Ponn

MAGILOCK=DRAGOKEY [Magical Girl Harem Thing]

Okay, just posted her.

Your own CS gave me some inspiration for her ARMARUNE's name.

MAGILOCK=DRAGOKEY [Magical Girl Harem Thing]

Miki

"Let's just chill for a bit, okay?"

Name: Miki Miyazono (Cerulean Cascade)

Gender: Female

Age: 16

Role: MAGILOCK

Contracted to: Aquisia, an ARMARUNE resembling an elegant-looking water pistol. She has a very calm, polite, and encouraging personality, much like Miki herself while in MAGILOCK form. In terms of her use as a weapon, the water Aquisia shoots never runs out, and can be controlled by Miki, who can change its pressure and direction of travel. In particular, she can turn the stream into a powerful piercing jet that would put the best pressure washer to shame, while at the same time causing that jet to curve around corners to strike hiding enemies.

When Miki is fused with a DRAGOKEY, Aquisia splits into two elegant pistols, with small, curved daggers protruding from their hand grips.

Abilities: Can control and manifest water. This can be used to form cutting jets, whip-like tendrils, swirling vortices, spheres of water to serve as cushions or prisons, and walls of water to block attacks. She also possesses some minor healing abilities.

MAGILOCK=DRAGOKEY Abilities: When fused with a DRAGOKEY, Miki's abilities are boosted to include mastery of ice and steam.

History: Miki was just a normal teenage girl until the fateful day she came across an ornate and elegant water pistol of unusual design. Far stranger than its appearance was the fact that it was, for lack of a better word, alive. It told Miki that it was an ARMARUNE, and that it had found her worthy of its mystic power. If the tomboy was willing to make a contract with her, the ARMARUNE would bestow upon her the power to fight the SEVENSIN, vile creatures that were filling the world with great misery and strife. Although initially shaken by these revelations, Miki was a kind-hearted girl who cared greatly for the wellbeing of others, and so it didn’t take long for her to agree to make a contract with the talking toy and become a MAGILOCK.

Since that day, Miki has battled the SEVENSIN, while also keeping up with her athletics and schoolwork. Living a double life has certainly been exhausting, but Miki doesn’t regret her decision one bit, although she often thinks that it might be nice to have someone to share her secret with. Not her childhood friend, though. That would just be too embarrassing…

Personality: A sporty tomboy, Miki has a laid-back, “go with the flow” personality. Although normally not one to take anything particularly seriously, she makes a notable exception for swimming. She has always loved the water and is an avid swimmer. As a star member of her school’s swim team, she puts an intense focus on practicing not seen elsewhere in her life. She also likes to tell jokes (especially to cheer people up) and has a good sense of humor.

When transformed, she takes on a more gentle and soft-spoken demeanor. Sweet and loving, she speaks in a tranquil and soothing manner, offering kind words of reassurance and encouragement to others, and wishing for everyone to get along. She is also unfailingly polite, never swearing or using harsh language.

MAGILOCK Form

In her MAGILOCK form, Miki (or rather, Cerulean Cascade) wears an elaborate dress, decorated with flowers and bows. Normally, she would never be caught dead wearing something so girly, but with the more serene persona of her magical alter ego she gains a greater acceptance of it.

MAGILOCK=DRAGOKEY Form

When fused with a DRAGOKEY, Cerulean Cascade takes on a much more mature and voluptuous appearance. Her modest dress is replaced with the skimpy outfit of a dancer, granting her much greater freedom of movement, and allowing her to manipulate her element in a far more graceful and elegant manner.

MAGILOCK=DRAGOKEY [Magical Girl Harem Thing]

Okay, here's what I've come up with-

Miki

Name: Miki Miyazono (Cerulean Cascade)

Gender: Female

Age: 16

Role: MAGILOCK

Contracted to: Aquisia, an ARMARUNE resembling an elegant-looking water pistol. She has a very calm, polite, and encouraging personality, much like Miki herself while in MAGILOCK form. In terms of her use as a weapon, the water Aquisia shoots never runs out, and can be controlled by Miki, who can change its pressure and direction of travel. In particular, she can turn the stream into a powerful piercing jet that would put the best pressure washer to shame, while at the same time causing that jet to curve around corners to strike hiding enemies.

When Miki is fused with a DRAGOKEY, Aquisia splits into two elegant pistols, with small, curved daggers protruding from their hand grips.

Abilities: Can control and manifest water. This can be used to form cutting jets, whip-like tendrils, swirling vortices, spheres of water to serve as cushions or prisons, and walls of water to block attacks. She also possesses some minor healing abilities.

MAGILOCK=DRAGOKEY Abilities: When fused with a DRAGOKEY, Miki's abilities are boosted to include mastery of ice and steam.

History: Miki was just a normal teenage girl until the fateful day she came across an ornate and elegant water pistol of unusual design. Far stranger than its appearance was the fact that it was, for lack of a better word, alive. It told Miki that it was an ARMARUNE, and that it had found her worthy of its mystic power. If the tomboy was willing to make a contract with her, the ARMARUNE would bestow upon her the power to fight the SEVENSIN, vile creatures that were filling the world with great misery and strife. Although initially shaken by these revelations, Miki was a kind-hearted girl who cared greatly for the wellbeing of others, and so it didn’t take long for her to agree to make a contract with the talking toy and become a MAGILOCK.

Since that day, Miki has battled the SEVENSIN, while also keeping up with her athletics and schoolwork. Living a double life has certainly been exhausting, but Miki doesn’t regret her decision one bit, although she often thinks that it might be nice to have someone to share her secret with. Not her childhood friend, though. That would just be too embarrassing…

Personality: A sporty tomboy, Miki has a laid-back, “go with the flow” personality. Although normally not one to take anything particularly seriously, she makes a notable exception for swimming. She has always loved the water and is an avid swimmer. As a star member of her school’s swim team, she puts an intense focus on practicing not seen elsewhere in her life. She also likes to tell jokes (especially to cheer people up) and has a good sense of humor.

When transformed, she takes on a more gentle and soft-spoken demeanor. Sweet and loving, she speaks in a tranquil and soothing manner, offering kind words of reassurance and encouragement to others, and wishing for everyone to get along. She is also unfailingly polite, never swearing or using harsh language.

MAGILOCK Form

In her MAGILOCK form, Miki (or rather, Cerulean Cascade) wears an elaborate dress, decorated with flowers and bows. Normally, she would never be caught dead wearing something so girly, but with the more serene persona of her magical alter ego she gains a greater acceptance of it.

MAGILOCK=DRAGOKEY Form

When fused with a DRAGOKEY, Cerulean Cascade takes on a much more mature and voluptuous appearance. Her modest dress is replaced with the skimpy outfit of a dancer, granting her much greater freedom of movement, and allowing her to manipulate her element in a far more graceful and elegant manner.

MAGILOCK=DRAGOKEY [Magical Girl Harem Thing]

Quick question- Will this be set in Japan or the US/some other english speaking country?

Just wondering so that I can better determine what to name my character.

Speaking of, I should hopefully have a tentative CS up for them by the end of the day.

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

Header

Connie

3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3
5 | 4 | 6 | 17 | 5

Oddball: Nightmares | Tentacles

Enhanced Weapon | Power Artifact | Mystic Artifact | Ally | Interdimensional Home

Focused | Mental Link | Hidden Death | Mana Font | Mystic Might

Alien Mind | Formless | Rival Force | Clueless

---

Mia

3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3
5 | 8 | 7 | 17 | 5

Wood | Barrage

Enhanced Weapon | Dual Weapon | Purification Artifact

Blessing | Divine Competence | Gifted Item | Mana Font | Mystic Might

Rites| Arrogance | Big Brother | Clueless

Header

Magical Dream Princess

3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3
4 | 9 | 4 | 19 | 8

Oddball: Sweet Dreams | Barrage

Wealth and Resources (not while tf'd) | Enhanced Weapon | Power Artifact | Dual Weapon | Natural Aging | Money

Focused | Mental Link | Hidden Death | Mana Font | Mystic Might

Alien Mind | Formless | Rival Force | Clueless

@Shifter_Master @Ariamis @Erode @PlatinumSkink @Flamelord

As the motley quartet entered the underground parking garage, Gaia took note of the furnishings and faces present. There was the Beacon contingent, just as Ronin had told them, contrasted by a group of shady-looking men in suits. Then, there was the grinning young lady seated at the far end of the table… This was obviously Justine, and she seemed to have other allies waiting in a shadowy veil behind her. That certainly wasn’t suspicious… After Ronin had introduced herself, Gaia led the others in doing likewise.

“Greetings to all. I am Gaia, Daughter of Mother Earth,” she told the gathering in a serene voice. “It is my great pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“H-Hello, I-I’m C-Connie…” the masked girl stuttered softly, while nervously playing with her hair. “I-It’s v-very n-nice t-to m-meet y-you a-all…”

“Wowie zowies~! (giggle!)” Magical Dream Princess exclaimed upon seeing just how large the gathering was. “There’s, like, sooo many people weple here~! (giggle!) And, like, Magical Dream Princess can make friendy wendies with all of them~! (giggle!) Oh~! But, like, firsty worsty she should, like, totally wotally introduce herself~! (giggle!) Tada~! She’s Super Cute Pretty Pretty Magical Dream Princess, but, you can, like, just call her Magical Dream Princess for short, or even just MDP~! (giggle!) That’s, like, a super duper cute nicknamey her friendy wendy Katie Watie came up with, and Magical Dream Princess just wuvs it to pieces~! (giggle!) It’s, like, so super duper nice to meet you girls~! (giggle!) And boys~” she added, while getting an even more dreamy look in her eyes than usual.

After that, Gaia guided Connie and MDP to some chairs on the side of the table farthest from Justine. As the meeting commenced, Gaia calmly observed the proceedings, taking note that the dark-haired girl in the fancy dress seemed to be the leader of the Beacon forces. She also would occasionally spare a glance at Connie to see how her timid friend was holding up.

For her part, Connie sat in nervous silence, listening to the others speak, but not understanding very much. She took some small comfort in the fact that Gaia was giving her hand a gentle squeeze under the table, but that comfort quickly disappeared when a frightening voice sounded in her mind. It was the voice of her Patron.

That girl… the voice whispered, sounding both curious and disdainful. Her magic is… familiar… Be wary of her, Empress, The Lord of Nightmares advised. Be ever on your guard…

As for the girl in question, well… One would ordinarily assume that someone as hyperactive as MDP would be talking a mile a minute, getting to know everyone, and commenting on every little thing that transpired over the course of the meeting, but strangely enough, that didn’t happen. Instead, she simply sat in her seat, glancing around the room with a big smile on her face and a look of childish wonderment in her eyes. She occasionally fidgeted in her seat, but she didn’t say a single word. This was partly because she was doing everything in her power to keep quiet like Gaia had asked her, but the main reason was because she was having a very interesting mental conversation with her Patron…

Oh, goodness me! See that girl next to you, sweetie? The Sovereign of Sweet Dreams inquired, her voice filled with concern. That girl is a servant of the Lord of Nightmares, you know, that super duper meanie weanie who imprisoned me in that book! She’s very dangerous! You’ll have to stop her before she does something horrible!

Golly wolly! For realsie?! B-But, like, Connie Wonnie is, like, a super duper sweetie weetie pie! Like, Magical Dream Princess can’t believe she would ever do any nasty wasty thingie wingies! Oh! But, like, Magical Dream Princess has an ideasie~! Like, what if that meanie weanie nightmare persony worsony was forcing poor Connie Wonnie to do all those nasty wasty thingie wingies for him? Like, she could be just like those poor girls Magical Dream Princess is helping Samurai-chan rescue!

Gosh, sweetie, you could be right! In that case, you should do everything you can to free her from that meanie and help her have sweet dreams again~! Can you do that for me, sweetie~?

Like, of coursey worsey she can~! Magical Dream Princess just wuvs helping her friendy wendies, and Connie Wonnie might wear a creepy weepy masky wasky, but, she’s, like, a total wotal sweetheart, and Magical Dream Princess just wuvs her soooo much~!

MDP giggled softly as she looked at the trembling girl sitting next to her. She was just so adorable with her eagerness to make new friends, despite her shyness. And now came the knowledge that the girl suffered under such a horrible Patron… MDP just wanted to give her the biggest hug, but she knew this wasn’t the time for such things and so forced herself to hold off.

Don’t you worry, Connie Wonnie, Magical Dream Princess is, like, totally gonna save you from that meanie weanie head and give you sweet dreamy weamies again~! That’s, like, her super duper most special wecial pinky winky promise~!

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

Header

Connie

3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3
5 | 4 | 6 | 17 | 5

Oddball: Nightmares | Tentacles

Enhanced Weapon | Power Artifact | Mystic Artifact | Ally | Interdimensional Home

Focused | Mental Link | Hidden Death | Mana Font | Mystic Might

Alien Mind | Formless | Rival Force | Clueless

---

Mia

3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3
5 | 8 | 7 | 17 | 5

Wood | Barrage

Enhanced Weapon | Dual Weapon | Purification Artifact

Blessing | Divine Competence | Gifted Item | Mana Font | Mystic Might

Rites| Arrogance | Big Brother | Clueless

@PlatinumSkink

Connie and Mia would be relaxing in their room, the tomboy playing a video game while her friend watched, when they would both receive a message from Ronin. Apparently, she was in some serious trouble and needed their help. Mia exhaled after reading the details.

“I don’t know about this, Connie,” she said with no small amount of trepidation. “This sounds all kinds of crazy. I mean, vampires, horrors, other dimensions? Even I’d be reluctant to go on a mission like this…”

“I-I know…” Connie replied softly. Then, gathering her strength, she spoke up. “B-But, Ronin’s our friend! I-If s-she’s in t-trouble, t-then we h-have to help her! I k-know I’ve s-still got a l-long way to g-go,” she added, “b-but I’m getting b-better at c-controlling my p-powers, a-and I’d l-like to use t-them for m-more than j-just g-giving p-people n-nightmares…”

Mia didn’t say anything for a moment. There were so many reasons to avoid this mission like the death trap it seemed to be, but her friend’s resolve tugged at her heart with far greater strength than all her fears and concerns put together.

“Okay, little sis,” Mia conceded, offering her friend a smile. “If you really wanna do this, then I’ll be right beside you.”

“Thank you, Mia,” Connie said, while wrapping her friend up in a big hug. “I j-just know everything will be okay if we’re t-together.”

I hope so, little sis, Mia thought to herself while casting a worried glance at the location Ronin had provided. I really hope so…

---

Much had transpired during the several days since Violet had become a magical girl. Her father’s condition had stabilized, and even improved somewhat, the medicine provided by the Ebon Mint holding the hex placed upon him in abeyance. While the identity of the party responsible for said hex was still a mystery, the individual behind the raid on the CI R&D facility was not. According to the Mint’s operatives, the culprit was a draconic monster girl named Mayra, who, in an interesting turn of events, was an associate/underling of none other than Mariette Pedersen. Unfortunately, the reason behind the attack was still something of a mystery, and one Violet could not even begin to fathom. It would be one thing if the attack had been some sort of reprisal for the loss of the Dreamscape Almanac, but the book had been given to her a few days after the raid had taken place. And on the subject of the Almanac, Violet had informed the Mint that she would need to keep the manuscript in her possession for an as yet undetermined amount of time, being sure not to reveal any hint as to the reason she wished to do so. Surprisingly, Al Scarpe seemed unconcerned by this, noting that he doubted that Mariette would ever seek to reclaim it.

As for more mundane matters, Violet had been able to convince her father that Lodovico Demiris had not been responsible for the R&D center raid, and so the retaliatory strike had thankfully been called off. The heiress actually found herself somewhat surprised by just how easy it had been to make her father believe the story she had fabricated about using a prototype stealth recon drone she had been working on to gain the information from Demiris’s computer system. It was a story that would not sustain intense scrutiny, as she lacked the data the drone was supposed to have acquired (or the drone itself, for that matter), but her father had accepted her explanation without question. Perhaps it was a side effect of the Mint’s medicine, which she had been surreptitiously placing in his drink every morning. If so, then it was a fortuitous one. With her father still convalescing, Violet had been forced to assume the mantle of leadership she had been groomed for her entire life. She was undoubtedly prepared and incredibly capable, but the work was still intense and exhausting. Fortunately, she now had a way to relieve that pressure, one that was far more effective than a simple stress ball…

Every night since her life-changing meeting with the Sovereign of Sweet Dreams, Violet had transformed into Magical Dream Princess, the whimsical escapades of her playful alter ego bringing immense enjoyment to the high-strung and heavily repressed heiress. She had even made her first real friend, a kind and gentle girl named Amanda, who, it turned out, also happened to possess dream magic. The two had exchanged phone numbers, and, although the heiress couldn’t fully believe she had done so, had even gone so far as to reveal their true identities to each other. For some reason she could not fully explain, Violet felt she could trust Amanda completely. Perhaps it was a side effect of the drastic personality changes she underwent when she became her magical girl self, or maybe it was simply the fact that she had never had a friend before, but Violet knew that she would do anything for Amanda. Indeed, it was a text from this very friend that currently occupied the heiress’s full attention.

It seemed that one of Amanda’s other friends was in trouble. Serious trouble, by the sound of it. Unfortunately, Amanda was occupied with another important matter and was unable to help, but she had written to ask if Violet could help in her stead. A forwarded copy of her friend’s message followed. It spoke of great danger, of vampires, horrors, and assaults upon extradimensional mansions. It sounded completely insane, although no less insane than what she had already encountered in her short time as a magical girl. And in a most interesting twist, Mariette herself seemed to be at the center of these proceedings... Perhaps this would provide the opportunity to get to the bottom of that little mystery as well... Even putting all that aside, her friend, her best friend, was asking this of her. There was no way Violet could refuse.

Taking a deep breath to focus herself, the heiress stepped into the center of her study and began to recite the words of her incantation.

"Hearts, Candy, Sparkles, and Balloons~! Sunshine, Glitter, Unicorns, and Rainbows~!

Header

Magical Dream Princess

3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3
4 | 9 | 4 | 19 | 8

Oddball: Sweet Dreams | Barrage

Wealth and Resources (not while tf'd) | Enhanced Weapon | Power Artifact | Dual Weapon | Natural Aging | Money

Focused | Mental Link | Hidden Death | Mana Font | Mystic Might

Alien Mind | Formless | Rival Force | Clueless

Taaa daaa~! Magical Girl Super Cute Pretty Pretty Magical Dream Princess is here~! (giggle!)

Okie doki~! (giggle!) Time for Magical Dream Princess to make some new friends, save them from some meanie weanie heads, and make all their dreamy weamies come true~! (giggle!) Weeeeee~!”

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

The Great Penrose Movie Marathon

@Ariamis @Card Captor @twave @BrokenPromise @FamishedPants @AtomicNut @PlatinumSkink

Shortly after the Shoggy debacle had been resolved, Sakura returned with replacement movies, along with yet another guest. The new girl seemed nice, though, so Connie didn’t mind. With her customary swiftness, Lily went to work setting up the first film. Connie let out an internal sigh of relief at this, for while she had mustered up the courage to play spin the bottle, she had been fervently hoping it wouldn’t land on her. Now, she quietly excused herself from the circle to go sit with Mia, Hilde, and Ronin near the television.

“I wonder if this’ll be the Raymond Burr version or the original Japanese…” Mia mused as the film began.

“Huh?” Connie asked, clearly baffled as to what her friend was talking about.

“Oh, well, there are two different versions of the original Godzilla,” Mia explained. “You’ve got Gojira, the original Japanese version, and then there’s—”

“G-Godzilla?!” Connie stammered as her body began to shake. “T-That’s w-what w-we’re w-watching?!”

“Uh, yeah…” Mia replied. “If that’s a problem, I’m sure Emily wouldn’t mind letting us do something else in one of the other rooms.”

“N-No,” Connie said with as much firmness as she could manage. “E-Everyone else w-wants t-to w-watch t-this, s-so I’m g-gonna w-watch it too!”

Mia smiled as she took her friend’s trembling hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

“Okay, little sis. If you do get scared, just remember, I’m right here.”

“I-I will,” Connie said, returning her friend’s smile. “A-And it’s not just you. All m-my friends are here. I c-can’t believe I’ve made s-so many in such a s-short time. It makes me really h-happy when I think about it. Oh! T-That reminds me! W-Why didn’t you invite that c-cat girl you were t-telling me and Hilde about a few d-days ago? I w-would have l-liked to meet her…”

“The aristocat?” Mia asked. “I really don’t think she’d fit in too well with a crowd like this,” she explained, pointing her thumb at the commotion surrounding Shane. “Besides, you know I don’t like to carry my phone with me when I’m doing magical girl stuff. I’ve always tried to keep my magical and mundane identities as separate as possible, though, lately, it’s gotten kinda difficult.”

“Oh, gosh! I-Is t-that because of m-me?” Connie asked, her voice filled with concern.

“Sorta,” Mia conceded reluctantly. “But you haven’t done anything wrong, Connie, so please don’t worry yourself about it,” she added, while giving her friend some comforting head pats. “It’s actually kinda nice hanging out with friends as plain old me, instead of as the ‘Daughter of Mother Earth’,” she noted, using air quotes for her magical girl title.

“O-Okay,” Connie replied, while snuggling against her friend’s coat. “A-And it really is!” she agreed. “H-Hanging out with friends, I mean.”

Yes, sitting here, watching a movie with friends (plural!) was something truly wonderful for someone like Connie. The movie may have been a little scary, but her friends were here for her. With them by her side, she could face anything, be it a man in a rubber suit or whatever dangers the future might hold.

Now, more than ever before, Connie was sure of it.

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

Meet...

In the wake of Connie’s mission with Hilde, during which the timid girl had finally managed to gain some control over her powers, Mia decided it would be a good idea for Connie to get some practice against a few similar collections of low-level monsters. Such was the reason why the Empress of Nightmares and Daughter of Mother Earth now found themselves in the ruined halls of Penrose Downtown Library, facing off against the swarm of giant rats that infested the crumbling structure.

“I believe it is safe to say that we have acquired their full attention,” Gaia observed as she blasted several of the creatures with beams of emerald energy from Nature’s Blossom.

“Y-Yeah…” Connie agreed, while employing her tentacles to keep the swarming vermin at a safe distance. “C-Can I g-get r-rid of t-them n-now?” she asked, her shaky voice filled with nervous expectancy.

“Not just yet,” Gaia advised. “We need to make sure you can affect as many of them as possible.”

“O-Okay… B-But t-there’s a-already a l-lot of them, a-and i-it’s g-getting h-harder f-for me t-to k-keep them a-away…”

“I know, little sister. You’re doing such a great job. Just hold on a little longer, and… Now!”

At Gaia’s order, Connie conjured her Nightmare Barrier, which surged out to fill the entire room. The skittering rodents stopped in their tracks as dozens of jet-black snakes slithered out of the floor, walls and ceiling. No sooner had the serpents appeared then they set about devouring their prey with frightening swiftness. In less than a minute, it was over. With the last rat consumed, Connie dispersed her barrier, causing the snakes to vanish as well.

“Absolutely splendid, little sister!” Gaia commended, while giving her friend a hug. “You have come so far in such a short time, and I could not be more proud of you.”

“T-Thanks Mia,” Connie said, blushing slightly at her friend’s complements. “I s-still had m-my eyes c-closed through m-most of it, though…”

“That is perfectly all right,” her friend said with a smile. “Let us work on one thing at a time. With that in mind, are you ready to begin our final sweep of this place?”

“W-What?!” Connie stammered. “B-But d-didn’t w-we just k-kill them all…?”

“With any luck, yes,” Gaia confirmed. “But we need to make sure we didn’t miss any.”

“O-Okay, l-lead t-the w-way…” Connie conceded as she followed her friend deeper into the ruined structure.

Within the depths, a light humming could be heard. Amanda appeared to be searching through the ruins for lost books;her spellbook held under one arm, and whatever she could find in another. Just cause she and the others were stationed outside of Penrose, didnt mean they couldn't check back or visit sometimes, right?

Besides, the magician was bored.

“Hmm… It would appear we are not the only ones who decided to pay the library a visit,” Gaia observed upon catching sight of the bespectacled magician.

“O-Oh! U-Umm… H-Hello there,” Connie greeted the other girl hesitantly. “Umm, w-were you h-hunting the r-rats too?”

"Hm?" Amanda looked to the two girls, pushing her glasses up to her nose. "Ah, not exactly. Though they've proven to be quite the hindrance." for a moment, she glanced over to the few rats she took down. "I'm just trying to find some books that can be salvaged from within here. she motioned to the books she was holding.

“I see,” Gaia nodded. “In that case, please allow us to assist you in your search.”

“Y-Yes, w-we’d l-love to help!” Connie added eagerly. After all, searching for books was certainly better than searching for giant rats…

“I am Gaia, Daughter of Mother Earth,” the verdant magical girl introduced herself. “And this is my dearest friend, Connie, the Empress of Nightmares. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

"Amanda. Don't really have a title myself..." the magician nodded with a smile. Yet something made her curious. "Wait, nightmares?" she asked, her expression showing no ill intent.

“U-Uh, y-yeah…” Connie replied hesitantly. “T-That’s m-my m-magical s-specialization… I, uh, r-really h-hate it, t-though…”

Amanda held her spellbook close to herself. "Curious..."

“Yes, it does seem like something of a cruel trick that someone as timid as my dearest Connie would receive such a frightening specialization,” Gaia observed. “But I can assure you that, despite her menacing title, she is one of the kindest and most gentle people you will ever meet.”

"Quite. But...I never thought I'd find someone with my power's antithesis. Someone so meek to contrast it, no less. Amanda explained, ever intrigued.

“A-Antithesis…?” Connie asked, slightly confused. “Y-You m-mean you have d-dream magic?”

The magician nodded with a tired smile.

“Oh, w-wow…” Connie said, the eyes of her mask widening at Amanda’s confirmation. “I r-really wish m-my s-specialization had b-been that instead… B-But, um, I, uh, h-hope that d-doesn’t mean w-we h-have to f-fight, or anything…” the masked girl added, while nervously playing with her hair.

"Fear not, I wish no harm upon a sister in arms." She reassured Connie. "I'm more of a support type than offensive anyhow, eheh."

“O-Okay,” Connie replied with a relieved sigh. “I-I’m r-really glad to h-hear that.”

“As am I,” Gaia agreed while offering Amanda a warm smile. “Shall we be on our way, then? After all, this library is a sizable place, and the books you’re looking for won’t find themselves.”

"Ah, yes! I'll lead the way." Amanda nodded, depositing the few books she had into her pocket dimension.

“S-So, um, i-is your P-Patron nice?” Connie asked tentatively as they walked along. “M-Mine’s r-really s-scary, b-but s-since you use d-dream magic…”

"Lady Maura is...different, in a good way. We happened upon each other by chance." Amanda started to explain. "I used to be a journalist, and she posed as one of my boss' clients for awhile. When she finally approached me, she explained that my predecessor was once a mediary between dreams and nightmares. As she was with life and death. Neither of us had yet to find the old witch of nightmares, but she decided to take me in either way."

She looked down at her spellbook with a smile. "She saw that my bloodline had potential, I suppose.

“I was much the same,” Gaia informed her. “When Mother Earth chose me to become her daughter, she told me that it was because of the familial bond I already shared with her. Apparently, one of my ancestors also served as her champion sometime in the distant past. It is a great honor for me to continue that tradition.”

“I-I j-just f-found a s-scary m-m-mas… U-Umm, t-the t-thing I’m w-w-wearing r-right now…” Connie added softly.

"An artifact?" Amanda looked over to Connie, searching through a pile of rubble.

“Y-Yeah… I, uh, f-found it in the b-basement of t-the orphanage w-where I l-live,” Connie explained. “I-I w-was s-so s-scared w-when it s-started g-glowing a-and t-talking… I-I n-never w-wanted to b-be a m-magical g-girl, b-but it d-didn’t give m-me any c-choice…”

“Yes, but as I have said many times, you have come so far since then,” Gaia told her, while placing a comforting arm around her shoulder. “You have already conquered so many of your fears, and I am so very proud of you. I simply cannot say that enough.”

"Hm, I have heard some lesser forces reside in such artifacts, but I've never really seen a case myself. Has your patron been good to you thus far?" the magician asked.

“N-Not r-really…”Connie said glumly while looking towards the floor. “H-He o-often y-yells at me f-for b-being w-weak a-and e-easily f-frightened… B-But l-lately, t-thanks to M-Mia and my o-other f-friends, I’ve b-been g-getting stronger, s-so h-he h-hasn’t been y-yelling at me q-quite as m-much…”

“Her Patron is an abominably contemptible being,” Gaia added. “I simply cannot abide bullies, and I cannot stand the way he has treated my dearest Connie. If I could, I would very much like to do away with him myself. As it is, I must content myself with helping Connie grow stronger so that she is less likely to suffer his torments.”

Amanda furrowed her brows, then sighed. "If only I or Maura could have a word with the brute... He forced you into this, it's only fair that he should be patient as well. Such power is complicated, after all." she picked up a book and looked through it, making sure it's intact. "You can't help someone learn through harsh scoldings alone.

“Indeed,” Gaia agreed with a nod. Then, after watching Amanda inspect a few books, she decided to ask the bespectacled girl a question that had been lingering in her mind since she and Connie had first met the other magical girl. “Please forgive me if I am being too presumptuous, but, exactly what books were you hoping to find?”

"Just some that weren't destroyed in the wreckage, is all. I've been lacking in reading materal lately, so I was hoping to hold onto them 'till things are restored. I plan to bring them back by then." She said, picking out through the few she found.

“I see. So, will just any books suffice, or do you have particular subjects of interest?”

"Any will do." she nodded.

“Very well,” Gaia said, before turning to her friend. “Ready to lend a hand, Connie?”

“Uh huh,” the masked girl confirmed, conjuring her tentacles and using them to grab various books for inspection.

Meanwhile, Gaia grew several vine tendrils from a collection of seeds, which she sent forth to scout around for intact manuscripts. After only a few minutes, they had returned with roughly a dozen books. Connie had been similarly successful, acquiring a large enough stack that she was having some trouble holding it. Presumably Amanda herself had found a few more tomes as well, creating a sizable collection.

“Will these be sufficient?” Gaia inquired.

"Oh- yes! This is perfect." Amanda helped them set their stacks down next to her's, then opened up another rift to her pocket dimension below the books for deposit. "I appreciate the help!"

“You are most welcome,” Gaia replied, while offering Amanda a kind smile. “Indeed, it was our pleasure to help.”

“Y-Yes!” Connie hastened to add. “A-And it was v-very n-nice meeting you!”

Amanda smiled back, bowing. "Pleasure's all mine."

“After all the searching we’ve been doing, I think we can safely say that this place’s rat problem is now a thing of the past,” Gaia observed.

“S-So does t-that mean w-we can leave?!” Connie asked eagerly.

“It does, little sister,” the verdant magical girl replied with a gentle laugh. “Unless, of course, there is something else our new friend requires help with.”

"Not exactly. My team and I are currently stationed outside the city till further notice thanks to recent events. Well, save one, but Elizabeth's probably busy here." Amanda scratched the back of her head. "So if you'd like, we can exchange contact info to keep in touch."

“That sounds like an excellent idea,” Gaia agreed.

After she and Connie had done so, the two friends bid Amanda goodnight, and made their way back home. No sooner had they departed, than a sparkly pink cloud appeared overhead. A rainbow extended from it, which a cute girl slid down to land beside Amanda.

“Hyyyiiiee~! (giggle!)” the girl called out, while striking a pose. “Magical Dream Princess was, like, wondering if you’ve seen any nasty wasty nightmare thingie wingies around here~! (giggle!) She wants, like, every wevery body to have, like, only the sweetest weetest dreamy weamies, so she’s, like, gotta wotta stopy wopy all the nasty wasty nightmares and the meanie weanie heads who cause them~! Her Patrony Watrony person said there was some nasty wasty nightmare stuffy wuffy happening in this placey wacey, so, like, was there?”

Amanda could only muster up a wide-eyed, dumbfounded smile on her face, once the pastel girl made her appearance.

"E-Eh...?"

A quick mental translation, and the magician snapped out of it to answer. "Ah, forgive me, but I didn't see any nightmares here, asides from the giant rats." She had to bend the truth a little. If MDP was talking about Connie, Amanda didn't want the poor girl to get attacked.

“Mommy wommy fluffer wuffer!” she grumbled, while stomping her foot on the ground in an absolutely adorable manner. “Magical Dream Princess was too late again! That, like, makes her super duper upset…” Then, she took a better look at Amanda and a big smile spread across her face, while her eyes lit up in joyful wonderment. "OMGeee~! Your outfit's, like, so super duper cutey wutey~! (giggle!) And your face is, like, sooo totally wotally moe~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess could just eat you up~! (giggle!) But, like, not literally! the hyperactive girl hastened to clarify. “Ewww! That would be, like, sooo icky-wicky! Oh noes!” she exclaimed with a gasp, suddenly looking very upset. “Magical Dream Princess is, like, being so totally wotally rude! She, like, never introduced herself~!" Striking a cute pose, she gave Amanda a peace-sign salute. "Ta-daaa~! She's Super Cute Pretty Pretty Magical Dream Princess~! But you can, like, just call her Magical Dream Princess for short~! (giggle!)" she said with a wink. "So, like, what can Magical Dream Princess call you~?"

"I-I'm Amanda." she introduced herself, albeit rather flustered. "I guess you're a dream specialist too?"

"Huh? Like, that's not a magical girl name, silly~! (giggle!) Nopey nope nope~!" Magical Dream Princess told her, while waging her finger cutely. "It, like, needs to be super duper cutesy wutesy and kawaii, and, like, make everyone who hears it think of sparkle warkles and glitter witter and rainbows and wuv~! (giggle!) Something womething liiiike... Super Duper Cute Magical Girl Pastel-Chan~! (giggle!) Yepperooney~! That's, like, totally wotally gonna be your namey wamey now~! (giggle!) Wowie zowies~!” the hyperactive magical girl exclaimed after Amanda had revealed her specialization. “Like, Pastel-chan can do dreamy weamy magic too~?! Like, for realsies~?! OMGeee~! That's, like, the super duper duperest~! (giggle!) Never in a million willion years did Magical Dream Princess imagine she'd meet another girl with dreamy weamy magic like her~! (giggle!)” The next instant, something seemed to occur to the ditzy magical girl, and she gave a sharp gasp, before becoming even more excited. “Oh, golly wolly~! Pastel-chan is like, the bestie westiest person to ask Magical Dream Princess’s super duper important question~! (giggle!) Does Pastel-chan know a particular wickular super duper meanie weanie nightmare person namey wameyed… namey wameyed… Oh, phooey whooey… Magical Dream Princess can’t remember wember… Wait~!” she exclaimed, holding up a finger. “There was that one creepy weepy top hat guy who said something about her friend~! He said her namey wamey was... it was… and she had something... something… green? Oh, golly wolly, Magical Dream Princess, like, can't remember wember that either…” She looked incredibly downcast, before quickly brightening up, and adding, “Super duper fun facty wacty: Magical Dream Princess’s memory wemory, like, isn't very good when she’s Magical Dream Princess, but that’s, like, totally wotally okie doki~! (giggle!) She's having, like, waaaay too much FUN to worry about silly willy thingie wingies like that~! (giggle!) Hey~! Magical Dream Princess just thought of something~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess and Pastel-chan should totally be, like, super duper BFFs~! Like, totally wittily wottally~! (giggle!) We could have, like, sooo much funsies~! (giggle!)”

"Uhm, sure! If you want to!" Amanda (Pastel-Chan?) chuckled. She still felt a bit nervous, meeting someone who manages to top North of all people in being hyperactive. Then again, she was sure the two would get along if she introduced them to each other.

“Oh, wowie wow wowies~!” the ditzy magical girl cheered, while jumping up and down like a little kid. “Magical Dream Princess, like, never had a BFF before~! (giggle!) Daddy Waddy always said it was, like, a 'distraction' or whatever, but he's not here right nowie, and Magical Dream Princess, like, totally has, like, no idea where she's going with this~! (giggle!) Can Pastel-chan, like, believe that happens to her, like, ALL THE TIME nowie? At firsty worsty, it was, like, really annoying, but nowie wowie it's, like, super duper fun~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess, like, has NO IDEA what's going on, and she just wuvs it~! (giggle!) It makes everythingy sooo much more magical wagical and dreamy weamy~! (giggle!) Oh! Does Pastel-chan have any siblings~?! Magical Dream Princess is all by herself, since Daddy Waddy didn't wanna pay Mr. Stork the money woney to bring any more babies after he delivered Magical Dream Princess… That made her sooo lonely, but now she's, like, meeting so many new friends, like Pastel-chan~! (giggle!) Golly wolly~! Magical Dream Princess just can't get over how cute her new BFF’s outfit is! Magical Dream Princess just wuvs Pastel-chan’s color palette~! Is that, like, your most favorite wavorite color~? Magical Dream Princess's most favorite wavorite color is rainbow~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess also, like, wuvs listening to super cute J-Pop idols, but that's, like, our super duper BFF special wecial secret~! (giggle!) So, do you have, like a crush on anyone, Pastel-chan? Magical Dream Princess had, like, the super duper biggest crushy wushy on one of Daddy's secretaries, but she, like, totally wotally wasn't supposed to tell you that~! (giggle!)”

Amanda had to admit her ramblings were charming, but it was a bit hard to keep track. Well uhm, I do have a twin brother;but I haven't seen him since I became a magical girl. Yes, I do favor lavender, pastel colors are soothing to me. And uh, I never exactly had a crush on anyone?? So..." she answered, with a sheepish grin on the last question. The magician never really concidered seeing someone, even when she was still a journalist. Her work was her mistress, she used to say.

“Wowie zowie~! Like, having a twinsie winsie must have been, like, so super duper fun~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess is, like, super duper jelly welly~! Oh~! But, like, why don’t you ever see him any moresie? Magical Dream Princess thinks that’s, like, kinda winda mean…”

"I just...haven't heard from him in a while. It'd be hard to explain all this to him anyways." the magician motioned to herself.

“But, like, couldn’t you see him as your normal wormal self?” Magical Dream Princess asked, slightly confused by her new BFF’s problem.

She appeared confused for a second. "Uh, thing is..." Amanda decided to go ahead and revert to her untransformed state.

"Like most magicals, I wasn't always a kid. Unless he got dragged into this mess too, I dunno how he'd feel seeing me again but...younger." Her demeanor seemed to change, appearing more laid-back.

“Golly wolly! Like, Magical Dream Princess stayed the same agey wagey when she became a magical wagical girl, so she, like, just thought that was the samey wamey for everybody! But, like, twinsie winsies have a super duper special wecial bond, so, like, Magical Dream Princess thinks you should, like, totally wotally go and see him~! (giggle!)”

"You...think I should?" Amanda tilted her head.

“Like, totally witally wotally~! (giggle!)” the childish magical girl said with a playful wink. “Magical Dream Princess, like, just knows that Pastel-chan’s twinsie winsie wuvs her lots and lots, and wouldn’t mindy windy that she’s not the same agey wagey any moresie, cause she’s still his twinsie winsie who he misses sooo much~! (giggle!)”

"...Heh," Amanda smiled. "'Alright then."

“Yaaay~!” Magical Dream Princess cheered, while jumping up and down. Then she wrapped Amanda up in a big hug. “Like, Magical Dream Princess is, like, sooo happy wappy for her BFF~! (giggle!) She, like, just knows Amanda Wanda-chan will have so much funsie wunsie seeing her twinsie winsie again~! (giggle!)”

The magician hugged back, giggling.

“Oh~! And, like, if Amanda Wanda-chan needy weedies any helpy welpy finding him, Magical Dream Princess has, like, lotsie wotsie ways of doing that~!” the hyperactive magical girl noted cheerfully. “Like, when she’s not Magical Dream Princess, of coursey worsey~! (giggle!)” she added with a wink.

"Really? You want to help?"

“Yeperoonie~! (giggle!)” the ditzy magical girl confirmed. “Like, Amanda Wanda-chan is Magical Dream Princess’s super duper special wecial BFF, after allsie~! (giggle!)”

"Alright! Well, I should probably head back before the others worry. But in case I swing by again,we should keep in touch." Amanda said.

“Okie dokie~!” the childish magical girl said with a playful giggle. “Oh… But, like, Magical Dream Princess doesn’t have her phoney whoney with her right nowie…” she added, as a sullen look spread across her face.

"Oh. Hmm, guess we can hang out a bit longer then?" she suggested.

“Oh~! Like, Magical Dream Princess knows what to dooey wooey~! (giggle!) She can take Amanda Wanda-chan to her homey womey~! Like, that’s where her phoney whoney is, after allsie~! (giggle!)”

"Hm. Well, okay then." Amanda shrugged. "Lead the way!"

“Goody woody~!” Magical Dream Princess cheered, clapping her hands together with childish delight. “Like, Magical Dream Princess never ever had a friend come over before~! This is, like, sooo super duper exciting~! (giggle!) Come on, Amanda Wanda-chan~!” she added, taking the other girl by the hand. “We can use this thingie wingie~!” Pointing her wand at a nearby garbage can, she fired a sparkly beam at it. Within moments the innocuous object had been transformed into a whimsical pink rocket ship. Leading her BFF up the ramp, Magical Dream Princess helped her strap in, before the rocket launched with a mighty roar. Almost before it had begun, Amanda would find that her wild rocket ride was over. A door had opened in the side of the craft and a blow up slide led down to the floor below. “Like, this is the most funsie wunsie part of all~! (giggle!)” Magical Dream Princess informed her as she prepared to disembark. “Weeeee~!”

"Woah." Amanda watched MDP slide down. Then, not sitting down like normal, she pushed herself forward to join her at the bottom. "Incoming! Hahah!!" she chuckled.

Amanda would find herself in a luxurious study, one that presented a refined and elegant aesthetic that was completely incongruous with the magical girl who supposedly lived here.

“Like, this is Magical Dream Princess’s super duper private study wudy~! Her phoney whoney’s over there, along with her super duper special wecial computer thingie~! (giggle!)” Skipping over to the desk in question, the playful magical girl retrieved her expensive and highly advanced looking phone and brought it back to Amanda. “Okie dokie~! Magical Dream Princess’s number wumber is right heresie weresie~! (giggle!)” she said, holding up the phone, so that her BFF could see the number on its display.

An odd contrast, Amanda thought. What kind of person was she outside of her magical girl state? The magician grabbed her phone from her jacket pocket and copied the number onto her contacts. "There we go." she nodded, setting MDP's contact name to "Dreamy".

“Yippy skippy~! (giggle!)” Magical Dream Princess cheered, before typing in Amanda’s number, listing it as “Pastel-chan”.“Like, now that we’re heresie, Magical Dream Princess has, like, another idea~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess can show you what she looks like as a normal wormal person~! (giggle!) Like, Magical Dream Princess probably wobably shouldn’t let you, like, see her super duper secret wecret identity wentity, buuuut, since Amanda Wanda-chan, like, already showed her normal wormal self, and since she’s, like, Magical Dream Princess’s super duper special wecial dreamy weamy BFF, Magical Dream Princess is, like, totally wotally gonna show you~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess, like, has to warn you though, she’s, like, totally wotally different when she’s not Magical Dream Princess~! (giggle!) Okie dokie~!” she declared, while dramatically raising a finger high in the air. “Time to go backsie wacksie to normal wormal~! (giggle!)”

There was a dazzling flash, after which the rocket, along with all the destruction it had caused, completely vanished. But perhaps the most startling change was that Magical Dream Princess had been replaced by a refined-looking young woman with long, dark hair.

“There,” Violet said with a sigh. “Having magical powers is certainly nice, but there is something to be said for the ability to think rationally, don’t you agree?” she asked, while giving Amanda a small smile. She sighed again, “It was probably an enormous mistake to bring you here, let alone reveal my true identity, but I don’t exactly think things through when I’m Magical Dream Princess. But, then, I don’t suppose I need to tell you that,” she added, while looking away and blushing slightly. “O-On that note, I… want to apologize for how I was acting earlier. I can get a little… carried away when I assume my magical girl persona. I only hope I didn’t offend you too much,” she added in a soft voice. It was clear to see that she was incredibly embarrassed.

Now it made sense. Oh- No, it's cool! Amanda reassured Violet. "I get that some patrons can affect your mental state. Hell, mine gave my team and I some chivalry lessons. It's nothing to be embarassed by!" she chuckled, then giving the other girl an empathic smile. "Besides, from what you told me as Dreamy, you...never really had a friend, did you?"

“N-No…” she replied hesitantly. “As the heiress of a prestigious family, and future head of that family’s business, I had little time for friends or frivolity growing up. I am embarrassed to say it, but that is why I so greatly enjoy being Magical Dream Princess. Despite the loss of nearly all my intelligence, memory and inhibitions, it is still so liberating to be able to act like the innocent child I was never allowed to be. When I’m her, I can express all the feelings I am normally forced to keep hidden away. I can play all kinds of games and make so many new friends. Although… It has been somewhat difficult keeping my two identities separate. It is so nice to finally be able to share my secret with someone,” she added, giving Amanda a warm smile.

"Well you do now. And your secret's safe with me!" Amanda grinned back.

“Thank you so very much, Amanda,” the heiress told her new friend, while giving her an embrace. “I… want you to know that I meant what I said earlier. I would be only too happy to assist you in reuniting with your twin brother, and… I would very much like to, um, ‘hang out’ with you again. I-In fact… I would not mind possibly having a… s-sleepover at some point…” she added, looking away, while her face turned a brilliant shade of crimson.

"Heh." Amanda bear-hugged her back. "Whenever you want, just let me know!"

“Okie do— ” Violet began cheerfully, before gasping and quickly returning to her more mature tone. “I-I, uh, mean, okay…” she said quietly, while giving Amanda an embarrassed smile. “I-If that’s everything, I s-suppose you can return to your companions now,” she added, still a little flustered by her slip in demeanor. “Are you capable of doing that on your own, or should I transform again and take you to them myself?”

"No worries, they're just stationed outside of town until things go back to normal." The punkish girl explained. "But we can always visit!"

“Very well, then,” the heiress said with a nod. “I suppose I should bid you farewell for now. Oh, and sweet dreams,” she added with a smile.

"Sweet dreams!" Amanda waved goodbye, and walked out.

I assume she has a way of getting past the security undetected… Violet thought as she watched Amanda depart. Then again, if I could do it, and we both have the same type of magic, then I suppose there is really nothing to worry about.

The heiress still possessed some slight trepidation due to the fact that she had revealed so much sensitive information to someone she had only just met, but for some reason that she was unable to put into words, she simply felt that she could trust Amanda. It was certainly wonderful to know that she had at long last gained a true friend in whom she could confide her deepest secrets. Now, if only she could have had better luck in finding her nightmare-conjuring foe… First the Park, and now this… Twice she had been mere moments too late… Still, she reflected, with a fellow champion of dreams as her ally, it would only be a matter of time before they were found, and then, The Sovereign of Sweet Dreams would once again reign supreme…

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

Part II

Starring Magical Dream Princess~! (giggle!)

-Magical Dream Princess

MDP too OP. Plz nerf.

-People

Golly wolly, you silly willies~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess isn’t the original poster~! Ari-wari-amis is~! (giggle!)

-Magical Dream Princess

✩✩✩Last time on Magical Dream Princess’s Adventure in Silverburg- Our heroine arrived at the top-secret testing facility of Demiris Defense Systems late at night, where she played several incredibly fun games with some new friends. After tiring them out, she made her way to DDS’s even more top-secret laboratories, unaware that she was being watched by three mysterious figures. Who are they, and what startling secrets will our heroine discover within the labs? Read on to find out!✩✩✩

✩✩✩

Shortly before Magical Dream Princess’s arrival…

This late at night, most of the R&D center’s numerous gifted scientists had long since gone home, but deep in the heart of the vast facility, Dr. Nikki Kannis, head researcher of Demiris Defense Systems, was hard at work on her greatest invention. Or, more precisely, was hard at work repairing her greatest invention…

“You really put this thing through the wringer…” she noted as she worked. “Thankfully, the basic functionality’s still intact, so you shouldn’t have lost any pictures you took. What didja say you were fighting again?”

“Slendermen…” Nikki’s friend, Kate Carson, replied with a shudder. “Man, those things were creepy… I was on an assignment from the Arcane Observer, ‘low-to-moderate risk’ they said. Yeah, right…”

“Yeesh… Not something I’d wanna run into, that’s for sure… Welp, it’s all fixed,” Nikki declared, handing what looked like an ordinary camera to her friend. “Try to take a bit better care of it this time, huh?”

“I’ll do my best, but no promises,” Kate replied with a grin.

The next moment, the two girls were startled by the sound of a thunderclap. Whirling around, they saw a smiling girl standing in a swiftly dissipating cloud of smoke.

“Oh my gosh! Nikki!” the girl squealed as she rushed over to glomp the scientist. “I’ve missed you so much!”

“K-Karen?!” Nikki stammered. “W-What are you doing here? Also, couldja not squeeze so tight? I’m kinda getting crushed here…”

“Oh! I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed, loosening her grip on the scientist and taking a few steps back. “Sometimes I forget how strong I am… Anyways, darling had some business in town, so I asked if he could drop me off to visit you, and he said yes! Isn’t he the sweetest?!”

“I guess you could say that…” Nikki muttered. Then, noticing Kate’s confused, but also somewhat amused expression, she added, “Here, let me introduce you two. Karen Coleman, meet Kate Carson, freelance photographer, and an old friend of mine. Kate, this is Karen. She’s just your average ditzy tentacle-loving teenage girl. She tagged along with me on an expedition to Antarctica a few years back, got herself married to some lesser eldritch horror or another, and decided to stay down there for the rest of her life. So, yeah, nothing too special.”

“It’s so nice to meet you!” Karen cheered, rushing over to give Kate a hug.

“Y-Yeah, l-likewise…” Kate replied as she struggled to breath.

“So, now that I’m done working, you guys want me to give ya the tour?”

Before they could answer, a blaring alarm drowned out all other sound.

“What the shit?” Nikki swore as she pulled up a holographic display. “Intruder alert? Who the hell could get past all the security? Present company excluded, of course,” she added after a moment.

“She looks really pretty!” Karen observed as the trio watched the frilly intruder cheerfully begin remaking the gray and gloomy primary testing chamber into something far more cute and whimsical. “Oh! And she can do magic too! Let’s go down and say hi!”

“Not yet,” Nikki told her firmly. “This is something completely unprecedented, and it provides an unparalleled opportunity for data collection,” the scientist added as a grin began to spread across her face. “Look! Team Alpha was on security detail. They’re engaging her now. Let’s watch and see what happens…”

And so they did, growing increasingly more awed and/or horrified with each passing second.

“Fascinating…” Nikki breathed once the cute intruder had finished having her “fun” with the members of Team Alpha. “She defeated them all single handedly… Hmm… But now she’s moving on to the labs… We certainly can’t have that… Okay, ladies,” she said with a grin. “I think it’s time we introduced ourselves…”

“Are you serious?” Kate asked, clearly taken aback. “You saw what she just did to those—”

“Those were just my crudest beginnings,” Nikki informed her, “barely more than beta-testing prototypes. They can’t hold a candle to the three of us. At least, not when we’re at our full potential,” she added with a grin.

“Aw, crap. You’re talking about transforming, aren’t you?” Kate asked in a sullen voice.

“Of course I am. We’re certainly not going down there like this.”

“Okay, but… Can I nope out this time? I really don’t need to be transformed to record stuff with this thing,” she said, gesturing to her camera.

“Request denied!” Nikki snapped, while dramatically pointing a finger at the photographer. “Your camera’s data collecting abilities are astronomically increased while you’re transformed. Besides…” she added after a moment. “If that girl is as strong as she seems, we may need you to provide some offensive support.”

“Fine…” Kate said with a weary sigh. “Let’s get this over with…”

✩✩✩

Meanwhile, Magical Dream Princess was making her way through the labs’ various rooms. Each was filled with a staggeringly eclectic array of super-scientific paraphernalia, in every style imaginable, from steampunk to cyberpunk. Some of it looked as if it came straight out of Tron, while other items looked like they had been taken off the set of Frankenstein. There were tesla coils, bubbling beakers of every size and shape, neon-covered machinery, dozens of screens, gages and displays, both holographic and physical… and buttons.

LOTS of buttons…

Magical Dream Princess’s eyes lit up at the sight of them. For buttons, after all, existed to be pressed…

“Ooooh… What does this button do~?!” she asked in childish wonderment, as she stood on tiptoes next to a particularly prominent button on a wire and tube covered pedestal.

“Why don’t you press it and find out?” a voice asked.

Whirling to face its source, Magical Dream Princess let out a startled gasp.

“G-Golly wolly! W-Who are you?!”

“I’m Dr. Nikki Kannis, the head researcher here. But you can call me…”

“Nyahahaha!!!” she cackled manically upon making her grand introduction.

“Wowie zowie~!” the ditzy magical girl exclaimed, her eyes glittering with excitement as she darted around Nykannis’s massive form, looking at it from every angle. “Magical Dream Princess thinks you’re, like, so super duper cool looking and stuff~! (giggle!) Golly wolly~! You have so many crazy wazy thingie wingies all over you~! It’s totally wotally like you’re some kinda mad scientist type-persony worsony~! (giggle!)”

“Uh… Yeah… That’s what I just said…”

“Hi! I’m Karen!” the eldritch girl to Nykannis’s right said with disconcerting cheerfulness as she enthusiastically waved one of her tentacles. “No title, though!” she added with a giggle. “It’s really nice to meet you!”

“Kate,” the blushing girl in the extravagant wedding dress to Nykannis’s left deadpanned, while flashing a peace sign. “Ditto on the title thing.”

“Golly wolly~! Like, Magical Dream Princess thinks your dress is, like, so super duper pretty~! (giggle!)”

“Uh… Thanks… I guess…?” Kate replied, clearly uncomfortable with the interest the strange girl was taking in her extraordinarily embarrassing outfit, along with how close she was getting… Still, Kate had never been one to miss an opportunity when one presented itself. “Y-Your outfit’s really pretty, too,” she told the ditzy magical girl. “Say, uh, do you mind if I take a picture?”

“Wowie Zowie~!” the adorable girl squealed. “Magical Dream Princess would, like, totally wotally, super duper wuv to have her picture taken~! (giggle!)” the childish magical girl replied, striking her most cutesy of poses, while winking at Kate.

“O-Okay, cool,” the photographer said, happy that the girl had agreed, but slightly taken aback by the sheer intensity of her enthusiasm. Holding up her camera, which appeared far more ornate now that she had transformed, Kate snapped a few quick shots, with Magical Dream Princess switching to a new pose after each one. “Alright, that should do it,” Kate said after she’d finished. “Thanks a lot.”

“You’re, like, totally wotally welcome, Katie Watie~! (giggle!)”

“Nice work,” Nykannis commended the photographer as she and her friend exchanged grins.

“Goody woody~! That was, like, so much fun~! (giggle!) It’s, like, so super duper nice to meet you girls~! (giggle!) Oh~! But, Magical Dream Princess should, like, probably introduce herself, now~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess is—”

“Oh, we all know who you are,” Nykannis said dryly. “What we don’t know is why you decided to break into my lab and START SCREWING WITH THINGS!!!” the mad scientist roared.

“Oh gosh! Magical Dream Princess would, like, totally wotally wuv to tell you, but it’s, like, a super duper special wecial secret~!”

“Don’t wanna tell us, huh? That’s fine,” Nykannis said, her massive technomagical form making the approximation of a shrug. “We’ll just have to beat it out of you… Karen! Now!” she snapped, at which point the eldritch girl surged forward with surprising swiftness to wrap herself around the intruder.

“Wowies~! (giggle!) Your tentacle wentacles are, like, really tickly wickly~!” Magical Dream Princess squealed in delight as Karen tried to hold her squirming body down.

“Oh! Um, thank you!” Karen said, somewhat surprised at the compliment. “Darling really likes them too! In fact, we tickle each other almost every day!”

“Golly wolly~! (giggle!) Tickle wickle sharing is, like, the bestie westiest~! (giggle!) Here~! Magical Dream Princess will tickle wickle you too~! (giggle!)”

Reaching out with her wand, she waved one of its feathery wings back and forth across the underside of Karen’s tentacles, causing the eldritch girl to emit a high-pitched squeal.

“Oh! (giggle!) W-Wow! (giggle!) Y-You’re (giggle!) r-really (giggle!) g-good a-at (giggle!) t-this! (giggle!)” Karen managed between giggling fits, her tentacles writhing so furiously that they loosened their grip on Magical Dream Princess enough for the playful magical girl to escape.

“Damn it Karen…” Nykannis hissed. “WHY DIDN’T YA HOLD HER ARMS DOWN?!!”

“I-I d-didn’t know I was supposed to!” Karen stammered as she twiddled her tentacles nervously. “I-I’m sorry!”

“Ah, forget it…” the Mad Scientist grumbled.

Meanwhile, something new had caught Magical Dream Princess’s attention.

“Wowie zowie~! (giggle!)” the ditzy magical girl exclaimed as she ran behind Kate. “Your hair is, like, really, reeeally long~!”

“Yeah, I know,” the photographer grumbled, looking incredibly tired. “You can thank Nykannis for that…”

“Like, it’s so super duper big~! Magical Dream Princess can, like, hidey widey in it for ever and ever~! (giggle!)” the childish magical girl said as she proceeded to wrap herself in the thick golden tresses. It wasn’t long before she was completely obscured from view.

“Um, about that?” Kate remarked, while taking a clump of her monstrous mane and giving it a sharp pull. Instantly, the photographer’s voluminous hair slid off Magical Dream Princess as smooth as silk, leaving her clearly visible once more.

“Golly wolly! Like, what just happened?! Magical Dream Princess was, like holding on really tighty wighty too!”

“It’s magic,” Kate stated flatly. “My hair never catches on, and can never be caught by, anything. It’s the only good thing about it…”

“Humpf!” the childish magical girl pouted. “Well, that’s, like, no funsie wunsie…”

“Maybe you’ll like this better.” Nykannis suggested, before firing one of the weapons attached to her many mechanical appendages. A small sphere shot out to strike Magical Dream Princess’s hand, where upon it stuck firmly to her skin and began to expand at an alarming rate. Alarming, at least, for anyone other than Magical Dream Princess…

“Wowie zowie~!” the ditzy magical girl exclaimed, a gleeful smile on her face. “It’s, like, a big expandy wandy baloony woony~! (giggle!) But, like, why’s it gotta be all icky wicky grey and stuff? Like, whatevsies~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess is gonna popsie wopsie it now~! (giggle!)” she declared, conjuring a shiny pin and driving it into the expanding sphere. “Pop~!” she shouted, and the sphere did just that.

“T-That s-shouldn’t be possible…” the Mad Scientist stammered. “Those grav-globs are made of hyper dense Nythonium alloy… H-How did you…? Oh, forget it… My mistake. I should have FIRED IT ON FULL AUTO!!! NYAHAHAHA!!!”

As the Mad Scientist’s weapon charged up in preparation of doing just that, Magical Dream Princess conjured a baseball bat and assumed a hitting stance. “Like, okie doki~! (giggle!) Batter watter up~!”

As the stream of spheroids raced towards her, Magical Dream Princess took a mighty swing and batted them all directly back at Nykannis. Not expecting this, the Mad Scientist had neglected to raise any of her various energy shields, and before she could do so, the spheroids impacted her with enough force to send her flying across the room.

“Yippy skippy wippy~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess got a home run~! Weeeee~!” the childish magical girl cheered as she set off to run the imaginary bases. She was so caught up in her innocent enjoyment, that she ran right into Karen, the eldritch girl taking advantage of Magical Dream Princess’s distraction to tightly wrap her up.

“Nikki! Look! I’ve got her! I’ve got her!” Karen called excitedly. “I’ve… got her?” Looking at her captive, she discovered that instead of the adorable magical girl, she was actually holding a large pillow with her image printed on it. “Huh, this isn’t her… Well, it is,” the confused girl added after a moment, “but I don’t think this is the version of her Nikki wanted me to get…”

“Nopey wopey~! (giggle!)” Magical Dream Princess replied, while wagging her finger in a teasing manner. “Karen Waren gives the bestie bestest huggy wuggies, but, like, right nowie, Magical Dream Princess wants to play~! (giggle!)”

With that, the ditzy magical girl proceeded to bounce around the various labs, playing with anything that caught her eye, while humming a cute little tune as she went along. For her part, Karen tried her best to chase down the hyperactive girl, but she wasn’t meeting with much success.

“Force her back into the testing chamber!” Nykannis ordered, after she finally extricated herself from the spheroids. “There’s too much sensitive equipment in here!”

“O-Okay!” Karen acknowledged, as she set about attempting to guide the ditzy girl’s hyperactive rampage towards the door that Magical Dream Princess had entered the labs through. Once she had finally succeeded in doing so, Nykannis sprung into action.

“Kate! Get to the top of that building,” the Mad Scientist instructed, while pointing at one of the closest ruined structures, “and let me know the moment you’re in position!”

“Roger,” the photographer replied wearily.

“Good job Karen,” Nykannis commended the eldritch girl who now seemed to be playing “tag” with Magical Dream Princess. “Just keep her occupied for a little bit longer.”

“Sure thing!” the eldritch girl confirmed cheerfully. “This is actually really fun!”

“I’m glad someone thinks so,” Kate muttered.

The photographer-turned-blushing-bride made quite the comical sight as she headed over to the structure Nykannis had indicated. A pair of tiny robots threw rice and flower petals before her, while an excessively long train trailed along the rubble-strewn ground behind her, its ludicrous length matched only by that of her golden, Rapunzelesque hair. Although neither her hair nor her outfit snagged on any of the rubble through which Kate walked (something the photographer was immensely thankful for), the outfit still greatly inhibited her movement, and she was forced to hold up the hem of her gown in order to proceed at even a moderately unhurried pace. Entering the building at long last, Kate scowled upon noticing how many steps she would have to climb.

In high heels…

Giving a weary sigh, and mentally cursing Nykannis for designing such a humiliatingly impractical outfit, the blonde bride slowly made her way up the stairs… She had only taken a few steps, when she heard Nykannis’s enraged voice in her ears.

“Come ON, Kate! WHAT’S TAKING YOU SO LONG?!!”

I don’t know, maybe this ridiculous gown you’re making me wear? Kate grumbled to herself.

Still, she knew it wouldn’t be wise to anger her friend further. She also knew that what she was about to do would in no way be pleasant… Gathering her strength, she took a deep breath, before rushing up the stairs like Cinderella in reverse. By the time she had reached the top, the poor girl was utterly exhausted.

“F-Finally… M-Made it…” she declared between needy gasps of air as she leaned her weary body against the door frame. Her heart was pounding like a jackhammer, and her ankles were absolutely murdering her. N-Nykannis owes me… one hell of a foot massage after this… “Okay,” she called over the comm after she had caught her breath. “I’m in position.”

“Great!” Nykannis commended. “Start recording, and whatever you do, don’t stop! I want to examine every nanosecond of that footage in exquisite detail…” she added, while gleefully tapping her fingers together. While still in the lab, Nykannis had surreptitiously scanned Magical Dream Princess with a spy ray. The data gleaned from it had revealed that the ditzy magical girl boasted a MAG stat even higher than Kate’s, along with a not inconsiderable amount of luck. Yes, she was certainly formidable, but the Mad Scientist knew that no matter how powerful their whimsical adversary seemed, she still had only a finite amount of mana. Once it was gone, she was finished, and Nykannis already had an idea of just how to expedite that process… “All right!” she declared as her body thrummed with ever-increasing power. “Now I can REALLY cut loose! Hey, panty shot princess! EAT THIS!!!”

With that, Nykannis unleashed the full might of her super-scientific arsenal: neutrino particle cannons, polyphasic penetrator beams, polycyclic plasma blasters, mega magitech magneto cannons, multiphasic transdimensional hyper homing lasers, ultradimensional gigga blasters, ultraetheric negaparticle projectors, hyperphasic disintegrator cannons, transaetheric flux arc coils, techno arcane quantum singularity cannons, transphasic turbo obliterators, and hyper voltaic lightning guns, along with dangerously overcharged neutron star drivers, gigga transphasic cataclysm cannons, zero point aetheric oscillators, omni-spectrum hyperwave disruptors, ultra atomic disintegrators, and a plethora of other bizarre technomantic death rays. These were supplemented by salvoes of Nythonium/antimatter fusion missiles, transwarp vortex missiles, hypergravitic pulse missiles and megaphasic super destructo rockets. Last, but by no means least, in an attempt to match Magical Dream Princess’s apparent reality warping powers, Nykannis brought her own reality editors into play: chrono cannons, hypermetric dischargers, omnitemporal exotic matter manipulators, polymorphic paradox projectors, and the like. Simultaneously, an array of weapon-covered drones detached from the Mad Scientist and floated into position to bombard Magical Dream Princess from every angle.

But despite the sheer volume of firepower directed her way, not a single part of the frightening fusillade actually managed to hit the ditzy magical girl, who stared at the impressive light show with wide-eyed wonderment.

“Wowie zowies~! Sooo many pretty lights and colors~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess feels like she’s some kinda winda pretty witty idol widol~! (giggle!) Oh~! Magical Dream Princess knows~! She’ll, like, totally wotally singy wingy a song for you girls~! (giggle!)” Gleefully hopping atop a pile of rubble, she transformed it into a glittering stage with a sweep of her wand. It possessed no lights, or smoke, or fireworks, but that was okay. Those would all be provided by Nykannis’s all-out barrage. “Like, all righty~! Here~! We~! Gooooo~!

If you can dream it, you can do it~!
So step right up, there’s nothing to it~!
When there’s a problem, just dance right through it~!
You can go so far~!
You can be a star~!”

And so forth.

Predictably, Nykannis took a rather dim view of the performance, and as Magical Dream Princess continued to sing and dance, the Mad Scientist’s fury grew stronger with each passing second. Enraged beyond reason by the childish magical girl’s playful flippancy, Nykannis decided it was time to break out her big guns…

Dense clouds of nano assemblers emerged from the Mad Scientist’s technomantic form and immediately set to work transforming and combining Nykannis’s existing weapons into larger and even more staggeringly powerful versions of themselves: Polycyclic transwarp infinity beams, omnispectrumatic gigga cyclonic quantum annihilator rockets, hyperquantum chrono vortex projectors, omniphasic ultra atomic supernova lances, omniaetheric zero-point hypertachyonic wave motion cannons, turbo-charged polyphasic quantum singularity gigga blasters, ultraetheric polyparodxical chronometric coil guns, and other weapons too incomprehensible to describe.

“Nyahahaha!!! Now this is what I call FUN!” Nykannis exulted as her massive magitech bombardment produced an array of brilliant explosions along with several tears in the very fabric of reality. “I’m the one who built this place, princess, so I’m the only one who gets to blow it up! Nyahahaha!!!” she cackled in manic glee. “Come on, Magical Dream Princess, SHOW ME WHAT YA GOT!!!”

For her part, Magical Dream Princess was only too happy to oblige. The Dream Barrier she had placed around herself turned any attacks that got even remotely close to her into whimsical, and completely harmless, caricatures of themselves. If anything, the hail of fluffy fuzz balls, cuddly centipedes, and flying fishies they became served only to accentuate her performance.

“Holy Heisenberg uncertainty principle!” Nykannis swore in amazement. “How much mana does this girl have?! Oh well, guess I’ll just have to crank things up EVEN FURTHER!!!”

With a high pitched whine, the Mad Scientist’s entire massive technomantic form began to shudder and spark as it surged with unimaginable power. An entire pocket dimension filled with magitech energy generators of the most esoteric sort, from vita-voltaic cold fusion dynamos and hyperbaric antimatter crucibles, to omniphasic zero-point infinity colliders and quantum singularity hyperflux cores transmitted raw, technomystic power of every conceivable (and inconceivable) kind to the already dangerously overcharged power accumulators protruding from the back of Nykannis’s gargantuan cybermagimechnical body.

“Nyahahaha!” the Monarch of Mad Science cackled with wild abandon. “You should be honored, your Highness! Just for you, I’m taking this shit up to 11²³, out of a possible five!”

Her hyper-charged, ultra-upgraded arsenal continued to vomit forth streams of inconceivable energy for several seconds longer, before Nykannis’s mana reserves finally ran dry. As she waited for the smoke to clear and the space-time fractures, temporal tears, and various other anomalies to reseal themselves, the Mad Scientist gleefully anticipated the state her target would be in. A moment later, Nykannis got her first good look at the ditzy magical girl, and a sadistic grin began to slowly spread across her face at the sight. Although Magical Dream Princess had escaped the barrage with nary a scratch, she now looked visibly tired, and in a fight like this, that was a major accomplishment.

“YES! Just as I predicted!” Nykannis exulted. “She’s finally running out of mana! Nyahahaha! I’m such a genius!”

“Wowie zowies…” the childish magical girl sighed wearily. “Magical Dream Princess is, like, kinda tired after all that singy wingy and dancy wancy stuffy wuffy… But, like, she really had the bestie westiest time~! (giggle!)” she added, perking up a bit and giving a big smile to her non-existent fans. This was particularly comical, considering her stage now sat in the center of an enormous crater, one that almost presented the appearance of a stadium. “Like, thank you soooo much for watching her show~! She, like, super duper appreciates it, and she wuvs you all very wery much~! (giggle!) Bye bye for nowies~!” she added, after which she hopped onto a smiling cloud and zoomed off, leaving a trail of sparkles in her wake.

“Okay, Karen! Grab her!”

“R-Right!” the eldritch girl acknowledged, using her tentacles to swing from building to building in an attempt to chase down the cloud Magical Dream Princess was flying around on.

In her unsealed, eldritch form, Karen possessed superhuman physical abilities, but even so, the flying cloud still managed to remain just out of her reach. If only she had some sort of ranged attack… Oh, wait, she did…

“Why the hell aren’t you using your fire spec, Karen?!” an enraged Nykannis shouted. “You need to go all out on this girl!”

“Gosh, are you sure?” the eldritch girl asked hesitantly. “I really don’t wanna accidently hurt her…”

“Hurt her?! I don’t care if you KILL her! Wait… No, scratch that. Don’t kill her. I wanna get the most data outta her that I possibly can, and for that, I’ll need her alive. At least to start with…” she added darkly.

At her friend’s instance, Karen activated her fire spec. She might not have been the most proficient mage, but nonetheless, she was still able to cover her body in an aura of sickly purple flames.

“Wowie zowies~!” Magical Dream Princess exclaimed at the sight. “Karen Waren looks so pretty witty with all those purple wurple flamey waymies~! (giggle!)”

“Oh! You really think so?!” the eldritch girl asked, her cheeks reddening at the compliment. “Darling likes them too! He always says that—”

“Karen!” Nykannis snapped. “Stop socializing with princess glitter tits and CAPTURE HER ALREADY!!!”

“I’m trying! I’m trying!” the eldritch girl pleaded, flinching at the sound of her friend’s anger and redoubling her efforts to chase down the hyperactive magical girl. Unfortunately, all of the fireballs she was now hurling were being dodged by the staggeringly nimble cloud Magical Dream Princess was riding upon. Even with her depleted mana reserves, it was clear to see that the playful magical girl wasn’t finished quite yet.

“Hmmm, this isn’t exactly going as I’d hoped…” Nykannis muttered. Although she was reluctant to do so, the Mad Scientist realized that she would have to rely on her other friend if she wanted to resolve this in an expedient manner. “So, Kate,” she asked the photographer in an almost casual manner. “Take any good pictures lately?”

“Well, there were those Slendermen I was tellin’ ya about.”

“Perfect.”

“You sure?”

“I am.” Nykannis replied. “Let’s give our little dream princess some nightmares…”

“Alright,” Kate acknowledged, while trying to suppress a shudder. “You asked for it…”

Despite her magical form’s ridiculous level of impracticality, it bestowed a major benefit upon the photographer, or, more precisely, upon her camera, one that made all the annoyance and humiliation worth it. And then some…

Pressing a button, a blinding beam shot out of the camera to a point directly in front of Magical Dream Princess’s current flight path. There was a flash of light, and when it faded, a pair of strange figures had flickered into existence. They were abnormally tall and thin, and their long, spindly limbs ended in several writhing tentacles. Most bizarre were the black business suits they were wearing and their complete lack of faces… They hovered in the air, calmly waiting for their prey, and when Magical Dream Princess’s cloud made a sharp turn to avoid them, they winked out of existence to appear directly in front of her once more.

“Okay, I think we’ve got her on the ropes!” Kate called out.

“Nice work!” Nykannis commended, giving her friend a thumbs up. “Okay, Karen, restrain her, and see if you can do it right, this time!”

“B-But… T-Those t-things are s-so s-scary…” the eldritch girl whimpered.

“WHAT?!!” Nykannis roared. “YOU MARRIED ONE OF THOSE THINGS!!!”

“B-But darling d-doesn’t look a-anything like that!” Karen protested.

“Fine! Then just wait until they’ve finished with her. By that point she should be so catatonic that even you won’t be able to fuck things up. Meanwhile, I’ll make the preparations for my… surgical strike!”

In addition to her already expended ranged arsenal, many of Nykannis’s various segmented servo-arms and tentacular mechadendrites were tipped with an assortment of bizarre melee weapons, from slipstream swords and biphase buzz saws to quantum hammers and monomolecular blades, all enhanced by shimmering auras of technomystic energy. Now, the Mad Scientist’s nano assemblers brought a new instrument into existence, a wicked-looking energy scalpel, which glowed with malevolent power…

Meanwhile, as Magical Dream Princess continued to avoid the summoned Slendermen, she soon realized that there was no way to outrun the terrifying creatures. She would have to confront them. Bringing her cloud to a stop, she put her hands on her hips and glared at the menacing beings as they drifted ever closer.

“Like, this gamey wamey isn’t fun anymore! Magical Dream Princess wuvs playing with her new friends, but you’re just icky wicky nightmare thingies! Magical Dream Princess likes cutesy wutesy sweety weety dreamy weamys, so she thinks you gotta go bye bye now! Bye bye~!” she called playfully, as she waved her wand over the two nightmarish monstrosities. This caused a shower of glittering sparkles to rain down upon them, which caused their bodies to inflate. Before long, the terrifying Slendermen had been replaced by a pair of balloons with cheerful faces. One resembled a star, while the other took the form of a crescent moon. Both were wearing blue nightcaps. “Aww~! You look so cutesy wutesy now~! (giggle!)” the whimsical magical girl gushed as she gave both balloons a big hug. “Alrighty~! Off you go~!” she added with a giggle as she released the pair to drift up to the chamber’s ceiling. “Byiiiie~! (giggle!)”

“Well, can’t say I didn’t see that coming,” Kate noted. “On the bright side, she’s now down to only twenty-five percent of her total mana.”

“This is it, Karen!” Nykannis instructed. “Go get her!”

Unfortunately, despite putting forth a valiant effort, and even taking into account Magical Dream Princess’s steadily decreasing mana, Karen still couldn’t seem to catch the playful magical girl. But she was getting closer…

“Keep going Karen, you’ve almost got her!” Kate cheered the eldritch girl on, while watching the chase through her camera.

“Thanks Kate! But this is a lot harder than it looks! She’s just so fast on that cloud thing of hers!”

“Y’know, I think I might have an idea about that…” Kate said thoughtfully. Brushing some of her long, blonde hair away from her face, she slid a gloved finger over her camera’s display. Scrolling through the various pictures stored within the device, she stopped when she reached the picture she had taken of Magical Dream Princess. Selecting it with a tap of her finger, she was presented with a list of the magical girl’s stats, while several additional holographic displays appeared, upon which could be found several dozen submenus. The photographer tapped on a tab titled “weaknesses”, and after only a few moments, a grin began to creep across her face. “Hey, MDP!” Kate called out. “You wanna take some more pictures? I got this really pretty parasol you can hold!”

“Reeeeally~?! Oh, goody woody~! (giggle!) Yaaay~! It’s picture wicture time again~!” the childish magical girl cheered as her cloud raced over. Once it was overhead, Magical Dream Princess slid down a rainbow to land right next to Kate. “Yippy skippy wippy~! (giggle!) And, like, did Katie Watie just give Magical Dream Princess a cutesy wutsey nickname~?!”

“Uh, heh, yeah...” the photographer said tentatively. “Your name’s kinda long, so I, uh, just shortened it a little. Y-You don’t mind, do you?”

“Golly wolly~! Of coursey woursey Magical Dream Princess doesn’t mindy windy~! She, like, abso-dutly-wutely wuvs it~! (giggle!)” the bubbly magical girl declared, clapping her hands enthusiastically, while jumping up and down with delight. “Thankie wankie sooo much~! (giggle!)” she added as she gave the photographer a big hug.

“O-Okay, cool,” Kate replied, while mentally breathing a sigh of relief. “So, uh, you wanna get started?”

“Like, yepperoonie~! (giggle!)” Magical Dream Princess confirmed, taking the parasol from Kate and striking a cute pose with it.

“Alright, say ‘cheese!’”

“Cheesy weesy~! (giggle!)”

A single “snap!” was all it took.

With a click of a button, Magical Dream Princess found herself frozen in place, unable to move, or even speak.

“Sorry about that,” Kate told her. “This setting is called ‘Freeze Frame’. It’s kinda like a stasis field that has the added benefit of draining your mana at the same time. Pretty cool, huh?”

What wasn’t so cool was that it also drained the photographer’s own mana at a frightening rate. This, coupled with the fact that her target needed to be absolutely still for it to work, was why Kate only used the Freeze Frame feature on exceedingly rare occasions.

“Okay, Karen! Now’s your chance! Grab her before she starts moving again!”

Wasting no time, the eldritch girl quickly did as instructed, sliding up behind the frozen magical girl and tightly wrapping her up. This time, Karen made triplely sure she had bound Magical Dream Princess in such a way that she couldn’t move her arms, legs, hands, or feet even a single inch. At long last, the whimsical intruder had finally been captured.

“Yaaay! I did it!” Karen cheered.

“Bring her down here,” Nykannis instructed. “And take Kate along with you. I don’t wanna wait an hour for her to go back down those stairs…”

“Okay!” Karen acknowledged, scooping up both girls and bringing them down to the street below.

“Golly wolly~! Karen Waren’s tentacle wentacles are, like, so super duper tight~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess, like, can’t even move her arms~! It’s likey wikey Magical Dream Princess is all cuddle wuddled up in her beddy weddy~! But, like, Magical Dream Princess doesn’t wanna go beddy bye right nowie!”

“You’re gonna wish you were asleep,” Nykannis said as she approached, a sadistic gleam in her eyes. “Now, let’s begin the operation…” the Mad Scientist declared, grinning with maniacal glee. “Your ditzy little ADHD wracked brain’s got no idea how much FUN this is gonna be, but I think the best part will be when you start crying my name in that adorable voice of yours, begging me to stop tearing out your insides, while I just LAUGH IN YOUR FACE!!!”

“Uh, super sorries, but, Magical Dream Princess doesn’t thinkie winkie she can do that…” the girl said, looking somewhat embarrassed.

“What?”

“Ummm… Like, Magical Dream Princess’s memory wemory isn’t, like, the bestie westiest when she’s Magical Dream Princess, so, she, uh, totally wotally forgot… What was your namey wamey again?”

At that, the Mad Scientist’s eyes went wide with utter fury.

“Why you… Why you little… I’m the person who created this place! I’m the person who created those girls you kicked the crap outta earlier! I’m the person who finally captured your kitty covered ass! I’m the person who’s about to slice you open and pull you apart, bit by bit, while you scream your pretty little head off! I’M THE GREATEST MAD SCIENTIST IN THE FUCKING MULTIVERSE!!! I’M—”

“Dr. Kannis!” a new voice bellowed. “What is the meaning of this?”

All four girls turned their heads to see an imposing figure approaching. He was tall, with broad shoulders, and a belly that was a bit on the portly side. A thick, dark beard covered much of his features, while his eyes fixed the group with a piercing gaze. Although such a fortress of a man seemed to have no need for it, he walked with the aid of a glossy, black cane, atop which was mounted a glowing, crimson gem. He exuded a stately, commanding presence, one that caused each girl to reflexively shrink back a little at the sight of him.

“M-Mister Demiris!” the Mad Scientist yelped in horror, utterly shocked by her employer’s sudden appearance. “S-Sir, this girl broke into the lab and started wrecking things! Thankfully we were able to subdue her.”

“And now you’re planning to dissect her?”

“Uh…Y-Yeah…” Nykannis said sheepishly. “For science!”

“Release her,” Demiris commanded. “Now.”

Karen looked to Nykannis for instruction, her gaze filled with uncertainty. The scientist gave a defeated sigh, then nodded. At once, Karen slid her tentacles off of the whimsically dressed girl, and helped her slowly rise to her feet.

“S-Super thankie wankies, mister~! (giggle!)” the childish magical girl told Demiris, while treating him to a brilliant smile. “But Magical Dream Princess still thinks you’re a meanie weanie head!”

“Charming… And who are these two?” he asked, gesturing to Kate and Karen.

“Karen Colman, sir!” the eldritch girl said cheerfully, while raising one of her tentacles in a salute. “We actually met once before, at the start of the Antarctic expedition! I think I said you looked like a younger version of Santa Claus?”

“Yes… I recall… And you?”

“Kate Carson, freelance photographer.”

“Dr. Kannis!” Demiris roared, whirling around to face the now-cringing scientist. “You brought a member of the press into my most secure facility?! What were you thinking?!”

“W-Well, ya see, sir, I kinda made that fancy camera she has, and she sorta broke it, and since all my tools are in my lab…”

“Sir, Dr. Kannis is my friend,” Kate began, in an attempt to defuse the situation. “I’d never betray her trust by taking pictures of this place. You have my word on that.”

“As if your word counted for anything of value,” Demiris replied disdainfully. “No matter, the real concern is our guest, here.” He turned to bring his full attention upon Magical Dream Princess. “Young lady, would you care to tell me why you chose to break into my facility?”

“Weeell, it’s kinda winda a super duper secret wecret, but, like, you did kinda winda save Magical Dream Princess’s life, sooo… Okie doki~! (giggle!) She’ll totally wotally tell you~! See, Magical Dream Princess’s Da… Uh, s-someone very wery important to Magical Dream Princess has a placey wacey just like this, and a few days ago, some meanie weanie heads broke into it and trashy washied it all up! And since, like, you’re a meanie weanie head, and you’ve done meanie weanie thingies to this super duper important person before, Magical Dream Princess wanted to see if you had done this thingie wingie too!”

“I see. And why am I a ‘meanie weanie head’, to use your incredibly childish vocabulary?”

“‘Cause you’ve done meanie weanie thingies to Magical Dream Princess’s Da… her very wery super duper most important person in the whole wide world, and it made him very wery upset! Like, this one time, you made him lose a dealie wealie that costy wosty him lots and lots of money! And then this other time you… you… Oh, fiddlewiddlesticks! Magical Dream Princess can’t remember wember…”

“Ah, so I have hurt this person economically, in the realms of business and finance? Yes, that is not outside the realm of possibility. I have fought and won many battles in the quest to assure my corporation’s dominance, but they have all taken place in the arena of the global marketplace. I have never, and will never engage in such detestable acts as breaking into a secure facility in the deepest hours of the night with the intent to vandalize it. Of this you have my word as a businessman, as a father, and as Lodovico Demiris.”

Magical Dream Princess seemed to be deep in thought for a moment, something that was clearly very difficult for her. Then, she flashed a big smile at the imposing businessman.

“Okie doki~! Magical Dream Princess totally wotally believes you~! (giggle!) Like, if she’s being completely weetely honest, she didn’t really thinkie winkie you were responsible wonsible either~! (giggle!)”

“I am pleased to hear that,” Demiris said with a nod. “Now, so long as this never happens again, I bid you leave to depart from this place and I wish you luck in seeking out the true party responsible for the despicable affront you described.”

“B-But, sir…!” Nykannis protested. “She…!”

“Did she see The Artifact?” Demiris asked.

“No, sir…”

“Did she see The Prototype?”

“Negative on that too, sir…”

“In that case, I see no reason to detain her further. But first,” he added, turning his attention to Magical Dream Princess once more. “Since I was kind enough to save your life and let you leave here, free of charge, I should like to ask you three questions in return. Is that acceptable?”

“Weeeell… You have been, like, really nicey wicey to Magical Dream Princess so far, and you, like, totally wotally did answer all her questions, sooo… Yeah~! Okie Doki~! (giggle!)” she said, winking and giving a playful salute, while striking a cute pose.

“Excellent. Question one: What is your age?”

“Magical Dream Princess is, like, super duper sweet sixteen~!”

“Question two: What is your favorite color?”

“Rainbow~! (giggle!)” she cheered happily. “Wowies! Magical Dream Princess, like, totally wotally wuvs these questions~! (giggle!)” she added, jumping up and down like a child on a sugar rush.

As this was going on, Kate raised a confused eyebrow, to which Nykannis responded by leaning over and whispering, “Mr. Demiris really loves Monty Python. A LOT…”

“Question three: Does Thane Covington possess the ability to create magical beings?”

“Nopey wopey!” Magical Dream Princess declared emphatically, stomping her foot down in what the others assumed was intended to be a serious gesture, but which looked as adorably ridiculous as the girl performing it. “Daddy Waddy can’t do any thingie wingie like that! He, like, doesn’t even know that magical wagical stuffy wuffy even exists! Only Magical Dream Princess knows, and it’s, like, her super duper special weshal secret~! (giggle!)”

“I see…” Demiris said, his eyes narrowing. “Very well,” he declared after a moment. “You may now take your leave. As far as I am concerned, this was all nothing more than a training exercise, one that provided irrevocable proof of something I have long suspected- Our initial production run is no match for the capabilities of a true magical.” Then, turning to Magical Dream Princess, he added, “You have my sincere thanks for demonstrating this… Miss Covington.”

Magical Dream Princess gave a sharp gasp and her eyes opened wide.

“G-Golly wolly! L-Like, how did you find out Magical Dream Princess’s super duper secret wecret identity?! She, like, tried to be so super duper careful wareful too!”

“Let us simply put it down to my supernatural perceptive abilities,” Demiris said with a small smirk. “Although, I would advise that if you wish to maintain the viability of your whimsical guise, you should refrain from referring to Thane Covington as your ‘Daddy Waddy’ in the future.”

As Demiris spoke, Magical Dream Princess began to look increasingly upset.

“Oh golly wolly goodness…” she sighed, trying and failing to fight back tears. “M-Magical Dream Princess doesn’t know what to do now… Everybody wody knows her super duper special wecial secret, and all because she’s, like, such a super duper dummy when she’s Magical Dream Princess… This is, like, just the worsty worst…” For a moment it looked as if she might completely break down, but, all at once, she stopped crying and a big smile spread across her cute face. “Oh~! Goodie woodie~!” she exclaimed with her usual hyperactive glee. “Magical Dream Princess just thought of, like, the bestie bestest idea~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess thinks it’s past your beddy time~! (giggle!)” the adorable magical girl declared, pointing her wand at Demiris and the three magical girls standing near him. “She’ll make you all go sleepy bye, and when you wakey wakey tomorrow morning, you won’t remember wember any thingy wingy Magical Dream Princess told you~! (giggle!) Golly wolly~! Isn’t she, like, so super duper smart~?! (giggle!) Okie doki~! Time to say night night, everyone~! Night night~!”

With a wave of her wand, Magical Dream Princess sent a spray of glitter cascading over her four new friends. The instant it touched them, they fell to the ground, unconscious. Thankfully, the sparkling sprinkles eased the slumbering bodies down gently, so as avoid injury when they reached the hard floor. Upon confirming that they were all slumbering peacefully, Magical Dream Princess skipped a short distance away and struck yet another cute pose.

“Like, Magical Dream Princess had lots of super duper funsies with all of you, but it’s time for her to say bye bye now~! (giggle!) Okie doki, mister magical wagical portal thingie~! Ready~? Set~? Aaaand… Onesie~!” she called out as a pink hula-hoop poofed into existence around her already gyrating waist. “Twosei~!” she shouted as a second hoop manifested to join the first. “Tha-weeeee~!” she squealed as a third and final hoop was added. Glowing with mystic power, the three hoops began to spin even more rapidly, until Magical Dream Princess was lost in a blurry whirlwind of magical energy. All at once, there was a bright flash and a mighty “pop!” After the glow had faded, nothing remained of the magical girl except for a few swiftly dissipating wisps of glittery, pink smoke.

And a video recording held within a certain magitech camera…

✩✩✩What will come of this shocking development?! Probably nothing, but if anything does, you'll have to tune in to Magical Dream Princess's continuing adventures in Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl RP to find out!✩✩✩

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

The Great Penrose... Uh... Social Night...?

@Ariamis @Card Captor @twave @BrokenPromise @FamishedPants @AtomicNut @PlatinumSkink

Connie was so glad that Ronin was so forgiving, and friendly too! She seemed like a bundle of energy and someone who would be a lot of fun to hang out with. Then she asked about Faith, and, after a moment of reluctance, Connie leaned in closer to the small samurai.

“O-Oh, uh, t-that’s her o-over there,” Connie whispered, pointing to the blonde chatting with Hilde. “S-She’s in d-disguise, though,” she added. “S-So you s-should p-probably act l-like you d-don’t know her, a-and l-let her t-tell you w-who she is herself.”

It was then that a strange and quite unsettling sight caught Connie’s attention. Shane had made his way over to Shoggy to give her a kiss, at which point the eldritch girl had begun to suck his face inside her head. Connie gave a sharp gasp as the color completely drained from her own face.

“U-Umm… S-Shoggy…?” she asked, while nervously pressing her fingers together. “Y-You s-should, uh, p-probably l-let him g-go now… I, uh, d-don’t t-think he can b-breath in t-there…”

Before the eldritch girl could respond, Shane managed to extricate himself by giving Shoggy a jolt of electricity. Connie gave a sigh of relief as color began to return to her face. After that, it appeared to be Ronin’s turn, and she, too, was heading over to Shoggy! Thankfully, having seen what had just happened, she wisely decided to give the eldritch girl a cupcake, instead of a kiss. Mia, who was very much enjoying herself, gave chuckle at the sight.

“So, I’m guessing this isn’t exactly what you were expecting when you agreed to host this thing, huh?” she asked Emily, while giving the girl a sly grin.