[IC] Beyond the Looking Glass: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

[BrokenPromise]

That Goth Asian girl
&
…

Su had told Helga that she needed to use a restroom before leaving the Keijo arena, and to tell her what happened when she got back. But in truth Su wasn’t really interested in the competition. Having been both a competitor and a spectator, she could safely say there was nothing about the ‘sport’ that interested her. It only served to degrade everyone involved. Su had also fibbed about her intended destination. She had left to go sit on the beach and watch the waves roll in. This made for a much better atmosphere for thinking.

The past few hours had been quite the ride. It was her relationship with Helga. Helga seemed to be in high spirits, but Su was having doubts. She knew she loved Helga, but she was worried about how much her life was going to change on account of letting her know. Would Helga grow tired of Su as the years turned to centuries? What if she really was cursed and Helga died during the vacation? Would they start sleeping in the same room now, and would Helga’s body heat make it too hard to sleep at night? But before this post could delve into the kind of debauchery expected of BP’s posts, she got a visitor.

“Something troubling you?”

Su closed her eyes. ”I really don’t feel like talking right now.”

“That’s fine, I can be the one who talks. So long as you listen.”

Su didn’t look, but she could hear the sand shuffle under Veronica before she sat down. With a sigh, she turned her head away. ”Aren’t you worried about someone figuring out the connection between us?”

“I think that’s probably one of the worst kept secrets in Penrose.” Veronica sighed and leaned back onto her elbows. “Have you been enjoying your vacation? ”

Su looked at Veronica out of the corner of her eye. She was wearing the same swimsuit she came to the island in. ”I’m concerned for Penrose, Boteg in particular.” She looked back out at the ocean. ”But I’m starting to become accustom to my surroundings. I haven’t seen Mika much, but she seems happy. Lupa seems like she’s enjoying herself as well.”

“And Helga is happy too, right?”

”Yea.” Su didn’t doubt the claim. She was sure Veronica had heard everything she told Helga. It wasn’t like she was trying to keep it a secret. That didn’t mean she was comfortable talking about it. ”I trust you were able to make the vacation worth your while somehow?”

“Oh yes.” Veronica grinned. “No one has an idea what a boon this has been to me. Without the Mint to bar my progress, I’ve established connections in days which would have taken me months if not years.” She turned to Su. “I’ve been able to learn a lot about everyone here, and am aware of what my next action should be once we get back to Penrose.”

”Good for you.” Su stretched out her legs and laid her hands in the sand. ”Was there something in particular you wanted to tell me? ”

“Nothing important.” Veronica’s smile only grew as she gazed into the infinite blue. “Someone got me thinking about twenty years ago.” Veronica took one of her hands and stroked her cheek. It was on the side that Chloe had kissed her on.

”I see. ” Su lifted her fingers to her lips. ”Me too, actually.” Su thought back to her Keijo match. She had kissed Chloe on the cheek before retreating. ”By any chance, did you start thinking about it because of Chl-”

“Who it was isn’t important.” Now it was Veronica who was refusing to make eye contact. “The important part is that it has caused me to reevaluate a fundamental law of our world.” Veronica continued to caress her cheek. “Love is not a myth, it may yet exist.”

”I would hope so.” Su couldn’t help but chuckle. ”I won’t lie, I half expected you to just come over here and tell me how foolish I was for telling Helga I loved her.”

Veronica remained silent for a moment before speaking again. “I should warn you love is rare. Very rare.” She turned her head to face Su. “People who wander for what they search for are quick to misidentify their quarry.” She dropped her brow. “Kimble thinks she loves Alicia, but that’s simple infatuation born from a desire to please the person who saved their life. Penny thought that she loved Thalia, but that was just a depressing duet between two narcissists who didn’t want to be alone. I would pity Chloe if she took her romantic pursuits seriously. I’m not convinced what Alexander and Lily has is anything more than a shallow high school romance. Need I even mention Mika’s ‘love’ octagon? I refuse to speak of Regina and Annabelle. That barely counts as friendship.”

Su closed her eyes and sighed. She hardly expected a motivational speech from Veronica. Was that wine on her breath? Best to just play along. ”I’ll be honest, I was unaware there was so much misplaced emotion on this island.” Su opened her eyes. ”I noticed you left Helga and I out of your rant.”

“If I had, would it have swayed your mind?” Veronica rose to her feet. “The existence of love does not invalidate what I’ve been saying all these years. I still think the best thing one can do is form a series of relationships which are mutually beneficial regardless of what happens. If your love is part of a mutually beneficial bond, I see nothing wrong with it.” She folded her arms behind her back. “But thinking that you can share in someone’s emotions so deeply that you can feel what they feel is dangerous. The fact that love exists isn’t wonderful, it’s frightening, particularly that you might have it.”

Su remained in her spot in the sand. ”Um.” She nodded. ”Right, well, thank you for the warning. I’ll make sure Helga and I have a mutually beneficial relationship.”

“Good.”

Su blinked as Veronica walked out of sight. She had heard about Veronica being on the island, but had never expected the former coin broker to approach her least of all to offer a warning. But the more Su thought about it, the more sense it made. Who else would try to scare you out of your newest relationship other than a former girlfriend?

[MadManMoon]

Thank you for waiting.

---

A collaboration between @MadManMoon and @Flamelord

---

The first day here on the beach had come and gone. It had taken Alicia a bit after waking up to remember that she was not actually in Penrose right now, but instead some summer paradise resort where she had been brought by force.

Truth be told, she had hoped that they would wake up to find themselves home, but it was clearly not the case. She wasn’t entirely sold on Dan being behind this, but whoever was clearly still had some sort of lesson to impart to them. They would just have to make the best of it.

It turned out that that was remarkably easy to do when one awoke to the smell and sight of a full scale continental breakfast. It was unclear exactly who had prepared it, so in lieu of seeing anyone that wasn’t a dolphin here Alicia would just assume it was magic. She didn’t let that bother her, instead selecting a variety of food for her plate. Eggs, sausage, pancakes, some fruit, everything for a hearty breakfast. With how this trip looked to be going, there would be plenty of activity to burn it all off anyway.

Humming, she took her plate and a glass of orange juice to a nearby patio where she could enjoy the warm sun, the ocean air, and the coming morning as she ate. Well, this wasn’t so bad after all.

Another girl came out onto the patio area, looking it over for a good breakfast spot. Her gaze fell upon Alicia, and she paused.

“Oh,” said the newcomer. “I didn’t expect to see anyone else up this early.” She was balancing a plate of food in one hand - varied about as much as Alicia’s breakfast, though with a decent chunk of china reserved for ham slices. “Would you mind if I sat with you?”

Alicia was also not expecting anyone else to show up, but she had only just barely begun her breakfast when she shifted to look at the new arrival. “Go ahead. There’s plenty of open space,” she replied with a gesture around the immediate area.

She sampled a strawberry while the new arrival was doing that, finding it to be firm and juicy, the peak of freshness for a fruit. As she chewed on it, she observed her new companion. ”I don’t think we’ve met before,” she noted aloud, before extending an open hand. ”I’m Alicia.”

The new arrival put her plate down next to Alicia’s before accepting the handshake. “I’m Joanna,” she said, smiling. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” the Seraph assured her companion through the firm handshake. One it had come to an end she would return to her food, taking a sip of her orange juice. ”Enjoying the vacation, or are you paranoid about the dolphin too?”

Joanna sighed. “Honestly? D-” She abruptly coughed, and took a sip from her mug of breakfast tea. “I mean, that guy is an odd fellow, but so far he doesn’t appear malicious.” Joanna began cutting her ham into smaller pieces. “As nice as the vacation itself has been, though…”

Joanna fell silent for a moment, trying to find the right words. “It’s also started showing other sides to people. Not necessarily bad ones but,” she hesitated again. “It’s just given me a lot to think about.”

Listening to Joanna’s observation, Alicia understood and she nodded along with her. ”I feel that,” she agreed, her mind flying back to Kimble’s confession. ”Without the usual conflicts a lot of stuff is coming out that might have stayed buried otherwise.”

She looked out towards the horizon, simply appreciating the view of the sun rising over the water. One could only wonder if the people responsible for this were getting what they wanted out of it too. ”Still, I have to admit that aside from a new enemy or two, I haven’t really become friends with anyone I didn’t at least have some acquaintance with before. I guess the attacks and the end of the world stuff make Penrose seem bigger than it actually is.

Joanna took a syrupy bite of pancake, nodding. She knew the feeling pretty well. Sometimes it felt as though her entire world spanned that one city, what with how much time she and her friends spent there. Come to think of it... when was the last time she’d actually left Penrose?

Hmm. Actually, there was something else about Alicia’s response that had her wondering. ‘Haven’t become friends with anyone I didn’t have some acquaintance with before?’ Joanna swallowed. “Wait, ‘before?’ As in, before you became a magical girl?”

The question caused the Beckoner to shake her head. ”Sorry, there I meant magical girls I’d at least met in one of the previous world ending crises, before we were all yanked here,” she clarified. And her fellow Beacon members of course, but beyond that it was mostly business, with a bit of casual acquaintances (Katarina, Lily, and Amaryllis primarily)

“Ah,” Joanna said. She took a moment to eat some glazed ham, and reflect on her own relationships. “I’ve mostly been meeting people outside of those cataclysms,” Joanna noted. Speedwagon, in that cold and windy alleyway; Nina and Alice, after following them up to the rooftops; the one calling themselves “A,” right before she made it to the cathedral-

“Actually, I think we almost met before,” she remembered, a beat after she’d speared some scrambled eggs, “during one of those crises. I’d arrived to help fight off the witches, but after the Overcity Shift I had to help my patron keep her husband under control.”

It took Alicia a moment or two to remember that specific occurrence, before nodding. ”I remember that,” she confirmed before taking a bite of some crispy bacon. Regardless of what else you might say, the food here was done to perfection.

After a few moments she shot Joanna a sympathetic look. “Still, having to play go between for a personal Patron relationship? That sounds rough.”She couldn’t imagine what that must be like, as the Beckoners usually presented something of a united front to the rest of them in the organization.

“Sometimes it can be,” Joanna admitted. “Especially since we have to calm him down in the middle of that aura of anger he puts out. To be honest, I think my patron’s trying use those sessions to teach me self-control?”

She drank some more of her tea. “How is it like for you?”

”It has its ups and downs,” Alicia admitted with a shrug. Fortunately it was still the morning, with a fresh day ahead of her and relatively little to tug at her annoyance.

So she went on to explain. ”Long hours, lots of fighting monsters and patrolling, and we’re not exactly well liked around town.” Where one might think she was griping though, a warm smile soon appeared ”Still, the Beckoners are kind, understanding, supportive. Plus you’ve got a bunch of people there too who all believe in the same thing. We may have our differences sometimes, but when the chips are down I know that I can count on all of them to do the right thing and have my back. It’s a lot nicer than having to go it alone like some girls do.”

Joanna smiled, feeling the love in Alicia’s voice for Beacon shine through as radiant as the sun. And she could certainly agree that it was nice having people by your side. In combat. Philosophy. Life. Love.
Once again the English language proves inexact. “Φιλία” may be more accurate than “love.”
Her smile faltered, though, as she recalled Speedwagon’s history with Beacon. Or rather… what little she had divulged on the matter. Their Patron had hinted that one of the Beacon girls in particular had left her friend on edge, but refused to speak further on the matter. Joanna took another bite of food to steel herself.

“Yeah, I’m… I’m aware of Beacon’s reputation. My friend told me about it, not too long ago.”

The amount of food that Alicia had was slowly diminishing, almost unnoticed because of the ongoing conversation. She considered going to get some more, but decided that she wasn’t far enough along to make a decision like that.

Which was probably for the best as Joanna brought up their reputation. ”I can probably guess what they said,” she replied, voice steady. ”But we’re working on fixing that and doing better.”

Her gaze returned to the horizon and the rising sun, if only for a few moments. ”After all, we don’t exactly live up to the mission statement if we’re so willing to condemn and persecute. You know, Beacon. A model for all magical girls to strive towards. Kinda like Superman if he was a teenage girl I guess.” Her response fell off, consumed by mental musing about super heroes, comic books, and how they related to her current life.

Joanna’s smile returned, softly this time. “Well, she also said how she hopes for that. For Beacon to change that way, I mean.” Her gaze lowered to her tea, reduced to a teaspoon’s worth by this point. “Speaking of changes… how’s that girl doing? Regina Bates.”

Alicia managed to hold back something of a scowl as Regina was brought up, mostly for the sake of outward appearances. ”She’s adjusting,” the Seraph confirmed matter of factly. “It’s going to be a while before she fully settles into Beacon, or makes up for all the stuff the Bates twins did. Their actions aren’t the sort of thing you can just let bygones be bygones over.”

Joanna didn’t have Speedwagon’s level of intuition, but she’d been taught enough to notice that facial tic. “Of course,” Joanna said. “When you’ve hurt that many people, in such horrible ways… of course it’s going to be hard for people to forgive you. To be seen as redeemed. Or even be thought of as redeemable at all. In the eyes of others… and yourself. Is that what you’re getting at?”

It was odd. If Alicia didn’t know better, she would seriously suspect that Joanna was referring to her. Idly she thought of some random gibberish, just on the off chance that the girl was a mind reader and that it might earn some sort of reaction. To be safe.

”Something like that,” she agreed, fork scraping over her plate as she moved eggs back and forth. ”Still, if it was easy then it wouldn’t be worth doing. Regina just has a long way to go, magic purifying coin or not. Helping nearly destroying the world is hard to just walk off.”

Joanna certainly did not pick up on the mental smokescreen that Alicia had thrown up. A shame, really. It was actually rather well-constructed for someone of her skill level.

Joanna nodded, thoughtfully. “And even if she tried to stop it at the end, it doesn’t erase the fact that she put it into motion. It’s just the first step on that path.”

”Exactly,” Alicia agreed, at last stabbing the bit of egg that she had been toying with. It might not entirely be worth the effort, but that wasn’t really the point was it.

Still, it did occur to her that she had been talking an awful lot about herself, and not necessarily her companion. Not very fair if they were trying to make friends while on the island. ”I suspect our general priorities may be a bit different though Aside from marital counselling, what do you usually do when the world isn’t in imminent danger of destruction?”

Joanna put a hand to her chin. “Well, my age didn’t change when I became a magical girl, so I still go to the same middle school. I try to spend some of my free time giving back to the community, doing volunteer work. Otherwise, I’m going around town for my magical girl duties... patrolling nearby neighborhoods, training, doing missions for my patron, looking for-”

Blood on the ground.

A mentor, a friend, now and once again a victim.

A flock, left to mourn their shepherd.

And his voice, low but earnest, as if letting them in on an old secret.

I saw her cradling one of them, you know.

Joanna shuddered.

”Huh.” Alicia was observant enough to catch the sudden abbreviation, but she did not push on it. Just like Penny, they all had their particular hang ups. There was no burning need to know.

”That sounds a lot like what I do,” she noted. ”We’ve got some smaller branch ‘community centers’, and I like to help out with training and study sessions. You’d think that would be odd, as a college grad before I became a magical girl.”

Internally, Joanna breathed a sigh of relief. “That doesn’t seem odd at all,” she said, completely earnest. “Plenty of students go on to become teachers in some way or another.” Though she did find herself wondering what kind of ‘study sessions’ Alicia helped out with. Maybe she’d be interested in some one-on-one tutoring?

Pleased to find that Joanna didn’t think any differently of what she did on her off time, Alicia carried on. ”I suppose that’s true. Though I hadn’t considered it as an occupation back them. But as a magical girl, everyone’s got such varied circumstances, and someone needs to show the new ones the ropes. Since Beacon decided that I was worthy of being a Seraph I guess I felt a bit obligated.” She didn’t mind of course, it made her feel better about the title than how she had earned it did.

Joanna’s expression became thoughtful. She wondered why Alicia felt obligated to fill that particular role, but she decided to ask her about that later.

“I know it's been a year since I became a magical girl, but it all still feels new to me,” Joanna admitted. “I've been lucky to have my friends and my Patron teaching me about what it means to be a magical girl, but... I also know that they can't tell me everything. Not on their own.” She considered that for a moment. “It’s like you said - everyone’s got such varied circumstances, such different outlooks on life, as a magical girl or no.”

Alicia nodded along in agreement. There was nothing she could, or even wanted to, argue in that observation. ”Things always find a way of surprising you, even if you think that you know what to expect.” It certainly happened to her more often than one might expect.

Finishing off her drink, she added to that. ”Still, we’ve just got to do the best we can. Whether that’s in fighting, or having a healthy balance between being a magical girl and our regular lives.”

Joanna smiled brightly. “For whatever ‘regular’ ends up meaning to us,” she said. “And what we want ‘regular’ to become.”

“Amen to that,” the Seraph agreed. She would have saluted, if she had anything left in her glass. An imitation of the motion would have to be settled for instead. ”The hardest part is finding time to keep up with my tv shows.” Which was not entirely true, though it was something she had to work around her busier magical girl schedule.

Joanna mirrored the motion with her similarly drained teacup. “At least we’ve got on demand,” she giggled.

Well, she couldn’t argue with that. Her plate looking remarkably bare at this point, Alicia leaned forward slightly against the table, chin resting in the palm of her hand. ”I suppose tat’s true. What do you usually like to watch?”

Joanna briefly wondered if she should list off her favorite shows or the broader themes that caught her interest. She decided to go with the latter, at least for context’s sake. “I like to watch shows that celebrate humanity. Not necessarily ‘humanity’ as a species, but the concept of ‘humanity.’ Shows that aren’t afraid to show their characters as people, at their best and their worst, as well as their potential to grow. Like ‘Stargate,’ or ‘Good Omens.’” She paused for a beat. “Or ‘Once Upon a Time.’”

A hum slipped out, Alicia slowly nodding as Joanna gave some examples and listed off what she liked to see from media in general. It was surprisingly deep and insightful, at least compared to the intent with which she had asked the question.That’s what she got for leaving it open ended.

”Once Upon a Time, I think I saw a few episodes of that once,” she mused aloud. “I take it that means you’d recommend it?”

“I absolutely do.”

”Hmm, I’ll have to look into it then,” the Seraph replied, index finger tapping on the table. After a few moments she rose, carrying her plate with her. ”I think I’m going to restock a bit. You’re not going to run off on me while I’m gone, are you?”

Joanna smiled again, a little more cheeky than her previous ones. “And cut this short? Perish the thought.”

Alicia’s grin widened before giving a small nod in turn. ”Good. I’m curious to hear your opinion on some other shows.” With that she headed back to the buffet, pleased to find that in spite of the outburst from Dan it would still be a pleasant morning in paradise.

[Ariamis]

The Keijo Championship

Alicia & Abigail
VS
Amaryllis & Tetrad

Some time after the latest Keijo match was played, a clip of boisterous music rang from the loudspeakers of the arena, not unlike clips played in professional wrestling shows. The same music was also broadcast from various TV screens like the one in Valerie’s cafe and the Beach Boutique, complete with a stylized Keijo logo with Dan’s head adorning it.. “Hey there, boys and girls!” Dan could be seen waving at the camera from the familiar commentator set; Dolly could be seen in the background. “Thanks to all of you, we’ve had many great plays made this season!” At that moment, a clip show of various moments played, including Helga’s launch of Lily, Rina casting bikini armor on Mika along other quick bits.

“Indeed, from the final moments of the Rina-Alicia battle to the dramatic start of Tetrad-Amaryllis versus Lily-Helga, this has certainly been a tournament worth watching.” Dolly nodded, as more highlights emerged upon the big screen.

“And now, the moment you’ve been waiting for: the announcement of the finalists! As you know, winners of previous matches have earned the right to advance to the next round,” Dan now wore thick square glasses on his head. “However, to enter the finals, it is not enough to have won; you also needed to have made the match exciting! Yes, this rule was hidden on purpose, to ensure all participants made honest and legitimate Keijo battles.”

“After all, Keijo is not just a sport of physicality and practicality, but of entertainment and beauty! As of this finals round, we can ensure that only the strongest, most beautiful Keijo players will stand in the spotlight today, and when the water settles, we shall have the Queens of the Waves!” With an uncharacteristic flourish, Dolly produced an envelope from her dress and flung it towards Dan.

Dan took the envelope, and magically extracted the note hidden inside. “The finalists are...Amaryllis Evenings and Tetrad versus Alicia Hayden and Abigail!” He threw the note away, causing it to explode into colorful confetti. “Congratulations! Now, please come to the arena ASAP for quick interviews before the championship match!”

Seated on the beach, Alicia had not thought much about the broadcast. Up until the moment when her name was announced, anyway. She was left to give a blank stare to the tv screen. “No way. You’ve got to be kidding.” There was a very strong urge to facepalm, or to bury herself in sand and pretend she didn’t exist.

”Hold your head high, Alicia!” Abigail pumped her fist. ”This is where we dominate and show the world the might of Beacon!”

Somehow she had the feeling that people wouldn’t let her forget this one.

Amaryllis, already having been planning strategy with Tetrad, was equally surprised, not at the fact that they had moved to the next round, but that they were already in the finals. That was certainly...fast. But that was useful too. She took a breath, slapped her cheeks, and nodded once at her partner.

This was good now. They only need one more win to win it all.

”The finals, right where we belong!” Tetrad looked through her cards. ”You pretty much soloed the last one, so this should go pretty easy if I can stay in the fight longer than five seconds. Heh”

---

Later, after the participants of both teams entered the portal titled “Promo”, they found themselves within a glass dome located on the seafloor. They could see as various colorful and exotic fish swam around the dome, lit up by magical lanterns. Dan and Dolly were there with microphones in hand, with Dan greeting the team present; there were also magical floating cameras broadcasting the interviews to the entire island.

“Welcome! Let’s get right away to the interview! Both teams have made a big splash in Keijo, with incredible tactics and maneuvers.” Behind them, a highlight reel of the two teams’ matches played. “How do you feel? Do you think you have what it takes to become Keijo champions?”

“Yes,” was Amaryllis’s simple response. Somewhere along the way, the anxiety of the interview had turned her into a robot, and she spoke stiffly, remotely. “We will win. Definitely.”

For her part, Alicia was doing her best to keep on a strong face and not make it seem like she found any of this out of the ordinary. ”Very surprised, and a bit anxious. But I do think we can win,” she assured Dan.

“And do you have anything you’d like to say to the other team?”

“Uh…” The Midsummer Rose made a face, her stiff persona giving way to uncertainty. “Sorry, I guess? For winning.”

Abigail threw her arm around Alicia’s neck and pulled her closer. ”She’s acting reserved because she’s trying to be humble. What she wants to say is...” She pointed at the other team. ”You guys are going down so hard, everyone’s going to think you fell from orbit!”

Tetrad chuckled. ”I’m going to reserve my message for our opponents after the match is over. But I think they’re going to be in for a surprise if they expect us to go down easy.”

Shifting slightly to adjust for Abigail’s arm around her, Alicia’s gaze fell on Tetrad with a growing intensity. ”Don’t go taking your win for granted,” she said to the duo. ”We’re going to avenge our honor right here and now.” What better chance would she have than on the field of battle with that Regina impersonator?

“Yes, excellent!” Dan was thrilled at the boasting Abigail made. “This is going to be a spectacular spectacle!” He made a dolphin squeak, and a portal opened behind them. “Now, get ready in five, contestants! Soon you will face your greatest challenge!” He then turned towards one of the cameras. “And now, a word from our sponsors!” The TV feed then began broadcasting an advertisement for Brittany’s Beach Boutique. “Oh, and if any of you want to pull off the ‘discarded robe’ intro, I have some right here.” A bunch of gaudy robes then appeared on a table nearby.

Five minutes later, it was time for the championship match. Unlike normal, the girls appeared initially hidden from the audience in the shadowy corridors leading out from the arena, with a walkway extended to the platform allowing them to make a dramatic entrance as they wished. The platform was far larger than any previously seen in the arena, with a diamond shape and double the size. The audience cheered loudly, with Sylvia and Sally hollering on, and Kimble riding on the latter’s shoulders and waving a big flag: it fluttered elegantly in the air thanks to the catgirl’s Air magic, and spelled out “MISTRESS” in shining gold letters against a blue backdrop. But Alicia and Abigail weren’t the only team being cheered on: Helga and Lily were also there, the former boosting their voices and creating the kind of cacophony one would hear at a Super Bowl.

In the wake of Dan’s declaration, the diamond-shaped land was silent. Neither team had arrived yet, leaving naught but a wasteland desolate of beauty. Stillness pervaded everything, until that tranquil repose was broken by the echoing of heels.

Click. Click. Click.

A cloaked figure strode down the steps of the western wing.

“The glory of the sun, the fragrance of the flora.”

Rose petals fell in her wake, dropping from the azure sky like gentle rain.

“Above the resplendence of the waves, I embrace them all and declare myself.”

A slender hand reached out from the cloak, grasping one end to fling it off with the force of a drawn blade.

“Amaryllis Evenings, the Midsummer Bloom!”

And with one powerful step, the uncloaked figure leapt out from the stands, somersaulting thrice, before landing with such force upon the platform that water erupted upwards like a geyser, a white curtain that covered all.

“May the beauty of your soul falter in the wake of my skill!”

A rainbow burst overhead as the water dispersed into a myriad of fine droplets. Wreathed in the prismatic glow stood a girl of such beauty to draw even the envy of the gods. Her hair glistened like the starry skies, her eyes shone like set of gems that’d put the crowns of conquerors to shame. One hand was placed on her rounded hips, emphasizing her hourglass figure. Another hand rested with ballerina-esque ease to her side, at once casual and intentional. Her chest, embodying the paradox that all delightful bosoms held, were firm yet soft, voluminous yet perky, her twin restraints of bikini bra and cropped vest barely sufficient to hold them in place. Cat ears and paws juxtaposed with the mature allure she exuded, and the belled collar around her neck jingled brightly as she twisted her head dramatically to face her foes.

Amaryllis made for a tough opening, but let no one say that Beacon was not up for the challenge. From the opposite side of the arena came a flash, blinding in intensity for a brief moment before fading away. It came from the upper portion of the stadium itself, the lip that marked the highest pinnacle of the arena on that side.

As it dwindled, one could make out a robed figure, head held high and undaunted by the absurdity of the situation. If this was how it was to be, then there was no harm in playing along. ”A beacon of light for the world. A symbol of hope. We are the ones who lead the way.”

Words said, she jumped. A textbook dive, perfectly in form as her arms spread wide like wings. She fell faster and faster, only for wings of blinding white to flare out wide midway through her fall.

They swept out when she was about to hit the platform, swooping upwards to hang in midair for brief moments before settling to the ground. An angel on Earth, to provide guidance and judgment to all in her presence.

”I announce myself Alicia Hayden, Seraph of Beacon.”

With a flourish the robe was tossed away in a single move, unveiling her swimsuit with an otherworldly shimmer. With her wings still spread wide she held herself with a determined look, and maybe a modest effort to not make comparisons.

Revealed, she extended her hands and crafted a spear of light from her magic. It was thin and long perfect to be twirled and flourished as she took a couple steps forward while spinning it in quick circles. When she slammed the butt of the weapon into the ground a beam of light shot into the sky before the weapon faded away.

”May you face your judgment at the hands of the light!”

A swirl of floating robes entered the arena. All manners of colors flying in circles like wraiths. Once the mass moved into position, it exploded outwards in all directions, revealing Abigail at its center. ”Do I even need an introduction? Gheaheaheahea!”

“Alicia” also approached from the other side of the ring. She was holding onto a fistfull of robes in both hands while spinning her way towards her position. ”Hur dur,burkurnsh lurt dur!” She cast the robes into the air before returning to her true form. ”Kidding! Tetrad here, you might have seen me for a few seconds during the last match.” A robe fell back down on her head, which she promptly batted away. ”Anyway, we gunna start soon?”

The spotlight shone on Dan, who seemed to sparkle. “And now, ladies and gentlemen, it is time to end the season with the biggest bang you’ll ever see! These four warrior women have fought their way through one tier of opponents, and yet they’re so close to the top. But one more obstacle remains, the other team! Who will win today? Is it Team Double-A, the brightest of Beacon, or Team Beauty, the brawniest of babes? Well...Let’s find out!” He pulled out a cartoony revolver, and aimed it up in the air. “On your marks...Get set...KEIJOOO!”

Championship Song

He launched up one last time as a couple of flames spurted up from pyrotechnic display. Now, all that remained was them, and their butts.

Victory came to the one that struck first! Immediately dropping into a sprinter’s pose, Amaryllis shot off, leaving a summer gale in her wake. The Land rumbled with each of her steps as she charged immediately for Alicia, the speedy lightweight of the group, ready to take her down in a single butt-swing.

”Tch.” It was like Tetrad was deliberately trying to annoy her with that intro, and to her credit it was working. Her burning desire for revenge would be enough fuel in this match, if nothing else served to do it.

Unfortunately it seemed Amaryllis planned to deny her that, forcing the Seraph to act quickly. Her wings flared as she jumped, carrying her a few feet higher before she threw herself into a spin and from that into a small dive bomb butt first. If they thought she would go out that easily, she intended to prove them quite wrong.

Abigail was heading over to assist Alicia, but was not floating with the speed she had previously demonstrated she was capable of. Understandable, considering she fell into the drink on account of expending all of her mana too soon. Hanging back a bit also meant she wasn’t going to interfere with her partner’s attack, and could follow up and potentially catch someone off guard.

Tetrad on the other hand was following right behind Amaryllis. Her inability to keep up was more due to the limit of her physical prowess rather than a desire to hang back. Her form was transparent and wispy looking, leaving faint green after images where she ran. When Amaryllis turn around to smash Alicia with her hips, Tetrad hopped onto the rosen knight’s shoulders and dove into the air. From there, she attempted a corkscrew elbow drop, only the intent was to hit Alicia with her backside instead of her elbow.

“The championship match has begun explosively!” Dan commentated from the familiar floating red stage with Dolly. “There have been many matches here in this arena, but this one definitely takes the cake! Will we see Amaryllis’ famous ‘Boob Pincer’ technique again?”

As her first swing met empty air, Amaryllis turned upwards right as Alicia dropped down. Sucking in a deep breath, the buxom girl received her opponent’s dive bomb head on, bending her knees to lessen the impact as butt met breast. Yet there was no sound of any heavy impact, no devastating blast of force; Amaryllis’s F-cup breasts, bountiful and elastic as they were, had been sufficient in absorbing the blow and now, her arms were pressed to the sides as well.

Just like she had with Lily, Amaryllis held Alicia aloft, holding the Seraph in place for the hammer that was Tetrad’s arse to smash her down.

In the end numbers worked against her. Chest met behind, and Alicia found herself held in place for brief moments as tetrad came swinging in from above. Outplayed, all she could do was take the hit.

“And there it is! Ooh, that’s gotta hurt!” Dan reacted loudly. “Amaryllis and Tetrad are showing a lot more compatibility this time around with a combination attack like that! I bet they’ve been practising to work together!”

Thrown down by the hit, a grunt of pain escaped as Alicia slammed into the platform. At least the angle meant that there wasn’t much sliding, but it still hurt like hell with the sheer force of it. It took her a few moments to get her breath back and move back on to her feet. “I thought the point was to knock us off the platform, not knock us out entirely,” she grumbled in annoyance, switching to a more evasive stance as she moved to link back up with Abigail. Teamwork was going to be important to their victory here, as the duo had just made very clear.

Normally, Alicia would not have been able to get up so swiftly with Tetrad sitting on top of her. But Abigail’s rapid approach forced Tetrad to reconsider her position. Less she get shoved into the drink by any of Abigail’s attacks. The gambler leaped towards her partner’s right side, Circling around so that she could come up on Amaryllis’s right.

”Seems to be working.” A few cards flew up into Tetrad’s hand. ”Hmmm, still nothing.”

Abigail wasn’t going to let a little fancy footwork get in her way. She fully planned on throwing herself directly at Tetrad, and didn’t care what tried to impede her movement. She ramped up her density as she flew towards Tetrad.

Amaryllis nodded just once, before letting out a long, deep breath. Abigail was the heaviest of them all, capable of hitting the hardest. But where power was lacking, technique bridged the gap. Interposing herself between Tetrad and Abigail, she honed her hearing onto the tempo of the gravity girl’s footwork, before leaping in as well, charging head on. Moments before collision, however, she stepped to the side with matador-esque grace, twirling into a buttswing that’d connect with Abigail’s side. With luck, it’d launch the raging bull off course and into the waters before. If not...well, Tetrad still had a fail-safe if they didn’t knock her out.

Abigail to the rescue it seemed, at least against Tetrad’s pin. Alicia wasn’t sure what she had planned to do after that point, but she was glad that she didn’t need to find out. For now the opposing team were living up to their boasts. Maybe they should have spent some time practicing after all.

With Abigail taking the lead Alicia took to the air, swooping around to move concurrent with Abigail from the side. Her flight was timed so that she’d side swipe whomever Abigail ended up hitting with a shot of her own, a one two punch in Keijo style that would put someone in the water.

Dan did not miss the bombastic move. “And there comes Abigail’s Comet Strike! She reminds me of the famous Keijo star Hikaru Hoshide! Also known as Japan's Heaviest Butt, she is said to be able to smash a 50 ton platform with ease. But I think Abigail might be able to break that record!”

Abigail’s ability to manipulate her density would be put to the test under Amaryllis’s swinging buttocks. Both girls represented the pinnacle of their respective fields. The rose knight’s physical power, honed to a graceful edge, and Abigail’s magical might, as untamed as a wild beast. The attack was too fast for the gravity girl to reasonably avoid, but she could tell it was coming, and that was enough to form a counterattack.

Being able to play with her density was only part of what made Abigail such a formidable opponent. The other part was that she could use gravity to move her body in ways that muscles wouldn’t allow. When she was smacked with Amaryllis’s derriere, she was able to pinch her vest between the fold between her ribcage and breast. Abigail would not get away unscathed, forced to wobble towards the edge of the arena. She was much too heavy to throw with a single attack. Even when faced with such a strong opponent. Still holding onto the vest, Abigail would turn to face Amaryllis and attempt to use her other breast to deliver an uppercut, possibly knocking her out.

Tetrad seemed aware of the peril, but there wasn’t a lot of time to choose her actions. Fortunately, they had discussed tactic before going into the fight, so there was no need to consider her options. Tetrad dove towards Abigail’s legs in an attempt to sweep them out from under her. A dangerous move, as Abigail would probably crush a normal person if she was allowed to fall onto them.

How could breasts even work that way? That was Amaryllis’s one thought as she was suddenly pulled in. Was Abigail a user of Beast or Reinforcement Magic as well, capable of moving her two breasts like normal people would with their two hands? In the corner of her eye, Alicia was making her move as well now, a side swing timed to Abigail’s uppercut.

For a moment, it was as if the gates of defeat were closing down upon her. But lo, behold! The shining silver of victory, sharp as a saber’s edge!

Before Abigail’s unrestrained breast could accelerate to its full speed, Amaryllis thrust her face into it, kicking off with her feet at the same time. The impact met upon her face was like that of massive water balloon, but the collision had not caused a concussion. Launched upwards, she slipped above Alicia’s side swing before extending her legs outwards like two helicopter blades. The buxom fencer twisted her hips, gained extra leverage from the position of her legs, and spun out.

RIPPPP!

With an immovable object pinning it down and an unstoppable force stretching against it, Amaryllis’s vest had no choice but to be ripped to shreds, beige fabrics bursting out like confetti to reveal the bold, mature design beneath: a black bandeau with a heart-shaped window cut in the center. How shameless! How seductive! How s-

Amaryllis didn’t have time to dwell. Upside-down, mid-air and spinning in close combat with Abigail, she swung her liberated breasts right towards the side of her foe’s head in the same motion she escaped with.

“I can’t believe what I’m seeing!” Dan was leaning over the desk as he watched the battle unfold in astonishment. “Amaryllis is moving with such force that her vest was annihilated! But wow, what a sight! She truly is the Midsummer Bloom! The others will have to watch out for her!”

Things were moving very fast, faster than they had in her last fight, and truth be told Alicia was having difficulty keeping up. At least Abigail was on point, grabbing on to Amaryllis while Tetrad went for some kind of slide move.She knew how dangerous that sort of thing could be, but at the same time she had already committed to her effort to strike Amaryllis.

Not that it worked, though it did help destroy the vest in the process to reveal the swimsuit beneath. Seemed someone was going for the mature look.

With a grunt she flipped in place, relying on magical wings to carry her where more physical ones would be straining. Powerful strokes drove her back the direction that she had come, giving Abigail a bit of a forwards push to assist her counter against whatever loss of balance there might have been from Amaryllis breaking free and Tetrad’s move.

Then she dove, a sharp downward strike to hit the card wielding girl like she had been earlier with an aerial slam via her booty. This time the shoe would be on the other foot, she was sure of it.

Few opponents could withstand the heft of Amaryllis’s bosom, but Abigail was one of them. A lesser girl might have crumpled under such a powerful attack, but the rose knight was trading blows with the studliest magical girl in the tournament. Such a blow might have dented the armor of a battleship, or left a crater in soft soil, but Abigail’s magic made her far too strong for that. A shock wave rippled through the air, and a bit of saliva flew out of Abigail’s mouth as her head was forced sideways. Tetrad had managed to swing her tush into the back of Abigail’s knee, causing it to buckle and her form to fall. But even when things looked over for the gravity girl, she persisted as a threat to her opponents, In no small thanks to Alicia helping her remain stationary.

”Gotcha!”

Amaryllis’s helicopter kick allowed her to avoid Alicia and score a solid hit on Abigail, but it was not without its risks. Naturally, her own head was not too far away from Abigail’s chest.With her breasts spread apart, it took little to push them together around Amaryllis’s head. Abigail was short, but she was no less endowed than her opponent. The rose knight’s vision would go dark as she was swallowed by her advisary’s anatomy. Amaryllis could likely feel the pressure welling up on both of her temples. It was as if she was being crushed between two bags of iron sand, only she was on the surface of Jupiter.

“Abigail got Amaryllis in an assassin grapple!” Dan was now standing on his seat, completely taken by the excitement of the moment. ”The Midsummer Bloom’s grappling technique is now used against her to deadly effect! Oh, the humanity!”

”Shit!”

There was little Tetrad could do in the moment. Her slide attack had brought Abigail down to one knee, but not in time to save her team mate from an imminent attack. She was able to roll out of the way of Abigail’s falling knee, but had little time to devote to Alicia’s incoming butt slam. Fortunately, Tetrad wasn’t out of options.

She threw all of her cards into the air. They were not magically charged, nor did they do anything particularly noteworthy. They just scattered in the wind like one might expect any normal deck of cards to if thrown into the air. It was just thirteen cards, but with her transparency it was enough to make a smoke screen effect and escape. Alicia would have to guess which direction she was moving in and adjust her aim accordingly. But in truth, Tetrad wasn’t moving anywhere.

She was teleporting.

Had Amaryllis stopped moving, Alicia might have noticed a green card slipped into the top of her bathing suit. This was where Tetrad chose to teleport to. When she appeared, she was squatting on Amaryllis’s shoulders. She kicked off not moments after her reappearing act. Tetrad had Alicia in her sights, and would intercept her post haste. She closed her arms at her side and flew off like a rocket, intending to slam into Alicia’s head with her breasts.

Dan clapped his fins together. “A teleport! Folks, we got ourselves a bona-fide teleporter! Can they stand against the art of Crouching Butt, Hidden Bosom?”

Darkness, suffocating and claustrophobic. In the marshmallow hell, Amaryllis struggled to maintain her focus, holding her breath as a free diver would. How would she get out? How would she escape? The pressure built, expounded, and then…

WHAM!

A weight pushed against her back, thrusting both Keijo players forward, and in that moment, Amaryllis found her opportunity. Around her head was her cat ears, an innocuous accessory that granted just an extra bit of space to maneuver. Letting out all her air at once, she pulled forth her magical resources, twin chains of silver shooting out from her ankles and latching upon the other end of the platform. With a contraction of her body, Amaryllis popped herself out of Abigail’s crushing grasp, leaving her cat ears behind as a sacrifice. She spun through the air, grinded onto the platform, and with another sharp breath, launched herself right at the gravity girl again.

There will be no break, no time to recover.

This time, her advance was even faster.

Tetrad’s exploding cards earned a flinch, and Alicia adjusted accordingly to the side to keep herself from accidentally dive bombing into the water. Yet Tetrad was not there, nor she was she anywhere, as the wind kicked up by her wings blew away the smoke cloud.

Turning, she found the dueling pair had become a trio, moments before Tetrad leapt at her.. She wasn’t sure how that had happened, but didn’t spend the time to question it. Instead she cranked up the light from her wings to nigh blinding in intensity. With how they were positioned it would also hit Amaryllis too while leaving Abigail unaffected, since the Seraph was behind her fellow Beacon sister.

Then in a smooth motion she launched herself upwards in a high jump, twisting in midair to present her rear to the incoming boob shot in a deflecting stance with the momentum from her spin. With her wings she had greater flexibility in aerial combat, and she intended to use it to put Tetrad right in the water.

Blinding people was not a new tactic for Alicia, and anyone who paid attention to the game would have some idea she was capable of doing it. Tetrad was not one of those people.

But Tetrad didn’t have to be, since she was still wearing Trigonal. In her minds eye, she could divine where something was in the past, present, and future given she had acquired enough information to do so. It took her several seconds to locate where a ghoul had been travelling in the past, but pinpointing Alicia’s location and what she was doing in the present was child’s play, especially since she had so much data on the beacon girl. Few of her exploits were quiet affairs.

Tetrad twisted in the air like a diver. Her body corkscrewed before she pointed her butt at Alicia’s incoming swing. Tetrad had little control of herself in the air, so this was never going to be a counterattack. But at least she could control which direction she was going to fly in when Alicia made contact. When their asses collided, Tetrad was thrown back towards the arena instead of away from it.

Abigail had been pulled and pushed by several attacks, and could barely stand on her feet. When Amaryllis charged back towards her, she changed up her strategy. Abigail jumped backwards, becoming lighter than the air that surrounded her. Tetrad flew over her shoulder just as she started to gain altitude and join Alicia in the sky. Meanwhile, Tetrad bounced off the ground and rolled to Amaryllis’s feet. She was able to return to her feet unassisted.

There was a brief reprieve. Abigail had burned away quite a bit of her mana, as evident by all the clothes Amaryllis had shed. Alicia and Tetrad both had taken one hard fall this match, and were both likely weaker for it. It wasn’t clear who had the high ground, unless you counted the beacon girl’s flight.

Tetrad straightened out her posture and called her cards back to her hand. ”I’m lasting a lot longer than last time.” Tetrad rolled her neck to get all the cricks out of it. She then glanced at the cards in her hand. ”Man, I’d hate to be you guys right now.” Tetrad shuffled behind Amaryllis. ”Just a bit longer now.”

Abigail snorted. ”Yea? Well, you’re weak!”

”Not as weak as that comeback.”

The gravity girl groaned. ”What do you want to do Alicia? I want to end this game now!”

Amaryllis stopped. One deep breath after another, regaining some of her own stamina as she stood there, her eyes on the two flying magical girls. Honestly, flying in a sport about dunking people into the water? May as well be cheating.

But it didn’t matter. Magic was just a talent like any other, and if they relied on their wings, then she’d simply have to tear them off.

Her breaths deepened, each exhale like the hiss of a steam engine. Slowly, she lowered her stance, her hands swinging behind her back. Eyes the color of dawn locked onto her two foes, before a smile, feral and provocative, emerged. Leaning forward like this, it was obvious who had the largest breasts in the arena, wasn’t it?

“Oh, the teams have regrouped for a strategy meeting! That’s round 1, but stay tuned for more!” Dan sat back down after ringing a magically appeared gong, signaling the end of round 1 and allowing the teams to wash their faces and such. “This might seem quite rare in the impulsive world of Keijo, but don’t be fooled, folks; these girls know you need brains as much as buttocks in this game to win.”

Grimacing, Alicia was not quite sure how Tetrad kept slipping away from her like that. But she took the offered opportunity to regroup, coming to a stop next to Abigail as they hovered in the sky. She folded her arms over her chest, looking down at the duo and ignoring the posturing. As if she’d let herself get lured into that sort of competition.

“Still, at least we’re not the fetishists with fake cat ears,” Alicia joined in with the taunting before letting out a sigh to talk shop with Abigail. ”Yeah, I know what you mean. And it looks like Tetrad is plotting something. I’d rather not give her the opportunity to use it.”

Of course that was easier said than done where their opponents were concerned. After a moment she shrugged. ”Could just gang up on one of them until they go down, use our flying to dive bomb. But Tetrad’s got some kind of teleportation trick. So I’d watch out for that.”

Tetrad leaned out from behind Amaryllis and held her cards out, careful not to let the opposing team or even the spectators see her hand. She closed the fan of cards so that only one was visible before pulling back behind Amaryllis. ”Are you fetishists without fake cat ears then? The two of you couldn’t get enough of Mika.”

Abigail’s face turned even more red. ”…Yea, we’re taking her out next!” Abigail prepared to dive, but then stopped. ”That didn’t work out great last time though. We need to take care of amaryllis, or at the very least, you need to keep her off of my back.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Alicia shot back in turn. More of her fight had been spent with Katarina after all, aside from the part where she nearly died.

Nodding, she could not argue with Abigail’s assessment. “Yeah. But I think I have something in mind to deal with that. A bit experimental, but it’s not like I’d ever use it outside of this situation anyway,” she conceded. For now she prepared to resume the fight, to sweep down on their foes and deliver some well deserved payback.

Dan hit the gong again. “Round 2! Fight!”

Amaryllis nodded once at the hand Tetrad showed her, before drawing into her own reservoir of mana as well, deep breaths cause her voluminous chest to rise and fall. Dan’s gong sounded, Alicia charged forth, and the Midsummer Bloom allowed the entirety of her magic to burst outwards. Silvered chains shot towards every corner of the platform, digging deep into the buoyant material. Lifting one leg high up into the air, Amaryllis struck downwards upon the network of chains.

There was a thunderous impact, a great snapping sound, and then, the diamond-shaped Land was broken to bits, an archipelago of small islands rolling up and down upon the violent waves. Tetrad could deal with Alicia; Amaryllis was fully focused on ensuring that Abigail could no longer increase her weight willynilly.

Dan loudly squeaked in surprise.“Aaaahh! The diamond has been cracked! Not even the platform is safe from the wrath of these girls!”

Amaryllis had been able to convey she was going to do something big to Tetrad. But that message was relayed by her fingers counting down behind her back. It didn’t quite convey the magnitude of what the rose knight was about to do. Tetrad was difficult to spot due to her transparency, but anyone paying attention to her would notice the shocked look in her eyes. That wide eyed expression you only make when shit just got real. She wobbled a bit before dropping to one knee. ”Let’s see what happens.” Tetrad tossed a card at Amaryllis’s back, causing her, and her chains, to turn transparent much like herself. To the unobservant it would look like she had faded away. Tetrad drew a few more cards for the final stretch of the fight.

Abigail just laughed at her opponent’s strategy. ”Oh no! The ground’s broken! Whatever am I going to do! Gheahahahahahhaha!” She stretched out her hands in front of herself. ”Well if you’re that mad at it, I can get rid of it for you!” Abigail swirled her hands in the air, and the islands started to move. They raised into the air and swirled about, not unlike how a galaxy’s planets spin as they revolve around a star. They were limited in their movements, as they were all still tethered to the rose knight’s chains. But she was willing to bet her opponents would reveal themselves shortly. It might have been underhanded, or even against the rules to use her magic this way. But she wasn’t using it directly on Amaryllis or Tetrad, and Dan hadn’t said anything.

It was easy to tell that they were in the main event now. If she had not been flying Alicia would have been in a lot more trouble as Amaryllis smashed the platform like it was made of cardboard. Added in with Abigail’s magic, they were left with a hovering mess of debris. This was about to get tricky. Especially with the chains invisible.

Still, in this case what she did next was fairly easy to decide on. With the opponent invisible, she fell in to protect Abigail’s back while the platforms still hovered in the air. Light shone akin to a flashlight, cycling the visible spectrum to see if one would be effective against that invisibility. It was magic, sure, but who knew, she might get lucky. Then when she did, they could bring the hurt.

As Tetrad’s magic settled over her, Amaryllis leapt into action. Abigail set the stage up well, so well that Amaryllis changed plans partway through. With the platforms floating up into the sky and both of her opponents on the same platform, what else could she do, honestly? It was only a shame that the audience wouldn’t be able to see this.

Seconds ticked by, Alicia’s light magic flickering from one form to another as rust-red petals fell around the arena with greater frequency. Like a storm of scattered blossoms, the petals danced in the air and died in the waters. A moment of reprieve, a moment of silence.

And then, one of the floating platforms promptly shook.

Amaryllis leapt into the air, her back arcing against the midday sun, before she dropped, not onto Alicia and Abigail for a Meteor Hip Drop, not onto Tetrad for a new combo move, but towards the waves below. She fell and fell and fell, until at the very last moment, silver chains shot upwards, latching onto one of the platforms. Her heels grazed the waters as she swung upwards with all the speed of her descent, white froth kicking up in her path. Waterskiing, almost. Without her vest, without her fake cat ears, her ascent was almost completely silent.

Silent, except for the attack she shouted out, her invisibility fading moments before her hips slammed into the underside of Abigail’s platform.

“LUNATIC VACUUM BUTT CANNON!”

There was little to alert Abigail of the incoming attack. Save for the invisible shape skimming across the top of the water and how one of the “planets” wasn’t orbiting right. But she was woefully unprepared for the ground to erupt underneath her. Amaryllis’s backside emerged from the ground, throwing the girls on the platform into the air as the platform exploded.

Now Abigail might have seemed like a brat on the surface, and she was for the most part. But deep under that smug exterior was a little girl who just wanted to be acknowledged for something. She took her losses seriously, and anything that presented difficulty was utterly loathe some. This was a tough fight, and Amaryllis had a tendency to make everything she did look effortless. That, and Abigail was aware of her dwindling mana supply. She knew she wasn’t going to get out of this dry. And it really, really infuriated her. Enough for the emotions to finally show. Her skin was practically glowing red. The platforms stopped moving as she released them from her magical grip. Everything was going into this next attack. She couldn’t take out Tetrad as she couldn’t see her, but maybe she could take out Amaryllis. All of the platforms were above and away from the rose knight, so she was confident she could at least take care of Amaryllis with a wall placed strike.

”G A L A C T I C T Y P H O O N K E I S T E R D R O P !”

Abigail plummeted like a commit, spinning and cloaked in gravity so intense it bent light. Her goal was to smash her butt into Amaryllis’s back and pinch her bathing suit or skin between her butt cheeks. It was the only thing she had left.

Doing her best to locate the invisible duo (and grumbling about said invisibility all the while), Alicia had barely any time to react before their platform was struck from below. She was sent hurtling skywards, doing a flip in midair before she was able to recover. Her flying skills paid off in this regard.

Recovering, she was able to angle her flight just enough to reach one of the midair platforms. Legs braced before she launched herself further upwards, enough to watch as Abigail put everything into taking out the one opponent that they could actually see. Which….oh man the platforms were going to fall too weren’t that?

So she used the time that she had available to reach the edge of the kaleidoscope of debris so she was outside the impact zone. At the same time her body began to shimmer, replicating the graveyard trick by blurring where exactly she was. Which might not impact Tetrad at all,but it at least made her feel better about it. She would not let this go to waste.

Amaryllis had the mobility, of course, to dodge. A silver chain would have been more than enough for her to painlessly roll out of the way of Abigail’s comet-sized ass. But, in this form at least, there were no challenges that Amaryllis would shirk from. The swan song of the gravity girl will be received head on. With what remained of her momentum, the Knight of Rose spun in the air once more, slamming her own derriere into Abigail’s.

It was no contest. Vertical strikes were the realm of any heavyweight Keijo player, and if not for Amaryllis’s own well-trained glutes, she very well may have been looking at a shattered pelvis. It reminded her chiefly that her vitality was never that great to begin with, and the two plummeted, tumbling alongside the falling platforms. Was it an Izuna Drop? No, the buttocks-vice that Abigail grappled Amaryllis with was too tight, too difficult to disengage from. This was the Lover’s Dunk, a double suicide technique used to ensure only in team fights, taking out the stronger foe when your own resources were exhausted. What bravery. What devotion. If they were fighting in a life-and-death duel, Amaryllis may very well have pulled her Devil Trigger, then and there.

But this was Keijo. And she still had one last piece of outerwear to discard.

“You have my respect. And my shorts.”

An instant before they both fell into the frothing waves, Amaryllis twisted out to the side, ripping free of her last bit of clothing. Powerful as the vice grip of Abigail was, the gravity girl had failed to realize that she grappled Amaryllis by belt and denim, not by the flesh underneath.

The Meteor fell, and the Black Rose floated, her arm stretching out. All that bought only half a second, and no platforms were nearby. If nothing was done, then all Amaryllis did was flex a little on Abigail.

But what about Tetrad?

To answer that question you would have to look back in time by several seconds, and keep a close eye on the chain holding the platforms together. If you looked hard enough, you would see Tetrad suspended on one of the said chains. She’d be looking at her hand of cards. If you could see her cards, you’d see she was holding a Red 5 and 7, two Blue 2s, followed by a 3, 6. 7, another 7, and a 9. She also had a Yellow 3, three 7s, and two, Draw 2s. And with her most recent draw, a Green 5.

Tetrad hadn’t been doing very much with her magic this match, largely because of how limited she had been in her options. She chose to play a green 8 under Amaryllis’s coat before the match began, and she hadn’t received much in the way of green cards or 8s as the match carried on. She had been bluffing the entire time, pretending to have a strategy when there wasn’t a single thing to play. The reverse green card she got just seconds after her recovery, and just now she drew a green 5. That was all it took to turn an entire fight full of bluffing into a real threat. Perhaps if Tetrad was a kinder person, she might hold off on executing such a thing. But that wasn’t possible with all the trash talking the beacon girls had done. Coupled with how Alicia could break the rules by flashing magical light into her face, this was probably a long time coming.

Not that Tetrad was a merciful person to begin with.

Tetrad flung a green 5 in Alicia’s direction. Her method of avoiding Tetrad’s eyes was different, but she could be found the exact same way. A highly talked about member of beacon was all too easy to divine the location of. She then tossed two red cards off to the side, a 5 and 7 in that order. This did nothing but reveal her location and fortified her strength for a moment. She used this new found strength to swing under the chain and kick off of it, sending her plummeting to the water below. While she fell, Tetrad let all of the blue cards fall out of her hand and strike her body all over, making sure first and last cards to go were a blue 7. This healed up any sort of bruising that Tetrad had sustained from Alicia’s last attack. Physically throwing her cards wasn’t something she had to do. With just a thought, her cards could fly off to wherever she wanted them to go. Provided Tetrad was drawing from her hand and not one of her many decks. This allowed her to play cards faster than she could ever draw them. It had only been a few seconds and her hand was almost empty.

Her next act was to throw a yellow 7 into the approaching water, and a Draw 2 towards Alicia. It would fly under her rather than into her, but it would need a moment to catch up to the first card she had thrown in Alicia’s direction. And then when the moment was right, Tetrad commenced the final part of her trick: she teleported to her green card.

Tetrad was no mind reader, and she certainly couldn’t predict exactly where Alicia would have been when she decided to teleport to her green card. But tetrad didn’t give Alicia much time to react. She was not very high above her opponent and was still moving at the speed she kicked off of the chain at. Since Tetrad had used the yellow card last, she had some ability to guide her chest towards her target’s head. Tetrad did have a failsafe or two left should this not work, and was rather confident in her success. The question wasn’t if Tetrad was going to win or not, it was how much longer Alicia planned on dragging this out.

Needless to say, Alicia winced as Abigail and Amaryllis went down, She wasn’t sure why the one had decided to do that, it wasn’t like going in first meant anything when they would both be getting wet anyways. And she was certain that this competition was not worth sacrificing ones clothing like that.

That just left her and Tetrad, and a burning determination to win. There might have been some ruffled feathers from the trash talk, but as far as she was concerned the other girl had started it. So she hovered in place, sweeping the arena to try and locate her invisible opponent. Then the strike came. “Hm?” The impact of the card was, at such speeds, not hard to miss with them only wearing swimsuits.

As cards flew upwards, her mind worked. Tetrad was still going down, and she was clearly not simply planning to go quietly. There had to be some kind of plan, and based off of what she had seen before that meant….’Teleportation’!

But where, and how? Her eyes flickered this way and that, trying to discern what she was looking for. But in the process of doing so something caught her attention. It was Kimble and the other Beacon members, waving signs and cheering her on. If the motivation to defeat Tetrad wasn’t already high enough by her previous anger, that determination was all the fuel that she needed.

So she tapped into her powers, and expanded her vision. Not simply looking for what was invisible, but highlighting, refracting. With focus she could see the motion of the individual cards as they brushed past the particles in the air, where they were now and where they had been before, the paths they now followed, and the way they faced.

It was only moments that she had, but it was all she needed as her wings launched her to the side and out of the imminent path. It lessened what would have been a brutal direct hit to a glancing blow and she skidded on one of the platform fragments.

”Am I supposed to be impressed?” she called, all while her hand reached back to get rid of that card that had hit her before Tetrad teleported on to her back like she had with Amaryllis.

And then Amaryllis closed her fist.

The platforms, once shattered by her kick, retracted at lightning pace, fragments colliding with each other. Centered around the fragment Tetrad landed on, they pulled the two remaining combatants together once more. That was all Amaryllis achieved, before she hit the water and relinquished her command over her chains.

Tetrad had just thrown a yellow card, so she was able to control her decent, even if it wasn’t enough to hit Alicia. She was able to extend a hand and “catch” the ground, causing her body to spin a hundred-and-eighty degrees towards Alicia. It would have been nice to gracefully slide to a stop, but it was a rough landing that had her bouncing to her feet. The smile she had worn the entire battle was gone, she was wobbling backwards, and her eyes shifted to the corners of her sockets when she heard Amaryllis hit the water.

Now Tetrad didn’t have the same kind of emotional backing Alicia had. Alicia was on a quest for vengeance. Tetrad had made fools out of Beacon by pretending to be someone Alicia was unfamiliar with. This, paired with her friends and possible love interest cheering her on gave her a sense of determination and purpose to make her want to win. Tetrad didn’t have any of that. She wasn’t even aware she was a villain in someone else’s story. She did something she thought was funny and no one from beacon told her what she did was all that bad. It wasn’t like Tetrad had someone in the stands cheering for her. Emily might have been, but she didn’t see her. It wasn’t like Veronica was going to show up with a bright smile and cheer her on. Her previous employer had intentionally left for dead, and her squad mates never came to look for her. She was alone out here.

Or she thought she was.

She had not known Amaryllis long, but Tetrad knew she was a proud woman with noble air that clearly marked her as a knight. She fought so hard to win the last match by herself, and her last move in this game sacrificed her dignity and gave Tetrad an opportunity to continue. In Keijo, that was as close to a sacrifice as you could get. No one had ever gambled on Tetrad like that. Not her old squad mates, nor her new ones. Tetrad was no longer a sole competitor participating “for the lulz.” She was Amaryllis’s last hand, with her dignity and victory presented as collateral. Alicia wasn’t Tetrad’s enemy, but she was an obstacle that needed to be cleared. Being relied on so heavily filled her with determination. She smiled.

”Impress you? Nah.” Tetrad broke into a sprint and threw the remainder of her yellow cards at Alicia. None of them hit her, just as intended. She was unsure if she worked out what the color of each card represented, but she made sure to have the backing of the cards facing Alicia just so that she couldn’t see if they were green or not. And also, maybe, to hide the black draw 4 card she had thrown from view.

Tetrad’s erratic magic has a special trick when she exhausts her entire hand. The last card becomes a draw 4 card, and is five times as potent and can be the color of any card she wants. For this situation, the clear choice was to pick the red card for a massive strength buff. The red cards always made her stronger, but the effects were not very impressive when compared to magical girls that boasted true physical prowess. Not so when the buff was five times as strong, effectively putting Tetrad in the same tier as Penny or Amaryllis.

So now cards were flying past Alicia that may or may not be capable points from which Tetrad could teleport to. If Alicia looked in the direction of the cards, she might have missed Tetrad hulk out and her increase in movement speed. What would Alicia do against such a threat?

The platforms suddenly rocketing together was not what Alicia had expected would occur, but fortunately her landing meant that she was already decently braced for such a sudden shock. Now they were back on the water and ready to face off once again. Wills, determination, emotions, all colliding together and building to a crescendo of battle that would define this tournament.

“Good. I intend to pay you back for your mockery of us, she replied as her gaze narrowed. Cards went flying, a great number of them. With her sight active none were aimed at her, but she could not predict that they would not be used for teleportation or some other effect again. Yet now that she was holding none of her stops back, she could deal with that.

So her hands spread as she focused her magic, coalescing the same power that used to make her arrows. These were more like daggers, but they would serve their purpose as she tossed them. Cards would be met in midair, either obliterated by the application of magic or brought to a halt and rendered useless.

A minor distraction, but long enough for Tetrad to use her new card and come charging in. Eyes widening in worry, Alicia darted backwards as she crafted new projectiles in her hands. But these were not to be used for attack. Instead she waited, one pace, two, before hurling them downwards while slamming her foot onto the edge of the platform that Tetrad was on. After all, they might have been pulled back together but they were still shattered; the boundaries where they had been broken apart remained. Explosions from those projectiles would help make up for the force that she lacked as that side was pushed downwards towards the water.

Hopefully some air time would be caused from the necessity of jumping to safety, perfect for Alicia to spin to the side and launch a strike in that direction. Stll, if it didn’t work, she would be in serious trouble. There was no time to doubt, only to act.

Just like Alicia had predicted, Tetrad jumped to clear the platform before it sank. She was no dummy, and was well aware that any time spent off the ground made her much easier for Alicia to deal with. But it wasn’t like she had much choice. Tetrad’s sharp reflexes enabled her eyes to trail Alicia, but even with this Herculean body she had, she would not be able to avoid it.

A decisive blow was going to be landed any moment now. Maybe this attack wouldn’t put out Tetrad, but it would weaken her. And as she got weaker, she would lose her only advantage over Alicia. She did have a fresh deck of cards to call on, but playing one would remove her enchantment and essentially restart her to the beginning of the match. It was also evident that Alicia had discovered a way to deal with her cards, which made relying on them that much less palatable. If Tetrad wanted to win, she had to do something now.

As a gambler, Tetrad found it important to understand the loopholes in the rules of any game. Sports were no different. As an example, Alicia was going to charge in with her chest. If her chest hit anything on Tetrad, it would be considered a legal move. Tetrad would not be allowed to retaliate by punching her in the face. Tetrad would also not be allowed to punch her in the chest, as the rules clearly stated you couldn’t strike anyone with anything but your rude bits. But it could stand to reason that you were at least allowed to touch these areas, otherwise a strike could never be made.

”You didn’t let me finish.” The only thing Tetrad had time to do was lean backwards. Her upper torso was almost parallel to the ground when Alicia made impact, slamming her right in the rib cage. Tetrad was reminded that she wasn’t especially durable when the air was ejected from her lungs. But gritting past the pain, she was able to bend her spine and curl her hips and shoulder towards Alicia. Just enough to trap her breasts between her armpit and hip bone. Then in typical anime fashion, in .0145 seconds Tetrad said: ”It was supposed to disappoint your girlfriends!”

…Before using her free arm to deliver a palm strike to her own breasts. Since they were level with Alicia’s head, the force of her palm strike would be delivered directly to Alicia’s face.

Unaware of the thoughts racing through Tetrad’s head, satisfaction at the sharp hit faded into confusion at the grapple as well as the taunt. ‘Girlfriends?’ A thought interrupted as she struggled against the lock, just before getting smacked in the face by Tetrad’s unorthodox blow. ”Ow!”

But determination and grit caused her to push through the pain, and to make another move of desperation. After all, there was one other facet to the rules that had gone un-exploited for this entire tournament. One she aimed to take advantage of as she braced and pushed forward. Her first few steps were slow, picking up speed before her wings flared out as she threw herself forwards.

It was all with a purpose in mind of course, as she attempted to exert her strength to just outright bowl over Tetrad and bring her down to the platform. There, with this admittedly strange position and the full leeverage of bust, she wasted no time in going for the three count pin.

Being slammed into the ground had momentarily distorted Tetrad’s senses, and further weakened the gambler. She struggled, but could not escape the hold Alicia had over her. The audience held their breaths in anticipation as Dan lifted his fin once, then again, and…

“TIME’S UP!” The dolphin squeaked, and a buzz sound echoed across the arena. “The match is over! Now, please gather together for the announcement of the victors!”
Amaryllis and Abigail, having already climbed out of the water, made simple leaps to join the two girls wrestling on the broken platform.

”Ummmm...” Abigail reached behind herself and pulled Amaryllis’s swimsuit out from behind her back. ”You probably want this back.” She offered with a smirk.

Dan’s red stage landed before the girls, and Dan clapped his fins enthusiastically. “What a heart-pounding fight! Both sides really went all out, to the point even the arena itself was wrecked. Very impressive! But only one team can be crowned the Prize Queens of Keijo! And so, the victor will be declared by a scoring system,” he dramatically spoke, and a podium magically lifted him up, allowing him to look the girls eye-to-eye.

“It was a close call. But, the winning team has shown from the very start of the match that raw power and determination are not enough to win. It also requires the willingness to take risks, ingenuity, guts, and passion for the art of Keijo. So, I will declare that the winners are...AMARYLLIS EVENINGS AND TETRAD OF TEAM BEAUTY!”

The audience was suddenly thrown into a cacophony of cheers. Lily screaming and hopping on top of her seat, and Helga projecting her voice with enough power to crack the glass ceiling. The Beacon side stayed silent except for Sally who made a loud jeer, staring with displeased or nervous expressions. Sylvia then began clapping as a sign of respect, slowly followed by the rest. Dan then summoned two white sashes with the words “PRIZE QUEEN” written in gold on them, not unlike those given to beauty contest winners, and placed them on the winning duo with a single swift motion. “CONGRATULATIONS!” Dolly, carrying a red satin pillow with two gold coin sitting on it, then stepped towards the two and gave them the coins. “Congratulations on becoming Keijo champions.” And so, a single post with a month in the making has concluded…

---

The next day...

The park in the central island was lit by countless colorful lamps as a crowd of magical girls centered around the great stage, taking seats in preparation for tonight’s show. “Welcome, boys and girls!” Dan was wearing a flashy mullet and star-shaped glasses, wielding a tiny microphone in his fin. “For tonight’s talent show, we have a multitude of bright young talents ready to make their debut on the stairs to superstardom! Some yearn to be idols, to be revered and worshipped while others seek to astonish and surprise. But all are welcome to hop on the stage, for it shuns none!” He looked to the side, and saw Lily give a nervous glance. “And now, our very first performer, it’s Lightning Lily performing ‘Boo!’”

At the cue, Lily first clutched her microphone, looking a bit nervous; thanks to the magic of the stage, she had changed her look to that of a modern idol including a pair of goggles on her head. With a little push from Helga, she stumbled forwards with a cute yelp, and smiled as she waved to the audience. “This is a Japanese song, so hopefully there’s no weeb-haters here, haha,” she added, before she stopped at the center, and focused; soon enough, an illusion formed around Lily, setting her on an idyllic Japanese river bank. And then, she began singing.

Lily’s Song

Once the song was over, she breathed out in relief that she managed to pull off the entire song without fumbling, likely thanks to the magic of the stage, and waved again at the audience. “Thanks for listening, everyone!” Dan clapped his fins together.
“Wonderful, wonderful!A cute and energetic song always gets me pumped up! Now, please welcome our next performer, The Great Aurelio!”

Following that announcement Aurelio strode out onto the stage dressed in his normal magical attire. “Greetings ladies and gent” He would call out as he walked towards the center of the stage. “Now I’ve got a nice and easy game I would like to play with all of you but I’m going to need a volunteer”

Sally bounced up first, her hand up in the air. “Ooh, pick me, I’ll volunteer!”

“Great.” He would say as he pulled out three playing cards and a large screen flickered to live above showing his hands to everyone in the audience “This game is a nice and simple game, it only involves three cards. You’ve got This card” He would say flipping over one of the cards to reveal that it ‘This’ written on it before shuffling it to the bottom “This card” he would flip the next card also revealing that it said ‘This’ before shuffling it to the bottom “And you’ve got That card” he would flip the last card to reveal that is said ‘That’ before shuffling it to the bottom. “All you have to do is keep track of That card, ready? Go.”

This’n’that

Sally blinked, amazed by the trick, before she smiled and waved as she went back to her seat. The Beacon girls clapped loudly, and Sylvia found herself whistling in cheer before she blinked and calmed herself down.
“Thank you all, hopefully next time I can put on a full show” Aurelio would say bowing lightly as he wandered off stage to allow the next person on. Dan was once again Clapping his fins in delight “Simply Wondrous. A fine display of mundane magic. But now, please welcome our next performer!”

In the backstage, two girls were listening to a song using headphones that Dan provided to them. “I think this would be great Su,” Helga spoke, pointing to a magically generated hologram that showed the two of them wearing qipaos and dancing. “I know you love that Chinese stuff, and the dresses fit the song too! Please?”

Su did not answer right away. She was watching the simulation and nodding along with the lyrics. She knew Helga was going to pick something silly, which was fine. Su didn’t mind singing along to something like that. But the dance moves…

”Seems dancing has changed a bit since I last did it.” She struggled to keep a smile up. The type of dancing she did back in the day was more akin to martial arts or ballet. This new breed of dancing was more about displaying emotions rather than creating them in the viewer. It looked very amateur to Su, bordering on humiliating. ”Well, I think we should keep this one in mind, but I feel like doing something a bit more challenging.” She placed her hands together and looked into Helga’s eyes. ”There might be some better options we haven’t discovered yet. Maybe something like, um, a classical Chinese dance with Japanese outfits!” Which was not to say that the Japanese didn’t have some embarrassing outfits, but Su was willing to meet Helga half way.

“I hear some whispers in the back,” Dan spoke, this time a bit louder. “They must have something special prepared!”

Helga bit her lip, and took Su’s hand. “This is all the challenge you need Su! It’s showtime!”
And then, sparkles surrounded the two as they transformed into their new dresses. Helga dragged Su out onto the stage before her hair managed to completely change color; it gradually swept up, turning white as fresh snow, like a tide of bright winter over dark autumn. “Thanks for waiting y’all!” Helga greeted them, grinning from ear to ear at the excitement she felt.

”Wai-!”

Dan nodded. “And now, please clap your hands along to Su and Helga’s lovely duet: ‘AiDee!’”

Su and Helga’s Duet

After the song, Helga took Su’s hand, and bowed at a comical angle to the applause from the audience; Lily clapped her hands the loudest, seemingly loving the performance. “You’re welcome, y’all!”

Su cleared her throat. ”That was...” She smiled. ”A lot of fun, actually. We’ll have to get a room set up for karaoke and dancing in the hotel when we get back. I might even make use of it on the occasional weekend.”
“You betcha!” Helga answered, walking out with an amusingly smug look, as if she had won a contest. Dan squeked.

“That was...Marvelous,” he responded. “It’s like flowers were blooming in song form. But now, please welcome our next performer!”

---

A Song To Be Sung

&

_{.:⋮A Song To Be Sung⋮:.}

Penny was admittedly nervous as she wound her way towards the changing room that Chloe had been granted for use in preparing her stage show. It wasn’t because she was nervous being in front of a crowd, as while she had been minorly afraid of that in her past life the knowledge that she could bench and then crush a car works wonders against a simple fear of public acting.

No she was nervous, because she still didn’t know exactly what it was she had signed up for and the fact that she was going to be performing it alongside Chloe, thus ousting her close connection to the petit mage to Beacon. To be fair it was a lot more of the former then it was the latter, yesterday had damaged the mechanical girls faith

“Hey” She’d call out as she finally stepped into the changing room “Got your message”

Immediately upon opening the door, she'd be met with the sight of Chloe right in the middle of undressing her normal non-magical girl attire, having just removed her gothic dress, leaving her in nothing but her undergarments...which were about halfway off.

“Oh, hello Penny.” Chloe grinned, stopping her disrobing process. “I was hoping to get changed before you got here~” There was a tone that said no, she totally meant for things to end up like this.

Penny was transfixed by the sight before her. In a sense it was nothing new, Chloe's magical outfit was hardly something that preserved her modesty, but that fact never really seemed to stick, possibly due to the magical nature of the outfit, it was hard to say for certain.

What was certain was Penny’s inability to tear her gaze away, and the short circuiting of her higher brain functions. As the image of a partially disrobed, grinning Chloe did a number of things to the mechanical girl.

The soft click of the door closing behind her snapped Penny back to reality. Causing her face to rapidly take on a shade rivaling a tomato “Chloe!” she’d cry out in embarrassment as she covered her eyes, more for her own actions then anything, but the trick that Chloe had played was not without blame.

“W-Was that really necessary?” She’d ask idginatly, while part of her wondered at how this hasn't happened before.

“Was what necessary?” Chloe giggled, innocently as she walked over to Penny. Still with a bra half-off her shoulder, she wrapped an arm around Penny's, squishing her arm between her chest as she dragged her into the room. “Could my dearest Penny be accusing me of teasing her or something?”

Penny’s immediate response was to reply with a resounding Yes! Or it would have been such were she not struck by the wonderful sensations from her trapped arm as she was lead across the room. Fighting through those feelings while also trying(and failing) to rein in her blush she would eventually be able to get out a quiet mumbled “Y-Yes. Yes you are” nevertheless she didn’t resist following the smaller girls lead.

“What can I say, you make it so easy for me.” Chloe smiled, releasing Penny from her grip. She grabbed her bra strap, finally strapping it back on and getting at least semi-decent. “Ready for the show then? I got some of the Archive girls to help with the instruments and stuff, so you just got to focus on being adorable and singing.”

Once freed Penny would just grumble to herself about Chloe’s teasing. The blushing, peeking out from behind her hand, and the fact that she hadn’t really made more room between them ruined any hope of her gripes being taken seriously.

“Possibly” She would answer once she had gotten a better hold of herself, mostly by keeping her gaze restricted to either eye contact or the other side of room in regards to Chloe. “Still curious as to what it is we’re going to be singing” Absently she was rubbing her recently freed arm in what seemed to be a nervous gesture “Also curious as to what the costume is going to be” She would add, having not really thought about that until just now. Or at least that was the assumed reason that Chloe was currently wearing as little as she was. The other possible reason wasn’t something Penny was willing to let her self ponder right now.

“Costume? Oh right.” Chloe walked over to a closet, quickly sifting through some of the articles of clothing before pulling two out. One, was a low backed black dress that came just above one's knees, with a low cut in the front. The other was a typical suit. “Suit or dress? I think you'd look good in the dress.”

Penny let out a soft sigh as once again her questioning the song choice had been sidestepped. “I’m not going to learn what it is we are singing untill im out on the stage aren't I?” At this point she was starting to get a little annoyed, but there was only so much longer that Chloe would be able to keep it hidden.

Carefully Penny turned her attention to the outfits that Chloe had picked out. Trying to riddle out what their style meant for the upcoming show. Not having any success at that she moved closer to get a better feel for the articles. She was very tempted to take the suit, knowing that she would feel more comfortable in it. Yet she was rather certain that she’d be the only one in one if she did so and wasn’t sure if she wanted to stand out more or less. Another moment of indecision “I’ll go with your choice” She’d say reaching for the dress, after all Chloe actually knew what was going on. That was the reason, the only reason, nothing else and perhaps if she kept telling herself that she would believe it.

“Heh, alright. Suit for me!” Chloe grinned, handing the dress to Penny. “And don't worry, I'm not gonna let you go in totally unprepared.” She said, pulling on the suit quickly. “But we don't gotta a lot of time for practice so,” She twirled over to Penny, smiling up at the other girl. “How's your dancing? Wanna practice a bit to get warmed up?”

Penny couldn’t help but pout a bit at noticing that her choice had been less what about what she was going to wear and more about who was wearing what. Still she was starting to build a better idea about what was coming, but she was lacking any real guesses. “Umm... A few dry runs of the dance would be appreciated” She would agree as she shimmied into the dress, not bothering to power down or remove her swimsuit to do such. As she doubted that either her tattoos or mechanical form would match well with the dress.

“You’ve got the lead” Penny would say after she gave herself a quick once over in the mirror to make sure she looked alright. Which only involved minor adjustments, one of which was making sure that the necklace that Chloe had given her was visible.

“Okay.” Chloe finished dressing herself up in the suit, stepping closer to Penny. “This is gonna be a bit of a...fast dance.” She grabbed Penny's hands, interlocking her fingers with the other girls and pulling her close. ”Just take it slow and try to focus, hm?~”

“R-right” Penny would reply, no longer trying to puzzle out what it was the song might be. As her thoughts now on trying to keep her blush manageable and memorizing the dance steps. While also not getting too caught up in the feeling of having Chloe so close.

She really hoped that the magic of the stage would help out when they got there.

---

With a bit of practice, the girls were both ready. Chloe had already set the stage, and with a little help from the Archive girls had everything ready to go. It was a simple enough setup. Some spooks that Chloe summoned were playing the instruments, were ready to float up on stage and start their routine. Penny was positioned just off the stage, ready to make her appearance as soon as she was given a cue.

Was she really going through with this?

Part of her was still unsure. Why even was she going so far to win Penny over? In the end, it really wasn't like her. She should have just left her when she joined beacon. Yet here she was, still trying for it. Pride? Probably, part of it. The whole control thing too, was what it mostly was. They stole Penny from her, and she was getting her back.

Ahhh, the thought of anything dealing with Penny just made her hurt. But with this...with this, she should win her over. Ufu, after all, no one could resist such a song. But first...an introduction!

“Helllooooo, girls of Penrose!” Chloe walked out on stage in quite the flamboyant fashion. Her suit was not something she was used to wearing, but she liked to think she rocked it. Playfully, she took a seat on a nearby amp situated at the front of the stage, microphone twirling in hand as she crossed her legs and looked out over the gathered crowd. “I'm sure some of you know me! I know some of you cuties, too! But lemme introduce myself. Chloe Irving, Dark Magical girl extraordinaire, and hero! I really gotta thank you all for seeing little 'ole me. Makes my loving heart shudder with excitement seeing all you adorable little things, ufu!” She stood up on stage, smiling brightly and holding out her hand towards the gathered crowd. “But my pretty self isn't what you're here for is it? You want to see a show? Well, do I got a show for you all! A little performance by yours truly, so let's get started, shall we?” With a snap of her fingers and a wave of her hand, the ghosts began to play their instruments.

Off, hidden in the wings, waiting for her cue Penny watched Chloe with startling intensity. For as she stood waiting her thoughts oddly mirrored Chloe’s as she too wondered why it was she was following through with this. She stood hidden away in a dress, something that she disliked almost on principal, awaiting a time to literally dance to someone else's tune. It was strange for her. For while she often worked alongside others, she always held herself slightly apart from the various groups while also being connected to half a dozen at once.

But this was different, Penny could feel it, once she walked out onto that stage in full view of everyone, a line would be drawn in the sand. In the back of her mind, on the border between what was human and what was not, she understood that what was happening here was a public claiming. That Chloe was going to pronounce to the Penrose community that Penny belonged to her and no one else, the only question was how blatant was the message going to be.

Despite this, despite how this would affect Penny’s relationships with her few friends at Beacon, she found herself looking forward to this more and more. Because at the core of it all Penny was still just tired of being by herself. Tired of not feeling like she fit with any of the groups that were scattered around Penrose and beyond. Tired of not being wholly accepted. All things that Chloe offered plus more, and she only asks for Penny’s obedience. Asks, not demands.

And because of that Penny stood waiting in the wings ready to dance to Chloe’s tune. Ready to fall for her petite friend. Ready to tell the world and damn the consequences. All she needs is her cue.

The music started, an electric guitar and drum melodically playing over the stage. Chloe placed the microphone on a nearby stand, before twirling back to the center of the stage. One of her ghosts soon joined her, and the two began dancing together. A fast paced dance matching the music perfectly, and then abruptly they stopped, holding position as Chloe raised an arm as a piano started playing a few notes.

“You'll soon be hearing the chime, Close to midnight~”
A quick twirl, with Chloe's back leaning on the ghost as the song continued.
“If I could turn back the time, I'd make all right~”
The guitar picked up as the specter released Chloe, the two parting ways as more specters began to dance in an oddly beautiful way together. That was Penny's cue – to step out onto the stage, a handful of specters began crowding around her, seemingly mimicking to ask dancing with her.
“How could it end like this, there's a sting in the way you kiss me~”
Seemingly upon seeing this, Chloe locked eyes with Penny only a moment's hesitation before dancing her way across the stage and to Penny.
“Something within your eyes, Said it could be the last time, Fore it's over~”
Chloe offered a hand to Penny and pulled her onto the dance floor.
“Just wanna be, wanna bewitch you, in the moonlight!~”
Chloe pulled Penny close, as the first chorus started.
“Just wanna be, wanna bewitch you all night~”

Penny would continue the next verse as they started to dance the same fast paced dance that Chloe had been doing earlier.

“It keeps on giving me chills, but I know now”

The dance would continue to match the music as she continued to sing. The specters would move to frame them, all the while continuing their group dance

“I feel the closer we get to the last bow”
Suddenly they would separate, leaving a gap between them. Penny would look around for a moment while Chloe never took her eyes off Penny.

“I don't wanna end like this”

They would rush back to each other, picking up their frantic dance where they left off.

“But a sting in the way you kiss me”

As they danced Chloe would lean in close, seeming to whisper something into Penny’s ear. Then their dance would start to drift across the stage.

“Something within your eyes, said it could be the last time”

The number of specters on the stage would start to swell as they danced around the two girls on stage.

“'Fore it's over!”

Chloe and Penny would be overwhelmed by the specters, and lost for a moment, even as Penny’s voice kept singing out.

“Just wanna be, wanna bewitch you in the moonlight”

When they re-emerged from the mass of dancing spirits they would have undergone a costume change, and were now wearing pristine white versions of their original costumes.

“Just wanna be, I wanna bewitch you all night”

The two dancers closed back in, returning to each other's embrace. Locking hands, Penny and Chloe danced upon the stage, surrounded by the specters.

“Just wanna be, I wanna bewitch you one last time in the ancient rite~”
The music began picking up the pace, as the song neared its end.
“Just wanna be, I wanna bewitch you all night~”
The song reached a lull in the lyrics, with the guitar hitting a solo. Penny and Chloe continued to dance, the smaller girl's hands alternate between holding her hands and resting on her hips as they twirled, allowing Penny to bend backward. She released her grip, letting Penny spin in place, before catching her again.
Penny soon returned the favor, standing behind Chloe and running her hands down her sides in a practiced fashion. Just as the lyrics started up again, the taller girl grabbed Chloe by the hand, letting her slide across the floor until they were facing each other a few feet apart.
“Just wanna be, Wanna bewitch you in the moonlight.”
Slowly Chloe began walking back towards Penny.
“Just wanna be, Wanna bewitch you all night”
A moment later Penny would also begin a slow walk towards Chloe.

“Just wanna be, Wanna bewitch you in the moonlight”

All the lights of the stage had been cut, save for two spotlights centered on the two as they once again closed in on eachother.

“Just wanna be, wanna bewitch you all night”

The mass of specters stayed just on the outside edges of the light dancing their mad dance. As the two met and embraced again. Just as the light on them would start to slowly fade.

All night!

A ghostly ‘Oh woh-woh-woh, wohh!’ would echo out, as the end of the song was reached. The light cutting in tandem with the conclusion.

The lights remained dimmed for only a moment, and when they cut back on, Chloe was embracing Penny, lips locked in a kiss. She hadn't exactly told Penny that would be happening, but it was. With the entire crowd watching in front of them, but by the time Penny could probably protest, Chloe released her and turned to face the crowd.

“And that's all, lovlies!~” She grabbed the mic from a nearby ghost, playfully smiling at the crowd. “Thank you for listening, hope you enjoyed mine and my friends angelic voice! I'll see you lovelies around Penrose later, ta-ta!~”

And the curtains fell on the performance, Chloe and the specters bowing in tandem, before the lights shut off, and the performance ended.

---

The walk back to the changing room would, at first pass, seem like it was the calm before the storm. As Penny had yet to say anything since she had been kissed on stage, and there was a focused determination in her eyes that matched oddly with her apparent jitteriness. Often during the walk she would quickly start and then abort some action. Shaking her head everytime she did so.

Yet, there were also a few things that proved that the actions at the end of the show had been well received. Penny refused to let go of Chloe, was one of them. Be it an arm around the shoulders, a guiding hand on the back, or even holding hands, Penny refused to not be in contact with Chloe. There was also her smile. Penny was constantly fighting to keep it contained but it kept slipping and revealing itself to be a massive grin that matched the wonder hidden in her eyes if one looked for it.

”Chloe” She would say softly once the door to the changing room had closed behind them. She once again she started and then abandoned some course of action. Taking a breath ”Would you..” a few different options ran through Penny’s mind as she contemplated what it was she wanted to say “Can we talk about what just happened?” She would ask after a moment, just as softly.

“Hm? What's there to talk about?” Chloe asked innocently with her usual, playful smile. “You're being awfully touchy though. Were you that nervous?”

“N-not really” Penny would answer a light blush dusting her cheeks at being called out for her need to be in contact with Chloe. Not that it made her stop. “That moment at the end...” It took her a moment to rally herself, her gaze lingering on the smile that played on Chloe’s lips. “Was it always part of the plan?”

“Hmm, maybe.” Chloe giggled. “I thought if I told you, you'd get cold feet and I didn't want to ruin the entire performance.”

Penny could only agree with the other girl’s suspicion. As she was probably right. “Plus it wouldn’t be you if you didn’t have something mischievous planned.” She would add with a soft smile. For a moment she allowed herself to simply get lost in the other girls' eyes, before she shifting into her sealed form and slowly reaching over to take both of Chloe’s hands in her own, gently running her thumbs across the petite girl’s knuckles as she simply admired how it felt.

“You remember how I asked for some time” Penny would say, as she mused a bit over that moment. It felt like it had been so long ago, yet it had hardly been a week since. “I’ll admit I was expecting it to take longer, and that it most likely would have had we not gotten pulled in here.” For this Beach had gone a long way towards showing just how much Chloe ment to the monster girl. “But I've had enough time to figure something out” Penny would say meeting Chloe’s eyes with a true and vulnerable smile. “And I’m sorry for how long it took for me to realize It.” What ever happened next Penny knew she would remember it for the rest of her life.

“I love you Chloe.”

Upon hearing those words, Chloe at first said nothing.

“H-huh?” Her expression slowly shifted from neutral, to one of disbelief. “R-really? You're not pulling a prank, on me?” This was more or less what she expected, if she was to be honest – but she hadn't expected such a direct confession like that. Ah, ah, what was this pain in her chest? Her features slowly shifted to one of pure happiness. “Ah-ah, oh-my~” Chloe's giggles soon filled Penny's ears as she couldn't restrain her utter happiness at the words given to her. “Ah, y-you mean it? Ahahaha, oh-oh dear little Penny~”

Without warning, Chloe had latched onto Penny, in what could only be described as an aggressive hug. She wrapped her arms around the robotic girl, smooshing her own face against hers.

“Ah, Penny, My dear sweet little Penny, you've made me very, very happy.” This was perfect. So very, very perfect and right. She had won. Penny was hers, and she could so very, very much use this loyalty.

Unlike prior times when she had been hugged Penny returned the hug with just as much fervor as Chloe gave it. A part of her had been afraid she would have been too late, it was why she spent so much time thinking through her emotions trying to untangle them. But she wasn’t, and she hadn’t. “You’ve made me very happy too” She would say holding on to Chloe tightly, never wanting to really let go.

After a bit Penny leaned her head back so she could meet Chloe’s eyes again “Could...” she would trail off as a blush formed on her face and she glanced away “Could I... Kiss you again?” she would ask sheepishly. It was something she had to keep stopping herself from just doing the entire way here, as the kiss on stage had been too sudden and far too short.

“Ah?” Now that was a pleasant surprise. Her little Penny asking for that. Tonight was just full of those, wasn't it? Grinning, Chloe wrapped her arms around Penny's shoulders. “Hmmm...I'm in a good mood, so why not~”

Penny wasted no more time and quickly captured Chloe’s lips in a kiss filled with just as much emotion as their embrace. Pulling the smaller girl as close to her as she could. Everything else could come later, as for right now nothing else mattered.

---

Meanwhile, after a small break in the show...

"Oh boy, the show has been amazing so far!" Dan excitedly waddled back on stage like a penguin. "There's so much talent here! But the night's still young! Now, next up will be Kimble performing the 'Nya Nya Dance', whatever that means-"

"But before that, a surprise number!" Lily suddenly appeared from behind the curtains, snatching Dan's microphone from his fin, leaving Dan's beak to hang open. "Uhh...What?" Lily made an obvious wink to the audience, looking at a certain person in particular, before turning towards the side of the stage with a bright smile.

"Please welcome The Mysterious Madams!"

At that moment, two girls walked on stage:

New Romantic Rivals?!?

“Hello everyone! We will perform a magic show!”

“And to make it different from Aurelio's splendid performance, we'll do a very simple one.”

“Yep yep. We'll just make something disappear...”

“...The World.”

---

Flashback

Earlier that day...(lol flashback)

Lily decided to take a stroll on the beach with Alex, holding hands with him as she took in the sunny warm breeze.
“Wow, it’s another sunny day! But I wonder how long this will last? Dan doesn’t seem bothered, but I think some others are getting a bit antsy. Hopefully the talent show tonight helps calm everyone down.”

Alexander shrugged “Eh, what can you do? Some people just can’t get by without some kind of violence in their life. Sure, I’m not a bastion of peace myself, but at least I’m capable of just veging out. I’m not sure if a talent show would be enough to fix that, especially since us having magic would probably make anything anything at a talent show seem too mundane”

“Maybe...” Lily pondered as she traipsed down the seashore.
It was then that she happened to notice something strange in the sand; it seemed to slightly glitter in the sun, and she bent down to dig it up.
“Huh? Dan said the ocean is clean with no trash. Is this some kind of lost treasure?” She picked the small item up, and dusted off the sand, only to gasp as she realized what she was holding: an oil lamp, made of brass and intricately carved with detailed carvings.
“Whoah!” She showed the lamp to Alex.
“Could this be...It can’t be just a normal lamp, right? I’ve seen Aladdin, it must be those two in here! Now let’s see...” She rubbed the lamp, waiting to see what would happen.

Alexander sighed “Why do I have a bad feeling about this?”

As soon as Lily started to rub the lamp it began to release a stream of purple and pink smoke, slowly at first but that rapidly changed as it started to gush out. The smoke was almost alive as it seemed to dance around both Alex and Lily and as more time passed one could see a shape starting to take more defined form from the smoke.

At last the smoke stop pouring from the lamp and an unnatural breeze banished the smoke leaving in its wake two rather familiar girls as it was a grinning Violet and Sakura. There was a moment where the twins just blinked as they took in their surroundings as if they were confirming something. Even they were not immune to the strangely potent enchantment that seemed to engulf the islands, wearing swimsuits as they did.

“Ha! Take that you demented blow up doll!” Violet would call out in vindictive glee before waving at the couple in front of her. “Hey you two been having fun?” she’d ask with a teasing flirt to her voice.

Lily was first in shock at the resplendent beauty of the girls’ new look, followed by a big smile. “Violet, Sakura! It’s so good to see you!” She greeted them, only to blink and blush at Violet’s suggestive question.
“Well, yeah, this has been a lot of fun, I guess. But, it’s very strange.” She took Alex’ hand for comfort.
“Were you also kidnapped and brought here?” She asked, causing the twins to look at each other in complete confusion.

"Huh? What are you talking about Lily?" Sakura asked.
"Isn’t this what you wanted?"

Lily was now the one to look even more befuddled.
“Wait, what? I don’t understand.”

“Your vacation, duh!” Violet spoke back, looking a bit irritated.
“That was your wish, remember? You wished for ‘us all’ to have a fun and tropical vacation.”

Alexander slumped in visible relief after hearing that ‘So this whole thing was because of the wish junkies. Thank fuck, that’s a load off my back.’

Sakura put a hand on her sister’s shoulder, and looked at Lily with a pout.
“It was a lot of work for us, you know! We had to create an entire dimensional pocket just for you Penrose girls. You looked really happy as you left, too. Did you seriously forget all that?”

Lily frowned, and held her arm, as she averted her eyes.
“I...I don’t remember any of that. I’m sorry. So you granted a wish then?”

“Yeah, we did. We kind of hoped we’d get a vacation too since the wish managed to affect us, to be honest,” Violet admitted with an uneasy smile on her face.
“But of course Cafar busted us, and we got trapped in that stupid cramped lamp.”

“Not that cramped, mind you,” Sakura interrupted. “Cafar made it like a little apartment with curtains and stuff. We even got a dancer there to entertain us.”

Violet shivered. “Don’t remind me of that half-body freak.” She put a hand to her chin. ”Anyway, I think I know who made you forget...It was that damn dolphin.”

Alexander’s free hand tightened into a fist “Fucking dolphin” he mumbled

Lily gasped. ”DAN? No way!”

“Yes way!” Sakura responded, and crossed her arms with curled lips. “That Lesser Spirit taunted us about being the new manager, and tossed the lamp into the sea! What a jerk!”

“So are you asking us to kick his ass? Because I’m not convinced that he doesn’t want to eat me, so I’m not opposed to the idea.” Alexander spoke up “Or wait...would it be better to just us a wish for that?”

Violet lifted a hand. “I don’t think Dan will let you free that easily. He’s likely drawing on the fun and joy you guys have had to attain magical power, and that’s why he managed to get as powerful as he did. If that’s the case, we gotta surprise him.”

“Do you have any public place here where people could gather? I got a plan, but it requires as many present as possible.” Sakura spoke with a confident smile.

Lily nodded.
”I know of a place. I’ll gather everyone up! See you again in the evening! Come on Alex, let’s go!” She waved to the twins, and began running, beckoning Alex to chase after her with a giggle..

Alexander rolled his eyes at Lily before turning to the twins “I really hope you know what you’re doing.” And then he ran to catch up to Lily.

Sakura looked on with a knowing smirk.
“Geez, Lily’s such a ditz. But, it looks like she’s managed to open up a bit since last time. That’s adorable,” she mused. Violet shrugged, and sat down on a beach chair.
“I guess. Well, might as well catch some rays before this is over.”
“Agreed.”

---

Back in present time...

Dan was shocked, and made a strange sound between a squeak and a bubble pop. "H-How...Impossible! You should still be-" Before he managed to speak more, he wrapped his bottlenose in his fins.

Violet pointed at him.
“You're nothing but a fraud, Dan!”
“You were planning to keep these girls and boys trapped in this wish realm forever!”

Dan shook his head. "No, that's not it! I just-"

“And you even threw us in the ocean and began bossing the girls around!”
Sakura made a mocking duckface. “Pervert fish!”

“I'm a mammal!” Dan retorted, only to realize his mistake; a big sweat drop appeared on his head. "I mean, I was just keeping the place running while you were gone! Nothing bad with that, right? And besides..." Dan now looked towards the audience with a pleading look.
"Do you really want to leave? In the outside world, there's only pain and despair. You girls have to fight and suffer in an endless, pointless struggle, but here, there's no pain, and no sadness. Here, we can keep on having fun and relax. Doesn't that sound nice?"

"No..." Lily spoke from the side, her hands balled into fists.
"That's just escapism! Even if it sometimes hurts, life is worth living and experiencing. In fact, because we face hardship and challenges, that's why having fun has meaning!" She looked down at herself; she was still wearing the idol costume.
"Everyone here has experienced hardship, sure. Some have even lost their friends, or felt miserable. There were times we wanted to leave it behind. But even so, we continued protecting those we care about. It's because we're the ones who can fight. But staying here would throw all that away! It was fun, but it's time we end this vacation!" She turned to the audience and lifted her fist in the air.
"Who's with me?"

[Card Captor]

Alexander shrugged as he got up and walked to the stage from his seat in the back "I mean yeah, it was fun for awhile. But I'd get bored if I was stuck here forever. Also, I really don't like the idea of being kept in admittedly nice prison to fuel the power of some dolphin. I mean, who knows what your planing on doing with that that juice. The fact that you apparently threw the wish twins into the water to get rid of them doesn't really say good things about your character." He reached the stage and got on. Looking Dan straight in the eyes as he continued talking "So look, you had a good run, but now it's over. So let us go back home without a fight, or I'll find a way to stuff you and mount you over my TV, Lesser Spirit bullshit be damned!"

[ERode]

Amaryllis did enjoy her vacation. Heck, she could have gone for a whole month more.

Amaryllis also enjoyed the money. She more than doubled her magical bank account without even having to fight a single big thing.

Amaryllis, even now, didn't think that Dan was all that bad of a guy. It could be a universe of horror and torture, after all, but here, they were having fun at the beach and enjoying a nice, well-deserved vacation. When they left, there was a one hundred percent chance that some of the friends they've made here will turn out to be enemies over there.

And unlike Alexander, it wasn't like she'd actually get any bonus points for immediately sticking up for his girlfriend.

Sitting in the backrow of the park, the Beachside Feline closed her eyes, listening once more to the beauty that, in Penrose, she'd not have the chance to enjoy. The scent of salt and fruit. The warmth of the sun. The plush hotel rooms and the magical hot tubs. The whispering of the birds, the laughter that, even now, didn't feel so real. Because it wasn't real. Because the world wasn't saved yet. Because the memories hadn't faded yet.

...Make sure the new girl...doesn't make any of my mistakes...alright?

The eventual end to my contract with my patron I predict to be far more unpleasant than that, and also far along in the future.

...Hilaria suggests you determine exactly what it is your Patron truly desires as soon as you can, and do so in a way that leaves no room for doubt.

Somewhere far away, a monster emerged, plucking a child off the streets. Somewhere far away, a demon schemed, machinations undetected by their mortal foes. Somewhere far away, someone was crying, and no one was there to wipe away their tears.

Somewhere far away, her Sword laid without its Wielder.

Who was she?

Not a volleyball player. Not a jet skiier. Not a Keijo queen.

Not a listless girl, floating in the center of a pool.

Her soul was tempered in flame, her bones hammered a thousand times over. The Scion of Chains and the Usurper of Behemoths, twas her lifeblood that shielded fifty thousand innocents from supernatural malice. Her Silverlight reflected the true nature of one's heart, and her swordplay eclipsed the brilliance of myth and legend.

She was Amaryllis Evenings, Knight of Rose.

She could not stop here.

Rusted roses paved the road before Amaryllis as she found her place beside Lily.

"Dan. You have my gratitude for enabling this fleeting dream. But all dreams must end. The moon falls. The sun rises. The flower of your heart has not wilted to its core, and I pray that you do nothing to further besmirch my good opinion of you, for as beautiful as this dream was, the duty of a magical girl is not to dally in daydreams, but to end nightmares."

It had been an eternity since she grasped her sword, but she did so now, the silence of her partner more deafening than it had ever been before. Who knew the memory of that bastard Lesser Force could pull a smile to her features?

"Open the door, Dan, for those willing to leave. And when the time comes that our weary souls require respite once more, I hope you'll let us visit this Beach Resort again."

✦【I】 【A】【M】 【R】【E】【B】【O】【R】【N】✦

[Majoraa]

She never really agreed to this anyways. While Maura was out trying to look for Penny's patron, Eliza stayed on the sidelines as everyone enjoyed their apparent prison vacation. Celia? The empath mostly stored up as much postive energy as she could, then spent most of her time exploring. Yeah, she was bored.

But the witch had better reason to not be involved. Eliza still had a mission to complete, though capturing Shion there and then would be risky, and something inside her told her to destroy the place, to stop this, create chaos. Luckly she could repress it for everyone else's sake.

Atleast until the truth came out. Eliza's curiosity was peaked as she watched the dolphin's cover get blown. Apparently he wanted them to stay on the island forever? Once Alex and Amaryllis had sided with Lily and the sisters, Eliza decided to speak up as well.

“Look, I wanna atleast give ya' a chance to do the right thing, but if I don't go back to work, I'll have my head severed on an onyx plate. Hell, if ALL of us don't go back, there will be little to no one protecting our home! As far as I know, it's probably being attacked now.” she said, joining the others on the stage from her seat at the back, and looking at Dan.

“So either you let us go now, and we won't have to fight. Probably. Or you stay stubborn, and I finally tear this place apart. Or some of it, I don't know.” she shrugged. Celia walked up from behind Eliza, and tried to pat Dan on the head, using some Joy magic to calm and reassure him. “...We can visit.”

[Temporary]

&

~ Retconned Into Somewhere Or Another ~

A light thud reverberated through the interior of the Earth Bastion, carried through the metal of its construction - the sound of something intentionally quiet landing atop its hull. In the night air, the infiltrators hair and fur danced against a light ocean breeze, the bells that had been formed as part of her swimsuit held firm in her left hand to prevent unwanted noise.

It would be the first time Thalia had properly engaged with Penny Asimov for months - in her mind, their last encounter at Cindy's meetings barely counted. There was a sense of nervousness in her, but furthermore, an underlying, sickening sense of apprehension. The Boss of The Penrose Independent had made her stance painfully clear, enough for even The Vixen to recognise it. There was a good chance that her issues began the moment she fled from Penny's lair those months ago. In some ways, it felt like crawling back to an old flame for forgiveness, and she hated herself for thinking so.

She took another step forward, scanning the top of the Earth Bastion for an opening or hatch. Approaching Penny during the day would have been a smarter, more acceptable way to have gone about things, but in some perverted twist of confidence, Thalia felt more comfortable sneaking her way in, than making the choice to approach her inland. Her ears and tails were low, keeping her form obscured against the moonlight in case anyone on the island chose to look towards the ship. And onwards she pressed.

It wouldn’t take long for Thalia to notice something had gone wrong with her plan, in fact it hardly lasted more than a few steps into the Earth Bastion. For as she crept further into the ship it’s massive engine would start up and the darkened corridors of the ships internal network would light up.

For far above in the ships command deck, still riddled with blankets and pillows, Penny had awoken. She had woken up initially due to the light reverb of the intruders first landing. Paranoia about this place keeping her rest light. Internally she had cursed about not affixing the cloaking artifacts, as at this distance she knew nothing about who it was that landed upon her ship.

Once Thalia had entered however, Penny melded into the Earth Bastion more completely till she was effectively everything and everywhere in relation to her battleship. The lights in the corridors and the starting of the engine reflex due to seeing who it was that had come skulking about in the night.

“Thalia” Penny’s voice echoed out near the fox girl “What are you doing here?” her voice would ask thought there was notable tension in it. At the same time one of the walls ahead of Thalia began to twist and distort and Penny stepped through seamlessly not long after, though her feet never fully detached from the floor and her entire stance was tense and ready for anything.

In the back of Thalia’s mind, the sudden spurring of the Earth Bastion had been enough to suggest that her attempt at stealth had been thwarted. She didn’t care - in a small sense, she was impressed. It had come to her attention that Penny had somehow come to be in possession of the ship, but to see and experience it up close was another thing entirely, though technology had never been her strongest of suits.

Penny’s voice, though, resounding out around her from no source in particular, through her steps off entirely. Thalia had heard similar tones a number of times before; memorised them, even. Fear, distress, anxiety, distrust - she had become well acquainted with the words in which those emotions took refuge, and as the wall before her warped into the form of Penny, she took an instinctual, hesitant step back.

”Me? - I-I’m, not really doing anything, just, y’know, a-admiring the ship, it’s pretty cool and all, and,” Thalia retreated by another step, ears lower, avoiding eye contact, ”...I shouldn’t have come, I’m sorry. She said I had to, and she’s right, but… it’s fine~! I’ll just, uh… h-head out over here, I guess.”

Penny’s readied stance rapidly deteriorated as Thalia slowly backed off, as did her anxiety. In it;s place was something easier to read but harder to deal with “Really?” She couldn’t help but ask as she crossed her arms and shifted her weight onto her back foot “You decided to sneak into the Earth Bastion, my ship, practically my second Lair, just to look around and now you want to leave?” Penny said calmly, though the anger in her eyes told a different story.

“Fine then” she would say after a moment of tense silence, the corridors moving in response to Penny’s words. The way that Thalia had come from was rapidly changing into a simple straight hall leading out of the Earth Bastion, all the various doorways and turns being smoothed over. “If you want to run away. Again. There you go. I won’t try and stop you this time.” She’d say once she was sure that Thalia had seen the change. “But don’t expect us to still be friends next time we meet if you do”

”Second Lair… it’s nicer than the warehouse,” Thalia replied. Her head turned, and her gaze caught the shifting hallway. She was being deadlocked into a decision - stay, or retreat further. The claustrophobia of the situation was beginning to close in on The Vixen, she could feel it, until her hands clenched into fists to stop them shaking. Without looking at Penny, she stepped backwards up to the hallway wall, and slid down to the floor.

”Did you get some board games like I asked?” As she looked towards Penny, she wrapped her hands around her knees. Along with the joke, Thalia smiled. But the smile was one part of a complex expression, betraying facets of emotions utterly alien to the faces she once wore. More pained, more lonely, more sad, and more manifold - more scared than even the night she ran away.

Silently Penny released the breath she had been holding. She’d been afraid that Thalia would run but she needed the other girl to know that it was the last chance. Needed her to understand that if she ran it was over. She was thankful that it turned out well, but next came the hard part.

Audibly, and visibly Penny took a calming breath placing most of her anger off to the side, she wasn’t calm, but she was measured in her actions. “No” She would respond, her tone weary, as this conversation had the possibility of being exceptionally painful for the mechanical girl. “There hadn’t been much of a point after you ran” She would explain moving to sit across the hallway from her unexpected guest. The hallway expanding as she did, opening up so that both girls had a bit of space to themselves.

“You should see the warehouse now though, spent the last week cleaning up. You’d hardly recognize the place” Penny would add with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes as lurking just beneath the surface was all the hurt and confusion she’d yet to deal with, alongside all the anger. Yet if there was one thing that Penny knew it was that if you pushed too hard things broke.

”Haven’t had much time to play games recently, either,” were Thalia’s only words as Penny wandered over across from her. Somewhere in the back of her mind she had seen things going wrong. Being attacked, being exiled - a layer of distrust permeated her like a miasma, no doubt The Vixen’s influence. Moments passed in between Penny’s smile, Thalia clawing at something to say lest the conversation die within moments of beginning.

”Hope you’ve stopped storing your clothes in boxes if it’s cleaned up,” was all Thalia could come up with. With caution, she matched Penny’s smile halfheartedly, eyes trained to the floor away from the girl. Her words were quieter, and dissonant, and superseded with a layer of fear, afraid to voice something that would contract the hallway once more and force her back to the cold ocean breeze. A dull thud resonated through the hall as she leant her head back against the wall, tilted up to gain view of the ceiling, ”Wouldn’t want another girl to stumble onto your little collection, huh? I remember your face from back then, imagine it with one of your closer friends~”

Contrasting Thalia’s skittishness Penny was nearly motionless, her gaze never leaving Thalia as they spoke. Her legs and back were visibly merged with the titanic ship and throughout it part of her attention was diverted into the running of the Earth Bastion to ‘keep her hands busy’ as it were. She would be patient.

“Nope, still got them in boxes” Penny would reply evenly from her spot. There were dozens of things Penny wanted to ask, or more likely scream, the fox girl across from her, but she could see the fear that was near to overwhelming her. “Moved where the boxes are though” She would continue “No one I wouldn't want to see them will be finding them” With all of her clothes being stored in her room at Chloe’s apartment, it was an easy statement to make.

“I’ve got to ask though” Penny would start after a moment of silence, her voice still even but once again weary “Why?” The core of the issue really. The one thing Penny couldn’t understand “Why did you run?” She’d ask plainly keeping all but minor hints of her pain from leaking through. She’d wait a few beats “Or why seek me out now? If the first is too much right now” She desperately wanted her first question to be answered, yet she knew she would be fine not knowing. She’d grown past it, for the most part, thus she also offered a, hopefully, easier path if Thalia needed it.

Thalia hesitated. She couldn’t answer to Penny why she ran; the reason why felt as though it would insult her more than appease her. The indecision was easy to read upon her face, as she grit her teeth and directed her gaze further away. The surroundings remained silent as she thought, blinking back tears and digging her nails into her arms, retreating further into the ball she had formed of herself.

”Eden said to me - talk to Penny, or kill yourself,” she finally said, burying her face into her knees. Her ears fell flat against the top of her hair, and Thalia closed up, blocking line of sight from Penny to her face, and vice versa, ”Turns out suicide is a lot harder when there’s something in your head that wants to live, more than it wants to kill. I-I… didn’t know what else to do after that.”

There would be a moment of silence after that admission. One in which Penny’s heart silently shattered. The look of hurt and sorrow that spread across her face going unnoticed by Thalia due to burying her face. ‘I... suppose that… says everything really’ Penny thought as she grappled with that truth. That talking to her was ranked as a worse situation than killing one’s self.

For a second, Penny slipped away. Seeking refuge within the cold, emotionless, grip of the Engine. Within that second it contemplated tens of millions of ways to terminate Thalia and which would be the most effective.

Two separate things stopped it from initiating the attempt.

“Well” Penny would say her voice and face unchanged from the last time she spoke, and her momentary loss of humanity going unremarked. “Here we are.” The look in her eyes had changed though now completely closed off to Thalia. Not hateful or wrathful, or sorrowful. Just flat indifference. She would continue the conversation. Because she had no way of knowing how that stupid dolphin would react if she went about trying to kill Thalia. And even if Dan did nothing, Thalia wasn’t worth waking up Chloe.

That could come later.

“Mind if I ask who Eden is?”

”The head of that newspaper, the PI. Told me her name was Eden Campbell,” Thalia answered, quietly. She hadn’t noticed any changes in Penny - keeping her face hidden. And as she continued to speak, thinking of the past, she began to cry, ”Sh-she said I was an animal, and she’s right. I-I ran away from you, ‘cause every time that’s happened before, people died. Sometimes they were people I knew and… were my friends. You’re the last person I’d ever want to hurt, but everything I ever do hurts people. So that’s what you do with an animal you can’t control, right..? You put it down.”

“That’s…” Penny would trail off, uncertainty showing through her tightly guarded facade as she processed this latest bit of information. It was at odds with what a lot of what she had been assuming for most of this time and she wanted to believe that things weren’t as bad as she had thought.

But it was difficult, due to having been potentially burned by Thalia already, as well as the situations with Veronica and Alicia, and Penny wasn’t sure if she could handle it again if Thalia was lying to her now. Regardless of her Oath to Beacon.

Yet it was feeling Thalia’s tears hit the floor that tipped the balance. “Thalia” Penny would say softly her gaze critical of the fox girl across from her constantly seeking any hint of deception. “Do you…” she’d pause for a moment trying to determine the softest way to ask “Do you remember what happens when you Redline? Or is it all just blacked out?” She’d ask just as softly, because the answer to that had the potential to change things. Not everything, some damage was too deep to go back to how it had been, but hopefully enough things.

”I remembered the feeling,” Thalia said - distant, uncertain, and trembling. Pulling on the memory of that feeling, the blackened depths with which she associated her Monstrous Metamorphosis and The Vixen, was hard on her. It was something Thalia attempted to forget at all costs, every time it occurred, and though there were no lies in her account, within her voice was a gradually increasing note of anxiety, building with every second it remained in her head, ”I-I think I subconsciously lock away the memories, but I couldn’t get rid of that feeling, like my mind and body were collapsing in on themselves. That I was falling, and being crushed at the same time. I… I had to pick up the pieces and figure out what I’d done whenever I found the bodies. I let you see me like that, and when I woke up I wasn’t in the alley, and a-all I could think about was that feeling, and I, I didn’t know what else to do…”

Penny let her head drop back to the wall behind her, letting out a sigh as she did. “It’s always the smallest things” She would murmur to herself. She wanted to be mad, wanted to be angry, as in the end Veronica had been right. Thalia and Penny had put different weights to how they felt about each other, but the metallic girl couldn’t find it in her to blame Thalia for that, for not trusting Penny as much as Penny had trusted her.

Instead she was just sad at the loss. It was too late to go back. Too much had happened, for the both of them but they could pick up the pieces that still remained and try and start a new. “You carried me away.” Penny would say after a time “I had gotten injured and it looked worse the it was, you Redlined and rather than stay and fight any of the Beacon members that had shown you carried me back to the warehouse” she would explain her gaze distant for the first time in the conversation.

“I had assumed” she let out a weak chuckle at that, remembering an old adage about such “Assumed that you’re transformation was more like mine. I remember everything about my changes, you see, in perfect detail. Everything. Every single thought and reasoning, every bit of physical feedback. Burned into my memory forever more.”

“So I thought we would be able to talk about it when you woke up” Penny’s voice would crack due to the painful memories, but she would just let out a long breath before continuing onwards “But you just panicked and ran, and I had no idea why. I tried to call you for hours afterwards. I waited for you to come back. But you never answered and never came back.” There was no reproval in her tone as she explained things, just an echo of her loss and hurt.

”I shouldn’t have run… i-it’s been so hard,” she sniffled, finally raising her head from her knees to wipe away the tears, a faint, sorrowful smile on her lips at Penny’s account. They too were clearly not lies - Thalia’s eyes were bloodshot red, cheeks flushed, smile unstable and obscured. Her tears were a far cry from the girl she had shown to Penny those months ago, but though exaggerated, they were that much closer to her own truth, paired with her uncharacteristically cagey body language, and pained tone. Her own head fell back against the metal wall behind her, to gaze up at the ceiling, ”When I realised that I’d run away from you, I lost it again. The transformation tried to get me far away, but I-I got caught up in a cycle for most of the day. M-my phone was already gone when I took control back… Lothreen tried to talk me down, but I blamed her for it all and she vanished.”

”From there I’ve got… whole days and weeks missing,” she continued, leaning forward from the wall to nestle her chin into the crack between her knees. Thalia’s gaze half fell onto Penny, not really look at her, but into, through, and beyond her, to something completely other. Her furrowed brow and concentrated until the stare crossed the line between observing her former friend, and trying desperately to visualise something that she had no recollection of, ”I guess the transformation, or something like it… uh… took on a mind of its own? Eden called it ‘The Vixen’, so I suppose they got to know each other. It’s been… fighting me. Winning, u-up until recently. It… doesn’t want to talk to you…”

Penny wasn’t bothered by the intense gaze, too decentralised and too exhausted at the moment for it to really register. “Not surprising, that it’s developed its own self.” She’d say “Or that Lothreen disappeared. They are us minus human plus something else and the Gods have always been fickle.” To say nothing about how Penny herself could track the slow development of the Engine with each time she Redlined.

“You could use a Red coin” She would offer up after a moment of thinking “Or a White. Either of them should be able to help long term” Already her mind was at work for a way to help Thalia. “Short term it depends on if you’re still triggering due to stress and such, but I might have something that can help with that”

Shortly after saying that a small section of the wall would open up near Thalia and a small tray would slide out holding a moderately sized, pale white, oval stone. “It’s a Meditation stone.” She would explain “Focusing on the stone while holding it helps you recenter.”

Removing one of her hands from around her knees, Thalia reached across to the tray, and brought the stone close. For a moment, she sat simply looking at it, running it across her hand, feeling its surface. Since the destruction of Purification Artifacts, she hadn’t used anything of similar nature. Holding something of that calibre brought about a vague sense of nostalgia.

”What are… red and white coins?” she asked, glancing up from the stone cupped in her palm to look back at Penny, ”I haven’t really been able to keep up with stuff recently. I got some bits from The PI, but after that went through… I still don’t know what happened at the graveyard, either. Kinda feels like Penrose has left me behind a bit, ha…”

“Graveyard was the scene of a battle due to a horror nearly being summoned.” Penny would explain broadly “Beacon and anyone who made it there went up against a Monster boy and Monster girl siblings and their brainwashed minions.” She would rub her shoulder in phantom recollection at her own encounter at the graveyard. “We came very close to an apocalypse from what I hear.” She would add with a shrug before moving on.

“The Red and White, on the other hand, are a couple of new Coins that have started to circulate. Red Coins reshuffle your magic, and from what I’ve seen and heard the changes can be very drastic. One of my friends who used one went from being one girl with a water spec into twins with reinforcement and psychic.”

“White Coins are from Beacon and are powerful purifying agents. They break any prior Patron bonds that you might be suffering under and shift them to Beacon itself and come with an upgraded Spark that actively rejects corruptive agents. They are a hell of a trip to use, but not a bad one.”

”Hm…” Thalia uttered, quietly, nodding along to Penny’s explanations and recounts. She took a moment to think. Stone in hand, she didn’t attempt to meditate on it, nor seriously look inwards to herself. She merely thought, for a short amount of time, about the past, and herself, and her Patron, and Eden. And everything that had led up to the past months. By the time Penny had stopped talking, the quietness clung to the space for a brief while longer, as Thalia sat and stared towards the floor.

”I… uh…” she began again, abruptly, after several beats of silence. Her gaze slowly drifted from the floor, away from inside herself and back out towards Penny. Where she had gripped the stone until her knuckles ran white, Thalia loosened her clutch, so that the built up tension could be released, ”...I-I still haven’t said it yet. That I’m sorry for leaving you. Doesn’t… really make up for anything, o-or mean anything right now… What if I just upped and ran away again tomorrow, right? - haha… ha… um… I-I’d be willing, to trying out one of those coins, but I dunno how The Vixen’d react. A-and, before any of that, I just... want you to know I’m sorry.”

Penny didn’t seem bothered by the stretch of silence, content to simply let it reign freely. Still he reaction to Thalia’s words was, if anything, a curious almost non-reaction at first. Her gaze remain locked onto Thalia, as it had been for most of their conversation, but it seemed more distant after hearing what was said, more like she was just staring into space rather than observing.

Slowly her gaze would return to the here and now. When it had returned she would speak.“I believe you and I accept the apology in the spirit that you are giving it” Penny had not yet forgiven Thalia however, and a small part of her wondered if she ever truly would. “If you truly want to try one of the Coins talk to Cindy.” She would go onto say “She’s got a stockpile of Red’s, I believe. That would be the quickest way to get one. Once we get out of here I should be able to get a White coin for you if you need one. It’ll take a day or two however.”

”Can’t believe doing this was this easy.” Thalia said, accompanied by a quiet, light laugh. Her position on the floor shifted a bit, no longing withdrawing entirely into herself as it did so, ”I don’t know what else to say… not sure where to go from here. If you can get a coin, I’ll try it. She won’t like it, though.”

Pushing off from beneath, Thalia slid up the wall behind her, taking to her feet.
”Do you, uh, want this back?” she asked, holding out the meditation stone still clutched in her grasp, ”You probably don’t want me staying on the ship after all, with the whole… ‘losing control’ and ‘lack of trust’ bits, ha.”

Penny just gave a tired smile as her friend stood up, glad that she was feeling better, even if she wasn’t quite sure if she herself was better or worse off just yet. “You can hold on to it” Penny would say gesturing at the stone as she moved to stand as well. “I don’t need it right now. In fact, I bought it because of situations like this” She would say chuckling at the timing of it all. “I’m opening up my lair, and some of the surrounding builds as a sanctuary slash homeless shelter. There are a lot of girls out there that don’t have anywhere to turn to. I’m planning on changing that.” She would explain with quiet conviction.

“So, while your unfortunately right, I can’t say I’m fully comfortable with you staying on the ship” Both for the reason’s Thalia had offered, much more the latter than the former, but also that Penny wasn’t sure how Chloe would react to Thalia. “You’re always welcomed at the warehouse.” She would say honestly, before pausing as something occurred to her “You’ll likely end up there anyway. Cindy offered to help out with the project.”

”Okay, yeah… Thanks,” she replied, with a smile far less pained than before. Being right about their current standings was a harsher reality check than expected, but Thalia had anticipated it since they began talking. The hardest part to come to terms with, was that their previous friendship could never be restored. She had expected that too, though. All that remained was to pick up the pieces, ”Did you ever change your number? I-I’ve got some money at my… uh, current lair. If I get a new phone, could we talk some more?”

“It’s still the same” Penny would confirm, her smile becoming less tired and more relaxed and hopeful “Feel free to give me a call. Anytime” she would add before stepping closer to give Thalia a small hug. She moved slowly, giving the other girl time to back away if she wanted. “You’re still my friend Thalia” Penny would say softly “We’ll get through this”

Wordlessly, Thalia stepped forward, and accepted the embrace. For who knew how many months she had been without affectionate touch, without compassion, and without empathy from another. The last time had been Penny, just hours before she ran. For all the strength she had attempted to muster to deal with the mess she had made, still Thalia felt closer to tears than ever before, in the embrace of the closest friend she had ever known. She didn’t want Penny to see her cry again.

”Well, then,” she said, pulling away from the hug, and quickly turning her back, to keep the tears in her eyes hidden from view, ”I-I’ll see you later~! Kitsune Operative First Class, returning to base!”

And then, she took off, out of the Earth Bastion, and into the night of the resort island.

~

Penny would keep track of Thalia until the foxgirl was out of sight before letting out a silent sigh as her form would break apart and meld back into the Earth Bastion, as back in the command tower her eyes would open. The truth of the matter was that Penny had never left her nest of blankets, or at least her true body had never left. Gently she pulled the still slumbering Chloe closer to her as she resettled into the mass of blankets and pillows.

She would be spending the rest of her night reviewing the conversation that she had just gone through, alongside her normal introspection about how she felt. All together she felt that it had ended well, and had high hopes about the future.

[DarkwolfX37]

Summer stepped out from behind Dan. "Aww, the beach episode is over and I didn't get any screen-time!" She patted Dan on the head in a gesture of condolence. "I wouldn't mind staying for a while longer, if that's okay?" She glanced at Violet and Sakura with pleading eyes. Whether or not her request was granted, she'd stick with it. She had made some great sketches of Binky from the shadows the island and the events, so she was happy, even if she had to return to Penrose.

---

"..." Shion stood in silence as the others debated. She didn't really care about the vacation or it ending, but... "What's going to happen to all the magic in this place? What about all the coins that the dolphin has?" If she could just get her hands on that dolphin, maybe it'd be enough in one fell swoop... Though given that he was apparently a Lesser Spirit, perhaps he didn't have as many as she hoped.

[Flamelord]

Obviously a lot had happened at the stage show. Alicia had come to support Aurelio in his stage efforts, and she was suitably impressed by the trick that he pulled. So she considered her time well spent on that alone.

What happened with Penny raised an eyebrow high, yet there was little time to question it as the Djinn sisters made their appearance and revealed what was going on to everyone there. So it had been a trick after all, how about that? Seemed she owed someone an apology for doubting.

And so the plea was made, lily stepping forward to call on those present while Dan presented his own premise for why they should remain here. It was true, there there was no violence, even if it was enforced on penalty of his wrath. There were still rivalries, but she had gotten to interact with people she never would have met outside of a crisis. That had to be worth something.

Yet the world was still out there, and it moved on without them. As easy as it would have been to remain, that was not the right choice. It was not the path that she had sworn to walk down.

Rising from her seat, Alicia glanced over at Sylvia and gave her a firm nod. "As pleasant as it would be to remain, it would be selfish to do so when there are so many back home who need our aid. Take us back," she said, adding her voice to those calling for Dan to end this.

[BrokenPromise]

T e t r a d

” The many must lose so that the few may win.”

— Tetrad

(Earlier in the talent show)

When it was Tetrad’s turn, she stepped out onto stage wearing a white hooded robe over her beach outfit, paired with sunglasses and lots of other #SWAG.

Rap Queens

”I'm a pastor, I'm a priest,
Dropping beats like a beast,

Take your scrawny hide and turn you into a feast!

I'm a judge holding hammer attending Sunday mass,

And I’m about to pass judgement on your lily ass!”

---

We interrupt this broadcast due to time restraints and a stronger desire to get this shit on the road.

! E X C E L S I O R !

---

”Dan?” Su smiled. ”I’m grateful that you ran the vacation for as long as you did. I’ve been grieving for a very long time, and I feel like coming here did a lot to accelerate my recovery. I’ve learned a lot about myself, including the direction I wish to take my life. I don’t think that would have happened under the twin’s rule.” She squeezed Helga’s hand. Su’s face relaxed as she continued, with her smile vanishing entirely. ”However, this world will never be perfect. My patron likely wishes to know where I am. He and Penrose are without their protectors. Even if all of the magical girls are here, there are still monsters that could attack Penrose at any moment. I am ready to leave this place.”

“I’m not really all about sitting on a beach. I mean it was fun and everything, but I’ve got a sore to settle with Feral.”

“Who’s that?”

“Uhhhh…” Lupa looked away from Mika. “A-a bad dude!” Lupa recovered. “This was a blast, but sometimes you can’t fully unwind when you know there’s an ass that needs kickin’, you know what I mean?”

”I have more banners than you. Get rekt normie.”

— Tetrad

Tetrad chuckled. ”It’s been fun, Dan.” She placed her hands on her hips. ”I never thought beating up a bunch of lesbians with my tits would be so rewarding. I mean participation was a gold coin alone!” She examined one of her gloved hands and flexed her fingers. ”But as great as that competition was, it had losers, and a lot of them. Few people enjoy losing.” Tetrad chuckled. ”Can you really say this place is free of pain? For a dolphin that feeds on a steady diet of happiness and good feelings, you enjoy watching us suffer for a victory.” Her finger shot out and pointed at Dan. ”Well that’s fine, But I don’t want to suffer in your game any more. I want to suffer on my own terms! The greatest risks for the greatest rewards! Oh, and I guess saving the world is pretty rewarding too. Don’t want to come across as a bad role model or anything.”

Veronica scoffed. “You’re a fool if you thought you could keep me here forever. Discarding the lamp the way you did was just sloppy. It was only a matter of time before someone found it.” She placed a hand on her hip. “It is by choice that I did not take action against you. This space provided me with ample opportunities, so I left you alone. But the circumstances have changed and there is no longer a reason for me to linger here.” Veronica fixed her gaze on Dan. “Release us at once. I might not have the power to make the world disappear, but making things like you disappear is my specialty.”

Betty blushed. ”I-it was nice to see Binky again. That made me very happy.” She looked at Dan. ”But the way everyone is talking, this place is just another prison. Out of the fryer and into the freezer.” She drew her weapon and stood like a samurai ready to fight. ”Binky deserves true freedom! I’ll fight ‘till my last breath if that’s what it takes!”

"I’m having lots of fun bonding with everyone!" After getting a glare from everyone from Beacon, she sighed. "Okay, yea, this kind of sucks. I wanna return to the real world now."

Abigail let out a jovial laugh. "I’m not going to let some creepy, squeaky dolphin control my life!" She folded her arms. "This really isn’t that different from mind control. You’ve created an environment where we are forced to do your bidding. You’re certainly a lot cuter than the last person who did this to me, and you’re not trying to destroy the world. On those two counts, I will show you mercy." Her grin widened. "If you let us leave right now, you won’t have to learn if it’s possible for a dolphin to survive passing through a gravitational singularity."

”I feel so broke up, I wanna go home.”

---

As the rejections started to pile up, it became more and more apparent to Dan that he would have to get serious in order to keep the fantasy world together. So he lifted his fins into the air and-

“Wait, You can’t end the world yet! I need to do my performance!” Mika Stumbled onto the stage. Her outfit was very similar to her magical girl outfit. Something fit for an Arabian entertainer. Before she came to a stop, she started to play her flute. The one that allowed her to control dolphins.

You can never have too many youtube tags in one post.

The Music caused Dan to stop whatever it was that he was doing. The sweat drop on the side of his head got bigger, but he could not fight the urge to move to Mika’s song. He spun and danced his way over to Mika, even performing a flip before landing on stage. That was when Mika lowered her flute and looked into his eyes.

“Dan.” Mika held the flute in front of her mouth, but wasn’t blowing into it. “I had mixed feelings about this place. It’s possible to have a lot of fun, but I don’t really feel like the barriers around us have really dropped. Everyone can be friends, but they will always stay closest to their respective groups.” Mika sighed. “Maybe it’s because I’m not very smart, but I don’t think there’s a way to change that. When you give everyone what they want, there isn’t really a reason to make new friends. People only need to cooperate when there’s a struggle. What happened at the graveyard was terrible, but we all came together to stop it. I made some friends when that happened. But here, I have made none.” Mika’s tail was wagging side to side. “While I want to leave this place with everyone else, our being together has given me the ability to make another friend.” Mika wrapped her arms around Dan. “Even if it wasn’t perfect, this was the best vacation I ever had! And knowing that you were here the entire time, hosting tournaments, watching us, making sure we didn’t fight…” She kissed Dan on the side of his bill. “I really like you Dan. I think you should come with us to Penrose. I know just where you could live!” Tears streak down the sides of Dan's head as he shivered in her embrace.

Su’s eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her head. This wasn’t unexpected behavior from Mika, but she wasn’t about to let a magical talking dolphin stay at the Golden Trove. Magical ghost twins were one thing, but Boteg didn’t like to be around things with even the smallest amount of magical energy. If Dan could manage an entire dimension like this, he would not be a welcome guest.

”Just one more.”

— Tonya “Mac” Murphy

Tonya “Mac” Murphy

Age: 24/11 | Gender: Female/Female | Illusion, Gravity
Body | Power of Friendship, Regeneration, Third Eye | Moirai
Coercion, Soul Jar, Martial Training, True Sight, Parasite, Gifted, Awareness, Mystic Artifact

Magical Overload, Paragon, Blessing, Gifted Item | Monster Form, Big Brother, Arrogance, Vendetta
Redirected Magic, Second Specialization | Non-Standard Limbs, Destroyer

STR: 05 | AGI: 04 | VIT: 05 | MAG: 03 | LCK: 03

STR: 10 | AGI: 08 | VIT: 11 | MAG: 17 | LCK: 05

Earnings this post: Zilch

Total: 6 Gold, 111 Silver, 120 Bronze

Welp, it looked like things were wrapping up.

Mac hadn't gotten a lot done, but she'd be lying if she expected to. The goal was just to elude everyone until the vacation ended, and she did pretty good with that. She even had some fun in the process!

But Mac also knew what was in store for the future. This was a respite before a great despair, but it was one that her patron had put into motion. All she could do was continue ensuring the string of fate accurately foretold the future.

When it suited her at least.

[FamishedPants]

S i l l y S h a d e

"...okay?"

Samantha Howard

"This is where I bow out."

Shade

Stay in this false paradise and becoming something of a lotophage was perhaps appealing to some, but Silhouette had little interest in pretending everything was sunshine and roses with a bunch of magical girls, some of whom she'd clashed blades with. She wholeheartedly agreed with the general consensus that they should return to Penrose and resume their 'normal' lives, with all the despair, suffering, and violence that it entailed.

"I tire of this charade. There's no point in remaining here." it may not have been necessary to speak up since it was only natural that Samantha would follow shortly behind Veronica, whatever she did, but she had always openly argued against being in this place to begin with.

On the frlipside, Shade looked absolutely devastated at the direction things had turned. With each person voicing their complaints, the dire expression she wore worsened. It appeared much more serious than just enjoying the paradise. No, it looked almost as if each declaration against Dan's paradise was a knife in her gut.

Silhouette noticed this and tilted her head slightly. "What is your deal right now?" she asked plainly. If anyone, she should be able to understand her own 'self', but that apparently wasn't the case.

Samantha did not receive a proper answer from Shade, whose grave expression slowly turned to a wistful smile. Shade looked upon the majority of the girls one last time before turning to Samantha and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Just...don't forget me." and then returning to being the shadow she was. Were it not for the utter confusion that her shadow's actions had brought about, Sam might've betrayed the surprise she felt at the fact her shadow could even do that without her consent.

...I don't understand her, at all. I thought I was the brooding one.

E m i l y

"Short post from the shortcake~"

— Emily

Emily couldn't deny that she had enjoyed her time here. She did very much so. This paradise where none would harm each other and only need focus on enjoying themselves... it was so very delightful. But as Tetrad pointed out to her -- it was merely a farce, and while they dilly-dallied here, people were still suffering in Penrose. Knowing that there were people out there she could potential save made it all but impossible for her to ever consider permanently relaxing here, as fun as it was.

"Umm, I'm sorry, Dan, but there's still people out there who might need my help, so I can't stay." Emily told the dolphin as though she was apologizing. She did not think he deserved so much hate for trying to make people happy, even if he took the wrong approach to doing so.

H i l a r i a

"Now... does Hilaria try to trick boys out of food again? Naturally!"

— TL Note: Hilaria does so unintentionally

Hilaria thought that this was a well-spent vacation. At one point in her life she was much like Emily in that she had desired a world without strife or conflict. A place where all could be happy and none would live in fear or want. But that was... a long time ago. Now, a place like this would leave her with no purpose, no reason to keep on going. It was almost like her own personal hell, at least the idea of a permanent stay here was. It was okay in short bursts, but that was it. She'd had her fill and would be happy to get back to saving people in Penrose.

"Hmm~ Hilaria has had her fill, but she would like to go back to Penrose now." she told the dolphin. "But Hilaria would not be opposed to helping Dan if he needs it, because that's her job~!" she saw a poor, ignorant idealist in Dan. Most certainly a fool, but likely had only the best of intentions behind his actions. She'd seen these sorts turn into villains more often than not, but it was really up to the individual. She would do what she could to save him regardless, assuming he desired her help.

[Rune_Alchemist]

She for one, was glad that this whole charade was over with. She might have made a few new acquaintances, but this whole beach episode had gone to far, and she was done with it. She wanted to be back home in Penrose, fighting crime and dealing with the usual stuff that she was used too. Not being harassed on a beach by some dolphin or being forced to play some sorta totally weird game.

"Hm...well said." Rina replied to the energetic girls question. And it seems like most of us agree.
"This whole beach thing is starting to drag anyways, and I really want to get out of this swimsuit."

"Well I dunno about everyone else," Chloe chimed in, floating lazily with her wings.
"But I had a wonderful time." In fact, she couldn't be happier with how this little vacation turned out. Penny was hers, she got to mess with beacon a bit, and now here she was, in a vastly better mood than when she had first come here. She even got to make Veronica's acquaintance, and that was a relationship she was hoping would go well.

"...that said you little sneaky little creature," Chloe landed next to Dan, smiling in a decidedly unsettling manner. "I don't like it...when someone tries to use me for something, or makes my nose look like some old hags." The crystal ball lit up in her hand. "Maybe you could pay me back by playing with Lucy for a bit, hm?~ He does need a new playmate."

[Shifter_Master]

_{.:⋮Ending with a Bang⋮:.}

“Called it” Penny would say aloud, even if she was mostly talking to herself in regards to having been right about thinking that Dan had been trying to keep them here forever. She couldn’t say that she disliked this little enforced vacation, but that had a lot to do with Chloe. Everything else was either alright or a detriment.

With that in mind, Penny walked over towards the Twins on the Stage “Anything I can do to help?” She would ask them. Not seeing any reason to keep piling on the aggression towards Dan. Plus the chance to destroy a miniature world wasn't something she wanted to pass on, she might not need to break things anymore but that didn't mean the action didn't have appeal anymore.

---

_{-=Ǝ Heart of the matter E=-}

Aurelio was a bit torn if he was to be honest. This Beach had been one of the better surprises that he had encountered in his time as a magic boy, and while the air tended to filled with friction when the various cliques started to bump into each, for the most part it had been a place of Joy and Comfort.

That said, “I must say that I’ve enjoyed the break you’ve been able to give us” Aurelio would say smiling “But, it would be a remiss if, we stayed here forever. The outside world is filled with danger and terror, yes. That’s why Beacon needs to be there. To help those that are in danger and the shield those that are afraid.” He would explain as he strode towards Dan “I would enjoy the opportunity to return, however, as you have quite the gift when it comes to making an atmosphere of fun.”

He would extend a hand for the Dolphin to shake “Until then, it has been a pleasure”

[Ariamis]

Of course, like Alicia, all Beacon members present were shocked to see what had transpired in Penny and Chloe's show, especially Sylvia. While she first lifted an eyebrow upon seeing the two of them together on stage, she didn't think much more on it, assuming that Chloe simply wanted another performer who didn't harbor any ill will towards her. But as the song went on, the look on her face gradually turned more disgruntled, until the act of intimacy that caused her to grimace in anger. She was about to stand up and protest when Sally pulled her back down. "Wait Boss, the next show's gonna start," the red-and-blue-clad girl whispered to her, causing her to bit the thumb of her nail in barely held resentment. "Penny, what is the meaning of this?" She muttered under her own breath, but had little time to reflect on it before the jig was up on Dan's operation.

The Lesser Force himself was in a bind in more ways than one. After Alex and Eliza threatened him, he made one last attempt to regain control of the situation, only to fail as Mika charmed him with her flute, causing him to squeak in surprise. "Oh no...No, please..." As the crowd gathered around him, he looked up with a pitiful look at them. "I'm going to be alone again..." He spoke quietly, ignoring the pleas of the crowd. The Djinn Twins looked at each other, and then at Penny after her question, as they pondered on whether they should destroy this false world.

But then, Mika embraced Dan, and the magical dolphin's heart melted from her kindness. "M-Mika...Even now, you still...Want to be my friend?" A couple of tears dropped down his cheeks, like sparkling diamonds. The dolphin extended his fins, and reciprocated the gesture, and for a minute simply held her back, slowly coming to terms with the end of his eternal paradise, with Celia helping to mend the hurt with her Joy magic. Lily sighed with a soft smile, and went over to Alex; she wrapped her arms around his arm, watching the events unfold.

Then, Dan finally released his hold, and floated over to Hilaria, extending a fin towards her. "Hilaria...Thank you." He turned towards the rest, a look of resolution on him. "I now understand. True happiness is not found by running from your problems, but by facing them. By keeping you here, I would only cause much more pain in the end. So, very well then; you are now free." He turned towards the other side of the stage, and launched a bolt of blue magic; as it hit the floor of the stage, a stone archway slowly rose up from the floor. And then, a blurry portal formed inside the arch. Golden letters then levitated on the top part of the arch: they spelled the word 'Penrose'.

Dan turned to Summer, and made a weak smile. "You're welcome to stay as long as you want, Summer. Of course, you're also free to leave any time you want." Then he turned to Shion. "The coins I gave to you are your hopes and dreams given magical form, constructed thanks to the magic of this wondrous world. As long as you keep those memories in your hearts...That magic will never disappear." Dan then addressed the crowd, floating upwards to see everyone off. "As your vacation organizer, I shall bid you farewell! Never forget what you're fighting for! And remember to have fun!" And with that, the girls were finally set free.

"Alright! Let's go home Alex! Goodbye Dan! See you all on the other side!" Lily waved to everyone, and took Alex' hand, leading them both out. As Sylvia and Sally were talking to the rest of Beacon and suggesting to leave, Dan approached Mika. "I am done escaping from grief and sorrow. It is time I make a difference in the world of man." She also beckoned Hilaria to come closer, and extended his fins to both of them. "Mika, Hilaria, would you be willing to form a pact with me? I wish to make your world one of peace and joy, and will support you as much as I can." With wishes for co-operation made and possibly received, the Djinn twins made sure everyone was able to safely depart before they also took their leave.

And so, each one found themselves back where they started; whether it was in their beds, or out wandering the streets, they were all back in Penrose.

---

---

---

But what waited them beyond was not the Penrose they remembered.

The Return

Sylvia, having woken in her bed, immediately realized something was wrong from what she felt: it was cold, far colder than what she remembered it being. And as she stepped into the kitchen, she was met by her mother's tearful hug; she learned she had disappeared for months amidst her sobbing. But she had to leave her for a moment as she quickly ran outside, and gasped at what she saw: it was snowing, carpeting the city into a white, freezing landscape. The sky was gray, with clouds roiling to the horizon. She could see her breath, floating up as vapors. She returned back inside, hoping that her father did record a snippet of old news on his digital TV. She also needed to console her mother, who has searched long for her.

---

A couple of bubbles floated up from a tiny wooden pipe, reflecting an alleyway tucked in the far corners of Penrose. The Supah Sleuth was on the case, tracking down a series of what she deduced to be cases of murder from the clues she had found, like blood, and strange scraping marks. It was easy to move in the streets, as only a few brave civilians still remained in the cursed town. Finally, after weeks upon weeks of detective work, she finally managed score a breakthrough in her investigation: it was the body of a young girl, lying in the snow, partly stained red from the wounds she had received. Sammy brought out her handheld looking glass, and used it to examine the corpse. "Blonde hair...clothing brands fashioned for 12-to-15-year-olds..." She quietly mumbled, until she blinked in realization. "It can't be..." She stepped back, unnerved by her discovery. "This girl...Is Valerie Herztein! And she was killed only a couple of minutes ago! So the culprit must be..." She turned around upon hearing movement behind her.

A scream, followed by silence.

---

Sylvia had learned from a collection of recorded news segments that a series of natural disasters had occurred in the city, from a lightning storm that set the town hall on fire to an outright earthquake that happened just a couple of weeks ago; of course, she knew that it was most likely caused by monsters and other nefarious entities. But, strangely enough, things calmed down immediately after organizations similar to WHO and Red Cross arrived to provide relief efforts. What Sylvia also found strange that at around the same time, an official evacuation notice was issued, resulting in most of Penrose's population escaping the city to other states.
"It's strange, but I think I've heard of this before. Does that mean-Wait, why do they have...Oh no no no." Sylvia saw something that sent shivers through her skin. She needed clarification.

She called June on the phone. Every second she waited felt like it extended endlessly. After about thirty seconds, the call was picked up. "Sylvia? Is it really you?" She heard the Beacon girl speak, but...Something was off. "June, what happened? Why are they here?" She asked, trying not to let fear sound in her voice. But it was impossible.

"Because they had to, Sylvia. You forced everyone's hand," June again answered; her voice was cold like ice. "There was no choice other than to call them in." "But-" Sylvia attempted to speak, but no words came out. She heard a faint voice on the line, like someone spoke to June. After a second, June stated: "You will answer for what you've done."

Tomorrow

Sylvia dropped her phone to the ground, only able to stare forward. She slowly shifted towards a window, trying to keep herself on her feet; if she were to falter, she might fall down. Slowly, but surely, with an arm pressing against the glass stained with fractal ice, she looked outside, trying to comprehend her new reality by gazing upon snowy Penrose. Her mind rushed back to the phone call, and the realization that came with it.
"I was gone...for months. So that means..." She already knew, after she saw the familiar insignia the workers wore on their clothes, and immediately knew it meant only one thing.

"...So it is true..." She whispered.

"..."

"...The Ascendancy has arrived."

TO BE CONTINUED (IN THE NEXT SEASON)
<===

[Card Captor]

'Huh...I kind of expected that he would put up an actual fight, not just give up like that' Alexander was baffled at how easy this had been. After hearing about how the dolphin had been feeding on their fun to strengthen himself, he had thought that it would use that power to force them to stay here to serve as his personal generators. 'I don't know, it kind of feels like he's just half-assing this now.' He was brought out his internal musings by the sensation of Lily's hand 'Bah, I guess it doesn't really matter.' he lightly squeezed Lily's hand back as then walked to the portal 'But why does it feel like I'm forgetting some-' and as they reached said portal, it hit him; '...The animals. '