While the impact didn't hurt Alexander, it did daze him 'Fuckkkkkkkk.' He got back to his feet as he rubbed the back of his head 'I guess the nice thing about Reinforcement magic is that I can pull off stunts like that. I'm start to get a new appreciation for barriers and force-fields. That shit is useful. Although...' He took a look at what was once the Sky Bastion '...Yeah, I can see how that would be a problem. Fuck, this is going to suck so much' First, Alexander applied a boost to his magic power, then he made a barrier right behind the monster. With the enhancement to his magic he supercharged that barrier as much as possible, even applying a reinforcement to it "Hurry and take the shot!"

@Majoras End@MadManMoon@DarkwolfX37


Off in the distance, Binky was visibly trying to climb to safety, but falling off the cathedral made moving around relatively difficult. It was fair to say she wasn't going anywhere.

“Oh, are you the leader of this merry group?” Sammy approached Alicia. “It's a deduction I made based on the fact that you are taking an authoritative tone. Not only that but you're also squaring your shoulders a bit, and I also figured that an organization like Beacon would...” Sammy sighed. “None of that is really important though. What is important is that one of your goons is interfering with my investigation. They tried to help a crime lord escape, and further disrupted things by shifting us to the over city!” Sammy's head turned more red as she ranted on about Summer's actions. “Take us back to the real world at once! And discipline your lackey while you're at it, or does Beacon encourage the destruction of public property?!?” The detective was franticly waving her arms. Much faster and she might start flying.



It would suprise no-one that Mac concurred with almost everything Sammy said. Though she was more interested in how Alicia would react now that she was being confronted about Beacon's antics directly.

---

@PlatinumSkink


There were three things that Su would openly admit she didn't know much about. This first was magic. Now she knew quite a bit about the surface workings of magic, but magic by its very nature wasn't very understood. Even the experts only had a very small portion of it figured out, and the entire mystery around magic would likely never be unraveled. The second thing was humans. Su seemed to have a gift for talking to them, but that didn't mean their actions or choices were ever fully understood by her. The desires of humans changed like the seasons. The third, most confusing thing was magical girls. Simply because that they were the first two items combined.

Su ran her hand down the front of her face. ”This is not ideal.” Mayra's choice to follow after Su and Helga was something that she hadn't really expected. Helga had beaten her allies, which should have incited some need for revenge. But it appeared that she wasn't on great terms with her allies. Su did not rule out the possibility of this being a ruse, but magical girls were erratic things. It wouldn't surprise Su if Mayra honestly wanted to just tag along. ”Helga, this is our monster. Not exactly what I expected, but she wants to beat up some skeletons.” She eyed both of the remaining monster girls for a moment. ”We've wasted enough time here, so let's grant her wish.” Su turned towards the direction of the sound. ”Before this entire building collapses.” Su got outside just in time to spot the skeleton army. ”Hmmm, seems like we're late to the party.”

---

Mika dropped her improvised club and fell to one knee. There was only so much her healing artifact could do, and she was taking more damage than the artifact could expect to reverse. She was nearly trampled by an army of skeletons, and bitten by at least six (she didn't count) spiders. Who knew what the long term effects of the venom would be? But none of that really bothered Mika right now. She was thinking about what mommy spider had said.

”They were just babies?”

Mika had suspected that the spiders were her children, but it was just a hunch. Having it confirmed made her gut hurt. There had to be something she could have done to save them. They were only trying to eat her because mommy spider wasn't doing her job. Maybe Mika could have mothered them. She'd just have to show them how people eat. There's no way anyone could continue to eat people after they'd had some chicken, or bacon even. People just don't taste as good as deli meats.

”Who would do this?”

They just needed to be shown the way. They just needed to feel the love of a mother. There was no excuse for mommy spider's behavior. This defied the laws of nature in a way that made Mika sick.

”Unforgivable!”



The beast girl's growing anger focused her senses. She was unaware of the rooftop fight, or that someone up there had just freed her. She was unaware if Lupa needed help. She didn't even see Su and the other aproching from her left. All Mika could see was the spider woman hanging from a silken thread, waving about in the allyway. Before Mika knew it, she had sprinted to her feet and was blazing a path straight for the spider woman.

Mika had just enough power for one more full body transformation. Such was the consequence of getting beaten so badly. When Mika reached the spider web wall, she transformed into a giant orb weaver spider. One of the core reasons why spiders didn't get stuck on their own webs was because they walked on hairs on the very tips of their legs. Because they aren't contacting the web all at once like their prey, they are able to move across their web without becoming ensnared. With her new form, Mika was able to easily scale the web wall. Once she was at the top, she dove onto the strand the spider woman was hanging from, with the intent of scaling down as quickly as she could. While Mika's new form didn't have any web, it had potent venom. Mika did not care how many times the spider woman tried to shoot web at her. She was determined to land a bite on her prey. For Lupa, for the spider woman's children, for justice.

---

The monster flailed, their attacks reaching it, ripping and tearing its flesh. Rina watched from the sidelines. Avoiding its counter attack was child's play, its slow hulking body no match for her agility. She leaped over them, their attempts to crush her thwarted as the machine girl rammed the Earth Bastion into its side - the creature shuddered, its foul mouths unleashing a foul miasma around it, cloaking it and obscuring movement.

It was trying to escape?! Unfortunately for it, they weren't going to let it escape so easily. The boy, whoever he was made a barrier to stop it from moving forward. Amaryllis' chains were holding it down. They seemed to have it handled, but one could never be too careful around monsters like this. She ran after the monster, leaping into the air after Amaryllis took reprieve on the Bastion. She climbed atop, using the extra height to leap off of it over the creature.

"Futile." Rina narrowed her eyes, and with a swift, dexterous hand, took aim at the creatures hide. It wouldn't get any further. Summoning all of the magic power she had, her bow enlarged as the metal of her blade formed the largest blade she had ever made - it was the size of a small building. While she was less firing it, and more letting it fall, its goal was still the same.

Impalement

The massive sword fell, sinking into the creatures flesh and hopefully the earth beneath. If it worked, then the thing wouldn't be going anywhere else without nearly cleaving its own body in half. Flipping in the air, she angled herself so her feet hit the blade as it fell. Leaping off of it, she landed next to Amaryllis.

"Aside from you talking like a weird middle schooler, we make a pretty good team."

The horrid feeling of disintegration staggered Penny long enough that she missed her chance for a guaranteed hit form the Bastion’s main gun, but she was still delighted to see the monster topple. But as she readied herself for another charge hoping to crush the aberrant thing with the Bastion’s weight, it released a great miasma and started to flee.

The mechanical girl chose not to race off after it, seeing as if she did she would tear down a fair amount of the stadium to do so. Plus Penny could tell that the inky smoke was more than just a screen with the way that Amaryllis fell on to her deck. Instead she started lining up a shot, as she would likely only get the one.

That didn’t mean the Knight’s call for assistance went unheeded, far from it in fact for while Penny could calim to have much power when it came to magic she did have plenty of Mana to toss around if she needed to. Thus when she felt the great chains being passed over to her control she fused them the Earth Bastion where ever they made contact and once Katarina’s greatsword dropped from the sky the monster lost any hop of being able to avoid Penny’s next attack. As now that she was connected to it by metal she knew exactly where to aim in the miasma, and it wouldn’t be able to dodge anymore with the building sized blade lodged in it.

All the while Red Aurelio quietly worked away adding his own two cents to this mess, as he had more than enough rage to work with, both due to his starting mote and the amount of it pouring off his robotic ally.

The main cannon had been boosted for its next shot, as Penny’s intention wasn’t hard to guess. The chains had been augmented as well, super-heated to inflict more damage and boosted to be harder to break. Most of Red’s magic went in to damage control however, as he tried to isolate the area around the monster. So that any damage that didn’t directly harm the monster would be directed to him. As a clone he had little reason to care about his own well-being, and due to his vow he couldn’t ignore the possibility of there being innocents out there.

Finally Penny’s voice could be heard projecting from the intercom system of the Earth Bastion “Brace!” And with that warning the Bastion opened fire on the hapless monstrosity.



While the original Aurelio was off with Abigail and with Red currently assisting Penny, the other three duplicates found their tasks intersecting in a very unfortunate location.

Brown was the first to find his mark and the moment he did Brown immediately moved to at Sally’s side as a dull brown light started to emanate from his hand “Don’t even think of falling asleep on me” he ordered roughly as he passed his glowing hand over the wound before muttering a string of curses under his breath. He needed to find Indigo and fast, as his emotional range couldn’t heal this wound.

Grinding his teeth together he focused upon the wound as he passed his hand over the wound again this time causing a substance like wet clay to flow from his hand and start covering the wound binding it shut, some of the arcane mud would flow in to the wound to staunch the blood loss internally as well. All the while a feeling of Frustrated determination would bubble up with Sally bolstering her fortitude.

The spell wouldn’t be a gentle feeling but it would keep Sally as she was right now and hopefully buoy her until Indigo could be found, as that took just about all of Brown’s reserve to pull off. “We need to move, as much as I trust the Tank-girl it wouldn’t take much to get flattened by accident out here.” Brown Aurelio said as he picked Sally up in a bridal carry before heading off in the opposite direction of both Penny and the Horror, towards one of the team locker rooms.

Green and Indigo conversely had a rather easy task at the start, it wasn’t hard to round up people and start shepherding them to Brown, and their first batch of civvies took them hardly anytime at all.

“Comp!” Brown nearly shouted when he caught sight of the calm looking copy walked in at the back of the first group. “Sally needs you. Now!” This time the order was shouted and Indigo was not found wanting as he was by the lucky girls side instantly.

“Hey there” Indigo said softly as a comforting blue glow started to suffuse his hands “Sorry about him, he’s a bit frustrated, but I promise you’re going to be okay” Indigo stated as he calmly started working towards healing the devastating cut that Sally had been inflicted with.

This time the magic would be gentle and would feel like a Compassionate embrace.

Back near the entrance Brown and Green were talking “Too close?” asked Green as he gestured to Sally

“We’ll see” Brown replied with a huff “you keep up the train of people going, I’m nearly tapped, wasn’t built with a lot of charge so I’m only good for point defense at the moment.”

“Fair enough, doubt many people would react well to your grumpy mug out there anyway” Green replied with a cheeky grin.

“I will toss you out of here if I need to” Brown threatened as he leaned up against the wall to the entrance. Green just chuckled and went off in search of more people who might need rescue.

Sally blinked slowly as she saw Brown Aurelio above her, and clutched at her wound. Her heart beat slower and slower. "No, I just...want to...Close my eyes for a...sec..." She mumbled, her breathing strained. She then shuddered as she felt what he was doing; magical clay seeped into her wound, and completely covered it, resembling a brown collar around her neck. She then felt a bit irritated as the clone influenced her, and her heart began beating at a regular pace. Though it did stop the flow of blood and bought her some time, it was not a permanent solution by any means, and Sally was still at risk. "Y-Yeah, you're right," she answered, and stood up, holding onto Brown Aurelio as tightly as she could, pressing her forehead against his chest. "Aurelio..." she mumbled, and fainted.

Amaryllis' chains burst from Behemoth's gashes, and anchored themselves to Earth Bastion, momentarily halting the abomination. However, she could tell the chains would not last for long, as the beast's very essence was that of Void, and it's wounds were more potent in erasure than it's hide, just as how the main cannon of Earth Bastion rapidly corroded when enveloped by the foul mass. If only the Knight of Rose had been there to impede the beast, then she would have failed, with the beast crushing the rows of cars before it. To her fortune, a great barrier was erected, causing Behemoth to slam right into it; Alexander's reinforced wall proved mightier than the brute strength of a city-destroyer. However, Alexander could feel his magic rapidly drain from the flailing of tentacles and biting teeth that gnawed on the shield, trying to erode the reinforcement away.

Before Alex reached his limit, Katarina made her move; she leaped into the air using Earth Bastion's deck as a springboard, and charged for an attack on a ludicrous scale. Her bow enlarged to resemble the wings of an iron angel, and a gargantuan blade was summoned. Rina felt her body stiffen with the massive exertion, as it tested the very limits of her Metal magic, but she succeeded in materializing it fully, letting gravity direct its wrath. After she launched it, she fell down, her breath hasty and her muscles tired as she hit the deck with wobbly feet and nearly spent mana.



With an earth-shaking crash, Impalement fell down on Behemoth, nearly splitting the monster in two and revealing a shimmering orb of purest emptiness inside; it was the monster's Void Core. The monster lashed out with all of its might, trying to pull it's mass together, tentacles flailing in a whirlwind of frenzy. It overcame Alexander's defenses, causing him to drop down to one knee as his mana was spent, and the barrier shattered. It also managed to cast off the corroded chains despite their intense heat and hardening. However, by that point they have fulfilled their mission, and Penny began charging, her aim fully confirmed thanks to Amaryllis.

A single large eye caught on to what she was doing, but it was already too late for the Greater Horrorling; with a blinding light, Earth Bastion unleashed its full arsenal, bombarding the beast with shell upon shell. Thanks to Katarina exposing the Void Core of the beast, it was shattered, and with one final bellow the beast fell down, it's body slowly disintegrating into the air like ash. Red Aurelio used the massive amount of rage generated by the battle, and was set ablaze as it took in the damage of its surroundings, and quickly disappeared as well, leaving the original Aurelio feeling sick in the stomach as it could feel the intensity of its clone peaking to a height even his magic couldn't control. In the end, only Katarina's monument remained; a testament to the efforts of the valiant fighters who prevented a catastrophe.



The civilians slowly began pouring out of the stadium's insides, and saw the devastation to the stadium that had occurred. A few of them cried, mourning their friends and family, but the sheer majority cried tears of relief and joy. Sally opened her eyes, and realized she was in a locker room of some kind, although with a cracked ceiling and few fallen lockers. She then saw the numerous clones of Aurelio that loomed over her, and she reached up to touch her neck; her wound was healed. "Aurelio...You saved me." She sat up and smiled, a pink blush coloring her cheeks. "I was...Really lucky that you came along. Thank you." She patted the other Aurelio's on the shoulder at first, and then walked over to Brown Aurelio; with a coy look, she kissed the clone on his cheek, giggling a bit. "How's the situation outside?"

---

The flying witch was successfully intimidated by Alicia, having realized it was the only one left out of the coven. With a grumble, it slowly descended down to the ground, and took her broom in her hand. "Fine, I see no point in scuffling with an amateur little girl. Harrumph!" The witch crossed her arms, while the one with the broken broom nodded a lot, smiling widely and showing her rotten teeth. "Yes, yes, anything! You promise to let us go, right? You're an honest girl, of course you will. Come on, Zelda! Let's not tarry long." And with that, the witches began walking towards the cathedral with a half-run, as if afraid they might suddenly get skewered with a light arrow. The priest remained behind the rock, amazed by what happened. "Beacon...Is that your name, o sacred angel?" He asked, peeking his head out.

The Vixen, overcome by her lust for blood, chased after the witches, running on all fours like a beast as she howled and disappeared into the distance. It would take her hours until she gave up on the chase and realize she forgot how to shift, resulting in her being stuck in the Overcity for the time being. With no more dangers remaining at the cathedral, the witches removed the curses, and the frog and skunk returned back to their original forms. And after a moment of rest, Summer brought the group including the girls witches and the religious man back to the real world alongside the pieces of the cathedral; they were scattered around the main building, as if blown by an explosion. "So...Will you let us go now?" The surrendering witch asked, while the other witch grumbled with the broom between the both of their legs, ready to carry the two away.

---

Helga's grin widened as she recognized the sound of Su's Air magic, and quickly ran over to the hole that Jelena dropped through. She crouched down and gazed down, having decided to not rush in like before, as she was curious about the exchange the enemy side had. "They've decided to quit," she mused to herself, and turned to look out the window to see them leave. "Hah, what a bunch of posers..." She chuckled, but her laughter was cut short; she saw the ice girl she fought before, silently watching the building. Their eyes met, and Helga shrieked as she saw another. "What? Clones!" She then heard Mayra speak to Su, and jumped down the hole. Before she could get a word in, Su assured her that Mayra wasn't hostile, and told them to leave. Though she didn't like ignoring the fiery girl right next to them, she absolutely trusted Su. "You got it!"
The three of them left the building, with Helga still looking around to see if they were still watched, until her attention was brought to the army of skeletons that were swarming around something. "What the heck is this? I can see some fighting over there!" She pointed. Then she gasped. "MIKA!" She dashed as fast as she could, barreling through the skeletons in her way, but she had already transformed.

Having taken a form similar to her opponent, Mika easily circumvented the sticky obstacle. Ronja was shocked by Mika's sudden ferocity, and by instinct cut the thread she was hanging from to drop down into the alley, only to realize her mistake; Mika fell right on top of her, Lupa's jaw wide open as one big spider slammed the other spider, as if in a bizarre wrestling match. Mika sunk her venomous fangs into Ronja, and she shrieked in pain. "Aaahh!!! You copycat! How dare you!" She wailed, and wrapped her hands in dark silk. Empowered by her Reinforcement magic, she made a swinging punch that reached around to her back and struck Mika's abdomen; not only was it strong enough to crack the shell, it also struck her mentally, as if she had incurred headache from consuming too much ice cream. Mika was forced to remove her fangs to reel from the impact, and Ronja turned, blood leaking down her mouth; she had some poison resistance due to also being an arachnid being, but it wasn't enough to deter the venom completely. She coughed, and grit her teeth in horrifying fashion. "I feel numb...That's it. I'll take you down right now!"

Ronja spread her hands before her, and dark magic glowed from her palms; Mika could tell this was her Killing Blow.

"OVERWRITE"

Ronja began by launching an unimaginable amount of web-walls to lock in her target inside the web, with no way out. Many times stronger than her usual webbing, it was impossible to escape from. "I'll delete your memories, your personality...And make you my slave!"
But as fate would have it, just as she was about to finish her attack, Lupa broke through the web, and launched herself on top of Ronja, biting into her neck. "YAAAARGHHH!"
Ronja released the psychic pulse through her hands, and it hit Lupa; psychic magic resembling webbed patterns tangled themselves around her head, and embedded themselves into her skull. Soon enough, small white orbs were drawn out attached to the psychic webbing, representing Lupa's memories, and the beast girl fell down, her eyes wide and unmoving; she was still alive, but seemingly turned into a vegetable with the memory pebbles tangled in a bundle of webbing right next to her head.
Ronja's legs twitched, and curled into herself as she slowly succumbed to the venom.
"D-Damn it...I'm sorry, my children...Mommy...Was not strong enough..." And then, her numerous eyes closed, followed by her changing back to her human form; she was defeated.

---

“Drums?” Jessica looked to her sister.

Vanessa scratched her chin. ”Radio head uses duel drummers now, right?”

“Have they done anything relevant recently?” What followed Jessica's comment was an awkward silence. Such a quiet wasn't something normal mortals could make. It had to be the work of a powerful curse, either inflicted by a dark magical girl or some heinous patron. “Creep was good! I like that song!” Jessica nervously smiled.

”I guess we'll figure it out later.” Vanessa folded her arms.. ”So you've been in Penrose for a month? I was going to say something about that, but you mentioned joining a band and I guess I got a little carried away. If you wouldn't mind showing us around after school, that would be great.”

Jessica smiled. ”I feel like an isekai protagonist, only without all the cool perks, like a huge group of friends.”

”If I recall, friends are why we were headed to the Gym in the first place. Shall we?” Vanessa pushed open the doors to the Gym and stepped inside. Aside from the basket ball hoops, there wasn't any gear present that anyone could see. However, the sheer size of the gym was definitely what one would expect of a reputable school like this. If one looked at the floor, they might be able to spot the school's logo etched into the gym's surface. But there were so many students present it wasn't clearly visible.

Lily could swear she had messed up with her answer, and the two girls would shun her. Instead, they seemed to ignore her suggestion and move on; though she felt bad about it, it was a better outcome than outright rejection.

"Well, I'll think about it more, so don't worry about it, haha," she answered quickly, and nodded.
"Yeah, I know a lot of cool places where we could go!" She held her hands before her in enthusiastic fists, her breathing a bit heavier as excitement suddenly came over her.
"There's the arcade, and the comic book shop, and game store, and...Uhh...The Pit Stop! It's a trendy restaurant where all the cool kids gather!" She saved her suggestions at the very last seconds, using her previous experience.
"Let's go grab some food there." She smiled, and led them there after they left the school.

At the site of Mika and Lupa, a nearby building suddenly exploded. That is, one of the adjacent buildings blew open from inside, shooting bricks and debris flying all over the street with little to no care about anything. The cause of the explosive impact had been an absurdly fast form just tearing the building apart as an inconsequential collateral as the form had just travelled across town in the blink of an eye at full strength. If anyone still held onto Ronja they were just torn off and thrown hard across the street into the building on the other side.



A monster girl was there, with a long furry snake-like lower body in the midst of the suddenly caused destruction, Ronja held in her clawed hands. She looked across the street at those present with a calm, yet hateful glare, before spinning around and launching off again with an unparallelled speed, taking Ronja with her. Neither would be seen again today.

Turning, Alicia couldn't help but frown as she was verbally assaulted by some girl dressed up like a stereotypical gumshoe detective. Maybe it was just the way that she was talking or the way she acted and carried herself, but Alicia couldn't help but find herself a bit offended by the accusations, and the general attitude. Just who did she think she was, making demands like this? Sure, Summer had messed up, but in the face of external pressure she found herself coming to the defense of her subordinate. She certainly wasn't going to 'discipline' her, or bend to this will simple because they could talk fast.

"Of course not. I'm sure she'll take us back when she can. But as you can see we're a bit preoccupied at the moment so have some patience," she responded with a glare. More people could carry the virtue she had chosen to uphold, in her opinion.

Fortunately they had a stroke of luck, the scary looking being chasing after the departing witches rather than engaging those in the cathedral. She breathed a sigh of relief, since she really hadn't been looking forward to fighting that thing while civilians were around. Not only that, but the witch carried out its end of the deal, returning the girls who had been transformed to their normal states. With Summer sending them back to the real world, it seemed like a successful conclusion all around.

"No," she replied to the question from the priest, shaking her head. "Beacon is the group that I serve with, whose purpose is to serve as a guiding light for the rest of mankind,an example of what they can be at their best. Even if we aren't appreciated by most." Not that she wanted to grumble, but in recent months it seemed like the truth.

Once asked by the witch, Alicia turned to face them as she lifted Star Seraph, aiming it towards the duo for a moment before nodding. "My word is my word. Get out of here as fast as you can. If I catch you again, don't expect to find yourselves as fortunate as you are now." Alicia could have put them down, but she didn't want to have to worry about that when she had other things to do.

She made sure she left before turning to the rest of her team, flashing them a smile and a nod of approval. "Good job guys." They'd talk about certain things back at HQ, but for now she wasn't going to embarrass them like that in front of the general populace and other magical girls. Speaking of which....

Assuming the detective hadn't run off yet, she would find herself confronted by the Beacon member, hands resting on her hips in annoyance. "So who's this crime lord you're after and what have they done?" If she was going to get chewed out by some egotistical magical girl for an accident, then she wanted to know the reason for it. Though she had the sneaking suspicion that she wouldn't get the time of day at the pace the other girl was going. What a headache.

Alexander was exhausted

While his mana reserves were already filling back up, having them emptied still took a lot out of him "Right..." He got to his feet "I'm...just going to go home now." With no more monsters to fight, Alexander began to drag himself back home. Once he was out of sight, he undid his transformation, and continued on

@Rune_Alchemist

---

The Angel of the Apocalypse blew her Trumpet, and with an all-consuming roar, the Greater Horror disintegrated, leaving behind nothing but ashes, blown away in the wind. Around them, civilians that survived cried in joy at having made it past Judgment Day, while the others mourned still for those who had fallen during the calamity. Above the Earth Bastion, Amaryllis forced herself not to fall over yet, even as her Sword, her Patron, her every-greedy sadist of a partner, roared out with its psychic agony. It deserved this, really, and so did she. Slaying Gremlins and orcs and other human-sized monsters was nothing compared to what they just did, and Amaryllis seriously wanted to just scream and run and dance and be stupid.

But that would be embarrassing and out of character, so she just stood there instead, taking in deep breaths, bringing out her Healing Artifact to scour the last bits of poison and sickness out of her body. It felt as if they had been fighting for an entire day, but the sun was still rising. It hadn’t even hit noon yet.

There was still work to be done, both on the magical side of things as well as in reality. Her blue eyes scanned the stadium for signs of those four who had originally come to the Darkness Maiden’s aid, and she clicked her tongue, seeing them still there. Another time. She had better things to do. More important things. More valuable things.

More difficult things.

The Knight of Rose closed her eyes, ignored the prodding encouragement of a Sword that had no idea how the subtleties of human relationships worked, and spent a good minute rehearsing her lines. Then, quickly, she turned around. “Indeed we do, Hunter Rina,” Amaryllis spoke, as grand as always, even as the tips of her ears burned in anticipation for what she’d do next, “And though our paths may be intersected by the silver threads of fate, I believe that the potency of our combined bladework should be something left not to chance and circumstance, but to our own design. With that in mind…”

Out of nowhere, her Big Interdimensional Backpack popped up before her, and she unzipped the bag quickly, forcing open the uncooperative zipper, before pulling out a cheap phone. It was an older model, and it really only had talk or text options, but a SIM card had already been put into it, and the contacts list had Amaryllis’s own number in.

“…allow me to offer you an oracle of instant communication, so we may collaborate properly next time.”

…

Shit, what if Rina said no?

Shoulda just shoved the thing into her hands and booked it afterwards.

Being transported back to Penrose did little to improve Sammy's mood. She folded her arms and waited for Alicia to get done talking to the witches and her companions, before finally getting to Sammy. “What a world we live in, where Beacon girls will pardon monsters but interfere with a police investigation.” Sammy shook her head. She didn't give Alicia a chance to respond before telling her story. “That woman set up a lab to work on magical girls. She's kidnapping random magical girls and performing experiments on them.”



”I-it's not kidnapping if you agree to go through with it! You all wanted it anyway, a chance to be stronger, to deal yourselves a new hand...” Binky was in too much pain to reliably go anywhere. She laid on her back as the cats surrounded her.

“Make no mistake about it. While we were given a choice, very little information was given to us. We were kept in holding cells and treated more like prisoners or livestock. We had no idea when we would be released. It was only suppose to last a week or two, but they kept finding 'new information' that required us to remain in 'containment' longer.”

Binky's voice was cracking. ”The magic is extremely experimental! We need to watch over you to make sure there are no adverse side effects! If something happens, wouldn't you like us to be there to help you?”

“See how she uses fear to control people? Clearly the mastermind!” Sammy adjusted her cap. “I don't need the lot of you to do anything. Just stay out of my way so that I can avenge everyone she's harmed.”



Wait, Alicia spared mosnters?

That was kind of unexpected. Yes, Alicia was willing to let Elroy leave that one time, but she had no idea she was the sort to forgive monsters who planned on eating humans. That couldn't have been something an experience Beacon girl was suppose to do. Their whole shtick was killing monsters, and even monster girls. What was going on here? Why was Alicia sparing monsters every opportunity she could?

And what was she going to do to Binky?

---

Mika had blacked out momentarily. She stood up and tried to recall what happened leading up to now. She remembered getting angry, turning into a spider, and attempting to chase down mommy spider. Mika had bitten her, but was kicked off. The pain in her ribs was proof enough she hadn't dreamed that up. Then things got a little hazy, because she remembered Lupa biting into the spider woman while she was about to use a powerful spell. But the spider woman was nowhere to be found, and Lupa was...

”Oh no!”

Knowing that Mika was in danger must have given Lupa the determination to break free of the web. Then when she attacked mommy spider, her spell was turned on Lupa instead. Mika had wanted to be a hero and take out the bad guy, but tenacity wasn't enough to win the battle. Mommy spider could have killed Mika then and there, but Lupa was there to swoop in and save her. Even though she was weak, Mika stumbled over to Lupa and hugged her torso. [”Lupa! Can you hear me? W-we're still a pack right?” It was almost impossible to believe that Lupa had succumb to such a spell. She thought that Lupa was invincible, certainly strong and experienced enough to outmaneuver mommy spider. And perhapse she would have, if Mika hadn't tried to take her down. This was a classic example of a hot blooded rookie getting their more experienced squad mate killed. It was all Mika's fault.

By this point, Su had made her way into the alleyway. She was blasting away skeletons with her wind magic. Su might not have known about their weakness, but her wind magic was slicing up their bones anyway, so it hardly mattered. ”Are you alright Mika?” Mika opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't form any words. The fact that she got Lupa killed was bad, but Su had told her not to go off fighting by herself. It wasn't something Mika had control over, but it was evident she was way out of her element with this. There were too many emotions welling up inside of Mika to respond. The need to apologize, the need to explain what happened, all the words were stuck in her throat and nothing could come out. The only thing she could do was cry, which just made her embarrassed on top of everything else. Su only pursed her lips, seeming to understand the situation. ”Just wait here, we're almost done with the skeletons.” Su stepped out of the alleyway and finished off the skeletons with Helga and Mayra. All Mika could do is sob into Lupa's shoulder.

---

If Elroy or Regina were still present at the scene, they were in hiding.



However, their underlings were still there. They had evacuated many civilians, and were quick to regroup with the Aurelio clones and Sally. They had the original in tow, and stepped in just as Sally was kissing brown on the cheek.

“Haha! Oh my!” Abigail turned to look at the real Aurelio. “Looks like Sally's into clones, or at least brown guys.”

Tonya and Shona briefly glanced at each other before looking back at Abigail. “I trust Divina is watching over lady Annabelle?” Shona placed a hand on her hip.

“Yea, she should be fine.” Abigail said with a dismissive wave without looking away from Aurelio. “We're going to go back to the overcity, since it'll be easier to make contact with Divina there.” She ran her gloved hand through her pony tail. “If you want to meet the Bates, you should come with us. I'm sure Regina would love to meet Sally and you.”

---

The metal ship roared, delivering its payload right into the creature, disintegrating it entirely. The only thing that was left, was the massive earth sundering blade that was left behind, soon to follow in the steps of its victim leaving no trace of their presence. The huntress sighed, her bow vanishing along with the beast, magic completely, and well spent. She wanted to flop down on the deck of the ship and take a nice long nap. Used to, when she still worked on the force, she'd take all of her co-workers drinking after solving a case or two.

"Boy that was tiring...haaa, I wish I could drink..." Rina complained, letting her ever so serious facade drop slightly before quickly returning to her usual demeanor as Amaryllis replied, speaking in her apparently usual and overly dramatic fashion. She couldn't help but to smirk lightly as the Knightess pulled out something out of some sort of...hammer space? Rina narrowed her eyes, curious of where this could be going.

"...A phone?" Rina fell silent as the phone was handed to her. Oh. Oh. She did mention earlier she didn't have a phone, didn't she? She was pretty sure she did. Her face turned a shade of red. Boy this was embarrassing, having someone do something like this. Okay Rina, play it cool. Er, ally. Partner. Yes. Those words. "Uh, thanks. It certainly will make communicating long distances easier."

@Rune_Alchemist@ERode

By the time Penny ran out of ammo to fire, the horror that she had opposed was nothing more than dust. So determined was she to eradicate her enemy she didn’t even notice Aurelio’s clone flare up and disperse due to her onslaught as she had poured everything, all the anger, hate, and fear she had felt in to the assault. Yet it was not until the innocent civilian’s tentatively came out to survey the carnage and began cheering out their thanks to the heavens that she was able to let her focus wavier.

From the towering point of the Bastions command deck Penny’s perception watched those that had been impacted by the tragedy that had befallen them. It felt like so long ago that Penny was like many of them, but right now she could be thankful that she no longer was fully human. As if she was the monster would have been a nightmare to take care of.

She watched the people for a few moments longer, trying to forever etch in to her memory that despite being forged into an instrument of destruction that she was still capable of helping, of being good.

Finally she turned her attention to the two girls that were upon her deck. “I might be able to get some Whiskey or Rum if you really want.” Penny’s disembodied voice echoed out from the deck plating near Katarina and Amaryllis, shortly before a spot a few feet away from them started to twist and warp as Penny started to emerge from the ship before seamlessly disconnecting from the Earth bastion.

“One of the few perks of having a god on speed dial” She continued as she stepped closer to the other metal users. Her stance was relaxed and her eyes were glowing a bright blue. “I’m Penny, by the way” she added as she offered a hand to the two.

---

@BrokenPromise@Ariamis

“Nah,” Came Aurelio’s reply to Abigail’s teasing remark “It’s all the bad boy vibes that Frustration gives off. I mean just look at him he’s got the brooding look down perfectly, very hard to resist” he explained with a knowing air.

The clone in question just tossed his hands in the air ”Nope” the Brown clad clone called out “Not dealing with this” he said before stepping over to the original and went to smack him on the head, but the moment they touched the clone vanished in a puff of smoke. The white clad boy’s attitude took a noticeable down turn immediately afterward as well. As he gave Sally a much closer look the worry on his face not hard to see.

The indigo and green copies of Aurelio both stepped up next to the original a moment later “No going off on only a third of the story chief” The blue clone said before he too reintegrated with the original.

”Not much I can add, but I saw what happened to Rage” chimed in the green clone before it too returned to Aurelio.

Shaking his head to clear it from the info dump he just got “Well that answers those questions.” He said his good mood already returned “Penny and a few others took down the Monster; Dog boy and Brave were able to help out those we missed. So it looks like the fighting is done, and as Abigail has mentioned we’ve been invited to meet the Bates. Who are the friends that these girls have been staying with recently if I am correct in my guess?” he half asked half stated as he glanced towards Abigail.

“Regardless I already mentioned that I wanted to meet the two of them, But I can get you a quick lift back to HQ if you want to rest up instead.” If asked Aurelio would prefer if Sally went back to HQ,as he had an ace up his sleeve encase things went south in the meeting with the Bates. After all he had a small amount of Wonder at his disposal, and it was one of the three great emotions in his opinion.

@Rune_Alchemist@Shifter_Master

---

“Indeed it will,” Amaryllis replied, her own face flushed obviously by the glory of victory and the warmth of the sun. “Well, if you will excuse me, the sun has still not yet reached its apex, and the day’s duties have not yet been dealt with in full yet. As such, I must depart, Hunter Rina. May h-”

Before the Knight of Rose could properly make her exit, however, the pilot of the war machine emerged once more, offering a hand and some celebratory alcohol. With peppy neon blue twintails and a body almost (but not quite) as bodacious as Amaryllis’s own, she certainly looked at odds with the war machine she summoned, but a lady was a lady, and a knight would be remiss to introduce herself properly before her. With one smooth movement, the swordmaiden knelt on one knee, took the offered hand, and pressed her lips chastely against the back of the woman’s hand. Around the two, rusted petals fell at an angle, blown by an unfelt wind, as Amaryllis turned her midnight gaze unto Penny.

“A pleasure to make the acquaintance of a fellow Saintess of Steel,” she spoke, “I shall certainly remember the thunderous aid you’ve provide in the vanquishing of that wretched beast. I am Amaryllis Evenings, Knight of Rose, Swordbearer and Chainholder. If you ever find yourself in a situation like this once more, simply call my name, and I shall be there, clad in Silverlight and Sacraments.”

Standing up once more, she released her hold on Penny’s hand and turned her palm skywards. Within, a rusted rose budded, then bloomed, manifesting in a way that could only be considered hypnotic, and with a casual, practiced motion, the Knight pinned the metallic flower into Penny’s hair, turning away in that same motion.

“Alas, though to drink with two beauties would certainly be heaven for any individual of taste, the tragedies of the world continue on regardless of my desire for leisure. As such, I shall bid you two farewell. The Goddess calls, and I must answer her pleas.”

Her speech concluded, the Knight of Rose kicked off the Earth Bastion, somersaulted twice, and bounded off into the distance, a blue blur trailed by scarlet petals.

Couldn’t afford to be any later to her classes than she already was, after all.

---

Rina didn't react much to Penny's appearance, merely studying her with a sharp gaze as she made an introduction and made an offering of alcohol. She was too tired to really care about Penny's potential monster girlness. Besides, as far as she was concerned they were comrades now after fighting that behemoth. Seemed friendly enough, at least.

Then her partner had to go and do something mildly absurd. She knelt on a knee and kissed the back of Penny's outstretched hand. The absurd scene was accompanied by a wind unable to be felt, and metal, rusted petals flowing at an angle from it. Rina simply watched, unable to say anything from whatever it was that was currently happening. Further still, Amaryllis went to make a metal rose, and pin it right in Penny's hair. Rina's mouth turned downwards into a small frown. Why didn't she-

"Can she ever just speak normally..." Rina sighed as Amaryllis bounded off. "What's she's trying to say, Penny, is thanks for the backup and just ask if ya need help with anything else." Stretching, the Hunter mulled over the offer of alcohol briefly. Whisky and rum. Why was there never any Vodka? "I'll have to pass too, duty calls and all that-" A complainant from her stomach interrupted that thought. "But uh, if you wanna by me breakfast I wouldn't say no."

She didn't want to ask for a handout, and she really did want to get back to her duties, but fighting on an empty stomach was a bad idea. She was magically exhausted anyways.

For the Beacon member, the sudden confrontation was not what she had expected. Perhaps it was made more difficult by the bad impression that the girl had left in their initial conflict, so at this point she wasn't inclined to cooperate without question. "The last time I checked, there was no magical girl police force. Besides us anyway," Alicia remarked with a growing frown. Someone was definitely pretentious.

Her head was practically on a swivel though as the other girl cut in, the two settling into a fierce and heated debate. She wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but it left her with the impression that it was nothing good. At the same time, the way that this girl carried herself, the way she acted....she was either a very good actor, or she likely was not the one who bore the total culpability for whatever was going on. Perhaps it was the mention of 'we', or the fact that she didn't seem like the kidnapping type.

"Alright, hold on," she said after a moment, raising her hand in a 'stop' gesture towards Sammy whilst accompanied by a glare. Only once she had fallen silent did Alicia turn towards the other girl, still keeping up a stern look as she focused on her. "What's this about experimentation and more powers. And who's bankrolling you?"

Her foot tapped, an impatient drumming as she crossed her arms over her chest and a finger tapped on her upper arm. She normally wouldn't be this annoyed, but if there was another Justine around then they needed to know now, before something tragic happened. "I'd be quick about it, or else I really will let the gumshoe over there have you."

Throughout most of Amaryllis’ introduction Penny had a baffled look on her face due to the absurdity of it, as the swordswoman proved to be the most eccentric magical girl that Penny had met so far. That confusion instantly turned in to discomfort, however, once the Knight pinned a metal rose in her hair however before bounding off to who knows where.

“Glad to know I was understanding that correctly” The cyborg replied to Rina as she removed the hair ornament and rolled it in-between her fingers as she looked at it fair amount of uncertainly and a minor grimace. Shaking her head Penny just let out a sigh and started to roll the metal flower in to a ball. “Breakfast sounds nice, and if we are where I think we are there should be a Denny’s a few blocks from here”

“Just got to park the car and send a text to my allies and we can head out” Penny explained reached out to the Earth Bastion and started to recall it back to Laat’s domain. It was immediately apparent that something was happening to the tank-ship, as it started to rapidly sublimate away and ten seconds later both The Cyborg and The Hunter were standing on the baseball pitch with the Bastion nowhere to be seen.

“There we go” Penny said after making sure her ride was safely tucked away “So, mind if I ask for you name since I got your partners already?” Penny would ask as she started to lead the way to the diner she had mentioned earlier, pocketing the balled up flower as she did so. She would wait till they were closer to pull on her disguise.

On the way she would send a quick text to Beacon, as she had no idea where any of her allies had ventured off too.

The witches spent no time waiting around for confirmation, and immediately fled, flying far into the sky. The priest looked up with eyes of surprise, and then at Alicia, having lowered himself into a praying position. "The guiding light of humanity...Thank you for enlightening this unworthy soul." He lowered his head to the ground, and then stood up. "O Angel of Mercy, I shall devote myself to spreading the word of Beacon. I will become your prophet, and serve you for as long as I draw breath." He made one last bow, and walked away, still whispering prayers of gratitude.

---

"Oh, don't be silly. I just wanted to show my gratitude. Don't get your hopes up too much." Sally giggled, relieved that despite the chaos and turmoil that just happened, her fellow comrades bounced right back into being their old selves again. She summoned her Beckoner, and asked her to report the results back to HQ, before she turned towards Abigail. "The Bates, huh? Well I am curious..." She muttered to herself, and looked at the clones around him. "Ok, me and Aurelio will come. I want to know what's going on with you girls. Besides, I'm on a winning streak after all, heh~" She took Abigail's hand, and gave one last request to the Beckoner. "I'll be going on a little recon with Abigail's girls. Alright, lead on!"

---

After the ceremony was held at the gym, Lily and the twins headed off to eat at the Pit Stop. Despite her initial fumbling with the two, she found herself having a lot of fun spending time with the two. "So then, he got a bunny rabbit as a pet! OMG, can you believe it? So I told him..." She was gossiping and giggling like a normal schoolgirl, something she had completely forgotten about doing in her previous life, and it was a refreshing experience. But then, she checked out the window, and saw Alex walking by. "Oh, I need to get back home. Um, want to change phone numbers? We could meet up again and do stuff again." Alex then happened to see her, and she waved with an awkward smile.

---

Helga ran over to Mika, and attempted to hug her, only to stop as she realized she looked like a spider. But then, she hugged her anyway, holding the abdomen and two of her eight legs. "Mika! What happened? Are you okay?" She then realized the remaining skeletons approached, and let go. "Hold still. This will only take a moment." As she went to smash the rest of the bony baddies, Lupa slowly stood up, her gaze vacantly watching Mika. "Who...Am I? Where? And...Who are you?" Mika then saw the white marbles shine, as if calling for her to pick them up.

"Guhhhhhh...Fucking magic drama. I know we all have the bodies of kids, but that doesn't mean we have to act like them. If I have to start choking bitches I will, and I'll do it with gusto." Alexander bitched and moaned his little bitter heart out. Just because there wasn't anyone around to hear him didn't deter the sour magical boy. However, his ranting was interrupted when noticed Lily and a few girls he never saw before (or maybe he did and just didn't remember them. He couldn't be bothered to remember everyone he saw). She saw him and gave him a wave, he responded by holding up his hand to her in a not-quite-wave "Well at least someone's having a good day." Greetings exchanged, he resumed his walk back home, having decided not to interrupt whatever Lily was doing with his grumpness.

Alicia did not leave Binky with many choices. She demanded that Binky tell her everything, or she would hand her over to Sammy.

”B-but of course!” Binky clasped her hands together. At this point she looked absolutely miserable. There were cuts all over her body, and here legs had swollen bruises from the minor fractures she incurred falling. She remained on her knees as if in prayer. ”I-I'm not sure if you know this, but most of us, u-us magical girls, didn't really hit the jackpot when we were created.” She exhaled, her eyes wandered over everyone. ”It's luck really, like a roll of the dice. You're either gifted with power or you're not. Our entire lives are decided by whatever the puchuu desires, as well as a few other external factors.” Binky pulled apart her hands and placed them on her knees. They were still shaking. ”I-I was a guy. I didn't have perfect physique, but I had okay grades and did everything my parents asked of me. But a single roll of the dice determined that I would spend the rest of my life as a fast food lobbing magical girl. This was all decided since my transformation, and my fate can't be changed...” Binky pulled out a red coin and held it up for Alicia to see. ”...Until now.” Binky's eyes rested on the coin. Her body stopped quivering when she brought the coin closer to her face. ”You're familiar with the black coin, which causes a surge of magic so great that it warps and twists a magical girl's being. You can't help but be corrupted. But this red coin works on a different principle. It doesn't increase your magic, it shuffles it.” She turned to look at Alicia again. ”With this, people like me have a second chance! We don't need to be humiliated any longer!” She hugged the coin against her chest. ”But of course, there are risks related to tampering with the flow of one's magic. We needed to test it on some willing magical girls. But something strange happened.” She pointed at Sammy. ”She can look into the future. Just a few seconds, but it's an ability I've never witnessed before!”



“She lies! It's all deductions!” Alicia could tell that Sammy was lying.

”But she could have deeper mutations that aren't present yet! We don't yet know the long term effects of the coin, which is why we need to monitor her, and those she escaped with!” She looked to Sammy. ”It's for your own good!”

The detective folded her arms. “The beacon girl asked a good question though. You aren't at this alone. Who else is helping you?”

Binky hesitated to answer. ”W-well, there are a few people who are interested in this p-project. I've received a lot of donations from a lot of d-different, um, investors.” Another pause. ”This coin is my creation though. Through my own efforts, it was made.” As far as Alicia could tell, everything Binky said was the truth. Though some bits seemed a little indirect.

Sammy gave Binky a long stare before her cats started to surround the group. “What do you intend to do, beacon girl?” She twirled her magnifying glass in her hand. “I'll have you know I don't like to have my time wasted.”

Binky was giving Alicia the most desperate puppy dog eyes she could manage.



Mac was prepared to create a mighty illusion if she had to get Binky out of this. But more than anything else, she was curious what Alicia was going to decide to do with her. Binky's position didn't look great right now, but it wasn't like she had lied or anything.

---

Mika was snapped out of her trance when Helga hugged her. Such a gesture didn't do much for the lamenting magical girl's emotional state, but it did bring her into the present. As soon as Lupa started talking to her, Mika shifted back into her original magical girl form. ”What do you mean? I'm Mika, and you are-” It was no use. Lupa might have been alive, but her memories had been entirely erased. That had to be the nature of mommy spider's attack. But it seemed to have left behind some radiant marbles tangled in a web. Mika's senses didn't tell her they were dangerous, so she picked them up. Upon doing so, Lupa suddenly came to attention, flashing the confident smile she wore when she first met Mika. ”Gah!” The beast girl dove backwards, but Lupa made no other sudden movements. Cautiously, she circled around Lupa to inspect her. Something Mika noticed was that Lupa wasn't reacting to her presence. But something she did pick up on was that Lupa was posed exactly how Mika was imagining her. Every wag of her tail or twitch of her arm that happened in her own mind, Lupa mimicked. ”Oh no...” Mika sunk to her knees. ”Lupa, you lost your marbles!” But Lupa's only reaction was to place her hands on her hips, just like Mika mentally commanded her to. It was hard to be relieved with Lupa's current predicament, but at least she wasn't dead. ”There has to be a way to reverse this...”

”Alright, good job everyone. I think we're done here.” Su walked back to the allyway where Mika was, only to see her staring at Lupa. The hotel manager exhaled before leaning against a wall, arms folded. ”Are the two of you okay?”

Mika tightened her hand around the marbles. ”I am, but I don't think Lupa is.”

Su's eyes wandered over the two. ”I see.” She pushed herself off of the wall. ”Let's return. I'd prefer to get out of here before anyone else arrives.” Su momentarily flicked her eyes up and looked at the stranger(s?) on the roof.

---

Abigail beamed with joy when Aurelio and Sally said they'd see them together. She turned to face Aurelio, who said they could come to HQ to rest up. “We didn't even get as much as a scratch, save Shona, but she's too proud to admit when she's tired.”

“Pride has nothing to do with it, this is just a flesh wound.” Shona had a hole going through her ribs, right out her back. The rose knight's thrust had gone entirely through her body. Yet she remained standing, as if completely free of harm. “I will heal this in time. I'm more concerned for Elroy. He was struck by one of Penny's attacks.”

“See? Stubborn!” Abigail chuckled. “Anyway, hold onto your butts!”

Sally, Aurelio, and the three remaining beacon buddies were pulled into the over city. It was the same spot they were in before, only Divinia wasn't present. Shortly after they “warped in,” a boy with small horns appeared out of thin air and fell in front of Aurelio and pointed at him with gun fingers.



"Prepare for trouble." He said.

Regina appeared just a second later. Her arms were folded. "You don't understand stealth at all, do you?"

"Firstly, you're suppose to say 'make it double!' Two, I stayed quiet until we got to this place." Elroy folded up his arms. "Anyway! I'm Elroy! Regina, this is glass eye and carrot top."

“I knew you were hurt.” Shona extended her hand towards Elroy and started to heal his bruises. He hadn't really anticipated that attack from Penny, so she got in a clean shot on him. But little of it was visible, as it was mostly under his shirt.

Regina groaned. "Well, we're all here now." Regina was playing with her hair, not really making eye contact with anyone. "I'm actually a bit surprised, I never suspected that there would be beacon members who were interested in meeting monsters." She chuckled nervously. "Actually, I shouldn't say that. I guess I only thought Beacon was interested in destructive, ruthless monsters. Monsters like Penny." She stopped stroking her hair. "Penny and I first met in front of our home. Elroy and Alicia were trying to negotiate a peaceful resolution, as we were unknowingly on Beacon territory. There are certain mistakes you're going to make when you don't have a patron to guide you." Regina gripped her hair tight, balling her hand into a fist. "Penny took a shot at me unprovoked, and Elroy retaliated. Alicia, being the upstanding beacon girl that she is, thought it was wise to attack Elroy. After the two of them got the snot beat out of them, their back up showed up and we were forced to leave our home. Not that there was much left of it at that point. I'm told Alicia got a promotion for her actions." When she released her hair, there were small cuts on her hand where her nails had sliced into her skin. "But despite all of this, I don't hate Beacon at all. If anything, I admire them. How they spread fear, how they warp the minds of those under them, and how they get justice by killing and enslaving what scares them. Those are all things I wish to emulate." When Regina turned to look at Aurelio, her eyes had taken on a reptilian look: A long iris with a yellow halo. "Do either of you like sleepovers?"

Elroy reached behind his back to grab his shield and moved slightly in front of Regina. The beacon buddies made no sudden movements, and seemed oblivious to what might be going on.

---

The twins... did not look like they were having quite as much fun as Lily. They were trying though. But Vanessa looked distracted, and Jessica looked like she was getting tired. When Lily waved, the two of them looked out the window.

“That Alex?” Vanessa rubbed her chin. “I use to be hotter! Way hotter!”

“Numbers? Yea! Let's exchange those real quick.” Jessica gave Lily both her own number as well as Vanessa's, all while her twin watched Alex walk out of sight. “We should totally hang out with your friends some time. We could play some music or watch a movie.”

Vanessa looked at her phone. “Suppose we have some things to do as well.”

“Yea, gotta forward our plans for world domination!” She giggled. “Yea, gotta forward our plans for world domination!” the two girls fist bumped. Once Lily had left, they both collapsed to the ground and looked at the ceiling.

---

A police car pulled part way into the stadium. A blond woman with a messy ponytail stepped out of the drivers side, and a woman with long, straight hair got out of the passanger side. You could tell just by the way she walked she had a lot of confidence. Her eyes were looking straight ahead, and every step had purpose. Her partner didn't look nearly as professional. Her eyes darted all over the place, and she was half squatting as she staggered around the stadium. Before long, the blond woman got to her target, which was Sil. The white haired woman stepped behind her and elevated her to her feet. As they walked back to the car, the blond woman spoke.

“You're under arrest for disturbing the peace, causing property damage, and battery. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you can’t afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights?” before long, Sil was thrown into the back of the police car. The two police officers then got back into the car and drove off. Once they were out of the stadium, the white haired girl turned around to look at Sil.

”Hi! I'm the new girl!”

Though the morning was super weird and a part of her just wanted to flop onto a bed and sleep into the evening, Amaryllis was still a girl of many commitments, and she definitely didn’t want to see the expression on her teacher’s face after she skipped a day of classes. Thus, the Knight of Rose found herself shuffling through the hallways of Penrose Polytechnic again, wearing her standard low-profile combo of cosmetic glasses, an oversized cashmere sweater, and jeans, avoiding contact with others as she strutted on through. In the back of her mind, her Sword practically laughed (a set of booming, pounding blows against the back of her left arm) about all the attention she grabbed regardless, both guys and girls turning their heads to look at the ‘disguised supermodel’ walking in their presence, but that just caused the blue-haired girl to walk faster.

Ha…what a bother. If only she could be a plant in the corner, quietly sucking in nutrients from the soil and the sun. Or maybe she could be a bulb, lighting up only when electricity flowed through a circuits. But there was work to be done as well, so maybe she should just stick with being a human after all.

Right, there was Cole. She was going to have to kill Cole. Then ask the administration for Aurora’s phone number. Ah, and there was always that talk at the Penrose Independent place, wasn’t there?

Considering how messed up the town was, she wouldn’t even be surprised if yet another giant monster popped up somewhere.
What a super weird day.

But it'll stabilize soon enough if she just did one task at a time.