As things were wrapping up after the wendigo fight, Penny had taken MDP aside to express her interest in having a formal business meeting at Covington Tower, something the whimsical girl was only too happy to agree to. Upon returning to her private office, the detransformed heiress had checked her schedule and texted Penny on their secure communications link with all the relevant details. Around noon, two days later, Melisa’s cheerful voice informed Violet that her guests had arrived. “Thank you Melisa,” the heiress told her secretary in a calm and professional tone. “Please send them in.”

Penny was the first to walk through the door, her bright amber eyes scanning the room as she entered. She was dressed much more formally than her normal jacket and jeans in a dark gray pantsuit, though she was without a tie, and was carrying a folder under one arm. The suit was notably worn, and wasn’t a perfect fit for Penny, but helped her stand out less in the corporate building.

The tattoo of gears around her left eye, and waist length neon blue hair, however meant it was impossible to go completely unnoticed. But it did help distract away from some of her unsealed qualities bleeding over, such as her unnaturally bright eyes. or the fact that she was wearing gloves that went past her wrist. The doll-like joints that resided on her hands in this form would be just as impossible to explain after all.

Overall she looked like a teen, but at least one who was trying to make this visit work.

She would walk straight over to the desk even as she continued to examine the office, noting and cataloging everything she saw. But she was quiet, not nervous, but unsure exactly on how disconnected to keep the Magical and Mundane in Violet’s office. Thus she would wait for the heiress to set the pace.

Dina for her most part, had erased all traces of her feline features, but she still stood out significantly. She was wearing a brocaded dress worthy of a princess, and her hair hung long and luscious cascading down her neck. She did look even too high class for a corporate environment, a stark contrast with Penny. She checked the room with a neutral stare as she advanced closer.

Violet smiled as the two young women entered and approached her desk. “Penny, Dina, it’s good to see you,” the heiress greeted them with a polite smile. “Welcome to Covington Tower. Please, have a seat,” she added, gesturing to the pair of comfy-looking chairs in front of her desk. “And you need not worry about anyone listening in on our conversation,” she told Dina in an attempt to assuage some of the regent’s anxious concern. “Penny was kind enough to assist me in thoroughly scanning the room for bugs. But please don’t let that stop you from looking around,” she clarified with a small smirk.

The chamber, while quite luxurious, was still somewhat spartan, possessing a crisp, clean, futuristic aesthetic. Nothing extraneous seemed present, only what was needed at that precise moment, the only decoration being several paintings of august visages which resided in recessed alcoves on either side of Violet’s desk. A substantially larger image of her father was located behind, and just above, where she was sitting, as if the elder Covington was passing judgment on all gathered.

“Those portraits depict esteemed members of my family’s lineage,” Violet explained. “I find they serve as suitable reminders of the legacy I am tasked with upholding.”

”Still have to say it’s an interesting look.” Penny would comment as she turned her gaze to Violet. “Not used to seeing my aesthetic all over the place.” Which had a lot to do with the fact that she lives in an abandoned warehouse, but also that most of the world was always going to be playing catch up to Penny’s own systems in one degree or another.

“Here is what I could find about the Penrose Independent.” The sealed monarch would go on to say, sliding over the folder she had. “Magically there isn’t much to do, since Eden up and vanished, so letting those who are currently working there know about the change in ownership is about it on that side.” It was the mundane side of things that Penny was running into issues with. Since she didn’t exist according to the mundane world, and even if she did she would at best be considered a minor. To say nothing of not really having the money to buy it.

Dina for the most part, would look at the portraits, then at Violet. "New money huh." She would add as an afterthought. "I still can't get used to the spins and turns of the world." She would add, her head tilting at Violet. "But still some things ring true. In Business trust is essential. It would be too foul to listen on us. And pretty little gain to get. I am not concerned with that regard, child."

"A propaganda machine at our service with mortal aides should help… but I am afraid our timing is the worst."

“Our timing is closer to now or never unfortunately” Penny would say “The Sanctuary is barely keeping a float even if it doesn’t seem like it. We need some kind of income, and soon. Or we are going to have to start turning people away.”

Violet couldn’t help but smile when Penny noted the similarity between the office’s aesthetics and those of her own transformed appearance. That fact was, after all, one of the reasons for the heiress’s initial attraction to Penny, and as she had gotten to know the cybernetic girl, that attraction had only grown more pronounced. Still, as much as she wanted to enjoy this time with her girlfriend, and possibly even give her a full tour of Covington Tower, Violet knew that this was a business meeting, first and foremost, and so she allowed it to proceed uninterrupted.

“Hmmm…” Violet murmured as she skimmed over the files Penny had presented her with. “I would have thought the Independent’s magical members would have fled the city along with Miss Campbell,” she observed with a raised eyebrow. “Amanda told me all about what she did at the rave, and honestly, with the Ascendancy essentially making them public enemy number one, I would think that even the mundane assets associated with that name would have abandoned it fairly quickly. Speaking of, while I am completely in favor of making full use of its various assets, I do not think it particularly prudent to continue to make use of the Penrose Independent name. We shall have to come up with a new identity, one that will not be misconstrued as perpetuating the twisted and openly antagonistic ideology of Miss Campbell’s organization.”

At Dina’s comment, Violet would turn to address the former noble. “Old money, actually,” she clarified, her voice taking on a slightly sharper tone. “My family’s business empire was built over more than a century and a half of beneficial partnerships and insightful patronage of revolutionary new technologies, and it continues in much the same manner today,” she added, clearly quite proud of her prestigious heritage. “But you are correct, trust is essential, which is exactly why you need a means of letting people know what the Sanctuary really sands for, without detrimental rumors and harmful biases getting in the way. And I believe having control of a news agency is one of the best ways to accomplish that.” Turning back to Penny, she added in a more sympathetic tone, “As for the Sanctuary’s current resource shortages, I believe CI may be able to assist with alleviating them. As you might be aware, we’ve recently begun undertaking an array of charitable projects to improve the city’s quality of life. I do not believe it would be too difficult to divert some of those resources to aid what is essentially a local homeless shelter.”

“Most people seemed to hyper fixate on Eden from what I can gather.” Penny would explain the odd discrepancy “Beacon even ran a full investigation, but there aren't any ties with the organization as a whole to Mint. It was only ever Eden. I’m not saying that everyone stuck around, but since Eden left most of the heat being brought about on them is gone.”

“There is likely only a skeleton crew left on either side of the divide, I’ve not gone digging too deep into the paper trails to verify. But right now most of the infrastructure is still in place and at least a few people are still working there. The need to be rebranded is still a valid point however.”

Dina's ears twitched as her tail swished ever so slightly. Her eyes gazed at Violet's comment, clearly disliking the fact that she thought century and half was enough to qualify as an old lineage. She could alone recite 200 years worth of ascendants gone up in smoke and flames so that the children of merchants and traders and communists could take power.

She kept watching as she went on the tirade of a public propaganda machinery. "Calling the Sanctuary a homeless shelter is a little too much, Covington."She would reply, unable to go silent any longer.

"I am sorry, your Highness, but I believe I no longer qualify to be a part of this. I will take my leave now. I will try to find other methods." Dina would then excuse herself with the most elegant curtsy she could, awaiting Penny.

“If you’re sure” Penny would state, with a note of minor confusion. “I’ll catch up with you later and give you a run down of what we covered.”

“Very well,” Violet replied politely as she rose from her seat. “I hope the rest of your day is more productive. Well,” the heiress added with an annoyed scowl once the regent had departed. “That was certainly unpleasant. If anything, I think she has grown even more unbearable since last we met… I am sorry Penny,” she apologized after exhaling a weary sigh. “I simply do not know why she seems to detest me so much. I can understand if she finds my behavior in my transformed state somewhat… difficult to tolerate, but I would like to think I was being very civil and courteous just now.”

“Your guess is as good as mine unfortunately.” Penny would say gaze lingering on the door in which Dina just recently departed. “I mean the Sanctuary is a homeless shelter, effectively, so I’m not sure why that was such a sticking point.” She would shrug before returning her attention back to Violet. “I guess her vision of the Sanctuary and mine are just different, and that distinction is growing more noticeable by the day.” She would offer up even if it was somewhat easy to tell that Penny wasn’t fully sure herself.

“Stuff like this has been cropping up more and more often since the Christmas party.”

Dina for the most part stopped in her tracks just outside. Her hairs were bristling, as she allowed herself to calm herself down. ...Think again, Dina. There’s a lot of people counting on you. What good is your pride if it lets you get in the way of things. Mayhaps the body does have an influence on the mind. Sometimes I feel like i’m truly fourteen.

With a heavy sigh, she resolved herself, and opened the doors. “I’m sorry.” She admitted. “These are trying times. Mayhaps I got too attached to what you call a homeless shelter. I lost people defending them, and I nearly lost my life doing so. Being addressed as such makes one wonder if all our struggles meant something. But I must face the truth. I’m just a cat with no money. Defending our wounded pride will not go very far.”

She offered a bow. “I would like to make amends for those under my charge, if you would have me.”

Violet couldn’t help but be surprised when Dina returned and apologized for her earlier behavior. Still, although this was not something the heiress had expected, she was pleased to see it, nonetheless. “Of course,” Violet replied with a demure nod. “And there is no need to apologize,” she added. “If anything, I am the one at fault here. I did not intend any offense by referring to the Sanctuary as a homeless shelter, and you have my deepest apologies if my words came across as such. Please know that I have nothing but respect for what you and Penny are working to accomplish there, and I would never seek to demean such a worthy endeavor.”

Penny was also surprised at Dina’s reappearance, but it was very much a pleasant one. Listening to the short byplay gave Penny a better idea at what it was that must have gotten to the Regent. From there it wasn’t hard for Penny to assume that various girls who lived at the Sanctuary would likely react along similar lines if faced with hearing their home referred to as a homeless shelter.

“I suppose it might be better to call the Sanctuary an enclave at this point.” Penny would say, though she was thinking more aloud. “Originally it was just supposed to be a mix between a homeless shelter and halfway house. But we’ve grown past that stage haven’t we.” Likey it grew past that point while Penny was first stuck at the beach, and Cindy was using it as a base.

The reminder was useful, even if it wasn’t what Dina had intended. Penny would have to set some time aside to go over this more at another time.

“If I may…interject.” She added after coughing. “Rebranding is fairly simple. All we need is to imitate the real world. The people we need to reach are fundamentally teenagers. Now, I may be 105 years old, but if I’m not mistaken, fashion, and good looking boys should catch the attention. We can then slip some more… elaborate and conventional news in between. But if we want to rake in cash we need to cater to people's vanity and need for entertainment.”

Violet’s eyebrow rose at Dina’s observation. “Are you suggesting that instead of publishing a respectable news periodical, we lower our standards to that of a gossip-filled tabloid?” she asked somewhat incredulously. “Forgive me, but I had assumed you would be the very last person to suggest such a course of action. How do you feel about this, Penny?”

Penny would ponder the idea for a moment “We could do both” She would offer up. “We’d already be running two different types of outlets as is. One of them would by necessity but stuck to reporting on the mundane side, while another would tackle the magical one.” Would come the explanation.

“Ideally we would be a trusted news source, money is the driving goal at the moment, yes, but not my only one. There are those out there that don’t believe that anything good can come out of the Sanctuary, or anything like it. Building a reputation of being a trustworthy news source will help with that.”

“But writing tabloids can be a fun outlet. Especially since so many of us can’t easily move around in the mundane world. We could turn it into a conspiracy tabloid that is talking about the magical world in such a way only those in the know would be able to tell.”

“I will admit to not having much of an investment in the mundane world though.” Penny would admit with a somewhat sheepish shrug. “My position, and Penrose in general, means that I tend to focus more on the magical side of things.”

Dina nodded, her gaze resting on Violet. "Well, that is the best idea I came up with to wash Eden's imprint. I do not think people will ever raise arms against… this kind of vulgar publishing. It could allow us a respite, get us some funds, and test if the Penrose Independent can still work as a proof-of-concept. Going from tabloid to serious might be tough, but at least the staff won't be reviled."

“Hmmm…” Violet mused. “Those are both good points, and I agree that running two contrasting publications would serve to cover all our needs, but we would have to ensure that they remain separate,” she added. “That is to say, there shouldn’t be a discernible link between them. With that in mind, we would actually be creating two separate agencies, with little to no overlap. However, I think the real question we need to consider is who shall be running each organization? When I was working under the assumption that we would be operating only one agency, I had initially intended for Amanda to fill that role, but due to the Mint’s recent machinations, she has decided to leave Penrose for the time being. I could still perhaps convince her to work remotely, but I feel it would be better to have someone physically present, and even then, we would ideally need a second individual to head up our other agency. Do either of you have any suggestions in this regard?”

Penny’s confusion was readily apparent even before she spoke up “Why would they need to be separated?” She would ask not seeing any issue with running both publications side by side. “If we are running the divide down the masquerade line it wouldn’t matter that the magical side knows we are running both wouldn’t it?”

"Hmm…how about..what was it…supplements? We just bundle them together." She paused. "As for who… Well, I don't think there will be shortage of volunteers at Sanctuary. Maybe Dullahan can. Goblina… "

Dina would then ponder. "I even knew of a teleporter but she seems to have faded out of Penrose recently."

Upon hearing Penny’s confusion, Violet would give voice to a tired sigh. “I suppose it is simply my paranoia talking, but I am reluctant to allow such a sizable group of people, most of whom I have yet to meet, to have full knowledge of something that could easily be used against us. As I am sure I don’t need to remind you, Penny, we have no small number of enemies, and in light of that, limiting potentially compromising information to as few people as possible only makes sense. For example, what if one of the people responsible for publishing the magical tabloid leaked the information that we were also responsible for publishing what is ostensibly a credible news source? Even if that information wouldn’t make any difference among the magical community, it would do possibly irreparable damage to our reputation among the mundane population. In particular, having Covington Industries’ name associated with a conspiracy theory-promoting tabloid would have a noticeable effect on how we are viewed as a company, and not a positive one.” Turning to Dina, she added, “While I am glad to hear that such a large number of the Sanctuary’s residents are willing to assist us, ideally they should have at least some experience in journalism, and if they wish to take on a leadership role, team management as well. With that in mind, would it be possible to take a survey of the volunteers’ skill sets and occupational histories, if applicable? That way, we can assign them to the tasks they would be most suitable for.”

“I can set up a survey for everyone without too much trouble.” Penny would reply. Turning one of the dead arcade cabinets into a survey station shouldn’t take too much work. And then letting everyone there know that it was to streamline things for when jobs came in wouldn’t be much of a hassle either.

“The paranoia, and your company’s reputation are good points as well.” The mundane reputation was one thing Penny had already admitted to overlooking, but the paranoia was worth a second look. The Mint, presumably, knew a fair bit about the Penrose independent due to their dealing with Eden and could likely use that information against them. The monarch didn’t think that they would have a lot of sensitive information to sit on at first, but eventually? Who knows.

“Building off your company’s reputation, we might need to keep both sides serious from the start. Otherwise the jarring divide might get people to look deeper than you might be comfortable with.”

Dina would bring her hand to her chin, pondering options. "Looks like we have forget about the fast pay off option. No matter. We can still use gossip to work for us. While we are building our serious publication, we leak the rumour that someone is here to take Eden's spot. What is it what they call it, mamis? Meowmes? That sort of thing. If need be I bet I can conjure a few creatures for extra hands."

“Possibly…” Violet mused after Penny had made her suggestion. “Although I think we can still proceed with our initial plan, as long as no link can be drawn between the two publications, or, more importantly, between the tabloid and CI. With that in mind, perhaps the Sanctuary itself could assume full ownership of, and control over, that side of things, with minor, covert assistance from CI, if and when necessary?”

“Memes” Penny would correct Dina’s uncertainty off-handedly. “And yeah the Sanctuary could take full ownership of the tabloid.” She would answer Violet “Only assistance I can foresee us needing would be keeping us in the black, but I’m not sure if we’d need much assistance with that. Once people learn that it's the Sanctuary putting out that side of things that should be enough of a draw to get at least a stable base to work from.” Or at least that was Penny’s hope on the matter.

"So it's settled then." Dina would then say. "If I was 70 years younger I would engage myself, but even If I smiled and posed I do not think I could keep up with people and their… excessive lack of modern clothing."

“Excellent,” Violet declared with a pleased smile. “In that case, I shall contact the relevant parties and draw up the appropriate paperwork in regard to the mundane side of things. I would ask to remain apprised of all future developments on your end,” the heiress added with a teasing smirk. “But since Penny and I chat every day, I don’t foresee that being an issue.”

"Mew?"Dina replied in slight surprise. "What do you mean by that?"

“Simply that we have a secure means of conversing with each other,” Violet replied. “Is that really so surprising?”

"For someone so mundane, yes." Dina would answer.

“Penny is not mundane,” Violet replied. “And neither am I, for that matter,” she added. “Even if I was, Penny alone is fully capable of establishing the kind of covert communications link we require. As it is, we worked on it together, while making use of some unintentional assistance from a few other friends of mine.”

“The never ending wonders of the digital worlds” Penny would remark with a smile of her own. “There are a half dozen different ways to hide or mask a network. And that’s before you start getting magic involved. Add that, the fact I’m an AI, or that Violet is on the later end of the bell curve when it comes to intelligence to the equation and that number grows exponentially.”

“Main reason I’ve not done more for the Sanctuary in that regard is that there is a start-up cost for a lot of those if you want them to be more than a peer to peer set up. But that’s what the computer terminal I’ve set up is for.”

"I am saying your involvement with the Magical world is concerning, Miss Covington. Despite the fact we wish for a joint endeavour I do wish to insist that you still have a way to go back to a normal life and you should think carefully." Dina would add.

“Oh, I have thought very carefully about it,” Violet replied with an amused smile. “With Penny’s assistance, I have taken every precaution possible to ensure that no one, the Ebon Mint most of all, learns of my connections to the magical community, or of my magical alter-ego.”

Dina sighed. "Then it is already too late. It's not a matter of whether they know. It's a matter of when." She then added. "There are always ways of knowing things." Dina replied.

"Not only electronic espionage works, but the old fashioned vermin network, spirits. Even plants can be used. These three methods often tend to be overlooked because they do require particular powersets." Dina would then say. "And Penny cannot tap in any of these three."

“Perhaps,” Violet conceded. “But I believe Penny and I are more than capable of creating devices that can not only detect, but completely jam such avenues of espionage. And as it is,” the heiress added. “They should have no reason to suspect anything. After all, I have been fully amenable to every suggestion and offer they have made, regardless of how repulsive I might actually find them.”

“The Mint isn’t one to rock the boat if they don’t need to.” Penny would chip in “They aren’t omniscient, so as long as they’ve not got a good reason to go poking about their agent’s business they don’t” Something that Penny knew from personal experience.

"That is not very reassuring, but I will not dwell on something that cannot be changed. Remember that pride comes before the fall." Dina would simply reply.

“I prefer to think of it as confidence,” Violet replied. “Confidence that, when Penny and I work together, there is nothing we cannot accomplish.”

“Hope for the best” Penny would quote with a nod to Dina “But prepare for the worst. If the situation starts changing we will have back ups in place. For now things are holding and should stay that way.” To be honest Penny felt that Dina was likely more in the right than anything. All secrets had a way of coming to light one way or another.

She did disagree with the effort to give Violet a way back to the mundane however. Penrose as it was didn’t allow easy stepping away from everything. That and the Magical world tended to be very clingy. Simply ignoring everything wouldn’t cause it to go away, Violet was entrenched already, this meeting for the Sanctuary wouldn’t be much in the face of an active Patron.

Dina’s ears twitched. “Should you find yourself in trouble, come to me if Penny is unavailable. I might be able to do something, as meager as I am.” Dina would then add. She knew she was right, but youths would rarely see the bitter lessons of life unless experienced firsthand.

“Of course,” Violet replied with a nod. “You have already proven yourself to be quite resourceful, and I would be foolish not to make use of your vast experience. Now then,” the heiress added, folding her elegant hands atop her desk. “Was there anything else you wished to discuss?”

“That’s the basis I think” Penny would reply leaning back in her chair a bit. “Anything else would need information we don’t have currently I believe.”

“Just don’t hog Penny all the time…” Dina would then reply. “Magical Dream Princess.”

“I shall do my best not to,” Violet replied with a wry smirk. “And I would ask that you please refrain from referring to me by that name,” the heiress added, her tone becoming slightly pointed. “When I am my mundane self, I would prefer if you simply addressed me as Violet, or Miss Covington, if formality is required. I know that the chances of anyone overhearing this conversation are virtually nonexistent,” she continued, her attention firmly on the regent. “But I would still like to take as few chances as possible, something I am sure you will agree with.”

Giving voice to a small sigh, Violet allowed a smile to slowly return to her face. “You know, I think it shall be a rather exciting prospect to own a news agency,” the heiress mused, rising from her chair and stepping over to one of the portraits on her wall. “My great-grandfather, Cornelius Covington, once owned a very successful newspaper, and the thought of following in his illustrious footsteps fills me with great pride.”

“Well then, let's make the Sanctuary Inquirer worth the effort then shall we?” Penny would add, a confident grin breaking out as she did.

“Yes,” Violet agreed with a grin of her own. “Let’s.”

Dina just nodded sagely, before pondering. She really hoped this wouldn’t do them in like the one known as Eden.

Starring:

"The Friendliest Ghost I Know" Oliver Kyle
"Thinking With Portals" Mariette Pedersen
And "Totally Just A Regular Girl, Honest!" Kate Carson

In the evening twilight, as the last rays of the setting sun glinted upon the third story windows of Steven H. Miller Junior High, a diminutive girl with short, dark hair rested against the side of that dilapidated edifice, head bowed as she gazed down at the display screen of the camera she held. Once a respected learning institution in the suburbs of Penrose, SHM had seen its fortunes sour of late, paradoxically in direct contrast to those of Penrose itself. When the city had been little more than a depopulated disaster area, places like SHM, located as it was on the blighted city’s distant outskirts, had continued to provide their important public services, surviving, and perhaps even thriving, in what was otherwise rightly viewed as Penrose’s darkest hour. Ironically, it would be the city’s rejuvenation that would seal SHM’s doom.

With Covington Industries taking the lead in orchestrating Penrose’s rebirth, an array of new, state of the art, and corporate funded institutions had sprung up, almost literally overnight. With the sprawling, ultra-modern campus of Cornelius B. Covington Academy opening its doors to every child, from pre-k to high school, Steven H. Miller Junior High and its contemporaries were seen as little more than aging relics of a past best left behind. Thus, the once-prestigious school now sat empty and abandoned, awaiting its demolition to make room for yet another soulless shopping center or office park, its many long decades of shaping eager young minds forgotten, swept away by the tides of time, and the passing of the seasons…

I wonder who decided to accept my offer… Kate idly mused to herself as she waited for her escorts to arrive. Could probably be anyone, knowing how money hungry everyone in Penrose seems to be. Still, I can’t really blame ‘em, she reflected with a small chuckle. I mean, that’s why I took this job after all. I just hope they can handle what we’re gonna be going up against…

Then the cheerful head of a certain ghost popped out of the wall next to her. "Yo!"

Even if Oliver wanted to stick with Finn for his pick of a bounty, he understood that they needed to be split up for stuff like this. Besides, he's with familiar people, so this wouldn't be awkward and junk! After the initial spook, the ghost phased out of the wall and adjusted his satchel. "I know Big Backpacks already give you food and stuff, but I packed some extra stuff in case the weather gets fucked." He explained. "And of course I can mix something up with my magic, just in case. So how's life been for ya?" He asked Kate.

“Gah!” Kate exclaimed, startled by the ghost’s sudden appearance. “Oh, it’s you,” she added after taking a moment to catch her breath. “Life’s been pretty good,” she replied. “No complaints, at least. And it’s nice to see you’ve come prepared,” she added with an approving nod. “Bein’ a ghost’ll probably come in handy where the environment’s concerned, too, so it looks like you’re all set.”

And speaking of all set…

They could talk for a bit longer, when eventually someone approached them. Someone wrapped from head to toe in clothes. The individual walked and came to a stop in front of Kate and Oliver.

The girl levied a focused gaze at Kate. Over her upper body she had wrapped herself with a winter/rain-jacket that heated her up considerably and was several sizes too big for her, and she held her hands forward with thick gloves over them. On her lower were winter-pants of grey colour, definitely decently warm. On her head was a thick beanie hat wrapping tightly around her head and ears, except over her ears she also had a pair of fluffy earmuffs, and above that she had a hood from her jacket, and a scarf was wrapped around her neck. In her gloved hands she held an umbrella, making a very odd combo, but it was reinforced by Ronja against weather and Mayra had cursed it with a curse of repellent, hopefully meaning any heavy weather would be reflected off of it. Besides that, a portal was open to her right, and from it smoke emerged, a sign she'd lit her own transportable campfire in case they got cold.

‘I... am ready!’ Mariette confidently announced to the two individuals before her, her visible eye focused and proud of her preparedness, the other still covered by an eyepatch. Her long white hair still leaked out around her winter gear. Most certainly prepared, she believed.

“You can say that again,” Kate replied with an amused chuckle. “Although I don’t think you’ll be needing all that, at least not right away. And you look kinda familiar…” she added, placing a finger on her chin. “Oh, that’s right! You were that girl giving out all those plushies at the Christmas party! Mariette, right? I gotta admit, havin’ you along is gonna make things a lot easier, what with the portals and all. Speaking of, the dimensional gate is located in that classroom up there,” she explained, pointing up to a third floor window. “Normally, we’d take the stairs, but, uh, now that you’re here, mind givin’ us a shortcut?”

Oliver couldn't help but chuckle at Mariette's confidence. "Love the enthusiasm, but that getup might be a problem in warmer climates. If you need it, I can make a few cooling agents for ya." He smiled, then looking back to the third floor window Kate pointed out. "Huh. You guys go on ahead, I'll meet you up there!" The ghost told the other two, before flying back through the wall and up to the classroom.

‘Oh, um... Yes, that's me,’ Mariette nodded to Kate's words, beneath all those clothes. ‘I figured, with my powers, you should be able to take pictures you otherwise couldn't... and without needing to get dangerously close, too. It felt like a good fit,’ she said. It was also the highest ranked bounty on the board, and Mariette needed the funds. Oliver had a comment about warmer climates...

‘Oh. Yes, I did consider that. But, worst case, if it's too hot I can simply remove clothing... but I can't do the opposite if it's too cold and I don't bring enough clothes. Is... what I figured,’ Mariette explained herself. She'd thought quite a bit about this. Oliver floated up through the building, making Mariette give a perplexed look, before then nodding to Kate and opening a portal directly to the classroom.

‘I warn that I do have a limited amount of mana. If we're likely to encounter foes, perhaps we shouldn't use portals for everything. Battles drain mana quickly, and I might need some of that to save you in case of emergency,’ she warned, just in case. That said, she did have a Mana Font, but she also didn't want her power to be excessively abused by anyone but herself.

“Okay, I guess that’s reasonable,” Kate conceded once Mariette had explained her thought process. “I was just a little concerned about what you’d do with all that clothing when ya don’t need it, but I suppose ya can just store the excess in a portal, huh? Oh, and on the subject of portals, I’m not really expecting to employ them for travel purposes, since you won’t be able to create one outside of your immediate area once we enter the Sovereign’s dimension,” Kate added as she and Mariette stepped through the portal and into the abandoned classroom, where Oliver awaited them. They would find it completely empty, devoid of even desks and chairs. Walking over to a closet at the back of the room, Kate placed a hand on the door, her fingers splayed wide. “Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring,” she intoned softly. “Of the seasons, I shall sing.” Immediately, there was an audible *Shhthoom!*, while an accompanying glow emanated from behind the wooden door. “Welp, here we are,” Kate announced, opening the door to reveal a shimmering interdimensional gateway. “So, who wants to go first?”

The ghost shrugged. "Ladies first."

Mariette nodded. So... Mariette wasn't exactly the sturdiest of individuals. That said, going after the person she was meant to protect was out of the question. Guess that meant she was going first. She opened tiny portals to look ahead in order to make sure the coast was clear, before starting to advance.

Stepping through the dimensional doorway was like stepping into an oven, the temperature easily over a hundred degrees Fahrenheit. Glaring rays from a bulbous sun, which loomed large in a cloudless blue sky, illuminated a desert landscape of seemingly endless dunes, while in the far distance, several vast, serpentine forms could be seen shooting up from the sand, only to plunge back into it, before repeating the process, as if they were swimming through water. Somewhat closer at hand, a half dozen swirling cyclones of dark sand moved across the dunes, their outer edges crackling with jagged arcs of lightning. Still, whatever wind propelled them could not presently be felt, as if the very environment itself sought to deny them even the smallest respite from the oppressive, all-encompassing heat.

“Whew! Sure is a scorcher, huh?” Kate asked with a chuckle as she fanned herself. “I know you’re covered for the cold,” the photographer added, turning to Mariette. “But I hope you’ve got a plan for dealing with someplace like this, too. As for me,” she continued, while kneeling down before a just-materialized backpack. “I’ve got this!” Reaching into the pack, she retrieved a canteen and took a few gulps of the liquid contained within. “Ahhh… That should do it!” the photographer declared. “The restorative nanites in this stuff’ll keep me cooled off and fully hydrated for the next few hours,” she explained. “Plenty of time to get to the next seasonal ring. So, uh, any questions before we head out?”

"Hah. Must be summer." Oliver noted, using his chemical magic to make something to stave off the desert heat. Just a drop of the quick potion for both him and Mariette and it'd turn into a temporary ice shield. "Don't got any questions, just leave the monsters to me." he nodded.

Mariette came to a complete and immediate stop, and if possible would quickly step back through the door, because she had an immediate change of attire to make. So, off with the jacket, the jacket-pants, the earmuffs, the beanie, the scarf, the additional jumper that had been under the jacket that they hadn't seen, the additional pants that had been under the pair of pants that they did see, and then drop it all down into a portal next to her transportable campfire. She did, in fact, have a countermeasure against heat. But, something Kate had said was nagging at her... something she hadn't accounted for.

When Mariette had undressed basically all the extra clothes, she was back in her basic dress as a Magical Girl... but unfortunately that, too, was too hot for the environment they would be traversing. She stepped back again, and held her umbrella against the sun, at the very least placing herself in a shadow. Now, then... ‘... Here goes.’

Mariette closed her eyes and reached into the sky with her powers. As high as she could handle. As high as she could get. Would it be high enough? Kate... had just said the range of her portals would be limited in here. She hadn't counted on that. Eventually, though, Mariette would reach her limit, and at the moment of truth the portal opened behind her, and what she hoped for was that the colder air of high above them would blend with her immediate surroundings... except, she now didn't know if this would work or not.

“All right,” Kate replied with a chuckle, pleased to see Oliver’s level of enthusiasm. Then there was Mariette, who, after disposing of her excessive clothing, had just opened a portal to no discernible effect. “Uh, I thought you said ya didn’t wanna overuse your portals?” the photographer asked with a perplexed frown. “So, uh, what’s that all about?” she added, pointing to the portal in question.

‘...’ Mariette, not noticing any difference, turned around and stuck her arm through the portal. The temperature on the other side was just as hot, despite her arm now being way above her. She retracted the arm and closed the portal. ‘I was... thinking that air up high would be colder, and I'd use a portal to bring it down here,’ she said. ‘But I guess I'm stuck with this, for now,’ she continued, simply pointing her umbrella at the sun to place herself in a shadow. ‘I did at least bring drinks.’ Currently stored in her Hammerspace Handbag.

"On the bright side, if this place goes in order, things'll start to cool down at autumn." Oliver assumed. He doubted there'd be anything but heat in a realm revolving around summer.

“Heh, yeah,” Kate noted with a chuckle. “This place doesn’t work like a normal planet. There’s no ‘colder air’ up there, just more of this,” she explained, gesturing to the scorching desert around them. “Although,” she added, pulling a baseball cap out of her pack with the letters ‘FCA’ emblazoned on the front in elaborate script. “If you’re able to make a portal without currently having a destination for it, it’d be a big help if you could leave one here, so that when we get to the Sovereign’s sanctum, we can have a quick exit handy.” Placing the cap on her head, the photographer retrieved a small pendant from under her shirt, which projected a rough holographic map of the region. “Nice, looks like we’ll be staying well clear of the sand worms’ migration path,” she observed with an approving grin. “That just leaves the giant scorpions and desert wraiths, but I’m sure they won’t be a problem for you two, right?”

‘I am afraid I can't do that,’ Mariette said, shaking her head a little. ‘I need to... "spread out" the area of influence I have over an area before I can open portals there. More costly in mana the further away it is. I'd have to maintain that area and the whole path to it as we travel to keep it there. As the distance grew, it would eventually become too costly. We have quite a bit of travel to do, do we not? Do not worry, I still have the option to quickly put portals one after the other as we go for a quick escape,’ she explained. ‘Sand worms...’ Mariette mentioned, looking down into the sand for a bit. But, she shook her head and gave a determined look. ‘No matter what comes, you will be safe. We can handle them,’ she declared. She'd keep her Awareness on high alert, and Oliver would do the same.

“Oh, okay,” Kate replied. “Still, doesn’t hurt to ask, and that sounds like a pretty good contingency plan,” she added. “So, if we’re all set, I guess we can head out!”

With that, the trio began their trek across the sweltering sea of dunes. After about a half an hour had elapsed without incident, the sound of a howling wind could be heard, after which five humanoid figures, seemingly composed entirely of sand, swirled into being atop a nearby dune, before darting down upon the trio with frightening swiftness. Meanwhile, a sixth figure remained atop the dune, its arms extended, as it conjured whirling tendrils of sand with which to bind the legs of the three travelers.

“Great, desert wraiths,” Kate muttered as she moved behind her two escorts, while also doing her best to avoid the grasping tendrils of sand. “I’ve heard these guys can be really annoying, so keep your guard up.”

Oliver immediately went on the move, sending out some duplicates to fire at each sand wraith whilst avoiding getting grabbed. Then he summoned a couple of armored spirits of his own to protect Kate, slashing at the tendrils any chance they could. "Might wanna prioritize the one grabbing at our ankles!" He suggested, readying some chemical bombs in anticipation of the wraith's next move.

Mariette, happy to get to do something except sweat while feebly defend herself from the sun's rays with the umbrella, locked her eyes at the desert spirits hounding at them... and tendrils of darkness lashed out from under her dress at the desert tendrils trying to catch her, her own tentacles pushing them off. ‘If you're wraiths, I take it you are undead?’ Mariette asked, as she pulled forth a hand-mirror, her mystic weapon, and pointed it forward... and a blast of purifying light was sent at the sixth figure, a long-range beam imbued with the holy energy of light, wielded by an emissary of darkness. And, if it missed, Mariette was going to spread her magic to open a portal behind the wraith to catch the beam and then send it straight back at the spirit from behind, instead.

She assumed Oliver would deal with the closer wraiths. If they got too close, she could always drop herself through a portal and suddenly end up standing on a portal in mid-air.

The rifle fire from Oliver’s ghostly clones peppered the approaching wraiths, but the bullets simply passed thought the beings’ sandy bodies, seemingly causing no harm whatsoever. In response, the wraiths struck with their bladed limbs, slicing each of the rifle clones apart. The armored melee clones faired better, succeeding in both protecting Kate and dispatching any sand tendrils that got near them. This had the added benefit of allowing the photographer time to snap a picture of the wraith standing on the dune above them. For her part, Mariette dealt with the rest of the tendrils by sending dark tentacles of her own to quite literally tie them up. The perceptive portal witch also directed a light beam attack towards the sixth wraith atop the nearby dune. However, the spectral being raised a barrier of sand to block the shot, and although it was utterly annihilated by the focused beam, the wraith itself remained untouched.

“That guy on the dune is controlling the others like puppets,” Kate called out after looking over the info provided by her camera’s display. “If we take him out, the others should just dissolve into normal sand!”

Well, there goes his duplicates. Time for Plan B!

Oliver summoned a couple more armored spirits to his side, and aiming for the dune wraith, he threw some fire bombs at it. If it heated their adversary well enough, its sandy form should turn into glass, letting him and the knights break it apart with ease. If not, well, there's always just bumrushing it and praying things won't go sideways.

Oh? A shield? Mariette let Oliver deal with that other battle. Herself, she turned towards the sixth figure once again. In her mind, she was thinking... please, do that again.

She shot another shot at the sandy wraith. However, this time, she held some power in reserve. The idea here... was that when the wraith lifted its barrier again, a portal would open that transported the beam from in front of the being to behind it, intending to bypass the sandy shield and strike it from behind.

While a pair of additional armored clones held off the melee wraiths that sought slice him into bits of ectoplasm, Oliver threw a handful of fire bombs at the dune wraith. Once again, a sand barrier was raised to block the blazing projectiles, and once again, it was destroyed upon impact, this time turning to fragile glass, which shattered completely. The ghostly chemist’s guess had been correct, it was vulnerable to heat, something Mariette chose to take advantage of. Preparing another beam, this time the portal witch lived up to her name, using a portal to bypass the expected sand shield and allowing her blazing hot beam to strike the sand wraith in the back. An otherworldly howl could be heard, as the wraith shuddered in apparent pain, a gaping hole in the center of its spectral form, badly injured, but still intact. However, while this meant an end to the sand tendril assault, the magical duo’s focus upon the dune wraith had left them vulnerable to the neglected melee wraiths closer at hand. In particular, Mariette, bereft as she was of clone defenders, would find herself at the mercy of two of the sandy warriors, their spiked appendages primed to impale the white-haired girl like a pincushion…

"Oh shit." Once Oliver saw that the rest of the wraiths took the opportunity to attack Mariette, he sent his pair of ghostly knights to help her. He'd throw more bombs at the dune wraith, then rush up to it and strike it with his rifle.

Of course, Mariette would never allow them to actually reach her. Her tentacles lashed out at them for the singular purpose of keeping them from killing her while she took a jump back to fall through a portal and land on another portal some twenty meters into the air, the portal quickly closing after her. Under the assumption she did not fail, she turned to the wraith once more.

‘I see you need more than one. Do not worry, I have all you need,’ she stated, before directing her hand-mirror at the singular wraith again and starting to fire beams of light at it. Each would go through a portal past the wall of sand to plunge through the wraith's body, and Mariette intended to do this until the foe was felled.

Employing additional tendrils to occupy the charging melee wraiths, Mariette slipped through a portal to reappear high above the combat. Seeing how effective her previous light beam had been against the dune wraith, the portal witch fired another, then another, then another, until the spectral creature virtually shattered apart, it’s anguished shrieks piercing the desert air. Indeed, as Oliver approached, his rifle raised like a club, he could clearly see what little remained of his foe dissolve into the dune below, the five melee wraiths swiftly following suit. For several seconds, all was quiet, all was still. Then, with the howl of a raging cyclone, a massive whirlwind of sand and glass rose up from the dune upon which the sixth wraith had seemingly been felled. Such was its power that Oliver was blown through the air like a rag doll, before slamming into the side of the opposite dune with considerable force (or, at least, considerable force for a corporeal being). He would recover from that just in time to see an enormous figure tower over even Mariette’s elevated position, its menacing form composed of churning sand and sharp, jagged shards of glass.

“Uh, guys…?” an audibly shocked Kate asked as she snapped a quick picture of the towering monstrosity. “I think we made it mad…”

Once Oliver got a good look at what their adversary had become, his eyes widened in fear. How the hell were they supposed to fight that thing?! Even if he was able to shatter that thing before it's stupid third-phase transformation, he didn't think his rifle would make a dent now! Only one option left.

"RUN LIKE HELL!!!" He yelled to the other two as he quickly sprung back up to his feet and fired at the phantom vortex to divert its attention.

Mariette staggered a bit as the howl and whirlwind erupted, then looked up at the being. So, yes. Mariette did have a number of ways of beating this. That said, it wasn't her primary goal, and there were more battles to do in the future.

Mariette turned and walked through a portal to grab Kate's hand before walking into another portal. ‘Not worth the mana,’ she briefly said, before the next portal took her beside Oliver's position, where she made the briefest motion to follow as another portal opened, and she got to show off the chain-portals-together-for-quick-getaway spell, albeit in the opposite direction of back. She moved along.

‘Maybe I should have asked earlier, but what is this place, and what exactly is the Sovereign of Seasons?’ she asked in all haste during the walk (under the assumption they got that far) before finally stepping out of a portal at the end of what Mariette figured should be a safe distance.

As Mariette guided Kate to safety, Oliver remained behind in a valiant attempt to distract the towering sand colossus, the swirling shards of glass passing harmlessly through his intangible form. With a howl of fury, the monstrous wraith brought an enormous, clawed hand down to utterly crush the bothersome ghost. Thankfully, Oliver’s impressive agility allowed him to dodge the lumbering attack, although the shockwave of the blow’s impact still sent the spirit flying through the air… and into one of Mariette’s portals. Once he had rejoined the others, the trio continued their dash from portal to portal, in an effort to put some distance between them and the enraged cyclone wraith. As they ran, a curious Mariette decided to question Kate about the Sovereign and its realm.

“Like I said before, it’s the personal realm of the Sovereign of Seasons,” Kate replied. “The Summer seasonal ring, to be specific. As for what the Sovereign is, I’m not really sure,” the photographer confessed. “Aside from being really old, and really powerful.”

Once they’d exited the final portal, Kate looked back to see that although it was now a substantial distance away, the massive wraith was still pursuing them, the whirlwind of glass shards spinning around it gleaming in the sunlight. However, to their front was a shimmering veil, perhaps only a hundred meters distant. “That’s the gate to the next seasonal ring,” Kate announced. “That big guy back there’ll stop chasing us, once we make it through to the other side!”

Unfortunately, before they could move more than a single step, the ground began to violently shake, followed by a massive eruption of sand. The cloud cleared a moment later to reveal the menacing form of an enormous, armored scorpion, its multiple mouths and pincers opened wide, and its wicked stinger primed to strike!

"Ah, you gotta be kiddin- Aiming for it's mouths!!" Not wasting time with a facepalm, Oliver reloaded his rifle with some acid rounds and fired at the scorpion's center mouth.

So, nothing that new from Kate, but alright. So, now there's the gate, and the giant scorpion with multiple mouths intending on striking them. But, it had something that would cripple it in a battle against Mariette. That is to say, legs.

Hopefully Oliver's shot staggered it, but even if it didn't Mariette would enact her immediate plan. She held her mirror forward, spreading her portal-range... and portals started opening beneath the legs of the scorpion, leading to several meters diagonally up and left of the creature. She moved the portals with awareness to catch the limbs, and make the creature fall and trap itself with its legs hanging through portals. ‘Let's go around,’ she said, starting to walk to go around the scorpion on the right, hopefully outside its range.

All the while, she kept herself aware. In case the stinger could extend, or if it maybe could shoot poison over range, Mariette was prepared to open a portal that would shield the target and lead to right above the scorpion, so the attack would strike down into the creature from above.

Oliver’s acid rounds succeeded in finding their mark, causing the giant scorpion to screech in pain as its central mouth began to dissolve. Meanwhile, Mariette’s portals were effective in immobilizing the creature, although its stinger-tipped tail was still long enough to reach them, which it did, striking at its ghostly tormentor. But Mariette was prepared for this eventuality, and opened a portal in front of the attacking appendage, causing it to harmlessly bounce off the scorpion’s own chitinous shell.

“Nice work!” Kate commended as she ran for the shimmering gateway. “Now let’s get the hell outta here before it recovers!”

Assuming neither Mariette nor Oliver chose to waste time trying to finish off the trapped scorpion, they would pass through the gateway to find themselves in a considerably cooler, and darker landscape. The gnarled trees of a dense forest lined a winding path, which opened onto a large field. Leaves of gold, copper, scarlet, and bronze clung feebly to twisted limbs, while in the center of the field which lay beyond the tree line, a sizable pumpkin patch could be seen. Slate-gray clouds plowed their way across a turbulent sky, propelled by a harsh wind that swept over both field and forest, blowing the fallen leaves in colorful swirls and bringing with it a chill that pierced to the bone. The fact that even a specter like Oliver could feel the wind’s cold touch gave evidence that its source was more than a simple drop in temperature. Something else was at work here, something sinister, just beyond their perception…

“Welcome to the Fall ring!” Kate announced. “Or Autumn, if you prefer,” she added with a grin. “We shouldn’t get attacked by anything this close to the gateway, so if you’d like to change your attire, now’s a good time to do so.”

To Mariette, this was a far preferable environment to the blazing heat of the previous ring. She took a deep breath... and then handed her umbrella over to Kate. ‘Excuse me,’ she said, as she started fishing out some of those warmer clothes to dress up in. Maybe not all of them, depending on how cold she was feeling, but a significant amount of them. Maybe not all the layers quite yet. ‘Right, I'm ready,’ she'd eventually say.

Oliver himself would pull out a heavy coat from his satchel and put it on. Whatever's causing the chill in the air wasn't normal. "Don't you need a coat? Or at least a scarf?" He asked Kate, remaining on guard.

“I’ve got my jacket,” Kate replied as she took Mariette’s umbrella and hung it on her arm. “Plus, those nanites I drank earlier are pretty adaptable,” she added, removing her ball cap and returning it to her backpack. “They’ve already switched to cold weather mode, so I should be able to handle anything this ring has to offer temperature-wise.”

Once Mariette had finished donning her extra layers, the trio set out once more, traveling down the winding, leaf-covered path and into the open field. The chill wind was even stronger without the trees to block it, and Kate ducked her head and shielded her face with her arm as a torrent of leaves swirled about them. Occasionally, the gusts were strong enough to nearly knock the travelers off their feet, something that became even more likely, once they reached the edge of the pumpkin patch. “Watch your step,” Kate advised with a chuckle as they began maneuvering over and around the tangle of leafy vines.

The rising wind had another effect as well, one noticeable as the landscape around them was bathed in an ethereal glow. Looking up, the trio would find that a jagged opening had been torn in the formerly omnipresent cloud cover, allowing the light of a harvest moon, full and huge, to shine down upon them. And where there was a harvest moon, there was a harvest. And where there was a harvest, there were reapers…

With a bone-chilling cackle, a sinister jack-o-lantern in a tattered robe and wielding a wicked scythe, rose up from the patch before them. Simultaneously, the pumpkins around them opened their glowing eyes and mouths as they reared up on gangly vines, which now sprouted sharp thorns…

‘Right, this will at best complete this journey for us, and at worst I waste 13 words... worth a shot,’ Mariette said, taking a deep breath before stepping forward, looking at the reaper.

‘We seek an audience with the esteemed Sovereign of Seasons. May we pass?’ Mariette asked, while also prepared for immediate defensive action.

Reapers. Kinda funny considering his patron is a kind of reaper. Though the "haunted pumpkin patch" deal was pretty neat, he wasn't sure if these were the source of the unnatural wind. If so, then these things had to be spirits too. And hopefully more willing to talk than the last ones. Mariette took the initiative to find out. Oliver, waiting to see if he'd have to intervene, squatted down next to one of the minion jack-o-lanterns, curious.

Despite the menacing foes surrounding them, Mariette decided to try a diplomatic approach, Oliver seemingly content to passively wait and see what the portal witch might accomplish with this strategy. Unfortunately, if the ethereal pumpkin reaper understood the words spoken to it, the creature gave no sign. No sign, that is, except to raise its massive scythe high, only to bring it sweeping down on the white-haired magical girl wth frightening swiftness. Meanwhile, the other jack-o-lanterns sprung at Oliver and Kate, the coiled vines of their “legs” acting as springs, while the vines that composed their “arms” shot out to wrap tightly around their prey.

“Yeowch!” Kate exclaimed as the vines’ sharp thorns punctured her skin. “Uh, g-guys?!” She called out in alarm as her diminutive form was lifted up into the air and towards the gaping maw of one of the largest jack-o-lanterns. “A little help here?!”

For a moment, Oliver looked back at the pumpkins nonplussed. Which then turned to an unamused smile.

"Fuck you."

He let himself turn intangible, moving through the thorny vines of the jack-o-lanterns, and quickly towards Kate. Before she'd get eaten by the biggest fucker in the pumpkin patch, the phantom turned back to normal and leaped forward with the intent to catch the girl soon as she was released. "I'll see about healing you later but for noooow," Since he'd be busying himself protecting Kate from getting punctured further like a pin cushion, a couple of his clones were summoned to attack in his stead. Moving with the original, they fired acid rounds at the pumpkin army.

It wasn't an unexpected outcome. Mariette was more than ready, and as he sliced a portal broke open between her and the fiend's weapon. If he kept going he'd pierce the back of his own head with his massive scythe. Regardless, Mariette stepped back, her tentacles ready to defend her. ‘I tried,’ she shrugged, and then blasted a beam of light at the offending jack-o-lantern reaper, and as it usually is when Mariette fires a portal would redirect it to the creature's back if it was dodged.

This is under the assumption Oliver's looking successful in protecting Kate, or the beam would be aimed to help him.

While his clones bombarded the attacking pumpkins with acidic bullets, Oliver leapt towards the massive jack-o-lantern that held Kate, his intangible form easily phasing through whatever vines sought to ensnare him. Just as the bloated pumpkin dropped its prey into its gaping maw, Oliver solidified himself enough to catch the falling photographer. The pair landed in a relatively safe patch of ground, but it was clear that would not remain the case for long. Even with many of the pumpkins turning to melted slush under the hail of acidic projectiles, there were more than enough to inexorably overwhelm the rifle clones. However, just before they could descend upon Oliver and Kate, Mariette made her move. By the clever use of a portal, she caused the pumpkin reaper to slice off its own head, before following that up with several light beams to its ethereal body. Despite the creature’s intangible nature, the magical attack was still able to harm it, and its decapitated head screeched in pain as its cloaked body was rapidly incinerated. The crippling of the pumpkin reaper seemed to stagger the rest of the jack-o-lantern army, and they halted their attack for several precious seconds.

After taking a moment to catch her breath, Kate noticed something in the distance. “Hey! I think I see the gate to the next ring!” she announced, while pointing to a faint shimmer atop a nearby hill. “Up there, on that hill!”

"Winter, here we come! _{Man my dupes can't catch a break can they?}" Taking advantage of the seconds of respite, Oliver hurried to the hill, making sure the other two were close by. He also took the moment to make a quick healing agent for Kate.

Mariette was a bit surprised. Her portal had been more effective than she'd thought it'd be. She wasn't complaining.

She stepped through a portal to get ahead of Oliver and Kate, then turned and held her mirror out in case she had to cover for them should the monsters start moving again. Should it otherwise be safe, she'd head to the next zone with her companions.

If they kept going at this rate... then her mana should last the entire adventure. Hopefully.

As Kate and Oliver made their way up the hill, Mariette’s light beams cleared a path through the thorny vines and dispatched any pumpkin monsters that got too close. With the pumpkin army hard on their heels, the three travelers ran through the shimmering gateway and into yet another seasonal ring. As soon as they stepped through the other side, they would find themselves buffeted by a freezing wind, the temperature having plummeted drastically. Indeed, they seemed to have stumbled head first into a blinding blizzard, and Kate shouted to be heard over the howling wind. “M-Might w-wanna p-put o-on t-those e-extra l-layers n-now,” the photographer suggested to Mariette, her teeth chattering from the cold. Kneeling down, she conjured her backpack and withdrew a large thermos. Unsealing the cap, she gulped down its steaming contents. “Ahhh… That’s better,” she sighed contentedly, before applying the healing agent Oliver had made for her. “Thanks,” she told the ghost with an appreciative smile. “Those chemistry abilities of yours really come in handy!”

"It's kind of an oddball within itself!" Oliver explained, quickly pulling out a scarf from his satchel now that they were in the Winter Ring. "Had to study up on different chemical reactions, both mundane and magical for it. If I wanna mimic the power of a Third Eye, or the healing aspect of Reinforcement Magic, just have to get the right one. The extra vials I can make help too!" He chuckled through the howling winds, wrapping the scarf around his neck.

Mariette eventually reappeared, now wearing the mountain of clothes that they'd seen her in when she first appeared. She brandished her umbrella against the storm and looked to the other two with a glimmer inside her eyes. ‘I'm ready! Let's go!’

Setting out into the blinding blizzard, the trio slowly made their way through the dense snowdrifts, using Kate’s holomap as a guide. They traveled without incident, until the wind died down enough to allow a clearer view of what lay before them. “Well, this should be fun,” Kate snarked. Directly ahead, the mounds of snow gave way to a vast, sheer-sided chasm, spanned by a perilously thin and frighteningly fragile-looking ice bridge. “So, who wants to go across the totally safe bridge first?”

"Hah. No enemies, but now we have the cliche rickety old bridge over a cliff." Oliver let out a dry chuckle, staring at the bridge. ”At least I can fly across. But I'll stay nearby in case something cracks." He told the other two, going first to float next to the bridge.

So, Mariette regularly stands on portals in the sky. There was no incentive for her to actually try walking that bridge. The issue was, she usually stood on portals connected to a flat surface. If the chasm was far enough, the only thing she could connect her portal to for footing would be the bridge, and that was unacceptable.

Mariette opened a portal to the side of the cliff, with the assumption this was composed of rock. She shot a blast of light at the loosest-looking piece of giant rock with a flat enough surface, intending it to dislodge and fall. The next step was opening a portal under its fall, making it enter it and then be launched straight into the air by a portal facing up instead. As gravity slowed it down, Mariette opened a new portal just under it, too small for it to fall through, to cup the rock and keep it airborne, with the flat enough part up. She then moved the portal closer to them to step up on it.

‘Let's go, Kate,’ she said, opening a couple small portals simply as handles to hold onto by the sides of the rock, and then, if Kate got up on it, started moving the portal under the rock to ferry them across the chasm.

While Oliver simply floated above the chasm, an impressed Kate watched as Mariette employed her portals to create a make-shift platform for the two of them to stand on. The portal witch had even taken the buffeting winds into account, by creating two smaller portals to use as hand holds. “Wow,” Kate marveled. “That’s pretty clever.” Stepping onto the portal platform with Mariette’s help, the photographer allowed the portal witch to guide her across the vast divide. “I don’t blame ya for not taking the bridge,” she added with a chuckle. “That thing’d probably start to collapse as soon as we got to the middle of it.”

And speaking of the middle, just as they reached the midpoint of their crossing, the outlines of three figures could be seen on the far side of the chasm. Two were humanoid, and looked about twice the size of a man, while the third was crouched down on all fours, its head seeming to glow with a bluish light.

“Uh, something tells me those guys aren’t too pleased to see us…”

No sooner had Kate said this, then the bluish glow shot forth as a swirling cryo beam, which threatened to freeze solid anything in its path…

Glowing heads were an excellent indication to Mariette to open a portal in front of them, leading to another portal next to it so that the beam would pass through the portal and back at sender. One could question how damaging an ice-beam would be against ice-foes, but taking an enemy beam and sending it back was fighting with portals 101.

That, and Mariette's makeshift vehicle was incapable of dodging. Moving fast was not something portals were designed for.

"Oh, there's the enemies." Finally, something he can burn and not unintentionally make stronger. Once Mariette was done returning the attack to sender, Oliver followed up with a volley of fire bombs in the intent to catch all three in a blaze.

As Mariette suspected, a frost beam would do little to harm a creature composed of ice itself, although the redirected attack did succeed in removing the frost golem from action for a few precious seconds. As the beam spewing golem began to merge with the additional ice encasing it, the two humanoid golems found themselves bombarded by Oliver’s firebombs. Or, rather, they would have, had the blazing bombs actually reached them. As it happened, the fierce wind was so strong that the ghostly chemist’s projectiles were blown away long before they could strike their intended targets. The three travelers would clearly need to get closer before such a strategy would be viable. Meanwhile, the pair of humanoid golems raised their arms and unleashed a hail of jagged ice bolts upon the trio, the speed of the frozen projectiles negating the wind’s effects.

... So Mariette just opened a portal to redirect the bombs so they did not fall off the side and instead ended up right among the bad guys, instead.

If needed she can open a large portal in front of her vehicle to just make their attacks have no way forward while she allowed Oliver to throw bombs through more portals directly at their foes.

For a moment, the poor ghost could only watch his attack get carried off by the wind.

...Are you pulling my leg here what the fu- Oh!"

Then Mariette redirected his almost-waste-of-mana back to it's intended target. "Thanks!" Oliver grinned at the portal witch, then continued his assault on the golems. He'd create and throw more fire bombs through the portals, some to counter the adversaries' own projectiles, then reloading his rifle with incendiary bullets.

Just as Oliver’s firebombs seemed to be lost to the winds, a portal opened, sending them crashing against their intended targets. Simultaneously, another portal intercepted the hail of ice shards, causing them to pummel the three ice golems as well. While the frosty constructs shattered and melted under that assault, Oliver readied his rifle and fired off several incendiary rounds for good measure. Even the enlarged ice beam golem could not withstand such a concentrated bombardment, and it wasn’t long before it dissolved into mounds of slush, its two companions quickly joining it. By this point, the three travelers had nearly reached the far side of the chasm, and a wall of jagged mountain peaks could be discerned through the driving snow.

“Nice work you guys!” Kate commended. “There’s a path through the mountains just up ahead,” she added after taking a look at her holomap. “We should find the gate to the next ring at the end of it.”

‘Phew,’ Mariette breathed out as it seemed like the actually really fragile vehicle they were on was going to survive. Now seemed like as good a time as any...

‘Have the two of you met before?’ Mariette asked, slightly curious as what previous adventures they may have shared as they advanced.

"Christmas party." Oliver answered first. "Met while the bumper-butts competition was ongoing."

“Yeah, he and his totally-not-boyfriend, Finn, were eating at the same table as me, so we had a little chat,” Kate added. “Mostly about how screwed up Penrose is.”

_{"My WHAT???"}

‘Huh. That's the extent of it? Just casual talk? Not becoming friends in a different hunt or something? Alright, then,’ Mariette concluded, nodding a bit. ‘How long have the two of you been in Penrose? How have you experienced the city?’

“Well, this is actually my first time taking a job in Penrose,” Kate replied. “At least, in your version of Penrose,” she added with a chuckle. “I’m basically a traveler, doing freelance work across the various multiverses, although I do like to check in on my old pal Nykannis every now and then. As for what I think of Penrose, well, I mostly just know its reputation.”

"S'okay." Oliver shrugged. "Only been here for like, two weeks? Place is kinda dead. ...Wait, multiverses??" He turned his attention to what Kate had mentioned.

‘Hm,’ Mariette made a noise of acknowledgement. She's one of those kinds, huh. Oliver, on the other hand, was a more unique one that was somehow both still a Magical Boy and an undead spectre, not a common combo.

‘Yeah... those are a thing,’ Mariette said to the multiverse thing. She kind of could portal to them, but she'd rather not. Instead, she faced forward to head on, for she was satisfied for now.

Setting out once more, the trio made their way along the passage though the mountains. At first, their journey was uneventful, but that all changed as soon as they came in sight of the shimmering gateway to the next ring. From hidden openings in the frozen cliff faces emerged several frost golems, which descended upon the travelers with jagged blades of ice. Meanwhile, four of the frost beam golems also appeared, two on each side, their maws glowing with a harsh blue light as they prepared to fire…

"More of 'em!" Gritting his teeth, Oliver summoned enough armored spirits and another wave of duplicates to fend them off. Him and his clones would fire more incendiary rounds at the golems, though they didn't plan on staying to fight. "Let's hope the Spring Ring is where this sovereign resides! Get moving!!" The original called out to the two.

Mariette looked up at the golems curiously and didn't immediately register that they were enemies because they were basically identical to the monster allies of Tullia, meaning Mariette had to realize they were, in fact, not allied. She ducked forward to make her way past them with Kate, opening portals to redirect the attacks into their neighbors. Also, with the beamers preparing to fire, Mariette would send at least one blast of light at the eye of one of them while preparing to open a portal for the other.

Working in tandem, Oliver and Mariette were able to obstruct or redirect the ice golems’ attacks enough to proceed closer to the shimmering gateway, with one of the beam golems even bursting into a spray of heated water, after being struck by a lance of glowing light. “We’re almost there, guys!” Kate called out. “Just a little…” her voice trailed off, as a mighty rumbling heralded the emergence of a towering ice titan, its imposing form standing directly in front of the dimensional doorway. “Well crap…” the photographer muttered, before taking a quick snapshot of the massive creature. “I guess we probably shoulda seen that coming, huh?” she observed with a nervous chuckle as the enormous titan prepared to bring its equally enormous weapon down upon them…

Again?? AGAIN????

"Hah. Nope." Oliver and his small army of ghosts lined up next to one another for one more all-out attack. Cause frankly? He wasn't up to running away again.

"Ready?! Aim! GET HIM!!"

Oliver and his duplicates would aim to melt the titan golem at the legs with...literally anything flammable at this point. Bombs, bullet rounds, and vials filled with a combustable substance. Whilst the rest were split between protecting Kate and Mariette, and blocking the golem's attacks.

‘... That weapon is too big to portal,’ Mariette commented, meaning that if that thing attacked she would be unable to stop it. Meaning, maybe Oliver's strategy was the best they had. Mariette held her hand-mirror forward and supplemented a beam of light at the same leg Oliver was attacking. Meanwhile, she prepared herself to open a portal directly to their exit, while grabbing hold of Kate to quickly pull them through if the goliath's club did come crashing down at them.

While Oliver and his clones unleashed a barrage of various incendiaries at the frost titan’s legs, Mariette fired a beam of superheated light at the same target. Combined, the attacks succeeded in toppling their towering foe, but now, instead of just its weapon, the titan’s entire body was falling on them! Thankfully, and as usual, Mariette was one step ahead, opening a portal directly adjacent to the shimmering gateway and pulling Kate though, with Oliver following close behind.

Upon exiting the gateway, the trio would find themselves in vastly different surroundings. Instead of a harsh frostscape, they were now in the midst of a lush garden, the temperature mild and the weather fair. The chirping of birds and the bubbling of a gently flowing stream created an exceedingly tranquil atmosphere, while all around them, verdant plants bloomed in an array of vibrant colors and produced a pleasing fragrance.

“Huh, this is a nice change of pace,” Kate noted with an appreciative smile.

A moment later, there was a rustling of the nearby foliage, but the only creature to emerge was an innocuous bunny, soon joined by a dozen more. They hopped over to greet the new arrivals, nuzzling their fluffy bodies against them. Everything seemed so friendly, so peaceful, and it wasn’t long before the three travelers began to feel a sense of drowsy contentment, an overwhelming desire to simply lie down on the soft grass and take a well deserved nap. After all they had been through, they were due a short break, right?

In all honesty, if Oliver wasn't feeling fatigued at this point, he was now. Yet, something didn't feel right. Maybe he was still tense from all the fighting he had to do, but it felt like something was coercing them to fall asleep.

"Come on, Let's keep moving...!" Oliver fought against the urge to pass out, stifling a yawn as he attempted to walk on ahead. He really didn't want to kick a bunny today, but if his suspicions were true, then the little guys were more than meets the eye.

Mariette breathed out in relief, at the nice warmth that went through her here. She took a moment to remove most of her heavy layers of clothing, so that she could more properly enjoy the temperate climate. It did, in fact, feel quite relaxing. Then, with rustling in the nearby foliage, Mariette prepared to fire another beam of light... when one, then a dozen bunnies showed up.

Now, it may come as a surprise, but the girl frequently carrying a large stuffed bunny named "Bunny" and whose head has a hair-ornament with two big bunny-ear-like extensions... really likes bunnies.

‘Bunnies,’ Mariette said, her voice cracking in high-pitch as she said the word. With them coming closer, all impulses of caution left her mind and she went down on her knees to pet them, and they came to her, she just wanted to hug all of them, and she was so happy, she may just close her eyes-

“Sure are friendly little guys, huh?” Kate asked with a drowsy yawn, before plopping down on the ground. “Y’know, I’m feelin’ kinda tired,” she added, lying back on the grass, while a mound of bunnies served as a makeshift pillow. “I think I’m gonna take a quick nap...”

Before Oliver could even voice his concern, Kate had already fallen into a deep slumber, and with Mariette seemingly content to bask in the bunnies’ affections, it appeared that it was up to the ghostly magical boy to do something about this little situation…

And probably before he followed suite.

"G-Goddamn Wizard of Oz references..." Oliver lightly slapped himself awake. Was he the only one fighting this shit off?? The spirit called back a pair of clones to carry the two girls on their backs, while he worked on mixing something up to wake them up, at least Kate. AND to keep him awake, no less! The three copies continued the trek.

Stay awake. Stay awake. Stay awake. A mantra that repeated in his head. Maybe if he kept his mind occupied, he wouldn't succumb to the quite-possibly tainted tranquility. He's had sleepless nights before, working till past midnight on stuff even before he became a monster boy. He didn't need sleep. Not that much, no sir! And his mental mutation definitely isn't trying to claw it's way up to his brain right now! Just think about anything else, anyone else, BESIDES SLEEP.

‘I am... the Princess of Bunnies...’ Mariette mumbled unhelpfully.

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, as Oliver and his clones carried their two companions they met with no resistance, the bunnies happily following along behind them. No resistance, that is, except for the ever-increasing desire to fall asleep where he stood. Clearly, he’d have to do something about that if he intended to reach the next gateway, but would he do so in time…?

As his will to resist began to dwindle, Oliver's movements started to turn sluggish and slow. Damnit all, just a bit more to get the serum into the right consistency! He couldn't sleep, he had to protect Mariette and Kate! Just a bit more...just keep thinking about other things. At least the bunnies haven't turned into bloodthirsty monsters yet. That's good. Great. Fantastic. Finn probably would know how to deal with that hypothetical if he was able to join.

The spirit let out a dry chuckle as his mind wandered. The name of his partner's weapon was derived from the folktale Little Briar Rose, commonly known as Sleeping Beauty. A young princess gets cursed into an almost eternal slumber until a prince wakes her up. It's a bit ironic, don'tcha think?

...He silently hoped that wasn't the case now.

"FUCKING DONE-!" Quick as he could, Oliver took a swing of the awakening potion, then passed it to his clones to use on the other two. A bit of caffeine, and some psychic reinforcement mimicry should do the trick. If not, he hoped it could last until they arrived at the last ring.

‘... KAH!?’ Mariette sounded out in shock as she woke with a start, and in pure instinct a portal opened right beneath the ghost that held her, leading to either A: the two of them fell through a portal and landed on a portal in mid-air and a stunned Mariette quickly reached with tentacles to catch the bunnies that no doubt fell with them and down towards the ground, or B: the Oliver ghost floated over the opened portal and a bunch of bunnies fell through it and it'll be raining bunnies a couple meters to their left in a couple seconds.

‘What happened!?’ Mariette asked, regardless, suddenly agitated.

Caught off guard, the duplicate spirit fell through the portal with her, setting Mariette down before she scrambled to catch the bunnies that fell with them.

"Something about this place was trying to force us to fall asleep." Oliver shook his head in distain. "Luckily I caught wind of it and resisted long enough to whip up a remedy." He explained, visibly stressed from the close call.

“Morning already…?” Kate asked groggily, giving voice to a tired yawn. Quickly becoming fully awake, the photographer blinked a few times and looked around, at which point she realized she was being carried. “Okay, that was weird,” she noted with a chuckle. “And thanks for help,” she added, while giving Oliver a big grin. “If you hadn’t whipped up that antidote we’d probably be spending the rest of our lives here.”

By this point, the trio had reached the shimmering gateway, which led to the final stage of their journey. “Okay, guys,” Kate announced. “The Sovereign should be waiting just beyond this portal. I don’t really know what to expect from it, but considering what we’ve dealt with so far, I’m willing to bet it won’t be particularly happy to see us. So, uh, if ya wanna make any special preparations, now’s the time.”

Oliver went ahead and stuffed his jacket and scarf back into his Big Backpack, having forgot about the articles in his bout of stress. "Y'know. I sometimes understand why Finn's irritated so much." He joked. Or at least, he tried to play it off as a joke. "Well, I still got a bit of mana left, but I'll have to stick with my rifle if we have to fight."

‘Using bunnies as weapons to put people to sleep... Despicable,’ Mariette said, with a certain amount of anger in her voice as she kept depositing bunnies in her portals to transport to a safer location.

‘Remember. We are only here for the picture. After that, we are free to leave. I will provide you a bunch of angles with my portals,’ Mariette declared, before preparing to advance.

Stepping through the shimmering gateway, the three travelers would find themselves in a featureless, circular chamber with dark grey walls. This was the Sanctum of the Sovereign of the Seasons, and at its center, was the imposing form of the Sovereign itself…

“Holy crap…” Kate marveled. “That sure is somethin’, huh?” Readying her camera, she attached a special lens, took careful aim, and…

*Snap!*

“Okay, got it!” Kate declared with a grin. “Now let’s get the heck outta…”

The photographer’s voice trailed off as the sound of a rising hum began to ring out, like the resonant chiming of mystic crystals as they filled with power. Indeed, power was building, and just one look at the Sovereign revealed that its still-motionless form was now glowing with greatly increased vibrancy. Its eyes, in particular, shone with a blinding radiance. Then, it spoke…

“Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring,” it intoned, its otherworldly voice echoing throughout the chamber. “Of the seasons, I will…



With the reverberations of the Sovereign’s deafening voice still assaulting their eardrums, four streams of mystic power shot forth from the massive being, sending potent sedative spores, shards of ice, razor sharp autumn leaves, and rays of heat hot enough to melt steel to crash against the intruders in rapid succession.

Now that the necessary picture had been taken, the three travelers merely needed to escape, but would they survive long enough to do so…?

Mariette stopped short as she raised her gaze to the Sovereign of Seasons. It was an imposing figure, no doubt. She idly wondered how this being came to be. Regardless, it didn't seem it was going to be very friendly. As she'd predicted this, Mariette had already prepared the magic. This is what she'd saved her mana for.

Mariette swung forth her hand-mirror, and great portals opened to send direct the various attacks at each other. She made spores face the heat, she sent the shards of ice into the autumn leaves. She was the natural choice for who to block the attacks.

Right. First things first. Let's try Overcity Shifting. If that works, then they're already out of here, wooo. If it doesn't, well, then things are a bit trickier. Mariette CAN break dimensional barriers with her portals, the issue is that it requires focus and time, two things she has very little of, while the Sovereign is sending attacks her way. So the easiest option would be going back where they came. That or if Oliver could give her the necessary time to break dimensions. She probably told the others this at some point while walking.

So unless they could shift into the Overcity easy-peasy, that left Oliver to stall the Sovereign. Summoning as much duplicates and armored spirits as the rest of his mana allowed, the ghost maneuvered around each one to throw the Sovereign off as each of them attacked.

As Mariette opened several portals to redirect the Sovereign’s various attacks into one another, Oliver conjured a veritable spectral army, in the event their gargantuan opponent tried a more direct approach. However, before that could happen, a bright flash consumed the world around them, and when it faded, the three travelers (and assorted clones and spirits) found themselves in the heart of a mind boggling cityscape.

“Nice thinking!” Kate commended with an impressed chuckle. Taking a look around, the photographer’s grin widened when she saw that they were standing in front of a quaint, two story structure, upon which the name Taste of Heaven Tea Shoppe was written in fanciful letters. “Sweet! I know this place!” Kate declared. “If you guys don’t already have ways of getting back to Penrose, they’ve got interdimensional portal generators you can make use of. For a small fee, of course. Oh, and speaking of fees,” she added, reaching into a jacket pocket and retrieving a pair of gold coins. “Payment for a job well done! Seriously, I couldn’t have done that without you guys, so thanks a lot!”

"Hah, thanks...I'm just gonna..." Oliver called off most his summons and grabbed his part of the reward,

*THUD!*

Then fell backwards onto the ground, his energy spent. Maybe he'll just call Finn when he's ready to leave. A couple of the clones stuck around, one poking the tired Oliver on the cheek.

Mariette took a few steps aside and prepared herself, mirror held high. Because, she knew Overcity Shifting left a trace and that trace could be used by some enemies to pursue. Now, if the Sovereign of Seasons followed them into the Overcity he'd soon be facing more opposition than just them, but that didn't mean Mariette would count on them being out of danger...

‘... Can I have my payment as four silvers instead?’ Mariette gently asked. One gold was the equivalent of four silvers, as far as Mariette had heard, anyway.

“Oh, well, I just have the two gold,” Kate confessed. “But I’m pretty sure they can make change for you in there,” she added, pointing her thumb at the tea shop behind them. The photographer then turned her attention to Oliver. “Uh, are you gonna be okay?” she asked with a slight frown.

"We'll be fine!" One of the two clones spoke up. "Just gotta rest for a bit."

‘... Alright,’ Mariette nodded, and since it seemed nothing was coming through she started stepping away from the site a bit more. ‘Who would want a picture of the Sovereign of Seasons, and why?’ she also figured she'd ask. Just because.

“Okay, well, I’m gonna head inside now,” Kate told the exhausted ghost and his collection of clones. “See ya later!” However, before she could do so, Mariette asked a seemingly innocent question, one which the photographer was sure was anything but. “Sorry,” she told the portal witch with an open palmed shrug. “But that’s kinda confidential. Don’t wanna get a reputation for bein’ untrustworthy, y’know?.”

‘Hm, very well,’ Mariette concluded, accepting her gold coin and intending to go exchange it somewhere.

With that taken care of, Kate entered the tea shop. “Hey, Vanessa!” she called to the blue-haired girl behind the counter. “Is the back room free? I’ve got a call to make and I’d prefer to have some privacy.”

“Yep!” Vanessa replied cheerfully. “Go right ahead!”

“Thanks!”

Once she’d reached the room in question, the photographer closed the door and pulled out her phone.

“Hiya Pops! Got that picture you wanted. I’ll send it just as soon as I get the other half of my payment.”

With a grin, Kate held the phone above the room’s sole table. A moment later, a small portal opened on its screen, and out fell an ornate whistle.

“Sweet! I know I’m gonna get a lotta milage outta this thing,” she said with a chuckle. “And it’ll sure be a nice change of pace to actually be able to protect myself without havin’ to transform. Oh?” she added as she opened her camera’s display and tapped the “send” button. “Your daughter moved out, huh? Yeah, that’s rough, pal. But y’know what they say, eventually every little bird’s gotta spread their wings and leave the—”

Before she could finish, the sound of horrific screeching blasted from the phone, and the photographer cringed as she held the device as far away as possible.

“Yeesh…” she muttered. “Must’ve struck a nerve…”

Once the screaming had subsided, Kate cautiously brought the phone back to her ear.

“Actually, it just so happens I might have run into her a short while back,” the photographer noted, her mouth curling into an amused smirk as she examined the whistle, taking particular note of the demonic lion engraved on the side. “I might have even managed to snap a picture of her, and her new boss… Is that something you’d be interested in? Yeah, I can do that,” Kate confirmed. “But it’s gonna cost extra…”

Finding Wonderland was disturbingly easy. It had taken very little questioning in the Overcity to be pointed directly to the dimension.

A portal formed above the vast dimension that was Wonderland, and a cautious Mariette stepped out onto another portal on it. Incredibly fresh air touched her nose, the temperature was comfortable, and within she still quivered a bit in fright, as she had no idea what to expect from this dimension. She looked down, and…

What met her eyes did not confuse her as much as what met her ears.

Her eyes saw an idyllic landscape of green grass and forests, great mountains and a scattering of villages and towns from a time less advanced than the modern age of her home. Yet, it felt like there were none of the troubles that once afflicted this time of human history. There were towns where trade took place, animals and fields growing the food for the people to eat, and all the roads led to a great capital city with a giant castle majestically looking over its kingdom. So far so normal.

But… Everything was alive. And everything was singing.

Like if their lives were a musical, the people of the town happily sang as they did their business across town. The trees in the nearby forest danced merrily along with various travelers crossing their forest, definitely including young girls in red hoods. The mountain was singing a song along with the numerous dwarves that were mining it. She saw a man leave his home and take his hat off for the home as thanks, and the house returned the greeting by lifting its roof. A merchant stopped in front of a river he was unable to cross and asked a cloud for help, and the cloud happily poured some rain down to form a rainbow in the sunlight, and the merchant thanked the cloud before crossing the newly formed rainbow bridge.

All of it boggled the mind and left Mariette at a loss to what exactly she was seeing.

She was determined to open portals to look into the capital city, but she found herself distracted when out of the corner of her eyes saw through a portal that in a field there were a couple bunnies in top-hats dancing and singing about what’s healthy for bunnies to eat. She tore her attention away and tried refocusing on the capital, but ended up distracted by a living parasol that was doing its best to shield its singing owner as she was happily going through the marketplace seeking things to purchase.

No matter how many times she tried to refocus on the capital city her attention always seemed to wander in a way that she eventually concluded wasn’t natural. Something was preventing her from going to the capital. If there was a barrier of sorts, she wasn’t going to breach it on this scouting mission. She guessed that she probably should ask someone in town about the place, just for the sake of it, when…

She opened a portal to descend to the town, when she suddenly realized there was something magical around her. That was obvious, of course, this whole dimension was magical, she’d remarked on the amount of mana in the air at once. There was some kind of spell in the air. No, what she realized as she was getting closer was that, whatever the spell was, it was afflicting her, and it was growing stronger and stronger the longer she stayed in the dimension. The only reason she hadn’t realized it until now was because it hadn’t been strong enough for her to realize it yet.

She was not going to stay around to find out what it did.

Mariette dropped out of the dimension via portal and immediately went to Ronja to have herself checked out.

She then wrote a pair of letters and sent it to Penny and Finn via portals, describing what she’d found. If they wanted to get there, it would be really easy to help them get there.

@Shifter_Master@Majoras End

In the wake of the Christmas party, Kayli had drawn back from the goings on in Penrose. Becoming a mother meant many new responsibilities and things she had to attend to. Still though she felt like she owed a visit to Penny at the Sanctuary. The two had an odd kinship in that they seemed to never stop changing in some way or another. What exactly their relationship was likely was just as if not more complicated. Approaching more or less in the open, Kayli doubted that she would be missed by Penny's surveillance.

And true to that assumption Kayli would find Penny at the door when she reached the Sanctuary. Penny had a smile as she waved towards the thrice blessed girl. “Hey, long time no see.” She’d greet “Here for a social call I hope.”

The woman would smile and nod. "Yes, thankfully. I felt like we never properly spoke about, well, everything. I'm sure you probably have at least a few questions for me." She would enter calmly. Penny was tall for a magical girl, so Kayli even as a full grown woman was only a few inches taller.

It was slight, but there was a note of tension in Penny’s frame that faded at that admission. “Well come on in.” Turning to open the door to the Sanctuary Penny would add “Monica’s been cooking up a feast as of late, we’re planning on moving soon, but feel free to help yourself to the food. She’s a great cook.”

The mention of food was underscored as soon as the door was open and the warm smell of food wafted out. Calling the occasion a feast was perhaps putting on airs for everything. It was far from an opulent meal, closer in truth to just a large scale barbeque, but for the Sanctuary it was a grander affair than most who lived there were accustomed to.

Near everyone who lived at the Sanctuary was out in the main room, the few tables having long been filled. But there was plenty of floor space to take a seat. “I’m fine parking wherever, but my room is also open if you’d prefer a bit more privacy.”

Getting the chance to see the Sanctuary again, and in a much better mood than she'd 'seen' it since before Cindy had last, a smile worked its way over Kayli's face and her eyes lit up for a moment. "Good to see things are going well despite the circumstances. We'll done." Taking it all in briefly she turned slightly and noted the statue to Cindy still there. Turning back to her friend she gave a light shrug before gesturing to Penny. "I've nothing to hide. It's up to you and what you might want to discuss. Any roll here I or my predecessors might have had is passed. Consider this as a fresh start."

Penny would steer them towards an open corner near the kitchen area, Monica happily cooking away within. “Not what I mean when offering privacy. Not everyone has the energy for such a large gathering. There are at least a few girls, Sibrex for one example, who are down in their rooms due to everyone being here.”

“But, either way. You are always welcome here.” Penny would sit facing the rest of the gathered girls, her presence not really remarked upon. She spent more than enough time up here for the rest of the Sanctuary to be at least comfortable with her being in the area.

“I’m going to miss this place.” She’d say after a moment. “It’s the longest time I’ve had a home since I joined the Magical world.”

Giving a light nod she acknowledged the confusion. "Ah, my mistake. I would love to join everyone." As they made their way to some seats she wondered aloud. "Miss this place? Are you going somewhere?" Seemed a bit out of place for Penny. Though this area had been prone to trouble as she understood.

“I mean the building.” Penny would specify “As I mentioned we are moving. Still staying in Penrose, but hopefully somewhere safer. But it does mean that I’ll likely not be coming back here all that much.” Penny’s eyes drifted across the room but she was only barely paying attention to the girls in front of her. She was back in the past mentally.

“This warehouse has been my home in Penrose from the start. And the longest home I’ve been able to keep since I joined the Community.” She would reiterate. “I’m going to miss it.”

The explanation seemed to assuage Kayli's slight concern on the matter. It made sense. "I'm glad to hear you've found something you think will be safer. I know things have been hard for those in the Sanctuary. I've been considering if there were any ways I could help either here or Penrose in general." She would comment briefly with a smile. "I suppose old habits die hard." Certainly seemed like Janet couldn't help but throw herself into a mess even if that girl had become someone else.

“I know it will be. And you helped” Penny would turn to flash a grin to Kayli. “We’re moving to the Bastion. The scientist you warned me about helped me smuggle it into the city.” She would explain. “Half certain she did it to try and get into my good graces and to get a chance to have a better look at the ship as well.”

There was the briefest moment of disgust when Penny detailed who assisted with the Bastion. Despite knowing and working in some fringe magic herself, Kayli believed there were rules that should be followed. Some things were not meant to be tampered with. "She seeks knowledge. And as far as I can tell she will use any she can gleen for her own devices. I worry should she complete her dream of infinite magic for all. It sounds good, but beings are not always responsible with access." The woman was tense for a bit. She considered berating Penny for continuing her habit of dealing with shady and manipulative individuals. Perhaps later and with a different tone.

Taking a seat Kayli had begun to draw some minor attention, primarily because magical woman were rare. Rarer even than magical boys. She also had a motherly air to her. It wasn't something most of those around her noticed, but those that were younger felt a draw to her.

“Aaand that would explain why she is so obsessed with learning about the artifact she mentioned.” Penny would say with a sigh. “Knew there was a good reason not to fully trust her.” The moment of tension wasn’t lost on Penny but she wasn’t going to push if Kayli didn’t want to bring it up, though Penny could guess.

“I’ll admit that a lot of the reason I’ve been willing to be friendly was that it’s easier to get close to her incase she needs to die. I get the feeling that she’s been a part of the magical world for a lot longer than most people in Penrose have been. Wouldn’t be surprised if she’s gone legitimately crazy.”

“Not that that excuses her, but I can sort of understand why when coming from that angle.”

Penny also noted the subtle impact that Kayli’s presence was having. Penny knew that outside of a fight she likely came off more as an older sister to the younger girls as despite her tall stature she just didn’t have the sharpness that came with maturity. Adding in the fact that both her and Kayli had similar color schemes and one could almost assume that they were related. It was kind of amusing to be honest.

Looking over at the residents of the Sanctuary, Kayli's gaze would drift down to one of the monster girls that was watching her. As if suddenly caught the girl would look away. With a smile Kayli reached down and rustled the girl's hair. "It's nice to see you Ellen."

The little girl gasped and looked back up. "Y-You know my name?"

"I know many of your names. Penny is a good friend of mine." The woman would lean down. "Would you like to hear a secret?" The response was a slow nod with an expression of wonder. Kayli would point off toward the statue of Cindy. "Even though she isn't here right now, she's still watching over you."

After a moment of confusion the girl seemed a little skeptical. "Wha… How do you mean?"

Undaunted Kayli sat back up. "Because Penny shares her vision." She would turn to Penny. "As do I, despite how different my magic may make me. We keep her here." She points to the girl's heart.

Having someone so clearly uncorrupted speak kindly of Cindy was a bit of a take back. After a moment the girl turned to Penny as if to make sense of the woman.

“I’ve told you not everyone out there agrees with Beacon fundamentalists.” Penny would say with an amused smirk. She didn’t harp on and on about it, but she wasn’t shy about telling people about the fact that there were those out there that didn’t want to abuse them just because they were corrupted.

“I met Kayli a while back” Leaning up against the wall Penny would gesture to the open floor for Ellen if she wanted to sit. “She’s one of the contacts I have for the bits of purification supplies I’ve been able to bring in for those that need or want them.” She still had a bit of those supplies as well, a few coins and potions. Though most of the White coins had been returned to Beacon by this point. Penny’s status as a Beacon member was being treated as more of an anomaly to the stalwart organization than anything to be expected by the denizens of Sanctuary, so no one wanted to use them. There was simply too much bad blood for Penny to clean by herself.

“She's a good person, and likely knew Cindy better than I did.” Which wasn’t hard admittedly with Penny only having had a chance to talk to the prior Queen a handful of times. But having Cindy’s memories was likely cheating in that regard anyway. “We all wanted to give safety to those that need it, we all just have different thoughts about how to do that.”

Some of those nearby listened passively to the conversation. Hearing Penny explain that Kayli provided some of the purification items they eyed the woman with some trepidation. That kind of thing was associated with Beacon and their ilk. A few shifted uneasily. "Are you here to purify us?" One of the girls would ask, watching carefully.

This reaction wasn't really a surprise. While she wasn't displaying her magic at all, she was noticeably different than a majority of the Sanctuary's inhabitants. Kayli would shake her head in response to the question. "I am not. I'm just here to visit a friend. It just so happens I get to join in the festivities." She gave them a warm smile. Between that and Penny's casual demeanor that seemed to calm most of them and they relaxed a bit more.

Penny rolled her eyes at the question, though her demeanor was still amused. Seems that her promise to never allow a forceful purification didn’t quite sink in as deep as she hoped. But no reason to harp on about it now.

“You heard about Penrose’s next round of chaos yet?” Penny would ask Kayli. The girls here had already heard about it, mainly because the first attack from Wonderland happened just down the street and Penny wasn’t going to brush that under the rug. But also to explain part of the reason why the move to the EarthBastion was happening so soon.

Seeing as Penny had moved on from the subject, Kayli followed her lead. "Not with any detail. There were Wendigos that attacked?" Connie and Mia hadn't been part of the larger combat.

“Wendigoes that were summoned.” Penny would correct. “Seems like we’ve got a rogue magical kingdom aiming to annex the city.” She would explain with a mocking grin. “They call themselves Wonderland, and they oppose the powers that be and Patrons of all flavors.”

Kayli would look up when the name Wonderland was dropped. "Wonderland?" As best she could recall, Cindy didn't know all that much about the kingdom aside from their size. The Queen of Hearts hadn't done much to draw the monster girl's ire so there hadn't been any need to cross paths. A nation moving to take a single city seemed excessive though. "Do you know what they are after?"

“Only in broad terms” Crossing her arms Penny would become slightly more serious. “I’m not sure how much you might know of life outside Penrose, but Penrose is an anomaly of a city. Life on the magical end here is exponentially more chaotic compared to anywhere else, and that includes most of the Overcity’s public locations.” Which was saying something when one actually looked at all the data. “The reason for this, you might also remember reading about. Penrose is, as far as anyone can confirm, the site of a Nexus. A natural wellspring of magic.”

“Wonderland wants it. Though I’ve no idea why.”

”As does everyone, it seems. I’m well aware.” Kayli would rub her chin. ”I am fated to the Nexus, to its defense. I have preliminary ideas on a more permanent solution to this problem that plagues Penrose. I had hoped I would have had more time to prepare.” She looked in the direction of the other attendees. They were enjoying themselves. If Wonderland was coming then opposing them in direct conflict would be difficult. What she had in mind though didn’t require that though.

“Beacon wants to protect it at least.” Penny would add in, though she was still sure that messing with it while everything was as chaotic as it was, was simply asking for trouble. “I’ve got a meeting in a few days with one of the higher ups, it seems no one up the chain of command was taking my status as anything more than a joke until I showed up. Hoping to get some more support for us here, but the politics of it don’t have me expecting much.”

Without really knowing what exactly Wonderland intended to do with the Nexus she couldn’t say it was necessarily bad. Regardless though it didn’t really change her plans. ”The Nexus needs to be tempered.” She would state out loud.

“You’ll hear no argument from me.” The thought that the chaos of Penrose could grow even more rampant wasn’t exactly a comforting one to the mechanical queen. “Though how one would do that is a bit beyond me. Tampering with it at all sounds like a recipe for disaster, though I’ll grant you likely are at a lower risk than most in that regard.” Penny knew that the purifying aspect of the Spark was limited, but figured that Kayli’s unique nature was more protective in that aspect.

Well, with enough time I believe it can be done safely. However, between Nykannis, Wonderland, and who knows what else could turn their attention toward Penrose I’m beginning to doubt we have the luxury.” She drummed her fingers against the table. ”I can be sure I will not become corrupted when dealing with the Nexus. You say you will be talking with Beacon about something?”

“No one seems to want to give Penrose the time it needs to stabilize.” Penny would agree with a huff. “And that’s what I assumed. Still be careful, that amount of magic might just kill you outright instead of corrupting you. That which doesn’t bend, breaks.” She would warn.

“But yeah, Beacon’s upper echelon is going to be ‘verifying’ me” She’d explain with air quotes. “Making sure I’m not a living affront to their goals or something to that effect.” A shrug. “Not sure how it’s going to go, but if things pan out well I’ll be seeing about getting all of us some more support. Again, politics means I doubt that I’ll get much, but I’m not going to simply sit around and do nothing.”

A slight chuckle escaped Kayli’s lips. ”Well if Janet is any metric then I should be quite flexible. Thankfully I think I understand enough to avoid significant harm. And I wouldn’t put myself at undue risk if it meant I wouldn’t be able to be there for Connie.” And to some extent she was counting on the contract to keep her grounded.

“Well if there is anyone who would know how to temper it carefully I would believe it to be you.” The mix of knowledge and skills that Kayli had on hand wasn’t to be underestimated. “If I can help, let me know though. I’d rather you be over prepared than under prepared.”

”Not sure there’s much anyone else can do to assist right now. We know more about the effects of a Nexus than what it is or how it behaves. I get the feeling we only see glimmers of what it can do which is concerning. I’m going to have to rely on my connection to get me there more than any technique or instrument.” The subject seemed like it might have reached an end. They didn’t exactly have concrete things to work off of at this time.

Penny gave a huff "That sounds annoyingly on brand for Penrose." Nothing in this city liked going smoothly. Though that was also part of its charm.

"Oh, I've got a newspaper now." She'd say, changing the topic as there wasn’t anything more to be said on the Nexus for now. "Eden left behind theirs when they vanished. Figured I'd be able to turn it around and make something of it to help out the Sanctuary."

"The Penrose Independent?" She would chuckle a bit. An interesting turn of events. "Not something I expected you to take interest in. How would it help?"

"It'll be the Sanctuary Inquirer when we relaunch." Came the correction but it was easy to see Penny was in a good mood talking about it. "And the benefits are a few things. First it gives everyone here a common goal to work towards. Survival is all well and good, but that being the sole focus isn't."

"It's something inherently non violent so it's something to further prove we are more than what others have painted us as." She would further expand leaning forward a bit in her enthusiasm. She wasn’t very animated with it, but it was clear that she had high hopes for this project.

"And, once it gets settled, it's a source of income for the Sanctuary and the girls living here. We are reaching the point where we need that or we are going to have to start requiring donations or start turning people away." Something that Penny was all too sure Wonderland was going to exacerbate with their invasion. “This way we can support them and us better.”

Kayli would nod after hearing the plan. ”Sounds like a good idea. At least not let the resources go to waste.” Listening to the explanation that they might eventually run into housing trouble the woman considered something for a moment. ”If you do run into issues finding places for people to stay I can house quite a few. As usual the wish was more potent than I anticipated and aside from my age it came with fairly sizable provision for my small family.”

“It’s not the space that is the issue.” Penny would say after a moment. “I will absolutely keep you in mind if that does end up ever being an issue, but the actual problem is supplies.” She would let out a sigh as she rested her head against the wall behind her. “Food and other specialties are what we need. A few of the other girls don’t need much, but there are also some that have specific dietary needs. And with our limited ability to move around in the mundane world getting such things is difficult.”

“Monica” Penny would gesture towards the minotaur girl contentedly cooking away in the kitchen “Has been a godsend, almost literally as a matter of fact, her Patron is goddess of hearth and home so she’s directly responsible for a fair portion of our food here. But there is a limit to how much she can supply.” She’d explain. “I’ve managed to keep away from outright theft, mainly because I’m probably toeing a line or two as it is with Beacon, but something needed to change before it got untenable without crime.”

”I see. Well perhaps let me know if you have anything specifically that you need. Some of it may be harder to find, but sometimes I’m able to more easily get things as an adult.” Without knowing specifics it might be a bit harder to know for sure. Time out tell on that front.

“Before Shane donated a staff of wood magic our biggest hurdle would have been fresh greens.” Penny would start obviously just running down a checklist in her head. “I know that it’s possible to live on nothing but a vegetarian diet, but not for some of us here. Now our biggest challenge is fresh meat. There are three girls who can’t eat canned or processed meat without getting sick. One of whom has difficulties eating it if it isn’t literally a fresh kill.” Feral cats and dogs throughout Penrose had learned to be wary of this district. Then again so had monsters. “One girl needs blood, which I found at a butcher that sells it, so it’s not a drastic problem, but we don’t have anywhere to store it. The fridges here don’t get cold enough to properly keep it fresh.”

“Fresh water is another difficulty. We can’t tap into the water main out here, not without a risk of flooding the lower levels, so we have to boil what we can gather out of the harbor. Storing it for the long term is the biggest pain as we don’t have many jugs for it.” Granted some of the Water and Fire specs that lived here made it easier, it was that simply relying on them bothered Penny a little.

“Bedding is another constant struggle, we have no way of easily washing any of it so it has got a limited life span. Tearing apart the old blankets is a good standby for those with destructive urges, but we also have plenty of scrap for those that need to build or tear down.” All in all the issues the Sanctuary was facing weren’t dire, they had enough coming in before the newspaper was taken into account that they were making it. But they had nearly reached a critical limit and needed more in some capacity if they wanted to keep on keeping on.

Listening carefully, Kayli would eventually take out a notepad and begin sketching. As power wasn’t an issue the science teacher quickly drew up plans for a simple water filtration and sterilization system that should really only take things one could source from a hardware store. ”This should be easier and faster than boiling the water. The sand and charcoal will clear out the larger particles. The device produces ozone to kill any viruses or bacteria in the water as it drips. Save you from having to source chlorine or other chemicals. Just have to make sure it vents properly. I should be able to get a hold of some good containers to store the water.”

Pondering the other things, those would be a bit harder in the short term. Chickens were the first things that came to mind, but one would need a sizable space to have a flock big enough to sustain itself over an extended period. The eggs would be good though. ”Once you have the funds you could probably source from a farm. In the meantime maybe see if you can track down some Nutria for those with more specific needs. They’re an invasive species here in the states so no one would miss them. They live in and around rivers and streams so it might be easier to have some Water specs swim out to get them without being seen. I’ve never had them myself, but people do hunt and eat them so…”

Penny paid rapt attention to Kayli’s advice even as she already went through the catalog of what supplies were already available to build the purification unit. “Thank you.” She would say entirely earnestly, “The water containers alone will be a great help.” Especially if she could find a way to integrate the system into their new home. Water would no longer be an issue if that was the case. “I’ll keep the farm’s in mind as well, it’s one of the reasons I’m happy to be getting a cash flow for the Sanctuary. Money helps open so many doors. Never heard of the Nutria before, but Google helps, I’ve got a few scouts I can head out to try and see how many we’ve got in Penrose.”

“Once again, let me know if I can help. With anything really, We are in your debt at this point”

Simply returning a smile the woman spoke. "I'm a magical mom now. It's what I do." She would lean a bit closer to whisper. "I have to stop myself sometimes though, otherwise I'd adopt everybody." She would chuckle. Her maternal instincts were certainly skewed on the high end.

Penny would snicker alongside Kayli at that confession. She was tempted to let it leak out, Monica had a similar issue, even if it was for vastly different reasons, and it would likely do a lot to help some of the girls here at the Sanctuary. But it wasn’t her secret to give.

“So we’ve talked a lot about my end, but what have you been up to? Other than taking care of Connie.”

Had they? Guess the overlap didn’t count. ”Mostly research and teaching. I’ve had to take up a normal job to take care of my girls. I might be able to help some here get into classes if they’re interested. I should be able to temper those with more problematic afflictions.”

“Normal school is a risk even without the afflictions.” Penny would say though she was still obviously intrigued by the idea, she had just started workshopping ideas about the Overcity collage as a matter of fact. “Back in my one point oh iteration I could hold a sealed state for six hours at best, before I would forcibly revert and then I’d need two or three hours rest before I’d be able to seal up again. No idea how that stacks up to normal, but I’d wager that rather few of us could make it a full school day”

”Right Would probably have to set something up ourselves. There’s already quite a list, but it would be something more normal for them that they don’t have right now.” Sadly she wasn’t made of money to start something like that right now.

“Or see if the Overcity college would be willing to assist.” Penny would toss out. “No idea how or what at the moment we’d need to do, but setting up something with them might also work.”

"That would be good. And maybe it being outside Penrose would be good as well. People in the Overcity wouldn’t bat an eye at anyone attending."

“That was the hope, though we do have a reputation in the Overcity.” Penny would shrug with a small smile, “Seems that everyone else is also aware of our chaotic city’s nature.”

Considering that for a moment it wasn’t that surprising to hear. Penrose had gone from an ordinary city to the focal point of several incursions and rumors of more to come. Letting out a sigh Kayli would nod. ”Yes, I can see why. With any luck we can try and get ahead of that before something truly awful occurs.”

“Agreed. Now we just need to find the time to head to the college to ask around I suppose.” Penny would offer up tilting her head to the side as she pondered that particular challenge. “I guess we could ask Finn, Oliver, or Mariette about when good times to do that would be. Possibly others as well, I just know that those three are actually attending classes.”

”Sounds like a good place to start.” She would agree.

Penny would nodd, but before she could say anything else there was a psychic wave that rippled out from the kitchen. It was a simple thing, just a thought propagated across the warehouse. ‘Food’s ready!’

“Seems like Monica’s ready to allow people in her domain at last” Would be what the queen said instead. “Shall we?” She would ask as she moved to stand.

Responding to the call, Kayli stood up as well. "We shall." Even though she was a visitor the woman insisted she wait her turn and stood in line like everyone else. In the meantime she mingled and answered questions posed to her. Once everyone had been served, Monica joined Penny and Kayli. Unsurprisingly the two motherly figures took to each other almost instantly. They shared stories about the little ones and traded tips and tricks of varying sorts. Talk of trying to set up some play dates and maybe have a few of the Sanctuary members come visit Connie and Mia. The momentum of course barely had the chance to consider what Penny or anyone else might have to say as the two fed off each other's mom energy.

For all that Penny’s friendliness with Kayli kept things calm it was Monica’s enthusiasm that brought the woman acceptance within the Sanctuary. Not long after they started bouncing off of each other just reveling in finding another like mind, a few of the younger girls would gravitate towards them. Simply to bask in the feeling of home that was being given off by the two as they ate and talked.

The only person that was worried was Ashlyn, though she didn’t voice anything, there was simply a warriness to her whenever she looked at Monica. Which was rather often as the guard captain had taken a seat right next to Monica shortly after Monica had joined Kayli and Penny.

Penny, for her part, was quietly amused. The groundwork of the outreach that was being talked about between the two was something that she was more than happy to see. That and she could tell that it helped Monica as well to find someone who understood. Perhaps not for the same reason, but nevertheless.

All in all it was a good night for the Sanctuary, and with luck simply the first of many to come.

“Once more shall we?” Penny would mutter under her breath as she approached the Beacon embassy in the Overcity. She was early for her meeting, just under an hour early in fact, because she had the feeling that actually getting to the meeting location was going to take a lot longer than she would have liked.

It was like being back in Penrose when she first joined Beacon. Distrust and thinly veiled hostility from everyone. Not that Penny found that all that annoying if she was honest, she got it. No, what was annoying was that this all felt like a waste of time. Or at least had the capacity to be such. Wonderland was coming, Dina was stressing, the Sanctuary still had yet to move, and there were a half dozen things Penny should be doing to deal with all of that.

But no, she was here dealing with bureaucracy and politics. At least no one here would be able to tell from her face just how annoyed she was and with luck any empaths would continue to avoid her due to her weird emotional output.

Once again Penny had to perform the dance of security procedures, though it was easier now that Ishtar taught her the steps. Still, the suspicion she faced did not lessen. Once she arrived in Lucia, she had to wait for some time before Louhi came to escort her.
"I'm glad you arrived early, Penny. We can go over some of the etiquette you need to remember when addressing the Ecclesiarch." She opened the electric notepad she had with her, and it transformed into a floating drone that projected various images and slides. "Before we start, do you have any questions?"

“A few” Penny would say as she fell in step with Louhi. Inversely closing down some of the screens she had brought up on her HUD while she was waiting. She was glad that she hadn't been as bogged down in suspicion as she feared she might be and wondered if her escort was in any way responsible for that.

“Biggest question I’ve got is; what am I looking at if the Ecclesiarch decides that I am not welcome within Beacon?” It was perhaps the most important question that Penny had as well. Because if there was going to be fallout, she wanted to know what she needed to be prepared for now.

“Other questions that are important deal with what the logistical requirements for declaring independence actually are. Minimum size requirements, and percentage votes needed, that sort of thing. But those can wait.”

"I will send someone to sort the details with you on that matter," Louhi responded curtly. "However, as for your main question…You could be looking at excommunication in the best case scenario, and execution or sealing in the worst case." Her expression stayed neutral. "However, if you behave yourself and explain the facts succinctly and without bias, as you have done with me, I believe she will reach a just verdict. Now then, regarding how to address her…"
Louhi spent a short moment explaining about how to approach the Ecclesiarch, how to invoke gratitude upon meeting her, and little things like that. "...And that is all. Now, are you ready, Penny?" The two once again stood on the golden-bricked road's end that led to the construct resembling a sun.

Penny listened attentively as Louhi answered her question and went on to give a few formal pointers on how to conduct herself in the presence of the Ecclesiarch. As far as the priestess could tell Penny took it all in stride. Which was mostly true, so long as the fact that Penny was pulling up combat systems and prepping escape routes internally could be considered taking it in stride.

In truth it was just about what Penny had expected. Honestly none of those outcomes were good ones, each for their own reason, but all but Excommunication would have Penny fighting her way out of here. And even that option might lead to that depending on what exactly is entailed in Excommunication.

“Ready as I can be I suppose” Would be her answer. Before adding on “One last question. How much of the Penrose situation have they read up on?”

“Her Holiness been informed,” Louhi answered, and performed a magic spell that once again lifted the two of them up towards the slowly rotating shape. However, instead of entering one of the towers like last time, they now headed towards the spherical center, as towers parted ways to open a route to the core. As they got closer, Penny saw the light intensify, until all she saw was white.

“Your Holiness, may the light of Beacon shine in your heart,” she could hear Louhi speak in the blinding light.

“As it may in yours,” she heard a distant voice respond. Then, as the intense light dimmed down to visible level, Penny saw that she was in an impossibly large, circular space resembling a cathedral. There were candles and lanterns floating in the air, Beckoners that flitted here and there, and even tiny white particles. In the middle of the sphere was a floating platform surrounded by a complex rotating set of spheres linked together by rings, resembling a planetarium in some ways. It was in the very middle of it that Penny saw the Ecclesiarch; she was sitting on a throne made of gold and white marble, her eyes half-lidded with a vacant stare as if she was daydreaming.

“Okay, introduce yourself properly,” Louhi whispered in Penny’s ear.

Louhi’s answer this time was much less helpful than Penny was hoping for. But that was put aside as Penny took in the view. She resolutely ignored her rising anxiety as well as she was brought closer and closer to the center of Beacon’s base of power. Her escape routes weren’t closed to her, but that didn’t mean it didn’t feel like the walls were closing in a little bit.

Upon regaining the ability to see Penny cast a long look about the area noting its splendor. Returning her gaze to the Ecclesiarch, the girl who would decide her fate, Penny took two steps forward before giving a half bow. “My name is Penny Asimov.” She would introduce herself, head still bowed. “It is an honor to make your acquaintance, your Holiness” She would stay bowed for a moment longer before righting, and falling into a parade rest her arms clasped behind her back.

The Ecclesiarch blinked slowly, and then bowed her head in return to the proper gesture, showing to Penny that she correctly introduced herself.
"Penny…" She then spoke, in a slow and dreaming voice.

"Tell me…What is magic?"

Penny blinked at the seemingly unrelated question. It hadn’t really been something that she had ever thought about if she was honest. It was a fact of life of this new world that she was a part of, true, but she never had worried about the deeper implications of it. Her own physical makeup not really leading to those kinds of philosophical musings.

“I’m not sure that there is a single proper answer to that question” She would answer after a moment. “It’s the source of too much to be constrained to a single definition I think. But for me? Magic is life, the pulse of our world, the turbulent whirlpool that churns out possibility.” She brought forward one of her hands and a tiny bolt of lightning sprang into existence, dancing between her fingers. “It’s an intrinsic force in our lives, and a force that connects all of us to each other in the most basic of ways. It deserves respect and at times caution. For it is ultimately unknowable, too vast, too great, too simple for us to ever truly understand it.” She would close her fist, the lightning vanishing as she returned to clasping her arms behind her back.

Penny’s answer, for all that it seemed rehearsed, was something that she had more or less formulated on the spot. That wasn’t to say she was dishonest with it, just that it was rough hewn. One aspect of her thoughts on magic she kept to herself however, not knowing how to give voice to it in a manner that fit her circumstances. Because she also felt that Magic was a lot like duct tape. It had two sides, held the universe together, and was given a vastly bloated sense of importance. It was a tool, not fundamental.

The Ecclesiarch bowed slowly to acknowledge Penny's answer. "An interesting answer." Her dreaming eyes were drawn to somewhere past Penny. "You are not the only one who has been asked that question. It is a question posed to each Mahou; each flower yet to bloom or wilt.
But even with our long lives, we may never reach the answer." She sighed. "I was once close to discovering it. I saw it in a dream…Something beyond this world and the worlds adjacent…But even so, all I could recall is but a hazy memory. However, there is one interpretation that I believe in."

She lazily swiped a hand, and Penny saw as massive projected screens appeared around the spherical space, showing various Mahous, both pure and corrupted, malicious and benevolent, victorious and collapsed.
"Magic is a reflection of us, a mirror to the depths of our very being, given manifest. We extend ourselves, our souls, through magic, and influence the story through it."
She once again turned her eyes to Penny.
"Now, tell me Penny…Why does magic corrupt?"

“I don’t think it does.” Would come the swift reply, as this had been something Penny had thought about. “I think the changes that result from excessive magical infusions are a result of our flaws and our weaknesses. Magic digs into us till it finds our most basic level and empowers everything there. At our core, nothing and nobody is perfect, and sometimes that means a flaw shines brighter than a virtue when given a boost.”

“Magic can seduce, and it can mislead. Just as it can cleanse and free. But on its own, it simply reacts to what's around it.” She would give a short shrug. It placed a lot of the outcome on the person affected by magic Penny knew. But she didn’t think that Magic itself was to blame. That brushed too much aside if it was true.

Once again, the Ecclesiarch acknowledged Penny's words with a slow nod. "Another interesting answer, and one that the Beacon order has struggled with since time immemorial. Much research has been made on the nature of this transformation, which resulted in the creation of the purification ritual, one of Beacon's oldest traditions." The Ecclesiarch paused for a moment, and upon seeing understanding in Penny's eyes, she continued. "The rite, at its fundamental level, is meant to correct the erratic changes brought about by the chaotic power of magic, and bring order to it. Only form has been proven to be stable enough to hold magic without succumbing to chaos: the human form. But then, something unexpected happened: you. A corrupted Mahou who kept their form on purification. Once I have learned of you, I then began to dream…And upon me came a vision of your life."

Penny saw as the throne the Ecclesiarch was sitting on began to float, and the screens changed to depict various moments in Penny's magical history, from fusing with the Earth Bastion for the first time, meeting with the Howell twins, eating Sirkkeli's remains, and so on.

"A lone Beckoner went against Beacon's dogma, and accepted you as a member of Beacon, seemingly in hopes of saving the city in whose events you found yourself soon embroiled in. But that was not the cause, as we initially believed. No…Your fate was split in half the moment you linked yourself to the vessel of the girl named Amber. As her identity shattered into countless shards, deep inside, you discovered what it meant to have an identity, a true self…And you wanted it."

She paused, and began to float closer to Penny.
"You may not have consciously decided on it at first, but soon you found an obstacle in Jason. The human self who parted ways from you was the true self…But you locked his soul away, desperate to find your own identity. You were willing to lie and cheat, even to yourself. So it was that when the purification rite was performed, you took Jason's humanity and cloaked yourself in it, masking your true self and deceiving yourself to the very core."
She now floated around Penny, her eyes constantly on her. "And once you rejected Jason, you completed your mission, and formed your own self with artificial humanity and Beacon's stolen blessing."

Penny would silently observe the moments of her history depicted across the screens. Pivotal parts of her own past. It was interesting to note, for her at least, that they only had times of her in Penrose, from after she had more consistent contact with Beacon. It made sense then why they came to their conclusion.

“I actually hated Jason a lot earlier than that.” Penny would say calmly, at last returning her gaze to the Ecclesiarch. “He… He was a frightened prick who did everything he could to keep me buried as deep as he could manage. I chafed under his yolk as much as I did the shackles of my first Patron.” She would explain a wry smile on her face.

“You are right that the Bastion was a tipping point. But not because I wanted an identity for the first time. Stealing the ship gave me a refuge within our shared soul for the first time. Somewhere I could bide my strength and time.” As she spoke her chassi would fold open revealing a bright shining sphere. “I’ll admit that I’m not sure how I survived the ritual, the Coin if we are to be completely honest here, maybe I did burrow deep into his fractured humanity and used it to shield myself.” She would gently reach in and pull out the sphere. Before rolling it across her fingers.

“Maybe I learned enough from his memories while he kept me locked away to build enough of my own humanity that the nature of your ritual didn’t affect me. Maybe it wouldn’t have affected me either way, after all my ‘birth’ was an accident, far as I can tell.” A careless shrug, one at odds with the sharp calculating gleam in Penny’s eyes.

“In the end. I wasn’t the one who wanted Jason gone, that was him. We split in a manner that wasn’t sustainable. Our soul was hemorrhaging due to it. He had the chance to return, I wouldn’t have stopped him nor did I tempt him otherwise. It was his choice to give me what he could of his own soul so that I wouldn’t die.”

“I am not human. I know that, I accept that, and I love that about myself. But humanity isn’t reserved solely for humans.” She would hold up her own ShineSpark as she spoke. “And fuck you if you think otherwise.” In the silence that followed that there would be four soft clicks and one louder clack. This was the point she wouldn’t give on, and she was now prepared to fight for it if needed.

Louhi gasped at Penny's insolence before the Ecclesiarch, but the latter surprisingly seemed to ignore it. "Hmm…I did see early resignation in Jason, but I did not see that selflessness…Very well then." Her brow furrowed slightly. "Your life has been one of turmoil and conflict, down to your very soul. Yet you embrace this disorder, and see it as the way forward. However, such chaos has no place in the ranks of Beacon, and never will." She sighed. "Therefore, you must make a choice, Penny."

All other screens shut down except for two that stood side by side: the left one depicted Penny as she was, but with a crown of thorns, surrounded by claws, teeth, tentacles and wings. The right depicted her as human.

"You must give up your mechanical nature, or the blessing of Beacon."

The two images side by side depicted the easiest choice she had ever been given. “It was selfishness.” She would correct, because she had something to say and she would say it before she was done here. Since she knew how this was going to go now. “Jason gave me what he did, not to save my life but to end his. He wanted out, so he acted in self interest. Not altruism.”

She would give another look at the two images and she couldn’t help but chuckle. “I always wondered how this would end up.” She would mutter “Guess I know at last.” With that she would toss her ShineSpark to the Ecclesiarch. “I already said I would give it back if Beacon ever asked.” And it seemed someone finally did.

She would half turn to leave, making sure not to give Lohui her back. “I do suppose that we have nothing more to talk about then.” She would say giving a large grin that showed off her now razor edged teeth. A warning that she would not go gently if they tried to force it.

The Ecclesiarch let the shining orb of Beacon magic float to her, and then gave one last look at Penny. "So you have chosen the path of chaos. I will let you leave this place, so you may return back to your home. Louhi, you may also give her the information as requested."

The Choir member's eyes widened. "But your Holiness-!"

"The queen may defend her realm. So is her story written."

The Ecclesiarch then turned her throne away, signalling that the meeting was over. Louhi then addressed Penny’s words. "That is correct, yes." The two left Luxia, and once outside she handed Penny a white thumb drive with the Beacon's golden logo. She then gave one last look around. "The Ecclesiarch did not excommunicate you, which means the alliance is still possible between your budding kingdom and Beacon. However, you were discharged from the organization, so I can no longer directly assist you with the matter in an official capacity. Still, I'll keep the Cardinal posted in Penrose and assign her to work on your issues. Any questions?"

Penny gave one last look at the Beacon Embassy. What it was she felt she kept to herself as she turned her attention to Louhi. “You realize that once I leave I’ll never be able to be the one to extend that alliance offer.” She would state as she accepted the thumb drive. “Not until Beacon changes. Your vows list me as an enemy now, one that none should work with else they risk excommunication.”

“I’m a Monstergirl, and most of my subjects are either dark magicals or Monster girls themselves.” She was giving Louhi a sad smile “And while some of them would like to be purified, I don’t think they will want it to come from Beacon after this. Not if it means they'd have to turn on the rest of us.”

There was a low hum as Penny’s legs lit up as her thrusters slowly turned on. “Sanctuary will remember this day. The day that her Queen was judged wanting for simply being true to herself.” She turned her attention to the road ahead. “I have no questions that I need answered, but hopefully one day I’ll be able to seek your counsel again. But as I said, that won’t be up to me. Goodbye Louhi, and thank you for your efforts.”

With that said Penny would skate away. And though she was tempted, she didn’t look back. They wouldn’t be given the chance to see the hurt in her eyes as she left. It was painful, and she expected that this day would come, but Penny would keep moving forward. And she would keep the spark of Hope alive. Because one never knew what tomorrow brought.

Shortly before Christmas, MDP had been invited to visit Beacon’s Penrose HQ by an Ascendancy member named FanFan. With all the hecticness of the past few weeks, she hadn’t had a chance to accept that offer, but now that things were starting to settle down a bit, she’d decided to call FanFan and arrange a time for her visit. She’d even asked if she could bring a friend along, to which the Ascendancy girl had somewhat reluctantly agreed, and now she and Melisa were making their way to the office complex that housed Beacon’s headquarters.

“Like, this is gonna be sooo super duper fun, Melisa Wisa~! (giggle!)” the whimsical girl told her diminutive companion as they approached the HQ’s nondescript entrance. “FanFany WanWany’s, like, super duper nicey wicey, and, like, she totally wotally wuvs tea parties just as much as you do~! (giggle!)”

Skipping alongside her friend, Melisa was beaming that she was invited to a tea party. It wasn't something she had ever had much interest in as a woman. As a monster girl though such childish things had a strange appeal that didn't really make sense. It had begun to become something of a normal impulse though and the doll less and less questioned why. "I hope so. Thanks for inviting me!" She looked up at the building they approached. Didn't seem like the place one would go for a tea party. Maybe it was like a big office or something inside.

Two magical girls stood guard at the entrance, and summoned their weapons upon spotting Melisa.
"Halt! No passage beyond this point for civilians!" One of them called out.
"What business do you have here?" The other asked afterward, before her eyebrows furrowed. "Wait, a pink magical girl with an escort…What is your name" She asked with a hand on her chin.

“Magical Dream Princess’s namey wamey is Magical Dream Princess~! (giggle!)” the whimsical girl replied cheerfully, while striking a cute pose. “And, like, this is her friendy wendy, Melisa Wisa~!” she added, smiling down at the doll girl. “Like, FanFany WanWany invited us over wover for a super duper fun tour and tea party, so, like, here we aresie~! (giggle!)”

The guard was a bit put off by the pink girl's exuberant behavior, but decided to leave it be.
"Yep, I figured." She activated her communication device.
"She has arrived. Yes, I'll let her in."
The front door opened, and the guard gestured for them to continue.
"Remember that we will be watching you," she added in a bored tone.

“Okie dokie~! (giggle!)” MDP replied with a wink and a playful salute.

Once inside the lobby, it didn't take long for FanFan to greet them.
"Magical Dream Princess! Oh, it's wonderful to see you again!" She greeted the pastel-colored girl with a short but friendly hug, and afterwards looked down at Melisa. She blinked, her smile slightly wavering. "And you brought a friend too…Um, how unexpected~". Even if she was a friend of MDP's, her status as a member of the Ascendancy seemed to show in the cracks of her politeness. "I am FanFan. May I ask for your name?" She asked, trying to make conversation.

FanFan's trepidation went unnoticed by the tiny girl. Stepping up Melisa smiled and waved her hands to the Beacon girl. "Hello! My name is Melisa. It was very nice of you to let Magical Dream Princess bring me along. She's like my best friend and when I heard she was going to a tea party I just had to come along!" If she had any idea about Beacon's history of what the Ascendancy was, it certainly wasn't showing here. Bright eyed and almost as childish as her companion.

“FanFany WanWany~!” MDP cheered at the sight of her friend, giggling sweetly as the Ascendancy girl embraced her. “Like, Magical Dream Princess is super duper happy wappy to see you againsie wensie, too~! (giggle!)”

FanFan went on to say that she hadn’t expected her to bring a friend, causing MDP’s smile to droop into a slight frown of confusion. “Like, Magical Dream Princess already asky waskyed if she could bring a friendy wendy alongy wongy,” the whimsical girl noted. “Like, don’t you remember wember~?” Then brightening up, she added, “Golly wolly~! Magical Dream Princess sure hopes your memory wemory isn’t getting as bad as her’s, ‘cause that would be, like, super duper bad~! (giggle!)”

Her demeanor brightened even further when Melisa introduced herself. “Like, isn’t Melisa Wisa the most super duper adorable worable dolly wolly person werson you ever wever saw~?!” MDP asked excitedly, bouncing up and down with childish glee. “She’s super duper nicey wicey, and she helpy welpies Magical Dream Princess with lots and lots of stuffy wuffy, and she plays all sorts of super duper fun gamey wameies with her, and she really really wuvs tea parties, too~! (giggle!)”

FanFan’s worries seemed to somewhat subside when Melisa expressed her fondness for tea parties, and nodded, placing the palms of her hands against each other with a pleased expression. “So you enjoy tea parties as well, splendid~”. She turned to MDP, taken aback by MDP’s misunderstanding. “Oh, that’s…Yes, I did forget. Oh, silly me~!” She decided to take the fall for the much lesser crime and avoid a potentially harmful topic for her guests.
“Anyway, shall we go? I have a room that would be just perfect for a spot of tea.”

FanFan led the two girls through the corridors and halls of the Beacon building; they went by girls running back and forth through with paper piles, folders, and other documents in their hands, as well as girls who were combat training, sparring or testing weaponry against practice dummies resembling monsters of humanoid shape. Despite the pleasing colors of both the architecture and the inhabitants, the atmosphere was serious, if not outright militaristic.

FanFan opened the door to a conference room, with a purple tablecloth placed across it. Set on the table was a pretty pink tea set including teacups, tiny plates, and a pitcher, as well as a multi-layered glass plate with tiny cakes of various colors stacked over each other.
FanFan took the pitcher, and gestured for the two to sit down.
“I’ll go and get us some tea. I can also bring anything else you might want, like cookies, or muffins. Please, make yourselves at home,” she stated politely with a curtsy. In the midst of it, she briefly glanced at Melisa. “Just a minute~” Afterwards, she left the room, leaving the two alone for a moment.

If the glance meant anything in particular Melisa didn't catch it. Some of the activity going on about the building was… odd. Something inside her told her not to bring it up. The tea party was already set so she skipped on over to it and hopped up onto the chair. Standing up she wasn't too short for the level of the table. By now she was used to this particular conundrum. She would wait until the others were seated before deciding if she would need a booster seat. "Everything's so nice." She turned the cups carefully to look at the ornate designs.

As expected for someone of her painfully limited attention span, MDP spent the short trip to the tea room looking around in innocent wonderment at all the various sights and sounds of the HQ complex. If any odd looks were cast their way, the whimsical girl was completely oblivious to them, her cheerful smile never leaving her face for an instant. Once they arrived, she gave voice to a squeal of delight and bounced over to the table prepared for them. “Wowie zowie~! (giggle!) Like, everythingy wingy looks so pretty witty and yummy wummy~! (giggle!)” she declared as she looked over the various items on display. FanFan announced that she would go fetch the tea, and asked that they make themselves comfortable. “Okie dokie~!” MDP replied with an excited wave, before taking a seat next to Melisa. “Like, it totally wotally is~!” the whimsical girl agreed with an enthusiastic nod, when the doll girl noted how nice everything looked. “It, like, kinda winda remindy windies Magical Dream Princess of the tea set her mommy wommy used to have~!” she added, her eyes widening with interest as she made a closer inspection of the designs on each piece.

It took a couple of minutes before Melisa and MDP heard a couple of voices outside the room. The first voice differed from FanFan's.
"You sure it's okay? What if Rachel finds out-"
"It's fine. Rachel is busy enough, no need to stress her out more than usual. Anyway, here we are."
The door opened, and FanFan stepped in holding a pitcher with steaming hot tea.
"Sorry for taking so long~ Another friend decided to join us~"
"Well, you insisted I come…" The two seated girls saw that it was Leena; she was using a crutch to walk unsteadily. FanFan assisted her with taking a seat opposite the girls, and the purple-haired girl herself poured tea to everyone's cups.
"Careful, it's a bit hot. Mix it with a spoon first~"

MDP’s head shot up when FanFan returned with not only the tea, but a guest as well. “Like, Magical Dream Princess remember wembers you~! You’re that person werson with the swordy wordies that went to Mariettey Wetty’s placey wacey with Magical Dream Princess, and Connie Wonnie, and Gaia Waia, and Samurai-chan, and FanFany WanWany, and all those other people weple~! (giggle!) But, like, Magical Dream Princess doesn’t remember wember you having a crutchy wutchy back thensie…” she added with a frown. “Like, are you okie dokie?”

Looking up from the tea cups, Melisa looked over to FanFan and Leena. Her eyes grew wide after a moment. ”Oh no. What happened?”

Leena nodded reluctantly as MDP identified her.
"That's right, we met at the raid."
FanFan joined with an enthusiastic nod.
"This is my dear friend Leena. She is also from the Ascendancy. You could say we're partners~"
A bit of red formed on Leena's cheeks. "Something like that."
FanFan sat down next to Leena.
"This is Magical Dream Princess, or MDP for short. She is a friend I happened to meet here. And this is Melisa." Leena gave an acknowledging nod to the guests.
"Well met."
When Leena was asked about the crutch, she averted her eyes.
"It's…not that big of a deal. Pushed myself a bit too much and ended up injuring myself. But I've managed to slowly recover. A while back I had to use a wheelchair, but now I can walk on my own…almost."
FanFan beamed as she blew on her teacup, her pinky extended in a ladylike manner.
"It's wonderful how much progress you've made in such a short time, Leena."
She then turned her attention to Melisa while Leena mixed her teacup with a spoon.
"So Melisa, have you recently arrived in Penrose? How long have you known Magical Dream Princess?"

Since the other two didn't seem to want to go into detail about the injury Melisa didn't pry. She would much rather have the tea party anyway. Subsequently the serving of the tea happened. Melisa herself didn't actually partake in any tea. She couldn't really. Or more accurately it had nowhere to go. So she pretended to sip tea as the others drank. When asked about herself she tilted her head a bit. "Well… I guess you can say I've recently come back to Penrose. I grew up here, but moved away for my job for several years." Pausing for a moment she would look down at herself. There was an internal tug of war going on on what exactly to say next. " I've known her for about a month. The magical girl thing is new and more of an accident. This doll is cursed or something and I'm stuck like this until I can figure out a way to break it." She frowned. While she was childlike, the adult in her was still displeased with the circumstances. Only until recently has she had the chance to maybe break the curse. Though that probably wouldn't make her not a monster girl.

FanFan took a sip of her tea with a nod. "Mm, I see. How unfortunate to hear that~"
However, Leena was less sympathetic.
"Hmph, serves you right for messing around with cursed artifacts."
"Leena!" FanFan retorted. "Do not bring up work talk, ok? She may be corrupted, but she is still a guest, and so far she hasn't betrayed my trust in keeping civil. So why can't you?"
Leena scoffed, and stuffed her face with a cake.
FanFan turned her eyes to Melisa. "My apologies. Leena can be a bit blunt."

As Melisa told the Ascendancy girls a little bit about herself, MDP took a careful sip of tea, doing her best to ensure she observed proper manners. “Mmm~ Delicious wicious~” she cooed, her face taking on a dreamy expression of pure contentment. Unfortunately, that expression dissolved a moment later, upon hearing Leena’s derisive retort. “Yeah!” the whimsical girl agreed with an indignant pout after FanFan had scolded her companion. “Like, that’s not a very nicey wicey thingy wingie to say, Leena Weena! Like, it’s not Melisa Wisa’s fault she’s a dolly wolly person werson right nowie, cause, like, she didn’t know it was a cursey wursied thingy wingie in the first placey wacey!”

Melisa’s eyes went from Leena, to FanFan, and then to MDP. She was quiet for a moment before looking back at Leena. ”You’re probably right, but I didn’t really know magic and curses existed in the first place. I would like to find a way to not be like this if I could.” She leaned to one side a bit and took another sip. She was trying not to get in trouble if she could.

Leena rolled her eyes as she finished eating her cake, and sighed. "Alright, I'm sorry for jumping the gun there, I guess," she said, and FanFan smiled in gratitude. "But if you want to break the curse, why not have yourself purified?"
FanFan blinked. "Oh, I didn't think of that. Have you tried it, Melisa?"

Shaking her head she looked a bit confused. "I haven't. I mean… I heard something about purification, but it was never really explained to me what it was or anything."

“But, like, isn’t that, like, when an evil wevil monster wonster person werson stops being weing an evil wevil monster wonster person werson?” MDP asked with a frown, while tilting her head in confusion. “Like, Melisa Wisa isn’t evil wevil, or a monster wonster!” she added adamantly. “She’s a super duper nicey wicey dolly wolly person werson~!”

“Whether she’s nice or not is irrelevant, Pinkie,” Leena retorted, having crossed her arms.
“The corrupted can still give off a pleasant appearance, even if inside they are rotten to the core.” FanFan took a sharp gasp. “That’s enough of that, Leena. Melisa, purification is a method by which someone’s corruption is cleansed from them. This means removing any mutations or monstrous qualities. But there have been cases where the mutations have adapted into the purifying process and taken on a new form,” she noted afterwards. “In any case, I’m sure that will break the curse on you.”

Looking down at her metallic body, Melisa pondered the prospect for a moment. There was a bit more going on in the background though. Her patron was trying to decide if this would help her with her goals. This doll was not of her creation. And while she had use of it the curse prevented her from making her toys the way she wanted or even to acquire new ones. The process might lose her Melisa, but with the curse binding her broken she could always find another. It was worth the risk.

Looking up and nervously rocking her tea cup a little, Melisa took another "sip". Glancing at the empty cup she groaned and put it down. She had to pretend to enjoy a cup of tea. She couldn't feel things like normal. It was like some kind of nightmare with a sugar coating to make it bearable. "Alright then." She looked back over to Leena and FanFan. "I'm willing to try it. Whatever has me stuck like this is weird and creepy. I hate it. What, uh… what do I need to do?" Her confidence wavered a bit since she had no idea how any of this worked.

Even through her mask, Melisa could tell that Leena was grinning. “Now that’s what I’m talking about! And this time I didn’t have to drag one in!” FanFan sighed, and then beamed with her smile. “You made the right choice, Melisa. Now then, once everything is ready, all you have to do is stay still. It might sting a little, but it’ll be over before you know it~” She took a sip of her tea. “But do not worry, we can do that after we have finished drinking the tea. Speaking of, does anyone want a refill?” She asked as she held the pitcher.
“I could use one, FF,” Leena said, and FanFan giggled. “Of course. Here you go~” She poured into Leena’s teacup. Melisa and MDP both noticed how the tension in the air seemed to gradually dissipate after that exchange, and the two Ascendancy girls got more comfortable.
“So, do you two have any hobbies? I enjoy baking and sewing~”
“I like collecting and listening to music,” Leena added. “Rock is my bread and butter, but I also dabble in metal and other genres.”

“Magical Dream Princess would wuv some more of FanFany WanWany’s delicious wicious tea~! (giggle!)” MDP replied, happy that the brief period of tension had been resolved peacefully. “Magical Dream Princess’s hobby wobby is being Magical Dream Princess~! (giggle!)” the whimsical girl told FanFan when the Ascendancy girl inquired about what hobbies she and Melisa might have. “But, like, her friendy wendy Connie Wonnie is teaching her how to painty wainty super duper pretty witty picture wictures, and Magical Dream Princess has been having lots and lots of fun with that~! (giggle!)”

Pondering the question a bit, Melisa held up her tea cup for a refill. "Well, I haven't really had the chance to do much of it, but I really like sewing. Oh and playing! Playing all kinds of games and stuff like this." With the tension gone the childlike wonder in her began to resurface. It wasn't really a surprise then that MDP and her got along so well.

FanFan squee'd in delight. "You also love sewing? How wonderful! We should definitely get together for a sewing session. I would love to share techniques~"
She also smiled at MDP as she poured her another cup of tea. "Oh, painting is also so lovely~ I wouldn't mind being a model if you ever wanted one~" She suggested with a dainty throw of her hand, causing her to giggle. Leena also chuckled a bit.

For the rest of their tea party, the girls chatted up on various topics while enjoying FanFan's tea and cakes. But, as with all good things, it eventually came to an end.
"Man, I'm stuffed," Leena commented as she leaned back on her seat. FanFan simply giggled as she collected the plates. "Of course. You simply couldn't resist my cakes, could you? Tee hee. Did you two also like them?" She asked MDP and Melisa.

“Magical Dream Princess absodutelylutely wuved them~! (giggle!)” MDP replied with a delighted smile. “They were, like, super duper yummy wummy~! (giggle!)”

"Uh, I didn't have any because I can't really eat anything." The tiny girl responded sheepishly.

FanFan giggled at MDP's answer. "I'm delighted to hear it. I always try to improve my baking." But when it came to Melisa, her joy faded away. "I see," FanFan replied, looking a bit sad but still coming up with a smile. "I hope the company made up for it~" She was about to turn away with the tableware before she asked. "By the way, would you like the purification to be done now or at some later date?"
"Let's get it over with!" Leena shouted enthusiastically from the sidelines. "The sooner the better, I say!"
"Well, Melisa has the final word on it. Perhaps you'd like some time to get used to the idea first?"

Considering it while they moved toward the exit, Melisa nodded a bit. I… if it isn't too much trouble.” She wasn't completely sure, but she did know that this form of hers wasn't what she wanted.

“Like, Magical Dream Princess thinkie winkies Melisa Wisa should do whatever wever makes her happy wappy~!” MDP advised, while offering her small friend a reassuring smile.

FanFan nodded. "Okay then, Melisa. How about we exchange contact information? Then we can arrange for the purification at any time." She showed her phone. "Here's my number~. Thank you for coming to my tea party~."
Leena also nodded with her arms crossed.
"It was nice to meet you folks."

“You’re, like, totally wotally welcome, FanFany WanWany~! (giggle!)” MDP replied. “And it was, like, super duper nicey wicey meeting weeting you, too, Leena Weena~!”

Melisa shook her head and didn't take the card. "No, I mean if it isn't any trouble we can try it now." She would clarify.

MDP blinked. “Right nowie~?” she asked, tilting her head.

Shrugging a bit she glanced around. "I don't see why not. This body isn't me." A question came to mind and she looked back to FanFan. "Do you know what I'll look like afterward or is it just kind of random?"

FanFan blinked in surprise. “Oh, how wonderful~” FanFan gently took Melisa’s hand. Leena nodded, also glad about the answer. “I guess I’ll head off now, since you can take care of it, FF. See ya later.”
“Of course,” FanFan responded, and guided Melisa through the corridors of the Beacon building, with MDP following behind. She audibly hummed as she thought about Melisa’s question. “I honestly don’t know. But I assure you, you’ll be fine~”

They reached the purification room, which was located in the basement of the building; it was a room resembling a meditation chamber, with rounded walls and ceiling, and lanterns that glowed with a soft white light. At the very center was an intricate white circle made of salt. “Melisa, I will now explain the process,” FanFan spoke, and gestured towards the magic circle. “Please take your place at the very center of the magic circle, and don’t move out of it until I say so, ok?”
She asked. “You can leave the rest to me~”

"Alright." She said. Walking toward the circle, she looked down at it. Taking a breath she stepped into the circle and stood in the center. Turning back she wrung her hands a bit. "Okay… I'm ready." She was clearly a bit nervous, but at this point her patron wouldn't let her take it back.

FanFan stood outside the magic circle, and summoned her mechanical arms. "Now, try to relax, and empty your mind of any thought other than freeing yourself from the curse, Melisa. That will make this easier~" She then began to chant in a low voice while keeping her hands outstretched, and white light soon emanated from the magic circle surrounding Melisa. She then noticed that a Beckoner in the form of a squirrel with angel wings appeared by FanFan's shoulder, joining in the ritual. FamFan had closed her eyes as she kept chanting, and the light started to intensify.
And as it did, Melisa began to feel hotter and hotter, as if she was in a dry sauna.
Soon enough, the white light had consumed her being.

As instructed, Melisa focused on breaking the curse. Temperature was one thing that Melisa could really feel and she fidgeted a bit as her body heated up. The inscription etched inside the doll began to warp and crack. As the light enveloped her her sense of feeling left her. Cracking and chipping, the metal around her began to fall away, leaving only a pink flame. Dazed and confused, a small pink flame, her soul, was all that remained. The world around her was muted and distant. Suddenly she heard a voice echo in her mind. The sound of a child giggling. "Hello? W-who's there?"

"Silly, I'm your patron! That nasty doll kept me from reaching you. Buuut, you found a way to break the curse. Hm, I guess we're going to have to thank Beacon now." There was a brief pause before the voice chimed back in with a cheery note. "Well that's for another time! We need to get you a new body. Ooooh, you're going to be so beautiful!"

The small flame began to flare and spin. Small flicks began to twist and stretch into a humanoid shape. It was smaller than that of the doll, perhaps she only had so much magic to recreate Melisa. Still the magic swelled and in a burst of pink flames wings flared outward and a new magical fairy girl was revealed. Glittering blue and violet wings adorned with silver trim. Now standing only a foot tall the girl had a glowing white dress, a pin in her hair, and pink flowers set about her. To those in the room, she had a strange allure before. Now though her aura almost demanded the attention of those around her.



Gathering her wits about her, for a moment Melisa though that nothing changed. Taking a step forward the sound her foot made sounded different. Putting her hands to her face she smushed her cheeks. "I-I'm me again?" Her wings fluttered with excitement, she felt herself lift a bit. "Wah!" She stumbled but caught herself gracefully. Reaching back she folded one of the wings over so she could see it. Blinking confusedly it began to sink in. She wasn't back to normal,but she was flesh and bone again. Looking around she tried to find a mirror or something reflective. "Uhm." She froze for a second as she realized she was being watched.

“Wowie zowie~” MDP gasped in awe as she knelt down in front of her friend. “Melisa Wisa’s a fairy wairy person werson nowie~! (giggle!) And, like, she looks sooo super duper pretty witty, too~! (giggle!)”

FanFan's eyes were glued to Melisa as she stared with an open mouth, stunned into silence. "Melisa, you…You look…FABULOUS!"
Her metal arms reached out to snatch Melisa, and brought her right into a hug by her real arms. "You did it! You broke the curse! I'm so proud of you!"

Squeezed by the Beacon member, Melisa smiled brightly and hugged back as best she could. "Thank you! I owe you sooo much!" Once she was let go she began to fly with her wings. Spinning around trying to get a feel she eventually stopped. "This is weird. I'm still tiny but… I think my… patron? Made me this way." The term didn't quite make sense to her at the moment.

FanFan motioned dismissively with her hand. "Oh, that's completely fine! It just means you are naturally a…vertically challenged person~"
She dismissed her mechanical arms, and sighed in relief. "Anyway, I'm so glad we had that unpleasant business sorted. Now you're free to live your life without that ickiness~"

“Yeah~!” MDP agreed, smiling in childish delight as she watched her friend fly around the room. “Like, Melisa Wisa must be sooo super duper happy wappy right nowie~! (giggle!) And, like, Magical Dream Princess doesn’t thinky winkie being tiny winy will be such a problem woblem for Melisa Wisa anymoresie~! Not with her pretty witty new fairy wairy wings~! (giggle!)”

Fluttering to her friend and landing on her shoulder, MDP would find that the tiny girl was lighter than even her size implied. "Do you think my disguised self looks different?"

"It probably does," FanFan interjected. "Why don't you try it out?"

Landing on the ground Malisa would untransform. Her tiny stature would grow rapidly to a more appropriate size for an early teen. Her appearance was fairly average, wearing a frumpy gray hoodie and black sweatpants. ”Whoa!’ She looked shocked for a bit. She had somewhat become accustomed to being so incredibly short that the sudden change in perspective was almost dizzying. ”This is weird. It shouldn’t be, but it is.” Then again maybe it should be.



FanFan nodded enthusiastically. "Yep yep, looking good!"

MDP giggled with delight when Melisa landed on her shoulder, only to gasp in surprise when her diminutive friend changed to her mundane form and grew significantly larger. “Golly wolly~!” the whimsical girl exclaimed as she rushed to keep her wobbling friend steady. “Melisa Wisa’s like a normal wormal person werson nowie~! (giggle!) And, like, it’s also walso probably wobably normal wormal for Melisa Wisa to feel strangey wangey, ‘cause, like, she probably wobably isn’t used to being so biggy wiggy after being so tiny winy for so longy wongy~! (giggle!)” she added reassuringly.

”Yeah. I think I’ll need a while to adjust. We should probably head home.” She would steady with MDP’s help. Suppose the difference made sense. One was a disguise where her form didn’t really change while this was a proper transformation.

“Like, Magical Dream Princess is soooo super duper happy wappy for you, Melisa Wisa~!” MDP declared. “And, like, the very wery besty westiest part of allsie is that Magical Dream Princess can give Melisa Wisa huggy wuggies nowie~! (giggle!)” the whimsical girl added, before doing exactly that. “Oh~! Magical Dream Princess just thought of something womething~!” she exclaimed excitedly as she bounced up and down. “Now that Melisa Wisa’s not a dolly wolly anymoresie, she can finally winally have a tea party for realsie~! (giggle!)”

The two would then head back to MDP’s place to let Melisa rest up and adjust to the changes. Or at least that was the intention anyway. They were almost home when another magical girl appeared in a flash of magic and a muffled poof sound. The dark skinned girl was dressed in a revealing belly dancer’s garb and her long Ruby hair flowed with the wind.. ”Hello there. I was beginning to think you’d never get back.”

“Wowie zowie~! Like, you’re that event coordinator wator person werson from the Christmas Wistmas Party~! (giggle!)” MDP exclaimed with a big smile. “Magical Dream Princess is, like, super duper sorry worry, but she, like, totally wotally forgot your namey wamey, so, like, could you pretty pretty please tell her againsie wensie~?”

Smiling, the girl sauntered over. ”That’s okay. I’m glad you remembered me. My name is Ruby. Aaand I’m here because it’s your turn for a wish granting.”

“Magical Dream Princess’s turny wurny~?” the whimsical girl asked with a puzzled tilt of her head. “So, like, she can make a wish, and you can, like, make it happen wappen, just like a genie wenie~?”

”Mhm, my patron is a djinn and I share his magic. Well, most of the time anyway.”

“Wowie zowie~!” the whimsical girl exclaimed, her eyes lighting up in childish wonderment. “Like, that soundy woundies super duper funsie wunsie~! (giggle!)”

Melisa remembered giving a wish for the Christmas party. It made sense that Ruby was the reason for all of that then. ”So how does the wish work? Do we just make one and you make it happen? Can it be anything?”

Always questions. ”Well that depends on the wish really. You’ll just have to make one and see. I’m mainly looking to see what she wants though.” Ruby points to MDP.

“Ummm… Weeeell… Magical Dream Princess doesn’t really know exactly wactly what she’d wish for right nowie…” the whimsical girl replied, swaying back and forth in an indecisive manner. Her cute face had taken on an incredibly thoughtful expression, and she tapped a finger against her chin. Even with her current childish mental state, MDP knew that wishes were complicated things. It was always so easy to make a mistake and get nothing, or even something awful. A part of her almost wanted to change back into her vastly more intelligent mundane self, but to do so here, in such a public place, was simply out of the question. Thus, the ditzy girl would just have to figure something out as she was…

Taking a deep breath, and mustering what precious little focus she had, the whimsical girl began, “Sooo, like, if Magical Dream Princess wished for her daddy waddy and all her friendy wendies to be okie dokie…” her voice trailed off and a frown marred her face as she realized that she wasn’t being detailed enough. Like, this would be sooo much easier weasier if Magical Dream Princess was her normal wormal selfy welfy… Giving voice to an annoyed sigh, she tried again, this time with hopefully a bit more clarity. “Like, if she wished for them all to be happy wappy, and safy wafey, and soundy woundy, and, like, not get hurt super duper bad, and especially wecially not get killed, for, like, ever and ever, could Ruby Wuby make that wish come true~?”

Ruby would consider the scope of the request. She’d done larger ones in the past, but that was only for the mundane population. Mixing and matching would require a boost like before. She would adopt a bit how MDP was speaking. ”That soundy woundies like a lot of people weeple.” MDP made friends with just about everyone.

“Like, Magical Dream Princess guesses wesses so…” the whimsical girl conceded. “But, like, if you can’t helpy welpy all of her freindy wendies, then Magical Dream Princess guesses wesses she could just wish for you to helpy welpy her daddy waddy, who’s super sicky wicky, and Connie Wonnie, who has a horrible worrible patron watron person werson, who’s a super duper meanie weanie to her, and Amanda Wanda, who had to go bye bye, ‘cause Magical Dream Princess made a super duper biggy wiggy mistakey wakey, and now the Minty Winty is after wafter her…”

"Hm. Well if you don't have something more specific I think I can protect two people from most things. You'll have to put it as a wish though."

Leaning over to her friend, Melisa would ask. "What are you trying to do?"

“Magical Dream Princess is trying to make a wish to protecty wecty some people weple who are super duper important wortant to her, and are in lots of trouble wuble right nowie,” MDP replied. “She really wanted to helpy welpy all her friendy wendies, but Ruby Wuby says that’s too difficult wifficult…” Pausing for a moment, the whimsical girl turned her attention back to the djinn girl. “Okie dokie,” she said, taking a deep breath. “Magical Dream Princess wishes for Daddy Waddy to be healed of his cursy wursey, and to never get hurt by anybodywody, or anythingy wingie ever againsie, and for Connie Wonnie to be safey wafey from her meanie weanie patron watron person werson, and for Amanda Wandy to be safey wafey from the Minty Winty, so she can come back to Penrose Wenrose~!”

Ruby would blink for a moment. "I don’t think I can do all of that in one wish. The Mint are tricky to deal with."

"Can I make a wish for her?" Melisa would ask.

Ruby would shake her head. "I'm on a shorter leash since the Christmas party. Only enough juice for one."

MDP frowned. “Then, like, how many wany people weple can Ruby Wuby helpy welpy?” the whimsical girl asked.

”Well. It depends on the wish really. If it requires very different things then it’s more than one wish. If I can figure out a way to connect the things then it depends on how far a stretch they are. I feel like I could help your dad and Connie, but I won’t know exactly how until I grant the wish.”

“Okie dokie…” MDP conceded with a sullen sigh. “Then Magical Dream Princess wishes for Ruby Wuby to helpy welpy her Daddy Waddy and Connie Wonnie, like she wished for beforesie…”

Smiling brightly, Ruby felt a rush as the magic itch was scratched. Glowing, her hair swirled around as if blown by some wind. Two small orbs appear in her palms. At first she seemed a little perplexed, but eventually she cupped her hands together and pressed the orbs together. Light streamed out between her fingers which died down after several seconds. Opening her hands revealed two iridescent rings. One had magical gems embedded around it which clearly held magical energy. Both had runes etched in the inside of the band. Holding them up and inspecting them for a moment she would hum a bit. ”Well, that’s interesting. Alright…” She would hold them out and shake the gemless one. ”This one's for your father.” She then held up the gem embedded one. ”And this one goes to Connie’s mother.”

“Thanky wankies, Ruby Wuby~!” MDP told the djinn girl with a brilliant smile as she took the first of the two rings. “They’re, like, sooo super duper pretty witty~! (giggle!)” However, her joy soon turned to confusion, when Ruby told her what to do with the second ring… “Connie Wonnie’s mommy wommy~?” the whimsical girl asked with a frown. “But, like, Connie Wonnie’s an orphan worphan… She doesn’t have a mommy wommy… Oh~!” she gasped as a sudden realization entered her ditzy brain. “Like, does Ruby Wuby mean the lady wady who adopted wopted her~?”

Nodding to the question. "Kayli, yes. She's a healer and has Reinforcement magic. The rings are linked. So as long as they're both wearing them then her magic will keep your father shielded and healthy." Pointing to the one ring she still had. "For Connie, these gems will boost her mom's magic enough to wrestle some of the control from her current patron. It's up to Connie if she wants it to work though." Her magic could do a lot, but she couldn't force people to do things. Especially when it involves patrons that might not be cooperative.

“Okie dokie~!” MDP declared with a playful salute. “Magical Dream Princess can totally wotally do that~! (giggle!) Thanky wankies soooo much for all the helpy welpy, Ruby Wuby~!” she added, as she gave the djinn girl a big hug. “Like, Magical Dream Princess would just wuv do do something womething nicey wicey for you sometimey wimey, so, like, would it be okie dokie if she gave you her contacty wacty information wation~? That way, if you need helpy welpy with anythingie wingie at allsie, Magical Dream Princess can come right away~! (giggle!)”

”Of course. Better that way since I don’t have a phone.” She laughed.

“You don’t have a phoney woney~?” MDP asked as she presented the djinn girl with her own pink, glitter and sticker-covered phone. “Like, then how do Ruby Wuby’s friendy wendies contacty wacty her~?”

Rolling her shoulders a bit Ruby glanced around. "Well… I don't have the luxury to have friends like people normally. I have a few kind of, but I have a job to do."

“No friendy wendies?!” MDP asked, clearly shocked by this revelation. “That’s, like, super duper awful wawful! Like, Magical Dream Princess wants to changey wangy that right nowie!” the whimsical girl declared, her cute face taking on a serious and determined expression that was actually quite amusing. “Heresie~!” she added with a big smile as she embraced the djinn girl. “This is Magical Dream Princess’s super duper special wecial friendy wendy huggy wuggy~! (giggle!) So, like, Ruby Wuby and Magical Dream Princess are, like, totally wotally friendy wendies nowie~! (giggle!) And, like, Magical Dream Princess thinky winkies Melisa Wisa would totally wotally wuv to be your friendy wendy, too~! (giggle!)”

Nodding and jumping in for the hug, Melisa was caught up in the energy. "Yeah! We can be your friends."

“Yaaaay~!” MDP cheered, jumping up and down in unbridled delight, while still clinging tightly to both Ruby and Melisa. “Friendy wendies~! Friendy wendies~! Yay~! Yay~! Yaaay~! Friendy wendies~! Friendy wendies~! Hip hip horraaaay~! (giggle!)”

Not making the attempt to stop them, Ruby would stand still with an awkward smile. "I appreciate the gesture. Here's the deal though, if anything happens to you I'm not coming to the rescue. Got it?" Ruby was less concerned with dying in this case and it had more to do with what people after her magic could try and make her do. She was under no illusion that she couldn't be replaced by her patron.

Upon hearing Ruby’s words, MDP’s bubbly demeanor abruptly vanished. “Like, why not?” she asked, tilting her head in puzzlement. “Magical Dream Princess doesn’t understandy wandy… I-Is it because of how your magic wagic works?”

”Yeah, something like that. It’s too risky to get involved with other people’s problems because they could use them to get to me and my magic. Nope, not happening.” She put one hand on her hip.

“Oooh…” MDP said, her eyes widening in understanding. “Like, Magical Dream Princess guesses wesses that makes sensey wensey… And, like, that doesn’t stoppy woppy Ruby Wuby’s friendy wendies from helping welping her~! (giggle!)” she added with a wink, brightening up to her usual bubbly demeanor.

Glad that she didn't have to explain too much, Ruby smiled and patted MDP on the head. "Exactly. I have some fairly strict rules I have to follow." She would skip backward for a moment. "But anyway, it's late and after using my magic I'm a bit winded so I'm going to head home. I'll see you later. Try not to lose those rings." Before the two could stop her Ruby vanished in a puff of smoke.

"That was weird. I didn't know wishes really existed." She would step up and look at MDP.

“Bye bye, for nowie~!” MDP called with a happy wave as she watched Ruby vanish just as quickly as she’d arrived. Turning to Melisa, she added, “Like, it totally wotally was~! But, like, Magical Dream Princess guesses wesses that’s just how genie wenie people weple do thingy wingies~! (giggle!)”

"I suppose so. I guess we better get home and put the rings somewhere safe." She would begin to move again,leaning closer to the rings briefly to get a better look at them.

“Like, we totally wotally should~!” MDP agreed as she also took a moment to admire the two rings, her easily-captured attention fully fixated on the shiny magical items. A moment later, her eyes widened as an idea popped into her ADHD addled brain. “Like, Magical Dream Princess knows~! We can ride on Mister Wister Rainicorn Wainicorn~! (giggle!)” With a wave of her glittery wand, the whimsical girl conjured the equally whimsical creature in question and promptly hopped on its back. “Like, come on, Melisa Wisa~!” she instructed as she held out her hand. “Mister Wister Rainicorn Wainicorn will take us homey womey super duper quicky wicky and it’ll be super duper funsie wunsie, too~! (giggle!)”

"Okay!" She hadn't ridden on the rainicorn yet. The idea sounded like a lot of fun and she took MDP's hand and hopped on the magical mount.

No sooner had she done so, then the colorful creature shot off across the sky, leaving a trail of prismatic glitter in its wake. As they sped along, MDP giggled with delight. This day had been so wonderful, she reflected. So many dreams had come true for both her and Melisa, so many problems had been solved, not through violence, but through friendship, and the day wasn’t even over yet! Indeed, once they got back to Covington Tower, she was going to host a super special tea party for Melisa, in celebration of her ability to actually drink tea once again. With that happy thought in mind, the whimsical girl guided her equally whimsical mount towards the center of the city, blissfully content and confident that with the power of love and friendship, all of Penrose’s many problems would turn out all right.

Penny felt that there was something uncomfortably final about stepping back into Penrose and letting the Overcity passage snap shut behind her. She was only just now returning from getting let go by Beacon’s higher ups and it was starting to truly settle that she had turned away simply because she wasn’t human.

Her mind raced as she contemplated everything that would need to change now, Beacon couldn’t be counted on as a resource for supplies anymore. She needed to open up her own network more now, rather than piggy backing on others, there was just no end to the work she had to do once more.

‘I need to tell Alicia.’ the thought slipped in through the blizzard of other thoughts, and just as quickly stilled all of them. Penny doubted her friend would turn on her because of this, but that didn’t mean it didn’t bring a fresh wave of hurt. That her friendship with Alicia put Alicia at risk from Beacon.

Penny drew up Alicia’s contact ready to send out a text with an explanation, when she hesitated. This wasn’t something to leave to just text. She waited a few more moments just looking at the number wondering if the risk to Alicia was worth the comfort of hearing from her friend.

The desire to hear from her friend, perhaps for the last time won out, and a moment later she placed the call.

Penny let out a tired greeting the moment Alicia picked up. “Hey, I’m back.” her voice crackled on the line, her emotions disrupting the connection despite her normal flawless control.

Alicia answered on the third ring, and although she did not know what had happened, the crackling did indicate to her that something was amiss. “Hey. Alright, what happened?”

"I was given an ultimatum." Penny answered softly. "I was told that I had to give up Beacon's blessings or give up my mechanical nature." She started walking after that, though where she was headed was anyone's guess.

"I don't know if they realized that it would probably kill me to try and remove my machine qualities at this point." She would continue on, another crackle skittering across the line. "Or that the Sanctuary would lose all faith in me."

"Not entirely sure that they cared either."

"They were kind enough to let me leave without incident though." Silver linings, sometimes you had to keep them in mind as they were the only solace you got.

Silence descended for several moments, Alicia simply processing what Penny was telling her. The emotions that rose in her were a clash of aligned ones, sadness and anger and all besides. Eventually it was a self-assigned task that provided focus “Where are you? I’m on my way.”

“I’m…” It took a moment for Penny to look around and find the answer to that, partially due to her disorientation, partially due to the main Overcity passage in Penrose having a habit of moving around. “I’m on twenty third and Cobalt avenue.” She would answer as she jumped up onto the roof of a nearby building. “On the roof of the axe throwing place.” She found a little niche where she couldn’t see the road and sat down to wait.

”Hang tight, I’ll be there ASAP.” Alicia told her with all the force of a command. She then hung up, if only so she could focus on getting there faster. This was not the sort of conversation she wanted to have over the phone, not with someone so close to her.

True to her word, she soon arrived at Penny’s location. Clambering up the fire escape, she gracefully swung onto the roof of the axe throwing establishment. “Penny, you still here?” she asked as she oriented herself.

"Here" Penny would reply. She was sitting next to the rooftop AC unit, her knees drawn up to her chest and she leaned her head back on the AC unit. Physical Penny looked fine, if not for the exhausted slump of her shoulders.

Her eyes were blue however, not gold. There was a bit of solace in the fact they weren't red however.

Making her way over, Alicia sat down with her legs crossed next to Penny. At least she didn’t seem to be angry about how things were going, which was a bit more than the Paladin herself could say in these circumstances. “On behalf of all sane people, sorry.”

Penny gave a snort at that. “We willingly live in Penrose, not sure any of us can still be called that.” Her voice was a bizarre mix of flat and watery. “And It’s not like I didn’t see it coming.” She would continue on “It took the girls at Beacon HQ here months to get used to me and I got the feeling the Ecclesiarch hasn’t changed her mind on something in closer to years.”

“True,” Alicia agreed with a sigh of her own. Her head fell, gaze drifting downwards as it became wrapped in visions that drifted past. “Still, they were willing to let you in there and even give you an audience. I duno, I guess I kinda hoped that things might be turning for the better.”

After a moment she looked over to her friend. “I suppose this whole plan of mine was going a bit too well, yeah?”

“I hoped the same thing” Penny would admit. “I was just too chaotic, too controversial, I guess.” A large part of the reason it hurt so much was because it felt like it was targeted at Penny as a person rather than just because she was a monster girl.

That said, she cared too much to let all hope die out here. “Louhi mentioned that an alliance might still be on the table.” It didn’t count as reaching out just by bringing it up did it? “And they did let me walk out. Even knowing about the Sanctuary.” She thought that was a nice precedent at least. It wasn’t even footing, but it was a step up compared to before.

“One can hope,” Alicia agreed. At the same time, some part of her couldn’t help but wonder whether it was because they didn’t expect Sanctuary to be of concern for much longer, once Wonderland was done with whatever their scheme was. But she did her best to suppress such cynical views. Maybe authority was making her jaded.

In spite of these difficulties, she did not want things to end here. Especially after the offer Penny had made when they were first addressing the Wonderland issue. ”Regardless of what my antique bosses say, I’m still your friend.”

“Never doubted that” Penny would say, her voice hitching in the middle. She’d reach over and place a hand on Alicia’s shoulder giving it a soft squeeze. “Never doubted you” Which was true. That didn’t help the fear that had cropped up that someone in Beacon would try and force Alicia out of Penrose. But Alicia abandoning her? That wasn’t something Penny allowed herself to think about.

Still, the reassurance did help soothe the hurt. Kept it a flowing sorrow rather than letting it stagnate into more anger. She had more than enough of that emotion in her systems without adding this into it.

“I have to say I’m kinda proud of myself.” Penny would speak up after a moment, not really letting herself get dragged down by her emotions even as she did her best to work through them. “It’s a lot harder to process sa… Sa..” She would swallow down the words that she couldn’t quite vocalize. “This” she would gesture at herself. “Without the ability to cry.” It felt like it was just getting bottled up and pressurized, but she couldn’t let that happen, it wouldn’t end well if she did. “But I’m doing it, not a hint of red, nor a drop of Jason here. Just me”

“It’s just me.” She would repeat as she slumped against the AC unit. “Why? Why couldn’t they see that I’m just me?” Penny was shaking slightly and if one didn’t hear her they would never be able to guess that she was breaking down. Because her sorrow hardly touched her face. She shed no tears, her face did not flush. She just shook slightly, and silently.

Though there had been little doubt, Alicia was glad that Penny reciprocated the feeling. It would have been petty to hold this against her, but she also didn’t want her doing something like severing ties simply out of reflex. Cut and run, before any harm came down on either of them. So at least they didn’t have that to worry about.

Still, for how much Penny claimed she was alright, the fact that she was slipping into repetition was telling. Leaning over, she wrapped an arm around Penny from behind to provide the same support that her friend had shown her moments ago. ”Hey, hey, it’s alright. It sounds like you need to vent as much as I do. I mean, we are on top of a building that specializes in hitting stuff with sharp objects, which is preferable to some of the alternatives. I think.”

Penny let out a strained laugh. Wrenching herself out of a downward spiral was hard, but Alicia just being here and so willing to show support helped. Alot.

She also agreed that axe throwing probably was a healthier outlet than most options they had available. “Yeah, no need to hide the mess either, they’ll already know where it came from.” She was worried that it would cause her sorrow to bleed into anger, but hopefully with Alicia there it would simply blunt into frustration?

It would be an interesting challenge as well, keeping her attention on modulating her strength so that she didn’t chuck the axe through a wall or something. So perhaps all those factors together would keep her from drifting too far into the red?

“I guess I’m game if you are” Penny would say after thinking about it a bit more, sounding not normal, but steadied.

Nodding, Alicia smoothed her outfit as she rose to her feet. ”Sounds like a plan to me. I’ll try and keep up, Miss Aimbot,” She gave Penny a wink and a grin to indicate her barb was made in jest as she prepared to head down to ground level. She was curious to see how this would go.

“Not sure how well that carries over if I’m honest.” Penny would mention as she followed after Alicia. She hadn’t ever fought or even used any skills close to that realm of possibility while sealed. “Besides, you’re the one with the hoodoo. No telling what you can get an axe to do.”

Down in the basement section of the Sanctuary was where the cells were located. Though even calling it that was a bit presumptuous. In truth it was more that a few of the potential rooms down here had been converted into detainment rooms. Mainly used to help contain someone who had lost control and needed to be separated so that they could calm down.

The rooms were sturdily built, Penny had made sure that they could stand up to at least a few solid blows of hers, and lined with cold iron to limit magical outbursts. This inadvertently made them a decent faraday cage as well making technological communication out difficult as well. There was a bunk, bolted to the wall with a hinge joint, with a decent pillow and a few blankets.

The issue using them as cells was the fact that they were made on a budget and not meant to be long term holdings. This meant that while they could hold people, there was an upper limit to which they could reasonably keep someone in.Just about anyone could force their way out, it was just a matter of time really. And anyone decently above average in the strength or magic department could easily exploit the fact that these weren’t designed to be cells in the first place.

The only way to offset that at the moment was to have a guard posted, which seeing as this was their first time with a prisoner Ashlyn had taken that role.

Not that any of that was critical to Penny. She was a shining example of the issues with these cells. To someone in her weight class, they were hardly even considered a road block.

A thought that floated in the back of her mind as she entered the cell that housed their prisoner. It had been a long day, and was shaping up to be longer, first was Beacon’s ultimatum and it's aftermath, and now this.

She carried with her a peace offering, a bowl filled with some oranges and packets of jerky.

Looking at Robert Penny would speak. “I have to ask, how much did you know about us before you came in here to try and talk us into moving out of Penrose?” She would ask as she walked over and offered him the bowl of food.

“Because I have to say, for as out of line as her attack was, I can fully understand why Dina reacted the way she did. And I’m not sure if you can.”

The Wonderland ambassador sat on the bunk with a slouch, looking pale as a result of Dina vampirically draining him of some blood and weakening him. Penny saw a glimpse of the puncture marks she left on his neck before he glanced over at Penny. He then looked at the bowl offered to him, and rejected it with a turn of his head.

"Why do you think I would tell you anything?" He spoke with a slightly hoarse voice. Even so, his words sounded unusually legitimate.
"You're going to kill me whether I talk or not, so there's no point."

“Actually my plan is to let you leave after we are done here.” Penny would correct him, setting down the offered food on the bunk. “The state in which you leave is up to you as well. If you are wanting it I can get you patched up magically before letting you go but if you don’t want to risk trusting me on that you can leave as you are.”

She would step back after she had laid the food down, moving so that Robert was well outside of her basic reach. “I asked, because I’m not sure you realize just how hard you were railing on her buttons. You threatened a Builder in their home, with the loss if not destruction of their home, which compounded with the likely long standing trauma of her actually having lost her home to a group that preached freedom for the people even as it massacred them.” She would explain solemnly. “Intentional or not you were more or less begging for her to be triggered.”

She gave the ambassador a critical look as she let her words sink in. “That said, her attack was excessive in my opinion.” She would move to sit, the metal flooring flowing up to form a stool as she did so so she was at eye level with Robert. “I can’t say that I would have reacted with much more grace personally, I don’t handle threats to my home well, but a broken nose would be where I stopped.”

“Because you have to understand something. Your invitation to join Wonderland, after littering my territory with monsters and killing a half dozen of my subjects, could only be construed as a threat. If not a precursor for war on your own terms.” Penny's eyes bored into Robert with a chilling intensity. As she said, she understood where Dina was coming from.

“This is your chance to plead your case, to plead Wonderland’s case.” She would lean forward resting her arms on her knees as she spoke. “But if you want it to end here, I am more than willing to go start prepping for war. It was what I was built for after all.”

Robert scoffed after Penny voiced her intentions with him. "How kind of you to let me leave. I suppose you've also kindly arranged a firing squad for when I step outside as well." He returned his eyes back to her. "But I suppose I have no other choice now but to believe you won't execute me, so I shall assume to have hope."

He listened as Penny accused him, and then cleared his throat. "First of all, what you perceive to be a threat was none of the sort. I simply gave her, and by association, you, an offering of peace, courtesy of the Queen of Hearts. Second, I do not know about any attacks that supposedly have been made." He then coughed, as his throat was getting sore from extended talking. "To answer your question from earlier, I thought I understood you to be a civilized people. However, it seems I was wrong; I truly didn't know anything at all."

“If I wanted you dead Robert, I would do it myself.” Penny would say calmly. “As for the attacks.” Snoopy would reveal himself with a chirp before dozens of images of the Wendigo attacks would be projected in the air above them. “This happened four days ago.” She continued to explain calmly, eyes never once leaving Robert. “And in truth I would not have any reason to suspect Wonderland’s involvement. I didn’t even know of your existence before then.”

“But three people stumbled across one of your members talking with someone about Penrose. He summoned more beasts and used them to secure his exit. But not before leaving behind a letter.” Wonderland’s first letter would join the images floating above. “We’ve recovered a bit of magi tech left behind as well, it was recognized to be the same type that this March Hare was using in his communications before he fled.”

“We are civilized.” Penny would say “But Penrose is under attack by something more often than not and we were already bloodied by your people. Caution keeps us alive at times like this, especially when we have already been forewarned that Wonderland intends to invade, for lack of a better term.”

Penny would hold up a hand to forestall his immediate response. “Would you like access to a healing artifact before we continue?” she would ask “You can use it yourself if you are still worried about my intentions.”

Robert lifted an eyebrow upon seeing the footage of the attack as well as the letter. "The March Hare? Why was he there?" He grimaced. "The letter was supposed to be delivered to the Penrose's ruling agency. Or at least, that was my understanding when I questioned him about it."

He looked aside, biting the inside of his cheek as Penny explained Penrose's violent history, before he blinked at the offer of a healing artifact. He looked at it, visibly hesitating, and then gave in.
"Thank you for the offer. I suppose you are telling the truth after all."

Penny would reach into her leg compartment to draw out her Christmas gift, before handing it over. She kept her actions telegraphed as best she could as well. “I can’t say that the Hare didn’t succeed in that.” She would reply while Robert healed himself. “For all that Penrose doesn’t have a singular ruler, his method of delivery of that letter made it so that every major faction in the city learned about it within six hours, at most.”

“Reactions have been mixed, but I can’t say I know how everyone reacted to the news of Wonderland’s intent to move in.” She would give a shrug. “The fact that you weren’t told of some of this is worrying to me.” She would go on leaning back on her seat more relaxed in appearance for the first time since she walked in.

“It means either this March Hare lied to you, or to your Queen. At least that is how it sounds to me” Neither was a good possibility, but they were bad for different reasons. Hare lying could be a lot of reasons, Queen of Hearts lying meant that war was inevitable and that she was simply looking for a convenient excuse. One that Sanctuary had given. “Can you think of a reason why the Hare would lie about this? Or even just explain who the Hare is in relation to your court?”

Robert clutched the healing artifact, and sighed as he felt its restorative power gradually bring color to his pale complexion. "I don't know. He is but one of many of the Queen's servants. There might have been some sort of misunderstanding here…" His eyes widened. "Or…I was intended to become a martyr."

“That is what I am afraid of.” Penny would acknowledge with a nod. “Especially if you were told to approach Dina first. The entire situation is almost tailor made to see you dead.” It was, funnily enough, paranoia that saved Robert’s life most likely. Because there was so much that Sanctuary didn’t know about Wonderland. If they had known more it was possible that Dina wouldn’t have cared to keep him alive for questioning.

“Now comes the question of if there is anything we can do about that.” Because While Penny would be willing to go to war, that didn’t mean she wanted to get everyone dragged into it as well. “Is there a way for you to check in with Wonderland? Or even the political news at large? I’ll admit that Penrose makes it hard to focus much on things outside its borders.”

Robert shook his head. "I only have a transmitting camera installed on my person." He showed the badge on his jacket, bearing the Wonderland emblem. "Something I informed the Regent about before she confiscated my watch and had me thrown in the dungeons." He sighed. "My orders were to report back after I had received an answer to the proposal. I suggested if we could arrange any alternative arrangements in case the initial one falls through, but the Queen wasn't particularly receptive to the idea, and deemed them unnecessary."

Penny gave the camera a look for a moment and was very grateful that she already secured the means to move out of the warehouse. The layout of the Sanctuary had never been a close secret, but it still worried her that Wonderland had likely seen a good chunk of the layout because of that camera.

“Well if that’s been recording this entire time there is hope” Penny would say after another moment. “How were you originally getting back to Wonderland?” She would go on to ask. “And what was the proposal supposed to be?”

Robert scoffed. "How do you think anyone moves from one realm to another? By magic, of course." He tapped at his jacket's pocket. "More specifically my pocket watch. It allows me to create spatial burrows and traverse through them."

Then he rolled his eyes. "The regent didn't inform you? The proposal was for the Sanctuary to withdraw their forces and magic away from Penrose and nearby cities. In return, you would be granted mercy by the Queen of Hearts and spared from her wrath. But like I said, Regent Dina had rejected the offer."

“Robert” Penny’s voice had taken a cool edge to it “Do not take me for a fool.” She would lean forward, eyes once again sharp as they regarded the ambasador. “My Regent did inform me. I wanted to hear it from you as well. Our refusal to leave stands. Our refusal to join Wonderland stands. If your Queen would so readily chase us from our homes I have no trouble believing that she purposefully sent you here to die. I will not kneel to one such as her.”

“If she wishes to take my home from me she will have to pry it from my corpse.” She simply stared at him for a few moments following that statement, never blinking. “With access to Glimmr networks, would you be able to send a message or call to someone in Wonderland?” She would ask, her voice once again calm and neutral. But her eyes stayed sharp and she still refused to blink.

Robert grimaced at Penny's threatening manners, and backed down.
"Excuse me, it seems it was a bit of culture shock. Anyway, the message is quite understood." He then blinked. "Glimmr? Ah, I think I've heard of it. It's a communication system established in the World Wide Web by a company of magicians, correct? The Queen has decreed any technology ran by ignorant slaves to be outlawed in Wonderland, including Glimmr." He then blinked. "Oh, not meaning to offend, mind you."

Penny was starting to put together a picture of Wonderland, and it wasn't pretty. "What is the punishment for breaking that law?" She would ask, ignoring the incidental slight.

"Losing your head of course," Robert answered as casually as if answering about local delicacies.
"In fact, most crimes are punished by losing your head. The Queen is very dedicated when it comes to upholding the law in Wonderland," he spoke with admiration.

Penny nodded at Robert’s response, she wasn’t surprised. She spent a moment seemingly contemplating what to say next when a portal dropped a letter next to her rather suddenly. Penny would pick up and read it before nodding to herself. She knew enough now.

“You know I have to wonder now what would be kinder.” She would say returning her gaze to Robert “Killing you now or letting you return to be killed by her. Because you do realize that she will find a reason for you to lose your head when you get back don’t you?” Penny would ask in the same sort of casual tone that Robert had answered.

“After all I’m sure she also dictates the laws” Penny would go on tilting her head to the side. “And Mr. White, from what I know of the Queen of Hearts, she was never fond of that color. Nor is she forgiving of failure. But something tells me that you won’t see it that way.”

Robert's smile faded fast, replaced by shock. "How dare you insult the Queen like that? She is a wise and graceful monarch, and not wont to pettiness as you have described. Besides, even if there were um…unforeseen circumstances, I am confident she understands the value that my role as a loyal ambassador serves."

“I dare simply.” Penny would say standing up with a shrug, her stool melding back into the floor as she did. “I dare because I've read her source material. I dare because she restricts everyone who she rules over so that she can hord her power and treat everyone as her own plaything. I dare, because by your admission, I am against her law just by living.” Penny’s face would split open at that last admission showing her mechanical inner nature for a moment before closing.

“I dare because I am Queen Penny, and if I don’t dare, how can I expect my subject to feel safe in doing so.” She would reach out a hand to Robert. “Regardless, I’ve learned what I wanted to. Simply return my healing artifact and you are free to leave.”

Robert gulped, intimidated by Penny, and returned the artifact back to her. "My apologies, I seem to have spoken out of line. Thank you for lending me the runic device, and for allowing me this chance to converse with you."

Rather than let him retract his arm, Penny would snag it and bring him in close. Making sure to lock eyes with him, hers glowing with inner power as she spoke in a low dangerous tone. “One last thing. You leaving alive is by my mercy, remember that, because the next time anyone from Wonderland enters my home, without forewarning, they will not return to your realm alive.” Her gaze bored into him and he could feel the banked weight of Penny’s aura seeping off of her as she waited just a moment to make sure he understood this warning.

As she stepped away the door out of the containment room would open in the same instance.

Penny could see fear in Robert's eyes, and he slowly nodded, slightly sweating from the brow.
"Yes…Point taken. Thank you for your mercy." Once he was allowed to leave, he stepped out of his cell, and bowed to Penny with his hat in his hands. "I will now return to Wonderland with your message to the Queen. I must admit that I learned a lot. While your lives are challenging due to the Powers, you possess a strong will to move forward. That is truly admirable. Fare thee well."
He then left with a brisk walk, seemingly wishing to escape before Penny changed her mind while still keeping a gentlemanly appearance.

Penny exited slowly, more than willing to let Robert return to his master. Still she stayed next to Ashlyn until she knew that Robert was out of earshot. “I want Tina to shadow him with one of her birds until he gets to either the nearest Overcity passage or he gets picked up by an ally of his.” She would order softly. “His camera is now my camera, and I want to be sure I get some use out of it.”

Wonderland wanted to play with its food, fine, Penny was more than willing to take advantage of that.

As per Penny's orders, Tina sent one of her birds to shadow after Robert as he left the city on a bus. Unbeknownst to him, however, Penny had hacked into the camera installed in his hat, and used it to see where he was headed. He ended up at a distant town hundreds of kilometers away called Bolorton. There, Penny saw him greet what seemed to be a contact of sorts at a local bar; a sleepy-looking girl with blonde hair and blue eyes.
"There's a change of plans. Let's go back," he informed the girl, who mumbled in return as she rubbed her eyes. "Already? And I had such a nice dream...Oh well. I'll send word that we'll be arriving."
The two of them headed out on car; Robert was driving, while the girl sat next to him, sleeping. They ended up at what looked like an empty field. However, it was there that the two Overcity Shifted, and Tina's bird was forced to turn back.

Penny's surveillance feed persisted over the dimensional hop, however, and she saw that the two ended up at a military outpost in the Overcity decorated with Wonderland's stylized heart insignia. It was manned by soldiers wearing face-concealing gas masks; their helmets and uniforms had a playing card theme to them, with clubs serving as regular troops, hearts as their officers and commanders, and diamonds as specialists such as cooks, medics and engineers. Despite this, no spades were to be seen. The two were met with salutes as they passed, confirming Penny's suspicion that Robert served as a higher-ranking member of some capacity. She saw as they passed through a portal built in the camp, and ended up in Wonderland, a whimsical and saccharine world where music played and people danced with smiles and laughter in their faces.

Penny noticed that the exact position where they ended up was at a military camp similar to the one in the Overcity, except it was even bigger, and housed various vehicles and heavy armaments, from regular jeeps and troop transports to even tanks and planes. More salutes followed as the two approached the castle sitting in the center of Wonderland, it's appearance causing Penny to be distracted by the various little things that populated the world, to the point she couldn't focus her attention on the structure itself. Fortunately, before Penny realized it, she was now looking at the courtyard of the castle, where Robert spoke to a couple of Clubs guarding the gates.
"Name: White Rabbit. Title: Royal Foreign Affairs Minister and Ambassador," he announced. The girl then spoke up: "Name: Dormouse. Title: Royal Dream Minister and Assistant to Head of R&D."

The Clubs nodded after checking on a notepad, and the two were permitted inside the castle. Penny noticed how various magical wards were turned off, their symbols flashing and fading away as they passed through the corridors. More importantly, there were also electronic devices such as surveillance cameras and motions sensors, and set to work on passing through their encryptions. To her chagrin, these were more advanced than regular encryptions in the human world, and so it would take her time. While Penny worked on hacking, she saw as the two entered the throne room, where a group of people had gathered.

The first thing Penny noticed was the smirking man who greeted them. "Well, well, well, look what the cat brought in. Or, would it be the mouse in this case? Either way, looks like you royally screwed up, Rabbit." The other people included a dapper boy wearing a monocle, a regal girl holding a book, a morose-looking girl with a cape and staff, and a monster girl sitting next to the throne. Dormouse removed her magical disguise as well, revealing her mouse ears.

Penny saw how Robert pointed at the first boy with his finger, sounding furious. "March Hare! You're the reason I failed my mission!"
The March Hare mockingly lifted his hands. "Oh? You're blaming me, now?"
"You were supposed to be scouting Penrose, not releasing monsters in there! What were you thinking? It was by pure miracle I didn't end up imprisoned or executed!"

"It was by my decree."

The entire court, including Robert, turned silent, and turned to bow as the Queen of Hearts arrived, and slouched on her throne.

"The March Hare was initially intended to simply infiltrate the city. That is true. However, I changed my mind."

Penny saw as the camera pointed down at the crimson rug as Robert bowed. "B-But...Why, Your Highness?"

"Because you were going to visit at that time. I decided I didn't want to waste that opportunity, and had the Hare carry out a terror strike. As a result, we obtained valuable information on the local defenses, did we not?"

Robert lifted the hat back up, and Penny saw the bored look on the Queen's face.

"Y-Your Highness...Surely the March Hare could have carried that mission after mine-"

"SILENCE!" The queen suddenly screamed her lungs out, causing Robert to stumble backwards.
"That is the reason, right there," she said, and pointed her sword at Robert; Penny saw how it glowed with powerful magic.
"For the longest time, you have disappointed me, Rabbit. Your endeavors to convince the ignorant slaves have failed, time and again. Those fools do not listen to reason or logic; their minds and souls have been twisted by the Powers. The only thing they understand-" she stabbed her sword down, "is force." She then lifted it back up. At this point, Penny managed to breach the encryption.
"So, I decided to have you act your part, so that-"

"Your Highness, a moment of your time!" The boy wearing the monocle suddenly spoke.
The Queen of Hearts scoffed.
"What is the meaning of this interruption, Mad Hatter? If you test my patience, it's off with your head."
The Hatter tapped at his monocle. "The security system has been compromised. And the cause is..."
He circled two fingers around his monocle, and then stared right at Robert's camera. "Ah, yes...Our Rabbit has turned traitor."
Before Penny could further anchor her presence into the system, he drew a magic symbol with his fingers, and suddenly Penny's camera feed was cut off with a slight electric jolt, kicking Penny out of the system and snapping her back to reality.

Starring:
‘American Dragon’ Sakura
‘’Reforged’ Ronin

High above Penrose, a glowing techno-pyramid hovered. Unlike the thousands of similar constructs which once choked the skies of unfortunate worlds, this particular vessel was roughly the size of an average office building, rather than an average mountain. Still, the power it contained was vast, and as it maintained its station above the unsuspecting city, it swept the ground below it with a dizzying array of sensors, scanners, and other data accumulators, the various spy rays and finder beams probing every proverbial nook and cranny for the item they sought. Such was their level of sophistication, that mere moments after their sweep began, they had successfully ascertained the precise location of the artifact in question. Now, it would simply have to be retrieved…

By the impression the bounty had left, time was of the essence. An attack could be launched at any time, so there was little opportunity for idle chit chat as they made their way to the destination specified in the instructions they had received upon accepting the bounty.

Their destination was just outside of Penrose, in an old scrap yard filled with the remnants of cars, refrigerators, and other miscellaneous junk that one could use for mechanical parts. It was of moderate size, though at the moment it didn’t seem very busy. They had been told to proceed to a side entrance and ring the buzzer. From there, they were guided to their final destination further within the scrapyard.

Guided to a spot near the center of the yard, they soon found themselves at the base of another large pile. At least, until a hatch opened up and a rope ladder unrolled to the ground in front of them. “Come on in,” came the call from above.

‘… So, sensei, whatever happened to you?’ A beaming Ronin asked Sakura as soon as they could meet each other properly again. ‘Looks kinda amazing! I was a monster-girl in the past, too, so ask me if you have any questions about it!’ Ronin said, grinning all widely, as they headed off with the guidance they’d received. Eventually, they reached their destination… in the scrap yard, of all places, and then there was a hatch in a pile and a rope.

‘Oh, don’t mind if I do!’ Ronin said, skipping up partly not even needing the rope as she just jumped on her own platforms materializing under her feet and dragged herself up with the rope occasionally.

“I…took a Ruby coin too fast and too hard. At least I reach the counter now. But I have a stupid fat tail for legs, and the chest can sometimes get in the way.” Sakura added…before noticing Ronin had scampered off.

“Oi, is this a joke? Fucking shit.” Sakura added, making an effort to crawl up the ladder with just her arms.

Whether by stairs or by awkward rise, they arrived at the top of the ladder. Moving inside, the structure they entered was much different from what one would expect. There were no car interiors, no further junk, and no bad smells. Instead it was split into a couple distinct areas. The left side was a mixture of a workshop and laboratory, with scientific equipment and machining tools for experiments. There was a work station set up with several computers nearby, and then tucked away in a cortner was a kitchen and other living essentials.

Near the middle of the room, by a battered table was a familiar individual. Lysandra turned to face them, her smile faltering somewhat as she got a good look at how Ronin and Sakura had changed since the last time she saw them. “Oh, you’re…different. Sorry, I’d have come up with a better entry method if i knew,” she said with at least some attempt at chagrin.

After a moment, she offered a hand to shake. “It’s good to see you both again.”

"Well, your place looks a bit… um… like shit, Risu Ann Dora." Sakura said. "You called, here we are. It's a long story. At least I am taller."

‘Ooo, science place,’ Ronin observed as she smiled around. Then she smirked at Lysandra. ‘Yea, I gained a couple inches, didn’t I? Hahaha! Though, yeah, that’s no match for what happened with Sensei!’ Ronin laughed and looked happy. Then she leaned forward and beamed at Lysandra. ‘Anyway, how’s it going!? Have you made any groundbreaking discoveries!? Any juicy intel you’ve managed to glean from your investigation or something!?’ she asked, all excited. Now, yes, she was here to guard the place, but she totally figured she had time to ask.

Glancing around, Lysandra shrugged as Sakura leveled her judgment. “It’s just a workshop where I can do experiments without drawing public attention. Most of the time anyways.” She didn’t mind it looking bad, especially since it got the job done.

Her attention was drawn away by Ronin’s enthusiasm, and she grinned in reciprocation. “I’m still working on it, but I’ve definitely learned some stuff,” she replied. Reaching over, she patted a couple sheets of paper that had been left on the table. “It’s giving me all sorts of insights into developing stronger materials, and maybe even applying elemental forces. That one’s still a theory though. I was just getting into it when all of this stuff happened.”

Sakura would just go around the room, her eyes scrolling all sorts of doo dads.Shiny things. "So who do we need to punch?" She would say.

‘Nice! I'd be interested to know how it goes in the future, too! I hope you're successful! Maybe we can get stronger with it or something, heh,’ Ronin said, smiling supportively. Then Sakura asked a relevant question…

‘Yeah, you wrote something about a mad scientist in the request. Is she coming here?’ Probably good to ask.

Lysandra nodded swiftly as they returned to the matter of hand. Stepping over to the computer, she brought up an image of a green haired woman in a lab coat. “This is Doctor Ny..Nykan? Something like that. She showed up yesterday and demanded that I hand over the material you helped me recover, and she threatened to take it by force and burn down my lab if I refused.”

She then turned to face Ronin and sakura. “The time for the ultimatum is just about expired. I figure she’ll show up any minute now."

"Bwahahaha doctor Nyan. Is she a cat or something? Don't worry Risu we will spank her sorry ass." Sakura would say, before eyeing the room a little better. "Hey kiddo, could you use the barrier thingie to reinforce the room?"

‘Doctor… Lycan? Are we at risk of being attacked by werewolves? Her hair does look pretty wolfy…’ Ronin asked, leaning forward to inspect the doctor's hair. Sakura then made a suggestion. Ronin grinned and saluted.

‘No can do, Sensei!’ she announced happily mid-salute. ‘It's too big for my magical power. I’m not a magic-build. But I can reinforce that which is most important! That is, you,’ she put a hand on Sakura and imbued some Reinforcement magic, ‘you,’ she walked forward and put a hand on Lysandra's shoulder to do the same to her, ‘and then the material itself! If it’s attached or encased in anything, I can reinforce that to give us extra time if someone tries to rip it out to steal it!’ Ronin continued, smiling proudly.

Lysandra tensed for a moment as magic washed over her, but she soon relaxed. It already made her feel stronger and more resilient, though hopefully she wouldn’t need it. “I left it in the safe over there. Figured it was the most sensible idea,” she replied as she gestured to the metal box tucked away in a corner.

Leaning against the table, she was reassured by Ronin and Sakura’s presence. No doubt they could face whatever came their way. “I also set up some traps down in the yard. They should help, as long as you don’t get caught in them by accident.”

“Right…you got any kind of water pool or something? I could show something really neat.” Sakura would then add, but she raised her electrical defenses, getting ready for the rumble.

‘Safe, eh. Well, that’ll do!’ Ronin went over and put her hands on the safe, reinforcing it and also reinforcing its connection to the surrounding material, which meant that anyone trying to take the safe would either have to break through her spell or bring a whole corner of the building. With that done, she went back to the rest, ready to wait for action.

Glancing over to Sakura, Lysandra shook her head. “I’ve got a hose, but I don’t have a pool set up-” Her thought was interrupted by a loud ‘beep’ coming from the nearby computer setup, a red light flashing to accompany it. Hurrying over, Lysandra frowned as she looked from it to the images displayed on the screens.

“They’re here,” she warned. Things were about to get hectic.

“Nyahahaha! Time’s up, Lysandra!” a deranged voice announced. “So, have you decided to preserve what’s left of your dignity and hand over Vuvoteya’s Shard, or is my carefully chosen Artifact Acquisition Team going to have to take it by force and then turn your pitiful excuse for a lab into a pile of radioactive ash?!”

If Ronin and Sakura were to head outside (or simply look at a screen linked to one of Lysandra’s surveillance monitors), they would find several robotic war machines, armed with a dizzying array of destructive implements. First, there was a line of five hovering melee drones, the energized claws at the end of each of their many tentacular appendages splayed wide. Behind them were a pair of towering, treaded war machines, each flanked by two small weapons drones, with several more waiting to be deployed from within their bulky torsos. Finally, hovering above and behind this strike force was a large weapon and sensor covered floating battle platform, from which projected a hologram of a decidedly unhinged-looking young woman wearing a pair of glowing goggles and an oversized lab coat.

“Well?!” she demanded, before her mouth curled into a maniacal grin. “I’m waiting!”

“You look like you need to get laid, bitch.” Sakura said, raising an eyebrow. “Risu Ann won’t hand you shit, you dumpster baby garbage. You disappoint me. Fight like a woman! Man! Or Woman dressed as man!” Sakura would taunt, as she charged her electricity.

Sakura then looked at Ronin, before eyeing Lysandra, her mouth becoming a rather unhinged, serpentine smile, as her jaws hung slack.

“O Heavens! Hear my command. In the name of the Dragon King! I consign you!” The dragon girl would then power up, releasing her Powerful Aura. Soon enough the weather around the place switched quickly, as water began to fall, and overcast clouds trembled with lightning around, adding even more of a barrier around Lysandra’s place.

Ronin placed a hand on the safe, focusing a bit. She placed her Big Damn Heroes token on it, on the place, so that she’d be notified AND arrive in time to stop it if the scientist thought herself clever and decided to try to steal the safe from behind their backs. Then, she ran to be at her Sensei’s side.

Honestly, these machines were pretty intimidating to her, she knew she wasn’t the strongest of Magical Girls. That said, her Sensei seemed to have the right elements for some machine carnage, so she got ready to back her up. She smirked right back at Sakura, and then put her hand on her blade, preparing for battle.

Lysandra grinned warmly as Sakura and Ronin rose so readily to her defense. This was especially welcome in the face of the monstrous machines Nykannis had brought to attack her. That was a lot more than she had been expecting, though she supposed she should be honored by the use of overwhelming force against her. It showed that Nykannis took this seriously, and validated her decision to turn to the bounty board. Poking her head out, she made her refusal clear. “No way I’m giving anything to you!”

“So, I see you’ve decided to hire some bodyguards,” the mad scientist noted with a smirk. “That’s fine. I’ve been wanting to test how these guys would fare against some of Penrose’s magical offerings, though I can’t see you two being much of a challenge,” she added with a derisive sneer. “I mean, seriously, Suckura? Is a pathetic little rainstorm really the best you can do? Here, why don’t I show you… WHAT A REAL TEMPEST LOOKS LIKE!!!”

With that, the four small weapons drones rose up into the air, where they were soon joined by a dozen more, which were launched by the twin treaded constructs in rapid succession. Their glowing, spheroid-tipped prongs spinning beneath them, the sixteen drones took up their positions and began to harness, and then amplify, the electrical power of the roiling thunderheads, before unleashing it in a mighty bolt of crackling lightning. The blinding thunderbolt struck the side of the junk pile housing Lysandra’s lab, blowing a gaping hole in the makeshift structure.

“Nyahahaha!” the mad scientist cackled. “Pretty impressive, right?! Well, there’s more where that came from!” she added as several more bolts blasted apart the various nearby junk heaps. “So, what are you waiting for?!” she demanded. “Show me what you’ve got!”

Of course, Sakura wasted no time in abusing her Sanctum perk, as she jumped into the lightning, swimming through it like it was water and energizing her aura for a round two of combat.

"That was yummy. Thanks for the meal." She said while showing a middle finger, her figure cut against the storm. "You can't hurt a *storm* dragon with that, dumbass."

"Risu, hit me with the hose. Ronin plug the gap." she would add.

“Give me a moment,” Lysandra called back, torn between blocking the hole in her wall and getting to where the hose was. It wasn’t hard to find since there was a faucet near the main administration building. She just needed a moment to get the makeshift corrugated metal in place so the robots couldn’t just walk in without any trouble.

‘Okay, Sensei!’ Ronin called and skipped into place where there’s a gap. That is, where there’s a hole in the building, I would assume. Still, Ronin really had to ask, while she prepared her sword.

‘So, how come the violent solution? Can’t scientists get along and share their discoveries? If you delegate the task of researching whatever-that-is to Lysandra here, doesn’t that free you up to research other groundbreaking stuff or something?’ Ronin asked, just because.

“Nyahahaha! Shows how little you know!” the mad scientist replied. “Lysandra’s a fourth-rate scientist at best! Due to her staggering ineptitude, she could easily destroy the artifact while trying to study it, whereas I, Doctor Nykannis, Queen of the Mad Scientists, have the incomparable super-scientific genius necessary to glean every last nano particle of information from the shard, while still keeping it completely intact! Nyahahaha! She can have it back when I’m finished!”

With that, the Monarch of Mad Science raised a holographic arm, which sent three of the hovering melee drones darting towards the opening in the wall.

“And don’t think I’ve forgotten about you!” she added, sending the remaining two squid-like drones racing toward Sakura. “I wasn’t planning on hurting you with that,” the Mad Scientist Supreme informed the draconic girl with a contemptuous sneer. “I was planning on hurting you with THIS!!! Nyahahahaha!”

An instant later, every missile pod and VLS array on both the treaded constructs and the hovering weapons platform unleashed a massive salvo straight at Sakura. Even if she could shoot them all down, they would still provide ample cover for the approaching melee drones, whose energy-sheathed, polyphasic monomolecular claws promised to slice the draconic girl into bloody stew…

Sakura just tilted her head at the massive horde of attacks, before focusing. “Toys! Pfeh!” She said, as a high rise of winds manifested, propelling the draconic figure high up in the sky, the stormy winds throwing all of them off. As for the drones, a different fate approached. While they tried to nick Sakura, they would suffer a flurry of hits from an expert martial artist, redirecting their swipes into each other, and thus making the drones fall victim to their own blades, hopefully.

“Ronin, get ready to destroy the item this bitch wants.” Sakura would sneer.

Ronin wasn’t really educated enough in this matter to know how truthful the mad scientist was, and had no real reason to think the woman wasn’t either exaggerating or outright lying. Now, Sakura seemed more than happy to fight them off by herself. Ronin wasn’t about to let her fight by herself, though, even if she was stuck behind. She manifested barriers like discuses in her hands, and with a smirk spun and sent them flying at various drones and missiles flying at Sakura in order to help deflect some of the attacks for her.

Then Sakura asked her to go get ready to destroy the thing. Ronin assumed this was a bluff.

‘Okay!’ she excitedly called out, turning around and dashing back into the lab.

Having gotten those makeshift repairs in place, Lysandra was making her way out of the base as Sakura made the call to Ronin. Her eyes widened, and she quickly shook her head as she ran over. “Hey hey hey, no destroying the thing that I’m paying you to protect! Who knows if I’ll ever find another one like it!” If they could even destroy it in the first place. With how it had been made, it was a big ‘if’. But she didn’t want to take that chance, bluff or not.

Displaying her mastery of the elements, Sakura summoned a mighty blast of wind, which caused the missiles streaking toward her to smash into one another, and it wasn’t long before the entire barrage had blown itself apart in a series of fratricidal detonations. Her draconic form illuminated by the array of brilliant explosions, Sakura had only a moment’s reprieve before the two melee drones were upon her. However, the foul-mouthed monster girl was prepared for this as well, employing her many decades of martial arts training to deflect the drones’ tentacular appendages into each other, the various ultra-tech weapons mounted upon them slicing through their tri-phasic neutrino shields and nanofluidic hyperalloy armor like a lightsaber through tissue paper. Meanwhile, the trio of drones that descended upon Ronin would meet with a similar fate, being sliced apart by supernaturally sharp energy discs.

And that was about when Sakura instructed Ronin to destroy the artifact…

“The HELL?!” an incredulous Nykannis exclaimed, before Lysandra went on to express her own incredulity at such a course of action. At the sound of the other scientist’s annoyance, the Mad Scientist Supreme couldn’t help but laugh. “Nyahahaha! Holy shit, Lysandra, you sure can pick ‘em! Don’t these idiots know that they’re supposed to protect the shard?! I hope you can see now why my taking it is clearly the best thing for its continued safety,” she added with a smug smirk. “Oh, and thanks for leading me right to where it is, Roninny! I think I’ll have my spectral friend take it from here…”

With that, a shimmering of purplish light coalesced into the fearsome form of a techno-wraith, which loomed over Ronin, its energy talons ready to strike…

Meanwhile, Nykannis had turned her attention to the diminutive samurai’s draconic partner, who was even now being surrounded by the small, floating drones the treaded war machines had deployed earlier. “Come on, Suckura!” Nykannis taunted. “Is that the best you can do? Let’s see that famous Killing Blow of yours I’ve heard so much about!”

Sakura let out a deep breath as she looked at Nykannis."So you want my Killing Blow. Well you might as well have it. But it won't be on these toys. I will use it on the very target you want to seize, if I feel angered enough." Sakura would then say back to Nykannis. "Because you are a fucking coward and a thief. Not only do you hide beneath these toys, you try to poach other people's hard work."

"Ah if only you came in person perhaps I would oblige you." Sakura said, her mannerism mimicking that regal poise of Dina. "Ronin, dear, be prepared to clear the blast zone. We might not get paid, but I am not letting this so-called genius get a speck of worth out of this place."

Ronin hadn’t ran for the item itself. Assuming it to have been a bluff, she’d ran for a different corner of the lab.

She blinked as the technological wraith manifested. Not wasting a moment, she used her wind-magic to suddenly blow herself back to avoid being grasped by it, after which she planted her feet on a barrier in mid-air behind her and a hand on her sheathed sword, after which she jumped and attempted a cool quick-draw slice-through of her opponent!

Of course, then there was Sakura preparing to use her Killing Blow. Wait, she’s NOT bluffing?

Ronin made ready to grab Lysandra instead. She was probably not going to be happy about this.

Being able to phase through both energy and solid matter at will, the techno-wraith was easily able to phase through Ronin’s attack. Whirling around with lightning swiftness, it swiped at the samurai’s back with its energy claws. Thanks to her hyperactive speed, Ronin managed to keep from being completely sliced apart, but even a slight graze from so potent a weapon still resulted in a series of jagged tears in her kimono, as well as a series of painful gashes on her back. The force of the attack also had the added (and possibly helpful) effect of sending her flying towards Lysandra at an even faster speed, although she’d have to think fast if she didn’t want to crash into the panicking scientist with all the force of a wrecking ball…

Outside, while Sakura was supposedly preparing her Killing Blow, the hovering drones were setting their own countermeasure into motion, the glowing spheres at the base of their cylindrical forms spinning with dizzying speed as vast energies began to build…

“Listen you thug, I didn’t go through all that work for you to waste it,” Lysandra yelled at Sakura. She was pretty sure threatening to destroy it was supposed to be a last resort option anyway, not a first resort. Still, she did at least make an effort to meaningfully contribute. Jagged icicles were sent flying towards the drones around Sakura, battering them and helping regain control of the airspace.

She was about to head for the hose when Ronin was just as suddenly launched towards her. “Oh no-” She braced herself for a tumble, for what little good it would do.

Sakura's tongue licked her lips. "Ronin, grab the thing and keep on the run." She said, before driving herself headfirst spinning in a flurry towards the wide open drones. Turns out, she was not preparing for a killing blow, but everyone expected her to go nuts. It was a moment of confusion and hesitation,or perhaps smugness, all what was needed for her to exploit the gap in the drones attack to decimate them with her dragon martial arts. Flyers were agile, but once they stopped exerting pressure, they were easy prey.

"Maybe you lucked out this time. Maybe not." Sakura said with a hint of sarcasm. "Next is the platform. The big one. Something tells me it's important." She added, using her three sorceries to fly directly towards it.

Okay. So, Ronin was not prepared for her sword to go through a machine like it was a ghost. What even is that tech? With a burst of air she sent herself away from the enemy, but still getting a bit cut. That was an issue. ‘Why am I facing enemies I can’t cut twice in a row with you?’ she asked Lysandra mid-flight.

Stopping was no issue. She just manifested a barrier on herself and in front of herself, knocking herself into a barrier rather than into Lysandra. It hurt her shoulder, but her own reinforcement applied to herself softened the blow. She fell down to the floor and spun to face the enemy once again. Yikes, that is a pain. And this was just one of the goons? That spelled a bunch of trouble. Sakura had a command for her.

‘Right, but first, I’m gonna counter,’ Ronin said, and dashed for the techno-wraith herself. Now, she had a couple of theories on what she could do against this thing. For one, she’d previously been able to coat her sword in reinforcement magic, making it capable of hitting spectral opponents. If this thing worked on weaponized ghost-magic, then that’d be equally effective. Second was using its own talons against itself. With a barrier and some supporting air-blasts, she was sure she could reroute a strike. Lastly, she’d just have to send it flying out the building with as strong a wind-blast as she could muster…

First things first. No dashing through this opponent this time, this time she’d be trying to bait out the wraith’s attacks so she could attempt to slice with her own sword to cut the being’s arm off. That’d be a good indication of if her reinforced magic sword could cut the wraith or not. All while using air-magic to boost her agility to dodge. Should that fail, she’d just have to use a barrier to catch the arm of the next attack and then strike it so that it would go back into the creature… just the attack part, because the attack-part had to be part of this world.

A smirking Ronin was determined to show this thing wasn’t out of her league!

Managing to slow her momentum via the expert use of her twin specializations, Ronin whirled around to face the imposing techno-wraith, a cunning plan already forming itself in her mind, along with several contingencies. As it happened, the initial plan would indeed prove successful, her mystically enhanced blade finding definitive purchase in the strange entity’s spectral-mechanical arm, slicing the appendage off in a spray of sparks and ectoplasm. However, the small samurai wouldn’t have long to enjoy her little victory as the mass of tentacular mechadendrites that composed the techno-wraith’s lower body shot out to coil around her legs, seeking to ensnare her in place, while the creature’s remaining arm descended upon her, its energy talons primed to slice her head clean off her shoulders…

Meanwhile, outside, as the spinning of their glowing orbs accelerated to a fever pitch, the small, cylindrical drones found themselves besieged by a hail of ice spikes. The speed and unnatural sharpness of the enchanted projectiles allowed them to easily slice apart many of the relatively fragile drones, the rest succumbing to a flurry of blows from Sakura’s ferocious fists. Indeed, the draconic girl evidently had been merely bluffing, and now that the smaller drones had been dealt with, she moved to take out what seemed to be the lead war machine- the hovering weapons platform from which Nykannis’s holographic form continued to sneer down at her.

“Wow, good guess, Suckura!” Nykannis ‘commended’. “I suppose you’re not quite as stupid as you look! HOWEVER! Before you get to play with my command platform, I’ve got a special treat just for you! Nyahahaha!”

With that, there was a mighty burst of crackling energy as a new opponent was teleported directly in front of Sakura’s path…

“Whatdya think, Suckura?!” Nykannis asked, her eyes gleaming with maniacal glee. “Meet my Technomantic Cybermagimechanical Dragon-Chimera Bioweapon Beast! Nyahahaha!”

Sakura would only have a moment to take in the bizarre sight, before the massive creature attacked with all its impressive power…

“It sounds like you’re compensating,” Lysandra yelled back as Nykannis announced the arrival of her great weapon.

Sakura did say nothing as she saw the beast suddenly appearing in front of her. The sound of a joint snapping would have been heard, but it was drowned by the maniacal glee and flair of the doctor. So, when Sakura’s Bile attack came from her serpent-like, unhinged mouth it completely peppered the creature’s heads point blank with steam and lightning, hopefully blinding and damaging them temporarily.

“Sore..throat. Yuck.” She croaked as she grabbed hold of the creature’s huge body, in a certain martial arts move, as her sorceries flared up again. She remembered a game she used to play about a certain bounty hunter named Sambuco or something like that, hunting Mad droids or something. A certain skill came to mind. The Drill Assault? Or was it Screwattack? Yes, that would work. She began to electrify and power up her spin, intent on crashing the huge chimera against the platform.

Ronin managed to cut one of the arms! The smirk on her lips widened. She CAN fight this thing!

Then it turned out it had a lot of additional appendages.

The tentacles were too many for her to efficiently manage. She ducked and sliced, intending to remove the ones immediately grabbing at her. She then leapt backwards, while creating a small hook of a barrier along the wraith’s arm, intended to catch the slice preemptively mid-slice and make completing the slice impossible. With that, she was hopefully at a distance, and she’d start running around it with the intention of baiting more attacks and seeking an opportunity to strike the body of this metal ghostly beast.

Using her enhanced blade to free herself from the mechadendrites’ grasp, Ronin managed to not only retain her head, but even succeeded in ensnaring the techno-wraith’s remaining arm with one of her barriers. This wouldn’t hold it for long, however, but the nimble samurai was now well acquainted with the creature’s capabilities, and thus, was more than ready for it when it lunged at her again. Moving in a blur of motion, Ronin darted around her much larger opponent, making a series of quick hit and run attacks, which slowly but inexorably began to weaken the technomantic terror. The only question was, would she be able to finish it off in time to aid her draconic ally?

Meanwhile, said ally was facing off against an exceedingly bizarre monstrosity. When asked to provide her thoughts on the creature, Sakura responded by vomiting a torrent of scalding steam and crackling lightning right into the biomechanical beast’s three faces. While not nearly strong enough to cause serious harm, the attack did succeed in stunning the monster for several precious seconds. This was just enough time for Sakura to grab the giant creature and attempt to send it spinning into the command platform hovering behind it. Unfortunately for the draconic maiden, the technomantic Dragon-Chimera was not simply going to allow her to attack it and remain unscathed. Indeed, now that she was so close, its various ultratechnomystic armaments couldn’t possibly miss…

With a gurgling “Thuwurp!”, the creature’s electro-toxi-acidic tongue shot out to wrap tightly around Sakura’s body, while her arms were impaled by a pair of hyperalloy hexa-harmonic harpoons. Once she was firmly secure, a second, needle-tipped tongue would dart out to plunge into her forehead, primed to inject her with the most powerful nano-enhanced technomystic super-viruses ever devised…

“Up to me to save the day again,” Lysandra grumbled as her mind quickly worked. Both of her allies were pressed, attention fully committed to the foes that they were fighting. Her intervention needed to be swift and decisive. Luckily, fast thinking was something she was good at.

Tapping into her magic, a ball of ice was sent flying towards Sakura like an evil snowball, aimed at the second tongue as it struck just as swiftly. She had to smash the thing or divert its course, and her projectile certainly had the mass and force for that. Spinning, she then reoriented towards Ronin and began to chill the air around her and the wraith. Colder and colder the temperature plunged, to slow the monster and freeze it in place as ice began to form. Ronin might get caught too, but Lysandra was confident the girl would think of something.

Sakura was not having a good moment. Pain lacerated her body as the Chimera fought back. Her words turned into a low-key growl as the different systems seemed to hit into her. But she was far from mortally wounded. Sakura herself was half Immortal. Indeed for all its menacing attitude, the chimera and her master were exceedingly lacking in common sense. Even more than Sakura at times. Grabbing something capable of electric attacks was not a good plan. Grabbing a dragon whose powerful aura was based off storms was doubly so.

So in a sense, the thing grappling with Sakura had left itself wide open to an area of effect attack, a mix of steam, lighting and razor winds shredding everything that it touched. In a sense the chimera's own construction was its own undoing, but the lack of balanced, sturdy design on such a creature would mean Sakura's razor winds, electrified arcs and water jets would hit all of the structural weak points in the vicinity.

It was folly to lay your hands on an angry dragon after all.

"You…lack balance…"

So, Lysandra’s freezing plan didn’t entirely vibe with Ronin’s “get into close combat and cut the thing” plan, but she could adapt. Instead of trying to finish off the thing herself, the strategy was now to make sure the creature was unable to escape a chilling fate. With barriers and wind-magic to quickly get into place Ronin had good specs to ensure such a thing, just needing to blast ahead of it to barrier if possible and otherwise just try to cut to keep it in the impending freezing area.

If it’s successfully frozen, Ronin could supply a last quick slice of her blade to finish it once and for all.

While being hit with the equivalent of ten thousand lighting bolts would utterly incinerate a normal creature, being attuned to lightning herself, Sakura emerged from this onslaught completely unscathed. The same could not be said of the electro-toxi-acidic tongue’s various hypertoxins and ultra-acidic nanomachines, but even the gruesome dissolving of her scales and skin was as nothing to one such as she. Indeed, even as her flesh melted off, even as the second, needle-tipped tongue was deflected by Lysandra’s enchanted snowball, the Immortal dragon maiden launched a counter attack, sending forth a multi-pronged barrage of jagged lightning, high-pressure water jets, and hyper-velocity wind blasts.

Of course, like the draconic maiden herself, the Cybermanitc Dragon-Chimera was also mostly immune to the effects of the crackling arcs of lightning, and it was certainly tough enough to withstand some wind and water, at least, under normal circumstances. However, Sakura’s attack was far from normal… With the trained eye of an expert martial artist, the former Yakuza had carefully focused her assault on the amalgamated monstrosity’s various “weak links”, the myriad “joints” where each disparate facet of the bizarre creature were mashed together. By concentrating the full power of her strikes on these key areas, it didn’t take very much force at all to rend the biomechanical abomination completely asunder…

Yet, in its final death throes, the multifaceted monstrosity unleashed one last all-out attack, disgorging a staggering array of starkly inconceivable energies of destruction from polycyclic rotary gigablasters, transphaisc ectoplasma cannons, and duodecadestructo death rays. Sakura may have been Immortal, but how much of a fight would a bubbling lump of goo really be able to put up?

Back inside, Ronin found herself aided by Lysandra, who helpfully dealt with the techno-wraith by freezing it in enchanted ice. Normally, this wouldn’t prove much of an impediment to something that could phase through solid matter, but as Lysandra had infused the ice with her magic, it fully prevented the spectral machine entity from escaping. Now there was nothing stopping Ronin from slicing its head off, much like she had that unholy plant-dragon thing back during the big battle at the park. After that high point, she had helped save a certain fairy girl from a most unpleasant fate. Would she manage to do the same for a certain dragon girl now?

Turns out, even being partially melted wasn't stopping Sakura. The low key growl was intensifying with the more physical punishment the dragon girl was receiving, as a protective cocoon of water was clinging to her damaged form. It was this who dissipated the energy of the weapons in a severe steam explosion. Despite flesh and bones showing in several places, it was only making her more angry.

"Is that it you coward? I'm still on game." She growled, as she decided to do a last push with her draconic might, storm energies finally gathering at an alarming rate. Nykannis wanted a killing blow? Well, she would probably get it.

Ronin breathed a sigh of relief as the thing was finally cut down. Now, she turned towards the outside and Sakura… ‘Oh, yikes.’ Looked like her healing abilities were in need. While confirming that her token of heroism was still in place on the item, she dashed outside, running on her barriers in order to make sure she was able to join the battle and heal someone soon. That said, she was on her guard, as she was pretty aware she wasn’t nearly as durable as her Sensei.

“And good riddance,” Lysandra noted to no one in particular with a confident nod. Maybe it had not been entirely needed, but no one could question that her input had had an effect. She was a capable scientist too, not just some damsel in distress. She nodded to Ronin as the girl raced outside to help Sakura, pleased with her performance. “Good job,” she called. At least one person here was earning their pay.

She then turned to the ongoing fight, keeping her distance for now. DIscretion was the better part of valor with the sheer amount of firepower being thrown around. Her brow furrowed as she turned to her math, doing complex calculations in her head. More shards of ice formed in front of her, spiked ends widening out to better impale. Then she let them loose, hoping to snipe a couple of the beasts weapons and lessen the deluge of energy. There was a good chance they wouldn’t reach their target before being destroyed in mid-flight, but she did her best to negate that possibility.

Even after cocooning herself in a sphere of swirling water, and even after Lysandra destroyed several of the Cybermantic Dragon-Chimera’s myriad armaments with a volley of well-placed ice spikes, Sakura was still nearly reduced to little more than a pile of sludge as she endured the biomechanical monstrosity’s final bombardment. Thankfully, Ronin was racing to her aid, and after a quick healing spell, Sakura was back to looking roughly like her usual self.

However, the pair wouldn’t get much of a reprieve, as the two treaded war machines advanced upon them from either side, their biphase buzzsaws and monomolecular meat cleavers crackling with malignant energy. Simultaneously, their polyphasic particle beam blasters, gigatech gun clusters, and hyperacidic turbo disintegrator cannons unleashed a hail of withering firepower.

“My turn.” Sakura said, as an absolute wall of water and storm completely ate up the salvo they were about to suffer…as now the pair was standing directly in the eye of a hurricane.

“HURRICANE EMILY! Consume them all!” Sakura said, unleashing her killing blow on the machines and the platform, the storm affecting a wide area.

Now, Ronin’s immediate instinct upon being about to be fired upon was to dodge out of the way. No way her Mag 7 barriers could resist that amount of pure firepower. Except, well, Sakura had a different idea. Given a whole lot of more mag, maybe not that surprising. With a hurricane forming around them, Ronin took on defensive duty against anything that might still break through, with her ability to use barriers to gain foothold in mid-air to dodge and place diagonal barriers to just redirect any attacks that might break through towards her and Sakura…

Or maybe Sakura’s got this, then Ronin was just along for the ride.

Lysandra’s eyes widened as Sakura unleashed her Killing Blow, and she quickly used ice magic to freeze her feet in place. She might not be the target, but she did not want to be swept away either. She regretted so much right now.

With a terrifying expulsion of mystic power, a mighty vortex of water and wind took shape around Ronin and Sakura, one which absorbed or deflected every aspect of the war machines’ barrage. Its destructive energies swirling with even greater frenzy, “Hurricane Emily” set to work utterly annihilating the three remaining drones. A flechette storm of junkyard debris, hurled at over three hundred thousand kilometers per second sliced the treaded juggernauts into ribbons, while the hovering command platform was blown apart by ten million hyper-charged lighting bolts. Once the hypercane’s condensed fury had finally subsided, it was clear to see that nothing remained of Nykannis’s artifact acquisition team, save a few mangled parts. It was from one of these that a flickering holographic image of the mad scientist emerged to grin at the pair of bodyguards, seemingly unbothered by the devastation they had wrought upon her creations. In fact, she seemed almost pleased…

“Wow, that was actually pretty impressive!” She commended, while slowly clapping her hands. “I mean, I’ve never seen an area of effect Killing Blow before! Hell, I didn’t know something like that was even possible in this reality plenum! I’m going to have SO much fun implementing that into Phase Two! Nyahahaha!” she added, rubbing her hands together in maniacal glee. “Oh, but don’t go thinking we’re done here!” she clarified as a wicked grin spread across her face. “You still have one more opponent to face, and I’ve saved the best for last…”

With that, the massive techno-pyramid from which the artifact acquisition team had been deployed dropped its stealth and cloaking fields to reveal its full imposing majesty. A moment later, the quadrupedal assembly beneath it detached, sending shockwaves throughout what remained of the junkyard as it landed in front of Ronin and Sakura, its titanic form towering over them, while its myriad weapons systems charged with vast technomystic power…

“I’m bad at giving up, coward.” Sakura would sneer, her magic completely depleted, and facing the monstrosity with resignation. How could she face the people she had made boasts before if she could not deliver? No. She would deliver, even if it was apparent she should have died earlier, and she was barely holding together. “Get ready. Let’s stagger this thing. Ronin, you’ll be dealing the last blow.”

So she crawled into the mud, abandoning all grace, like an eel. She felt so tired, so almost about to pass out, but she drew breath in the murky water and mud alongside the scraps of metal and asphalt, each breath more laborious than the other. She pointed with her sight at Lysandra, and then the water that was pooling under the other thing’s support.

This thing had only four points of support. On a terrain that would become increasingly slippery. And Sakura was working into one of them, softening the terrain, creating a quagmire by digging with her movement, despite getting all dirty inside the mud, as she sought to trap the vehicle in a dragon-created bog. She would keep stubbornly doing this until she would pass out finally.

Ronin spent a moment being absolutely amazed at the havoc Sakura had been able to wreak on the enemy. However, it did occur to her that this was a Killing Blow, and Sakura should be spent after this… and their opponent wasn’t near done. Big thing appearing. ‘Woah. You’re giving Eggman and Wily a run for their money. Are you from some tech-dimension? Where did you find all this?’ Ronin spouted out because that’s what she does when not distracted. Then, Sakura told her she would be making the final blow. Now, Ronin had her doubts that she’d be able to do it… that said, she did manage to decapitate a dragon, something she also thought she was incapable of doing. So she grinned and trusted her mentor who trusted her.

‘I’ll do it, Sensei!’ she called, as she placed a hand on her sword to imbue it with a reinforcement boost of sharpness and power. That’s why she then dashed up into the air, running on her own periodically forming barriers. There was no way that thing wasn’t going to try to defend itself, but for her role to play Ronin needed to be close, so she dashed for it, ready for sudden dodges as she tried to get close enough to slice it! To begin with, maybe slice the legs to help with the toppling part, to then prepare to leap for the center later!

“Nyahahaha! You bet your ass I am!” Nykannis cackled in response to Ronin’s inquiry. “In fact, the universe I come from is more advanced than a Neanderthal like you could possibly imagine! And I didn’t find these things,” she clarified pointedly. “I MADE them! Nyahahaha! You’re dealing with the creations of the Mad Scientist Supreme!”

And speaking of dealing, while Sakura could do little more than slither through the mud on her belly in an ultimately pointless attempt to immobilize the monolithic behemoth, Ronin raced into action, darting across her barrier platforms with impressive speed.

“So, finally playing the part of the pathetic worm you are, huh, Suckura?” Nykannis taunted. “You do realize I wasn’t even planning on having it move around to begin with, right?! Nyahahaha!”

Indeed, in light of its staggering arsenal, the gargantuan engine of destruction had little need of mobility, a fact it soon demonstrated by unleashing an onslaught of turbo-tachyonic zero point hyperbores, polyphasic quantum singularity cannons, omni-oscillating cosmic string projectors, hyperdimensional homing lasers, transwarp chronocyclonic infinite annihilator rays, negaspheric ultra-antimatter disintegrator missiles, and even a barrage of glittering c-beams for good measure.

However, Ronin’s small size and supernatural swiftness made her an exceedingly elusive target. Her movements were like those of a leaf on the wind, the diminutive samurai’s Air Spec allowing her to move at speeds far exceeding what her physical abilities could accomplish alone. Indeed, she soon found herself so close to the technomantic colossus that its most powerful weapons were unable to target her. Of course, that still left the smaller, anti-personnel rotary cannon clusters and sub-munition flechette projectors, not to mention the writhing, energy-clawed mechadendrites, but Ronin was on a mission! Lysandra and her Sensei were counting on her! This was her moment, her time to shine! This was Ronin’s chance to be a hero!

Would she succeed in making the most of it?

Whelp, nothing else to it.

As uncountable beams of hysterical firepower blew in her direction and probably in the direction it predicted she was heading as well, Ronin’s heart was at the edge of her throat as she swung left and right with air-spec redirecting her and kicks to barriers allowing sudden and immediate redirection when necessary. Dodging through this real-life bullet-hell with her hair standing on end, Ronin approached closer, clothes flowing, hair fluttering and sword held out to her right, ready to swing.

When she got closer the anti-personnel weapons flared up, but compared to the bigger guns these were within the amount of firepower that Ronin could block with barriers. So, grabbing a barrier as a shield and projecting herself with air-spec, she sent herself straight into the giant robot!

The sword sunk into the robot, but of course, being moderately tiny it wasn’t possible for Ronin to actually cut it in half with her diminutive size. So she spun on the spot, charged all her power, and BLASTED OFF!

‘CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!’ Ronin cried out as she used air-spec and running-in-midair to run really really fast around the robot with her enchanted sword still stuck inside it, intending to carve it open as a fruit as she did more and more damage dashing around the being with her shield up with her other arm for the smaller guns if they could hit her as she propelled herself as quickly as possible to slide the sword through the metallic creature over and over and over and around and around and around and around until the components of her opponent split apart-!

As Ronin charged towards the towering technomantic war machine so that she could hit it with her sword, any observer would immediately call to mind the story of David and Goliath. There seemed no conceivable way such a small and admittedly under-powered magical girl like her could ever hope to even dent such an imposing colossus, and yet, on Ronin came, utterly undaunted by the hail of bullets, the blinding light show of beams, and the writhing whirlwind of mechadendrites, which all sought to snuff out her fragile existence. Unlocking her hidden potential, Ronin sliced her way through the tangle of metallic tendrils until she had reached the behemoth’s main body, at which point she drove her sword deep into its bowels…

Although a normal blade would be utterly incapable of even scratching the machine’s nanofluidic hyperalloy armor, this was a magic sword, further enhanced with potent mystic power, and wielded with expert skill. Still, Ronin knew that such a minor wound would not fell an opponent of this size, and so she began to run, forming a series of barriers beneath her feet, with yet another shining disc positioned to shield her from further attack. Glowing like a comet heralding inescapable doom, the small samurai raced around the towering engine of destruction with blinding speed, her blade creating a jagged, spiraling gash, from which spilled sickly green fluid and sparks. Upon reaching the summit of this metaphorical Everest, Ronin leapt into the air as the technomantic titan’s guts spilled out amidst the flashes of several small explosions, followed by a monstrous detonation, which cast her diminutive form in sharp relief as she hung suspended against the sky. Landing amidst a shower of flaming debris, Ronin would see that there was now nothing left of the gigantic war machine, save a smoldering crater and a few mangled parts.

“Holy shit! That was some display!” Nykannis commended, clearly impressed. “You’ve got spirit, kid, I’ll give ya that! Y’know,” the mad scientist added as her holographic form surveyed the blasted battlefield. “You two certainly gave my creations one hell of a workout! I’ll be able to make ‘em twenty times more powerful with all this new data you’ve so kindly provided! Oh, and thanks for focusing all your attention on them, so I could have my stealth probe analyze the shard uninterrupted! After all, I don’t need to borrow it now that I ran all the necessary tests on it while you guys were busy fighting! Nyahahaha!”

With that, the flickering hologram faded out of existence, while overhead, the hovering techno-pyramid teleported away with a loud “Zzzrrrop!”, amidst crackling arcs of yellowy-green lightning.

Silence descended for several moments with the disappearance of the mad scientist and her creations. Lysandra’s head was practically on a swivel as she looked between Ronin and Sakura, too dumbfounded to even be mad that they had somehow lost even when they won. Well, she still had the shard, so she’d call it a win regardless.

“Penrose Girls really are something else,” she muttered as she turned to begin surveying the damage to her workshop.

‘OH MY GOD did you see that!? Sensei! Sensei That was awesome! I am awesome! You are awesome! We are awesome!’ an ecstatic Ronin didn’t really entire register that part about disguised drones. Seeing how the token on the item they were protecting hadn’t been disturbed she knew it was safe, she was now just dashing for Sakura to see if she needed more healing, and if so would absolutely provide it.

Sakura was absolutely spent and wrecked, dirt still clinging to her. "Afraid not, Ronin." She would cough up as she slithered towards the duo. "But that jerk is not here so you showed her good. Next time we will feed her own ass to her."

‘We absolutely will! Good work, Sensei!’ Ronin called and helped heal Sakura some more. ‘Lysandra? Are you doing alright? Were we good, or what?’ she asked the one who hired them with a grin.

Lysandra paused as she was addressed, returning her focus to the duo as they began to recover from the fight. “If you want to hunt her down, you’ll have to do that on your own time,” she observed. However, after a moment she gave them a smile and a nod. “Despite my disapproval of some of the tactics used, you both did a good job in the end. I knew I was asking for help from the right people.”

"I am an immortal dragon and she is a samurai…kinda… we honour our deals, Tie Anders." Sakura would try to say, looking regal but still very wobbly. "Now… what about the payment?"

“Work on standing up first, then I’ll pay you,” Lysandra replied. It had been tough, but they had won. Once she had fixed the stuff that was broken, she could return to her research. Hopefully life would be a bit less stressful from now on.

‘Wonderful! Hey, Sensei, to celebrate, when we get back, I'll buy you a drink!’ Ronin called happily, then leaned in to whisper. ‘It's a secret, buuuuut, I can transform my body to look any age out-of-battle, I can get you whatever~’

Sakura tried to adjust herself to her best,as she eyed Ronin. “Oppai…” She trailed off.

‘Eh?’ Ronin had to take a moment. She smiled widely though. ‘I don't know what that is, but I'll do my best to get it to you!’ she said. That's a lie, she knew exactly what it was.

Whether Sakura would receive her gift or not was a story for another time. Right now, it was a time to rest and recover from their difficult battle. At least no one could claim they had not earned their reward.

As much as Finn just wanted to get to Wonderland, he had to take a few precautions first. He took careful note of what Mariette described in her letter, specifically, the gradual spell and deterence from the dimension's Capital. Assimilation? Secrets heavily guarded? Whatever the case was, the young man couldn't take any chances. For a while, him and Oliver worked on a couple of potions that could help counter Wonderland's magic. One for Finn, and one for Mariette if she was willing to go further into the belly of the beast.

With that out of the way, he went out to meet with the Portal Witch.

It wouldn't take long to find her, as she'd been notified beforehand that they'd be meeting. After not too much of a walk, Mariette just broke open a portal in front of him, standing holding her stuffed bunny and wearing her dark dress, long hair hanging behind her. Her bodyguard of choice for today stood ready diagonally behind her, a white-haired girl in a black hoodie with similar bunny-ears as Mariette's doll, but out her sleaves came giant metal hands and she stood on firmly metal legs.

‘So the first thing you desire upon hearing about the unnatural world I found is to go there,’ Mariette said. ‘Do you have a strategy for the spell that I felt affect me?’ she continued, inspecting Finn.

Finn's eye looked between Mariette and Jelena. He didn't plan for more than two people to go on this quick trip. Maybe the two could share a vial? Speaking of, "I have a few theories as to what exactly it was, but I can't determine any specifics without seeing it myself. I do have a means of resistance though!" From the sleeves of his hammerspace handbag, he pulled out the pair of potions he prepared. "Psychic reinforcements and dark magic to weaken the spell's effects. And Oliver's on stand-by in case anything happens." The boy passed one vial to Mariette, then turned to Jelena, tilting his head slightly.

"Are...you coming along? Not to be rude or anything! You'll just have to share the potion if that's the case." He explained.

Mariette took the vial, inspecting it. She held it in the air in front of Jelena, who gazed at it with a smirk for a bit.

‘Yupp! No problem! Don't think it's anything but what he said it is, hah,’ she said. She then turned her attention to Finn. ‘What, never seen Mariette with a bodyguard before? I'm here just in case you, intentionally or inadvertedly, led some enemies to Mariette! So, if she says so...’ she looked over at Mariette.

‘We will not be risking the potency of this countermeasure by dividing it. Me and Finn will be going. Stand by and be ready for eventual action, Jelena,’ Mariette commanded.

‘Yes, ma'am!’ Jelena said, making a salute with her giant metal hand. Mariette nodded, then turned to Finn.

‘Are we ready, then?’

Finn simply nodded in response.

‘Then let us go,’ Mariette said, and immediately Overcity Shifted the people present, because it was much easier to get to their next destination from a place where the dimensional boundries were weaker. A couple portals then opened in a row, bringing them across the otherworldly dimensional landscape to where they'd best enter the dimension they were going for. Jelena came along at least to the entrance. When there, Mariette took a moment to summon more mana, for breaching dimensions took a little bit more power...

‘By the way, do this for me,’ Jelena randomly told Finn. ‘Take this guy with you. I want to know if he starts singing!’ she said, and picked out a metal bird out of her coat, that was apparently alive because it spread its wings and flapped to try to fly over and land on his shoulder.

Oh, a bird!

When he saw that the statue-like avian was alive, the boy was more than willing to let it perch on his shoulder. With an innocent smile, he pet the metal bird on the head. Though it turned into a faintly anxious one when Jelena mentioned singing. Right. They were stepping into a goddamn musical. Finn quietly hoped this remedy worked, cause he was really not up to singing outloud. "Right, got it." He told the metalic girl.

The metal bird didn't particularly react to being petted other than looking around some more, but it seemed satisfied where it was perched. Jelena nodded with happy satisfaction.

‘And... here we go,’ Mariette said, as she opened her eyes again after a moment of holding them closed, and a portal opened. This time... it led back into the world of Wonderland. She let Finn enter first.

He turned to face the portal and took a quick swig of the spell-resistance potion before entering. Finn put the cork back on it, slid the vial back into his hammerspace, and stepped through.

Finn entered the magical world of Wonderland, a green and lush realm straight out of the pages of a fairytale. Mariette noticed a certain difference from last time once she also entered; the potion seemed to work against the spell that permeated the world. However, based on it's steadily dwindling effect, it would only protect the two of them for another thirty minutes.

This time Mariette chose to arrive on ground level, hidden among some of the trees that were humming a little song. They could see three houses in a clearing beyond the shrubbery, as well as their inhabitants: three little pigs dressed in human clothes and walking on two feet, dancing and singing as they were tending to their crops beside a house made of straws, sticks, and bricks.

But then, they saw how a creature resembling a werewolf soon appeared from the other side, quietly stalking towards the unaware pigs.

Damn, the spell must be stronger than he thought. "Strange to call this Wonderland when tales like the Three Little Pigs take residence." Finn softly noted, only giving the scene nearby a bit of his time. If the original source material was anything to go off, the pigs will be fine once they take shelter in one's brick house. They can't waste their minutes spared though, so he went ahead and walked towards the nearest city.

A portal cut that walk short. As in, it became a lot shorter because a portal opened. ‘I only opened it in the woods for it to be a safe place to entrance. If you wish to head elsewhere, I can take you there swiftly,’ Mariette said, standing a bit behind him. ‘Be careful you're not wrapped up in fairy-tales,’ she said, albeit it did appear Finn already had this in mind. The metal bird still sat where it was left, idly turning its head like if looking at the surroundings.

The man looked over his shoulder back to Mariette, and nodded as thanks. "I'll be careful." With a quick glance at his metalic companion, he continued moving.

Finn and Mariette heard the voices of screaming pigs coming from the direction of the strange houses, but they ignored their plight in favour of advancing towards the nearest city through another portal. They ended up at the gates of a town called Hamelin. And true enough, they saw someone in colorful clothes playing music on a pipe and leading a massive swarm of rats away.Once the rats passed, the two entered the town proper. It seemed to be a normal enough place, if one considered a broadway production a depiction of normal life.

Suddenly, the doors to the local Inn burst open, and a strange parade ran out: it was a man of simple looks holding a golden goose under his arm, with a conga line of various townspeople, each one stuck from touching the goose and every person after. The parade stumbled fast like a drunken line, passing by the two. As they did, Mariette's bunny plushie accidentally grazed the last person...And before she realized it, it was yanked from her arms, as if glued on to the parade by magical means. Mariette saw as the parade kept stumbling through the street towards the small castle at the center of town, the bunny plushie dangling at the rear.

... So. A horrorstorm of tentacles burst out of the void from every conceivable angle at the parade to stop it in its tracks, along with a shower of light-magic that incidentally did not target the spot the bunny was located while her tentacles sought to retrieve Mariette's bunny back to her. She did not care how many of these frolicing missfits died in the process and the streets flowed with their blood. She was getting Bunny back.

The sight of the plush bunny sticking to the Golden Goose's crowd like velcro only got Finn's eyebrows to rise. Okay, the asimilation theory might actually be plausible. They'll have to be careful not to tamper with ongoing fairytales henceforth. Though before he can figure out a way to get the plush back,

"Wait- WAIT, STOP!!" Finn hurried to hold Mariette back from possibly making a grave mistake. "We can get the plush back WITHOUT violence, just calm down!!!"

Okay, so maybe bloody murder was a little excessive. That said...

Regardless of if Finn held onto her or not, a hellstorm of tentacles still descended on the parade, specifically whatever poor sap had ended up holding onto Bunny. There was no reality where she allowed this individual out of her sight, and no reality in which she didn't leave this dimension without Bunny in her grasp. The hellstorm of tentacles just didn't kill anyone, just isolated the one who had Bunny on them. If they got too close to the castle, though, there'd be a rain of light-beams descending into their way before they got too close.

And if that for some reason didn't work she'd murder them all.

When the tentacles reached out to grab the bunny plushie, they successfully grabbed on to it...Only to fail to remove it from the shocked person's back. In fact, the tentacles themselves were also stuck, as if an unbreakable adhesive had been applied. The tentacles held on as the already screaming line of townspeople only intensified their frantic running, only to end up yanked back; Mariette's tentacles could only stretch so far, and they had enough power to hold back the townspeople.
After running in place for a couple of seconds more, the simple man eventually stopped, collapsing down and panting hard. So did the other townsfolk as well, who turned to see what had managed to stop them.
"Oh goodness gracious! I thought I was going to run forever being stuck to the goose!" The woman touching the goose said. "You know what, I was silly to try and get a golden feather from your golden goose, sir. You can keep them."
"As do I. I don't want a golden egg after all," the person touching the woman said. The entire line spoke the same sentiments.
The golden goose honked, and just like that, the curse of adhesion was lifted; everyone was free, including the bunny plushie.
The simple man holding the golden goose approached Finn and Mariette.
"Were you the one who stopped this wild goose chase? Thank you kindly, miss!" The golden goose honked again.

Finn sighed in relief and let go of Mariette. Thank god she ended up helping the townsfolk instead of killing them. Either way...

Did they end up rewriting the story, or something? Curious. For now, he simply took a step back and let the two talk.

‘Um, I,’ Mariette looked confused. Partly on account that she'd been about to kill them all for kidnapping her precious bunny. A quick portal let the released Bunny back into her grasp, and she hugged him tightly. ‘You're... welcome,’ she said, awkwardly, then turned and ran before dropping through a portal.

She'd spend a while a hundred feet above Finn standing on a portal rather than next to him, but with a small portal to near him open so they could still talk.

The simple man blinked as he saw Mariette run through a portal.
"Golly gee jillikers, that's some mighty fine magic. Anyway, have a nice day, miss." He then walked away with the goose, leaving the two alone. For once, nothing strange or magical took place.

"...Right. Let's keep moving."

Finn and Mariette continued on their way, taking note of the locals as they did. Everywhere they went they saw Wonderland's insignia on flags and banners. The townsfolk went about their busy days with the occasional song and dance, giving a very saccharine atmosphere to the place. However, something seemed off about everything, and Mariette happened to notice that she and Finn started to be noticed by the locals with aside glances; something about their behaviour seemed to disturb the people.

‘... What will you want to find out? We can try kidnapping a citizen for information, or try to get close to the castle for inspection, but there is a barrier of sort that is blocking us from focusing on it. Or if you have anything else in mind...’ Mariette tried to be helpful. From way in the air speaking through a portal.

"I'd rather avoid antagonizing the denizens here as long as we can. Let's try and inspect the castle, hopefully the potion can let us get by." Finn suggested, lowering his voice to avoid the further suspicion of disturbed eyes.

The two passed through Mariette's portal, and arrived at the outer wall of the royal castle that dominated the rest of Wonderland with it's majestic presence. Unlike Justine's castle, which was gothic and gloomy, this castle exhuded whimsy and wonder, and included a walled courtyard with a hedge maze. As Mariette had previously noted, the castle was ensorcelled with wards that prevented scrying and other methods of intrusive magic by means of befuddling the observer's senses, drawing them elsewhere. However, thanks to Finn's potion, the effect was reduced, allowing the two to peer at the structure without too much trouble.

The two were in a forested batch next to the main road that led to the impressive front gates that led to the courtyard. They could see a strange vehicle coming from the distance; a white carriage shaped like a pumpkin, led by four white horses and a dapper rider in a white tuxedo. In the window, Mariette could see what looked like a tiara-wearing princess riding the carriage.

‘... If we move on further, we're likely going to encounter them,’ Mariette said to Finn while inspecting the girl in the pumpkin, but then looked over at Finn. ‘But it's nice to know your potions can shield us from the distraction spell.’ She'd use the opportunity to open a portal to way above the castle, see if she could see anything interesting from a bird's eye-view.

When Mariette moved above the castle, she saw that the layout of the structure was surprisingly intricate, with multiple towers and buttresses, battlements and even a small inner garden. She also saw guards patrolling the place: they looked like modern soldiers holding gem-encrusted rifles that wore face-concealing gas masks. Their uniforms and helmets had a playing card theme to them: clubs for the basic soldiers, hearts for what looked like officers and commanders, or those of higher rank, and diamonds for specialist work such as engineers or the lone quartermaster taking an inventory of firearms. Club guards could also be seen beyond the gate as it opened for the carriage, letting the visitor inside before it closed behind her.

"Kinda expected to run into people at this point, ain't it?" He asked, watching the pumpkin carriage pass by. "Probably a formal wear event going on, knowing her story. Might as well look sharp. Finn adjusted the disguise artifact pinned to his outfit, activating it to give himself a more cleaner appearance.

Mariette blinked a bit. Wait, he was actually going to... go to the party? They weren't invited, were they? Well, Mariette was invited to A event, but not this one. Not to mention, the place they were going would potentially contain enemies... but that wasn't nearly as anxiety-inducing as going to a party without being invited.

‘I'll just... stay here, then. Shout if you need me,’ she said.

She saw as Finn approached the gates, which opened up, allowing him to enter. The club guards were speaking to the princess-looking girl, but one of them gave an aside glance and gestured for him to wait as the gate closed behind him.

That was when Mariette noticed one of the soldiers at one of the taller towers lift their hand to shade their eyes, seemingly peering up in her direction; it wasn't clear if the guard had spotted her, or was simply looking around as usual.

Mariette opened a portal in front of her to directly behind her, with other words, just showing the guard what's behind her. Nothing suspicious in the slightest. She could use her own, smaller portals to look around her, after all.

When prompted to wait Finn silenlty complied. Though he was on borrowed time, he and Mariette seem to be doing fine not rousing any potential adversaries, and he didn't want to ruin that. Not yet. If she didn't want to risk going further, he wouldn't force her. At the corner of his eye he watched the gate close behind him, separating the two for now.

...

The grip on his cane slighty tightened.

Mariette noticed how the guard, despite no longer being able to see Mariette herself, seemed to be suspicious of the mirror less frame that floated up in the sky, and called for someone on the walkie talkie.

The club guards finished talking with the princess, who curtsied and proceeded past the front doors of the castle. One of the guards holding a notepad then approached Finn. "Name and title," he demanded.

Guess that didn't fly. No matter. Mariette merely dropped through a portal and hid at some other, more shielded place in the vicinity. She portalled in among the trees next to the road, hiding behind them as she peeked at her surroundings through portals... and then she remembered these trees were probably alive and capable of singing. That just wasn't an issue in other places. Mariette silently prayed the trees weren't about to tell on her.

Finn's brows rose. From what he guessed from this, the denizens had real names besides what they were known in their respective stories. But then, what could he answer with? His real title, or an alias? As far as he was aware the Sinners were most known in the mundane world and the Overcity, but Wonderland? Have they even heard of atleast one of them in passing?

After concidering his option, he quietly sighed. Guess I'd hit a roadblock sooner or later... Finn turned his attention back to the club guards and straightened his posture, taking a proper bow in greetings.

"Finnegan L. Vanhorn, the Sinner of Wrath. I'm here on buisness." He introduced himself with a formal tone, hoping this gamble works in his favor.

A short while after Mariette hid away among the trees, she peeked and saw that a group of flying guards had flown up to where she previously peered at the castle. The soldiers had spade symbols on their helmets and uniforms, differentiating them from the club's that most other guards wore. She could see golden glitter sparkle around them, as if someone had sprinkled pixie dust over them. They also carried heavier weaponry than rifles and carbines: sniper rifles, light machine guns, and even a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher.
Mariette could tell that these were the elite troops of Wonderland.
The group signalled silently using hand motions and gestures, and spread out to look for the interloper who had created the mirror portal in the sky.

The club guard looked down at his notepad after Finn gave his answer.
"A Sinner? That's not a Wonderland title." "Of course it isn't, "The other club guard spoke next. "He's a foreigner. What kind of title is Sinner, anyway?" The first guard put his notepad away. "What business, and with whom?"

Well I couldn't risk stealing a "title" someone already has now, can I??? As the guards talked, Finn did his best to keep a calm face on. "One that I'm not exactly proud of, but it's what people know me by most." He answered with a nervous grin. Guess Wonderland really didn't know.

Then they asked what kind of buisness he was conducting. "Investigative work, I suppose." The boy glanced up to see a different suit of cards appearing to be hunting down someone. Spades. A symbol he'll have to look out for in case things go awry. He hoped it wasn't Mariette being hunted, but there was no one else around he knew of. Be careful out there! "Not really here to see anyone, but I've been wanting to learn more about Wonderland and thought this could be a good place to check out." Finn explained to the club guards with an innocent smirk.

The club guard looked at the other one, and the gate behind Finn opened. "Entry denied to uninvited visitors by order of the Queen. Leave the premises immediately," the guard threatened Finn.

For some reason Finn wasn't phased. Instead, he titled his head and asked:

"Are...you threatening me?"

The guards now pointed their weapons at Finn, including the ones posted on the wall and on the front towers and ramparts of the castle.
"Leave the premises immediately, or we will open fire."

‘I... don't think you'll win a fight on your own. Even if you beat these, more will come, and they will be stronger. I will not help you,’ Mariette whispered through a portal. Because of course she was watching.

Sure, he had concidered resorting to that. At least going the non lethal route of knocking each one out. He counted sixteen in total, but...

Mariette had a point. There had to be more waves of soldiers outside of his point of view. More that'd keep coming until he was overwhelmed. Finn understood that she wouldn't help him if he went for it, and she didn't have to. The boy held his hands up to show he wasn't a threat, and backed away from the soldiers in front of him. "Sorry for the trouble." Was all he said.

The club guards seemed to relax a bit once Finn backed away, though they continued pointing their weapons. They waited until Finn has stepped out of the gate entrance, and then closed the gate, shutting him out.

‘Thank you,’ Mariette whispered. Assuming he'd come back to her, she could open a sky-high portal to survey the area so that they could pick out where to go next, if Finn so wanted.

Mariette waited until Finn came back, and scanned the region with a portal,making sure to not attract the spade soldiers' attention. She discovered a military base in the vicinity, where an army of Wonderland soldiers have assembled, as well as vehicles and weapons like jeeps, cannons, tanks and even planes.

Admittedly, a part of Finn wanted to question why Mariette was willing to go through with this if she actively avoided the one place he wanted to check out. But whatever. No matter what he chose to do, he'd most likely be hunted down by the bigwigs of Wonderland soon enough, and the last thing he needed was someone relatively uninvolved getting hurt.

If they couldn't learn more about the dimension's leader (leaders??), then they could atleast learn more about their military. Finn was more than willing to check out the nearby base, but he waited till Mariette was okay with it too.

She was okay with it. She could send him closer to inspect the place, while she stayed on a bit of a distance inspecting from overhead with portals.

With Mariette's assistance and careful, slow movements, Finn was able to assess the military base's martial strength. He counted about 240-250 personnel, measuring to a company in size. About 60-65% was composed of club soldiers wielding rifles and carbines with embedded gems. He saw as there was a squad at the shooting range; the shots they fired streaked with red sparkles, and seemed to partially penetrate the modern combat armor of the dummies, meaning they were enchanted to some degree.

10% of the soldiers were diamonds, and worked as field engineers, medics, cooks, and other roles needed in the company. Spades also seemed to number in 10%, and had their own, larger tent that differed from the club's. Not only did they carry heavier weapons, they also seemed bigger, faster and stronger than the rank-and-file. The rest were composed of hearts serving as officers like sergeants or lieutenants. He could even spot a heart captain conversing with a sergeant, and pointing at a map. Finn saw the name of the location: Bolorton.

That was when both he and Mariette felt the magic of the potion fade as time was about to run out, and an unsettling feeling of Wonderland's magic slowly begin to permeate around him for an unknown purpose.

Finn clutched his head as he felt their time in Wonderland was running out. "W-We need to leave. Now." He quickly whispered to Mariette. He'd seen enough to go off of.

Mariette was more than prepared for that. She simply grabbed onto him and Overcity Shifted, sending them directly to the Overcity, no portals required.

Starring
‘One half of an inseparable pair’ Mia Cooper
‘Exploring his girlfriends interests’ Shane Bron

Though it was a bit unusual for supernatural creatures to be posting bounties, there was nothing against it so long as they had the funds to pay. That was how Shane and Gaia found themselves in this situation as they arrived outside the Garden of Roses. It was a second time for Gaia, who would no doubt be pleased to see the garden flourishing under its new caretakers. They had held to their end of the deal, just as they had promised.

They would be met near the entrance by one of the Fey, fluttering over to them on small butterfly wings. “Greetings to you, Lady Gaia, as well as your consort,” She said with a small bow to Mia. “We are pleased you are willing to assist us once again.”

“It is my most sincere pleasure,” the verdant maiden replied with an elegant curtsy. “And it fills my heart with such great joy to see that your garden is enjoying such abundant growth,” she added, her emerald lips forming a brilliant smile as she took a moment to look over the colorful flowers surrounding them.

Walking through the garden Shane also admired the garden the Fey had cultivated. Addressed briefly he gave a brief wave. "Nice to meet you. You've been hard at work it seems."

Looking between them, the Fey seemed receptive to their approval of the work that had been done here. “We have,” she agreed. “But there is still more we intend to do. Do you have any further questions regarding the task you have taken up?”

“Indeed we have,” Gaia replied in a serene voice. “Namely, exactly what kind of flower do you wish for us to procure, and where, precisely, might we find it?”

Extending an open palm, the fey caused the image of a flower to appear. “You are looking for a blue Gladioli. Its unique color provided by ambient magic. As for the location, my Queen says that you should have all the information you need to locate it in the description she provided. She does not wish to make things too easy for you.” The fey smiled, a mischievous glint in their eye.

“How very beautiful,” Gaia noted as she beheld the reproduction of the flower they sought. “I see,” the botanical beauty replied with a slight smirk of her own when the fairy explained that they already had all the information they would need to find it. “Very well. As it happens, I, too, believe that the hints her majesty has so graciously given shall be more than sufficient. Now then, ” she added, turning to Shane. “Shall we be off?”

A nod from Shane. "I believe so. This flower has me curious." With not much more information than they started with the two headed off.

Given the clues Shane assumed that the location of the mysterious flower was located in the park where Cindy fell. To his knowledge there hadn't been anywhere else where a "royal" was fell. Based on that it seemed like a logical place to start.

The trip to the park was quick enough,traffic wasn’t too bad at this time of day and being able to use magic just made the journey faster if they didn’t feel like traveling in the mundane way. As such, they soon arrived on the scene. The park was moderately populated, not swarming with people but hosting more than a handful at the moment. Hopefully that would not complicate their search for the flower.

Getting a view of the scene, Shane crossed his arms. "Right, so I think I have a good idea of where we need to go. It would probably be easier if we just looked normal and moved past people." A brief pause was followed by an agreement. Both untransforming, the two headed into the park as just a couple of kids. Having been witness to Cindy's death it wasn't that hard for him to crack down the area it should have been in.

“Y’know, it’s kinda surprising to see so many people here,” Mia observed. “I mean, I’m glad the city’s getting back on its feet after everything that’s happened over the past few months,” she added. “But it feels kinda weird seein’ everyone so obliviously happy when a battle against a frickin’ eldritch horror happened here not too long ago. Plus, it’d be nice if we had the place all to ourselves, don’t ya think?” she asked Shane with a playful smirk as she took hold of his hand.

Looking at Mia while she talked about the people at the park, when she mentioned alone time Shane blushed slightly. He smiled afterward though and squeezed her hand. "That would have been nice, but what's the fun of it if no one sees us?" He leaned in and gave her a quick surprise kiss before pulling back. Turning out ahead he looked over the clearing where the bulk of the battle took place. "Our mystery flower should be somewhere around here." One would think a glowing blue flower would stick out.

Nearing the site of the battle, the pair would find their path obstructed in a minor fashion. It had been cordoned off in the time since then to prevent access by the general public. Shovels and digging tools laid about, the park apparently taking this opportunity to do a bit of landscape work while they were filling in craters and fixing other bits of damage.

As they neared the site and began their search, foliage rustled behind them. Beady red eyes fixed on the duo, watching carefully and with ominous intent from the shadows. Like the fey had said, they were not the only ones interested in this prize.

Mia grinned at the sight of Shane’s embarrassment, but her own cheeks reddened a moment later when he gave her a quick kiss. This was her first relationship, after all, and she was still unused to public displays of affection (And the Christmas Party doesn’t count. There was mistletoe!). “Jackass…” the tomboy muttered, although it was plain to see by her smile that she wasn’t the least bit angry.

The pair soon reached the area where the battle had taken place, and although it was cordoned off, the thin strips of tape did little to hinder their passage. “Considering this flower’s magical in nature, it could have some way of concealing itself,” Mia noted as they began their search. “And knowing the Fairies, I wouldn’t expect it to be easy to find,” she added with a wry grin.

Due to her increased alertness, Mia was able to notice that they were being watched. “Hey, Shane,” she whispered as she moved next to her boyfriend. “I think we may have a secret admirer in those bushes back there.”

Shane nodded in agreement. "I thought so." Looking to one side there were still people around. Transforming out in the open would be asking for trouble. Taking out a small whistle he blew it, though it barely made a sound. "Going to have to cancel some people's picnics." He started to walk around, staying out of the cordoned off area. He mostly needed to stall as a storm cloud began to move in from the distance. He might not be able to use his Thunderbird fully today, but bad weather tended to send people away. Shortly the park area would darken and a light drizzle would begin to fall.

Putting his powers to work, Shane soon achieved the result he desired. A light drizzle fell, sending most of the people present scurrying for dry warmth. Getting stuck out in the rain in the middle of winter was hardly a fun time. A brave few souls continued to soldier on undeterred, but most of those weren’t near the duo and hopefully not much of a concern.

One of those undaunted is the mysterious figure watching them, though they had somehow shifted to a different bush that was near where they had been before. Obscured by branches waving in the wind, they did not make any hostile moves as of yet.

“Nice thinking,” Mia commended. “Although now I’m regretting not bringing an umbrella,” she added with a smirk. “So, think it’s safe to transform and say hello to our shy friend?”

"I think so." He would take one more look around to be sure things were clear and began reciting his incantation. "Flash of light and roar of thunder. Beware you forces of darkness as lightning can strike twice." Upon finishing, Shane's form was surrounded by a burst of lightning as he transformed. Not knowing what to expect he opened his spell book just in case.

“Alright,” Mia replied with a nod before beginning her own incantation. “Nature’s beauty! Nature’s grace! Nature’s power! Behold! I am Gaia, Daughter of Mother Earth!” There was a swirling of mystic energy, and when it faded a moment later, the short-haired tomboy had been replaced by a verdant demigoddess, whose emerald tresses cascaded down her back to pool on the ground. Around her bare feet sprouted an array of colorful flowers, in utter contempt of winter’s chill. Conjuring Nature’s Blossom, she held the staff to her side as she turned to face the bush in which their “secret admirer” was hiding. “We know you are in there, so would you please do us the kindness of revealing yourself so that we might become formally acquainted?” the botanical beauty inquired in a serene voice.

There was no immediate response to Gaia’s request, which was good in that the person watching did not seem to have hostile intentions towards them. If they did, surely they would have attacked by now. With the wind, one could make out objects that were not branches or leaves. They seemed to be antlers…ears?

Then in a burst of motion the watcher revealed itself. Its nose twitched as it paused for a moment before springing forwards. It darted past them into the site of their search, diving into one of the many craters there. When its head popped up it held a burst of blue in its teeth, the very flower they had come to seek. Turning, it then hopped away at a rapid speed. They would need to hurry if they wanted to retrieve their bounty.

Even the normally tranquil Gaia was startled by the jackalope’s speed as it darted past her and dove into a small hole, only to reemerge a moment later with the very thing they sought. “The flower!” the verdant maiden exclaimed as she watched the creature race off once more. “Not so fast, little one!” she declared, raising an elegant hand to call forth several thick roots with which to ensnare the fleeing animal. “Shane, get the flower!” she instructed, while creating a few sedative spore-producing blossoms in the jackalope’s path in an effort to pacify it further.

"Whoa!" The critter bolting past, Shane turned. He was glad he'd taken out his book as it saved him some precious time. "Hold on there buddy!" As the spores began to spread, Shane used his Earth magic to soften the ground under the jackalope to slow it down and make it harder to jump.

The jackalope sprang ahead with deft strides, leaping past the roots that emerged to stop it as the ground rumbled. This was eased thanks to Shane’s magic, though it only seemed to hinder the fleeing creature a bit even as the ground grew soft.

That was when the spores hit, amplified by both of their magics working in tandem. The jackalope stumbled, and for a moment it seemed like it might stumble on the soft rain soaked ground. But it recovered, soon sprinting across the open field away from them.

“Blast…” Gaia hissed, an annoyed scowl marring her lovely visage. “He is certainly persistent, I shall give him that,” the verdant maiden conceded as she took careful aim with her staff and fired a sedative spore pod directly at the jackalope. Hopefully such a super-saturated dose would finally do the trick…

Not wanting to let it get too much distance from them, Shane would charge himself up for a burst of speed. ”I’ll stay with him. There’s probably a burrow somewhere. Around here.” Using his earth magic he would try and get a feel for the ground beneath his feet. He was looking for small tunnels or any such thing that seemed like the creatures home while he sprinted after.

Stretching his magic out, Shane would be able to pick up a decent amount of tunnels beneath the park. None were of the size that a jackalope could use though, unless it was able to shrink itself somehow. There was one in the general direction the Jackalope was heading, though it seemed to widen a bit more and was deep enough that he couldn’t get a full look at it from his current position.

Gaia resumed her efforts to snag the creature, but as it had already shown it was quite nimble. Ears twitched and it suddenly veered, taking on a zig zag pattern that avoided the single pod. But it remained still moving in the relatively same direction, so it likely wasn’t just trying to avoid them.

Gaia frowned as she watched the jackalope nimbly avoid her spore pod. Still, despite all that was done to hinder it, the creature continued on the same heading, and that gave the Daughter of Mother Earth an idea…

Let us see you dodge this.

Sweeping her glowing staff across the jackalope’s path, the verdant maiden caused an arc of thorny flowers to form a wall, with which to block the swift creature’s advance. A moment later, each bulb doused it in a torrent of spores, far more potent than any previously employed. Hopefully this would be enough to finally put a stop to its flight…

Detecting that there might be a place the Jackalope might go, Shane kept up with the creature. He would let Mia's shot go to do its job while he prepared to capture the magical creature if it jumped down the tunnel he located it. He could be able to encapsulate it once it's already mostly surrounded by earth. He was curious as to what was down below though. Once the flower was secure he for sure was going to investigate this oddity.

The jackalope was not overly concerned by the sudden sprouting of thorned flowers in its path. Certainly it had proven adept at dodging them before, so even with prickly trimming to said flowers it looked like it would not be much of a deterrent.

Veering to aim for a shorter part of the wall that had been made, the jackalope went for a mighty leap. It soared high, a majestic demonstration of nature's prowess. One that ended in abrupt disaster as Gaia unleashed another burst of potent spores, timed to when he was in midair so he could not dodge. The jackalope sneezed, thrashing in midair before falling to the ground in a lackluster fashion.

Rising to its feet, the jackalope was not very speedy anymore, instead stumbling and off balance. It wavered as it hopped forward, swaying and not very agile anymore. Persistence paid off, and the flower was theirs for the taking.

Seeing an opportunity, Shane would make a dive and surround himself and the jackalope in earth so it couldn't continue running. Careful of the creature and horns he would wrestle away the flower and expel the jackalope from the sphere. He would check over the flower to be sure it was still intact.

With care shown for the horns and powerful feet, Shane succeeded in wrestling the flower away from the jackalope. It was a bit roughed up from the tumble, but it was mostly alright. Nothing a little botany magic couldn’t fix. As for the jackalope itself, once expelled from the sphere it stumbled off into some nearby bushes and passed out. It wouldn’t be an issue for them anymore.

“Splendid work, Shane,” Gaia commended once she’d glided over to her boyfriend, casting a simple restorative spell to return the flower to its original splendor. “Mother’s Mantle, that little creature was certainly tenacious… Although I must wonder why it sought the flower in the first place…” the verdant maiden mused, while tapping a thoughtful finger against her chin. “Still, I suppose that is a mystery for another time. Shall we make our way back to the fairies now, or do you need a moment to catch your breath?” she asked with a playful smirk.

With the flower restored Shane would carefully place it into an inner pocket. He would take a moment to think over what to do next. "There's something down below. I can't be sure of what it is, but there's what seems like a cavern." Looking at the flower briefly he would sigh. "We have what we came for, but I feel like the jackrabbit was heading somewhere for a reason." Now that he wasn't in pursuit of anything the boy would try and use his magic to get a better picture of the underground.

Utilizing his magic, Shane was able to get a general idea of how the room looked. It was decently sized, like something that would be used for water maintenance. Except it did not connect up to any external tunnels aside from the one the Jackalope was to take. There were several columns lining the room on both sides, and a network of roots extending through the stone downwards from it. It was a fairly simple structure, but unfortunately Shane was not able to get a more detailed look at the interior than that.

"Man, can't really tell what it is. Should we check it out now or deliver the flower first? It looks like where the jackalope was trying to run to though." He would look to Gaia to see what she though.

“Hmmm… A most intriguing mystery, to be sure,” the verdant maiden replied thoughtfully. “Still, now that we have the flower, I think we should probably return to the fairies and save any further investigation for later.”

Nodding a bit, Shane would turn. "Probably right. Let's get back to them then." He would begin walking with Gaia back to the fairies to present to them their requested prize.

The trip back to the garden was as easy as the trip coming from there had been, albeit a bit wetter because of the rain they had created in the course of their hunt. Entering the garden, they would just as quick meet with the fairies who had greeted them upon taking this hunt on. Unlike the last time however, they would be escorted inside to where the throne room had been established.

Seated on her wooden chair, Caliphe wore a smile as the duo approached. She was unchanged from the last time Gaia had seen her, though her people had no doubt settled in well since then. She was relaxed in her seat, comfortable in the safety of her dwelling. “Lady Gaia, it is an honor to see you again. Greetings to you as well, noble sir.”

After a moment she straightened her posture and leaned forward with hands resting on the armrests of the throne. “I hope you come bearing good news of your endeavors.”

“It is my great honor and pleasure to stand in your radiant presence as well, your Majesty,” Gaia replied with a graceful curtsy, returning Caliphe’s smile with one of her own. “And your majesty is correct,” the verdant maiden confirmed. “We were indeed successful in acquiring the flower you sought.”

Shane bowed himself in time with Gaia. He would produce from his jacket the flower to Caliphe. "For you, your majesty." He would hold it out for her or one of her attendants to retrieve.

Smiling, the fey queen took the flower once Shane had offered it. She rotated it in her hand, a little spark traveling up the length of it. It vanished once it reached the top, and she seemed satisfied with what they had brought her. “Thank you, brave sir. Did you encounter any trouble in the course of carrying out your task?”

Shrugging a bit, Shane would respond. "We encountered a jackalope that seemed intent on taking the flower somewhere. Gave us quite a chase, but Gaia's magic did wonders in slowing the creature down enough for us to retrieve it." Seeing the flower disappear it crossed his mind that he probably should have investigated in more detail what the flower was. Though it was unlikely that he would have done much different.

“Indeed, it was quite the tenacious creature,” Gaia agreed. “Although I cannot take all the credit for hindering its attempted escape,” she added, giving her boyfriend an appreciative smile. “My dear Shane provided no small amount of assistance, for which I am truly grateful.”

“I see. Well, I suppose it was not as bad as it could have been,” Caliphe noted as they related their troubles with the jackalope. She did not seem overly bothered, no doubt because they had succeeded in the end. Since they had been warned before setting out on their effort, it did not come as much of a surprise either.

She looked over Shane once more as Gaia complimented her companion. “Well then, I suppose I will need to call on you two if any other tasks come up in the future.” Gaia had proven herself to the Fey twice now. That sort of trustworthiness was important.

“We would be honored, your Majesty,” Gaia replied with a respectful curtsy. “So please do not hesitate to call upon us if ever the need arises.”

Caliphe smiled, graciously waving to the duo. “I shall.” WIth that the audience came to an end. Gia and Shane were free to remain and enjoy the garden, or they could head on their way. The fey would not impede their presence either way.

“So,” Gaia inquired as they made their way out of the garden. “Shall we investigate that underground chamber now, or would you rather relax a bit first? There is a new arcade that I have been very eager to visit, and I hear the pizza it serves is particularly delicious,” she added with a grin.

Those were two very different options. While he liked the idea of having a fun day. However… "I think I would like to see what's down there. It felt like someone or something was guiding the jackalope to that chamber." He would pause. "I should have investigated the flower before handing it over. Might know better why anyone would be after it."

If she was being perfectly honest, Gaia was slightly disappointed they wouldn’t be visiting the arcade first, but she could also understand that Shane probably wouldn’t enjoy the experience as much with such a mystery weighing on his mind. “Very well,” the verdant beauty replied serenely. “I suppose we shall just have to save the arcade as a suitable reward upon the successful completion of our investigation,” she added with a wink.

It wasn't hard for Shane to sense the disappointment. If it were just a hole in the ground he would look in his own time. He would reach out and take Gaia's hand, squeezing it gently. "I'm sorry my dear. I just want to be sure we're not missing something important. If it doesn't look like anything is there then I'll close it off and take a closer look later. Does that sound good?"

Gaia smiled back at her boyfriend. “That sounds wonderful,” she replied, before giving him a kiss on the cheek.

With that the two would make their way back to the park. Using his magic Shane would create a tunnel in a discreet location that they could use to make their way down into the unknown space below. Once they began to come closer to the open space he tried to sense if there was any movement happening inside.

Shane opened a tunnel without issue leading down to the opening he had sensed. The descent down towards the large underground pocket went unhindered. At their destination, Shane couldn’t feel any particular movement, but he could feel something. He’d felt this before. So had Gaia, in circumstances not altogether dissimilar. They eventually reached their destination.

The area was a dome-shaped cavern, pitch black except for any source of light that they brought with them. Across the ground-level of the cave was a field of grass, surrounding numerous great wooden trees with green leaves spread in all directions, the vegetation healthy and green despite the complete absence of sunlight. Vines gently clung to the walls as if to hide the fact this was a cavern, and across the center of the cave was a bed of flowers. Red flowers, yellow flowers, blue flowers, a veritable rainbow of brilliant and colorful flowers, so happily crowding around a tree.

Said tree was curling around a pathway of darkness. The tree split in two to serve as the frame of a separate, excessively black frame of rock, the contents of which was nothing but darkness. Adorned right above this pathway to nothingness was a sharply red jewel, standing out like a sore thumb to the wood and green leaves around it, right above the gateway it was adorning. A tug could be felt, as the darkness tugged at the mana of the visitors, like if it wanted to take them through the gateway to who knows where.

Now Shane felt movement. From one of the other trees, a humanoid shape broke itself loose. It stepped forward to stand between them and the dark gateway, stopping right in the forest of flowers beneath it. The being was built entirely out of wood, yet its shape took that of a woman wearing rudimentary clothes with exposed arms and legs, her hair extending into branches. Last time they had met like this, they’d been met with a hostile burst of mana and a creature prepared to battle.

This time Esther merely stood straight and stared at them, completely emotionlessly yet somehow still conveying her curiousness. “How come we meet like this once again?” … Or something along those lines.



Last time they’d found a veritable jungle. This garden had far fewer trees, it had actual room for grass and a great bed of flowers, meaning it was a lot less overgrown. However, the complete lack of bugs and other life that was not the plants or Esther was the same. As was the presence of an ominous gateway, big enough for a person to pass through.

As Gaia led the way into the underground cavern by the light of a bioluminescent plant, she began to get the sneaking suspicion she knew who this place belonged to. Sure enough, they were soon met by a familiar face.

“Ah, Lady Esther,” Gaia greeted the dryad with a curtsy. “It is a pleasure to see you again. Please pardon our intrusion into your beautiful garden,” she added in a soothing tone. “We recently encountered a mysterious jackalope, and were wondering if this cavern was where it had ran off to. As it is clearly not present, we shall take our leave now.”

Seeing who they'd come across Shane had to think if this was the same area as before. He couldn't quite recall though. Considering the circumstances he had to agree with Gaia. He certainly had no qualms with Esther. The dark presence answered enough questions in his mind, it was a horror after all. "Yes, sorry about that. I'll be sure to patch everything up on our way out." The silence was somewhat awkward. Though generally he could rely on his friendly demeanor to keep things calm.

Esther said no words, as usual, the wooden woman simply standing straight with branches in various directions from her body, staring at the two of them. If they were to attempt to leave, they would find their path unobstructed. There was no sign of any jackalope in here, that was for sure. The darkness remained behind her, leading to who knows where. This was not the same place as last time, yet there were a great many similarities, indeed.

While it was somewhat strange to find a second subterranean garden, nothing especially harmful appeared to be occurring, and if what Mariette had said was true, then this was simply a location for collecting ambient mana. Thus, after giving a final nod, Gaia turned to depart. “As our search seems to have reached its conclusion, shall we proceed to the arcade now?” the nymph-like maiden asked her boyfriend.

Odd indeed, but as promised since the encounter didn't turn into anything larger it looked like they had other engagements. "Yes, that sounds like a lot of fun." He would close things up behind them and they would head out of the park toward the arcade.

Meanwhile, in the cave they’d found, Esther stood motionlessly staring at the place they’d disappeared. Eventually, a person slid out of the dark portal behind her, the one built into the tree. The person was actually a monster-girl with a long furred snake-tail and furred claws.

‘How… did they find us again?’ Freya asked, frowning. Esther gave no answer, merely stood where she did. ‘Gah, now we have to relocate again. If this happens again, we better take some measures to find out why it keeps happening…!’ she muttered, very bothered as she turned around and skipped into the portal again, leaving Esther alone once again.

Esther didn’t mind. It meant she’d get another garden. Because it wasn’t as if they’d destroyed the last one when they left it. Maybe they’d find the next one, too?

Looking forward to seeing if they showed up again or not was…

Once Robert had fully left and Tina was shadowing the strange diplomat. Penny retired to her room.

She let the door swing shut behind her as she walked into the back section of her room. Tucked into a corner, behind her nest of blankets that she hadn't used in weeks, was a larger tub.

She pulled this tub out from the corner and settled down on the floor just next to her bed before opening the tub. It was filled with computer parts, though none of them were in any semblance of good condition. Nevertheless Penny set to picking through the parts she had placinging various of them off to the side when they met her criteria.

“Wow, that’s a lot of computer thingies.” said a familiar face, or rather familiar attitude with a new face. The dragon maiden, to her chagrin. Sakura. “Oh, right I have to be in character.” She would add. “The regent requests an audience, your Highness.”

Penny only gave Sakura a glance as she spoke, continuing her perusal of trashed components instead. “My door is open to the regent, but let her know that I shall be continuing my work regardless. Time sensitive work at the moment.” The monarch would reply.

“And if you would contact one of the maids to have refreshments sent down that would be appreciated.” Penny would add before Sakura could fully leave.

"Booze. Got it." Sakura would say, before correcting herself. "I mean… as you command, your Highness." She would then bow slightly before leaving Penny's presence. The room seemed to grow more eerie and dark for the time being, before a mature voice triggered Penny's senses.

The Regent, Dina was standing in the doorframe, swishing a cup of a red, viscous liquid.

"Sorting out your hoard, your Majesty?"

“Preparing to reap the benefits of my latest weapon” Penny would counter. Dina warranted more than a simple glance, but as warned Penny continued her work. Penny had met with Dina for a short moment before she went to deal with Robert, but now she had time to take fuller stock of Dina’s new appearance and presence.

“Settle in alright?” She would ask, she was under the impression that such a radical shift had the chance to be rather unpleasant.

Dina would stir the cup one last moment, before taking a long dedicated sip. She was standing tall, perhaps as tall as Penny, and the room seemed to gravitate towards her. "The thirst is quite the issue." She would say, her crimson orbs piercing into Penny, beckoning her.

"But It is nothing entirely unmanageable." She would add, before silence came for a second. Those lips seemed very kissable, and that dark dress of hers seemed to cling in all the proper places.

"You set him free." She would say.

Penny would take special note of how Dina’s presence now washed over her, without the protection of the ShineSpark it was impossible to miss. Penny wasn’t one to bend knee to anyone however, it was why she was how she was after all. regardless there was an outward indication of Penny’s defiance, even if it was only a small indicator. The innermost ring of her eyes, normally an electric blue, turned a vibrant crimson.

Because it was others' control that Penny always sought to break.

“I did.” Penny would agree, shifting her eyes back to her work. “He himself wasn’t worth keeping or killing. They sent him here to die, and he doesn’t know enough about the inner circle to be of any use.” She would explain.

“I did keep his pocket watch however.”

"A pity. It would have made a snack for our dogs of prey." Dina would callously answer, as she polished the glass and drew closer to Penny. There was a certain intoxicating perfume scent lingering in the air, mixed with a faint iron touch as Dina advanced towards Penny. Her arms slid on Penny's shoulder… a delicate, soft touch, like a breeze of air who left people gasping for more. Up until she realized the struggle in Penny's eyes and withdrew.

She didn't want her to become a witless follower of all things. "What does it do?" She added, her attention shifting to the contraption.

“Nothing for the moment.” Penny would reply, taking no note of Dina’s reaction. “But I’m planning on making it be the connection, and routing, point for the worm I’ve added into Robert’s camera. I don’t know how much I’ll be able to get from it, but I’d prefer to be on the safe side and not have myself be the main point of contact with it. Wonderland is shaping up to be messy.” She would explain.

One of her spider limbs would unfurl before reaching into her leg compartment and extracting a letter and handing it to Dina. “Mariette did some scouting and felt it prudent to warn us about them”

Dina would begin to read the letter, and her expression went slightly deadpan. "So no wonder why Robert was so deluded. Living in a feverish dream of a children's cartoon can do that to people." She put the letter aside, becoming lost in thought.

A clattering of a tray and cups shook her as a couple of figures entered the room. One was a relative new maid who was trying to reach in vain a tray that was held by none other than Sanngridr, who kept the tiny pale maid at arms' length in a classical bully pose.

"Oh so granny kitty dropped the kitty and got sexy. Sann is pleased for what she sees." said the cheeky Valkyrie.

"Hey, that is for lady Tepes and her Majesty, you bully!" The maid protested, flailing.

Penny sent an emotionless look in Sann’s direction but otherwise continued to work. She was no longer digging for parts that passed her inspection, now she was giving her secreted parts one last look over before melding with them. From there she was directing her mana to start regenerating the damaged components. It was the work of moments to have everything she needed to build a fully functional computer, one that was even on the higher end of things.

“What brings you here Sann?” Penny would ask her tone bored. Because in truth she really didn’t want to deal with the Valkyrie. Hell she wasn’t in the mood to deal with Dina either, today hadn’t been a good day after all, but the Regent at least had a good reason to want to talk to her.

She kept that frustration hidden however, just as she kept her ever present anger, all of it simmering just underneath her outer casing. No need to make every room smell like ozone after all.

"She was bored." Dina would then reply. "And she saw fit to see how best to serve me… Well, go on, serve the drinks, Sanngridr. Valkyries do that, don't they? And stop bullying the new maid." The Russian vampire said. "Phila, you may leave."

Sanngridr just let a soft giggle as she began to pour refreshments. The vampire maid bowed with a curtsy and saw herself out, not before throwing a glare at Sanngridr.

"In a way this is quite convenient, your Majesty." The Regent drew closer to the valkyrie, eyeing her up and down. "Mayhaps we will need to conduct raids." She would say, as her fingers playfully curled around Sanngridr's hair. The valkyrie didn't seem to repel the touch in the slightlest.

"So we get to raid Wonderland? Sann is pleased." The winged deviant cooed.

"Mayhaps." Dina would draw even closer, and in a swift, yet playful move, snatch Sann's crown. "This tool protects against mental turmoil, doesn't it?"

"Yes. But if you want to borrow it…Sann" The valkyrie began to trail off.

It was then when Dina's ethereal presence underwent a significant change. The atmosphere became heavy, almost unbreathable as her gaze pierced the valkyrie.

"KNEEL." She said, her crimson eyes glowing as the Valkyrie felt a phantom weight pushing her down. And down she went, trembling like a puppy before her master. There was not much she could do but gasp for air.

"We have suffered you long enough. Sanngridr the Valkyrie. You take everything as a game of self aggrandizing. But you only ever think of yourself." Dina would go. "You may have talent and Odin's favour, but your discipline is lacking."

Sann shuddered, emiting a subhuman growl, as she rose to reach for her sword, the drinks clattering. Dina for her part, reached for a wine cup, unconcerned. "Do it and consider your life and status forfeit, petulant child."

"Or should I say… Reaver?" She added after a sip.

"How did you!?"

"It was a gamble." Dina would then smile smugly. "You fell for it just now."

Penny stopped quietly as she turned fully to face the confrontation that was happening not even five feet from her. She knew she wasn’t the target of Dina’s magic, but the potential loss of self control was always something that set Penny on edge.

She was content to stay a silent observer in this latest turn of events, but that was a far cry from Penny being content with the revealed information. It was just one more thing to add on to this day. truly it was on for the books.

Were either of the other visitors within Penny’s room to look over at her they would be greeted with a good indicator of just how fed up with this day their queen was. Her eyes were now fully crimson, as well as flat and emotionless. Her color was nearly gone, only pale faded hints of blue left, all else had been rendered gray.

It was the closest to a Monster that either of them had ever seen from Penny, in truth it was the closest to a Monster she had ever been since she had gained her independence.

Her flat gaze rested on Sann, or Reaver, Penny wasn’t sure which she wanted to classify the intruder as, it was a gaze lacking in mercy as well, but this was the Regents showing at the moment. The Queen would wait and see for now.

"So it is true. The mighty valkyrie's identity is a brat who is throwing a tantrum at the world for it not giving him spoon fed success." Dina would say. "Even if your actions are heinous… I consider myself merciful enough. You wanted to be a warrior and knight peerless." She would add. "So you can be showered in affection."

Sann's resistance seemed to stop. Apparently Dina had struck deep with mere words. She blinked.

"No. Nonnononono." Sanngridr, the valkyrie, was feeling as if Dina was slowly but surely prying her ugly inner self open.

"You aren't as vicious as you seem to think you are. I bet you had regrets too." She would then kneel and softly caress Sanngridr's face with a motherly touch.

"You desire a mother. A lover. Perhaps both. But all the people you want are bad girls." Dina would then say.

"I have a mother." Sann would weakly protest.

"And where is she now, Sann…" Dina would add.

"Probably eating people." The valkyrie said with no small hint of bitterness."She is a monster."

"Well isn't it grand? She can join us." Dina would then say and stand tall once more. "You are beyond lucky. Your chance to become a warrior of renown is here with Wonderland conflict. Serve us and you will lack nothing. Love, fortune, recognition.." She would say, emphasizing her figure.

Sann looked at Dina. A bizarre, longing look.

"But there is the matter you need to take a punishment for Cindy's death." Her eyes would turn to Penny. "How about her being impaled for everyone to see for a lesson? I do not think she can die from that anyway."

Penny was slow to answer, as in it took her a solid five seconds to actually reply. During those seconds Penny never looked away from Sann, nor did she blink. “Most humans have at least three locations that they can be completely impaled that won’t lead to immediate death.” She would say at last, her tone disinterested

“My issue is that I doubt that a public impalement of someone who is, ostensibly, part of Sanctuary would reassure the girls here that they are safe.” She would go on to say her tone not changing, even as she tilted her head to the side. “At the same time banishment wouldn’t do well at this point in time either.”

“If I am to be honest as well I don’t see the need to punish them for that. Seeing as that I didn’t personally care for Cindy, and might have even done myself had circumstances been different.” Penny would stand slowly. “Though I do suppose that letting such an action go unremarked upon is setting a bad precedent.”

Slowly Penny stalked closer to Sann, her unblinking gaze simply observing her. “Tell me, do you still delight from pain?”

Sann did not say a word. There was confusion, elation, fear and longing all mixed on her face… her face contorted, then relaxed.

"I don't know. Stop this, please. I just…don't know."

This was Sanngridr at her most pitiful, as Dina kept staring with her crimson eyes at her. "Unfortunate. My coercion seems to have shredded what was left of her ego." Dina would frown."I should be very careful about this power." She added with a hint of bitterness.

Penny had stopped advancing shortly before Sann had replied, the disjointed bleeding of her wants let Penny know that something was wrong before anyone spoke. “Yes. You should.” She said to Dina her tone was soft but speckled with concealed malice.

Penny’s gaze was no longer resting on Sann, it was leveled at Dina. “She has been punished enough. Release her.” There was no mistaking that Penny’s words were an order, one she expected to be followed. Penny didn’t think that Dina meant for that to happen, and for that reason alone she was sticking to words.

But Penny had a very short fuse when it came to mental warfare, of anything that robbed one of their free will in all truth, and with the Engine so close to the surface at the moment it would not take much for Penny to make her displeasure known physically.

Dina's fist would clench, before breaking eye contact with Sanngridr, and the crown would once more find its way to the Valkyrie's head.

"You are far too lenient." The Regent said in a harsh whisper. "Wonderland won't budge at these half measures." She added, before taking a sip of the iron-smelling drink that had been brought earlier.

“I will not become a blood stained tyrant to the people I have sworn to protect” Penny would say the malice seeping away from her tone, once again becoming flat and lifeless. “Twisted as she is, Sann is a member of Sanctuary. I will spare them the depths of my wrath.”

“Starting off this conflict by brutalizing our own people will have them simply welcome Wonderland with open arms.” She would go on “We will have plenty of opportunity to display what it means to declare war on us when Wonderland comes in force. When our enemies come I will not hinder you against them. If anything I will strive to out strip you.”

“But” Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly, her flat look nearing a glare as a result “Only so long as you keep your fangs barred at our enemies. The hungers are not easy to leash, I am well aware of that, just keep them trained on those that have deserve such enmity.”

Dina's eyes would meet Penny's. "She committed Regicide, Penny. I am not catering to my newfound thirst." She added, finishing the drinks. "For the last time, Penny, Chloe and I are different people. Stop comparing me to her."

"Chloe…" Sanngridr seemed to react to her name with a wishing expression… then her visage became twisted. "Chloe…left us. Justine is weak…" She would trail off.

Dina's words choked on her, before she cast a last glare at the Valkyrie. "You are sick."

“I nearly committed Regicide” Penny would state having no outward reaction to Dina’s outburst. “Cindy was one incident away from declaring war on Beacon. I would have killed her myself had they not done so first” She would gesture towards Sann. And it was true, to an extent, Penny had been fully ready to Challenge Cindy for the throne. A fight Penny was fully willing to take to the death if it needed to be so.

“I am not comparing you to Chloe, if I had been you would be against the wall with my hand around your neck. I compared you once, stop assuming every disagreement is the result of that.” Emotion was flicking in Penny’s eyes annoyance and frustration, but it never leaked into her voice. “Cindy is dead, Reaver killed her. Sann is broken, you shattered her. I know which I consider to be the greater crime. So take solace in that I’m attributing your newfound willingness to maim my subjects to growing pains rather than active malice.”

She would turn her attention to Sann for a moment. “Chloe abandoned us for her own selfishness, Justine was purified against her will. But you still live. Do not linger too long on them, do not wallow. Stagnation is death, and the past can easily mire you in it if you stay there.”

Dina's eyes narrowed at the mention. "We need more discipline to resist Wonderland's brainwashing effect. It is better to be feared than to be loved." The regent would say.

"Chloe Penny is also gone." Sann would mutter, shaking her head.

“Yes, they are” Penny would reply to Sann even as she returned her focus to Dina. “And it was fear that killed them.”

Penny would slowly close her eyes and color would surge back into her as she held them shut and when she opened them once again they were back to their normal gold and blue. “You’ve changed Dina. I don’t know if it is the war on the horizon or your transformation, but you have changed.”

“Sanctuary is a sanctuary, why do you want to alter that?”

Dina cast her sight away for the first time. “I haven’t changed that much, Penny.” The vampire would say. “In these trying times, we need to be shown that perhaps, Justice still reigns. That perhaps peace is worth striving for. That no deed goes unpunished.” She let a long breath, after resuming her talk.

“But I see your point. Perhaps some of the girls might get shocked at the brutality of war. They have no need to see it…yet.” Dina would grudgingly concede, before she squatted down to Sanngridr’s level.

“Heed me, Varangian, whom I chose despite her Majesty’s reticence.” Dina would add, her hands reaching for Sanngridr, as she grasped the Valkyrie’s.

“Thy fate hath been chosen.” She would say. “Odious warmonger who brought mayhem to this land, it is through war your sins will be washed. You can spend your days in pallor and stupor, or take up your arms until your last breath.”

Sanngridr seemed to perk up at the mention of war. Dina’s crimson orbs would then look for a second, before uttering a phrase in the most chilling contempt she could give.

“Dedicate yourself to this one command: Terra Mirabili delenda est.” Dina then released. “Do not stop by anything. Not even Penrose’s destruction. Not even Ragnarok. Not even our deaths. Only when they realize the height of their folly you may stay your blade.”

Penny’s attention was suddenly pulled off to the side. “Damn” She would curse softly. She hadn’t expected Robert to get back to wonderland so quickly, nor was she expecting the March Hare to be magically connected to their networks. She thought she had more time to set up a computer to monitor and work on that front, alas.

It wasn’t a total loss however.

“See now the faces of your foes.” She would say louder and as she did Snoopy would project onto the wall the pictures of Wonderland’s inner circle that Penny had captured.

Sanngridr just shook her head, her vacant stare focusing all of a sudden. "Fine…I fucked up. You fucked up. Might as well do some noise while at it." The Valkyrie added, her voice now bereft of the childish glee it used to have. "If we had Tenebra around I could give these folks one hell of a party… but a certain midget with a foul mouth sent her away… before her term with us was due."

"A teleporter huh. True, it would help… but they are few in number. Mariette and Sonia, maybe?" Dina would then add.

“We won’t need outside assistance for that” Penny would say, a sharp grin appearing on her face. “I let Robert walk, but I also forced him to actually walk.” She would go on reaching into her leg compartment and pulling out a simple golden pocket watch. “I’ve not had the chance to let Britney look over it, but this was his, and he mentioned that it was how he normally got around. It allows one to create, or traverse, spatial burrows.” Was the explanation she gave.

“As much as I’d like to keep it for myself, I won’t be the one to get the most use out of it, nor was I the one to win it for Sanctuary.” Penny would offer it to Dina. “I was planning on giving it to you, but Sann might make better use of it if she is planning on starting up asymmetric aggression.”

"Hmm." Dina would raise an eyebrow. "Too risky. We need to build our numbers …" Dina would then add." My lord would also like to oversee… our defenses. But know this… Reaver. You will be in the first wave." The vampiric regent would add. "I will get to your…black hearted friends so you are not alone."

"And summoning a dragon."

“I’ll hold onto this then” Penny would state, pocketing the watch again. “But let me know if either of you have need of it, in the meantime I’d be willing to take whatever advice your lord would be willing to offer, but the fact we will eventually be seabound might make much of it obsolete in the long run”

"Seabound." Dina's words drawled with a scowl of disgust. "Sakura will have an advantadge here, but most of our tactics won't work. Still there are ways to work around the issue."

“A mobile fortress is harder to conquer than a stationary one.” Penny would point out, she was tempted to point out that Dina had approved of the move earlier as well, but decided against it. Just more proof that Dina had changed it seemed.

“And it’s not limited to the water, just harder to get at us out there during the invasion I’d assume.”

"Still, this means abandoning the center of Penrose at the expense of Sanctuary. There is no sizable body of water around." Dina would point out.

“True” Penny would concede. “But, seeing as Alicia is sticking around Beacon will still be on look out, and I might be able to make a work around for that issue anyway.”

“I’ll need Britney’s help, but retooling Robert’s pocket watch into something bigger should give us access to wormholes. Linking it to the Earth Bastion means we can get to where we are needed from anywhere within Penrose.” She would explain.

"Penny, you can't rely on experimental technology in a war. I will oversee the barricades from outside the Bastion." Dina said, her frown accentuating.

“You can’t rely on it” Penny would once again agree “But war does tend to force advancement in a lot of fields. And getting it past the experimental stages sooner rather than later is better in the long run” She would explain.

“Overseeing things in person is always going to be the better option. But we don’t know where Wonderland will be coming from, it could be over land from another city, or it could be from the Overcity and its numerous passages. Rapid response is something we are going to need sooner than later most likely.”

"We will pressure Sakura and get a more reliable teleporter."

“Sounds like a good plan, you work your angle I’ll work mine.”

The vampire sighed. "We don't have many options there either."

"Hi there! This is Annabell with my weekly vlog."

Sometime last autumn, a certain magical girl had decided to start posting videos over Glimmr.

"As promised, I'll start by telling you what the magic card I got yesterday is..."

At first they were simple 5-second gag videos, but in time, they developed into entire streams where she would share experiences about her magical life in Bolorton, a quaint little farming town.

"...That movie was pretty okay. I liked the main character and the whole story revolving around her past and stuff..."

As a veteran magical girl who possessed both Wood and Light specialties, she might have been over-qualified for a place as devoid of action as Bolorton.

"...I've never seen a goblin fly so far. It hit McDonald's barn and woke him up. Luckily I scared it away before he got out in his jammies, toting that o'l shotgun of his~"

But it was her hometown, and she loved it.

"It's a beautiful day today, as you can see. Not a single person is out today...That's kind of weird."

Even that day, she was filming the sleepy little town.

"Oh well, I guess today just happens to be more quiet than usual."

But on that day, everything would change for Annabell. And life as she knew it would end.

"Anyway, I happened to find these cute earrings over at the garage sale and-"

The screen shook as a loud noise boomed nearby, causing her to drop the earrings.

"What was that? A bomb? Did those goblins bring bombs again?"

The screen shook again. Smoke could be seen rising from far in the background. Annabell grabbed the camera and aimed it around, causing the feed to become blurry.

"Oh no...This can't be happening!"

The camera happened to aim towards the fields, where some kind of movement could be glimpsed.

"Hey, what are you doing-"

The camera suddenly broke, ending the livestream.

And the person on the other side, Lily, jumped out of her sofa, and ran over to Alex.

”Alex, we gotta help Annabell! Her Monthly Anime Reviews have always been gold!"
She blurted out, only to blush.
”-And her town's in danger, can't forget that!"

She ran out, having already chanted her incantation as she stepped outside.



She got on her motorcycle with Alex, only to smack herself on the forehead.

”Rats, I forgot! Bolorton's super far away! Even with my bike, it's gonna take an hour! Maybe I could text Mariette to give us a portal..." She took out her phone, and wrote a quick text message to the girl, as well as any other magical girls she had on her contacts.

[baddies in bolorton, need portal, meet ya at penrose park <(｀^´)>]

Then she turned to Alex.
"Any other ideas in case that doesn't work?"

---

At Beacon HQ in Penrose, the news of the livestream also quickly spread around the members, and they reached Alicia and Kimble as they were in the rec room. The bringer of the news was Hudie, one of the Ascendancy officers.

"Did you see the video, Paladin Seraph? Apparently Bolorton's getting attacked by something so big even the resident guardian was alarmed. We're planning to send a team there to check up on it just in case," she stated. Kimble turned to Alicia.
"What should we do, Alicia? I know it's not really our place to handle other town's problems..."

Lily had seemed so gung-ho about heading to Bolorton, that it hadn't occurred to him that she might not have a solution to the problem of travel time. With a sigh, he responded "I mean, besides me making a road in the sky, and you doing something funky with Time magic, not really. I'm personally not that well equipped for cross-city rapid response stuff." A thought then occurred to him "Hey, do you think anyone else is organize some kind of rescue or something? If there is someone, then we could just tag along with them."

Thanks to his finding, Finn and Oliver made plans to travel to Bolorton ahead of time. Maura let the former borrow Eliza's old motorcycle to preserve whatever energy saved for the ambush. Er, not exactly an ambush, more or less an interception there of. That left Valerie and the other few members left in Penrose, whatever Justine decided to do about it was none of Maura's concern anymore. She had worse thing to worry about. Of course the duo kept in touch with the android girl in case anything happened during their travels.

So when Valerie tuned into the livestream too...

"Shit, they beat us to the punch! Hurry up you idiots!!"

Finn cursed under his breath and stepped on the gas, laws of the road be damned at a time like this. "What's going on Val?!"

"Terrorist acts, that's what! They're bombing the damn place and- Oh no."

"Oh no?? Val, need details here, talk to me!"

It was like he could hear her grimace. "Looks like they took the local magical girl there hostage, or worse, they could've executed her on the spot. If there was any indication of that, the livestream cut off before I could tell. I'll see what else I can get from the footage!"

The boy grit his teeth. Not unexpected of Wonderland to resort to bloodshed first, after their soldiers threatened to shoot him. Wouldn't be long before others come to fight too. Hah. They'd probably be cleaned out easy-peasy when Penny barges into the picture with her sidepiece Amanda cared for too much. Should he even bother with this?

...Nah, that line of thought was too spiteful right now. He and Oliver can atleast stall the soldiers long enough for back up to arrive. The same Oliver that pat his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.

"We can handle this, just like back then, okay?" The ghost's mouth quirked up into a smile. Yeah. Oliver was basically a one-man (one-ghost?) army on his own time. This time, they were ready to fight together. Finn calmed down a bit. The situation was still tense, but he was calm enough to focus.

"Right, let's get these assholes!" Revving up the motorcycle's engine, the duo sped off towards the town of Bolorton.

After Caroline’s purification, Justine reluctantly brought her to the Crimson Cradle headquarters, giving her own bed to her long-lost sibling while she slept on the couch or an unoccupied room Maura may have had there. Initially, Justine was glad to have reunited with her, and showered her with constant attention. Caroline seemed to adjust well to the change in scenery, or rather, she didn’t seem to react at all. She silently stared at everyone for most of the time, and when she rarely spoke, it was only to Justine, and in short sentences. In time, Justine’s enthusiasm gave way to awkwardness and apathy, having realized that not everything would be fixed once Father’s influence was gone. They weren’t a happy family, but a pair of traumatized girls, their former madness having served as a buffer to the issues within them.

Justine continued serving Maura, patrolling the city and exterminating rogue monsters. She grew more confident and diligent in her work, yet a certain distance also gradually formed between her and the Witch of Death. While Justine was grateful, she was also wary of her, especially if she attempted to approach Caroline any further than usual. Still, Caroline’s unusual behavior continued to unsettle her.

One day, as twilight descended upon Penrose, Justine stood over the town hall, having decided to give Lily a phone call. The energetic girl immediately responded.

”Hi, Justy! Been a while since we’ve talked~ How are you and Carol been doing?"

Justine sighed.
”Hello, Lily. That is actually why I called you in the first place.”

Justine sat down at the edge of the roof, letting her feet dangle in the air.

”Caroline has been eating and sleeping regularly. And she doesn’t show any signs of physical sickness. But…I can tell she is not well.”

Lily lowered her tone, having realized this was not a regular chatting session.
”Oh, that sounds serious. Is there something about her behavior that concerns you?"

”Yes. She rarely talks, and doesn’t show much emotion in her expressions. She also has nightmares nearly every night. I think she is mentally ill.”

”Have you taken her to a psychiatrist? That could help her.”

Justine blinked. ”What is that?”

”They are someone who deals with mental illnesses. I think there was one in Silverburg…Yep, I can send a link to their webpage over Glimmr.”

”Uh, are you sure about this, Lily? That this psych…er could help? She won’t be sentenced to a madhouse?”

”Oh no no no, madhouses haven’t existed for centuries now. Today’s mental healthcare has improved by bounds. You can trust me on this.”

Justine sighed, but then nodded to herself.

”Okay then. Thank you for the advice, Lily. Goodbye.”

”Talk to you later! Byeee!”

As she closed the phone, she saw as the lights in the city began popping up, starting from the nearest streetlight and spreading into the distance like countless stars.

---

In present day, Justine had returned back to Penrose after she took Caroline on a follow up visit from Silverburg. Her concerns were remedied when the psychiatrist explained they would start with simple sessions to ease Caroline into the process. She happened to spot as Finn and Oliver rode off on a motorcycle, and flew after them.

”What’s going on? Did something happen?” She yelled from behind them.

_{I swear a bulk of my characters being relatively nuts is a curse on my own writing}

With most of everyone heading out to Bolorton, that allowed the witches to hold a meeting of their own.

Yet the distance between Maura and Justine wasn't the only sight of something amiss. Something seemed off about the Cradle Mother in general. She was either busy with something else or another, or could only be bothered to interact with others for a brief moment. Of course, Rowena was an exception to this. The Witch of Life even caught her younger sibling spacing out at times. She didn't wish to pry, but did offer to take over for a while, let her get some rest. The glare in response. Unintentional or not, that was a definite no from Maura's end.

What was going on through her head?

Once all of them were gathered in a room (away from Valerie's, at her request) Maribel spoke up first:

"Well, not sure what else we must know besides the impending doom of Penrose, but I bet you'll be happy to know dear Amanda should be able to return in a couple of buisness days~!" The nightmare witch chuckled. "Mint's been a bother to pick out, but perhaps if she and Oliver work on a permanent cure for her friend's father's ailment, they won't have to rely on that bunch of swindlers any longer~"

"Bit late on the uptake, ain't it?" Lauren rose a brow. "Not like they'll let Pinky go without a fight, especially not if she's accumulated a debt, and especially when they can reach her royal pain-in-the-ass-to-fight through her." She crossed her arms. "Luckily Beacon hasn't been stupid recently either, probably busy with preparing a counterattack against Wonderland. Thank fuck Vanhorn got us some info on their military works, I can use that to find weakpoints and shit." The emerald haired girl looked over to Maura to see if she would speak up next, then went to the next option when she got nothing but a shrug. "Got anything, Ro?"

"Ah! Goodness no, I've just been treating Miss Howard with everything else going on..." Rowena frowned. Maura looked back at her, almost in plea. "It's strange. I'm not sure if her body's in a state of comatose to try and heal itself, or if it's afflicted by her own magic or..." She trailed off. "I'll keep trying though! I just...need more time to figure it out..."

Time huh?

Maura and Lauren both looked at each other, as if to confirm something, then the latter spoke up again. "If no one else has anything to say, there's something we have to tell the two of you." Once Rowena and Maribel were listening close, she nodded to the reaper.

"...Jen's in Penrose."

The two's eyes widened for vastly different reasons, but surprise nonetheless. "Really now~?" Maribel grinned. "Has she grown impatient at our efforts?"

"Impatient doesn't even begin to cover it."

The group became startled at Jennifer's sudden appearance at the doorway. The false witch was leaning against it with her arms crossed. Lauren pointed at her with a annoyed glare. "How the hell long have you been standing there?!?"

Jen shrugged in response. "Long enough. But y'know, you should really start using anti-scrying measures when you're talking in Cradle. If Mister All-Seeing Allfather and his pet can use Valerie and your conversation as fodder against you, who knows what else could be forfeit here." She explained, looking directly at Lauren when she addressed her specifically.

"What do you want this time? Nothing's happened to Finn yet." Maura asked. She wasn't the last thing she wanted to deal with at the moment, but she still wasn't up for dealing with her bullshit.

"No shit nothing's happened to him yet and BY GOD may I murder a man when otherwise, but anywho!" Jennifer walked over and sat down next to Maribel, who surprisingly (or not surprisingly) didn't react much. "With him okay until the next free time, that leaves me to remedy you AND your little shithole of a faction." She explained.

Maura tried to retort, but couldn't think of one. She opened her mouth then quickly shut up. She had to listen. No matter how psychotic Jen was.

"Good. Atleast you know when to shut up now. Anyways, anyone got a list and clipboard? Maybe a pen?" Jen asked around, and Maribel dropped the needed items next to her from her nightmare dimension. "Oh. Thanks Mari. Now then, what have you been doing anyways? Like, specifically? No, 'trying to stop Mint and/or Beacon' isn't a valid answer anymore."

...

Maura didn't have an answer.

"I see. I know Finn and Oliver, well, Finn alone got put into dealing with Wonderland and Penny. On his own accord for the former too! What a card! The latter I'll admit, we've been a bit of an influence on that. No matter what those two idiots think, I can tell he's just going with it." For a moment, it looked like Jen frowned in worry. But only for a moment. "But other than that, what are ya standing around for? Get out there, get the word out! Get some new recruits after the rest left you for dead!"

The false witch teleported out of the room for a nanosecond to get a snack. Looks like she raided the sweets. "I know you have some reservations there, especially with most solo's either choosing to live peacefully in the mountains or feeding off Penny's palm right now. _{Honestly, might as well rename this damn town into Sanctuary since that's what she calls her 'precious kingdom' now. Eugh.}" She took a bite of the chocolate bar in her hand after opening it. Her face contorted quickly, did she accidentally get dark chocolate? "But what's stopping you? Besides the Grand Magistrates? I know they were gonna give you a new recruit, but looks like she's skipped town too."

At that Maura tiredly furrowed her brows at her. "I think you already know, O' great Exodus..." There was a hint of sarcasm in her tone.

Jen grinned. Now she can get to buisness.

"She hasn't chosen to defect to Odin yet, but Justine's grown more distrusting of you. Especially over her sister, who's currently getting treatment. How long until this trust fades completely, I wonder? Remember. Sanngridr is still part of Mint. The maid's involvement is another story we'll read another time. You getting all this?" Jen asked Maura. Who silently nodded.

"Then you know what should be done. But take heed, patience is an important virtue. You'd only make things worse by desperately speeding up the process." She got up and walked over to the other red-eyed woman. "...Y'know, kind of a weird pattern I'm seeing. Red eyes? Black hair? Wonder if it means anything." Maura visibly tensed up as she leaned forward. Rowena had to restrain herself from stepping in. This was between the two of them. Jennifer hummed in thought as she stared, tilting her head to the side almost...innocently. A sense of deja vu.

"As much as I'd like to resort to killing you and making sure your next incarnation is less incompitent. I think...you're not unsalvagable yet. After all, I too was a dumbass once." She chuckled. The reaper was more confused on the other hand. "One more thing, freshen up will ya? You actually do have a new recruit on the way!"

Maura's eyes genuinely widened. "W-Wait, really?!" With that, she hurried out the room, Jen casually walking behind. Before she dissapeared behind the doorway, she turned back to the other witches.

"Oh yeah, could one of you chuck this over to Finn for me?" She asked, tossing what looked like a silver pocket mirror to Lauren, who was the nearest to her. "It's not a real artifact, nor is it as fancy as Asengav's black mirror, but it'll let me communicate easier without having to physically be around. Alright gotta go, talk to you later Mari!" With that Jennifer left.

"...Fucking shit, I'm getting a drink." An exasperated Lauren walked out too.

In the time since the trip to the Overcity and Beacon's HQ, Alicia had thrown herself into her work. She tried to maintain a similar level of involvement with her friends, but she had also put a lot of work into trying to tighten up ship. As if hard work could make up for what had happened, or what she might have failed to do. No one had told her to do so in as many words, but she did it all the same. She was barely even able to take bounties because of it.

Having found a moment or two to spend with Kimble amidst all that madness, when they were approached by Hudie. "I haven't seen it myself, though I got the general idea from everyone else talking about it," she replied. She had just been distracted by other things to get around to it before it became the big thing.

Looking to Kimble, she frowned in thought. "Given the publicity of what happened, I expect Bolorton will get pretty busy. We should see what the scouts turn up before deciding if we need to send more people." That way there would be people back in Penrose to keep an eye on things in case someone got ambitious.

Mac was walking down the street. She had gotten dressed, but the water from her shower still clung to her skin like morning dew. Her expression was hard and firm, as she wasn't feeling too playful today.

It wasn't every day you were told that your patron, your boss, had been dishonest with you and was pretending to be something they weren't. She supposed that didn't bother her too much, but "false fate" had decided to let her go without giving her much in the way of an explanation. She had no idea what they had been trying to bring about, and the only thing she had been granted was a replica Endless Eclipse. A fake sword from a fake fate that grants its user answers. She had been using it extensively in the weeks after the Christmas vacation. Her ability to remain hidden wasn't as strong as it had been in the past, but here she was, walking on the street while invisible to most magical girls.

Well, not totally invisible.

Mac had decided that she would act today, and overlaid her invisibility with an illusionary magical girl. It would be almost impossible to detect she was fake without special senses. Even if the illusionary girl had a radically different physique than Mac, her gravity magic could accurately simulate resistance while her illusion magic could add sensations, such as the feel of her jacket or skin. Her illusions might have been weaker, but there was still a lot of experience at work that made them convincing to most people.

She wasn't walking around aimlessly. Mac had located a cradle agent with the help of Endless Eclipse. Valerie seemed to be rummaging around a junkyard to get computer parts. Mac decided to wait near a pile of refrigerators as her illusionary disguise approached Valerie. who was still searching for something.

"Hello!” Came the high-energy voice of a magical girl that Oliver might remember. "I am the mighty IRON MOUSE, sharpest shot in Rochester! One of Oliver's clones was very mean to me and I've been trying to track him down ever since.” She pointed at herself with her thumb. "Don't get me wrong, he was very polite about things after the fact. He's not in any trouble. But now that I am without a patron, I believe he owes it to me to hook me up with a new one. But I understand he's leaving, which means that it falls to one of his acquaintances to hook a girl up.”