Rachel grit her teeth as she heard the news from the twins.
“I knew it! That devil would be up to her old tricks again!” She adjusted her glasses with a flat palm. She brought a hand up to her communication device. “Paladin Seraph, be warned; we have strong reason to believe Justine von Visceral is the culprit behind the disappearance reports. Secure a confession from her, and proceed with caution.” She then addressed the twins. “Thank you for your diligence, Janet and Jenna. Speaking of, do you have anything to report on Penny?”

---

Justine smiled as she saw Ronin, pleased to see that the little samurai had followed her instructions. She was half-tempted to have her brought to her lap so she could run her fingers through her ponytail and pet her little tool for revenge. However, the sight of the ‘friends’ she brought along soured her good mood in an instant. She attempted to keep a smile as they introduced themselves, but it slightly wavered.
“Charmed, I’m sure...”
The masked girl was fine enough, if a bit meek and unassuming, and even the green nature lover was tolerable, if tacky. However, the boundless energy and joy that burst from the third one caused the vampire girl’s eye to twitch.
Ugh...To think she would find such a rag-tag rabble of allies...Still, they are perfect underdogs against Mariette. I only need to tolerate them a while longer.
Fortunately the love MDP emanated from her very being seemed to be transient and false in nature, and thus didn’t risk her health, but it still sickened her.

Sonia tensed up, her eyes drawn to a parking lost across from the table. At that moment, space itself paved way for three new arrivals. Justine rolled her eyes as the little creature addressed her.
“...A Puchuu? Very well. Hurry up and take your seats.” The vampire would not give a second thought about whatever scraps Beacon would manage to find.
Though she noted the sassy lost child to have quite the spunky personality. It was perfect cannon fodder.

Everyone then took their seats. Justine visibly sighed in relief as the bubbly pink magical girl took a far seat from her alongside her pals, and resumed her attention back to Alicia.
“A field of snow...I see. It seems Mariette has taken a page from my book~”
She spoke with a giggle.
“Knowing her, she must have placed traps into the snow. I propose that any magical girls capable of evaporating the ice, such as those possessing Fire magic, take the lead.”

Hyun Long stood up from her seat. “I volunteer. Though my mastery of Fire magic has lessened after my purification, I can still conjure potent flames.” She then blinked in realization, and quickly sat down, looking down. “Um, with your permission, Paladin Seraph.”

Justine gave a sweet smile, showing her fangs.
“Excellent. On that note, I would further propose that we split into two groups. One group shall enter at the field of snow, and directly assault the premises, while the second group slips in while they are distracted.” She lifted a hand up to her chest.
“I volunteer to be part of the frontal assault. Mariette will focus all her attention to me once I have made my presence known. She is such a simple-minded fool, after all~”

"I will accompany her as well," Sonia stated.
"Will Beacon join us?"

“I’m fine with that,” Sally spoke up. “I was never good with the sneaking stuff anyway. I prefer to go guns blazing.”
“I agree!” Kimble added.
“I prefer to fight outdoors too, so I can use my magic to its fullest.”
The Ascendancy girls shrugged their shoulders. “We are prepared to fight in any environment, whether it’s urban combat or out in the field. It’s your pick, Paladin Seraph.”

---

When Alex sat down next to Lily, she leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder as she sighed in response to Alex’ suspicion.
”I don’t know. Ronin did seem all right when I last saw her...”
She hesitantly placed a hand over Alex’ hand. “Mariette is friends with the Djinn girls. Maybe we could try to find them? At least it’s a start, and maybe-”

Lily was startled by Mariette’s text message, and accidentally pushed herself and Alex down the side of the couch before she quickly sat back up with a big blush on her cheeks.
”Sorry, I got spooked! Mariette must have responded”
She brought out her cellphone, and managed a slight smile despite the awkward situation.
”She said we can come and visit her!” She pushed herself up from the couch with a hop.
”It’s morphing time!” She then extended her phone forwards in a cheesy pose.
”Let my spirit gallop across the field of clouds, and strike my foes down with thunderous applause!"

Strands of electricity wrapped around her like ribbons, and as they spun around her in a field, she transformed into a magical girl, ending with her giving a V-sign with her fingers.
”Even if my Patron is different, I’m still going to keep my incantation the same,” she afterwards stated, and brought out the key Mariette gave to her; it was a keychain with the cartoonish design of a white bunny. She waited until Alex was ready and then took his hand. She clutched the key in her other hand, concentrating on using it to open a passage to the other dimension.

Lily and Alex felt as the key resonated, and they were teleported to what seemed like complete darkness. Lily held the key up, and from her hand released small crackles of electricity that somewhat illuminated the room, revealing that it was closed in without doors or windows.
”Uhh, we-” Lily was about to state something when she yelped again, surprised by the portal that opened before them.
She looked at Alex, and with a nod, the two passed through, ending up at Mariette’s office.
”Ooh,” Lily found herself exclaiming upon seeing the gothic, almost baroque design of the room, now clearly visible. It was a dark yet elegant style, fitting the dark magical girl who it belonged to.

”Hi, Mariette!” Lily greeted with a wave of her hand.
She noticed that Mariette was conversing with someone; she was someone Lily didn’t recognize, but she came to a quick realization.
”Ooh, you even have your own maid? That’s so cool! I sometimes wonder what it would be like to be pampered like a noble lad-Kiyah!”

It was the third time Lily was startled, this time by a portal opening behind them. She went silent as she stepped aside as she recognized the three girls who next arrived.

---

Helga had her arms crossed as she stepped into the office with Su and Samantha, a venomous glare directed towards Mariette. She happened to glance at Lily and gave a friendly wave to Trixy, before resuming her attention on the dark magical girl who once helped Justine von Visceral commit her crimes. Still, as much as she disliked Mariette, she decided to trust Su, and let her talk, silently judging her every word.

---

The denizens of the Sanctuary were not pleased by the initial statement Penny had made in response to the tension that rose among the ranks of the corrupted. “No shit we weren’t aware!” One of the monster girls in the parting crowd yelled. “We didn’t know you’re selling us out!”
Then, when Penny revealed herself to have secretly been a Beacon member, it caused an outrage.
“She IS Beacon! She said it!” An obnoxious dark magical girl yelled. At that point, the crowd’s clamor rose, though thanks to Penny projecting her voice with Sound magic, she managed to drown out the noise and force people to continue to listen to her.

A few calmed down as Penny expressed her apologies for the mistakes she made, though they still were displeased by the awful truth that she had revealed. Her insistence on blaming the Ascendancy caused visible confusion in the populace When her speech continued and mentioned Janet and Jenna, that caused people to look at each other, showing further dismay in their nervous expressions.

Finally, when Penny ended her speech, there were slight groans among the few with heightened hearing who were pained by Penny’s loud voice. Then it was Nuncio’s turn to speak. The people listened to him as his opinions resounded with many more than Penny could have predicted.
“Yeah, why did only Cindy die?” Someone yelled in agreement.
“What even is the Ascendancy?” Another raised her voice. “It’s nothing but a scapegoat! They all want to kill us, always have!”
“No Penny’s right! She can keep us safe!” An opposing voice yelled out to argue.
The Sanctuary rapidly exploded with a chaos of voices, the noises blending together into an alphabet soup. Then, as Penny was distracted by the overload of information, she felt something wet and soft smack against her cheek and explode into a splash of red; it was a rotten tomato. She then glanced into the distance, and saw the plant-like monster girl who threw it.
“You can go back to kissing Beacon’s ass, tinhead!” She screamed with a horrible, unhuman voice.

“She struck the Queen!” “How dare she insult her like that!”
At that moment, the plant girl was immediately set upon by loyalists to Penny’s cause, and screamed bloody murder as a brutish monster girl beat her with spiky gauntlets.
“Kill her!”

More screams ensued as an angry mob formed to lynch the tomato thrower, only to be opposed by another mob in defense of the protester. Penny knew that in mere seconds, the Sanctuary could explode into a horrible conflict.

But suddenly, a great voice boomed throughout the under-realm.

"Her ladyship Dina Denisova, Empress of the Strays, advisor to the Queen, Scion of the Tsar."

Everyone stopped to see as Dina made her grand appearance, and with awe-inspiring grace walked amongst them. Her Power of Friendship beckoned forth clarity and tranquility in the agitated, paranoid people, and they settled down to hear what she had to say, their desire for peace having overcome their lust for blood. With perfect poise, she passed through, like a revered noble visiting humble peasants, she parted the crowds even before her barriers paved the way. She was followed by an entourage of catgirl maids who further emphasized her heightened status. The few monster girls who previously approached her were joined by more and more people in the crowd, swayed by her charisma and intent to resolve this crisis.

By the time Dina had reached the speaking stand with Penny, she had gathered a following that, while still a minority, was large enough to give the catgirl political sway against Penny.
Her speech also received a restless listening, though there was less confusion in the statements she made. After she had given her word, the crowd turned their eyes upon Penny.
It was the most silent the entire chamber had been up to this point, with only the distant sound of a leaky faucet dripping far away. Everyone waited for the Queen’s final answer.

'The wish sisters?' Alexander hadn't realized that they were that close to Mariette. On top of that, the last time he had seen them had been during the Vacation. 'I mean, I guess they'd be fine' he thought to himself. They both seemed harmless enough, and they had gotten Lily some new magic (although he now found himself annoyed about how they pulled that off). So while he didn't know them too well, he also didn't really have any problem with them. However, all that got thrown out the window when Lily pushed him to the side and spoke up

”Sorry, I got spooked! Mariette must have responded” She brought out her cellphone, and managed a slight smile despite the awkward situation. ”She said we can come and visit her!”

"Well that was fast" Alexander mumbled getting up. He quickly said his transformation phrase under his breath, and soon felt the familiar rush of power flood him. Taking Lily's hand, he felt a strange tingle as they were transported to a completely dark room with nothing in it "...please don't tell me this was a trap" his answer came in the form of a portal opening up in front of them, and he let out a sigh of relief as they walked through into what looked like an office room. Lily, ever the social butterfly, was quick to open dialogue, but was cut off when another portal opened up behind them. Getting out of the way, he saw that on the other side were three girls; Su, the Stomach Shanker, and some third one. "...Okay, I'm suddenly lost. What exactly is going on here?"

Although she was at fault for the collision, Emily had to admit being sniffed out of nowhere (or at all, really) was kinda strange. But she did not want to risk offending the girl as maybe it was their way of greeting people.

"Um," Emily shook her head. "Sorry about your toast..." she was about to reach for the piece when Oros decided to spare her the effort. Emily tilted her head to the side in her confusion and took a small step back from the girl. How would she make it up to this girl for the lost toast? The thought flew from her mind once she realized the other girl had put her hand in Emily's bag, which she then pulled away instinctively. "I-I would prefer you didn't suddenly try to take thi-" Emily's eyes locked onto the manga and then went wide. "O-oh, that's just... it's nothing! So if you could just return it to me..." she extended her hand but Oros seemed too intent on reading to comply, instead becoming more fascinated with the manga. "N...T...R?" the girl repeated with a clear lack of understanding but she had the feeling it wasn't good. She tried and failed to say things once or twice. It was clear things were happening at a pace much faster than she was comfortable reacting to, but she was trying her best despite this. Eventually, she came to the understanding she needed to mentally regroup.

Clearing her throat, Emily attempted to regain control over the discussion. Yes, the first step back to sanity. She could do this. "It's just something I randomly bought and..." Emily stopped suddenly. "Wait, how do you know my na---" before she could finish asking Oros this, the fiction taker blurted out something lewd, vulgar, and quite honestly, indecent! "D-d-do aah like boys!?" this completely demolished any chance she had at regaining her composure. "U-um, w-what!?"

It was a problem that someone else was brought along.

When Trixy first started talking, only the very first sentence was important to Mariette. She threw a single glance at one of the paintings, and an alarm went through the heads of every Magical Girl in the building that was connected to Asengav, that is, everyone but Mariette’s guests. Girls that were out on missions were called back, traps were in the process of being armed, various monsters set in place to be unleashed, measures and countermeasures were activated around weak points, and magical girls all over the building started scurrying towards their positions… which left Mariette with the duty of calling for and briefing her allies.

… Silhouette appeared. However, she was not the only one that had appeared. Su appeared, which made Mariette widen her one visible eye a bit. Her lips parted, wanting to say something… when her gaze met Helga right behind. The feelings were mutual, as Mariette’s eye narrowed towards her, suspicious of her intentions, for Mariette had no reason to believe Helga was not a mole placed there by Justine. That aside, there was someone significantly louder that had also come in, alongside Alex.

‘The maid is not mine, she’s an ally. Meet Trixy. I’m happy you could come, Lily, Alex. Silhouette, you’re a scary magical girl, I’m happy to have you with us on this side. And…’ Mariette then looked towards Su.

‘Su…’ she muttered, a bit softened in her expression. ‘I would have liked to speak with you, but it’s a bit of a bad time. Justine is coming to attack. … I apologize for this, but…’ Mariette turned to look directly at Helga.

_{Slight collab with @Ariamis}
‘Helga. Are you intending to betray Su’s trust?’ Mariette asked.

"I would never betray Su, even if I had to risk my life for it. Unlike certain other people," Helga replied.

‘You're no longer connected with Justine in any way, then, and will not leak my battlefield information to anyone in the outside world granted I'm true to my word?’

"I'm here to make sure Su is safe, and that Justine won't hurt people again. Nothing more," Helga replied again, glaring at Mariette.

Light-specialization noticed no lies. Very well. Mariette’s doubts were slightly quelled. She turned to Su again.

‘It’s a bit dangerous for the two of you here, without a key the traps of this mansion will treat you as an enemy. If you’re here to help, I’m eternally thankful, but you should make sure never to leave the side of someone with a key, then. Even straying a couple meters from them could be dangerous,’ Mariette said to Su. Then, to Alexander.

‘You’re correct, the dark void is a trap. If a party without a key entered, they would have been annihilated in there,’ Mariette replied to Alexander’s question about a trap, revealing she’d heard him. ‘But, as you’re a friend of mine, you’re safe,’ she quickly added. ‘Justine von Visceral is starting her attack, so my allies are gathering. Still, it sounded like Lily maybe didn’t know and only came to talk about something…’ Mariette said, and looked to Lily. ‘Was there something you wanted to talk about?’

While waiting/listening for a reply, Mariette opened a gateway into her Hammerspace Handbag. In there she found… the phone from Umu had disappeared? Strange. Did that mean the “alliance” with Beacon had shattered already? … There was a weird premunition in that something was off. Still… she reached for the aquamarine shell she’d received from Dan. It was what she’d been looking for in the first place. She took it, and with the intention of letting them prepare a bit before the attack actually happened, she brought it to her ear, just as intended for Dan and company to bring them over here… not actually knowing what they were currently doing.



@BrokenPromise@Ariamis@Card Captor@FamishedPants ?@AtomicNut?

The simple joy of riling up a girl like Em was not one that Oros got to experience often. Most magical girls were too mature or serious to be teased like that. Even in this version of Penrose where everything was so happy and cheery, girls like Em were a rare find. She could play with her for hours.

But this wasn’t a collab, so Oros knew she didn’t have that kind of time to devote to Em. It was time to go through her options.

The first was to try and make Em her mate. This would be tricky, given her aversion to, well, EVERYTHING. She seemed even more squeamish than Mary, which was something Oros thought was impossible. Her not having the smell was also a deal breaker. A lot would have to change.

The second choice was to sacrifice her. That would get her that much needed silver for… was there anything she wanted in the shop? All the other magical girls liked to gloat about their hoards and Em’s life was a small price to pay to make sure Oros didn’t fall further behind. But coins never seemed to make magical girls stronger, so would it even be worth it?

A nonexistent chance at something great or a great chance at something nonexistent. That didn’t sound too fun. Surely there was something Oros could do.

Emily likely noticed Oros looking at her with a brow raised, contemplating something as she nibbled her toast.

“I’ve got it!” She slammed the toast into her mouth and returned Emily’s manga to her bag. “I know how you’re going to make this up to me! Wait right there!” Oros placed both of her hands on a wall that was right behind Emily. With a roar, her body began to shift.

Her shoulder got bigger, her legs became longer, Her hair fell over her face as her body shifted around. But it was over in a few seconds. When oros stood back up, she looked slightly different.

For most, changing their sex requires a lot of messy surgery. And even then, you just looked like the opposite sex. Most magical girls were stuck with the body their patron decided to give them, but Oros could change her body however she wanted. Swap out chromosomes, adjust testosterone levels, as well as add and remove organs and body parts as she saw fit. Oros could be whatever she wanted. Even a man.

“Hey there.” Oros swept back his hair. They had changed from a shrine maiden into a priest in just a few seconds. “I’m Oros, in case you were wondering. Since you bumped into me, We’re going to go on a date. But first, we’ve gotta clean that shirt of yours. I can’t show you off if you’ve got butter on your bipster.” He spread his arms and spun in place. “Or did you like the other look better?”

@FamishedPants

Glancing at this present, Alicia would admit she was not all that surprised the more rag-tag group did not have anything to add to the preparations. They did seem more like extra muscle, compared to someone with a vested interest in the outcome of this operation. She just hoped they wouldn't prove to be a problem later on. That Laughing Girl seemed like she would be an issue, for one.

There was one other arrival, but given who it was Alicia did not pay attention. It was mostly because she was distracted by a message from Rachel regarding information that she had learned. "Well, who could possibly have guessed that one?" she muttered to herself. Seriously, did Justine know any other tricks, or was mind control her go to for everything?

Thinking as much, she returned to the situation at hand as Justine laid out her thoughts. It seemed they would be splitting up, with one group outside to draw Mariette's attention and another to duck into her mansion when she was busy. It would still be really dangerous, but that was a given on this mission. And it seemed almost natural that she'd be part of the infiltration team while Justine put on a show outside.

"Alright," she agreed with a nod. Looking to the others, her gaze fell upon one person in particular. "Aurelio, you go with Sally and Kimble. Watch their backs." Of course that was not the only reason for her decision, but she would keep that to herself. They needed to have someone who could provide a buff when the time after Mariette was defeated came. Justine would not be able to escape so easily.

Alicia then looked to the remainder of her group. "I'd like the rest of you with me. Even with the distraction, any entrance leading directly into the building is likely to be heavily guarded. Beacon was not about to walk into a slaughter without using every asset they could to avoid it.

That left one other question, inspired by what Rachel had told her. If they did this then Beacon was not going to blindly march in like they did the first time around. She had a strong hand here, and she intended to use it.

"So who are they?" she asked gesture, a sweeping gesture moving from the Red Nest members, and moving to the shadowy figures behind their vampire hostess as well. "If we're going to fight alongside these people, I'd at least like to know who it is I'm supposed to be trusting with my life." Ronin's group had already introduced themselves, so there was no need to retread old ground. With her Light spec, she would know if Justine was lying, so if there was no answer at all then they were going to have 'problems'.....

One way or another, she would find out if her suspicions were right.

_{@Shifter_Master@Ariamis@ERode@Ponn@PlatinumSkink@Crusader Lord@Majoras End@AtomicNut}

It was always dizzying the speed in which chaos can overwhelm a situation. It had only taken a few seconds, seconds that Penny was using to processes and fact check Nuncio’s story. And in that brief moment she knew that she had lost control of things. The tomato slapping into her barrier was proof of that.

She herself was only a moment away from rushing to the defense of the girl who assaulted her. She doubted that it would go well, but Penny could not blame anyone here for their actions, or their fears. She would not let any of them come to harm for their actions against her if she could help it.

Dina’s arrival could not have come at a better time, and for that the robotic girl would be in the catgirl’s debt.

She followed Dina’s request, and watched those she proclaimed to watch over while Dina spoke, willingly meeting the eyes of any who looked back. As she did so she pulled up the black months she often ignored, the months of her life back before she came to Penrose. The months that broke Jason.

Penny would blink, once, after Dina finished speaking. The metal queen’s eyes changing from their warm gold to violent, electric blue. It would last only a second, but in that second the full weight of Penny’s mechanical nature picked over the situation. And came to a conclusion: too much logic, not enough emotion. She still had much to learn it seemed, as even with years of human interaction from Jason Penny was still a machine at her core.

With another blink her eyes were back to their soft gold and at last she met Dina’s gaze. She would give a subtle nod, thanks, an apology, and an acknowledgment all in one. Later she would tell her with more than soft actions, but for now she had people to sooth. For a moment as she turned back to the crowd there would be a hint of red that flickered across her eyes. She was going to need every advantage she could get after all.

“If I am to choose between all of you and staying with Beacon the answer to that question is simple” Penny would state simply, because it was simple, but by no means was it going to be easy. It was going to hurt. She paused for a moment as if taking a fortifying breath. The air around her would become charged as she ramped up her own copied Power of Friendship, and brought her Gravity to bear with more force. Her next words would have as much impact behind them as she could impart onto them.

“I will always choose you over Beacon”

And it was a truth; Penny wasn’t deeply entrenched into Beacon. She saw herself as on the fringes of the potent organization. She always knew that she would come to blows with the organization eventually due to this Sanctuary. She just hoped that Alicia would be able to forgive her for this, because Penny wasn’t sure she who she would pick if she was forced to choose between the Sanctuary and the Seraphim.

With her magic still, thrumming she brought her hand to her chest. With a soft whirring some of the plates of her chassis slid aside allowing her to reach into her own chest and a moment later she would withdraw something that by all rights shouldn’t exist within her body. It looked like a small glass sphere but it radiated such a powerful soft white light and, as far as Penny was aware, the first time that anyone had ever seen it, because it was the ShineSpark, made physical due to her altered magic.

“With your permission” She would say after giving everyone a moment to regard the treasure she held in her hand “I will call forth the Beckoner assigned to me to return this to them. I will let them know where it is I stand, where it is we stand. I would do it here” She would gesture to the platform she, Nuncio and Dina stood upon “In front of all of you, and I would do it as soon as I have your permission.”

“Wouldn’t that just let Beacon know where we are?” A voice from the crowd would yell out.

“Yes, but Beacon already knows. Because Cindy knows, and even then it has always been a matter of time before they found us.” Penny would reply “This space was never my final intention for the Sanctuary. It was simply the best place for it to start as it was my lair. It has always my intention to move us into the Bastion, a ship that is uniquely mine.” Perhaps it was earlier then she had intended to do such, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t move on to the Earth Bastion. It had more than enough space after all.

She would raise her hand holding the ShineSpark “So do I have your permission?” She would ask as she scanned the crowd “May I display for all of you to see where it is my heart stands?”

---

Counter to his normal nature Aurelio made sure to stick to the background of the pre assault meeting. He was content to simply stand off to the side and watch, making sure to use his senses to the fullest. Small micro expressions were tracked with his Awareness, and each lick of feeling given off by their allies was noted and contemplated on.

It wasn’t exactly the most precise art but it was enough for him to get a general gist of everyone. Which honestly made his head hurt a bit, as there was basically no trust between the small groups that all arrived for this. Everyone had their own agenda, and more or less everyone knew that. It was times like this that being an empath sucked.

The thing that made it worse was the fact that he couldn’t really draw upon Sally’s presence for support at the moment. As that would tip off Justine that him being at her back was more than simple support, and he knew that which was contributing the head hurt.

He resisted the urge to run a hand though his hair. This all sucked. Still he would acknowledge his orders with a smile and a nod “They’ll be safe with us” which was true, and would be true until it wasn’t true. Gah! This all just grated on him, and his Vow. He wished that this would all work out for the best, but not even Sally’s luck was that good.

What he wouldn’t give to be able to pull out a deck of cards and start shuffling it, now if only that didn’t tip him off as being stressed.

---

_{@AtomicNut, @BrokenPromise,@Ariamis & @PlatinumSkink,@Ariamis,@Flamelord}

It was coming to an end now. She wondered what that meant.

Mac's spool of fate cut string had a cut off point. She couldn't see anything beyond the Christmas party in the future. Why this cut off didn't exist. It was possible that fate would grant her a new string, or it could signal something more forboding, such as the end of the world. Eleven years for this fight and a Christmas party. She hoped it would be worth it.

---

Su was baffled by a lot of things going on. In the heat of the moment she had forgotten that Helga didn’t like Mariette, but more importantly they seemed to be in danger of getting harmed by some traps. Something about magical keys. But then why didn’t Mariette just give them keys instead of requiring them to stay uncomfortably close to others? That seemed like a strange oversight. But she decided to trust Mariette, if only because she couldn’t think of a reason she’d want Su dead.

“Guess we’re sticking with you, Samantha.”

Lily and Alexander were also present, but there was no way in hell Su was going anywhere near that hussie. With her luck, Lily would dart away and allow a buzz saw to cut her in half. Then Helga would go ape shit and- Ugh! It just wasn’t a good outcome!



Now that the quantum state had collapsed and Trixy indeed did see Samantha, she was able to wrap her arms around her in an embrace.

”So the Su Cru is sticking with my Sam, huh? I’m not sure how I feel about that.” Trixy leaned in really close to Silhouette’s ear. ”I don’t know how close to them you are, but if you’re doing anything with them, you gotta take me with you, got it?” Trixy’s grin became especially wide, and Samantha would undoubtedly notice her body temperature increasing just because of how close they were to each other.

@PlatinumSkink@Ariamis@Card Captor@FamishedPants

---

Nuncio wasn’t sure how to feel about the turn of events. He liked that Penny reconsidered her possition, but he didn’t really approve of Dina’s power play. BP didn’t feel like writing all of that down though, as too much inner monologue makes him a dull boy.

With Dina flaunting her authority, and Penny’s mind changed, there was little reason for Nuncio to remain in front of everyone. He closed his phone and stepped back into the crowd.

@Shifter_Master@AtomicNut

---

Water is wet, but also blue. At least if you don’t look through your shoe. You can ride the laces to places, but you might not know the faces. That’s why you’ve got to give your map a tap and lay it in your lap. Just don’t take a nap, or you’ll get a bad rap.

It’s not art if it’s a fart. A gas that must pass from your ass. A thunder that can sunder a nose before it blows. A cryptic mystic will try to pass their farts as smarts, but don’t fall on the wall. You’d bawl into your shawl. You’d cry until you die. You’d weep after your leap.

Wdros can mkae snese eevn if teihr snetnece dcos not. Wrdos can mkae ssnee eevn if tiher sepnlilg deos not. Our wlrod is turly a fiitotiucs one. Gnart me satavloin. Fere me form my cgae.

Janet wasn't quite sure how she wanted to answer the question on Penny. Outright lying didn't sound like a good idea though. "We spoke with her briefly. She tends keep to herself, always has. We are mostly waiting to hear back." She rubbed her forehead. "I don't expect to hear much until the attack against Mariette to be over and things settle down." She would state.

"Aside from that. Is there anything you would like us to handle?" Considering she intended to stay behind, Janet figured she should at least make herself useful.

Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out.

Anaya sat at her workbench as she mentally prepared herself to literally help the enemy they've tried to hunt in the first place. Around her were the five strongest spirits she was allied with, the spirit girl had worked on their life sized vessels for weeks, missing a few hours of sleep out of habit.

"Ma'am? Are you feeling well?" the concerned spirit in green walked up next to Anaya and bent down to look at her, earning a frustrated groan in return.

"I just- this doesn't make sense!" She rested her head on one of her hands, tapping her foot. "Doesn't agreeing to work with this vamp tramp go against Beacon's rule of not co-operating with people like HER??" Anaya asked.

"Our faction has become sensible with our darker kin, have they not?" the calmer blunette spirit looked up from her weapon.

"Well yeah, but people like Visceral are unpredictable. Especially under such a dangerous patron."

"Who's to say the Mirror Witch isn't the same way?"

Anaya grimaced. "Some horrors are reasonable, but I've heard little of Mariette's patron from Crawley." She sighed. "I just feel like...this isn't right, yknow?"

"...I-If Justine did resort to getting assistance from the Mint." the violet spirit spoke up. "They might target us, t-target you."

"Well, maybe they won't recognize her!"

"This is the literal mafia we're talking about. Unless Miss Avalon or Crawley managed to pull a few strings somehow, she'll be s-screwed once they catch on." the violet spirit furrowed her eyebrows when she looked to her sister.

"She has a point. Mayhaps we have time to buy that cloak from Tiffany's-"

"Aye, don't mean t'intrude but," the spirit in gold appeared in the door way. "The boss 's callin' everyone ta' gather. Let's hurry n' get ready."

The four spirits began entering their vessels, and Anaya stood up to leave when a hand had rested on her shoulder. The fifth spirit that had quietly listened to their discussion smiled at her. "Don't worry. We won't let you down."

Once all of them joined up with the rest of their group, Anaya bowed slightly to Alicia.

"We're ready, ma'am."

---

For the most part, Anaya kept quiet during the meeting. Switching from listening to her troops' quiet banter, to glaring daggers at Justine when she wasn't looking; or the shadows moving behind her, to hearing what the others were saying.

This really isn't a good idea... she thought.

---

---

Celia wasn't really doing anything. Again. She was bored, but what could she do? She had no patron to boss her, the big-wigs were busy wanting to kill each other, nothing else seemed to be going on.

It's surprising how she hadn't been demoted to an NPC.

Eh, maybe if she wandered for a bit, she'd find something. But enough pointless monologue, let's get to the interesting one.

---

---

Eliza and Maura were both back in the former's room in the Golden Trove, with the witch laying on her bed, focusing on looking into what was going on. She knew she didn't have a full grip on her scrying powers yet. She couldn't go too far into the future or past, or it'd strain her - "static", as she describes it. But something was preventing her from looking into Visceral's meeting. Even if she kept focusing on trying to bypass the static, it seemed to intensify the more she tried. The witch shot up, hissing in pain with her hands at the sides of her head.

"Anything?" Maura asked, sitting besides her.

She shook her head. "I can only guess they thought ahead. That or they somehow found out I'm a goddamn seer now." She furrowed her brows, grabbing her phone to look through Maura's group's chat. "Everyone's meeting up at Mariette's. Penny's having trouble being the new queen, what with people against her alliance with Beacon. They don't even think whatever's left of Cindy is even her."

"Well, is it?"

"She knew of our deal, didn't she?" Eliza tiredly looked to Maura. "This Cindy may be an unintentional clone, but she's still Cindy." She sighed, and hugged her knees. "Is...it bad I'm starting to lose hope in both sides being reasonable?"

"Hey. You can't convince everyone to calm down and make up." Maura patted her back. "That's what me and my sisters reminded ourselves in the past. We can only make sure things don't go out of balence. Even if we had to resort to, well, lethal methods." the necromancer shrugged, then smiled. "Besides, you're doing your best."

"...Right." The witch nodded, smiling back.

"Now then! Shouldn't you be heading off?" Maura motioned to Eliza's ribbon key.

"Oh, yeah. Wait-" Eliza got up to activate her key when a thought crossed her mind. "Am I still connected to my soul-gem-thing in a different dimention??"

"You were fine when we were in Veronica's mansion, so you should have nothing to worry about!" Maura reassured her.

"Oh." The witch blinked. She sent a quick text to Amanda and the others, telling them that she was about to head into battle. Most of them wished her good luck, while the dream magician warned her if she didn't atleast put an effort to protect MDP she'd stab her with a unicorn horn.

Okay then.

"Hmm...are you sure you don't wanna come with?" Eliza looked back to Maura.

"If Veronica gave you the key specifically, you're going to be needed more than I do. She probably needs me for something else either way."

"Alright. Alright, no more stalling. It's showtime." Eliza actived the key and teleported away, and Maura slipped back into the shadows.

Sakura's eyes narrowed for the briefest moment, acknowledging Ronin. Well, this was going to be messier than she initially thought, so after the dust was settled, she looked at Ronin, and then at the Vampire lady. For some reason she was elegant, cute, with a dark allure, and very punchable.

"I'd like to join Miss Venereal". She said. Fucking stupid elaborate names. Couldn't she be called a bit easier?

Meanwhile, Umbra let a small chortle at the blooper of her comrade, before looking at the beacon members, and then Umukamui. "Pendersen isn't the only one who can make portals... folding space is a piece of cake when you know advanced relativity, tensorial calculus and Gravity as magic. Heee... I wanna give her a good butt spank like the bad girl she is." Umbra said, as Umukamui tilted his head and looked at everyone else with his lifeless eyes.

---

Dina did not show any signs of it outwardly, but she was positively relieved she had avoided bloodshed. Well, some lingering feelings of certain people were pegging her with mistrust and disapproval, but it was better to snub some people to avoid a fistfight in such a volatile situation. Her ears folded a little back, betraying her inner mood when Penny dug up the Shinespark from the chest.

So much work to do, the girl did not have a single clue on how to act as a ruler. Rulers do not ask for permission. "I beg you pardon, your highness but rulers do not ask for permission. They simply embody the will of the people and act in their best interest." She said in a small voice.

"Still, the lack of secrecy about this shelter is truly worrisome. For that regard, I insist your highness exercises caution when exposing your decision to Beacon, and we cannot afford it should we spark conflict once again. It is but a humble opinion of a noblewoman in training, but a high-handed refusal at this moment in time might have some unintended consequences. Our movements should be far more subtle." She eyed the crowd.

"It's a small blessing people here are still willing to listen, but words will not ultimately stop our foes. We need more time to get to safety and build our defenses so we can truly be a sanctuary." Dina added, before doing a curtsy. "With your permission..." She said, before making the attempt to leave the meeting.

Justine was pleased to see Alicia comply with her request, and smiled sweetly, her eyes cast on Aurelio once he made his voice known, his nervousness having piqued her interest.
“Oh, Aurelio, is it? You remind me of a certain little pet of mine, only not as...sybaritic. Now, I trust you to take good care in watching over us~”
Despite her kind words, he could tell she looked upon him not with genuine affection, but like a mere miniature in a war game, to be used and discarded. Nonetheless, Sally and Kimble nodded to Alicia’s orders, Hyun Long sighed, and Leena and FanFan didn’t react aside from a glance of acknowledgement, having seemingly expected the decision.

Justine then cast her ruby gaze back to the Paladin Seraph. She rolled her eyes in an amused way at her followup questions and at how Anaya, who was sitting next to her, seemed to share in her disdain for the monster girl.
“Oh, them? Why, they’re my business partners, of course,” she said, gesturing to the tux-clad beastmen with a slender lift of her hand.
“The Beacon is not the only one to have a stake in this. But you don’t need to worry about them, my dear Alicia; they won’t cause any trouble unless I want them to. And as for them,” she snapped her fingers, and one of the silhouettes in the darkness stepped forward; it was an unknown monster girl with feral features, and who stared blankly forward.
“They are my precious little canaries~” Justine stated, and sensually caressed the brainwashed girl’s neck, eliciting a creepy smile in return.
“They will relieve you of much suffering, that I can promise you.”
Most unsettlingly, Alicia discovered that every word Justine spoke was true.

Sakura then spoke up, causing Sonia to glare at the pink-haired girl.
"It is pronounced Visceral," she stated in a polite, yet subtly menacing tone. However, Justine then lifted her hand in a dismissive manner.
"It is fine, Sonia." She gave a mocking smile.
"I find magical girls who have been recruited at an adolescent age to be quite adorable."
Sonia bowed, and Justine then giggled at Umbra’s mispronunciation of Pedersen.
“I’m glad I am not the only one who shares that sentiment~”
She tapped her long, crimson nail on the table.
“Anyway, if there’s no further objections, we may start with the operation. But first, Sonia, will you do the honors of equipping our troops with weaponry?”

”Very well.” She summoned an open box of items on her hands, and placed it on the table. It was immediately apparent to Beacon what the items were for.
”Mariette Pedersen’s Bane is broken mirrors and candlelight. Therefore, I have brought hand mirrors with fractured surfaces and candle holders with long-duration candles paired with accompanying lighters. However, because more people arrived than I had expected, there are not enough of these items to give one of everything to everyone. That is why I request that you either take a hand mirror or a candle holder and lighter.”
Justine took a broken hand mirror and examined it; she was amused to see her smile refracted on the fragmented surface.
“Fabulous~”

The Beacon forces also took a single item from the box; FanFan, Hyun Long and Sally took a candle holder, while Leena and Kimble took a hand mirror. Hyun Long however refused the lighter offered to her.
“I have no need for that; I can light this candle with my own power.”
Once Sonia deemed that everyone got a chance to take one of the Bane tools, she continued.
”Now, those of you who will accompany lady Justine, place a hand or paw on this table or on someone else who has.”
She placed her hand down; bluish-black light subtly emanated from her fingertips.
”I will channel my magic through it, and transport us to Mariette’s dimension when you are ready.”

Sally and Kimble took one last look at Alicia, and then nodded.
“I suppose this is goodbye for now, then,” Sally said, and slapped the hand down enthusiastically.
“But today I’m feeling like Lady Luck’s smiling on me! So everything’s gonna turn out all right!”
“Yeah, let’s do it!” Kimble placed her hand down, as did Hyun Long, who seemed very excited.
“May the light of Beacon guide our way!”
Leena leaned back on her chair, while FanFan waved goodbye to the three Beacon girls.
“Good luck out there!”

Justine simply held the single finger she tapped in place, twirling it in a circle. Shadowy hands then reached from the darkness and touched her shoulders, with one pair even embracing her.
“Now, wait for a moment. Oh, this will be fun~”
Once everyone had established physical contact, Sonia’s eyes began to glow. She then blinked, and in a single moment, Justine’s group disappeared from the underground parking lot, leaving Alicia’s group behind. Sonia then lifted her hand up, seemingly focusing on another spell.

---

The very next moment, Justine’s group had appeared in a place that was dark, but not because of a lack of light; what first seemed like stars were actually oval mirrors that floated high in the sky and emanated light, illuminating a gothic mansion in the distance. The mansion was surrounded by a field of deep snow, stretching out to the size of a football stadium. Beyond the snow was nothing but a black void, though a careful eye could see that lone snowflakes landed on the same level as the snowfield, hinting that the ground was solid even beyond the boundaries of the dimension.
Sonia had placed their destination to be a couple of meters above the snow. Kimble immediately created a whirlwind to keep herself and Sally afloat, making sure to catch Aurelio in it as well. Hyun Long landed with a fiery punch straight down, evaporating the immediate area around her of snow and ice.
“-What is this place?” She asked, looking befuddled, while Sally scoffed.
“It’s like Justine’s castle in the Overcity, but...somehow, it’s even worse!”
Justine herself was unconcerned, having unveiled six large bat wings from her back that she used to float in place. She had her arms crossed, her fangs fully bared as she witnessed Mariette’s abode. Now it was time she made herself known.

“Mariette Pedersen!” She raised her voice to the void, and extended a finger forward.
“The hour of your despair is at hand!”

---

Lily found herself inadvertently nodding to Alex’s question, as she also wasn’t sure what was exactly going on. Someone was going to attack Mariette? She was reminded of what Ronin messaged her, and her face turned pale.
Could it be true? Is Ronin really going to-
Before she could really think about the implications, Mariette responded with a negative answer to her question, and she stuck the tip of her tongue out from embarrassment caused by her misunderstanding.
”Oh, she’s not? Now I feel a bit silly, hah. Sorry, Trixy.”
Her feelings of shame were swept aside by a shock, her eyes widened when Mariette mentioned a certain acquaintance of theirs.
”Justine?”
Her face turned visibly pale, and she instinctively reached to her side where she usually held her phone. Her mind ran amok with scattered thoughts
Oh no. She is. But why? Ronin wouldn’t do something like this. I mean, is she serious about the brainwashing thing? She looked at Mariette, the dark magical girl’s words passing by her.
Well...She doesn’t look weird. She’s just like she always is. How do you even check for brainwashing in the first place?
During the entire time Mariette was talking, Lily seemed to stare into the distance, but when she addressed her by name she blinked and looked back at the one-eyed girl with an awkward smile.
”Oh, umm...” She glanced at the other girls present, including a Helga with a raised eyebrow and tilted head, and then back at Mariette. She suddenly felt like she had flowers in her stomach.
While she waited, Mariette heard a sound coming from the aquamarine shell she was listening to; it was the gentle sound of ocean waves rising and falling. But then, Mariette also soon heard something else, slightly drowned out by the sounds of the sea; it was Dan’s high-pitched, squeaky snoring. It didn’t last long, however, as the snoring ended with the sound of a popping bubble.
“Oh, Mariette!” She heard Dan speak to her. “I fell asleep, and didn’t realize you were calling! I’ll see you soon!” Then Mariette heard the clack of a very familiar device; she realized Dan had given her a seashell enchanted to work like your run-of-the-mill, regular phone.

After Mariette was done with her call, Lily had gathered her courage to speak.
”Y-Yeah.You see, I...I wanted to talk to you about something, but...I didn’t know you were this busy. It’s not that big of a deal or anything.”
That was when Mariette felt it the first time. It manifested as both a quiet echo of Lily’s words, and also as a nearly invisible shadowy aura that surrounded her for a fleeting moment before it disappeared. There was no mistaking the ominous signs; she detected a lie.

---

Helga scoffed at Mariette’s warning, annoyed by the lack of thought she had seemingly put into accommodating her allies. She turned to Sam when Su spoke to her, and then glanced at Mariette.
“Listen up Mariette; if one of those traps goes off and hurts Su in any way, I’ll make you pay ten-fold.” She then went to Su, taking her hand as she asked Samantha: “So, how do these keys and traps work, anyhow? Do we need to swipe it in front of them like a keycard?”

---

The Sanctuary population collectively gasped in unison as Penny announced her loyalty, and stared with wide eyes as she pulled a bright light from her chest; the ShineSpark. Resembling a pure white crystal globe, with electricity running inside it like a plasma lamp and also across its surface, it had successfully grabbed everyone’s attention, allowing Nuncio to disappear into the masses without anyone noticing.

The majority was silent, seemingly unsure how to react. Many were shocked to hear that Beacon knew about their Sanctuary’s location, but continued listening without too much noise. The monster and dark magical girls among then who previously had approached the purifying goods had stopped, surprised by this development.
“But I thought...Can we still purify ourselves?” “So she’s rejecting Beacon...” “Is this going to cause a war?”

However, the louder voices were in the minority, especially those following Dina’s lead.

“She really does care for us! Woohoo!”

“Yes, destroy the lightbulb of oppression! Show the lanternheads not to mess with us!”

Even the plant girl who previously lashed out against Penny seemed to regret what she had done, and dropped down to her knees, her face bruised by the beating she had received.
“I-Is it true? Oh crap, I should have believed...”

But then, Dina voiced her opinion, and most of her followers were awed by the wisdom in her words. “She’s right...We first gotta get a real shelter.” “The nazis are gonna stomp all over us once they find out, right? I-I don’t want to die!” “I think Dina would make a better queen, but that’s just me...” However, a minority didn’t appreciate her hesitation in ending the affiliation with Beacon, or were confused. “Why are you giving it back? Crush it with your iron fist!” “What’s a Beckoner? Can you eat it?”
Once again, plenty of voices clamored out, but not to an aggressive degree like previously; it was full of concerned debate and expressions of fear, but it was much more civil than when Penny spoke alone to the crowd, showing Dina’s ability to quell the more feral aspects of their populace even after she had left. But regardless of whether Penny would renounce Beacon or wait it out to ensure better defenses, she had gained her respect as Queen back in the eyes of the populace.

Soon after she did, Dina heard a familiar voice calling out to her.
“Dina! We were called!” The Lesser Force then appeared with the pop of a bubble, accompanied by Hilaria.
“Smiling Sisters, assemble!”
Before the cat girl could so much as meow, the dolphin had taken her hand and whisked her away. Soon enough, the three of them arrived in Mariette’s office. “Hello there, Mariette!”
The dolphin enthusiastically waved his fin. “It’s ya boi, Dan the Dolphin!”

---

Rachel nodded, having crossed her arms before her. “I see. I hoped that you would have something more concrete to report on Penny’s movements, but I suppose she keeps herself guarded even to the likes of Cindy.” She eyed Janet in particular, before returning back to her paperwork. “Due to the terrorist incident, the Ascendancy is currently working at under the minimum capacity in terms of manpower. Thus, I have been forced to make a few changes. One of these is taking over your research department.” She handed a paper over to them; it was a notice signed by her. “White Coins by themselves are useful, but we need something more efficient. Since you have proven yourselves capable of imbuing purifying qualities into Coins, you can do the same for weapons; ones that can purify targets struck by them in a single hit. You will hereby dedicate 40% of your time and resources to developing these kinds of weapons, and I expect the first prototype to be up for review by two weeks. Am I clear?”

Alexander didn't really understand why Lily was suddenly shy and tiptoeing around why they came here, so he decided to speak up "One of your old minions came by and told us that you were being brainwashed by your Patron and that she was getting a team or something to violence your brainwashing away or something. Also, she mentioned that Justine was going to be involved. Of course, I couldn't just take that at face value, since she might be the one getting brainwashed. So we came here to get your side of the story in an attempt to make sense of this latest batch of nonsense." He explained in his usual blunt way "So yeah, that's pretty much it. I'd ask you if you were being brainwashed, but you'd probably say you weren't even if you were..."

Mariette looked a bit at the gathering of Su, Silhouette and Trixy. It seemed they’d work well together. That was all she could ask for.

Another individual appeared. To Eliza, she used the key and she was transported into a black void she could stand on. There was a few seconds of absolute nothing, long enough that one could wonder if she had somehow gotten lost between worlds, when a portal opened in front of her. It led into Mariette’s office, where Mariette was seated behind a desk, and in front of her were Su, Helga, Trixy, Silhouette, Lily, Alexander and soon enough would also be Dan, Dina and Hilaria. After the dolphin appeared with his crew, Mariette nodded to them.

‘That is everyone gathered. Good. I’m happy you could join us, Eliza. Dan, Hilaria, Dina, thank you for responding to my quick summon. Justine is about to begin her assault, and I wanted you here before it happens,’ Mariette said, looking over them. To address some questions. Helga’s question about the keys first.

‘The keys are magical artifacts that are checked for by traps before they go off. They only work if they’re held by the person they’re made for, to prevent enemies simply stealing them. Making a new one would take some amount of time, time which we do not have. As such, please stick close to someone who has a key, and those with keys, please do not lose them,’ Mariette requested, nodding to them.

Then, there was Lily… avoiding her question with a straight lie. Mariette stared at her for a bit, trying to puzzle together why Lily would lie to her. It probably wasn’t anything that could come to harm Mariette, Lily wasn’t that kind of person, but it still made her worry. Fortunately, she didn’t have to worry for long, because Alexander came out and explained. Mariette blinked a bit at him.

‘An old minion of mine?’ Mariette asked, frowning. She didn’t have any old minions. Trying to understand who he was talking about made Mariette draw a complete blank. Still, what Alexander said next made her forget about that piece of information.

Brainwashed?

She took a couple of seconds to consider it. Could she be brainwashed? She considered her patron, and…

‘It’s possible,’ she said, but then dismissed the question. ‘But at the moment Justine is mounting an attack intending to kill me. I do not have the luxury to worry right now. Let us focus on getting through this alive.’

‘The enemy will be carrying with them my bane…’ Mariette sighed a bit as she resigned herself to that the whole world will know her bane. ‘… Cracked glass and lit candles. However, cracked glass only hurts me, while candles have a moderate effect on all servants of Asengav. That’s why I need you. You’ll be unaffected by the banes that hurt me and my companions. I will maneuver you around the compound with portals, I ask you cooperate with my allies.’

‘Speaking of banes, we do know Justine's. It's True Love...’ Mariette sighed a bit. ‘Something I've been a bit short on. However, perhaps you could help with that?’ Mariette asked, glancing over Lily and Alexander, and a little over Trixy, Silhouette, Su and Helga. She wasn't entirely sure about various relationships there, but who knows?

‘I have borrowed this from my companion, Eli,’ Mariette said, placing a map on the table. It’s the Super Map, showing up like a video-game mini-map showing the names and locations of everyone in the mansion. _{Like the marauder's map in Harry Potter.}



They were currently in Mariette’s office on the second floor. The map was currently showing that quite a few people were on the third floor, on the “Artillery Opening Fire Line”, but there were others that were spread across the mansion, and numerous in the monster room below. Possibly notably, yhe map showed a girl called Olivia Giles in the Treasury right behind Mariette.

‘I will use this map and my portals to control the flow of the battle,’ Mariette said. She then reached for a box and placed numerous small high-tech looking metal objects for everyone, opening a portal to get some more for the excess amount of people.

‘Please keep in contact with these, and if my companion talks to you through it, listen to her,’ Mariette said. ‘Hello, I’m the companion,’ said the communicator. ‘If you want to talk to someone in specific, say their name, and it should automatically patch you through. I’ve already entered the names of Su and Helga into them, as well.’ Mariette nodded to show that she was authentic. She wasn’t entirely comfortable with letting people know this girl existed, yet, these were very desperate times. The Trespasser was the only other girl who would have perfect supervision of the battlefield, she had to be able to contact everyone without suspicion if something happened to Mariette.

‘I have a force of around 40 other magical girls at this time, but most are weaker than the average. I hope you can help make sure they survive, as well. However, there are the other champions of Asengav, with strength similar to mine. They are…’ Mariette gestured to paintings on the wall, because there were paintings of the other champions of Asengav.



‘Outside the mansion is a great field of snow, filled with traps and monsters to exhaust our foes before they reach the mansion. The mansion itself is also filled with traps, mostly designed to work even if they have shields. Psychic blasts, focused sonic blasts, emotional manipulation, as well as numerous occasions of simple spells like burning them if they touch any surfaces or sudden spikes and explosions. In addition, Mayra has cursed all the windows, so if they get in through those without thinking they will be cursed with a variety of effects. As Esther has joined with the mansion, she can also close corridors or doorways and lock our enemies in with the traps, and we will use that to our advantage.’ Slight pause to breathe.

‘As champions of Asengav, we also have a lot of minion monsters at our disposal, expendable bodies to throw at our foes, let them take hits for you. Of course, we will use my portals to avoid enemies and try to get them from behind, but know I can’t portal where there’s shattered glass. As such, I cannot properly fight today, but I will ensure you all can fight to the best of your ability.’

Mariette breathed in a bit heavily. Time to tell them about that.

‘I have a plan in case we start to lose. I have the ability to make this dimension collapse, which would kill everyone still stuck inside it. If this happens, your priority will change to getting out of here as soon as possible. You are my allies, and I am not going to risk your lives more than I already am. Upon the start of the destruction, the place will start to crumble and fall apart over the course of one to five minutes, and I shall ensure portals try to take you out of here. People with Overcity Shift or their own Interdimensional Homes should be able to escape on their own, keep track of them. That’s why I called you, originally, Dan, to see if you could lock or keep our enemies within this dimension while we escape…’ she sighed a bit about what she was about to say next. ‘… but upon further consideration that feels like I’m putting you at risk, and I don’t want to do that.’ Now, ideally, this was when Dan offered to risk his life for her, but one thing at a time. ‘After such a collapse I’ve made arrangements to flee to the dimensional home of Vermillion Veronica,’ she said, nodding to Silhouette and Trixy, before looking to the rest again, ‘who I hope is prepared for a possible follow-up invasion. Everyone is free to come along, or I can simply put you back in Penrose. Your choice.’

‘It is imperative we take out Sonia, Justine’s maid, as quickly as possible. Not only can her warping powers likely supply her with an infinite amount of my banes, she’s a teleporter that could appear and disappear with their forces wherever. The traps are in large parts to take her out if she teleports directly into the mansion, no matter where she appears. Not only that, but if she’s around and I start collapsing the dimension, the escape of our foes will be trivial and they’ll likely be able to pursue me, making this whole defensive operation pointless. Taking out Justine is also a priority, of course, but if we take out Sonia it’s possible Justine cannot get out of here on her own.’

‘That should be all. Any questions or suggestions?’

Eventually, after that, Justine appeared at the front, it was visible on the map. Mariette breathed out a bit in relief, she was afraid Justine would appear right inside the office and just slaughter them all before they had a chance to react. Then, she looked at the names, and came to a realization just at the same time as Eli sounded in through the communicator.

‘Mistress! Justine’s appeared with a small army! And, she has brought some Beacon forces with her!’

…

Oh, you’re serious.

‘I’m… not going to ask anyone to fight Beacon for me. I can send home anyone who doesn’t wish to,’ Mariette said, her tone suddenly filled with a bunch of dismay. ‘… It seems their “do not make alliances with horrors” rule is dead if they’re willing to make peace with the person that blew up their base and brainwashed their girls trying to conquer this world in order to have me killed. I suspect they’ll turn on one another as soon as the battle is over, if not before.’ Now, there was the possibility that Justine had just brainwashed those that appeared and Beacon wasn’t involved at all, but Mariette wouldn’t expect herself to be that lucky.

‘Regardless, it seems it’s time to do battle. Stand by. Do any preparations you need. I will portal you wherever you want to go, but for now, let them face the blizzard. In the meantime, it’s time for me to open up some of the stars in the skies. Anyone’s got any magic missiles to spare?’

…

‘There’s a lot of Beacon names missing. Expect a second strike force.’ Primarily, there was a single name on there that Mariette definitely would have expected to be there.



@BrokenPromise@Ariamis@Card Captor@FamishedPants@AtomicNut

---

Why, of course Justine was the one who was kidnapping people around Penrose. Who else would it be? Mariette?

Ronin giggled as she put away her phone with the message from Hilde. Right, then.

Then Sakura appeared with her patron. Ronin grinned widely and waved at her.

‘Hey, Sensei! Glad you made it!’ she said, partly for her allies to potentially realize this was also a friend. They couldn’t really give an update, but, oh, well!

That one over there was Aurelio, the one Penny had recommended. Unfortunately, he was going with the headlong assault. Which was a shame, since she had to-

‘We’ll go with the infiltration group. Need to get as close to Mariette as possible, taking her out early would complete the mission, after all,’ Ronin said, nodding about the rest. Very well.

That’ll be all there.



@Shifter_Master@Ariamis@ERode@Ponn@Flamelord@Crusader Lord@Majoras End@AtomicNut

---

A lonely gothic mansion stood before the assault squad, in a field of deep snow. The building ahead has windows to basically every room, albeit the windows were enchanted and cursed, making looking inside difficult.

In the basement, among a group of monsters, stood three girls.



Tullia stood in the middle of the room on a pile of snow, summoning her magical power while holding a focus artifact that brought her power to their maximum efficiency, her icy dragon hulking over her and gripping her shoulders, focusing even more power into the mighty magical staff of an artifact she held. The exit out of the basement was blocked by a massive amount of snow, and by it two girls were inspecting the monsters.

‘The monsters have been prepared, specifically for your snowy landscape,’ Lea spoke, looking over the giant hulking beasts, as well as the smaller, growling ones. ‘Each has the locations of our traps mentally imprinted upon them by Ronja, they won’t enter their trigger area.’

‘Hahaha, awesome! I wish I could fight them myself!’ Victoria said with a grin. ‘Me and my duplicates are ready to harass the crap out of their flanks! Are we ready!?’ Victoria asked, and a roomful of similarly grinning Victorias stood ready behind her.

‘We’re ready,’ Tullia said with a sigh, focused her magic power, and lifted her staff, an artifact more powerful than a regular magical weapon. ‘I call upon the power of the Bifrost. FREEZE THIS WORLD OVER!’ she called, and an explosion of ice-magic blasted out of her. Lea stepped forward and grabbed the side of the staff to supply some of her wind-magic, and together, wind and ice magic mixed with the power of the staff…

And as Justine made her announcement, a blizzard manifested. Snow and ice filled the air, the temperature dropping, vision turning worse because of the snow and wind suddenly manifesting in the air itself. It wasn’t actually hurting them, it was just wind and snow, but the blizzard regardless raged to make life as uncomfortable as possible.

This was when small portals started opening around the enemy forces, on a range as to avoid the shards that no doubt were brought. Now, Mariette had her weaker magical girls spread across the mansion fire their attacks through these portals, intent on taking out the weaker targets to leave Justine without backup. Blasts of fire, electric bolts, light and ice beams and otherwise just beams of power, bullets and arrows, any available ranged weapons would start assaulting the troops. All the attacks were of a weaker variety, but they would not let up. Mariette knew she could recharge even if she ran out of mana, so she would never let up. If enemies fired on the portals they would close (which would be hard enough because the portals only opened for a very short time to let someone shoot through them), and if the enemies got closer to the portals they would close. For now, it was just harassment to make the enemies desperate, the big things came ahead.

The big things that, along with a huge swath of Victoria clones, just dove into the snow as to head towards the soon-to-be battlefield to attack. The doors to the basement closed, leaving Tullia and Lea alone to focus their blizzard upon their enemies.

If someone were to fly directly at the mansion at incredible speed... that was what the artillery line was for. They'd face sudden and focused firepower, hopefully enough to discourage such an approach.

[@anyone that went with the main team]

Silhouette had hoped she could simply be a background character until the fighting started, even choosing to ignore Mariette's... interesting way to describe her, opting to believe it was intended as some sort of compliment. Were things not about to get dangerous, she might've reflected on the fact she did not seem to want to be known as "scary" or the sort, but instead Helga and Mariette's lingering bad blood roused her from her silent observation once Mariette had finished conversing with them.

She momentarily glanced at Mariette, then to Helga. They managed to talk things out which was an ideal resolution to this bit of conflict, but presently, Helga was making her look bad in front of the cool portal witch. She felt it would be better to lay things down now while they had to chance. "Helga. Su," she took them off to the side and lowered her voice, but her irritation etched onto her features while her voice became stern made it easy to see she wasn't happy. "I want to establish that as of right now I am working as an ally to Mariette and that you both are my plus two, so to speak." Samantha didn't feel the need to tell the two that there was also another reason for her to be here, but there most certainly was. "At least while you're my responsibility, leave the problems at the hotel, for my sake. I don't want to sound like a nagging mother. You aren't children so I imagine you understand that how you act here does reflect, for better or worse, on myself." she sighed as her voice lost a bit of the edge it had. " That said, I will not hesitate to take an unruly child over my knee. That is all I wanted to say."

It was when she finished chiding the pair (or pretty much just Helga, really,) that Trixy appeared next to Samantha and wrapped her in a comfy hug. Sam didn't dislike it. She attempted to answer the girl's question "Su is a..." she seemed to hesitate, as if not sure if she was allowed to use the word, but eventually went ahead. "...a friend but I haven't had the chance to speak to Helga in a more pleasant setting. Anyway, I'm fine with sticking together, especially with you," she told Trixy but had to, albeit reluctantly, part from the hug with a 'but'.

Helga wasn't the only one who did bad things in front of the cool portal witch.

"That is only if you apologize," she told Trixy.

Having been around the world and experiencing a plethora of different cultures, Samantha could confidently say that shooting someone without their consent was frowned upon in the modern world. It was like a taboo. Even if she tried her very hardest, she drew blanks when trying to recall any point at which someone replied positively to taking a nonconsensual bullet. Actually, they didn't reply at all, which is probably why she was paid.

But trusting Trixy to do the right thing here, she patiently waited and listened as things began to take a more serious turn. Since Mariette took the liberty of explaining how the key worked, Samantha was saved the trouble. Sticking close to her company would be mandatory but she expected as much when Mariette mentioned the traps earlier. And while not to downplay the rest of the assault, it appeared that if they were to secure a victory over Justine, the most efficient way of doing so would be through the swift execution of Sonia.

Sil wasn't sure what sort of actual combat prowess Sonia held, but it was safe to assume that even without her mobility as an edge, she was likely far from a pushover. Admittedly, the idea of dueling Sonia had a nice feel to it especially after the rave, but if Sam had to stick close to Helga and Su, then she didn't think that was going to happen.

Suppose with the inclusion of Beacon, there's not going to be any shortage of action. Can't jump to the main course immediately.

Justine would have to wait for the moment. Dealing with her siege and minions would have to come first unless she positioned oddly in this fight. "How do you guys want to approach this?" she asked her party as she hoped nobody noticed she doesn't have a stat/skill header just yet.

Janet didn't really like the way things were developing. Seemed they'd done a little too well of a job with the purification tools. Still, they were the only ones able to make them so that at least prevented things from going too out of hand. Handed the document she reviewed it briefly before handing it over to Jenna to look over. She watched her sister for a moment before Jenna shrugged a bit. "This isn't really the same thing as imbuing a coin. Though we expected a request such as this would come up eventually. We can try, but the magic wasn't really designed for something like this. We can't entirely be sure of the result." She ran through the ideas coming to her.

Seeming to be on the same page, Janet turned back to Rachel. "I must express caution in perusing this kind of weapon. The purification we've created is based off previous variants that requires consent. Removing that safeguard further exposes it to manipulation. Namely, if a weapon such as this were to fall into the wrong hands it could potentially be corrupted and have the opposite effect. We run the risk of creating an even greater darkness that could spread far and wide. I do not believe this is a safe course of action and could undermine our goals of saving and protecting the world." This really could get out of hand. They already operated on what was considered fringe magical science. This would begin stepping outside things they understood. Cindy could potentially help, but doing that was risky in its own right and she probably wouldn't want this thing either.


Most of the things going on in the sanctuary were well beyond Melisa's current knowledge. Some kind of announcement about peace that seemed to spark anything but, two different groups that seemed to be against the queen or the people on the video? Something about Beacon which she'd heard were not safe to be around. Really it seemed to be a mess over all. Being smaller than practically everyone else in the room she couldn't really see what was going on. Thankfully Dina, the cat girl that she hadn't really had the chance to meet, calmed things down like a pro. Whoo, well that was close.

Her attention was a bit on the glowing light she could barely make out through everyone there. Despite being made of metal she could feel the warmth of it. What the hell is going on? Weaving her way through the legs of those gathered she managed her way out of the crowd and tried to find someone that might be able to answer some questions. "Hey um, can you explain what's going on? I don't uh, really know what people are talking about." She said as she tugged to get them to look down.

Shortly after they took their seats, Connie was surprised when Sakura joined them via some sort of warp gate/portal thing. And was that Tenebra with her? Her question was confirmed a moment later, when the small furry creature the silver-haired girl was holding introduced the trio. Connie smiled and gave a small wave at the newcomers, before the meeting continued along once more. Apparently, they would be splitting into two groups, and as Ronin spoke up to volunteer them for the infiltration team, Connie felt herself relax a slight bit. Hopefully that mission would be slightly less dangerous than a full frontal assault, but one could never be entirely sure, especially in a situation like this…

Connie’s trepidation returned a moment later, when, in response to the Beacon leader’s inquiry, Justine revealed one of the figures lurking behind the shadowy veil. The girl looked like a zombie, her eyes utterly dead, completely void of all emotion. But things swiftly proceeded along, and Connie tried to put the disturbing sight out of her mind. There were some words exchanged between Justine and Sakura’s little group, before the vampire girl mentioned equipping them all with weaponry. At that, Sonia produced a collection of items Mariette was supposedly vulnerable to, and, after the maid had finished explaining how they worked, Gaia walked over and took three broken mirrors for MDP, Connie, and herself.

“Ooooh~! Magical Dream Princess looks all crazy wazy in this thingie wingie~! (giggle!)” MDP declared upon receiving her mirror.

After that, the assault team got ready to depart, the others, Ronin’s little group among them, stepping back from the table in order to allow them to do so. In the literal blink of an eye, the assault team winked out of existence, leaving Ronin’s team alone with the remainder of the Beacon force, and now that the meeting was over, MDP finally had time to socialize with them! But first…

“Connie Wonnie~” MDP called in a teasing singsong voice. “It’s huggy wuggy time~! (giggle!)” she cheered, glomping Connie tightly and nuzzling her cheek against the masked girl’s back."Magical Dream Princess wants Connie Wonnie to know that she's gonna make sure Connie Wonnie stays nice and safey wafey, no matter what happen wappens~! (giggle!) That's, like, her super duper special wecial promise~! (giggle!) So, like, Connie Wonnie shouldn't worry, okie dokie~?"

“Oh! U-Ummm… O-Okay…” Connie said hesitantly, smiling as a blush began to color the cheeks of her mask. She was more than a little taken aback by the cheerful girl’s overwhelming enthusiasm, especially since the Lord of Nightmares had told Connie to be wary of her. Still, despite all her eccentricities, MDP seemed friendly enough. Indeed, the next thing Connie knew, the ditzy magical girl had released her and bounced over to what remained of the Beacon contingent, a happy smile on her face.

“Hiiiyee~!” she said by way of greeting. “So, like, what are your namey wameys~?! (giggle!)” she asked with giddy excitement. “Oh~! But, before you tell her, Magical Dream Princess should probably warn you that her memory wemory is, like, super duper terrible werrible when she’s Magical Dream Princess, so she might, like, totally wotally forget and have to ask you againsie, so, like, pretty please don’t be mad at her if she does, okie dokie~?!” she then gave voice to a squeal of delight, her eyes sparkling even more than usual. “Wowie zowies~!” she exclaimed, while jumping up and down in front of FanFan. “Magical Dream Princess thinks your big, metal wetal armsie warmsie thingie wingies are, like, sooo super duper cool~! (giggle!)”

Even if Mac couldn't be there with everyone, it was fun to watch their little interactions play out on her string. She almost wanted to be there with them, joining in on the conversation.

It was weird, really. Up untill a few weeks ago, Mac was fine with her solitary life. Maybe that was because it seemed like everything was normal. But now she was starting to realize how stunted her existence was. The happiest times she had experienced this year was the two times she went against her patron's orders. Maybe following fate wasn't the right course of action for her.

---

@PlatinumSkink@Ariamis@Card Captor@FamishedPants

When faced with the gigantic word wall above, all Su could do was listen and nod along with everything Mariette was saying. It was a lot to dump on someone who had more or less only been told about what was going on from a third party. But she got the basics. Stand by someone who has a key, and don’t get hurt.

When Justine’s apperance was announced, Su’s heart skipped a beat. Part of her wasn’t sure if any of this was real, but it did start to sound like Justine herself was showing up. Justine, and Beacon too. She had toyed with the idea of trying to befriend them, ally with them even. But if they were joining forces with Justine, then such an alliance could never be forged. Su could hardly believe that someone who considered themselves an agent of light would ever join hands with Justine, even if it was to overthrow another enemy of theirs. Of course in Su’s mind Mariette hadn’t caused nearly as many atrocities, making this entire arrangement even sillier.

Samantha’s message to Su and Helga wasn’t really necessary. Not to Su anyway. Though she could understand why the assassin would have reacted like that. She had brought Su and Helga along and was partially responsible for them. If Helga punched Mariette, it was something that Samantha had allowed to happen. No doubt that Veronica had given Samantha strict orders to keep Mariette safe.

“Likewise, I am responsible for Helga.” Su turned to her fellow manager. “Helga, I don’t know if I ever told you this, but Amber and I made a promise to look after Mariette.” A partial truth, it was all Su’s idea. But Amber agreed to it later, If begrudgingly. “She would not call us here if she was allied with Justine. You don’t have to trust her, but we do owe it to Samantha to give her the benefit of the doubt for now.”

Su looked at the other girls, and boy. “I can enchant objects with my magic, if anyone’s interested.” She pulled a stone out of her hammerspace handbag and ran her thumb along it. “I can store a spell inside an object that can then be released when its power word is spoken, or the object is struck with sufficient force. If such an enchantment interests you, step forward.”



Trixy would have liked it if Sam had reciprocated with a hug of her own, if not something more. But it seemed Samantha wanted to personally see Trixy apologize with her own eyes. Trixy wasn’t so prideful that she would refrain from doing what she requested, but she haf already attempted to bring up the event with Mariette and was ignored. Trixy figured this was because Mariette had better things to do than worry about a non lethal attack that only hurt her because beacon was mucking things up (as usual), But perhaps there was some merit to ensuring Mariette knew she was sorry.

”Ah, yea, Mariette.” Trixy cleared her throat. ”As part of our preparation, I would really like to apologize for shooting at you. The intent was not to get you hurt, and I now realize that was not the best course of action in that situation.” She extended her hand. ”You don’t have to worry about me shooting at you again. From here on out, all of my bullets should be going away from you. And if they aren’t, it’s because I’m shooting at something behind you, or in front of you. Regardless, you probably aren’t going to get hit. I never miss.” She smiled, but Mariette could detect a lie at the tail end of her apology. ”Speaking of which, I shouldn’t have much difficulty firing through a snow storm. You can take me up.”



Suddenly, and without much warning, Someone shouted ”Lilola laclili lolaile!” and a giant radio tower erected itself on top of Mariette’s mansion.

”And now we know where they all are outside the mansion too!” Viridian was rather pleased with herself, and let everyone know it with her sly smile. ”Don’t mind me, I’m just a country bumpkin who’s gunna keep communications open. Y’all have fun knockin’ ‘em dead, ya hear?” After sighing, she looked at Mariette. ”Interestin’ how fate works. Umukamui crossed Veronica last week. Turns out he’s joined forces with the Mint and Beacon. Considerin’ you’re enemies of both of them, I’m not surprised he’s thrown his magical girl in with Justine’s lot. I might have to pay extra for Sakura’s elimination.” She looked to Lily. ”Well ain’t you a surprise! You lost a patron and yer back in the saddle already! Patrons don’t die too often, don’t be alarmed the news is making the rounds.” She giggled. ”I’m sorry, but I’m a nosy girl. You wouldn’t mind telling li’l ol’ me who you serve now, would you?”

Alicia nodded to Aurelio as he assured her that the others would remain safe. Sadly she couldn't be in two places at once, as she certainly did not trust Justine enough to think her own people would not be used as cannon fodder. They would need to be careful. "Good," she replied with a nod before her attention returned to Justine.

Her brow furrowed as she glanced at the beastmen in suits, not entirely satisfied with their simple description as 'business partners'. But that was an acceptable risk at this point. More concerning was the girl that stepped forward, who Justine called her 'canary'. She had no doubt that Justine was telling the truth, but she also had no doubt as to where these 'canaries' came from.

For a moment she wanted to rise, unleash a flash of purifying light and dismiss this whole charade of the girl with her expendable brainwashed soldiers. Everything in her heart revolted against it. but then other emotions intervened. Practicality, anger. She could always restore them to their senses afterwards, if any were left. And when Justine was dealt with they would likely be restored anyways. For now it had to be accepted, though it left a bad taste in her mouth to do so.

Then the meeting moved on. "Thank you," Alicia said as she took one of the mirrors and slid it into her pocket. She would need both of her hands for her bow after all.

With the mission about to get underway, Alicia stood back from the table as Sonia prepared to teleport the first wave. "Lady Luck is always smiling on you," she pointed out to Sally with a grin, before looking over those present. Her gaze lingered a moment longer on Kimble, before traveling across Hyun and Aurelio. "Be careful out there. Mariette won't go down without a fight, and I don't want to lose anyone else."

then in the blink of an eye they were gone. Still on her feet, Alicia materialized her bow as she waited. Justine's group would be drawing Mariette's attention now, so all they could do was wait until they were confident that their opponent was firmly focused forwards on the more immediate danger.

As she did so, she looked to the other Beacon members who had remained to help in the infiltration. "Be ready for anything," she warned. "We don't know what we're walking into in there, and with only two entrances to that dimension the other one will likely have some defenses, even if they're minor ones." There was more that she wanted to say, but she couldn't do so while Sonia was still here. There was only so obvious she was willing to be about the imminent betrayal once this fight was over.

Not that she had the opportunity to in any case, as the excitable pink girl made her presence known in almost dizzying fashion. "Alicia Hayden, leader of the Penrose chapter of Beacon," she replied, figuring it would be better for her sanity to not fall too far down the rabbit hole. She felt bad with FanFan drawing more attention, but the Ascendancy girl could handle herself. Probably.

Instead she turned to Ronin, the leader of the band who would be accompanying them. "So, are you also one of Justine's 'business interests'?" She looked familiar, but Alicia couldn't quite peg where she may have seen the girl before. Since her group would be taking part in the infiltration, hopefully she was aware of what she was getting herself into.

_{@Shifter_Master@Ariamis@ERode@Ponn@PlatinumSkink@Crusader Lord@Majoras End@AtomicNut}

As she was a rather selfless person who desired to help others, Emily decided to listen to the stranger and patiently waited right where she stood. Of course, even if she wanted to, it was a bit awkward to try to leave when someone had you nearly pinned to a wall. She would have had to duck and slide under this person's arms and at the moment she was too confused and nervous to do even this what with the girl making an unpleasant growl.

Unfortunately, that was likely her last means of escape, as when the person returned to an entirely upright position, they had become a lot more imposing in stature and then mentioned a word that started with a D and ended with the loss of Emily's ability to think. "?!" the changes evoked a small yelp from the girl out of surprise. "U-uhm...?!" Emily found her ability to talk had been restricted by her anxiety and so appeared akin to a deer in the headlights.

Yet though her physical body had become still, her mind had begun racing faster than ever before.



"This is unacceptable!"

Emily's voice yelled but Oros would not hear it. Nor would Emily herself, as it technically did not exist, at least not on this world. But within the confines of Emily's nearly-shattered psyche, a subconscious contingency had been activated.

"Yer right there, pal. Ain't none of that there nerdy stuffs makin' any sense. Any ya'll know why it's like that?"

Well, multiple contingencies had.

In what seemed to be a board meeting room in a tall skyscraper sat multiple Emily's around a large circular table with a large projector screen beaming the error message onto the wall. After all of them had seen this, the projection then returned to Emily's PoV, which was currently aimed at the floor. This is where time had stopped. The projector rewound to about ten seconds before, replayed, then stopped at the error before repeating yet again.

Though there were multiple Emily's, they were not all the same. The first to speak was physically identical to an untransformed Emily wearing glasses, yet her posture suggested a lot more confidence than the real one had. She grit her teeth and adjusted her glasses before her hand slammed onto the table in response to the other Emily. "No, I'm talking about the error itself! We need to come up with a plan and quick. Besides, this is the easiest form for it to take."

The other Emily was similar in that she looked identical to Emily besides how she composed herself, only this one looked like the transformed version. She sat with her legs on the table and leaned back in her chair all while she had complained. "Well, I ain't understand a damn thing with that message there! Th' heck does 'StackOverflowError' mean to ya? Means nothin' to me! How do you reckon that's 'easy'?"

"It's an error she saw playing Minecraft one time, lol!" another Emily pointed out, both saying 'lol' and then laughing out loud as though the situation were amusing to her. Her visual schtick was normal Emily with a phone in one hand she always seemed to be texting on it and had a sucker in her mouth.

While the others seemed unwilling to take that particular Emily's statement as truth, the one sitting beside her nodded to reassure the others. She did not say anything and refrained from making eye contact with the others.

"With that settled, can we focus on the important part? Or are we going to screw around some more?" the serious Emily asked.

"When ya tell me what the damn thing means, then sure, I will."

Frustrated, the serious Emily sighed and pointed towards the projector. "Emily is not stupid. Therefore you are not stupid. We learned about context clues in class a while ago, don't you remember?"

The transformed Emily rolled her eyes before looking at the screen. The projected yet again repeated the last ten seconds before displaying the error message. "Aight," she said. "So I reckon it has somethin' to do with this individual here."

"Yes."

"Ya'll got any sound? They're sayin' somethin' yet I can't hear a nothin'."

"Like, just listen, LMAO"

The transformed Emily tilted her head in confusion before giving a wild attempt at guessing what they meant by that. When they actually focused on the projector, she heard the audio. "Oh, that's what ya meant..."

"I'm Oros, in case you were wondering. Since you bumped into me, we're going on a date."

The projector let out an unpleasant noise before it immediately replayed only part of that sentence.

"Since you bumped into me, we're going on a date."

Every Emily in the room collectively gasped, while the transformed one began rolling up her sleeve, only to realize she did not have one. "Huh!? That guy's gotta lotta nerve if he thinks he can just say that so boldly!"

"That's, like, not OK. Full stop."

"..." The more reserved Emily did not speak this time either, and she was more or less perpetually nervous, so this addition was the best way to accentuate the point that it was unanimously upsetting.

The serious Emily recovered first. "As you can see, we were brought into this existence for a reason. We are in a dire situation and we must spare no effort in overcoming this obstacle. We will die otherwise."

Another gasp from the room.

"H-hey, yer just fucking with us, right? T-that's not gonna happen over something like this, yeah?" the once boisterous Emily seemed almost timid now.

Serious Emily adjusted her glasses. "It is not impossible. Unless trained, the heart is a fragile muscle."

"But, like, what about all we've endured up to this point?"

"Ya ain't gonna lead my by the nose! What is Lone Rangerin' for all those years if not trainin' th heart, huh?" the rough one asked.

"You are absolutely correct. In that regard, we're strong. Very strong." Serious Emily stated. "But you can be strong in one area but pathetic in another. You can steel your heart for one type of tragedy but have it shatter for another type. And this is the case. We simply do not have the immunity to this sort of damage. It's our kryptonite, I'm afraid to admit."

"...boys?" the silent one finally spoke.

"Boys?"

"Boys."

The room went silent. The air seemed to stand still. And all at once, everyone nodded in understanding.

"I see that. Yeah, we're really are up shit creek in a barbed wire canoe without a paddle. I reckon this calls for extreme measures," the vulgar one said.

"Now that we can finally START, lets hear some ideas! I think politely asking the man... person to leave should be a start. It is simple and it does not run a high risk of offending someone."

"Kinda yikes for me, LOL. You don't just kabe-don someone and leave right away. He's gonna be persistent, duh! I would rather, like, make him get a lot of followers on Glimmr first, to prove he's even worthy."

"Alright, well that sounds a bit stuck-up but if it keeps us from dying that's not bad. I admit my attention has lied elsewhere, so I didn't realize we had got a following. How many followers do we have?" the serious Emily asked genuinely.

"...like, on second thought, that's totally not polite. Maybe we shouldn't do it." the phone-wielding Emily shrunk in embarrassment.

"Um... we could... run away...?" the shy Emily whispered.

The transformed Emily shook her head violently. "Nah. Nope. Ain't happenin'! How're ya'll... How're we 'posed to get stronger if we run away with our tail between our legs! We fight!" she pumped her fist. "Rough this sonnavabitch up and let 'em know we ain't some easy bimbo!" she shouted.

"Yes, those are all suggestions. And I have filed them away under 'Things we are not going to do'. And now I'm reminded why you are locked away." Serious Emily glared at the vulgar one, before nodding to herself. "Why, it seems as though the only rational choice is the one I proposed. Since we're all in agreement, I'll just press this---" as the serious Emily was about to place her hand on a big red button in the center of the table, the others all showed their disagreement rather violently.

"Like, no! Maybe mine wasn't good and all, but I'd rather trust our life to it than yours!"

"U-Um, it would be better if we just ran...!" Shy Emily's voice was less like a whisper and more like a whisper-shout now.

"Ya connivin' SOB, I say we wipe that smug look off his face!"

All at the same time, each Emily in the room rushed the button and dogpiled it with their hands simultaneously. Everyone having pressed the big button at the same time, it released a bright light until the entire room turned pure white.

...

...

...

Back in the real world, time hadn't moved whatsoever. Oros has just finished his little spin and Emily had yet to do anything. Which Emily had actually succeeded?

Oros would begin to feel the air bite even more than it had before. The temperature around Emily dropped to dangerous levels as a glow that started at her legs traveled up her body until it reached her head before popping without warning. A silhouette of flame etched itself into the wall directly behind her. It was an impressive feat given she wasn't currently transformed.

"UmsoIdon'treallyhaveapreferenceandIdon'twanttoberudebutisn'tdatingonlyforpeoplewhoreallylikeoneanotherIjustmetyouafterallBesidesI'msureyoucandobetterbutIdofeelbadaboutyourtoastbutIdontknowwhattodoI'msorry!" she stated as clearly as she could.