[@Ponn][@ERode][@Vertigo] The responsibility fell on the leader, who was just a leader in name only. The ones under Ashley’s command were too busy having mental breakdowns or pretending to be Himura Kenshin. But she was a responsible one in their group, was she not? Mika and Finn were stressed out teenagers, and Estelle was a magical girl. Adults were just children with responsibilities, and that was why this was always going to fall on Ashley. But Ashley’s indecision gave the enemy time to act. The shadows came alive around her, and Estelle sprung into action. Her attempt to purge one of the creatures greatly weakened it, but it still persisted. As frantic as things got inside Dante’s, they weren’t much calmer outside. Amanda stumbled outside, hastened by a combination of the violent action behind her and Ciri’s screaming. Though you could only move so fast with a glass bust in your arms, moreso if you didn’t want to drop it while stepping over corpses. The Pink Pounder screamed something about his princess before diving into the establishment, removing the need for [i]it[/i] to try and restrain him. And Boteg… His body expanded. Fingers became talons, flesh became scale, In a matter of seconds, he grew to the size of a bus. Wings sprouted out of his back, and his tuxedo at some point melded and disappeared inside his scales. A full sized dragon was now squatting in front of Dante’s. But rather than taking flight, he lowered his head. [color=gold]”Imp Scare! Child! Take thy thingamajigs and ascend my spine!”[/color] Amanda didn’t dawdle. She rushed over to Boteg’s head and attempted to climb on top of him. He used his tail to steady her and help her climb up. [i]It[/i] didn’t wait for an order. The smokey shadow carried Ciri onto Boteg’s back. They would be taking off any second now, but not before GEMINI had one final chance to stop them. [hr] [@The World][@Nakushita][@TaintedMushroom][@FamishedPants] Marrie attempted to get the generator to do something by infusing it with her mana. The “mana intake port” was a small steel table with a square inset for [i]something[/i] to be placed. Marrie slapped her hand on top of the insert to see what would happen. This was kind of the equivalent of trying to plug an American style appliance into a European outlet. Yes, Marrie was full of mana, but her mana was not in a form the generator could readily accept. But even if she was, would it matter? The generator was on right now, likely powering things within the church. The real mystery was the generator’s secondary function, which was to also use its stored mana to magically recharge… something. The “mana output port” looked like two door knobs. Would she have better luck trying to charge herself up? Was it worth the risk? [center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/40b268e9-9477-4d81-97d6-81ce4b87c2d3.png[/img] [color=tomato]"I knew Sovereign was a masochist."[/color] [color=888888]— Mika Fang[/color][/center] Mika’s gaze remained unwavering. Sovereign turned down the opportunity to avoid fighting the nuns and make a quick buck, but that didn’t mean she was totally trustworthy either. Even without being affiliated with a depraved esper, she was a little weird to say the least. She produced a blade and asked Mika if she knew she could make a blade. The question was rhetorical, but Mika answered it anyway. [color=tomato]"I wasn’t sure you could even [i]use[/i] spells."[/color] She honestly couldn’t recall if Sovereign had used any melodies or not in this op. She’d have to check her body cam footage later when she wrote her report. But Mika said little else as Himiko cut open her hand and bled into the engraving. Mika did note that the sharp beak protruding out of the engraving’s surface was sure to be the intended way to bleed into the device, but Mika didn’t trust it, and maybe Sovereign also suspected it was tipped with something. As soon as the blood reached the hole, The engraving shook in place. The remaining blood was drawn into the stone itself, which continued to shake for several more seconds before ceasing its movement.And then in a sexy, digitized voice it said:: [b]”AUTHENTICATION_FAILED! PLEASE_TRY_AGAIN!”[/b] [color=tomato]"Guess it wants my blood."[/color] It made sense. Oros wanted Mika here for something, and that something was locked behind her blood. But how did that even work? Wouldn’t Oros need Mika’s blood to make something like this? Then maybe this didn’t make that much sense after all. But it wasn’t like there was anything else to try. She wasn’t as flashy as Himiko. Mika pricked her finger on one of her claws and wiped it on the edge of the troth. The blood ran down as before, the machine shook… [b]”AUTHENTICATION_SUCCESSFUL!”[/b] With a pop, the engraving swung open, revealing the block to be a small safe. As big as the podium was, the space inside the safe was small. It was just large enough to hold a pendant, which Mika pulled out and examined. It looked to be a pink stone carved in the shape of a dragon, one that looked to be chasing or devouring its own tail. Mika let out a long sigh as she lowered her hand. [color=tomato]"This must be what she wanted me to find."[/color] She turned it over in her hand. [color=tomato]"I think we’re done. Let’s get out of here."[/color] Mika made he way back over to Angelie’s body to recover it. Her hand went up to her comm, but it seemed like Fritzi’s line was busy.