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

The blue wendigos crashed into the wall Alexander created; the first one, who seemed to act as the pack alpha, broke its horns as it fell down in a heap. The others had slammed into the wall, also deterred by the obstacle, but by that point the wall had absorbed so much damage it cracked. However, they succeeded in drawing the attention of the monsters, who snarled as they turned towards the two of them.

Alex delivered death from above with his sword, slaying one of the fell beasts. Lily turned and skidded to a screeching halt before jumping off the bike, letting it crash wheels-first into the two wendigos at the front who were about to rush Alex.

[color=fff200]”I oughta give you a ticket for speeding!"[/color] Lily yelled, and launched a volley of thunder arrows, managing to hit the two wendigos tripped by the motorcycle as well as the third one running in from behind them. However, even as the wendigos were paralyzed, they were stomped on by the remaining two wendigos, including the alpha with the broken antlers and a smaller one with antlers in the shape of a wreath. The alpha wendigo attacked one of Alex’ clones, destroying it with a feral chomp of its jaws before the clone managed to react before attempting to do the same to the real Alex, while the wreathed wendigo slammed the other clone out of its way in pursuit of Lily.

[color=fff200]”Oh, you want more of this! Come and get it!"[/color]
Lily began to run on foot, accelerating herself to a fast enough speed to stay one step ahead of the swift monsters. That was when the paralyzed wendigos recovered, and started to run towards the side. Lily immediately realized their intent.

[color=fff200]”They’re trying to flank us!"[/color]

[hr]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/K2ssvzh.png[/img][/center]

Justine nodded, managing to smile a bit from Maura’s maternal gesture. 
[color=bc8dbf]”Oh, um…Thank you,”[/color] she responded, and sat down at the table.
When Maura brought up the types of appropriate meal, Justine shook her head.
[color=bc8dbf]”Anything’s fine with me, Mistress. Please don’t worry about it.”[/color]
For a moment, she silently ate the waffles that Maura prepared, and carefully wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, looking down at the plates.
[color=bc8dbf]”It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten properly like this,”[/color] she spoke softly, and stood up from the table.
[color=bc8dbf]”Thank you for the breakfast, Mistress. I’ll be, um, careful.”[/color]
After one last curtsy, she left, her mind wandering to memories of a past life. That sense of nostalgia only strengthened the conclusion she arrived at:

[i][color=bc8dbf]Caroline…You’re in Penrose, aren’t you?[/color][/i]

[hr]
“Eat this, Beacon scu-AHH!”
The dark magical brought her blade high up, aiming to stab it right in the back of the hapless Beacon girl’s neck, when it was suddenly blasted right out of her hand by a beam of light, causing her to stumble backwards. The two monster girls were also startled, the winged girl having stepped backwards towards a pile of dead wendigos, lightly nudging a skull.
“H-Hey, what’s the big idea, you stupid-” She exclaimed, only to freeze as she saw the Beacon girl sink through the floor, passing through some kind of passage, followed by Mariette’s cool entrance; the eyepatched girl’s emotionless countenance seemed to intimidate the corrupted girls.
“Y-Your protection? Why would you protect them when-” the formerly stoic, now unsettled, monster girl protested, but the dark magical girl lifted a hand to silence her.

“Look, we’re just looking for some shelter. And based on the glims we read, we reckoned we’d go to the Sanctuary. S-So it’s fine, no big deal. We’ll just be on our way-”
Monica then asked about the hearts, and the winged girl leaned her head to the side with a quizzical expression. “What hearts? We just showed up when this lamphead stabbed the last one, and-” 

She didn’t finish her sentence, as she suddenly tripped, having been bitten in the leg by a wendigo. And the moment she did, the entire pile of dead wendigos, at least twelve in number, swarmed her. She screamed horrifically as the monsters tore into her, having disappeared under a mass of beasts in a feeding frenzy.

Of course, those were not the only wendigos to rise from the dead, as the rest of the wendigos lifted themselves up. Monica, having expected the possibility of the wendigos resurrecting, was not surprised. The moment two wendigos pounced on her, she delivered a pre-emptive cleave of her burning axe, causing them to burst into flames as their frozen hearts were seared.
The sight of the flames caused the seven wendigos in the immediate vicinity to back off.
Belladonna was also not surprised thanks to her alertness, and clawed at the wendigo going after her, managing to knock the fiend away from her. The others in her group were surprised, and Ashlyn had to shrug off a wendigo biting her forearm, slamming it hard into the ground followed by shaking one that jumped on her back. A couple of wendigos even seemed to try and get Mariette by jumping up at her, but the eyepatched girl had ample Awareness of the noisy monsters to relocate herself out of the way.

The dark magical girl let out a blood-curdling scream, and ran away. “Hey, Hanna!” The stoic monster girl shouted, but was unable to follow as she fended off against five wendigos that quickly surrounded her, barely managing to keep them at bay with her summoned wolf spirit.
A pack of ten wendigos split off to chase after Hanna. Jumping up the industrial sector’s countless pipes and railings didn’t deter the beasts who climbed after her. The rest of the monsters stayed to attack the group, eight of them intending to feast on their bones while the rest were distracted with fresh meat.

[hr]
Ronin and Miko descended to the entrance of the Penrose Bank, their blades drawn. As they landed, after two glints of steel, they sheathed their blades. And the moment their hilts clicked, blood sprayed from the wounds of the wendigo as they were struck, staining the cracked glass doors of the building and shocking the civilians inside. The monsters, however, were hardy, and did not fall from the sneak attack. They turned their attention to the twins and rushed to attack them, giving the civilians their chance to escape.

The first wendigo, infuriated by the attack, swiped a claw at Ronin, who managed to deflect the blow with a skillful twist of her blade as part of her Martial Training, though it did cause her to stumble off-balance from the weight of the strike. Miko, on the other hand, had to contend with the other wendigo’s headbutt; she managed to avoid being impaled by the antlers with a sideways dodge, but as a result her red skirt was torn, scratching her through it.
The two realized that going one-on-one with the monsters could easily end poorly for them.

On the other end of the street, Mia’s Pea Shooters made their mark on three of the four charging wendigo, peppering them with narcoleptic spores that slowed them down and caused them to swing their heads, seemingly dizzy. The fourth one managed to avoid the shots, but ended up tripping thanks to Mia’s backup plan of vines that burst from the ground. They were then subjected to horrifying visions courtesy of Connie’s dominion over dark dreams of dread.
As a result, the wendigos were incapacitated, howling loudly in their sleep with ear-screeching tones while clawing and biting at anything they could reach; this included the concrete street, the lamp post, each other, or even themselves.

[hr]
Penny landed on the wendigo below her like a ten-ton weight, crushing the monster’s skull into fine dust. However, despite her dynamic entrance, the robotic rescuer knew the secret to the monsters, and with electricity fried the heart inside, causing the monster to twitch momentarily before it stopped moving, and dissolved into black ash.

The other wendigos turned their attention to Penny, and attempted rushing her, only to be hammered into submission by her additional appendages. At that moment, as Penny brutally eviscerated and cut apart the beasts without a change in her expression, she noticed how the passengers in the car had turned silent.

Meanwhile, at the convenience store, Magical Dream Princess unleashed her glittering, pastel-colored magic upon the wendigos eating frozen meats and chickens, and summoned simulacrums depicting anthropomorphized stylized hearts. Due to the lack of space within the tight aisles of the convenience store, the wendigos were unable to avoid being grabbed by the creatures, their immense strength fueled by MDP’s desire for peace and happiness. As they scrambled around like panicked animals, they were swiftly bonked in the head by yet another simulacrum, and thus were lulled to involuntary sleep.

As MDP brough the monsters outside, she saw Penny, covered in blood, as she performed electric executions on the maimed monsters with her spider-like extra limbs. She also that the passengers, having formerly screamed for their lives, were now shaking silentrly, in absolute terror at the robot girl before them.

[hr]
At the hospital, Aurelio and Alicia gallantly stepped in for the rescue. Aurelio’s red clone, while not particularly devastating with his detonating cane slams, quickly roused the ire of the beasts, who turned their attention on the clone and quickly destroyed it, but not before the clone gave them one last explosion, scattering them around the courtyard of the hospital. The green clone was more successful, the monsters having failed to break through thanks to the green barrier he had generated. But while the beasts were feral, they were not deaf, and turned to rush the taunting clone. 

However, before he shared his red comrade’s fate, Alicia shot at them with her bolts of bright light; to her surprise, she managed to hit one of the monsters in the heart, and it collapsed in a pile of dark ash, its heart having been burned by the intense sunlight stored in her arrows. However, it was not enough to deter the rest of the pack, who descended on green aurelio and caused him to disappear next. The two Beacon fighters could feel the red eyes of the nine remaining wendigos on them, and realized they might be in over their heads.

[hr]
Sann, as usual, went to check on the dead drop, and found a letter there:
[i]I’ve got a couple of new assignments for you. First off, I’ve recently hired some new muscle. Her name’s Coco, and she’s also known as the Sinner of Greed in Beacon’s books. Funny how many of them have appeared in Penrose, huh? I want you to keep tabs on her, see if she’s as legit as she claims to be, and report back to me. Wouldn’t mind if you dug up some dirt on her too. Whether you pose as a friend or foe to her to get the intelligence is up to you, as long as she doesn’t find out about this job. You can also earn a bonus by helping her complete her own gigs.[/i]

[i]The second job involves a certain broad named Connie Williams. Find her, and give her a Black Coin alongside an offer for employment; we could use someone of her skills. If she vaccepts, guide her to Warehouse K. However, if she refuses, you are to take her to Valhalla instead.[/i]

Alongside the letter was a Black Coin. When she picked it up, the letter burst into flames, leaving no trace of her new assignments.