BrokenPromise

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

@Majoras End There are some new hunts, but Meeting words is down for me. If you can find something else that works, I'll go on a hunt with you.

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

“Tetrad, is that a Greek name?”

“French?”

”It’s a call sign, ya frickin’ nerds!”

— Tetrad, Emily, and Amaryllis

Tetrad had a functioning game room in her interdimensional home, but she had to admit the one at the Golden Trove was a bit cleaner. The Chinese motif didn’t impress her, but that could be easily overlooked. Darts, pool, and air hockey were largely the same game no matter where you played. It didn’t matter if they took place under a neon glowing beer sign or a paper lantern.

Not that Tetrad was interested in gaming at the moment.

”…I had this really sick card combo. I was like, woosh! And then I was like, yea! And then I had my strongest card…”

Tetrad was regaling Emily with tails of her heroics. Namely what was involved with chasing down her respective necromancer.  

”…I was basically the world’s best grandma for an hour. Quite the reward for saving everyone’s butt…”

Possibly embellishing a bit.

”…And that’s it. There’s only one way to tell that story, and that’s the way it happened. ” Tetrad folded her arms.

Emily had a brilliant glint in her eyes that betrayed her innocence. It was clear to see that she was nothing more than a star-struck girl, innocently believing every word Tetrad spoke. She trusted a friend more than anything else. "Wow!" she could only stare in awe at the incredible individual before her.

”You must have fared well, being in one piece and everything.”

Emily’s expression dampened a bit at the mention on how her fight went. "Um, well... I didn't really do much." She confessed. "I didn't even touch the Lich, and I nearly croaked."

”Hmph.” Tetrad made a sour expression and patted Emily on the back. ”Unlucky, but then again, you can’t really help it.” She danced behind Emily. ”You work for a puchuu. One who hates your guts. I find it kind of interesting how they are supposed to have the largest squads of magical girls, but It seems like half the time they just send their girls in without backup. It’s almost like they want ‘em to die.” A pause. ”Sorry, just remembered why you were still with Jethro, or whatever his name was.”

Emily's mood soured when Jonald was brought up. It was a painful topic for her. "I know I should cut ties with them, but I don't know where I'd go, and..." 

Jonald was Claire's friend. She found it hard to sever such a link, even though they were on terrible terms. 

Tetrad pulled out her phone. ”I feel like I should call Amaryllis to hang out, but she seems pretty busy. Have you talked to her recently?”

Emily did not wish to make things awkward around her friend. She smiled, "Um, I haven't gotten a chance to since we split up." she told Tetrad. "I think she can handle herself, but I still worry..." As if remembering something, she perked up. "Oh, but I'm glad we got all of them! Nobody else has to suffer, and the kitchen is safe!"

”The kitchen?” Tetrad needed a moment to think. ”Oh right! That one where you do community work or whatever.” She chuckled. ”That’s actually really cool. I have a hard time doing anything that doesn’t involve making money.” 

Since the topic of discussion was pretty light Tetrad decided to approach one of the dart boards. She had become accustomed to real dart boards with wooden targets and sharp darts. That was what she had in her apartment. But Tetrad was starting to warm up to the “kiddie” version of the real thing. The golden trove’s dart boards were made up of plastic buttons filled with tiny holes, and the darts themselves had rubber tips that posed a much lower chance for injury. It was fully digital, and lured in onlookers with a dot matrix display, urging them to play a game. Neither of the girls were transformed, so it wasn’t like one had an advantage over the other. Beyond skill, and Tetrad played darts frequently in her apartment. She didn’t ask Emily if she wanted to play, she just started setting it up. ”501, double in disabled, double out enabled.” She flexed her fingers before pressing the start button and jogging over to Emily. ”So the dark magical girl party, have you heard about it?” Tetrad offered Emily a dart while she spoke.

Emily had been watching Tetrad with piqued interest, having no experience with darts herself. But she had no problem playing it with a friend, that always made things better, she thought. "Yes!" she said. "It seems a lot of people are excited for it. It sounds really fun!" she looked at Tetrad, tilting her head. "Why? Are you excited, too?" she asked.

Tetrad chuckled. ”I’m surprised you even need to ask. We met at a party, remember?” She set down the darts. ”But I’m glad you did, because that means I get to fangirl about parties again!” With a swing of her hand, Tetrad snatched Emily by the torso and pulled her in close. She gave her friend a sideways glance and put on the biggest grin she could muster. ”I frickin’ love parties! The food, the dancing, the out of this world energy levels, only gambling and fighting monsters gives me a high quite like it.” Tetrad frowned, and her eyebrows settled a bit. ”But, now that I think about it, it’s kind of weird for you to be interested in something like that.” Tetrad stood up. ”I mean you like making people happy, sure, but you also seem kinda quiet? Doesn’t really loud music bother you?”

Finding herself being brought close to Tetrad caused her pause, and she was a bit embarrassed, too. But Tetrad seemed so happy talking about parties that Emily dared not to disrupt her for selfish reasons. So she listened intently, until Tetrad mentioned that she didn't look like one to enjoy parties.  

Emily shook her head fervently. "Um, I don't party often, but I don't hate them or anything," She explained. "It's just that I haven't really gotten to go to one with other magical girls before, though, so that sounds fun to me." She might not contribute too much to conversations and such, but just being around her sisters filled her with glee, assuming they weren't fighting, of course. "And, I do like concerts, so loud music is good, if anything!"

”Oh hoh! The more I know about the mysterious Emily.” Tetrad took a step back. ”Are you familiar with 501?” It’s a pretty simple dart game. You just need to score 501 points to end the game. But what makes it tricky is that your last dart has to ‘double out.’ As an example: If I needed 20 more points, I can’t just hit the 20 zone. I need to hit the outer ring on the 10 zone. The last dart has to hit a double to count. Otherwise you bust, lose your turn, and then the other player gets to go.” Tetrad pointed at the darts on the nearby table. ”The game is set up for 3 dart turns. I’ll let you go first.”

"Umm..." Emily didn't catch all of it, but she was apparently supposed to throw it and hit the board until she scored exactly 501 points. And then something about the last throw being off? Well, she'd focus on getting to that number, first. 

Emily picked up her darts and examined them. Surprisingly, they were darts. The flight was smooth, but unfortunately for Emily, she was inexperienced and didn't realize that would make the angle needed to actually stick a bit tighter. Or at least it would with a normal dartboard. Since they were using a plastic one, things should be a bit more forgiving in that respect. 

That aside, the only other thing of note was the flight. It had a gorgeous Chinese dragon design on it, and she thought it was beautiful. It even had some Chinese characters on it, too, but since she couldn't read it, she had to guess. Maybe it said "friendship" or "fun"? Probably not. 

Finally deciding to throw her darts, she raised one hand and tossed one. It... did not land on the board, falling to the ground with a light thud. "O-oh, sorry... I'm new to this," she said. But she tried again, and managed to hit the board the next two times, scoring a total of 12 by hitting the triple ring of two, and a flat six. She looked at Tetrad, and smiled, proud of the feat. "I hit it!"

”Not bad, you’d be in some serious points if that tipple was on either side of that two.” Tetrad hardly needed a moment to focus her aim, and threw each dart one after the other. Her grouping was a little loose, hitting the 5, 20, and 1 zones on the board. ”Hmm.” She walked over to retrieve her darts.

It was at this moment that both Tetrad and Emily’s phones pinged. Upon checking, there was a text message sent to them by Amaryllis.

Hello Tetrad and Emily,

I was able to take down Billy with the assistance of some of my contacts. The Ascendancy came over afterwards though, and caused some trouble. How did your lich hunts go?

Regards,
Amaryllis Evenings

Tetrad looked at her phone while pulling the last dart out of the board. ”Oh no! Work texts!” Tetrad danced off to the side and her lightning fast thumbs beat out a response. 

”Short version: Kicked some ass, took some names. Hard battle but everyone made it out alive. Save the necro but he was already dead  

Ascendancy showed up here too. Ended up needing to retreat. Not too hard.

Staying at Golden Trove. Breakfast was good. Lots of entertainment. Possibly too Asian.”

~4

Emily looked like a 10-ton weight was lifted off of her. She was relieved to see her friend was okay. She could easily sympathize with Helga when she was worried about Su. "Oh, I'm so happy she's okay! Do you think she'd want to come over?" she asked Tetrad, then retrieving her phone. After typing for a minute, Amaryllis would receive this: 

Hello, Amaryllis! I was wondering if you would like to hang out with Tetrad and I over here? I'm sure it could be lots of fun! Tetrad is showing me how to play darts right now, but if you're willing I'm sure she'll show you, too! Unless you already know how to? Oh, but if you're too busy or don't want to, then that's fine, too! 

I'm glad you're alright, 
Emily :)

With that out of the way, Emily looked back to the board. I'll do better this time, I'm sure!" she promised, picking the darts up again and taking her turn.

Another ping sounded after five minutes.

Glad to hear that everything went well. I’m still busy with work, but I can use a break too.

Could you send me the address to the Golden Trove?

Thanks,
Amaryllis Evenings.

Tetrad looked at her phone with a grin, and mashed out another response.

”lmgtfy.com/?q=What+is+the+adress+of+t…

~4”

Tetrad’s attention was snatched away when Emily hit a tipple 7. ”Oh? Looks like things are heating up!” It was probably luck though. ”Let’s see if we can finish before Amaryllis gets here.”

---

From the outside, the Golden Trove didn’t look all too promising of a place. Most of the lights that lit up the sides of the building were either burnt out or covered by snow, while the brutal architecture made it appear much more grim than the name suggested. Was this address truly the right one? Dressed conservatively in a long down jacket, a ribbed sweater, and sweatpants, Amaryllis looked over the app on her phone again. It had been a good thirty minutes since she headed off for the place, and the lack of public transportation due to the evacuation meant that it was a cold thirty minutes too.

Would be a real shame if this was the wrong place, huh.

Switching her bag of snacks and sweets to her other, less-cold hand, she rapped the door twice, before patiently waiting for it to open. Didn’t knock too loudly, of course. It would be bad if she made it seem as if she were impatient or pissed or anything. Because she wasn’t. She was just perpetually tired and hungry.

"Oh, I'm so happy you came!" Emily lit up like a Christmas tree upon spotting Amaryllis, having waited like a puppy near the door. Two friends in one place, all having fun, without a current worry about monsters or lichs? She was beginning to feel like she was spoiled. She encouraged Amaryllis to come in. "We just finished our game, would you like to play something?"

Tetrad straightened out her cocktail dress before coming to the door. ”I think Emily needs a job here. This is the first time I’ve seen someone beat the manager to the door.” She peeked over Emily’s shoulder. Her costume might have had platform shoes, but she wasn’t wearing heels right now. ”Hey is that junk food?” She reached her hands past Emily. ”Gimmie gimmie gimmie!”

“Ah, yeah, here,” Amaryllis thrust the bag over to Tetrad. It was filled with such stuff like Pocky, Oreos, Hershey’s Kisses, and other sweet affairs. Savoury chips, it appeared, were not part of the snack array that the bespectacled woman brought over. “Thought you two could share it and all, since, y’know, you’re hosting.”

Emily gave a small nudge to let Tetrad know to back up, and then cleared the doorway. “Thank you,” she said. She glanced at the bag momentarily before turning back to Amaryllis, and then motioning her to come in. “I hope your work isn’t too stressful?” Emily imagined it to be hunting monsters or the sort, but if that was the case, she thought Amaryllis would have no real trouble there. But perhaps she was mistaken.  

”We can talk about work once we’re out of the lobby.” Tetrad hurried off. ”Quick, to the game rooooooom!”

---

The three girls were gathered around a table designed for Chinese checkers. But Tetrad had removed all of the marbles so that they could use it as a meeting space. In addition to the provided snacks, Tetrad had gotten everyone a can of soda. 

”To the best necromancer slayers in all of Penrose!” She raised her can before popping it open. some of it ran down her arm, which she promptly shook off. 

“Yeah...necromancer slayers…” Amaryllis raised her can as well, feeling pretty awkward about getting rowdy when this was a three-person party. She sipped at the bubbly drink, noting the peppery undertones and the cinnamon spice in it. Weird, but good.

”I really like game rooms. It’s much quieter here.” She sipped her soda. ”So now that you’re here, did you want me to regale you with tales of my exploits? Or did you encounter something interesting?”

“And, um, as far as Billy went, I sorta ended up eating him, so it wasn’t like there was anything left behind…”

”You ate Billy? Metal!”

Emily was munching on some Pocky as she listened to Amaryllis. "Ate?" she asked, puzzled. Billy didn't seem like he would taste too good. But she was not about to press her own eating beliefs onto someone else, so maybe she should just drop it?

Amaryllis’s eyes flickered up to the corner, as she wondered briefly about whether or not the whole Hilaria business should be shared, before deciding that it was probably harmless knowledge.

“Oh, but the Ascendancy that I told you guys about? They invited this Dark Magical Girl over, but then she returned unpurified afterwards. Then we sorta ate. And now I’m here. Eating more.” As if to demonstrate a point, Amaryllis popped open a bag of choco balls and tossed them in her mouth.

"The Ascendancy let a Dark Magical Girl remain one? Am I wrong, or isn't purification their entire thing? That sounds strange." Emily thought about it. "Did she come back weird, or something?"

”I’d wager they did something to her. I could probably figure out what if I met her.” Tetrad reclined in her chair. ”Anyway, probably not worth theorizing about. Whole city’s bat shit crazy, maybe they decided dark magical girls are cool now.” She sloshed her soda. ”It’s just a matter of time before there’s a revolution of some kind and something else takes Beacon’s place.”

“She was always, sorta weird, so…” Amaryllis thought about it, then decided that, yeah, whatever. “It’d be nice if the Ascendancy did suddenly think dark magical girls were alright though. At least enough that, y’know, they won’t do anything like start a big war over it.”

”It would be, but I still say they’re nut jobs.”Tetrad set down her drink and pulled a stack of tarot cards out of her tool belt. They were normal tarot cards and didn’t have the Cradle logo on the back of them. ”We were talking about ourselves post necromancer right? I’ve literally just been enjoying the hotel. Work’s a little slow at the moment, but I’ve been making connections with some of the people here.” She leaned towards Emily, ”Hey, wanna give me a kiss?”

As if she'd been zapped, Emily jolted up, and her face turned scarlet. "K-k-kiss?!" she shook her head repeatedly. "N-no, we haven't even held hands or anything...!" she declined.

Amaryllis double-blinked. “You...want me to leave the room for a bit then? Uh, didn’t know you guys became a...c-couple and all…” What did Sammy say about magical girls again? That they became lesbians really fast due to necessity and the lack of magical boys? 

Tetrad squinted her eyes, casting a glance between the two girls present. ”Didn’t realize it was such a big deal. Fine, I’ll just take one.” Tetrad leaned forward and stuck her hand in Amaryllis’s candy bag, and pulled out some Hersey kisses. She held them up for the girls to see before giving them a wink.

“O-oh, that’s what you meant…” Emily seemed relieved, closing her eyes and placing a hand on her chest to catch her breath.. 

”Dark magical girls seem to have a lower chance of being totally nuts. Our hostess is a dark magical girl, not that you’d ever know. But then you have complete psychos like Chloe.” Tetrad unwrapped one of the chocolates. ”Monster girls though, now those are bad news. Our organization has one and they are responsible for half of our problems. It’s a lot harder for them to function like normal people, and they’re a lot stronger to boot. I don’t think they need to be killed, but if they’re up for purification I’d be okay with that.”

Finally catching her breath after a slight misapprehension, Emily looked up. “Um, isn’t that a bit cruel, though?” she asked with the crimson on her face slowly fading. “I think the idea of being able to be purified may be great to some, but to force it on people…”

Tetrad was about to shove a chocolate kiss in her mouth, but stopped. ”If someone forces violence on others, having purification forced on them is the least cruel thing we can do. Right?”

The conflict was reflected in Emily's countenance, her hesitation only betraying the fact she had to think hard on the subject. "Um..." she eventually gathered her thoughts, then spoke. "If they've actually done something, then I suppose it can't be helped... But are the Ascendancy doing just that? It sounds like they're not making a distinction between the good or the bad sisters..."

As the heat left Amaryllis’s cheeks, she began to unconsciously pop chocolates in her mouth too, listening in on the conversation between Tetrad and Emily. Did they even really need her opinion? Probably not, right? So she just kept on eating, shrinking into the plushiness of her chair as she silently mulled over their respective positions.

”You’ve been a little quiet, Amaryllis. What’s your take on all this?” Tetrad had a few cards set up in front of herself, like she was going to begin a reading.

"Uuuuh… "

Shit. 

"I guess I have this thing going on where I usually give people a chance when I encounter them? So like, if it's a monster girl or a dark magical girl that I see for the first time, I'll play nice until they end up doing something crazy, in which case I kill them." A blink. Bit psychotic, isn't it? "Or, I dunno, get Beacon to purify them. That's basically it, yeah? Innocent before guilty. Though that changes, like, if they were obviously perpetrators of really bad shit before? Such as whoever did that spirit summoning to attack random civilians, way back when."

The Sword pierced her left index finger thrice, and Amaryllis balled up her fist.

"Honestly, don't think it's that big of a problem when we cause trouble to our own kind. Just changes when you bring in outsiders."

"Oh, that was so terrible! Those poor people!" Emily remembered the destruction wrought upon the civilian populace that day, and the pain it brought. She even lost a fellow volunteer due to the attack, and the position was not easily replaced. "I can't imagine why people would do such a thing. I don't ever want to be forced to kill a sister, but I don't want that to happen again either, so purification might be the way to go..." she took a long sip of her soda before turning to Tetrad. "A-anyway, s-so, um, are you going to do a reading?" she expertly (not at all) attempted to change the subject to something less serious.

”Oh this? Yea, I was just playing.” She shuffled all the cards together. ”I don’t really think Tarot cards on their own are very magical. But Here, let’s try this…” She handed the cards to Emily. ”So you’re just going to shuffle the cards up and hand them to me. Then I’m going to draw three cards and make a reading based on your past, present, and future.” She looked at Amaryllis. ”Did you wanna try? It’s a big deck, I can probably do two readings.”

“That sounds...fun,” Amaryllis said, edging her seat closer to the table as she examined the deck. “Maybe we can all do a bit of a talent show or something?”

”Of course, if you have talents I wouldn’t mind seeing them.” After Emily shuffled the Deck, Tetrad drew three cards and placed them face down in front of Emily. Then she handed the deck off to Amaryllis. Once she had shuffled the deck, She drew three cards and placed them face down in front of her. With everything set, she shuffled the cards one last time and placed three cards in front of herself. 

”And now, let’s turn over our first card to reveal our past. This is going to pertain to something we’ve been thinking about recently. Something that may affect our future.”

Tetrad turned over her card. ”Ah, the high priestess, a card that deals with knowledge and intuition.” She scratched her chin. ”It must be referring to the last mission I took for my Puchuu. Prior to my employment in Cradle.” She did not waste any more time dwelling on it and looked to Emily’s card. ”The seven of cups. Confusion, a need to get your priorities in order.” She looked at Amaryllis’s hand. ”The five of cups. Disillusionment, if you rely on the help of others.” She looked straight ahead without making eye contact with her friends. ”Do any of your cards sound eerily familiar?”

"Um, I don't know..." Emily kept her eyes locked on the card. "It can't be that I don't have my priorities straight, right? Protecting people is number one!" She then turned to Amaryllis, urging her to give her piece. “No, not familiar in the least…”

Disillusionment...Amaryllis stopped half-awkwardly-smiling for a while. “Yeah, considering the whole Annabelle thing, I guess that sounds about right. But then again, disillusionment sorta fits no matter what happens.” She laughed again, nervously, before slurping up some gummy worms. “We live in a society, after all.”

”Tell me about it.” Tetrad grinned. ”I know I said this before, but I wish I was there for that.” She looked to Emily. ”Really? Not your Puchuu or your friends? You’ve gotta have something.” Tetrad snorted. ”This is just for fun, and I’m a pretty shit reader if I’m going to be honest. That’s why I need as much information as you can give me.” She looked down at her second card. ”But let’s reveal our second cards and see if things don’t start to make sense.”

Everyone turned over their cards. ”Seven of coins. What’s that one again?” She looked through a pamphlet that came with the Tarot deck. ”Hard work, but I’m approaching my harvest. Hell yea, seems like Crimson Cradle is starting to go places. I’m sure I’ll be due for a promotion mission pretty soon.” She looked at the other cards. ”Emily got the King of Swords, and Amaryllis got the Six of Swords. Swords represent the mind and states of conflict. If your cards are to be trusted, Amaryllis is moving on from a negative situation, and Emily has won her war, but now needs to win the peace.” Tetrad grinned, waiting for their reactions.

Emily pursed her lips. "The closest thing I can think of to a war would be between me and Jonald," she admitted. "And since you two are kind enough to hang around with someone like me, then I guess that'd mean I won..." she wasn't very confident when speaking, and scratched her head. "Um, but what would peace be in this situation?" she shook her head. "I'm sorry, I'm a bit dim, and am not good with these things..."

“Harvests are also followed by winter though,” Amaryllis mused to herself, tracing the borders of her own card. Swords were of the mind and states of conflict? Her hand slipped against her hips, for the Sword that wasn’t there. Did her card basically just symbolize her psychic, ever-violent Patron? That’d certainly be something, huh. “Not really sure about negative situations myself, cause, y’know, we all just came out of a beach vacation that was pretty alright, but, mm...Emily, in regards to war and peace, history is generally marked by discord rather than by concord. With that in mind, you may have won the war, but now, you ought to prepare for the next, y’know?”

Amaryllis scratched her chin. “Bit of an extreme example, but it’s like World War II and the Cold War that happened afterwards. If nothing’s bothering you now, it’s the best chance to ramp up.”

”See? Amaryllis has the right idea.” Tetrad poked her forehead with a card. ”Everything moves in a cycle. After harvest comes winter, then it’s time to plant more seeds in the spring. After War comes peace, then you prepare for the next war.” She held her chin. ”But Amaryllis, didn’t you just eat a necromancer? If the card doesn’t relate to the vacation, it might be something more recent than that. Or…” She turned a card over in her hand. ”This is just a bunch of silly crap that doesn’t mean anything. I dunno. Anyway!” She placed her hand on her card. ”We don’t have to worry about what comes next in the cycle, because we’re going to figure that out right now! One, two, three!”

Amaryllis’s card was the three of wands, and Emily was the five of coins.

”Uh oh!” Tetrad grinned. ”Looks like you’re going to have unforeseen expenses, Emily! Better stock up now!”

“Uuu…” Emily seemed down. She pulled out her wallet, and gazed into the nearly-empty pocket with dead eyes. “I don’t like that… not one bit!” she sighed. “Ah, um, well, I’ll find a way to deal with it, I suppose…”

Tetrad looked to Amaryllis’s card. ”And you’re going to lead by example. Cryptic, but I think it’s a cool future to have.”

“Lead by example?” Amaryllis awkwardly went for another attempt at a joke. “Hope I don’t, like, start a new trend of eating monsters, right guys? Ahaha…” She wasn’t a good example to follow anyways. Not in Penrose at least, where alliances and schemes and making full sized armies of magical girls looked to be becoming the norm.

Then Tetrad returned to her own card. ”Right I got so excited I didn’t even look.” She held her card up in front of her face. ”A second one from the major arcana? Having this many in your reading means something big is gunna go down.” After staring at the card for a moment, she started to push it back into the deck. ”Nothing particularly interesting.”

Scratching her head, Amaryllis offered her own card to Tetrad to shuffle back in, before asking, “So, uh, what did you draw anyways? I didn’t see it when you flipped it over and all…”

Tetrad shrugged her shoulders. ”Justice.” She blinked. ”A card that normally represents fairness, justice, balance and equilibrium. But I think it came up reversed.” She dipped her head. ”So it’s kinda boring, just like I said.”

“Justice in reverse?” Amaryllis wasn’t sure how cards like that wouldn’t be interesting; in fact, something about the word ‘justice’ tickled her pretentious, edgy middle school self just a little bit...but well, that was fine. At least it wasn’t the Devil or the Tower or anything like that. “And hey, I don’t think you need to worry about it too much, Emily. Peacetime preparations are like, always filled with expenses, so I guess, like, just don’t eat out too often?”

Yeah, that was as much financial advice as she could give, really.

Tetrad collected the remaining cards and shuffled them all back into the deck. ” They’re just cards. The meanings are vague enough that they could mean anything. I’m sure I could draw three more cards for everyone and they’d mean something if we tried hard enough.” The deck of cards sat in the middle of the table, taunting them. Tetrad reclined in her seat and folded her hands behind her head. ”Weird question, but if I forgot who I was, like, everything. Total amnesia like some bad JRPG. You guys would still be my friends, right?”

“Well, I’m sure there’s magic for fixing that…” Amaryllis said, scratching her cheek, “But yeah, of course. Same if it happens to me, right?”

Even if Tetrad assured her otherwise, Emily still seemed a bit concerned. Money did not come easy to her, to the point where it'd break the bank if she had to care for even a friend! Of course, despite this, that wouldn't stop her. She treasured her friends, after all. So, when Tetrad and then Amaryllis brought up amnesia, she couldn't imagine why they had to ask at all. 

"Oh, I would never abandon you. Either of you!" she cried, even sniffling. "You were so kind to hang out with me... If you guys got amnesia, then that's all the more reason to stay by your side, isn't it? Friends shouldn't abandon each other in a time of need!"

”Right, or course. I feel silly for even bringing it up.” Tetrad chuckled, and the corners of her lips curled into a smile. Even if she had been smiling all night, this one felt a lot more genuine. She leaned forward and folded her hands together. ”Feels kinda weird to use a call sign around friends.” Tetrad straightened out her posture. ”Luna Gallo. When we hang out like this, you can call me Luna.”

“Wait, Tetrad wasn’t your real name?”

As she wiped away one or two tears, Emily gave a small, inaudible clap in excitement. She repeated the name under her breath a few times. “Mmhm. Sure, I’m happy you told us!...Luna….” she tried out the name. “Oh, I suppose I should go next?” she asked, regarding the ‘talent show’. “Here…”

Danganronpa: Tower of Carnage (Finished!)

@Majoras End I don't think posting order matters too much. Go ahead.

Ask the Person Below You a Question v2

About 2 years. I had been role playing on a private forum, largely with close friends and a sibling here and there. Without getting into specifics, things gradually became toxic and not fun as they use to be. It turned me off to the hobby for a long time. I didn't really get back into it before coming here and trying it again with a bunch of new people. Sometimes doing the same old thing with new faces is enough to resurrect your interest in something.

If you could own any animal as a pet, what would it be and why?

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

@ERode Eyyyyy lmao

@Majoras End and I would like to go on a hunt, but @AtomicNut and @FamishedPants showed interest in weretigers. Any chance more hunts will pop up this time skip? It's gunna be Trixy and Eliza if that helps.

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

While Deni was alone, she would hear a voice in her head. “Hello Deni. This is ‘more than friends’ Veronica speaking. I have the time to talk to you now.” There was a groan. “Enlighten me, there’s no need to speak.”

Deni had just returned to the place Valkyrie had offered her to stay at, after a long day of making friends and fighting random monsters while patrolling… and then the voice spoke in her head. Whelp. She leaned at the wall, taking a deep breath before she… well, didn’t need to talk, just needed to think it?

‘Okay, okay. Let me just start out by saying, I wouldn’t appreciate you actually hurting Mariette. I want to save her, along with my sister. I have no idea how to do that, but I want to save them both, and possibly also the rest of the agents of Asengav. My enemy is Asengav, not those under his command. Not that I stand a fraction of a chance against a cosmic horror, anyway, but still.

What happened was that I got consumed by Caroline, but then Caroline got defeated in the Overcity, and I was left behind. From the limited information I have, I deduce that Asengav abandoned me when I was taken. My Monster Girl form was a direct link to the darkness of Asengav, through me Justine and Caroline’s Horror could have attacked Asengav directly. To prevent that, I think he severed the link, so when Caroline then left me behind I was left with no patron. Then something, I have NO clue what, gave me power. Something gave me enough power to be resurrected, where I should have died. I don’t think I actually truly died, some sliver of me remained where Caroline abandoned me, in some form of monster-state.

Regardless, I got up, looked like this, then ran into Valkyrie who agreed to take me home, and, uh, then I ran into Justine von Visceral, because that’s just how life goes. She employed me to reach Mariette… and I’m ready to help her with that if it benefits me… but I don’t want Justine laying her hands on Mariette. As I said, I want to save them. If I really have to, I’ll sacrifice Mariette to save Eli, but I don’t want that, either. I… yeah. I just basically laid myself bare before you. I’m calling myself “Ronin” because if Mariette heard “Deni” is walking about she’d recollect me in a hurry, and then it’d be game over. I’m walking around trying to make as many friends as possible, because, yeah. When the time comes, I’m going to need all the help I can get.

… What do you think?’

“I think you chose the right person to come to. Though I find it disappointing that you don’t remember the most interesting bit. Can’t be helped though.” Deni could hear Veronica write something down. “I’ll fact check everything you said with your memories, but I’m not expecting to find anything out of place. More importantly, you have a debt to cover. I pay for the elimination of monsters just like everyone else, but I also pay extra when people complete assignments. If you’re looking for one, I have something available for you.”

‘I was sort of incapacitated at the time, sorry!’ Deni said with an amused tone, smiling back where she was. ‘Oh? I’m interested. I also sort of have a party I was hoping to go to in a couple days, there’s got to be a bunch of friends I could make there. Amanda told me about it when I ran into her on the way back. Still, what do you have for me?’ 

“Do I know amanda? Nevermind. Unless you’re referring to the dark magical party, cancel your reservations, because you’ll be going to that one.” Veronica sighed. “I suspect something will happen, and I want Cindy Ford to survive it. Simply ensure she lives to the end of the party and you’ll earn 2 silver and 3 bronze.”

‘Amanda’s one of Maura's group, I thought they were working for you?’ Ronin asked, raising an eyebrow on the other side. Anyways. ‘Amusingly enough, I AM talking about the dark magical girl party. Want Cindy to survive it? Well. I will expect the worst to happen, then, but consider it done! You have a Reinforcement specialist on the job!’ Deni replied, grinning over where she was. ‘… Oh, man. I really hope it isn’t Beacon attacking, I was hoping not to make enemies with them. Spent so long having to avoid them as a Monster Girl. … OH, WELL!’ Deni commented, before ending it on a very lighthearted shrug.

“I suspect that Beacon would not be fool enough to enrage the entire magical girl community in Penrose. However, I do anticipate someone trying to frame them. This is why Cindy needs to survive.” Veronica chuckled. “If things get crazy, I’ll update you on what to do next. I may even come up with extra assignments for you, so you will be well compensated for your help. If you don’t need anything else, I’ll be off.”

‘I appreciate it, ma’am! I am still 100% open if you want to just hang out as friends sometime!’ Deni replied to the later parts, also internally relieved that it probably wasn’t Beacon attacking. She nodded, not that she knew if Veronica would know, but. ‘I’m satisfied! I’ll hear from you later, then! Have a continued good night!’

“Be well. I think you’ll like the other agents when you meet them. Well, most of them.”

---

”Platinumskink Doesn’t think I’m cool enough to have a banner, WELL I’LL SHOW HIM!”

— Betty Bio-Hazard

Betty was always on guard duty, but it usually wasn’t like this. Instead of remaining by Veronica’s side, she was stationed outside a bank vault. 

It was a bit nerve wracking though. Aside from it being the dead of night, Beacon and Mint were among the strongest forces in the city. Both of them had it out for Veronica and her agents. With the vault sealed up, Betty didn’t have the option to run. There was no way she could remove the contents and escape with them. She had to stand and fight if she wanted to complete the task she had been handed. The minutes passed like hours, and Betty had to be on her guard at all times. A single drop in her defenses could spell her doom. She made changes to her patrol paths so that no one could predict her movements. She didn’t look at her phone, or do anything that would distract her. 

With a sigh, Betty took a seat in the lobby. To call it that now was a joke, as the front half of the building opened up to the outside. Part of the roof had been blasted away and all other rooms had either caved in or been blocked off by rubble. It was by some miracle that this leather office chair had survived. It was the only comfort she had out here. If Betty had a choice, she would have preferred a pair of pants. Her skirt didn’t do much to keep the wind from nipping at her thighs. But if this was the only comfort Penrose would afford her, she would make due.

But it was here that she was able to spot someone coming. Betty couldn’t tell much about the individual from a distance. It looked like a guy wearing a top hat and a black cloak, but she doubted herself only because magical boys were so uncommon. With a tired sigh, she forced herself out of the comfort of her seat and walked towards the approaching stranger. Part of what made these types of situations hard to deal with was that Betty didn’t know what this person’s motive was. They could just as easily be a refuge trying to escape Beacon. She placed her hands on one of her swords.

”State your business!” She sounded a little meaner than she wanted to, but her situation had that effect on her.

The stranger continued to walk closer, not stopping for an instant. ”I’m just looking for a place to rest.”

”W-well, look somewhere else!” Betty drew her sword. ”It’s totally caved in. There’s only room for me here!”

He stopped in his tracks. At this range Betty could see that her initial assessment was right, and he was a boy. Fascinating. ”That can’t be the full story, can it? Just look at you, chilled to the bone.” There was just enough moon light for Betty to make out a smile. ”If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re trying to protect something, or someone.”

Betty snorted. ”That’s right. So you’ll understand if I can’t let you come any closer.”

The boy raised a hand to his chin. ”Of course.” He lowered his hand. ”You are Betty Barton, or Betty Bio-Hazard as the other cradle agents call you. You are Veronica’s bodyguard, and she has likely sealed herself away in that vault while you defend it from the outside. It makes sense, doesn’t it?”

”If you’re thinking about breaking inside, you’ve got another think coming!” In a flash, a throwing knife was already in her hand. ”Leave now, or you’ll have to pull this knife out of your head!”

With a sigh, the boy turned around to leave. Betty was just getting ready to lower her weapons when he looked over his shoulder. ”You know, it’s an interesting bit of folly, being a bodyguard.” He turned around to face her again. ”You’re so caught up protecting others, that you never consider that you might be the target all along.”

Betty had just a moment to scan her surrounding and noticed a murder of crows spilling in from the roof. There had to be at least a hundred of them, and even with her superhuman speed she likely wouldn’t be able to fend off all of them. Her other two swords seemed to levitate out of their sheathes and began fighting alongside her. With a bellow, she hurled her dagger straight for the boy’s face. It flew through the air until a dire wolf lunged and snatched it out of the air.

”I see.” The boy stroked his chin as he watched Betty fend off the crows. ”You’re using wind magic to wield multiple weapons at once. You’re quite strong too, few can make my crows bleed with a single swing.” He shrugged. ”Draw four swords or eight, I outnumber you a hundred to one.”

Betty felt a little outnumbered at the moment, but felt like the tide of combat was changing in her favor. Every swing took out a few more crows, and one had yet to land a strike on her. But she was so preoccupied fighting the crows that she didn’t notice the enemy below her. And that would prove to be costly.

She didn’t see it coming, but she could feel something pass through her knees. It wasn’t clear what happened until Betty made her next swing. That was when her thighs parted from the rest of her legs, and she fell onto her stomach. Her floating swords did their best, but the crows landed on her back and started to peck away at her flesh. 

”Regardless of how strong someone is, it is just a matter of rallying enough people to take them down.” He tipped his hat. ”This wasn’t a fair fight, and it wasn’t supposed to be.”

Betty did her best to swing her katana at the birds that were slowly devouring her. She rolled over onto her back, but that wasn’t enough to crush them. Worse, more birds landed on her stomach and proceeded to peck her apart from both sides. She could feel she was going into shock. Past events were starting to flash through her mind, and the possibility that she would never see Binky again weighed heavy in her heart. Was there a way out of this? Should she call for backup? Would anyone come? She continued to fight what seemed like a decided battle.

---

Until there came a flash of light. A bead of brilliant blue just beyond the collapsed building, which build into a streak of piercing white within a fraction of a second. Before the onset of a storm, many claimed they could feel its approach on the horizon. The change in barometric pressure. The discomfort within the inner ear, or aches in the joints. The smell of ozone from brewing electricity. All of them fell upon the battle at once, with the crescendo of a thunder crack carrying the star.

Katelyn had been on the hunt in the days since she returned from the beach. She had lost time, another two months wasted playing pretend on a fantasy resort instead of focusing on what mattered. But she still held her tenable connection to The Penrose Independent, regardless of either of their true allegiances. A call had come in - an information drop, courtesy of The Boss herself, regarding a Mint Agent that had taken to attacking one of their journalists. It wasn't on Katelyn's agenda to play hitman for anyone else, not again, but the information happened to line up. One favour completed, and one Mint operative dead.

Her Dragon's Wings had remained on standby as she watched the fight from afar. Waiting for a moment to strike. And the seconds after the other girl fell, where her target would be the least prepared for an ambush, she took her chance, flaring into life as a comet of lightning. Wreathed in electricity, and bolstered by her wind, she could cross distances at speeds faster than most individuals could perceive, which barrelled through the nighttime air of Penrose City, spear outstretched within the enchantment, on a direct collision course with The Vermin Killer.

Vermin Killer looked to be oblivious to the incoming attack, which should have been enough to kill him. When Katelyn struck, there was a bright flash and a crack like thunder. It was enough to scare away the crows pecking away at Betty. ”Gah!” She fell flat on her back, but was quick to prop herself up so that she could see exactly what was going on. But when the light levels returned to normal, Vermin Killer was still standing.

While Vermin Killer was oblivious to the attack, his more attune companions were well aware of the incoming strike. A lunging honey badger took the shot square in the chest. Non-magical honey badgers had very thick, loose skin that enables them to resist attacks most creatures would be killed by. Even though they have a modest weight of about 20 pounds, they have no problem going toe to toe with the likes of leopards and lions. Their ability to roll and slide around inside their skin helps them absorb blows that their thick skin can’t. The result was that Katelyn’s attack caused the weasel to bounce and roll across the ground, but it was only a matter of time before it got back up on its feet and hissed at its attacker. Honey badger didn’t give a shit.

”What is the meaning of this?” Vermin Killer frowned at the dragon girl. ”You couldn’t have tried to kill me a bit earlier? I suppose you were just pretending to be incompetent.”

Katelyn skid across the ground, carried by her excess momentum, internally cursing the creature that had blocked her attack. She had spent the time tracking The Vermin Killer - animal Interference had been expected, but not the kind that could no-sell her blows with relative ease.

The preserved speed from her enchantment ran its course, grinding her to a halt, before she began a run. A second wind of The Dragon's Wings absorbed her body, drawing from her wings an intense electrical charge that rapidly engulfed her body in lightning and air, until she vanished in a bolt of thunder, once more aimed at The Vermin Killer. At range, it gave the opponent a chance to react, but in close quarters, she could cover the distance in a fraction of a second. Still, she had learned from her first mistake - the moment the spell began, she leapt into the air, aiming to kick whatever animal got in her way, and then slash The Vermin Killer in the aftermath. 

Vermin Killer was not a stationary target, however. Nor was the wolf who stood at his side. By the time Katelyn had started sprinting, the wolf was already upon her. None of the vermin killer’s pets could contend with a magical girl, but they each had an edge in a given situation. The honey badger was sturdy, but too slow to land a decisive blow on Katelyn. The wolf was almost the opposite, unable to take a solid blow but fast enough to intercept an opponent before they attacked their master. Her kick landed straight in the wolf’s mouth. Katelyn was swift and strong enough to kick the wolf free, but the delay was all the time Vermin Killer needed to escape. His body split into several crows and scattered to the four winds.

”Not today. I have an appointment.”

The wolf wrestled itself to its feet before bolting away. The honey badger trudged off, but not without giving one last hiss at the girl that stabbed it with a spear. This left Betty alone with the stranger. She crawled towards her missing feet, all while keeping an eye on the dragon girl.

”Shit, fuck,” Katelyn cursed. Control over animals had been in the forecast since the information came in, but the ability to turn into crows was new to her. She looked into the sky, watching the birds disperse, and attempting to find a distinguishable pattern in their flight, but quickly gave up, as the flock vanished in different directions into the Penrose sky. ”Can’t even kill some shitty knockoff vampire, Goddamnit. Shut up, you didn’t know anything about him. Cause if you did, maybe it’d please you a bit to tell me.

”So? What’s your deal?” she called out, her gaze falling on the pitiful sight of Betty. They were a Magical Girl, but not one Katelyn recognised - and not an exceptionally skilled one, she reasoned, considering her sorry state. She began to walk towards the girl, weapon held fast, with the shaft held in the crook of her arm, and the blade pointed out towards Betty. ”Why was he here? Why try and kill you?”

Betty collected her legs before looking up at Katelyn. ”You’re coming clo- oh, okay, of course you are.” She held her arm over her chest, as the shirt had been torn to tatters in that spot. ”I’m, um, I’m not entirely sure. He said he wanted to kill me.” She winced. The snow on the ground was starting to bite at her raw stumps. ”Can you let me put my legs back on? I’ll tell you whatever you want to know!”

”Feel free,” the head of the spear dropped a little, as Katelyn released a small amount of tension from her arm. ”But try anything else and you die, understand?”

Betty let out a sigh of relief before dragging herself over to her comfortable chair. While she had sat in it many times, it felt the most comfortable right now after a harrowing fight. Her wind magic wasn’t strong, but she was able to force herself into the seat without it falling on top of her. ”Alright, thanks.” She dropped her legs onto the ground and positioned her stumps over them. ”I’m Betty, in case you were wondering.” She took her arm out from in front of her chest. Hanging on a string behind her torn uniform was a tiny lantern emitting a soft orange glow. It had cracks running all over it, but they had since been filled with gold to piece it back together. Betty’s breathing softened as her legs started to fuse back together. Her open wounds emitted an orange light, and with the passage of time they slowly closed up. ”Have you been hunting that magical boy for a while? You seem upset that he got away.”

"Betty, right," Katelyn replied. But the words were half hearted. She seemed to trail off at the end, pulled into and distracted by some other, intrusive train of thought beyond the confrontation, and beyond the conversation at hand. Her eyes were firmly pulled to the item at her chest - the way it glowed, how the light reflected slightly across the gold spider web of cracks, and the number of other intricacies to its design. For a moment, she seemed almost transfixed, until she blinked it away, and looked back to Betty properly, her expression vaguely distant. "Right, uh, sorry, yeah. Yeah, a little while. He's been a bit... difficult, to follow, sorry, is, is that a Healing Artifact?"

”Yea!” Betty’s lips twitched into a smile. ”It’s seen better days, but it gets the job done.” She looked down at it. Not only were her wounds healing, but her uniform was piecing itself back together. ”Were you hurt? I can try to heal you, but it’s a little mana intensive and I just lost my legs.” 

”No, I’m fine,” Katelyn’s response came quickly, and abruptly. Almost as soon as she had said it, she turned and walked a distance away from Betty, to stand by one of the nearby walls. Her arm raised to support herself against it, and her head pushed into the crook of her elbow as she did. ”He was Ebon Mint. An assassin of some kind. Some people I know had a member of theirs attacked. Since I kill Mint Agents for a living, they asked me to help. So why don’t we start with why an assassin wants you dead, Betty.”

Betty cleared her throat. ”Right. That.” She reclined in her chair. ”I’m part of Crimson Cradle. I’m not sure how internet savvy you are, but we operate rather openly. At least in terms of who our members are.” She swallowed. ”And we’re led by Vermilion Veronica, who was a former Mint coin broker. She’s rather adamant about ‘exposing the mint’ and ‘removing the mint.’ I think you guys would get along.”

”You’re Cradle?” her head slowly pulled out from her arm to look at Betty, practically glaring at her through her periphery. Katelyn took a step towards her, arm dropping to her side. The pose she held was unlike any Betty had seen, but amongst the variety Katelyn had displayed throughout their meeting, it was the most notable; rigid, almost professional and robotic. But the stance, though it hid her intentions and emotions, let slip something else. Her bloodlust. ”Mint Agents can’t ever be redeemed. I hope you’re not a former Mint Agent, Betty - I don’t think killing you would be cathartic. But you can pass on a message from Katelyn Everance to Silhouette. The next time I see her, she’s dead.”

”I guess I can do that.” she whimpered.

”At least you’re smart,” in an instant, Katelyn’s stance shifted again. It was calmer, more relaxed. The intense, near murderous energy she had mustered forward vanished behind an exterior of collection. With the conversation essentially over, she turned and began to walk. Through the building and towards the exit. ”Hope we can have another chat like this, Betty. Just remember that I saved your life.”

---

Betty watched Katelyn leave without a word. She’d need to rest a bit before she went on patrol again. Fortunately, the vault door opened just a few minutes later, and its occupant stepped out into the open.

“Did she, now?”

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

"No Items, Fox Only, Final Destination"

Trixy

@ERode

Tonight was the night, and everyone was thrumming with excitement. Masses of monsters and patrons, magical girls and monstrous girls alike crowded around the hexagon-shaped arena, as blindingly white spotlights seared the concrete stage. It was an encounter that only happened once every year, practically a holiday for the blood-thirsty supernatural mob. It had been two decades since the Contender’s escape from Hell became commercialized, and afterwards, everyone began to look forward to, rather than dread, the event.

After all, that flaming pugilist may be the sort of pervert that gets off beating magical middle schoolers to death, but he was also one hell of an entertainer too.

Upon the four-sided television screen elevated above the arena, the countdown began, a punkish goblin hanging from it as the commentator of the year.

“THREE!”

The crowd roared.

“TWO!”

The crowd screamed.

“ONE!”

The crowd exploded, as the music hit with the force of ten thousand fireworks and pyrotechnic displays...which really did go off, showering everything in sparks and glitter. From a heavily-chained gate on the western side of the Hexagon, jets of hellfire surged from the gaps, as the chains creaked against a violent force.

WHUMP! WHUMP! WHUMP!

“AND THERE WE HAVE IT! THE MINISTER OF RESURRECTION! THE MANIAC WHO BEATS DEMONS FOR DINNER AND CERBERUS FOR DESSERT! THE BURNING MAN HIMSELF, RETURNED YET AGAIN FROM THE LAKE OF FIRE!!!! GIVE IT UP FOR...THE CONTENDER!!!!”

And with a great roar, the doors were torn off from the hinges, chain links scattering into the hands of excited patrons who groped for a souvenir of this year’s DEATHMATCH. Dozens of revenants and banshees screamed out from the gate to hell as a hot wind burst into the arena. From the afterglow of the infernal conflagration, a flaming, naked man, muscular but with a scorched complexion, rushed out, his hands raised out on both sides to deliver high-fives to his most ardent fans. They swooned as their flesh melted against him, and he gave them dogged grins, the blue torch that burned from his left eye fed to a frenzy by the adulation of the crowd. Reaching the ring, he slammed his hands against the steel fence that barricaded him from the arena, before the heat of his palms warped, distorted the frame and he pulled the fence apart, stepping in with the finality of a juggernaut, a champion.

Raising his hands outwards with a laugh, he strode around the arena, leaving scorched footprints on the concrete as he soaked in the cheers of the crowd.

But suddenly, the lights went black, and on the eastern wing, spotlights shone, highlighting…

A maid and her phone.

The crowd was still cheering, but it was hard to say if it was for the new contender or the hype generated from witnessing the Contender. She turned her back to the crowd, arena, and even the Contender himself and walked backwards. She made a peace sign with one hand and snapped a picture. Afterwards, she typed up a short message.

Who’s gunna win?

She slid the phone inside her outfit before turning around to face everyone. They was yelling so loud, it was hard to tell if it was genuine excitement, anger, or painful confusion.

“AND A NEWCOMER! IN THIS CORNER WE HAVE A BRAND NEW VICTIM WHO’LL TRY TO SEIZE HIS CROWN BEFORE GETTING TENDERIZED, CHARBROILED, AND DEVOURED BY OUR CONTENDER. MAKE SOME NOISE FOR TRIXYYYYYY!”

In truth, Trixy was a little nervous. This place was noisy. She could feel the body heat radiating off the crowd as she approached the ring. Even her opponent was essentially a man made out of burning firecrackers. When she opted to enter this fight, she hadn’t expected such a buzz. Things didn’t look this crazy on Glimmr when she read about it. Hopefully she could end this fight and get her Glimmr a bit more exposure.

”Focus Trixy. You need to do this for Cradle. For everyone. You’ve gotta be cool about this in case Sam’s watching.”

She slapped her cheeks to psych herself up, but her hands were still trembling. When she got to the metal gate, she simply jumped over it. There was probably a cooler way to make an entrance, but that didn’t matter. The one advantage she had in this fight was that she was entirely unknown. Flaunting her prowess would have to wait until the fight itself. As she walked towards the center of the ring, Trixy made a small apple and ate it to calm her nerves. But no such luck.

“Alright fellas, keep it clean, yeah? I know it’s a deathmatch and all, but no one wants to see a boring fight or a beatdown. Sportsmanship, fellas, sportsmanship. Trixy, this is only a deathmatch for the Contender, so if at any time you want to tap out, do it. No guarantees that we’ll be able to break you two up before then though.” The referee, a spider-ogre with limbs long enough to span the entire ring, looked down upon the two fighters below. He had to be half the size of godzilla, if not taller. “Now...RINGA DING DING LETS SEE SOME FUCKING BLOOOOOOOOD!”

A skeletal babe with amazing hip bones booty-checked a brass bell, and the fight was on!

Concrete still hissing with each step, the Contender tucked his chin in, hunched his back, raised his fists. Letting out a steaming breath, he then extended one of his hands, opening it up for a shake. With a surprisingly dulcet voice, the man said, “Have fun, miss.”

Trixy was still recovering from her sensory overload when the burning undead man extended his hand. She blinked and almost took a step back, but the moment was sobering for Trixy. With her opponent so close, the cheers of the crowd and all the other excess noises were drowned out by the presence of her opponent. Normally she would never be this close to someone she was supposed to take out. But it had been stated in the rules that Trixy couldn’t use her weapon or her specialization magic for this fight. And of course, it was strictly a one on one match. She had come into the fight expecting her martial training to lead her through the battle, but she hadn’t anticipated her opponent would be covered in freakin’ fire. She might have been comically perverted, but she wasn’t a masochist.

Trixy raised her hand, and her magical wardrobe opened up beside her. She pulled out an oven mitt and slipped it on her hand. Once she was set up, her wardrobe vanished from sight. ”You too sir!” She forced a smile before shaking the man’s hand. It didn’t take long for the fire to burn away the mit, at which point she hopped backwards and raised her hands. It was time to fight.

If Trixy had thought about this before jumping in the ring with an undead champion, she probably would have watched some videos of him. But she hadn’t done that. In that respect, her opponent was just as unmeasured as she was, aside from the clear tell that he was strong enough to rip apart a chain link fence. This was not an opponent she was going to beat with raw physical force. But his speed and intelligence had yet to be tested.

Trixy moved towards her opponent, swiftly, but in stance. She raised her arm as if to drive her fist through the Contender’s head, but this was a feint. She hopped to the left, Ready to pounce on his back if he left himself open.

The Contender reverted to his own compact stance as well, burning eyes locked onto Trixy as she hopped to the left. It may have been experience or it may have been just a willingness to take any strike she lashed out, but the eyepatched judoka’s feint didn’t draw any particular reaction out of him; with chin tucked in, fists up, and elbows guarding his sides, the Contender’s defense was already complete.

”Wow, he’s goo-”

Rhythmic hissing coincided with the light shifting of his feet, and just as the pattern became consistent, he popped forward, a fiery jab to Trixy’s face to disorientate, followed by a piercing straight and then a hook below her ribcage.

A simple opening combination, but it had a lot of minute implications only seasoned audience members could appreciate. Trixy was prepared to lunge at the Contender, so most of her weight was on her front foot. This allowed her to use her back leg to step forward or throw a powerful kick, as it had a longer distance to travel to its target. Her training had prepared her for things like whiffed jabs, but it wasn’t every day they were on fire and headed for her face. Trixy pulled back her head a bit, and some of her weight shifted onto her back leg.

The straight came from the opposite side. This was going for a full extension and would have maximum power. Trixy had already accepted the fact that she was going to get burned during this match. There was no hesitation when she opened her palm and brushed the Contender’s fist to the side, putting her inside of his arms. After brushing his fist away, her arm looped around his bicep to control it. What surprised her was that the flames didn’t half hurt. He felt mildly warm, not even unpleasant. A child-like smile crept across her face as she finished stepping forward.

A movement that might have come too soon.

A hook punch was not always part of a combination like this, and Trixy was far too eager to land a blow to be aware of it. The hook punch was aimed between her rib cage and hips where it could plow directly into her organs. She had advanced fast enough that it was just a glancing blow. But it was still a punch that would have turned a normal teenager’s intestines into jello. Trixy coughed and stumbled into the Contender. Her guts were throbbing, but she had a match to finish. Her left arm was still trapping his bicep, and now her right hand was on his chest. This was where she wanted to be.

Trixy attempted to use her right leg to sweep the Contender and throw him onto his back. But that wasn’t all. Since she had a hold of his arm, she might as well have a taste of the Contender. Her cheeks split open, and her jaws latched onto his arm just as she attempted to sweep.

As Trixy’s arm latched around the Contender’s extended arm, he retracted, arm folding back. The eyepatched girl may have had an arm around his bicep, but now her arm too was viced between his steel-like forearm and his bulging bicep. A grappler, was it?

Bending his knees, he lowered his center of gravity and absorbed the sweeping kick with nary a grunt, the whites of his teeth almost incandescent as he grit his teeth. She wanted a taste of him? Go ahead! Trixy’s teeth latched onto his forearm, hot blood coating her tongue. There was a metallic taste, mixed with ash perhaps, and a smoky, barbeque flavor. Almost tasty, really.

No time to dwell though. With one fist still free and his stance stable for the time being, the Contender continued to whale at Trixy’s side with his free hand, powering through with the rotation of his hips and the compression and extension of his legs.

“C’MON C’MON C’MON!!!”

Trixy’s right arm wasn’t doing very much holding onto his chest, so she crooked her arm and did her best to protect her head from incoming blows. There was only so much she could do with her mouth latched around the Contender’s bicep, as she clearly couldn’t see where the attacks were coming from. Fortunately, she wouldn’t be in this possition for very long.

Presently, her right leg was locked behind the Contender, and her left leg was behind herself. With a quick hop, she shuffled her feet. Her left leg landed in front of herself, and she was able to pivot and step back with her right leg. This pulled her torso out of the way of incoming blows, and also helped Trixy tear the flesh off his arm. The result was that Trixy was now standing beside the contender. If it weren’t for the Contender screaming the most badass lines possible, or his burning flesh hanging out of Trixy’s mouth, they might have looked like a couple. A shame the Contender was more interested in beating up girls than dating them. He seemed like he had quite the following.

Trixy was primarily a grappler, but she was capable of striking things too. With the flesh torn away, She sucked it into her mouth before repeatedly driving her right fist into his arm. The quick meal would help heal up her bruised arm, maximizing her strength.

”What! Are! You! Made! Of?!”

Feeling the shifting of Trixy’s foot, the Contender responded swiftly as well, extending his bound arm and forcefully pushing against the biter’s shoulder. Simultaneously, he hopped backwards, the two disengaged for the moment. She had gotten off a couple of good hits though; purple welts bloomed beneath the corona of hellfire upon his arm. He shook out his arm a bit, the blood instantly drying and flaking off, and he paced around the arena.

“Sugar n spice n everything nice,” the Contender replied, lifting his arms up again and ready to continue. “Got a nice set of teeth on ya, Trixy.”

Trixy also paced around the ring, perfectly adjacent to the Contender. She wiped her mouth on her sleeve. It rolled up just enough to show a bruise before she pulled her sleeve back over it. ”Thanks!” She smiled. ”Not as nice as your voice, I’ll admit. I should have gotten your autograph before the match.” She brought her arms back up into a defensive stance and moved towards the Contender.

She wasn’t going to go for a feint this time. She led with a right jab aimed at the Contender’s face, following it with an elbow strike. If everything lined up right, she’d be able to grab his shoulder with both hands and pull him into a knee strike. It wasn’t Judo, but by this point the Contender was likely expecting Trixy to turn this into a grapple game.

“Well, if ya ever swing by Hell, I’ll sign somethin’ for ya then. Till that, you’ll have to settle for broken bones.”

And they were at it again. Trixy’s jab flickered out, bouncing off the Contender’s forearm as he bent his legs, shifting his weight from his front foot to his back. Her elbow swept over the torchbrand of his flames, and as Trixy went for her knee blow, both hands grabbing onto his shoulder, the burning man kicked off with his back foot, driving his shoulder into her gut. Her knee struck something hard as the two of them smacked onto the concrete; his pecs may have been on fire, but they definitely felt like granite.

Trixy coughed up a bit of blood from that one. She sharply inhaled, but wasn’t about to let the Contender crawl on top of her. Trixy curled her legs around either side of his torso to halt his advance. She then proceeded to give him alternating hooks to the head.

“Oh, nice response!”

With his torso locked down, a mount was no longer feasible. The Contender’s arms shifted up to the sides of his head, absorbing the impact of Trixy’s hooks as he gathered up his own strength. Though her slim arms told another story, a magical girl’s might had no correlation between aesthetic and actuality, and more welts bloomed with each frenzied strike.

Wasn’t like this was his first time on the mat though.

With a grunt, the Contender hopped into a squat, lifting up Trixy’s body as he raised himself back up on a standing position. Hooking his own arms around her legs now, he began to spin in place, building up more and more centrifugal force.

“Take THIS!”

At terminal rotational speed, he released Trixy, throwing her head first towards the steel fence around the Hexagon, before immediately pursuing and leaping into a divekick.

Trixy had occasionally wondered what bullets felt like when they were fired out of her gun. Disposable projectiles who’s only fate was to die with their target. That was about how she felt right now. The chain link fence looked like it was going to hurt. Not as much as the ensuing kick from the Contender, but all the same, it was something she wanted to avoid. Fortunately, she was flying head first towards her destination.

She opened her mouth again, her face peeling away to reveal the bottomless cavity inside of her. She ripped straight through the fence, but it would scrape against her body as she flew through it at high speeds.. Given that Trixy had run out of options, she didn’t even care.

Using her heightened reflexes, she grabbed one of the rails and swung upwards, legs first. She tried to hold her skirt down, but gravity and wind resistance was fighting against her. Trixy bent her knees as she landed on the face of the giant spider-ogre. The god of the tiny space where she was fighting, and she whispered.

”This is legal, right?”

“No, but thank you very much!” the spider-referee squealed, absolutely enjoying the sensation.

”Ahah, right!”

She kicked off his massive face and descended towards the Contender like a meteor. Her ribs might have been cracked, and her sleeves had been torn to tatters, but she still bore a smile. Trixy spread her arms wide. She didn’t care if she got an arm, torso, his head, she was going to take the Contender for a wild ride.

With Trixy having bitten a hole right through the fence, the Contender too flew out through it, sliding against the floor. He rolled, almost by instinct, and as the gluttonous maid kicked off the spider-emcee, he pushed himself off the ground as well, two searing handprints left in the ground as he launched himself feet first at his opponent’s skull.

It was evident that when the two combatants collided it was going to be a strong impact. Even if they weren’t both moving at terminal velocity, that was a long way down to a concrete floor. A decisive blow was about to be made.

It was unlikely she was going to survive a direct shot from the Contender. His body was dense, so dense that she couldn’t even bite all the way through it. Her opponent might as well have been a boulder flying up towards her. Trixy understood she didn’t have the power to destroy it, but maybe the earth did. Trixy continued to dive, arms outstretched towards the Contender.

When her hands were near the Contender’s feet, Trixy snatched him by both ankles and tucked in her chin. She didn’t let go and guided herself into a somersault down the back of his legs. This got the two of them spinning like a twirling bolas, before Trixy heaved The contender towards the earth. She was thrown higher into the air, but in an arc that would soon return her to the arena. It was bad form to land on the spectators.

“Nice fight!”

A great impact rocked the stadium, plumes of concrete dust bursting from the epicenter of the Contender’s crash into the cold, hard ground. Immediately, vespers of hellfire raced through the spiderweb fractures within the ground, before it all gave away. Hell had opened up from the crater Trixy had created with the Contender’s body, a fiery maelstrom lined with black, skeletal hands. Some magical girls paled at the horrible sight, but most of the audience were made of sterner stock, cheering instead, as the flaming man, the top half of his face squashed flat, tumbled through the abyss, flashing one last thumbs up at Trixy. She could only look on while her body soared towards the earth.

“Don’t forget this! If I’m not breaking out, I’ll be at the Seventh Circle, First Ring! Come on over some time and I’ll treat ya, Trixy! I l-”

Whatever else the Contender had to say was cut off, as the Hellhole sealed itself back up moments later, leaving a smooth, untouched floor. Only upon the arena were the last signs of the Contender, his scorched footprints left on the ground.

Trixy once again would find salvation from the iron fence’s rails. She was able to grab hold and swing herself back into the arena. The chain link fence burst on impact, but only did minor damage to her as she tumbled across the floor. She came to a stop on her hands and knees, staring straight at the floor where he had been seconds prior.

”Hell can’t be that bad if it’s got guys like you in it.” Trixy attempted to step up, but stumbled. ”Though you come on a little too strong, bleh!”

The giant spider-ogre reached for Trixy’s hand and hoisted it into the air.

“And our winner is… TRIXY! SHE CHEWED UP THE CONTENDER AND SPAT HIM BACK INTO THE UNDERWORLD! THIS HAS BEEN AN AMAZING NIGHT FOLKS, I’LL SEE YOU ALL AGAIN NEXT YEAR!”

As the crowd erupted into cheers, Trixy reached into her pocket for her phone. This was going to be the best post on Glimmr she ever made. A picture of herself after beating the Contender? With all those fans cheering in the background? It didn’t get any better than that! She pulled her phone out of her uniform, grinned like she had been practicing, and then promptly noticed a crack going all the way through the screen.

”N-no!”

Her smile faded when she realized she couldn’t get her phone to turn back on. Trixy’s gaze angled towards the floor as all hope drained out of her body. She couldn’t say when it happened. If it was when he punched her in the side, or that other time he punched her in the side, or that time he slammed her into the ground, or-

”Yea, hell is a good place for that guy.” Trixy nodded to herself, deaf to everything around her.

Danganronpa: Tower of Carnage (Finished!)

4 out of 11 votes have been cast. only 2 of which were player submitted. How will the rest of the votes fall?

Short and later than I wanted, but I've been pretty much collabing all week.

Edit: LOL 666 POSTS XD

Danganronpa: Tower of Carnage (Finished!)

@Mateotis @Majoras End @FamishedPants

”Are you kidding me?” Ice groaned. ”Zachary! Tell me who you bloody looked at. You shouldn’t protect someone if they did something horrible!”

Denis shook his head. ”Not sure this good idea.”

”Yes, you said that.” The former mobster folded his arms. ”Zachary, you aren’t looking really good right now. If you don’t tell me what you discovered, I’m going to have to vote for you.”

“Zach, talk to me!” Jezebel was on the verge of crying. “You’ll vote at least, right? Because if you don’t, I’ll-”

Cyrus looked to the distraught clown. ”Jezebel, you need to calm down and vote.”

“Like, how can I?” She looked to George. “You look like you could use a chill pill!” She lifted up her handbook. “Or maybe Ice baby.”

”By the way, I looked you up.”

“Eh-!” Jezebel tensed up.

”I won’t say any more. Because doing so would only help Killgood.” Cyrus sighed. ”This game has taken its toll on Zachary. I do not think screaming at him or George will give him much help.” Cyrus placed his hand on the lever.

“B-but…”

”You’re not going to pressure him into doing anything. Right now we need to show him that we can all work together, and we do that by coordinating and acting like people.” Cyrus sighed. ”You told me once that I didn’t look after the entire group, and I’m trying to make amends for that now with you.”

Jezebel bit her lower lip.

”Please, Jezebel.”

She looked up at Zachary and pulled the lever. ”Alright Cyrus, I trust you.”

”Thank you.” he sighed.

“Alright everyone! Don’t get nervous!” Emily looked at her handbook. “Maybe, no! I can’t do it! I won’t!”

Lucy snorted. ”You’ll die if you don’t vote.”

“I know that. But, at the same time, there are worse things than getting killed.”

”You don’t feel like you deserve to die, do you?”

“No, but.” She sighed. “Does anyone feel like they deserve to die? People aren’t capable of judging themselves.”

”Is it that you don’t want to throw away your vote?”

“Maybe.” Emily looked at Lucy. “What about you? You haven’t voted yet.”

”I’m just thinking, I have time.”

Noel rubbed her arm. ”I’m trying.” she looked at everyone around her. ”You need to vote for me Daimyon. I can’t do anything unless you vote for me.”

Monokuma was eating popcorn.

”An emotional breakdown over here, people getting it together over there. Despair and hope is stirring in everyone’s hearts, but who will win?”

…42…41…40…39…

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

”My brother in Christ, I need a new patron.”

— Tonya “Mac” Murphy

Tonya “Mac” Murphy

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

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

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

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

Earnings this post: Zilch

Total: 7 Gold, 118 Silver, 130 Bronze

Typically, the shower was a place for relaxation, silent reflection, and unwinding. For a bit of amusement, Mac had started taking her spool into the shower with her so that she could observe future events. She could look and see what sort of events were waiting for her favorite people and magical girls. Though ever since Mac had returned to Penrose, well, there haven't been too many happy moments to gleam.

A lot of her favorite places had simply been destroyed. Garrow park had an impressive playground that use to draw in children from all over the city, but now it was a heap of twisted metal. Michigan square was also nothing but rubble, and the thousands of people who walked past there were no longer present. Penrose had become a barren wasteland, and it was just starting to sink in that the city might be lost.

And the rave, that was going to happen before long, wasn't it?

With a shrug, Mac sunk to the floor of the shower, allowing the water to pelt the top of her head. Maybe she needed a bubble bath after this.

---

A Trip Into Spaaaaace!

Featuring: Mika, Hilaria, and Dan
@FamishedPants@Ariamis

Mika groaned. There was nothing fun to do. Helga and Su were managing the hotel, and there wasn’t anything interesting happening on Glimmr or the Penrose Independent’s website. She had beaten all of her video games and her monthly allowance was spent. She was still in bed, looking at the soft glow of her phone. There had to be something she could do.

“I wanna go some place fun, and warm.” It wasn’t until muttering it that Mika realized she had access to a place that was both of those. “Wait, I know!” She jumped out of bed and dove into the closet. The impact alone was enough to make its contents erupt outward like a volcano. She’d have to clean that up at some point, but having fun was more important right now. After pushing past a few boxes, she found it.

“Gotcha!”

Mika shut the doors to the closet and started to get changed. When she emerged, she was wearing her cat themed bikini. Now she was ready to have a blast! Mika began dancing around the center of the room like an Indian praying for rain. “Gimmie, a fun place, gimmie, a warm place!” Mika repeated like a mantra before a portal opened up in the center of the room.

---

Her present location was not one she recognized. It appeared to be one of the thousands of islands, with a few palm trees and some star fish scattered about. “Oh Daaaan! I’m Baaaaaack!” Mika called out. “Are you arouuuuuund?”

Some sparkles appeared in the sky, like stars that were raining down. The stream hit the ground, causing a small splash of water from which a small, huggable dolphin leaped out of.

"Mika!" Dan squeaked, and flew up to her with a big smile; he had a goofy fish-themed cap one could find at any aquarium's gift shop. "You're back here at Isla Paradiso! Did something happen?" He floated around her. "Wait, let me guess: party time?"

“Ummm.” Mika looked out at the vast ocean. “I got hurt, and one of my friends left Penrose not too long ago.” She looked back at Dan with a smile. “ I just came here to see you. We always played a lot of fun games and- GAH!” She hugged Dan’s head against her chest. The dolphin's bottle nose was forced between her mounds, and Mika unknowingly covered his blow hole through his hat. “When did the titty monster get here?!” She pointed at Hillaria, who was reclining in a beach chair eating a hamburger.

The burger that Hilaria was eating soon became little more than a memory, aside from the little bit of ketchup that fell upon one side of her sizable chest. Of course, since the girl was not in the business of leaving loose ends when it came to food, she soon scooped it up with a finger and disposed of any evidence by sucking it away. "~!" the little squeal of delight was an obvious tell that it had been to her liking, and only after all of this did she look to Mika and Dan.

"Hello~!" she waved, getting up from the beach chair. She jogged over to the two. Hilaria was not in her magical girl form, but it wasn't hard to tell who it was given certain aspect(s) she had. She was currently wearing a bikini that did no disservice to displaying the parts of her that certain individuals would find larger than average, but it looked to be one someone on a budget would get. She was also wearing sunglasses. "Did you come here to eat, Hilaria wonders~?" she smiled.

"Mmphh!" Dan's muffled voice could be heard as he flailed his small blue body, currently stuck in Mika's loving but unintentionally lethal embrace. His antics turned more frantic, until he slipped right out of the girl's arms like a piece of soap, flying up. "Phew, finally I'm fr-MMMPPH!" Before he realized it, he had nosedived right into Hilaria's roomy cleavage, once again stuck.

"Oh~!" Hilaria yelped in surprise as a bottle of sunblock and her phone were knocked out of the 'pocket' they were in. She took a hold of Dan and gave him a gentle pull, releasing him of his prison. "Hilaria thinks Dan's a bit clumsy~" she said, allowing the dolphin to regain its composure. Once she didn't need to worry about holding him, she bent down and collected the two objects that fell, returning the phone to it's domain, while keeping the other in her hand.

That finished, she looked at Mika. "Oh, but don't forget to wear sunscreen~" she presented the bottle.

Mika crept towards Hilaria, her eyes constantly darting between her face and the sunblock. Then, with a careful hand, she trapped the lotion bottle between her thumb and fore finger before pulling on it. It took Mika a few seconds to remove the bottle from Hilaria’s grip.

“So you’re not going to....” she squeezed some out onto her arms before rubbing it in. “Then I don’t have anything to fear.” Mika stood up a bit straighter. “Thanks Hilarious!” She tossed what remained of the bottle back to her before turning to Dan. “Got any games we can play?”

Dan gasped as he was pulled up like an uprooted vegetable, looking a bit dizzy with cartoon stars circling his head.. "Woo wee, you girls really take my breath away." He then shook his head to focus, and squeaked in an amused tone, having floated up to eye level with Hilaria.
"I am a bit of a klutz, but fortunately you caught me." His eyes turned bright and lively upon being asked about games, and he nodded his nose rapidly. "I sure do! I got football, lacrosse, tennis, paragliding, slalom, triathlon, waterskiing, all the sports games!" As he listed the activities he summoned the various pieces of equipment, scattering them around like a comedian genie. "And if you want to take a break, you can fiddle with sticks and press lots of buttons with video games and buggies and starships!" He followed this up by summoning an actual spaceship, though it was just a two-seater. He bounced up to Mika. "Let's have lots of fun!"

“Yay! Fun!” Mika seemed to have forgotten her request to play a game, because she ran right up to the spaceship. It didn’t look too spectacular, just a white tube with gray fins on the back. But it looked out of place on a tropical retreat. The girl scrambled up the side of the ship and sat in the cockpit. There she was greeted with a dizzying number of flashing buttons and lights. “Hilarious, did you wanna explore space?”

By the time Mika asked, Hilaria was already there. "Hilaria is usually the one sending others to space, but sure~!" she agreed, looking then at Dan. "Does this work, Hilaria wonders~?"

“Of course!” Dan appeared between the girls with a poof, now wearing a space helmet. He pointed with his fin, and also changed the girls’ appearance: they now also wore space helmets, as well as spacesuits colored a silvery gray that tightly hugged their skin, conforming to the shape of their bodies. Dan smiled, and squaked: “Let’s go on a fantastic voyage!”

Mika pulled on a lever, and the spaceship’s engine rumbled as the vessel first turned up towards the sky, and then launched. “To Infinity, and behind it!” He proclaimed, now sitting in Hilaria’s lap as the spaceship had reached outer space. The girls could see that the planet they left was mostly blue, dotted with islands of various sizes. A hologram showing a map of the galaxy then appeared, showing various locations. “This spaceship can travel to any planet with a blink of the eye! We could go to the Planet of Hats, or the Planet of the Apes!” He pointed out. “The galaxy is in your grasp!”

“Hmmm, I know where everyone would like to go!” Mika tapped a few buttons. Each one made a series of boops and beeps before Mika pulled the lever. All occupants had their heads thrown backward as the ship accelerated towards their destination. After just a few seconds, they were hovering over a planet with many rings. When they got closer, the rings appeared to be made out of thousands of onion rings, while others were condiments like ketchup and relish.

“Whoa!” Mika opened the cockpit and grabbed an onion ring as they cruised by. “It exists!” She extended the onion ring to a layer made of ketchup before sitting back down. “Where should we start our adventure?” She said while looking at the planet. It looked to be a mass of different colors. Some of the oceans were made of cola, while others could have been soft drinks or fruit juice. The ice caps were giant Popsicles, And the world's many continents appeared to be split up into different foods. There was a pasta land that bordered bread mountains, The cold north seemed to be made out of ice cream, and there was also a jungle made out of vegetables. “That jungle looks kinda scary, I dunno if I wanna go there.”

Meanwhile, Hilaria took the development in stride, gazing in awe at all the different foods that the planet was composed of. This was mostly due to the fact she was convinced she'd just been drugged, perhaps the burger being the culprit, and that what she was now experiencing was a really big trip.

But this was not a first for her, and she was determined that it wouldn't be her last, either.

"Astonishing~!" whereas Mika only grabbed one onion ring, Hilaria had enough to constitute a meal, which she happily munched away on. "Mmm~" she glanced around the planet, looking for a suitable place to land. "T-there~!" as if she couldn't contain the excitement, she thrust her finger out towards a volcano, which appeared to be blasting nacho cheese into the sky, which then collided with the nacho-chip clouds that flew above it.

“Whoah! This is too saucy for me!” Dan squeaked as the spaceship got close to the nacho volcano. But regardless of his worry, the girls managed to successfully land the ship on the mouth of the volcano, the delicious nacho cheese only a stone’s throw away.

“Careful with the nachos, girls!” Dan warned as the spaceship opened, holding a silly-looking blaster in his fin as he first left the ship. “And keep an eye out on munchinoids; they have an endless appetite.”

Mika did not seem to be especially worried about the “munchoids” as she took in the volcano they were standing on. It was made out of tortilla chips stuck together with refried beans. There were a few black beans here and there, as well as salsa with giant chunks of tomato and pepper floating in their surface. The base of the volcano was covered with lettuce and ranch dressing, while the mouth of the volcano was oozing with nacho cheese after the last eruption.

“Forget the munchoids, I’m pretty hungry myself.” She broke off a tortilla chip and dipped it in the cheese. It didn’t appear to be as hot as lava, and Mika confirmed as much when she took off her helmet to take a bite. “What have you guys been doing?” Mika chewed on the chip while walking higher up the volcano. “I didn’t expect to see Hilarious here.” The holster holding her water pistol jiggled when she jumped over a pool of salsa.

The silver-haired girl was simultaneously going to town on the volcano and keeping pace with the other two. "Mmm~!" she let out another delighted squeal. "Hilaria's been eating with people~ It's great~" she replied to Mika, simply walking around the pothole of salsa, but dipping one of her chips in it and taking another bite.

"Dan has a lot of good food~"

Dan looked pleased with the compliment. "Why thank you, Hilaria. I'm glad that you think so highly of my culinary skills. Once we get back I'll cook up some delicious lasagn-Aah! Munchoids!" He pointed his blaster at a rocky cliff, from which a strange alien creature began appearing via climbing. It looked goofy, with googly eyes at the end of short stalks, a round green hairy body, and a big mouth on the abdomen from which a big tongue hung out. They hopped around like monkeys as more appeared, about a dozen in number. They sniffed the air, and made slurping noises as they saw the girls. "Mm, munchy munchies!" The biggest munchinoid grumbled, and began traipsing closer.

"Munchinoids!" Dan yelled, and aimed with his blaster. "Should we try to reason with them? They don't look too hungry compared to the ones I've seen before."

Mika drew her water pistol and aimed it at them. “If they want to eat us, they can’t be reasoned with. She cocked her gun. “If we kill them, they’re going to bleed over all of this good food. So we only have one real choice. She grabbed Dan. “We run!” Mika took off towards the top of the volcano. The tortilla chips made a satisfying crunch under her boots with every step. But her destination was in sight. She turned around to see if the munchoids or Hilaria were following her, but it didn’t matter. Mika had made up her mind. She fell into the volcano.

The walls of the volcano weren’t smooth, but they were coated in nacho cheese. Mika was able to slow her descent by riding the walls. It felt a bit like riding down a really steep slide, only way cheesier.

“Visor up!”

Before landing in the liquid cheese below, Mika put up her visor and plunged into it. When she surfaced, she was coated head to toe in nacho cheese.

Hilaria wasn't entertained with these aliens, not in the least. There was so much food here, why did they need to eat her, Dan, and Mika? That was absurd. The people who said they wanted to eat Hilaria were always delinquent boys and occasionally girls, so that must mean these things were no better. "Hilaria is not munchies~!" she stated sharply as she finished her last nacho and followed shortly behind Mika, resisting the strong urge to continue picking up more as she went.

As she reached the peak of the volcano and glanced down into it, she couldn't help but smile. Her pupils turned into hearts and she dove right in, with no hesitation, snagging one last chip as she did so. And much like Mika, her visor was closed as she fell into the hot nacho cheese, but immediately after she surfaced, she opened it to eat the chip that was now covered in deliciousness. "Mmm~!" yet again she squealed, then closing her visor. "Mm, so are we swimming now~?" she nonchalantly floated on her back, unconcerned about the aliens, apparently.

“I didn’t think this far ahead.” Mika, Dan, and Hilaria were all coated in cheese. Due to the tight nature of their swimsuits, it was hard to tell if they were wearing anything at all. Save for the giant globes around their head. Mika folded her visor back so that she could get a look around. “We probably should swim in cheese, being on an adventurer is all about doing things you’ve never done before!” Mika did the backstroke until she reached one of the walls. “Doing the same stuff over and over again gets boring.” She examined her water pistol. “Do you ever get bored of saving people?”

Dan and Mika would notice that Hilaria was nowhere to be found. But soon an area of the cheese began bubbling more than the rest. The bubbling became more intense until a small eruption revealed the other girl. She rocketed out of the cheese almost like a torpedo, and then fell back into it. Surfacing after that, she looked to Mika. "Yes~" she replied to the cat girl, apparently hearing her question somehow. "A long time ago~ Hilaria finds a lot of things boring, too~" she said, then dove back under for a second.

“Really?” Mika raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know why you’d do it then.” She shrugged. “How about you Dan? Are you enjoying yourself?”

“I am now, haha!” Dan swam around in the nacho cheese as if it was water, spurting out a small fountain of liquid cheese from his blowhole. The munchinoids watched from the shore, not daring to touch the nacho cheese. “Sticky stickies!” They grumbled, and soon bounced away, looking for something else to munch on. After the coast was clear, Dan hopped out of the volcano, now covered in the cheese. He found it hard to move around, sluggishly floating until he dropped back down. “Uhh, girls? I think I need some help here.”

Surfacing after the munchoids left, Hilaria watched Dan helplessly try to float. Pulling herself out of the cheese and moving to the dolphin, she opened her visor and picked the patron up. With a curious gaze, she licked some of the cheese off of him. "Mmm, too salty~" she then carried him like a bride, looking back at Mika. "Hilaria wants to try other things, too~"

It took Mika a bit more effort to climb out of the Volcano. She wasn’t transformed, and her spacesuit wouldn’t have accommodated any of her animal transformations anyway. With one last heave, she pulled herself out. “Like what?” Though as is likely to happen, Mika lost her train of thought when she noticed something was off with Dan. She sprinted in front of Hilaria to get a closer look. “Is Dan frozen? The cheese must be cooling down!” Mika leaned in and trapped Dan between herself and the abominable magical girl. “If we raise his body heat, maybe we can free him.”

Dan squeaked in a higher pitch as usual when Hilaria cleaned his sticky situation “Hey now, I didn’t mean-” Then he squeaked again as he was caught between the two girls. “Oh no, this is bad!” He shook, and turned from blue to red. Just as Mika predicted, the cheese melted off of him. “Oh no, I’m gonna-” And just like before, he was launched out of the girls’ hold, hitting the spaceship with a comical clang sound, and leaving an imprint the shape of a small dolphin with hearts in his eyes. Dan then slowly slid down; he was knocked out cold.

Mika approached the dolphin’s prone form and lifted a finger to her lips. “Uh...” She scooped him up, hoisting him over her shoulder like a fireman. “I think Dan’s had enough adventure for one day. ” She turned to look at Hilaria. “We should probably go back to the beach planet.” Her eyes rolled down towards the volcano. “After we eat a few more chips.”

Hilaria cast a glance out in the distance, looking at all the food that could be had. Solemnly, she turned back to Mika and Dan, but nodded her head. "Yeah, Dan seems tired~" she agreed. "But a few more won't hurt~"

---

A Trip Into Penroooose!

Featuring: Su and Helga
@Ariamis

Su gazed out the window. The gray sky denied the sun it’s return once again, Its army of snowflakes descended on Penrose, and Su was powerless to do more than watch the siege unfold. It was hard to believe this would be Su’s first winter in Penrose. It felt like an eternity ago when she arrived here with Amber. She didn’t know anyone, she didn’t have a hotel, and she only had one friend. Her short time here had some pretty big ups and downs, but she was stronger for it.

If only she had more to show for it than personal strength.

There weren’t a lot of things to do in Penrose anymore. Before the beach vacation Su would enjoy walks through the city. It was large enough that she could always find something to discover. Odd shops that sold strange gadgets, Parks with interesting vistas, to graffiti that even Su could enjoy. But with so many people gone and Beacon patrolling the streets, it was hard to find a reason to go outside.  

“Why are we even here?”

Boteg had yet to come to a decision regarding his stay in Penrose. He came here to have Amber beat the terrible one’s champion. But their champion had been defected, so Su was unsure why he chose to remain. But the dragon would make his plans known when he was ready. For now, Su had to wait. But she did not have to wait alone. 

The hotel manager stepped away from the window and descended to the lower floors. Helga should have been staffed at the entrance, even if it was unlikely they would be receiving guests today. 

Su ran her hand through her hair before approaching Helga. She gave herself a quick examination in the reflection of a window before stepping forward. “There you are.” She smiled. “We haven’t done anything fun recently. Would you like to watch a movie with me? We’ll have the entire theater to ourselves.” She folded her hands behind her back and swung side to side.

Helga was going about her daily routine when Su came over; her dreary mood brightened up almost instantaneously, and she turned to take Su’s hand in her own. “Sure. PenKino is still running, right? I think it’s the only one in the entire city. Just a sec, gonna change out of my work uniform.” A moment later, Helga returned wearing a poofy pink winter jacket and blue jeans. She also wore a pink woolly cap. “What do you think?”

“Oh! Um. PenKino?” In her brooding, Su had forgotten about PenKino Cinema. She was actually thinking about her own theater within the Golden trove. Of course there was no comparison between the two. Golden trove’s theater was at best an auditorium with an outdated projector. The movies they had on hand were at least twenty years old, and if not, were direct to TV releases. There was simply no comparison to a real theater, which played new movies in resolutions her projector just wasn’t capable of. That said nothing of her speaker set up, which was simple stereo sound. She also had to look into why the rightmost speaker emitted so much white noise. Su was reminded every time she chose to do something at the hotel, another struggling business didn’t get her support.

“You look good Helga, and, wow, you got dressed fast.” Su chuckled. “Just, just give me a moment.”

---

Su’s choice of ware contrasted heavily with Helga’s. Though it wasn’t because of an attempt to stick to a Chinese motif. That might have been her magical girl uniform and even her work uniform, but for outings like this she preferred to dress more casually. Like Helga, she wore jeans, but that was where the similarities stopped. Su’s overcoat was a maroon color with giant black buttons, and had a hood lined with fur. Though she opted to leave the hood down and wear earmuffs. The hood was strictly for emergencies. Since the snow had let up a bit, it wasn’t necessary.

They hadn’t arrived at their destination yet, which suited Su just fine. There were a few things she wanted to talk about before they saw the movie.

“Mika’s been distant recently.” There was no question what caused this behavior. It started when Lupa left Penrose early in the week. Since then she had been retreating to the beach dimension rather frequently. “I’m not sure what to do. I want to shower her with affection until she’s happy, but I don’t want to coddle her too much.” Su shoved her hands into her pockets. “I’m also worried about her joining us in fights. She’s not experienced enough to make her own choices. I’m sure you remember the time we found her during that skeleton army raid, or more recently when she agitated a forest troll. She’s becoming more combative too.” With a huff, Su looked to Helga. “It might just be her way of dealing with grief.” She looked ahead. “But I’d really like to see her mature a bit.”

Helga was quiet as she listened to Su’s worries, nodding to acknowledge the conversation.

“Yeah, I’m sorry for her. Lupa was one of her only real friends here. Even when she had amnesia, Mika was still by her side.” They stopped at a street corner, where Helga handed out some money to a street musician. “The only way she can overcome her grief is by getting out there and making new friends. Remember those girls I mentioned? Mika seemed to like them.” The two now reached the PenKino courtyard. “We should give her more chances to meet with people. I’m sure she’ll hit it off with them.”

Helga’s suggestion made sense. That was essentially how Su dealt with Amber’s passing. But letting other people interact with Mika ran the chance that it could make her increasingly distant. Could that be avoided if she spent time with her friends too? This mom thing was hard to figure out.

The two then reached the lobby. “Have you decided on the flick?”

“You know I haven’t had time to look at any movie reviews? I have no idea what any of these are.” She looked between her watch and the showing times. “Looks like there’s only one time slot playing soon.” Su turned to the movie posters. The poster has two school girls who were clearly young adult actors. They were gazing deeply into each other’s eyes while a myriad of things were happening around them. One corner of the poster featured an explosion, while another a sinister looking group of dudes, and… a spaceship? Was that a little green alien? All punctuated with the tag line “They don’t know what to expect… And neither do you.” Su didn’t even bother to look at the name of the movie. 

“I get the impression this will be the best movie in history, or a future cult classic that is ahead of its time and will go woefully misunderstood by moviegoers of today.” She took Helga’s hand and stepped inside.

“Fine with me. As long as it’s entertaining, I don’t care if it’s good or bad.”

---

“Soon” might have been a bit of an overstatement, as it was going to take some time to get through all the previews and adds before the movie started. Helga was nodding off, trying to not fall asleep. She had removed her jacket, revealing a simple white blouse underneath.

“You don’t talk about your past much, Helga.” Su was in the process of removing her coat before sitting down. This revealed her red tank with spaghetti straps. “I mean prior to being a magical girl. I know Justine rescued you after Beacon left you for dead, but what about before that?”

Helga snapped awake at the question, and averted her eyes. “Oh, that. I guess I could talk about it. Don’t expect an epic story or anything though.” She sighed, before continuing.

“Before I was a magical girl...I was a rich kid. Like, super rich. My father owned a massive financial conglomerate, and my mother was a movie star. Phah...” She leaned her head back on the theater seat. “Sounds like BS, right? Well, as it happens. So did I, back then. All my life, I was told I’d need to grow up and inherit the family business, to not fool around. I wanted out of that life.” She paused to grab some popcorn, stuffing it in her mouth.

“So, the first chance I got to blow the popsicle stand, I was already there hitting the detonator.”

As far fetched as Helga’s story sounded, it did make sense. Su felt that Helga embodied many of a maid’s attributes. Her attention to detail, how she dutifully completed her tasks, it wasn’t hard to believe this was instilled in her by her parents. “Wait.” Detonator. Su remembered that Helga almost blew up a hospital. She did that during her time with Justine. “N-not a literal detonator right? Because that would be movie worthy.”

Helga facepalmed. "It's a figure of speech!" She suddenly moved closer to Su, touching her shoulder. She smiled sweetly. "You can be really silly sometimes, Su. That's what I love about you." She gave her a kiss on the cheek. "If it turns out to be a scary movie, promise to hold my hand?" She asked in a joking tone. However, her eyes told a different story.

“Heh.” There wasn’t much to say. The screen got dark, and Helga and Su looked on in anticipation. The intro credits played, and the two girls on the poster appeared on screen. That was when it all started to feel familiar to Su. 

“Have I seen this movie before?”

“Is it going to be scary? B-because I don’t think I can take that right now!”

“Relax, Su. It’s a thriller, not a horror flick. You can just hold my hand if it bothers you.”

“Hold your hand? I feel more secure in your lap.”

“Could you please transform into a human? The movie isn’t that long.”

“I could get spotted!”

“I’m talking to a bird I snuck into the theater. Is this somehow less suspicious?”

A half hour into the movie, and Su felt like she had it all figured out.

The plot was simply a fantastic journey. The two main heroines were visited by budget yoda who takes them across the galaxy to collect “galaxy seeds” before an evil emperor can get them. The writing fell below Su’s modest expectations, and the heroines were the only decent actors in the movie thus far. But the special effects were good. The girls weren’t hard on the eyes, and the fight scenes were gripping and interesting. Presently the heroines were gearing up for the next planet. This involved the actors undressing while talking about things that didn’t hold Su’s interest.

“So the party, we got invited right?” Su looked away from the screen. “Did you want to prepare anything for that? It’s technically a business trip.”

Helga was more interested in the "preparation" scene than Su, but she did turn to answer her.

"Yeah, we did. I prepared some PR material including an info booklet and a PP presentation on a USB stick. Also gonna bring my laptop, just in case. Aren't you excited?" She lightly nudged Su. "We get to meet the biggest celebrities of Penrose. But I wonder what the dress code is...Probably something for a rave. Do you think torn fashion would fit me? Or maybe punk?"

“Well, I think you make everything look good.” Su chuckled. “But if you want to look your best, I’ve got an idea for that.” 

---

After the movie, Su and Helga headed off to a clothing store. There weren’t many still open in Penrose, but there was a thrift store not far from the theater. When it came to torn fashion and punk, those were the types of places you went shopping. Or at least that was what Su believed. She liked those kinds of places not because the prices were low, but because they had a lot more styles to choose from. 

“You’re likely not going to find anything super torn here, but you can always tear it yourself once we leave the store.” Su started looking through some shirts on a long rack. “I’m not sure what I want to wear yet. I’d like to represent the Hotel, so I’m thinking of something a bit cleaner. I’ll look cool though, given who we’re trying to impress.”

"Hmm…" Helga took a bright purple shirt with a yellow and real blotch in the middle and compared it to herself against a mirror. "Eh. It's not my style. Oh, maybe this?" She took a puke green hoodie with the hood shaped like a shark's maw, the sides lined with gills resembling bloody gashes. "I like this one! And not a bad price either! You found anything, Su?"

When helga turned around, Su was wearing a 10 gallon hat with a poncho draped over her shoulders. “Settle down partner. I just got here.” Su drew a squirt gun and pointed it at Helga. “Stick ‘em up, we’re gunna take you in for questioning.” She stood behind Helga and walked her towards the change rooms.

Helga had the biggest smile on her face as she lifted her arms up. "Oh no officer, I didn't mean to steal anything!" She spoke in fake-sounding higher pitched voice. "Please, I'll tell everything, just don't punish me, tee hee~"

Su inhaled sharply. She wasn’t quite sure why Helga insisted on acting like this in public spaces. At least this wasn’t the beach where they were clad in swimsuits. Just remembering Helga talking about that made her blush. But they were alone right now, so there was no harm playing around.

“We’ll take you in for questioning. Just don’t make me bust out the fuzzy cuffs, because I left those at home.” Su had Helga half way in the dressing room when she noticed a store clerk was staring right at them.

”I’m sorry, Only one person can enter a dressing room at a time.”

Without uttering a word, Su eased Helga into the change room and closed the privacy screen. “We weren’t actually going to do anything. I just got carried away because, I mean, look at this hat.”

”It’s okay ma’am. If you want to fool around, use the bathroom.”

Su blinked. “Excuse me?”

”You just can’t take any merchandise in there.” The clerk grinned. ”But if you’re really into roleplay, just purchase the items. There’s no rule against taking your own effects into the restroom.” 

“O-oh, thanks?” Su took a step backwards before sidestepping into a change room. The first thing she did was hang up her Poncho. “Alright, let’s see now…”

---

Su got back in her old clothes and stepped out of the change room. “How did you do Helga?”

Helga swept the curtain aside dramatically, revealing her new clothes. “Yass queen! Helga is now ready to rock out and make the family business bloom!”

Su examined her outfit thoroughly. It was a Japanese school uniform with really dark colors. There were some other alterations, like fingerless gloves and netted stockings that gave her a more punk look. This type of fashion wasn’t Su’s thing, but she felt it would be appreciated at the party. Mostly, it was just nice to see Helga having fun. It was easy to get swept up in the gloom of present day Penrose, but it was times like this that Su remembered why she was here. “Looks good. I’m torn between two different looks. Wait right here.”

Su briefly departed for the change room. She emerged a moment later with a simple camisole and jeans. “I could probably tear the jeans a bit, but. I dunno, I don’t think it shows enough effort. Also....”

Su departed for the change room again. This time when she returned , she looked like a Demon lord. “Is it too much? I just reached into the seasonal bin and got some halloween effects.” She sighed. “Am I overthinking it?”

Helga's brows furrowed, thinking hard about Su's choices. "Hmm...It might be a good call to put on a menacing vibe, but there is a risk of scaring off customers." She nodded to herself. "The camisole would be better. We need to use the assets we have, and eye candy is the best weapon in advertising!"

“I feel like you might have ulterior motives.” Su squinted her eyes, causing Helga to avert her eyes with playful whistling. “But you’re right. Most magical girls tend to enjoy skin, don’t they? And there’s no point pretending to be something I’m not.” She removed her horns. “In a pinch, I could always wear that black kimono I was saving for the chinese new year.” Su walked back into the change room one last time to get back into her normal clothes.

“This was a fun outing Helga. If Beacon wasn’t all over the place, I’d do it more often.” She chuckled. “I’m really looking forward to the party now. Hopefully Mika will be willing to come with us.”

Helga paid for the clothes, and the two left the store. “Yeah, it was great, Su. And that place will be great for Mika to find new friends.” She stopped, giggling to herself for a moment.
“I just realized...Mika is like a daughter to me, with how much I’m caring for her. And with us, like a family…” She had a shocked face.

“...Who’s the father?”

Su’s head poked up. The situation Helga noticed hadn’t been missed by her. They were clearly the adults of a family, and Mika was their daughter. Naturally one of them had to play the role of father while the other of mother. One worked and the other supported them. One made the family money while the other saved it. It would have been easy for Su to state how progressive things had gotten, and gender roles in a family likely didn’t mean anything anymore. But that felt cheap. Even if you have a group of women together, one will undeniably be the “alpha” that the others look up to. Just because they were both women did not mean that one was not the father. “I have some fatherly responsibilities. I make most of the decisions in terms of what direction we take the Golden Trove in. I also feel like I give Mika more tough love than you do. But I cook dinner for us most of the time, and you make us more money since you work longer hours than I do. You were even the one to purchase my clothes, which is something the father would do.” She held her chin. “I might be more fatherly. But we’re a couple, and that’s probably all that matters.” She looked at Helga with a smile. “Though Mika has started calling me mom. So if she calls you daddy, that’ll answer that.”

Helga laughed out loud, and kissed Su on the cheek. “I’d rather die than be called that. Let’s just both be the moms of the family. No need to over-analyze it.”

Su gave helga a light squeeze. “Sounds good to me.”