AN: Stuff happens, etc etc. My very late New Year's Present to you all.
Disclaimer: Meduka Meguca is the property of Coobie. Everything here that doesn't belong to me, such as CoD, belongs to whoever rightfully owns them. That is all.
II. I JUST WANTED TO TALK
"Here you go," A warm smile on her face, Mami Tomoe handed a struggling cat over to an unassuming short-haired girl. It wasn't exactly a normal thing to do for a magical girl, getting cats out of trees and whatnot. That isn't to say, of course, that she wouldn't do that as a typical good person, though. In fact, she didn't even have to go out of the way to do good things, she just happened to be passing by.
Mami didn't normally frequent this part of town most of the time. Why was she in the area, then, passing by and getting cats out of trees?
"That was a close call, too."
Well, it wasn't exactly getting cats out of trees, either, but that was a close enough story. After all, it seemed to be the most common problem cats had, that tendency to end up getting stuck in trees.
"Too close," the girl nodded, cuddling the cat, which struggled to struggled to survive suspected suffocation. "Thank you so much!"
"Don't mention it," the golden musketeer smiled back, "Just being a decent person. Anyway, I should be going. Can you get home by yourself?"
"Yeah, my house isn't that far from here."
"Great! Hope you two get home safe, then." Mami prepared to leave, "It would be terrible if either of you got run over."
"Oh, she actually lives by herself. Wanders around town a lot," the girl set the cat down, the feline making her way into a narrow alley. A truck passed by, blaring its horns aloud, sending the little thing scrambling faster into the dark space, far from the scary noise. Not bothering to repeat what she'd just said, the girl instead continued on, "I just see her a lot is all."
"Well as long as you're careful," Already, the blonde senior was scanning the area for the reason she came to this part of town, "Prevention is better than cure, especially if the thing needing a cure is getting hit by-" Another loud truck honked by.
She wondered for a moment if someone up there had a dislike for cats. Probably not. After all, if they did, then this cat would have been hit ages ago. Never mind all the other cats that tend to get hit by oncoming vehicles.
"Anyway, take care of yourself."
With a quick wave, the golden musketeer had gone, leaving the girl to shrug and continue on her merry unassuming way. Whoever that mysterious blonde senior was - and it was a shame, she'd forgotten to ask her name - she was a very good person. The kind you'd probably want to hang out with if that was alright with her.
Now, with her little good deed for the day done with, Mami continued with her mission: investigate the rumours of a magical girl who was out stealing grief seeds. Or maybe witches, depending on who was telling the story.
She'd been to other towns already, asking the local girls about anything they could share. Much of the information was second-hand, with only a handful being first-hand. Natsuko from Kuroyama, Aya from Shibuya, and Hikari from Odaiba.
The first-hand information was consistent, at least. Live witch abductions, by a magical girl dressed up in what she could best figure out as a trench coat. This was a deduced sort of consistency, as all three of them described her as being dressed up as some character from a prominent series or film, namely "Neo", "Hei", and "Shana".
Of course, Mami had the insight to make sure to ask for a specific description, but in all cases, they just stuck to these names, and the poor senior had to google the ones she didn't particularly know. It was rather sad, that she was already trying to help them with their witch problem, but they were being rather uncooperative when they didn't really say much outside of those characters, and… well, the trench coat, when she really prodded them.
Mami rounded a corner, en route to the next possible lead. So far, this one was bound to be the most reliable one on her list, mainly because, well, Chiba Mayuri was just that kind of person. Possibly one of the oldest girls Mami was familiar with, Mayuri had long retired from the game, instead keeping track of witch activity in the region and tipping other girls off, in exchange for a finder's fee: one in every ten grief seeds her clients discovered.
Her operation was, however, low key enough that she was only something of a rumour to most other magical girls, begging the question then, of how Mami knew that she was for real.
The answer was really a simple one: Mayuri had served as something of Mami's crutch in the earlier days. No, not as a mentor. Mami had never seen that senior fight. More of a charity job, who just happened to be around when Mami got caught in that accident that led to her contract.
Probably saw her as another client, a fresh client, even, considering she saw the actual contract making take place. Kyubey didn't really disagree, and confirmed that yes, Mayuri was a good resource. And so, early on, Mayuri had taught Mami the basics of witch tracking, and merely watched her do the fighting.
In a way, the Witch Spotter, as she was called, had reinforced Mami's superior solo performance, discouraging her from relying on "teammates" and other such distractions. She would never fight alongside Mami, only watch, critique, and give feedback. She would scoff at how Mami coped with this enforced isolation, mocking the names she chose for her attacks, and the silly Sailor Moon-esque speeches she would make before starting a fight.
Well, the latter, she ultimately outgrew. But "Tiro Finale" was just too awesome to abandon.
In the end, they parted on amiable terms, once Mami could clearly fend for herself. Unfortunately, her plan backfired. She trained the neophyte so well that Mami never had to rely on her for tracking witches down. They still kept in touch, interestingly enough.
Except... Someone was standing in the way when she rounded that corner, temporarily blinded by the light of the morning sun.
All she could make out was a silhouette, but that nondescript shapelessness was all she needed to see. It was extremely loose clothing...
The figure with the solar backlight behind it spoke. "Whatever you're doing, you're just wasting your time."
Mami squinted and held a hand above her eyes like a visor, as they adjusted. Sure enough, it was a trench coat. Which meant that standing before her was none other than the mysterious magical girl who was out stealing witches from hapless girls just fighting to survive. The golden musketeer smirked. "Heh. That's funny. I could've sworn my efforts have really paid off. You're here, after all."
"You didn't find me. I came to you." The girl took off her sunglasses and began wiping them with some cloth. Unfortunately, with the sun shining so brightly, Mami couldn't get a good look at her eyes, or even her face, for the matter. She might as well have been talking to a shadow.
"Exactly." Mami started circling around to get a better look, hoping that this girl would at least be cooperative enough to let her see her face. By the time they'd switched positions, however, the sunglasses were back on.
'Trench', as Mami decided to call her, since she didn't seem to be so keen on introducing herself, had at most turned to a side. Talk about a lack of respect. "No. I didn't come here because your investigation was attracting my attention. What you're doing is far from unique, and you're just another in a long line of girls who're trying to find me so they can get 'their' grief seeds back."
Mami casually flipped her hair. After all, the sun was behind her now, so she didn't need to shield her eyes. "Actually, I just wanted to talk."
"... and girls who 'just want to talk'." It was difficult to tell whether she had actually originally intended to say that from the beginning, or only cropped it on after the golden musketeer had given her a reason that was opposite of her expectations.
"Is my wanting to talk still a waste of time?"
Trench's eyes narrowed. Well, at least Mami could see a hint of eye narrowing past the sunglasses' temples. And probably both eyes, even though she could only see part of one. It was a sensible deduction. "Depends on what you want to talk about."
"For starters, why are you stealing witches?"
"My 'victims' don't want for grief seeds. I give them fresh ones in exchange."
Mami sighed. That was such a childish defence. This girl was clearly missing the point of her question. It wasn't that magical girls were losing hard earned grief seeds, it was... Well... Actually, yes, it was about that. But if she was giving them fresh replacements anyway - another thing the interviewees left out; it was as if they wanted her to butt heads with this girl. Was that it?
She shook her head. That was still beside the point. Okay, so they received grief seeds in compensation, but that was another bothersome concern. Few magical girls were willing to part with grief seeds, moreover fresh ones. And she couldn't simply write it off as an equivalent exchange. Why take a live witch over a grief seed?
"Fine. But that doesn't answer my question. Why are you stealing witches? Where are you taking them? If you're keeping them locked up in a barrier somewhere, I suggest you just put them down. You're playing with fire, do you realize that?" And just as importantly as her suspicious behaviour, if she was keeping live witches, this meant there was the possibility they would escape to wreak havoc again.
"Why should I tell you anything about what happens to the witches we take? I don't answer to you."
"You don't." The golden musketeer decided to play the "magical girl of justice" card. Odds are she wasn't one of those types - girls fighting for justice like Mami were a great rarity, based on the ones she knew - but who knows? Maybe this one was different. "But you do answer to the people you have to protect from witches. That's the duty we take up in exchange for our wish."
"Hmph." Trench adjusted her glasses and crossed her arms, turning to face Mami with a snappiness and precision that implied military training. "You sound just like someone I know. But I'll tell you what I told her: I protect them, but I don't answer to them."
"Then who do you answer to?" Mami pressed on with the interrogation, trying to squeeze anything out of this girl. Any sort of hint, any clue, would be fine. So long as it got her a step closer to the missing witches. "Yourself?"
"We are the Imperative. That is my sole authority."
Mami raised an eyebrow. Imperative? What was that? Some sort of organization? A vow of some kind? The latest internet buzzword? A brand of TV dinner pack? "Imperative?"
"Perhaps I didn't make myself clear," The dark haired girl slowly, almost methodically, cracked her knuckles. Only now did Mami realize that she was wearing black gloves to go with the trench coat. Clearly, she had something of a flair for the dramatic, especially walking around town dressed like that. It seemed to be a miracle that nobody else seemed to notice her... Almost as if they were in their own little world. "So I'll say it again. I don't answer to you. I am under no obligation whatsoever to tell you anything about what I'm doing. Besides... If I did tell you, how would you react?"
"How do you think I'd react?" She just threw the question back. This little mind game was becoming rather interesting, actually. How to poke a hole in this girl's head, see how she thinks, gauge her obstinacy...
"I don't make broad assumptions, especially of people I've just met."
She really was taking the safe route, wasn't she? But there was just something bugging the gunslinger at this moment. "You could always just mysteriously disappear, you know. If you really don't want to tell me anything other than 'You're wasting your time', then why are you still here? Are you sure that's all you wanted to say?"
"That's right."
"Then why did you play along for this whole time?" Mami chuckled. "Ah, I see. I'm guessing you were probably looking for an opportunity to say something cryptic but cool-sounding, like 'We are the Imperative', wooooo~~" She wiggled her fingers as if trying to invoke mystery and wild mass guessing.
Because really, throughout this whole discussion, that was about the only useful thing Trench had said; more important than knowing someone who sounded just like Mami... Probably more important, at any rate. Mami would have to look up other magical girls who sounded just like her. At least in the future, when this was solved.
Indeed, she seemed to be leading the golden musketeer to ultimately ask the question of what authority she answered to. Was this girl setting up a fake mystery of some kind? Mami thought to herself for a while... April was still a ways off, so this couldn't have been some elaborate prank... Unless of course that was a prank so elaborate that it would take a year to set it up.
But then again, who uses real live witches for pranks?
Trench only answered with a low, throaty growl that she did without showing any teeth. As well as a twitchy eyebrow that was practically screaming, in a Dirty Harry voice, "Are you making fun of me, Goldilocks?"
"Or is it that this 'Imperative' is just some ruse you're making up to confuse people who're investigating you?"
"I might lie about things," Trench raised her chin, "But I would never lie about the Imperative."
"Oh really?" Mami's voice became teasing now, eyes narrowing and mouth shaping up into a sly smirk. "Then why are you being so defensive about it~?"
Just as quickly as the words left the blonde senior's mouth, Trench raised her right arm and snapped her fingers. A chain - tipped with a painful looking meat hook - shot out from a ripple behind the mystery girl, and past Mami's cheek, missing it by mere inches, before crashing into the pavement. "That was your warning shot. Stop wasting your time. If the white rat has nothing on me, what makes you think you'll find anything?"
If she was shaken by that sudden move, Mami was at least very good at hiding the fact. Still keeping up that smirk, she only held up her fist in response, sticking up one finger for each point she answered. "One, his name's Kyubey. Two, I've already found something out, so the point of your question is moot. Three... You need to take a chill pill. Or maybe anger management. What if people saw that?"
"That is not my concern." The chain disappeared. "However, it seems that I really can do nothing to dissuade you from pursuing me. In that case..." Trench turned about and started walking down the alley. "Just watch yourself. What you might discover... will most likely not be to your liking."
Mami didn't follow. No, she'd stretched that girl's patience enough. Thanks to the evidence, it was clear that if she probed any more, she might have suffered the same fate as that slab of pavement. For now, this "Imperative" was enough of a clue for her. Or was it? She still didn't know if it was an organization, a vow, a search term, or some kind of food brand. For now, she'd list that down in order of likelihood: which in this case was, well, organization, vow, buzzword, and food brand.
Sighing to herself, the golden musketeer decided to continue up the road, to her latest lead's house. Although now, she wondered... What was the point of asking Mayuri for information regarding Trench, if she already got something straight from the horse's mouth? Well, you could never discount a good information source. Mayuri was always well informed about witches, so it stood to reason that she would also be well informed about, or at least have some extra knowledge on, Trench and her activities. It might not have been on the Imperative, but if she could get to know something about Trench, something more, then that was always worth the visit.
Even before she could go around the last corner to Mayuri's house, however, she spotted yet another figure looking back at her from across the street. The denim shorts and light blue jacket were a lot more familiar, however, particularly the deep red hair and the smell of pleasant confectionery. Said figure was in the process of eating a cone of Belgian waffle - though in Belgium there is no such term, and waffles are instead named by region, making this a wholly American invention - with one hand, while the other hand held a second cone. A second round? Or a peace offering?
Mami raised her hand and waved, the girl only smirked as she crossed the street, only to be interrupted by a speeding truck blaring its horn... Apparently that same truck that scared the cat earlier.
Now with that little distraction out of the way, the girl in the blue jacket resumed her crossing of the street, and handed over the untouched cone of Belgian waffle. "No, it's not for what I said last time," she muttered between mouthfuls. "It's to get you to shut up and listen while you're eating."
And how could she say no to a free waffle? Assuming a cheery disposition, Mami accepted the gift with all grace and prepared to eat, but not before saying, "It's good to see you again too, Kyoko."
Kyoko Sakura waved it off as an aside, not really something to be bothering with. After all, it wasn't like she wanted to be working with this dumb blonde. No, it was more like she was forced to by either bizarre circumstances beyond her control, or, a conspiracy of people including Kyubey and at least two magical girls, who decided that it would be a great idea for them to work together. "Anyway, I'm just here cuz I heard ya been looking for a certain magical girl..."
"Word does travel around fast, it seems." Mami nodded as she started to eat the offered waffle. "Are you looking for her too?"
"You bet your ass I am!" Kyoko almost squeezed her waffle out in her visible anger. Fortunately, she remembered another important principle being that she respected food. The waffle was safe. "That Matrix reject stole my witch! And you're gonna help me find her!"
Mami only smiled in response. "I certainly appreciate your enthusiasm. Alright. Let's work together on this." She held out her hand. "Friends?"
Kyoko stared, eyes narrowed, at the proposed handshake almost as if it was some kind of alien creature to be dissected. After what seemed like maybe five minutes - seemed being the key word here. It was probably a lot shorter - she freed her according hand from the waffle and took the shake. But there was something she wanted to make clear before anything else... "Partners."
She wasn't here to kiss and make up, no matter what Natsuko would prod her to do. Besides, if she really wanted these dumb blonde Mamis, then she should come and get them herself, not expect Kyoko to do all the hard work of... Okay, putting in a good word for Natsuko wasn't that hard of work, but the principle was there.
Mami nodded, possibly somewhat disappointed at the result. Nevertheless, she should have known better than to expect too much, since they hadn't made up at all since that day. "Partners, then..."
This was going to be quite a rough partnership.
[INQB Log - Terradate 11697.6]
Simulation data has been uploaded and simulated identity, heretofore known as "Player Avatar", has been acquired. "Username" prompt has been filled, Player Avatar is heretofore known as "qbR00Lz".
qbR00Lz has been included in a small online hub known as a 'match'. The match will generate a pre-constructed simulated environment, heretofore known as a 'map', in which the included player avatars will interact, primarily via virtual violence. The currently selected map is named "Crackdown", which upon scanning resembles the human idea of a "drug lab". Parameter set of the 'match' is currently identified as "Team Deathmatch", in which players are divided into two factions or 'teams', and the primary objective is to virtually kill the members of the enemy team more times than they can kill your members.
Based on an analysis of various real life parameters, cross-referenced with the program code, we have selected a class that we have deemed ideal: 'Overwatch', armed with a rapid-fire high-capacity primary weapon, and a similar rapid-fire high-capacity high-explosive secondary weapon. This will provide us with the highest degree of damage potential, and allow us to earn the best score.
The list of player avatars in this specific match is as follows:
DEVGRU
whothehelldoyouthinkiam
SayakaRoxxorz
misterCheif
NanoHAH!
GroundhogGirl5.56
Black Talon
qbR00Lz
Frickachu
d00medGai
SailorUsagi
TummyPAWNCHer
Time limit is set to "None", meaning this match can theoretically continue indefinitely, limited only by the stamina or interest of the players.
We will be testing this program until the match ends. More likely than not, it will last less than 12 hours, based on the IP traces of the players here.
The match is beginning. Setting all observational parameters to monitor all activity within the present unified network field.
Game start.
A white Overwatch trooper with red highlights spawned on the map, along with four companions. None of them really knew each other, but most understood the general rule: kill anyone who wasn't one of them, and do it as well as possible. Frickachu, a Sniper, tried to take the leadership role, blurting out in-game pre-recorded radio transmissions to the rest of his team mates.
Why he did this instead of just using his mic to put things into his own words, nobody really knew why. Most acknowledged this leadership role, except for the Recon d00medGai, who simply remained quiet and went to do his own thing.
qbR00Lz was rather straightforward about his approach, and decided to tag along with TummyPAWNCHer, an Assault class, who was taking the shortest route in the direction of the enemy spawn point. This player was certainly single-minded about how to approach the match. Unfortunately, it seemed that SailorUsagi had no idea what he was doing, or even how to play the game, as for some reason, once people started moving, he actually backpedalled into a wall... and kept doing so.
Well that wasn't too important, qbR00Lz figured. After all, he and TummyPAWNCHer had just taken out SayakaRoxxorz, qb having flanked him with the grenade launcher and TummyPAWNCHer taking the kill with the assault rifle. This victory was short-lived, however, as qbR00Lz soon saw his team mate explode into a gory mess thanks to NanoHAH!'s rocket launcher. Over the open channel, a high-pitched shriek of satisfaction drowned all other chatter as the voice of a young girl screamed, "HAH! Punch THAT!" So even little girls played this game. That was very interesting.
Considering the best course of action, the white Overwatch trooper decided to beat a tactical retreat to base, where, inexplicably enough, SailorUsagi was still backpedalling into a wall. Before he could offer advice, however, qb's screen turned red and he soon received the message that he had been killed, thanks to GroundhogGirl5.56's light machinegun. Two seconds later, SailorUsagi also died.
"Hmmm..." qb thought quietly to himself. It seemed the skills of the players, and the odds of winning in this match were heavily lopsided in the opposing team's direction, as his team included some computer illiterate moron who didn't even know how to move forward. Frickachu at least managed to score a headshot against misterCheif, and whothehelldoyouthinkiam was appropriately doomed by d00medGai, apparently because the former charged with a katana from a long range, while the latter made short work of him with an assault rifle.
His respawn timer expiring, qb appeared once again in their base and prepared to move out... except he couldn't, as GroundhogGirl killed him once more. Apparently, she was camping behind some crates at the back of the Black Talon base. How troublesome.
To say the least, however, this match was shaping up to be... rather interesting. Yes, he would be playing this game for a while. There was no doubt about that. This match... was just the beginning.
AN: Okay, I'll admit that I only spent an hour researching CoD and watching a couple of gameplay videos. Which is why I kept which specific CoD it was vague, and maybe added some weird features that weren't exactly CoD. And yes, technically, the only thing Kyoko actually does in this chapter is eat waffles, but I did deliver on the waffles, right? And Mami finally shows up, so all's good. Technically this chapter was more about Mami, in a way.
So! Up next! Kyoko and Mami consumate their partnership with more waffles! Coobie continues his plot to doom the world by the power of CoD! Matrix trolls more megucas! Will we find out just WHAT the Imperative is? Ehhhh, probably not just yet. But keep reading, and we will! Eventually!
Just remember to read and review!
