Yess!
<I think it might not like that. We'd better scatter.>
Keep CC active. Help Tooru get away, unless Asha already has that covered. If that occurs, help Mina get into the air instead, after she gets the bomb from Tooru. Flee roughly rightwards, over/through the familiar, to the far side of the building Sasha's hiding behind, trying to get behind cover again.
If I have to attack the familiar, try to smash that tie and knock it a good few feet away. Or smash all the torso, really.
Second body moves in to attack this turn, as it should be within jumping range now. Aim to get high and do some smashes. If the bomb is coming in, let go and drop down to try and hopefully avoid most of the blast.
You waste no more time watching the witch, and turn back to the others, still safe behind the wall. Mina's arrived, and takes Tooru's bomb, the redhead still sitting against the wall, clearly exhausted. You rush over, looking over the girl worriedly; part of her face is grotesquely swollen, and she's grimacing in clear pain. She starts to get up on her own, but you don't have much time;
you reach forward and bodily pick her up, throwing her over your shoulder before turning on your heel and sprinting off at top speed. Tooru squawks in indignation at first, but quickly stops struggling, and yells at Asha to take a different path.
[Joy]Meanwhile, your other body charges out onto the frozen lake, stumbling on the slick surface and falling to your hands for a moment before recovering and making a beeline directly towards the witch. She doesn't seem to notice you, her outline looking like she's facing back towards the other girls, and you spare a glance in the same direction. A moment later you see Mina rising above the ruins, her large colorful wings painfully obvious among her drab surroundings. You look back to the witch, and lean harder into your run, lowering your body in preparation of leaping--and then she takes a step forward, moving the leg you were targeting. You curse under your breath and turn, nearly losing your balance and falling down as you try and adjust to her movement. You could
feel it shake the ice when she stepped forward, and can see cracks start to form.
The witch continues to walk forward, her movements relatively ponderous but still covering a massive distance with each step. Each one reverberates through the ice, making you stumble, but you're still gaining on her. In the corner of your vision you catch a glimpse of Mina again, flying directly towards the witch, who starts to crouch down--in preparation to lunge forward, you realize moments before she does exactly that, flapping her enormous wings once to launch herself forward, head splitting open to reveal a massive maw ringed with jagged edges. In the blink of an eye, Mina disappears between the witch's jaws. You watch as the witch lands heavily, falling onto all fours, her arms punching through the surface of the ice near the shoreline, sending twin plumes of water shooting skywards around them. Within seconds, you're within range, and you leap high into the air, club raised above your head and gripped in both hands.
[Bravery]
You aim just below the witch's left hip, screaming and smashing your club into it as hard as you can as you pass just under. You're immediately rewarded with a veritable explosion of glass shards as the powerful strike connects with her body, though the impact sends you spinning head-over-heels through the air. You hit the ice hard, rolling a few times before you've regained enough of your sense of direction to return to your feet and get a chance to observe your handiwork. There's a huge semicircular hole in her left hip, almost enough to sever her leg, and much of the ice under her and around you is now covered with glittering rainbow dust--but you can already see the shifting mosaic of glass segments starting to close the hole, undoing the damage you did.
You look towards the witch's front, her arms are still embedded into the frozen lake, two glowing pillars rising out of the water to support her body. You can't see her head from where you're standing, though, and you can't see Mina anywhere. You don't know if she could have survived being eaten, or if it's even possible to rescue her if she did. But you can hurt the witch, that much is clear.Tooru panted, in both equal parts exhaustion and pain at this point. She nodded dully, heaving herself into motion again at Alida's words; her telepathic response was a formless, tired-sounding (feeling?) affirmative. She handed the talisman to Mina, hoping the girl was mobile enough to get the bomb onto the witch. The redhead very nearly slapped herself in an effort to regain focus; she had to pay attention, had to make sure the bomb went off on time. Pressing the talisman into Mina's hands, she spoke breathily. "It should stay like it is until I tell it to blow up. Just make sure it goes towards the center of the witch and I'll set it off. I believe in you, Mina!" And with that, she dashed off, with Alida's assistance and waving at Asha to get moving too.
Tooru hands the bomb over and gets ready to set it off when it seems to be around center "mass" on the witch. She tries to set a path that splits from the others, but meets up at the next patch of cover, and suggests Asha do the same.
She just gets carried along with Alida, over the girl's shoulder. Yells at Asha, and Asha takes a different path. They probably
don't make it all the way to Aleksandra's cover, since the witch stuff is happening first.
You hand the bomb off to Mina, trying to reassure her that she can do this, before you start to get to your feet. As you do, you feel Alida suddenly lift you up into the air and throw you over her shoulder, the rough motion aggravating your injuries and making let out a pained cry. You
want to respond to her aggressive treatment, but hold yourself back as she carries you off. Instead you shout at Asha to follow, but with a different path, and then turn your attention to the witch, expecting to have to tell Alida when to dodge any attacks. But no attacks come; instead, the witch seems to focus on Mina as she takes to the air, flying in the opposite direction from you. You look to your right, seeing Asha running parallel to you and Alida, a safe distance away. She's actually overtaking you both, probably because she's not being weighed down. To your right, there's more of Mina's illusions, jumping up and down and waving their arms in a blatant attempt to attract attention to themselves.
When you look back at Mina, she's flapping hard, gaining altitude as she flies directly towards the witch. You prepare to detonate the bomb, hoping that you can see when she drops it from this distance. She starts to dive, and you watch carefully for any motion of her arms that might indicate when she drops it--and then the witch suddenly surges forward and, just, she's gone, just like that. You freeze in place, utterly stunned as you watch the witch fall back down, landing heavily on all fours, her arms punching straight through the frozen surface of the lake. You still have some sense of a connection to the bomb, you can tell that it's intact and that you can blow it up, but it occurs to you that if the bomb is intact, Mina might be too.
And if she is alive, but didn't drop it, the bomb will kill her too.Mina took a few deep breaths. She was in pain, but she still functioned. It would have to be good enough. She took the talisman from Tooru and nodded. "Everything's sore, but I can still fly! Right right. I can do this. I can do this!" she said, preparing to take off.
<Try and keep it's attention off me! I'm going for it!> she said over telepathic link, and took off into the air. She could do this. She had to do this, there wasn't a choice in the matter.
Take the bomb. Try and bring it to the witch - maybe a roundabout path once it's attention is focused on the others, to keep it from aiming at me? Have whatever illusions I have left be as distracting as possible. Let's hope that I've got this flying thing down (although if it ends up needed, a change for stabilization... all the marbles and all). Once I manage to get the bomb going to the center of the witch, bolt because I do not want to be near it when it goes off.
(Other suggestions? This is basically all I can think of.)
You gingerly take Tooru's talisman from her, carefully holding it close to you with one hand. The redheaded girl looks terrible, her face swollen and grimacing, but you can still hear determination in her tired voice. You nod and reassure her that you can do it, just before Alida hauls her away. You take a deep breath and gulp nervously, before crouching down and then launching youself directly into the air, spreading your wings wide and flapping twice before transitioning into an awkward glide.
[Joy][Creativity]The witch looms in front of you, enormous even at a distance, clearly focused on you and the other girls. You bank hard to the right, flying low over the river moments later, focusing on the illsions you've left all around, trying to make them attract the witch's attention however they can. You start to panic when you realize that it's not working--though it's hard to tell
where the witch is looking, you see her take a couple steps to turn and stay facing you, and you're flying in a different direction than the other girls are running. You grit your teeth and start to turn back towards her, flapping hard to gain altitude. If you can't come up from behind her, then maybe you can drop it from above.
The witch takes another step towards you, her apparent size increasing even as she crouches low. You're a little above her now, and you start to level off, still clutching Tooru's talisman close to your chest, your halberd held close to your other side, ready to be thrust or thrown forward if necessary. You pass over the lake, moments away from flying above the monster, fingers tight around the bomb, and then the witch beats her colossal wings once, and you can't react in time to dodge.
It happens too fast to process what even happened; one moment you were preparing to drop the talisman, the next her head is just entering your sensory range, your eyes telling you that she's a solid wall an infinite distance away, while your senses tell you the truth: her jaws are open, and her mouth is two parallel walls made of unending glass shards. You scream in fear, reflexively curling into a ball, your wings protectively wrapped around you as the world on all sides becomes a mosaic of glowing stained glass. Then she bites, and there's only a brief moment of pain as tens of jagged blades instantly tear your body to pieces, mercifully killing you in the same stroke. You're still conscious, your ring-shaped soul gem undamaged, your right hand still mostly whole and gripping your halberd, and you can sense that Tooru's bomb is similarly intact. But you can't escape, you can actually
sense the witch's body now, but you're too far inside her, you can't even sense where her exterior surface is. Just... a whirling storm of faux-solid glass, shifting and flowing like a liquid around you. Your body, major parts still intact, is acting as an anchor for several large pieces, which themselves are partially shielding you from the veritable blender around you, but your body is dead meat; you can't move it to escape, even if you knew which direction to fight towards.
Your thoughts suddenly return to the talisman, less than a foot away from your soul gem, from you. If Tooru detonates it now, you will die.In her hiding spot, Aleksandra takes a moment to try to collect her thougths and grasp the current situation.
So this was the so-called "witch". More than the evil magician in a broom she had imagined, this abominable monster seemed to be beyond comprehension. The shock of seeing Alida die had temporally desensitized her, but she could feel herself close to panicking again.
She considered checking how many bullets did she have left, but almost immediately dismissed the idea. Whatever that thing was, it was clear that shooting wouldn't help. Worse, she might hit another of the girls again.
All she could do to help was to stay out of the way and hope that the girls manage to defeat the witch. She felt useless, but at least the others wouldn't have to risk themselves to protect her yet again.
Asha... Everyone... Please don't die.
Peek out of cover and try to see what's currently going on. What can I see from my hiding spot?
You sit with your back against the brick wall, hugging your grandfather's rifle to you tightly, shivering in the cold air. Not far ahead of you, a wall of green flowers rises out of the ash, promising a better hiding place, but you'd still have to run through the open to get to it. And above that open space, two more skeletal unicorn-angel-
things are slowly dancing to music which stopped long ago. To your left, there's a door, but you saw even more of the skeleton familiars above the building when you ran here, and you don't want to attract their attention. That's assuming the door doesn't lead back into the flooded tunnels, but there's probably even more monsters down there, and the other girls
definitely wouldn't know where you are if you went back down there. You shouldn't have separated from Alida and Asha, even with your gun you're defenseless.
Especially against the witch herself. You're not even sure if the magical girls
can defeat that monster.
You take a shuddering breath, trying to calm yourself. Just sitting here and hoping to survive isn't going to get you anywhere. You have to be brave. You start edging closer to the edge of the wall, and peek around just barely when you're close enough. You immediately spot the witch, still standing on the frozen lake, now next to the giant ice hill and looking down at some buildings near the shoreline. A few seconds later you spot Alida running towards you with Tooru slung over her shoulder, apparently wounded. Both of them are still a fair distance away, and you don't see Mina, or Asha. You try not to think about that. You try very, very hard, but your mind doesn't listen to you, and you keep watching, desperately hoping to catch a glimpse of the other girls. After a moment, you do spot one: Mina, you think, now with angelic bird wings that are allowing her to fly...
towards the witch, in the distance.
A moment later, you shriek as you're pulled back away from the edge, and spin around to see--Asha. Asha pulled you away from the edge, and she's okay. Everyone's still okay. You let out a deep breath, relieved, and let go of the rifle with one arm so you can hug her. She returns it warmly, then pulls away and holds both your shoulders, looking over you with a worried expression. After a quick inspection, she gives a confident nod, then tells you to stay hidden, at least until Asha and Tooru get here.
((Next update Saturday 23rd.))Soul Gem: Glowing with a shadowed light.
Form and location: Medallion, pinned to her left breast.
Age: 14
Hair Color: Salt-stained blonde.
Health: Fine!
Inventory: A magically-lengthened club, tied to her arm with one of Asha's ribbons, both bodies have one. Also, Tooru!
Totem: A fishing club.
Stats:
Bravery: Talented~
Joy: Skilled!
Innocence: Amateur...
Purity: Amateur...
Mercy: Skilled!
Creativity: Cursed ;-;
Love: Cursed ;-;
Abilities:
Mobility Lvl2
Close Combat Lvl3+1
Totem Manipulation Lvl2
Berzerker Lvl3
Painless Lvl2
Effigy Lvl1 Active; Cheap cost per turn!
Soul Gem: Glowing with a warm light.
Form and location: Ring, worn on her left ring finger.
Age: 13
Hair color: Ashen
Health: Wet, ashy, and with a bunch of glass and gashes in her right hand. Has a fair bit of living clay on her, mostly her clothes and right arm.
Inventory: A short rusty metal shiv, broken off from a longer piece, and a brick.
Totem: A Ribbon. The one her late sister wore.
Stats:
Bravery: Skilled!
Joy: Cursed ;-;
Innocence: Cursed ;-;
Purity: Amateur...
Mercy: Talented~
Creativity: Amateur...
Love: Skilled!
Abilities:
Mobility: Level 3
Close Combat: Level 2
Totem Manipulation: Level 1 (+1)
Heal and Steel: Level 2 (Active; Next attack rolls on Mercy)
Soothe: Level 3
Flagellation: Level 3
Memento: Level 1 (Given to Aleksandra)
Soul Gem: Glowing with a dull light.
Form and location: Ring, worn on her right index finger.
Age: 14.
Hair Color: Bright green.
Health: Very dead.
Body Modifications: Two large and colorful songbird wings, split into many pieces.
Inventory: A halberd and Tooru's outburst bomb... kinda. Does it count as being in your inventory if it's in your hand, but your hand is no longer attached?
Totem: A halberd.
Stats:
Bravery: Amateur...
Joy: Skilled!
Innocence: Amateur...
Purity: Skilled!
Mercy: Cursed ;-;
Creativity: Talented~
Love: Cursed ;-;
Abilities:
Mobility: Level 2
Close-Combat: Level 2 (+1)
Regeneration: Level 2
Sixth Sense: Level 3
Semblance: Level 2
Projection: Level 2 (Active; maintaining a bunch of Alida and Tooru illusions; maintenance cost 1/6th Major)
Soul Gem: Glowing with a shadowed light.
Form and location: Necklace, worn around her... neck...
Age: 13
Hair Color: Bright scarlet.
Health: Has a bunch of shallow cuts across her back, and the upper right third of her face is severely swollen, blinding her in the right eye.
Inventory: One paper talisman, ready for throwing
Totem: Ofuda talismans, primarily thrown as manabolts.
Stats:
Bravery: Cursed ;-;
Joy: Talented~
Innocence: Skilled!
Purity: Amateur...
Mercy: Cursed ;-;
Creativity: Amateur...
Love: Skilled!
Abilities:
Mobility II
Mana Bolt III (+I)
Regeneration I
Totem Manipulation II
Invigorating Passion I
Outburst II
Duet with Reality II
Ward: Glowing with a foolish light!
Age: 12
Hair Color: Black.
Health: Scared and hiding.
Inventory: A cute blue ribbon tied into her hair. She's wearing Alida's coat, now soaked with water, and wielding her grandfather's AK-47.
Stats:
Bravery: Skilled!
Joy: Skilled!
Innocence: Talented~
Purity: Amateur...
Mercy: Cursed ;-;
Creativity: Cursed ;-;
Love: Amateur...
Aleksandra and Asha are at the red X mark to the upper right, on the east side of that building.
Alida and Tooru are at the yellow check mark a bit to their west.
Mina is inside the witch's head, which is somewhere around the north side of the jagged colorful thing which isn't even vaugely proportionate to the witch.
Alida's second body is below the witch's right side somewhere near the legs.
Mina's illusions, still draining soul, are scattered all over the place.
Red dots still don't actually reflect the exact positions of familiars, they just exist to show that there's familiars all over the place, and also because I didn't think to put them on their own layer, and they're therefore difficult to remove from the map.
Author
Topic: Pumsy's Seeds - A ~MAGICAL GIRL~ game inspired by PMMM (Read 148946 times)