Su had hoped to simply get outside and dispatch the skeletons before every magical girl on this side of Penrose entered the fray. But it seemed that the "terrible one" wasn't done with them yet. There was nothing stopping Penny from showing up again if she had determined Boteg lived here. She could even be working in leauge with this Victoria girl. The Ice girl's wild ramblings could certainly be that of a horror, which she suspected Boteg's enemy was. Leaving her alone was not an option at this point.

Su had been storing energy during Victoria's monologue. She had to be cautious. This wasn't like in Justine's lair where no one was watching her. If she moved too suddenly, Victoria would surely pick up on the aura of power she was amassing. If she had some sort of ability to detect the presence of magic, it would not be wise to store magic so rapidly for an attack. Boteg had taught Su how to perform her spells discreetly, just for situations like this. When the second girl showed up. Su furrowed her brow a bit. Penny could be with them, somewhere. That would mean they outnumbered them. Victoria had just turned around to enter the apartment. There was no time to dilly dally any longer.

”Go after Victoria! I've got this one!”

Su flew into the air and hovered level with the bunny girl leaning over the railing. If this one had to report to Victoria about the progress of the monster thawing, then it was fair to assume that the monster was somewhere in the building behind the metal-handed girl. Or at the very least, was some distance behind her. It didn't make Su happy that she was leaving all of the skeletons unattended, but she hoped to only be gone for a few seconds.

One of the new powers that came with her form was knowledge from a Tibetan book of spells, formerly held by a monk. Su could get objects to perform various effects by writing a word on them, and then saying that word when she wanted to trigger the effect. For the spell she was about to use, Su took a flat stone out of her hammer space handbag and proceeded to write a word on the stone with her thumb. Su then flew towards the bunny girl and hurled the stone at her. Shortly after the stone left her hand, she shouted ”Flash!” before averting her eyes and shielding her face with her arm. Her hope was that she could blind the girl and keep her distracted for a few seconds. While she was recovering, Su would then fly into an adjacent window and begin searching for the frozen monster. With any luck, they were talking about Penny.

---

Binky was hiding behind a gargoyle. A few minutes ago She had arrived at a Gothic looking cathedral surrounded by witches. The witches did not bother her (yet), but their cats were all over the place. And some of them were a lot more powerful than they looked. It was a little too fitting that she was dressed as a virgin sacrifice. Binky didn't know why she came here, she only knew how she got here. Such was the fate of those who ran aimlessly when scared. High heels weren't even the best thing to be running in. It looked easy in all of those action video games she use to play, but in reality it was a lot harder. Fortunately there were some helpful youtube videos on the subject, but it still seemed to be a troublesome thing that Binky had yet to master.

More disconcerting than running in high heels was the other magical girl present. She looked like a detective and was walking around the cathedral. She held her magnifying glass over the ground and pacing in zig-zags towards her position. ”The criminal mastermind has to be around here somewhere! I have no doubt in this deduction!” Of course, Binky recognized the girl. She was one of the girls that offered to be part of project scarlet before the accident at the lab.

”Somebody.” Binky whispered to herself. ”Save me....” She curled herself into a ball and lightly sobbed, fully expecting her prayers to go unanswered.

---

Weeks earlier...

The building where Binky worked was not easy to find. Most magical entities hide themselves with powerful magic, but the presence of that magic can be picked up by those who are atune to it, and so the best way to hide magical going ons is to keep the magical parts of your organization as far below ground as possible so that the mundane part on top serves as a good cover. It was a favorite tactic of Veronicas, and she used it well. If she made one mistake, it was that she knew about its location and had personally been there a few times. As useful as Mac's spool was, it could only show her the fate of those she wanted to look at. If Veronica hadn't recently met with Binky, she wouldn't have known she was working on red coins.

These red coins were of great interest to Fate.

And Mac.

But you can't just come out and ask someone for something they have, especially if they managed to keep it a secret for several decades. The most polite way Mack could ask for it was to just walk in and steal one. But that was also a big no-no, as Veronica would find out and then she would be an enemy of the mint. No, for this, she needed to call in a wing man.

"So according to my deductions..." The tiny detective started. "If I sign up for project scarlet, I'll receive one of these dashedly coins, but then they will lock me up?"

”Pretty much, yea.” Most illusion girls would have their goose cooked if they used a magic disguise in front of someone with third eye, but Mac was the exception to the rule. ”I'd be grateful if you could get me one of the coins, however. I'm something of a magic minter, and could easily get more clues for you.”

"And with those clues, I could deduce a slew of things!" The tiny detective grinned. "I'm not exactly thrilled about being locked up for a time, but I can rely on you to call the authorities?"

”Sure, but like I said, there's gunna be a guy in there that can help you. Nuncio. I know you'll hit it off.”

"Really? Is he cute?"

---

The detective made good on her promise, and Mac now held a red coin. She supposed the least she could do was stick around and make sure Binky didn't end up getting killed.

Summer was awoken from near sleep by the blaring of the siren. She'd spent the night playing poker with whoever would play and never really got to sleep. She ran to the specified room and took a seat. She nearly dozed off as teams were formed. She nearly dozed off as teams were formed. She blinked tiredly when suddenly Alicia, her apparent new boss, flashed a thumbs-up at her. She didn't like the feeling in the back of her mind that the camera of life was zooming in at each tick of self-reflection she had.

We're going to die.

Nobody gave a thumbs-up unless on a mission unless it was suicide. Then again, maybe she just imagined it. Alicia was asking something about civilian presence, so she seemed to have her head much more in the game at the moment than Summer did. She shook her head a few times to try to shake off the tiredness when she thought nobody was looking, though some other girls noticed and shot her disapproving glances. A few smiles were mixed in from some of the other poker players and they helped keep Summer's mood up.

---

Shion awoke on a nearby rooftop from the store where that strange shadow creature had attacked her. She and a clone had laid down in the center of the roof with four other clones staying awake at the corners to keep watch and act as decoys. Every few hours she'd awoken and switched places with one or two, cycling through positions with all of them to throw off any onlookers. But something was different this time. This time she had been awoken by the sound of marching and metal on the street below. Two of her clones were already recording the scene, one having left her post to get closer, hiding out of sight of the skeletal army. Now it seemed that there was about to be a fight between magical girls, if the shouting of one of them was any indication.

She sighed. If Ko was around, she'd probably want her to help deal with the skeletons, but... she did just wake up.

---

As Eliza flew away, she watched Penny take off in a sprint to help her beacon comrades. Huh, she's pretty cool. she thought. Who's pretty cool?

Christ almighty Maura, where have you been?!

STILL trying to catch the target...

Eliza rose a brow. ...And how's that going?

I take back what I said about here being as stubborn as a mule. She's really as stubborn as an ass. Maura internally groaned in irritation.

Well don't worry, I'll be there soon! Just gotta tell Veronica what happened.

Let's just hope she doesn't get pissed off at you. See you later.

After their telepathic coversation ended, The witch squeezed her communicater bow. "Bad news Veronica, there's been a delay in the mission. I got ambushed yesterday by a dragon monster girl, a lighting user, I believe. Then a group of beacon girls attacked the both of us, lead by an incubus monster boy and girl. But, I'm fine now, and I'm going to continue hunting Shion down. Maura's been trying to help me, but even she's having no luck... I just don't want to fail you, ya know?" Eliza told her.
"Oh, I'm getting distracted, aren't I? S-Sorry! I'll call you back once I get Shion, the real one!" The witch released her grip on the bow, and sped up her flight speed.

"If I ever get into debt again, it'll be too soon." She grumbled, halting to a sudden stop once she caught a glance at the cathedral.

There were witches attacking it.

Witches.

"WHAT. THE. FUCK."

Eliza wasn't amused, but mostly pissed off. She quickly flew over to the other witches, preparing an attack. "Hey, what's the big idea?!" The winged witch yelled at them. "Doing shit like this will be giving witches a bad name, not to mention this is embarassing as hell!" She ranted, orbs of light appearing behind her. "I mean, come on! Attacking churches are like a demon thing for fuck sakes!!" The orbs then turned into ornate spears, and they were all aimed at the wicked witches.
"Ya know what? I'm just- no, not gonna pull a second chance card. I'm killing you all." then, Eliza started her onslaught. The light spears were fired at the other witches, as she summoned up two glyphs to fire colorful light bullets at them. Only one thing was racing through Eliza's mind as she attacked.

Leave no monster alive, show no mercy.

---

The Darkness-wielding magical girl felt the tingles of excitement dance just under her skin and over the top of it as she sat at the table. It was a circular table, booth style, something that would likely be associated with being in a restaurant….a fancy one at that. The leather covering the crescent seat was painted a nice color of gold, complimenting the light brown table with a yellow ring in the center of it nicely. The back of the seats were covered in a lovely, diamond-shaped design pattern, with yellow and thin hints of gold combined with something like a lighter silver or light grey. A chandelier hung above the modest table, its gold-colored frame and high-class design being a thing that only seemed to add to the fine air of the place overall. However, the entrance to the room was blocked by a thick set of curtains, making it that much more private and intimate without hitting the point of “creepy” as it were.

Annabelle herself was also dressed for the occasion. A cute pair of gold earrings with a gold necklace, which she’d bought after helping that one girl to get to a pawn shop earlier, as well as a little sexy black dress that covered her non-transformed figure and accentuated its features rather….rather well, hmm~ Though despite this, her trademark smile seemed brighter than normal, like she’d become a tad more energetic than her usual. It was nighttime of all times, but she’d reserved this place in advance, hand-written and sent invitations to her new friends along with a couple sets of fine clothes for the evening for them, and had come here early in great anticipation of what was to come.

But that was the key word in her mind, the one that stood out a good bit. Friends. How long had she been working for Lord Soth, and how long had she been exposed merely to enemies, neutral magical girl groups/factions, or even creatures of other planes of existence without end? She’d always wondered what some friends would be like, to be able to talk to each other, rely on each other, and other things like that! Perhaps they could have a sleepover!!!

A pair of boxes sat in Annabelle’s lap, though her legs were swinging a bit under the table. By all that was good, she had done her best to find what she hoped were some good gifts for Elory and...and especially Regina. Ah. The thought of seeing Regina again brought a small heat to her cheeks for a bit, almost making her squeal in girlish delight. Smart, cute….ah, she wanted to get to know her better, trully! It would be amazing, and…..maybe she’d feel a little more whole after this, eh?

It had been…...it had been a long time. And lonely, walking a road with a horror talking to you and monsters at your command. It left her feeling empty….like the husk of a human being, like some tumbleweed sitting on the side of the road, being blown about without control from place to place by the dry, arid winds. She….she couldn’t even remember who she had once been even!!! And as much as she seemed ok it was something that hurt….hurt quite a lot. Did she have family, parents, sibling? Had there been anyone there to love her, and her to love them with all her heart? Did she have a pet dog, or a bird that at least didn’t quote poetry when annoyed?

Truthfully…..if she had a wish, it would be for a good life one day. A happy life. Friends. Family. Someone to love with all her heart genuinely. Something “real” to grasp onto.

But for now, she tried to chase out those thoughts, hoping her guests would arrive soon.

Annabelle didn't have to wait long before her guests showed up. The first to part the curtains was Elroy. He was disguised, so there were no horns on his head or otherwise tell tale signs of him being anything but a normal boy. His clothes weren't anything special. But as a monster, he only had one disguised form he could readily appear in. He held the drapes apart so that Regina could enter. Like Elroy, she looked perfectly human. Unlike Elroy, her outfit for the occasion was what someone would expect to to wear to a nice dinner. She was wearing a red cocktail dress with feather-shaped frills that raced around her neck line. So also wore a silver bangle and necklace, but neither had any special markings. Upon entering the small room, her eyes expanded a bit. Neither of the twins said anything, and promptly took their seats.

"Nerine vista." Elroy said before folding his hands together. "I didn't even know such a place existed."

Regina's eyes move all over the small space. It took her a moment to process everything before letting her eyes rest on Annabelle. "Thank you for having us." She bowed her head. "I'm not really use to any of this. If we had another disguise artifact, I'd have made Elroy a bit more presentable."

”A-Ah….ah, its ok, Regina! I just wanted to treat you both well is all, and you look a-amazing!” Annabelle said, her surprise briefly overtaking her at a couple of moments as she attempted to process the visage of a human-looking Regina in a cute red cocktail dress.

A light heat came to her face at the time, though eventually she seemed to get her footing back again before continuing with her smile still in place….but more gentle now than it had been, actually. Rather than excited, it was more genuinely happy, really. Though she didn’t yet signal for a waiter to take their orders, had to make sure she took care of her new friends first!

”Well, i wanted to give you both something….it’s, well, it’s been a long time since i had the chance for friends! So i wanted to let you two know i really do appreciate it! I….er…..i really hope you like them,” Annabelle said, before shly pulling out the boxes and handing them out to each of the Bates siblings.

Unlike her own professional appearance for this, the boxes seemed…..personally wrapped rather than professionally so. As if she’d taken time, rolls of tape, and a few rolls of gift wrap to get things done right on her own. However, her inexperience with the task was more than apparent, nearly embarrassingly so for Annabelle as a sheepish tint came into her smile for a few seconds as she handed out the gifts. He heart was racing at all of this, nerves wanting to get the better of her for the first time in….how long had it been? If ever? It was an unfamiliar feeling, but she welcomed the emotions with open arms, much like opening a new gift of her own in a sense on Christmas day.

"Well." Elroy shook his box. "At least we know santa's elves didn't wrap these."

"Elroy, please!" Regina's face had contorted into a snarl, but it was quickly swept away by her fascination with the gift she had received. "I..." She placed the box in front of herself. Regina folded her hands together in her lap and avoided making eye contact with Annabelle. "I didn't get you anything. Is it really okay to-"

Elroy bit into the corner of his gift and sheared off all of the wrapping paper with his teeth. He then pulled the lid of the box off and placed it beside his seat. "Hmmm." Elroy looked in the top. "A tiny RC car?" He looked up at Annabelle. "I expected to be disappointed. Does that mean I should be disappointed anyway?"

After watching Elroy open his up, Regina slowly dug her way through the wrapping paper. "I feel kind of bad about not getting anything you anything." When she pulled the lid off and peaked inside, she blushed and looked off to the side.This allowed Elroy to peak into the box without Regina interfering.

"You guys are on the jewelry phase already? I'm sorry, Regina, you're done." He reached inside the box. "You're so done." He pulled a gold pendant out of the box and fastened it around her neck. "So, totally, done." Regina's face continued to brighten into a lovely shade of red.

"Um." The necklace had disappeared, as it was not part of Regina's disguise. But with a simple though, it soon showed up for everyone to see. "T-thank you very much." she closed her eyes. "I don't think I've ever been treated this nicely by anyone before."

Elroy pointed at his sister. "So done!"

Regina pushed a strand of hair over her ear as she opened her eyes up again. "Was there anything you wanted from us?" Regina blinked before looking directly into Annabelle's eyes. "Anything you needed?" Regina pushed her lips together.

As Regina looked into her eyes with pursed lips, Annabelle felt the heat in her own face grow exponentially stronger. Ahh….what was this feeling, what….what was this growing inside of her? It was….warm, like a fire, but comfortable like her bed was in the mornings when she needed to get up. It made her kinda….heh, kinda happy? That word seemed to fit what she was feeling, somehow. But why did it only happen when she looked at Regina? That was the odd thing to the mind-bent magical girl, and yet for some reason it also felt...right in some manner.

“A-a-a-ah….y-you didn’t have to g-get me a thing, truly. Y-You don’t have to given anything back. I-I just wanted to help make you….feel happy, Regina. It’s even got your name engraved on the back!” Annabelle said, summing up some courage she looked up at Regina too, looking back in the other girl’s eyes sincerely, “I….i guess i’m kinda stupid. It’s been...i can’t really recall how long since i became a magical girl.

I don’t remember anything before that, no faces, no names, no….nothing. It’s all a blank, and i don’t know if i wanna remember or not... But i guess….i suppose….i’ve always wanted to get close to someone one day. Make friends, a-actual friends….and maybe find that someone more special than that one day too...

...Everything’s just been...just felt kinda empty, actually, for a long time. I’ve...I’ve felt empty for a long time. Just….i just never had anyone, not even just friends to talk to. Other magical girls, they avoided me….or attacked me. I...ha, i live around monsters even! I had no family to see, no pets that didn’t report to my boss…...nothing, no one.”

"I see." Regina tipped her head, "That's very sad. It sounds very lonely." She folded her arms. "But as sad as you think things are now..." Regina lifted her head to look at Annabelle. Her brow was furrowed "I think you are better off without those memories."

Elroy was making car noises while driving the car through the air. "Man, I can't wait to play with this thing when I get home!" Elroy set the toy car aside as soon as dinner showed up. "We won’t leave you. We’d be crazy to leave someone who showers us in so much stuff" He picked up his fork and knife. "Speaking of empty, let’s all fill our stomachs’ now."

Regina sighed. She ran her hand through her hair before picking up her utensils.

Set before the trio was an array of food, a virtual italian feast for the eyes as well as the taste buds. Giant meatballs slow cooked to tender perfection, filled with a rich and delectable array of spices and coated in various sauces and cheeses. There was a large salad, tossed with tasty peppers, chopped tomatoes, a fine layer of cheese grated over the top, and a lovely italian-style dressing to compliment it alongside in-house made croutons. A couple large pizzas, the smell of the old brick oven they had been cooked in wafting from them, were topped with an array of meats and veggies that could seemingly boggle the mind atop their already great width. These were all paired with things like fresh, buttery breadsticks whose fluffy center was to die for, amidst other things.

However, Annabelle at first took a moment to think on what Regina had said. Did it really leave her better off to not have any sort of memories of the “before” she became a magical girl? To not know how she was back then, or anything? Considering Regina’s own seemingly hesitant behavior in making contact, it didn’t take long for Annabelle to piece together some guesses as to how this played into those words potentially. However, she didn’t seek to bring that matter up, more or less beginning to get some food onto her plate in a half-thinking/pondering state.

“Heh…..thanks, both of you. Though i hope you don’t mind the small feast! You can bring any leftovers back for the others if you want!”

As she spoke, it was obvious Annabelle had made a large pile on her plate, not something abnormal to her perceptions at least. Always hungry, she was.

"You think there's going to be leftovers? Challenge accepted!" Elroy dove into his food like some ravenous beast,

Regina hesitated, shifting her eyes between the magical boy and magical girl who were sitting at the table with her. "Well." She speared one of her meatballs with a fork. "Maybe next time we could order out and eat with everyone in your hideout. How does that sound?"

Annabelle let out a small giggle at Elroy’s antics for eating, before getting in a bite of one of the giant meatballs she had put on her plate. Though as Regina spoke Annabelle’s movements seemed to grind to a halt, as if something had come to her mind. Or rather….as if something unpleasant had arisen back up. Swallowing her food, she looked over to Regina, trying to keep things pleasant, but worry evident in the void-touched magical girl’s eyes.

“Ah...perhaps we could meet away from my boss’ hideout next time, actually, like tonight.

It’s...well...boss is working on something, something big and it’s starting to worry me more and more. Some kind of ‘grand ritual’ it sounds and looks like from what i’ve gleaned, but he won’t tell me about the details at all.

So unless you are dropping off more stuff, you might wanna keep some distance….ah...i just want to make sure both of you stay safe, ok?”

After speaking, her tone deliberate as if trading off a secret of some sort and putting some emphasis on it, Annabelle gave a small but sincere smile to Regina. The herald of Soth then briefly returned to her own meal, using another larger bite of meatball with some breadstick to try to soothe the nerves a bit more. Though after doing so she tried to look back at Regina again with a brighter, happier look, trying to lighten the mood overall again.

Regina stared back at Annabelle for a moment. "If that’s how you feel, then I will take your advice." She resumed eating shortly afterwards.

"Oh, hi Tim. Be nice to Bob, okay? Ehe~" Lily greeted the weasel, glad that she didn't have to force her entire smile. She finished up her breakfast and walked back to her room, speaking from beyond the door as she dressed.
"Yeah, it might be rough...But I still want to try. Besides, maybe I'll learn something too. I mean, you wouldn't want an airhead as a girlfriend, right?" Before Alex could answer, she stepped out, already wearing her uniform, a school bag swinging behind her as she made a twirl.
"How do I look? I put the blazer on correctly, right?" She asked, and made one final check at the mirror.
"Anyway, I'll be going on. I shouldn't be gone for more than a couple of hours. Call me if anything comes up. See ya later, Alex!" And with that, Lily left. Alex now had the choice of staying inside, going outside to check out the nearby commotion he was hearing, or check the news.

---

Sylvia nodded at Alicia's question, and magically zoomed in on the image. She then swept her hand over it, and the image turned into an X-ray, revealing white human shapes inside the cathedral.
"There was a Christian congregation when the witches appeared; about fifty in number are trapped inside. The monsters don't seem willing to enter the building, so they seem to be safe for the moment. However, I'm afraid the situation might escalate if they start to panic and try to escape. Everyone else had fled the perimeter."
She glared at Summer, who seemed to not pay any attention until Alicia flashed her thumb at the girl, causing her to startle. She glanced over to see that Penny arrived. "This is no time for fooling around! Get going now, you can explain the situation to the others on your way! May Beacon's light guide your way!"

---

The baseball stadium, once loud with the cheers of an energetic audience, were silenced into confusion by the creatures that had taken shape there; humanoid shapes formed out of strips of cloth, with desiccated human corpses peeking beneath. The human audience booed at first at the shambling creatures, thinking it was a poor scare prank by the local university. The monsters seemed confused themselves, wandering in circles and bumping into walls. But then, something far more horrible appeared; monsters of maddening morphology manifested, tearing into both the monsters and players alike, soon followed by the screaming audience who found themselves surrounded by dread at every turn.
Most humans resisted, swinging with their bats or trying to kick them away, but it was no use against the hungry and violent mass of teeth and tendrils.

The mummies proved to be far more capable: they seemed to not only match each minion in strength, but overcame them, controlling their bandages and linen cloths like whips that tore into their enemies, or wrapped around them and crushed them to bits. And whenever one would be pinned, it would groan, casting a potent curse that turned the closest minion to mere dust, or be consumed by scarabs that ate it from the inside. It was a proxy war, two mindless sides duking it out in near-silence, with the mummies winning 3-to-1.
It wasn't until Annabelle herself showed up that the tide seemed to turn; using her magic, the captured prisoners were carried by black bonds, dragged away and stuffed into portals she had prepared in far off buildings by runner minions. The mummies groaned and cursed the minions near them, but it did little to deter their slow transportation. It would have been an impressive sight for a mere bystander, but they were too busy running for their lives.

When Amaryllis dashed into the scene and attacked Annabelle's forces, the imprisoned mummies attacked; they launched bandages at both her and the Horror girl, attempting to bind them. However, Katarina arrived and shot at the mummies, and the remaining minions threw themselves in front of Annabelle, becoming bound in her place.
As a result of Katarina's attack, they were launched back by the projectile, nailing them to the stadium walls. They writhed in place, still in one piece, but were unable to remove themselves, resulting in them resorting to cursing anything near them. It also meant that Annabelle had to exert far more power into her chains to pull the lances out of the wall, or risk releasing the mummies for recapture if she wanted to bring the rest of the captured mummies.

---

Helga felt tense at the hostility the newcomer showed, and bared her teeth out of an old habit. "Who cares? Are you gonna just twiddle your thumbs or-" She jumped back when the girl summoned her weapon, and introduced herself as Victoria. She bared her own claws, hopping in place as she tried to mimic Su's Kung Fu stance in an attempt to intimidate her. Her eyes flashed to the direction of the other voice, and she squinted at the cybernetic cloak girl. "Oh, now you're even cramping on my style!" She hissed, and grit her teeth as she listened to Su. "Fine, Su! Make her pay for plagiarizing me, ok?" She then crouched down, and her metallic twintails made a mechanical sound, locking into place with steam escaping from slits on the side, not unlike a mecha. She looked up from her bowed head, smirking with her sharp teeth. "My name's Helga! Remember it well, cause it's time I show my new improvements!" And with that, she suddenly thrust her arms behind her, opened her palms, and blasted with her sound cannons as she jumped, launching her to strike at Victoria. While this was going on, the skeletons continued their slow, disorganized march; it seemed they were heading in the direction of the central park.

---

At the cathedral, devout Christians cowered in fear, clutching at their rosaries and hymnals, trying to use the wide benches as cover from the sickly green witches in pointy hats who zoomed around the tower on their gnarled broomsticks, their warty faces full of malice. "Heehehehee!" Their laughter carried in the wind. Eliza saw that there were twelve of them in total when she arrived; a group of four flew around the bell tower, three hovered next to the building, and the rest were scattered as they pleased. When she got their attention, the two hovering cackled in return, seemingly not alarmed by the girl's presence. "Ah, our thirteenth witch has arrived!" "Now we can have a coven, heheee!" The witches cackled, and drew out their black magic wands. "We're turning this into a gingerbread house! Then we can eat all the children who come here!" "Wonderful idea, Gretchen! Hehee!"

The witchy fun was cut short as Eliza quickly betrayed her intentions, and loudly announced her intentions to murder everyone. "She's not one of us!" One screeched, and was shot down by light spears, hitting the grass in a comical thwack; the civilians inside saw that she melted into green goo, leaving her black clothes behind. The other witches avoided the spears with deft aerial dodging, like riding miniature airplanes, and hid behind the church to avoid the bullets that followed; they blew circular holes on the roof of the building, exposing the civilians. "Aaaahh! They're destroying our sanctuary!" They screamed from below. "I'll cast a hex on you!" One of the witches screeched. "Hocus Pocus!" She aimed her wand, and a purple blast shot out of her wand, followed by many others of different colors from the other witches as they re-emerged, flanking her from groups of seven and five. They weren't the most difficult of projectiles to avoid, but the witches were far more mobile than she was, and in a moment's notice could box her in.

"Right, later" Alexander waved lazily at the departing Lily. When she left, he stared at Tim "How did you get out of your cage?" Tim, being a weasel, just stared back at him, not saying anything. Alexander sighed "What the fuck am I doing?" He shook his head "Well, if you can get out whenever you want, then I guess there's no point putting you back in there"

Getting up, he brought his plate to the kitchen, put it in the washer, and walked to the living room "Let's see what's on the news. Watching stupid people always makes me feel better" He grabbed the remote and turned it on, but saw no stupid people, only monsters "...Fuck." He dropped the remote in shock and jumped to his feet "Fuck! Of all the times for Lily to decide to go to school! If I hurry, I can still..." but then he stop "Wait...no. I can't do that; she was looking forward to this...for whatever reason. I can't just pull her away from that. Shit, looks like I'm running" With his decision made, Alexander transformed. Before he boosted his running power, he had an idea. "Wait...what if I..." With an idea, he pushed his new Bestial magic to his heart, and let the blood pumping organ carry it all around his body. A strange warmth filled him, as his body began to change. His helmet vanished, and was replaced with long flowing white hair. While his outfit became a simple gold robe.

However, he didn't have time to look at himself in a mirror, as there was a monster attack going on. "Really wish I thought of this earlier, but oh well. I guess I can test it out right now" With that said, he boosted his running power and left his house (after making sure to lock up) in a blur

"Really, a gingerbread house? You could've used a building that was abandoned, or atleast didn't have people inside it!" Eliza facepalmed. "Sometimes I wonder why am I even asocciated with you guys..." while she was happy to have struck one down, that joy changed to worry when her attack hit the building instead. "Oh sweet nightingale!!" The winged witch quickly flew over to one of the newly made holes in the roof to check on the churchgoers inside. Luckly, they seemed unharmed. "So so sorry about the mess everyone! I'm just having trouble with pest control!!" She yelled down to them, trying to reassure the frightened civillians. Seeing the remaining witches fire their own blasts of magic at her, she had to make it short. "I'll help clean up the mess later, I promise, just get to safety!!" Eliza told them, and flew out of the way of the shot.

Sometimes I wish I had an ally with me, atleast if Anaya was still here, she'd help me... the angelic witch sighed, and summoned up another two glyphs. One that fired daggers of light, and one that seemed to form a dragon, thanks to Eliza's illusion magic. It was the same one from the fight at the train station. "Honestly ladies, if I didn't care about keeping myself from being a bad guy, I'd love to be a part of this. But that wouldn't be right for a witch of light, wouldn't it? I mean, gingerbread sounds nice right now, if I'm being fair." She chuckled.

"BUT!! You're trying to harm these civillians, and I just can't allow that to happen." Eliza explained with an unamused look, which seems to be a normal look at this rate. "So if you scram now, maybe find a different house to transform, and spare them their lives, then I might let the rest of you go." It seemed stupid for her to negotiate with the enemy, but she could be lucky. Yet while the dragon illusion stared the other witches down with a low growl, the urge to give them no chance to stay alive was still trying to consume her mind.

Would she really let the witches free?

---

Now the mummies were fighting back?! And the guys had still be transporting a buncha people too, but she hadn't been able to really stop them....but why hadn't boss let her?! Then, of all things, some of the last few original guys in this area had been snagged up by the mummies protecting her? What was going on! The void-touched magical girl had no idea, somewhat lost in thought and out of awareness of her surroundings for a moment. However, the inky black orb floating near her pushed against her suddenly, as if trying to move her out of the way of-

THUNK

-....of something. The fired projectile of Rina grazed Annabelle's right side, slamming into the ground behind as it dripped with some of the horror magical girl's blood. It wasn't a serious wound, but all the same it was a distinctly wide "gash" of some description that had resulted from the attack regardless. Annabelle nearly fell over at the sudden disruption and injury, if not for the orb keeping her held up seemingly under the control of her "boss" still.

Shock was written into her face as she looked up at where Rina was, disbelief written into her face as if she was surprised Rina did such a thing to her. Slowly she looked over at Amaryllis, then at Rina, then at herself. Realization began to dawn on her a bit about the entire situation as she grasped her right hand on the nearby railing and steadied herself standing again as the shock did far more than Rina's arrow could have done to shake Annabelle in this situation. The horror girl's left hand, having come to her side, was pulled up to look at, covered in her own blood. HER. OWN. BLOOD.

Oh no. OH NO. NONONONONO....

"W-Wha? W-w-wait! I didn't come here to be the villain!!! There's gotta be some kind of mistake here! Boss never told me he was gonna grab up these people!!! I-i-i just want to stop these mummies, i wanted to help people here!" Annabelle said with her blood-covered left hand stretched out and waving defensively in the direction of the other two magical girls, panic and fear tainting the tone of her voice, even as the warm feelings of pleasure coursed through her body at the sensations of physical pain from the attack, creating a more confusing dichotomy in Annabelle's mind that left her feeling more off-kilter than she was right now.

However, as she noticed the squirming mummies out of the corner of her eye, whilst looking back again at what had otherwise happened, a pang of worry about them rang into her head. They had managed to take on individual grunts rather well....no, too well. Her mid a blur of activity, ranging from the oozing physical pleasure from the wound to the panic and sudden realization of her position, to the idea of the threat of the mummies setting in, the void-touched girl acted on her instincts in the blink of an eye. She put her left hand on the railing next to her, extending her right hand at the mummies. Perhaps in a panic, she felt doing something to these mummies would help her case? Perhaps it would make the others not attack her?

Regardless of potentially futile thoughts, Annabelle's magic kicked into gear, an array of dark, magical chains appearing around the mummies. Many of them wrapped around the limbs of the creatures, their bodies in general even, binding them, grasping them, clinging to them even tighter and stronger than before. Other chains at the same time rose up along with hers, grasping onto the lances, seeking to pull them out. Annabelle's eyes opened even wider than they already were, even more horrified that....those chains pulling out the lances weren't hers! Was her boss...was he messing with her magic too right now?!

As she wasn't paying enough attention to the matter, a second inky black orb formed near her, in front of her and hidden from sight as it sunk down through the stadium floor below. Down it moved an slinked and snuck, even into the shadows of one of the dugouts below. Seeming to merge with the natural shadows there seamlessly, as if made from the same fabric, another portal formed. Quickly, out from it poured more minions, rushing onto the field towards the mummies and remaining people, and others climbing up into the stands and rushing at the other two magical girls. Reinforcements. Limited, but reinforcements.

As she witnessed the additional "allies" rushing in to her defense, the swarm against spreading out with eager, devoted haste to Lord Soth as they also rushed towards the mummies and any remaining civilians, she felt stupefied. Why had boss stopped her from disciplining the guys? Why had he just fiddled with her magic when she was just trying to bind the mummies? She'd been afraid of other magical girls jumping in to stop her doing something good, not.....why was she the villain here?! Why now?! If nothing else, she was glad Regina and Elroy were not here, not in danger of what was going on around her. For all she knew her boss woulda' attacked them as well, though right now she was trying to mentally grasp a lot of what was going on in truth as disbelief overcame reason and logic.

But right now....right now she wanted to get out of here, go back to base, talk to her boss if nothing else. He would be reasonable, right? ....Right?

@Ariamis@BrokenPromise@Rune_Alchemist@ERode

---

---

It didn't take long for Nina to get down the contact information, and to pick up Alice as the other girl explained to her what had happened on her end and vice versa. Though there didn't seem to be bad feelings from Alice about things, Nina had admittedly felt...guilty about what had happened. For not being there, for not getting there sooner to help, just in case. Of course despite her usual demeanor masking such things her senpai had managed to figure it out anyways, before lecturing her and buying them out some pizza for dinner. But that was one thing Nina appreciated about Alice....the fact she could loosen the hell up after crap like this, where some might hold grudges or get petty. Hell, where some might have actually fallen for a metaphorical or literal "deal with the devil" as the saying went.

In all honesty that other girl from the previous day, not the one who gave her the number but the other one, had felt familiar though. Like some part of her, almost like family of some kind just from looking at her alone. What indeed did that mean? Was it memories from her previous life kicking in or something? Yare yare. Was it something else? She had no idea, but she felt compelled to meet that person again, maybe talk with them if possible. Yes, that seemed rather right in terms of ideas, and even Alice had agreed after she'd explained the feeling. Maybe they had similar power or something?

Regardless, the new day seemed to be starting off chaotically, though not before she could stand on the roof with Alice, both in magical girl form, and contact the other duo:

"Ey, where are you two headed to right now? There's two incidents, one at the stadium and one at a cathedral," Nina said over the phone in her usual tone, having used her "spirit-possessed phone" to make regular phone calls after some tinkering the previous night, albeit almost sounding annoyed if not for the words she was saying communicating otherwise.

Alice merely rolled her eyes for a second internally, though felt a small pang of joy in her that Nina had finally found some added contacts around here. Not that the seemingly "odd" connection at first sight thing for one of them was kinda strange, potentially suspicious, but then again she'd seen far odder things happen to good...and bad....ends. To her, this Chloe was an odd individual, depraved and sadistic in many ways, willing to indulge a manic state as she'd apparently pressed all the dark magical girl's "buttons" in the right way. It was kinda creepy, but at the same time kinda sensual as well in the end...er, an odd thing that was. At least she had more of an idea of this perpetrator of the prior day's spirit incident now, and more of an idea that this person's Patron and themselves were on a mission of sorts. What was their method? Recruitment of magical girls to them seemed to be one strategy, if her experience wasn't super-distinct in regards to that.

Whatever the case for all of these things that had been running through her mind, she knew that taking down these monsters at two key locations would be necessary before doing anything else. Question is, where were their potential allies going to be heading off to? Surely the stadium was a task that couldn't be handled alone, but even the cathedral area was a potential risk depending on the strength of the monsters there as well. It would be sound to meet up with allies to do better work, though her and Nina's patron had contacted them with a reward promised if they could help get at least one of the situations under control. Not that they needed the prompting in this case, as the goddess fully knew about them.

@MadManMoon

---

Scribe Xi was the first of Chloe's guests to sit down at the table, with Collector Delta following suit after making herself a cup of coffee (with cream and sugar, as per her usual preference). "Very well. Let's hear more about your 'lord.'"

"I'm assuming you girls are acquainted with what most ignorant fools would call 'Horrors'." Chloe began, deciding to get right to the point. "I serve one. Well, what remains of one. Poor thing was nearly killed by an ignorant cabal of gods, but he managed to survive - if barely, by using what remained of his power to parasitize his murderer and slowly returning by feeding off of him." Pausing for a moment, Chloe reached for some of her tea, sighing tiredly. "I'll spare you the details, but I wish to aid and expidite this process, but it shall not be easy. You see, the creature he has parasitized is technically my patron and he is currently fighting my Lord."

Delta cooly sipped her coffee. "...I see. Two questions I would like answered: the first is regarding how your current 'patron' is managing to fight your lord, and how effective it has been. The second question is about what I noticed last night, in the bar. You briefly communicated with your current patron, but in a way that suggested that the connection runs deeper than mere telepathy. How aware are they of this conversation?"

"Reasonable questions." Chloe replied. "At the moment, it's been less about fighting and more about minimizing corruption. He recruited me to help heal him but I'd rather see what happens when he's either fully turned or this horror is revived." Chloe giggled in a rather amused manner. "As for how aware he is...normally he's constantly watching, but right about now is when he normally deep asleep, though I can't say he isn't entirely unaware. We'll be fine though - he's far too tired, old, and decrepit to really do anything."

Scribe Xi finished chewing her latest bite of pancakes, and swallowed. "He might not be able to do anything himself, but he could recruit others to help him if he catches on," she pointed out. "If he doesn't already have others working for him."

"Let me assure you," Chloe replied with a mildly dark smile. "He does not. I made sure of that. To put your own concerns to rest, however, even contacting me and turning me into a magical girl was quite a strain on him. I suppose he was expecting me to be a good little girl and heal him. Too bad he chose poorly."

"...good to know." Xi took a thoughtful sip of her orange juice. "So, how long have you been interested in reviving your 'lord?'"

"You're fishing for quite a lot of information, aren't you?" Chloe replied, idly inspecting one of her hands. "Does it matter how long? Just know that I am and I am willing to...help, with whatever you need as payment. As well as information, since that is your entire scheme, isn't it?" Sitting up straight and smiling, she continued, holding up two fingers. "So lets talk business. I need two things. I can not subdue that dragon myself. The moment I'd try, I'd lose the benefits I have as a patron and I am no match for such a thing. Secondly, I'd need help finding a way to fully revive my Lord. Souls, so far, seem like a good candidate but they're nothing more than something to stabilize him. What I can offer in return...is well, you get a cranky old dragon to research on and collect information form. He's quite old. I'm sure you could pick his brain easily. Especially useful since he has killed a number of horrors before. And...I'll lend you my services."

Scribe Xi speared another chunk of pancake with her fork. "Just trying to get an idea of the situation, such as how long you've been attempting this and what you're tried already, before we commit to a deal. " She placed the syrupy piece into her mouth, and consumed it. "But you make a good point," she said.

Collector Delta looked at Chloe with a peculiar interest in her eyes. "Offering him to us as payment. This is presuming the method of you 'lord's' revival does not kill your 'patron.' And what sort of services would you offer?"

"Hmm...whether or not it kills the dragon is up to however we do It. You'd first need to find a way for him to live without feeding off of the Dragons soul." Chloe smiled. "As for my services...well. If you accept this deal and I lose the dragon as a Patron...I'll be out of work. I can help you girls with whatever it is you need or want. Information gathering. Taking care of problems your 'Archive' needs. Wouldn't be the first time I've ever done such a thing. As well my Lord would be quite grateful for the assistance. He would probably be willing to return the favor."

Delta inclined her head slightly. "We would need to confirm these terms with our superiors before formally accepting them. Your terms seem to be equally beneficial to both our parties, so far... however, we would need to know more about the nature of your 'lord,' such as their name."

"It would help us convince the Council, as well as help us understand how best to go about reviving him," Xi said. "No offense, but what you've told us about your 'lord' so far has been vague."

"Can you blame me for being cautious?" Chloe replied. "You are still unknowns. You could help, but you could also use this information to his detriment." Reaching into her dress, Chloe retrieved one of her crystals. A black hue that seemed to somehow suck in the light around it, as though one was staring into a void. The gem pulsed softly with arcane energy.

"Cxatha. This should tell you anything you need." She passed the crystal towards Delta and Xi for them to insepct. "A Crystal made with his remaining power."

"Cxatha," Scribe Xi said, as if testing the name on her tongue. She lifted her gaze from the crystal to look at Chloe. "No, you have every right to be cautious. We only met yesterday."

Collector Delta gently picked up the crystal, and carefully opened her Third Eye.

As Delta observed the crystal, she'd likely immediately wish she didn't take it. The chaotic energy swirled, pulsed in odd rythyms, humming a disconcerting sound as though someone was running nails across a chalkboard. The gem felt warm in her hands. Worse, was the fact that the energy the crystal was giving off was trying to latch itself onto Delta in a seeming effort to drain her of whatever magical ability she had. Thankfully for her, it was not a strong force and easily resisted unconciously.

"Careful. Its the most powerful shard I have. He's trying to...recollect himself."

"Duly noted." Delta calmly placed the crystal back onto the table, her expression neutral. "This crystal... should this agreement get approved by our superiors, it is likely that the research and experimentation involved will require multiple samples. Not only to better obtain an understanding of what sources of energy your lord would respond favorably to, but as to ensure accurate results from our findings."

"Unfortunately," Chloe sighed. "It took me three months just to make five, carefully growing them. One of which I've already used, another two I have plans for. If you want more samples it's going to be a little...time consuming."

Collector Delta was quiet for a moment. "...understood. We can clarify those circumstances when that question is asked. We may also need knowedge of how these are currently being synthesized."

"Well we'll cross that bridge when we get there." Chloe replied, standing up. "So, unless you girls have anything else that needs answered...well, you know where the door is."

Collector Delta rose from her seat. "At the moment, we have all the information we need in order to ask for the approval."

"Though we should exchange our contact information before we leave," Scribe Xi also got up. "Would you rather have call you, or contact you by blog messaging?"

"Hm, this place doesn't get internet and I do not...own a computer." Chloe replied, reaching for a piece of paper. "No cell reception either. I do have a phone, however. Here," She quickly wrote her number. "Of course, I may not answer immedaitely, but if it's urgent you can usually find me enjoying some time flying." Showing Delta and Xi out of her apartment, Chloe quickly checked her phone. A reply from Penny. Wonderful. Now she just had to go 'acquire' this new friend she mentioned and today would be going quite well...

The door to the dimensional apartment vanished behind the two girls, leaving them standing in an alleyway. There was an odd scorch mark on the ground and a rusty series of drag marks leading away from it into a wall. "That went well," Scribe Xi said. "Let's head back and make that proposal."

Collector Delta nodded, and glanced at a nearby patch of wall. A moment passed before the bricks fell away, revealing a tunnel dimly lit by torches. They passed through the mouth, and the entrance vanished behind them.

@Ariamis@Crusader Lord@Rune_Alchemist

---

For a moment, Amaryllis hesitated. The Knight had expected a sneer, or a clear falsehood, but instead, the Maiden's response had been pure confusion instead, as if the Horror-vowed caster didn't actually understand anything at all. A child. That's what it sounded like. A child blind to the terror they wrought at the behest of their Patron, who simply moved them along like an unwitting pawn on a cosmic chessboard. Her hesitation never lasted long though, not when her Sword pressed itself against her back, always urging her forward, always drawing her away from her mind before she tunneled too deep.

No matter the circumstances, the reflection within her silvered blade revealed monstrosities of all shapes and sizes combating the mummies while kidnapping humans, killing whomever resisted. That was fact, no matter what emotional filter Annabelle impressed upon them. So she discarded it, as silvery comets reminded her that the Knight had an ally still within the morbid cesspool that Penrose was becoming. With unerring accuracy and remarkable power, they struck down the mummies one by one, a silvered bolt even drawing blood from the void witch herself. Ranged support was surprisingly pleasant. Ranged support was something she hadn't really ever experienced before. A rush went up her spine, independent of her Sword's psychic proddings, and Amaryllis allowed herself a grin despite the circumstances.

"Hunter! May your blessed arrows safeguard the lambs bastioned within the ivy sanctuary. My own blade shall sing of this wretched mastermind's end!" Her voice rang through the stadium like a clarion call, and the tip of her sword resonated with it as well, vibrating with bloodied anticipation.

Time to pick up the pace.

Diving diagonally from her high vantage point, she lunged for Annabelle's outstretched arm, piercing through all shadows unfortunate enough to be caught in her path and shedding gossammer petals in her wake. The head of the snake went first. All else could wait.

---

Though the one inky black orb that was Annabelle's weapon attempted to move in the way of Amaryllis' sword, before it could form a portal or such, it was run through and dispelled before it could do any of those things. Not that Annabelle had any say in what it had tried to do in the first place, it being moved by the power of her patron yet again. Even the mooks in the rose-knightess' way would fall before the blade as they had charged at her, seeking to protect Annabelle despite the girl's own protests against what was going on. In fact, by this point the void-touched magical girl was stretching her right arm out at the chains, trying to do anything, something to try to make the others not see her as the villain. To make them try to stop aiming to....t-to kill her.

But alas, the blade of Amaryllis would manage to find its mark, the lack of focus on her target's part a good deal of the reason for it.

CRACK.

Cold, hungering steel sank swiftly into flesh, from flesh then into bone, yet then through bone and into the air beyond. Annabelle didn't have the durability to handle the blow from the melee-fighter, not as much as she'd been able to handle the arrow from before at any rate. Though she could "shrug off swords and knives" supposedly, this was no mere sword or knife, but an attack launched with a mighty strength. The humerus bone was shattered by the sword, as the resulting impact and sword damage did the rest of the work. The end result? Annabelle's right arm, most of it anywho, fell from the railing, into the seats below with a visceral THUNK as it hit the hard plastic of the baseball stadium seats.

Looking to her right slowly, the sheer mental shock rocking her system even more along with a wave of intense pleasurable feelings physically that further confounded all of this, Annabelle looked at where most of her right arm had formerly been. It was horrifying in appearance, the bloodied steel of Amaryllis' blade that had done the work also visible to her there. Annabelle felt a numbness set into where her right arm had been, creeping up to the shoulder like a virus moving through the body. Her face was written with sheer despair and disbelief, mostly the former despite the latter being very clear in her expression.

NO. NONONO. NONONONONONONO!!!

Desperately, the void-touched girl looked out at the field, at the mummies, at the goons rushing out of a new portal she could sense down below. It was here her mind finally hit a certain clarity, a certain moment of raw emotion and intent that seemed to flow through her clearly, even if only for a brief moment. She extended, very shakily, her other arm at where the mummies were....and then let loose.

"ALL OF YOU.....YOU IDIOTS, AND BOSS YOU BIG MORON, JUST DAMN STOP IT ALREADY!!!

Annabelle felt her throat going raw from the scream, a scream carrying with it the raw emotions as it was channeled into her magical power and exuded into the world. Though with what her "boss" had already done with her magic and such, what could a mere magical girl-

-....do?

The air seemed to become thick with tension, as magical power thrummed into it from Annabelle. The chains trying to remove the lances sticking the remaining mummies to the wall...stopped, even dissipated, with the binding chains slacking and collapsing to the ground as they too dissipated into nothingness. The goons and any remaining captured or struggling civilians with them seemed to pause for a brief moment. Several of the goons seemed to dissipate as well, mostly any holding or near civilians, as if...as i they had been erased. In fact, a decent portion of the new goons that has surged through the new portal seemed to dissipate like dust into the wind, gone without a single trace left behind, as the new portal quaked and shook as it destabilized. Even the severed right arm below dissipated away.

Sure there was a notable amount of goons left, trying to grab up a few humans and run for the port, and indeed multiple magical girls would most likely be necessary to clear them and what remained of the mummies out completely. However, that exertion of magical power, that power of the void to "erase all things".....this was but a sign of its ability. Of its danger. And in this case, of one desperate magical girl's plea for others to stop, the fear of actually dying and her own disorientation an panic in regards to things finally manifesting in a full-blown use of magical power whose magnitude had been easy to see.

After doing this, Annabelle felt her legs go out from under her, falling to her knees. Her left hand, once outstretched, weakly grasped the railing as if to keep her stable. Physically, she was in a rougher spot now, but by far not the worst possible or on the verge of death due to current injuries. She could fight if she wanted to, seek to kill the others. The void could eat that sword that had (intentionally or not) severed one of her arms like it was paper, or at least do that in regards to things like the projectile that had hit her side and such. Even the exertion of her power a moment ago was not something that would ever usually shake her.

However, right now, it was the mental shock, the mix of emotions and sensation from her body, the lie she'd been told and all such things that left her feeling rather.....'weak' right now.

Annabelle's head weakly looked over at Amaryllis, almost as if they were about to shed tears merely to beg for life. For the other girl to stop. Wondering why, just why this had happened in the first place even.

@ERode@Rune_Alchemist@Ariamis@BrokenPromise

'Huh, it's kind of odd; I think I might be faster than Lily's bike like this. Of course, that was back before she had Time magic, and who knows how that would effect her ride' Alexander was high in the air running on a pathway of light (actually just barriers) all the way to the baseball stadium 'Dammit, I don't even like sports other than hokey. At least in Hockey people get into fights. It's the only actual good thing to come from those maple huffers' Despite the distance between his home and the stadium, his new speed, along with a path that was a straight line cut down the travel time immensely. In practically no time, he had made it above the place.

Jumping off, he created a large square shaped barrier around himself. When he hit the ground, right in the middle of the field, a large cloud of smoke rose up. After a few seconds it faded, to show Alexander in the middle, with small shining motes of the shattered barrier surrounding him. He took a quick look around and confirmed that the place was indeed a mess "Alright. Now who here wants to tell me what the fuck is going on!?"

@Crusader Lord@ERode@Rune_Alchemist@Ariamis@BrokenPromise

Alicia kept up a stern expression as Sylvia explained the situation at the cathedral. That was good, though she did have to agree that things might escalate if they decided to run for it. It was too bad that this didn't appear to be a live feed, as that meant the situation could have changed significantly since they were first alerted to this attack. the problems of not being a free and loose single agent. It was something she had gotten used to.

Rising to her feet, she nodded to Sylvia. "Alright guys, you heard her. We're going to take the cathedral. Let's go." She turned and strode for the exit, wasting little time when peoples lives were at risk. She figured she was more suited for battling flying enemies, and the wide open spaces of the stadium meant that Penny could go wild with her weaponry. It was a win for everyone, so long as they were victorious.

Initially heading for the front door, she caught herself and quickly shifted paths. She kept forgetting that the teleporters were a thing, and that they could be used for traveling between more than just Beacon locations. It certainly made deployment a lot easier, when she could remember to use it.

Moving on to the teleporter pads, she waited for the rest of her team to join with her so they could get on their way. Janet did so fairly quickly, which left only Summer. "Ready to save the day?" she asked her team, looking forward to this even with the danger. Nodding to the guards who kept an eye on the pads, she activated the magic as they vanished from the base and were sent to their destination in a flash of light.

Now they just had to hope that things hadn't horribly fallen apart while the briefing had been going on as they arrived at the cathedral.

@Ariamis@DarkwolfX37@Shifter_Master

Richard Davis enjoyed a good game of baseball and had gone to every game he had the chance to, ever since he was a wee lad. His earliest memories were of the time he spent with his father, both playing catch and religiously cheering for his team to win. Quite honestly, the only thing that could rival his love for the sport of baseball was his strange obsession with clocks that caused him to open a small shop focused on them. He was perhaps not the most normal individual, sure, but then again, neither was his young employee, Samantha, who always seemed a bit 'off' to him. She was much too stoic for her age, and that had terrible implications. She must have gone through something terrible, and as far as he was aware, she had nobody to fall back on. She had once told him her parents were of no relevance to her anymore, and he suspected she had no place to stay.

So Richard Davis being a well-meaning, genuinely good person, he would offer what he could. A small job at his shop was the least he could do for how hardworking she was, even if she appeared disinterested. Today was no different. He wanted to do something nice for her, and he hoped she might share his love for a good old game of baseball. But judging by her reaction to his initial invitation, that was certainly not the case, and it took a lot of convincing to finally get her to come with him. Thankfully, he knew she was especially susceptible to bait in the form of the promise of a free lunch. He opted out of thinking about how this could be misconstrued, and instead tried his very best to get Sil into the spirit of the game. And though her facial features did not reveal it, he could swear as the game picked up and she munched on her hotdog, that she was enjoying her time here. That only added to his own enjoyment of the game.

Regrettably, the fun times weren't to be. The Penrose Platypuses were to face off against the Harkview Honey Badgers, with his home team pulling ahead not even innings in, as was tradition. Things were going excellent, until some commotion had called for the game to be postponed. Something terrifying appeared in the stadium, sending it into a panic. Davis looked closely at the culprits. They were... wrapped in bandages? Didn't those things look like...

A revelation struck him. Those things, those monsters, they could only be...

"This must be the work of the Morningwood Mummies, those bastards! How dare they interrupt this game! Are they that angry about last season? Why the nerve of some people!"

Unlike Richard Davis, Samantha knew what was going on. And she knew they needed to leave quickly, lest they be caught. She did not want to transform while Davis was around, even if he would likely pass it off as something else, like most humans did. It just felt... wrong, somehow, but she couldn't explain why. All she knew is that they needed to vacate the premises immediately. In the commotion being caused by others, her hotdog was knocked out of her hand and landed on the dirty stadium floor. She gave a solemn look towards the hotdog before grabbing Davis and taking off towards the exit, ignoring his complaints. Other people hadn't understood the danger those mummies possessed yet, and so she managed to escape with Richard without much problem. As for the others?

They did not concern her.

"In my day, things like that would never be tolerated! Why I oughta...and what's up? Why did we leave?" Richard Davis was worked into a fit, but Sam remained stoic as ever. She glanced him up and down, then asked him a question.

"Are you unhurt?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing serious. Some rude kid elbowed my arm in all that hassle, though." he rubbed his side for emphasis.

"Go home, it's safe there. Do not return." she told him, to which he could only reply with a confused look. He still was not sure why she just ran them out of the stadium over a little prank, but she seemed dead serious. And if she was that worried, he figured he may as well listen.

"Alright, alright. But what about you? What do you plan on doing, Missie?" he asked.

There was a small pause before she answered. "I've got something I have to do, I'll talk to you later."

He'd spent enough time with Samantha to just barely see past her stoic guise. And what he saw was concerning to him. If he got the feeling right, she almost seemed as upset as he was. What could have caused that?

.......

.......

........

Samantha concealed herself nearby the Stadium, made sure nobody knew where she was, and then contacted Veronica via the artifact she was gifted by the Mint Agent. "...What is the deal with the stadium? Is it the Mint's doing?" she asked her usual tone. But Veronica herself would probably be able to surmise that Sam wasn't exactly in a pleasant mood, if her phrasing was anything to go by.

“The Mint does not operate in the same manner as Chloe, Sam.” Unlike Silhouette, the irritation in her voice was easy to pick up. It wouldn't be for most people, but Sil knew veronica long enough to be able to tell when she was sufficiently annoyed. “I have my hands full with a side project at the moment. I've only briefly heard about the monster attacks, and I can confirm none of them were started by any of my agents.” There was a faint sound in the background. Something like the crack of fire, or electricity? It was hard to place what was happening on Veronica's end. “Is there a reason why you suspect Mint activity?”

Samantha nearly sighed in relief when Veronica answered that the Mint weren't a part of the commotion in the stadium. "I know that." she replied. "Such a flamboyant attack is uncharacteristic of the Mint, more than anybody else, I'm aware of this." she stated resolutely. Afterwards, Silhouette did not speak for a few seconds. Veronica would hear nothing but silence for the few seconds between the moments when Silhouette spoke, but she had just transformed. There was just no auditory cue for it. "But I intend to get involved. And any Mint involvement would prove to be problematic, for obvious reasons."

"With that cleared up, unless you might have need of me, then I'll indulge myself for a little bit."

“Actually, your involvement in this could prove useful. We were just speaking about Chloe a moment ago, and I did not bring up her name out of the blue. Do you remember what she gave you?” Veronica was likely being cryptic in the event that someone was listening along. “You might as well give it a test drive. I'd like you to report your findings later.”

Samantha had almost forgotten about the object Veronica was referring to was even on her person. She wasn't personally intending on using it without instruction, so this was rather convenient. "I see, then I'll give you the rundown when we next speak."

To be completely honest, she wasn't a fan of being a test subject in this case. Her eye betrayed no signs that this would kill her when used, but she'd much rather see its influence on a person that wasn't herself. Still, if she could get enjoy herself a little and also do something for Veronica, then she did not mind.

Wait, enjoy myself...?

She stared at the strange gem Chloe had given her for a moment, before deciding to use it.

It wasn't a pleasant feeling, but it was a vaguely familiar one. If she were asked to describe how she felt when initially using the "steroid", she would have to say it felt similar to using the Black Coin. It was less intense in both the surge of strength and the tainted influence it projected onto her, but it certainly reminded her of that accursed coin.

Samantha, or rather, Silhouette, raised her hand to her features, and found her face had been locked into a wide grin. She quickly corrected that, shook her head, and placed a hand on her chest. She took a deep breath and tried to clear the funk out of her head, but a dark, familiar whispering had invaded her mind.

Kill, maim, fight.

It repeated these words over and over again. Enough to drive Sil mad, had she not already grown accustomed to such voices long ago. She calmed herself down, shoved those unprofessional, pointless thoughts from her mind, and sighed.

This isn't safe.

She decided immediately that this would be the first and last time she'd ever use something like this. She did not want that second voice, that corruption to claim her identity. At least not entirely. She was aware that her mood was already influenced by the corrution, this 'steroid' only made it more apparent. But since she'd already used it, she would have to see just how worthwhile the boost was. So, Silhoutte approached the Stadium, blade in her hand and ready to strike at whatever laid in her path, unsure of who started this mess, but she was damn sure she would be the one to end it.

Her lunch had to be avenged.

@Ariamis@DarkwolfX37 _{(The last because potentially spying, without which there may not even have been reason to write this NPC fight XD)}

Victoria looked annoyed as Su jumped off, frowning after them. ‘Tsk, I’m the one challenging you!’ … Though, then her focus turned to Helga, who was introducing herself. Victoria regained her grin. ‘Oh, well, you’ll do.’

Then… Helga blasted herself off towards Victoria with monstrous speed using her sound-cannons. ‘Wha-o,’ Out of nowhere, a shield of ice sprouted in front of Victoria while her arms made a cross to block the attack. Helga at that speed was way too powerful to be stopped by a mere sheet of ice, and promptly slammed through it. Upon impact, a burst of cold emanated from the shield before it in turn shot back into Victoria, who was launched back towards a building. However, despite the speed she was hit with, Victoria regained control in mid-air and kicked her legs and leaned one gauntlet back into the building, where ice froze around her feet and hand in such a way she was now solidly attached to the wall. She grinned at Helga.

‘Right! Okay, yeah, you’re probably faster and stronger than I am, hahaha! Stronger than me I’m used to, but faster? Woah. So this is a Magical Girl. Hahaha…’ Victoria grinned, somewhat. ‘Yet, you’ll fall to the same trick as monsters will, won’t you?’

… Upon impact with Victoria’s shield a burst of cold had shot out, and it was now settling on Helga. She’d feel the cold ice in the atmosphere attaching itself to her muscles, cold and crystalizing, seeking to restrain her movements. Not a lot right now, it had only been one impact, but it was there and promised to be a pain if the fight turned long.

Victoria manifested a longsword of ice in each gauntlet, long and beautiful, smiling at her opponent. ‘En garde~!’

If Helga had continued to hunt after Victoria after the first blow, then Victoria would have made her speech while on the defensive, dodging and creating blocks of ice to defend herself as Helga pursued, each hit to an icy blockade sending another burst of ice to collect around her and seeking to freeze her muscles and joints. If Helga paused after realizing the effect Victoria’s ice was having on her, then Victoria instead went on the offensive, slicing with swords of ice and hitting with gauntlets, not intending to let Helga have the chance to brush off Victoria’s ice or think of another strategy to counter Victoria’s strategy…

@BrokenPromise Meanwhile.

The eyepatched girl was already part-way turning around when Su floated up, lifting her metal hands in case she needed them in battle. Her one visible eye widened as Su threw the flash-stone. She lifted her huge metal hand in the direction, and from within her huge coat pieces of metal slunk out and flew to meet the stone… and then it flashed hard. ‘ACK!’ she made a noise.

Then, Su flew into the neighboring window. She came into an apartment with nothing of note, just bookshelves and couches and a TV, but a door deeper into the building and a path to where she had left the girl behind. She pressed on to search-

‘KAH!’ A giant metal hand burst through the wall between the girl and Su, the eyepatched bunny-coat girl grinning widely as she came through with quite a bit of wall debris. ‘TOO BAD! WRONG TARGET FOR A FLASHBANG! NOT VERY EFFECTIVE! HAHAHAHA!’ Saying so, the girl swiped with her metal hand, which was significantly larger than before and covered a significant amount of the height of the apartment. It seemed at first that she was too far away to hit with the swipe, the girl’s metal manipulation on her her own limbs extended the arm and thereby the swipe, intending the giant metal hand to tear through furniture and Magical Girl alike. While her visible eye was red and partly closed after the flash, she didn’t seem to be particularly pained by it, and neither did she seem blinded. Su had her job cut out for her yet.

…

@DarkwolfX37

‘Hi. Enjoying the show?’

The Shion that had gotten closer to peek at the skeleton army and possibly the fight suddenly felt a shill of cold and notice another Victoria alike the one fighting had walking in beside her, identical to the one down there currently fighting Helga. Now, duplication should not be a foreign concept to Shion, but still. Another Victoria was right there beside her all of a sudden, smiling slyly at her.

Joanna's phone abruptly vibrated. Could it be from that girl from last night, the one in the delinquent's attire? She took a look at the Caller (Texter?) I.D., and...

Oh! It was a text from Speedwagon.

"Thirteen witches just started attacking the cathedral, and this lot look like they came from the wrong side of the Yellow Brick Road. There're a lot of God-fearing folk trapped inside. Can you get out of class?"

Joanna shot to her feet, raising the hand that wasn't holding her cell phone into the air. "Excuse me, Mister Lowe? There's been a family emergency! Is it alright if-"

"Of course," Mr. Lowe said. "Just make sure you have a copy of the homework before you leave."

Joanna nodded. "Thank you!" she said, already slipping between desks. As soon as she stepped into the hallway, her pace shifted from 'briskly shuffling' to 'borderline sprint.' The door to the outside wasn't far from Mr. Lowe's classroom, and within seconds she was in the morning sunshine. She began running away from the school grounds, pulling up Speedwagon's number from her speed-dial.

"I'm on my way," Joanna said, barely waiting for Speedwagon to pick up. "What's going on there now?"

"You'd better hurry. There's a fourteenth witch that just showed up, but something tells me she and the others aren't mates. And there's this shifty looking type who's ignoring all of them, slithering around like a snake for the sanctuary."

"I'm coming as fast as I can! I trust you'll do the best you can in the meantime."

"Of course."

Joanna ended the call there, and started her transformation.

“I can feel it: the burning beat of my blood, razor–sharp! It resonates with the heart of the Earth, and of the Sun itself!”

As her transformation finished, Joanna Fujo began gathering her power, running in the direction of the cathedral. As she ran into an alleyway, she looked up to the nearby rooftops. There! That building, with a suspended hallway connecting it to another one. Joanna hopped forwards, bringing both legs together midair. "Zoom Jump!"

Her feet, pointed together at the ground, collided with the earth hard enough to crack the asphalt underneath of her. The rapid extension of her legs, combined with the strength within those limbs and her forward momentum, propelled her upwards towards a fire escape! Even as she flew up, she gathered power once more, this time into her arms. "Zoom Punch!" The joints in her right arm loosened and dislocated, extending it like rubber. Her hand grasped the railing of the fire escape several flights higher, and the momentum of her leap combined with the re-location of her arm's joints pulled her even further.

As she rapidly caught up to her hand, though, she let go of the railing, soaring past that point as well! Joanna's acrobatics had carried her past the roof of the building, but a brief blast of fire magic gave her just enough forwards momentum to make it. She landed on the roof on both feet, skidding slightly as her momentum ground to a halt.

"Oh? Come to watch the show?"

There was someone sitting on top of the covered bridge, a bucket of popcorn and a soda bottle nearby on the roof. They were wearing all black clothing - not black leather, but some kind of woolen outfit? Whatever the material was, it looked incredibly stuffy, like a fire breaking out in a sauna. There was something on their face, but Joanna's attention quickly slid past them to where their 'show' was. And sure enough, from here Joanna could see a number of dark shapes flitting about in the air above the cathedral. No doubt those witches that Speedwagon had warned her about.

"I don't have time to sit around doing so," she said, as she started walking again.

Then the cathedral's roof exploded.

"!?" Joanna started running across the roof again. The building hadn't collapsed entirely, and there was still hope that the people had managed to avoid the rubble. But even then, that meant the witches could attack them without going into the building. Joanna whipped her head around. The next rooftop wasn't too far away, and if she timed her magic right she could clear it in less than-

"Hoo! Now things are getting fun!"

Joanna kept running, trying to get the the right spot on the roof to jump from. She passed this rooftop watcher, making sure not to knock over them or their refreshments. While she didn't approve of their antics, she needed to get over there to help Speedwagon!

But apparently this rooftop watcher didn't approve.

Joanna found her way barred by a wall of bleeding wood - and no, she wasn't adopting Speedwagon's choice of expletives, it was a literal wall of wood that bled.

"Now where do you think you're going?"

---

Speedwagon ducked, casting a quick defensive spell over herself to deflect the incoming debris. Bloody hell! They just punched holes in the bloody roof! Dammit! My chapeau can reach far, but not as high as those hags are flying! Speedwagon ran for cover, ducking behind a nearby gargoyle. There was someone else there, cowering behind the second gargoyle to her right.

Speedwagon's phone started to ring again, and she froze for a second... but when she peeked around the gargoyle, the strange girl didn't react to the sound. At all. She just kept moving around in zigzags towards the cathedral.

Well, alright then.

Speedwagon took a glance down at the phone. The caller ID read "Nina Kujo," that girl from the previous night. Interesting time to make a call. Keeping an eye on the mystery girl, she hit the Accept Call button, and brought the phone to her ear. "Ey, where are you two headed to right now? There's two incidents, one at the stadium and one at a cathedral," Nina said.

For some reason, Speedwagon couldn't help but compare that to Joanna, just a moment ago. "Good timing there. I'm at the cathedral, and Joanna's on her way from school. There's another witch here apart from the ones on brooms, one that's less wicked than the others." Speedwagon looked up at the girl she was walking towards, still moving towards the cathedral in that odd bobbing walk of theirs... with a bloody magnifying glass practically pressed up to their face. No serious investigator would be acting that oblivious... unless, maybe they were hilariously naive? "And there's someone else here who seems oddly uninterested in that fight. I'm going to deal with that one first."

---

@Crusader Lord @BrokenPromise [@Majora's End] [@Whomever from Beacon has yet to arrive, but appear to be doing so momentarily.]

@PlatinumSkink



Su wasn't really sure what to expect from her improvised flash bomb. She had spent most of her time since Justine's defeat grieving, and hadn't been practicing very much with her powers. This would be the first time she tested anything in a real combat situation, and was pleased to see her spell worked. In the future, she would have several effects ready before a fight broke out.

Her progress forward had be barred. Su immediately stopped when the girl burst through the wall. The metal girl was not phased by the attack, even if she appeared to have been harmed by it. The first thoughts to come to Su was that she had some abilities that would let her see without eyes. Like how psychic specialists can see minds, or how air users like herself can feel their surroundings. The girl's remark about aiming for the wrong target was curious, but Su didn't know enough about her personality to tell if her words were anything more than a taunt. There wasn't enough information to determine what to do, so Su would have to play it safe moving forward.

The Bunny girl's hand was an interesting obstacle. It was massive, and not something Su could normally avoid. Fortunately, the arm was less threatening, and she had elongated it to assist with hitting her target. That created a much easier, longer obsticle to avoid near the bunny girl's body. Despite what Su's preferred tactics were, the safest place in the room right now was close to the bunny girl. Su flew towards her opponent, keeping her body entirely horizontal. She blasted a jet of air towards the palm as she flew by, which helped push Su away from the approaching hand as it threatened to grasp her. Su had to tuck her knees against her chest to avoid having her legs flattened against the wall. As soon as the bunny girl's arm passed under her, Su raised her hand over her head and swung downward. ”Pipe down.” This sent a small whirlwind towards the bunny girl's feet which threatened to blow apart the floor under her. With any luck, she'd fall into the floor below. Su didn't need to defeat her, she just needed to get her out of the way long enough so that she could find the monster.

Wherever it was.

---

Mika did her morning routine of going to the pit stop to get Su breakfast. Veronica wasn't there, but that was no reason to panic. She was aware the coin broker wasn't always available. Mika liked to think Veronica had a budding love interest somewhere, and she frequently met with them when the stress of her job became too much. It was very easy for her to picture Veronica breaking down. Sure she seemed cool, but nobody could keep up stern appearances like that forever. Her sweet heart was probably a strong, resilient woman who most saw as a scatter brain. The kind who always comes to school with a piece of toast in her mouth. She was probably comforting Veronica by just holding her in her arms, letting her cry into her chest. And then Veronica's mysterious girlfriend would say a few words of encouragement before they both embrace. And then Veronica would show her sweetheart her smile, which she shows no one else. That made the most sense to Mika.

Speaking of which, It was a little sad that the girl from before wasn't here. Mika wouldn't have minded buying her food this time around. Now that she actually made wages, she could afford to do something like that from time to time. ”Maybe next time.” Mika whispered to herself.

After collecting Su's food, she began her journey back to the Golden Trove. She didn't have to walk very far to notice the skeletons marching towards the park. ”Boy, I really wish I had a hammer space to carry around this food.” She quickly ran into a side street. A few seconds later, a massive tiger bolted out of the street and charged towards the skeletons. ”I'm so tiger-ed of all you bone heads!” There wasn't much stopping Mika. She was a six-hundred pound Bengal tiger sprinting at about forty miles per hour. The skeletons didn't even have time to react as the big cat plowed through them. The effect was comparable to a bowling ball smashing into pins. The skeletons blew apart so violently on impact that some of the flying bones took out other bony warriors. When Mika emerged from the other side of the group, her tiger form blew apart into dust. She had just enough time to turn around and place her hands on her hips, surveying the damage she caused. ”Score!” But the skeletons that were broken down didn't stay that way. They were already resembling themselves. Some of them were even seeking upgrades. One skeleton reassembled itself with a sewer drain lid, which turned it into some sort of wheel skeleton. For some reason, Mika knew that one would become a fearsome opponent. ”Uhhh...”

---

@FamishedPants @Card Captor @Crusader Lord @Erode @Rune_Alchemist

The fight was going in the favor of those who opposed the horror and seemingly unaffiliated monsters. Not only was Annabelle not putting up a fight, but those who wanted to save the civilians were turning up en mass. That was when others started to creep out of the shadows.



Rina would notice that four seats near her position had unbolted themselves from the floor and were now floating in mid-air. If she cared to look off the edge of her perch, she would see Elroy grinning back at her from behind his shield.

"Sup?"

Regina's location was unknown. But anyone familiar with the Bates knew she was nearby. Or if you were Alexander (or anyone else with Third Eye) then you could probably see a magical veil concealing her presence, up in the grandstands.

"..."



The beacon buddies flew out of the gates leading into the stadium. Abigail's powerful gravity magic was able to keep the group together, and they landed squarely around Annabelle. The knightly Shona pushed Annabelle behind herself, never taking an eye off of Amaryllis. Her sword was already drawn.

“I did not expect someone with such a bold weapon to practice such tactics.” Shona spun her sword in her hands. “Overwhelming others with numbers is despicable, unless you're fighting monsters. Annabelle is nothing short of a maiden. You aren't fit to fight with such an elegant weapon.” The Knight tightened her grip on her sword. “I'll handle things here.” those words were meant for her companions, even if she didn't make eye contact.

“We got this!” Abigail took Annabelle's left shoulder while Divina took her right. They levitated off the ground and started to float towards the exit gate.

Divina looked over her shoulder at the grand stands. “I hope Elroy is okay.”

Meanwhile, Tonya had flown over to Alexander to explain the situation. “Man, you are not going to believe this, but it's going to make you sick when you hear it!” She twirled her umbrella. “Annabelle over there was just trying to clean up all of these mummies, and she decided to call on some of her weird minions. She's evacuating civilians, killing monsters...” She pointed over her shoulder, presumably at Katarina and Amaryllis. “AND THEN THOSE TWO BONE HEADS SHOW UP TO MUCK EVERYTHING UP!” Tonya then continued on a tirade that wasn't likely going to end unless Alexander (or someone else) took steps to make her shut up.

---

@Majoras End @Flamelord @DarkwolfX37 @MadManMoon



Even as the battle between the witches raged on, the detective had no real interest in the squall. Her investigation was bringing her closer and closer to the cathedral.

“As I suspected!” She snapped her fingers. “In just a few moments, part of the roof will explode, revealing the perpetrator!”

As soon as projectiles started hitting the roof, Binky jumped out from behind a gargoyle.”Gah!”

The cats walking around the detectives feet were suddenly put on edge by Binky's appearance. “No need to act now!” She called out to the felines. “They might be swift, but they will undoubtedly slip and fall by the time the next volley hits.”

”I didn't do anythiiiiiing!” Binky took off running, only for a few stray projectiles to blow up adjacent to her position and knock her off the roof. The only thing Binky could do to soften their fall was create a pile of instant cook ramen underneath themselves and fall into it. It wasn't glamorous, but it saved her from breaking anything.

“Binky.” The detective approached her mark, who had a few pieces of Ramen stock to her arms and stockings. “Do you have anything to say for yourself before I bring justice down upon you?”

”You guys, Agreed, to everything!” Her lower lip was trembling.

She waved her magnifying glass at Binky. “I think we can both agree that a shady amount of details were not explained.”

”You... Agreed...”

“Save your excuses!” She turned to look in the direction of Speedwagon, and the recently teleported-in beacon girls. Even if they were not immediately visible, she would have no difficulty spotting where they arrived. “My intuition tells me others have just entered the area.”



Well shit.

As much as Mac wanted to be there for Binky, she needed to make sure Eliza wasn't totally overwhelmed by the witches. With a grunt, she put all of her efforts into ensuring their projectiles missed their mark. Eliza's exact position wouldn't be clear, but even witches got lucky sometimes. In fact, that was what Mac was banking on.

---

@Ariamis

Two school girls were both leaning up against a fence. They were wearing matching sailor uniforms and could have been twins. The only real difference was that one had long, wavy hair, and the other had short, spiked pigtails. They were waiting for their first day of school to begin, which would happen shortly. So the two had time to talk.

“So Vanessa.” The pig tailed girl grinned at her companion. “Do we look super cute or what?”

“If I'm going to be honest, Jessica...” The wavy haired girl looked herself over. “I think we look like a group of 'weabos,' and I wouldn't be surprised if we get asked to change.”

“Implying the faculty system cares about dress codes!” Jessica rolled her eyes with a giggle. “Besides, everyone else will love us!”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Fair enough.”

Jessica folded her arms, but she was still grinning. “Besides, didn't you think this was a great idea to begin with?”

“I'd like to think that because the uniforms are something we both agreed on, I'm free to say that it has some issues in hindsight.” Vanessa huffed. “I wouldn't be surprised if someone mistook these outfits for costumes.”

“Heh.” Jessica placed her hands on Vanessa's shoulders. “You really want this to go well, don't you?”

“I-I...” Vanessa averted her eyes. “I was never very good at school.”

“We were never very good at school.” Jessica ran her hands down the length of Vanessa's arms until she was holding her hands. “But that was a long time ago. In a way, this is all part of starting over. We can take all the tests we failed, and score as high as we can.” Her eyes half shut. “...And when I say score, I don't just mean on the teacher's tests...”

Vanessa nodded. “Yea.” A grin flashed across her face. “We're going to be rock stars!”

Jessica sighed and closed her eyes. “Yea, we're going to become rock stars.” She looked up at Vanessa. “And have a lot of groupies who totally adore us.”

“Love us.” Vanessa corrected. “We're going to take over the world...”

“And we start with this school!”

“No!” The wavy haired girl pointed. “We start with her!” And in front of Vanessa's finger was one Lily Hanson.

“Eyyyyy!” Jessica charged up to Lily, jumping the last few steps and landing a few inches in front of her. “Nice clothes! I really like your style.”

“And you're punctual, arriving well before everyone else. Just like us!” Vanessa was a bit more casual in her approach, choosing to walk up beside her sister. “I'm Vanessa Rockett.”

“And I'm Jessica Rockett. We're twins, in case you couldn't tell!” She leaned in towards Lily. “What's your name? Who's class are you in? It'd be so cool if we got the same teacher!”

With a flash of light, Alicia and her companions materialized in an alleyway near the cathedral. It was less conspicuous than appearing right on top of the building, and it was more likely to prevent magical interference as well. It wasn't as if they were terribly far anyway so she wasn't too worried about the distance from their target.

Now that they were here she took the moment to transform, so she could plunge into battle as a magical girl rather than a normal one. Once she was done, she emerged from the alley and assessed the situation. It looked like the witches were already in combat with other magical girls, though she didn't immediately recognize who the enemy combatants were. Aside from the aerial dogfight though, there didn't seem to be any other major combat going on. That she could see anyway.

Having gotten a feel for the situation, she barked out her orders. "I'll come at them from the sky. Janet, hit them from below. Summer, get in close on the roof. We'll box them in and then shift them to the Overcity. That should remove the threat to the congregation."

She wasted little time in carrying out her own directions, wings of ethereal light blossoming into existence as her bow appeared in hand as well. Marshaling her strength, she took to the sky in a blast of upward wind, making her presence known at the same time in quite the manner. She took aim at the nearby battle from her aloof location, looking at the fight and casting magical energy into her strung light as she put magic into play.

"Star Seraph, keep my aim true and firm," she said before firing. Streaking across the sky, these arrows of light would be trickier to dodge as they followed their target. Given enough space once passed by, they might even loop around for a second shot at their target. At the moment she mostly focused on those witches attacking the church. The others could be dealt with once that was over, if need be.

Time to show this city that Beacon was still in the game.

@BrokenPromise@MadManMoon@t2wave@Ariamis@Majoras End@DarkwolfX37

[Wrong account, sorry.]

Shion swung her camera around to face this Victoria, somewhat startled by the sudden voice. After a few deep breaths to calm herself, she replied. "It's interesting to watch a fight between magical girls. There's usually something to learn by watching their fighting styles. What about you?" She may just be a copy, but she knew that any information she could gather would be useful to her real self, and so she pressed forward with her questioning. "And why is nobody concerned with the skeletons? Do you know anything about them?"

---

Summer quickly transformed via incantation as the group reached their goal and turned to Alicia. "Yes ma'am!" she shouted, running towards the cathedral. About halfway there, she pulled out her bat and slammed it head-first into the ground before pulling back on it, it bending unnaturally as if it were hot metal before returning to its normal form instantly, pole-vaulting Summer onto the roof near one of the gargoyles. She looked around, her eyes following one of the witches as she flew past, only to find that there was a strange sight below her. A pile of what looked to be noodles and two girls dressed far too strangely to not be magical girls. She quickly swung her pendant and looked into their... rather personal information with her divination abilities to discern whether they were friend or foe. She started with the one on the noodles. Without realizing it, she accidentally dove deeper than she intended, only meaning to see some basic information but so engrossed by what she learned that she couldn't stop herself.

"That's the saddest thing I've ever seen." she said as she saw small flashes of the girl's everyday life. She decided she'd seen enough without even bothering to divine the other girl's information or purpose for being there; she was going to help this poor soul laying on the noodles. Thinking quickly, she pulled from her Hammerspace Handbag what she'd put in for exactly such a moment. She put on her snake charmer's hat, pulled out a flute, and threw a long bundle of rope down onto Binky. Sitting down cross-legged she began playing. Slowly, the end of the rope began to rise and sway before coiling around Binky and raising its "head" up to the roof, turning back to normal rope as Summer stopped playing and grabbed it, using it to pull the girl below her up to safety. She made sure to untie her and place her items back into her handbag.

"Well hello there, helpless civilian." Summer began, "Beacon is here to save the day!" She gently set Binky down on the roof. "Stay there, the safest place is in Beacon's light. And by that I mean where we can see you and reach you if something goes wrong." She pulled a baseball from her handbag and threw the ball into the air, smashing it with her bat so that it flew towards one of the witches. The ball pierced her and left a far too perfectly round hole in her chest that would almost certainly be fatal if not for Summer's magic making it both possible and nothing more than a painless irritation.

---