain how you transform back."

----------

The sun had almost set by the time Mokou finally started climbing the hill that lead to her house. After depositing Meiling, Mokou had realized that she'd forgotten all about Kaguya. She met Kaguya on the way home every day. Today, however, had been spectacularly bad for that. Mokou had no doubt that she'd receive two chewing outs this evening. One from her parents for being late. That one she could handle. The other one would be from Kaguya, and how upset she was that she'd missed Mokou. She couldn't handle that one. What would be worse would be if Kaguya didn't say a word. The Kaguya silent treatment was horrific, and usually ended with her having to wear one of those... Costumes. Again.

Not something Mokou was looking forward to after the day she'd had.

Mokou jostled her bag about, trying to get it comfortable as she crested the hill. It had taken some searching but she had finally managed to find it, thanks to Phoenix. A quick pat to reassure herself elicited a small squawk from Phoenix.

"Warn me before you do something like that!"

"You have to stay quiet. My parents aren't keen on me having pets. So, kindly shut the hell up, bird."

The two houses came into view as Mokou continued home. Kaguya's house was dark as Mokou walked past. Prompting her to start worrying. That was either a good sign, or an exceptionally bad sign. If she had gotten pulled into some club activities, well...

Slipping in the front door, Mokou called out. "Mom! I'm home!"

--------------

The chewing out she had gotten from her parents was the usual fare. 'You didn't call, where were you, did you get into another fight, blah blah blah.' Quite thankful that the whole affair was over, Mokou made her way up to her room.

The door slammed shut with a bang as Mokou stormed into her room, muttering loudly. With out a second thought she ripped her bag off and chucked it across the room. Two yelps burst forth from the collision. One of those was phoenix's, but... Another one? Mokou fumbled with the light switch before she managed to flip the lights on. Sitting on her bed, feet tucked underneath her, the bag lying on her lap was Kaguya. A rather shocked looking Kaguya at that.

Mokou's eyes went wide. "Oh! Kaguya! I'm sorry! I didn't know anyone was in here!"

"I see how it is," Kaguya sniffled, tears forming at the corner of her eyes, "First you blow me off, then you throw stuff at me. You're mad at me, aren't you?"

"No! No, no, no, no! Not at all! Please, please don't cry! I'm sorry! I'm not mad, I promise! Don't cry!" Mokou dashed across the room, coming to rest on her knees next to the bed, desperately trying to placate her friend.

Kaguya continued sniffling. "Really, You're not mad? Honestly?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die. I just got... Caught up in some other things. I didn't mean to blow you off. And you know my parents..."

A weak smile played across Kaguya's face. "Yeah, you do like to complain about that. They just worry about you is all. I worry about you. I was afraid that something-"

A groan from the bag caught both girl's attentions.

"What?" Kaguya opened the bag and removed Phoenix. "Oh my god! It's so cute!"

"Ouch. Did someone get the number of that donkey cart that hit me?" Pheonix groaned.

"I-it can talk?" Kaguya all but dropped him in shock.

"Ah, err... Yeah!" The gears in Mokou's head were spinning wildly. 'this may be my out!' she thought.

"That's what distracted me. I was trying to catch that bird. Given that it can talk, I figured that it must have belonged to someone, right? So I tried to catch him, and I'm going to see if someone around the school's missing him. Yeah, that's what happened." A definitive nod ended her explanation.

Phoenix sat there, giving Mokou a quizzical look, taking in what she said. Realizing that she was playing it as a cover story he played along. "Awk! Poly want a cracker!"

"Oh! Mokou! You're such a kind and wonderful person!" Kaguya launched herself forward from her sitting position on the bed, tackle hugging onto Mokou, phoenix dropped on the side as she went. "That's what I love about you, even if you put on that hard as nails exterior, you've a heart of gold." She gave Mokou a quick peck on the cheek. "I really should be going though. I have homework to finish. Don't worry about the bird. If you can keep him a secret from your parents, so can I. Just be sure to thank your mother for dinner. It was excellent as always." Kaguya smiled a bright smile at Mokou and vanished out the window.

"That girl, I swear." Mokou brought her hand up to her cheek, gently rubbing the place where Kaguya had kissed her. "Why does she always do things like that. GAH. Whatever."

"Achem."

"WAUGH!" Mokou jumped, having forgotten about Phoenix.

He jumped back at her sudden outburst. "Don't DO that. You nearly scared me to death!"

"How do you think I feel?" Clutching her chest, Mokou sat down in the chair at her desk.

"Anyway, Who was that?"

"Eh? Oh. That was Kaguya. She's lived next door for quite some time. We've been friends ever since she moved in too. You don't need to worry about her, she's cool."

"Mn. We'll see about that. Anyways. We have much to discuss."

"Right! If I'm gonna be stuck workin on this 'magical girl' crap, we have to do something about that damn costume."

"I can try and alter it, but try to keep in mind. The more it's like something that you'd wear normally, the more likely it is that you'll be recognized."

"I thought that you said that the magic prevented that, or were ya lyin?"

"I most certainly was not, but the spell works by preventing people from making connections. Especially with outlandish garb. It helps convince them that you can't possibly be who you think they are, because they wouldn't be caught dead in it, much like your current transformation." Phoenix walked around on the bed, trying to get comfortable. "The further that you get from your normal, everyday clothing, the stronger the suggestion is, and the harder it is for people to make the connection independent of you telling or showing them. Understand?"

Mokou's face was screwed up in concentration. "I... think I do. So the more outlandish an outfit, the more likely my identity is safe, right?"

"Correct. If you want to dream up some ideas, feel free. You can try to describe them to me, or draw them out. Either way, if you're constantly changing your outfit, it'll cause problems. Which brings us to the second point. You remember that 'history' that Reisen kid gave you?"

"Yeah, maybe. Something about the moon, and a fight or something."

Phoenix gave her a disapproving stare. "You need to pay attention to these things! You're stuck with this for the foreseeable future, so you need to learn as much about this as you can. Got it?"

Mokou waved Phoenix off.

"In any event, some of the things she said don't line up with what I know. I knew that the girls had assaulted the moon, and they came back without Yukari, but none of them would talk about it. She also seemed to know far more of the moon's side of the story. Very odd indeed..."

"Eh, whatever. It'll work itself out, really. I power up, punch shit, and the day is won, everyone goes home. Right?"

Mokou's flippant comment broke Phoenix out of his reverie, "No," Phoenix's voice wavered slightly before leveling off as a monotone, "Not everyone gets to go home."

"What?"

"There's accidents. People can get hurt. Monsters can kill you. As you can see from your bruised hand, the uniform doesn't make perfect armor. You can still take damage and while it may heal quicker, it's not instant. So you still have to be careful. Even more so, given that you're a melee type in a world of mages."

"Big whoop. I get in close and hit 'em."

"NO! You don't get it do you? If Sagacity hadn't been interrupted today, you could be severely hurt, or worse. Most magical girls could fry you easily before you could even get near them. Most monsters too. We're going to have to train you in countermeasures for such..."

"Fine, fine. Whatever you say, bird."

Phoenix sighed. 'This is going to be very, very difficult.' he muttered under his breath.

"So. About that costume."

"You're still hung up on that?"

"Yeah. I've got a dozen ideas that are better than the current one."

"... Fine."

The pair spent the next hour or so going through all the ideas Mokou had regarding the outfit before narrowing them down to just a few.

"Alright! And you can do all of these right?"

"Hm. Some of them will be easier than others," Phoenix looked over the sheets of paper containing the basic drawings of the outfits, "Alright, so out of these which one do you like the best?"

"Hm, I've gotta go with..."

[ ] Outfit 1

[ ] Outfit 2

[ ] Outfit 3

[ ] Outfit 4

[ ] Outfit 5

[ ] Outfit 6

[ ] Outfit 7

[ ] Uniform 8

[ ] Write-in (Make sure to include a good description/picture to go with it)

-------

Last picture. Voting Start!

[x] Outfit 2

Tiny hat~

[x] Outfit 5

[x] Outfit 5

So badass.

[0] Outfit 5

[x]Outfit 5

GRIMDARK

[x]Outfit 5

[x]Outfit 4

>Outfit 5
Have you people forgotten that we're voting for a magical girl's costume, not for what the lead singer of some emo band is wearing at tomorrow night's concert?

>>104990

Sorry bro, frilly crap is annoying.

[x]Outfit 5

[X]Outfit 4

Outfit 5 seems less "magical girl"-ish (not to mention not at all firey) and more "arch-nemesis/rival".

Maybe for the obligatory "evil twin/clone" episode.

[X]Uniform 8
pissing, tide, etc.

[x]Outfit 5

Unconventional suits Mokou well.

>>104992
>Sorry bro, frilly crap is annoying.
>Touhou

What?

>>104997

>Sorry bro, frilly crap is annoying.
>Touhou

>Mokou is a tomboy and frills are wasted on her.

>>104998
>Implying that being a tomboy isn't all the more reason for her to wear frilly clothes, because when she does, the difference is more strikingly accentuated

[x]Outfit 5

For now:
[x] Outfit shown in picture
or
[x] Outfit 3

For when she powers up near the end of the series story:
[x] Outfit 5

>>105012
Call me crazy, but I just think we should wait until we've earned Outfit #5.

[X] Outfit 2

[x] Outfit 5

Looks awesome.

Outfit 5 looks like Mokou is trying too hard to look cool. All that's missing are some chains and black wings.

[x] Outfit 8
I rather like this one.

I'm fine with outfit 5 if it wins, though. Its not so much a "grimdark/emo" feel that throws it off for me, more that it doesn't really incorporate Mokou's color scheme.

[X] 6

[X] Outfit 8

I'll go with 7.
I mean, seriously, this is a magical girl story, she's supposed to look so cute it almost make you puke, outfit 5 doesn't look like Mokou-tan, its looks like goddamn SPAWN.

[x] Outfit 5

Can't delete >>105012 , so add #8 onto the "For now" section.

Don't want Mokou to turn into #7, but goddamn, I would plow that in a heartbeat.

[X] Outfit 3

[X] Outfit 1

Seems that 5's winning in a landslide, but, given the shift away from it, I'll leave this up overnight and start writing in the morning.

[x] Outfit 8

[X] Outfit 8

[VOTE CHANGE] Outfit 8

Deleted my other and all

[x] Outfit 5

12 for 5,
7 for 8
trace ammounts of votes for 1~4, 6&7.

IN THE GRIMDARK FUTURE, THERE IS ONLY NO FRILLY HATS. Also, no tiny hat. Either way.

Writan nao, though this one might actually go up after thanksgiving. Just a headsup.

CAN'T LET YOU FORGET ABOUT THIS.

It's bein written. I haven't forgotten it. It's just added another 6~8 or so pages in the mean time, despite the lost time on Thanksgiving and the day afterwards. I should hopefully have it finished up tonight and posted.

"Pages" means nothing useful at all. Please never use that as a reference again.

That goes for everyone.

Now, word count or character count; THAT'S something concrete.

>>105041 Here
Changing my vote to
[X] Outfit 8
At least it has a chance of winning. meh.

>>105820
I'm going to break the character limit again in all likelyhood.

>>105827

You're voting in vain.

>>105218

"This one. The one with the badass coat that I don't remember drawing. Did you make it Phoenix?"

"Me? No. I thought you had..."

"Weird." Mokou picked up the drawing, examining it more closely. All of the designs that she and Phoenix had managed to scratch out were good, but this one was completely different. It was amazingly well drawn despite having the appearance of a sketch. Clean lines, but obvious signs of erasures several scribbled out starts surrounded it. Scanning across the page, Mokou soon found out why the drawing was familiar looking and well drawn.

"Oh, I get it now. Kaguya drew this. I wonder if she forgot it here or something?" Mokou pondered on this a moment. Was this some new costume Kaguya was planning to make? Was she just idly sketching stuff while waiting for Mokou to come home? Or was this something else entirely?

"Mokou!"

"GAH!" Mokou recoiled from phoenix who was now mere inches from her face. "Whaddya want?" feigning indignation to cover her surprise.

"While you ogling your outfit so intently, I finished. Try it out."

"Uh... Sure, sure, Just one thing first. Where'd you get this sketch from anyway?" Mokou tossed the paper back over to Phoenix. She was worried a bit now. If that sketch hadn't been in there, she likely would have gone with the armored skirt looking thing. Was she actually starting to like Kaguya's outfits? The thought was terrifying.

Phoenix cleared his throat. "It was on the desk, so I figured that you must have done it. Anyways, aren't you forgetting something?"

"Alright! The costume! Right!" Mokou rushed over to her closet and started rummaging about in it.

An eyebrow was raised, or would have been if Phoenix possessed one that is, at Mokou's seeming disregard for the transformation and sudden interest in her closet. "What are are you looking for?"

"I've got a... Ah HAH! I knew it was in here somewhere." Mokou stood up, grinning triumphantly as she pried free a full length mirror from within the dark recesses of the closet.

"I assume that it doesn't see much work? Unusual for a girl your age."

"Don't have much use for it. Not much I don't know how it looks on me." Mokou propped up the mirror in one corner. " 'snot like I have pretty dresses to model for it. Wouldn't wear 'em anyways. Always such a damn pain to keep track of what yer wearin." Now staring directly into the mirror, she was intent on paying attention to what happened this time "MAGICAL TRANSFORM!"

Her entire body was enveloped in a bright glow into which her clothes seemed to vanish. A circle of light formed above her head and moved down her body, expanding out so as to not touch her now-glowing form. She felt her self begin to float in the air slightly as the circle passed her legs. It collapsed beneath her feet into a small glowing ball. Now twirling slightly in the air, pieces of her uniform appeared on her as she went. Boots, nice and solid, in a fire red color, crept up her legs, stopping a short distance from her crotch. Next gloves solidified onto her hands and crept up her arms, stopping just below her elbows. As the light faded off of them, they too were revealed to be yellow. Her hair, which normally hung loose had a large red and white bow tie itself up in her hair. 'Nice' she thought, 'I coulda never done that myself.'

A mini-skirt, black as coal, appeared, followed shortly thereafter by a tight black shirt. As she floated gently back to the ground, the light coalesced into one final piece of her outfit. A long coat. It was a bright red color with many of the same wards that had been on the skirt of the previous dress. It buttoned tightly around her torso before flaring out at the waist and floating along behind her.

The girl stared at her own reflection, hardly able to recognize herself. She knew it was herself, but at the same time... This was all so unbelievable. As she started to examine the outfit in greater detail, a sudden knocking at the door startled her.

"Mokou, honey, is everything OK in there? I thought I heard talking." The door began to swing open.

"Everything's fine Dad!" Mokou leaned against the door, focusing on returning to her normal outfit. "I'm changing right now, can you hold on a sec?"

Phoenix scrambled into the closet, glad for the huge mess inside to use as a hiding place.

"Oh, err. Right." Mokou's father coughed a couple of times. "Just let me know when you're done, princess."

That old nickname caused Mokou to cringe. She hated it, but she couldn't bear to tell her father how much she disliked it. She'd had the nickname since she was three. Back then she'd worn the name like a badge of honor. Convinced that she really was back in her normal clothes she finally opened the door. Her father stood there waiting expectantly.

"Safe to come in now?" He laughed at his own bad joke. "May I?"

"Sure dad, What's up?"

Mokou's father walked in and sat down on her bed. He patted the space next to him, indicating that she should sit next to him. Not wanting to end up there, Mokou grabbed her desk char and plopped it down in front of her father, backwards. Her arms came to rest on the back of the chair and she laid her chin on the crossed arms. An expectant look affixed upon her father.

"Too cool to sit next to your old man now?" He looked a bit disappointed. "No, It's ok, I understand. I was your age once too." Now he sighed. "Which is why I wanted to talk to you. Your mother and I, we're worried about you. And don't you roll your eyes at me, young lady."

Mokou paused, about to do just that.

"We know what it's like to be young, The whole world open before you. And, well, we just don't want you to make some mistakes that could haunt you for the rest of your life. So, if you're having trouble in school, or you're having troubles anywhere in your life, just tell us. We'll understand. I promise, princess."

'Well, dad, a girl at school has been making my life a living hell, I'm bored out of my mind in my classes, I think my best friend has a crush on me, I had a bird shoved onto me, oh, and on top of all of that, I just became a magical girl! So I'm going to be caught up in a horrific war between magical girls and some sort of underground empire. Another thing to note is that I seem to have severely pissed off one of the other said magical girls and she may be out for my blood! Other than that, I'm trouble free.' Mokou scowled, her thoughts wandering over the major problems in her life at the moment.

"Now don't give me that look. Your mother and I love you, and despite what you may thing, we don't really enjoy having to ground you. Which is why we got you this." Mokou's dad held out a rather basic looking cell phone.

"Eh? Uh... Why'd you get me a cell phone?" Mokou cringed. Saying she was bad with technology was an understatement. According to a rumor that went around the school for a while, she had made a computer blow up just by looking in its general direction.

Her dad smiled. "It's so if you're going to be late again, or you're changing your plans, or if something comes up and you need help, you can contact us or the proper authorities."

"Uh.. Huh." Mokou was suspicious. "This isn't like you guys, I mean, sure you and mom both have one, but really, pops, this doesn't seem like it was your idea."

"What? Err, why would you say that? Of course it was my idea!" A boisterous laugh escaped his lips. "What kind of person do you take me for? Just accepting a cell phone from any old person?"

And that's when it all clicked. "It was Kaguya, wasn't it, pops?"

He flinched.

'Gotcha' Mokou smiled with this victorious little thought. "So, she probably picked out the phone too. Simplest and most indestructible they had, I bet she even picked out the plan. 's probably payin for it too, eh?

"Yeah," her father looked to the side, sheepishly, "But, you know I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Besides, if it can keep my princess out of trouble, I'll gladly accept it."

"Alright, alright. I get it dad. Thanks. I'll have to thank Kaguya later too."

Her father coughed again, slightly blushing, "Uh... Yes. Well. Just keep this a secret from your mother, ok? When she finds out about it, I'm going to tell her that you picked out the phone yourself, and that you're paying for it. You know she wouldn't accept Kaguya paying for this for you."

"Gotcha, daddy-o."

"Atta girl." He pushed himself up into a standing position. "Well, you take care, I have to go finish taking care of the kitchen for your mother. I'm glad we had this little talk."

"Yeah, Me too, dad."

Mokou's father ruffled her hair then left.

Left alone in her room, she stared at the alien object that was now hers. Idly she wondered just how in the hell it worked.

=============
(Fair warning, there may be some things in the chat logs that will cause some people to rage. You have been forewarned.)


Much later that night, in a darkened room illuminated by only the glow of a computer screen, Kaguya busied herself with various projects. Music, computers, anime and manga, there were many things that she kept up on. As it grew late, however, she was about to call it a night. Just as she was about to shut down the computer a window popped up; someone had messaged her.

KukuRabu19 has signed on at 11:53:07 PM
KukuRabu19: Hey u still awake
Tsukihime1969: Ah! I haven't heard from you in quite some time. I was about to head to bed, but I suppose I can chat for a bit. What's up?
Kukurabu19: （　´∀｀） Yay! I need ur halp plox Senpai's been kepin me bsy
Tsukihime1969: More schematics, I suppose?
Tsukihime1969: And I suppose you still won't tell me what you're working on?
Tsukihime1969: Well, whatever it is that you and your 'Senpai' are working on.
KukuRabu19: nope! :-p hehe
Tsukihime1969: I surmised as much. Slide them my way then? I'll see if I can't give you a hand.
KukuRabu19: THX! Ur a life savr ^_^
KukuRabu19 wants to send you 'schema0079.PDF' What's this?
KukuRabu19 wants to send you 'schema0084.PDF' What's this?
KukuRabu19 wants to send you 'schema0091.PDF' What's this?
KukuRabu19: It keeps overloading an I dunno y u_u
Kukurabu19: I try'd everything IM gonna cry T.T
Kukurabu19: plz halp!
Tsukihime1969: LOL. Calm down. I'll see what I can do once the files finish.
Attention: 'schema0079.PDF' has finished downloading.
Attention: 'schema0084.PDF' has finished downloading.
Attention: 'schema0091.PDF' has finished downloading.
Tsukihime1969: Ok, give me a few minutes to look these over.
KukuRabu19: WAI! Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ

Kaguya opened the files her friend had sent her. It was the same complex schematics, still portioned off to prevent Kaguya from seeing the whole device. Whatever it was it was amazingly advanced, much more advanced than what would be thought the level of a high school student. The schematics, while cluttered, really were well done, and it only took Kaguya a few minutes to find several potential problems.

With a few clicks, Kaguya added these files to the pile of others that her friend had sent. While it wasn't a complete picture of the device, it was beginning to shape up into something. What she wasn't sure, but it certainly was something.

Tsukihime1969: If I'm reading this right, I may have found a couple of major problems.
KukuRabu19: oh nooooooooo
Tsukihime1969: Don't worry, they should be relatively simple fixes.
Tsukihime1969: First of all, You're routing too much power through the capacitors. They simply can't handle that much. If you were to cut back the power by about... Maybe 15%, I think that might help there.
KukuRabu19: ORZ ＿|￣|○
KukuRabu19: I was afraid u were say that
KukuRabu19: I can't do that Senpai wants more powa
KukuRabu19: so she'll say no to any scaling bak
Tsukihime1969: Hum. I'm not quite sure what you can do about the power, then. Perhaps re-route part of it so that it doesn't hit the capacitors all at once. Maybe a couple of banks instead of just one, and then recombine it all at the output.
KukuRabu19: That might work u have ne other thought
Tsukhime1969: I'd need some more time to look these over, or more of an idea of what the overall objective is of this device. As it stands, the setup you have right now seems like it would work. Are you sure that you can't tell me anything more of this device's purpose?
KukuRabu19: No sorry ( ｡_｡)
Tsukihime1969: I understand that you want to keep this project a secret, but I can only offer vague suggestions with out more information.
KukuRabu19: ya I kno but Senpai is picky bout this stuff
KukuRabu19: if she knew I show'd u as much as I have she'd be mad
Tsukihime1969: I understand.
KukuRabu19: so
Tsukihime1969: If I piece this together with the previous diagrams that you've sent me, I would think that the problem would be in either the power management, or possibly even in the setup itself. It seems far too compact for anything reasonable.
KukuRabu19: still can't tell u.
KukuRabu19: ah I have to run
KukuRabu19: sry bai!
KukuRabu19 has signed off at 12:47:18 AM

Kaguya sighed. This was all very tiresome. She'd really like to help he friend more, she really would, but with out more of the device, she couldn't. Not that she hadn't already guessed at what it was. She glanced over at the pile of parts that now littered her table. Well, these new parts of the schematics were more pieces in the puzzle. Her friend had been working on this device for quite some time, and if she wouldn't let Kaguya be privy to the entire schematics, then Kaguya'd have to figure them out on her own.

A slight grin played across her face. Yes, she'd figure it out on her own if nothing else.

--------------

Mokou yawned. She'd stayed up far too late the night before messing with that damn phone. Kaguya had sent her a text message sometime during the night, and after figuring out how to read it, she tried to send a reply. An hour and a dictionary of curse words later, she still hadn't figured it out. Of course it had also been almost three AM at that point. It had seemed the most prudent course of action to simply throw the device across the room and go to sleep.

"Good morning, sleepy head." Kaguya greeted her half asleep friend, "You look exhausted. Please tell me you didn't stay up half the night trying to figure out the phone?"

Mokou just grunted. She began walking towards the train station.

"Oh, Mokou! I knew I should have waited around and showed you how to use it... Here, I'll show you now."

Another grunt was Mokou's reply.

"Hum. Or maybe I'll wait until you're more awake, and can actually appreciate what I tell you."

She didn't bother to grunt in reply this time.

"Remind me to introduce you to the wonders of coffee someday." Kaguya covered her mouth and giggled at Mokou's glare.

=============

This, like many previous occasions, was one of the times that Mokou was quite glad to have a seat in the back of the class room. She could easily nap and the teachers would rarely notice. Even if they did notice, there were only a few that would even bother to do anything to her. She drifted in and out of consciousness. Her dreams frequently mixing with whatever class was currently going on.

It was during the lecture for science class that she felt a slight rumbling. She lifted her head up, looking around to see if anyone else had felt it. It didn't seem like anyone else was paying it any attention, so she might as well not either. Just as she was about to pass into dreamland again, there was another rumbling. This time, however, it didn't stop as she sat up.

"EARTHQUAKE!" someone shouted.

The rumbling only intensified as everyone scrambled to get under their desks.

Mokou's bag fell to the floor, causing Phoenix to spill out onto it. "There's something coming! Quick, you need to get somewhere where we can see a ways away..."

Not having to be told twice, Mokou scooped the bird back into the bag and made a dash for the door.

"Mokou! Get back here! What are you doing?!" the teacher called out as Mokou bolted from the room.

Once in the hallway, she made a beeline for the stair well. It was quite difficult to keep a firm footing with all this shaking going on. She was halfway up the stairs when it finally stopped. 'Thank goodness for small miracles' she thought, as she burst onto the roof. Phoenix freed himself from the confines of the bag and began hopping about, looking in every direction he could.

"I don't know what's going on. Whatever I felt, it was huge, but it just vanished."

Mokou wasn't listening to a word he said. She was far more interested in something else.

"Hey, what are you looking at."

She didn't reply immediately.

"I said-"

"I... I heard you." Her voice was barely above a whisper. Whatever she was looking at had her horribly shaken.

"What's wrong?"

Mokou pointed at the mountain that overshadowed the town.

"Yeah? So? That's always been there."

"That may be, but it hasn't been smoking in my life time."

"Eh?"

A thin plume of smoke ran from the top of the mountain, towards the rising moon.

"It seems the immortal smoke is once again reaching for the moon..."

"I don't follow." Phoenix turned his head to one side, giving Mokou a questioning look.

"It's an old story. My grandfather told me it when I was young. I just dismissed it as a fairy tale, but now..." She shook her head. "As the legend goes, a hero from long ago fought a horrific duel against some monster. In the end, the hero slayed the monster, but at the cost of his life. He fell into the volcano. For centuries after that, a thin plume of smoke rose towards the heavens, as the covenant between the hero and the people that he'd be watching out for them forever. It eventually stopped, but by that time people had just assumed that it had been an active volcano that had gone dormant. Though, the legend states that if the smoke stopped that the city was safe, and would enter a period of peace and tranquility. But if it started after this period of peace, a great disaster was going to befall the town."

"I've never heard that legend before."

"Like I said, my grandpa told me the story... I think it's only been handed down among our family."

"I see..."

The two of them continued to watch the plume of smoke trail lazily into the sky as other people started to take notice. Quite a commotion was starting.

The mountain just continued to smoke silently.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next time, on Magical Girl Firey Moko-Tan!

Teacher: We have a new student today. Everyone welcome her.

Keine: Hello. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Kamishirasawa Keine. Please treat me kindly.

Mokou: YOU!

----

Mokou: What are you doing here?

Keine: I'm here to keep an eye on you. I don't trust you or that girl you let take Phoenix.

Mokou: Well isn't that just great? Wait, what?

----

Meiling: I'm sorry, but this is the Mistress' orders.

Mokou: Could you have picked a worse time?

Monster: GROOOAAAHHH~

----

Sanctity: Vile Monster! Stop your assault!

Divinity: Or be prepared to face us!

----

Keine: Next time on Magical Girl Firey Moko-Tan: "A Little Trouble with Big China."

Mokou: Don't miss it or I'll knock your block off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Episode 2'll be along in the coming days. W/o a major holiday, and a much more favorable work schedual it shouldn't take anywhere near as long as this did. So, stay patient, faithful readers!)

>A Little Trouble with Big China
I see what you did there

Heh, nice update. Lookin' forward to EP 2

Wondering who Kaguya is chatting with, most likely Nitori.

I wonder... if Kaguya is a mostly normal schoolgirl and Mokou's childhood friend in this then who's the "crazy moon princess"? One of the Watatsuki's? Or is this going to be one of the "best friends with the arch-nemesis but neither of them realizes it" type of things?

>>106040

Kaguya could easily be that girl that attacked us before. Having our enemy end up being our closest friend without either of us noticing is a magical girl trope. And a delicious one at that.

“Good morning! The sun’s just peeking over the horizon at a lovely 5:00 AM in the morning! The weather is fair, the sky is clear, and it’s a perfect day to get up and go! So it’s time to wake up!”

Mokou groaned, flailing out randomly from underneath her blankets for her alarm clock. Upon finding it, she promptly hit the snooze button and retreated beneath the covers once more.

“That’s not going to work today, girly girl. Time to GET UP!”

Reaching out again, Mokou slapped at the alarm clock. In her sleep addled haze, she couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t working. A few more hits to the alarm clock produced the same results.

“Would you get up before I have to make you get up?”

Now quite curious as to what was going on, Mokou’s head finally emerged from under the covers. Looking around, bleary eyed, she tried to identify where the constant source of noise was coming from.

“Alright. You asked for it!” There was a rustling noise at the foot of the bed. Moments later, Mokou flew out from under the covers, cursing profusely. In her hands she clutched her now extremely warm foot.

“I’m up! I’m up, ya damn bird! Jeeze. Ya better hope I didn’t catch my parent’s attention with all that yelping.” A pillow flew through the air, just barely missing the small bird.

“Serves you right,” Phoenix nodded sagely, “If you’d gotten up any of the first nineteen times that I’d tried to wake you, it wouldn’t have had to come to this. But now that you’re up, you need to get ready. We need to go training.”

Mokou screwed up her face. ‘Training’ consisted of Phoenix barking orders at Mokou and watching her jump around like an idiot in the old junkyard on the edge of town. She knew he was right, though. Here she was, thrust into this world that until a few days ago she had known absolutely nothing about. Now she was apparently involved in a life and death struggle between the magical girls on the surface and this 'Underground Empire'. There was no way of knowing if the other magical girls on the surface would be her allies or her enemies. Another curse flew through the air. Why did she ever sneak out of the house that day? There was nothing to be done though, she was caught up in this so all she could do was prepare for the inevitable conflicts that were sure to lay before her.

Sneaking out of the house was no easy affair. Given that her mother was an early riser, and her father had a long commute, it was all but impossible for Mokou to sneak out of the house. So she didn’t even try. After throwing on some loose fitting clothing, she headed downstairs. Her mother was waiting there with breakfast, and her father was reading the paper.

“Three days in a row! I must admit, I’m impressed.” Mokou’s mom put a bowl of rice on the table next to the other breakfast items. She turned to Mokou’s father. “Well, looks like you were right. She has kept it up for more than two days.”

The paper rustled as Mokou’s father turned the page. “I told you she would. When she puts her mind to something, she’s going through with it, come hell or high water. Kind of reminds me of someone else I know.” He closed the paper and set it on the table, winking flirtatiously at his wife.

“Ugh. I’m gonna be sick.” Mokou pantomimed vomiting. “Do you guys HAVE to do that in front of me?”

Her parents just laughed.

“Oh, in case you forgot, dear, the terms of our little bet. I want steak for dinner.” Mokou’s father stood up from the table. He gave his wife a kiss and headed off to work. “Good luck with your training, princess. See both of you tonight.”

Mokou finished stuffing her face and got up from the table. “I’m out too. I’ll be back in time to take Kaguya to school See ya mom!”

-----------

The junkyard that Phoenix had taken to training Mokou in was about a 10 minute bike ride from Mokou’s house. 20 minutes or so by foot. Since her bike was still messed up, and since Phoenix thought that it was a good way to train her endurance, Mokou hoofed it to the Junkyard. When she finally made it to the junkyard, she had already worked up a fine sweat.

“Oh? It’s Mokou again! How are you today, Miss Mokou?” The owner of the Junkyard called out to Mokou as she entered.

“Hey, Genjiji. I’m doin fine today, yourself?” Mokou bowed to the old man. She’d known him since she was little, every kid in the area did. The junkyard was a fascinating playground when you were little, and Genjiji did his best to keep it safe enough for kids to play in, while still being serviceable as a junk yard.

“Oh, these old bones of mine are aching like usual. My grand daughter stopped by the other day, bless her heart. She’s usually so caught up in her schooling that she doesn’t have time to come out and see her old grandad. I must say, she’s grown into a fine young woman, much like yourself. Though, achem, you’re quite a bit more… well developed than her. Spends all her time doin school work, never focuses on her body.” Genji let out a sigh. “But I’ve kept you long enough. Here to train again today, I see? I don’t suppose you’ll finally take me up on my… ah… ‘special lessons’, eh?” A lecherous grin spread across his face.

“Not today, Genjiji. Besides, I don’t think your heart could handle it, old man..” Mokou winked at the old letch. “Thanks for the offer though. I’ll letcha know when I’m done and heading out, ‘k?”

Genji laughed “Flattery’ll get you nowhere, lass. You be careful now. I can’t make the rounds like I used to…”

Mokou waved to the old man and headed deeper into the Junkyard. If she delayed much longer Phoenix would devise something even more horrible than standard training. She REALLY didn’t want to deal with anything like that.

-------

“AGAIN!” Barked Phoenix.

“I…” Mokou was desperately gasping for breath at this point. Her lungs screamed, her muscles ached, her entire body felt like it was going to revolt against her at any moment, “… can’t…”

She slumped to the ground, breathing hard, sweat pouring off of every inch of her body.

“Hmmph. It seems that nine shots is your limit then. You only managed to fire off one, as well. Melee is not going to cut it. If you’re not able to put some distance between you and your enemy, you may as well just paint a giant target on your chest and douse yourself in barbeque sauce before every battle. You may be physically resilient, but it's not going to keep you alive.”

Silence was the only reply. Not for lack of trying, mind you, but because she was physically unable to spit out a witty retort. What was worse is that she still had to make it home and get ready for school.

"Alright. That's all we're going to get done today it seems. Get back to your normal clothes and we'll get out of here."

Smiling slightly, Mokou concentrated on returning to her normal outfit. It had taken a while to get used to, but she could now go either way in an instant. As her normal clothes returned, she glanced at her watch. Her insides ran cold as she cursed aloud again.

"You... Made me... Miss the... Bus!" Mokou gasped out.

"Well then. You'll just have to run if you want to make it home on time, eh?"

Phoenix would have been dead if looks could kill.

------

As Mokou came back down after getting dressed in her school uniform, she noticed the TV was still on. Her mother must have left it on when she went shopping. She was just about to turn the TV off when the news flipped over to a picture of the mountain. Intrigued, Mokou continued watching.

“This is Shameimaru Aya, reporting to you live from the base of Mount Hourai. A scant few days ago this great mountain began smoking again and has recently been cordoned off by government officials. I’m here today in the hopes that I’ll be able to garner some new information from anyone here. Ah! And here comes an official now! Sir! Sir! Can I have a moment of your time?” Aya rushed up to a rather harried looking guard.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, No comment. Now, please move along. If you don’t move along we’ll be forced to call the authorities. Again. This time, we will be pressing charges” The guard then turned and walked back the way he had come.

The report cut off there. The TV went off shortly afterwards. Mokou shrugged and headed out the door, meeting the waiting Kaguya. The two chatted happily as they walked off to the train.

---------------

Aya drew her hand across her neck signaling to her cameraman to stop filming “Damn. Here I was hoping I wouldn’t have to sneak in to get some information. What could they possibly be hiding up there…”

“Alright people! Let’s pack it up. We’re not going to get anything more out of them today.”

As the crew drove away from the base of the mountain, Aya gave it one last look. ‘I’ll figure out what’s going on up there if it’s the last thing I do.’ She thought.

Little did she know how accurate those words were to be.

A solitary figure stood on the mountain, watching the van as it disappeared back into the town. Satisfied that it was finally gone, the figure resumed it’s trek up the mountain.

“Senpai! Senpai!” The blonde girl who had been watching the van ran up the path leading to the caldera of the now re-active Mount Hourai.

The redheaded woman turned her attention away from the machine she was busying herself with assembling. “Oh? That reporter again?” The redhead’s brow furrowed. “Im afraid that if we don’t tell her anything soon she’s going to attempt to find information on her own. That would be quite detrimental to everything, wouldn’t it Marissa?”

Marisa nodded. “Yes it would be, senpai. I assume that you want me to… create a bigger story to draw her attention away?”

“Oh, Marissa, if it were only that simple. The mountain is probably the biggest story in town, and if she were to be able to break that story, it would make her career. There’s probably nothing else in this town that would be big enough to even distract her momentarily. No, I’m afraid that we may have to be open and candid about what’s going on here.”

“A-are you sure that’s the best course of action, Senpai? I mean, It’s nothing horrible but…”

“Shh…” The redhead pressed her finger against Marisa’s lips. “Trust me on this. And how many times do I have to tell you, It’s Yumemi, not ‘Senpai’.” Yumemi smiled at Marissa, trailing her finger down the younger girl's face and bringing it up under her chin. Yumemi leaned in close as she raised Marisa's face towards her own. “You can do that, can’t you?”

“O-of course, Yumemi-senpai.” Marisa replied, breathlessly.

A wide grin spread across the redhead's face. "Excellent. I need you to set up a meeting with that reporter. Through the official channels, this time! We don't need a repeat of the last... Incident. No violence, no threatening, and you're not allowed to kill her. Understood?"

"Yes..." Marisa sounded a bit disappointed, but recovered quickly. "I'll get right on that!"

Yumemi watched the younger girl run off. She was such a good little pet.

-----------------------------

Running late, Mokou decided to sneak in the back gate again, despite the recent run in with Remilia there. It was worth the risk just to avoid the rush at the front gate and leave her closer to her class. Slipping in with an extra amount of care, she was shocked when she turned to find Meiling directly behind her.

"WAUGH!" Mokou cried out, taking a step back.

Meiling, likewise, jumped backwards at Mokou's little display. "Don't DO that. You're going to give me a heart attack."

"What do you want. Where's Remilia and that Maid of hers? Off looking for a new Pocket Watch? You're usually out for my Blood when I come in the back gate."

"Not today. The Mistress' orders are that I don't let you out of my sight today. I... I just wanted to give you a heads up on that. I'm not very good at sneaking around, but Remilia wants me to keep tabs on you. Make sure you're not doing anything you're supposed to do." Meiling sighed. "It's not like I want to hurt you or anything, but it's the Mistress' orders."

"What, exactly, is she holding over you? Money? Does she have pictures of you in a compromising position? Did she save your life? What could she possibly have on you that makes you willing to turn your life and mine into a living hell?"

Meiling stood there silently, looking off to the side. "I can't tell you that."

"Fine, fine, Let's just get this over with, shall we?" It was now Mokou's turn to sigh.

-----------------------------

“Err… Meiling…”

“Yes?”

“I know Remilia told you to follow me and everything…”

“Yes?”

“And you’re doing a wonderful job, don’t get me wrong, but can you answer me just one thing?”

“Yes?”

“WHY THE HELL ARE YOU IN THE BATHROOM STALL WITH ME?!”

“ ‘cause Mistress Remilia said that I can’t let you out of my sight at all today. At all. Otherwise she’ll make things even worse for me than they already are.” Meiling smiled.

Mokou sighed, planting her palm firmly against her face. “Could you at least turn around?”

“Nope!”

Mokou cursed to herself.

After several minutes of arguing with Meiling, Mokou finally managed to get the other girl to turn around, promising that there were no tricks. Upon finishing her business, the pair left the stall, walking right into a gaggle of girls. Mokou turned beet red and ran from the room as the girls started giggling and whispering.

---------------

It was bad enough that Meiling had followed her into the bathroom, but given that she had been transferred into Mokou’s class meant that there really was no escaping the girl today. Mokou sighed again, for the umpteenth time in as many minutes. She couldn’t sleep, she couldn’t slack off, she couldn’t goof off. Acting the exemplary student was always a pain, but hopefully, if she didn’t screw up, Remilia would get bored of using Meiling like this.

Of course, all she wanted to do right now was take a nice long nap. The training that she had been doing with Phoenix was really starting to take its toll on her. She was tired, achy, and bruised in places that she’d rather not like to reveal. It was worth it, as Phoenix said that she was improving rapidly, just… tiring.

The bell rang, indicating that class had finally started. Mokou took her seat in the back, Meiling towards the middle of the classroom. Meiling’s frequently cast backward looks started some of the other girls in class whispering and giggling. It pissed Mokou off to no end. Not only was Remilia trying to get her in trouble, with how conspicuous Meiling was with keeping an eye on Mokou, there were probably going to be rumors of Mokou being in a ‘Class S’ relationship before lunch, if there weren't already.

‘Just great. What else can go wrong today?’

As if the universe itself needed to prove it’s point, the Teacher began speaking.

“Class, I know that it’s certainly odd, seeing as we passed the entrance ceremony just a little while ago, but we have a new student today. Her parents just transferred to this area because of work, so please try to make her feel welcome for the time that she’s here.” the teacher looked around the room once, making sure that everyone had heard him before calling out to the new student in the hall. “You can come in now.”

As the girl walked into the room, a vague sense of recognition played across Mokou’s mind. The new girl was wearing the school uniform as was to be expected, but there was something about her features that tickled the edges of Mokou’s memory. Long grey hair, blueish highlights, She had a small red ribbon tied to the back of her head. ‘Why does she look so familiar…” Mokou brushed the thought aside.

The girl reached the front of the classroom and bowed to the students. “Hello, I know my transfer here was sudden, but my father moves frequently for work reasons. I am hoping to finish out the school year here. My name is Kamishirasawa Keine. It is a pleasure to meet all of you.”

Keine bowed again to the classroom.

The light suddenly clicked on in Mokou’s head. She stood up quickly and called out before she’d realized it. “YOU!”

Keine simply gave her a blank, unrecognizing stare. “I’m sorry, Do I know you?”

“Err…” Mokou realized that she was standing, and that she’d drawn the attention of everyone in the classroom. “Ah…”

“That’s quite enough, Mokou! Another outburst like that, and you’ll be off to see the headmaster. Again.”

Mokou sank back into her seat, amidst the giggles and laughter of the class. Meiling was scribbling something furiously into a notebook.

‘Great. Just great.’ Mokou tried to make herself as small as possible after that humiliating event. ‘This is just what I needed.’

“Ahem. Yes. Now. Anyways. After that little outburst, let’s find you a seat, shall we, Kamishirasawa-chan?”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Hum. It would seem that the only seat open is next to Fujiwara-chan over there. She's the student who just had that outburst.” the teacher chuckled, "Maybe your good nature will rub off on her. We'd all be so lucky if that happened. Putting that aside, Please take your seat."

Keine made her way to the assigned seat.

"What are you doing here?" Mokou whispered at Keine as she sat down.

Keine sniffed and turned up her nose. "I don't trust you, or that girl you let take Phoenix as far as I could throw either of you."

"Yeah, yeah, That's great. I don't know what you're up to, and I really don't want to, but keep me out of it, wouldja?" Mokou replayed what Keine had just said. "Wait, what?"

"You heard me. Letting some Magical Girl come up and run off with Phoenix? I left him with you because I figured he'd be safe, not that you'd give him to someone else to go gallivanting about with."

Mokou's bag rustled slightly as Phoenix poked his head out. "I haven't gone anywhere, Keine. I'm still right where you left me."

"But that means...!" Keine raised her voice, catching the attention of everyone.

"Is there a problem?" the teacher, tapped his foot, "I'd expect an outburst from Mokou, but on your first day?"

"I'm sorry sir!" Keine stood up and bowed to the teacher. "But she keeps bothering me. I was simply trying to get her to stop."

"Mokou, This is your final warning! Quit being such a trouble maker."

Though she wanted to interject something fierce, Mokou held her tongue somehow, instead only nodding at the teacher.

"Good." The teacher turned back to the blackboard and continued writing on it.

"Give me Phoenix. Now." Keine made a grab for Mokou's bag.

Mokou pushed out blindly at the girl, trying to keep her away from the bag. At Keine's scream, Mokou finally paid attention to where she had pushed. 'Oh. Well, that explains why it was so soft anyways.'

"That is IT! Mokou! To the headmasters office! NOW!"

Meiling looked panicked as Mokou was getting up to leave. She'd have to accompany her to the office if she was to continue her duty, but if she did that, it meant getting in trouble. Nodding, she seemed to come to a decision.

"Teacher!"

"What is it, Hong-chan?"

Meiling took a deep breath, closing her eyes before shouting, "YOUR WIG IS HORRIBLE, AND NOBODY BELIVES IT'S YOUR REAL HAIR."

It was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.

The teacher sputtered angrily for a minute, his face turning as red as a tomato. "I don't know what's gotten into this class, but you're off to the headmaster now too! GO!"

Mokou made sure to snag her bag on the way out so that Keine couldn't make off with Phoenix in the meantime. She and Meiling departed the room to hushed whispers and giggles from the female students.

----------

The two girls sat outside the headmasters office in silence. Meiling had tried to keep sitting in the chair next to Mokou, but Mokou would have nothing of it. After playing musical chairs for a bit, and getting yelled at by the headmaster's secretary, they'd finally settled on sitting across from each other.

Mokou looked around the small waiting room that was outside the headmaster's office. It was a rather non-descript little place. There was the door to the headmaster's office in the western corner, and on the opposite wall the door into this little waiting room. The secretary's desk was an L shaped affair that started next to the headmaster's door and went almost to the east wall. There was a small area for the secretary to get in and out of, and several filing cabinets behind the desk. There was one row of chairs along the south wall, with a potted plant in the south east corner. Next to the entry door there was a small table with several magazines on it.

A sigh escaped from Mokou's lips. She really didn't want to be here, and it would be hell explaining this transgression to her parents, but it kept phoenix away from that crazy girl for now.

The secretary got up from behind her desk and went to exit the room. "The headmaster will be with the two of you in a few minutes. Don't try anything funny." With that, she left the room.

The bag on Mokou's lap started rustling as soon as the secretary left. "Kid, we've got a problem." He whispered out, trying not to draw Meiling's attention.

"What is it?" Mokou eyed Meiling warily. The girl seemed like she was half asleep at this point, but you couldn't really be sure.

"There's... something coming. I don't think it's friendly. I'm also not sure if it's coming here, per se, but it's heading in this direction."

"Fuck! Just what I need."

Meiling looked around the office, bleary eyed. "Did you just hear something?"

The building suddenly shook, and a loud roar ripped through the school. Meiling was suddenly wide awake and looking around. "I definitely heard that. Did you?"

"Looks like it was coming here... But why?" Phoenix whispered out again. "We have to ditch the other girl so you can transform. I don't sense any other Magical Girls in the area, so you're going to have to take care of it."

"And how do you suggest I do that?"

============
[ ] DISTRACT MEILING ANON!
[ ] plan?

Going more for several unique plans for distracting Meiling. You've several dozen things at your disposal, be clever!

Am I the only person wanting Meiling to become Mokou's wingman/partner Magical Girl?

[x] Take a page from Keine? Scream really loudly and smack your face into something hard a few times, then tell the secretary when she returns that Meiling's been smacking you around. When Meiling is being harassed by the teacher, make your escape.
[x] Or maybe something a bit less cool? Sharpen a pencil and throw the shavings in her eye.
[x] Can you throw your voice? If so, try to sound like Remilia, then make beckoning sounds from the other side of the desk.
[x] Tell Meiling that she just lost the game
[x] Bore Meiling to death. Tell her about the most boring thing you can think of: Mathamatics.
[x] Ask her to take a seat next to you. When she tries to, yank the chair from under her.
[x] Ask if you can do her hair! Do so for a little bit, then sneak out as soon as you get the chance, possibly with a "I need to get this out of my purse..."

[x[ >>106647

We're Mokou. We have, what, two main skills? Yelling and hitting things.

We must combine the two for success!
[x] Yell that Remilia is here to distract her.
[x] Hit her to knock her out.

[x] Yell that Remilia is here to distract her.
[x] Hit her to knock her out.
Oh god, this will be hilarious.

We need something good.

>>106647
No.

>>106674
Slightly better, but too limited.

>>106767
>implying hitting fucking Meiling with your fists is a great idea.

>>106804
>fucking Meiling with your fists

This is just crazy enough to work.

[X] Eh, fuck it. Just transform already.

Seems good to me. Let's go.

strangely appropriate.

Hm. I guess I pulled this too soon. Oh well. Writan is commencing then. We'll see what Moko can pull out of her little bag of tricks.

[X] Eh, fuck it. Just transform already.

Update's delayed a little bit. Doing more research to make sure I don't screw up on the pacing.

Mokou screwed up her face in concentration. “Well, shit. I’ve got nothing. Fuck it. I’m just going to transform in front of her, consequences be damned!” She jammed her hand into the bag, looking for that dinky little thing that Phoenix gave her. A sharp pain caused her to pull her hand back quickly. It looked like Phoenix had bitten her.

“You fool! You give away your identity to this girl that’s been keeping tabs on you and what do you think will happen? This ‘Remilia’ character will make your life a living hell. You know this!” Phoenix hissed.

“Well,” Mokou retorted in hushed tones, “what would you have me do then?!”

“I’m thinking I’m thinking!”

Mokou looked around the office. There were several things that she could use to distract Meiling, but nothing that could be easily reached with out drawing her attention. Meiling sat there, eyeing Mokou warily.

“Are you... Are you talking to yourself?”

“So what If I am?” Mokou responded, defensively.

The building shook again, causing both girls to cry out in surprise.
“Ergh.. What is going on out there?!” Meiling righted herself on her chair after almost falling out. “I hope the mistress is alright...”

‘Chance!’ Mokou grinned. “Hey, why don’t you go see how your mistress is doing if you’re so worried? It’s not like I’m going to go anywhere.”

The red haired girl looked back and forth between the door and Mokou, seemingly torn about her mistress and her obligation to keep an eye on Mokou. Her eyes moved back and forth a few more times before it seemed that obligation won out. “The mistress is not so fragile or stupid to really get hurt in something like this. Besides, I can’t have her finding out that I abandoned you, even if it was to look for her, because she’d...” Meiling caught herself before she finished speaking. “I almost let it slip again.” She knocked her fist against her head.

‘Damn it! Damn it!’ Mokou seethed inside. ‘That should have worked! Why didn’t it work?!’

Phoenix nipped at Mokou‘s balled fist. “Calm down. Your little stunt gave me an idea.”

Mokou just glared down at her bag, rubbing the sore spot on her hand.

“Remilia was that girl who jumped you that day you fist transformed, right?”

“Yeah? So?”

“Watch and see...” Phoenix stuck his head out of the bag and aimed it towards the door.

“H-help me!” The voice sounded exactly like Remilia.

Meiling jumped at the sound, looking around frantically. “Mistress? Is that you?!”

“M-Meiling? I-is that you? H-help me!”

“Where? Where are you?!” Meiling was on her feet looking around frantically. She dashed out into the hallway.

“Now’s your chance. Knock her out and let’s get a move on!”

Not needing to be told twice, Mokou jumped to her feet and came up behind Meiling. Muttering a silent apology to the girl, she delivered a sharp blow to the back of her head. The girl stumbled forward, but didn’t collapse.

“Wha..?”

Another quick blow succeeded where the first had failed, knocking the red head senseless.

“Well, that’s something we’re going to have to work on... You really are just a brawler, aren’t you?”

“Shut it bird.”

The building rocked again, this time accompanied by a frustrated roar. Not needing to be told, Mokou dashed off down the hallway.

======================

The monster had entered through a hole it had made on the ground floor. The people in the big open space outside the building had just screamed and run from it. It didn’t understand why. But now, it didn’t really matter. It had two girls cornered, and it could ask its question! If only it remembered what it was supposed to be doing.

Oh, that was it. “New girl! Where?!”

The girls continued cowering, not answering the giant flaming skull.

“Me say! New girl! Where?! You tell! You tell now!”

Terror dominated the two girls as they exchanged glances. “N-new g-girl? You think it means that girl wh-who transferred into 3-b today?”

“WHERE NEW GIRL?!

A scream echoed down the hallway, neither girl sure of which one had screamed. “She’s on the third floor! She’s on the third floor! Please don’t kill us!” The pair clung onto each other for dear life.

“Third floor? THIRD FLOOR! ME GO FIND HER NOW!” The demon skull, accompanied by the myriad of smaller skulls burst through the ceiling above it, heading up towards the third floor. The pair of girls slumped to the side, having finally fainted dead away.

=================

“Where is it now?” Mokou burst forth from the bathroom right into the mass of people trying to escape from the school.

Phoenix clung to Mokou’s shoulder for dear life. “It’s two floors up now. I can’t quite tell exactly where it’s at.”

It was a desperate fight to try and make her way through the onslaught of people. Panicked, frightened, and above all, wanting to get as far away from this mess as possible, the terrified masses made it almost impossible for Mokou to make any progress. An elbow here, a shove there, several curses slung about wildly, Mokou struggled against wave after wave of people crashing against her. Just as she was feeling like she was making headway, there was yet another crash, shaking the entire building, and renewing the panic that drove the people all around her.

Mokou’s anger grew by the moment. “Move! Get the hell out of my way!”

The frightened horde paid her no heed.

============

Several floors above...

============

The monster burst into the room, shattering the door and the wall around it, startling the few stragglers who had decided to hide it out in the classroom. Those who weren’t frozen to the spot in fear made a dash for the door. Several of the small flaming skulls that hovered continuously around the main skull shot off and blocked their escape.

“NEW GIRL! WHERE?”

Keine was immediately ratted out by her terrified peers.

“YOU NEW GIRL?”

“Y-yes” Keine stuttered in fear, searching desperately for some way to defend herself.

The skulls that had blocked the other students escape flew back to the main skull, allowing all the other students, save Keine, to escape unmolested.

“ME FIND NEW GIRL! ME DO GOOD!” The head bobbed up and down happily, “... WAIT. ME FORGET WHY ME HAVE TO FIND NEW GIRL...” It’s fleeting happiness vanishing in an instant.

The strange spirit floated there for a moment, apparently deeply lost in thought. Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, Keiene tried to make a run for the door. She had barely made it more than a few steps before the small skulls surrounded her.

“YOU NO GET AWAY WHILE ME THINK!” It was quite agitated now. “ME NO REMEMBER WHY ME NEED TO FIND YOU. SO ME TAKE YOU WITH ME.”

The skulls floating around Keine clamped down on her arms, flames in all. The grey haired girl screeched in pain. Not only did the skulls bite her to keep her in place, but they were on fire. The burns were spreading rapidly around the areas where she was being held by the flaming skulls.

“YOU GET OFF OF HER!” Mokou all but flew through the gap the monster had left in the wall. “CONFLAGERATION!” Her fist burst into flame for the tenth time that day as she connected squarely with the two skulls latched onto Keine. They seemed unaffected by the flames, but flew away under the force of her punches. Keine slumped to the floor, eyes distant.

“Keine! Keine!” Phoenix jumped from Mokou’s shoulder and hurried over to keine. “Kid, you worry about that monster, I’ll take care of Keine.”

“Fine by me.” Mokou turned back to face the blue flaming skull. “Well then. Let’s see whatcha got.”

The monster floated there, staring at Mokou while the smaller skulls regrouped around it. “YOU NO STOP ME! ME NEED NEW GIRL. ME TAKE NEW GIRL!”

“What the hell? What’s it on about?” Mokou moved herself between the monster and Keine, hoping to be able to prevent it from rushing her again.

“I have no idea...” Phoenix was rubbing himself against Keine’s wounds. “Just take care of it. Quickly.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice. CONFL-” Mokou stumbled and fell to one knee. Her strength suddenly feeling like it had been sapped away from her. The monster just floated there, looking at Strangely. As it seemed to think that Mokou was no threat, it screwed up it’s bony face in concentration.

“Kid! What’s wrong?”

Mokou forced herself unsteadily to her feet again. She wobbled slightly as she got back into a fighting stance. “Noth... Ergh. Nothing! I’m Fine! CONFL-” Again she collapsed. “Argh, damnn it. Why can’t I do it...”

“It must be from the training this morning! You’re still exhausted.”

“ME NO KNOW WHAT YOU DO. ME NEED NEW GIRL HELP! SO ME JUST TAKE NEW GIRL THEN!”

“Over my dead body!” Mokou had regained her feet once again. “If I can’t use my special attacks, then I’ll just do this the old fashioned way!” She once again took a stance, unsteadily. She considered trying to use her special attack one last time, just to see if she could, but in the end she just rushed the thing. The skulls flew out from the monster, trying to latch onto Mokou’s limbs. Miraculously , she managed to dodge through the hail of skulls and make it to the main one. Rearing back she punched it with all her might. Her fist had barely entered the flames when she felt the pain. The blue glowing skull was just too hot for her to handle. She jerked back instinctively, what was left of her gloves were smoking. She could see the burned skin peaking out from beneath the remnants of the gloves. It seemed that she couldn’t hit this thing through the blaze of the blue flames. Maybe if she was able to call forth her conflagration attack, she might be able to... But even then, she wondered, would it be enough to let her get though the intense heat?

The monster roared out in fury. “YOU IN ME WAY! GET OUT ME WAY! NEED NEW GIRL HELP!”

The next thought that passed through her mind was to put some distance between herself and this monster. She was at too much of a disadvantage up close and personal with this thing and the flames it spewed forth. Scrambling backwards, she barely missed getting hit by another skull. The next one, however, she never saw coming. As the creature latched onto her arm, the talismen scattered about her coat started glowing. While they semed to resist the flames of the smaller skulls, they didn’t resist against the bite of its teeth. They sunk in, tearing through one of the talismen on her arm, and the soft flesh beneath. The ward was torn causing both it and the area around it to go up in smoke. Mokou grit her teeth against the pain, trying to keep from screaming. Using her other, as-of-yet unburned hand, she beat against the skull until it released it’s death grip from her arm.

‘Oh look,’ she thought, ‘Now both my hands match.’

The skulls regrouped at the monster, seemingly preparing themselves for another assault.

Scrambling to her feet, Mokou prepared to face the onslaught.

Are we waiting on part two or is this a voting point, or..."

>>107796
I'm gonna be putting up the sections as I finish them. Not all of them are going to have votes attached. I'll make a note when there's a vote.

“We have to hurry, Divinity!”

“I know! I know! Just keep running.”

===================================

Yuugi had been watching the building for quite some time. The monster she had been provided suddenly had stopped rampaging around randomly and sought out this this particular building. It was even now residing in a single room instead of wreaking havoc. Something inside this building had single mindedly drawn the monster here and Yuugi was going to find out what. She hopped off of the wall that surrounded the school, landing quite firmly. A couple of test kicks to make sure that the ground was solid enough her to attempt a jump, and she was ready. One step, two steps, and BAM. A quick kick off from the ground and she was jumping up and flying through the air with great force. The third floor wall she had been aiming at crumbled under the sudden impact.

Now inside the room, all eyes were on her. The monster, two girls, and a small red bird. ‘Such odd things they have her on the surface,’ she thought, brushing dust and bits of window off of the puffed sleeves of her shirt. She reached up to adjust the tiara that was firmly affixed around her horn. She also had to admit that the fins that were attached to it had protected her ears quite well from the impromptu entry.

“YOU. WHY YOU HERE?! THIS ME JOB!” The monster roared in fury.

It was rewarded with a withering glare from Yuugi. Fearful for its very existence, the monster drew back away from this new invader.

“I’m curious, monster. I want to know what it is that you’re so interested in.”

“ME NO HAVE ANY THING YOU WANT. YOU GO NOW.”

With the Monster and this new girl arguing, this was a perfect chance to get Keine out of here. Mokou dragged herself back to where the pair were hiding. “Hey. Keine, Can you stand?”

“I think so... Why?”

“While they’re distracted, run.” Mokou winced as she leaned on one of her injured hands, “Go! Now!”

“I ain’t leaving you behind, kid!” Phoenix objected.

“Just hold him tight and run! I’ll be right behind you.”

Phoenix didn’t have a chance to complain again as Keine was off like a shot, tearing around desks in a mad dash to reach the door.

“Hm?” Yuugi took notice of the running girl. “Not so fast there, girly girl” Grabbing a nearby desk, Yuugi lobbed it across the room. Just barely missing Keine, the desk smashed through part of the door and the wall with a resounding crash. Bits of ceiling collapsed, blocking off the closest route of escape.

Yuugi spit on the ground. “Nobody’s going anywhere until I figure out what this thing thinks is so precious here. Next time, I won’t miss.”

With Yuugi distracted, Mokou launched herself at the blonde woman, slamming her injured hands into Yuugi as hard as she could. It took several hits before she even realized that the shorter girl was hanging on her and beating on her. Yuugi simply laughed at the minor annoyance and swatted Mokou away. Mokou hit the wall and slid down with a grunt. Her consciousness swam.

“Child, you are as a mewling kitten, hunting prey far more fearsome than you. Your end will come soon enough. There is no need to rush it.”

Paying no heed to the threat, Mokou lobbed a chair the moment Yuugi turned back to the monster. It broke on Yuugi’s back with out so much as a flinch from the taller woman.

“You try my patience, young one. Are you truly in such a hurry to die?” Yuugi strode across the room, coming to a stop in front of Mokou. She reached down and lifted the neophyte magical girl by the throat. “I can gladly oblige you if you desire a quick end.”

=====================

“Hurry! We’re almost there!”

Sanctity and Divinity ran up the stairs, following the trail of destruction that the monster had left. As they arrived on the third floor they saw the ruined debris of a nearby door.

“That must be the room we’re looking for!”

Moments later, they burst into the room where Mokou had been fighting so desperately.

“My god,” Sanctity took in the scene in a glance. Dark General Yuugi had someone in a death grip. There was also some sort of monster, floating there watching this whole scene unfold. It was the same type of monster that had appeared several times before, but this latest one was the largest so far. Several charred, overturned desks with bone fragments splayed out from underneath them showed where whoever had been fighting this monster had gotten... Creative in trying to stop it. There was a girl and a familiar in the corner, but rescuing the unknown magical girl took precedence.

“Viper rope!” Sanctity raised her hand, causing her shadow to elongate and spring forth into several snake like strands of shadow that wrapped around Yuugi’s arms and torso.

“Yuugi!” Divinity shouted angrily. “I should have known you were behind this!”

“Behind this? No. But I am most certainly going to take advantage of this situation.” Yuugi lifted the limp Mokou by her throat, swinging her around as if she was nothing more than a rag doll. The strands of shadow holding her seemingly doing nothing. Mokou could feel the grip the much stronger woman had on her neck tightening. It was becoming quite difficult to breath.

“con...-” Mokou attempted to rasp out, only to be cut off by the much more powerful woman increasing pressure on her windpipe.

“Trying to begin one of your pathetic little incantations? Don’t think that I’m not going to let you do that.” Her iron grip tightened further. Mokou could feel her windpipe being crushed.

Divinity’s hands began to glow. “I’m not going to let you kill her! PHANTASIA SPR-”

Yuugi kicked a desk across the room, causing Divinity and Sanctity to jump off in different directions. The tendrils of shadow that had been holding Yuugi dissolved when Sanctity was forced to move. However, Mokou saw her chance. Taking advantage of her briefly distracted enemy she was going to try one last time.

“co... conf...CONFLAGRATION!” Mokou’s fist burst into flame one final time. Without the room to wind up for a punch, she simply grabbed her tormentor’s arm with her enflamed appendage. Yuugi howled in pain, whipping Mokou away from her as hard as she could. Yet again, Mokou was thrown against a wall. HARD. It was a miracle that she was still in one piece, much less still able to breath.

A smirk crossed Yuugi’s face. “So it would seem that the kitten has claws, most interesting.” She tilted her head to one side, “But it would seem that my time here is done. Too many are now converging on this position. Goodbye, dear kitten, mayhap we’ll play again.” Slamming her foot down, Yuugi launched herself out of the school through the roof. Through the entry hole she had made, they watched as she vanished off into the distance.

“GET BACK HER YUUGI!” Divinity screamed out the hole, making like she was going to go after the dark general.

“Divinity! Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Divinity looked back from the hole. “Well, it looks like all that’s left is cleanup! Sanctity?”

“On it, Divinity. Viper Rope!” The same shadow snakes as before shot out, this time wrapping themselves firmly around the blazing skull. The previously bright blue flame that engulfed it died down to an orangish glow.

“NO! NO! NO! NEED HELP! NEED HELP!”

“Not going to happen for you, monster. Your boss has deserted you, and this is your end! PHANTASIA SPREAD!” Divinity raised her hands towards the monster. Dozens of balls of rainbow light shot out of her hands, spraying everywhere, and riddling the monster with holes. It fell to the ground, shattering on impact. What was left quickly turned to dust and blew away.

Mokou; Battered, bruised, burned, beaten, fell to the ground and passed, blissfully, into unconsciousness.

(sorry for the delay, I came up with no less than 4 different ways of doing the next update. Upon advice from council, I'm giving you a choice! Obsfucated, of course, but a choice none-the-less! There are no wrong answeres, but this will help me shape the way you're viewing this story.)
------------------------------------------------
Far away. The voices sound far away... I can't quite make out what they're saying... Everything seems so far away. Why is it so dark and cold?

"Oh? A guest! We haven't had one of those in years, have we?"

What? What was that I heard?

"I suppose that I should ask her the questions then, shouldn't I?"

Who are you? What do you mean, questions?

"Silly. You can't talk in that state! But I do have some idea of what you want." A giggle "Oh well, I have to ask these questions."

Uh... Alright. I guess there's nothing else I can do right now anyways. I can't even feel my body...

"Oh. That's because you're dead right now. But don't worry, It's not permanent. Not this time anyways." Another giggle.

If I had eyes, I'd be blinking right now.

"Right! So then. Which way?"

[ ] Left
[ ] Right
[ ] Straight ahead.

"You're facing down an enemy, your allies all beaten, what is your course of action?"

[ ] Distract and flee, forget the enemy, friends are more important.
[ ] Face head on, kill the enemy.
[ ] Disable enemy and get your friends out.

"And finally, What do you value most?"

[ ] Truth
[ ] Honor
[ ] Compassion

[x] Left
[x] Disable enemy and get your friends out.
[x] Truth

This feels like one of those "what character are you?" quizzes; except in this case, all answers lead to Mokou.

[x] Straight ahead.
[x] Disable enemy and get your friends out.
[x] Truth

[x] Straight ahead.
[x] Distract and flee, forget the enemy, friends are more important.
[x] Honor

Gosh, this sounds familiar.

[x] Left
[x] Face head on, kill the enemy.
[x] Compassion

>>108234
Completely unintentional, I assure you. Gods, I haven't played that game in forever. Damn you for making me want to play it.

Oh, and today's Kira's birthday! One step closer to the grave~ Yay!

>>108245
Happy Birthday

[x] Straight ahead.
[x] Disable enemy and get your friends out.
[x] Truth

That all the votes I'm gonna get?

[x] Left
[x] Face head on, kill the enemy.
[x] Compassion

>>108395

Not sure where everyone disappeared to. Anyway,

[x] Straight ahead.
[x] Disable enemy and get your friends out.
[x] Truth

>>108395
Sorry, I read the last update but I was too lazy to drop a vote since I thought other anon's would be enough. I know I'm not the only one!

[x] Straight ahead.
[x] Disable enemy and get your friends out.
[x] Truth

[X] Straight ahead.
[X] Disable enemy and get your friends out.
[X] Honor

>>108545
Okay, I posted.

The christmas season is almost universally bad for me. Updates have been delayed, no contact has been made, and I have been remiss in my duties. I am working on an update, it's just going painfully slow. It's also the last update of this 'episode' so I'll just save it all up and post the end of this episode and the start of the next in one huge wall.

Another goddamned giggle. This girl is starting to piss me off.

“Oh, don’t be that way. It’s not every day that I have guests, much less guests as interesting as you. So few girls in these troubled times have the strength or desire that you have... I’ll have to keep my eye on you.”

I’m glad you find me so damn interesting. Now, how the hell do I get out of here.

“Oh, yes, I suppose that is quite the problem, isn‘t it?. Hmmm... Oh well.”

Oh well? OH WELL?! THAT’S ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF? ‘OH WELL?!’

“Calm down, calm down,” the voice sounded slightly upset, “It’s not like I don’t have any means to do anything, but... I’m not supposed to, you know. I’m supposed to be impartial...”

Silence.

“Oh, Fine. Fine. There’s at least one thing I can do.” A pink and blue dichromatic butterfly sprung into Mokou’s view. “ Here, follow this little guy. He’ll either lead you back to where you need to go, or further off into where you don’t want to be. I don’t know. He’s rather fickle like that.”

You don’t know? How can you not know?

“You’d better hurry. He’s already started flying. Being stranded here on the border of life would not be good for your career, I wager.” Another of those annoying giggles.

Yeah, yeah. Thanks for nothing. The butterfly’s become little more than a dot in the distance.

With great effort Mokou began moving towards it, that tiny pinprick of light.

================

Divinity stood over Mokou while Phoenix sat squarely on her chest, the pair combining their respective powers. Sanctity and Keine looked on, praying for success. Mokou’s body was lying face down on the floor, a stray jacket had been wrapped around her head by Keine to hide Mokou‘s identity. All around them, the signs of the battle were plainly obvious. From outside the sounds of sirens, rushing to the scene, could be clearly heard. It would be only a matter of time before police and paramedics arrive, adding an extra element of pressure to the delicate procedure. Healing magics did not come easily to any of the magical girls. Purifying magics are much easier, healing magics not so much so. As the sirens grew louder, phoenix and Divinity redoubled their efforts. They had to get Mokou stabilized and ready to move. If she was found here like this, too many questions would be raised.

Thankfully they were almost done.

“She’s stabilized, it seems.” Sanctity said sadly, closing her eyes and breathing a small sigh of relief. “First fight, I take it?”

“No... She took out three of Sagacity’s spirits about a week ago...” Keine recalled.

Sanctity’s slight frame shook briefly as she laughed.. “That was her? Niiiiice... Sagacity’s been raging for a week over that. And then this girl goes off and injures Yuugi as well? She’s a real firecracker. Probably going to need her help beating off Yuugi. Bitch and a half those Dark Generals are. We really can’t afford to be defeated by her, ’cause the Underground Empire is as evil as they come. So, really, there’s nothing to be gained by pulling any punches.”

Keine nodded in response. She still wasn’t quite sure why she’d wrapped that jacket around Mokou’s head, but something had possessed her to protect this person who had risked so much to help her. There was a strange stirring in her chest. Something she hadn’t felt in a long time, and wasn’t sure she could even feel any more.

“... with is a gas leak.” Sagacity stared at the non-responsive Keine. “Hellooooo? Yo? You listening?”

“Eh? Ah! I’m... I’m sorry, I must have spaced out there for a moment. What did you say?” a profuse blush spread across Keine’s cheeks.

“I said, the cover story that we’re going with is a gas leak. Reisen’ll cover all the details in the news and with any ‘eye witnesses’, so we just have to stick to the story. There was a gas leak, and an explosion, you were trapped and this girl here rushed in to save you. Keep it simple, keep it straight, and try not to let anything slip. ‘k?”

“A-alright.” Keine nodded again, then took pause a moment, “Why are you doing this for me? Letting me keep my memory, I mean...?”

“You’re her sidekick, aren’t you? Cheerleader, or whatever you want to call yourself. Why wouldn’t we do that?”

Keine averted her eyes, “I’m not... At least I don’t think I am...”

"Besides," Sanctity continued, "If you know who Reisen is, you know she'll have you... taken care of, if she really wants it done that is."

“Ah.”

“I think she’s finally coming around.” Divinity called out.

Mokou groaned. It seemed that she was finally returning to consciousness. Her head turned ever so slightly to the side while she was having a coughing fit. Startling all, the coughing ceased as a light blue butterfly escaped from beneath the head wrap and flew out the gaping opening in the school.

======================

The Palace of the Earth Spirits, home to the Dark Generals, was located deep underground. Well past the secret entrance to the underworld, and through a confusing network of tunnels and small cities that populated the subterranean expanse. It was into this headquarters that the Dark General Yuugi currently strode.

“I’m so jealous,” a voice called out as Yuugi entered, the doors slamming shut behind her. “You get to come and go as you please, while I’m stuck here, guarding the palace. Hardly fair, I think. It’s not like they’ll ever find us down here. And another thing-”

Yuugi just waved off the other girl. Parsee's ears perked up as she noticed the burn on Yuugi's arm.

“Oh? And someone managed to hurt you! I wish I could do something like that to you. For then maybe you wouldn’t look down on me, given you seem to only respect strength. Why if I had the power to do that-”

“RIN!” Yuugi shouted out, ignoring Parsee’s inane blathering, “RIN! Where are you! I know you’re here. Get your lazy ass out here!”

Parsee snorted, stomping her foot. "Why I never!" Her arms crossed in front of her chest as she turned up her nose.

“Nyaaa~... There’s no need to shout like that, Yuu~chyan~” The redheaded Rin waltzed into the entry way from one of the many side rooms. Her long black coat was fluttering in a non-existent wind as she adjusted her black, thick framed glasses. She cast an appraising glance at the aggravated blondes before her, causing her ears to twitch in annoyance. “I’m very busy right now,” She stretched her arms above her head, trying to work out some of the stiffness, before resuming, “But what can I do for you today, Yuu-Chyan~? Don’t tell me you blew through that spirit I made especially for you already.”

“Tch. That thing was useless. Ran off, and it was saying the most bizarre thing. ‘new girl. Find new girl.’ or some such similar nonsense. When I caught up to it later, it was going on about needing the new girl‘s ‘help’. It all seems just a little... Suspicious to me. ”

“Of course. It’s objective is to cause the most trouble, or did that slip your little pea brain.” Rin sighed and adjusted her glasses again. “If it were to seek out the new magical girl, you know, the one that our sources identified as coming into existence a scant handful of days ago, don’t you think that the others would rush to her aid? Most of them seem to be of the nature to defend their own. Or did your insignificant little mind happen to lose track of that?”

Yuugi’s shoulders shook in anger.

“Of course,” Rin continued, unphased by the evident anger growing in the taller blonde woman, “You could just be trying to start trouble... Oh wait. You couldn’t even begin to think of something that complicated.”

“Why you!” Yuugi lurched forward, rearing back to punch the arrogant redhead.

Rin leapt deftly into the air, barely missing the punch “Tisk tisk,” she grasped hold of Yuugi’s forearm and pushed off, flying through the air and landing gracefully on one foot on the other side of the room. Yuugi’s fist, pushed downwards by Rin’s launch, slammed into the ground where the brazen redhead had stood only moments before. A small crater now graced the previous location of Rin.

“Stand still, you damned cat.”

“THAT’S ENOUGH.” A new voice roared. With out realizing it, the three other girls fell into a line in the middle of the room.

“K-koshi.” Parsee stuttered, “I-I had nothing to do with this, it was just the two of the-”

“Enough. I’m not in the mood to deal with your sniveling, Parsee.” The short girl glided down the staircase into the center of the room. “Here the three of you are, bickering like children. This is not why the Queen of Light chose the three of you to be her Dark Generals. You are nothing but mere shadows of the former Heroes of Light! You may have their abilities, but you are nothing like them, what-so-ever. This displeases the Queen greatly, and by extension, displeases ME greatly.”

The three unconsciously wince.

“But lecturing you on your shortcomings is not why I’m here. The Queen, in her infinite wisdom, has graced me with your new directives. Parsee and Yuugi.”

“Yes?” the two answered in unison.

“The two of you are to go to the surface together next time. Release as many spirits as you need.”

“Hey! I need those.” Rin objected.

Koshi ignored her and continued. “You must not fail in your objective.” Koshi handed a folder over to Yuugi.

“Yes ma’am! You can count on us.”

“Why does she get the folder? Am I not good enough to get a folder?” Parsee bit her thumb again.

“Rin!”

Rin inadvertently snapped to attention and responded. “Yes, Ma’am!”

“The Queen calls for you to make a new spirit, to these exact specifications.” Koshi handed another folder over to Rin. “She needs it quickly, but be sure not to skimp. It must be perfect.”

“Nyaah... This is impossible...”

“You will do it. Understood?” Koshi affixed Rin with a firm glare.

“Y-yes...”

“Very good. So you all understand your orders from the Queen then?”
“What are you going to be doing, anyways? Playing favorite to the Queen as usual? It just burns me up that she likes you so much.” Parsee screwed up her face in annoyance.

“Not that it’s any of your concern, but I have a... special mission. I won’t be around for a while, so it’s up to the three of you to make sure that the queen is safe. Understood?”

“Yes Ma’am!”

“Good then. Go to it.” Koshi turned and glided back up the stairs. Once she was out of earshot Yuugi turned to Rin.

“Look, cat, I know you’re up to something. I’m not sure what. But when I find out, you can be sure that the Queen will know. She may trust you explicitly, but I trust you about as far as Parsee can throw you.”

“HEY!”

Ignoring Parsee’s protest, Yuugi continued. “I catch so much as another whiff of traitorous activity from you, and I’ll put my fist through your head. Got it?”

“Nya ha ha ha. Such a kidder, Yuugi! Do you really think I could hide something like that from the Queen of Light? Or Koshi for that matter? They trust me, so that’s all that matters. Not that any of that will ever penetrate that thick skull of yours. So take that little horn of yours and go be useful. You’re only good for your brute strength, after all.”

“Hmmph.” Yuugi turned and headed towards the door. “This isn’t over, cat. Come on, Parsee, let’s go. This isn’t going to be an easy task. We need to prepare.”

“Ah, fine. Why do I always get stuck following you. Ahhh, so annoying. Why can’t I ever lead?”

Rin stood there watching them leave. Soon, soon she’d have her chance, and then nobody’s look down on her. Not Yuugi, not Parsee, and especially not Koshi. She’d be restored to her rightful place as her Friend’s right hand woman, and then... Well. And that’s when things got interesting.

================

Next time, on Magical Girl Firey Moko-Tan

================

Yuugi: Ah! So the kitten returns. Come! Test those claws of yours, let us see if you've sharpened them since last we met.

Mokou: Bring it, bitch!

----------

Meiling: Mistress Remilia! Mistress Remilia! I've come to report!

Remilia: Meiling. I'm in the middle of an important student council meeting. Your 'report' can wait until later.

Meiling: But, but... You said...

Remilia: Please forgive my underling, she can be quite... Obtuse at times. I can assure you, she won't interrupt again.

Reisen: *giggles* Oh, no worries there. She seems quite... Reliable.

----------

Keine: Next time on Magical Girl Firey Moko-Tan; Plan ⑨ From Underground!

Mokou: Ugh... Why does all this crap always fall on me.
::Fade to black.::

Parsee walks onto the black screen.

Parsee: Why don't I ever get to do an episode preview? I'm so Jealous!

Awesome, cant wait for the next episode.

some extra stuff I forgot to include.
Mickl3 provided this nice picture of Sanctity and Divinity in thier base oufits.

>>109395
That picture is terrible and you are terrible for posting it. This is not deviantart.

The original designs by Kira.

>>109396
You can do better? Then do so. I was looking for drawfags earlier, I was, and still am, willing and able to pay for drawfag services rendered.

And the rough of the powered up version.

Panic reigned in the wake of the ‘explosion’. In a rush, several emergency tents had been erected out on the sports field. It was close enough to the school that all the students could be inspected and treated for minor wounds, yet far enough away that if there was another explosion in the school that there wouldn’t be endangered. Emergency personnel and medics rushed about trying to corral the students who were wandering about in a daze. Police had set up a perimeter around the building and were trying to keep the public a safe distance from the scene while the students were being examined. Inside the building, firefighters and inspectors were making sure that the building was still structurally sound after the series of explosions.

Kaguya charged headlong into this mess, eager to ensure that her friend was safe.

“I’m sorry, miss, I can’t let you through. Not even immediate family is being allowed in until the scene is certified safe. Now, please stand back.” The tall, busty, redheaded officer waved for Kaguya to back up.

“Please, can’t you even tell me if my friend is ok? Please... I just want to know if she‘s ok...” Kaguya looked as if she was about to cry. She quickly read the officer’s name badge. “Please, officer Onozuka...”

“I’m sorry, miss. We cannot release that information...” The officer seemed to be wavering in her resolve.

Tears began streaming down Kaguya’s face.

“Erk...” officer Onozuka was visibly flustered. “H-hey! Don’t cry! Stop it!” Glancing around, she leaned in close to Kaguya. “Look, stop crying. Tell me your friend’s name and I’ll see what I can dig up, ok? Just please, stop crying.”

Sniffling a few times for effect, Kaguya brightened up quickly. “Fujiwara. Fujiwara Mokou. That’s my friend.”

“What? The hero girl’s your friend?! Wow. Never would have guessed that someone like her would be friends with a girl like you.” officer Onozuka chuckled to herself. “Well, I can tell you this right now, your friend’s alive and well. Now, please, move along. I don’t want to draw anyone else’s attention... Especially not my boss. She’s quite the bear, and very strict about the rules.”

“Hero? Really? Thank you! Thank you so much.” Kaguya bowed deeply to the officer. “Thank you again!”

Standing nearby, a certain reporter heard the whole thing. ‘Maybe... Just maybe this girl can get me something interesting~’ she thought. ‘Something interesting indeed...”

===============================

Several tents had been erected to serve the students that had been injured in the explosion. Mokou, in one of these tents, was being examined by a particular doctor out of the myriad of doctors who had come to assist the students.

“Ow ow ow! That hurts!” Mokou tried to pull away from the tall blonde woman who was currently tending to her burns and other wounds.

Her short blonde hair bobbed while she fought with the younger girl, “Would you just sit still? I can’t examine your wounds properly if you don’t sit still.”

“Well, can’t you do it with out it hurting so damn much?”

“If you don’t want your wounds properly treated, then sure. I could just throw some gauze and bandages on there. Of course, if I don’t treat it properly, as you may need stitches as well, the wounds could get infected. Your arm would turn a horrible shade of black and green as gangrene set in, and then we’d have to cut off your arms. But sure, if you want the painless examination, I can just give it a brief little once over. So. What’ll it be?”

Mokou sat there silently for a moment, pondering what the doctor had just said. then held out her arms.

“A wise decision. I don’t think it would do to have this school’s new hero have her arms cut off because of a little stupidity. It surely must have hurt more getting these in the first place...”

“Mn. I didn’t even really think about it. I guess. Yeah, it hurt, but it just seems like a dull ache when I think about it.” Mokou shrugged half heartedly.

The blonde woman, a Dr. Yakumo by the name tag, examined the wounds quite closely. “Hm... This is certainly odd. Some of these wounds under the burns almost look like... Bite marks. I don’t know of anything that could make a bite mark this large...” She tilted her head to one side, deep in thought. “What on earth could have done this...”

“Uh... Iunno. Like I said, I don’t really remember much after running in after her...” Mokou blanched slightly.

“Well, you’re definitely going to need stitches, that much is certain.” A concerned look passed across her face. “Are you sure you don’t remember what happened to you? Did someone do this to you either before or after the fire? I’ve been lead to understand that you do prefer the male uniform. Do you use this to hide your wounds? Please, if someone is hurting you, you can trust me.”

“Err... Well...”

“Please. Tell me the truth.” The doctor's golden eyes locked with Mokou's.

[ ] Stick to the story.
[ ] Tell her the truth.
[ ] Make up something on the spot.

[x] Stick to the story.

[x] Tell her the truth.
I can't lie to her. 'sides, the best part is that she'll never believe her.

[x] Stick to the story.

[x] Tell her the truth.
Its too crazy for her to believe.....or not...

[x] Tell her the truth.
-[x] Then when she asks us to really tell the truth then go with the story.

[x] Tell her the truth.

As much as I like the cut of >>109902's jib, it doesn't seem right this time. Especially with what's her face around, asking questions and poking her (presumably) giant phallic nose where it doesn't belong.

So. Just out of curiosity, is the story not good? Am I doing something wrong with the plotting/pacing? Is it the fact that there's so few choices here? Or do you guys just not like the Magical Girl Genre played straight? I'm simply curious because I'd like to produce something of a high calibur that's well liked. I'm going to continue this even if nobody reads it, I'm simply curious as to the relative lack of voting and commenting.

>>109993

I don't know about votes, but there isn't alot of food for thought at this point. And such sluggish updates aren't conductive to discussion unless you have as much food for thought like in a few other stories.

That and 6 votes is a nice amount compared to what some people had to endure at first (RiG was only getting by on 1-2 votes at first)

Just keep on going and when something big comes up, discussion will happen.

[x] Stick to the story.

>>110010
This anon is right. I mean, we know that Orin has her little agenda and that the underground isn't as united as we were led to believe but besides this we don't have much room for speculation. We also don't have any idea who the other girls might be besides that Kaguya will (or is) be one of the other girls.

My tip for you Kira is to try and drop some hints (or more obvious ones if you are already doing it) uncertainty makes things more exciting and sparks up discussion

[x] Stick to the story.

[x] Stick to the story.
i doubt the goverment is on the "need to know" list...

[] Tell the Truth

Eh, Why the hell not.

[c] Tell her the truth.

Calling it.

>>109993
>hiatus 2009/07/10
I am waiting for GA:SD to continue.

And i don't read more than 7 stories on here.

>>110167
Yeah. You saw the last 2 times that I tried that, right?

Calling it and updating in the same day? What is this I don't even
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"I'm... not quite sure where to begin, Dr. Yakumo..." uncertainty obvious in Mokou's voice. "There's quite a bit to it."

"Well then, why don't we start at the beginning of the incident that lead to your injuries? And please, call me Ran."

So Mokou told the doctor the story, starting from about the time that she rushed into the room to save Keine. All the while, the doctor jotted down brief notes, giving Mokou a blank, unreadable stare.

"... And the next thing I know, I'm lying face down on the ground. The girls who had apparently just saved me helping me up."

The doctor remained silent for a moment.

Sighing, she spoke again. "That's... certainly quite a tale. Though, in the future, I'd suggest you refrain from revealing your identity as a Magical Girl to complete strangers. You never know just who might be listening."

"Uh..."

"Because, you see, I told Miss Reisen that we should just make you... forget this event in the first place. Save ourselves quite a bit of trouble. The new ones are always so much trouble. Don't really know how to keep a secret, I suppose, or maybe it's something deeper... The inherent need to tell someone else about the insanity? No matter." The older woman shrugged. "She'd have nothing of it though, you know. Now, hold out your arms again, please." Mokou raised her arms wordlessly. Taking them gently in her grasp, Ran gently rubbed a salve on the burned parts. "Anesthetic and an antiseptic in one. I'll start stitching up the wounds here in just a moment."

The numbing effect was quick and complete. Within seconds, Mokou could barely keep her arms up.

A small table was slid over for Mokou's arms to rest on. That done, Ran picked up the needle and set to work, continuing to lecture Mokou. " 'She needs the combat experience' and 'I need her mind clear and unfettered by such alterations.' Personally, I feel that you could get training like that just about anywhere. Well, maybe not quite this... rough of a first shot, but good training none the less." The thread was tied off and snipped as the blond doctor finished with one gash and moved to the next, continued up the younger girl's arm. "So be glad that you're still under her protection, little one, or you wouldn't even remember having this conversation. Though, I'm sure if you really insisted, we could wipe your mind anyway."

Mokou sat there in stunned silence. What this doctor had just said was eerily similar to what Sanctity and Divinity had told her. Well, with more 'you get in my way again and I'll leave you to die' and less 'we could wipe your mind if you'd prefer'. Apparently, Reisen's protection counted for quite a bit among these girls.

"But it appears that we have guests now, so it would be best if you were to keep quiet about this. While it pains me greatly, I have no compunction against silencing groups or individuals to protect Miss Reisen. You understand where I'm coming from, right?"

"Y-yeah..."

"Yes, hello? Can I help you?" Ran called out, seemingly to no one in particular.

"Um.. Yes, maybe? I'm looking for my friend. Fujiwara Mokou. Have you seen her?" Kaguya's head had popped into the tent, casting furtive glances about the tent. "I was told she might... Mokou!"

"Ah! Kaguya! What are you doing here?" Mokou tried to turn.

Ran cut in sharply. "Don't move. Unless you want me to sew your arms together."

"I heard about the accident at your school and I was worried about you." Kaguya pushed the flap aside and entered the tent fully, starting towards Mokou. "I'm glad to see that you're al- ohmygod! What happened to your arms?"

"It's ah..." Mokou began, only to receive a sharp glare from Ran, "It's a long story... rather boring too, you don't want to hear about it really..."

A concerned look affixed itself to the raven haired girl's face, but otherwise she didn't press the matter. "Ah... though, there is one thing I might want to mention before she gets he-"

"Hey, hey, hey! Is this where the hero's being treated?" A woman called, bursting into the tent. She was trailed by her faithful cameraman. The pair looked around the room before homing in on Mokou. "Oh ho! So is this our vaunted hero? Not much to look at, are you? That aside, How about an interview? I'm sure the world is dying to hear your story! Plus, an exclusive with the hero! Who wouldn't love that!"

"Excuse me, I'm treating a patient now. I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Ran's brow twitched as she cut off yet another thread, quickly and forcefully moving to the next gash.

"Ah! That's no problem to me. I just need her to be able to talk. You are able to talk?" Aya slid up next to Mokou, now addressing her directly.

"Ah, er.. well, Uh.. Yeah."

"Excuse me. Right now she's being treated, and it would be best if she remained still. She has enough of a problem doing that normally that I'd assume it'd be worse with someone talking to her. So, would you kindly get out of my tent and stop harassing my patients? Do whatever you want to her when I'm done, but while you're in my tent, you'll kindly refrain from harassing my patients." Snipping off another length of thread, Ran brandished the scissors menacingly towards the reporter. "Understand?"

Retreating quickly behind Mokou, Aya plastered a fake smile on her face. "Of course, of course, Doctor. It's just that the pretty little thing over there," she jerked her thumb at Kaguya, "Promised me an interview with the hero of the school. I'd kind of like to get to her before any of the other news crews do. I won't interfere with your work. It must be a great honor to work on a hero like this, how about I interview you too? Get your name out there and your work."

"You did what?" A sharp prick in Mokou's hand brought her attention back to Ran.

"Oops. It seems that the needle slipped. So, if you would kindly stop moving so I can fix you? That would be great. As to your thinly veiled attempt to influence me, I'll pass. I have no interest in being on Television, nor do I have any desire to be interviewed by someone as annoying as you."

The newswoman's eye twitched in annoyance. "Ah. Camera shy, eh? That's no problem, no problem at all. Most people..." Aya continued to influence the doctor while Mokou addressed Kaguya.

Out of the corner of her eye, Mokou tried to glare at Kaguya. "Fine. Anyways, Kaguya, what did you do?"

"Well, I didn't promise her it outright... I told her that I'd do my best to convince you though..." Sighing she shook her head. "What could it hurt anyways? I mean, you said yourself that the story's nothing amazing."

Mokou shot a quick glance at Ran who just shook her head slightly, not even bothering to look up from the stitching. Not really entirely sure if that was directed at her, or at Aya, Mokou closed her eyes. This was turning out to be quite stressful.

"So, Yeah! Mokou, can I call you Mokou? People love hearing from heroes. Who knows, you might end up being famous!" A chuckle issued forth from Aya, now more confident that she was completely ignoring the rebuffs from the doctor. "And who doesn't want to be famous? Everyone wants to be famous! So here's your shot at your fifteen minutes of fame. It'll be fun, and quick. "

"I don't know..."

"Please, Mokou, do it for me? She got me in here so that I could see you."

'Why me?' the fleeting thought passed through the young heroine's mind. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see the pleading look on Kaguya's face. Dropping her head to her chest, Mokou exhaled deeply once again. What was she going to do?

[ ] Let Aya do the interview.
[ ] Deny the interview.
[ ] Remain silent.

>>110167

read more stories, not all of them are bad.

Hell I've got to catch up SHaG sometime.

So she was testing us... guess we screwed up there. Go figure.

[x] Let Aya do the interview.
-[x] Make up a story about being in the area and foolishly rushing towards the area when something exploded. And you woke up after it was over.

Burn marks: Good alibi.

>Yeah. You saw the last 2 times that I tried that, right?
Can't even remember what went wrong. Just write again

[x] Remain silent.
Get the fuck out, everyone.

[x] Remain silent.

[x] "Sure, you can call me Mokou. You can call me the queen of fucking Siam if you like. But whatever it is you call me, you can call me it after I get sewn up. Bugger off until I'm done here, would you please? Being worked on by an angry doctor can't be a good thing."

Gonna have to agree with this. Medical aid first, talking after.

[x] "Sure, you can call me Mokou. You can call me the queen of fucking Siam if you like. But whatever it is you call me, you can call me it after I get sewn up. Bugger off until I'm done here, would you please? Being worked on by an angry doctor can't be a good thing."

[x] "Sure, you can call me Mokou. You can call me the queen of fucking Siam if you like. But whatever it is you call me, you can call me it after I get sewn up. Bugger off until I'm done here, would you please? Being worked on by an angry doctor can't be a good thing."

[x] "Sure, you can call me Mokou. You can call me the queen of fucking Siam if you like. But whatever it is you call me, you can call me it after I get sewn up. Bugger off until I'm done here, would you please? Being worked on by an angry doctor can't be a good thing."

Here we go.

>>110250
Dear Sir/Madam,
You are awesome, and this vote is quite awesome. I would like to purchase you an alcololic beverage, please provide prefrence and a location to which I can send it.
-Sincerely
Kirakishou, Writefag.

Short update, delays, apologies. Getting into a regular theme here, eh?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Yeah, you can call me Mokou,” Mokou began, a vein throbbing in her forehead. “You can call me the Queen of mother fucking Siam for all I care!”

Kaguya drew back from Mokou’s coarse language while Ran raised an eyebrow.

“But whatever you do call me, do it later. I’m kinda getting sewn up at this point, and being worked on by an angry doctor seems like an all around bad idea. So get the hell out. I’ll deal with you later. Ok?”

Aya stood there stock still. She couldn’t believe what this girl had just said to her, and it was quite obvious. A small chuckle issued forth from Ran. This really was quite amusing.

“M-maybe you should wait a bit, miss Aya.” Still in shock, Kaguya managed to mutter.

“Uh... Yeah... That sounds like... Yeah. Uh... Ok.” At a loss for words for the first time in her life, she slowly turned and left the tent, cameraman in tow.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Kaguya admonished her friend. “Mokou! What were you thinking?!”

“She’s annoying. Needs to shut the hell up and let people get fixed up instead of trying all her fast talking bull shi... All her fast talking bull.” Mokou caught herself on the verge of swearing. She knew how much her course language could offend Kaguya. Really, in the long run, it was better just to avoid cursing frequently around her.

“Even still. She did help me...” Tears began to well up in the raven haired girl’s eyes.

“Oh, can the fake tears already. I’m going to do the fu... The interview. So there’s no need for your bad acting.”

“Oh? Bad acting is it now?” Kaguya went to nudge her friend, but was stopped by a sharp glare from Ran. “Err... Yeah. Bad acting is it now? It’s gotten you plenty of times,” she giggled, covering her mouth with the her hand once again. “You can’t ever say no to me~” She all but sang that last part.

Ran’s eyebrow cocked again.

Mokou cried out in anguish and defeat. Her so-called friend was still hiding her mouth and giggling like some giddy schoolgirl, it really was rather annoying. She remained silent through the rest of Ran’s work.

“And there we go.” Ran snipped off the last bit of thread. “Now, I’ll gauze the burns and you should be on your way. I’ll just need to schedule a follow-up in about two weeks or so to see how the wounds are healing.” She rolled back away from Mokou and up to a nearby desk. It took her a moment of searching, but she produced two large rolls of gauze.

A small commotion was heard outside the tent.

"Ah, I should probably go see what that is." Kaguya stood up. "And while I'm at it, I think I'll go find Aya. It wouldn't do for her to talk to... certain people."

Mokou shot a confused look at her friend.

"Oh, I don't know," Kaguya put her hand on her hip, "Maybe someone like Remilia?"

"Huh..."Oh. OH! Oh crap. Yeah, If you would please. Gods. I really don't need her talking to Remilia." She screwed up her face in annoyance.

Kaguya nodded and disappeared out of the tent, leaving Ran and Mokou alone once again.

The gauze was wrapped around Mokou's arm slowly. "She seems to be quite close to you." Ran posited nonchalantly.

"Yeah. What of it?" Mokou snapped.

"You should be careful. There are unscrupulous people, and dark generals for that matter, who wouldn't hesitate to use those close to you as a shield, or worse yet, a weapon against you."

The glare that affixed her caused Ran to draw back slightly. "Though, I could be completely off base here. Just something you may want to keep in mind. And that should do it. Make sure to change these bandages in the morning. You should be able to pick up more at just about any store. Keep it covered and as dry as you can. And here," she scribbled out something on a prescription pad, "is something for the pain. One every 4 hours at the most though. It's potent stuff."

Snatching the paper out of the doctor's hand, Mokou glared at her as she stood. "Thank you, doctor"

Wordlessly she stormed out of the tent, and into the awaiting interview.

--------------------

The two girls returned to the dingy little apartment that they shared. It was convenient for them because of it’s proximity to their college. There was nothing other than that, though. The first girl through the door pulled on the small chain that was connected to the single bulb that lit the room. Flickering slightly, it burst to life illuminating small and cluttered space.

“What a day, eh?” The taller, light-haired girl tossed her bag in the corner and flipped on the TV.

The shorter dark haired girl stretched. "Yeah, tell me about it." She went over to the small refrigerator that they kept in the kitchen. Mulling it over for a minute she pulled a bottle of water over and closed the door.

"Hey. Hey! You may want to see this!" She turned up the volume.

Taking a deep drink, the raven haired girl glanced at the TV out of the corner of her eye.

<...maru, interviewing the hero of->

"Wait, isn't that the school we were at earlier!?" The dark haired girl now focused her full attention on the report.

<...sive interview. Now, what was running through your mind during this ordeal?>

-----------------------

<... was running through your mind during this->

"Hm?" The girl set down the book she had been reading. She looked around the stacks of moldering tomes that surrounded her, attempting to identify the source of the sound. Unable to see it immediately, she sighed before pushing herself up out of her chair. Of course she would be disturbed now, after she had just gotten comfortable. A few rows of books down, she turned the corner to reveal her compatriot. Involuntarily, she coughed, startling the girl who was engrossed with the television.

"Ah!" The redhead, who had turned on the television just a moment before, cried out quickly before turning down the volume. "I'm terribly sorry, I wasn't aware that the volume was up so loud. I'm taking care of it right now. Please, go back to whatever you were doing before I was so rude."

" 'Tis no large matter. Please, if you would, turn it up slightly."

"O-of course! Right away!"

The pair of girls now focused their attentions on the report.

<... really thinking anything at all. I uh... I just saw her stuck there and kinda... acted.>

"Hm? Is not that school nearby? Was there an incident today?" The speaker coughed again.

Nodding, her partner replied, "Yes, something major it seems."

<... is the girl who you so bravely rescued!>

Keine was roughly dragged into frame, Phoenix still clutched in her arms.

Upon seeing the small bird cradled in Keine's arms, the first girl picked up a nearby book and quickly rifled through the pages. "Ah hah. As I had suspicions, 'tis a familiar. Of which, I believe, Sagacity was seeking earlier. Mayhap there is more to this than meets the eye..."

<... to be rescued?>
----------

<Ah, I've never been rescued before, so it was all quite a rush, I mean... I don't know. It was like a knight in shining armour->

"I don't know how you can stand to watch this sort of thing. It's just so... bland. Not to mention how annoying that reporter woman is." Remilia set down her teacup, turning back to her guest.

Reisen waved her hand back and forth, mirroring her host's action with the other. "But didn't this happen at your school? Weren't you worried?"

"I wasn't even there today. I had important family business that required my attention." Leaning back, Remilia glanced around the sitting room. Lined with books, and with a high window which showed the town lit up against the impending darkness. "Being the head of my family is no easy matter since my father died." She turned back to her company. "But you didn't come to hear about that. Actually, I don't know why you're here at all, really."

"Is it forbidden for someone to just visit an old friend?"

"It's a rather nice gesture, I'll give you that, but you rarely do anything without reason. So..."

"You cut me to the quick, miss." Reisen feigned indignation, before continuing with a giggle, "Astute as ever, though. I'm afraid that I need to ask you a fav-"

"Mistress Remilia, Mistress Remilia!" Meiling burst into the room. "I have a report to-"

"Can't you see that I have a guest!" Remilia quickly turned back to Reisen. "I'm terribly sorry for my Underling. She doesn't seem to have the good sense God gave a flea." She cast a glare at the nervous redhead, "I assure you, once I've dealt with this little... disturbance, that we won't be bothered again. Meiling! Hallway. Now!"

"Oh, no, no, no! No need to be so harsh on her on my account. Please, just proceed as if I'm not here. I'm going to be asking a favor, anyways, so don't let me intrude!"

"Well, If you're certain then." Remilia turned back to Meiling, still glaring slightly at the taller girl. "Your report then?"

"Ah! Yes ma'am!" She snapped her heels together and saluted. "It would seem that Fujiwara is afraid of uh... monsters."

Remilia and Reisen stared at Meiling. It was a moment before Remilia finally managed to speak. "Monsters, you say?"

"Yes, Mistress. When that monster attacked the school, Fujiwara freaked out. She knocked me out and ran away."

"You idiot. There was no monster at the school today! That was a gas main explosion." A scowl defiled the young mistress's fine features.

"That may be true, but Fujiwara was freaking out something fierce. She was talking to herself, and in general seemed rather panicked before she knocked me out."

"Hm... Interesting. But in the end, moot for the time being. We can't really touch her, seeing as she's the 'school hero' right now. Though... The school festival is coming up soon, isn't it. Maybe we'll be able to take her down a peg." The young mistress chuckled to herself evilly.

"I-is there anything else, Mistress?"

"No. Get out of my sight."

Bowing deeply, Meiling beat a hasty retreat.

"My most sincere apologies for that. Now, you were saying that you needed a favor?"

Reisen giggled. "Oh, don't worry. She seems quite... reliable. Now, as to the favor I needed from you..."

<... is Aya Shameimaru, back to you- >

Nice update. It seems that our heroine is going to have more popularity than she ever wanted.

Remilia, that scheming bitch.

(Thanks to AD for helping me break through the writer's block)
=======
Meiling stood out in the wood paneled hallway, leaning against the door she had just exited, "Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Knocking her fist against her head. "How could I have been so stupid! The mistress has told me a dozen times not to barge in like that. Stupid! Stupid! Stu-”

“M-Meiling?” A tiny voice called out.

Meiling looked up from her self depreciation to see a young girl of no more than nine. Her blonde hair tussled from sleep, wearing light blue footed pajamas with a Christmas light pattern on them. She was clinging tightly to a teddy bear, red eyes just barely peeking out above the stuffed animal.

“Oh. Mistress Flandre, what are you doing out of bed?”

The bear lowered slightly, revealing the worried look on the young mistress’s face. “ I can’t sleep. There’s a monster in my room.”

“Really now? Are you sure?”

Flandre nodded fiercely. “Yes! It’s trying to take me away somewhere. I don’t want to go...”

“Hm...” Meiling frowned. “So. You want me to come beat it up for you?"

"Ah! You can't! It's really strong. Really, REALLY strong."

Meiling struck a strongman pose, “Well, I’m pretty strong myself. Remember when I helped your sister move that desk of hers?”

Another bout of nodding from Flandre.

“So why don’t I take you back to your room and see if I can’t chase off this bad ol’ monster for you, ok?”

“Well... I dunno...” the younger girl cast a dubious look at the boastful redhead.

“I’ll carry you, little miss~”

“Really?” The younger girl’s eyes wide as dinner plates. “On your shoulders and everything?! Really, really, really?!”

Another laugh escaped the redhead’s lips. “Of course. We just have to be a bit quieter. Your sister has a guest right now.”

A few steps closed the gap between the two girls and with one swift motion, Meiling swept flan up onto her shoulders. The young mistress giggled happily the whole way up.

“Shhhh. Remember, we’ve got to be quiet, otherwise you’ll have to get down. Ok?”

Still giggling, Flandre answered in a whisper. “Yep!”

The pair set off down the hallway, grinning happily.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“See? Not under your bed, or in the closet! The window’s still latched tight, and the door was closed when we came in. There’s nowhere that mean old monster could be hiding.” Meiling nodded, feeling the squeeze from Flandre’s tiny hand. “I must be so strong that I scared it off when it heard me coming!” Puffing up her chest, and thumping it for good measure, Meiling smiled at Flandre. “So now you need to get into bed.”

The small blonde girl shook her head vehemently. “You didn’t check the wardrobe!” she pointed at the large wardrobe set opposite her bed.

A monster certainly could hide in the Wardrobe; it was large enough that several people could get easily inside. The ornate decorations around the outside would probably quite scary in the dark as well. Little gargoyles perched on each corner, and the whole thing had a similarly gothic feel to it. Or maybe a medieval torture device. Either way, Meiling never understood why Remilia left it in here.

“Alright. You go hop into bed, and I’ll check the wardrobe. Deal?”

Flandre trotted across the room and hopped into her bed, an ornate four poster deal.

Satisfied that her young charge was situated in the bed, Meiling turned back to the wardrobe. It loomed over her, giving off a sinister aura. Why Remilia insisted in decorating the mansion in this sort of nightmare fodder was beyond her. If she had to sleep in a room with something like this, every night, SHE’d have nightmares too. Shaking such thoughts from her heat, Meiling reached out for the knob.

“See? No monsters in--OOF” Meiling had attempted to draw back from the claw that had swung out of the wardrobe, but she seemed to fall forwards instead of back instead. The sudden change in her reaction caused her to take the full brunt of the blow to her abdomen.

Meiling coughed hard, trying to catch a breath. She was vaguely aware of someone screaming, and the large skeletal.... Thing that was looming over her. It was all bone with a deformed looking head. It was almost like a cat skull, but with horns where the ear holes should have been. It appraised Meiling with a glance, and, now deciding that she was no threat, proceeded towards Flandre.

Flandre! That’s where the screaming was coming from. Through the haze of pain, Meiling forced herself to her feet. She didn’t stand a chance against this thing, but damned if she was going to let it take Flandre.

“Ru... RUN” she wheezed at Flandre, grabbing feebly at the skeletal creature. Even without muscles it was so strong. It shouldn’t have been possible. Flandre, however, didn’t move an inch. She seemed rooted to the spot in terror. ‘Damnit’ Meiling cursed silently to herself. She was going to have to do something about this monster herself. Focusing as intently as she could, Meiling dropped to the ground and swept the monster’s legs out from under it. It collapsed forward, grabbing onto the end of Flandre’s bed. The blow seemed to hurt Meiling far more than the creature as the throbbing in her abdomen now matched by the throbbing in her leg. Other than falling to the ground, the monster seemed unfazed, angry as hell, but physically unfazed. Though, Meiling had succeeded on one count.

She had it’s full attention now.

Roaring loud enough to shake the room, the monster, now back on it’s feet, turned to finish off it’s would-be assailant. Meiling leaped backwards, barely avoiding the swiping of it’s boney claw. The landing was less than beautiful. It made no sense, she’d done that move a million times, yet she couldn’t stick the landing now? Was it nerves? The skeletal abomination swung again, and once more Meiling managed to miss being mangled by the monster’s mitt. She crashed into the side of the wardrobe in her haste to avoid the slash.

‘What is wrong with me? My form is so sloppy, and I’m making a ton of beginner mistakes. It’s almost like I’m fighting my body and this monster at the same time!” Ducking to the side, Meiling dashed in to try and hit the monster. Her punch swung wild, flying off in a completely different direction from where she was aiming.

“Ku ku ku. You have amazing skill for a normal human. But come now. You don’t think that you can win against my Construct by yourself. Be a good girl and just let us take her back to where she belongs. She doesn’t belong with your kind.”
Meiling looked around, trying to identify the source of the voice before realizing that it was coming from the top of the wardrobe. “Who are you?!”

The girl, dressed in a muted yellow and green outfit, sat there with a bemused look on her face. She idly played with a dark purple thing that stat upon her chest. Multiple tubes connected it to various points on her body. “That, really, is the least of your concerns.”

>>111274
>pajamas with a Christmas light pattern on them.
Oho.
>bear
Of course.

>and once more Meiling managed to miss being mangled by the monster’s mitt
How long did you work at making that?

Looking forward to the rest!

Ran into a problem with the next scene. It's taking a bit to get all the stuff pounded out because of some shuffling. Give me about a week and I should have it out. (Yes, I know it's already been a week and some change. However, this scene has been completely re-written about 5 times now, mainly due to some shuffling around of story elements to make the whole thing flow better.)
So please bear with me.

Pretty good read, especially after it picked up. Try to proofread (or let someone else) proofread before posting it though, there were quite a few grammatical errors.

Meiling was flying through the air before she realized that the monster had even attacked. Her impromptu flight cut short by one of the walls rather than the great window which looked over the garden. She exhaled sharply, air exploded from her lungs, leaving her gasping as she slid down the wall. She landed with a dull thud. Through the haze of pain she managed to look up at the monster looming in front of her, once again poised to strike. She was helpless to defend herself, stuck sucking in a few ragged mouthfuls of much needed air despite the compromising position. She shut her eyes silently. She sought the strength to stand, however, her body refused to cooperate. 'So, this is it' she thought. Resigning herself to her seemingly sealed fate. With all her heart, she sincerely wished that she could have done more to save Flandre.

“Never mind her. We need to get what we were sent to collect.” The girl on the wardrobe sang out.

Flandre was hidden away at the head of the bed, ducked beneath the covers and quivering in fear. As the creature drew near, Flandre's whimpering grew louder.

The girl on the wardrobe dismounted from her wooden perch, seeming to glide across the floor. “There’s no reason to be scared,” she cooed, “Koishi’s here to take you home.”

With a swishing sound, the sheets were pulled back by the creature, revealing the small scared girl. Flandre opened a single eye, training it, in turn, on both the creature and Koishi.

“No.”

“Eh? “ Koishi drew back in shock. This certainly wasn’t the person that she was expecting. This was just some little girl! But she had given off the same reading as... “Oh ho. Oh hohohohoho! Interesting! So she had a child then. How wonderful! A whole new family to return with us. This day is even better than I thought!”

“NO! NO, NO, NO! I DON’T WANT TO GO!” Flandre screeched, pulling back from Koishi and the construct, pushing herself into the head board. With nowhere else to go, she continuously kicked back with her feet, as if she were trying to push herself through the solid wood form. “NO!” Her eyes darted about wildly, looking for some means of escape, finally came to rest upon the prone form of Meiling. The redhead, who was Flandre’s dearest friend, was lying motionless on the floor, propped up next to the window. It seemed that all the life and colour had drained away from her friend. “No...” she sobbed feebly, drawing her legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. Her face was firmly pressed against her knees as she sobbed openly. The heaving cries wracking her petit frame.

Koishi reached towards the tiny frightened little girl, speaking in soft, friendly tones, “Shhh... Don’t worry about her." She gently stroked the blonde girl's hair, "She’ll be fine in a few days or so. Remarkably strong for someone from the surface, but she’s nothing compared to you and your mother. Now, would you like to come with us? We‘ll take you back to where you belong. Back to everyone else. We‘ll all be one big family again.” A friendly smile played across the older girl's face.

“M-Meiling... G-get up... Why..."Why won‘t you get up?” The frightened young girl called out to her fallen friend. Her friend who had always seemed so strong, who had defended her so many times. Why now did she fail her? Had she done something wrong? Upset Meiling in some way? Insulted her? Why? Why? WHY?

Koishi’s instincts screamed. Throwing herself to the ground, she barely missed the beam of light that tore through the darkness of the room. The construct, however, was nowhere near so lucky. The beam reducing it to little more than a pile of dust.

“NO! NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO!” Flandre stood up on the bed glowing white waves of energy enveloping her tiny form. She stomped her foot, shook her head, her small hands balled up into fists and rubbing at her eyes, all the while screaming and crying.

“NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO!”

Koishi peeked her head up above the edge of the bed, and recoiled in horror. The girl’s powers were running berserk! If this continued for much longer... Well, it wouldn’t be pretty. As the most obvious next target of the girl’s power, Koishi needed a distraction, if even for a moment, so that she could try to reach the girl through her own powers. Cursing her lack of foresight in only bringing so few constructs with her, she pulled two small bottles forth from her pockets. She threw them across the room, shooting out two almost invisible heart shaped shots causing the bottles split clean in half. From within, a thin mist to poured out of them, quickly coalescing into the same skeletal constructs that had been in the room prior.

The creatures lurched into existence for mere seconds before Flandre wiped them out; that was all the distraction that Koshi needed. Slipping up behind Flandre, she pulled her eye away from her chest. The eyelid fluttered, but remained closed as Koishi reached around Flandre's head, sliding the purple bulbous growth in front of the young girl's face. Upon release, the object flew back towards Koishi, pressing Flandre back into the soft form.

“Now, lets’s just take a look see, shall we?”

Her arms falling limply to her side, Flandre stood there, pressed up against Koishi.

“Oh my...quite the mess in here... What have they been doing to you, poor thing...”

So absorbed was Koishi in the task at hand that she failed to notice the fact that Meiling was now conspicuously missing from the room.

--

Reisen and Remilia were engaged in a spirited conversation when a loud, shrill ring pierced the air.

“Oh my, I’m terribly sorry, Remilia.” Reisen slipped her phone from it’s pocket. “I’m afraid I have to take this call. Please forgive my rudeness.” Standing up, she unfolded her walking stick.

“Don’t worry about it. I understand the importance of calls. Really, I was afraid that it was my phone that was ringing.” They both laughed at this.

Reisen made her way to the door slowly, answering en route. “Yes?” She stepped out into the hallway, closing the door behind her. Now out of Remilia’s earshot she hissed into the phone. “What do you want? I’m in the middle of some very important negotiations.”

“I... I’m sorry, Miss Reisen. You know I wouldn’t have interrupted your meeting if I didn’t think this was important. There’s been an unidentified Class M reading from within one hundred yards of your location, highly violate as well. Eirin told me to ignore it, that it wasn’t anything important, and not to bother you with it... but it’s a Class M! And an unstable Class M to boot! Especially being that it’s so close to you, I figured it most prudent to warn you about something this dangerous.”

“I’m well aware of that particular presence, Ran.” Reisen explained tersely. “It’s also not unidentified. Given the unstable nature of Remilia’s little sister, and the fact that Remilia has her hopped up on more drugs than would go into your average pachyderm, she’s of little concern. She has occasional slips of magic, but beyond that it’s nothing to worry about.”

“No! That’s not it. It’s not a brief Class M reading, It’s a sustained Class M reading! You have to get out of there.” Panic was evident in Ran’s voice.

“...” Reisen stood there in the hallway, silently contemplating the information Ran had given her. ’Sustained? She shouldn’t be able to through all the drugs she was on.... Unless...’ She shook her head. “Damnit. I understand. Is Eirin still around?”

“No, but-”

“Go find her. NOW.”

“I under-”

“NOW.”

The phone went dead. Reisen leaned back against the door. ’This is going to be trouble.’ She thought as he temple throbbed slightly. 'Much trouble indeed.' She rubbed the sides of her head, opening her eyes slightly. A slight red glow spilled out from within into the dim hallway.

>Magical Girl Firey Moko-Tan

Hooray! f5ing like the fist of the north star. Or rather, I will once I wake up, because it's way too late for me to be up as it is.

FUCK YES
MORE

She was a mess. Limping down the hallway, her arm hanging uselessly at her side. Broken, most likely, just like two of her ribs. Two more hurt each time she drew breath, which likely meant that they were bruised. It was a miracle of some sort that she hadn’t punctured a lung. Her good hand was riding along the wall, partially for support, partially for guiding. All that drove the injured form forward was one single-minded train of thought. “I have to find Remilia... She’ll know what to do...She‘ll know what to do...”

---

Mokou jumped backwards, barely managing to avoid the crushing blow from Yuugi.

“Much more active this time, aren’t you?” The dark general smirked. “No matter, I’ll put you out of commission this time for sure.”

“You’re welcome to try. CONFLAGRATION !” Mokou’s fist erupted into the familiar flames.

The ease of the action for the opposing magical girl surprised Yuugi. “Ah, so the kitten has grown some claws! Well then! Come, test your might against the unbreakable might of an Oni!”

The two charged at each other, ready to strike.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Keine: Next time on Magical Girl Fiery Moko-Tan!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reisen: Do you want to help her or not?! Well?!

Meiling: I... I don’t... of cou... Yes.

Reisen: Good.

~~~~~~~~~~

Sanctity: Shouldn’t we go help her?

Divinity: She’s no longer Reisen’s favored pet, so I say we just leave her to soften up Yuugi. That way we’ll be able to hit her fresh.

Septette: ‘Tis an awful fate to which someone could be consigned.

Divinity: You just stay out of this. It’s none of your business.

Septette: As I see it, there is another in trouble; should not we lend a hand?

Divinity: Your funeral.

Sanctity: ...

Septette: ...

~~~~~~~~~~

Eirin: Well, well, well. This is proving most interesting indeed. I must admit, I cannot understand how you have an eye for such talent. Yet, the results speak for themselves.

Reisen: Yesh...

~~~~~~~~~~

Phoenix: Next time on Magical Girl Fiery Moko-Tan: Two’s Company.

Keine: There’s much more going on than meets the eye.

Mokou: Who will surviv--- *sound of being hit*

Kaguya: Don’t you even start with that.

>>115985
Ep 4 will be coming along in the next few days. I finally finished working out some of the kinks, so updates should come a bit faster now.

The two girls stood a good distance apart, both looking rather torn up.

"You're not..." Yuugi wheezed slightly, “Half bad, for a kitten.”

Now it was Mokou‘s turn to wheeze, “Why do you keep calling me that...”

“Even I can tell... That you’re in your infancy of power...”

“Is that... So...”
The short unspoken cease-fire over, the two prepared to resume their fight.

------------
24 hours earlier...
------------

Having been cleared by Ran as being good to go, and with the interview behind her, Mokou and Kaguya were preparing to leave the school grounds. Still clinging tightly to Phoenix, Keine approached them.

“Um... Ex-excuse me...” She began softly.

The pair turned to look, waiting for her to continue. Mokou glared slightly while Kaguya eyed the girl appraisingly.

“I don’t mean to be a bother, but if you two are leaving, would it be alright if I came with you?”

Mokou started to protest, only to be cut off by her friend. “Still a little shaken up? Alright. If the doctors have cleared you, then it’s fine by us.” Elbowing Mokou to interrupt her next protest, Kaguya continued. “Just make sure you have everything that you need, we’re not going to be coming back here for a while.”

“Th-thank you! I just have to go get my bag.”

The pair of friends watched the other girl run off.

“What the hell was that, Kaguya?”

“Can’t you see she’s still shaken up over what happened? I’m surprised that you aren’t more shaken up, really. I’d be falling apart in your position. Besides,” she shrugged, “what harm could it do?”

“Mn, fine.” Mokou turned and looked at Kaguya as if seeing her for the first time, “Actually, what are you doing here? Should’t you be in class right now?”

“Oh, well, you know... This and that and the other... School let out early because of the accident! Yeah, that’s it.”

A knowing glance was thrown at Kaguya, “Mn, if that were true, wouldn’t there be a bunch of other students here too?” Glancing over the distant crowd, it was obvious that it was made up more of local housewives and some occasional local stragglers than students, “Which there’s obviously not.”

“Tch, When did you get so observant?”

“You of all people should know that things just sometimes click for me.” Thumbing the underside of her nose, Mokou shot a sheepish grin at Kaguya. “So what, you’re playing hooky? That can’t look good on your school record.”

“For your information, I was excused. My father donated over half of their operating budget last year, so I could stay home from school every day and not be in trouble, I’ll have you know. Really, I could get away with just about anything.”

“What.”

Her hand came up over her mouth as she giggled at her friend’s disbelief. “It’s unfortunate that father felt the need to do that, but he’s such a stickler for my education. Insists that I have the absolute best. I suppose that it’s his gift to me, given how infrequently he’s around...” A sigh escaped her lips. “But, that’s not important right now. Here comes that girl you rescued.”

Keine ran up, bowing profusely, breathing heavily. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I didn’t think that it’d take this long. They couldn’t release my bag as it’s still part of the investigation. I argued with them for a few moments, but they still wouldn’t release it. I really didn’t mean to take this long. I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok.” Rolling her eyes, Mokou turned to her friend, “So, where are we heading, Kaguya?”

“I know this nice little place not to far from here we could go sit and relax at....”

“That sounds fine. Shall we?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later that night...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unable to push her damaged body any further, Meiling collapsed in the hallway. So this is all the extent to which her training would carry her. All those years under her parents, working her way up through the dojo. All that time spent every day, honing her skills. All of it would come to naught, as she was completely unable to protect that which she held dear. Tears began welling up in her eyes. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t FAIR.

No. This wasn’t going to stop her. Reaching out with her good arm, she grabbed the carpet in front of her, dragging her body along. ‘I will not give up. I can’t give up. This is for Flandre’s sake.’ That alone propelled her forward, inch by inch. Not even looking where she was going, Meiling continued in this way until a sharp poke to the head startled her.

“Ah!” both people screamed slightly.

Looking up, Meiling saw the girl who had been visiting with Remilia a short while ago. “You’re...”

“Hm?” Reisen tilted her head to the side, “You’re that girl from before... What are you doing on the floor?”

“Ah! You have to get away from here! There’s a monster. We need to get help for Flandre... I don’t know the police, Self Defense Force, something!”

Kneeling down in front of the injured girl, Reisen let her hands roam over the prone form. “Slow down, tell me what happened, in as much detail as you can.”

Meiling related the incident that had lead her here.

“Quite commendable of you... Foolish, but commendable. However, you’ve come to the right person to solve this little problem.”

“I don’t... I don’t understand.”

“Shh... You will shortly. However, I need some assurances from you first. You cannot repeat to anyone what I’m about to tell you, not even Remilia. Secondly, I’ll need you to follow my directions with out question, no matter how outlandish they may seem. Thirdly... Well, we’ll cover the third part when we get there. So, do we have an agreement? You do want to save your little friend, don’t you?”

“This... This is all just happening so fast... I don’t.... I don’t know...”

“Do you want to help her or not?! Well?! This is your only hope, isn‘t it?”

“ I... I don’t... of cou...” Meiling’s thoughts turned to Flandre. The little girl who was terrified by the attacking monsters, and was now being held by one of those monsters. “Yes.” Her face steeled in the light of her newfound resolve. “Yes. Whatever it is, I’ll do it. Just tell me what I have to do. I have to save Flandre.”

A wide grin split Reisen’s face. “Good. Good. Let me help you up, and we’ll get started...”

------------------
Earlier that day...
------------------

“That was... Fun. Thank you for letting me come along... I ho-hurk!” Keine choked when she was pulled back out of the street.

“Jeeze, Watch where you’re goin.” Mokou chided. “It’d suck to have saved you only for you to become street pizza.”

Kaguya said nothing, watching Mokou lecture the new addition to their group. She felt a small twinge inside watching the scene unfold.

---------------

“So. What’s the plan.” Parsee demanded, “And why is it going to take so long to prepare for?”

“We’ll discuss it later. Once the children are asleep, alright?”

“Hmmph. Fine then be that way.”

Yuugi sighed, opening to the door to the small orphanage that she and Parsee ran.

“LOOK! IT’S YUUGI-MAMA!” One of the children called out, causing all of them to charge headlong towards the tall blonde. In moments she was covered in several small children, trying to climb her. Yuugi just stood there laughing.

“You really shouldn’t let them do that. They’re going to hurt you one day.” Scarcely had Parsee finished saying this when an older girl, probably in her mid teens, came around the corner.

“Yuugi Mama!” The blonde girl shouted. Her plain brown dress flapped around her legs as she charged forward. Taking notice of this new invader, the children quickly vacated their places on Yuugi, as the older girl tackled the oni. Tumbling to the ground, Yuugi laughed, “Well hello to you too, Yamame.” she reached up and ruffled the girl’s tightly braided hair.

“Ah! Stop it! You’ll muss it all up!”

Still laughing, she rubbed a bit harder. Yamame slipped out of the woman’s grasp and started fixing her hair.

“Jeeze, It took me all day to get it fixed, and you’re trying to make a mess of it.”

“Ah, don’t worry, kiddo, I didn’t mess it up that much.” Smirking the oni strode into the kitchen, an army of little ones following her.

Feeling quite left out at this point, Parsee snorted and headed upstairs, leaving Yamame alone in the room.

“Do you think they suspected anything?” a small voice called out.

“Nah, but You should probably stay hidden for now. I don’t want to worry them.”

“Ok.” The tiny girl, hidden away in a teacup replied. It was worrisome to her that her friend didn’t trust those she called ‘mama’ but, in the end, it was her friend’s decision.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh yes, Mokou, while I’m thinking of it; Did you call your parents yet?”

Suddenly engrossed in the café’s drink menu, Mokou pretended not to hear her friend.

“Oh Mokou! How could you? They’re probably worried sick, if not at the school demanding to know where you’re at.”

“I... still don’t know how to work that damn thing.” Mokou cast a sidelong glance around the café.

Sighing, Kaguya held out her hand. “Here. I’ll show you.”


----------------
24 hours later...
----------------

The two combatants skidded backwards from the force of the previous blow.

“Yuugi!” Parsee moved to attack Mokou.

“NO. This is my fight. Finish the mission while I tie her up. GO!”

Wavering for a moment, Parsee decided to listen. “Fine. But don’t you die on me.”

“Not planning on it.” She smirked again.

Parsee ran off.

“So it’s just you and me, kitten.”

“So it seems.” Brushing dust off her coat, she stood up straight again. “So, Oni. Tell me something. Back then, you could have easily just crushed my throat and been done with it. Why didn’t you?”

“Not in this to kill anyone, just here doing my job.”

“Well, that may be a bit of a handicap for you, then, seeing as the other magical girls’ll have no qualms killing you.”

“They’re certainly welcome to try. I’m not one to fall that easily.”

“So I see, so I see. Don’t suppose you’ll tell me what you’re up to?”

“Nope.”

Falling back into an attack stance, Mokou smirked. “Didn’t think so. Shall we?”

“By all means.” Yuugi followed suit, rather enjoying this fight.

---------

“And then what happened?”

[ ] Meiling, now with Reisen’s aid...
[ ] Mokou and Yuugi charged at each other once again...
[ ] The trio sat in the café, talking about the events of the day when...
[ ] Yuugi, having just finished making dinner, went looking for Yamame....
[ ] Flandre, Paralyzed by whatever the strange girl had done...

[x] The trio sat in the café, talking about the events of the day when...

Ugh, timeskips all over the place. That makes the story really hard to follow.

[X] Flandre, Paralyzed by whatever the strange girl had done...

If we're going to jump, we might as well jump to the one thing we haven't seen yet.

>Ugh, timeskips all over the place. That makes the story really hard to follow.
Yeah. Especially when you consider that it's been about a month since the last real update, so previous events aren’t fresh in anyone's mind.

[X] Flandre, Paralyzed by whatever the strange girl had done...

[X] The trio sat in the café, talking about the events of the day when...

[x] Meiling, now with Reisen’s aid...

I like this sort of thing. It's not too hard to follow at all. And seeing as how this is thread 1, it's not very hard to find out what happened if you have a working up arrow, pageUp button, mouse, and/or scroll wheel.

It's amazing what technology can do!

>“Mn,
Kira.
Stop fucking using this.

I beg of you, stop. When you use this, I don't think Mokou, I think you.

[X] Flandre, Paralyzed by whatever the strange girl had done...

[X] Flandre, Paralyzed by whatever the strange girl had done...

[x] Meiling, now with Reisen’s aid...

Her eyelids fluttered a few times before slowly opening. Flandre, lying on her back, staring up at an unfamiliar sky. Slowly sitting up, Flandre winced in pain before taking a moment to get her bearings. She came to two conclusion after glancing around; This place was strange and the woman seemed to be gone now. While that didn't mean that she'd be gone forever, it was a momentary victory. Examining her surroundings more closely revealed that the ground was black and hard--like a rock or something--and there was some sort of thorny thing all around her. It almost reminded her of a rope, sort of... if a rope had spikes on it and was really hard. The thorny stuff all around her was quite rigid. Despite how hard she hit it, there wasn’t even the slightest shudder in the strange material. All around her, the briar enclosure held her like a cage or something; an almost perfectly circular clearing about as wide as twice her height. Sure, that meant that there was some room for her to move around in, but she couldn’t see any discernible exit. It reminded her of her room, actually. In many ways.

"Little one! Where are you?"

The voice echoed about, seeming to come from all directions at once. It was the scary lady again! No no no no no! Flandre didn't want the mustard lady anywhere near her. Tearing about the small space, she clawed desperately at the thorny rope stuff, anxiously hoping that she could find a way out of here. If she could free herself she could run. Run to where, she didn’t know. But it might let her escape the mustard woman and that was all that mattered right now. Flandre’s hands and arms were quite quickly covered in cuts and scrapes, blood flowing freely. Her clothing fared about as well as the rest of her. The ribbon on her dress ripped. Flandre paused a moment, looking down curiously. Eh? The red vest and skirt? Her old outfit? She hadn't worn this since... since when? She knew that she had worn it before for something, but it was all so hazy and hard to remember. This place seemed to make it hard to think. Like when sis gave her the medicine to make her better. That medicine that made her mind so slow...

"Ah ha! There you are!"

... and easily distracted. The woman had found the thorn cage that contained Flandre. Desperate to get away, Flandre started clawing at the cage. Maybe if she hit and scraped and ripped at it, it would give way. She had to get away from this woman. This bad woman. She'd hurt Meiling, and now she wanted to hurt Flandre too. But the cage was far too strong. It wouldn't give at all. Unable to escape, she simply stared at the mustard woman who was circling just outside the thorny material. Running her hand along it. peering through it. It didn’t seem to cut her like it had Flandre though.

“I wonder... Are you trapped in there, or is this here to keep me out?”

Flandre stood there, staring at the mustard woman, not saying a word. She almost didn't dare to breath. The woman had seen her, yes, but this cage didn’t seem to give way...

“Only one way to find out.” The woman walked directly towards the thorny prison.

...Not for Flandre anyway. But for the strange woman, it simply moved out of the way--as if some unseen hand pushed it aside, allowing her passage, before falling back into place behind her. She stood nearly face to face with Flandre.

"A prisoner of your own mind. Sad... Don't worry, though, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm here to help you."

"Liar." Flandre, backed into the wall opposite the woman, spit the word out with a venom that surprised herself. "That's what sis said, that's what Sakuya said, that's what the doctors said. That's what they all said. Even Meiling said it. And she's gone now. She couldn't help me either. Nobody can! Get away from me!"

Koishi was unfazed by the sharp retort from the young girl. Such bitterness at such a young age spoke volumes to the hardships that she had been forced to endure but Koishi had seen such suffering many times before. While her own actions had exacerbated the situation, unfortunate though it may have been, such was necessary to ensure a smooth extraction..

By now she should know that nothing ever goes smoothly.

“I’m sorry you feel that way.” Koishi shrugged, “As much as I'd like it, you believing me isn't necessary for me to help you." She began moving towards Flandre.

The young girl's eyes went wide with shock. Renewing her efforts at escape bore little fruit, and this other girl was bearing down on her quickly. Unsure of what to do, tears began to well up in Flandre's eyes. She couldn't escape, she couldn't stop this woman, she couldn't do anything at all. Pulling her legs up against her chest, she sobbed.

“Shhh... Shhh... There there.”

Flandre felt a hand gently stroking her hair. It was strangely warm. Through the blur of her tear-filled eyes, she saw the strange girl sitting next to her, hand gently running through her hair, cooing softly. A memory from deep inside bubbled up to the surface. There was a woman who had done this same thing... She had also sung a song... But it was so long ago that Flandre could barely recall.

“You get away from her!”
“She’s ours!”
“Hands off, bitch!”

From the ground, three sets of arms reached up, gently playing their fingers over Flandre's exposed skin, each one as black as the surface they rose from. Releasing the child briefly, the arms delivered a sharp blow to Koishi sending her flying. The thorny bars of the cage stopped her flight, and she collapsed on the ground. Through the haze of pain, she watched, helpless, as the arms used Flandre to pull themselves up from the ground. Inch by inch the appearances became more defined, more human, until they freed themselves. Glaring out from around Flandre, one clutched her around the middle and the neck, the other two each taking an arm. Except for their shadowy nature, they were indistinguishable from Flandre.

“She’s ours, and she will ALWAYS be ours.”
“So you can just butt out, you old hag.”
“We only want what’s best for her, and that’s why you have to go as far away as possible.”

As they spoke, their grip tightened on Flandre.

Koishi had seen something like this only once before--a young girl with a strong duality in her heart. The beast that had thrived there had nearly torn its host apart--and most likely would have, without Koishi's intervention. But even that monster was nothing compared to the might of these three little demons. She doubted her ability to permanently damage them, given how ingrained to this girl's very psyche they seemed to be.

“The mean woman only wants to hurt you.”
“Hurt you and make you disappear.”
“She’s no different from the others. You have to make her disappear.”
“We only want what’s best for you.”
“We only want to help you.”
“We only want to make you better.”
“Unlike your sister.”
“With her nasty medicine.”
“It doesn’t help anything.”
“This woman wants to do worse.”
“Don’t let her do it.”

Flandre’s head tilted up, her face a gross caricature of it’s previous form. Half of her face was covered in shadow--from the black forms that gripped her--the other half a maddening grin. The eye cast in shadow glowed with an unearthly light.

“Kill her!”
“Kill her!”
KILL HER!

The tiny figure, clad in red, charged at the girl in the mustard colored dress. Koishi easily sidestepped the heavily telegraphed attack, and slipped through the wall of the cage in much a similar manner as she entered. No sooner had the brier closed than it was beset by Flandre, clawing and slashing in a blind rage. Standing just outside the briar, Koishi watched as the girl’s strikes grew weaker, less frequent, eventually stopping altogether.

“What are you doing?!”
“Kill the girl!”
“Get out there and kill her!”

With a weary sigh, Flandre turned to them. “I don’t care.”

“Then...”
“You shall be...”
“Made to care.”

The forms approached Flandre again--only to be stopped by three heart shaped shots. “Just leave the girl be.” Koishi said, calling up three more of the shots. She sent them flying, causing the black forms to crumble away.

Flandre looked back and forth between the spot that the others had been and Koishi. “How...?”

“Doesn’t matter. I told you that I was going to help you, didn’t I?”

“I-”

“You think that you have beaten us?”
“You think that you have destroyed us?”
“You think that is all that it takes to be rid of us?”

The voices again. Coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Koishi and Flandre looked around in vain, attempting to identify the source of the voices.

“We are the very ground upon which you stand.”
“We are the very sky which soars above your head.”
“We are everything here.”

“And..."
"You..."
"Are..."

This time, the three spoke in unison, "Nothing!”

The three forms returned as they were before, the broken parts mending back together as if nothing had happened.
Koishi shook her head. She could strike them down a thousand times to the same end. It seemed, to her, that there were few options available.

The most complex and demanding would be to destroy everything here, except for the girl. That would likely reduce the child to little more than a vegetable, most of her mind having been destroyed by this route, though her core would still be intact. Much more simply, she could put the girl out of her misery. With how ingrained these things were, attached to her mind, body, and psyche, she’d likely never be free of them. Or maybe... No, that was impossible. Striking at the core of this thing in it's own world? Out of the question. It would be quite fatal to even attempt. Koishi wasn't going to die here, even if that meant abandoning the girl. There were too many things she had left to accomplish. But what to do? With what little time was left, she needed to make a decision.


[ ] Plan A - Destroy everything, sans the girl.
[ ] Plan B - Put her out of her misery.
[ ] Retreat - Leave the girl to her fate.

[x] Plan A - Destroy everything, sans the girl.

This probably will not work.

[x] Retreat - Leave the girl to her fate.

The two plans sound bad, and perhaps the best person for the job is someone else. I feel the key for Flan dealing with those demons is basically encouraging her to take control.

[X] Retreat - Leave the girl to her fate.

If Satori sent her sister to grab Flandre's mother, her and Flan's power must be very important to them. It won't be of any use to them if Flan's dead or lobotomized, while leaving her intact means they can come back once they have a way to stop her inner demons.

[x] Plan A - Destroy everything, sans the girl.

Cold-blooded villain option.

The core remains. Its vessel is already broken.

>>116899
>Flandre's mother
Wait, what the hell are you talking about?

>>116909
>“Eh? “ Koishi drew back in shock. This certainly wasn’t the person that she was expecting. This was just some little girl! But she had given off the same reading as... “Oh ho. Oh hohohohoho! Interesting! So she had a child then. How wonderful! A whole new family to return with us. This day is even better than I thought!”

[x] Retreat - Leave the girl to her fate.

The timeskips can be rather jarring. Id suggest to author to take things in order after Flandre scene.

>>116912
Huh. Yeah, I completely missed that. Thanks.

...Still... Koishi apparently came looking for X (Flandre's mom) who apparently looks just like Flandre. And yet, she's so easily able to think 'Oh, she must have had kids.'

So she knows that Flandre's mom must be old enough to have kids, and yet... she somehow mistakes Flandre for a person who must be of an age where they look like they COULD have kids (which I'm pretty sure Flandre doesn't)?

I mean, I know that women can be short, and all, but unless this Flandre has filled out a bit, I'm pretty sure her similarity to her mom is only in parts and traits, not 100% perfect replica (down to height, weight, body mass, development, etc.).

So either this was a writing error, Flandre is pretty well-developed, or Koishi is really of spacy and inattentive. Even the weight difference would be immediately noticeable, assuming you somehow overlooked her being scrawny as fuck.

That said, looking forward to more. Especially if it's healthy Flandre.

>>116999
I think Koishi was using a sixth sense to find her target and had not taken a good look at Flandre until she got up close. Note this line:
>But she had given off the same reading as...