Emily could not name a single instance that had proven to be frustrating as this one had been. How many of her siblings had fallen? How many more would? Would their deaths be dragged out, or would death embrace them with movements as sweet as they were deft? Was wishing them a swift demise the best she could do? Could she protect any of them? She owned, in her own hands, the means with which to do so. And the will to do so was also within her heart. But she was... unwell, and wholly incapable of using either of those to achieve her goals.
Despite their successful 'escape' from the Rave, Lucifer was far from happy. She was an inebriated and sorrowful wreck who was breaking apart at the seams. Many monsters had fallen by her hand, and it was not as though she'd missed out on experiencing loss... but to say the Devil's water wasn't sweet would be quite the understatement. She could not, for the life of her, imagine how one would willingly put themselves into such a disoriented, pathetic state.
She felt as though there was a delay of about a whole second between what she went to do and what she did, and that she was struggling to remain inside her own body. She wondered if she'd, in a literal sense, 'give up the ghost' if she let her guard down. She felt so detached that she couldn't tell if she felt nauseous or not, or tired or awake. With Lily's intervention, however, it became readily apparent she quite nauseous. It took less than three spins before Emily's body told her it was going for an emergency ejection and had Lily kept ahold of Emily for even a second longer, well, she probably wouldn't be as happy as she had appeared. Stumbling into a fall onto her knees, she let loose a rainbow-colored (or so she wanted to believe) vomit off to the side where hopefully people wouldn't end up in it.
"...Ugh..."
Pale as she had ever been but somehow still managing to retain enough awareness to retain what was being passed on by this injured newcomer, Emily sat on the ground. Standing up by herself at the moment was a great way to bring about another disgusting torrent, even if what she was catching was tearing her heart open anew. She had to be strong though. Mourning the loss of her now-deceased sisters should wait until after the ones who could still be saved had been helped.
As Rachel opted to charge headfirst into battle, Emily turned her attention onto the newest friend she had obtained, Connie. She was a shy girl, but even now she wanted to help a friend despite the danger. Oh, how her heart beat thrice as quickly at such a display! Making friends with such a courageous individual was a silver lining in all of this, Emily thought.
Emily pushed herself off the ground, wobbling as she struggled to maintain her balance. "I-if ish posshible..." it was still so very difficult to speak, but she did her best in response to Connie's pleading to Alexander, keeping her mouth turned away, as she imagined her breath was far from pleasant right now. If he could help her become sober, then maybe she could at least be useful in the slightest.
Sakura was pried apart by the overzealous Lily, before she could exact the revenge on the bastard. But before the furball could do anything to explain himself, all hell broke loose. And it was as bad as Sakura was imagining. No, perhaps worse. "Motherfuckers... this was a carnage." She said. Hardened as she was due to her past life, she did not appear very shocked or rattled. No, she was beginning to feel anger. Without a second thought, sparks flew from within her. "Spark. Spark. Love of my Heart." She snarled, any cuteness or sillyness of the phrase being eroded by pervasive wrath. Her eyes rested into Alex and his quip.
"This is what happens when you give a bunch of dom dykes in training reality bending powers. They start beating the crap eachother like the brutish apes we all are." Sakura wasn't even trying to mince meat. "And before the night is over, more blood will be spilled. Now, you shitty cat. Tell. Me." She said, electricity crackling as she levelled her sight with Umukamui. "Who are we the toadies of?"
"Beacon. Be glad." Umukamui did not look fazed in the slightlest. The cuddles had certainly helped mitigate the abuse. "You will get to fight on the side of avenging Rachel's friends. And Penny." The small creature said, before tilting his head. "Actually... the park is now witnessing a class C Horror Breach."
"Wha..." Sakura said, before the small cat moved on to Emily.
"I can afford a bit of rules bending, then." The thing said, as she touched Emily with a glowing light, purging her of her drunk state. "Jonald owes me for this, operative." The small furry creature looked at Emily for a split second, then nonchanlantly ignored her as if she had been little more than dirt on someone's shoes. The alien cat now walked towards the horrid pink bike that Sakura's transport was. "This won't do." He said, as he did away with the magical transport, teleporting it out of existence.
"My bike!" Sakura was about to electrocute the bastard when a second light shone in its place. The bike had been transformed in a helicopter. Still outrageously pink. "Whait what... surely you don't mean use that as transportation. I can't fly it!"
"Negative". Umukamui said, as he himself bathed on the same kind of teleportation light a third time. What was a strange cute cat now, a woman was standing in front of them. "I will use this simulacrum body, Kamy, to perform said task." Umukamui...no...Kamy said in a voice with a quality of a contralto.
Sakura was unsure what to feel about this. She couldn't punch Umukamui into a wall anymore now that he had turned into a she that was easy on the eye. Kamy smiled, as she brought a jar from that strange teleporting storage. It seemed some kind of chunky goo with floating bits on it. Eldritch alien marmalade? Kamy then proceeded to unscrew the lid and toss the contents on the ground.
They were alive, and quickly they regained shape, in the form of a strange magical girl... with otherworldly horror-like tentacles coming from her waist.
"Shoggy Nebula, your disciplining period is over. We have an horror to beat."
"...boss?" The strange magical blonde tilted her head an absurd 90 degrees, trying to understand, before hearing the word horror and gleefully running towards the helicopter, arms wide like an aeroplane or a 5 year old who was into games too much. She was even making airplane wooom, wooom noises while at it. "Yaay punchy time." The eldritch girl said, as she took a place in the back. The magical construct begin starting on its own, powered by magic and not fuel.
Sakura was perplexed. "Wha...okay, Sakura...focus on the horror. Get into da chopper, yadda yadda." She added as she made a beeline for the transportation. Kamy, the former Umukamui, entered the cockpit and started flipping switches, getting ready for takeoff and haul the small motley crew that had been assembled outside directly onto the battlefield.
Justine escaped, Cindy was dead, and Vi/The Penrose Independent had ensured tensions would be high between Beacon and the corrupted for a while. Everything that Veronica had set out to do failed. Regrettable but not unlikely. The Mint made the event chaotic enough that it was impossible to tell what was going on. Beacon’s incompetence and Cindy’s headstrong nature were also factors that Veronica had severely underestimated. It was not an ideal situation, and she wasn’t sure if anyone could have changed the outcome.
That didn’t mean she wasn’t disappointed in her agents.
But there was no point in sulking about it. Something called to her attention. “Hmmm?” Veronica looked at Amaryllis. Though her attention returned to Dolly when she suddenly turned into dust. “Interesting.” She approached Amaryllis with her hands behind her back.
“It is difficult to say for sure. Too many things going on at once. Vi played a song that enraged the corrupts, Cindy Ford is dead and the cardinal will soon follow, and the Penrose independent has declared war on Beacon.” Veronica allowed her head to tip back. “That’s not even mentioning the emergence of a horror, a monster queen, and Justine’s brief appearance.” She rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I was expecting the Mint to orchestrate something. But this has fully subverted my expectations.”
“The Independent?” Amaryllis frowned. “Thought they did news.”
“I did too, but perhaps they’ve decided to make the news instead of tell it.” Veronica placed her fingers beside her head. It was a moment before she spoke again. “They sent a transmission out to everyone they could. They want a war between Beacon and monsters. Rather uncouth, really.” She used her other hand to rub her forehead. “Since you’re in the area, did you want to help?”
Her frown deepened. She had reached out to them once, hoping that they were an organization that was neutral, if not aligned with the law. Now though...Amaryllis sighed. No point in overthinking it. “My Sword calls for war, and my heart works towards salvation,” the Knight of Rose spoke, twirling her beloved blade in her hand. “Elaborate on the situation inside that warehouse, please. And...”
She paused, briefly, almost as if contemplating something. But Amaryllis was a Swordwielder, not a schemer.
“I have only recently returned from a raid upon the Mint’s dastardly dens. Doubtlessly, they too are involved in what has transpired within that congregation of phantasmal revellers. When so many noteworthy factions begin to wage bloody battle against one another, it’s the supplier of arms, those watching off from the side, who benefit most. So says, the philosophers of war.”
Veronica looked to where Dolly had been and scratched her chin. “I have come to the same conclusion. Yet standing down while girls slaughter each other does not feel like a good long term solution. Nor does leaving the Mint to its devices.” Her left hand never left the side of her head. “As for the warehouse, there is a rave in the basement. Vi played some music, it seemed to have an effect on the corrupted girls. I could even feel its effects. Fighting broke out, the ascendancy arrived to put down the corrupt girls, and then I sensed a psychic blast rip through the rave. I have no agents to report what happened, but going by the PI’s report, they killed all the beacon girls present. Something else must have happened because even more minds have blinked out. The rave is practically vacant.” Veronica snorted. “Fortunately, I have a mental lock on the monster queen. Another psychic user was trying to block my interference, They appear to be in the same room. They might be the one who orchestrated that attack.”
Killed them all?
Amaryllis had faced death before, enough death that this shouldn’t have been all that shocking, but still, she was stunned silent. All those who participated in the rave raid, no doubt the strongest of Beacon’s available forces, dead? Just like that? She swallowed, naked concern on her face. “What,” she began, swallowing, “what about Alicia? Penny?”
Had she saved one of her friends, just to lose two others?
Veronica fret her brow. “I do still sense their presence. Odd, since the PI reported to have killed all of them.” Veronica folded her arms behind her back. “Amaryllis, I have successfully provoked the monster queen. While I am sure she will be tied up fighting her captors at the moment, we need to stop her from escaping into Penrose and do something about the PI members present. Will you accompany agent Silhouette with such a task?”
At the mention of Silhouette's name, Amaryllis would notice a strange, inky substance taking the form of a young woman almost right behind her. In the span of about a second or two, the tar-like individual regained the colors and textures of a human being, until what was left was a girl wearing a raven-black coat and an odd, white mask reminiscent of the kind used at masquerades.
One could assume that the girl had been there for a while as although she had manifested she didn't bother to speak. She merely eyed Amaryllis with an unreadable expression, apparently waiting for her answer.
Some of the tension left Amaryllis as it was confirmed that the two Beacon members that she knew personally were still alive. Right, if things got dangerous, Penny could just straight up drop Earth Bastion on everything and squash ‘em flat, yeah? And Alicia…
Alicia existed, probably?
“I’ll take on this quest even if I were not accompanied,” she spoke. “Considering that this is a congregation of the monstrous, however, does this Queen of Monsters have any obvious physical traits? Or perhaps a name she responds to?”
“I’ve never seen her. I can just see that her mind is further gone than most girls. Here.” Much like Veronica had done before, she painted the location of Eden and the monster queen in Amaryllis and Silhouette’s minds. “That’s where your objective is. Now…” Veronica turned around and walked towards the tower. “Hurry to your destination. I will do what I can from out here.”
“Affirmative.” Sil finally said.
“I’m in…” Amaryllis paused, then turned away from Veronica. “Thanks.”
With that, she picked up the pace once more, sprinting into the madness of the warehouse’s basement with Silhouette silently trailing her.
The rave wasn’t a dead loss to Veronica. Yet, at least. With her agents failing her left and right, it was Eliza, her newest permanent recruit, who seemed to catch up to Evira.
“Interrogate her, if you would. If you need a torturer I can make an appearance.” A sick grin crossed Veronica’s face. With everything going to hell, you needed to take pleasure in the little things.
”L-Lotus?”
”REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”
— Lotus & Faith
@ Cindy/Beacon fiesco
Lotus instinctively floated upwards after getting grapple-shot, only to discover that she was tethered to Sylvia now. Normally Lotus would teleport away, but she had used that to jump in for a quick decisive blow. She couldn’t tear off Sylvia’s jacket, or if she could, the durable fibers of a magical girl uniform were too strong to break. It was an unfortunate turn of events. Lotus had only acted in Faith’s defense, and hadn’t expected her cannon to cause such damage to her opponent. She had overestimated her opponents power while underestimating their madness. Only the religious zealots at Beacon would find it acceptable to use suicide bombs.
”Hmmmm.”
Dying wasn’t something that scared Lotus. When you constantly search for stronger foes, the day will come when you find one stronger than yourself. Though in an odd twist of fate Lotus was denied that pleasure and would die to a swarm of weak meddlers. If Lotus had a single regret, it was that she hadn’t faced her fear. She was unable to beat Connie’s creature, and thus was unable to reconcile with the darkest part of herself.
But, that wasn’t entirely true.
The only thing that scared Lotus was something happening to Faith. Even when Connie made her “fear” appear before her, it was only frightening because of who it was going to attack. Perhaps that was what Connie’s magic had picked up on. In which case, that was not a fear that Lotus would ever slay. She didn’t want to slay it, for that matter.
If Lotus was going to die, she was going to do so on her own terms. She didn’t hear the suicide bomber rambling about their friend. She didn’t care either. Hers were the last words of some lunatic hell bent on harming Faith. Instead, she smothered them with her tentacles. The adrenaline along with her building hatred for this coward triggered her metamorphosis. Her pale skin turned brown, her tentacles bulged, And thorns shot out of her skin. She grew more eyes, more teeth, bigger, less human. There was nothing human about her left. The other girls always said she was ugly, phallic. Faith was the only one who could look past her monstrous nature. Before Sylvia could trigger the explosive, Lotus bellowed into the heavens…
”I end my life protecting Faith, the TRUE Queen of Penrose! LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!”
— Lotus
The explosion vaporized Sylvia, but Lotus’s durable monster form was split into burning chunks. Most of her sizzled away into nothing, but her massive eye found its way on the other side of the battlefield.
…
Faith had looked away from Reaver entirely when Lotus took to the sky. After her deceleration, Faith’s eyes have become transfixed on Lotus’s form once it detonated. Her eye flew clean over the hedge and rolled to Faith’s feet, looking up at her with an unblinking stare.
Her mind went blank, her face went pale.
Faith wanted to do a lot of things in that moment. Cry, hug someone, call Connie again, but she couldn’t do any of those things. Not now that she was surrounded by strangers. She had no options left to her. She could feel a pain race through her chest, but she made no move to quell it.
”Alright… Alright.” Faith placed her hand on her harp. ”Beacon has made their intent known. Those won’t let us leave without a fight.” A tear rolled down her cheek, but Faith forced a smile regardless. ”So let’s give them what for everyone ~ !” She attempted to coax the remaining monster trope before moving to get around the giant hedge.
The druid hornets went in to attack. Normally they would be far too weak to do any real damage to a magical girl, but between Faith’s song and her encouraging words, they had been frenzied to the point where they were a threat. The wasps descended upon Hilaria and Isthar in droves, attempting to finish off the weakened cardinal.
But they weren’t the only target. Anyone with a spark would find themselves assaulted by the giant hornets. They flew through the air before diving stinger first. Their movements were predictable, but their stingers were filled with a potent acid, and would burn a hole through a normal man in seconds.
Aighorost continued to stir in the sky, it’s stationary leg doing nothing but releasing more hornets. It stretched out a giant talon, but remained stationary.
”Neener neener neener!”
— Tonya “Mac” Murphy
Age: 24/11 | Gender: Female/Female | Illusion, Gravity Body | Power of Friendship, Regeneration, Third Eye | Moirai Coercion, Soul Jar, Martial Training, True Sight, Parasite, Gifted, Awareness, Overcity Shift, Mystic Artifact
Kinda sucked that Faith was so traumatized, but hey, this deception was required to ensure that things continued to move the way her patron willed it. She'd make sure Faith and Lotus met up eventually. For now, she'd just wait for her next big moment. The cardinal was safe, so Mac was free to terrorize Beacon as much as she wanted. Time to make a paycheck.
“How come I can’t meet any nice guys?”
"Hey! I use to be a guy!"
— Tetrad & Trixy
@ Cindy/Beacon fiesco
“Son of a BITCH!”
Try as she might, there was little Tetrad could do to stop Reaver from eating Cindy’s head. A split second distraction was enough to compromise her mission. No sunrises there.
"What happened?" Trixy had been so busy trying to keep everyone safe, she hadn't been paying much attention to her objective. When reaver healed Cindy, he was sure he was on her side. but now...
"He ate a cute girl!"
“He ate our paycheck!”
“Miserable failures, the lot of you.” The irritation in Veronica’s voice didn’t go unnoticed. “New objective, you’re fighting a monster queen. Try to keep up with agent Silhouette.”
"My girlfriend!"
“My Idol!”
As a dark shadow swirled around them, the two prepared to leave. Tetrad kicked the bush Tetrad was rolling causing it to collapse. It dropped Janet, Anaya , Shane, and Ronin on the ground. “Done sleeping? We’re gunna kick a monster queen’s ass and save the world. If you want to stay here, that’s fine too.” She grabbed Shane by the wrist and smiled. “Cept you, you’re coming with me!” She couldn’t dance with that fancy bastard back at the rave, but this was the second magical boy she saw today and Tetrad wasn’t about to let him escape.
Trixy wasn’t about to let Reaver off the hook. She understood that everyone had their objectives. But duplicitous people that worm their way into someone’s heart and rip it apart from the inside were the worst kind of people. She fret her brow and raised her gun to fire.
Trixy fired a gaebolg shot straight at Reaver’s chest. The bullet was armed with a small acorn that would grow once the bullet penetrated as deep as it could. From there it would grow into a ball of roots inside the wound. It wouldn’t stop growing either, not as long as the the tree was still alive.
Trixy, Tetrad, and Shane all stepped into the black portal and emerged elsewhere. The portal would stay open just a moment longer before closing.
While Silhouette and Amaryllis were running to their destination, three more people came out of the shadows beside them.
"Hi Sam." Trixy paced herself with her girlfriend. She was still agitated with what happened a moment ago, but wasn’t going to let that cloud her mind. "This is going to be our first big thing together, huh?"
“Amaryllis!” Tetrad wore a smile on her face as she pointed at Shane. “Look look! It’s a magical boy! B-O-Y! Pretty cool huh?”
"Dun, dun, dun, pah, another one greets the dust!"
"They aren’t going to know any of this took place. So if you’d please, get on Glimr and drop Trixn’Traps a message. I’m sure she’d enjoy that."
Dusty was already steeling herself to do what had to be done, what must be done to save a magical girl’s life. When all you wanted to do was live, you needed a moment to surrender those impulses so that you could make a sacrifice. Once Dusty’s focus was maximized, she stepped into the room.
Only for her concentration to be broken when Ren yanked on her arm.
"Let go of me!" Dusty protested. It didn’t help that Ren was making vague remarks about her intelligence. She was tempted to break free and fling herself into the room. But she decided against it because that would be one hell of a retcon. I mean can you imagine? Flame would get cucked out of half a Ren post, and then Erode would be fully cucked out of a Liss one. It would be like arena battle memes where 40 posts later we’d still be trying to resolve the fate of Dusty while the RP is at it’s conclusion she suspected he had a good reason for it. And as it turned out, he did.
"What kind of bull crap is this?!" Dusty threw her arms around in the hallway. No heat, no smoke, no problems. "Hur dur ‘always so hasty without thinking’ like magic is ever a rational thing! And before you run off gimmie my damn boots back ya perv!" Dusty yanked her boots out of his arms. While he turned away to get Liss, Dusty fell onto her but and did her best to put her shoes on. Such tight shoes were already a pain to put on, but when you were depressed on top of that, it was infuriating. With a sigh, she kicked the boots off to the side.
She almost killed herself for nothing. What was worse was that it all could have been cleared up a lot faster if Ren bothered to explain how the door trick worked in the first place. But Dusty wasn’t really upset with Ren, it was this situation. She should have known the rave was going to be bad. It was just a shame she was powerless to do anything about it. Ren had a magical dimension, Liss was strong and fast, and Dusty just kind of existed. That was probably enough. It wasn’t like Dusty came to the rave to do anything more than steak out an area or two. It was just unfortunate that the only people they could save were themselves.
While Dusty sat there sulking, Liss approached and introduced herself. "Liss the flash fist?" Man, Dusty (and by extension, Trixy) had a weakness for girls like this. It was pretty easy to get Dusty to check the cutie box on a girl, but some of them went above and beyond. These high energy types with bubbly personalities just melted away any sadness Dusty was feeling. That was probably why Dusty liked Shade so much. Though unfortunately she was tethered to Silhouette, who fed on things like happiness and good vibes. Maybe if she worked with her enough she’d open up and be more like Shade, but she really had her work cut out for her. But Liss didn’t seem to have those hangups. Dusty felt a little guilty being locked in another dimension with a girl that wasn’t Shade or Samantha, but like Shade had said, it wasn’t like Sam had the capacity to get jealous. Not like she was going to date her or anything.
"Well!" Dusty stood up and dusted herself off. "I’m Dusty Brooklyn. Duplicate of Tr-" She froze. "W-wait. The contender? You mean that guy that beats up teenage girls for fun?" This was Dusty’s break. She had slayed the Contender. Well, Trixy had, but Dusty had all of Trixy’s memories, and anything Trixy did without her counted as the two of them doing it. Thus, she had slain the contender. And in doing so, they had protected Liss the flash fist. She would live until the contender rose again a year later. At which point Dusty would just have to kick his ass again. But this was a wonderful feeling. Sure, Dusty hadn’t done much during the rave, but she still had worth to the people here. But it would be insensitive to rain on miss Liss’s parade with that. Right now wasn’t about celebrating Dusty’s accomplishment, but Liss’s life.
"He’s dead for a whole year, isn’t he? You’re invincible!" Dusty’s eyes were practically glowing as she said this. She wanted to hug Liss, so very badly wanted to give her a fist bump, or a pat on the back, but also knew 99% of woman were put off by her sickly pale skin, shark teeth, and yellow eyes, All Trixy could do to keep calm was fold her hands over her chest.
She hopped over to Ren before her urges overtook her. "I’m all for alien booze! Mommy needs a drink right now!" She kissed Ren’s cheek. "Though I’ll take a pizza or a BLT if you’ve got one."
Connected with Cindy at the moment of her death, the backlash utterly shattered Janet's sense of self. Losing touch with her memories, an instantaneous amnesia overtook her before panic could even set in. While still alive and breathing, the girl went limp. Within her mental and healing abilities quickly began their work in repairing the damage. Unfortunately the girl no longer associated with Janet's memory. Finding two complete sets of memories, the magic did its best to start rebuilding a single personality for each. This would take time and which one would take point first was anyone's guess. When freed from the bush Janet's body would drop to the ground without so much as a reaction.
At first defending Ishtar, Jenna was relieved when more Beacon arrived. They were part of the Ascendancy, but at this point any kind of help might give her the chance to... Her connection to Janet's mind not only went out, but it completely dropped off her radar. Any attention Jenna had been giving to the Cardinal vanished. "Janet." Turning her head until she could see her sister's body lying motionless on the ground she panicked. Talking to the other girls there. "Take care of-" She teleported to her sister's side before she could even finish. Picking Janet up the girl still had a pulse but it was like no one was home. "Janet? Janet wake up!" No response. A lot of things were going on around her, but none of them mattered to Jenna in that instant. Peering as far as her vision and magic would allow her to go, there was a buildup of magic before she teleported away with her sister in the direction of Beacon HQ.
When the Queen of Penrose fell, Shane's spell ended and the book closed. By the time Tetrad had come by to crush the bush that had the four of them entangled, Shane was well on his way to recovery. This was one major advantage to having regeneration, something Reaver was sure to benefit from as well considering he'd just taken out Cindy. The loss of the Queen of Penrose was not a crushing blow to him. Though it did call into question who would be next in line to lead. Him joining her was an attempt to bring some reason into the mix. It had cost the use of a Red Coin and then some in order to get Power of Friendship. Clearly that plan failed.
But it seemed there was no time to mourn regardless as the girl that had saved them from the toxic smoke suddenly snatched him up. Apparently he was going with this chick. At this point the park was about to become hell in a hand basket so he didn't entirely have a reason not to go. Hold on, a Monster Queen? Ah well, another day in the life of a Puchuu boy. Reaching out for his spell book it skidded and bounced a couple times before snapping into his hand. "Where exactly are we..." They passed through the portal and ended up back at the warehouse, or what used to be the warehouse anyway. "Oh."
Tetrad apparently was really excited that she'd found a magical boy. Admittedly they were something of a rarity, but it had been a while since run into this kind of a response. They had only met in passing, both attempting to avoid the disaster that was and would still be Penrose Park. Perhaps he should have stayed to help. Tad late for that now. "Shane Brahm, a pleasure." He popped his cape to loose several twigs and leaves that had managed to hitch a ride. His power did a fairly decent job of telling his what he needed to know about the group. The Monster Queen was not hard to spot but Shane's attention went to the air around them. With his awareness he could sense the lingering electrical charge. It wouldn't be anything close to the attack that had come earlier, but why waste free energy? Waving a hand in the air he began to draw in and direct the energy into his spell book.
Giving in to her anger, Hilaria moved with wild, exaggerated, and powerful movements. Her every action was laced with her volatile feelings that had not seen a release in near half a millennia. Each step left a strong imprint on the grass of the park as though it were snow, and the very act of swinging her shotgun-axe was enough to make a relatively loud sound as it tore through the air, and then later, an arm. If there was one thing she did not put behind her moves, it was mercy.
As she was far from in control of herself, she would enact a painful, brutal death upon anything in her way if given the chance. Thankfully for Celia, Jenna redirected Hilaria towards the icon of her hatred, which was also why she herself was spared Hilaria's aggression. With Viper before her, her already-narrowed sight was further restricted towards the girl who had robbed her of a purpose.
The moment the axe separated Viper's arm from her person, the berserk girl felt something: A strange pleasure engulfed her that trumped anything that had come before it, be it carnal or cuisine. Were she capable of rational thought at the moment, the combination of satisfaction and undying anger would confound her. Alas, as she was nothing more than a beast, her thoughts were of taking her vengeance and reaping the sensational benefits of doing so.
"——————__———"
Using her free arm, Hilaria had snatched Viper's limb from the air before it could even think about landing but still fired her shotgun at Viper, who managed to avoid becoming a clump of meat from the close-ranged blast, while also retaliating. Because of her enraged state, even had Viper's bullets penetrated her skin, Hilaria was unlikely to be slowed by anything short of a fatal blow, and even then it'd have to kill her instantly. Still, the girl was slippery and since Hilaria's game plan was essentially to just hack and blast at whatever was in front of her, the illusions proved to be effective in distracting her long enough for Viper to retreat.
With her prey gone, Hilaria roared yet again, only this time her helmet disappeared, revealing the golden-eyed, horned beast beneath. She snorted like a bull, and then eyed the arm in her possession. Opening her jaw to reveal a set of rather sharp teeth, she dug into Viper's lost limb and ripped out a humungous chunk which she then promptly devoured. With a crimson liquid staining her teeth and around her mouth, she perked up at the sound of the Cardinal's weak voice, and turned to face her.
For the first time since she had begun to rage, Hilaria had remained still as she watched her dying sister call out her true name, as if it had some form of calming property to it. She took an uneasy step towards Ishtar. "...?" Tears seemed to begin forming in her eyes as she took a few more. Before her lay the last piece of humanity she had left, and it was on its last legs. Yet still... Isabella tried to call out to her sibling. Was Hilaria even worth her last breaths? Since their abrupt, unfriendly departure centuries ago, they'd barely spoke, and Hilaria had treated her almost as an enemy. But could this be the power of familial love? That silly idea that almost irritated Hilaria every time she heard someone mention it? It was not long ago she'd scoff at the very notion, but had she really been hoping for something like this the whole time? A person to drag her out of the depths?
That had to be it! It was painful their reunion was only going to last for what would feel like the blink of an eye to an ancient, but in this time they did have together, short as it is, perhaps they could---
The sudden, obnoxious appearance of three new girls to the scene sparked a couple different reactions from different people. One was that there would later be talks from many magical girls about the potential change to the magical girl dictionary definition of the word Ascendency to enable it to become an antonym of 'opportune'. And, of course, there was Hilaria's reaction, which Ishtar would probably not consider 'desireable'.
You see, Hilaria was currently a beast that considered anyone who was not Isabella to be a foe necessitating maiming and killing. She was enraged and incapable of much coherent thought. She was the enemy of everyone. This also included Jenna, but because Hilaria's focus was solely upon Ishtar, she hadn't even registered Jenna up until now. The same could not be said once Tsuki, Hudie, and Elora arrived with all the subtlety of a honey badger tearing a cobra apart.
Any notion of a tamed Hilaria evaporated in an instant.
"—_—— __—"
Her bestial roar was followed by Hilaria turning Viper's old, half-eaten arm into a projectile shot towards Hudie, while she aggressively charged at the people 'threatening' Ishtar.
So, Deni was a little shaken by the events that had transpired. She'd been knocked out and during the time she was knocked, the guy she'd been suspecting of being an assassin had turned out to be an assassin. Not only that, but another assassin had stabbed the Beacon leader. That was roughly the opposite of what she'd been intending. It was now impossible for her to accomplish her mission here. The other agents talked about fighting a monster queen, but, er, Deni was weak. She couldn't fight something like that. It was far better for her to engage at a place where she could make a difference...
And then right in front of her she could see Faith commanding an army of bugs to descend on the defenseless Beacon leader.
...
Deni wanted, very plainly, to be a hero. She wanted to save everyone. So, like, who was she not to-
Ronin shot a blast of Reinforcement magic through herself and leapt. Boosted by her specialization of choice she ran and swung around in-between Faith and Ishtar. Her hand swept to her sword and she swung it with precision to slice through the bugs attacking her, before it swung to confront Faith and remaining bugs.
‘With Cindy's death, my current contract is void! From here on out, I'm just gonna save every single person I can!’ she shouted, and then sliced at more bugs, because they'd likely not stop coming just because she shouted a bit, focusing all of her Martial Training to keep track of bugs to slice and making small barriers where she had to protect herself or Ishtar, more details if I need to add it.
‘Fairy-girl! I must ask you to pull back! You're out of allies!’ she called to Faith. Cindy was killed, Reaver had defected, Goblina was an enemy in disguise, Shane was kidnapped, centaur was still under the effect of the smoke. It all left just Faith. ... Faith and giant horror monster, that Ronin was not going to try to take on. The little samurai was a bit wary that perhaps she wasn't really equipped to take on Faith and her pet horror if they decided not to actually pull back...
She was also trying to be wary of berserker Hilaria. Because count that as one more thing she didn't want to become a victim of.
Mika burst through the wall, body checking Christine across the corridor and pinning her there. Alicia wasn't sure what was going on, but it seemed that she had gotten over...whatever it was that had caused her to be so hostile in the first place. so that was good. It meant less difficulty moving forwards.
Then the psychic assault began. It hammered against her ShineSpark, causing her to grit her teeth from exertion as her own attacks fell off. Before it could overwhelm Leena raised her Null Field, cancelling all magic. That stopped the attack on her and Leena, leaving them some freedom.
Then she heard Fan-Fan's voice, the screams of pain that dwindled into whimpers and moans with the rising of the Null Field. It was joined with a cacophony over the comms, a same crescendo that dwindled away into nothingness. Until only Rachel's voice was left. A rising dread spread through her bones, promising to leap out of her throat as her grip on her weapon tightened until her knuckles were white. If it was not magically enhanced, one would wonder if she could not outright snap it in her grip.
"No. No no no, it can't," she muttered, tears falling down her cheeks as the impact of what was happening slammed into her. "T-They're gone. They're all just gone." That was no clearer than the message that filled the air, giving her a direction for her anger and the worry of attacks to come. Could they stand against whoever was left, now seeking to punish their defenseless attackers?
Then the Barrage arrived, burning and lashing and striking around the Null Field. She wasn't sure if that had taken anyone out beyond, but it had likely diminished the numbers a bit. They would have to use the time while they still had it.
Alicia turned to look at Katarina, oblivious to the conversation Su and Helga were having about making their exit from this place. "Sorry. We were too late."If only they had had more time. If only she had been faster, or could have persuaded Rachel to hold off for longer. If only, if only.
Now there was only one thing left to do. She had to capture Eden and shut down her organization, had to make sure the sacrifices and all the death meant something. With Christine incapacitated the way was now clear, and she wasted little time in moving towards the door that had once been protected. As she did so she activated her comms. "Enemy combatant apprehended in the corridor west of the stage. I need Nullification gear on her for containment and questioning."
She only stopped to glance back over her shoulder at Leena. "Come on. Someone has to pay for all of this." She might not have been able to stop it, but there was no doubt that she was going to make Eden regret being born.
Once past Alicia moved with a growing energy, slamming open doors and looking for either Eden or the one who had been obscuring the rave with that aura from the beginning. They were likely working together, so if she found one she would have a strong lead on the other. Burning thoughts filled her mind, drove her forward, left her ready. This was her fault, and she would do whatever she had to to atone for that failing.
In a far away dimension, Ren closed the door on the world they had come from just before the Barrage swept past. He pocketed the key as his two companions went to chat, getting to know each other. He'd lost his key in a dimensional transition before and it was not fun. Having to call in a replacement because you misplaced yours was always such a hassle.
At the request for drinks Ren turned to look at the skyline, before realizing that he couldn't do that since they were still underground. "That can probably be arranged," he assured them both. The kiss was taken in stride, accepted with the gratitude that it was probably intended. Now then, he just needed to find that credit card, it was in his pockets somewhere....
The three of them walked off into the calm city night, zeppelins flying overhead. Much pizza would be eaten, drinks drank, and fun had. But that was a story for another time.
Lillyn smiled, nodding in approval as Lea took the coin from her hand. By all consideration things were going well, and they would soon have a new sister to stand at their side.
But it was not to be. Instead Lea ran for it, saying that she still had yet to decide. "Hey wait!" staff girl yelled before running after her. If she still needed to think about it then she wouldn't have approached them for the coin, right?
Before she could catch up Lea Shifted into the Overcity, leaving them standing there uselessly and unable to pursue,. Glances were shared as they reconvened, in varying degrees of anger and chagrin from the members of the squad. This changed into something much more embarrassed as the warning of coin thiefs was sent by Sally.
"I think we've been had," the third girl in their patrol noted with a groan. She had the feeling that they would be on punishment detail for a while after this.
The cat girl let out a triumphant sigh at her victory. Something she had learned after provoking a troll was that while hitting first is good, hitting last was more so. She was fortunate that she got both this time.
Mika was snapped out of her thoughts when Helga pulled her off of Christine. “What was I doing?” Mika tipped her head. It was a simple question, but Mika wasn’t sure she could begin to explain it. Certainly not with Rina and Alicia present.
Then came a bunch of events that confused Mika. A report on the loudspeakers, though she thought it was a psychic message because she didn’t notice them. There was a lot of panicked talking, and apparently they were in a VOID ROOM, whatever that was. Though she noticed once her body reverted back to normal, she couldn’t change anymore. There was also another person in a metal shell. She couldn’t see them, but she could hear them coughing. That looked kind of dangerous. Mika wouldn’t want to be in a metal dome with dragons so close.
Rina shrugged at Alicia's apology. "Hey, at least you tried. Not like anyone else did better."
Su fret her brow. “I would Helga, if I could.” Su gestured to the walls. “This box, area, it’s blocking my magic. It’s like I’m not a magical girl anymore.” She pointed at the wall. “Except I can sense an empty room on the other side of the wall. Break it down!” It was possible the void room didn’t extend past the wall, which would mean they’d get their magic back. “Now Mika…”
But Mika was not nearby. She was too busy being a madlad hero.
"I can’t believe I’m doing this!"
Mika was strong and swift, but Rina was more so. She held Mika in her arms and ran head long towards Fanfan’s metal barrier. She was carrying Mika bridal style, with the cat girl content to lounge in her arms.
“We’re gunna save everyone!” Mika punched the air.
Rina chuckled. "Pffft, you’re still going on a diet after this."
Mika looked at Rina with squint eyes. “You can still carry me, right?”
"But how far can I launch you?"
Mika tucked her knees against her chest as Rina held the her up to her shoulder. The cat girl placed her feet on Rina’s arm and launched herself towards the metal dome. Magic was out of the question, but her adamantium claws were perfectly capable of cutting through inferior metals.
“Berserker Barrage!”
“Tch!” Helga had already broken down the wall. Much like Su had suspected, the lightning was flowing past the void room and didn’t enter the room behind it. “I’ll get us out of here, see if you can help them.” Su hovered into the air as she wound up her shift.
Fanfan’s giant metal arms made her a bit cumbersome to carry. Though together, Rina and Mika were able to each take an arm and run towards Helga at a decent clip. The void room was starting to fail, and they’d have blessed lightning dragons nipping at their heels soon. Though that changed when Helga got to them. Her superior strength made carrying Fanfan by herself a cinch. Rina and Mika ran on either side of Helga as they closed in on Su. As they ran, Mika’s eyes drifted to Christine, who was propped up on the wall.
Mika didn’t really hate Christine. She empathized with her a bit. Up until a moment ago, she too thought Alicia was a bad girl. In that sense Mika shared a sort of kinship, in that she could understand where she was coming from. As she ran past her, she pulled the girl onto her back.
As they neared Su, the void room spell faltered and flickered out. A lightning dragon opened it’s maws wide and zoomed towards the magical girls in its path. They would never reach Su before the lightning consumed them.
But the Void wall failing was good for Su too. She had already locked onto another girl’s shift and would be able to bring everyone nearby with her. She threw out her arms and a vacuum bubble expanded, ensnaring all in side and taking them to the overcity.
Once the shift was done, Su breathed a sigh of relief. Her surroundings were alien to her, but that was fine. Mushrooms and garbage bins were better than getting swallowed by an electric dragon.
Su turned to look at everyone. Helga had Fanfan across her back, Mika had Christine, And Rina was thumping her foot on the ground.
"I knew something like this was going to happen." Rina shook her head, but didn’t say anything else.
“I didn’t.” At least, not this bad. Su looked at everyone else. “Everyone alright?”
“Yup!” Mika said, and a swirling portal opened up behind her.
Su raised an eyebrow. “You’re going to the beach dimension?”
“And you’re not?” Mika laughed.
“You didn’t come when Helga called you.”
“I uh.” Mika lowered her head, but only long enough to think of a response. “I’m sorry mommy. I’ve just been feeling a little down by everything recently. The only reason why I didn’t come back was because I needed to see something.” She gave Christine a shake. “I think I might have saved someone, so I don’t think it’s bad.”
Su sighed. It was true, what Mika did was heroic. She found it hard to justify punishing such an action. “I think what you did was very brave, but it scares me when you do dangerous things without Helga or I. Just take one of us with you next time.” She turned to Rina. “Thank you for everything Rina, would you mind keeping her company a bit longer? I need to clear up a few things here.”
"Yea, I don’t mind, it would be my pleasure." Rina examined Christine. "Who is that, anyway?"
“Lets find out! Our date has just begun!” Mika and Rina entered the portal along with Christine. “See you guys back at the hotel!” she said before it shut.
“Alright Helga, I think you can put her down now.” After Fanfan was on her feet, Su presented her with a tissue that she kept in her hammerspace handbag. She was prepared to ask her what happened when a burning light was thrown against her back. “Right, I’m going to see what that was.” It wasn’t typical for Su to display affection openly, but she kissed Helga on the cheek and patted her shoulder. “I’ll be right back. See if she knows what happened.” Su turned to Askefye and Vivi They were in shouting distance so Su didn’t have to take many steps to approach the two. She coughed in an attempt to get their attention.
“I take it you two just left the rave?”
”Ya think I’m scareda some puke covered in tentacles and eyeballs?”
”I ain’t afraid of nobody taking me.” Nuncio folded his arms. ”Besides, Nu can pull me out if things get hairy.” Nuncio looked around, patting Sammy a bit before leaning in to Eli. ”Also I’d kinda just like to see where you guys live.” He leaned backwards and ajusted his hat. ”And I told ya, I don’t trust any of my hiding spots. Gotta be a place unaffiliated with me. ”
She sheathed the consecrated blade. She dispersed her priest's staff. Amid charred and bloodied bodies, she stepped up and stepped out, ignoring those that still scurried within the halls of the warehouse. She had reaped enough; whoever remained was powerful, but insignificant all the same. Battles are won with individuals, but wars with numbers.
The rain continued to pour, torrential and violent. Lightning surged across the clouds, pointing the way to Lei Zi's next fiend, the next evil that must be slain.
More allies came out of the woodwork, but Amaryllis spared them only a quick nod. She did not see familiar faces, friends. She saw the carnage instead, thick and unending. Charred bodies everywhere, and the stench of ozone caused by a lightning strike. Her Sword crackled in disappointment; there had been a slaughter here, and it had missed it totally. The Knight of Rose shared that same sentiment, for different reasons. A slaughter, and she had not been there to stop it.
Not like the stadium, where they could prevent such casualties. Not like the graveyard fight, where so many were involved, yet only a couple died. It was one thing to hear of it from Veronica, it was another thing to see the massacre in person. The stench, the blood. Crushed bodies, severed bodies, distended and bloated and broken. The corrupted and the pure alike. Amaryllis's heart pounded, and she forced her disgust into fury. Did it have to end like this? Did it have to start like this?
It didn't. Penrose would be reduced to ash before these immortal warriors could quench their thirst for vengeance. There had to be another way.
But first, she had work to do. Vengeance to be wrought. Condolences to offer. To save a friend, and to leave dozens more to die.
Was that right?
The Knight of Rose shot through the back halls. In her wake, rose buds clattered against the ground, not given the time to bloom.
Out of the chaos, a large shape seemed to be surging through the skies as it raced towards the radio tower...or rather, whatever radio-tower-like construction was sticking out of the ground now. As the figure came closer and closer, however, its size became more and more apparent. It was a rather large sailing ship, its wooden hull utterly stained greenish and pale like unto some kind of old shipwreck that had rotted in the ocean's depths. Its sails clanked with worn away rope and metal chains, whilst its ghastly white sails shone with an eerie glow.
Small green lights seemed to dance and flicker about its rigging, as if moving about in fey-like glee, whilst spectral-looking barnacles clung to its underside like a bad habit. Even its anchor hung up in place...coated in gruesome-looking grime and seaweed and caked layers of soaking rust.
However...
'CREEEEEEAAAAAAAKKKKKK!!!!!!!'
...What people were standing on the front of its bow were not exactly what one might call 'normal' either.
"YEH' FLYIN' MONKEH-KINDA FOOKS AH'RE GETTIN' FILLED WITH LEAD!!! GET OUTTA' AH' CITEH' YA' FILTHY BLOODY WANKAHS'!"
Also, there were several small monsters trying to cling to the sides of it for dear life as they fell off and to their doom one by one.
A certain new presence would enter the destroyed area along with this ship, however, one which...was kinda rather familiar to the giant Horror avatar above.
"WOOOOHOOOO, THIS NEW BESTIE IS SO TOTES AMAZING!!! THIS IS THE BEST RIDE INTO BATTLE EVAH!!! TIME TO SAVE THE CITY!!!!"
This presence came from a certain girl that seemed to be with the visibly frightened maid and the frankly angry-looking pirate. There mere sound of her voice seemed to wax 'idiot party girl' to its very core, and yet the raw jubilation and excitement in her voice was rather genuine as well. Her twin-tailed gray-ish hair seemed to whip about in the swiftly moving winds that came over the deck of the flying ship she was standing on. Yet her attire seemed befitting for some kind of...party? Or like a beach vacation?
More importantly, though, why was Chtulhu here?!?!
"Lass, ya need ta' get a move teh ya' location! Should be close enuff' ta' get ere', but ah' gotta get ta' Amaryllis!"
"We are nowhere NEAR where Alicia is, I might not make it in time!!!"
"I'll get you there in a snap, bestie! I'm so happy you called me though! You're so much nicer than that big party pooper you got broken off of...buuuuut I think I'll hang with my new friend here for the moment too~ <3"
The gray-ish haired girl seemed to wave her hand, a black colored magic circle forming around Serenity's feet.
"WAIT!!! What about the monsters in the city?!"
"Eh, I'll bring in a few other besties I know to help start the cleanup~ Now go get that nasty thing and do your duty!"
Before the maid could say another word, she seemed to disappear in a sudden 'POP' before Sophia's very eyes.
"Alright ere', immah' contact Amaryllis an' tell er' ahm' ere'. Yeh can stick around if ya' want, but tha' maid lass might need ya' help dependin. Least' at's what mah' gut feelin' tells meh."
The pirate had a grim look on her face as she spoke, briefly glancing back at the shorts-clad horror. Her patron could feel it. She could feel it somehow. So many dead in one place, and it made her heart sink. She wanted to help protect this place, but...she hadn't been here to help. More like she'd been stuck holding off smaller monster groups in the city, before Serenity had finally found her and come aboard with another new friend of sorts. Then her own patron had come in to carry her about and help in this, citing something like 'oh hell not again no not again not another horror lemme come help'...or whatever that blasted creaking more exactly meant.
Horror or not on board, though, any hands to help with this work would be good in her eyes. Anything to stop this madness. Even if it was a horror avatar who was rather muted in appearance as compared to what was in the skies about here.
"No worries, new bestie! I won't get in the way! Do what you all need to do, k? Even ghosty ship here can do some collecting of some corpses to seal them away for now!"
Despite the avatar's goofy grin amidst all of this, Sophia merely nodded in return before messaging Amaryllis back really quickly. Her patron would be going about its grim task, probably to try to keep whatever other Horror was here from making use of them too. Operative word 'try', especially with a lot of large plant-covered beasts in the air!
When Amaryllis would get the pirate's hasty message, though, it would read:
'Got swarmed downtown and stopped up. Monsters everywhere. Finally here, Patron gave me a ride this time. Got a...strange new ally here too. Look for giant flying ghost ship in the skies. Don't mind the Cthulhu with me...long story.'
Meanwhile, right in front of Alicia and the others, a sudden 'POP' would ring out in the air. In an instant a moving thing would fall from the ceiling, before crashing onto the floor with a loud 'THUD'!
Blast it all! She'd come here on the orders of her patron, who had noted something 'big' was up, but this...this was something else. She'd had no problem getting here, but as Lillia stood upon a tall building she looked about the death and corpses below. Frankly the arrival of another horror avatar presence and a zooming flying ghost ship hadn't been optimal either. Not to mention the other giant horror avatar in the sky. The presence of corrupted and monster girls.
No wonder this city had come into such a state...but this was no time to be sitting around either.
Anyone looking up at higher vantage positions around the edge of the action would notice a rather scantily dressed tribal sort of girl, a magical girl at that. She held in her hands a large and rather advanced looking greatbow, which she began to pull back as if to fire. Her aim was focused upon the large hornet-plant monsters in the sky, and as she loosed her first shot it rang out with a moonlight-like glow and might rush of wind as it zoomed towards its mark.
Time to try to help culling these pests for the time being.
So many thing happened at once. Cindy, Sylvia, and what seems like Lotus died. The Cardinal was barely clinging onto life, a beastial Hilaria was going batshit on everyone, a horror of all things was summoned by the fairy chick. It was almost disorienting. Anaya was left laying on the ground, with half the energy she had at the start. She heard everything that was happening around her, down to the wasps starting their attack. What could she do now? Neither side seems to listen. They wont listen.
Celia only proved to be a distraction from the real threat. Hearing a monstrous roar, she spun around on her heal to brace for impact...only, there was nothing there. Thanks to Jenna, Hilaria had appeared by Viper, attacking her as if there was no interuption. The empath could feel it. The overwhelming anger from the dark knight supressed the other emotions, to where it was like it was all there is. So she ditched the other magic in favor of Rage. Thought Celia had other plans. She breathed in, and breathed out, letting the rage consume her. Her skin started to crack, revealing stained glass underneath. She noticed Viper trying to escape, and began to give chase. Soon enough, taking place of the small empath was a crystaline dragon girl, ready to tear the assassin into shreads.
Anaya's dolls did their best to help her up, one of the knights retalitating against the wasps charging towards her. "They won't listen..." She looked around the battlefield.
"They won't listen..." Then looked up to Aighorost. The horror seemed familiar. Didn't Crawley know an Aighorost in the past? She couldn't recall.
"...I have to make them listen." It was a desperate shot, but she had to make it count.
Might as well throw in sum bgm.
The knights broke off to protect everyone else, supposedly leaving Anaya vulnerable. Yet the banshee began to stomp the ground in a rhythm, firing soundwaves to knock any wasps away from her. Her normal dolls appeared beside her, instruments at the ready, and a ghostly violin formed within her hand. Each part of their song served a purpose. The softer notes would bolster Beacon's morale, whilst the heavier notes served as offense. Though it seemed Anaya was more focused on Faith and Aighorost, as if she was trying to reach out to them.
"God damnit, STOP!" Eliza chased after Elvira, obviously annoyed. The idol seemed to be one of those builder girls, from her mad ramblings, but the witch stopped once she reached the fillament trap. Maura, joined by Valerie, Evelyn, and North, followed behind the witch and Fine. When she suddenly flinched, cluching her head in pain.
"Boss? Is everything alright??" Valerie asked, walking up next to the necromancer.
"T-The twins! I can't sense them!!" Maura's eyes were widened, hands over her mouth. "Cerezea. Cerise. They're gone..."
They all seemed saddened by this revelation, Eliza tightening her fists when she overheard it, but she refused to let it phase her.
"What about Amanda?" North asked.
"Amanda's still alive, thank god. She either shifted to the Overcity, or hid in that pocket dimension of hers. Come on, let's group up with the others." Maura explained, catching up to the other two. Before anyone could do anything, they were stopped by Eliza.
"Wait for it." Eliza backed them up in time for Elvira to get knocked into her own trap. "Bingo." The witch looked over to Myria with a grin. "You're good, just saved me the trouble of chasing her, so thanks!" She explained to the spirit girl. She was about to just kill Elvira there and then when Veronica told her to interogate the idol. Even volunteering as a torturer, suprisingly. Eliza was about to say something, before thinking for a moment.
"Be my guest." Might as well, right? Other than getting a date, this was the highlight of her night. Eliza formed a small dagger out of dark magic, and sliced through the wires. All except the ones Elvira was caught in. Those wires would wrap around her like rope, rendering her unable to escape. Even if she tried to, she would just get cut up even worse. "I need a word with you, if you please."
Pleasure. Sweet pleasure. The flesh of lightning had been consumed. The anger was sated.
The mission was accomplished
Reaver stood still, twitching as the ravaging energies numbed his body and brough invigorating pain through all of his body. So drunk he was, his limbs staggered, and he could only walk as if wading through water. He had done it. Cindy... was gone. He had destroyed a person. Probably a legacy of more than one lifetime? Was it really worth it?
He did not take time to ponder, as a jolt awakened from his numbness. He felt burning, and fluid building up in his lungs. Bright red blood appeared in his mouth as a magical bullet began to forcibly shred his chest with thorns and vines. Reaver shot a last withering glare at those leaving. So close... yet so far. They were cradle, most likely. If he had anticipated this, he would have had carried a bomb to toss through the portal.
Fighters did leave, but more remained. The unstable equilibrium was giving in to more chaos. And he had to rip the goddamn bramble out of his chest. He grunted and dug his hand deep, uprooting the damn thing with all of his might and tearing a good chunk of flesh too. It was at this point that the tiny samurai had made her stance.
He crushed the damned contraption in his hands, like one crushes vermin or tears weed apart, as he clenched his teeth. And there was the scream he had heard too, amidst the summoning of a great, ugly creature. Viper. I hope you can make it. He sincerely thought, as he got his bearings. He was nearly exhausted, shutting down his regeneration for a tiny drop of mana more, and fortifying his grave wounds with reinforcement.
It was time for the curtain to fall... and yet. His eyes rested on the summoner. The dauntless girl, who was now having the whole weight of the world. Let it go, Reaver. She knew what the risks were. He tried to convince himself. But he could not. Even if it was a pretend, there was a time he would have heeded to be the knight in shining armour rescuing damsels. Such a pity... Cindy had been marked even before he could truly pledge loyalties. Still... that girl had courage. It was painfully obvious she wished to run away, and yet she could not.
His magic flared once again, his sword summoned, as he leapt through the ruined battlefield towards her. One of his arms was quickly growing cold and numb, and he was losing one of his lungs too. The sword flared up with barriers, becoming bigger and bigger. Past beyond the size of a sword. Past beyond the size of a tree. His arms and limbs flared in reinforcements.
Let's go with a bang, shall we?
He grabbed the fairy girl with his free arm, clutching her close to him one handed. "Odin... wishes for you to live, Skald." He said curtly to Faith. Well, maybe he really did? In any case, a white lie wouldn't hurt much in this case. He couldn't pretend he was an ally of Cindy when he had just killed her.
The sword rose, the barriers resplandecent. It stood tall. Taller than any tree. Rivaling buildings. "Cry, O Balmung!" Reaver snarled, feeling like doing a little of theatric. "Ash and Woe! Tis the Eve of Twilight!" He said, his blade now descending down hard in a glancing blow towards the pillar of bark and hornets, intent to scrap a good chunk of its outer matter, and then slam whoever was underneath, Reaver swinging so hard his arm going past the point of reinforcement and breaking in a couple of places.
But, he needn't a sword anymore, just an arm to carry Faith, and reinforced legs to run. If chaos was wished... he would have to obligued. And so, he took his way out of battle, having achieved what he had been tasked to, carrying a not-so-fairy girl in the swiftest legs he could muster.
There was no peace in Penrose city. Like the small embers of a blaze landing on dry folliage, so did the few monster and dark magical girls who had heard of the news of the uprising spread like an engulfing fire. Now, bolder than ever, their minds drunk in anarchy and vindictiveness, started their own night monster parade. For it was war, and it was liberation.
Several of those, had chosen to take a well desired break by imposing on a random family. They were in the lounge, after having broken the door.
"SAKE, MORE SAKE!" said one, giggling, as she held a young, clearly terrified girl in her arms.
"Mommy..."
But Yui Yamamoto had more things to worry about than her daughter being uncomfortable. First that fool of Sakura had to die in a car accident, and now there was a bunch of crazy cosplayers in her house, with dangerous intentions and weapons, demanding her hospitality. And it was just one week shy of getting the money needed to move out of Penrose again!
"Shake your booty more, you bitch!" said the most rowdy looking of the three. "You look like this was your kind of job!" She snarled as Yui's hand trembled as she served the bottle. The third girl was just eyeing Ai with a wistful stare, but still did look quite deadly on her own. "Hm, mayhaps she can join our club, this little cute lady."
Ai shivered. She missed daddy. Was there no one who could help?
On another part of the city, but conveniently nearby, something else was happening. Doctor Edward Turner, coroner, was heading towards the loneliness of his own home, when a bloodied girl fell from a nearby rooftop in front of him.
"What the..." The jaded medical specialist muttered, only to take a couple of steps back, when a second girl dropped on top of the first one... heels first, with a weapon that would not look too off from a horror movie.
"So, Like, Get Rekt!" The girl said in sadistic glee, as she brought down her blade on the almost helpless girl. The blood, the noise. It was all real.
The gunshot was too. From the smoking barrel of a revolver in the doctor's hands. Once upon a time, Doctor Turned had bought the weapon and trained himself to shoot. When he was still married to a beatiful wife and child. Now both of those had been gone, but the training remained. A single shot hit the head of the girl, without letting her execute the fatal move, the weapon and clothes vanishing from thin air.
That was some crazy...cosplay. No. It was not cosplay. It dawned on him. It was real. His mind wasn't playing tricks.
"Stay still, missy, I will staunch the wound now." He said, as he began to perform first aid.
"Uhhh?" The girl said. "Mimi wasn't told any of this when going on patrol!" She whimpered, and struggled. "You mister need to forget! Forget about me, before the others who did in the rest of the patrol co-"
Edward Turner flew against one of the many concrete walls of the streets, his ribs fracturing, and losing all sensation of his lower body as a result of his spine being injuried too.
"How could this normie ice Sarah-Mae? Granted she was a dense one, but still!" Edward only managed to see one of the other girls, who had used some kind of unseen force to blast him into a wall."Hm, maybe...no, nevermind. Rend him apart, girls!" commanded the vicious looking girl to othertwo of them who had dropped off the building in unison.
Ko's ears perked up. "Shion, a gunshot. I think we should check it out."
"Why? It's probably a mundane problem, and even if it's not, we could be walking into a cluster for all we know. I haven't exactly gotten updated on what's been going on in the past few days." Shion replied.
"I'm picking up some magic from it. Not too much, but enough to be concerning. I don't think it's a monster though, it feels more like magical girls."
Shion let out a sigh. "Fine, fine. Let's go." She transformed into her magical girl state and propelled herself upwards onto the nearest roof, jumping across from one to the next until she reached the location Ko was guiding her to.
"Oi! Shitbirds!" she called from across the road as she landed above Doctor Turner. "What do you think you're doing? No magic in front of the normals. That's one of the most basic rules there is. How do you mess that up?"
Shion crossed her arms and glared at the girl who seemed to be their leader. "Get out of here."
Well, Fine hadn't exactly expected things to turn out the way they did, but hm. Turns out Myria's bad driving habits worked out for the better, this time around. As Eliza got to work, the silver-haired dame glanced towards the others that had congregated around her. Three of them were irrelevant, but the fourth...an Empress-class, likely a Patron. She had heard that Vermillion made Penrose her home, but to think there was another as well, not to mention the Monster Queen still lurking above.
Certainly an interesting place to be, Penrose. Leaning against a wall, Fine lit a match, popped out a cigarette, and took a smoke.
The night hasn't ended. It'd be interesting to see what Evira had to say, once all was said and done. Less interesting, of course, would be finding out how depraved this lady friend of her's truly was. Ah well. Geneva Conventions didn't apply to magicals.
@Penrose City Riots
The downpour did not abate.
That was convenient.
Magical girls and monstrous girls fought, half-blind and soaked.
The Penrose Independent. The Archive. The Ebon Mint. Beacon. Ascendancy. Crimson Cradle. And all those inbetween. It took some legwork, but it was useful. She had seventy faces to use now.
Her kusuri-gama twirled in the air, a comforting sound.
There was no response from Elvira as she hung tangled in the web of filaments she had herself created, before they disappeared and she dropped to the ground; she had changed into a normal-looking girl with headphones worn around her neck, having lost consciousness from the impact of the vehicle, amazingly still alive despite her broken bones.
Penny saw that the Sanctuary had a lot fewer members in it than before; only some of the surviving residents had returned from the Red Rave, and even that group had further split, bickering pockets seen all around the various rooms and corridors. In fact, the first resident she saw, a dark magical girl, was threatening a monster girl with a flail. “You fucking Vi-channers ruined everything! She led everyone straight into a trap!” The monster girl had her sword out, and parried the flail swing. “It’s not my fault! I’m not gonna let anyone talk down to me!”
The Ascendancy girl who stumbled into Ashlyn and Monica’s home, profusely bleeding, turned out to be Sharron, her glasses now painted red. Her screaming had lowered into pained grunts once the door was closed behind her. They then saw the a flash of lightning briefly peek into the Home from under the door, but it did not pass through. Soon enough, Sharron calmed down, her breathing still unsteady, but slowly recovering. “You...What just happened? Did you...Save me?” She attempted wiping her glasses with her sleeve. “Why would monsters like you do such a thing? To further torment me?”
Lily made an awkward smile as she saw Emily stumble and perform an emptying reflex, having realized she shouldn’t have spun the drunk girl like that. Still, what the poor girl had produced looked colorful thanks to her variety of drinks, but it didn’t diminish the repulsive factor much. ”Oh! I-I’m, uh...Sorry about that.”
She went over to help lift emily back up when she listened to Alex’ grumblings, ripping one of her wrist-bound cloths off to clean Emily’s mouth. ”Whatever this is, it wasn’t done by any dark magical girl looking for revenge against Beacon. I’ve never seen magic this powerful before, and that’s the scary part. But as bad as that was, we gotta go before it gets worse in Penrose Park!” She nodded with a smile of gratitude at Connie and Mia’s agreement. ”Great! Let’s go-WHOAH!” She braced for the gust of wind as Sakura’s bike had transformed, having turned into a bright pink helicopter. ”Pink chopper! That’s amazing!” The, Umu changed into a woman ,causing Lily to gasp. ”Oh, nice to meet you, miss Kamy!” She greeted her in a ditzy manner, not bothered by the fact it was a fuzzy cat-thing seconds ago. However, Shoggy’s appearance did cause her to scream, and jump into Alex’ arms in a cartoonishly scared reaction. ”Nooo, it’s a wriggly thing! Gross, gross, grooosss!” She cringed at Kamy’s suggestion, and crossed her arms with straight fingers to form an X before her. ”Nope! Me and Alex have our own ride! Let’s go!” She ran up to her motorcycle and hopped on it, waiting for Alex to get on before she blasted off at top speed, spooked by Shoggy.
Shane successfully took in the remaining strands of the electric Barrage that had streamed by the entrance, restoring his magical reserves. Leena, unable to focus, failed to hold the Nullification Field, and it dropped. Helga did as ordered without hesitation, and grabbed FanFan who groaned weakly in response, draping her over her shoulder. She then busted down the wall with a single punch, revealing the empty room beyond. “Get in!” She yelled to the others and dove in, trusting that Su would catch everyone in the Shift.
Once they were on the other side, Helga would lower the Ascendancy girl, adn swiped her brow with the back of her clawed hand; she was sweaty, and still a bit shaky. “Geez louis the fourteenth sun king, I almost got a heart attack there!” She yelled, her voice having a bit more bass in it. She lowered her voice, turning to Su. “Thank you so much, Su. I knew you could pull through.” She then sighed as she listened to Mika’s explanation; she frowned at first, but then gave a gentle smile. “It’s okay, Mika. The important thing is that we all managed to get out. Bye!” She waved to Mika as she left, and then let her arms droop. “I think I could use a little beach dimension time too...” But then, Su caught her with a surprise kiss, causing her to blush. “Sure thing, hun. Don’t be long now.” She sent su off with a fanged smile, and then turned to FanFan with a wider one; the latter girl was grateful for the handkerchief, even if it was difficult to interpret from her saddened expression. “So...You’re part of Beacon, correct?” Helga asked, to which FanFan nodded. “Yes...” She answered, and Helga sat down cross-legged. “Ok. Tell me all about this rave and why you attacked.” She nodded, and began to pour forth exposition too redundant to apply once more.
Vivi lifted a weak hand up to her face, and attempted to wipe the blood that Askefye referred to; she got most of it, though she left a smear that ran down her nose and the sides of her cheeks. “...Crap, you’re right. Ugh...” She mumbled, and blinked at seeing the strange world she was taken to. She created a small dose of water from her hand, and washed her face clean. Then, with some effort, she sat up to look at Askefye as she made her rant.
“Huh...I see...” She answered, and then made a weak chuckle. “Just some dinner, huh? I can pay you that much.” She sighed. “What even happened there? It was like, my mind was struck with an endless storm of migraines. Before that, there was some kind of buzzing in the air, too. I guess the others didn’t make it…” She then used some water to wash her uniform of the fire girl’s blood, and then tucked in her knees, holding them against her chest. “Sharron...Juliana…” she sniffled, and wiped her eyes. ”I will avenge you.” It was then that Su stumbled upon the two, and Vivi slowly turned towards her. “Yes...” She answered, looking a bit shy. “Do you know what happened?”
Alicia busted into the back rooms, and discovered Eden’s corpse; it was missing a bite-marked chunk out of her shoulder. At that moment, Serenity popped into the room, teleported in by a higher being. There was also a hole in the wall, leading to the backstage and main hall; from there, she saw the back of what looked like a horrible monster with numerous tentacles; by the time the final force of magical girls entered the rave, Hyun Long had moved to the main hall by crashing through the back of the stage, consuming the corpses of magical girls using her dragon-headed tentacles. As a result, she had gained many more tentacles like a hydra, to the point of using them to lift herself up higher like Yunalesca’s second form.
“FOR MY FALLEN SISTERS!”
Rachel screamed a war cry as she fought against the monster queen; like a valiant knight against a fiendish dragon, she spun her hammer around and and smashed the dragon heads that snapped against her sturdy barriers, failing to get a good blow at Hyun Long herself.
“FEERGHHH!” She snarled, seemingly maddened by the lightning strike, and formed an arm composed of ten dragon tentacles, pointing them at Rachel. The dragon heads glowed, opened their jaws, and ten small streams of fire erupted forth, combining together to form a blast resembling a dragon’s breath. Rachel formed a shield-shaped barrier to her front, barely holding on. “Curses! She’s grown so powerful!” While she performed the breath, she continued harvesting bodies with other dragonheads, growing more dragon tentacles than Rachel could destroy. Then the girls saw who were next on the cannibalistic creature’s menu; Ceriza and Cerise, the poor twins who were caught in the crossfire, still crackling with electricity from the Barrage that had struck them.
At Penrose Gardens, the magical muggers successfully escaped, causing Kimble to throw a small hissy fit. “Damn it! I failed Mistress! Now she’s gonna hate me...” While Kimble was thrashing about in the air, Sally frowned as she listened to her magicomms. “I just got word from Penrose Park...There was some kind of attack on the Ascendancy at the rave. And by the sounds of it, it’s bad!” she stated, carelessly waving Aurelio’s detached arm, causing it to flop around. “You go ahead and investigate! I’m retrieving the wounded!” She ordered the remaining non-named girls, and the they teleported with a salute. “Shamrock Sally here, calling an extraction,” she would order, and soon enough the rest of them were back at HQ.
It didn’t take long before Aurelio was seated in the infirmary, the Reinforcement girl having begun the re-attaching process of his arm. Kimble was sitting on the other side, seemingly taking a nap. “Now, this is going to sting a little as the nerves connect, so try to hold still,” the medic advised, followed by activating a healing spells as she moved the limb to the stump. Aurelio felt how the nerves of his arm smoothly joined with the arm, causing a phantom sensation similar to needles stinging in his arm. Sally bit her lip. “Try to endure it, Aury-poo! I need to go now!” However, as she was about to leave, she ran into Janet, who was carrying Jenna in her arms. “Janet! Thank Beacon you’re alive! What happened?” She asked, looking shocked.
Sammy, for the longest time, simply watched as Nuncio and the others spoke. However, once she was patted, she spoke:
“Thank you, Nuncio. I’m a bit tired, so let’s resume our investigation after some rest in a hideout of your choosing.”
On their way to the park, Lily happened to hear a racket, and drove to the side street where the victim Yamamoto family’s home was. She then saw from a window how dark magical girls were tormenting a mother and her daughter. ”Those bullies...Those bully bitches!” She cried out, and skid her motorcycle to a stop. She kicked open the front door, and aimed her bow at the dastardly group.
”Lower the little girl down and leave, or I will shock your hair straight up!” She threatened them, looking absolutely furious.
Penrose Park had turned into a spheksophobist’s nightmare, as giant wooden hornets dive bombed to attack the Ascendancy. However, Ronin was there to protect both sides of the conflict, and with expert sword technique scattered the first wave horrifying insect golems into the breeze. Lillia’s greatbow shots further scattered the swarm, mighty bone arrows piercing their wooden carapaces in a satisfyingly crunchy fashion. Tsuki thrusted her staff forward, and a shockwave of magic blasted the second wave away, blasting them to bits. Elora assisted her withy various robot arm-held guns to shoot them out of the sky while chopping up the few that did reach her, making sure none of them got close to the Cardinal. Anaya’s knights further protected the girls, ensuring none of them were stung by the acidic stingers as they blew holes through the armor-possessing spirits. However, there were still more hornets on their way, spawning from Aighorost’s avatar.
Hudie attempted to approach the cursed leader, only to have an arm of all things thrown at her at by a very enraged Hilaria, deflecting the projectile with a high kick. Curiously, the masked magical girl fluidly avoided the dread-inducing dark magical girl’s every attack, as if she didn’t rely on simple intuition or reflexes but something more concrete. She summoned her magical weapon, which was a bladed fan resembling a butterfly’s wings, and slashed at Hilaria; these left gashes in her formidable armor but failed to directly cut her. “Curse you, you brute! If only I could get close, I could save the Cardinal!”
Ishtar looked on as Hilaria fought, and cried, even as she looked so weak she could barely sit up. “Helewisa...She can...freeze me...” She slowly cried out. “She..can save me...Please...Remember...the food that...you love...” She then coughed, holding a hand to her mouth, and saw black blood flowing from her lips. “Please...Hele...wi...sa...” She closed her eyes, and her head slowly descended to the ground, as her coughs intensified.
Viper was not doing well; as prepared as she was, even she couldn’t have predicted the amount of magical girls who had converged in the area, not to mention the laid-back looking girl who turned absolutely nuts and was teleported right up to her face. Having spent a lot of her mana just to keep the beserker still ong enough for her to flee, she didn’t have more for Celia, who was now in pursuit of her. She felt her steps slowing down from the loss of blood, and she turned back to see her having turned into a fearsome draconic entity, shimmering vividly with gem-like scales. She rushed forth…
Only to be stopped by what looked like a small black ball with two blades curving around it, spinning in a deadly fashion and forcing Celia to block the attack. Then, Viper turned to see who had arrived. “Nyx? I thought you were dead!” Turns out, Nightwing had escaped from her binds, and by pure stroke of luck happened to wander in the direction of the park, where she saw Viper chased. “I still am...The Mint will ensure that,” she coldly stated, and with a point of her finger cast a darkness spell over Viper. “I failed them. But you can still free yourself from your debt, Viper! You can live! So go!”
She saw that Celia was coming at them again, and charged right towards her, using a second bladeball to intercept her attack. Viper looked shocked, but then, with a bite of her lip, she turned away; the seemingly emotionless assassin shed a tear as she used the darkness to escape for good. Meanwhile, Nightwing stood her ground. “I am ready to die, but my life won’t come at a cheap price!” She spun both bladeballs around her, before she launched them at her flanks. “So come and get it!”
Alexander was about to groan when yet another person came to him for healing, only for Sakura's cat thing to do it for him 'Huh, that's neat.' he mused at he looked at the quickly sobering up girl, only to turn and look at Sakura's bike suddenly change into a helicopter "The fuck!? You can just...do that!?" however, is bewilderment was put to the side when Lily jumped into his arms screaming "Gah! Don't scare me like that Lily!" He turned to look at the new girl who had prompted such a reaction "...she's part octopus? Screw it, I've seen weirder" He sighed as Lily jumped out of his arms and the two of them got on her ride.
Once they arrived, the quickly found a group of girls tormenting some civilians. While Lily tried to talk them down, Alexander (who didn't think for a second that Lily could actually find a way to solve this without violence if these girls liked hurting people as much as it looked like they did) decided to prepare for the possibility of them taking the mother and daughter as hostages. Staying a ways behind her, he began putting forcefields over them over the mother and daughter. They would be able to hold out long enough for Lily to save them, should it come to that.
Before Sophia showed up, Veronica had reversed her dance, causing the tower to revert back to STRING form. With Justine gone, Vi captured, and Hyun in sight, there was no advantage to keeping the tower up.
Veronica placed her fingers beside her head. “Tetrad, there’s a powerful psychic user in the vicinity. This isn’t an operation you can participate in.”
“Seriously? Eh, whatever. Thanks I guess. Anything you’d like me to do?”
“See about cleaning up the city. The corrupted girls are making a mess of things.” and with that, she sunk into the shadows of the night.
Veronica emerged from the floor right behind Evira. A black silhouette that was dripping with tar. With a flick of her elbows, the shadow magic that clung to her was flung to the walls, revealing Eliza’s patron. Veronica cast her eyes over everyone. With the magical car’s front bumper caved in and Evira laying in a heep, it wasn’t hard to tell what had happened. A disappointing resolution, dumb luck was an unreliable path to victory. But tonight Veronica would take what she could get.
“She’s unconscious?”
Another disappointment, But Veronica wasn’t crass enough to start a torture session in front of strangers. At least Her being unconscious meant that the secrets were easy pickings. While it wouldn’t do anything in terms of emotional release, it was probably for the best she was like this.
Veronica’s hand hovered over Evira and her eyelids fluttered. Soon all of Evira’s secrets would be hers. Anything Chloe and she planned together, anything the mint told her, how the rave was used to drive corrupt girls wild, it would all belong to Veronica.
Or at least it would be, but it seemed like someone had put a protective enchantment on her mind.
“Protection? Of course.” Veronica folded her hands behind her back. “No matter, something to do in my spare time.” A shadow swallowed up Elvira before vanishing. Veronica looked to Eliza. “Your fellow agents fight a mighty opponent back at the rave. They will likely need your assistance.” her eyes passed over everyone present before coming to rest on Fine. “Fine? Odd to see your sort here, at least on Mimoku’s say so.” Her eyes wandered back onto Eliza. “Unless you came to the rave for a different type of mark?”
“So much for that.” Tetrad groaned through her teeth. “Boss wants me elsewhere. Make sure that guy doesn’t die before I get back.” She pointed at Shane, in case it wasn’t obvious.
"You can count on me!" Trixy gave her companion a salute. Once Tetrad had disappeared at the top of the stairs, Trixy turned to Shane. "Really though, take it easy, alright? You were just pulled out of those noxious clouds."
Trixy was no stranger to death. Even before she became a magical girl, she was frequently pulled into violent fights. She had seen her fair share of bodies. But this wasn’t the outcome of a bar fight, this was a slaughter. The rave had been transformed into a mass grave while Trixy was gone. The dance floor was covered in bodies from wall to wall. Corpses that weren’t even minutes old. They were all frozen in pain, their final moments before their hearts stopped beating. Trixy wanted to believe they were all sleeping, but she wasn’t that gullible. She bit her lower lip before gingerly stepping over the bodies. Anyone who could plan something like this was a true monster. It was just a shame that so many had to die due to some great plan cooked up by the evil organization of the week. More than outrage, Trixy felt guilt. She had been powerless to do anything about this, and only felt worse as her hunger crept up on her. She couldn’t say if it was from being surrounded by food or because all this death made her nervous. But she couldn’t eat any of them. Her teeth were the ivory gates of hell, and only true monsters passed their threshold.
It was dark, but the burst of dragon’s fire guided Trixy’s eyes to their target. A multi headed dragon with a gluttonous appetite. Hyun was a beast of biblical proportions. Enough people had died today. If she was quick and fought smart, Hyun would be the only one that had to die.
Once Trixy had trained her scope on Hyun, she could see the glutton was eating corpses. Each one caused a sharp pain to spike in Trixy’s chest, but it was the next batch of corpses that forced Trixy’s eye open. She hadn’t personally known Ceriza and Cerise, but she had gotten acquainted with Eliza’s coven after the fiasco with the Red Nest. They may have lost their lives, but Trixy wasn’t going to let Hyun take their bodies too.
"No! We gotta starve her!"
Trixy emptied her entire magazine on Hyun. Each shot was aimed for a tentacle connected to one of Hyun’s many dragon heads. Once the bullet ripped through the tentacles, it would explode forth with roots. The goal was to shove as many corpses away from Hyun as possible while also disarming her ability to feed. She could only get so crazy with her shots, as she didn’t want to knock Rachel over. Hopefully Samantha and Amaryllis could intercept Hyun before she got even more out of control.
Cute boy? Check. Monster queen? Check. Silhouette present? Check. No psychic users that could turn her into an amnesiac nearby?
Unchecked.
After her failure at the park, things were starting to look up. It was a shame that she couldn’t participate in important fights like that. It was the graveyard fight all over again. That boy probably thought she was a coward as well. She should have never brought him along. Avenging people gave her one hell of a high too.
She’d just have to beat her frustration out of some corrupt kids. There should be plenty of those around. If the gunshot was anything to go by, they were close. With a sprint, Tetrad arrived just in time to see the doctor collapse to the floor.
“Dr. Turner!” She sprinted to his side and drew a few extra cards for her hand. “First of all, attacking normal guys is something powerless chumps do. Second of all, this guy is a total DILF. Why are you guys kicking around a stud like that? Get out of here!”
Tetrad was ready for a fight. She knew they weren’t going to give up just because two good girls showed up.
”Alone? Me? I have plat and Atom to collab with!”
— Faith
@ Cindy/Beacon fiesco
Faith’s lower lip quivered. Her smile collapsed in an instant. ”I-I see.” Faith sunk to her knees in front of Ronin. ”I really must be alone, because I thought you were my ally. At the least someone with more than a contract in mind.” She swallowed. Her eyes were wide open like she was in a trance, but she wasn’t looking at anyone. ”But even if I don’t have any more friends...” Her eyes glowed a bright crimson as she raised her gaze to Ronin. Even as the tears streamed down her face, she managed to force a smile. ”I’ll always have my mother~!” Faith threw up her hands, as if to give praise to the thing crawling out of the clouds, when reaver ran by and grabbed her under his arm. ”What are you doing!?” She shrieked. ”Put me down you duplicitous fiend!”
For a moment there Ronin believed Faith was giving up, but she’d have much preferred if she pulled back rather than collapsed on the spot, because here she might still be in danger from Beacon or so. But then it turned out she was giving praise to her “mother”, charming beast, really. Ronin held her breathi, preparing for a tough fight… when Reaver came in and grabbed the fairy-girl. ‘Huh,’ Ronin had to take a moment. … ‘NOPE!’ So, during the time Reaver was summoning giant blade sword and attacking the giant by them, Ronin ran around to place herself in-between him and the most obvious escape path. ‘I’d love to trust you right now, but you kinda just killed the one I was hired to protect, so could you let her go? I want to save everyone here. That includes her,’ she requested, giving a tiny little grin as she did.
Reaver looked at Faith, then at Ronin. It seemed that something inside him clicked, at this whole folly. “Feh, there you go. You all shall die, regardless. Do you think that thing listens to Faith? I was offering mercy for her bravery” He added, tossing Faith in Ronin’s direction and then making his exit at a nonchalant pace, clearly eyeing the horror as the bigger threat and not Ronin. “But if it’s both of your wishes, I will not meddle any further.” He said, focusing now on powering his legs and leaving the battlefield.
”Bwah!” Faith tumbled across the ground towards Ronin. The two became intertwined and rolled away as one.
But above them all was the avatar of Aighorost. It was difficult to tell what it was feeling, if it felt anything. The creature’s limb had been smashed, and most of the insects had died right on the spot. It retracted it’s broken limb into the sky. The hoof remained on the ground, and the limb dripped with some substance halfway between tree sap and animal blood. But before long it all disappeared behind the clouds. For the moment it seemed like Aighorost would simply withdraw for the time. But it wasn’t going to be deterred that easily. Maybe it was Faith’s pleas, maybe it enjoyed the fight, or maybe it was angered by Reaver’s attempt to resist it. But Aighorost was not done here.
A dark pulse cleared the sky of clouds. No more rain would fall upon the park. Aighorost desired a clear view of the sky, and no god or dragon would override its desires.The moon was shining so brightly that no stars were visible in the night sky. The clouds had an errie golden halo where they tapered off into the night sky. The ground was bathed in lunar rays, and all below could see the horror’s true form. It looked like a giant beating heart, an abomination made from animals and plants fused together in a giant mass. It pulsed, it howled, it descended.
It moved so fast it might as well have been teleportation. Once the heart was a mile above the ground, it split into three parts before finishing its decent. They embedded themselves in the ground, causing a small quake and nothing more. No one was harmed by the landing, but all were stunned by the three fleshy, wooden pillars that had invaded the park. But the pillars would soon collapse as creatures within stepped forth. Three pillars to hold three creatures which would later be referred to as the pillar druids.
To the South of Beacon was an enormous dragon, made entirely out of vines and frogs. A creature born from the swamp. Its body was a swamp given life, and it was supported by thorny trees rooted into the ground.
To the east was another abomination. A massive ent that oozed with sap. Though it might have been some other substance, as a close look at the vines wrapped around its frame would reveal flesh trapped beneath.
And between the two to the south east was a great wolf made of evergreens. It stood taller than the pillar it emerged from, and had three eyes on its head. Within its chest burned a green flame, which would soon seer the land.
Each of their respective teritories were transformed. Around the ent vines took over the ground. Wind kicked up around the dragon, and spirits swam around the wolf, blocking and distorting the lunar light.
The landscape twisted, the stone walls of the park were overgrown with trees, covered in barbs and tentacle-like vines. Aighorost had selected a battleground, and it wasn’t letting any of his prey escape. Not without a good fight.
The Pillar Druids were able to sense a tormented soul. One who was feeling exactly what faith was feeling. Perhaps even more so. Maybe out of pitty, or some desire to manipulate this one like a pawn, they all turned towards her. Each druid focused their gaze on Hilaria, and a band formed around her finger. Three, one for each druid. An intense heat enveloped Hilaria, and she was bestowed the dark blessing of the Pillar Druids. Her flesh hardened like bark, but was still as malleable as leather. Her weapons were wreathed in dark flames, and her muscles bulged like that of a dragon.
Ronin, Faith, and Reaver were all in the vicinity of the ent. But the ent was only interested in reaver. It opened its hand wide, revealing the giant beak of some exotic bird hiding behind its vines.
”Wait!”
At Faith’s command, the ent hesitated.
She turned to look at Ronin, who she had just pulled herself off of. ”I-I don’t understand what’s going on. Why did you tell me I was out of allies when you were willing to come save me?” She sobbed before drying her eyes on her arm. ”Are you-” She sniffed. ”D-do you want to be my friend?”
“Oh, so that’s how it is.” Reaver said, gritting his teeth. “You are pulling a hissy fit on me too. Fair enough.I never did like horrors in the first place.” He eyed the Ent, and summoned his sword, the arm straightening with disgusting sounds. “... Well then. I don’t care who I have to kill right now, I’m done with this. But you should choose carefully. Befriend this girl, samurai, and you’ll doom Beacon. Fight the horrors and you might save them. As for me, since my work here is done, but my retreat is cut off… I’m going to do this the old Valhalla fashion. No mercy will be given anymore nor expected.”
As Ronin had NOT expected, she had Faith thrown into her, so she did her best to catch her before the roll. She definitely had to thank Reaver for not making a bigger deal of it. But, before she could, numerous monstrous entities showed up and the area suddenly looked like it might be more dangerous than the one with the monster queen that the rest were heading off to! Ronin was preparing her blade, when Faith made the ent stop, and she looked to Faith curiously as she said her little parts. Ronin smiled widely, a perfect explanation already prepared, but then Reaver started talking. Ronin looked over at him, losing the smile and looking confused. Huh, he was giving her an ultimatum? Those were her only options? …
‘Nope, I reject your alternatives!’ Ronin called, grinning widely. ‘Black knight dude, thank you for handing fairy-girl over and not making a bigger mess out of things! I’d like to befriend and talk stuff out with you later, if possible. Like why kill Cindy, and such. Then we can be friends. Fairy-girl, I simply meant that if you keep fighting Beacon, you’d be out of allies. However, I consider myself a friend of all living magical beings! As such, I’m gonna be your friend, AND I’m going to save Beacon!’ she said, turning to look at Reaver with the last statement. ‘If the Horrors attack Beacon, I’ll protect them. If Beacon attacks you back, I’ll protect you! So let’s go already! We’ve got Magical Girls to save!’ Ronin called happily, totally intending to hop off because there was probably action going on elsewhere right about now!
Faith sighed and wiped away the rest of her tears. ”That-” She swallowed. ”That sounds reasonable.” A small smile crossed Faith’s lips. ”I don’t know if I can forgive Beacon for what they’ve done. I don’t know if mother will forgive them either.” She closed her eyes. ”But I can try.” The vines around the secret entrance to the rave parted. ”I won’t stop you from leaving that way, knight. If escape is what you desire, there it is. But I was told something bad is happening that way.” Faith stood up and dusted herself off. ”Well little Ronin, I only have so much sway over my mother. But if we get to the dragon, I should be able to get over the barrier there. Or anyone else who wishes to escape.” She took Ronin’s hand. ”Let’s run like our lives depend on it~!”
Reaver resisted the urge to facepalm. Hard. “What in Odin’s name is this whole act of misaimed intentions, covered in sugar and then set to cook in thick syrup…” He said, as he harrumphed. “Well, cutting up horrors, cutting up unknowns, committing regicide. In for a penny, in for a pound.” Reaver said as he began walking towards the exit of the bush.
“May Odin grant you victory, and that. I appreciate the offer. But then again…" He said, readying himself once more, his bladied readied at the Ent. “I still have something not quite settled." I sincerely hope Viper can escape… maybe this will give her the opening she needs.
‘Yes! Let’s go, new friend!’ Ronin called happily as Faith revealed she could do stuff about it. ‘I’ll find you later, then, black knight dude! For now, we’ll go do what we can!’ she called to Faith, and off they went!
With Faith leaving, and Reaver’s sword pointed at it, Grosket had nothing holding it back. The end pulled back its fists and got in a boxing stance, even going as far springing off of its heels like a real boxer. While it was putting on this show, roots emerged from the ground around Reaver’s ankles and attempted to bind him in place. That was when Grosket’s face opened up like a pair of double doors, revealing what looked like the skull of a giant gorilla. With a roar, streams of acidic water were blown out of the skulls every orifice, streaming towards reaver.
Grisbar brought its wings high above its head and scanned for possible targets. The group of Beacon girls would have been good targets, but their improv champion should be fairing well with the blessings they received. It wasn’t often Grisbar got a chance to just exist, so it would do what it could to ensure it would last as long as possible. The bigger threat were the two engaged in a stand off. They would not ignore it forever.
Celia and Nightwing.
Yes, they posed the biggest threat to its existence. And if it aimed it’s shot right, it could nail Tsuki and Elora too. The dragon brought its wings down, blasting a gargantuan X shaped vortex through the park. As it advanced folwards, it pulled in dirt and debris and minced it into a fine abrasive. While the X itself was clearly the most deadly part of the attack, those in close proximity to the attack would find themselves being “sandblasted.” by fine dirt and water particles.
Ampodryl, watched the battle unfold from its lair in the shadows. It was the fastest druid, the strongest druid, but it preferred to move around as little as possible. It knew that human eyes were good at picking up movement, so it stood very still as to blend in with its surroundings.
But it also had to participate in battle.
Grosket was dealing with the knight, and Grisbar was harassing the beacon girls. This gave the wold free reign to do as it pleased. But while searching for its next target, Ampodryl noticed a pink chopper. Not that it understood what it was looking at, but it knew this had to be a threat. Without even a sliver of hesitation, the wolf’s third eye opened all the way up. The black, cloudy iris focused on the chopper before firing a pulse of pure spirit energy.
Fortunately, Kamy was an excellent chopper pilot. While she couldn’t dodge a projectile moving at the speed of light, she was able to spot the wolf’s glowing eye in time to take evasive action. The bolt missed the cockpit, but the tail rotor was seared off by the ultra hot spirit bolt. This also put quite a bit of spin on the chopper, forcing Kamy to land before the wolf got another shot off. But once she touched down, the creature had all but disappeared to mortal eyes.
The nearby vine hedge, however, was plainly visible. It wrapped its barbed tentacles around the chopper and attempted to pull it into itself.
”As to be expected.”
— Tonya “Mac” Murphy
Age: 24/11 | Gender: Female/Female | Illusion, Gravity Body | Power of Friendship, Regeneration, Third Eye | Moirai Coercion, Soul Jar, Martial Training, True Sight, Parasite, Gifted, Awareness, Overcity Shift, Mystic Artifact
Well, seemed Faith was going to get some potent backup. Not that it was a suprise. Regardless, she decided to stay by Faith's side and make things that much harder for the Beacon girls. They'd get attacked by a few more druid wasps than anyone else.
As his magic replenished, his Regeneration would kick back into full swing. "I appreciate the concern, but there's a job to do." Even though Shane didn't really look or act all that cold, he didn't seem to regard the carnage that lay out before them. Though not having all that much concern for himself he may just be really focused. Those that served Puchuu long enough had a way of getting sucked into their work.
Hearing what Trixy had to say he would check the grounds. There were too many bodies for him to cast lightning around them, and even then it might not be enough to stop the beast. What he would give for his previous magic right about now. Oh well. He would cast a charge of lightning around himself. It was only good for one shot of something touching it, but hopefully it would be enough to deter getting eaten in one go. Taking Trixy's lead he would send bolts of lightning out after as many of the heads of the hydra as he could without burning through too much of his magic. The strikes were swift, accurate, and gave him a reasonable distance to react should the appendages turn his way.
Having been told to stay out of the fight (and seeing that Reaver was involved), Raven had to pretty much watch as events unfolded. Only if it really came to it did she plan to get involved. For a moment it looked like she might have to swoop in to save Janet but Jenna took care of that. Her allies off the field she planed to see things through from her aerial view high in the sky. Appearing as a simple raven nary a speck against the clouds she was pretty safe from harm. The horror dropping itself into view earlier though nearly gave her a heart attack though.
Things looked to be wrapping up when a magical blast knocked her out, both from the sky and her animal form. Being as high as she was several seconds passed as she tumbled through the air. The rush of the wind rousing her she saw the ground, then the moon, ground, a heart, the ground again. Turning back into a raven and spreading her wings her lighter body slowed and she changed angle enough to avoid driving into the ground. She was forced to change back out though to take the impact and and subsequent roll as she skidded to a stop. "Oh crap..." She held her left arm. She was not so durable at the twins were so a crash like that did manage to hurt but she would live, for now. Getting to her knees she saw Faith and Ronin, who she had just fell from the sky in front of. "Uh. H-hey. Don't mind me just encountered a little turbulence when the." She looked up. "Giant heart showed up." A quick look around and she didn't recognize where she was at all. What had happened on the brief time she was out?
In the moments of her confusion living vines of the wall managed to grab her and started to pull her in. The girl would yelp as she was lifted off the ground. It didn't get the chance to press her into the barbs though as she teleported once, and then again to the other two magical girls. "Hey so, I don't have any hard feelings either way so if you two want a ticket out of here they're currently on sale for free.99." Raven wouldn't ordinarily just cut and run, but her stakes in this were minimal and she'd just been blasted into it. If the other two decided to stay then she would probably be prompted to stick around and help.
Jenna was glad when her sisters came over and took Janet from her, having exhausted her magic teleporting most of the way. Her magical girl form would also give out and she leaned against a wall. "I-I'm not sure. But I can't find her. Her mind is... It's like she's just... just gone." She would reply to Sally. Wearily she watched as her twin sister was carted off to be treated. Jenna hobbled on after despite being so shaky, striving on with the energy being a Genki girl afforded her.
In the shadows cast by Shane’s lightning, in the refuge of Rachel’s valor, Amaryllis shot out to the side, her Sliverlight scraping against the floor. Diving underneath one tentacle and flipping over another, she maneuvered through the main hall getting ever closer to the hydra that even now grew larger. It was a pity Tetrad wasn’t here, but they had enough.
Lightning cracked in the distance, and in that brief burst of illumination, she saw the familiar sight of the Flying Dutchman.
They had enough.
Sliding on blood and alcohol, Amaryllis planted one hand on Trixy’s roots, vaulting over to grab one of the still-hanging cages up above. The girl inside was nothing but a fried corpse, and static electricity stung her palm as she did so, but the Knight of Rose brushed it off. She flipped to the top of the cage and then kicked off further, reaching the ceiling above Hyun Long.
A flash of silver light, and chunks of rubble crashed down upon the monster queen. Not enough to crush, not enough to even damage. But just enough to serve as the spawn points for her chains.
Magical energy burst out, vibrant and enduring, as ivies and roses bloomed out of the rubble, their vines and roots wrapping around the main body of the Monster Queen. It wouldn’t be enough to restrain her; it’d be foolishness to even try when she could spawn so many more heads. But if all they needed to do was prevent her from eating more of the dead?
Dozens of chains continued to rise up, entwining into a thick braid. A beanstalk? A tower? No, an anchor chain, breaking through the fragile ceiling of the warehouse to stretch for the flying ship above.
Fine smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. She knew the former Mint Broker back when she was still just a Mint Broker, and it was almost funny, to see her here now. Funny though, how Penrose was sometimes more of a nexus for curious magical individuals than the Overcity itself.
“Thought I’d get some R&R after my last mission in somewhere more…concrete. Luck turns out to be as shit as always though.” White smoke trailed out between her teeth, the smouldering end of her cigarette casting a dark glow over her face. “Mimoku’s evacuating me. I’d suggest the same to you. The Ascendancy’s not gonna let this stand.”
The car's horn blared down the tunnel, echoing deeply.
"C'mon Fine!" Myria called out, unnerved by how quickly everything was escalating. "Gotta scram fast! There's literally three Horrors around! And the storm's not normal too!"
Inside, Gerard was brewing some tea, using a nice, antique camp stove that his oujo-sama had ordered off Amazon a couple years back. It was definitely one of those nights, huh? He just hoped Fine didn't spill any cigarette ash on the leather again.
