[center][url=https://i.imgur.com/gmRTrWA.jpg][img]https://i.imgur.com/5ZqyPyV.png[/img][/url][/center] Now, Ronin had stayed behind because she had been intending to see if it was possible to snatch Mariette too. But, uh. A quick look-around confirmed this was probably impossible. She couldn’t exactly run back to the front of the building, because there was a giant hydra in the way. The only way she could see was towards Dan’s portal, but that’s the direction where ALL of Mariette’s troops went. Yea, following in there was suicide. [color=9b83de]‘… Aaaaaaaah, I wanted to get Mariette first…’[/color] Ronin sighed out loud. [color=9b83de]‘It’s like, great, I saved the one that mattered the most to me…’[/color] Eli, her sister, was obviously more precious to her than Mariette. [color=9b83de]‘… But getting to Mariette now is going to be [i]REEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAALLY[/i] hard…’[/color] Not to mention, Mariette would start looking for Eli. Keeping Eli safe was going to be… an effort, an effort that may place Ronin in extreme danger. It would have been so sweet if Lily’s effort had succeeded and Mariette had been saved first. Everything would have been so much easier now… … Had she really just seen MDP, Gaia and Connie go through the portal? [color=9b83de]‘Kahaha, what are you doing, heading after Mariette? I can’t help you in there…!’[/color] she yelled, without them actually being able to hear her. Whelp, seems like the battle was over. Everyone was fleeing, and the dimension was collapsing. Better bail, too, she supposed. After ten seconds of focusing, a glow overcame her, and Ronin vanished from the battlefield. [hr] [center][url=https://i.imgur.com/5o9ObXJ.png][img]https://i.imgur.com/Ih8oH7W.png[/img][/url][/center] [color=C5DBE7]‘Kh,’[/color] Freya had been a bit injured by Justine, her front a bit damaged, but it seemed they’d been successful. Justine was defeated. Then Freya’s role here was done. Still, in her heart, the “love” she’d received earlier was still biting at her, and she then looked aside- And noted a horde of Aurelios heading for her [sub](for everyone, but)[/sub] … [color=C5DBE7]‘I’m sorry, not interested,’[/color] Freya turned and dashed off. If any allies of her side were left, like Samantha or maybe Hilaria needed a lift, Freya could grab them as she dashed full speed for the portal, and as the fastest magical girl on Mariette’s team, she’d make it. [hr] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/QJth3oI.png[/img][/center] Nope. Couldn’t leave, quite yet. As she reached the portal, the super-generic girl turned and lifted her phone, accessing the few cameras around that were still functional. She had to get a picture of what had happened while the rest fled the dimension. … Ah, Justine had been defeated. Sonia was taken by… huh. Eli was… missing? Alarming. She witnessed everyone disappearing in various ways… Okay, that would do. She turned and leapt through the portal, probably at the last second. [hr] [center][url=https://i.imgur.com/Jn7vOgv.png][img]https://i.imgur.com/EpXJFMo.png[/img][/url][/center] So, perhaps the first thing someone who came through the portal was one of Mariette’s agents yelling at her. [center][url=https://i.imgur.com/Hzh37Gf.jpg][img]https://i.imgur.com/jlgg4mv.png[/img][/url][/center] [color=a699ad]‘WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED, WHERE WERE YOU, WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR PLAN!?’[/color] Jelena cried out the question, standing in a swimsuit and waving her hands, in one of which she was carrying a GameGirl XP, which she’d been sitting playing throughout the whole event with nothing better to do. [hider=Jelena][center][url=https://i.imgur.com/MkfZ90q.jpg][img]https://i.imgur.com/LwbuRKs.jpg[/img][/url] → [url=https://i.imgur.com/Hzh37Gf.jpg][img]https://i.imgur.com/utDNsEt.png[/img][/url][/center][/hider] [color=077ae6]‘There were, uh, complications… a world-enveloping void of magic…’[/color] Mariette said with a sigh. Because of that void, that particular plan never happened, and Jelena was left out of the battle… [hider=Mariette][center][url=http://i.imgur.com/Y8OSnvr.png][img]https://i.imgur.com/ZCDWf7S.png[/img][/url] → [url=https://i.imgur.com/Jn7vOgv.png][img]https://i.imgur.com/so2mv1D.png[/img][/url][/center][/hider] [color=a699ad]‘Man, I missed the whole thing…!’[/color] Jelena grunted and sighed. [color=a699ad]‘I mean, I got some pretty sweet progress in my game, but still…!’[/color] she then added, lifting the console in her hand and demonstrated. [center][url=https://i.imgur.com/wYcB1yb.jpg][img]https://i.imgur.com/lo9nct4.png[/img][/url][/center] [color=fc6828]‘Ooooh, your level-number has a number more than since last time you showed me!’[/color] Mayra sounded out kind of excitedly as she leaned in and peeked at the screen, using the information she’d gained last time Jelena had tried teaching her the game. [hider=Mayra][center][url=https://i.imgur.com/D8A8SOp.png][img]https://i.imgur.com/w1TQUme.png[/img][/url] → [url=https://i.imgur.com/wYcB1yb.jpg][img]https://i.imgur.com/dR1VaAx.png[/img][/url][/center][/hider] [color=a699ad]‘You bet!’[/color] Jelena announced, both proud and full of regret at the same time. [color=a699ad]‘Aaaaaaaaah the trick was a mistake…!’[/color] Mariette lifted a hand to open a portal… nothing happened. Odd. Oh, well. She’d wait for everyone to come in… Suzette, Ronja, Esther and Josefin came in, Esther and Josefin able to make use of the healing items immediately. Esther now resembled a normal human in shape, but that was because her bark was transformed to look like skin, she’s still made of wood. It currently looked like human skin that had tree-scratches showing the tree-texture beneath the skin, and she had to get that patched up. [center][url=https://i.imgur.com/kCbjCky.png][img]https://i.imgur.com/y0zzSBD.png[/img][/url][url=https://i.imgur.com/oNluPop.jpg][img]https://i.imgur.com/C1Nb1lz.png[/img][/url][/center] [color=fcedae]‘Aaaaah, that hits the spot,’[/color] Josefin said as she and Esther were treated by the magical band-aids and such. [hider=Josefin][center][url=https://i.imgur.com/OoibQu3.png][img]https://i.imgur.com/EPzBVPj.png[/img][/url] → [url=https://i.imgur.com/kCbjCky.png][img]https://i.imgur.com/q6HfkHY.png[/img][/url][/center][/hider] [hider=Esther][center][url=https://i.imgur.com/PYJSxqe.png][img]https://i.imgur.com/euz8DDI.png[/img][/url] → [url=https://i.imgur.com/oNluPop.jpg][img]https://i.imgur.com/EGgUq5a.png[/img][/url][/center][/hider] [center][url=https://i.imgur.com/9tdS6Xs.jpg][img]https://i.imgur.com/OHT6W9q.png[/img][/url][/center] Suzette, meanwhile, was using both hands to feel in her mouth where she was now missing some teeth due to Alicia’s kick. She smiled. Couple teeth missing. Closed the mouth. Tried smiling again. Now she had teeth, fake ones added by Eternal Style that wouldn’t let her look bad. She smiled to Ronja. [hider=Suzette][center][url=https://i.imgur.com/4rEtFz1.png][img]https://i.imgur.com/ajlGdGZ.png[/img][/url] → [url=https://i.imgur.com/9tdS6Xs.jpg][img]https://i.imgur.com/MStau8Y.png[/img][/url][/center][/hider] [center][url=https://i.imgur.com/UNpaXai.jpg][img]https://i.imgur.com/mYFkoVx.png[/img][/url][/center] [color=fa898b]‘We can get you new and real ones,’[/color] Ronja said, before handing something over to Suzette. A Soul Jar surrounded by reinforced web. [color=fa898b]‘Looks like you survived, I won’t need to look after this anymore, for now.’[/color] [hider=Ronja][center][url=https://i.imgur.com/m4rTXOi.jpg][img]https://i.imgur.com/3IfZ0Bm.jpg[/img][/url] → [url=https://i.imgur.com/UNpaXai.jpg][img]https://i.imgur.com/dBQUc1y.png[/img][/url][/center][/hider] [color=ffd230]‘Thanks for looking out for it,’[/color] Suzette said with a grin, taking her own Soul Jar and putting it away… somewhere. Then Connie and Mia stumbled in with Taihei, Taihei landing on the floor with a blank face. Gaia offered a hand to the girl that had tripped into her… and found a completely different girl accepted the help. [hider=Taihei][center][url=https://i.imgur.com/sqHfYs3.png][img]https://i.imgur.com/K6D4Yji.png[/img][/url] → [url=https://i.imgur.com/L5hmJYW.jpg][img]https://i.imgur.com/7rlxQCD.png[/img][/url][/center][/hider] [center][url=https://i.imgur.com/L5hmJYW.jpg][img]https://i.imgur.com/QOnZmhb.png[/img][/url][/center] [color=4e5478]‘If tripping is all my bad luck did to me, I accept it…’[/color] Taihei said with a sigh, then looked up at the person that lifted her up. [color=4e5478]‘… Ah, wait. You’re one of our enemies. I was accidentally portalled directly to the enemy camp, wasn’t I…?’[/color] Taihei asked, staring at Gaia, when suddenly a Josefin came flying from somewhere and glomped Taihei, who stood weirdly rigid as the blonde girl hugged around her. [color=fcedae]‘Taihei, Taihei! We lived, we lived! Woooo~!’[/color] she celebrated to the blank-faced Taihei, who kept staring at Gaia like “then what the heck are you doing here”. [color=4e5478]‘Woooo…’[/color] she still mimicked her friend, while watching them go greet Dan. Then came a group of three, plus the thirteen surviving regular Magical Girls. Victoria, Tullia and Olivia. Obviously, all of them were suddenly wrapped into swimsuits. [center][url=https://i.imgur.com/cvXOTLu.png][img]https://i.imgur.com/8zS8DOg.png[/img][/url][/center] [color=9c87c9]‘AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAFE-!’[/color] Victoria called out, stretching her arms out and skipping inside, grinning as they’d made a successful escape. There was that talk about possibly escaping to Veronica’s mansion, but who needed that when they could flee to a dimension where they pretty literally couldn’t be attacked. [hider=Victoria][center][url=https://i.imgur.com/3tj5n3Y.jpg][img]https://i.imgur.com/XxDsGYv.png[/img][/url] → [url=https://i.imgur.com/cvXOTLu.png][img]https://i.imgur.com/D4VMFJc.png[/img][/url][/center][/hider] [center][url=https://i.imgur.com/jVQeu6D.jpg][img]https://i.imgur.com/YszHbM8.png[/img][/url][/center] [color=D6AD7F]‘Wh-why am I wearing a-!?’[/color] Olivia asked, looking down on herself in panic. [hider=Olivia][center][url=https://i.imgur.com/PJVoVrZ.png][img]https://i.imgur.com/snJ9jL6.png[/img][/url] → [url=https://i.imgur.com/jVQeu6D.jpg][img]https://i.imgur.com/xKtiOt1.png[/img][/url][/center][/hider] [center][url=https://i.imgur.com/DiEh1Eg.png][img]https://i.imgur.com/kBqIcFn.png[/img][/url][/center] [color=6cbad4]‘It’s a part of the magic in this dimension, it puts everyone in swimsuit,’[/color] Tullia tried to explain, sighing out a little bit. [hider=Tullia][center][url=https://i.imgur.com/ad92PvD.png][img]https://i.imgur.com/HiF5dj8.png[/img][/url] → [url=https://i.imgur.com/DiEh1Eg.png][img]https://i.imgur.com/WH3BXEM.png[/img][/url][/center] [hider=Alt][center][url=https://i.imgur.com/ad92PvD.png][img]https://i.imgur.com/TmLabxG.png[/img][/url] → [url=https://i.imgur.com/DiEh1Eg.png][img]https://i.imgur.com/WH3BXEM.png[/img][/url][/center][/hider][/hider] [color=D6AD7F]‘H-huh. I see…’[/color] Olivia replied, there really wasn’t more to say about it. [color=fa898b]‘… So, you wouldn’t happen to be able to tell us why you betrayed Mariette?’[/color] Ronja walked over on her spider-legs and asked Lily. [color=ffd230]‘Now, we can’t fight in here, but on principle, we’ll be standing here,’[/color] Suzette followed up with a seemingly but actually not friendly smirk, the two of them standing in-between Lily and Alexander and Mariette. Beyond them, Mariette herself cast a single gaze towards Lily… and then looked away, slight regret in her expression. Honestly, she knew [i]why[/i] Lily did it, it made sense, from a certain point of view. Still hurt. [color=fa898b]‘Hm, those were among our enemies, too, weren’t they?’[/color] Ronja asked, looking over at where Gaia, Connie and MDP are. [color=ffd230]‘Huh, yeah, they were. They didn’t bring their own escape route or something?’[/color] Suzette questioned, raising her arms up and crossing them behind her head as she looked towards them. [center][url=https://i.imgur.com/MqQSqwI.jpg][img]https://i.imgur.com/mGU2xUG.png[/img][/url] + very generic girl[/center] This should be around the time when Freya and the completely generic girl came in, both immediately transformed into swimsuits. The generic one was wearing a very generic dark-purple one-piece and a pair of generic glasses, while Freya was obviously completely transformed. [hider=Freya][center][url=https://i.imgur.com/5o9ObXJ.png][img]https://i.imgur.com/ipudxZc.png[/img][/url] → [url=https://i.imgur.com/MqQSqwI.jpg][img]https://i.imgur.com/Oej6wyQ.png[/img][/url][/center][/hider] [hider=totally a totally generic girl][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/g5d1XbW.png[/img][/center][/hider] [color=A2DFF6]‘… And that’s all of us,’[/color] the generic girl said, while Freya was mostly scowling. Mariette blinked at her, her one visible eye wide. Wait. Then. She’d been waiting for two things to come through the portal. If that was everyone. [color=077ae6]‘Where’s Eli?’[/color] [color=A2DFF6]‘… Where’s the mirror?’[/color] the generic girl asked, frowning and looking at Victoria. She did realize Mariette asked, but frankly, the mirror was more important. [color=9c87c9]‘Ah, yeah! It’s right-’[/color] Victoria lowered her arms to show the mirror she was carrying… only to find she wasn’t holding it. Her face immediately went into a state of alarm. [color=9c87c9]‘WHA- wait, it’s- what-!?’[/color] Victoria started spinning around, looking desperately for the mirror. [color=6cbad4]‘You lost the mirror!?’[/color] Tullia asked in panic. [color=4e5478]‘Oh, there it is. My bad luck ruining everything,’[/color] Taihei sighed. [color=fcedae]‘I-I’m sure that’s not the cause!’[/color] Josefin tried to encourage. [color=077ae6]‘Where’s Eli?’[/color] [color=9c87c9]‘NO!’[/color] Victoria shouted, just as panicked. [color=9c87c9]‘It was right in my grip as I-!?’[/color] [color=A2DFF6]‘… You’re right,’[/color] the generic girl said, frowning at Victoria. [color=A2DFF6]‘I specifically watched you pass through the portal with the mirror. There can be no doubt.’[/color] [color=a699ad]‘You LOST the mirror!?’[/color] Jelena questioned, wondering if they’d all gone insane without her. Meanwhile, a scared Olivia startled by the volume of shouting went over to the ever silent Esther and hid behind her, seemed safer. [color=077ae6]‘Where’s Eli?’[/color] [color=ffd230]‘… Whelp, guess we got to prepare for a life on the run, then?’[/color] Suzette asked, smirking over. [color=fa898b]‘I can make little nests for us, hunt us food and make barriers to fend off pursuers~’[/color] Ronja mused, putting her hands together like dreaming about it… [color=9c87c9]‘SHUT IT! TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY!’[/color] a very upset Victoria shouted out. [color=9c87c9]‘I had it just as we entered. Then, just as we entered this dimension, it-’[/color] Victoria spun around towards Dan. [color=9c87c9]‘Hey, Dan! Did you do something to our mirror!?’[/color] she shouted, perhaps sounding more hostile than she needed to be. Mariette’s heart was beating quickly, looking with a fearful expression towards Dan. If the mirror was truly gone… the artifact entrusted to them by Asengav to run their operation… the consequences would be… Mariette shook her head, she didn’t need to fear the future right now. Under the assumption that Hilaria followed through this portal… [color=077ae6]‘Where’s Eli?’[/color] Mariette asked her, walking up to her with a scared expression.