The Spaces Between - Chapter 2

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>>490620
That disembodied voice belongs to the little flying furball that's decided to accompany me for whatever reason as a patron-slash-guardian. As far as I'm concerned his name is Kero, but I've got reason to assume that's just playing to the narrative.

"There's a lot on my mind. Going into any situation with new co-workers is stressful." I say slowly, trying to organize everything. "And that's under normal circumstances, not ones like this where everything could devolve into a magic-fueled slugfest. So call it what you want, I'm just planning on my feet."

"Is that what they're calling it now?"
Ugh. Sometimes I wish I could just rip those stupid fluffy wings out. The attitude's getting annoying.

>You know, maybe being a bit aggressive might help smoothe things over, make it clear that I don't need to be babied.
>Walk it off, Selanor. You only get one first impression and you want to make it a good one.
>"You know, if you could be a bit less of a condescending ass, we might be able to work together a bit better."
>Other

>Sorry it took so long to post the second chapter. Aren't floods great?

>>490641
>>"You know, if you could be a bit less of a condescending ass, we might be able to work together a bit better."
its ok things happen

>>490706
"Kero, could you try any harder to be a condescending ass?"
"Absolutely, because right now I'm not trying at all."
You can knock off the attitude any time, you know.
"Here's the thing you're forgetting - I'm not here to be your friend. I'm here to be your guide and make sure you don't either kill yourself or blow everything up worse. If being friendly would help more than being snarky I might. Right now this works."

I will rip those wings off and stuff them in a sewage pit.

"No you won't, and we both know it."

...shit.
>Any questions or concerns to bring up before the meeting? It'll actually happen barring another flood.

>>491312
So, Kero sort of made a corporeal form to make us more comfortable right? If so, does he even feel pain? Because I want to stop making empty threats... and start making full ones. But only if we can't get into the trouble of causing or boss agonizing pain.

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>>493362
Kero may be a complete ass, but I'm willing to bet that hurting him, if that's even possible, is an all-around bad idea. Loathe as I am to say it, I still need him around.

The meeting place is a small park overlooking the Nova Public Library - the trek wasn't too bad all things considered, and unless this goes really long I ought to be able to make it back home by sunset.

The person waiting for me is another young woman, she looks about my age, maybe a bit older. There's some sort of deep dissatisfaction in the way she's sneering at me, though also disconcerting is the strange aura she's putting off, like she's a walking lightbulb.
"That aura's how Librarians can identify each other. Yours is probably a bit more faint, but she can sense it all the same." Lovely. I thought you said there'd be someone else?
"Guess he's running late."

...Fine. Alright, it can't be that bad. Giving the girl a short nod, I start to introduce myself.

"So, you're the one that burned down the Leaventon Library, right?"
...Well aren't you a little ray of fucking sunshine. You have a name, or are we just gonna shoot insults back and forth all night?
"Laura Thompson. So how much babysitting do I have to do, because we don't have time for this shit - either of us."

>Show her what you know (Try recalling a costume, or pull a new one?)
>Tell her what you know
>What's the rush, is something happening?
>Other

>>493597
>>Show her what you know (Try recalling a costume, or pull a new one?)
and do a cutie posse as well

>>493597
>What's the rush, is something happening?
It's not like we want to be here anymore than she does, also I really don't think playing dress-up will impress her

>>494207
>>494234
"Why don't I just show you what I know, so you can work off that?" I say, focusing as I reach into the air...only to feel nothing to grab on to. Laura sighs.
"We're a bit out of range from the library to tap into anything - and that's on purpose, given what happened the last time you were in a library."
The place was literally burning to the ground, and if I didn't act then another twenty or so houses were going to go up next! Sure turning that wing to rubble wasn't great, but I couldn't put out anything with what I had!

Laura's gaze seems to soften a bit, before a text message chime chirps from her phone. Glancing at it, she rolls her eyes and starts walking, motioning for me to follow.
"Hey, is something about to happen? I was told to expect two of you."
"I don't know if we're going to need to give you a trial by fire, but maybe. As for Ryan, he's not here because his little sister probably gave him pinkeye and he doesn't want to infect the rest of us. Josh was going to be here, but now he things there's going to be something in Norton. Given his strike rate, I'm expecting he's right, but that's where he is right now, on recon."
"Did you really need to use that turn of a phrase? Trial by fire?"
"Given your first one? Absolutely." Laura smirks as we keep walking. "So you know how to access your powers, and you know what we're here to do. Do you know how your powers work?"
Not exactly. I was kind of hoping you'd be willing to help on that front.

"Okay. Here's about how it works."
>Comment too long, 1/2

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>>494471
"When you Pull something out of the Library, it changes you, on a primal level, into whoever you grabbed. It's all well and good, but it's still your head there, and there's a bit of mental decoupling, especially when you use a heroine's abilities that you yourself aren't capable of doing. There's also a bit of a disconnect when you get hit as someone else, because it's her pain and not yours - though your body does a right good job of feeling it anyway."

So what happens when I either use too many weird things or get hit too often?
"If it gets too big a split, your connection just breaks off and you're back to being you. But don't forget, you're going to be using these abilities in a Library, which already serves as a power source, and can help smoothe it over.
If you really need to, you can try Pulling a second heroine's powers after the first one breaks, but it's riskier since your mind's already dealing with one breakup. Plus their abilities tend to be either more restricted, or harder on you as a safeguard so you don't overuse them."

Claire's first transformation will bind the 6 empty dots worth of magic, to serve as both shielding from attacks and fuel for her costume's powers. Every round of combat, or 1 minute out of combat, she'll recover 1 dot up to her max of 6. If all six are depleted, she's forced to detransform.
If necessary, she can bind the 3 filled-in dots for a second transformation, but as Laura said, it's risky and the same rules apply (recover 1 per turn to a max of 3, detransform if they're all used up)

Okay. I think I get it. It seems a bit odd to keep track of, but I suppose once I actually get to feel it myself it'll make more sense.

>"So, is it okay if I show you what I can do?"
>"We should probably check in on your recon guy, I have a bad feeling about it."
>Other questions for Laura? (Write-in)
>Other action.

>>494476
>>"We should probably check in on your recon guy, I have a bad feeling about it."

>>494476
>"We should probably check in on your recon guy, I have a bad feeling about it."

>>494992
>>495646
"You said the guy doing recond work was Josh, right? We probably should check in - call it gut but I have a bad feeling."
Laura nods - seems she was getting a similar vibe as we head towards the library proper, the place mostly empty as she shoots another inquiring text towards her partner.

"He keeps saying it's fine, and that he's just keeping an eye out...but something about all of this rubs me the wrong way. I'm half-tempted to go and check it out myself."
I think that would be a good idea, but I'm also wondering if we shouldn't suit up beforehand.

"...tell you what, let's see what you can pull out, and we'll work from there. If you've got enough to make things happen, then we'll transform and roll out. Otherwise we'll go in normal and hunt.

That seems reasonable enough. I reach out into space...
>Roll 1d100. Taking first roll only.

Rolled 63 (1d100)

>>496363

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>>496452
There's a low buzzing that fills my ears as the magic flows through me, a sleek stock falling into my arms. When I open my eyes, Laura looks a bit...shorter?
Oh wait, now she doesn't look as sho-there she does again. It's like I'm bobbing in the middle of a pool...

Wait, am I FLYING?

Wing Commander Minna Dietlinde-Wilke - Karlsland's Ace of Spades

"Claire, turn it off somehow!" Laura whispers in a harsh tone, the roar of what...should be airplane engines, somehow strapped to my legs; seems rather muted. "We don't know when someone will show up, and you won't have a good answer for how you're flying!"
I blink once, before cracking a grin.
"That's not a problem, Laura. There's no one within 20 meters of here, and no one can even get a good line of sight unless they're right on top of you. Plus with the tinted windows, no one can see from outside, not that they'd be able to see through the 700 section."

"You've never been here before, how do you KNOW th-" Laura stops and sighs. "Of course that's how you know. Magic."

>Minna's passive ability is Situational Alertness
>she can never be ambushed or caught flat-footed in combat, can negate most forms of concealment, and takes no penalty for engaging multiple targets at once.
>Minna can also use her striker units to fly with average mobility.

"Well, you have to admit that you're going to be a recon goddess with powers like that. Plus with that rifle...you probably don't even need me."

...That's bait, right there. She wants me to get too cocky for my own good, and she's got plans to make sure I know my limits. I don't know too much, but that seems like what I'd do if it were me.

>Call her bluff, she's more experienced and can also smooth over the meeting between you and Josh.
>Bait out a double bluff. Go with her advice and be ready for when she tries to prove her point.
>Other

>Also, Keep flying or dismiss the strikers? You can resummon them at almost any time.

>>496818
>>Bait out a double bluff. Go with her advice and be ready for when she tries to prove her point.
and keep flying

>>496818
>Call her bluff, she's more experienced and can also smooth over the meeting between you and Josh.
Keep her with us for her experience even if she doesn't transform.
>Drop the strikers for now solely because it will be badass when we start flying at the first sign of trouble
Also make absolutely sure we try as hard as possible to remember where in the inky black ether we grabbed this from because this is the best

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>>497112
>>497212
"Laura, don't gimme that crap about me not needing you. Even if I could do this alone, I'd still want you to make sure meeting Josh goes well. But if you want to laze back and do nothing like a certain stuffed bear, I won't stop you." She arches a brow at my description of Kero, but doesn't ask any more questions as she has me follow her, making sure we're not going to come across anyone we aren't supposed to.

At some point I get bored of flitting about and drop to the ground, the strange plane boots vanishing and being replaced by a normal pair of dress shoes to go along with the...rather tight green uniform shirt I find myself in. "Laura, d'you think it's a bit too much?"
[green]"Nah - if anything the huge rack's a good distraction from the fact that you're in your skivvies."[/green]
What the-!
...she's right. Mortified, I try to pull down the unifrom top to little avail, staring at her wide-eyed. "You...but...WHY YOU NO WARN?"
[green]"I find that a little humiliation works wonders at calming nerves - and keeping cocky attitudes in check. Nothing knocks a Superman down to earth better than pointing out how visible his junk is."[/green]

...I did not need that mental image. So is she going to do anything, then?
[green]"Of course, but I'm still considering my options, because outside of very few cases once you pick a heroine's powers to use, you're kind of stuck with her until you lose the connection or finish whatever required you to transform. I'll be dressed up by the time we get to Norton."[/green]
There's a way to push into the Library to pop out there, isn't there?
[green]"So you do know about that. Good, it'll still be a bit trippy, so lemme get it ready."[/green]

While she's working on that, I take a few moments to take some deep breaths and focus inward. This costume I expect to get a lot of use, given her passive abilities. If I could draw her out on demand, it would be a great help. That she dresses like this is a bit of a distraction though...
>Perception test, roll 1d100. Since Minna's skillset emphasizes and favors perception, it's best of the first five rolls.

>Any suggestions for what Laura should transform into? You currently have the body and soul of a WWII Ace with magical radar and firearms proficiency.
>Any questions before the Push?

Rolled 27 (1d100)

>>497697
Laura should try and look for support maybe? We got the passive and the gun but we could use some kind of healing or buffs, though she seems a bit proud for that.

Rolled 69 (1d100)

>>497697

Rolled 33 (1d100)

>>497697
stick with what we got

Rolled 4, 62 = 66 (2d100)

>>498040
>>498272
>>498454
>Let's roll these and get this going, then.

>>498040
>>498272
>>498454
>>499206
>This is a good time to explain how I deal with crits, with that 4. A roll of 5 or less is a Fumble, if another roll passed the DC then you achieve what you wanted, but there's an extra complication that pops up. If there's a fumble and no rolls passed the DC, then it's a Large Failure and a more damning complication pops up. It takes 2 fumbles and no passing rolls, or a nat 1 and no passing rolls, to have a Critical Failure, which will almost immediately cause something Very Bad to pop up.
>Conversely, a roll of 95 or higher is a High Success, and will negate or lessen a future complication in addition to passing the roll, with extra benefits if other rolls also pass. A 100 will be a Critical Success, and something special will happen.
>Normally this would be a fumble with no one hitting the DC, but since it was my roll that would have caused it, I'll give you a free pass this time.

It's...hard to try and focus with my mind racing like this. Try as I might, every time I think I'm close, some other thought creeps in and scares it away. If I really put some time into it later, then maybe...?
>Claire won't have Minna's costume saved for future use, but it will be easier than normal to recall it for missions involving recon or searching.

Laura seems rather pensive, mulling over her options before I decide to chime in. "I dunno if you'd be able to stomach it, but I think a healer or power booster would be a good pick. Of course you've been in this game longer than me, so I dunno."
"Hmm...I think I have someone in mind. She'll make do."
I do not like the sickly grin on her face. Before I can comment though, she gets another text and heads for a door to what is probably a store room.
"So, ready to experience teleportation?" Before I can answer, she yanks my arm and we both fall through the door, a horrible keening noise reverberating through my ears, a psychotropic swirl of lights making it impossible to determine which way is what, or even how to make the whole ordeal...

...stop.

I find myself on all fours, panting in a vain attempt to suppress my gag reflex.
"Relax, you're here and all in one piece. And don't hurl on my costume, it's not a hanky."

>Try not to throw up.
>Try getting a good look at Laura
>Focus on finding Josh and getting a SitRep.
>Other

>>499241
>SitRep

I don't get it, what where you rolling for, didn't >>498272 pass?

>>499261
The DC was 70, actually.
>Since Minna's stat for this roll (Perception) is a 5, the roll was best of 5 as opposed to best of 3. There were 3 rolls already and I didn't want to drag things out another 2 hours by getting two more posters so I made those two rolls and played on.

>>499241
First thing's first
>Try not to throw up
Then
>SitRep

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>>499261
>>500094
"...I think I'm going to be sick..."
"No you're not. Now get up." Laura states, her tone awfully authoritarian.
"Well excuse me princess, it's not like you can just tell people to feel better and have it happen."
"The hell I can't! Although at least you know your place."
I roll over and gaze up at what Laura's decided on.

Princess Arianna of Caledonia - Heorine of Lagaard
Oh for fuck's sake. At least the nausea has passed.

"Okay, let's check in with Josh, get an idea of how bad this really is. If we need to kick some ass, I think we'll be in good shape."

"We concur. Let us continue on, then."
"Okay, the royal pronoun is too much, cut it out."
"What if we don't want to?" I stare and she relents. "Okay, yeah, I think it'd get boring or I'd mess it up before long."

Josh, who doesn't give me a last name, is a bit more stocky than I expected. I mean, from the neck up you'd swear he's a landwhale, but truth be told he isn't that massive. And it looks and smells like he showers regularly - that's always a plus.

"So, I'm 90% positive there's something about to pop out. All the classic warning signs are here, we're just waiting for it to actually show up. Still don't have a way to kill them in transit." He looks at the both of us, more Laura after I shoot a few pointed glares when his gaze dips below my neckline. "Though from the readings I'm getting, you two should be plenty, unless you really think you NEED me."

I'm rather curious as to how he can pick out this stuff from what looks like lines of DOS code, but Laura seems to have nothing but contempt for me opening my mouth.

>Princess can deal, I need information to do my job better.
>She's already in a mood and pissing her off can only make it worse. Wait until she's not around.
>Let them to their thing, try to find where whatever it is will come out.
>Other

>>501162
>Let them do their thing, try to find where whatever it is will come out
Can't we just stand here and then when it appears well know exactly where it is, because magic? If that's how Minna's powers work I vote we do that, don't split up

>>501573
>That's correct. As soon as the monster gets into this realm you will be able to detect its presence and location.

>So a tornado happened. Likely without power at home for another couple days.
>Given this and the flood I'm wondering if it's telling me somehting.

>>506560
Why does this happen to all the good QMs

>>508143
>can't say. But the lack of input for this quest makes me think /tg/ would be better suited for this. I'll likely wait for everything to clear and try running this over there.
>thanks for the words of encouragement. What in particular did you like about things so far, if you can?

>>508871
A really interesting magic system, and mind you, I don't even like magical girls
Interesting characters that aren't just edgy and two dimensional
A cool plot and lore
And of course Kero
All around pretty great, I'd say sick with it because your definitely one of the better QMs on this board