By the time Alexander had noticed the spear going after Lily, Sakura was almost there. So before he could really do much of anything, Sakura was impaled by it. A memory flashed before his eyes, of a strangely familiar woman in a castle fading away before his eyes, one he later found out that he did actually know, one he couldn't save. 'Fuck, not again!' he roared in his mind. His rage was quickly put out however, when he noticed a familiar face arrive to Sakura's aid, and relief instantly filled him 'Good, I remember he also has healing magic. Sakura should be okay.'

Alexander sighed "Guess we don't have any other options. This has to end" He hadn't had as much time as he would have liked to rest, but it would have to do. Calling upon the full force of his magic, he once more entered his Primal Form. Once it settled, his willed his magic to create a sword shaped barrier coming out of his wand...but nothing happened 'Dammit, I was afraid that would happen, but I had to at least try.' With a huff, he tried calling upon Absolute Direction, and found to his delight that it answered him 'Well that's a relief. I don't think I'd be able to keep track of this Leena girl in all this chaos without it.' With a mere thought, he willed it to home in on the girl responsible for the anti magic field, and not even a second later he had his bearing 'Right, let's try and make this quick.' While Alexander still had most of his magical capabilities under the effect of this anti magic field, he didn't consider that much of an advantage. After all, it only made sense for someone with an anti magic field at their disposal to be used to fighting under it's effects. Hell, her own magic might even be immune to it.

Alexander started to take off, but before he could get very far, he heard a massive boom from behind him "What!?" Thinking they were under attack, he turned around to repel whoever it was 'I don't have time for this!'...only to see Lily reaching out to Mariette with an electrified hand '...huh?'

There has been a distinct lack of mentioning anything getting in Ronin's way.

If that keeps up, Ronin is just going to go straight past everyone else engaged in combat in a mad dash towards Eli and Mariette. She obviously noted Lily's decision, and she couldn't let her choice go to waste-!

---

Poor Eli wasn't nearly fast enough to intercept Lily's attack. She ended up stunned and staggering in surprise, partly because she hadn't expected to be attacked by that particular individual.

As for when it came to Mariette... what was there really she could do? It was with an expression of alarm that she realized just who it was that was coming for her. With the minimal time she had available to her, in a desperate defensive act, Mariette powered a small portal right on-top of her skin leading to another portal underneath her feet, intent to stop Lily short and make her zap a piece of roof instead of Mariette.

Of course, that would only delay Lily a fraction of a second, but she had to hope that this slight delay would give her allies time to respond to the sudden new threat.

For all the bluster of the Srchive, they weren't much of a fight in close quarters combat. She wiped the blood off of her fists on one of their jackets before looking up at the sky.

There, fate, the due has been paid.

Three souls for the two I saved.

When will you be content?

---

@FamishedPants@Majoras End@Card Captor@AtomicNut@Shifter_Master

Just because Su was somewhat capable without magic didn’t mean that she could just do whatever she wanted. One of the things that made Helga and Su a great team was their unique strengths had great synergy together. Now that Su couldn’t rely on her true strength, the only way she could assist Helga was to flank her opponent. Helga’s claw swinging made standing beside her not a very attractive option, and it was hard to flank Alicia when she was climbing a wall. Not normally, but with no ability to fly, it was hard for her to assist Helga as things were. But she was confident Helga could hold her own. She had the high ground, after all.

And speaking of high ground, Alicia wasn’t the only beacon girl trying to scale the building. Looking over the edge, Su could see two familiar faces: Leena and FanFan. A long, endless sigh escaped Su’s lungs. It didn’t surprise Su to see this duo here again. She was starting to get disgusted with Beacon as a whole, but all the same, these were people that Mika saw fit to save. There was no time to think, so Su just jumped.

Leena was vulnerable. She was using her sword arm to stay on the wall, and her other hand was on her mask. It wasn’t likely that she could react before Su fell to her level. Su’s acrobatics were on point, and she managed to hug Leena from behind, but her athletics needed some work. She slid all the way down to Leena’s ankles, but refused to let go of her feet. It wasn’t as graceful as Helga catching her, but it hopefully slowed her decent enough that it wouldn’t dislodge Leena’s knife. Also let’s not address the fact that Su dragged her tits against Leena’s entire back. That would totally kill the mood ktnx.

“So um.” Su had never actually learned Leena’s name. “I don’t suppose you want to turn off the ‘magic-preventing-spell-thing’, do you? I could fly us out of here.”

Of course, Su hadn’t just come down here to make a very risky barter. She was confident she could swing to some piece of architecture if things went south. Moreover, she had placed a curse on Leena. She had opened some vacuums in her blood vessels, causing her blood to stop moving to and from her arms and legs. The effects wouldn’t take hold right away, but after some time, her limbs would have used up their limited oxygen supply and stop working.

They weren’t too high up, were they?

---

Trixy had lost communication with the other agents, and had to make her own decisions from here on out.

Her primary objective was to protect Mariette. So long as she was alive, Justine and Sophia wouldn’t try to escape. Justine’s death would not only wipe away one of Veronica’s enemies, but it would get some justice for Betty, one of her closest friends. There was no way she was going to fuck this up. This wasn’t going to be like last time where she almost cost Veronica an alliance with the VIP.

Though it wasn’t so simple. She knew Ronin would be trying to break Mariette from… Asingalve? Asingave? Asinine? Whatever, it was the horror.

But she had no idea who this lightning chick was. Like, she vaguely remembered Tetrad saying something about a girl like that, but Trixy didn’t recall her being part of Veronica’s master plan. She was pretty sure this wasn’t part of Ronin’s trope, since she was infiltrating from the outside. No, this had to be a spy or something. Justine was the type to do something like that. Even if Trixy was wrong, Defeating Justine took priority over saving Mariette. She was already prepared to defend Mariette if it came down to it, and it had. She looked down her sights, lined up the shoulder on Lily’s outstretched hand, and fired.

The mission would succeed.

Clutching the cane trusted to her, Jenna thanked Aurelio as he went off to assist the injured. Looking at the realm as it stood the fractures were clear signs that everyone present was under threat. Things had to end, like, now. Everyone was moving in at various points and targets. Eyes darting here and there she was looking for something. Eyes shimmering red she'd found something she hadn't anticipated but found useful none the less. She had a package to deliver and she had to get there ASAP. Mind made up she activated the copied Avatar power. Horns, spines, and tails growing as her eyes turned deep red and clothes shifted to more of an armor the magical surge partially triggered her Metamorphosis. Realistically there were only a few key targets to end this conflict. Top most on Jenna's mind though was Justine.


Justine had launched into the air and taken hold of another girl, no doubt trying to use her as she had Janet in the past. External magic not being much use Jenna focused her various specs inward. Primarily Reinforcement, Lightning, and Time to accelerate herself. Breaking into a run she rushed past the others to move below her target. Crouching down and using the earth in contact with her feet to jut up as she jumped, Jenna fired herself into the air like a projectile at the vampire girl.

There were a number of things that could occur here. The first hope was her speed and time acceleration would allow her to take Justine by surprise. Sonia had already moved to intercept others headed their direction. Tenebra she wasn't sure about, but the magical nullification made most attacks less of an issue. Still, Jenna was prepared should she get in the way. The magical payload of the cane just had to be unloaded on Justine.

Many things happened. A new arrival showed up and proved himself to be exceptionally bloodthirsty, but although he seemed familiar Alicia did not pay him too much attention as he moved forward. Whatever his deal was, that could be addressed after the fight here. Especially as he shifted into a monstrous form in a bloody display.

Her decision to have FanFan protect Leena was quickly proven a correct one, as several girls beelined for her and the sound of conflict soon rang through the air. In fairness Alicia hadn’t expected her to charge forward as she did, but she trusted in the metal armed Ascendancy girl to keep her in one piece.

Reaching the edge of the mansion, Alicia found that there did not seem to be all that much between her and her target. She picked her path upwards, leaping and using her swords as leverage to boost what her own physical skill could not accomplish. It turned out climbing was not as hard as she had thought it would be, though the previous damage helped by making a lot more spots to anchor on.

For a moment it seemed she was about to get tag teamed, only for one girl to divert and go for Leena instead. Alicia had more than enough to focus on with the one she had though, as a familiar red haired girl dive bombed her with slashing claws.

”Ghnn,” she grunted, quickly creating a perch to anchor herself so as to deflect the incoming strike. Her arm rattled with the force behind the blow, but she did not falter. Not immediately anyway.

At this point it seemed unlikely that Helga would be dissuaded. All she could do was state the facts, and hope that it created even a sliver of uncertainty that she could use to her advantage. ”So you sided with her,” she growled. ”I hope you’re ready for the consequences of this Helga. We’re not going to give the Trove a free pass anymore if its owners decide to side with enemies of the city.”

But she didn’t expect that to really stop her. Instead she leapt upwards once more, reaching out to stab her blade into the side of the building. There she used it as an anchor point like a pendulum, directing her momentum and adding additional force as she launched a swinging kick at Helga that would hopefully toss her away from the building and allow the Paladin to finish the ascent to the roof without further difficulty.

Still, who knew what would happen in the chaotic nature of combat?

_{@Ariamis@Ponn@PlatinumSkink@Crusader Lord@Majoras End@AtomicNut@MadManMoon@BrokenPromise@twave@FamishedPants}

---

Making her exit, Seppa did not expect some random girl to come barreling in out of nowhere and do the thing that they had been intending to do this whole time to Penny. She wasn’t one of their Agents, which made the intrusion all the more confusing. Still, Seppa wasn’t about to look astray at the opportunity it offered.

Quickly she relayed the information to Alma. Hopefully they could still salvage something from all of this. Though she could not turn back now at this point and still make it in time, she could lend a hand. With a mighty heave she threw back the sword she had been using, which would embed itself in the ground near where Oros had jumped. That way she’d be able to use it and get a bit of an advantage in the fight.

With a rippling of reality, Oros and her targets arrived in the Overcity. Thanks to the preparations of the Mint beforehand she would find a battlefield already prepared for her. The group found themselves in a fairly large valley, rock bluffs rising up on both sides. The sky was darkened by clouds, twisting and sparking with weather patterns of lightning, fire, and ice that Earth could only dream of. It cast a somber and almost picturesque tableau over the fight that was to happen here. Jagged spikes of crystal jutted from the ground below, dark in color to contrast the lighter surroundings.

More important was the liquid on the ground, primarily an orange color but occasionally shimmering and changing both tone as well as consistency. Thanks to previous experiences, Oros would not have much trouble identifying what this stuff was. It was magical waste, polluted and contaminated with byproducts from the main city itself as well as creation processes. The effects could be random to some extent, but generally speaking direct contact was not a wise decision unless one was prepared for it. With her particular gifts, Oros was likely better equipped to handle whatever might happen.

_{@Shifter_Master@BrokenPromise@DarkwolfX37}

---

Though Viva had escaped momentarily, Varja was not deterred in the slightest. If anything she took the fact that Viva had moved through her shadow attack as a challenge. One that could not go unanswered.

“Your boy toy ran out on us,” she explained gleefully. “Now he’s going to learn that actions have consequences. You just happened to be here.” Reaver had gotten the carrot of cooperation before. Now it was time for him to get the stick.

For now the others watched, Ilmarinen knowing better than to get in between Varjo and her fun. Alma listened off from the side, her head tilting slightly as she received another message on the heels of the previous one. It was a positive one this time, but she did not say anything. Regardless of how this mission went, it did not change the facts of Reaver’s betrayal.

Gesturing, she sent her Familiars sweeping forward before casting another spell towards the fleeing Viva. A blanket of darkness fell over the woman, or at least that was what it seemed to be. The Darkness magic was mixed with Illusion magic, making it unclear as to what was real inside of this void of nothingness and what was not. That way her own powers could not be used against her so easily.

With Viva pinned in place, Varjo went for the final shot. “Take a nap,” she called to Viva, before unleashing her spell. Darkness and illusion, a potent combination unleashed to curse Viva’s body with paralysis and trick her senses. It was like a smothering blanket fell over her, one that strangled her breath and filled her lungs with fumes. Despite being surrounded by air, from the curse and her own mind she would asphyxiate. At least she could count herself lucky that she was more valuable to the Mint alive than dead.

@Ariamis@PlatinumSkink@Card Captor@FamishedPants@BrokenPromise@Ponn@Majoras End@Shifter_Master@Flamelord@twave



Reaver eyed his newest obstacle in the way with glee. Aroused by fresh blood, the bestial berserker seemed as if he was about to leap into the fray, and sunder his opponent into a frenzy. It was to be expected from a Monstrous Metamorphosis. If not for one detail. Odin was a patron of berserkers. And a worthy champion of Odin would know how to not lose all notion of thought even when becoming less and less human. His fury was true, but his mind, thanks to the Allfather's guidance, was like the eye of the storm thanks to the mind ward he had executed earlier.

"OuT oF tHe wAy." He casually remarked in garbled speech as he locked his spear with his sturdy shield, an action denoting discipline unseen in a rabid monster. "UnWorThy cOpY of pEnNy!" The ghoulish Reaver pieced together as one of his eyes, his Third Eye, flared up. With the average background of magic muted, there wasn't a lot to see in the flows of power, which mean he could see in every detail how magic flow went through his opponent.

It was also unfortunate that he was in possession of a spear that would drain electricity, which seemed one of the powers that inbued Valerie. The berserker went awfully silent, choosing a shield bash for an opener, before darting a quick and deft series of spear thrusts with the expertise of a master towards the weak magic points his Third eye told him, each thrust robbing and dispelling electricity when in touch with Valerie's body.

He had to eat quickly, for there was one of the Beacon twins in the scene too. A far juicier morsel, but he was not one to leave any given challenge without having a taste for it first.

---

It was the end. The light beckoned. People did not choose how to end their lifes. Dying in a gutter was something Sakura had expected a long time ago. But she did not expect to actually die looking like the foul-mouthed little cousin of his now teenaged daughter. The revolving lantern happened with full effect.

Aoi

Yui

The latter seemed to spread her arms towards Sakura, the warming light growing and growing. She knew it was her time. A goodbye kiss was in order. She embraced the ghostly Yui and planted a deep kiss, as her voyage towards eternity started...

Or not. She felt pain once more, and wincing. Wind blowing, people breathing. She was alive, and Yui was in her arms. Except she wasn't Yui. She was clasped to a foppish youth with a Monocle. That wasn't Yui.

"NANIIII???!" Sakura screamed in shrill voice, upon the realization that she had flat out, sprung up and kissed Aurelio. She started jumbling words in japanese very fast, her mind racing at the fact that she had just kissed a guy confusing him for her former wife. It was then when she noticed the fallen Tenebra being taken by Justine.

"Oh you are going down Viceroyal!" She said, with a burning sensation of bile that was forming in her mouth. Except it kept going upwards, and It wasn't bile. She hacked a good douse of blood before collapsing again... Maybe there was some residual damage after healing. A lot of residual damage.

"N..new..tactic...bite...ankles." She said, wriggling helplessly but still very much alive.

---

Dina hissed in response of being suckerpunched, being just in time to avoid being flung out. Her enhancements were beginning to run her dry, and while she had cornered Leena, the situation was untenable. She looked at her opponent, thinking on how to capitalize the fact that it seemed her mask the one thing that prevented her incapacitation. External factors intervened.

Of course, the Courtesan had to butt in all of this. Dina mentally cursed. With Su on the way, friendly fire was a hazard she was not going to risk much further, so she turned her attention elsewhere. At least that freed her up for being the only one dealing with the antimagic field.

Still the line seemed to be holding much poorer than initially thought. The chief enforcer Alicia was advancing more than anticipating, and did it seem like Lily and some sniper were fighting over Mariette? That was a battlefield-killing dissent over there. Dina had upheld her hand in fighting and defending. A reckless vanguard, she was not. So she swung, and dispelled her offensive enhacements, to get more juice for the speed ones. She was going to grab Mariette.

Grab Mariette, toss her into Dan's portal, and deny victory to both Alicia and the vampire in the crumbling dimension by simply removing the Portal girl. There were times where one only simply... folded.

She swung hard and fast, trying to rope anything that could propel her further towards Mariette.

"Does no one pay attention? Organize the retreat!" She huffed.

While holding MDP’s hand, Mayra dashed past the rest of her crew, up the stairs to the second floor and up the stairs to the third floor. Up there, they find a convenient hole in the ceiling!

‘Oh, great! Saves me the trouble of making one!’ Mayra cheers a bit, and then turns and smiles at MDP. ‘Then here we go!’ she says, grabbing MDP’s arm with both hands and then swinging and throwing her upwards through the hole!

Then she kneel, charged some magic, and rocketed up herself! … And was presented with this strange scene that’s gonna take a turn for her to process and react to.

---

‘They’re not listening!’ Josefin called back to the rest. ‘Also, they’re climbing the mansion!’

‘Then up we go!’ Ronja called, as she grabbed a number of the girls and headed out the window. To an onlooker, it was suddenly that a giant spider-monster girl climbed out the window after Leena, carrying numerous individuals. There were two blondines, a tree-girl, and an aquatic monster girl.


Ronja quickly carried them up on the roof and deposited them. With Dina falling back, the whole unit went to fill up the open space that had been created. Esther, being physically capable, jumped in to engage FanFan in close combat, the relatively slow but powerful and tough wooden magical girl showing that magic wasn’t the only thing she could dish out, and any scratches in her wooden skin could quickly be healed with Regeneration and her own Wood-specialization on short range.

‘I’m ready to help!’ Josefin said and skipped in front of Leena, who was already mid-engagement with Su. Josefin didn’t really know how she’d best contribute right now, but if she just swings her giant sword in the general direction of that battle, her massive luck should take over and make it do something useful, RIGHT!?

‘… WHERE THE HECK DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING!?’ Suzette cried out and opened fire on the running Ronin with an automatic rifle, sending a spray of bullets after the running mini-samurai. Said rifle she’d been given by ??? to make up for the fact Suzette had lost her magic, it was in that box earlier. Ronin, who hadn’t been attacked yet, yelped and charged some reinforcement magic on her skin to block bullets as she crouch-ran towards the engagement…!

‘Hm,’ Taihei got behind the rest and raised her aquatic tentacles, standing motionless and ready to support. She was simply going to be the tank, if someone got past they’d have to deal with her, and she’s exceedingly tough to deal with. She wasn’t about to actually try to help with any of the engagements in front of her, though. Her massive bad luck would just mean she somehow hurt her allies, probably.

‘Oh, dear,’ Ronja said, looking back at Lily attacking Mariette. The spider-girl looked to Alexander. ‘Come on, we need to stop your friend,’ Ronja said and started to hurry towards the Mariette engagement… but what she was actually doing was preparing to attempt stopping Alexander, should he try to take his girlfriend’s path of attempting to lay claim to Mariette. She was ready to oppose him with Reinforcement magic and spider-web.

Notably, both Ronja and Josefin also had rifles given to them by ???, they just can’t fire them right now. Nobody with their right a mind would give a rifle to Taihei and Esther isn’t that useful with one. Wood isn’t that agile.

---

So, that’s the one. The “maid” that enabled this invasion of a private dimension. The one which, should she survive, would enable Justine to attack over, and over, and over again…

She had to be dealt with.

It was time to teach the enemy commander a lesson.


From the second-floor window, Freya blasted herself directly at Justine. A sudden enormous physical threat flew like white cannonfire, with a claw swiping directly for Justine’s torso, to tear it apart. Predicting herself to be dodged or blocked, Freya was going to spin immediately upon hitting a block or the ground, seeking to slam her tail into the vampire girl. Predicting to probably be counter-attacked, Freya was going to evade, using her Awareness and Martial Training to their fullest to evade being struck. After that, it was a matter of duelling the girl with strike upon strike of deadly claws, evading what counter-attacks she could muster, and slice at her until the deed was done. Freya’s not so easy to kiss.

If Eliza, Sil or whoever else is also there, Freya’s more than happy to team up with them against Justine, using her own attacks to make Justine not look at them or vice-versa, attacking from different directions, etcetera.

Freya was their strongest physical entity. If any of them could defeat Justine in this magic-less world, it was her. Still, perhaps the best term for what she was doing was still, “keeping Justine busy”. She was more focused on staying alive than she was killing Justine. Because, she was also there to distract Justine from the other assassination attempt that’s taking place.

Because…


From the other second-floor window, Lea blasted herself directly at Sonia. It was like an immense physical threat flew like green cannonfire at her, striking with a deadly kick at Sonia from someone with ridiculously high Agility… but even if it hit, it was like there was not that much strength behind the kick. Or, to be more precise, 6 strength, which’s still more than a normal human kick, but not much on a Magical Girl scale. Yet, there was something strange about the green girl that had come flying down. Specifically, the surface of her skin and dress was crawling with bugs.

Without it mattering if Lea had been dodged and she was now standing on her own, or if her leg was in contact with a blocking something, Lea smirked as her bugs came off her like a pulse.

‘… Turns out my Oddball: Insect specialization is almost entirely unaffected by the Null Field. My bugs remain enhanced, the only difference being the commands I give them has to be given at a significantly shorter range,’ Lea told her.

Lea darted past Sonia, leaving a trail of bugs as she went. She would use her 21 Agi to circle and keep Sonia from escaping with some classic kicks and swipes and hand-to-hand combat, all while a cloud of enhanced bugs, mosquitoes and butterflies and wasps, was descending on her from all manner of directions intent on biting and poisoning her with Lea’s homebrewn poison, which would without doubt take down most infected without much trouble.

‘Asengav needs you to die.’

---

‘Olivia!’ Tullia ran into the treasure room, startling the poor treasure that was hiding inside it. ‘We must run! The dimension is collapsing!’


‘A-ah. Alright!’ Olivia called, quickly getting up from the lone chair she’d been sitting on this whole time. All her research things had been stuffed into her Hammerspace Handbag while the rest was fighting, and Olivia, being a non-combatant, had simply been waiting for the battle to end. But with the new development, someone simply had to go save her, too, and that became Tullia for her high agility, and the fact magic is Tullia’s main skill and her magic is blocked. Olivia didn’t fail to notice that Tullia was carrying an automatic rifle in addition to the usual staff for whatever reason…

‘Wh-what’s the plan?’ Olivia asked as they ran out into the corridor, going west.

‘We’re joining up with Victoria and <>, they’re taking the Black Mirror from the basement and bringing it to Mariette. If Mariette can’t portal to it in this magic-less world, we’ll take it to her!’ And then they were going to run through the library to hopefully meet the others in the foyer…

---

‘Come on, girls! We’re running!’ Victoria shouted out as she slammed open the door to the prison. In there were the surviving girls from earlier that Mariette had dismissed. Around 13 of them, or so. Victoria turned around, and with them at her back ran back to the Mirror Maze… that was now entirely useless because of Void World magic. See how no plan ever survives contact with the enemy. The information girl stood there, her phone connected to the wall and an automatic rifle strapped over her shoulder, before she managed the technological bypass they’d installed just in case they’d lost all magic in the Mirror Maze and a special mirror moved, showing the way to the Black Mirror, the mirror that Asengav had put them to guard. It was no longer safe here, better bring it to Mariette.

‘Alright. Victoria, it’s yours to carry. Remember that it’s heavy, and also, Asengav charged us with protecting it, so if you destroy it it’s all our live-’ she started, before Victoria just waltzed up to the Black Mirror, grabbed the frames and easily lifted the big mirror above her head, making the information girl wince as she did.

‘Huh. Lighter than I was expecting,’ said the physically strong Magical Girl. Victoria grinned, and information girl figured that, okay, guess that’s fine as long as she can handle it.

‘The dimension is collapsing. C’mon, we need to get to Mariette,’ information girl said, and together with the surviving regular Magical Girls they started running for the stairs up to the first floor.

“Hmmm… I believe it may very well be, little sister,” Gaia noted thoughtfully after Connie said she might have seen Amanda, of all people, arrive with two other figures.

Although the other two had sprung off into battle, the bespectacled magician seemed to be staying put. She also seemed a bit nervous…

A possible reason for that presented itself a moment later, when a twin tailed girl poked her head out of one of the mansion’s windows and shouted a warning that the whole dimension was starting to collapse.

“T-The d-dimension is c-collapsing?!” Connie exclaimed, the masked girl’s terror clearly evident in her voice. “W-What s-should we d-do, Mia?!”

“First, we should make our way beyond the bounds of this Null Field,” Gaia advised. “We can do virtually nothing, while trapped within its confines.”

“O-Okay,” Connie agreed. “A-And, l-like, m-maybe Amanda can h-help…”

As they made their way over to where the lavender-haired girl was standing, the two friends felt their connection to their magic slowly begin to return, a good sign that they were leaving the bounds of Leena’s Null Field.

“H-Hi, Amanda!” Connie called to the bespectacled magician, giving her a hesitant wave and a nervous smile. “D-Do you k-know a-anything about -w-what’s h-happening?! D-Do y-you k-know of a-any w-way to s-stop it?!”






“Weeeee~! (giggle!)” MDP cheered as Mayra tossed her up through the hole in the ceiling and onto the mansion’s roof. “Like, super duper thankie wankies, Mayra Wayra~! (giggle!)” she told her new friend, while giving the draconic monster girl a big smile of appreciation.

Taking note of the situation, her eyes widened in excitement.

“Wowie zowie~! There’s, like, soooo many people weple up heresie~! (giggle!) Golly wolly~!” she exclaimed upon catching sight of a particular cat girl. “Like, is that Dina Wina~?! She looks so super duper edgy wedgy and stuff~! (giggle!) So, like, what does Mayra Wayra thinkie winkie we should do nowie~?! Does Mayra Wayra have some kinda winda super duper awsome wosome plany wany thingie wingie~?! Does she~?! Does she~?! Does she~?!” MDP asked with innocent glee. This was all just so exciting! She had no idea what was going to happen next!

There were many things that the woman regretted in her life. Most bared little assurance to their outcome. What if she'd gone out with Peter when he'd asked? What if she hadn't persued her carrier so much. Potentially life changing events that could have altered the course of history. Thus far though none of them quite compared to coming in contact with a cursed doll. Unceremoniously dropped into a world she knew nothing about and forced to rely on complete strangers. Thus far she'd been lucky. There was still a whole lot she didn't know or was even close to understanding.

Skipping more to the present, Melisa had been riding on the tiger that she'd been left with. Content to sit and wait she petted the the soft fur for a while. Things turned rather quickly when all at once the tiger broke into a run. Tumbling for a second the girl managed to grab ahold and hang on for dear life. "Whoa, slow down there um...". The name of the tiger suddenly escaped her and they rushed through the Sanctuary. That would have been weird enough but then the big cat got even bigger and had weird spikes coming out of its back. These made holding on harder, but her magic allowed several tendrils of metal to wrap around and keep her fixed.

What all happened was kind of a blur. Stopped briefly to get someone else to follow. They came to Penny, some fight seeming to about to happen. Nuncio showed up and then... the other people left. Huh. Well maybe... Nope! "What is going oooooon!" Someone else arrived and then the world shifted into some bizarre canyon with strange looking liquids. The transition itself had separated her from her ferocious steed and she tumbled down toward the waste.

Penny would be lying if she said she wasn’t curious about how Nuncio kept slipping in and out of Snoopy’s detection, never the less she nodded her understanding to him. Then she turned to the new arrival, committing the girls name to memory and putting away her acquired spear fragments as she listened in.

Not that what Shion had to say had much to do with her, but it was interesting to hear that someone was trying to get the Outer Alliance out of Penrose. That and concerning. Still, it wasn’t her place to interfere. So she was content to simply be an observer for the next bit.

Heck Penny would have maintained that stance even when she first noticed Oro’s rushing at them. It was hard to impossible to actually sneak up on Penny, due to how her magical senses were attuned, but that didn’t mean she would have bothered to turn and face Oro’s when she was first noticed. Plenty of people jumped at Penny’ back and she had confidence in her shields ability to hold back what ever it was this additional new comer was planning.

Then she noticed a update from Snoopy.


That changed things. As did detecting Seepa’s sword flying through the air. Oro’s went from uncategorized third party to hostile Mint agent In Penny’s mind. She spun on the spot a high-pitched whine suddenly emitting form her just moment’s before she unleashed a full charged Gauss round at Oro’s.

Snoopy also turned to track the new foe as he began feeding relevant data to Penny’s optical feed.

Striding forward after the opening volley Penny reached out magically towards Melisa and harshly pulled her away from the toxic sludge. “Mint assault” Penny would say as she closed the distance towards Oro’s.

---

One would be able to forgive Aurelio for not fully understanding when the tiny samurai looking girl started to talk at him. After all he was busy in trying to keep Sakura's life from slipping away, that didn't stop him from nodding in understanding to Ronin as she turned to leave. Sparing a moment he would reach out and give her a boost. a sliver of Calm, and curling the Love within her back into her as she raced away. It wasn't much, he only had a moment to weave it after all, but it would help her maintain her focus and add just a bit extra to her speed.

He hoped that it would be enough, if there was a way to end this feud with Mariette that didn't end up with more blood shed he was all for it. Turning back to the matter at hand Aurelio suddenly found himself with a dealing with a very different circumstance.

Sakura's lips on his.

Now, Aurelio was taking the sudden kiss much better that Sakura was. After all it wasn’t the first time that he had been on the receiving end of one. Bringing people back from the brink leads to all sorts of weird reactions. He was still stunned by it, as having it happen before or not one is never prepared for such a sudden kiss, doubly so for an Empathy mage. As the outpouring of Love is always a hell of a kick for the system.

Or maybe that was just Aurelio.

Still he shook him self out of his stupor quickly enough, just in time to see Sakura collapse again. He let out an exasperated sigh but never the less moved next to her once again. “Let’s try the healing bit again with a bit more oomph this time.” Aurelio would say once again bringing a glow to his hands. This time though it was a brilliant white. After all Love is the greatest when it comes to support.

“Elora are you still there?” he would call into his comm as he spun an even great healing spell though Sakura, mixing in a moderate buff as he did. “As All Beacon is going to need an extraction soon. Leena’s Null is breaking this Dimension apart. So start locking on to signatures” he would explain taking a good look at the growing crack in the center of the room.

In the back of his mind he mused that kinda odd how he kept getting kissed by people who weren’t his girlfriend. Which lead him to the thought that he should actually ask Sally to be his girlfriend.

---

“God damn it!” Viva would spit out as she tried to dodge the shadowy spell. She doubted that her baby boy would have simply fled from a simply fight. Something else must have happened to him, of that Viva had no doubt. That didn’t mean that she wasn’t going to still have to deal with the merry band of sycophants however.

The problem was that she was simply to close to effectively get away. The time it would take to summon her bike was too long this close. And the narrow alley way made it impossible to avoid the next magical cage sent her way.

But even as she was bound in tendrils of darkness and feeling the fog of breathlessness filling her mind, she struggled. Blindly she created barriers between her and the Mint agents she had been working with, and just as blindly she shot at them with her revolver. The barriers when struck would shatter out in a spray of entropic shards ripping and decaying everything they touched.
She would continue this over and over again, forming new hands or tentacles to hold her gun as new shadows tied her down and burning threw her mana recklessly to form more and more barriers. She knew she was caught, but she was going to make them pay for it as much has she possibly could.

---

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

Silhouette's blood was pumping in anticipation of the culmination of this vampire's reign. But despite the many girls vying for her life, Samantha knew she couldn't hesitate or relax around her or her ally, Sonia. With Sonia dead or disabled, Justine was as good as done. Yes, she was ultimately Samantha's target as she pursued the two as they fled (or advanced, technically).

Her plan was not to wear the girl down, although that was a rather viable option given the numbers advantage they had. No, Samantha wanted this to end, at least on her side, with a single move. Thus, she pursued but was biding her time and forming an idea of when best to attack. Ultimately, Sonia seemed to exist for Justine's benefit and could be said to be a mirror image of Sam had Veronica been on the line. She imagined what opportunities that would open up.

...I see, it's simple, then.

If you're too busy focusing on protecting someone else, you often leave yourself open to being taken advantage of. Yeah, that was the plan. Sam would eye the next attack she imagined Sonia would try to deflect and then attack the girl at that moment while she was preoccupied. Boring, but effective.

...yet, the addition of yet more girls threw a wrench in that particular plan. The insect-wielding girl now burst onto the stage with reckless abandon. Samantha wasn't sure exactly how effective the attack was with all of the insects making it difficult to see Sonia, and she also wasn't able to approach Sonia while this was still happening. Damn, I just need one touch! Did it have to be right now!?

She would have preferred to take Sonia out herself, but unless it appeared as though these insects weren't going to suffice (in which case, Sam will attempt to touch Sonia (uwu) with her free hand and you can assume she does the equivalent of what I'm about to write but with Sonia/Lea), she shifted her attention back to Justine who was simultaneously being attacked by a different girl. Unlike the insect girl, however, Samantha could feasibly attack provided Justine wasn't too far into the air.

In this case, Samantha would have no trouble using Freya as a distraction in order to attempt to land a sneaky hand on Justine. She would use a quick, explosive movement to launch herself at the vampire while her attention was drawn and it didn't particularly matter where she touched Justine, though naturally, she would lean towards the face, chest, or a limb, prioritized in that order.

There!

@DarkwolfX37@Shifter_Master@twave@Flamelord

The mafioso nodded. “Don’t have to tell me twice. Sammy and Faith are both friends of mine, and while I would love to leave Penrose, I feel that convincing them-”

Before another word could leave his lips, the world shifted. A cloak of shadow and stars had brought them all to the overcity. Nuncio was unprepared, but he quickly got his bearings.

Nuncio’s patron had drowned before becoming a vengeful spirit. It was only natural that he ensured no one drowned here. Rosa was preparing to pounce, but seemed wary of the magical waters that surrounded them.

“Pass her to me!”

Penny was likely more than strong enough to hold onto the tiny little doll. But there was no telling what this new threat was capable of. If they were confident enough to attack Penny, they had to be either foolish, have good backup… Or be very powerful.



When Penny turned her head to fire at Oros, she already knew what was coming. But there wasn’t a lot she could do aside from bracing for the attack. Most of Penny’s gauss shots operated by inflicting damage partially through voltage, partially through gravitational powers. If her character sheet is to be trusted, anyway. Oros couldn’t anticipate exactly which one it was, so she just had to do her best. She ultimately did this by giving herself “electrocytes,” or the cells in an electric eel’s nervous system that allow it to disperse electricity and shock prey. Since Oros could command gravity, she could also reverse the gravitational effects easily enough. Any metal bits would be slamming directly into Oros though. And it wasn’t like she could respond to Penny’s attack instantly. The gauss was for lack of a better word a bullet. She was thrown backwards, and fell towards the magical waste that surrounded her.

“Shit! I just cleaned these sandals!”

Penny used her cool hover jet things to zoom over the suspiciously suspicious water and continue the fight up close.

Only a fool would say that this fight was going just as planned. Few people intend to take a gauss shot in the chest as part of their grand design. But it would be fair to say that Oros was in an advantageous position.

During her date with that majestic yet equally infuriating portal witch, Oros had encountered a creature that could manipulate magical waste. The creatures in question had their bodies coated in an inert version of the stuff, but Oros didn’t see why it wouldn’t work here. And if it didn’t? She learned something!

Oros’s torso changed to that of one of the crystal creatures. The liquid directly under her was wicked up into her form, coating her joints with the color changing sludge. It wasn’t just Oros’s body either, her tentacles could take the shape of their limbs too. Two hands slathered in the magical waste grabbed a hold of Penny’s ankles as she flew over them.

Penny had managed to blow Oros back before she could grab Seepa's sword, but a third arm emerged from the ground just in time to catch the blade and swing it towards Penny’s back, specifically her arms. Oros might have been on her back, but she wasn’t defenseless. She thrust her nail-like arm straight for Penny’s chest.

“Bleed!”

That was when Snoopy picked up on something.

Hmm~?

Lily passed by Hilaria in a blur and attacked Mariette. The timeless magical girl was confused at this turn of events. Weren't they supposed to be allies? She wondered why Lily defected and if maybe she would've seen this coming had she been more attentive. But in the end, all that really mattered is that Lily chose to become an enemy. Would Alex be far behind?

Despite the approaching threats, Hilaria didn't trust Mariette's wellbeing to the harpy, and that ended up being the wise choice as Lily had likewise gotten past her, too. Unless Lily intended to kill Mariette right then and there, whatever other plans she might've had for the witch weren't going to come to fruition while Hilaria was tasked to watch her. She had to make sure of that. Because if there was one thing Hilaria hated besides trying to hit wild canines with a sizable sword, it was people who would deny her her right to a feast! And, of course, Mariette would probably not be too willing to join Hilaria for food if she was dead or upset.

So, she moved just as more people began to appear, parting with her axe and using merely her shield. If she had more time to waste, she might've been impressed with the strange way MDP spoke. Unfortunately, the lack of spare time meant she had to temporarily ignore the new arrivals in favor of helping Mariette out of the poor situation she was currently in. But as she did so, a gunshot rang out and it sped towards Lily.

Hilaria wasn't in the way of it, but she also couldn't do anything about it, either. So she could only react after it hit, missed, or whatever happened. She was prepared to swat Lily off of Mariette with her shield non-lethally, but whether this was out of concern for Mariette or Lily was anyone's guess. Yet if somehow Mariette was freed from Lily, Hilaria would waste no time in picking the witch up and cradling her to safety. It was becoming a bit too difficult to protect her otherwise.

The spreading cracks in reality had reached the mansion, and cut through it as easily as if it were made of glass too. One fracture split the entire building vertically, causing the two sides to rumble as they slightly tilted away from each other.

---

Lily, having accelerated to the highest speed she has ever reached by buffing alone, had a couple of seconds of time to think while her hand reached out in a shocking grasp, intent to hurt someone despite being her friend. She had never seen Mariette so surprised before, having always managed to keep a cool exterior.

She must feel betrayed. I can’t blame her, either. But I must do this!

Her hand was just about to touch her, when her eyes opened wide; she made a portal, causing the hand to slam against the rooftop, the electricity crackling as it dissipated against the stony material. Lily did not expect Mariette to be capable of enchanting herself with magical mirrors. She blinked as Hilaria moved to intervene...but she stopped?
That was when she felt the bullet; it struck right against her shoulder, and lodged itself bone-deep, fracturing it. The impact was enough to cause Lily to stagger forward as her body reflexively sparked with electricity in an attempt to eject the projectile. It failed, but it ended up benefitting Lily; she stumbled towards Mariette with her body faster than Mariette could dodge, and she was caught in a one-armed tacklehug. Mariette was shocked by the electrical burst, though it did not possess the paralyzing qualities that her shocking grasp did.

Lily swiftly turned her eyes to Trixy, panic in her visage. Sharp pain struck through her arm; she could still move it, but only barely.
A sniper! I don’t have time to grab Mariette and run! There has to be something I can do! Lily’s thoughts ran on overdrive as she attempted figuring out what to do before Hilaria slammed her shield right against her body at the moment the rooftop tilted and caused her aim to to be slightly off, causing not only a major concussion but also bleeding from her head. Her vision blurred, her consciousness barely holding on as her heart beat a hundred times in a minute. However, Lily managed to hold on to Mariette with tears in her eyes. Nghh!
Then, she spotted two shapes closing in; she barely recognized Ronin, who was running straight towards them, as well as one of Mariette’s allies who had reached the rooftop and was signaling a retreat.

”Please...ngh...work!”
In a last-ditch effort, expending the rest of her mana, Lily threw her arms forward, and shoved Mariette as hard as her weak noodle arms could. She didn’t have much strength, but she had an electrical charge on Mariette; using an opposite charge, Lily launched Mariette with electromagnetic force. While not quite enough to shoot her straight to Ronin, she could create enough distance for Ronin to run up to catch her before she landed. Then, she crumpled on the rooftop while holding her broken arm, now bleeding with streaks of blood running down it in the pattern of a microchip.


Ronin was running, evading Suzette’s spray of bullets, when she saw what Lily was doing. She was launching Mariette towards Ronin before Dina could reach her. Bless her heart, that had to have been hard. Ronin dove forwards, intent to capture the rather limp and internally cursing Mariette that had been flung towards her. She was so close. Ronin reached out her arms to catch Mariette, preparing to start fleeing while simultaneously activating her new ability to warp the portal girl to another dimension-!

A sudden pulse of physical force blasted by Ronin, a string of fire disappearing into the void of magic where something had blown past. There, meters aside, back flaming from the skin-side magic that had been used to propel her, now stood Mayra, holding Mariette in a princess-carry.


Mayra hadn’t responded to MDP’s question, for she’d seen the situation before her and her back just detonated in fire-magic as she launched herself and caught Mariette just before Ronin reached her and carried her aside.

‘Woh, I didn’t expect to actually be saving Mariette…!’ Mayra called out, looking around attentively and holding Mariette tightly as she was still gasping from the lightning that had gone through her.

Ronin, though, didn’t actually stop as Mayra had taken Mariette. Ronin held a serious expression and ran straight past the two. Directly at someone else.


Eli was just now recovering from Lily’s lightning-blow, shaking herself as she materialized her reinforced wing-shield and wing-blade, looking up… and finding that Mayra had saved the day. A sigh of relief would have gone through her, except there was a very threatening albeit tiny samurai Magical Girl running directly for her. Ronin.

Surprised at the tiny aggressor running directly for her, Eli raised her weapons to combat her aggressor, while Ronin kept her eyes focused squarely on Eli and reached for her currently sheathed sword…!

---

Leena gasped as she glanced up and saw Su drop down on her; at that moment, FanFan was distracted by Esther, allowing her to make contact with the Ascendancy operative. Leena braced for impact, expecting to be ground pounded or slammed against the wall. Instead, she was assaulted by softness.
“W-What is this?!” She yelled out, as her magically-induced anger gave way to a mix of feelings, mostly bafflement, freeing her from the Emotion magic she was cursed with. However, she was still pissed off by the busty girl butting in. “Get off of me!” She shook her legs around in an attempt to get rid of the Air girl, but she successfully held on. Then Su spoke, and Leena grumbled in response. She now seemed more receptive to Su’s words compared to Josefin. However, she wasn’t quite persuaded. “No! Stop interrupting my mission, or you’ll be punish-Hrk!”
That was when Su’s curse began to gradually spread through her body, causing her limbs to turn visibly red and numb as her blood vessels were blocked. “You b-bitch!” She groaned out, and convulsed, struggling to hold on to the sword embedded in the wall. Her gasmask Healing Artifact did help to slow down the curse by delivering restorative oxygen to her bloodstream, but as long as Su held on it would eventually cause her limbs to paralyze.

“Die!” Leena summoned her second sword, and swung down at Su, about to cut off the arms holding on to her...When Josefin arrived in the nick of time, blocking the sword strike with her own. The blades sparked as they clashed, and Leena shouted in frustration as her sword dropped from her hand.
“You shitty brat!” She grabbed the loli by her ankle and pulled her off the wall, attempting to swing her down as a weapon at Su and hopefully drop the both of them.

FanFan was about to pursue Dina when she was met with Esther, the wooden monster girl who used her roots to cling to the mansion’s wall as she fought with the Ascendancy girl, allowing her to focus entirely on attacks. The two were evenly matched in strength, with FanFan’s mighty punches easily sustained by Esther’s durability and regenerative properties, while Esther’s blows successfully kept FanFan from advancing as they dented her metal appendages, one punch even hitting her in the chin, causing her to groan. “Ngh! All bark as well as bite, huh? How about this then!” With a magical spell turned one of her metal arms into a rotary saw that began to spin and cut into Esther while she grappled her with the other arm; the monster girl successfully resisted being sliced into pieces, instead causing woodchips to spray, but the constant regeneration was quickly draining her of mana. “Timbeeeer!”

---

Justine lifted her claws off Tenebra, and turned to see as Jenna charged right at her, holding a cane the vampire girl recognized to belong to the dapper magical boy who had addressed her earlier. Even if she had transformed, she could still recognize her former servant, and the fire in her gaze.
”JANET!” She screamed, and bared her canines. Jenna was about to strike, when suddenly Freya dashed into the way of the attack, forcing the two to dodge and avoid their attacks from colliding as they were prepared for surprises, but not from each other. Taking her chance, Justine flashed her red eyes, moving Tenebra like a puppet to block the attack at the very last second, ironically reversing the situation from far in the past when Janet herself served in the place of the shield. Tenebra was struck by the cane, and took the brunt of the magical payload, filling her with love magic that exploded in the pattern of a pink, sparkling heart. Freya was caught in the spell’s effect, but was unharmed; the emotion magic filled the bestial monster girl’s heart with true love, causing her to be momentarily distracted by the feelings of serenity and joy that had overcome her cold and ruthless self. However, Justine could not manage to escape the radius of effect completely.

”AAAAHHHH!” Even if she had managed to avoid most of the spell’s effect, there was enough to severely hurt her as she was knocked away, landing on her feet with a backwards slide. She clutched at her chest, as blood trickled down the corner of her mouth and her legs wobbled.
”That spell...There was enough true love in that *cough* attack to kill me. But unfortunately, you *cough* wasted it.”
But then, she scoffed; Tenebra blinked, and sat up with a dazed look.
”Dammit! Very well then.” Suddenly, Tenebra gasped, and coughed blood; she was pierced right through the heart by Justine impaling the broken girl with a spear.
”Your blood will serve me, if nothing else!”
Justine visibly shook as she drained the blood. She seemed to somewhat recover as her six wings transformed into clawed red arms; a sign of her desperation. At that moment, Freya had recovered from the lovey-dovey spell.
”This is what I should have done to you on that fateful day, Janet!”
She screamed, and dashed in with a stab of her spear.
”Perish!”

Meanwhile, Sonia engaged in a fight with Lea, and deflected a missile-fast kick with the knives she held, performing a backflip and landing in a tripod pose, throwing off the bugs that had stuck to the weapon with a flick of her wrist.
”You vermin! Only Lady Justine may decide when I am to die!”
Sonia leaped backwards to create space in the moment Lea spent to form a circle of bugs, and pulled something out from her pockets. As Lea and her bugs closed in, Sonia scoffed.
”Send my regards to your Horror.”
Lea dove in with a kick...but in the next moment, she realized she had burst into flames. In her agonizing last moments, she witnessed how Sonia had a candle in one hand, lighted up by the lighter she held in her other hand. The Bane had caused her body to combust to deadly effect upon contact with the fire, as a swarm of fiery moths spread into the air, only to fall down as snowy green ash, hauntingly beautiful like the girl herself was, and she quickly disappeared into darkness, snatched away by Asengav's will.
Sonia did not smile, or show any reaction to her victory.
”Even in this forsaken dream...I will protect you, my Lad-”
She froze, placed into stasis, as Sam had reached out to touch her shoulder from behind, having used the cloud of insects to sneak up on her before she had a chance of discovering her and dodging.

---

Aurelio sent his message, but realized after a moment of silence that he was not picking up a signal due to the being in the effect of the Nullification Field. After he had healed Sakura, he dashed out of range of it, only to be met by Elora’s screamin in her ear.
“What in the ever-loving grace of Beacon happened?” Elora could be heard frantically typing.
“The dimension is coming apart! I don’t think it’s going to last more than a couple of minutes at this rate of degradation! You need to get out of there!”
After Aurelio relayed his desire to leave, Elora confirmed it. “I have all the signals locked on, but there is a disturbance that prevents teleportation! You need to get them out of the affected area or you will not be unable to extract! Hurry!”

---

Helga ground her teeth in frustration as her slash was deflected by Alicia, leaving three lines of wounds on her. She landed on a windowsill, and jumped up to Alicia’s side. “You’re not gonna win this one!” She was right; Alicia would not win in a straight melee against the monster girl...But her words were not something Helga expected.
“The...Trove?” Helga hadn’t thought of the possibility of Beacon coming to attack her beloved business and home, and that realization caused her to momentarily stop.
“How do you-”
She did not have the time to finish her question, as Alicia launched herself at her with a swift kick; Helga barely had time to move an arm in the way before she was struck, causing her to be knocked away from the mansion. “Crap!” She hit the floor of the dimension with a loud thud, and held her head as she saw stars, now missing a couple of teeth as she felt her bruised face. “Oof...Reminds me of the time I was hit by that speedy car.”

She then looked into the distance, and saw as Dan the Dolphin successfully formed a giant blue portal, it’s interior swirling like a whirlpool of water. “Everyone! Get to the choppaaa!” He squeaked with a megaphone he summoned in his hand. “Or in this case portaaal!”

Lea was about to be engulfed in flames, but was then spontaneously enveloped in darkness instead, Asengav removing her from the dimension. She'd suffer the consequences of risking herself later.

_{this was the Retrieval benefit}

It took awhile for Alexander's brain to understand what he was seeing; the idea of Lily suddenly turning on her allies, on a friend made him feel sick to his stomach, almost enough to vomit right then and there 'You better know what you're doing Lily' His first instinct was to reach out with his magic and strengthen her. Since he wasn't sure exactly what her plan was, it was a good way to help without accidently getting in her way. However, there was the anti-magic field 'Dammit! What the hell do I do!?' He ran after her, hoping that he would have some kind of plan when he reached her.

Eliza would admit she hesitated, what with more girls from both sides (well, as far as she knew of Jenna) intervening before she could land a hit. But in honesty, it only made her more angry as their efforts only stopped one of them. And the other was healed back up after seemingly murdering Tenebra.

In fact, the whole battlefield was devolving into chaos, even she could see what was happening to the others. She wasn't worried about them, however. No, they can handle themselves. All that mattered was taking down that goddamn vampire, the same one about to kill Jenna. Even if she went down with her.

She won't screw this up again. Not again.

"I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" With a roar, Eliza boosted herself forward with her time magic, stopping in between Justine and Jenna. She spun on her heel, in her attempt to stab the thornwitch blade into the vampire's head. Or heart, either way. If that plan wasn't viable, she'd simply block the spear with her gautlets, giving time for someone else to step in.

Meanwhile Anaya checked up on Tenebra, to see if she was still alive. There wasn't really much she could do besides provide backup to the cradle agents. She knew that this was their fight now.

---

Since there was a lack of mention for Maura, she first engaged in combat against Sonia, though as a means of buying time for the others, like Valerie was. "'Riff-raff'?? Please, you should feel honoured to dance with Death~" She taunted the maid. Though this too was short lived when Lea and Silhouette stepped in to handle the rest. Even as the former had to retreat, they managed to take her out of the fight without outright killing her. "Huh." Maura looked over the frozen Sonia, before looking over to Viridian and the stranger. "So, wanna keep her alive, or should I finish her off?" she asked.

---

The combat mech cursed under it's breath when Reaver mention Penny. How the hell did he know about her?? Was there something going on while Valerie was away? Whatever the case may be, it was aware that the knight wasn't to be taken lightly. Even if their strengths were equal overall. It's bladed arms rose up to block Reaver's shield bash, but it managed to stagger it long enough for him to attack. It quickly noticed that the spear was draining it's electric magic. Was he going to attack Penny? Was one monster queen's death not good enough?!

Although, giving the condition of the battlefield, the mech's eletric magic would be useless either way. So before Reaver could strike it again, it's upper body turned his direction and clashed it's blade arm against the spear. It absorbed whatever parts of the spear it could with metal magic, then delivered a swift roundhouse kick, swinging it's blades at the knight.

---

Amanda was left on the sideline, opening a rift to her dimension like Dan was. "Strange dolphin." She silently remarked, looking at the patron. Hearing Connie and Gaia approach, the magician spun around with a grin. "Guys! You're okay!" When asked about what was going on, the grin faded. "As far as I can tell, this anti-magic field is putting a strain on this place. If the field stays up any longer, we're screwed if we dont leave." Amanda frowned. "Though knowing how stubborn Beacon is, it'd take a miracle to convince them to take it down." She sighed.

"Guess we all can't do much now but wait. Is Dreamy okay?"

The mouth of Connie’s mask drooped into a frown as Amanda explained that there really wasn’t much they could do about the whole “imminent dimensional collapse” thing, although the bespectacled magician did seem to be making some sort of portal, so perhaps that could be used as a means of escape. Then Connie gasped. “O-Oh my gosh! I-I c-completely f-forgot about her! Y-You m-mean M-Magical D-Dream Princess, r-right?! S-She was w-with us in the m-mansion, a-and she was r-really s-sweet and adorable, b-but s-she d-didn’t come t-through the p-portal w-with us, s-so s-she m-must s-still b-be i-inside!” Connie rambled nervously as the reality of MDP’s situation fully dawned on her. “M-Mia!” she cried, clinging to her friend. “W-We h-have to go b-back and s-save her!”

“Be at peace, little sister,” Gaia told her soothingly. “Despite her peculiarities, if what we have seen of her power is any indication, our childish friend is more than capable of handling herself. So, I take it you are acquainted with her Highness, the Princess of Dreams, as well?” she asked Amanda. “Was your concern for her safety what brought you to this desolate place?”

It made a certain kind of sense that two magical girls of the same rare specialization would know each other, but Gaia still found it interesting that these two particular girls were acquainted, perhaps even friends. They were just so different from each other, with Amanda seeming like something of a quiet bookworm type, and MDP being, well, MDP… Then again, the same was true of her and Connie, and the verdant magical girl couldn’t help but smile at the thought that two such incredibly different people would end up becoming best friends, despite how unlikely it seemed.






MDP watched with childish wonder as Mayra used her magic to rocket over and catch Mariette before the stunned girl could fall to the ground (or into the clutches of an enemy, although MDP was having a hard time differentiating friend from foe at the moment…). Conjuring a pair of pink pompoms, the innocent magical girl began an energetic cheer routine.

“Mayra Wayra~! Mayra Wayra~! Go~! Go~! Goooo~! (giggle!) Yaaay~! Mayra Wayra saved Mariettey Wetty~!” MDP cheered as she cartwheeled over to where Mayra was standing and gave the draconic monster girl a big hug. “Wowie zowie~!” she exclaimed a moment later as something new caught her attention. “Samurai-chan is here too~! (giggle!) But, like, Mariettey Wetty is over heresie, silly willy~! (giggle!)” she added, tilting her head in slight confusion.

Why was the tiny Samurai heading over to apparently do battle with that cute little slime harpy? Wait… Now that she focused more carefully (not the easiest thing for MDP, but she can sometimes manage), the two girls actually looked a bit alike… They were both rather small, and they appeared quite similar in other areas as well… Could the two be related somehow?! Was this going to be some climactic confrontation in some epic family feud?!!

MDP had no idea, but she couldn’t wait to find out!

Samantha walked a bit past the now-frozen Sonia, her crimson eyes looked coldly upon Justine, though her hand lingered upon the girl's shoulder still. Sonia's fight may have ended with a single touch but that did not mean it had been easy. It cost the wellbeing of another magical girl before Samantha could even find a proper opening. Even though she desperately wished she could've engaged Sonia by herself, the fact of the matter was that this was the 'ideal' way to end things. Wordlessly, she thanked the insect-specialized girl who made this possible before addressing Maura's query.

"You would find that doing so yourself currently would prove difficult. As long as she's like this, she's effectively invincible," she explained. "With the dimension collapsing shortly, she couldn't get out in time even if we left her, so we don't need to do anything with her." Samantha's blade would still cut through her like a hot knife through butter if she pleased, but for now, that idea was put on the backburner. Instead, Silhouette kept her eyes on Justine and pondered their next move.

She was the last enemy that needed to be destroyed. And how, exactly, could they go about doing that? Overwhelming her was an option, especially now that she didn't have any backup. Yet just as Sam was considering voicing this, Justine, narrowly avoiding being taken out, recovered her strength by draining a thrall that had outlived its usefulness. That was troublesome! And, to be honest, a bit upsetting. Had she chosen to pursue Justine instead, Tenebra wouldn't've been killed.

...

...

...huh?

What sort of thinking was that? Samantha was startled by the fact even a shadow of guilt appeared in her mind since it was very much out-of-character for her. She had no reason to even care about Tenebra, either. It wasn't like she knew the girl or was tasked with helping her. They weren't even allies in this battle. She struggled to think of a good reason and thus decided to chalk it up to hanging around that girl in the park far too often.

Samantha ignored that minor tinge of guilt and gave Sonia's shoulder a pat before moving her hand off of it. She wasn't actually sure if Sonia was conscious or not since the people she had frozen up to this point (aside from Trixy's perverted hands) weren't in a condition to tell her afterward. Even so, she spoke up to the maid. "You know, Sonia, I think you were right about what you said. Justine's response will determine your fate." she nodded to Maura and Viridian. "I have a plan, we'll see how it goes."

Honestly, the idea Samantha had in her head was something she should find foolish given how Justine has acted this entire day. The vampire gleefully sacrificed mind-numbed girls earlier and, literally seconds ago, even personally took the life of a thrall of hers with absolutely no hesitation whatsoever. This plan did have every reason to whiff, but since it was available to her, Sam figured she would try. They seemed pretty close, at least. Besides, the worst-case scenario was Justine ignoring the bait, which was of little consequence anyway. Yet cold as her nature was, even Samantha had to force herself to speak how she did in her attempt to agitate Justine. Death was something she preferred to administer quickly, not make a spectacle out of. "Justine!" she called loudly in an attempt to reach the girl. "Would Sonia prefer a quick and painless death or an open-casket funeral? We're running out of time so I need you to answer quickly!" as she made the poorly-disguised threat, she leveled the knife at Sonia and waited to see how the vampire would react.