7:30PM outside of Police Bar & Driving
Direct Interactions - @AtomicNut

It had been a long day managing McDonalds - it always was, and it was hard for Emily to remember a day where she'd been truthfully happy at her job. College students and high-schoolers came and went, and yet there she remained taking care of the endless complaints, requests, and rudeness from both sides of the counter. If she hadn't just got off, she'd probably have told the next customer that complained the food wasn't up to their standards to shove it up their ass - it was MickyDees for crying out loud, of course the food was garbage.

Just because the job was steady and paid just enough to get herself and her daughter by didn't mean she had to enjoy it. Now though? She was off, and after a quick stretch she hopped in the car with a relaxed sigh. Finally. She hopped in her well used car - a sweet sixteen present from her parents many years ago, and twisted the key in the ignition.

Emily prepared to drive home but paused just before she hit the gas - Lily had recently moved in, and her moving in meant giving her rides home from the bar. Her little sister got tipsy a bit quicker than she believed she did, and Emily didn't want her to get in trouble in some drunken stumble to her new home. And besides, Lily typically finished about the time she got off work.

The traffic was surprisingly light given the hour, and Emily glanced up in the rear view windshield to check on the traffic behind her. For just a moment her eyes widened before she forced herself to calm down. It wasn't like she could stop in car in the middle of the highway to deal with it. And besides, there were simply far too many people around even if she could. So she instead hit the gas, trying to arrive in her destination as soon as possible and hopefully gain a bit more time before they caught up.

A bit more driving, and Emily pulled in front of the tavern and scanned the crowd of leaving police officers for the shortest figure among them. There. The fast food manager tried to roll down the window to call out to her, but the damn thing jammed. A tired arm reached across the cabin, opening the passenger door as she shouted at the eternal twelve year old. "Lily!? Over here, you drunk." It was possible that in spite of herself a little bit of worry would translate through her voice - her little sister would probably notice, along with any prior members of Justice Heart who happened to be drinking that night.

If and when her little sister finally stumbled in, she'd find a guiding hand pulling her into the car quickly and the door being slammed before the mom hit the ignition one more time. "How was work Lily?" Emily tried to give a semblance of a normal conversation before giving up. "Don't turn around, but something is following me." The girl looked into the rear view mirror an amended her statement. "Somethings are following us."

If Lily bothered to look around despite being told not to, she's see the dimly lit large outline of a well armored-figure moving in the shadows of buildings as they drove by. And from the direction of the bar, there was only the movement of a quickly moving thin fleshy serpent wrapping from around the bars outside and wiggling into the Stormdrain at a surprising speed. Emily worried a bit more. Firstly, monsters weren't supposed to come after them. And secondly, these seemed to be the exact sort of monsters they'd each individually be weakest against.

"Get Fiona on the phone, Lily. NOW."

Isana Seiger

Isana's and Alice's Apartment
7:30PM

---

ding

The elevator doors opened, a few people milling out onto the ground floor of the building and brushing past her. She stepped inside, quickly pressing the button for the 29th floor before anyone else had the audacity to intrude on the sanctity of an elevator ride. Having a rich...'friend' had its perks. Like being able to live in a cushy almost penthouse level suite. Compared to her admittedly average paycheck, it was a godsend. As long as she entertained Alice occasionally, she basically could get anything she wanted...without spending a dime of her own.

Heh.

She yawned, loosening the tie around her neck and undoing a few buttons on her clothes. Blegh, she hated these damn things. If she could just walk around in her underwear everywhere, that'd be ten times better. At least work had gone same as ever. Boring. Mundane. Mind numbingly so. She had to stay and work a bit overtime, too.

She hated it.

Sure, she could fix a computer and handle software fairly well, but it wasn't exactly enthralling work. More of something to just distract her from her usual apathy towards, well, life. A little fact she tried not to dwell on too much. Soon as she had saved up enough money, she was going to retire and spend the rest of her life doing whatever the fuck she wanted...well. If. If she could make enough money to do so. With her current job, the chances were...slim. Average pay, average benefits...she saved about a third of her paycheck, used the rest on necessities, and the other half at casinos.

She didn't believe in luck, but it was a...slightly better than average way of getting rich quick. Too bad today she just broke even.

Ding

The elevator finally stopped, reaching the 29th floor without much of an issue. Isana stepped out, walking down the hallway and fumbling with the keys in her pockets and finally reaching the door to her apartment. Hopefully Alice wouldn't be there to pester her...or do other things. Eugh, she needed some alone time. She pushed open the door, yawning as she stepped inside the luxuriously furnished apartment. One step away from Penthouse, and comfortable enough for her, Alice, and Alice's...ahem, friends to typically live in without too much trouble, as long as they didn't get too loud.

Isana walked right to her room, pulling off her red coat, tie, and tossing them carelessly onto the floor of her room, followed swiftly by her shoes...and her pants.

After removing all of her clothes except her shirt and undergarments, Isana went to the kitchen, finding the refrigerator had already been raided by a certain someone she wouldn't be doing anything with for the next few days. Ugh, she had eaten her leftovers! Leftovers were her bread and butter! Ah, and she was looking forward to eating it too. Day old pizza was the best. Isana grumbled, closing the refrigerator, walking over to the cabinets and pilfering through them. She didn't feel like cooking...and nothing seemed too appealing...actually, she hadn't had Chinese food in awhile.

Hmm.

Not long after, she was laying on her stomach on the couch, TV on some anime and game console in hand.

At least tomorrow was her day off, though that only bought mild concern. Her boss said he wanted to speak with her about something on her next work day. Something about some...special job or something. Wouldn't be the first time she freelanced to make a bit of extra cash in the IT field, but the way he said it was mildly concerning.

Oh well...she reached over the arm of the couch, grabbing a few potato chips. Maybe Alice would be home soon. Alleviate some of this boredom by telling her to go buy her some Chinese food.

Courtney Cartwright

Inside 'Police Bar'; 7:30 PM

---

♪"Shake it off, I shake it off!..." hollered out Courtney Cartwright, unaware of how her singing was to be received, with great enthusiasm as she had the song in her heart. One of the great things about this tavern or as it was colloquially known to a lot of locals 'The Police Bar' due to the influx of police and other law enforcement officials who made this location a go-to spot, was that it had a little stage for karaoke. This bar also had a range of specials they'd offer now and again, the booze was always pretty cheap and every Tuesday Night was 'Trivia Night.' To this very day Courtney and by extension all who teamed up with Courtney whenever Trivia Night came about lost. Every time.

Typically, Courtney would act as a designated driver for whichever friend or colleague she was with at the bar with. However tonight was different compared to others. For one, she hadn't been radioed in to go help cover a neighborhood or assist in anyway. Secondly it just so happened to be 'Girls Night' so booze was even cheaper today for lucky ladies such as herself. And lastly she won 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' and secured herself a night where she could be the drinker.

It was a good time. The frozen margaritas attested to that! And of course in a tipsy and more suggestible state she was persuaded by her peers to participate in karaoke. Well she still would've done some even sober; but with the liquid courage in her she was more into it.

And that was why Courtney Cartwright was out there gyrating her hips to the rhythm with a smile on her, somewhat flushed, face on the stage.

"I, I, I shake it off
I shake it off!
I, I, I shake it off
I shake it off!
I, I, I shake it off
I shake it off!" Cartwright finished with a hip thrust to the side and an even bigger smile on her face.

"Wooo!" declared Courtney as she eagerly bounced up and gave a wave towards the crowd. With a bit of the stumble from the landing, God her cheerleading days were a bit behind her weren't they, she exited the stage so the next person who signed up could go. And of course just as she was leaving and heading back to her table she noticed something peculiar.

Her police institution for investigation was kicking in as she noticed many patrons calling it in for an early night. There was only one reasonable explanation for this.

"H-hey!" Courtney cried out as she wove a bit at those leaving. "My singing wasn't that bad!"

"...W-was it?"

Leenan Agency & Studio
4:00 PM

---

"Geeeeeez, Keri. Come onnnnn. I already finished that project. Let's do an after party! Gather everyone, go to a bar somewhere, drink... Maybe some unmentionable things..." She muttered, poking her manager on the cheek. It was true that she had finished the voice over for the latest anime she was in, "Orange". An anime about step-sisters falling in love. Very niche but very in Alice's category of interest. "We could leave now and be done before... 6:00 or something. Plus, I don't think my roommate loves me the way I do." She fake cried to Keri. The manager was younger than her, but indefinitely more responsible... Most of the time. She couldn't really stand it when her charge was pouting like this.

"Fine." Keri muttered. "If you want to go so god damn badly, you get to pay for everyone." She knew it wouldn't stop her wanting to go, but it did keep the woman from spending Agency resources on meaningless things.

"Fine, fine. Be stingy with your money. I'll treat everyone well!" The voice actress said, leaving to invite a number of people to go party. It was a nice gesture after all to be invited by "Ai Yuzuha" herself. Well, if anyone payed attention to the story of "Orange" for more than a couple of episodes.

---

4:30

---

Soon enough, Keri had drove her charge to the same bar they always visited. It had decent security, so it was a top choice in Keri's book as it would be bad if someone harmed Alice for a multitude of reasons. Besides being one of the biggest VA's in LA... No, maybe the US and Canada... She was also the daughter of a rich family. In fact, her being a manager was just a ruse for Alice's parents to keep an eye on the daughter they neglected for many years.

After a bit of time, Alice was overjoyed to see many people she invited out for a drink arrive. A lot of supporting cast and some of the voices for other main characters of the show. She felt a great affinity towards the actress that played her character's step-sister come lover. Still, she had to play host. "Greetings, greetings all of you! I would like to give you all a well deserved "Job well done." You all worked hard and first two rounds on me! 'Kanpai!'" She yelled, with a resounding "Cheers" going around the room.

It didn't take long before she spotted her pray in the room. There were a lot of choices too, but she took note of one girl that seemed newer to the job and just did the voice for a couple of background extras. She quickly took a seat next to the girl and set her drink on the table. "Hi there. Your name was Monica, right?" The older voice actress asked, almost spooking the younger girl.

"Oh! You're Alice Augustine, aren't you?" She asked, looking shocked that such a person would single her out to talk to in this crowd. "What are you doing here Miss A--"

Alice put a finger to the girl's lips making small noises for her to shush. "Please, just call me Alice. We're all friends here aren't we." After the girl seem to get it, her finger was removed and she grabbed a hold of her glass of Pinot Noir. Not that she especially liked the stuff, but she was one to just have the bartender pick something at random. "Sorry if I seem a bit forward. I just like trying to catch the new talent early. You have a nice voice Monica."

Monica was slightly shocked by this. She didn't expect that an older and more experience voice actress would compliment her like this... "I, uhh, that is... Thank you...." She trailed off.

"But you know, you could be quite a bit better. What if I told you a way to really test out your voice, stretch it out a bit, make it work for you rather than with. I can just about guarantee that you'll be shaking with excitement." Alice said, encroaching ever closer on her younger coworker... That is, until she felt a smack on the back of her head. "Owie!"

Monica looked a bit spooked and grabbed whatever she was drinking and stood up, looking behind Alice. "Miss Barrow! I... Alice here was just about to tell me a way I can practice my voice a bit more." What the girl looked at now was the face of a demon. Or something of the sort. As manager and practically a guard, it was her job to keep Alice from being harmed, and causing it as well. "I'll just, take my leave." She said, finding somewhere else to sit soon.

Keri looked to an almost shaking Alice. "What have I said about hunting your coworkers?"

"Don't do it in public?"

"Don't do it at all."

"R-ri-right."

---

6:00

---

The next hour was spent with Alice drinking her troubles away. She tried not to focus on girls for the rest of the night, though more than a few waved to her and it felt like she was missing something great. Eventually, she had to hop back in the car with Keri. Well, Keri was the driver, so she started to drive the toward the home she shared with her great friend Isana. But there was something first... "Hey... Keri. Pull into that alley." Alice just a little more than ordered. Keri did so, though almost begrudgingly. "Come join me back here. I was so close to making a new 'friend' and you stopped me just as I was about to get going."

Keri just sighed and a rolled her eyes, though she complied. "Yes, yes. Let's get this over with." She exited the driver's seat and entered the backsets with Alice only to just be pulled into a hug and a kiss... Things just escalated from there...

...A bit later the two were hot and sweaty, but dressed and just about back to Alice's place. "Thanks for the bit of your time." Alice said with a drunken smile on her face.

Keri sighed again, not giving a real answer. "Whatever you say."

As the two drove down the road, a store caught Alice's eyes. "Oh! Stop there! Get me the usual from there!" She said. Keri nodded and pulled over for the place...

---

7:30 PM
Alice and Isana's Apartment

---

Alice got back home still somewhat tipsy. She had a bag in her hand as she opened the front door to her apartment rather loudly... "Isana! My lovely, beautiful, sexy roommate. Your favorite roommate has returned. I desire a spot on your lap!" She said, making her way into the living room and seeing Isana laying stomach down on the couch. Well, there was no lap available. She set the bag on the coffee table and got down to her roommate's level and planting a kiss on her lips somehow or another. "Hiyo! I hope you're hungry. You like Chinese right? I bought you some! You can have it if I can sit on your lap. Or lay on it."

7:15 p.m.

Another day, another dime. Carrie groaned as she punched out, her feet in agony and her nose even worse. Why can't they at least wait until the late night to get pass out in your own vomit drunk? The former superhero shook her head and began the walk home.

7:30 p.m. Carrie struggled into her parents' house, soaking wet. A downpour had opened up halfway home, leaving her soaked and adding to her misery. She idly tossed her jacket on the coffee table, then flipped on the TV. Let's see what's on the old idiot box tonight.

7:30 Pm

Well, everything was spinning again, who would've guessed. Given her body there wasn't much alcohol she could handle, but that was just fine. Her drinking binges were fairly cheap. Another day passing by inbetween the smell of chemicals and the sights of body parts, with people making demands and asking for results. And patting her in the head while at it. Oh how she hated that. But at least the police was still a big family, and they did allow her some room to drink herself to stupor. Her life was not one of celebration and the rewards were few, but she could always hide in the hole.

At least the barman didn't ask for an ID repeated times only to deny her drinks.

On the other side Courtney sang. And she kept singing. Why did she keep singing. Well, it was a given. An ex- Justice Heart like her would have no sense of self-shame when roused. At least it was just the songs she was murdering with her off-key voice. Much to the sanity of people, she at least wasn't wearing her magical girl suit. Urgh. She felt somewhat glad that she had been spared of the voice change bit that came with puberty. She knew she could still sing like an angel.

But here it was, former cool big sis who then turned to ruin lives and now was trying to make some sort of recovery coming to pick her up. She should've let that for the little mini-Emily she had spawned during High School. Even if Lily looked 12, she was not. "Someone put Thriller on the player and the corpses started dancing all of a sudden, what the f*ck do you think it was like, Emily?" Lily snapped, the alcohol making her spit bile full throttle. But she entered the car. It would have been quite a time-waster otherwise.

"Oh, you're being chased Emily. Just brilliant. Just what we need. Weren't you the reliable one?" She added, while looking at the thing by the corner of her eye. "Can't we just yell for police? I know there is at least 20 drunk cops inside there who would shoot it dead. Sheesh." She added, grumbling as her sister urgency prompted her to do something. "Okay, reinforcements it is." She added, while pulling her phone with great dexterity.

It was a testament of her surgical hand that the phone wasn't trembling at all despite the liquour and the car driving when she took the picture, added a GPS caption, and then started deftly typing:

To: Justice B*s
Listen here you pretty little sh*ts
Currently chased by a phallic monstrosity whom I believe it's Emily's ex
Pic included
Come help you f*cks
PS: Not actually Emily's boyfriend, this one is more attractive
PS2: Hate you Alice.

"Aaand, sent." She finished by sending both picture and image to whatever contact list had of the ex-girls group. "Do you still want me to call your Fiona? She probably is busy outmoming you." Lily added before crumpling into a grumbling heap.

The bubbling of the pot came down to a quiet simmer as the flame was extinguished, steam pouring out as the lip was lifted. A pair of excited squeals could be hear in the living room, the wonderful sound of the same kids' show being played on the television for the thirteenth time accompanying them. Despite the noise, Fiona Corona hummed softly to herself as she lifted the pot with gloved hands and took it to the dining room table. Setting it down, she removed her gloves as she wiped the sweat off her forehead, although she let out a small gasp of surprise as her son ran straight into her leg and sitting on her bare feet. After six years of that habit, she was no longer toppling over, though it was still surprising, moreso when his little sister decided to mimic her older brother and cling onto her other leg.

Letting out a sigh, Fiona looked down at them and put on a fake scowl. "And what are you two up to?" She asked, trying to copy the voice of a grouch she saw on one of the shows they liked to watch.

Her daughter, Sarah, happily babbled nonsense as a response, her excitement over taking her and robbing her ability to string together a coherent sentence. It was at that moment the family dog, their shiba inu Hokey (as Caleb had lovingly named him) began to bark. The three stopped in their movement, and two seconds later the kids released their mother and ran to the front door, chanting "Daddy's home!" as they ran to greet him.

As Aster opened the door, his two children would tackle his legs. Being much sturdier, he took it in stride, though was decidedly less amused as they decided to cling to his legs, making walking a much harder task. Fiona bit her lower lip as she watched her exasperated husband, taking his briefcase and coat from him. "Welcome home, darling," She greeted him gently, hanging his coat in the closet.

"Glad to be home. This is payback for all the times I laughed whenever Caleb used to knock you over," He admitted defeat as he would carefully walk through the hall to the dining room. Scooping his son into his arms, Fiona would take Sarah and place her in her high chair.

Once settled, the family began to eat, resuming the usual routine. Aster would ask how school went, Caleb would respond, Fiona would inform Aster of any issues, and dinner was had. It might have looked boring, but it was bliss for her. She loved how excited her children were to see their father, although she found it odd that Hokey kept barking. He probably saw something in the backyard, but his barking was relentless. Aster was telling her about his day, and as she listened, Hokey's barking got louder. Finally, they couldn't ignore it. Letting out a sigh, Aster would stand up. "He might have to go outside, I'll take him out," He said, patting Caleb's head as he walked past.

Fiona nodded, lightly dabbing Sarah's cheek clean. A familiar bell chimed, signaling a message on her phone. As she unlocked it, she raised her eyebrows as she read the message, unamused. Lily was drunk already, it seemed. As she opened the attachment, her eyes widened, and the immediately locked her phone as Aster returned. Why? Why now? She thought they were past all this!

"Everything alright?" Aster asked her as he reclaimed his seat.

Probably not considering her first instinct was to let out a groan, but she somehow kept it together. Putting on a smile, she walked over to her husband. "It's a message from Lily, I better go make sure everything is alright," She told him as she would take the plates from the table.

Aster frowned, though nodded. "Ah, did she get into another scuffle?" He asked understandingly.

Not yet. "I'm not sure, there was something weird in her message, but I want to make sure everything is okay," She admitted as she would walk to the kitchen, placing the dirty dishes in the sink. After walking back to the table, she placed a kiss on his cheek. "I'll be right back."

"Be careful out there!" Aster grinned as she would walk to the entrance of the house.

Slipping into her heels, she took her phone and wallet and stuffed them into the back pockets of her jeans. She really, really, really hoped it was just Lily messing with her, maybe some sort of practical joke, but by the gods she knew it was real. Jumping into her small, compact car, she pulled out of the driveway and stepped on the pedal hard, zooming away.

Isana Seiger

Isana's and Alice's Apartment
7:30PM

---

"Isana! My lovely, beautiful, sexy roommate. Your favorite roommate has returned. I desire a spot on your lap!"

Isana's alone time was as usual, interrupted by the lesbian nympho. She cast a backwards glance towards the door as the obviously slightly tipsy Alice stumbled in. Probably had gone to a party or something and got drunk flirting with women. Not that she particularly cared, though it did irritate her a bit.

"Sorry, no-mmmph!" She turned her head to reply to her roommate, only to promptly be silenced by a kiss to the lips. Her eyes widened a bit in surprise, not having entirely expected it. She went on to mention the bag of food she bought, along with a fairly simple demand as Isana sat up, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand as if getting rid of something unpleasant.

"Don't you ever get tired of this?" She grumbled, poking Alice in the forehead with her finger. "I'm surprised you didn't bring some slut home with you." Isana sat up, leaning on the arm of the couch as the smell of the Chinese food finally got to her, her stomach rumbling quietly. "But Fine, do what you want. Do anything funny and I'll use those chopsticks to...well, never mind. You'd probably enjoy that...hm?" Her phone buzzed...a text from someone? Who exactly would be texting her? Wasn't like she had any 'friends' aside from maybe Alice. She reached over and grabbed her phone, quickly scanning over the message, not really reading it.

"...meh."

It was from Lily. For a moment she might actually have thought something had been up if it had just been directed at her. God knows she didn't get along with her former teammates at all. She couldn't stand the lot of them usually. The fact it had been forwarded to pretty much all the former Justice Heart members though...well, she wasn't entire enthused about doing anything with them. The only reason she had her number, was because Alice wouldn't shut up about it. It was probably some some pedo being creepy as usual, so she tossed her phone carelessly onto the coffee table, not giving it another thought, grabbing a carton of Chinese food and some plastic forks that came with it, digging into the food with a languid, almost peaceful expression.

Ah.

Delicious.

"Next time, at least tell me before you eat my pizza...again." Wasn't the first time she had told her that, probably wouldn't be the last.

7:30PM in Eileen's room

---

*Click* *click*

*Pant* *pant* *pant*

*Click*

*Pant* *pant* *gulp* *pant* *pant*

"HAH!" Judge Cinnamon suddenly cried out, illuminated by the blue glow of the computer screen in the dark room. "Eileen!" the magical bunny called out as he dropped from the desk and ran towards the door shakily. Stopping, he ran back to the desk, climbed back up, and closed the incognito tabs that he had opened. His body was still shaking from overstimulation. For some reason, he could get aroused despite not having the proper anatomy, so most of his days were spent, when Eileen wasn't looking, to find and watch 'stimulating' videos and images. It was a futile and frustrating exercise though, since he would build up all this excited energy, and have no way to actually release it. But that was beside the point, there were more pressing matters right now. Something that hadn't happened in San Francisco for two decades.

"Lily and Emily are in trouble!" Eileen slammed open the door in triumphant declaration.

"AAGH!" Cinnamon squeaked out, startled. he quickly looked back to Eileen's computer, and breathed a sigh of relief that he had in fact closed all of his perused tabs. "How do you know?"

"I got a text," Eileen showed him. Cinnamon nodded, confirming the sensation he had felt just a moment ago.

"We need to go help them!" Cinnamon declared. Eileen nodded in consent. "Justice Hearts! Unite!" Cinnamon's telepathic voice squeaked out to every surviving Justice Heart member, "Star Heart and Water Lily are being pursued by...two?...Two Shadow Ghosts!" He faltered for a moment as his detection skills were rusty from years of neglect. He decided to just go with what had been presented through Lily's text. he also sent out a mental location for where they should probably all meet up to intercept the creatures of darkness. "All right, Justice Violet, let's go!" he said, hopping into Eileen's open arms.

Carrying the magical plushie, Eileen ran out and said a quick goodbye to her parents. She got into her white Honda Fit and started heading towards the location Cinnamon had indicated. It was pointless for Eileen to transform right now as her car was faster than her magical girl form. "I-I can't believe it's finally happening! Huu...huu...huu..." Eileen quivered in excitement. For years she had dreamed of reliving those magical days with her friends. For years she had lamented the distance that had come between them. This was the only thing she was good at. This was the only thing anyone had ever appreciated her for.

"I-idiot! You shouldn't hope for things like this to happen!" Cinnamon chided her, though he secretly had hoped for the same thing. After all, there had to be a reason why he'd been left to rot in the mortal realm for so long. "You should appreciate the peace you fought so hard to achieve!"

"Y-yes..." Eileen agreed, crestfallen, her driving slightly impacted by her mood.

Isana's and Alice's Apartment
7:30PM

---

"Why would I do that? You always give me the best reactions. Plus, I feel like I get to feed you when you have your unreasonable demands for food sometimes." The girl bluntly said, probably because she was drunk. "I mean, you pretend to hate it but I know you love me. Probably." Alice snuggled up next to Isana and laid her head on the girl's shoulder, finally checking her phone.

"Hmmm, from Lily? Under attack!? Oh my! She has such a rude mouth fit for one of those sailors... Eh!!!" She exclaimed, all her weight going onto Isana's shoulder and her phone hitting her leg. "I mean, I know she doesn't exactly enjoy me all the time but that doesn't mean she has to hate me!" She pouted, slightly tearing. Then she felt a... Somewhat familiar ping through her head. It was more annoying than anything. She threw it out quickly though. "Alright! Isana! We need to go and prove that Lily indefinitely loves me instead of hate!!!" The girl said standing quickly. "Oh, but feel free to finish first. She's probably good for now."

Carrie’s phone buzzed, catching her off-guard. She was hopeless with technology and didn’t like to be seen using anything, lest she get laughed at. The only people who knew this number were her parents, who were already upstairs and… oh, shit.

Carrie whipped the phone out half in hope and half in panic. If Katarina had come back, it would give her a chance to get out of this rut, a chance to really live again- but it also meant that she’d be in mortal peril, and she’d be the first to admit, her game wasn’t up to the level it had been when Justice Heart was active. It’s like riding a bike, Carrie thought, you never forget. Oh, how she hoped it was true!

When she saw what it was, her face fell a little bit. It just seemed to be some guys taking advantage of Lily. Again. Then, Cinnamon’s voice screeched in her mind. This is it! I’m back in the game! She took a second to text back:

Will be there in a minute, full gear.

then raced out the front door and down the alley, praying to whoever would listen that nobody was watching. Satisfied that she was alone, Carrie did something she’d done a thousand times before, but never thought she’d do again- she raised her earrings to the sky and cried out, “Justice Yellow!” A bolt of lightning ripped down from the heavens, striking her with full force. When the light show subsided, Carrie was in her full Justice Heart regalia. ugh, what was I thinking?!

A quick Lightning Leap later, Carrie was at the designated meeting spot. It seemed that she was the first one there- gotta love teleportation abilities- but the effort had drained her a bit more than she expected. Apparently, she was really out of practice.

Courtney Cartwright

Inside the ‘Police Bar’; 7:30-ish PM

---

“Dismissed...” Cartwright said with a huff, as her cheerful demeanor took a bit of a nosedive due to what she thought the reception was to her performance. “Rejected!” anguished Courtney Cartwright in a melodramatic fashion as she threw her right hand up, placing the back of it against her temple. As she sullenly trudged towards her table she pulled her chair back, spinning a bit as she began to sit down.

“Publicly humiliated...” she said with a huff as she promptly sat down in her chair while idly staring at a frozen margarita, which was partially finished and inside a large purple novelty glass. Using her left hand she grabbed at the green straw that was firmly embedded in the slush and began spinning it around. Well at least she still had a bit of a drinkypoo, though that wasn’t probably going to help all too much in this particular case.

Bzzzz.

Courtney blinked as she glanced towards her purse, a goldenrod colored container with a nice little flower serving as the lock and fairly thing straps. “Oh! Let’s us see what do we have here...” Bringing the purse up onto the table, Courtney proceeded to do the small twist needed to unlatch her purse. With a brief bit of scavenging and moving away tissues, assorted make-up, associated mirrors among other bric-a-brac she plucked out her phone. It was an older model of smart-phone, and it had a few cracks on it (but hey at least it was a smart-phone) and it seemed to be lit up. Besides the important message from Lily and a few other text messages and some missed calls, the phones’ multitude of apps – dating services, some ‘freemium games’ both puzzles and otherwise, some coupon services, podcast updates, etc. all immediately flashed out trying to seek out the attention of its user.

“Oh geez louise,” Courtney mumbled out as she clicked on the first of this long list. Cartwright’s trance-like eyes scrolled over the phone as she began to decipher this particular neon-lit message which sought to bring some sort of gratification to the user. A smile crept over Courtney’s face as she frenetically turned her head from side to side in some surveillance attempt. Satisfied with the brief glimpses around for the scenery in the detect for something or someones Courtney quickly balled up her right fist and brought her arm down towards her.

“Woo~ got right-swiped!” Courtney stated proudly as her eyes fixated on the figure upon the phone, “Good interests, nice bod… This might work!” With that particular situation remedied; Cartwright began going through the list of other updates her phone had given her.

By the time she arrived at Lily’s message, she had a intrusion in the most personal of personal spaces! That infernal creature never had the politeness to ask before trying that trick. Glowering, to the point that there were angry heart looking sparks emanating from her eyes she had known she had received two messages involving spooky monsters of the past. And not the metaphorical kind like the risqué chicanery she got involved with during her youth that lingered over as her as a spectre. No, these were the kind of monsters that she could legally, well easily anyway, hit; like the ones she hit as a kid.

“Oh well, that. That isn’t very far at all now is it?” Courtney Cartwright shrugged as she grabbed her purse and slung it over her shoulder. And the fair heroine Courtney Cartwright move into action readying herself to face the terrors that surely awaited the other heroines! Of course due to being relatively close to the action, after all Courtney was sure they couldn’t have made it that far away from the bar, she sauntered out of the building.

“Gee..” Courtney began in thought, tilting her head as she idly tapped her right cheek with her index finger. “Wonder why she didn’t try to pull me out along her as soon as she left. Oh well, that’s a question for another day I suppose.”

The Police Bar, 7:30 pm

Elise spotted her best friend from across the bar, practically jumping into the chair next to her.

"Hey Courtney!" She shouted, already having drank a fair bit before she arrived. "I saw you're performance! Don't worry though, because I know you are. I know that look. Me personally, I think you're dance was really fun!"

She refrained from mentioning the singing. She hoped Courtney wouldn't pick up on that. Before she could continue trying to avoid that subject however, she got a text. Looking down to her phone, her eyes widening slightly when she realised it was from Lily. And then she hiccuped, which in turn led to a snicker as she actually read it.

"Oh, there's no way I'm not forwarding this to Connor!" She said, her eyes drooping slightly.

After tapping away at her phone long enough to... well, make an attempt at sending the message to her brother, she looked over to Courtney, sighing.

"So I guess you're gonna wanna save 'em now?" She asked, an expression of disinterest plain on her face. "I'll be honest with you, the prospect of saving that woman doesn't exactly appeal to me. However, I'd hate to lose that angry little hobbit, and I am a fan of dramatic, last minute entrances..."

And then she looked back up, the kind of crooked smile that only the slightly (extremely) drunk could perform stretched across her face.

"Alright, let's do it! But we gotta wait 'til something's about to hit them, for maximum dramatic effect!"

And then her phone buzzed again, causing her to look down to it, giggling at Connor's reply as they both left the building.

I'm going to ask for her ID like twelve times next time I'm working...

Note: Judge Cinnamon is now broadcasting information to the team telepathically. Be aware you characters can hear some of this


7:32PM Fleeing by Vehicle from Police Bar
Direct Interactions - @AtomicNut@shagranoz

"No that's - Lily!?" Emily watched as her little sister crumpled into little more than a drunk heap, collapsing into her chair comfortably.

At least she'd die peacefully, unlike the woman who was frantically swerving to avoid other cars as she started to panic. Just when all hope was lost, things got even worse. The sound of some sort of electricity SLAMMED into the roof. In that moment, the Star Heart braced for the end.

... why didn't the roof cave in? Emily angled one of the mirrors upwards, mouth dropping in disbelief. How did Carrie end up on top of the car? Questions could be asked later. It was possible she had teleported over, and in Lily's drunken stupor the twelve year old had sent the location of their car.

"Car- Justice Yellow?" Years of avoiding saying their names in costume was ingrained in her, and in spite of the moment she corrected herself. "G-get in? Shoot?" Star Heart was obviously a little panicked, although her eyes widened further. "DODGE!" She pointed a finger at what appeared to be some sort of serpent diving for her neck through the air at a couple hundred miles per hour after leaping from inside of a storm drain. If it missed, it would find its way back into another drain to wait for another attack.


@Pyromania99@Rune_Alchemist Cuddling on Couch
While it was entirely possible Lily and Emily were fine, as the couch folded in on itself, crushing Isana in its cushiony fury, it was clear that they weren't. As Alice probably stared in confusion for a few seconds, she'd notice the bottom cushions form a mouth, beginning to devour their pray beneath them. This probably wouldn't seem terrifying, except for the fact that several of the springs were poking out of the bottom in rather sharp looking points like a set of ferocious teeth ready to gouge into Isana's pretty but exposed thighs.

However, Alice would have to trust that Isana was a tough cookie as she'd hear a sound of ... water behind her? Turning around, she'd see some sort of car-sized water elemental rapidly sloshing its way out of the bathroom toilet, forming over her. It came down for the attack, preparing to wrap one of its watery tentacles around Alice's leg.

Tragically amidst the chaos, the Chinese takeout box fell to the floor, spilling the rice on the ground.

@Rabidporcupine@Ugii Outside of the Police Bar
It seemed that Elise's dream of waiting for maximum dramatic effect was going to become true, as one of the power lines snapped in front of them and landed on the ground.

This wasn't too surprising for any magical girl. What was surprising was how a figure made of black lightning seemed to form, towering over the women at eight feet tall. With a screech, it made a rapid dive towards Elise.

As Goldenrod likely tried to aid her partner she'd notice a more immediate concern in her drunken stupor. As she looked up she'd hear this loud ... buzzing? Shake it Off was apparently the theme of the night, as a bicycle sized dragonfly creature above shook its tail, sending a serious of six inch poisonous spikes rapidly flying towards Courtney. After it did so, it moved quickly - given its size, distance, and maneuverability, it'd be a hard target for Courtney to hit.

@Hero@Stern Algorithm Driving Towards GPS Marker - 2
It wasn't long before Justice Violet and Justice Flare SolarFlare found themselves driving next to each other on the road. By this point, multiple beacons would be lighting up around the city for Judge Cinnamon ... including two coming in behind them. Something made of a type of energy absorbent plastic, and another that seemed like a large, shadowy presence. They were some distance away, but gaining on the group. There wouldn't be a destination, but they'd likely have a full sixty seconds to react at their current speed.

Away from all the magical girls at this point was a metallic presence, though it was moving to converge with Carrie's new position. Additionally, one was going after their formerly evil teammate, which appeared as a blimp on his radar as some sort of air-based creature. Something else was obviously wrong though - why was his detection only now reactivating?

Isana Seiger

Isana's and Alice's Apartment
7:30PM

---

"Woman," Isana began with a mildly annoyed expression as she pointed her fork at the other woman. "I just took my clothes off and I'm not putting them back on to go help a midget with her alcoholism and deal with a pedo." Isana sighed in response to Alice's insistence. "And love is something I have very little of towards anyone, especially lesbian nymphos who don't know the meaning of the word 'no'." Ugh, this woman was impossible. "...but as long as you don't hurt my budget, do what you want." Agh, today was tiring in general. Whenever the others were brought up it always made her stressed. Angry. Annoyed. Agitated.

Ahh...She wanted to beat someone up.

It seemed though, the world was about to grant her wish.

Before she could question what was happening, it almost felt as though something slammed into her back, trying to crush her against the seat of the sofa.

"Gah!?" Isana yelped in mild surprise, barely having enough time to react, bringing her legs up to the apparent mouth of the couch and her hands to what was once the back of the couch. Was...the couch trying to goddamn eat her?! Fine, this thing wanted to have the stuffing beat out of it, she'd beat the goddamn stuffing out of it. Thankfully, she was fairly confident in her physical ability and flexibility. First things first though...

Isana's body was surrounded in a bright, white light as her usual clothing seemed to change, the fabric elongated and darkening in color as it extended to cover most of the rest of her body. The white light coalesced, finally settling and transforming into her old, magical girl outfit. A black and red uniform, along with a small cloak, boots with her constant companion, Vale appearing at her side as usual.

"HHMPH!" Isana pushed back against the top of the couches mouth, the metal springs hardly even being an issue. She could have probably done this without transforming - this thing was hardly all that strong to begin with. Regardless, she pried open the things mouth, long enough for her to leap out of it and land readily next to Alice, not sparing a glance at her roommate.

"I am goddamn sick and tired of things in this goddamn apartment always trying to eat me..." Isana rather grumpily huffed, drawing Vale from her side and pointing it at the monster. Even after all these years, she still had a penchant for trying to look overly cool. "Well, at least I can kill you." She lunged at the couch monster, slamming the weighty earthy sword horizontally into the top of it.

Vivian Everett

"That will be $8.79, do you need a bag with that?" 'God let it be over'

Vivian groaned inside of her own head, suffering through the boring existence that was working behind a cash register. Money changed hands and a product was bagged up, and the customer was sent on his way. Much to her relief as she waited for the next person to show up. There was no other pressing business that she had to tend to at the moment, so she could just stand there and wait for her shift to end.

This wasn't exactly the best job one could have, but it met her needs well enough in terms of money and mostly importantly of all it provided her with plenty of free time. This wasn't how her parents had imagined she would end up, and to be honest she hadn't either. Though it was still a major drain on her nerves and personality.

But at last her shift ended, and she was free to head out to her life away from customers and pretentious idiots and all that. "See you later," she called to her replacement as she swept out the door, heading into the evening light. The sweet taste of freedom embraced her, and she wasted no time in heading towards the parking lot to retrieve her motorcycle. There was a spring in her step now that she was off the clock, and Vivian was very much looking forward to enjoying her day.

The vehicle soon came into sight, a burgundy color for a lean machine that she had spent way too much time, effort, and devotion to customizing in any way that she could with her own particular skills. It was her ticket to freedom after all, and she cherished her machine as much as anyone in the same position would. Not that her parents cared about her dedication and ideals but who cared about what they thought. She hadn't talked with them in a long while regardless, and she was just glad that San Francisco was big enough to keep it that way.

She was just stowing away her things for the trip when the phone buzzed to indicate that she had a text. An eyebrow rose as she glanced at it, trying to figure out what was actually written before it clicked. At which point she went back to ignoring it in general. "Nice try, now pull another one," she muttered aloud in disbelief. Twenty years and then this? No fucking way. This was probably some drunk prank or something, that was the only explanation.

At least, up until that telepathic presence made itself known in her head. "Geez, give a girl some warning," she protested as she hopped onto her bike. "They're tough girls, I'm sure they've got it under control." Roaring the engine, she headed off into the city and in the general direction of her predetermined destination. She wasn't in any sort of hurry to leap to their defense, not for something she was confident they could handle in their sleep.

Isana's and Alice's Apartment
7:30PM

---

Alice was surprised when she saw the couch just about eating Isana. "Isana!" She exclaimed. She didn't have time to worry about the toughest of the Justice Hearts though, as a water monster thing appeared from the nearby bathroom. Well, this was fun. Before it could grab her by the leg, she quickly transformed. She could only assume it came out of the toilet... She didn't want such dirty water touching her! She grabbed her Magical Microphone and sang a high note, causing a music note to escape her tool. It floated gently into the middle of this car sized water monster and was ready to explode.

"At least most things don't eat you for food. And can you try not to completely destroy the couch? I really like that one." Alice asked, not really seeing that it was pretty much destroyed anyhow. She kept her attention on the water monster thing now. "Anyhowser... Can you explode now?" Alice asked, snapping her finger and causing the typical sonic bomb of a music note to explode. Hopefully, it would be enough to make the creature reverberate to it's non-existence.

Police Bar – Exterior

---

“Okay!” Courtney eagerly said with a nod and a bounce in affirmation that they had to be stylish in heroics. Cartwright moved close to Elise and slung her arm around her shoulder. Leaning in Courtney began to speak. “So like, we gotta remember the most important things about dramatic entrances is that...”

And as if on cue, to prevent this important piece of information from revelation, a power line snapped and landed in front of them! Shortly thereafter the monster was crafted from the wreckage.

”OHMYGOSHSORRYNOTSORRY!” shrieked out Courtney as she valiantly pushed Elise to the side for a bit of help in avoiding the electrical monstrosity! But alas this gesture was probably not the best move for Courtney’s self-preservation due to a horrid little, well smaller than that colossus of electricity, creature’s set of attacks. Though it was safe to say it was a more heroic endeavor.

While Cartwright was not hit by all of the spikes of the creature, one of those poisonous spikes did hit its mark and landed firmly in the left buttocks. Wincing in pain and landing down upon the sidewalk upon her belly she tried to crawl behind a nearby trashcan in order to take a bit of shelter.

Hopefully she would be able to get a bit reprieve so she could, well for one thing remove that pain in her ass (the literal one) and figure out what sort of poisonous nasty she was inflicted with, and of course access her "magical accessory" so that she could properly transform. Oh and remembering that bit of advice she wanted to tell her friend about dramatic entrances would be a nice little cherry if the other things panned out!

If Carrie had been a normal woman, she would have been snake food. Fortunately for her, she wasn’t. A quick dip of her shoulder and a twist of her hips sent the serpent sailing past, though she did take a slicing wound to her shoulder. What was worse, she went into her maneuver right as Emily threw the car into a turn, causing Carrie to lose her balance and plummet to the asphalt.

Carrie was in a bad way. The armored monster was slowly advancing from behind, but she couldn’t deal with it until she took out the snake, which had sped out of the storm drain for another assault. This time, though, it came at her face… which was the one place you didn’t want to attack a magical girl with elemental breath powers..

“Thunder Breath!”

Carrie exhaled a blast of lightning, catching the snake full-on and sending it reeling. It didn’t finish the monster off, but it did give her a chance to get to her feet, staff at the ready. The snake circled her warily, not wanting a repeat of the previous rebuffed attack, and the armored monster was almost in range. She called out to Emily, “Yo! A little help would be nice here!”

As Fiona drove, the pit in her stomach grew heavier, especially when she spotted a familiar white car next to her. Eileen?! Great, it looked like an unwanted reunion was coming soon. As the thought crossed her mind, a light in the rearview mirror caught her attention. Letting out a groan, Fiona would decide to floor it, hoping Eileen would take the hint. As she did, however, she realized that whatever that thing was, it was faster, and would advance on them sooner rather than later. Shoot, what should she do? Seeing as how she had remained out of the action for some time, the first thought was calling the police, but in this case she technically was the police. Sort of.

Taking in a deep breath, she gave herself a silent prayer of forgiveness to her husband as she closed her eyes. She had to discard her role of a housewife and get back into her daredevil, brash ways. Opening her eyes, she pressed down on the acceleration, taking off her seatbelt as her car would zip forward. Keeping an eye on Eileen's car, she would inhale and exhale out any second thoughts,simply waiting for the right timing. Closer and closer the monster came, and once she deemed it close enough, she slammed on the brakes. Yanking on the emergency break, she threw her door open and jumped out, her legs letting her leap high into the air. Her car would go crashing into one of the monsters, resulting in an explosion of gas and fire. As she came down, she found her timing to be as good as ever, managing to land on Eileen's car she she passed by.

That being said, she was still a housewife, and would have went flying off the car if she hadn't grabbed the hood for dear life.

"I'm not supposed to be doing this sort of thing anymore!" She wailed as she clung onto Eileen's car, her hair billowing behind her. Slowly and carefully climbing her way to the passenger side, she tapped the glass, and once the window was opened, she slid in. Her eyes were wide with annoyance, and she huffed as she put on her seatbelt. Fixing her hair, she leaned back in her seat, trying to regain her composure. "Good evening, how are you?" She asked, her voice meek as she tried to pretend everything was normal.