A Magical Anomaly

Chapter 9

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Choice Made:

[x] Check the warehouse, it could be nothing. But it could also be something. You'll need a way in though… Being the sneaky villain could be rather fun, maybe through a window or perhaps the back door is unlocked… the place doesn't seem to have been used in a while from a glance. (Story action) (Quiet action) (++Time passes)

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Effects:

* - (Story action begun)

* - - (Entered the Warehouse)

* - - (Entered Quietly)

* - Time Passes

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The… thing… this feeling you have, makes you stop in your tracks.

Something whispers, again and again, or maybe its many things whispering.

It’s… not all the same phrase. But you get the feeling that the warehouse means something…

Looking at it again, you notice how rundown it seems… and its a little odd now that you notice that.

The other warehouses are far better maintained… Not all perfect, but definitely in better form then this.

Something itches in the back of your head.

A feeling of… wrongness…

Something clicks.

And you come to an odd realization…

When you don’t focus on the warehouse, your vision seems to almost… glance off it. As though it weren’t important, as though it was just a normal warehouse.

Well, if that wasn’t suspicious, you don’t know what was.

You glance to Elly and she raises an eyebrow.

If I went in… what would happen to the rift? You ask.

‘I was guiding you towards one of the… more developed rifts. One that would open soon, maybe in a few hours if not taken care of now. If it were to open, the vast surge of mana would be detected, and that would bring the two Magical girls in this city to it. How long that would take, is subjective.’

You nod to her, at the very least, this means the rift would be taken care of by them… but that would net you less, uh, experience? Boons? Less rewards.

The whispers pull you towards the warehouse and you sigh.

This’ll be quick… assuming its a ghost or something.

Huh… can you punch ghosts?

Elly’s eyes widen slightly, and then she hums.

‘I suppose [Grendel’s Arm] is a weapon of myth… and it was pulled from the body of a creature that could not be harmed by man… It’s certainly possible it could harm the incorporeal’

Sweet, now to punch some ghosts… quietly though, you don’t know what’s in the warehouse.

You don’t look for a way in immediately, taking your time to carefully look around the outside first.

The warehouse has an alley on both sides. One is against another warehouse, just large enough for two people to fit in side by side you’d guess. The other is a wider area… less of an alley and more space between it and a chain link fence of sorts.

Why you called it an alley, you have no idea.

Though you do get the vague image as though something should be there.

But you shake it off, the image only there for the briefest of moments.

It’s when you get to the back that things get far more suspicious.

You had to skirt around this little warehouse district, taking the long way when you noticed it, but theres a bunch of unmarked cars in the rear parking lot.

You’re pretty sure you didn’t see those before… and there’s no sign of the rift either?

‘Its not visible to normal sight until it opens… and with all these vehicles nearby, its possible that opening it would attract attention I suppose. Shall we investigate?’

You stare at the two people you can see from around the corner.

They’re both in pristine looking suits, as they stand on either side of a large rolling door.

One has what looks like a rifle, the other a shotgun or so.

You kinda wish you had something to knock them both out quietly… [Curtana] seems more like the loud approach.

So instead, you sneak back around to the front, where there's no one, and then down one of the alley’s, the tighter one.

An open window greets you. A small slit in the warehouse’s steel walls. Well, its more like a row of small slits. Just big enough for someone to fit into if they were flat or so.

Luckily, you’re a small girl.

Unfortunately, it’s rather high up. Probably to stop people getting in through it.

But, well, you’re a magical girl.

You don’t know if this’ll work. But you put yourself flat on the opposite wall, let out a silent breath. And then dash to the other wall, leaping up against it before launching yourself to the opposite one, and then with a bounce off that wall, that you slip through the window, purple flaring off your body for the briefest instant as you do so.

You land a little awkwardly, your foot meeting the windowsill and flipping you until you land on something soft but hard.

A pair of eyes stare at you in surprise.

A suited figure using the toilet stall you’ve unceremoniously fallen into.

But you react before they do.

A punch slams into their throat, and then you punch them in the face before they can shout.

And again.

And again.

After the fourth punch. They’re slumped over on the stall.

You pull yourself off the man…

And decide that no one will ever mention this.

‘I shall definitely be remembering this’

You ignore Elly as you think for a moment. A handkerchief in the man’s breast pocket pulls your attention, so you stuff it into his mouth, and then with no better option, you look for a way to tie his limbs together.

It’s a little hard, the mans much taller than you, and heavier for it. But a bit of finagling gets him on the ground, and you use his blazer as a makeshift rope, twisting it a few times and tying it as tightly as you can around his arms. His pants serve a similar purpose for his legs. And with your handiwork appreciated, you stop and listen.

No ones interrupted you, and a careful peek under the stall door shows no feet.

So you slip out and into the white tile bathroom.

For such a supposedly rundown place… the bathroom is well kept. None of the tiles seem to be broken, the light is on, and the windows seem to be clean.

Well, this is definitely not what it looked like on the outside.

You crack the bathroom door open just a tad, a glance showing a rather gloomily lit interior.

Though the roof does show a large light on near the center.

Rows and rows of crates are piled rather neatly around the warehouse, most of them stacked at least three high, which serves as good cover you think.

So, with an out of order sign taken from behind the door, you put it up near the bathroom, flipping the light off, and then quietly closing the door.

You hear… muffled voices as you sneak around.

The warehouse isn’t dead quiet. You can definitely hear people talking, and some footsteps. Though it’s hard to make out the actual number of people.

You slip behind a crate as a person rounds the corner, putting your side to it as their hands settle on top of it.

Elly appears, and the voices you were hearing get louder and clearer.

‘While you are not in combat for now, I shall provide a little assistance. Afterall, listening to the enemy’s conversations is always a useful means of gathering information.’

You nod slightly at her. Hearing the crate open behind you. So you duck lower down just in case as the person to your side rustles through it. The clicking of metal on metal lets you guess what’s inside the crates. Maybe.

It’s mostly idle chatter so far.

Some people are playing poker or some other card game.

There’s the sound of people laughing and shouting in equal measure.

Nothing seems too… criminal….

Well, other than the now obviously disguised warehouse. And armed guards out front.

There’s an alarm from the direction of the door, and in the moment or two that the man near you looks away, you slip out of cover and into a better spot behind him.

Climbing up a ladder as quietly as you can.

You need to move around the warehouse a bit, but the higher scaffolding lets you get to the roof easily enough. Probably for maintenance or something…

Surprisingly no people on it… Huh.

[Gae Bolg] snaps into view once you’re at the top, and you lay down with the beam cannon. It’s curiously absent of its usual sparks and glowing bits… though you don’t complain right now. The flashes of light would definitely have given you away.

You see what looks like a van reversing into the warehouse as the door finishes closing as it passes. The two guards from out front walking it as you get a count on people.

Idly, you hope that [Gae Bolg]’s scope doesn’t do the reflective sniper scope thing that Alice complained about during one of your mid shopping conversations.

The weapon seems to growl at you at the thought, and you decide it’s probably got something magical that stops that.

The van stops, and the driver gets out before opening the door for a passenger.

They’re different from the other… you suppose their mooks? Grunts? Other suited men.

Taller, thicker set. More scars and carrying what looks like a baseball bat behind them. Also bald…

Theres also a pistol in a holder at their side and you think they have body armor or something under the suit… it doesn’t sit right on them… or something like that.

They fling open the door, and your eyes widen as they throw a girl out from inside…

You think it’s a girl. Thinner physique then what a man of similar height would have you guess…

The muffled yet amplified grunt and moan of pain tells you it's definitely a girl.

An idle thought makes you tilt your head as you consider just how bad your luck has to be for this to have been your week.

You wake up with no memories, then the first outing you go on ends up with you stuck in a high level breach, then you end up fighting the first magical girl you meet… and now you’re here, witnessing what you think is a kidnapping first hand…

Is this a lucky thing or an unlucky thing?

You come back to focus with the girl being strapped to a chair. The bag being ripped off her head as she squints at the sudden influx of light.

Her mouth’s taped over, but you spot flowing black hair, and a pair of bright red eyes. One’s slightly puffy… probably been punched.

She doesn’t look like she's fully focused right now. A little dull eyed as the bigger man snaps his fingers in front of her face.

When she does focus though… ufff… that's definitely not a friendly look.

She shouts something through her gag. But the man just laughs at her.

“Ahh, Gensho’s prized daughter. Finally brought low. Today is a good day.”

Oh god he’s monologuing…

You kind of wish you had a notepad to take notes on…

Eh, you’ll let Elly do that, she can read it back to you when you’re done.

‘I am NOT some voice recorder for you to use!’

You ignore your now voice recorder and amplifier as you listen in when he finishes laughing.

“I have been waiting months for this! Months! Gensho won’t know what hit him, heh, finally. Your guards were annoying to deal with. Lost a lot of good men for this! But all it took was one good hit to knock you out!”

He mines a punching motion, and you watch her flinch back a bit against her binds. The other grunts in a wide circle around her.

Amusingly, the central light shines down perfectly over her. You have to admit, man’s got a good eye for the dramatic.

He whirls around, spinning in a circle as he brings his bat to bear, slamming it into the ground right between her feet as she flinches.

She keeps her glare up though.

“What’s wrong bitch? Can’t talk back? Weren’t you gonna rip me to shreds? Hah? You’re all talk. Once daddy’s guards are gone, you’re nothing but a mouthy bitch!”

You’re morbidly curious as to where this will go, and rather happy you snuck in here. No one’s bothered to look up at the railings yet.

“Now that I’ve got you, the syndicate will be mine~”

Ahh… he’s the idiot goon type that thinks he’ll take over for some reason…

You idly wonder if you could just let things play out, and see if she gets rescued… But the cool villain wouldn’t do that.

Besides, you’re a magical girl even if you are a villian. Probably should uphold some of the main values if you don’t want to be a second rate one.

You listen in a little more.

“Now. We were originally going to have you record some video, begging daddy dearest to come let you go. But I think killing you has better shock value!”

Time slows as you contemplate how that went from zero to a hundred so fast.

But then again. Idiot goon will be an idiot goon.

His gun snaps out, and you don’t waste anymore time.

The world goes slightly darker for the briefest of instants. Your breathing slows, and in the space of two heartbeats, [Gae Bolg] barks.

Or roars… you don’t think it would like being described as a bark.

The spear of red energy snaps through the air, crashing into the pistol with heat and force that could probably pierce a tank.

It melts through the gun easily… and through the man’s hand… and his lower arm…

You might have missed your main target… just a bit.

It takes him a split second to notice. But the girl’s eyes are wide as she turns her head in your direction.

The man screams, and [Gae Bolg] roars again.

A second round snapping towards one of the men with a rifle.

He also loses more than the gun, still in the process of turning, the bolt takes both his arms and sears into his side leaving him screaming in pain.

The boxes stop you from targeting too many others. You’d most likely kill them if you did…

But you could…

This is… probably a pretty important decision…

Time folds and slows as you think. People moving towards weapons, reaching inside coats or at holsters as others grab for crates…

You (Choose):

[x]Dead men tell no tales. And they can’t hurt you later if they’re dead. Use [Gae Bolg] to thin their numbers more lethally. (Story Choice) (Lethal Action) (+ Lethal Reputation) (Unlocks Reputation Character stat) (Reduces Minion count by 1d20, Current Minion’s 20)

[x] Go for more disarms or dis-legs. It’ll slow down or incapacitate at least five more people. You don’t really want to kill normal people if you can help it. (Story Choice) (Merciful Action) (+ Merciful Reputation) (Unlocks Reputation Character stat) (Reduces Minion count by 1d5, Current Minion 20)

[x] Something else (Write in) (Various outcomes)

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