At this point, Lily had slowed down in her movements as her excitement gave way to nervousness, giving Pentius-04 a chance to stand respectfully at the color-matching girl’s side when Lily waited anxiously for what was to come, having noticed that Nefer seemed more frantic around her cloaking device after a crack had formed on it’s surface. She blinked and extended her lips in surprise upon hearing the exuberant Magical Dream Princess mention an associate who was capable of the tactics hinted at by the mysterious paper. ”You know someone amazing like that, MDP?” She asked, sounding slightly hopeful. ”Please ask. It could really help!” She gave an uneasy smile as little by little, others like Connie and Kayli gave new additions to the deal with Mint, none too insurmountable based on the broker’s response. Even Alicia, despite her well-deserved skepticism, seemed to come around after hearing Chloe out. It seemed like they really would be able to agree on-
Her eyes widened as Penny then spoke up, followed by a sad nod with her eyes closed. She had given her ultimatum, and Lily no longer carried hope that Chloe would be able to agree to that condition. After all, wasn’t Mint all about debt collecting like some ruthless mafia? That was as far as the unaffiliated magical girl knew about them. Having relented to the peer pressure of her friends, she gave Chloe one last apologetic glance before turning towards Mariette.
”So, Mariette…Do you think you could make us a portal to Sanctuary? It would help a lot with the commute,” she would try to joke, but her awkward smile betrayed her.
Alex went over to where Justine was, and saw that she was talking to the new arrival at the park: a street vendor. She was dressed modestly in clothes that looked plain and unassuming at a distance, and carried a hand weave basket around her arm, the draped white cloth partially covering what looked like various little trinkets, flasks, matchboxes, and other tiny items that were held within. If it weren’t for the ornately stitched patches with elaborate markings on them and the elegant patterns of the basket’s weaving, the magical girl could have easily passed for a regular poor civilian. However, despite never having met her before, there was something oddly familiar about the vendor to Alex, but he couldn’t quite say how.
“...and if you buy four now, you’ll get one for free. A bargain for any magical, I assure you,” he heard the last of her sales pitch. ”Sorry, but I’m not interested at the moment," Justine responded, sounding uncharacteristically tense as she looked the girl over. The vendor didn’t seem to mind, and gave a polite smile. “Maybe next time then.” She noticed Alex, and turned to him. “Greetings, mister. Would you be interested in some Artifacts? The prices are modest yet the quality is remarkable, I assure you.” Justine leaned over to whisper in Alex’ ear. ”The timing of her arrival seems too perfect. Do you think she’s a Wonderland spy?" She asked him.
The fight around the truck continued at its full pace. Mac was well placed to handle two opponents and used her knowledge of fighting well. The aerial combat swirled as duplicates and clones flash stepped around various roof tops. And Maura moved in, to take care of the machine that-
*record scratch*
“And thats all the footage we have.”
“What do you mean ‘that’s all the footage we have’? That’s clearly not the end of the fight.”
Two men sat in a dark room, thick with the smell of cigar smoke. A couple desk lamps cast these dark shadows, allowing them to see others without being seen themselves. A small tv displayed the footage of the ongoing fight, from camera angles that did not make sense given the lack of physical cameras in those locations.
“That’s all we were able to record. There’s actually no sign of any of the combatants on the scene, so if they’re still alive they’ve gotten pretty lost in the myriad of reality plenums. Maybe they’ll pop up again, maybe they won’t.” the man took a drag of his cigar, letting the smoke escape with a sigh. “I don’t think we can consider it a major loss, even if the outcome is a bit disappointing.”
The other man tapped the tip of his cigar against the nearby ashtray, letting bits fall off before returning to it. “And what about the device?”
“No sign of that either. It’s unclear whether it was what caused this unexpected turn of events, or if it was brought along with them. Regardless, we can consider it another lost investment.”
A frown greeted that news. “And an expensive one. Making a machine to separate a patron from their source of power isn’t something you just come up with in an afternoon. Especially when we don’t know for sure if it was a failure or not.” That had been the reason they sent it out after all. If it had separated Viridian from Maura, they could have been sure that it would work against the real deal.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if that scientist was involved. She is a wild card.”
Another sigh followed, the thought of a certain Doctor not lingered on for long as they moved on. “I suppose Miss Irving will need to prove herself some other way. It wouldn’t be fair to place this blame at her feet, given the confusing circumstances involves.”
A nod from his companion. “Veronica is something of a wasted investment too. It would have been nice to settle affairs with her little ‘Cradle’ once and for all, but we have bigger business to attend to.”
“Correct.”
A tall woman’s silhouette could be seen entering the room from a dimly lit doorway, silencing the discussion with a single word. Her heels clacked across the marble floor, each step carrying purpose behind it.
Both men stood up upon seeing her, but the woman waved her hand down, and they sat again.
“Greed,” one of them murmured, seemingly in awe at seeing her.
She produced an old-fashioned cigarette holder, and held it elegantly between her fingers. A tiny flame from a lighter held by an invisible assistant flickered into life, only briefly illuminating what looked like a visage cloaked with a black veil, and lit it. She exhaled a beautiful pattern of interwoven smoke, and spoke again.
“They’re not a serious threat to our operations at this point. I think we can put a pin on this little diversion. Anything else would simply be a waste.”
She tapped the end of her cigarette on an ash bowl produced by the unseen assistant.
“But I am curious about Al’s new protege. She almost reminds me of Veronica when she started out, with that drive and ambition. Oh, the memories…”
One of the men nodded once a moment of silence passed, a sign that the woman had stopped speaking.
“Understood. I’ll let Al know.”
And so the curtain closed on one scene, and the story took a step closer towards its conclusion.
Lily didn’t blame Connie for not knowing the answer to the confounding conundrum that the paper represented, and gave a comforting little pat on the masked girl’s shoulder after she gave the paper away. ”It’s okay, I’m sure someone here can solve it. As long as each of us can bring something unique to the table, it’s sure to help!” She said this as much to herself as she did to Connie; her low self-esteem had taken a hit by her blunder. However, this was not the time to dwell on her mistakes as Chloe spoke at length on the deal.
Lily was alarmed by Chloe summoning another monster, finding her antics kind of obnoxious. But she afterwards seemed to relent, and even accepted Lily’s condition. ”Oh, you will Chloe?”
"Of course." Chloe placed a hand on her hip. "We might even use some of your suggestions."
Lily nodded to Alex’ clarification; she knew from her experiences at the Christmas party to not agree to something this important on the behalf of others.
Lily and Justine then turned their attention to Ronin and Miko. ”Shrink everyone? Oh, that might work! When they’re all chibi, we can fit them anywhere we want!” Lily seemed enthusiastic about the idea, while Justine scoffed. ”I guess if it’s possible…” Lily then clenched her fists before her and visibly trembled in excitement as Ronin mentioned Bleach. ”Oh, you know Bleach, Ronin? That’s amazing! Isn’t Ichigo so cool, and Rukia so cute? Haven’t watched past season one, but I really hope they end up together!” ”Getting back on track…” Justine interrupted, causing Lily to frown as the moment passed. ”Fabricating a fake city on top of Penrose would require Illusion magic, and powerful magic at that. Do we even have any Illusion magic specialists here?”
Lily perked up as Mariette actually stood up and physically joined them, something she had only rarely seen from the elusive magical girl. She confirmed Valerie’s words about Wonderland, and clarified the effects of the enchantment. Justine in particular seemed interested in the information. ”A perpetual effect, huh…While slow-acting, it’s still very powerful magic to be able to enchant an entire dimension…I wonder…” She put a hand to her chin in thought while Mariette explained her part in the Queen’s designs, causing Lily to gasp. ”What, the queen thinks she’s your mom? And you’re fated to die because of that? That’s crazy!” She went over and took Mariette’s hand, looking straight into her eye with determination. ”Mariette, don’t worry. I won’t let you die! I promise!”
As the discussion advanced, it seemed the others weren’t as willing to negotiate as Lily and Alex were. The green-haired girl looked on as one by one, everyone declined Chloe’s offer after the broker had agreed to let Penrose be free of crime, and also to provide all kinds of help with their fight against Wonderland.
Even so, nobody would listen. Even Magical Dream Princess, who she expected out of everyone to be understanding, seemed to ignore her. Instead, she corrected Lily about the dimension belonging to Amanda. Lily blinked, seemingly a bit out of it, and smiled awkwardly. ”S-Sorry, got a bit of a mix-up there…I really am a bit of a ditz, haha…” She looked up at Angel of Hope as she settled in, glad that at least someone here was tolerant and kind. She decided that she would need to get to know the angelic girl more after Penrose was saved, and possibly even become friends with her. Not that she deserved to be friends with someone as wonderful as AoH…
Justine didn’t seem as shocked by the unfolding events as she had folded her arms. ”I’ve worked with Mint before, but I can’t say I’m familiar with how they operate. Still, Chloe’s offer sounds too convenient. They probably attempted to deal with Wonderland first, and when that fell through, came crawling to us.”
Chloe clicked her tongue. "Speaking from experience, Justine? The number of times you’ve double crossed others even makes me blush."
Nefer on the other hand seemed amused as Chloe took offense to her meddling, and gave her a grinning side-eye while examining the Artifact with a hand-held scanner; so far it seemed to be holding up. “You’re right, I could be. But if I was, would I really go out of my way to show my meticulously crafted, beautiful art just as a cover?” She giggled at Chloe’s second claim. “I know, I just wanted to chime in, and even the odds. Someone oughta take Prid-I mean, the queenie cutie down a notch,” she readjusted after Akhenaten suddenly grunted. “Thinking she’s better than the rest of us, with all that sparkling gemtech…Hah! As if!”
She afterwards rolled her eyes at the flirting. She stepped closer to Chloe despite the monsters and her entourage of magical girls, seemingly trusting her bodyguard to intervene in case of conflict. She leaned her head down at the shorter girl. “For a coinbroker, you seem a bit green. Did they hire you in the last month or something? That’s cute~” It was now Viper’s turn to be provoked, as she glared at Nefer. “Another insult at Boss…” She summoned her weapon at her side. “...and it’ll be your last.” Akhenaten responded by grunting loudly. He then took a step forward, causing the ground to slightly shake, but Nefer swiftly waved him off.
“Now now, I think it’s great that Mint’s getting new blood. Most brokers are not cuties at all. In fact, I wouldn’t mind giving my number.” She produced what looked like a small piece of paper from her pocket, quickly wrote something, and afterwards offered it to Chloe. “My contact info’s on that. Gimme a call, ok Chloe-cutie?~”
Chloe eyed the paper with a grin before shoving it between her breasts. "Well, I’m busy, but I can probably pencil you in sometime."
The situation developed as Penny suggested leaving Chloe and moving on to her place to continue the discussion.
Chloe just groaned. "Glad everyone is willing to work together against an external threat. Did you even raise a weapon to the queen when she appeared, or did you run off like I would have done?"
”Uhh…” Lily felt the urge to speak out against the discrimination she witnessed. But she also trusted her friend Alicia, and to a lesser extent Penny, and so didn’t want to outright object. However, this was about far more than mere grudges or personal feelings. There were hundreds of thousands of lives at stake. She couldn’t stay silent. ”Shouldn’t we give her a chance? She seems sincere about it…” She thought hard about her next words. ”Maybe we could give her something smaller at first, and then the rest after she’s proven herself to speak the truth?”
”Who knew Lily would be the most level-headed one here?”
The new voice introducing itself to the discussion was none other than Binky, surprising Lily with her suddenly speaking. The green haired, cultist-looking magical girl had been through the entire meeting. Though the array of taller, more important magical girls hid her from view. But there was no doubt that there was pure contempt in her gaze as she observed the magical girls around her. But at last, they came to rest on Penny.
”Penny, you helped me get out of Beacon. I’ll always be grateful for that, but the reason Lily had us come here was to make it accessible to everyone in Penrose. Moving everything to your ‘secret treehouse’ gives you all the power. Most of us feel safest right here on neutral ground.” Binky folded her arms. ”You’ve done your own fair share of betraying too. You refused to give Su her ship back. You became a Mint agent, and I doubt you told Beacon right away. You’ve even taken the mantle of a dictator like Cindy Ford. It’s clear to everyone that if you can do something to acquire more power, you’ll do it. Maybe you’re better than those bozos at Mint, but you don’t get to preach about what it means to be trustworthy. You need to set the bar a lot higher for yourself if you want to be Penrose’s moral authority.” Chloe smiled, but that faded when Binky pointed a finger at her. ”You’re no better! Penny might have a low bar to step over, but you’re the one person who could limbo under it!” Then Binky looked at Alicia. ”Alicia, we never got to talk much. I don’t know you, but I’m going to assume you care about Penrose as much as everyone here. Are you really going to reject help from the Mint if it can prevent an invasion of Penrose?” She spun her head around. ”Am I… Does Lily have to be the voice of reason here?”
With a sigh, Binky looked over at the group of magical girls that were keeping to themselves. The ones that hadn’t thrown their lot in with any of the big three. ”I don’t know most of you, but I’m Binky. Yes, like a kids security blanket. It was a nickname that Veronica gave me because I used to cry all the time.” She raised her hand, and a red coin glistened in it. ”I’m the one who made the red coins, and assisted with the white ones later on. Like most magical girls, my form is less than ideal. I wanted to change it. I wanted to be stronger, I didn’t want to be afraid anymore. I went on quite an adventure to get this made, but more interesting is the story of why I haven’t used it myself.” She held the coin close to her chest, pinched between her thumb and finger. ”There was this girl that used to be my friend. Her name was Betty, and she’s the only person who made me feel like I was enough. I spent years working on this coin, and it just took her a few weeks to convince me I didn’t need it.” Binky, slowly, turned to look at Justine. ”Could you come here, please?”
Justine was surprised; out of everyone there, she least expected Binky to talk to her. Binky must still have enmity for her, so the fact she wanted to converse with her was baffling. ”Um, sure.” Curious yet wary, Justine tucked in her wings, and approached Binky. She didn’t know where this was going. ”You wanted to speak with me, Binky?”
”For a while, actually.” Binky turned back towards everyone. ”This is Justine Von Visceral. I doubt she needs an introduction. Some of you fought her at her castle when she tried to wipe out the concept of love, and again when she laid siege to Mariette’s dimension. No one here has double-crossed, manipulated, and masterminded as many catastrophes as she has. But I probably dislike her more than most. Because she abducted Betty. No, she brainwashed her and turned her over to the Mint like she was into human trafficking.” She rubbed her nose. ”Betty was not the same after that, and I’ve since lost contact with her.” Binky turned to face Justine and looked her directly in the eye. She sighed. ”You’ve mentioned you regret your actions, but I never got an apology. Maybe you believed it was all ‘Father’s’ fault and such a thing wasn’t necessary. Even if you had apologized, I don’t think I would have believed you.” Binky sniffed, but her face remained hard. ”I’m still not sure why Maura felt like it was a good idea to turn you loose, but…”
Binky extended her arms.
”I forgive you, Justine.”
Justine sighed, and averted her eyes, holding her arm. ”For what it's worth, I'm sorry for what happened. Father was of course the instigator behind my actions, but it wasn't entirely his influence…I am also to blame for enabling his corruption in me. So yeah.” She glanced at Binky. ”Was that all?”
”No.” She stretched out her fingers and fretted her brow. ”I-I’d like a hug, too…”
Justine blushed, her face in a grimace. ”F-Fine.” She went over to the cultist girl, and gave her an awkward hug; like the kind you give to a distant aunt or uncle that you’ve never really known but you’re still expected to show affection to upon meeting. Binky responded a bit like you’d expect said distant uncle to. She pulled her in closer and patted her back with one of her hands. Though Binky’s eyes were open and staring straight ahead.
”Sorry for putting you on the spot.” She whispered. The hug only lasted a few seconds before Binky released Justine and took a step back. ”Thank you.” Again, Binky turned to address everyone. ”If I can forgive Justine, then you can overlook your differences with one another. This isn’t about any one of us. Everyone here wants to protect Penrose. If I couldn’t forgive Justine, Cradle would never be able to work at maximum efficiency. I don’t have to think she’s a good person, I just need to stop living in the past so that I can focus on the present.” She looked at Chloe. ”We could say some of us don’t deserve a fourth or fifth chance, but we’re letting emotion dictate our actions. There are really only two outcomes: Mint gives us assistance for some territory, or they don’t. As someone who values life, I don’t know why you wouldn’t pick the first option.”
At last, Binky shrugged her shoulders. ”I’m just a researcher. I’m kind of used to people treating me like dirt. But letting past events get in the way of an important co-op feels childish. That’s why I like Maura more than Veronica. She’s not the best at her job, but she’s not as jaded as my last boss. Letting Justine off easy turned out to be the right thing to do.”
Chloe tipped her head with a grin. "And that’s all to say that Penny and Alicia should take my contract?"
”Not quite.” Binky approached the contract and looked it over. ”The only authority I respect is Maura’s. You could sign a contract with any other faction and I probably wouldn’t honor it unless Cradle backed it personally.”
The coin broker chuckled. ”So you want every patron in Penrose to sign it?”
”It’s our city, and we’re all going to have our own stipulations too.” Chloe scoffed, but Binky wasn’t deterred. ”The way I see it, the two signatures you want are also the ones you aren’t getting. Maybe if you can satisfy everyone else, they’ll decide it’s something they need to be a part of.”
”Well…” Chloe trailed off. ”I’m open to suggestions, certainly. What would it take to get your signature?”
”I’d like to ensure that Mint doesn’t conduct any research of a magical nature inside Penrose.”
”Sounds reasonable.”
”I also forbid them from performing research on magical artifacts that were made in Penrose, such as the magical coins I helped make. That includes outsourcing the work to other institutes or performing it in other worlds.”
”...Less reasonable, but I think I can make it happen.”
Binky looked over her shoulder at Justine. ”Got anything you’d like to add?”
Justine shook her head. ”I have already said my piece. The rest is up to everyone…else…" Her words drifted off as she peered at something in the distance: a person who had turned the corner. The figure seemed to be wandering around, seemingly unsure. Based on Justine's subsequent reaction of alarm, she seemed to recognize who it was, and headed out. ”Continue the meeting without me," she hastily spoke before she left the field.
”...Okay?” Binky shrugged before turning to look at Lily. ”You thought it would be a good idea to give the Mint their territory in increments? How did you want that to work?”
”Uhh…" Lily seemed unsure. ”Maybe instead of an entire sector, we could give them a building, a street, or even a city block. Something like that?"
”Instead?” With a huff, Chloe folded her arms. ”I have to get this to pass with people over my station, you know? But fine. So long as there’s an opportunity to get additional territory, I can probably make it work.”
Binky relieved herself from the spotlight by stepping away from the center of everything. ”It’s not often we get to dictate our terms to the Mint. I hope the rest of you add your own stipulations.” And with that, she stepped behind Valery.
Age: 36/18 | Gender: Female/Female | Darkness/Illusion Mystic | Focus Fire | Horror/Ebon Mint Familiar/Sorcery/Awareness/Gifted/Incognito/Enhanced Weapon/ Intuition/Mystic Artifact | Minions/Mystic Might/Gifted Item/Transportation/Supplier/Magical Overload/Non-Exclusivity/Mana Font | Insomnia/Quick Tempered/Mind Bent/Fearsome Reputation/Debt/Betrayal/Monstrous Form 7/7/8/23/6
Age: 26/17 | Gender: Male/Male | Time/Air Ranged | Prime | Puchuu/Ebon Mint Gifted/Sorcery/Incognito/Overlay/Masculinity | Well Connected/Mystic Might/Physical Prowess/Supplier/Magical Overload/Non Exclusivity/Mana Font | Debt/Betrayal/Monstrous Form/Distracted/Hostile/Clueless | Wings/Chaos Engine/Broken Reincarnation/Second Specialization 5/20/6/18/8
The plan was coming together.
Anja reacted swiftly as she was swarmed by the Mac illusions. Her blade slashed and stabbed, the dark power imbued in her blade flaring as it struck each in turn. They did not react to the fear that the blade radiated from it, so it wasn’t a complete surprise when they simply vanished rather than dying. Her awareness helped with that as well, though she did not have a Third Eye or Light powers to draw on.
That meant she was not ready for Mac’s follow up. The bumper struck her head on, sending her flying back and over to the sidewalk, where she rolled to a stop. Were she a normal human she would be out of it, but a dark magical girl was made of sterner stuff than that. Pushing herself back to her feet, Anja wiped the corner of her mouth off with her sleeve as she surveyed the area.
“Now this is more like it,” she said with a grin. Her blood was starting to sing, pulled by the siren lure of combat against a worthy opponent. “Seppa, we’ve got an illusionist.”
“Nothing we can’t handle,” Seppa remarked. She rolled her shoulders and summoned her weapons, a variety of blades and weapons floating out of the back of the truck. With the flick of a wrist she tossed an object to Anja, who snagged the tiara out of the air and placed it upon her head. A red gem glowed in the center of the ring, adding an extra gleam of light to Anja’s eyes.
That was when Oliver’s duplicates began shooting from any vantage point that they could find. Rifle bullets split the air in a veritable hail of fire. This quickly drew the attention of Seppa and Alma, whose Thick Skin endured under the barrage of weapons fire for now. “Handle that you two,” Seppa said with a glance towards the rooftops.
“Ah, there you are,,” Anja said as she darted towards Mac at the front of the vehicle. She unleashed a flurry of stabs. None of these would be lethal on their own unless Mac really messed up, but it did occupy her attention. WHich in turn made it that much easier for Seppa to come sweeping in from above with a crushing overhead hammer blow. She figured as long as she aimed for the area where Anja was hitting it would be good enough.
“On it!”
Oliver’s doppelgangers found themselves under assault in turn as two more Mint agents joined the fray from the upper levels. Ilmarinen’s rifle barked, each shot spearing through a duplicate with unerring precision. Ilmarinen took slow breaths from his rooftop perch, as methodical in the process as he was precise.
This was contrasted by Varjo, flitting from rooftop to rooftop as her Familiars floated above her. Bolts of darkness lashed out as she sought out the original Oliver. “Come on out so I can kill you already,” she called in a sing song voice as she kept moving.
There was but one last obstacle for Maura to fend with. Not everyone had gone to fight Mac, for Alma remained by the back of the truck. She would need to be distracted or moved out of the way if the Witch wanted to get to the device inside.
To Lily’s immense relief, Chloe had accepted her compliments. She was even seemingly positive about the dark magical girl’s suggestion, with a happy smile on her face. ”I’m sure the special someone you'll end up snuggling with wouldn’t want to escape in the first place~” She cheerfully replied, too distracted by the frantic meeting to realize the sinister undertones. She was also happy that Penny reciprocated her feelings of gratitude, though she did notice the uneasy interaction between her and Chloe.
Unlike Lily, Sonia was fully cognizant of Chloe’s thinly veiled reprimand, though the perfect maid did not show a drop of it in her stoic facial expression or the stillness of her movement, even as her jaw was touched. “Understood,” she replied in a monotone voice, unaffected by her boss’s flirting. Pentius-04 on the other hand expressed a seemingly genuine desire to keep Lily safe from such shady folks, and so Lily would not doubt it, trusting her.
She looked up, and greeted the Angel of Hope as she also made it alongside others, glad to see how big of an impact her message had made on the community at large. If so many were willing to unite for the cause of their home, then she had hoped that they would be able to agree on common goals. Even Ruby had joined the meeting with a puff of smoke, surprising Lily for seeing the girl who had once granted her silly wish. ”Yep, and this blessing is all thanks to you!” She replied with arms spread wide to AoH, ignorant of the magical girl’s less-angelic feelings on the matter. ”And don’t worry about, uh, Casper. He’s only here for protection…I hope.” However, it wasn’t until Magical Dream Princess, a girl she considered a friend to the cause, and a smaller group led by Kayli, had arrived that she felt fully secure with going forward with the meeting itself, having excitedly waved at the sugary girl, her pixie-like pal, and the rest.
Alex was the first to speak on the meeting’s topic at length. The green-haired girl intently listened as he brought up evacuation as their first topic. No matter how awkward she would make things, he was always able to pull things back to ground level, and focus on the things that mattered most. She spoke up when pocket dimensions were mentioned. ”Could we maybe, uh, throw them in Dan’s place? Like the time when we fled the collapsing dimension?”
Justine visibly cringed. ”I would rather find an alternative than rely on that idiot and his weird magic again. Besides, do his islands even have enough space? Even if he were to make another one, we’re talking about close to 800-900 thousand people here.” Lily bit her lip, and afterwards listened as Alex suggested using runes to form a network over the city. ”I wonder if that’s possible…”
Alicia spoke next, and pointed out the possibility of striking back against Wonderland, though Lily decided to hold on the thought for the moment, feeling it a bit too hasty a move until they’ve learned more. Kayli built up on Alex’ suggestion, bringing up smart ways to evacuate the populace. ”Yeah, that sounds like a plan!” However, while Lily was onboard with such a ploy based on her positive reaction, Justine was less convinced.
”Sure, it might sound easy, but threatening peas-I mean citizens to flee with gas leaks or even earthquakes is not going to cut it. You’d need to hijack the local news sources, forge the material, and distribute it, all in a short amount of time. Time which I don’t think we have.” She shrugged with a shake of her head. ”I admit it’s at least a better idea than trying to scribble runes all over the city, but we’d need every organization pulling their weight, and that seems unlikely to me.”
Kayli then brought up something that caused Lily to pause. She scratched her head, confused by what she mentioned. ”Nexus? Um…Have I heard that somewhere?” She had a feeling she had heard the term, but couldn’t remember where. ”Oh, the Nexus?” Justine asked, and dropped down from the statue, landing next to her. ”Well, I don’t know too much about it myself, but according to what Father once spoke of it, it is supposedly a place of immense magic. Like a spring that bubbles with pure, unconstrained power. The Horror originally sent me here to find it. But no matter where I looked, I didn’t catch even a whiff of it. And when that plan fell through…” She averted her eyes, finding the memory uncomfortable. ”That bastard wanted to incarnate with the blood moon ritual. The rest you know.”
”I see…” Lily held her chin, deep in thought. ”So…If we could find this Nexus…” She mumbled, not having realized that Kayli had moved on to talk about an army of constructs that could be deployed, and how ultimately Wonderland would only be followed by others. The sentiment was shared by Gaia, who brought up the possibility of bringing the populace to MDP’s pocket dimension. ”Putting them to sleep might actually work, especially if you combine your magic. I can tell from experience that coordinated spells can produce very powerful results. But you’d need a method to travel fast across the city…”
At the time the discussion took place, Lily woke from her thinking, and noticed how Connie seemed to look uncomfortable. She quietly went over to her side, subtly taking hold of her hand in an attempt to reassure her. ”I know this is a lot to take in, Connie. Some stuff goes over my head, too. But still, I’m glad you came.” she said, smiling brightly. That was when something happened to poke the back of her head, and Lily blinked. ”Huh? What was that?” She turned, and saw that a paper plane ended up stuck between her hair and her tiara ornament. Alarmingly, the paper plane was partially scorched black and smoking from the back. She took hold of the paper and unfolded it. ”Karakura Town…Important Spirit Zone?” She quietly read the message with a lifted eyebrow. ”I know karakuri can mean mechanism or clockwork in Japanese, but…Uhh…” Lily visibly strained from trying to think about the meaning behind the mysterious message, and looked around, trying to spot the sender. She sighed. ”It must be an anime reference. Connie, do you have any ideas?” She quietly asked the masked girl to avoid disturbing the larger conversation at hand.
However, it was soon disturbed by Chloe herself, who brought up a shocking proposal in exchange for what she claimed to be vital information. Justine’s eyebrows furrowed, and she grit her teeth. Lily gasped, and absentmindedly handed the piece of paper over to Miko as she moved forward to address Chloe among the others, letting her and Ronin try to solve the riddle, or hand it to Mariette. She figured if any girl here was smart enough to figure it out, it would be Mariette. ”Wait, by conjuration egg, you mean the thing the soldiers were carrying, right?”
Mariette suddenly spoke up, causing Lily to jump as she was startled by her. ”Eavesdrop? On us? Uh…I didn’t realize…” She looked slightly shaken as Penny followed though, clearly not having thought this meeting through. It was around this time that Ruby had taken Alicia and Kayli away. Justine had noticed this, but decided to ignore it in favor of Chloe’s assertions. Lily was distracted by the proceedings as Valerie pulled her aside. Her initial sarcasm however paved way to information on Wonderland itself, which piqued her attention. ”Not able? Why?” She asked, and scrolled through the intelligence the android girl had sent. While she did see some of the soldier types at Bolorton, getting a more comprehensive look at what they were like put things into perspective to Lily. I thought the soldier markings didn’t have any meaning. They’re really organized to go this far…
She listened as Valerie further explained that the dimension itself was enchanted, and how the castle was confirmed to be the Queen’s abode, and barred from outsiders. Amanda then introduced her, and Lily smiled in kind. ”I’m Lily Lightning," she said, and offered a handshake politely. She might have crossed paths with the android girl before, but she doesn’t remember introducing herself. ”Just your average friendly neighborhood magical girl. Though I suppose idiot magical girl is more fitting…” She sighed, and started to get more and more worried about the mistake she’s made. Soon enough, she started to panic.
Should we move the meeting somewhere else, like Overcity? But I’d have to make a new Glimmr post, and then Wonderland would find that and-
“Now hold just a moment, cuties~”
Everyone turned to look at Nefer and Akhenaten as she made her presence known, having seemingly appeared out of thin air, with no sign of teleportation or other movement. The golem had crossed his arms, barely moving as it cautiously guarded the eccentric magical girl. Curiously, a spherical Artifact was floating over her extended palm. The device was made of multiple interlocking plates, and seemed to emanate an energy field of some sort.
“The Mint cutie here is quite something: pretty as a pearl, but pretty clever too. But before I explain, how about we make this meeting more…private?” She spoke in a playful manner, and grabbed hold of the orb. This was followed immediately by Justine summoning her spear and pointing it at her. ”What do you think you’re doing with that?” But Nefer merely grinned. “Don’t worry. This won’t disturb your little pow-wow. It just makes it more interesting.” She casually threw the orb up in the air. As it reached the center of the area it activated: the interlocking plates opened up, and a blue core of magical energy expanded out as a field, passing through the participants harmlessly until it covered everyone in a dome. The dome shimmered a transparent, faint blue, though it didn’t impede anyone as they left the dome. Lily was the first one to try as she poked her head out. But when she did, she noticed upon looking back that everything inside the dome had turned invisible, and blocked sound. Even Mariette’s Absolute Direction, and other magical methods of scrying and detection were nullified by the Artifact. Fortunately, the magic didn’t seem to affect the eyepatched girl’s portals, likely due to her being inside the field.
“Now, we can continue without fear of prying eyes. Hope you Beacon cuties don’t mind if I used a borrowed model, right? I just felt it required a bit of a modification.” She winked at Alicia. “Of course, this cloak will only hold for a while, so I wouldn’t mind hopping over to hang it somewhere else, like sugar cutie’s bounce pad~” She said, and winked again, this time at Magical Dream Princess. Akhenaten grunted, and Nefer giggled.
“Anyway, Chloe here has consciously revealed the information knowing that Wonderland was spying. In fact, she was betting on it. I’ve dabbled in Mint business before, so I have an inkling she’s got eyes on those facilities, and simply made a call. If the fairytale fellows fret and attempt to move their precious cargo, she will know exactly where it ends up. You see, those conjuration eggs are fragile stuff, real volatile with the magic charge, and can’t be teleported. They also require specialized trucks to move around, and give off enough magical energy to be spotted with Third Eye, so decoy trucks are out of the question. In short, Wonderlanders are screwed either way, and hope that the cutie is lying to us folks. Now, I’d bet my favorite car tires that she’s not intending to risk her deal going south by simply betting on the location of the eggs, so she’s likely honest on that part.” Nefer then shook her head as she leaned against Akhenaten with one of her arms. “How do I know all this? Well, I was snooping as usual, you see. But of course, this is all but speculation on my part, so take it with a grain of salt. I’m just here to see which way the wind blows~”
Lily was not sure how to take the sudden appearance and use of the Artifact, but at least it solved the immediate issue of Wonderland finding out about their plans. This left her with the problem of deciding how to go about Chloe’s suggestion. She went over to the dark magical girl, looking serious. ”I don’t know how fair or acceptable your conditions are, but if what you say is true, I don’t want to outright reject them. Maybe we can reach a compromise. But before all that, you have to accept one condition, Chloe: no more crime in Penrose. From you, or anyone else in your organization. If you really, really need to cheat people out of their money, you could set up a way to legally do it, like gacha.“ She blurted out.
Justine sighed, sometimes finding it exhausting to listen to her friend. "She means gambling. But I agree with her point. If we’re to co-operate in any real capacity, then all the illegal business you’ve done here needs to stop.” She noticed how Kayli and Alicia had returned, and how Kayli seemed a bit different than before. In truth Kayli now saw what seemed like traces of magic that shimmered with various hues. These traces seemed to replicate the shapes and movements of magical girls of past present, and possibly even future. Though one particular oddity among them stood out: a trace of a magical girl pinned by another with an iron clamp against the statue, followed by the girl being impaled by her own conjured weapons of light, dying on the spot. As Kayli reached her hand out to that spot, the traces seemed to resonate, glowing brighter as she approached. Those traces then created other traces, leading away from the park, like a footprint of magic itself.
Meanwhile, Lily was still thinking. ”Loot boxes as well, and…Oh yeah, subscription services and microtransactions on full-priced products! Those are still legal too!" Justine could only roll her eyes, exasperated from her antics. "It's fine, Lily. I'm sure she got the point…"
Making their way out of Penrose, the Mint operatives knew they were unlikely to exit the city without being confronted. As it was, She had counted on it. The main question was whether they had attracted the right sort of attention, or if their little scheme would be interrupted by people who were butting their nose in where they didn't belong. With this being Penrose there was a pretty big chance of that happening, but this time around fate seemed to favor them.
Whether the Mint girls would have cared about running over some random civilian was an uncertain question. But this was no random civilian, and her presence was deliberate and calculated. The truck did not slow, on the off chance that it was actually some kind of decoy or an illusion. Mac's trick went off without a hitch, and the air filled with the sound of crumpling metal as the truck abruptly stopped.
Airbags popped as predicted, and the driver slumped forward into the airbag. He remained slumped and motionless for now, a nonfactor in what was about to happen.
Anja let out a groan as she pulled back from the airbag, clutching at her head from the jarring impact against Mac. Not that she was particularly surprised by it either, and so there was no shock or time spent wondering. Having recovered, she exited the vehicle with purposeful steps, moving towards Mac as she drew her blade. "I hope you'll be some sort of challenge, since you so rudely interrupted our trip," she said to Mac as she went to move around the front of the vehicle and begin the combat.
In the back of the vehicle, the door rolled up as Seppa and Alma emerged. The truck visibly bounced as Alma disembarked, looming over her companion. "Go time," Seppa said with a visible grin. There was no chance that Mac was alone after all.
Lily was anxious, her foot outwardly expressing it with impatient taps as she waited for her message to be received. But she wasn’t anxious about nobody showing up: there were still friends and acquaintances she could rely on to do the right thing. She was concerned about how volatile the personalities of the magical girls could be, and how that could lead into bickering if not outright hostility. However, Lily didn’t have to ponder such thoughts for long before the first person arrived. But to Lily’s surprise, it was nobody she recognized. She was alarmed as the shield-carrying girl suddenly teleported in, but quickly gave a hesitant smile as the stranger introduced themselves as an associate of Doctor Nykannis, and more importantly, an ally to her cause. While she wasn’t really familiar with the “Queen of the Mad Scientists” herself, she figured she cared enough about Penrose to give this meeting a chance. And so would Lily too.
”A b-bodyguard?” She slightly blushed out of embarrassment after hearing the announcement, and scratched her cheek, averting her eyes. ”I-I’m not so important that I’d need that…But, um, thank you.” Though she secretly wanted to be acknowledged and respected by her peers, she never wanted to be seen as superior or more important than anyone else. In that sense, it was bizarre for a stranger to assign her a guardian. Not that she needed one, as she saw Alex arrive soon after the recording ended. She could trust him to keep her safe even if someone dangerous attempted to crash the meeting. ”Alex! You came just in time! Look what I got!” She waved the recording in her hand, looking like she might accidentally drop it, to Pentius-04’s possible dismay.
She then activated the recording and reacted with wide eyes, taken aback by Nykannis’ bold greeting. She was boisterous and rude, yet also strangely endearing to Lily, reminding her of a villain she saw in a TV show once. Regardless of her attitude, her intent seemed positive enough.
Once it ended, Lily turned to Pentius-04, about to say something, when she froze, her eyes wide. A new arrival teleported suddenly in: Chloe, with an entourage of girls Lily definitely considered dangerous. She instinctively hopped out of the way of the red carpet as it rolled towards the central statue, and summoned her magical weapon out of reflex as Chloe bombastically walked down it. But as soon as she did, Chloe made her intentions clear: she also wanted to attend the meeting in peace, even if she did summon a horrific monster to enforce it. A bead of sweat dripped down Lily’s brow, but she put up a brave face. She would need to stay in control of the meeting no matter how intimidated she might be. But she had to admit, that scarf was pretty drip. ”Chloe, it’s good to see you,” Lily responded with a slightly hesitant smile, and put away her weapon. ”Love the new look, by the way. The scarf suits you.” She hoped a few kind words helped with the unease between them in the coming conversation.
As if on cue, a portal opened, and out of it stepped a familiar face joined by representatives of Sanctuary. ”Penny! Is that…A new capelet?” Her eyes sparkled upon seeing the new accessory the Queen of Penrose wore. Now feeling safe as one of the most powerful magical girls of Penrose was present, she let her weapon disappear with a spark of electricity, and curtsied. ”I am grateful that you have joined us, Your Majesty.” Though she noticed the tension between their group and Chloe’s, she appreciated their self-control. She then noticed as various other Penrose magicals arrived including Gaia, Connie, and more. Even Justine, who had descended down from the sky, having landed on the statue with a gentle flap of her wings, was attending. Her eyes were fixed on a certain someone with a crimson glare. ”So we meet again, Sonia. Still working with the Mint?” In response, the silent maid produced four knives between her fingers. However, that was all she did, before she cast them off and clasped her hands before her, her posture perfect as she stood beside Chloe. Justine rolled her eyes. ”I take that as a yes, then.” She turned to Lily. ”You still want to wait for others?”
Lily shook her head. ”No, this is enough.” She looked around at the crowd of magical girls and boys. ”To be honest…The reason I brought you all here is because the situation is desperate. It won’t be long before Wonderland comes in and destroys everything we hold dear. And we can’t let that happen!” She smashed her fist into her palm. ”We may not see eye to eye on everything, but we can all agree that we should save Penrose!”
Justine interjected. ”That’s a given, considering we’re all here in the first place. More importantly, do you have a plan of action?”
Lily averted her eyes as she gave an awkward smile. ”Well, umm…Not yet.” Justine sighed, but Lily then immediately spoke up, trying to hold on to the conversation. ”But I’m sure we can think of something we can do!” Then, a thought came to her. ”Oh! Maybe someone here knows something about Wonderland that we can use to our advantage!” Again, her eyes swept over the crowd. ”At this point, any kind of idea would be welcome. Anyone?”
Elsewhere in town, as the meeting in Penrose Park began other plans were also unfolding. “...And that’s the plan. Any questions?” Louis surveyed the gathered magical girls and boy, gauging their reaction to the information he had just provided. After some time running easy schemes, now they were back in the big leagues. “It seems pretty straightforward to me,” Alma replied with a grunt and a small nod. She had listened attentively to the plan, and liked what she saw. It was simple, which meant there were less parts that could go wrong. Off to the side, Varjo had a wide grin as she regarded their handler. “It sounds like fun! I’ve never killed a patron before. I wonder what sorts of trophies that Cradle has inside of it. Do you think the Mint will let us keep some? The other member of their little group was not entirely content, Anja wearing a frown as a hand rested on her hip. “Do we trust Her though? Seppa smirked as she glanced over at the other girl, her arms folded over her chest. “With how much the Mint is paying us for this job, we’ll be able to pay off our debts even without whatever we take. That’s worth a lot more than trust.” Did they really have a choice with their own set of circumstances Resting in the back of the room, Ilmarinen pulled out the coin that was his trademark. Holding it steady, he flicked the shining object into the air. It tumbled in mid flight, flipping head over head as it rose and then fell. A quick swipe grabbed it out of the air, and he placed it upon the back of his hand in a smooth motion. Pulling the covering hand away revealed the face of the coin, giving its approval for the mission that they were to undertake. “Fate smiles upon this mission,” he announced. Varjo rolled her eyes, but did not argue since she was already on board with the mission. Louis clapped his hands together. “Alright then, let’s get going. Time is wasting.” That package would not deliver itself.
-*-
The Mint’s plan was fairly simple, as had been claimed. They had a truck which had been magically reinforced to prevent any manipulation by Metal spec girls. Inside the truck’s hold was the device that would be used on Veronica, the one that was the Cradle’s target. The vehicle itself was being driven by a civilian who had been Psychically influenced into doing the job. None of the team actually wanted to have to drive the vehicle, especially one so large. Of the girls themselves, only Anja was visible in the passenger’s seat of the vehicle. It was reasonable to assume that there was at least one other girl in the truck with the device, but the precise location of the rest of their guards, or their number, would be difficult to pin down for the Cradle team as they arrived at their destination. Thanks to the information provided by Ladybug, the Cradle team knew that the Mint planned to follow the main roads through downtown, then get on the highway and leave Penrose for places further North. Knowing the planned route, they had the opportunity to set an ambush to the location of their choosing. How would Maura choose to approach this situation?
Lily held a flower, and gently knelt down to place it on a patch of grass, where a small stone marker was. She still remembered the pillar of ice that once formed on that spot, though time has long faded away any traces of it. She closed her eyes, and the memories of that night came rushing back. ”Victoria Reales…” She mumbled, and then stood up. ”I’ll make your dream come true…I promise.” She knew what she was about to do was foolish and dangerous, but it was her only choice. Wonderland was coming to Penrose at any moment. Though her wounds have since fully healed thanks to Alex, the mental scars they left behind still lingered. This was no mere monster attack or crazed magical girl. No, this was something bigger; pure war. Lily was not the strongest fighter, as even Metamorphosed she failed to protect Bolorton. And she’s not the smartest either. She didn’t know what to do.
But she had something worth fighting for. And it was exactly what she was going to use.
She took out her smartphone, and pressed confirm on the message, letting out a breath of anxiety. Alex would probably ask her if this was a good idea. To that question, she honestly couldn’t answer. But she had to try, even if it would end in bitter tears.
A new post emerged on Glimmr, visible not only to Lily’s friends and contacts, but also to others observing the Penrose tag.
The magical community of Penrose,
We now face a great crisis, as Wonderland will soon invade it. I have seen what happened to Bolorton, and I will not abide the same happening to my home. I will fight to protect it, but I need your help. I need everyone’s help: Beacon, the Crimson Cradle, Sanctuary, even the Ebon Mint. We all have our differences, but in the end, nobody wants to see this city gone, right? If you’re willing to talk, please come to Penrose Park.
Let’s do our best, Lily.
Then she waited, having cast a spell to brighten the electric lights surrounding the park to better guide others to her. This was her last chance, and she would take it.
But unbeknownst to Lily, the shadowed alleys in Penrose stirred, as mysterious forces were on the move…
It was an ordinary day, as ordinary as anything could be for a magical girl in Penrose. Ordinary by the standards of the distinctly unordinary Crimson Cradle. Yet as events began to unfold elsewhere, they would find themselves pulled into their own drama. One that could determine the fate of many things…
Valerie was the focus of the beginning of their drama. The dependable mission control girl, who guided the various Cradle agents on their missions. It was her who kept track of the bounty board, alerting them to any opportunities that might arise.
It was in the middle of her morning routine that she would receive an email. On the surface it seemed to be simple spam, but her skilled eye quickly realized that there was something lurking beneath the surface. It took some effort for her decryption skills to finally crack what it was, but soon she succeeded. Whoever did this was good, but not the best.
What she found at the end of it would not be what she expected.
Tell Veronica that this makes us even
Included with the short message was an attachment, and inside confirmed what would be so important as to clear that debt. It held plans for the Mint to move some sort of device through the city today, guarded by their toughest operatives. The exact specifics were unclear, but the way they described it made it seem as though the device would allow them to negate shadow magic in addition to an effect that would block access to the benefits provided by the Cradle. It did not take a genius to determine that the target was none other than Veronica herself.
Yet ‘Ladybug’ had provided them a solution, should they choose to follow it. The defenses on the device were complex, for the Mint did not intend to take chances. Complex, but not invincible. If someone could interfere with the bindings of the enchantment, destroy the base of Spirit and Light magic that was used to make the device, they could unravel the whole thing and render it useless. It might be too much for a magical girl, but not for a Patron.
Cardinal Ishtar looked troubled, but waited patiently until Alicia, Serenity and Aurelio were seated before she began speaking.
“The incident at Bolorton…I would like to hear a full report of what exactly happened,” she asked, sounding deathly serious.
Stepping into the meeting room, Alicia bowed to the Cardinal as the debriefing began. As the leader of the mission, it was only reasonable that she be the one to speak first.
"Our arrival in Bolorton was accelerated by the assistance of the girl known as Magical Dream Princess. Upon arrival we found the city under attack by mechanized and magical forces. At that point the troops had not yet entered the city proper, as a coalition of other girls from Penrose had arrived to fend them off. We made our way to the evacuation site, but before we could arrive we encountered an illusion of Beacon member Suwako. It attempted to incite us to attack Wonderland. However I was able to determine that it was an illusion and we ignored it.
We then arrived at the evacuation center and set up the teleporter. With the assistance of the magical girls already on the scene we were able to remove the residents from danger. However Wonderland was able to breach the defenses of the city and advanced upon the evacuation site. Their troops attempted to disable the teleporter, and we were forced to fight back. When the evacuation was completed we exited the scene."
That seemed to about summarize it, though if the others had something to add she wouldn't object.
“On the illusion,” Aurelio would chime in, having followed Alicia’s example and having given a small bow when he entered. “I sent a clone to try and get a better idea of what their plan was, but my clone expired before it could return to me. That said, I know that it got close to the outer edge of the engagement. Where I could feel two potent sources of anger that seemed to be fighting each other.”
“In addition, from what clones I had that I got back, I can tell that the mechanized forces didn’t see fit to bother with us or the others helping us evacuate. And were focused solely on attacking Wonderland, whereas Wonderland saw both us and the mechanized force as equal opportunity targets.”
Serenity nodded in assent with what Aurelio had said, before picking up where he’d left off. Her distance from the two agents of a certain Horror was more of a comfort now, but the sinking feeling she’d have to say something about it all was also there. Not that she wanted to hide it, really, but it was also…somewhat uncomfortable as well. Brought back similar feelings to what she’d felt back there in Bolorton. Even so-
“The soldiers were disposable, which from what little I know from, er, ‘before’ about them seems to fit the bill of how they operate. Despite this, they wielded stronger magical weaponry of a sort, examples of which I got a glimpse of in the possession of…a Horror-serving monster girl and her potential ally who were both among the defenders there as well.”
A small shudder ran down the magical maid’s back visibly at that mention of the two, though she at least attempted to hide it.
“However, I believe we didn’t get to see everything Wonderland likely had there at Bolorton either. Though to go in with that much force and using so many soldiers in a small place like Bolorton is…concerning as well, opposing magical girls being there aside.
Like they’re trying to secure a perimeter or something.”
Ishtar pondered on the reports given by the three, and sighed. "Wonderland had already contacted us and claimed they were attacked by Beacon forces first. Of course, we couldn't detect lies in that statement; must have been a third-party speaker who was simply told what to say, or worse, manipulated. Of course, Lux is handling the realpolitik side, but in turn has given us more pressure."
Rachel spoke up. "According to on-site reports confirmed by our intelligence operative, Wonderland broke the truce agreement and initiated hostilities without provocation. It seems they are no longer concerned with the possibility of retaliation. But why now?"
Elora typed away on her laptop, and produced a hologram of Suwako. "Suwako is confirmed to continue operating on the West Coast. The imposter must have been aware of her absence when they attempted their scheme."
Ishtar spoke again. "These mechanized forces…They must belong to a separate faction. Elora, run a search based on the data." Elora nodded, and began typing away, her fingers so fast they almost seemed like a blur. "Aurelio, please assist her with any characteristics or traits that you might remember."
Rachel checked her device. "According to the reports they use mana gem infusion with their weapons. We might be able to salvage something useful out of that were we to get our hands on a sample or two."
"That is true," Ishtar replied. "It seems that Wonderland utilized some experimental monsters as part of their forces as well." Tsuki nodded. "Yes, the monsters were identified to emulate the cast of a children's story known as the Wizard of Oz. But how were they deployed? Did they teleport in the same way as the others?"
Alicia nodded along with the observations from the various Ascendancy members. “It sounds like we have a lot of questions and not many answers. We’re going to have some things to look into before Wonderland makes their next move.”
"We would need to ask those that were there before us" Aurelio would say, "Unfortunately it seemed like whoever chose to take the fight out to the forces of Wonderland had their own way out as none of them evacuated with us."
“Actually, someone who was out there might have been evacuated by us…I think.”
A small chill visibly ran down Serenity’s back as she spoke, her words trailing off with a certain sense of distinct unpleasantness about the topic tinting her tone of voice.
"Yes, we have identified the Mahou who were evacuated," Violette agreed. "We could have someone follow up on more information with them."
"More importantly, we need to follow up on the rest of Penrose," Ishtar retorted. "Clearly Wonderland's objectives are of a malicious intent that will threaten more than just the city. Otherwise they wouldn't have pushed this aggressively to secure a foothold." She sighed in frustration. "I'll try to convince Lux to send more troops here, but what we really need is the support of the local defense, everything we can get a hold of."
Rachel looked grim. "There is always the ultimate solution…"
The rest of the Ascendant tensed up, realising what she meant. Ishtar glared at the Inquisitor. "Absolutely not. Lux has forbidden the use of the Reckoning, as you should know."
Rachel adjusted her glasses. "The Ecclesiarch left in the exception for an Aleph-class crisis. If this is as dire of a situation as you imply…” She adjusted her glasses, causing them to briefly flash from the ceiling light. ”We can't ignore the possibility."
A moment of awkward silence fell in the room, finally broken by Sally. "We just have to make sure it doesn't become a crisis that bad!" She exclaimed boisterously. "Anyway, what's our orders?"
"Co-ordinate defensive efforts with the Penrose Mahou," Ishtar answered. "Continue patrols and hunts as usual, but also conduct scouting missions around the area and in the direction of Bolorton, as well as research into enemy tactics and resources. We'll be keeping you posted. Most importantly, each and every one of us need to seize initiative and act independently to the best of our abilities, without letting protocol get in the way. That is all."
Rachel scoffed, but even she had to agree to the terms the Cardinal had presented. "This city is going to be the death of me, I swear…"
Alicia frowned as she listened to the conversation, especially as it turned to matters of large scale destruction. “I’m not ready to give up just yet,” she agreed, adding her voice to Sally’s. Ishtar then provided them with her directions as they prepared to face the oncoming crisis.
“Yes ma’am,” she agreed with a nod. Even if they lost, she did not intend to let them take her home here without a fight.
Rachel acknowledged Lily’s plea, but said nothing, simply writing down observations on her personal device. Lily managed a grateful smile as Alex together with the Beacon medics mended her multitude of wounds, and afterwards hugged Alex, burying her face in his chest.
”I can’t believe those people…” She mumbled. ”They would attack an innocent town like that…” She lifted her face up. ”If you weren’t there for me…I would have died. I let my emotions get the best of me…Even after I swore I would never falter..Geez, I’m so dumb…” When Alex voiced his confusion regarding the incident, Lily could only shake her head. ”Apparently Wonderland was behind this attack, but that’s all I really know.”
Rachel then sighed, showing a hint of annoyance at Alex’ loud questioning, and glanced at the assistant who had arrived to gather another round of debriefings. “Those three are next,” she coldly stated, and pointed not only to Lily and Alex, but also at Justine, who blinked in surprise. The assistant bowed respectfully and then went over to Lily and Alex. “This way, please,” the assistant gently gestured. Lily looked to her before nodding at Alex with a bit lip. ”Let’s have our voices heard, Alex. It’s for the best.”
“Good, now then, follow me.” With Rachel in the lead and Violette following her, Alicia, Serenity, and the rest of the Beacon operatives moved to a large conference room, nearly fully occupied by various members of both local Beacon as well as the Ascendancy. Familiar faces such as Shamrock Sally, Tsuki, and Hudie were among the gathered participants of the meeting, with the Cardinal herself taking the spot at the very back; it became obvious that this was not going to be a regular report, but an important conference for Penrose Beacon as a whole.
With Alex helping steady Lily up, one of the medics brought a crutch for Lily to use, allowing her to slowly walk by herself as the two headed for the waiting room, followed by Justine just behind them. Once there, one by one they were brought to the meeting room, seeing Connie, Gaia, and the Angel of Hope on the way as they left their rooms. Finally, once they were alone, it didn’t take long for Dawn to come in and ask all three the exact same questions as with the others.
And now for another round. -Dawn “worst PR representative ever” Astraea
“Good evening, my name is Dawn Astraea,” the young woman introduced herself again as she took her seat opposite of the interviewee. “I will be conducting your debriefing. If you do not have any questions, then let us begin. First and foremost, I am obligated to inform you that this debriefing is being recorded, and that your answers will be reviewed by a light magic specialist for verification. If any falsehoods are detected, or we are given reason to believe that you pose a danger to The Beacon, you will be retained for additional investigation. Is that understood?”
Lily’s eyes widened in shock, and she held her hands up to her chest, as if trying to calm herself. ”Y-Yes, I understand.”
***
”Yes," Justine answered bluntly, her hands on her lap, fingers tapping anxiously. ”Can we make this short? I need to go check up on my sister in Silverburg."
“This debriefing will end faster the more quickly you answer your questions.”
Justine scoffed. Even if she no longer directly opposed Beacon, they still left a bad taste in her mouth.
***
“What is your name and magical girl title?”
“Lily Lightning, a magical girl of justice. Um, do I also have to give my real name? I don’t want to be doxxed.”
“No, that is enough. We already know all we need to know about your civilian life.”
A big sweatdrop appeared on Lily’s forehead.
“Well, that’s…Great?”
***
”Justine von Visceral. Or rather, should I address myself as Sinner of Lust to you?" She asked half-mockingly and half-genuinely.
“That title no longer applies to you,” Dawn immediately retorted.
***
“What is your magical specialization?”
“Lightning, and also Time thanks to a wish my boyfriend made to a pair of djinn twins. B-But I swear I’m just a regular magical girl! Honest!”
“Do not worry; if you were corrupted, we would have already began the purification process.”
Another sweatdrop appeared.
“That’s great…”
***
”Blood."
“That is not a magical specialization.”
”Well what else am I supposed to call it? Hemomancy?"
“I’ll file it under Oddball.”
***
“Are you a dark magical girl or monster girl?”
“Neither. I swear I am normal! Although, sometimes I do lose my temper and that results in some unwise decisions, but that happens to everyone, right?”
Dawn glared back.
Lily sunk down in her seat.
“Well…I guess not everyone…”
***
”I was a monster girl at one point, but I got better," Justine answered. ”I think it was a Beacon girl that administered the purifying potion, I believe?"
“Yes, our records indicate that a purification potion was administered by local Beacon forces.”
”One of the Howell twins, correct? Sounds like they do a better job at purifying than you lot?"
A popped vein could be seen on Dawn’s forehead. “Let’s move on to the next question.”
***
“Is your Patron classified as a horror?”
“No, he’s a Puchuu…Though, these days I feel like we’ve grown more distant. He usually lets me do my own thing…Unlike Ixion…”
***
”No."
“You are currently employed by the Crimson Cradle, correct?”
”Yes, what about it?" Justine averted her eyes.
“Are you aware of that organization’s reputation in the magical community?”
”Yes, but that doesn’t…matter to me. Not at all." Any Light specialist would detect the lie in that sentence.
***
“Have you ever worked alongside a dark magical girl/boy, monster girl/boy, and/or servant of a horror?”
“Well, of course. Even if we are different, we can all still fight together for a good cause. We can’t let prejudice get in the way of what’s really important, like protecting our friends and loved ones.”
***
”That should be obvious given my history."
***
“Have you ever opposed the glorious and righteous will of The Beacon Ascendancy?”
“Well…one time, Rachel wanted to destroy an artifact belonging to one of my friends…” Lily pouted with puffed up cheeks. “And she also wanted to blow up an entire dimension just because it was a bit different. And that’s just wrong, you know! If you were there, I’m sure you’d agree with me!”
Dawn glared at Lily. She sunk in her seat even lower this time.
“I guess…You wouldn’t, huh…”
***
”Not in my current occupation, but I believe that is inevitable given the stubbornness and refusal to co-operate that your lot typically expresses."
***
“Why have you yet to renounce your Patron and embrace the radiant light of The Beacon?”
“I actually did consider it when I lost my previous Patron…But then I remembered how mean you can be, even to your fellow magical girls! Yes, it’s important to fight for a good cause, but you’re taking it too far.”
***
”Because I am sworn to serve my Mistress. That’s all there is to it. Well, except for the part where you’re all a bunch of stuck up-"
***
“How did you learn that Bolorton was under attack?”
“This is kind of embarrassing to admit…But sometimes I like to watch live streams on Glimmr. One of the streamers I follow lives in Bolorton, and was doing one of her outdoor zatsudans-”
“What is a zatsudan?”
Lily turned red in the face.
“Well, umm, it’s like casual chatting-never mind, that’s not important! The point is, she noticed that some soldiers appeared, and the feed suddenly cut off, so I called all my friends and we rushed there.”
“Who was this streamer?”
“She goes by SunFlowey in Glimmr, but that’s all you’re gonna get! I’m a loyal fan, and would never dox her!”
“So Annabelle McDonald,” Dawn immediately wrote down, causing Lily to gasp.
“Is nothing a secret to you guys?!”
***
”Lily called me about it. Of course, knowing her luck, she must have seen a livestream of the attack happening or something. She can sometimes stumble into stuff like this like it’s magic."
***
“How did you reach Bolorton in time to assist with its evacuation?”
“My friend Mariette created a portal, and I’m so grateful for that. But now I have no idea how to pay her back! Maybe some cake…” Lily wondered with a finger poking at her cheek.
***
”Lily pulled some strings, and we got there with an associate’s portal. At this point she must know every single magical girl in Penrose. That’s honestly impressive."
***
“What was the approximate strength of the Wonderland forces attacking the town?”
“There was a lot of soldiers, like a lot lot! It was like one of those wave survival games where you have to hold out for as long as you can, it was terrible! There were also a bunch of tanks, and artillery, and crazy monsters that went bwoom bwoom, and blamm, and-”
***
”Enough infantry to invade a micronation with, complete with armored transport and assault vehicles and mortar support. There was also aerial infantry with heavy weapons, and what looked like a specialized group of weaponized monsters based on the Wizard of Oz story. To be honest, it’s a bit underwhelming as far as the whole fairytale and storybook theme goes. At least I went all out with the whole gothic horror style."
***
“Via what method or methods were the Wonderland forces deployed?”
“I don’t really know. I guess portals or teleportation? There was suddenly a whole lot more enemies, but I didn’t pay much attention where they came from.”
***
”Portal magic. And based on how the magic circles looked, it might have been artificially produced. But I’m not really an expert or anything on the subject."
***
“Did you witness any member of Beacon engaging the Wonderland forces in combat?”
“Yeah! I saw my good friend Alicia defend the town with other Beacon girls. She’s so cool, isn’t she?”
***
”Yeah, Beacon was there aiding in the evacuation effort. But when it came to Ascendancy…"
***
“Did the Wonderlanders communicate with you in any way?”
“Uhh, not really? I heard some shouting, but none of it was directed at us, I think. I don’t think they were interested in us surrendering.”
***
”No, not at all. They were out for blood, no diplomacy attempted. They did speak English though, so you could try talking to them…If you care, that is."
***
“Did you communicate with the Wonderlanders in any way?”
“I think I tried yelling at them to stop, but by that point they already started their attack…Sometimes you gotta make the other side listen to you, I guess. But if it were up to me, I’d always try to talk things out, no matter who it was!”
***
”No, because there was no point. In war, you can’t hesitate for even a second."
***
“If I was to tell you that this was the last question, would you believe me?”
Lily tilted her head, looking puzzled. “Uhh…I guess?”
***
Justine scoffed. ”No. I think you still have more pointless questions to ask just to spite me."
***
“Last question. If I was to tell you that this was the last question, would you believe me?”
Lily tilted her head again. “Uhh…I…Guess?”
What is she doing? ***
”No. I’m not going to explain myself again.”
Yep, here comes the stupid questions.
***
“That concludes the debriefing,” Dawn announced as she rose to her feet. “The Beacon thanks you for your cooperation in this matter. Someone will be with you shortly to escort you off the premisses.”
Lily sighed, feeling like her nervousness finally released in one big spark of electricity.
Justine rolled her eyes.
With that, Dawn left, and the interviews were over. Once all three got out of the meeting room, Lily grabbed hold of Alex’ shoulder with her free arm.
”Phew, glad that’s finally over. I gotta say, I did not like her attitude about the whole thing.”
”You tell me. The last two questions especially. Anyway, I gotta head off and see how Caroline is doing. But let’s keep in touch, okay Lily? Bye." She waved goodbye to Lily and Alex as she left. Lily waved back. And as the two of them also walked out of Beacon headquarters, the crutch-holding girl stopped still, and gave one last look at the building.
“You know Alex…I never thought I’d have to do this…But now’s the time to follow in my predecessor’s footsteps.” And with that, Lily summoned her bike, and they were gone.
“Justine? I didn’t know she was around these parts.” Nefer sounded surprised when Iron Mouse mentioned the former monster girl, and looked back, simultaneously turning to avoid a large rock without looking. She then realized what she blurted out, and giggled. “I mean, wow, those Wonderlanders sure are something else, eh? I reckon Penrose is gonna be a warzone soon. Plenty of loot to be had then~”
She smirked as Mayra wondered about the people around her, and winked at the excited monster girl. “Well, aren’t you a sssilly little salamander cutie~” Akhenaten grumbled, sounding a tiny bit deeper in his voice than usual as he continued driving the group into the horizon.
Justine was preoccupied with throwing her bloody javelins when she saw Alex run out of the barrier.
”Wait, what are you-” She shouted after him, only to see Lily in the distance. He was quick as a cheetah, carried aloft by the Angel of Hope’s blessings.
”Lily! Hang on!” She dashed up into the air, and pointed her spear down at the enemy forces.
”Mountain of a Thousand Needles!” She screamed, and scarlet spines shot out in a spray, only an inch in diameter but five feet in length. The spines pierced troopers, blocked enemy fire, and embedded into the ground to act as a further hazard. Of course, she had left an open path for Alex and his clone as they rushed back. Alex had successfully located her leg in the midst of the chaos, blackened by the blast. With Lily in tow, barely able to hold onto the clone, the two returned and dove through the teleporter. Justine looked behind her, and sighed in relief, only to be suddenly shot by a couple of bursts of enemy fire; she cursed her inattentiveness. She fell, but at the last moment managed to unfurl her wounded wings, and scrambled into a dive into the teleporter.
As the rest of the defenders scrambled to escape the living hell that slowly but surely encroached upon them, whether it was through the teleporter or other means, a couple of familiar silhouettes could be seen rushing back, knocking over a tank like it was a trash can. “Kept ya waiting, huh?” Nefer quipped at Iron Mouse with a flirty wink while holding trophies and keepsakes in a burglar bag she held over her back. Akhenaten did not greet with as much as a grunt as he slid before their car, creating grooves in the ground. He then spread his arms wide while facing Wonderland’s forces, acting as a wall to protect the Mahou mobile from a cannon shell that slipped through a hole in the barrier and ineffectively blew up against the golem. “Show’s over, now book it, Rocky!” She shouted before she jumped into the shotgun seat, followed by her stocky partner who took the wheel and punched the pedal to the medal, blasting right out of there with the rest of the passengers.
The Beacon forces were one of the last groups to depart, determined to ensure the escape of their non-affiliated compatriots out of a sense of duty. Hyun Long punched dragons made of fire out from her fists as she walked backwards into the teleporter, right alongside Serenity as she too covered their retreat, knives bursting with vicious tendrils. But right as she was about to warp out, she shot out one last fire dragon that opened it’s maws on their pickup car, blowing it up in a magnificent explosion, catching an entire squadron in the blast radius. Can’t have them grabbing that, she figured.
The Queen of Hearts’ eyes narrowed at the Queen of the Mad Scientists and her haughty nature, and simply smirked in response. “The only amazing thing about you is how hard you try.” She readied her sword, and her eye glowed as she channelled the power of the Storyslayer. But then, an expression of disbelief came upon her face. “You have to be kidding me.” She jumped the moment the moment Pentius-03 activated her ability, attempting to move out of the gifted nullification zone, only to be trapped and forced to defend herself as Nykannis unleashed a power play among the mightiest of Mahou on her, weapons upon weapons of mass destruction of ridiculous descriptions aimed at her. Her sword spun rapidly around her, cutting down the attacks and turning them into ribbons of black words that melted into white paper. She cut down the first Killing Blow, and the Second and Third…Even the Fourth one…But the final one managed to land, and her arm was blown off from the elbow.
But as Nykannis laughed in victory, she suddenly braced, feeling pain; the Queen had thrown her spinning Storyslayer, the sword having cleaved through every single defense the near-Goddess of Technology had accrued, and left a long scar on her arm that would sting and not heal. The Queen then dropped to one knee, and after she caught the blade back in her hand, she embedded it to the ground, clutching the stump where her arm was. It was a moment where any other Mahou would have faltered, as the Second Phase closed in for the kill.
But the Queen could only laugh.
At that moment, The Second Phase scattered as storm winds wreathed in hex-spewing ghosts assaulted them, and Wendigos rushed to gore and claw at them like a pack of wolves. Electronic systems jammed, and bombs with hats exploded over various Pentius members, coating them in melting, sticky rubbergum that completely insulated and immobilized. “Congratulations!” Exclaimed the Mad Hatter as he stepped out into the field, equipped with all manner of gadgets and devices while juggling a few bombs with hats on them. He was accompanied by various members of the Queen’s court, like the March Hare, looking pissed off due to the explosion, a monster girl with the upper body of a lady and the lower body of a winged lion, and a hooded green-haired girl with butterfly wings. The Mad Hatter had a deranged smile. “Shall we celebrate your unbirthday? I have plenty of tea~” All the while, the seemingly endless legions of Wonderland surrounded Nykannis and her crew.
The Queen stood up, and smiled, seemingly shrugging off the loss of her arm as one would treat a mere flesh wound. “You truly are as worthy as your title, Scientist Sovereign. I’m impressed. I see it now, you do understand, after all; the cruel game the Powers are playing, with us as the pawns! The accursed Grand Magistrate! But I won’t fall into despair. I won’t surrender! You may bend the rules all you like, but I’m the one to shatter them. For I am the one to pen this story with the ending it deserves. My blade is the quill…And the blood of fools is my ink.” She sighed as she looked at her sword, glancing at the reflection of Jennifer on it. “Are you offering yours for the next page?”
When the Mahou teleported out of the cacophony of Bolorton’s battlefield, the found themselves once again in silence, as if a page had suddenly turned from one scene to another. It was a moment when they could finally catch a breath, and take in the horrors of what they had experienced in but a fleeting moment.
The primary group found themselves in a white, padded room, with a cushioned floor; it was seemingly designed for safely arriving into the room even from high velocity. There were gold highlights in the ceiling, like a stylized sun with spiralling rays of gold surrounding it; a familiar symbol to those in the ranks of Beacon. They were greeted by Beacon paramedics, who immediately got to work treating the group’s various wounds, starting with Lily. The green.haired girl was sobbing as she held her severed leg by the knee, seemingly in both physical as well as emotional pain. The paramedics forcefully grabbed the leg away from Alex without apologizing, and immediately worked to graft the lost limb back into place with Reinforcement magic. As for the others who had escaped to the parks in Penrose, the only greeting they received was a cold, ominous wind, and the forlorn rustling of leaves.
Justine had crawled to the back corner and sat against the wall, looking tired as her torn wings were spread out on the floor, looking like an angel who had fallen from heaven. Her head was down, slowly shaking her head when a paramedic arrived to look at her.
”I’m fine, thank you,” she muttered to the paramedic, who went to treat other wounds. She looked down at the floor. ”But still…I still can’t believe it…First Envy, and now even Pride…This can’t be a coincidence.”
Curiously, there weren’t any signs of the civilians at first, until they heard a crying child nearby. Stepping out of the room and into the corridor, the arrivals would see that more Beacon paramedics were working in the adjacent room, where the civilians had been taken into. Annabelle, who had managed to escape with only a few minor burns on her forearm and shoulder, ran into the other room to check up on the townsfolk.
Soon after, Alicia saw Rachel stomping in, followed by Violette. The latter looked shocked; Alicia couldn’t blame her. “It was a ruse, Inquisitor! They never intended to-” Violette spoke out, only to be silenced as Rachel lifted a hand. “Not here, Violette. Paladin Seraph, you and your squad will directly report to Cardinal Ishtar as soon as possible; she needs to know all the details of what had transpired out there.” She then addressed the non-Beacon Mahou who were present. “The Beacon will provide first-aid. However, we would like to ask you to stay and provide witness accounts to what happened in Bolorton.” She adjusted her glasses. “If my hunch is correct…We might need to work together.”
”No…" Lily whimpered, and lifted an arm to wipe her tears away.
”It’s not a possibility…We have to. All of us. For Penrose."
The defenders had split into three groups. Annabelle, Lily, Alex, Alicia, Nyakannis/team, MDP, Gaia, Connie had organized a defense of the teleporter against the invading force. The other group, comprised of Aurelio, Eliana, Serenity, Ronin, Miko, Tina, Ellen, and Hyun, were in charge of evacuating the civilians.
Justine was initially a part of the latter group, and made an initial attempt to help with clearing out the civilians by throwing them into the teleporter, only to gasp as Eliana’s barrier went down. Fortunately, she saw Alex react first to the loss with a barrier of his own, tailor-made to enable effective defensive action. At 20% mana, little by little he was starting to run lower. However, he wasn’t alone in his efforts, as Eliana augmented their last line of defense with dark, repelling sorceries, like black markings that writhed over the surface of the spell.
”Damn! They’re already here! I’m gonna help defend! You get them out!”
Biting on her lip so hard she drew blood, she called upon her red magic, and coated Alex’ barrier with a crimson blood coating, further reinforcing their fleeting defenses against Wonderland’s onslaught while also covering it in barbed spikes; perhaps a cruel method of deterrence, as some troopers ended up charging right into the serrated shield, but for the former Seventh Sinner, it was a necessary evil. She then proceeded to cast blood javelins through the holes, skewering infantry and jamming tank treads to stop them from bulldozing through.
Annabelle continued sprouting sunflowers, attempting to divert the enemy’s attention by using them as decoys at worst and as turrets at best, peppering the enemy with machine gun-like sprays of small solar beams. “Just a bit more…Hold out a bit more…!” However, based on her slowing tempo and sweating brow, it was obvious to tell that she was running on fumes at this point. Magical Dream Princess weaved a twinkling curtain of starlight and candy drops that transformed ammunition shot through it into floating little gifts and treats. While a powerful spell that had taken 20% mana, it effectively neutralized the rest of the attacks coming in.
The evacuation force was in full swing. After their major contribution, the twins were on standby, and with teamwork took down a couple of flanking troopers. Aurelio cast invigorating energies of Excitement, keeping the fighters active without stopping for breaks. Pulling double duty with a massive surge in mana that dropped him to 50%, Oliver conjured a horde of ghosts and duplicates, and had them in both evacuation and defense duties. Hyun continued lifting and throwing the civilians the best she could. Serenity aided by casting an acceleration enchantment, further speeding the crew, while Alicia covered her compatriots with arrows of radiant light’s successfully disabling many of the heavy weapons by sabotaging their barrels. She and the rest of Beacon heard Violette chiming in with a confused voice: ”But that’s not…Wait, it couldn’t be…” They heard her rapidly clacking away on a keyboard before she resumed radio silence. With a resounding battlecry, Alicia then rallied the Mahou for a shared cause.
As a result of this, the civilians were successfully evacuated to the last man, woman, and child. The entirety of Bolorton’s population was now gone, leaving the town as nothing but a ghost town, ravaged by war. But there was little time to rejoice. While Lily had continued to fight the good fight, deranged as she may have been in her bout of Metamorphosis-induced madness, even her luck had run out. ”AAARGHHH!" Her mana, having rapidly drained due to her rage, had dissipated, and she failed to enchant the tank shell that had struck her. As a result, she collapsed to the ground with a thud. ”Ughhh…" She was groaning in pain, unable to stand up; one of her legs had been blown off from the knee down.
The Queen of Hearts scoffed at Mayra’s taunt, and flourished her weapon with grace as she waited for the draconic girl to jump out from the smoke. “Very well. For you, I will grant the repose of death.” But as she prepared to strike, Mayra instead grabbed the separate pieces of Finn, and leapt out with bravado, using her magic to propel herself. She turned to see the Queen scream at her:
“You’re the coward! Get back here!”
She swung, about to slice at her, when her eye flashed and she turned to spin the blade before her, scattering the volley of arrows that Suwako had seemingly shot at her. That was the moment Kiyome needed to cast her spell, and as Mayra consented to the spell, teleported her out with Finn in tow to give them a clean getaway. The Queen’s eye glowed, and she sneered at Kiyome’s crippled form with a barely noticed look of disdain, as if she had witnessed a crawling insect.
“So that’s what happened…” She proceeded to ignore her, and turned to look at Suwako, charging her magic. It was at this moment that Nykannis had her chance, and used her advanced magitech to examine the Queen and her source of power. “I don’t know what would motivate you to set me against Beacon…” She suddenly opened a portal, and sliced through it with a glowing blade; accompanied by the sound of a tearing page, Suwako’s illusion was dispelled and the stealth magic undone, revealing Tonya’s true self. “But your petty tricks won’t work on me…Tonya Murphy.”
The Queen lifted her sword, but with a flash of her eye, she then jumped in a somersault, dodging the AFV as it drove right at her. As she spun in mid-air, she spun her sword, splitting the vehicle in two and causing the Second Phase crew inside to collapse out of it. She then looked towards the distance, her eyes locked on Nykannis.
“So it has come to this…Scientist Sovereign. What do you hope to accomplish with this vulgar display?”
When the Queen’s power manifested again, Nykannis finally understood the secret to her immense power.
“Or, have you already realized it?“ The Queen smiled with an off-putting grin.
Nykannis had her suspicions, having had made extensive research on the subject but now, without any doubt, she understood the truth behind the Queen’s magical weapon. A truth that made her realize the two of them were not so different, and that caused her to stop in her tracks, even as the Queen opened more portals and the battlefield flooded with Wonderland’s forces of war, threatening to swallow them all like an avaricious abyss.
The truth of the Storyslayer.
Meanwhile, in a mysterious location, Dormouse would wake with a scream before she went quiet, trembling at the isolation she found herself in. Holding her neck; though by that point it had healed, she still remembered the iron grip that Penny had on her. Had she brought her here? But why? She looked at the water and tupperware, and realized she had shared the White Rabbit’s fate, and had been taken as a prisoner of war. Would she be interrogated for information? Tortured? Brainwashed into betraying her motherland like Rabbit had been?
Fear seized up in her heart again. Even if she had been told time and again to prepare for such a possibility by the Queen, and even taken steps to prepare for it, the truth was she never expected to end up like this. After all, she only agreed to head the Bolorton mission because she figured it would be a safe assignment; who cared for some backwater farmer town full of yokels? Just send the locals to sleep, and then walk in and grab them to work in one of their labor camps while setting up an outpost. And after that, she could proudly state she achieved great victory to her glorious motherland in battle, and could go back to working on R&D. But it looked like fate had other plans for her, as she had to contend with terrors unlike anything else.
Her stomach grumbled, and she pouted. Then she looked at the table. The food could be poisoned, drugged, maybe even enchanted for all she knew. But did that really matter at this point? Throwing caution to the wind in light of her hunger, Dormouse partook of the water and salad, nibbling on it like a cute animal´as she sat in the corner. She figured it would be her last supper. As she ate, her thoughts went back to the battle. Thinking about how the Queen cruelly cast her away and broke her trust in her, she shed tears in silence, letting them stain the floor.
Al chuckled, pleased with the enthusiasm that Chloe showed for her promotion. “That’s the spirit!” He grinned widely at the prospect of food. “Yeah, I could have a bite. How about the Pit Stop?” He embedded his hand into the wall beside him, and a black portal to the diner opened up. The two of them passed through, and he took a seat at one of the tables beside the windows. “My treat. What’s your poison?” He asked, referring to the menu.
Annabelle retreated from the square back to the evacuation center, weaving spells of conjuration to bring out defensive sunflowers as she went. The plants, further invigorated by Gaia and Angel of Hope, continued repelling the invaders at street level, buying precious time for the evacuation. The veteran looked relieved once she saw how the civilians were brought to the teleporter, and began to help as well. “Thank you so much, everyone! I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you!”
Once the teleporter was built and activated, Violette nearly shouted through the Beacon squad's comms: “Throw the civilians in as fast as you can, I’ll handle the rest! Don’t worry, the destination is cushioned!” Hyun Long, following the instructions, began chucking the civilians into the central round chamber of the device; before the sleeping farmer even hit the bottom, they were rapidly zapped away, as the device now rapidly flashed, teleporting any matter the moment it entered its circular center.
Justine finished off the final Spades, and descended back to the evacuation center once she noted the assembly of the teleporter was finished and civilians were being taken to it. ”Agreed!” She proclaimed her intentions upon hearing the others, and began to help with the rescue effort, using her magic to close her wounds to avoid bleeding on the townspeople.
Hyun rolled her eyes and sighed loudly upon seeing Kiyome and feeling her aura, but held her tongue, knowing this was no time for hostility. She continued yeeting folks when she noticed that something seemed to be bothering Serenity. “Hey, is something wrong? We need to get these civilians out!” Despite her sour attitude, she seemed genuinely worried for her. As Beacon evacuated civilians, they were joined by Ronin and Miko, who used clever sorceries to efficiently move a bunch of people at once. Though the twins felt their mana dropping dangerously low, thanks to their efforts and not having to worry about having to carefully place the locals and being able to use their strength and speed better, they helped the evacuation force to amazingly evacuate half the population.
Lily continued fighting even as Alex’ defensive front was soon breached and both enemy infantry and armor started going through. Lily refused to retreat despite becoming surrounded and taking enemy fire, and Alex’ barriers were destroyed. One of the tanks turned their cannons toward the teleporter in the distance, when suddenly a burst of electric energy blasted from behind it causing the engine to explode. ”Die Assholes! Die! DieeeEEE!" Lily’s Monstrous Metamorphosis activated, surrounding her in a coating of electricity that seemed to crackle and boom at a rate much faster than would be physically possible. Her legs had turned into a tail-shaped black cloud with thunder pouring out, and her face was entirely covered in a black veil; in fact, her face seemed to disappear. Her skin had turned green with blue veins, as well as old and wrinkly, with long, gnarled fingers on her elongated arms.
She flew around swiftly like an evil spirit, dropping lightning arrows down in a thunderstorm, the thunder strikes continuously repeating as if looped in time. As a result, she continued managing to suppress even some of the vehicles as their engines were overloaded and exploded. Any bullets and shells that were about to hit her were stopped mid-air, leaving an eerie trail of ammunition behind her as she kept blitzing around. However, now lacking any focus, she easily let more and more troops advance past her. Soon, she was completely separated from Alex, with troopers and tanks between them. Another tank now turned their cannon towards the teleporter, and with a single shell destroyed the barrier Eliana had conjured. The teleporter was now in dire need of defense; it was obvious that the Mahou had to split near-evenly between protection and throwing civilians into the teleporter if they were to succeed.
In the lull of her duel against Penny, her eyes coldly gazing upon Dormouse’s terrified visage, the Queen continued hearing more worried reports of the supposed Phase Two as the Heart commanders had called it, she rolled her eyes. “Focus artillery on them!” She muttered back. But before she could relay more orders, suddenly a spell was aimed at her; she found herself surrounded by debris seemingly gathered by a vine-dragging arrow, before the debris collapsed all around her in a central point, creating a cloud of dust. “Damn Beacon!” She yelled just before impact. This was the moment that the Engine had decided to disappear, taking Dormouse with her, as well as when the remaining artillery cannons now took aim at the new arrivals, and scored two more casualties among them.
As the dust settled, Finn caught a glimpse of the Queen as he aimed for the deathblow; she was still standing, visibly injured with blood seeping from the corner of her lip. She looked roughed up, and seemingly had difficulty standing. It was strange how the queen had not dodged or defender herself, but it seemed like the perfect opportunity to catch her while she was weakened…except her purple eye was glowing, as was her sword. It was too late for the Sinner of Wrath to back down as the Queen unleashed her stored attack.
“You will be my example to everyone.”
As Finn swung with his own blade, so did the Queen respond in kind. In that moment, her sword flashed, and the sound of a ripping page could be heard, resonating through the world:
*RIIIIPP*
When Finn came to, his vision sideways while lying on the ground, he saw something shiny spin in the air, before it finally embedded into the burned ground right before his eyes; it was his magical weapon, Briar Rose, now split into two broken pieces. But how was this possible? Magical weapons were impossible to break. Furthermore, it did not mend itself when summoned again. That was when Finn realized the strange point of view he had of his hand clutching the broken hilt; it was too distant, as if it belonged to someone else. Finn attempted standing up…But as he did, his point of view did not change, even as the body he knew had sluggishly risen up to one knee. It was strange; his body was slow and cumbersome, as if he had been injured…That was when he realized, seeing something was lacking, in his horror; he had been decapitated. But strangely enough, there was no blood seeping from the solid black neckhole that once housed his head. Nor was there bleeding where his head rested on the ground; it was cleanly removed by powerful magic. He didn’t feel any worse than usual, either, as if it was perfectly normal for his head to be detached from his body.
He saw the Queen’s legs step carefully closer, and he craned his eye up to see her look around. The glow on her weapon and purple eye had disappeared. “Penny had disappeared…Interesting.” She then looked down at Finn, her lips curled in a mocking grin. “I saw a glimpse of my story, as well as yours, Finnegan Vanhorn. You intended to take my head while I was distracted. I suppose that did happen in one edition. But here and now, you’re mine-” She reached down, about to grab his head, when suddenly a fireball was launched at her. It scorched her sleeve and leaft burns on her forearm; it turned out to be Mayra, who had come to the rescue. “Another one? I thought I saw all the stories…I suppose I still need training,” the Queen mused as she lifted her free hand to her eye. She then pointed her blade towards the monster girl. “No matter; I will gladly add you to my collection.”
Al sighed heavily as Chloe went on a tirade about her being disappointed in him, and upon mentioning the New York broker he nodded. “Good old Brooklyn Bonnie. She’s a gal who can run a tight outfit. Did you know she started from the very bottom, with only a few coins and her clothes to her name, only to rise up as one of the most accomplished of us? Even had a hand in Al Capone’s business, or so I’ve heard.” He looked to the distance, as if reminiscing, when he finally dropped his cigar, and stomped on it. He looked like he made a decision.
“You know what? I got a job for you.” Before Chloe realized what had happened, Al had taken his hat, and placed it on her head. The moment he did, she felt a surge of magic course through her, like shadows extending down her limbs. The black coin tattoo on his head glowed. Chloe then realized the same tattoo had appeared somewhere on her body as well.
“There; you’re now a junior broker. Your job is to run operations and agents in Penrose until I’ve seen enough to make a call on whether you can handle it. Of course, anything you do has to be approved through me first, but I’ll let you take a shot at it. I’ll even throw in a few hints for free. If you can manage to save the local business from disaster, or salvage enough of it, I’ll make it official.” He chuckled. “Lucky for you, you get to decide if you want to bail out, with an added debt. I didn’t have that choice when I got the hat. I guess Veronica did teach me to break some of the rules, hah.” He then snapped his fingers in realization. “Oh yeah, you can transform the hat to something else, like an accessory or scarf. But you have to wear it as part of the curse. Congratulations, kid.” He clapped a couple of times.
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