[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/72bEcUi.png[/img][/center]

[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/180804/59e33c13301c63b568e5eb178a837406.png[/img]
[hider=Stats]
20/13|Male/Male|Reinforcement, Beast
Mystic, Melee|Duplication, Tentacles|Deity
Enhanced Sustenance, Awareness, Masculinity, Fated, Sorcery, Gifted, Absolute Direction
Paragon, Blessing, Clergy, Mana Fount, Gifted Item
Arrogance, Unknown, Loud, Big Brother
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“[color=aba000]I still say it’s crazy that there’s enough civilians left in this shithole to kidnap[/color]” Alexander grumbled from his place behind Lily on her motorcycle “[color=aba000]Can they not even [i]see[/i] how fucked up this place is? I mean sure, it’s getting better, but it still looks like a shithole[/color]”

The two of them had accepted a bounty to discover the reason behind the mass disappearances, and were provided with a possible location of the victims. Despite having that bit of information, they still had no idea what had taken them, or how they did. But with nothing else to go on, they boarded Lily’s motorcycle and made their way to the location.

“[color=aba000]And why normals? I can’t imagine that they’re that useful for magic stuff. This just doesn’t make sense.[/color]” Alexander complained further.

Lily hummed as she drove recklessly through the city streets, not minding the occasional car that passed her.

[color=fff200]“Oh yeah, it is pretty weird, huh?”[/color] She casually asked as she jumped off a ramp formed from the collapsed wall of a building hit by an earthquake, and landed smoothly with deployed glider wings.

[color=fff200]“My guess it’s either someone like Mariette kidnapping people or a hungry monster. Either way, we’re gonna get to the bottom of this mystery!”[/color]

They soon arrived at the location, which seemed to be located at the very heart of the original earthquake attacks. Crumbled buildings surrounded the block, and somewhat resembled a warzone. Once Lily got off her bike, she stopped for a moment, shocked by what she was seeing.
[color=fff200]“I’ve always seen this site from the outside, but...It was this bad, huh?”[/color]
She looked down, and saw a lone doll, half-buried in the ice and snow; it was a Pikachu plushie, with the stitching apart in some seams, and missing the nose.. She crouched down to pick it up.
[color=fff200]“I used to have a doll just like this when I was a little girl...”[/color] She mused quietly, showing the toy to Alex.
[color=fff200]“I lost it since then, but it was very precious to me. Have you ever had something like that as a kid, Alex?”[/color]

Alexander shook his head “[color=aba000]I grew up in an orphanage. It wasn’t poor enough that we ever went hungry, but we didn’t have enough to spare for things like that. The closest I come to something like that was dumb little Kirby figure I bought with my first paycheck when I was 18. It was stupid, but being able to actually get something I wanted in a store felt kind of nice.[/color]” He closed his eyes and tried to focus on his Absolute Direction power, but it came of with an error “[color=aba000]No use, my magic GPS isn’t working. I guess it’s not easy getting it to home in on strangers. We should-[/color]” He was interrupted by a crashing sound. Drawing his sword, he turned to the source of the sound, only to find just a pile of rubble that used to be a house. He paused for a second before speaking up again “[color=aba000]Did...did that just collapse all on it’s own? Dammit, this whole place is worse than a ghetto. Let’s just find out what’s going on and get out of here.[/color]” Letting his Beast magic flare, Alexander entered his Beast Mode. With his sense of smell, Alexander was able to pick up something human smelling “[color=aba000]I think I found something.[/color]” he said as he followed the smell to one of the larger and more intact buildings.

As the two went closer, Alex could hear with his acute senses what sounded like a bestial mobster's grunts and growls, mixed with other strange sounds. Soon enough, they saw it; a humongous ape-like creature, with shaggy black fur covering it's body and jagged teeth that popped out from grotesque gums. The monster was sitting bowlegged, seemingly staring at a broken section of the wall where scraps of metal and glass could be seen. Lily had summoned her staff in one hand, but seemed hesitant.

[color=fff200]"So it was a monster...But wait, something's not right."[/color] As if on cue, the beast sniffed the air and turned, it's long arms lifting it up to a quadrupedal stance. It screeched upon seeing Lily, and charged at her. 
[color=fff200]"It's coming!"[/color] Lily yelled, and jumped to avoid the attack, followed by shooting a lightning bolt.

‘[color=aba000][i]This feels too easy...[/i][/color]’ Alexander thought to himself as he dodged out of the way of the charging beast slashed at it’s leg. Due to the creature’s own speed, and the speed of Alexander’s dodge, he wasn’t able to get a very deep cut. Getting out his wand he made a flail shaped barrier extend from it, and made sure it was long enough to whack the thing in the face, which he then proceeded to do. “[color=aba000]Hey ugly, over here![/color]” he taunted it as he fell back a little.

The slash to it’s leg did little to hinder the frenzied beast, as did Lily’s thunderbolt, and it continued going towards Lily at full speed. When Alex struck with the flail, it howled in pain, and countered with an elbow jab that Alex dodged by creating distance. The beast only glanced back at him for a fleeting moment before pursuing Lily again.
[color=fff200]"Ngh! What is up with this monster?"[/color] Lily yelled as she jumped up the side of a collapsed wall in an attempt to slow down the beast, who proceeded to climb up after her, using it’s long gorilla-like arms to great effect. Lily blasted it with thunder blasts to the chest, causing the beast’s matted hair to stand from the static shock.
[color=fff200]"It’s like it’s obsessed! Wait, huh?"[/color] That was when Lily realized what the beast was after; the plushie she was still holding in her hands. 
[color=fff200]“Here, catch!”[/color] She threw the toy towards the monster, who reached out with both arms to grab, causing it to stumble and fall back down into the rubble.

Alexander’s posture relaxed from battle ready to confusion ‘[color=aba000][i]But why would it want a ratty old to-[/i][/color]’ he suddenly tensed up, as a horrifying possability came to him “[color=aba000]No. Please let me be wrong[/color]” He ran over to Lily, and put up a wall between them and the creature “[color=aba000]I [i]really[/i] hope I’m just reading into this too much[/color]” He muttered to himself as he waited for the creature to make its next move.

Lily waited with bated breath as the monster appeared, and gasped; the creature had shielded the toy from the debris, holding it in its arms like a treasure as it sat there, wailing in an eerily happy manner.
[color=fff200]"That's one of the disappeared,"[/color] Lily spoke quietly. 
[color=fff200]"But why? Who would curse them-"[/color]

"It is no curse, but a blessing."

Another girl's voice could be heard from above them, and Alex saw the source; a [url=https://imgur.com/4bPBdek]magical girl[/url] was standing on top of a half-toppled building.

"I simply gave her what she desired for. Now, could you please leave and stop bothering the neighbourhood?"

Lily drew her bow, and pulled the crackling string back.

[color=fff200]"So you're behind the kidnappings! You turned them into monsters!"[/color]

"Oh no, they came along willingly." She gestured with her hand, and more beasts appeared around the ruined city block, growling and grunting but staying their distance.
"You see, they were victims of the attacks on Penrose. They lost their homes and families, the pitiful things. But I gave them salvation. I asked them if they wished to have what they lost again, and they agreed. And now they're happy, don't you see?"

Lily grit her teeth, unable to believe what she was hearing.

“[color=aba000]Well they don’t [i]look[/i] happy to me[/color]” Alexander spoke up “[color=aba000]You claim that they did this willingly, but how much did you actually explain to them? Did they understand what this power would turn them into, or what it would do to their minds? Because they don’t seem like their brains are running on all cylinders, if you catch my meaning[/color]” 

While he was talking, Alexander took the opportunity to strengthen the barrier he had already made “[color=aba000]Just how much have their minds degraded? Can they even understand anything we’re saying? Because to me, this just looks like you used Beast magic to turn normal people into these creatures[/color]” Once the barrier was as strong as he could make it, He tried using his own Beast magic to see if he could somehow detect any kind of Beast magic on the transformed people.

Alex was correct in his assumptions as he detected Beast magic, similar in some ways to his own. But it was also different in a way he couldn't exactly tell.

"They never asked," the Beast magical girl stated coldly. "Not that they needed to in the first place. They have rejected their cruel and evil humanity, and returned back to their true place in the natural order, their very roots!" She threw her arms out.
"And once we're all one family, one happy community, there will be no more wars or acts of terror! I, Hircine, will save humanity!"

[color=fff200]"That's not your choice to make!"[/color] Lily screamed, and let loose with a barrage of thunder arrows, only for one of the ape monsters to intercept the shots on behalf of Hircine. She sneered.

"Hmph, it seems I must remove you from our community by force." She pointed down.
"My brethren! Attack!"
The monsters bellowed and roared as they came charging in, clutching whatever piece of trash they had to wield as primitive weapons.
Lily shook her head.
[color=fff200]"We can't kill them, Alex! They were tricked by her! They don't deserve to die."[/color] 
She then jumped, and shot at the nearest beast in its feet with paralyzing arrows, causing it to fall.

“[color=aba000]Yeah, yeah, I know.[/color] The barrier in front of Alexander gave him enough time to strengthen his legs and leap high in the air. At the apex of his jump (which was about 5 stories) he created a simple barrier right beneath his feet “[color=aba000]She’s using some kind of weird Beast magic to do this. It feels [i]off[/i] in a way I can’t quite put my finger on. I’m not entirely sure if taking her out would fix them, but if it doesn’t, then I [i]might[/i] be able to do something.[/color]” Alexander then started creating a large rope of chain coming from his wand, much like with the flail. But unlike with the flail, this one ended in a trapeze bar when it was halfway to the ground. “[color=aba000]Grab on![/color]” He yelled to Lily as he swung it in her general direction.

Lily jumped just in time to avoid an ape monster’s swing of a rebar block, and grabbed on to the trapeze bar.
[color=fff200]"Got it!"[/color]
Then, using the momentum of the swing and an electric charge on Lily’s part, Lily launched herself straight up, towards Hircine.
[color=fff200]"Take this!"[/color]
Lily changed her weapon to a staff and launched thunderbolt towards Hircine, who responded by having her monsters block the shots.
“Meddlesome brat!” She whistled, and three ape beasts leaped, aiming for overhead swings.
Lily flipped, deftly avoiding the first two, but was hit by the third one, smacking her clear across the city block.
[color=fff200]"Ungh...They’re fast for their size.”[/color]
She then stood up, and yelled:
[color=fff200]"Alex, lead them closer to her! I got a plan!"[/color]

“[color=aba000]Not sure why you want them [i]closer[/i] to her, but okay.[/color]” Alexander jumped down to the ground, and created a small horde of clones. Said clones then grew tails out of their arms to whack the creatures, not hard enough to cause serious harm, but enough to piss them off. The real Alexander meanwhile, created a ramp barrier up to where Hircine was, and led his clones and the horde of pissed off monsters up to her.

The beasts were agitated by the clones, and roared as they took chase, stumbling over each other as they scrambled up the broken building. Hircine was furious.

“What are you doing? Go after that one, not the clones!”

[color=fff200]"Sorry Hircine, but this monkey business is coming to an end!"[/color]

Lily took aim with her bow, and shot a single lightning arrow on the backs of each of each of the monsters as they went up; while they failed to penetrate the tough hides of the monsters, they had plenty of static electricity charged up in them, and in turn caused the monster’s fur to become charged. Once the beasts were grouped up together, she transformed the weapon to a staff, and pointed it up while screaming:

[color=fff200]"STATIC SHOCK!"[/color]

At that moment, she activated the static charge in the monsters, and created a chain reaction of electricity, causing most of the monsters and even Hircine to be caught in the storm of electrical energy.

“Hngrhhhh!”

Hirvine shook ,and collapsed on the ground. Having lost her control on the beasts, they bellowed and fled like frightened monkeys, hiding themselves away in nearby nooks and crannies.

Lily panted, and wiped the sweat on her brow after she landed before the fallen magical girl, and pointed her staff down at her.

[color=fff200]"Your reign of madness ends here, Hircine! Turn them back to normal!"[/color]

Hircine only giggled weakly, and managed to lift herself up to look at Lily.
"I can’t. I never learned how to do something so...Unnecessary."

Lily sighed heavily in exasperation.

[color=fff200]"So they’re corrupted? Do we need to get them purified?"[/color]

“No, that’s not it. It requires someone skilled in Beast magic.” She glanced at Alex.
“You seem to know something about it.”

Alexander nodded “[color=aba000]I’m a Beast magic user myself. I can’t make any promises, but I’ll see what I can do[/color]” Jumping off the ramp he made, Alexander walked over to the nearest creature “[color=aba000]Hold them down[/color]” he ordered his clones. They jumped into action, using their tails to grapple it and hold it in place, as they pulled it to its knees. When the real Alexander reached it, he put a hand on its chest and reached in with his Beast magic “[color=aba000]Let’s see what’s going on in here[/color]”

Using his magic, Alex found out that the Beast spell used on them was a Corrupted variant of a spell to change into animal shape, powered by the target’s hopes and dreams for reclaiming what was lost. Alex could forcibly end the spell, but it would take enough magic to only allow about five or six releases out of the pack of 50 monsters. However, Alex could also use his magic to communicate, and tell the beast they can’t reclaim what they have lost, and that they must move on with their lives.

Alexander grimaced “[color=aba000]Okay, this just got complicated. Whoever created this spell is a sadistic monster, and they probably have an extremely punchable face.[/color]” He sighed “[color=aba000]I’m going to try something, but I’m not sure how well it’s going to work.[/color]”

He took a deep breath, reached out to all of them with his Beast magic, and began to speak to them via said magic “[color=aba000][u]Hey idiots, take a good long look at yourselves, at what you’ve become! I know you’re all in a lot of pain, what happened to Penrose, and you by extension was awful. But is [i]this[/i] really any better!? You haven’t regained what you’ve lost; you’ve lost what little you had left! Turned into feral beasts for some crazy girl to boss around. The magic that turned you into this is fueled by your hopes and dreams of getting back what you lost. Fucked up, I know, and don’t worry; I [i]promise[/i] to punch the creator of this spell in the fucking face if I ever meet them. But that means that unless you can let go, and start to move on with your lives you’ll be stuck like this; less than what you were before. So, what’s it going to be? Are you going to deal with the shittyness of life and become human again, or are you going to run from it and remain beasts?[/u][/color]”

Alex’ message carried out to the beasts like an unheard howl, carrying with it a grim but necessary ultimatum. The monsters screeched and held their ears, not wanting to hear it, but they were forced to accept the truth. And as they did, Hircine’s spell broke; the monsters transformed back into humans, now huddled together due to the cold. One of them, an older man, approached Alex, and prostrated before them, his forehead in the rubble.
“Th...Thank you! For saving us from this nightmare!”

Alexander flinched at the man on the ground in front of him “[color=aba000]uh...sure[/color]”

Lily looked on with a small smile.
[color=fff200]"See, Hircine? You didn’t save these people. You simply extended their suffering,"[/color] she spoke. Hircine sighed.

“Damn...Well, I made a mistake. So, are you going to kill me now?”

Lily shook her head.
[color=fff200]"You learned your lesson, that’s enough for now."[/color]
However, she then glared at her.
[color=fff200]"But if you even think about using your magic on innocent people again, I won’t be so forgiving."[/color]

Having made her intentions clear, Lily approached the group of humans.
[color=fff200]"These people need a new home. I could call Alicia and ask if she could prepare a temporary shelter for them. What do you think, Alex?"[/color]

Alexander shrugged “[color=aba000]I sure as hell don’t have any better ideas. Besides, Beacon is way better equipped to deal with something like this than we are. So yeah, I say go for it[/color]”

Lily gave a bright smile, and took out her phone.
[color=fff200]"Hey Alicia? I got this problem..."[/color]

While Lily was conversing over the phone, one of the humans, a small girl, shyly approached Alex, the Pokemon plushie in her hands. She held it up to him.
“I-I don’t have much, but I can give you this...For saving us.”

He froze for a moment at the sight of a little kid offering one of their few worldly possessions to him ‘[color=aba000][i]Dammit, this is making me feel like a scumbag.[/i][/color]’ he sighed “[color=aba000]You keep it. We’re already getting something for this, and...well...I’d have trouble sleeping at night if I took your friend away when you’ve already lost so much. Actually...[/color]” a sudden idea came to him. Reaching out one hand to put on the plush toy, he tapped into his Reinforcement magic, and the toy started repairing itself before everyone’s eyes. Once it was done, he took his hand away “[color=aba000]There, that’s better.[/color]”

The little girl looked sad at first when Alex rejected her offer of taking the toy. “I-I understand...”
But then, sher eyes widened in sheer amazement as the toy glowed, fully restored.
She held it in her hands, and tears appeared in her eyes.
“Th-This is...Amazing! Thank you so much, mister! I promise to treasure it my whole life!”

Alexander let out a sigh of relief ‘[color=aba000][i]Good, I didn’t fuck things up[/i][/color]’

Lily came up to them, and also smiled sweetly.
[color=fff200]"Alicia said she’s sending some help here. But aww, that was really nice of you, Alex."[/color] She took his hand.
[color=fff200]"I wish I had magic as cool as yours, teehee~"[/color]

He looked at her like she was an idiot “[color=aba000]But...you do. What I can do is pretty simple as far as magic goes. [i]You[/i] on the other hand, have not only control of lightning and all it’s smiting powers, but time itself. How is that not better than what I have?[/color]”

Lily pouted.
[color=fff200]"’That was a compliment! Besides, it really is cool!"[/color]
She then sighed, and smiled as she watched the little girl go show her restored toy to the others.
[color=fff200]"At the end of the day, giving someone hope should be done by someone like you, Alex. You have a knack for it."[/color]

He looked at her like she had just gone crazy and started speaking in tongues “[color=aba000]Seriously? I’m a jaded bitter asshole. How the hell do [i]I[/i] have a knack for ‘giving people hope’? You’re the one with the right personality for it.[/color]”

Once again Lily pouted, and even blew a raspberry at him.
[color=fff200]"Geez, Alex!"[/color]