>>6279032
You look over Jacky again. Outward, she looks like a teen, magical bullshit aside, you’d wager on thirteen to twenty five, depending on how much effort she put into her look. Magical bullshit included, you got no fucking clue. You put that aside in the nice mental filing cabinet, right next to the screaming locked boxes.

What do you even ask after that? You don’t care that much about her whole life story, at least not yet. Fucking uhhh...
“What about Scott and his bunch? You know them for long?”

Jacky opens her mouth to respond, before pausing.
“Yeeeah, we’re known each other for a while. Though I can’t really tell you much. You know that thing I told you back before you were a magical girl? About information restrictions and shit?”

You recall that somewhat. Jacky being unable to tell your non magical self things due to you not already knowing them. Because telling you would mean defining you as her problem. Leader made it a part of her speech.
“Wasn’t that about taking responsibility though?”

“Kiiinda. It’s different for civvies, like you were, and for magical girls. You can’t talk to a civvie about this magic stuff, showing it off is also a no-go. For most, it wouldn’t register, but that’s not the point. The point is that the Brokers think you shouldn’t, so you don’t, because otherwise you’re going to get a hunt called on you, and get fucked.”
She ends the sentence by pointing a finger at you.

“...What?”

She leans back and rubs her temples with both hands.
“Not immediately. Just… usually they put out several warnings before doing anything, and it’s not like a hunt would put a magical girl in anything more than a timeout. But even that is nasty. Just… try to follow the rules? Even if it’s a pain in the ass and I’m the last person with any right to preach that.”
She flops on the cot fully. You now lay parallel on opposing cots.

Rules… rules. Fucking fuck. Nobody told you that was part of the deal.
“What rules? Why did nobody say I have to follow anything?”

Jacky blinks.
“Why do you think you got to have an escort? The rules themselves are a bit weird too, some parts you can bend, some you can’t, most aren’t written down. Basically a culture.”

You both sit in silence for a while. Probably minutes, you don’t really know.
Jacky pipes up. She seems to do that often.
“Oh, right, the guys. Basically, I can’t tell you much due to you not having a good enough reason to know. But the guys are good, both in bed and out. If you meet them again, treat them with some respect, no bootlicking but… just don’t start shit, alright?”

(2/5)

>>6279034
Jacky seems to be quite limited by the imposed restrictions. She’s also a lot more obedient then you would have penned her.
Though with that question partially deflected, you don’t have too much left to ask that wouldn’t meet the same fate. Although… the Shadow market sounded related to Magical Girl stuff.

“How about the Shadow market? What is it?”

Jacky seems to relax at your question.
“Easy, it’s a market for shit the normals can’t see. There are a bunch all over the place, if you got a decent city, it probably has one. If it’s a big city, it probably has more. This one? We got three, though most everyone uses the main one in the center, the other two are more on the outskirts, more useful to the girls taking care of outside. As for what it is well…”

Jacky pauses. Seemingly struggling to find the words.
After a minute or so, she continues, pausing briefly between each couple of words.
“The Market itself is in a barrier but… not really? The barrier is in a place where it doesn’t affect normals and uh… Well basically it’s kind of like a… submarine maybe? If you had a submarine in a big swimming pool, you could get in, without getting wet. Well that’s the Market, with the pool being the barrier.”

That does explain some things, even if you’re not really sure on the distinction.
“So how do you get in?”

Jacky seems happy to be able to move the topic.
“You just walk in, like normal, they got some weird entrance structure, but you will be able to get in even if you just fuck around. Though that will get some bitches on your case so finding the proper entrance is usually worth the bother, trust me.”

Well, there you have it, you suppose. Another piece of information you can’t really do much else aside form accepting at face value. You’re starting to feel powerless, which then makes you feel frustrated.

You turn on your back and lift your legs upwards, before quickly bringing them down outside of the cot’s boundary. Using the momentum to swing yourself to a stand. For a moment, you see white as your head spins, but latching your hands on the upper cots allows you to keep standing.
“Jacky, I think I rested enough. I need some air.”
Your tone is harsher than you intended, but you don’t have enough energy to care.

Your companion voicelessly gets up from her cot and opens the van’s side door.

Outside, it seems to be late afternoon, some half hour before dusk. Though the park is still active, an unusual amount of people grilling. The park itself is a sizable one, as far as city parks go, and pretty dense. That’s why you chose it after all.

You head down one of the paths, you didn’t approach from here yourself, but you do know the way from the center.

(3/5)

>>6279036
You do get lost on the way, but only slightly, hard to mess up directions. The middle of the park has a miniature concrete pagoda, about as tall as you, and a statue of some serious looking guy. You head on a path behind him, and after another ten-ish minutes, you see your destination.

A kayaking club, one only open during spring and fall for some reason. More benefit to you though. Behind the small building, surrounded by tall thick bushes, but when you circle around the building from the side facing the water, you can get under the foliage pretty easy. You checked the angle before, and it’s basically invisible unless someone actually goes here, and the only time you’re a bit more visible is at night.

You crouch under the bushes and remove the camouflage cloth. Under, rest your only other permanent possessions. A dark green sleeping roll, and a backpack. The latter filled with some odds and ends but most importantly, your toothbrush and paste, your hoodie, a knife, your shitty disguise mask, and your life savings, drum roll…. fifty bucks! Probably can’t survive a week on that, but you manage. You always do. Always did. Though you’re not sure you will need to?

You turn to Jacky, who’s been silently observing you on your journey, seeming to be content with mostly enjoying the park.
“Do we get paid?”

Her face scrunches up.
“Eeeeeeeeeeh kinda? We get food stamps monthly, and if anyone is struggling with the basics, they’re provided. But for an decent amount of cash you need to finagle the system. But don’t worry, everybody does it. It’s part of the whole experience.”

Damn. Well, at least it’s a sort of cash.

You shake the trash out of your camouflage cloth before stuffing it in the backpack. You won’t miss this. It wasn’t the worst place to be in, but having a roof over your head and something a bit softer under you will be nice.

You put on your backpack and begin your trek back. Though this time, Jacky seems more conversational.
“So you live like that? Just…”
The sentence hangs.

“Yeah. I do, or did. It’s not too bad, gives you time to think. Consider.”

Jacky nods, but she seems to be struggling to understand. That’s fine, she doesn’t need to.

You pass by the statue again, this time, you don’t get lost. The van awaits you, just as plain as always. If you’re honest, you’re feeling tired, real damn tired. The walk cleared your head a bit, but that only made it more obvious.
Inside, you’re barely able to keep on your feet, only glancing at Jacky. She seems to understand.
“Sleep. Leader should be coming back soon, I’ll stand guard. You can take the cot you had before.”

(4/5)

>>6279037
You dully nod. Shoving your backpack under the hanging cot. Only taking out your sleeping bag to spread on the cot itself. Even if it’s not too cold, at this point, you’re too used to it to sleep comfortably without. And so, you strip down to your underwear, climb inside your sleeping bag, and let the dreams take you.

What do you dream of?
>Light
>Hunger
>Red

- - - - -
(Mechanics)
You feel little except warmth.

- - - - -
(QM Faggotry)
Update late, thread late. I got hardstuck on the details of the backpack location for *some* reason. Just had a very difficult time visualizing it. In the end, I just pushed through, maybe the quality suffered, maybe it didn’t, at this point, I’m too late to be able to care.
I apologize for the delay, Gentlemen. I shall endeavor to make this thread a better one.
Also, I want to thank whoever archived the last thread, I did forget myself.


Archive:
https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=SugarRush


(5/5)

>>6279038
>Hunger

>>6279038
>Hunger
>>6279038
>Also, I want to thank whoever archived the last thread, I did forget myself.
I was gonna ask if you archived it before reading this. Anons who archive a thread tend to send a post warning the qm that he doesn't need to do it and post the link for voting.

>>6279194
Thread got bumped off

>>6279038
>Red

>>6279269
it was you then ? did you put it on the /qtg/ thread ?

>>6279038
>Hunger

>>6279390
No, why? I just saw it was bumped off and noone archived it yet, so I did.

>>6279164
>>6279194
>>6279421
3 For hunger

>>6279367
One for Red

Hunger wins.

I had time planned out to write today, but I think I caught something weird. I apologize for the delay, update either tomorrow or the day after.

>>6279813
waiting warmly

>>6280702
waiting coldy

Engulfed in void, you sit on a bar stool. Before you, a flickering neon light illuminates a bar counter. The light goes in and out. Pulsing with a half remembered buzz. Specters of glasses lay before you. You recognize them, even if you already forgot their name. They carry a green liquid, a delicious one at that. The best you had, the best you will ever have.

You reach out, but your hand aren’t long enough for the counter. You clamber on, but they still stand out of reach. You crawl, and stretch, and scramble. Yet, they remain just beyond.

You collapse. Laying on the bar. In front of you, lie glasses filled with ambrosia. Beyond, there is a figure of shadow. The one with the power to grant you more, as much as you could desire plus a drop for good luck. And yet, he remains in shadow.

It’s not fair, to taste such wonder, to feel such pleasure, only to know you can’t have it.
But at this thought, the shadow stills.
Can’t? No, you are the one desperately running. You are the only one who can choose, and you chose abstinence. Do not bemoan the direct results of your actions. For if you do, what is the worth of your decision? If even the most clear of consequence is shunned.

You don’t listen. You just crawl for the glasses again, over the endless bar. The shadow seems shocked by your actions, if only for a moment. Before wrath overtakes it, shedding it’s humanoid form before bringing down a strike upon you.
Yet, before the attack connects, you are sitting on a couch. A small room surrounds you. Graffiti and posters cover the walls, the sole window shows some sort of industrial zone. Just waiting to be explored. Before you, lies a table, on it, a pitcher with flavored water.

You pour yourself a glass and rise. Eager to look out of the window. But as you take two steps, a glow under the floorboards intensifies. A dark red glow. It goes once, twice, but before it can reappear for the third time, your whole vision flashes a yellowish white, and great warmth overcomes you.

!

- - - - -

!
You open your eyes. Your body lay unmoving, covered in warmth. Above you, you see the bottom of a cot. You hear the dull pitter patter of rain against the roof.

A piece of dust irritates your nose, making you instinctively breathe in. You blink, and blink again.
You notice the warmth isn’t uniform. Your breaths cool your mind.

Slowly, you flex your fingers, then your toes. You are awake.

You move your legs to the side of the cot, raise them into the air, before swinging them down, using the momentum to spring into a standing position. You steady yourself as your head swims from the movement.

Around you, you see Leader sleeping in the back top cot. Her form looks peaceful and relaxed. Contrasting it to her waking appearance only exemplifies the usual tension she carries.

(1/2)

>>6281335
Your backpack is under your cot, your sleeping bag is not. You look down on yourself… you’re still inside your sleeping bag.


It feels like it’s been a long week, and you’re pretty sure it’s barely a day.

Just…. what is your plan, oh Sugar Rush?
>You got fifty bucks, and are parked somewhere. You haven’t eaten anything since breakfast. You could try to find something nearby. There is always some chinese place open.
>Maybe you could root around the van?
>Fuckin... you don’t got great ideas after sleeping. (Write-in?)

And should you wake up Leader?
>Yeah. The girls said that you should have an escort watching you at all times.
>Screw it, she’s sleeping.

- - - - -
(Mechanics)
The warmth of your sleeping bag envelops you.
Your stomach is woefully empty.
Your mind is still reconfiguring itself from your sleep.

- - - - -
(QM Faggotry)
I apologize for the short length of the update, Gentlemen. I had trouble putting the dream into words. Will try to make the next one quicker.


(2/2)

>>6281337
>You got fifty bucks, and are parked somewhere. You haven’t eaten anything since breakfast. You could try to find something nearby. There is always some chinese place open.
nothing like some yakisoba for lunch

>Yeah. The girls said that you should have an escort watching you at all times.
just following orders

>>6281337
>You got fifty bucks, and are parked somewhere. You haven’t eaten anything since breakfast. You could try to find something nearby. There is always some chinese place open.

>Yeah. The girls said that you should have an escort watching you at all times.

File: Truck_interior_partial.png (76 KB, 800x600)

76 KB PNG

>>6281367
>>6281371
Food sounds good, and if Leader wants you watched at all times, then she probably won’t be too mad. First of all though, you get out of your sleeping bag. The chill of the night hits you uncomfortably. Thankfully, you have your hoodie.

Dressed, you poke Leader, once, twice, and she tenses. As her eyes open, her face regains it’s usual tension. She doesn’t look too mad. Unmoving from her sleeping position, she prompts.
“What do you require of Us, Sister?”

“I want to get some food, but you guys said that I need someone to keep an eye on me.”

Leader closes her eyes and slowly nods. Before climbing down from her cot. She wears simple nightclothes.
“We shall change and accompany you. There are eateries nearby.”

She moves to the van front, opening a section in what you thought was a wall, but what is revealed to be a sort of dresser. Inside is divided into a few sections, on the bottom are several pairs of shoes, above is a drawer from which Leader retrieves socks and underwear, and above hang coat hangers. Each coat hanger seems to be stacked, various shirts, blouses, and anything in between. Leader takes one of the coat hangers down, take the topmost shirt, and put it’s back on. She undresses and changes clothes on the spot, seemingly unbothered by the night’s chill.

Afterwards, she closes the dresser, nightclothes in hand, and opens another dresser on the other side.
It looks to be in a similar configuration, but instead of common clothes, it contains a more specialized collection. Windbreakers, raincoat, rain boots, and similar.

Leader open a drawer containing night clothes, with a divider in the middle, and deposits her clothes on the right. Afterwards, she retrieves two pairs of rain boots and raincoats from the dresser. Handing you half.

They seem to be prepared, clothes wise at least.

After you both dress yourselves, Leader open’s the van’s side door. It’s pitch black, and pouring like hell.
The van is parked on the side of a road. Nearby streetlights illuminate what looks to be an edge of an industrial zone.

In your current clothes, the rain doesn’t feel too bad, but with the intensity it’s going down, you’re glad you aren’t in the park anymore. Usually you’d have to hide under some cover, and get barely any sleep, hoping that you won’t catch a cold.

After Leader secures the van, she prompts you to follow, walking alongside the edge of the industrial zone.
You walk in silence, the rain forming a nice ambiance in the darkness, streetlights providing a reminder of civilization.

The walk isn’t long. After a bit more than five minutes you arrive at the first open business you’ve seen. A little chinese shop, consisting of a window for orders, an extended rain cover, and a large counter. An old asian lady sits behind the window, reading some paper until you approach.

(1/3)

>>6282523
She asks a question, one that you think contains a ‘What?’, but her accent is too thick. Thankfully, the shop has pictures and prices next to them. You point to a bowl of noodles with meat and veggies for eight bucks. You hand her ten, hopefully for a better portion. She nods and turns to Leader.

Leader responds in a half voice, using words you don’t understand, sounds like some asian language. She speaks slowly but deliberately, the lady nodding in return. Leader hands over the money, you don’t see how much.

The asian lady walks away from the window, you can see her cooking.
Leader turns to you.
“While having a minder is to your benefit, our sisterhood exemplifies constant self improvement. Thus, I will teach you.”

Really? Now? Ugh.
“Do we *have* to do it while we wait for food?”

Leader considers for a moment, before smiling slightly.
“No, We suppose that it can wait for the meal.”

The wait feels long, but it’s probably just the empty stomach.
It is worth it when your portions arrive. Your bowl has a lot more meat and veggies than the picture, always worth tipping in these sorts of places. Leader has some sort of oily soup with meat and noodles, doesn’t look too bad, though you prefer your own.

Just as you swallow the first bite, and the satisfaction of a good meal starts hitting you, Leader begins speaking again.
“In the sisterhood, there are rules on several levels, there are several ways of looking at them, but a simple one is with how they came to be. Initially, certain rules were set down directly. Then, more came about due to the implications of what was set down, more extensions than true rules initially, but they have gotten somewhat complex over time. Finally, there are rules that came about by someone attempting something which warranted a response, and while some of these responses simply clarified the base rule, many were attempts to sidestep the rules by technicality. Something which prompted a very strict response in most cases.”

You give a side glance to the asian lady who has returned to her paper, but if Leader thinks it’s fine to speak about this much, then whatever.
“Jacky told me something similar, still not sure how you expect me to learn all that.”

Leader gives the small smile that starting to become characteristic of her.
“Piece by piece. We all have a great amount of time.”

Right… the whole not dying thing, still stuck in the back of your mind.
“Well, what piece do we start with then?”

(2/3)

>>6282524
Leader gives a slight nod.
“We shall start with the most readily applicable. The favors of the sisterhood. The rules indirectly prohibit Us from using standard currency between each other, as, if something would benefit a Sister, putting an obstruction between it and her would be prohibited. But practically, even in ideal circumstances, We have only a limited amount of time, an amount that gets even more limited when already assisting other Sisters. Thus, a system of favors has naturally formed. If a Sister requires something, she asks, and, as soon as possible, is granted it. In return, the Sister would grant a favor of her own, to be claimed as soon as reasonable, on a task of a roughly equivalent effort. This is mostly focused on training, as other forms of improving benefit are very temporary, and the time on them would better be spent elsewhere. Though there are exceptions of course.”

Wait.
“So if I get asked to do something, I need to do it?”

Leader slightly shakes her head.
“As a new member of the sisterhood, no. Your time needs to be spent on growth, slowing it down with performing favors would be wasteful. Especially as even your best effort is not very impactful compared to a seasoned Sister. Possibly trapping you in a near endless service with little resulting self improvement, thus contradicting the base rule.”

So you need to improve, and you can get basically anything you ask for. As long as you don’t piss anyone off, probably.
“So, where do I start?”

Leader’s smile widens.
“By finishing your meal, Sister.”

Ah shit, it’s almost cold. You start shoveling the rest as you listen to Leader continue.
“Afterwards, We shall plan for tomorrow. We shall be bringing you to receive the benefits of the community, but afterwards, the day is open. We would recommend you training with one of Us, but you are not forced to. We can train your mind, another can train your body, while another can train your will. While you are not forced to choose now, being informed in advance would be more... *convenient*.”
Leader pronounces the last word as if it were unnatural to her.

Well, you have your options, or, at least some of them. Leader training ‘mind’, you’re fairly sure Shadow is the ‘body’ trainer, while Jacky is left as the ‘will’ one. Not really sure what to imagine under that last one.
Or you guess you can just wait, pick a random magical girl in the crowd and annoy her. Maybe someone you meet on the way, Leader did say you will be brought to get some benefits. Could be those food stamps Jacky talked about.

>Leader Mind training.
>Shadow? Body training.
>Jacky? Will training .
>Reserve your choice.
>Write-in?

- - - - -
(Mechanics)
You’re cold, at least the food was good.

- - - - -
(QM Faggotry)
I have been cursed with what feels like the slug vomit spell from Harry Potter, except it’s endless horrific snot vomit. The gypsy that did this better pray I never find it.

(3/3)

>>6282526
>Jacky? Will training .
This seems important if her gimmick is to absorb emotions

>>6282524
>Leader has some sort of oily soup with meat and noodles
what was it ?
>>6282526
>Jacky? Will training .
then we go for body since our punches are lacking.

>>6282526
>Jacky? Will training.
Looks like a priority since Sugars power is about dominating, with the risk of being overwhelmed. Thinking of Jacky already helped once.

>>6282535
>>6282702
>>6282708
Jacky locked in.
As for what the soup was, I'm not sure myself, I pulled it from what I always got when I was a kid, and I went by pictures. I will try to see if the place is still standing and still has it to see what it's called.

I was stick, I'm getting better. Update by the end of the week. I will try to make it as soon as possible.

>>6284933
waiting warmly