Alicia was impervious to the uproar currently occurring in the room around her. She knew what she had said, and would never have agreed to be the defense if she did not believe that Janet was innocent. But not everyone could see it like she could, and she needed to convince them that her viewpoint was legitimate.

A wince crossed her face as she viewed the security footage, seeing for the first time what had happened that day when Janet had bombed the base. It was...disheartening, a slow motion tragedy she already knew the ending of. There was no way to argue against the event itself, but she had expected that. The only avenue of defense was to argue what she knew already, and try to keep the jury from agreeing to the full extent of punishments that could be placed against her friend.

Still silent, her heart was even more burdened as Janet tried to defend herself. It wasn't quite the time for that but she wasn't going to blame her for it. Just like the rest of the Beacon girls, she had experienced it too, and it had to eat at her as well. She could be forgiven for going off a bit.

Waiting until Janet had finished, Alicia spoke up and tried to make herself heard over the crowd. "Janet s innocent of these grievous crimes because she was not acting of her own free will and sound mind when they occurred, and that is what I intend to prove to you all." It wasn't going to be easy given the hostile audience, but she would do her best. For now, she waited to see if Sylvia had any more evidence to use for her case.

@t2wave@Ariamis@DarkwolfX37

The Hall of Judgment, a grand center piece that if everything went well most in Beacon would never see, even though everyone knew of it, one could gather a fair bit of understanding from the various different HQ’s by how they themed their Hall.

Due to his silent appraisal of the hall Aurelio lost his chance to make it to the defenders platform alongside Alicia, but that was fine. He didn’t know enough about everyone here to be of much help up there anyway. Down in the crowd, surrounded by people while transformed he held vast potential to help, It would all depend on how he went about it.

The opening statements hit hard, not because of what was being said but due to all the emotions floating around the room, it felt like he was in a tumble dryer filled with bricks. ‘No matter‘ he thought to himself ‘Still gives me plenty to work with.’ Silently he moved toward the pit in the center of the room and stood near the edge with his cane placed in front of him in plain view of the Beckoners and Jury. He wasn’t planning on hiding his actions from them, because he wasn’t planning on anything that would, in his opinion, violate the ruling.

Taking a deep breath he started to draw on the ambient feelings around him. Never taking more then what was considered spare; he started to spin the emotions in to different ones. Determination and Confidence, he wove and sent towards Alicia. She wasn’t as alone in this as she felt. Understanding and Peace, he wove and sent towards Janet, even the best have cracks in their armor and she wasn’t going to be abandoned for being controlled.

Towards the Jury he sent Calm and Focus, the truth was their goal, not revenge, he would make sure they stayed on track to find it and for the crowd around him. He wove Patience, they would still comment, still whisper about what was happening but they would wait to act, he would dull the Tension they felt so that no one would do something rash.

For those who sat as witnesses he did not weave anything. For that would be seen as trying to influence their testimony. Thus he left their raw emotions speak for themselves. Plus he was multitasking enough as it was, trying for anymore would cause everything to break down. He cane was glowing with the colors of the rainbow as he wove his magic throughout the room. Hoping that it would be enough to allow sounds minds to prevail.

He also didn’t bother sending any of his magic at the Beckoners present; he knew well enough that it wouldn’t actually do anything other then get him in trouble if he tried.

Mika parted her cat ears so that Helga could pat her head. She didn't say anything back to Helga, but her widening grin and closed eyes were a clear indication that she was enjoying the attention. When Helga turned around to face Su, her expression changed. Her eyes opened up to half mast as her grin continued to expand. She reached out and stroked the top of her snake's head, which was wearing the same face she was.

”Gah!” Was all Su could manage before Boteg cut in.

”Tis most splendid!” He approached Mika, who at this point was innocently playing her flute again. ”Thou shall go forth and bring the terrible one's champion to justice! Then mayhap we shall celebrate with most bountiful feast! One made from ocean sprinklers and valley runners!”

Mika giggled. ”We've got to teach you some modern English. Hey, can you pass me your laptop?”

Su still didn't trust Mika. But that was hardly something that needed to be pressed at the moment. It wasn't like she could pose much of a threat to Boteg. However...

”Huh?” Su was yanked out of her thoughts when Helga asked a very important question. ”Um.” She lowered her head and her bangs covered her eyes. ”I'm... Actually not sure where we should start looking.” After allowing herself a moment to regain her composure, Su lifted her head back up. ”I don't know where Mariette or Eli are, but I know they are friends with a certain group of genies. They should be easier to find.” Helga and Su transformed back into their normal appearances ”Hopefully it won't cost me a wish this time, but I doubt fate will be that kind to us.” The duo turned a corner to walk down a flight of stairs. Soon enough they would be on the street, actively searching for their mark. Maybe no one saw Mariette, but someone had to have seen the djinn sisters.

---

Something landed behind Katelyn.

Eliza was not going after her particular quarry in a very discreet way, and neither had Katelyn. It shouldn't have been a surprise that more magical girls would become alerted by the wanton destruction. Perhaps the stranger had simply been watching Eliza, waiting for his moment to strike, before Katelyn showed up.

The individual in particular was none other than Elroy Bates. Eliza would have recognized him from the battle at the garage if she could remember the encounter. He had come out of his monster form and walked away from that fight. Katelyn likely had no recollection of this individual. He was covered in blood, and gripping a blood stained paper note. If either of them had third eye, they might have noticed him using shadow magic to blend into a nearby building before jumping to where he was now. Otherwise, he would have seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"And alllll I need to finish my shopping list is some monster wings." Elroy tossed the bloody piece of paper off to the side before flashing a grin. "...But nobody said they couldn't come from monster girls!" He pulled the shield off of his back and let it slam into the ground. The chains wrapped around it's surface were moving suspiciously. "Lizard lady! Chicken little! Let me have the wings off of your back! You'll find you'll fit into a lot more dresses when you don't need to squeeze your wings into them. Take it from an incubus who has no wings of his own!"

Regina was laying on her belly on the roof of a nearby building. Her sniper rifle positioned in front of her. She might have been able to get a clear shot at Eliza, but Katelyn's attack put both girls into a building to the left to Regina position. Regina wasn't really set up to fire directly into the office building at this angle. That wasn't to say she would be useless, but the types of attacks she could use were more limited. Her psychic shots couldn't permeate solid objects. "Remember the part about ambushing her, Elroy?" Regina grumbled to herself. She currently had a very impressive array of spells cast around herself. She couldn't be seen or heard by those outside her spell, at least under normal conditions. Her cover had been blown too many times for her to believe she was safe from all forms of detection. But at least now they had the ability to shut down their auras.

”Please don't be upset with Elroy.” One of the converted beacon girls placed a hand on Regina's shoulder, rubbing it slightly. ”If you'd like, we can rush them.”

"The less you guys do, the better." Regina looked through her scope. "I want you to be a surprise for later."



Of course, Tonya was also going to be present for this conflict. How many times was her shower going to get interrupted today? Well, it didn't matter too much. So long as fate was going to pay her for this, she'd gladly abandon a shower to assist a fellow monster.

---

Veronica was not one to stand idle for very long. She had many girls under her control, and was often touching bases with one of them at any given time. But Veronica did find time to do things that didn't directly pertain to her duties with the Mint. She was currently sitting in her office reading a news article. The newest article marked “Penrose Preternatural” in particular caught her interest. The story was already covered on a different page, but it was done in a way to make the story believable to normal humans. This story was made for the magical girls who could understand what actually happened. Veronica did find it unusual that both stories were written by the same writer: Charlotte Suthers. While it was clear to Veronica why it was done this way, it seemed like a good way to lose credibility with those less magical in nature. Not that many people would remember such things anyway. They had been doing things this way for the better part of two years, so it must not have been an issue. It was just a mental note Veronica made to herself every time she noticed it. Her job was not that much different than that of a journalist. While the end goal was different, both dealt in intelligence.

And if the apology by Charlotte Suthers was any indication, it seemed like her intelligence wasn't very good.

It is foolish to believe that intelligence and information are the same thing. A rumor, a source, a story, all were forms of information. But information needs to be verified before it can be transformed into intelligence. The reporters in this instance should have been verifying everything they were seeing. Assuming that there were no beacon girls present when not all of the magical girls had been verified was extremely ignorant on the part of the independent's reporters, or “agents.” Charlotte Suthers may have dumped all the blame on the reporters, But her presenting bad intelligence was not entirely their fault. A few simple questions could have revealed a “lack of information,” and she would have gotten her facts correct. Instead, she decided to run with her “information” that made for a better story. It was one thing to report a grizzly murder, but the idea that Beacon was turning their back to the whole thing was vastly more interesting. But that likely blew up in their faces. The fallout must have been spectacular to write an edit nearly as large as the story itself. There must have been a huge backlash from a lot of beacon girls. There was very little that could save the credibility of Charlotte Suthers, her editor, and the independent at this point. At least in Veronica's eyes.

But Veronica was not faultless on the front of relaying bad intelligence. She had just received word this morning that there was a plant in her organization. One that had her sending Sam after one of her own girls weeks ago. Unfortunately, the reclusive nature of Ebon Mint meant that she could never properly verify the sources of her information. It was rare for Veronica to ever receive true intelligence. She had recently taken steps to make communication between her agents more transparent, but she wasn't sure if it would be enough. There had to be more she could do, to make sure she wasn't a victim of bad intelligence again.

Before Veronica could pursue that thought much further, she got a call on one of her lines. She lifted a finger to her ear.

”Ugh...” an exausted groan escaped Veronica's ear piece.

“Binky?”

”Gah!” Binky's yelped. ”Veronica! I didn't expect you to call back!”

The coin broker folded her arms. “You just called me.”

Binky was one of Veronica's older contacts. She was pretty easy to identify because she looked more or less like a virgin sacrifice. In terms of magical girl powers she got the short end of the stick. While her magic would normally be very potent, her specialization is making fast food appear out of nowhere. She can make Chinese, burgers, even pizza if she really focuses. Binky is also relatively cowardly, and prefers to stay out of combat. Normally that is not an option for a magical girl. However, Veronica has recruited her as a researcher. Her ability to create food and duplicate herself makes her adequate for such a task.

”Right right, that's right!” Binky wiped her mouth on her arm. ”I haven't slept in thirty-six hours. So I'm a little exhausted.”

“I don't want to hear excuses, do you have anything to report?”

”Right right, I'm sorry!” Binky sighed. ”It's about project scarlet.” She laughed. ”I got a reaction!”

“From the coins?”

”Yes! They work!” Binky gasped. ”This is, a very big first step. Even on its own this could change the world forever!”

Veronica smiled. “You're not done until you reach the end goal, but I'm glad progress is being made.”

”That's not all though. These mutations.” Binky flipped through some pages. ”I've never seen anything like it before! I've documented it all but-”

“I'll have to stop by to take a look.”

”Yes! Please!” Binky's voice was shaking with excitement. ”Please bring toilet paper, and some change. I haven't been able to do any wash for two weeks straight, and I'm not sure how much longer my underwear is going to last. It's really itchy.”

“Of course. I will get you all squared away as soon as I can.”

”Alright, I hope you come soon. My clones are starting to bully me.”

as soon as she ended the call, she looked at the web page for the Penrose Independent. Someone had written a comment. Apparently not everyone was as unforgiving of bad intelligence as Veronica was. But that was fine. Not everyone had what it took to be a decent coin broker. Though given who posted, that didn't surprise Veronica. Regardless, that was hardly important. Veronica had been getting reports of a nuisance. Perhaps it was time to deal with that just to keep things quiet again.

---

@Crusader Lord

Nevermore caught a lead that directed her into a fairly dark alley. Allegedly Veronica was spotted here frequently, and it would be a good place to search for her. But as soon as she flew inside, the world started to turn very dark. Almost as if the sun had fallen out of the sky. But even in total darkness, Nevermore was able to see. What the raven might have been surprised by was the tar-like substance forming in the darkness. It bubbled and popped, and soon completely surrounded the bird. Nevermore was now flying inside a giant sphere no wider than the alleyway. She had to keep circling to stay aloft.

“It is not wise to search for an Ebon coin broker.” Veronica's voice seemed to come from all angles. “Why are you looking for me?”

”Ahhh! Jeez, you and Lord Soth seem to come from the same school of ‘scaring a bird 101’. What’s next, i get sent to find a dancing penguin only to trigger Second Impact?

Ah, but yes my master does have business he wishes to do with your group! He wants to acquire one of your proprietary coins to give to his magical girl to use at a chosen time! It is something that would of course put her in the Mint’s Debt and at your service, yes!

And in return for his sending a servant of his into your service, he desires certain resources in return!”

“Hmmmmm.” Nevermore couldn't see it, but she could picture the owner of the voice rubbing her chin in thought. “It's not very common for me to offer a coin, especially at the suggestion at a horror. It's not especially difficult for me to locate magical girls. I do not see what makes yours so special.” Several things started to poke out of the all encompassing tar wall. Once the tips of Nevermore's wings started to brush them, they stopped. It became apparent that they were the tips of various weapons. “I would like to know what it is that your lord requires, and what makes him think one worthless, mind bent girl is worth my time.”

”She is the magical girl of Lord Soth! The Infinite Abyss! The Emptiness of the Void! The Great Lord by which all returns to in the end, yes!

She can tap into Lord Soth’s great power! She can project the void into her darkness, and erase your problems and enemies away, yes! Free cleanup duty for messy situations is also possible, due to her powers! Her magical might is high, and her willingness to serve is good as well, yes! She can be put to work very well, hmm!

All my Lord Desires in return is a corpse. Be that of a young girl exposed to magic, or that of a deceased magical girl, yes! All to study how to better craft magical girls on his part in the future!

Is not a living servant a potentially fair trade for an unmoving, useless corpse, hmm?

If this does not work, then what else might the Ebon Mint want of my lord in payment for his request? He possesses many things, yes, many things from around the universe as well that he has acquired in his immense work!”

“Create magical girls?” Nevermore was not left in silence this time. She could clearly hear a growl as Veronica formed her thoughts. “If Soth is so quick to throw away one of his magical girls for a corpse, then maybe he can make his own.” An object was fired out of the tar and struck Nevermore hard enough to knock her off course. Fortunately, the weapons retracted and the tar vanished. Nevermore was able to crash land beside the projectile; a black coin.  ”I pity you raven, there on the floor. You'll get this coin, and nothing more.”

Then the darkness faded, and her presence seemed to disappear.

Nevermore stood up again, checking her feathers over and trying to shake off the rude landing. The raven mumbled a few words under her breath in an alien tongue, but swiftly snatched up the single Black Coin in her talons. She then tried to get up in the air again, before a sudden gust of wind sent her flying down again, crashing into the open dumpster in the alley, having been sent off course again by….sudden forces at play.

”Rahhh!” the raven squaked from the dumpster, voicing frustration at having landed in-, ”Wait, is that a dead rat sitting on top of half an onion-topped stuffed crust pizza?! Score!!!

After a brief moment to take a bite to eat, which was in retrospect far faster than a normal bird should be able to eat, Nevermore hopped up onto the edge of the dumpster. The Black Coin was firmly in her talons, though before she could say more an inky black orb appeared in the air in front of her. It lacked the same nature as that broker’s, er, sphere? Hard to tell that overall shape of the place when she had been having to keep flying to avoid drowning in tar or running into points objects.



Nevermore rolled her eyes at the situation as Lord Soth’s voice bounced around inside her skill, but regardless she hopped off the edge of the dumpster toward the orb. In an instant, the orb swallowed up the raven and itself, both disappearing in the blink of an eye and without a trace.

Asengav, Iesud, Majora.

One Horror, two Lesser Forces.

As Annabelle spoke, Amaryllis stayed silent, committing every word to memory, consciously cutting out irrelevant information, until what remained was a crystallization of a couple important details. The corpse-eater wasn’t a threat, not from what she had actually demonstrated previously, and though Rina may want to gouge out the heart of that vampiric beast as well, the Rose Knight had no lingering attachment to the monster girl.

Once the maiden finished her speech, Amaryllis nodded once in gratitude, a flourished bow repeated. “Thank you for your response, maiden. I’ve no other reason to bother you during this fine evening now, so I bid you farewell. May the restoration of thine abode be speedy and lasting.” With that, she turned on her heels, one hand brushing her midnight locks back before tossing a steel clover out behind her. Not looking back, the knight departed once more, leaving the Horror-inflicted girl to her devices.

One Horror, two Lesser Forces.

Asengav, Iesud, Majora.
@Crusader Lord

---

“Asengav, Iesud, Majora,” Amaryllis repeated, once she had reconvened with Hunter Rina, “Those were the Patrons that the maiden illuminated in our philosophizing over the identity of that wretched genocider. Theories too are abound, of the possibility of this being a repeated incident over multiple cities, in which case we may have more allies and more resources than previously assumed.”

A pause. The Sword pressed lightly against her left ankle.

“I find it hard to believe, however, that such an ancient Horror would be so crass and sloppy as to have one of their agents perform in such as crass and bloodthirsty matter…and we’d no doubt require more preparations against the child of a Horror to begin with. In this case, then, shall we pursue the remaining two points of interest separately?”
@Rune_Alchemist

@Ariamis@t2wave@Majoras End

---

Summer looked around at the other jury members, reading their phones as she finished her drawing. As soon as her pencil left the page, images and the three girls' voices ran through her mind. Images of each girl going about their day on the date of the attack, their voices as their thoughts at the time of each scene played... With a bit of focus, the sights and sounds shifted toward Janet specifically, showing her with a somewhat blurry figure of what Summer could only assume was Justine as Janet was being brainwashed. Scenes of her fighting other blurry figures in what appeared to be quite the epic battle. Finally, she'd seen enough and banished the scenes from her mind, fully convinced of Janet's guilt of the exact charges, and of her innocence of responsibility for those actions.

---

Shion ducked down to pick up her phone before she and her clone turned towards the newly visible girl and the familiar, respectively. Neither spoke as they watched their targets through their phones' cameras. The Shion left on the roof watched her attacker be attacked in turn and stifled a small laugh.

@ERode

---

Things seemed to have gone well, then. At least they didn't seem to be uncooperative, but that in and of itself was suspicious. At least a fight didn't break out. Sighing, she lowered her bow and left the roof of the building, quickly reconvening with her temporary partner.

"If the information is accurate," Kat responded with her usual frown. "While unlikely, we can't rule out the horror either. I've seen too many people overlook the unlikely only to have the unlikely be the truth." She grunted. What would be the best way to handle this? Splitting up would certainly cover more ground faster, and she had no qualms working alone. That's what she did best, but this issue might require some...teamwork. "Hm, not like we have much of a choice though...very well, I shall hunt this 'Majora' person. You'll go after this 'Iesud'. You wouldn't happen to have a place we could meet up later?" They'd need to pool resources together if they were going to make a concentrated effort to go after someone.


@Crusader Lord

---

"...Red Rifle, ha!" Chloe chuckled. "If you were a guy, I'd say that was the worst pickup line I've heard. But since you're cute, I'll let it pass." Now this was interesting. How very interesting. Cute, audacious, and a little flirty! Oh, this girl was pressing all her right buttons. Chloe pulled her orb back towards her, holding it in her hands as she responded. "I'm just a poor magical girl who has to do the unfortunate bidding of a rather irritable patron. Really, he's so annoying. Always making me work when I just want to have fun. What's a poor innocent magical girl to do, I wonder?" She sighed, frowning and shaking her head and holding one side of her head in her hands. Heh, that made a certain dragon exceedingly mad, didn't it?

"...that lie won't work on you though, will it?" Her obviously fake frown quickly turned into a toothy grin as she continued. "I have no quarrel with you, Rifle, but by all means if you want to play hero I'll play with you." Lounging idly in the air, Chloe didn't seem intent on making the first move here. Truthfully, she didn't want to fight. She was simply curious as to who had been a naughty little girl and spying on her, but now that her curiosity was sated she had no desire to get into a long drawn out conflict...that said, if Rifle attacked first, then she'd return in kind, and thoroughly enjoy it.

“If this maiden has poisoned our well of wisdom with falsehoods and deceptions, then I pray that she not remain here, for the weight of her lies shall be carved upon her flesh when our paths align once again,” Amaryllis replied, with her usual flair and her unusually deadly intent, “As for a promised place for our future rendezvous, however…”

Patting the back of her pocketless, skin-tight shorts, the Knight of Rose summoned forth the crystallization of humanity’s natural achievements, the crystalline device capable of breaching space at the speed of light in order to deliver the oracle’s words. She snapped open her phone, and then said, rather plainly, “What’s your number? If you don’t have one, you can ask about me at Penrose Technical as well, Rina.”

@Rune_Alchemist

---

"....WAIT A SECOND, MAJORA IS A DEITY, I HEARD MY BOSS WRONG ON THAT ONE! MY BAD!!!" Annabelle yelled aloud in the direction the other magical girl had left, all after her 'boss' had sent her a correction to something she had said to the Rose Knight, feeling a bit embarrassed at the mix-up of words and hoping her speaking had managed to get through. Maybe...

Rolling her eyes at herself, Annabelle walked away as front doors formed upon the old, metal hinges that had once held a pair in the past. It seemed her boss was wanting to close the door....er, "just in case" anyone else wandered into here. Again. To make the third visit of the day, as it were. Though for now, Annabelle left her magical girl form and continued walking down the hall, a hunger for loaded french fries lingering in her mind. Oh! Maybe that thing she'd heard about called "Junkyard Fries"! Could the "chef" make that, though? Hmm....



Annabelle stopped in her tracks as the voice of Soth rung within the wall of her skull. A smile came to her face at the thought of Nevermore coming back, though-

"Sweet! But....eh, you never told me the details of what you wanted to do here, boss. How much do ya need to do whatever it is you said you got in the works? What is going on anyway?" the magical girl said, brief joy transforming into an inquisitive curiosity that seemed to take root at the time.



Annabelle raised an eyebrow at this, but gave a small shrug. She didn't have the best feeling in her gut about whatever her "boss" was up to....but she at least had friends now, right? Two of em', and one was an absolute cutie to boot! Besides, this was her chance to get gifts for them when they met again, eh? She had the cash for it anywho, even after handing over the thousand to the two.

An inky black orb appeared in front of her before expanding into a portal, courtesy of her patron, before the grinning, casually dressed redhead stepped into the portal. Soon after, much as had been before with Nevermore, the portal ate itself up and disappeared entirely once more.



Landing in an alley was not her first choice, but it had gotten her here to where all the stores were! Nearly jumping out of giddiness, Annabelle took off onto the sidewalk. Where would she visit first? What would be next? She had no idea overall, but all she knew was she was getting her new friends gifts!

Perhaps a friendship bracelet? Ooh, a ring could be nice! Though that could send an odd message....hmpf. But what might most compliment Regina's appearance, though? Hmm...yes, that was the most important question of the day for this instance of shopping!

Regardless, unless interrupted by anyone she had the rest of the day for this at least.

@ERode@Rune_Alchemist

---

---

"Ah! You strike my heart! I wasn't even looking for a fight, heh, though i never got your name," Red Rifle said, before giving a cute wink to Chloe and putting one hand on her hip, the other remaining on her gun, her hips jutting out in a seductive manner, a toothy grin of her own showing, "Though if you wanna' tussle at your place after a nice dinner, i might consider its~ I kinda like the teasing, cute type whose got some fangs, maybe has that kind of 'spirit' that makes a relationship spicy~"

She could do this kinda talk, or other types of acts and behaviors, all day long if she wanted to. She kinda enjoyed this kind of banter, and throwing in the pun almost made her crack a legitimate laugh out even amidst this pressuring situation. Not that she had lost tracks of things, or her awareness for that matter. Experience and time had left her gaining a lot of skill that someone like Nina might not have, though this girl was definitely dangerous to more than just the eyes. To Red Rifle a viciousness seemed to lurk in this individual, a sense of cruelty, and the scene from last night was something this person had created as well. All this pointed to more than shady morals at work, in the most obvious sense possible.

"Alice, you idiot..., Nina said under her breath as her spirit and herself bounded over rooftops toward where Alice and the earlier event's perpetrator were lurking.

The rooftop was a bad place for this, since Red could see essentially anywhere from anyplace with that scope. Nina nearly cursed under her breath at what was going on, if not for the fact Red had years more experience and skill than herself. She couldn't even perceive the location of where the two were yet, not close enough for them to even notice her at all. Crap. that perpetrator, they needed to go down. All those people dead, it was unforgivable! And if she hurt Alice, or worse, the pain train would be coming to that perpetrator's face even faster than Nina felt it already had been.

Honestly, it had been a long time since she'd met Alice, and that was hard to believe. Years of working together, actually, since they had first met. Heh. Nina could almost recall the day the veteran had run into her, or vice versa, and really it had been the first time another magical girl had extended that hand to her in camaraderie at all. It was something that,well, had become truly "hers" in regards to life experiences. Because all of "those" memories, those were not hers.....they were not "her" at all in regards to what they felt like. But "that" woman had been real, living, having a life and all before it all had collapsed into nothing. Nothing but Nina herself. It was odd, like an existential crisis of some sort, but if there was one thing that "useless goddess" had done right in her mind it was saying this-



-...the childish manner of that line delivery aside, at any rate.

@Rune_Alchemist

If any other Magicals were to see Penny as she slowly made her way over the roof tops of Penrose, they might wonder what had her so distracted. Her half glazed eyes glowing a dull blue-green, the sluggish movements and a general lack of awareness of what was around the cyborg, all gave off the image that she wasn’t fully there at the moment.

She was heading roughly in the direction of the Golden Trove Apartment buildings, but at her speed wouldn’t be there anytime soon, and Penny was okay with that. She was using this time to think. In front of her, nonexistent to everyone else, were dozens of text windows filled with lists upon lists. Some of them were lists of the people she knew what their affiliations were and who their patrons were. Others were of the Patrons she was aware of, and others still were dossiers of the various organizations that were known to the magical world.

As she looked over all this information Penny pondered the same question that had been bugging her as of late. ‘Where do I fit in this?’ In a little under five months she will have been a Monstergirl for a year and she still felt lost and clueless when confronted by the realities of the magical world. The fact that Laat seemed more than willing to place her in the middle of every mess he could find didn’t make anything easier for her either.

With a sigh Penny saved and closed the various files she had opened. She had no better answer now then she did last time she tried to figure this out. Checking her phone app, she sighed again, there was still no reply. She figured she would have gotten something back from the texts she sent earlier but figured the Trial would have started by now. It made sense that Janet didn’t reply; they didn’t know each other all that well but being brushed off by Alicia stung, especially as it wasn’t the first time.

Looking skyward Penny could say she honestly never felt as alone as she did right now. She didn’t feel like she could trust anyone at the moment, she blamed Veronica for that. Pushing those thoughts out of her mind for the moment Penny focused on her current task; Finding Mika. As she leapt to the next building Penny hoped that these apartments had decent security cameras, as it would make finding her target easier.

Now that she was focused on the here and now it wouldn’t take Penny more than a few minutes to get to her destination, so long as nothing interrupted her that is.

"Come on, where is she?"

Clutching tight a small book and walking at a pace that suggested she was in a hurry, a young girl around twelve years of age made her way towards school, her eyes scanning the surrounding area as she did so. She was a taller girl with fair skin, long brown hair, and thick glasses. Her attire consisted of the school district's standard of a polo and khaki shorts. She was a girl that many considered 'plain' or 'boring'.

She continued her search for a few minutes until suddenly she noticed a younger girl wearing the same uniform and attempting to climb a tree. For an instant, her worried expression turned to one of relief, but just as quickly was replaced by an irritated glare. She walked even quicker than before to meet with this young girl. "Jeez! What are you doing up there? I was so worried!" she called out as if she were a mother.

Surprised by the sudden voice, the younger girl let out a cute squeal and then lost her grip on the tree, plummeting to the Earth. Fortunately, the tree wasn't very tall and she wasn't too far up it, to begin with. All the fall left her with was a sore butt. "Huh!? W-w-why are you shouting at me all of the sudden? Ya could've killed me, ya know!" she complained, rubbing her posterior before standing up. She quickly picked up her backpack that she had set down beside the tree and then looked at the older girl. "And it's your fault for taking so long! I got bored!"

"Mom warned you about running off alone." she chided, not buying into the excuse. "And I'm sure she'd do the same about climbing..." the older girl looked at the small tree for a second, "...attempting to climb a tree, no matter how small it is." she corrected. It really was small. It was no more than ten feet tall, so using the word 'climb' to describe scaling it was a generous term.

The smaller girl pouted. "Hmph! Well, she also said your face, so ha!" the younger girl yelled, wearing a triumphant expression, as though she had said something praiseworthy. In response, the older girl narrowed her eyes momentarily before a sigh escaped her lips. She turned back to the sidewalk and began walking without another word.

After realizing that she was having none of that, the younger girl's expression deflated. "W-wait for me!" she cried as she chased after the older girl.

................

............

.........

......

....

..

.



"..."

A lonesome, untransformed Emily Ackerson stood unmoving in front of what remained of a burnt tree with her delicate features forming a pensive frown. Her gaze remained glued to the tree, and every so often, a doleful sigh escaped her lips as memories of the time she spent with her now-deceased sibling came flooding back to her. Even though she had just returned to Penrose, she was beginning to wonder if it was a mistake.

No, there are definitely people here in danger. A little nostalgia isn't enough to deter me.

She had lived here in her past life, along with her family, though this was some time ago. Like many others, she had spent her childhood in blissful ignorance of the supernatural elements to the world, content with how things were. But upon becoming a magical girl and seeing the battle being waged behind the scenes, she naturally could not look the other way. And she had no regrets. She did not for one second believe her choice was wrong. But that did not mean she never longed for those peaceful days she could never have back. Not while there were monsters and other threats to people out there. So while she couldn't have her own, peaceful time with her family. Perhaps because of her, someone else could.

That's enough brooding, for now. I suppose I should tour Penrose until Jonald pesters me again.

She wasn't sure where her little bundle of hate was, but he always had a way of finding her when he needed to. It was likely he was spending his time spreading terrible rumors to the other Puchuu in the area, or attempting to locate more information on the Ebon Mint that was active in this place. Maybe he was finding her a place to stay? Unlikely, she would probably have to come up with something on her own as usual. Regardless, Emily was sure he'd eventually return to her side and try to get her to do something she didn't want to do, it was only a matter of time.

The girl decided to walk the streets for now. As she neared a familiar street, she remembered the times she would window shop around here. There were a few cool stores, but it was definitely possible that they'd gone out of business in her absence. But if they had not, then maybe she could use them to brighten her mood a bit? Yes, she thought that'd be a delightful idea. The only problem... was that it'd been so long she had forgotten exactly where this place was. And rather than spending all of her day looking for it, she figured she'd just ask one of the people walking the street. That, however, proved to be more difficult than it seemed, as most people she stopped were "in a hurry" despite walking at a slug's pace. Still, she continued asking people.

"Excuse me, miss," Emily called out to a girl who appeared to be the same age, physically, as her. When she got closer, Emily noticed something off about the girl, though she wasn't sure quite what that was. Maybe the young woman was feeling under the weather? Perhaps it was just her imagination. Her expression was a bit too delighted for her to be sick, after all. So returning to the task at hand, Emily asked her, "There was a pawn shop around here, I'm sure of it. But it's been quite a while since I've been here, so I've kinda lost my way. Would you happen to know where it is?"

@ERode

---

"...Hm." Rina frowned lightly at the sight of the phone. "A phone isn't something I've needed so I've never used one since I became a magical girl." Katarina shifted her gaze slightly away from Amaryllis. "...and I wouldn't have the money for one, anyways." She grumbled lightly, seemingly mildly embarrassed of that fact but quickly moved on. "Very well, I'll find you at Penrose Technical after I finish my own investigations." With business done, Katarina turned to leave, quickly ending the discussion then and there, quickly heading down a nearby alley and making her way back up to the rooftops.

A lesser force known as Majora...now, how should she begin her hunt?


@Crusader Lord

---

"Pffft-" Chloe couldn't help it, she began bursting out into laughter as Rifle finished. "Ahaha, wow! That was great! This is great!" The dark magical girl held a hand to her chest, jovially laughing and Rifle's antics and words. Oh glorious! Wonderful! Oh she wanted to take this cute little thing home with her! Slowly her laughing began to die down, a few remaining chuckles escaping as a disturbing, full mouthed grin slowly crept its way across her face.

"Oh you are such an adorable little catch. Ah, ah, what should I do? I'd love to take you home and tussle with you. I'll cook and everything! I've been told I'm quite good at it." Her hand slowly crept its way from her chest, to the side of her face. "Yes yes, I want to make you mine. So pretty. Like a blazing Ruby. Ah, if only I hadn't given that one to those fiends at the mint. I just want to tie you up and-eergh!" A sharp, pulsing pain suddenly shot through her skull.

"hahaha...Ah, Lord, you're awake. Hahaha. Yes yes, I remember. But she could...tsk, tsk, fine fine." Chloe sighed, her magical orb floating around her in an erratic manner as she fixed Rifle with a cool, serious glare. "Ah, how rude of me...Chloe, if you must. A question for you, Rifle." She continued, whatever semi-manic state she had slowly been devolving too vanishing in an instant. "Are you satisfied with your life? Tired of all the pain, strife, and suffering everyone goes through daily? If so...would you want to help make it such that no one ever has to suffer such impurities ever again?"

Lily sniffled as she looked up at Alex, her sobbing interrupted by his explanation.
"Oh...So you didn't propose to me...That's...Kind of a relief."
Then, when Alex compared Amaryllis to a Shakespeare player, she let out a little giggle; Alex managed to calm her down.
"Yeah, it was actually pretty funny, now that I think about it."
She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath when her head was patted. Afterwards, she withdrew from him, and adjusted her crooked glasses with a blush, her fingers poking together.
"Because...You make me feel safe, Alex. The way you care about other people...It's inspiring. You even went out of your way to rescue me, when we just became friends. That's not something any friend would do."
She then yawned as the adrenaline began to pass, and she rubbed her eye.
"Anyway, I...Umm..I need some time alone. So, uhh...good night." She then retreated back to her room, and checked her phone; no messages or calls. She considered calling Shannon, but then threw the phone on the bed. She clutched at Justine's hat.

Dammit...This is your fault... She thought as she collapsed on the bed.

---

Helga blinked in surprise at Su's mention of the genies. "Oh, those two. Amber made them a wish, and restored my body. If they could do that, I'm sure they can reveal the location of the saboteur. Come on, let's go!"
Helga made sure she transformed, uttering an incantation under her breath that Su didn't hear, and the two ran through the dark streets of Penrose, the moon lighting their way. They turned on an intersection when somebody called out to them. "Oi ladies, what's the hurry?" Helga lifted her hand to signal a stop to Su without words, and cautiously turned towards the mysterious caller. "Who's there? Show yourself!" She responded, her arms tense as she fought the urge to bare her claws.

---

The crowds in the Hall of Judgement were too distracted by the drama happening at the upper center to notice how Aurelio parted from it, and walked right up to the edge of the Pit of Punishment; he could feel a great heat rising up from the fire and brimstone, not unlike an active volcano. When he began his magic, and directed the flow of emotions coursing through the room, the results were gradually more and more apparent; Alicia felt a blaze of fire in her heart, her will bolstered to withstand the harshest insult, while Janet became the very avatar of serenity, her expression as peaceful as a saint. The clamor in the jury ended, their attention no longer split, and wholly directed towards the debate presented by both sides. It seemed Aurelio's magic wasn't enough to affect every single member, as some kept typing away on their phones, but most had placed them away, silently observing. "Hey! What do you think you're doing!" The judge shouted, waving his tiny mallet towards the magical boy. "Use of magic is expressly forbidden in the Hall of Judgement!" But then, the white rabbit Beckoner spoke up: "It's fine. He simply helped us, so that we may proceed with the trial without complications."
The bear grumbled, but then sighed. "Fine. But if I catch you performing any illicit magic, you'll be the next one judged."

When Janet mentioned Justine's full name, the Beacon crowd seemed to gasp and shudder in fright. "You-Know-Who!" She could hear someone exclaim. She then heard a slap. "This isn't Harry Potter, Katie! Quiet!" Sylvia was not affected, her composure as strict as before. However, when Janet mentioned the Spark failing, she lifted a pointing finger towards her in dramatic fashion. "Objection!" She exclaimed, and the crowd cheered her on, whistling and waving their hands; Sylvia herself scoffed at the attention, and redirected her focus on the debate as the judge silenced the court. "The Spark has never been proven to fail any attempt at repelling corruptive and mind-influencing magic," she said. "Even if you don't believe it's a lie, it's possible that Justine has enchanted you to believe her lies as the absolute truth, and is still exerting influence over you, after her passing."

When Alicia made her counter, the crowd booed her, clearly favoring Sylvia. The bear banged on his mallet so loud a thunderbolt ran up from the Circle of Sanctuary, and ran down the pit. "QUIET IN THE COURT!"
The trial was heating up, with both sides now clashing. "Very well then. Miss Hayden, provide evidence that Janet is no longer affected by Justine's magic. Show us conclusive proof that she is innocent!" She pointed, gritting her teeth as she had to confront her own friend. The Hall was silent, waiting for Alicia's move; it was the climax, where hope and despair would clash.

'...I fucked up, didn't I?'

When Lily left, Alexander had this creeping feeling that he had somehow messed up in their conversation, but he wasn't sure how 'Dammit, I don't have a clue what I'm doing' He sighed as she left to go to her room. Suddenly feeling tired himself, he returned to his room

"Hey Bob" He then froze "Bob...the fuck is that!?" The 'that' was a tiny weasel standing right next to Bob inside his cage. Alexander turned away from his bed and walked over to the cage "How...the fuck did something get in there!?" He opened the cage and grabbed the weasel, which strangely didn't resist "No, I am not dealing with whatever shit this is" He then left his room with the weasel in hand "I don't know how you got it, but I know how you're getting out!" Right before he reached the door, he took another look at the weasel, who was staring back at him. The two of them just stared at each other, until something gave "Fuck...alright, alright!" Alexander turned away from the door, and walked over to a nearby counter-top, where he placed the tiny weasel "Stay right there!" The weasel obeyed.

Alexander held both his hand in front of his face, with the palms facing each other, and called upon his Beast magic. Primal furry surged through his arms, until it gathered into a tiny ball between his hand. Next, he called upon his Reinforcement magic. The power of protection and zenith flowed through his arms, just as the Beast magic did, and mixed with the ball of Beast magic. Once he was done, twisted his hands so that his palms were facing the weasel, and the ball of magic flew at the tiny creature, sinking into it. The weasel glowed for a few seconds, before the magic settled down, and once it did, the little creature started to look a little sleepy "Right; your name is Tim now" He picked up the tiny creature and returned to his room, where Bob was waiting "Say hi to your new roommate; Tim" Alexander opened the cage and gently put down the now sleeping weasel. "Fuck...what do weasels even eat?" He left his room to go to his computer to find out.

The Golden Trove was a pretty boring place at night. Everyone was getting ready to turn in for the night, so everyone had to be super quiet and not make a sound. Most of the hotel staff had gone home, with just a handful of people working at the reception desk, security, phones, room service, and there was also a manager present. Most of them were playing with their phones or idly talking with one another to stay awake. Mika found most of them boring, and were far less exciting than any magical girl business. Fortunately, she had Boteg to play with. They were sitting in a lounge on one of the top most floors. Boteg was reclining on a leather couch with a cup of coffee, and Mika had a colorful book in her hands, sitting right beside him.

”So what's this?” Mika had a child's “learning” book in front of herself. The page showed a picture of an alligator, and also notified the reader that “A was for Alligator!”

”Bumby back.”

”Sort of?” Mika held the book closer to Boteg. ”It's an alligator! Can you say that? Al-ee-gay-tor?”

”Bumble back.”

”Noooooo!” She giggled before turning the page. ”Could you at least makes sense. This is a bumble bee. Can you say bumble bee? Bum-Bull-Bee?”

”Fuzzy Fliers.”

”Okay, that one amused me. At least it sort of makes sense.” Before she could turn the page again, she noticed that Boteg's hand was twitching. But as a beast girl, she could smell his fear. ”Is something wrong.” Mika closed the book and set it aside.

”Terrible, one's, champion, is near.”

Mika's heart skipped a beat. Ever since she joined, she had heard about the terrible one's champion. How it was Amber's goal to ultimately kill the champion, and now that responsibility was being passed down onto her and Su. It wasn't a task to be taken likely. If this terrible one wiped out all the gold dragons, then their champion had to be pretty fearsome as well. Undoubtedly something unwholesome. Something beyond human, but without humanity. Or maybe it was just more of Boteg's crazy talk, and it was just some innocent Beacon girl who was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

But Mika was excited, regardless.

”Leave it to me Boteg! I'll do battle with your demons and avenge your family!” She didn't wait for a response. Newly minted magical girl or not, she had to defend her patron. While she was running up the stairs to the roof, when she was sure there weren't any cameras pointing at her, she started to speak her incantation. She was transforming on the move.”Tooth and claw, beak and paw, It's me you saw!” A fully transformed Mika emerged onto the roof, There was enough lighting that her superior vision could see everything pretty clearly. Though it didn't seem like they had arrived yet. On arriving on the roof, it dawned on Mika that she wasn't sure where her opponent was coming from. They could actually just access the hotel from the bottom floor. She could ask Boteg for instructions to get to them, but there was a pretty good chance she wouldn't understand them. ”Should I start yelling? I really don't want to wake anyone up.” Mika scanned the adjacent building before spotting Penny on an adjacent roof top. ”There!” She transformed into a cheetah mid sprint and ran towards the magical girl. Normally cheetahs are capable of clearing an eight foot gap, and even a magical cheetah would have a hard time clearing a parking lot and an intersection just to get to another building. Fortunately Mika was able to give herself the wings of an eagle to coast the rest of the distance. As soon as she landed, her body turned back to normal. Her ears went back as soon as she pointed at the mechanical magical girl. ”Are you the terrible one's champion?!” She blinked a few times after realizing how stupid that probably sounded. ”Did your patron cause the genocide of every gold dragon in existence?” That wasn't much better. She opened her hand and momentarily averted her eyes. ”I'm new here, call me Mika.” There was a grin plastered on her face. Yes! This was perfect!



Su gave Helga a nod and took a full step back. She could transform quickly, so there was no need for her to reveal herself at this time. If at all possible, it would be best for Helga to deal with any new people without needing to interfere. The fewer people that new she was a magical girl, the better.

”Sky Scare.” Boteg's voice rang out in her head. ”The terrible one's champion hath made it's presence known to me. Thou apprentice hath taken it upon herself to defend thy patron. ”

Su folded her arms and leaned against a nearby fence. ”I'm nearby. If she needs any assistance, contact me.” This was not a great situation to be in. How inconvenient for the champion to just appear out of nowhere when her attention was divided. If it wasn't for this random appearance, she'd have flown back right now. But she wasn't going to lose Helga. Not after what they had been through.

“O-oh,” Amaryllis replied, the wind taken out of her sails. “No phone. Mm, that’s alright then. See you around, Rina.”

With robotic movements, the Knight of Rose turned around as well, descending into the shadows of the alleyway before majestically…SPRINTING THE FUCK AWAY. AHHHH SHIT SHE TOTALLY ACTED LIKE A PRISSY RICH BITCH, WAVING AROUND HER IPHONE X HUH!? UGH SHE COULD SO EASILY REMEMBER THE DISDAIN AND DISGUST ON RINA’S FACE. NO, EVEN WORSE, BOTH HER OPTIONS WERE CONDESCENDING TO BEGIN WITH. DAMMIT, IF ONLY SHE ASKED RINA WHERE IT’D BE CONVENIENT TO MEET INSTEAD. NO, WAIT, EVEN BETTER, SHE SHOULD HAVE GAVE RINA HER PHONE AND THEN JUST STRIVED TO CALL HER THROUGH SKYPE OR SOMETHING. GODDAMNITTTTTTTT.

Incredible speed propelled her through streets filled with folk, and, for a moment there, Penrose City was filled with blurry photos of a purported ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’.

---

After she had ran her fill of shame and embarrassment, Amaryllis snuck into an alleyway and shifted back to her civilian outfit, cheeks still flushed with the massively destructive social faux pas she had just committed. Her Sword hadn’t been all that pleased with the fruitless running as well, prodding her heaving sides as if to ask why she’d expend so much energy pointlessly. But Amaryllis ignored the Sword, and instead rematerialized her large backpack, pushing her way into a nearby Starbucks. Sitting down without ordering a coffee, she drew out her laptop and popped it open, the bitten peach flashing over a dark screen before loading up to an innocuous background.

Hunching her shoulders, the bespectacled girl began to browse, accessing an internet that did not actually exist. Though her mastery over gymnastics was fun and her superpowers were great, it was the unlimited, omnipresent wi-fi capabilities of her magical laptop that was the greatest perk she could get. With that, she began scrolling through news sites, first checking through a quick scan of major news sites before checking out more personal ones. The majority of the information was still speculative, investigations not leading up to anything at all outside of the suggestions of mass hallucinations, but one site in particular stood out: a small blog called the Penrose Independent. Whereas the major news outlets stated still that the causes were being investigated and other tabloid sites were already speculating on falsehoods, that particular news article spoke of an ‘underground pipe explosion’, something that definitely could not have happened from circumstantial evidence.

Amaryllis narrowed her eyes, read further, and then stumbled upon it. The Penrose Preternatural, penned by Charlotte Suthers. A news site for the magical underside of Penrose. Independent from Beacon. Perfect.

Before she could doubt herself further, the bespectacled girl shot a quick message to the writer of the article, and then left to buy a hot chocolate.

Hi Charlotte.
I was there. Let's meet for a chat.

@Vocab

---

Annabelle paused as she was called out to, by a young sounding voice at that. Maybe another magical girl? Then again it could be the odd random background sort of person who needed directions, or who was traveling through the area, or such things. But regardless of who it was...why would they want to chat to her? Turning to look around, Annabelle blinked a couple times as she looked back at the rusty-colored eyes of the other girl. It was kinda odd, but not exactly an abnormal look, and it wasn't like the girl's question was abnormal anyway. Hair color was kinda nice tho, somewhat like a shade of red....unless it was some shade of red?

Eh, at the moment the redheaded magical girl herself was more mentally concerned with buying gifts for her new friends. She'd already found something nice for Elroy after going into a pawn shop, or at least maybe something that'd fit his personality. Maybe. Hell if she knew for sure, she was trying her best here! Though despite being thrown off by the new person, she threw on a happy smile regardless. Maybe this could be another friend? One could never know. Though....a pawn shop! Aha!

"Huh? Oh! Yeah, i just got out of a pawn shop near here, not sure if its the same place you might remember. I'm kinda new here myself anyways~," Annabelle said, giving a light giggle before continuing on, "Sorry, its been a long day. I can show ya there if you want!"

She didn't mind, personally, not that it would have been hard to give a flat "no" as an answer in the first place. Regardless, she had been about to turn around the backtrack, before going the other direction down the street from the Pawn Shop. Figures being new hadn't helped when it came to finding that jewelry store...ugh.

@FamishedPants



Creatures slithered about the surrounding, abandoned buildings. Three had been secured for their lord, and not many more to go before things could begin. Runes were being carved into inner walls and underneath roof tiles, sigils being scrawled in blood acquired from....various sources, and chanting in alien and unfathomable tongues was concealed to a hushed volume and tone to avoid 'making a scene'. Shadows filled with indeterminable horrors within slinked about in shapes abounding, moving about more and more as the night would get closer and closer, and they became less and less able to be noticed by any potential passerby. They patrolled the grounds, the rooms, the chambers, and streets like bloodhounds, seeking resources nearby, subtly gliding about like silent predators on the prowl...

Other monsters weren't safe here, not at all, as they had the status of merely being but the harvested crops for these horrors' lord without a second thought. Work had also been moving along rather well, all that was needed was...well, their Lord knew what was needed for what was to come. Such a grace that would be granted to this mundane world, a boon of unimaginable magnitude to their kind and all who stood alongside them. It would be an honor, a privilege many would merely be lucky and blessed to witness in all these millennia....and it would in the end be-

'....glorious.

Yet so radiant, even...-

-...that it would blot out the sun in comparison...'

---

---

The person before her seemed to shift in a manic mood, building and building then...stopped in an instant by a seeming pain. Red Rifle....no, Alice had seen this sort of person before, this sort of twisted mind that latched upon a fancy like a predator's fangs dug into upon the butt of a prey animal in flight. Was this girl's patron a Horror? Perhaps. It could also be something else, even though horrors were usually the sort to result in such a mental state. Yet some could, as well, be twisted by their own accord without the need to be bent by a horror or some other power.

The world could really be a sick place when one saw enough of it, witnessed enough events, and watched the worst happen at times to those who didn't deserve it.

She been about to deliver more witty lines and bravado, maybe to entice this girl into a manic frenzy and distract her, but as Chloe changed so did Alice in regards to her expression. Where once was teasing, flirty attitude there was now more of a concerned look then before. A rather serious look, even, as it could be said. The lines she was delivering sounded like a movie-villain's monologue to get recruits from some place.

It was not an invalid question to herself, though, which was the scary part. She'd seen the suffering of many, and things that she'd dare never want to recount to others. Some had called her "jaded" for it, but...if one couldn't adjust to this way of life after getting stuck in it, and without a bonus way out of it all, then they would die. She'd seen it so many times, it could have made a normal person maybe lose their mind, or suddenly turn sick as their insides churned at what a magical girl like herself had witnessed.

"...Heh, not a bad question to use for this sort of stuff. Cheesy, but effective. So then....what's your offer? What is this solution to the world's suffering you propose, patron of Chloe?" Red Rifle said, her tone not wavering, giving her cheeky trademark grin as she waited for an answer.

It wasn't a trap, or a refusal. Merely a question, a desire to "get to the point" of it all hear this out. Surely someone looking to recruit could do that much, just to answer a little question in some manner, eh? Though instinctively her body was already ready in case of a sudden attack, or a surprise ambush, or such things to occur. The air of this "encounter" had changed, and that wasn't always a good sign.

@Rune_Alchemist

Alicia was unaware of the magic in play until the Beckoners drew everyone's attention to it. So Kyle was some sort of empath? That was useful, and she shot him a nod of approval from the defendants stand. Given this was her first time up here, and the high stakes involved, the help he had provided her with was appreciated.

That out of the way, she turned to the trial at hand. She glanced over at Sylvia, a frown crossing her features as she was challenged to provide evidence that was nigh impossible to give. She knew that Sylvia was just doing her job, but this felt....low. Even for her standards. There was no way she could definitely prove it, and they both knew that. Not if she was going to cast everything Janet said into doubt.

"Seriously Sylvia? You didn't have to go that far," she grumbled, taking a deep breath as she turned before the crowd. There was no public sympathy here, so she was going to have to do her best.

Waving over to Janet, she began. "She's right. The Spark hasn't failed before. But how many Deities are there out in the cosmos? How many Horrors and malicious Patrons that intend mankind harm? To assume that the Spark won't fail just because it never has before is folly." She could understand the complacency of her sisters, the desire for safety and the belief in stability. But if they blinded themselves to the world as it was, they would fall to darkness without a doubt.

Glancing back at Sylvia, she went on. "We all know of items that can corrupt magical girls, such as the Black Coin. Janet mentioned being isolated with a dress of some kind. Perhaps that served the same function. Then she overloaded her with so much magic that she became a monster girl. With everyone else she had under her thrall, it's likely she could do it. But you aren't one anymore, right Janet?" she asked, looking over at her friend.

"That should be impossible too, but it isn't. Even if you choose not to believe it, there's no way I can conclusively show you that she doesn't have any hidden programming from Justine or what have you. But why else would she have waited a month before coming to find us? She deserves the opportunity to redeem herself and to make up for what Justine made her do. We have a list of all the girls that Justine had Mariette abduct on her behalf, Janet wouldn't be on it if she had fallen willingly. How can we claim to be the guiding light leading humanity forward if we punish someone for something that they couldn't stop."

Alicia found that she was getting more worked up than she had intended to, muscles coiled tight and a fist clenched as fingernails dug into her palm. She was confident in her friend and in the truth, and she wanted the rest of Beacon to be confident in her even if they weren't confident in Justine. How else would her failure be removed?

After a moment she let out a held breath, before choosing to address her argument from a new angle to erase any lingering doubts. "Still, I think i have the evidence you want," she assured Sylvia with a slight nod. "Someone who knows a lot more about what went on there than I do. I call Kimble to the stand." This was sure to incite a furor, but she was confident in her decision. If anyone could tell them what serving Justine had been like, it would be her.

@t2wave@Ariamis@DarkwolfX37@Shifter_Master

@Crusader Lord@Rune_Alchemist

---

The masked man idly checked his phone, open to that blog again. He refreshed it every few seconds, keeping his awareness tuned to the feminine figure who, on the surface, didn't seem to fit the bill of "cryptic asshole who laces half their poetry with references to Christoph Magreat." Hell, she looked pretty damn normal. She was typing away on her laptop, occasionally stopping to stare at the screen. Looked like she was proofreading something for errors.

She clicked decisively, then closed up the computer and stuffed it into her pin-covered backpack. His personal favorite was the “You’ll wish I had pepper spray” one.

Oh, lo and behold, his latest refresh showed a brand new post on that blog.

Self-doubt tenfold, monomaniacal manifest
My death in a suit and tie, reminder of my catalyst
Operator, inspired.

That bit of poetry sounded bizarrely familiar, but he couldn't sit down and give a thousand word analysis on it at the moment. The timing was spot-on, so that had to be the poster. The masked man got up, brushed off his trenchcoat, then adjusted his trilby in the reflection of the window. He could afford to give her a few seconds’ headstart. Amateurs always tore off after their targets, made themselves a bit too obvious to anyone who bothered paying attention.

“Hey!”

The masked man froze for a second, and turned around, casual as you please. Some hipster kid was staring, cellphone camera pointed right at him.

“Can I get a picture?”

The masked man paused. “…sure, kid.” This style of mask still gave him the creeps, but between that and the hat, he got to reap the benefits of looking like one of those cyberterrorists with the good publicity - i.e, not immediately convincing people to call the cops.

One gaudy social media filter later, and the hipster boy pulled away. The scent of overpriced ‘artisanal cologne’ clung to him like a dog soaked in gasoline. “Thanks, man. Hey, any deets on the next operation?”

The masked man shook his head. “Sorry. Too many ears, and I need to keep moving.” Think of something, something convincing. “Got a tip a surveillance satellite’s about to sweep the area. Need to make myself scarce before it catches up.” Perfect. I'm very smart.

The hipster kid gave him an honest-to-God salute as he left. The masked man forced himself to nod back, and started powerwalking after the blogger. Millennials.

---

Speedwagon knelt by his body, tears streaming down her cheeks. They dripped onto the Father’s forehead, his eyes mercifully closed. “Damn it! If only we had gotten here sooner…” If it weren’t for the hole in his chest, she could have sworn he was sleeping… or, maybe even crying too. Even after everything, he couldn’t stand seeing other people cry, always did his damnedest to help them any way he could…

Joanna placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder, and Speedwagon glanced over. Her eyes were tearing up, too, but there was a fire in them the ruffian knew well. “We’ll find out who did this. We’re going to find out why. And we’re going to make sure they don’t get away with this.”

“Thanks, Miss Jo-star… well, first thing’s first.” Speedwagon wiped her tears away, then carefully extracted the phone from the Father’s grip. “We need to see if Tattoo managed to leave some evidence.”

Joanna looked at her friend in surprise. “You think he might have taken a picture of his murderer?”

Speedwagon nodded. “I’d reckon so. Take a look. His hands were gripped tight enough to keep a hold of the phone while he died, but not enough to crush it. If that grip were just death spasms, with his strength? We’d be picking the shards out of his fingers.”

“Are you sure it’s still usable?” Joanna grimaced at the sight. “It still looks ready to fall apart at any moment.”

“It lasted long enough for us to lead us to his body.” Speedwagon gave it an appraising glance. “…though I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to fix it up.”

Speedwagon reached for the familiar power of her magic. She sent a purification spell into the cracked device, focused on cleansing it of the blood that didn’t belong there. The blood dripped away from the phone easily, as it hadn’t quite seeped into the truly sensitive parts of the phone. So far so good. She wove a restorative spell into the inner workings, casing, and the screen. Even the minute scratches of everyday use faded away, and the phone looked fresh out of the box instead of freshly taken from the hands of–

Speedwagon shook her head, dispelling those thoughts for a moment. After a beat, she decided to cast a reinforcement spell over the phone. Better not risk it getting broken again anytime soon. With that taken care of, she slipped the phone into her coat pocket for safekeeping, and warded it again for good measure. She shifted her attention back to Tattoo. She knew what they had to do, but it would still hurt.

“…come on, Miss Jo-star. We should get going before the coppers arrive.”

“We can’t leave him here–!”

“If we try to take him with us, we’ll only implicate ourselves in his murder. And even if he wouldn’t approve of us going off in search of vengeance, he wouldn’t want us behind bars.”

Joanna stared at Father Grundelson’s face for a moment. “…do you think they’ll call this ‘gang violence,’ too?”

“…I don’t know. The claw marks will be hell to explain, but if they went with that story, they’ll probably fall back to ‘close range shotguns.’ Or they’ll pass it off as a gas explosion, possibly. Easier to explain away the magic as hallucinations, the killing blows as shrapnel from the blast.”

“How will they explain all the corpses being covered in sheets, though?”

“…good question.”

The pavement behind them cracked, and the girls whirled around to catch a glimpse of a magical girl leaping up over the rim of a rooftop.

“W-what the hell?”

“Could it be…?”

They exchanged a look, and started running towards the motorcycle. They needed to follow that girl!

---

The man in the mask’s name was Sergei Korchaviv. Among the blogosphere, known as “The Faceless Bastard”: infamous servant to one of the Fears and, well, overall murderous bastard. One of the old breed of servants who preferred to wear a literal mask – though frankly he had better reason than most to do so. Apart from the obvious reasons, he was kind of on the lam. Years of murdering for the Morphs kind of gives you a mild case of serious legal issues, though using the same kind of weapon didn’t do himself any favors.

And while he lost a little time physically tailing the blogger, a little birdie told him exactly which way she was headed. Right towards… an alleyway? Unbelievable. Didn’t this yahoo ever pick up a crime novel, a horror novel… hell, even a comic book? It’s like ringing a dinner bell for every coward, bully, cad, and thief in the area. If this was going to turn into him rescuing the girl from a bunch of third-rate criminals, then being torn between poorly written desire and duty to his eldritch masters, he was going to track down whatever hack writer was narrating it all from behind a typewriter and use their blood for some proofreading ink.

…perhaps falling asleep during a movie marathon wasn’t the brightest idea. It must have given him some kind of pop-culture hangover.

The Faceless Bastard walked into the alleyway in question, where she was waiting for him. He took several steps forwards, and the chirping of his little birdy told him that the two were alone. He had a sinking feeling that he knew where this was heading.

She turned around, and it was clear that she had taken a minute to put on her own mask. It was one of those Scooby-Doo style rubber masks, but in the shape of John Petrucci’s face instead of some monster. It was… actually really well made…

Oh fucking hell. Now he got it. She was one of those “Masked Massacrer” asshats. Ever since old Slim Shady died, they started crawling out of the woodwork, claiming the dead Fear was still giving them orders. Either they were crazy or Archangel was fucking with them – come to think of it, maybe even one of those other eldritch assholes from Lovecraft’s fever dreams? – but according to the Morphs there was no way that their master was still kicking.

“Don’t suppose you’d tell me everything you know about Magreat, and we can both walk away without any bullshit?”

The Masked Massacrer reached inside the waistband of her jeans and unsheathed a long-bladed knife. And from the way the asshole was holding it, and her stance, she clearly knew how to use it. Wonderful.

“Guess I’ll have to convince you, then.” The Faceless Bastard reached into his hockey bag. Gripping the hilt sticking out of it, he pressed a button to disengage the locking mechanism. Credit due to that enterprising nerd who thought to market an umbrella with a sword handle – since those things were everywhere, he could lug his sword around in broad daylight. True, The Faceless Bastard had to jerry-rig the workings of an umbrella to his scabbard, but those few hours had paid off in dividends.

Pulling it free from the disguised scabbard, he drew his sword – which looked like the bastard offspring of a machete and a cutlass – and got into a stance of his own.

The two Servants stared down the alleyway from each other.

The Masked Massacrer twirled her knife, once, twice, three times.

Light glinted off of The Faceless Bastard’s blade.

An honest-to-God tumbleweed passed them in the alleyway, drawing their gaze for a befuddled moment. It tumbled down the alleyway towards street behind The Faceless Bastard, causing his gaze to linger after it for a moment. He turned back to his opponent, and then the Masked Massacrer was on him.

---

“There! A parking garage! We can use that to get up to the rooftops!”

The motorcycle blazed up the garage’s ramps, hardly slowing even to take the turns. But when they got to the top floor of the garage, which was open to the darkening sky... “Damn it! The safety wall’s too high for us to drive to the next rooftop. We might have to follow on foot from here on out.”

Joanna scanned the area for a moment, her face deep in thought. “Hey, Speedwagon. How durable have you made this motorcycle?”

“I’ve laid enough long-term reinforcements on this motorcycle for it to survive driving over a minefield. Why?”

Joanna pointed across the garage's roof. “Drive us close to that empty parking spot. I’m going to get us over the safety wall.”

“...I don't know exactly what your plan is, but I trust you.” But Speedwagon drove them over there anyways, bringing the motorcycle to a stop with the engine idling. “Alright, now what?”

Joanna flung her blood near the center of the parking space, and it fell into the shape of a thick line perpendicular to the wall.“Bring us around to get us up to speed...and then drive us directly over my blood!”

Speedwagon noticed the thickness of the blood line looked about that of the motorcycle's undercarriage. “Oh, I see what you're on about! Alright, hang on!” She gunned the engine, and began circling around the top floor of the garage, gaining more speed as she brought them back around.

Joanna concentrated on her magic, and the blood on that spot began to glow with energy.

“Almost there…”

She had to get this timing just right…

On the third lap around, Speedwagon steered the motorcycle directly toward the glowing blood. “When you're ready!” They hurtled closer and closer to the spot, until-

Now!

“Sanguine Springboard Overdrive!”

And the blood beneath them exploded upwards, sending the motorcycle and the girls flying clear over the safety wall! A second passed before they touched down on the neighboring rooftop, and they shot off like an arrow when they did. “Amazing, Miss Jo-star!” Speedwagon quickly clocked their position, and shouted, “And look: there’s the magical girl we saw! We’re only a few rooftops away now!”

“! Speedwagon!” Joanna pointed off into the distance, over Speedwagon’s shoulder.

Speedwagon looked, and immediately slammed on the brakes. “What the hell?!”

---

The two disengaged, taking a moment to catch their breath. Clearly this fight was going nowhere fast if they kept dicking around in melee.

The Faceless Bastard closed one eye stepped to the side. “You know what? Fuck this.”

The Faceless Bastard took off his hat and removed his mask, and the Masked Massacrer flinched. Creatures that were birds in name alone pushed their way out from the scarred absence of flesh between his forehead and lips, the jagged edged wound carved by his own hand years ago. This convocation possessed wings and feathers, true, but no ‘bird’ forsakes a beak for gaping holes, nor does any ‘bird’ possess feathers sharp and shiny like a well-maintained set of knives. And surely no bird nor its plumage crackled with such electricity, leaping across members of the flock like thoughts between neurons. As they arose into the sky, the Masked Massacrer saw Fear blot out the rest of the dwindling light.

The Faceless Bastard swung his open hand downwards, as if to try and cleave the air with the sound of a one-handed clap. “Say goodbye!”

The Morphs swooped down at once, and true to their name, Morph. They became a living lightning strike, the sonic boom shaking the air with the force of a thunderclap. The Masked Massacrer crumpled to the ground, twitching in agony.

The Faceless Bastard, witness of the murder, strolled over to the smoking carcass, witnessed by the murder. He was used to the smell of burning flesh by now. He stood over the body and knelt down. “So, are your vocal chords fused together, or do you want to finally tell me what you know about Christoph Magreat?”

A dry chuckle drifted out from under the ruined mask. “How will you handle the world crumbling around you?”

The Faceless Bastard shifted, his knee now firmly atop the Masked Massacrer’s arm. “Sorry, I must’ve ruined your ear drums. Because that doesn’t sound like anything useful about Magreat. So, since I’m so forgiving, how’s about you try again?”

More of that damn chuckling. That John Petrucci mask looked more punchable by the second. “Even if I could, what could you do? All you can do is stare at the world through those eyeholes.” A pause, and another fucking chuckle. “You and I have been reduced to mere Glass Prisoners in this passion play, watching the time tick away as the Lamb frees or damns the world page by page.”

The Faceless Bastard simply stared for a beat. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

A sigh. “How familiar are you with the Topography Genera Center?”

“No, I know what a fucking Glass Prisoner is. I already found your blog, it’s how I found your cryptic ass in the first place. I meant the other half of that sentence.”

Another motherfucking chuckle. And then for once, that soft, smooth voice actually sounded serious. “Are you ready? Hey. Are you ready for this? Are you hanging on the edge of your seat? Christoph Magreat needs to go to 'a specific place' in Penrose to complete his ritual, to deliver ‘it.’ When the time comes, he needs to go to–”

She was interrupted by a .45 to the head.

The Faceless Bastard immediately tracked the angle of the shot, and saw the silhouette of the shooter in a nearby doorway. Completely unclothed, their skin the odd supple green of a tree stripped of its bark. The revolver, still smoking, was clutched in fingers that ended in tiny trees. In different circumstances, those treefingers would almost look comical. Capitalizing on the moment of surprise, the Treefingered… man? Woman? Whatever the hell it was, there was no time to see what kind of dangly bits it had, or even if it had any, because it was fleeing the scene.

The Faceless Bastard abandoned the body, bolting as soon as his body would let him. He gestured with his hands, but the birds already begun to give chase. They reached the end of the alleyway, and –

“What the fuck. How?”

There was no sign of the shooter.

The Faceless Bastard spared a moment to convene with the Morphs, but they were as baffled as he was. He went back to check on the body, but there was only the long smear that comes of a freshly dragged corpse, and it lead into a solid wall. So whoever this asshole was, they could teleport, or they weren’t working alone. Or even worse, both. Great.

He lifted his mask to let the Morphs back inside to nest inside. He could have opened more wounds for them to enter from, speeding up the process, but that meant the cops would have a better chance of getting DNA samples. For some reason, he was a wanted murder suspect in several states. Couldn’t imagine why that was.

And besides, if you've got a giant hole in your head, it's always better to use it for something.

He spotted the Masked Massacrer’s backpack tucked behind a garbage can, and paused. She must have shed it before they started fighting, and it looked like whoever took the body didn’t notice it either. Looks like this mess would have a silver lining after all. A small one, but it was something.

He shouldered the backpack across from his hockey bag, and slipped his ‘umbrella’ back in. “…tch. I need a freaking drink.”

The Faceless Bastard adjusted the trilby on his head and walked down the alleyway and back into the street.

‘I heard O’Brien’s moved to Penrose. Let’s see if it’s still standing when I get there.’

As Penny had figured her travel had been uninterrupted and before too long she found herself atop a building across the street from The Golden Trove. She took a moment to examine the hotel in case there happened to be anything of interest about it before looking around the roof top she was on seeking the right spot to start the next part of her search.

Most people have little idea of how most building are wired, for unless they worked in IT there was no real need to know. Penny did know, both because of a life time ago she had earned a college degree in the field and because her sensitivity to Metal and Electricity made it impossible to miss if she went looking for it. Thus after a moment of looking Penny found the nearest bundle of cords tucked away in the walls of the building she was on. Positioning as close to the cords as she could while staying on the rooftop the Cyborg begin using a skill that she hadn’t really told anyone about, and hacked in to the network of the building she was standing on. From there she jumped over to the network of The Golden Trove.

‘Still find it weird to do it this way’ she though as she worked her way through the security systems that stood in her way with nothing more than her unique physiology, her weak magic and her old know how. ‘Guess that’s just the perk of being made of the future’ it took her barely three minutes to slip in to the systems of the hotel and start searching for Mika.

By a quirk of chance, Mika ended up find Penny first. Turning to face the Beast spec’d girl it would be plain as day that Penny’s left eye was ‘off’ as it wasn’t glowing and was a flat dull gray. The reason was that was because she was feeding all the incoming data to her left eye for processing thus it was currently hooked up to the cameras in the Golden Trove.

Still Penny was notably confused at Mika’s introduction. “Hey Mika I’m Penny” was the given reply before Penny shook off her confusion “And no idea who the Terrible one is, so I’m going to go with no to the first question and I assume the first and second questions are connected so I’m going to assume no for the second question. I mean Laat is an asshole but he’s not one who goes about causing genocide if he can avoid it” She continued as a knot formed in her gut. While Penny was speaking truthfully, Laat was infuriatingly tight lipped about the things he has done or the things she would have to look out for. So it was possible that Laat had caused a genocide and Penny was about to find out there was a grudge about that the hard way.

Hoping that it was just a case of wrong place wrong time Penny moved forward with trying to find Thalia. “I was actually wondering if I could ask you something Mika. I’ve trying to find someone and I was told you might have had a run in with them. They are a Foxgirl with Beast and Fire magic, does that sound familiar?”

Sylvia bit her lower lip upon hearing Alicia's scathing words, and she turned her face away, not willing to meet the hot gaze. "I go as far as I need to..." She turned back to look at her, having found inner strength. "If it means I can protect you, and everyone else." The crowd once again cheered, but Sylvia was not in the mood for that. She gestured for the judge to end the chatter, and waited for Alicia's rebuttal.
The tension that followed was nearly palpable, and some audience members took some distance away from the pit, feeling stuffy. Sylvia blinked at the mention of Mariette. "You have a list?" She asked offhandedly, but then gasped as Alicia called Kimble for a testimony.

As the light girl might have expected, there was an uproar in the audience.
"Kimble? What does she know? Was she also Justine's pawn? What is going on?" Confusion ran rampant until the judge banged his mallet. "Bring her here," the Beckoner ordered, and soon enough the catgirl was led into the Hall of Judgement. She looked sheepish, her tail wrapped around herself as she looked around fearfully, the crowd parting before her like the Red Sea for Moses.
Once she was standing on the floating podium assigned for giving testimonies, Sylvia approached her. "Do you swear to speak the truth, and only the truth, while in the Hall of Judgement?" She asked, and Kimble nodded rapidly, her fluffy ears bouncing atop her head. "I purromise!"
Sylvia nodded. "The floor is yours, miss Hayden," she then said, and made way for the defendant to question the monster girl and make her case.

"We have a list," Alicia replied, glancing up at the Judge and those seated with him. "I gave it to the Beckoners so if you didn't know about it then I don't know what to say."

She waited as the courtroom was thrown into an uproar, determined to make the best of this opportunity while she had it. This could make her entire case, and affect Kimble as well. She watched like everyone else as the catgirl entered the courtroom, frowning with sympathy at how scared she looked. She had guessed that this would be hard on her, but she didn't have much choice. She just needed to have faith in her ability to handle it.

Once she was ready, Alicia floated forwards. She decided to start easy, and let her get comfortable before getting into the difficult questions. "Alright Kimble. Can you tell the court how you know me, where we met?" Easy enough, as far as she could tell.

" Okay," Kimble answered with a straight back, and looked around at the court before she began talking. "So, Mistr-Um, Miss Hayden and I met when we were in the Overcity. I was...Not myself then. " Kimble paused. "I was turned into a bad kitty...By Justine." The crowd gasped at the revelation, and even Sylvia seemed to be taken offguard, putting a hand to her mouth. "But then, Miss Hayden rescued me! She spared my life, and gave me a chance. I'm forever grateful, nya!" She then blinked and shut her mouth, feeling embarrassed to slip with her vocal tic at such a dramatic moment.

Alicia shot Kimble a pleased smile, appreciative of the testimony. It wasn't quite how she would have phrased things, but there was something to be said for winning over the audience. That said, now she had to move on to something more difficult. "Alright. And how did you come to work for Justine? How did she make you a 'bad kitty'?"

The proceedings had taken a significant turn with Alicia calling in Kimble. Janet didn't even know the monster girl was at the HQ. Watching the witness enter and take her place Janet was confused to say the least. What was Kimble doing here? And if another of Justine's girls were here, why was she on trial? Thanks to the magic that had been cast on her, the girl didn't have a overly strong reation.

This didn't mean that everything was good though. Kimble didn't blow up the Headquarters that killed several Beacon girls. Nor was she part of Beacon before that, to her knowledge anyway. Justine wasn't much about letting her minions get to know about their pasts. For now she would just have to wait and listen to where things went.

Kimble looked down, tears starting to form in her eyes. "She...She used magic. It was so dark I couldn't see anything. It felt like I couldn't even breathe. After that...I don't remember. I mean, not much...I remember being really angry, really cruel...and how I wanted to kill and hurt. But those weren't my real feelings! They were twisted!" Kimble then began sobbing, and Sylvia looked away, sighing from empathy. "How terrible...I had no idea she had that kind of power over others..." She mumbled. The audience whispered among each other in heated debate, as they tried to comprehend the implications to Beacon as a whole.

Alicia fell silent, not willing to speak for a minute or two after Kimble had finished. It wasn't entirely what she had wished for but she was not going to complain about the results. It seemed to have had quite an impact on the crowd at the very least.

During the moments of silence Aurelio reordered the magic he was casting over the Hall. He let the curtain of Patiencestay hanging over the spectators but would no longer supply the magic to kept it running and instead sent a flow of Confidence and Understanding towards Sylvia. Being forced to face your friends and foes was never a kind experience even if it was needed from time to time.

With that said, she returned to Kimble for one last question. "Thank you for that. You said that you didn't remember much from your time when you were serving under Justine. But do you recognize that girl?" she asked, pointing at the platform where the accused stood. "Or does the name 'Janet Howell' mean anything to you?"

Kimble nodded, feeling better as she was complimented by Alicia. "I do. Justine mentioned the name a couple of times, I think. She must have been the jellyfish girl who accompanied her."

"Wait, I have a question," Sylvia then asked. "We haven't detected any dark magic within Janet, how do you explain that?" Sylvia then asked. "If she was turned into a monster, how was she purified without the Beacon's involvement?"

The sudden swing in topic was also unexpected, but she did her best to respond without hurting her own case. "After HQ was attacked, me and Suwako ran into a pair of Djinn girls whose powers involved granting wishes. With what we were up against, I wished for something that could purify any corruption, no matter how deep. When I ran into Janet earlier today, I used that on her and removed her corruption." She'd been pretty busy at the time, so telling them about the encounter had slipped her mind when it had happened. And then she'd been in the Overcity for a while so there had been other things for her to focus on. But just to prove it she produced the vial where one might see lingering stars if they looked closely.

The mention of the djinn girls was another alarm for the Beacon. "I heard rumors about them, but it sounded super sketchy..." The whispers drifted. "Can they grant any wish you'd want? Sounds super dangerous." "We can't let them roam free."
And when Alicia actually produced the empty bottle, clearly labeled as a purification potion, the audience looked on in wonder. A moment of silence passed the jury's texting having turned from rapid responses to more deliberate writing. The judge broke the spell. "Do you have any further questions, miss Starshine?" Sylvia shook her head, and gave the faintest smile. "No, your honor."

With both sides having made their case, it was time for the jury's decision. The magical girls all stood up, and one of them announced. "Based on the current evidence, we have deemed Janet Howell as..." The entire hall seemed to hold its breath in anticipation.

"...Not guilty."

About a third of the audience booed and shouted, clearly upset by the decision, but the judge banged his mallet. "Order! Janet Howell," he addressed the girl, and her podium seemed to shift down, until it was hovering just above the pit. "By the light of Beacon, I shall revoke your excommunication, and welcome you back as our fellow chosen of justice. However, you will first be put under supervision. Alicia Hayden, you are to be assigned as her commanding officer. Prepare for further orders. Dismissed." With one final bang of the tiny mallet, the crowds began dispersing from the Hall, as judgement has been made. For the first time since it's construction, it was made in favor of the defendant.

Sylvia pushed aside the magical girls who wanted her commentary on the result, and reached Alicia and Janet as they were walking out. "Alicia, I'm sorry. I know that what I did was awful. But you have to understand my position; as much as I trust you, that's not enough to guarantee Beacon's safety."

It seemed that while she was gone, both from having been kidnapped and after being freed from Justine, a lot had happened. It was going to take some time to sort though it all. In only a day she'd managed to be clensed, had trial, and avoided being killed. Although she'd still have to step lightly. Just because she was cleared didn't mean everyone was happy about it. Turning to head out she looked down at her hands. They were red from how tightly she had them clenched.

With a sigh of relief Aurelio let go of the spells he had woven throughout the Hall and nearly sank to the floor as he did so. Large scale blanketing was always rough and the atmosphere of the trial wasn't doing him any favors, thankfully his spells would linger for a bit longer so it was unlikely that anything rash would be done so soon after the trial ended.

Straightening up he gave a deep bow to both the Judge and the rabbit that had vouched for him. He hoped he at least nodded in acknowledgement of the warning he had received earlier, but he honestly couldn't remember due to the focus he put in to his spell weaving. Then he turned and strode out of the Hall in search of the people more directly involved in the trial, lapping up the ambient emotions as he went.

"Well that was quite the event." His approach was mixed with an aura of Relaxation as he gently tried to sooth the friction that the trial surely had caused between everyone. "Hopfully you didn't mind me stepping in as I did, was just trying to keep everone on track."

Turning to Aurelio , Janet shook her head. "No that was helpful. I wondered where that came from. Thank you...." She trailed off, not knowing the boys name but offered a hand to shake. Hopefully he would get the hint. She was inturupted briefly as her things were being returned to her. Fishing around in her backpack she searched for her phone.

Aurelio took the offered hand without missing a beat "Glad to be of help." he replied with a grin "And I go by Aurelio while I'm suited up but otherwise my name's Kyle, pleasure to meet you all."

Having said her piece, Alicia fell silent and waited quietly as the jury went about their deliberation. She felt like she had done the best she could given the circumstances, she just hoped that the jury agreed with her. If she hadn't succeeded and Janet was found guilty, she didn't know what she'd do with herself.

A sigh of relief escaped upon hearing the verdict, the tension released from her body as she visibly sagged. She didn't mind the conditions that had come with the verdict, and was just glad that she had succeeded as she was pulled back from the middle of the room by the floating platform while everyone else exited.

Arriving at the entrance, she stopped as Sylvia came up to her. "I know," she assured the other girl, patting her on the shoulder. "You're doing your job. I'm just not used to finding myself in the crosshairs." She could imagine herself being on the other side, if she hadn't had the information that had proven her innocence.

"Yeah. I'm not sure I would have been able to present my case as well if I acted as defendant. Anyway, I got a lot of paperwork to finish now, so catch you later." And with that, Sylvia left, hounded by a horde of gossiping girls.

Alicia turned to Janet, flashing her a thumbs up. "Congratulations. I guess this means you have to call me Boss now." She then paused, a subdued frown taking over as she regarded her friend. "That is, if you want to stick around after everything that's happened." She wouldn't blame her if she needed some time after what she'd just been through.

---

Helga nodded back to Su, and moved towards the source of the sound some more, purposefully using her body to block line of sight to Su as she went to lean on a nearby fence, hopefully masquerading herself as a normal passerby. "Sure thing, twintails," the boy's voice responded, and soon enough, he stepped out of the shjadows to confront Helga. The magical boy had a wide grin on his face as he held his hands in his pockets. He was accompanied by two magical girls: a serious-looking girl with flowing red hair, sinister armor and an intense glare, and a more cheerful-looking girl with a native-looking islander outfit. "Hi there!" The boy lifted his hand up. "I'm Charlie, and these are Charlie's Angel's!" The red-haired girl squinted, and quickly slapped him in the back of the head. "Ouch! I mean, she's Janice, and the other one's Noida." Janice scoffed as she crossed her arms and looked away, while Noida came right up to Helga. "You're a magical girl, right? Is the other girl one too?" She pointed towards Su. Helga shook her head. "No, she's...I rescued her from a robber just now, and was leading her back to home. Isn't that right, Su?" Helga turned towards her.