Alexander's healing spell came a minute too late it seemed. The battered adult on the floor had expired, and no amount of healing would bring her back to life. Alexander was capable of many wonders, but bringing back the dead wasn't one of them. She was really gone. It was doubtful Alexander would recognize Amber as a full grown adult, but it was evident that someone in this room had killed her.

At least, Tonya hoped he could make that connection.

And this was the true nature of Tonya's job. Ensuring magical girls met the end of their thread exactly when they were suppose to. a bit different from her last job. Police officers are in their line of work because they want to help good civilians and punish the bad guys. But fate's plans didn't always work out that way. Sometimes they had her sacrifice a good person to uproot the wicked. Truth be told, had Amber survived, Father likely would have been summoned into this world. But in an odd twist, Amber's death ensured that wouldn't happen. For in striking down Amber, Justine had created a new, more powerful foe in her place. A magical girl known as-



Sue was still getting use to her new found powers. Just a few seconds ago she was a familiar who barely had any powers to speak of. Now she was capable of deflecting attacks that even her late master wouldn't be able to contain. But in the following seconds, her vision was obscured with mist. Initially, the mist did not seem to do anything other than obscure vision. Perhaps that was all it did, just as a way to let Janet move around undetected.

Unfortunate for her that Sue did not need sight.

Like most magical girls attuned to air, Sue could feel disturbances in the air. The air around her almost felt like part of her being, and she could feel everyone moving around in it. Sue could feel Lily softly exhaling, Helga hurdling through the air, Alexander's deep inhales, and even a moth beating its wings in an attempt to escape a spider web. Pinpointing Janet's location was easy, and her attempts to mask her sounds would not fool Sue. She could lie to Sue's eyes, or even her ears, but the wind would tell the truth every time. She knew every movement the monster girl tried to make.

The song was a nice touch. Sue could definitely feel the despair in the song leaning into her. But Sue was so full of despair already she could hardly feel the effects. Compared to having Amber murdered right in front of her, this song was nothing. Despair was what killed the old Sue. She was weak, and took her life as soon as she used the black coin. But this new Sue. This... Sky Captain. Despair was her armor. For ever tear she shed, she would make sure Janet shed a hundred more.

Sue attempted to kick up two miniature cyclones in addition to the one that was still spinning around herself. One would appear in front of Helga to help soften her landing. Sue made sure the wind was spinning in such a way that when Helga hit it, it would slow her speed down. The dark magical girl didn't know for sure it was Helga, as she hadn't seen her enter the room. All she knew was that this was “stomach shanker,” but she could feel Janet use her as a shield. Sue doubted Janet would do that to one of her allies. The second cyclone would pop up right under Janet herself and potentially scatter her to the four winds, or plaster her against the ceiling. Sue had heard Alex's shout, so she knew who he was. Maybe in future battles she would be able to recognize her allies breathing patterns, or be able to pick up on other small details. Maybe even communicate with them. But for now, her rudimentary powers would have to suffice.

But Sue's ultimate goal wasn't to kill Janet, it was to get Lily out of here alive. Her feet lifted off the ground and she swiftly floated towards Lily. The dark tendrils that made up Sue's wings spread open like a black lotus. With nothing impeding her movement, it wouldn't be long before she had Lily in her clutches.

The other magical girls around her had managed to escape the wave of water on their own. Casting a spell she lifted herself up on a column above the torrent of water. Perched above she watched for a few minutes as things unfolded. She would have dove in to attack the ice golem but it was over the water where she would have been less effective. She did pick out the core inside ever at a distance though. Breaking through and destroying that was likely the key.

To her advantage the golem leapt onto the ground to attack three other magical girls. The enemy did change into what looked like a more nimble form. She was going to have to hold it to get some solid strikes in. Raising her staff the column she was on lifted off in an arc. Riding it she made several swipes to shape the stone into a ten foot spike. Launching it at the ice golem she jumped down to the ground. Upon touching the ground she slammed her staff on the floor. Her spell rushed forward and the ground under the golem burst as it was pulverized into dust. Whirling it around the surface became loose as Shannon attempted to root the massive target with quicksand for the spike to land.

Sonia was not prepared for her spell being used against her, and shrieked as the knives were shot at her, covering her front with her arms; two knives embedded themselves on her left arm, one on her shoulder, and one on each of her legs before she teleported away. However, Makoto was not left unscathed; three knives behind her were unaffected by being turned towards Sonia, and struck into her body; one above her tail, one on her shoulder, and one between her shoulder blades. Makoto saw her reappear much farther away, about 500 meters in distance.

"Both gravity and time? You indecent vermin!"

She spat out as she magically ejected the knives out, and held her bloody arm with a vicious glare.

"My knives are useless, it seems..." She spoke, but then grinned with uncharacteristic glee.
"I did not imagine I would need to use my ultimate attack, but it seems nothing less will be enough for such a festering infestation."
With those bitter words, she held her arms before her with open palms, and a massive magic circle appeared.

"High-Impact Hell!"

She triggered another spell. Then, Makoto saw it; a bullet train came charging at her at full speed from the circle, filling the corridor entirely.

---

Curie blocked the first punch, and was sent sliding back a good ten meters. She was surprised, of course, but more than that, she smiled.
"Now this is strong! Finally, a worthy opponent for me to test my mettle! Come, clanker; let's dance!"
At first she tried to stand her ground, her teeth grit as she countered with her own swings of her irradiated sword. However, she quickly realized that the Terminator-like monster would not stop for a single moment, even if she sliced through her tough armor, and so she resolved to dodging and leaping out of the way, trying to get strikes whenever she can. It was an awe-inspiring sight to behold, as the titanic fight raged on between the two, evenly matched.

But then, the sounds of groaning metal could be heard coming from the lake.

"What the-!"

Curie's eyes widened; Earth Bastion resurfaced on the lake like a submarine, only to shake profusely. It glowed with a brilliant light, which then turned red, and the ship broke apart as the pieces were drawn to Penny, forming into a fearsome construct:

Penny felt that she had become truly one with Earth Bastion; at the moment of Amber's demise, her connection to the ship had weakened, and now the Engine of Destruction had fully assimilated it, replacing it with her own, left in the materials given to her by Al'O.

"So you also have a golem of your own! Very well then, I shall accept your challenge! FULLL POWEEEERRR!"

Curie shouted hot-bloodedly, and she developed an even greater aura, her hair now blue as it flickered like fire atop her head. However, her body also changed; charged with so much nuclear energy, she grew freakishly muscular, resembling a steroid-using freak rather than the beautiful woman she was before. She once again took flight, using her magic to propel herself through the soles of her feet with rocket-like streams of fire, flying fast and striking hard.

The fight also escalated against Doris, who seemed to have the upper hand as she had her Ice Golem stand in the way of the castle gates. It was undeterred by both Scout's bullets and Anaya's dolls, their blows glancing off the surface of the golem's hard body and unable to make it budge an inch.

"Exterminating," Doris spoke with barely any emotion, and the Ice Golem lifted its arms. But just as she was about to slam down on the two girls, the ground beneath it exploded into dust and sand.

"Earth magic detected," Doris spoke with a hint of alarm in her voice as she realized she could not move. She saw the great stone spike launched at her, and the Ice Golem split horizontally in half; it's upper half launched off, leaving the legs stuck in the quicksand and destroyed by the spike that hit them, scattering the pieces as snow into the air. The legless Golem landed on its hands, right next to Alicia, still stuck in her icy prison. Then, standing amazingly dexterously on one arm, it used the other to grab the Beacon girl, holding her tightly. By now Alicia felt how the ice had cooled her body and calmed her head; her magic reserves had partially returned. Not to the extent that she can go all out, but she could use her powers once more, to a reasonable degree.

"Surrender now, or she will be shattered. This is your last chance to retreat."

---

Lily was in a dream; she was on a tiny boat caught in a rainstorm, thrown about until the boat fell over. She sank into the depths of the sea, and the more she struggled, the more she sank, and she closed her eyes as she hit the seafloor. But then, in the dark abyss, she felt a hand on her cheek. She opened them, and saw a familiar pirate girl stare right into her eyes with her signature cheeky smile, her lips mere inches from hers.

"Amber? It is you, isn't it!" Lily thought, but to her shock, she was caught in an air bubble; it rapidly floated up, and Amber waved up at her, smiling softly as she slowly disappeared from view.

"Amber, no! Don't leave me! AMBER! Wait, huh?"

Like a catapult, Lily sat up screaming the pirate girl's name. Her jaw dropped, her eyes wide as she took in the hectic chaos around her before her; there was strange mist in the air, and sad singing that clutched at her heart. Then she felt warm blood on her cheek. She touched the hand that left the print, and recognized it belonging to a woman, lying dead over her, and it caused her to scream in fright. Then she screamed more when she saw the magical girl flaoting in the air she didn't recognize who reached out for her with black tentacles, as well as numerous clones of Alex that were running right at her. She looked down, panicked as she saw the white gown she was wearing, and then began kicking the tendrils away with tears in her eyes.

"No, don't! I'm not suitable! I'm not actually pure! I'm dirty! President Dirty of Dirtlandia! ALEEEX!"

She screamed in despair, fully affected by the song.
Helga was in even more despair than her; she was devastated by the sight of Amber's corpse, and fully embraced being thrown, using it to spin her body around with her claws extended into a drill-like motion, only to miss Janet. She landed on Sue's small cyclone, at first looking like she might explode from pure fury and transform, but instead collapsed to her knees to weep. Ammy! Lady Ammy! Nooo..."

"SILENCE!"

But then, just as Sue's tentacles were taking hold and she was lifted off the stone altar, a bright red beam of intense magical energy shot over Lily, vaporizing the black appendages in its path and sending the clones flying off, their barriers blown away as easily as cardboard. When Janet's song ended, and Sue turned to look, she saw a crimson magic circle, with intricate runes spinning on it; Justine closed her outstretched palm, and looked down on everyone present, her fangs now showing from her evil smile.



Lily gasped, and covered herself with her arms. Justine then gripped the dagger in her hands tightly, now glowing slightly red with a phantasmal blood-like haze around it, and took a deep breath.
"Ignorant fools...Why do you struggle so much, and cling to your despicable emotions?"
She spoke coldly, and opened the palm of her other hand outwards. Her long red nails glistened in the moonlight.
"You throw your worthless lives away, only to be betrayed and hurt by those you love. But no matter; once Father has blessed this world, and love is eradicated, it won't matter anymore."

Lily's lower lip trembled, but she now stood up from the altar, her hands clenched into fists.
"But why, Justine? Why do you hate love so much?" She asked, her eyes determined.
"There must be a reason! If you only tell us, we can help-"

"You can't! Nobody can!"

Justine howled, her scarlet eyes wide and glowing; her ladylike composure had given way to behavior not too unlike Caroline's.

"There is no soul that walks this cursed earth that can comprehend the agony I have gone through! Love ruined my sweet Caroline, and broke my heart...For centuries, I had to endure it. But no more! I won't stand for such injustice, such a deplorable existence..."

A red orb of blood swirled from her fingers, and extended into a red spear, even more complex and sinister-looking than the one her little sister wielded. She pointed with her finger, her eyes swirling with insanity.

Alexander grimaced when he realized that his magic couldn't help the women, but he began to feel better when he saw that Lily was awake. That's when Justine gave her speech, and suddenly everything made sense. "Shit...I get it now; your just a coward" He got up and started slowly walking to her "You had one person you cared about 'ruined' by love...and you suddenly just decided to write the whole thing off. Actually, it sounds even worse then that" he stopped walking "you've somehow come to believe that getting rid of all emotions is a good idea. So you're going to create a 'beautiful' world by getting rid of emotions? Do you have any idea how stupid that sounds!? We can understand and comprehend beauty because of our emotions! Without them, nothing is beautiful. And what about making the world 'pure', well, 'pure' what? Not everything is better when it's 100% pure. Hell, take oxygen; that shit's toxic if there's too much. You asked why we cling to our 'despicable emotions'? It because they're what make life worth living. The rest of haven't given up like you have, not even a jaded asshole like me."

Alexander sighed "But for all your preaching about the evils of emotions; you still clearly have yours. Hell, if love is so evil, then why are you still attached to your 'sweet Caroline', shouldn't she mean nothing to you? You claim this will be our salvation? But the truth is that by stripping everyone of all emotions, you'll leave the people of this world hollow husks. No will to do anything, we'll die a slow and pointless death. In the end, this whole thing is just a huge temper tantrum, a dangerous temper tantrum I'll admit, but a temper tantrum none the less."

The Engine was relentless, even as it was forming its construct body it continued the assault. As it grew larger it started to incorporate more and more avenues of attack, stray limbs built of roughly hewn scrap would reach out from the major limbs or even the main torso to rip out chunks of earth to throw at Curie, some would even lash out in an attempt to harm the opposing magical girl and more still would fling sand in a small attempt to blind her.

The main limbs were always edged in the lethal blood red glow of its energy blades, but as before those were used for distraction as much as attack as it would try and crush the hulked out magical in front of it just as often as it attempted to bisect her, and it was difficult to tell what was a feint and what wasn’t. Each attack that it launched would shake the earth with their impact, and were surprisingly fast considering its titanic size.

To make matters even worse, its form was not as consistent as one would expect from a metallic being. It arms and legs would twist and reshape with nearly every attack, both to increase its own lethality and to avoid or parry incoming attacks. The various eyes it now held were constantly shifting around always keeping track of the Engine’s smaller and more maneuverable target, making it impossible to strike from a blind spot.

It felt less like fighting a person and more like fighting a living storm of metal, one that was learning from every clash, which constantly adapted to counter its opponent, one that was always and forever seeking to destroy.

Even during this titanic duel, The Engine kept silent, save for the ever growing sound of machinery that come from within it. It gave noting away of its thoughts, of what it might be feeling. For in truth it held no emotion, and its mind was one that was utterly incomprehensible to a human. For it was a machine, that sought only to fulfill its purpose.

But its purpose was not as straight forward as it appeared; For Penny lost herself to her monstrous side not out of rage against Curie, but from the shock of what happened to Alicia. Logic just dictated that Curie was the greater threat. Thus when Doris threatened Alicia, The Engine reacted.

It didn’t disengage from its fight, to do so would be detrimental, but that didn’t mean it couldn't lash out at the Ice wielder. The back of its head would crack open revealing one of the cannon barrels from the Earth bastion. And with a roar it would discharge a gauss round aimed at the arm seeking to crush Alicia, but this round would carry none of the electricity that was normally stored in them. As the same time it launched the metal slug, it rerouted the lightning bolt that would accompany it to fire from the its mouth in an attempt to fry Curie.

Shortly after the sound of another gauss round being charged up would be heard once, as The Engine had realized it was getting no use from its regeneration, thus had shunted that energy over to the gauss system so it could rain down artillery fire on those that would oppose it.

Alicia Hayden

Cold.

Nothing really prepared you for the cold of being frozen solid. It was like jumping into cold water on a hot day, only the sensation never went away. Sure, you could get used to it, but that did not take the cold out of your bones.

Frozen in the same general stance that she had washed up on the beach in, Alicia could only watch as Penny and Scout fought Curie and Doris, the two minions proving themselves powerful contenders. Nonetheless she was confident that her allies could succeed, especially as Penny turned herself into a large war machine using the wreckage of the Bastion (without realizing what that meant). She itched in her forced impotence, unable to summon the strength to break out on her own. There was no way to tell how the fight was progressing inside, but she could tell that they were running out of time.

In hindsight, she was left to chastise herself for her move earlier. It had left her helpless when it mattered, and ultimately it hadn't achieved all that much. Everyone's reaction had indicated that no one was particularly impressed by it, making her look stupid for even trying.

Resigning herself, she settled in to wait for the fighting to end so she could be released from her icy prison. She might hate not being able to do anything, but pointlessly worrying about what might happen while she was frozen wouldn't help anyone either. She would just have to try and make a difference when they finally got around to confronting Justine.

Needless to say she was not expecting what came next, her eyes widening as she found herself seized by a diminished Doris to be used as a hostage. This was humiliating enough, and she began wracking her brain for options. She still trusted Scout, generally, she just didn't trust Doris to not shatter her anyway even if Scout did back off like she wanted. Anyone working for Justine couldn't be that honorable after all.

"Like hell you are," she growled, determination setting in. And a bit more than that, as she grasped at the renewed tendrils of magical energy. Maybe she did have some options after all.

Then a couple things happened at the same time. Noticing Penny pointing a large gun in her direction out of the corner of her eye, Alicia was spurred into immediate action. There was no way she'd survive as she was if Doris decided to use her as a shield against that. Focusing her magic, she began to radiate light, melting the ice while ideally blinding Doris. She didn't go overboard with it though, since she didn't need to directly melt all the ice. It just needed to be weakened to the point where she could break out with her own strength.

It wasn't all she did, as light coalesced in her left hand before extending into a sword of light. As the ice cracked and shattered under her exertion she flipped the blade in her hand, letting it stab and swing upwards to cut the arm that currently held her. She dropped as ice fell to the ground all around her, gasping for breath as the chill was removed immediately.

There was no time to relax, and she forced herself to dive away from the cannon shot before it could hit her too. Stumbling through a roll, she came up with her blade at the ready, taking advantage of the impact (whether it hit or not) to charge forwards and strike at the center of Doris' ice golem with her blade before her magic could run out and cause it to fade away. "Nobody uses me as a hostage!" she challenged with the forceful blow.

‘…’

‘…’

‘…’

‘…’

‘That tea you were drinking. Were was it stored?’ Mariette asked.

‘In the interdimensional apartment, mistress,’ Eli answered. The one that was blown up by Justine, that is. Mariette was disappointed.

‘…’

‘…’

‘…’

‘…’

‘Mistress, I’m a bit hungry,’ Eli said, looking over to Mariette. This was a bit more worrying than if a normal human was hungry, as Deni and Eli gained a desire to devour life when they grew hungry, which eventually grew overpowering. … Just Eli, now. Mariette simply reached into her hammerspace handbag, which thankfully still opened, and threw a sizable portion of raw meat to Eli. Nothing even near the grade which Joe cooked for them, but Eli’s eyes nonetheless lit up and she grabbed it, and instead of putting it in her mouth she just plunged it into her chest and let her fluids surround and break it down within her, Eli breathing out in relief as she let her hunger subside, temporarily. Of course, meat wasn’t nearly as satisfying as actually devouring life, but it held it at bay, and Mariette was good at managing it.

‘Thank you, mistress,’ Eli said. Mariette did not reply, merely staring at the confrontation between Curie, Doris, Alicia, Penny, Scout, Anaya and now Shannon joining them…

‘…’

‘…’

‘…’

‘…’

Mariette shifted her weight to slowly roll up on her legs, standing up and breathing in from the physical effort due to her considerable lack of physical capability.

‘Bored already, mistress?’ Eli asked, slight amusement in her voice. Mariette did not deign the remark worthy of a reply.

‘We’re heading through the secret passage. The other group should have cleared the way already. We should arrive in time for the grand finale,’ Mariette instead said, walking towards the entrance Helga unveiled. Eli stood up too, with far less effort and pulling the mirror with her as well.

‘How about them? Alicia seems to be in trouble,’ Eli stated, gesturing towards the battle. Mariette turned to look… and then Eli got to flinch as the Engine of Destruction rose to battle and Alicia radiated herself out of the ice _{if successful}. Mariette smirked, shrugging a bit as the action happened.

‘They seem to be doing fine. Let them fight,’ Mariette simply stated, turning to walk towards that entrance. Whichever one won would be apparent soon enough.

Reaching the stairs down to the secret passage, which probably had become soaked by now, Mariette stopped and reached for Eli.

‘Give me the mirror. You do your job, and scout,’ Mariette commanded, and Eli nodded with slight amusement as she handed the relatively heavy mirror to her physically lacking mistress.

‘Yes, mistress,’ Eli stated, before dashing down ahead with little trouble, scouting for trouble for her mistress to avoid, Third Eye ever so vigilant.

Mariette, meanwhile, sighed as she held the sides of the mirror with both hands, carefully tilting so she could walk down the stairs, lacking any sort of magic to assist her in this task for now.

Once Justine re-entered the room, leading with a blast to Sue's wings, things began to change. It seemed like everyone could hear and see again, if only for a moment. Sue's wings were entirely made out of magic. It would just take a moment for them to reconstruct themselves after being violently blown apart. The mana expenditure in the long run was negligible. Not only were her mana reserves huge, but Boteg blessed all of his girls with a well of mana. And she was willing to put it all against Justine. But the former familiar was patient. She wasn't going to directly attack her opponent right off the bat. She was going to focus this time. Build up her power while Justine went on to monologue like some comic book villain. If justine didn't want love, then Sue would feed her all the hate she wanted. Sue's building mana was visible. Dust and debris foated in the winds that surrounded her.

Alex was blabbing too now. Good. Even more time to store mana. Sue had no idea what she was doing, what type of power she really held. She wasn't even sure if what came out would even be a wind attack. But it would hurt. Sue really wanted to hurt something right now. But if she acted too suddenly, she would surprise her allies too. She didn't understand why they were talking though. It was definitely time for something to die. Removing everyone from this place was also an option. Vengeance was always the more satisfying option, but with everyone lingering here, they were putting themselves at risk of dieing just like Amber. Sue wasn't worried about herself. She really believed she was stronger than her opponent. But her allies, they needed to be taken out of here.

Sue groaned, still locking eyes with Justine.”Got anything else to add, Justine? I think Alexander has you beat.” Lily might have recognized Sue's voice, but otherwise she made no attempt to explain who or what she was to the magical girl.



Come on guys, just kick her ass already.

"Eep!" Makoto slowed time and quickly reached for a small pouch she carried tied to her tail. "Can't believe I have to do this..." She considered healing her wounds with her artifact, but decided against it considering what she was planning to do. In the pouch lay several dozen coins of various types, most notably magical coins, and several acorns. She began drawing mana from Causality's Mana Font and triggered her signature spell, targeting the moment the fight began with her magic. As she did, she put two of the acorns, which were glowing, into her cheeks.

She kept a tight hold on the knife as she was run down.

---

Sonia scoffed as she glanced at the two before they disappeared, and her eyes then moved down to squint at Makoto, who shimmered slightly as if emanating a heat haze.

"Vandals are to be punished with death. Iron Maiden!"

She threw a knife with a red gem at the hilt of it. The gem glowed once Sonia finished her incantation, and suddenly knives replicated at an alarming rate from the original knife. They formed a complete sphere around Makoto, their bladed ends pointed right at her as they stayed still in the air for just a millisecond before they launched, leaving her no room to dodge.

Unfortunately for Sonia, a millisecond is all Makoto needed as an experienced Time mage. She was already speeding herself up with her magic, and thanks to her Awareness it didn't take much to let her respond. She let herself spend the little extra magic needed to take things slowly and at to her what was a normal pace, but to the rest of the world was nigh-instantaneous, she carefully plucked the original knife out of the air and with it in hand turned all of the other knives to face Sonia, biting into an acorn, breaking it to release the mana it was full of.

"Let's see what your power is all about..." Her words were lost to the minute slice of time they existed in as Makoto realigned with the normal flow of time and created a gravity well just behind Sonia's head, strong enough to pull in the floating knives.

She'd decide from there what the best course of action was.

Sonia was not prepared for her spell being used against her, and shrieked as the knives were shot at her, covering her front with her arms; two knives embedded themselves on her left arm, one on her shoulder, and one on each of her legs before she teleported away. However, Makoto was not left unscathed; three knives behind her were unaffected by being turned towards Sonia, and struck into her body; one above her tail, one on her shoulder, and one between her shoulder blades. Makoto saw her reappear much farther away, about 500 meters in distance.

"Both gravity and time? You indecent vermin!"

She spat out as she magically ejected the knives out, and held her bloody arm with a vicious glare.

"My knives are useless, it seems..." She spoke, but then grinned with uncharacteristic glee.
"I did not imagine I would need to use my ultimate attack, but it seems nothing less will be enough for such a festering infestation."
With those bitter words, she held her arms before her with open palms, and a massive magic circle appeared.

"High-Impact Hell!"

She triggered another spell. Then, Makoto saw it; a bullet train came charging at her at full speed from the circle, filling the corridor entirely.

"Eep!"

---

Makoto's corpse hit the ground with a thud. Sonia likely didn't notice the slight shimmer around Makoto's body, or how her mana seemed to be depleted twice as much as it should be, before a voice resounded through the air.

"A true hero will never fall to evil!"

Makoto's corpse flipped its legs into the air, using them to swing forward and jump into a crouching position. As it stood back up, Sonia would probably notice that it was in the exact same state it had been in at the very start of the battle.



Makoto bit into the other acorn, replenishing her mana to near full. Biting through the acorns, which she'd poured mana into for years in case of situations like this, had refilled her mana and a large chunk of her patron's mana font as well.

"Roar!" Makoto seemed to split into three, one at ground level spinning like a top towards Sonia while the second and third flew through the air, jumping the length between Makoto and Sonia to reach her, the second slightly above her head and the third several feet higher than the second. As it turned out, it was the middle one that was solid, the others being an afterimage from her magic-enhanced speed, and its fist crashed into Sonia's forehead as it landed. "My mighty fist!"

Makoto quickly threw several more punches at Sonia, Impact striking at her target with each successful hit. "And now, special move! PLANET-" Using her absurd speed she struck several dozen times nearly simultaniously, each hit boosted by her redirected magic and her gravity magic causing a strong pull between Impact and Sonia. "CRUSHER!" With all of her strength, boosted by the maximum force she could create with her gravity magic, she struck Sonia with an uppercut, counteracting the effect of gravity on Sonia as she did, sending her through the ceiling with her Killing Blow.

"I call that spell 'Savestate,' bitch."

To say there was a lot of action going on would be an understatement. This place had become somewhat of a war zone, with their tank being decommissioned and the sounds of people engaging in mortal combat resounding through the air. Silhouette thought this entire place had an "end of the world" feeling to it. People weren't pulling punches, they were pulling out all of the stops. Yet even so, Shade was not interested in the least about any of this, yet. Her role was currently one of an observer. The only reason she fought alongside any of these people was to keep her cover, or at least aggression off of her. Even as bad as her disguise technically was, the only thing anybody here seemed to care about was if she was being useful and not backstabbing people -- which she was proud to say she had avoided doing.

All of this commotion provided the perfect opportunity to have a quick chat with her employer. But first, she needed to deal with Suwako. That honestly wouldn't be difficult at all.

Silhouette cracked her knuckles.

"Mariette seemed concerned about you, I'd find her if I were you. She seems like the super scary type when she's upset," Shade told the young archer. "I'll see you later~!" and without further conversation, the idol quickly departed from the scene, allowing no time for chase. And once she had reached a suitable, quiet location (relatively speaking), she retrieved the object her employer had gifted her for this task, and spoke into it after kneeling down.

"Ohaiyo, it's--" Silhouette immediately cleared her throat as she caught herself needlessly keeping character. "I mean...this is Silhouette. The situation seems to have... escalated." she informed her employer.

“Yes, I'm starting to see it on my side as well.” Veronica remained calm. “I trust you are adapting to the situation?”

"Yes, that's correct." Silhouette answered after a short pause, her eye open for any potential eavesdroppers. "The disguise has yet to be compromised. I am fitting into their group - if you could even refer to it as such - quite easily." An average person might have only heard the mostly-monotone voice of hers, but someone like Veronica probably picked up the confidence laying underneath.

“Glad you're having fun.” Veronica did not sound especially glad.

"I assure you that the only thing that has entertained me thus far is the potential end to all of this." Silhouette lied in order to protect her image.

“Someone of interest has just used a black coin. That is to say she has become one of our allies. I am unsure how she's handling her situation, So I would like you to join up with her.” Sil could feel Veronica squint her eyes. “Her survival is extremely desirable. Make sure you leave the over city with her.”

"Is that so?" Silhouette thought for a moment. She recalled the desperate situation in which she was forced to utilize her own Black Coin. She also remembered the... state she was in during it. It was anything but pleasant. Would their new 'ally' be the same in that regard? In all honesty, Sil was much better at eliminating opponents than disabling them.

"Very well. Then I shall make extracting the VIP my primary objective." Sil confirmed. "But does this person have a name?"

“Sue.” Sil could hear Veronica shifting papers around. She must have been at her desk, but it was impossible to know if it was her own personal desk, or one for the police department. It might have even been both. “I'm unsure how the coin has changed her, but I trust you are familiar enough with the group to know who I'm talking about?” Veronica paused, perhaps to read something on her desk. “I do not believe you will have much luck extracting her without her friends. I'm also not sure how much longer we can let Justine's antics continue. She's starting to become more trouble than she's worth. Removing her and her followers might be in our best interest.”

"In that case, I shall attempt to help them do so as long as it doesn't conflict with extracting Sue," Silhouette replied. "I will contact you with the favorable results." the assassin spoke, before ending the call and standing up.

Sue? Wasn't she Amber's familiar? Quite odd that she used a Black Coin. I wonder what happened.

Because she now had a more clear objective, Silhouette could more properly focus her effort on achieving something. Sil was briefed on Amber and Sue back when she was made to sabotage the boat, so she at least knew their names and the relationship they had. It would make the most sense for Sue to be with Amber, given her status as a familiar. And, if Silhouette recalled correctly, Amber really wanted to lead the way towards the "big bad" so to speak. The most obvious place they could be is within the castle, probably confronting Justine. So, Shade deftly set off in that direction and would not stop unless something or somebody actively attempted to stop her.

"Damn, didn't even lay a dent!" The duo's assault on the golem didn't affect it. Scout lowered her rifle backing away from the golem, and Anaya called back her dolls to form a makeshift shield, hoping that it would deflect the golem's attack. Suddenly, the ground below them turned into sand, and the golem was split in half by a stone spike.

"Hahah!! In your fa- wait what?!" Scout's laughter was interupted when the Ice golem stood on it's arms. "Hey, that's cheating!!" The witch was quickly silence as Doris threatened to shatter Alicia, still frozen from the water. She looked back to the mage she was holding onto, and her familiar, unsure of what to do. Then, as if Lady Luck had returned, Penny (atleast she thought it was Penny) and Alicia retaliated, the latter melting herself free with light.

She ended up melting the golem as well, giving Scout the chance to hurry inside. Creating an illusion of her and Anaya, the witch quickly entered the castle, releasing the spirit mage from her root's grip. "Finally. Was starting to worry for a moment." Anaya sighed in relief. "We're not out of the woods yet." Theresa spoke up, turning into her human form. "We still have to find the vampire herself."

"Ugh, theres always a catch..." Scout groaned, searching her pockets for her necklace. "Now, if I were a demented super-villainess, where would I be?" She thought out loud, walking forward. "Top floor? She seems like that kind of antagonist." The familiar suggested, her and Anaya following behind the witch.

"Huh, you may have a point there. Come on, let's find some staircase or whatever."

Curie blazed through the air like a jet plane, leaving behind numerous slashes while weaving around the various attacks aimed at her. While she was immune to Penny's thrown projectiles due to the aura of stone-melting heat she now emanated around her in her fully powered state, the same couldn't be said of the Engine's giant glowing blades; she got a grazing blow delivered to her despite her attempts at predicting her, and the impåact sent her flying back, towards the moon. Curie now had blood dripping form the corner of her lip, and snarled as she shook her fist.

"No! I can't lose! I have to...Protect the castle...I have to protect the world...from this monster!"

Then she was shot by the lightning bolt redirected from the gauss discharge, and she screamed; her aura now grew so bright as to resemble the sun bomb from earlier, and her body began changing even more; her skin distorted, and her muscles expanded even more.

"So this is the end...Well then, I will make it my final firework!"

She then took her sword, now ablaze with fierce flame, and pierced it through her stomach.
Her body seemingly absorbed the sword, and the fire spread to encompass her entire body.

"LADY JUSTINE, WITNESS ME!"

With that final scream, she charged right at the Engine of Destruction, wreathed in flames, and tackled the giant construct into the lake, pushing her underwater. She didn't stop, no matter how many blades and spikes would strike at her. And then, she blew up in an earth-shaking atomic blast; if it wasn't for the magical dampening effect of the lake's waters, the entire landscape would have been consumed by the explosion. Instead, a massive pillar of water bizarrely resembling a mushroom cloud appeared as the lake contained the blast, meaning the entire force of the attack was directed on the Engine. As a consequence, the massive construct's parts scattered everywhere, and Penny's broken cyborg body launched high up, and landed on one of the remaining floats of ice. But miraculously enough, she was alive; Sol's blessing of invincibility had weakened after Penny absorbed the Earth Bastion, but the protective magic had been strong enough to prevent her death. But now, she had lost her limbs.

Doris was hit in the Ice Golem's arm by the metal slug; while not as powerful due to the lack of electrical energy that powered the projectile previously, it was enough to make a crack spread through the arm. Alicia took advantage of the distraction, and with radiant light blinded her, melting the golem into a loose enough shape for her to break free.
Doris covered her eyes with her arm as a reaction, but then looked confused as she opened them again; her eyes no longer had a dull sheen, and instead looked around in a panic, unlike her emotionless demeanor before.
"Huh? Who are you? Where am-"

She did not have time to finish her sentence, as she was pierced by a brilliant blade of light that smashed through the fragile crystal shell. She clutched at the blade, and looked on with horror as she saw the blood spread from her stomach.
"Aghhh! W-Why? I...d-don't...understand..."
She whimpered as life left her, and tears dripped down her pained face, before they froze into sparkling crystals, and she turned still.
The Ice Golem melted into a patch of pure white-snow, only to be tainted by crimson as the innocent magical girl's corpse landed on it. Alicia now felt a different cold from the one that lingered from her freezing after her victory; it was a chill in her heart.

---

Eli dashed through the dark tunnels, now a bit dank as splashing water had flowed down from the stairs. She easily spotted Ilia, who still lied unconscious, and reached the dungeons, where numerous magical girls have been collected. Eli recognized the girls, as most of them were kidnapped by Mariette, and offered to Justine. The girls didn't react when Eli arrived, but when Mariette stepped inside, she could feel eyes drawn to her in the candle-lit cells. The candles had enough distance that the dark magical only felt a slight pain in her chest. And then, they slowly turned their heads towards them, and slowly walked out of their open cells. "You...You brought us here...Witch..."
She could hear them whisper, the doll-like girls' movements stiff and creepy as they approached her. "...It's your fault..." They ghoulishly moaned. If Mariette attempted to walk away, she would realize the magical girls would follow her, at a slightly faster pace than she moves. However, she would hear what sounded like a train ahead in the underground corridors...

---

Sonia walked nonchalantly toward Makoto, confident in her victory, when the squirrel girl made her comeback.
"No, impossible...Not even Minnie could turn back time!"
When she was sent flying by the Killing Blow, she broke through the ceiling, and landed in the foyer just as Scout, Anaya, and Shade arrived there, kicking up a cloud of dust. She weakly reached out towards the high ceiling of the room.
"Lady Justine...Forgive me...For failing you..." She muttered before she turned unconscious. She was then surrounded by the various maids; until that point, they attempted to scale the magical walls Alex had set up, and some even attempted forming a pyramid to reach the top. But now, all they cared about was carrying Sonia to a different room, ignoring the magical girls completely. Now, the only thing between them and Justine were the magical boy's barriers.

---

Justine clenched her fist, and bared her teeth after she heard Alexander speak.
"You dare call me a coward? She snarled. Her wings now beat harder, and her posture turned more agitated, her spear pointed at the magical boy. She looked like she would have been ready to attack, but as Sue asked for her opinion, she curiously lowered her spear, her eyes wide as they glared with nearly uncontrolled hate; it seemed Sue had managed to reach through to her with her voice despite the vampire girl's unstable mental state.

"You have no idea what you're talking about."

Her lips turned into a mocking smile, though a careful eye noticed a twitch on her lower lip.

But how predictable; you dismiss anything that doesn't fit in your narrow-minded conception as stupid, like the pathetic sheep that you are."

"Alex is not a sheep!" Lily spoke up, but then yelped as Justine once again looked at her.

"Caroline..." She repeated the name, and seemed to reminisce for a short moment.

"My sweet sister...She means the world to me. But what I feel for her...It can't be called love. No, something so horrible, so painful...It could never be love. I did all I could to make her happy. I even let her scar me. But no matter what I did, she would be hurt, with tears in her eyes. And then...She wanted to be hurt. If the world calls such despair love..."

She then clenched at her chest.

"The only way she can be free...The only way the world can be saved, is if I make the pain go away. I'll clean everyone's hearts, make them pure again...Hers, and mine."

By the end of her monologue, she had descended down to Lily's level, the sacrificial dagger pointed at her.

"Do you not want to save this world, Lily? Is that not our sworn duty, as Mahou? It is your destiny."

"I...I..." Lily wavered, and shook as the vampire approached her.

Alexander slapped himself in the face "That is exactly what love is, you moron!" he yelled at Justine "It's valuing their own well-being more than your own. It's wanting them to be happy. It's putting up with bullshit from them that you wouldn't from anyone else!" He snorted "you're hurting, and your so desperate for something to lash out at, that you're willing to come up with this twisted narrative to justify mentally castrating the whole planet. And you call me a narrow minded sheep." Alexander began layering barriers over Lily "but I'm sure I'm wasting my breath; you believe this because you need it to be true. You won't listen to logic, but maybe violence can get my point across"

He made two clones that ran off to her side, while Alexander himself refreshed his own forcefield, and created a sword and shield barrier constructs "Let's dance bitch."

Alicia Hayden

Alicia grinned, flush with victory as she vanquished one of Justine's servants. After everything that Justine had done, the people she had kidnapped, it was one step closer to getting some semblance of justice for those lost-

Any thought of that was wiped from her mind As Doris seemed to shake off some kind of stupor, her eyes widening in shock. But it was too late, there was no way to stop her forward motion as she stabbed the girl in the chest. She stumbled back from shock, releasing the blade and letting it fade away even as Doris collapsed and her Ice Golem melted into the snow. It even overwhelmed the sound of Penny's destruction, the explosion in the lake and debris being scattered all around.

"No. No no nononono." Panic rising in her features, Alicia dropped to her knees as she stumbled forward to grasp at Doris' body with shaking hands. "Please don't. Stay with me. Stay with me!" Even as she said it she knew that it was too late. She wasn't a healer, there was nothing that she could do for a wound this severe.

Ice clutched at her heart, threatening to strangle her. It took all that she had not to vomit from the realization that had been made in those few hectic moments. These girls, all of them. They were being controlled by Justine, not working for her voluntarily. And she hadn't once considered that, just done her best to cut them down. How could she have been so stupid? And now it was too late. Tears rolled down her cheeks as sobs seized her chest, head bowed as she pounded at the ground in self punishment for her idiocy. "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry."

It wasn't fair, and there was no way to fight the guilt that crashed down on her shoulders. Doris had been a magical girl like her, her own wishes, people who cared about her, and she had just torn that all away. How could she claim to be a member of Beacon, to be working for a better world, when she'd just killed someone without a second thought? In that eternity she only wished that she could take it all back, but that was never going to be that chance. she had to live with this, and hated herself for it.

She fell silent for a bit, teeth grinding with her fists still clenched as she released the sadness that she felt. Only when it occurred to her that the others didn't know this either did she speak up again. "Beckoner," she said without looking away from Doris. "If reinforcements are coming, now is the time. The path is clear. And tell them just to disable, not to kill the girls working for Justine. I think they can still be saved."

Not that it would make up for this. She didn't think she could ever make up for what she had just done....

When Curie turned her blade on herself, it was the only moment in the fight that the Engine stalled as it had no information about what a tactic could mean. The lull lasted only until it was full body tackled in to the lake at which point it threw everything it had at the atomic powered girl. It quickly noticed that something was wrong however, as Curie had been run through several times by all manner of blades and spikes but was refusing to change her tactics.

As fast as it was capable the Engine started to reshape its body, it was placing as much metal as it could between this last desperate attack and its core as it could, having to way to tell just how powerful this suicidal attack was going to be, it could only be as cautious as possible. When the nuke finally did erupt it could tell that it lived by luck, luck that the metal it had used was blessed for durability.

Slamming on to one of the remaining ice flows that were scattered across the lake, the Engine was still attempting to complete its primary goal. Even though it knew it was at critical levels of damage, as it only barely had thirty percent of its core mass remaining, and the wounds were all bathed in radiation causing regeneration to be stymied.

Relentless in the truest sense of the word.

Somehow it managed to orient its self so that it caught sight of Alicia and Doris, another gauss round visible through the cracked line that was its mouth a moment away from being launched at the ice user. Then the ice golem shattered into soft snow and Alicia lowered Doris to the ground. From this distance the only thing it could tell was that the ice witch was dead. It gave one last scan of the area, to confirm there were no more visible threats.

“Rebooting Humanity.exe”

The first thing Penny felt as she resurfaced was relief and satisfaction, Alicia was okay and the enemies were dead. Then the pain came, as every wound she suffered let her know of their presence all at once. She tried to grit her teeth and endure it but could help the yelp of pain that slipped out. She could also feel a phantom sensation from the Earth Bastion, but as it was currently scattered across the lake bed, along with the rest of her body, all that really did was disorient her making it hard to shut out the pain.

She sat on her little block of ice floating for some time as she fought to get her pain under control, thankful for the refreshing coldness of the ice. She wasn’t too worried, as she wasn’t completely helpless despite being little more than half a torso and head covered in irradiated burns. She still had a gauss round chambered, and allies weren’t too far away.

Eventually, once she could clearly think through the pain she would call out tiredly ”I could use some help over here” hoping that her allies could hear her, If not she would just fire off her gauss round at the castle to get their attention. After all she could still see the top of the tower from her postion.

When Eli arrived in the room with all the girls, disabled from their interactions with Caroline, she stopped to inspect them for potential danger. They appeared neutralized, yet she felt required to run back to report this finding to her mistress. Upon being told, Mariette simply nodded and wandered on, intending to inspect the supposedly inactive girls… only to find that they rose like zombies facing towards her, recognizing her and desiring her destruction.

‘Ah,’ Eli made a noise of realization from beside Mariette, looking upon the girls from a distance from the candles of the cells, out of major damage potential. Mariette, still holding the mirror, frowned looking upon the rows of girls that they themselves had kidnapped. Well, this was partly terrible.

First instinct was she would start recollecting them in their weakened state, taking back what she kidnapped for herself, but unfortunately she was completely out of power. Second instinct was to send Eli to dispatch them all, however depending on their remaining power that could pose an unacceptable risk to Eli’s continued safety. Third instinct was to use the mirror and flee out of here, but that’d mean that upon potential victory Alicia and Beacon would liberate a large group of Magical Girls that no doubt would be hell bent on Mariette’s destruction, which was less than desirable.

Mariette closed her eyes, carefully considering her options, standing before the girls slowly homing in on her…

‘M-mistress…!?’ Eli asked, quickly deforming her arms into a rifle aimed at the crowd, warning them to stay their distance, but not firing since Mariette seemed to be considering something. Then… suddenly, Eli had Asengav’s Mirror thrust upon her, Mariette having passed it over to the considerably confused slime harpy, the Reflective Witch holding a resolved expression.

‘… Mistress?’ Eli asked, surprised.

‘Stand back, Eli. Leave this to me, and watch my back,’ Mariette, said, raising her chin and looking over the crowd like a spiteful goddess watching her nonbelievers. She wandered forth to meet them, her graceful steps like she was accepting her fate to them, Eli’s eyes widening as confusion took her over.

Mariette finally stopped before the crowd.

Then she raised her right arm high.

‘Wait! Hold off your attack! I ask you now, please hear me out!’ Mariette announced, her other hand placed upon her chest, her voice having risen a couple of notes in brightness to sound more innocent. ‘I am not the primary cause of your misery! As we have learned, Justine von Visceral is a user of mind-manipulation tricks and brainwashing, and she uses this to recruit followers to fight for her, no matter their true hearts! I, too, I regret to say, was used, manipulated for her evil deeds. I am not blameless…’ Mariette put both hands before her heart and lowered her chin in a slight bow, her tone and posture as if she was really regretting it. Then, she raised her head again and stepped forward to call out to the girls.

‘But SHE is the one who gave you to her little sister! SHE was the one who had me collect you for your blood and to complete her wicked plans! She now plans to purge your world of all you hold dear and to claim it for her own!’ Here, Mariette made a dramatic gesture upon her own damages from explosions and being thrown around and the dreadful state of her dress.

‘LOOK UPON ME! I have been damaged in extensive combat with Justine and her lackies, fighting to stop her from continuing her vile deeds! I ask you now! Turn aside your desire for vengeance and see your true enemy!’ Mariette here pointed forth, towards where she had heard the sound of the train.

‘My allies, composed of Magical, Beacon and Monster Girls alike, should be fighting her beyond these corridors, seeking to end Justine’s tyranny! They seek to save Janet Howell, to save Lily Hanson, and to save you all! I have exhausted myself fighting Caroline, the little sister whom has been defeated, but Justine remains! If you have any to give, I ask of you! Lend us your might! Let us defeat Justine von Visceral, and vanquish this threat to our world! Let’s go!’

And then, should there be any reaction from the crowd that implied that they had actual emotions and might actually have been swayed by her speech, Mariette is going to break into a mock run in the direction of the corridor leading towards their destination, hoping that the rest would perhaps hesitate due to doubt of her intention or potentially join her and hopefully overtake her because they have way better stamina than Mariette could ever hope for.

Obviously, this was all an act, because Mariette doesn’t feel the slightest remorse for them all and wasn’t in the slightest brainwashed when she did all that, but those are details better left for later.

‘…’ Eli stood with mouth kind of hanging open, staring at Mariette as she held that speech to them. Huh. Didn’t know mistress could act. Eli also noted how she technically never lied during that speech, in case of any light-users. “Purge the world and claim it for her own” was a guess, though. Still, just in case they don’t buy it… Eli made ready to leave the mirror, jump forth and grab Mariette to attempt carrying her off to safety just in case the crowd of Magical Girls in fact didn’t care the slightest about anything else than vengeance upon the Reflective Witch. Just in case.

Had Shade any real sense of teamwork hiding within her, she may have felt just a bit guilty she wasn't really involved in any of these colossal fights going on at the current moment. Each person here seemed to be giving it their all. Limits were perhaps passed, unfathomable techniques were probably released, and some may have given all. On both sides, too. Characters fighting for reasons much less selfish than Sil's own continued battling with not even a brief considering from the assassin.

Were she to stop and consider their ideals and convictions, maybe she would have been a bit jealous. Jealous that someone could care enough for some ideal, some selfless reason enough to battle in such a way. But Silhouette had only truly known the allure of a long-lasting life and good pay. A just cause was never cause enough for her to risk her life. Her sole exception was a perversion brought about by a cursed coin, one she would purge from herself eventually.

Yes, all she cared about now was the mission that would satisfy her employer.

No matter how 'important' these other fights were, what casualties might be suffered due to her negligence, she avoided all of them. Only one actually mattered to her -- the one involving her new VIP, Sue. So she ran, and ran some more. Her way was made towards the castle, where she seemed to have caught up with a couple of others who'd also desired to join the battle there. So long as they didn't impede her, Sil had no reason to care what they did. But it was shortly after that they'd reached a barrier, along with a large number of maids who, in any other circumstance, would have appeared to be making some sort of cheerleading routine. In this case, however, it seemed as though they were attempting to cross the barrier. Sil wasn't sure how strong if at all, these maids were, but they'd probably be a pain nonetheless. They certainly weren't friendly, that was for sure.

"Hmm..."

Shade was about to prepare to begin dealing with these maids when suddenly someone made quite the dramatic entrances to the room via the ceiling. She muttered something about failing Justine before going limp, which apparently prompted the maids to take care of her instead of attempting to scale the barrier from before. That saved she and the others the chore of dealing with them, so she mentally thanked the ceiling antagonist for its appearance, before turning to the barrier.

"Ummm... I don't suppose either of you can do anything about this, can you?" she asked rather innocently but she wasn't given a response that was to her liking. Despite her rather cutesy appearance, she was mildly frustrated. Under the guise of a cute skip she approached the barrier and gave it a rather strong punch.

The barrier did not react but then again, a barrier that weak might as well not even exist.

Instead, the punch was more of an attempt to vent some frustration. She was going to have to bare ChronoRend to remove this thing, as attempting to scale it was far too time-consuming at the moment and ironically, time was not something she had right now. Shade clicked her tongue, which would actually be the only obvious sign of her displeasure given the bright smile her idol disguise almost perpetually had, and then she merely summoned her special dagger. Channeling mana through the blade, the assassin wasted no time and made a few swift slashes at the barrier, and in stark contrast to her punch, these effortlessly cut through the barrier like a hot knife through butter. This left a door-shaped wound in the barrier, assuming the entire thing didn't shatter when compromised.

"Come on, there's no time to lose~!" she informed the two girls she was now partied with before hopping through the entrance she'd made. She still felt pretty irritated that she was forced to use ChronoRend, but thinking about it, it made no sense. Nobody here would recognize her and having it out meant she wouldn't be fighting with a handicap. Logically, there's no reason she needed to be upset, but she still was.

Thinking about something silly like that is only distracting, I'll worry about it later.

Having been thrown by Sue's attack, Janet had to take a moment to compose herself. Despite vision being obscured by her Ever Mist spell no one seemed to be hindered much by it. The Sky Captain also seemed to be able to sense past her Incognito. For what the Beacon had supposedly given her it was clearly useless. But the advancing Alexander was more of her concern at the moment. From what she'd seen the barriers were formidable, but not full proof. While it may block many attacks she could still hear him. Upon touching the ground her body collapsed and flowed through narrow cracks toward Alex.

The room began to hum as the mist began to vibrate. While she didn't quite have the same sense as Sue, the two were not that far apart. What was sound after all but a pressure wave? Chaotically stirring the air she hoped to regain some of her stealth from the magical Air user. Surely larger moves would be detected though. Reforming by Justine and Lily a bubble of water wrapped around them. The surface didn't stay pristine long though as it began to ripple. Acting as a massive speaker the bubble unleashed a high pitched, ear splitting sound. Windows rattled and shattered in their frames.

---

Walking up to Alicia, the Earth girl put a hand on her shoulder. "You can't always help this kind of thing happening. But like you said we will try our best to incapacitate them." Though the immediate threat was over there was still whatever was happening at the castle. Quite a few part of this outside battle had put their all into taking out the threat.

Raising her head she spotted Penny, or what was left of her, out on the ice. "Looks like your friend survived though." Taking her leave she walked over to the water's edge and raised the earth under the ice so it would stop moving and create a bridge. Running across she knelt down and helped Penny up. "That was quite impressive. I've been doing this a while but I can't say I've seen... Her words were cut short when the castle windows blew out and and the ringing sound reached them. At this distance it wasn't a concern but it was still distinctly audible.

Sue hadn't really intended for Justine to actually keep this banter up. But she was, none the less. Each word was another moment Sue could build up her power, and she wasn't about to let the opportunity slip her by. But maybe she should have. Every word that came falling out of Justine's mouth only served to further enrage Sue. She didn't understand the situation, but she understood How backwards Justine was. She was enslaving magical girls, killing them. Sisters and friends alike, turning against each other, because she believed her one relationship was all that mattered.

Things were about to get chaotic. Alexander was barking like a junkyard dog. Silloette, Scout, and Anaya just broke into the room. And it was evident that Janet was about to do something. Finally, she had figured out that her soundwaves could be used to disrupt the air, and was able to create a veil within her mist. but it was too little, too late. Sue knew where everyone was, and wasn't about to wait for everyone to change their positions.

”...No.”



That was the last thing anyone in Sue's vicinity heard before being consumed by an invisible force. It was a vaccum, so no amount of sound could permeate it. The powerful sound waves might have shattered windows, but everyone inside Sue's vaccum was deaf to everything around them. It quickly encompassed the immediate area, Justine and Janet included. But for those gifted with a third eye, they could tell this was just the beginning of a much larger spell. Sue wasn't even trying to create a barrier, she was trying to remove everyone she could from this place. Sue, Justine, Janet, Alexander, Lily, and Helga were all going to leave the overcity. Though there was still time for a few hitchikers to join them, should they understand what was going on. For those that stayed behind, they would see that part of the top floor blink out of existence. There was a hole that lead straight down into the room below.

---

Sue and everyone she had traveled with were now hundreds of feet over the ocean, far away from Penrose train station where they entered the overcity from. The vacuum had disappeared, as it was just an effect of the dimensional shift. That move had taken quite a bit of Sue's stored up mana, but she still had quite a bit left. Shifting out of the overcity wasn't just for a change of scenery. Sue was able to alter the air around the floor and make it move the way she wanted. By blasting the floor behind herself with wind, she was able to catapult Justine, Janet, and Lily into the air, who were in front of her. In the event the trio made it in, Sue would make sure the wind didn't hit them with any kind of force, or would simply move the air around them. Without supporting walls, the floor acted like a seesaw. It was steadily falling, but at a slow rate thanks to Sue's wind magic. If anyone fell off the side due to the sudden drop, they would find themselves slowly descending with the floor because of a strong upward draft. But She was definitely starting to clean out her reserves with everything she was trying to do at once. With the three magical girls thrown into the air, Sue floated off the floor and attempted to snatch lily out of the air with her tendrils. She then pulled back her arm to prepare her remaining mana for a special attack. She was scowling like a crazed berzerker, and her eyes were still bloodshot from the crying she did earlier.

”You don't get to save your sister!” She shrieked.

When sue hurled her fist forward, a blast of wind rushed by her opponents. While the wind attack itself was relatively weak, the vacuum behind it was closing with enough force to mimic the sound of thunder.



Oh, now this was very good for Tonya.

Escaping the overcity was the hard part, or at least, Tonya thought it was. But now that they were back in the real world, the only thing she had to worry about was orchestrating Justine's downfall. She'd aid Justine's foes as best she could, obstructing their apparent position while using her gravity magic to assist their attacks.

"Uh...we got a problem here." Anaya walked over to the barrier the maids were trying to climb up. "A barrier? Must've been Alex's doing." Scout remarked, retracting her roots as her leg healed with her opal necklace. The witch stomped on the ground as if to regain feeling in her leg. "Ya think you could grab your dolls and break this thing?" She asked the mage.

"Hmm..." Anaya thought as the time-wielding idol they were stuck with, Shade, asked them if they could do something about the barrier. "Not really." Scout shrugged. "Guess I could have my dolls try to break it but..." before the mage could finish giving her idea, Shade had already broke through the barrier with ease, prompting a jaw drop from Scout.

"Huh. Thanks." Anaya nodded to Shade, patting the witch's shoulder. "Come on then."

"Oh, right!!" Scout sprinted up the staircase, Anaya and Theresa in tow. Once the duo arrived at the battleground, the witch caught sight of Lily and Alex, and the vampire she believed was Justine. "Alex! Lil-" that was the last thing Scout said before everything went silent. Okay, who muted the fight?! she thought. Scout decided to forget about it, and ran up to the altar chamber, just before it dissapeared.