Inside a dimensional apartment, a meeting was taking place discussing crimes against common sense.

‘Anastasia and Lapis are scouted and judged worthy of kidnapping!’ Deni smirked happily as she concluded her report on two Magical Girls that she had been stalking, and Eli was writing notes on them.

‘Good. So, we strike at Anastasia during the day, since she's the only Magical Girl in the area active during daytime, and Lapis we'll deal with in twilight when she heads back to her country-side village after having been active in the big city.’ Eli nodded at her notes, before taking a new note and passing it to Deni. ‘Here's another girl. She calls herself Uberos Antique, Darkness-mage, real name Brittany Carroll. She's a stealth-expert, but I found where she lives, you should be able to find her there.’

‘I'm gonna stalk a stalker, eh.’ Deni smirked at this as she took Eli's note. ‘Going to be tricky. I like it, sounds fun. Leave it to me!’ She then grinned as she started reading the note and took in the information she needed.

‘...’ Mariette sat, clutching her bunny, staring at the two harpies that were discussing the matter of kidnapping girls. They had become quite efficient at this. But, something had started to bother Mariette. Something which she was going to voice now. ‘Our real goal. Have you found anything, Eli?’ She asked, slight irritation in her voice. Eli more than Deni should be scouting for that.

Deni and Eli both flinched a little. Deni could but smile awkwardly and look down, her hands were tied since all her hours were currently required for scouting out targets for kidnapping. Eli, on the other hand, was supposed to search for both. Eli, looking a bit worried, looked to Mariette and spoke.

‘I'm looking. However, Magical Girls consider themselves the apex predator of this system. They do not hide, and are as such very easy to find. Predators do not worry about themselves the same way. It is much harder, finding our prey...’ Eli told her, though it all sounded like avoiding the issue to Mariette. ‘I've been looking, but without much success.’ She concluded.

Mariette nodded, dissatisfied. ‘Continue, but keep this in mind.’ She eventually settled on. The girls then continued overlooking their notes, until...

Mariette heard a familiar sound coming from the top of her nightstand, and looked to see that the black crystal shimmered. It could only mean one thing; She wanted to speak to her.
Picking it up, she then saw how Justine's projection of a fiery eye formed. Her voice once again resounded through the space the eye-patched girl and her two minions occupied.

"Greetings, Reflective Witch. How has the procurement of the vessels been? I assume you have had no difficulty completing your given task?"

Deni and Eli both flinched when the sound came, while Mariette simply remained calm and stood up to go and pick up the crystal with her right hand while her left yet clutched the stuffed bunny. She listened to the voice, and then responded.

‘The delivery of Magical Girls will be ready at the appointed time.’ Mariette simply told. There had been a minor... complication during the procurement of a particular specimen, but Mariette saw no need to mention that particular event.

"Excellent. Now then, I will specify the next vessel which you will acquire; bring me a magical girl of the Beacon, from Penrose and unharmed. This matter is of utmost importance, so you will be compensated accordingly. Understood?"

‘...’ So, Mariette had intentionally avoided taking anyone from Beacon, because of their unity. She also avoided taking too many from Penrose, so someone keeping track of who had been kidnapped couldn't find their base of operations there. But... one girl could be acceptable. Mariette didn't really like it, but she could do it. And at this point, not displeasing Justine was a priority. There were limits to what she would do, but...

‘Understood. I can do that.’ She answered after a few seconds of pause. ‘Do you want her delivered ahead of time?’ Mariette asked, since there seemed to be a specific purpose behind this one.

"Yes...Bring her as soon as you can. As for the rest of the vessels you have collected so far, you may bring them at the same time as well. We shall meet at the underground parking lots. Any other questions?"

Mariette considered briefly. ‘Among the girls delivered, there is at least one with Enhanced Transformation and similar tricks. Personally, I do not have the means to restrain all of them if placed back into this world all at once. Should I assume you have the means to handle them?’ She asked.

‘... Will Caroline be joining us?’ She added on the end.

Justine giggled. "Of course. If they are within reach, then we shall have no difficulty receiving them."
She then turned silent at the second question, the eye closing and opening. "Why do you ask?"

Mariette was silent for numerous more seconds after Justine asked that question, needing to consider the reason herself.

‘I promised her to provide her with long-haired dolls. If she was there, I could prove to her directly that I have delivered upon my promise.’ She said. Then continued. ‘It is of no consequence if she's not there. It was merely a thought of idle curiosity which occurred to me. There are no problems. The girls will be delivered on time, with a Penrose Beacon girl in front.’ Mariette reaffirmed, to dismiss any suspicion or animosity which may have followed her question.

"Hmm...Is that so?" Justine pondered, her flaming eye looking her over.
"But you do make a good point. I will ensure that my sister is present for the exchange, so that she may evaluate the goods. Thank you for your immense consideration. Now then, until we meet, goodbye~" And then, the crystal shut down; Mariette felt as if her question would have consequences, but she couldn't tell what exactly at the moment.

‘...’ Mariette stayed silent as the crystal shut down. Okay, Caroline would now be there. Hm. ... ... ... Well, no time to think excessively about that. She turned to her underlings. ‘Deni, Eli.’

‘Yes!’ ‘Here!’ Both girls had been listening intently and now both looked at their mistress with wide eyes.

‘We are to capture a Penrose Beacon girl. Eli. You have them all documented, correct?’ Mariette asked her Third Eye scout.

‘Of course. All in my notes.’ Eli confirmed, taking her notebook and holding it up for view. It wasn't very detailed notes, some didn't even have their names recorded, but all that Eli had confirmed were in the city.

‘Good. Deni?’ Mariette turned her eyes to her Genki, tireless scout.

‘Leave it to me!’ Deni grinned and saluted with her slimy wing. ‘I'll find you the easiest, juiciest target~!’

‘With long hair?’ Mariette questioned.

‘With LOOOOOOOOONG hair~!’ Deni giggled as she affirmed.

Mariette nodded to her and the planning of their most recent and most special abduction would now take place. Oh, yes. It would be fun to venture off to capture someone their planning had previously marked as off-limits...

Ilia's inter-dimensional home was well furnished, thanks to Umeko's funding. The two were seated on a mufti-segmented couch that was set around a small table. A fine tea set was set up, but only Umeko was actively drinking from it. The Bates twins were also present. Elroy was sprawled out on a couch reading a book, and Regina was kneeling in front of the table. They were both disguised. It did nothing to conceal their monstrous auras, but it at least made them appear less intimidating. Ilia as usual was in his monstrous form, rummaging through the kitchen making himself a few of the instant noodles that the home endlessly poofed into existence. Taking his snacks the naga plopped down on to the opposite side of the couch as Elroy. The naga was sitting behind Umeko, who was kneelling in front of the table.

“Oh.” Elroy looked up from his book. He was dressed in casual ware. Jeans, a nice dress shirt, and glasses. “Strawberry brownies? I didn't know such a thing existed!”

Taking a napkin, Umeko picked up one of the brownies and offered it to Elroy. "Yes they are quite delicious and pair perfectly with the tea I have brewed." Umeko gave a slight smile as she said this. Tea was one of the few mundane things she still thoroughly enjoyed.

“I know it's been a week now, but thank you for taking us in.” Regina's disguise was still a bit outlandish. It was very grunge, with a red dress top loosely put over a thin black camisole. She reached for a glass of tea. "I have some things I'd like to discuss with you, Umeko. That is, if you wouldn't mind listening to my problems." Umeko nodded as took a sip of her tea. She was wearing a elegant black and white with a floral design. “T-thank you.” The red head picked up her tea cup, but did not sip.“Well, a week ago we were attacked by someone who was able to spot us through our aura.” Regina rubbed her shoulder. A nervous tick. “We were also using our shadow magic to hide. We've never been spotted like that before, but she found us like it was nothing.” Regina's hand shook when she raised the cup to her lips. “Also, she seemed to not enjoy it when Elroy, erm, flirted with her.”

“I wasn't flirting.” Elroy said with a roll of his eyes. “I thought I'd call her cute to mock her disheveled appearance. Then when it got to her, I continued to make sarcastic remarks about our relationship. Then when she saw how powerful my tower of carnage was, she backed right down.” Elroy chuckled. “If it wasn't for her lacky, I'd probably have creamed that little rascal.”

Stopping his slurping for a second, Ilia put his noodles down, "All magical girls are the same, all too young, but then again have standards unlike other."

“Well.” Regina looked momentarily at Elroy before looking back at Umeko. “I could see her getting physically weaker as Elroy got more affectionate.”

“Not affection!” the incubus raised his finger to protest.

Regina sighed. “Is there something I'm missing? Can words of love weaken some magical girls?”

"Well from what you have told me there are two possibilities that come to mind. First as you know magical overload does take a toll on the mind. This girl could be an extreme example of this, with a mind literally shattered to pieces. Elroy's words could have have just struck a cord with her and caused some sort of deep internal struggle in herself. The other possibility is that the girl is working for some sort of horror. Those who's patrons are twisted, strange and destruction fueled things are sometimes cursed with a horrible weakness. If the girl is indeed working for such a creature, then Elroy's words of affection may have weakened her." Umeko to a slight pause to drink more tea and give the situation a bit more thought. "As to how she was able to find you so easily I am also a bit perplexed. When you two attempt to hide your presence it takes even my prying eyes a bit to track you down. I have meet few magical girl that could match my tracking capabilities. Until I take a closer gaze at her with third eye, it will remain a mystery."

Now thirsty from scarfing down a few overly salty noodle cups used a little of his magic to float a small stream of tea from the kettle through the air directly into his mouth. before a glance from Umeko prompted him to use his tail to serve himself a cup.

“I do remember their names.” Regina tried to sip her tea, but it was still a little too hot for her. The cup shook as she pulled it away from her lips. “The woman who attacked us was called Caroline. She was saved by a girl she called Sonia, and they spoke of a Lady Justine. Do any of those names sound familiar to you?”

Umeko gave a quick clap and her puchuu scurried from its little play area in the corner. It perched itself on Umeko's shoulder. After a quick discussion with Ratatoskr and a little scratching of its ear, Umeko gave it a brownie before it scurried back to it 's little play area. "Unfortunately they aren’t familiar to me or my puchuu, who ever you fought has taken quite a percussion to keep their existence a secret. At the very least with their names I can use my absolute direction to scout for them if they are still here.”

But Regina wasn't acknowledging Umeko at the moment. She had thrown herself backwards onto her palms. “What, the hell, was THAT!?” She was equal parts scared and angry. Her lips and brow quivered as she eyed the departing puchuu. Elroy on the other hand was laughing. He closed the book he was holding

“You gotta forgive Regina.” Elroy said as his laughter died down. “Our Puchuu tried to enslave us. You can't really blame her for feeling a little uneasy around the fluff balls or other authority figures.”

“A-anyway!” Regina leaned forward and hugged her knees. “I'm not sure these are people you want to find. I think it would be best if we stayed with you here, Umeko. That is to say, for longer than I originally intended.” She laid her head on top of her legs. “We don't really have a place to hide, and they could be looking for us.” The succubus picked up her head and looked at Umeko again. “I don't expect a free ride, but we would really appreciate some shelter.”

"You know the apartment is actually, you know, mine!" Ilia then chugged the rest of the tea he was drinking as it had been a shot of tequila before smacking his cup down with an audible thud. A slightly perturbed look now on his face.

"Yes Yes and in asking me they were undoubtedly asking the both of us. Now unless you have any further outbursts you can tell them that they would be welcomed guests.". With a sullen tone Ilia muttered it was fine that the twins stay before he got up and served himself was a large cup of ice cream.

“Ha ha!” Elroy commented.

Umeko give a soft cough before responding to Regina and Elroy . "My Puchuu is one of the more kind ones so you wont have to worry about him. He usually just keeps to himself and play in his littler corner or leaves to talk to other Puchuus. I will warn you Ilia's patron said he would be back in a month as he is some business with some of his other magical girls. A large winged red and purple viper. Outside of accompanying us on monster patrols its not much we will require of you. Though in staying here we all make a pact to have each other back. If those 3 come around again we will be standing with you. When we cross path with the beacon, you will stand with us as well."

Regina was clearly still agitated. But was regaining her composure. “As long as we are under your roof, I'll gladly keep you safe if you're providing for us.”

Elroy stood up on the couch. “Oh, and while we won't become your Patron's slaves, they could pass some coin our way if we're going to help hunt monsters for them.” He dropped the book on the floor. “Consider it our allowance. We need magic too after all.”

“In regards to Beacon...” Regina growled as the words rolled out of her mouth. “Your deal puts me in a pretty tight spot. While I'm not sure if we're actually being hunted by crazy aristocrats, I know Beacon has you on a most wanted list. I'd prefer not to be added to that list beside you if I can help it.” She did not look happy. “I will reiterate that I will keep you safe. But only if they come looking for you, not the other way around. That sounds more than fair, considering the likely hood that we will be dealing with them.”

Umeko paused for a second before nodding and smiling. "Those are fair terms. For now we will pause for tracking the beacon." Umeko knew that even if she herself did not actively seek out fights with the beacon they would find her. In the week sense the hospital brawl she had already had to fight another one of there agents. finding everything agreeable she extended her hand to Regina across the table.

Regina pulled herself back. She lifted her hand in front of herself to use as a barrier. “What are you doing?”

Elroy hopped off the couch. “Come on Regina, you know damn well what she's doing. She isn't going to bite.” He placed a hand on Umeko's wrist. It was a little rough, but not painful. “You can do a lot more damage to her than she can to you anyway.” Regina was hesitant at first, but Elroy's presence seemed to be a comfort to her. With a trembling hand, the succubus reached out to hold Umeko's outstretched hand. The incubus released Umeko once the two girls were locked in a handshake. Regina's grip was weak, and she couldn't make eye contact with Umeko. “She doesn't really like it when other people tough her either. Because-”

“Please Elroy, just...” Regina's breathing was a little ragged. She gave Umeko's hand a slow “shake” before quickly retracting her hand. “I'm sorry. I know having me won't be easy for anyone here. I really appreciate all this.” She lifted her head up to look at Umeko. “Thank you.”

“Now ME on the other hand...” Elroy said as he marched over to Ilia, who was still eating ice cream. “I absolutely LOVE physical contact.” Before Ilia could get the next scoop of ice cream into his mouth, Elroy quickly opened his mouth stole the entire scoop with a chomp. “Hm?” The incubus pointed at his mouth. As if to say “Did you want this back?” He then stuck out his tongue. The dollop if ice cream was still on his tongue, slowly melting away.

Elroy brazenness intrigued Ilia as few people other than Umeko had been bold to interact with Ilia in such a way."I have more than enough to share with you." With that Ilia gently floated another scoop of ice cream into the incubus' mouth. "Plus I'm sure you just love having your mouth filled with ice cream." Another scoop then floated into Ilia mouth as well which now had a small grin. The naga's tell all then rose and an ever so softly patted Elroy on the head.

Elroy couldn't speak, much less breath with a mouth full of ice cream. He inhaled sharply through his nose and blasted the ice cream barrier out of his mouth, splattering Ilia's face with rocky road. “That is not how you're suppose to treat a lady!” The incubus wiped his mouth on his sleeve. Elroy froze in place with his hand in front of his mouth. “Oh, I seem to have gotten a little on you.”

Regina observed the spectacle from a distance. “Um.” She looked back at Umeko. “I think they're going to get along fine.”

Penrose was not the bastion Amber hoped it was going to be. The larger population meant more magical girls to deal with, largely because Boten insisted on living in a sweet in the heart of the city. It was a shame her boss insisted on living in such densely populated areas. But that was what kept her employed.

Once again, Amber found herself looking into a window of a clothing store. Again, there was a poster of a drop dead gorgeous blond modeling clothes. It was still a bit difficult to get around town during school hours. That was really the biggest drawback of looking so young. She couldn't go anywhere without Sue taking on a human form to act as a parent. It made getting around during the day difficult.

“Alright Sue, ready to go shopping?”

“Yep, got our list and everything!” Sue was in human form, ready to take Amber's hand and walk her around town. They had a pretty basic strategy. They had to be careful with Sue's human form, as she could hold it for about a half hour, and then she needed to rest for an hour or so to get her strength back, depending on how much she exerted herself. What they would do is go to a super store. Then Amber would do the shopping while Sue hid in a bathroom in her normal form to recharge. Once Amber was done, Sue would turn into a human again just long enough to pay and go to the next store and repeat. Or they would go home.

Lily and Alexander were also at the super store, untransformed; since Alex suggested they go to places where girls hang out, and she felt like getting some cute clothes for once, the green-haired girl decided to go shopping.
"Doesn't this look cute?" She asked him while holding up a frilly skirt up to her waist. "Actually, it's kind of-Hmm." Her eyes latched on a certain blonde girl who was also shopping, and her brows furrowed. For some reason, she felt as if she was fated to talk with this girl "Oh hey, sorry to interrupt!" She blurted out, and walked towards the girl. "But you were about to make a big mistake with that dress, hehe. I think yellow suits you better." She had an awkward smile on her.

“Oh, really?” Amber had her hand on a dress. Its color was very similar to Shining Scale's uniform. “Yellow is a fun color, but I was going for something more... Mature?” As a former hardware store manager, so she had no difficulty talking to people. However, it wasn't often she was approached by someone in a store. Amber got the feeling this one wasn't going to go away. “Amber Bianchi.” She extended her hand with a smile. “How do you do, ma'am?"

"Lily Hanson. Oh, nothing big, just checking out the latest trends, since I feel like I've been out of the loop." She started to turn more comfortable when she talked with the girl; she seemed wiser than her young age would suggest.
"Did you hear about the hospital bombing on the news? Sheesh, that's scary. I even heard some people make rumors that it wasn't made by terrorists, but magical girls! Sounds crazy, right?"

“What?!” Ambers eyes widened like saucers. “No, I didn't hear anything about that! Magical girls? You mean cosplayers right?” She chuckled, but it was a nervous one. “But yea, wow. Um, I actually just moved here a little less than a week ago. I had no idea that kind of stuff was going on.”

Alexander sighed internally 'I really hope Lilly knows what she's doing. No one here looks like a magical girl. Huh, that might be a problem; how are we supposed to find a magical girl if we're looking in places where they wouldn't be transformed?' He was only paying a little attention to the girls talking, as he had chosen insteed to leaf through the articals of clothing out of boardom 'why do I get the feeling that Lilly just wanted to buy some clothes. She could have just asked me to come with her, without the pretense of looking for other magical girls. I wouldn't have be able to say no to her. Actually, why would she bother asking me to come along in the first place? I don't know anything about clothes, and I'm sure she could carry whatever she bought. Meh, I'm probably thinking about this too much.'

"That's what I thought too, but the rumors paint a different story, like it was a big fight with explosions and stuff. Well, not that it matters. Was fun talking to you. Maybe i'll find one of them some of these days. I'd really like to know one, actually being one myself! Just kidding, hehe~" With that said, she then left the store with Alex, sighing in disappointment that she didn't find what she sought. At least the girl was nice to converse with.

“Uh...” Amber turned back towards the blue dress. “Heh, kids.”

Sue leaned around the corner. She was in human form. “Amber!”

“I'm not done shopping! Why are you here?”

“That girl you were just talking to.” The familiar's eyes darted back and forth. “She's a magical girl.”

The pirate sighed before holding the blue dress over herself. “She was just joking.”

“She wasn't!” Sue pointed out the door. “And the boy she was with was a magical one too!”

Amber froze in place for a few seconds before looking over her shoulder at Sue. “You sure?”

Sue nodded quickly. “I could see their magical aura. If they head towards our apartment...”

Boteg would spot them, and they would be forced to deal with them. Amber quickly hung up the blue dress and took off towards the end of the shop. “She wants to see a magical girl huh? I guess it's my turn to grant a wish.”

---

When Alexander was sure that they were out of ear shot, he asked Lilly "I probably should have asked this before; but how were you planning on finding a magical girl here? After all, unless they're transformed, they won't look any different from normal people. Hell, for all we know, that girl you were just talking to could be a magical girl."

"Well, I kinda figured we might catch someone jumping around or something, but we had no luck. Oh well, we just gotta try and keep an out. It's not like there's Facebook for magical girls. That would be cool."

Alexander and Lily's chatter died down when they could hear someone yelling. “Spirit of Adventurrrrrre!” Shortly after hearing the shout, a pirate with a ship cannon slung over her shoulder appeared. She walked out from an alley, a puddle of water following her every step. “Oh my goodness!” The pirate said. “It isn't often I'm spotted by commoners! You must be lucky!” Sue landed on Amber's shoulder right on cue. “For you have just scored a meeting with Magical girl: Shining Scale!” Amber struck her most pirate-like pose and held it for as long as she could, ignoring the pedestrians momentary, confused glares.

"Whoa...That's so cool!" Lily responded her eyes wide open and shining from the spectacle. "Haha, it actually worked, I can't believe it, Alex!"
She then saw the weird looks she got, and then had an idea. "Hey, why don't we continue talking in that alley? You see, I'm also a magical girl. Cover me Al." She ran to the secluded alley, and made her chant:
"Let my spirit gallop across the field of clouds, and strike my foes down with thunderous applause!" In a flashy and overtly detailed phase that surely left Alex with his jaw open, able to see a lot more of her than she would deem modest, she came out fully transformed as a sparkling cute fighter. "Now was THAT cool or what?" She asked smugly, her hands on her hips.

Alexander sighed at the lack of discretion the two girls had, but as luck would have it, all of the bystanders had quickly left. This left no one but him and the other girl to watch Lilly's transformation. Within seconds of it, Alexander understood why she hadn't transformed in front of him before. While he didn't find the sight unpleasant, some small part of his brain yelled at him to avert his eyes, so he did just that. He turned his gaze to the ground, his face suddenly feeling a lot warmer. When she finished, he spoke "That...that was....I don't even know what to say. I mean wow! Uh, hey Lilly; does your transformation raise the temperature at all, because I'm starting to feel a little hot."

Lily scowled. "Hey, that was supposed to be cool, not hot! It's like the complete opposite! Man, I gotta work on it or something; make it even flashier. But at least I got a wow out of you, so that's good~"

“I've gotcha sir!” By the time Alexander turned to face Amber again, her cannon was already pointed at him. She immidiatly hosed him down with her cannon. She didn't use much pressure. It wasn't much more intense than a pressurized water hose. After Alexander was thoroughly soaked, the pirate turned her cannon away from him and nodded. “There we go!” Amber said with a genuine smile. “Do you feel better now?”

Once Alexander recovered from the shock, he responded "...actually, I do. Well, I'm soaking wet now, and that's not plesent. But other than that I feel great. Thanks."

“Oh alright, let's see if I can do something about that.” Amber reached into the air and waved her hand in a brushing motion. Alexander could feel his uniform dry as the water ran to the ends of his uniform and pooled on the sidewalk. Amber wasn't able to completely dry his uniform, but it started to feel like it might air dry at this point. “Better?”

Alexander nodded "yeah, thanks."

Amber gave Alexander a thumbs up before looking back at Lily. “You're not too bashful about showing off you real identity huh?” She shrugged her shoulders. “You do have a pretty transformation. Mine's just some water and sea creatures.”

Lily waved her hand dismissively. "Ehh, I don't have a reason to hide it, to be honest; I drive around from city to city, so I have no attachments anywhere. It's great to be free and do what you want, you know? As a pirate, you must know how good it feels too~"

"Heh, well, one can never be too careful..." Shining Scale tipped her hat down.

She smiled. "Sea creatures are awesome! Especially jellyfish, since they can glow and are transparent. Well, anyway, I think I can get to the point now."

She dusted off her heel, and cleared her throat. "Penrose is in trouble. We don't know who's behind it yet, but someone or some group was behind the park tragedy. I have a bad feeling that it's only gonna get worse if the attack on the hospitall tells me anything. I think we'll soon have a war between Beacon and monster girls, and we gotta stop that! I know it's a lot to ask, but we need your help."

Sue started to shake. “A-a war?” She turned to look at Amber. “This is bad! Really bad! I can't believe Boteg actually chose to move into a potential war zone.”

“At the same time, that's so him to move to a place that's so inconvenient to defend.” The pirate girl set her cannon on the sidewalk and used it as a seat. To better ponder the situation. “Yes, there are very few upsides to a war. That would make things very inconvenient for my boss and myself.” She placed her hands on her knees and looked up at lily. “But you're in luck! Because Shining Scale is an excellent diplomat! If someone can talk those two out of a war, it's me!”

"That's a relief" Alexander said "I don't think we could have talked them out if it ourselves. I suck at diplomacy, and Lilly has a berserker mode that makes her look like a monster girl, so Beacon might not like her at all." He shrugged "Then again, I'm still not convinced we can just talk this out. The little interaction I've had with Beacon tells me that they might actually want this. But hey, I'd love to be proven wrong."

Amber giggled. “Monster girls and the Beacon, I don't really see a huge difference between them myself. Some are bloodthirsty, others are not.” Amber started to twirl her finger in the air. “I was once ambushed by monster girl that looked like a praying mantis, and was rescued by a Beacon. She even gave me her pendant after I held her at gun- I mean helped her up.” Shining scale started swaying her head left and right. “She didn't seem too keen on hurting the poor mantis. But it's her duty. How did she word it?” Amber looked up. “A cat may wish to be friends with a mouse, but its nature is to hunt them.” The pirate girl nodded. “Something like that.”

"Yeah, but Alex is right; just talking to Beacon or the monster girls isn't enough," Lily said with a concerned look. "As long as people think Beacon murdered the Puchuu girl at thge park, we won't have any end to the hatred and violence between them and any other magical girls. We have to find proof it wasn't them, and that means finding the people actually responsible." She then stopped to think. "Hey Alex, do you remember what that Helga-named girl said? Something about orders? Maybe there's a clue we can find there that leads us to the true mastermind. Oh, almost forgot!" She suddenly turned towards Amber, and caught her in a gentle embrace. "Thanks for believing in us, and helping. You don't know how many hostile mahous we have had to get through by now. One was a snake boy, for crying out loud!

Shining Scale put her hands on Lily's shoulders. “Too, close, too, much, flesh!” Amber gave Lily a shove, but it caused the pirate to fall backwards off of her cannon instead of pushing away the magical girl. Sue managed to fly off of Shining Scale before she fell flat on her back, her legs still over the barrel of the cannon. “Ahem.” Amber threw her feet over to the side, causing her to cartwheel back to her feet. “Your appreciation is well received, but in moderation.”

"Therein lies the problem" Alexander began "where do we look and what do we look for? We both saw that Beacon girl go nuts and kill the Puchuu girl. So what would explain Beacon being innocent, despite what we saw? Shapeshifting, mind control, some other third thing? The only possible lead we might have is that girl's body, and I'm sure that Beacon still has it. Even if we somehow got our hands, how are we supposed to get a clue from it? I doubt any of us have any kind of skill at magical forensics"

Alexander rubbed his chin "I think that for the time being, we're better off looking into the crazy Beacon girl. As things stand right now, Helga sounds like a dead end. She claimed to be under orders or something, but we don't know where to start looking to find anything about those orders. Unlike crazy Beacon girl, she was vaporized, so we don't have a body to examine."

"Maybe there is a clue with the crazy Beacon girl, but to investigate that we would need to get ihnto the Beacon's Penrose community headquarters, and that's harder than finding the Illuminati, heh. But maybe...We should check out the hospital, just in case we missed something."

“I have no idea what you're going on about sir, but I'll admit I'm no detective.” Shining scale folded her arms. “But it sounds like you're going to need a lot more people for whatever you're doing. I might be able to accommodate you with a... mobile base of sorts?”

Lily's eyes shone again. "A mobile base! Do you mean that...No way, it can't be! A flying pirate ship!" She squeed, and then shook Amber's hand eagerly. "Let's go!"

“N-now!?” Amber gave a worried chuckle. “I can't keep up with you!”

Alexander rose an eyebrow "won't something that big kind of stand out? Don't get me wrong, a mobile base sounds awesome. But if it's obviously magic and really easy to find, it'll just paint a target on us."

“Well, it's not necessarily easy to find. I mean yea, when it's close it's pretty obvious it's a pirate ship. But off in the distance most people think it's a blimp.” When amber was able to free her hand from Lily's eager grasp, she folded her arms. “Night and cloud cover make it virtually impossible to spot however. “ Amber reached for her cannon and picked it up. “It also has a few cannons. They're down in storage, but bringing them top side shouldn't be hard. Not that there are many threats in the sky anyway. I think a mobile air ship is a lot safer than a non-mobile, earth bound base.” Shining scale looked around herself. There wasn't anyone else present. “If you don't have any other objections, Alex was it? You can take a closer look at it.”

"Alexander" he corrected "and yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I assume you have a way to get on it without bringing it down to the ground?"

“Uh.” Shining scale looked over and saw a fire escape. “Well, we do need to board it. It would be easier from a roof top. So I guess this building would do.” Amber pointed her cannon at the ground, preparing to “water jet” her way to the roof. “Meet you guys at the top!”

---

Once everyone regrouped (Lily was waiting on everyone) Amber reached into her uniform and pulled out a flair gun. “Typically I can fly aboard, but for those of you not gifted with flight or a way to propel yourselves, we do have a rope ladder available. So I'll throw that out for you guys in just a second.” She fired the flair into the sky. It didn't look different than any other flair, but after a few seconds a flying ship of considerable size came out of the sky. It was a flying pirate ship, just as Lily had guessed. Aside from two large turbines located at the back of the ship, it looked indistinguishable from a normal fantasy pirate ship. It certainly shouldn't have been able to fly.

“Behold! The Sky Bastion!” Amber looked over her shoulder at Sue. “Get the rope ladder.” The bird nodded before flying up to the ship. “So anyway, yea.” Shining scale turned towards the duo. “What do you think? Could you see a squad of peace keepers floating around on this?”

"Amazing! You're like a sailor fighting by moonlight!" Lily screamed as she grabbed the rope ladder and climbed on board. "Yeah, we should totally form the Justice League of Avengers!" She then frowned. "Well, the name's still in development. But the idea's great! What do you think, Alex?"

Alexander began climbing up after Lilly "A group sounds good. But I'm thinking that maybe someone else should name it" as he moved up the rope ladder, he stared down at the ground, watching as it got further and further away 'man, this is nuts. I'm climbing up a really long rope ladder to a flying pirate ship. I'm not sure if magic wil; ever stop suprising me' He looked up to see how much farther it was, and quickly saw something he wasn't supposed to. He then put his eyes back on the ground 'fuck that's right; Lilly's right above me. Dammit, why couldn't her outfit come with pants!?'

Amber giggled. “Call us whatever you want, but I'm not repainting the ship!”

Eventually the airship reached the hospital, and Lily dropped down.
"Now let's see...I remember fighting Helga somewhere around here. Hmmm...Yes!" She was knelt down next to the ash pile, and then exclaimed as she lifted something out of it; it was a pendant, with a strange marking on it.
"I found something, but...what's with the symbol? It looks like the logo for a band or something."

Shining Scale scratched her head. “Not one that plays very happy songs I'll add.” Amber stared at the pendent, really squinting her eyes. “Uh.” She looked at her shoulder. “Maybe you can see something, Sue? Is there anything off about it?”

“Let's take a look!” Amber held out her hand for Sue to perch on. “Hmmm, I don't recognize this symbol. But it does have a tinge of magic to it. I'd be careful with it.”

"Going to be honest; I'm surprised this is still here. I mean, if she was was working for someone, then wouldn't they come to take care of her remains, or at least this pendent. I'm not sure what it does, but since it's the only part of her that wasn't turned to ash by Lilly's death beam, I'd say that it's pretty durable an important." Alexander looked around "now that I think about it, why hasn't anyone cleaned this up? I mean yeah, it's a roof, but wouldn't a janitor have come up here by now? The ashes haven't even been blow away by a strong breeze. Either her ashes still have some magic left in them that somehow did that...or it was the pendent."

"Magic, huh...We better be careful, guys. Maybe the pendant can-" At that moment, the pendant started to shake, and Lily dropped it out of surprise back to the ash pile. "...You...bastards..." A voice faintly came out of the pile, and Lily shrieked; it was Helga's voice. "OH CRAP!" She immediately hugged Alex out of fear, clinging to him like a little girl. "...Still want a go, you horse?" The voice again called out, and Lily bared her teeth. "What is this? How are you still alive? Is it the pendant?"
"Yeah...As long as the pendant's whole, I come back. Gonna take me a while thanks to you frying me, but I will return, hehee..."

"Huh. Well this explains why your ashes were still here" Alexander was trying to ignore the strange feeling that Lilly holding onto him produced "that sounds like a pretty cool power; no mater how much damage is done to your body, you'll eventually recover...as long as your pendent is okay. Since you're not really in a position to defend it, what's stopping us from just smashing it right now?"

"Yeah. What he said." Lily said with a pout after removing herself from Alex, and put on a defiant face, even though only a moment ago she was clearly afraid.
"Because...I have something you want. And if you destroy me, you won't get it."
Lily blinked. "Huh? What could you possibly have, let alone something we want?"
"Hehee...Now, before I continue, there's something you should know: I can hear voices. And not just any voices, but those in your head. So, I know what you're looking for."
"You mean. who's behind all of this?" Lily asked eagerly, and the pendant laughed back. "Maybe. But you have to promise not to destroy me, or I'm taking this information to my grave. Do we have a deal?" Lily scratched her head. "Uhhh, I don't know. What should we do?"

"Starting to think I should transform now. Give me a second" Alexander walked a few steps away from the girls, and began his transformation by mumbling his incantation as quietly as he could "Let the sun shelter my allies and smite my foes!" He quickly became envolped in a small golden sun. After a few seconds, it shrank to fit his body shape, changing into his outfit "alright, starting to feel safer now" he quickly applied a force-field to himself, Lilly, Amber, and Sue. He then made a clone which walked over to the ash pile "Alright. Whoever is behind this is a bigger threat then you, so I have no problem letting you go just this once for the information we need. However! If I think you're lying, or if you try and pull something, my clone will smash you" The clone stomped it's foot "And remember; this is a disposable clone. So if it get's destroied in some kind of trap you've placed, or the backlash of destroying your pendent...well that's just fine."

"Hahahaa, careful as always, pretty boy?" The voice mocked him, but then let out an anguished grunt as the clone's foot dropped close to the pendant. "Okay, enough joking around. So here's the deal; this pendant was given to me by my Lady, who is...pause for dramatic effect...Justine von Visceral! Hahaa!" After a moment of silence, she grumbled. "Blegh, not like any of you know someone as grand as her. Anyway, she was the one behind the park incident, with some good old mind control magic. But, you'll never get to her!"

"And why not? Fess up, you ugly jewel!" Lily shouted, and summoned her staff, lifting it up to mimic an attempt of smashing the pendant. "Hold up now, I'm not going to skimp out at this point. She lives in a castle in the Overcity, a dimension different from ours. So you either need someone who can shift there, or some kind of dimension-hopping magic. And that's all! Now, you gonna let me go or what?"

Amber had been silent during the entire display. “What did I get dragged into?”

“What did we get dragged into?” Sue corrected.

Shining Scale shook her head. “If this person is dangerous or maleficent at all, we might want to take precautions to ensure they can't hurt anyone again. Maybe put them in a prison or something?”

Alexander snapped his fingers, and his clone vanished "I really should, but we had a deal. You're free to go this time. " He turned around and started walking back to the airship "That being said; if someone else comes along and decides to smash you...well, we can't be held responsible for that. A pile of ash on a rooftop where a magical battle took place kind of stands out...you know?" Once more, Alexander was thankful for his mask, since it covered up his large shit eating grin.

"Okay, thanks for sharing. And hey, no hard feelings about the giant thunderbolt of death? I was kinda not myself." "Oh, sure, sure. Once I'm recovered I'm leaving this crazy city!" "Alright, goodbye!" She turned and started leaving. "Shining Scale, you coming?"

“Yea! Just need to check something first.” Once the others were at the air ship. Amber cautiously approached the necklace. She looked over her shoulder to make sure the others weren't looking at her. “Alright so.” Amber rubbed her hands together. “I don't really believe in littering, so something has to be done about you.” Amber rubbed her hands together. “So your boss, or bosses... are they wealthy? And if so, would you know where their coffers are located?”

"Oh, my Lady's loaded! Justine's so rich she could buy this whole city to herself! Or well, at least all the important things. And it's all stashed in that castle of hers. Why are you asking?"

“Well...” Amber looked over her shoulder again. “I think gaudy necklaces should be properly disposed of. Compacted to take up less space in the garbage of course. But a necklace that could act as a treasure map?” Her eye glinted. “That's something I'd protect with my life.”

"Well, why don't you let me lead you to it? I've been to the castle, so I know my way around it. You just figure out how to get to the Overcity. Deal?"

Shining scale picked up the necklace. “Deal. So long as we're of the understanding that you're not going to talk at inappropriate times.” Amber slid the necklace over her neck and tucked it under her shirt.

“Amber!” Sue whispered.' “Is that a good idea?”

“Sue, we never get any treasure. Not like this” Shining scale started to walk back towards the ship. “Now we're going to get our just reward!” The pirate used her cannon to propel herself back up to the ship, where she rejoined everyone.

At the deck of the airship, Lily looked down at the city. "The Overcity...We need a magical girl who's really powerful to help us....really powerful. Oh, I know!" Her eyes widened. "We should find Mariette Pedersen! She has dimension-travelling magic! She can take us to the Overcity!

"That girl with the eye patch and portal magic? Yeah, she probably could help us, but I'm not sure if she would."

Amber stood in silence for a bit. “What?”

“So that's her name...” Sue immediately flew off of Amber's shoulder and hid in the depths of the ship.

“Okay...NO!” Amber Took hold of Alex's shirt and hoisted him into the air. “We are not going to contact that sleazy, tentacle whipping, portal creating, harpy commanding, hentai queen!” She pointed her cannon at Alexander. “You take that back! She will end us if she sees us again! She locked me in a bank vault, I should have taken her out when I had the chance!” Amber continued to yell unintelligibly at Alexander.

"Hey, calm down!" Lily grabbed Amber by her shoulders and pulled her off of Alex. "Now, I'll admit I don't know anything about her, so she might be an, umm, hentai queen. but we still need her help! We'll never reach Justine's castle without her help. When I met her, she didn't seem like that bad of a person. I promise I'll talk to her, and sort things out between you guys, ok?"

Amber's breathing was ragged. “You think there can be... Peace?” Shining scale trudged away from Alexander. “There can be no peace.”

"Of course, that's what we fight for! Anyway, I think we should be leaving now. Oh, almost forgot!" She brought out a piece of paper from her pocket alongside a pencil, and started writing.
"Now, I just met you. And this is crazy." She handed the paper to Amber.
"But here's my number. So call me...maybe? Hehe~ Lily Lightning, signing out!" And with that, she leapt off the deck of the airship, making a free dive.

Alexander faceplamed "...this is my life now." Taking a deep breath in and out, he turned to Scales and said "well, see you later" He then walked over to the edge, created a circle shaped barrier in mid air, stepped on the barrier, and lowered it to the ground 'I'm really glad that worked. I'd be looking pretty stupid if it didn't.

Lily summoned Ixion in the middle of the air, and as she landed on the motorcycle, she exerted her magic power in order to give small wings to the vehicle; not enough to fly, but to let her glide, letting her land on a highway like an airplane. She skid to a stop at the side of the road, and swept off her sweat. "I had no idea I could do that. Guess I should have looked before I leapt, hehe~"

Thalia giggled as her mount stopped dead in her tracks and faltered, blazing even more red than her Engine of Destruction.
"Awwww, come on cu~utie~" the Kitsune teased, shifting herself to make the moment even more embarrassing and awkward, "Can't a girl have some fun~?" she pouted childishly, before quickly returning to her normal, innocent, if a little cheeky, smile.

Penny's only response was an inelegant squawk as she struggled for a coherent response. One wasn't forthcoming; eventually the Cyborg just gave up trying and instead resumed her jog once more. The blush didn't leave, if anything it had gotten even more pronounced, though one might be able to notice a small grimace on the girls face as she focused on putting one foot in front of the other as she jogged across the city.

The fox girl giggled at her compatriots response, seemingly enjoying her friends torment and embarrassment much more thoroughly than she should have been. Eventually, after her burst of light laughter, she spoke up again as they began to continue their journey.
"Don't worry, I was only joking~" she said, intentionally getting as close as possible, "Well, not about the cutie part~" at that, she stuck out her tongue, and quickly relaxed as they plodded along.

It didn't take long for Penny to get them to her 'home', she could have gotten them here faster but that would have, literally, left foot prints across the city, leading anyone who felt like following them directly to where she slept. Not something the young monster girl was looking to do.

Her lair was a small abandoned warehouse, hidden amongst a small collection of similarly abandoned industrial buildings. Though from the inside one might have easily mistaken it as a scrapyard, as there were piles of discarded scrap of all types, from cast off metal to broken down and disused computer parts littering the floor. There were some old shelves that had fallen in to each other, while others had simply fallen over or even apart and there were tarps were tossed around with abandon. For all intents and purposes it was a disaster zone of rusted jagged metal and loose cables. One could hardly find a safe place to step without risking injury let alone find a place to lie down.

It was also a place that few could traverse safely, even if one was a Maho, as all the jagged metal had been honed to a razors edge. The cables had been placed intentionally to trip those who were careless or inattentive, and more than one of the piles was balanced so that they would topple over if disturbed at all. These changes elevated it from simple disaster to near literal death trap.

Standing outside the building she called home, Penny stopped and took in a deep breath as some of the tension bled from her shoulders. ”home, sweet home” she murmured affectionately a small smile gracing her features. This was her sanctuary, her refuge, and currently her most prized possession. As ever since she had been inducted in to the magical world the one thing she had lacked for any real length of time was a place to call hers. So this junk filled scrap heap was priceless to her.

Without a second glance she strode in to the metallic hazard, she moved assuredly yet carefully, so as not to bump Thalia into any of the edges that seemed to be everywhere one would look. The debris that littered the floor didn’t both the metal girl, neither did either of the piles she carefully climb over, she was almost literally in her element.

She made her way over to a collection of fallen shelving units that were covered in tarps and scrap. Gently she moved one of the metal shelves out of the way revealing a passage in to the depths of the shelving pile. Stepping through the small opening Penny used some of the only outward magic she could and lowered the makeshift door back in to place telekinetically, plunging the both of them in to darkness.

The darkness lasted for only a moment as a flick of a switch could be heard and soon a row of what looked to be re-purposed Christmas light lit the surprisingly spacious hidden room. This hidden space was a far cry from disaster that hid it, as one could make sense of the place. In one corner of the area was a pile of cloth, vaguely resembling a bed or nest. There were a few chairs and even a table that had been cobbled together from various scrap, though they lacked the sharp edges that adorned everything outside.

Quietly humming away tucked in to the web of metal that was used to hide this room one could see the refurbished electric motor responsible for powering the lights. There were a few cardboard boxes scattered about, each was labelled with a pair of dates as well as a basic descriptor of what was in them. Most said ‘Parts’ but a couple near the table read ‘Food’ or ‘Water’ and one near her bed simply read ‘Clothes’.

The last thing to catch attention was the hole in the floor not far from the bed; it dropped down about four feet and seemed to lead to a large pipe, which lead off in too darkness. Unbeknownst to Thalia, the pipe lead to one of the other abandoned buildings that surrounded this one, and was barricaded shut.

”Welcome to my little hideaway” Penny said after a moment the smile was still on her face but now held a touch of nervousness to it.

Thalia cast her eyes across the awfully large, if still austere, room she found herself in. On the journey, she had been quite impressed at the lengths her friend took to cover her tracks and protect her lair; a roundabout method of arriving, plus a huge series of traps ready to spell the end for any unsuspecting intruder, magical girl or otherwise? She had to credit Penny, it was a fine job, if not an excellent one.

She hopped off her back, and turned to the girl.
"So this is the bat cave, huh? Where you mastermind your evil plans and concoct your malicious potions~?" Thalia quipped, before running off to the side to scout around, intentionally looking inside all of the boxes to see if she could find anything incriminating and embarrassing.

Most of the 'Parts' boxes were filled with salvaged bits of computers or various scrap that could still be used to build something as well as a few tools to do such. The 'Food' ones were filled with non-perishables, the 'Water' had bottled water. It would be in the lone box labelled 'Clothes' that Thalia would be able to find something to embarrass Penny, as it had all of the Mechanical girls civilian clothes stored inside.

The mechanical girl was not yet aware of this pending embarrassment, she was currently grabbing a snack from one of the boxes as she noted an envelope laying on the table that hadn't been there before. Picking it up she could note it had a bit of weight to it and her name was written in script on the front. With a shrug she set it back down deciding to deal with it later and went back to grabbing food "I wouldn't call it the bat cave, not high tech enough, but it's my home for the time being She answered as she sat down and took a bite out of the protein bar she has dug out from her food stores.

Pausing mid bite Penny cast a quick look at the bar then at herself. Rolling her eyes she Murmured something under her breath and a few seconds later she looked normal, as in she was no longer covered in metallic plates and her eyes were no longer glowing or shifting in color. Taking another bite she nodded in satisfaction "Much better"

Finally she turned her attention back to her guest "So...What are you doing?" her first question was abandoned as she noted Thalia pointedly looking in all of the boxes.

Thalia looked back at her friend, raising her head up from one of the boxes.
"Well, I mean, its more high-tech than where I live." she looked back down into the box, before standing up, finished with its contents, and proceeded to move onto the next, "Which is in the middle of... Well, nowhere." she pulled open the lid of the box, "More precisely, I don't have anywhere to live!" she turned back once more, and stuck out her tongue.

As her Monstrous associate moved herself about the room, Thalia simply continued her avid exploration of Penny's belongings. Much to her dismay, most of it was of minimal note, but eventually she found her way to the only box that meant anything to her. She smirked, prying open the lid.
"And what do we have here, then~?" she said, aloud, very audibly, clearly trying to draw attention to her malevolent misdoings.

"I don't normally have a place either, but this is sorta part of the deal Laat made with Beacon" The girl replied.

Penny's groan was very audible when she finally saw the box that had taken Thalia's attention "Asking 'please' wont do anything will it?" She asked as she moved to try and mitigate to on coming embarrassment.

The Kitsune smirked back, and continued digging through the assortment of mundane clothes that had been neatly placed inside the container.
"Probably not~" she teased, face completely covered by the box, "Guess you'll just have to come and stop me with force, huh~?"

With a sigh Penny moved to stand behind her friend "You asked" she replied quietly as she grabbed Thalia around the waist and attempted to drag her out of the wardrobe box.

Obviously, Thalia had considered the possibility that Penny would try such a manoeuvre. And, since Penny was in her sealed form, she was at quite a disadvantage. Thalia had never really liked entering her humanoid form. It was always uncomfortable, like she was enclosed in a room that was just a bit too small for her body size.

So, as Penny went to grab her waist, she ducked downwards, grabbing the first thing she could from the bottom of the box, and slipped between her legs. Then, she danced off behind her, holding aloft her newly acquired prize.
"Laced panties~?" she teased, observing them from all angles, "Girl knows how to please, I see~"

Once again Penny felt her face heat up as as furious blush spread across her face "They were the only ones I had enough money for at the time!" she nearly yelled as she desperately dove after Thalia in an attempt to get them back. Her embarrassment taking most rational thought with it, as she could easily out pace the Fox girl if she reverted back to her true form.

As with the first time, Thalia dodged the sudden and clumsy attempt at retrieving the underwear. She skipped off in another direction, giggling like a school girl, and beckoned Penny forward.
"You're gonna have to be a bit more rough than that if you want to get them back~"

Taking a deep breath, in an attempt to calm herself, Penny turned once again to face her friend and dove once more at the fox girl. This time she wasn't aiming for the girl directly but instead one of her tails, from there she could move to try and immobilise her so she could try and get her panties back.

Despite her sealed form her movement had a dangerous sharpness to them, as she still had all of her martial prowess just lacked most of her physical might. 'I'll show you rough' she growled internally.

Thalia smirked widely, clearly enjoying their game. As Penny dove, she quickly went to dodge to the side. However, her smile dissipated almost immediately as she realised her mistake.
"Ny-nyah!" she involuntarily cried as her friend grabbed onto one of her many swishing tails, "N-n-not the tails..! Th-they're sensitive!" as the girl tried to get away from her captor, she also hid her face, obscuring as best she could the sudden blush that had formed.

Penny had a grin on her face as she stepped in and swept Thalia's legs our from under her not letting go of the tail she had nabbed as she did so. By luck, they had moved closer to the pile of cloth that Penny uses as a bed so the fall wan't as painful as it could have been. Quickly Penny straddled Thaila and retrieved her underwear from the now blushing Kitsune.
"How's that..." Penny trailed off as the position they had ended up in caught up to her. Her blush deepened to a vibrant crimson and she went very, very still.

Thalia, too, seemed equally surprised by the whole sequence. She let out a squeak as her body flipped and she collided with the soft bedding that she had been aligned with. The underwear had left her hand but she didn't seem to notice; her attention was very, very streamlined, and her blush had deepened to the same degree as Penny's, if not even more so.

Before she could even utter a word, though, the sound of shifting metal drew her gaze. It wasn't enough to remove the tension from the air, but it was close to it. As quickly as it ceased, the noise sounded once more, and before them stood a green haired female, eyeing them curiously.

The girl tilted her head to the side, confused, but then started giggling.
"Whats this then, Thalia~? Am I interrupting something... Private, by chance~?" she questioned teasingly, making certain that there was no doubt in what she was insinuating. Even though Penny had never seen the female before, it was quite obvious that she was of great power. That she was a God.

It took a few seconds for Thalia to respond, her eyes wide and her face ablaze. After some time passed, she finally managed to croak out a single word.
"L-L-Lothreen?!" she cried, attempting to shift herself from Penny's grasp but failing. She was completely at mercy and she knew it.

Penny's first response to the sound of shifting metal was one only Thalia would have been able to note as despite being in her sealed form one of Penny's eyes turned a dangerous crimson and her skin nearly lost all color. She hunched over Thalia protectively as she turned to see who the intruder in her domain was. The fact that both the newcomer and Thalia knew each other saw Penny's color return with a vengeance as Lothreen's words registered.

It was when Thalia tried to get free that the disguised cyborg finally snapped back to her senses and carefully moved off her friend, The fact she could barely look at her at the moment likely going unnoticed. "U-umm" She stammered for a moment before swallowing drily "Greetings, to you who hold station in the stares. I am The Grey Lady, and would humbly request to know why you have come to my grounds" Despite the formal tone and language her blush had yet to recede.

Lothreen once again turned her head quizzically at the human looking girl before her. Only her Champions were ever really formal to her, when she thought about it. Was her name known so little?!
"Hiya, Servant of Chaos! Your God really tries to push the drama thing too much, ya know that?" she quipped, before turning back to Thalia, "Is that any way to treat your God?! You could be a bit more formal, y'know! she cried, pouting. It was evident she wasn't your usual deity.

"In any case... I'm just here to check on my best Champion! Oh, oh, don't tell the others I said that! They might get jealous..." she laughed, and then gave a devious smile, "And, I'm sorry for barging in! I wasn't expecting anyone to be getting so... Amorous~"

Thalia squeaked at the comment, and quickly raised her hands to block her face.
"N-n-no! I-it's not like that..! W-we were just... y-y'know..." she trailed off, clearly too embarrassed to even formulate a proper explanation, much to the amusement of her Patron.

Penny was in no better position to try and explain the situation that Lothreen had walked in on, not that she would know where to start. Instead she opted for a different tactic "As it seems you know, at least in passing of me and whose banner I carry, Might I know you name, My Lady? if that is to personal may I know which station you hold? She asked partially out of curiosity, mostly to try and redirect the conversation in a different direction. "Ah, before I forget, welcome to my abode. hopefully I shall be a gracious host to one of your standing" She added with a slight bow, she honestly wasn't sure if Laat's teaching would help, but at the least they wouldn't hurt to follow, at least until she was told otherwise.

A smile stretched across Lothreen's lips and she giggled, skipping closer to Penny to get a look at her.
"Awww, c'mon, there's no need to be so formal with me. Thalia isn't, and as much as it pains me to have such a snarky Champion, its a breath of fresh air from my others, who insist on calling me by "Lady"..." she sighed slightly, before returning back to her smile, "Sure! I'm Lothreen, God of the Hunt!" she spun in a circle, then bowed, "The real God of the Hunt, at your service!"

Once their introductions were done, Lothreen took it upon herself to scout every inch of Penny's body, regardless of any qualms she may have had. It didn't take long before she had circled and spied the entirety of her body, before she glanced back over to Thalia, who was still blushing, and hiding from both Penny and her God.
"I think you'll be just fine for her, y'know~" she giggled playfully, "You two get my blessing~!"

Penny tried to stay still as she was obviously examined, but could help fidgeting at the close scrutiny. When Lothreen finally finished Penny quickly scurried over to the table in a bid to get some personal space back, and once again try and get her blush under control.

Upon doing so she rediscovered the plain envelope that sat unopened on the table 'Might as well find out what this is' she decided in hopes to find something to distract her from all the recent embarrassment. Inside the envelope sat a thin stack of bills, a few mana coins, and a small slip of paper. The slip simply read 'For Services Rendered'. The bills totalled to $320, but it was the coins that held the true worth. One gleaming silver coin sat along side six bronze ones.

Penny recognised what the contents were for, granted the slip said as much, payment from Laat'AlOfan for the hospital situation. That reminded her of the original reason she had wanted to come to her lair, as her hunger for destruction made it's self known once again.

Quietly she sunk in to one of the chairs as she fought down the wave of hunger. Reaching over to one of the parts boxes she rummaged around until she found a six inch nail. Grasping it in both hands she slowly bent it in half one way, then slowly bent it back the other way. she kept doing this until it broke in half with a soft snap.

Lothreen took a step back from the two girls, heading towards the entrance once again.
"Well, I only really came here to wish Thalia goodnight, so I suppose I'll be off!" she blew them both a kiss, and turned her way towards the makeshift door, "Oh, and tell Laat I wanna have a word with him ASAP! Alrighty, nighty night you two!"

With that, she slid open the door, and proceeded to exit. However, before she did, she shot a devious glance back towards to two.
Don't keep her up too late though, Gray Lady~" and with that, she was gone.

Thalia stood, shakily, averting her gaze from Penny, and smoothed down her outfit.
"I-I, um..." she stuttered, evidently having difficulty devising her sentence, "I-I'm sorry about h-her... sh-she likes to, well, ch-check up on me..."

"It's alright Penny replied softly as she pulled another nail from the box and began working as she did the prior one. "My Patron is also a god so I am at least aware of how finicky and weird they can be" She explained her voice still soft. she turned to try and give Thalia a smile but it came out slightly strained, and there was a slightly crazed glint in her eye. she went to reach for another nail when a though occurred to her "How about we go hunting?" She offered up "Put this behind us" she waved her hand around at the room in a effort to explain what she meant by "this" as she knew if she tired to voice it her blush would never leave.

Thalia glanced around, attempting to regain her composure. Going on a hunt sounded like an exceptional idea to her. Not only would it subtract from the previous events, not that they were ones she would forget any time soon. Not only that, but she'd be able to deal with her own monstrous hunger - the same one she was sure she could see Penny was also struggling with.
"Y-yeah! That sounds like fun... W-we can, uh... Go to my Storage Shed, if you'd like. I-I've got all my old hunting equipment there." she suggested, still somewhat nervous, and without the usual snark that would accompany her words.

"Give me a moment and then you can guide the way" Penny said as stood and moved towards the door. Taking a steadying breath "Limiters released and Systems are green. Circuits Charged and Steel Sharpened I Stand Ready for Action!" She spoke the words that removed her seal and, with a gesture they were off.

---

In a repeat of earlier events Penny once again navigated through the spiky maze that guarded her home and opened the way for both herself and Thalia to her hidden room. "That was just what I needed" Penny exclaimed with a sigh as she closed the door behind them "So...Now what?" she mused aloud. There wasn't a lot that could be done at her lair, she could tinker with some of th parts she had laying around or she could try and text someone from Beacon, or just chat.

Thalia let out a loud, satisfied sigh as they entered back into the lair, almost like she had already accepted this is a safe and familiar place of refuge. A good hunt was exactly what she had needed, but next she had to figure out a way to convince Lothreen to give her back the whistle. That was the only thing bar killing that could keep her hunger at bay for any length of time, and was, considering she didn't possess many things, one of her most treasured items.

"What next? There are so many things we could do y'know~" she teased, skipping her way across the room, "Do you have any board-games?! I love those!" she then quickly corrected, though the meaning on her past comment was not easily ignored.

Penny paused for a moment at the potential implications of what Thalia said, but pushed past that train of thought rather quickly "No board games, Laat isn't big of keeping things around. Might be able to fashion a chess set out of the scrap however if you want" She replied as she pulled out her phone to check the time. It was easily past midnight by this point. with a shrug she put her phone away, resolving to send an explanation to Alicia at some point in the next few day, possibly seeing if they had a bounty board.

"Potentially odd question, how much sleep do you need?" Penny asked, she hadn't had a lot of time to just talk with any other magical girls, less so other friendly monster girls. so she was curious.

"I'm not very good at Chess, so..." she said, pondering their options. It was pretty late, by the state of the sky outside, so they might have been better off simply sleeping. Of course, doing the things the simple way wasn't ever much fun.
"How much do I sleep? Well, I guess it depen-" her response was cut short by her stifling a yawn which then turned into a minor blush, "D-depends on how tired I am..! But d-don't worry, I'm not tired at all!" she exclaimed, emphasising her point by dancing around the lair some more.

"Riiight" Penny replied with a look that clear conveyed her disbelief "I was asking 'cause I only need about three hours a night and there isn't a whole lot to do here except chat at the moment" she explained as she moved to sit at the table. "Not really used to having a place to stay at for very long so kinda tapped for ideas at the moment." she added as she started pulling out a few bits of computer to fiddle with as they talked.

Thalia looked around a little, somewhat unsure of what exactly to do. She had been with friends before, and through most all of those times they had managed to find endless topic to converse. But, of course, she hadn't had many, if any, friends, after she abandoned her original life. Monster Girls weren't exactly readily accepted.

"I-I suppose... I am a bit tired..." as soon as she said it, she broke out into a yawn she could barely contain, and quickly turned herself to look away, "O-okay, very tired. I-I guess its time for bed, huh?" then cast her gaze around, then turned back to Penny, slightly embarrassed, "U-uh, wh-where should I-I..?"

Penny just chuckled at Thalia finally admitting that she was tired, but was temporarily confused by the trailing question that followed afterwards. Then she remember that Thalia had stated she didn't have a home and a quick glance brought what was being asked in to better focus "O-oh, uhh. You can take the bed if you want" She replied sheepishly "I only have it because I tend to go to bed while sealed up, the ground... doesn't really bother me when I'm... normal" she explained haltingly as she kept fiddling with the bits and bobs in front of her. She still wasn't used everything that had happened to her, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. she didn't often give her self time to really deal with it either, she just kept moving forward.

As quickly as Penny suggested the idea, Thalia raised her hands to go against it.
"N-n-no, I-I couldn't..!" she exclaimed nervously, fighting off a blush at the idea of sleeping in Penny's bed, "Th-this is your house, I-I cant let you sl-sleep on the floor..!" clearly, she was trying to figure out some excuse as to give Penny the bed; she may have been informal with her Patron, but she knew manners from before she was a Magical Girl, "Y-you've been really n-nice till now, s-so it's o-only fair..."

Penny stopped fiddling at turned in her seat to look at what was likely her only real friend "It's fine." she said simply "I'm not going to be tired for a couple of hours yet, and I can simply take some of the excess blankets if I need too. 'Sides I'm not going to let a friends sleep on the concrete if I can help it" She explained sincerely, all of what she said was true, plus Penny grew up as a guy, and one thing that always came up was that the lady gets the bed, it was just good manners.

There had to be some way. She wasn't gonna let Penny sleep on the floor, that much was for definite. Thalia had already made up her mind that she would not let that happen. The only question was, how did she go about ensuring the outcome she desired?
"U-um..." a thought had come to mind, but it was an exponentially embarrassing one; she tried to fight down a blush, but failed, and so cast her gaze in another direction, accidentally setting it upon the bed, which only further deepened the red on her cheeks, "Y-you could... Y-y-y'know..." Thalia choked, trying to form words as difficult to swallow as sand, "Sl-sl-sleep... N-next to me... M-m-my tails a-are v-very comfy..!"

Penny was slightly worried when Thalia started to blush, she had only seen it happen once and that was a particularly embarrassing event. Then she heard what Thalia's idea was and all thoughts ground to a halt as her face once again became a vibrant red. She opened her mouth a few times to try and say something, but only silence came out.

Eventually some part of Penny's brain started working again. Perhaps it was because of all the embarrassment that had happened today already or it could have been simple logic but her next response was a quiet "If you're sure" The words were out before Penny could really stop them and they served only to darken the blush to a deep crimson but she didn't try and retract them. Logic told her they would go back and forth on this for hours at this rate and part of her was tired in a very fundamental way.

That was far from the answer Thalia had expected. Her body froze as she realised what exactly had just happened. Had... Had Penny really just consented to the idea? It was unfathomable. Ridiculous. She would never have accepted to engage in something like that. But... She had done.
"I-I'm... S-sure." she replied with a smile, still averting her gaze and blazing embarrassment away from Penny in an attempt to make it unnoticeable, though it was obvious such an attempt was futile, "I-I-I g-guess we, u-uh..." she stammered, attempting to devise a clear direction for their actions, clearly out of her depth in that kind of situation.

Penny swallowed thickly, internally cursing herself for all manner of things, not the least of which was her current blush. "R-r-right, u-umm, I'll, I'll get the lights?" she half asked as she slowly started to stand. If Thalia was out of her depth Penny had retreated to autopilot, aware of what was going on but not thinking it through at any level. It was because of that she was able to walk over to the light switch with out falling over at the sheer absurdity of what was happening.

Still there was a small part of her that wondered if killing the lights would have any effect, considering how bright her blush had to be at this point.

With the example Penny set, Thalia proceeded to move about as well, all though it was mostly simple anxious fidgeting. Her tails swished wildly around her, demonstrating her anxiety, if her furious and raging inferno of a face wasn't enough of an indication. She made her way over to the bed, watching as Penny headed towards the lights, and sat herself down.
"O-okay then..." she whispered, clenching her legs tightly together like a schoolgirl desperate to pee, "I-its like a r-r-real sleepover now, h-huh?" was the best she could say in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Penny stopped for a moment as Thalia's words hit home, and she started laughing she couldn't help it, the thought that this could be a sleepover was ridiculous. "I haven't had a sleepover since I was fourteen, but considering I've been turned back in to a kid that's a great way to look at it" she said in between laughs the idea knocking most of the tension out of her. With a shake of her head she hit the switch to the lights, plunging the room in to darkness. Quickly she made her way to the bed, the soft tapping of her metallic feet giving her potion away in the dark.

Kneeling next to her bed she once again murmured quietly "Safeties engaged, system going on standby. I step away from conflict" There was a dull flash, only noticeable because of the absence of any other light, but in that flash one would be able to see Penny once again revert to her sealed state, and if one was especially keen eyed they would be able to note the blush was still very visible. Quietly she climbed in to the nest of blankets and cloth.

The Kitsune watched quietly as Penny turned off the lights. As soon as the darkness swallowed the room, her magic kicked in. Having a Beast Specialisation made Thalia not only in tune with creatures, but one with them, and so at the absence of light her eyes were enhanced into ones much better at dealing with it, so that she could pierce the veil with sight. Even if Penny couldn't see, she could. And it had to be said she was impressed by the way she passed effortlessly, despite the lack of light.

As she kneeled, Thalia continued to fidget, despite the fact that she couldn't be seen. The blush on Penny's face did nought but remind her of what situation she had been placed into, if by her own volition, and it proved only to spread her own blush further. So, she leant back, and let herself rest comfortably in the makeshift bed, shoulder to shoulder with her friend, feeling her warmth.
"G-goodnight, P-P-Penny..." she whispered, stuttering as she spoke.

Penny grabbed the corner of one of the blankets and pulled it over the both of them. "G'night Thalia" Penny whispered back, intentionally not thinking about why Thalia was stuttering, she would never get to sleep if she did. She shifted around a moment before getting comfortable her last thought before she passed in to slumber was 'Her tails are comfy'



Penny slowly came to awareness, which was something she rarely got to enjoy these days. Most of the time she woke up instantly and nothing would get her back to sleep, so she endeavoured to stay in this half awake state and moved to snuggle deeper in to the warmth that her pillow was offering her. The fact that she didn't have a pillow wasn't what tipped her off to something being wrong, it was when she felt said pillow breathing.

That confused her sleep addled mind as pillows don't breath, slowly at first and then building up with frighting speed the memories of last night came rushing back to the Mechanical girl. Cautiously she cracked one eye open and confirmed with the soft light that was leaking in to the room, that her 'pillow' was in fact Thalia. Instantly it felt as if her face had caught fire as The blush she had gotten away from made it's way back on to her face.

Feeling her friend shift beside her brought Thalia into a state of semi-consciousness. She let out a slight groan, and her eyes fluttered gently open, staring directly into the open eye and raging blush of Penny herself. It took a couple of seconds for her to recognise what exactly was happening. They had gone on their hunt, and it was late upon their return to the lair, and so they had decided to go on to sleep.

Realisation struck mercilessly at the Kitsune as she frightfully remembered what had happened before they drifted into the warm arms of sleep. She had no words. Nothing. Her mind was flooded in its entirety with embarrassment, and so was her face, which flushed quickly and violently into a deep crimson. But even still she said nothing, and instead lay, facing her friend in total, ceaseless silence.

Penny was in a similar state of shock as all of her attempts last night to rationalise this as a simple thing fell apart with the morning. The moment would have likely stretched on for hours, and it already felt like it had even though it had only been moments. The silence was shattered by a somewhat muted roll of thunder, a moment later, it happened again. It was Penny's phone, she had an alarm set for 8:30 on the off chance she slept in. "I-I...So-S..Ex-e-e.." She tried before simply releasing Thalia and fleeing to shut up her alarm.

Thalia simply let herself be let go of, but still kept deathly still, watching as Penny scurried off to deal with her alarm. The embarrassment had gotten the best of the girl, it appeared, and she zoned out, lost in the endless thoughts that accompanied such an encounter. Quickly, though, she snapped herself out of it, and slowly, and shakily, sat herself up.
"G-g-good morning... P-Penny..." she murmured, wiping the sleep from her eye, doing her best to ignore the incessant and untamed blush burning deep on her face.

"M-m-morning" Penny uttered quietly unable to look at her guest in fear of catching on fire due to her own blush "Breakfast? She asked holding up a cereal bar from one of her food boxes. She had one pulled out for herself as well, but embarrassment had stolen what little appetite she normally had.

Thalia glanced up, spying the cereal bar she had been presented with. Normally, she didn't eat breakfast; she never really got the chance, despite her considerable freedom.
"U-um, n-no, than-" she went to reply, but her stomach had other ideas, opting to instead reply with a low, esurient growl of hunger, "...I-I guess I'll h-have one..." she finally responded after a few moments of shy, embarrassed silence.

Penny, nodded absently as she tossed the bar over to Thalia, it was meagre as far as rations went, but was better then being hungry. "So..." She began lamely drumming her fingers on her table as she tried to force her brain in to working. When that didn't really help she took a bit out of her cereal bar, not caring to open it first. The fact she was eating the wrapper along with the bar didn't really bother Penny, her sense of taste didn't seem to work correctly when she was in her default state, besides her body could process just about anything now.

The silence stretched on as Penny tried to find some way to dispell the awkwardness, eventually the responsible part of her made it's self known and she picked up her phone with the intent to text Alicia an explanation of sorts about yesterday. She was half way through that text when a simple question popped in to her head "Do you have a cellphone Thalia?" and was asked with out really thinking about it.

The Kitsune raised her hand deftly, catching the bar with ease. Both her specialisation and her contract helped play in to make her quite dexterous, so catching something like that without issue was more than an easy task for her. She nodded a wordless thanks to her compatriot, and tore the wrapper from the bar. As quickly as it was freed from its plastic container, it was between Thalia's teeth, and she devoured the entire thing momentarily. Wasn't there a thing about not rushing meals?

"H-huh? A phone?" she looked confused for a second, attempting to ascertain what exactly Penny would need the information for; then, suddenly, it struck at her, "I-I mean, yeah, I have one. Why? Do you want my number~?" she teased, seemingly back to her usual self after some nourishment, as she pulled from her dress an average touch screen device, "Lothreen bought it for me for my one year anniversary of being a Magical Girl!"

Penny was able to finish and send off the text she was working on before Thalia responded. Her first action afterwards was to drop her head to the table with a soft groan. That was the reason she was asking, just not in the way her friend was insinuating. Rolling her head to look at the kitsune "Wonder if that is a patron thing or just a deity one" She said as she lifted up her grey flip phone "Laat got me this last week, as a present for helping form the alliance with Beacon and yes I was hoping to swap numbers. I won't likely have to toss this phone in a year since Laat was the one to give it to me." She explained as she flipped open said phone and passed it to Thalia.

Thalia took the device, and gave it a cursory once over before returning to the screen. She quickly navigated to the contacts section of the phone, briefly skimming over her other contacts - two people whom she was unaware - before selecting the option to add a contact. From there. she pulled up her number on her own phone, and hastily typed it into the small keyboard. Once it was added, she wrote her name, saved it, and then handed it back to Penny.
"There you go, but don't text me late at night expressing your forlorn heart, kay~?"

Penny just rolled her eyes at Thalia as she took her phone back and sent a simple 'whatever' as a text response rather then give a verbal one. "So, now that food has been taken care of and numbers exchanged. What's next?" she asked picking her head off the table.

The fox girl seemed to ponder for a second, tilting her head to the side as she thought on what activities thye could exactly do. There wasn't really much besides hunting. The Baconites wouldn't accept Thalia, so she couldn't go along with Penny to their gatherings, and she barely knew any of the other girls. There wasn't really much she did otherwise. Mostly she just talked and played with Lothreen, and went hunting.
"Hmmmmmmm... I dunno... We could go to an arcade, if that interests you? I have moneys." she suggested, clearly strained for ideas.

Penny tilted her head to the side as she considered going to an arcade and slowly a conspiratorial grin began spreading across her face "That sounds like a fun idea, ever since becoming a Magical Girl machines just started to make sense to me, pretty sure I could win every time now." She explain drifting off to her own musings for a moment.

Snapping back to her guest her grin just got wider "I also just got paid, so let's go empty an arcade of it's prizes and see what other things this town has to offer. I've spent most of my time setting this place up so I don't know what there is to find." She said standing up as she did "What do you say?"

A devious smirk creased Thalia's otherwise still lips at the idea. It was almost audible the fantasies that played out in her head as she imagined the them, exiting an arcade full of crying children and void of any prizes, clutching countless stuffed animals and other such items won in their nefarious, but irresistible plan.
"That sounds like a perfect plan, partner~" she said, standing from the bedding, "Lets go win ourselves some cuddly toys~!"

With a grin that spelt trouble for some unaware far off arcade Penny lead the way out in to the city for a day of miscellaneous havoc. From then on, the week passed in a similar vein, with the two hunting by night and wandering and exploring by day.



Penny was currently sprinting across the city rooftops, she tossed a quick glance over her shoulder confirming her pursuer was, in-fact, gaining on her. The detour she had taken to get up here had cost her precious ground, as while the Mechanical girl was slightly faster in a straight run, the one chasing her was much more agile in in all directions in addition to being fast. 'I'm not going to be able to get away from this one' she thought as she tried to make it to the edge of the roof before it was too late.

The Kitsune grinned, dashing across the rooftop as quickly as her legs would carry her, tails billowing on the wind. Even despite their previous activities in the week, this definitely had to be her favourite. She smirked, coming up close behind her friend, and giggled, attempting to throw her off her stride.
"You cant escape, Penny~" she whispered through the air, before leaping at the girl in an attempt to tackle her to the ground.

Penny tossed another glance to try and figure out which side Thalia was going to come from, She looked just in time to see the fox airborne and heading right at her. Knowing there was nothing she could do she braced herself for impact.

A moment later the Impact came, and normally would it only knock Penny back a step or two. which it did, the issue was the fact the roof ended after a step so rather then a small trip to the rooftop, it was a notably longer trip down to an alleyway that ended with a crash. "Oof, that was slightly rougher then expected" Penny stated after a moment, the fall doing little more then temporarily disorientating her.

Instinctively, Thalia released her prey, and landed, rather deftly, close beside her. She stood back up triumphantly, all the while still smirking.
"I win! she exclaimed, before extending a hand to help up her fallen colleague, "Ready for another round~?" she teased, clearly confident in her capabilities.

"Sure give me a sec to be able to see straight first" She replied as she took the offer hand and got to her feet, she was enjoying the odd game of tag, and didn't mind going again, even if she had yet to get one on Thalia. Brushing the dirt off she took a look around at the ally they had stumbled in too. It was mostly no worse for wear from the sudden entrance, with a shrug she got ready to head back to the roof tops when she spotted someone out of the corner of her eye. "Hey, it's Lily and Alex" she said pointing out the other two magicals that they had landed near.

Thalia looked off in the direction Penny pointed out, and spied the two she highlighted. She wasn't entirely sure how much she trusted them, but Penny seemed to know them, so the least she could do was give them the benefit of the doubt. A part of her felt as though she recognised them from around the city, but she couldn't quite place them.
"Huh? Who're they? I've never met them before..." she said, instincually entering into a somewhat defensive mindset in case she needed to fight, "If you're okay with them... I guess I can trust them."

"They were at the Hospital fight, Lily was the one who freaked out and dropped that lightning bolt on me, and neither of them are part of The Beacon as far as I am aware" Penny answered as she took a step towards the allyway's opening

"OI!! Lily! Alex!" She called out waving as she did to try and grab thier attention.

Right now, it was between missions. It was during daytime. Mariette sat, transformed, inside an abandoned apartment. The windows were opened, the front doors unlocked. There was no need to close them, nobody would be coming anyway.

Deni had located it sometime in the past. It wouldn't always be abandoned, it was for sale and therefore extremely empty of furniture, but Mariette had brought a chair from her own interdimensional apartment. Outside the open windows, she heard the busy city-life of cars driving by, as well as calming winds. She should be opening portals to bring home Deni and Eli right now, for they would be discussing what the harpies had found and make plans, but... she didn't feel like it.

No portals were open. No magic used, other than the one keeping her transformed. Both her eyes, eye-patched one and not, were closed. Her arms clutched her stuffed bunny, and she could calm herself. The endless whispers of Asengav were present, but not as much as in the interdimensional apartment or when she was consciously trying to sleep. This was just her calming herself down, becoming at peace, in a place which was neither hers nor someone else’s. Even at Joe's, she was slightly stressed by that it was in fact Joe's place.

Here, none of the stresses that came from anywhere else bothered her. She could just relax, for as long as she wanted, in absolute calm.

The calm was broken by a soft rapping at the door. Given the empty area it probably wasn't expected in the slightest. Violet and Sakura were outside the door waiting in their transformed state. They could have been in civilian form but explaining how they found her would just make things complicated. Either way they were just here to deliver the letter. If they could maybe grant a wish, if not then they would just be on their way. With any luck they wouldn't have to fight or anything. Amber made that prospect sound pretty bad.

... So many uninvited guests, lately. Mariette sighed out a little after the sound from the door. But, at the very least, this hadn't been somewhere which Mariette treasured. She could leave at any time. As such, even if those on the other side intended to attack, Mariette didn't necessarily feel in danger. She stood up, and prepared her safety-mechanism. A portal opened under her feet, yet she did not fall through. This was because the portal led to the roof of an adjacent building, on which she stood. Should this encounter become dangerous, she needed but lift the portal over herself, and she would have left the room. That done...

Small portals opened on the outside of the door, inspecting those who were visiting. They were a bit far away and made no sound, they'd normally never be noticed, but the Third Eye would be able to detect their formation. So, two transformed Magical Girls, who had attracted attention to themselves. ... Eh. May as well hear what they've come for.

Mariette opened a portal big enough for her hand from right in front of her to the handle, and she used the arm not clutching a stuffed bunny to reach through, grab and rotate the handle, and then pull backwards. As she did, she let go of the handle and pulled her hand back from the portal and let it close, so to the visitors it would seem like the door had opened from nothing. They could probably reason how it had happened, but still. Mariette stared at them from across the mostly empty room with her left eye not covered by an eyepatch, and from multiple other directions with small portals on the inside of the eyepatch.

‘…’ She did not speak a word, merely stared at them where she stood on top of her own portal, inspecting them and their first move after eye-contact had been established.

Violet gave the girl across from them a raised eyebrow as the door opened and waited a full three seconds before stating bluntly "Well, that is up there on the creepiest invitations to enter we've had" she quickly stepped in to the apartment, tossing a quick look around as she did, noting it's barren nature before turning back to Mariette "Would you happen to be 'Portal Queen'?" She asked as she pulled out the letter that had in effect lead the twins to this apartment to begin with.

Mariette breathed out a little heavier than normal through her nose in slight amusement, though otherwise her expression didn't change. That was a new way of referring to her. She didn't normally introduce herself, so apparently those who knew of her made their own titles for her.

‘That sounds likely to refer to me, yes.’ She responded, placing her free hand to pat the stuffed bunny clutched in the other arm. ‘Where did you hear that from?’ Always nice to keep track of whom knows of her, if they'd answer. She didn't yet think anything about the letter Violet had pulled out.

"Would you believe me if I said a little bird told me?" She asked as she held up the letter in her hand "She wrote up a letter and everything." The violet haired sister waved the letter in Mariette's direction as she spoke "Wanted us to deliver it too you."

‘A little... bird?’ Mariette briefly commented, thinking a little. ‘... Yes. Yes, I would.’ Was then her simple answer to that question. So, the bird had sent her a letter? Specifically the bird? ...

In a gesture of someone perhaps a little spoiled with portals, Mariette made no effort to actually stretch her arm to get the letter, but instead opened a portal to the letter directly in front of her hand. If no action to prevent her was made, Mariette would quickly snatch the letter through the portal, close it, and then opened the letter to read the contents.

The envelope contained little more than a pamphlet. It had a picture of a vintage brick building, all lit up and ready for business. It was a mini brochure for "The Pit Stop," a popular family restaurant in the heart of Penrose. Each page featured pictures of people eating, laughing, and posing around everyone's favorite local eatery. There was also a menu on every page, featuring the specials of the whole week. Nestled between some of the pages was a white paper with a message written on it. The letters were big and written with a bold tipped marker.

"See you at Six, You can bring your friends if you'd like!"

Leaning forward a bit Sakura tried to see what it was, probably a little too curious for her own good. But she was still a bit aways and it appeared to be a flier or something. She couldn't really read it. "What's it say?" the pink one asked with a smile.

The letter having been delivered, the token around Sue's leg broke to signify that they had made it to its intended destination.

‘...’ Mariette inspected the brochure and the message inside it, staring at the images and reading the message. She had... absolutely no reason to actually go along with this. She stood little to gain, and she'd be going to a diner with someone she had previously ambushed...

‘It's either a crude set-up for an ambush, or a poor attempt to make peace. Either way, it's summoning me to time and location... and the time is soon, too.’ Assuming it is at six the same day. Anything within 48 hours Mariette would have categorized as "soon". She'd deal with that when the time came. But before that...

‘Now then, odd magical messengers... Who are you? What did you gain from delivering this?’ Mariette asked, looking to the two. She could reason. She had Absolute Direction herself, after all. The bird likely didn't, so it stands to reason they were requested to deliver it because they could. But why had they done so? To find that out, Mariette had asked her questions.

"We're sisters" Violet answered the girls first question as she peeried quizzically at "And I'll trade you the answer for your second question, if you answer my sisters" she offered, in truth Violet was also slightly curious as to what Sue wanted to deliver to someone who had ambushed her and Amber, plus she always enjoyed playing word games with people.

Mariette gave Violet a very unamused stare at the considerable waste of time which that exchange was to her, but okay. She had just started folding the letter, when she had to fold it out again to read. ‘... "See you at six, you can bring your friends if you like", along with the brochure of a restaurant.’ Mariette answered, before turning the letter so they could see the brochure, staring with a bored look at them. ‘Assuming she means six the same day, how long did it take you to deliver the letter?’ Mariette asked, sounding the opposite of hopeful.

Violet just gave a flat smile in return, obviously uncaring about how annoying she was likely being "We gain stability from fulfilling 'requests'" She answered as she tilted her head at the fact that Sue was inviting Mariette to dinner by the look of things. "And that bird is even more weird then I though." she added more to her sister than anyone else "I'll trade you an answer for an answer, What is your name?" She asked

‘... I see no reason to.’ Mariette declared. ‘You've been so vague with your answers so far that I have no reason to believe your next answer will be any clearer. You answer "Who are you" with "we're sisters"? ... Really? ... Fortunately, I have other means using which I can learn what I want to know.’ She used Absolute Direction and her portal-magic in tandem, directing it out of the room. It wouldn't be immediate, it would take numerous seconds before the results showed up.

Two portals opened to Mariette's left and right, two meters into the air. Normally she'd give them warnings, and the portals wouldn't open right below them, but...

‘WII!’
‘AAH!’

Two dark harpies fell out of them and splattered across the floor where they hit, their fluids splashing about a bit as their liquid bodies hit the floor. Both started slowly and literally gathering themselves before standing up.

‘Now, what's with the lack of warn-’ Deni was already grinning as she rose up, one wing scratching the back of her head, before her eyes looked at these two. Then she grinned wider. ‘Oho. Visitors. How rare, yet increasingly common.’

‘Alright, alright.’ Eli said with closed eyes as she also stood up, taking out her notebook and pen from somewhere inside her fluid body. ‘Let me have a good look at them...’ She opened her eyes, and froze in place, eyes widening a bit. ... She wouldn't move until spoken to or something more extreme happened.

‘... I am Mariette Pedersen, known as the Reflective Witch, user of Portal-magic and servant of Asengav, interdimensional horror. I'll ask nicely, one more time. Who... are... you?’ Mariette declared, glaring at them, her tone clearly indicating she wouldn't take another unsatisfactory answer.

Violet flat smile turned in to a smug smirk at the obvious irritation she was causing "I am Violet, she is my sister Sakura and we are The Djinn Sisters." She began with a slight bow "We follow the will of Cafar, and have been blessed with the power of wishes" she replied, she was clearly enjoying this.

The two appearing in front of them were both familiar, at least the presence was. Sakura had felt it before though at the time had paid it no mind. Either way the one that froze was probably the one that had been nearby for whatever reason. But other than the link with her sister Sakura made no indication that she suspected anything. "Why do you have to make things difficult sister? You're supposed to be the social one."

"I am being social"

Clearing her throat a bit Sakura continued. "Like Violet said, we grant wishes. That is our purpose. Sue wished for us to deliver the letter and that's why we're here. With that done we can go unless..." Her eyes seemed to sparkle for a second. "Unleeeess you have a wish you'd like granted." It was clear that the two got a slight rush from the prospect of granting a wish. Especially since they haven't had a big one in a while.

‘... Wishes?’ Mariette asked, looking like she didn't entirely believe them. ‘... I see. A single wish, I assume? One per person, perhaps? Or are you limited to granting one wish per a specific amount of time? Is there a limit to the size of the wish?’ She continued, staring at the two of them.

Eli still stood frozen, a terrified expression on her face, glancing occasionally at Mariette to see her expression.

‘Wishes? Like, all-powerful wishes?’ Deni's eyes went wide and her grin grew to its ultimate spread. She gripped her wings together and started shaking/jumping in place, and then looked longingly at Mariette to see if she could get permission to ask for something. Mariette paid her absolutely no mind.

Sakura shrugged a little bit. "Maybe not all-powerful. But we can do a lot. There are a few rules like we can't kill anyone or make people do things they wouldn't. We would tell you if it can't be done." That seemed a fair response. "There is a limit of three for each person though. But probably wouldn't do all of them at once. We kind of have the option of what wish we grant and such. If that makes sense."

‘...’ Mariette stared at them, unconvinced. Is that really a thing? That could... be extremely useful, or extremely dangerous. ‘Prove it. Deni.’

‘Yes!?’ Deni looked over, expression filled with excitement.

‘Make a trivial wish.’ Mariette commanded.

‘YEEEEEEES!!’ Deni bounced in place, and it wasn't clear if her call was meant to be an affirmative to the order or a cry of joy. She quickly looked to the sisters, eyes alight.

‘I'd like a magical closet that automatically contains exactly the attires I wish to wear! If I think that I want to look a particula-’ She suddenly stopped, her smile vanishing. ‘... No, wait. I'm thinking too small. I'M THINKING TOO SMALL!’ She called out, before looking at the two again with renewed, even greater, excitement.

‘I want complete control of my appearance! If I suddenly want to appear like a fiftee- twent- TWENTY-EIGHT year old beautiful woman in exactly the clothes I want, with exactly the sizes I want where I want them, then I want to be able to look like that! I want to be able to transform my body into just the way I want it for the situation ahead! And of course, with all the bodily functions that follows~!’ Deni jumped and stared dreamingly at the djinn-sisters as she gushed out her innermost dreams, the visibly seven-year old liquid harpy having wide eyes as she looked hopefully at them.

Mariette considered that perhaps letting Deni get ahead of herself might have been a mistake, in case it was a trap. Oh, well. Let's see what happens.

Eli sighed out in slight relief. Didn't seem like any of the other two had the same thoughts as she did when she first learned what these two could do, and Deni was enjoying herself... But perhaps that was a bad thing...?

Well the wish wasn't something outside their ability, though as per usual it wasn't put into the form of a proper wish. "Okay but you need to put that in the form of a wish. Okay?" The little girls excitement was adorable and Sakura couldn't help but smile.

Deni grinned and then took a deep breath as she thought of how to word this. Then she paused, thinking over her words of choice, grin reduced to a smile as she thought this through. Then, finally, she grinned again, before calling out.

‘I wish to be able to change my body to EXACTLY how I want it, when I want it, wearing the clothes I want it to wear!’ She grinned after it. She had added the part with the clothes on the end because she had forgotten to include it when actually making the wish. Too excited. But she was hopeful!

‘...’ From how she worded it, Mariette started considering. In the case Deni was granted the wish exactly how it was worded, would she be able to transform into a giant monster because "she wanted to look like that"? It wasn't the purpose of the wish from Deni's perspective, sure, but that's how Mariette's mind wandered.

Sakura tapped her finger against her lips a couple times as she pondered the wish. Not that she intended to make a mess of it, so far the three had been rather cooperative. There were a few things that the sisters had to work around though because of their limitations. However Deni was made of liquid so as long as she didn't change body mass it should work. "Hmm, I like it. You're wish is granted."

Being a little more flashy when granting wishes the pink haired girl snapped her fingers and the floor under Deni began to glow a bright yellow. The harpy girl would feel a brief surge of magical power as she was granted the ability to willfully transform her appearance into any human form she desired, clothing included. Though the twins did not divulge this, Deni would not be able to make herself abnormally large due to conservation of mass. "It is done. Give it a try." Smiling lightly Sakura crossed her arms and leaned on one leg, satisfied that this would be a good example of their ability.

Deni watched Sakura expectantly as she pondered, and then grinned when she said it was granted. And, as the floor shone...

‘Oooooh, lightshow, lightshow! Hahahaha!’ Deni called out happily and then laughed as she felt the power go through her, Eli watching her sister with a worried stare while Mariette frowned a little, wary of a potential trap... but the light vanished, Deni standing there as she had, thought beaming, the dark, liquid harpy standing there with the widest grin imaginable.

‘A try. Giving it a try, eh? I'm gonna try~!’ Deni said, with an excessively excited voice, as she closed her eyes and imagined a form. And with that her body swelled. The dark liquid of her body expanded, growing in height, growing in... other places. Eli watched, wide-eyed, while Mariette's frown was replaced with raised eyebrows, and the color of Deni's skin shifted as her new form started to take shape...

‘Fu, fu, fu...’ Deni giggled, with a considerably more adult voice since she changed her vocal-cavity as well. There stood a considerably older woman, with excessively long black hair, a chest which size reached the improbable, and a dress which looked a lot like just ripped ribbons that had been tied all over to just precisely cover all the important parts, and a green flower accessory tied to her hair. Deni placed her hands just above her chest, feeling herself.

‘I... can't WAIT for my next day off~!’ The look on Deni's face, maybe a bit more mature than previously, was one of extreme delight at her new capability. She could not stop smiling.

‘D-deni...’ Eli stammered out. ‘Isn't that a little... risqué?’ She asked, the already dark harpy somehow managing to blush. Adult Deni grinned at her, walked over to pat the suddenly considerably shorter harpy.

‘Don't worry, little sister, I'm an adult, I can handle myself! If you want to lecture me...’ Deni grinned at her, leaning down to get closer to her sister's level (while also showing off considerable *cough*). ‘Then how about you make the same wish I did?’

‘Gih.’ Eli didn't entirely look like she was enjoying being belittled. In fact, she looked considerably uncomfortable. ‘I-I'll pass, thanks...’ Deni just smirked at her, before looking over at Sakura.

‘Thank you. It's... WONDERFUL~~!’ Deni said, grinning widely with her new form.

‘...’ Mariette had inspected Deni's transformation, and saw that it had been honest... even if nothing said it was permanent or just an elaborate illusion or so. Eli did have the Third Eye which would see through illusions, and she hadn't said anything, but still. Mariette waited to see if they had anything else to say.

‘Oooooh, I'm gonna visit ALL the nightclubs, the boys will be swarming around me~<3!’ Deni spun about happily and was now daydreaming, with Eli looking worried beside her...

Violet just rolled her eyes at the entire proceedings, though one could easily see her smiling as well. "Always so flashy sis" She murmured as she stood mirroring Sakura "Still, I must admit I like the approach" she added as Deni made a show of her new found capability.

With a half shrug she turned her attention to Eli and Mariette "And there you have it, the power of a Wish." she stated rather smugly, despite not really doing anything with this one "Will either of you be wanting anything? Some desire you need fulfilled?" she asked in a low mischievous tone.

‘Ngh.’ Eli looked away, closing her eyes, her expression... pained. Some of her liquid body may have been flowing slightly erratically within her. She was also sweating a bit of her own body. ‘I-I'll be... saving mine, thanks...’

‘Hm...?’ Deni turned and looked at her (smaller) sister, raising an eyebrow at this reaction of hers, not entirely sure what it meant. It was new to her. She probably would have asked, but Mariette's steady voice already filled the room.

‘I wish that, should any wish be made with me, my underlings or Asengav in mind, though Asengav only if the maker of the wish is a resident of this particular world, I will be informed of the wish and be given the authority to deny the granting of said wish should I want to.’ Mariette wished with very little hesitation, staring at the two sisters expressionlessly while clutching her stuffed bunny. This caused both (larger) Deni and Eli to look at her in realization, before looking to the sisters to see if they'd grant that.

Mariette knew there might be a block on wishes that deny others wishes. However... she needed to limit the potentially destructive effect of an enemy getting their hands on these sisters and tracking Mariette down again. That was the purpose of this wish.

And "though Asengav only if the maker of the wish is a resident of this particular world" was because, if Mariette were to be told every single wish made about Asengav in all the worlds ever, that'd probably overwhelm her. Maybe. She wasn't sure how many wishes were being made about Asengav, but assuming this was the only world with wishes would be stupid, and she'd just assume Asengav's champions in other worlds were fit to deal with it even if someone made wishes about countering him.

Giving the wish a moment of thought, Sakura had to shake her head. "I'm sorry, but we cannot grant a wish that affects other wishes like that. it is a rule we must follow given by our Master." While she was a little curious what Mariette and her patron could possibly be planning, it wasn't her place to question such matters. Cafer didn't really care one way or another which translated over to the sisters. "Perhaps you have another wish we could grant." She smiled but shrunk back just a bit.

Mariette's stare... turned into a glare, and she frowned at the two of them.

‘Is that... so?’ Mariette stated, in a really foreboding voice. ‘That is really unfortuna-’

‘I wish that we'll never have reason to feel we need to eliminate the two of you!’ Eli suddenly shouted out, cutting Mariette's line short. Eli's face had been grabbed by panic as Mariette's wish was denied, and then the tone-change of her next words had caused her to suddenly shout that out on instinct. She then kept her eyes on them, looking half-terrified and half-determined.

‘Eli.’ Deni looked at her sister in surprise and raised eyebrows, quite surprised by this statement.

‘...’ Mariette actually looked surprised too, her eyes widened a bit, looking over at her usually quieter underling. ... Well. If they could control the future to such a degree... Mariette turned and gave the two an inquisitive stare, asking them of what their opinion on that was.

The two seemed to debate how they could grant the wish. Based on how Eli made it, it sounded like Mariette was about to do something awful to them. So it was probably in their best interest to figure this one out. It would have to be something that would effect all of them, or at least Mariette, Deni, and Eli. But they couldn't just override free will. So if it was to work they would need to be willing to accept some kind of terms that all parties would be okay with. Using the mind link they began to discuss.

'What do you think, Violet, Cafer? Is there a way? Maybe an alliance?' Sakura posed the option.

Cafer chimed in before the two could get very far. 'We do not want to be dragged into any conflict they may have with another party. An alliance is too strong a bond. You are to remain neutral. Find another way.' As per usual the Djinn served to make things more difficult. They still didn't truly understand the point to remaining in the middle ground. Perhaps it had something to do with how Djinn tended to side with their masters whether they wanted to or not. Staying neutral was about as free as they could be under the circumstances.

With that idea show down Sakura went to the next thing that popped in her mind. 'Maybe grant Mariette the ability to know when a wish is used against her or her patron. Does that really fix the problem?'

'Possibly, but I doubt it. With how quickly she seemed to turn on us no reason to assume she would leave us alone afterwards' Violet thought with a grimace

'Could try befriending them' Violet offered 'Though I'm not sure about the Queen, and two out of three isn't going to cut it' she added a moment later as she gave a thoughtful glance at the wish givers

'Okay.' Sakura gave it some thought. 'I guess I see what you're saying. We both would rather make friends so that wouldn't really be a problem for us. If all are on board then the wish could work.' Her more reserved nature ticked in a bit and she presented another option. 'Could make them forget us too. If they don't know what we can do then they wouldn't have a reason to attack. I think.'

Those seemed to be reasonable places to start. The wish could also send them away somewhere else, but didn't quite fulfill the wish which they would probably need to get out of this mess. Clearing her throat Sakura hoped that their luck would pull through. The mental exchange only took a few seconds so it wasn't like a lot of silence had lingered yet. "Okay, we're pretty sure that we can come to some kind of resolution where we all benefit. S-so let's not get ahead of ourselves." She chuckled lightly before it died off a bit.

Smiling and holding her hands out a bit Sakura tried to not be threatening. They usually didn't anyway but it was worth an attempt. "We aren't about making enemies but I can understand your concern. It might be a little finagling but if everyone consents then we can be friends and then Eli's wish would take effect, binding us to our word. Then we wouldn't want to grant any wishes against you. Does that sound reasonable?" Since they can't break free will this one would have to be mutually accepted by all parties. Only then could any mental adjustments could be made.

After the suggestion was made, there was a moment of silence in the room. Adult Deni and Eli both looked over at Mariette, Deni with mild curiosity while Eli did so with scarcely bitten-down fright, worry and hope at the same time. Mariette, in the meanwhile, just stared at the two djinn-sisters with a neutral expression, considering her action. Her face did not betray any of her thoughts. Assuming nobody interrupted her thoughts... she'd eventually sigh through her nose.

‘Very well. If by being friends we can solve this problem... then let's be friends.’ She said, with a neutral voice that had lost the previous tension. Mariette didn't actually have any experience in having friends in that kind of way and didn't really know what that would involve, but at the moment there was a tactical advantage to it so... sure.

‘Aaaaaah...’ Eli sighed out deeply in relief, almost falling backwards as she stumbled a little though Deni caught her.

‘Woah, there.’ Deni made a noise as she caught Eli from falling. But, after she had made sure Eli was standing steadily enough, she grinned towards the two of them and advanced with her new, very adult body. ‘Well, looks like we're friends now! Looking forward to seeing more of ya! Now come over here and give me a hug!’ Deni was totally intending on walking up and hugging both sisters with her new adult body just because.

Violet just smiled as she hugged Deni before moving over to Eli quietly she spoke "I don’t' know what you interrupted but thanks anyway." She hugged the smaller harpy afterwards, though lightly so she didn't get too slimed. Stepping away her eyes took on a while glow "Your wish, my command" she intoned as a wave of magic blanketed the room. It's effects, weren't immediately apparent but everyone would begin to feel more at ease with the others in the room, as if they had know each other for years instead of only just meeting.

Violet was glad that they could take this option to conclude the wish, and hoped it would last. For if the newly forged friends fell apart, Sakura's second idea might need to be done in it's place as 'never' is a powerful word to use in a wish.

"You want a hug too?" She asked looking over at Mariette with a wide grin.

Sakura sighed with relief as the tension in the room melted away. Partly because they had found a solution, at least for the moment, but also because the wish began to take effect. Returning the hug to Deni she was dwarfed by the woman's size. "Glad we could figure it out. And we get a few new friends as a bonus." She smiled as she was eventually let free from the hug. It was kind of nice having the social nervousness gone around a group of people.

‘Tihihihihi.’ Deni giggled happily as she got to hug them with her new body, probably holding on for longer than was really comfortable or practical, and was for the moment just overall happy when the proceedings went on.

Eli looked at Violet with a bit of fright as she was approached, and then flinched when she was hugged, not entirely expecting that. Eli's body, composed of slime, slightly gave way under the hug and Violet probably felt that her arms would go through the girl if she pressed too hard, but although she felt the liquid on her during the hug none of it stayed on her after she pulled away, Eli's body staying intact. Violet did, though, leave Eli wide-eyed and slightly blushing, however a slime harpy might blush. She hadn't been hugged in a long time. Then... the wish went through.

Eli notably calmed down, and was able to produce a smile at Violet as the effect went through them. Since Eli had the Third Eye, she could basically see what was happening. No noticeable effect on Deni, she may have made that change herself the moment Mariette agreed they'd be friends.

Mariette, however... blinked a little in surprise, looking over the people present. Because, something changed in her gaze, which usually was all about calculating risks, opportunities, advantages and worth in each individual's life for Asengav's cause, even those of her own underlings. But suddenly... they were all... precious...? Oh, she was asked if she wanted a hug. Mariette looked mildly uncomfortable, averting her gaze a little, looking unsure, before she looked back at Violet. Still... she felt oddly comfortable with the thought.

‘Um. S-sure. That's, um. That's what friends do, right...?’ Mariette asked, considerably less confident in her voice.

‘Mistress has never had friends, before~!’ Deni grinned and explained. ‘Even we two are more like minions than actual friends in her mind, tihi~!’

‘Ngh...’ Mariette frowned at Deni a little, the liquid-child-harpy-pretending-to-be-adult-woman just grinning and placing her hands behind her head in a motion that looked a lot more like what a child would do than the adult who's body she currently had.

"then a hug for the occasion" Violet said happily as she walked over to Mariette and gave her a gentle hug as well.

Mariette looked unsure all the way to when Violet had actually come forth to give her a gentle hug, and in a motion of trying to be friendly but not entirely sure how to, Mariette tried to simply place her free hand around Violet to place on her back, her other still clutching the stuffed bunny. It would be without any pressure, simply placed there, while Mariette dealt with the feeling of being hugged.

Deni grinned at the odd sight while Eli was simply watching, looking relieved. Looks like they had, somehow, avoided the outcome that was Mariette eliminating them for being too high of a risk, and a wish had been made that made them friends.

Now, what to do with that invitation...

Brittany passed a corner, her hands deep into the pockets of her ripped pants, wearing nothing but that and a bandage wrapped around her chest and back on her body for decency, her short hair black with a colored cyan streak in it to look cool, her face glaring forward angrily in a constant frown for maximum delinquency. Had to maintain her image. Except, behind the corner, she walked almost straight into a girl in dark dress and eyepatch, long white hair and clutching a stuffed bunny. Brittany recoiled, she had showed up so suddenly, with an empty expression looking at her. This angered Brittany.

‘Huuuuuuh!?’ She leaned way into the strange girl’s comfort zone, getting up in her face with a loud assertion of dominance. ‘Who’s way do you think you’re getting into, you little-’ It was obvious enough this was another Magical Girl, but-

Brittany was suddenly slapped across the face my a tentacle, while another wrapped around her right leg and pulled hard, making her lose balance. Brittany grunted, but the whole thing wouldn’t have been so bad if she hadn’t fallen straight into complete blackness instead of hitting the ground. She stared up in fright, through the portal she had just fallen through to up to where Mariette stood, glaring condescendingly down at her, clutching her bunny.

‘A-AAAAAAA-’ Brittany cried out in despair, reaching up as if to request help from Mariette, but no such aid came. A tentacle wrapped over her mouth and eyes, blinding her, while another wrapped over her outstretched arm and forced it down, and the mass of tentacles carried her into the void as Mariette closed the portal. The girl was gone, swallowed by the ground and all the tentacles that had come from it.

‘That’s everyone?’ Mariette asked, looking to where she knew Eli was standing, on the roof above. Deni and Eli, both in harpy forms, jumped off the roof and stretched their wings to glide down, Deni grinning as usual while Eli looked more focused. Immediately upon landing, Eli pulled out her notebook while Deni playfully inspected where Brittany had fallen through.

‘Brittany Carroll, so called Uberos Antique, claimed.’ Eli noted, writing a note. ‘That’s the last regular Magical Girl on our list.’ She then nodded, confirming to Mariette. ‘We’re done.’ So said with a note of finality. Mariette felt a brief note of relief at that. Their gift to Justine and Caroline was just about ready. Only the special request to go.

‘Oy. She was a Darkness-specialized stealth-girl, said to be untraceable, few people even knows what she looks like. Even transformed, close combat’s not her forté. She’s been so careful to keep her normal state a secret. Yet, her immediate instinct upon being faced with an unknown magical girl while untransformed was to get up in her face. Why, do you think?’ Deni looked down curiously at the not-portal asphalt the girl had vanished through.

‘Flawed personality… perhaps.’ Eli sighed, and Deni just grinned. ‘Regardless, being so sneaky about herself made her an excellent target to just vanish without a trace and nobody caring.’

‘Yeah, well, it worked out for us~!’ Deni simply commented, looking up and to the other two. ‘Now, about an hour before we’re to be at The Pit Stop! We’re totally in time! We’re going, right? We’re not just going to leave them hanging, right?’ Deni grinned, obviously looking forward to it.

‘…’ Mariette stood silent, for a bit. She had already spoken a bit about this with the Djinn Sisters after having sent the twins away on missions, because there was a bit to discuss, but now to share it with these two as well.

‘I remind that our last meeting wasn’t friendly. There is a chance this is an ambush, and even if it isn’t, this won’t be just a friendly dinner. There’s likely a purpose to wanting to see us. I will hear them out. But we’ll take precautions. Here’s what we’ll do…’ Mariette declared, and then started telling her plan, Eli listening carefully while Deni’s grin just grew wider and wider, liking what she was hearing.

Amber was pacing on the top side of the Sky Bastion. What an interesting turn of events. Just a few hours prior, Shining scale's only companion was a paranoid golden dragon and a timid familiar. Recently, Amber purchased a phone. She had spent the extra dollar to get a waterproof one. Until now, it was simply a device for emergencies. But now it held Lily's phone number, the only person on her contact list. It was too soon to call her a friend, as it was only their cause that held them together. but it was nice to know another magical girl. And a magical boy too. Alexander reminded Amber of some of the teenagers that came by the hardware store. Always questioning things and trying to find the best way to build their project. The logic and caution to lily's heart and enthusiasm. Amber even scored a talking necklace, which would soon take her to riches beyond her wildest dreams. While she didn't consider any of them friends, Amber did consider their presence a boon. But Lily, Alexander, and Helga came with a cost. Now Amber had to divide her time further by sorting out this “magical girl war” business alongside scaring off magical entities. Of course, the war was going to happen anyway, so maybe it was actually good fortune that she got dragged into this. Who could say what was good or bad?

Ah yes, Mariette. For some strange reason Lily was dead set on using her to get to this over city. Sue had talked to her about the over city previously, so Amber knew what it was. Surely there were more trustworthy magical girls that could get them to the over city? Regardless, Amber knew of no one else personally. And if Lily could make it happen, then she would have access to whatever sort of treasure Justine had. Fortunately, Amber had someone who was trying to contact the portal witch. Shining Scale wandered below deck.

---

Slowly but surely, the interior of the Sky Bastion was starting to come together. Shining Scale was keeping to a pirate theme, so everything had to look like it belonged in an old pirate ship. Amber didn't have a ton of furnishings up, but it was starting to look livable. She saved a lot of money dropping by thrift shops for old furniture. Amber headed straight for Sue's room and pushed the door open, quietly.

Sue was in her human form. She was sitting on a stool in front of an old vanity, trying to decide on the right pair of earnings. She wore a gold stud on her left ear, and a silver loop on her right. The familiar was also experimenting with rolling her shoulders back to make her breasts appear bigger. It was a trick Amber had employed in the past.

“Going on a date?” Amber was grinning ear to ear when she said this.

Sue flinched, but she didn't look away from the mirror. “I just want to see how nice I can make myself look.”

“For the date, right? I noticed your ribbon snapped. That means your letter got delivered.”

Sue placed both of her hands on the vanity table and sighed. She was looking at a space between her hands. “Did you need something, Amber?”

“Yea.” Amber leaned up against the frame of the doorway. “On your date, I'd like Lily and Alexander to drop by and see if they can get us inside magical girl fort knox. Preferably before you scare Mariette off with a proposal.”

Sue spun a hundred and eighty degrees in her stool to look at the pirate girl.“A-Amber!” She hugged herself. “Okay, let's rewind a little bit.” Sue put out her hand and raised a finger. “First of all, you didn't knock.”

“My ship.”

“Okay, I expected that.” Sue raised another finger. “Secondly, it's not like that, alright? I'd get all dressed up to go on outings with you too.”

“Except that I have a brat's body, so we never do. We can't go club hopping together, and it would look weird if we ate anywhere by ourselves.”

“Well...” After a pause, Sue lifted a third finger. She used her other hand to point at it. Like this was going to be big. “Lastly, I just want to get to know her a little better.”

“Which is what everyone says before going on a date.” Amber's smile widened. “Are you done?”

“Augh!” Sue yanked on her pigtails. “Could you give me a few minutes with her at least?”

“Only if you can tell me why. When you had the ability to wish for virtually anything, why did you wish for an audience with the 'portal queen' of all people?”

Sue looked away from Amber. She looked wistful. “Amber” the familiar placed her hands together. “Do you remember that story you told me about the boy that was going to mug you? When you were still a manager?”

The smile immediately vanished from Amber's face. “Are you serious? That's what this is about?” Sue stayed quiet though. Amber just shook her head. “I think if I told you how that story ended, you wouldn't have wasted your wish.”

“A-Amber?”

Shining Scale looked away from Sue. “Since you used your wish on it, you might as well enjoy it a little bit. But I will be nearby, and so will the others.”

It took Sue a moment to respond. “She might not even show.”

“I realize that.” Amber closed the door to Sue's room and entered her own. It was almost identical in appearance, though Amber had found some cheesy treasure maps to put on the walls for decoration. There was also an old, rustic bed. Since it was easiest for sue to keep her bird form, she slept in a bird's nest. The pirate pressed her back against the wall and allowed herself to slide to the floor. Amber reached for her pendant and pulled it out of her vestments. “So, Helga was it?” Amber's smile started to return. “I get the feeling we're going to be spending a lot of time together, so I'd like to get to know you, if you don't mind.” The pirate swung the pendant a little, letting it wonder back and forth like a pendulum. “You seem to have a history with Lily and Alexander, as well as the hospital incident. Did you want to tell me about that?”

Helga's voice cried out of the jeweled accessory.
"First of all, stop shaking me around so much! All my senses are linked to this pendant including my sense of balance, so you're gonna make me sick!" Her voice then lowered. "But sure, I can share that little tale with you."

“Oh, sorry about that. Heh.” Amber stopped the pendant from swinging and let it rest in her palm. “Well, go on.”

"So thunder thighs and white knight were meddling with my gig so I decided to teach them a lesson. Yellow streaker put up a good fight, but pretty boy was just pathetic, thinking he could use his flimsy clones and bubbles to fight me. Man, you should have seen it when I clobbered him up good!"

Amber nodded “I guess that's what you get for underestimating your opponent. I don't hold that against you.” The pirate raised one of her eyebrows. “But why blow up a hospital? Did you really have anything to gain from that?”

"Nope, it had nothing to do with gaining anything. I was just working under my Lady's orders. When she says jump, you bounce to the moon! Hahaa!"

Amber chuckled. “Then there must be a reason why you are so loyal to her. I wouldn't follow orders unless I had something to gain out of it.”

Helga chuckled, and accidentally let out a frog's squeak. "Whoops, didn't mean to do that. Anyway, you seem very curious about my Lady; not only do you want to get into her party cave and snatch up her goods, but you also want to snoop around her secret plans. Doesn't seem to be anything personal, so care to share?"

“Honestly, if your lady operated anywhere outside of Penrose, I wouldn't give a flying seagul what she did.” Amber sighed. “But this type of chaos is going to bring more magical girls into the picture, and that makes my job harder. Your lady's plans and my boss's interests simply don't mesh together.” The pirate smirked. “And if you'd tell me what you really want, maybe our alliance doesn't have to be so temporary. I couldn't care less what your lady's ultimate plan is, I just want to know why you serve her.”

"Oh, in that case, I can give a little teaser, hehe....Our Lady will change the world. And in that world, even a freak like me will find a place to call home, where nobody will tell me to shut up and crush my dreams...Yeah, wouldn't that be nice, huh?" She spoke as if she was talking to herself. "It's like what that parrot told me: Caw, keep at it! Caw!"

The pirate waved her other hand around herself. “It just so happens that I have a mobile home, high above the clouds where I rain supreme. You don't have to fight for a place to call home, it can exist for you right here, in this very moment.” The pirate placed a hand on her chest. “I'm a queen up here, you know? The only people who are allowed on this ship are the ones I invite.” Amber pulled the amulet closer to herself. “The option to stay here is open to you, if you want it. The parrot is welcome too, haha!”

"Huh? I thought you only took me with you cause you wanted to use me to satiate your greed?"

"Well...." Amber paused. “I guess I did initially. But you're starting to grow on me. I can scarcely believe anyone could call you a freak. You seem very intelligent.”

Oh? That's...Actually quite sweet of you, calling me intelligent; most call me a fool." Helga seemed to sniffle with her voice. "Only other person to accept me for who I am was my Lady...She brought me in as a part of her gang when I was on the run from both Beacon and my former friends; she gave me sanctuary when I was down in the dumps, my hands severed and dying under a bridge. And when I said I would die, she promised me I wouldn't by giving me what you hold now. She was someone who could warm my heart with her smile. I wanted to be a part of her new world."

Amber looked focused. She thought a moment before speaking again. “It sounds like you really respect her. Are you sure you're going to be up for helping me rob her? I doubt she'll forgive you for that."

"Well, the truth is..." Helga sighed, "I wanted you to lead me to her so she could restore my body back. I assumed she would take you out or something. At first I didn't care what would happen to you, but now I reckon I ought to let you know of my intentions. So..." There was an awkward moment of silence. "Now that I spilt my beans...Can we be friends? Outside of the whole magical girl thing, I mean. I haven't had a chance for a normal friendship like that, and you seem down-to earth. Ironic considering where we are, but...Egh, I'm bad at this."

Amber couldn't help but giggle at the joke, even if it was horrible. “To be honest, I want my body back too. I don't fault you for lying to me. I would have likely done the same in your position. Being plundered by some thief. I kind of figured it was too good to be true though.” Amber sighed. “Anyway, I don't see any harm being normal friends. I don't have many of those.” It was at that point that amber noticed her door was open. Looking in on her was Sue, who appeared to be done dressing up.

“Oh!” Sue pulled her head back in. “I'm sorry. I'm just glad you've made a friend Amber. It gives me hope that-”

“My ship! Keep the door closed!”

“Eeep!” Sue shut the door and ran down the hall.

“As I was saying. normal friendship is good. I think it would be a lot less confusing that way, not expecting the other one to partake in a war or whatever.” Amber smiled. “I actually don't think I introduced myself yet. I'm magical girl Shining Scale. But you can call me Amber. That was my name before all of this happened.”

"Heh...That beats Scarlet Vampire, I gotta admit. I'm Helga, the, uhh...Hellish Heathen! No, Heavenly Hunter! Urgh, High-Rolling Hitman-woman! Bleh, forget it. Nice to meet you Amber. Glad to be a part of your pirate crew, hahaa!"

Amber's smile grew a bit. "Well, I guess I have to go prep for an ambush. It would probably be safer for you if you just stayed on the ship." Amber looked back at the door. “Also, was the parrot a joke? Sue could really use a companion. I'd also like a proper parrot. Something about a diving petrel that doesn't quite complete the pirate vibe, you know?”

"Nope, Cracker's realer than real. He loves to eat cookies, but I call them Pollies, cause it's funny. But I will tell you that your familiar can't dress like that for their first date! Gotta be a responsible parent figure!"

Sue quickly leaned back into the room. “I-I am dressed perfectly fine!”

“Busteeeeeeed for eavesdropping.” Amber didn't even turn her head.

The familiar yelped. “Gah! A-And it's not a date.”

“But this is still eavesdropping.”

“Ohhhhhhh!” Sue disappeared from sight. Much to the pirate's amusement. “Alright, so would you prefer to be on top of my nightstand, or inside a desk? I'm not sure how you feel about the dark.”

"Hmm...Put me on top of the ship's mast. I like to feel the wind."

“Haha, if you insist.” Amber stood up and removed the pendant from around her neck. “Let's see if I can fit you somewhere securely that doesn't move too much.” And with that, she darted out of her room. She would have to call Lily up relatively soon. Perhaps this expedition wouldn't make her rich, but everything was coming together.

@Ariamis

There was a park that was being renovated due to it being off season for tourism. That, and a surprise wind storm had done a lot of damage to it. At least that was what the public believed. In truth, it was a common spot for monsters to congregate. Not today however.

Ilia slithered over to one of the park benches, a look of extreme boredom on his face. The four had been out paroling for around 5 hours and had come across absolutely nothing. Not a single beacon girl or at the very least a monster. This was the third location they had scouted and some how all of them had been completely absent from any sort of action. Using his gravity magic, Ilia lifted up three pebles from the ground and put them in "orbit" above the index finger of his left hand which was extended about his head. the Naga head was tilted back watching the pebbles move as he swirled his fingers.

Umeko was about to give her partner a long lecture on how they couldn’t let their guard down, but even she couldn’t phone it in tonight. she walked over and sat down next Ilia. The usually poised girl scrunched over ever so slightly as the boredom had even got to her. Her gun was on the ground next to her laid up against the bench. "Well at the very least we can count today’s outing a success. No one was hurt and the city seemed oddly safe tonight."

Regina and Elroy were out of their disguises as well. They trailed slightly behind Ilia and Umeko, but didn't take the opportunity to sit down.

“Is this seriously what you guys do?” Elroy had his hands tucked into his pockets. Even though he sounded perturbed, he wore a broad grin. “I thought you guys beat up monsters or something. I didn't realize we got paid just to walk around in circles.”

Regina stayed quiet, constantly looking about to make sure they weren't being watched. Her eyes couldn't pick up nearly as much as Umeko's could, but Regina was a cautious sort. “Is it our aura? I hope we're not just causing everyone to flee into other areas.”

“But if we are, it's still a job well done, right?” Elroy snickered.

Taking a second to stand back up Umeko brushed of some of the dirt from her costume and walked to where Regina and Elroy where standing. Patting Elroy on the shoulder, "Its never that easy. We just 'lucked' out and found no creatures so its more of a bust than a success. Your aura's had nothing to with this. Monsters don't react to them that way." Ilia still playing with the pebbles, "Yeah haven’t you every come across a monster before?"

“Only once or twice.” Regina looked between her feet. “We don't encounter many monsters. We haven't been looking for them.”

As Umeko put away her weapon she looked at Regina "None the less, we might as well head back home and call it a night, Ilia open back the entrance to your apartment" Ilia finally got up from the bench but instead of opening the portal he threw the 3 pebbles lightly at Elroy's head."Wouldn't this time be better used having a little fun, a little sparring match wont hurt anyone. We can let ourselves get rusty and I've been itching for some action. What do you say?"

The stones bounced harmlessly off Elroy's head. He straitened out his hair after the stones fell to the ground. “Aww, shucks.” the incubus rolled his shoulders. “I knew he wanted to play with me!” He turned to look at Regina. “I've wanted to go on a date with snake boy ever since I first laid eyes on him. You don't mind, right?”

The succubus sighed. “I don't know.” Regina looked at Umeko out of the corner of her eye. “Our auras could attract unwanted attention. And Elroy's fighting style is noisy and destructive. I'm not sure it's a good idea.” She looked at Umeko with pleading eyes. “But I guess it's up to Umeko”

Umeko nodded. "It should be fine, If any one approaches I will be aware. I doubt anyone will notice much with the strong aura's masking a lot of the battle. It could be a good exercise in knowing each others battle capabilities."

“Well, if you say so.” There was a noticeable growl in Regina's voice. She waved her staff in the air and three massive dark orbs appeared in the air. “Let's get this out of your systems.”

“Oh boy oh boy oh boy!” Elroy was practically dancing with excitement. He pulled his shield off of his back and thrust it into the soft dirt. “So, did you have any rules in particular that you wanted enforced? This is our first date after all, so I think kissing should definitely be an illegal move.” the incubus folded his arms. “But I'm definitely not going to let you start too far away from me snake boy.”

"Once anyone goes berserk or calls it quits we stop of course. No killing blows,How does that sound" Ilia then summoned his censor.

“Well I DID say no kissing.” Elroy picked up his shield and walked into the middle of the park. He stopped when he reached the sidewalk. It wasn't perfectly straight, but it did divide the park in half. There were a few trees, park benches, but otherwise it was a pretty open field. The red mist faded in and out around them. “Hey Regina, you didn't want to join us, did you? I'm just half a soul, you know. I'm sure snake boy wouldn't mind.”

She took a step back. “It's a one on one fight this way. Just have your fun.”

Elroy shrugged. “Oh well. I guess you won't have any excuse if you lose.” The incubus gestured for Ilia to move into the center of the park, away from the girls. He then took his tower shield and set it up in front of himself.

Ilia slithered to where to the center of the field, briefly waiting for Elory before funneling magic through his weapon. A stream of purple smoke started to spew up from his censor as Ilia began to gently rock it back and forth. "Don't worry to much. I'm sure not matter what excuse you give the girls, no one will fault you for loosing to me. Now let's start the show." With that Ilia snapped his fingers and warped the gravity around himself. There was now a strong gravitational force that pushed everything a dozen meters around Ilia further away from him. A few rocks and some loose earth, along with a squirrel where flung out away. With a sarcastic tone Ilia said, "No kissing though? I don't know if I can contain myself" before putting his hands to his lips and blowing a fake kiss. Of course as he blow the kiss the naga spewed a small bit of venom towards Elroy.

The incubus already had his shield up, so it wasn't difficult to block the incoming venom. The blob smacked into the shield and exploded like a paint ball. While Elroy was able to deal with that attack easily enough, he was pretty devoid of abilities to attack at range. This would make bypassing the gravity field Ilia had around himself tricky. “You need a tic tac!” He remarked as he inched closer. Elroy kept his entire body behind the massive tower shield.

Seeing as the shield easily withstood the venom, Ilia decided to try a more indirect attack "Really? I hadn't noticed. let me just check my breath." with that Ilia lifted up his censor and exhaled a large poison most from his mouth which combined with one coming from his weapon. This mist spread out and made a hazy fog that was spreading towards Elroy.

The demon boy was holding up behind his shield, and didn't notice the mist until the projectile struck his shield again. The mist was starting to creep towards him around the sides of the shield. “Gah!” Elroy pressed his back against his shield, letting the gravity from Ilia's field hold the shield against his back. Then the incubus let a length of chain that was wrapped around his arms dangle from his hands. He then caused them to spin, making two make shift fans to blow the fog away with. Once all the fog was blown out of his way, he took hold of his shield and moved closer again. Choosing to put all of his effort into moving forward instead of talking. The gravity was getting stronger as Elroy neared Ilia.

"I love it when they squirm. Not as chatty now are we?" Ilia chuckled a bit. So far the battle had been a bit slow and he was thinking of kicking it up a notch. From his mouth Ilia's snake familiar slither out and made its way to the ground. As the snake slithered, Ilia focused his magic into the palms of his hand which began to glow a crimson red color. Ilia began to shot out concentrated orbs of acid from his hands towards Elroy as his familiar worked its way around behind the incubus. As the acid reached Elroy the familiar transformed lunging at him readying to sinks its fangs into Elroy.

Fortunately for the incubus, his shield was virtually unbreakable. Aegis was a very tough metal to penetrate, and even strong acids like that from Ilia's magic weren't enough to erode it. However, every bolt of magic that struck the shield wore down Elroy's arm. Especially with them being pushed by Ilia's gravitational field. He would not be able to take this forever. More worrisome for Elroy was the presence of a second threat. The massive serpent hit the demon boy hard enough to knock him out of the way of the incoming projectiles. Elroy was able to prevent the serpent's fangs from piercing his flesh by holding its jaws open with his gauntlet-clad hands. Elroy seemed to get the message that Ilia wanted to fight harder. The chains wrapped around his arms coiled around the snake's jaws. Without flinching, the metal frame of a nearby park bench pulled away from its wood seating, letting the lumber drop to the floor. It then propelled itself towards the snake, coiling around it's head in such a way that it held the mouth open. Elroy released the serpent’s head picked up his shield just in time to block the next volley of incoming acid balls. “You need to up your gift game!” With a swing of his hand, the metal cage soared towards Ilia, still carrying his snake companion. With this distraction, Elroy would use the opportunity to get as close to Ilia as he possibly could.

The huge snake landed next to the naga. With a small pout Ilia bent over and touched metal caging his snake which instantly melted down down to to a pool of shimmery liquid metal and acid that scorched the ground. As he gently patted the top his familiar's head, Ilia softly called out, "Oh I think your a bit mistaken. You will make a perfect gift for my little Anwyl, he seems quite hungry today. We just need tenderize the meat a bit before hand." Now noticing that the his opponent had closed the distance once again, Ilia sprung into action. Again creating a two pronged attacked. Anwyl lunged at Elroy his body still with some of his master's acid. Meanwhile the Ilia took the remaining pieces wooden bench breaking it into bunch of jagged shards as he flung them towards the incubus' back.

As the battle continued to rage on Umeko stood near Regina watching the pair whilst keeping an eye for anyone else. While they had been battling Umeko had also focused her magical energy into a visible ghostly green third eye above her forehead as a precaution but so far it had not been needed. Trying to brake some of the silence between the two of them, she spoke. "So Regina who do you think has the edge in this battle?"

While Regina did remain by Umeko, she did stand an awkward distance away from her. “The edge?” Regina looked out at the fight. “Well, I think Ilia has the bigger advantage. Elroy can hold his own in close quarters, but he doesn't have a lot of ways to fight an enemy like Ilia. You can tell he's struggling, he's usually a lot mouthier than this.” She folded her arms. “His magic isn't strong enough to give him much utility for this type of fighting, and Elroy doesn't have as much experience as his opponent. That, and Elroy has always fought by my side as a unit. A target like Ilia would be left for me to deal with, so Elroy has never needed to fight such opponents on his own.” Regina lifted a hand to her chin “Ilia seems to understand his advantages, which is why he's choosing not to fight Elroy in close quarters.” She nodded. “Ilia is playing it as an endurance match. If he wears down Elroy's strength, he'll win. It's a good strategy, but it won't work on Elroy. It's not that Elroy is a tactician, he's just very impatient. He's not going to let himself get boxed in like that. He knows he just has to get close, and he's not afraid of pain.”

Elroy was able to plow into the gravity barrier, which was constantly trying to push him and anything in it's vicinity away. Anwyl was a predictable attack that Elroy was able to deflect easily. The gravity field ensured that the snake would land far behind Elroy after he brought up his shield to deflect it. However, in Elroy's fever to reach his target, he didn't notice the incoming wooden projectiles. Not a single splinter of wood missed its mark. Elroy wince in pain, but this attack didn't take him out of the fight. Elroy could shrug off a baseball bat, and the wooden splinters had to fight the same gravity barrier that he was resisting. He felt it, but the incubus would press on. Elroy was launching a pincer attack of his own. His chains had completely unraveled and were moving in to enclose around Ilia. The chains on his shield were reaching for Ilia's lower torso, while the chain on Elroy's left arm lashed out at his neck. Even the melted blob of metal beneath Ilia sprung to life. The liquid steel was going to come up under his belly. Such an attack would normally be impossible for Elroy to perform, but proximity made him stronger.

Ilia was caught of guard by the many metal chains that were grasping at his body, all of them hitting there mark. Again Ilia resorted to his toxic magic, secreting a searing acid from his skin. The metal around his belly started to smoke as acid was eroding it once again. The chains around his neck and lower torso where much more resistant and had only started to sizzle slightly, but they did loosen up. Ilia could remove the one wrapped around his torso, but the one around his neck couldn’t pass his head. "Well I'm not surprised your the Bdsm type, a little choking never hurt me before." Ilia said this and grabbed each of the chains and the acid from his hands started to slide down the chains towards the Incubus' soft fleshy hands.

Between the acid rolling down the aegis chains, and the push of the gravity field, Elroy wouldn't be able to deliver a finishing blow. Not this time anyway. The gauntlet on his left hand came off before the acid could burn him, and he released his shield. However, the chain on his right gauntlet loosened up and curled around the left gauntlet. Now Elroy was wearing a single gauntlet that was chained up to the rest of his weaponry. The acid was starting to run down the newly connected chain, but Elroy didn't care. “Rule of thumb with smart comments...” Elroy jumped into the air, allowing the push of Ilia's gravity field to shove him backwards. “It's not who talks most...” Just before his chain became entirely taught, Elroy brought back his right arm sharply. The incubus's strength was far beyond human capabilities. He had demonstrated his strength previously by picking up a nine-hundred pound motorcycle like it was nothing. With some effort, he could even pick up compact cars. Elroy only used a fraction of his strength though. Just enough to pull the snake boy's into the air without snapping his neck. “It's who talks last!” The fight was coming to a close. Elroy was betting it all on his right arm's ability to deliver a knock out punch before the acid started to eat into his hand. Meanwhile, Ilia had just a moment to use his magic to thwart the attack. But no one would know the resolution to the fight, because someone intervened.

One of Regina's dark orbs had floated between the two and exploded, obscuring the two in a black mist. Their entire bodies felt like they were boiling in oil. The unbearable pain made it impossible for Elroy to properly attack Ilia, who was unable to continue controlling his magic. The two collided and fell to the ground, writhing in pain. But pain was all this particular spell delivered. Neither of them were actually suffering from real injuries. Before that subsided, Regina's second two attacks detonated over the combatants. These spells made them weak and restless. As the pain subsided, they felt very tired. By this point Regina had walked up to them, getting closer to Ilia than she typically did. The shy succubus knelled down between the two monster boys and extended her hands, touching them on the head. Due to Umeko's third eye and her own psychic specialization, she was able to see exactly what Regina was doing. She was altering their most recent memories. A monster had charged into battle and attacked the two before they could start fighting. Elroy got all those splinters in his back when he was hurled into a park bench. and Elroy had coiled his chains around Ilia in an attempt to pull him out of harms way. They would also remember Regina being struck by the monster just as it flew off. While the two magical boys were still recovering, Regina approached Anwyl and touched him as well. Even the snake would have no recollection of this, remembering every bump and bruise as one caused by the sudden appearance of a monster. While everyone was still dazed, Regina knelled down in the grass and rubbed some dirt on her elbows and face. Then she proceeded to lay down on her back. Regina tipped her head off to the side and closed her eyes. It was all to create the illusion that she had just been through the ringer. Elroy and Ilia got up at the same time.

“What the hell WAS that?” Elroy looked over his shoulder at Regina. “W-what!?” He rushed to her side and scooped her up bridal style. “Regina! Talk to me!”

“I-I'm fine.” Regina lifted a wrist to her forehead. “It was just retreating, and I happened to be in the way.” She placed a hand on her belt buckle and another on her chest. A visible green healing aura surrounded the succubus.

“Y-yea, I knew that.” Elroy looked over his shoulder at Ilia. “I guess Regina was right. We'll have to settle this over chess or something.”

“That's right.” Regina looked directly into Umeko's eyes. “It's too dangerous for you two to be fighting out here. It just leaves us open to ambushes.”

“Yes mom.” Elroy laughed. “So Asian lady, what do we typically do when a monster like that runs off? You can track it down right?”

Regina hadn't taken her eyes off of Umeko, practically borrowing holes into her with those dagger eyes of hers.

Umeko stood nonchalantly, loosing holding her rifle in her left hand unaffected by Regina's ice cold gaze. "Well if it weren't so late I would say chase after it. Sad to say you boys couldn't earn you keep today." With that Umeko gave a quick glance at Regina as she banished her weapon and gave a small hair flip with a flick of the wrist.

Ilia gave a bit of a stretch before feeling the bruises that were around his and lower torso. "Shame, by the end of it I would of had you on the floor constricted by your own chains. To bad." Ilia then snapped his fingers and created a door to his apartment, insisting that they all return home now since he was starving. Ilia walked in continuing to bicker how easily he would of beat Elroy.

Telepathically Umeko spoke out to the Succubus, "You know next time you could let me have some of the fun."

“Fun? You call that fun!?” Regina wasn't talking to Umeko telepathically. She was speaking every word with own lips, which were curled into a scowl. “There's nothing 'fun' about what we do. I'm not doing this for 'fun.' I'm not living with you for 'fun.' If you want some 'fun' maybe I should-”

Elroy chuckled. “Seems someone's just a little cranky.” Regina clearly had a lot more she wanted to say, but she was holding it in. “I think I'm going to take Reggie for a little walk around town. Maybe buy a snack or something. We'll join up with you later.” He started to walk away, but not before shouting. “And when I get back you slimy snake, we're going to arm wrestle. So you'd better practice!”

@skarsgard

Lily and Alex were patrolling as usual, but this time around she had the idea of looking in secluded places like under bridges and in shadowy alleyways, hoping they would find Mariette.
"Hmm, looks like she isn't here, either...Well no matter! I'm gonna keep on trying until I-Iih!"
She summoned her bow as a reflex when she heard the mysterious girl's voice.
"Who goes there?" She hastily asked, before she lowered it at the sight of Penny walking into the scene.
"Wait...Is that you Penny?"
When she next saw the monster girl who called out to her, with her fluffy tail whipping behind her, she turned more confused.
"Now hold on just a second....I didn't get a chance to ask you about Beacon before, but why do you hang out with both them AND a monster girl?"

"I'm honestly amazed they let you get away with it" Alexander said to Penny "In my experience, Beacon would never tolerate having an friendly relationship with a monster girl. I mean, you were at the meeting in the park that went horribly wrong, so you saw how the Beacon girls reacted to the monster girls"

Alexander turned to the other girl "I'd be careful around Beacon if I were you. They really hate anyone with monster traits. One of them tried to kill Lilly because she has a berserker form that's just a little bit beastly. Penny was there too, so she saw it."

Thalia followed on behind Penny as the two approached the newcomers, doing her best to keep behind her friend so that she wouldn't be seen. Of course, her tails were an issue, and every so often, one would flick out from Penny's behind, and the Kitsune would be identified quickly brushing it back into formation with the others.

She was somewhat surprised when the male talked directly to her. Or, at least, she pretended to be. Cautiously, she poked her head over Penny's shoulder, doing her best to look innocent, with a forced blush and all.
"U-um... I-I'm..." she stammered, playing off a naive Mahou, "I-I'm Th-Thalia... I-I only became a M-Magical Girl a f-few days ago..." she glanced towards Lily, forcing back a smirk, "P-Penny offered to sh-show me the r-ropes... S-since we're, u-um, similar..."

Penny just looked over her shold at Thalia with a disbelieving stare "Really?" she asked resisting the urge to face palm "If any one here gets to pull the newbie card it's going to be me, I've yet to hit my sixth month as a MG." she said dryly before rolling her eyes and turning back to Alex and Lily.

"From everything I've heard the deal my Patron struck with Beacon is incredibly odd, but hey, they were the ones to approach me so I've got no idea whats going on with their organization" She answered with a shrug "And that partial answer your questions Lily, I hang with Beacon because My patron made a alliance with them, I hang with Thalia here" She replied giving Thalia another pointed look "Because we are friends, despite the hadful she can be" Neither the look nor her words held any heat, in fact one could note a small amount of mirth in them.

"So I'm kinda in the middle of every thing, it's weird. Especially after all the rumours that I heard about them" she finished with another shrug, more weirdness wasn't going to phase her much at this point. She was still dealing with all the weirdness of becoming a Mahou in her opinion.

"Oh, is that so?" Lily asked with a raised eyebrow, and let her bow scatter into the air in small sparks. She furroved her eyebrows. "That is actually...Amazing!" She bounced right over to Penny, leaning over with her hands behind her back.
"I didn't think it was possible at all for the two sides to have a common friend! You're amazing, Penny! You can solve one of our problems!" She stepped back a bit.
"By the way, have you seen a dark magical girl with an eyepatch holding a stuffed bunny? Or someone who can shift to Overcity? We need to get there."

"What problem can I solve?" Penny asked slightly bewildered, she knew her alliance with Beacon was weird but it was sounding like it might have been a lot more then she had been thinking " And can't say I have meet a dark magical girl recently, last one I knew skipped town after the disaster at the park." Penny replied as she though about the request "This is also where I get to pull my newbie card and ask: What is the Overcity?" She asked genuinely unaware of what that was. She had zero apptitude in magic due to Laat's intervention, so had never encountered the Overcity, neither had the God explained it to her.

"Some kind of plane of exsistence that's like a magical version of this one. Lilly and I found out that the crazy Beacon girl from the park was actually being mind controled by someone, and they have a castle in the Overcity. So we're trying to get a party together to raid the place, and stop her before she can do whatever else she's planing on doing. The girl Lilly just asked you about has portal magic, so she should be able to get us there. But if we can't find her, then we just have to find someone else who can shift to the Overcity." Turning his attention to the other girl, he asked "what about you? Can you move to the Overcity? Or do you know someone else who can?"

Thalia stayed behind Penny as the three conversed about some magical girl and portals. She didn't care too much; she only got involved in matters that directly concerned her or her friends. But what really disappinted her was the way that nobody except Penny even reacted to her comment! But there was still time. One of them would fall for it. They had to. And, if she had any inclination towards the way people acted, it would by the girl that would.
"U-um, th-the Overcity..? I-is that, l-like, some kind of p-parallel dimension..?" she queried, poking over Penny's shoulder a tad more so she could be seen beter.

"I think so...kind of. I just imagine our world as a coin, and we're living on the heads side. Meanwhile, the Overcity is on the tails side." Alexander shrugged "Not sure if that's actually how it works, but it makes sense to me."

"We don't actually know much about the Overcity other than that this Justine girl behind the park incident lives in there. Hmm, yeah, Chloe...Right, I should explain: I'm sure you've noticed from hanging out with Beacon, but they and monster girls have started fighting even more after the park incident. And based on what happened at the hospital, I think it will blow up into a huge war!" Lily said, emphasizing the *blow up* part with her hands raising.
"But you can talk to both sides, so you should try to negotiate, or at the very least stall them until we find proof that the Beacon girl was mind controlled!"

It was at that point that Lily glanced behind Penny, and her eyes opened in shock.
"Oh, I'm sorry! Thalia, was it? I almost didn't hear you. But that's strange," Lily then said, eyeing up the fox girl. "I'm sure I heard your voice calling us, and it was a lot more confident back there. Oh well, you might just be shy seeing me and Alex. What are you doing here?"

"H-hello, Miss..." Thalia began as she peaked around form behind her friend, giggling uncontrollably insid that one of them actually took the bait; there wasn't any point to the exercise, but she just wanted to play around with the new people, "P-Penny was sh-showing me around P-Penrose... I-I've only been l-like... this... F-for a few weeks..." she sputtered, reaching around to one of Penny's free hands in order to take hold of it like a small child, "S-so... A-are you two P-Penny's friends..?"

Penny mulled over Lily's statements, she couldn't say one way or the other if the fighting had gotten worse as up untill comming to Penrose she had avoided interacting will people if she could avoid it. Outside of Chloe, Isanna and Thalia, Penny didn't really know any one in the magical world and that was mainly due to running in to them over and over. Granted she could add a few more names to that list now.

'Though I'll likely have to take a pair off' shaking her head to chase away those thoughts she acknowledged what Lily was saying, or was planning on it, till she noticed that Thalia hadden't dropped her naive act and was starting to rope the other lightning user in, once again she resisted the urge to facepalm.

Penny opened her mouth to say something, likely some deadpan remark in regards to Thalia's acting, when she felt the girl grab her hand. Her mouth shut with a click as she turned her head to regard connected hands. She carefully refused to look at Thalia as she returned her attention to Lily and Alex. She wasn't quite blushing, thankfully, but could easily figure that was what the vixen next to her was attempting. Quietly she began planning on a way to turn the table on her friend.

"Ehh...we only met a few times, so I'm not sure if that's enough for us to be friends. Then again, maybe it is. I don't know, I'm kinda new to this whole 'friend' thing. My social life before getting magic never really existed.

"So you're brand new! Well, I'm glad that Penny's here to teach you about being a magical girl. Yeah, we're Penny's friends, right Penny?" She spoke energetically with her hands to her hips. Seeing Penny so happy now reminded Lily of her own happiness.
"Yeah, you are certainly a rookie when it comes to friendship, Al, so I just have to teach you! Anyway, do you two sleep together like me and Alex?" She said inncently, not realizing her euphemism.

Alexander quickly corrected her "She means living together. We aren't having sex."

"EEEEHHH? Pervert!" Lily screamed, and slapped Alexander's cheek.
"How did you even come to that conclusion!? Hnnnn!" She pouted as her own cheeks blushed.

Lucky for Alexander, his helmat protected his face (that, and his force-field) "Lilly, 'sleeping together' is a euphemism for having sex. I'm actually amazed that you don't know that. When someone says that they're 'sleeping' with someone else, and it's not sex, they usualy have to clarify that they're not talking about sex."

Thalia forced upon herself a blush when Alex corrected Lily, attempting to strengthen her innocent and naive facade. To her amazement, Penny still had yet to correct her in any way. The Kitsune couldn't quite tell why, but there was something she did know. Penny had yet to figure out why exactly she was putting on the act.

It wasn't something as simple as trying to mess around with their new associates, although that was a bonus, but something much more fun. And, as luck would have it, the next part of her plan fell into place; from somewhere near the ally, a loud car horn sounded, elliciting a squeak from the Mahou as she grabbed Penny in a tight hug.

From there, she proceeded to grip her hand tightly, smiling to herself from behind her.
"U-um... Y-yeah..." she murmered from behind her friend, "W-we have been..."

The interaction between Alex and Lily did cause Penny to facepalm, seems that crazy was just the default for being a Mahou. While she could understand where Alex is comming from in regards to Lily's comment, the reaction was overplayed if you asked the cyborg. She did nod in response to Lily's question of being firends however.

The blush she saw Thalia sporting out of the corner of her eye brough her back to planning on how to make it a real blush, or if it was real, which she doubted, making it darker.

What ever plans she was constructing fell apart in the wake of the car horn, not that the sound suprised Penny, she hardly registered it in the first place. It was the fact she was suddenly wrapped up in a tight hug by Thalia, in addition to implying they were sleeping together. Blushing she stammered "L-l-iving together. S-s-she means, we are living together."

Taking a steadying breath, something she has gotten a lot more used too in the past few day, Penny turned to look at Thalia "How long are you planning on keeping up the cute and innocent act?" She wasn't planning on asking why, she could guess why.

Lily pouted with chipmunk cheeks.

"Waah, stop embarrassing me in front of my new friends!" She playfully drummed Alex with her balled up up hands.
"If you don't stop being mean
I'll doodle on your face in the morning!"

"How am I embarrassing you?" Alexander asked confused "And doodling on my face? Really? You know I'm a light sleeper. Not only that, but my outfit comes with a helmet. Also, could you stop hitting me? It's making me feel...funny"

"Anyway, I'm happy to know Penny is in good hands. Huh? What does she mean, Thalia?" Lily then asked her, still punting Alex' shoulder.

Thalia pouted at Penny for mentioning it. Why couldn't she have played along? It would have been a lot more fun for both of them. Well, fun for Thalia and embarrassing for Penny. But that was still fun.
"H-huh? Wh-what act..?" she queried, leaning back around to look at Lily, "Fr-friends..? W-we can be friends?" her face was lighted by a slight smile, "Yay! N-new friends!" the Kitsune chirruped, smiling warmly.

Penny saw the pout and could tell from that Thalia wasn't going to drop the act just yet. "Good hands, right" Penny grumbled quietly as she begin trying to get out of the hug, though it was a token effort at best, otherwise Thalia would likely just hang off her for the rest of the day. There was no guarantee she wouldn't do such anyway. "You're dealing the fallout from this" She added as she turned back to the others.

"What else have you two been up too, or has it just been trying to find a way in to the Overcity?" She asked curiously, the week had been rather quiet as far as she had seen, not counting the nightly hunting expiditions.

"It's pretty much just been looking for a way into the Overcity" Alexander answered "We don't have anything nearly as important as stopping whatever that nut job has planed. I'm not sure what he end goal is, but I don't think the city will be intact by then

"Yay friends!" Lily repeated after Thalia, and joined in the hug briefly, giggling to herself.
"Yeah, we're currently just doing that, but we did get a new member to our party!" She put her hands to her hips. "She's a pirate magical girl with a magical pirate ship! Once we can get to the Overcity, we're gonna use it to storm Justine's fortress! And it's gonna be awesome! So I don't mind if it's a bit boring right now. Will you guys help us?"

Penny flinched when Lily moved to hug her, not that it would be really noticable to anyone other then Thalia, as Penny's grip would have tightened as she flinched, the mechanical girl wasn't the most open to hugs, but she didn't really point this out to people, she felt it was to difficult to try and explain why.

That did nothing to stop her blush from deepening when she was in the middle of the hug, partially for the embarrassment, most due to the discomfort of the situation. Thankfully it was short and the mention of a pirate helped focus her thoughts away from it. "Wait, you met a Magical pirate? With a ship and everything? And you are planning on using it to siege a castle? In an alternate dimention?" she asked in bafflement, then she realized they were asking for her help. They were asking her to help destroy a castle. Some black part of her mind stood up at attention at that realization and her eyes sharpened dangrously.

"Pretty much" Alexander confirmed "It's better than nothing. And we really can't affored to let someone trying to start a war like this do whatever she wants. All things considered, Having a ship to attack her castle with is actually pretty lucky for us."

Lily nodded eagerly.
"Yeah, it's awesome! Oh, and if you do meet Shining Scale, telll her you're friends with me, and she'll understand."

At first, Thalia was unsure how exactly to respond to the sudden threeway hug that had just occurred. She stood awkwardly, holding Penny for a moment, before snuggling into her friend closely. Then, she leant over to Penny's ear and whispered to her, just quiet enough so that Lily would be unable to hear.
"Threesome anyone~?" she teased, before looking over to Alex, "H-how do we g-get into the O-Overcity, th-then..?" she questioned, reflecting an expression of thought.

While Penny would have seconded Thalia's question about the Overcity, and would have liked to know where to sign up to join in on crushing a castle to dust. She was currently unable to form words. The reason was really quite simple, system shock. Thalia's whispered question brought all thoughts to a screeching halt, and her face felt like it was about to combust.

Her gaze immediately latched on to a crack in the ground, and the cyborg refuesed to move it, anyone she looked was likely to make it worse, not that the girl could imagine how, unless she literally did catch fire, which knowing Thalia ment that wasn't entierly out of the question. It wasn't soley the question that cause the blushing either, though that was a good part of it. It was the way in which she said it. Quietly, softly, just loud enough for Penny to hear, which meant she was forced to focus on what was being said. It reminded her of every morning when they woke up, which served only to reinforce the blush even more.

Lily frowned at Thalia's question.
"That's that we're trying to figure out as well. We do believe that Mariette Pedersen, the girl I was asking about before, could help us. If you guys can keep a look out for her that would be great!" She pulled out another piece of paper, having now made copies of her phone number expecting to meet more friends, and gave one to Penny.
"Call me, gurl-frieeeeend! Hehe~", she giggled, and stepped back, waving to them.
"Byeeee!" She then jumped up to a rooftop, with Alex soon following after her.

Thalia pondered for a little, considering how they could get the aforementioned Mariette girl to cooperate with their endeavour. She had never heard that name before until today; was she new to Penrose? Then again, there weren't too many people in city Thalia actually did know.

She waved the two off as they jumped up from the alley to the roofs, smiling warmly. As soon as they were out of sight and out of earshot, she danced away from Penny, and giggled at her sanguine countenance.
"They seemed nice!" she said, skipping about, intent on not standing still, "It's hard to think that Lily there caused that big lightning strike, huh?" she smiled, glancing towards the direction the two had left in, "I wonder how strong she really is~"

Penny took the slip from Lily woodenly still blatantly refusing to tear her gaze from the crack in the ground, and only quietly waved as both Alex and Lily took to the roofs. "I'm pretty sure the lightning bolt is her finisher, plus she Redlined right before she fired it. It was strong enough to vaporize the person I was fighting, so I would imagine fairly strong, you'll have to ask for a spar next time" Penny replied quietly. She was using the chance to answer less to pass information, and more to kick start her brain again.

It worked well enough as she was able to turn her thoughts back to the castle, as the dark corrupted part of her psyche started to fantisise about all the way she could tear it to pieces. With thoughts of wanton destruction floating, she finally pulled her gaze from the concrete and asked a simple question as she moved to also take to the roofs "I wonder if I can ask Laat for any Semtex?"

"Honestly, sis, what are you thinking? This isn't a good idea, y'know." Isabel sighed, looking down upon one of Penrose's many alleyways, unlit by the lights of the nearby streets. The two had been waiting for hours, which was evidenced by the deck of cards strewn across the roof, and the Twin Soul had begun to get impatient.

Charlotte simply stared down at the cobbled street, waiting for their mark to arrive.
"Why would anyone recognise us, Isabel? It's been three years since they killed us." she retorted simply, not breaking line of sight with the ground below, "And even if they did, we can diffuse the situation. There's nothing to be afraid of."

To that, Isabel pouted, and made a show of looking offended.
"Me, afraid? Why would I be afraid when I have sissy with me~?" she quickly snatched her twin up into a cuddle, rubbing their cheeks together in what was obviously more than sisterhood affection, "Hey, y'know, we could just kidnap someone for the information."

As if on queue, the person they had been waitng for ducked into the alley. It was a male, wearing a blazer and tie, emblazoned with the logo of a fictional school.
"If we kidnap them, we'll have all of Beacon after us. That's our last resort." she eyed the boy curiously, gauging him as best she could, "That's them; c'mon, lets go."

Once the boy passed by their perch in the alley, the two swiftly and quietly climbed down, and approached him. Their footfalls echoed against the concrete walls, and his attention turned along with his head. The first thing he saw were their wings. Immediately, he lept backwards, and leveled a gun at their heads.

"Huh? Don't be so jumping, we dont want a fight!" Isabel chirped, skipping closer to the boy, "We were just looking for somebody in Beacon. We've been stopping every Magical Girl and Boy we can find!"

He stared at her skeptically, taking in the two girls as best he could. Despite them seemingly being friendly, he wasn't exactly prepared to take them at their word, and so kept his gun where it was. The wings, too, had him concerned.
"Alright then..." he glanced between them, "I'm David, and I'm a member of Beacon." he took a small step back, widening the distance between himself and the girls, "What exactly do you require?"

Charlotte stepped forward and crossed her arms, casting a somewhat disapproving glance towards Isabel.
"We've been looking to join... Our patron isn't particularly caring of us, and it's nature causes other girls to alienate themselves from us." she stated matter-of-factly, "We don't really know much about Beacon, so we've been looking for someone to help us."

David gave the two another cursory once over, checking to see if their body language indicated anything that would verify or cast doubt over their claim.
"What are your names, and who is your patron? I might be able to pass you onto a Beckoner, or another member who can do so." he stated, still cautious about the situation; he was outnumbered, and somewhat new to the job. If they had any experience at all they could probably take him out with ease.

"I'm Charlotte."
"And I'm Isabel. Hiya~!" they both replied, eliciting a somewhat concerned look from their new acquaintance.
"I've heard those names before..." he pondered for a second, wondering where those two names would have come up, "Have you two ever had dealings with Beacon before?"

"No, of course not, silly! If we had, we wouldn't have to ask for your help, now would we?" Isabel replied, full of energy as per usual, "Have there been others girls named similarly to us who have been members before? That would be terrible, having our reputations tarnished already..."

The male pulled out his phone, and texted one of his Beacon friends. It simply read "Who are Charlotte and Isabel?" If he had heard the names before, it must have been from Beacon, which meant that other members must have known too.
"It would be, you're right." as he spoke, and idea suddenly came to his head, "One last question; what are your Specialisations?"

Isabel glanced back towards Charlotte, and tilted her head, looking for confirmation as to whether they should reveal it. Charlotte nodded, and the Twin Soul turned back towards David.
"We can make anything inorganic decay into nothing!" she chirped, picking up a can of generic alcohol from the ground. As she lifted it, the metal darkened in colour, and started to, somewhat quickly, crumble in on itself.

At that, the boys eyes widened. He realised exactly who the two girls were. His phone buzzed at that second, causing him to start. The message confirmed exactly what he thought. "Stay away from them. They're dangerous." That wouldn't do, he thought. He had to bring them down. They murdered Beacon girls.

With a neutral expression, he let the gun drop to his side. He walked up to the two, and smiled.
"I just got a message back from one of my friends. She said I've gotta take you to one of the usual meeting places, and we'll she about having you join up, okay?"

Isabel quickly ran up and gave David a hug. It was clear she was incredibly happy with the outcome.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, David!" she exclaimed, all the while hugging him closer and closer. Charlotte didn't go to move, however. Instead she stood, watching, making sure her sister was safe. Which was when she saw it.

His hand raised, pointing the gun towards Isabel's abdomen. The next second he fired, but not before Charlotte had rushed to him and pulled his arm away from her sister. The shot echoed through the alley, and Isabel jumped back, making a play of looking totally awe-struck. With his arm restrained, she went to bend and break it, but as she did the pistol he held vanished, and in his other hand appeared a knife, which he promptly swung at his captor.

She lept back, summoning her spear from the aether.
"You're surprisingly fast, I'll give you that." he said, before throwing the knife towards the girl. Raising her spear, she deflected it, causing the metal and plastic to slowly decay into mulch. Noting that, David formed another pistol in his hand.
"Come on then. Attack." his taunts were enough to spur Charlotte on. She already had enough anger inside her from him attempting to shoot Isabel, she didn't need encouragement to cut him into pieces.

The Mahou charged, blocking a couple shots the boy fired off as she ran. Once in close proximity, she took a swing, connecting with the gun, which he used as a shield. As the two collided, the pistol immediately began to crumble, but it quickly vanished, and in its place sat an entirely new submachine gun.

Before he could start firing, though, the sound of a crossbow firing resounded through the alley. The bolt stuck into the new gun, disintegrating the material around it until it loosened and fell from the hole. David jumped backwards, just as a second bolt fired past him, and stuck into the wall, which, too, began to crumble.
"So you're a Twin Soul." he deduced, looking over them both.
"And your power is that of a Hammerspace." Isabel retorted, much to the surprise of their adversary, "All of Beacon will be on their way, sis; we need to wrap this up sooner rather than later."

David smirked, drawing from the air a machine gun, and leveled it at Charlotte.
"Alright then, let us see how you fair with this." except before he got the chance to fire, again, a bolt fired, striking him square in the chest. Or at least, it should have done. Instead, though, and much to the surprise of the girls, it passed straight through, and his form glitched into nothing.

A gunshot sounded from behind Charlotte, who quickly turned in shock to see her sister narrowly avoid having her head blown clean off. She rolled across the ground and skipped to her feet, drawing a playing card from behind her. As soon is it was free she threw it, and before he could move it bounced off of the gun, instantly crumbling to nothing, while causing the gun the same fate.
"You can do it remotely, too? Your magic is powerfu-" it looked as though he had gotten used to having his sentences and actions cut short, as Charlotte's spear sailed through the air and embeded itself in the ground beside him.

In his hand formed a grenade. The two sisters gave a slight start as he pulled the pin from it and through it, before running straight at them, in the same direction the grenade was headed.
"Isabel get down!" Charlotte shouted, but Isabel ignored her. Instead, she pulled a throwing knife from her Hammerspace, and tossed it at the boy.

The blade sunk into his arm, eliciting a yelp of pain, which immediately the grenade to vanish. Except, he didn't stop running. Instead, he drew from the air a shotgun, and quickly began firing at the two of them. Isabel yelped, caught off guard, and ducked immediately beneath the pellets. Charlotte, too, ducked, and slid her way to her sister. She rounded her, and ran at the boy, who promptly took another shot in her direction.

Evading that, she reached to grab the shotgun from his grasp, except as she did the weapon vanished. In its place was a kitchen knife, which found itself thrust at the Mahou. But before it got close to damaging, another card slammed into its blade. David startled as the metal began to rust, giving Charlotte a chance to grab his arm. With it in her grasp, she grabbed his shoulder, circled around him, and pushed him to the ground, before breaking his arm.

The boy cried out in pain, and summoned something else into his hand. A second grenade. He bit the ring and tore it away, and rolled it towards Isabel with all the force he could muster. The action found itself futile, though, as the girl simply smiled. She grabbed the grenade in one hand, causing Charlotte to shout at her to throw it. But instead she simply destroyed it; the grenade crumbled, unable to explode, as she poured her mana into it, and disintegrated it.

"That could have gone much better..." Charlotte sighed, glancing over to Isabel as she walked towards the two, "And I wish you wouldn't be so reckless."

"Says you, Miss "Running-At-A-Shotgun"." she giggled, hugging her sister close once she arrived, "We need to get out of here. Lets take him with us!" she suggested, pulling a syringe from her Hammerspace.

Charlotte considered it for a second, then nodded. They still needed information. He would be unharmed, of course, and they'd release him when he said what they needed... It would also make for a bit of a bargaining chip, if needed. Isabel took the cap off the needle, and injected it into the boys neck, letting him drift into unconciousness. Once he was out, she gave his sister a kiss on the forehead, and danced off into the alley.

"All of Beacon will be looking for us, I hope you know that." she said, lifting David up over her shoulder.
"I thought they were already after us~?" Isabel retorted, eliciting a small laugh from Charlotte, as they lept up onto the rooftop, and back towards their safehouse.

---

"We should go find Thalia, y'know." Isabel suggested on the way, glancing over to her sister, "Lothreen says she has a girlfriend! She's gotta meet the parents at some point, right~?"
"Do you even have any idea where they live?" Charlotte questioned to her Twin Soul, hoisting their catch back over her shoulder.
"Yup! Lothreen gave me the details! How about we go tomorrow and surprise them~?"
"After we talk to this guy. Then we can go visit this girlfriend. Whats her name?"
"Penny. She works for Laat'AlOfan, that scary Deity Lothreen isn't very keen on."
"She had better be cute..."
"Like me~?"
"Exactly like you~"