"Yeah, sure" Alexander nodded at the shopkeeper, only paying minimal attention to her as he scanned the store. 'I probably shouldn't spend too much. I just hope there's some nice swag that doesn't cost too much.' Power walking through the store, he glanced at everything he came across 'Huh, that's neat' He thought, looking at a strange coin after reading about what it did 'Kind of like having a GPS in you head. Ehhh...yeah, that sounds useful enough. It would have really helped in that crazy castle raid.' He picked up the coin. Seconds latter however, he noticed something else '...fuck yeah' Not quite jogging over to it, he snatched it up. 'This is probably enough.' With that decided, he made his way to the checkout area and payed for his items. Once they were fully his, Alexander used both the coins. Right as they vanished into him; an extremely fluffy and long wolf tail shot out of his behind 'Wait, this is a tail, not tentacles! Eh, I should still be able to work with this. Now then, to try out the other thing.' Taking a second to focus, he used his new mental GPS 'That...looks like she's home. Alright, that's convenient.' With his business here done, he nodded and prepared to leave when he noticed a few familiar faces "Huh...Su, Sto-Er...Helga? What are you guys doing here?" However, seconds latter, something occurred to him 'Wait, that's two people who's names and faces I know other that Lily. Add together the wish twins, and that's five people. Wait...I don't actually know the twins names. I... think one was Violet...and maybe the other was Sakura. Dammit, I'm such a mess'

@BrokenPromise

With her coins now out of her control, having been spirited away for safekeeping, Shion sat alone. The way she saw it, she had three options. Either go out and fight some of the monsters that were around, or use her network of duplicates to find out what was going on on the streets. She had a basic understanding of the new situation thanks to Makoto's, fittingly, squirrelly nature when it came to her home timeline, but there was still so much grey area. The third option was to simply stay put, but that was never really an option for her, at least not completely. So as usual, after sending the last of the files she'd compiled at the beach resort to her higher-ups in the P.I., she created her duplicates and sent them out, some via the streets, some via rooftop, even two via sewer, all to gather as much information as she possibly could. Perhaps it was time to finally get to know these other magical girls? The only one she'd had any contact with, though, was the boy she'd slammed her chest into during Keijo. Still, she had a better rapport with him than any of the others... So she made sure that her clones knew to keep an eye out for him as they traveled.

She decided to wait at the location where she and Mariette had met to finally get her share of the gems. According to the news, it seemed to have been months since they met for the second time and the gems were put in Suzette's possession. Already, reports were coming in. It seemed the old haunts of certain magical entities that Shion had kept track of had been abandoned as even extensive investigations of them revealed that nobody who went missing returned to them after the "vacation." She marked them off on her list. Still, there was good information coming in on the current status, information the P.I. may deem fit to fill her in on notwithstanding. She continued sitting around, assuming that since Mariette had been at the beach, it would take some time for her to reorganize and inform Suzette that they had both returned. As she waited though, the door opened slightly and tiny footsteps could be heard. Ko had arrived.

"SHION I'VE GOT HUGE NEWS YOU WON'T BELIEVE IT I KNOW YOU LOVE MAGICAL COINS AND ALL AND GUESS WHAT I WAS GIVEN!? A HECKIN' PLATINUM COIN IS WHAT!"

"What!? That's great news! Also stop yelling you'll give away our location!" Shion yelled back.

Ko jumped up onto Shion's shoulders and quieted down, whispering. "Oh, yeah, sorry. I'm just so excited, I ran here as fast as I could!" She rummaged around in one of the two bags she had on her back. "Where is it...? C'mon where are you?"

A moment passed. Then another. The rustling sound Shion heard just behind her head grew more frantic. "Um... Lemme just..." Ko jumped onto the ground and took the bag off, dumping the contents onto the floor. There was a flat-head screwdriver with half the head missing, a power drill battery, a map of another universe's Scotland, a thermos of lighter-fluid, a bottle of ten-times purified water, and a audio-tape recorder, but there was no sign of a platinum coin, or any coins for that matter.

"Wha-...? Where'd it go!?" As Ko began to hyperventilate, Shion picked up the bag, a simple child's backpack, and examined it.

"... There's a hole."

"Huh?"

"There's a hole in the bag." Shion held it out for Ko to look at.

"... So there is." Ko replied, still breathing heavily.

Shion shrugged. "Oh well, no worries."

"NO WORRIES!? I THOUGHT YOU WERE OBSESSED WITH MAGIC COINS!?"

Shion covered her ears. "Stop yelling! Yes, it would be fantastic to have that coin, but I've been working hard to get enough magic without having the coin you were going to give me. I wasn't factoring it in, so while it would be a great surprise and bonus, it's not necessary." She explained. "I do greatly appreciate it, though." She added sincerely.

"Well then. I guess I'll just... stay here for a while. Maybe I can use my new knowledge to help out!"

---

Summer was laid out on a beach chair, enjoying the endless summertime, listening to fitting summertime music when an idea struck. What if she...? And so she did. And then again. And again. And again. She began the process of learning this new movement. It took several hours. But finally, finally.

She had finally learned how to swim.

@Ariamis @Shifter_Master @Vocab

As Rachel stood, Dawn lowered her arm. The great white sword dissipated in a flurry of motes, careful not to let it fall upon the desk or Rachel's feet, for that matter. Dawn took a step back, honoring her superior's space and letting the rest speak. Their calmness did not make her feel embarrassed in the slightest; if it was anyone's job to react strongly first, it was her.

"I can only presume she was brought aboard by Alicia prior to the incidents incriminating her," Dawn commented about Rebecca, folding her arms behind her back. The answer was irrelevant given the room's inclination to forgive Rebecca regardless, and so Dawn began for the door to follow after Fanfan and Leena. She stopped short with a half-turn, curious of the rising commotion. She wandered to Elora and Tsuki's side, watching over their shoulders at the debauchery on-screen. How a monster-girl could be both so clownish and bold. As Tsuki smashed the screen, Dawn leaned back. Fun was over.

"Shall I continue with Leena and Fanfan?" Dawn asked, "Or shall I help with tracking Vi-chan down? I will not protest either task."

Thunderclouds gathered upon the ruins the downtown district. Months ago, a terrible earthquake had struck, and despite the reconstruction efforts, many of the skyscrapers were still heavily damaged, rubble abound upon this apocalyptic landscape. The Ascendancy had done their work, perhaps, and the exorcism of lingering grudges and regrets meant that there was little for a necromancer to raise from the dead. Some brutes, of course, may just create corpses out of magic and then animate them, while other brutes may go around swinging their oversized swords around, but for herself?

Why, the Endsinger was much too classy to stoop to such measures.

Upon a mountain of crumbling concrete and twisted steel, a woman in obsidian robes landed gently. The snow burst away at her descent and with a flourish, she twirled her halberd, slamming the axehead into the ground. From the cracks and gaps of the ruined building, bright green energy surged out, tendrils of gossamer mana collecting into a ball above her. It pulsated like a heart, before shooting upwards into the sky and exploding into a fiery conflagaration of necromantic energy, a profane declaration seen across the horizon by all those malevolent spirits banished to the outskirts of Penrose. An invitation, not for violence, not for debauchery, but for revelry in this banquet of darkness.

The foul wind howled its approval, as the Endsinger brandished her halberd, the butt end stretching away as the axe end fit itself before her torso. Lightning shot from the thunderclouds above, crashing into the polearm with epic force. Crackling electricity solidified into six brilliant strings, and as she ran her clawed fingers over them, they rattled with a bone-shaking tone. A halberd? No. A motherfucking necromantic guitar.

And as foreign spirits surged through the streets of Penrose, converging upon the ruinous stage, the Endsinger began to hammer away at her demented instrument, wreathed in eldritch radiance and blasphemous sound.

Mariette sat in a chair inside her dimensional mansion home, staring through a couple portals at varying points within the city of Penrose. She was exceptionally comfortable, watching the battles going on, multiple ones in addition to the one in the graveyard. To her right, Eli stood, inspecting curiously…

It’s funny. Since Mariette no longer had the pressure upon herself to achieve Asengav’s dreams, probably to Lea’s great pleasure, she felt freer. More able to just roll with her whims. She needed to find Cindy and prove to her that Mariette was a capable defender of the city… and what is it that arrives before her?

A party of liches. She could practically taste Asengav’s thirst. And who’s hunting them?

Amaryllis. Isn’t that just grand? Talk about taking out three birds with one stone. Sure, the metaphorical stone here was a battle to the death with an extremely magically powerful creature with the capability to resurrect the dead, but it was still quite a deal. There was just one problem. Trying to hunt said liches would make the Ascendancy as well as all of Penrose aware of Mariette’s continued existence.

It stood as a great barrier before her. Coming into the light? After having hid in the darkness for so long? The safe, cozy darkness that ensured she could keep serving her master for eons to come? Endangering that in a completely optional battle would be-

Her phone rang. Mariette blinked in surprise as she looked down at it. Yes, she has a phone now, Jelena had made a whole power point presentation on all the advantages of making sure the whole team carried phones and as such a number could be given to Mariette’s allies such as Amaryllis, still, it had to be the first time Mariette’s phone actually rung since her allies had been scattered. Mariette slowly picked it up, gazed on the screen for the name of the one calling, and then looked down through the portal at the chase currently going on.

Amaryllis… was calling her?

‘… Heh,’ Mariette gave the mildest of a smile as she stood up. Well, if that’s how it’s going to be…

‘Mistress?’ Eli asked.

‘Come with me, Eli,’ Mariette said, as her grip on her stuffed bunny tightened and she walked forward. Eli nodded with an optimistic smile, the darkness slime-harpy happy to see Mariette engaged in something.

‘Yes, mistress,’ she simply responded.

To Billy, as well as to Amaryllis who was chasing after Billy and listening to the beeps of her phone call directed towards Mariette, space suddenly spread open into a portal ahead of the direction Billy was heading. There, walking to stand in Billy’s way albeit on a decent distance, Mariette strode out to stand on a portal in mid-air while the portal behind her closed, a stuffed bunny in one hand and the phone in the other. Eli jumped through the portal to stand next to her mistress on top of another portal, waving her wings a bit to gain balance before facing the flying enemy. First after they both had appeared in the sights of both individuals did the portal girl answer, bringing the phone to her ear.

‘Do you find yourself in need of aid, Knight of the Rose?’ was Mariette’s only statement, having placed herself right in the way the enemy was heading. She was quite prepared, charging magic to open portals counter-attack an enemy blast or reposition herself. In fact, she could just fall through the one she was currently standing on if need be.

She couldn’t just disappoint Amaryllis the very first time she requested some form of help, now, could she? That’d not be the way for creating a workable bond of sorts…!

@ERode[@Whoever is controlling Billy][@Whoever else responded to the call]

---

@Ariamis



This place was unfamiliar to Deni, yet also familiar, somehow. Not that it was the checkerboard patterned world of the Overcity, it was also the location itself, a shoreline with a… not-palace on the other side, and the way down. And, there was her own reflection in the water, confirming what she had only been able to see on her hands previously. She could actually see her face. A human girl’s face. Yeah, she looked 7 years old instead of what her age before becoming a Magical Girl, which she’d really prefered, but eh! She was used to being this age, now! She just grinned happily and gave herself a thumbs up!

‘Yepp! Looking good~!’

Sooo, with that, Deni could turn her attention to the new girl over there. Valkyrie-like, made Deni think of Beacon, honestly. But, since she looked like this, Deni shouldn’t be any trouble for Beacon~!

‘Hello there, good stranger!’ Deni called happily as she hurried over to where the girl was hitting down a sign for the palace. ‘I’m a wayward Magical Girl that somehow ended up in the Overcity,’ which’s really technically true, ‘What are you up to? Oh, and do you think it’d be possible if I rode back to the city with you? I need to get to a place called “Penrose”, if you’ve ever heard of it!’ There totally might be happy coincidences going on. Deni was going to push her luck.

---

@DarkwolfX37



Shion wouldn’t be left waiting too long. Be this mere minutes from when Shion didn’t receive a Platinum Coin, or perhaps even later, whatever the intended meeting-time Mariette would soon have known that Shion were there and waiting and would have been quick to send a message. Now, on account of that Suzette, too, had ended up in the beach dimension she also had been displaced through time and space, but there still had been some time to waltz back and forth through her usual dimensions in order to get the magic she wanted. And now…

‘Hello~! Sorry if I’m, heh, “late”, like in months late…’

Suzette appeared with a backpack on her, walking with a bit smile up to where Shion was, and promptly took off the bag and handed it over. Just as promised, whatever number of gems had been given to Suzette would have been properly filled with magic.

‘That’s them! You didn’t have any specific desires for what to fill them with, so I varied myself a bunch and gave you a bit of everything!’

Aaaaaaand that’s just about all that was on Suzette’s to-do list, wasn’t it? With that done, unless there was more that was needed of her, Suzette could simply make a saluting gesture with her hand wrapped in purple cloth and say her part before leaving.

‘And that’s that! Hope you’re satisfied! If you’d like to do further business after having seen what we’re capable of, we’re all for it! Just, heh, don’t need us to sponsor too many coins, was the thing. We can go all-in on the magic, but the coins is a bit harder, our patron is pretty stingy~! As in, he gives us no coins whatsoever~!’ Suzette said with a sneaky little smile, before she could be on her way. This post probably doesn’t actually need a reply to, this is merely an acknowledgement that Suzette will honour her part of the deal. Yupp.

Far removed from the chaos of lich chases and heretic hunts playing out in Penrose proper, Connie and Mia were safely back at the orphanage, enjoying twin mugs of hot chocolate. Having changed back into their normal human forms, both girls were sitting on the large bed, which took up about half the small room’s space, snuggly wrapped up in soft blankets, and surrounded by several stuffed animals and fluffy pillows. Despite being sixteen, and thus somewhat old for pillow forts, Connie had always loved the sense of comfort and security they gave her, and Mia, for her part, was only too happy to indulge her best friend whenever possible. This was also the reason for the single queen-sized bed, rather than two smaller ones, as Connie found the presence of her friend and protector so close at hand to be especially reassuring.

“Mmm… This hot chocolate is absolutely delicious, Mia!” Connie told her friend enthusiastically. “Thanks so much for making it!”

“No problem,” Mia replied with a smile. “Being a magical plant girl does have its advantages, after all.”

Before changing back, Mia had used her magic to create a plant capable of acting as a biological hot chocolate dispenser. Her creation would only last a few short hours, but that was more than enough time for her and Connie to each have several mugs worth.

“You’re such an amazing magical girl, Mia,” Connie gushed. “You’re so beautiful and confident, and you’re so talented with your magic. Not like me…” she added sullenly. “I don’t think I’ll ever be anywhere close to as good as you are…”

Mia blushed at her friend’s complements, but frowned when she voiced her low opinion of herself.

“Connie… You’re still getting used to this. You’ll get better. Just give it time. I mean, look at tonight. You were amazing out there!”

“Y-you really mean it?”

“Sure do! I’m really proud of you, Connie,” she added, giving her friend a hug. “I want you to know that.”

“Thanks, Mia,” Connie said softly as she set her mug down and returned her friend’s hug with interest. “I’m so lucky to have you as a best friend. When you’re with me, I just know everything’s going to be all right.”

A chill went up Silhouette's spine as the monster girl went on. She could not claim she was an Empath, but she certainly could tell what this girl before her was feeling. It was familiar. A lust for battle that could not be hidden, even by her convincing guise of an affable girl. Sil was quite irritated that her words had fallen upon deaf ears, but more so than that, was confusion as to why she could almost immediately tell what this girl was thinking. Fighting was what she was best at, but it was not as though she enjoyed the thrill of it.

Why lie to yourself?

Sil dropped into a lower stance, her blade raised before her chest, a glare shot directly at the monster girl. She was, however, worried about those words.

That was it. The Voice. A twisted existence that resulted from the use of the Black Coin. A foreign entity that had, since the graveyard incident, been mostly quiet. Aside from her first few attempts at an Penumbra clone, it hadn't tried anything. So why now, all of the sudden? It was unlikely to be of much use thinking about it. All she had to do was keep it under control and everything would be alright.

Shut up. I'm not a beast, I'm a professional.

Silhouette heard a mocking laugh in response, but nothing else. This was probably for the best. It wasn't as though she forgot about the obvious threat in front of her. The green-haired girl decided that they should 'introduce each other' through some particularly violent means, it would appear.

If that's how she wanted to play things, Sil would begrudgingly follow her lead. It would be best not to let her sense dull, after all. Particularly when the Ascendancy is roaming about.

"..."

Silhouette's free hand reached down to the small beast she had just slain, similar to a goblin in stature, her immediate response being to wait for the girl to come to her.

Despite her friendly demeanor while she was chatting, the girl now charging at Silhouette was completely stoic, and her movements were almost machine-like in how deliberate they were. Maybe she was something of a trained killer, too? No, Sil would not stand for something like this. If you pursued anything other than a business-like relationship with enacting death, you weren't any sort of professional. Blood-lust was the trait of a murderer, or a beast. And she certainly wasn't going to be grouped with one of those.

When Enkidu's chains reached the critical distance from her, Sil would raise the body up with one hand, having placed its corpse in Stasis, and would attempt to use it as a small shield. Though it's shape wasn't perfect for the task, she desired to deflect the blow and charge forwards with her knife, lunging for her gut.

@Ariamis@Asuras

‘Tough crowd’ Aurelio would muse to himself as her found himself staring down a rather imposing great sword, or it would be imposing if he was worried in the slightest that he was about to be attacked. He had committed no crimes, had broken no tenants. Still, with smooth grace he re-positioned his cane so that it was planted on the ground in front of him his hands folded over the handle.

“Now, now. Is that really necessary?” he would ask Dawn casually his cheerful demeanor not phased in the slightest though a single brow was raised in question. He had to admit the amount of Determination coming from the warrior threatening him was rather impressive. Before he could get a reply or any foot hold in the room really, Rebecca would step up and begin giving a rather casual and lackluster request to join the Ascendancy. One that the magician could tell was false, if for no other reason than the amount of Fear pouring off of the girl next to him.

He tucked that little piece of trivia away under his hat however, and returned his attention back to Rachel when she once address him, and only barely managed not to roll his eyes. “Sylvia didn’t take us anywhere. Sylvia didn’t abandon Penrose or Beacon. All of us were abducted by a Lesser Force.” He would state loudly and clearly to everyone assembled in the room, before returning his cane to under his arm with a flourish and starting to follow after Rachel.

He doubted that anyone in the Ascendancy would really trust his words, but at the same time his words weren’t really meant for them. They were for the regular boys and girls in the room, the ones who knew Sylvia, Sally, and Alicia. It was to help reassure them that those they trusted didn’t disappear for no reason, that they hadn’t been abandoned.

The fact that it was true would be heard by any Light users in attendance and with luck spread far and wide.

Just before Aurelio exited the room after Rachel, he would turn back towards the assembled Beacon members with a concerned look on his face as he let his gaze wash over all of the rank and file who stood on the edges of the room. Suddenly he would crack a lopsided smile, grab his top hat and give a deep bow to the room.

From his hat a flock of doves would spring forth, all of them radiating Comfort, Compassion and Peace. They would fly around the room once or twice before vanishing, at which point Aurelio would stand back up and don his hat once more, a large friendly smile on his face. With a wave to them all he returned towards following Rachel off into the other areas of Beacon.

---

@Rune_Alchemist@Ariamis

She knew what Cindy was going to say before she said it. She had seen the news feeds, and the comments of Glimmer side of things helped fill in the gaps. That didn’t make hearing it any easier. “I am going to turn that waste of plastic inside out the first chance I get.” She would say through grit teeth, before she forced a deep breath and shunted her frustration, fear and even curiosity about how Cindy’s touch felt to the side.

They could be dealt with later; right now she had more important things to take care of.

“I’d be glad to help” She would say as she walked with Cindy towards the hole in the ground that once used to be a simple bolt hole and now lead towards the other layers of the Lair. “Also more thankful then ever no one from Beacon ever asked to see my home. What’s-” Penny would cut herself of mid word and mid stride, her eyes flickering with light as she accepted and processed all the electronic messages that had been sent her way.

“Shit” the robotic girl would say after a moments of silence. “We’ve got a few issues, and some good news.” She would explain to Cindy “Seems a trio of Monsters, liches I think, have begun to make a move. Friend of mine sent out a call for help which means they aren’t simply small time goons.”

Taking a sharp turn Penny started walking towards a door that likely gave many people a lot of questions as it lead to nowhere as there was just wall on the other side. “Also got a text from Thalia, we had a chance to talk back at the Beach so were on better ground, but I don’t think anyone has told her the full story about what is going on, which is bad as her Monstrous side has made a name for itself killing Beacon members.” Penny would go on her left eye once again flickering rapidly as she composed and fired off responses to everyone that had contacted her.

“Good news is that I might be able to get some information from inside Beacon. I am a member, technically, and got contacted by one of the others that had gotten dragged away with us. He’s currently at HQ, and should be able to tell me if they can track me” She placed her had on the door knob of the door to nowhere and started focusing “Also Chloe is back” She would add with a soft smile “She’s got a small group of girls with her, and wants to bring them here. She can help.” In her mind Penny could feel the turning of a key in a lock and shortly after she would turn the handle on the door. Turning to look at Cindy Penny finished her update “I’ll be back in a few minutes, with Chloe and the others, afterwards I’m likely going to go hunting after the Monster problem. If you can get that Red Coin we talked about for me by the time I get back it would be appreciated, something tells me I’m going to end up needing it sooner than I expected.”

With her piece said Penny would open the door and walk through it, as at the moment it didn’t lead to nowhere but Chloe’s apartment. Chloe was the only person that Penny hadn’t sent a reply to, because it was faster to just meet up in person.

---

“Chloe” Penny would call out as she entered the apartment making a direct line to her girlfriend once she saw her sitting on the couch. She would move to give the smaller girl a gentle hug once she was close enough “Everything’s gone to hell a bit hasn’t it?” she would ask her voice trembling slightly as she spoke. The reality that one of her nightmares had come to life was catching up to her in one of the few places she felt truly safe.

---

@ERode@Vocab

@Ariamis@BrokenPromise@EnterTheHero

---

Of course, come back from vacation and a mountain of work was waiting for you. Some things didn't seem to change no matter what occupation she was in.

Rina had seen the liches before she even got Amaryllis' text. Running across the rooftops, the magical girl had spotted all three already. She had been considering her targets, wondering if she should choose to directly engage or stay back and snipe. All three seemed to be fairly dangerous, and she wasn't sure which would be the best to try and dispatch first.

"On it, Amaryllis. Spotted them already, engaging. Will keep you updated."

Atop her own perch, she could hear the piercing sound of a rifle, echoing through the streets. A momentary glance showed a rifle wielding magical girl on a nearby water tower blasting things with the help of a spotter. Member of the Ascendancy? She was certain Amaryllis could handle herself, and if they were part of the Ascendancy, Rina definitely wanted to keep an eye on them. Might as well start here then.

Knocking one of her swords, she pulled back the thin metallic wire that functioned as her bowstring. Taking only a few seconds to aim, she launched the object towards the Bulky Lich that was controlling them. Almost before it had even left the bowstring, Rina was already loading up another to fire at it.


@Shifter_Master

---

"A bit? A BIT?" Chloe waved off Penny with a low snarl, breaking the hug rather violently. "Idiots. Fools, impure corrupt - ARGH!" She gripped her orb tight, no doubt had it not been of magical nature it'd have shattered. "I should stuff all their souls into a doll and feed it to Lucy." Chloe huffed, tossing the orb across the room. It careened into a light fixture, and with a cacophonous crash it sent pieces of the crystalline structure to the ground. "Not only do I have to deal with those Beacon fools now, I disappeared for two months! Again! The Mint is going to have my head on a silver platter. If I ever see that stupid dolphin again, I'm turning him into a chewtoy."

Folding her arms, Chloe scowled.

"...hmph. Fine, fine. I'll play their game and I'll crush every single one of them." She leaned lightly on Penny. "They'll regret pissing me off. They want to talk about purity, fine. I'll show them what it actually is." If everything had been going smoothly with the Archive, that was not going to be an empty threat either."I'm not in the bet of moods, if you couldn't tell." She added, smiling teasingly up to Penny. "At least I have an adorable girlfriend, so I can't be too upset. Hows things on your end?"

Mac knew she was going to help take out the litches, but she didn’t know which one she was going to start with. The Moirai never gave her clear instructions on what to do, so in situations like this, she had to rely on her own intuition and wits to lead her to the correct fight.

The litches would ultimately fall in the end, her goal was more to help the magical girls present survive the encounter. To Mac, this was less about dealing with the individual litches themselves and focusing more on the aftermath of their defeat. To that end, dealing with “Mr bulk” seemed like the most sensible option.

She waited for the litch to arrive, which was when she would commence a most glorious butt kicking.

---

Veronica stood in a dark library. There was no natural light, nor were there any fixtures to help illuminate her surroundings. The only light she needed was from the books themselves. They had a red glow and were the only thing to see by in this library of darkness. The books were just bright enough to illuminate her Gothic dress, which was red and decorated with roses. When she looked at the books, she would hear sounds. opening these books would reveal images. Sometimes the images were in stunning color, other times it was just well defined shapes.

Veronica was not in a physical place. At least her consciousness wasn’t. She had withdrawn into a nexus between her mind and her specialization magic. The setup was comparable to the internet in the way it operated. All of the Cradle agents minds were on a network that sent “data” through a “server,” which relayed all of the information towards Veronica and sometimes other Cradle agents. Their thoughts, memories, everything was compiled and shifted through an encrypted network of Veronica’s design. This space was called the black library.

Normally a careful construction of algorithms would alert Veronica when there was a particular thought she needed to see, but that only really worked when Veronica wasn’t locked away in a different dimension for several months. Veronica had returned after a very long span of time, and needed to sort through everything she hadn’t been around to catch. Her situation was comparable to coming back to an old discord server and seeing that there were 10,000+ unread messages, and everyone on her friends list had sent her some DMs as well.

It wasn’t pretty.

In Veronica’s search for answers, she received a transmission. In the black library, incoming transmissions looked like red holograms of the people talking. So it wasn’t hard for Veronica to place who was bothering her. “Yes, Trixy?”

”I know you’re busy, but I also think I can help you get caught up to speed! You’ve been in there for an hour or so, and we need you now!”

“I’m nearly done, actually.” The coin broker closed the book in her hand and put it on the shelf. “From what I’ve gathered, whatever magic was protecting the people of Penrose has since vanished, allowing monsters to come in en mass and cause a chain of cataclysmic events. With most of the defending magical girls trapped in another dimension there was not much to retaliate with. Naturally, the girl scouts called in the Ascendancy to clean up the mess. They did not like how corruption friendly Penrose was, and now we’re here.”

”B-but!”

“But that says nothing of Crimson Cradle, does it?” Veronica lowered her arms to her sides, and dozens of books floated off the shelves to circle her. They opened up and bombarded her in light. “Much like I expected, there was a panic when I disappeared. Some of you thought I was dead, but you eventually rationalized that if the magicoms still worked, I was still alive somewhere. Unfortunately you had no access to the Cradle, nor a means to secure new members. It seems like you personally took charge and adapted a defensive strategy, made potential allies via Glimmr, and stubbornly kept a foothold in Penrose. You also attempted to locate me, but that was one of the less productive things you did.”

”Well, you can’t fault me for trying, can you?” Trixy gave her boss a toothy grin.

“Your greatest achievement was building a new lab in a secure location.”

”Yea well- Wait, what was great?”

Veronica placed a hand on her chin. “I would hardly call the recent events in Penrose advantageous to anyone, but I believe that Cradle made the most out of the situation. Beacon is more divided than ever, and the Mint finally has some competition. It is probably too soon to assess our risk level, but if the big two start fighting each other, we have little to worry about.” Veronica approached Trixy and chuckled. All of the books flew back onto the shelf “I’ll need to tell you about my adventures at a later date. For now though, you might as well tell everyone I have returned. It’s not going to be a secret for very long regardless.” She folded her arms behind her back. “I will announce my return to the other Cradle agents personally, along with your promotion to Top Manager.”

”Wait, really? I’m…” Trixy shook in place. ”I’m so excited! It was really lonely for the last few months, but now everything is wonderful again!” She zipped away. ”The only way today would get better is if someone kissed me!”

Veronica pulled out another book. She knew much, but there was still more to catch up on. “Cindy, Mariette, and the Djinn Sisters.” She walked deeper into the library. “I cannot ignore you any longer, can I?”

---

---

@ERode@PlatinumSkink

Most cars cannot fly. But the rusting 1959 Eldorado convertible that Billy was driving certainly could. The unusually tall man wasn’t able to drive it like a normal person. He needed to have the top down, as well as sit in the back since there was no way he would fit in the driver’s seat. The Cadillac knew where to go, and didn’t need Billy to steer or step on the gas. The tail lights emitted a neon glow, which left a trail as the car flew about the sky. The only thing that rivaled the sound of the engine was Billy’s howl of ecstasy.



It wasn’t long before Mariette came into view. Billy was not one to back down from a challenge, nor was he the type to throw projectiles at people. He raised his sword over his shoulder and prepared to cut Mariette clean in two. She had just enough time to step back into her portal before Billy’s blade smashed the portal’s frame, causing it’s magic to flicker away like static sparks. Before departing, she did attempt to make Billy slash himself with his own attack, but the lich was aware of the portal opening up next to him, and stopped before he decapitated his own head. Moments later, the Eldorado glided to the ground and spun around to face Billy’s pursuers.

Their battle would take place in an intersection. One with buildings spanning in all directions. This part of Penrose was sparsely populated, but Billy would take all the skins he could find. More cars pulled up behind him. A fire truck, a police car, and an army cargo truck. They were all filled to the brim with cackling ghouls. The fire truck extended its ladder towards a building while the police car took to the skies, sirens blairing as it pursued Mariette. Those ghouls were armed with all manner of firearms from pistols to S.W.A.T. issue assault rifles. The army truck and Billy barreled towards Amaryllis and anyone standing with her. The girls would have to work fast if they wanted to keep the local populace safe.

---

Lupa and Mika had been playing in the snow, but Mika had informed her that she saw a friend and wanted to drop in on them. She was being kind of secretive about who it was, but Lupa was fine with Mika keeping secrets. If she wanted to chase down a new girlfriend or just wanted some privacy, Lupa wasn’t one to interfere.

More than that, Feral had become quite ravenous in her time away from Penrose. Now that Lupa was back, she could feel its presence ten fold. Her Patron was begging her to kill something, anything. Even Mika was not spared as a potential victim. She tried to internalize it as much as possible, but the desire to kill was strong. It had gotten so bad that Lupa couldn’t go a few seconds without thinking about killing something. She needed to do something, and soon.

That was when she got a text from Emily.

”The timing’s a little awkward.” Lupa grinned to herself. Or perhaps it was more correct to say Feral was making her grin. She hated that she had to give into such dark urges, but the best way to keep Feral under control was to give into his desires at the best possible times. ”I hope there’s a lot of minions.” Lupa dialed Helga. She could have called Mika, but there was no point bringing her into this. ”Hey Helga! There’s a lich or something at the old earthquake sight. I guess its a big deal, so I’m calling in some backup. Don’t leave me hangin’!”

Lupa didn’t wait for a response. She needed to kill something, and that drive overrode the usual pleasantries she would normally share with Helga. Lupa would have to talk to beacon about Feral again, but for now, she hunted. The wolf girl took off towards the disturbance to join Emily’s side.

@FamishedPants

---

@EnterTheHero@Rune_Alchemist



Tetrad floated to the ground and placed her hands on her hips. ”Seems there’s already people here waiting for my mark. This is gunna be easy!” It wasn’t until she looked at her cards that her expression soured. She had no cards to play. Save her “trump” card, which was far too early in the fight to use. Sometimes fights are hard because luck doesn’t agree with you. Other times you just forgets to draw because you’re too busy chasing a lich through a city. ”Whatever, I’ve got a good combination coming up, I can feel it!” While more cards flew out of her deck, she chucked her knife at one of the zombie’s heads. On contact, it would swiftly return to her hand to be thrown again. Even if Tetrad had superhuman agility, having to wait for her knife to return between shots was a sub optimal way to fight. She had much more firepower when she used her knife in tandem with her cards.



Hugging strangers was all fine and good, but Mika had a job to do now. There was a giant skeleton, its minions, and pedestrians that were in dire need of rescuing. Mika knew that now was the time to throw caution to the wind and dive into the enemy ranks. She had so many options available to her, from transforming into a beast to blowing them away with her newly awakened water magic. But she ended up doing neither of those things. She backed away from the fight like a scared animal.

Even if it happened over two months ago, the weird time warp things meant it only happened a few weeks ago for Mika. This was where she had her fight with the spider lady. She fought skeletons, spiders, and eventually a big evil mommy spider. Her attempt to help just ended up getting Lupa temporarily mind wiped. Had the ghost twins not been there to fix her, Lupa still would have been a vegetable, all because Mika tried to help. Tetrad was here, Rina was here, even this crow boy was here. There was no reason to get involved.

But Mika did know someone who could help. She opened up her cell phone and hit up someone she had on speed dial.

---

Su had planned on talking about possible way to promote the hotel with Helga during their walk. But Helga had bigger plans. She had been swept up by a video of Vi, and wanted to use the party and Vi to elevate awareness of the hotel.

“I think-” Su was cut off by Vi’s voice screaming through the phone. She wasn’t well vised on internet celebrities, so she watched a few videos that Helga had recommended to her. “I don’t know. She seems very politically charged. I don’t like Beacon any more than you do, but she’s not a typical corrupted girl sympathizer. She’s calling a lot of attention to herself. Having her sponsor the Golden Trove would be dangerous.” She turned off her phone. “But we could go to her party. I do like the idea of selecting possible candidates ourselves. Dark magical girls and monster girls aren’t my favorite guests, but we can’t be too picky these days. We should go to the party.”

@Card Captor

When Su opened the door to the shop, she was greeted by Brittany, followed closely by Alexander asking what they were doing here. “Alexander?” It had been a long time since Su had seen Alexander. The last time they met was at Justine’s castle, and he didn’t look quite the way he did now. They hadn’t interacted at all over the vacation, so it had been a good month or so since she had spoken with him. Not that she had ever really gotten to know him in the first place. But something else took precedence over catching up. Su walked over to Alexander, looked him up and down, and grabbed one of his tails. “Are these tails?” She stroked it between two of her fingers. “They’re soft, but they also feel strong. Like tentacles.” Su’s eyes half closed, and her cheeks glowed red. “Mariette also had strong tentacles.” She swallowed before pulling her hand back. “Lily really is lucky to have you.” It might have been rude to do so, but Su walked away from Alexander to see if there was anything else that could grant a power like that. Her search turned up nothing. “Oh well, no tentacles for Helga.”

Su turned her head and noticed an assortment of arrows. “There’s a lot of weapons in here. It’s not really what I was expecting.” She lifted up one of the arrows and examined it. The blessed fairy bolt. It was an unusually shaped arrow. The shaft was pink and it was jagged like a lightening bolt. It didn’t look like it would even fly, but the information written on the tag was worrying. It seemed the arrow was designed to avoid obstacles and wait out barriers before hitting someone between the eyes. It sounded a little extreme, but the price tag was high enough that the claims had to be real. The idea that someone could come in here and use something like this against Mika was troubling. This wasn’t the type of item that you used to protect yourself. It was designed to kill your opponent. Something made less for self defence and more for a war. The temptation was to buy it just to keep it out of the wrong hands, but there would be another one here in time. Not only that, but there were a great deal more arrows beside the one Su was looking at. The next table over was filled with grenades, and beyond that was an assortment of weapons. With a sigh, Su put the arrow away and turned around. “Penrose really is on the verge of a war, isn’t it?”

*beep beep*

Su look at her phone. It was Mika. Strange for her to be calling, but it was too soon to panic. “Mika? Are you alright?”

“No.” Her voice cracked. “Remember where the spider monster was? There’s something else there now. A big skeleton is attacking people. I wanna help but-”

Now might have been a better time to panic. ButSu was done giving into despair. “I’ll be right there Mika. Just stay safe and tell me if anything strange happens. Stick with Lu-” Su looked to Helga, and noticed she was talking on her phone as well. She could hear Lupa’s voice. “Helga, Mika’s in trouble, you look after Lupa!” Su bolted for the door, not even bothering to acknowledge Alexander. He didn’t owe her anything, and he was probably going to go and make sure Lily was safe. In the end, everyone had to look after their own. As soon as Su got outside, she flew into the sky. It wouldn’t be long before she was with Mika.

The Ascendancy. That name sent some chills down the magical girl maid's spine, and caused her to stop walking where she stood. Nothing her former self had feared or loathed one bit, but even so that past self had learned much of them. Fanatics that shot first, assumed the worst, and maybe asked questions later when it came down to it. A very unreasonable force that, in lieu of them all having been kidnapped for a time and missing, would more than likely assume they had abandoned the place to all the hellish forces that had descended upon it by this point. That was just the tip of the iceberg of the worries that surged through Serenity's mind about it all, however. Herself and certain others were already at risk just from the Ascendancy's reputation in regards to monsters and dark magical girls. Not that she herself was either, as she wasn't but she had been...ah...something not so good beforehand.

"...I'm still coming to meet with you three. If they are after Sylvia, much less all of us I'd want to think, then being together might be safer," Serenity said, speaking once more after a brief moment of pause, her tone somewhat grim but attempting to eek out some sort of hope that things would go well...despite her own gut feelings on the matter, "I'll transform to get there as fast as I can, since no one is actually out here right now."

Not that she blamed anyone for not being outside around this point in time...Penrose hadn't been going so well overall with all of them missing. But quickly transforming in a nearby side alley, Serenity bolted to meet up with Alicia and the others at the ice rink.

Yet seeing the weak smiles fade from the faces of Sylvia and Sally after getting to the meeting place, however, only seemed to stoke the uneasiness the magical maid felt about things. She lightly shook her head side to side when asked about if she had seen Aurelio, joining the others on the ice rink itself, though merely nodded as she listened to Sylvia's explanations about the Ascendancy and overall situation. Yet just before she could respond to it all with her own thoughts, perhaps even a suggestion in the tentative sense, a tapping on the ice and resulting reveal sent a chill down the magical maid's spine. It was at least a small comfort to be already transformed...but she wasn't sure how much that helped the situation either.

In the end, however, they had been already cornered. Serenity did her best to keep a straight and calm face as their pursuers appeared all around them, but the bloodlust from the scantily-dressed military girl was just oozing with eager bloodlust for the "hard way" the girl had spoken whilst demanding Sylvia to de-transform and submit for arrest. It was disgusting, frightening, and angering all at the same time, but before more could continue Serenity at least attempted to say something. Better than trying to attack or something drastic right now, at least in theory. She just hoped these people wouldn't force a fight on their end.

"Please listen to reason. We were all kidnapped by a Lesser Force for an unknown amount of time, went through major time dilation on the way back, and all of us as well as others that also returned to the city can corroborate that story. We had no choice in being gone!" The magical girl said, seeking to be polite and civil in her tone and consistency...took a lot to not stutter in the process to boot.

'Though if you want to draw blood so badly you'll act like mentally-retarded zealots, just wait for your own 'time of month' and you'll have plenty of blood to shed on your own....'

However, that could not stop some internal and personal thoughts of hers...at least the ones that emerged into her mind from the disgust and frustrations she felt with the matter. Was a way to try to cope silently right now, unless one of these girls was a Psychic spec for some reason. That was a terrifying thought in and of itself, no pun intended.

@Ariamis@Flamelord

---

"Bloody took yeh' long enuff', lass! Was gonna call ya ta' go huntin round ere'! Hahaha!"

The sudden call as she'd been searching had been disruptive, but Sophia knew she could only respond in one way when an ally called upon her. There was only one thing she knew would satiate the need for something to do as well right now. Billy, Mariette, and the Knight of the Rose herself would soon see a flying ship swooping down from the sky from behind Amaryllis as it moved swiftly down in their direction. Its cannons were already prepared as it slid into a drift in the air, as if it was some sort of hot rod racing car, as it neared the intersection and began firing.

"EAT THIS MAGICAL EXPLOSIVE SHOT, YA' SHITE' LIL' GHOSTY FECKERS!!!" Sophia cried aloud with a blood-lusting fervor and excitement, her weapons in her hands as the cannons concentrated their magical cannon fire at their assigned targets, "AN' LOOK OUT BELOW LASS!"

..Perhaps there was a bit too much zeal in that entrance of hers, but Sophia didn't much care about that. She just didn't want to hit her ally, and this was a limited window of time. Firing her cannons straight on at Billy and the army truck, the pirate aimed to intercept them before they got to Amaryllis or too close for her to fire at them. The explosive magical cannonballs themselves, however, sped down towards their targets in a concentration that would likely tear up the street and intersection...but at least spare the buildings nearby. Especially any civilians in nearby buildings potentially. The cute Goo Lass had told her that was a good thing. Yes.

@BrokenPromise@PlatinumSkink@ERode

---

Sil's shield connected with the hastily-thrown-out attack, the goblin corpse deflecting the chain strike to the side as she charged Ninha with her knife. However, the green-haired magical girl did not move to block or deflect the attack aimed for her own gut. Instead, the chain that had been deflected suddenly turned, moving around the shield and rapidly extending towards Sil again from behind now. It was almost like the weapon had a mind of its own...or someone was controlling it like an extension of themselves. Whatever the case was, Ninha also cocked back her left arm as the chains on it move to coat her fist in preparation for a counterattack when Sil would finally strike her up close.

From what she noticed so far, her opponent was using Time magic, and had performed a clever move to deflect her initial attack. Very nice indeed. But what would she do against a sudden attack from behind and a visible counterattack from the front? What would her opponent's attack even do to her? It excited her visibly to be able to eventually see what this stranger had in store to try to harm her. Multiple powers and specs were not uncommon, after all, among other unique attributes that could be found out there inn the world of magical girls. For now, however, the drum-like thrum of battle rang in the cold and frigid air about them.

It had been so long.

@FamishedPants

Ultimately the decision was up to Serenity, and she received no argument from Alicia once she had made up her mind. "Alright. Stay safe," the Seraph replied before hanging up. Whether Serenity made it or not was something she could not affect. She would have to focus on her own trip.

Fortunately her trip went without difficulty. While she did get the call from Amaryllis, this seemed like it was more important right now. Not to say that Liches and people being in danger was not important, but potentially being jailed by Beacon and excommunicated was a somewhat larger issue. They would just have to handle it on their own for now.

Arriving, she breathed a small sigh of relief to find Sylvia and Sally there already. "I'm alright," she confirmed with a nod. "I don't think I was followed, but I didn't see Aurelio." She hoped that he hadn't done anything drastic that would put himself in too much danger.

Slowly she moved, gliding along the ice after Sylvia as the girl relayed her concerns. "Well I can't blame them for it after we vanished. But I thought we had approval for what we'd done recently," she observed.

The sudden arrival interrupted further conversation, and Alicia tensed as she turned to see the Beckoner appear. There was no mercy to be had there. Merely judgment and action. With the confirmation more girls appeared, both sides evenly matched in terms of numbers. But in terms of skill? That was likely to be a whole other story.

Sliding to a stop, the Seraph listened to what The Ascendancy members said, as well as what Serenity had to add. For a moment she considered fighting. She could fly, Sally had her luck, they could probably break through and escape if they really tried.

But those were long odds. Not only that, but it would practically affirm their guilt. Even the notion of fighting against the Ascendancy, the representatives of the central Beacon authority, make something unpleasant twinge in her stomach even with the hostility they expressed. Despite differences in ideology, in opinion, she still respected Beacon and its beliefs too much to go against it. They would have to go with the hand they were dealt and try to make the best of it.

Turning, she flashed a warm smile to her companions before returning to the Ascendancy members as she transformed back. "We plead innocent of all charges," she replied, doing the best she could to keep a waver out of her voice. "What she said is true, and we request the right to defend ourselves."

It might be a case of too little and too late, but she had to try. For the sake of her friends, and everything she believed in.

@Rune_Alchemist

Penny wasn’t offended by the near hostile reaction of her girlfriend; a loss of time was easy to see as a loss of control and Penny knew that Chloe needed a sense of control, knew better than most just what it was like to be denied that corrupted, twisted, need. “It’s alright” Penny would say as she gently wrapped her arms around Chloe again, her grip as light as she could make it so that the Spirit mage could tell that she could leave if she wanted. “T̷h̸̨ey will not touch you!” She'd promised with a surprising amount of venom as her eyes flashed dangerously. She would not suffer to let anyone take Chloe away from her.

Penny would take a moment to calm down before she would answer “And Better now.” A half smile on her face as she looked down at the girl in her arms. “I arrived in my Lair when I returned. Spent a while just reading the news feeds while I watched the girls and boys there, piecing things together. Eventually I noticed Cindy, and got confirmation that this isn’t just one of my nightmares.” She would explain leaning back into the couch as she spoke. “Also got a call from Amaryllis, there are already some monsters causing havoc. Liches from what I got told. It’s a mess all around.”

“There is so much to do and so little time right now.” Penny would say after a moment of just enjoying the moment of stolen relaxation. “Seems it would be best to get you and Cindy in contact, you both seem better than me at this whole setting things up for the corrupted girls, hell even this Vi-chan is better at it then I am” she would say with a self-depreciating chuckle before moving on ”Afterwards I was going to go out Hunting the liches, as I realized that I might be a security risk for the Lair. Beacon tends to keep tabs on its members, but I never really looked into if they can track me through the Spark, or just via phone line.” She would explain with a shrug and a sigh.

It felt like she needed to be in three places at once right now. She needed to figure out if it was safe for the Sanctuary for her to be there, needed to go get supplies from Brittny’s shop, needed to go hunting to take care of the Monsters that were acting up. Yet she could only do one thing at a time, it was more frustration then normal for the robotic girl.

“Think I would be able to take you to the Lair if I opened the door out of here first?” Penny asked as it would make things a lot easier if she could.

To many, it would be a rather strange sight to see a magical girl so casually strolling down the streets when things in Penrose had gotten so... eventful. Increased monster attacks and a rather zealous new faction joining the fray had most, if not all, magical girls in a bit of an upset. But not this one. As if it was nothing more significant than just a Tuesday, this one kept a rather bright expression in this darkness, and even hummed softly to herself as she carried along the sidewalk.

Her appearance would have appeared innocent, albeit out of place, were it not for the fact she was stained in blood. And not all of it was red, either. Contrary to her relaxed disposition, she hadn't been slacking off since she returned. Her patron required positive emotions in order to sustain itself, and what better way to obtain those than to save people from certain death at the hands of a being they'd never known existed? At least to Hilaria, this made the most sense. She would simply kill any monsters she happened across, and since they were so prone to attack nowadays, the short time she'd spent her had proved fruitful.

Hilaria suddenly stopped, hearing something not of the norm.

"Mm~?" she curiously glanced upwards, where the sound was coming from. "Eh~? Hilaria doesn't remember that sort of thing~" she said to herself as she watched a patrol car fly through the air, alarms blaring. She found it difficult to keep up with the ever-advancing world, as most of the time days felt like minutes to her. She almost felt like she could fall asleep and it'd be the next century, unless something was there to occupy her mind. So she did have to think about whether cars were yet currently capable of flight.

Remembering that as of yet, they weren't typically capable of such, Hilaria then came to the conclusion that probably meant something mystic was happening nearby. And, as if on cue, she began to hear gunfire nearby. "Hmm~ Can Hilaria save someone, I wonder~?" as if giddy at the idea of such, she found herself with an extra kick to her step.

Since she wasn't far off from the scene, Hilaria arrived to Billy's stage in a timely manner. She took note of her surroundings, particularly the many ghouls, and saw Billy charging at... was it Armadillo? She came in from the girl's flank and a bit behind, managing to catch a glimpse of her features and recalling her from the beach, though names often did elude her.

Armadillo will certainly be happy if we take this guy down together!

Or so the armored magical girl thought. It did not take any more for motivation to rush to aid the girl, even more so now that a rather vociferous pirate girl appeared, brandishing a ship furnished with obsolete, unreliable weaponry. Or maybe she just didn't like how they ended up making heavy armor pointless. Either way, with the assistance of the obnoxious ally, she'd continue on towards her original goal of jumping to the 'rescue' of Armadillo, by meeting Obsidian William and the ghoul truck head on, were they to continue past Armadillo. If they stopped, she would provide support with her shotgun.


Emily had lagged behind the lich because of her attempts at contacting support for this fight, but it wasn't too hard to locate it once the sky started to change, and blatant signs of necromancer magics appearing. This lich made it very apparent that the word "subtle" was in its vocabulary. In a way that was a good thing, as it made it really difficult to lose the thing. On the other hand, she imagined she and whatever allies joined her would not make up the majority of the lich's audience.

"..."

She couldn't exactly rush in to a fight with a lich, could she? These things weren't just pushovers, after all. Emily understood she need to await help before committing to battle against it. That said, she couldn't twiddle her thumbs here. Sublime as it was, this melody probably wasn't just riveting -- it needed to be stopped. Gathering a ball of blue flame in one palm, she let loose a blast towards the girl, aspiring to distract her.

This was just my kind of tune, too...

The ever solemn and vigil Valkyrie was surprised by the young girl’s presence, though she hardly allowed for such to appear on her body language outside of her initial shock. Looking around for but a moment, she had not seen anyone around her and was rather shocked at this realization. Perhaps, then, it was her mind playing tricks on her, but could her mind emulate the high-pitched, childlike voice of someone she had never heard before so well?

“DOWN”

It was not until that provocation from that voice that DOES occasionally come from nowhere that Valkyrie had thought to look downwards to see … a child?.

A maiden wondering the shrouded recesses of a forest.

A girl, gentle in years, under glowing grandeur and bewitching twilight.

Valkyrie was surprised by someone so young around. Magical Girls were mostly youthful in appearance, though this one seemed especially young. If she were to happen a guess, she could not have reached any meaningful puberty, and if she did, Valkyrie probably couldn’t stop her external stoic shell from being pervaded from a lingering sense of second-hand despair for this young girl.

Regardless of her appearance led Valkyrie to believe, however, it would have been somewhat difficult to guess her age from her appearance alone, given that magical girls like herself have lived much longer than their physical ages might let on. After all, had it not been for the effects of her magic, she would have taken the appearance of a village abgai.

"I am placing these signs across the road. I was told that this would be of help to someone."

After listening to her request, the booming voice of her demanding partner began to grow inside her head, and it told to ignore this girl and to continue about her duty.

Valkyrie was the type that would much rather allow others to deal with the problem if she could and orders from her benefactor were just about absolute. In addition to that, given that he is a being that can communicate directly with her, there are ways to make the act of barking such demands an insidious endeavor; something she was keenly aware of.

“I have heard of such a place. If it pleases you, allow me, Valkyrie, to be your guide, young girl. I cannot allow someone as young as you to take upon them such an arduous task by themselves, though allow me to ask: why would a young girl like you desire to enter a place so dangerous right now? What draws you there?”

While the tone of valkyrie's voice might not have conveyed too much warmth, being rather monotonic in its pitch or tone. Though she did mean to help out the other girl, even if she didn't comprehend the correct method to display such minor conversational queues. However, given her tone, one might confuse such questions for an inquisitor.

Even if it was an order, she would assist the small girl. After all, Valkyrie was not the sort of person to sit idly by while someone who was calling out for help before her very senses. If she ignored this girl now, given the tenacity of a magical girl, she would likely have figured her own path forward; one full of the dangers and threats. Therefore, Valkyrie would be the one to assist this young lady to forge her path towards the ever-forward dawn!

"You? Sticking your nose into something you shouldn't? A rare occurrence, indeed, Basaghan," Yury said, seemingly in jest, though there was an air of genuine surprise about his tone.

After all, Valkyrie rarely showed interest in others. Even if she had disobeyed his order to ignore the girl, and while she had no attachment to her, Valkyrie would not leave someone in need on the side of the road.

As Billy flew through the skies on his beat-up car, Amaryllis pursued down below, leaping atop of buildings and sliding underneath signboards. Even when skyscrapers occasionally blocked her view of the muscular lich, her Sword always led the way, its own sense for the blood of monsters sharper than hers. But soon, the steel and concrete of civilization gave way to a more suburban plane, abandoned houses lined up by an intersection. Vaulting over one of them, Amaryllis crested over just in time to see Mariette appear from a portal, putting an end to Billy’s escape and making her own bombastic declaration.

A laugh escaped Amaryllis, the first she had ever since she returned to Penrose. That’s right, she couldn’t disappoint a kid now, could she?

Landing upon the ground and brandishing her Silverlight, the Knight of Rose tossed her hair into the air, chivalrous bravado striking her features as she disdained the armed ghouls that the foul lich called forth. “I’ll be glad for it, Sage of the Shadowed Gate,” Amaryllis spoke. “Let us show all these fell creatures that the protectors of Penrose have returned, and that there will be no tolerance for their fiendish desires now!”

And as Billy charged, so did Amaryllis, shooting through the streets as her Sword drew silver sparks against the asphalt. Sophia’s magical ordnance devastated the land and Hilaria’s tower shield met the army truck head on, two more allies Amaryllis was glad for. The faster they slew this villain a second time, the less damage the lich could do otherwise. Automatic rifles were just rifles, after all; if a civilian was caught in the crossfire, that was basically a loss.

Stepping on Hilaria’s shoulder, Amaryllis somersaulted off the ancient magical girl and fired a wink at her as she passed. Already, her Sword was clashing with Billy’s own, the second act having begun.

Helga realized that Su was interrupted by Vi's video, and paused the video with a sheepish smile. "Whoops, it was a bit loud. But here, look at these ones, so you'll get a better idea." The two moved a bit more carefull across the city, not because Su was distracted by the phone, but because of the threat of the Ascendancy discovering them. Fortunately, they didn't see any of them. "Come on, anybody can be dangerous under the wrong circumstances," Helga retorted. "Besides, it's not like hating on Beacon is a new thing." Fortunately, Su ended up agreeing with the party, which satisfied Helga. "I promise you you wont regret this, Su!" She said exhuberantly, and stepped inside the shop.



Brittany was already catering to Alex' purchases before the two girls entered.
‘A fine choice, good sir! Awareness is perfect for navigation, ensuring you never get lost! Just use that magical coin, and the magic is yours! Oh, and that one is very versatile!‘ She held a finger up as she explained. ‘That one allows you to manifest appendages depending on your Specialization! For example, you can use them for swinging around town like Spider Man!‘ She then smiled as the tails manifested. ‘I see, so a Beast magic specialist? Those tails look so fluffy!‘

After the purchases were done, she took the coins, and waved at the other girls who just arrived. ‘Welcome, welcome! Would you be two ladies be interested in some fine wares?‘
Helga gave a casual lift of her hand to Alex, a snarky look in her eyes. "Shopping, what else? At least you finally remembered my name, eh Ally-boy?" She then held back a giggle as Su went to touch one of the fluffy tails, and also grabbed one. "Oh right, Mariette. She doesn't look like much, but she's a real caster. I remember having visited her apartment once; looked real gothy and stuff. Wonder what happened to it," she kept talking absentmindedly, even as her claws continued ruffling up the tail fur in an unpleasant manner.

Helga blushed, then puffed her cheeks out, and laughed out loud at Su's joke. "Wow, Su, you have no tact!" She went closer to Su, having released the tail. "Besides, I don't need stuff like that when I have you~" She had a suggestive look in her eyes, followed by another burst of laughter. Brittany politely laughed along, though the twitch of her eyebrow told a different story. However, she returned back to her usual self as Su addressed her.
‘I can't really say,‘ Brittany then answered, a bit less peppy than before.
‘After all, I just arrived here, same as you girls. But with the Ascendancy causing trouble, I'm sure Cindy won't sit on the sidelines. She's going to make the city safe again for everyone. In case you're worried, I would recommend the Dragonscale Pendant.‘ She brought the item up, the chain dangling from her hand.
‘It can protect you from even the deadliest of attacks, and only needs a bit of time to recharge between uses, for only 1 Gold and 10 Bronze!‘ Helga hummed as she checked a shelf, and picked up two stones. "I'll buy these. It's 8 Bronze, right?" She placed the coins on the counter, and Brittany bowed as she took them. Helga then offered one to Su. "According to the description, these Friendship stones allows us to sense where the other one is. So.." She blushed. "I'd like you to hold on to it." But then, her phone rang, and Helga heard Lupa's voice. "An emergency!" She saw as Su also got the call. "Hold on, we're coming!" And so the two girls ran off, towards the source of the fighting.

---

"Vi-chan's so cool! I wanna go to her party!" Lily was browsing on her phone, watching video after video of the internet idol. But then, it dropped from her hand as she groaned.
"But I don't know howww..."
Suddenly, Ixion spoke up: "Lily, you must go! Monsters are on the attack!" Lily sprung up fro the sofa.
"But Alex is still-ah gees, I just gotta meet him halfway!"
She rushed to the balcony, and lifted her hand dramatically.
"Let my spirit gallop across the field of clouds, and strike my foes down with thunderous applause!"" And so, an even more elaborate transformation sequence ensued (as seems to happen), followed by her riding off with her bike towards Brittany's shop.

---

Cindy crackled with a giggle as Penny expressed her destructive urges. "I expected the vacation to loosen your gears," she added jokingly, and signalled to the crowd to quiet down on their video session. Her body glowed a bit brighter as Penny agreed to her plea for help, and offered not only information, but an alliance with Chloe's group. "How marvelous! We agree to this offer of yours." She then watched as Penny prepared to leave. "The Red Coin will be prepared by the time you return. Don't take too long, o chivalrous knight!"

---

Sally summoned her Shamrock Shooters and aimed them at the Ascendancy officer, causing everyone else to point their weapons at her. "We did nothing wrong, so back off! If you think you can bully us just because of your status, you've got another thing coming!" She shouted out though her arms trembled; she was scared. Sylvia also took a defiant stance, looking like she was about to summon her weapon as well, if hesitantly.

The officer scoffed.
"Sally, was it? I must say, you have been quite fortunate if your mission records are correct. But I wonder how far your luck will run..." She smiled in a wicked fashion, and began glowing purple...
Until Serenity interrupted with her own plea. Sally looked back with a hesitated face, and Sylvia's eyes widened back in surprise. The other Ascendancy members first looked at her, and then at the leading girl, who squinted her eyes. Then, as Alicia turned to look at Sylvia, she put a hand to her mouth, her irises shaky as she realized what she had done. "Alicia..." She whispered. nearly breathlessly. But, seeing the other girl's resolve despite the despairing situation, she found her spirits lifted.
Sylvia took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and in a twinkle, had also taken human form.
After she had transformed, she opened her eyes. Snowflakes slowly descended on her cheeks, but she did not blink.

"Now, Sally, Serenity...Please."

Sally's lips curled into a look of near-crying, her bunny-ear-like bow drooping. But, she nodded, dropped her hands down, letting her weapons fall to the snow before they disappeared, leaving behind four-leaf clovers pushing out of the snow. And so, she also surrendered, having also changed. "We reserve the right to stay silent!" She added, sticking her tongue out, followed immediately by Sylvia slapping her in the back of the head. "You make us sound like we're guilty!"
Finally, after seeing the decision of the others, even Serenity detransformed.
Violet made a disappointed duckface.
"Aww, that's it? And I was hoping to punish you heretics...Oh well. Juliana, cuff them." She pointed towards the group, and the tall silver-haired magical girl nodded. "Very well."

Sylvia and Sally held their hands out, and Juliana abruptly slapped a strange restraining device around their wrists; it was shaped like an infinity symbol, but was made of white stone, with glowing runes inscribed upon them. The stone cuffs made an audible sound, as if a stone lock was put in place, and they both sighed in defeat. "Still using these, huh?" She dryly commented as Alicia was also roughly cuffed; she felt how the cuffs sealed away her magical powers, preventing her from transforming.
"Updated for this century, but still effective," Violet spoke, and walked right up to Sylvia. She sensually touched Sylvia's chin, causing her to turn her head. "No need to replace what ain't broke~"
When it was Serenity's turn to be cuffed, Juliana was more gentle, and afterwards patted her shoulder. "Do not worry, lost lamb; you have been mislead by your sinful leader. I will ensure you will receive a fair trial."

Violet slapped her hands together.
"Alright, chit-chat's over! Ready for extraction, Colonel Cuddles!"
The Beckoner again appeared, and after it disappeared for a few seconds, everyone felt the familiar feeling of teleportation magic consume them.

---

After Aurelio was led out of the room by Rachel, Hudie turned her head towards Dawn; though it seemed like she wouldn't be able to see through the solid mask, Dawn could tell her eyes were upon her. However, she seemed less tense than before, likely calmed by Aurelio's magical doves that spread positive emotions in the room. "That is correct," she answered, and sat back down to watch the video Elora presented to them, and did not flinch as the glass spread over the table, having only lifted her hand before a stray piece of glass embedded itself in the spot. While Elora was busy repairing the screen, Tsuki pointed her crescent staff at Dawn, having also moved on from her rage-induced fit thanks to Aurelio. "She will likely not be going anywhere. But the U-types out there have begun inciting a panic in the populace, and must be immediately dealt with." Elora nodded. "Scanners have identified three L-class targets. One is headed toward the Museum of Natural History, another is playing music on a rooftop, and a third one is driving a truck across the city. The teleporters are primed for these locations." Hudie nodded. "Leena and Fanfan are waiting for you, Dawn. Follow your orders, and may the light of beacon shine your way." The regular Beacon members all saluted the Ascendancy members in a fear-inspired fashion.

---

Rachel had brought Aurelio to the containment sector of the HQ, an underground floor where captured monsters and other entities where kept for purification and/or execution. During the trip, she listened to Aurelio's confession, a stern look on her face. "A Lesser Force?" When asked on details, she got various answers including their name and appearance, as well as reasons for why they were brought there. In short time, the two entered the Confessional, a more elaborate name for an interrogation room.
"So, this Lesser Force looking like a dolphin took you to another dimension, and caused a time dilation?" She asked after she closed the door.

A couple of seconds later, she grabbed Aurelio by his collar. "Do you take me for an idiot, Tanner? How could a Lesser Force not only create an entire world by themselves, but also suddenly teleport the majority of magical girls of a single city there? Only Gods have that much power, and even they rarely use it to abduct so many magical beings at once; it would paint a massive target on their back!" Her glasses glinted menacingly. "Are you trying to cover for Sylvia? Willful collaboration with a heretic is grounds for excommunication." At that moment, the two heard the familiar sound of a teleportation. Rachel groaned. "We will continue this in a moment. Follow me, Tanner."

The two left the Confessional and headed to the central lobby of the containment area where Violet, her squad, and Sylvia's group had ended up.
"The target has been captured and detained," Violet reported with a salute and a smile.
"Awaiting further orders, Inquisitor."

Rachel saluted back with a nod. "Excellent work, Violet. Now, Sylvia Starshine." She turned to Sylvia, who averted her eyes. Rachel crossed her arms. "A trial will be held for you shortly. However, we are still preparing the Hall of Divine Judgement. Take them to the containment cell." Juliana and the others nodded, and brought them to their cell; it looked like a hospital waiting room and was just as huge, with clean white walls, a marble floor that reflected people like a mirror, and a ceiling sky blue in color. There were cots on the sides, and one corner was closed off by a partition for personal matters.

However, one thing made it instantly recognizable as a prison; a cage made of white stone was placed in another corner, also inscribed with runes. Kimble was in it; she was curled up and holding her tail, looking beat up; her cheeks were swollen, her eye was blackened and her jacket had slash and puncture marks. "M-Mistress...?" She asked with a whimper, and slowly sat up, holding the bars of the cage to lift herself up.

Rachel had a disdainful look. "Ugh, they should have put that savage out of its misery already. Anyway, we have a job for you, Tanner. Once you are done here, we'll return back upstairs." She turned to him, expecting him to share some words with Sylvia and the others as she waited by the sidelines.

---

Back at the war room, Tsuki observed via camera feed as Sylvia and the others were locked in the containment. "So she is the ringleader behind it all? Is this all the members accounted for?" Elora shook her head. "No, there's still a member missing...The monster."
Tsuki's eyes tightened. "So it is true? They actually let a monster into our ranks? Maybe..." She brought out an item from her pocket; a White Coin. "Based on the test results, they do embody the magic of the Beckoners and possess the potential for conducting purification. But there is other magic too...Witchcraft." Elora nodded. "The magical girls identified as being involved, Binky, Janet and Jenna, have been placed in containment."
Tsuki nodded, a hand on her chin as she kept looking at various feeds and data streams, the White Coin in her hand; she flicked it up on her thumb like Twoface. "But, we might be able to use this...We just need to make a definitive test. But first, check where she is currently; she is an R-type, so she should be connected to the public network.
"Checking..." Elora looked through the rapid streams of data, and then sighed. "I was about to pin it down, but she disappeared. She must have moved to another dimension again."
Tsuki groaned. "Well, focus on tracking the U-types for now. I'm sure that bucket of bolts will arrive here sooner or later. Then we can ask some questions."

---

The bulky lich, from hereon referred to as Mr. Bulk, was having the time of his unlife as he continued drifitng down the alleyway. "Nyeh heh heh! Now, let's see what-OW!" Rina's sword found its mark, and embedded itself in the monster's ribs, sticking out of his back like an oversized acupuncture needle. The lich turned to see another sword already fired his way, swatting it away only to get nailed by a third one; Rina had plenty of time to prepare her shots. Now with a sword sticking out of both his back and front, his jaw opened wide in anger. "Oh, a little kitten wants to play with me? Well, I'll show you some real cats!" He gained speed as he headed toward the museum, and was shrouded in drk magic that dripped down towards the building. "Yes, I can feel it...Billions of years of death, contained in bones most ancient. Now, rise once more, and answer your master!"

Suddenly, the wall of the museum was smashed, as a skeleton of a tyrannosaurus rex rampaged through it, roaring out without any observable way of doing so. Mr.Bulk aimed his golden staff at it, and rotten flesh once more encased the bones, transforming it into a dinosaur zombie. Other dinosaur zombies began storming out, including a pterodactly, a triceratops, and even a woolly mammoth. "Yes! YES! Five extinction events have harvested this world!" Rina then saw that a zombie sabertooth tiger ran out, jumping from the top of a stree light to the very rooftop she was on at alarming speed. "But I will be the sixth and final one! I will be the extinction event to end all life! HAAHAHAA!"

The sniper girl continued picking off the ogres, vanquishing two before she received a tap on the shoulder from her spotter an ducked; the ogres turned out to be mages, and conjured a swarm of small darkness spheres to spread out and hit the side of the building. The triplet that took to the melee against easily sliced through the wights with her halberd, cutting ten down. But the foul undead managed to score a couple of hits against her, causing her to visibly weaken with streaks of darkness now trailing from her back; clearly a life-draining curse was at play. Tetrad was fortunately at the scene, and using her cards, decapitated enough heads for the two of them to regroup. "Thank you, stranger," the triplet girl spoke, as another sister jumped down to cleave the horde, getting two in a single swing. "Let us work together, and banish these abominations back to resting in peace."

When Alexander heard the panic in Su's voice, he shifted mental gears 'Dammit, we just got back and something's already happening. Oh well, glad I took the time to grab some new swag.' Calling upon his new mental GPS, he used it to home in on Lily's location 'It...looks like she's headed this way, and fast. Guess she knows about whatever's happening.' Rushing out of the store, he put as much magic as he could into boosting his speed and ran in Lily's direction. It didn't take long, due to the fact that they were both heading in each other's direction at high speeds "LILY!" he yelled at her when she came into view.

A light huff escaped as the Ascendancy accepted their surrender. Like the others, she held her hands out so the stone handcuffs could be placed on them. The feeling of her powers being sealed away was a bit disconcerting, though she grew used to it after a bit. The biggest problem was that it meant she would probably not be able to tell if she was being lied to or not. It should not be something she needed to worry about, yet the comfort that it would have provided was welcome.

"Here we go," she muttered to herself as they were teleported away. Right into the lion's den. And if they were particularly unlucky there might even be an actual lion involved.

Appearing at their destination, the familiar sight of the containment area was the first thing they were confronted by. It wasn't much of a surprise to end up there, though being the one on the opposite side of the process left a twisted feeling in her stomach. "Well, at least they're prompt," she noted as it was confirmed that a trial would be held shortly. The sooner this was cleared up, the better she would feel.

It was a sentiment not long held as they arrived in the holding area. Eyes widened as Alicia registered Kimble's presence, and the state that she was in. "Hell," she muttered as she walked over to the cage. Kimble must have popped back into the base when they came back, and gotten grabbed immediately. It was only a small relief that, like had been noted, she wasn't dead already.

Cuffs hands came to hold the bars as she shot the catgirl a soft smile. "Sorry for the wait," she said with a bit of chagrin too. "We're going to get this worked out, okay?" There was the possibility that Kimble would have to be purified as a last resort, but she didn't want to go that far. Not yet.

Having provided what short term comfort she could, Alicia stood back up before turning to Kyle. "Let me guess, you walked into the base didn't you?"

The flow of spirits converging upon Endsinger's concert continued unhindered, her ghostly wail echoing through the winter sky. It was a maelstrom of spiritual power, the desires and grudges of ten thousand dead all being released in the euphoria of the undead mosh pit. Electrifying chords shook the mountain of rubble and actual lightning burst out from Endsinger's guitar as well, the lich's raven black hair going wild from neckbreaking headbanging. Who cared about regrets of a life cut short? Who cared about vengeance from beyond the grave? Who cared about disease and disaster, the fumbled rolls that brought forth unexpected deaths? Her song blew that all away, and the wraiths screamed along with her, their frustrations blasting away, their ethereal forms burning brightly. Scarlet for the damned, magenta for the cursed, cobalt for the lost, emerald for the unforgiven. The myriad of spirits swirled and bobbed, a brilliantly overbearing light show, a sea of life centered upon the Banshee-Lich.

"HEAVEN OR HELL, LET'S ROCK AND ROLL!"

Such was the density of spirits, so enthralled was she in her rocking requiem, that Endsinger didn't even notice Emily's fireball. Arcing through the sky, the fiery projectile homed in on its target, only to explode fifty meters away instead. Non-hostile as they were, the spirits that gathered at the behest of Endsinger's banquet of noise were still monsters, a collection of poltergeists and scepters, revenants and wraiths. One unlucky spirit immolated when it had collided with the fireball, but none around cared anyways; more spirits simply flowed in, plugging the hole and expanding the mass of spirits further. Faced with so many ghostly shields, perhaps the only way to get past would be to dive into the mosh pit and tear through to the center.