Shifter_Master

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

Kimble

_{.:⋮Merry Meetings & Festive Fallouts⋮:.}

Dancing across the Ice alongside MDP was a wonderful experience. Given their innate skill and the magic inherent to the ice skates it was easy to get lost in the playful atmosphere that grew between the two of them as they glided alongside each other, or pulled off unnecessary yet flashy techniques and tricks.

Or at least Penny thought so, it was enough of a good time that Penny ended up losing track of Amanda and Maribel. Of which she was slightly abashed about. She had wanted to spend some of the time at the rink getting to know at least Amanda better, but she would shrug it off without much difficulty. The time spent with her girlfriend was worth it.

“I think we lost Amanda and Maribel” Penny would point out as she came to a slow stop looking around to see if she could see where the wayward friends had ventured off to. “Oh! But I see Alicia and Kimble.” She would exclaim with a note of joy.

“Want to go meet my best friend?” She would ask looking back at MDP with a smile.

MDP was also having the time of her life as she and Penny glided around the ice rink, which, as it happened, was far larger than they had initially thought. The lake upon which the rink was formed had a meandering shape, which created small alcoves in the surrounding, snow-covered forest, and the pair soon discovered that that had not only escaped Oros, but Amanda and Maribel as well. This didn’t bother MDP all that much, as she was confident that her best friend would be fine. If anyone needed to worry, it was Oros…

“Like, Magical Dream Princess feels just like one of those snow fairy wairies from Fantasia Wasia~!” MDP told Penny with a happy giggle. “She always wuved that part the mosty wostiest~! But Daddy Waddy said she wasn’t allowed to watch it,” the whimsical girl explained. “So she had to be super duper sneaky weaky about it~! It was, like, her super duper special wecial secret wecret~! (giggle!)”

MDP’s eyes glittered when Penny pointed out two of her other friends, and asked if she wanted to meet them. “Like, totally wotally~! (giggle!)” the bubbly girl chirped. “Magical Dream Princess just wuvs making new friendy wendies~!”

Up in the distance, Kimble was about to head back to the lodge with Alicia when she noticed MDP waving to them, and waved back.
"Heeey! Penny! So good to see you!" She ran back to the fence surrounding the lake.
"I'm Kimble! Nice to meet you!"

Standing next to Kimble, Alicia turned as Kimble spotted the approaching duo and made her way over. Registering the situation, a couple emotions made their way across Alicia’s face. First, a smile. Then a wince as she realized who it was that Penny was with.

Well, no one had ever claimed that Penny couldn’t pick them. At least it wasn’t another psycho murderer like Chloe. Maybe a bit crazy, but not actively malicious. She wasn’t even sure how this team up had happened. Well, she’d just have to bear with it like the last time.

"Speak of the devil and she will appear. We were just talking about you,” she noted with a grin as she joined Kimble, Penny, and MDP. "It’s nice to see you again as well,” she said to Magical Dream Princess with an offered hand, though that might not be entirely sincere. But who was keeping track?

“Ha! Surprised then it was the real me you ran into then” Penny would reply with a grin. “There’s a half dozen of me wandering around at the moment, nicked cloning from someone during the snowball fight.” She would explain.

Alicia’s greeting, and it’s lack of sincerity hadn’t gone unnoticed by Penny, but she didn’t want to make it into a big thing, so simply raised a discreet eyebrow at Alicia. Though it would smooth away with understanding as she went on to say “I wasn’t aware you already met each other.” She could guess when they had met, and if she was correct she could understand the hesitancy.

“Regardless, formal introductions. Alicia, Kimble, this is my girlfriend Magical Dream Princess. Princess, these are Paladin Seraph Alicia Hayden and her girlfriend Kimble. Alicia was the first friend I made here in Penrose.” She would gesture between everyone as she spoke.

“Like, it’s super duper nicey wicey to meet you too, Kimble Wimble~! (giggle!)” MDP told the former catgirl, while smiling with innocent joy. “And, like, Magical Dream Princess thinky winkies your namey wamey is, like, sooo super duper cute~! (giggle!)” Turning to Alicia, she tilted her head, looking slightly puzzled. “Againsie~? Like, you do look kinda winda familiar wiliar, Alicia Wicia… Has Magical Dream Princess met you beforsie~?” the whimsical girl asked as she took Alicia’s offered hand, completely oblivious to any insincerity on the Paladin Seraph’s part.

“Thank you!” Kimble responded to the compliment with a bright smile.
“Can I call you MDP for short? I have a bit of trouble remembering the names of new friends, tee hee~”

Well, Magical Dream Princess was exactly as Alicia remembered her. She probably should have been annoyed that she had been forgotten, but there was plenty to be annoyed by already. It was probably for the best that it was the case.

For now she turned back to Penny. "Actually, I hadn’t really noticed that,” Alicia admitted with some chagrin. "We were just discussing the possibility of getting some pictures while we were here. But I suppose there’s no rush, unless the Patron blows up the dinner hall.” To Princess she merely offered a simple "It wasn’t very long.” The girl had just kind of vanished during the raid, so there was no reason making a fuss over it.

“No worries” Penny would brush off the fact that the rest of her clones hadn’t been noticed. “Most of the counterfeits are away from the lodge, and I’m hardly the only one with clones wandering around. Anyway, I’d be more than willing to take a couple pictures for you if you wanted.” She would offer up. “Any one of me or Snoopy can handle that, just let me know what or where.”

“Wonder if it was before we met for the first time.” She would go on to muse, looking at MDP as she spoke. “We first ran into each other when my home got caught up in a Mint thing,” Penny would explain with a shrug. Knowing that the various people here would all take different bits of importance out of that statement.

“It wasn’t until later on that we got to know each other better though. The bounty with the haunted school.”

“Like, of coursey worsey you can~! (giggle!)” MDP told Kimble. “And, like, Magical Dream Princess has a super duper terrible werrible memory wemory, too~!” she added, happy that they had something in common. “Like, that’s totally wotally right~! (giggle!)” the bubbly girl exclaimed with a big smile after Penny mentioned the circumstances of their first meeting. “Magical Dream Princess remembers nowie~! She met Alicia Wicia when she went to Mariettey Wettey’s placey wacey with Samurai-chan~! And then Magical Dream Princess helped save Penny Wenny’s placey wacey from those meanie weanie Minty Winty people weople~! And, like, when Magical Dream Princess saw Penny Wenny for the first timey wimey, she thought she was sooo super duper pretty witty, but, like, she wasn’t able wable to talk to Penny Wenny for very longy wongy, but, like, then she got to go on a date with Penny Wenny, and it was, like, sooo super duper romantic wantic, and Penny Wenny and Magical Dream Princess talked about all sorts of stuffy wuffy, and then Penny Wenny said she’d be Magical Dream Princess’s girlfriend wirlfriend, and that made Magical Dream Princess sooo super duper happy wappy~! (giggle!)” Having concluded her hyperactive ramblings, the whimsical girl gave Penny a big hug. “Like, how did you meet Alicia Wicia, Kimble Wimble~?” MDP asked after she’d finished snuggling up to her girlfriend.

“Great~” Kimble wrapped her arms around Alicia’s arm, giddy about Penny agreeing to take pictures. When MDP asked her about her first meeting with Alicia, she blushed, averting her eyes.
“Oh, our first meeting...We were fighting each other,” she admitted, sounding embarrassed.
“It’s a long story, but in the end Alicia saved my life. Ever since then, I knew it was true love~!”

Alicia nodded, surprised that Magical Dream Princess had had her memory jogged. "That's right. I'd have gone but I was dealing with some broken ribs at the time." It was unfortunate, but everything had worked out regardless. So she didn't feel too bad.

Looking to Penny, she followed that with a shrug. "One now might not be a bad idea."

She listened as everyone recounted how they had met, her memory straining a little to pull up the details. "It feels like it's been a really long time," she agreed with Kimble, doing little to remove that presence around her arm. "She was being mind controlled by a bad guy when we met. In the course of that she was freed, and things kind of progressed from there." Still, she was leery of the term 'true love' with this. That was why things had taken so long.

Penny accepted the hug with a smile. She was never one to turn down physical affection after all. She was some degree of touch starved, a remnant of Jason, but thankfully didn’t have the phobia anymore. Silently she agreed with Alicia, though it was mostly unknowingly, ‘True love’ was a lofty term to apply to either of their relationships. Penny was willing to put in the effort with her own relationship to try and reach that goal however.

“Penrose is like that, months ago feels like years and years feel like lifetimes.” Penny would also agree with Kimble. She always felt that it was because there was so little true calm in Penrose. If it wasn’t one disaster it was the recovery, and before one could start to relax after that the next problem was already on deck. It was draining.

“Pictures though” She would go one to say as Snoopy would pop up “They do make it easier to keep things in line” She would add as the drone would float about waiting for them to pose for pictures, both as couples and as a group.

After a few pictures had been taken, each with a happy beep boop from Snoopy, she would speak up. “Guess we should head inside and see what all the fuss is about?” She’d ask as she drew MDP close and rested her chin on MDP’s head.

“Yaaay~! Picture wicture time~! (giggle!)” MDP cheered, bouncing up and down with childish glee. After striking a series of cute poses with Penny, as well as taking part in a few group shots, the whimsical girl heard Dan’s voice call out over the wintery landscape, announcing that Christmas dinner would soon be served in the lodge’s feast hall. “Goodie woodie~! (giggle!) Like, Magical Dream Princess can’t wait to try all the yummy wummy food Danny Wanny made for us~!”

The whimsical girl gave voice to yet another stream of sweet giggles when Penny pulled her close and rested her chin atop her head. “Like, totally wotally~!” MDP replied, looking up at her girlfriend with a big smile.

Kimble happily posed and gave out peace signs as pictures were taken, oblivious to the somewhat strange mood that her words had caused.
"Not to mention the gifts!" Kimble added.
"I really hope Alicia got my gift!"

Alicia did not dwell in the past for too long, not with the painful regrets that lurked there. Instead she rejoined the others in the present as Penny released her drone to get some photos. Pictures would be taken, with all sorts of poses and all sorts of combinations of individuals. Admittedly being serious was difficult, but an attempt was made at least.

"That sounds good to me,” she agreed as they wrapped up that particular activity and Penny suggested heading inside. "It’ll probably be super long tables, but we can probably sit together.” That was what she’d expect from a place whose name ended in ‘hall’ anyways. But there was no reason they had to part so soon after meeting up.

Penny, for her part, just gave Alicia an amused look as the girl tried to maintain her serious demeanor. Making sure to give the girl a raised eyebrow look when she could get away with it.

Regardless, the four of them would venture into the hall together. Penny would let out a low whistle at the whole set up. It was an impressive display to be sure. Whatever she was planning on saying was interrupted by Goblina’s arrival however. “No worries. I’ve only just started being more social myself.” She would say looking a bit bemused at the glass of ale in her hand.

She would look up in time to see the goblin wander away downing yet more alcohol and simply shake her head. Placing the ale down she would cast one more look around the hall, looking for food that was more to her odd pallet, instead she would catch sight of Rachel and let out a sigh. “Looks like the Inquisitor got an invite as well” There went her hopes of keeping her status as queen from the Ascendency quiet, at least that was her assumption at this point.

Once again she was cut off from further expounding as Ruby would pop up and deliver gifts to all members of their little band. Though Penny was able to get a quick “Thanks Ruby” Before the girl vanished again.

Looking at her gift with more than a fair amount of curiosity she’d speak up, asking “So who wants to go first?” Turning in time to see Kimble tearing into her own gift. “I suppose that answers that” She’d add with a chuckle.

“Interesting gift for sure” Penny would comment once Kimble was done opening her challenge poster. “Who's next?”

“Like, Magical Dream Princess wants to see what she got~!” MDP exclaimed, bouncing up and down with barely contained excitement. Opening her present, she found a slip of paper within.

“Magical Dream Princess’s gift is to have more wisdom,” she read aloud, after which, the paper transformed into a fairly sizable tome.

Not wasting any time, the whimsical girl quickly paged through the book, a look of wonder on her face. “Wowie zowie~ This thingie wingie looks super duper interesting winteresting~! It’s, like, supposed to make you more insightful wightful, and, like, that’s something womething Magical Dream Princess really, really needs~! (giggle!) But she should probably wobably read it later water when she’s her normal wormal selfy welfy,” she added, knowing full well how hard it was to concentrate on anything for very long while transformed. Or at least anything that wasn’t Penny.

“Like, what did you get, Penny Wenny~?!” the bubbly girl asked her girlfriend. “Magical Dream Princess can’t wait to see~!”

“Let’s find out” Without further prompting Penny would open her own gift noting the slip of paper within much like everyone else's. “Your gift is an ornate gem with the power of healing.” She would read aloud while holding the slip of paper up.

A moment later the paper would transform into a teardrop dragon fire opal pendant. The gem was just the right size to comfortably sit in Penny’s palm and the red within it was glowing and would swirl about the gem in a slow rhythmic beat.

“Oh.” Penny would be a bit mesmerized at her gifts appearance. “This will be very useful.” She would say after a moment. It was a better healing aid then what she could cobble together with her nanites after all.

So they retired to the dining hall. Good food was had, many laughs were made, and the quartet enjoyed each other's company in simply hanging out. Alicia even got a bit more comfortable with Magical Dream Princess and her mannerisms, though not completely.

Eventually the big event arrived in the form of the White Elephant. Alicia nodded as her gift was handed out, and she watched with a smile as the others unwrapped their gifts. The biggest surprise was probably Kimble’s present, though she was likely biased. But with the others done, she turned to her own gift.

Unwrapping it, her gaze narrowed as she examined the item inside. "It’s Sailor Moon. Everything that ever came out in an animated format at the very least.” A hum escaped as she turned the DVD over. Admittedly she had not been the biggest fan before, but it seemed she was to become one now. Or at the very least someone at Beacon could use this.

Placing the gift down, she nodded to Kimble. "I guess we know what the next few community nights are going to be at least.”

“A bit on the nose I’d think, but I’ve never actually seen the show,” Penny would say peering into the box at the DVD case. “Anyone see anyone opening their gifts out there?” She’d go on to ask, turning her attention to the rest of the hall.

Kimble giggled at Alicia’s remark.
“I’m sure the girls will like it,” she added, leaning her head on Alicia’s shoulder.
“Ah, it’s so romantic here...” She mused, and watched as Dan continued with the show program.

“Oooohh~ Soooo pretty witty~!” MDP gushed as Penny showed them her gift, the whimsical girl seeming transfixed by the shiny object. Alicia then opened her gift, and MDP’s eyes sparkled with glee when she saw what it was. “Like, Magical Dream Princess totally wotally wuvs that show~! (giggle!)” she announced excitedly. “Like, would it be okie dokie if she comes over to watch it~?! Would it~?! Would it~?! Would it~?!”

Suddenly finding herself subjected to the full force of Princess’ pleading efforts, there was little Alicia could do to resist as she inwardly sighed. "I guess,” she agreed. At least she knew Princess wouldn’t do anything malicious deliberately.

Once that issue was resolved, the quartet looked around to see if anyone else had opened their presents, and in the process, MDP caught sight of someone familiar.

“Wowie zowie~!” she exclaimed, her eyes going wide. “It’s FanFany WanWany~! (giggle!)” Bouncing over to the elegant Ascendancy girl, MDP gave her a big hug. “Like, Merry Werry Christmas Wistmas, FanFany WanWany~!” she told the girl amidst a stream of happy giggles. “Like, that cakey wakey looks super duper yummy wummy~! (giggle!)”

FanFan was pleasantly surprised by MDP, and giggled at her cheerfulness.
“Merry Christmas to you too, Magical Dream Princess~” When MDP pointed out the cake she had, she nodded with a smile. “Indeed. It was the gift I received in the gift exchange. I was really fortunate to have this. Shall we give it a taste?”

Penny was surprised to learn that MDP knew FanFan and was curious if they met the same way that Alicia had met her. Upon learning that the Ascendency girl had gotten cake Penny wasn’t able to help the chuckle that she gave out. “All sorts of interesting gifts today. And that’s twice you’ve received a wish cake if I remember right.”

Glancing over to FanFan and her gift, Alicia nodded in approval. It seemed to have lightened FanFan’s day,and that was good. "You can save my portion for Leena. Or yourself. There’s plenty to eat here as it is,” she demurred from the offer of a taste of this magical cake.

“Like, Magical Dream Princess would wuv to~! (giggle!)” MDP replied when FanFan offered to share her cake with them. “Having cakey wakey with friendy wendies is, like, the super duper besty westiest~!”

FanFan courteously nodded to Penny’s remark, having retained her positive demeanour, though there was an underlying tension beneath her smile.

“I’m glad to hear that,” FanFan answered, and smiled gently as MDP agreed to her offer. “Now, let’s open this box-Ah!” She heard Rachel yelling down the hall, and stood up from her seat.
“Please excuse me,” she abruptly stated, and joined the Inquisitor as she made her declaration, leaving the cake box on the table.

To say Penny was surprised at FanFan’s reception of her presence would be a lie. She was able to keep from rolling her eyes though, since FanFan was apparently a friend of MDP’s.

Those thoughts were rendered irrelevant however once Rachel started shouting, and Penny would let out an aggrieved sigh. She didn’t need to get closer to hear what was going on over there. Her ears were sharp enough to cut though the rest of the din in the area, plus a few of her counterfeits had arrived for various reasons. She could hear the yelling in surround sound if she wanted.

“Whelp there goes the cheer,” Penny would deadpan, though there was notable annoyance in her eyes. “What do you think the Odds that Rachel has any idea what it is she just agreed to is?” She would ask as she locked her eyes on Lily, worried for the girl. Though Dina stepping forward tore her attention away from the jovial girl. The slap that followed had only a sole thought stealing through Penny’s mind. ‘Gods damn it all’

“This is turning into a mess.”

Kimble nodded, looking disappointed in the way things had turned out. “Oh, you have no idea.”

Glancing over at the commotion, Alicia held back a sigh. "Well, I hate to concede that she has a point, but giving the mirror back sounds like a really bad idea, regardless of whether she’s purified or not.” After all, she certainly didn’t trust Mariette’s patron with that thing either. Of course demanding the dimension be destroyed was excessive, but it seemed like everyone else was overlooking the other thing.

“Honestly I agree as well” Penny would remark “But destroying the place is excessive”

After a moment Alica rose to her feet. "I’ll be right back,” she told the others before heading off. She should probably warn Rachel, before things went even more badly.

MDP gasped in horror as Rachel stated her intention to erase Dan’s dimension, and quickly ran over to FanFan. “Like, please don’t let her destroy Danny Wanny’s placey wacey, FanFany WanWany!” the whimsical girl pleaded, clasping her hands together as tears began to roll down her cheeks. “Like, even if that mirror wirror thingie wingie is totally wotally evil wevil, Danny Wanny’s placey wacey is super duper nicey wicey! So, pretty pretty please don’t let her destroy it!”

FanFan turned her eyes back to MDP as she was stopped by her, a look of regret twisting her mouth into a frown.
"Magical Dream Princess..." she spoke back quietly, and looked back to see Rachel receive the slap from Dina.
"I...I'll talk to the Inquisitor. She'll understand." With that said, she turned away, her hands balled tightly as she restrained her shaking.

Silently Penny wished FanFan luck, before sitting down at the table that FanFan just left. Penny’s plans were already in motion, to what end it was too early to tell. But she could protect FanFan's present in the meantime. And hope that everything turns out for the best.

---

“Damn it all” Penny would mutter to herself as she surveyed the situation in front of her. She wasn’t surprised that Rachel had flipped out at the Black Mirror being given back to Mariette. If Penny hadn’t talked to Ronin and Miko, or even Mariette herself, she would have been right there with the Inquisitor. Not on the whole destroying the plane bit, but the outrage bit.

But as it stood, this was rapidly turning into a mess.

Glancing about she would take note of Dan a bit of a distance back from the main squabble, looking worried and as soon as she saw him an idea came to her. One she didn’t like, but it was better than doing nothing.

Carefully she would sneak her way over to Dan, making sure to stay out of Rachel’s line of sight. A task made simpler by Penny Prime also being in the hall. To say nothing of the other distractions. “Dan” She would say softly once she got close enough to the Patron to talk.

Dan nearly squeaked from surprise, only to quickly muffle his voice by attaching and detaching a tactical silencer to his nose like how one would to a gun. He stealthily created a field around the two of them that dampened their voices to outside listeners.
"Penny? Am I glad to see you," he whispered to her. "I'm in a bind. Rachel's going to destroy my home!" He looked afraid. "What do I do?"

“That’s why I came over actually. I have an idea to keep Rachel from winning if you are up to it”

"Really? I'm up to it a 100%! What's the idea?"

“Lean into the challenge and make it a tournament with the Mirror as the grand prize.” Penny would say, internally boggling at the silencer on his nose. “That will let a lot of people defend your realm, me included. And if you aren’t opposed to it make sure that me and her are in the same bracket”

“A tournament?” Dan rubbed his brow with his fin as he thought hard about Penny’s suggestion. “Hmm...It would mean Rachel would need to get through more opponents...It might just work.”
He nodded, having gained confidence in the idea. “Alright, let’s go with that!”

“Glad to help” Penny would say with a nod “As much as I might have issues with you, you don’t deserve to lose your home, and you did help those at mine.” With that the counterfeit would slip away leaving Dan to make his announcement. Afterall it wouldn’t do for her to be standing nearby when he did make the announcement since she was trying to keep her involvement in this away from Rachel.

Tiny and the Terminator [Mistress Dizzy & Shifter_Master]

The unknown girl would grimace at the rather blunt assessment of her skills, but if it was because Jinny was correct or simply the way she put it was hard to tell. She stayed there for the moment though her attention still focused on Jinny, and it wouldn’t be hard to notice that this girl was sizing Jinny up herself. She also showed no discomfort at the fact that Jinny had already done the same.

The new girl would spare a glance at Slade, but what she saw, if anything, was impossible to know. Instead she would refocus on Jinny and start talking again. “What about a trade?” She would ask, obviously not taking the hint to leave. “Or a favor?” Because money wasn’t the only thing of value.

Still, regardless of her front and refusal to leave the girl would turn slightly away, preparing to leave, in a hurry if needed. She didn’t break eye contact with Jinny however.

Slade for his part kept his musing to himself, as he did with his chuckles as well. Jinny had nailed it with her final statement. Whoever this young meta was, he could tell she didn’t have the martial training to really keep up. He had to give her props when it came to her courage however. She either didn’t realize who he was, or didn’t care, and still came up to ask a stranger for more training. And even with the hard shut down she was trying another angle.

With one last signature he was done with his paperwork and would lean back into the chair as he watched on. His added attention caused the meta to start fidgeting. Her hands curling up and splaying out slowly with nerves.

He’d catch sight of the barest flicker of pink sparks dancing across her fingertips, and was mostly sure it was being done on accident on the girls part.

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

_{.:⋮Science Fiction meets Future Fantasy⋮:.}

“The hell is that?” Penny would ask herself as she double checked her readings. She was one of the few counterfeits still roaming around and had sat down to see what all she still had access to when deprived of her more magical technomantic abilities. Which led her to skimming the local frequencies and stumbling across a mass of signals, all of which were encrypted.

It was rather baffling really.

Which led her to a conundrum. Track the signals, or ignore them? The conundrum was easily answered though. She was a counterfeit, and that fact did mean she wasn’t one hundred percent like her Prime. Worry about her personal safety was near zero, and brought down to zero by the fact that all of the Penny’s on the island were in a local network together. What she learned all would learn, and Penny had always been a curious sort.

So with only a few moments of thought this Penny would stand up and start tracking where the signals were coming from.

“Uh oh, looks like Penny’s noticed your surveillance drones,” Kate observed as she and Nykannis continued to watch the various goings on via a large holographic display.

“Of course she did,” Nykannis replied in a dry tone. “She’s Penny. Although, I am curious to see how long it’ll take her to find us here,” she added. “Even if this particular specimen is merely a duplicate, a few tests and scans may prove VERY enlightening…”

Just thinking about it brought a maniacal grin to the mad scientist’s face.

“Hey, don’t get too excited,” Kate warned. “Most of your scanners don’t work so great here, remember? Ditto for my camera. I don’t really know what more you’re gonna learn about her even if she does decide to come up here for a face to face meeting.”

“For one thing, my most powerful equipment works best at short range,” Nykannis replied. “And even if being in Santa’s Enchanted Village means their effectiveness is greatly reduced, there’s still good old fashioned talking. I’m certain that after I’ve told her just how incredibly awesome I am, she’ll spill at least some of her secrets in a pathetic attempt to impress me. Look!” she added, pointing to the display. “She’s coming up the stairs now!”

“You want me to open the door for her?” Kate asked.

“No, let’s see if she can find it even with the cloaking field and perception filter active,” Nykannis replied, while gleefully rubbing her hands together. “That alone will provide valuable information about her detection capabilities.”

At the top of the stairs Penny would spare a casual look around for anything that stood out to her. Nothing did, which she wasn’t sure if that was to be expected or not. The signals she was tracking were odd, but that was mainly due to the encryption on them and the waveband they were on. Not anything that the signals were doing, which had led her to think they were surveillance systems. For who or what was the question now, especially since she was picking up more readings as she got closer to the epicenter.

But a few minutes later Penny could tell there was something else going on. She had walked the entire floor but couldn’t find a route to reach where the signals were originating from. Which meant someone was hiding it. She would start returning to the top of the stair as she considered her options, and as she did such she would plot out the floor plan so far as she was aware of it.

When she was done with that, a task that took only a few moments, it was easy to see the glaring problem. A room seemed to be missing, or at least a door to it. She would triangulate with Snoopy and the Prime as she walked to the stretch of wall that bordered the unfilled space on her blueprint and sure enough the signals were on the other side of it.

She would hum to herself curiously as she examined the wall and it was on her third pass she would notice that she couldn’t fully focus on part of it. Her gaze would always skitter off one section no matter how hard she tried to focus on it. With a nod she would start recording where it was she could and couldn’t look at, and was swiftly rewarded with a very familiar outline, one of a door.

“S.E.P. huh” Penny would muse aloud, curiosity, and caution, peaked. It was quite a lot to go though to hide a room as well as limit their operation waveband. ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained’ She would think before reaching out to open the door she couldn’t see. Because even if she couldn't sense this one, it would be like all the other doors on this floor, which means she knew where the handle would be.

And if she was wrong she could always just go through the wall. A useful Plan B.

Upon opening the hidden door, Penny would be greeted by a pair of young women sitting in comfortable chairs, with a small, snack covered table between them. They were both facing the door and holding mugs of hot cocoa. The one with short, dark hair held up two fingers in a peace sign.

“Sup?” she asked with an amused grin.

The room’s other occupant had much longer hair and wore a pair of glowing goggles. She too was smiling, but it was a significantly more unnerving smile than her friend’s.

“Greetings, Penny,” the goggle-wearing girl told the new arrival, her grin growing even broader. “We’ve been expecting you. Please, have a seat,” she added, gesturing to one of the empty chairs.

Penny would stay standing in the doorway for a moment, she hadn’t been sure what to expect and she was still caught off guard. Still after a moment she would close the door behind her “Well that isn’t ominous or anything” She would remark as she moved to stand behind the closest of the open chairs, but made no moves to sit in it yet.

“Care to explain why you’ve got a S.E.P. and chameleon veil on the door?” Penny would ask as she observed the two girls across from her, folding her hands on the back of the chair in front of her as she did. She would get around to asking about the signals later, as it seemed very obvious to her that these were the people behind it.

“For privacy, of course,” the goggle-wearing girl replied. “Although, seeing as how you’re our second uninvited visitor, they don’t seem to be working so well… I mean, you I can understand, but I’m still trying to figure out how that nut job Oros managed to find this place,” she continued, her grin dissolving into a look of disgust as if merely saying the beast girl’s name was physically repulsive. “But enough of that crap, let’s talk about you. To what do I owe the pleasure of being graced with the presence of the illustrious Penny Asimov?”

“Find and replace has that whole clarity through madness thing going for her” Penny would say with a shrug “Comes from her Horror Patron I think.”

“I am here because of all the signals you have flooded the higher frequencies with. The encoding on them is bizarre as hell so I wanted to figure out who, what, or why.” She would explain, drumming her fingers on the back of the chair. “Curious to know how you learned of me as well now that I’m here as well.” She would add looking at the goggle girl. “Since I don’t think you’re a Penrose native.”

“Ya got that right,” the girl would chuckle. “There are certain levels of crazy even I won’t stick my nose into. But I don’t mind observing from a distance,” she explained. “Hence the signals you picked up. Those were just my surveillance drones sending data back to my holodisplay here,” she continued, gesturing to the device in question.

“We’ve really been enjoying the various events,” the other girl added.

“Especially the snowball fight.”

“Yeah, you were pretty awesome out there! Well, at least until the whole ‘orbital water cannon’ thing…”

“That explains the encryption” Penny would say looking at the display in interest. “And I’m not terribly surprised at the orbital cannon. Dan was selling them last time I was here as well. Two gold over at the center island, if that store is still open.”

“Any reason why you’re interested in Penrose, other than the fact it’s a frankly absurd statistical outlier?”

“It’s not so much that I’m interested in Penrose itself,” the goggled girl explained. “But rather its inhabitants. You in particular. And why might that be, you ask? Well, let’s just say your reputation precedes you. There are a lot of strange things in this universe, but you take the cake. An outlier among outliers. Not only is your power level off the charts compared to nearly everyone else in Penrose, but you seem to be able to break some of the laws of this reality, which is something that NEVER fails to interest me. So, why wouldn’t I take the chance to study you in more detail?”

“Hmm” Penny’s attention would return to the goggled girl, sharper and more calculating than it had been a moment ago. “Fair enough I suppose. Though it does mean you have me at a disadvantage. You both know who I am, but I don’t know who you are. Mind introducing yourselves?”

“If we are talking shop, would be better if I could refer to you by a name rather than as ‘goggles girl’ and ‘shortie’”

“I’d be delighted to,” the goggled girl replied, her maniacal grin growing even wider. “I’m Doctor Nykannis, QUEEN OF THE MAD SCIENTISTS!!! NYAHAHAHA!!! And this is Kate,” she added in a far more disinterested tone, almost as an afterthought.

“Freelance photographer,” the other girl elaborated, once again holding up a peace sign.

“Greetings.” Penny would say nodding to both of them “Penny Asimov, Queen of Penrose. As you knew.” Her attention was mainly on Nykannis, but she was still paying attention to Kate.

“I’m guessing with a title like yours that you're an Oddball spec?” She would ask with a raised eyebrow. She figured that more of the overt facts about herself were already known. So hopefully getting those same facts about these two wouldn’t be too difficult.

“Correct,” Nykannis would confirm with a nod. “Mad Science! and Weird Science!, to be specific,” she elaborated. “They may seem like the same thing to most of the Neanderthals around here, but they’re actually quite distinct.”

“Really?” Penny would say somewhat bemused “How do people conflate those two? They follow vastly different principles. Mad science follows unstable, inconsistent, theories to reasonable repeatable outcomes. While Weird Science uses basic, tried and true theorems, in odd and unusual ways to reach unexpected results.” She would run a hand through her hair as she explained “They are clearly different fields of study”

She mulled over the thoughts trying to see how people could mix the two but would give it up shortly. Figuring that her inorganic nature likely helped keep the two distinct. “And you Kate?” She would ask, passing the question to the quieter of the two girls.

“Oh, uh… Photography, I guess…?” Kate replied, looking somewhat uncertain. “I mean, pretty much all of my powers come from my camera,” she would explain, tapping the device.

“Interesting” Penny would say, looking at Kate’s camera with notable interest. She was curious about how that worked, assuming it was either some kind of blue magic or information gathering type. Both of which were things of interest and note to the mechanical girl.

“Is that just your work Nykannis?” She would ask gesturing at the holodisplay “Or did you help with that as well Kate?”

“Nope, that’s all Nykannis,” Kate would reply. “She’s also the one who made my camera,” the photographer added. “If the name on the strap didn’t give it away.”

“Yeah, Kate’s great when it comes to gathering information,” Nykannis explained. “But she’s no scientist, that’s for sure.”

“Yep, I’m just an ordinary, down-to-earth girl,” Kate confirmed with a chuckle. “Nothing crazy to see here.”

“Speaking of crazy, crazy awesome, that is, mind if I take a quick look at you, Penny?” Nykannis asked, her eyes shining with a maniacal gleam as several probe and sensor-tipped mechadendrites extended from the mad scientist’s back. “I know Dan’s stupid rules prevent me from dissec- I mean, studying you in full detail, but would it be okay if I just do a few basic scans? You’re just so fascinating, and I want to learn all I can while I have you here!”

“Well, thank you for the compliment” Penny would say with a smirk, though her cheer didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I’m hesitant to let anyone look under the hood however. Lots of people want me dead after all. I might be able to answer some of your curiosities if you ask though. Besides, I'm also a displaced counterfeit. My systems no longer represent how the Prime is set up.”

“I figured as much,” Nykannis said with a sigh, retracting her various data accumulators. “Hopefully I’ll get a chance some other time, without Dan’s stupidity getting in the way. And yeah,” she added with a smug smirk. “I know all about the whole ‘duplicate’ thing, which is part of the reason why I’ve decided not to press the issue. After all, it’s not like a few basic scans on you would tell me all that much about the original anyway… On the other hand, I’d LOVE it if you’d share how exactly you’ve gotten to be quite so obscenely powerful, as well as a list of all your unique abilities. I mean, was it all just some crazy fluke, or was it a process that can be duplicated? Those are the things I’m simply DYING to know.”

“Guess it depends on how you mean me being powerful, I fully acknowledge that physically there aren't many girls out there that are on equal footing. But my casting capabilities are really rather poor by comparison, I don’t have hard numbers but I calculate that external casting for me is about twice as exhaustive as it would be for most Maho.” Penny would offer, it wasn’t a fact she ever tried to keep quiet on after all.

“Unique abilities I’ll need more context as well, most magicals I’ve met have some unique capabilities so I’m not sure what you’d consider as such for me.” That and she wanted to know what she could keep quiet about while not lying. She wasn’t above doing so to hide her talents, but being honest was normally the better route if possible.

“I can say that, overall, I’m a result of a good starting point that was further optimized by my own intervention. Though I’m not sure if the process could be replicated, at least not in full. Some things were really just flukes.”

“So you just got lucky, huh?” Nykannis asked with a raised eyebrow. “I’ll buy that for certain things, like that little super tank you’ve got hidden away, or even that additional off-world tech you acquired by going all ‘Hannibal Lecter’ on that one extraterrestrial cybermantic monster girl, but there are other things that HAD to have a definite, definable cause, and I want to know what that cause is. In particular,” she continued, "you’re classified as a monster girl, and yet you carry a Beacon Shine Spark. Not only that, but you don’t have any mental mutations to speak of. According to the basic rules of this universe, as I understand them, that should be impossible, so how did you manage it? Was it a synergistic interplay between the Shine Spark and some one-of-a-kind diamond/rainbow/prism Cosmic Omniversal Infusion Noospheric Synthesizer? Was it an artifact of how you were created in the first place? Was it the work of someone like Kayli who has the ability to selectively remove detrimental traits? Was it a special accommodation bestowed by the Grand Magistrates themselves?!” Nykannis was getting much closer now, and her eyes were beginning to twitch and bulge. “I NEED TO KNOW!!!”

Penny would be slightly taken aback by the ferocity that Nykannis displayed, but she understood where the girl was coming from. And even though she was surprised at how much the Scientific girl had known in regards to some of her more esoteric acquisitions, that wasn’t what made her pause in answering.

She would meet Nykannis’s near crazed eyes with a calm melancholic look. “Closer to your second theory. The White coins are Beacon’s first foray into Coin crafting, and even then it is a divisive creation. I am even more so divisive I’d imagine. So no one was going to stand up for me when they barely knew me and there wasn’t anyone who excised those traits from me on the outside either. Not sure I can trust anyone that much right now. Though I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that someone like Kayli could do something like that.”

“To fully understand I think you’ll need the context. To that end I want to ask you something. How old are you, and how old do you think I am?”

Nykannis’s eyes narrowed. So it was something indelibly linked to the mechanical monarch’s creation, but something she refused to disclose… That was more than a little frustrating, but there wasn’t much the mad scientist could do at the moment to pry that information out of the cybernetic girl, and seeking out her former patron would be too great an investment of time, especially with Phase Two so very near to completion. Still, perhaps there remained a chance, however slim, of getting Penny to reveal a bit more…

“I’m several hundred… thousand?” Nykannis replied, looking a bit uncertain. “I kinda stopped keeping track after the first few millennia. But guessing your age?” the mad scientist scoffed. “That’s a trick question if I ever heard one. I mean, to which ‘you’ are you referring? The mundane human who got turned into a magical being? The magical being that resulted from that empowerment? Or perhaps your current self? Yeah,” the Monarch of Mad Science added with a smug grin. “I know you’ve been through quite a few changes, but then, that seems to be a bit of a theme around here. And not to digress too much, but that’s another thing that’s always interested me. It seems like a lot of monster girls are essentially two entities, the original, mystically empowered human, and the monster. But there are still some exceptions, like a certain tentacle obsessed girl I unfortunately happen to know, as well as those monstrous beings that subsequently get turned into magical girls, like that dragon girl from the snowball fight. There’s just so much variety! So many differing rules of operation, and so many exceptions TO those rules! And if Phase Two is going to be a success, I need to learn all I can about EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM!!!”

She paused for a moment to catch her breath.

“Which is why, you, Penny, being a confluence of so many of these myriad variables, are so invaluable to me, and why I would very much appreciate it if we could SKIP THESE STUPID GAMES AND GET TO THE FUCKING POINT!!! ARE YOU GOING TO TELL ME YOUR SECRETS OR NOT?!!”

“As I said, context.” Penny would repeat moving on in her explanation. This ‘Phase two’ had caught her interest, and she would be following up on that. As it didn’t sound like a good thing coming from someone so crazed. It was stereotyping, but Nykannis was the queen of Mad scientists. It paid to be cautious about their projects. “I don’t know what you know and to explain it best I need to know what you know. And even if you didn’t directly answer my question you did get to the point I was going to be making.”

“I am at best only a year old. But when I say that I don’t mean a year of being a magical, or a year at my current version. I was created and became self aware one year ago. I became that way when I was grafted onto the psyche of the mundane who did become a magical. For as you can see when it comes to me, your hypothesis about there being both a human and a monster was correct. I am, and have always been, a fully sentient non human AI. Something that the person I was connected to never was able to come to terms with.”

“That led to a schism in our soul. Which was how the Spark was originally housed despite our nature. Then we had a falling out that nearly destroyed our soul. The ramifications of that situation are as you can see.” There was also a lot that wasn’t obviously apparent that was the result of things as well. Like the fact that Penny’s soul was still damaged and irrevocably twisted, even though it was also healing. That even without the driving motivation, she was still tempted to break things apart. She didn’t feel human, but was thankful for that, because that sensation was maddening to her. Though she was sure that corrupted humans felt the same towards their encroaching monster status. “So as I said, closer to an artifact from my creation.”

“Why do you want to know so badly by the way?” She would go on to ask. “Not many people seem to be interested in learning about the nuances of corrupted individuals.”

Penny was still being ambiguous, but Nykannis could see a glimmer of possibility present itself. Perhaps if the robotic girl’s trepidation about the mad scientist’s motives was assuaged, she would be more inclined to reveal just what about her creation made her so special.

“I’m a scientist,” Nykannis would explain. “It’s in my nature to want to learn about such things, and, incidentally, that knowledge would greatly benefit a little project I’m working on. It’s really nothing you need to worry about,” she added. “I mean, it won’t have any effect on what you’ve got going on in Penrose, that’s for sure. In fact, its ultimate goal is the protection of the mundane inhabitants of this planet, and I think we can both agree that’s a perfectly reasonable objective, right?”

“I’ll agree that it’s a reasonable objective.” There were plenty of vile and horrible things out there after all that would love to take advantage of the mundane populace. “The question becomes one of method. How is your project going to go about fulfilling this end goal?” Because the answer to that would tell Penny plenty about Nykannis.

Now, most individuals of Nykannis’s staggering intelligence would know to proceed with caution here. Penny was exceedingly powerful, and subject to the unique bending of certain rules, which meant that if any non-Grand Magistrate entity could interfere with Phase Two, it was her. Nykannis, however, was a mad scientist, and if she was presented with an opportunity to brag about her accomplishments, she was going to take it.

“Well,” Nykannis began. “My current employer is a contractor for a certain clandestine government agency that works to protect this nation’s ignorant masses from all the myriad supernatural threats out there. Humans protecting humans, and all that crap. How my little project will be helping them do that is fairly simple- They need soldiers, magical soldiers, and I have a way of producing them en-mass. I’m just trying to make them as optimized as possible, and to do that, I need to learn everything I can about all the unique elements of, and loopholes in, the rules set for this particular reality plenum. I mean, if I can figure out a way to create an operative with all the strengths of a monster girl and none of the weaknesses, why wouldn’t I make use of it?”

The only outward reaction that Penny would have to that statement was that her eyes would go faintly purple. Internally it was a different matter. She didn’t know everything, but she felt at this point she knew enough. Nykannis wasn’t a friend, though neither was she an enemy. What she was was someone to watchout for. Because her plan was a nightmare waiting to happen.

“An ambitious project to be sure.” Penny would say with a nod, because it truly was. “But not one I feel comfortable fully assisting with. Armed and trained adult soldiers won’t look kindly upon me and my kind I would imagine. I know I am an outlier, but other Monster girls aren’t and most of Beacon already has a kill on sight order for us. Adding the Government on top of that doesn’t seem wise at the moment. To say nothing of how the Mint might take advantage of your work if they catch wind of it.”

She would shrug at that, it was true after all “But I’ll admit I’m only seeing the surface at the moment. What else can you tell me about your project? After all, I'm sure you’ve thought about the ramifications to at least some extent.” At least Penny would hope so, hard to be sure with Nykannis being as old as she was and possibly not from this set of realities.

“I can understand your trepidation,” Nykannis said with a nod after Penny had voiced her concerns. “And honestly, I have no idea what they’re gonna do with these things once they get them, but if there’s one thing you can be sure of, it’s that there’s no way the Mint is getting its hands on The Artifact. It belongs to my employer, and let’s just say his opinion of the magical mafia is less than favorable. And speaking of,” she continued. “The Artifact is what allows for the mass production of magical operatives in the first place. You know how I was talking about the rules and systems that govern this reality earlier? Well, it turns out they have a physical interface, and The Artifact is that interface. With it, I can make full use of the Create Your Own Avatar system that every patron employs to create their magical servants, but although I have full access, I STILL need to know the precise combinations of perks, powers, and specs that synergize to make certain effects possible, which, as I said before, is where you come in. You gotta admit, this is pretty amazing stuff,” she went on. “And you could be a part of it! If you agree to help me out, I can guarantee your little homeless shelter won’t have to worry about anyone bothering it ever again! You’re the Queen of Penrose, right?! Wouldn’t you like to have your own personal army that’ll obey your every command?! I can give you that. Heck, you can even get each warrior tailor-made to your exact specifications! And all you have to do in return is let me collect a little information. That’s not too unreasonable, right?”

“Wait, you’ve found access to the Root database of existence?” She would ask rather incredulously at the claim. That. That was not at all what Penny had been expecting to learn about. The fact that such a thing existed was rather frightening in the first place considering the implications of what it could do. The fact that a self proclaimed, and so far provably, mad scientist had access to it just made it all the worse.

That wasn’t to say Penny wasn’t curious, she very much was. It just sounded too good to be true, and she wondered what the drawback or cost of the thing was.

“And you need my assistance to help reverse engineer the logic behind its code. Is that right?” She would go on, finally moving to sit down on the chair she had been standing behind so far. She was thankful that Nykannis’ employer hated the Mint, otherwise the consequences would likely be disastrous. She would avoid the offer of a personal army, and the slight against the Sanctuary for the moment. Because she didn’t care for the former, and couldn’t argue the latter.

“Where did they find this thing? And how certain are you that it is what you claim it to be?” Information was needed, now more than ever.

“That’s right,” Nykannis confirmed with a smug grin. “And ‘they’ didn’t find it,” she clarified. “I did. As for where I found it, there’s a certain city in Antarctica that sits on the largest omnidimensional nexus in this reality plenum. Yes, even larger than Penrose, but it’s currently dormant, so most people don’t know about it. ANYWAYS, since I’ve learned from experience that all the best stuff on nearly every version of this planet I’ve ever been to can be found in Antarctica, I knew that if The Artifact existed, then that’s where it would be. And I’m one hundred percent certain of its capabilities, because I’ve already used it over twenty times! Besides, I’m the greatest super scientific mind this pathetic planet has ever seen! Do you SERIOUSLY think I don’t know what I’m talking about?!” she asked, her eye beginning to noticeably twitch once more.

Penny had to resist the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose. Gods damned nested infinities were going to make her life difficult before she ever left Penrose it seemed. But that was neither here nor there for the moment.

“Remember my age” Penny would retort as she visibly drew herself together. “And the fact that I don’t know you. I’m not meaning to insult you, but I wasn’t even aware that something like the Artifact could even exist.” She had been preoccupied, rather understandably, with trying to stay alive and keep the Sanctuary safe.

“You’ve used it before though. Any one in Penrose that I would know of or any products you could show?” She would ask. She was rather wanting to see this Artifact herself; it was probably a marvel to see and even more so to witness functioning. Sad that she might have to destroy the thing.

Nykannis looked a bit taken aback. “Are you NUTS?” she asked incredulously. “In case you haven’t noticed, Penrose is a fucking disaster area! There’s no way in hell I’d risk sending any of my creations to that dump! And besides,” she added, calming considerably. “It would take a whole squad from Phase One to equal even a single average power-level magical, and like I’ve said, Phase Two isn’t ready just yet. As it is now, there’s just The Prototype, and she NEVER leaves the lab.”

Penny would lean back in her chair as she considered that. On the one hand it meant that the artifact was either weaker then she was fearing or that Nykannis was having a lot more trouble with it then expected. On the other hand it sounded a lot like the mad scientist was breeding and enslaving people in her attempts to understand the thing.

What was the right thing to do in this instance?

“Would I be able to meet her?” Penny would ask looking at Nykannis “Before I agree to help, would I be able to meet your Prototype? So I can get a better grasp on what you are asking of me.”

Nykannis was silent for a moment, before giving voice to an exasperated sigh. “That… Would be EXTREMELY difficult to arrange. And why would meeting her make any difference?”

“Well” Penny would rub the back of her neck sheepishly “It would be proof for one. I don’t mean to be rude, but all I have so far is your word about anything we’ve talked about and no real way to verify any of it.” She would shrug a little at that statement.

“I want to believe you, and I don’t think you have lied to me, but the Mint has attacked me and they assassinated the last person to hold the title of Queen of Penrose.” She would go on to explain. “So as much as I am interested in your work, which I am, it just isn’t a good idea for my long term survival to simply take your word for it. At least not without some proof.” All of which was true, which also made it the best diversion. Since she did lie in part with her first statement. She knew that Nykannis was telling the truth, it was in part why the entire situation was as harrowing as it was.

“Two, you offered me a product. One I have to invest into to fully get. Investing sight unseen is just bad business. You have a viable, from the sounds of it, prototype. Proof of concept, that shows that you are able to follow through on your claim.” It also gives Penny other opportunities, should she have a need for them. As well as more information on Nykannis.

“So, you want proof of my incomparable super scientific genius, do you?” Nykannis asked with a wry grin. “Well, I’m ALWAYS happy to provide that, although I don’t think showing you The Prototype is gonna be all that effective in providing the kind of proof you’re looking for. I mean, how would you even know I used The Artifact to create her? Instead, why don’t I use it make you a little something, free of charge? You mentioned being concerned for your safety,” the mad scientist continued. “As laughable an idea as that is for someone of your power-level… Sooo, how about a bodyguard? Or, better yet, a bodydouble? She, or he, can be anything you want. I will warn you, however, that if you want to have complete control over the creation process, then the amount of Cosmic Omniversal Infusion Noospheric Synthesizers that can be employed will be slightly reduced. But if complete control isn’t needed, we can go with one of the other creation paths. Anyway, would that serve as sufficient proof that what I’m telling you is accurate?”

“Does it have to be a person?” Penny would ask after a moment of contemplation. She really didn’t want to end up owning anyone after all. “As a bodyguard or body double really won’t help. My worry isn’t about any conflicts I get into, it is laughable from that perspective. Displacement is my main concern.” That and people getting any insight into how her internal systems worked. She didn’t know what flaws they would find, and didn’t want to give them a chance to find something she had overlooked.

“Overcity shift for example. Or unwilling teleportation. No one wants to get into a fight with me, but that isn’t the only way to get me out of the way.” She would give a sorta ‘what can you do’ shrug. She was just glad it had already been pointed out to her, it gave her a chance to take care of it now. “And would I be able to watch as you make it?” She would add “As you just bringing me something would fall into the same situation as me going to see the Prototype.”

“So, let me get this straight,” Nykannis deadpanned. “You don’t actually care about seeing if The Artifact really works the way I say it does, you just want me to make you a device? An absolute transphasic omnidimensional anchor that’ll negate any and all attempts at displacing you from your current location, wherever that might be?” She paused a moment before grinning maniacally. “Nyahahaha! I could do that in my sleep! But if you wanna watch me make the thing, (and honestly, who wouldn’t?), I think that can be arranged. Turns out I’ll be making a short trip to Penrose in the somewhat near future to deliver a little something to another client, so I’ll just drop by a location of your choosing afterwards and whip your little gizmo up for ya on the spot. But I’ll tell ya right now,” she added pointedly. “I expect this place to be safe from all of Penrose’s seemingly omnipresent insanity.”

Penny would roll her eyes a bit “Give me some credit. I may not be as smart as you, but I am good at figuring out Magic. Basics build into more complex things, seeing the basics at work will tell me the trajectory of capabilities. And I never said I wanted a device, I asked if it had to be a person. Because a drone familiar was more what I was thinking of.”

“Planar locking capability would be great, wormhole generation would be better” Penny had the math for teleportation matrices from Beacon’s HQ in the dead world she had visited, and Snoopy could get her the coordinates for anywhere they had been. All that was missing was some practical way to make use of that information.

“Finding a location for this meet will be the hardest part” Penny agreed. “But I might have a place in mind if you are willing to help out a bit. Will even give you a chance to take a look at the Earthbastion, the super tank you mentioned.”

“A drone, huh?” Nykannis raised an eyebrow, before her demeanor noticeably brightened. “Those are even more fun to make! And yeah, I can add in that extra functionality, no problem!”

Penny went on to agree about the difficulty of finding a safe meeting location in someplace like Penrose, but then mentioned a potential solution, although it would apparently require Nykannis’s assistance.

“What kinda help did you have in mind?” the mad scientist asked dubiously, although the mention of the Earthbastion definitely piqued her interest.

“I need help smuggling the Earthbastion into Penrose.” Penny would admit with a smirk. “I have ways to keep it hidden once I can get it there, the problem is getting it there. It’s currently sitting in a pocket dimension, but pulling it out of that dimension is loud.”

“I could go far out of Penrose to summon it, but I’m not sure how far I’d have to go to have it be safely unseen. Plus that takes a fair amount of time. So, I’d need either a S.E.P. field large enough to cover Penrose harbor for about a minute. Or a spot teleportation somewhere into the sea outside of Penrose. Either one would work.”

Nykannis’s mouth curled into a wicked grin after Penny had finished describing what she was planning, and what she would need to accomplish it. “I can do you one better- How about both? I’ll covertly teleport the Earthbastion to the precise coordinates you specify, and I’ll even add a permanent S.E.P. field generator to it for good measure, with its own, internal zero-point power core, so it won’t drain your energy reserves one bit,” she added with an exceptionally smug smirk. “As for compensation, I think a nice lengthy look at the Earthbastion itself would work quite nicely. That sound good?”

Penny would lean forward resting her chin in her hand seemingly contemplating the counter offer. She wasn't, she was calculating the best places to have the ship touchdown. Nykannis's offer was not one that the Monarch was going to pass up.

"Sounds like a deal to me" She would agree with a smile. "When would you like to have that look? And how quickly can you get the generator put together?"

“Excellent,” Nykannis replied, while gleefully rubbing her fingers together. “And I can have the generator finished as soon as I get back to my lab. Such a minor project only takes a few minutes, but as for our meeting, I’d kinda like to schedule it to coincide with my other trip. As you’ve probably surmised, I’d rather not spend any more time in Penrose than I absolutely have to. So, yeah, I guess about week or so from now?”

Kate, who, up until now, had been content to quietly sip her hot cocoa, decided that this would be a good time to enter the conversation. “Mind if I tag along?” the photographer asked. “I was planning to go with Nykannis to her other meeting anyway, and since I’m always up for checking out interesting things, I’d kinda like to see the Earthbastion first hand, myself.”

“That’s fine with me” Penny would agree with a nod “I’ve no problems about you coming along as well.” She would add nodding to Kate. “I assume that we’ll meet up in the Overcity and I can give you the tour before you hook up the generator and teleport us into Penrose?” She would ask to see if the outline was good enough for now.

“We’ll also need to exchange contact information. I do live in Penrose after all. No promise that another Horror won’t try and breach into our plane later this week”

“Sounds like a plan,” Nykannis would confirm. “And I just sent you my contact info, along with Kate’s,” she added.

“And here’s my card, too,” Kate said as she handed Penny the glossy rectangle. “I always find that it’s good to have backups.”

“Contact info received” Penny would say with a firm nod to Nykannis. ”And good principle.” She would add taking the card from Kate. She also quarantined the info packet from the mad scientist. She would run some scans on it before cracking it open and actually looking over the contact info. She didn’t fully trust her after all.

“I’ll get these over to the Prime.” She would say as she stood up. “It’s been interesting. I’ll see you in a week, Nykannis, Kate.” And with that she would leave, making sure to close the door behind her as she left.

It wouldn’t be until that counterfeit was once more on the ground floor that one of the other counterfeits across the island building a new snow fort would let out a sigh of relief.

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

_{.:⋮Ice side meetings⋮:.}

Before the Feast

It was Penny’s turn to be awestruck. The sight of the ruined fort being repaired and then expanded upon was a wondrous thing to behold, and the magic behind the act was the least wondrous thing about it. It was the thought behind the action that captivated her, because it showed that Magical Dream Princess cared. Because even though it was just a snow fort, it was one they had built together and its destruction had hurt.

She would turn a soft look towards her girlfriend. “You are amazing, you know that?” She would state more than ask as she pulled the whimsical girl into a quick hug before entwining their hands together and starting them towards the Ice rink.

“I’ve never done traditional skating, icey or not” She would say as they walked. “But I do enjoy skating. So that sounds like a great idea."

“Awww~ Thankie wankie, Penny Wenny~” MDP replied, nuzzling her girlfriend as the mechanical monarch gave her a hug. “Magical Dream Princess is just super duper glad you like it~! (giggle!)”

As the pair proceeded to walk hand in hand to the ice rink, Penny mentioned that she hadn’t ever skated before either. “Like, that’s okie dokie, Penny Wenny~!” MDP told her with a happy smile. “Magical Dream Princess just knows you’ll be super duper good at it~! (giggle!) You’re super duper good at everythingie wingie~” the whimsical girl added in a dreamy tone as she gazed affectionately at her girlfriend.

“That’s because I cheat” Penny would reply with false haughtiness, though she did feel it to be a mostly true statement. Not that she was ashamed of that, the world wasn’t fair and that was before you added in magic and everything else. Penny had no qualms about doing everything in her power to even the odds.

“But you’ll be pretty good at skating as well I’m sure” She would go on to say “Skating is mostly about keeping your balance after all” And no magical girl worth her salt had a problem with balance. Mainly because magic was a thing. “Still, I’m glad it will mainly just be us there. Watch this be the time all my grace abandons me and I fall through the ice”

“Unlike you of course, you’ll glide across the ice like you were born to it.” She would go on, rhapsodising about MDP’s inherent grace and excellence in a skill that neither of them actually had. For no other reason then she could, plus she wanted to shower MDP in as much affection as the girl was showing her.

The walk to the Ice rink wasn’t a long one, and was made seemingly even shorter by the happy company. Penny would glance around the area as they arrived, but although she recognized the few other girls here she couldn’t say she knew any of them.

“Like, Magical Dream Princess will totally wotally do her very wery best~! (giggle!)” MDP declared after Penny expressed her confidence in the playful girl’s ability to skate.

MDP then gave voice to a squeal of delight when they reached the rink and caught sight of the handful of skaters present. “Goodie woodie~! Pastel-chan’s heresie weresie~! (giggle!)” And so she was, although strangely, the dream magician was being carried around by a somewhat unsettling woman, one who MDP couldn’t quite recall the name of, but seemed familiar nonetheless. “Umm, like, is everythingie wingie okie dokie, Pastel-chan~?!” the whimsical girl called out. She hoped that everything was, but after her recent unpleasant encounter with Oros, she didn’t want to take any chances, especially where her best friend was concerned.

"Feh?" Amanda turned her head to look at MDP and Penny, then offering a wave and a smile. "Oh hi, thanks for checking in. As you can see, I've been relegated to a teddy bear." The magician joked with a blank expression, lightly kicking her legs back and forth while the perp herself gave a polite wave as well. It was surprising how Maribel could hold her with such ease.

"Ah, I was so caught up with things that I haven't gotten to thank you, dear!" The nightmare witch's eyes widened in her realization. She looked to MDP with a warm smile. "The party is quite lovely, but my sisters and I wouldn't've been here if you didn't invite me~ So thank you, Princess!"

“Golly wolly~!” the whimsical girl gasped. “Magical Dream Princess remember wembers nowie~! You’re Maribel Waribel~! (giggle!) And, like, you’re totally wotally welcome~!” she added when the nightmare witch thanked her for the invite. “Magical Dream Princess is super duper happy wappy you’ve been having so much funsie wunsie~! (giggle!) Oh~! Like, this is Penny Wenny~!” the bubbly girl added, gesturing to the cybernetic magical girl. “She’s Magical Dream Princess’s super duper amazing wazing girlfriend whirlfriend~! (giggle!)”

“Hey” Penny would say waving her free hand in greeting. “I’m glad to be seeing you outside of dire circumstances.” She would say nodding to Maribel “And pleased to make your acquaintance, Pastel.” Penny would go on nodding to Amanda, not knowing that MDP was using a nickname. “I know you were there at the Sanctuary but I don’t think we had much of a chance to talk.”

She had at least a few questions about how Maribel and Amanda had gotten into the situation they were in, but now didn’t seem like it was the best time to be asking.

“So how's the skating?” She would ask instead “Neither me or Princess have done it before so you're welcome to join us if you want.” Either way Penny was prepared to stick with them for a while. One of them was obviously MDP’s friend and the other Penny wanted to be on better terms with, considering what happened when they first met.

“Pastel-chan is Magical Dream Princess’s super duper best friendy wendy in the whole wide wordsie~! (giggle!)” MDP would explain. “But her actual wactual namey wamey is Amanda Wanda~! She’s, like, super duper brainy wainy, just like you, Penny Wenny~! (giggle!)” she added cheerfully.

Maribel gave Penny a little wave. "Well what do you think we're doing now, dear~? Regardless, I'm glad to see you're still kicking." When the other two kept addressing Amanda as "Pastel-Chan", the witch held back a giggle.

The aforementioned Amanda dragged herself out of her dumbfounded daze. Dreamy had a girlfriend?? Why didn't she tell her! When did this happen?! She was about to correct Penny on her name when MDP did it for her. She nodded, then looked to the cybernetic monarch. "Eliza did mention you once or twice, good to meet you in person. _{Maribel please put me down.}"

Penny had the decency, and ability, to blush at her fopaux. “Ah” She would scratch at her cheek “Hope you don’t hold that against me? As it wouldn’t be that strange if that actually was your name” Because Amanda did fit the color scheme for it, which was likely how MDP came up with it in the first place. “And you’re part of the brainy club yourself if I remember right” Penny would add poking her girlfriend in the side.

MDP giggled when Penny gave her a playful poke. “Kinda winda~” the whimsical girl replied. “But only when she’s not Magical Dream Princess~!” she added with a wink.

Amanda nodded, finally being set down by Maribel. "While we're transformed I usually act as the brains." she mentioned.

“How is Eliza? I’ve not had much of a chance to catch up with her with all of Penrose’s natural insanity.” Eliza was technically one of the first girls to have been granted sanctuary in the Sanctuary, though it hadn’t been that at the time.

The dream magician slightly grimaced when Penny asked about Eliza."She's been doing her best these past few weeks. Months?" she looked off to where Eliza, Kayli, and Connie went. "I am kinda concerned for her, if I'm honest."

Maribel's usual laid-back smile faded. "The blonde one? With the green dress? She passed by us not to long ago, with a white-haired lady. She seemed shaken up by something." She explained. "Did anything happen?"

“Weeeell…” MDP spoke up, looking a bit embarrassed. “Magical Dream Princess kinda winda made a little wittle mistakey wakey and thought Eliza Wiza was a Christmas Wistmas tree… B-But, like, Magical Dream Princess said sorry worry, so she really hopes Eliza Wiza’s not still angry wangry because of that…”

“White hair would be Kayli I think. Not many others around with that hair color.” Penny would muse reviewing the snow fight footage she had. It was in this review she would note Elizia’s reaction to Oros’ behavior. “I don’t think being mistaken for a tree is what’s gotten her down.” She would offer up “She left the field rather quickly after find and replace pulled her little stunt.” She would explain. “But Kayli is good people so she’s in good hands.”

"Wait, it's a her??" Amanda's eyes widened. Who the hell would try and make jabs at Eliza? Then there was MDP's explanation which, agreeing with Penny, didn't seem like something she'd fret over. "Did something happen during the snowball fight??" She furrowed her brows.

"Yes" Penny would admit, though she wasn't able to keep the growl entirely out of her voice as she did so. "Find and replace" She would go on to explain, Snoopy projecting a picture of Oros for Penny to jab her finger towards. "Forced herself onto Princess" The growl upgraded to a snarl, though Penny would take a moment to calm down.

"Eliza looked rather hurt by the action, but I'm not sure why. Lacking any sort of context behind that, other than it seems like they joined the snow fight together. I can extrapolate reasons but no promises."

The image of Oros looked familiar to Amanda. Wasn't she the same lady Eliza was around for the most part?

"Wait a minute...didn't Eliza mention she had a date??"

....

THAT WAS HER DATE?!

Amanda's expression turned to one of pure rage, once she put two-and-two together. _{"That. Fucking. Bitch."} Not only did this chick assault her best friend, but while she was supposed to be on a date with her other friend! As much as she didn't want to swear in front of MDP, she just didn't care right now. She tried to force herself to stay calm, putting on an honestly malicious grin and speaking through gritted teeth.

"And...where exactly can I find this sl- harlot that apparently has a death wish~?"

Meanwhile Maribel backed away slowly, whether or not she planned on holding Amanda back or letting her go feral, no one knew.

Penny, rather than being frightened by Amanda's anger, she would smile in response. It was a cold hateful thing. Her opinion of Oros was low, but the murmured words from Amanda succeeded in lowering Penny's opinion of her even further.

"I don't know, she wasn't worth the effort to keep track of while we are here." She would explain "I'd save the murder for later however. I already ran afoul of Dan once here, and I wouldn't want him to get in the way again. Good news is that, according to Dan, Find and replace can't get close to Princess while here."

“Yeah!” MDP added, a look of fierce determination on her cute face. “Danny Wanny made sure that meanie weanie pervert wervert won’t do icky wicky thingie wingies to Magical Dream Princess ever wever againsie wensie! And, like, Magical Dream Princess is sooo super duper happy wappy she has such super duper awesome wasome friendy wendies to help keep her safey wafey~! (giggle!)” she added, her demeanor brightening up to its usual bubbly positivity. “Like, let’s forget about that meanie weanie and have lots of funsie wunsie, together wether, okie dokie~?”

​​Amanda conceded with a groan. "Right. I could attempt to chuck her into my pocket dimension and leave her for the denizens, but knowing the dolphin he'll find a loophole of his own." she shrugged, idly looking outward to spy a...clown?? Heading towards the rink. Oh wait, that was Oros? Guess she embraced being the whole damn circus. But that didn't stop Amanda from glaring daggers at her.

"Do not engage, Amanda~" Maribel casually picked the smaller girl up again, mostly to prevent her from doing something crass. "Patience, patience~"

MDP gasped when she caught sight of Oros, and Penny would feel her girlfriend’s grip tighten. “Like, what is she doing heresie?! Magical Dream Princess thought that meanie weanie was gonna do that racey wacey thingie wingie!” After glaring at the demented clown for a moment, MDP turned away with a dramatic “Humph!”. “Like, this placey wacey is kinda winda biggy wiggy, so, like, maybe waybe if we keep her at a distance wistance, she won’t come over and bother wother us…” the whimsical girl suggested, although it was clear to see she was still quite upset.

"Guess the race is already over?" Maribel asked.

"Short race" Penny would say with a huff before shaking her head "Back on track. Where can we get our skates?" She would ask moving past her anger. She'd build up a proper head of steam later with Amanda, but for now MDP had a good idea.

"I'm curious how different it will be to skate with skates. Rather then my hover systems, and it would be easier for us all to be on the same side of the ice I think"

“Like, Magical Dream Princess thinky winkies there might be some skatey waties in that super cute shacky wacky over theresie~!” MDP noted, pointing to the small, festively decorated structure in question. Skipping over, the whimsical girl picked out a glittery pink pair of skates. No sooner had she put them on, then the magic contained within them charged her outfit to resemble that of a snow fairy, causing the childish girl to squeal with delight. “Wowie zowie~! Magical Dream Princess looks so pretty witty~! (giggle!)”

Penny was a bit more sedate in acquiring her skates, as she would spend a bit of time testing the edge of the skates out of curiosity. Eventually she would settle on a pair of dark gray skates with dark pink laces. Before she got to putting them on however MDP’s delight would pull her attention away from her new footwear.

“That’s a given” Penny would say with a smile, she enjoyed how MDP was able to find such joy in the small things. “The fairy outfit doesn’t hurt either.” She would add after giving the new threads a once over.

She would look back at her skates with a bit more thought as well, she hadn’t expected them to change her outfit, not that she was surprised, but now she wanted to have a good idea in place for the magic to latch onto. A moment later she would strike upon an idea and with a nod would quickly put on her own skates. The wash of magic would leave Penny standing in a rather form fitting nutcracker outfit. The jacket was a deep blue and the slacks a dark gray with dark pink trimming throughout. Her hair was also pulled up into a high ponytail.

She would take a moment to survey her outfit, before bowing deeply at the waist to her girlfriend. “Shall we?” She would ask once she stood back up, not bothering to hide her smile. Penny had wanted to match MDP in some way. And this seemed to be the best way to do that, since none of the flowy outfit’s she had thought up seemed to fit her.

MDP gave voice to a surprised gasp, and her eyes seemed to sparkle at the sight of Penny’s new outfit. “Wowie zowie~” she sighed dreamily as little hearts appeared around her head. Curtsying in response to Penny’s bow, the whimsical Princess of Dreams gently took her girlfriend’s hand and allowed the mechanical monarch to lead her out onto the ice.

Although neither of them had ever skated before, their confidence in each other, coupled with the Christmasy magic of the winter wonderland surrounding them, allowed the pair to glide across the ice in an effortlessly graceful manner, one which easily equaled the greatest pros in the world.

“Like, this is even more funsie wunsie than Magical Dream Princess imagined wagined it would be~! (giggle!)” MDP told her partner with a big smile of innocent glee. “Skating wating is, like, the besty westiest~!” she cheered as she playfully spun around Penny, her sweet voice giggling with delight. “Weeee~!”

Tiny and the Terminator [Mistress Dizzy & Shifter_Master]

There was a momentary look of surprise that flit across the Headmistress’ face at Jinny’s pronouncement of needing to enroll in the Power Control class, and she would steal a glance at Slade who was smirking at the moment.

But before too much could be gleamed from that interaction, she would answer Jinny’s question. “For many reasons. I like to teach, but what I have to teach is predominately looked down upon in polite society. Because there was no where I fit in when I was younger, so I decided to make one. And because I don’t trust Capes, and I refuse to let them gather more power unchecked.”

“It is all well and good for people to claim those that perform the tasks we teach here as evil, but anyone who has lived long enough in the underworld knows that the world is a lot grayer than that. Something I’m sure that none of the hero’s out there today area aware of.” Kane’s tone wouldn’t change at all while she spoke, but there was a gleam in her eye none the less. Yet for all the honesty, there was a nagging feeling of something being left out. Though whether that is a surprise or not would be up in the air.

Regardless She would give Jinny one final nod. “I look forward to watching your progress Jinayah.” With that said she would turn and begin walking away.

Before she made it far Slade would at last look up from his papers and call out to her. “Expect a call from Wintergreen.” He would say “He wasn’t aware either, but he’s fine to tell.” The headmistress wouldn’t stop, though she would slow down for a moment before resuming her normal gait, but otherwise didn’t respond to what was said.

“She hasn’t changed a bit” He would then say with a huff of amusement before turning to regard Jinny. “If you can steal something from her office, without getting called out, I’ll buy you anything you want. No questions asked.” He still looked softly amused, but he was completely serious about the offer.

“Also, I’m going to be primarily a weapons instructor here. So, you can either drop those classes and we will cover that during your personal lessons or sign up for them and we can cover other things during your personal lessons.” He would offer up. Because while he was equally qualified to teach other skills, his extreme skill with weapons was far and away one of his most well known traits.

After those assertions Slade would go back to his paperwork. It wouldn’t take him much more time to finish it, and even then it was only because of the Headmistress’ arrival that he slowed in the first place.

With the Headmistress gone the smaller murmurings of the other people around them were easier to once again pick out, and seeing as it was mostly other students here many of them were talking about the conversation they had just seen. Curious about Slade, his connection to the headmistress, and about Jinayah.

One of those watching had taken more interest in something else that was said however. Though it would take them a few moments to gather the courage to venture over to the table that Slade and Jinny were using. “How much to get in on those private lessons?” They would ask once they had come over.

The person in question was again female, but much younger and much more distinct then the headmistress. She had vibrant pink hair that she wore short, her eyes were the same shade of pink as her hair but were also slitted like a cats. In addition to that her skin was a pale gray. She was a bit on the taller side and had a rather lithe build from what could be seen and assumedly was only a few years older than Jinny herself. She wore a student uniform as well, and had chosen to go with the skirt and a pair of black leggings.

Slade would give the newcomer only the briefest of glances. “That’s up to her” He would answer by gesturing to Jinny.

The newcomer would shift her attention to Jinny in response and repeat her question. “How much to get in on the private lessons?” It was a bit less steady then the first time she asked. Seemingly more nervous to be asking Jinny then Slade for some reason, or maybe it was because she had to ask it again? Either way it was clear to tell that this girl was trying to keep up a front.

Tiny and the Terminator [Mistress Dizzy & Shifter_Master]

Kane would raise an eyebrow as her question got turned back to her. “Not at the moment” She would reply “Though you might want to hold off on filling out a class slot or two. Schedules aren’t finalized until two weeks after term starts. As the requirements listed can be tested around.” She would offer up, Jinny disappointment about not being able to join the mechanics class hadn’t gone unnoticed.

“It also might be a worthwhile idea to use that time to audit some of the more esoteric classes as well” She add “Your...” She would stall for just a moment to glance over at Slade “Mentor likely wouldn’t have been able to provide much more then simple discussion points on some of them”

Slade would let out a soft chuckle at that. Not because she was wrong about his inability to teach on those subjects, but because of the Headmistress’ labeling of his connection to Jinny.

“I assume that the teachers are responsible for testing prospective students?” He would ask as he neared finishing his paperwork.

“That is correct” She would reply, to which Slade would only give an understanding hum.

“After the first week of class I would be willing to reassess your question” She would finish, continuing from where Slade interjected. “Any other questions?” She would ask, a lingering curiosity notable.

Tiny and the Terminator [Mistress Dizzy & Shifter_Master]

I do indeed will PM you my username and such.

Hours later EDIT: And a smallish reply.

Tiny and the Terminator [Mistress Dizzy & Shifter_Master]

All sorts I would think. Everything from normal stuff, like history and math, to more villainous things, like advanced interrogation tactics and explosive crafting, or even more esoteric things, like arcane studies for summoning evil spirits or cursing people.

Assume if a villian might want to learn it they have it as a class.

Tiny and the Terminator [Mistress Dizzy & Shifter_Master]

And the post, had it mostly done for a while there, just life not wanting me to finish it.

Tiny and the Terminator [Mistress Dizzy & Shifter_Master]

“Very” Slade would answer confidently as he pulled out his and Jinny’s luggage out of the trunk of the car. “I’ll hold back on the details for now, but know that even if they don’t recognize me on sight, every single member of staff will know who I am.” They may not know him by his legal name, but the only people who didn’t know of Deathstroke the Terminator were new to the underworld.

“For now, ignore them, this is part of the reason why I mentioned keeping our connection from staff would be pointless after all. We can deal with it later if needed.” With that Slade would start walking towards the main office building. Looking for all the world like just another guardian here to drop off his charge. He wasn’t wearing the staff uniform after all, just a simple white button up, a pair of khakis and his dress shoes.

The double takes would keep happening however, even a few of the older students would do such. Still, no one would approach, partially out of disbelief, partially because Slade was walking like he knew where he was going. Which was the case. In short order the two of them are standing at the main reception desk. A brief conversation with the receptionist later, one made easier by the woman being one of the few who doesn’t seem to care who Slade is, and both of them have small stacks of papers to fill out.

It isn’t until a few minutes into filling out the paperwork that a voice interrupts them. “This begins to answer a great many questions” The voice, aged and stern, but not lacking for vitality comes from a rather strict looking older woman. One who is standing only a handful of feet away. She is a bit on the taller side for her gender standing at about five foot six. Her gray hair is pulled up into a high bun and she is wearing an almost completely black pants suit with a comfortable pair of flats. The only spot of color was H.A.E.Y.P.’s crest on her right shoulder. Her light blue, almost ice colored, eyes were trained onto Jinny despite her statement sounding more directed at Slade.

“I would be worried if it didn’t Headmistress” Slade would reply, not even looking up from the papers in front of him. “Jinayah, this is Headmistress Kane.” He would go on gesturing towards the woman off handedly “Founder and proprietor of this academy and Darkway prep. As well as headmistress of H.A.E.Y.P.” He would introduce still filling out the paperwork. Not seeming to care if he was insulting the person who was to become his boss.

The Headmistress herself didn’t seem to take any offense to his behavior either, content to watch Jinny instead. “Welcome to my academy Jinayah.” She would greet instead, offering the younger girl a small nod of acknowledgement, though she kept her hands crossed behind her back. “I suspect it will be more to your liking compared to most schools thus far. Are there any classes in particular that you are looking forward to?” She would ask politely though her voice didn’t lose it’s stern tone, she did sound honest in her curiosity though.