Alicia's Beckoner appeared with a small blink of light, and she strummed her harp as she landed on her shoulder with her tiny feet. "Alicia! Where have you-Ah!" She yelped in surprise, and floated down to inspect Doris. "As we expected Justine has gone so far as to enslave others to her will, and have them...It is horrendous." She turned to Alicia, and gave a reassuring smile. "Do not worry, for you have the Beacon with you...In your pocket, and in your heart." She then climbed into her pocket, and popped out holding the jeweled trinket in her tiny hands. A pillar of light shot up from the item, and seemed to clear the night sky for but a brief moment before it disappeared.

It only took a moment until Alicia could feel the same sensation as when she crossed through Mariette's portal; one Overcity Shift later, she was before a group of Beacon girls; the reinforcements have finally arrived.

"Well you took your sweet time!" Sylvia Starshine berated Alicia, her hands on her hips. "But I'm glad you finally did activate the signal." Another girl stepped forth, happy as can be. "Have you located Justine?"
Alicia saw that she accompanied by Shamrock Sally, a Beacon girl notorious for both her extreme clumsiness but also her miraculous success in most missions. She bore a wide smile as she asked the question, her bounciness visually apparent from both her figure and dress. "Umm...Hello, how can I help?"
Alongside her was June, a rookie Beacon girl who just began when the HQ was attacked, and a pair of twins she had never seen before. They simply stood side by side, and looked on at Alicia silently.

"I know it's not much, but there were only a few rookies available," Sylvia spoke, but then noticed Doris.
"If you think they can be saved, then we'll hold back for now. But the moment things get hairy, we won't hesitate to burn the whole den of evil down. Alright, listen up!"
She pointed at the castle.
"Blueberry, Strawberry, you spread out and look for hostages. June, you check out the library. Sally, you...Accompany Alicia. Whe-huh?"
Sylvia turned to see Penny's pathetic remains call out for them, and she sighed.
"So the monster had its use after all. Wait just a sec, I'll come over!"
She shouted, and gave a hand signal for the others to begin the operation. Everyone dispersed, but as Alicia was about to follow them, she heard a mewl low on the ground; she saw how Kimble's ears weakly twitched.
"Uuuhhh..." She murmured, critically injured; it was a miracle she was alive.
"Nghh..." She whined, and her tail slapped the ground, causing her to wince. Sally turned back.
"Hm? IS something wrong, Alicia?"

Sylvia leapt over the ice floes, and knelt beside Penny as she opened up her bag. "You're lucky I have my Hammerspace Bag with me." She took out some tools, and began giving her some mechanical first aid. "Hold still, your squirming makes this hard! Geez, what a piece of work..." She mumbled, and soon enough, Penny felt better...for a limbless torso. "So the rest of you scattered all over? What could have caused that much damage?" She asked, and then looked around. "Hey, didn't you come here on some kind of tank? Where is it?"

---

The doll-like magical girls formed a wide circle around Mariette and Eli when they reached her, but then stopped, standing completely still with their arms at their side, aside from the occasional sway or crooked head. "Huh?" One asked, and the others looked confused as well. At first, they looked on with disdain and enmity like before, but when she mentioned Justine, they gasped. "You're a victim too..." Some mumbled, and some looked sad. It seemed her lies took root in their magically addled minds, and when she claimed she would defeat Justine, they smiled, having fully bought the deception. "Savior..You're here to save us." They weakly cheered, and now approached her even more, until Mariette was uncomfortably pushed against by a horde of smiling girls.
"Let's go, Savior! Lead us to victory!" They spoke like a song, and lifted her up, carrying her in a crowd-surfing fashion as they ran out of the dungeons, in the direction Mariette would give them; they would obey nearly any order now. The Dark Magical Girl had succeeded in gathering minions of her own. Would she be the next ruler of the castle?

---

The air in the altar chamber turned tense and seemed to faintly sparkle, as magical wind and mist swirled around and struggled for control between Janet and Sue, like Yin and Yang. The hostility was so palpable one could nearly taste it, hanging by a thin, sharply-wound thread, the silence only broken by Helga's quiet sobbing. Lily was frozen in place, not daring to move a muscle as Justine looked deep into her eyes with two crimson orbs. She then glared at Alex, and gripped her dagger tighter. Alex' clones flanked Justine, and the vampire girl's fangs glistened as she bared her teeth, her eyes ablaze with determination.

"I won't let anyone deny my paradise! NOBODY!"

In a single instant, everything fell to chaos. As if she had cast a spell herself, Justine, and Lily by proximity, were encased inside Janet's bubble-like body, shielding them against the clones that flanked them and repelled their attacks. The bubble shivered, piercing screech resounded through the chamber like a demonic bat, and the large window in the back shattered; carried by the winds, the shards caused the room to shimmer in hues of red.

"Futile! Mere peasants like you cannot change fate!"

Justine spoke with glee, and made a stabbing motion towards Lily. The green/haired girl yelped, and defended with her arms. The dagger bounced back, having shattered one of five barriers Alex managed to cast on her.

"All I need is a drop of your blood, Lily! It will only sting for a moment!"

Justine made another stab, and another, her face a twisted smile, and Lily cried out in fear.

" So give it to me! Like the son of God, save us with your sacrifice!"

But then, she stopped with a scowl as she felt the magic in the air coalesce around the chamber, just as more magical girls ran into the chamber. Her eyes widened, and she looked like she screamed loudly. However, her words fell to deaf ears, as everything turned silent; Sue cast a spell of great arcane might, and most of the floor disappeared, alongside everyone on and over it.

---

A bright, yellow light flashed over everyone's eyes far in the horizon as it dipped into the ocean. The sound of harsh winds befell everyone, as they now plummeted from the sky alongside a long piece of marble floor that Justine and Lily stood on. Helga was startled by the change, and looked around, now upside down as she fell. Scout was standing at the very edge of the now-falling marble-floor, and nearly tripped from the edge, saving herself with her Dexterity. Justine, however only showed pure wrath in her eyes. When Sue launched the bubble up, she flapped her bat wings by reflex, and scoffed with a squint in her eyes. The black tentacles whipped and coiled around the bubble, and it endured until it was hit by Sue's vacuum punch, causing it to open up and expose the two inside.

"You harlot! But this changes nothing! The moment we reach the sea, Janet will kill you all! It is useless!" Justine shouted, and reeled back to throw her red spear.

"Justine!"

Justine turned; she saw Helga pointed at Justine; her tears flowed upwards from her cheeks. "My lady promised me we would sail the seas together...to go on adventures on her ship. But you killed her! You have taken everything from me! I won't forgive you...I WILL AVENGE MY AMBY!"

And then, she transformed again, and assumed her draconic form. But this time, it resembled her monster girl appearance more; it was fitted with futuristic accessories, with two horns with clean-cut tips growing from her forehead, and from her back sprouted scaly wings. She charged forward, and placed her clawed palms on the bubble. The bubble then incurred a point-blank impact from her sound wave cannons, now amplified with a frequency that could segregate the most viscous liquid. Due to her liquid form, Janet incurred heavy damage from the blow, and was forced to reassemble back to her jellyfish form.

"Kneel, peasants, and submit to your destiny! Cross of Golgata!"

Justine spread her limbs, including her four black wings, and magic circles formed from each one; she unleashed a barrage of wide red beams of magical energy in the shape of crosses from them. One was aimed at Helga, another at Alex, one at Shade, and the last one at Sue. The lasers were accompanied by a massive amount of red orbs, filling the air with a curtain of magical projectiles, forming mesmerizing patterns as Justine showed her supreme magical ability.

"Aaahhh!"

Lily screamed as she fell, only slightly slower than the seesaw floor. It would still take some time before they hit the sea.

"I wish I had wings tooooooooo!"

"FUCK!" Alexander reinforced his legs to run out of the way of the attack. Since he was already moving faster, he decided to take the time to reclaim Lily. With his boosted speed, he was easily able to run over and pluck Lily from the air, carrying her bridal style "Lily...if you ever let yourself get kidnapped again, I will smack you until you can't see straight! I don't function right when I'm busy worrying about someone else!" Alexander began to put up a forcefield around Lily, when he had an idea 'Wait...what if I reinforced the forcefield directly?' He quickly tested his idea, and he was able to feel the forcefield growing more stable 'Huh? Well what do you know. It takes more mana, but I recover that fast enough for it to not be too much of a problem' He then reinforced his own forcefield 'nice. Really wish I thought of this sooner though.' he nodded his head "Okay, so we're on a floor that is rapidly falling into the ocean, with a deranged not job trying to kill us. Meanwhile, her water magic user mook is also trying to kill us, and will most likely find more success at that once we reach the water. Dammit, when did my life become a bad video game!?"

"WoahwoahWOAH!!!" Scout was fortunate enough to have ran into the room before Justine and the others had dissapeared, but not enough to end up stanting on the edge of the falling floor. Her arms and one of her legs waving around in the air like she was about to trip, the witch quickly caught herself and flipped away from the chance of plummeting into the ocean.

Walking over to the middle of the only platform, she grabbed her rifle and aimed at Janet. There was no point of trying to shoot Justine when the water user was protecting the vampire as her shield. Luckly, the newcomer broke the bubble shield, and Helga turned into some futuristic dragon hybrid and charged at Justine, so Scout instead opened fire at the vampire to assist them.

Until she saw Lily falling. "Shit, Lily!!" Scout nearly used a root to try and catch her, when Alex managed to catch her. "Jesus, you love birds are gonna give me a heart attack!!" The witch yelled at the other two, before continuing to fire at the vampire.

"Wait, what is she-? Oh SHIT!!!" Scout ceased fire and grabbed Shade with one of her roots, dodging the strangely familiar bullet hell Justine was attacking them with. "That's it, I'm beating a bitch with another bitch!" She quickly said, looking over to the idol. "Don't hate me for this, toots." The witch then threw Shade at Justine. "Say hello to my little friend!!"

Shade had been right behind Scout and Ananya as they approached the scene. A battle was taking place and things were starting to get CUHRAYZEE chaotic, but at that moment Sil was focused on locating her VIP. Thankfully, this did not take long at all, as Sue seemed to be quite proactive during this fight. Wasting no time, the assassin/idol pulled ahead of the two she'd arrived with and was going to attempt to assist the ex-familiar when suddenly everything had gone silent.

Sue herself was the cause of this sudden silence, but more importantly, Shade was able to see that there was more to this than a loss of hearing. No, she and everybody and everything caught in this spell were about to be forcibly relocated someplace else. For Sil, there wasn't much hesitation because she was obligated to protect the girl. Though that's not to say she didn't have second thoughts as soon as she found herself freefalling, along with everybody else.

Things... aren't as simple as they used to be...

Stepping foot into this realm was perhaps one of the more stress-inducing things she'd ever done. Many people could go their whole lives without disguising themself as a cute idol who punches monsters. Even more probably don't need to hold back a black-coin-induced alter ego who has a very suggestive liking to blood and violence. And really, how many people are going to actually get the chance to play the Bayonetta tutorial level in real life? All of these things are stressors like seriously being an idol is tought work, and they've all happened in succession to the innocent DMG. Perhaps Sil'd ask for some time off so that she could maybe rethink her approach to paying off this damned debt she owed. There was no point if she wound up dying from a heart attack induced by stress.

If that could ever happen to a magical girl like her? Who knew.

For now, however, she and everybody attempting to beat Justine would probably benefit more from her figuring out how not to die during all of this. Short-term goals are important too, after all. Thinking quickly, she felt that it would perhaps be best to place the part of the room that had followed them in Stasis. Landing in the water below would put them into a very disadvantageous position, and generally people enjoyed having a floor to stand on. All she had to do was reach out and touch it, but her efforts were delayed by the sudden attack by Justine. Being airborn, evading the attack was going to prove quite difficult, but through precise and skillful stasis on her blade, she could manipulate herself out of the way and hopefully not be hit.

Well, that was what was supposed to happen.

"Wait, what is she-? Oh SHIT!!!"

Sil suddeny felt something grab her person, stopping her attempt. Thankfully it was Scout and not one of the people attempting to kill her, but it still wasn't something she consented to, even if it did pull her out of the way of the attack. "...Ah, s-stop...!" it would be impractical to explain what she was trying to do while they were all falling, but Shade really needed her to let go. She could appreciate the save, but it was actually counterproductive right now. "Let me go...!"

"That's it, I'm beating a bitch with another bitch!"

Silhouette was experienced enough with danger than in dire times her body would unconsciously react and warn her of impeding danger. She'd get goosebumps and her heart would begin to pump quickly, she'd enter a heightened awareness. Her instinct had saved her life countless times in the past, and was a valuable tool in preventing bad things from happening to her. And while this was useful, the problem was that this very same instinct was kicking in right now. Needless to say, Sil had a very bad feeling about this. Yet there was nothing she could do but be made into a human missle of sorts. When she was launched, there were many things running through her head. A lot of them were unpleasant, negative thoughts about the girl who'd thrown her, but shortly after takeoff she'd resigned herself to her fate and decided to play a convincing missle and readied ChronoRend to attempt to land an empowered attack on Justine.

Why me?

Alicia Hayden

Taken off guard by someone who wasn't Penny, and who decidedly wasn't Mariette or any of the others that she would have expected, Alicia glanced back over her shoulder to see who it was. The initial confusion lasted for a few seconds before she recognized it as that girl from the hospital fight, who had somehow wound up here. Shrugging off the hand, she couldn't help but glare at Shannon. "I'm surprised you're here," she remarked with edge in her tone. "I figured you'd be trying to find a way to peacefully convince Justine to not destroy the world. Since people can change their ways."

Okay, yeah, she was still a bit bitter about that whole thing. She hadn't been caught in the best mood.

While Shannon made herself scarce, Alicia's attention was drawn away by the arrival of her Beckoner. Her head bowed as it remarked on what had happened, only to rise and gain a light smile at the reassurance it provided before producing the tracker she had brought with and activating it. She felt...better. She hadn't forgiven herself yet, but knowing it wasn't held against her took a weight off of her shoulders.

Rising to her feet, she did her best to compose herself, brush away her tears, and put on a strong face for the reinforcements as they had arrived. She wasn't sure how many there would be, so even the five that came through could not disappoint her expectations. "I wasn't sure how tough it would be, so I wanted to make sure you guys had a clear road to Justine," she explained ay Sylvia's comment before gesturing to the castle that was standing basically next to them. "She's in there, some of the others already went ahead so they could probably use the help."

Rubbing the back of her neck, she shot them a chagrined look. "I'd have called a bit sooner but I got dropped in a lake, and then frozen." That sort of thing was a bit of a deterrent.

Listening to the directions given, Alicia nodded before hurrying towards the castle with the others as they began. She trusted Sylvia could take care of Penny, so she wasn't going to unduly worry about that. In a fight like this, distractions could mean your death, so she needed to stay focused. Even if she was tapped out on mana, she could still be of use.

She'd only made it a few steps before she heard something that brought her short. Glancing round, her eyes widened as she spotted Kimble moving, somehow still alive in spite of getting hit so hard by the ship earlier. She wasn't going to ask how she had managed that, but she hurried over without answering Sally to get a better look. Dropping down to her knees, she looked over the magical girl to assess how bad her wounds were, before rooting through her stuff to find some of those medicinal herbs she carried as part of her hoodoo knowledge. Hopefully they had survived the swim and being frozen.

As she did so, she called back to Sally. "This one's still alive," she explained, before looking to Kimble. "Shhh, don't move. It's okay, you're safe now." She wasn't sure if Kimble could hear her, but it was worth making the effort.

Looking to Sally, she nodded towards the castle. "You go on ahead. I'm tapped out on mana so I'll catch up once I'm done here." They couldn't afford to waste time, and Sally would be more useful joining everyone in fighting Justine than she would be. That said, she returned to doing what she could for Kimble, chewing up and applying the herbs (if she could find any), and otherwise doing what first aid she knew. It would have to be a temporary fix, until they could shift her back to a Beacon medic.

Hopefully the castle didn't explode while she was busy

Weaving through Justine's matrix of projectiles wasn't something anyone could describe as easy. Her projectiles were numerous, sometimes fired projectiles of their own, and didn't even all come from Justine's direction. But Sue was a secret touhou was a nimble flier. She wasn't bound to the floor, so she had the option to fly over and under her attacks. It was fortunate that Justine was spreading out her attacks so much. Sue would hate to be the sole target of her barrage.

The former familiar needed to have extreme situational awareness to make sure she avoided Justine's projectiles. Fortunately the projectiles distorted the air just enough for Sue to notice. But she wasn't leaving it all to her magical senses. She needed to keep her ears and eyes peeled as well. Perhaps that's why she heard Sil struggling behind her. Sue was still new to her powers, and hadn't learned to tell who was where yet. Even so, the giant marble floor was falling through the sky. Trying to feel their exact location would be difficult even for an experienced magical girl. She couldn't take her eyes off of Justine, so she could only assume Sil was being attacked by Janet. While the elimination of Justine was certainly high on Sue's goals, she also didn't want to lose anyone else. Deni, Amber, she had killed enough people already.

Sue opened her wings and floated backwards with the projectiles, all while evading them as she descended towards the falling platform. At this point Sue was able to properly gauge the situation. As it turned out, Sil was simply going to become an unwilling projectile from one of her allies. If Sue wasn't already furious, this would have angered her further. It would have been preferable if she could keep advancing on Justine's position, especially since she knew Helga was now advancing solo. But seeing Sil positioned like that, accepting her roll as a projectile. She didn't look willing, but it gave Sue an idea. She snatched Sil out of the air and hugged her against her waist. Scout was strong, but throwing struggling people as projectiles wasn't quite in the cards for her. Sue flew herself and Sil behind Alex's barrier to give everyone a quick message.

”I can't steady the platform anymore. Our opponent is too strong.” Sue had been releasing her hold on the falling floor for some time now, but it was going to start falling much faster now that Sue was releasing her full magical grip on it. ”We're going to kill Justine before you reach the ocean. Just survive until then.” And then Sue blasted off. She now had all of her magic to work with. She was going to funnel as much as she could to charging up another attack, but still needed to expend her energy keeping herself afloat. Sue had to keep Sil up too, but that shouldn't be a problem now that she wasn't trying to maintain the floor. ”Here's the deal, Shade.” Justine's projectiles had caught up with Sue again, forcing her to swerve around them. ”Once I get close enough, I'm going to blast you in Justine's direction. So keep your shape as aerodynamic and possible.” She corkscrewed between two large spheres of energy before hovering over a laser. ”And we're not debating this.” Sue was gaining altitude, even going as far as trying to fly over Justine. Just to keep the vampire on her toes, she briefly released an arm on Sil's waist to fire a weak thunder shot at Justine. It might gain the unwanted ire of the vampire, but anything that might help her friends survive was worth trying.



Yeesh, what was Sue smoking? Even Tonya was having a hard time dodging so many projectiles. Fortunately, Alexander's barrier created a bit of cover that she could use. She totally understood why Lily would use him as a pocket healer, even if the notion was one Tonya found a bit crude.

Penny was grateful to see another friendly face, or at least someone who wasn’t going to attack her, as she wasn’t sure if she could consider Shannon a friend but knew she wasn’t an enemy. Being lifted slightly Penny had a better look across the lake to the castle ”You talking about the fight or the fact I survived?” She would ask as she watched the castle with curiosity, mainly due to the ringing that could be heard coming from the tallest tower.

That curiosity was quickly forgotten as a pillar of light was shown forth from near Alicia, and normally that wouldn’t be anything impressive, but Penny couldn’t help the shiver that ran down what was left of her spine as the monster inside of her could tell that was Beacon magic. Penny didn’t have any issues with that from a logical perspective, but the Beckoners always put the cyborg on edge due to her blighted heritage. Still she wasn’t going to voice her discomfort to them, or anyone really, not a good idea to tell people just how close the monster was to the surface most of the time.

It did mean that she saw her mechanic coming however; though with Sylvia calling out her approach it wouldn’t have been much of a surprise anyway, and Penny did try and hold still but the first aid felt so weird and nearly ticklish, not that she said that ”I’m trying, but it’s kinda hard when you get poked in places that are normally inside of you” she quipped in return even as she keep a steady lock on her mechanic.

”Most likely and the Earth Bastion got caught up in the same blast that did this to me, one of the crazies that was guarding this place went nuclear, and I say that quite literally.” Still despite her prickly demeanor at the moment, Penny was always a bit weary around member of Beacon she didn’t know, she could tell that the first aid was working, but even better was the radiation was fading away.

Closing her eyes Penny shut out everything she could, and focused on the feeling of her regeneration at work. She had always known that she had some operative control over it, but she wasn’t aware of everything she could do with her own systems, not like her monstrous half was. Thus every time it rose to the surface she learned something new about herself, as much as she wished that wasn’t the case. This time she had learned about the power rerouting trick, and she knew herself well enough that if she could shunt power away from the regeneration she could also redirect power too it.

Outside the sound of machinery would grow, as Penny poured as much power to her regeneration as she felt comfortable in doing. The sight that Shannon and Slyvia would be witnessed to would be rather bizarre as the missing endoskeleton would rapidly start rebuilding itself from jagged spikes of steel that would seamlessly emerge from the melted wounds.

After a few minutes the sounds coming from Penny would return to their normal quiet murmur and her eyes would open moments later letting her see that which she already knew, she was now mostly functional. She was missing a few of the outer layers of her platting, and her blade ports were still out of commission so she would have to be cautious if another fight broke out soon, but she was self-mobile again even if she looked half built.

”Thanks for the pick-me-up” Penny said to Slyvia as she checked herself over once more, mainly to take note of her standard regeneration speed, before nodding to herself. She looked worse for the wear but that would be taken care of in a few minutes, which wasn’t surprising considering the density of her outer platting. Plus she looked a hell of a lot better then she had been a short bit ago.

Without waiting or prompting Penny started back towards the lake shore, she wanted to check up on Alicia, and be near someone that she didn’t feel the need to be on guard with. She wanted to trust all the beacon members on sight, but it was hard not to see to distrust and disgust in most of their eyes.

The sight she encountered when she did make it back to Alicia was rather confusing to the mechanical mahou, and she stood there for a few moments with her confusion plain on her face at the sight of first aid being given to an enemy who by all rights should have been dead. Her right hand flexed a few times as Penny fought against the urge to simply break Kimble. With a force of will she shoved that desire away, back in the dark parts of her mind.

”Careful with the tail, they tend to be really sensitive” Penny was confused, but she could tell what Alicia was doing even if she couldn’t figure out why. So she sat nearby, and offered what little help she could as she started and pulling back the pieces of the Earth Bastion, as well as her old parts, with her feeble magic using the same connection that had been used earlier. Only this time she was just pilling up the wreckage off to the side rather than merging with it, not that Penny could merge due to the radiation, and her inability while not under metamorphosis.

All the while small part of her couldn’t help but feel dread at her confusion, she was missing something she could tell.

To say Mariette hadn’t entirely counting on that her speech would have been this effective would be an understatement. Suddenly, she was being called “savior”, lifted up by the girls and carried along, a very surprised Eli following along carrying the mirror.

The vast majority of the girls were those she had kidnapped. However, she noted, there was the occasional unknown stranger mixed into the bunch who Mariette did not recognize. It was possible that they were simply girls Justine’s other minions had kidnapped, but her cautious nature immediately warned of a potential trap. She had to trust Eli to keep a sharp set of Third Eyes on that.

Hm. There were 42 girls under her command. All weakened, mentally and physically, they probably wouldn’t be a match for a proper enemy should they run into one. Still, there were multiple ways she could use this.

‘Does anyone have a power that could restore my mana? We might need it,’ Mariette asked. Magic power was far more reliable when it was under her command, though she knew abilities to restore it was extremely rare. She only knew a single magical girl that could do that, and she wasn’t here. That said, there could be surprises among those present.

‘Alright, everyone!’ Mariette called after, preparing her plans. ‘I want us to split us up a bit! Firstly…’ she selected around ten of them, ‘I want you to seek through the mansion for magical objects or tomes belonging to Justine, anything that might be fueling her operations. If you can, bring it to me and I’ll investigate them. If you can’t, destroy them. I should be heading for the center of the mansion, where Justine is, but if I’m in a fight you could give them to Eli over there to hold on to, too. You can split up if it appears safe, but stick close in small groups so you can support one another in a pinch. Avoid engagement with hostiles as they’re likely far stronger than you, but don’t be afraid to fight if you think you can handle them!’ These prioritized those who weren’t much use in a fight, if she knew enough to reason. Stealth and speed were good traits. Also if she knew anyone with Hammerspace Handbag or Third Eyes, those were good choices to go searching.

‘You two,’ Mariette looked for fast or people able to communicate / watch over a distance, if they at all had access to their powers. ‘scout out the entrance and outside the mansion, some of my allies were fighting the enemy there. If the winners include a white-haired mechanical girl named Penny and a dark-haired Beacon girl with a bow named Alicia that don’t attack you on sight, tell them what happened here and that I am going to have us help the fight against Justine.’ So she said.

‘Everyone remaining,’ Mariette has intentionally left those who were the most capable in a fight, once again assuming they had any might at all left. ‘We’re going to take the fight directly to Justine, and we’re going to support my allies, who should be fighting at this very moment. Let’s go!’

Plans forged, she pointed ahead and that they should head off. … She didn’t really care if any of those she suddenly commanded were hurt, and their faith in her could potentially be swiftly overturned by a similar speech by someone else. However, she’d be foolish not to attempt taking advantage of this. Some of them could seek to loot the mansion for things Justine left around, two could scout the front of the mansion for the fight that was, and the rest could bring their arms to bear on Justine, if nothing else temporarily bringing her firepower away from those who could actually hurt her.

This mansion was likely toast. Beacon knew where it was now, thanks to Alicia, so setting up shop here wouldn’t be advantageous. This situation could go south at any point, which is why Eli stuck close with the escape-route mirror, ready for when Mariette wanted to bail.

So, Mariette was now heading for the cathedral/ritual chamber/whatever that place was called, where the battle should be taking place…

‘And break any lit candles you pass! They’re a potential asset to our enemies!’ … Just because.

42 of the saddest, most pitiful magical girls that could be, had been united under Mariette's leadership. Most of them had darkened bags under their glowing eyes, their eyelids heavy with lethargy. They also had unsteady footing as their countless footsteps clamored in the shadowy corridor, as if they had been unaccustomed to exerting so much energy. A few of them were so frail they could not stand by themselves, and leaned on a stronger girl's shoulder, slightly straggling behind. However, for how pathetic they seemed, they had a great power in their sheer number as they huddled around their Savior in a drove of frilly dresses and faint smiles of hope.

The smiles of the liberated dolls turned to confusion when Mariette gave her first order, unsure how to answer. They looked at each other with sad eyes, and murmured and whispered among each other, like lost souls.

"Umm..."

A high-pitched voice called out from the crowd, and a lone girl stepped out; she looked about the same physical age as Mariette, and she averted her eyes with a blush on her cheeks, her forefingers pointed together in a demure fashion.
"Uh, well, if you really think we'd need it...I...Can help." The other girls looked on with a mix of interest and suspicion as she continued. "I specialize in Rejuvenation, and I can completely heal a person, in body and mind. But, mmm, it's embarrassing..." She whined, but then bit her lip, took a deep breath, and said:
"I need to...k-kiss them. And, uhh, not just a little peck will do. It has to be on their l-lips, and for...at least ten s-seconds. I've never done this, and I need to focus on it, so...eep."
Suffice to say, gasps popped out from the crowd, and many eyes looked on at Mariette, curious to see how she would react.

After Mariette had decided on what she should do about restoring her mana, she hand-picked and divided the 42 girls into three distinct groups. Though she did remember quite a few of the girls and their powers, the whole mass ended up as a scrambled blur in her uncaring mind. Eli helped by confirming whatever suspicions Mariette had with her third Eye, but the slime harpy soon became exhausted in the face of so many girls to analyze. And so, Mariette had to primarily rely on grouping them based on their physical qualities.

The first group, totaling ten girls, were sent out to search for Justine's treasure, in whatever form it took. While most of them seemed able to hide or run, they all looked frail if not outright sickly. In fact, three of them were unable to stand by themselves, and had to be supported; the smallest girl was carried in a piggyback ride by a taller girl). However, they had powers to hide themselves or flee, so Mariette deemed them fitting for the task, having fulfilled her conditions. The second group consisted of the only pair of twins out of the entire horde, with the ability to communicate between each other over long distances. Thus, they were assigned with securing an exit and explaining the situation to Mariette's named targets. And finally, the rest of the girls, numbering a mighty 30, ran out, with six of them acting as a human palanquin for Mariette to ride on. And, just as she ordered, they bravely slew any nefarious candle they saw, ending up victorious against the illuminating foes as they headed up the castle. Along the way, Mariette felt the effect of numerouas broken mirrors on the wall, causing her great pain. Would she survive the whole trip?

---

Alicia was glad to learn her Enhanced Outfit had perfectly preserved the contents of her pockets. She was successful in the application of her Hoodoo Sorcery, and her herbs had a soothing effect on Kimble's wound, which she discovered to run from her shoulder down to her hip; it became clear she managed to use her wind magic to redirect the magical cannon shell just enough to graze her, preventing her from being completely obliterated. While she was recovering, Penny's Regeneration got to work, and new metal parts lengthened to form new limbs. By the end of it, she had skeleton-like legs and arms, missing flesh and skin, but capable of function. The feline girl's furry ears perked up, and she opened her eyes slowly, still in a pain-induced stupor. "Nhh...Nyahh..." She purred meekly after hearing Alicia's reassuring words, and her tail slowly curled around herself as she looked up at Alicia and Penny, clearly confused and afraid as they leered down at her. "Nhh...Huh? Wh..What's going onnyah?"

Sylvia sighed as she followed Penny back to Alicia, and seemed genuinely shocked. "A survivor? Move, I gotta-Ngh!" She grit her teeth, and drew in a sharp breath as she saw Kimble. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me..."
Sally frowned. "That's a...monster, right?" She asked, looking at Alicia with sad eyes. "Uhh, what should we do?" She asked while poking her chin with her finger.
"Ugh...This is a problem," Sylvia whispered, her head leaned down so her eyes were hidden by her hair.
"Don't you remember our mission as Beacon, Sally? We have to-"
"Sylvia! No, we can't!" Sally screamed, her eyes widened. "It's so cute and adorable, it would be too cruel! What if we recruit her, like the killer rob-I mean, like Penny? I'm sure that's fine, right?"
Kimble then whimpered, with tears in her eyes: "Please, have mercy. I promise I won't cause trouble. Please don't kill me."

Alicia's Beckoner strung a sorrowful note on her harp. "Alicia, for all the time you have served under Beacon's guidance, you have proven yourself a loyal and honorable follower of our ideals. Your sense of justice has been unwavering in this time of weakness for our order. If only all our chosen were as virtuous." The Beckoner sighed." My brethren have deemed the purging of all monsters absolute...However, I will give you the power of choice." The rest of Beacon were stunned into silence.
"Decide on this monster's fate. Whatever judgement you arrive in, I will deem it just in the light of Beacon, and you shall be above retribution. Listen to your heart."

---

Alex dodged and weaved through Justine's rain of blood with superhuman speed, dashing across the free-falling floor to catch Lily just in time. She yelped with surprise, and blushed heavily from the sudden intimate contact, tucking her arms to her body.
"Alex! So you really did come to save me! I knew it! I'm good at predicting this stuff!" She exclaimed with a little giggle, as carefree as always. However, her expression soon turned serious.
"But no more messing around! We need to stop Justine before she hurts anyone else!"
She then blinked, and an idea came to her. She pointed up with a cheeky grin.
"Bring me back up and closer to her, Alex! I know what to say to her!"

Justine von Visceral howled with laughter as she spun, her dress twirling in elegant fashion as she made but slight motions to dodge Scout's attacks. One of them managed to cause a tear in her otherwise perfect ensemble, but she did not seem to notice as she threw her red spear at Scout; it nailed her right on the foot and pierced the stone floor mere seconds before Shade's Stasis, trapping her in place.
"Pitiful! So pitiful it makes me laugh!"

Justine began charging a large red ball of magical energy once she was done with her hell of bullets. Her attacks were partially avoided thanks to Shade's rapid use of Stasis to hurl herself in the air, but it was not enough; she incurred multiple wounds on her body from the projectiles piercing her clothes and skin. On her own, she would have been unable to attack, let alone move. But assisted by both Scout and Sue, she was shot through the air in glorious fashion, her ChronoRend ready to deal a decisive blow.

And so it did. But not on Justine; the blade found itself piercing Janet's tattoo. just moments ago Justine's eyes flashed red, and the jellyfish-like girl's own pupils repeated the signal. Her body jerked forward like a puppet on it's strings, her tentacle hair wildly flailing in the air, only to turn still as she was cut right through.
"Conniving jester!" Justine suddenly reached out and gripped Shade's ChronoRend-holding wrist, squeezing it with unnatural strength. Janet's form turned to that of a regular blonde girl wearing a black dress, and she turned limp as she fell down, taking the embedded weapon with her as her weight combined with Justine's pressure forced her to drop it from her hand.
"You will pay for making me lose my most precious servant!"
She grinned with malicious intent, and dark magic manifested from her iron-like grip, spreading down her arm and through her wounds.

"Heart Breaker."

At the moment of incantation, Shade felt a great pain in her chest; similar to a heart attack, she felt how her heart began beating slower and slower, the blood in it now controlled by Justine herself and expanding. It seemed as if Justine was about to kill her by literally splitting her heart in two when Sue's thunder shot caused her to release her grip, the girl's heart still whole. No longer able to hold her consciousness, she turned back to her human form, and was dropped by Justine, now following behind Janet. Helga cursed, and dove down to catch the two girls. They were now close to the ocean.
"This is what happens to any who oppose me! Now, give Lily to me!"

"...You better know what you're doing Lily. Because if this kills us, I'll find you in the next life just to kick your ass!" Kneeling down, he pointed his wand to the floor, and tried to make a barrier right below the floor. Without being able to see where he wanted it, the process took more effort than normal. "Hold on tight Lily, this is going to suck!" Seconds after his warning, the floor crashed into his barrier. Maybe it was because he didn't have line of sight, or some other reason, but his barrier crumbled under the pressure and shattered "FUCK!" However it did have an impact; most of their speed had been bleed off, so when he made another barrier, the floor didn't have enough force to break through that one. "Alright, that should buy us some more time. Now, for whatever crazy plan you have" Strengthening his legs, he ran at Justine. Once he was close enough he jumped at her.

Scout yelled out in pain, as a spear stabbed through her foot. "What's with my leg taking all the hits suddenly?!" The witch tried to pry it out, but the spear was stuck in the floor. But she couldn't give up. Scout ceased fire when Shade managed to knock Janet out, leaving the vampire vulnerable. Only for the idol to nearly get herself killed.

Luckly Sue had save the girl, but the witch could only watch and hope for the others at that rate. Unless... Scout searched through her pockets and pulled out a black coin. The one other magical girls working for the Ebon Mint were familiar with. Maura had warned Scout not to use it, for the debt she'd have would be could take an eternity or two to pay off. On the other hand, the witch needed the power boost, especially with her current battle. So she had to ask herself. "What should I do?"

Then, she made her choice. Looking back up at Justine, the witch kept a tight grip on the black coin, as dark magic swirled around her."Sorry, Maura. Spooky." she apologized, a weak smile on her face. "Guess I wasn't as strong as you thought..." that was the last thing the witch said, before the dark magic completely surounded her, creating a dome-like shape on the falling floor.

A moment of silence passed, before slivers of light began to break through the dome. The slivers grew, until the dome broke open like glass, and the witch flew out, a new pair of wings on her back.



"Yo, bloodsucker!!" Eliza called out to Justine, her own magic circle forming under her hand. "You're not the only one with a few tricks up her sleave!" she pointed out with a toothy grin, before sending a barrage of star-shapped bullets at the vampire.

Alicia Hayden

Many things seemed to be working in Alicia's favor now. The Enhanced Uniform that had kept her in one piece as well as protected the tools needed for her sorcery, Kimble managing to keep her injury from being lethal through her air magic, the fact that she was still alive even being noticed in the first place. She couldn't really say that this mission had gone particularly well for her, but it seemed her perseverance and patience was paying off.

She wasted no time, applying what limited aid she could while taking the advice that Penny had to offer once her friend rejoined her. It might not be the most useful, but any bit help. She was about finished by the time that Sylvia arrived, a good thing too as the situation rapidly grew more complicated.

Honestly she wasn't surprised by it. Beacon had their mission, and not everyone felt the same way as her. The group seemed divided, and she was left confused and unsure as to what she should do. She understood her duty to Beacon, but she also knew how she felt, and she couldn't just do it that easily. "I'm not sure..." she muttered with a frown, uncertainty plain to see.

Then, like the others, she was struck silent as her Beckoner made its statement. "T-Thank you," she replied, needing a moment simply to cope with the trust that was being placed in her. She did her best, but she didn't think that the Beckoners had such faith in her and her Judgment. Hearing it said, she couldn't help it as her heart rose.

But now she was faced with the decision of what to do with Kimble. She knew what she had to do, her responsibility as a member of Beacon. She'd done it before after all. But every time she looked at Kimble she could only see Doris; the shock, the pain, the confusion. She'd made a mistake then, and now she had the opportunity to make up for it. She was not going to let that pass by.

Rising back to her feet as she stored her pouch away, Alicia shook her head before looking at the others. "She's a victim, just like our sisters back at headquarters. If it weren't for Mariette and Justine we probably never would have met each other, and I'm not going to kill someone for being unlucky. No more innocents are going to die today."

She then turned to face her Beckoner. "This is my decision. We'll take her back with us, give her medical attention, and then when she's healed up we let her go on her way, to wherever she came from. After that all bets are off and I make no promises as to what happens next time we run into each other." She was sure there would be some disagreement with her decision, but with the situation at hand and what little she knew about Kimble, it was the best she could come up with. Hopefully she didn't end up regretting it

Anarchy.

The end of Justine's bullet volleys was not the end of the chaos. Shade was indeed an unwholesome projectile, able to rend Janet with just a single strike. But she was not the intended target, and Justine was able to capitalize on the opportunity. Sue was irritated by the turn of events, but nothing more. She didn't know Shade well enough to consider her a friend, and Janet being out of the fight just meant that Sue could now focus on the real target. She was tempted to call Helga away from them, but in truth, Sue didn't want Helga in this fight anymore. This was strictly a fight between Justine and herself as far as she was concerned.

Alexander appeared to be slowing down the marble floor so that he could hand Lily over to Justine. Surely he wouldn't do something as spineless as give into Justine now. Not after all that talk about kicking ass and love's true meaning. But it was infuriating to watch.

Fortunately there was still another magical girl in the fight who was also about action. Scout, much like Sue did moments before, used her black coin. Though this was a different type of transformation. Not just in that Scout had beautiful white wings, but what she had become. She had drawn out far more power than Sue did, and was transformed into a monster. The former familiar didn't care, it was refreshing to see someone just like her. Tired of being weak, and ready to stand up to any tyrant that would oppose them.

But now that Scout was firing on Justine, Sue couldn't go with her original plan of tackling Justine into the ocean. It was too dangerous with Scout firing on the vampire, and Justine had proven herself very capable in close quarters. But Sue would make sure Justine would rue the day she killed Amber.

Justine did not appear to need her wings to fly, but that did not change the fact that they were nonetheless huge sails attached to her back. With Sue directly over Justine, she started to create a twister. The winds swirled around sue, and descended below her around Justine, and then into the ocean. With the powerful waves in the water, it was starting to draw the water up into itself. The eye of the storm was calm, but if Justine extended her wings out too far, she would risk getting bombarded by severe winds. At one end of the cyclone, the water was rising, and above, Sue was descending. She had her fist raised over her head, ready to drive one last thunder attack into Justine's face if she looked the wrong way.

Scout's star shaped bullets coming from the side, Sue's pincer attack between the ocean and herself, and Lily and Alexander's attempt to confront Justine. Would it be enough to stop the vampire?

It was interesting to Penny, the various reactions that the reinforcements had upon realizing that Kimble was still alive, the indecision from some, the dedication from others, and the borderline heresy from one, though the accidental insult made her snort softly. She wouldn’t be very surprised if that was how most of Beacon saw her, and she couldn’t really tell them they were wrong.

It was Kimble’s plea that really resonated with Penny however, as for a moment it sent her back in time. To point months ago where she had been in Kimble’s position, it was her first real encounter with Beacon and it had been long before she had heard of Penrose. With some effort Penny forced herself to face the lake, and to focus on her task of recalling the scattered ship, and her own spare parts. She wouldn’t be the one to start the impending execution, no matter how tempting the tension in the air made the idea.

The monster girl didn’t deserve to be killed by someone who understood so well what it felt like to be in that position, scared, confused and alone.

Thus those of Beacon were not the only ones who were shocked at the Beckoners’ statement. Penny was just as surprised as they were, though with her sitting down and partially facing the lake it was easier for her surprise to go unnoticed. Though her surprise might have come from a different reason, twice now Beacon had skirted rules, twice it had stepped away from the rigid Iron bound path it had laid out. Change was growing within Beacon, small and insignificant as it might seem now, Penny knew, as Laat’AlOfan would know, sometimes it only takes a single pebble to cause a rockslide.

And Alicia didn’t disappoint, Penny did her best to hide her smile at her friend’s decision, as the cyborg was sure that Alicia didn’t realize just how big this moment was. A member of Beacon had willing chosen to not kill a monster that was literally at their mercy. Depending on what Kimble did this story would get out there, and some of the monsters out there would have a reason to hope, something that was often in short supply at least in Penny’s experience.

”I can keep watch on her when we get out of here” Penny offered as she caught a small piece of Earth Bastion, feeling something drain out of the scrap as had happened with every other piece she had pulled out so far.

”In the meantime what’s the plan for the castle? The Semtex I brought is likely gone due to the atomic chick, and we have people inside still if that shockwave from earlier is any indication.” She asked glancing at the castle, licking her lips as she did. “And we might want to figure out something quick, I’m starting to get hungry” she added casually, though she wasn’t referring to wanting food. She was starting to feel the need to break things, for as much as she would like it to have been the case at the moment, she didn’t destroy the Earth Bastion, Curie did.

Mariette was honestly surprised when someone spoke up. Someone in this tired drove of Magical Girls had a power which could restore a person’s health completely? Did that include Mana? Sounded unnecessary to ask, honestly. That the girl was healthy enough to blush was a good indicator of what she was potentially capable of. And what she needed for it was… a kiss? A deep, ten-second long kiss, lips on lips. Mariette stared the embarrassed girl down.

Eli’s gasp and widened eyes joined that of the other girls, looking intently at Mariette to see how her mistress would react.

‘…’ Only because Eli was among those who looked upon her so intently, did Mariette feel just the slightest bit awkward. However, the only consideration which Mariette actually gave the dilemma was if the girl was potentially a trap luring her in for a magical kiss of death. She gave Eli a quick examining gaze to see if Eli was warning her away after a brief Third Eye examination, and not seeing anything like that…

Mariette jumped off her throne of hands towards the girl, facing her with her usual expression.

‘What’s your name?’ Mariette asked, because this one could be important to keep in mind later, if this worked. Assuming she got a reply, she’d then continue. ‘We may have need of my powers. As such, we will put your ability to the test.’ She then proceeded to wrap a single arm around the girl to pull her in as Mariette leaned in to plant her lips on the girl’s own. With the assumption that the girl was going to get to work and not waste time, she’d keep her eyes closed and hold her lips against the pink Magical Girl’s, not exactly passionately but not dismissively either, choosing to ignore any and all reactions from surrounding girls.

Mariette would hold on until she felt something take effect. If it took too long, Mariette’d open her eyes and glare at the Magical Girl from close range without actually releasing. If Eli saw magic that was anything other than what was advertised she’d come crashing in to separate them. Mariette’s reaction after that would depend a whole lot on how she was feeling and how the one kissed and surrounding girls reacted to the event.

Regardless, assuming engaging in that kiss didn't mean an immediate demise or a change of plans, afterwards the groups were ordered. Mariette noted Eli’s creeping exhaustion and commanded her to save her strength, this could be done well without it. Soon enough, they had a group for seeking Justine’s mansion, two valuable twins for ranged communication and a greater unit for taking on threats. While they were all drained, it was time to go ahead.

… However, as they carried Mariette along, it became evident Justine knew of Mariette’s other, perhaps more alarming bane. Mariette had a sort-of “portal-sense”, which sensed where surrounding portals were located and where mirrors she was aware of were located for boosting the power of her portals. When a cracked mirror entered the range, it did so feeling like needles piercing her through her portal-sense, getting deeper the closer to the crack she got, causing grievous pain and disturbing any portals close to them. Right now that didn’t matter, as no portals were ongoing, but…

Mariette seethed as the metaphorical needles stabbed her through the extra sense that she couldn’t turn off. She just had to weather it… Could she do it? Good thing she didn’t have to walk, others carried her, but… Mariette closer her eyes, grimaced and tried to keep silent as each cracked mirror entered her range, stabbing her through the unseen sense, and left her shivering somewhat as they left it behind. She internally cursed Justine, who had no doubt set this up for this exact purpose. Mariette could not call attention to it, for she didn’t want that bane to be known. She just had to endure.

Eli, having no such portal sense and was as such unaffected by the cracked mirrors, had to keep watch of Mariette and be ready to jump in if anything unexpected happened. No candles meant Eli had no problems right now, and as such she had to keep watch over her mistress, who was fighting to keep the pain from showing to her newfound worshippers as they headed on.

"..."

... .... .

.. ...

..- -. -.-. --- -. ... -.-. .. --- ..- ...

Kimble slowly sat up with her hands on the ground before her, crouched like a cat. She shivered as she met Alicia's eyes, and then brought her head down, her ears lowered as if expecting her end. But then, they perked up upon hearing her verdict. "R-Really? I won't be k-killed?" She broke down from the emotional release, and wept with a snotty nose, hugging Alicia's legs. "Oh thank you! You're a saint!" The Beckoner gave a faint smile, and nodded. "Do you see this?" The small Patron asked, and other Beckoners appeared on Sylvia's and Sally's shoulders. They seemed displeased with what Alicia has done, but Alicia's Beckoner spoke:
"Such a pitiful, miserable soul, hardly worthy of the title of monster. If it were not for Justine, she would have never been a threat. But now you are witness to true justice." It strung a poignant chord with its harp.
"Alicia has given mercy to an innocent. She is burdened by the blood on her hands, but despite it she has learned from her mistakes, and is convicted to protect the world of man." The other Beckoners looked surprised, but slowly nodded to what was being said.
"If we are to also be just, we must do the same, and change." Then, the Beckoner disappeared, and the other Beckoners, looking shocked, also disappeared, leaving the Beacon girls to only wonder what was happening with their Patrons.

"Well, that was crazy," Sylvia commented, and sighed. "But it looks like we won't have to kill you for being excommunicated after all, heh." Sally's ear-like head piece bounced on her head as she knelt down and petted Kimble. "Yay! I'm glad everything ended well." But just as everything seemed to settle down, a lone girl could be seen peeking from the front door of the castle; she looked sickly, with pale skin and bags under her eyes. Her eyes widened as she saw Penny and Alicia, and then nodded, as if she heard somebody's voice. "Umm, excuse me. Are you Penny and Alicia? I have a message to give to you." She shyly approached, and explained: "Our savior Mariette has freed us from our prison down in the dungeons. She sent some of us to collect anything valuable in the castle, and is now going to fight Justine herself with the rest." But suddenly, Alicia's Beckoner appeared again, looking distraught. "Alicia! June has been attacked in the library! She needs immediate assistance!"

---

The pink magical girl gasped as Mariette approached her, intimidated by her emotionless demeanor. She brought her hands up to her chest, and gulped. "I-It's...Nancy." She finally managed to speak, blushing profusely. She lifted a foot behind her, and poked the tip of her boot against the stone floor of the dungeon.
"A-Actually, maybe I-Mhhh!" She was in the middle of her mumbling when the dark magical girl struck, her body having frozen stiff from the sensation that followed. Mariette could hear loud gasps around her, followed by the sound of someone hitting the floor; they fainted from the shock of seeing her claim Nancy's lips. Ten seconds passed, and Mariette opened her eyes to see that Nancy still kept hers closed, clearly focused on the spell.

A second later, Mariette could feel the Rejuvenation magic envelop her entirely; all her bodily injuries and aching was swept away, carried away by illusions of sparkling bubbles and white flowers.
She also felt energy flowing into her; the burden countless of sleepless nights was gone, and Mariette felt like she had hibernated an entire winter. She could even feel how Asengav's oppressive hold on her had loosened, as if she had nothing to fear from the Horror. Her clothing was still disheveled, but otherwise she felt like she could jump from the energy.
Nancy opened her eyes, and then withdrew her parted lips, her eyes a bit dazed from the experience. "Oh...Oh my..." She put a hand to her chest, and looked as if she would fall back. Fortunately, a magical girl was there for her to lean on. "That was...amazing," she whispered. "My heart is beating...so fast. And it's...not stopping. Gosh..."
Most of the girls didn't seem to know how to react. Some girls were disgusted by what had happened, but a significant number were different; their eyes seemed to shine even more as Mariette commanded them, with wide smiles. And Nancy had the widest smile of them all.

Mariette attempted to endure her Bane, but it proved futile before the countless broken mirrors that lined the stairway up the tower; she felt as if the shattered images were reflecting her greatest nightmares, and it didn't take long before she had to scream from terror, writhing from the pain. The magical girls accompanying her noticed this. "Our savior is in pain!" "But how? Nobody's attacked us!" "It looks like a curse...Justine has cursed her!" Nancy shouted out. "My magic can't help against magical effects, so it must be a wicked hex by the vampire." She went to a broken mirror, and lifted it up from the wall. Mariette's involuntary reaction caused her to exclaim in understanding. "Everyone, throw all these mirrors away!" She shouted, and tossed the one she held down the chasm of the tower. "They are the cause for Mariette's suffering!"

---

Alex' barrier broken as the stone floor impacted against it, only to hold when it was put a second time. The floor was stopped, and in time as well; they were now but ten meters above the rolling waves of the ocean. Helga burst from the waters, clutching the unconscious bodies of both Janet Howall and Samantha Howard, known to the Mahou as Shade when she was transformed. "Never!" She cried, and bellowed like a dragon.
Justine sneered as she slowed her descent, and scoffed when Scout used the Black Coin. The dome of silvery light had enveloped Scout completely, and destroyed the spear in the process, letting her unfold her wings just as Sue had back in the castle.
"Damn you, Mint! How many pawns did you send?"

She felt the storm pick up around her, and glanced up to see that Sue was brewing a storm, limiting her movements. Justine snarled, clearly upset as Alex then shot himself right at her, and she was unable to dodge. She gave a crazed grin; one of her black wings turned red and changed shape into a muscular arm with sharp claws, and it grabbed Alex by her waist, just as Scout opened up with a barrage of star shots. Justine used Alex as a shield to block the shots; her three other wings looked tattered, with star-shaped holes, but she herself only incurred light injuries. To her disappointment, she saw that he was unharmed, his multiple barriers having broken but saved him. Justine then threw Alex right at Scout before the magical boy recovered from the barrage, aiming to knock the silver-winged monster girl down into the water. She then summoned her spear, and threw it upwards; it pierced Sue's black wing, causing her to falter and end the spell as she had to focus on staying aloft with a single wing.

"I have come this far! I won't let anything stop me! Father has deemed love obsolete! He will grant me my utopia!"
Justine shrieked, and stepped down to the stone floor. Helga growled, but was unable to act as she was on the opposite side to make sure Janet and Samantha didn't fall. Lily stood there defiantly, her hands clutched into fists at her sides.
"There will be no more pain, no more suffering, and no more fools who make the mistake of falling in love!"
She now stood right before Lily, the dagger lifted at her side.

Lily began speaking, eyes ablaze with determination.
"You're right, Justine. Love can be painful. Love can cause misery and sadness, it can make you feel like nothing matters anymore. I understand those feelings. I understand why you want to erase all the pain we have in our hearts after what happened to your family. But love...is so much more."
Lily did not blink as she stood before the monstrous vampire.

"Love is about overcoming that pain! It is about sharing in those experiences, about lifting that burden off your shoulders! It is about accepting your feelings, not running away from them!"

Justine looked furious, and screamed as she lifted the dagger. Lily grabbed the sharp end of it just as Justine was about to stab her, and brought it close to her heart. Justine's smile widened.
"Yes! I have finally sacrificed the blood of the pure! Come, Father! Bless us! Bless the world!"

But nothing happened.


"Justine...Even if you deny your own feelings, and claim you didn't love your sister...Can you say the same for her?"
Justine's eyes widened in shock, and lifted the dagger; the blood on it flowed down the handle, leaving it clean. She dropped it, and she looked at her palm, now painted red.
"No, it can't be...Why didn't it work?"

Lily shook her head slowly.
"Your sister loved you more than anything else in the world. She stood by your side, and did everything for you. Do you really think she would want a world without love? A world where she couldn't love you?"

Justine stepped back, and shook.
"C-Caroline...Is it true? Did you really...Still love me?"
She clutched at her chest, and tears drifted down the monster's cheek.

Lily went over to Alex, and took his hand.
"There is no purity in a world without love. It is nothing but lunacy to think like that!"

Lily wrapped her arms around Alex, and glowed in bright yellow; electricity sparked around her, and with a resounding flash, the magical girl had returned:



Lily pointed her staff-holding arm towards Justine, still holding onto Alex with a wide, confident smile. Justine reeled back, clearly pained as she shielded her eyes from the light. Lily then pointed her staff up, and began charging; a black storm cloud grew over Justine.

Alexander had no idea what just happened.

Justine got the blood sacrifice from Lily she needed...except nothing happened. And it was because her sister still loved her, or something? This made no sense, and not because he didn't understand the 'power of love' or anything like that. Emotions could let you draw upon strength you didn't know you had. And then there was the branch of magic that centered around emotions. So yeah, we could buy that 'love' was what stopped the ritual from starting up, it was the 'how' that he couldn't wrap his head around.

But in the end, it didn't really matter that much, because he already understood everything he needed to; Lily was safe, the vampire bitch's plans were toast...

...and an asskicking was about to commence.

Alexander put up five layers of barriers around him and Lily before he put his hand on her shoulder "Lily!" He pumped as much magic as he could into her, reinforcing her magical power as high as it would go "be the instrument of my petty spite and anger!"

Alicia Hayden

Having made her decision, Alicia was taken off guard by the hug that followed as Kimble practically latched on to her leg while bawling in gratitude. She didn't think it had been that big of a deal, especially since so much was predicated on her not knowing what kind of person Kimble actually was. It would have been easy enough for this to be a ruse. Yet right now she did not let that worry her as she tried to make up in some small way for what she had done.

"It's alright," she replied with a smile, ruffling Kimble's hair with a warm smile. "We're not as bad as our enemies would want you to believe."

Her gaze shifted to the Beckoners as they arrived and conversed, leaving her increasingly confused. It sounded like there was some sort of ongoing debate, and she was being used as an example in that debate. A humbling experience to be sure, but without knowing what they were talking about she couldn't be certain of her impact. She shook her head as the Beckoners disappeared afterwards, leaving the magical girls alone once again.

She nodded while flashing a grin towards Sylvia at her comment. "Thanks, I appreciate that," she replied with a chuckle. Not that she had been worried about it happening. She'd accepted her consequences, one way or another before the Beckoners had made their reappearance. It was about time to move on though, and Kimble wasn't really in the position to do that considering the extent of her injuries and the limited care that Alicia had been able to provide.

Before anything could be resolved regarding that, she caught sight of someone near the front door. A poor figure, emaciated, pale, and in a sorry state. "Yeah, that's us," she replied, preparing for a fight if need be. Who knew how many others Justine had brainwashed? Though if this was someone coming to fight them, they didn't look like much.

She waited patiently for the explanation, one that set her teeth grinding in a flash of heated rage. Mariette? Their 'savior'? What kind of bullshit was this? She didn't know what was going on but it was clear that the portal user was manipulating these girls that she had abducted into doing her dirty work. Extending out her hand, palm facing the girl, Alicia concentrated and released a blinding flash of light aimed directly at her, like what she had done to Doris before to try and break the conditioning.

"Mariette is no 'savior'," she replied, practically spitting out the name in anger. "I don't know what she told you, but she's only here because Justine betrayed her before she could betray Justine."

She would have said more, but it was at that point that the Beckoner reappeared, Alicia's blood freezing cold as they were told that June had been attacked. They couldn't leave a rookie to fend for herself, they needed to help her!

First she went about prying Kimble off her leg, laying her down on the ground so she could rest and not put further stress on her injuries. "You stay here. We'll be back," she told the catgirl before practically seizing the messenger by the shoulders. "You know the castle right? Where's the library? We need to get there, now." She'd stay as long as was needed to get directions before heading into the castle, a process shortened if the prisoner didn't actually know. She was not going to waste time when June was in danger, breaking into a run to try and get there as quickly as possible.

She just hoped that they weren't too late.

The small smile playing about Penny’s lips as she watched the scene next to her unfold hid just how much Alicia’s seemingly small act was appreciated. From how Kimble reacted to this turn of events, Penny guessed that they had similar experiences in the magical world, and the machine girl wouldn’t be ashamed to admit she was jealous of the cat girls luck in this situation.

The byplay of the beckoners was also very interesting to watch, and Penny was glad that she had been overlooked, possibly ignored outright, by the people present solely for the fact she could watch them. She was a creature of change, fashioned to be that way by AlOfan’s will, to see and hear the highest echelons of Beacon talking about the need for change sent a tingle down her spine.

This brought her back to Alicia, the lynch pin for all of this change, It was her choices and her beckoner that were the driving force behind these changes. Penny had to wonder if this was what Laat was planning when the deal was first struck, but knew that she would likely never get the answer, but promised to protect Alicia as much as she could regardless.

Hearing Slyvia casually mention killing Alicia once again reinforced how glad Penny was that she was being overlooked, because the red tinted glare she gave the mechanic could only be described as murderous. Even then the glare didn’t last long as a messenger arrived from the castle pulling Penny’s attention away from the dark thoughts brewing in her mind.

Penny stayed silent at the explanation given by the recently freed captive, having never talked with Mariette she had no context to just how weird to hear her called savior should be. The small flare of light by Alicia did have a small effect on Penny however. A chill she wasn’t even aware of was brushed away by the soft light, for becoming the Engine of Destruction always froze a part of Penny’s heart leaving her just a bit colder.

This time it wouldn’t be permanent.

Penny herself felt this happening as a gentle warmth spreading through her, and could tell it was due to the light, but wasn’t given much time to figure out what or why it had occurred or what it ment. As Alicia’s Beckoner reappeared shortly after with dire news.

”No rest for the weary huh?” Penny said with a chuckle as she stood up pushing her thoughts about the odd sensation to the side as she did.

She let the rest of beacon rush off first, knowing that she could catch up easily in a moment, as she gave another look back at the lake she opted to try something before catching up with her allies. Taking a short breath Penny reached out for the fragments of the Earth bastion following the odd connection she had with it, and pulled with everything she had. Unknowing what might happen she was rather surprised to see that it wasn’t metal that reacted but a ghostly echo of Earth bastion its self that rose silently from the lake and flew at her before vanishing the moment it touched her, afterward she could feel a weight of some sort settle in the back of her mind.

Spurred on by the apparent success she repeated her internal actions, this time focusing on her old body parts. This time dozens of streams of electricity emerged from the lake and flowed in to the cyborg, refreshing her while simultaneously finished off her repairs. Shaking her head at the oddity that she was she turned away from the lake, happy to have learned that she could never knowing that her old parts and the remnants of the Earth Bastion had been reduced to dust, such was the price of the robotic girl reclaiming the magic that was housed with the scattered pieces.

“She is something else isn’t she?” Penny asked Kimble with a wide grin as she watched Alicia race off towards the castle, thoughts of that odd warmth lingering just out of sight as she did ”I trust her, can’t say the same for everyone she works with, but I trust her. So just sit tight and relax, you’ll get patched up and be free to head out on your way soon, for now I’ve got a wall to break through“ She explained before taking off in a run towards the castle and Alicia.

Due to her inhuman strength it didn’t take Penny very long at all to catch up with everyone else and quickly found herself at the front before she slowed down enough that she wouldn’t leave behind. From her position at the head of the pack she launched her gauss round at the castle, aiming at the wall just beyond the front door.

Wither or not they had the floor plan of the building Penny was going to find out if she could just go through the walls if she needed, for as much an impact her gauss cannon held, she could still punch a lot harder then it could and if it could break through the walls then she could just as easily. Then it was just a straight line to the library, wherever that was.