The area was populated with quite a few magical girls now. It did seem like the assault was going to happen, and a lot sooner than Sue suspected. Though it was plain to see that not everyone was on board with working together. Amber and Mariette definitely had some things to talk out, and it wasn't something that should happen in a public setting like this. But it did need to be addressed. Amber's, um, ship, and Mariette's portals were very important in all of this, and they needed to cooperate as best as possible.

When Eli approached them, Sue's attention returned to what she could do at the moment. “Um, well.” Sue walked up beside the harpy girl and looked at her notes with her. “I don't know how much time we have, but I think we should at least start with people who might be willing to help.” She shuttered. “If we try to get too many people, Justine could easily slip into our ranks and ruin everything.”

@PlatinumSkink

So, Alexander was back quicker than expected. Very well then. Mariette handled those portals as needed to ensure he came back.

Alicia would probably note that Mariette’s clothing had been considerably damaged since last time they saw one another, which wasn’t that long ago. Multiple parts of it was ripped due to debris that had fallen onto her, parts of her arms were somewhat bruised, and the remnants of dirt and dust were over her dark clothes. Something had clearly happened to her in that short span of time.

Mariette had a mental sigh on Alicia’s method of introducing her.

‘I feel I need to reaffirm. Justine and I were never on the same side. Our goals would never align, our cooperation was one of mutual benefit that would inevitably lead to conflict. If you’d like proof of that, I believe Alexander could serve. I gave him and Lily a warning of the impending threat as soon as she contacted me, with intention of preparing for things to come.’ … Now, whatever they did with said warning was a bit beyond her, but she had given it.

‘I haven’t recruited anyone, I simply joined this group that were already intending on going on this quest. However, that said, there are plans for going on a recruitment spree, using my portals and Eli’s notes to recruit as many as possible for this attack…’ Mariette said, looking over towards Eli, Sue, Anaya and Scout.

‘Okay. Prioritizing hero mentalities, those who can’t say no and those who’d love a big fight, then,’ Eli confirmed, nodding to Sue’s words as she leafed through her notes too fast for Sue to actually properly read. Each individual had crosses or check marks, however. She put small “v”s on numerous individuals, those Eli herself thought were good options to attempt to recruit. … So none of those she marked with “v”s were such with check marks. _{since you can’t recruit those who were kidnapped}

‘Alright, who’s heading out? I can be here to suggest targets, Mariette can send us to them, but then it’ll be up to you to convince them of our cause and send them back here, where someone should be welcoming them and briefing them…’ So Eli commented, looking to those present.

Meanwhile, Mariette turned towards Alicia. ‘I have need of that phone, so I can communicate with those who wants portals. Did you get one?’

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

---

Makoto's ears flattened against her head as she slowly walked towards the train station. That magical giant was far too loud for her sensitive hearing and was only getting worse. I wonder how anyone intends to cover this up... What was that giant even talking about? In her experience, Makoto found that gods could be just as confusing as the rest of the igniting entities. Tools, supplies, knowledge? What did those have to do with a large fight? The alterations she felt were too high-tuned, too liberal in manner yet too conservative in output. It didn't fit with the earlier magic, rather it was more refined and less controlled than the first wave. Was it the same person? Was the giant on the side of the time magi or against them? Was there even a connection between the two ripples she felt?
Makoto paused. Destruction of the 'Viscerals?' That didn't make any sense. The sentence fell apart every way she tried to view it from unless... unless it was a name. 'Visceral.' Had she heard that name before? Or was she simply making up the memory from use of the word itself?
Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Makoto felt ripples of time magic again, this time from another direction. It seemed a lot like the second ripple she'd felt earlier but something about it was different... Well, it wasn't really any of her business what other time magi did, so long as they didn't interfere with her job. It was already obvious that none of these pulses were from Fate's magi, so they could be left alone. As she finished that thought Makoto realized that she had already arrived at the location of the battles.
She quickly hid herself and ran behind the building she'd just passed. Alright, here we go... She lessened her weight with her magic and shouted, "The time has come!" She jumped over the building in a single jump, spinning horizontally through the air as she did for extra style point. "And so have I!" she finished, striking a heroic pose.

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

Alicia Hayden

Though she heard the explanation, Alicia didn't pay much attention to the excuses that Mariette tried to make to excuse her behavior in this whole affair. One could argue about intentions, but as far as she was concerned the duo had been on the same side, at least until they had tried to backstab each other. Otherwise there would have been little reason to cooperate.

Be that as it mat, she didn't feel like arguing the point right now. Instead she grunted aloud, hefting the package that she now held and quickly opening the top crease. Peering inside, she nodded to herself before tossing the wrapped up phone to Mariette. "Here," she said aloud as she relaxed. "One phone." It was a good thing that Ren had come through for her.

That done, she turned to the others. "Beacon is prepared to send a force to assist us, once we locate Justine's castle and a viable method of attack." She hoped, anyway. Not that she would make it seem like it was an outcome in doubt. They didn't need to think worse of Beacon than they did already. She was sure that their organization would come through

@PlatinumSkink@Hammerman@Shifter_Master

Mariette was momentarily distracted by the sudden appearance of the squirrel-girl. Though, after her appearance, Mariette was also pretty quick to look away from her, with the assumption that she would be introduced to the matter by the others. Herself, she was in the midst of a conversation with Alicia, after all.

Mariette gripped the phone, slightly annoyed at being forced to catch it out of the air and then extract it from the wrapped-up state while also making sure not to drop her bunny, but when she finally had it in hand her lips pulled the slightest as she started pressing on it, exploring the options. Then, Alicia turned and told the rest that Beacon was going to send a force. Mariette gained a real, actual smile.

‘Wonderful. Then, assuming someone can take the role of briefing new arrivals on the details of the situation,’ -she said gesturing towards the squirrel-girl with the phone-holding hand- ‘and that Eli’s finishing up the options for recruits…’ -she proceeded to gesture at her own underling.

She was honestly actually somewhat excited by this joint venture. Could they actually amass a force that would be able to contend with Justine von Visceral? She longed to see it.

‘Shall we get started?’

Feeling pretty good about herself, Mariette now glanced on the phone she held in her hand, her other hand still clutching a stuffed bunny.

‘… How do I find my number?’ she asked.

@BrokenPromise@Majoras End@Card Captor@Shifter_Master@Hammerman@DarkwolfX37

Sue nodded along to everything Eli said. “Alright, I know I'm going. So we just need to look at this list a little closer and decide exactly who's going to do what.” Sue the started to lower her voice. “Could you come with me for a moment?” Eli hadn't even answered before Sue started to walk away from the other magical girls. “So um.” Sue stopped walking when she was sure they were out of earshot. “What are your feelings on Amber? We could be working together very soon.”

Eli was a bit surprised at being requested to come, but Sue had already started walking so Eli had to hurry after, wondering what the matter was. ‘Oh, Amber. Uh…’ Eli took a moment, looking a bit pained, before she started.
‘… Deni thought you two were fun. That’s… that’s the extent of my experience. Right now, Amber is a powerful Magical Girl with a reason to be cross with us. Mariette’s…’ Eli looked to her mistress briefly, standing over there talking to Alicia and others. ‘… trying not to annoy her. This by intentionally avoiding confrontation. That’s her way of trying to avoid problems. By never meeting them until she has to…’

Sue dropped her shoulders with a sigh, but quickly regained her composure. “This plan hinges on both of them, so we do need them to at least cooperate with each other. Though perhaps doing that in public wouldn't be very good.” Sue bit her thumb nail while looking at the two mentioned magical girls. “I'll try to talk to Amber later. If you could convince Mariette to talk with her, I think that would be really helpful.”

Eli looked at Sue, listening to her words before nodding. ‘Alright,’ she simply said. ‘I’ll see if I can bring it up with her.’

Sue was about to walk off when she stopped to face Eli. She didn’t look at her though, her eyes were looking towards the ground. “Deni seemed like a nice person. It’s a shame I didn’t get to know her better.” She flicked her eyes up onto the harpy. “M-maybe we could become friends. Later, if this all works out.” Sue joined the others. “I’m ready when everyone else is. I think if we just go down the list, that would be the easiest to keep track of. I’m not sure it matters who talks to them once they’re here, so long as it’s someone who knows what’s going on.”

Eli didn’t reply to Sue’s words, expression only twitching a bit. She then remained for a bit, before treading after to rejoin. She had the notebook ready, and was ready to give immediate suggestions about whom to attempt recruiting.

For the first time in the history of Penrose, a record number of Mahou of diverse Patrons and beliefs have come together for a single purpose and objective. It was the kind of unity Victoria Reales fought for, and was killed by Justine for trying to achieve. But in doing so, has only created a far more powerful bond between the brave magical girls and boys. Granted, it was no official bond, merely a rag-tag bunch consisting from kidnappers to cyborgs among stranger things. But they knew they had to stop Justine von Visceral; they would fight to protect their world.

The symbol of this unlikely alliance was Shining Scale's Sky Bastion. Unfortunately, it had been damaged, grounded by saboteurs. Even worse, the commotion had drawn a crowd of civilians, confused and seeking answers. Helga approached the crowd. "We're filming for a new movie! Don't disturb the set!" She lied, and shooed away the people. She knew it wouldn't cause them to leave, but at least they had a cover for what they were doing. Penny and Anaya set to work in repairing and modifying the pirate ship; together with Penny's supplies and Anaya's force of spirits toiling away on the ship, it slowly transformed, morphed into a marvel of military engineering by Laat'AlOfan's vast knowledge of destruction passingly imparted to the builders.

Meanwhile, Sue and Eli, using Mariette's portals, traversed the city, looking for magical girls they could recruit to their cause.
As was expected, only a few were left in the city; the others had run away due to the confirmed rumors of kidnappings, deadly monsters and a very high number of violent magical girls causing havoc. The rest were unwilling, too afraid to risk their lives on a goose hunt to the infamous Overcity.
There was one Puchuu girl who refused, claiming she was the last one out of a group that decided not to risk it and left, and promptly fled the scene. Another one also refused, rather staying to pray to her Patron, which was apparently a Horror, to grant her eyes on the inside.
But the third girl, who called herself Libby Bibby, turned out to be willing to join. "Okie-dokie Smoky Loki! I'll bwok e'm and wok em and srap e'm and fwap e'm and..." The two weren't sure if she had some kind of disorder, but she at least showed she was capable of fighting when she summoned a big hammer and caused colorful balls to appear, causing a wall to be destroyed on impact as she continued rambling. "...And pop e'm and blop e'm and flick e'm and nick e'm and..."

When the work on Sky Bastion was finally done, it had turned into a mighty dreadnought, with metal plating, treads at the bottom, and weapons such as cannons mounted at the sides. Though unable to fly, it could carry an expedition into the most dangerous, inhospitable lands or seas. The Sky Bastion had also been given numerous Blessings of Fortitude by Alexander Shields' meticulous prayers to Sol Invictus, the Cleansing Sun. Now, it was a mobile shrine of justice and righteousness, nigh indestructible to mundane or magical forces while also granting sanctuary and respite to those who take shelter in it, healing away minor wounds. It now also shone like a lantern, and banished darkness away from the front like the fog lights of a modern ship, granting visibility in the harshest of storms. With two Deities backing the single vessel, it was akin to Noah's Ark, a joining between the mortal and divine to fulfill a holy quest. However, the Mahou did not have much time to celebrate, as police cars and fire trucks arrived on scene, and police officers shouted at them while pointing with their pistols. "Drop your weapons! Hands in the air!"

Amber was sitting in the bridge of the “ship”. A few days ago this would be several miles above the earth, with the wind blowing through her hair as clouds and birds passed her by. But that was before Sky bastion's destruction, and Earth bastion's creation. Now the little pirate was surrounded by steel. Spell proof glass made up the windows, a reinforced steel roof, and her steering wheel was accompanied by an assortment of peddles, levers, and switches. Amber didn't like most of it, but at least she didn't have to stand up. The driver's seat was VERY comfy. Even Sue could attest to that, who was now perched on top of the seat.

There wasn't a lot for Amber or Sue to do involving the construction of the Earth Bastion. Sue was busy trying to recruit magical girls, and Amber's height and vitality made her a less than ideal worker, even if she was plenty strong. So she helped construct the bridge so that she could at least understand how to run the thing. After that, Amber and Sue slept. What they awoke to was less than pleasant.

Fire trucks, police cars, and... orders.

“A-Amber!” Sue flew around the pirate's head. “The police found us!”

The pirate cleaned out her eyes and ajusted her hat before punching a button on the expansive console before her. A monitor flicked on and showed Amber everything that was going on outside. “Well blow me down!”

“What are we going to do?”

The pirate looked at the screen for no less than five full seconds before stretching out her little legs. “So, do you think you can relay a message to Mariette for me?”

Sue sighed. “You had to put off talking things out until today huh?”

“Oh sue?” Amber's brow was twitching, but she kept her smile up. “I'm feeling like poultry tonight.”

“Eeeep!” Sue cowered behind the head rest.

“Anyway.” the pirate rolled her head on her shoulders to make her neck pop a few times. “Just get her to open up a portal big enough for the ship, I'll take care of setting up a distraction.”

“Oh dear!” Sue immediately flew out of the Earth Bastion, not wasting a single second.

“Alright, let's see.” Amber flipped a few switches. She didn't know exactly what they did, this was just her way of playing around and learning how things worked. “Opposition is a bunch of fairly normal, fairly unmagical police officers, and I'm in one of the sturdiest contraptions to ever grace this plane of existence.” Amber flexed her fingers and let them rest on the steering wheel. “I think we'll be okay if I learn how to control this thing.”

The first thing Amber did was stomp on one of the peddles, which did nothing since it was just the clutch. The pirate discovered this relatively quickly and was able to shift into first gear. With the correct gear selected, Amber took hold of two completely different levers and pulled them backwards. In a flying ship, this might have made it climb. But the grounded Earth bastion started to roll backwards as fast as it's gears would let it. “Gah!” The pirate was able to lean forward on the levers, just in time to stop the giant tank-boat from rolling over a fire truck. But then it was rolling forwards towards a police care. “Whoa!” Amber pulled back on just one of the sticks, and Earth bastion's treads spun in different directions, causing the massive tank-boat to spin in place. Even if Mariette could get a portal open, it remained to be seen if Amber could drive through it. All Sue could hope was that the police and Amber's novice tank driving skills wouldn't pose a problem for anyone on the street.



Tonya had a huge grin on her face, enjoying the dream she was presently experiencing. But the ship's sudden movement caused the girl to slide into a wall. While sleeping under an exhaust pipe did ensure no one would discover her, she had not accounted for the fact that she was unable to wake up at a reasonable time. Tonya had also, maybe forgotten to look far enough ahead to see how smooth their escape would be.

She grabbed a hold of something and stared into the spool. Once this was over with, she had to prepare for a gorelion ambush.

"Well fuck" Alexander complained "the police found us. Although now that I think about it, we really should have seen this coming. I mean, first there was the fight by the train station, and then there was us prepping for war. Actually, it's more surprising that it took them this long to respond." he looked around really quickly "I really hope someone her knows how to defuse this mess, because I sure as hell don't." It was about that time when the Bastion started moving backwards "Alright! We're on our way." Although Alexander's good mood was quickly ended when the ship started spinning in place "...she doesn't know how to drive this thing" he realized with growing dread "AMBER, IF YOU GET US KILLED BEFORE WE EVEN GET THERE, THEN I SWEAR I'LL FIND A WAY TO HAUNT YOU IN THE AFTERLIFE!"

So, recruitment turned out to be infuriating. Mariette had directed them from place to place, targeting those Magical Girls that were more likely to join… but they turned out to be cowards, the lot of them. Even when explained what kind of a threat Justine von Visceral was, and that this was perhaps their best shot at matching them, the cowardly Magical Girls desperately fled to protect their immortal existences. Hypocrites. Mariette was reminded of why she had worked alone and perhaps the hopes of Victoria Reales were impossible from the get-go, even without Justine’s interference.

Despite that, looked like they got a pretty good craft on their side. Mariette nodded, minutely proud of their groups accomplishment where she stood on the brow. Now all they had to was-

“Drop your weapons! Hands in the air!”

… Mariette gave the pitiful mortals the most heartbreakingly condescending glance she could possibly muster. Really, she didn’t have the time nor care to deal with the likes of them.

Eli, who had just returned from briefing Libby Bibby on the situation (or as much as the girl might possibly understand) looked towards the police-officers curiously, and then half-raised her fluid harpy-wings.

‘And, um, what if I don’t have hands? What do I do, then?’ She asked the police, half-amused.

‘This is beneath me,’ Mariette declared. A portal opened next to her, leading into the ship’s hull. ‘You all deal with them. I will open a portal for the ship to-’

Mid-step, the ship lurched, and Mariette found herself thrown rather than stepping into the portal. Inside the ship, it was only because of tentacles bracing her that she didn’t hit her head hard into a wall. Then the ship spun, and more tentacles were needed to brace her impacting another wall. Mariette grunted in the pain from the G-forces, being barely more sturdy than an average human.

‘Oh, you’re serious…’ For a moment, Mariette had assumed it was a cosmic joke of some kind. Amber? Is this revenge? Are you getting back at me? Did you choose now of all times to make life as difficult for me as possible?

Irritated, Mariette summoned Asengav’s mirror through a portal from an adjacent building. She needed to hold a small ritual to open a portal that big.

‘Tsk.’ She poured more magic from her mana-font in, placing the mirror against the wall. The horror-agent had to let go of her stuffed bunny and let a tentacle keep it safe while she used both her hands for this. She drew the horror’s markings around the mirror with her own tentacles, while at the same time bracing herself with a few more tentacles, holding herself in place as she gathered the considerable magical power to open such a portal.

Question right now was, where would she open it and where would it go?

Opened a portal directly to Amber, small one for talking.

‘I’m going to open a portal. I trust you to be able to control this contraption well enough that I don’t need to guess where I should open it?’ Mariette asked, a tone of irritation in her voice.

Meanwhile, Eli was-

‘W-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-waa-’ … Holding on for dear life onto the railing of the ship, making her body as sticky as she could, holding onto notebooks and pens and other things inside her fluid body as she did.

---

Shion could not believe her eyes when her phone played the spectacle her copy was watching. She'd just moments ago finished learning war-tank building by proxy, watching as several magical girls managed to turn a pirate ship into something straight out of a comic-book, and now not only had the police arrived for the first time in her career as a magi to the scene of an event, but the mechanical monster nearly ran them over. Reports from her stalking copy had fallen to monotonous as she waited for something interesting to film and Shion felt a moment of hesitation on whether or not to just send her to the door and knock. She decided against it as she jumped off the roof she had been settled on. In the quite recent past she'd finished her map of the city, integrated all but two of her copies, namely one from the train station and the one waiting bored at the hotel, and found herself in a local eatery that unbeknownst to had recently become a gathering place for several of her magical peers. Remaining in her transformed state for no particular reason other than to avoid having to do her incantation again when she wanted to travel quickly, she'd taken her seat and ordered a simple meal from the 'specials' section.

---

Makoto was upset. She'd gone through the trouble of using one of her patented Heroic Entrances™ and she was totally ignored! The whole point of Heroic Entrances™ was to make people notice that she'd arrived on the scene to bring justice and/or abject terror to those (un?)fortunate enough to be graced by her presence. Normally she'd get back at the group by messing up whatever they ignored her in favor of, but she didn't want to alert the other time magi she had felt earlier. She'd found herself sitting on one of the last remaining handrails across from the train station proper, wearing a rather adorable, if she did say so herself, pout, simply watching as the various girls and singular boy went about their business of metamorphosing a broken pile of wood and scrap into a vehicle that would make Mad Max cream himself. She'd just almost fallen asleep when local law enforcement appeared and the thing started moving like a fourteen year old trying to drive a crane. Not a demolition crane, mind you, but the bird, with an RC car glued to its back. She instinctively steadied herself with her tail as she began laughing, holding her gut and balancing on the rail in a way that nothing could logically emulate, a single vertebrae all that kept contact with the rail.
She supposed she could simply do away with the police herself with a flick of her tail, but she decided that watching the gathered magi try to talk and/or fight their way out would be more entertaining. She devoted a small section of her brainpower to watching for that portal girl's actions, however, not wanting to be left behind by such an amusing group, even if they were harsh critics. All the more reason to stay around and show them the way A True Heroine™ does things. Not to mention the feeling on the back of her neck that these people would lead her to a feast the likes of which she'd never had.

---

"Hmm, a traitor, huh?" Suwako said after hearing Alicia's explanation. "Well, let's just hope she won't betray us as well." Suwako then gave a gaze that told her "I really don't trust you so don't try anything stupid" to the girl. Mariette then explained how she was never really on Justine's side but Suwako didn't really buy that. It merely showed that Mariette was the kind of girl that prioritized herself over anything else.

They then tried to recruit some more magical girls to their side using Mariette's portals. However, most of them refused, not wanting to risk their lives to fight against Justine. Suwako didn't like their cowardice, but she could understand where they was coming from. Perhaps if she had been not one of the Beacon, she could've done the same.

"Drop your weapons! Hands in the air!"

"Oh great, the police's here. Should've known this huge ship would attract attention," Suwako said.

She did as they said, lifting her arms up in the air. It wasn't like she couldn't use her spells in such a position so even if the police decided to fire at them, which she seriously doubted they would, she could still defend herself just fine.
@Flamelord@PlatinumSkink

Alicia Hayden

"I guess we'll see," Alicia mused to herself as they got to work. Mariette could protest all she wanted, but this was only ever a deal of convenience as well. One way or another it would end badly.

Fixing the ship went surprisingly easy, though admittedly she didn't really have any comparative experience to judge that on. That was what it seemed like anyway, though the help of Deities did make it easier in that regard. With the time crunch that they had going on anything that was easy was good for her as far as she was concerned.

There was one factor that had not been included in their planning however, and that was the presence of the crowd and the cops. "This could have gone better," Alicia noted as she looked out at everyone who thought that this was some kind of movie shoot. It wasn't like it was her decision to park the thing and start fixing it here, so really she wasn't responsible for this particular outcome at the very least. beacon would have handled this a lot better, she was sure of it.

She sighed as the cops yelled at them, not overly worried. She was a magical girl, what were they going to do to her? Not that she had the time to yell back either as the ship suddenly lurched into motion, with a driver who acted like a they had never sat behind the wheel before. "Geez, where's Amber when you need her?" It couldn't be her driving since this was her ship after all.

For now she stumbled before grabbing onto a helpful railing and holding on while braced as best as she could be. Well, this was one way to start their expedition, she supposed. Hopefully the rest was a bit more promising

The police at the scene had bewildered faces as they huddled behind their cars, their guns still aimed at the strange vehicle and the armed girls on and around it; the magic normally protecting their presence among regular people made the police second-guess themselves, resulting in their delay. However, the sheer amount of physical evidence in the form of the Earth Bastion was enough for the enchantment to fail. "What the hell are these kids doing?" They could hear them speak in a low voice. "I don't see no camera crew." "I think Clancy mentioned about something strange happening recently. Maybe this is related." The unnatural response from the girls as they stared at the men was enough to cause them to become unnerved; they were clearly not prepared to handle something this weird. "Didn't you hear? Drop your weapons or we'll open fire!"

Libby Bibby nodded furiously, her head vibrating in comical effect as Eli explained their objective. "Roger Dodger!" She happily responded, and stuck her tongue out in a playful expression as she saluted with a lifted foot. She then followed Eli back to the ship, and gasped with hands on her cheeks at the sight of the police. "Stranger danger! Bad dads ain't rad to dab!" She then grinned as Eli spoke to the cops, giggling at her joke. "AAAHHH! MONSTER!" One of them cried, and shot at the slimy harpy. The bullet passed through her gelatinous body without leaving any injuries, but the shock of the impact caused noticeable pain due to her otherwise frail vitality; it was equal to being smacked with a nailboard to the chest in her human form.

Then Earth Bastion began suddenly moving, causing the police to jump. "They're trying to escape! We need backup!" One of them called on their walkie-talkie, and the police ran to the sides of the street, trying to circle the spinning vehicle. "Uh Oh Spaghettio!" Libby shouted as she also held on to the railing, flailing comically like a flag. Helga arrived at the bridge of the ship, and attempted to help the pirate girl. "Get ready, Amber! Mariette's gonna open a portal, and you need to drive through it!"

Amber was getting yelled at from just about everyone on the ship. Which, while not quite justified, was understandable. Sue was quick to fly back into the earth bastion. “Amber!” She didn't bother continuing, knowing the captain would just cut her off with an irritated “I know, I know!”

“What? What?”

“Do I need to say it?”

It actually didn't take Amber long to regain control of the giant tank. When she let go of the handles, they immediately went to a neutral position. And due to the nature of how the tank moved, it stopped very quickly. “Oh!” Amber said with a smile. “So there's a lever for each tread. I can get use to this!” She jumped up onto the seat and dug her shoes into the backrest. “And as for you...” Amber looked at the small portal hovering next to her head and started to blow up her cheeks.

“NO amber! That's gross!”

With a groan, the pirate deflated her cheeks. “Maybe instead of acting all high and mighty, you could just make one already!” The pirate girl leaned forward on both sticks. Since amber had reduced the number of gears, the tank was moving slower, but had much more climbing power and was easier to control. “Put one in front of me, let's not drag this out.” The pirate squinted her eyes. “and who's singing like that? Is it Libby Bibby?

---

Regina had her sniper staff focused on Alicia, her trigger finger twitching as she followed her target with her scope. They were hidden with magic. (They hoped, stealth hasn't been their strong point this far.)

“Well Reggie?” Elroy said through his shit eating grin. “Are you going to take the shot? I don't think it would be the most logical choice, but I think it would be an interesting one!”

The monster girl lowered her weapon. Mildly irritated. “There are too many of them. Everyone we fought last time and then some. There could be more hiding in with the crowd, but there are too many minds to get a good reading.“

“Ah. That's a shame.”

“That's not to say we won't have our revenge.” Regina snarled.

“Revenge?” Elroy chuckled. “I thought we were done with all of that.”

“We were only done because we weren't employed.” Regina turned to look at Elroy. “Now that we're backed, we have an opportunity.”

“Oh?” Elroy folded his arms. “And why don't I know about this opportunity then?”

“Because you don't pay attention, and I'm the brains in this outfit.”

“Fair point.” They looked back towards Earth bastion to see what it would do.



Ahh, so that was how it went down...

After their initial meeting with Veronica, Regina must have gone back to join the Mint. Knowing the outcome of that little plot line was a little sad, but this was what fate wanted in the end. It was unfortunate that the Mint would soon become a laughing stock upon itself, one that no one wanted to associate with. Not that Tonya cared for them, but they were competition for the only other game in town.

Well whatever. When were they going to leave? She was getting nauseous!

Last night...

It was late and everyone had gone home for the night after working on the repair job of The Sky Bastion, everyone that is but Penny. The mechanical girl hardly left the ship the past while, often times she would sleep in one of the holds if she needed rest but at all other times she was working on getting the ship ready for the upcoming assault.

The reasons why she would keep working were simple, her Patron had practically declared war and it was her job as his primary agent to see his will fulfilled, at least that is what she would say to those who asked. In truth Penny kept working so she didn’t get drowned in her own thoughts. Thoughts that revolved around Thalia, and Chloe and all the others that she had started growing attached too that inevitably left. The thoughts were still there, always lurking in the back of her mind, but she was able to force them to the side as she worked.

But Penny was not alone, as she would soon discover. Veronica stepped out of the shadows and into Penny's field of vision. “Seems things aren't going in your favor. Regardless, I'm here to carry out my part of our bargain.” She lifted her hand, and the shadow behind her started to bubble and spit. Seconds later, several long lengths of metal emerged from the shadow and landed on the ground with a clatter. Four beams, three foot long, six by six. Exactly what Penny had requested. “Here it is, the enchanted metal you requested. It was not easy finding someone who could pull it off. You were fortunate to get this so quickly.” Veronica moved her closed fist over the beams and opened it, letting a microchip and a piece of gilded metal. “And your military grade GPS, as well as your gold plated tungsten.” Veronica examined her surroundings. “A lot can change in twenty-four hours, wouldn't you say?”

Penny set down the metal plates she had been installing when she noticed that she was no longer alone. ”Honestly didn’t think I would see you this soon” She sighed out as she leaned up against the bulkhead she had been working on, her posture speaking plainly about her depression. She didn’t need to examine the offered items with anything more then a glance to tell they were what she had asked for, she could tell simply due to her magic.

”Thanks for the quick service, and rapid change in a short amount of time just seems to be my new normal” she replied as she pulled her bargained goods closer. She stored the chip and gilded tungsten in her hip compartment, the same one she stored her phone in previously, before picking up one of the metal beams and giving it a closer look. ”My entire life got replaced in a twenty four hour period after all so it’s not like I should be suprised ya know?” Penny had carefully started to form the metal in to a longer tapered rod as she spoke, her tone was joking but the effect was ruined by the tears that started to form in her eyes.

“I suppose that's what your patron represents, no?” The dark magical girl leaned her back against the ship and folded her arms. “Embracing constant, never ending change? I doubt you'll keep many friend with such a patron.” Veronica looked directly at Penny. “Would you like to hear a story about magical girls in love?”

”That’s Laat in a nutshell alright” Penny agreed with a bitter chuckle “Still doesn't make it any easier to get used to in addition to everything else” She sat down as she continued to work on the metal slowly forming it by hand to the desired shape. She could have just popped the beams in to the ports on her back and let her regeneration take care of it all, but forming them first would cut down on the time it took for them to be fully working as well as give her a good idea as to how they would look.

She glancing up at Veronica following the question and took a moment before responding “Sure, is it a tragedy or a comedy?” The cyborg had a feeling it would be the latter, but figured that she could learn something from it either way.

“All romance is fated to end in tragedy. Mine included.” The shadows started to twist about, turning into the silhouette of two young woman. They would act as actors for the story Veronica was about to tell. “I didn’t always work for Ebon mint. I was a Beacon girl once. I was tasked with taking down a monster girl who came into my sector.” One silhouette raised a weapon over its head, only for the more monstrous shadow to raise its hands to plead for its life. “Or course the monster girl didn't want to fight. She only came into my turf while trying to outrun an Ebon girl. Who was actually watching us, waiting for the perfect moment to end us both. But her arrogance was her undoing, as we united to defeat her.” The Ebon shadow was defeated, and the two remaining shadows looked at each other. “And so began a forbidden friendship between Beacon and Monster. Though it wouldn’t stay friendship for very long..” The shapes appeared to shake hands. “I was always a bit of a renegade, but even for me, having a monster girl as a friend made me uneasy. What if someone found out? What would happen to us? I suppose that bit of tension helped spur our relationship into one of love.” The two shadows locked hands and walked side by side. “I remember our most intimate moment well. I cast every warding enchantment I knew on us, and we walked hand in hand around my old school. She was so nervous, and I was too, even if I didn’t show it. Before the night was over, we shared our first and final kiss.” The shadows looked around awkwardly. Even with such simple shapes, it was easy to see their confusion. “The thought of losing her made me realise how much I really enjoyed her company. Our conversations, the gentle giggle she'd make when we met up. Despite my first impressions of her there was nothing about Kate I wanted to change. It was the world that needed to change, but I was too wise. I knew that would never happen..” The shadows faded away, leaving nothing. “It was just a matter of time before Beacon discovered our relationship, Or the mint killed her. So I broke off from Beacon, and Joined the mint. I took on the debt she owed them as my own, and have served Ebon mint ever since.” Veronica sighed and lowered her head. “But wait was too much for Kate. Even with all I was willing to do for her, she moved on.” Her hands balled into fists. “That monster forgot about me.”

Penny kept silent as she worked on her new limbs as she listened to Veronica’s story. There were a few times that she went to make a remark but held herself back. just because she was hurting didn’t give her the right to snip at the old wounds of someone who did in fact seem to understand the pain she was in.

”Sounds familiar” she said softly after a moment, as it wouldn’t take much to change that story in to the one that Penny was going through right now. ”and I can understand why Laat would have chosen you to talk too, a change to the world is right up his ally” Shaking her head she returned to the beam of metal she had been working. It now more closely resembled the leg of a giant spider. It was a couple times the length it had started, and no longer as thick, but was tipped with 4 splayed out points that looked like they could fold together to make a vicious looking point. The base had a large screw protruding from it that looked like it would be used to secure it in place.

“I can say that I hope I don’t meet Kate, as I would be entirely too tempted to put my fist through her heart. Because if I had meet you when you were still running on the streets like the rest of us are…” Penny trailed off to just breath for a moment, to push down the violent mix of emotions that were simmering just below the surface. After all she couldn’t let herself redline here, it would ruin all the work that everyone had but in to the repairs.

Veronica raised her eyebrows. “Oh? Now I feel embarrassed.” she looked away from the metallic magical girl.

It took a few moments before Penny felt that she could speak safely “If I meet someone like that, I would do anything and everything to not lose them.” swallowing thickly, she shook her head to clear it of the ‘What if’s’ and inserted her new limb in to its port. There was audible whirring as the port drew the screw deep into Penny’s back and she grit her teeth against the pain that caused. A moment later there was a loud metallic clang and the spider leg spasmed for a moment as her regeneration took care of the internal components and joins the leg would need.

“And like that, my appearance has lost a bit of humanity” she said with a sigh as she experimented moving it a bit before folding it up to let her regeneration finish working. In it’s folded state it looked simply like a line of dark grey plating going from the middle of her back, over her shoulder, and down her chest, with the point ending at her sternum. In a few hours the only proof of it being there would be a raised dark grey line as it would lay nearly flush with her outer layer when her regeneration was finished.

“One down three to go” Penny muttered to herself as she started to work on the next spider leg she got the feeling that she had asked for a bit more then she needed for this project. With an internal shrug she opted just just add some metal claws to her hands and use the last of it for another base port incase she ever decided she wanted a tail.

Veronica was fidgeting with her coller the entire time Penny was speaking. But she finally folded her arms again. “Penny, my story was a lie, as artificial as the word love itself.” Veronica kept her eyes trained on the metal magical girl. ” I did not expect you to take it that seriously.”

Penny paused in her work to meet veronica’s gaze ”The word my be artificial, but the emotion isn’t. If it was Laat wouldn’t be getting ready to summon It against the Visceral’s in case this assault fails” Penny turned back to her work as she continued ”I wouldn’t have agreed to your deal if it wasn’t. I understand exactly how it feels to be without emotion. So you can’t convince me that Love doesn’t exist, your story may be a lie, but I would still do everything in my power to hold onto the person you depicted in it if I ever found them. Because Love is worth it, and I would sacrifice everything for it.” Her voice was shaky with emotion as she spoke but the naked conviction she spoke with was plain as day.

“I take it you were trying to teach me something different with your story?” Penny asked after a moment to once again calm her emotions.

Veronica melded with the shadow behind her. ”Hmph.” Her voice seemed to come from every direction. ”Do not proceed to think you know me. You only reveal how little you actually know, Jason Oliver.” Penny could feel a pair of hands resting on her shoulders. She didn't have to look to know it was Veronica. ”The only point of my story was to show you how gullible you are. We've met twice, and you assumed I would share something that personal with you. You're too trusting. What you had with Thalia wasn't mutual, and could have killed you. If you were more cautious, you wouldn’t be heartbroken right now.” She took her hands off Penny's shoulders and walked in front of her. ”Now, I have brought you what you desired, and I have better things to do than spar words with you over something like the word love. If you didn't witness any interesting developments, I'll take my leave.”

At the mention of her old name Penny went absolutely still, and maintained that stillness until she could once again see Veronica at which point she continued working on her next limb. Her eyes were near complete pools of bloody red light as Penny stared at Veronica, yet they seemed emotionless beyond a flicker of shock and perhaps pain. “Justine has taken another girl, one of Beacon’s hideouts was been destroyed and Laat is preparing to wipe this town off the map.” Her voice was as flat as her eyes, lacking near all inflection and emotion as she spoke. “So feel free to take your leave Coinbroker, as anything else I am sure you know of already.” Penny did not blink or turn away after she was done speaking. She kept her eyes trained on Veronica, even as her hands worked on crafting another metal spider limb.
”Interesting.” Veronica wasn't phased by Penny's cold gaze. ”So Laat wants to destroy Penrose, do you know how or why he plans on doing this?”

”He is preparing to awaken The Beast, The sole monster he commands, for he is not willing to allow Justine’s plan to be completed, as it will bring about the end of change.” The red in her eyes shifted away from their bloody hue they were now a more vibrant crimson but retained their empty appearance “He has done so before, and will not hesitate to do so again.”

”I don't doubt it. Though in the future, you will be required to provide proof of your claims. It makes getting the attention of interested parties much easier.” Veronica examined Penny for a moment before going on. ”Now that you have what you asked for, I'm going to start expecting more from you. Though for the time being you can continue to gather information.” Veronica turned around, and her blond hair swayed like a cape. She was going to walk away, but something held her feet in place. It was not long before she turned around to face Penny again.”I feel I need to say that while I don't believe in love the same way you do, I do believe that connections are important.” She spread her arms and... smiled. ”There are relationships that are so pure and wholesome that the word love couldn't possibly be used to describe them.” She stepped backwards into the shadows and disappeared. ”Perhaps one day you will make such a connection.”

Penny returned her attention to her work as Veronica moved to leave, barely acknowledging the warning about requiring proof in the future with a slight nod. Her emotionless mask didn’t falter even in the face of the shadow users unexpected admission, she just kept working away, as if she were nothing more than a clockwork doll.

It would be several minutes afterwards, when Penny was sure that Veronica had truly left, that the red would start to fade from her eyes. Washed away by silent tears as the heartbroken girl sought some slight solace in the task of fashioning her new limbs, hoping all the while that tomorrow would be a better day.

Now...

The bates were not the only one's observing the chaos at the train station. One of the police officers had long, blond hair, and seemed relatively cool compared to her erratic companions. She casually walked behind a police car others were using for cover, and spoke into her wrist watch.

“Get ready.”

@FamishedPants

(before policemen arrived) Mariette ignored the rest of the words from Suwako and Alicia. She had a line on her tongue about how “as long as Justine’s a threat, it is my greatest interest to-”, but that would imply she’d turn on them the moment of their victory, so she didn’t.

Later. Eli was first looking a tad curiously at Libby Bibby, considering just how this girl could have developed this kind of personality, then Eli went and shot by a policeman.

‘Yow!’ Eli jumped back and crouched after the bullet plunged straight through her liquid body, wing going to hold over the place where she was hit. Yow, that actually hurt, somehow. ‘Police brutality! Police brutality! I didn’t even do anything!’ she called, though still joking. … Okay, so it wasn’t as funny without Deni around… It used to be the two of them joking back-and-forth… Eli sighed and waited for it to stop hurting.

Then she proceeded to hold on as the craft started moving, as detailed.

Meanwhile, Mariette holding onto a mirror with her tentacles trying to hold her in place while also drawing circular markings around the mirror. The very rapid stop was about to throw her off, but a few tentacles lashed out and hit portals right behind her which led to solid surfaces on the roof so they could brace her.

Mariette felt slight relief seeing that Amber apparently had an epiphany about how to control the place. … And then she quickly spun the portal that was connecting to Amber when the girl blew up her cheeks, because Mariette wasn’t curious enough to find out what she was doing to potentially risk getting soaked if the pirate was intending on sending water into her face. She settled for listening to Sue diffusing whatever that was, and then listening to Amber’s confirmation. Okay, then.

She had no confirmation of where to go, but the ship was done, sooo.

Without another word, Mariette poured in her magic into Asengav’s mirror, through her tentacles, drawing out the peculiar shape her tentacles was making to complete this minor ritual. As the mana surged through her tentacles into the mirror, it projected said magic through unseen space, greatly amplifying it and placing it in front of the ship. There, a portal now took shape.

The frame took shape like a dark serpent suddenly slithering out from nowhere on the right side of the ground. At a speed like a plane sweeping by it slithered through the air in a great arc to create a massive circle, large enough to drive through. Then, the contents of the circle became hazy, then complete darkness. Leaving it dark was intentional on Mariette’s part, borrowed power from Asengav’s mirror, since actually letting people (or things on the other side) see through such a massive portal into the other world could be… bad.

All the same, it meant a portal to the Overcity was open for them. The reflective witch had intentionally placed the other side a bit aways from where she had felt Justine, to ensure they shouldn’t necessarily be ambushed upon arrival to the best of her knowledge. Mariette was holding the portal steady by focusing power on the mirror and using tentacles on portals behind her to keep herself steady against it.

‘Go!’ she called to Amber. A portal of this size and to a separate plane of existence was just a tad more draining than a regular portal, meaning Mariette would rather not have to maintain it for long.

And then there was another detail. Mariette’s portals couldn’t go through her portals. They were etched in the magical energy she had charged into their current location, and her magic energy that were maintaining portals could not themselves pass through the portals. Meaning, these braces she had created to keep her from falling due to this craft’s acceleration? Yeah, those would vanish as they passed through. … Mariette affirmed to herself she’d have her tentacles deal with it somehow.

---

Suwako watched as the police was freaked out by the appearance of the slime harpy. Thankfully, the bullets just passed through her gelatinous body, or else she would've had to interfere. Even though she was not a part of Beacon, she was still her ally after all.

Thankfully, the ship soon moved, signalling that they were going to depart right away. They really wasn't going to be safe hanging around here for much longer, what with the police right in front of them.

She then saw Mariette creating her portal. A serpent? That's certainly not ominous at all, she thought to herself. She heard Mariette shouting for the ship to go immediately. Creating such a big portal must be draining on her strength.

Suwako readied herself, summoning her trusty bow with her. There was no telling what lied beyond the portal. She had to be ready for any sort of attack.

The police closed in on Earth Bastion, having blocked off all roads of escape with their cars. They were about to attempt boarding the ship when they were met with a terrifying sight: a black tendril burst from the ground and flew through the air, followed by a flash of iridescent colors as the portal was formed. The law enforcement was so taken aback by the unnatural phenomena that they retreated wherever there was cover, in alleyways and behind civilian cars. "What the hell is that!" One could be heard shouting, while another simply stared, frozen from fear. "Open fire!" A voice rang out, and the police began shooting at the Earth Bastion, incurring no damage to it's magically enhanced ironsides. With a mighty roar, the rolling ship charged through the portal, followed by a group of mysterious strangers that slipped through unnoticed, and finally closed.

First, there was the feeling of weightlessness and sight-obscuring light, as the ship plunged through the magical gateway, thrown to another plane of existence. It was followed by the sound of sparkling and wooshing, a sound of something hitting dirt hard and finally, silence. The blinding light gave way to a most unusual sight: the Earth Bastion now stood in the middle of a field dominated by an endless checkerboard pattern, and a sky with countless shooting stars, as if it was raining starlight. In the distance, one could see a forest, with clumps of trees growing from the chromatically arranged squares, as well as mountains with unnatural shapes, such as curls and flat-tops.



The landscape was dotted by the occasional ruin of a civilization from another time and place. The air felt lighter and more pure, lacking any kind of manmade pollution. However, it was also a dangerous place, as one could hear the guttural howl of something alien to their home dimension, and a dragon-like being could be seen flying high above. It was truly a world of magic, where greater beings took refuge in the beauty, but one where monsters also roamed as they pleased.



Mariette had placed the portal some distance away from where she last arrived there, but the general scenery was familiar enough for the Dark Magical Girl to recognize. However, she could see that the world had changed from her last visit: while there were still stars in the sky, she could no longer see galaxies. There was also a haze of darkness that covered the land, and black mist could be seen parting against a rock; even if it was the middle of the day, it resembled night. Most notably, there was a crescent moon in the horizon, in a color all too familiar to everyone on this perilous journey: blood red.



"Uaaaah!" Libby Bibby exclaimed in awe, and bounced off the Earth Bastion's deck to peer around at her surroundings. "Salaca doo la menthicka boo la bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!" She sang, spinning around in utter joy with her arms stretched to her sides, her red eyes staring brightly at the sky. Helga did not react as strongly, though she did raise an eyebrow at Libby. However, her attention was soon drawn by seeing the crescent blood moon. "Crap, Justine's already begun the ritual." As the crew adjusted to their new surroundings, Mariette noticed the blood moon to be in Justine's direction, while in the exact opposite direction was the place for which the entire plane derived it's name from: the Overcity itself. It is a massive, grand metropolis, with towers reaching the clouds and giant palaces peeking out form beyond a crystal wall surrounding it. It is a location every Patron knows, for it is a nexus for these magical beings to cross the multiverse, inhabited by magical girls and other beings of arcane inclination. "Justine said she had attempted to enter the city before in the past, but failed. Now I can see why," Helga commented, while Libby Bibby played hopscotch with the checkerboard ground, occasionally flashing a strange smile. As all this was going on, only Alexander would notice a distant lamp post of gothic design, upon which shone not a regular lamp, but a purple crystal the size of a volleyball.

---

Justine stood at a balcony, her hand resting on the railing. She intently stared at the moon, her lips curled into a smile.
"So beautiful...Yet, I can't help but feel sorrow, and pain. I wonder if it is the same for you, my sweet sister."
She created a magic circle on her palm, and peered through it. "Ever since you were broken by love, your heart consumed by madness, I never knew how you truly felt. All I wanted was to make you happy. Yet, my embrace only grieved you further, and my affection pushed you away. Only in suffering could you smile. But it is not the smile I remember, but one warped by cruelty and sin of man." She closed the circle by clutching her hand into a fist, and flapped her black wings. "But Father gave us a way, a chance to redeem this terrible existence. Father will set us free, Caroline. From your pain, and mine, and everyone."

The vampiric girl turned back, and entered through the open door back to the throne room. There, Sonia waited for him, as well as a woman with long red hair, crouched before the throne.
"Meddling children have arrived," Justine spoke coldly, and took the goblet of blood from Sonia's tray.
"Do you understand what this means?" Sonia asked, and the woman nodded.
"I understand. The Curie Corps will repel the intruders."
"Also...Once you see the mark, you are allowed to use it." Sonia gasped.
"My Lady, you can't mean...."
"Yes...The Final Solution." Justine's fangs showed as she said it in a grin.
"Really? Oh, thank you so much, Lady Justine!" And with that, the woman walked away, followed by Sonia, and Justine sat on her throne, with a little smile as she sipped on her goblet.

"I will let you play around with them for a bit. After all, I do love spoiling my sweet sister with a bit of pudding, hm hm~"

Somehow, against all odd, Amber had managed to drive them through the portal. Alexander let out a sigh of relief "Finally! It took way too long for us to get here! I was starting to worry that we'd just crash into something and get stuck, or that the police would board us and start causing trouble." He then surveyed the land "Still...this place doesn't look like I thought it would. I was just expecting it would look the same as the city, but with inverted colors...or something. It actually looks kind of nice...too bad we might have to wreck the place to stop that crazy bitch" Alexander shook his head, clearing the murderous thought from his mind "I just hope we're not too late..." It was about then that he noticed something strange in the distance "Wait...what's up with the weird looking lamp?That's a really weird color coming from it. Something tells me that isn't a light-bulb in it. Does anyone else see that weird looking lamp? Something fishy about it."