As Iron Mouse flew through the air, she used her Gravity magic to redirect her vector of movement, and took on a different target: the Scarecrow, something even the intelligent monster didn’t predict. It was too late to defend itself with ropes of straw, and screeched as Iron Mouse latched on to his wooden leg and in the same motion swung around the pole, her teeth cutting through it in a circular motion and splitting it in half. The moment it did, the Scarecrow lost his connection to the enchanted earth, and lost his magic as it fell in midair, screeching like a banshee. At that exact moment, before the monster would get to touch the ground again, Annabelle shot a mighty Solar Beam from her sunflower-tipped staff, blasting the creature into ash.

“And there! Thank you, fellow Mahou!” She waved to Iron Mouse before turning her attention on the remaining troops. As a result of the maneuver, Mac felt pain on her reddened palms as they burnt from the friction, making punching or climbing more arduous. Mac’s teeth were also now an ugly brown from the saw dust, unless she hid it with Iron Mouse's illusion.

Gaia successfully shot down a flying Spade soldier, making sure that the projectile had enough kick to it to send the soldier away before it blew up on the field outside Bolorton. The Angel of Hope also assisted in protecting the guardians of Bolorton, applying forcefields that enabled them to run through the scattered fiery debris without problems.

[hr]
Finn, having avoided being thrown away by the Tin Woodsman, managed to jump into the exposed hatch on the mechanical monster’s chest, and activated Overcity Shift in that space. As Finn found himself in the familiar dimension, standing on a checkerboarded field, the hearts had also shifted with him; though they continued beating like regular hearts, their glow had lessened in intensity, and the curse ended.

Back in Bolorton, when the giant robot lost its power supply, it suddenly stopped moving, and began to fall…That was when Gaia and the Angel of Hope, who had been observing the battlefield, realized the direction it was falling. With an earth-shaking thud, the last member of the OZ Unit crashed right through the double barriers that protected the town, breaking them, and leaving the town fully exposed. Now, even regular club soldiers could encroach on the town, though in moderate numbers due to the effective defenses mustered by the defenders.

[hr]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/K2ssvzh.png[/img][/center]
Justine chased after a Spade wielding a rotary cannon as she blasted a storm of blood bullets while also avoiding being turned into Swiss cheese by counterfire. She scowled as Gaia berated her, and regret swelled in her heart as she failed to live up to their expectations of keeping the skies clear
[color=bc8dbf]”I’m sorry!”[/color] She yelled, and with another barrage of projectiles managed to bring down another Spade soldier; this one dropped onto a grassy patch between two buildings before exploding, causing the fires to slowly reach both of them.
[color=bc8dbf]”Argh! They keep flying over the damn buildings!”[/color] However, despite her frustration, she and Gaia had both managed to thin the numbers of the remaining flying squad enough for the few remaining ones to not pose a major threat on their own…That is, until they heard a crash to the north, followed by a crack as the barriers fell.
[color=bc8dbf]”Barrier’s down!”[/color]

[hr]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/72bEcUi.png[/img][/center]
Lily followed as Alex went to apply curative magic to Ellen and Tina. She provided covering fire as the Spade wielding the assault rifle came around for another sweep, managing to keep the flying soldier away as they were protected by Alex’ barrier from the surrounding fire. She realized he would go on the offensive against the encroaching enemy, and renewed her Agility-boosting spell on Alex.

[color=fff200]”I’ll distract the soldiers while you go in Alex!"[/color] She suggested, and began to perform hit-and-runs on the ground level, shooting rapid volleys of lightning arrows while dashing into cover in-between bursts. The Wonderland troopers, occupied by Lily, barely had time to notice as Alex slingshot himself up with his tails, tearing into the invaders while absorbing the enemy fire through use of his barriers. He was also assisted by various magical constructs such as Oliver’s clones and phantoms, able to take down some of the troopers but more importantly dividing the enemy’s attention. As a result, Alex was able to defend the north side of town, though as a result he had dropped to 60% mana.

[hr]
Mayra, as unpredictable as ever, had a change in pace, and went for a sneaky approach, blending into the chaos of the battlefield using her darkness magic. She slipped through encroaching forces, hopping from shadow to shadow until she crossed over the hill. There, she saw as Penny, or whatever form Penny had taken, was facing off against the Queen of Hearts.
As the two of them were surrounded by fires from the napalm payload of the cob cannons, Mayra noted that some had also reached the artillery, causing the crew for some of them to be killed or abandoned.

The Queen, however, was focused on Penny, and grimaced as Penny launched a projectile at her…Or rather, past her, as the Wonderland monarch came to realize too late. It turned out to be a bomb, and it flew through the portal the moment before it closed.

[hr]
At the Wonderland party, Mariette and Jelena worked together to retrieve the pocketbook, with Jelena purposefully staying close to Mariette as she distracted the servantfolk with inane questions, which the servants did not answer.
As Mariette was about to drop the pocketbook through the portal, Jelena happened to move just enough for Mariette to notice a monstrous Penny through the portal with her Awareness. She threw a shape past the Queen and in through the portal, and Mariette realized it to be an activated bomb. However, as she was right in the middle of a spell requiring concentration, she did not have time to produce another portal and escape.

Suddenly, she felt Jelena hug her. A metallic sphere enclosed them as the pocketbook was snatched into her magical handbag, followed by a deafening, gigantic explosion that turned her vision white.

The very next moment, she realized she was on the floor, with Jelena on top of her: she had enchanted her metal body into a shell to bear the brunt of the explosion, leaving Mariette mostly unharmed. However, Jelena did not fare as well; her arms and legs, designed to be detachable, had blown off her, and the rest of her was blackened, smelling horrid. She was miraculously still alive, though critically injured, and had transformed back due to losing consciousness.

Mariette quickly deduced with her Awareness that the garden party was in complete chaos; the grass was on fire, the tables were destroyed, and servants laid dead, charred black. She saw that one of the Queen’s court laid among the fallen, the girl with the butterfly motif, while Hatwington was sitting against the side of the stairs, holding a broken device and clutching at his chest, heavily injured. Farther away, another Mahou had turned his body into an blackened armadillo-like shell as he leaned against a wall, his legs wobbly. There were screams and noises in every direction. Mariette peeked into her handbag with a tiny portal on her inner eyepatch, and saw that it was unharmed. However, as more of the Queen’s court started to rush in to investigate what happened, she had to decide between reading and putting it back.

[hr]
Back at Bolorton, the Queen turned back to Penny with a furious look.
“You treacherous knave!” She yelled, and blocked the Engine’s feint attack with her sword.
“Dormouse, wake the villagers!” She ordered as she swung back. Dormouse, still reeling from the realization of the bomb, blinked.
“Your Highness-”
“DO IT!” the Queen bellowed, and proceeded to perform a fast array of slashing attacks, each one capable of cutting through Penny’s strengthened body, managing to cut deep into one of the Engine’s legs and lower torso and forcing the Engine on the defensive lest she be sliced into pieces.
Dormouse took a deep breath, lifted her staff, and her eyes flashed purple as she cast the spell.

Back at the shelter, the sleeping villagers turned uneasy, and woke to screams of terror and fright, having suffered dreadful nightmares. Then, pandemonium soon erupted as so many people in such little space began to fret and panic all at once:
“What is this place?”
“How did I end up falling asleep here?”
“Mcdonald, get off me!”
“Let me out!”
Soon villagers began attempting to run out of the shelter, and the evacuation force realized they needed to be stopped before they got outside.

[hr]
Akhenaten grunted, this time sounding glad, when Kiyome thanked both him and Nefer for the help. “Oh, don’t mention it. I’m usually pretty tough, but when a cutie like you is in trouble, I just can’t resist~” Nefer responded, and took out an artifact from her pocket; it looked like a small wand with a stylish star at the tip. “Now hold still…” She poked Kiyome in the chest with the wand, and she felt as restorative magic from the Healing Artifact soothed her, closing her wounds and even setting her bones back in place a bit. However, while now capable of standing on her own, she was still not in a condition to walk, and so required the minions to support her. “That should keep you stable. Now you owe me a date…Just kidding~” She laughed a bit, and then turned to face some approaching club soldiers. “Ooh, there’s some tech. I want me a piece of that!” She then charged in guns blazing, followed by Akhenaten who gave one last look and a nod back at Kiyome before following after her.

With that, Kiyome proceeded to loot the corpse of the faux Dorothy, and procured a pair of ruby slippers with curly tips, with the torn off legs still attached to them. Once she removed the legs from the slippers, she could tell they were potently enchanted simply by holding them. Then, she retreated back into Bolorton proper, her minions making sure she would be protected by stray Wonderland soldiers on the way.

Eliana created a protective barrier over the Bolorton shelter, ensuring the building wouldn’t be destroyed if an artillery piece would hit it as she continued layering and strengthening it, dropping to 80% mana in the process.

[hr]
Hyun Long nodded as Serenity explained her appearance was the result of a Red Coin. “I see. From what I’ve heard, Red Coins can cause some unusual changes. Well, consider yourself lucky; I know some have gotten much worse makeovers from using them, like rainbow-colored hair, tartan patterned-clothes, and being reduced to the height of a fire hydrant. At least you are not an eyesore. Just remember that you represent Beacon like the rest of us.”

She then smiled as Serenity further clarified her feelings of gratitude. “I’m glad to hear that.”
She offered her hand for a handshake. “Let us be friends, so that together we can-Kiyah!”
Suddenly, Hyun yelped in surprise, her hand having quickly withdrawn as Magical Dream Princess made herself known. She was riding on a magical horse with both a horn and wings, resembling a combination of a unicorn and a pegasus. Though she had some difficulty following the bubbly magical girl’s language and was uneasy about the suggestion overall, with Aurelio’s assistance she soon got the gist of it. “Very well then. Let’s channel the spell, Paladin Seraph.” She then closed her eyes and clasped her hands together, thinking thoughts of personal joy.

As the rest followed MDP’s instructions, a shimmering pastel-colored portal emerged, it’s insides swirling with fluffy clouds and five-pointed glowing stars. The van drove through it, and it emerged on the outskirts of Bolorton, south-west of the plaza. The Beacon members saw how the town was ravaged by Wonderland, complete with a shimmering double barrier, burning buildings, and bodies littered around. Alicia saw how Lily and Alex worked together to curb the tide of troopers wearing club symbols on their helmets; one of the known insignias for Wonderland. They also saw a lot of smoke and vapor coming up from the north where the troopers were coming from, as well as the sounds of gunfire and explosions around them.

They then heard Violette chime in through their communicators:
“What just happened? I noticed from the GPS that you suddenly arrived there. Well, that doesn’t matter now. You need to head to the shelter to the south of the plaza and build the teleporter! Hurry!”

[hr]
Al’s shadow nodded as he sighed. “I suppose you make a point there. Golden Trove did end it’s business, and with none the wiser on how or why.” 
He then scoffed at the second reason Chloe provided. “I knew I was putting too many chips on Reaver to handle the job, but eh, you gotta know when to fold ‘em. The Beacon’s operations took a hit, and that’s all that matters in the long run.”
The third reason caused him to chuckle. “You’re no Marilyn Monroe kid, but you have talent, I give you that. Sometimes the subtle approach does work better.” He didn’t react to the tap on the wall, and simply listened for the rest.

Once Chloe was done, Al sighed. “Really now? You’re going to save my life?”
Then, as Chloe was leaning against the wall, her finger drawing a line on it, he surprisingly stepped out of the central shadow; she was now leaning directly against him. Having to crane her head up to look at his face, his formidable stature seemed even more immense, the tiny puppets on his chest writhing like tormented souls as she stared up close at them.

Chloe then saw as he picked out a white package sealed with the Mint’s emblem from his pocket; it seemed to contain magical coins. He offered the package to her. “Here; the pay for the Trove and rave jobs. Now, what’s all this about life-saving nonsense?” He afterwards took out a cigar, and lit it as he leaned against the wall he came out of. “Good joke if I ever heard one.”