Current
Going in a trip over the weekend. Will be back on Sunday, probably no RP posts until then
7 yrs ago
>That awkward moment when you learn the religious revival movement you were headin was actually a vehicle for a Lovecraftian Abomination masquerading as a God to jack your body and take over the world
4
likes
8 yrs ago
>That moment when you realize that you can only do fandom RPs because you're bad at original characters. This is what I get for never playing DnD
Things went as planned. With the Captain giving the order to go to Yellow Alert, Korax took over managing on the bridge as the ship settling into a controlled chaos. Gear was stowed, weapons armed, shields raised and other protective measures put in place. If trouble came calling, they would not find the ISS Pride wanting.
And indeed it came, the mentioned pursuers appearing. It was difficult to say who would win in a fight at this venture, but for the moment there would be only talk as the Havi's communique was relayed to the Pride.That was then passed on to the Captain, and soon they had convened in the Situation Room to discuss the problem that was at hand.
Considering what the Captain had relayed, they were in quite the dilemma. A gamble on what the truth was, the continuation of their mission, and the state of the Havi. It was no easy situation.
Normally Korax would work for the collective good, the good of the whole. Yet simply saying that they should hand him over was something that should not be leapt into. After all, there had to be consensus. "If Vei is unwilling to provide information corroborating the claims made, that complicates the issue at hand," Korax noted from where it sat. "This one would also note for the Captain, if no one else, that this encounter will set tone as well as precedent for the Pride's mission if it is to continue." It did not make any judgments, not on its own.
Of course the Captain had asked for alternatives, and those could be provided. "If the truth is desired, the Pride could attempt to stall for time while dispatching a team to ascertain whose claims are more correct. it would not be an extended period of time, but suitable justification could be insinuated to earn some leeway to do so." With that Korax fell silent, waiting to hear what the others had to say as it considered further.
Court of the Fairies Starring: “Superior Cat Overlord’ Dinah ‘Captain Planet Substitute’ Mia Cooper
The Garden of Roses was one of Penroses’ smaller botanical gardens. Unlike the parks that were downtown or spaced across the city, this one was specialized around the growing of flowers. It also had an indoor section that catered to plants with different climates and environmental needs. With the coming of winter much of the outside was covered in snow, but the inside of the building continued to flourish.
With the evacuations, that did not make much sense. People only infrequently came through here at best, drawn by their love of nature or desire to escape the dreariness of winter. Precious few of the staff remained behind to look at things. No, there was another reason that this place flourished and bloomed.
Within the past few months fairies had moved in, setting up shop and making themselves at home. At first there had been no problems. But, capricious beings that they were, soon they were playing tricks on the guests, illusions and other magical acts to torment those who wandered into this space. No one had died yet, but it seemed to be only a matter of time.
And so a pair of brave magical girls had answered the call, preparing to enter the garden and deal with the fairies within. All that remained to be seen was how they would do so, and what troubles they would run into along the way.
Gaia had journeyed to the Garden of Roses at the request of her Patron, who had informed her of the precarious situation concerning the fairies that had recently taken up residence. While the fey creatures were quite respectful of the natural world, and actually promoted plant growth, they were also harming the humans who wished to enjoy the beauty of nature on display in the gardens. As Mother Earth’s representative, it was Gaia’s task to resolve the troublesome situation in as diplomatic a manner as possible. Upon her arrival, however, the verdant magical girl was surprised to discover that a third party was present, an aristocratic-looking cat girl.
“Good evening,” Gaia greeted the feline young woman in a serene tone, while giving a small curtsy. “Are you, by chance, here to meet with the fairies as well?”
Dina’s ears moved forwards and backwards as she looked at the whole world of sounds and scents around her. It was almost intoxicating, and she thanked there was not any catnip around. That would’ve been awkward. Fairies… they had made themselves known to the populace, and were a nuisance. But they were expert trap makers and illusionists, beneath their nice smiles and pristine giggles. Recruiting them for the Sanctuary would make a half-decent addition to the security measures.
Win win situation as some would say. It was then when she noticed a second presence, her tail jolting ever so slightly, as she appraised the newcomer. Her eyes widened slightly, as she could not hide a coy smile.
This one has manners.
“Well met.” She said, draping her dress in a curtsy as well. “I do indeed. Seems our minds think alike… miss?” She finished.
“Gaia, Daughter of Mother Earth,” the nymph-like girl replied. “And whom would I have the pleasure of addressing?”
"Dina Denisova, the Stray Empress." Dina replied as she tilted her head. She had to deliver a tacky title in reply to the girl who called herself Gaia. "Something tells me you are pursuing a peaceful outcome too."
“Indeed I am, your Majesty,” Gaia confirmed with a demure nod. “Mother Earth herself has appointed me as her envoy to the fairy court here, in the hope of dissuading them from engaging in further attacks upon the mortals who wish to bask in the beauty of this lovely place. I am most thankful that she has seen fit to bless me with such an illustrious companion as yourself,” she added, treating Dina to a brilliant smile. “It is my great pleasure to make your acquaintance, Empress Denisova.”
Huh, maybe I overdid it. Dina thought to herself, while flashing an equally charming smile. "The pleasure is all mine. So, let's get this show going, shall we?" Dina said, and snapped her fingers, summoning a swarm of little bats, intent on scanning the area.
“I could not agree more, your Majesty,” Gaia replied. Closing her eyes, she employed her connection to the local plant life in an attempt to discern the locations of any traps the fairies might have set.
The two put their powers to work, one handling magical while the other handled visual. While there was nothing immediate, Gaia would soon notice illusion spells placed on various side paths. These would leave those caught in them wandering about, unable to see the fairies and unable to find the exit until they had had their fun. There did not seem to be much more than that.
The bats would be slightly less successful in finding anything. Their echolocation revealed that things did not quite match up with how they looked. However as magic was involved the details were muddied. It seemed the fey had some experience in not being found if they did not want to be, though there was a decently sized area in one of the topiary sections.
“Not getting much of these little ones, merely a couple of places.” Dina sighed, as she eyed the swarm of echo-locating critters. “You?” She asked Gaia, raising an eyebrow.
“Not much more than a few minor illusion spells, your Majesty,” the verdant magical girl replied. “Since there does not seem to be anything particularly harmful, I feel rather safe with proceeding. After all, even at their most malicious, fairies usually like to keep their playthings intact. For a short while, at least. Does your majesty concur?”
Dina tilted her head, thinking. This one at least seemed to acknowledge her self appointed title. “I do. There might be a clearing nearby. It’s as good start as any.” She added. “These illusions are a bit hard to pierce, so I will have to rely on yet another non-visual animal helper.” She added as she dismissed half of the bats, the remaining being kept as scouts, and focused.
Several rattlesnakes began to crawl under their feet, their sensorial organs able to perceive heat. “These are a bit more difficult to control, but heat vision is a bonus.” Said Dina, as she sent them as scouts instead, towards the big area.
The duo moved on, aided by the animals that Dinah had summoned. Those, combined with Gaia’s efforts, would keep them from wandering into any illusion traps and finding themselves lost within this garden. There was plenty to see as well even if they were not casual tourists.
Entering the clearing, the naked eye would not be able to make out anything amiss. That left it more to the animals to carry the burden of doing so, further reinforcing what they had previously determined. It would give them a clearer picture of what they were looking for as well.
At the same time, they would get the distinct feeling that they were being watched, just as they were watching the fey. Their presence would have been hard to miss after all, and soon one of them shimmered into existence near Dinah. Tiny wings fluttered in the air, light reflecting off silverish hair as she came to a stop. “Oh dear, someone is really eager to meet us. You could have just asked you know.”
Dina tilted her head and bowed ever so slightly. “My apologies, but I was told you were a cautious sort. While my approach may seem high handed, It was only to not accidentally trigger traps and bring forth unpleasantness that could be avoided.” She said to the small fairy. “Are you perchance willing to parley?”
The Fairy regarded Dina with a curious look, before nodding. “Surely. We are friends of all magical folk. We will gladly talk.” She then floated forwards, leading them the rest of the way across the clearing.
After a few moments illusions faded, the other fairies coming into view as well as their dwellings. They had done a good job of weaving themselves into the local plantlife here, flowers and home and various herbs that were more unique to the worlds of the fey than Earth. Various fairies fluttered up, eying the two magical girls and their animal companions as they approached. For a moment, it almost felt like another world.
In the middle of that all they would approach a throne. It was made of tree wood, with flowers blooming around it in reds and pinks. Not really a size meant for humans, but that was understandable. And on the throne sat the leader of this particular group of fairies. Her hair was a vibrant red, like fiery leaves in autumn. She attentively watched the duo as they approached, a glimmer in her eyes.
“Greetings,” she said once they had come to a stop. “I am Caliphe, and welcome to our home. Who is it that I have the honor of addressing?”
“Greetings, Caliphe,” Gaia said with an elaborate curtsy. “I am Gaia, Daughter of Mother Earth. Your care of the plants of this place greatly pleases Mother, and I appear before you to convey her deepest thanks.”
Dina looked at the scenery, her ears twitching and tail swishing. Courtly affairs… how nostalgic. She licked her hand and fixed her hair and ears with it, before offering the best of her curtsies. “Greetings, O Caliphe. I am known as Dina of the Denisov, and I was known as one of the people of the Tsar, once upon a time. Alas, that is a thing of the past now. We are but humbled and delighted in your presence, as part of this vibrant court of faerie folk. Ours is the intention to parley.”
An eyebrow rose as Caliphe regarded the duo in their introductions. “I accept your thanks, dear Gaia, and bid you greetings as well Dina.” Fingers idly tapped along wooden armrests as they explained what their purpose here was. Thoughts worked to and fro in her mind, though she was inclined to go along with this regardless.
“Certainly, I am more than willing to parley with those who would not seek harm upon our kind,” she agreed. After a moment she gestured to one of the other fairies off to the side. “Would either of you like something to eat or drink as we converse on the matters you have come to parley on?”
“I would be honored to partake of the bounty of your garden, most generous Caliphe,” Gaia said with smile.
“While I do appreciate the gesture, I am neither thirsty not hungry.” Dina said. “Another chance, perhaps.” She said, as she eyed the queen. She still remembered those myths of eating something enchanted being ultimately bad to someone’s luck.
Caliphe regarded Dinah with a careful look for a moment, before returning to Gaia, “It is my honor,” she assured the magical girl before gesturing to one of the fairies nearby. A minute or so later they would return, offering a small wooden tray of various fruits (Apples, grapes, peaches, and the like) as well as a glass of milk, to Gaia for her to partake of.
Once she had begun to eat, Caliphe would return to the matter at hand. “Now then, what brings the two of you to my court?”
“As I informed your majesty previously,” Gaia began, “I come to you as Mother Earth’s representative, bringing with me her deepest thanks for shepherding this fair garden through these frigid days. However, I also bring her concern that your innocent frolicking might inadvertently cause harm to those mortals who might wish to enjoy the botanical beauty you have so skillfully cultivated here.” Dina’s head bowed ever so slightly. “It is that very reason I am here as well. There seems a distinct growing concern about the possible damages humanfolk might sustain when wandering in this kind of place. It has been designed as a public space, and It would be unlikely to ever change the designation.” She added. “As clumsy as humans are, something is bound to happen sooner and later. We are here to… try to avoid such antagonistic fates.” Caliphe looked between Dina and Gaia as they made their plea to her based on the wellbeing of her people. She was attentive, her eyes betraying little of what she thought. “I appreciate your concern for those of my people who have gathered here,” she said once they had finished their opening statements. An arm then swept out, gesturing around the garden. “But the humans have left this place untended, abandoned. Why should I not reclaim it, and restore some small part of what has been lost to time and the growth of humanity? They will not be the lesser for it.” “Of course not, your Majesty,” Gaia agreed with an elegant nod. “Mother only wishes to ensure that your potential human guests will remain safe, while they visit your beautiful garden.” Dina looked at each other before looking at the queen.”People do not take kindly being pointed their own mistakes. For them, the illusion of being in top is too strong. They are also prone to misunderstandings. In a way, they are like… africanized bees. Kick the hive, and they will chase you.” Dina commented. “This garden is truly spectacular, and It would do well for more to know the beauty of it… but as my companion said, safety is a major concern. Tis a pity both worlds must have to kept apart.”
“Also, how many of these places are getting ravaged with the ongoing tensions.” Dina finished.
“Hm, you raise a good point,” Caliphe conceded as Dina brought up the damage that had been inflicted by the battle against the Horror recently. Certainly she did not want the same thing to happen here if it could be avoided.
She then leaned forward in her seat. “What would you have me do then? Even if I did no harm to the mortals, it is unlikely to stop those who would cause chaos and destruction for ill purposes.” The Fey were no strangers to that over the many years that they had existed on Earth.
Dina’s ears and tail swished ever so slightly, as she grabbed her chin with one of her hands. “All you need is a few misdirection magical barriers, with the help of some of us. Make them lose they way back to the exit… unless they bear a clear heart. I do think the magical community would also like one more neutral ground.” Dina said. “I am willing to help set up, if such a thing is possible. There have been massive fights between the community recently, and they surely yearn for places to soothe hearts.”
Dina then proceed to talk. “You would keep your place. You would get allies. And most important, you’d get protection rather than being questioned for putting traps against humans.” The catgirl continued. “Plus… if it ever fails, I know a couple of places capable of hosting an entire faerie kingdom.”
“I concur with Empress Denisova,” Gaia said, giving the cat girl a warm smile. “We would never wish harm to come to this idyllic place, and so a solution that protects both it, and the mortals who may visit, is one Mother Earth and I would fully support.”
Another hum filled the air as Caliphe considered the suggestion. It was tempting, to be sure. It would give her considerable influence in penrose if what they were saying was correct. After all, as the host of one of those ‘neutral grounds’ her word could carry a lot of weight. It was certainly a better offer than one could have expected otherwise considering how violent this city had supposedly been. She would be foolish to overlook this opportunity.
“You speak wisdom,” she noted after some contemplation. The fairies paused, watching attentively as their leader addressed the proposal made. “Your willingness to reach an amicable outcome will not be forgotten. Nonetheless, it does require me to place much of my faith that the both of you will carry out your word to bring this about.”
Then, she smiled and snapped her fingers. “How about a game. If you win, I will accept your offer. If you lose...oh, say, serving in my court? What say you Empress, Daughter of Earth?”
“Serving in another court. It could prove difficult and I’d have to give up on rebuilding Sanctuary court.” Dina mused about as she kept her tail upright. “Hmm… I guess there is no other way. State your terms, your Majesty?.”
“Very well, your Majesty,” Gaia said after a moment’s thought. “I, too, shall agree to take part in your game.”
As much as she did not wish to engage in such a risky course of action, Gaia knew that playing such “games” was a common fairy custom, and it would be extremely rude of her not to accept.
“Worry not, Empress Denisova,” she whispered to the cat girl next to her. “With Mother’s blessing, I am sure we shall know victory.”
Caliphe’s eyes glimmered as both girls agreed to take part in this trial. This would not be as serious as it could have been, but she didn’t really have the time to send them on some winding fetch quest anyways. This would have to do.
“Oh, nothing too challenging,” she assured them. “My fairies will hide five carved wooden tokens around the garden. If you can find them all in an hour without using magic to locate them, then you win. Does that sound fair?”
“If you will forgive me for saying so, your Majesty, that sounds as though it will be quite the challenge indeed,” Gaia observed. “Your majesty has stated that we are not to use magic to aid in our search. Does that mean that your majesty wishes us to return to our mundane forms? If so, then we would merely be two mortals stumbling around through a garden specifically designed to confuse and befuddle such beings. Even if that were not the case, we are still unfamiliar with this garden, especially in light of the changes you have recently made to it. I fear that finding objects hidden by hands as skillful as yours, and in such a place as this, would prove as impossible for us as for any other mortal, your Majesty.”
"Not to mention I simply ceased to be human some time ago… I am afraid it is impossible for me to comply with such a request. I would therefore lose by default, your Majesty." Dina said.
Caliphe shifted, chin resting against her palm as their objections were raised. “I have no issue with transformations. My concern was for things like Absolute Direction, Scrying, those pesky abilities that really take the fun out of the game,” she noted.
Still, she supposed it wouldn’t do to be too unfair. “You raise a good point nonetheless, Daughter of Earth,” she conceded. “I will limit the area to one portion of the garden then. That should give you a reasonable chance at success.” She would hate to have to come up with something different altogether, if it could be avoided.
“That is far more acceptable, your Majesty,” Gaia replied. “And are the abilities your majesty noted the only ones of their kind we are banned from employing?”
"I am thankful for that." Dina said, staying silent. Mia was addressing the issues rather well so she refrained commenting further.
Good, that had worked out. Caliphe looked pleased as both agreed to go along with her amended suggestion. “Mystic artifacts, but beyond that I believe only those three would need to be off limits. Give us a few minutes, and we can begin.” She then gestured to some of the other fairies, passing off the wooden tokens. The group then flew out, intent on carrying out their mission. Caliphe nodded to the duo, sipping her drink as the time passed by.
Soon the fairies returned. “All set,” one of them called with a wave.
Caliphe smiled as she looked over to them. “Thank you.” Her focus then returned to the two magical girls. “And with that, the game is on. Head to the Seurat section. I believe the humans modeled that off of a painting of some kind. So there shouldn’t be too much clutter, while still providing a decent challenge.” She gestured off to the side, indicating the general direction they should go. The signs would do the rest.
“Shall we be off, then, Empress?” Gaia inquired serenely. After the feline monarch gave her agreement, the verdant magical girl would proceed with her to the area Caliphe had specified. Along the way, she would expand her awareness to commune with the various plants of the garden, in an effort to sense where at least some of the tokens had been placed.
“No time to waste.” Dina said, as she arched her back… and began to run on all fours. While this was a feature more of cats than of noblewomen, she truly did not want to lose. She kept her enhanced True Sight eyes and other feline senses peeled for anything off in the meantime.
Entering the area, the duo would find that it lived up to Caliphe’s description before. There were some hedges that had been trimmed to look like people, flowers, a couple trees, rocks, and a pond. The paths for this area were generally confined to one side of the space, with a plaque indicating the perfect vantage point to recreate the picture this place was based on.
The duo then got to work. Dina would spot a token nestled amidst the stones on the bank of the pond, while Gaia would be informed of one delicately placed atop a flower. Two had been found in quick succession, leaving only three remaining and most of their time too.
“Perhaps your majesty could recruit some of the local wildlife to assist us in our search?” Gaia suggested to the feline noble, while continuing to commune with the plants about any recent additions to this part of the garden. Since time was currently on their side, she proceeded at a calm and methodical pace, thoroughly searching one small section at a time. After all, she had always been a big believer in the adage “slow and steady wins the race.”
“Hm. I will try.” She said, trying to reach towards the creatures of the garden. Specifically rodents with affinity with shiny things. She’d hoped for magpies, but chances were dim of a couple of them nesting around.
‘Recent additions’ would be a somewhat difficult question, as many things had changed since the fairies had moved into the garden. Singling out what had changed in the time frame that they were discussing was a more tricky matter. Meanwhile Dina would find success with her efforts as well, though somewhat mitigated as the items they were looking for were not particularly shiny on their own.
As the minutes ticked by, more successes would follow. One token would be found in a bush sculpted to look like a baby carriage. Another was in the nook of a tree branch. That left only one to find, an easy enough task considering what they had managed so far. They still had a decent amount of time left.
Pleased with their progress, Gaia turned her attention to the final token. Stretching out her awareness even further, and plunging even deeper into her connection with the local plant life, the verdant magical girl sought out this last prize. Even in her untransformed state, she was capable of gleaning information about plants she touched. Even ones that were no longer living. Even simple pieces of wood. Now that she was transformed into the very Daughter of Mother Earth, Gaia was no longer limited to mere physical contact, and so she called out to the final token, kindly asking it to reveal its location.
Dina for the most part, then turned her attention to rodents, instead of magpies… and hoped they would not believe she was going to eat them. Using one of the other tokens as template, she would try to send them among the canopy as she herself caught a whiff of the scent and tried to also do it on her own.
Calling out to the token, Gaia would run into a significant problem. The token itself was of the fey, and not beholden to the call of Mother Earth. For her part, while Dina would find that there were less rodents willing to listen to a cat, she would soon have a decent amount to set underway. Tracking the scent would lead her in one particular direction, and with keen eyes she would spot something that looked like the token sitting in a feeder box that birds would use close to the far wall. However, at the same time Gaia would notice a circle of mushrooms in the area in front of the token, easy to miss if one was not being attentive. But if one was to end up inside then there was no doubt they would lose this challenge – if not worse.
Gaia was disappointed, but not particularly surprised, when her attempt to commune with the final token was rebuffed by the fey’s magic. Thankfully, her feline companion seemed to have better luck, the animals under her command leading them to the token’s location. “Well done, your Majesty,” Gaia commended, offering her companion a warm smile. “It would seem our quest draws near to its conclusion. Although, if I may be permitted to be so bold, I would advise your majesty not to intrude beyond the boundary delineated by those mushrooms,” the verdant magical girl added, while pointing at the circle in question. “However, your animal subjects may be permitted safe passage. Would it be possible for your majesty to inquire of them if that is indeed the case?” “I got a better idea, miss.” She added, grinning ever so slightly. “My cute little critter aides must be exhausted, and surely these tasty mushrooms might be appealing. Do you want to eat them? You may.”
The rats paused, turning to look at Dina before shaking their heads. While they didn’t mind food, the suggestion of eating fey involved food was not appealing. They did have some common sense, even if they were rodents. A different sort of plan would be advisable.
“Okay then, can you sneak past that circle and get the token for me?” Dina fumed as she looked at the rats.
The rats turned once more, gauging the area between the token and the circle that Dina wanted them to cross. There was some chittering conversation between the group, before they looked back to Dina and nodded.
They then scurried off, looping around the circle to where the token sat. It would take them a couple minutes to return, but having identified the trap they would be able to avoid it and return safely enough with the prize. It seemed Caliphe had underestimated them.
“How splendid!” Gaia declared, placing her hands together. “Thank you for your assistance, your Majesty,” she said, giving Dina a small bow. Then, kneeling down, she added, “And thank you as well, little ones. Here is a reward for your noble efforts.” With that, a grape vine emerged from the folds of her robe to wrap itself around her forearm. Carefully plucking a handful of the purple fruits, she presented them to the rodents. “Please enjoy.”
“Well, take it. Your just desserts.” Dina dismissed the mice, however a part of her wondered how juicy and plump the little critters seemed to look like, even though she quickly dismissed it. It would not be ladylike at all to reward a work with death and meet a queen of Faeries with blood on one’s mouth. “T’was my pleasure, miss Gaia.” She finished, her tail standing upright as she began to walk towards where Caliphe was holding court.
The servants took the offered grapes happily, scurrying off to place them in hidden nests and dens for safe storage. Their concerns with this whole business was done, unless they were called upon again of course.
Returning to the initial section of the garden they had begun in. Things looked mostly how they had left it earlier. Caliphe had left her throne, and was flitting about as she conversed with some of the other fairies. But the arrival of Dina and Gaia drew their attention, and she turned to see who it was before making her way over. “And so the brave heroes return. Victoriously, I take it?” They did not have the dejected appearance of one who would be giving up.
“Indeed, your Majesty,” Gaia confirmed. “We have succeeded in obtaining all five of the hidden tokens, just as your majesty asked of us. Shall we now return to concluding our prior discussion, your Majesty?”
“Would we ever accept if there was no chance of winning at all, your Majesty?” Dina said, as she looked at Gaia, and then Caliphe. “We have honoured our part of the request, and so we lie in wait thus.” Dina added.
Regarding Dina, Caliphe gave a lazy shrug in response. “Perhaps. Overconfidence is the undoing of many.” She then stretched out a hand, gesturing to them both. “The tokens, if you would. Then we shall return to the matters of state.”
Stepping forward, Gaia handed her tokens to the fairy queen. She then waited for Caliphe to continue once Dina had done so as well.
“Perhaps.” was Dina’s reply, as she handed over her tokens as well.
Taking the tokens, Caliphe looked them over for a few moments to make sure that they were the genuine deal. Once confirmed she passed them off to one of the other fairies, before flying over to the throne once more.
Resuming her regal seat, she faced the duo with a warm look. “You have passed the challenge, and proven your skill as well as your sincerity. As such, I am now willing to agree to your suggested compromise with a sound mind.”
“I am most pleased to hear that, your Majesty,” Gaia said with a smile. “And I am certain Mother shall feel the same, once I inform her of your agreement.”
“I shall convene your word to the rest of the magical girl community as well.” Dina said. “Notably the Sanctuary.” She paused. “I am also willing to let you passage towards the resort dimension of my patron, should you wish to.”
It was not hard to tell that Caliphe was pleased with how this had turned out, though any outcome that did not involve violence likely would have turned out well for her. That they had avoided the trap was not a large matter, especially since they had not made an issue of it. Otherwise they had acted cordial, respectful, and properly treated her and her position. The ire of a fey was a dangerous thing to have.
She gave Dina a curious look at the mention of a resort dimension. “I shall keep that in mind, though it will not be necessary at this time.” she informed the catgirl before addressing them both in general. “Meanwhile I shall carry out my side of the agreement we have made. Fear not, for you shall no longer have any trouble with the mortals here.” So long as their deal remained in place, of course.
“Thank you, your Majesty,” Gaia said with a graceful curtsy. “Your majesty’s kindness and hospitality will not soon be forgotten. With your majesty’s leave, I shall now return to Mother Earth and regale her with the tale of all that has transpired here.”
Dina’s face turned into a brief smile. “Please excuse us, your Majesty, for we have now to spread the news.” she said as she awaited for her permission to leave.
Caliphe nodded in approval. “Go then, and speak of the generosity of the fey folk. Know that your actions here will be remembered by me and my kind too.” With that she gestured to the other fey around, dismissing the two magical girls. They would be able to leave the garden unimpeded, the crisis that had brought them here resolved without bloodshed.
The sky was alight with reds and purples, the crackling, alien atmosphere one could only find in the Overcity. A plain stretched out, rolling hills, bushes, and flat ground to be found radiating with otherworldly energy. There were no people around, no buildings. It was hard to tell if this place veen corresponded to Earth, or if it was further afield.
At one end of the plain stood Alicia Hayden. She was transformed, a light wind shifting the fabric of her outfit. Her grip around Requiem’s Dawn was tight, a string of light reaching from one end of the bow to the other. A look of determination went along with it, deep breaths as she calmed her nerves for the fight ahead. There was no doubt that it would be a difficult one. But she could not, would not back down. Those who were counting on her deserved nothing less than her best.
”Are you ready to start,” she asked, calling out to her opponent.
A hundred feet away, a distance that was both comfortably far and frighteningly short, stood a figure of uncompromised strength. They stood with natural ease as they rolled their neck once and her claw tipped appendages unfurled from their hiding places and her fists closed ready to strike. The air around them hummed with electricity and unseen force. The question that had been posed to them was unnecessary. They were always ready for combat.
Still It was a place Penny had alway feared she would be one day, on the opposite side of Alicia in a fight. Yet now that it was happening she could only say she was looking forward to it. With a smile she would call back “Ready and waiting”
Alicia supposed that had been a dumb question, since it wasn’t as if Penny would have come out all this way only to get cold feet. She nodded as Penny confirmed it, and her feet shifted as she settled into a fighting stance. There was no point in wasting time.
With practiced motions she drew back her drawstring, forming arrows upon it before firing. Clusters of light magic arrows flew across the distance between them to pelt her friend with projectiles. She did not let up, well aware of her chances in melee combat. So she’d try to wear her foe down before it came to that.
The moment the first arrow lanced past by millimeters, Penny was off. No thrusters, just raw physical propulsion. The ground underneath her cracking with each step throwing up more and dust and debris. It was a slower option, relatively speaking, but an intentional one nevertheless, as she drew the results around her, like a shawl, with her Gravity. Obscuring her from Alicia’s pinpoint shots. Alone that would never be enough to defend from the barrage of gleaming devastation raining down upon her. So she held her arms forward as she raced towards her opponent, a small hexagonal forcefield projecting in front of them to deal with any shots she can’t simply dodge with her cover of dust.
With so much focused towards defense that wasn’t a lot Penny could do to return fire beyond simply throwing the occasion rock at her friend. Which she did, but it was more in hopes of distracting Alicia then it was expecting any damage to come from the infrequent attacks.
As expected, Penny was relentless in her advance. Rocks could be dodged easily enough, but that did not change the reality of the forcefield that blocked her shots whenever they might hit. Alicia’s eyes glowed, Third Eye activating to cut through the cloud of dust to see Penny and the forcefield she was using. Which in turn let her shoot at the edges of it to try and sneak shots past.
At the same time she moved, darting to the side to account for Penny’s movement towards her. She still had no intention of letting her get in close after all. ”I’m a bit surprised,” she called out. ”What happened to the railguns and stuff?”
“That would be a waste” Penny would call out in reply as she curled up to draw more of herself behind her shield. There were a couple score marks across her arms now due to a few arrows that had slipped around it after all. “This distance with you having a Third eye, you’d see it coming with plenty of time to dodge each and every time.” With a hard step Penny would shift her trajectory, the dust cloud she had gathered falling away from her as she released her gravitational hold on it. Instead she used that energy to make herself lighter on push off helping her keep up with Alicia’s perpendicular movement.
“With your mobility this will work better” She would go on to say as a small laser turret would emerge from each of her shoulders and a moment later they would begin returning fire. Still at a slower rate then Alicia, a good second between volleys, but one was aimed at the Seraph herself while one was aimed at the most likely way she would dodge hemming her in somewhat.
That was a fair point, Alicia quietly conceded. Certainly she knew the effectiveness of a laser given what her specialization was. Penny speeding up was unfortunate, and the laser turret moreso. Her Enhanced Outfit protected her from the initial shot, giving her time to adjust and evade the incoming attacks.
Alicia then turned, springing backwards rather than to the side. At the apex of her jump she fired upwards, the bolt of light separating into a cluster of arrows that arced over Penny’s shield from above. ”Lots of stuff happening,” she noted aloud. ”It’s almost time for the big day.” And she could not wait.
“True” Penny would say as she was forced to come to a stop dispersed her Shield as she did. The reason for her stop was so that she could wrench a sizable chunk of the earth out of the ground from below her using all six of her available limbs and hold it aloft above her. It would easily soak up the raining bolts of light “I’m just worried who it’s going to be a big day from at the end. Lots of people have plans in the works after all. Of them Justine who I don’t trust at all.”
Any remaining stone was hurled at Alicia as Penny raced after, her thrusters igniting as she went lending more speed to her advance. In this wide open field Alica had the advantage as there was no cover to make approaching easier. So Penny had only closed the gap by about twenty feet over all, that just meant she had sixty five more to go before Alicia was in range of Penny’s preferred fighting style.
“Does anyone legitimately trust Justine?” Alicia asked with a lofted eyebrow, more at the comment than at the boulder trick. ”I know I don’t. We’re just doing this because it would be impossible to reach Mariette under normal circumstances otherwise. Those portals are nonsense.”
Once more she dodged, wings propelling her forward until she was out of its path. She landed in a roll before resuming her run, at the same time returning to a more straightforward attack with her arrows. Penny was drawing closer but she didn’t want to dig too deeply into her bag of tricks just yet. Otherwise she would get overwhelmed.
“Fair, I’m just worried because we’ve been in this position before between Justine and Mariette and it didn’t end well for us and that was without the Mint being as active as they are now.” Penny would explain as she slalomed between the arrows and fired her way as best she could, gaining more burn marks across her arms and legs but with her resilience the wounds were still only superficial at best.
“The whole situation is ripe for others to exploit it. Especially with someone as slippery as Mariette.” Penny would reach out and grab one of the arrows that went a bit too wide, before flinging it right back at Alicia “I get the enemy of my enemy thing, but I just feel this is taking it a step far. Plus Rachel agreed to this idea as well which has me on edge.”
”She only went along with it because Justine agreed to be purified, and even she doesn’t trust that. And at the end of the day I think the vendetta will ensure at least one of them isn’t going to walk out of this,” Alicia replied with a solemn certainty.
Alicia would pick up her own wounds now, places where her outfit did not cover suffering at the hands of the laser turret. The arrow thrown back at her was less of a problem, as she shot it out of the air with pinpoint accuracy. She would have sighed if she weren’t busy with this physically engaging activity. ”You know how I feel. If we sit back and let them both do their thing then who knows what sort of damage they can do, how many more could die.” She….she would not let that happen.
“I get that, trust me I do” It was a stark difference between who she was just last week to now that Penny understood the need to do something proactive to help protect people. Whereas before she always tended to be reactionary. The cold numbers of the Sanctuary were to blame for that. “I just can’t shake the feeling that Justine is playing us against Mariette in the same way. Using that lure of a soft target to lure us away from her real target, and blasphemous as it might be, I don’t trust Rachel.”
Barreling ever closer Penny’s spidery limbs would switch from tossing the odd rock or deflecting the occasional arrow to making use of their extended reach to deteriorate the gap even faster. “She’s a zealot from what I have seen, yet with only a token promise that she doesn’t even believe, she’s going to go along with Justine. I just get the feeling she’s hoping this will take us out as well.”
“To make matters worse, Dan’s gotten involved from what I hear. Teamed up with Mariette in fact. No idea how that one came about.” With one great surge of strength Penny would launch herself towards Alicia erasing the majority of the gap in one swift movement. At the apex of her jump, and a mere thirty feet away from her target, there would be a high pitched keening, the only warning before a thunderous boom erupted from Penny as she unleashed the first round of Gauss fire.
“This all just sounds like it is shaping up to be one big trap for us. It’s why I’m not planning on going along for the raid” She would go on to say, her voice cutting through the aftermath of her attack as it piped up from the comms that Alicia wore. She was almost sure that her attack would miss, but at this distance the dodge wouldn’t allow for much retaliation as the explosive impact would still need to be contented with as well. “We are going to need people here”
Alicia did not comment on Penny’s suspicions, not willing to comment on whatever Rachel’s motives might be. As she darted back though the following comment caught her by surprise. “Dan? Does he even have any magical girls working for him?” Sure, Summer had stayed in the beach dimension but as far as she was aware the girl had not renounced Beacon.
Having had experience fighting Penny before Alicia would recognize the high pitched noise for what it was, throwing herself away to escape the impact zone. It still took her a few moments to answer anything, and as Penny predicted there would be little retaliation. Coming out of that, her wings spread as she launched herself into the air. The energy of the Overcity let her fly, or at least reach higher than she could otherwise. Looping past Penny, she would continue her barrage from above. ”I’m sorry to hear that, but alright. Fortunately I’ve got a couple tricks this time around that should help give us an edge.”
“Dan’s got at least one,” Penny would reply as she tracked Alica darting through the air. “A cat girl by the name of Dina, I know this because she showed up at the Sanctuary looking for Cindy a few days back and stuck around to help out with the Sanctuary.” The lasers would fold back into Penny’s shoulders as she plunged all of her arms into the ground in front of her more or less ignoring the arrows raining down on her. While they still were not doing much, the sheer amount of attacks that had landed were starting to amount to something. A few moments of Regen running would fix it but that wasn’t the best use of Mana at the moment.
Instead she once again tore a sizable chunk out of the ground, forcing it to compact with an application of gravity, before hurling the entirety of it at Alicia. ”On Marette, she contacted me. Apparently she and Cindy had a deal where Cindy traded unneeded monsters or artifacts in exchange for information and other assistance. Mariette wanted to continue the deal with me” In the shadow of her hurled bolder Penny contract like a spring before launching herself after it. The ambient magic in the area lent itself to Penny in much the same way it had to Alica. Just the robotic girl was using a mix of Gravity and her hover thrusters to achieve her flight, if it could be called that, it lacked the grace of true flight, but it was linear movement in three dimensions.
“So she might bail to the Sanctuary if things start going particularly bad for her on that end.”
Well, Alicia supposed that the information about Dina was worth knowing. She wasn’t sure what sort of difference it made when it came down to it, but it was worth knowing nonetheless. The information about Cindy was more interesting, earning a lofted eyebrow. ”I see. Can’t say I’m surprised. What did you tell her?”
With her wings she was able to avoid the boulder, though this did not stop Penny from taking flight after her. They were certainly making this spar complicated for themselves, weren’t they. Darting back, she no longer fired arrows but instead maintained a thin, continuous laser that would sweep along Penny’s form to further damage her. “Her going to the Sanctuary won’t end well,” she noted, though no doubt her friend already knew that.
“I told her that I’m willing to give her one shot” Penny would reply as she noted that so far the spar was little more than a game of cat and mouse. Which to be fair, was perhaps the best way to fight Penny, but it was starting to get a bit ridiculous. Nevertheless her force field from earlier would make a reappearance to counter the focused laser. “She told me that she intended to release the girls from Justine’s castle and that the only reason she didn’t was because her Patron forced her hand by assuming that they were for its use.” Speaking of hands Penny would raise her left one towards Alicia lining up a shot, before firing off her left arm at her sparring partner, a long length of chain trailing after it.
“I trust that statement, about as much as I trust the Mint, but this way I can keep something like an eye on her for your sake.” Dodging the hand would prove to be much more difficult then one would expect as due to a mix of Gravity and Metal magics Penny was still able to guide it mid flight.
It was not hard to discern that Alicia was skeptical of the claim Penny relayed on Mariette’s behalf. “How convenient that she made no effort to mention this to anyone before that point where she needed to earn your trust,” the Seraph noted. At least Penny was smart enough to not really believe it either.
Shifting, Alicia would find it harder than normal as the chain shifted as well to follow her. Quickly bringing an end to the laser, she instead broke her bow apart into twin swords before swatting at the end of the chain as it approached. Should one get entangled, the other blade would ensure her weapon was not yanked away as their fighting grew more intimate. ”I guess that’s fine. Just be careful; her Patron may take a shine to you too.”
“Yeah, not happening” Penny would growl out. Out of all of the Patron types it was Horror’s that she loathed the most. Her mind would remain hers and no one else's, of that Penny would never concede.
As expected Alicia’s blade would become stuck to the chain, but not because the chain wrapped around it, instead it was because the blade had become magnetized. But that wasn’t the only thing that happened, and due to her Third eye Alicia would also see herself become the focal point for Penny’s gravitational perspective. Which caused Penny to accelerate towards the angelic girl as for all intents and purposes she was ‘down’ and now rather than flying the mechanical monster was falling.
“I figured out why broken mirrors are one of her Bane’s though, as I might have made a point that she can’t run from me if she tries to betray me, by stealing her Portal magic for a moment”
While pleased that Penny was so vehemently opposed, Alicia couldn’t help but think that the other girls Mariette had taken had not had much of a choice in the matter, At least she could be confident that Penny would resist any attempted forceful conversion.
Less pleasing was seeing Penny’s gravity field move as she fell, but she could at least multitask. “Oh, what’s that?” Seeing her blade become magnetized, she was able to save the second one from becoming stuck. She then turned, accepting their bond and flying ‘up’ towards Penny as fast as she could. But when impact neared she would dart to the side for a sword strike, slashing at whatever came in reach. One had to take what openings came when in these kinds of situations.
“They act as an additional focus, and broken ones screw with that. Wouldn't be surprised if it was akin to having ground glass rattle around in her head being near one.” Penny hid her grimace at seeing Alicia come rushing up to meet her head on. The gravitational bond wasn’t a strong thing over all, and a near miss might pull enough G’s to snap it. Plus it made pulling her punches so as to not truly harm her friend a lot harder. Nevertheless she continued her dive, her eyes flashing red for a moment as she chose to Copy Alicia’s Third eye.
At the moment when Alicia darted to the side Penny’s spidery limbs would lash out seeking to grab hold of her, while simultaneously there would be enough high pitched whine followed by a thunderous roar. Rather than firing off her normal cannon round instead she divulged her Gauss as a splintered shotgun blast of elements.
Talk momentarily fell by the wayside as the two girls rushed to meet each other. Alicia turned into the gauss cannon shot with a wing wrapped around as some semblance of a protective shield as she went to force her way through it, blades flashing in sharp strikes to catch and slice through the limbs seeking to grab her. She couldn’t entirely remember what all the materials had been included in those limbs, but she was confident that she could slice through them and get behind Penny for a quick blast of magic into her back.
Before the Red coin brought Penny more in line with herself, before she reforged herself into a more idealized aspect Alicia’s blade would have carved through her steel limbs like butter. Now however it would not be so simple a task. She would be able to fend off the limbs however, as those on the far side of Penny lacked the range of motion to fluidly attack, and those on close up found themself contorting at odd angles to try and gain effective lines of attack limiting their speed. Even with her human arm Penny wouldn’t find much traction in trying to grab Alicia as the other girl slipped into her blindspot.
The price for it wasn’t cheap however as the mix of metal flachet, untamed lightning and chaotic gravity would tear the wing that was used to block to shreds. There was also the issue of once Alica was at Penny’s back the limitations that hindered the four arachnid limbs from working intandem vanished, leading to all of them once again making a focused effort to grab hold of the Light wielder.
A grunt escaped as the gauss cannon impacted, shredding her wing and applying a significant amount of kick to her own flight in the process. Wings could be fixed, but for now she was able to sweep past as planned. Reforming her bow, she launched a sweeping barrage that would target the arms coming to grab her as well as several points on Penny’s back at the same time.
“Makes sense,” she succinctly noted as she let natural gravity pull her downwards and out of range of the grabbing arms. Magic went to reforming her wing, so there would be less ‘crash’ in her landing. “Buying that time shift arrow was the right idea.”
Penny was impressed, and annoyed, Alicia was proving to be able to easily slip in and out of range and currently the mechanical girl had little to show for her efforts other than a lot of burn marks and that was before the cascade of arrows were fired into her back. Time to shift up a gear. “That sounds like it has fun implications. You get the arrow that hunts down the target as well?” She would ask as she turned off her thrusters and removed the gravity effects from her causing her to linger in the air for a moment as her momentum canceled out.
Then she amplified the natural pull of gravity upon herself, cursing it to wrench her towards the ground at speed, blitzing past Alicia, as she righted herself. She hit the ground with a crash but the damage was minimal and growing less as she let her regeneration turn on and start undoing all of the accumulated damage. “Ready for round 2?” she would ask as the light in the center of her chest would start to glow brighter, the lasers would re-emerge from her shoulders and a holographic forcefield would snap into place around her. Assault mode was online.
Penny all but slamming into the ground ahead of her was unexpected, but Alicia adjusted quickly. Her wings flared out to catch her downward motion, instead transferring it to a more horizontal direction to land some distance away from the now serious Penny. ”As a matter of fact, yes. It seemed too important to leave it in the hands of someone who couldn’t use it responsibly,” she confirmed as she returned to a standing position,
She nodded at the question. “It would defeat the point if I quit now when you were finally going tough on me.” Then she fired, constant beams lancing across the space between to strike at Penny’s forcefield at separate points. She needed to determine if simply battering the shield down with damage, or focused fire at a few key points would be enough to get around it. Otherwise this would be over before it even started.
The restart of the match was akin to the start, with Penny rushing straight towards Alicia, but no longer was it a simple run. Thruster reignited alongside actively pushing off against the ground meant Penny was coming in much faster. All of her limbs were poised defensively and were actively slapping arrows out of the way meant less attacks were landing and what one’s did slip past either were dispersed by the forcefield. Except for the areas under scrutiny of focused fire which attacks would splash against the reinforced defenses of her chassis once they pierced through the field in the moments before the field regenerated in that area.
The resulting difference was that Penny closed the gap in a much shorter time. All the while her lasers would be slinging back return fire, with their accuracy improved due to the copied Third Eye. As soon as the distance was closed the spidery limbs would drop defense and begin striking out at Alicia with concise stabs aimed at major joints, and if she got close enough hooks and jabs would be thrown as well aimed all at the body.
It quickly became apparent that Alicia’s strategy was not going to work, as Penny rocketed forwards. Which was fair. If there was one thing Penny was good at, it was adapting to the circumstances at hand. It seemed focused fire was effective, but that still left the reinforcements of her physical body to deal with.
Grunting beneath the laser blasts, Alicia once more thanked her enhanced uniform for keeping this from being worse than it could have been. Nonetheless she did begin to accumulate burns and scratches, and unlike Penny she could not heal those as easily. As Penny entered melee range, her tactics shifted once more. A sword of pure light blossomed from one hand, while her bow was used as a blade in the other. She swept into motion, spinning and slashing amidst the multitude of mechanical limbs as they sought to beat her down. She might not have flexibility, but hopefully Penny would not be anticipating the unusual combat style either
It was true that Penny wasn’t expecting Alicia to shift into a melee focus, and in most regards it would have caught her off guard, except this time Penny had a moment's notice that it was going to happen due to her Copied Eye. The Light sword proved to be much more effective against the spindly limbs then her bow blade was.
By the time Penny had moved into punching range two of her extra limbs had been severely damaged due to the mix of steel and magic. She folded those two away and kept the top two limbs out still but reined back of having them attack. Instead she started launching a flurry of jabs that only started to pick up speed with each attack.
Deep breaths rushed out as Alicia shifted on her feet and swung her blades. It seemed the move had earned some successes, damaging two of Penny’s arms so they could not be used. But it did not stop the attacks, and she was forced to react faster and faster to the increasing assault.
Under such intensity, it was only a matter of time until she made a mistake. An attempted block was fumbled, and Penny was able to knock the bow out of Alicia’s hands. “Gah, that thing’s heavy like that,” she grumbled to herself. But the Seraph reacted quickly, springing back and casting a sweeping two pointed beam of light that would rake across Penny’s legs. It was to stall her, as Alicia dove to retrieve her bow.
Penny was unwilling to give any ground and gave chase after Alicia the moment she sprung away. In regards to the Light sweep, Penny's remaining spider limbs would go to bat away the offending laser with each tip glowing as they emitted a rough copy of Alicia’s Light sword from their tips.
Assuming that the Light weapon would be able to deflect the Light attack Penny would simply throw a hard straight, directly down onto Alicia.
As expected Penny was right on her, not giving Alicia much time at all to do anything. The seraph was able to grab her bow from where it had fallen, but was not entirely successful in dodging the blow that Penny launched next. “Agh!” Metal hurt, as it turned out, especially with the sort of force Penny had. Alicia was thrown off balance, wincing as she tried to boost backwards with her wings to get the space she needed to recover.
Alicia would boost backwards just as Penny would lunge forward. If she tried to go to the side Penny would also match her, and trying to go up would have Penny leaping up to pull her back to the ground, it quickly became apparent that something more than simple speed would be needed to escape Penny at this point. To make things more dire the real danger of fighting Penny was making itself known; she didn’t stop, ever, and she didn’t need to. Each strike was followed by another, be it a punch, a kick or a stab with her still operational extra limbs and the speed behind her attacks was ramping up the longer she went on.
Alicia would need something to stall Penny as well as breaking away to regain some space, otherwise the relentless assault of her mechanical friend would end this fight in short order.
Darting backwards, Alicia barely kept ahead of Penny and her rain of blows. It was not viable to do this for long, as she quickly recognized. But what could she do? Her usual mirage trick wouldn’t work while Penny was using her Third Eye She didn’t really have any other perks of powers to draw on either.
Well, in that case she might as well get crazy. An extra boost, then a cluster of arrows would lance towards Penny. All to occupy her arms so she could manifest another light sword as a projectile, at this range a nigh point blank shot at Penny’s torso. Katarina would probably be proud, if she were still around.
The off the wall tactic worked surprisingly well. A concerted effort on Penny’s part kept the cluster of arrows from making any effect while continuing her advance to keep Alicia in arms reach. It also worked at distracting her long enough to not realise the point blank Light sword arrow until it had already buried itself into her chest. Which brought her to a stop. “Huh” She looked down at the weapon that was protruding from her torso. It hadn’t punched all the way through her thankfully but that wasn’t to say it wasn’t a good hit. “Didn’t know you could do that one” She would say blinking at the sword for another moment before pulling it out. The wound left behind was spilling out a vibrant white light.
“Pretty sure that would have been a lethal hit to most others.” Penny would say with an approving smile “But Second gear could have taken you on through attrition so handy trick to have up your sleeve. Third gear is next” She would say tossing the light sword aside as her eyes began to glow brighter and noticeable arcs of electricity began to dance across her limbs. Before Alicia’s eyes she would see the rest of the wounds on Penny seal over as the forcefield would shift and condense around just her torso. With a snapping hiss two electric blades would extend from Penny’s knuckles and along her legs. A voice would chime out “Primordial tempest: Online”
“Ready or not” Penny would say before rushing Alicia down once again, but this time her speed had risen exponentially and each strike carried the danger of those laser swords.
Alicia would back off a bit more just to be safe, even when Penny had stopped. Standing in arms reach of the resumed fighting did not seem wise. ”Necessity is the mother of invention. But the idea wasn’t entirely original,” she conceded. It was too bad that she didn’t really have tricks left at this point.
Then the battle resumed, Penny kicking things up even more as she struck. There was no time to talk, barely time to think either. Just reaction, and even that was not enough. It was all she could do to force blows aside, deflect rather than straight blocks, and her wounds were adding up.
There was no doubt that she would fall. But she could aim for the sort of noble sacrifice any Beacon member would aspire for. With a wave of her hand she cast her bow aside, tapping into her blood magic to form plates over her skin. Hardlight, of the sort she wished she could have used back in the Keijo match. It would not sustain her for long but it did not have to. Instead with her wings she reversed course, taking advantage of Penny’s speed and momentum to slam through her flurry of blows. One light sword stabbed forward, and a split second later a second followed in the direction she expected her friend to dodge in. She would go down either way, but at least it would be dramatic.
The Hardlight worked wonderfully in protecting Alica, as did diving into Penny’s space as the Titan rushed her, and as expected the first blade was dodged, Penny was on the lookout for such a tactic. The second slipped in under the first shadow, just as Penny threw a left hook.
But Penny’s punch never landed, because both of them knew the fight was over. She had stopped her punch a scant few millimeters from Alicia’s cheek. The laser blade having been dismissed. She waited a moment, giving Alicia a chance to catch her breath. “Ow” Penny would then say, chuckling as she voiced it.
“Your lightsabers hurt, you know that?”
Everything halted in a single moment, blow hanging just off the point of impact in a way that couldn’t help but draw her gaze to it. Then the tension broke, Alicia breathing deeply as she staggered back and sent away her various weapons and armor. “You know what else hurts? Gauss cannons,” she challenged with a tired grin. ”Besides, I wouldn’t be that hard on you if I didn’t think you could take it.”
“In my defense your wings are a massive pain to deal with.” Penny would say as she too sheathed her weapons and powered down her magics, all save for her Regeneration. “But, no worries I get it.” She would take a step back mainly to get out of her offensive stance. “Got to say, it was a good match. You’re damn hard to get a hold of when you want to be”
”Good fight,” Alicia agreed with a nod, turning to survey the battlefield and the damage they had caused in the course of their fight. ”Well, you’ve got a lot of weapons, It seemed smart to try and keep you from using the biggest ones. Though the wings wouldn’t work all that well if we were back on Earth.” it was a bit of a location specific tactic.
Closing the distance once more, Alicia’s grin did not fade. ”Still, at least I know I have a chance if I can beat you before you get going. That’s probably better than a lot of magical girls in town.” Not that she was bragging.
“Definitely true” Penny would agree, she didn’t know everyone in Penrose, but she did try to keep track of those that were threats to her and Alicia now had a spot on that list. “And even if you can’t fly with them in the City I’m pretty sure that you can find other uses for the wings. Like coating them in that Hard light trick you pulled at the end, or layering in dozens of your lightsabers within the feathers.and using them as weapons in their own right.”
She too stepped closer, in fact she moved close enough to sling an arm over Alicia’s shoulders. “And if you could figure out a way to get thrust with your Light then you can still be flying around.” This was the part of spars that Penny always knew she would enjoy, the discussion afterwards, she just wished she had more people to spar with.
”The sword thing is an idea. I might be able to use light to create an updraft based on heat, but I’m not sure how consistent that would be,” the Seraph mused to herself, tapping her cheek in thought. There were definitely some things she had to think about now that this fight was over.
It did seem rude to focus solely on herself though. ”So, did you learn anything from this, aside from how frustrating I can be?” Penny had been pretty determined in that fight, so she was curious to hear what the answer would be.
“Well I think my ‘flight’” Penny would say using air quotes with her free hand “Is something that I might be able to make use of back in the city. Though I think back there it will be more me able to change my elevation and run around in the air then what I was pulling here.” She would answer
“And it was my first time messing around with my Gravity spec, so I learned a few things about it that I can expand upon. For example if I invert the grav perspective of someone else I should be able to make it so that they fall towards me which would be potent if I can get it right.” It wasn’t hard to see that there were more thoughts circling inside Penny’s head by the delighted look and glow of her eyes. Fighting was still her element after all.
”Useful, but something you would have to be careful with,” Alicia noted. After all, she’d adapted quickly enough to Penny’s gravity tricks, so someone else might be able to take that problem and turn it into an advantage too. ”Plus you’ve got to watch out for magic based weapons, like my light swords.”
“True, hopefully if they can’t fly it will be harder to get around” Penny would concede, she was still a novice when it came to gravity after all but she didn’t intend to stay one for long. “I’ve got a plan for magical based weapons though, Cold Iron. It’s a metal that inherently dampens magic, if I can alter my composition to mimic that property should render Magical weapons no more effective than any other types.”
There was no surprise to Penny already having a plan to deal with this issue that their fight had revealed. Of course it likely would not be entirely that easy, and Alicia pushed that point. ”Sounds interesting. Though it also sounds like it could hinder your own magic too. Especially the Reinforcement and Regeneration.”
After a moment she looked towards the city in the distance. ”Anyway, why don’t we take this elsewhere. This is my first time getting to try food from another dimension, and my curiosity is killing me. We may even see alien magical girls.” A light nudge was delivered to her friends torso to encourage her to go along with the idea.
“I never told you about my encounter with Sirkkeli, did I.” Penny would muse as she started leading the way towards the city in the distance. Easily willing to go along with Alicia into the Overcity, ”I have no real proof, but I’d be willing to bet on her being one.”
That earned Alicia’s curiosity quickly enough. ”No. But I guess you’re going to have to tell me now,” she agreed. There was plenty to look forward to now, as the duo walked along. They had done their hard work, now it was time to enjoy themselves. Before they ended up tossed into the fire once more.
Things had been fairly quite aboard the ship once the two teams left. There were no major engineering problems, no efforts to force entry to the vessel, no calls for help or indicators that something had gone wrong. The crew carried on with their duties as they usually would, a state of normalcy pervading the vessel.
It did not last.
The return of the envoy team did not thrill, though Korax took the news better than some others might have. They were not the ones who set policy after all, and no doubt this would inspire a fierce debate about sovereignty and other political issues that were beyond its command level. It merely did its job as they prepared to return through the wormhole.
Then the shuttle made its appearance, asking them for aid. Korax did not stop the captain from giving the occupant medical aid, as any would in this situation. There was just a larger issue that this brought with it. "Captain," it said, turning to face the commander. "This individual said he was being pursued. This one recommends bringing the ship to alert so as to prepare for a potential confrontation."
Like many other places in Penrose, the Museum of Natural History had suffered from the disasters and chaos that were going on. The place had been closed down for the duration of the evacuation, in order to safeguard the populace as well as the items inside.
Now the halls laid empty, exhibits ready for those who would never see them. The entire building was silent, as if life had simply paused here and never started back up again.
It was evening in Penrose, and the museum saw movement, life, once more. In the lobby of the building the lights had been turned on, and a young boy sat on one of the benches in the middle of the room. A small ferret-like creature darted to and fro on the front desk, batting at brochures and paperweights as it played in order to pass the time.
The front door was unlocked, and the duo in the lobby were ready for the girls who had answered the bounty request. The ferret paused, nose twitching as it glanced over to the magical boy nearby before squeaking a question.
“They’ll be here,” he assured his Familiar with a confident smile. Anyone willing to take on a task like this had to be reliable. But for now, they waited.
Moving in on foot, Janet made her way to the entrance. It had been a while since she’d specifically taken on a bounty. Mostly because she was busy and her life was turmoil. Though that might just be the city It was yet to be determined if Cindy would make an appearance, but the other girl itched for action even more so. This sitting by nonsense and constant posturing was not how she traditionally operated as of late.
The Beacon girl scoped out the area for minds that might otherwise be around. Seemed the only one of note was the boy in the building. Entering through the unlocked doors she took a glance around as she approached the one in the lobby.
”Stop right there!” A potted plant with the barrel of a M107 sticking out of it called to Janet. ”You’re with Beacon!” The plant’s pot seemed to grow legs, legs clad in thigh-high lace-up boots, and walked closer. ”There’s only one reason why you could be here.” The plant continued to move closer, until it stopped. ”No way!?” The plant withered and fell off of the magical girl hiding inside of it. It was a maid with a large anti material rifle, which was no longer pointed at Janet. ”You’re here for the bounty too!?”
The blonde girl would probably have reacted with more surprise if she hadn’t noticed the additional mind as she was walking. The one that had popped out of the plant matched the description of some reports. One of Veronica’s girls. Ironically she seemed to relax just a bit once she could identify who it was pointing a weapon at her. ”We’re not going to just sit around when people ask for help.” She put one hand on her hip casually.
With a sigh, Trixy’s arms sagged. ”This is going to be an awkward mission, but Binky said you were okay.” Her eyes traveled up and down Janet. ”Not a bad look. I don’t know what I was expecting but well, you know, words never do the real thing justice.” Trixy extended her hand. ”I’m Trixy. But you can call me anything but late for dinner.” She grinned.
”Janet Howell.” She smiled back. ”And you’re fine. I don’t have anything against the Cradle. Veronica also helped ferry me back after the assault on Justine’s castle so we’re on decent terms as far as I’m concerned.” She accepted the hand shake and glanced over to the one that presumably was the one putting out the bounty.
Trixy looked extremely pale when Janet mentioned Veronica helping her. ”Heh, right! Guess I was being a little too gung ho there! It’s hard to tell Beacon from the Ascendancy sometimes, but I prefer to live and let live if I can help it.” She stood beside Janet. ”Let’s see what this guy has to say, then we can talk tactics.” Trixy pushed the door open and held it for Janet. ”Hello good sir, it is us, your hirelings!” She let the door shut. ”So what’s the scoop?”
Hearing the door open, the boy looked up to see the duo enter. He smiled, rising from his seat to meet them. The ferret jumped off of the counter onto his shoulder, riding as the magical boy strode towards them. “Hey there, I’m glad you could make it on such short notice,” he said with a warm smile. “I’m Thomas. Follow me and I’ll take you to the relic.”
He turned and gestured for them to follow before heading down one of the halls and further into the museum. As they walked he spoke to them, with the Familiar’s gaze shifting from one girl to the other. “Now this will involve fighting other magical girls in all likelihood. I hope that won’t be a problem for either of you?”
Fighting other magical girls huh? ”Seems to come with the territory eventually.” She would comment as they followed.
Trixy only chuckled. ”We’re in Penrose. We fight more magical girls than monsters these days.” She lowered her gun into her hands. ”I prefer to fight monsters, but my lady’s wishes come before all else. She wants the artifact protected, so I’ll defend it with my life!”
Thomas nodded, certainly understanding of their viewpoint. “Of course. I just wanted to make sure.” It would have been a bit awkward otherwise, wouldn’t it?
They soon reached their destination. It was an open room, with various displays and informational cards to describe what one was seeing. While it was not the largest in the museum, there was still a decent amount of space for people to move about and look at things without getting in each others way.
“So I work for Nieth,” Thomas added. “Normally I’d have done this myself but some other stuff has come up that I also have to do, so I don’t really have the time for guard duty. Plus deities and their games, you know how it is”
Coming to a stop in front of a display cave, he gestured to a copper spear placed within it. “That right there is one of the weapons used to cut up the body of Osiris. It seems that Set wants to steal it, and my patron would prefer that that not happen.”
It was about now that Janet wished she had her sister’s Third Eye so she could see if the relic had any specific magical properties. To the naket eye it didn’t seem to have anything special about it, which would explain why it was sitting in some regular old museum and not some magical facility. There was one little question that popped into her head. ”Why not just hide it? With the museum closed it’s not like the public is going to miss it right now.” She would pose. It wasn’t the only thing she wanted to ask but it was the first.
Thomas shrugged when faced with their questions. “Because the boss said so.” After a moment though he leaned forward, hand raised as if conspiratorially whispering to them. “Personally though I think they want Set’s people to get beaten. Knock him down a few pegs, or something like that.”
”It does seem like the sort of thing you could tuck into a hammerspace if you wanted to.” Trixy examined the spear from all angles, even going as far as sprouting a tree to hold her above the thing. ”Do you know anything about who’s coming to get it?”
Resuming his initial stance, the magical boy shifted towards Trixy and nodded. “Confident enough to put money on the line for it. I know that at least two girls are tasked with the heist, but not much more than that. Sorry.”
Stepping up to the weapon she would look back at Thomas. ”So other than leaving it undamaged we can move this right?” She wanted to be sure it wouldn’t be an issue. She could just ward the thing to try and anchor it in place if needed.
”Hmmmm...” Trixy rubbed her chin with her index finger. ”So how long do we guard it for? Just the night?” Trixy opened her palm, and an acorn appeared in her hand.
Thomas hummed in thought, scratching the ferret’s head as he glanced towards the ceiling. “As long as you don’t take it to the Overcity or lose it, it should be fine. And yes, just for the night,” he assured them “Anything else I can answer for you?”
Janet would look at Trixy. ”I think that’s all for me. You?”
”No more questions. But there’s something you could do for me.” Trixy handed the acorn to Thomas. ”Just hold onto that. When you give it back to me, I’ll know the job is over.” Trixy gave the boy a toothy smile.
Thomas nodded, taking the acorn from Trixy when it was offered. “That sounds good. I look forward to seeing you in the morning, at the end of a successful mission.” And with that, he took his leave. Now they could prepare for the eventual arrival of the thieves they had been hired to stop.
With the task at hand, Janet would take down the spear and examine the head for a moment. Seemed pretty ordinary to her, as did the wooden staff it was attached to. ”How likely do you think our robbers would notice if we produced a replica?” She would walk over to an outlet and pop a cover off, touching the contacts with her hands briefly. The shock was mildly bothering, but she wanted a clearer lay of the building, the electrical could help her with that just a bit.
”Before we get to that, I’m just going to speak my mind a bit.” Trixy dropped an acorn on the floor. When she went to sit down on it, it shrug up as a stump that made for a nice place to think. ”Thomas said some interesting things. ‘Deity’s and their games’ as well as Nieth more doing this for amusement than a real desire to protect the artifact. I don’t know my Egyptian gods, but it almost sounds like this one might be a trickster. We have to consider the possibility that in addition to Set, we might have to react to whatever games Nieth sets for us. We can’t trust anyone.” She shrugged. ”Doesn’t really change anything.” Trixy stood back up. ”Now let’s talk defense. Having a decoy spear is a good idea, but it’s likely that Set has prepared their troops to steal this thing. I’d be apprised if one or both of them didn’t have an eye for magic or an artifact for divining its location. We should hide the real thing in a defensible area. Preferably a spot that isn’t obvious, but can also stand up to attackers for a while.” Trixy dropped a seed on the ground, and it sprout into a hedge bush. ”I can make plants grow in all sorts of directions, as you can plainly see. Iif I touch a plant, I can tell what condition it’s in regardless of where I am. I can use this to set ‘alarms’ by barricading areas. I’ll be alerted as soon as something tries to break them down.” She presented her gun. ”I’m expecting them to have a hammerspace or simply plan on escaping into the overcity. Letting them touch it could be game over.” Trixy sighed. ”So what can you do? What are your thoughts about all this?”
Janet would consider the matter. The games of gods and such for the most part were lost on her. They weren't a subject she'd ever really studied before or after becoming a magical girl. Still it was an interesting observation. She would start with her capabilities as that would open up the most chance to coordinate. "Suppose my main forte is my defensive magic. I can create barriers and wards in order to block and off and defend areas. Should be able to slow them down physically and otherwise hamper movement." She pointed to her head. "I should be able to track them fairly decently by their minds, so even if they are moving around a lot it'll be tougher to get the drop on us. They may know the place but I can learn that pretty quickly. Depending on their mental defenses I could potentially affect their minds." Producing her own spear she would look it over. "I've mostly been a close quarters combatant so keeping it nearby me is probably best. Unless we feel we can fool them." She would prop her spear against her shoulder and open her hand. Sparks would dance between her fingers. "I've recently acquired power over Lightning magic though so I've a fair number of ranged options now as well." Was it such a good idea to tell all of this to a Cradle agent. Maybe, maybe not. Thing about capabilities though is they're really only secret until you use them, and then hiding it is moot. And again they weren't really enemies on the whole.
Looking over the item they were hired to guard again. "My thinking is that I could put protective barriers and wards around this and potentially a replica to make it harder for them to directly identify what is contained within. Should keep them from simply being able to snatch and vanish with it as well since they won't actually be in contact with the weapon." Looking around the space she would go over the rough layout of the building the electrical wiring had given her. "They likely do know the building as you said. I'm fairly certain there is a vault on the lower level. Assuming we can get in it is the obvious defensive point. Wards would probably help against metal girls and I can keep the lights on with my magic to prevent darkness girls from slipping in. If we can't get in it would still make for a solid point to be against as we won't be dealing with windows and quick exits. The nearby foundation could be reinforced with my magic instead. Force them to come to us." She went back to the front desk to pick up a pamphlet and pen. It wouldn't show everything but it had a basic map of the building and exhibits and would be a simple way to plan things out.
”I wouldn’t wait in the room with the spear. They could just as easily have a psychic themselves. Though you should probably be nearby.” Trixy scratched her chin some more. ”Well, let’s just play to our strengths. We can both make barriers, but they both have different strengths and weaknesses. Let me seal off all the exits so that we have some alarms to work with. You can see minds, but some girls employ minions that don’t have minds to track.” Trixy placed her hand on the spear, and vines swirled around it’s shape before they grew leaves, covering it’s shape. ”I could make a few of these ‘false totems’ and place them in the safe room, then you could barrier them individually. That would make it harder for them to find if they can’t divine its location. I think you should guard the vault’s entrance, but it might be best if I was walking a patrol or hiding out in a different location. I’d be nearby of course, I’d never leave a team mate alone.” She chuckled.
Nodding in agreement, she would look up briefly. They could potentially run into a water girl as well. Having been one once upon a time she might cover the sprinklers where she sets up. And if there was fire, well them there was water. "Sounds good. I'll cover the halls leading down as well so I can sense them coming that way as well. If they lack earth magic I could see about moving a tile or something and embedding the spear in the floor. Just make it an absolute pain to get to.".
With something of a game plan Janet would let Trixy make some false spears surrounded in vines and leaves that she would protect with the aforementioned warded barriers, doing the same to the actual spear. It may or may not trip them up. If it did work though it would make their job that much easier. While she was alone prepping Cindy would make her way to the surface briefly. There was a particular idea she had that could help them accomplish this goal. Beneath and hidden by the protection of the true spear she would charge it with electricity. Acting as a capacitor, upon breaking the defenses the shock would be released all at once on whoever held it. Having access to the grid it was a trivial matter loading it with a truly nasty amount of power. Relinquishing control Janet would take the lot down she would see about the vault. The exact mechanism wasn't as important as finding the right circuits to activate in order to make the thing unlock. On chance of not getting in she would reinforce the foundation rather than the vault. Either way she would place spears in various nearby rooms inside, behind, and among other items. Erecting barriers she would attempt to wall off as many doors and hallways as possible. She could drop them in a moment's notice as moving may be needed.
Trixy, for her part, worked along side Janet when creating her barriers. She also grew some vines over the ventilation system should something try to get through. Otherwise though, she continued to enact the strategy they thought up.
”We don’t know when they’re coming, but I think this’ll be enough.” They were never going to cover every possible tactic the enemy could attack with. All they could do was their best.
The time passed by, silence and each other the only company that was available. The basement below the museum was mostly used for storage and staff needs, which was why the vault was down there. Their preparations went off without a hitch, barriers erected, vents covered, decoys laid down. Mostly concentrated in the basement of the museum, it would be a mixture of physical and magical barriers.
Come 1 AM, and….nothing would be happening. It seemed calm and very boring in the museum right now. If one did not notice the all but silent failing of barriers along the way to the vault, and the psychic presence of not just two, but three minds total. It seemed the information they had been given was slightly incorrect.
The heist was on.
Having been keeping track of Trixy, she would get a psychic message from the Beacon girl. I have three minds. They’re working their way through the barriers toward the vault right now. Janet had positioned herself in a room adjacent to the vault door. Putting a little more focus on the intruders she hoped to get a little more information about them. What they were thinking off the top and perhaps something about their magic if she could manage.
Reaching out with her mind, Janet would get a few details. One girl, Isabelle, had gravity magic and was destroying her barriers with that as well as a sword. Another girl, Alba, had Sound magic, which she was using to mute any indication of their presence via noise. There was less from the third girl, aside from being in a close relationship with Isabelle. They were focused on the task at hand, if grumbling about the opposition and preparing for whatever fight might be at hand.
”Let me see if I can get behind them!” Trixy was walking a patrol like she said she was going to do, but with the threat spotted, it was time to change tactics. She scrambled up to one of the air ducts. The overgrowth briefly parted so that Trixy could get into position and look outward at the incoming magical girls. It was a bit tight with such a large weapon, but she managed to fit thanks to her ability to contort her body into nearly any shape she wanted. That didn’t mean it was comfortable though.
”Come out to the museum, we'll get together, have a few laughs...” She snorted. ”Can’t believe Tetrad couldn’t have come with me for this.”
They were soon drawing near to Trixy’s position, only one barrier left between them and where she had hidden in the vents. She wouldn’t be able to hear what they were saying because of the sound magic, at least on that side of the barrier. But she could see them. One girl hammered at the barrier with a two handed sword, another girl maintained their silence, holding on to a metal sickle. The third hung back, wary for danger without any visible weapons at the moment. At the very least they seemed like they knew what they were doing.
One blow, another, the barrier shuddered under the forceful impacts. If there were any last preparations, now was the time.
Useful information. Janet would pass on her findings to Trixy. The one closest to the barrier is using Gravity magic. The one behind her, Sound. Seems like she's blocking out the noise they're making. Not sure about the other one. The first and the last are in a relationship apparently. Something to keep in mind perhaps. She wasn't entirely sure how relevant that last bit was, but it could be useful to use or be aware of. Passion was a thing that could run both ways.
That barrier won't last long. I may not have sound magic but I bet they aren't expecting to hear anything. When they break through I can provide a distraction. As far as the senses were concerned, they were all just signals to the brain. And that was something she could take advantage of. She would wait for Trixy's mental response, which was basically instantaneous in the mind space.
Trixy licked her hand and swept her hair back. ”I can work with this.” Trixy also relayed their weapons back to Janet. That the two in a relationship had swords, and the one in the middle had a staff.
With a muted ‘crack’ the barrier shattered, letting the trio pass by. As they drew nearer, Trixy would be able to hear better as she came within the effects of the sound magic. “Stupid barriers,” Alba grumbled. “They want to make this as hard for us as possible before we fight.”
“We could always make our own entrance,” Isabelle pointed out as a hand rested on her sword.
The third girl nodded. “We shouldn’t let them lead us into a trap if we can.”
Frowning, Alba hummed in thought as she glanced over at the walls. “That may be a good idea. At the very least we might be able to bypass some of these barriers. I told Set we should have brought Marigold but nooo….”
Isabelle grinned as she stepped over to the left side wall, knocking on it with a closed hand. “Your confidence in us is overwhelming. Me and Iona will crush anything that stands in our way!” She then prepared to do some ‘creative demolition’ to get them further through the underground levels. They ended up with Alba in front, Isabelle in the middle, and the third girl behind.
As they stepped forward Janet would reach out with her mind. The three would “hear” a shuffling behind the wall they were examining. There was then a deep hum as if the charging of some device just before a loud bang and flash of light. None of this was actually real of course. Complex visuals would take a whole lot longer to force on the mind’s eye. But the girl had essentially applied a mental flasbang against them from a false direction. Now’s the time. She would send out to Trixy.
The trio stumbled at once under the effects of Janet’s psychic magic, earning a string of curses from Alba in the process. They might not know immediately that it was psychic magic, but all of them did not have to think hard to guess what would follow an attack like that.
”Hyea!”
Trixy hurled the seeds as soon as she was told. Some but not all sprouted, forming a ball of woody vines laced with seeds.The ball wasn’t too big when it landed behind the last girl, maybe a foot or so wide at most. But as it rolled, more vines emerged, causing the ball to rapidly expand in size. While her trap ball expanded, she hopped out of the vent and aimed her rifle at the center most girl’s leg.
Trixy’s vine ball sprouted behind them, cutting off the exit and reducing the space that they had to work with. Bad when one considered the attack from the two girls appearing in their midst.
The Beacon girl herself would rush out of the opposing room to her decoy and charge at the intruders. Ordinarily her speed was above average at best. However, coupled with boosts from Reinforcement and Lightning she would give herself a burst of speed to close the gap. This being the first engagement there was no telling how they would lash out from being startled. Ahead of herself she maintained a barrier, however her target was the one she had less of a read on. For the moment she would avoid using her spear, instead seeking to deck the girl with a solid punch in the confusion.
Janet would have the initiative thanks to her magic, racing in and decking the one she knew the least of. The girl hit the ground with a groan, needing a moment to recover.
“Rica!” Isabelle cried at the impact, unleashing a blast of Gravity magic to push both Trixy and Janet away. It would also keep her from being struck by the bullet at least, though she was still forced to do some fancy footwork to keep from being entangled in roots expanding from the impact. Her sword rose as she growled. “You’ll pay for hurting my sister!”
Alba bared her teeth as she flourished her scythe, strumming a rif that energized her and her allies (though not a very in tune one). “Come on, give me a good fight would you,” she challenged as she swang her weapon at Janet to drive her away from the fallen Rica.
Bracing herself after being shunted by the gravity magic the Beacon girl would manage to stay on her feet. Sisters huh? Well that helped clarify things just a bit. Thankfully the rushing tactic seemed to work so far. Pretty quickly she was confronted by the sound girl and her weapon. Conceding ground wasn't too much of an issue in this case. The punch was just the opening. "If you say so." Summoning her spear Janet would parry the scythe. The other weapon's blade meant it required a pretty wide movement at this distance but that was fine. Keeping this one busy was enough at the moment.
Rica, who for the most part would be fine given the general resilience of magical girls, would begin to feel a pressure on her mind. Maybe she hit her head too hard when she fell or the strike was harder than expected. Janet sought to take advantage of the girl's dazed state. There was something almost like a still small voice that grew in intensity. It was a calling. No, a command. Sweet and soft but kept repeating. Sleep. Depending on Rica's mental faculties and potential residences sleep might start sounding pretty good right about now.
Trixy was mid-air when the gravity blast shoved her backwards. She hurdled through the air, but managed to roll onto a prone position once she landed on the ground. Distance was good for her weapon, so there were no problems being thrown further away.
”You guys are twins?Twins are pretty cute. Hot even. But I’m in a relationship right now. And I’m starting to enjoy the spanking.”
The ball of vines continued to grow. While Trixy was capable of some crazy instantaneous growth, it could only be applied to seedlings, and one at a time. It was a bit like stove top popcorn, where the ball grew the most when the first half of the kernels popped.
Trixy aimed her anti matter rifle. It would have no difficulty ripping through her vine barrier, and she could track all of her potential targets with the nifty scope she had. She fired another round at Isabelle.
Metal clashed on metal as Alba’s swing was met by Janet’s spear. A curious eyebrow rose, but after a moment her grin widened just a bit more. “Now this is what I’m talking about,” she agreed before stepping forward as she spun her scythe for a sharp downwards slash. She kept on the offensive, doggedly pursuing the rigorous fight that she wanted.
Down below, Rica tensed as she felt the pressure upon her mind. “Get….Get out of my head!’ she yelled before unleashing her magic. Janet would be rooted in place as gravity magic fell upon her, making moving that much more difficult from the force upon her. Rica then shifted, rolling back before rising to her feet.
Isabelle would not be prepared for Trixy’s second shot, clipping her torso with it and sending her stumbling back. “Fuck!” she swore, a hand rising to press against the wound. Not that it stopped the flow of blood, but it helped. “Sis, the artifact,” she called out to the other girl.
Then she pointed her sword at Trixy, pained determination on her face. “Get lost,” she snapped before unleashing her magic as well. The ball of vines would be subjected to gravity magic, collapsing in on itself from the pressure until it had been crushed. That would let them see Trixy at the very least, so she wouldn’t be taken off guard like this again.
Spear and scythe were not dissimilar in their design. Long pole with something sharp on the end. On the battlefield they had their place, but the spear rivaled nearly all melee weapons thanks to their reach and simplicity. Even an idiot could figure out a pointy stick. So while Alba had to commit to wider swings Janet would use brief lunges to strike at her opponent before pulling back again. Left like this the Beacon girl could probably crack away and whittle her into submission.
That advantage quickly vanishes as her allies came in. Gravity magic, fun stuff. Made moving around harder for sure. It didn't count her out though. Taking the first hit right on Janet grit her teeth as the blade caught her left side. Raising her spear she managed to catch the next one and deflect it over her head. Heads up, it's going dark for a second. She would mentally communicate to Trixy.
The next low slash would get caught by a barrier. It didn't survive the hit but it didn't have to. A pulse of electricity went out through the room. To the occupants it did nothing, the lights on the other hand flickered and died for a few seconds. She had used the barrier as a step and bolstered her strength to push off into the air. She wouldn't travel very high or far with the gravity pulling her down. The complete darkness wasn't long, but enough time for the Reinforcement girl to rise up and create a platform under her feet. Pushing with the force of her legs and assisted by the gravitational pull she would come down like a boxcar. Hopefully caught off guard Alba would get sandwiched and driven into the concrete floor complements of her friend. Still sensing the mind as the lights came back on Janet was ready to run her spear through her opponent if she had to.
The darkness didn’t bother Trixy too much. Her scope let her see through mundane darkness. Her next shot wasn’t aimed at Isabelle, but Alba. She had heard about a possible artifact, and Trixy was going to do her best to shoot it away. Or at the very least, delay Alba in exchanging it.
With Janet in the air, Trixy felt confident she could shoot through Alba’s heel. Anything to lower their mobility.
”Yip!” Trixy stood up and ran in two different directions. She was only capable of doing this because one of the selves running was actually Dusty, her clone. Once that got to either side of the room, they would lay prone again to resume shooting.
“Hah, got you!”’ Alba cried triumphantly as she drew blood, though janret letting herself be hit was not so obviously in the moment. At least, until the lights went out. “H-Hey, what gives?!?”
Despite the darkness, Alba was not totally oblivious to what Janet was doing thanks to the sound of her movement. All things considered she probably could have dodged if she had not suddenly been shot in the heel by Trixy. “Fuck!” She went down, foot burning in pain and driven by the force of her falling opponent. A grunt filled the air, scythe clattering out of her grip as the lights came back on. A glare fell upon Janet, who would feel gravity return to normal for her even as Alba screamed a Sound boosted scream at her head and much more vulnerable eardrums.
Unfortunately Trixy had been mistaken in her target, and Rica produced an ankh from her pocket that was quickly tossed to Isabelle. It began to glow, healing magics applied to the bullet wound from Trixy’s weapon. She nodded to Rica, gesturing towards the Trixy in front of her and applying her Gravity magic to make her gun decide it would much rather be on the ceiling than in her hands. Which could be an issue as the grim faced magical girl stalked forward with her sword ready to deliver some sharp payback.
”Clearly...” Trixy rolled up her sleeves. ”You wanna see my moves!”
For her part Rica would turn to position herself near Janet with an eye on the other Trixy, metallic knuckledusters unveiled now on her hands she prepared to react to more gunfire or further magical tricks by the Beacon girl. “So who put you up to this,” she called out. “How much are they paying you to do their dirty work?”
Having been a Sound spec once she expected to get yelled at at some point. Didn't stop her from getting a blast to the face. Before it could be sustained though she formed a barrier over the girl's face with an opening directed at Rica. The scream rebounded in the chamber but ultimately the knuckleduster branding girl would get an earful of screaming. They needed to even the odds. Having already been poised to stab the girl on the ground she would pierce one of her lungs. She'd live for now, but would probably go into shock pretty fast from blood and drop in oxygen capacity. If she stayed up she'd have a whole lot harder time operating. Tough as magical girls were, most still had to breathe. Particularly those that relied on projecting their voice.
Either she didn't regard what Rica said or she didn't hear it because her ears were still ringing, but Janet gave no response. The redirected sound wasn't a long lived distraction. Janet would dive and roll for the scythe that had ended up on the floor. She would have thrown it under normal circumstances, but seeing the magic her opponent had it would likely be sent back at her. Instead she held the weapon and angled the blade slightly while the banner would appear and glow on her spear. Trixy and Dusty would feel a boost of magic flow through them.
They're quick learners. Think one of you can deflect a shot off the blade to catch them off guard while they watch the light show? She would ask Trixy and Dusty. She wasn't quite sure if it would work, but thus far outwitting them had been the best tactic. The seed bullets should have enough elasticity not to explode on impact.
Unfortunately, Dusty did not have any magical capabilities to speak of. While she was just as fast and strong as Trixy, she did not possess any magical capabilities or much durability. Even her gun didn’t possess the spectacle of Eros that made Trixy’s shots so precise.
The temptation was there to just charge in. Trixy had done that previously against a pack of weartigers and regretted it. She was capable in close quarters, but there were too many people around to rely on it, especially with her opponents being both intelligent and skilled.
”So you want to know who I work for? What we’re getting paid?”
She immediately broke into a sprint, Dusty too.
”Haven’t you read my blog?”
But they were running at each other.
”I do this for kicks!”
Dusty tossed her M107 to Trixy, who tossed her two acorns.
”For my fans!”
Now there were no problems.
Trixy did not have her scope, but she did have superhuman speed and accuracy on her side. She wasn’t sure which blade she was supposed to rebound off of, but it likely didn’t matter what she rebounded off of in the long run.
Dusty ran for Rica. She didn’t have any magical powers, but Trixy had been able to “program” her acorns to behave a certain way once they hit something with enough force. The first acorn she threw was at the girl’s feet to make the sort of “tree stump trampoline” that Trixy loved to use to get around. The second acorn she placed in her mouth, and kept it pinched between her back teeth. She'd only bite down if it looked like the worst was to come.
“Ack!” A wet sound filled the air as Alba was stabbed, which pretty conclusively ended her sound based attack. Seeing this, Rica’s expression tightened a bit as she ignored the incoming Trixy and sprinted towards Janet. Her magic lightened her for an impressive leap into the air, dodging the acorn mostly by accident. She went for a powerful downwards punch with her knuckledusters before finishing the flip some distance away with the momentum and gravity manipulation.
This provided an opening for Alba to swing in, the stab wound much less inhibiting thanks to her Regeneration power. Which certainly explained her eagerness to fight. With Rica as a distraction for her recovery she charged in from the side for a sharp body check as she sought to grapple her scythe out of Janet’s hands with magically provided flexibility. “Give that back!”
There was a significant issue coming into play thus far in this fight. Janet and Trixy had the element of surprise a number of times. While Janet thought she was taking advantage of these she clearly was not committing enough to fully make use of these openings. Didn't help that they were learning a lot about their opponents on the fly. Thus was the trouble in smaller conflicts. Still she was internally having some trouble. She wasn't against fighting but she really didn't like hurting people.
They had a job to do though. Getting slammed from above and Alba getting up in her face she had to blink several times. The other girl managed to get a grip on her weapon and the two wrestled for control of it. Janet wasn't going to let go though and sent a shock through the handle, enough to lock the muscles in the sound girls hand and arm. Dismissing her own weapon Janet would use her own weight to push and slam Alba down to the floor with herself on top. A barrier would form around the two to keep the others from interfering.
The defending girl lacked the resolve to see what she set in motion through. Her companion on the other hand. Transforming in a flash Cindy would clamp her hand over Alba's mouth, the metal tips on her fingers digging into the sides of her face. A jolt of electricity would wash through the girl's head disrupting her synapses. Moments after the girl's mind would be assaulted by the ancient's will. I care not whence you came. This city is under my protection. You will learn your place and rise to its defense alongside me. Like a hand reaching into her head and squeezing the pressure to give in to the command was sharp and relentless. While Cindy had been shaken in the time since joining Janet, the old girl's persona as a leader remained resolute. Bottled up as she'd been she was eager to make use of her host gifts. Simply one of the reasons for forming an agreement. New as Janet may be, she possessed a number of useful skills she simply failed to utilize effectively.
Meanwhile Janet made her play. Alba’s grin of triumph would fade quickly as she was grabbed and slammed to the ground, the cut wounds healing quickly as well as the damage from the electric shocks. Rica fell upon the barrier from above, gravity enhancing her punches as she sought to come to her comrades aid.
Two minds battled for control. Alba might not have her age, but she had pride. The fact that this kind of psychic domination was not something done by Cindy or Janet before made it more difficult than it could have been and that gave an opportunity. “I only have….one boss,” she snarled. “And it...isn’t you.” With her Regeneration in play, her arm holding the scythe swung out until it hit the side of the barrier. The blade angled upwards as she stabbed Janet with it, as hard as her mentally assaulted body could manage.
The mental attack would cease almost instantly. In its place Alba's body would seize up as electricity coursed through her before the attack could connect. "Such a shame." She would say aloud. A barrier would coil around the girl to hold her further and give Cindy a solid place to grab hold. Hefting the girl up she would swing her like a weapon. The barrier keeping Rica out would disappear and her fist would slam into the paralized Alba.
Bum rushed with a human shield facing away, when Rica would come in contact with the ground a current would run through her as well. She wouldn't be as hindered but it would make moving harder. Driving them toward the wall she would slam the two against the surface. Knowing the gravity girl would likely try and cause them to move with her magic she would anchor herself down with a barrier. Spear summoned and out of reach of Rica's fists she would try and drive the weapon through the two and into the wall.
“Gah!” Another cry tore the air as Alba was electrocuted. Any physical damage was healed by her regeneration of course, but the coiled barrier would prove its own issue. The same could be said for Rica’s blow, though the girl showed little regret. She knew that Alba could take it. Coming down, Rica winced at the current as it raced through her. She grit her teeth, but did not falter. Cindy would find the weight of her spear suddenly magnified by gravity spec, even as Rica darted to the side and launched a sharp punch at the arm still holding Alba. “The most random powerset,” she grumbled under her breath at the same time. Once Alba was released she would use her flexibility to slip out of the coils, returning her to the fight.
The punch knocking the grip loose on Alba, Cindy would shift and Rica would find her weapon magnetically attached to the other girl's fist. The metal knuckledusters would begin to heat up and burn as it began to turn red hot. Up until this point the girl had been content with trying to hinder her opponents with shocks and the like, that time was over. Already physically in contact it was trivial to use her Lightning magic to its full potency. In three quick bursts massive bolts would course through the girl with the very specific intent on guiding it through Rica's heart.
Rica’s eyes widened as she realized her error, her weapon fixed in place with magnetism. As it heated she hurriedly tried to withdraw her hand or dismiss her weapon, but was unable to do so before Cindy struck. Her back stiffened, eyes wide as the electricity stabbed towards its target. Then she dropped, hitting the ground with a heavy thud.
Having slipped free of the barrier, Alba took her companion’s fall about as well as one might expect of her. “You’ll pay for that!” A screech filled the air, Sound magic throwing out waves of force that would slam Cindy back into the wall. She grabbed her scythe, and sprinted forward for a savage decapitation strike.
While all that was going on, the space between Trixy and Isabelle continued to shrink.
Trixy fired two shots at Isabelle. The first was aimed at her sword holding hand, and the second one was aimed at the wall. It would turn into a small gnarled root and bounce off the wall, hopefully knocking the ankh free from her hand. Regardless of what happened, Trixy wouldn’t stop running closer.
“It doesn’t have to be like this,” Isabelle said as Trixy charged at her. Her confidence wavered as her hand was struck, healing artifact knocked to the ground before it could finish healing the whole wound. There was less luck with the sword though, mostly because Isabelle had been expecting such a move and was prepared for it. “This isn’t your fight. Just let us have the spear before something happens that you’ll regret. There’s no shame in not becoming involved in a squabble between gods.” She stepped back, fully suspecting that there was some trick at play here.
”A bit late to avoid getting involved, isn’t it? Don’t worry, this ain’t personal.”
There wasn’t anything special about Trixy’s charge. She kept periodically shooting her rifle at Isabelle. As she drew closer though, she’d take a hand off her gun and whip a vine out towards the ankh and pull it towards herself with a quick yank. It was flying straight for Trixy’s open mouth, which was wide enough to swallow the artifact in a single gulp.
Meanwhile, Dusty had given up on chasing the magical girl and had turned to assist Trixy. There were no mindful tactics here, just a straight bum rush for Isabelle.
While dealing with incoming gunfire Isabelle noticed Dusty’s approach, as well as the acorn she held on to. “Good. Then i won’t feel bad either,” she retorted before crushing the acorn that Dusty was holding in her cheek.
The sound of the acorn being crushed in Dusty’s mouth caused the clone to sigh. The Warehouse, the rave, and now the museum. Surviving wasn’t something she was very good at.
The acorn spell was designed to activate when the acorn was subjected to an impact, but there was little difference between being hurled at a wall and being crushed by gravity. Wooden roots emerged from Dusty’s mouth, separating her jaw from her skull and splitting her body down the middle. The roots curled around an empty space in front of her, vaguely looking like the ribcage of some long dead creature. The spell was designed as a desperate attempt to lock someone in place should Dusty only manage to grab hold of them. But in a display of true irony, the roots emerging from Dusty’s body were what did her in. Where there was once Dusty, there was now only dust.
“You should get back together.”
The wooden prison was thrown at Trixy, which knocked her off course for a moment. The still growing cage managed to lock around one of her arms. Trixy squeaked in surprise, stumbling as this new weight was attached to her arm. The display was unsightly, Isabelle looked like she was going to have the upper hand.
But Trixy wasn’t out of tricks yet.
Trixy expended her mana any time she accelerated the growth of a plant or forced it to move. This is partially why she seldom had her plants do anything more complex than initiate a quick growth spurt. But she had just eaten a magical artifact, and her mana regeneration was in overdrive. The cage climbed over her back, seeds spilled out of her hands, and she was once again in her plant exo-suit. She extended her hands towards Isabelle and charged, vines flying out of her palms
Backing off, her blade flashed in a war of attrition against the outstretched tendrils. But she could not hold for long, and soon found herself pulled into Trixy’s embrace.
”When I said nothing personal, I meant I don’t have to hurt you.” She sighed. ”My contract isn’t even for a full twenty-four hours.” Trixy pouted. ”Are you going to behave? You’re kind of cute but I’ll nibble your arms if you make me.” Her voice made it sound more like she was pleading than a threat.
“You won’t, but Set will. The memories of the gods are long, and their capacity for grudges is painful.”
Then she went for a headbutt. Their heads cracked together with a jarring impact, before she tilted herself backwards in Trixy’s embrace. At the same time she brute forced with gravity magic, yanking the exoskeleton forwards to dig into and then through Trixy. The fractured wood was cutting into her back. As the seconds ticked by, it was enough to draw blood. This was not a position Trixy could hold forever.
”Then we’ll make sure he knows you tried your best.”
Isabelle Would be able to free herself from the vines, but not Trixy. As soon as she pulled herself free, the maid lunged out of her “suit” as it crumbled behind herself. She fell onto her stomach, but was close enough that she could take hold of Isabelle's leg. There was no time to be indecisive, she bit through Isabelle’s knee.
Isabelle was prepared, biting down at the bite to her leg and ready with gravity magic to hold Trixy in place so there would be no way to dodge her blade. It might hurt her in the process, but that was something she could live with. Then she realized what was happening over on the other side of the hallway, bringing such violent notions to a sharp halt. “N-No,” she said, her voice trembling as she reached towards the fallen Rica. “P-Please, save my sister. She’s all I have. I’ll do anything!” Where she could be strong for herself, her resolve had now cracked entirely. How could she do otherwise for her Twin?
Isabelle might have been ready to end the fight, but Trixy wasn’t. Or perhaps because of Isabelle’s earlier conviction, she felt this was simply a ruse. She bit through the girl’s leg, and everything below her knee was gone in an instant. Then Trixy scrambled to her feet, holding the girl upright so that she wouldn’t fall over. She ignored Isabelle’s howl of pain
”What did you think I was going to do!?” Trixy sounded a bit perturbed. Isabelle’s blood was smeared over her chin. ”Alright, just sit tight and I’ll save her.”
Trixy shoved Isabelle into the remnants of her exosuit, which coiled around her form and locked her in place. Wounded and without a weapon, Trixy sprinted towards the other group of magical girls.
Mana was not a problem for Trixy right now. Between the healing artifact and leg she consumed, she was brimming with mana. What she lacked were seeds. Between the exosuit and all the barriers she made, there wasn’t a lot left over for an extended fight. Though there was one stash of seeds that hadn’t been utilized yet.
The katamari ball.
Isabelle had crushed the mass flat, but packed inside the broken fragments of the vine ball were many seeds that had yet to sprout. Like a soccer pro, she gave what remained of the ball a mighty punt.
The “ball” didn’t go nearly as far as it should have. A wad of broken vines was not the most aerodynamic shape in the world. But Trixy was strong enough to kick it towards the two fighting magical girls. And then, it exploded with growth. It did not discriminate. Alba and Cindy were equal game for the expanding vines. The only one who was spared was Rica, who seemed to be pushed by the vine mass if anything. Eventually, Trixy could bend over and pick up the magical girl. She examined the girl before looking into the mass of vines she had created.
”Are you jerks done fighting?” Alba was fully focused on getting her just revenge on Cindy, so much so that like the other fighter she was not prepared for the vines that she was suddenly swept up in. “H-Hey, what gives!” She thrashed, hacking and cutting at her bonds before she caught sight of Isabelle. “Sorry,” Isabelle muttered, averting her gaze. “I can’t. Not while Rica….”
Slammed against the wall, Cindy was ready to respond to the attack. The plant ball however was unexpected and while she attempted to block the vines she was still caught up in the tangle of them. For a moment she glared at Trixy for interrupting her plan. She was not as good with communicating her intentions as Janet had been. "How this resolves is up to them." Her head would swivel back to Alba. "What say you? The means to resuscitate her yet exist, but she has not long." For her, reviving Rica was a simple matter. The effect she induced was deliberate. Trixy may have sorted it out on her own already.
Alba growled, anger stewing for a few moments before she took a couple deep breaths. “Fine. Yeah, we’re done.” She might not like it, but she knew when the odds were against her. Set, this whole thing had been a mess.
With a snap of Trixy’s fingers, the vines parted around the two fighters. The exosuit also released Isabelle, and the wound in her leg was capped off by a wooden growth. It was by no means proper healing magic, but she would not bleed to death. One of the roots also took the form of a crutch under Isabelle’s arm. She then lowered Rika to the floor.
”Get her up.” Trixy walked towards her gun, which had fallen to the ground at some point during this fiasco.
Brushing her hair back behind her as she stepped forward, Cindy would kneel down by Rica. Stopping for a moment her eyes would look over the girl. She would reach one hand up and rest it on the downed girl’s forehead. Placing one hand against her chest and bringing the other down against her right side she would do her work. It didn’t cause the convulsive effect one might expect, Cindy could be much more precise than that, however after a few seconds her chest would rise as she started breathing again.
Standing she would glance over to Isabelle. ”She is stable, but she will not wake for some time.” Moving back she would look to Alba, who was the only one capable of carrying the unconscious girl. ”You may take her.”
Still grumbling under her breath, Alba restrained herself from further attacks as she was freed from the vines. Instead, like Trixy, she walked over to retrieve the one surviving Healing Artifact that had been forgotten about in all the chaos. With how the trio, well, duo, looked, they were going to need it.
Isabelle hobbled over, still getting used to operating on one and a half legs even with the crutch that Trixy had provided. Her eyes watered as Rica began to breathe once more, relief evident. “Thank you,” she said with a small bow.
Returning to the duo, Alba carefully hauled the unconscious gravity user over her shoulder. Without another word she turned and began walking out the way that they had came. Isabelle would pause rather than follow them. “I would say you should be careful, but honestly I don’t know. He may try to retaliate directly, or influence things in the future. Or he may not care about this at all. The battle between gods is eternal, so how much this actually matters is beyond my ability to judge.” Having given her pseudo-warning, Isabelle would slowly follow the others out of the museum.
As Isabelle was leaving, Cindy would respond. ”I have no qualms with your god. Please inform Set that your sister’s revival was with the understanding that in doing so it would keep her from the clutches of his brother in the underworld.” Seeing as the two siblings were in a rivalry, offering acknowledgement of their history could be of help. She knew enough that slighting Osiris in any way would likely be pleasing to the very one that effectively made him the Lord of the Dead.
As they left, silence descended once more.
It would be several hours before Thomas returned, plenty of time for them to recover and deal with the mess that had been made by the brief yet fierce fighting. The sun had not yet risen, though the time for it to do so was drawing near.
“Hello?” Thomas called as he stepped into the area where the spear had originally been stored. “Is anyone here?”
Recognizing the mind, Janet would emerge from further in the building with the spear. It was still in the protective barrier they’d placed on it the day before. ”Thomas, good to see you.” Raising the artifact for him to see she would offer a smile. ”As you can see all is well with the target.” She wasn’t quite going to remove the shielding just yet. Didn’t hurt to be cautious.
Trixy approached Thomas from the side, almost like she had been waiting in ambush for him. She hadn’t conversed much with Janet/Cindy since the last group of magical girls were repelled. ”You’re early.” Was all she said before extending her hand. Thomas nodded to Janet, pleased to see that the artifact was still there. While she was cautious, his mind and that of his familiar would read as the same as when they had last seen each either. “I’m glad to see it.”
Turning to Trixy, he would address her question as well. “Neith let me cut a couple of the less important rituals short when she became aware of the fighting here. If I promised to do it later, of course.” It took him a moment to realize what she was indicating, before his eyes widened. He turned his head, nodding to his Familiar. The ferret raced down and retrieved the acorn from his pocket, before scurrying along his outstretched arm to place it in Trixy’s hand. “One acorn, as requested.”
Trixy looked over the acorn. ”I doubt my lady approves of your mistress’s games. Less so when she involves her agents in them.” She slid the acorn into her pocket. ”When Veronica beckons, she’d better pull through.” Trixy took a step back and folded her arms.
Seeing the acorn Janet would place her other hand on the barrier and it would break with a crack of thunder. It apparently had a good amount of charge around it that would have done a number on most other magical girls. ”Then we’re done.” She placed the spear back in its case.
“She will,” Thomas assured Trixy. He was as sincere as he could be, whether she believed it or not. A wince followed at the crackle of thunder, but could appreciate how seriously they had taken this. “Good luck in whatever comes your way next.”
A subtle nod was the only thing Trixy did to acknowledge the boy before turning around to leave.
Janet would give a brief salute and follow Trixy out the door. As they left Thomas turned to the case, kneeling as he resumed carrying out his Goddess' rituals. Silence fell in the museum once more
Specialization: Portals, Light Power: Tentacles Perks: Gifted, I. Home, Blood M., Overcity S., I. Tourist, H. Handbag, Allies, Aware, A. Direction Benefits: C. Doom, Reason, Minions, Retrieval, M. Might, Mana Font. Drawbacks: Quick-T., Mind-Bent, Insomnia, Bane, H. Sapping Str: 4 Agi: 4 Vit: 4 Mag: 22 Lck: 10
Asi stated by the placed bounty, the crystal monster had taken up residence in a subway station. With the evacuation there were less passengers traveling overall, particularly after the disturbances of the past days. That meant those stations which typically saw low traffic were even less inhabited, making it perfect for any beast that might seek to make a lair out of them.
The station in particular was further from the downtown area, away from the port and the residential areas. This was likely why there was less traffic to it. It was on one of the branch lines, which ran a bit further down before heading back up and into the city.
A plaza was in front of the entrance to the subway itself, with a modestly sized fountain that was currently turned off for the winter season, as well as a statue to one of the cities historical founders of note. More importantly were the small crystals that could be seen growing from the ground, piercing through pavement and concrete in jagged clusters of the technicolor spectrum.
This was a result of the spreading influence let loose by the monster inside. One could feel it in their bones, the alien energy of another world that radiated from the crystals, the taste of the air as it shifted. Left unchecked it would only grow more prevalent and spread further.
But that was the purpose of the bounty. The call had gone out, and it had been answered. Now it was for those who had taken on the mantle of responsibility to challenge this foe in its lair and vanquish it…..
… Or simply relocate it. After all, who’d know the difference if Mariette simply had the core offered to Asengav? At the very least, that was what she was planning on attempting.
Mariette stood on top of a portal directed to the floor of a building some distance away, and then simply moved the portal forward as to float towards her target on a platform. In preparation, she put her arm into a portal, fired multiple beams of light over several seconds, and trapped these bolts of light into an endless loop between two portals within that same room so that she would have their firepower at a moment’s notice later on. Returning her arm, she looked down at Bunny, clasped under her arm, and then brought down her face to nuzzle her stuffed toy a bit, before opening her Hammerspace Handbag portal and placing him inside, right next to his wife Bunny recently made by Nuncio. Could get dangerous, would rather not hold him. So, Mariette now faced forward, towards the entrance of the subway, floating above the crystal-pierced ground…
Now, wasn’t there someone else that had also answered the call?
“This hunt again!?” An angry pink haired shrine maiden had her sword drawn, and was closing in on the monster’s lair. “It hasn’t even been three months and the grand magistrate sees fit to give us a re-skin of a quest!” She scoffed. “What is this, a JRPG? Oh nooooooo that would have been a palette swap!” After her outburst, she started to chuckle. “Let’s hope Sakura didn’t get this one. Maybe the outcome will be a little different.” She sniffed the air, and her nose guided her head in Mariette’s direction. “Holy shit, what the hell smells so good?” The shrine maiden sheathed her weapon and galloped towards Mariette on all fours. Once she reached that sweet spot where she was in the portal witch’s vicinity but also far enough away as to not be a threat, she stood up and dusted off her hands. “Hahaha! The hell are you doing out here by yourself? Don’t you have minions to do this sort of thing?” The maiden placed her hands on her hips. “Let’s get the introductions out of the way so that we can start this hunt proper.” She placed a hand on her chest. “I’m Oros. You’re Mary. Since you don’t have any minions, you’re going to need a bodyguard.” Her eyelids lowered in a seductive manner. ”A guard… for your body.” She hugged herself. ”And I’m in need of a body… to guard.”
Mariette was gently opening a couple tiny portals from her eye to around her to see in all directions and not be caught off-guard, was promptly caught off-guard by the shrine maiden chasing at her direction on all fours and was almost in a state of shooting her with a blast of light while drifting away on the portal she was standing on before Oros came to a stop, Mariette looking at her somewhat in alarm, not having fired yet. Still, then she could calm down and hear her out.
‘… There are some things my minions aren’t suited to handle. Very well, Oros. You may guard me during this mission. … At a distance. Over there. Without touching. Stay in front of me,’ Mariette said, a bit uncomfortable with Oros’ mannerism towards the end, there. ‘Leave the scouting and supporting firepower to me. My portals will ensure distance is not a factor. What of you? What capabilities do you hold?’
Oros did as was instructed. Her hips swung with each step, like she was a fashion model. ”I’m glad you specified ‘over there’ and ‘without touching,’ because I would have tickled your butt with a tentacle.” Oros rolled her shoulders before settling in place. She didn’t take her eyes off Mariette. ”Other than tickle torture, I can do this thing where anything within reach of my sword gets stabbed. I’m also pretty good at getting stabbed, bludgeoned, and whatever else my partner can throw at me. And I’ve got a nifty space filled with useless shit.” She reached into her robes and pulled out a desk lamp. ”But there’s more to me than my kit, Mary. You sure you don’t want to talk about my other interests? Maybe my tragic backstory or something?”
‘My b…? Why would you…?’ Mariette looked perplexed. She didn't get it. Then Oros said, in an actually slightly amusing way, that she's a physical Magical Girl with Hammerspace. Okay. Then that last point… Mariette visibly reeled. Sure, she knew she was supposed to make allies whenever she could, to make it less likely the entire town would try to destroy her when the time came, and additionally, she had a report on Oros from the park event… but, like, watching Oros movements was making her uncomfortable… Still, she… ‘W… w… wwww…’ Mariette sighed. ‘… Wwwwwould you like to exchange phone numbers so that we may attempt saving one another from trouble in the future?’ Mariette asked, awkwardly.
Oros shook her head with a chuckle, and a phone appeared in her hand. ”Pumpkin, you can save me any day of the week. So long as my ‘trouble’ is being really frickin’ bored.” She navigated through the menus until she got to her number, which she displayed for Mariette. When Mariette shared her number, Oros programmed it in. ”And of course I’ll save you Mary. if I don’t save your sorry ass when it’s in trouble, how will I be able to tickle it? GAHAHAHA!” Oros stashed her phone. ”Anyway, I get it. You’re all business because you don’t want to wait three months to finish the hunt. That’s fine, I’ve got your number and your scent.” She turned towards the subway. Every muscle in her body tensed up, and her hand came down on the hilt of her blade. ”You wanted to scout, right?” Oros lurched forward. ”Direct me, and I’ll follow.”
Mariette was a bit confused by the constant references to the rear end, but she was thankful to get the number, anyway. So, she nodded to the having number and scent after a while. ‘Thank you,’ she simply said, and then the both of them could face towards the subway. ‘Alright. My portals will go first. Then we’ll see,’ Mariette said, and held forward her hand-mirror. Multiple portals formed, half forming a wall in front of both of them and the other half forming a geometric shape looking in most directions (including up and down) further forward, letting them look in all directions through the wall and at everything surrounding the “scout”. She then let the geometric shape of portals drift inside the station, to scout out how it looked inside, them able to see in most directions from it by the use of the wall of portals before them, at a notable distance for their own safety.
Now, the “scout” had no agility at all, if it was attacked it’d be destroyed if the attacks hit the edges or the attacks would pass straight through the portals. ‘Be wary that enemy attacks may pass through my portals,’ Mariette warned, raising her own tentacles from her shadow just in case.
”Things can pass through your portals? Impossible!” Oros didn’t look away from the portal wall. ”I feel like I should be in there. Hopefully we you find something soon.” Oros might not have been able to participate directly, but her bestial senses were far greater than any humans, and most magical girls.
Downwards the scout descended into the station. It moved along long hallways, past opened and emptied rooms as they drew nearer to the train platforms. At least the avenues of attack were relatively limited in this space.
At first things seemed fairly normal. A normal train station, no worse off than the plaza outside was. But as the scout moved further in the environment began to change. The oppressive feeling of alien magic hung in the air, with groupings of multicolored crystals stabbing out from the walls, floor, and ceiling at seemingly random intervalds. The tile floor grew increasingly cracked until it vanished entirely, replaced by cavernous stone.
Crystals and stone were not the only addition to this place. As it drew near the steps that led to the platform, the scout would see a pool of black liquid, viscous and impenetrable. Crystals floated within it, and with reduced distance the pool began to stir. Ripples raced across its surface in unseen tremors agitating it.
The liquid then began to rise into the air, drawing together and coalescing into a bipedal form A grinding shriek filled the air as it finished constituting itself, before it turned. It then leapt at the portals, sharp claws outstretched and ready to gouge at the magical girls who seemingly laid in wait so close. This being did not seem to have the magical strength to accomplish what had been done here, merely a minion rather than the true boss. Just another obstacle on the path to resolving this situation.
Oros sprinted forward. The creature’s thrust came through the portal, and she turned her body sideways. Her sword scraped along the creature’s crystalline arm, causing a few sparks to fly. She used her empty hand to grab hold of the creature’s arm. Though as she reached, her arm took on the same features as the monster she was fighting. Her fingers became long like talons, her flesh became black liquid, and her bones and nails were radiant crystal. She tugged on the creature’s arm to pull it off balance before thrusting her sword into its head.
”A new one for the bestiary!”
Hm, that was an interesting creature. Mariette considered if she could cripple it and lock it up for examination- aaaaaaaand Oros was already upon it. Mariette grunted a bit but started to walk forward towards the portals, raising the hand with her hand-mirror to potentially shoot a blast of light if Oros looked like she needed the support. Mariette then wandered through one of her own portals and onto another portal, because she couldn’t bring normal portals through portals, but she didn’t want to stand on this ground in fear of crystal sprouting whenever, so onto another platform portal it was. She then shut the scout and replaced it with tiny portals linking directly to her eye that looked in various directions right next to her body, including down and up, and then trust her awareness and tentacles to catch any further attack. Then she drifted after Oros for now.
While throwing the beast off balance was less effective than what one might have desired, the sword to the head did the job just fine. Threw was a screech and the shattering of crystal, and for a moment the monster stiffened. Then it began to dissolve, the energy from the crystal body no longer present to keep it constituted now that it had been destroyed. The liquid flowed back down into a puddle, only dirtying Oros’ outfit a little bit in the process.
”Felled in one shot! Haha!” Oros looked at their outfit. ”Normally I’d wear my enemy’s gore with pride, but this shit is COLD!” Her crystalline arm acted as a part of the construct, and it drew the black liquid off of her outfit. Once she had it all gathered up, she flicked it away, leaving her outfit in pristine condition. ”So did you see that Mary? You didn’t wanna-” The portal scout closed, causing the portal wall, too, to close up. ”Mary? Mary!? MARY!!!” Oros’s arm returned to normal, and she galloped into the subway.
With the creature destroyed, Mariette could proceed unimpeded down the stairs to the main platform area. Where once there would have been turnstiles now there were no longer any such obstacles. However she would be able to see a couple of those same pools of black liquid up ahead, providing another nuisance to deal with as they plunged deeper into the lair.
”There you are!” Oros slowed her approacht. She looked visibly pale, but color returned to her face when Mariette was in sight. ”Are you upset that I killed that creature so quickly?” She bowed her head and turned towards the puddles. ”If so, you take these next two if you’d like. I’ll only intervene if they get close.” She stepped in front of Mariette and faced the puddles.
Now, Mariette hadn’t really been intending to leave Oros behind, simply figuring the girl would have no trouble catching up again. Mariette looked with the mildest of befuddlement back when she heard Oros scream after her behind, and then kept looking the same as Oros looked so pale when she appeared. Still, the offer to destroy those creatures herself… ‘I’ll accept your generous offer,’ Mariette said.
Mariette blasted a modestly weak shot of light at each of the puddles of liquid, simply intent on waking the beasts up, for they were far easier to handle when they were in a humanoid shape. She then reached out in her dimensional space so that her portal-range encompassed the entities, so that next she could make portals appear from in front of her to around them, after which she shot precision blasts of light to start needling off their limbs. Assuming everything went as intended, she’d then open an array of small portals around her directly to the crystal minions that her tentacles dove through, intent on gripping and restraining the minions. Should that be successful, she’d open a portal to her Interdimensional Home, to the protected Void Room, on the ground in front of her using her hand-mirror, and then one by one create a portal underneath the crystal minions directly to the hole in reality to have her tentacles pull them into her storehouse from which she could sacrifice them to Asengav… if everything went smoothly, anyway.
The shots would wake up the monsters, as she had intended. However, one would also note something odd occurring. As the second ball of light flew forwards, it passed by one of the clusters of crystals coming out of the wall. The glow of said crystals began to rise, illuminating particulates floating in the air. Conversely the glow of the ball of light magic seemed to diminish, almost as if it was losing energy. Strange.
Screeches of anger and frustration filled the air as Mariette unleashed her tentacles on the beasts. They tried to slash with sharp claws but found little purchase with how they were restrained.Instead the inky blackness that made up their forms began moving along her tentacles as if intent on going directly back to the source. One of them did get free by outright separating its arm, but it had to regrow the limb and did not have enough time to complete that before both it and its companion were pulled down into her Void Room. It seemed that this had all gone pretty well so far.
”Oh right, I forgot you had tentacles.” Oros looked over her shoulder. ”Anyway, I hope you don’t mind me saying that was kind of sloppy. That one there almost got away.” She pointed at herself with her thumb. ”You should practice with me. I could give you all kinds of pointers.” Her toothy grin was so big she had to close her eyes to display it.
She turned back towards the severed arm, which had become a puddle. ”So what do we know about these creatures? It seems their cores are able to manipulate the black gunk however they please, and the crystal formations on the wall absorb your light magic.” She scratched her chin. ”I feel like this is going to be important when we come across the main creature. We need to learn as much as we can now.” She squinted her eyes. ”But what happens if a person moves closer to a charged crystal?” She stared at it for a few seconds before raising her sword in the air. ”Steel yourself Mary! I’m going to take one for the team! Gahahahaha!” Oros charged towards the glowing crystal.
‘It did not get away,’ Mariette firmly said, absolutely minding, though her gaze was currently on the crystal that had seemingly sapped the blast’s powers. Did their foe have magic-draining abilities? If so, this could be troublesome… but also of much greater value should they manage to capture it. Better send something to test it out… … … ‘Sure. Knock yourself out,’ Mariette responded to Oros statements and simply kept herself ready to open portals and have tentacles grab her to pull her back and save her if something went awry.
As Oros charged forwards, the crystal would react to her presence once she drew close enough. A burst of colored lightning reached out from the pointed tip of the cluster, striking the girl and filling the air around her. Fortunately it had not absorbed much energy from the previous magical attack so any potential harm that might come of it was significantly reduced. It also seemed to be limited to that ‘cloud’ that they had witnessed when Mariette was fighting the monsters, so it had been an informative experiment too.
”Hah! That felt invigorating!” Oros’s hair was standing up on her head. Save her pony tail, which froze in the shape of a jagged lightning bolt. ”Do I look better like this? I don’t have a mirror on me.” She sheathed her sword. ”Let’s get a move on. I’ll stay in front of you just like before.”
‘…’ Mariette stared at the crystal/what may remain of it. She then extended a tentacle and checked if that one would be absorbed, too. It was magic, but it wasn’t specialization magic, so to say. If the tentacle was unaffected, she’d have it grab a piece of crystal, before dropping that, too, into the Void Room. If it was affected, guess she’d abstain for now. ‘You look fine. Let’s move on,’ Mariette said, opening some portals a bit further in to scout but keeping those around her looking about as they went further in. All while Oros giggled to herself.
Mariette would find that the crystal did not react to the presence of her tentacle. A sample was thus easily retrieved and stored in her void room before the duo progressed onwards.
Proceeding to the train station platforms, they would find that mundane reality had shifted to whatever strange world their foe came from. Tile and dull white had transformed to stone and crystal. While the tracks were still there, no doubt in time they would vanish as well. And at one end of the platform was a ramp that went downwards, turning this place into a multi-leveled cavern.
Clusters of crystal jutted from stone, meshing with shimmering pillars of light and more exotic formations. While not impossible to avoid, they were certainly more prevalent here. Foreign magic hung heavy in the air, and the further in they moved the more Oros would notice herself becoming lighter. It was as if the alien nature of whatever was here was warring with the gravity and physics itself. Mariette would not feel the same though, thanks to her portal magic enabling her movement.
The third layer would be the bottom, with pools of black liquid similar to those above dotting around the area. In the middle of the floor was a series of four crystal spires in a ring. These glowed differently, more vibrantly than the others. Close inspection could see that they were engraved with some alien language, and a mist flowed around them for some strange purpose.
And floating in the middle of that circle was a large being. No doubt the mastermind behind all of this, it loomed over both Oros and Mariette. The time to settle this was at hand.
As they moved along, Mariette would reach out with tentacles and break more crystals as if they were prevalently in the way for a potential action-sequence, perhaps dropping a few more of them into the portal to the Void Room but then throwing others to the side, simply. Then, there was the great monster that they’d come here to engage, and it was something, alright. A thrust from one of those weapons was sure to be the end of an unprepared Magical Girl. Mariette raised a hand towards it. ‘Are you prepared?’ Mariette asked. ‘Hm, those four crystals around it… it’s possible a magical assault would be ineffective,’ Mariette plainly stated. … This followed with Mariette’s tentacles lifting a couple of those crystals, pulling back in a preparation to throw.
”Not quite Mariette, I need to enjoy this just a second or so longer.” Oros’s eyes were transfixed on her chest as she hopped straight up and down. ”Sloooooow motiooooon jiggle physics!” She looked to Mariette and, sensing her disappointment, shrugged her shoulders. ”I mean I can’t do a bay watch joke because Lily beat me to it last season. Anyway, let’s prep.” Oros walked around Mariette in a circle and pulled out several stone slabs. The alien etching on the side made them look like sacrificial alters, and the blood stains on a few of them further promoted that idea. After lowering her sixth one, she dusted off her hands. ”There we go. I’m sure you can do something with these.” She turned to face the giant creature. ”I’m going to refer to him as the BAMF from here on out, okay?” Oros looked at the BAMF and squinted her eyes.
Mariette gave Oros a confused look about the “slow motion jiggle physics”. She didn’t get it. Though, then she nodded about being able to do something with the stone slabs. She just walks around with stone slabs, huh. Now, then. ‘Bamf it is,’ albeit Mariette had no idea where that expression came from.
The largest obstacle with giving humans the ability to fly is that they are three times heavier than they should be, and thus need large wings that no human would be strong enough to flap. Fortunately, Oros was far stronger than three grown men. A pair of butterfly wings popped out of her back, giving her the appearance of a dark fairy. Insect wings like these were preferable to bird wings for a few reasons. Butterflies were one of the few creatures that could hover in place, were plenty nimble, and it freed up her arms to hold her sword and other objects. The only downside that Oros had considered was that her wings were frail, and herflying speed was lower than it would be with a pair of avian wings.
”Just open a portal for me if you need me back here. But I’m taking the fight right to this BAMF!”
With a powerful sprint, Oros darted towards the BAMF at full speed, using her gravity magic to keep her traction up. Before she got too close to the crystals, she’d arm herself with a metal dagger courtesy of her hammerspace and chuck it at one of the crystals.
As the duo moved in the crystalline monster would respond to their presence. It turned, a low whine filling the air as it protested their presence here. The dagger flew out, impacting the crystal before bouncing away. No surprise there, it was tougher than your average rock when up against mundane weapons. Any cracks that might have been present remained small, for now. Then Oros had more to worry about as crystals rose from the ground and shot towards her like javelins. With the sharp tips that they had, getting hit was going to hurt.
At the same time the pools of black ink coalesced into more of those monsters that the duo had faced before. They would rush forwards, targeting whichever girl was nearest and forcing both to contend with at least a handful of foes while the main enemy continued to launch its crystal projectiles at them.
”Shitsicles!”
With crystals coming at her and enemies coming from either side, things looked bad for Oros. She made a sharp turn and ran straight for one of the mobs headed her way. The incoming crystal shards now had to turn mid air or lead their target if they wanted to hit her. ”Alright bro, it’s just you and-” Oros reached over her head, and a metal cage slightly bigger than two of the creatures appeared in her hands. It had metal bars on all four walls, a solid roof, and no floor. She hopped into the air and slammed it down on top of them.
”Yoink!”
Oros cut off her gravity magic and pushed off the cage, allowing her to soar into a loop as the crystals still trailed her. She attempted to fly beside the rest of the mob so that the incoming crystal projectiles would strike them first.
”How are you holding up, Mary?”
Hm, Mariette thought as she looked on. More enemies formed. Very well, then.
She opened portals under the rock slabs that Oros had presented to her, leading to somewhat above where the rock slabs had been lying. This led to them immediately starting to fall, and reaching some horrific falling speeds as the portals formed an eternal tunnel around her. Her tentacles lashed out at the creatures closest to her, and… then she opened a new portal, rerouting the falling rock slabs so they would fly out at the optimum angle to utterly demolish as many of the opposing minions as possible, and then she sent one of the rock slabs falling at terminal velocity towards one of the four crystals surrounding their foe for the sake of it.
She grabbed some of the remaining rock slabs with her tentacles to use as shields if needed. Or to slam down any remaining enemy minions with, her tentacles wielding them as weapons and swinging about to slam them out of her way. ‘I’m doing relatively fine, thank you,’ Mariette answered Oros, mostly because the big foe wasn’t shooting at her yet. Let’s see if that would change after she directed her firepower at it.
Oros would quickly learn that the crystal projectiles did not have homing capability, so a simple dodge was enough to safeguard herself from them. Her cage trap was more effective, leaving the minions trapped. They hammered at the sides before approaching things from a more tactical angle, wrapping the bars in that black substance. With her Awareness, Oros could see the metal bars begin changing into the same sort of crystal that comprised their bodies. That could be a problem later.
With more crystals incoming, the other minions trying to attack her would suffer as well. Someone would have limbs severed, forced to fall back and regrow them before they could rejoin the fight. Only one or two fell permanently, but with the rest of the damage done it meant there were only two left to leap at her. They claws glittered, seeking to scratch and tear at whatever they could reach.
Mariette’s rock trick would smash many of the minions who had risen up as well, before they could reach either magical girl present. While a handful were able to reform, more had been destroyed to such an extent where they were simply dead. Yet that did not stop more minions from emerging, rising from black ooze and answering the call of their master. As for the remaining rock, that was when the Creature would reveal a new trick.
The glow of light radiating from its core intensified, traveling up its long arms. When they were brought together a radiant beam of energy lashed out, shattering the rock slab before sweeping towards Mariette. It would go for several seconds before ending, leaving them a new danger to deal with.
Mariette was considering that it was probably a good idea to dispose of the liquid, when suddenly Bamf shot a huge laser first taking out the rock and then sliding towards her. Well. Sweeping lasers were a problem, they couldn’t be portalled because they’d just hit the edge first-
The portal girl dove headfirst into a portal to the other side of big, crystal and ugly, trying to make it low to make sure she didn’t hurt herself too badly when she hit the ground. She made one of her tentacles raise a stone slab in defense as she did, but as the monster had just demonstrated, they wouldn’t be a very capable defense. Mariette’s next course of action would be decided if she managed to hit the floor safely.
Meanwhile, Oros had changed the composition of her body again. Her arms and legs had turned into that black matter her enemies were made out of, with crystal cores acting as her bone structure. She had just dispatched the two creatures that had jumped at her with a single swing of her katana. ”These guys are kind of cool!” The crystal barrage had momentarily stopped, and the minions in the immediate vicinity had been vanquished. It was Oros’s cue to move. She hopped back into the air and flew towards the BAMF.
”Let’s see if it’s immune to monster damage!”
Oros had been splattered with some of the foreign black substance. She snapped off her ‘pinkie’ and used that to act as a core for all the extra material. The pinky crystal soon turned into a dagger. While she sprinted, she hurled the knife at the crystal again.
”And if all else fails… Kamikazeeeeeeeee!” Oros raised her sword over her head and prepared to give the crystal a beating.
There would be no deterrent to Mariette jumping through the portal. The landing was about as rough as landing on stone normally would be, not helped by the edges of crystal fragments, but better than it could have been. The slab ended up being unnecessary as well, as the laser ended before it could track around to her new position.
Even if it had not, Oros drew its attention on her own. In this case it seemed that like did not harm like, or at the very least the big one was made of harder stuff than its minions. The dagger would ricochet off of its hard exterior in a different direction, as it turned to face her and her war cry.
An arm rose, white lines tracing themselves along the low half before the crystal launched forward like the ones on the ground. This time the large object separated into numerous smaller ones along those white lines, a hail of shrapnel to catch her head on. The crystal then began floating away and upwards, even as the limb started to regrow itself.
Alright, Mariette thought with a grunt as she looked up from where she now lay. Time for portal battle strategy 101.
From where she now lay, Mariette waved forward her hand-mirror, which shimmered with power as portals opened as she predicted the opponent’s attack. It was two portals opened right next to one another, one facing the monster’s shrapnel and one facing Oros. If Mariette’s magic worked as intended and with enough speed, one portal caught the hail of shrapnel and sent it back at the attacker from another portal above the Bamf, while Oros found herself relocated to a portal in mid-air behind their giant foe, unless she felt like dodging the portal, that is, Mariette gave some room for Oros to recognize where the portal was taking her and make her own decision. Meanwhile, she herself opened a portal in front of herself as a shield preemptively, leading to just behind her for now.
"What is this shit?" Oros allowed herself to fall into the portal Mariette had set out for her. "I didn't even hit it and it already shattered!"
Perhaps the BAMF itself would be more of a challenge. Oros’s flesh returned to normal, even her wings had vanished. Instead she gave the BAMF’s torso its own gravitational field. This allowed Oros to stand on its back. "Have you ever played Shadow of the Colossus? Spoiler alert!" She drove her sword as deep into the creature’s back as she could. She had seen a crystal core in it’s chest, and if it was anything like its underlings, maybe it had a weakness too.
Crystals assaulted the monster from above, its own barrage directed back at it. They clattered off and stale to the floor, chipping and lightly fracturing the main body to give it more wounds to heal up.
Oros would run into her own difficulty as she tried to apply Gravity magic to the monster, for it countered with its own alien magics that she had already experienced when approaching the fight. It shifted beneath her feet, throwing off her aim and keeping her blade from stabbing into center of mass as she had intended.
"Agro!"
It then turned as her perch was disturbed by the conflicting gravity magic, remaining limb crackling with energy as it stabbed at her. Its other arm was just about finished regrowing too, and while the big one contended with Oros the minions turned their attention to Mariette as well as they clambered towards her to slash and claw without hesitation.
Without her wings or gravity magic to hold her up, there wasn’t much Oros could do to evade the BAMF’s incoming strike. She pulled another stone altar out of her hammer space and used it to block the incoming blow. She clung to it, with one hand holding the top of the massive stone, and another clung to the side. She was pressing herself against it as flat as possible.
The stone would dampen the lighting charge its weapon was powered with, but such a heavy blow was more than enough to decimate a mundane block of stone. It split the stone in half, ready to plow through whatever was on the other side. But the stone had broken in half with the center swinging outward into Oros. Because she was holding onto the upper half, the stone block acted as a hinge, throwing Oros’s body upwards and away from the force of impact. Such a blow would wreck a normal human, but for Oros, it was just another tuesday.
"Agro, I’ll avenge you!"
Once again, Oros sprouted butterfly wings. This time however, all she was doing was redirecting her momentum. She looped up and around, taking all of her momentum and using it to get back at the BAMF. No screw ups this time, she aimed to take the BAMF’s head with a swing of her blade.
Mariette stood up and took a step back onto a portal that then floated away from the minions while she considered a plan. Right, let’s remove the annoying little ones first. There were pools of liquid. Mariette spread her realm of influence, and Absolute Direction located an abandoned cellar with a locked door… she’d be taking a look at what she’d done later, but for now she opened portals from the pools of liquid into said cellar, intent on letting it drip away from the battlefield and be rendered meaningless for the sake of the current battle, while Mariette let her tentacles slap some minions that were getting too close. They should be adequate, as Mariette floated a bit further up.
The portal opened, Mariette implementing her scheme. She would find that it was slower than expected, as if the strange substance was resisting being pulled through the portal into a different realm. It was native to this alien space after all, and whatever odd force there was did not intend to part so easily.
As Oros came back for her strike after being thrown away, she would be assaulted from two directions. Crystal projectiles shot upwards to meet her in flight. More importantly, she would be able to see that same buildup in the crystal being from before. Its arms came together, another laser fired head on at her. Power against power, magic against magic, and their foe did not intend to back down.
Then Mariette figured, she’d just have to make it go through. Mariette created another portal, that just led into solid ground. Then, she’d have that portal shovel the liquid into the portal, force it through, administrating small movements to have it go through… also, that’s a laser. Mariette directed her other hand, and assuming she was too high for the minions to disturb, she took the remaining stone slab and chucked it at the somewhat cracked crystal, while Oros was distracting the big beast, while also using Absolute Direction to find other decently large rocks or heavy things outside of Penrose.
As sturdy as Oros was, there was only so much she could do against the full might of a magical laser. She was forced to bank away from the BAMF when it opened fire on her. She was sturdy and tolerant to pain, but the lazer cooked her arm in seconds. Her arm flaked away as soon as she took evasive maneuvers. Fortunately her close proximity to the BAMF meant that the laser couldn’t track her so easily. But she had been put on the defensive.
At least, until Mariette scored a hit with her stone projectile.
The BAMF rocked in place, slicing the side of the subway open with its weapon. Then another rock out of nowhere, then an entire car, The monster was briefly off guard, and Oros had been granted a second opening. Maybe this time, she could do something without getting totally cucked by flying projectiles, anti-magic, or lasers. Melee fighters needed a buff for sure. Oros looked down at Mariette’s position and immediately understood what she was trying to do. But Oros knew she could do her one better.
"Mary! Open another portal over here! Give that black shit to me!"
Funny thing about cars. Mariette couldn’t lift cars, but she sure could open portals under them, let gravity speed them up and then redirect the bottom portal to fling the cars at the magic-resistant enemy. Then, Oros asked to get the “black shit”. The liquid? … Fine. Mariette rerouted the portal that was taking the liquid.
A portal opened up over Oros. Normally the tar would be hard to move, but since Oros could replicate the cores of the monsters, she had no problem drawing the black mass towards herself. She tucked her knees against her chest as her entire body turned into a solid crystal. The ooze surged through the portal and surrounded the core, assimilating into a larger Oros. Her katana was too small for this form, but she held the blade between the fingers of her closed fist.
The Bamf was getting pounded by Mariette’s projectiles, but it would find a moment of reprieve to counter attack. The laser started up again and was going to cut through Oros’s “ribcage.” But it was too little too late.
"This is for exhausting my Shadow of the Colossus jokes without dieing!"
The one armed maiden drove her sword, and her fist by extension, as deep into the BAMF as it would go.
While she did that, Mariette figured she could do something dramatic too. She found a truck, filled to the brim, the driver currently out for a bathroom break. She opened a distant portal, straining somewhat to get the size, to make the bottom half tip and start dragging the whole thing down with it, brakes be damned. She let it fall from one portal to another behind her to make sure it gained in speed. As she did, she jumped forward out of a portal to be closer to the beast, behind it. Then, the truck came through a portal above the giant beast, and Mariette placed her hands on the floor beneath, her hand-mirror in one.
‘Fall!’ Mariette commanded, straining her magic to open as wide a portal into the Void Room as needed, hoping it would be shocked enough by Oros strike into its depths that the truck would smash it down into Mariette’s little room of sacrifice.
Both blows struck, one infused by magic and the other infused with sufficient kinetic energy. While it might have been able to handle one of those, both of them together was too much. The room was filled with a myriad of sound, from straining metal to loud ‘cracks’ of shattering crystal.
Down the monster went from the sudden impact, nearly dragging Oros with it in the process. While Mariette would get her wis the monster was significantly reduced from the simultaneous impacts. Chunks of crystal had been left on the ground around them and its inner light flickered and sputtered from the damage to its core. It would not be healing on its own.
At the same time the crystal pillars near them began to emit a low whine as their inner glow brightened. The alien magical energy intensified, the brunt of it seemingly directed to the monster in the portal as it shook and shimmered. Who knew what it could be building up to?
"Did it just get isekai'd?"
The black fluid fell away from Oros’s body as she fell from the sky. One armed with a singed torso, but still able to land on her feet.
"I wonder if I can regrow my limbs with this? Something to ask the Grand Magistrate later I suppose."
That went pretty well, Mariette decided. Still, the building sound made her think she didn't want to stick around. With a grunt, she dispelled the portal she'd just hit the bamf down into and then opened portals beneath her and Oros feet to the top of a building near the entrance of the subway, intent on not being around there whenever the build up met the breaking point.
The two girls would be disappointed, as no explosion followed their departure. Instead the magical energy diminished and dwindled, cycled out by the natural energy of the Earth now that the beast was not around to maintain it. Soon the environment would return to normal, though there was still extensive damage to the station and the cavern nearby that would need to be fixed. But perhaps it could be an opportunity for development in the future.
For now, Oros had a new monster to study, Mariette had a new (if injured) sacrifice for her patron. By all accounts, this had been a very successful outing.
Deep beneath the ground, crystals glittered in the dark as they were swept along by an underground stream. They radiated energy, minute and hard to notice on their own. Perhaps something would come of this in the future, but that was for another time. For now, the duo could relish in their victory.
So Beacon patron goals have been defined. Please add these to your character sheets for the relevant characters somewhere.
Patron Goals: Low Priority: Protected normal magical girls from harm Medium Priority: Purified/killed corrupted foe High Priority: Disrupt a Horror's Ritual
op2024
VitaVitaAR
Izurich
Genkai
twave
Knight 7
