Magical Girl Meme

[raptorbox]

Pretty basic concept here, sometimes teenage girls have magic powers for fighting evil (or doing evil if that's how they roll) and that's just how it is. Usually it's a secret but maybe it's not?? Maybe there are also ways to get magic that don't require you to be a girl.

Who knows, it's up to you, this is a loose-concept/AU meme! Just warn for your violence/existential horror/embarrassing teenage sexual tension in the subject lines.

1. First Transformation: Surprise, you've got magic powers! And they come with a costume that you… probably like? Maybe you don't, I don't know your life.

2. Into Battle: Possibly connected to that last prompt, oh dang, there’s some kind of monster or something. Whether you’re new at this or not, you might wanna fight that before it wreaks too much havoc.

3. Confrontation: Those monsters (or disasters, or brainwashed minions, or whatever) have to be coming from somewhere. Whether it's the first time or the fiftieth, it's time for the hero(es) to come face to face with their nemesis.

4. Prep Time: Teams, whether they're good or evil, tend to work better if they have some kind of a game plan. Or maybe you can't predict your opponent's next move so you're just doing some team-building exercises, who knows.

5. Hostage Situation: Someone's been captured! Maybe the villains have taken a heroic magical girl prisoner, maybe the good guys have siccessfully captured one of their opponents, or maybe you're just a bystander/non-magical ally/love interest who… may or may not know why you've been kidnapped. It's a little awkward, but maybe this could be a good chance to talk.

6. Slice of Life: Not even magical girls can fight all the time, alright - but there's always a risk of worlds colliding. Maybe you're getting some well-deserved downtime, trying to go on a date, or just going to school like a normal teen. And… well, time will tell if it stays normal.

7. The Secret Come Out: You probably hoped this day wouldn't come (unless you were actually kind of hoping it would, like a weirdo), but here it is. Someone's found out who you are. Is it worse if they're a loved one or just some rando, who knows!

8. Wildcard: I can't tell you how to live your life, do what you want!

Comments

[pipers_son]

"Trust me, trust me~." Or don't. Joker's expectations are low right now, after all, and she won't expect such a goody two-shoes to go along with her. Either way, she leads her along, still relaxed and unarmed herself. It's not as if her powers lend well to combat anyway. Eventually, the hallway opens up into a large office-space.

At least, at one point, it was probably an office-space.

Now, all the office desks and their little rolling chairs have been sent scattered to the sides. Some of them are just plain shoved, turned bottom over top and to the side. Others are a little more.... strange. It's as if an enthusiastic gamer has found a way to hack inside reality, forcing things to clip through one another. Desks and chairs alike are merged into the walls, some high up, others nearly into the ceiling, not belonging but not crashed through either. Everything has been cleared out of the center area, where carpet and scattered pieces of neon tile.

There, right in the middle, is indeed a metal peacock around the height of an adult human person.

The strange color of the lights shimmers across the warped metal, which makes up the majority of it, including most of its tail. There are indeed, however, five brilliant green diamonds on certain feathers... and two more making up its eyes as it suddenly jolts its head up and turns around to face the two. The very movement of its body, long tail dragging along the ground, earns more of that metal screeching. It doesn't attack, however. There's only staring.

Joker points cheerfully at the creature. "Don't attack it, and it won't attack ya in turn! Nice, huh?"

[dontpokethat]

"Hmm." Yeah, no, she doesn't.

Now, though, any question of her companion's trustworthiness is going to have to be set aside for the moment, as Ginko takes in the absolute mess in front of her. Her fingers twitch, another minute adjustment to her hold on her pins.

She gives Joker a flat look. "Great. I don't suppose you'd know how else to get it out of here?"

[pipers_son]

"I mean, do ya got some birdseed?" Ha ha.

After a moment of gauging if there's any threat, the peacock begins to dig its way through the floor with a combination of talons and beak, determined to break through. That catches Joker's attention, just a little bit, and she lazily begins to stroll around the office space while giving the bird a decent bit of space.

"Does it really bother ya that it's around here? Seems almost peaceful like this, doesn't it?" That's the benefit of a Diamond, admittedly. They're a little more calm than a Club. "Although I'm not sure how else you would get it out, either."

[dontpokethat]

"It really does, yes." Wow okay Ginko doesn't trust like that. Her eye narrows at the bird as it starts digging, and she opts to follow Joker, staying just a few feet back. "'Peaceful' or not, I'm not leaving it here to keep making people sick." And to collect energy for whatever the fuck its boss is trying to do.

"Neither am I. But it sounds a lot like you have an idea of how you would."

[pipers_son]

Huh. So she is following after her. Joker wonders if that means she's decided it's safer than being on her own, or if she's curious on what's happening. Well, it's a circular route that Joker is taking, not wanting to be too close just yet while the bird digs, so that's fine.

"What, me?" Joker points a finger at herself, not bothering with a wide eyed look. Her friendly ghost doesn't seem like she buys it anyway. "What makes ya think that?"

[dontpokethat]

"Do you want the list?" She doesn't wait for an answer, still sticking close by Joker. It does seem safer than being, say, on the other end of the room, especially given her suspicions.

"First of all, you were here before us. You knew what was causing this, and had seen it already; in fact, all in all, it seems like you know a lot more about this specific monster than we do. So, you seem more likely than us to know how to get it out of here."

[pipers_son]

"Ha ha, that does make me look bad, doesn't it?" Despite her words and the situation, there's a complete blase air about her as she carelessly snags up a rolling chair that's been sent to the side. Like a lady, she offers it to the other girl first while getting another for herself. Hey, there's no telling how long they'll be here, after all.

Also, it's fun to kick around on chairs like this.

"Besides, Ghost, couldn't that be explained by me just bein' here in this city with all its weirdness longer than you?" she points out, one knee on the chair while she kicks herself along.

[dontpokethat]

"Maybe. If that were all." Ginko doesn't sit. She just stands where she is, and stares Joker down.

"The real problem here is that, despite already being here, knowing about this thing and its effects... you don't seem all that interested in getting rid of it. In fact, it kind of seems like you're trying to discourage me from doing anything about it. That makes you look bad. So, here's a question." She jerks a thumb at the peacock. "What do you actually know about that thing?"

[pipers_son]

So rude, this ghost, not accepting a gift like that. With one last push, Joker twists the chair around so that she can grin up at her with a certain kind of lazy confidence. If she continues to be this sharp, maybe there will be actually a reason for her 'roommate' to be so worked up. "Hey, I offered birdseed as a solution," she offers, laughing.

"I've told ya a lot already. What else do ya think I'm hidin' from ya on what it can do?"

[dontpokethat]

She is absolutely not dignifying the birdseed comment with a response. Instead, she takes a step closer.

"For one thing, you haven't told me what it's doing right now."

[pipers_son]

Oooh, she loves it when people try to loom. Joker tilts her head back further to keep eye contact with her, although that might be a literal pain in a little bit. Whatever. It's fine for the time being.

"I mean," she says slowly, "it looks pretty obvious what it's doin', doesn't it?" The digging sure hasn't stopped, no matter what nonsense is going on over in their corner. Well, considering that Ginko hasn't attacked either of them, there's no reason for it.

[dontpokethat]

"Then why is it doing it."

She has one guess as to why that might be. Ginko turns her gaze on the peacock, watching its digging intently and tensed to chase after it if it decides to, say, drop through the floor and away.

[pipers_son]

"Lookin' for somethin', I suppose," she drawls, completely unhelpfully. Well, not completely. That's a hint of it's own, isn't it? Well, maybe she should be a little nice. Joker knows that one really shouldn't give away all of their plans, but, hey. She doesn't actually care, for starters. So, after a second in which the other girl is probably annoyed, Joker continues.

"I mean, I told ya that I was lookin' for somethin', wasn't I, Ghost?" Lazily she kicks her chair to be closer to the creature, which pauses just long enough to ascertain her positioning before it gets right back to digging. "And that's because, well, if there's a weird magic creature around, then it stands ta reason that there's somethin' weird and magical on its own around, right?"

This... isn't entirely true. Whups! Diamonds are the ones specifically made for searching things out. For a Club, or a Heart, or a Spade... Well, none of them would bring up a magical item when active, unless by complete accident.

But her ghost doesn't need to know that, now, does she?

"So it's actually really handy ta just- oh!" The peacock's efforts have suddenly sped up as it tries to dig up harder through the floor, ignoring wires and slivers of magic. Joker promptly hops out of her chair, excited. "Well, speak of the devil!"

[dontpokethat]

Yeah, she... doesn't believe that for a second. The suggestion that Joker just showed up here because she saw this thing's presence as a sign that something she was looking for might be around strikes her as absolutely bullshit at this point.

But challenging that directly has to be set aside for the moment as the peacock starts speeding up, and Joker reacts. Ginko's attention snaps to the metallic creature, and she steps toward it, closing the distance Joker's movement placed between them at the same time. "The 'something' that you were going to sell off?"

[pipers_son]

"I should think so!" If it's not, well, her and that god damn bug are going to have some words. Not that it will matter in the end, she guesses. It takes a lot of work to get through to the thing, with even some of what she says getting dismissed because it's not important enough. Maybe that's true, although Joker likes to think that she shelves things that aren't important all on her own without a moth acting snooty.

For now, it's still too soon to tell. Getting up out of her chair, one leg swinging over the seat that's now inbetween the two of them, Joker leans down to see if she can spot what has gotten the creature's attention. Its beak is stuck right in a hole, latched onto something tight, and it's giving some good hard tugs. Joker isn't entirely sure if the action is genuinely needed, or if the bird is just stupid. Sometimes it's hard to tell. Hearts tend to be the smarter ones, after all, even at the lower cards.

"I don't suppose ya brought a flashlight with ya, huh?" she teases, still comfortable despite it all- or able to fake it at any rate. "Might be easier if one of us was able ta reach in and grab it."

[dontpokethat]

"...No."

At first, it may seem like she's just, you know, replying to the flashlight thing. Then she circles around, clearly moving around the chair and toward Joker - or at least toward the peacock. As long as she can intervene.

"Whatever this is, I don't think I can let you take it."

how did this disappear in my inbox gdi

[pipers_son]

Oh. Well, they've gotten to this point already- or maybe finally is the better word? It's not like she's been trying to play a perfect squeaky clean sort of persona, after all. Mostly because that's boring. Joker slips around the chair, keeping it inbetween the two of them.

"And why's that?"

The peacock pauses, one brilliant stone eye watching Ginko cautiously even as its beak is still bowed towards the floor.

[dontpokethat]

Ginko keeps circling around. If Joker is going to keep moving, so will she - until she's closer to the peacock than Joker is.

"You know why. You said yourself that you were just going to sell it off. I can't risk it ending up in the wrong hands."

[pipers_son]

"Well then, how about this!" Winking, Joker presses one finger along her cheek and tilts her head to the side. "Why don't we just cut out the middle woman and I'll sell it ta you."

It's almost tempting, really... Joker can bypass this girl easily with her illusions, but this might be a fun route to go on. It would definitely be a lot more entertaining, certainly.

"And I'll give ya a bargain, too."

[dontpokethat]

"Really."

Ginko stares doubtfully at Joker - doubting less that she's actually willing to sell it to her, and more that Ginko would be able to afford the price she set. Even if she could, frankly, she's not sure she wants to encourage this behavior. "What would this bargain be, exactly?"

[pipers_son]

"It's the steal of a lifetime!" she sings, the curving upwards note accompanied by rather enthusiastic jazz hands. "A bargain that only comes once every century, and that ya definitely won't regret."

Or maybe she'll definitely regret it, that seems incredibly likely.

Either way, Joker taps her finger to her lip playfully. "I'll sell it ta ya for yer name, ghost girl."

[dontpokethat]

Ginko sincerely doubts that she won't regret it, because seriously, she doesn't trust like that. Her eye narrows.

"Why would you care so much about my name?"

[pipers_son]

"Because yer bein' so stubborn about it, so it's been makin' me more and more curious," she says, which is one of the most honest things she's probably said all night, if they were leveling her words with ratios of honesty. She is a curious creature by nature, which is probably at least a small part of her current problem. Oh well. It pays good.

"Unless yer perfectly fine with bein' called 'Ghost', of course. In which case, you'll be glad ta know that I won't stop with the petnames if they mean that much ta ya." The girl in front of Ginko seems to wink. Hell, if she's quite honest, she'll probably keep up with the nicknames, especially if they continue to get any kind of reaction. She's going to have to keep herself entertained, after all, if this little motley crew is going to be sticking around.

And she has a feeling they will. After this long without opposition, well... Call it intuition.

[dontpokethat]

"I haven't been stubborn about it." She just hasn't given it yet, despite Joker already asking, because she doesn't feel like it. She's pretty sure that's not the same as being stubborn.

That said, even if she hasn't bothered so far... she guesses she might as well tell this girl her name now. Even if she turns out to be lying about trading it for the item, it's not like it'll be a huge loss, and Ginko can still fight her for it.

"...It's Ginko."

[pipers_son]

That's absolutely the same as being stubborn, but there's no point in arguing now. Not when she's gotten exactly what she's wanted. Grinning wide, Joker claps her hands sharply together-

And disappears, only for her voice to pop up behind Ginko. "A cool name for such a lovely lady." Hopefully she doesn't get hit in the face again because, held up inbetween two fingers, she's holding a curling ear cuff of brilliant silver and lined with thorns. The peaocock is standing up straight now, starting at Ginko and with the hole digging now abandoned.

It's fine to not fight fair when you're not a fighter, right?

"Then I'll hand this over, like a good girl."