BrokenPromise

Symphony of Espers

@ERode@Majoras End As a reward for almost locating a missing person, your next meal at "The Nerine Vista" will be paid in full! Just let me know when you guys feel like enjoying true elegance and style.

Grimoiric Heart

The girl seemed to quiet down after Stripes spoke to her. This was an agreeable outcome. Often hostages that weren't entranced by magic would ask a bunch of silly questions like why a larger than life tiger could talk, wear a witches' hat, or any other silly question that might force its way into their panic filled minds. It wasn't something Stripes could empathize with. Even the first time she used her book to transform, she wasn't scared or filled with uncertainty. It was more like "Oh? So this is something that can actually happen." Stripes understood most magical girls thought their first transformations were a dream of some sort, at least when they were her age. Younger magical girls often had an easier time adjusting to magical life, but most older girls have an idea of how the world is suppose to be, and often reject their new reality because it doesn't mesh with the one they think they know and love. If anything, Stripes found the "normal" behavior of trying to justify it all as a dream to be strange. Who cares if turning into a magical girl is real or not? If it's real, great. If not, why ruin your dream by calling it an illusion? People put way too much emphasis on trying to be correct all the time.

With the girl's shirt in Stripe's mouth, the back of her head was pressed up against her pink nose. It didn't obstruct her breathing, but it was impossible for Stripes to breathe without also being reminded of whatever the girl washed her hair with. Unless she never showered WHICH IS REALLY GROSS OH MY GOD SHE PUT HER MOUTH ON IT! So long as she didn't struggle too much, this should be easy.

Unfortunately, she wanted to know her name. This was unfortunate because people only ask you your name if they want to learn more about you. What was following this question was any number of questions about the magical world, how she came to be, and a slew of other questions that Stripes had answered for countless other magical girls and refused to do again. Because when you give someone information, they start to see you as an asset they can make use of and talk to you more. But this girl had Stripes in checkmate. They had just met, and there was no reason for her to assume that Stripes had her best interests at heart. She hated to admit it, but she almost wished the girl was still swearing her head off. Annoying? yes, but it was the difference between listening to bad music and an estranged family member: Both were annoying, but one you had to listen to if you wanted to ensure your mother/boss didn't get upset.

"Stripes." She replied. Tigers couldn't actually talk, that was more managed with magic and such. Which was fortunate for the girl, as Stripes likely wouldn't be able to talk with her mouth full.

It was not long before Stripes spotted the glow of the grimoire. IT didn't look like a hard location to get to, but Captain Goody-two-shoes was marching herself and her collection of minions in the same direction. Given the way Stripes's power was divided among the number of nearby friendly combatents, she really couldn't think of a magical girl that she synergized worse with. Regardless, she could tell just by the changes in the girl's behavior that the grimoire was likely hers. Stripes should have known better. Who else would ask a one ton killing machine their name but someone eccentric enough to be a magical girl.

"I'm going to set you down soon, so be prepared to run for it." Stripes snorted into her hair. "Save your questions for later, please."

Stripes's last act as a majestic tabby cat was to create eight balls of light that hovered over her back. with a crack, they surged ahead and whistled through the air. Each one struck a different pageless, reducing their heads to black pulp. But after that, her form started to shrink. The future magical girl's feet would start to drag on the ground as Stripes's form shrank. For a brief moment, Stripes was in her base magical girl form, biting onto the back of the girl's shirt, but she promptly let go and adjusted her hat on her head. She wasn't going to be of any help here, in no small thanks to Captain Bad-Despair. That wasn't to say the cluster of other magical girls didn't sour the situation further. The sudden appearance of Ethereal Rose and her dark suitor were particularly troublesome. Anyone who wanted to make small talk while fighting was not someone Stripes could enjoy. Not that it didnt make sense for Rose, as her, uh, thing did most of the heavy lifting. The massive pageless in the distance was a tempting target, but there were enough magical girls present that she didn't need to risk her life for what would be a meager contribution. She couldn't even manifest spells right now.

But none of the events that transpired here really upset Stripes. After doing this for a few years, it became expected. There was no anger or sadness, just pure apathy towards the situation.

"Excuse me, moving to the back." Stripes walked past the magical girls that were rushing towards the monstrosity and the grimoire.

Symphony of Espers

Alright, so just a few quick notes:

-As you're likely aware, there have been a lot of melody note updates. Posting them here would be too tedious, but there's a full list on the discord. It's mostly been buffs to buff skills, reworks of redundant notes, and nerfs to prevent exploits. Modification notes need to be looked over, but they should be more or less fine until the player espers get stronger. I'm tempted to make [Blink]'s speed dependent on its rank, since I think blinking with progressively larger objects isn't really why people use [Blink] to begin with. But for the moment ima just let it ride as-is. I'll go over that stuff next downtime.

-Speaking of downtime, several players have asked for an extention, and the survey numbers are kind of low. I don't see any reason to kick things off first thing next year. Especially since I know my boy Dalton is going to be inebriated during the new year. So you guys have an extra week to finish writing collabs, reading collabs, wrapping up bounties, etc. Official operation start time will be on January 8th-9th of the new year, EST.

Till next year.

Grimoiric Heart

Posts are a jumble of timey-whimey things, aren't they?

Symphony of Espers

Back in the past, after way too long a wait, Penny charged Oros with her giant fist pulled back. ”You try my patience, cultist!”

”Again with the blind charging, shemale?” Penny was pretty fast, but Oros could avoid attacks like this in her sleep. She turned her body sideways and allowed Penny’s fist to graze her nose before slamming into the concrete wall. Dust and a hail of stones filled the room. Once it settled, Oros looked at herself. ”Oh man!” Her eyes went all over her outfit. ”The artist did a nice job! I mean, it’s not a 200$ commission, but look at my little outfit! Look at my big hair! Look at everything!”

”What are you babbling about? you looked like that when you came in here!”

”Yea, I guess the patrons saw it weeks ago when the Grand Magistrate showed them.” She looked at her reflection in her katana. ”Anyway, now that our sheets are done I’m just gunna take a look at-” Her eyes shot open. ”The hell?! Challenger Grade? Ranks that are above S? A leitmotif that copies other leitmotifs AND has its own powers on top of it? Huge ass mana pool? As well as all that other bullshit?!” Oros grinded her teeth. Her eyes were daggers, and they were pointed straight at Penny. ”Even in other portions of the multiverse, you’re still an over powered piece of shit, aren’t you?”

The iron queen only grinned at Oros’s frustration, even though she had no idea what she was talking about. ”Am I to understand you realize you’re no match for me? This is your last chance. Surrender now or-”

Oros erupted into laughter. ”Wrong again, you Teal-haired Tumbltard!” Oros brought her sword up in front of herself. ”You think I’m scared of some stats? I’m a Grand Magistrate’s Patron Champion. Your power level is entirely arbitrary in this situation. I’ve got commissioned art and everything, there’s no way I can die here. The only thing that’s up in the air right now is if the Grand Magistrate will try and save you.”

”The nerve!” Penny raised her hands, and the lenses in her palms lit up a brilliant blue. ”I will ensure your death is slow, humiliating, and painful!”

”Sounds hot. When do we start?”

Oros

Old, But Still Sexy | Female | Depraved | Meta Game
Endless Eclipse | Greatsword | Physical | Arcane Blight
Dark Garb | Number of the Beast
Inner Beast | Nature | Therianthropy
[Poison, Transform], Pull, Heal, Purify, Restrain, Pierce, Damage X, Blink, Portal, Bend, Transplace, Delay, Zone, Full Extend, Homing, Multi-Cast

DAMAGE: A | SPEED: S | SENTINEL: E | 1186

PHYSICAL: D | ARCANE: A | CHAOS: B | 1250

Vs Penny

29 | Male, Female Esper Form | Depraved | Combat Module
Omnissiah | Fists | Physical/Arcane/Chaos | Omni Slash
Immortal Machine | Immortality
Binary_Signal | Metal, Lightning, Gravity | Trinary_Signal
[Quake, Mass, Paralysis, Speedster, Weightless, Suspend], Damage X, Pull, Slow Fall, Channel, Shield, Reflect, Magic Sense, Construction, Summon, AoE, Full Extend, Full Enhance, Powerful, Homing, Multi-Cast

DAMAGE: SSS | SPEED: SS | SENTINEL: SSS | 2000

PHYSICAL: S | ARCANE: SSS | CHAOS: SS | 2000

Diplomacy has failed!

THE CARBUNCLE ATE ITSELF!!

TELLING 1

Get motivated, white boy!

With a pool of mercury nearby, there was no reason for Penny to conserve her massive pool of mana.

She reached a hand into the hallway and filled it with twisting metal and electricity. Then for good measure, the whole mess activated a forcefield around itself. Even Oros would have trouble getting through that, Penny assumed.

Penny: [Diamond Touch][Full Enhance][Powerful][Construction][Multi-Cast] =490, 1510 remains

”We could fight anywhere in Bastion, and you confine us to a concrete box?”

But Penny wasn’t done, as a second melody was coming. Penny’s palms glowed like road flairs in the dark. There wasn’t another esper in the world who could launch an attack like this, but that was why she was the strongest esper in the world. A beam filled with sparks and shrapnel raced towards Oros’s position,

Penny:[Diamond Beam][AoE][Damage X][Paralysis][Suspend]][Quake][Full Extend[Powerful] = 1440, 70 remains

There wasn’t any room for Oros to hide. Her options were to dive into a pool of mercury and hope Penny missed, or attack Penny at which point her sword would bounce off her chassis. The fight had only started, and Penny had Oros right where she wanted her.

Oros shrugged her shoulders and tossed a critter into the pool of mercury. She then looked straight at the material beam headed straight for her head. There was no time to evade. The beam slammed into Oros’s chin, throwing her head back before detonating into charged shrapnel. But when the melody expired, she lowered her head and grinned. Not a single piece of metal remained in her skin.

”Spicey, got anything else?”

Oros: Number of the beast: 6 6 6 -1 attack, 6 debuffs = 5 0 6

Penny growled. ”You tanked that entire attack?”

”Yea, I was a little surprised too, given how many different effects the [Paralysis] note can create, That’s gunna have to get nerfed later.” She was sitting on her butt, and one of her arms hung limply at her side. ”Wait, no, that was paralysis in all four of my limbs, suffocation, disorientation, suspend, and quake. So I resisted all but my arm going numb and being shaken to the floor. Yea that needs to get nerfed. It's a shame my melodies won’t be strong enough to break these hexes. At least talking is a free action, so you can’t interrupt me. But that also means I can’t stall for time.”

”Stall for what?”

”I just think your bathwater is really gross and needs to be changed. ”

The small critter Oros had dumped into the mercury turned into a portal. The mad esper had been prepared for Penny’s seemingly endless supply of mana, and had set up a portal earlier to drain it.

Oros: [Bronze Projectile][Portal] = 80, 1106 remains

Penny charged towards Oros. She didn’t really care if she hit her or not, but coming into contact with the mercury would cause her mana to restore. Oros held her sword in front of herself, but it did little to slow Penny’s charge. The iron queen drove her fist into Oros’s stomach before carrying her through the portal. Wherever her mercury was, Oros was coming along with her. But she wasn’t going to show any signs of damage from Penny’s efforts.

Oros: Number of the beast: 5 0 6 -1 attack = 4 0 6

”Still glad you started a fight with me?” Penny crossed her brow.

”I’m not happy because I started a fight, I’m happy because I’ll end it!”

Oros had set the portal on the ceiling of a warehouse that hid one of the entrances to the Bastion. Below it was a cement mixing truck, and the mercury was all falling into a hopper that funneled everything into its bowels. Before the last of the mercury slipped into the mixing tank, Penny managed to touch the liquid metal.

Penny Mana = Max! 2000!

But Oros wasn’t just standing by while this happened. Mana surged into her limbs, causing her muscles to bulk up. While most espers were gifted with peak human strength, Oros could temporarily grant herself the power of a silverback gorilla, capable of lifting nearly two tons of weight.

Oros: [Diamond Self][Transform][Full Extend] = 150, 956 remains

Therianthropy: Might of a Silverback, 36 seconds.

A katana couldn’t do much to layers of titanium alloy, but Endless Eclipse was an instrument. It was an indestructible piece of flat steel that could take any abuse its holder could put it through. With the strength of an ape, Oros’s attack was sure to do more than mar Penny’s paint job. She rammed her sword under Penny’s arm, which sent the queen spiraling into the iron wall supports. Oros was able to grab a hold of the cement mixer and take a hard landing. Though she hadn’t endured any damage from the fall.

Penny’s chassis was dented under her arm, but otherwise sustained no injuries. The iron pillar she slammed into took far more damage than she did. Though the wound she had endured inhibited her movement a bit. it wasn’t possible to lower her arm all the way. ”I think you made a bit of an oversight. Allow me to show you.”

Penny charged towards Oros while weaving a series of melodies. The first was to phase a spell inside the cement mixer. Once it blew up, she would be rolling in mercury again. It was also possible Oros would get caught in the blast. Meanwhile, her second melody was a copy of Oros’s own beast magic. Now Penny also had Oros’s immense strength on top of her own powers. And why not? She’d heal away that bit of damage too.

Penny: [Diamond Spawn][AoE][Damage X][Multi-Cast] = 500, 1500 remains

[Diamond Self][Transform][Full Extend] = 150, 1350 remains

Therianthropy: Might of a Silverback, 36 seconds.

Combat Module: Heal any wound for 100 mana, 1250 remains

Oros’s grined as she stepped away from the cement mixer. It exploded not long after, ripping the vehicle to shreds. Shards of metal and yellow dust filled the air. But there was no mercury to be found. ”Fun fact time!” Oros pointed at what remained of the mixing truck. ”If you stir elemental sulfur and quicksilver together, you get mercuric sulphide! You just gotta slap ‘em around a bit, like you’re their pimp or something.” Her smirk only grew wider. ”You weren’t hoping to bathe in mercury through the whole fight, were you? Be a shame if you couldn’t beat me fair and square.”

”Says the assassin resorting to trickery!”

Penny did not respect her opponents. It was a fact that she had no equal, and anyone who fought her would be ground to dust. The fact that Oros needed to prepare so much before their encounter proved how weak she was. Though it was bothersome that Oros knew so much about her powers. Mercury’s effect on her was a closely guarded secret. Someone was helping her, and they would be dealt with in time.

Penny balled her hands into fists. ”Fight me head on!”

”Guess I can try.”

Oros had only one hand to hold her great sword with, but that would change. Her inner beast surged with energy, and tore its way out of her rib cage just under her defunct arm. Until her other arm recovered, this was the best she could do.

Oros: [Gold Self][Transform][Full Extend] = 120, 836 remains

Therianthropy: Extra Arm, 36 seconds.

Penny’s strength was equal to Oros’s, and her speed was even greater. The cultist was clearly on her back heel as Penny’s attacks forced her towards a wall. As amusing as it would be to draw out Oros’s demise, Penny had other matters to attend to. A single debilitating melody would doom the assassin. But her mana was limited, and she didn’t want to waste it if she didn’t have to. It would be some time before she could amass that much mercury again.

Something that Penny had been holding off on using was her ability to copy her opponent’s leitmotif. It wasn’t something Penny liked to do, more out of her own pride than anything else. But since Oros had proven to be a pest, there was no reason not to make use of it now. Her eyes opened a bit wider than usual as soon as she did.

What. The. Hell.

The world opened up to Penny in ways both horrific and wonderful. Like Oros, she could now get a glimpse of the future and better understand her opponent’s powers. She could see her every ability and understood them as completely as Oros did. But also like Oros, her world felt artificial and beyond her control. The future was already written. She could sense there was a fight at a police station, as well as one outside the Bastion with a pretend queen of Pax. Penny would also go missing before any of this transpired. She may have looked like a machine, but Penny was also a human esper, and these images even gave her a tinge of fear. The idea that her unfortunate fate was set in stone was not something she agreed with.

It was during this brief existential crisis that her opponent swung their sword at her.

Oros: [Diamond Touch][Piercing] = 40, 796 remains

No, Oros would swing their sword. It seemed that Oros also had the ability to see her opponents actions just before they happened. This ability now belonged to Penny too. Even the notes Oros used were not hidden from her. No wonder she was impossible to blindside with her attacks. But if Oros was all knowing, that just meant that she needed to deliver an attack that couldn’t be avoided. Now that Oros had committed to an attack, Penny should be able to use her slightly greater margin of speed to deliver a counter punch right at Oros’s ribs. And…

Oros: Number of the beast: 4 0 6 -1 attack = 3 0 6

”Whoa!” Oros hopped backwards after Penny’s attack connected. ”Stranger danger! Can you poke me somewhere less sensitive next time?”

Another confident smile crossed Penny’s lips. Oros’s resilience was no longer so frustrating now that she understood it was a front. She could take three more attacks and turn invincible for six seconds. After that, she’d bleed like anyone else.”Perhaps you’d prefer it if I took you to a massage parlor?”

”Do they tickle people in a massage par-... Ohhhhhh!”

Again, Penny wreathed her arms in lightning and steel. She plunged her fist into the ground, and the same twisted steel barrier from before erected on either side of Oros. The walls closed over her head to form a ceiling, and then dropped behind her to form a wall of jagged, electrofied spikes. Oros’s sword may unmake any enchantment it cut through, but a barrier this durable was beyond the ability of her blade.

[Diamond Touch][Powerful][Full Enhance][Construction][Multi-Cast] = 490, 760 remains

Over the next few seconds, Penny threw a series of quick jabs at Oros. Each one she blocked would just push her backwards into the spikes. This forced Oros to use her strongest defensive ability. Over the next few seconds, every puncture and bruise Penny inflicted would heal instantly.

Number of the beast: 3 0 6 -6 seconds of invulnerability = 3 0 0

”You know for a non-binary robot, your computing ain’t half bad. ”

”It seems we’re in agreement.”

Oros could resist her attacks for a few more seconds, but her “Number of the Beast” was dwindling and wouldn’t save her much longer. Oros could try to blink out of the way, but she was cornered and couldn’t aim around Penny. She might be able to create a portal, but that would just lead back into the concrete room where she was just as trapped. All of Oros’s other notes were too weak to do anything to Penny or didn’t fit the situation. But the Iron Queen was aware that she was dealing with an unorthodox opponent. Penny needed to deny Oros as much as possible. An AoE Paralysis melody would suffice. She’d be helpless before her resounding blows.

Penny’s fist was covered in the magic of her next melody. She could practically taste her opponent’s defeat. She thrust her fist towards Oros with confidence.

”You’re finished!”

[Diamond Touch][AoE][Full Enhance][Full Extend][Powerful][Paralysis] = 560, 200 remains

Oros was between Penny and a hard place, and she was going to die there.

…

…

…

Regardless if Penny wanted to admit it or not, her life was on the line. Any screw up she made was something that Oros could take advantage of and spell her end. But that made it all the more confusing when Penny handed Oros such a big opening. When a Patron Champion commits to an action in a Patron Observation Station Transcript, or P.O.S.T., that’s it. No takesie-backsies. Because Penny committed herself to an attack, she would not be able to react regardless of what she divined. That was why “Meta Game” was so useful against the Iron Queen. It was hardly a perfect form of divination, but Penny’s tactics held no surprises for Oros. She was so focused on ending the fight that her strategies were simple and easy to understand. They were obvious to her as soon as she acted. Every action was designed to kill her opponent, and Oros hardly needed to metagame to understand what she was doing. No matter how powerful someone was, that sort of mindset would never defeat an esper like Oros. But that didn’t mean that Oros could do whatever she wanted. If there was justification for an action to be “retconned” because Penny could react to it, Oros would lose her advantage. It was just in this instance Penny's ability to metagame wouldn't be able to aid her.

While Penny pounded the crap out of her, she wove a few melodies of her own. Oros would have no problem casting two melodies if she was discreet about it. She formed two man-eating pythons on her back. Their size was far larger than normal, but Oros could keep them concealed behind her billowing hair. They were curled up and ready to strike. But the important part was that they each had a portal inside their throats.

[Diamond Self][Portal][Transform][multi-cast] = 360, 436 remain

Therianthropy: Man-eating snake, 36 seconds.

[Diamond Self][Portal][Transform] = 250, 186 remain

Therianthropy: Man-eating snake, 36 seconds.

And now, all Oros had to do was wait.

Her opportunity came when Penny prepared her second melody and thrust her fist towards Oros. But that was when Oros revealed her secret weapon. She ducked as the snakes lunged for Penny and opened their mouths as wide as they would go. While Penny was a bit faster than Oros, she wouldn’t be able to pull out of a straight she put all of her weight into. Her fist plunged into the mouth of one snake, and came out the mouth of the other. By the time Penny realized what was happening, it was too late. Even if Penny could stop her arm, Oros’s other snake was striking, moving Penny’s own fist towards her face as fast as the snake could strike.

”No you.”

While Penny had incredible defenses, her fists were even more impressive. It always turned its damage type to whatever her opponent was weakest to. Even in Penny’s case, her physical defense was far outclassed by her own weapon. Even as Penny tried to pull Back, Oros’s snake guided the iron queen’s own fist to its target. Penny’s melody triggered as soon as she punched herself in the face. Even as lightning filled the area, even as Oros’s body shut down, her own incredible strength drove her fist through her head. Omnissiah was massive enough to not only decapitate Penny, but also shattered her torso into a hundred pieces. Blue hydraulic oil stained the floor like blood, and her circuitry arced and sputtered before losing all power. Oros collapsed into what remained of her opponent and lost consciousness.

Second by second, Penny’s chance to counter attack ticked by. Oros laid in the hydraulic fluid, defenseless, practically begging for a finishing blow, but it never came.

Oros lifted herself out of the blue oil. She was used to being covered in entrails at the end of a fight, but now she felt like she had just changed the oil in her car. after swinging the oil off of her sword, she lowered her gaze to her opponent's remains.

”Shattered, just like all your old relationships.” She squeezed her sleeve in a vain attempt to rid her uniform of oil. ”But you got me wet, so I guess you have some potential.”

Then, Oros’s body froze. She suppressed the urge to meme when she realized what she had accomplished. A single tear rolled down her cheek. How long had she been waiting to fight Penny in an arena where she could lose? How long had she wanted to pay her back for hurting her friends? It didn’t matter now. All the preparation, suffering, and sacrifice had paid off. The haters didn’t think it could be done, but they were all wrong. The joy erupted from her lungs in a warcry that shook bastion to its core. The empty halls were filled with her voice, and none of the corpses stirred.

Though as her voice died down, Oros could hear a clapping sound. She turned to look at who it was, but it was someone she was expecting. A young girl in a purple dress strut into the warehouse. Once she had Oros’s attention, she folded her hands behind her back.

”The queen has fallen, and by a single pair of hands.” She skipped towards Oros. ”I’ll be honest, I didn’t know what to think when you said you could beat Penny with a cement mixing truck filled with sulfur and your wits.”

”Just gotta be smarter than your opponent. Barring that, make sure the patron overseeing your fight likes you more. ” Oros shook her head and smiled. ”Speaking of patrons, this has got to be the most petty I’ve seen mine act in a long time! Haha!”

”You say such strange things. I don’t understand it, but you get results so I won’t question it.” With a shrug of her shoulders, the girl folded her arms. ”By the way, we just cleared out the entire Bastion. Penny’s generals, lieutenants, commanders, you slew all of them.” Her hands moved onto her hips before she leaned towards Oros. ”You do know what a power vacuum is, right?”

”I’m not too concerned with it, if only because I know who’s filling the vacuum.” Oros took a seat on the floor. ”Uncle Sam and Alternative have been eyeing this shit hole for a while. Best case scenario, they wipe each other out. Worst case scenario, they have an uneasy truce that inevitably breaks. Either way, the Iron Queen’s reign ends.”

”I’m just not sure why you dealt with the queen like this. She could have been a powerful ally.”

”The short answer is two parts.” Oros raised her fingers and wiggled them. ”Firstly, everyone in a given area has urgency. You kill the most urgent person in the area, and their urgency is divided among the survivors. Shemale had so much urgency that no one else really mattered. Now that we’ve taken them out of the picture, everyone gets some urgency. Even us.” She shook her fingers. ”Secondly, we kind of have history together, and I hate their guts. Just a bonus reason, we’re the good guys. Kicking the bad guy’s ass is sort of our thing.”

”I see.” The girl in the purple dress ran her hand through her hair.
”So we’re just going to parade her body around Pax Septimus to establish your power?”

”Nah, it’s tempting though.” Oros wiped her finger through the hydraulic fluid. ”I’m not ready to be the most urgent person in Pax Septimus. I’ll let the other ring leaders hold that title while I prepare.”

”Then what is next?”

”Next they gotta patch lightning. Holy shit AoE [Paralysis] melodies suck.” Oros looked over at the girl. ”We also need to do something with your alias.”

”What’s wrong with Aria Rizzo?”

”Yea, see? That’s what I mean.” Oros pointed at her. ”There’s already a Patron Champion in town with the name Aria, so it could get confusing if we call you Aria too. Besides, there’s no real reason to hide your real name here. Everyone who wants Sharr Webber dead is long gone.”

Sharr groaned. ”Fine. I think it's a little silly, but I'll play along.” Oros was looking around herself. ”What is it?”

”We’re not done here.” Oros rose to her feet. ”Shemale would have turned into a human corpse.”

But then why had Penny not acted? While she could heal any wound with a hundred mana, she presently only had two-hundred mana, and judging by how fragmented her body was, it probably wasn’t enough to put her together. Maybe she was just hoping that once Oros and Sharr walked off, she could revert back to her human form and sleep this loss off. But after searching a bit, Oros could see the reason why Penny was still alive. There was a glowing chip that served as her central processing unit.

”Nice hustle, but I don’t do repeats.”

She drove Endless Eclipse into the chip.

Grimoiric Heart

The man eater continued to swipe and bite it's way through the heartpageless before it, prioritizing the location of the grimiore above all else. In truth, this was not really a good job for Stripes. She worked better as an assassin slinking to the back lines to ambush important targets. if the one holding the grimoire were to become a magical girl, Stripes's power would be shared between the fresh magical girl and herself. While she wasn't a huge fan of working with others, she was less keen on sharing her strength with a total rookie. Perhaps the other magical girls would locate her before getting too caught up crushing the pageless into tar.

Before long, her target was in sight. A foul mouthed brat who could swear like a sailor. How unfortunate she couldn't just freeze in terror. Though if she was in such dismay, she probably wasn't in any position to suddenly transform on her. Her being a magical girl wasn't even a sure thing. But this was also bad news for Stripes, because it meant that the grimoire was still out there somewhere. Though even if some considered Stripes a misanthropist, she wasn't the sort to leave a civilian to her fate.

With a single chomp, three pageless were crushed between her jaws. Black tar oozed out of the tiger's mouth as it made eye contact with the Scottish girl. Normals were so bothersome, especially the mouthy ones. She didn't have time to explain what the world of magic was like. Well, she could give her a chance.

"Did you see a book?" The tiger with a witch hat asked.

But the girl wasn't out of the woods yet. Stripes noticed she was still being held in place with frigged hands. She should probably help with that.

The tiger's claws cut through the fence with ease, and did a number on the pageless holding the swearing sailor in place. Cold black blood was splashed on the back of her clothes. It would eventually evaporate into nothing, but Stripes remembered the first time she had been splashed with a pageless's innards. She didn't freak out too bad, but it was a little unsettling.

"Do not be alarmed. I'll keep you safe."

Ultimately, she didn't trust the girl to run around by herself. She ignored any protests the girl might have made and bit down on the back of her shirt. Then Stripes carried her off to continue to search for the grimoire before it was destroyed.

Grimoiric Heart

If you're concerned about my preferences, I don't really have one. If she stays ahead of them, she gets to keep being a tiger, otherwise, pretty much everyone in that group is someone I'd like Stripes to meet at one moment or another.

Grimoiric Heart

@Izurich It is a weird situation as there are still people who haven't posted yet, still people who are apping, but we've had a second GM post. Should there have been another post from Lumiere at all? I don't know.

Regardless, I expected more magical girls to show up, Lumie's actions non-withstanding.

Grimoiric Heart

While the magical girls rushed towards the conflict as fast as they could, One moved with all the tardiness of an inmate on death row. She could see the construction site, the humans in peril, and the peril itself. Lumière bombarded the pageless with her spells, some weeb with a bow shot arrows at them, Lilac erected some barriers with some of the most tired one liners to ever be conceived by a chuuni, and Captain "even-better-than-normal-hope" radiated enough positivity to make her want to vomit.

It was interesting to think that several years ago, such a sight might have struck her with awe. The idea of a tiny angel woman floating over head while a knight, archer, and captain fought beneath her would have brought her wonder. But all she could feel was apathy in this moment. A mundane human might find the spectacle to be unbelievable, but it was the same drudgery that "Stripes" had seen for years now. Oh, how dull such things had become.

It was a pretty routine event. The Grand Ministry caught wind of some pageless gathering, and they flung more magical girls than were really necessary to deal with it. Human lives were at stake, but that was only more reason to keep a few girls in reserve in case more cropped up somewhere else, she reasoned. Come to think of it, it was pretty strange how they just seemed to know exactly where these things would show up. Even if special magics were involved, it didn't make things look any less strange. But sure, trust the Grand Ministry.

Though misgivings about the organization she worked for aside, she just wasn't very practical for this type of fighting. Were she by herself she could probably do a number on the pageless present. If there were one or two other girls, her powers would be syphoned off into them. It was bothersome, but at least they would be far more formidable than normal. But with so many magical girls present, her power would be divided among them and herself. Not only would this make her even weaker, but the amount of power each girl received from her would be even weaker than before. And only more magical girls were going to arrive as time went on. It got to the point where most wouldn't even notice they were becoming stronger, and Stripes would be little more than a liability in such a situation.

Though her fortune was changing, if just for the moment. It seemed as though some of the pageless were retreating, distancing themselves from the other magical girls. Stripes stood by her initial thoughts that she was wasted on a task like this, but maybe she could do something useful before the rest of the girls showed up.

In an instant, her body twisted and contorted, orange and black hair pushed out of all of her pores, and before long she was a thousand or so pound Bengal tiger. One with a witch's hat, but otherwise very similar looking to the real deal. The other magical girls might of had time to grandstand and such, but that wasn't Stripes style. She dove into the metal jungle and gave chase. Tigers were ambush predators by nature and were more than capable of slaying a fleeing opponent. The frail creatures were eviscerated in a single swipe, turning into tar and cloth on her claws.

But slaying the pageless was not her primary goal. The other magical girls could pick off any stragglers, so there was little reason to worry about them. She pushed ahead, hoping to get to whatever the pageless were after before they did.

Grimoiric Heart

@Izurich

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Silvia had no idea why she was despatched with all these other magical girls. She decided now was a good time to catch up on her sleeping while the other girls took care of this.