Sue wasn't in great shape, but she was still conscious when Helga pulled her out of the water. Her body was wrecked by pain, and she was trembling in the girl's arms. [color=PeachPuff]”Y-you didn't have to do that.”[/color] The water was stinging sue's eyes. Fortunately it was a simple matter for the former familiar to air dry her face. [color=PeachPuff]”Did we get her?”[/color]Sue posed the question, but then looked over towards Lily. She could see Lily trying to rescue Justine. She could hear Lily repeat her mission to save everyone.

And it sickened her. 

It didn't take long for Sue to amp herself up again. She was less trembling from pain than with emotion. Her eyes were totally bloodshot, between the crying and being splashed with salt water. With a shout, she blew herself out of Helga's arms. Normally Helga's strength would have been more than enough to hold onto Sue, but the sudden attempt at escape wasn't expected. While the former familiar fell through the air, she forced another pair of black wings out of her back. It was painful, and she was screaming the entire time. Sue might have been gifted with a strong affinity with magic, but she wasn't able to function at full capacity right now. Nothing felt broken, but her head was throbbing. Using her magic under these conditions was painful, but it just fueled her anger. She nearly crashed into the ocean again, but her wings were big enough to where she could adjust her trajectory and fly over the water. When she got near Lily, she started to slow up. By lifting her body up vertically, her wings acted like an air brake and slowed her down.With Sue hovering over the two girls, She looked down at them as if they were nothing but insects. 

[color=PeachPuff]”Lily.”[/color] She was practically whispering the words. Only barely audible over the crashing waves. [color=PeachPuff]”What have you done?”[/color]

Lily had managed to walk a few steps up the magical stairs when she saw Sue shout at her from above. She sneezed again, and looked at her with bewilderment. 
[color=fff200]“Huh? Is something the matter?”[/color] She asked, confused by her reaction. Justine on the other hand looked on with a pained expression; Sue had delivered a grievous blow to her body, and she clutched at herself while observing the exchange.

Alexander lifted an eyebrow. “[color=aba000]Okay look; you’re clearly overreacting. I know that Lily’s naming sense is kind of cringy, but it’s not [i]that[/i] bad.[/color]”

[color=PeachPuff]”You broke your promise, Lilly.”[/color] Sue groaned before lifting her finger to point at Justine. It was shaking. [color=PeachPuff]”Because of her. That f-fuckin' hussie had Amber murdered right in front of me!”[/color] She looked over at Alexander. [color=PeachPuff]”That was her, Alexander. That was my captain on the floor that you were trying to save. Her luck finally ran out.”[/color] Her head twisted until it was looking at Justine again. [color=PeachPuff]”Because someone thought a new world was worth the lives of everyone on the old one.”[/color] Her eyelid twitched as she looked back at Lilly. [color=PeachPuff]”Or Does Amber's sacrifice not count? Because apparently this entire ritual was going to fail anyway?”[/color] Sue fluttered closer to the group. [color=PeachPuff]”Justine made you break your promise Lily. B-but I don't hold it against you.”[/color]

Alexander’s eyes shot wide open “[color=aba000]...oh shit.[/color]” He turned to Lily “[color=aba000]yeah, this is one social battle I can’t help you in. I mean, if our positions were reversed, I would totally want to murder Justine. Hell, I [i]did[/i] kill one of the girls who helped kidnap you. So yeah, I don’t think I have the right, or social skills to help here. Hell, I’ll probably just make things worse.[/color]”

Lily was shocked by Sue’s tirade against her, and by her blaming Lily for breaking the promise. But just as she was about to ask how she knew about Amber, she finally confirmed who the black-winged girl was.
[color=fff200]“S-Sue? It really is you...”[/color] She teared up a bit after she listened to her rant. Fortunately Alex was there to support her; otherwise she would have broken down from the emotional load. 
[color=fff200]“I-I know that what happened to Amber is awful. I know Justine is a bad person. But...”[/color] 
She averted her eyes. 
[color=fff200]“Revenge is never the right answer. It only leads to a cycle of hurt, and sadness. We magical girls need to put a stop to it, we have to try and protect everyone. Besides,”[/color] She spoke with a sniffling tone, and wiped her eyes with her sleeve, looking straight at her.
[color=fff200]“If we kill her...We will be just like her. You wouldn’t do it, right Sue?”[/color]
She asked, her lower lip trembling. Justine lowered her head, and closed her eyes while she was still carried by Eliza..

[color=PeachPuff]”Right, um, some things happened. Now this is me.”[/color] Sue was momentarily phased, but regained her composure. Sue fluttered down onto the edge of the platform Alexander made. Her wings were spread out, threatening to encompass everyone. [color=PeachPuff]”No lily, I would be like her if I killed her, you, Alexander, all of Beacon, and expected it to bring Amber back.”[/color] Her eye brows shot up in the air. [color=PeachPuff]”Or maybe if I killed someone she cared about. Her sister maybe?”[/color] She turned to look at Justine. [color=PeachPuff]”What do you think Justine? What would I have to do to sink to your level? Would killing one magical girl that nobody really gives a shit about do anything? What have you done to uphold the magical girl code we all live by?”[/color] She was grinding her teeth, and it was audible.

[color=662d91]“...” [/color]

Justine was silent at first, and seemed to ignore Sue. At this point, Helga clambered onto the stone platform with the rest. Justine slowly lifted her head, and looked at Sue with her red eyes; instead of malice or hatred, they were filled with weariness and sorrow.
[color=662d91]“It does not matter what you do to me. I failed everyone, even my sister. What purpose do I have in this world except to move on to the next?”[/color]
Her words came out one after the other with a struggle, and she coughed by the end of it. 
[color=662d91]“If it satisfies your petty needs, then feel free to end my existence. Maybe then your soul will be at peace.”[/color]
Suddenly, Justine was slapped by Lily.
[color=fff200]“No! You’re being stupid again, Justine!”[/color] Lily shouted, and shook her head while Justine reeled back with gritted teeth.
[color=fff200]“Don’t think you can just run away! You have to face up to what you’ve done, and apologize to everyone!”[/color]

Justine looked resentful and hurt...But she also looked remorseful, if only a little bit.
[color=662d91]”So you want me to redeem myself...Is something like that possible? For someone like me?”[/color] She lifted her eyes to look at Helga, who stood next to Sue. The bestial magical girl shared the former familiar’s murderous intent mere moments ago, but even she seemed to turn hesitant after Lily’s speech. “Well, I know Amby...Wasn’t the type to hold a grudge. She would just smile and walk it off...Like she always did.” Big tears drifted down her cheeks. “She always wanted to move on to new adventures, to seek new thrills and collect treasure. She even gave me a chance, when I tried to kill you all once. There’s no better pirate out there. So...Sue...” She turned to look at her. “Maybe we can kill Justine later, when she has betrayed Lily’s trust. We won’t feel too bad about it then, right?”

While Sue didn't appear to be listening to anyone but Justine, Helga's words did seem to cause Sue to shift around. She approached Justine, her wings coiling in the air as she did so. [color=PeachPuff]”I'm going to let you live. Not because I think you can redeem yourself, but because you've just discovered how powerless you are to change anything that matters, and you're going to continue to live in a misery you can only escape with death.”[/color] She turned away from Justine. [color=PeachPuff]”If you want to die so badly, do it yourself.”[/color] Sue walked away from them, hastening her steps until she got to the stone platform that use to be Justine's floor. Once she was there, she fell onto her knees and buried her face in her hands. Her sobs were audible for everyone. 

Justine might have still been alive, but Her anger was finally beat out by her sorrow. All it took was hearing someone else mention her name. Regardless of what happened to Justine, it wouldn't change the fact that Amber was gone. She wasn't even sure how far she would be able to take this fight for revenge. She'd have to kill all the Visceral, that jelly girl, Father, and a whole bunch of other people. It just wasn't in her. Even if she was the strongest magical girl in the world, she was emotionally still herself. No amount of power, magical or otherwise, could change who she was on the inside.

But she couldn't think about any of that now. Her mind was racing with all the memories she had made with Amber. There were too many to count. Too many to focus on. She had always been relatively pleasant to be around, and it was a shame she was finally gone. But sue had a silver lining. [color=PeachPuff]”A-at least...”[/color] Her chest was bothering her. Between sobbing so hard and being hurt in the battle. [color=PeachPuff]”We still have...”[/color] Sue struggled to sit up. Snot was running down her nose, and she couldn't even keep her eyes open. But she struggled to speak between her gasps. [color=PeachPuff]”Her...”[/color] Sue tried to calm herself down with deep, cleansing breaths. She made no attempt to look at anyone while she was recovering.

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/OuA3B6J.png[/img]
[hider=Tonya “Mac” Murphy]
[b]Age: 24/11 | Gender: Female/Female | Illusion, Gravity
Body | Power of Friendship, Regeneration | Moirai
Wings, Soul Jar, Martial Training, Familiar, Environmental Sealing, Gifted, Awareness, Mystic Artifact

Magical Overload, Paragon, Blessing, Gifted Item | Monster Form, Big Brother, Arrogance, Vendetta
Redirected Magic, Second Specialization | Non-Standard Limbs, Destroyer[/b]

STR: 05 | AGI: 04 |  VIT: 05 | MAG: 03 | LCK: 03

STR: 12 | AGI: 08 |  VIT: 10 | MAG: 16 | LCK: 05

Earnings this post: Kicking Justine and her seven goon's punk ass's while standing up to a strong force: 1 Gold 33 Silver 24 Bronze

Total: 2 Gold, 78 Silver, 73 Bronze
[/hider][/center]

	...Ship.

	Ah, that was going to end badly.

	But as tragic as Su's story was, the day was saved. Justine got her just deserts, and aside from Amber and a few other poor souls Beacon put to rest, no real casualties to speak of. A slam dunk, and one that was sure to please her patron.

	One chapter down, however many more to go. With any luck, Penrose wouldn't tear itself apart like it had last time. 

	This was normally when Tonya would bid her allies goodbye and wish them well, but that kind of went against her whole being here. In fact, there really wasn't much reason for her to stick around at all. She had seen this exact same scene play out numerous times. Not much reason to watch it play out again. 

	Ah, fuck it.

	Tonya turned back towards the spectacle. It was bittersweet, but moments like this would be few and far bewtween going folward.