[b]Nono, Castle Tepes[/b]

Leaving aside any doubt that they were being tricked, Nono smiled as she followed Saber and the Queen further on into the castle, ready for the job that they had to do. They were going to have fun in the process, after all, so why shouldn't she enjoy herself? Certainly the Fraternity had taught her that she couldn't be serious all the time. 

She was definitely impressed though with the castle, the old style mixed with the modern appliances doing relatively little for her, given where she had come from. It had to have been a pain to set up, but if someone could afford it then that was fine, and she certainly wasn't going to complain either way. 

That wasn't even taking into account the various servants, whom earned a lot of curious gazes from Nono and others. Things besides base humans and space monsters were fairly strange, though less so than they had been before, and she made sure to smooth these sorts of things over with a smile and wave, accepting them for who they were. They were interesting as well, and she was appreciative of the job they did as well. It was a hard life for a maid. 

But on she went, heading with them down a spiral staircase, and the skeletons catching her eye for a moment. Well then, that was...unexpected? And why were they keeping it there? "Oh, okay," she replied calmly, moving on past there with the reassurance. 

At last they reached the gem and wide open room it was housed it. And Nono would admit that the picture did it no justice, both in the sheer size of the thing, as well as the color and make of it, beyond anything she had similarly seen. It wasn't hard to believe what the Queen said about it, though it left one to wonder how the Shadow Eternity planned to steal something so big. "Wow, it's amazing," she commented aloud, sincere in that appreciation. 

It was at that point that Gintoki decided to leave, Non frowning as she shifted towards his departing form. "Hey, you can't just leave," she called after him. "We're on a mission!" She huffed then, not exactly amused by her companion. "Honestly...." At least she knew Onee-sama would never do something like that. 

[hr]
[b]Misaka 10,032, Academy City[/b]

Somehow, Misaka wasn't surprised as Marisa took the first opportunity to run for it, pulling her broom out of her hat and zooming into the air. She responded quickly, all tings told, raising her gun and firing into the air after her, though she stopped once it became obvious that it was a mere waste of ammunition, and nothing more. She wouldn't waste her time on pointless efforts, though she did consider switching to her automatic anti-tank rifle. But that was rejected as well, leaving her with little choice. 

"Understood," Misaka replied succinctly as she began to sprint after Marisa, gun held in a comfortable grip. Such runs were nothing new, and indeed she was not going to tire any time soon either. Catching up would be another matter entirely, but once they did the Witch would find out why running was a bad idea, at least while she remained in Academy City. 

At the same time, she multitasked, drawing on the other assets of support available for the completion of this mission with a minimal of collateral damage. Ideally. "Sister Network has been contacted. Moving to intercept." That, of course, didn't rule out less savory elements of the cities organization, but hopefully they could get to her first. If only for Marisa's safety and not their own positions. 

[hr]
[b]Ilyasviel von Einzbern, Shadow Eternity HQ[/b]

As if reading her, mind, shortly after saying that things were boring, the base intercom had gone off, informing them that it was time to get going for the mission at hand. That brought an anticipatory grin to Ilya's face as she rose from her seat on the couch, ready to get going and to have some fun.

Standing, wind billowed about as she shifted from normal garb to her combat clothes, tattered red cape fluttering as it appeared. That done, she headed for the hangar bay, taking it a bit easy rather than going all out. She'd get there soon enough, and once she arrived she'd only have to wait for everyone else to show up anyway. But at least she had something to look forward to now, and she would not be left behind.