twave

Beyond the Looking Glass: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

@BrokenPromise@Vocab@Shifter_Master@Ariamis

In one concerted effort the group had managed to somehow coordinate an attack that left Abigail open. The extra mana cut off the whole ordeal seemingly ended in an instant. Large debris falling down the twins rushed in avoiding the wreckage. Janet went to Abigail's side and placed a hand on the girl's head. As she worked her healing magic to restore the Beacon girl's mind she looked around her. "Great work everyone. Take a breather and we'll figure out where to go from here." Her words of encouragement resonated with everyone present as her passive Reinforcement ability did it's work. Rain had begun to fall from the sky and the battlefield had suddenly become empty. Something was happening but it was hard to tell whether it was a good or bad thing.

Victory was bitter sweet though. Jenna had broken away in the direction that Shannon had gone. Abigail's attack had been brutal and the site was a crater of broken earth and twisted metal. Fruitlessly searching for signs of life there was little the knight could do. None of them had the skills needed excavate the area. They were going to have to come back later to retrieve the body. Janet nor Jenna had ever really had the chance to get to know the girl. Making herself a target to give the rest of them a chance was clearly a risk and yet she'd still taken it. Sighing heavily she turned back and rejoined the others. "Once we're on our feet we should get those that can't fight away from here. We need to try and find our other sisters so we can heal them too." For the moment she wouldn't mention Shannon. Bringing moral down didn't seem like a good idea.

Beyond the Looking Glass: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

@BrokenPromise@Vocab@Shifter_Master@Ariamis

In the few moments that Jenna had she was able to completely map out the damage that Regina had inflicted to the Beacon Buddies minds. No doubt it was the same for all of them. With this knowledge they could begin the repairing of... Any plans to make a quick correction vanished when she, Abigail, and the creature powering their friend were moved into the Overcity. There was hardly time to get a good look around before she was caught alone in the gravity girl's grasp. The only silver lining came in the form of a black ball of squirming creatures seemingly dragging along two very surprised magical girls.

"The hell..."

"Stupid lizards."

All present looking up as Abigail's attack was set up they were all moved back to the normal world. Now the madness really began. The objects brought back with her were beginning to come down with deadly force. Whirling around Shannon tried to identify who was friend and foe. Her power made quick work of that. Likewise it didn't take much effort for the knight twins to figure out the the two newcomers were not enemies.

'Some reinforcements. Avoid the incoming attacks.' Janet broadcast to everyone. There was a slight mental push highlighting the mana beast. 'That thing seems to be pumping out a lot of mana. I'm going to trap it but that won't stop Abigail at this point. Jenna did you get what you needed?'

'I did. Regina brainwashed her into basically worshiping her. We have to be careful because she's capable of basically doing anything in her defense. We can fix it but not while having to dodge all this.'

So apparently she'd run into some more psychic girls. At the mention of a name Shannon's attention was captured. 'Regina?'

'Yes. She's been kidnapping Beacon members and doing this to them. Why, do you know her?'

'We've met. I didn't stick around because she gave me a bad vibe. So you need a distraction?'

'Ideally. But that isn't going to be easy.'

'I have an idea. Try not to die in the meantime.'

'What are you...' Shannon didn't give them a chance to continue before moving.

Having taken in the situation there were few that could take a hit from the attack baring down on them. Hell it likely had the force sufficient to even snuff out Shannon herself. But there were other layers she could employ to protect herself. Something the others might not have realized was that the beast was bleeding mana as well. In touch with the earth she could sense it and she made a B-line to where it was falling. Attempts to throw something at Abigail were repelled so it would take more than an ordinary amount of effort to get to to her of the mana beast. Something presently at her feet. Pulling the mana soaked ground around her she began to draw it in.

Extra mana like this was not something that was often afforded to the earth girl. If she wanted to do something big it was at the cost of her own health. Scooping up a handful of stones she focused her power into them, breaking it up into tiny jagged pieces. Concentrating on seemingly minuscule projectiles she forced them into the field and propelled them in the direction of the mana beast. Should they meet their mark they would go to work cutting and tearing the creature up until it was a pulp. It would also drop more mana boosting fluid down on her as a bonus. That alone wouldn't solve the impending threat to everyone else though. "Hey you! I heard you were working for that witch Regina!" Anchoring herself to the ground she continued. A earthen form of Regina sculpted itself by Shannon. Running her hand under the figures chin she took hold and pulled it's head off. "Hate to threaten and run but you're little queen has a grave with her name on it!" Shutting her hand the likeness cracked and crumbled. The earth dragged Shannon down and she began to visibly burrow in the direction of the main fight.

Janet and Jenna had been busy bolstering the others to defend them. A direct hit likely wouldn't save them, but a glancing blow or the resulting debris should be greatly reduced. The brazen display put on by Shannon was baffling though. Did the girl have a death wish? If the distraction worked it might give them the opening to restore Abigail. Trouble was there was no guarantee they could accomplish it before the girl was turned to paste. No turning back now though. Light on their feet they prepared to heal Abigail if given the chance.

Beyond the Looking Glass: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

@PlatinumSkink@Shifter_Master

Trouble Among Friends

A couple days ago, before the coming of the storms.

Penrose was safe, in a way, after the last wish had been granted. It was by far the biggest wish they'd granted in a long time. And it was likely to attract attention should anyone figure out the source. It was hard to say exactly who would sort out how such a feat was achieved. Despite what one might think, however, laying low wasn't something that the twins always had to worry about; their luck tended to keep them out of harm’s way most of the time.

Temporarily sheltering up in an empty office space, Violet and Sakura were lounging in some chairs playing a game of cards. It was a little interesting quark of theirs, but their magic didn't really allow them to play a proper game of chance with anyone except with each other. Anyone else would end up losing as fate simply favored them.

Having located them, Mariette opened her portals directly into the room where they were playing. She let them process that something had happened for a couple of moments, standing silently on the other side wearing her usual magical dress and holding her bunny, before she slowly walked into the room. Behind her, invited specifically because of whom they were meeting, was Eli. The little slime-girl was currently letting Mariette walk in first to scuttle in after.

‘Hey! We've come to visit!’ Eli called with a bit of a smile. Mariette looked at them with somewhat softer eyes than those she usually had, because of the wish in play that made them friends, currently letting them react first before the matter of why she had come would be brought up.

Third Eye was a handy power to have. The portal opening was fairly easy for Sakura to spot, though she didn't say anything to Violet as there was no need to. It had been a while since they'd seen one another, the friendship thing being a little forced of sorts. A majority of people they knew would rather use them so "friends" weren't always friends. When Eli spoke up though Sakura looked up and waved. "Hey, long time no see. How are you two?"

Violet would lean back in her chair till she could see their guests, somehow balancing the chair so it wouldn't fall, and a soft grin on her face as she did. "Hey there" She would add in greeting before looking around a bit "Where's Deni?" she would ask curiously somewhat expecting the slime girl to pop out of a shadow as she asked.

At Violet's question, Eli stopped short, smile faltering a bit as once again she was reminded. Mariette briefly closed her eyes as well, but replied. ‘Deni fell during our struggles with Justine von Visceral.’

‘My sister, she...’ Eli started to fill in, taking a brief break. ‘She defended her mistress and me. And it...’ She shook her head. ‘A-aside from that, we're fine. We won the day, after all...’

Mariette inspected the two closely, through a bit of her own pain. To see how much this wished friendship impacted them upon loss.

Violet was stunned, first by hearing the fact that Deni was... gone, then by the impact that came with losing her balance and crashing to the floor. She tried to say something, but eventually just let out a pained sigh. Loss wasn't an uncommon thing for the twins, but losing a friend still hurt.

Silently she moved to hug Eli, there wasn't anything that could be done now, and no words would truly help.

Opening her mouth to say something, Sakura only just managed to hold her tongue. She wanted to blurt out "Why didn't you tell us!?" But it was far too late to do anything about it now. Covering her mouth in shock for a moment she put the cards down and made her way over to Mariette. Knowing the portal girl wasn't a touchy feely type she gently put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "A-are you doing alright? I mean..." It was hard to piece together words to express herself.

Despite that it had been a while ago, the chance to cry again made itself far too powerful in a situation like this for Eli. Violet was hugged in turn, Eli planting her head against her and wrapping her wings around her as she cried again.

Mariette sighed out, confirming indeed that the connection went both ways. She raised her eyes to meet Sakura's, a bit of gratitude in them as she was also shown support. ‘I've been kept busy. Life is never quiet for one who's contracted to a Horror. In a way, it has helped. Kept my mind off it,’ Mariette stated earnestly.

"Mm... Well if you ever need to talk about it then feel free to come to us. Or anything really. We don't get that opportunity all the time either." She smiled reassuringly, patting her on the shoulder. Not wanting to stick to a solemn subject Sakura tried to move on. "I'm sure you didn't come here to talk about this though. What do we owe the pleasure?"

‘Thank you,’ Mariette said and nodded gratefully at Sakura's words, a bit unfamiliar with actually letting someone have a hand on her shoulder but it was fine here. Then... that matter, which had to be brought up. ‘You are unfortunately correct,’ Mariette started, with a tone that indicated this to be a serious matter.

‘I have allies that have issues with a large-scale wish you recently granted. The power of said wish was mentioned as a potential threat. They would have you killed, and it was suggested that it'd be by my hand. I have no intention of hurting either of you, and I'll defend you if I have to... but those I speak of are a dangerous kind. We need to discuss this,’ Mariette said, looking to the two of them as she said.

“Well, you could let them know that wishes like that are rare” Violet would add speaking up from her position on the ground still comforting Eli “You could also tell them that they can get the wish undone, though it would require them to take out the one who made it in the first place” she would add.

Sakura was slightly surprised that Violet would throw someone under the bus that had just pledged to defend them. If anything Amaryllis was an asset. ”Ooor… you could make a wish that would help protect us from your allies.” Even though Sakura was supposed to be the “Curse” there was still practicality to keeping some people around. They already had a fair amount of leverage on some of the bigger players in Penrose. But it seemed that their activity was beginning to draw the wrong attention. This kind of thing tended to happen when they stayed in one place too long. This town just happened to be a powder keg.

Mariette considered their words, her eyes narrowing somewhat. ‘I hesitate to make a wish to protect you from my allies. It would keep you safe from them, but in turn it would endanger me. If they found that I had made such a wish, I’d be accused of not having my patron’s best interests at heart, and…’ … A wave of dread flowed through her body, the very idea of opposing Asengav on any point terrifying her. ‘… And I can’t do that. Partly because that’d potentially draw Asengav’s attention to you, which we do not want, and partly because I would potentially suffer the consequences.’

‘The elimination of the one who made the wish…’ Mariette mentioned, looking them over. ‘We can do that. However, that won’t solve their worry of future wishes being used against them,’ she said, frowning a bit as she considered for potential solutions to that.

Tapping her finger against her chin for a bit Sakura tried to consider their options. There were a lot to choose from, but not all were necessarily viable for Mariette. ”Really so long as we have a good way to escape then we should be fine. Doesn’t have to do anything with people you know. An Interdimensional Home or the like would work just fine.” There was no need to get super fancy with a solution.

‘… You wouldn’t be safe inside an Interdimensional Home,’ Mariette told, dead-serious. Believe her, she has experience having her Interdimensional Home invaded. ‘That is…’ A thought occurred to her. ‘Unless I protect it with a couple wishes, I suppose.’ Mariette considered for a bit, and then raised her voice again.

‘Three wishes, correct? That’s how Djinns work, as far as I am informed?’ With that, Mariette crossed her arms and focused fully formally at the two of them, and gave voice to her thinking.

‘First wish. I wish you two an Interdimensional Home that will never be found or invaded by anything.’

‘Second wish. I wish that if the two of you are ever about to be killed or captured, you are automatically transported into your Interdimensional Home, where you can remain safe until the coast is clear.’

‘Third wish. … I wish that I will never be suspected of having made these wishes. This to protect myself from the suspicion of my allies, which should tie it all up nicely. … Is this possible? Your thoughts?’

‘… No, wait, hold on. Even with those wishes, you would still be potentially susceptible to blackmail. Hm. Eli? Would you be willing to wish for them never to have anything they hold dear to themselves threatened in order to get a hold on their actions?’ Mariette asked, looking over at Eli, who blinked and looked over from where she had been crying, slightly confused.

Mariette spouting off three wishes one after the other was somewhat amusing and endearing at the same time. It also showed how the girl deliberated. And while it would be fun to grant all the wishes then and there, the twin's patron saw them as largely unnecessary. Laughing a bit Sakura put her hand on her friend's shoulder to slow her down. ”Whoa whoa, you don't have to do all that. Give us some credit, we can handle ourselves pretty well. I think the first wish is more than enough.” Being a separate little pocket of space, when Sakura snapped her fingers to grant Mariette's first wish there wasn't much to show for it. However, in a pink puff of smoke the Djinn girl vanished for a moment before popping back into the room. ”Nice. May need a little redecorating but we can work on that.” She smiled brightly.

‘Hmpf,’ Mariette made a noise of discontent. ‘You can still be ambushed. I would like you not to overestimate your chances,’ she said, keeping her arms crossed looking at Sakura with an unsatisfied expression.

”Maybe. But now we don’t have to be wandering around and hiding in places like this.” Sakura said gesturing around them at the office space. ”It’ll be a lot harder to catch us off guard if they can’t trail us anymore. Does that make sense?”

‘… I don’t approve. I feel you’re pushing your luck. It would make me a lot calmer if you’d accept my second wish. There are beings out there who could capture you far before you reach your Interdimensional Home. I’d know, I’m one of them,’ Mariette replied, frowning as she replied.

‘I-I’ll be okay, thank you,’ Eli whispered now, to stand up and refocus on the current conversation and actually pay attention.

Sucking in her lower lip, Sakura seemed a little hesitant. She knew that Mariette was right. And by all accounts it would be the safer bet. However, the girls had learned the hard way that granting multiple wishes for the same person in succession was generally frowned upon by their patron. Although maybe he would let this one slide since it was for their protection. It would allow them to continue doing their job after all.

“Any time” Violet would reply just as softly as she too returned most of her focus to the topic at hand. She hadn’t really been out of the loop, hard to be when the Twins would share thoughts with ease.

“Part of the issues is our Patron” the darker haired twin would say “While it’s not a direct command, he tends to get really annoyed when we grant more than one wish to a person in single interaction. So while we don’t have any issues granting your other wishes, he might.” She would openly say as Mariette and Eli were friends, it was fine if they knew these things, Violet felt; after all it wasn’t like they were explaining the limitations on their magic. Just a bit how their Patron thought.

“That being said, Eli here can wish for something and it wouldn’t bug Cafer. So if you two are really that uncomfortable about it there is that.”

‘… Hm. No other choice, then,’ Mariette said, with regret in her voice. ‘Eli. Would you spend your second wish?’

‘Yeah, I heard,’ Eli nodded. ‘If it’s fine, I’d like to save my third wish for myself, so we don’t spend it on our mission. That said, I’m fine making my second wish now.’ So, Eli took a deep breath while Mariette looked curiously at her servant. ‘So, I wish that if the Djinn Sisters are about to be wounded or captured against their will they will be transported into their Interdimensional Home. … Does that work?’ Eli asked, looking to Sakura and Violet.

‘Hm. That would potentially keep you safe, but it won’t stop my allies from attacking you. I’m not sure I can convince them not to do it with the materials currently available to me,’ Mariette said, looking towards Sakura and Violet from here. In a “will you be alright” kind of way.

Waving her hand a bit, Sakura didn't seem entirely concerned per se. ”This is already way better. Our biggest risk was that we had to hide in places like this. Now we can do our thing and just vanish. Your allies would have to get lucky finding us on the occasion we aren't in our new home. It's not like this isn't the first time we've been hunted.” Raising a finger she wanted to make one last thing know. ”We just have one person we've seen that we plan to grant a wish for and then we'll lay low for a bit. Okay?”

Mariette breathed out a bit from her nose, not entirely convinced but it’d have to do. ‘Okay. Then, one last thing. Whenever you’re outside a building in Penrose, with the sky above you, be it in an alley or a main street… Assume there’s someone that will be aware of whatever you do,’ Mariette warned, her voice cautioning. ‘… I didn’t tell you that,’ she added after a second.

“We’ll keep it in mind and keep to ourselves,” Violet would say before popping away to her new house for a moment. “Set the wish into our new home, nothing's going to get in the way of it there.” she would explain before walking over to Mariette. “We will be fine, we have a few tricks up our sleeves incase things get really dire. I promise, we will be fine” she would reiterate tapping her friend on the nose lightly.

Mariette’s expression softened somewhat as Violet approached and tapped on her nose, something she surely wouldn’t let probably anyone but the Djinn Sisters do. Even Eli probably wouldn’t be let to do that. Being poked on the nose felt odd. Familiar emotions. ‘I will hold you onto that promise,’ Mariette told, looking between them. ‘I’ll try to visit more often. Perhaps we could even hang out… normally. I’d like that,’ Mariette said, able to say things she couldn’t to anyone else to these two.

Eli looked over her mistress curiously, aware of how unlike her usual mistress those words sounded. ‘Me too,’ Eli also filled in.

Nodding in agreement, Sakura gave Mariette and then Eli a hug. ”Definitely. We’ll get this whole thing sorted out and then we should be safe to hang out.” Leaving their friends out of further wishes on their accord would also protect against unwanted backlash due to threatening their patron’s plans.

”We’ll work on getting you a set of keys to the house later. That way once this is all done, you two can just drop by whenever the mood strikes you.” Violet would add on with a smile as she stepped back towards her sister. “In the meantime, we will get this next wish done then stay out of sight for a while. Kay?"

Mariette nodded to the two, knowing there were some things she still wasn’t saying but she’d get to that when the time came. For now, she accepted and returned Sakura’s hug and Eli hugged in, too, while Mariette summoned some of her power to open a portal behind her as it was about time. ‘Sounds good. I’ll look forward to it,’ Mariette replied, hoping this could be the case.
‘There’s a bunch of messes we’re currently taking care of, and lots of guests, but we’ll handle it,’ Eli said, attempting to sound determined. ‘You take care of yourselves… and thank you,’ she also said, so that she had said that as well.

With that, Mariette stepped backwards through the portal, and Eli eventually skipped back too. ‘… Good luck,’ Mariette wished, knowing what the future might hold. Eli did a little reassured wave, before the portal closed and they had departed the room.

”She’s adorable” Violet would say to her Sakura as they turned to leave as well. They had a wish to grant after all.

Beyond the Looking Glass: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

@BrokenPromise@Shifter_Master@Ariamis

No mind control, good. Brainwashing though, that was bad. Since gaining the Psychic spec neither she or her sisters had really had time to hone probing minds. That normally wouldn't be a problem were it not for the Spark that forced Jenna out before she could get a grasp of how to properly heal Abigail's mind. She's definitely brainwashed like you had been sis. Spark pushed me out before I could get enough info though. We need to stop her resisting so we can figure it out. Thoughts?

One second. Dispatching a cultist Janet scanned around. The only ally that they didn't immediately know a fair amount was Alex. Skimming through the girl's mind would help with that. Somewhat erratic and snappy thoughts. It took a few seconds to sort through the blur. Lily has Lightning and Time magic. That didn't quite solve the issue. Keeping the other cultists at bay she weighed their options. We need Abigail out of this fight or on our side. If they could break through the barrier they could let Lily try and shock their friend and stun her. Not really a guarantee that would work or give them a large enough window. There was the potential that another barrier could be thrown up.

This short little exchange took place silently in a matter of seconds. From the looks of things they were starting to get the upper hand. That illusion didn't last long however as the Bates' aura came over the area. Abigale changed targets and picked up Janet along with Aurelio and one of his clones in an almost loving embrace thanks to her use of Gravity. Thrashed around like dolls there wasn't a whole lot that Janet could do other than try and strategize a way out of this mess. Reaching Janet she linked with the three she wanted to talk to.

’Hey, this is Janet. Sorry if this is an invasion of privacy but I'm psychically connecting us so we can come up with a plan. Abigail needs to be dealt with or she'll just keep trapping us over and over. Jenna was able to glean that her mind has been altered. We’re pretty sure we can fix it but we need more time to detail the damage to repair her mind without the Spark pushing us out.’

Lily was shocked, but managed to calm down as she recognized her.

’Yeah, she’s too strong to fight head on. We need to snap her out of it! I’ll focus on boosting you with my magic, so you’ll need to get in there and fix her up!’

’I can give us all a boost while Jenna works on Abigail.’

While they planned a new set of cultists moved in and the warlock burst out, awoken by the Bates aura.

’That's not good. Lily, if you think you can hold off the cultists then go ahead and speed up Jenna. She's going to need that extra time. Aurelio, can you calm Abigail from here? ‘

‘No?’ came the dazed response from Aurelio as he stood back up from getting tossed around by the gravity spells that Abigail has used ‘She’s not actually all that angry anymore, it vanished with that aura surge, so there is nothing to calm. Get me close and I have something that might stop her but I’ll have to focus everything on making it work’

’Working on it!’

’Wait, what am I doing?’

’Here’s what I’m thinking. Jenna, when Lily speeds you up you’re going to have to break through that barrier and get close enough to touch Abigail. That should allow you a better connection to read her. We will keep the rest of them busy and defend you while you work.’

’Hurry, you don’t have much time!’

’Sounds like a plan. Take point I’ll follow, you’re giving off good vibes so I should be able to amp you for a bit as well’

’Alright then, here we go.’

With a plan in place Jenna set herself up to start moving. For a moment she lost track of Lily as she seemingly teleported. She didn't have a whole lot of opportunity to heed Lily's warning. "Oh god I hope this works." The warlock closing in the girl braced herself as the time magic was cast on her. Having been through some pretty intense bursts of magic getting shocked was a new one. Seizing up Jenna's heart felt like it was about to burst out of her chest. Struggling for a moment the pressure subsided as the rest up her body caught up. "Damn that hurt."

And then everything began to look odd as the world seemed to slow down. Jenna had no way of gauging just how much quicker she was going but it was more than enough to avoid the one charging at her. Body still aching a bit from the shock she stepped away from the warlock who might as well be strolling rather than running. The sounds weren't even quite right. "This is so weird. Oh right!" It clicking that she was on borrowed time she turned her way to Abigail and the cultists around the girl. The barrier was weakened so she surely could break through. Rushing forward Jenna made a slight detour to avoid whatever substance had been released from the monster. Lance forward she pierced the barrier like a human sized bullet. Shoving back any cultists, which was sure to feel more like getting hit by a truck than simply a pole arm at these speeds, she made space around Abigail.

Lifting and driving the back end of her lance into the ground the banner shone blue and formed a small bubble shield confining Jenna and Abigail to close quarters and isolating them from outside influence. They had to make the most out of this opportunity. Behind her target the psychic reached up and placed her hands on either side of her friend's head. Getting this close would make searching through her mind significantly easier. The speed up was mostly to get ahead of the Spark that was sure to pop back up once Abigail realized Jenna was there. But by then the hope would be that they would have enough information to heal the damage inflicted by the Bates.

For everyone else, including Janet, she watched as her sister was struck by Lily's magic and a blur flew past the defenses in seconds. Damn, time magic was seriously stuff. The knight didn't have a clue how much drain a spell like that was, but it was clear that Aurelio was feeling the strain. They had to keep everything else at bay and as per their talk Janet lifted up her banner as she activated her Rally Cry. "Take heart my friends and accept this gift. We will not fail this night!" Her voice boomed as her banner flashed with a blinding light.

The glow coming down Janet was exuding magic throughout the area. Lily, Jenna, Aurelio and his clones all being within range would feel the warmth of the the spell. Wounds would begin healing as their mana and mental fortitude would begin to replenish. Benefiting from her own spell she would use her defensive abilities to keep the warlock's attention. Making her way to intercept she placed herself in the path of the dark mage to keep him away.

---

@BrokenPromise@Vocab

Well the plan worked to some extent. She was free of the tar monster and tumbled to the ground. Thank goodness for her over boosted defense. Stretching for a second she could feel that more enemies were moving in from the darkness. This whole being blind thing was getting old. Didn't help that whoever was managing the evil forces now appeared to be bolstering them. Shannon could fix both of these problems though.

Raising her arms the exposed dirt in the area began to rise. "Should have started with this." Anyone that could see her might expect she was planning for an attack but instead dropping her arms to the side the dirt exploded into grains and rushed out in all directions across the battle field. Others fighting wouldn't see it until a wave of dust came flying out out of the darkness. The cloud didn't linger but a moment, settling over everything like a fine blanket of powder. Now sprinkled with her element Shannon could sort out with much more detail what was going on. It was still better to focus on the nearby, but she didn't have to rely on the jumbled vibrations in the ground as much. Assessing what was around her it was then that she became aware of Rebecca trapped inside the Tar Baby. It was a good thing that she had managed to litter the thing with dirt or she may never had known anyone else was there.

Sensing out the area again she made note of where the crypt was located. These things chasing her would not let her advance though. There were other options though as she let the enemy draw nearer. "You picked the wrong girl to mess with. Hope you like going on trips." Earth and air trembled before the immediate area suddenly became a vacuum as Shannon, Rebecca, the Tar Baby and the hoards of other creatures approaching were shifted into the Overcity.

Free of the oppressive aura Shannon took in a breath of fresh air. The dark clouds dispersed and the creatures were plainly visible and no longer bolstered by the Bates. "Let's see how well you fair without all that extra magic. Now, let go of my friend!"

Focusing the dirt around Rebecca began to move. It surrounded her, compressing and hardening into something of a harness. Putting her left arm forward Shannon used the rest of her Mana Font to hold the other pieces of dirt in the Tar Baby in place while jerking back her staff. The result would be the monster stopping dead while its prey would suddenly be pulled hard to break her from the things grasp. Avoiding touching the tar covered girl Shannon spoke up. "Are you alright? While it would be nice to go over formalities there was still the issue of the hoards around them.

Taking the time to properly map things out she could now get a clear idea of the size of the Tar Baby. It was big which made getting stuck by the thing a real problem. It seemed to have a rather simple goal in mind though, eat anything it managed to catch. Turning to the other creatures, they were lizard like in form and movement. They didn't appear to be made of the same substance as the Tar Baby at least. Letting them get close would probably be a bad idea none the less.

Beating the tar monster into submission was nearly out of the question. She could continue to fill it with dirt until it couldn't move, but that would expend a lot on mana without even addressing anything else. The little stunt with Rebecca though gave her an idea. Flinging tons of rocks, dirt, and other earthen debris into the Tar Baby she tapped into her Vitality using Blood Magic. "Lets see how hungry you really are." Up with her staff the material embedded on and inside the sticky monster lifted it up. Waving her staff the ball moved and rolled across the ground over the lizard things, trapping them in droves as they were pressed inside. This wouldn't eliminate the threat entirely, but it would reduce the number of targets significantly.

Like a ball and chain the Tar Baby was whirled around before, with a mighty heave, the mass of monsters was released and hurled into the distance. Groaning a bit the girl shrugged. Using some Vit was always such a pain. It was a great thing she had it in spades. Having cleared most of the field she balled her hand into a fist and slammed it into her open halm. A shock wave emanated where Shannon stood and shot an eye at the remaining reptiles. "C'mon!"

Seemingly having the upper hand she stole a glance in the direction that the crypt was in. At best in the Overcity it would be open and she could try shifting back inside the barrier. At worst it would put her right next to it where the worst of the fighting was likely to be.

Beyond the Looking Glass: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

@BrokenPromise@Shifter_Master@Ariamis

Breaking through the fog a small section of the battle came into view. Leaving out the monsters and cultists the three combatants were all people the twins knew. Though the one that was a surprise was Abigail. She had been one of the Beacon girls to go missing. While Janet had not known the girl all that well it did afford her at least some knowledge of what they were going up against. Thanks to Aurelio they also knew that she was brainwashed by the Bates, an issue that the reforged girls could potentially resolve with their new Specs. That whole circumstance she had intimate familiarity with. Simply focusing on that though would not do. It was clear that their allies were getting focused pretty hard at the moment. Thankfully there were two of them.

With a simple motion Janet pointed her sister to assist Lily. They would keep in contact psychically between the four of them. We got your back. Jenna, try and cleanse Abigail. Isolate her at least. Breaking away Janet cast a defense spell on Lily to shield her from incoming debris. That was merely a stop gap to allow Jenna to work on Abigail. Luckily it didn't require getting close to the gravity well and also becoming trapped. Given all the other baddies around though it would probably do well to deter them as well. Lance leveled Jenna first cast a spell to strip away at the dark magic surrounding Abigail. Hopefully having weakened Regina's grip Jenna switched to using her own Psychic abilities to free her friend. In the past Justine had gotten around the Spark that Beacon had given Janet. It was a particular that, since their use of the Red Coin, they'd spent a little time learning about. While not having the magical prowess as some psychics there were situations like this were they could try and use other facets. In this case her Reinforcement spec to attempt to bolster the Spark within Abigail in tandem with Psychic to undo the brainwashing.

While that was happening Janet rushed to the defense of Aurelio. She could put a barrier up around her friend, but at the moment she had the element of surprise. Boosting her own speed she ran her lance past one cultist, aiming at one just further while clothes lining a second. "Am I interrupting?" Not waiting for a response she continued on into the midst of the cultists to disrupt their focus. The reach of the lance covered a wide swath around her so staying out of range was more of a task than one might expect from a melee weapon.

---

@BrokenPromise@Vocab

Horrors were always such a pain. Worse they came in so many varieties and scales that one never really knew if they were dealing with the ones that are out to make things difficult or the one that wanted to consume the universe. Most often it never got far enough to know one way or the other. Unfortunately on this occasion the Earth girl had garnered the attention of a horror that felt the need to reach back out. Not in kind, as the response was far and away more devastating.

Having a thing speak to her through her mind was nothing new to Shannon. That was all well and good. After all sometimes a being such as thins will just go on and on without really doing much at all. Soth didn't do something expected. Seeing or being shown terrible things was not preparation for the tidal wave of suffering that was dropped on the girl. Even if she had the fortitude to ignore the things in her minds eye there was just so much of it that there was nowhere else to turn to get away. Even when the imagery stopped and the voice left there was barely the faculties to notice a monster had run into and ensnared her. Tumbling and engulfed the realization of what had happened didn't really kick in until the creature started trying to tear her apart with its teeth.

Touch was about the only sense available in the pitch black. The makeup of the thing surrounding Shannon definitely felt like tar. Having an extensive geological knowledge of terra firma there was little doubt in her mind that where she she was not going to be able to struggle her way out of this. Tar pits were essentially natures death traps that once you fell in you weren't getting out. So already being dead center of a living thing of tar there was no amount of leverage to free herself. That did not mean she was entirely out of options though.

We'll see who eats who first. Completely unaware of what Rebecca was doing outside the dirt under the Tar Baby shifted, pulling whatever legs it may still have out from under it. The earth didn't stop at that though as the earth rolled up and over the inky black monster. Over and over the ground underneath shifted up and over sucking both the girl and its prey deeper into the earth. Once sufficiently buried that the creature wasn't going to just be able to jump out the ground would began to swirl while continuing to overturn like a cement mixer. While Shannon had no way to get out of the tar she wasn't the only thing that would stick to it. Assuming nothing stopped her she would turn this ball of tar into clods of asphalt as it would become clods of dried up dirt and tar.

Beyond the Looking Glass: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

@Flamelord@FamishedPants@ERode@DarkwolfX37@Ariamis@Card Captor@BrokenPromise@Rune_Alchemist@Vocab@Crusader Lord

The trip into the fray was one that was interesting. From her vantage flying toward the graveyard she got a brief overview of the grounds. Unfortunately before landing a surge of magic rushed out from the center and covered everything in a thick dark cloud. "Well crap." Dropping in Shannon disappeared from view and the boulder she had been riding crashed landed. Blindly tumbling across the ground she felt the earth to orient herself. Unlike many her magic afforded her additional methods of sending. Fighting blind was not a new thing to Shannon, having fought underground with little to no source of light to speak of there wasn't that much difference. In this case though her opponents weren't exactly trying to hide. It became abundantly clear that a hoard of minions were running around everywhere. It was hard to tell what was happening at the outer periphery of the cemetery with the vibrations blending all together. But it was enough of a picture to point her toward the center where the major targets were likely to be and the enemy was near her.

Whipping her staff around her the dirt began to rise up and blasted forward to plow through several oncoming fodder. Unhindered and the battlefield literally made of her ammunition keeping them at bay was fairly easy. Having made space she charged forward bounding over the graves and folding a tunnel of earth around her. The magical girl was very careful to not disturb any remains of those buried there. People should be ashamed of turning a place of rest into a war zone. The advance was hauled when a low rumble the earth began to shake everything. Was that laughter? Innately aware of the subtle ways sound traveled through a solid medium it definitely felt like a voice. If there was any doubt before of where the target was there wasn't any now. Who or what it was still wasn't clear, but it was dark and sinister regardless. Sending out a pulse in the direction of the source it was stopped dead by a magical barrier. So they were protecting something... In that case she would make use of her cover and strike from here. Thrusting her staff into the ground the earth shifted.

Cracks formed, streaming out from the darkness near the group in the center. Traveling beneath their feet and beyond three columns of stone burst forth and impacted the barrier. The move was both an attack and a test of not only the strength of the barrier, but whether or not her magic could effect the earth within or if the structure could be moved. While this scale of an impact wouldn't topple the structure it should glean if the barrier was anchored or not. A followup was going to have to wait however as more of Soth's forces were closing in once again. It was also a good bet that her sudden assault wouldn't go unnoticed. However she was going to hope that at least some of the other people would keep the enemy occupied.

---

After an initial delay of consulting with the Beacon on whether the twins should enter the fray, it was decided to send in some more reinforcements. The dark magic prevented them from being teleported directly to those engulfed within. Arriving nearby they were met by a swirl of darkness. What was going on was nearly impossible to discern. They would make out where several minds were, but the magical interference prevented them from identifying who was who, at least at this distance. There wasn't much choice but to dive in and hope they find something.

Moving through the cloud was something of a task. The ground wasn't entirely clear so on more than one occasion tripping over a gravestone caused one of the two to trip. Keeping track of one another psychically though they stuck together as there was no telling if they would come across an ally or an enemy. At this point their best bet was to move as one. Happening across an idea though Janet raised her lance and used her magic to purify the area nearby. Shining in the dark the light from her banner began to cut away at the haze.

Phoenix Wing (A Fairy Tail RP-Always Open, Open)

Ariel - Tenroe Island

@Lunarlord34@MarshiestMallow@Crimson Raven@Hatakekuro@Burthstone@Silver Fox@CitrusArms@Demon Shinobi@LightningMaiden@Joshua Tamashii@Oblivion666@YipeeXD@Zarkun

Things going on around her were largely missed by Ariel. Being frozen in time, blasted out of the air and crashing into the ground after building up a reserve of magic does a pretty good job of taking one out of the moment. A fireball dropping out of the sky crash landing off to the side she rolled across the grass that popped and sizzled as it was burned by the heat. Zeref's attack was nothing to sneeze at even if it wasn't a fully powered one. Holding her side Ariel knew that her opportunity to hit the dark wizard was gone. Glancing up things had changed. The dragons were gone... Zeref was gone... the hell? The woman couldn't figure out if a few seconds or hours had passed.

Two things Ariel did know was that her wound was healing rather quickly, an effect that was likely due to the Phoenix magic, and that she was still primed to explode because she was an idiot that had no real idea what she was doing. So lying there on the ground was about the last place she should be. [color=oragered]"I have to "[/color] Standing up and taking off again she headed away from the everyone and the island. Out over the water somehow felt familiar. Had she done this before? Was it in the painting? Maybe. Either way it didn't really matter. Ideally she would find a better way to burn off some of the magic or redirect it somehow. About the one thing she could think of was douse herself with water to quench the flames. Did that work with magical fire from an ancient creature? She didn't know but not having any other good ideas she few out over the ocean and dove, disappeared beneath the waves.

The rush of water surrounded her. It didn't do much to cool her down but it was using up magic that kept the flames going. The ocean immediately around her boiled and roared in her ears. More importantly the water would absorb the blast rather than roasting everything around her. Confident that everyone else would be safe she stopped fighting to keep the magic contained, a feat that usually isn't that hard considering she seemed to attract magic. Like a mine going off at sea a pillar of water erupted reaching up into the sky. Tossed in the current created by the blast Ariel was spun around until she lost track of which way was up. The boiling water wasn't hurting her, yet at least. She probably had reverted to her regular Fire magic which helped. Of course drowning wasn't high on her list of things to do either so scrambling to the surface was her present goal.

Beyond the Looking Glass: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

Shannon - Seeking an Audience

@Card Captor@Ariamis@Vocab@BrokenPromise@FamishedPants

Unsurprisingly the announcement had drawn a number of others. As more began to arrive at Town Hall Shannon kept a pleasant air about her. Some were more wary of strangers. Addressing the question leveled from Vixen the Earth girl replied. "My name is Shannon Bron, nice to meet you." Making no sudden moves the way that Vixen took a stance was clearly suspect of others. "And I'm sure Cindy Ford will be along shortly." Perhaps it was unwise to stand so casually but it seemed the best way to keep things calm. It wasn't like she was being timid though. More less concerned than anything.

As predicted Cindy arrived, in a rather flashy way it would seem. The arrival was enough to make Shannon start and face the floating monster girl. Getting "I am here to speak with you Ms. Ford. I would like to hear more about how you plan to protect the city." It was hard to say how Cindy would respond. Someone coming in and declaring themselves ruler out of seemingly nowhere was a odd move. It said something about her character but not enough to know how fit she would be to actually be a leader. Any details would be great. Generally anyone seeking to protect humanity was an ally. But that was yet to be seen.

Before much else could be said, Lily and Alex arrived. As per usual the lightning girl was energetic as ever. Being jumped Shannon hugged her friend back. Nearly missing what was said her Awareness managed to keep up with Lily's speeding through her words. "I'm great. My monster problem resolved itself. Been enjoying a little break." Prying her friend off she wondered sometimes how much the girl missed. Chuckling at the last question she shook her head. "I was there when you got that outfit silly. I swear." The brief reunion was sadly brought to a halt as Cindy continued.

It seemed that there was already had a plan on how to deal with people that opposed the new Lightning girl. To some extent it was a relief to Shannon that it would be a tournament rather than some other potentially more destructive method or outright attack. The full explanation was cut off as something sinister was brewing on the horizon. All attention turned to the growing darkness. Barking orders Cindy told those not in her circle to stay put. But as Lily confidently stated, sitting around was not in their nature. "No disrespect Ms. Ford, but we have a vested interest in defending our home here. Surely you can understand that many of us as magical boys and girls have sworn to protect the citizens of this world despite its perils. We cannot sit idly by and watch." Having spoke her mind she nodded to her friend Lily and raised her staff. Not planning to let anyone stop her she leapt up to be caught by a chunk of earth hurdling through the air. The impact would have plastered lower Vitality girls but Shannon could rely on her fortitude to protect her from it. While not quite flight it was a good way to cover great distances. Time would tell if disobeying one of Cindy's orders would come with consequences or if a shared cause could bridge that gap.

Beyond the Looking Glass: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

Shannon - Seeking An Audience

@FamishedPants@Ariamis

To declare ownership of the city like Penrose was a rather bold move. Being a major hub for activity the chance of there being a conflict of interests was inevitable. As of late the majority of magical attacks had been somewhat curbed by a protective barrier that had been placed on the average citizens. The effect had actually driven off a den of monsters she'd been attempting to dislodge for the last few weeks. So up until this point the city had mostly been quiet on the surface as far as the magical world is concerned.

Shannon wasn't sure if something was wrong with her or if it was just Penrose, but making friends here had proved to be particularly challenging. There was always some thing that she could not seem to overcome. Perhaps she had just run into the overly stubborn though. And here again she was stepping into another situation with someone that, very likely, was headstrong. Not that she had a problem with it. Being a Puchuu girl she didn't hold any allegiances with an organization like those in say Beacon or the Mint were. Nor were there any grand plans to be thwarted. So arriving at Town Hall to speak with Cindy wasn't that much of a problem. Though to some extent the idea of being forced to pay homage to someone that hasn't earned it was not really desirable.

Scaling Town Hall it appeared that only one other had yet to arrive. Standing by Emily the magical earth girl smiled and offered a hand to shake. "Glad to see I'm not the only one here. My name is Shannon Bron." After her greeting she looked about them for others they should meet. "Have to say, I was not expecting my day to go like this when I woke up this morning."

Beyond the Looking Glass: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

Depends on if whoever has some coins feels like handing them out I assume. No idea how many there are at the moment. The lab blew up and Beacon snapped up Binky so production had largely been haulted for most of the skip.