It hurt. By gods, it hurt, and Amaryllis could feel something dark crawl underneath her skin as the dragonhead bit into her wrist, then through bone, and finally shredded the sinews. It was pain like nothing she felt before, and her Sword rioted, the infantile Lesser Force seeking nothing more than to lash out at the one that meant its Wielder harm. But she held on, her face twisting as sweat, cold sweat, beaded on her forehead. The stump that remained seared nauseously, and the Knight of Rose’s pearl-like complexion paled further. A scream was building up. Old fears were mounting up.

But the girl who pissed herself when she fought her first monster wasn’t there. The girl who worked herself up into cold fury over a friend’s betrayal wasn’t there. It was always the question wasn’t it? How much difference remained, between Amaryllis Evenings the girl and Amaryllis Evenings the knight?

Her left forearm tightened as she clenched a phantom fist.

And slowly, as purifying light infused Hyun Long, the Knight of Rose relaxed. Down below, a swordswoman of the Ascendancy caught the purified monster queen. “Not stupid,” Amaryllis replied, managing a weak smile. “If the cost of someone’s soul is just my left hand, I’m willing to give it up any time. May your gratitude be more substantial than mere words, Beaconer.”

She sighed. Shuddered. An amethyst glow lit up her face as the Healing Artifact she wore around her neck was activated. The bloody stump sealed itself soon after. Just a temporary measure, really, but it’d see that she didn’t bleed out. Now, all that remained was a lingering fatigue and a vague light-headedness. Nothing she couldn’t stomach; her Sword, now that it knew she was fine, would probably barrage her with more bloodthirsty requests once more.

Overhead, the rain began to lighten up, the torrential downpour shifting to a pleasant shower. Red streams trickled off her injured arm, and rusted roses fell like snowflakes. Her chains disintegrated, and Amaryllis closed her eyes, hoping for just one moment’s worth of levity.

But this was Penrose. The night wasn’t over yet.

The Ascendancy called off their truce with the dark magicals present, ordering Alicia to ‘deal’ with them. Eden, the perpetrator of the incident, revealed herself nonchalantly, her presence serving as the spark of yet another conflict. And then, her Token activated.

Mariette!

“Sophia! Just leave!”

That was all the advice Amaryllis could offer before she kicked off her ivy-bud, practically flinging herself through the air.
Calculate! She could pinpoint Mariette’s location exactly, so all she needed was…

Silvered ivies grew around her body, woven armor made of her own chains.

…to use what remained.

A silver bullet smashed through the warehouse walls and a dozen silvered chains unfurled from the shell to reveal a blur of midnight blue. She skidded on the concrete pavement, her heels digging deep and her Sword digging deeper, brilliant features lit up by brighter sparks. Droplets of blood splattered, her wounds reopened slightly. Microfractures crackled, her bones taking the brunt of her dynamic entrance.

The third incident of the night, and they’ve all been back to back to back. How fortunate can a Knight get?

As the rain poured through the hole in the warehouse, so did rose petals.

Gripping her Silverlight once more, feeling only fatigue and the lingering traces of her magical energies, she said, “Mariette, do you wish to escape or to fight?”


"Uh...uh?"

Myria could do some pretty daring stuff. She was a stunt driver, after all, by merit of her perk. 720 twists? Front flip bumper drop? One wheel wheelie? You name it, she could do it. Her vehicular proficiency, in human standards, was absolutely absurd, really, and as she neared the site of the Horrors, she sped up, prepared to do something whacky like slicing open the car's ceiling and launching her passengers out the top after bumperbutting a railing or something.

As she neared though, the dark magical girl slowed instead. She saw the Sword of Souls, of course, and she heard all the awful racket of combat. But up above, the hole in the storm had patched itself up, and down below...there wasn't any Horrors left at all. Just magical girls fighting, no monsters in sight.

She stopped. Were Penrose Magical Girls just that powerful? Or were those Horrors actually sorta pathetically weak?

"Well," Fine remarked, leaning back and cradling her head with her hands. "Guess it's over."


Askefye flew fast. Jet fast. She made the sounds of a jet and everything. Or maybe it was just the wind causing her face to flap against it. Streaming over the Overcity sky, she furiously wiped at her stinging eyes, burning away every thought she had about that washboard Beacon girl outta her brain.

...

Nope, still couldn't forget!

"UGHHHH WHY DID I EVEN DO THAT!"

Then, she heard the sound of someone else's flying. The fire spirit turned, eyes hopeful for a moment...until it turned out to be that fat girl and her creepy sidekick instead. Double ughhhhh. Maybe she could make something out of it though. Maybe she could just have fun. Maybe she could play a game. Maybe she could roast them alive and eat their hearts before filling that chest cavity with the ashes of that washboard bitch and offering them up as sacrifices to the Great Old One, the Malevolent Dreamer of the Depths, Cthulhu.

Nah, she just wanted to prove a point.

Gritting her teeth against the wind force, Askefye projected her fire magic outwards, as far as she could, before forming small, three-foot wide fiery rings out of them. She surged ahead then, jets burning white, and shot through one hoop. Then the second. Then the third! Ever accelerating, ever speeding, towards goals that only she could make!

That was the way of Askefye, the Freeroamer Ifrit!

...

Nope, still couldn't forget!

Silhouette didn't see any portals, so it appeared as though Mariette had fled the scene. If the girl intended to become aggressive, then it was more likely that'd happen later down the line. She did just sustain damage, after all. And if that bridge was entirely burned, then it was unfortunate. Samantha had fought with Mariette at one time and thought that she'd make for a fine ally, even if only taking into consideration the girl's specialization.

This made it all the more frustrating that the person who potentially destroyed their chances was Trixy. Even if things were hectic, this was inexcusable. How many times did Veronica go out of her way to suggest allying with someone as the first resort? That should've made it clear, but Trixy had acted almost like a child and neglected this. She would have to spend her frustration disciplining Trixy later. If she wanted to act like a child, she would be treated like one. A rough spanking would be in order. That would humiliate and cause her to reflect on her actions, wouldn't it? Yeah, that was a plan.

Silhouette remained perched on a part of the roof as she looked down upon the scene. Hyun had been defeated non-lethally thanks to what appeared to be Amaryllis sacrificing an arm. Although Silhouette couldn't see herself doing the same mostly out of no desire to save someone, the willpower necessary was still impressive. She could almost commend the girl, but things only began to escalate with the appearance of Eden, the culprit, and the Ascendancy immediately going into purge mode yet again.

Her crimson eyes narrowed on Rachel. It was true that Eden evoked unpleasant emotions from Sil. She would certainly like to plunge a blade through the woman for ruining the night, and her attitude was irksome. But how many times would these idiots show up and do this very same thing? Penrose had a multitude of problems that cropped up, and it did not need to have the Ascendancy hovering around each one like some vultures. Worse still was they acted like they were any better than the ones they hunted. Coercing people into changing aspects about themselves by threatening death? Haughty attitudes that belittled the existence of Dark Magical Girls, treating them as insects. But they all bled and died just the same. The slaughter that took place here should have made that fairly obvious. But maybe it wasn't enough? Maybe they needed to lose more.

Samantha could take from them. What was one more body on the pile? Clearly, the rest of their fallen brethren were of little import. Expendable bodies to throw at their dogma. But the one she was eyeing... she seemed to hold some form of value. She was, after all, ordering the others around. Would killing her spark a change in the Ascendancy? She didn't actually think it would.

But it would provide some form of catharsis.

Alicia's outrage had served as a fine distraction. After mentally sending Trixy off with a vague affirmation, Samantha snaked along the darkness provided by the night as an inconspicuous shadow, leading her behind the inquisitor. Silently, the blob took shape, and Samantha raised her knife. She opted to take no risks, her blade being filled with mana as she swung horizontally, aiming to part the inquisitor's head from her neck.

Connie relaxed slightly at the sight of Faith lowering her weapon, but before the fairy girl could speak, a dark shape flew through the air towards her. Connie gasped. She had completely forgotten about the armored berserker, who, after slicing through Gaia’s vines and shattering the latest round of nightmare illusions with a single mighty sweep of her weapon, had proceeded to climb up Gaia’s beanstalk, setting it ablaze in the process. From there, the dark magical girl had leapt off to attack Faith.

“Faith!” Connie cried out in alarm as she watched her friend be tackled out of the air and smashed into the ground. “W-We have to help her!”

Gaia was already springing into action before Connie had even finished her sentence. Commanding the burning beanstalk to bend over towards the ground, she and Connie leapt off it just before the once-mighty stalk was completely reduced to ash. As soon as their feet touched the ground, the two friends rushed over to where Faith was being pinned by the dark warrior. The next few seconds were a dizzying whirlwind of events. First, Connie felt her heart stop as Faith gave voice to a bloodcurdling scream, then a miniature samurai girl appeared out of nowhere to place a barrier between Faith and the warrior, while a dragon seemingly composed of stained glass simultaneously slammed into the dark magical girl’s side. Then, another girl rushed over to smash her shield into the dark warrior’s head. All these things had the ultimate effect of forcing the armored girl away from Faith, allowing Connie and Mia the space to reach her. Kneeling down next to Faith and the small samurai, Connie gave another sharp gasp when she saw just how badly the fairy girl was wounded.

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh…” Connie whimpered as she began to shake violently at the horrifying sight before her, the masked girl’s concern for her friend overriding any fear she might have had about the combat raging only a few feet away. “F-Faith…? I-Is s-she…? I-Is s-she…?”

“Mother’s Mantel…” Gaia breathed as she joined Connie beside the fallen fairy girl. “This looks bad…”

“Y-You c-can h-help her, r-right Mia?!” Connie asked desperately, black tears beginning to trickle down the cheeks of her mask.

“I… I shall certainly try, little sister.”

With a green glow of mystic power, Gaia conjured several mossy bandages and gently placed them over the worst of Faith’s wounds. They only possessed minor healing abilities, but at the very least, they would sooth the fairy girl and staunch some of the bleeding.

“C-Can you h-help too?” Connie asked the samurai girl between sobs. “I-I s-saw you s-save h-her w-with t-that b-barrier, s-so t-that m-means you have h-healing magic too, r-right?! P-Please! S-She’s my friend! I d-don’t want her to die!”

_{@Erode@Ariamis}

Unlike Askefye, Su and Helga were able to enjoy a windburn free ride. Su accomplished this by creating an air bubble around their heads. It wasn’t visible, but in that spot the air was moving with them. They could carry on a conversation without a problem.

“I did hear the PI’s announcement. Never followed their articles, but Mika read every one she could, probably because of her interest in magical girls, if not because she was included in a report about the Vixen. To think they'd do something like this.” There was too much stuff to react to at the rave. Lei Zi, the PI, Justine. All she could do is deal with it one issue at a time. And right now, Su was listening to Helga tell her story. It was one that she had heard before, but not in such detail.

“You’re not stupid, Helga.” A little gullible maybe. Very gullible, even. It was hard not to grin at the words she wasn’t saying. “I forget sometimes that you were alone once. I’ve always had someone in my life, and they’ve always been good people.” Her dread wings broke up and flaked away like ash in the wind. “Had we swapped possitions, I'd have likely done the same thing.”

It was true though. Su always had Boteg. He might have been a cowardly dragon, but he gave Su unconditional love. Even when she messed up, he found it in his heart to forgive her. Even the lives of all the people she was before becoming “Su” never knew of loneliness. They were wives, husbands, brothers and sisters.

Su supposed that what had her so upset was that her decision was wrong. She Let Justine live at the behest of the others. The angry, vengeful woman who could have so easily killed Justine then and there would have been right in doing so. Seeing her show up here was proof that her choice to try and lead a life with mercy instead of vengeance was wrong. That was what Su had thought initially, but maybe that was also wrong. Letting Justine live was a blunder, but taking on Helga wasn’t. Letting Sophia live wasn’t. To her knowledge neither of those people had turned to evil. Perhaps that was why Su flew after Askefye with such stubborn determination. Even if she was the one lighting fires at the rave, even if she almost guided Su into a troll, she deserved a second chance.

The fire girl probably didn’t want to be followed, but Su couldn’t back off now. She had escaped a rave, some dragons, and a troll with nothing to show for it. There had to be something she could do to soothe the fire girl before she did something she’d regret. The only clues Su had to work with was that she might be hungry. There wasn’t any other way to interpret her desire to have Vivi “Gib dinner.” Unless the dinner wasn’t what Askafye was after. She might have just wanted Vivi's company, but was it even possible that she fancied a girl from the ascendancy? That would be like hooking up with a lieutenant in Justine’s army when Justine killed the most precious person in the world to you.

Well, maybe this avenue of thought was worth considering. She had an idea for how to accomplish it too, but she’d need to get closer to hatch it.

”I think we can help her.”

Rings of fire. Could be exactly what they seem, could have a secondary function. Su was aware of how the fire at the rave reacted to her wind. While she could blow it around, it made it get a lot bigger and destructive as well. With such small rings, she’d have to be on top of things to make sure Helga didn't get burned. She could fly around them, but she took this as a challenge from Askefye. If they were going to be worthy of catching her, they had to fly exactly where she had flown.

”Lets see if I can shrink our profile a bit.” Su loosened her grip so that Helga could slid down her body. Helga sunk lower and lower until Su's sweater puppies were pressed against the side of Helga’s face. It was a lot easier to breath this way too. ”Just hold on, Helga!” Su amped up her speed as high as it would go and passed through the first hoop. The vortex of air propelling Su and Helga forward struck the ring afterwards, causing it to Swell and glow. The ring looked more like a donut after they had passed it. This made Su wonder if she could make other shapes.

Su spun on her way through the second ring, blowing the vortex outward. This turned the ring into a spiral. The third ring she flew through with a spiky vortex, which cause the ring to explode. It looked like a giant crown that Su was flying out of the top of.

”See if you can contact her, Helga. You’re my sound specialist.” Helga did have sound magic. While Su’s magic was strong, so was Askefye’s. Su also needed to be strong enough to carry a passenger and keep up with Askefye, and she couldn’t do that while also networking a communication spell.

---

_@AtomicNut

Aria had finished most of her chores and was reading a book on Chinese royalty when the door to her shop swung open. Multicolored luminescent butterflies flew all around the newly arrived, but Aria didn’t look up from her book.

”Daji is best known for her fantastical depiction as a fox spirit in legends, but she was a real person as well. She quickly became King Zhou’s favorite concubine and he did everything he could to please her.” She turned a page with a chuckle. ”History paints them as a sadistic and depraved lot. Once Daji saw a fisherman walking across some ice, and had his feet cut off so that she could examine them. She even had a pregnant woman cut open so that she could satisfy her curiosity yet again. This is without talking about the ‘forest of meat’ or the heated bronze cylinder they tortured people with.” She closed the book. ”But that’s all legend. Historians argue over what atrocities were actually committed, if any at all. The Zhou tribe hated Daji and may have demonized her to rally support against them. If that is true, then DaJi would have been the first victim of psychological warfare in history.”

Aria looked up and saw the Yamamotos. She lowered her gaze and smiled.

”I was expecting someone else. Sorry about that.” She pointed at the back. ”The portal in the next room will get you back to Penrose.”

---

_@Vocab

Christine was a re-see-pee-see girl. Without doing anything more than selecting a milkshake, Mika had already uncovered so much critical information about her. As an example, most girls love strawberries. It’s hard to beat a fruit that is sweet, nutritious, and have a nice appearance. Strawberries are just appealing to girls on so many levels. It doesn’t matter if you’re watching your weight or want something that tastes good, Strawberries are the way to go. But Christine picked the “unhealthy” option. Now re-see-pee-see’s are amazing, in fact that would have been Mika’s choice if Christine couldn’t pick. But Mika also didn’t care what other people thought about her. If a stranger offered you an apple or a candy bar, you’d probably pick the apple to make yourself appear health conscious. Mika took Christine’s choice as meaning she fully trusted Mika, and didn’t feel like she needed to hide her shame. Which was pretty good, because if she started asking questions like “where did my clothes go? I don’t remember putting this bikini on!” She would have been in trouble. But Rina and Dan would have to share the blame in that particular instance.

Bottom line was, Christine trusted Mika a lot.

“This place? Glad you asked.” Mika said before smugly slurping her milk shake. “It doesn’t really have a name, but magical girls come here to relax. It’s not the overcity, but it’s not the real world either. Some place different.” She pointed at the platform in the center of the Colosseum with her head. “Keijo is what most people come here for. We’ll have to play some later. Burn off these milk shakes. Everyone here is safe, Dan the dolphin makes sure of that.” It might have been wise wait until Christine could digest her food and play a few rounds of Keijo before continuing the interrogation. But Mika had no impulse control and “went for the kill” right away. “I saw you and Alicia fighting in the hallway, what was that about? Someone also wanted to deal with Beacon and Mint. ” She set down her milk shake and folded her arms. She looked more concerned than anything else. “I thought the Indian pendant was cool with Beacon when they pardoned a monster girl. Are you with them? Did Beacon do something to hurt you?”

---

_{@FamishedPants@BrokenPromise@PlatinumSkink@Majoras End@twave}

Faith’s eyes were rolled up into her head, and she was panting hard. Mia’s mossy bandages were able to stop the bleeding but the fairy had already gone into shock. Hilaria had taken a bite out of the back of her neck. She missed Faith's carotid artery, which was probably the only reason she was still alive. But Hilaria’s bite had crushed her spine at the base of her neck. This paralyzed everything below her jaw. If she was going to leave Mayor park, it wouldn’t be without assistance.



_{@Majoras End@ERode}

“It’s not over until all agents are accounted for.” Veronica prepared to step out of the vehicle before looking back at Myria. “That was not an especially exciting parking job.” Of course it had always been Veronica’s plan to downplay whatever attempt Myria made. Had she actually stuck an exciting landing, it would have been to flashy for Veronica’s tastes. “Regardless, I will keep my word.” Veronica produced a “skeleton key” and handed it to the magical girl. Typically a skeleton key was an artifact that open any door. But it seemed Veronica had taken the meaning literally and handed Myria a key that was made out of skeletal bones. It had been acquired from a necromancer’s lair and didn’t really serve any use to Veronica anymore. Not a horrible gift for someone with a corrupted spirit spec, but it paled in value to a true skeleton key. Though a real skeleton key was an absurd price for a taxi fair, even a magical one.

Veronica stepped away from the vehicle and looked across the park at Ronin. “Eliza, Maura, we are not going to remain here. Once we pick up Ronin, we’re leaving.” Veronica placed a hand beside her head. “Though I will be departing early. It seems as though something has come up. Make sure he returns safely, Eliza.” She shoved her hands into her pockets and walked away from the park, giving Fine a nod on her way past their vehicle.

Penny would take one last look at the mirror, her smile still tugging away at her lips as she appreciated her new look. It felt right, she finally felt like she belonged in her own skin, granted she didn’t truly have skin anymore, but that didn’t diminish the sensation. With a nod to her reflection she would walk out of the bathroom in the interdimensional apartment, stepping over the shattered remnants of the door, and move towards the front door.

As she walked she reflected on the fact that it seemed the anger issues were in fact hers rather than Jason’s, but that realization also brought a smile to her lips, even as she surveyed the demolished apartment. It was a stroke of luck that she had used the red coin here. The emotional rollercoaster would have been devastating out in Penrose. For it was not only the pain of Chloe betraying her human half that was dealt with, but also a much more subtle and longer hidden betrayal that had been uncovered.

Stopping at the door Penny would pick up the small backpack she had dug out of what was once her room. In it were the few small things that she still wanted to keep from this place. It held a few of her favorite tee shirts, the beginning of a handmade metal chess set, a golden necklace, and the doll she had recently purchased. Checking one last time to make sure that everything was in the bag Penny would once again turn her eyes towards the ravaged dwelling. She had no idea if the damage would stay, magical homes weren’t likely to obey any rules that one should expect after all, but she hopped it did.

For she had left a note, pinned to the mostly intact coffee table, her thoughts towards Chloe laid bare for the darkened girl to see if she were ever to come back. Her key to this place impaled into the wood keeping the note in place. Though she was rather sure that the destruction she had wrote would tell the message well enough on her own. She didn’t want to leave anything unvoiced, even if only in writing, for she was done with Chloe, done with a lot of how she used to be as well. And it would be within this little pocket of elsewhere she would leave behind her.

Finally she would turn and walk away from the wreckage. Her smile never wavering as she found herself once again within Penrose her eyes would flicker as she reestablished her connection to the various systems and networks within the city.
”All systems are green” She would say to herself as her hover jets would flare to life “Time to get to work” With that she would race off, using her newly acquired information network to find those that were in need of help.

---

Viva was a touch annoyed if she was being honest. She had been looking forward to tearing the Ent things heart into tiny scraps with her teeth, but someone else had chosen to intervene and had blown out the things torso. Normally that wouldn’t have annoyed Viva, she liked watching gore splatter as much as the next monstergirl after all, the critical difference was the fact that she had also nearly been blown away by said attack. Granted it had also blown out all of the fire, which helped Viva relax, but still she had lost her hand due to that.

Pouring out of the newly formed gaping chest wound Viva was fully prepared to start unloading gunshots at whoever it was that nearly killed her. Even as she leeched the dead flesh from Grosket’s corpse into patching up what wounds she had suffered, which was more the result of being engulfed in the fire and subsequent magical assault that ripped away her hand.

So imagine her surprise when she found herself swept off her feet and being carried to safety. Which as a quick glance over her saviors shoulder told her was away from the growing number of Beacon members.

”Sure know how to sweep a girl of her feet ” Viva would find herself saying before she put much thought into the situation even as she refocused onto Reaver. ”Got to say I’m digging the blood drenched look” she would go on to say as she suppressed the urge to lick her lips. Thankfully she had just had a few bites to eat so it wasn’t too difficult, but a small part in the back of her mind was cringing never the less. She was flirting with her own son, it felt both wrong and right, and that same small part wondered if she had been spending too much time in Mothers Company.
“This should help out a bit” she would go on to say attaching her healing amulet to the front of Reavers gorget. She could try and heal him herself, but she doubted that he would enjoy the feeling of his skin and muscles being individually stitched back together, nor the crawling static that came with her reinforcement. Never the less she would loop her arms around his neck as he carried her off to who knows where content to be carried, because why not?
She could always spawn her Bike if they needed to get away faster after all.

---

Despite the fact he was still recovering, despite the fact his arm had only recently been reattached, despite the fact he was more or less running on empty. Kyle found himself waking up from his short nap, brimming with restlessness. A quick look around the medical ward told him the reason why as well.

There was a steady stream of wounded Beacon members being brought in, and with their arrival came the flow of emotions that were always attached to such events came with them. With a mumbled ‘Damn it all’ Kyle would push himself up to a stand and slip in alongside the normal people stationed to work this area.

He wasn’t in so bad a shape that he couldn’t help move supplies around, to be an extra hand if someone needed it.

---

_{None & @AtomicNut & None}

---

Alex successfully saved Lily’s life, his healing magic having drawn her back from the doors of death. Her eyes slowly opened, and gazed into Alex’s own eyes. But, while her physical injuries were restored, he couldn’t mend the broken pieces of her heart.
”I...Ix...Is...”
She sobbed, tears on her cheeks as well, and clung to Alex in a dependent manner. She felt a caress on her head, and was reminded of her mother; she comforted her whenever she was sad. And so did Ixion...

Thanks to Umukamui’s guidance, Alex and the Yamamotos found themselves to Aria’s shop where the way home was located. Though Lily was still stricken with grief, she had the courtesy to smile at her.
”We’re uh...Sorry for intruding again...” She spoke, her energy and enthusiasm gone and replaced by gloominess.
”I can pay with Magical Coins...If that is possible...” She spoke, and summoned a couple of Bronze coins on her hand, offering them to Aria.

---

Hyun slowly regained consciousness as she recovered from the purification performed on her.
However, she was still heavily wounded from the battle before, and cloudy only sluggishly blink at her surroundings, seen in a lopsided angle due to being carried by Leena. However, she then felt how her ShineSpark warmed her insides, guarding her from what seemed to be someone attempting to communicate with her. Wondering if it was the one who rescued her from her cursed existence, she allowed the message through.
It turned out to not be her savior, but instead a Patron...And a frighteningly cheerful one at that.
She did not understand much of what the entity talked about, but she did appreciate the warm message she sent afterwards. Thank you, she would think back, and drifted back to slumber.

Shane using clever application of his electromagnetic powers, successfully extinguished the flames that had engulfed the Flying Dutchman. However, such a potent spell took its toll on the already exhausted magical boy, leaving him with a fifth of his total magical reserves.

Sil sneaked closer and closer to Rachel after the latter had turned away, her blade drawn and enchanted to claim yet another trophy to mount on her figurative mantle. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to end the source of much conflict.
However, that was when her fellow Cradle agent made a grievous mistake, and drew the Inquisitor’s attention alongside the peppy Horror Patron.
“Why you-” the glasses-wearing crusader spat out as she turned back, only to grit her teeth as she saw the blade in the dark, her eyes wild with fervent wrath.
“HERETIC!”

With her magically heightened agility that far surpassed Silhouette’s, Rachel managed to dodge and avoid becoming fully decapitated by Sil’s attack; instead, it cut an artery, causing her to visibly bleed. She summoned her hammer and immediately wwent for a counterattack, swinging so fast that Sil only managed to prepare a block by her Awareness kicking in. Sil was sent flying by the tremendous power of the impact, smashing not only through the wall of the local warehouse, but also another warehouse next door. As a result, Sil’s swordarm was broken, with splintered bones and a dislocated shoulder, as well as a couple of fractured ribs.
Rachel was prepared to pursue, her hammer slung over her shoulder as she noted how her barriers were shattered by her attack; this only made her angrier..
“Heretic Mint witch!I will see you repent as you draw your last breath-!”

“Inquisitor!” Leena came running in, one sword drawn as she carried Hyun Long on her shoulder. “The true mastermind behind the slaughter has appeared, and Alicia has now begun engaging her!” Rachel nodded, and resumed gripping her weapon with two hands. “Very well. It seems the rat had caught a lucky break...” Soon enough, Rachel could be seen returning from the rave; her wound had disappeared, leaving only a bloodstain that ran from the side of her neck, her body once again clad in shining golden armor. “Paladin Seraph! Let us avenge our sisters, and bring penance to this devil!” She shouted.

---

Helga’s initial worries were quickly assuaged by Su’s acceptance, and she smiled sweetly back to her. “No way, Su. You’re much smarter than me, and strong too. But thanks for the sentiment. I’m glad I can open up about this kind of stuff with you.”
Soon enough, the two of them spotted Askefye, and Helga agreed to Su’s suggestion. “Yeah, she’s a classic tsundere; we just gotta make a crack in her coals, heh.”
Helga blushed as Su brought her close to her bosoms, and giggled a bit from the intimate contact. “Geez, Su...” She mumbled. Once Su delivered the two of them closer to the smoking girl, Helga cast a voice amplification spell on herself and Su. Then, as if her voice came from a megaphone, she reached out to her:
“Yo, Askefye, was it? Can you slow down a bit? We want to chat with you a bit if that’s alright with you.”

---

Elora was left a bloodied, mangled mess by the end of the assault by the spirit dogs, bleeding profusely on the green grass that now bloomed after the Pillar Druid’s destruction. “Ugh...I’m not suited for field work...” She mumbled, breathing heavily as she called her cyberbox down and attempted climbing up on it, only to slide down due to her hands being slick with blood.
Tsuki came running in, holding on to her wizard hat. “Elora! Are you alright?”
She asked, to which Elora only nodded briefly. “We need to evacuate and reassess the current state of events.” Tsuki nodded, and soon the two of them also teleported back to HQ.

'I feel sick...' The sight of a broken and despondent Lily made him feel physically nauseous. While her life didn't seem to be in danger anymore, something else was still clearly wrong, the problem was he didn't have a clue what it could be. While he was admittedly paying more attention to his own fight, he was keeping a eye on Lily's, but things went south so quickly he wasn't sure what even happened 'Shit. What do I even do...?' Wordlessly, he carried Lily out of the shop and brought her back home, taking a shortcut in the air via a barrier road straight there.

When they got back home, Alexander brought her to the living room couch and set her down there and dismissed his transformation. A few seconds later, he noticed the freeloading animals in the lazy boy. Alexander, having long since given up on figuring out how they kept getting out of their cage, chose to ignore them in favor of the distressed girl in front of him. Kneeling down so that he was eye level with her, he began to speak "Lily, I...fuck. You know I'm bad with...feeling stuff, so I don't really know what to do. It's pretty obvious that somethings wrong with you, but I don't have any clue what...and I'm kind of afraid I'm going to fuck up and make things worse. So..." He paused as he scratched the back of his head "You're going to have to tell me what you need me to do. I doubt I can fix whatever's wrong, but maybe I can make you feel less like shit. I mean, I don't have emotion magic, and I'm not the best at reading people, but even I can tell since you look like shit-fuck! That was stupid, why did I say that!?" He facepalmed "Look, I just...what's a boyfriend supposed to do for his girlfriend at a time like this?"

_{@PlatinumSkink@ERode}

Nuncio was walking back, when a commoner was walking down the street in the opposite direction. There were still commoners around, however rare, and this one looked like the commonest of commoners, hardly worth noting. In fact, her mere existence inspired one to not think her as anything worth noting, regardless of how clever one might be.

Except, then she turned to Nuncio.

‘Left next intersection, then the second street to the left, third window to the right, ground floor. She needs help. Hurry.’

With that, she turned and continued her walk in the direction she'd been walking. If he looked back at her, a measure of doubt would occur. Was it really her that had just spoken to him? Or had it been a trick of light from someone who'd used her appearance? Regardless, Nuncio would later have trouble recalling how she looked like. She just looked unremarkable.

Sammy’s eyes fluttered. ”According to my deductions, she’s directing you back towards the warehouses.”

With a groan, Nuncio hopped on Rosa’s back, still cradling Sammy in his arms. He didn’t want to put her in danger again, but there wasn’t a safe place around.

---

Vermin Killer reacted to Amaryllis’s appearance with a slow turn of his head. ”Oh, so you were the rapier swinging vermin that was spotted?” The crows ruffled their feathers. ”Mariette is just letting me borrow a book. No one has to get hurt.”

Then Nuncio came onto the scene, still holding Sammy. ”Mariette? Amaryllis? Waddaya doin’ here?” He turned to look at the mint agent..

”Nuncio, of course. What other vermin would assault a mint storehouse with an inbred tiger?” He shrugged his shoulders with a smile. ”I’m just interested in the book. Fetch it for me, Nuncio. I don’t feel like approaching that sword or slime vermin.” Vermin Killer extended their hand. The rain splashed in the center of his palm.

It might have seemed like an uneven matchup, a single magical boy against four magical children. But most of them were worn down and damaged, and even if they could overtake Vermin Killer, some of them could perish in the process. There was also a very real possibility that he had backup. If the broken mirrors were anything to go by, his smugness was more than just a bluff. He already had this entire situation figured out.

Nuncio hopped off of Rosa and approached Mariette. With a sigh, he lowered Sammy down beside the portal witch before taking the almanac. ”If somethin’ happens, get Sammy outa here.” Nuncio turned to look at Vermin Killer, and Rosa growled.

”Keep your cat at a distance. It would be a shame if the gluttons ate her.”

”Speakin’ of, wanna make ya crows step off?”

With a nod, the crows before Vermin Killer parted for Nuncio. He took his time walking forward, never taking his eyes off the other magical boy. The wolverines and crows all had their eyes on Nuncio, but they did little more than size him up. Once Nuncio was close enough, he placed the book in Vermin Killer’s hand.

Sammy shook. ”D-deductions.” She turned to look at Amaryllis. ”A missing hand.” She looked at Mariette. ”A burnt hand.” Then to Vermin Killer. ”An extended hand, receiving a book.” She blinked a few times. ”All of this evidence only points to a single outcome.” Sammy’s eyes shot open. She called out the name of her lover, but her weak voice couldn’t beat the sound of falling rain.

Vermin killer reached past the book and grabbed Nuncio’s wrist. Before the mafioso could react, he was pulled into the mint agent’s rising knee. It hit with enough force to send the rain flying off of his back. Vermin killer was swift enough to catch the almanac before Nuncio sunk to the ground. He stashed it in his coat without glancing at Nuncio, who was still holding his stomach.

”Mariette, Amaryllis, Eli, your debts are paid. You were simply accessories in all this, and Amaryllis was careful not to kill the agent she did engage with.” Heused his foot to push Nuncio onto their side. ”Unfortunately Nuncio has an extensive debt to the mint, and it only grows when his inbred cat kills our agents.” He chuckled. ”You missed her soul stone, but it’s still a depraved act.” Vermin Killer gave a small bow. ”The book will be returned to you in a few days time. After 48 hours, simply order a dreamy coffee from the pit stop. They will offer to deliver it, and you can give them further instructions from there. In regards to our prisoner, we will be taking them back. But that hardly needs to be said. You don’t want to be our enemy, right?”

Nuncio was still recovering from the blow he took to the stomach. He couldn’t stand, but he was able to turn and look at his partners in crime. He looked like a wild animal, eyes filled with bloodlust. He barked a single order before it happened.

”Run!”

A surge of magic rushed into Rosa, transforming the inbred white tiger into a fearsome killing machine. It charged towards Vermin killer, who was already calling his crows to form a defensive barrier. His wolverines were springing to his aid as well, unable to wait out their appetites anymore. Tiger was back on the menu.

Sammy was frozen in fear. Too exhausted to do anything more than cling to Mariette’s leg.

---

_{@AtomicNut@DarkwolfX37}

Shion accepted? That was unexpected, but that goes to show you that it’s always worth pursuing a contact. “Thanks!”

She looked over her shoulder at Jimmy. “Right, right, Queenking34.” Tetrad supposed she’d better wright that down before she forgot. Well, that and any variants. He kept changing his user handle so he probably didn’t remember it.

“Hmm?” Tetrad looked at Ko. She wasn’t a fan of puchuu due to past dealings, and had come to believe that the few cheerful ones only behaved as such to play on the emotions of those around them. But turning down praise from anyone wasn’t Tetrad’s style. She placed her hands on her hips. “When you look this good you’re bound to get a few stares. But every once and a while I can charm them to my side. ” She laughed before whispering to herself. “Why couldn’t that have been a normal fight?”

Tetrad looked back at Shion, only to see she had passed out. “Eh, does she need help?” She started to shuffle her deck around so that she could find more blue cards. Her magic could be really annoying sometimes.

---

_{@FamishedPants@twave@Crusader Lord@Flamelord}

As the pirate spoke, Trixy lowered her rifle. Her slurring was difficult to understand, but the message came across. The corpses had been moved into the ship, and Cereza and Cerise’s bodies were among them. Another reason why attacking Mariette was the right thing to do.

"That sounds good." Trixy sighed.

But Trixy couldn’t relax for long. She had given Samantha her “token bite” and was aware of Rachiel’s attack on Sam. She cringed as Samantha’s body was thrown into the next building.

Retreating like Veronica wanted would no longer be an option.

"Samantha! Are you okay?" Trixy hopped out of the shadow where the cradle was manifesting. "Veronica! Sam’s in trouble! I gotta save her!"

“What has she done?” It only took Veronica moment to gain an understanding of the situation. “See if you can get her out of there.” There was no emotion in her voice.

Trixy didn’t really need Veronica to tell her that. This was a pretty bad date, but it would be the worst if Samantha didn’t survive it.

Trixy had been able to glance at everyone fighting Hyun in the rave with her mystic scope, and thus could “see” them through solid surfaces. She knew exactly where all of the present beacon girls were, and they seemed to be coming down into the rave. That meant the way out the opening in the top should be clear.

”It’s about time to blow this popcorn stand!”

Trixy hurled an acorn at her feet, and the sudden growth of a tree was enough to pop her out of the ceiling hole. From there it was relatively easy to locate Samantha, and Trixy wouldn’t dally in her approach. Trixy was pretty swift, and she put her legs to work rushing to Sam’s side. When she found Sil, she kneeled down beside her. "Your arm’s broken. Can you use stasis to set it, or should I make you a cast?"

After taking care of Samantha’s arm, Trixy took her outside and used another acorn to propel the two of them into the air. Trixy’s gun was stashed on her back, and she was carrying Samantha bridal style. She landed on top of the pirate ship.

"Don’t suppose you mind a few hitchhikers, right?" Trixy set Samantha down and made sure she could still stand. Once that was taken care of, she looked off the side of the ship. "It’s not smart to fight people who are stronger than you." She went prone and aimed her rifle off the side of the pirate ship. "But backstabbers really annoy me." She continued to watch the fight through her scope. Her finger hovered over the trigger.

---

Oros was looking into her blade, examining the fight in the park. She wasn’t really invested in it beyond being called there, but watching magical girls duke it out was fun. This all gave her a burning desire to just rush back to Penrose as fast as possible, but the Office of Certification was taking their sweet time going through everything. It was fine though, she had made some revisions to her application so an extended wait time was to be expected. At least they had cold drinks, and the clerk was cute.



_{@FamishedPants @AtomicNut @Ponn @PlatinumSkink @Majoras End @twave}

Ampodryl might be dead, but it’s blade continued to spin horizontal to the ground. It did not lose altitude nor did it slow as it cleaved through the air.

The blade was originally thrown in such a way that it would cleave through Hillaria’s entire body while she was prone on top of Faith. But now she was standing up with two other girls at her sides. This caused the blade to sever Hilaria, the berserker, and Celia’s legs just below their knees. This instantly destroyed the berserker while the two magical girls would tip over like a tree and fall to the ground, Celia’s wreath of flames burning on. In addition to this, their was a white flame left on their stumps caused by the soul sword. While the pale flame lingered, any attempts to heal their legs would have a diminished effect.

After making its mark, the sword dispersed into hundreds of souls, each one returning to a distant place no mortal could reach.

"Thank you, book lady." The voice of Ai fidgetted, before she and her mother exited through the portal, back to the relative safety of her old home. That was the deal breaker for Yui. She was getting out of this city as soon as possible.

Meanwhile Kamy looked at the new girl's eyes. She was a downcast, battered little thing, but she seemed to have useful powers. It would do no good if she started ordering her around in her fragile state so she... shuddered and made the body contact humans were more known for, cradling Tenebra's face beneath her hands and drawing her close.

"Can you do a little thing for me, child? Then we all get home, and you shall have food and refreshments. As well as handling funeral rites." Umukamui said to Theresa, and whispered into her ear, while the corpses of the two magical girls disappeared somewhere in Umukamui's teleporting signature move.

The girl silently nodded.

And both disappeared from the Overcity...

---

Sakura's antics with the half naked Shoggy were cut short by the telltalle smell of gore and seared flesh. Her neck snapped to see the gross spectacle that had been the beasts attack, as she gritted her teeth and still tried to keep herself on her feet, despite how tiring this was.

"That looks painful!" chirped the half-horror naked girl wrapped in a pink blanket with ribbons. That wasn't helpful.

"W..hy...didn't you... dooodge!??!" Sakura let an exasperated growl at the situation. She had no healing powers. Emily was a fire user. Shoggy was just something you'd find after three months in a fridge. Umukamui was a sexy jerk who would not meddle directly, and the new silver haired girl looked a bit eerie and loopy on her own.

Hold on.

"GAH!" Sakura jumped off her feet at seeing the two newcomers materialized from thin air. "What the hell, titty rat!?" The young-looking magical girl chastised.

"I was off... recruiting. Meet Tenebra." Kamy said, as she crossed her arms, her sight now resting on Shoggy.

"Hi." said the new, frazzled girl. "And don't call mother like that." She added. "Or you are going to have a bad time."

Sakura raised an eyebrow at the circumstances, looking at Emily, then at Umukamui, then at the newest girl who did not look like the sharpest knife in the drawer, then at the scene. "Uh, we need healing, actually." She pointed at the situation.

"I can help. I got this." said the newest silver-haired weirdo, with shaky words as she just...floated away towards the wounded, healing sphere in hand.

"Shoggy can help too! She has nice cleansing hugs." The horror girl added, before being cut short by Umukamui.

"Shoggy... by any chance... did you revert?" The female-form puchuu said, eyes like daggers.

"Yes?"

"Back to the jar with you." Umukamui frowned, as she pulled the same jar where the magical girl had been once stored, which then proceed to create a magical vacuum and absorb the horror girl entirely before she could object.

"Oi you rat bastard..." Sakura grumbled. Shoggy was stupid and disgusting in her appearance, but that did not mean she could be handled like instant soup.

"It will only be temporary. I have assignments for her and the new girl. Outside the city. They will protect your... family's new city." Umukamui said. "As they're going to be evacuated, to a safer place." Kamy added. "They got caught in a riot. My apologies. They weren't hurt... but it was a harrowing experience. Lily did fend the attackers off, though."

That was it. Sakura reached her limit again. Growing extremely silent, her leg whipped out like a snake, landing with a sickening crunch on Kamy's face. Teeth were broken alongside the jaw. But the... human simulacrum did not budge one second, before rolling her eyes.

"Feeling better? You're lucky the new girl did not see this. She has a strong emotional attachment." The Puchuu talked, disregarding the bloody mouth and the broken jaw.

"Do you have ice in your veins you fucking asshole... or what?" She whispered to herself, nursing her sore leg. Well, at least things were more or less done for the day. She couldn't wait to plot down next to Emily in a couch and watch cheesy movies until sleep.



_{@Shifter_Master}

"Heh, Blood is the color of life." Reaver said, amusing the jest. "Pardon me if I don't laugh but I will bleed even more, my lady." The knight said, as he breathed in relief seeing the healing artifact repair his body even further. With the boost of healing, he doubled his efforts into leaving the scene. "I beg you pardon, but do you know of shelter by any chance? After my fight, I do need to make myself scarce for a while." He said.

He pondered. Was he being too straightforward with this woman? Why was he trusting her so far. It was a warm, soothing feeling for some reason. Familiar. He had never felt like this. No other woman had managed to make him drop his defenses so easily, and with Chloe's betrayal he should have been more wary around her.

But why could not he? Was she a psychic? She did not look like a psychic user.

Why did she feel so familiar, anyway?

---

Someone tried to knife the prick of a girl from Beacon (in golden armor now), which led to said person being sent through...dang, even the pirate had to admit that was a nice blow. Not that the blasted Greater Horror in the room and someone else hadn't drawn attention first though. Then at least the one girl with the rifle had been chill with her answer. Perhaps the calmest thing that had gone down here, frankly speaking, or would be for the next few minutes. That and someone putting out her patron's fire. Whew. But between the prior purge order and everything else, the pirate's attention was pulled most by something else that rung in her ears.

“Sophia! Just leave!”

Wha-? Run away, after all of this?! Something was up, and if the one person she was at least most aligned to so far among her peers was going off to help then she was following. No more sitting around in the middle of some Horror's mess, no letting someone run off wounded, no more waiting around for someone to try to purge or kill her (again)...she was doing something dangit! Why did everyone else get to run around and do things, save the day, have friends and people to talk to...why...why did everyone just continue to leave her behind?!?! Why did that one girl want to kill her?! Would more of those memories she'd seen give her any answers about her own bloody past?! Did this world have it out to keep her blind?!?!

The pirate softly cursed under her breath, fists beginning to clench tightly as she began to run forward. Wings sprouted from her back, and once again she took to the air as she moved to follow Amaryllis through the hole the knight had made in the warehouse. The rest could kill each other off for all she cared, turn each other into bloody trinkets that got stuck on some macabre wall in some patron's mantle. She was going to do her best, even if it killed her to help someone! That was her job, right? She was a magical girl, defender of the weak and afflicted and a fighter for this blasted city!!!

Barely arriving on the other end of her ally's destination, however, the winged girl ever so barely arrived in time to see the mafioso from earlier being kneed and grabbed up by some shady-looking dastard. There was also Amaryllis, and that same white tiger, and even that Horror girl who'd helped in that other battle before and just had one arm now! Also a small girl, who seemed to cling to said Horror girl's leg. Then the mafioso seemed to shout aloud, the tiger leapt in for killing, and all hell broke loose with the animals otherwise in the room.

Kinda. Had she gotten all of that right? Not like she knew everything, but she knew the asshole of a fedora guy from earlier was associated with Amaryllis somehow. And Amaryllis was not a bad person. Therefore...blast it all. The pirate knew already what she would do as she extended her two hands.

A few small golden defensive shields would form out of thin air, guarding Mariette and Sammy from the front and above at least. Meanwhile, Focused Assault power surged extra mana into the Chain Arm as Sophia extended her other hand and shot out chains with an attacking fury as she tried to fire an attack deep enough to latch into and pull out Nuncio. Wasn't like she had time to do much but act right now. Could already hear her patron creaking furiously in her mind for this already, literally so, as the grand ship itself began to swiftly move over to Sophia's location with all the haste of a somewhat still pissed-off and frustrated patron who had just been set on fire and attacked by a veritable kraken not long ago.

"Give em' back ere', ya' feckin' bastard!"



Beyond this, however, Shane would find himself with a set of four large ghostly doubloons appearing in his hand. Each was etched with rather clear and legible markings, however, which read 'All-You-Can-Eat-Ghostly-Pancakes Tokens, only redeemable at the Flying Dutchman'. Were these a...reward for putting the fire out?

Cthulhu, in the meantime, seemed to still stand there and watch on as things continue to devolve before her very eyes. At least the main horror threat was out of the way, that much was the best thing about all of this. Even so, unless someone contracted her and asked for help she would not be able to take any more action than being the bystander she was. Even so, she let out a chuckle as Rachael noticed and then literally 'hammered' her potential assailant through the wall. The Ascendancy were kinda assholes, kinda necessary in some cases perhaps, but they did sure know how to fight at least.

However, a battlefield-wide voice would soon ring out in the heads of those around there...

'Just too make a weeensy tiiiiinsey advertisement, if aaaaaaanyone needs a new patron after all of this and likes saving humanity from this kinda stuff and meanie horrors...I am so totes avaaaaaaailable~! Have a cool underground pad and friends and everything, and this place for reals seems to need some serious help! So please come join Super Magical Party-Girl Cthulhu-can today~!'

@Ariamis@Flamelord@ERode@BrokenPromise

---

Kill them, right after the purification of a monster queen and valiant efforts all around? That was a cold as a monster eating the bodies of the desecrated dead! Not only that, but the perpetrator had showed themselves for pity's sake! This was going all kinds of wrong, and nervous flashbacks to when she and Sophia had first woken up in that destroyed graveyard. No, not this again! She would not let this happen again and the pirate-...aaaaaand Sophia had run off after Amaryllis. Crap. This day was just not good, no good at all for the city or anyone here...

But more pressingly, she had to do her duty as a magical girl of Beacon right now in this other matter! She couldn't let herself fall victim to fear or trepidation...not again. Please no not again.

Channeling the vestiges of her fury, and finally having the true culprit at her fingertips, the maid magical girl attacked Eden with a flurry of blows. Duplicating daggers multiplied and rained out at Eden to try to cut off potentially dodging Alicia's blows, but also sought to fill the area with as many attacks as possible in rapid time. She even threw in small spurts of her magic with some of the thrown daggers, slowing some daggers down in time at varying speeds and creating a veritable wall of space-covering timed attacks. This tragedy would not be in vain. So many had-...no, she could think on her dead sisters and brothers later. She had to, or she couldn't handle doing this right now.

She had to fight.

With the help of Celia and Raven, Hilaria was knocked aside just enough that Ronin could slip Faith out of there. After that, there was a soul sword coming, and Ronin definitely made an effort to avoid it if needed. Her hands were working her Reinforcement magic to try to heal Faith the moment she had the opportunity, Connie didn’t need to request a thing. Still, she grinned as Connie and Mia appeared, looking all worried.

‘Oh, you’re her friends, too? Excellent! You’re in good hands, Faith!’ Ronin called with a large grin as she and Mia cooperated to stop the bleeding and at the very least stabilize her, Ronin somehow grinning the whole time as she focused on healing every little injury she could find with her moderately weak Reinforcement magic. Not grinning because she was enjoying this, more out of principle. Everything is going to be alright, she had to believe.

‘Alright, you look after her? I just became friends with her recently, I don’t know where to take her. Myself, I have more people to save,’ Ronin then said, standing up and drawing her sword, turning to face Celia and Hilaria, who’d been cut by the giant spirit sword. Given that the horrors appeared to have been defeated, if they just could calm THIS situation down, the park should be safe once more. Ronin flashed a happy smile to Raven, if she could, and then headed over. They were going to need to get their legs healed!

Of course, that all depended on how the two were doing in their monstrous metamorphosis.

If they were still raging, even without their legs, then Ronin couldn’t approach. Specifically, Hilaria had been the one to attack everyone. Deni didn’t actually know anything about Hilaria, but in case Hilaria looked like she was still going to attack…

Well. Deni didn’t really have anything to help. She kept a “safe” distance, reaching forward to see if she at all could use Reinforcement magic on this distance to help resolve the damage. Probably not. Still, it was all Ronin could do to take a deep breath and start shouting.

‘Come on, you little tantrum-throwing bitch! Do you really think you raging around like that’s gonna solve anything!? Come on, you’re a fighter! You’re better than this! Set your foot down, get your sanity back in order and face your problems like a woman! Got it…!?’

Would it work?

Probably not.

Worth a shot?

Hell yeah.

And now keep her sword and all the magic in her body charged for heck of a quick getaway in case that just made her angry.

@FamishedPants @BrokenPromise@Majoras End@twave@Ponn

---

So, then Amaryllis suddenly showed up breaking through the wall. Eli gave her a surprised stare, and Mariette blinked up at her, mouth slightly open, shocked that Amaryllis had somehow found where to go to find her. She was… here to save her, was she?

‘I… want to escape,’ was Mariette’s simple answer.

Then Nuncio appeared, and, a bunch of talking apparently happened, none of which Mariette was very concerned over. The almanac was taken, but Mariette didn’t care. She just wanted to go home. Her arm hurt. Anyways. Run was it? Eventually anyway. Mariette wasn’t going to consider the command twice, even with Sammy on her.

Mariette launched her tentacles, in the opposite direction of Vermin Killer. She intended to use them to knock away any wolverines that came for her, two of her tentacles gripping around Sammy and Eli to take them along, intending to pull herself away from VK and form a portal on the opposite end of the room where she wanted to simply fall through and end up in a random apartment 500 meters away, from where she’d then be able to take herself further if successful. She was relatively aware the sudden appearance of her bane could stop her escape attempt, as such she pulled tentacles over her head to attempt to break the wall even if it should appear.

She didn’t know what Amaryllis was going to do. She didn’t know what Nuncio was doing. She was only vaguely aware of Sophia forming barriers and then chains shooting in to do things. Mariette currently didn’t concern herself. Right now, she just wanted home.

@BrokenPromise@ERode@Crusader Lord

Celia didnt care that Hilaria barely even budged in the empath's attempts to tackle her, nor did she really care that she was smaller compared to the behemoth girl. As long as the darker girl was trapped within her monstrous rage, the draconid would fend her off as best as she could. She was the biggest threat now. So it was a blessing that Raven had summoned a war spirit to assist her.

She took the oppertunity to wrap her arms around Hilaria's waist, and used the beast aspect of her rage magic to push her away from Faith. Celia hissed in pain when her side was clawed; her blood having turned into an iridecent black, like oil. But once her awareness allowed her to notice the incomming attack from the wolf druid, the draconid grinned, her regeneration kicking in to keep herself stable for a while longer. If it managed to hit her soul jar, so be it.

But then it cleaved through both girls' legs. Well shit.

The war spirit disppated, leaving Celia stuck in Hilaria's "death hug". She realized neither of her regeneration or her healing artefact were working to fix her legs (the other half of them were probably out of reach anyways.), so that left one other option. She tried to use whatever rage magic was left to both hold Hilaria down, and free herself, her wings flapping in a panic.

---

And another dissapointment. The horror's were already gone by the time they arrived. The guy that killed Cindy seemed to nope out of there too. "You've gotta be kidding..." Eliza groaned, her and Maura stepping out of the vehicle. All that was left was a very angry knight and- Oh dear god why is Dorothy a legless dragon right now? Agh, that's not important right now! Veronica told the two of them to grab Ronin and go, both nodding in response.

Maura turned to the rest of her girls. "It's best that you go ahead and evacuate while you can, okay? We'll handle things here. Inform the others as well." She told them. Despite their hesitance, they understood.

"Right, let's get the kid outta here before she gets hurt!" Eliza boosted herself up into the air; her Mystic Dress allowing her to fly without wings, and hurried over to Ronin with Maura following behind. "Heads up, Ronin!!" The witch, given either she was fast enough or there wasn't anything in her path to slow down with time magic, picked Ronin up to carry her on her back."Boss said we gotta split! I know you wanna stay and help, but we can't stick around forever, so tell me what we gotta do!" She explained.

---

Anaya was forced to wait. After her performance took a good bit of her mana, she was forced to hide behind a tree till either the fight ended or her energy was back. It sucked, the best she could do there was provide cover fire. When the horror left, she stumbled back to HQ by herself.

Naturally, without a leg to stand on (quite literally), the armored girl was unable to do much but fall to the floor along with the other rabid girl, growling ever defiantly as she did. Now, she was partially alight with flames coming from both another girl and the now-deceased druid. The pain was immense and coerced a grunt from her as she hit the ground with a thud.

The situation as it stood would be advantageous for her, as both of them had lost their legs. Hilaria would not lose in a sheer contest of strength, and her skills in a grapple weren't poor in the least. Celia would find herself as the bottom of a mounted position, perhaps the worst place to be right now, and the hold she tried keeping on Hilaria was broken shortly after. The armored girl on top pulled back her fist with the clear intent of beginning to pummel the girl beneath her, but Celia would suddenly feel the weight on her body disappear, a fair amount of heat, and then hear a thud nearby.

What happened was that Hilaria had been blasted by a ball of blue flames that knocked her prone. The person who attacked her flew over and hovered near Hilaria, looking down upon her with an unhappy expression.

Emily had been spectating this fight but had yet to join before. This was because of a fear of friendly fire of the literal variety. But things had changed. These two would likely continue to attack each other until one potentially died, and that was not cool, especially because they probably didn't actually want to.

She knew certain Dark Magical Girls were prone to losing their rationality when subject to extreme emotions. She wasn't sure exactly why they'd lost themselves to their corruptions, but she didn't want them to die for it. Each magical girl lost, no matter what affiliation, was another lost sibling. That was terrible!

Emily was, however, not perfect. She understood their situation but it infuriated her nonetheless. Meaningless fighting always was her least favorite thing, so that's why she took action. Hilaria's mounted position allowed her to separate the two and she did not waste it. Everyone else either seemed to be (understandably) concerned about the injured girl or (understandably) cautious in their approach to the two DMGs. The potential danger to herself would not discourage Emily from trying to help, though.

She was now the closest thing to Hilaria, who had, from her position on the ground, now been glaring at Emily. It wasn't a sight she took lightly, knowing that a mistake could end in her death and others might then decide she's too much trouble to spare.

But...

Hilaria's form began to alter, slowly. At first, Emily doubted herself, but the berserker's hair slowly began to revert to being white, followed by her horns disappearing and her armor returning to silver instead of pitch-black. Even the nasty look she was giving Emily disappeared, replaced by eyes that struggled to stay open at all.

The blast Emily hit Hilaria with certainly wasn't that strong, so Emily wondered if she was already exhausted. The girl had been in that state before their helicopter had crashed and had been fighting constantly. There were probably other factors, like the event wrapping up perhaps being unaccustomed to such strong emotions. Well, she could only speculate.

It was risky, but Emily drew extremely close to Hilaria. She didn't seem to react, instead panting heavily as she remained still on the ground. Emily couldn't see the flow of magic like some girls, but given that she was still in form yet was clearly on the verge of unconsciousness, she deduced that perhaps the girl was using what mana she had left in an attempt to heal herself. But those flames coming from the wound left by the spirit druid did not seem normal. Could she cleanse them?

That is what she attempted to do. She raised her hand and pointed it towards Hilaria's wounds. The flames that left her hands almost seemed gentle in comparison to the norm and would avoid spreading to other areas of the girl. Hilaria hissed in obvious pain but the rise and fall of her chest would slow indicating that it had some effect. Emily even bestowed some of her own mana onto Hilaria to help with the regeneration she seemed to have, but was careful not to give her too much in case doing so would reignite her will to fight.

Once Hilaria was stabilized and on the way to recovery, Emily would call out to Ronin, whom she noticed was attempting to support from afar, and ask that she continue. If Celia hadn't flown away or tried impeding this process, she would see about doing the same for Celia as she had done to the subdued Hilaria.

If things finally ended, then maybe she could just relax and maybe watch a movie with Sakura. Or ask where Shoggy went when she was distracted. Or just sleep. Anything, really.

Before Connie had even finished speaking, the small samurai girl had already set to work mending Faith’s injuries. No sooner had the girl completed her task then she jumped up and placed herself between Faith and the armored berserker who had attacked her. A berserker who now seemed to be missing her legs…

“T-Thank you!” Connie told the diminutive girl, while giving the most appreciative smile she could muster, given the situation.

Since Faith seemed to be stabilized, she and Mia could probably handle things from here, but as for where to take her… Not to a normal hospital, surely. Were there magical hospitals? They could perhaps take Faith home, but neither Connie nor Mia had any idea where she lived. Did Faith have any other friends who could help? It was about then that a blonde witch floated down next to the tiny samurai, while a silver-haired girl floated over to them.

“U-Umm, Mia? M-Maybe t-they can help…”

“Perhaps they can, little sister,” Gaia said with a reassuring smile. Then, raising her voice, she called out, “Pardon me, but our friend here has been badly injured. Do any of you happen to know a suitable place to which we might take her to convalesce?”

Eden's neutral expression darkened into apathy. Her expectation revealing herself to the group had been a fight - she had anticipated it since the release of the Psychic spell. She had expected retaliation, interference, a confrontation with The Ascendancy, or their sympathisers, seeking vengeance for their fallen comrades, or simply the chance to subjugate another Monster Girl. But she had not anticipated Hyun Long's descent into aggression; the Psychic magic appeared to have worked, she had remained calm the rest of the night. She had not expected the reliquary to fail after a single use, though perhaps she should have. When did The Mint ever play it straight, she wondered. And she had not expected Sasha to be killed.

The first of Alicia's attacks struck true, the light cutting through the dress itself like paper, and leaving burns at the ends of the magical threads where the heat transformed them to cinder. But the beams barely cut through her skin. To the naked eye, they appeared to simply vanish into her flesh, leaving shallow marks that rapidly sealed up, but to the observant, her skin appeared to shift, and envelop the magic as it made contact. What wounds were made healed quickly, but beyond that, Eden's body seemed to come alive, actively lessening the impact of the force and heat as it occurred. All the while she remained still, looking on at the girl.

Even through the following volley, she made no moves. Streaks of light more intense than before rapidly encroached on her position, and still Eden made no movements to evade, because the attacks missed on their own. Each beam, as it approached her body prepared to skewer her on the radiant spikes, bent around her form, and unadjusted to account for the distortions in trajectory, travelled past their mark entirely. Serenity's daggers much the same, raining from the sky, and despite Eden paying no notice to their presence, twisted around her, to fall and stick into the ground, perfectly avoiding her.

"Good to have you join us - Inquisitor Rachel, was it?" Eden called out, above the explosions of magic that surrounded her - her voicing seemingly amplified through Psychic magic, to convey the words directly to the two Beacon officiers. Alicia could see through her Third Eye that a field of Gravity magic had surrounded Eden's form, forcing the majority of her attacks out of the way, though she could also see that the heat had an effect. Her pale skin cracked and blistered through the explosive orbs, but Eden seemed not to care. And while one eye remained focused on Alicia, her other drifted, separating from the position of its twin to stare at Rachel. "I was just hoping you could tell me where Cindy ended up. No harm, no foul, we can give this all a raincheck, how about it?"

As she spoke, Eden raised the hand not clutching the case, and pointed it towards Alicia. An abrupt and rapid build up of Light magic formed within her palm, much the same in form as the lasers that Alicia herself had fired, but larger, more concentrated, and stretched into a single, continuous ray. The accumulation of magic took but a second until she unleashed a beam of piercing, incinerating radiance, aimed to burn a hole clean through the Seraph Paladin, and anything, or anyone, in front or behind her. The beam would only last for a few seconds, though more than enough time to find its mark, and if it did, the damage it would cause would be tremendous. And still the other eye focused on Rachel, awaiting for the Inquisitor's attack.



Since her usage of the Red Coin, Thalia had been hesitant as to the direction of her future. The Vixen, for a substantial portion of her time as a Magical Girl, had been with her, burrowed deep into the recesses of her fragile mind. It held her together - it kept her safe. All it had ever wanted for the continued safety of itself, and by extension, the body it shared, and the fears it bore had ingrained beyond conditioning. To be without the protection of The Vixen had at a time terrified her. The lead up to using the Red Coin had cemented itself as one of the hardest choices to make that she could remember, not for lack of desire, but a fear of disrupting the equilibrium. What would become of her after? How would her friendship, or lack there of, with Penny, be affected? Would she ever find a safety such as that again? Despite The Vixen's tendencies, and the way it had systematically ruined every person and thing that Thalia had found precious, she feared not its presence, but its absence. Could Penny take that place again, she wondered, or would she have to learn to cope with the lack of an internal mechanism to keep herself safe. Not just becoming different, but becoming less.

And with Penny as she was after the split, she wondered what other uncertainties the future could hold. Despite the warning signs and mounting tensions, Thalia had not expected an attack on the Rave, or rather, she wanted to believe that nothing would happen, and everything could remain the same as it was. She was afraid of change. The continued riots were another thing she could not predict. But more than anything she did not foresee Penny heading out, to take care of something that nobody knew anything about.

So Thalia stayed behind at the Sanctuary. Before leaving, Penny had placed great emphasis on the need to assist in quelling the riots - that Beacon were the ones suffering, not the Ascendancy. But without Cindy or Penny present to guide the incoming and outgoing concerned individuals, and the Corrupted Girls brought back to recover from injuries of their rampant Mental Mutations, the Sanctuary was bound to fall into chaos. Monster Girls by nature were chaotic individuals, forced against the grain by their circumstances, but Thalia was unwilling to let their honourable efforts fall to the wayside.

Some combination of innate desire and Mental Mutation stepped up within Thalia's mind. The end to the disturbances had been something Penny wanted, but beyond that, it gave her the chance to be in control. It was something she could do in the absence of higher figures of authority, and so she wanted it to succeed. She could make a difference, do something beneficial and productive, and be in charge of it all, just for a little while. Her Reverence and Lure bridged the gap between her unfamiliar face and the naturally distrusting girls, and invoking a degree of familiarity with Cindy and Penny both, she took to keeping the rescue efforts unified, and effective.



Mika was wrong. Christine could tell from Olympia's commentary that she was scarcely the brightest bulb, but in her assessment of her nature, she could not have been further off. The selection of milkshake had not been based in psychology - no Death Note-esque game of wit over flavour had taken place between the two. In reality, it was simply the milkshake Christine had wanted at the time, coupled with a general bias against most flavours of strawberry. She had never truly attended a beach, or lounged in a pool, but as a Magical Girl she had little concern over her figure. What standards typical girls had for social etiquette among others of the same calibre did not apply to her; where one may have been embarrassed to select something higher in calorie, Christine thought nothing of it, not out of trust, but apathy.

"So this is the Beach Dimension from before, then?" she asked rhetorically, pulling the lid from her milkshake to smell the contents. Christine's eyes focused on the surface of the substance, watching it for a second, before raising the straw out and tasting the small amount of fluid left on the end. In reality there was no reason to suspect that a poison had been applied, and should one have been, it likely would have been magical, and undetectable, but she checked regardless. "Y'know, Beacon could have taken Vi-chan into custody quietly. Plant a few undercover agents, confirm she's present, and take her with a Shift or teleport. The song wouldn't have started, and nobody would have rioted, but instead, they chose to suppress it with deadly force only after they allowed it to become violent. Do you think that's good, Mika? Are Beacon the good guys? Was that a morally justifiable approach to take? The PI doesn't think so, so we're siding with Cindy Ford. If you feel like helping with all that, I'm sure you could save a lot of people."

If it was just a book…

Amaryllis could feel herself fading away. The situation hadn’t been nearly so dire as she expected, and now, even the vestiges of her magical energy were being pulled, teased away by that invisible barrier constructing itself over Penrose. Though her specialty still laid in physical combat, her transformation still relied on magic. Magic that was seeping away, grains of stardust between splayed fingers. Her Sword thrummed, knowing that she had no leeway to show mercy this time, but the Knight of Rose stayed where she was.

Just a book. What was the book?

But the world continued to turn, even for the girl who could chain down space itself. Nuncio arrived, Sammy in tow. The girl was still zoned out, and the swordswoman flashed a grim smile. More people to protect. What was the play here? The Mint Agent before her summoned beasts, but summoners were, in the magical girl world at least, rarely weaker than their minions. Amaryllis tunneled into herself, gathering up what remained. Could she behead him in a singular blow? The monstrosity beneath her skin writhed; if she pulled the trigger now, she wouldn’t be able to restrain herself afterwards.

Nuncio stepped in front. Amaryllis didn’t have a straight shot. He handed over the book, was kneed in the process, and then shouted for them all to escape.

“Hah.”

A laugh, not at the feline mafioso’s bravado, but at the chain of events that occurred instead. Golden barriers, lighting up the dark interiors of the warehouse. A storm of dark chains, batting away the Vermin Killer’s swarm of wolverines. Rosa, transformed, leaping towards the agent with murderous intent. Amaryllis would have been fine with running, would have been fine just making sure Mariette and Sammy got out alright, but now?

She couldn’t let Sophia down, could she? A whole season’s worth of monster-slaying and Horror-stomping, and Amaryllis was still the girl who valued what friends she had, who’d do a whole buncha stupid things for them.

Stupid, like continuing the fight.

Stupid, like making an enemy of the Mint.

Stupid, like saddling Mariette with more problems.

Amaryllis dug deep into the husk of her mana font, breathed in, watched the writhing of the chains and the swarming of the beasts. Her Sword rattled, and she promised too, that they would hunt for many moons after this, that she would build it a mountain of monster corpses for the leniency it had shown today, the mercy it allowed her to enact.

A blade formed in her palm, a sliver from which silver thread extended.

She sighted her target. She flexed her hand back. She threw.

A line of moonlight shot through the links of Sophia’s chains, the gaps of a wolverine’s claws, shooting towards Nuncio’s back. If it struck, there was only one thing Amaryllis needed to do.

Use her ridiculous strength to sling him after Sammy, Eli and Mariette.


That was a Skeleton Key? No...that was a skeleton key! Myria stared at her taxi fare, for a moment absolutely incensed. Her eyes burned black and her magic, still plentiful from a whole night of really doing nothing, flared up, digging into the resentment of the dead.

Then Fine dumped a bucket of ice water over her head.

"C'mon, kiddo," the silver-haired dame said, an oddly kind smile on her face. "Let's get going."

Myria narrowed her eyes further, then shook her head from side to side like a wet dog. Finally, she let out a deep sigh and dropped her new skeleton key into her Hammerspace. At least, now that she was fully drenched, no one would think that she pissed herself a half hour ago. Not that she did. Nope. Not at all. Her nose wrinkled, she sneezed, and then the dark magical girl nodded.

Soon, the truck, its bumper still warped from impacting Evira, disappeared into the streets of Penrose.


Talk? There had been plenty of time to talk back then, but who talked? No one!

…

Though she supposed that races with no clear goal and no piranha plants did get pretty old after a while. Not like Askefye could watch Su fly while she did too, so whatever fancy effects the girl did was lost on her. And competitions were so meaninglessly orderly too. The flaming girl slowed, white jets gradating to a warm orange as she spun around. If she didn’t like the talk, she could just go again. If she really didn’t like the talk, she could give them a fistful of fingerbones to their foreheads.

“Talk then,” Askefye said, still a bit petulant. “Talkity talk tock.”

Things were winding down, maybe, hopefully. They'd gotten this far at least. Though it seemed like Faith might be hanging on by a thread. Ronin and Mia had come to provide some emergency healing after pulling the girl free of Hilaria. At least she wasn't going to bleed out. Did Raven really wish the twins were here. Her first spirit was hit by the soul blade and gone just like that. Man, she was going to have to pay some respects before she could summon that spirit again. Tenebra had arrived with an orb and looked to be there to help.

It was then that she was asked if she knew a place they could go. She didn't know anything about Faith either so any of those avenues were out. Actually come to think of it she didn't know a whole lot about anyone really. Or the city. They could take her to Beacon. No, no that would be a bad idea. Even worse without the twins. The lab? Nah, too much security there too. Where else could they go? "Uuuuuh..." She'd only been one other place briefly. It would be inconspicuous if they could stay out of sight of the people living there. Plus it would be super easy for the twins to meet up with them later. "Y-yeah, I think I know a place that's at least safe." Apparently Ronin was getting picked up by her friends. Raven would give the girl her number if she had a phone. Defiantly got to put that on her list. "We'll catch up later." Raven summoned a spirit to defend and be ready to go when Faith was healed.

_{@Erode@Ariamis}

Su also slowed to a hover. Given that she wasn’t very aerodynamic ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) it was a simple thing to manage. Especially with Helga in tow.

There wasn’t much time to think. It was clear that Askefye had little patience for people at the moment. Fortunately Su had already decided what she wanted to say ahead of time. She just found it difficult to do so now that the fire girl was staring her in the face. That and she was a little concerned with how Helga would react, as this was something she thought up in the moment. She gave Helga a firm stare and nodded, which was the only thing she could do to prepare her before speaking. Then she turned to Askefye.

“I’m Su Fang.” She gestured towards Helga. “This is Helga, she once served as part of Justine’s elite four.” Su had noticed Askefye’s head pop up when they were talking about Justine earlier. Hopefully this detail would keep her interested in their conversation. “I’m trying to get Beacon off our back, and at present it looks like purification is our only option. Though with the Ascendancy present and Helga’s colorful history, they could try to kill us instead.” She placed a hand on her hip. “That girl you were with seemed more receptive than most Ascendancy girls. She was willing to talk, but a troll interrupted our conversation. I have my connections however and I know I can summon her again.” Su (begrudgingly) knew Lily, who knew Alicia. It shouldn’t be hard for the paladin to get in touch with Vivi. “Where you come into this is that I do not wish to invite the Ascendancy into my home. You seem to know the over city well and are fairly strong. I would feel safer if you could join us during our next meeting, in case things go south.” Su gestured towards Askefye. “If you’re interested, I’d like to know your name and a good place to eat.”

---

_@Vocab

Christine was wrong. Mika could tell she was scarcely the brightest bulb, but this was something else. It was one thing to take the lid off your milk shake to make sure you got the flavor you wanted, and another thing entirely to think licking the outside of the straw was the correct way to eat a milk shake. Mika found the display amusing, but decided not to embarrass her. She simply consumed her milkshake the correct way and hoped Christine would catch on. It did not dawn on Mika that Christine was checking for poison. If Mika had poisoned a shake, she was playing a dangerous game in letting Christine decide which one to take. Besides, Mika had already poisoned her in the hallway with her stinger, and used her healing artifact to seal up the wound before getting her into a bikini. Though there is a certain amount of irony in waking from poison-induced sleep and then checking your drink for poison. Admit it, that’s hilarious.

“Beacon tried to stop Vi-chan in time, I'm sure.” Rina called from her seat. Still holding her bow on her lap. “I mean yea, Alicia’s disguise was pretty bad, but they couldn’t get to her in time. Vi-chan made her big appearance before they could perfectly wrap everything up. They didn’t ‘allow it to become violent,’ it would have been a slaughter even if they did nothing. You’re talking like this entire thing was their idea, or like you didn’t have the power to stop it yourself!”

Mika raised her hand to Rina. “Monster lives matter.”

“Fool of a cat girl.” She sipped her milkshake.

Mika’s smile only glowed brighter. “I’ve been thinking about my mistakes a lot recently.” She set aside her milkshake. She had downed it all, so it was just an empty cup anyway. “The first fight I got into by myself, I got some help from a wolf girl. We were fighting this spider girl, and she got on my nerves. I got really angry.” She looked away from Christine and folded her arms. “I bit her with my most potent venom. I think I killed her. She hurt Lupa for a while too, because I had been so reckless she had to take a shot for me.” She hugged her knees. “At the time I had been really upset because Lupa got hurt. But now that she’s feeling better, I spend a lot more time thinking about the spider girl. She was a bad girl, but I wonder if I had to kill her.” Mika set her chin on top of her arms. “Maybe if I hadn’t killed her, things would have turned out better. Everyone wanted to hurt Dan, but I became friends with him. I forgave him, and look!” She gestured at everything around herself. “I know Beacon ruined the party, but everyone is mean to Beacon. Maybe if people were nicer to them they wouldn’t be so mean. If Vi had invited them to the party they wouldn’t have felt left out.” She smiled. “I think killing is bad no matter who it is. What you were going to do to Alicia was bad, what she was going to do to you was bad. That’s why I stopped it.”

Rina sighed. “Guess I’m the bad cop.”

"No, we should be-" Ko began before remembering Vermin Killer. "Actually, do you have somewhere safe we can take her? I'd feel better if she weren't out in the open like this..."

Shion dreamed of magnetic sheep. That was weird.

---

@BrokenPromise

Others departed, leaving to do their own thing, to recover from the events of this night or simply to avoid further conflict. Alicia let them go, uncaring of their intentions or the instructions that she had been given. she was even unaware of the attempted attack on Rachel. Right now Eden had her full attention, and so long as what had happened here remained fresh in her mind that would not change.

Her first blows landed, though to no surprise Eden healed them relatively quickly. Having walked off everything from before left that little of a surprise, unless she had spent all her mana. But she wouldn't have been so eager for a fight if that was the case.

More unexpected was what came next as her attacks seemed to bend around Eden rather than hitting her. Her brow furrowed as he Third Eye revealed what was happening. "Gravity? Well that's a hassle." Not an insurmountable one, but having to deal with someone who had Specialization in two different kinds of magic would make this more difficult. No wonder the psycho was so confident that she could come out of this in one piece.

At that point Rachel arrived, Alicia not letting her focus lapse from their foe aside from a curt nod. "Yes, let's," she agreed with Rachel's declaration before returning to Eden once more. "Shame everyone willing to tell you already left. Cause none of us are." If Eden wanted Cindy then it could only be for bad things. That made her even less inclined to be courteous and helpful on top of everything else.

It seemed Eden felt the same way, and eyes widened in confusion and surprise before Alicia dove out of the way. She hit the ground with a grunt, but that was much less than what she would have suffered had she remained in place. Even now she could feel the residual heat from the protracted blast, and while she couldn't see it she was pretty sure that it had singed her uniform (Worse than the Rave had, anyways)

While Serenity kept up her barrage of time manipulated daggers, there was no doubt that Rachel was preparing her move. Alicia would not let herself be sidelined, even if she had to account for the gravity. Rolling to her feet, her bow rose upwards as she drew and fired. To negate the issue of gravity she would approach from an upwards angle, letting it rise and then fall in a large parabolic arc. As it did so it broke apart into smaller arrows that would nonetheless pellet the area with explosions.

Explosions seemed like they were working pretty well, so she might as well invest in those a bit more.

Still, once again she was forced to be cognizant of friendly fire, and would adapt accordingly depending on what Rachel did. After all of these tricks it would be unwise to assume Eden couldn't pull anything else off too. As much as she wanted to avenge her sisters, she didn't want to end up in the same situation either.

_{@Ariamis@Crusader Lord@Vocab}