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[Sub].:Kickback:.[/Sub]
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It took more effort than she would have liked but Ashlyn was able to keep the biting retort on the tip of her tongue to herself. She hated dealing with the preachy types; they always seemed to forget that everyone’s got a sob story. That doesn’t mean everyone is going to go out and indiscriminately murder because of it.

Instead she would reply to the question that was posed to her [color=#159D86]“Yes, I don’t know anyone within the magical world who hasn’t killed someone”[/color] Would be the reply [color=#159D86]“And I am including you in that statement.”[/color] She would add on with a slight glare. [color=#159D86]“But I get the feeling you’re more asking if I’ve killed a civilian.”[/color]

To that, she would take a deep breath before replying. [color=#159D86]“I hope not. But I don’t know. I know I’ve wanted to. The asshole who was abusing my sister for example; I would have enjoyed ripping his throat out most likely. I didn’t though. Still thinking of dropping by when he gets out of prison in a few years though, might be worth see him freak out when he sees me across the street not aged a day despite the decades.”[/color]

[color=#159D86]“I do hope that you weren’t trying to insinuate that killing someone alone makes me a monster.”[/color] Ashlyn would say after shaking that thought away [color=#159D86]“As I’m almost positive you have a larger body count then I do.”[/color]


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[sub] >>Monster vs Monstrous<<[/sub]
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Flying through the air due to the sudden onset of Vine Viva could only lament the fact that her bike would be unusable in the coming days.

Finding herself wrapped with the abmonial grasp of the twisted Ent. Viva had no fear. For it would be less than trivial to simply slide between the grip of the monster, as she was no longer restricted to the form she normally wore. She was much more a kin to a slime or a shape shifter than anything else at this point. She released her spell watching with a macabre fascination as the vines and fluids of the creature withered away.

Then she heard the tale tell sounds of fire. The popping and crackling of the inferno spreading, and that caused a fresh injection of fear into her heart. Her instincts screamed at her, as he mind blanked for a moment at the rapidly encroaching heat and the excruciation pain that the flames brought with them. In that moment of hesitation she would engulfed in the fire. It would be the longest moment of her life, but then came the cold focus. 

After all, this thing still dared to attack her son. With focus came hate and hunger, and with those she was able to banish her fear and panic at least for now.

Grosket had hidden its twisted and debased flesh underneath a layer of plant life, but that layer of protection was gone, yet the flesh remained. That was what Viva dug into, like demented worm. She tore open an entry way and borrowed deep into the abominations body, ripping muscle fibers and tearing ligaments as she invaded its body with her own profane magic

[color=#652DC1]”Taste a Mother’s hate as I feast upon your Heart!”[/color]

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[Sub].:⋮Endings⋮:.[/Sub]
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[color=00aeef][u][i]“I will do what I can”[/i][/u][/color] Penny would promise with a nod to Goblina even as the mechanical girl turned to leave herself [color=00aeef][u][i]“But I fear we are already too late”[/i][/u][/color] She would add solemnly. [color=00aeef][u][i]“Keep those here safe, I’ll be back”[/i][/u][/color]

With that she Would race off into Penrose. He first goal was not the Park though, for she truly didn’t think she would be of any use there. No she was off towards Beacon HQ, she had a pick up to make.

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Madness. That was a good way to describe this night. Utter madness. Penny was never more glad for her mechanized nature than she was right now. She was still tapped into the network of the entire city, feeding information to Beacon about hot spots that needed immediate help, or hijacking girls’ phone calls to get them out of harm's way if she could. All the while she was racing across the city at frightening speeds. Time was against her at the moment, which seemed to be a recurring trend for her this winter season, so many places to be and so many things to do and hardly enough time to get them all done.

Still, the madness worked in her favor in this one instance. Making it to the lab where Binky was at was easy, no one stopped her to ask questions, most barely gave her a second glance. Everyone was suddenly knee deep in the fallout of the Rave, and the truly horrific loss of life that happened there. Then there was the mess of what happened at Penrose Park adding yet more work to everyone’s pile. It wasn't going to get easier any time soon either, but that was one of the reasons why Penny was here.

Quietly Penny entered the Lab and a soft pulse of Sound she located her target and strode with purpose towards Binky, making her presence known shortly afterwards [color=4F8092][u]“Binky! Were you able to finish my request?”[/u][/color] Penny would ask the moment she could see the perpetually tired researcher. Binky wouldn’t notice much out of the ordinary with Penny when she turned to regard her, save for the cloth bandage that the robotic girl had covering the majority of her right arm.

Binky was startled by Penny’s greeting, having been absorbed in her use of a microscope. [b]“Aaah!”[/b] She screamed, spinning on her chair wildly until Penny stopped it with a precise grab. [b]“Oh, Penny! It’s been a while!”[/b] She turned to search through the clutter on her desk. [b]“So uhh, your request...Ummm...Yeah, the Red Coin.”[/b] She moved over to a large box filled with all kinds of junk. [b]”I think I put it here...”[/b] She haphazardly climbed into the box. [b]“So, uh, was the party fun?”[/b]

[color=4F8092][u]“No,”[/u][/color] Penny would say succinctly as she followed Binky. [color=4F8092][u]“Elvira triggered a riot using sound magic designed to incite Monstrous instinct to uncontrollable heights. Then the leader of the Penrose Independant triggered a psychic WMD, only for an unknown third party to reply with a large-scale Lightning assault.”[/u][/color] Her explanation was curt, and painfully blunt, yet also oddly distant. The robotic girl seemed distracted, her gaze often darting around tracking things unseen.

[color=4F8092][u]“The riot is still ongoing, to say nothing of the other emergencies still taking place.”[/u][/color] Penny would flinch slightly and grip her bandaged arm for a moment before shaking it off.

Binky paused at the brief but powerful revelations, and visibly cringed. [b]“Oof, that’s rough, buddy.”[/b] She went back to her search, throwing out a kitchen sink from the crate. [b]“So Penrose has gone to hell in a hand basket...”[/b] She paused with a sigh. [b]“...Again. Well, what else do you expect to happen when you give magic to a bunch of people unaccustomed for them? It was only a matter of time before we started waving nukes around like big o’l di-Oh there it is!”[/b]
She stood up from the crate, and showed the Red Coin to Penny. [b]“Now, in theory, this Coin should fuse you back with your other half without any side-effects...But I haven’t had time to test it on any twins or anything, so the practical result may differ.”[/b] She scratched the back of her head. [b]“S-So yeah, best of luck in using it.”[/b]

[color=4F8092][u]“I’m in a position to assume that Penrose never quite left the first hand basket”[/u][/color] Penny would say with no small amount of annoyance “At least that is what it seems like some days”[/u][/color] She would add as she reached out for the Coin, rolling it over her fingers as she listened to what little info Binky had to offer nodding her understanding as she did. She could feel the subtle changes in the coin, which reassure her it would work, but also knew that with magic most anything was possible.

[color=4F8092][u]“If you were to hazard a guess, what kind of repercussions could there be for using this coin?”[/u][/color] Penny would ask returning her gaze to the sleep deprived researcher, which if she bothered to think too hard about would likely dampen her hope of this working out.

[b]“Hard to say,”[/b] Binky answered, rubbing her eye with the back of her hand. [b]“Maybe it refuses to work, or it blows up, or the fusion fizzles out half-way and you turn into a freaky Siamese twin thing, or it screws up the soul, resulting in you turning into a horrible abomination...Not that it actually would do that, that’s just in, uh, horror movies. And, uhh...If it does fail, at least then we’ll know, and the next girl who rips her soul in half but wants to recombine anyway will have a better chance with the next version, right?”[/b] She turned away and picked up a big stack of books.

[b]“Anyway, I’m super busy, so I gotta get back to my work. See ya later.”[/b]

Penny simply nodded at all the various far end failure states that the coin could hold. None of them really settled in as true possibilities though. Closing her hand over the coin she slipped it into her chassis tucking it away until it was needed. [color=4F8092][u]“Thank you again Binky.”[/u][/color] She would say as she started turning to leave so that Binky could get back to her work.

[color=4F8092][u]“I’ll be back in a couple days so that we can go looking for Betty”[/u][/color] Penny would mention over her shoulder before continuing on her way out. It was time to meet up with her other half.

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Penny hardly waited in putting her next step into motion, the moment she was off of Beacon property and away from scrutiny she dug deep into what little magical ability she had. Focusing everything she could on her other half, and the small vital piece of metal that they carried with them.

Had she another option she would have taken it, but they weren’t answering their phone. They weren’t responding to any of the messages, and they weren’t in Penrose. Penny didn’t have the luxury of waiting either. So once again she pushed forward with her magic in ways that she knew wasn’t human, but then again perhaps that was for the best as she wasn’t human. So, with eyes closed, she reached out for the call of Metal between her and a Key that had been once upon a time gifted to her and in some way was still.

Still, when the pain hit she wasn’t surprised.  She didn’t falter however, just kept her focus and continued to harmonize with the Key to a lock that existed in the space between where she was and the far side of the door she was trying to walk through. An event that would normally take only a few seconds stretched into one that took minuets, but Penny was in fact rewarded with the tale-tell click of a lock being thrown open.
Blindly she walked forward feeling the world drop away behind her as she stepped into an apartment that was painfully familiar to her, and only once she had made it through the threshold did she allow herself to reopen her eyes and give any attention to the pain she was suffering from.

The jagged crack that ran the length of her arm now bleed freely, staining the sheets she had wrapped around it a vibrant red. An oddity to be sure, but Penny always knew that she was still connected to her other half, who was still fully human. This wound was just a warning of the increasing damage that their soul was being put through.

Looking to the rest of the apartment, it would seem as if it was untouched. But there was a heavy air of depression and a thick smell of oil. And it wouldn’t take her long to see why.

Sitting on the couch curled up into a tight ball sat her other half, eyes puffy and red from crying. The human half’s right arm was a mangled mess, as black viscous oil leaked from the various cuts that littered her arm. To say nothing of the numerous burns and bruises that littered her body. To add to the desolate appearance she seemed to be staring brokenly at a pendant that sat on the coffee table not far from her position on the couch.

[color=C76689][b]“You were right”[/b][/color] The human girl on the couch would say, her voice hoarse, and filled with devastation. Fresh tears would start to fall as she spoke.

[color=4F8092][u]“Jason…”[/u][/color] The robotic girl would take a tentative step forward, her mind rapidly churning through all the possible reasons the scene in front of her could come to pass. 

[color=C76689][b]“She left me again. I killed Iesud for her. I tore away from you, and Alicia. Yet she never stayed. She was always off, talking to others, working with the Mint, or preparing things. Why didn’t she stay with me? She said she loved me. Why did she lie?”[/b][/color] ‘Jason’ would ask not really expecting an answer her gaze still fixated on the once enchanted amulet that sat on the coffee table.

[color=4F8092][u]“Iesud. That’s why you forced the Power isn’t it.”[/u][/color] The machine would ask instead of answering. There was no reason to retread old arguments. Not here, not now. Slowly it moved to sit next to its human half, even as Jason would simply nod their answer.

[color=C76689][b]“We are dying aren’t we”[/b][/color] They would ask in response. They were in pain, a deep unmistakable pain, that grew and faded as they both bleed out each other’s life sustaining fluids

[color=4F8092][u]“Yes. Our soul was always going to be unstable due to the split. Not it is falling apart.”[/u][/color] There was no need for any deception between the two of them. Besides they knew each other too well for anything other than honesty at this point.

[color=C76689][b]“It feels like it”[/b][/color] Jason would say before turning to look at Penny [b][/b]“Is it bad that I’m looking forward to the end?”[/b][/color]

[color=4F8092][u]“I don’t think so”[/u][/color] Penny would reply after a moment her thoughts lingering on all the terrors and traumas that the human next to her had undergone within their year of magic. [color=4F8092][u]“I’m sorry”[/u][/color] She would add after a moment of silence.

[color=C76689][b]“You have a fix don’t you”[/b][/color] Jason would say more then ask the crack on her voice at the thought of having to keep going on unmistakable.

[color=4F8092][u]“It can be used as a way to fix us both”[/u][/color] Penny would agree with a nod [color=4F8092][u]“Or it can be used to fix one of us”[/u][/color]

[color=C76689][b]“I don’t have to go on Penny?”[/b][/color] the Human would ask quietly after a moment, fragile hope lingering within their voice.

[color=4F8092][u]“Not if you don’t want too”[/u][/color]

More tears, but these are at least tears of relief. [color=C76689][b]“Thank you”[/b][/color]

Penny moved to say something, but what eluded her. Instead she would simply nod, and let her human half take from that what they wanted. It was truly settling in, that here in a moment it would only be one of them left. The machine hadn’t fully comprehended what that would mean until just now. That Jason, the first person they had ever known, the person they had spent their entire life with was going to be gone. She wanted to feel sad, but instead she felt relieved, as soon Jason would no longer be in pain. She did build herself off of their mind after all, so perhaps it wasn’t that surprising.

[color=4F8092][u]“Are you ready?”[/u][/color] Penny would ask softly as she offered her hand to Jason, the gleaming Red Coin sitting innocently within her palm, ready to start the process that would bring this chapter of their lives to a close.

Jason hardly waited, reaching to clasp her remaining good hand with Penny’s out stretched one almost before the mecha girl had finished asking. A charged red glow would engulf their hands the moment they were intertwined. [color=C76689][b]“Set me free Penny”[/b][/color] Jason would plead turning to catch Penny’s eyes finally looking away from the dead Hero token for the first time.

[color=4F8092][u]“Good bye Jason”[/u][/color] Penny would say her voice catching slightly as she spoke. After all this good bye was much more permanent than any other would be. Then the red glow would flare up, drowning the room in harsh red light and words no longer mattered.


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[sub][@Ariamis] & [@AtomicNut]+[@BrokenPromise][/sub]