Überwelt 2

[22:09]	`GM	One day turns into another. As everyone wakes up in their own homes—curiously unaffected by the collage of bizarre imagery—the events of last night might seem like a dream. They once again become all too real as they soldier off to school and the waking dream takes them once more. Not exactly a nightmare, per se, but… Definitely not kosher.
[22:09]	`GM	The school is currently awash in a motif of harsh industry: walls and furniture are composed of steel and rusty iron with rivets in abundance, and the lights are dim and hum like an itch you can’t scratch. A faint smell of oil and coal permeates the air, and machines grind and stamp in the distance, echoing ominously through the hallways. The other students and faculty are dressed in drab coveralls, steel-toed boots, and hardhats. They don’t seem to be aware that any of this is happening…
[22:10]	`GM	The girls are currently all in Geometry class, scattered about the desks. The otherwordly “Fluffy” wanders through the room like a stray dog, similarly invisible to everyone save the touched girls, and allowing half the room at a time to be normal.
[22:12]	Dizzy	doesn't know what to think of everything, but seems oddly comfortable with her surroundings.
[22:15]	Fluffy	reads some of the Geometry posters and such on the wall. It seems rather bored with them.
[22:16]	Miaka	was originally going to spend the day in class reading up on her magical girl manga, but having encountered all this factory stuff, she's been hesitant to put her guard down all day by sticking her nose in a book. She's taken a seat near Dizzy for the sake of having someone nearby who 'knows' what's going on.
[22:20]	Dizzy	sits idly, tapping the back of her pencil on her desk.
[22:24]	Miaka	...hey. Just to make sure, you're seeing all this, right?
[22:25]	Dizzy	turns back, snapped out of her thoughts.
[22:26]	Dizzy	Hm?
[22:26]	Fluffy	climbs up onto Dizzy's desk, interested in more human conversation.
[22:26]	Miaka	The machines and factory and stuff. You see it, right?
[22:28]	Fluffy	sees these things, but it gets yelled at when it interrupts a conversation. This is to be avoided.
[22:30]	Dizzy	nods.
[22:31]	Miaka	...I wonder if there's anything we can do to stop it.
[22:31]	Miaka	stares at 'Fluffy' in an unnerving manner.
[22:31]	Dizzy	Probably, but the question is knowing what.
[22:32]	Miaka	Well, this all did start after /this thing/ showed up.
[22:32]	Fluffy	answers unhelpfully from the back of its mind.
[22:32]	Fluffy	"The ways things are are how they are... They've already been changed."
[22:33]	Fluffy	"You must, change with them..."
[22:33]	Miaka	Doesn't mean they won't change back if we get rid of /you/.
[22:34]	Fluffy	backs away and hops off the desk.
[22:35]	Fluffy	"I don't, I don't want to die. I thought, you were supposed to protect me...?"
[22:35]	Miaka	keeps her eyes on it as it scurries away.
[22:35]	Miaka	Why? What's so important about you? How do we know you're not the entire reason behind all this?
[22:35]	Dizzy	And why are you telling us that now?
[22:36]	Dizzy	keeps her gaze trained on Miaka as she speaks to avoid drawing too much attention.
[22:36]	Fluffy	"I... I don't, know... It's all in my head, but I don't know how to... get it out..."
[22:36]	Miaka	I have an idea...
[22:37]	Miaka	thinks an very unsettling thought.
[22:38]	Fluffy	"Please don't blame me... I don't, think it's my fault."
[22:38]	Miaka	Oh yeah? Prove it.
[22:38]	Miaka	crosses her arms and stares at Fluffy.
[22:39]	Fluffy	doesn't understand.
[22:39]	Fluffy	"Ehh? H-how?"
[22:39]	Miaka	Prove it's not your fault. Do something, anything, turn the school back to normal or something!
[22:39]	Miaka	is probably getting a little loud at this point.
[22:41]	Fluffy	Teacher Dean: "Keep it down back there; SOME of us are learning in this room."
[22:41]	Miaka	jerks up.
[22:41]	Miaka	A-ah... sorry!
[22:42]	Miaka	quiets down sheepishly, then turns her gaze back at Fluffy.
[22:42]	`GM	[He keeps an eye on that general corner of the room for a while, but its his philosophy to not focus on one or two troublemakers when there's still 28 others not making trouble]
[22:43]	Fluffy	"I can't, I don't know how to do any of that. I'm just... here. Like you."
[22:45]	Fluffy	wants to help, but either can't, or won't.
[22:45]	Miaka	If you can't do it, then tell us how WE can.
[22:46]	Fluffy	picks its brain for something they can use...
[22:48]	Fluffy	"When... when you fight, you will grow stronger, find things that can make you stronger. The stronger you get, the more you will be able to find..."
[22:48]	Dizzy	Maybe it's got to do with that whole 'changing with the surroundings' thing.
[22:48]	Fluffy	has no idea if that means anything, but it looks up hopefully, hoping that it will!
[22:48]	Miaka	So we have to fight like we fought that thing last night.
[22:49]	Miaka	...that doesn't help us at all if we don't know where those things are!
[22:50]	Fluffy	repeats a line it said last night, even though it is of no help.
[22:50]	Fluffy	"Enemies are everywhere, you'll know them when you see them..."
[22:50]	Miaka	...
[22:51]	Miaka	Man, you are the worst magical girl pet ever.
[22:51]	Miaka	starts ignoring Fluffy and turns to Dizzy.
[22:51]	Miaka	So what do you think?
[22:53]	Dizzy	I think we might be on the right track, but we don't have a concrete answer yet.
[22:55]	Dizzy	thinks for a moment.
[22:56]	Dizzy	Right now I think all we can do is wait, but keep thinking about it.
[22:56]	Miaka	I don't want to wait, not when things are like this...!
[22:58]	Miaka	ends the conversation feeling anxious and itching for some kind of course of action.
[22:59]	`GM	[But wait they are forced to do. Though the school is bathed in the look of steel, everything ELSE about it is business as usual, as strange as it may seem. And so one class moves into another, until the lunch bell rings and the girls are awarded a small respite.]
[23:04]	`GM	[The lunchroom is a mass of dull and dreary colors save for the island of normality around Fluffy. However, in the midst of the lunchroom crowds, Dizzy notices something...]
[23:08]	Dizzy	notices someone else who seems unaffected by the... strange theme to the surroundings. Someone outside the fluffy creature's usual range. Odd... she nudges Miaka and points, though she still tries to keep things subtle.
[23:09]	Miaka	...?
[23:09]	Miaka	looks over where Dizzy's pointing
[23:09]	Rika	Sitting in the corner of the room, Rika looks up from the sandwich she's holding. ...Well, well, well.
[23:10]	Dizzy	uses another gesture to tell Miaka to follow her, and heads over to this person while thinking how to introduce herself.
[23:10]	Miaka	H-hey, wait!
[23:11]	Miaka	gobbles down the rest of her sandwich then scrambles after Dizzy.
[23:11]	Rika	A bubble of normality...? ...And it's coming this way. ...Another one of those creatures?
[23:12]	Miaka	hears the last line of that.
[23:12]	Miaka	...wait, another one? You mean, you've seen this thing before?
[23:12]	Fluffy	does not have any idea what's going on; it's too short to see over the crowd!
[23:12]	Dizzy	smiles, as things seem to be getting somewhere.
[23:12]	Miaka	points over at Fluffy.
[23:13]	Miaka	looks and notices that Fluffy is blocked from view, so she picks it up by the scruff and holds it up in front of the new girl.
[23:13]	Rika	looks at the presented creature.
[23:14]	Fluffy	squirms and does not like this!
[23:14]	Miaka	couldn't give a used fig what 'Fluffy' likes.
[23:14]	Fluffy	"What's happening? Why, why?"
[23:15]	Rika	"...Something like it, yeah." She acknowledges.
[23:15]	Miaka	's eyes widen and she drops Fluffy, suddenly very interested in the new girl.
[23:16]	Miaka	Hey! Are you a magical girl like me?
[23:16]	Miaka	has that otaku twinkle in her eye.
[23:17]	Dizzy	, for the moment, lets Miaka do the talking to see how it goes.
[23:17]	Fluffy	is being tossed around like a meaningless plushie! It didn't see Rika outside of its own aura and has no clue what the big deal is!
[23:17]	Rika	"...What."
[23:18]	Rika	stares flatly at the geeky girl.
[23:18]	Miaka	Well, you know, have you fought any monsters yet?
[23:18]	Fluffy	is somewhat angry and confused! But Miaka gets mad when it starts asking questions... It does not like Miaka when she's mad.
[23:19]	Rika	looks down at the dropped animal.
[23:19]	Fluffy	is being looked at.
[23:19]	Rika	".....Yeah." She admits, after a long pause.
[23:20]	Miaka	has a wide smile on her face now, feeling a sense of relief as if she had just surfaced for air after being underwater for the past day.
[23:22]	Rika	is growing gradually more annoyed with this girl. Th' hell's up with her?
[23:22]	Fluffy	sees Dizzy not talking, and tugs at her pant-leg.
[23:23]	Fluffy	"I don't understand. Is this new girl important?"
[23:23]	Fluffy	has not really been following Rika's conversation.
[23:23]	Miaka	...you have no idea how happy I am to find someone that might actually know what's going on. This stupid monster-thing has been /completely/ useless.
[23:24]	Miaka	sits down next to the girl.
[23:24]	Rika	"So was th' other one." Rika says. "Think they don't know any more than they admit."
[23:25]	Dizzy	sits down herself, nodding once to the creature before turning to pay attention to the adjacent conversation again.
[23:25]	Fluffy	is feeling rather snubbed. But at least it's not getting shouted at.
[23:26]	Miaka	So... what happened to yours? We're considering getting rid of this one and see if we get any answers that way.
[23:26]	Rika	GLARES.
[23:27]	Rika	"...Were you, now."
[23:27]	Dizzy	interjects.
[23:27]	Fluffy	feels very scared right about now.
[23:27]	Dizzy	Not quite, but it did get on our nerves.
[23:27]	Miaka	What? It looks enough like a squeaky toy that you can't help but wonder if it'll cough something useful up if we just squeeze it hard enough.
[23:30]	Dizzy	Point is, we haven't learned much from it. Hate to be a bother, but is there anything you can tell us?
[23:31]	Rika	"...Just hurt something that can talk and think, on the off chance it might have some information, huh?" She glares at Miaka for a long moment.
[23:31]	Rika	shakes her head.
[23:31]	Miaka	That's not just it!
[23:31]	Rika	"They're in more danger than you are, you know."
[23:31]	Miaka	I think it's the whole reason all this is happening!
[23:32]	Fluffy	is starting to inch itself to the other side of the tabletop. It thinks of running, but the sea of people around is rather intimidating.
[23:32]	Miaka	Everything was normal before it showed up last night!
[23:34]	Rika	"Yup." Rika agrees, mildly. "Before those little guys showed up, we couldn't see a thing." She looks around her, pointedly. "Most still can't."
[23:34]	Miaka	What do you mean 'see'? You... you don't mean...
[23:35]	Miaka	gets a chill down her spine as she connects the dots.
[23:35]	Miaka	...how long has it been since you've met one of them?
[23:36]	Dizzy	leans in the slightest bit, interested in the turn the conversation has taken.
[23:37]	Rika	"Two days." Rika answers. "Tuesday."
[23:38]	Fluffy	is now following the conversation, and notices a hole in it.
[23:38]	Fluffy	"Wait... You, met someone... like me?"
[23:38]	Rika	smiles, dryly.
[23:38]	Fluffy	points to itself excitedly.
[23:39]	Rika	"Yup." She nods, "Not a bad kid, really. Not all there, admittedly, but it sounds like you aren't much better, huh?"
[23:40]	Fluffy	looks at Rika, a little confused at the question. But it presses on anyways.
[23:40]	Fluffy	"Wh-where? Where is it, the one like me?!"
[23:41]	Fluffy	looks around Rika's seat, expecting to find it hiding under the table or something.
[23:42]	Rika	"...Gone." She says, quietly.
[23:43]	Fluffy	looks at her, and doesn't understand.
[23:43]	Fluffy	"Gone...? Gone, gone where? I, I want to find it! Please!"
[23:43]	Rika	reaches out and pokes it in the forehead.
[23:44]	Rika	"Thwock." She says. "Gone. For good."
[23:45]	Dizzy	Inspiring.
[23:46]	Fluffy	takes a while to connect the dots.
[23:48]	Miaka	Oh dear.
[23:48]	Miaka	Well... what happened after that?
[23:48]	Rika	shrugs.
[23:49]	Miaka	is still curious about what happens if it dies.
[23:49]	Rika	"It was too strong." She says, bitterly. "So I had to run."
[23:49]	Miaka	...where is it? Far from here? Maybe we can fight it together.
[23:53]	Dizzy	turns to Miaka.
[23:53]	Dizzy	Maybe, once we know what it is we're doing.
[23:53]	Rika	"...'s not too far." She muses, "...Three of us might be able to take it."
[23:55]	Fluffy	blurts out another pointless line it remembers.
[23:55]	Fluffy	"Kill them... or they kill you."
[23:56]	Miaka	Well, we need to fight.
[23:56]	Rika	"Yup." Rika nods. "'s how it is."
[23:56]	Miaka	...but you're not a magical girl yet.
[23:56]	Miaka	looks at Dizzy.
[23:56]	Rika	stands.
[23:57]	Fluffy	looks at Rika as she stands.
[23:57]	Fluffy	"Are you going somewhere...?"
[23:57]	Miaka	stands up as well.
[23:57]	Miaka	We're going to go fight that thing.
[23:58]	Rika	"Well," She says, "I wasn't really planning to stay the rest of the day anyway." She stretches.
[23:58]	Dizzy	And... what about me?
[23:58]	Miaka	You should try transforming.
[23:58]	Fluffy	looks at Dizzy.
[23:58]	Fluffy	"Believe you can fight, then you can fight."
[23:59]	Rika	grins widely.
[23:59]	Dizzy	That simple? Hm. Alright.
[23:59]	Rika	"Probably not right here, though."
[00:02]	Miaka	Yeeeeah... transforming here is bad. Let's head outside.
[00:03]	Dizzy	stands, starting to walk towards the outside.
[00:05]	Fluffy	"Isn't... Wait, isn't your school important?"
[00:05]	Rika	"Nah." Rika waves a hand. "Dunno why I even bothered today, really."
[00:06]	Miaka	This is more important! We have to save... well... the world I guess?
[00:06]	Dizzy	There's something about this that... intrigues me.
[00:13]	`GM	[The three slyly exit the school and walk off-campus, heading over to Rika’s neighborhood where she initially encountered her opponent. The industrial world motif stays with them for a time, blackening the sky with coal, but as they turn onto Rika’s street they notice a change.]
[00:13]	`GM	[Steel and iron shift with every step into… pasta? Yes pasta, cooked and uncooked, in all its many starchy forms and colors. The sky is now a pale cloudless yellow, but at least it beats coal smoke.]
[00:14]	Rika	slows.
[00:14]	Rika	"....We're close."
[00:15]	Miaka	Ok... so we should transform now. Let's see if I can do this again...
[00:15]	Fluffy	looks at the streets paved with lasagna. It looks edible! But sadly, it is trapped within a normal world where you cannot eat asphalt.
[00:17]	Rika	"Little guy...you should be careful." Rika says, making for the area beyond his influence to transform. "'S Not safe for you."
[00:18]	Miaka	tries to focus and transform... but nothing happens.
[00:18]	Miaka	...?
[00:18]	Miaka	Umm...
[00:18]	Fluffy	remembers Rika's story, and nods its head nervously, backing away and trying to find a good place to hide.
[00:19]	Miaka	stops to think, then gets an idea.
[00:19]	Miaka	Ah, this'll work! Ahem...
[00:20]	Miaka	closes her eyes and raises her fist in the air!
[00:20]	Miaka	FOR THE EMPEROR!!
[00:21]	Dizzy	goes over it in her head. If you think you can fight, then you can...
[00:23]	Miaka	enters her transformation scene. Fire wreathes her spinning nude body, conveniently censoring any naughty parts as she spreads her arms, allowing segments of her armor to fly in from off-screen, joining together one-after-another with a series of resounding clanks, first her torso, then her arms, then her legs.
[00:25]	Miaka	clenches her fists and curls up as her rifle appears strapped to her back and she spins to face forward, opening her eyes just before her helmet falls and seals shut with a hiss, allowing the scene to zoom out to reveal her standing tall with her fist raised, the view of Earth from space in the background.
[00:29]	`GM	[From over a nearby fence made of penne rigate, a sudden cluster of thin yellow tentacles slash like whips at the newly-armored Miaka!]
[00:30]	Miaka	is so enamored in the rapture of her very own transformation sequence that she's caught quite unawares, unable to guard against the sneak attack!
[00:36]	`GM	[Wet noodles are amazingly adept at putting dents and gouges in futuristic magical space armor!]
[00:36]	Miaka	is knocked backwards, leaving a crater in the lasagna road as she's left on her back.
[00:37]	Miaka	Owww-! Hey guys! A little help here?!
[00:38]	`GM	[The fence bursts open, and a horrible Non-Flying Spaghetti Monster appears! It walks on a cluster of oversized elbow macaroni like a spider, attached to a bulbous torso of tangled spaghetti. Two long long “arms” stretch out from the torso onto the ground like cats ‘o nine tails. Its “head” is lumpy and misshapen, but by utilizing the many different shapes Semolina has to offer the visage of a humanoid face can vaguely be seen.]
[00:38]	Dizzy	thinks about it with some force, now convinced it's possible for her to transform also. In a much less elaborate sequence, her clothes come to be replaced by a dark blue dress with a red trim while she now has a metallic 9-iron in her hand.
[00:42]	Rika	is suddenly holding a massive bardiche, clothes now replaced by loose pants, and a sash is holding her new, loose shirt closed across her front. Her long, loose sleeves hang down, and she has a determined look on her face.
[00:46]	Miaka	scrambles for her weapon. First she reaches for her gun, but after realizing that it's probably not going to do much against a mass of noodles, she goes for her melee option... THE CHAINBLADE.
[00:45]	`GM	[The monster wastes little time in whipping at the damaged Miaka again!]
[00:47]	Miaka	unsheathes her sword with a screaming WHIRRRRRRRRRR of spinning metal teeth and meets the whips with a series of slashes of her own.
[00:50]	`GM	[The whip-arms experience minor shredding at the tips from the defense, but retract relatively unharmed. The monster moves back a little, each step making a distinctive clack-clack-clack.]
[00:53]	Miaka	sheathes the sword as she stands up and pries herself out of the impact crater, and goes for her rifle, quickly aiming and firing off a few strafing rounds.
[01:00]	`GM	[A few strafing rounds is the understatement of the day. Her plasma bullets find plenty of sweet spots on the pastafarian, breaking legs and putting large holes in its body. It wasn't expecting that!]
[01:03]	Rika	grins a vicious grin, leaping at the creature with her axe. "This time...!" She strikes a blow with all of her strength.
[01:09]	`GM	[The creature reaches out its tentacled arms to try and entangle the blade, but there's too much momentum on it already!]
[01:11]	`GM	[The creature reaches out its other arm as well to soften the blow, but it still makes a large gouge in the body! It starts to "bleed" strands of spaghetti all over the place.]
[01:13]	Rika	"...You die for sure!" She finishes, bringing the axe back around, momentum insufficiently diminished to stop her.
[01:18]	`GM	[It can't react in time! The bardiche, fueled with MAGICAL FURY, powers through the congealed body of the beast and cleaves its head in two!]
[01:21]	`GM	[The spaghetti monster staggers around randomly for a few seconds before collapsing on the ground, twitching a bit but most definitely NOT a threat.]
[01:22]	Dizzy	, who had been twirling an orb resembling a golf ball in the fingers of her left hand, relaxes and lets it fade away.
[01:23]	Miaka	steps forward, looking down at the monster from her vantage point about 8 feet overhead, and gets ready to bring her heel down on its head to finish it...
[01:25]	Rika	thumps her bardiche's haft against the ground.
[01:25]	`GM	[As the creature stops twitching completely, it suddenly begins to shrink slowly and lose its color, becoming whiter and whiter!]
[01:25]	Rika	"Tch. There."
[01:25]	Dizzy	Fascinating...
[01:26]	Dizzy	leans on her 9-iron using both her hands.
[01:26]	Miaka	stops with her foot hovering over it, watching as it shrinks down.
[01:28]	`GM	[The shrinking and whitening continues until, after about half a minute, all that is left of the monster is a pure white orb, no bigger than a cue ball. It emits no light of its own, but is so COMPLETELY devoid of any color that it's very chilling to look at.]
[01:28]	Rika	strides forward and scoops it up.
[01:28]	Miaka	What's that?
[01:29]	Miaka	cranes her head over to get a better look.
[01:29]	Dizzy	I'd guess something we want, don't you think?
[01:29]	Dizzy	moves over at the same time.
[01:29]	`GM	[It is surprisingly light. Unnaturally so, in fact, as if it weighs nothing at all.]
[01:29]	Fluffy	calls out from behind a bush of ruffly pasta.
[01:30]	Fluffy	"I, I don't hear anything... Is it over?"
[01:30]	Rika	"'S over, little guy."
[01:31]	Fluffy	pokes its head out from under the bush, still cautious.
[01:31]	Fluffy	"Are you sure...?"
[01:31]	Rika	"For now, at least."
[01:32]	Miaka	We should go find another one of those. I can take another one.
[01:33]	Rika	"There are a lot of them." Rika says. "All over the place."
[01:33]	Fluffy	approaches the crew cautiously. It notices that Rika has something in her hand, but can't see it from this angle.
[01:33]	Miaka	So what are we waiting for?
[01:34]	Rika	stores the little orb in her sleeve.
[01:34]	Fluffy	"What are you looking at? What's that you got there?"
[01:34]	Rika	"Hm?" Rika turns to the little creature. "This?"
[01:35]	Rika	produces it from her sleeve, and holds it up so he can see.
[01:35]	Fluffy	looks at it intently. It seems to know something about the strange sphere...
[01:36]	Fluffy	"That... that's..."
[01:36]	Fluffy	mumbles something or other, in awe of its whiteness.
[01:36]	Rika	waits patiently. Rush it, and it might lose its train of thought.
[01:38]	Fluffy	"The... the, beacons... Find them, so, so they can find you..."
[01:39]	Fluffy	"The enemies... they take them from you, and you take them from them..."
[01:40]	Fluffy	shakes its head.
[01:40]	Fluffy	looks at Rika.
[01:40]	Fluffy	"Do you know what that means? I think I'm supposed to know... but I don't."
[01:41]	Fluffy	closes its eyes and shakes its head again.
[01:42]	Miaka	Bah. So useless.
[01:42]	Fluffy	"But... But I know, we need more of these. They have... answers, in them. Somehow."
[01:42]	Miaka	So, let's go and find another one of those things so we can get more of those orb things.
[01:45]	Dizzy	Already, hm? Impetuous.
[01:45]	Rika	rolls her shoulder.
[01:45]	Rika	"I'm not against it." She says. "This was a disappointment."
[01:46]	Miaka	Then ONWARD!
[01:47]	Miaka	leads the way down the road, leaving footprints in the lasagna pavement as they go.
[01:48]	Rika	props her bardiche over her shoulder, and begins to stroll more casually after Miaka.