BrokenPromise

Symphony on High

@Nyahahameha Yea that was a typo that my Co-GM missed. (Because I didn't show it to them) So I guess I'll fix that now.

5v5 3Dark vs Bolts

So when does the fight start?

Arena Chat Thread

It just takes them forever to respond.

Symphony on High

Mika examined Ashley in the mirror only until their leader directed her attention to Estelle. Then Mika's gaze moved to the casino just ahead of them. This would be her first assigned operation, but she wasn’t scared. Her hands were still, her gaze was steady.

She wasn’t oblivious to the danger. Anyone in the van right now could end up dead, even herself. But that was just life. In Pax, you’d be a fool to think you could live forever. Vampire lords, giant prophets, her mother, nothing could survive long in this place. But Mika barely knew any of her squad mates. Estelle and Angelie might as well have been complete strangers. Ashley was someone she'd known for a few weeks, and only in small doses. Thankfully, only in small doses. How could she be nervous when nothing of value was at stake?

With no objections presented, everyone started to disembark from the van. But not before Mika glared at Angelie. "I’m not Claw-dia, and it’s not nails either. On a mission, I'm-"

…

"Mika Monday, it's real."

— Mika Fang

Fritzi had originally suggested Cat-Sith as a call sign. Mika understood why. Cat-Sith was a feline and a collector of souls. Mika had feline features and could call upon the power of animal spirits, so it made sense. But she couldn't help but think of a certain cat riding on the back of a giant marshmallow every time she heard it. Mika wanted to be feared and respected, not likened to a fluffy mascot. So when Fritzi suggested Cerberus, her eyes lit up. It was a hound, but one that guarded the gate to the underworld. Nothing fit her better than that.

It wasn’t difficult for Mika and Estelle to walk around the side of the building. There was no one around, and the hail had wiped out the cameras in their path. But they still needed to be cautious. Weretigers could pass as normal humans until they decided to get aggressive. Most had a hybrid and a full tiger form that would be hard to deal with as a human. But the casino didn’t have anyone stationed outside.

"Guess all the bodyguards are inside." There was little pizazz with Mika’s transformation. In a burst of teal light, her school uniform had become her esper’s dancing outfit. Mika was about to pry the vent open when Estelle asked how this branch of GEMINI deals with threats. If they give them a chance to surrender or take them down quickly. In truth, Mika was unsure. Her training over the past few weeks focused less on etiquette and more on how to stay alive in a fight. Though it apparent what Ashley wanted for this operation. She seemed convinced they would “trip an alarm” which would let Ashley and Angelie “hopefully take them by surprise.” She wondered if her mother died doing some bullshit stunt like this. "They’re monsters. If we don’t kill them, they’re going to kill us." Mika’s arcane claws had little issue crushing the gate. She cast it off to the side and climbed inside. Unfortunately, her eyes didn't offer the same kind of dark vision an actual feline’s would, so she turned on her cliplight. Unless someone was looking inside the vents, they’d never notice. Not unless one of them started talking.

During the crawl ahead, Mika noticed some light pouring in from one of the vents. She immediately turned off her clip light and banished it from sight. As she got closer to the end of the vent, she started to crawl faster, practically charging the last few feet to the end. With a swipe of her hand, the interior vent cover was cast aside, and she somersaulted to the ground. It would have looked more graceful if she didn’t half fall out of the vent.

The situation wasn’t hard to assess. Angelie started spouting obnoxious one liners as soon as she appeared and Ashley graced everyone with a wordless transformation. With any luck, the nutty angel wouldn’t hose them down with bullets. But more important was the man with a wool cap who seemed to be reaching for a weapon. Mika smiled at this. Maybe it was because of how seemingly helpless he was, or maybe it was Estelle’s earlier question creeping back into her mind. Only Mika knew.

Her smile vanished when she sprinted. The gold accessories on her outfit jingled with every step as she drew closer and closer to her target. Mid charge, Mika’s hands transformed into the heads of wolves. Their eyes gleamed in the chandelier’s golden light as she closed in for a bite.

Mika Stat Block

16 | Female | Gemini | Somebody's Watching Me!
Nails | Hands | Arcane | Cat Scratch Fever
Eye of the Tiger | Survivor
Spirit Animals | Nature | ANIMAL
[Poison, Transform], Pull, Restrain, Construction, Heal, Stabilize, Extend

DAMAGE: C | SPEED: B | SENTINEL: E | 500

[Bronze Self][Transform] = 16

PHYSICAL: D | ARCANE: B | CHAOS: C | 484

Symphony on High

GEMINI HQ needed to be defended. Naturally, it would need to be defended by an esper. The issue therein was that espers had a finite amount of mana they could use. If they used it all up, they would need to wait for it to recharge. As important as the operation was, someone needed to keep their mana levels up in the event that the Hand decided to retaliate. Fritzi had underestimated how well organized they were in the past, but she wouldn’t be making that mistake again. It didn’t matter if they dispatched darkweb esper squads or hordes of monsters, holding the line was something she could do on her own.

But Fritzi was not an active sentinel. She had her own research to attend to. Data on the monsters to exploit and future operations to plan.

*ping!*

*pong!*

But Fritzi was in the break room playing ping-pong with Faith.

”Is this really all we can do to help right now?” Faith tapped the ball back to Fritzi. ”I’ve been thinking about Neon Genesis Evangelion a lot ever since I spoke with Finn. I know the robots needed a lot of support people to relay information back and forth and I don’t ever recall them playing games. Like maybe you could be on the radio with them and give them guidance the whole way through or something? I kind of get Gendo vibes from you, but they’re like good Gendo vibes. Like you have a plan but things need to move along a bit more before they can be realized.”

With a flick of Fritzi’s wrist, her next return had a crazy amount of spin on it. It flew just over the net before dropping straight onto the table and firing straight ahead. Faith didn’t even have time to move her paddle before it soared past her.

”We need to work on your rambling.” Fritzi smirked. ”I have my earpiece on me, and they can contact me if they need it. But there’s only so much I can do by myself. It’s just you and me here, and you aren’t trained to use any of the equipment. Given your circumstances, I’m not sure how the squad would feel about receiving mission critical details from someone that was fished out of a behemoth.”

Faith came back to the table with the ping pong ball. ”I guess that makes sense. But in Muv-Luv, the-”

”Never heard of it.” Fritzi opened her hand, and Faith tossed the ball to her. ”I’ve given Ashley everything I could think of. They’re on their own now. Many of our future operations will depend on the success of this mission, so there’s nothing for me to do. Though getting to know more about you will help with my research. You think we’re just playing a game? I’m testing your reflexes!”

”That’s going to help you learn about the Elemental Chaos?”

”Eventually!”

”Couldn’t we just interrogate some monsters?”

The scientist huffed. She placed the ping-pong ball on the table and set her paddle on top of it. ”We’ve attempted to do so in the past. The information we get from monsters is impossible to verify ourselves and isn’t enough to explain what the Elemental Chaos is.” She folded her hands behind her back. ”I don’t care for theory craft much, but there is a small group of the scientific community that does. It’s theorized that our world and all of the worlds the monsters come from are ‘bubble universes’ trapped in a ‘foam,’ with that foam being the elemental chaos.”

Faith’s ears perked up. ”Bubble universes? I wonder if the person who thought of that theory was a fan of Mihoyo’s games, because there’s a theory that-”

”Possibly, I wouldn’t know. But it’s based on eye witness accounts from monsters and doesn’t help us figure out how to enter the Elemental Chaos. Who cares about skies filled with freezing lava or alternate realities where everyone’s a vampire? It’s pointless if we can’t access such phenomena ourselves.” Fritzi sighed. ”But to this day, there’s only one person who was able to spend any real time in the Elemental Chaos. Someone who walked beyond the threshold of any portal we’ve used to look into the place.”

”You’re referring to Oros the Mad?” Faith set down her paddle and folded her arms. ”I could be wrong, but she has ‘mad’ in her title. It doesn’t seem like her mind survived the trip even if her body did. It kind of reminds me of Arakune from Blazblue, because he was once a very intelligent scientist that had his personality almost entirely devoured by his research. No matter how many times Litchi smacks him with her pole he doesn’t snap out of it.”

”...I kind of understood that analogy.” Fritzi turned around and started walking towards her office. ”But if we talk to someone close to her, especially someone scientifically minded, they could give us a lot of valuable information.”

Faith peaked around the table. ”Does-” She scuffed after Fritzi. ”Does such a person exist?”

---

_{@Ponn@ERode@Izurich}

With a plan set out, the agents could get moving without any further delay.

Estelle and Mika could easily slip around the exterior of the building, not every security camera outside had been fixed after the hailstorm damaged them. They'd eventually reach the mentioned vent. From a quick glance-over it looked big enough for an average male to fit. Pair that with an easily breakable grait, and the two were able to crawl inside one at a time.

Now if they can navigate through the inside to the booth, that'd be fantastic.

Meanwhile Ellie and Ashley were able to get a good look at the inside. Slot machines, roulette and blackjack tables, all the usual works that goes into your typical casino. There were two sets of stairs leading up to a second floor lounge for the gamblers to smoke, drink, and be merry, with a decent view of the main hall. A grand chandelier hung over it all, but that's not important right now. At the very back was their target, a keen eye could glance an elevator at the back of the teller booth, with an "employees only" sign hanging on the side.

There weren't many people left skulking there either. While the workers were cleaning up and getting ready to head home, there were still a few patrons that hadn't left yet. Such was the sharply dressed man talking with one of the card dealers. The man spared a quick glance at the two girls when they entered through the door, but did nothing further to investigate. They probably had a good reason to swing by so late. Maybe they left something here and they came back to pick it up. Maybe they were looking for a friend they were supposed to meet up with.

Spades McGraw took another puff of his cigar. She warned them about a couple of feds coming by, didn't she? Through an earpiece, Spades spoke up:

"Look alive, gents. I'm smellin' some rats."

"You gotta be fucking kidding me, now?!" "Honey Badger" whisper-yelled back in response.

"Relax, Badger, just act natural. Doesn't look like they're itchin' for a fight yet."

Honey Badger was about to sharply retort when Ellie and Ashley finally walked up to the booth. With a strained groan, he leaned against the back, next to the actual teller.

Before the two can be shooed away, the vent grate by the wall burst open, and out came the other two. Honest to god, Honey Badger should've expected there to be more than two. "Oi what the fuck- You ain't supposed to be back here!!" Despite his rising panic, he was reaching for a weapon. They couldn't allow GEMINI to gain access to the lower floors, Tony would have their damn heads for lunch!

---

_{@The World@Nyahahameha@Nakushita@TaintedMushroom@FamishedPants}

A woman humming from a nearby rooftop? A girl leaning against one of the few standing walls of the MicroMart? Another trying to remain inconspicuous while in one of the most vacant parts of the city? Oh yes, there was no way they weren’t all espers.

Kira was able to take in quite a bit of the area from her vantage point. The city wasn’t so congested this far out. There were strips of grass growing between the buildings and around the roads. There had been plans to develop this part of the city and expand towards the mountains, but everyone holding the money noticed how “accident prone” this area was and cut their losses. The MicroMart was in shambles, but the hailstorm only did in what was already a deteriorating building. The tin siding had been knocked off the rusting frame, and twisted rebar poked out of the building's foundation. While it wasn’t a giant store, it was still big enough to completely hide the semi behind its far remaining wall. Looking past the mart at the distant hills revealed some far off movement. A group of people on a hill, too far away to see in detail.

The freelancers in front of the MicroMart met without incident. Marrie didn’t look too unusual on her own, but Himiko with her neon yellow hair and eccentric outfit made for an unusual scene. Aside from Kira, no one else appeared to witness it. But that didn’t mean there was no one else around. Someone was giving a speech just on the other side of the MicroMart. Kira was too far away to hear in much detail, but the other two freelancers could hear everything.

”...And the day the storm came, I witnessed a giant shadow fall out of the sky! And when it waved its arm, my flesh broke out into boils and cysts. You all felt that too, didn’t you? At the time I was hungry, tired, and in pain. My shelter crumbled and my arm trembled. My wound had been festering for a while, but when the boils formed on my body, my arm opened up like the petals of a flower. And do you see this? Beneath my weakened flesh was this pearl appendage. It feels no pain, it does not bleed, it does not break. I knew in that moment that the shadow I saw in the sky, that cloaked figure, was the shadow of corruption cast by our politicians!” several voices roared with approval. ”But that shadow is us, and maybe instead of twisting ourselves around to conform to what our so-called leaders want, maybe it’s time they bent to our shape. And that’s why we’ve taken this water for ourselves. I’ve already purified a few bottles for our purpose. But we will need more, so much more. We will need food, more followers, more of everything our corrupt society withholds for themselves. Let us not cease our momentum here. We must continue to claim ground. So long as we have the dragon, we cannot fail!”

The leader’s followers roared, and those roars were joined by the sound of a semi starting. Its diesel engine shook the ground, along with an uncountable number of footsteps. Then what poured out from the side of MicroMart were… The homeless. Dozens of men and women in dirty clothes brandishing improvised weaponry. Broken bottles, steel pipes, shivs, all with a look of madness in their eyes. Or was it desperation? Marrie and Himiko were close enough to the MicroMart that they escaped the mob’s vision. They pushed forth without as much as looking in their direction.

But not Kira. With about fifty pairs of eyes looking in her direction, it was inevitable that she would get spotted. A few outstretched hands pointed at the woman standing on the rooftop, others tightened their grip around their weapons. But while Kira was visible to them, she could also see down the side of the building at what was coming. The semi was rolling around the corner with more bums flanking either side of it. Though the most interesting person in the mob’s numbers was a man reclining on the vehicle’s hood. He wore less than the bums that he was traveling with. He had coveralls, but they were torn to tatters. He wore them like pants and let the upper half of his uniform hang behind like a tailcoat. His torso was sculpted like a Greek statue, and covered in scars. He also wore some occult jewelry like a necklace made of fangs and an engraved silver bracelet. But no detail was more interesting than his left hand. From the elbow to his fingertips, there wasn’t a scrap of flesh. It was stained red bones and nothing else. But he could move it like any other. A red scrap of cloth was tied around his elbow, and it fluttered in the breeze.

The vagrants didn’t look like cultists, but they were in possession of a truck that, according to their leader, held a lot of water. The freelancers presently had the initiative but it wouldn’t last. They weren’t too pleased to see Kira on the rooftops, and they might turn hostile once they noticed the other, much closer espers standing beside the MicroMart.

March of the White Rabbit: A Roll-Your-Own Magical Girl Roleplay

With the meeting wrapped up, Rose turned to inform Kayli about Aurora's request. She was just off with the others. "Give me a moment, I can go get Kayli."

"Sounds good! But take your time, I think I know someone else who'd like to meet you" Aurora looked down at his chest and ran a hand over it. "Just you wait guys! In just a little bit, you’re going to be big, bold, and beautiful!"

While Aurora thought about her future, Chloe leaned over Aurora’s shoulder. "What are you doing?“

"Eeek!" Aurora covered his mouth. "Where were you? You were gone for a while!"

"I needed to smooth things over with Cradle, but things are alright now.“ She rubbed her arm. "Why did you want me to come back here?“

"Uh-" He folded her arms behind her back. "Someone offered to get me a red coin! I can have my boobs back!"

"But I like how you look now.“

"W-well, maybe. Uh…"

Chloe sighed. "You know what? If it means that much to you, go for it.“ She smirked. "Just make sure you stay cute.“

"Will do!" Aurora saluted. "Did you want to hear how the rest of the meeting went?"

"Maybe later. This red coin business sounds interesting.“

"Oh good! We shouldn’t have to wait long to hear back… I hope."

Ready to leave once the meeting was wrapped up, Kayli was waiting for Rose to join her. Exchanging a few words, Aurora was pointed out and the woman seemed to consider things for a moment before leaning down to Iris and saying something to her. Giving a brief salute she ran off before teleporting away.

Rose and Kayli returning back to Aurora, the woman would offer a hand to shake. "Hello there Aurora. You can call me Kayli. Rose tells me you wish to change something about yourself?" While she didn't doubt what was told to Rose, Kayli trusted her Light magic to root out if there was some ulterior motive.

"Oh, well, I already told Rose, but here it goes!" He put a hand on his chest. "I use to be a girl? But now I’m a boy, and I kind of miss it, you know? I mean being able to go to the bathroom standing up is great but it’s not really something I’ll miss." After some hesitation, He kneeled in front of Kayli "But what I really miss is having boobs! It’s so weird that I can look down and see my feet. My own preference would be that I don’t even see my toes, but I’ll take whatever I can get! You have to do something!"

Chloe gave Aurora a sideways glance before putting a hand on her hip. "I wouldn't mind a rebrand. Just a symbol that I’ve moved on from who I used to be.“

”Oh, I see.” She would look at Chloe who also appeared to be interested in a Red coin. It was somewhat of a surprise, given that the girl was usually very sure of herself and her appearance. Kayli didn’t detect anything amiss in her words though. The Mint had come to the table willing to concede some things, so it only seemed fair to return the favor in some way. ”If that is what you would both like then I would be happy to help you with that. The coins will be here shortly, but as always, I offer you both the option to have your corruption removed as well.”

Aurora chuckled. "Yea, I told Rose about this too. But I’m not corrupted, so."

"Yes you are.“ Chloe quickly added.

"I am?"

"Of course you are! When you got impaled by that crystal, it most certainly imparted some corrupted magic on you.“ Chloe smirked.

"I guess that explains some things. I never used to laugh at people when they got hurt." With a sigh, he looked back at Kayli. "I think I’ll get that taken care of, if you’re offering."

”I think I’ll pass on being clean.“ Chloe tapped her scarf. ”I don’t think my employers would look at me favorably if I had all the curses they put on me stripped away. I need something to separate me from Beacon, you know?“

Giving a nod, Kayli would chuckle a bit. ”I imagine not. Best not upset the apple-cart any more today than we may already have hm?” She would ask rhetorically. Placing a hand over Aurora’s head, her magic rather easily removed the minor corruption from him. ”That should do it for that.”

"Really?" Once Kayli removed her hand, Aurora felt the top of her head. "I don’t feel any different. But I guess that’s a good thing!"

Blinking in a short distance away, Iris stumbled a bit from dizziness. Since things were quite it wasn’t that much of a risk, but teleporting consecutively at a distance still taxed her. Hobbling over she handed a small bag over to Kayli. ”Here you go.”

Steadying Iris and taking the bag, Kayli sighed a bit. ”You didn’t need to rush.”

The girl would shrug. ”Well… too late.”

Shaking her head a bit the woman would open up the bag and produce two Red coins. Holding them out she would let they take one each. ”I’m not sure how familiar you are with how these work. You can have it change some of your magic and appearance, or be completely remade as a new magical girl and leave the results up to chance. It’s up to you.” She would take a step back to leave them space for when they were ready.

They turned the coins over in their hands. Aurora looked noticeably more excited, shaking with emotion. "Oh man! I can hardly wait!"

”Wouldn’t it be funny if you were still a boy?“

"I-Is that possible?"

Chloe chuckled. ”I don’t think it’s likely, but you never know…“

"Okay." He placed the coin against her head. "I don’t want to change everything, but come on. Make me into a beautiful girl!" He repeated her desires like a mantra as the red coin dissolved. Aurora’s body was consumed in a red light and when it faded, Aurora finally had her boobs.

”Whoa.“ Chloe looked over Aurora’s new form. She looked different, but also very much the same. It was like the teenage femboy had grown into a woman. ”If not for the bright colors I might have assumed Su returned.“ Chloe grinned. ”I think I liked your old form better, but I could get use to your new one.“

Meanwhile, Aurora was doing everything in her power to just stop from hyperventilating. "Wow." She hugged herself and watched her curves react. "I missed you so much! I’ll never complain about back pain or creeps hitting on me ever again! From this day forward it’s just happy days!" She looked up. There were tears in her eyes. "Where’s Rose? She’s getting a hug!" Hopefully she wouldn’t suffocate.

But Chloe was in no rush to use the coin that she had been handed. ”Is this really it?“ She crossed her arms. The red coin was between her fingers. ”You just gave one to Aurora so that she could change her body. I can’t imagine you have an infinite number of these things, and there are probably other girls that need them more. What's your angle here?“

Kayli would smile. ”I get it. You work with the Mint after all, and they’re all about their strings and stipulations. I’m hoping you’ll use this opportunity to turn over a new leaf. Will you? Only time will tell. I can say that I wouldn’t expect anything different if no one gives you the chance.” The woman, as far as the magical community was aware anyway, was always odd in how she operated. She often offered help even when it would obviously be rejected. If she was playing for power, then she didn’t seem particularly good at securing the deal. Paying closer attention as Chloe was now, it was hard to shake the feeling that Kayli was looking through her at something deeper.

”I’ll never understand people like you.“ She huffed. ”But I’m glad you exist anyway.“ Chloe used the red coin and underwent the same flood of light that Aurora did. In no time at all, it was over.

At this point, Aurora felt she had smothered Rose with enough affection for the moment. She ran to Chloe’s side and slid on one knee, generating a mirror for her to admire her reflection in. Like Aurora, Chloe hadn’t opted for a complete change, so she wasn’t totally different. The coin had aged her up, but she looked like an older version of her former self. One with a more mature hairstyle and eerie glowing eyes. Her body was still lean and fit, though the jagged, black accessories she wore made her look a bit more eldritch.

”You look gorgeous!“

Chloe turned around in front of the mirror. ”Awww, I always wanted to be tall!“ She practically squealed the words. ”I don’t think I’ll be very popular with the goody two-shoes, but I’m happy with the results.“ She turned back to Kayli. ”It’s what’s on the inside that counts, right?“

Seeing Chloe’s change in appearance, Kayli nodded slightly. ”No, I do not imagine they would be fond of the changes. It was not what she expected, but the Red Coin’s results were somewhat unpredictable.

Chloe then asked a question. Without much hesitation, she answered. ”Yes, I believe so.”

Chloe grinned and folded her arms. ”I’m not going to try and figure you out. I’ve given up on trying to understand why nice people act the way they do. Jason, Alicia, Connie, and you. I don’t know what your deal is, but the other three have no reason to trust me. Yet they do, or did. I could call them stupid but…” She trailed off. ”You need a balance, you know? If we’re constantly fighting each other because we want to be the next mayor of Penrose, it’s going to get ugly. If everyone tries to get along, it’s inevitable someone less kind will come along and ruin things for everyone. Maybe there needs to be a combination of the two to keep the peace, huh?”

”I would say so. I wouldn’t use that as an excuse to lean too heavily in either direction. Ideally, most of the individuals are balanced on their own, and we’re not always dealing with the extremes.” She would cross her arms casually. ”I imagine as a broker there would be some benefit to having both. Too soft and nothing gets done. Too harsh and people are less willing to cooperate.” She would muse.

”Maybe.” Chloe swung her arm, as if brushing Kayli’s comments aside. ”The point is, regardless what type of person you are, you’re always going to have weaknesses. Which is why you need to surround yourself with people who aren’t like you. That’s why we’re going to beat Wonderland. Because Penrose might be a dysfunctional family, but it’s still a family!”

A warm smile would come to Kayli's face. Despite what others might think of Chloe, she certainly was full of pleasant surprises. ”That we are. And I agree. Despite our quarrels we come together when it counts. Wonderland doesn't know what they're getting themselves into.“

March of the White Rabbit: A Roll-Your-Own Magical Girl Roleplay

"Nothing bad ever comes from backstabbing people!

AKA: I was hoping for a GM update, but I can't be bothered to wait."

— Chloe Irving

And with that, the meeting was behind Chloe.

She had never expected Mint to come out on top. Al had been too transparent with his greed, too transparent with his cruelty. She pretend to respect Al to his face, but he was no leader. The coin broker was a beast: too aggressive to be charismatic, and too inept to be feared. She would be fortunate if he got himself killed trying to take on Veronica and her army by himself.

But that was about all the thought Chloe was going to put towards her “boss.” With a grin, she drew her contract and looked at it. There wasn’t much here that would be a long term problem for her. Yea, Mint’s foothold in Penrose would be small at first, but they just had to play nice for a while to expand their territory to where it ought to be. For a ditz like Lily, somehow she managed to be the greatest thorn in her side. Even Penny’s multiple conditions weren’t going to hold her back as much as Lily's one had.

Ahh, but there was still the fate of the Pennybots. That wasn’t going to be a problem. Barely an inconvenience. Because Chloe knew Cradle wasn’t going to let Penny keep the Penny Bots and the tech to make them. They were all about “equality” and “keeping the balance.” It fed into why they hated the Mint. The two factions were as opposed as capitalist and communist values. That would mean Chloe wouldn’t get the Penny Bots either, But this was the most ingenious part of Chloe’s plan.

While the contract dealt heavily with what Mint could and couldn’t do, there was no mention of Nagash or the Ossiarch Bone Reapers anywhere in the contract. They didn’t answer to Mint, they didn’t respect Mint’s rank, they didn’t care if they even existed. Ultimately, Chloe was the one that separated Penny’s soul. If someone knew Penny’s inner workings better than the Independent, it was her. And all that knowledge was handed off to Nagash shortly after Chloe got her promotion. Covington industries made good robots, but they really couldn’t compare to the ossified bone creatures Nagash’s mortisans could conjure. Besides, Chloe suspected the Penny bots would always have a flaw that Penny could exploit. They were only machines, and she’d just hack them like she could hack any cell phone. The iron queen would have a harder time hacking into the Penny Golems or as the mortisans called them, mortech juggernauts. It was hard not to smile.

But was this what Chloe wanted?

The biggest surprise this far was that after everything she put Beacon through, Alicia didn’t see the need to add any conditions. Certainly, this was her opportunity to get even with the dark-magical-gone-broker. But she did… nothing? They were never going to be best friends, but Alicia’s choice left Chloe thinking. She didn’t trust Chloe, but then why not try to make life harder for her? She just didn’t get it.

Why was she thinking about this? She needed to find Binky! Where did they even go? With her third eye, she should be able to see which of these paths they disappeared down. Then she could enter their hideout and get a signature! Then-

”Looking for someone?”

Chloe spun around. Sure enough, Mac had crept up behind her. The wolf girl was an enigma to most, but the Mint had been working on a dossier on her. "Ah! You’re with Cradle, right? Did you want to tell me where Binky went?"

”Depends.” Mac folded her arms. ”Are you going to blow them up with a magical artifact?”

"Awah? I don’t follow."

”Right.” Mac looked over her shoulder. ”Summer, did you want to tell Chloe what you saw?”

”Sure looks like the truck set-up was her doing. Granted, I didn’t watch it in real-time, but…”

Chloe blinked. "Ah, I get it now. There seems to be a little misunderstanding."

Mac stepped towards the junior broker. ”What I understand is that you were attending a meeting built around the idea of unifying Penrose, while enacting a plan to sink Cradle as a faction. I also understand Al was grading your performance based on how well it went.” Mac towered over Chloe. Her downcast eyes were filled with fury. ”What am I not getting? Was the artifact not lethal enough? Were you hoping it would have killed us all?”

"Hey now!" Chloe raised her hands defensively. "You heard her! She didn’t see me do it in real time because I wasn’t there! T-that whole thing was Al’s idea anyway! I just gave some pointers to make the operation go smoother! The artifact was just suppose to knock out Maura's powers, but it blew up instead! I didn’t even know he was using it to evaluate my leadership until after the fact. I-" She tensed up when the cold brick wall touched her back. "Veronica and I were friends! I wouldn’t backstab her!"

”And you and Penny were lovers, but that seems to have soured after a scheme too many.”

"Ngh!” Chloe looked past Mac at Summer. "What are you getting out of this anyway?”

”I have a loose definition of ‘generosity,’ for one thing.” Summer said, beginning to count off on her fingers. ”Also, some of my friends don’t really like having Mint agents go after them when they haven’t really done anything wrong,” She counted off her third finger as she continued. ”Or being called names for helping someone out after working for the Mint quite a lot,” A fourth finger. Plus, I kind of like the Cradle, especially since…” Finally, she straightened and counted off her thumb. ”They have Binky. So, you know, only five reasons.”

Chloe stared at Summer. The gears turned in her head, the words she needed to say bubbled to the surface like a fart in a public pool. "I like Binky too!” Mac’s hand closed around Chloe’s neck. Truth be told, these were the two worst magical girls she could have run into. What little she had on Mac wasn't enough to understand her motives, and Summer was like a puzzle where nothing fit together. "L-look!” She held out the contract. "I did some bad things, okay? B-but I really do want to reform Mint! Take a look!” She tossed it over to Summer. "I’m only here because I need Cradle’s signatures. A lot of issues you have with the Mint will get cleared up once that gets signed. No more Mint attacks, Binky gets her research protected. You want Mint to stop calling your friends names? We can add that!”

Summer wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. So she didn’t, at first, deciding to read over the contract as the hamster in her brain took a break from its wheel. It took a few times before she was able to process what the contract said. ”Um… Great. Well… I’m going to go ahead and let Mac here decide how to respond to the contract, but if I take you at your word, how do you even plan to reform the Mint? Even if it’s just the Penrose portion of it, that’s just a drop in the bucket for the organization as a whole. It’s not like you’re going to try to off Al or anything, right?”

Chloe didn’t know what to say. Not because Mac was standing over her, or because Summer was being herself, but because she herself didn’t know what she wanted to get out of all this. Was now the time to tell the truth? "The only thing I know is things can’t continue the way they are.” She scoffed. "Ever since I became a magical girl, the one thing I put ahead of everything else was my own survival. Since then, I’ve lost everyone dear to me, and all I have is this ‘junior coin broker’ title. It’s worth something, maybe, but what’s the point if you hate all the people you’re surrounded with?” She looked down as if Mac's hand wasn't right there. "I went this route because I thought I could secure my future with Penny. But she’s become a totally different person now. So I’m going to make due with what I have.” She grinned. "I guess reforming the Mint is a pipe dream. But I can at least change how they behave around my neck of the woods. All I’ve been doing up until this point is surviving, and life isn’t much fun if you don’t have someone to survive with, you know?”

Summer felt a little bad, now that the girl being held by her neck was being vulnerable. ”That’s… a familiar idea, yeah. I can see it.” She looked towards Mac. ”Maybe don’t actually kill her, but we do need to find out more about what happened, so…”

"H-hey!” Chloe’s eyes popped open. "What do you want to know? I’m right here! You don’t have to sick Frankenstein on me!” She coughed. "A very attractive Frankenstein, but still...”

”Well, do you have any idea where the other members of the Cradle are? That’s the first thing. Also, to be clear, I’m not sicking her on you, that’s all her.”

"Oh really?” A nervous chuckle escaped Chloe’s lips when she smiled. "You have a very firm grip, Mac. I appreciate that you’re letting me speak right now.”

”Only so long as you’re useful.” Mac growled the words.

"...Right, and to address Summer’s question, sort of? I’m following Binky’s trail right now. They were aware of Maura’s presence or something, so I have to assume they went back to wherever your little hideout is.”

Summer gave a slight sigh, both relieved and exasperated. ”Well, then I guess we, er, Mac at least, should go there. It might be smartest to not go, since I’d get… Let’s be generous and say ‘timid,’ and you probably aren’t going to be very welcome there either, so that leaves just her.”

"I think that sounds like a good-hurk!”

Mac snatched the contract out of Summer’s hands and looked it over herself. ”...Not bad.” Her eyes wandered over to Summer. ”I think I might end up letting Chloe have her audience with Binky. But I hope she doesn’t expect us to just sign. Regardless of her intent, she needs to make up for what the Mint did.” Mac tossed Chloe off to the side. ”I’m going to take this contract with me. If you know what’s good for you, you won’t set up an ambush for when I return. I’ll see it coming, and there won’t be any survivors on your side.” Mac walked off while Chloe recovered from a coughing fit. ”I’ll be in touch, Summer.”

"I *Gasp* Survived.” She fell back onto her hands. After a few awkward seconds of struggling to breathe, she stood up. She just stared at Summer, still breathing heavily. "Maybe I should thank you for going easy on me, but this all happened because of you.” Chloe leaned up against the wall. "Well? You can go if you’d like. I couldn’t set an ambush for them if I wanted to. But just so that we’re clear, I found this entire ordeal very humiliating. I do not forgive being humiliated easily. But I’m also trying to change, so nothing’s going to come from this. Okay?”

”Understood. Sorry for the embarrassment.”

Chloe didn't know if she should be annoyed or relieved by Summer's polite departure. She was too exhausted to work up a strong emotional response anyway.

Character Driven NRP

I'm sorry, I'm just posting here because having a post by DELETUSER7284 at the top of your subforum isn't a good look.

Symphony on High

The first post is up. You can situate your character in their scene and the operations will commence next week. I tend to update over Saturday/Sunday and rarely miss a week.

@Majoraa is running the GEMINI Casino operation, while I'm running the kidnapped Truck Kun operation. If you have any questions, you know which GM to seek out for answers.

@NyahahamehaYou seemed conflicted on discord, so I'll hold off on reviewing it until you tell me you're ready. There's still plenty of time to get accepted.

Symphony on High

music

Pax Septimus continued to live up to its reputation. The Holy Diver was slain, but to no small cost to the city’s espers. While the Diver had not attacked the espers directly, other monsters flocked to defend the creature. Many lives were lost, and it still managed to take out the city’s infrastructure. It did this by reenacting the plagues of Egypt on Pax Septimus. Millions were left without power and clean drinking water. It rained frogs and hail. Flies and locusts swarmed the streets. Boils and cysts broke out on everyone’s skin. Even the sky was blotted out for three whole days. But the Diver was slain before it could claim the eldest sibling of every family. Those not privy to the supernatural world were told it was all due to a freak hurricane. The government spent the next several weeks erecting shelters and distributing drinking water to the devastated population.

None of the esper factions came out great after this. While GEMINI was credited for taking down The Holy Diver and Justin, this wouldn’t be the first time they refused to share information so that they could eliminate a target first. Prejudice against monsters was never low in Pax, but it’s become as high as it’s ever been. Innocent, and sometimes even beneficial monsters are slain with extreme prejudice. Maverick Alternative has taken a lot of flak for housing monsters below Pax’s surface, but hasn’t stopped trying to preserve the good ones. The Freelancers were fewer in number then they once were. Many had died during the night the Diver attacked, and the growing pool of dark web espers has made many freelancers distrustful towards their own members. You know things are bad when rumors of the Inquisition start to spread. Allegedly, the situation is so bad that Raphael the Righteous Hearted has been personally dispatched to deal with the growing unrest in the area.

All while the remaining members of the Hand continue to plot and scheme to some unknown end.

---

_@Majoraa

Hospital rooms were white, but the white in this room was almost absurd. The diffused light poured in through ceiling and wall fixtures and left no space for shadows. Even the room’s sole occupant was white. Betty was as pale as the bed she was laying in. The only spark of color in the room were some screens giving readouts on her condition.

Justin Von Carnage may have been dead, but Betty hadn’t just reverted back to being a normal human. They would need to treat her to reverse the “dark blessing” that made her a vampire thrall. But her body had been grievously wounded, and treating her vampirism now would kill her. They needed to keep her as a thrall until she recovered enough for it to be removed.

She laid in her hospital bed like a fairy tale princess, but no kiss would wake her from her slumber.

So what spurred the person behind those wounds to come here now? After everything has been said and done? After he had to recover from his own?

Finn always hated hospitals. This time was no different. But yet here he was, quietly opening the door to Betty's room a crack to peer inside. Once he saw she was still asleep, he took a quiet, deep breath. God, what was he doing? Back there should've been the end of this. All he wanted was to get her back safe, back to her mother, family, the life she'd waste by being involved in this hell. And in the end, he was the one who hurt her. Wouldn't be surprising if she still wanted him dead.

...

He tensed himself up to lessen his trembling. Right, in and out, and make it quick.

With slow, careful steps he entered the room with a small bouquet of flowers. That's what people usually bring to patients, right? He approached the nightstand to set them down.

As Finn drew closer, Betty’s head rolled over onto its side causing him to emit a quiet shriek. But she stirred no more. It wasn’t visible under her sheets, but her arms and legs were bound to the table. That, and several IV drips were running straight into her arm. If she wasn’t unconscious, she was so out of it that she didn’t respond to Finn’s presence. Even when he was standing right next to her, she didn’t respond.

When Finn turned to leave, he could see a pair of big blue eyes looking at him from beyond the door. There were an uncountable number of freckles between her peepers.

”Oh!” The ‘spy’ slid out from her hiding place. Finn didn’t have a chance to speak with the woman they pulled out of the Diver, but he knew this was her. He also knew her name was Faith and that she had been given free reign to go wherever she wished in GEMINI HQ. Likely because Fritzi was using her as an assistant until they found a better replacement. ”Am I interrupting something? Gosh, I hate when I interrupt something. That would always put me down in the dumps when I interrupted my parents. Even when my father was watching TV I would just watch him until a commercial break started. But if it looked like he was enjoying the commercial I’d just wait for it to run its course. Mom got mad at me once because of that, because she wanted me to get my dad and she thought I was watching the TV. But I told her ‘no ma’am, I’m just waiting for dad to finish.’ But she didn’t believe me.”

Ironically enough, Finn waited for Faith to finish her rambling before speaking up.

"N-No. No you're not." He hadn't spoken up at all since he nearly killed Betty, having to communicate to others through other means for a while. He glanced back down at the unconscious thrall, his face breaking into a frown for a moment.

It's all your fault.

He stayed for too long. Quickly as he could muster, he exited the room to approach Faith instead. "H-How are you holding up?"

”I’m fine.” She stared at Finn, totally deadpan. As soon as he thought to say something, Faith spoke up again. ”I mean after hearing that you guys pulled me out of a giant monster I’m not so sure. I’ve grown my hair back but I’m still a little foggy on the details. I’m not sure if you’ve ever seen Evangelion but I kind of felt like Rei. There’s this one part in the first episode where Shinji is like ‘no, I don’t wanna do it’ and then his dad’s all ‘okay, let’s get Rei.’ So then they cart out this girl. She’s as white as Betty is but is also banged up pretty good. I guess that makes her just like Betty huh? But she gets up and stumbles, and then Shinji’s all like ‘I’ll do it, I’ll pilot that thing!’ And it’s just the most amazing thing to happen in the first episode of an anime ever.” She blinked. ”I felt like Rei in that scene, the pale girl that kinda looks like Betty. I guess I could have said I feel the way Betty looks but I really love that scene. I'm okay now thanks for asking. But you look like a Shinji to me.”

The boy sheepishly glanced aside. "_{Never really watched anime...} Anyways, what can you remember how you ended up in the Diver? Or before that?" Then again, could be nothing but blanks there knowing his luck. Oros had said something that eluded to experiments with Behemoths or whatever, but that wasn't enough to make up for the fact she attempted to attack him for some reason. And apparently change her mind at the last second? He didn't know why.

”I mean I remember who I am. I’m an artist that can’t stop drawing!” Those sketches Finn saw on the walls leading up to Betty’s room were starting to make a lot more sense now. She seemed to really like drawing fairies, as she doodled them all over the place. ”I’ve actually been working on a mural to stay sane. It’s going to feature a bunch of fairies flying around a forest, and maybe I’ll have two sisters walking through the forest admiring its beauty! I’m visualizing an older, big sister kind of character with her timid younger friend. Might be fun to have her hide her face behind a mask. Or is that too weird?” She held her chin.

"That sounds nice actually." Finn managed a smile in response.

”Oh! But you wanted to know what I remembered. I really don’t remember much. Just some really obnoxious laughter and a swarm of hands washing over me. It was kind of spooky. But I’m remembering more all the time. Oh! And speaking of remembering, Fritzi sent me over here to tell you that she’s giving you paid leave. So I guess you have time to relax and recover.”

Swarm of hands and an annoying laugh. Not much to work with but it's something, he guessed. His brows rose when Faith informed him he's been given time off. Maybe in other circumstances he'd argue against it, but as he ghosted a hand over where he was shot and patched up, he was simply thankful Dr. Moller cared enough. "Right. Alright." He nodded. "Give her my thanks next time you see her."

He had been meaning to check back in with his normal life anyways. His family must've been wondering where he disappeared to.

”Okay! I better get back to Fritzi. It was fun to talk to you. When we get a moment I’ll have to recommend you some more anime to watch. Or are you more of a reading person? Because there are some good manga out there too. Like there’s this one where-” Her pocket beeped. Faith pulled her phone out of her pocket. ”Hi Fritzi! I was just heading back! Yes, Shinji- Finn! Finn’s okay!” She power walked down the hall.

After waving goodbye Finn had turned to leave too, but he noticed that Betty had turned her head. More than that, she was looking at him.

Like a deer caught in headlights, he fumbled over his words before something coherent freed itself.

"S-Sorry- Sorry sorry, I was just leaving-"

"I’m not mad at you." Her voice was weak and groggy. Even though she was an albino, her eyes looked a little redder then they should have been. "I’m just disappointed. I came here to end things. I wanted everything to be better back home. But it looks like you decided to follow me to Pax. And as bad as things were in the old place, I feel like they’re going to be even worse here." She closed her eyes and sighed. "I guess we’re both being punished for being cowards. We dropped out of purgatory and fell straight into hell."

The fearful boy didn't understand her words, how she spoke as if they already knew each other. Everyone kept acting as if they knew each other. But that wasn't true. Right?

But his heart ached so much now. Even if the memories weren't there, the emotions seemed to remain. Finn gently sat down at the edge of the bed.

"...Guess you already figured out my real name, huh?" He softly looked back at Betty.

"I don’t even know who I am anymore." Betty groaned. "I’m so tired..."

"Unfortunately I know the feeling." Finn slightly frowned. At least she didn't have a skull-faced bastard haunting her dreams. But, different issue, different time. "Anything you need right now? Food or...?" He asked her.

But Betty didn’t respond. She had drifted off to sleep during their short conversation.

"Art thou going to return to thy family now?" Came the rumbling voice of Chernabog. Half of the demon’s skull was visible through the doorway. "Me is eager to meet thy sister."

Speak of the devil. Literally. Finn tiredly glanced at the aformentioned nusance, waiting for them to return home. "Yeah." A brief answer. He got up from his seat. The IV medicine was gonna leave Betty knocked out for a while.

"See you later, Ms. Barton."

But that wouldn't stop him from checking on her again whenever he's free.

The flowers would need to be swapped out at some point.

The demon’s head backed out of the way as Finn walked past it. "Thou hath chosen to ignore the problem? Me thinks thou will regret thy decision."

---

_{@Ponn@ERode@Izurich}

One good thing about the buildings in the historic district was they were made plenty tough. They had to be if they wanted to stand against the ravages of time. Anything that didn’t last had to be built back better than ever. The Golden Platter Casino was a testament to this philosophy.

It started life as a brewery and was erected once Pax had become established. Business was good until the Prohibition started. The equipment was broken down and sold as scrap, but men still had their vices. Slot machines, black jack, and roulette tables sprouted up in their place. It was still a nice place to blow some cash on risky thrills. But if you were a mobster, it was a good place to launder money.

The hailstorm did little to the Golden Platter Casino. The concrete roof took the beating like a champ, as could the brick walls. The only thing that had been damaged was the old fashioned light up sign. But in the weeks after the storm, the sign had been fixed and looked better than new. The words “GOLDEN PLATTER CASINO” shined off the sign as lights flashed along the border.

The casino was starting to close for the night, but they were about to get a rather tough customer. A minivan pulled into the parking lot and shut off its lights. Nearly all of the seats were filled, and everyone inside was a GEMINI agent.

They had already been briefed on why they were here. In the weeks following the Diver’s death, a weretiger by the name of Big Tony had started flexing his muscles. Tony heads the weretiger mafia and has been advancing his territory recently. A phone call was intercepted that implied that the recently missing “Binky” was being held at the Golden Platter Casino. At the back of one of the teller booths was an elevator that could bring them down to the lower levels, which was where she was being held. Fritzi was expecting heavy resistance.

Many of the more experienced agents were moved to other divisions, leaving Fritzi without much to work with. Getting their numbers back up was an important step in regaining control of Pax Septimus, so every available esper agent was sent on this mission.

Even Mika.

She hadn’t transformed into her esper form yet. Probably for the best, as a cat girl driving a minivan to a casino wouldn’t have kept a low profile. Not that a teenager who got her license a few months ago was an inconspicuous choice either, but GEMINI had to work with what they had. Her amber eyes scanned the casino before she reached up and adjusted her rear view mirror. She positioned it so that she could look at Ashley.

"What are we doing, leader?"

Excluding Mika, Ashley was the youngest member of Fritzi’s unit. Estelle and Ellie were transfers that were rotated in to replace Samuel and Jacqueline, and Finn wasn’t present. She had served under Fritzi the longest, even if it was just a handful of operations.

---

_{@The World@Nakushita@TaintedMushroom@FamishedPants}

The government might have been keen on sending aid to those in Pax Septimus, but the police force wasn’t up to the task of defending it all. It was inevitable that a tractor trailer filled with bottled water would be stolen. GEMINI was busy forming it’s operation at the casino, which didn’t leave anyone to recover the water the cultists stole. No demands had been made, but that hardly mattered. Fritzi considered this an act of terrorism and had the same stance as the US government: She didn’t negotiate with terrorists, and would rather put up triple the ransom as a reward for the heads of those involved. But since there was no ransom, she just put up a reward to have them dealt with.

An offer some local freelancers were more than happy to collect on.

The semi had been taken to a MicroMart on the outer fringes of the city. It had been “hidden” behind the convenience store in the employee parking area. When the mart was active, semi trucks would have been unloaded in that area to keep the store stocked. But the hailstorm took out the roof, and it was no longer a place that could service the public. The damage was so bad that it was doubtful the cultists could use the MicroMart as a hideout. It was a temporary stop while they decided what to do next. There wasn’t a lot else around. The edge of the city had short buildings, and the other side of the mart was rolling hills and a few trees. They’d see someone coming if they came from anywhere but the front of the MicroMart. Which was where the Freelancers were gathering.

Freelancers weren’t as organized as GEMINI was. A few espers would discuss things over Shimr. An arrival time for the operation would be decided, but it was a crapshoot if anyone was going to show up or not. But the pay for this job was good, and anyone that wanted to line their pockets with cash or felt like smacking around some cultists would turn up in front of the MicroMart.