high_seas | PIRATES vs. NAVY BATTLE LOG

[Mami could tell Homura was upset, although she was trying not to let it show. Mami wasn't sure why but it seemed she was worried Mami was going to suggest they used their magical girl powers. And honestly Mami was half tempted to. But she wanted to build a steadier relationship with Homura, Homura which was also her captain. Homura was making efforts, Mami would take a step in her direction too.

So the blond girl bit her lip before forcing a smile upon her face.]

Then we'll leave it to you to do what it takes to prevent them from attacking or following us, Zeref-san. Please do your best.

[She turned to Homura.]

Let me help you maneuver the ship, Homura-san. Let's get out of here to somewhere safer where we won't have to fight.

[ The eerie glow doesn't worry Homura at all. Purple is the color of her magic, after all, even if it's not quite so chaotic-looking. They've got bigger things to worry about, anyway- the Navy ship's closing in, and it's already taking a few speculative shots at The Hope, the round shots harmlessly splashing into the sea ahead of them. ]

Alright. We're counting on you, Zeref. Tomoe-san...

[ She glances back toward Mami, thinking for a moment- and then she nods. ]

... thank you. That will help out a lot. We don't know if they'll try to board, though, so be ready at a moment's notice.

[ Homura doesn't smile back, but it really isn't anything personal- both Zeref and Mami have probably noticed by now that she hasn't smiled since Madoka disappeared. Homura turns to face the opposing ship, her soul gem glinting on her hand. ]

Hidden magic... [ Zeref began, his eyes finally opening, revealing that they had changed completely. Instead of their usual black color, they were glowing bright red, with small, black circles surrounding his pupils. He outstretched his arms, one behind him, and one in front of him. Small, purple lights could be seen glowing on the enemy vessel; cannonballs, wood splinters, bits of metal. Zeref wasn't Hades. He knew every trick in the book when it came to Living Magic. After all, he wrote the book. ]

The Judges of Heaven... Nemesis. [ Grotesque creatures, entirely black with glowing purple runes all over their bodies, began sprouting from the various clutter onboard the ship. Panicked shouts could already be heard.] The most rudimentary form of garbage can serve as a portal between this world and the plane of demons. Trash like this cannot hide. The world's largest navy is no more of a threat to me than the world's largest colony of ants.

[Mami nodded, acknowledging her captain's orders. She pulled out her soul gem, which started to give off a bright yellow glow. She wouldn't attack the Navy ship until Homura gave her clearance to. Though holding back was not an easy thing to do. Mami was persuaded that using her ribbons to rip off the Navy ship masts would have worked just fine. But she wouldn't risk annoying Homura just for the sake of proving her point. ...She already kinda did the 'I know what I'm doing. I can handle it alone'. And they both knew how well it went... Mami ended up dead.

So she just waited. Looking at Zeref performing his magic with rapt attention. In all honesty it was pretty impressive.]

[ Honestly, Homura hadn't really taken into account what MAMI would be able to do, only thinking in terms of soul gem drain and her own abilities. She's gone a long time without relying on others in general, and she can't even remember the last time she teamed up with Mami in particular. She IS thankful that Mami's listening to her, though. ]

[ Homura doesn't outwardly react to Zeref's magic, or to his words. Of course, he's never spoken like that before, at least not that she's ever known, and it's a marked contrast to how he usually is. A little worrisome, but she can't spare the time to really think about it- she's keeping a close eye on the ship. Homura can't tell exactly what the demons are doing from here, but they ARE doing an amazing job of distracting the sailors, many of whom seem to be leaving their posts to either fight off the invaders or flee in terror... ]

[ And soon enough, the cannon fire peters off. Probably as good a time as any. ]

Tomoe-san.

[ There's the signal. In a flash of purple light, Homura transforms into her outfit, her shield materializing on her arm, arcane mechanisms unfurling like a clockwork flower. There's the sound of gears turning, and then she's suddenly holding, of all things, a thick metal pipe. It begins beeping as the magical girl arms it, and it continues to do so as she hurls it as hard and high as she can. ]

[ The resulting explosion rips a chunk out of one mast and punches a hole in the sails, and fire begins to spread across the canvas. ]

Fools.

[ Zeref spat the word out as if it tasted bad. Yes, it was true; his usual melancholy, sincere, self-loathing nature was nothing like the glaring, red-eyed mage standing before them now. This was the infamous Black Wizard. While transformation magic wasn't exactly uncommon in his world (Requip and Takeover being rather obvious examples), he had never actually seen what their Soul Gems were used for, besides making them immune to his Death Magic. It looked like a form of Requip magic, only... different. He couldn't place it, but it was completely unlike anything from his own world. Foreign. Fascinating. ]

Breaking off the attack and turning sail will only mean I'll lose control over the demons. I'm not responsible for what happens after.

[ He might hate what has become of his own world, but he's not going to regret whatever happens to some Navy soldiers who had just tried to sink his own ship. Large, black, tentacle-like appendages could occasionally be seen flailing on the other ship, or something even breaking holes in the hull.

Immediately, Zeref turns to Homura, in time to see that large, metal pipe. What was that? And that beeping... he's never heard anything like that in his own world, in which 'conventional' explosive technology really hasn't gone much farther than dynamite. At least, not without the aid of magic. Zeref was somewhat interested, to say the least. He then turns to Mami. What kind of magic was she capable of? ]

[That was Mami's cue to step in. Our Soul Gem starting glowing brighter and her outfit changes from school girl to magical girl outfit. Her smile turned brighter and she winked at Zeref as she noticed he was staring at her. It was not a flirtatious gesture, more of a cheeky one. He wanted to see what she was capable of? Well here he goes.

Mami opened her arms and muskets seemed to burst out of her chest. She grabbed them gracefully, one after the other, and started firing repeatedly at one of the Navy ship's masts, always hitting the same spot with dead accuracy. Then she untied the yellow ribbon around her neck. The ribbon got longer and longer, it cracked like a whip and hit the same mast again making it snap and fall heavily onto the boat. Even more panic ensued among the Navy crew.]

[ Really, Mami's magic is so showy. Still, Homura can usually only achieve that level of accuracy while stopping time, so she has to admit that the other magical girl is nothing if not good at what she does. ]

[ She looks to Zeref, then to Mami. ]

... do you think that will be enough? If we stay here and let the demons take care of the rest, this ship shouldn't be able to go anywhere. And I doubt too many of the remaining Navy ships can come after us, otherwise they risk leaving the blockade undermanned.

[ That may be an understatement, since the ship is already partly on fire and at least half-dismantled. Still, Homura doesn't dismiss her magical girl outfit. They're not out of the woods yet; after such a visible display of magical power, it's only a matter of time before at least one or two Navy ships are sent over to help. ]

[ Zeref caught that wink. For a moment, it actually did seem borderline-flirtatious to him, though that thought was quickly pushed from his mind as he saw her magic in action. Guns? Being summoned, just like that? Well, at least this ship will never have a shortage of ammunition so long as she can keep getting Grief Seeds.

And that ribbon... that ship was all but disabled, now. ]

We can't take that risk.

[ Zeref said in response to Homura's proposal. ]

We need to get to that island. We either have to try to run the blockade, or sink more of them.

[Likewise, Mami didn't change back to her normal outfit.]

Let's sail to the nearest island, then.

[She gave Homura a reassuring smile.]

And if they're foolish enough to send more ships after us, we'll deal with them like we did with this one.

[ Homura nods, feeling a bit more confident due to the battle and- strangely enough- Mami's approval. She's willing to go with her crewmates' proposals, especially now that she knows they can take a Navy ship in a straight-up fight without expending TOO much effort. ]

[ If she'd known they would be fighting ships, though, she would have stored a few rocket launchers in her shield before being brought to this world. ]

Then we'll go for the blockade. Zeref's right; we need this port, and we need it badly.

Do you think we'll be able to take on two ships at once, if it comes down to that?

[ Zeref was quiet, for a moment. On foot, those soldiers didn't stand a chance against them. Heck, they didn't stand a chance against any of them alone, let alone all three at once. But if this ship got damaged, that was it. Zeref had no way to repair damage to a ship. Of course, one of the other two might, but at the moment, he didn't know that, nor was he in a hurry to get into a situation in which he'd have to find out. ]

Not cleanly.

[ A curt response. If they're going to fight two at once, Zeref will need to stop holding back. ]

How much of your magic are you able to use before you need to cleanse your Soul Gems?

We do, indeed.

[Mami felt more confident too, happier even. This fight had boosted her. It felt like the good old days when she used to fight witches with Sakura, and later Madoka. Though there was that little voice at the back of her mind, telling her that this wasn't for her, that friendship and partnership never lasted with her. But she chose to ignore this voice for now.]

If it comes down to that, we will, Homura-san.

[She turned to Zeref.] We're fine for now. We didn't use a lot of magic for this fight, thanks to you, Zeref-san.

We may not be able to avoid fighting two ships, going through the blockade. We'll have to disable one at range before focusing on the other. But Tomoe-san is right. We used less magic here than we normally do when fighting Witches, and we can go a few Witch battles without having to cleanse our Soul Gems.

[ Homura crosses her arms behind her back. She feels much the same way as Mami does, though she has no way of knowing that; she's gone so long without relying on anyone that it's a small shock when she realizes that she's missed this sort of camaraderie, or at least the understanding they have with each other. ]

Full speed ahead. Through the gap left in the blockade by the ship we disabled.

Fine.

[ A simple, one word answer. Zeref folded his hands in front of him again, focusing his magic. That same eerie, purple glow began emanating from his body again, channeling his Living Magic. They'd need to focus on two ships at once. He'd need something a bit bigger than Nemesis this time around. ]

Avoid the ship off the starboard side. This spell is very dangerous, even if I am altering it a bit.

[ It was the only thing he said. A large red circle began forming underneath it. ]

The ravenous serpents of the River Styx...

[ He began slowly. Whoever's driving the ship, they'd better avoid that circle. ]

Understood.

[Mami stepped a bit closer to Zeref. Even if she was still standing at a reasonable distance, his magic was kinda fascinating. Probably as fascinating to her as his magic had been to her just a few moments earlier.

She noticed the red circle of course and the efforts the captain of the ship was suddenly making to try and avoid it out of sheer conservation instant.]

Homura-san. Maybe we can let Zeref-san deal with this ship on his own while we take care of the other one?

[And even as was waiting for Homura's answer, she already summoned a bigger shooting gun and aimed it at the second ship blocking their way.]

We'll be careful.

[ Really, it feels like they've barely scratched the surface of what Zeref can do. Homura's morbidly fascinated, but between Zeref's own reluctance and how uniquely powerful his magic is, she's not sure she ever wants to find out. ]

[ To say that she trusts him to do the right thing would be misleading; it's more that she trusts that he knows what he's doing, and won't cause any harm to them. Homura can't spare any more attention on his spell, though, glancing over to where Mami's already begun her own spell. ]

Alright. I'll stop them from retaliating.

[ This time, they don't have Zeref's summoned demons to distract the Navy, and the sailors on the second ship are already readying their firearms and cannons as they close in quickly. Homura reaches into her shield space, pulls out a non-magical pistol, takes aim, and... she hesitates. Grits her teeth. ]

[ Homura's shield clacks loudly. ]

[ In the next instant, all in the exact same moment, most of the sailors on the side facing The Hope yell in pain as they're hammered by expertly-placed shots. Bright spots of blood are visible even from here, on arms and shoulders and other hopefully non-fatal targets. Homura lowers her smoking pistol, her mouth set in a grim line. ]

... Alive.

[ Something started changing on the ship. Long planks of wood, parts of the mast, cannons, even the ship's rudder began changing into massive serpent-like creatures. The ship began taking on water immediately from the ship's mass being destabilized like that, and panicked screams could be heard all over the ship. The serpents then began slamming into the ship, only damaging it further. Soldiers were knocked overboard by the flailing creatures, with Zeref quickly releasing control over his creations. They'd sink to the bottom of the seas, and Zeref didn't complete their transformations; they were literally attached to the ship. The reason for this is because abusing this spell has been known to have adverse effects on its users, so he tends to use it sparingly. After all... he's not used to having to hold back. He'd have rather just used Death Magic and called it a day. ]

Pathetic.

[ Zeref turned back to Homura, just in time to see Mami summoning a much larger gun, and for Homura to summon an entirely different type of gun. It appeared to be much more technologically advanced than the muskets the soldiers were using. And her aim was perfect, unless that was also a part of her magic. Shooting that many people with that precise of an accuracy over that kind of distance, while also accounting for the natural movement of the waves against the ships, was impressive, even to Zeref. ]

PIRATES vs. NAVY BATTLE LOG

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