Cindy smiled at Eliza’s answer, her cheeks glowing yellow with joy. “Thank you. May you be fortunate on your quest,” she spoke, and waved goodbye as the angelic with girl and her familiar exited the shelter. She then nodded at Aurora’s statement about Vi-chan. “She is a symbol of hope to us, so it would make sense for her to cause such a reaction.” She was pleased by Chloe’s offer of assistance. “Ah, that would be marvelous. Sometimes my subjects can act rowdy if left unchecked. If Divina can assert her will and ensure harmony within the shelter, then as queen of Penrose I shall name her peacekeeper.” A thought then occurred to her. “Oh, by the way, will you be joining us for Vi-chan’s concert? We would welcome your presence there.”

[hr]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/zLmcB5Q.png[/img][/center]
Lily turned less alarmed as she realized it was Tetrad who had relocated them away from the Beacon extremists. She smiled warmly at the old-looking magical girl touching her shoulder, and placed her hand over hers.  
[color=fff200]”Oh, I see! Thanks, Grandma Tetrad!”[/color] She cheerfully showed her gratitude, and afterwards giggled at her suggestion.
[color=fff200]”Kind of, yeah! She did say she was a looker back in the 50s!”[/color] She answered in a ditzy manner, unaware of the implications it would have towards Tetrad’s appearance.

However, her smile soon faded into a worried one as she met the gaze of a distant girl, her eyes like two red marbles, as beautiful as they were intense: Silhouette. 
[color=fff200]”U-um...”[/color] She attempted speaking up, knowing the other girl was not the most sociable type.
[color=fff200][i]Was it something I said? I thought she gave a compliment to Tetrad![/i][/color] She thought, her mind scrambling for answers..
[color=fff200][i]No, I’m sure she was like that ever since we shifted...Maybe she wants to ask something.[/i][/color] 
Before Lily could confirm with the assassin, she frowned upon hearing Alex express his frustration, and leaned down with her hands on her knees.
[color=fff200]”Well, it’s not like we could have expected this to happen...But still, no matter how many Beacon bad guys are there, you’re gonna beat them all up! I’m sure of it..”[/color]

She nodded at Tetrad’s suggestion for their next move, and offered a hand in lifting Alex up.
[color=fff200]”You do? How lucky! I’ll follow your lead then, Grandma Tetrad! Thanks a lot for the help, Rina, Su and Mika!”[/color] She waved to the girls as they quickly disappeared up into the canopy.
[color=fff200]”Come on Alex, hop aboard. I’ll get us out of this thicket.”[/color] With a pedal to the medal, Lily then sped through the woods, deftly turning and weaving past the trees in her way. She occasionally had to lift up into a wheelie when the terrain proved difficult, and it was a bumpy ride, but for the most part she managed to traverse through the woods at a respectable speed.

Su was the first to reach the treetops, and was met with a beautiful sight of the world of the Sprawl; having previously been covered in the dark of the night, the sun now shone like a bright mango and revealed much to the eagle-eyed dark magical girl; valleys with giant flowers, a quarry with flames rising from the depths, a bushy maze that spread like a kudzu, and much more. Fantastic creatures also lived here, from pretty unicorns galloping over a field, to dumpty goblins chasing after them with crude spears. It looked like the kind of world an Isekai protagonist would be sent to after an unfortunate encounter with a truck.
Mika and Rina followed soon after, and they also saw the wonders of the magical realm. However, all three girls had their attention grabbed by a massive formation of crystals, right next to the forest, that encircled a gargantuan metropolis soaring high into the sky; the titular Overcity. They saw that the forest extended a mile or so before they would be out in the open, from which the gates wouldn’t be too far.

[hr]
Leena looked disgusted upon seeing the fawning looks of Viva, familiar with the demented fascination dark magical girls often had for the macabre. However, she didn’t have time to feel revulsed for long; she fended off the Feral clone that swiped at her, performing a cartwheel as she parried a blow. In the process of doing so, she deftly nabbed her gas mask from the floor, putting it on. She took in a deep breath, seemingly rejuvenated again; Dawn could see how the mask’s straps magically extended and closed around her head, and her eyes returned back to looking sharp and focused. The veteran gave an appreciative nod to her presence, glad that the rookie hadn’t been hurt. 

As if on cue, she made a twirling dodge to evade Viva’s motorcycle and posed with her sword like a scorpion’s stinger, having expected her to shoot at either her or Dawn who immediately pursued her. But instead, the nurse-like DMG drove past, causing the veteran to grunt from her taunts; she went for the corpse after all. Trusting Dawn to handle it, she looked back at the guitar to see if the corrupted girl grabbed that too, only to be shocked; a third party even she hadn’t noticed had intervened, and grabbed it. “No!” She yelled at Anaya, just as FanFan had arrived to punch the clone attacking Leena and Dawn came rushing back.

But it was too late.

The two experienced Ascendancy girls knew that liches store their souls inside select items, turning them to phylacteries. And Leena could tell based from experience that the item always reflected the lich’ personality; for a sports lover, it could be a football, or a weapon for the martially inclined. But for the Endsinger, a musician, there was only one choice. And if anybody was so foolish as to attempt to draw power from the cursed artifacts, doom would follow.

The moment the black trails came over Anaya and the guitar began glowing, Leena grabbed Dawn’s wrist, and violently threw the both of them towards FanFan, who cast a spell; her metal arms detached from her body, and transformed into a dome that covered the three Ascendancy girls. Utilizing the conductive property of the barrier, it worked as a Faraday cage that distributed the electric charge caused by the lightning storm, canceling its effect on the interior of the dome and grounding the electricity to the frozen soil. The two girls kept quiet, Leena having put a hand on FanFan’s shoulder as she concentrated on holding the cage. Finally, as the storm ended, the shield morphed back to robot arms, and the three looked upon the devastated remains of the battlefield.

[hr]
Sally ran over to Aurelio with tears in her eyes, graciously accepting the hug the dapper magician gave to her.
“Aurelio! I’m so glad you’re here!” After the display of affection, she took the handkerchief, and loudly blew her nose on it. Sylvia and Kimble also graciously accepted the handkerchiefs, and dried their tears using them.
“Thanks for the hanky,” Sally afterwards spoke, and took Aurelio’s hand.
“And for being here; it means a lot to me, you know. You're like my lucky charm~”
Kimble looked at all the others, and made a cute cat smile. “Everyone looks prettier after the White Coinnya!”
 
As the Beacon people left the courtroom, Sylvia sighed in response to Alicia’s apology, slowly shaking her head. “It’s fine. I was the idiot trying to take responsibility.” She put a hand on Alicia’s shoulder, a bittersweet smile on her lips. “Ever since I saw what you did at Justine’s castle..the look in your eyes...I was sure that I could pass the torch to you. You have the will to go further than I ever did.” She then took a step back, and chuckled. “At least now I can take things a bit easier, heh. I’ll go ahead and prepare stuff so you can move into my office after your meeting.”

While Alicia and Sylvia conversed, Serenity approached Juliana, who blinked in surprise. Her cheeks then developed a shade of red as the maid girl complimented her. “Oh, umm, thank you.” The tall Ascendancy girl averted her eyes. “In my line of work, it is difficult to develop relations of genuine friendship. However, I would like to try. From my understanding, friends enjoy spending time in recreational activities, yes? To prepare for such meetings, here is my phone number for communication.” She took out her cell phone to show her number to Serenity, and engaged in casual chat the best the socially inexperienced amazon could.

Afterwards, the group headed off to the Hall of Luminous Valor. There, they were met by the gazes of the Ascendancy officers, now more mixed in their feelings as when Aurelio first arrived. Rachel’s feelings of scorn were still apparent, but the others had mellowed out, and felt respect for Alicia. 
“Alright, I’m not going to repeat myself, so you’re going to listen carefully,” Rachel addressed the group, signalling for Elora to change the projection on the table. 
“While we are bound by duty to tolerate each other and come to each other’s aid in the case of an emergency,, that doesn’t mean we have to work together. I have far too much at stake here to let a rookie Paladin ruin it.” 

The display changed an organizational chart showing Beacon and Ascendancy as two different groups, and then to a map highlighting parts of the city..
Elora chimed in, without expressing any strong feelings one way or the other.
“Over the past two weeks we have confirmed to have successfully reduced monster activity down by 60%. According to my calculations, we will reach full purification by the end of the month.” Rachel adjusted her glasses menacingly. “You may do as you like with the local branch; it is under your jurisdiction, not mine. However, the Ascendancy will continue purging Penrose of corruptive elements.” She crossed her arms. 
“If you do wish to help us, I could use some help in tracking down a concert run by corrupted girls. Aurelio can fill you in on the details.” She turned away. “That is all.”

[hr]
The beastly magical girl’s fur stood up on end as she was startled by Amanda. “Hey, that’s rude!” She snarled and showed her teeth. “We’re just having a...friendly chat. Ain’t that right, Selene?”
The dark magical girl nodded, and now looked at Deni and Valkyrie. “Hood is right. We are your friends. You came here to give us that package,” she spoke to them in a hypnotic voice. Deni and Valkyrie couldn’t help but look deep into her spiralling eyes, and found themselves falling into a trance, believing her words completely. Before she realized it, Deni found herself offering the box up to Hood, who snatched it. 
“Thanks a million!” She glanced at Amanda. “Eh, you’re still here? Broom off, why don’t ya?”

[hr]
“This is the end,Stagnation! Face the glorious end-AAAHHH!” Sirkkeli rushed forward, aiming to scissor chop Penny in half with her blades when she was struck by the intense light of Penny’s ShineSpark. Paralyzed thanks to her extrasensory vision being overwhelmed, she was bound by Penny’s chains as she jumped over her. “NOO! IT CAN’T BEEEE!” She screamed. “You’re not Light, so how-” At that moment, Valerie came in for the fatal blow, her sword of thunder flashing as it pierced the monstrous gynoid. Though her reactive armor attempted deflecting it, it proved futile before a weapon of pure energy. It was a risky use of mana, but it proved its worth as electricity coursed through in an impressive display.
“So...This is it…” She groaned, blackened by the lightning attack, as Penny thrust with her arm-mounted spike.

“Lord Laat...I offer you...the greatest tribute...My...destruction...”

After one last, inhuman flinch, the monster slumped, turned into junk by the two cyborgs. Then, the molds and liquids that covered the two of them faded away, freeing Penny from her viscous wrappings. It was then that Penny realized her mana had dropped considerably, now to a third of her potential might. But victory was theirs.

[hr]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/NngpAdx.png[/img][/center]
Helga dismissed Emily’s gratitude with a humble wave of her hand. “Don’t mention it. My fault anyway that you got mauled.” She spoke while the two were on their way, hopping across the city. She bit her lip upon hearing the question, rolling her eyes so the other girl couldn’t see.
“You see, I’m only bringing you over cause I don’t want to feel like I owe you anything, got it?” She half-yelled back, a bit more volume than she wanted, before returning back to normal voice.
“Actually, just forget I said that. Anyway, here we are.”

The two reached the Golden Trove, a hotel with a yellow sign and asian-influenced style. Helga walked in, and rung the bell on the counter before passing behind it and placing Lupa on a bed situated on the break room in the back. The, she transformed back to human, her clothes having turned into a maid uniform. 
“Hey, ghost twins!” Helga yelled, looking up at the ceiling. Soon after, two girls peeked their heads upside down.
“Did ya call us?” Jillian asked, and glanced at Emily. 
“Oh, I remember you! You were at the beach party, right? I’m Jillian.” She threw an arm around Julia’s shoulder, bringing the pouting girl close. 
“This is Julia. Nice to meet ya!”
“Can you two help us?” Helga pointed at Emily. 
“Do you have a Healing Artifact I could borrow? Emily here got wounded.” Julia nodded. 
“Yes.” She brought out a star-shaped amulet, giving it to Helga. 
“Alright thanks. Emily, could you sit down over there?” She pointed towards a black sofa to the back of the room. In the case she complied, Helga would use the artifact to tend to Emily’s injuries, closing the wounds with healing magic. 
“Those two are staying here for the moment being, along with some other magical girls, weird or not,” she happened to mention. Then, she sighed. “I hope Su’s okay. Come back safe, please.”

A bit later, the two heard the front door open, and Helga’s eyes widened. “Su! You’re ba-”
However, as she returned from the back room, she stopped in her tracks upon seeing who arrived; it was Eliza and her familiar. The two had successfully traversed the city without drawing attention from the Ascendancy patrolling the rooftops, and reached the hotel without incident. “Oh, welcome to the Golden Trove,” Helga greeted the two, having assumed a polite demeanor. “Do you have a reservation?”
[img][/img]