"Fuck, you're right" Who exactly was right, Alexander didn't say "We're sitting ducks here. And if the old Penrose Luck still holds, then this clusterfuck is going to get much worse really soon. We've got to get out of here and regroup, maybe call in some reinforcements." Alexander then made a large triangle barrier. One of the edges was near him and facing the exit, while the side opposite that edge was missing "Stay close behind me and grab whoever you can, we're going to try and bust out of here!" He said a few seconds before he charged at the exit, his barrier pushing people out of the way. As he did, he noticed Vchan was missing, yet the music was still playing 'Fuck, of course it wouldn't be that easy. Is it some kind of recording, or is she still singing from somewhere else?'

@AtomicNut @Vocab

Sakura's resolve was great, but even she was caught off guard by the other lightning girl suddenly grabbing her. She even let a most unmanly, but rather adorable squeak."W-wait? Sparky-chan! Put me down, you idiot! Gack!" Sakura said, surprised at the ease she could be manhandled and that she narrowly dodged a certain attack, but most important how she had been torn from Emily's grasp. Her hand reached for Emily once more, but it was in awkward position to help. She did not bother replying Alexander. What was there the use of it if she was just being carried like a toddler?

It was pretty embarassing in itself, but she supposed being carried by a lightning girl... again was not the worst thing it could have happened in the chaotic situation. "If I have to leave Emily behind because you wanted to rescue me, I am so done with you." She almost snarled to Lily, exasperated.

And on that subject of people rubbing her the wrong way...

"Where's that damn shifty rat when one needs him??"

---

@Ariamis
It was then when a certain fluffy creature materialized at Rachel's feet, and began to lick his paw to arrange his head fur. "Hello Inquisitor. I trust the operation goes well?"Umukamui said. "I sincerely hope I am not imposing much as an ally..."

_{@PlatinumSkink@ERode}

”Sammy!?”

Up until now, the thought that Sammy would one day be placed back in his arms felt like a fantasy. He had switched perspectives from Fabio to Rosa, allowing him to hear what was transpiring.

”Alright Amaryllis, protect the portal. Rosa and I’ll get Sammy outa there! ”

Fabio let out a mew before retreating through the portal. In his Place, Nuncio came running in and hopped on top of Rosa's back. ”Don't worry Sammy! I'm commin' for ya!” The tiger ran all the way down the stairs and turned to the little detective. She was locked in a cage, covered in runes and other forms of magical protection. With a growl, Rosa lifted her paw into the air. Nuncio channeled all of his power into her arm, causing it to swell. The muscles bulged, the claws glowed like embers, and with a swing the latch was ripped apart. Nuncio reached into the cage and pulled Sammy into his arms. ”Oh god!” He pulled her close to his chest. He would have liked to have held her longer, but there would be time for that later. ”Amaryllis and her friend came for ya too! Let's get outa here so ya can see 'em again!” With a roar, Rosa powered her way back up the stairs. With any luck, they'd escape before reinforcements arrive.

---

All Tetrad wanted to do was dance with a boy, but he turned out to be an acid guzzling masochist. Her fortune seemed to change with the others arrival, only for him to nope out with a passing comment. Just as she planned on rejoining the rave, two ascendancy members pushed past her, followed by plumes of black smoke.

“Nope!”

Tetrad closed the door to the rave and backed away. It was time to call Veronica again.

“We should probably think about catching up to Ronin now, huh?”

“Secure a location, Trixy will be joining you for transport shortly.”

Tetrad found a quiet side room and stepped inside. She really hated waiting, but there wasn’t much else she could do. “It’s worth noting that the assassin was brainwashed. My investigation was interrupted before I could learn more. There also seems to be a secret exit, but I was unable to identify its location.”

“Understood. Prepare for transport.” She sounded annoyed, but Tetrad chose not to question it. It was hard to believe Veronica could be as stoic as she was.

---

_@AtomicNut

”Hmmm, I was expecting more.” Lotus stroked her chin as Cindy and Ishtar talked. ”She seems quite meek for a leader. I have no desire to crush such weaklings.”

Faith was hugging one of Lotus’s arms. ”Can we be sure she sent the assassin? Those other girls seemed to find it questionable.” The joy in her voice was completely gone.

Then there was conflict, then Beacon arrived. Slylvia’s stream of bullets were aimed at everyone. With a swing of Faith’s harp, luminescent strands of sheet music floated into the air. Though it seemed Reaver had the same idea, so it was largely unessisary.

”Hrm!” Lotus turned to Faith. ”You could have been hurt!”

Faith scratched the back of her head. ”Just end the fighting Lotus, but be gentle! They’re only here to protect their friends.”

Lotus turned towards Sylvia. ”Hmmmm, how about hitting something that fights back?” Lotus’s body split into three duplicates that flew towards Sylvia’s position. Regardless of how accurate she was, she would not be able to destroy all the clones. And by some rotten stroke of luck, the one that she didn’t manage to hit would be the real one. But this was natural.

It was just an illusion.

When Lotus had split apart, what she really did was turn herself invisible and teleported behind Sylvia. She simply waited for her illusions to come close before attacking, thus giving the illusion of superior agility. Though in the event Sylvia was wise to her trick, she’d be forced to attack prematurely. With Reaver charging, Lotus in such close proximity, and Sylvia holding a massive weapon, it would be difficult for her to escape.

”Heya!” She wrapped her arms and tentacles around Sylvia, and her limbs began to pulse. Lotus was able to draw the life force out of things that she touched, and she was taking advantage of that power now. She tried to wrench Sylvia backwards, so that her minigun was pointed towards the sky. Lotus also aimed two of her tentacles at the twins and fired a thick black ink at them.

---

_{@FamishedPants@ERode@Majoras End}

Veronica watched the events unfold with little emotion or commentary. She watched the events unfold much like a scientist would examine an experiment. In the end though, Justine, Sonia, and Betty vanished. Veronica wiggled her fingers. They had previously rested on Justine’s shoulder, but now held nothing but air.

“Justine still works for Father, good to know.” Unfortunate that only “true” love could harm Justine. Veronica was pretty sure that she ensured she was impossible to love, and love itself was something no one in Veronica’s agency could employ. Unfortunate, but there were other ways to bring down Justine.

Veronica was only getting more irritated as time progressed, and she couldn’t understand why. It wasn’t an unforeseeable outcome. Some might get upset that their bodyguard had been brainwashed, but she was expendable, really. It was endearing how she constantly worried about everyone, and they were together all the time. But all the same, Betty and Veronica were not friends. That went for Samantha too. She was upset with her poor performance here, and it had nothing to do with the fact that she hadn’t noticed Veronica had dressed up as an idol for her. The fact that most of her agents were stuck in this deathtrap wasn’t a problem either. Expendable, the lot of them. She only wanted to learn more about Maura to ensure she wasn’t a Mint spy. It wasn’t like she was interested in getting closer to her. She only put up with Trixy’s constant flirting because she was a good strategist, and didn’t find it endearing. She felt nothing for Elise’s past failures. Tetrad was just a tool. So was Deni. She might have been hooked up to her agents thoughts, experienced the world the way they did, but that didn’t mean that she felt empathy towards them.

And she clearly wasn’t lying to herself.

But then why did she have this migraine? It didn’t matter, this was a prelude to a showdown.

“Sam.” Veronica turned to look at Silhouette. “This situation greatly displeases me. You couldn’t contend with a single girl?” The words left Veronica’s mouth in a growl. “No matter, we’re going after them. But you will not fail me a second time… I have faith in your abilities. Meet me outside and we will discuss this further.”

At a glance it might have seemed like Veronica’s gambit had failed and cost her a body guard. But this was a foreseeable outcome with a planned contingency. Justine had called Betty a gift, but she was much closer to a Trojan horse. Cradle agents had a close connection with each other, and could tell where they were in relation to their position. Betty had just been transported outside, and it was likely that Justine and Sonia were there with her. So long as they held onto their “gift,” They would be easy to track. Though it was important that Veronica didn’t let them get too far away. She looked at a ring on her finger, one with a brilliant red gemstone.

Veronica turned to look at the ascendancy members as they rolled in and brandished their weapons. “What? There’s smoke everywhere, how can you even see us?” She placed a finger to the side of her head. “Trixy, it’s only a matter of time before we succumb to this music. Get to Tetrad and get to the park now! Maura, Tetrad mentioned a secret exit, see if you and your girls can find anything in the back rooms.”

With her orders given, it was time to press on.

Veronica turned to Dolly and sighed. No point leaving her here. She knew she was wasting her time. This was clearly a surrogate or something. Its personality was likely manufactured, and trying to protect it would not bring Veronica any closerto the person controlling it. Not that she wanted that anyway. Certainly not.



A nova of dark energy shot out of Veronica. A black tar like substance bubbled over her flesh. Even if Dolly looked like a small woman, she was pretty heavy. Yet veronica had no difficulty taking her under her arm. With Dolly securely under her arm, she walked towards the exit.



Blood shot out of her ears, which soon became the roses on her head piece. Her crimson shoes beat against the stairs as she charged towards the Beacon girls. They could swing at her, open fire, but it wouldn’t matter.





Veronica sunk into the shadows with Dolly and raced past Beacon reinforcements. The rave lights were bright, but all the smoke and it being night out gave Veronica ample opportunities to slip by. Even the barrier posed little problem for her, as she just phased through the shadows. Veronica maneuvered between two warehouses and set down Dolly. At this point, Veronica was entirely covered in her magical girl uniform.

“With any luck, we weren’t discovered.” Veronica was referring more to Justine than Beacon. Chances were pretty good she hadn't been spotted, as the monster's aura was still going strong. But nothing was ever certain when it came to magic. She’d keep an eye on any sudden movements Betty made. “What is necessary to conclude the contract? I have prepared a single effect from agent Blair. If you require more than that, I’ll need some time to confront my other agents when operations aren’t in progress.”



Sorry Veronica. Boss's orders.

Unfortunately, she wouldn't be making it up to her any time soon. She had to run to the park before more bad stuff happened. That wouldn't be too hard with her new abilities. She was strong and fast, and could practically run on the walls. If something couldn't get out of her way, she could just trample it. There wasn't much reason to use her magic here, save for staying hidden. Though she was glad she had prepared for the next encounter, as she had used up a bit more than she had anticipated keeping Veronica in check. That, and she had beefed up Viper's disguise before she had even slipped inside the Rave. That should buy her a bit more time to arrive.

“Lily?!” Connie exclaimed as the green-haired girl appeared beside her like a flash of lightning and grabbed Sakura, having apparently failed to notice that the pink-haired girl was helping her carry Emily. “G-Getaway spell?” she asked, after Lily mentioned a possible method to escape the increasingly chaotic rave. “I’d l-like that v-very much, please! Emily’s not d-doing very well,” she added, struggling to stand now that she had to bear Emily’s full weight. “W-We n-need to get her s-someplace safe!”

Despite the boost in speed he was too far behind to intercept before anything happened. Arriving just in time to see the interaction between Cindy and Ishtar he cursed under his breath. He had hoped he would have had at least a little time before it came to blows. Then again if you wanted to kill your enemy it was best not to waste time and give them a chance to react. _{"Stupid woman."} He hurried to Cindy's side and went right into explaining what he found out. "Cindy, the assassin wasn't Beacon. She wasn't even a magical girl. Someone ELSE set this up so you would attack Ishtar." The Beacon forces had arrived by this point which was just a hair too late as their Cardinal was laying on the ground and others were already on the attack. "Hold on guys! Ugh."

Oh lovely, and there went Reaver with murderous intent. This was going to go much worse than he intended. Scanning forces that had just arrived there were just the three, which was probably a good thing... maybe? He did identify two in particular. There was still a chance things could be reigned in before an all out war would start. It was probably just delaying things though. "You!" He got the attention of one of the Beacon girls and pointed to his head.


Upon arriving and identifying Ishtar's location, the first thing the twins would do is raise up bubble barrier to defend the Cardinal and cast a healing spell. They hadn't had much time to prepare a plan other than to briefly instruct Raven on one matter. Her not being a member of Beacon and effectively only just being reincarnated, mostly, they didn't want her directly in the conflict. This mess was theirs to clean up. Sylvia had returned fire immediately.

Making a quick mental sweep of the area they wanted to identify as many potential targets as possible. Obviously there were the six right there in front of them, but there could be others on the periphery. There was Cindy of course, her intent to kill Ishtar clear enough on her mind; an older looking boy that had defends, which made sense as Third Eye identified another Reinforcement user; a small girl that... "You!" Janet focused on the boy as Jenna continued. The other boy with Cindy pointed Janet out and pointed to his head. It took a second to realize his intent but the boy had left his thoughts out in the open. The plot sounded familiar, it was the same that Justine used all that time back. Admittedly Beacon did not exactly make it hard to convince dark and monster girls to attack them. Broadcasting the details that Shane shared about the assassin to all present, Janet raised a barrier to block the ink Lotus launched at them. The illusion may trick some senses, but they could keep track of the minds in the area.

Easily outnumbered three to six, fighting their way out would be difficult. It also would be less than productive. At this point they were also having to be completely reactionary. Sylvia was being attacked by two opponents. And apparently as Reaver charged in he went full on monstrous. "Jenna." Casting a cylindrical barrier around Sylvia, Janet expanded it to loose Lotus' grip.

"On it!" Glancing at Lotus for a moment she opted not to attack the monster girl and went after Reaver. A truely monstrous individual was a difficult one to deal with. They didn't rationalize, merely driven by sheer focus on whatever they set their mind on. Jenna knew because she'd been one. Bolstering herself with her Reinforcement magic she met Reaver with intent to keep him from tearing apart Sylvia while she was bound. Jenna was pretty sure she could match him, but ferocity was hard to predict.

Hopefully informing everyone that the assassin hadn't been Beacon would give everyone else pause to any more hasty moves. Ishtar was protected for the moment and should be healing from the spell. It was hard to say how long it might take for recovery. Janet may have tried to free her friend from the monster girl's clutches, but there were still the others to contend with. Options were limited, and the longer it was drawn out the more likely someone else would show up and all hell breaking lose. A majority of Beacon's heavy hitters were also occupied with the rave as well. Dismissing her weapon Janet stepped forward. There was a chance that she was about to take a bolt to the face, but she made sure to keep herself between Cindy and Ishtar. "It is an honor to formally meet you, Cindy Ford. Please be on your guard, as it appears that a third party deliberately seeks to pit us against one another. I've little doubt they watch in anticipation as you carry out their bidding." From all accounts Cindy was exceedingly prideful and did not take orders or advice very well. Putting into question who directed her actions was a calculated gamble. "Not that I can blame you. My patron has done little to foster good will between us. I cannot speak for all, but as a former monster girl myself I seek to bridge that gap. The Penrose chapter shows great promise in paving the way for change, and the Cardinal is our best chance at presenting that change to Beacon abroad. The attack against you today was a ruse, but your grievances with Beacon are not. You want to protect your own, as do I. Please consider showing a strength and leadership that many of my sisters have forgot. Not one by force, but by mercy."

Turns out, Fine was a water specialist. As fire and smoke eclipsed the rave, Eliza stayed close to her. More so cause the scene around them was too chaotic for the witch than it just being too dark. Though she can see glimpses of her team among others scrambling to get things under control. It was a blessing to have normal magical girls here, to have altruistic girls like North helping evacuate everyone. Then, a moment of respite, an angelic girl had temporarily brought things back in order; a moment Cereza, Cerise and Amanda took advantage of. She was like a light among shadows Eliza never could be. The witch gave a quick nod when the Angel of Hope had increased her and Fine's speed to the stage, then when she had a clear shot, she fired the curse at Vi's microphone.

"Yes!!" She grinned when it hit, about to climb onto the stage to reason with the idol when...she fled. "Hey, wait! I just want to talk!!" Eliza called out to her, but it was too late. It then dawned on her that this all was truely intentional when the song continued through the speakers. ON LOOP. What's worse, the ascendancy finally arrived. "No- NO!!"

Stress Level at 30%...35%...

"Damn this party, and damn everyone who thought this was a good idea!!" Valerie yelled, destroying anything else around her to let Evelyn eat the rest of the glass bottles. The werewolf nodded, violently chewing on the bottle in her hand. Soon enough, Helga helped them by deafening the sounds around them. Luckily telepathy didn't seem to affect it. The android gave a thumbs up to the sound girl, then looked back to the other white haired girl. "Let's go!"

Maura could only watch as things went from bad to worse, making a mental note to concider killing Vi-Chan after the weretigers. She was tempted to come out of hiding when some of the Ascendancy seemed to suround Veronica, but the necromancer knew better. Especially since she was given orders.

"Change of plans! Head to the back rooms, look for a secret exit!"

Once she gave the order to her girls, they all made haste to the back, making sure they weren't followed.

Eliza cursed under her breath. "Change of plans, we're getting the hell out of here." She told Fine.

---

---

As Janet reasoned with Cindy, a spirit inhabiting a suit of armor gently helped Cardinal Istar up. Another armor-clathed spirit assisted Jenna in fighting Reaver, and two more followed behind Anaya as she walked over to the group. "Now, is this really necessary?" She asked, mainly directed to Cindy. She stood in front of the Cardinal, as if to guard her alike her knights. "Let pride blind you, but Janet makes a good point. This is pointless if the third-party, either possibly the Mint or someone else all together, is to prosper from this conflict." The spirit master didn't reach for Haunted Gambit, not yet. She didn't want to resort to violence all the same, which was something she really had to get used to.

"If I can prevent anyone in this; be it dark or light, from being killed, I would. But I'm only one person. So please, reconcider your actions and just...listen." Some normal dolls appeared next to Lotus, trying to convince her to let Sylvia go.

_@ERode

Everything had Su so flustered that she nearly forgot about her walkie-talkie stone thing. But as soon as she put it to her ear, Helga had already arrived.

“Oh, um, you found me.”

Su looked at the group of girls that were following Helga. It was probably nothing but Su couldn’t help but feel cheated. She was usually fine with Helga being around other girls, but she had to be really partying to have a group this big following her. If she had just been casually talking with a few of them, she’d be in Su’s position. Su was even gifted with magical charisma. Helga shouldn’t have had time to get so many at once. She wasn’t jealous or anything, but she had to question Helga’s loyalty to their relationship if she was going to do things like this. That music was really starting to grade on her eardrums.

Su pointed towards the back rooms. “I saw Mika go that way, Rina followed her.” She gave Helga a nod. “I’ll be right behind you.” Once Helga and crew left, Su turned her attention back to Lei Zi.

Perhaps Su couldn’t get a harem, but Su was never about going for quantity. Quality, on the other hand, was something Su enjoyed in excess. Over Su’s many memories gathered from many lives, it was always quality that drove her on. And while there were a lot of people present in this rave, She felt Lei Zi was the clear superior choice out of everyone present. It was hard to beat a dutiful shrine maiden. She seemed to be a good sort, and was just as disgusted with Penrose as Su was. There was the matter of being married, but that didn’t bother Su much. If that was from Lei Zi’s old life, then she likely hasn’t been in contact with her old spouse for a long time. Su had been a concubine in one of her previous lives, and was use to having competition. She knew it was just a matter of time before the loneliness got to her. It wasn’t like she needed a serious relationship to show Helga what she was capable of.

Su placed a hand on Lei Zi’s shoulder and pointed at some incoming monster girls. Her dread wings sprung out of her back and thrust towards each incoming threat. It didn’t kill them, but it was enough to knock them down, aside from one who was swift enough to grab hold. But her wing just thrashed and slammed the girl into the wall, causing her to let go and writhe in pain. “I just remembered I could do that.” Su chuckled. Her wings fluttered in the air, like black ribbons following the current of a river. ”Thank you for allowing my friends to leave. If you’d like to usher in some destruction, we could probably do that now.”



"Dang it!"

Despite everyone’s best efforts, it seemed Vi had escaped. It was a bitter sweet moment for Trixy. Putting down other magical girls was not something she enjoyed doing. Especially if they were cute. But if they were serial murderers, well, sometimes you needed to kill a spider to save a few butterflies.

That was when Trixy got the message to retreat from Veronica.

"They arrived already? I only got off a single shot! Vi’s on the run and-"

“Vi is small fry. Justine is still working for Father, and she converted a girl right in front of my eyes. For all we know, Vi could be the same way.”

"Son of a!" If there was one thing that boiled Tetrad’s beans more than someone who killed cute girls, it was someone who brainwashed them and used them to kill more cute girls. The idea of Justine converting Samantha, Elise, or Betty was just too sinister to think of. But that wasn’t her mission. She had to try and stop a war. "Joining up with Tetrad!"

Fortunately, Trixy wasn’t too far away from Tetrad’s location. She shoved the door open and forced her way inside. Once she was out of the smoke, she ate her mask and stepped into the corner. "Ready for drop!"

“Hmmm, do they even need you, I wonder?”

Trixy looked to Tetrad, who just shrugged. It sounded like Veronica was divided on where to send her two agents. But the cradle was opening up under their feet. Wherever they ended up, they’d be ready to fight.



_{@ERode@Flamelord}

All Dusty wanted to do was survive the night. Barring that, all dusty wanted to do was save someone. Now she had no idea where Shade was, and the girl she was trying to save was saving her instead. It was nice, but it did make Dusty feel a little useless. Having said that, Dusty would never complain about getting picked up by a cute girl. Even if it was a bit more literal than she would normally admit.

"R-run everywhere? Eh, would it be better to follow a wall?" Dusty placed her fingers against the side of her head. "Oh crap! They’re here! We’re sealed in!" Dusty nibbled on her fingers. "They’re talking about alternate exits though. B-but I can’t see!" She looked to Liss’s other shoulder. "Old guy! You’ve got to have something to help us! Help uuuuuuuhuhuhuhuhuhuhhzzzz!" Dusty blubbered.

Hah.

She was alive.

Hahaha.

She was alive and well!

Before, Amaryllis could only offer condolences and vengeance, but now?

Now, she’s motivated!

As Nuncio raced off past her upon tiger-steed, Amaryllis raised her Silverlight, slicing a deep line in the concrete, before taking one step forward. Though her Sword was keen, her knee was strong as well; few could take a blow from her and shrug it off so easy, not when she could make people kneel with the force of her softer assets alone. The fencer that stood before her then, must be quite a durable one, and ones patrolling outside would join them soon.

Or well, that could have happened.

East of the warehouse, Amaryllis reached out with her magic, and bound her chains to space itself. The Earth continued its path around the Sun, rotating upon its axis, but the chains, linked in the air, stayed where they were and subsequently smashed through the farther portion of the warehouse, tearing apart the roof and support beams with a shuddering screech of blessed and mundane metal. There was a cry of alarm from the incoming dark magical girls, before the entrance into the warehouse was buried under corrugated metal and bolted beams.

A plume of dust and smoke rushed towards the two duelists, shrouding them both. The first blow was exchanged there, sparks flying as their swords clashed, sending a shockwave that dispersed the smokescreen. A frenetic, accelerating rhythm, punctuated by occasional strikes mere millimetres away from a fatality. Within the shadow of the ruined warehouse, hidden from the moon’s gaze, Amaryllis duelled with the Mint agent, each clash briefly lighting up the area. Both powerful, both skilled, almost evenly matched, and yet, neither of them pulled the trigger.

The Mint agent simply needed to stall until the place self-destructed from bottom-up.

The Knight of Rose simply needed to stall until Nuncio returned with Sammy in tow.

Press too hard, and they would lose their method of swiftly disengaging. Hold too much back, and they were liable to be overwhelmed in that moment of carelessness. Parry the downward stroke. Slide in for a thrust. Sidestep, draw up for a wrist cut, then horizontally for the throat. Twist the hand away, tumble underneath the swing and thrust for the knee. Flip up, kick off the ceiling, and strike down. Knock the blade astray with the free hand, counter with another kick. Recover, leap back in. Receive, set up for next counter.

Mind the breathing. Focus on everything. Maintain balance.

From the staircase, Rosa bounded up, Nuncio and Sammy together. Amaryllis’s gaze shifted briefly, and her opponent seized that opportunity, alabaster saber ripping through the air to bisect the Knight.

A phantom pain, her Sword’s ever-constant supervision.

In one step, Amaryllis closed the distance, her enemy’s hilt blocked by her hip, the blade meeting nothing. Her own Sword buried itself into the flower-eyed fencer’s gut, and with a flick of a wrist, she disemboweled the Mint agent, the blood splattering out as the petals burst.

For a moment, her eyes met her opponent’s.

“One chance.”

Spinning around, she kicked the fencer again, sending her flying back into the same crates she had been sent into before. An instant later, the wound was sealed, ivy stitches forming to prevent excessive blood loss, at least until further aid could be provided. Alongside Rosa, Nuncio, and Sammy, Amaryllis leapt back into the portal, her feet skidding upon…slush and puddles?

During their brief sojourn within that warehouse, it had begun to rain.

“Mariette, the portal, please.”

‘Reinforcements are already coming. You need to finish it ASAP.’





The entire mission hung on her.

Freya was the one heading for the coin itself. The reason for this was because she was to be like a physical juggernaut, unstoppable, the one of their number that should be able to flawlessly obtain the White Coin in the shortest amount of time with no issue. There was nobody present that could match her sheer physical might.

She was Asengav’s strongest physical soldier, a destructive force that could tear through armies and structures alike with impunity. There was NO WAY that she’d be held up by the “magical might” of a MERE CLONE.

Her arms turned into a blur. Her eyes glowed red through the illusion hiding her body, and she unleashed her Barrage. Each of the small, spherical barriers shielding the clones was bashed repeatedly by an uncountable amount of Freya’s supercharged punches. It didn’t matter what sort of power he’d put into these shields, Freya was going to leave them in pieces as each of her clawed strikes slammed into the shields and what lay beyond.

It didn’t matter to her when Aurelio replaced his clone with himself. Her assault was unchanged. There was no indication she even listened to his words. There were no barriers that could hold her off for long. Her strikes and punches were going off like the bullets of a minigun. She swiftly slithered left and right to do circles around him to strike from different angles to throw him off, all while striking. She’d use her Awareness and exceptional agility to dodge attacks but quickly be at it again to hunt for the coin. There was no way she’d be held back for long.

If she ever got an opening, she pounced. As a Were-Lamia, she had a very thin and long body, and she spun to crack herself around her target as a whip and attempted to just utterly knock him out with a straight punch when he was restrained as she went for the White Coin. If there was even the slightest of a moment for Freya to reach and grab that White Coin, she’d take it, her claw going to tear it, or the arm that held it, off Aurelio’s person with extreme strength so that Jelena could then confirm if it was the real thing. She was always striking with the speed of Barrage, here.

Her assault would not be satisfied by anything but the recovery of the White Coin.



Jelena blinked a bit at the Blue Aurelio before her, her eye confirming the lack of magic. Jelena gave a short burst of laughter… then punched at him thrice, a one-two-punch with left and right arm. Air-punches, they wouldn’t hit anything but air, but with each punch came a blast of metal, like the shrapnel from a shotgun, shot off to just utterly tear the clone apart along with any defenses or dodging he could muster. New metal quickly spilled from Jelena’s Hammerspace Handbag overcoat and she was drawing back the metal she’d launched, as she kicked off for a new target. Specifically, she jumped to get behind Aurelio’s new position, as the target she was to hold at a distance was no longer a threat.

‘Just drop the coin, you’d get away without a scratch~!’ Jelena shouted as she swung her arm… and it detached at her wrist, sending her giant metal clawed hand flying for Aurelio’s back and steered by Jelena’s metal magic. The fingers on the hand aimed for him would clamp down like a vice on him in the event it actually caught him, but mostly it was simply to distract him from the far more threatening entity that was Freya. As she did, she was also slowly extending her shards to form a semi-circle around the battlefield, floating ominously in the air to ensure Aurelio had nowhere to run.

Jelena was exceptionally ready to freeze the hand if Aurelio tried to make her hit Freya with it, and was half-way through her own skip just in case Aurelio did something silly, which her Third Eye was prepared to pick up.



Under the ground, Esther’s roots were spreading from her new location. She couldn’t take the area before now, because then somebody might have detected it, but now she was free to be rooted in place as her roots spread underground. From some of these roots, she immediately raised a decently thick reinforced tree to block Kimble’s blast. It was torn asunder, but it lightened the slices upon her own body.

Esther did not even the slightest react to the sudden cleaving wounds into her her tree-form caused by Kimble’s wind. She wasn’t bleeding from them. There was no indication of pain. In fact, the wounds upon her body started Regenerating immediately.

Time to counter-attack.

Esther’s job was not to win, here. It was simply to hold Kimble back while the rest secured the White Coin. To that end… she formed the slices of the tree Kimble had cut up into javelins. Vines kept erupting from the ground, trying to grip at Kimble, more of them showing up between Kimble and the action to cause a wall of vegetation. That, and…

Funny thing, they hadn’t used all their sticky grenades. They’d prepared for far more than two opponents, and as such had more than two of those prepared. So while Kimble was busy trying to fight through that, a vine was seeking through the ground to the other side of her, and from there it’d erupt, direct the output, and then it’d blow towards Kimble from behind blasting another dose of that grey fluid that’d instantly harden and attempt to restrain the one who’d been captured in it. In case it missed, Esther had a unit of vines ready to collect the wall, which they could then use against Kimble once again.

… Oh, and as she spread her roots…

After the attack with the leftover grenade, her roots would eventually spread to where Aurelio was fending off Freya and Jelena. With Absolute Direction, she just directed a portion of her mind to raise a vine or two to catch his foot. Esther was a skilled multitasker.

In the same vein, she without a word directed the counter-attack on the Beacon forces that were arriving. Under the rain that was starting, her tree-men swung their trunk-limbs and defended against the incoming attacks, as they grouped up to fend off the attackers. Even if the tree-men were defeated, the barrier itself was strong, and would not fall easily. That said, the barrier was a limited time deal. They had to finish this quickly.

Two more posts, tops.

@Shifter_Master@Ariamis

---

So hungry. Did it matter if she took just a little nibble? All dark, can’t see. Where did Justine and Veronica go? Where’s the exit? Her Third Eye was still blind. She didn’t even have regular eyes right now. Where was she? She needed to eat. Was this a foot? Eli couldn’t even tell. But one thing for sure. She didn’t even have a choice anymore. There was nothing else to it but to-

and suddenly the puddle of slime that was Eli fell through a portal.



Eli fell with a splash down in front of Mariette, who had already recovered a whole chicken from a marketplace from her Hammerspace Handbag to lob into Eli’s form. Her cells were onto it like piranhas, giving an ample taste of the descriptor of “Devourer”. For good measure, Mariette took out a rib and threw that one in, too, flinging with her hand a bit for the disgusting feeling of touching raw meat was still on it.

‘Are you alright?’ Mariette asked her little attendant, who had very quickly digested the pieces within her.

‘I’m… fine…’ Eli breathed out, slowly composing herself and building herself up as the darkness harpy she was again.

‘Good,’ she said. It seemed like Nuncio and Amaryllis had their thing covered, so Mariette turned and whispered. ‘Send Josefin to watch the party. She should be lucky enough not to end up in danger…’ _{Who will be a regular NPC right now, not a combat one, so, please don’t fight her}

Then she was told something very concerning.

‘… Who? And which one?’

She got her answer.

‘Grr,’ Mariette made a noise. So an out-of-town thief had somehow found one of their mirrors…

‘Keep an eye on her. I have a situation to settle,’ she responded. With that, she spun towards her own situation.

… Except, Amaryllis seemed to have that settled, seeing how she utterly tore the warehouse apart. Mariette simply stood with slightly raised eyebrows. It started to rain, so Mariette abscently Absolute Directioned to an umbrella that she retrieved through a quick portal and held above her head, a basic black one. Eli slithered to hold onto her mistress to take cover for the rain, which was especially unpleasant to a slime. Mariette was mildly aware of how the presence of Eli’s Third Eye was convenient to make sure they weren’t rescuing a fake Sammy or something.

Under the assumption that everyone was able to return through the portal _{like ERode implies} then Mariette waved her free hand a bit and the portal closed. With that, Mariette felt she’d done her part for today. … Well, almost.

She’d watch whatever celebration took place here with neutral eyes, slightly interested in this Sammy now, while she was actually sending her magic through a subspace to prepare to portal to Penrose Garden. Just… in case. In case obtaining the coin proved more important than keeping the identity of the thief safe. It wasn’t, really, but.

@BrokenPromise@ERode@Ariamis

---

Ronin arrived with Cindy, her sandals screeching to a halt as she arrived there. Oh, man, she’s actually facing up against Beacon, as she didn’t want. And there… Cindy shouted about the monsters being hunted, being swept under a rug… yeah, no, this had little to do with the assassination. Cindy was going to attack no matter what. The assassin was just a convenient excuse. There would be no stopping her. Ronin sent a quick message to Veronica.

<sub>“Okay, it's shaping up to be a battle between two small groups here! Can't tell who'll win! Beacon's trying to talk down a very angry Cindy who isn't listening...”

“Beacon has already arrived? They have attacked my agents in the past, It might be best I don't get involved.”

“Er, am I still supposed to guard Cindy, then!?”</sub>

Ronin asked a bit mentally as Reaver charged. Lotus, whom Ronin didn’t know, was also getting into the fight already. And the members of Beacon… they were trying to appeal to Cindy. The detective dude or whatever also showed up, trying to talk about the assassin. But… a chill went through Deni as they tried to talk about the third party. Tried to talk like it changed something.

They didn’t know, they didn’t know! They didn’t know what Deni had seen across the world when she scouted for Mariette! They hadn’t seen the monsters hiding away in their dens, those fearing a sudden inquisition from Beacon to come and claim their lives! The rage within Cindy was that of someone oppressed, someone wishing for a revolution of her time! The assassin didn’t matter, it was likely the third party didn’t work either! Any voice from Beacon would be spoiled! Any-

Huh? Wait, that girl was former monster-girl? Ronin looked at her somewhat surprised.

Then Anaya dropped Janet’s name. Deni made a couple connections and then further a couple assumptions.

… YOU DON’T COUNT! Any amount of time you were a monster was way too brief!

Ronin considered what to do as the other girls talked. There was no way she could influence Cindy’s rage-filled mind with such words. The little samurai had wanted to arrive here, place a wall between Cindy and Ishtar and talk it out, but there was too much violence and people already talking here, that just wouldn’t work because those here kept saying the wrong things. She had to approach from a different angle.

What if she used-

‘Cindy!’ Ronin yelled out, suddenly getting an idea, and with no time to lose. ‘I just got a report that Vi’s making everyone go crazy at the party! Like, dangerously crazy! Was that intended!?’ she asked, loudly, because the only thing she’d gotten about the situation earlier was Veronica’s “Vi-chan appears to be whipping everyone into a frenzy” that had been told to all agents before.

<sub>“Except Vi making people frenzied, what's going on over there!? Might be important!”

“It's-” Veronica groaned. “It's really complicated, but no longer relevant. Your sister is safe, however.”

“Thank you! But that doesn’t help me here at all, hahaha!”</sub>

‘Beacon still absolutely needs to answer for their actions, but I’m worried something’s going down at the party! The assassin may have been intended to drive you away from the party so you couldn’t interfere with some plan or other! Your people may be in danger…!’ Ronin attempted, hoping that would shake some emotional chord in the lightning queen, to make her think of those under her protection rather than those she wished vengeance against…!

Deni had no idea what was going on at the party. However, at this moment Deni’d use ANYTHING to make Cindy pull back…!

Oh, it was starting to rain? … Wonder how that was going to interact with lightning girl over there? Just, like, a strange thought.

@Ariamis@AtomicNut@BrokenPromise@twave@Majoras End

---

Not a single part of Dolly's body or attire was disturbed by the sudden escalation of events within the rave. With the rain pouring down upon them, however, she found it apt to produce a dark, frilled umbrella from her sleeves, popping it open and raising it high enough that both girls were under some shelter as droplets splattered all around them. The clouds above rumbled, echoes of thunder tracing bolts of lightning that had slipped away. She looked up briefly, but centered her attention upon her client immediately after.

"A few days have passed," Dolly responded. In the distance, more destruction sounded, a warehouse collapsing. Further off, enraged monster girls spread their madness throughout the city, liberated from Beacon's attempts to contain them. It was quickly devolving into a mess. It was a good time for a field test. "Your transmission device has been prepared. The rest will come in time."

The matchbox tumbled into Dolly's palm, and she popped it open with one hand. A thin string stuck out, and if Veronica pulled at it, it was...just a piece of string. Absolutely mundane, even from the point of one's Third Eye.

"The activation sequence requires you to do three twirls on your left foot, before jumping forty centimeters up into the air and forming a cross with your arms, positioned over your head. When you land, swing your arms down to your sides and say the phrase 'Lilola laclili lolaile' and release this STRING from your hand. Your transmission tower will manifest there. Perform the same sequence in reverse to revert it back to STRING form."

Dolly blinked. Rainwater fell like small streams down her umbrella.

"Do you have any further questions or requests?"


"You keep curious company, Su Feng," Lei Zi replied, eyes flickering briefly towards the claws and fangs jutting out from Helga's body. "Try to keep her out of trouble, please."

The Ascendancy had arrived now, their blades turned upon the corrupted girls as a barrier sealed off the entire warehouse. Where there was once chaos, now there was battle, and the shrine maiden's blood boiled at the madness. The storm had come, the war was here. And though she had no qualms for the corrupted who kept themselves away from civilization, who exercised their monstrous instincts upon monsters alone, when this was the result of their congregation, she could not let it stand. Lightning crackled bright, and the heat in the room continued to rise as oxygen burned into ozone. Barriers were falling, both to shield the mind and the body. Blood, seeped into fractured concrete, corpses trampled underfoot as people sought to survive, sought to escape. And still, that infernal music played, corrupting minds further.

Were the gift of the heavens, the lightning that people bottled and tamed, to be used in such manner.

No.

A thread of lightning slipped out from ruptured circuitry and struck Lei Zi's palm. It grew, transformed, turned into a wooden staff, plated with copper, twelve golden rings clinking upon the head. She turned towards Su Feng, nodding at the dragon girl to make her leave, before striking the butt of the staff against the ground.

There was a clear sound, the twinkling of star-metal.

And from Lei Zi, lightning poured out, incandescent and brilliant, yet controlled to such extent that none felt that crackling force. None, except the machinery in the room. Enchanted as they were, the loudspeakers still remained the domain of lightning, and to spark a storm so bloody, so pointless, t'was naught but sacrilege to the prosperity-sowing gods of rain and lightning. They sputtered, sparked, wiring melted and circuitry destroyed.

For the first time, the rave was bereft of song.

And in its absence, Lei Zi's staff continued to ring.


There were more who were sane than Fine had expected, and that alone was a good enough boon. Barrages of lightning and the roar of the war machines tore through those who rose in defense of the siren, while the barriers that were erected everywhere became footholds, platforms, for them to step upon, bringing them closer and closer to the stage. Mimoku had been sending texts for the last three minutes now, Fine's phone constantly buzzing, but the magical girl paid no mind to her Puchuu Patron. There would be time for that later. For now though...

"She's going to escape," Fine said, landing upon the stage alongside Eliza. "Pursue and follow; there's probably an exit where she's headed."

Her water-aura continued to guide them, but it was with sheer physical strength and the protection of her gloves that Fine disabled the filaments with, tearing the traps out of the way before making it to the metal door. Her Skeleton Key, an old, brass key that looked like it was meant for a small lock rather than any sort of door. It wouldn't fit into any sort of keyhole, not really. But so long as there was an unlocking mechanism in place, the metal door would pop open and, without smoke or darkness encroaching upon the room, Eliza would have a straight shot for Evira once Fine stepped to the side.

Despite her best efforts, Alicia could soon hear the sound of the Ascendancy squads arriving, and the barrier activating. She didn't blame Rachel for making that choice, but it added to the urgency of what she was doing. If there was some other plan in place, she needed to figure out what it was soon.

In a way that was almost confirmed as Alicia walked down the hall and was soon confronted by a magical girl directing her to return to the rave.Tapping into her third eye, she noted the four clones as well as the original. Glancing back towards the rave hall, the sound of a crash seemed to underline her own point well enough.

Turning back to the girl, she shook her head. "Yeah, that's not happening." The fact that this was being insisted on after what Vi did was evidence enough.

Before anything else could happen though, another voice spoke up from behind. Turning, Alicia held back a sigh as she saw Mika on the far side of the circle, the girl looking downright furious. For a moment she wondered if the girl was being affected by Vi's song, before deciding that it didn't matter. She'd been hostile before this event started, if anything that had just helped to push it forwards. To her detriment, as fortune would have it.

"You really need to work on your timing," she shot back. "I'm trying to resolve a crisis here."

Even as she said it, Alicia knew it was an exercise in futility. Neither girl seemed like they intended to back down. At least Leena had arrived, meaning the odds were a bit more even now. But she needed to remember to keep her focus, rather than being wrapped up in this fight.

Having recognized that the fighting was inevitable, Alicia made the first move. Her center of gravity shifted downwards as she lowered herself before springing at the real Christine. Blades flashed parallel horizontal slashes aimed at her legs. She was trusting that Leena could keep Mika distracted, so the sooner she got rid of the original, the easier this fight would be. Thy couldn't afford to waste timme, so she'd try to wrap this up quickly.

_{@Ariamis@BrokenPromise@Vocab}

---

Dimly aware of what was going on as he focused on his own healing, Ren grunted as he was hauled off the floor and on to Liss' shoulder like a sack of potatoes. At least he wasn't alone in that state, though pride was something of a nonissue at this point. There were more urgent things going on.

"Ahh, watch the ribs," he hissed as they jostled their way through the crowd. There had been a moment of calm, but it seemed the fighting had returned anew as the situation escalated. But the tourist was a bit too distracted to pay attention to why for now.

At Dusty's urging he shifted slightly, reaching back into one of his pockets for a few moments. But his search was successful as he produced a key. Which he held on to for the moment, as Liss was a bit full handed. "Here," he told them. "We use this on a locked door, it will open to another dimension. Just close it after we go through."

It was, perhaps, not the most practical of options. But it was the one he had on hand.

_{@BrokenPromise@ERode}

‘Darn,’ a girl said in the midst of her dark little room with computers. Their attack on the Beacons was going less than stellar as Aurelio had more or less no-selled their ambush. There was a very real possibility he’d be able to get away.

There were so many weird things in the ambush. Like, for instance, why had they been packing sleep-grenades at a Beacon ambush when Beacon is immune to all forms of mental manipulation?

Flaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaashbaaaaaaaaaaaaack


‘Okay…’ Taihei commented, lifting up the latest explosive she’d made from her workbench. ‘I’ve now made the “become incredibly stupid for a short time and not reconsider any decisions made during this time”-bomb. I have no idea why I made it, but it’s now imperative I distance myself from this bomb as quickly as possible, lest my bad luck will-’

And that’s when the door opened.


‘Taihei, I’ve come to bear witness to your latest-’ Mariette started as she opened the door, only for the handle to unexpectedly slam into a strangely placed mop that then fell and struck the trigger of the bomb, which abruptly blew up in a cloud of brown smoke around the two of them. As the smoke settled, the two looked at one another dumbfounded.

‘Anyway, I need bombs to ambush Beacon with, keep in mind they’re immune to all mental effects,’ Mariette started.

‘Oooh, how about sleep bombs? After all, sleep isn’t mental. It’s perfectly logical, natural and necessary for survival,’ Taihei replied.

‘You’re a genius, Taihei. Make those bombs, and as a reward I’ll send you on a trip to that nuclear power plant you mentioned. See if you can harness that power for Asengav,’ Mariette told the incredibly unlucky girl.

‘Woooo,’ Taihei replied.

_{And this is literally the only explanation PlatinumSkink can provide for this dose of incompetence.}

Back to the future!

Yeah, the entire thing confused her, the girl thought as she glanced past a news article reporting about a nuclear disaster somewhere in Europe, prompting a raised eyebrow but then just looking to things going on locally instead.

Still, she had an observation to make. Aurelio never took a detour to Beacon HQ. Meaning, he had the White Coin on him all the time. The girl chuckled a bit, if they’d known that they could have made a way simpler plan. Too bad that come tomorrow they’d probably stop carrying coins, because of this ambush. Meaning the only opportunity to try doing it again was-

The girl’s eyes widened.

It had to be tonight.

The girl more or less threw herself forward to press a button.

‘Mayra! Make yourself available!’

‘Ueh?’ Mayra asked, stumbling where she was just about to throw her bowling ball at the alley she was taking a vacation at.

The girl pressed another button.

‘Josefin, cancel that last order!’

‘Huh?’ Josefin sort of stumbled where she was heading for the party.

‘We might need to try something desperate…!’

"Sh-sh-shorry, I'm... shho sorrrry...!"

Emily's voice was inaudible, drowned out by the cacophony of fighting, singing, and destruction. She couldn't get her body to move the way she desired, so despite attempting to struggle and break free of the grasp on her, she had continued to be nothing more than a doll being dragged along. How terrible! How unforgivable! There were people in trouble and danger afoot, but here she was being nothing more than dead weight!

She could only really hear one thing. The warehouse might have been coming down in parts, Vi's music might've been blaring loudly, but all she could pick up was the sound of her failure. In response to being punched, a girl might grunt. Failure to avoid a slash would result in both missing flesh and a sharp squeal in pain. Even the sound of the last of a girl's air escaping her lungs had not been missed by her. Emily wasn't sure if it was the alcohol or not, but it killed her on the inside nonetheless.

"P-phlease...put me down. Can't yyyyou hearrr them...? They're 'n so mush painnn..." she pleaded.



With a quick twist of her body, Silhouette turned her back towards the gunwoman as she shot, the blast bouncing off her durable coat at an angle and hitting some random girl in the leg. No longer than a moment had she turned away but by the time her vision settled back upon where Sonia she had been, Sil noticed the girl had taken advantage of the commotion and left. Frustration visible on her features, she turned back to face the nameless girl that had interrupted her.

As the girl leveled the gun to Sil once again and intended to fire, Silhouette momentarily disappeared only to reappear behind the girl. The girl spun around to face her only to receive a knife to the stomach, which was then twisted, evoking a cry from the girl. Sil pulled the now-bloodied knife out and gave the girl a strong kick, knocking her to the floor. It was a pointlessly cruel act she only registered that she had done after the fact. After all, a stab like that wasn't going to immediately kill a magical girl and could be dealt with if given medical treatment. But that didn't matter. The intentions of the girls who noticed her injured form on the ground were far from noble, and Sil had a feeling that girl wouldn't be a problem ever again if her screams were anything to go by.

Paying little mind to the girl that Ari had just gotten killed, Silhouette moved towards Veronica and arrived just after their targets had fled. Justine's confidence was irritating, but right now they could do little but give chase. That said, Veronica was anything but happy with this turnout and voiced this rather clearly.

"It won't happen a second time," she assured Veronica, ignoring the irritation that arose from Veronica's words. Silhouette was doing her best to suppress the music's effects.

Shade, you need to return to me now.

...

Somewhere in the middle of the commotion, a lone shadow hurriedly attempted to lift girls off the floor. Her lower half was covered in blood that wasn't hers, and she had had more than a few close calls already. The bar exploding had separated her and Dusty, but she had taken solace in the fact that she saw the girl they'd intended to cheer up had run off with her. At least that meant that Dusty was unlikely to be 'killed' and lose all of her memories, right?

They honestly hadn't gotten to do much before things went to shit, and it may be because she was selfish, but having someone she could confide in was a great feeling. Maybe to most the short moment they had where she revealed her feelings on her existence would be fleeting and forgettable, but for Shade that was a large part of her terribly short life so far. She didn't want it to go away, so she hoped Dusty would find her way back to Trixy eventually.

She hoped.

But for now, she needed to acknowledge her summons. Shade couldn't hear what Sil was saying, but her intention could be felt. IF Samantha wanted her back, then that was what she had to do. Hopefully what little she'd done would have some positive impact, but as she was a tool and nothing else, she resigned herself to being used once more. Shade sunk into the floor and the shadow darted along the ground until it eventually returned Silhouette's shadow to her.

...

By this point, Veronica had disappeared and Samantha was left in front of the newly-arrived Ascendancy agents. She shook her head and sighed at their outrageous demands. "Ya got me. I'll save you the trouble and get on the ground," she told them, doing very much the same as Veronica and slipping into the shadows. She took not the same route as her employer but arrived outside in mostly the same fashion nevertheless. Even for a squad like them, there was little chance the Ascendancy had the ability nor care to track her through the obnoxious scenery of the club.

Now beyond the reach of the barrier surrounding the warehouse, she remained hidden in the shadows as she traveled along the perimeter towards Veronica. When they had at last met up, Veronica was with Dolly, inquiring about the specifics of their deal. She opted to remain quiet, but couldn't help but notice Veronica's attire had changed.

A shame, really. Shade would be able to appreciate it more, but even Sam wouldn't deny Veronica could pull it off pretty well. Oh well, there were more important things to do than daydream about forming an idol group with her employer and her shadow clone.

Err, ignore this

Rina was further delayed by her need to transform. Even though it was just a few seconds, it felt like a long time when your friends were running around in a death trap. Once she was transformed she stepped out into the hall. She spotted Helga and lead her towards Mika.

---

_{@Vocab@Flamelord}

The hair on the back of Mika’s neck stood up. She turned to Leena with a startled look on her face. This was her first time seeing Leena, and aside from the corrupt scum line, there was nothing to really indicate she wasn’t a normal rave goer. But Mika wasn’t quite that stupid. She was able to piece together what was going on rather quickly. Leena had to be one of the many girls Alicia had brainwashed. Torn from her previous lover through trickery. While Mika had few nice things to say about Alicia, she did have good taste. Bikini tops were great.

“I’m not a monster!” Mika said with her usual old cutesy voice. “These effects are just normal magic!” Her ears and tail vanished in a puff of smoke.

After her failure with Lupa in the streets many months ago, she had learned to not blindly rush into things. Even at a glance she could tell this was a pickle. Alicia was surrounded by five girls, and Mika had at least two behind her. Advancing was a death sentence. Backing down was an option. Alicia would go free, and then she’d be at the mercy of her entranced thrall. At least the other way Mika could maintain her dignity. But there had to be other options. There were always other options.

“Well…” Mika folded her arms behind her back, still looking at Leena. “You don’t want me to go towards her, and mommy said not to go anywhere with strangers. Soooooooo…”

Mika turned her side to Leena and hopped on the wall. She twisted her body as she kicked off, causing her to spin through the air like a corkscrew. Her arms were already extended, allowing the adamantium claws to cut through the concrete wall. Then with her Keijo training, she tucked her torso between her legs and slammed her ass into the center of the wall. The cylinder she made flew into the joining room. She managed to put a barrier up just before passing through the wall’s threshold. It was weak, but it bought her some time. After rolling, Mika was on her feet with her ears and tail activated.

Mika knew there were more rooms, but she had been lucky enough to land in another corridor. Now she just had to run along this adjacent hallway and cut off Alicia. But Mika had a plan for that too. With Leena and Fanfan momentarily blocked off, and no one to bar her path, she could test out her new gauntlets.

“Let’s try it at 150%!”

Mika’s head was thrown back as her gauntlets guided her forward. Her jowls flapped in the wind, and the corridors were soaked with water. After a single second of use she deactivated the water jet and looked at her gauntlets. Brittany had been considerate enough to add a way to check the temperature of the gauntlets. The gems located under the skulls glowed red in proportion to how hot the unit was getting. It wasn’t very precise, but a vibrant red glow meant that the gauntlets could explode. Though such little use hardly heated the gauntlets at all. It did take the dull red glow a bit to fade away, however.

“Way cool!”

Mika grinned to herself as she prepared to continue her chase. She wasn’t interested in the far off violin playing.

The reprieve granted by the angelic girl’s spell lasted only a few moments, but that was time enough for Gaia to spot Connie through the dense mob of bodies and swirling clouds of smoke. She appeared to be carrying another girl, while a magical boy was leading them through the crowded dance floor with a barrier shaped like a plow. And… Was that Lily carrying a girl in a bunny suit? It was a strange sight, to be sure, but there was no time to think about such things now.

“Connie!” Gaia called out as she began to make her way toward her friend. “Hold on, little sister! I’m coming!”

Gathering her strength, the spritely girl darted through the mass of monster girls, leaping over those she couldn’t pass around. As the effects of Vi-Chan’s twisted song began to be felt once more, Gaia threw a cloud of seeds in front of her from which thick vines shot forth to ensnare any who tried to obstruct her passage. Although the clouds of smoke now obscured her vision, Gaia had fixed Connie’s location in her mind. She was traveling in as close to a straight line as possible, so the verdant magical girl was confident that it would only be a matter of time before she and her friend were reunited.

Then, just as Gaia was vaulting over an enormous monster girl with three heads, another girl, who seemed to be completely covered in flames, sent a blazing fireball hurtling toward her. Due to the smoke and sheer chaos of the rave, Gaia was unaware of the danger until it was virtually upon her. Even with her impressive agility, it would have been almost impossible for her to avoid the flaming sphere, but, in the end, it turned out that dodging the fiery missile wasn’t even necessary. Just before it struck her, a glowing barrier flashed into being and completely absorbed the blazing blow. Looking up, Gaia saw the angelic girl hovering overhead, using her wings to push back some of the smoke.

“My sincere thanks for the assistance!” Gaia called to her, while flashing an appreciative smile. “The Daughter of Mother Earth is in your debt!”

“Please, think nothing of it, my sister,” she called back, returning Gaia’s smile with one of her own. “This humble servant is only too happy to help. The glorious sight of you being reunited with your friend is all the reward she shall require.”

Giving a grateful nod, Gaia set off once more. Feeling an infusion of speed and vitality as her angelic ally continued to assist her, Gaia would soon find herself at Connie’s side.

---

It brought great joy to the Angel of Hope’s heart to see the rave’s insanity subside in the wake of her spell. She was also overjoyed that she was able to help the nymph-like girl on her quest to reunite with her friend. Sadly, this elation was short-lived. All too quickly, the effects Vi-Chan’s song returned with renewed vigor, and even the dark idol’s flight from the stage seemed to do nothing to stop the accursed melody. Tears once more streamed down the Angel of Hope’s face as she saw innocents being brutally cut down by deranged monster girls, while the newly arrived Ascendancy dispatched the poor monster girls with equal savagery. This wasn’t their fault! Could they not see that the monster girls were mere victims as well? She felt her gentle heart being rent asunder by the sight.

“Please! I beg you! The killing must stop!” she pleaded desperately, though her cries fell on deaf ears. Words would not serve here, she swiftly realized, only action! With that in mind, she summoned her weapon, The Celestial Staff of Radiant Empowerment. “Please… Please let me be allowed to save at least some of them,” she prayed as she gathered her power.

Using the staff to focus her mystical energies, the Angel of Hope projected an array of barriers across the main hall. Some were sent to protect those who had retreated to the corners, while others interposed themselves between the raging monsters and the fanatical crusaders of the Ascendancy. The barriers also radiated powerful waves of healing energy, which mended even the most grievous of wounds and brought a renewed sense of calmness and clarity to those whose minds had become ensnared by the evil song. With that accomplished, the Angel of Hope moved to aid those who were also trying to help others as she was. Gliding over the confused throngs, she used her wings to clear as much of the smoke as she could, while blessing her new allies with both magical enhancements and words of encouragement.



“Well done, sister!” she called out to a lavender haired girl who was guiding guests to safety. “Keep up the good work, and please allow my blessing to assist your endeavor!” she added, filling the girl with increased power.

“Oh, wonderful!” she exclaimed at the sight of a fellow reinforcement girl using her barriers to bind the more belligerent monster girls, while her companion shielded her from attack. “You are stopping them without killing them! Thank you so very much! It means more to me than you shall ever know!”

Ah! The sight of such profound kindness fills me with such immense joy! she sighed contentedly as waves of blissful euphoria washed over her, drowning out her earlier sorrow.



It was at that moment a new sight came to her attention. A robed magical girl with dark hair was sending streams of crackling lightning into the hall’s myriad speakers, frying them to a crisp and at long last silencing Vi-Chan’s diabolical song.

“I am eternally grateful, my cherished ally!” the Angel of Hope called to the dark haired girl, while placing her hands over her heart. “My appreciation knows no bounds! Thanks to you, we have been granted a chance to restore peace to this troubled gathering! Let us strive to make the most of it together!”

Despite all of those that strove to assist in calming things down Penny knew that things continued to dissolve into chaos. If not here then all across Penrose, as dozens of girls had left via other means before the Ascendancy sent their Barrier up, but there wasn’t much she could do in regards to that half of things right now. The people here were in danger, both from the extremist forces of Ascendancy and the vile influence of Vi’s music.

Because of that, the monstrous girl didn’t even give Vi a second look as the cowardly idol fled from the stage. She just continued her swinging arc up onto the stage, not stopping she continued her rush towards the sound system tucked away in the back. Her magical skill was never going to be able to unweave the Sound effects of someone else, but with through this she might be able to override what was coming out of the speakers.

Thus she merged with it, just in time for Lei Zi surge of Lightning to come ripping through the systems frying everything that they could.

At first Penny nearly rebelled against the attack, nearly fought to keep the speakers functioning, but she didn’t. Instead she drank freely form the storm sent racing through them, drawing into herself the storm once it had fulfilled its primary purpose, and then she called to metal, seeking the fried and damaged components, but also willing to take anything that would answer. She didn’t need them to be in one piece for her to do what needed to be done, for within her they could be remade to fulfill her desired function.

As the metal flowed to her she unfurled her lower set of hidden limbs and plunged then into the floor.

“Systems re-calibrated”

The next moment a deafening note echoed out from Penny’s location, her Gauss system disgorging naught but a wave of low frequency sound. It would roll though the building undeterred by walls of any kind as it originated underneath the ground and at the same time it would do little other than possibly distract. It wasn’t focused enough to harm.

For Penny was looking for a way out. She was still patched into the other drones within the area, she knew that even if the walls were punched through, or the roof broken out of that the majority of girls were still trapped in here. But she had seen Cindy and her entourage leave before everything went to hell. That secret could hopefully lead out of here, and hopefully there was more than one.

---

With the return of sanity Ashlyn and Monica were able to much more easily start rounding up girls who simply trying to leave. Monica kept her larger friend abreast of what was going via psychic updates even as they fell back into one of the furthers rooms away from where it was the Ascendency.

Once they reached it Ashlyn would take a defensive position, fending off anyone who tried to force their way in, at the door as Monica opened a large gateway into her Interdimensional home and started shepherding girls into it. Both of them would stay here in the Rave until things got too dangerous for them to stay any longer before they would both also flee into the home.

They could return once the place was safe.

---

Despite the wide grin on his face Aurelio knew he was in trouble. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his Compassion clone simply stand there and get taken out, which now that he had traded places with said clone he could understand why.

Defending against this crazed lamia was hard. He was rather good at defense as well, in his own humble opinion, but this was very much straining his skill at it and with each barrier that got destroyed his capability of staying ahead of his laser focused opponent got that much harder.

He heard reinforcements arrive, but couldn’t bother devoting any attention to them and he ducked under another swipe that would likely have left quite the impression. Then the Metal wielding foe also joined in the fray and Aurelio position turned even worse as he was forced to dodge both of them and split his attention.

His mind raced to try and find a way out of this predicament, for he was much closer to exhaustion then one would originally expect. The reason for that was his own fault, he underestimated just how badly that they wanted this Coin, and his earlier stunt with the Wonder, swapping place with his clone, was more costly than normal due to chaining it with the Determination and illusion set up.

Which as he narrowly dodged another blow, one that shattered his last barrier, wasn’t even something he could make use of anymore. The idea had been to mirror his and Kimble’s images over each other, but the second it would take to trigger that would likely end up costing him more than he was willing to give at the moment.

But then he remembered the wise words of Master Fung “The goal is simply not to lose, and that is victory enough” and with that a plan formulated in his mind ‘This is going to hurt’

As once more his opponents attacked him in a pincer, a metal claw swinging from one direction and a Barrage of slashes from the front Aurelio put his plan into action. Moments before they struck him there was several flashes of magic from him, before his cane was tossed at the metal hand before he spun to try and block in the incoming assault with his arms crossed over his torso, the White Coin peeking out from between his fingers.

A moment later Aurelio did his best to hold back the scream of pain as his right arm is removed from him in a vicious display of strength. The white coin seemingly still tightly held in its hand.

On the ground Aurelio would curl up his left hand pressed tightly to the now empty shoulder. The wound would seal up near instantly however were one to be paying attention to him still as the second spell he cast went into effect. ‘Called it’

The first was the illusion he had been holding on too, but what it was he swapped the images of wasn’t him and Kimble, but of one coin with another. The last spell? Well that would be a nasty surprise here in a moment, but now wasn’t the time for that, he only had a few moments he could stall before his ruse was likely to be discovered.

---

Off in the tunnel bored out but the wooden torpedo’s another clone of Aurelio popped into existence. It had an urgent message it had to get out, and knew that its original self had placed themselves into danger to try and buy more time for this message.

Quickly it would take off its hat and hold it upside down before speaking quietly but urgently. “Floppy, need you get here quickly” Moment’s later a large black rabbit would pop up out of the hat looking distinctly annoyed. “No time!” the Clone would say cutting of his Beckoner before it could start saying anything “There is a group hunting after the White Coins. I’m not sure if I’m the only target but you need to recall all of the patrols that have them now!”

---

Viva would be too busy enjoying her meal to really notice any of the insanity that had sparked off around her, later she would look back and lament the fact that she had missed all the fun. At some point, Viva would never be able to pinpoint when, she would be swept away from the Rave entirely.

Deposited in an abandoned house in some further away neighborhood of Penrose to finish her meal in peace, all due to her ‘Get out of Jail’ perk.

“Locked door? Got it!”

Liss was maximum energy now, her body thrumming with energies both physical and magical. Freeing up one arm by tossing Dusty onto Ren and then carrying the two of them over a single shoulder, she bulldozed her way through a wall of plaster, right as the Ascendancy smashed into the main hall and began to put everyone down. Insane. It was so insane! She breathed, but oxygen was growing thinner and thinner, the smoke clogging up everything. Still, she could not see, and the side halls didn’t have much in terms of locked doors at all.

They were all unlocked, after all. Made sense, seeing how there had been a rave going on, and it didn’t make much sense for a door to be locked. Or was she just twisting the knobs too hard when she tested them, ending up with breaking the locks before she could determine whether or not they were locked? Didn’t matter. Bits of her hair was catching fire now, and not in the cool way either. Liss exhaled deeply.

Not gonna be the first time she died. Not gonna be the last either. And if they need a locked door, then all she needed to do was to lock it.

Skidding to a stop beside yet another door, the redhead dropped both Dusty and Ren off on the ground, before slapping the key back into the tourist’s hand.

“I’ll be fine, so y’all just get outta here!”

With that, she opened the door, stepped in, closed it behind her, and-

Click.

- locked the door.


Everything burned.

The barriers were failing now, as their makers retreated. The air from portals to other worlds were sucked into the flaming rave, further fuelling the inferno. Plastic melted, and the bars, full of alcoholic drinks as they were, continued to explode. Oxygen, deprived from the brains of maddened magical girls, caused strings of furious responses. No air to think, only air to fight, but the more you fought, the less air you got, until you were choking on smoke, suffocating upon superheated air. In time, the flames will die, but the barrier erected by the Ascendancy would only turn this entire place into an oven.

The smoke, indeed, seeped into the hallways, the corridors, blanketing even those fighting in the back halls. The fat of the dead and the slain cooked, crackled, popped. Devourers scavenged, obsessed and seeking sustenance to fuel them where oxygen couldn't. Destroyers and Warriors swung still; though Evira's song had ended, this was still a fight for survival, and they would not shy away from the adversity of Beacon's death squads. Those more sane continued to retreat into their little homes, their small shelters, but to run now, so that those who stayed could be slaughtered more easily?

Hilarious! It brought laughter, a whole hell lot of laughter to Askefye, seeing everything come to ruin, seeing everyone act in their own self-interest, their choices dissonant and fractured. The Angel still cried out her bullshit, but her voice didn't travel so easily now, not when the roar of the flames snatched her words right out of the air. Inside her sanctuaries, they were stuck as if in cages, suffocating still, unable to escape. The Ascendancy would cull them later; Askefye, ethereal within her shadows, would enjoy it even more!

And the Monster Queen, hiding in the back of the room, when would she make her move?

The flaming devil smiled. Her own corrupted kin were dropping like flies, blasted to bits in wonderfully violent displays of power, and she couldn't wait for the same to happen to her pure kin either. So much fun, so much fun~!

This rave was the best.

Lily shook her head, wincing at the slight flailing that Sakura made in response to being grabbed.
”But we have to leave and-wait, is that Emily!? What happened to you?” She was about to ask more questions when Alex announced he would lead them out of the rave. Though the music had ended by this point, the main hall was still loud with the sounds of screaming and fighting, blades clanging and gunshots echoing all around.
”I-Uh-Well-I thought-I might-”
Connie came over, and Lily handed Sakura to her in turn, like an oversized doll one would see as a prize at fairs, before she slung the drunk girl’s arm over her shoulder as Mia regrouped with them.
”L-Let’s follow Alex!” She finally shouted, and with Alex’ barriers splitting the tide of violence, the group rushed toward the nearest exit.

---

Leena slightly relaxed her stance once Mika showed her furry additions were a result of Beast magic, and she nodded. However, she still kept her swords out.
“I see. But why did you approach Alicia with your weapons ou-Hey!” She yelled as Mika suddenly bust through the wall and disappeared. She scoffed, and turned her attention to Christine. Helga had reached the corridor the moment Mika had run out, and she amplified her voice to shout at her: “Mika, we need to leave! The Beacon’s slaughtering everyone!”
While Alicia attacked the real Christine, Leena moved as well, destroying two clones near the Light girl in a single move.

---

The Ascendancy squad who had arrived from the entrance were ready as Veronica approached, and Juliana made a valiant charge, aiming to lance her through the heart. But, in the next moment, she had disappeared into the shadows; the Patron-level magical girl showed her magical skills of evasion as she slipped out of the Gibbet, much like Houdini escaping from a similar cage. As they were distracted, Silhouette also made her escape, evading the Ascendancy using the dark corners and blind spots.

“Leave her,” Violette stated as Juliana grit her teeth at her failure, and pointed towards the main hall. “We have more coming, so get ready-eh?”
The group that rushed towards them was a strange one; encased in a triangle-like barrier, it included Alex, Lily, Sakura, Connie, Mia, and Emily. Sharron adjusted her glasses. “It appears to be the rescue target.”
Violette groaned and gnashed her teeth, but then finally sighed. “Let them pass.”
The girls did as ordered, and dodged to the sides of the entrance hall as the crazy train went.

”Aaaahhh! We’re gonna CRAAASSHH!” Lily screamed as she saw a barrier outside, but Alex kept running.

Rachel spotted the group coming up to the surface, and blinked.
“There she is. What a strange costume for a girl as diminutive as her, but I suppose it worked.”
She made an opening for them, letting the group escape. “Sakura has been rescued,” the Inquisitor informe the squads inside as she closed the hole agan, and then turned to Umukamui, a confident smile on her lips. “We have fulfilled our end of the deal. Now, you will fulfill yours, Puchuu.”

Once they were outside, Lily made a big scream.
”We did iiiit!”
She took Emily’s hands, and began spinning her wildly around.
”Alex saved us! We got out!”

---

Lei Zi’s lightning attack successfully destroyed the loudspeakers in the main hall, causing the music to stop. “Fire! And there’s the source!” Vivi spotted Askefye dancing among the flames, and shot at her with blasts of pressurized water shot from her palms, quenching her fires in the process. The smoke began rising up through the crack the Ascendancy made, slowly clearing the air in the rave.

However, while the normal magical girls were grateful for the effort, the
Corrupted found themselves fighting to the death, as the Ascendancy proceeded with their systematic assault, using coordinated tactics and cold determination to smash through the haphazard formations. But then, as the bodies began hitting the floor, the Angel of Hope used her healing barriers to divide the combatants, restoring the numerous fighters to health. It unfortunately lasted for only a time before her mana had run out, but it was enough to cause the central Ascendancy squad to stop and notice her plight as she fell to the floor, unable to fly any longer. “You stop interfering!” Paula shouted, her metal palm grabbed her torso, binding her arms in the process. She squeezed tight enough to cause her to feel slightly crushed. “These are monsters, they deserve nothing but swift retribution! Your assistance only brings further death!” She was then thrown against the back wall.

Fine succeeded in disabling the filament traps using her hand, and managed to open the metal door with her Skeleton Key. Inside, she found Elvira’s dressing room, complete with vanity stands and mirrors, as well as a small security setup with screens to camera feeds. In the back of the room was a latch that still slightly shook from the impact of dropping back on the floor; Elvira had passed through just a few seconds ago. Upon opening the latch, she saw a glimpse of Elvira looking up at her from the bottom of the shaft lined by a metal ladder, leading down to what looked like an underground tunnel.

The entrance Ascendancy squad had joined the other squad in the main hall and surrounding halls, and soon enough the corrupted girls were outpowered, and surrendered as their minds returned back to non-hostile thanks to the efforts of the redhead twins, who also healed wounds from the numerous injuries. However, they soon found themselves accused of assisting monsters.
“Stop healing them! They are sinners and witches! They deserve naught but death.” One of the triplets stated as she came up to the twins, her halberd pointed towards them. “Stand down. We won’t warn you twice.” By this point, Penny had succeeded in finding the secret exit using the drone; using the backstage, she could sneak by the main hall, but she would have to go through two of the triplets and Delphi, who were currently searching the hall.
Meanwhile, Sharron spotted the Interdimensional Home door, and through the door glass either Ashlyn or Monica would see her return to the others and point at it while discussing something.

---

Rachel kept two fingers to the side of her head, her eyes intently focused on the screen on her device as she shifted her camera feed from one member to another. Her expression didn’t move even as Paula’s metal fist caved in a reptile monster girl’s chest in, or when Kai shot a dark magical girl right between the eyes.

But then, the appearance of a certain entity drew a fleeting glance.

“You must be Umukamui,” she stated, before looking back towards the screen. “The situation is under control, despite a couple of...unknown factors.” She saw as Penny jumped onto the stage in the feed, and disappeared behind the curtain. “It seems that Elvira’s goal was not to unify the corrupted populace as a single resistance movement as we theorized. Based on the reports of increased corruption activity in Penrose, it seems she intended to cause a riot.” Her eyebrows furrowed. “But why? What would she gain from causing chaos at such a scale?” She adjusted her glasses. “It might be a distraction...”

---

Eshter’s reinforced tree managed to absorb most of the impact of her cross-slashing wind, but the wounds she caused were deadly nonetheless, as the wood girl’s arm was cut at the elbow before Regeneration fixed the branch-like arm back to the stump. Kimble lifted up to avoid the ensnaring vines, about to dive bomb towards Esther to slash her when a surprise sticky bomb exploded.
“Nhaaah!”
She ended up restrained by the hardened grey goo, and bowled right through the wall Esther had formed dropping into the hole Esther was rooted in. As her vines quickly began constricting all over her, Kimble grit her teeth.

“NNN...NNN….NNNAAAAH!” Gathering up the last of her magic, she created a hurricane that began raging right at Esther’s spot. Despite her efforts in staying in place, she was eventually uprooted by the power of the rotating wind, and ended up whisked away in multiple fast spins, sure to cause the usually stagnant monster girl to become dizzy and perhaps even motion-sick.

Sally’s fight against the tree monsters turned out, to nobody’s surprise, to be a sequence of lucky events, as the treemen ended up hitting each other and even the barrier with their strong swings, shattering it and allowing the rest of Beacon to arrive at the scene.
However, she arrived just as she saw Aurelio’s arm ripped off.

“AURY-POO!”

---

The sword-wielding girl made a valiant effort against Amaryllis, but one mistake cost her the fight, as Amaryllis plunged her blade through the girl. She gasped, thinking she would draw her last breath, only to be shocked as the wound was sealed, preventing grievous loss of blood.
“W-Why?” She uttered as she clutched at her injury, only to snap to attention as the warehouse crumbled, slowing down the reinforcements.
“This isn’t over!” She shouted after Amaryllis as she and Nuncio carrying Sammy escaped through a portal. But just as the portal closed, the swordswoman heard her opponent one last time:

“I’ll find you, and I will defeat you, Silver Rapier!”

---

Sylvia’s sweeping cone of gatling gun fire failed to cause much damage despite the volume of bullets she was putting out; almost immediately after she started firing, Reaver moved to intercept, and though his barriers broke and body was pierced by ammunition, he only kept running, his torn face having intimidated her to the point of drawing her complete attention. The bullets that did reach Faith and Lotus were likewise mostly blocked by her sheet music strands and illusions, only stray bullets having hit them. She activated her Third Eye upon seeing the Lotus bodies disappear.

“Wait, those are-Gaah!”
It was too late for her to realize Lotus’ trick in the heat of the moment, and she was caught by her tentacles binding her like rope. Her minigun was pulled up to shoot in the sky as she screamed from both the pain of the lifedrain and upon seeing Reaver swing his sword down at her. “Ahh!”

At that moment, she saw fireworks; they were in the form of sparks from Jenna’s spear as it clashed with Reaver’s blade, blocking the attack at the last minute. At the same time, Janet had created a cylindrical barrier which managed to hold the tentacles back for the moment, though it visibly strained from the squeezing. Free from the draining effect, she glanced back to see if Ishtar was okay, she was swiftly lifted up by Anaya’s spirit-fueled dolls; one of the armor-possessing ones had engaged Reaver, and used a lance to stab Reaver in the shoulder. “Anaya! I’m so glad you’re here!” Motivated by seeing her allies fighting to protect her, she waited until the moment before the barrier broke, and jumped out of the top of the cylinder, causing Lotus’ tentacles to wrap around nothing. As she did so, she activated her minigun again with Third Eye at the ready and shot down at Lotus, now distracted by Anaya’s dolls, with high-caliber rain. “I’ll cover you, Jenna!”

“So you did follow me, Anaya...” Ishtar softly spoke as she was brought back up to stand by her animated armor. “...Thank you.” She faced the battlefield once again with her gleaming eyes, now streaming golden tears as she saw the violence that ensued. She gripped her praying hands together tightly. “Chloe never intended to bring Divina here...She led me into Cindy’s ambush…” She saw as Sylvia screamed in pain, and as Jenna clashed with a monstrous Reaver.
”...I let this happen...Please...Stop this...”
She prayed with her head bowed down, and her own dress was stained with her tears.
”...I’ll do anything, just stop...Please...”

Cindy was charging up another thunderbolt in her palm when Shane interrupted her with his discovery. However, in response, Cindy simply slapped Shane away with her free hand; though it didn’t shock Shane too badly on account of his own stunning nature, her superior control over electromagnetic forces was enough to knock him aside. “Doesn’t matter who attempts to take my life, for the foe before me has taken too many! For I am Queen of Penrose, and I will free my people!” She then let out what sounded like a mix between a rumble of thunder and an eagle’s cry in response to the mental broadcast. “Stop that!” She yelled, and squinted her eyes as Janet stepped forth to deliver a speech, accompanied by Anaya and her bodyguard animated armors.

Wary of the way Janet left herself open to attack, Cindy decided to stop and listen. Her body struggled to maintain human shape as her heart was filled with black bitterness and anger, and occasionally her form turned more jagged and split and thunderbolt-shaped thorns of electricity burst from her back and arms.
“ENOUGH WITH THE RIDDLES!” She suddenly shouted right in Janet’s face, causing a screeching sound so vibrant in frequency that it nearly punctured the girl’s earlobes and pained the rest in the immediate vicinity like Anaya and Ronin. “What third party? What bidding?” Janet’s claim to having been a former monster girl managed to calm her a bit, and she did nod at parts.

But then, a certain phrase from Anaya caused her Mental Mutation to trigger, and her form turned frantic and bright. Both her hands held orbs of electric energy.
“Pride? PRIDE? You call our survival mere conceit? You call our struggle to live and exist, to see the next day, as but arrogance? You’re the ones who are arrogant, Beacon, spouting mere platitudes while belittling our sorrow! RAAGH!”

She was about to shoot both girls with a thunderbolt to their respective faces when Ronin interrupted her with news about the rave. She was completely surprised as a result. “Elvira? But why? What is going on there? My people are in danger? Goblina, send word to-Huh?”

But as Cindy looked around, she couldn’t see Goblina, only a small, black object on the ground with some faint runes etched on it. Nobody had paid attention to the small monster girl since the battle started, not even the centaur who brought her there.

That turned out to be a fatal mistake.

”IAAAAAAHHH!”

A bloodcurdling scream surfaced, and everyone’s eyes were drawn to the source; it was Cardinal Ishtar, whose red-stained hands clutched at a vicious, serrated black blade that pierced from her stomach. In the very next moment, it was wrenched out, causing Ishtar to fall to the ground. The moment it met the cold, snowy ground, the people saw the devious smirk of the bloody deed’s dealer; Viper.

“Looks like we have a change of plans on our hands hah.”
The weapon she held was not a mere combat knife, but a gun with the blade affixed as the stock. In her other hand, she held what looked like a remote detonator.
With a click of her thumb, it was activated.
“Killer Queen.”

The bomb artifact on the ground exploded, catching Cindy, Janet, Anaya , Shane, and Ronin in the radius. However, it was not a normal bomb that exploded with a loud boom and bright flash, but rather a smoke bomb that coated the three in purple, eerily glowing smoke.
“Nhgh! My...powers…!” Cindy groaned with static in her voice.
Not only was the poison a radioactive agent, causing the human-shaped magical people to fall to the ground in agony as their muscles contracted, their veins stiffened, and their tissues were ravaged by radiation, the pain so horrendous it completely paralyzed anyone short of an absolute masochist. It was also an ionizing gas, causing Cindy’s body to form ion pairs and massively weaken from the loss of electrons, causing her to wobble in place as white noise-like patterns formed on her body.

Alexander rush forward, his barrier pushing aside many crazed party goers. As they got to the entrance, he noticed what looked like an Ascendancy blockade 'Fuck, of course it's them. This is just the excuse they need to get Crusading. Well you're not getting us caught up in this!' So he picked up speed, prepared to ram through them as he strengthened his barrier even more. However, to his surprise, they all got out of the way, without even attacking '...huh?' That was when he saw the next obstacle; the barrier.

Maybe it was his long time using barriers, or maybe it was just his sour mood, but Alexander took the sight of a barrier blocking his way personally. It felt like an insult, a challenge 'Bring it the fuck on!' He let his Beast magic loose, and his form changed to his Beast mode. His helmet crumbling to unleash a long luscious mane of silvery white hair. "ARHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" He cried out as he charged the barrier

...promptly ran through the hole that just appeared in it. "-HHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhh" His cry petered out as he slowed down and dismissed his barrier "Well...that was anticlimactic" he said, a little disappointed.