One the one hand, this was great news! The only person that Alexander could think of who could send them to Justine's place was perfectly willing to do so. While he wasn't completely if Mariette could be trusted, he did trust that she was telling the truth. If there was one thing he had learned in his time at the orphanage, it was that few things could bring people together like mutual hatred of someone else. He didn't doubt that as far as this battle was concerned, Mariette was on his side.

So that meant that he had a way there, which was wonderful. Since that had been the only thing keeping him from launching an attack. However, Amber was currently under attack too. And as much as he wanted to just have Mariette open up a portal for him so he could storm Justine's place and most likely die horribly (fuck. What was wrong with him?), he knew he had to make sure Amber wasn't dead.

"Well fuck. I need to go make sure she's alive" Turning to Mariette, he then asked "I don't suppose you'd be willing to open a portal there for me, would you?" he didn't like asking her for more help, but dammit he didn't have time!

The Bates having gone, Shannon's Puchuu showed up and hopped in from the window. Shaking his head Paree spoke up while his poofy tail swayed from side to side. "I still don't know why you waste your time making friends. They can be helpful don't get me wrong but it's just not worth it."

Returning to her untransformed state the magical girl smiled to her negative Puchuu. "That's just because you aren't social creatures like us. Humans are always looking for a real connection. Especially the ones that feel like the world has rejected them." Putting a few things away her Puchuu followed along.

"Well while you were 'connecting' and making new friends you missed that one of your old ones has been taken." That caught the girl's attention and she looked at the small creature. "That's better. Maybe now you'll get your head in the game. Lily was kidnapped by the dark force that you came here to stop. From what I can tell there is a group that is looking to get her back. I would advise against making any rash decisions. The Beacon likely won't work with them given their stubborn nature. Plus they have their own issues to deal with."

Clearly the magical girl had let her diligence slip when coming to Penrose. She liked to connect one on one with other magical boys and girls. The stakes were clearly much higher than she first thought. If only she had gotten to talking with Lily rather than taking her time. Balling her hands into fists her tone changed. There was a job to do that she had been neglecting "Damn." She wanted to her herself on the head for being so stupid. "Alright Paree, take me to them." Transforming she followed after her patron out of the hotel.

---

Several messages later, Shion decided to simply stream a video to her original self instead of trying to describe the unfolding battle. Shion stared in rapt attention at the battle, no, the lynching on her screen. As she watched this "Minnie" girl be attacked from all sides by the other magi, new messages appeared above the video one at a time, leaving her the chance to read them as they came in.

\\\Not sure how that was missed< Seems to be a pirate (?) ship in the air< Descended then ascended again with water user< Presumably belongs to her< Unknown why she left<

Her original self quickly jumped onto the roof of the small room that led to the roof she was on and looked in the direction of the train station. Huh. So there is. She quickly brought a handheld telescope from the bag of supplies that she had bought in her time as a magical girl to get a closer look. It was definitely an outdated water vessel of some sort and "pirate" seemed to fit perfectly. She couldn't make out any details of the people on the deck, but she could see the one closest to the center suddenly move towards another. She quickly got into the routine of switching between looking at her phone and looking at the ship. It was only a few moments later that the other Shion at the scene sent a new message.

\\\"Minnie" seems to have died from that attack< Suggest that Shion$ continue filming<
\\\Agreed.

Having just seen the killing blow to the "Minnie" girl, Shion turned her attention back to her telescope just in time to see a girl appear in mid-air just barely within her sight.

---

Shion was lost. She followed her targets to a local hotel, but lost sight of them after they entered. Wandering around the hallways she took note of the entrances and layout of the building on her phone's video. She heard a loud crash from the floor above her and went upstairs to investigate.

---

Makoto stared through her hotel window at a small speck in the sky. She couldn't see it, but she could feel the distortions in spacetime coming from that direction. As she stood staring at it there came a sudden explosion, seemingly from whatever the speck actually was.

"Did... Did I do that?" She quickly turned towards a nearby radio-tower and attempted to replicate her stare from a moment ago. After thirteen-point-zero-zero seconds she simply gave up and returned her attention to the now descending speck on the horizon. Her marker hadn't begun reacting so she knew that whatever it was, her friend wasn't in danger from it. None of her instincts other than curiousity were firing either, which she could only interpret as whatever those fluctuations were not being important to her Patron. Makoto put another two acorns in her mouth and began chewing, but to little affect.

She was getting hungry again...

---

Shion winced as she heard a much larger crash come from somewhere outside. Hoping that nobody would come by to disturb her, she had crouched down on the stairs to the highest floor and was recording the hallway when it happened. The strong urge to check in on her other clones quickly faded when she realized that the most likely cause for the noise was the train-station. There were already two Shions there, a third was unlikely to be of any help.

Mariette looked at Alexander after his request. She mentally approved of that he had made that a request, and nothing else. With a moment's direction, opening small portals high above to her eye-patched eye so that she could see the area where Amber, Helga and Penny were currently located. Then, she directed her magic, and a portal opened. One end was right next to Alexander and the others, the other opened around 10 meters to the side of where Amber and Penny was currently located. In case that griffin wanted to go through, Mariette made it large enough for the creature to stride through.

She intentionally placed the portal so she herself would not be in view from the other side. Of course, it'd still be pretty obvious she made it.

@Card Captor@Shifter_Master@Majoras End@BrokenPromise

Alexander nodded "thanks" before running through the portal "hey Amber, you okay? I saw you ship crash,
and I wasn't sure if you were in one piece or not." It was then that he noticed Penny "Oh? Penny's here too? That's odd, I didn't know you two knew each other. Anyway, what happened?"

Amber remained in her position, perfectly still. The voice of god let alone Alexander could not move the morally crushed pirate. Though the silence in the air was becoming awkward, So the little pirate swung her hand at her crumbling mess of a ship. “That.” Was all she said before pulling her hat further over her eyes.

Seconds later, Her familiar few down from the building rooftop to greet amber. “Oh my!” She said in a shaking voice. “What happened!?” The pirate waved her hand at her ship again, pointing all over the massive wreck.

“That.”

“We don’t” Penny said as she gave a short wave to Alex as he came closer “Meet these two aboard that” she explained as she gestured to the fallen wreck before falling silent once more.

No one seemed keen to break the depressed silence that had settled at the base of the destroyed ship, which made the sudden thundering voice all the more surprising

Without warning the titanic figure of Laat’AlOfan had appeared, though he was not dominating the sky as he so often would, He was still towering over those assembled as he stood at a height equal to skyscrapers or would if he was not sitting on his haunches at the moment as he examined the broken Sky Bastion.

He seemed utterly uncaring about the devastation that surrounded them.

”What do you want?” Penny asked too exhausted to bother with manners that her Patron normally insisted upon.

Replied the god as he stood to his grand height a colossal Maul materializing next to him as he did his gaze was still affixed upon the wreckage bellow him Laat explained his tone becoming hateful as he did. He explained as he raised his maul in to his hands, his anger at the von Visceral’s plain for all to see.

He barked out as he finally looked away from the destroyed ship to survey the Maho that were here It was a blatent declaration of war against the family and the patron they followed.

He nearly demanded of those that could hear him.

@BrokenPromise@Card Captor@PlatinumSkink@Majoras End

The Dark Magical Girl had been watching the results from the top of the roof she had wound up on after disembarking, turning away as its descent was nearly complete. It was very clear that the ship was not going to be sailing anytime soon, and that meant so long as Amber hadn't died, that the mission was a complete success. Silhouette was still unsure how to feel about Prime doing the sinking for her, but a job was a job. She turned and faced her companion, assuming he was still nearby, and expressed her thanks.

"I appreciate the assistance, but I am required elsewhere." she informed him, her tone monotonous until she added a sharp. "And I would like to be alone." before she turned and parted ways with the magical soldier.

Silhouette had then made her way down the side of the building with the help of parkour, utilizing ledges and small hops until she reached ground level. From there, she stuck to the shadows, not wishing to draw any attention from nearby magical girls, and left towards the location that she and her employer had agreed upon prior to the start of the mission. She was rather cautious as she approached the area, keeping her Third Eye out for anything or anybody who had decided to tail her. While she wasn’t able to do anything about it on the ship, she had indeed noticed there was an observer, and that observer would be dealt with if she attempted to snoop on this meeting.

….

….

….

“...How can one enjoy the coffee here when it tastes like motor oil?” the assassin asked her employer, now standing in front of the woman known as “Vermillion Veronica” in disguise, now out of her magical girl form herself. She was now at a diner known as the Pitstop, which was tied aesthetically to racing. Sil wasn’t exactly a fan of such entertainment herself, but she wasn’t the one who decided where they met. .

Veronica was actually very difficult to spot out of costume. She had no discernible magical aura, even one that third eye eye could pick up. Her face was often forgotten, even by people who knew her. But Sil knew she would often take the form of a waitress, and there weren't many girls working with long, blond hair.

“I didn't realize you were one to joke.” Veronica stated plainly. She wasn't smiling, and seldom did. Sil already knew that Veronica wasn't one to discuss things in such a public setting, and instinctively stood up to follow her employer.

"I am not." the red-eyed girl answered sincerely, her eyes opened just a bit wider after she realized what she'd done. "Ignore the wordplay, it was not intentional."
Aside from killing people, Sil did pride herself and having a good taste in coffee, but this diner was sorely lacking in that department. In fact, it was almost insulting how poor the blend was. Like no effort was put into ensuring that it was just right. There should be no half-assing coffee, at least in Silhouette's honest opinion. They were probably lazy and didn't care what they served their customers, which was probably why they wouldn't even tell Sil where they got their beans from.

Veronica was muttering something under her breath as they walked towards the back. “I'll feel it all, dulled by pain.” It was no mystery to Sil what Veronica was doing. “I'll hear it all, muted by screams.” The two had stepped into a back room, or at least that was what most would have perceived. But Sil's eye noticed the magical gateway they had walked through. Only a very powerful Magi who knew where to look could hope to discover them here. Despite that, the room looked exactly like any other back room for a dinner, save for the fact that there wasn't anything actually stored inside. It was just an empty room with Sil and Veronica inside. The ceiling was also opened up to a foreign sky, further alluding to the fact that they were not in Penrose anymore. The sky was overcast, but it was still easy to make out the features of the room. “I'll see it all, devoured by darkness!” Veronica's body was consumed by a dark shadow, and magical girl Vermillion Veronica emerged from it. She let her arms fall to her sides, and large swords jetted out of her gauntlets. “So.” Veronica's shadow stood up behind her and fractured. It looked like a dead tree. “Was the mission a success?” One of the branches stretched towards Sil. While most shadow magic wasn’t capable of harming magical girls directly, Sil knew it was a bad idea to get hit by one of Veronica’s shadows.

Silhouette slowly closed her eyes and did not move to avoid the attack, almost as if she had resigned herself to death. She mentally recalled phrase that now started each and every mission she had undertaken while a Magical Girl. I am a blade. A blade knows no fear. A blade knows no doubt. When faced with my enemy, I hesitate not. the shadow had closed enough distance by now that it simply wasn't viable for the untransformed girl to avoid it. She was not very much more than human right now, after all.

However, as the shadow strike drew critically close, something would then appear "off" about the young girl -- she wasn't moving at all. Not even the slightest movement, unnaturally so. Even the very miniscule movements caused by something as simple as drawing breath were nowhere to be found. It was almost like--

--she had frozen herself in time.

Had the shadow struck her during this time, nothing would have come of it. And in the next instant, almost like there was some pane of glass between Sil and the rest of the world, that frozen visage shattered, revealing a transformed Silhouette clad in dark, readying her trust time-slicing blade in defense. Her eyes betrayed the willingness to eliminate the threat before her, something that an untrained, inexperienced foe might not even be able to face directly without faltering.

Magical Girl Transformation!

But Vermillion Veronica was none of those. She wouldn't be intimidated. Yet neither would Sil. Were there an onlooker at this moment, the two probably appeared more like two great enemies preparing for a final, deadly showdown rather than an employer and employee. Dialogue, however, would contradict this.

"...The vessel is no longer capable of flight." the crimson-eyed assassin informed, paying more attention to her surroundings than normal. "...The VIP is not confirmed to be dead."

“I can't confirm you'll get paid.” The wall to Sil's right started to get darker. “Regardless of the condition of the ship, the VIP was part of the mission.” Veronica took a swing at the wall, and her blade seemed to enter it. However, it surfaced closer to Sil, threatening to cut off her legs. “This is unusually sloppy work. Did you need backup?”

"Tch."

Silhouette clicked her tongue in annoyance. If she was not going to be paid for destroying that ship, then that entire fiasco had been pointless, and she'd owe Prime a favor for no reason. This was possibly the worst-case scenario.

Imaginary spectators of this fight... conversation... this, well, whatever it was might have tried yelling out to Silhouette, who seemed oblivious to where the attack was going to come from in a vain attempt to warn her of the threat. However, such an action would prove unnecessary, for Sil would never once let her guard down against Veronica. It would be both disrespectful, and likely the end of her own life.

A last-minute jump and twist had Sil just barely evading the shadow-based dismemberment attempt. That was her cue to switch to a closer-range, lest Veronica begin getting more serious with her attacks. At a range, Silhouette had no means of attack herself, so keeping her distance would lead to only negative situations for her.

"There were complications involving a mechanical magical girl, as well as the VIP, who had shown up before I could disable the vessel." she told her boss, staring the cold woman down. "There was also unrequested assistance from the Chosen of Novum." she added, finishing her explanation.

Immediately afterwards, the assassin's existence briefly shimmered before disappearing entirely. She'd merely darted directly towards Veronica with such swiftness that she'd left an afterimage. The very moment it vanished, the black-haired girl would appear right before Veronica, letting loose a trio of slashes. This, of course, assuming Veronica hadn't laid any traps beforehand.

The wall of shadow started to bubble like tar before spitting out a wooden table and an assortment of chairs behind Sil. In front of her, Veronica wrenched her sword out of the wall at an angle, pulling the shadow along like it was wallpaper. Sil was faster than Veronica in terms of how fast she could move her body, and was able to land all three slashes on Veronica's abdomen. This would have been fatal to most humans, and even some magical girls. But her boss was not a pushover. Veronica wasn't called the immortal ebon Vampire for nothing. She was durable, and had the strong magical capacity to accelerate her ability to heal. This was likely why she chose to take the blows without defending and instead chose to exchange with a blow of her own. The shadow attached to her sword was bubbling like tar, and had the blades of several military style K-bars sticking out of it. Veronica's weapon was no longer a sword, but a large shadow club with knives sticking out of it. As she swung her new weapon at Sil, the knives spun around the club as if it were a chainsaw.

“Then you were spotted.” Veronica said before making a second swing. “How did the other magical girls fair, were any of them eliminated?” Using her second sword, she slashed through her club and held her arms out to the sides. This caused the shadow and it's many knives to form a round shield that was as big enough to cover Veronica herself and held all of those knives pointed in Sil's direction. When Veronica charged forward, the shield moved with her.

"I believe that was beyond my control." Sil countered, between each swing she avoided. "Foes were encountered only after my boarding of the ship, so it would seem there was some form of system to alert them that I could not exactly avoid at that point."

Silhouette was not a fan of the unpredictability she was facing. She would typically attempt some form of counter strike after a parry, but the closest object she could compare the eccentric weapon to was a chainsaw. It did not look like something she wanted to be on the business end of, and so she opted to avoid the attack in its entirety, as the spinning blades would make it impractical to attempt a parry. This made it relatively easy for Veronica to set up her charge, and given the environment, the assassin had nowhere else to go but backwards or forwards. Partially due to her not having a way to reach anything vital and also partially due to Silhouette feeling Veronica would at least entertain the idea she might try something like that and respond properly, Sil did not attempt a similar give-and-take move like she did earlier, against Penny.

Instead, the Dark Magical Girl began to back up, towards the table and chairs. As quickly as she could, Sil grabbed the table by one end and flipped it towards Veronica, with the red-eyed girl following close behind. However, mid-air, the table merely stopped and stayed floating with its legs pointing towards the shield Veronica had employed. Quite obviously, this was to cease the charge, or at the very least, Sil could play around the table, which was now frozen in place and quite immovable.

"I opted to conserve my mana in the event that more Magical Girls showed up, and so I was not able to execute the one I did clash with." she informed, keeping the table between her and Veronica. "I did learn she seems to own a regeneration similar to mine."

When the wall of shadow and knives clashed with the table's legs, it started to “melt.” Veronica's shield oozed like tar, with the knives floating around in the mass. Her wounds were already closing up, and even her outfit was starting to knit itself back together. But Sil's boss didn't pursue her around the table. For a second or so, she was in thought. Veronica typically didn't pause during these fights, so it could have only been in reaction to what Sil had told her. Veronica stretched out her hands, and a ball of tar started to form in the hands of each one.

“A sensory trap is unlikely given your third eye, but possible. The magic of lesser patrons and their magical girls can be very subtle.” She threw the tar at either wall, which splattered like black paint. The tar started to bubble and fired knives at Sil from both directions. It was a fairly erratic spray pattern, but the knives came out fast. “You were wise not to press your attack on her. I believe I know the target. She is not one I want to deal with too soon.” Veronica hadn’t remained idle. She was doing something else with her magic. Sil could feel it. The room appeared to be getting... darker.

“Then it would be ideal that we do not meet again until she is to be dealt with.” Sil commented, recalling the intense fight she had a short while ago. “I could not promise our next encounter ending in another draw.”

Silhouette had back off the table a few steps once the wall had “melted” through her makeshift barricade, as it appeared she wouldn’t be able to use the table how she originally intended. She had readied her blade for the upcoming attack, only to find that Veronica had paused a moment to reflect on her words. Were it another opponent, this would have been an opening for Sil to attack, but Veronica would never expose herself like that, and the possibility that it was bait to lure Sil in had deterred her from making a move in this time.

When Veronica resumed, she did so by tossing the shadowy goo at the walls on each side of Sil, which then exploded with blades. Sil then concentrated on empowering herself, and focusing on defense. Her ability to identify the blades coming at her and her reaction to them was incredible, allowing her to deflect a blade with her own in one hand, and grab one of the blades in the air and throw them at another as she twisted to avoid another, all in the span of less than a second. To most she would appear like a blur in this time. She managed to survive the attack, but she did not escape without being struck a few times in the legs, arms, and one in her shoulder.

This wounds, of course, weren’t fatal nor were they going to impeded her given her regeneration. They were simply the wounds she allowed to happen instead of a deadlier alternative, given she hadn’t been able to avoid all of the blades at once. At least, not yet. But she was ever-improving, and spotlessly avoiding something like this could be thought of as a short-term goal for the assassin on her road to perfection.

Silhouette’s eyes had returned to Veronica, though the room’s sudden shift in brightness hadn’t gone unnoticed. Her blade held firmly in one hand, with the other shaking off the blood that her injuries had drawn, Veronica might have noticed that ChronoRend was giving off a faint glow.

Silhouette could see the tar-like shadow seep over the top of the table. The room continued to get darker as Veronica started to come out on the other side of the table. But this happened just moments before the entire room was shrouded in darkness. Sil's third eye was picking up magic in all directions. All she could discern was that reality was being altered.

“If that's how you feel, than perhaps it would be best if I assessed the mission myself. You will be paid once I have confirmed that the VIP is still alive.” Veronica's voice seemed to come from everywhere. “You are to remain on standby for the time being. Continue to collect information on your patron, especially on your fellow magical boy. I wish to know their goals.” Sil could feel a pair of hands rest on her shoulders. This caused her to relax. It was another part of their fighting ritual that silhouette had become familiar with. “Your skills continue to improve Silhouette. You had a nice aggressive start, and I liked that. But don't feel the need to retreat when your opponent leaves no openings. A lack of offensive pressure is an easy way to lose ground in a fight.” Veronica's hands slid Silhouette's arms and gently pressed them to her sides. “The chairs would have been less taxing on your mana and stopped my charge just as well. At the very least, they could have been used to protect you from the knives. But I suppose you felt such small scrapes were negligible?” Silhouette would notice that not all of her wounds had healed up. Some of the cuts she received had some of Veronica's tar-like shadows bubbling in them. It could be easily removed by brushing one's hand over it. But still... “I will need you again in the near future, so make sure you are available.” The shadow seemed to swirl into itself, leaving Silhouette alone in the back room. Her knife was glowing only slightly brighter than the overhead fluorescent lights.

Given the all the commotion going on, the Djinn Sisters had their work cut out for them. From experience big events had a way of generating lots of interesting wishes. The massive magical explosion drew the attention. This in particular meant they were headed toward the formerly standing Beacon HQ. All things said the twins never really interacted much with the organization or its members. So what exactly to expect was kind of in the air.

Approaching the scene they didn’t quite make it before they spotted Alicia and Suwako. Judging by the direction they were coming from they were with the Beacon. Going into a crowd of magical girls and granting wishes tended to cause trouble so just these two would probably be a more wise approach.

In their untransformed state, coming alongside the two Sakura waved to them sheepishly. ”Hello there.” Before there was a chance for either to see them as a threat Sakura raised her hands to show that they weren’t there to fight. ”Sorry if this isn’t a good time but we couldn’t help but notice what’s happened.” She motioned back to the Beacon HQ.

Suwako noticed the two newcomers. They didn’t seem to be Beaconers. But they came in their untransformed state so could this be some sort of diplomatic meeting?

“Yes, as you can see for yourselves, we’ve just been attacked. Well, perhaps ‘attacked’ isn’t necessarily the correct term. More like someone planted a trojan bomb and it exploded inside. So, mind explaining who you are and what you’re doing here?”

Upon being addressed Alicia came to a stop as well as she found herself and Suwako addressed by newcomers. She didn’t recall seeing them before and since they didn’t look like they were as panicked as basically everyone else here from the fires currently being put out in the former Beacon HQ, she swiftly reached the same conclusion that Suwako had.

Glancing back towards the building, Alicia nodded. “Yes, I imagine it must have been pretty hard to miss that,” she replied, letting Suwako take the lead for the moment as she eyed the duo. Her hands remained loose, fingers spread should she need to summon her weapon in a hurry. With how things were now, and how most regarded Beacon at this point, she would not leave the opportunity for any unpleasant surprises. At the same time her phone buzzed, but she ignored it for the moment. It probably wasn’t that important, and she couldn’t afford the distraction.

“Woah, relax,” Violet said as she too raised her hands in a show of peace “We’re not here to cause more trouble, more the opposite in fact.” She took a small step in front of her sister, ready to defender her if needed as she talked “Our magic is rather unique, and our Patron is something of an oddball but we aren't your enemies, and we are offering you two a chance at some help.”

“Help?” Suwako questioned, her expression clearly saying that she still didn’t trust the two yet. “What kind of help can you offer exactly? Surely you’re not offering to help clean our HQ.”

“We could do that, if you wanted to be boring,” was the offered response from Violet. “We lack the capability of our Patron when it comes to our magic but cleaning your HQ is certainly possible. We could likely repair everything as well, but only if you ask in the right way, it’s a quirk of our magic.” she explained as she tried to keep her normally sharp tongue to a minimum.

‘Think transforming would help our case with these two?’ she thought to Sakura.

’Probably.’

Speaking again Sakura bowed slightly. “Our transformed state might make things more clear.” Having made their intent to transform known they both remained still as they took on their Demi-Djinn forms. “If you may tell, we are in the business of wish granting.”

A step back was Alicia’s automatic reaction as they transformed at last, revealing just what they were. She hadn’t heard of that sort of power set before but she supposed that it wasn’t completely impossible. Magic could let you do a lot of weird things, so why not this?

“I see,” she replied with a slow nod, arresting any backwards motion for now as the revelation fully settled in. “And what are you looking to gain in exchange for this unusual service of yours?” Somehow Alicia couldn’t help but doubt that they were here out of the goodness of their hearts, but she would try to keep from leaping to hasty conclusions about their intent as she waited for an answer.

Relaxing fairly sure that there would be no overreactions Sakura sighed under her breath. ”While any compensation would be appreciated we aren’t really after anything. We’re kind of bound to this duty due to some… poor choices. If I may offer some advice, never disrespect a Djinn. It doesn’t turn out well.” By the expression on her face it was clear that she was speaking from experience. But the solemnity didn’t last long and she brightened up again. ”So, yeah. That’s our curse if you will. Your wish is our command.”

”As I said earlier we are not as potent as our Patron when it comes to granting wishes, but that doesn’t mean that our magic is weak. So what shall you two wish for? Violet reiterated with a shrug.
.
Suwako looked at Alicia. She still hadn’t trusted the sisters, especially with such a vague description of their powers. She knew some stories about wishes to genies gone wrong, and she certainly wouldn’t want to join their ranks. And she doubted that their wish granting power had no limits.

“What should we wish for then?” Suwako said to Alicia, crossing her arms. “Cleaning up the HQ would be nice but I imagine we probably have better uses for it. Like finding her for example. Or perhaps they could even bring her here right away, though I doubt that.”

Alicia frowned in thought, rubbing her chin as she considered what they should wish for along with Suwako. Cleaning up the HQ didn’t seem like a worthwhile wish anyway since the damage was repairable, so they should definitely use it for something else if at all. She idly considered wishing for additional power but that seemed overly selfish of her, and the Beckoners would likely frown upon gaining additional magic that she had not earned.

For the moment she held off on actually wishing for anything, preferring to discuss with Suwako first. “Bringing Justine here would be nice, though she probably has safeguards against that. I’d also like some way to not have everyone about to fight us at the moment, or to counter whatever it was that they did to Janet. I’m not sure if ordinary Purification will work on that.”

She paused for a moment before shooting the sisters and apologetic smile. “Sorry to make you wait, we’re just making sure it’s for something worthwhile.”

Nodding slowly she waved off the concern. This was not at all surprising that they wanted to be careful about the wish. ”Take your time. The offer isn’t going to vanish on you. But just so you know there is a max of three wishes each. In case that eases some of the pressure.” She wasn’t going to spill too much about what they could and could not do, but that was a pretty standard hard rule that they had to abide by.

“Finding people isn’t very hard to do, easier than cleaning at any rate,” Violet started figuring she could at least explain how easy some of the ideas they had tossed out would be. “Bringing people to you would depend on a lot of things,” she said tapping her chin in thought, “such as where they are and how willing they are to follow along with us. Any wishes that involve someone else we will likely need to have that person near us for it to stick as well so you might want to wait for those. You could also wish for an artifact, though the more powerful ones would be single use.”

“Okay then, good to know,” Alicia replied with a thoughtful nod. So teleporting to Justine was probably out then, or at least teleporting her to them and skipping the middleman. She hadn’t really figured that would work, so she was not too disappointed. The other idea was very interesting though, and after a few moments of further thought she made up her mind. Perhaps it was a rash decision, but she didn’t seem them having any better options. And they had to be prepared for the worst.

Besides, if they had three wishes max then it definitely did take some of the pressure off, leaving her more confident to go ahead. “In that case, I wish that I had an artifact capable of purifying a monster girl and returning her to normal, no matter how heavy their corruption is.”

As Alicia was voicing her wish there was a tingle that ran down the sisters spine, and after hearing the proposed wish in its entirety it was easy to understand why the omen was received for this one. Such an artifact would be immensely potent, but it would only work once. It would need to be protected as well, for if it were to be tainted it would be able to corrupt anyone regardless of their purity.

‘Seems that Penrose is full of impactful wishes’ Violet mused ‘You want this one Sis or should I take it?’ she asked turning to look at her sister as she did.

‘You can take it.’ Sakura responded back.

“At your command” Violet said her voice echoing oddly as her eyes turned white. She reached out and plucked from thin air a large crystal vial. Turning it around in her hand she gave an approving nod before she gently reached towards the sky with it and the sky rippled in response as she seemed to dip the vial into the air itself. A moment later she pulled the vial back from the ripple it had made and examined it once again before she bent down and repeated the process with the ground, it too rippled as the vial passed through it effortlessly.

Standing Violet turned the vial around in her hands one last time before she retrieved a stopper in the same fashion that she did the vial. Afterwards she offered it up to Alicia speaking as she did “Your desire is made manifest”

The vial was filled with what looked to be a snapshot of deep space, as colored clouds of dust intermingled with a vast array starry lights against a backdrop of the purest black. Yet it still behaved as one would expect a liquid too either churning or flowing as one tilted or shook the vial.

Alicia waited with bated breath, not sure what she should expect from this whole process. Would it be done in the blink of an eye or was there something else involved in the granting of wishes? She was certainly curious to find out, and would not have to simmer in her anticipation for long before she had the answer to her question.

The creation of the vial and its contents was interesting to watch, though it gave her only a little insight into how it actually worked. But that was how it went with magic, so she was not going to stress over it too much so long as it actually got done in the manner that she was hoping for.

“Thank you,” she replied with a grateful nod as she took the vial, swirling it a bit as she examined the substance inside. That was….weird. Intriguing, but weird. After a few moments she slid it away into a pocket for safekeeping before nodding to the trio. “I’ll be right back, I’m going to go see what that text was about,” she explained as she stepped away, pulling out her phone. It was Suwako’s turn now, so hopefully that would occupy their time until she was done.

“Hmm…” Suwako crossed her arms in front of her chest, deep in thought. She wasn’t sure what she should use the wish for. Like she said before, just using it to clean up the HQ would feel like a huge waste. But she didn’t have any good idea in mind.

“How about this?” Suwako finally spoke up after a minute or two of thinking. “Since there’s a really high chance we’re going into a huge battle soon, how about a healing item that could heal any wounds in an instant, no matter how severe it is? That includes regrowing missing limbs or legs. I would wish for it to be able to bring back people from the dead but I think that might be too much even for you.”

Since her sister got the last one Sakura would take this one. Only there was a slight problem. ”Mmm, doable. I can't really give you it until you wish for it properly though.” Suggestions didn't fly for their magic to work. It had to be a wish.

“Yup, can’t forget the magic words” Violet said in a singsong tone as she resisted the urge to begin cartwheeling around, she was riding the endorphin rush that came from powerful wishes and was able to enjoy it as making an artifact was never as draining as performing the same act that the artifact was made to do.

Suwako sighed. “Fine. I wish for a healing item that could restore your body’s condition to its prime in an instant.” The stoic girl wasn’t too fond on how Violet was acting.

Off to the side, Alicia flipped open her phone and checked the text message to find an attached picture of a wooden sailing ship that looked like it had definitely seen better days. Unusual, but the message that went with it was much more confusing. She felt like there was something Penny had forgot to mention to her, something worth knowing sooner rather than later in all likelihood.

‘What ride?’ she texted back, glancing between her phone and the ongoing scene as Suwako made her wish

‘Another girl was going to let us use her ship in the assault on Justine's Castle, the pic I sent is her ship’ came Penny’s reply no long after.

Huh, well then. That was unfortunate. Though for Alicia’s considerations it didn’t change much. She hadn’t been expecting a ship in the first place so it did not change the calculus for her assault. ‘Too bad,’ she texted back before turning to the group she was with. Maybe she should use a wish on this, but for the moment she refrained. She wanted to see what ended up happening first.

One of the beacon girls stepping away wasn’t a problem for Sakura, she didn’t need anything else but the wish anyhow. Her sister had kind of stolen the show as far as granting a wish. There wasn’t really a need to do anything fancy, she could make a rock heal like the wish stated. But where was the fun in that? After a brief pause she nodded as she had an idea as she responded.

”As you wish…” Putting a hand out palm open and placing the other over it she moved them apart. As she did a small rod of onyx materialized, about four inches tall. Holding it carefully in one hand she swirled a finger around it and a golden snake formed, wrapping itself around the rod. Both were pretty standard symbols of healing so it seemed fitting. Due to the amount of magic being held within it had a soft yellow glow to it. Presenting it to Suwako she bowed slightly. ”...so it shall be.”

Suwako gingerly took the rod. She could immediately feel the power swirling inside it the moment her hand touched its surface. She examined it for a short while, somewhat fascinated by the soft yellow glow it possessed, before she stored the rod in her skirt’s pocket.

“Yep, I believe this should do,” Suwako said to the genie sisters.

Suddenly A barrage of texts hit Alicia phone, all from Penny.’Get here now!’ Said the first, it was followed by ’Laat just showed up’ then a picture of the mentioned God towering over the previously pictured ship.

Her phone suddenly lit up, drawing Alicia away from the outcome of Suwako’s wish. Two texts and then a picture, leaving Alicia a bit more worried than she had been before. If Laat had shown up to lend a hand then this might be more important than she had initially anticipated. ‘Be there soon,’ she replied with a restrained sigh.

Slipping the phone away, she looked to her ally. “I guess Penny found us a new potential ally for the big fight. She wants to meet us back at the train station.” It would be a bit of a trip, but no worse than the trip to get here.

Thanks to her Third Eye, Sakura didn’t need to be told that something was up. A god showing up in an area was a pretty dead giveaway for the magical girl. Of course at the moment it didn’t mean much to her.

“Alright, let’s go there right away then,” Suwako replied.

Alicia nodded before turning to the Djinn Sisters. “I think I’ll hold to my other wishes for now. You never know when that of thing might come in handy. Thank you for the artifact though. I’ll make sure to use it well.”

“Of course, haven't met anyone who wanted to use all three wishes right at the get go yet, so don’t worry about it.” Violet said waving away Alicia thanks.

Alicia gave the duo a grateful smile before moving to depart with Suwako. “Alright. I look forward to meeting you two again.” With that she took her leave as she headed back for the train station. That had gone well. She was just left to wonder what else the day had in store.

The large voice in the sky startled Amber into falling backwards,Helga would have been able to catch her if she wasn’t just as startled by the sudden appearance of the ruining god. Amber propped up her hat and looked into the sky to see what was going on.

”I’d ask who you are, but I probably can’t even pronounce your name. “ Amber chuckled nervously. She had heard about patron gods, but never actually seen one. The pirate wasn’t even sure if this was one. Amber turned her head to her side and looked at Penny. [cyan]”Is this guy a friend of yours? “[/cyan]

”That is my Patron..” Was Penny’s distracted reply as she looked up at Laat with awe. In the various time she had talked with Him he had always seems relaxed, so too see him now so filled with hate and anger was quite the sight.

She would have likely kept staring for a good while if it weren’t for the fact that Laat had turned his attention on to Amber as she had addressed him. In doing such the manners that Penny had forgotten earlier had her responding ”That is Laat’AlOfan, He who brushes away the old. Deity of destruction and runination. My lord has offered you a boon and awaits your response.” Her tone had become formal, and it wasn’t hard to see that Penny was acting as Laat’s mouth piece so that his titanic voice wouldn't drawn any more attention than it already had.

Shaking her head Penny added in a normal tone ”Ugh this is going to be a weird conversation” It was part of her role as The Gray Lady to act as his voice at times, this would be her first time doing such.

"Hey what's- Oh sweet nightingale." Scout and Anaya appeared from Mariette's portal, the witch stopping to look up at Penny's patron, eyes widen in shock and awe. Anaya instead walked up to the deity, having overheard his offer. "I'm unsure about the others' thoughts. But I myself accept your assistance in ridding Visceral, and will help reforge the water user's ship." the spirit mage answered, bowing down like a knight would.

The pirate fret her brow ”The water user’s name is Shining Scale!“ the pirate sat upright. ”A-and thanks guys!“ she looked up into the sky with a smile. ”Our goals seem to align in that regard.Sign me up!“

Alexander blinked in confusion “well, it looks like you’ve got everything taken care of here.” Then turning to the portal, he spoke again “well then Mariette, I’m ready; send me to that bitch’s place” His voice was oddly somber for him “Hey Amber; If I don’t see you again...I just wanted to say; you were tolerable. I...realize that might sound like a pretty shitty compliment, but coming from me it means something”

"Nice to meet ya Shining Sc- wait what?!" Just before Scout could introduce herself, Alex had decided that he would face Justine alone. "You can't rescue Lily by yourself! Who know's how strong this chick is!" The witch objected, before grabbing her rifle from her back. "If anything, I'm going with you!"

”H-hey! “ Amber sprung to her feet. ”I’m not a hundred percent sure what happened while I was up there, but I don’t see Lily around here, and even a blind rat could see you guys were close.“ The pirate was gritting her teeth. ”You’ll drive me to scurvy, but you’re not going to throw away your life on some quest for revenge! CAPTAIN’S ORDERS!“

Right on cue, Helga and Sue moved between Alexander and the portal. Sue had to transform into a human again, but she seemed a lot less sure of what she was doing than Helga did. But she did her best to at least look like she was holding the line. “A-at least you got Amber acting like a real pirate captain again.” The familiar forced a smile.

Mariette could have rolled her eyes at Alexander's statement. She had been waiting on the other side of the portal, listening in. Of course, the others pointed out his foolishness, ensuring she didn't have to. Mariette wandered through the portal herself, walking on top of another portal that moved so that each step still landed on the portal, letting the bigger portal collapse because everybody was through already. She opened a smaller portal for Eli, who had been further away, letting the darkness harpy appear behind her.

‘Consider your preparations well,’ she stated to those present, also as a warning to Alex. Seeing new individuals present, including the deity, she stated her position again. ‘I've agreed to ferry those willing to fight to Justine's base, and whatever equipment they intend to use, through my portals. I will do so when you've determined yourselves ready, as a group. I remind that I've been in contact with Alicia, who's furthering my proposition to Beacon, as I've suggested I can assist their attack on Justine as well. I've been intending to go check on her progress.’

With that, they should be informed of the situation. Mariette intentionally didn't look in Amber's direction while talking.

Alexander was baffled “you’re...all coming with me?” The poor boy didn’t know what to do in this situation “but...it’ll be dangerous and you could all die! Hell, I’m not even sure why I’m going. I mean yeah, it’s to save Lily...but I don’t understand why I want to so much. I’m...not used to not being alone.”

Laat boomed out as he surveyed those gathered below him with a critical eye. What he felt about the gathering was anyone’s guess as he was impossible to read.

Penny, meanwhile, was glad that everyone had been able to talk Alex down from his suicidal plan, she wanted to help with that but she was in a weird position at the moment acting as Laat’s voice. Stepping forward she once again spoke up in a formal tone “By my lord's decree we shall receive the supplies needed remake the Sky Bastion as well as the temporary knowledge needed to facilitate this process, those among us who have pledged support in this endeavor, who also seek the decimation of the Visceral family, shall be granted supplies for personal use as well.” her gaze swept across all those gathered as she spoke ”The supplies offered are primarily of mundane origin, and most shall be tools or weapons that will be of use in the coming assault. After which any supplies left over or unused are yours to do with what you will as payment for the services rendered.” As Penny spoke the color seemed to leech itself from her until she was completely grey, save for the neon blue of her eyes.

After a moment she turned to face Mariette ”My lord and I are aware of the Alicia of whom you speak, as we stand in alliance with her and The Beacon for the moment. With luck they shall be able to muster their forces in time for this assault, regardless, your assistance Is much welcomed.”

"Dangerous my ass, I'm not letting another friend of mine get killed cause of my stupidity!" Scout told Alex, before Anaya turned back to the group. "The eight of us aren't enough. If we're dealing with what made Penrose the core of monster sightings, we might be going against one of the strongest magical girls I've ever known."

Sue breathed a sigh of relief. “Alright, it seems like we're all unified in cause.”

Unlike Mariette, Amber seemed rather insistent on looking in the portal witch's direction. Her eyes were squinted, but she remained silent. ”Yea.” She turned to face Penny, but her eyes were still on Mariette. ”I'd send the Viscerals to Davy Jones's locker for free. Getting compensated for it is just a bonus!”

Mariette nodded to the deity and Penny's words, then listened to the following exchange. ‘I wish to add that Justine von Visceral is exceptionally confident in her plan, calling me a fool for trying to play her game. She has a game-plan that she doesn't think can fail, and that will include circumstances where she's attacked,’ Mariette added to what Anaya said. ‘That said,’ Mariette continued, ‘the fact she manufactured the collapse of the alliance proposed by Victoria Reales proves it may have been a threat to her. Also, I have now survived two attempts on my life from her side. My still being here proves she is not infallible. She can be overcome.’

So Mariette shared. It was also a low-key message from Mariette that "Justine wants me dead, keep that in mind". She was aware of Amber's gaze, but intentionally didn't react to it.

“Huh. This...might actually be possible” now that defeat was no longer an absolute in Alexander’s mind, he racking his brain for any way that they could further improve their odds “I think...” he began “I’d have to talk to Sol first, but if it’s cool with him, I should be able to temporarily bless the airship after it’s been rebuilt. I’ve got a lot of different blessings on my house, but for the ship I’d just focus on Blessings of Fortitude, to make the ship even harder to damage.”

"Sounds good, but what does that mean?" Scout asked the portal witch."We need to finish what Victoria started." Anaya answered, before turning to Theresa and Sue. "Do you mind spreading the word around? We need all the help we can get."

"I'll try my best." Theresa said, taking a bow.

Sue placed her hands together and lowered her head. "O-of course! I'm sure Amber plans on filling her ship up with as many people as she can find. At least, that had been our plan from the start."

"Great. Unless anyone objects, let's do this."

Laat gave one more look across the assembled Maho, giving them time to speak their objections if they had them. When it was clear that none would be voiced he hefted his massive weapon in preparation. Penny glanced up at her patron with a hint of unease about what was coming next. Laat’s gifts of knowledge tended to feel very disorientating at first.

Without any delay Laat swung his titanic maul at the wreckage of the Sky Bastion, rather than turning the street and the nearby building in to rubble with the strike there was a sound not dissimilar to that of shattering glass. When Laat raised his weapon again there was dozens of shipping containers filled with all the material they could possibly need and more to rebuild the Sky Bastion, in the wake of where it he had struck, alongside the crates sat a few rows of ethereal looking industrial machines. A quick glance of the machines would prove that they would be able to fashion the materials they had in anyway they would want or need.

After raising his maul again Laat proceeded to bring it down upon those gathered in shared want of the Vicerals demise. The moment the strike landed the world of those struck would be drowned in sound, and their sight would fade for just a moment as years worth of experience in metal working, shipbuilding, tank construction, large scale weapon manufacturing were forcefully added in to their minds. The new knowledge would feel pointedly out of place and incredibly vivid for days to come. In addition these temporarily granted skills would come a detailed blueprint for a new ship. The ship in question would use the Sky Bastion as a base, but rather then a skyship the plans detailed a ship that would be able to freely travers land as sea, It was also a highly fortified war ship, armed with row upon row of cannons. Altogether it would be a vessel of vast destructive potential that would be difficult to render to scrap again.

Laat said after giving those below a moment to regain their equilibrium.

”Within the creates is everything we will need to reforge the Sky Bastion as well as a variety of explosive ordnance for use with the cannons as well as on foot when we storm the castle. There is some basic medical supplies as well as a small amount of food stored as well . Everything that is left over after the assault is yours to take as per the agreement. Penny explained to everyone, as she had been gifted that knowledge as well the gifted skills “The capabilities Laat’AlOfan has granted to us will only last until the ship has been reforged, the machines that have been sent to assist will also fade at that time.” As she finished explaining she turned to face the deity and gave Him a bow. Laat gave a nod of his head in return as he turned to leave. His form shattering into countless stars before he completed a single step. The moment Laat vanished Penny visibly shook.

”Blegh. That was all sorts of weird” She complained as her color returned in a sudden rush. She looked at all that had been deposited at the base of the ship when a sudden realization came to her “How are going to move all of this?”

"Leave that to me." Anaya reassured Penny, before summoning her doll army back to her side. "With them, re-building the ship will be more efficient. Yet we still need transportation for new recruits to here..." the spirit mage went into thought, before her griffin walked to her side from the portal.

"Guess that answers my question." Anaya said, petting the mythical beast.

Mariette had stood silent watching the god speak, summon items and then staggered when new information was added to her mind. Did they expect her to actually grab a hammer and help with construction? ... Mariette was silently thankful when Anaya summoned her army. They had workers, good. But... about this matter of "spreading the word around"...

‘New recruits?’ Mariette asked. ‘Do you intend on getting more people to join this charge?’

"Why yes. Like I said, we'll need all the help we can get."

Mariette considered, briefly. ‘Then, we may be of assistance,’ she said, briefly glancing at Eli. ‘Eli, reexamine the list. Consider whom of those remaining may be willing to join a crusade and where they're likely to be located.’

‘Ah- yes, mistress!’ Eli called somewhat in surprise, bringing up her notebook, full with information on those they had considered kidnapping, starting to quickly leaf through it with her liquid wings, eyes scanning and reading. There were a fair amount they eventually decided not to kidnap, and it was useful to keep track of as many Magical Girls as possible anyways, for perhaps times just like this.

‘We have a list,’ Mariette continued, ‘of Magical Girls that my underlings have scouted in the past. Using those notes, my portals and Eli's sight, we can find most of them again in moments. Just request a portal, and I can bring you around. I'll keep a small portal open at the place you entered a new area, so you can tell me you want back.’ So Mariette said, still squeezing her bunny.

‘Would that be relevant?’ Mariette then asked, looking at Anaya but open for anyone to reply.

“I think that would be really useful!” Sue hugged herself. “If we're going to grab magical girls on such short notice, we need to make sure none of them are going to be a problem.”



Heh...

Ever since Tonya got here, she had been working in the background. Bending events to her patrons will to prevent things from turning out too bad. It wasn't a job she fully understood, but she knew it was important. It was, however, a bit lonely. And while Tonya didn't mind working by herself for periods of time, it did take its toll after a while. No, it wasn't the loneliness, it was just that she couldn't see the fruit of her actions. She was just fighting, and actively avoiding discovery.

But to see so many magical girls working together to rebuild the ship was a sight to behold. It was quite the occasion. Never again would Penrose get to see so many different factions working together to achieve a common goal. This was the kind of world that Tonya wanted to live in, one where power was distributed evenly, and good people could come together to make something special.

With a sigh, Tonya retreated into the ship. There were a few places she could reasonably sleep without being noticed by anyone. With her spool of thread, she could be sure of that much.

Alicia Hayden

The duo had gone on their way for the train station that they had been at so recently, but they did not make it very far before their found their progress interrupted yet again. It was not by the authorities, since the magical girls of Beacon were adept enough that the fire could be handled before the fire department actually arrived. In the meanwhile Alicia was busy thinking over what had just happened, and what they would have to do before they could go fight Justine. It was going to be a busy day for them.

She was about to cross the street with Suwako at her side when a red Ferrari screeched to a stop in front of them. Unusual to say the least, it was made no less so by the grinning man in the drivers seat. "Hey Alicia, long time no see!"

Alicia was frozen for mere moments, before hurrying up to the side of the car and grinning right back at him. "Ren, good to see you again. It feels like it's been ages!"

Rendall, if that was indeed his real name, was someone that she had met shortly after becoming a magical girl. He styled himself as an 'Observer', with access to a bewildering variety of equipment, official documentation, and other assorted items. From what he had told her he liked to go around, see important events, and lend a hand to people who caught his eye. She had been one of those people, luckily enough. He was a bit more silent on where exactly he came from, but she wasn't as worried about that. She liked to think that she owed him for help he'd given her in the past, but so far he hadn't demanded payment.

"That it has been," he confirmed with a nod of his sunglasses as he shifted in his seat to better look at them. "Do you and your friend need a lift?"

Alicia did not hesitate to open the door and slip into the passengers seat next to him. "Sure. We're headed back to a previous fight scene, one of Beacon's allies needs to talk to us there." She assumed he knew about the fight already, otherwise he wouldn't have been there to pick them up.

His eyebrow rose, and she could practically see the curious look in his eye from behind the sunglasses he wore. "Oh really? You're making friends, that's nice." That earned a sigh on her part, not that it was entirely unfounded. She could tolerate a few jokes at her expense though, so she didn't make a big issue of it. She was used to it by now.

"Yeah. I'll fill you in on the way," she confirmed. They would wait until Suwako got in before Ren hit the gas, peeling away with the short screech of rubber as they went on their way.

@Hammerman

@Flamelord
Suwako's eyebrows rose when they were suddenly stopped by a red Ferrari. Her mind quickly assumed it was an enemy, but fortunately, Alicia quickly cleared that up by calling him in a familiar manner. And when Alicia entered the car, Suwako did the same, trusting the judgement of her friend.

"So, I assume he's your friend or something?" she asked her once they were all seated.

“Well I’m not good for much outside of repairs for this, until the assault happens as I know basically no one in this town that isn’t here already.” Penny added as she stepped closer to Anya and Mariette “I can offer a place to hide this from the public while we work on it though. Lost’s of abandoned warehouses’ near where I have my lair set up” she explained as she glanced over the work force they had at their disposal. She wagered it would still take a few days till the ship was up and running again even with them working around the clock, which was Penny’s plan at the moment.

It was around then Penny picked up on the red sports car that was closing in on them, and while she didn’t recognize the driver she did recognize Alicia sitting in the passenger seat. ”Let me know when you two are ready to get this ship out of here, I’m going to catch Alicia up on what just happened” with that explanation given she started heading towards the approaching Ferrari waving as she did.

@PlatinumSkink@Majoras End@Flamelord@Hammerman

By now, Alexander was starting to feel really good about their chances. While before he had felt like a man marching to his death for reasons he didn't fully understand, that was no longer the case. Now, he actually had something he hadn't had in a long time; hope "Right. So now I need to get in contact with Sol. The problem is, he's so loud that I don't think it would be a good idea to do that here. I normally just contact him in the nearby forest. Do you think you could make me a portal there Mariette?" While he assumed that Sol would be okay with him blessing something that came from another patron (since that's just the kind of guy he was), he didn't want to risk it.

Alicia Hayden

Ren was a fearless driver, that much could be said about him. He pushed his car to its limits in ways that the cops likely wouldn't approve of, with tight corners, high speeds, and he fully enjoyed himself the entire time while doing it. So did Alicia, though she was worried more than once while they returned to their initial starting point.

"Yeah," Alicia confirmed with a nod of her head as she shifted to look back at Suwako. "We met a couple weeks after I joined Beacon, right after the Hansworth Fire Incident. We hit it off and have been friends since then."

Ren chimed in as he casually worked the steering wheel through the next bit of street. "What can I say, I like excitement. And you magical girls definitely know how to provide that in spades. There's always something fun going on." Alicia resisted the urge to sigh in response to that, especially because she knew that it was true as well.

The train station soon came into sight, along with the distant figure of Penny drawing closer. "So he's lent a hand now and then since we met, cash, transport, when he's not off doing other things. Ren is a surprisingly busy guy," Alicia explained as Ren pulled to a stop near the approaching Penny. Back to business, it seemed.

@Hammerman@Shifter_Master

‘… Hm.’ Mariette sounded out as Penny voiced that they may want to move, looking over at the ship. Yeah, this is right where Justine’s attack left it, they’d know exactly where they are. ‘I can move it. Tell me where,’ she told, staring at the ship. Then, Alexander made his request.

Mariette gave him a slow look, then focused her power. It took longer to open the portal due to longer distance, but soon enough she had connected a portal to fairly far away and a man-sized portal opened in front of him, leading to the forest he had requested.

‘I can leave the portal open for you, just decreased in size, so you can come back and tell when it’s time to return,’ Mariette told him. ‘Or you could simply give me an amount of time after which I should retrieve you.’ … It was a problem that she didn’t necessarily know when to get people. Which is why she wanted that phone she had requested of Alicia. Idly she checked with Absolute Direction…

… Huh. She was coming towards them, at breakneck speed, making tight corners, and- what the-

Having not connected she was in a fast-moving car, Mariette initially thought Alicia was flying fast at low altitude and making the weirdest turns. But then, the car came into view, and it seemed the answer was a little simpler. Mariette dropped the frown, and simply stared in the direction, clutching her bunny. Alicia would know what Mariette wanted to know.

Meanwhile, Eli was approaching Sue, Anaya, anyone else close to there, leafing through her notebook.

‘Are we looking for people likely to help, or everyone?’ Eli asked. ‘Because then, we have quite a few written down…’ Eli then started explaining about numerous Magical Girls she knew off, perhaps noting those whom which could be used to recruit others in turn or those who by her calculations would be likely to want to help, and such. These could be swiftly reached simply using Mariette’s portals, and so on.

@BrokenPromise@Majoras End@Card Captor@Shifter_Master@Hammerman

Alexander nodded "Right, thanks. If you could just shrink the portal, that would be great, since I'm not sure how long this is going to take. With that said, he stepped through the portal to the forest on the other side, and said portal began to shrink. Now alone (or at least alone enough), he began the ritual to contact Sol "Oh he who-" and was interrupted almost immediately. Alexander felt himself surrounded by a overwhelming presence that was simultaneously, blinding, enraged, scorching and resolute. The shear weight of it caused him to fall to his knees. Despite there being no visible change to area he was in, the whole place felt completely different

Do It

It wasn't a voice, or even words, but Alexander felt something there. Something that told him that he had the all clear to bless the ship. Still shaken, he wordlessly got back to his feet and walked to the portal "hey, um...I'm done. It went faster than I expected" When the portal was enlarged, he stepped back through it and spoke again "I...just got the go ahead from the big man. So...yeah, I'm going to go do the thing"As he made his way to the ship, he couldn't help but think 'Was that what a religious experience was supposed to feel like?'

”Welcome to the mad house” Penny called out as she approached the parked car, admiring it as she did. ”The short version of what you missed is that Laat has effectively declared war on Justine, we are going to fix the ship, possibly turn it in to a tank, and recruit a few dozen more people to this assault, slash, rescue mission.”

She paused after saying that before shaking her head at the absurdity of what had she had just said. ”Mariette is here” Penny added gesturing to the bunny holding girl “Mentioned that she knew you, she is planning on helping us get that” She pointed at the wreck and all the supplies “Somewhere much less obvious. Any questions?”

@Flamelord@Hammerman

---

@Flamelord@Shifter_Master@PlatinumSkink
Suwako was quite uncomfortable with the speed Ren was driving, but she tried her best not to show it.

"I see," she replied to Alicia. When Ren chimed it, she chimed in afterward as well. "Well, I just hope you won't get caught in the crossfire one day."

The train station soon came into view. She immediately recognized Penny as they approached her position. But she also noticed the unfamiliar girl standing beside her. Was this their new ally?

Penny immediately greeted them after they left their car (with Ren immediately leaving afterwards, something about him being busy according to Alicia). Penny then shortly briefed them of the situation. So a lot of people from other factions would join them in this battle. She just hoped none of them intended to betray them in the middle of the fight.

"And who is this, if I may ask?" Suwako asked, throwing a glance at the bunny holding girl.

Alicia Hayden

Ren excused himself once they exited, flashing Suwako a wink in response to the concern she held about him being in the crossfire, before tossing Alicia a package from the glove compartment. She was used to such gifts, and was confident that whatever it was would be put to good use.

"I see," she replied once the explanation was finished. She was slightly annoyed by how much was happening without their inclusion, but since they had been busy with the attack there wasn't much that could be done about it. That would be something they needed to address later on though. She was tired of everyone knowing more than her group did, when the Beckoners were the ones who were being targeted the most by this conspiracy. Though whether she succeeded in getting that through to everyone else in on this was another matter entirely. "Well that's good to hear."

Glancing over to Mariette, she nodded before turning her attention to her companion. "That's Mariette, a former ally of Justine who decided to switch sides to save her own skin. She's the one I wanted to talk to the Beckoners about, so she'll be helping us take out Justine before things get any worse around here." That was all she felt comfortable mentioning, at least for the moment.

She wasn't sure if Mariette wanted to talk about their deal now, but she would nod to confirm that the deal had been accepted before asking one other pertinent question that presented itself to her. "So who else have you recruited into this escapade?"

@PlatinumSkink@Hammerman@Shifter_Master