[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/K2ssvzh.png[/img][/center] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/72bEcUi.png[/img][/center] The defenders had split into three groups. Annabelle, Lily, Alex, Alicia, Nyakannis/team, MDP, Gaia, Connie had organized a defense of the teleporter against the invading force. The other group, comprised of Aurelio, Eliana, Serenity, Ronin, Miko, Tina, Ellen, and Hyun, were in charge of evacuating the civilians. Justine was initially a part of the latter group, and made an initial attempt to help with clearing out the civilians by throwing them into the teleporter, only to gasp as Eliana’s barrier went down. Fortunately, she saw Alex react first to the loss with a barrier of his own, tailor-made to enable effective defensive action. At 20% mana, little by little he was starting to run lower. However, he wasn’t alone in his efforts, as Eliana augmented their last line of defense with dark, repelling sorceries, like black markings that writhed over the surface of the spell. [color=bc8dbf]”Damn! They’re already here! I’m gonna help defend! You get them out!”[/color] Biting on her lip so hard she drew blood, she called upon her red magic, and coated Alex’ barrier with a crimson blood coating, further reinforcing their fleeting defenses against Wonderland’s onslaught while also covering it in barbed spikes; perhaps a cruel method of deterrence, as some troopers ended up charging right into the serrated shield, but for the former Seventh Sinner, it was a necessary evil. She then proceeded to cast blood javelins through the holes, skewering infantry and jamming tank treads to stop them from bulldozing through. Annabelle continued sprouting sunflowers, attempting to divert the enemy’s attention by using them as decoys at worst and as turrets at best, peppering the enemy with machine gun-like sprays of small solar beams. “Just a bit more…Hold out a bit more…!” However, based on her slowing tempo and sweating brow, it was obvious to tell that she was running on fumes at this point. Magical Dream Princess weaved a twinkling curtain of starlight and candy drops that transformed ammunition shot through it into floating little gifts and treats. While a powerful spell that had taken 20% mana, it effectively neutralized the rest of the attacks coming in. The evacuation force was in full swing. After their major contribution, the twins were on standby, and with teamwork took down a couple of flanking troopers. Aurelio cast invigorating energies of Excitement, keeping the fighters active without stopping for breaks. Pulling double duty with a massive surge in mana that dropped him to 50%, Oliver conjured a horde of ghosts and duplicates, and had them in both evacuation and defense duties. Hyun continued lifting and throwing the civilians the best she could. Serenity aided by casting an acceleration enchantment, further speeding the crew, while Alicia covered her compatriots with arrows of radiant light’s successfully disabling many of the heavy weapons by sabotaging their barrels. She and the rest of Beacon heard Violette chiming in with a confused voice: ”But that’s not…Wait, it couldn’t be…” They heard her rapidly clacking away on a keyboard before she resumed radio silence. With a resounding battlecry, Alicia then rallied the Mahou for a shared cause. As a result of this, the civilians were successfully evacuated to the last man, woman, and child. The entirety of Bolorton’s population was now gone, leaving the town as nothing but a ghost town, ravaged by war. But there was little time to rejoice. While Lily had continued to fight the good fight, deranged as she may have been in her bout of Metamorphosis-induced madness, even her luck had run out. [color=fff200]”AAARGHHH!"[/color] Her mana, having rapidly drained due to her rage, had dissipated, and she failed to enchant the tank shell that had struck her. As a result, she collapsed to the ground with a thud. [color=fff200]”Ughhh…"[/color] She was groaning in pain, unable to stand up; one of her legs had been blown off from the knee down. [hr] The Queen of Hearts scoffed at Mayra’s taunt, and flourished her weapon with grace as she waited for the draconic girl to jump out from the smoke. “Very well. For you, I will grant the repose of death.” But as she prepared to strike, Mayra instead grabbed the separate pieces of Finn, and leapt out with bravado, using her magic to propel herself. She turned to see the Queen scream at her: “You’re the coward! Get back here!” She swung, about to slice at her, when her eye flashed and she turned to spin the blade before her, scattering the volley of arrows that Suwako had seemingly shot at her. That was the moment Kiyome needed to cast her spell, and as Mayra consented to the spell, teleported her out with Finn in tow to give them a clean getaway. The Queen’s eye glowed, and she sneered at Kiyome’s crippled form with a barely noticed look of disdain, as if she had witnessed a crawling insect. “So that’s what happened…” She proceeded to ignore her, and turned to look at Suwako, charging her magic. It was at this moment that Nykannis had her chance, and used her advanced magitech to examine the Queen and her source of power. “I don’t know what would motivate you to set me against Beacon…” She suddenly opened a portal, and sliced through it with a glowing blade; accompanied by the sound of a tearing page, Suwako’s illusion was dispelled and the stealth magic undone, revealing Tonya’s true self. “But your petty tricks won’t work on me…Tonya Murphy.” The Queen lifted her sword, but with a flash of her eye, she then jumped in a somersault, dodging the AFV as it drove right at her. As she spun in mid-air, she spun her sword, splitting the vehicle in two and causing the Second Phase crew inside to collapse out of it. She then looked towards the distance, her eyes locked on Nykannis. “So it has come to this…Scientist Sovereign. What do you hope to accomplish with this vulgar display?” When the Queen’s power manifested again, Nykannis finally understood the secret to her immense power. “Or, have you already realized it?“ The Queen smiled with an off-putting grin. Nykannis had her suspicions, having had made extensive research on the subject but now, without any doubt, she understood the truth behind the Queen’s magical weapon. A truth that made her realize the two of them were not so different, and that caused her to stop in her tracks, even as the Queen opened more portals and the battlefield flooded with Wonderland’s forces of war, threatening to swallow them all like an avaricious abyss. The truth of the [u]Storyslayer[/u]. [hr] Meanwhile, in a mysterious location, Dormouse would wake with a scream before she went quiet, trembling at the isolation she found herself in. Holding her neck; though by that point it had healed, she still remembered the iron grip that Penny had on her. Had she brought her here? But why? She looked at the water and tupperware, and realized she had shared the White Rabbit’s fate, and had been taken as a prisoner of war. Would she be interrogated for information? Tortured? Brainwashed into betraying her motherland like Rabbit had been? Fear seized up in her heart again. Even if she had been told time and again to prepare for such a possibility by the Queen, and even taken steps to prepare for it, the truth was she never expected to end up like this. After all, she only agreed to head the Bolorton mission because she figured it would be a safe assignment; who cared for some backwater farmer town full of yokels? Just send the locals to sleep, and then walk in and grab them to work in one of their labor camps while setting up an outpost. And after that, she could proudly state she achieved great victory to her glorious motherland in battle, and could go back to working on R&D. But it looked like fate had other plans for her, as she had to contend with terrors unlike anything else. Her stomach grumbled, and she pouted. Then she looked at the table. The food could be poisoned, drugged, maybe even enchanted for all she knew. But did that really matter at this point? Throwing caution to the wind in light of her hunger, Dormouse partook of the water and salad, nibbling on it like a cute animal´as she sat in the corner. She figured it would be her last supper. As she ate, her thoughts went back to the battle. Thinking about how the Queen cruelly cast her away and broke her trust in her, she shed tears in silence, letting them stain the floor. [hr] Al chuckled, pleased with the enthusiasm that Chloe showed for her promotion. “That’s the spirit!” He grinned widely at the prospect of food. “Yeah, I could have a bite. How about the Pit Stop?” He embedded his hand into the wall beside him, and a black portal to the diner opened up. The two of them passed through, and he took a seat at one of the tables beside the windows. “My treat. What’s your poison?” He asked, referring to the menu.