[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/q4au2SQ.png[/img][/center] [center][hider=Connie and Mia Stats] [center][color=DarkOrchid][h2]Connie[/h2][/color] 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 5 | 4 | 6 | 22 | 5 Oddball: Nightmares | Tentacles Enhanced Weapon | Power Artifact | Mystic Artifact | Ally | Interdimensional Home Focused | Mental Link | Hidden Death | Mana Font | Mystic Might Alien Mind | Formless | Rival Force | Clueless [/center] [hr] [center][color=SpringGreen][h2]Mia[/h2][/color] 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 5 | 8 | 7 | 22 | 5 Wood | Barrage Enhanced Weapon | Dual Weapon | Purification Artifact | Big Red Button Blessing | Divine Competence | Gifted Item | Mana Font | Mystic Might Rites| Arrogance | Big Brother | Clueless [/center][/hider][/center] Connie gasped as Ronin, with all her usual fearlessness, simply walked up to the door that [i]might[/i] have possibly been the correct one and opened it. Equally alarmed, Gaia readied her staff to unleash nature’s full fury on whatever fiendish adversary might await on the other side. After all, despite what Ronin (and Lily) might have thought, there was a big difference between courageous confidence and suicidal recklessness. Yet, when the door was opened, no such threat presented itself, and the verdant maiden and her masked friend both breathed a sigh of relief. However, what was revealed was a nondescript corridor, leading to still another door. In other words, the perfect location for a trap. That said, it wasn’t like they had any other options. Thus, when Ronin and Miko entered, followed by Lily and Alex, Gaia asked Branch Nose to inform Alicia that they were moving forward, before taking hold of Connie’s trembling hand and guiding her timid friend through the door, with the returned Paladin Seraph and miniature ent bringing up the rear. Once the entire party had entered the corridor, the door behind them slammed shut, prompting another yelp of horror from Connie, but it soon became apparent that there was nothing to fear from the corridor, as mere moments later, the door before them opened, displaying what appeared to be an opulent library beyond. Of course, this being Wonderland, the books themselves were clearly enchanted, the various tomes flapping around like birds. Other than that, though, the chamber appeared almost cozy, with a warm, relaxing ambiance. Even so… [color=SpringGreen]“We shouldn’t let our guard down,”[/color] Gaia advised as she carefully scanned the room, taking particular note of the various other doors scattered about. Indeed, no sooner had she said this, then one of those doors opened and a cat-themed magical girl stepped out, startling poor Connie once more in the process. However, the newcomer did not appear to be hostile, rather quite the opposite, if what she said was to be believed. Unsurprisingly, Gaia wasn’t entirely convinced of the cat-girl’s sincerity, and neither was Branch Nose, who voiced the question the verdant maiden herself was just about to ask. The answer provided was more than a little perplexing, but if Gaia understood correctly, the cat girl served someone who secretly opposed the queen, someone who had aided in Alexander’s escape from the castle. This was confirmed by the magical boy himself, who also noted that trusting her was probably their best option, but that still didn’t address the core problem, something Alicia helpfully noted. [color=SpringGreen]“I must concur with the Paladin Seraph,”[/color] Gaia spoke up. [color=SpringGreen]“Our purpose for infiltrating this castle was to rescue Mariette,”[/color] the nymph-like girl continued. [color=SpringGreen]“Since both she and the queen are no longer present, then it would seem we have no further need to linger here.”[/color] [color=DarkOrchid]“M-Mia’s right!”[/color] Connie added. [color=DarkOrchid]“A-And if the c-city’s being a-attacked, e-everyone who s-stayed behind c-could be in d-danger!”[/color] The masked maiden’s trembling hands clenched into fists as her mind filled with images of Emily, Shane, Rose, Iris, and Miss Kaylie as well, all juxtaposed with the horrible deaths of Nuncio and Sammy. [color=DarkOrchid]“I-I… I-I d-don’t wanna lose a-any more f-friends!”[/color] [hr] [center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/11844121-70b4-40d4-8d27-6274ede736b1.png[/img][/center] While many interesting and dramatic things might have been happening around her, Violet was in no position to participate, as the heiress was still deep in dreamland. On the one hand, this was a good thing, as she did not have to deal with the horrifying realization that she had just revealed her secret identity to a great many people, and thus, attend to the not-insignificant ramifications of said revelation. Yet, on the other hand, this is a bad thing, as it does not provide much content with which to fill a Plenumic Observational Situation Transcript. Unless, of course, we take a moment to peer into the contents of the dream the young Miss Covington is currently having… … … … Appropriately enough, Violet had once again assumed the form of Magical Dream Princess and she had found herself in what seemed to be an underground shop of some kind. The close cavern walls and rows of shelves were illuminated by small lanterns, creating a warm and cozy ambiance. [color=DeepPink]“Like, what’s [i]this[/i] placey wacey~?”[/color] MDP wondered aloud as she examined all the various items as only someone as ADHD addled as her could. [color=DeepPink]“There are, like, sooo many wany different wifferent thingy wingies heresie weresie~! (giggle!)”[/color] In fact, the whimsical girl was having so much fun as she bounced around the various narrow aisles, that she was inspired to sing a cute and silly song she’d made up on the spot. [color=DeepPink]“Onesie, twosie, threesie, foursie~! Take a look around the storesie~! Twirly whirly, one, two, three~! Giggle wiggle, Tee hee hee~! Dance around the shelfy welfies~! Find a goodie, help herselfy~! This sticky wicky looks like a dragon wagon wing~! And this bottle wottle is full of crawly waly things~! Like, even though she’s undergroundy, there’s soooo much stuffy all aroundy~! (giggle!)”[/color] Eventually, the bubbly girl was noticed by the shopkeeper, who called out in an equally cheerful voice, [color=Green]“Hi! Hi! Welcome ta Zoppy’z shoppy! Zoppy’z got lotz o’ nicey nice fingz! Did ya see any ya wanna buy?!”[/color] Whirling to face the source of the voice, MDP squealed with glee when she saw it belonged to [url=https://images2.imgbox.com/b0/7e/HKL5kSAg_o.jpeg]a scrawny, deformed goblin girl with a big, toothy smile.[/url] [color=DeepPink]“Awww~! You’re super [i]duper[/i] adorable worable~! (giggle!)”[/color] the whimsical girl told the tiny shopkeeper, even as she bounced over to wrap her up in a tight hug. [color=DeepPink]“Like, Magical Dream Princess could huggy wuggy and cuddle wuddle you for ever and ever and ever and ever~!”[/color] [color=Green]“D-Dankz…?”[/color] The somewhat dazed goblin girl replied, though her initial shock and confusion were soon replaced by enjoyment at being pressed against the bubbly girl’s chest as she was rocked back and forth. [color=Green]“Y-Yer reeeeally soooft…”[/color] she added sleepily, her eyes closing and her mouth curling into a contented smile. [color=DeepPink]“Thanky wankies, Zoppy Woppy~!”[/color] MDP replied, her cheerful voice practically oozing sickening sweetness. [color=DeepPink]“Like, Magical Dream Princess just [i]wuvs[/i] your little wittle shoppy woppy~!”[/color] she told the huggable goblin. [color=DeepPink]“And, like, she’d also totally wotally wuv to be friendy wendies with you, too~! (giggle!)”[/color] Setting Zoppy back on the floor, she crouched down and held out her pinky. [color=DeepPink]“Like, this is Magical Dream Princess’s super duper special wecial pinky winky friendy wendy promise womise~!”[/color] the childish girl explained as she used her other hand to lift up Zoppy’s non-deformed arm and placed the goblin’s pinky against her own. [color=DeepPink]“Allsie wallsie Zoppy Woppy has to do is follow wollow alongy wongy while Magical Dream Princess says the super special wecial friendship wendship spell~! (giggle!) Here we go, round and roundy~!”[/color] she began as she used her pinky to guide Zoppy’s hand in a series of circles. [color=DeepPink]“Friendship wendship will aboundy~! Friendy wendies, yay, yay, yay~! Friendy wendies, hip, hip, horaaaay~! (giggle!)”[/color] With that, MDP concluded the “spell” by pulling her hand away, spreading her fingers wide (forming several tiny glittery fireworks in the process), and then giving Zoppy another hug. After a few more seconds of gleeful giggles, an important detail finally managed to enter the Princess of Dreams’ bubbly brain. [color=DeepPink]“Oh! Magical Dream Princess just rememeber wembered~! Zoppy Woppy wanted to sell something womething to Magical Dream Princess, didn’t widin’t she~?! Like, Magical Dream Princess knows just the thingy wingy~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess would wuv to havey wavey something womething to remember wember Zoppy Woppy by when she goes backy wacky homey womey,”[/color] MDP explained. [color=DeepPink]“Like a pebble webble pally wally~!”[/color] [color=Green]“A lucky stone…?”[/color] Zoppy asked, her ears perking up along with her formerly sleepy expression. [color=Green]“Zoppy’z got lotz o’ dose!”[/color] the little merchant added, grabbing her cutesy customer’s hand and scampering over to where all the lucky stones were stored, her new friend filling the small shop with her sweet giggles as she was led along. [color=Green]“Ere ya go!”[/color] Zoppy announced, gesturing to where several dozen stones rested on several different shelves. After taking a few moments to look over the various rocks and pebbles, MDP gave voice to a delighted squeal, [color=DeepPink]“Ooooh~! Like, Magical Dream Princess thinkie winkies this stoney woney looks extra wextra friendly wendly~!”[/color] No sooner had MDP picked up the stone in question, then it came to whimsical life and began happily conversing with her, much to Zoppy’s amazement. Once the incongruous pair had finished getting to know each other, MDP turned her attention back to the stupified shopkeeper. [color=DeepPink]“Like, how muchy wuchy does Zoppy Woppy want for Mister Wister Stoney Woney~?”[/color] she inquired. [color=Green]“Well… Zoppy was gonna sell ‘em fer many lotz, but since ‘e’z a super lucky talkin’ stone, ‘e shud probably cost… many many many… many lotz?”[/color] the shopkeeper asked hopefully. [color=DeepPink]“Like, Magical Dream Princess thinkie winkies thatsie watsie’s the perfect werfect amounty wounty~! (giggle!)”[/color] MDP declared, before waving her whimsical wand and conjuring a pile of glittering prismatic gems, which she poured into Zoppy’s eagerly awaiting hands. [color=Green]“Dankz lotz!”[/color] the overjoyed goblin told her with a big smile. [color=DeepPink]“Like, Zoppy Woppy’s totally wottally welcome~!”[/color] MDP replied with a playful wink. [color=DeepPink]“Like, Magical Dream Princess has to go bye bye for nowie,”[/color] she told her new friend. [color=DeepPink]“But, like, she’s positive wositve she’ll see Zoppy Woppy againsie wensie in no timey wimey at allsie wallsie~! (giggle!)”[/color] [color=Green]“Yer a really great customer, so Zoppy’ll look forward ta it!”[/color] Zoppy replied. [color=DeepPink]“Byeeeeeeee~!”[/color] MDP called out, waving as the world blurred around her. She couldn’t wait to see what kinds of new friends she’d meet in her next dream… [hr] [color=MediumSlateBlue][i]“How perplexing… Miss Taihei’s defenses are objectively weaker than your own by several thousand orders of magnitude, and yet, where The Storyslayer was able to breach yours with effortless ease, it now appears incapable of penetrating this mere aquatic artificer’s…”[/i][/color] [color=DarkMagenta]“That’s because Terrible Luck Taihei has more protagonist power than I do. Or, put another way, she’s got the Grand Magistrate’s favor on her side, which is one of the reasons I’d never try to fight Penny myself, despite being tens of thousands of times more powerful than her. Even with the objective staggering power differential, instead of smashing her into microscopic paste, I’d basically be committing suicide. Look, here’s another example. Mika should, by all objective logic, be throwing her ditzy life away going up against something as powerful as Mikayla Synnot, but the reality is, little miss Netherrealm Queen is going to get her ethereal ass force fed down her spectral throat, one way or another.”[/color] [color=MediumSlateBlue][i]“Most fascinating… I must admit, the rules framework governing this particular reality plenum has always eluded even my most intrusive attempts at perceiving its immensely intriguing intricacies.”[/i][/color] [color=DarkMagenta]“You can say [i]that[/i] again… But, really, it’s not all that difficult. Once you know how the Grand Magistrate thinks, you can predict pretty much how any series of events is gonna turn out, which is why this little drama with the Queen of Tarts is so fucking hilarious.”[/color] [color=MediumSlateBlue][i]“Yet, that is the crux of my predicament, for the presiding Grand Magistrate is a study in contradictions, his arbitrations blessing some, while cursing others, without proverbial rhyme or reason. If there is a formulaic method to his actions, even I, a being at the 2374th level of mentalic acuity, cannot discern it. Indeed, I fear that even my most exemplary pupil, Thyerg’Xolys, would be comprehensively confounded by it.”[/i][/color] [color=DarkMagenta]“He’s trying to orchestrate a story, one he hopes will be entertaining to read, but which really just caters to his own personal preferences. The question then becomes: what [i]are[/i] those preferences? It’s taken some time, mind you, but I’ve gradually pieced together a psychological profile of this ‘Supreme Storyteller’, of what he wants to see, and the ways he employs to see it. None of what he does is even remotely rational, even when placed in the dubious service of crafting an ostensibly compelling narrative, but with the insight into [i]why[/i] he does it comes the ability to preemptively determine the most likely outcome of any action he chooses to take. For instance, the moment Penny Prime returned to the core narrative, who was more likely to save Princess Baby Talk, her or ‘look at me, I’m a dragon’?”[/color] [color=MediumSlateBlue][i]“Seeing as Miss Asimov’s physical capabilities exceed those of Miss McCullough at her greatest power level by a not inconsiderable margin, it would be a logical assessment that the former would be more likely to succeed in a rescue attempt than the latter, extraneous factors non-withstanding.”[/i][/color] [color=DarkMagenta]“You can bet your polyhedral ass she would, but not for the reason you think. She’d succeed because she has more narrative weight, more protagonist power, more Magisterial favor than even a ‘fan favorite’ like Mayra could ever dream of having in a million years. Even if that fire breathing bitch was the fucking goddess of all dragons, with infinity symbols for all her stats and the power to rewind time itself in a universe where that’s [i]supposed[/i] to be impossible, the Brave Little Toaster would go even [i]further[/i] beyond the impossible and save her girlfriend’s glittery ass before our hypothetical dragon goddess could even blink.”[/color] [color=MediumSlateBlue][i]“And yet, none of these insights seem to perturb you in the slightest.”[/i][/color] [color=DarkMagenta]“Of course not! Like I said, I think it’s fucking hilarious! Queenie might like to think she’s the greatest thing to ever exist in this reality plenum, but even if everyone else agrees with her, the reality remains that she’s a complete joke! I mean, for someone who supposedly has such vast knowledge on the way this reality plenum really works, she still can’t see that she’s just another puppet! Just like every other entity in this fucking place, the only reason she succeeds at anything is because she’s [i]allowed[/i] to! Kill the Grand Magistrate?! Nyahahahahaha!!! The stupid bitch’s dialogue in the Incident Chronicle doesn’t even get a fucking color code! If that doesn’t say your protagonist power is complete dog shit, [i]nothing[/i] does! She’s fucking [i]destined[/i] to fail! Yeah, she might have been able to bypass the tangental reality layer shunt I placed over Penrose, and appropriate the Grief Seeds for her own pathetic purposes, but I already strongly suspected that both of those things would happen, and neither of them really matter in the slightest. Although, her manipulation of the Grief Seeds ultimately blowing up in her ugly face is gonna be [i]particularly[/i] enjoyable to watch.”[/color] [color=MediumSlateBlue][i]“I gather that your investigations into their inner workings has born proverbial fruit?”[/i][/color] [color=DarkMagenta]“You better believe it has. Not only do I know how they [i]really[/i] work, I know where they’re [i]from[/i], and [i]neither[/i] of those insights bodes well for Queenie. [i]Or[/i] our dear Magistrate, for that matter. But to bring things back to your initial point of confusion, even if her Royal Deludedness was able to harm me, if only slightly, that actually worked to my advantage. In fact, showing off the full extent of her disgusting power by attacking me so successfully was probably the [i]worst[/i] thing she could’ve ever done! After all, it allowed me to study the energies of her precious Storyslayer, y’know, the [i]one thing[/i] that [i]makes[/i] her so disgustingly powerful in the first place? And in so studying I was able to understand exactly how it functioned, allowing me to construct a far superior version for myself! Nyahahahaha!!! With that in mind, I think it’s only right that I [i]thank[/i] her for so kindly providing me with such an excellent gift.”[/color] [color=MediumSlateBlue][i]“And how might you plan to convey your gratitude?”[/i][/color] [color=DarkMagenta]“Simply put, I’m going to make her wish she’d never been born. But before we get to [i]that[/i] stage, I’m gonna lend Queenie a helping hand. Yeees, things are about to get a [i]LOT[/i] more interesting… Aren’t they, Finn?”[/color]