The moment Amaryllis sliced into Billy, she could tell that something was wrong. The resistance that she felt was all off, and her Sword shuddered against her lungs as well, disgusted by what it had just cut through. Nothing but a mass of skin and bone, like sheets of paper stacked up and given structure with plastic tubing. With all the damage dealt, the lich’s form twisted and transformed into a true monster, shedding any semblance of the barbaric swordsman he had been before. A monster of many mouths snapped at her, and Amaryllis twisted away, scraps of her uniform caught in those horrific maws. Bounding away atop her aerial footholds, the Knight of Rose drew in a deep breath as she assessed the situation once again.

Billy was nothing more than a graceless flesh slug now, and one that was most likely improbably strong as well. Slicing into him would only give him more weapons, and his ability to shed his flesh meant that her usual tactics of lining wounds with silver meant nothing. What they needed was magical artillery. What they needed was the ability to just blow that monster up to bits, and hopefully spot its weak point while doing so.

What she needed was to stall him.

“Sage Mariette, Captain Sophia! I shall bind this gluttonous beast down, so bombard it with the entirety of your sorcerous might!”

Leaping high up in the air, the amethyst-eyed fencer tunneled into the depths of her magical reserves and forced it all out in a burst of magical power. The dozens of iron buds she left suspended in the air around Billy erupted with vigorous growth, ivy chains latching onto each other and shooting through the open maws of the wretched lich. Though individually weak, they entwined and ensnared, countless gleaming threads pulling against the teeth that sought to close upon them, pushing against the flesh that sought to pulsate against them. And where some broke, more tendrils of metal burst out, a steel hydra that continued to tangle up the flesh-hulk, until it was incorporated into the monster’s body itself.

Upon a highway lamp, Amaryllis grit her teeth, her left hand clenched over the enlargening flesh-hulk as her magical veins rebelled against strain. But so long as it was only her left hand that paid the consequence of magical overuse, that was fine. For in her right hand, her Silverlight shone bright, its mirror-polish hungry to dye itself in the viscera of the flesh-hulk.

@Phonic@Ariamis


‘Alright, thank you! Let’s go, Valkyrie!’ Ronin grinned and thanked the guards, moving right ahead like she was the one who knew where to go for some reason. When they came in, she had to take a moment to look around in amazement and just go, like, ‘Woah. I knew this place was grand, but woah. I need to get out more often. I want a griffon,’ she randomly commented, and then turned to grin at Valkyrie.

‘Come on! Let’s get to Magical Services and find Jill already, then! Not a moment to waste!’ so she said, then turned and dashed headlong into the Overcity with no trace of fear at the unknown, arms spread as she embraced the child inside her for now, excitedly starting to explore the city and see what it had to offer, making her way eventually towards the Magical Services under the assumption that Valkyrie ensured she wasn’t getting lost. Then again, if she did, she’d just ask the next passerby for directions, regardless of what this passerby might be~

---

Mariette quickly bent out of the way as her tentacles managed to free her from Billy, a portal swiftly opening to allow her to land in an adjacent building onto her stomach. She breathed heavily as she swiftly closed what she’d come through and opened a new one to watch what was going on from a distance. … That was some transformation…

Meanwhile, Eli watched as the shell of the firetruck came off and it dispatched the rest of the minions like, lolwut minions. It definitely has larger than mid-range range on that tail. Then Eli’s Third Eye told her where all the bad guy’s power was coming for that was possibly the key to this entire encounter. Oh, and Amaryllis was binding up Billy in an attempt to deliver the final blow, something they likely couldn’t do without the knowledge Eli held.

Well. No time like the present, Eli figured.

Eli leapt from the skyscraper, molding her hands into her wings again to make her slimy wings larger as she glode down closer towards the site of the battle, but not close enough to get into combat. Time to shout all she knew.

‘HIS POWERS COME FROM THE HOOD ORNAMENT AT THE HILT OF HIS CLUB!’ Eli shouted, and then dove out of the way just in case some form of attack came her way. ‘AND DON’T LET THAT MONSTER JOIN UP WITH HIM!’ she then shouted, mostly to Hilaria but also to anyone who’d hear, pointing towards the monster that had come out of the firetruck.

Mariette, at this time, had heard Amaryllis request and seen how the chains started to fire around Billy in an attempt to restrain him.

‘Hmpf,’ Mariette made a discontent noise, but it seemed it was needed. Very well. Time to try out her light-and-portal combo against her first real opponent.

Mariette shot straight forward inside the room she’d found herself in. She shot multiple times, each time she did two portals appeared and caught the blast. She waved her hand-mirror magical weapon conducting a symphony as more and more shining blasts of light was caught in a loop of portals illuminating the room, more and more magical power gathering, a rave of magical destructive light as more and more blasts of power joined the mix. Then, she brought all the portals together, decreasing the distance between them, creating a globe of her portals surrounding the mass of light that was being concentrated further and further, the might of the blast she was creating scaling upwards. She heard Eli’s scream through the portal. Very well, then.

Mariette stepped through her own portal, arriving above the scene looking at it with her bare eyes. She wanted it to be known who was commanding the barrage that was coming. Now, barrage wasn’t one of her powers, but with some given time, she could arrange something similar. She pointed her hand-mirror forward, and an array of portals spread open behind her, and along with an additional blast of light from her hand-mirror came a single, enormous burst of all her concentrated lights firing down upon Billy. A single instant blast of light-magic, more than a few of which aimed for that hood ornament mentioned, but a lot was also aimed just to blast Billy basically everywhere. For the message.

This did take a decent portion of Mariette’s magical font reserves. Well, it wasn’t like she was intending on taking on many more opponents today. This one would do.

@BrokenPromise@Crusader Lord@FamishedPants@ERode

This was the impossible come to life.

Beyond the shroud of the Crystal Curtain was this fantastic city; a backdrop of the fantastic and impossible.

The Overcity.

There was an otherworldly odor pervaded through every last spec of air within this fantastic city. A sickly sweet odor that seemed impossible to place the direct nature of, yet was pervasive enough to make one nauseous. Within the expanse of the city, however, this scent was thankfully muted by other scents, some more and some less pleasant.

Yet these beings were not anomalous to the Overcity. Conformed standards of normality were different in the areas where one traveled, and this was no exception. This was the Overcity’s ordinary hustle and bustle.

While perhaps strange to the uninformed to what lies beyond the moonlit veil, to someone who had the better part of a century as the gear to an impossible machine, Valkyrie did not seem phased by the sheer insanity of the fantastic city. If anything, she seemed somewhat nervous about having such a seemingly infinite expanse of both human and inhuman masses cluttering the expanse between the impossible structures.

A man with the face of a lizard.

A woman with the wings and talons of an owl.

A magical girl riding on a mighty serpent.

And there were those who hid their faces under sheets and cloaks.

While Valkyrie held a mostly “normal” appearance of a magical girl, her wings were one of her defining features; they hardly stood out against the backdrop of the impossible, however.

She was not afraid of the unknown. Or at the very least, what she understood as the “unknown”, yet “known”. The streets were full of dangers, yet held many wonders. Such did not matter to someone who had given away her exhausted life for a peak under the veil of moonlit world.

What concerned Valkyrie more than anything was losing the person, whom she had sworn her protection to, within the ever-expanding pool of people, which had Ronin running into the Overcity with childish vigor. Catching up to the energetic Ronin with the city drop behind them was a difficult task, but once she had, Valkyrie took Ronin’s tiny hand by her own.

“Do not let go of my hand. I am afraid if you let go, I shall not be able to find you once again,” Valkyrie said to the young (appearing) magical girl, tightening her grip ever-so-slightly as to not harm Ronin, but to reassure her of her presence. Even if for a moment, were the two separated Valkyrie would have no chance of finding Ronin. And even if the two were to find one another once again, it likely would take a while, trivializing the urgency of the mission she had bestowed to Valkyrie by Ronin.

“I was told to find someone called Jill, but they didn’t really give me much instructions beyond that. I wish I was given a little more assistance than that…. “

Valkyrie sighed, though even if she was distressed by this, she did not wish for Ronin to realize. It was not as if she blamed those guards for their lack of more seemingly concrete information, though it was not as if it did not get her a bit down, her wings drooping a bit at her temporary feeling of powerlessness and confusion.

She had to be strong in these trifling times, though in reality this quest to find this “Jill” person was something akin to the blind leading the blind.

There was always the possibility of Valkyrie and Ronin splitting up to cover more ground, but again, attempting to find the tiny Ronin in this fantastic city would be akin to finding a needle in one out of a nearly infinite number of haystacks.

“Idiot. They told you how to get there, didn’t they? What more do you want from them. A Basaghan who can’t follow directions is a Basaghan I don’t need.”

Her only clue was the name of the place she might find Jill; Magical Services district.

According to the very nice guards at the edge of the veil, this is where “Jill” would be found. If she was popular enough to be known by name in an infinite expanse of highrises and impossible fantasy, then it couldn’t be too hard to find her, right? If these were her only two clues, she would not let them go to waste.

With that, Valkyrie attempted to direct herself towards this district in order to ask about this “Jill” individual. Hopefully, “Jill” was not such a common name that the directions given by the guards would be for naught!

@Ariamis@Majoras End

Before the utterly alien looking girl ever spoke Penny was on edge. Something about the other girl triggered a feeling of unease within the normally laid back robotic girl. It felt like she was looking in a broken mirror, one that magnified her own perceived flaws. Plus there was something that she could not put to words that had her hackles rising.

Then the robotic insectoid spoke, and the mystery was shattered. For in a way Penny was looking at a broken mirror, a reflection of what it was that she had felt Laat had turned her into, and all it took was hearing her old Patron’s name for her to know that this was a fight where only one of them was going to be walking away.

The soft clicks of her hidden limbs releasing there restraints, was hidden by her opponents short declaration, as was the sound of a metal latch being thrown, and the soft hum of her Gauss system powering up. In fact the only sound that came from Penny that could be heard was the revving from the chain blade in her arm that flared to life as she raced her replacement.

And thankfully for the Beacon based monster girl, her chainsaw’s rev is also what kept her from being surprised by the sudden inclusion of a third member to this grudge match. For the kinetic waves of sound it released paired beautifully with her new Specialization, granting her a near perfect understanding of where everything in this alleyway was.

Because of that Penny didn’t falter in her charge when Valerie appeared to block the incoming sword swing, and instead just continued on, flowing up and over her newfound ally, as she sought to pin the Alien girl between them, raining down a barrage of strikes on the interlopers as she went.

---

@ERode

Viva staggered to her knees as she felt the full fell might of the lich’s magic pressing down on her mind. She struggled to keep her thoughts amidst the roaring riffs that rung in her mind that sought to drown her in the rhythm and tempo of someone else tune. Try as she might to summon up her anger or focus it continued to simply scatter in the face of the psychic onslaught.

She was nearly lost to the music’s sway as she brought her hands to her head. As she grit her teeth in a desperate attempt to maintain control, she found salvation. Not from the pressure or pain that the act caused but from the blood that it brushed against her tongue, blood that sparked a single to run through her mind.

'I'm Hungry'

Latching upon that moment of clarity she unwound the curse in her hand, lessening it from a mindless frenzy to an amplification of desire at let it overcome her. Seeking refuge from outside influence inside her own insanity. The look of anger bled away and was replaced with one of manic hunger, as she began to see Endsinger as nothing more than a meal waiting to be consumed.

A glass beaker would appear in her off hand filled with a clear substance, a wave of her corrupted magic would engulf it, blackening the glass and changing the liquid to a violent, hissing, green sludge. A moment later and she threw it at the musical lich.

Her gun would let out another retort a moment later, this time aimed at the glass projectile. As she was under no delusion that her throw beaker would hit, but shattering it midair to spray the corrupted acid everywhere? That was much more likely to cause some damage, and besides she liked her food spicy.

@Ariamis@BrokenPromise

---

His staff, huh! That would make this exceptionally easy, then. Too bad she missed her chance for a snipe attack earlier. Rina kept to the rooftops still, dancing across acrobatically and crippling any undead dino that might be up there with her. They might be undead, but lop an arm off or close enough, and it'd be hampered enough to render it a non-threat while they dealt with the necromancer. With Tetrad and the others, this should be easy.

Having now gotten close enough to the Necromancer, Rina leaped from the roof tops. Sailing through the air, her attack was intended to be two fold. A Longsword was aimed downwards, right for his hand intending to cut off the one gripping the staff. If that wasn't enough, she was at least close enough to engage in physical combat long enough to distract him from summoning more of those things.


@Ariamis

---

Leader of Penrose. Chloe smiled as Cindy spoke, hiding the small spirit girl's thoughts. She'd have laughed at her assertion and then proceeded to beat the life out of her for making that statement had circumstances been better. Ah, she really didn't care about 'peace and prosperity' to all either. Such nonsensical drivel. She didn't like it, but Cindy was right. If they were going to beat the ascendancy, they were going to need to work together. She could swallow her pride for now, to do that much at least.

"Hmm, I don't think I need to think too much about it." Chloe said in reply. "But I'll wait for my two girls to show up before making any decisions...speaking of, I think they should be to my apartment already. I'll retrieve them and meet you there later, I suppose." Placing the tea down, Chloe opened the door to her own apartment...before promptly being assaulted.

"Chloe!" Aurora had jumped from halfway across the room and face planted right in Chloe's chest.

"Getooff-you-!" Not having any of it, the dark magical girl pried Aurora off her rather easily as Divina soon joined them, grabbing Aurora by the shoulders.

"Chloe. It's good to see you safe." The moth girl smiled, holding Aurora in place.

"Yeah! I almost thought you kicked it, but realized you're too bitchy to die easily!"

"You're lucky I have some use for you." Chloe huffed, folding her arms. "...well, its good to see both of you safe as well. I'll introduce you to Cindy here...but I think for now, I already know how I'm going to handle this." The dark magical girl frowned. "As much as I don't like it, an alliance perhaps, is necessary if we want to deal with the ascendancy, but we can talk more about that later."

"You mean like how you wanted-mmmf!" Divina placed one of her hands over Aurora's mouth before he could say anything else.

"Now now, lets see this shelter, hm?" The moth smiled. "It looks like it could use a bit more...furnishings, but it feels very safe. Ah, that's good. I'd be distraught if these girls weren't." Glaring lightly at a seemingly oblivious or uncaring Aurora, Chloe led the other two to the 'television room'. It was...less entertaining than Chloe had really hoped for. Well, not that she could really find anything really to her tastes on the regular internet. With a brief wave to Cindy to announce the arrival of Aurora and Divina, she took a seat towards the back.

Aurora though, seemed easily caught up with it and was soon joining the others in laughter.

At the moment Lily was thrown, time seemed to slow down for her. She saw as Mika summoned a door, saw how the triplets fought around her, and how Alex was far away rescuing the sniper girl. She didn’t harbor any ill will to any of these people; in the chaos of the moment, everyone still did their very best. And she failed them, letting herself get knocked right into the waiting maw of a horrible stinky dino. But wait, this was taking a bit longer than she thought...Lily realized she had sped up her reactions, watching everything pass by slower. Of course, she was now a couple of seconds away from being chomped. Or so she thought; Su dashed in, her black wings unfolded in a terrifying but beautiful visage, slapping the giganotosaurus away. Time resumed its space as Lily rolled into a knee-down landing pose, and she gave a thumbs up to the dark magical girl.
”Thanks Su! I owe you one!"

Kai was surprised by Alex’ reveal, and blinked as she leapt back, rifle lifted up to aim at the undead dinosaur that clamped its jaws around nothing. “Beast specialist? I see.” Empowered by Alex’ magic, she took aim through the holes of the new wall, and breathed in deep. As the dinosaur bit again, she shot right into its maw; the shot was charged with kinetic energy with lowered piercing power, causing it to ricochet inside the monster’s skull and obliterate its brain. As a result, the beast fell down, still moving due to its undead status, but lacking motor functions to properly continue its pursuit. The sniper looked pleased with the result, and smiled at Alex, before she looked away with a huff, seemingly still embarrassed. “Thank you for the assistance. I appreciate it.”

Mr Bulk was still gloating as the door opened, and he turned to mock Mika.
“Do you really think you can shunt me through that door? You idiotic feline!”
But then, the skeletal lich’ jaw dropped, and his eyes blinked white in a comical fashion as the torrent of water gushed forth. “Wait wha-AAAAAHHH!” The land-dwelling dinosaurs managed to hold their ground at first, but the swirling, serpent-like flood soon swept them away, roaring and shrieking helplessly. Even the lich himself was taken by surprise, and kept a hand forward to split the waves. “Nhaaargh! I’m soaked to the bone!” He swung his staff angrily at Mika. “So you like water, eh! How about some real leviathans? I don’t need bones to cast thi-KHKHKHKH!”

The lich was stunned by Tetrad’s card. There, seeing her chance, Rina came down in a swing of her longsword; his hand holding the staff was chopped clean off by the brave magical girl in a surprise attack, and was also swept away by the flood of water, glinting under the waves. The lich turned furious, his empty eyesockets now ablaze with green fire. “You meddling children! I’ll kill every last one of you!” His two shoulder pauldrons now glowed brightly as he focused his magic, and out of the water spawned horrible undead monsters of the deep; plesiosaurs with long necks and sharp teeth that reached for Su; one of them managed to bite her wing. Megalodons with a huge maw that now assaulted the triplets, and kronosaurs swiftly raced through the waters, gunning for Rina and Lily.
”Those shoulder thingies are also the philly things!" Lily screamed as she shot at them, having already forgotten the name of the phylacteries. She shot her lightning arrows at the lich, causing him to be stunned again.
”Destroy them-Ah!" She kicked the kronosaur away before it managed to bite her, but she was flanked another that sunk its teeth into her back.
”Ngh!"

---

“I understand. I look forward to meeting your subjects,” Cindy replied to Chloe, and then turned her attention to Eliza once the dark magical girl left towards the door to her apartment. She patiently listened as Eliza explained the reasoning for her arrival, nodding at her mention of being subject to monster-related discrimination. She did not blink at the mention of the Ebon Mint. “Yes, many here are former agents of the Mint slave machine. You are not alone in your plight.” However, while she was in a good mood already, the formal greeting performed by the witch and her familiar seemed to delight the electric shape, causing her to glow a bit as she carefully clapped her hands. “Ah, this is the first time I have been properly addressed. My joy knows no bounds. Eliza Winters and Theresa, you are both welcome to stay here as long as you like.” With the elegance of a royal, she took Eliza’s hand, gesturing her to rise. However, by doing so, she caused a tingling feel to spread on her palm, like static electricity after touching a doorknob. She soon released her hold, seemingly realizing the reaction she caused. ”That’s right, my touch arcs with energies harmful to beings of water. Joy can sometimes be a blinding emotion indeed.”

It was at that moment when Chloe returned with Aurora and Divina, and she addressed them both with a curious look. “My, what adorable subjects you have, Chloe.” She looked at the crowd of corrupted girls in response to Divina’s remark. “My subjects have done what they could, but unfortunately there isn’t enough living amenities for everyone.” “Yeah, it’s been rough ever since the Ascendancy showed up.” One of the monster girls spoke up; she wore a brown tubetop and green puffy pants, and held a club over her shoulder. “After we lost girls on a furniture run, we decided to settle with what we have. Besides, plenty of us are used to sleeping on the ground, so it hasn’t become too big of a problem.” She then bit her lip. “Right, introductions. Name’s Goblina. I was running the shelter before boss came back. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“If you would like to provide assistance in the building of the shelter, you may address Goblina. Now then, where were we?” Cindy glanced at the screen, where Elvira' video began playing again. “IT’S VI-CHAN!” The girls seemed to turn crazy with a snap, their eyes having turned to hearts. “VI-CHAN! I LOVE YOUUU!” Aurora was quickly surrounded by a pack of overenthusiastic fans as they expressed their affection for the internet idol, and soon found herself smushed between the ample chests of two heavily built, thick monster girls.
Cindy giggled. “Looks like you have already made some friends, Aurora~”
It might have seemed like heaven to an outside observer, but to Aurora, who lost not only her personal space but also her breath, it was hell.

“VI-CHAN! VI-CHAN! VI-CHAAANNN!!!”

---

The insectoid cyborg’s dripping blade created sparks as it’s blade crossed with Valerie’s. The otherworldly monster girl seemed shocked and appalled at the act, hissing and clicking with clear fury as it pushed against the blade. “Don’t interfere! This is the fate of all Stagnation!” She spat out.

Penny then leapt over Valerie, aiming to flank their opponent. But, as Penny brought her mighty fists upon the back of the insectoid, the armor shifted; spherical mounds of armor sprung up and deflected Penny’s blows, as if the armor itself actively parried Penny’s blows, receiving only minor damage from her destructive attack.
“You’ve become weak, Penny!” The monster girl buzzed, and in a swift maneuver kicked Valerie in the stomach; it was distressingly powerful, sending the brave defender back from the impact, the armor on her front having cracked.

“You were the chosen one, and you threw it all away!” The inhuman gynoid swung her swordless arm in a backhand at Penny. But just as it was about to hit, another blade sprung out from the elbow, also coated with the strange liquid. It was then, as Valerie recovered from the blow she sustained and lifted her blade once more, she noticed that something happened to it. To her horror, she saw how some of the foul liquid that was smeared on it from their clash gradually spread on its own. Like some kind of inorganic, acidic mold, it rusted and corroded the metal as it continued expanding over the surface; it would soon reach the grip of the blade if Valerie doesn’t act.

---

The jury of the trial had their interest piqued as Alicia stepped forth and voiced her own part in the crimes addressed. Rachel in particular seemed to smile cruelly, as if she knew all along, but Tsuki also smiled a bit. Elora on the other hand continued typing on her laptop, seemingly ignoring the speech, though a careful ear would deduce she was actually recording every word. Sylvia shook, clearly upset by Alicia’s honesty, though she stayed quiet and also listened as Alicia recounted the tales of Kimble, of the White Coins. Even Isthar, the girl who never stopped praying with her hands clasped and eyes closed, seemed to lift her chin, if only a bit, as Alicia brought up all the events that brought the Seraph here.

The eyes that Alicia met were ones of zealous fury, of conviction of their evil and of the belief in their guilt. But, as Alicia bravely kept on going with her words of true light, the Beacon masses began to shift in their demeanour. However, the ranks of the Ascendancy was not swayed.
By the end of Alicia’s confession, the trial hall was quiet. The jury looked at each other. Finally, Tsuki spoke up.

“Why would the Beckoners of Penrose deem such a change acceptable? For thousands of years we have stood against the darkness, bringing light to all corners of the world. The Beckoners have since guided us, and have never swayed from the true path.” The masses began whispering among each other, and Rachel then spoke. “She is lying! She is a heretic who deserves the fires of Pandemonium!” She made an accusative point, causing people to gasp. “Elora lifted her head. “Do you have proof to present?” Rachel nodded. “I do. Take a look at this.” She snapped her fingers, and two Beacon girls lifted a television screen. A video began playing; it showed how Alicia secretly met with Janet, and gave her the potion that cleansed her.

“As you can see, Miss Hayden could have purified this monster girl using the traditional methods we know to work, but she instead resorted to witchcraft, resulting in an abomination that still possessed an appearance most unnatural,” she then said, pointing out the liquid hair that Janet then had. The crowd was shocked, though Hudie then refuted her. “She did confess to having collaborated with Janet and Jenna. I assume this girl eventually turned into those two.” Rachel nodded. “True, but that is not all.”

The video then changed to a photograph of Penny at the hangar, with Sylvia holding a mechanical device on her hands. “Sylvia Starshine contributed to installing illegal modifications to a monster girl who I remind you was not purified as of this moment.” Tsuki frowned, and slowly nodded. “And even now, she is still a monster, correct?” Elora nodded. “That is true. The White Coin did not change her appearance.” Rachel adjusted her glasses, causing them to glint in an omenous fashion. “Which means the Coin did not purify her, only gave her a power that doesn’t belong to her.” She grinned. “I would now like to call in a witness: June.”
The crowds parted as the green-haired girl with a sour attitude slowly stepped forth, and took her appointed seat. After swearing to speak the truth, as was required, Rachel asked: “You were at the graveyard battle, correct? Could you recount what you saw there?”
June nodded in a hesitated fashion. “Yes. As I remember, a horrible Horror was about to be summoned to Penrose, thanks to the machinations of monster twins called Regina and Elroy, as well as a dark magical girl whose body would serve as the vessel. Alicia participated in the defense, and by the end of it, the girl was purified thanks to her efforts. But...I was wrong.” Her gaze lifted up to Serenity. With a shaky hand, she pointed at her. “She...She is not a true Beacon. In fact, she is the very Horror that Alicia pretended to defeat, having succeeded in invading our world.”

Some girls in the audience fainted as the accusation was passed. Rachel was having the day of her life. “Thank you. That’s all we needed to hear.” She turned with a puff of her chest. “So, if you truly believe in our cause, would you really have purified that monster girl with witch potion, or let a reborn Horror walk the streets of Penrose? Or do you deny these claims?” She asked, trying to push Alicia into a corner. Isthar’s face turned towards her; though she did not see through her closed eyes, Alicia could tell that the Cardinal’s attention was on the Seraph now of all moments.

---

Helga grimaced, fully aware that her Sonic Strike would not be enough to stop Lupa when she was overcome by Feral’s influence. Not only that, she also knew what the wolf monster’s strategy would be; pack tactics. And Lupa was truly a master of Duplication magic, able to create clones durable enough to withstand light punishment while dealing out as much as her original form. And thanks to her speed and ferocity, it might as well have be the same as fighting eight Lupas. With the chaos of the concert going on however, Helga didn’t catch where the original was. And with Emily wounded, it was likely she would be killed if she tried to fight two of them on her own. She saw as the Beacon force headed for the Endsinger; she felt like that crew would be enough to beat the lich.
“I hate this, but I haven’t got a choice! Gotta use the Helga family secret technique: FLEE!”

She threw Emily over her shoulder, and using her arm cannons jumped out of the way of the two Ferals, causing them to collide with each other. She used the crowd to her advantage, and lost herself in the masses. However, that wouldn’t be enough, as Lupa had an excellent sense of smell. Fortunately, a manhole was nearby, and so Helga and Emily got down and dirty as they escaped through the sewers. Once Helga sensed that the music of the lich was muffled enough by the distance, she removed the deafening spell from Emily while still carrying her and running away. “Thanks for the save, hot chick! By the way, who the hell are you?”

Above ground, FanFan and Leena were smarter than the average magical girl, and saw what happened to those who attacked the ghostly audience. Thus, they jumped over the horde, with Leena performing a spinning drill dash while FanFan launched herself using her metal arms as a bazooka. “Target sighted. Going for the lockdown!” The squad leader shouted, and her eyes began to glow a menacing red. FanFan smiled. “Ooh, this is some nice music, but I do prefer classical, thank you very much~”

Now above Endsinger, FanFan enhanced her robot hands, causing her fingers to extend incredibly long, turning into the bars of a birdcage that surrounded Endsinger’s immediate location, encasing her within ten meters. “Go for it, Leena!” She shouted, and Leena dashed forward, her swords glowing as she crossed them.

“VOID ROOM!”

And then, five meters away from Endsinger, a field suddenly expanded up to ten meters in radius, causing colors to invert for everything inside. Endsinger then realized that her magical music was silenced, and the ghosts that lingered in the space also disappeared, banished by the Field that rejected all magical phenomena.

It was a Nullification Field, stopping all external magic.

Leena continued charging in, and swung her swords in a drilling stab, aiming right towards the lich’s heart. “Take this!”

---

Valkyrie followed Ronin as she ran into the mass, able to pursue her through the chaos. However, it wasn’t until the two found themselves at a street corner that the angelic magical girl grabbed the smaller girl. They were at the Bazaar; a street full of vendors that sol exotic and strange offerings; one vendor sold artifacts from the far east, including flying carpets and dancing scimitars, while another sold technological devices enchanted with various functions. “Get your dragon tears here!” They heard a man shout. “Discount potions and tonics! Healing draughts half price!” A woman was heard hollering. “Fresh Fragranta’s perfumes will have boys swarming over you!” Valkyrie was then harassed by a magical girl offering free samples of her irritating scents.

But then, as the magical girl was distracted, a hand snapped over Ronin’s shoulder. Appearing suddenly from an alleyway came a magical girl wearing strange clothes, her face covered by a furry shawl. She spoke in a foreign accent. “Well hallo thar! I hav gud deels in offir! För juu, a majik katena, yas yas! Sharep and sulicy! Fid för sammarai!” She lifted her arm, and revealed that under her robe she carried all sorts of bladed weapons, from daggers to broadsword to even a claymore. “Gud preis för juu, yas? Kum Kum!” She took Ronin by the wrist, and began dragging her towards what looked like a shop of some kind, tucked away in the darkened alley.

Alexander raised an eyebrow in slight confusion at the girl's attitude "Right...well I'm heading back to the front line. Later." Alexander got a running start And leaped to the fight with the Lich. While in mid flight, he saw one of the beasts take a bite out of Lily, and murder appeared min his eyes 'Fuck that!' Growing an extremely long tail out of the palm of his hand, he covered it in barrier spikes. Once he got close enough he wrapped it around the thing. With it so preoccupied trying to eat Lily's spine, it didn't notice until it was too late. It didn't take long for Alexander to turn it's head into pulp. With the creature dead, he threw up another barrier around him and Lily, and some other third girl who just so happened to be there "It never ends for me, does it. I hate being the designated healer." He grumbled as he got to work healing Lily's back. Before he could finish, another beast just like the one that attacked Lily started ramming into his barrier "Gah! Fuck you!" He made a hole in the top of the barrier before turning to the other girl inside "Please kill that thing."
@Rune_Alchemist

@DarkwolfX37

The crows zoomed towards Shion, before they fumbled mid-air and smashed into her. Shortly afterwards, the befuddled birds fell to the ground and rolled several feet away from her. No one present looked like they were enjoying themselves. Let’s break that down a bit so that it’s easier to understand what Shion did and how we got that result.

The first thing Shion did was release a wave of photons, which are carrier particles for many things. In Shion’s case: They can give or take electrons to give something a positive or negative electronic charge. She did this to overload the crow’s Cry4 cryptochromes, which is a protein located in most birds eyes and enables them to see magnetic fields. This is why you can take a bird, throw it in a truck, drive several miles away, and it will still be able to fly home. Thing is, this protein reacts by turning the bird’s vision a slightly blue hue when it looks at magnetic fields. Like the giant one at the sky going to either pole. So the crows vision became very blue with this first wave. It didn’t overwrite the commands that they had been given however.

The second wave of photons were designed to remove electrons from the crows, causing them to be positively charged. Shion hoped to throw the birds off course while positively charging them. The former didn’t work, largely because their vision had already been tampered with.

The third wave is kind of interesting, as this expanding dome contained photons loaded with electrons. Because electrons have a negative charge, it would attract the electron starved/ positively charged birds. But magnetism’s effect gets stronger as you move closer to it and weaker as you are further away. So for a moment, the field of electrons actually accelerated the crows towards Shion and only tried to slow them down once they were inside of the barrier. But by then the dome was expanding further, weakening as it got further and further away. This said nothing of the already speedy avian creatures baring down on Shion. One benefit this did have for Shion is that they were moving so fast that they couldn’t possibly coordinate an attack on her. Even if they tried to slow up, their magneticly bolstered momentum wouldn’t let them.

And the fourth wave, much like the first one, didn’t have any visible affect. But this was because the birds had already undergone a crazy amount of “overload.” They likely didn’t know where they were, what time it was, or what was even happening.

From all sides, Shion was pelted by magically enhanced crows. The impact caused an explosion of onyx feathers to blast out in all directions before the birds fell to the ground. With the third dome still expanding, the crows were pulled away from Shion’s body before its effect on them had entirely dissipated. A painful ordeal for all involved. Except for one person.

”So it is magnetism.” Vermin Slayer cackled at the spectacle, wherever he was. ”Once you’re dead, I’ll be sure to split the bounty with you.” He sighed. ”But that won’t be today. Seems now wasn’t a very good time to start the hunt.” The crows rolled onto their feet and hobbled into the darkness. ”I’ll be watching you.”

---

@Rune_Alchemist@Card Captor@EnterTheHero

Su was doing everything in her power to fend off the plesiosaurs, but one of them still managed to bite her wing. Fortunately, it was entirely made out of magic, so Su could separate herself from it rather easily. But it still meant a substantial drop in mobility. The worst part of this situation was that Lily ended up getting hurt anyway. Fortunately Alexander posted faster was quick to rescue Lily from further harm. She had mixed feelings about not being included in Alex’s rescue attempt, but was pleased she didn’t have to suffer the humiliation of getting rescued herself. It still irked her though. As the dinosaurs closed in on her, and as her anger welled up, she drew her staff and swung it at the approaching plesiosaurs. With a roar of furry, Su’s attack kicked up a miniature tornado that ripped through the dinos before her. Their long necks were braided around each other before the windstorm cut through their plump bodies.

“Effective, and satisfying…” Only it wasn’t really satisfying. Su felt strangely apathetic. With a hop, she sprung into the air and flew to higher ground. There was no sense of urgency as she ascended.

Mika continued to weave the water around, before jumping onto Mr Bulk’s back. “Huzza!” Through the power of Kaijo, Mika was determined to strike the necromancer in the back of the head with her chest. Hopefully this would get him to stop being so mean. Since she was out of the ring, she thought it would be okay to grab him by the back of his massive shoulders.



”Cool story, bone bro.” she said before spinning like a top. ”Now let me show you why I’m number one!”

Her first few attacks were designed to protect the triplets, which she did by throwing a Yellow Draw 2 card at one of the megalodons. She threw a Green Draw 2 at the other megalodon, and a Green Reverse at the weakest looking triplet, obscuring her. The green Draw 2 turned into a poisonous dagger mid flight.

Her next card was a Red Reverse, which was sure to amplify Mika’s strength. She also happened to be the easiest person to aim at. Then a Blue reverse was thrown towards Kai, who might make use of the projectile deflection the card granted.

The rest of her cards were directed at the necromancer himself, particularly the giant red stones on his shoulders. To the right side, she threw a blue skip card, which just transformed into a spinning scythe that appeared wedged in the gem, before tossing a red skip at his other shoulder, which exploded. Her next two cards were Red Draw 2s, which she aimed at either shoulder. Her last card was a Red 7, but it became a Wild Draw 4 as it was the last card in her hand. Tetrad didn’t even bother aiming this one, and just chucked it as hard as she could at the lich’s center mass. The final explosion covered the lich, Mika, and Tetrad in a cloud of black smoke.

Su looked at the spectacle and sighed. Still no feelings yet.



As horrible as it was to do to poor Tetrad, Mac's spool did not state that she should be the one to bring down the litch. Nor Samantha, not even Mika. For reasons unknown to her, the Moirai deemed the fight be ended by the Ascendancy. It was a strange request, but whatever. Though just because she was letting them steal the kill didn't mean she wasn't going to turn on them again afterwards.

She used her gravity magic to weaken all the incoming attacks. It was absurd, but who was she to stand up to fate?

"OW, SHIT, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!" Shion shouted in pain as the her plan backfired and the crows belted into her at high speed. Luckily, they didn't do much damage, but they still hurt like a bitch.

Ko stifled a laugh. "I'm so sorry, Shion. I don't mean to laugh but I can't help it, hehe." She covered her mouth with her remaining ear as she chuckled a little.

Shion was pissed. "Get back here damnit! I'm going to smack you for that!" she shouted into the air. "Tsk. At least I know he's not just the crows themselves, then. I'd say that's a fair trade. Shit my arm hurts. Stupid birds." She began to glare at the owls. "Get the hell out of here!"

@BrokenPromise

"Hmm~?"

Hilaria had successfully managed to strike down one of the vehicles, but was confused at the other's actions, at least until the last moment. As the vehicle merged with whatever Billy had become, her expression darkened. This Lich was capable of assimilating things to grow in both size and power? That did not bode particularly well. Finding out exactly how powerful this thing could become was not amongst her priorities, so she would do what she could to prevent this.

And it seemed as though someone else had the same idea. "Ah, okay~!" she replied to the voice, but her attention was focused elsewhere. Given the fact this new amalgamation of fleshy maws was aiming to devour Billy (and probably her as well), she would have to act -- and fast.

Naturally, Hilaria's first objective was to avoid getting assimilated along with what had become of Billy. The slug did not betray traits one would commonly associate with patience, and as such it moved faster than one might expect a fleshy mass to. Therefore, with what little time she had, Hilaria had decided to forcefully move Billy out of its path, but that plan had a minor hitch ---

"Ah, Armadillo~! He needs to move~!" she nonchalantly warned the magical girl attempting to restrain Billy. Regrettably, keeping him still in this instance only made it easier for the fleshy masses to achieve their presumed goal of assimilation of each part. And given that thing's rapid approach, the 'artillery' Armadillo was hoping on would not reach Billy before he was devoured.

There was indeed a size disparity of sorts between the armored magical girl and the lich, but that did not make enough of a difference. This was especially so given that he'd recently lost a bit of mass after being cut from his prior skirmish. This meant that Hilaria's goal of knocking Billy out of the way should be sound, even if it may annoy or otherwise irritate her strange-named ally. With a strong kick off the concrete, Hilaria rushed straight for the Lich, scutum braced before her.




"..."

From rooftop to rooftop at blinding speeds, Silhouette pressed on. Her current objective was obviously reach her fellow Cradle agent and provide assistance in dealing with the lich. But despite her swiftness, the trip felt as though it was taking ages. Samantha couldn't get the other girl, Ninha, out of her head. It was a momentary engagement lasting all of a minute. An exchanging of blows between two powerful beings, yet without decisiveness. One that was, in the grand scheme of things, fatuous.

But also so very enjoyable.

Samantha didn't want to admit it. A senseless fight like that should have evoked feelings of disgust, of irritation. Yet all she could feel, at the moment, was disappointment. A longing to ignore her orders and return to the other girl to finish what they had started. To feel the thrill of battle, in short. It went against what Silhouette believed to a core trait of an assassin. What separated them from common murderers. Her pride would normally not allow this. How could she be no different than some violent thug, some cruel beast? She had class!

...right?

That's... not right.

At last, an admission. Not from The Voice, but from Samantha herself. She'd... understood that she had only ever been denying herself, all this time. The Voice was nothing more than a part of her nature, crying out. Coming to terms with this... there would absolutely be significant changes to come...

But for now, Silhouette had a job to accomplish. Her arrival at the location of the battlefield was timely; she managed to show up a with enough time to make sense of the situation. Her crimson orbs observed the bizarre sights from above, glancing over the dinosaurs and whatnot. She might have shown surprise were it not for the fact Penrose seemed to attract these sorts of things almost on the daily.

Eventually, her eyes settled upon her fellow Cradle agent, Tetrad. Thanks to their connection via Veronica, locating another agent was almost as easy as it was to breathe. At the time of Silhouette's arrival, she had just begun flinging many a card at various targets, one of which included Mika, whom Sil couldn't help but notice her gaze drag on, before then assaulting the bulky lich with a few different sorts of cards. Most importantly, however, was that she'd noticed the intense magical presence within the orbs on the shoulder of the lich. If there was anything housing its soul, those had to be it. Deciding it best to help finish this quickly, she became intent on joining up with the Cradle agent, and Silhouette descended from the building she had been perched on with a thud, reaching ground level. However, as she did so, an explosion erupted as a result of Tetrad's actions, covering the three figures of interest in a thick, black cloud.

Silhouette retrieved her blade and approached the cloud, but did not immediately dive into it. Waiting for it to disperse or for the people inside to act was, in her opinion, a better decision.



Emily let out a high-pitched yelp as fangs found themselves dug into her flesh, a loud crack signaling that the attack had also managed to break the bone in her arm. The pain she experienced was great enough to make her weak at the knees, and that was without bringing into consideration the claws of hers that tore at her midsection, drawing blood. She very much wanted to cry.

But now was not the time. The injured girl threw strength into her arm and tried to pry herself away from the maw of what had been her ally just moments prior, but this feat was difficult. She summoned flames in her hand that would hopefully cause Lupa to back off.

Emily wasn't entirely sure what had happened to Lupa, but she understood that it probably not intentional. Was this a result of the Lich's music? She knew that it couldn't be entirely this, but that it might have been the trigger. Worrying about this now, however, was pointless. With her arms and her side injured, she couldn't imagine any close-range engagements leading to anything but her assured death. With this blatant disadvantage factored in, Emily immediately attempted to take off after separating from Lupa, but found the pain to be too great. She was sure she could eventually adjust to it and push it to the back of her mind, but that would take some time; time she did not currently have. At least not until she received some help.

The girl she had saved moments ago confronted Lupa and managed to blow her away. She had not defeated Lupa, but there had been some desperately-needed space between them and her. It was nothing short of a godsend, but Emily couldn't find it in her to be happy when she saw Lupa get hurt. Still, it would probably be best to focus on the clones she had summoned before worryi---

"E-eh!?" gasped in surprise, suddenly experiencing the feeling of being hoisted over a shoulder and then carried.

Helga apparently had formed some sort of plan that involved carrying Emily away. Being in the state she was, the fire girl couldn't exactly prevent Helga from doing this, even when the pain from her sides was threatening to overwhelm her. Emily was sure that this girl had good intentions, however.

Eventually, the two gained enough distance from the concert and the girl removed her sound magic from Emily, allowing the girl to hear again. With that, Emily was feeling well enough to ask the girl to set her down. Assuming she did, Emily would answer, "Oh, my name Emily...!" she gave a quick bow, clenching her teeth at the pain that assailed her when she did so. But she still wanted to give the girl a proper introduction, and so allowed her to give her name in return before continuing. "T-thank you for helping me!" she was cradling herself with her one good arm, and her bad one fell to her side. It was likely a better idea to get her wounds treated, but she didn't seem like the thought had crossed her mind as she immediately brought up other things. "Oh, I hope Lupa is okay... I'm not sure why she did all of that, but it's my fault for bringing her here, I'm sure. I need to help her snap out of it, so I should return..." she gave a weak smile. "Um, thanks again..."

Saying this, Emily would begin stumbling her way back towards the concert, trying her best to ignore both the pain and the stenches she was suffering.

If but for a moment, Dawn's pride was somewhat dashed. Her Beacon teammates had fully managed to vanquish the spectral bouncer, seemingly by their lonesome. Though she had certainly distracted it with her own magic, the swiftness with which they executed the enemy was something to be... well... envious of. Dawn hoped in that moment she would be able to achieve such a level of teamwork, but for now, she just had to pull her own weight.

With their main adversary out of the way, Dawn followed suit, much more easily capable of navigating the minefield of aggravated souls thanks to her true flight. She dove, ascended, weaved through -Dawn kept apace with FanFan and Leena, never too far above their heads. A few fiery blasts here and there into the walls eased the path for either of her sisters to press on.

She paused in wait of their successive assault, unsure of their initial intents and plan. At the call of Leena's Void Room, things were clear enough. They would strike at the lich where her powerful magic fell short.

With clashing steel.

Dawn descended with a heavy slam upon the ground, her weapon morphing back into the shape of a massive white greatsword, and she charged forward opposite Leena. Together they would dice the dark witch, though it was perhaps more appropriate in Dawn's case to call it crushing.

"Perish, witch!" she shouted in tandem with Leena's final cry.

Was it coincidence, or planned? Even as more magical girls flooded the stage, Anaya’s magical assistance enabled the natural vocals and instrumentals of the Endsinger to be amplified, ringing brightly through the ruinous environment. As she synchronized with the music, the doll master felt an electrifying thrill, as if she were on the verge of awakening to a new, once-unknown dimension of artistry, and around her, the angry mob of verbally abusive ghosts nodded, shifting away to enjoy the concert once more.

Or, they tried to, if not for the fact that they were brutally eviscerated mere moments later, one of Feral’s clones lunging out from the spectral clouds in search of a heart that beat, of flesh that was still warm. The two tumbled into the concrete, but monstrously mighty as the beast was, they’d yet to sink their fangs or claws into Anaya, giving Celia an opportunity to intervene.

Upon Endsinger’s stage, chaos ran rampant too. Though the teamwork of the Ascendancy was perfect, even the most well-oiled gears could be disrupted by a wrench thrown from an outside source. In this case, of course, that wrench was a beaker filled with corrupted reinforcement magic. As Viva fired her magic bullets, causing a spray of magically-corrosive fluids, Fanfan descended, her mechanical gauntlets hyper-extending through that spray and subsequently being coated in it. The magical acid worked quickly, chewing into the metal, and the force of Fanfan’s landing was the hammer that shattered the birdcage’s integrity; mere moments after they struck the ground, the extended fingers broke. Fanfan fell, and what easier targets existed than one airborne and distracted? A pair of Ferals lunged for her, as the other three beasts converged upon the inverted bubble that Leena, Dawn and Endsinger was in.

Surrounded by blades and hostile intent, the lich grinned with predatory panache, her guitar-halberd flourishing as she sang on, strummed on. Even with her magic nullified, her own voice carried through, pitch-perfect and damn badass. Her eyes burned with soulfire, her voice caused banshees to quit, her focus was more singular than revenging revenants. And even in the face of the Ascendancy’s wrath, she simply added that to her performance too.

“Not a witch, girl,” the lich said, tossing her hair in Dawn’s direction, “a fucking star.”

And in that moment, Leena ran her through, drilling swords tearing a hole into Endsinger’s chest. Like a blender, putrefied flesh splattered everywhere, coating the mountain of rubble black and red. But there was no despair, no anger from the audience. After all, what was the point of a heart, for a being that had already died?

The dual-wielding swordswoman had driven her blades hilt deep into Endsinger’s torso, and now, the lich pushed the swords in even further, until Leena’s very arms were buried inside Endsinger’s body. A pleasant coolness spread through Leena’s arms, none of the grotesqueness of visceral violence seeping from ruined flesh. And perhaps that was certainly the case, because, with a daredevil smirk, Endsinger grabbed the back of her head, pulled her close, tore her mask off with her teeth and kissed her deep. The passion of a woman loved for centuries in the underworld. The exaltation of a performer who finally resolved to bring her music into the light. Endsinger bent her backwards, swords still sticking out the lich’s back, and with an almost too-casual movement, raised her guitar up as well.

There was no ring of clanging steel as Dawn’s greatsword smashed against it. Rather, it had been aligned at just the right angle for the blade to snag against the strings, unleashing an epic riff that sent the spectral fanclub wild.

It wasn’t monstrous strength, undead resilience, or ancient magics that they should have feared.

It was her utter disregard for anything that they wanted.

It was hard to tell whether her words were having any impact, if she was swaying any minds. Perhaps in the crowd, but this was not that kind of trial. It wasn't like Ancient Rome where that crowd would approve her guilt or innocence. It was all about the Ascendancy gathered before her, and what they believed.

There was definitely not one person who was not convinced, and that was Rachel. At the mention of Pandemonium she flinched, as anyone else would in the same situation. Really, she should have expected no less.

Turing, she frowned as the video played. For a moment she was tempted to ask how the girl had gotten this, before mentally stopping herself. Right, Scrying magic. Stupid question. Instead she listened quietly at the various cases presented, the arguments made. She waited patiently for her opportunity to speak, to defend herself.

At last it did, and she nodded in turn. The first thing to address was the video, and what had happened during it. "That's right," she confirmed with a nod to Hudie.

That detail cleared, she moved into her actual explanation. "At the time things were....tense. We were still recovering from the devastation caused by Justine. I was worried, afraid that out of anger or revenge or justice one of my sisters here would kill her before she had the chance to be purified, even though I had confirmed her apology and desire for redemption to be sincere." Alicia's head fell slightly. "I know it wasn't protocol, and I went beyond my bounds, but at the time I made what I believed was the right choice."

She then moved on to the matter of what they had done for Penny. "As far as the modifications are concerned, but that point we considered her to be an ally, despite being deceived by her Patron at the time. I felt it was reasonable to help an sally, though it wasn't entirely my decision." As much as she might want to stand beside her leader, that had been Sylvia's call in the end. She couldn't deny it.

"As for Serenity..." Alicia looked back over her shoulder, flashing the girl a warm smile before shrugging. "You really give me too much credit. You all can feel it. She has a Spark, she passed the tests that all have to go through to join Beacon. You can test her for yourselves if you want, but I'm not sure what else I was supposed to do in that situation."

She then met Rachel head on. Firm, determined, confident in what she had said and her reasoning behind it. "I don't deny any of these claims. I do deny this fearmongering, this belief in some grander conspiracy lurking beneath the surface. A lot of stuff has happened here in Penrose, more than I ever would have anticipated when I signed up to join Beacon. I'd like to think it's the same way for everyone else in the Branch. Yet we're still here, and the world is still standing. I'd like to think that counts for something."

One could only hope

@ERode@PlatinumSkink@FamishedPants@Crusader Lord

Billy wasn’t the type of creature you could contain with chains. When he came in contact with them, his flesh just rolled over them without slowing up. Like pushing play dough through a metal mesh. What did have difficulty moving past the chains were all of Billy’s bones, which needed to shift around in order to get past. It would buy them time, but not much.

Sophia was standing there at the ready, prepared to cut Billy if he advanced on them.

And Hillaria Charged towards Billy, Shield raised. The giant flesh slug was hot on her heels, but she would manage to strike her target. The flesh was forced through the chains even faster, but a few ribs did manage to get caught in the chains due to the sudden thump delivered by Hilaria. She had delayed the incoming teeth, but Billy’s flesh had been forced through the chains and directly onto Amaryllis and Sophia. It took hold of their face and shoulders, but had no bones to chew them with. Instead, Billy would attempt to restrain them untill his bones came along.

Then enter Mariette, with her ghetto laser barrage. Like most girls who were kidnapped by horrors before they could go to school, she didn’t get to learn about internal diffraction. Because light has a tendency to drift off course the longer it travels, and the light Mariette had contained inside her portal box had been flying around for a long time (several seconds) The lasers came out as giant cones of light, giving Billy and his opponents little room to hide from Mariette’s onslaught.

Amaryllis and Sophia were mostly safe, as Billy had attempted to swallow them before the laser salvo hit. But it baked the flesh onto their bodies. Everything smelled like burnt hamburger meat, and the charred flesh was quite hot.

Hilaria was less fortunate, but between the light diffraction weakening the laser and her own stout body, it was an attack she would survive. Her armor was still pretty hot though.

Billy and the Flesh slug had all lost several layers of skin to Mariette’s attack, reducing their size considerably. The chrome hood ornament managed to survive by virtue of its reflective nature. Among the charred flesh, Half of Billy’s face appeared, with a large gaping hole where his mask should have been.

“That all, pumpkin?”

The flesh slug screeched before changing direction. It entirely defied physics as it dove into the air in an attempt to consume Mariette whole.

Billy was now more bone than flesh, so he made himself into an insect. That is to say he wrapped his remaining flesh inside his hardened bones. He looked something akin to a giant mecha, if they were made entirely out of animal remains that is. The more flexible parts of his body were covered in smaller bones like fangs and teeth, while the larger ones were made out of ribs, sculls, and even hip bones. His eyes were the only exposed bit of exposed flesh he had left.

“Gettin’ real tired, I say gettin’ real tired of your shenanigans kids!”

Billy took a single swing at Hilaria. Even though it struck her sheild, she was sent skidding backwards along the broken intersection. Before she stopped moving, Billy turned around and charged towards Amaryllis and Sophia. As he closed the distance, he prepared for another mighty swing. But that was just his right hand. He pointed his left hand at the girls and fired his fingers at them, which sped off like bullets.

Billy might have been worn down to the bone, but they’d have to reduce him to ash if they wanted him to stop.

---

@FamishedPants@Ariamis

Instead of slamming into each other like some slapstick comedy duo, the two Ferals glided past each other. The entire reason they planned on attacking different parts of Helga was to avoid a cross up in the event they were both successful. Though it seemed Helga was content to hide in the sewers. An odd choice, as Feral did not believe that Helga improved her chances below the city. Feral’s beastly senses were perfect for exploring subterranean passages like this. The only downside was that Lupa was struggling for control, and it was in slaying these spirits that Feral could maintain control. Feral had to be careful it didn’t let them get too far away from Endsinger.

Even if picking up their scent was hard, it wouldn’t be too difficult to hear them. Both Ferals lowered themselves below ground and prepared for the hunt. They glanced at each other, preparing to split up for a pincer attack, but that was when Emily came into view.

Now, Feral had been with Lupa for nearly her entire magical girl life. But it had been booted away for the duration of the summer vacation. So it was unaware of anything that transpired over that time. That included anything Lupa and Emily did together. So Feral did not see one of Lupa’s friends approach her, but a random stranger approach. Without fear, despite having a broken arm. The Ferals stood back to back, each looking down either end of the tunnel. Feral had finally been put in a situation it had never been in before. Normally it would just Devour Emily, but there was no fear or malice in her body language. Only unsuspecting prey and apex predators displayed this kind of behavior. For the moment, Feral would watch Emily.

---

@DarkwolfX37

The owls did not react to Shion’s wild arm motions at first, but in time they spread their wings and took to the sky with grace.

@Phonic@Ariamis


Ronin didn't really need to be reassured of Valkyrie's presence, but sure, if that made her less concerned. Ronin gave a grin to the hand-holding thing. Ronin herself was convinced they'd be able to find each other even if they were to be separated. All Ronin had to do is climb the highest building around and yell from there, right? Oh, or find Jill. If they both were looking for Jill and lost track of one another, then both finding Jill would mean they found each other!

‘Alright, hold on to me tightly, then~’ Ronin said with a grin, before heading further into the bazaar, all these amazing noises and shouts and sellers and-

And then someone snapped around Ronin to try to lead her into an alleyway shop. Ronin's eyes just widened in amazement at the proclamation, and with the show of weapons and suggestion of a katana, Ronin laughed.

‘Hahahaha! You know me well for just a glance! But, unfortunately, I can't be your customer, because I'm flat broke!’ Ronin called to her kidnapper happily. ‘But, if you know where Jill of Magical Services could be found, I'd be reeeaaally happy if you could point us in the right direction!’

So she said. ... And also, used a bit of Reinforcement magic to prepare to defend her body. She WAS being pulled into a dark alley, after all, although she did have a protector in Valkyrie now.

@Ariamis@Majoras End

Despite her strikes being so easily deflected Penny was smiling, revealing her rows of razor sharp teeth. While she would have loved it if her attack had ended the fight right away, she had doubted from the start that this would be over quickly and despite scoring only glancing blows she still gained in the end for with each ringing strike she would gain a flash of insight into the inner working of her replacement for the echoing vibrations that lingered with each clash spoke loudly to the Purified gynoid.

“And I would do it all again!” Penny roared in reply as she ducked in and under the backhand “I was little more than a pawn to that Jackass! Nothing more than a tin solider to be tossed around at his leisure and then abandoned when he was done, left to try and salvage what I could out of whatever mess he forced me into.” Even as she yelled she continued her assault, each punch thrown harder and faster than the last as Penny quickly ramped up to her full speed and power.

But that didn’t mean she was going all-out just yet.

At some point in her assault a matte, onyx, coloration would start to darken Penny’s armor and as it did her blows would become heavier, but that was only a side effect. “Titan’s Raiment: Online.” It was in truth indicative of the skill she stole from Elroy; the secret of locking away her metal for anyone but her, mixed in with her personal optimization, and this was only phase one in her plan. If this imposter wanted to claim that Penny had stagnated? Fine, but Penny was going to enjoy forcing the truth down her throat in retaliation.

---

@ERode

The snarled curse that spilled from Viva’s lips from her attack being intercepted by a third party went unheard in the sea of sound and she was moving closer to the Endsinger before the full ramifications could be seen.

For in truth Viva didn’t care about the Ascendency girl that she had disarmed, didn’t care about the rampaging clones, didn’t care about the danger that surrounded them all. She was hungry, and by her own action that was all she could focus on. The black hunger that churned within her, that swelled at the sight of the putrefied flesh being splattered everywhere.

Because of that twisted drive she hardly noticed it when she walked into the sphere of nullification, too deep into her desire to be so easily pulled form it, hardly noticed to deep kiss that the Endsiger had pulled Leena into or the blades that were currently sticking through her undead flesh.

All she could see was the taunt lines of muscle on the Endsingers neck that called to her. She wiped a hand across her mouth to clean away the drool at such a feast being displayed to her and as she did such her veins would pulse with corrupted magics twisting her jaws into a monstrous mockery, filled with serrated fangs and caustic spittle.

Without any preamble she launched herself at her meal. Her gun was held at the side, ready to open fire on anyone who tried to interrupt her meal. or even her meal itself if it tried to fight back.

---

@Ariamis@Flamelord

Off in the stands Aurelio was doing his best to stay still. The emotions in the hall were as charged as they ever were within these halls. Yet he knew that there wasn’t much that he could do. He could be something of a character witness if either side needed him to be, but his overall time spent with either Alicia or Penny was limited, but that was really the extent of his usefulness within this trial. He hadn’t been around for any of the inciting incidents that were being thrown around.

It was interesting to hear some of the topics that were brought up, and were it not such a tense situation he would have more than likely already asked a few questions or even tossed in his two bronze on the topic. He just hoped that he would still have the chance to do that later, the emotions in the air coming from Rachel gave him reason enough to believe that she would be doing everything in her power to get a guilty verdict, even if that meant twisting the rules.

That was something that he might be able to help out with however. So in the interest of keeping this trial as clean as it could be, Aurelio very slowly and very, very, carefully started weaving his presence into the emotions throughout the room. It wasn’t a spell in a true sense, it wasn’t even something he would be able to explain with any clarity to anyone outside other Empathy mages, but it would allow him much greater acuity into the emotions that people were giving off.

He made sure that his cane was dismissed before he start this delicate process as well, no need to bring attention to himself by it starting to glow and in the long run he wasn’t even sure that anything would come of it. He just needed to be doing something.

Using a fearsome combination of spells, Alex used a tail-like weapon to crush the undead dinosaur that had attacked Lily. This was followed by a shining glint as a new shield was formed just in time to repel another bite. The Ascendancy triplet who was protected by his magic nodded without a hint of hesitation, brandishing her halberd. “Got it!” She jumped up the hole, and sliced down on the assaulting crocodilian monster’s snout, splitting the rotting monster’s jaw. Lily was breathing heavily, and held a strained facial expression that soon turned calmer as the gash on her body closed and healed.
”Sorry Alex, I messed up," she spoke, and lifted herself up to sit, using her Ramuh staff to lift herself up. ”But it looks like your shopping trip paid off; that move was neato."

With a clang, Su knocked the yellowed teeth out of the plesiosaur that bit her wing, causing it to let go with a bellow, freeing her. She did not manage to hit the other plesiosaurs who bent their necks, but succeeded in blasting them with a horizontal tornado; just like she hoped, their necks did end up tangled together by the sheer force of the raging funnel, and their scaly skins were cut in bending lines, like grazed by a drill.The undead dinosaurs made a big splash as they hit the water and disappeared, like sinking into Briny depths.

The megalodon hit by the triple-effective Yellow Card was successfully lifted up in the air despite the dinosaur’s immense weight, leaving the undead monster to roar, its legs still moving in an attempt to charge at her. The other megalodon was hit by a poisonous dagger, which it shrugged off as it went in for a bite; she realized that the undead were immune to even magical poison. However, the fleeting distraction proved enough for the struggling triplet to escape, aided by the obscuring enchantment the gambler gave her.

Mister Bulk’s hands formed a black aura around them as he first formed a moat around himself by mass-summoning open graves, draining the water in his immediate area to them. Then he began casting curses at any target he saw, lobbing them out as skull-shaped projectiles that wailed like souls of the damned. The spells missed, letting the others see that thee spells were those of decay and aging; it caused trees around the museum to wither, and rock and concrete to crumble, eroding them like time skipped forward. Though he found himself under fire by Tetrad’s cards, he only made the minimum effort to deflect or guard against the attacks, enraged by his desire for death and destruction, only wincing as her well-aimed Red cards managed to crack one of the shoulder orbs, releasing black mist-like vapors as it shattered.

In that moment, Mika jumped on him while he flinched.
“Arrrr! Get off me, you mangy cat!” The lich flailed, attempting to throw her off. But it was too late for the undead sorcerer, as Mika held on, powered by the Red Reverse. Silhouette then dropped down behind him, like a an assassin ready to fulfill her bloodstained contract. She lifted her dagger, about to strike…!
Then, they were all engulfed by the explosion of Tetrad’s last card, shrouding the scene in coughing smoke. Silhouette was at the border of the explosion, and performed an uncanny dodge, leaving a streak of black smoke that trailed after her before she took to the landing unscathed. Mika was less fortunate, and was hit by the blast, though thanks to being wet from her flooding spell, she incurred only very light burns on her body and clothes. However, she felt like her furry cat ears had their tips set on fire.

“Urgh! Rot away, wormfood!”
Mr Bulk shot out a quick hex with a finger gun through the smoke, hitting Tetrad. As she felt the foul curse envelop her, she realized she had rapidly aged by sixty years in human age; her hair turned grey, her skin turned wrinkly and flabby, and her posture worsened, causing her to feel much weaker and burdened than before. For the magical girls who were blessed with eternal youth, this was a disturbing sight.
“Hahaa! You are but mortal, weak flesh!” The lich clacked his jaw as he scattered the smoke with a spell, showing how his bones were blackened and his robes were on fire; he resembled a heavy metal album cover.

“Fall in despair, and DIE!”

The lich lifted his arm, about to hit her with another curse. But then, Mika came to the rescue; using skills she had acquired thanks to her bond with Dan the Dolphin, she took a deep breath, gathering her inner power. Then, Dan appeared over Mika, helping to channel the Keijo technique.
Dan yelled out in his comically squeaky voice as Mika released the energy into a forward thrust:

“RABUU RIPPURUUU OOOBAAA DURAIBUUU!”

*Crack*

“NOOOOOO!”

Like a golfball, the skeletal wizard’s screaming skull was punted right off his shoulders, soaring high into the sky before it hit the street, shattering it into two. His body fell down with a thud, seemingly lifeless.

“This isn’t the end...”

They heard the lich’ voice emanate from the remaining orb on his body.
“I’ll kill you, kill every last damn mortal in Penrose! And from your femurs I’ll build-AHHH!”

With a crack, the two orb on the lich’s shoulder was split in three. The two triplets lifted their halberds, their faces cold. “Finally it shut up.” “What a pain.” They turned. “Where’s the staff?”

“Taken care of.” Kai lifted her rifle, which glowed a faint blue, and made a shot towards a distant alley. It looked like she didn’t hit anything, before a sound like shattering glass could be heard.

“YIAAAAARclackcklackclack...”

At that moment, the dinosaurs froze, as if stopped in time, and sunk into pits of tar, followed by the tar also disappearing like evaporating water, leaving only the bones from the museum scattered. Tetrad’s aging effect also began to reverse, if slowly; by de-aging a year per minute, she felt that it would take an hour to completely revert to normal.

It turned out that the lich attempted to escape, his disembodied hand clutching on to his phylactery-encrusted staff as it scuttled like a spider, before it was destroyed by a ricocheting bullet that hit around the corner. The sniper lowered her rifle, the Blue Reverse enchantment having ended, and sighed. “The U-Type is eliminated,” she stated looking towards the lone triplet next to Alex. “Take the staff and phylacteries.” The triplet nodded in response and signalled to the others. All three triplets then began gathering the lich’ remains, pocketing the broken orbs that once housed the lich’s soul.

Lily slowly approached the group that had gathered, an uneasy smile on her face. “W-We did it. Good job, everyone.” Kai glanced at her, but didn’t respond. Neither did the triplets. Instead, the sniper looked up towards Su, and squinted. She still held the rifle in her hands.
“Hold it,” she ordered in a blunt manner, and the triplets rose; they all gripped their weapons tighter. One by one, each identical sister pointed their halberd at Su, Tetrad, and Silhouette respectively. Lily’s eyes widened upon realizing the hostile intent behind their eyes; it wasn’t the end.
“By the order of the Ascendancy, surrender, and assume human form. Refuse, and we won’t show mercy.”

---

Helga hesitated, but begrudgingly agreed to Emily’s request, putting her down at an elevated part of the sewers where the two had some room to catch their breath. “Emily, huh?” Helga answered, having crossed her arms. Then she blinked. “Oh yeah, it’s you! I won’t forget anymore. I’m Helga.” She then pointed at herself with a clawed finger, and smiled at her words of gratitude and worry. “You’re welcome. Lupa’s the kind of girl you really don’t want to mess with, honestly.”

Helga’s smile then curled into a frown as Emily turned. “Are you kidding me? You can’t go back and fight her like that! She’s gonna gobble you up for lunch! And bury your bones in a backyard,” She added, as if that part was more important. But, Emily didn’t seem to be swayed, and Helga facepalmed. “Urgh, reminds me of a certain stubborn girl...” She joined Emily.
“But I’m not saving you twice.” She let Emily go back to the surface while still keeping herself out of sight in case Lupa attacked. But to her surprise, she didn’t. She carefully peeked up from the manhole to see what was going on, ready to join Emily if she chose to attack.

FanFan made a girly scream as her mighty birdcage collapsed thanks to Viva’s unintentional intervention; her acids melted through her fingers, splitting them upon impact with the stage.
“Aaaahhh! My manicure!” She cried, and shrunk the metal arms back to normal size as she looked at the broken fingers. Her eyes then widened as she saw two wolf monsters flank her. But the proud crusader of the Ascendancy wasn’t daunted by her situation.

“Here Fido~”
She clapped her normal arms together, and absorbed the metal of her thrusters into her metal arms; not only were they repaired, they were also enlarged and reinforced, wth wicked barbed spikes lining the length of the forearms as well as her palms. The large hands then snapped around the upper jaws of the two Feral Lupas at her sides, keeping them at arms’ reach while she focused her magic on boosting the defense of the arms, able to cast spells with her normal hands. She relied on the beasts’ primal instinct to bite down on the metallic hands restraining them, causing them to pierce themselves on the barbs. It was a cruel tactic, showing the pragmatic nature of the Ascendancy. But even so, FanFan was focused on what Leena was doing.

Leena’s eyes were intense as she stared right into Endsinger’s gaze. Even if it seemed futile, she kept her swords crossed, preventing Endsinger from pulling her out without bisecting her. She gasped as her gas mask was ripped off, and made a muffled sound as her lips were claimed in a kiss. Any girl, even a magical one, would be shocked if they were caught in an unexpected smooch, and Leena was no exception. And she did struggle, sounding uncomfortable with the lack of morals that the lich expressed, and hateful at the fact she managed to parry Dawn’s greatsword.

However, the lich realized that something was off. For one, Leena was surprisingly calm in the kiss, not having released the grip of her swords or even attempted to knee her. Then, she saw FanFan’s reaction to the kiss. Instead of horror or disgust, as one might expect from an Ascendancy member, there was but a grin. Then, upon tasting something she didn’t expect, she knew she was played;

Teeth braces.

Leena hit her swords together, and at that moment FanFan lifted her normal arms and performed a glowing magic circle of bright gray.
Leena’s teeth braces, having been prepared with activation runes beforehand, then released the compressed steel they had hidden, an example of internal magic contained in enchanted items. They expanded into two wide blocks shaped like an =-symbol that slammed forward with the force of a power fist, punching Endsinger in the face. With luck, she might even be cut against her ensnaring swords.

---

Once again the courtroom went silent at Alicia’s explanation, and seemed to last just a bit longer than before, as the Ascendancy contemplated the evidence presented. “So I was correct in my original assumption,” Hudie simply stated, while Sylvia spoke up to confirm the situation with Penny. “The decision of alliance with Penny’s Patron was carried out by the Beckoners of Penrose,” she stated. “And as Alicia said, we were ignorant of the treachery involved.” Then, all eyes were on Serenity for a moment, and Tsuki nodded. “That is true. While there have been beings in the past who have attempted to disguise themselves as Beacon before with false Sparks, Serenity’s Spark is genuine, with no traces of corruption on her.”

The other members of the Ascendancy whispered and murmured among themselves as they discussed Alicia’s testimony, except for Isthar, who still kept silently praying, and Rachel, who held a menacing glare on Alicia. During this time, Aurelio could sense that there was a mix of suspicion, belief, contemplation, and fear coming from the audience, with subtle variations coming from Hudie, Tsuki, Elora, and other regular members of the Ascendancy. Rachel herself seemed resentful, with a fiery passion for justice. However, for some reason, he was unable to gauge the Cardinal’s feelings; the mysterious girl was like pure air to his inquiry.

Finally, Rachel spoke up. “She has admitted to her guilt, I see no reason to stall this any longer.” She adjusted her glasses. “She needs to be made an example to others, to show the price of rebelling against the Beacon’s will and letting corruption seep into our midst.” The other Ascendancy members looked among each other; they seemed hesitant, and Rachel stepped forward towards the Light girl. “She is a self-admitted deceiver, weak of will and unable to realize the consequences of her actions!” She pointed at her, her expression one of hate. “She is a danger to us all! Burn her and her conspirators at the stake and be done with it!!”

”...”

At that moment, something seemed to happen to Isthar; her eyes, previously closed, now opened. They were a brilliant golden color, and gave the illusion of casting light upon anything they gazed upon. The members of the Ascendancy tensed up, while the audience seemed to hold their breaths in anticipation.

”...Alicia Hayden, Seraph of Penrose.” Her voice was like the chorus of angels, so beautiful and pure that it tugged at the heartstrings of any who heard it. Sally began openly crying with comical fountain streams, while Sylvia held back her tears with a sniffle. The audience wept tears, while even the hardened members of the Ascendancy showed signs of sorrow. Isthar seemed to ignore this reaction as she continued speaking, without any hint of emotion in her voice.

”There is darkness within you, a doubt of self that gnaws you from within. You are conflicted by the feelings you harbor to those closest to you, and feel that you lack the power to change yourself.

Rachel smirked, looking like she has already won.

”...Yet, you have never let that stray you from the true path..."

Rachel gasped silently, her eyes wide in shock.

”You have fought and struggled, but never lost sight of your true self. You have never given up on doing the right thing, even if it means losing everything. Even in the darkest depths, the light of true justice, unclouded by bias, has illuminated your path, and pushed you forward. And because you risked your life to save your friend, a new hope was born.”

Then, she opened her clasped hands, and revealed that she held a White Coin.

Rachel seemed distraught upon seeing the coin. “B-But Cardinal Isthar-”

”Beacon has trusted in the ancient ways, set when the world was young. We have kept the light of the world shining through tradition set long ago, showing us the way generation after generation. But now, a great darkness is coming, one even our light of justice cannot banish.”
She wept tears of brilliant golden from her cheeks.
”Steel and fire will not be enough. We need more to withstand the coming calamity. Corruption starts in the heart...But it also ends in the heart. We need compassion, and understanding. We need a true love that encompasses all, so that the world may change.”
She put one hand to her chest, and let the White Coin slowly float away from her palm.
”The White Coin is that catalyst for change. It embodies Beacon’s love in one another, and our faith in our cause.” The coin moved down the room until it ended up hovering in place before Alicia.
Everyone else looked on in wonder and anticipation. Isthar wiped her tears, and gave a subtle smile.

”Seraph of Beacon...Awaken your love. Cast aside your doubts, and become the light that illuminates the way to the future.”

---

The mysterious stranger made a strange-sounding laugh upon hearing Ronin’s answer. “No waurri! Gud preis för juu! Kum sii!” However, upon seeing Valkyire quickly catch up to them, she blinked, and released her wrist, hiding her weapons. “Saurri saurri! Zo happi to sii kustomier. Nou meen harmi!” She exclaimed. With the kidnapping situation resolved, Ronin managed to ask her question, and the exotic shopkeep scratched her nose. “Jiru? AAH, Jippo-Jiru! Jees, Jees!” She nodded. “Maghi Serevesus, jaas. Wei wei jaas...Mutta.” She seemed to think, until her eyes lighted up. “Odottakaa!” She held her hand forward, and then ran back to her shop.The two heard loud rummaging sounds including the clanging of weapons, a broken pot, and the cock-a-doodle of of a rooster before she returned. “Paketti! Jirulle Paketti!” She had a box of some kind; it was made of gnarled wood, tied close with writhing red string, and had a couple of holes on it. There were a couple of glowing runes etched on it as well. She pointed in a direction with her other hand. “Tarun refut, raita, refut, öba burig, zoom zoom!” She made her hand into a straight line that curved left, right, left, then over something, and finally jabbed forward a couple of times to emphasize her words. “Maghi Servesesus, Jirulle. Jaas jaas?” She then asked, and gave the box to Ronin.

---

The alien gynoid hissed as her attack was dodged, her mouth opening up like a Predator.
“Blasphemer! Traitor! Heretic!” She spouted insults, and now used her sword to block the attacks Penny threw at her. Unlike the reactionary armor which managed to guard her well, her sword parries were less effective before Penny’s brute strength. Penny managed to get a punch right to her jaw, causing blue blood to trickle from the corner of her jaw. “The Great Remaker loved you most of his fated one.” She clashed with Penny, visibly struggling to hold her own against Penny, yet still not refusing to give up.

“But look at you, Stagnation!” She made a spinning slash to create distance between the two.
“By refusing change, you will only rust and turn to dust! I, Sirkkeli, will see that Laat’s will be done!” Then, Penny felt something burn on her fists, and saw that the liquid on her enemy’s blades had turned into a metal-eating mold of some kind. Unlike with Valerie’s blade, which she was forced to drop lest it spread to her hand, this infection did not expand; this was thanks to Penny’s active efforts to resist changes to her metal.

However, it did not prevent the metal-eater from actively harming her like a burning rash, causing her Regeneration to constantly run at full power. Disturbingly, she found herself unable to control the Power, like an immune system reacting to a mild sickness with full alarms, likely a designed effect of the infection to counter Regeneration users. For now Penny had mana to sustain both enchantments, but she could tell it was not a permanent solution, especially if more of the metal-eating mold contaminated her frame and accelerated the magic consumption. Sirkkeli was fully aware of her predicament and continued attacking with her dripping blades; Penny was forced to choose between outright assault and risking the spread of the infection, or avoiding blows and attempting to wear her out first before her mana runs empty.

So, Mariette learned something new today. Apparently, physics does not translate between worlds. Because, she tried this move in the void of Asengav’s dimension, and it worked fine there, a barrage of light-blasts, yet something DIFFERENT happened in this world. Because there was absolutely no way she’d done this for the first time here, she practiced it somewhere else or she’d never have attempted to perform it in the first place. The only explanation for a spell not to do as Mariette intended is that, apparently, physics is different in Asengav’s dimension. Not that Mariette actually knew physics, but she did know to practice her spells. She’d have to keep that in mind next time. That is really annoying, as that made one of her most powerful moves more or less useless. Irritating.

Mariette immediately dropped herself through a portal upon realizing the failure of her attack, hopefully avoiding Billy’s attack, because if she failed we can disregard the rest of this post. Mariette landed in a nearby apartment, still keeping a portal underneath her feet in case Billy was able to detect her within the building so she’d have a quick exit. Time to play WAY more cowardly. Mariette reached out with her portal magic, and because she got weaker over range this would take more time than usual, but still. She opened tiny portals in mid-air outside so she could keep track of the situation as she charged up a light-blast with her mirror as she prepared to open five different portals at the same time…!

The five opened, all surrounding Billy on a remarkable range. One to Billy’s right went directly to Mariette, who cast a powered-up light-blast directly at the ornament at the hilt of his club. In case he dodged, the second portal opened on Billy’s left would catch the light-blast and redirect it to the third portal behind him, still aiming for the ornament on his club’s hilt. If that one missed, it’d be caught by the fourth portal ahead of him, which went to the fifth and final portal above him which would then spew down with a bit more of that internal diffraction for a wider blast on the supposed maybe weak-point. Of course, the blast wouldn’t be as powerful as her earlier effort, but she still focused quite a bit of power into it.

After that Mariette shut all the portals and checked the current situation. She was going to be a coward tonight.

Eli, meanwhile, was already a coward hiding behind a corner peeking at the battle. Because she was way weaker than a normal Magical Girl and did her part by telling the rest things and peeking with her Third Eye. If the rest of them were having trouble then she’d be a fly compared to Billy. Still, she kept her rifle ready, just in case.

@BrokenPromise@Crusader Lord@FamishedPants@ERode

Eliza couldn't help but smile at Cindy's reaction to their proper greeting, taking note to thank Maura for the manners lesson when she could. Being motioned to rise, the witch shivered when she felt a tingling on her palm. She shrugged it off nonetheless, chuckling a bit. She listened to the others once Chloe and her minions(?) returned, showing concern when Goblina explained why they stuck with what they had. "Even when they were just getting furniture...?" Eliza and Theresa looked at one another. "Hopefully Lady Maura doesnt mind us staying here a while."

"I already asked her. As long as we stay in touch we're- What the...?"

The witch's attention was turned to the many monster girls suddenly smothering poor Aurora, mistaking him for Elvira. Both her and the familiar were silently dumbfounded for a second. "Um, is someone gonna help them out or?" Theresa asked. Surprisingly, Eliza was genuinely giggling at the moment, for once in a long time she was happy again. "I-I'm sorry, I can't help it, hahaha!" She apologized, kinda feeling bad for seemingly laughing at Aurora.

---

[Armor damage at 10%]

A pained yelp slipped out when Valerie was knocked aside by the inhumanoid android, leaving her rather dazed for a moment. Bringing a hand up to the crack in her body, she stumbled back up as she watched Penny fight.

[WARNING: Corosion detected]

"Huh?!" Holding her katana up, the android was shocked to see the liquid from the insectoid, Sirkkeli, had come in contact with her weapon. Unsure of what to do, Valerie forced herself to throw it aside, breaking off the part of the blade that was tainted. She hoped to repair it later, or at the very least find a replacement. "Fine then, looks like I'm frying this parasite." With Penny taking the close combat approach, Valerie resorted to magic. Letting streams of blue lightning flow through her, the android focused on charging up a beam to hit Sirkkeli, more importantly not hitting her fighting partner.

[Target Locked]

"Look out!" She gave a quick warning to Penny, and fired, aiming to damage any of Sirkkeli's important components.

---

Celia had never seen Anaya smile before. So when the eletric thrill of synchronizing with the Endsinger hyped up the Spirit girl, the empath was confused. Slightly worried for that matter. The latter on the other hand was enjoying herself, even as the other magical girls were continuing the fight.

Atleast that was until one of Feral's clones managed to tackle her down. "Anaya!!" Celia quickly used some Hype magic to stun the werewolf, allowing Anaya to open fire.

---

Amanda wandered around the Overcity after a visit to the nearest library. Unfortunately, there seemed to be little to nothing about the Beacon's Ascendancy, from what she could go through. "Maybe someone around here knows...?" the mage asked herself, holding her spellbook close to her. "I'll have to head back soon either way." she sighed, looking around for an exit.

"Wait...what?" Alexander was confused. While he didn't know card girl (Tetra?) or trench-coat girl (he knew her, but didn't remember ever hearing her name) that well, Su was one of the few people he was pretty familiar with. Although, he hand't spoken to her much since...Amber died (just thinking about that sent a wave of guilt through him). "Woah, back the fuck up; just what's the Ascendancy, and what do they want with Su, Tetra and..." he paused "Sorry. I don't think I ever got you name" he told the girl in a trench-coat "Anyway, what the hell could you want...with..." And then it hit him "Fuck, that's right; Su's a pirate." He turned to the three girls with weapons pointed at them "Did the three of you plunder some booty that you really shouldn't have?"