Meduka 7.1: The Calm Before The Storm

[17:16] <MidorikawaMisao> >What is the year?
[17:16] <Sakata_Ginko> 10XX.
[17:16] <Sakata_Ginko> When computers didn't exist and nobody bitched about Fox.
[17:17] <Shirayuki_Akiko> Everyone rides foxes, though.
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01[17:17] <Genshuku> People might have bitched about foxes, but...they would have been bitching about actual foxes.
[17:17] <Sakata_Ginko> No, they would have been hunting actual foxes.
[17:17] <Sakata_Ginko> With foxhounds.
[17:18] <Sakata_Ginko> In any case! ON WITH THE EPISODE!
01[17:20] <Genshuku> LAST TIME: The latest incidents regarding the VOID youma(?) and the rainbow WHAT EVEN IS THAT THING were reported! Words were said about an investigation, but they were particularly hush hush about it. Eventually, the tsukaima had taken off, and with them, a majority of the magical girls...
01[17:21] <Genshuku> ...Also, Ginko was drinking. Feels like she's been drunk for a month now.
06[17:21] * MidorikawaMisao pokes the ground with their rapier.
[17:21] <Sakata_Ginko> "Nah, I'm sobered up now," Ginko said through that hole in the fourth wall!
01[17:22] <Genshuku> Oh, that's nice. Good timing!
06[17:22] * Shirayuki_Akiko opens pastebin
[17:23] <Shirayuki_Akiko> ((WHOOPS))
01[17:23] <Genshuku> ...Of course, even with that all well and said...Nezumi seems restless. "...I think the rest of them finally bugged off. Whew."
06[17:25] * Yuna_Mizuno turns to Nezumi, "Why's that?"
[17:26] <MidorikawaMisao> "Because unlike us, they're off hunting for youma."
[17:27] <Shirayuki_Akiko> "...Ouch, it kind of stings when you put it like that..."
[17:28] <Sakata_Ginko> "Another way to put it, is that they're off hunting smaller fish in the pond," Ginko spoke up. Somehow she's not drunk any more. Never underestimate the physical capabilities of a senpai! "We got bigger targets to worry about."
[17:29] <MidorikawaMisao> "But we're not strong enough to take on that... thingie!" Misao protests!
06[17:30] * Yuna_Mizuno nods, "i'm in agreement with Misao here..." Yuna replies, "I could feel my blood chill when I analyzed it..."
01[17:30] <Genshuku> "See, Ginko gets it!" Nezumi grins. "...And so does Misao, for that matter. The question is, how do we make any sort of difference even though we've only got the strength to tackle busywork?"
[17:31] <Sakata_Ginko> "We could try zerging it. Throw enough magical girls at it to exhaust it, and then go in for the finishing blow," Ginko suggested.
[17:31] <Shirayuki_Akiko> "....That sounds like a terrible idea. What about every other youma in the city..?"
06[17:31] * Yuna_Mizuno stares at Ginko, "Somehow I doubt that would work...
01[17:32] <Genshuku> "Ignoring that you suggested a suicide rush, that won't work. That thing can apparently turn magical girls into youma. That definitely would not work in our favor."
[17:33] <Sakata_Ginko> "We could raid the armory of the local national guard," Ginko threw out another suggestion. "Explosives always make problems go away if I used enough."
[17:34] <MidorikawaMisao> "I'm not sure, onee-san.  Would those things be powerful enough to even harm the thingie?" Misao frowns, then folds her arms in thought.  "Hm... uh..."
[17:34] <Shirayuki_Akiko> ".....Just...no." One person almost trying to blow up part of the city in recent history was enough, Akiko thought.
06[17:34] * Yuna_Mizuno sighs again. Ginko's ideas were sounding stupider and stupider. "Disregarding the fact that you suggested we rob the army, I doubt conventional weaponry would hurt them
01[17:35] <Genshuku> Hitomi chimes in! "That'd be nice. Only, this city doesn't have any high grade weaponry. At all. ...Aside from us, anyway. Guns, maybe. And SOMEONE might be hiding explosives, but there's definitely not enough to consider the idea of harming a youma with it, since they're resistant to the stuff. ...I checked. Good times."
[17:36] <Shirayuki_Akiko> ....Right, make that two people in recent history.
[17:37] <Sakata_Ginko> "What did you use, a grenade? You weren't using enough of it. Let's maybe try something with a bit more punch, like a Davy Crockett."
06[17:37] * Yuna_Mizuno simply locks eyes with Ginko, "I don't even know what that is, but that doesn't sound safe at all"
01[17:38] <Genshuku> "Oh, believe me, I was using enough. ...But I admit that the actual weaponry itself was subpar. As for going to get anything better...well, you should try leaving the city. It makes for a surreal experience."
[17:39] <Sakata_Ginko> "Oh, it's just something that makes a loud enough bang to level a few city blocks. Nothing special." Ginko smirked back at Yuna, then she turned to Hitomi: "What, did they surround the city with a death wall or something?"
01[17:40] <Genshuku> "It's...a lot more subtle than that."
01[17:42] <Genshuku> Nezumi speaks! "But! We've got other things to do. ...Because I know what we can do! ...Well, a few things we could end up doing, but there's at least one thing that we can do...which may or may not do anything, but it's better than sitting around."
06[17:42] * Yuna_Mizuno keeps an eye on Hitomi... There was something about her that was unsettling...
[17:44] <MidorikawaMisao> "What are you planning on doing, Nezumi-san?"
[17:44] <Shirayuki_Akiko> "Hmm, I was thinking of just hunting more void youma so Mizuno-san can analyze them for clues...Do you have anything else in mind, Nezumi-san?"
[17:44] <Sakata_Ginko> "The things that she think we should do but we aren't going to do because we were doing something else we are going to do," Ginko complained. "Jesus, girl, just spit it out already."
01[17:47] <Genshuku> Nezumi pouts a bit. "Let me have my dramatic tension, geez. ...But yeah, the plan is to eavesdrop from on the investigation of your place by what I'm assuming will be an elite team of other magical girls. ...And I kinda really wanna bring Yuna along, if only to make it easier for her to do her analysis thing. ...So she can analyze like, really hard."
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01[17:48] <Genshuku> "If it turns out the big baddie is there, then that can actually work out if we're careful, since the others would be there as a distraction. If there's other problems, say, the void youma coming out of nowhere, we might even have a battle role that would come in handy."
[17:49] <MidorikawaMisao> "... that sounds really difficult, but I guess we don't have much else to do," A shrug.
[17:50] <Sakata_Ginko> "... cloak and dagger. Not my style, but it could work. You know when this is all gonna go down?" Ginko stroked her bare chin, seemingly in thought.
06[17:50] * Yuna_Mizuno "Getting to know more about this thing would be nice..."
[17:51] <Shirayuki_Akiko> "....Hm." That wasn't an entirely bad idea, but...well. "Considering the void youma is the other main threat right now, I doubt they didn't take them into account, and honestly, we might get in their way. Not to mention, since the void youma were apparently hard enough to analyze, we aren't even sure if it's possible to get any useful information from that thing to begin with."
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[17:52] <Sakata_Ginko> "Yeah, and I got another question for you," Ginko continued after Akiko, not giving Nezumi a chance to respond, "Just how are you aware of this info?"
01[17:54] <Genshuku> "Well, uh, which info? You all said a lot of it out loud. Pays to pay attention to your surroundings!" She gives off the impression that she knows she's on her game!
[17:54] <Sakata_Ginko> "How do you know an elite team of magical girls are gonna be there?
06[17:55] * Yuna_Mizuno "She said 'assuming' there will be..." Yuna replies, "That means she's guessing..."
01[17:57] <Genshuku> "Oh, that. Well, the tsukaima implied that only 'the prepared' will do a proper investigation, and I'm pretty sure that by 'proper investigation' it means 'an organized group to kick the tar out of it'. That's how it usually goes, we've been at this for a while! ...Never get invited, though."
01[17:58] <Genshuku> "Honestly, I've never seen them fight. Might learn something?"
[17:58] <Shirayuki_Akiko> "Well, if the tsukaima felt it was enough of a threat to come along to investigate themselves, I'd assume they'd want to take the veterans with them. They don't seem to have much patience with us greenhorns."
01[17:58] <Genshuku> "And I really doubt that they'd stick their necks out alone. Hell, I don't think we'll see the tsukaima at all." The very idea of them doing something contrary to their character is amusing to her, so she cracks a smile!
[17:59] <Sakata_Ginko> "Nah, they'd bring their best tools with them." Ginko shrugged. "The problem, then, is 'where is this team' and 'when is this all going to go down'. We can't just sit around there an camp; the risk of being discovered and having to move is too dangerous. Plus, I gotta get my daily fix of sugar."
[17:59] <Shirayuki_Akiko> "Either way, we seem to have a bit of a split opinion on whether to go through with this plan or not, so...How should we settle this?"
01[18:01] <Genshuku> "See, that's the part I don't know. ...But you guys do. You all sort of gave them the location. ...And it was written down, so no one could overhear it. As for where to camp out, well, if shit goes down, chances are you might be able to see it for miles. Shouldn't be hard to find a spot. As for when...it's gonna be soon. They probably used some additional time to throw off any girls following them, since there's not really a hurry due to the delay of the report, but I imagine they'll be prompt."
[18:03] <Sakata_Ginko> "So, what, we go there, sit, and wait? somehow I think that the snarky bastard would see us coming and start dealing with us first."
01[18:07] <Genshuku> "If that happens, well, we've got a few miles headstart and seven bodies to go through, and our three will be in front of the evil slime thing since it was my idea, and they're down with my investigation being risky." The two of them nod! "I guess the first thing we should be thinking of is an escape plan, even then. We can give you an Oblivion Seed for the trouble, though!"
[18:07] <Midorikawa_Misao> "Um... th-this might be our only chance, you guys.  We can't let it just pass by!"
[18:09] <Midorikawa_Misao> "We should go there.  Yuna-chan, what about you?"
[18:09] <Shirayuki_Akiko> "...That's...quite a risk you all are taking. And you're fine with running into the youma without backup from the veterans, too? Are you sure?"
06[18:10] * Yuna_Mizuno "Hmm?" she replies, "It would be suicidal to go against this thing ourselves... We know what it's capable of... and we know it's not even a youma..."
01[18:10] <Genshuku> "...Uh, Yuna, the goal is to not be anywhere near that thing unless your power is really short range. ...It isn't, right?"
[18:10] <Sakata_Ginko> "... I'm not convinced of the idea, but Yuna's the one executing here. To be honest, we're all glorified body guards for her." Ginko straightened up and stretched. "It's up to her, really. I'm in if she's up to it."
01[18:12] <Genshuku> "...Also, the rainbow one and the void ones could not look anymore different. One doesn't look like anything, the other looks like something, and that something is weird."
06[18:12] * Yuna_Mizuno 'The question then becomes..." Yuna says, "Would be if we want to actively look for it, or wait for it to come to us?
01[18:13] <Genshuku> "...Did you fall asleep? Alright, let's review. We have a vague idea as to where it is, that would be the location you saw it last. We want to wait at a distance from that location! We're aiming for neither of these things to happen. If it's near us, we're in trouble. If we're looking for it in an attempt to encounter it ourselves, we're insane."
[18:16] <Shirayuki_Akiko> "...That's probably for the best. If an engagement breaks out, I think it'd be better if the veterans ran into it first, and not us. They'd be able to handle it better than we can."
[18:16] <Midorikawa_Misao> "Uh.. y-yeah, same here!" Misao nods in agreement.
[18:18] <Sakata_Ginko> "Worst come to worst, you can all hide behind me. Then we can high tail it out of the area." Ginko shrugged. "Let's go."
01[18:21] <Genshuku> "Chiyoko will stand with you! She's good at the whole 'not getting hit' thing. ...And also good at getting hit. Lead the way to a place a few miles away from the one in question!"
01[18:21] <Genshuku> "...We may or may not need to transform to be timely. I don't actually know where we're going!"
[18:21] <Sakata_Ginko> "Yeah, there's an apartment building somewhat close there. It's about 8 stories high. We can just get on top of that. I know where it is."
[18:23] <Shirayuki_Akiko> Akiko nodded, and transformed. "Alright, let's go."
01[18:23] <Genshuku> Chiyoko herself is mildly uncomfortable with the idea of facing off against something terrifying...but, well, Ginko being prepared to get in front is a lot easier to handle! They all transform and take off!
[18:24] <Sakata_Ginko> The building itself was built like 50 years ago. Given everything that went on around the area, it was kind of a miracle that it was still standing pretty much intact. The roof of the building was flat with a waist-high edge around it. Air-conditioning, ventilation, communication and disaster response equipment littered the 60 by 80ft area.
01[18:25] <Genshuku> ...A few things are apparent to people in both parties during the flight. Namely, Yuna notices Chiyoko looks kind of familiar, and by 'kind of', she means 'um, she looks exactly like that person she saw in her vision'. Which happens to be radically different than what she actually looks like, which is kinda weird to everyone really.
01[18:27] <Genshuku> You've seen Nezumi transform, and Einya herself is dressed in some strange garbs herself...though one of her eyes seems particularly weird, almost surging with power. ...Nezumi, however, notices things herself. "...You dressing light, Akiko?"
[18:29] <Shirayuki_Akiko> "...Um. I-It's a long story," Akiko mumbled while looking at the ground. A long story that wasn't anywhere near one of her best moments, to be exact.
06[18:29] * Yuna_Mizuno was waiting for an opportunity to bring uip the fact that she recognized Chiyoko
[18:29] <Sakata_Ginko> "She went through one of her hormonal crises," Ginko glossed things over as well as she could. Did she notice Chiyoko? Yes. Did she want to say anything? No. Not until Yuna said something, of course.
[18:30] <Midorikawa_Misao> "Um... yeah, let's just leave it at that."
01[18:30] <Genshuku> "Seems about right. There's things worth prying into, and there's things that aren't." She nods in understanding!
06[18:32] * Yuna_Mizuno positions herself next to Ginko, "Hey Ginko? You remember how I told you about my vision a while back?" she asks
[18:33] <Sakata_Ginko> Ginko used her body to veer off course slightly, separating from the main group. "Yeah," she said, in a voice that was barely loud enough to be audible to Yuna only. "Are you gonna bring it up?"
06[18:36] * Yuna_Mizuno shakes her head, "I'd rather not bring it up NOW... we've got quite a team together..."
[18:36] <Shirayuki_Akiko> "...?" Akiko looked at Yuna and Ginko in curiosity. What were they whispering about..?
[18:37] <Sakata_Ginko> "I agree," Ginko nodded. That was for the best, of course, given their situation. Once this whole shenanigan is over, though, the four of them would have to huddle. "Focus on what you need to do. We'll deal with this one at a time."
01[18:39] <Genshuku> With the four leading the way veering off course...it wasn't long before they thought it was the actual course. That and the whispering prompts a strange look from Hitomi, but not much more than that!
01[18:41] <Genshuku> Eventually, though, they make it to the tall apartment building!
[18:43] <Midorikawa_Misao> "This is it... onee-san's home..." Misao takes a look at the team's headquarters.
[18:43] <Shirayuki_Akiko> Akiko landed on the roof, and started scanning the horizons to look for signs of either the youma or the tsukaima and others. "Well, we're here...Do we have any way to detect the youma if it's getting close?" This rooftop was a good vantage point, yes...and it was also a good place to be spotted!
01[18:46] <Genshuku> From a DISTANCE, anyway. The height makes it a lot easier to view from a distance...though if they're just going to sit around like a buncha fools, of course they'd be spotted. Nezumi speaks! "Hitomi's got a good sense for this stuff. ...Though let's be sure to peer over from an angle, in case that thing can see really well. ...Uh, point to the place we're actually supposed to be looking at. Big city!"
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[18:47] <Shirayuki_Akiko> "Around over there...right?" Akiko pointed at the direction of Ginko's apartment complex, looking over at her friends for confirmation. After all, she was kind of blacked out for the entire duration of that encounter.
[18:48] <Midorikawa_Misao> "I think... yeah, that's it!" Misao nods earnestly.  "I hope nothing bad happens to that team..."
01[18:52] <Genshuku> The team of three are sure to end up on spots on the roof that allow them to see well, while also obviously obscuring their position in case someone decides to see long distances! "Yeah, if we lose some of our best, that's bad news for everyone. From here...we wait. ...Hopefully we won't need to get snacks or anything."
06[18:57] * Yuna_Mizuno "And I'm not a mage, so I can't conjure up any food... Any food I make would be a..." she pauses for a half second, "light snack"
01[18:58] <Genshuku> Hitomi's groaning might shake the roof...but both Nezumi and Chiyoko chuckle a bit!
06[18:59] * Midorikawa_Misao giggles.
02[19:06] * Tsukishiro_Miyamoto ([email protected]) Quit (Quit: Tsukishiro_Miyamoto)
01[19:06] <Genshuku> While there's some exchanges every now and then, they all look upon the same place. The home that remains unsafe to return to, under the threat of an abomination. Watching. Waiting. Hoping this wasn't just a glorious waste of time, really.
[19:08] <Yuna_Mizuno> [ If anything, it was a nice chance to get to know the other magical girls better ]
01[19:09] <Genshuku> They're particularly friendly folk, honestly! Chiyoko's quiet, Nezumi is...well, she's bold, and Hitomi is, while putting off a cranky exterior, not all that bad herself.
01[19:10] <Genshuku> ...but eventually, Nezumi perks up. "...I think I see em. ...Hard to see, but...group of four little specks..."
[19:11] <Midorikawa_Misao> "Huh?  Where?  Tell us!"
[19:11] <Shirayuki_Akiko> "...Four? Just four?" Akiko moved over to the same side of the roof Nezumi was, and looked. "Are those the ones investigating? Did they split up or something?"
01[19:14] <Genshuku> ...You honestly have difficulty making out whatever it is that she's seeing, but it becomes clear that her responding to 'where' is hard, for they've begun to scatter and fly about the area at speeds that make it difficult to keep track of them in this distance. Ginko and Akiko are the ones that notice them midflight! ...And then they all get really close to each other...which is about when Yuna and Misao notice the bunch! It's impossible to make any details out, but they're definitely flying.
06[19:15] * Yuna_Mizuno can't tell if they've seen them yet... if they have at all
[19:16] <Midorikawa_Misao> "Those are magical girls... I think."
[19:17] <Shirayuki_Akiko> Akiko ducked back down behind the...railing or something. "Well...It looks like they're prooobably going to find us before any of us finds the youma. Anyone thought of a good excuse to be here?"
[19:18] <Midorikawa_Misao> "We're on the lookout for a youma!" Misao replies to Akiko as she leans over to see the four unknowns.  "Say, do you think they'll be cool?"
[19:19] <Shirayuki_Akiko> "......Right, if you tell them that they'd probably kick us out on the spot. Or get mad. Or both."
01[19:22] <Genshuku> ...And somehow, as planned, they actually get to see the youma make a real appearance from inside their very apartment room, far away as it might be. Even from a distance, while those girls might be dark specks from here, the youma appears quite colorful and dazzling, glowing even more from what seems to be sheer power of some fashion. The rainbow youma makes a proper(?) appearance!
01[19:24] <Genshuku> WHAT HAPPENS FROM HERE? FIND OUT AFTER A COMMERCIAL BREAK, I GUESS.
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01[19:47] <Genshuku> The commercial break is immediately followed by the 'next time on'. Little bastards in charge of the TV.
01[19:47] <Genshuku> NEXT TIME: oh no.......