Divina's response was a good one, considering the many alternatives. She did sense the mental push that the girl seemed to unwittingly apply. It would take a lot more than that to effect Janet. It was something to note though. "We did know each other. I wouldn't say very well though." Being honest seemed like the best course of action. There was no telling what mental mutations might be affecting her friend. Seeing that her memory was clouded it might take a while to clear up. However she would offer her services. "I might be able to help you with your memories, at least a little. It would probably take some time though."

Her attention was arrested by Penny waking up. Seemed her efforts paid off. While the mechanical girl was weak at the moment the knight had little doubt she would be on her own feet soon enough. Having Reinforcement may not be the most offensive form of magic, but it helped immensely when in came to support. Chloe barked some orders to Divina and the monster girl followed without question. Curious. Asked to assist Janet had to consider her options. She could try and take on Chloe, all parties were likely pretty low on mana. And Beacon's forces were nearby enough that she wouldn't be alone long. But that could also damage her chances of reaching Divina. After some deliberation she sighed. "Sure, let's get Lucy home." Offering a smile she stepped over and supported the chimera to make movement easier. Not everything she was thinking needed to be said. And to some extent she owed the girl for saving Penny. But not that much.

---

Looking through Serenity's recent memories was interesting. Partly because of what happened but mostly because HOW THE HELL DID THAT HAPPEN! It was most definitely the doing of the Beckoners though. They had a reason for this and they seemingly put in a safeguard. Backing down she relaxed a bit as she came to terms with her leaders decision. "I see. I may not understand it but if that is what Beacon wants... Welcome aboard?" She couldn't really fault the former horror turned Beacon girl. It was one way to one up her own redemption story though. Her attention was pulled away though as Janet predded her.

Janet had been communicating with her twin what was going on. When she was signaled she knew what to do. Reaching out to the other Beacon members and their allies she announced to them.



The cohesion of the magical girls and boys present was breaking down it seemed. Nothing overtly hostile for the most part, aside from Su who looked like she was on a razor's edge. Janet and Jenna hadn't really met up with the dark magical girl since just after the battle against Justine. That had ended with Amber dying, something the twins still felt they were in some part responsible for. But now even Amber's body was gone, turned into another magical pirate girl. She could only imagine what was going on in the wind girl's head. Jenna didn't have to imagine though as she glimpsed Su's mind. Tensing the knight's eyes widened as she saw her intent. "Su wait!" Rushing forward to pull the girl back she only managed to lay a hand on Su's shoulder before she was shifted away along with the pirate girl.

---

Being behind Su from the shift when her wings burst out it threw Jenna back. There was hardly time to scramble before the torrent of wind descended and picked the knight up. There was a brief moment of deja vu while tumbling through the air before she was thrown free as Su moved toward Sophia. Rolling for a moment she managed to catch a footing and skid to a stop. Damn that wind. It had stopped her in the past too. Although that was a good thing then. Now this funnel of death was barreling its way toward an innocent girl.

"Don't do this Su. It isn't going to bring Amber back!" Jenna wasn't even sure her words could reach Su in the middle of the tornado. Glancing at her pistol she doubted its shots would make it through and diving in would be even worse. She was going to have to rely on her mental magic. This situation was really beginning to feel repeated somehow. Entirely bypassing the wind Jenna struck out at Su's mind. There were a lot of options available, most of which she'd never done before. Partly because Psychic something of a new development, but also because she hated the idea of tampering with other people's minds. Having seen Regina's handy work and looked at the remnants of Janet's own mind control she felt she had a decent grasp of how to influence others. Weaving thoughts together she would try and pacify the wind girl by instilling sympathy for Sophia. Su likely knew this somewhere in the back of her mind but it was buried by rage.

Pushing the narrative.

Damn this was harder than it looked. Figuring out how to put everything. Seemed pretty easy to screw up. Su was also still extremely emotional. It was hard to say how trying to direct it would turn out, at least at this stage. Man it would be nice to have Aurelio right now to help with that.

It spoke to something about Penny that she didn’t even flinch when the lumbering abomination stumbled over to where she sat next to Chloe; she hardly spared the thing a second glance in fact. Instead her eyes were scanning the recent battle ground, even as she responded to the girl next to her “With the day I’ve had so far rest sounds nice...”

Most things were skimmed over but some important things to her stood out. She saw Lily tackle Alex, the back of her mind noting the new look for the both of them. The large amounts of Beacon members who showed up to assist with the cleanup and kept track of those closest to her due to paranoia.

She noted Mika, more due to the girl’s phone signal then anything and thought she saw Sil but didn’t bother trying to verify, along with a half dozen other girls she couldn’t place.

She saw Rina and Amaryllis taking to each other; she made a mental note to thank them both again. Rina helped with Elroy and Penny assumed that Amaryllis helped Alicia deal with whatever was going on in the Crypt. She noted a small girl wondering away, followed by a pack of cats.

She even spotted Aurelio here and there, his Clones spread around talking with some people, helping others.

But she didn’t see Alicia and part of her longed too. Memories of the warm light her angelic friend gave off rose unbidden. Penny turned to Chloe as she spoke “I want to make sure Alicia is alright firs-“ her voice died as she received Janet’s broadcast. Penny understood perfectly what was being said, knew the implications of what was being said, of what Chloe was being charged with.

“Chloe“ Penny would say softly, with inhuman level of calm as her eyes started to glow. “You need to leave, now” she would continue as she clenched a fist tightly enough that you could hear the metal groaning in protest.

“They want to apprehend you” it was easily apparent that Penny was preparing for combat once again, even as she stayed seated. Her emotions were being put off to the side and the soft hum of machinery cranked up a gear as Penny rerouted all spare mana to regeneration.

“And I can’t fight all of them” There was only two people that Penny trusted with her life and there was little she wouldn’t due to keep those two safe if she had the means and opportunity. Chloe was one of them. Thus Penny couldn't bring herself to care about what her friend had done, so long as she was safe.

“Please” because at the end the day, despite how well as she played at being human, Penny wasn't, and the scars from her forcible inclusion by Laat'AlOfan ran deep.

@Crusader Lord@t2wave

Su had every advantage she could possibly want in this fight. She was more experienced than her opponent, stronger than her opponent, and if Sophia trying to yell into a hurricane was any indication, far smarter as well. The land mines detonated as soon as they touched the debris in her storm,which were carried past Su into the sky. The ship’s “surprise” Appearance was hardly that. The wind and Su were one, and she could feel it traveling over the ship as it started to appear. Su immediately gained altitude to put herself above her new opponent. And there they stood, Su inside her twister, and Sophia by her ship.

Su might have been a new magical girl, but as a familiar she had been around for a while. She had seen all sorts of sights with Boteg, and knew the difference between a ship that was created by a girl’s magic, and one that was her patron. If Su wasn’t so upset, she might have laughed at the patron coming to aid the pirate in such a direct manner. That would be like an emperor personally showing up to assist the army, It made the patron look embarrassingly inadequate. Boteg might have been a coward, but he would never humiliate Su by attempting to personally save her in a fight. Especially not at the first sign of danger. The worst part was that it didn’t change anything. Su could just push forward and pull the ship into her storm. By the time the cannons adjusted for her position, she’d have eradicated the two of them.

But the situation had changed. The reason why Su attacked Sophia was because Su suspected the horror in the sky had managed to turn Amber into an evil magical girl. It was that small chance that she could be wrong that was making her fight so defensively. Even if it wasn’t at the forefront of Su’s mind, she wouldn’t kill Sophia if she couldn’t prove she was legitimately evil. Su let Justine go, after all. And if Su could spare the person who killed her only friend, then she could spare a magical girl who had yet to really show what she was made of. The ship’s appearance revealed the the girl’s true nature. Sophia was the product of a vulture. A grave robber. A third party that took advantage of Amber’s vulnerable corpse. Su’s fight wasn’t with the magical girl, it was with the unseen patron. Su was confident she could split her storm and demolish the ship on either side of Sophia. She was prepared to do this before she got a transmission…

When trying to talk people out of doing something, it’s 20% how you say it and 80% who says it. Boteg could just say “stop” and get Su to obey. But Jenna did have that luxory. Su looked over her shoulder at the newly arrived. The way she was talking was like she knew Amber at a time. It was evident to Su that Jenna wasn’t just prodding through her memories. Even the best psychic girls would need more than a few seconds to know what was going on here, as evident as her rage was. Su’s strong magical potency also made her resistant to such things. Clearly something was off. She knew more than she should.

The storm faded away as Su glided to Jenna’s position. She had her back to the ship, but was prepared to shift as soon as it tried to fire at her.

”I’m sorry, do I know you?” Su’s wings flexed and bent in the wind. ”I can’t say I ever remember seeing you. You’re talking about what Amber would want, yet I’ve known her for the entirety of her magical girl life.” Her lower lip was quivering. ”I know her favorite color, her favorite places to eat, her dreams, what makes her insecure, what makes her happy, and I know all of her friends. But with all that I know, I haven’t seen you once.” Her voice was cracking. ”So who are you? What makes you think you can tell me what Amber would want?” Even though Su had stopped her attack, she was pulling a tremendous amount of mana into herself. The ground under Su was cracking under the pressure.

Shaking her head Jenna conceded. "I don't. That is why I asked. For all I know Amber really is the kind of person to just dive in and attack and you would continue. It was a gamble. There wasn't really time to think and I'm just trying to keep an innocent safe. Taking a deep breath after that she was going to have to tread lightly. Su was powered up and Jenna didn't really have the mana left for another fight.

Locking her fingers together with her palms open up she continued. "What I know of her and you comes from Janet. I know you used to be her familiar, what happened to Amber, and how you became a magical girl. There aren't really words to say how sorry I am about what happened. You've every right to be angry. I wish circumstances were different and I could be returning your friend to rest." Jenna didn't like dredging up these memories. Losing people, though not as close, reminded her of her friends that had died when Justine had Janet blow up Beacon. That helplessness of not being able to prevent what was happening.

As unpleasant as it was reflecting did give her some direction. These things happening were in large part due to those dark magical girls that used their power to manipulate and control others. Jenna wasn't sure if Beacon's dogma was finally getting through or her own experiences were making things clearer. "Horrors and their followers made these things happen. They continue to take from us even after we think it's over. I-" She cut out for a moment as she hesitated, partly because she was getting somewhat emotional but also because what she was about to say could be risky. But being honest with Su seemed the right thing to do.

"I know Janet and I would be willing to help you seek and take vengeance on those that enabled this to happen to Amber. We more than owe you and her that respect. Janet has... changed since you last met. That process created me as her Twinned Soul. So when I say this it is coming from her. I wasn't strong enough then and was used as an instrument to take her away from you. The least I can do is aid you now." Would revealing this be a terrible mistake? Perhaps. But the weight of keeping her regret from Su had been crushing them since the beginning. There was no easy way or opportune time to have this kind of conversation. The best the twins could hope for is that Su would be lenient on them one more time and not try and tear them apart. It was evident in her prone posture and shaky voice that killing Amber left a deep mark even if she didn't do it of her own volition. "I couldn't... couldn't stop myself. I was a little marionette on strings and I just had to watch as I did terrible things. I'm so sorry." Falling apart right there in front of Su hadn't really been part of the plan. Su had more right to be emotional in this situation but Jenna couldn't help herself. If the wind girl wanted to Jenna was more than an easy target right now.

Lily's smile turned into nervous one upon hearing how concerned Alex had been for her; it made her heart beat a little faster, and she averted her eyes fro sheer embarrassment.
"I-I was looking for you too, dum-dum! Besides, I almost didn't recognize you if you weren't shouting my name." She hesitantly lifted her hand up his back to touch the extended hair he now had, only to immediately stop as Alex moved on to ask about the current events.
"I also fought a brainwashed girl," she responded as she removed herself from him, and stood back up.
"They're apparently Beacon girls. We managed to save one, but I haven't seen any of the others...Well, not that it matters with all these Beacon girls on the scene. I think we can leave, but..."

She looked around, and bit her lip.
"Lily, why are you hesitating? You need to leave before the police arrive," She heard Ixion pressure him, but she turned the mental voices down as she noticed Alicia looking in her direction; it has been a long time since she's seen that girl, way back at the hospital when she had arrived in Penrose. Since then, the both of them have changed; Alicia had angelic wings befitting her as a Beacon soldier, and Lily's costume has changed to a flashier one. More importantly, Lily had learned secondhand that Alicia had been part of rescuing her, and she felt guilty for never having thanked her for that.

"I want to talk with Alicia first. I hope that's okay with you." She didn't have the confidence she had as a magical girl, feeling very conscious about her mundane self. Still, she approached her, step by step.
"Hey, Alicia, right? You went to the Overcity to save me, right? Um, thanks for that. You Beacon girls...Are doing a good thing."

---

Kimble purred as she was petted, her tail flicking back and forth in pure joy. "I'm so happy you're safe, nyaa~" She softly spoke, before she let go and watched as she conversed with June. The short girl herself nodded her head, causing her balance to shift just enough to cause a disgruntled sound to come from the girl carrying her on her shoulders.
"You never can, Alicia. Never." She squinted menacingly with her words, a clear hatred of Horrors burning in her gaze.
"We have won this day, but you can never tell when they attempt to strike again. So we must stay vigilant."

When Alicia pointed to Jenna and Serenity, June's eyes widened in surprise. "You're right...I can sense the Spark in her too." Murmurs of awe and wonder spread among the Beacon troop. One by one, they began looking reverently at Alicia.
"You are truly blessed, Alicia; your arrows can even sanctify the damned, and bring them to the light." She hopped off from from the lower girl's shoulders, and made a curtsy.
"As expected of the Seraph. Now, let's search for our lost girls." She then turned to Janet, alarmed by the revelation about Divina.
"Chloe! She's a civilian-murdering witch! After her!" She ordered, her teeth grit in a ferocious expression. The other girls hesitated. "But June, what about Summer!" June's fists clenched.
"Summer is still in the Overcity, right? Prepare for an extraction, shifter squad! The rest of you, go!" She commanded loudly with a point of her finger.



Helga saw the pirate girl's mouth open, about to speak, but she never heard any words escape her mouth. In fact, she had disappeared before her very eyes, spirited away by none other than her best friend, Su. She could only stare at the empty space, even as Mika came over and tended to her wounds. If this was any other day, she would have picked up Mika into a big hug. But now, only a scream surfaced from deep within her:



She looked around frantically, trying to do something, anything...But she couldn't do anything. She wasn't a shifter, and had to depend on others like Sonia or Mariette to deliver her to the magical world. Panic started to swell up within her.
"Oh god, Su's gonna kill her! I'll never find out about Amby! Oh crap!"

At that moment, her robotic twintails lifted up, mimicking an animal's ears: she heard someone mention the Overcity, and shifting there. "Wait!" She screamed, and ran towards the gaggle of Beacon girls. They lifted their weapons in response, but Helga had lifted her clawed palms up. "Take me with you to the Overcity! Please, I beg of you!" She bowed her head rapidly, and June walked to her, looking pissed. "Ugh...Fine. But you will surrender afterwards...Former Elite of Justine's Army."

Helga gasped, but shook her head. "Anything's fine, just shift already!"
June then snapped her fingers, and a girl in the back lifted her staff, drawing a circle in the air that divided the line between this reality, and the one to the Overcity, tracking Su's shift right to her position. The moment Helga saw the two of them, with whirling winds raging around, she ran towards her, shouting: "SU! STOP! DON'T KILL HER!"

A few seconds after Lily went to talk to Alicia, Alexander realized something 'Huh...I don't think Lily's seen me like this before. I kind of feel stupid now; she might not have even realized who I was as I ran up to her. I'm lucky she recognized my voice' That thought made his cheeks feel warm, which made him panic 'Crap, am I coming down with something? I didn't even think people like us could get sick' He rubbed the top of his head in worry...only to freeze when he felt a couple of lumps 'Wait...what!? I have animal ears!? Since fucking when!? Is this a side effect of Beast magic? Wait, dumb question, what else would it be?' Suddenly, his mind flashed back to the stadium, and one girl in particular ''Fluffy eared prick'. I thought that was just a dumb insult, or maybe some sort of slur for people with Beast magic. But no, she was talking about my actual fluffy ears! Come to think of it...I've never seen this form in a mirror, have I? Dammit, what if I have something else stupid on me and don't even realize' His ears, now that he was aware of their existence, began to twitch in agitation.

Why Su was here didn’t really matter anymore. Her mind was so overtaken with emotion that there were few things she could focus on. She was vaguely aware a ship was pointing its cannons at her, but most of her focus was on Jenna. In the moment, she couldn’t remember why she had come here. None of that explained Jenna’s sudden appearance anyway. Letting her talk for so long without pause was annoying. Hearing she was Janet’s twin soul made her furious. Hearing her go on about how sorry she was made Su bite her lower lip unti it bled. Excuses and pity weren’t things the former familiar wanted. Su opened her mouth to speak, but she caught the sight of Helga in the corner of her eye. That wasn’t her main concern though. Su Knew what the beacon banner looked like, and the sight of it was turning Su’s anger into fear.

She didn’t care that she was a dark magical girl, black wings spread for all to see. The fact that she looked like she was about to assault a former member of Beacon didn’t cause her to pause either. It was the way they were looking at Helga. It was when Helga used her sonic scream to throw her voice through Su’s windstorm that she understood. She had bartered with them to come here. Su didn’t know what they were going to do to her, but they were going to execute Helga. That was how beacon worked. If you were a dark magical girl or a monster, you deserved to be killed. Su needed to leave. Fast.

Su was ready to put her plan into action when Helga got close. The first thing she did was put a vacuum around Helga, Herself, and Jenna by virtue of her being close. It is widely believed that the vacuum of space will cause your body to implode because of the tremendous pressure. But It’s all negative pressure, so there is no danger of being compressed into a cube. You are far more likely to explode due to the air in your lungs expanding from the lack of atmospheric pressure containing it. Su was aware of this, and erected the vacuum gradually to prevent this. There were other threats of course, like the boiling point of water dropping to the point that the moisture in your body would evaporate away (ebullism). But the real danger was the lowering level of oxygen in your bloodstream. That would cause a normal human to black out in about ten seconds. Su did not plan to keep everyone in the vacuum that long though. The others were hardly aware Su had done anything. The only tip off they might have had was that Su was no longer surrounded by swirling wind, and that they couldn’t hear anything. Sound was just vibrating air, after all.

The rest of Su’s spell blast was to summon a wind storm. It blanketed the area, so there was no escaping it. The wind came at them like a tsunami,tumbling like water. They could hear an ear splitting howl as it washed over them. Due to the nature of the attack, the wind’s effect was dependant on the profile of the target. Any of the beacon girls that were standing up would likely be swept up and thrown by Su’s magic. But once they were laying on their back, the wind would harmlessly rush over them. The spell was over a large area, but as a trade off it wasn’t nearly as strong as the twister Su had summoned earlier. Everyone in the vacuum was safe, as the pressure kept the wind off of them.. With the opposition reeling, Su shifted out of the Overcity with Helga and Jenna in tow. The winds were calm again.

---

When Su appeared on the other side of the shift, the first thing she did was looked at Jenna. ”Janet sent you to speak on her behalf. That shows how little she trusts me and how little she values her friends. I’m not going to entertain the idea of us ever working together. If she wants to help, she can stop telling other people about me. As for you…” She looked back to Helga. ”We’re going to talk when we get back, I doubt beacon is going to take that laying down.” Su placed a hand on the side of her head. She wanted to scream, hit someone, break down crying, anything. But perhaps taking a hot shower would have to do. ”Mika! We’re leaving!” She wiped the blood off of her lip.



“Coming!” Mika was a bit flustered when Helga disappeared so suddenly, but was glad to see Su and her were back in sight. She couldn’t run to her yet. Mika wandered up to Rina with a rock in her hand. “Here!” Mika wasn’t the type to carry around a pencil and paper, but was able to etch her phone number into a rock before handing it over to Rina. “I gotta go home now, but I’d like you to call me later. We can eat Pizza and talk about magical girl stuff. And clear up the misunderstanding that I’m actually not a monster girl.”With her business concluded, she hurried towards Su and Helga. “Want to ride the nimbus?” Su nodded. The feline magical girl danced in place and a white cloud appeared next to her. “All aboard!” she said before hopping on.



”Hmmmmm… More than just Shining Scale, I’d like to know what you’ve discovered with Binky.“ Lotus Paced around Alicia until she was standing in front of her. ”According to Sammy, you took Binky into custody with the intention of finding out who she works for. But she doubted your claims and insists that you’re just using her to produce more of those coins.I personally doubt it. Her boss is clearly an evil sort, one I would suspect Beacon would be interested in locking away.“

Being in a vacuum, although not overly sudden, was still something of a surprise to Jenna. Not really controlling her breathing the lack of oxygen made her a tad woozy. When they were shifted and the air came back the knight coughed a bit as she drew in a fresh breath. Rubbing her head she nodded, noting Helga's presence but not really reacting one way or another. "Janet didn't send me, I just encountered you first. And I know because up until we split her memory is my memory. You can be sure what I said is exactly how she feels because we are nearly the same person right now." Glancing around she could see that a majority of Beacon's forces were moving away, which was fine.

Despite not actually fighting Jenna looked rather defeated. This was not how she had wanted the talk with Su to go. Janet probably would have handled it better. "For what it may be worth, consider contacting Janet or I if you need help with something." Gesturing to Helga and Mika she added. "That goes for you as well. I may be a part of Beacon but some of us are trying to make some changes. It's slow going but there is some hope." Pointing out Kimble among her comrades. "If the fates allow perhaps we can meet again on better terms." There wasn't really a good way to say goodbye. Su hated her guts and it wouldn't be a stretch to assume the other two weren't very fond of anyone Beacon either. Turning Jenna walked away to rejoin her group. She would have tried to catch up with Janet but the other Beacon members were already well on their way after her own detour into the Overcity.

Seeing that there were two others there that she didn't recognize speaking with Alicia she stood off to the side to try and catch up. Some kind of talk about Binky? Figures. While she had tried the Red Coin herself there wasn't a whole lot of other development from there as far as she knew. And Alicia knew even less most likely since Beacon was trying to keep a lid on that project. To try and give her friend a moment of breathing room she interjected. "Hello, I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting. I am Jenna." She offered a handshake to Lotus and Faith each. The contact would also help her more discreetly use her magic to learn a thing or two about them.

Faced with multiple pulls for her attention, Alicia would address June first, as that seemed the most important. Feeling the eyes falling upon her in near reverence, Alicia couldn't help but wince as she shook her head. "I appreciate the confidence guys, but this wasn't anything that I did."

Glancing back at Serenity, a small tremble entered her tone as she remained motionless. "This was something else,. A real miracle, from the Beckoners themselves." She understood the confusion of course, but she wanted to put things right before they got too carried away with this. She didn't want to take credit for something she hadn't done, especially not something as miraculous as this.

With that June got to work, whipping everyone into action. Worried for Penny as she was, they were close enough that she was confident any trouble would bring her running in an instant. As for the Overcity jaunt, that shouldn't be too difficult, even with the familiar girl running over to hitch along.

That just left two, at least at the moment. She took a deep breath before facing the two who seemed just as intent to stand in front of her, with a lot of prodding questions to go with it. "We fought Justine together. She ran ahead and got herself killed, I got frozen into an ice block and missed the showdown," she explained matter of factly. What followed was less pleasing, gaze narrowing in a growing annoyance and wariness as the topic shifted to Binky, of all people. Truth be told, she hadn't been kept in the loop regarding what Binky was up to. But she knew that the whole thing was important enough that she couldn't just go feeding information to strangers. Especially not in times like these.

Catching an approaching figure from the corner of her eye, she ended the exchange. "Binky is safe with us, and that's all you need to know," she replied, tone on the terse side. "After everything that's happened in the past few months, that's the kind of information we're done giving away for free."

Quite deliberately she turned and walked away with an implied cold shoulder, instead heading over to Lily with a warming smile. She hadn't been sure that they would get the chance to meet again, and though the outfit was different and she wasn't quite sure, Lily just as quickly confirmed her identity to remove any doubt. "That's right," she confirmed, offering a hand once they were face to face. "And you're Lily, right? It's nice to have a formal meeting for once. Though it'd be nice if these sorts of things didn't always involve fighting."

With a sigh, Alicia let a hand come to rest on her hip as we chatted. "And you're welcome. Someone would have had to come after her anyway, especially with what she did to us after you were taken. It just...expedited the process. You've got some determined friends."

She fell silent for a moment, glancing around to try and locate that guy. At least he didn't seem to be around, which meant she was a bit more comfortable with the other only thing that she needed to talk about off the top of her head. "Though speaking of that, I was wondering if we were still, you know, cool. No hard feelings over what happened at the hospital, that sort of thing." She leaned forward, cupping her hand to speak in a somewhat loud whisper. You know, just in case he was actually around and she had missed it. "I don't think Alex likes us for it."

@BrokenPromise@Ariamis

...What in the blazes was all of this?!?!

First she was shoutin' at a hurricaine and trying to not die, then some other lass jumps in on things it seemed, and then someone screamed the name "Su" into things, and then some other group of people beginning to barge into the place. Then the girl who'd been trying to kill her left (maybe taking some of the others with her ?) but leaving the other people behind? The pirate's face twisted into a displeased look, before she ran a hand down her face. Her stomach, in turn, rumbled with a now more intense hunger than it had before as well.

This sucked like all hell at the moment.

Sure, the contracting with the blasted ship hadn't been a bad thing at least. And she'd been tryin' to talk to someone and ascertain the situation ere'. But with the more that happened right now, her frustrations were growing more and more towards a boiling point. She was not happy with all of this back and forth, and a lack of answers for that matter.

She was even willing to talk, for Vanderdecken's sake! But no, someone just had to try to murder her, and all the world arrive to cut things off. Though she didn't want her intentions to be held wrong, she was happy for any assistance in not dying. That was a good thing.

...But it was the lack of anything else from the girl who had tried to murder her in cold blood that was getting under her skin the most. No words, no nothing but a sudden disappearance or escape or something.

"Blast it all! First i'm waking up alive fer' the first time at all, then a blasted ship contracts me for some reasons ave' 'oh there's a nasty monster nearby who might want ya' body', an' then i get prodded by a blasted prosthetic to talk to a girl, and then get drug off to all of this!!!

I've got all tha' damned questions in tha' world for all of ya' landlubbers, an i'm gettin' mah' answers from that girl first, dammit!"

The large cannon-armed transport ship, which had been floating in the distance, began moving over towards Sophia as soon as Su had disappeared. And quickly. Its ghostly appearance as it came to float over Sophia was more visible and distinct up-front, however. A certain "eeriness" about it that, and odd magical energy that hung in the air that differed from Soth's own presence a great deal. Its sails had some tatters, its hull some worn look to it, and the anchor and chains on it clinked a little as it moved even. But it also seemed to gleam with a certain "newness" to it, magically-speaking at least. It wasn't Sophia's patron, but it was at least a nice bit of magical craftsmanship.

Sophia used the chain arm prosthetic to reach up, grappling onto the ship's deck, before pulling herself up onto it.

'Alright, can ya bring this ship back ta' normal-world then? I'm goin' after tha' girl for answers. Not ta fight er', but...blast it all this might not look good.

Jus' get me back, an' send whatever thing patrons tha' girl a message then, or somethin' to let em' know we are in peace!'

The pirate communicated back to her patron with a bit of a huff, trying to focus her willpower into calming down...at least a little. Maybe. She was feeling a bit irate, and the ship seemed to take it in before communicating back in its own rough approximation of a 'language'.

'...Creak creak...RATTLE RATTLE RATTLE, CLINK CLANK RATTLE!'

Before Beacon's eyes, the transport ship, with Sophia on it, began to seemingly shimmer out of existence. Or something. A fog was forming around where it was too, so it was becoming rather hard to tell, even on Sophia's end. But she could feel something at work, at least.

More than that, however-

'Well at least ya can get be back, this time-...

...-Whadda' ya' mean 'please don't go after er right now' an' 'what do you think would make a good gift basket'??? I'm goin' after er' to talk, nay a battle in me bones right now! Ah' jus' need answers!

'CREAK CRACK, RATTLE CLINK...'

'...WHAT?! Did ya speak ta' ya own shipwright with that mouth back in tha' day?! Don't ya sass me, ya haunted hunk of wood!'

'...CREAK CLACK, RATTLE RATTLE CLINK CLINK. RATTLE CLINK CREAK.'

'...Ok, ok. If ya nervous then lemme' do the taklin. Sorry fer' the insult, am' jus' in a bad mood myself after all ah' this, ok? We both kinda figurin' this out...

An' i dunno', jus' send fruits and shiny baubles and such i'd want ta' think. I was just born ta'-day, so its not like i know what a blasted gift basket needs ta' have in this case. Fact, I don't even know who this lass' blasted patron is, like ya' apparently do.

Look, were both new ta' this, jus' do what ya' can!'



As the pirate conversed mentally with her patron, she felt a tug similar to what had been done before to bring her to that...alien city, world, place...thing? She had no idea for sure, would probably ask later on or just get told about it. The ship seemed to have a talkative penchant for somethin' without proper speaking capabilities.

In the meantime, a fog-shrouded flying ship would be appearing in the air over the crypt. More slowly than Su and company had reappeared, but it was appearing. Its magical energy was at least different to the kind Soth had given off, completely so if nothing else.

'CREAK CLINK! RATTLE CLINK...CREAK CREAK!'

'Good ta' her ya' in a better mood! And i accept ya apology. I'll refrain from ya' having to bring me back again, tho, since this takes ya' time an' struggle n' all.'

Walking over to the edge of the ship, Sophia looked down and tried to make out if the winds-lass was around here, or if she'd left already. Her eyes squinted hard as she tried to pick out anything among the people still lingering in the area. Anything recognizable, at least. Maybe....like a hairstyle! That could work, right? That winds-lass had a distinct hair at least.

But maybe some shouting would help? She was close enough for em' to hear...maybe.

"Ey!!! Winds-lass, er....Su? I think that's ya name? If ya can ear' me, an' are down ere' at all, there's some things ah' need ta' ask ya about! Can answer questions as well best i can, ah' suppose!"

'CREAK? CREAK CLINK RATTLE CLINK CREAK.'

"Ah' know i'm shoutin' down to all of em' where they can ear' me.....don' afta' tell me how ta' project my voice more loudly...sides', i'm waitin to see if the lass is down ere' at all....idiot..." the pirate girl responded in a normal voice, as if speaking to herself as she puffed her slightly reddening cheeks out and folded her arms for a second.

Ok, so maybe her shouting could use some work in technique. But she didn't need a blasted ghost ship telling her like it was her schoolteacher givin' a lesson! So embarrassing...

@t2wave@BrokenPromise@Card Captor@Card Captor@Ariamis

Jenna did not have much luck getting Lotus's attention, likely because she was listening to Alicia. But Faith gave her a nod. "I'm Faith, daughter of Gaia! I'd shake your hand, but as you can see, my hands are filled with a pair of tense shoulders.“

”Killed?“ Lotus put a hand on her chin. ”How can I have my rematch if she's dead?“ She mumbled the words to herself. What Alicia said about Binky did nothing to improve Lotus's mood. She stormed off without waiting for a response. Lotus grated her teeth until she was out of ear shot. ”I should not have doubted Sammy. She was correct that Beacon lusted after the power of the coins.“ She levitated into the air before floating towards Serenity. ”If she wants to barter for information, than perhaps we should take something beacon wants?“ The nearby Beacon girls raised their weapons at Lotus, ordering her to back down, but it did nothing to deter her.

Faith hugged the maid girl's shoulders. ”L-Lotus! Heh, we can't just whisk this girl away. Cindy's part of the alliance now, and this could cause trouble in her City. We must be mindful of our allies~“

”Hrmm.“ Lotus stopped. ”Very well. We will talk with Cindy first.“ She looked down at Serenity before looking back at Faith. ”If you're done giving out free shoulder rubs, I would like to leave post haste.“

"Only one left is for you~!“ Faith's words caused the octopus girl to place her hand over her face. "Anywho, I hope we can meet again on better terms, Jenna. Lotus is just a little cranky because her rival isn't around anymore. But please take my word for it. The longer you allow Binky to make those coins, the worse off Penrose will be. Please tell your superiors to reconsider giving her sanctuary.“ Faith stepped away from Serenity and departed with Lotus. She wasn't able to get much out of their surface thoughts for the short duration they were around. Just that they were indeed allied with Cindy Ford and believed Binky to be evil.

---

Chloe chuckled at Penny's response. Ah, she was hoping for a little more intense reaction, but that was just fine as well. She had other important things to do. Like make sure her newest little maiden wasn't doing something she wasn't...like getting friendly with beacon. The Dark magical girl glanced over to Divina who had managed to convince a Beacon girl to help heal her pet. Hm...perhaps beacon had changed, just a bit? How fortuitous. It'd certainly make things easier on her end.

"...or maybe not." Chloe sighed at Penny's words. Of course not. Of course. Just like beacon. Offer a hand while arming the other. She couldn't blame them of course, no. She was the same. In many ways she and beacon were quite similar. Chloe let out a mildly annoyed breath, reaching up and patting Penny on the head.

""It's nice to be worried about, heh." Chloe replied, obviously amused. ""Don't worry, my pretty little Penny, Beacon won't nab me. You just get some rest and let me handle myself." A few honeyed words could go a long way, couldn't they? Not that they were entirely a lie. She needed Penny not to end up dying for her. "Divina!"

"Mhm?" The moth girl replied with a few chirp noises.

"We're leaving. Take Lucy and get out of here. Someone will find you in the city." Chloe continued, eyeing Janet coolly. "...Beacon wants to hurt me, it seems."

"...how cruel." She replied, facing Janet, wings fluttering lightly in mild seeming irritation. "You say you will help us but then do the opposite?"

"Now now, don't go blaming them for being themselves." Chloe replied with a smirk. "I would potentially do the same, in their position...now then please leave before things get messy hm? You're still weak. Can't have you getting hurt." With a nod, Divina quickly fluttered up to the massive beast known as 'Lucy' as Chloe positioned herself between Janet and the two of them. "...With respect for our mutual friend, I'll stay my hand from your deceitful hand today, beacon. But let it be known I have no quarrel with beacon, and I assure you, I had no idea Divina was Beacon." Chloe's crystalline wings formed behind her. That wasn't a lie, as far as anyone could tell.

"Perhaps if you wish to talk instead of fight, you could find us later." With that said, Chloe zoomed off, away from the graveyard.

---

Why were the cats scared of her? Rina hadn't a clue.

...ah. Wait. The cat she killed...

Rina exhaled. Good grief. Well, there was nothing to be done about it. What was done was done, and she couldn't let it affect her. Rina listened quietly to Amaryllis' words, letting her talk as she needed. Sometimes that's all someone needed was someone to listen. At the mention of Penny, Rina smiled lightly. Yes, that was a good idea. Take her mind off of something. Sometimes Rina forgot that despite being a little girl now, she used to be a police officer. And that sort of job, made one get learn to cope with stuff like this fast.

Sometimes she forgot she was probably a bit older than most girls here.

"Ahem-ah," Quickly turning in the direction of Penny, Rina jumped, waving the other girl over. "Hey Penny! Over Here-bweh?!" It was then she was ambushed by a cat, for the second time that day. Except this time she was given a rock with a...phone number on it, but before she could question it Mika ran off, Rina watching in mild disbelief before staring at the rock with a mildly troubled expression.

What was she supposed to do with this number? She had been getting a lot of those recently. In fact, this was probably more personal friend numbers than she had than she had when she was a normal human.

Rebecca had taken a station to the edge of the battlefield. For the most part, she barely understood what exactly had been transpiring here. The darkness, the fog wall, the Horror minions - her best guess lay somewhere in the realms of The Bates, if only because of the fight with Abigail, one of the missing Beacon Girls tied with the two Monsters. But Rebecca's understanding was terminal, and she was doing a poor job of finding out more. But that wasn't her job anymore. As much as Christine insisted it was, Rebecca was no longer a Journalist. She was a Tasker.

But, watching the field, and the sky, and the people that navigated both, it became increasingly clear that the battle had ended. The dragon had vanished, the fog had subsided, and the entity in the sky was nowhere to be seen. As Rebecca scanned the environment, it began to dawn just how popular the event had been. People from every organisation she knew of, and from those she was unaware of, had congregated. The more she looked, the more Rebecca considered the possibility: that every power in Penrose had been present this day. From an outside perspective, it caught the Shinobi with awe.

Her eyes cast downwards, to the floor of the graveyard. She needed to be out, and up there, getting herself involved. She needed to be seen. Rebecca's weight shifted from foot to foot, until she dropped herself down onto an unbroken headstone. In contemplation, she pulled the sword from her back out onto her lap. A sword that came from nowhere, she thought. In her hands, even with the sheath it weighed nigh perfectly. And it was a beautiful thing, with a scabbard of deep and rich reddish-brown wood, nicked and scuffed from a history of savage combat. In her hands, Rebecca could feel the power behind it, an Odachi some hundred centimetres in length, she had guessed. Its hilt was wrapped in coarse, thick bindings, entwining it from the pommel to the shaped metal guard, sculpted into a ten petalled flower.

Such a savage weapon would be awe-inspiring to wield, Rebecca understood that. And it frightened her. The more she held it, the more it exuded something, that bled into her hands and head, and brought upon her that same migraine once again. At first, Rebecca had mistaken it for a gift from Bravaan. He hated her actions, and her choices of allegiance, but no doubt, he would be capable of producing such a weapon. And yet that didn't fit him. No, Rebecca understood just where the weapon had come from now, even if its true origins evaded her. This was a blade born of nothing, created of some tumultuous chaos of silence. It was a terrible thing.

In confusion and dismay, she swung it onto her back once more. It would be impractical to draw from there, but that wasn't a concern. Not yet. Rebecca had a mission to complete. The last mission she would ever truly complete for The Penrose Independent, she imagined. It was a sad concept, as Rebecca withdrew her notepad and pen, but one that had to be done. The Boss would not accept failure on something so important. But with the darkness and fog wall dissipated, and the desolated graveyard illuminated in the light of the afternoon, there would be no way to make it to the floating platform - the center of attention, and where Rebecca could spy Alicia Hayden.



On the paper, Rebecca scribbled out a message. The thing read perfectly, in clear and fluent English, though the words themselves were scrawled. It was a messy job, obviously done quickly, with little regard for complete legibility. But the important sections were readable. A sigh escaped Rebecca's lips, and she muttered "Canne believe ah'm fuckin' doin' this shite." The displeasure was all her as she folded up the piece of A3, lined paper. One side at a time, until it sat in a square of material, as uncomfortable as possible. And then Rebecca closed it into her hand, and dipped it into the white, left side pocket of her military uniform, until the darkness enveloped it.

Then it was gone, teleported through the shadows, up to the floating platform. It was an unconventional usage for her Specialisation, Rebecca mused, but this wasn't her first information delivery mission. The ability to transport items from one place to another visible was more than a modicum useful, The Boss had assured her. And it seemed she was right. With nary a second delay, Alicia would feel the thing appear within her clothes. With any luck, the Seraph would notice it immediately, and the mission could proceed as planned, as quickly as possible.

But until then, Rebecca slunk off into the city.

Helga's eyes blasted open as she screamed again, yet no sound could be heard. To someone with Sound magic, it was both terrible...yet somehow, eerily serene. She clutched at her throat, and calmed herself; she remembered Su tell her of this ability, and understood that it worked similarly to her sound-sealing technique that she had used while on assassination missions for Justine. She focused, and used the spell to seal her body, granting her protection from the vacuum. The Beacon girls on the other hand were mostly knocked off their feet, except for June; she charged at Su with thorny vines erupting from the ground.

It was ultimately for naught, as no sooner had she finished casting that magic that Su shifted again, the vines coiling around themselves in a futile tower. "Dammit! They escaped! Shift again!" She growled, but the shifting girl shook her head. "Let them go, June. Our main objective is to retrieve Summer. Besides, they looked weak; we can catch them later." June sighed in an irritated fashion, and swept her palm down her face. She glaned at the pirate girl, and then turned away from her, having decided to ignore her. "You're right, and I hate it. SUMMER!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, and one of the other girls pointed towards what looked like some rubble; Summer was there, still barely conscious, but too weak to move. The small girl knelt next to her, and placed her hand on the blue-haired girl's forehead. "It's all right, Summer. Mission accomplished. Let's go home." Then, the Beacon girls heard a creaking sound, like a great ship had hit the ground, but when they turned, they saw nothing.

---

Back in the Overcity, Helga puffed her cheeks, and then exhaled loudly as she saw Jenna take a breath, and finally fell down on her butt, her legs having given up. "PWAAHH! Why did you shift again? I'm so tired of all this bullsh-" It was at that moment that a familiar sound could be heard from the distance. Helga grit her teeth. "Crap. We gotta go." She turned to run, glancing back one last time to see Sophia appear. She gnashed her jaws, and then whipped her head away, letting Mika lead the way from the graveyard.

I have a feeling...We'll meet again... She left her thoughts scattered, like a whisper carried by the wind.



Lily smiled weakly, and nodded to Alicia as she watched a squad of Beacon girls chase after Chloe around a street corner; she kind of felt bad for the girl, yet didn't, because she in her eyes, she seemed evil.
"In that case, I'm glad I can count you among them," she answered with a hesitant clutching of her fist. Her expression then turned sadder.
"It was my fault too; back then, I was prone to fumbling up my magic. I don't carry a grudge...But I think Alex does. You should stay away from him; when he gets mad, he turns a hundred times stronger." She emphasized the last word with a spread of her arms.
"Anyway it was nice to talk. I hope we'll see-" Suddenly, she felt a pain in her chest, and clutched at it.
"Lily, there is no time! Evacuate the premises!" Ixion pressured her, like a crackle of lightning that bounced inside the walls of her skull. A few seconds later, sounds of police sirens could be heard, coming from various directions.

"Nyaa! We gotta go, mistress!" Kimble clutched at Alicia's arm with her ears drooping low, and pointed to June's squad; they had Summer, and they were already running off.
Lily ran towards Alex, jumping into his arms as she clutched at his neck with a pant.
"I can't run all the way home, so..." She blushed.
"C-Carry me." She then looked away, biting her lip; she had never felt so embarrassed as in that moment...Followed by a sneeze as her nose happened to sweep over his furry wolf ear. Soon enough, every other magical girl jumped or dashed off, leaving nothing but a very confused force of police and firemen.

A strange tingle shot through Alexander's body when Lily jumped into his arms 'The fuck was that? Did...did she zap me or something? Or maybe my beast magic is picking up something...maybe?' He decided to worry about that later "Uh...sure?" He boosted his legs for maximum jumping strength, but before he jumped, he felt Lily touch his ear and he almost seized up at the tingle that blasted his entire body 'Gah! The fuck did she do!?' He shook it off and jumped as high as he could, and at the apex of his jump, he formed a small barrier below his feet. After landing, he began extending that barrier in the direction of home, and ran along it, with the barrier behind him slowly fading 'Dammit what the hell is going on!? Is my Beast magic reacting to Lily or something? Is it something like magic static electricity?'

(Written with Ari bro)

The ride back home was a quiet one. Mika was in high spirits, but Su and Helga were still recovering from the event. They didn’t take a direct route back to the Golden Trove, as they were being followed. They flew between buildings, under bridges, before touching down just outside of the apartment complex.

”Helga and I are going to take a shower.” Su was talking with her eyes shut. She felt so tired. ”After that, we’ll all see Boteg together. So don’t go too far.”

"Yeah..." Helga quietly answered with a nod, lost in thought over what she had experienced today, wondering about the pirate girl, Sophia. She was also conflicted about her friendship with Sue; to her. "Hey, Sue..." She quietly spoke, having intoned her older name on purpose, to show she was serious. "You...You attempted to kill her, right? How...How could you do that?"

Su reached up to her mouth with a trembling hand. The spot on her lip that she bit had scabbed over.  ”Not in front of Mika, please. We’ll talk about it shortly.” She looked back at the beast girl before transforming back. ”How about you and Lupa play until we’re done.”

Mika nodded. “Alright!” Su took Helga by the wrist and walked inside. Mika could sense that the fight had taken a lot out of the two, but couldn’t quite put her finger on why. It felt like more than your every day getting tired though. It didn’t matter though. They would probably feel refreshed after a shower. Mika probably needed a bath too, but she wanted to play with Lupa! She hadn’t realize that she could get Lupa to do things just by talking to her. Telling her to fight by her side and ask her for suggestions during the fight was a lot better than manually controlling her. It was like Lupa had her free will back. “So Lupa, did you want to play?” She looked back in the direction of the nimbus, only to see that Lupa was staring down the street; the girl was crouched down with her legs bent and arms straight, much like an animal. “What are you doing Lupa? We’re home now! No reason to get excited.” Then, Lupa actually barked, and took off without saying a word, her tongue hanging loosely akin to a dog. “Did you spot Penny Lupa? Let’s get her!” Mika hopped onto all fours and ran after Lupa. She weaved between buildings before arriving at a dead end ally. “Come here Lupa! It looks dark over there. There’s no way out, and Penny could jump us!” But Lupa didn’t listen, and instead remained in the alleyway. “Are we playing tag? We really shouldn’t be this far away from home. Su said we might be followed. Let’s go back inside.” Mika crept closer to Lupa, who disappeared behind a dumpster, but jumped backwards when she someone sitting on a cardboard box, petting Lupa with a gentle smile as she scratched behind her ear.

The girl lifted her eyes up towards Mika, and her smile widened.
‘Lupa's a good dog. Aren't you?’ Jillian cooed, and Lupa barked again; Mika saw how her memory marbles seemed to glisten with iridescent light.
‘But, is this her true nature? As nothing but a mere pet? No, I think the fault lies with her curse. You see these too, right, Julia?’

‘Yes.’ The other ghost passed through the wall slowly, like from a horror movie.

Mika assumed a combat stance. “Who are you? You’re not with the terrifying one are you?” She squinted her eyes. ”I guess not, but why is Lupa acting so weird? Did you call her over here?”

‘Oh, this? Well, this is only possible because of her current state,’ Jillian stated, and stood up...Or rather, she stopped pretending like she was sitting, and floated up so her legs were no longer inside the box.
‘Our Psychic magic would otherwise have been powerless against such a strong will.’

Julia floated next to Jillian, and hesitantly lowered her hand towards Lupa's nose; the Beast girl attempted licking the hand, causing the shy girl to pull it back with a frightened expression.
‘Please, stop this.’
Jillian stopped the mind control on Lupa, causing her to stand back up with neutral expression. Julia then curtsied.
‘Greetings. Please excuse my twin's rudeness in playing with your friend.’
‘Yeah, sorry. I am Jillian, and this is Julia. You performed admirably as you fought against the Deceiver today. Pretty interesting how that ended up.’

“Add-mir-abbal-ly? Me?” She remembered what the cradle agents had told her and scratched her head. “It wasn’t all me. Sil helped me out too. So did Lupa.’” That was when Mika came to a realization. “Wait, you guys were there? What were you doing?”

Julia moved behind Jillian, peeking out from behind her.
‘We were there...because we.needed to contain the Deceiver's power. It’s a...long story.’ She averted her eyes, and seemed to turn just a bit more transparent.
‘And while there, we happened to notice your friend's condition.’ Jillian flashed a friendly smile.
‘We can help with that.’

Mika beamed with a smile. Her tail was making loud smacking sounds as it hit the pavement. “You can? I really want Lupa to be herself again!’” She walked closer to the ghost twins, no longer keeping up a defensive stance. “How does it work? Do you need anything to break the curse?’”

‘Oh, we have all we need to break it. We just-’
Julia suddenly tapped Jillian on the shoulder, and whispered to her ear. Jillian then nodded with an understanding expression.
‘Well, Julia and I have a proposition to make. In exchange for breaking Lupa’s curse, and restoring her will back, we would like to have a room at the Golden Trove hotel.’
‘Top floor, with a big window. We...Can pay.’ She opened her palm, showing a few Gold Coins.
‘And before you ask, we did think about asking directly from your other friends, but...They seemed to be in a bad mood. Well, can’t be helped, right?’ She scratched the back of her head with an apologetic chuckle.
‘So, how about it?’

Of course Mika would get them a room. She would give them her own room and sleep outside if it meant helping Lupa. This was probably her only chance to fix what had happened to her. But the deal did seem strange to Mika. Typically ghosts haunted mansions, and tended to scare people out of their dwellings. That would be a problem if they were to wander the hotel and scare away all the guests. But maybe they were nice ghosts, like Casper. Jillian had a strange aura about her, and felt she could trust her. Even if she was being a little mean to Lupa.
“I’ll do it. I’ll get you a room.” She pointed at Julia. “But you gotta keep it down, and try not to scare anyone. That’s my only rule.” She pulled her hand back and folded her arms. “Just give me a moment. I’ll get you guys a room if it’s the last thing I do!” She pointed at herself with her thumb. “I’m Mika by the way, we’ll probably be neighbors. Wanna just meet me by the entrance in a few hours? I need to talk to some people to get you a good room.”

Julia put her hands to her mouth, stifling a giggle, while Jillian sighed in relief.
‘I can promise you that, Mika. As for Julia...Well, I’ll try to keep her from pulling too many pranks, heh.’ The two of them now floated closer to Lupa.
‘Let’s begin, Jillian.’ She extended her hand towards her fluffy ear, seemingly disappearing inside it. Jillian moved beside her, and clutched at the marbles in her hair.
‘This will take a while, with these memories all jumbled up. See you in a bit, Mika.’

Mika nodded. “It’ll be nice to have more friends!” She turned around to go find Su and Helga. Hopefully things had cooled off in the two minutes she had been away.

---

Su was still angry, but not as much as when she was at the graveyard. She tried to meditate on the trip back, but it hadn’t really helped. The most stress relieving activity she had participated in was blowing away the beacon girls. It wasn’t healthy, and wasn’t the sort of thing you could do on a daily basis. But in a strange way she was thankful they were there. It was true what everyone said: Beacon girls made great punching bags.

Once Su and Helga walked inside, they made a beeline for the service elevator. A swipe of Su’s keycard was all it took to send the elevator plummeting to their level. This was an older elevator that most of the staff didn’t use. It was fast and up to code, but it was too small to hold much more than one or two people. Employees were typically moving around large bussing carts or the luggage of guests. This elevator had been made in simpler times when all employees were expected to do was take a mop to various floors of the building. But the demand for better service made installing a larger elevator vital to the Golden Trove’s success. This smaller elevator was left alone, as the building’s cross sections and stairs made upgrading impossible. Su used it as a personal elevator for when she wanted to get around quickly without holding up the rest of the staff.

The elevator was a little narrow, but Helga and Su could stand inside without touching so long as they didn’t stand side by side. It also lacked the glamour of the rest of the hotel, as Su had no plans for renovating it. The synthetic wooden walls went out of style towards the end of the 80’s, and the vinyl floor was peeling in the corners.

Helga transformed back to her maid-uniform wearing self. She held her shoulders as she looked away, not feeling strong enough to look at her in the eye at that moment."It was like...Seeing you try to...Well..." Whether she was actually a reincarnation, or just a magical fluke of fate, Helga couldn't find peace with Su’s brashness.
"I mean, I often lose control of my feelings, but to see you flip out, it was actually scary." She leaned her side against the elevator wall, and sighed. "I guess, in that way, we both inherited her foolishness." A teardrop stained the floor between them, as she was unable to hold her grief back.

Su had transformed back on her way into the elevator. She pushed a button on the control panel, and the booth began its accent. Su watched the buttons light up as they climbed floors. They had reached the second floor, the third, and then she pushed the stop button. Su brushed her hair back and leaned against the wall, looking directly at Helga.

”I don’t think a shower is going to fix this.” She took her thumb and wiped away the tear streak that had run down Helga’s face. ”I’m not mad right now, okay? Not at you. I’m-” She inhaled. ”I don’t want us to explain things to Boteg with awkward pauses between us, or to try and dodge each others glances. Okay? So we’re just going to talk. I just want to talk about today.” Su allowed herself to take one more deep breath before going on. ”So let’s talk about the pirate girl. You saw me vanish with her right? You thought I was going to kill her.” It was important to explain everything that had happened. This ensured Su understood the situation, and avoided a lot of needless back and forth. ”You decided to get help, you were going to stop me from doing that. Because it could be Amber somehow, maybe. It could be her.” Su averted her eyes. ”And then you got there, you saw I was confronting someone else. But you told me not to kill them. Because I would have, right?” Su lifted her hands up and placed them on Helga’s shoulders. Helga kept looking away, and turned more tense from the contact. Su locked her eyes on Helga, regardless.”When have I ever killed anyone?” Su found herself biting her lip again. She took a step back and let her hands slide off of Helga. ”I-I didn’t kill Justine! I didn’t kill Janet! I just thought that pirate girl might have been working for that horror. Taken over by it.” She placed a hand on the wall. ”A-A-Beacon? Beacon! You went to them for help? T-those hussies wanted to kill you! They probably wanted to kill me! W-why did you-” Su held her forehead. ”You really thought I was going to do it?”

Helga bit the corner of her lip, nodding. “You haven’t, I know! But I was desperate! I didn’t have any other choice at the moment!” She pulled on one of her drills; knowing how she only touched her hair when in moments of great distress, it was shocking to see. “I’ve...I’ve had enough. I don’t want to be angry anymore. I’m ready to move on. But when I saw you with that look...I was afraid you would repeat the same mistakes I have done many times over all my life!”

She forcibly pushed Su against the elevator wall, her face inches from hers. Su winced on impact. “You’re someone I look up to, Su. You’re the sensible voice in this sea of noise. When I lost Amber, you were the first one to tell me that it was going to be alright, that we could move on.” She grabbed Su’s hands by their fingers. “That’s why I was willing to give myself up, just to stop you. I won’t let these hands be stained with the blood of an innocent...Even If I have to let Beacon kill me.”
The elevator bell ringed, and the doors opened. Helga removed her touch, and turned away, still shaking from her outburst. “I’m calling dibs on the shower. I need a minute.” She then walked away, leaving a trail of clothes thrown off haphazardly.

Su remained frozen in place. She could still feel Helga’s grasp on her fingers long after she left the elevator. But what really had Su pinned in place was what Helga had said. It was a lot to take in at once, and she wasn’t in the right state of mind to try to make sense of it. Su couldn’t understand how you could look up to someone and also feel like you needed to save their soul. Whatever was going on here, it wasn’t over. Su had more she wanted to say, and she wasn’t going to let Helga’s tantrum get in the way of it.

Helga was out of sight, but It was not hard to tell where she had gone. Su pushed herself off the wall and marched down the path littered with clothes. She stepped over an apron, a blouse, and various other articles of clothing before arriving at the end of the trail. When Su got to Helga’s room, She kicked off her heels which landed beside a pair of buckled shoes. Su swiped her key card before walking inside. Nothing in this building was going to keep Su from seeing Helga. She turned to walk into the bathroom where the shower was running. But as she got closer, she could also hear Helga sobbing. This gave her pause, and caused her to approach with care.
When Su entered the bathroom, Helga wasn’t stirred by her presence. She was wearing a shirt with one sleeve out, and with a half-pulled sock dangling off her foot; the other one was on the floor, soggy from water. She was huddled in the corner of the shower, hugging her knees against her chest. The water from the shower rained down on her back, saturating her shirt.

”Helga?” There was no anger in Su’s voice. Only concern.

“...Terrible...” She weakly spoke amidst her sobs, and then slowly looked up; her eyes were puffed from how much she had been crying. “I’m terrible, Su. I...I couldn’t...” She gulped. “I couldn’t trust you...I’m a horrible person. After all this time, I still...” She took a moment, breathing heavily. “I’m sorry, ok? I’m a complete mess now, thanks to seeing that girl. It’s like the the wounds I stitched together, like, opened.” She pressed her cheek back against the cold wall.

Su placed a hand over her mouth. She walked over to the sink and looked at her reflection in the mirror. ”I see.” With a tug, Su pulled the ribbons on her head free. This caused her hair to fall down her back like a silver curtain. Next, Su pulled her shirt over her head and packed it into a ball. Once it was as tight as she could make it, she dropped it on the floor at her feet. Su didn’t bother removing her bra, the skirt part of her qipao, or her pantyhose. She marched into the shower and pressed her back against the wall. She slid down into a sitting position and grabbed her knees, right next to Helga. The water made her pantyhose transparent. ”I don’t like it, but I think your behavior was justified.” She turned to look at Helga. ”This entire time you’ve been trying to better yourself. Every week since Amber’s death, you’ve been taking on more responsibilities. You watch after Mika, you help manage the hotel, and you answer Boteg’s summons so that I don’t have to. Meanwhile, I’ve been working to distance myself from everyone so that I could get stronger. Getting Amber’s boat back has become my life, and I haven’t been spending as much time with you or Mika as I should be.”

“Amby’s...boat?” Helga asked quietly, and managed to look at Su again. Su reached over to Helga and brushed a hair out of her face, causing her to flinch.

”I thought I was alone. I convinced myself that nobody could love Amber as much as I did. I knew her for over a year. I knew her longer than Boteg did. Imagine my surprise when I witnessed your rage. ” Su folded up her arms again. ”I had no idea you had that much passion inside you. When I put myself between you and that Beacon girl, my only worry was that I might not save you in time.” Su placed a hand on Helga’s shoulder. ”I’m just upset with myself. That things got so out of hand that you had to ask Beacon to stop me.”

“They always seem to do with me around,” Helga replied, and gradually accepted Su’s touch. Su looked at the floor and smiled.

”I’m honestly not sure what I would have done to that pirate girl if you didn’t show up. I didn’t go there to kill her, but I wanted to. I’d like to think I’d have spared her, but I wouldn’t have spared Justine. I only spared her because you told me to. You said it wasn’t what Amber would have wanted.”

Helga’s eyes widened. “I...I did. It’s what I truly believe in, even to this day. She was kind of heart, to the very end.” With a sigh, Su’s smile vanished.

”If you can’t trust me, the fault is mine. You have nothing to be ashamed of. I need to be someone you can count on, and that means I need to stop dwelling on the past. It’s the only way I can put the anger behind me.” She looked up at Helga.

Helga no longer held her legs, having let her hands fall down. “Y-You mean it?” She hesitantly asked.

Su’s answer was to slid her hand behind Helga’s back and grab her far shoulder. Helga averted her eyes, but didn’t push herself away. ”We’ll find that pirate girl and talk to her. Figure out who or what she is. We’ll find Janet too, I need to forgive her. In the end, she was just being used by Justine.” She hugged Helga, not caring that her clothes were getting soaked. ”We’ll get Amber’s ship back too. Boteg is insisting on the death of the great one’s champion, but we’ll find a way around it. We’ll seal her away or force her to follow another patron. I won’t get Amber’s ship back only to hold it in blood stained hands.” She lifted Helga’s chin up so that she could look her in the eyes.
”Will you help me do these things? Do you trust me?”

A long moment of silence ensued, until finally, Helga lifted her arms, and hugged her back. “Yeah…I’ve decided. I will trust you, Su. No matter what happens, we’ll get Amby’s ship back.” With hesitant steps, she lifted herself up, helping Su get up as well. Her sock fell off.
“If it comes to it, I’ll kill her myself.” She took a deep breath.

And then, they realized they were nearly naked in the shower.

“Uhh...This is awkward.”

Su slowly folded her arms over her chest. ”It is.”

“Well, whatever.” She punched the valve, and let the steaming water gush down with full force. “Might as well do laundry while we’re here.”

Even if Su was embarrassed, she couldn’t stop herself from smiling. ”Should save on water that way, at least.”

Part of what made the Djinn Sisters a little harder to pin down was how they selected those that would have a wish granted. Sometimes they just happened across people, or pointed to someone, etc… But on occasion it is when they happen across someone that they find curious. It wasn’t anything amazing that was done, but what Sakura’s Third Eye spotted about another pair of twins walking the streets of Penrose. They didn’t jump at the chance to talk with them right away, but they would meet again soon.

And that is just what would happen not long after their little talk with Mariette. Were the two not used to having things just work in their favor one could call it a conspiracy. In this case their target was returning from a battle. Police had shown up so everyone present ran for the hills to avoid getting caught. The commotion was the perfect cover as many of the other magical boys and girls would be going their separate ways to recover or hide. Unimpeded for the moment the djinn set out to find a wish.

A run in was easy, and literal even. Janet and Jenna were on their way out after the Graveyard incident. The girls would debrief after a well deserved rest. The whole event had them thinking about what to do about their friends, and their enemies really. Not entirely paying attention Jenna crashed into Violet when the wish granter came running around a corner. ”I just don’t know-” Narrowly avoiding the collision Janet watched as the small girl ran into Jenna. Not having the mass to knock over the larger girl Violet was the one that fell back from the impact. ”Uh hello?”

”Are you alright?” Surprised by the sudden appearance for a moment she recovered and, offering a hand, Jenna got Violet back to her feet. ”You should try and be more careful. You never know what might be around the corner.”

”Right, I’ll try and keep that in mind.” Glancing back Violet watched as her sister came around the corner. ”It’s one of these two right?” She said brushing herself off.

“Yeah that’s them” The other girl would confirm “And she’s right you know. You’re always running into things or falling off things. Still..” Shaking her head she would turn towards Janet and Jenna “Hi, I’m Sakura and that’s my sister Violet.” She say smiling with her introduction.

“You caught our eye the other day, and we were wondering if you might be in need of a wish.”

The interaction so far was odd to say the least. The twins that had just shown up just didn’t even talk like normal people. ”In need of a wish? What?” Thoroughly lost for a moment she was swatted on the shoulder by Jenna.

”A wish. Twins. Janet, these might be the ones Alicia was talking about.” Both stare at Violet and Sakura for a moment.

”Well that explains a few things. You must be the one that she chose to use her wish on. No wonder your magic is all screwed up.” She chose to ignore her sister in this case. Not much reason to dwell on it.

Realizing who they were talking to now Janet perked up, but then was conflicted. A wish was a powerful thing and should be made with care, right? And of course there was always the matter of what to wish for. ”Is this how you do this all the time? Just walk up and ask for a wish?” Even though she was pretty sure they were who they said at this point it just seemed a little too easy.

Always with the questions. Sighing a bit Violet waved off the concern. ”Not all the time. It just depends. You aren’t going to say no are you?” The girl put her hands on her hips and smirked.

”No!” Jenna answered for her twin. Taking a hold of Janet she pulled her closer. ”You can wish for another potion for Divina and Penny.” Thus far it seemed like Jenna ended up with a lot of Janet’s memories, or at the very least recalled them much more easily. Which lent at times toward Janet seeming to be the dumb blonde. On the flip side though the darker haired girl was the more impulsive of the two.

Listening to her sister for a moment she nodded. ”Right. Good idea.” What recollection Janet lacked she made up for it discretion and planning. Things were usually run through her before any major choices were made. It was weird, but at least when transformed they could communicate telepathically. Together they made something akin to what the original Janet was made of. Back to the matter at hand. ”I think I know what I want. I wish we had two more purifying potions like Alicia used on me. It worked out well enough for her and it was something that she knew would be helpful to her friends.

Sakura’s smile would dim a little at the proposed wish, not because she didn’t like it, but “Sorry, we’re not going to be able to grant that one” The pinkette would rub the back of her neck sheepishly “Our magic does have some restrictions, and your wish runs in to one of them. Nothing that we have wished in to being can be wished for again.” She went on to explain, not too upset about having to explain either as It was one of the more commonly discovered limits to their Wish granting.

]”Really? That sucks.” Disappointed she pondered for a moment. ”Wait, how about, I wish…” She stopped abruptly when Janet put a finger up against her lips.

So they couldn’t wish for the same thing. That was interesting. In theory they could stumble across things that others had wished for. Testing the waters wasn’t something they wanted to do though. Still there was likely a way to still get something similar. Perhaps it was best that the wish didn’t work. Something like a potion really only has one use each. They could find a way to be able to get more. ”Not sure if this will work but, I wish-” Making sure that she had her words in order Janet continued. ”that Jenna and I had the ability to fully purify monster girls and boys as I had been.” Seeing as their Reinforcement magic already lent toward this kind of thing it seemed like it could be a logical extension. Of course assuming it was different enough from the other wish and there weren’t any other complications.

Sakura tilted her head to the side as she thought over the wish that Janet had spoke, turning the words this way and that in her mind. After a moment she would nod “Yeah that one will work” she would say with a smile before taking a step forward to share a look with her sister.

“The wishes of the many be granted by two“ They would intone together.

After their transformation Sakura would step towards the other pair of twins her eyes glowing an etheric white “Your wish...” tailing off she would place a hand on both Janet’s and Jenna’s shoulders just a moment before a flood of Power would flow from her fingertips.

At first the power would crystalize into items. A mortar and pestle along with a beakers and bunsen burner. All were covered in arcane sigils and made of what looked to be crystal. These items would fade and settle within the magic of Janet and Jenna.

“…Has been…”

Next the power would bring forth knowledge. The recipe to brew all the infinite variations of the potion that had purified them from their corruption and an unlived lifetime's worth of experience in brewing it.

“...Granted”

Finally understanding would blossom forth just before the flood of power cut off. The limits and requirements for the potions to work, the vulnerable and fickle nature of the brew.

With a contented sigh Sakura would stumble backwards, Violet already there to help support her sister.

Having never seen how this process works Janet and Jenna watched with interest. The magic flowing through them wasn’t as jarring as one might think, at least in contrast to some previous experiences. Moving away from that though a few items spawning into existence was somewhat perplexing. What exactly… Wait were they going to have to brew the potions? That wasn’t exactly what had been hoped for. They didn’t even know where to start. Any concern about not knowing how to do such a thing though was soon alleviate. Having knowledge form from seemingly nothing was a strange sensation.

Using magic was one thing, but making and manipulating magic was a whole other beast. Being largely ignorant of how magic worked when the knowledge began flooding in it was like taking a tome jamming it into their heads. The wealth of information with all its intricacies and prerequisites was too much to handle all at once and the girls simply froze as their minds attempted to process it all. Thankfully Sakura was gracious enough to also provide practice and wisdom to normalize everything they just learned. Entirely unaware of how much time had passed they both came to and took a moment to reorient themselves. In a brief moment they went from total novices to experts in their field.

Putting her hands on her head Jenna’s eyes widened. ”That actually worked? Holy crap! I had no idea there were so many facets to magic. This is so weird.” Going over what she now knew it was clear that they would be able to make these potions. And potentially more, but they would actually require putting in the time and research. Beats starting from zero though.

Before the newly minted scientists could do much Violet started to go. ”Well It was nice granting your wish and all but we best get going. Can’t go around granting wishes without drawing some unwanted attention.” Given that Janet and Jenna were associated with Beacon she wasn’t too worried about letting that little information slip.

Nodding a bit Janet could see how they could be a target. It was not something that had ever crossed her mind, but that kind of power was definitely desirable. ”You could always come with us to Beacon, we could protect you.”

Smirking slightly she turned and skipped backward. ”Sorry, but we can’t risk getting involved with an organization like Beacon. Nothing against them or anything but it’s too dangerous. There is a balance and we’re not about taking sides.” Noticing that the other twins glanced at each other she could tell that there was some apprehension about letting them go. ”Careful, you don’t want to piss off a djinn. We can give you some nice things but we can also make your life a living hell.”

Furrowing her brow she spoke with a serious tone. ”Nothing so drastic. But you have to realize that eventually Beacon and others aren’t going to be able to ignore what you can do.” The statement was rather matter the fact and something that the Djinn Sisters were well aware of from the past and their last chat with Mariette.

A sly grin working its way across her face the djinn girl pointed to the other pair of twins before tapping her head. ”Speak for yourself.” Violet said before darting around the corner with her sister and both vanished.

The two minds blipping off their radar, Jenna rushed forward and looked around the corner to find the Djinn Sisters were gone without a trace. ”Damn, how'd they do that?” She glanced back to Janet.

Shaking her head the blonde pointed to their backpack. ”Doesn't matter. Make a call to HQ and set up a meeting, they're going to want to hear about this.”

Amaryllis got a good chuckle out of that. “Getting popular, aren’t you, Rina? Keep this up and you'll have all the girls eating out of your hand.”

But that was all it was worth, and the whole blood-drenched aesthetic was becoming rather dry and unappealing. Sirens sounded in the distance, mundane police no doubt attracted by the sheer amount of devastation wrought upon this area, devastation that the veil of ignorance itself was insufficient to fully camouflage. What would it be this time? A gas pipe explosion? Another smile, and the Knight of Rose turned to the Wrought Iron Huntress once more.

“I must withdraw now, m’lady, and purify myself of the eldritch taint that cleans onto my form. Though it pains me to separate from you so soon after meeting again, I know it shall only be a fleeting departure. Prithee send for me when you desire good company to compliment comforting cuisine. But for now…”

A final scattering of rose petals, and the girl bounded off into the distance.

“…farewell, and godspeed!”

An older man slumps into a wooden chair, panting in obvious exhaustion. Beads of sweat on his forehead, he picks up a nearby newspaper from the counter and fans himself to try to fend off the impending heatstroke, or at least what might appear to be one. It takes a few minutes, but eventually, he is able to cool himself down enough to breathe normally. And once he had done so, he sighed. "Gosh, I'm really gettin' up there, ain't I?"

Age was a strange thing. It brought both joy and sorrow. A young one is often eager to become older, to experience the pleasures of life only an adult is allowed to know. To become their own individual. But on the reverse, adults typically dread each year going by. Those responsibilities and pleasures they once experienced may no longer be viable for them, either due to social pressures or, most obviously, due to their declining health. It is a matter of fact that all humans will eventually succumb to age.

It is merely a matter of time.

Richard Davis, was it not obvious enough, was the latter of the two aforementioned types. Each year, he was reminded of the stuff he was no longer capable of doing, and of the things that would soon be taken from him. He could no longer run like he used to, play ball like he used to, and lift things like he used to. The passing of time had robbed him of these things, and given how sore his legs and hips felt each time he had to exert himself, he would soon be robbed of even the gift of walking without aid. "Perhaps if I had taken better care of myself..." he thought. "If only I never grew old..." he muttered. Regret-filled ideas would occasionally flood the man's mind each time he was painfully reminded of his past health.

It was these thoughts that fueled his interactions with a certain young employee of his. She was approaching the age of adulthood, yet she already displayed a listlessness towards life. He felt like that sort of attitude was a waste of her potential as a human being! A life is only lived once, and he couldn't find an excuse for someone to squander it, not when he knew how painful and simple it was to look back and regret past decisions. Only as your life approaches its inevitable end do you yearn for more time than you're allocated, or so that's how Davis felt. He didn't want this young one to come to regret her life when she turned old just like him.

So he tried what he could to get her to open up. That was a lot easier said than done, mind you. With an attitude reminiscent of a workaholic businessman, she was fairly difficult to approach, though this had improved since she first showed up. Relatively speaking, that is. He was honestly surprised she went ahead with his invitation to the baseball game, which is also why he was so upset that it had gone south. He wondered what else he could do to show her life was worth living a bit more lively than she was now.

The sound of a bell ringing snapped the old man out of his thoughts, and he leaned forwards in his chair to get a look at the customer coming through the door.



Samantha stepped into the small store and looked around. Aside from the owner, the place was empty - so nothing out of the ordinary. She honestly wondered how this man even kept this place afloat or paid her, given how rare it was to see someone here. Either she just happened to miss the customers each time, or working with clocks was a very expensive thing to do. Though she was curious, she didn't care enough to bother asking, and as long as she got paid, it didn't matter much to her where the money came from.

"Oh, hello, Samantha..." Davis wore his confusion on his sleeve. "Didn't you mention you wouldn't be available today?"

She approached the counter, holding a small paper bag in her hand. "I finished what I needed to do and wanted to drop something off." she explained, raising the bag.

Davis curiously inspected the bag, but obvious wasn't going to be able to tell what was in it without looking inside, which proved to be difficult as Samantha was actively keeping it close to her. "...and what is that, if you don't mind me askin'?"

"...yes." she replied.

This elicited a raised eyebrow from the man. "...yes?"

"Yes, I do mind. I would appreciate it if you ignored this, but I did want to store it in the fridge."

There was a small fridge in the shop that Davis used to keep his lunch in since he wasn't the type to go to fast food joints all that often. Samantha using it wasn't unheard of, but he did find it odd she was particular about keeping the contents of the bag hidden from him. She'd only ever acted that way when he tried talking about things like what her life was like before they met, her history, that sort of stuff. Richard did not want to upset the girl, so he wouldn't pry into matters that she did not want to speak about. "...That's fine." he told her, jabbing his thumb behind him, in the direction of the fridge.

Sam disappeared into the depths of the shop, presumably to do the obvious, before she returned. Davis took note of her appearance at this time. He had noticed something off about her in general. If he hadn't been around her so much he might not have been able to tell, but she did look like she was exhausted beneath the mask of apathy she wore. "Are you alr----"

*CRASH*

An obnoxiously loud noise came from the front of the shop. It was so close that Richard was sure it had to be right at the door. His heart had begun racing since it startled him, and once he regained his composure, he noticed that Samantha was already back at the door of the shop despite her apparent exhaustion, a tense expression on her face. Though he wouldn't admit it to anyone, it was actually intimidating. But, as quickly as it had came, her features fell back into a 'normal', expressionless one.

"What's the deal? Someone crash nearby?" he asked.

"...your sign fell." she stated, opening the door. Davis got up from the chair and trotted his way over to get a look. Sure enough, his sign with the store's name had given up the ghost and fell to the ground, damaging itself in the process. He shook his head, and gave an irritated grunt. It was his fault. It had been showing its age for a while now and he couldn't be pressed with getting off his ass and having a better look or doing anything about it. But it had lived a long life, for a sign anyways. It was probably a combination of weather and those punk-ass kids who used to throw rocks at it because it made a 'clang' sound.

"Are ya kiddin' me? This'll be a pain in the ass to replace." he muttered. "...I'll have to get a new one, but would ya mind helping me put it up once I do? These old bones aren't meant for climbing ladders anymore." the man looked towards Sam. She was staring at the sign intently, though he couldn't figure out why that was.

The girl turned towards Davis eventually. "If you need me to, then it's fine."

"Thank you kindly, miss. It won't be today since I need to find a new sign, so I'll let you know when I got things sorted out. I'll let you go since you look pretty tired, I can handle a small mess like this myself."

"...alright."

And with that, Samantha left the clock shop.

...

...

...

It roared.

In response, our heroine could only reel back in horror as she witnessed a monster straight out of a nightmare. At best, it could be described as a gooey mass of black, oozing despair and suffering each second it 'lived'. In the face of something like this, the situation felt hopeless.

"...W-why...?" a voice that could barely be made out as masculine breathed out. The true terror this man was likely feeling made it hard for him to speak with anything more than a whisper. "W-what have you done...?" he couldn't take his eyes of that... 'thing' no matter how much he wished he could. It demanded his attention, and the attention of anybody unlucky enough to be in the same area.

Our heroine tried her best to put on a brave face, though it had its cracks. She steeled her mind and body, wholly sure the outcome of the impending fight would have unfavorable results. But what else could she do? If she couldn't put an end to this monstrosity, then who would? It was her responsibility for bringing it into this world. She was not some hero, she wasn't that delusional, but even she couldn't stand to be the cause for the world's destruction.

Before it could corrupt.

Before it could maim.

Before it could kill.

She had to see the light shining behind the darkness, to make the impossible possible, and slay this creature, even if it was beyond her current capabilities.

"...Die, so that others may live!"

The heroine swung a knife she'd retrieved from nearby, but it proved to be in vain. The strike merely bounced off the mountainous blob of black, wholly ineffective. Its retort was to release another gut-wrenching roar, knocking both the heroine and the poor sod off their feet. The man's face turned even whiter. At this point, one couldn't be blamed if they thought he was a ghost, trapped in this cruel world. The man did not attempt to get up, his resolve shattered entirely. He laid on his back, briefly recalling the good days and the bad, and regretting that things had reached this point.

"Is this it? Is this the end...?" this man was the first to succumb to the despair only a true horror could bring about.

But he would be the last. The heroine was not going to go down this easy! She jumped to her feet, her uneasiness replaced by a determination that rivaled the despair. She couldn't let more fall to this bastard, even if it cost her everything.

She drew her weapon once more.

Fire in her heart, the answer became obvious.

Much like how she brought this Embodiment of Despair into the world, she would need to use the same methods to remove it.

This was not the time for playing. She would have to give this next attack her all. It was do or die, a "one and done" sort of deal. Either this saved her, what remained of this man, and the world... or everything was lost.

With the stakes set so high, she charged at her foe.

"haaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Her knife sunk deep into the beast as she plunged it as far as was possible. A moment passed, but then her knife was rejected, and sent flying straight into the ceiling.

"M-my attack failed...? N-no...!"

With her last option exhausted, even the heroine was beginning to know true despair. But after a few moments, a cry of pain was emitted from the blob, and it began to convulse rather violently. The heroine was just barely able to turn away from the blast that occurred shortly after.

"...I-I did it!"

....

....

....

....

....

....

The cleanup after the mess took quite some time. The explosion sent bits of it in every direction. Unwilling to ignore the possibility it might reform from even the smallest piece, they methodically collected every part and incinerated it. There was nothing but ash left. And that seemed to do the trick. The heroine turned to man, who was now a bright red instead of a pale white.

"HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO DO THAT?! I GAVE YOU SUPPLIES FOR A CAKE, NOT SOME HP LOVECRAFT SHIT!" he bellowed.

The heroine, Samantha, scratched her head. "I never said I was a good cook, you know."

"A GOOD COOK?!" he inhaled, then exhaled and repeated the process in an attempt to calm himself down. "...I'm going to ignore that since my sanity can only take so much in one day." he pinched his temple. "Look, when the boss said you could use the kitchen for this, I don't think he was under the impression you would somehow bring forth the antichrist with cake mix. So I'm going to be real here, and say that you're probably not allowed to cook here again."

Samantha frowned. "But..."

"BUT!" he interjected. "If you promise that you will never cook again, anywhere, then I would not mind doing this for you. In order to prevent... whatever that was from happening again. Capiche?"

The girl somehow got the impression this man was really not satisfied with her kitchen prowess. She would have to work on it in the future, she supposed. But how could she do so if she didn't ever cook again? "...I suppose that's alright." Samantha lied as naturally as she breathed. As long as he did not find out, things would be fine.

"Good. Good! Then when I have some free time in the next couple of days, I'll make it. You still have some time, right?"

She nodded. "If it's in the next two days, that's perfect."

With that, Samantha had left the Pitstop.

....

....

....

Samantha had unfortunately been reminded of that experience that took place a day or so before the graveyard incident when she went to pick up the cake the man promised her. Being a regular at the Pitstop, she had gained the favor of the owner, who obliged with her request to borrow the kitchen when it was available. She would have done it at her own house, but she had never actually cooked a cake before and wanted input from one of the employees, hence why she did it there.

Given that man's response, cake-making was not something that naturally came to her.

"Well, that only leaves one thing." she muttered to herself as she walked away from the clock store she was just in. "But I guess I've got a good idea what to get."