"...Huh?”

Mac looked at Oliver for a good bit before shaking her head. "Right, yea. Guess that’s my specialty, huh?“ It didn’t take Mac long to open her third eye and peer at the incoming transport. And the device inside. "Wow, that’s, hngh!“ She winced before closing her third eye. "Yea that’s, oh my.“ She took a breath. "The artifact is almost as big as the truck is.“ She relayed all the information she could gather to her fellow agents.

"In that case, let me take point. I’ll get ahead of the transport and slow its movement. Oliver and his friends should be able to disable the vehicle with a follow up if I don’t. Then we can join up and attack the guards.“

…

…

…

Penrose’s central business hub wasn’t too far away. They just had to follow one long road through a developing housing district. The buildings were sparse and spread out. This made it easier to avoid involving civilians, and also gave the cradle agents good visibility of their surroundings. Should they call for reinforcements, it would take them some time to get to the truck in time.

This left the cradle agents without cover, but Mac had an idea for that. She simply placed an invisibility spell on each of her fellow agents and had them wait on the side of the road. But Mac? She was waiting in the center.

As soon as that truck got close enough, she’d use her gravity magic to amplify her weight. That paired with her impressive physical prowess should be enough to act as a barrier. The truck would slam into her, crush everything between Mac and the motor, and blow every airbag in the passenger compartment. Unless they were driving WAY above the speed limit, the driver should survive, and the magical girl in the passenger seat should be distracted long enough for them to start an attack. Should the truck be too difficult to stop, or be moving too slow, Mac was prepared to take Cradle and the truck into the overcity. But that would be a lot of mana, and she wasn’t sure what sort of dangers they would find there. She didn’t expect to take such a blow unscratched, but it was the least she could do after what she put Finn through.

"There’s the headlights, can’t be long now.“

For Kate Carson, the chance to catch up with old friends was a proposition that she found never failed to provide numerous rewards. Although she very easily could have employed the polychronal reality shard she’d received from Xozooth to ascertain the information she sought, one of the perks of her line of work was the fact that she could travel to interesting places, see interesting sights, and, yes, reunite with acquaintances unseen in several years, if not several decades, acquaintances who could offer an array of valuable services. This particular trip would be no exception, of that, Kate was certain. In fact, it promised to be very rewarding indeed…

Widely considered to be one of the shining jewels of the Pacific Northwest, Seayoto was truly a beautiful city, and from her vantage point on the wooded slope of Mount McNab, Kate was afforded an exceptionally breathtaking view of the costal metropolis. The air was crisp and clear, the sun’s rays providing a pleasant warmth to the diminutive photographer, even as they gleamed off the city’s numerous skyscrapers and sent swarms of sparkles dancing across the waters of Seayoto Bay. Yet, Kate wasn’t here simply to sightsee. She had an important job to do, and after scanning the city’s impressive skyline, the photographer shifted her sights to a far more modest collection of structures. Just a short distance below her, and snugly nestled into the forest foliage, was Seayoto Sanitarium, the place where the subject of today’s covert photo op would be found.

Hailed by many in the mental health community as an exceedingly progressive institution, the sanitarium’s patients were frequently afforded time to get some fresh air and enjoy the mountain scenery from the safety of its park-like courtyard. Sometimes, small games were even arranged. But Kate’s subject adamantly avoided those as she was led outside, choosing instead to curl up on a bench and rapidly look around the courtyard in terror, as if fearing a surprise attack at any moment.

Yikes… Kate gulped. Good thing I’m hidden in these bushes…

After zooming in to confirm that this was, in fact, Megan Vanderbeck, Kate snapped a quick picture of the panicked woman and looked over the new information provided by her camera’s display. As it turned out, the woman had, in fact, been visited by agents of the Queen of Hearts, and although they had found no evidence that she, or her daughter, had any relation to their sovereign’s own missing daughter, the experience had throughly shattered the poor woman’s sanity, something further confirmed by the freakout Mrs. Vanderbeck was now having, after noticing that one of the outdoor games being played was croquet…

“Well now, what’s this?” Kate murmured when she noticed that Megan’s file still had more details to convey, her mouth curling into the beginnings of a smirk. “Looks like the Wonderlanders aren’t quite done here just yet…”

“NoT dOnE! NoT dOnE!” a cheerfully warped voice sang out. “STiLL tImE fOr FuN! HeE hEe!”

Whirling around, Kate saw that the strange voice’s source was an even stranger being, a twisted, sinister-looking fairy.

“ShE wAs UnKiNd, sO I bRoKe hEr MiNd! BrOkE hEr MiNd! HeE hEe!” the bizarre being continued.

“You’re a sadistic little thing, huh?” Kate noted, not seeming particularly concerned.

“SaDiStiC tHiNg, yEs, yEs, tHaT’s tRuE!” the dark fairy confirmed with demented glee. “NoW iT’s TiMe tO pLaY WiTh yOu!”

With that, a pack of six wendigos appeared in a swirling of mystic energy, all poised to pounce upon the seemingly defenseless Kate.

“So, you’ve got pets, huh?” the photographer asked with a smirk as she pulled a golden whistle from her jacket pocket. “Well, I’ve got some pets of my own…”

However, before she could summon them, the mountainside was suddenly enveloped in a furious blizzard. The sun disappeared as blasts of arctic air propelled churning clouds and blinding sheets of snow, while the temperature rapidly plummeted.

Or, y’know, that works, too.

“Servant of Wonderland!” a cold voice called out, even as a pale figure in a white kimono emerged from the swirling snowstorm. “You are not welcome here. Dismiss your beasts and get off my mountain at once, or I shall remove you by force.”

“HeE hEe!” the dark fairy giggled in its deranged voice. “PeTs iMmUne tO iCe aNd sNoW! YOu’Re tHe oNe wHo’s gOnNa gO!”

“Oh, I don’t plan to harm them,” the frosty young woman clarified. “I plan to control them…”

With that, the six wendigos spun to face the deformed fairy, who barely had time to utter a startled cry before they pounced upon the small creature and began savagely tearing it limb from limb. Once they had finished with their butchery, they dissolved into snowy mist, the blizzard following suit shortly thereafter.

“Thanks, Sarah,” Kate told the icy maiden as the pair exchanged a friendly fist bump. “That was some trick,” she added with a chuckle as Sarah helped her up.

“Well, as guardian of this mountain, all monsters on it are bound to obey my commands,” Sarah replied. “And that goes double for ice-based creatures, like those wendigos. But, really, I should be the one thanking you,” she added. “I’ve known there was a dark presence on this mountain for a long time, but I could never get it to reveal itself. Luckily, you turned out to be the perfect bait,” she quipped, giving the photographer a playful grin.

“Glad I could help, though I think I’m owed a small favor for putting myself in danger like that,” Kate noted with a smirk.

“Oh, come on! You could have handled those things easy!” Sarah shot back. “Me stepping in was just a formality! Y’know, basic ‘Guardian of the Mountain’ stuff! But fine, if you’re gonna make such a big deal out of it, how about I treat you to lunch? Michiko’s parents own the best teriyaki place in the city, and I get a best friend’s discount!”

“Sounds great,” Kate declared with a thumbs up as they began their trek down the mountain.

“I just hope we don’t run into Michi there…” Sarah sighed. “She’s gonna be so pissed when she finds out she missed the chance to fight wendigos. Seriously, though,” the ice maiden added. “I’m just thankful we’ve given that poor lady a chance to mend her broken mind. Those Wonderlanders sure are dicks, huh?”

“Yup,” the photographer agreed. “But I don’t think we’ll have to worry about them bothering Mrs. Vanderbeck any more, not after what you pulled back there,” she added with a chuckle.

“So, what’s next?” Sarah asked. “I mean, it doesn’t sound like this lead really amounted to much.”

“To be honest, I wasn’t really expecting it to,” Kate conceded. “Basically this was just a chance to confirm a suspicion and catch up with an old friend. After this, things get a bit more interesting,” she added. “My next stop is checking in on the parents of the girl the Queen of Hearts is currently convinced is her long-lost daughter. They seem like a pair of total normies, but after what just happened, and considering their daughter’s a paranoid portal witch who works for one of the more influential horrors, well, let’s just say I’m not gonna be taking any chances.”

“Wow… You really get into some high-level shit, huh?” Sarah asked with a raised eyebrow.

“You know it,” Kate confirmed with a smug smirk. “But the bigger the job, the bigger the payoff,” she added, twirling her golden whistle between her fingers.

“Guess I should count myself lucky that I can get away with just offering you a free lunch,” Sarah observed with a wry smile as they continued their decent towards the city below.

“Oh, that’s just the first half,” Kate corrected with a raised finger.

“What’s the second half?” Sarah asked dubiously.

“You’ll find out after we finish lunch,” Kate told her. “But don’t worry, it’s nothing the Guardian of Mount McNab can’t handle!”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence…” Sarah muttered.

Yes, Kate reflected, it truly was a rewarding experience indeed to catch up wth old friends…

To Lily’s immense relief, Chloe had accepted her compliments. She was even seemingly positive about the dark magical girl’s suggestion, with a happy smile on her face.
”I’m sure the special someone you'll end up snuggling with wouldn’t want to escape in the first place~” She cheerfully replied, too distracted by the frantic meeting to realize the sinister undertones. She was also happy that Penny reciprocated her feelings of gratitude, though she did notice the uneasy interaction between her and Chloe.

Unlike Lily, Sonia was fully cognizant of Chloe’s thinly veiled reprimand, though the perfect maid did not show a drop of it in her stoic facial expression or the stillness of her movement, even as her jaw was touched. “Understood,” she replied in a monotone voice, unaffected by her boss’s flirting. Pentius-04 on the other hand expressed a seemingly genuine desire to keep Lily safe from such shady folks, and so Lily would not doubt it, trusting her.

She looked up, and greeted the Angel of Hope as she also made it alongside others, glad to see how big of an impact her message had made on the community at large. If so many were willing to unite for the cause of their home, then she had hoped that they would be able to agree on common goals. Even Ruby had joined the meeting with a puff of smoke, surprising Lily for seeing the girl who had once granted her silly wish.
”Yep, and this blessing is all thanks to you!” She replied with arms spread wide to AoH, ignorant of the magical girl’s less-angelic feelings on the matter.
”And don’t worry about, uh, Casper. He’s only here for protection…I hope.”
However, it wasn’t until Magical Dream Princess, a girl she considered a friend to the cause, and a smaller group led by Kayli, had arrived that she felt fully secure with going forward with the meeting itself, having excitedly waved at the sugary girl, her pixie-like pal, and the rest.

Alex was the first to speak on the meeting’s topic at length. The green-haired girl intently listened as he brought up evacuation as their first topic. No matter how awkward she would make things, he was always able to pull things back to ground level, and focus on the things that mattered most. She spoke up when pocket dimensions were mentioned.
”Could we maybe, uh, throw them in Dan’s place? Like the time when we fled the collapsing dimension?”

Justine visibly cringed. ”I would rather find an alternative than rely on that idiot and his weird magic again. Besides, do his islands even have enough space? Even if he were to make another one, we’re talking about close to 800-900 thousand people here.”
Lily bit her lip, and afterwards listened as Alex suggested using runes to form a network over the city.
”I wonder if that’s possible…”

Alicia spoke next, and pointed out the possibility of striking back against Wonderland, though Lily decided to hold on the thought for the moment, feeling it a bit too hasty a move until they’ve learned more. Kayli built up on Alex’ suggestion, bringing up smart ways to evacuate the populace.
”Yeah, that sounds like a plan!”
However, while Lily was onboard with such a ploy based on her positive reaction, Justine was less convinced.

”Sure, it might sound easy, but threatening peas-I mean citizens to flee with gas leaks or even earthquakes is not going to cut it. You’d need to hijack the local news sources, forge the material, and distribute it, all in a short amount of time. Time which I don’t think we have.” She shrugged with a shake of her head.
”I admit it’s at least a better idea than trying to scribble runes all over the city, but we’d need every organization pulling their weight, and that seems unlikely to me.”

Kayli then brought up something that caused Lily to pause. She scratched her head, confused by what she mentioned.
”Nexus? Um…Have I heard that somewhere?” She had a feeling she had heard the term, but couldn’t remember where.
”Oh, the Nexus?” Justine asked, and dropped down from the statue, landing next to her.
”Well, I don’t know too much about it myself, but according to what Father once spoke of it, it is supposedly a place of immense magic. Like a spring that bubbles with pure, unconstrained power. The Horror originally sent me here to find it. But no matter where I looked, I didn’t catch even a whiff of it. And when that plan fell through…” She averted her eyes, finding the memory uncomfortable.
”That bastard wanted to incarnate with the blood moon ritual. The rest you know.”

”I see…” Lily held her chin, deep in thought.
”So…If we could find this Nexus…” She mumbled, not having realized that Kayli had moved on to talk about an army of constructs that could be deployed, and how ultimately Wonderland would only be followed by others. The sentiment was shared by Gaia, who brought up the possibility of bringing the populace to MDP’s pocket dimension.
”Putting them to sleep might actually work, especially if you combine your magic. I can tell from experience that coordinated spells can produce very powerful results. But you’d need a method to travel fast across the city…”

At the time the discussion took place, Lily woke from her thinking, and noticed how Connie seemed to look uncomfortable. She quietly went over to her side, subtly taking hold of her hand in an attempt to reassure her.
”I know this is a lot to take in, Connie. Some stuff goes over my head, too. But still, I’m glad you came.” she said, smiling brightly. That was when something happened to poke the back of her head, and Lily blinked.
”Huh? What was that?”
She turned, and saw that a paper plane ended up stuck between her hair and her tiara ornament. Alarmingly, the paper plane was partially scorched black and smoking from the back.
She took hold of the paper and unfolded it.
”Karakura Town…Important Spirit Zone?” She quietly read the message with a lifted eyebrow.
”I know karakuri can mean mechanism or clockwork in Japanese, but…Uhh…”
Lily visibly strained from trying to think about the meaning behind the mysterious message, and looked around, trying to spot the sender. She sighed.
”It must be an anime reference. Connie, do you have any ideas?” She quietly asked the masked girl to avoid disturbing the larger conversation at hand.

However, it was soon disturbed by Chloe herself, who brought up a shocking proposal in exchange for what she claimed to be vital information. Justine’s eyebrows furrowed, and she grit her teeth. Lily gasped, and absentmindedly handed the piece of paper over to Miko as she moved forward to address Chloe among the others, letting her and Ronin try to solve the riddle, or hand it to Mariette. She figured if any girl here was smart enough to figure it out, it would be Mariette.
”Wait, by conjuration egg, you mean the thing the soldiers were carrying, right?”

Mariette suddenly spoke up, causing Lily to jump as she was startled by her.
”Eavesdrop? On us? Uh…I didn’t realize…” She looked slightly shaken as Penny followed though, clearly not having thought this meeting through.
It was around this time that Ruby had taken Alicia and Kayli away. Justine had noticed this, but decided to ignore it in favor of Chloe’s assertions. Lily was distracted by the proceedings as Valerie pulled her aside. Her initial sarcasm however paved way to information on Wonderland itself, which piqued her attention.
”Not able? Why?” She asked, and scrolled through the intelligence the android girl had sent. While she did see some of the soldier types at Bolorton, getting a more comprehensive look at what they were like put things into perspective to Lily.
I thought the soldier markings didn’t have any meaning. They’re really organized to go this far…

She listened as Valerie further explained that the dimension itself was enchanted, and how the castle was confirmed to be the Queen’s abode, and barred from outsiders. Amanda then introduced her, and Lily smiled in kind.
”I’m Lily Lightning," she said, and offered a handshake politely. She might have crossed paths with the android girl before, but she doesn’t remember introducing herself.
”Just your average friendly neighborhood magical girl. Though I suppose idiot magical girl is more fitting…” She sighed, and started to get more and more worried about the mistake she’s made. Soon enough, she started to panic.

Should we move the meeting somewhere else, like Overcity? But I’d have to make a new Glimmr post, and then Wonderland would find that and-

“Now hold just a moment, cuties~”

Everyone turned to look at Nefer and Akhenaten as she made her presence known, having seemingly appeared out of thin air, with no sign of teleportation or other movement. The golem had crossed his arms, barely moving as it cautiously guarded the eccentric magical girl.
Curiously, a spherical Artifact was floating over her extended palm.
The device was made of multiple interlocking plates, and seemed to emanate an energy field of some sort.

“The Mint cutie here is quite something: pretty as a pearl, but pretty clever too. But before I explain, how about we make this meeting more…private?” She spoke in a playful manner, and grabbed hold of the orb. This was followed immediately by Justine summoning her spear and pointing it at her.
”What do you think you’re doing with that?” But Nefer merely grinned.
“Don’t worry. This won’t disturb your little pow-wow. It just makes it more interesting.”
She casually threw the orb up in the air. As it reached the center of the area it activated: the interlocking plates opened up, and a blue core of magical energy expanded out as a field, passing through the participants harmlessly until it covered everyone in a dome. The dome shimmered a transparent, faint blue, though it didn’t impede anyone as they left the dome. Lily was the first one to try as she poked her head out. But when she did, she noticed upon looking back that everything inside the dome had turned invisible, and blocked sound. Even Mariette’s Absolute Direction, and other magical methods of scrying and detection were nullified by the Artifact. Fortunately, the magic didn’t seem to affect the eyepatched girl’s portals, likely due to her being inside the field.

“Now, we can continue without fear of prying eyes. Hope you Beacon cuties don’t mind if I used a borrowed model, right? I just felt it required a bit of a modification.” She winked at Alicia.
“Of course, this cloak will only hold for a while, so I wouldn’t mind hopping over to hang it somewhere else, like sugar cutie’s bounce pad~” She said, and winked again, this time at Magical Dream Princess. Akhenaten grunted, and Nefer giggled.

“Anyway, Chloe here has consciously revealed the information knowing that Wonderland was spying. In fact, she was betting on it. I’ve dabbled in Mint business before, so I have an inkling she’s got eyes on those facilities, and simply made a call. If the fairytale fellows fret and attempt to move their precious cargo, she will know exactly where it ends up. You see, those conjuration eggs are fragile stuff, real volatile with the magic charge, and can’t be teleported. They also require specialized trucks to move around, and give off enough magical energy to be spotted with Third Eye, so decoy trucks are out of the question. In short, Wonderlanders are screwed either way, and hope that the cutie is lying to us folks. Now, I’d bet my favorite car tires that she’s not intending to risk her deal going south by simply betting on the location of the eggs, so she’s likely honest on that part.”
Nefer then shook her head as she leaned against Akhenaten with one of her arms.
“How do I know all this? Well, I was snooping as usual, you see. But of course, this is all but speculation on my part, so take it with a grain of salt. I’m just here to see which way the wind blows~”

Lily was not sure how to take the sudden appearance and use of the Artifact, but at least it solved the immediate issue of Wonderland finding out about their plans. This left her with the problem of deciding how to go about Chloe’s suggestion. She went over to the dark magical girl, looking serious.
”I don’t know how fair or acceptable your conditions are, but if what you say is true, I don’t want to outright reject them. Maybe we can reach a compromise. But before all that, you have to accept one condition, Chloe: no more crime in Penrose. From you, or anyone else in your organization. If you really, really need to cheat people out of their money, you could set up a way to legally do it, like gacha.“ She blurted out.

Justine sighed, sometimes finding it exhausting to listen to her friend.
"She means gambling. But I agree with her point. If we’re to co-operate in any real capacity, then all the illegal business you’ve done here needs to stop.”
She noticed how Kayli and Alicia had returned, and how Kayli seemed a bit different than before.
In truth Kayli now saw what seemed like traces of magic that shimmered with various hues. These traces seemed to replicate the shapes and movements of magical girls of past present, and possibly even future. Though one particular oddity among them stood out: a trace of a magical girl pinned by another with an iron clamp against the statue, followed by the girl being impaled by her own conjured weapons of light, dying on the spot. As Kayli reached her hand out to that spot, the traces seemed to resonate, glowing brighter as she approached. Those traces then created other traces, leading away from the park, like a footprint of magic itself.

Meanwhile, Lily was still thinking.
”Loot boxes as well, and…Oh yeah, subscription services and microtransactions on full-priced products! Those are still legal too!"
Justine could only roll her eyes, exasperated from her antics.
"It's fine, Lily. I'm sure she got the point…"

---

Making their way out of Penrose, the Mint operatives knew they were unlikely to exit the city without being confronted. As it was, She had counted on it. The main question was whether they had attracted the right sort of attention, or if their little scheme would be interrupted by people who were butting their nose in where they didn't belong. With this being Penrose there was a pretty big chance of that happening, but this time around fate seemed to favor them.

Whether the Mint girls would have cared about running over some random civilian was an uncertain question. But this was no random civilian, and her presence was deliberate and calculated. The truck did not slow, on the off chance that it was actually some kind of decoy or an illusion. Mac's trick went off without a hitch, and the air filled with the sound of crumpling metal as the truck abruptly stopped.

Airbags popped as predicted, and the driver slumped forward into the airbag. He remained slumped and motionless for now, a nonfactor in what was about to happen.

Anja let out a groan as she pulled back from the airbag, clutching at her head from the jarring impact against Mac. Not that she was particularly surprised by it either, and so there was no shock or time spent wondering. Having recovered, she exited the vehicle with purposeful steps, moving towards Mac as she drew her blade. "I hope you'll be some sort of challenge, since you so rudely interrupted our trip," she said to Mac as she went to move around the front of the vehicle and begin the combat.

In the back of the vehicle, the door rolled up as Seppa and Alma emerged. The truck visibly bounced as Alma disembarked, looming over her companion. "Go time," Seppa said with a visible grin. There was no chance that Mac was alone after all.

Alexander wanted to groan when a Dark Magical girl he vaguely recognized (who was eventually introduced as Chloe) tried to make a bargain for territory for the Mint in exchange for the location of some extremely important things of Wonderlands. 'And the people in the Mint wonder why they don't have the best reputation' he managed to not say out loud "Okay, so, just to clarify; who are you trying to make a deal with?" He asked Chloe "I know Lily called this meeting, but that's not because she has any actual authority, her signing that paper wouldn't actually get you want you want. And despite several other people's claims, I'm pretty sure that we don't *actually* have a central governing body of any kind, just a couple of factions all led by different people. That's probably something that we'll have to fix sometime, but I don't think right before a bunch of crazy people invade us is really the best time for that. For now though, if this deal is going to be made, it would probably have to be with the leaders of any faction that has some kind of territory in Penrose, because they're the closest thing we actually have to a government"

Pentius-04’s eyes widened when Chloe fearlessly walked up to her and began stroking her shield in a rather suggestive manner. Then she mentioned going out on a date… “M-My sole objective is to ensure that no harm comes to Miss Lily,” 04 replied, her cheeks starting to redden slightly. “So I shall have to respectfully decline your offer. As for being singled out, you are the only individual present who has summoned a guardian construct as well as a magical weapon, and I intend to take any potential threats to Miss Lily’s safety very seriously,” she added, narrowing her eyes at the junior coin broker, her mouth set in a thin line.

Much to 04’s relief, Chloe quickly moved on to playfully harassing the other guests, leaving her to focus on her charge. This was just as well, since Lily had also begun darting from one new arrival to another with such hyperactive rapidity that 04 was forced to repeatedly teleport to ensure she remained beside her fellow greenette at all times. Even now, she could already tell that this was going to be an exhausting night indeed…

---

As much as MDP tried to simply ignore Chloe, the bothersome girl seemed determined to make that impossible. It was bad enough that the coin broker-in-training had shamelessly tried to flirt with her, but when she offhandedly mentioned the possibility of her and her mundane alter-ego being one and the same, it took every last ounce of the whimsical girl’s willpower to keep from gasping in horrified shock.

D-Does she really know that Magical Dream Princess and Violet Wiolet are the same person werson?! MDP thought franticly, even as Amanda protectively pulled her away from Chloe. S-She’s probably wobably just joking… Y-Yeah… It was totally wotally just a jokey wokey… she desperately tried to convince herself, the alternative being far too distressing to contemplate…

“Like, okie dokie~!” MDP told the departing junior coin broker in as cheerful a tone as possible after the Mint girl had mentioned exchanging phone numbers. “Like, Magical Dream Princess already has a girlfriend wirlfriend, but, like, we could totally wotally still be friendy wendies~! (giggle!)”

Once Chloe had finally finished with her rampant flirting, the group’s conversation then returned to the topic at hand, with much of the discussion going way over MDP’s ADHD-addled head, despite her best efforts to pay attention. In fact, there were so many ideas being thrown out that it seemed Lily was also having trouble keeping everything straight, with the green-haired girl mistakenly attributing Amanda’s pocket dimension to MDP herself. “Like, Pastel-chan has the pocket wocket dimension wension thingie wingie, not Magical Dream Princess!” the whimsical girl corrected, while dramatically gesturing to her bespectacled best friend. Said friend then introduced her companion, causing MDP’s eyes to sparkle with delight. After all, the bubbly Princess of Dreams enjoyed making new friends far more than plotting grand strategy. “Wowie zowie~! That’s, like, super duper cooly wooly~! (giggle!)” MDP gushed when she was told that Valerie was an android girl. “And it’s, like, super duper nicey wicey to meet you, Valerie Walerie~! (giggle!)” she added, before giving the girl a big hug.

---

MDP might have thankfully been far too distracted to notice the Angel of Hope, but Lily wasted no time in greeting her, even going so far as to say that the meeting’s sizable turnout was somehow her doing… “Oh, goodness!” the Angel gasped, placing a hand over her chest. “You ascribe far too much importance to this lowly servant, most noble champion!” she insisted.

What the fuck are you even talking about, you ditzy bitch? They probably just read your stupid message on Glimmer. And don’t you fucking dare force me to give you a hug…

Chloe then proceeded to reassure her that “Casper” was perfectly harmless, even going so far as to offer her a ride on his back. “My heavens! How very generous of you!” the angelic beauty gasped, seemingly accepting the junior coin broker’s words without a shred of doubt. “But, if this humble servant may be so bold as to offer some minor clarification, she was not frightened by your guardian, merely in awe of his imposing majesty!” she added. “As such, this unworthy handmaiden would be simply overjoyed to accept your most gracious offer!”

Seriously? Do you think I’m some kinda moron? I could smell your BS from the other side of the fucking planet! Still, being able to ride something that badass looking isn’t an opportunity I’m about to pass up!

As she glided atop Casper, the Angel noticed that someone had actually climbed inside the construct, and as she gently sat herself in a comfortable position, she smiled down at them. “Please do not let this humble servant disturb you,” she told Aurora in a kind and soothing voice.

Yeah, as cool as riding on this thing is, there’s no fucking way I’d wanna be inside it. What a freak…

---

Unfortunately, the Angel’s new choice of seating spot had rather painful repercussions for a certain easily-frightened masked girl. Up until now, the angelic maiden’s expansive white wings had served to shield Chloe’s fearsome guardian from Connie’s sight, but now that she was sitting atop the construct, the ironically-titled Empress of Nightmares had an unobstructed view of its full, horrifying majesty…

“Eeep!” Connie yelped upon catching sight of the undead terror, clutching her chest and shrinking back behind Gaia. Even with her verdant friend’s reassurances, and the fact that the creature didn’t seem to be hostile, its presence still left her considerably shaken up, meaning that she gave a second startled cry when she felt someone touch her hand, only to discover that it was only Lily. “O-Oh, g-gosh! I-I’m s-sorry!” she hastily apologized, taking hold of Lily’s hand with both of her own. “Y-You just s-startled me…” The green-haired girl went on to offer some reassuring words of her own, and Connie found her concern quite touching. “T-Thanks, Lily,” she replied softly, while giving her a grateful smile. “T-That really m-means a lot.”

A moment later, a paper airplane, of all things, crashed into the back of Lily’s head, startling both her and Connie. Unfolding the plane revealed a cryptic letter, one which Lily asked if Connie could decipher. “U-Ummm… S-Sorry…” she whispered back glumly. “I-I don’t like to w-watch anime w-with s-spirits in them. T-They f-frighten me t-too m-much…”

I really am useless… she thought, giving voice to a sullen sigh.

“M-Maybe Mia k-knows…” she began to suggest, before trailing off after realizing that Lily’s attention had shifted back to the main conversation. A girl Connie didn’t recognize was offering a fairly suspicious sounding deal involving the location of some of Wonderland’s weapons, after which an unseen Mariette noted the possibility of the Wonderlanders eavesdropping on the meeting, freaking out both Connie and Lily in the process. But the biggest shock came a moment later, when a strange girl with cat ears and her golem companion appeared out of nowhere and proceeded to use an artifact to encapsulate the meeting area in an energy field, which the girl claimed would prevent the Wonderlanders from spying on them.

She went on to mention the possibility of moving the meeting elsewhere, flirtatiously noting MDP’s “bounce pad” as a possible alternative, a suggestion which caused the whimsical girl to tilt her head in confusion. “But, like, everybodywody heresie weresie won’t fit insidey widey Magical Dream Princess’s bouncy wouncy housey woucey!” she protested, unaware that the mystery girl was following along with Lily’s previous misconception. “It’s not biggy wiggy enough for thatsie whatsie!”

For her part, Gaia listened intently to the various points and counterpoints being brought up, while also making sure Connie wasn’t stressing out too badly. Yet, the most intriguing event had nothing to do with the discussion itself. Instead, it was when Kayli, along with Ruby and Alicia, departed the meeting in a puff of smoke, only to return a short while later. Moving over to her adopted guardian, the verdant maiden leaned in close so as not to be overheard. “May I inquire as to what that was all about?” she whispered.

While Kayli couldn't say that she felt particularly different after the wish, any doubt was quickly brushed aside upon returning to the meeting location. Penrose was ever a hub of activity, but they were standing in the one location where a bulk of events occurred. Most of what was going on around her was currently drown out as this new magical sense hit her. It was like stepping out of a dark room into a floodlight. It took a few seconds to adjust where it wasn't blinding. She did her best not to show outwardly that anything was off, but those that knew her well might key in.

Of course, what she could see near the statue was of particular interest. When it seemed that it would lead off elsewhere she opted not to follow the trail just yet. Her attention went to all the attendees. Unlike Third Eye, which told one quite a lot about the thing they were looking at, Kayli couldn't make heads or tails of what the light and auras meant. Perhaps in time it would become clear. Everything nearby was not the only thing to observe. The entire park was like a light and firework show all at once. Images of magical girls at various points of activity were everywhere. Walking, running, flying, fighting, and more. Remnants of holes in the sky where horrors and the like had attempted to make their ingress. Kayli was convinced she could see a burst of blue magic in the distance where Cindy met her end. Some, but not all of it, seemed familiar.

Mia's question brought Kayli somewhat back into the moment. Looking down she would smile at her daughter. "Of course." If one could imagine, Mia appeared even more green than usual. Definitely going to take some time to get used to. Still being a Psychic she would continue the conversation telepathically.


She wanted to be honest with Mia. She was going to have to explain it to Connie later on as well. At least as much as she could. As stated might earlier, she was walking into uncharted territory.

They may have liked her, hated her, or envied her, but it was hard to deny that Chloe was something of a centerpiece to this gathering. But she also knew what she could get away with. If someone wanted to disengage with Chloe, it was easy to do so. She hadn’t even stuck around to hear most of the responses that were leveled at her. Even Pentius-04’s refusal to go on a date with Chloe did not seem to phase her. The only indication she gave that she even heard the girl was a small nod while she walked away.

The only one with a strong reaction to her antics was Penny, which Chloe absolutely loved. The smile on her face grew wider and wider as the “Queen of Penrose” threw a tantrum like the one-year-old baby she was. Sure, she was trying to look cool and collected on the surface, but that was a facade that Chloe could see through pretty easily. But the moment Penny mentioned someone was pulling her strings, she stopped.

As she took that personally.

Chloe turned her head to look at Penny. Her teeth were visible through her scowl. "Proof, huh? You mean that ball of glowing belly button lint you’ve been extracting from your navel? Can’t say I find it all that convincing." She looked back ahead as her smile returned. "And I’m sure your friends just didn’t want you to get upset, so they told you what you wanted to hear." It wasn’t like metal Penny didn’t have remnants of Jason’s soul that she could just peel out of herself to make her “soul lint ball” out of. But honestly? Unless its soul had been released from its body, Chloe couldn’t tell if something had a soul or not without a really hard look. That wasn’t something she was willing to give Penny. This was all to get under Penny’s skin. She just didn’t give a shit.

Meanwhile, Angel of Hope carried her scantily clad chest up on top of Casper and assured Aurora that she wouldn’t bother him. But he just blew up his cheeks, which were turning redder by the second. "Too late!" She said at last. "Here you are! Just standing over me with your perfectly female body! I mean look at those assets! I used to be loaded like that! So uncool!" He was about to complain some more when Aurora hesitated. "Actually, maybe you can answer a question for me?" She rolled onto her knees and stood up. "Is there anything that can turn me into a girl again? Even if it’s just the boobs, that would be okay." She placed her hands up by Casper’s neck and gave Angel of Hope a long, sorrowful glare. "Maybe a boobie osmosis spell? Like we hug really hard and then some of your boob energy would flow into me, resulting in a nice perky chest?"

Then a whole lot of crazy shit happened. Including a monster girl randomly showing up, deploying some sort of anti-divination field, and then explaining how the Mint operated. Chloe just stood to the side as the newly arrived continued to chirp away. Once she was done, Chloe gave the girl a small nod. Though she didn’t look too impressed.

"Okay, so just a few things.“ Chloe started to count her clawed fingers, but didn't let go of her pen or paper. "Number one, you’re a nobody that just showed up out of the blue. How do we know that you’re not a spy for wonderland? I mean, I know you aren’t, but Paranoid Mc Portals there isn’t going to feel any more at ease. Though I don’t think you can make her comfortable in all fairness to you. And two!“ She said while really shoving her fingers together. "I’m the coinbroker here! I don’t need you to talk for me! I’m perfectly capable for speaking on the Mint’s behalf. Not some, admittedly charming, third party. And three!“ Her third finger nearly sparked when she poked it. "We are going to have to exchange phone numbers later. I'll let you decide if it's for business or pleasure. Maybe both, I'll see how I feel.“

Casper looked at the passengers on its back and groaned.

"But yes, Nefer has more or less gotten it right. I know this is hard to believe, but the Mint can be a competent organization from time to time.“ Chloe spun her head to look at everyone. "We’ve infested Wonderland so deeply that they could never hope to execute all of our plants. Even if they could move their eggs around or decided to change the day of the attack, I would know before the orders finished flowing through their chain of command. I’m not asking for a slice of Penrose for a tidbit of information, I’m offering hourly updates, all-seeing eyes, and the full might of an interdimensional organization. I’m offering you the Mint’s cooperation in the defense of Penrose. For better or for worse, I can’t make them care if I don’t have something to show for it. You know I’d give it to you if I could.“ She winked.

Alexander put forth his stand on Chloe’s contract, which caused the girl’s eyes to go wide. "Are you telling me you don’t see Penny as your queen? Shame on you! she's right here!“ She grinned. "Beacon has representatives here, as do many of the other patrons. The Mint does not concern itself with the antics of the disorganized masses. So long as the big two sign, the Mint will have no issue letting me do what I will with their vast resources. Something will be worked into the contract that if a third party attacks Mint in Penrose, they become fair game. Things won’t be much better if Beacon or Penny tries to interfere with us in a direct or indirect way. But it’s okay, it’s all worked into the contract. So long as everyone keeps to themselves, we shouldn’t have any issues. And before you ask, the opposite is also the case. If the Mint decide to do a little backstabbing down the line, there will be reprocussions for it. Trust me, it's a good contract.“ She pointed at Pentius-04 and her hand glowed. "But without a contract, things like this can happen…“

On the other side of Lily, just a short distance away, another bony abomination shot out of the ground. It was twice as tall as a man, and had a greatsword in each of its four hands. Its four stoic faces were mounted on top of its inhumanly large torso. While the creature was clearly made out of bone, that bone had been shaped into plates of armor that covered the majority of its body. It made no aggressive movements once it had been summoned.

"Now see, she told me that there was no way she’d go on a date with me. As such, I have no reason to be on my best behavior, and will be as bratty as I want. Hence why I summoned…“ She hesitated. "I forget who Casper's friends were in the show. We’ll call this one Sakura. Yes! So I brought Sakura here for my own amusement! This is why we need a contract. Otherwise someone with an ‘A’ type personality could just do something like that!“ She lowered her hand and smiled at Pentius-04, who may or may not have decided to deal with the necropolis stalker. "I’m kidding, of course. I was just feeling a little frustrated because you don’t seem to care that Nefer has a big hulking guardian. We can talk more about that date once you’re off duty, okay?“ Chloe tipped her head and brushed her scarf, briefly revealing a mark on her neck to Pentius-04 and anyone standing beside her.

Then at last, Chloe’s eyes wandered over to Lily, who was still blabbering on about different underhanded ways to. She wasn’t impressed, and had been treating her mostly as background noise while she addressed the others present.

"Yes!“ Chloe said with a smile, but was gritting her teeth a bit harder than a happy person should be. "I had a discussion with the Mint fellows, and that can be arranged. Mint will not carry out illegal activities in or around Penrose. That includes theft, murder, torture, traficking, smuggling, and the rest. So long as we get the territory I want, you can put an end to the lawlessness of our agents. Who knows? It could even be the beginning of systemic change that causes the rest of Mint to turn a new leaf.“ She hesitated. "The pun wasn’t intentional.“

---

Everything was going according to plan.

That wasn’t something Mac got to think very often. In the past, her divination abilities could perfectly predict the outcome of events. Now it was a crapshoot if things turned out the way she wanted. The impact cracked a few of her bones, but it was nothing that wouldn’t heal. Her opponent had been distracted, and she planned on taking them out of the fight quickly.

Metal Rat had split up into several duplicates to attack Anja from different angles. While she ran towards the front of the vehicle, a Metal Rat scrambled out from under the vehicle to swipe at her legs. Another dove out of a nearby bush. Another descended from the top of the truck in a falling stomp. Another one still came at Anja from the front. Which one was real?

None of them were, of course.

Mac was still in front of the vehicle. She used her illusion magic to hide the fact that had ripped the front bumper off of the truck before hurling it at Anja. If she didn’t see Mac before the truck crashed, she probably didn’t have a way to see through her illusions. The real question was if she would figure out what was going on before Mac beat her unconscious.

Summer turned to Aria and gave a slight wave. "Nice to see you again, I'll be sure not to mind you, Aria."

"Oh, hey, Aria!" Makoto said with a much more enthusiastic wave, now that she knew who had entered the room.

Cutting off her brother's soon to be asked question, Shion spoke up. "She's the one who made the mana collectors that- ... Wait a second." She began counting on her fingers for some reason unknown to the others.

Just as greetings were finished, a new magical girl appeared on the screen.

"Damnit to hell..." Summer managed before the girl, Nefer, threw an artifact into the air and the screen went to static.

"What just happened?"

"Some bitch just cut off all scrying in that area. Which unfortunately means that we're clueless for the moment. Though I'd guess that she's giving the actually useful advice. Figures that the message wasn't understood. Which is fair, we had a low chance of that in the first place. Still..." Summer trailed off as she stared at nothing. "Not super someone we want to fight, so I guess we're SOL."

"So now's the time to go there ourselves, ri-"

"Better question," Makoto interrupted, "How is an artifact stopping your magic, whole-stop?"

Summer muttered something under her breath before speaking up. "I'll probably be able to figure out what was said later through context clues, but that's not exactly helpful at the moment. No point scrying over spilt milk."

Shion groaned at the pun while Makoto grinned. "So what's our plan now?"

Silence enveloped the room as those in it were at a loss of what to say.

Tay, the Puchuu, was the one to break the silence after a few moments. "Let's be totally honest here. Do we need a plan? You three wasted so much magic on a pipe-dream, and everyone else has grown so powerful that you have no chance of victory against them. If you can't beat them, what help will you be to them?" The creature looked towards Kain. "You were impressive, in your heyday, but that time's long past. There's-"

"Shut the hell up!" Kain shouted as he stood. "Who cares about that!? If we don't fight, people are going to die! Even if we don't make it, we get to come back at some point! There's no telling what can tip the scales of a war, so don't act like we've already lost!"

"Kain..."

"That's right! So what if we're outmatched? There's gotta be something we can do to help!"

"I hate to agree with the digimon reject, but he's right. How do I put this in terms you'll understand?" Summer thought for a moment. "Okay, so. It's like we're in the UBW route, right?"

"That's not a good sign."

"And we've just lost Archer and Saber to Caster. Except Shirou actually was in a better position, because he was the main character. Or to put it another way," She reached into her Hammerspace Bag and pulled out a large whiteboard and a few markers, making a childlike drawing of a blonde girl as a stick figure. She then wrote several letters next to her before moving to the other side of the whiteboard and drawing a grey, hulking figure in lifelike detail, next to which she wrote several other letters. "Makoto and Shion are like... Rider. Good, really good, makes a human look like an ant, right? She then spun the whiteboard over to the blonde. "Me and Kain, we're like Saber. Really durable and really lucky, respectively. A's in those stats." She then flipped back to the lifelike grey man. "There's this chick out there, who... one sec."

Summer grabbed the remote for the television and clicked a button, turning the screen from static to one that showed a vehicle crashing into a magical girl. "This girl." she said as she went back to the whiteboard. "She's like Berserker. A's in every stat. And they," she gestured at the screen, "are the side characters. The 'ones who are more important in a different route.' Everyone has invested their magic in themselves, and we... We didn't do that." Summer trailed off. "We have little to no chance if we have to fight her, and we probably won't even have to. We will probably be fighting even stronger people, so-"

"Who gives a shit about that!?" The siblings in the room shouted, before looking at each other and nodding in approval.

"We still have to try! Shirou didn't give up just because he fought a superior opponent, and I won't either!"

"That's right. We have something to fight for, and that's more important than whatever stats you think we have."

"Heh. Sounds like you have your answer, Puchuu."

Ko nodded as well, turning towards her mentor torturer tutor management fellow Puchuu. "That's right. The human heart is the most powerful thing there is. That's why we bet so much on it. That's why we reach out to them to fight the darkness of the worlds. Even if I don't fully get what they're talking about, even if I don't know what the source of their convictions is, and even if I don't really understand them, I believe in the power of the human spirit. As long as we don't give up, the battle isn't over. The fight doesn't end until someone gives up, and I know that they aren't going to do that anytime soon."

The other Puchuu only sighed. "Couldn't you have at least sent a clone of yourself to the park in case of something like this?" Tay pointedly asked Shion.

"Admittedly, that probably would have been a good idea. But it's not like I made a lot of friends in Penrose. I doubt they'd have taken kindly to it, or to my copy streaming the conference on her phone."

Morrigan spoke up. "I could go. I'm quite quick, we wouldn't miss too much of the conversation."

"I don't want to risk your safety like that." Kain quickly replied.

The raven girl hesitated a moment, but ultimately acquiesced to her partner's position.

"Besides, there's a good chance we've already missed something crucial. Might as well just stay on this channel." Summer said as the screen showed Mac rip off the bumper of the truck she was just hit by.

We are so screwed.

”I know I said don't mind me, but I wasn't quite expecting to get treated to that.” Other than return Makoto's wave, Aria did little more than sit in silence while the passionate friendship/try-hard debate unfolded in front of her. She hadn't started speaking until Summer changed the channel from a political documentary to something a bit more action packed. ”As for your respective strength, I wouldn't worry too much about that. There's always a trade off for that kind of thing. It would be nice to be as strong as Penny or Mac, but they're predictable.” She pointed at the screen and wiggled her finger. ”Pretend you're the Mint. You've got a transport, and a hunch that Cradle's going to attack it. You only have so many resources to allocate to the operation, so what do you do? You assess your potential threats and arm the transport to best defend itself. If you were a mission organizer, who would you try to take out of action first? Mac, or Oliver?” Her eyes moved to the window. ”I doubt it's any different with wonderland. They're assessing and making defenses for the Pennies of the world. If someone throws a wrench in their plans, the wrench has to come from a place that they didn't expect. A group of magical girls who weren't even in Penrose until a week ago are likely off their radar. You're perfect for carrying out something sneaky.” Aria closed her eyes and reclined in her seat. ”I also have lots of connections. If you want to know what happened at the meeting, I can speak with Binky tomorrow and I'm sure she'll know everything.” After a moment, Aria sat up and looked at Summer. ”Um...” She lifted a finger to her lip. ”You're Beacon, right? Why not just talk to Alicia later?”

While things had progressed since Alicia had dipped out to make her wish with Kayli, not all that much had actually changed. Some people were still considering how to evacuate the civilians from Penrose, while others were discussing cutting the problem off at the source. There was plenty Alicia could have said, but reminding them of how the Ascendancy had evacuated cities before didn't seem all that productive at the moment given the attitudes towards that organization.

An eyebrow rose as Chloe went on, her claims dubious even without lie detection. She had no doubt that the Mint had some people in Wonderland, but exaggeration seemed to be in full force here. But what else was new. The trust levels were still at 'as far as a normal human could throw her' right now, as far as Alicia was concerned. The fact that the scientist was willing to vouch for her was...something. She supposed.

As it was, the gravity seemed to be moving towards herself and Penny as Chloe moved to negotiate a deal that would allow an open Mint presence in Penrose in exchange for the information that she had. Selling any deal with the Mint was going to be difficult at best, of course, to say nothing of her own personal distaste for the idea. "The Mint is a business in the loosest sense. It gives you what you want in the moment then ensures you give it what it wants from then on, until it has no more use for you. If you're lucky." she noted.

Such things should not be a surprise, yet it seemed that there were some people there being swayed by Chloe's offer. She hoped it was just fear, rather than a genuine belief that the Mint broker was dealing fairly. "We've survived crises before without the Mint swooping in to offer a solution on a silver platter for a 'modest' fee. I think we can do it again."

First thing first, Mariette, Ronin and Miko will all be feeling happy feelings seeing Ruby here, briefly. Because wish that makes them friends.

__________________



When they spoke about the impossibility of moving everyone in Penrose to a specific location, Ronin suddenly laughed a little.

‘If it’s about the room all the inhabitants of the town would take up… Couldn’t we have, like, MDP shrink the people in the town so we can hide them somewhere small safely? I bet she has the power to do that, if she puts her mind to it,’ Ronin said with a smirk.

‘Dear sister, how comfortable do you think the inhabitants of Penrose would be with suddenly being shrunk and stuffed away in an otherwise small area?’ Miko asked, with a raised eyebrow.

‘Hey, they’d at least be safe, wouldn’t they?’ Ronin chuckled.

Lily gave the paper over to Miko, who inspected it closely, and Ronin leaned over as well to inspect it. Now, these characters weren’t really intended to be that big into anime, but hey, this Japanese obsession Ronin apparently had must have come from somewhere. And if Ronin watched it, so did Miko.

‘Heeeey, that town name…’ Ronin said.

‘That’s from Bleach, isn’t it? And…’ Miko said, and then her eyes widened a bit. ‘In that show, they put a false version of the town on top of the real town, and then inside that version of the town they were able to fight freely without injuring anybody. Is that… what whoever sent this paper intended to suggest?’ Miko asked.

‘Er, in that case, why not just write that?’ Ronin asked.

‘Perhaps… oh,’ Miko winced a little. ‘So potential eavesdroppers wouldn’t understand the reference, and we could plan it without them knowing? Which I maybe messed up by speaking it out loud? I’m sorry,’ Miko bowed in apology. Ronin chuckled.

‘Well, good thing we’re in the anti-eaves-dropper field, then! So, guys? Is that something we could do? Overcity Shifting already exists, so… That’s got to be similar!’

‘Still… is that something that is actually in our power to do?’ Miko asked, looking towards the others.

On a different point. At the time Chloe summoned the skeleton and called it Sakura, Ronin tensed up. She had to mentally tell herself that had to be a coincidence, because there’s no way that big skeleton was actually Sakura. Just a coincidence Chloe picked that name. Yeah. Miko noticed the plight and put a supporting hand on her shoulder, though Ronin just winced on that, too.

__________________



So, Mariette wasn’t super-confident in the anti-scrying measures, but guess it was the best they had. Just to make sure that their enemies weren’t somehow scrying through her portal, Mariette stood up and walked through her portal to actually join the meeting proper, closing the portal behind her. Now, she also knew who Nefer was already, but could she be truly sure nobody present was working for their enemy? … No, not really. But this was also the biggest audience of confirmed allies she could possibly have.

‘… I’m here. If it’s a matter of traveling, I got my own means. If you want to move all the inhabitants of Penrose somewhere, or trigger something from afar to make them move, I can help,’

‘Allow me to share my intelligence. Though, if the Mint has truly infiltrated Wonderland to the degree Chloe is claiming, they’ll already know,’ Mariette said. ‘I went to Wonderland twice, first to scout, then because I was invited by the Queen of Wonderland herself. What I can confirm is that there’s a magical spell on Wonderland, and its inhabitants act as if they live in a children’s fairy tale… and that spell starts to afflict someone who has gone to that dimension. I didn’t stay long enough to find out, but it could be that someone who lives there long enough become like them, a slave to their queen,’ Mariette shared.

‘If you’d like to go there, I can take you. I would advise bringing some form of magical protection, however.’ That sorted that out.

‘And… I can confirm that the Queen of Wonderland has a second goal. That goal is… me,’ Mariette shared, a bit awkward about it. ‘She believes I am Alice, her daughter. Which… I don’t know if I believe, but it does make it likely I will see her again.’

‘I looked into it. Turns out, there’s been multiple Alices in the past, each one mistaken for the Queen’s Alice, who I believe once existed but died. Each of these Alices looked kind of like me, so I assume I have at the very least a passing resemblance of the real Alice. And every single one of those Alices… died shortly after in tragic, unrelated events that were not due to the actions of the Queen. Looking at the circumstances, it’s like they just coincidentally died shortly after the Queen decided they were Alice. So, um. Yeah,’ Mariette said, leaving the obvious bit about the danger she herself might potentially be in unspoken.

‘Regardless, she might welcome me coming back to her. Maybe I could achieve something. Maybe,’ Mariette shrugged, Bunny in her arms.

Just offering the options, if the rest decided on something else. The Mint deal thing wasn’t up to Mariette, after all.

Penny’s gaze was drawn towards the artifact as it was thrown into the air. Noting absently that it was roughly next to Snoopy high above them, so much side dealing was happening tonight, and none of it currently from the Mint. How curious.

Still Alex had a point, Penny was one of the leading voices in Penrose. If for no other reason then she chose to pick up Cindy’s mantle. It was time to put her Crown to use it seemed.

“You know You’ve still not given us any reason to trust anything you say, you realize that Chloe.” Penny would say at last as she turned to regard Chloe “And while for most of the people here they’ve never met you before. You really seem to think that I’ll be willing to brush off your past actions for some reason. In smells of desperation.”

“You abandoned me three times, each time promising it would never happen again, yet it did. And each time you came back, it was never made known to me until it was unavoidable. And that was before you somehow failed upward and became a Broker.” She took soft steps towards the petite Necromancer. But stopped before she got very close.

“You lie and cheat and steal, and before you sold out, you at least had a strong reason to do so.” She would say shaking her head at the girl before her. “Now you bring offerings rife with blatant strings at the behest of callous Masters who care not for any of us save for what they can carve from us.”

“Sanctuary denounces you Agent of the Mint. We shall not deal with you, not before we have reason to believe, though action, not word, that you seek to better the City.” The Queen would declare. “Your actions past and attitude current do not show one who is acting in good faith. So, I will not condone you to be one of the pillars to defend us.” With that said she would turn away from Chloe. Having nothing more to say to her. And nothing save a dull ache in her chest for having needed to say it in the first place. It might have only been remnants from Jason, but Penny had still harbored some manner care for Chloe, buried under hurt and anger. But seeing what had become of the girl all she could feel was pity and a vague loss.

She set aside those feeling for later. There was still a meeting to deal with. “Ronin, Miko. It’s an interesting idea. And Mariette that is potentially vital intel to know, thank you. Before we cover either of those topics, I would suggest we relocate.” She would go on to state, turning to face the majority that was gathered here as she spoke.

“As we’ve been told our privacy is on a time limit." A nod toward Nefer to remind them all "And since we have turned down Mint’s… Offer. I am unsure if they can be reasoned as allies. After all they have agents deep in Wonderland’s forces, by their own admission. It wouldn’t surprise me if what we plan out with them present ends up in their hands sooner rather than later due our choice.”

“To that end I offer up The Bastion as the next meeting place if everyone is willing.”

With its small, antiquated buildings and admittedly rather charming brick roads, the sleepy town of Dalhart, Texas, was a far cry from the bustling city of Seayoto. While Kate had never been to the town previously (in any universe), she suspected it didn’t have more than a pair of magical girls (or boys) at most. Still, she appreciated the place’s cozy, nostalgic vibe, especially since it made seeking out Mariette’s parents all the more easier. Or rather, Lina Herring’s parents, since “Mariette Pedersen” was nothing more than an alias, one meant to deter the average seeker of advantageous information. But Kate, despite what she might claim, was far from average, in any respect. Thus, it hadn’t taken long at all to acquire snapshots of her two blissfuly unaware subjects. Taking a photo of the historic, if currently rather dilapidated, apartment building Rosemary Herring lived in, just as she was heading to work, was simplicity itself. Taking a photo of the incarcerated Jonathan Herring was slightly more challenging, but nothing that blackmailing the prison’s warden couldn’t solve.

Unfortunately, the information provided by the photos wasn’t much more than what she’d already gleaned from Mariette’s own photograph. The Herrings truly were Mariette’s parents, and, from all outwards appearances, the three had seemed like a nice enough family. However, the mysterious disappearance of little Lina Herring had prompted an investigation that revealed Jonathan's years of abuse and a laundry list of other crimes, all of which had led to his current incarceration. Rosemary Herring, now living alone, was struggling to get by and had developed a persistent fear of people in general. Yet, aside from Lina’s rescue/abduction by Asengav, there was no indication that either Jonathan or Rosemary had any interaction, first hand, second hand, or anything else, with magical entities of any kind. They were just normal people, just as Lina had been, before becoming a magical girl.

With that being the case, the next stop in Kate’s investigation was obviously Wonderland, but since the photographer had no great desire to embark on the rollercoaster of capital “F” fun going there promised to be, she decided it wouldn’t hurt to stay in Dalhart for a bit longer. Being able to do a little sightseeing was one of the perks of her profession, after all, and even if Dalhart was on the small side, it still had a few interesting features to explore. In particular, the XIT Museum.

Unsurprisingly, the quaint little museum’s main subject of interest was the namesake XIT Ranch. Once one of the largest cattle ranches in the world, XIT (which supposedly stood for “Ten in Texas”, using the roman numeral “X” for ten) spanned over three million acres and played a pivotal role in the development of the region. Other exhibits included dioramas of local wildlife and even a display detailing the local dairy industry. But the most interesting exhibit, as far as Kate was concerned, was the one dedicated to the Dust Bowl. The town had been near the heart of that blighted region during the period when the phenomena had been at its highest level of severity, and things had gotten so bad that the desperate city fathers had agreed to pay a traveling entrepreneur nearly a million dollars after he told them that he could generate rainfall. The means by which Tex Thornton, the entrepreneur in question, attempted to create this increased precipitation were quite novel, to say the least.

At first, he had fired volleys of rocket-propelled canisters, filled with a mixture of dynamite and nitroglycerin, into cloud formations, with the idea that the resultant explosions would create an instant downburst. Surprisingly, the first test actually managed to produce a fair amount of rainfall, although it soon turned out to be a simple coincidence when the results couldn’t be repeated. Undeterred, Thornton had moved on to even stranger strategies, culminating with a supposed “weather machine”, which exploded on its inaugural activation. Its broken remains were now proudly displayed by the museum, and Kate couldn’t help but crack a grin at the sight. Too bad Nykannis wasn’t around, the photographer thought with a chuckle as she snapped a picture of the mangled device. She could have built an actual weather machine in her sleep.

“It really was quite ambitious,” a formal voice noted. “And the most fascinating aspect of the machine was undeniably its power source, although I regret to say you will not find a single mention of it on any of these informational displays.”

Turning towards the source of the voice, Kate saw that she had been joined by one of the museum’s curators, a tall, dark-haired woman with a very refined and professional bearing.

“Well, don’t leave me in suspense,” the photographer replied with a grin.

Giving the slightest hint of a smile of her own, the curator continued. “It is said that Mister Thornton built this machine around a gemstone possessing a number of particularly intriguing properties. In fact,” she added, adjusting her glasses. “It was claimed that the stone allowed one to harness the energies of ancient weather spirits, and it was these spirits’ indignation at the stone’s ‘imprisonment’ which brought about the machine’s explosive demise.”

“Wow, that’s pretty crazy,” Kate noted with a chuckle.

“Yes, it is rather ludicrous,” the curator concurred with a nod. “But then, so is the idea of a camera acquiring the secrets of anything it photographs, is it not, Miss Carson?”

“Have… we met before…?” Kate inquired with a frown, sounding more puzzled than anything else. “You don’t look familiar, and I’m usually really good with remembering faces.”

“Oh, I have no doubt,” the curator replied, her impassive visage changing into something far more predatory as her mouth curled into a smirk. “But, no, this is the first time I have had the pleasure of meeting you face to face, although I must admit, your reputation does precede you.”

“And what reputation might that be?” Kate asked innocently. “I’m nothin’ special, just a humble, freelance photographer.”

“Really now, Miss Carson,” the curator replied with a throaty chuckle. “We both know that you are far more than a simple photographer, just as I am far more than a simple museum curator!”

With a crack of thunder and a flash of lightning, a swirling vortex enveloped the woman, and when it dispersed a moment later, the highly professional curator had been completely transformed…

“Ah’m Tornado Tina!” the curator-turned-cowgirl announced in a loud and boisterous voice as she whipped out a gleaming six-shooter and aimed it at Kate's head. “Fastest draw an’ baddest bounty hun’er this side o’ tha Rio Grande! Now, git them hands o’ yer’s reachin’ fer tha sky, an’ don’t bother tryin’ ta blow on that lil’ ol’ whistle,” she added with a fierce grin. “Cause ah’ll shoot it outta yer fingers ‘fore ya can even blink!”

“Wow… Gotta say, I didn’t see that coming…” Kate noted in a dazed monotone as she slowly raised her hands in the air.

“Ah’d say not ta bother with transformin’ neither,” Tina went on. “But ah reckon ya already figgered ah’ll put one ‘tween yer eyeballs if’n ya tried it, an’ ah’ve already heard tell o’ how much ya hate what ya turn inta. Gotta say, ah ain’t too keen on becomin’ a rough an ready cowgirl, m’self, but, tarnation, it sure does git the job done!”

“So, who’d I tick off so much that they decided to put a price on my head?” Kate asked.

“Tha price ain’t on yer head,” Tina corrected. “Some big shot collector in tha Overcity heard tell o’ that there fancy camera o’ yers, an’ he’s offerin’ one helluva jackpot ta anyone who’ll take it offa yer hands. 'Magine mah surprise when ah saw ya just waltz on inta mah lil' ol' museum,” she continued with a chuckle. “Guess this really is mah lucky day!”

“Guess so,” Kate conceded with a shrug and a resigned smile. “Like I said before, I really am just a humble photographer,” she added. “There’s no way I’d ever win a fight against a top notch gunslinger like you. I’m just sorry I couldn’t give ya more of a challenge. I mean, things seem like they can get awfully boring around here.”

“Don’t ya worry none ‘bout that,” Tina replied. “Ah’ve had mah share ‘o feisty bounty heads since ah started supplementin’ mah pay after diggin’ that spirit stone outta that there contraption, so ah reckon this’ll be a mighty welcome change.”

“Welp, don’t suppose there’s any reason to keep hangin’ onto this thing any longer, huh?” Kate asked with a sigh, while pointing a finger to where her camera hung from its strap.

“Ah don’t reckon there is,” Tina replied with a hungry grin. “Just slide it on over, real careful like,” she instructed.

“Sure thing,” Kate agreed, slowly removing the camera and sliding it across the floor to the waiting cowgirl. “Here ya go.”

“Now, don’t ya go tryin’ anythin’ funny,” Tina added as she knelt down to pick up the camera, her enchanted six-shooter still trained on Kate. “Or ah’ll blow a hole clean through yer—”

The cowgirl’s words abruptly stopped, only to be replaced an instant later by a bloodcurdling scream of anguish as her convulsing body crumpled to the floor the moment her hand touched Kate’s camera.

“Oh, crap… I probably should’ve warned ya about the security features, huh?” Kate observed with a frown as she calmly walked over to where the still-screaming cowgirl was violently writhing in pain, her dropped six-shooter lying a short distance away. “Thanks for makin’ sure we were the only ones here, by the way,” she added as she looked down at her would-be-captor’s spasming body. “It would’ve been crazy awkward tryin’ to explain this to people.”

Soon enough, Tina’s screams and convulsions ceased as the woman finally passed out, reverting back to her mundane appearance in the process. Retrieving her camera, Kate snapped a picture of Tina’s unconscious body.

“Huh…” the photographer murmured as she scrolled through the information on her camera’s display. “Looks like you’ve actually got a price on your head. What are the odds?” she noted with a chuckle. “Guess this really isn’t your lucky day after all…”

Soon as Mac applied invisibilty on him and Maura, Oliver quickly summoned his duplicates and had them spread out to various vantage points. It might not affect them, but as lomg as he wasn't spotted, he can remain focus. He and Maura waited on the side of the road until the truck came into view.

Mac's plan went smoothly, and the truck came to a stop.

"Showtime!"

Oliver's duplicates began firing at Alma and Seppa to keep them distracted. The ghost had plenty of mana to expend, if one duplicate goes down, another can take it's place. Though they had to avoid friendly fire with Mac choosing to confront Anja. He himself wouldn't act yet. Not yet.

Soon as the two adversaries were a preferable distance away from the entrance to the truck, Maura would quickly slip inside. Just as long as they can keep it up, this'll be a piece of cake!

Lily didn’t blame Connie for not knowing the answer to the confounding conundrum that the paper represented, and gave a comforting little pat on the masked girl’s shoulder after she gave the paper away.
”It’s okay, I’m sure someone here can solve it. As long as each of us can bring something unique to the table, it’s sure to help!” She said this as much to herself as she did to Connie; her low self-esteem had taken a hit by her blunder. However, this was not the time to dwell on her mistakes as Chloe spoke at length on the deal.

Lily was alarmed by Chloe summoning another monster, finding her antics kind of obnoxious. But she afterwards seemed to relent, and even accepted Lily’s condition.
”Oh, you will Chloe?”

"Of course." Chloe placed a hand on her hip. "We might even use some of your suggestions."

Lily nodded to Alex’ clarification; she knew from her experiences at the Christmas party to not agree to something this important on the behalf of others.

Lily and Justine then turned their attention to Ronin and Miko.
”Shrink everyone? Oh, that might work! When they’re all chibi, we can fit them anywhere we want!” Lily seemed enthusiastic about the idea, while Justine scoffed.
”I guess if it’s possible…”
Lily then clenched her fists before her and visibly trembled in excitement as Ronin mentioned Bleach.
”Oh, you know Bleach, Ronin? That’s amazing! Isn’t Ichigo so cool, and Rukia so cute? Haven’t watched past season one, but I really hope they end up together!”
”Getting back on track…” Justine interrupted, causing Lily to frown as the moment passed.
”Fabricating a fake city on top of Penrose would require Illusion magic, and powerful magic at that. Do we even have any Illusion magic specialists here?”

Lily perked up as Mariette actually stood up and physically joined them, something she had only rarely seen from the elusive magical girl. She confirmed Valerie’s words about Wonderland, and clarified the effects of the enchantment. Justine in particular seemed interested in the information.
”A perpetual effect, huh…While slow-acting, it’s still very powerful magic to be able to enchant an entire dimension…I wonder…” She put a hand to her chin in thought while Mariette explained her part in the Queen’s designs, causing Lily to gasp.
”What, the queen thinks she’s your mom? And you’re fated to die because of that? That’s crazy!” She went over and took Mariette’s hand, looking straight into her eye with determination.
”Mariette, don’t worry. I won’t let you die! I promise!”

As the discussion advanced, it seemed the others weren’t as willing to negotiate as Lily and Alex were. The green-haired girl looked on as one by one, everyone declined Chloe’s offer after the broker had agreed to let Penrose be free of crime, and also to provide all kinds of help with their fight against Wonderland.

Even so, nobody would listen. Even Magical Dream Princess, who she expected out of everyone to be understanding, seemed to ignore her. Instead, she corrected Lily about the dimension belonging to Amanda. Lily blinked, seemingly a bit out of it, and smiled awkwardly.
”S-Sorry, got a bit of a mix-up there…I really am a bit of a ditz, haha…”
She looked up at Angel of Hope as she settled in, glad that at least someone here was tolerant and kind. She decided that she would need to get to know the angelic girl more after Penrose was saved, and possibly even become friends with her. Not that she deserved to be friends with someone as wonderful as AoH…

Justine didn’t seem as shocked by the unfolding events as she had folded her arms.
”I’ve worked with Mint before, but I can’t say I’m familiar with how they operate. Still, Chloe’s offer sounds too convenient. They probably attempted to deal with Wonderland first, and when that fell through, came crawling to us.”

Chloe clicked her tongue. "Speaking from experience, Justine? The number of times you’ve double crossed others even makes me blush."

Nefer on the other hand seemed amused as Chloe took offense to her meddling, and gave her a grinning side-eye while examining the Artifact with a hand-held scanner; so far it seemed to be holding up.
“You’re right, I could be. But if I was, would I really go out of my way to show my meticulously crafted, beautiful art just as a cover?” She giggled at Chloe’s second claim.
“I know, I just wanted to chime in, and even the odds. Someone oughta take Prid-I mean, the queenie cutie down a notch,” she readjusted after Akhenaten suddenly grunted. “Thinking she’s better than the rest of us, with all that sparkling gemtech…Hah! As if!”

She afterwards rolled her eyes at the flirting. She stepped closer to Chloe despite the monsters and her entourage of magical girls, seemingly trusting her bodyguard to intervene in case of conflict. She leaned her head down at the shorter girl.
“For a coinbroker, you seem a bit green. Did they hire you in the last month or something? That’s cute~”
It was now Viper’s turn to be provoked, as she glared at Nefer.
“Another insult at Boss…” She summoned her weapon at her side.
“...and it’ll be your last.” Akhenaten responded by grunting loudly. He then took a step forward, causing the ground to slightly shake, but Nefer swiftly waved him off.

“Now now, I think it’s great that Mint’s getting new blood. Most brokers are not cuties at all. In fact, I wouldn’t mind giving my number.” She produced what looked like a small piece of paper from her pocket, quickly wrote something, and afterwards offered it to Chloe. “My contact info’s on that. Gimme a call, ok Chloe-cutie?~”

Chloe eyed the paper with a grin before shoving it between her breasts. "Well, I’m busy, but I can probably pencil you in sometime."

The situation developed as Penny suggested leaving Chloe and moving on to her place to continue the discussion.

Chloe just groaned. "Glad everyone is willing to work together against an external threat. Did you even raise a weapon to the queen when she appeared, or did you run off like I would have done?"

”Uhh…”
Lily felt the urge to speak out against the discrimination she witnessed. But she also trusted her friend Alicia, and to a lesser extent Penny, and so didn’t want to outright object. However, this was about far more than mere grudges or personal feelings. There were hundreds of thousands of lives at stake. She couldn’t stay silent.
”Shouldn’t we give her a chance? She seems sincere about it…”
She thought hard about her next words.
”Maybe we could give her something smaller at first, and then the rest after she’s proven herself to speak the truth?”

”Who knew Lily would be the most level-headed one here?”

The new voice introducing itself to the discussion was none other than Binky, surprising Lily with her suddenly speaking. The green haired, cultist-looking magical girl had been through the entire meeting. Though the array of taller, more important magical girls hid her from view. But there was no doubt that there was pure contempt in her gaze as she observed the magical girls around her. But at last, they came to rest on Penny.

”Penny, you helped me get out of Beacon. I’ll always be grateful for that, but the reason Lily had us come here was to make it accessible to everyone in Penrose. Moving everything to your ‘secret treehouse’ gives you all the power. Most of us feel safest right here on neutral ground.” Binky folded her arms. ”You’ve done your own fair share of betraying too. You refused to give Su her ship back. You became a Mint agent, and I doubt you told Beacon right away. You’ve even taken the mantle of a dictator like Cindy Ford. It’s clear to everyone that if you can do something to acquire more power, you’ll do it. Maybe you’re better than those bozos at Mint, but you don’t get to preach about what it means to be trustworthy. You need to set the bar a lot higher for yourself if you want to be Penrose’s moral authority.” Chloe smiled, but that faded when Binky pointed a finger at her. ”You’re no better! Penny might have a low bar to step over, but you’re the one person who could limbo under it!” Then Binky looked at Alicia. ”Alicia, we never got to talk much. I don’t know you, but I’m going to assume you care about Penrose as much as everyone here. Are you really going to reject help from the Mint if it can prevent an invasion of Penrose?” She spun her head around. ”Am I… Does Lily have to be the voice of reason here?”

With a sigh, Binky looked over at the group of magical girls that were keeping to themselves. The ones that hadn’t thrown their lot in with any of the big three. ”I don’t know most of you, but I’m Binky. Yes, like a kids security blanket. It was a nickname that Veronica gave me because I used to cry all the time.” She raised her hand, and a red coin glistened in it. ”I’m the one who made the red coins, and assisted with the white ones later on. Like most magical girls, my form is less than ideal. I wanted to change it. I wanted to be stronger, I didn’t want to be afraid anymore. I went on quite an adventure to get this made, but more interesting is the story of why I haven’t used it myself.” She held the coin close to her chest, pinched between her thumb and finger. ”There was this girl that used to be my friend. Her name was Betty, and she’s the only person who made me feel like I was enough. I spent years working on this coin, and it just took her a few weeks to convince me I didn’t need it.” Binky, slowly, turned to look at Justine. ”Could you come here, please?”

Justine was surprised; out of everyone there, she least expected Binky to talk to her. Binky must still have enmity for her, so the fact she wanted to converse with her was baffling.
”Um, sure.”
Curious yet wary, Justine tucked in her wings, and approached Binky. She didn’t know where this was going.
”You wanted to speak with me, Binky?”

”For a while, actually.” Binky turned back towards everyone. ”This is Justine Von Visceral. I doubt she needs an introduction. Some of you fought her at her castle when she tried to wipe out the concept of love, and again when she laid siege to Mariette’s dimension. No one here has double-crossed, manipulated, and masterminded as many catastrophes as she has. But I probably dislike her more than most. Because she abducted Betty. No, she brainwashed her and turned her over to the Mint like she was into human trafficking.” She rubbed her nose. ”Betty was not the same after that, and I’ve since lost contact with her.” Binky turned to face Justine and looked her directly in the eye. She sighed. ”You’ve mentioned you regret your actions, but I never got an apology. Maybe you believed it was all ‘Father’s’ fault and such a thing wasn’t necessary. Even if you had apologized, I don’t think I would have believed you.” Binky sniffed, but her face remained hard. ”I’m still not sure why Maura felt like it was a good idea to turn you loose, but…”

Binky extended her arms.

”I forgive you, Justine.”

Justine sighed, and averted her eyes, holding her arm. ”For what it's worth, I'm sorry for what happened. Father was of course the instigator behind my actions, but it wasn't entirely his influence…I am also to blame for enabling his corruption in me. So yeah.” She glanced at Binky. ”Was that all?”

”No.” She stretched out her fingers and fretted her brow. ”I-I’d like a hug, too…”

Justine blushed, her face in a grimace. ”F-Fine.” She went over to the cultist girl, and gave her an awkward hug; like the kind you give to a distant aunt or uncle that you’ve never really known but you’re still expected to show affection to upon meeting. Binky responded a bit like you’d expect said distant uncle to. She pulled her in closer and patted her back with one of her hands. Though Binky’s eyes were open and staring straight ahead.

”Sorry for putting you on the spot.” She whispered. The hug only lasted a few seconds before Binky released Justine and took a step back. ”Thank you.” Again, Binky turned to address everyone. ”If I can forgive Justine, then you can overlook your differences with one another. This isn’t about any one of us. Everyone here wants to protect Penrose. If I couldn’t forgive Justine, Cradle would never be able to work at maximum efficiency. I don’t have to think she’s a good person, I just need to stop living in the past so that I can focus on the present.” She looked at Chloe. ”We could say some of us don’t deserve a fourth or fifth chance, but we’re letting emotion dictate our actions. There are really only two outcomes: Mint gives us assistance for some territory, or they don’t. As someone who values life, I don’t know why you wouldn’t pick the first option.”

At last, Binky shrugged her shoulders. ”I’m just a researcher. I’m kind of used to people treating me like dirt. But letting past events get in the way of an important co-op feels childish. That’s why I like Maura more than Veronica. She’s not the best at her job, but she’s not as jaded as my last boss. Letting Justine off easy turned out to be the right thing to do.”

Chloe tipped her head with a grin. "And that’s all to say that Penny and Alicia should take my contract?"

”Not quite.” Binky approached the contract and looked it over. ”The only authority I respect is Maura’s. You could sign a contract with any other faction and I probably wouldn’t honor it unless Cradle backed it personally.”

The coin broker chuckled. ”So you want every patron in Penrose to sign it?”

”It’s our city, and we’re all going to have our own stipulations too.” Chloe scoffed, but Binky wasn’t deterred. ”The way I see it, the two signatures you want are also the ones you aren’t getting. Maybe if you can satisfy everyone else, they’ll decide it’s something they need to be a part of.”

”Well…” Chloe trailed off. ”I’m open to suggestions, certainly. What would it take to get your signature?”

”I’d like to ensure that Mint doesn’t conduct any research of a magical nature inside Penrose.”

”Sounds reasonable.”

”I also forbid them from performing research on magical artifacts that were made in Penrose, such as the magical coins I helped make. That includes outsourcing the work to other institutes or performing it in other worlds.”

”...Less reasonable, but I think I can make it happen.”

Binky looked over her shoulder at Justine. ”Got anything you’d like to add?”

Justine shook her head.
”I have already said my piece. The rest is up to everyone…else…" Her words drifted off as she peered at something in the distance: a person who had turned the corner. The figure seemed to be wandering around, seemingly unsure.
Based on Justine's subsequent reaction of alarm, she seemed to recognize who it was, and headed out.
”Continue the meeting without me," she hastily spoke before she left the field.

”...Okay?” Binky shrugged before turning to look at Lily. ”You thought it would be a good idea to give the Mint their territory in increments? How did you want that to work?”

”Uhh…" Lily seemed unsure.
”Maybe instead of an entire sector, we could give them a building, a street, or even a city block. Something like that?"

”Instead?” With a huff, Chloe folded her arms. ”I have to get this to pass with people over my station, you know? But fine. So long as there’s an opportunity to get additional territory, I can probably make it work.”

Binky relieved herself from the spotlight by stepping away from the center of everything. ”It’s not often we get to dictate our terms to the Mint. I hope the rest of you add your own stipulations.” And with that, she stepped behind Valery.

---

The plan was coming together.

Anja reacted swiftly as she was swarmed by the Mac illusions. Her blade slashed and stabbed, the dark power imbued in her blade flaring as it struck each in turn. They did not react to the fear that the blade radiated from it, so it wasn’t a complete surprise when they simply vanished rather than dying. Her awareness helped with that as well, though she did not have a Third Eye or Light powers to draw on.

That meant she was not ready for Mac’s follow up. The bumper struck her head on, sending her flying back and over to the sidewalk, where she rolled to a stop. Were she a normal human she would be out of it, but a dark magical girl was made of sterner stuff than that. Pushing herself back to her feet, Anja wiped the corner of her mouth off with her sleeve as she surveyed the area.

“Now this is more like it,” she said with a grin. Her blood was starting to sing, pulled by the siren lure of combat against a worthy opponent. “Seppa, we’ve got an illusionist.”

“Nothing we can’t handle,” Seppa remarked. She rolled her shoulders and summoned her weapons, a variety of blades and weapons floating out of the back of the truck. With the flick of a wrist she tossed an object to Anja, who snagged the tiara out of the air and placed it upon her head. A red gem glowed in the center of the ring, adding an extra gleam of light to Anja’s eyes.

That was when Oliver’s duplicates began shooting from any vantage point that they could find. Rifle bullets split the air in a veritable hail of fire. This quickly drew the attention of Seppa and Alma, whose Thick Skin endured under the barrage of weapons fire for now. “Handle that you two,” Seppa said with a glance towards the rooftops.

“Ah, there you are,,” Anja said as she darted towards Mac at the front of the vehicle. She unleashed a flurry of stabs. None of these would be lethal on their own unless Mac really messed up, but it did occupy her attention. WHich in turn made it that much easier for Seppa to come sweeping in from above with a crushing overhead hammer blow. She figured as long as she aimed for the area where Anja was hitting it would be good enough.

“On it!”

Oliver’s doppelgangers found themselves under assault in turn as two more Mint agents joined the fray from the upper levels. Ilmarinen’s rifle barked, each shot spearing through a duplicate with unerring precision. Ilmarinen took slow breaths from his rooftop perch, as methodical in the process as he was precise.

This was contrasted by Varjo, flitting from rooftop to rooftop as her Familiars floated above her. Bolts of darkness lashed out as she sought out the original Oliver. “Come on out so I can kill you already,” she called in a sing song voice as she kept moving.

There was but one last obstacle for Maura to fend with. Not everyone had gone to fight Mac, for Alma remained by the back of the truck. She would need to be distracted or moved out of the way if the Witch wanted to get to the device inside.

'Wait, Penny actively refused to give that ship to Su? I just thought that Su didn't care. That doesn't sound like the Penny I remember' That little nugget of information took Alexander by surprise '...although taking a stranger's word at face value on something like this might not be the smartest thing. Still...I guess it has been a long time since I really talked to Su. I guess we haven't been in contact ever since...'

blood
cold clammy flesh
magic isn't working
WHY ISN'T IT WORKING!?

'...the incident. Not that I can really blame her' Alexander sighed trying to push the unpleasant thoughts from his mind. As he did, he noticed a look of surprise on Justine before she excused herself. Normally, he would have just brushed it off. However, given the current situation, as well as his inability to contribute to the current discussion, he did something else. "Hey, I'll be back in a bit. I'm not going to be any help hashing out a deal with the Mint, and there's something I want to look into for a bit." with that said, he went after Justine

Perhaps she should have put more weight behind that one.

It didn't matter though. All Mac had to do was be a big enough pest that everyone turned their attention onto her. Then again, she couldn't afford to get too careless. She only had Oliver for backup and, while he was a sweet boy, she knew he wasn't invincible. They still didn't know how many mint agents were around, and Mac wasn't familiar enough with her opponents. Anja wasn't as frail as she had initially expected, and there was no reason to expect the next attack to knock her on her ass either. She blinked, and her third eye opened. The artifact likely had a way of seeing through illusions, given what they were loudly talking about, but it would be prudent to be sure before engaging.

Oh, it was just as potent as her own third eye. If Mac tried to cast a spell, she'd know about it before it activated regardless of what it was.

"Nice tiara, but one queen was already too much.”

She didn't hide from her opponent. Mac rushed towards Anja, dragging her claws along the side of the truck as she did so. When Anja thrust, Mac swiped. Steel and claw rang out as they collided over and over. Mac was a tall "girl," but Anja's sword would allow her to engage just a bit sooner. It was evident to Mac that she was the stronger and faster of the two, but it wasn't like Anja was that much weaker. Moreover, it was obvious that like herself, Anja was something of an adept with her chosen weapon. She wasn't an easy opponent to fight. But Anja's real advantage was her numbers.

Mac wasn't a fool. She was aware enough to realize a joint attack could come from everywhere. And sure enough, she could hear Seppa walking along the top of the truck over the sound of their weapons colliding. There was no getting out of this unscathed, so the best she could do was accept it and take the smallest loss she could.

Anja had scored a few light cuts along Mac's torso, but her next thrust found purchase inside her shoulder and slid in deep. Mac grunted, but maintained enough focus to throw up an illusion. It had Anja running Mac through and pinning her against the side of the truck. While that played out, Mac grabbed a hold of Anja's wrist and trapped her blade inside her shoulder. She then forced Anja inside of her illusion, positioning her right where she would have been. Anja could detect illusions, but could Seppa? Did they even have the reflexes to course correct in time? She didn't expect a hammer blow to take out Anja, and fully planned on following up with a barrage of knees and elbows located at her most sensitive areas. But if Mac still got hit? Probably the same thing, only with a swollen shoulder. She didn't look that strong.

As the meeting progressed, Pentius-04 certainly had her work cut out for her. Indeed, each new development seemed to make it increasingly more difficult to ensure her bubbly charge’s safety. Lily’s hyperactive darting from potential hostile to potential hostile was bad enough, but then she started shaking their hands and hugging them! Even with her own impressive speed, 04 still worried that she might not react quickly enough, and then what would Doctor Kannis say? This was her last opportunity to redeem herself in the eyes of her respected and admired creator, and she was determined not to screw it up.

Thus, when a new arrival appeared with a golem bodyguard, she was quick to shield Lily from this latest potential threat, not only reinforcing her own defenses, but placing an incredibly thin, yet incredibly strong, skin tight protective barrier around her fellow greenette. This would also help to absorb any attacks from the girl’s so-called ‘friends’ (who, for all she knew, had been mind controlled, or replaced by duplicitous duplicates). 04 watched with stoic alertness as the new girl, Nefer, activated a jamming field, ostensibly to keep Wonderland’s prying eyes from observing the rest of the meeting. Although the field appeared to be exactly what Nefer claimed, 04 wasn’t about to take any chances, and remained ready for anything, like Chloe, seemingly in an effort to be as annoying as possible (really, MDP was nothing compared to this bitch, at least as far as 04 was concerned), deciding to summon yet another bone construct.

“I did address it,” 04 corrected when Chloe made her little quip about feeling frustrated. “But I saw no need to provide a verbal warning as neither it, nor its companion, have taken any threatening action, unlike you,” she added pointedly, even as additional barriers and shield extensions were deployed between herself and the new construct. “And we shall not be going on any dates,” she declared, fixing Chloe with a withering glare.

However, this was less due to anger, and far more to her attempt to fully scan the briefly revealed mark on the junior coin broker’s neck. Even with Nefer’s jamming field up, 04 still had full access to Doctor Nykannis’s omnidimensional database via her mental link. After all, as the Monarch of Mad Science’s eyes and ears at the meeting, she needed to remain in full contact with the good doctor at all times. Consequently, it did not take long to discover exactly what the insignia denoted…

---

As MDP continued to cheerfully chat with her friends, the rest of the meeting’s tense discussions went completely over the whimsical girl’s head. And that was fine by her. She had enough stress in her daily life, and she was confident, as only her childishly naive and idealistic transformed self could be, that Penny would take care of everything just fine. Plus, as any good magical girl knew, the Power of Friendship could defeat any threat, and with all the friends she had here, the bubbly Princess of Dreams was certain that their current problems were already as good as solved. And speaking of friends…

“Like, Magical Dream Princess never tried thatsie watsie beforesie woresie, but, like, if you thinky winky it’ll helpy welpy, then she’ll, like, totally wotally do her besty westiest~! (giggle!)” she told Ronin with a happy smile and a peace sign salute after the girl’s idea managed to break through her hyperactive mental fog. “And, like, don’t worry Miko Wiko~!” she added with a playful wink. “Magical Dream Princess will, like, totally wotally put them to sleepy weepy firsty wirsty~! (giggle!)”

Ronin and Miko then went on to discuss the contents of the mysterious note Lily had handed them, and while MDP had never seen the show, what they were discussing sounded quite fascinating, and also somewhat familiar…

“Oh~! Like, Magical Dream Princess might know somebodywody who can, like, totally wotally do thatsie watsie~! (giggle!)” she chirped, gleefully waving her hand in the air while jumping up and down. “And, like, if we asked her super duper nicely wicely, then, like, maybe waybe she could helpy welpy us~!”

---

“Goodness gracious!” the Angel of Hope exclaimed, placing her hands over her mouth even as tears began to glisten in her gentle eyes. “This humble servant is so very, very sorry! Never would I have imagined that my mere presence would cause such terrible distress!” she cried, her anguish palpable in her heavenly voice. “Oh, please, kind champion!” the angelic maiden pleaded, her hands clasped over the bountiful chest Aurora found so offensive. “I beg you, please find it in your heart to forgive this humble servant’s horrific mistake!”

Well of fucking course it’d be the dumbass with boob envy that hides inside the giant skeleton monster…

However, Aurora’s next words gave the heavenly maiden pause.

So, this loser got gender swapped, huh? Shit, they’re almost as pathetic as those idiots from the… wait…

“Oh! You poor thing! How so very tragic!” the Angel commiserated, tears still streaming down her radiant cheeks. “Indeed, I have encountered many who have been afflicted with similarly unfortunate circumstances,” she added. “They hold a support group once a week at the Taste of Heaven tea shop, in the Overcity,” she continued, producing a small info card and handing it to Aurora. “As fate would have it, I am on a quest on their behalf to locate a cure for their many aliments here in Penrose, where such miraculous cures are said to be almost commonplace, though I must sadly confess, I have yet to stumble upon any thus far…”

Because they’re all obviously bullshit. Wait, what the fuck are they doing now? ‘Boobie osmosis’?! Are you fucking shitting me?!

“U-Ummm, I do not believe that shall be particularly effective,” the Angel replied with a hesitant frown. “From what I have heard of these wondrous miracle cures, the ones that would perhaps be best for your particular… condition are either magical artifacts, such as the so-called ‘Red Coins’, or the wishes granted by a mysterious magical girl with the powers of a djinn. There is also an even more mysterious individual, known as The Keeper of the Keys, said to remove undesirable elements of one’s transformed self, but this humble servant regrets to say that she knows virtually nothing about her…”

And if she was actually real, I’d definitely be hitting her up…

---

What am I even doing here? Connie thought glumly.

Unlike many of the others present, the masked maiden wasn’t the leader or representative of a large and important faction, and since she hadn’t been a member of Penrose’s magical community for very long, she was only vaguely aware of most of the incidents being brought up. She knew that Justine once served a horror and was now seeking to atone for her past actions, for example, but she had never really interacted with her in any meaningful way, and so hadn’t really developed any strong opinions of the girl, positive or negative. The same could be said of the others as well. Even Chloe, a self-admitted representative of the Ebon Mint, failed to evoke the feelings of hatred one might initially suspect The Empress of Nightmares to possess, for while members of the Mint had recently been responsible for the deaths of two of her friends, Connie had always tried to judge people as individuals. Thus, she resolved to withhold her hatred of Chloe until such time as the promiscuous girl did something to deserve it.

Connie’s mask formed a small smile when Lily placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and said that if everyone brought something unique, then it would surely help, but the timid girl was still left to wonder if she really had anything unique to offer. She was just an insignificant nobody who didn’t have even a single idea for how to solve the impending crisis. Plus, her powers were only good for hurting people, not saving them, and even they had proven utterly ineffective against the Wonderlanders. Yes, she reflected, nervously gulping and hugging herself as Chloe summoned another bone construct, it was probably for the best if she just faded into the background.

However, even as she thought this, someone else chose to relinquish their own obscurity and step into the metaphorical spotlight. Connie had never met this “Binky” before, but if the greenette’s words were to be believed, she was a bit like Connie herself. Yet, while meek this girl may have been, she had also clearly been responsible for developments of great significance, where all Connie had accomplished was failing to save her friends… Thus, when Binky finished facing off against Chloe and allowed everyone else to add their own stipulations to the proposed agreement, the still-nervous Empress of Nightmares slowly raised a trembling hand.

“U-Um…” she began in a soft voice. “I-I’d like the k-killing to s-stop…”

For her part, Gaia was more focused on what Kayli had revealed, the verdant maiden’s eyes widening slightly as her guardian mentally explained what she had managed to accomplish.

That… is indeed most fortuitous, Gaia replied after a moment. However, while such knowledge shall undoubtedly be of great assistance in our efforts to both study and defend it from the Queen of Hearts’ machinations, I believe we must also consider the potential benefits of perhaps removing such a massive fomenter of strife from the equation entirely, the botanical beauty added, even as her eyes scanned over the gathering’s various bickering parties. Thus, I would highly caution revealing this information to more than a trusted few. Or, rather, I would, if I was not convinced that you have already come to that conclusion, she noted with a smirk.

Kayli was not the most engaged with the situation admittedly. As things were going back and forth, Binky seemed to have come out of nowhere and shared her opinion on the matter. The perspective was refreshing, even though a bit disappointing given some of the examples. For herself, she had little interaction with Chloe and Janet's experience ended at Divina who, as far as she was aware, wasn't really in any sort of immediate danger. For the most part she'd tried to mend any relations that felt relevant.

As for the Mint, they've proven themselves willing to do anything to accomplish a mission. It would be admirable if it didn't sometimes include ruining the lives of others. They were a shady venture to be sure. Considering the matter at hand she would chime in. "I can't say I'm a particular fan of treating Penrose like a pie that we can just cut up and divvy out, but given we're already past that point, it would be nice to come to some amicable terms for a change. The Ebon Mint is part of the magical community at large and isn't just going to disappear because someone tells them no." She would turn to Chloe and consider what stipulation she would put forward.

Things like the Dark Coins came to mind. Their magic was not something she was a fan of. Then again, she hadn't really encountered that many in the wild. Plus they could just hand them out elsewhere. Eventually another idea came to mind. "I am a fan of choice. I would like for the Dark and Monstrous members of the Mint to have the option to come to me if they wish to have their corruption removed, free of consequence. It would not be like the White Coins, as there is no mechanism to poach your members. I simply wish to see those who are struggling with their mutations find some relief. It's possible no one will take up the offer, but I would like to give them the chance all the same." It seemed like a decent compromise. The others had covered most of her qualms. There was always a nagging that there was some other play here. At the end of the day, the Mint operated like a business so there was always some give and take.

Lily's attempt at uplifting Connie seemed to fall mostly flat. This wasn't anyone's fault, there was a lot going on that made the young magical girl feel as though she had failed. It was something she hoped they could work through. The life of a magical girl was fraught with danger. Then Connie gave her input. It was almost surprising that it hadn't been brought up sooner. You could argue that killing fell under not doing anything illegal, but the magical world didn't necessarily follow the same rules. So putting it in writing would be amazing. Taking her daughter's hand, Kayli gave a proud smile. "That is the best suggestion yet."




Off to the side, Rose overheard the moniker of her ally being spoken about. Exactly what was being discussed she missed. Picking off a few clues it had to do in some way with Kayli's purification magic. Though a few things said didn't quite line up, so she could be mistaken. Either way as her job was to help keep Kayli safe, she broke away briefly to speak with the Angel of Hope and Aurora. "Pardon me. Sorry for ease dropping, but I overheard you mention the Keeper of the Keys. I might be able to pass on a message to them." While the way things were being discussed didn't seem suspicious, she didn't want to just point Kayli out in the middle of all this. It would be easy enough to arrange something later.

Despite Binky’s insistence that everyone demand something from mint, and Chloe’s willingness to work with every request, many of the remaining magical girls continued to talk amongst themselves. The coin broker had to wonder if everyone was here to save Penrose. At the very least, more of these people should have been paying attention to her

When Lily’s guard gave a second firm rebuttal for a date, Chloe placed a hand on her chest. "Your words wound me.“ She smirked. "I see why you don’t carry any weapons. With a tongue like that, you hardly need them.“

As fun as it was to be insufferable, there were still more people that wanted to conduct business with Mint. So when Kayli stepped forward, she immediately turned to face her. "To be clear, Magical girls can’t really own property. What we’re more determining is where the lines in the sand should be drawn. But I’d be lying if I said Mint doesn’t have a fair bit of capitol around. Regardless, ownership of any building will always come down to who holds paper over it.“ Then she made her request, which caused Chloe to choke out a laugh. "I’m sorry, that wasn’t quite what I was expecting. I’m not sure how others present will react to you wanting to take on the ‘corruption epidemic’...“ She shot a glance at Alicia before returning to Kayli. "...But I don’t see Mint opposing you on this. Very well, if no one has an issue with it…“ Truth be told, Chloe was pretty sure the Mint would rather have their girls purified by some third party rather than getting instantly “white pilled” into Beacon agents. So long as they kept trying to pay off their debt, who cared if they were dark, monstrous, or pure?

Then it was Connie's turn to speak. Her demand was worded simply, yet her words seemed to weigh more than anything else put before Chloe. She was not oblivious to what happened in New York. ”Hey.“ Her smile faded away. ”That’s what we’re all here for, right? Making the killing stop?“ Chloe turned her back on everyone and looked at the sky. ”It’s a complicated problem. I don’t think there’s anything you could put in that contract that could stop the killing from happening. Only because our hatred and violence is everyone’s problem, not just the Mint.“ She turned back to look at Connie. ”I’ve done a lot of bad stuff, gotten involved in things that I shouldn’t have. I just want to survive though. I think we all do. I’ll do my best to get the killing to stop on the mint’s end. But to make all the killing stop…“ Chloe looked at Penny and Alicia. ”...We’re going to need to cooperate with people we might not like to.“

Meanwhile, Aurora was trying to strike his own deal.

"Aww shoot! I knew it was too good to be true!" He kept his arms spread. "B-but you’re an angle of hope, so maybe-" But Angle of Hope made the wise choice to shift the conversation along to something that might actually work. "I did hear about the red coins, but they seem kind of mysterious. So if we can get in touch with this key keeping person, then maybe we could get me fixed right up! Give me large, sporting boobies that would make everyone jealous. Maybe even you? Especially you!”" She thrust her finger towards AoH. "A-and help out those people in the overcity too I guess. Really though, I’d be happy with even small ones so long as-”" Aurora’s babbling stopped when Rose and Iris appeared out of nowhere. "W-well you should never eves drop on a girl, b-but…”" He sighed. "I’m not really a girl anymore, and I’d like the keeper of keys to help me out with that. "