[center][img]https://images2.imgbox.com/f0/cb/EDRQFF0y_o.png[/img]
[color=DarkMagenta]Did you idiots forget I was still here?[/color]
[color=888888]-Doctor Nykannis, Queen of the Mad Scientists[/color][/center]

At the heart of the ARGO’s massive, moon-sized form resided its primary bridge, filled with glowing screens, flashing consoles, curtains of hanging wires, tangles of tetra-tachyonic tubers, crackling antenna-tipped apex antimatter apparatuses, pulsing polymorphic perception arrays, and a myriad of other biomechanical, technomantic machinery too incomprehensible to describe. It was at the center of this chamber, ringed by the titanic vessel’s half dozen hyper-tech AI cores, that Doctor Nykannis sat upon her ultra-tech command throne and watched events playing out on an arc of several holographic screens, her full attention focused on each, via a level of multitasking that rivaled the Queen of Penrose herself. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the largest was dedicated to a view of the ongoing battle between the Oros copies, Penny Prime, and the so-called “Stacy Squad” in the tangental reality layer overlay of Penrose. However, on either side of it were a pair of only slightly smaller displays. One depicted the Penrose Pack’s assault upon the roof of Covington Tower, while the other provided a view of a location significantly farther afield, namely, a certain beach in a certain City of Blood, where an enforced vacation had just concluded in a spasm of violence. 

[color=DarkMagenta]“Well, [i]that[/i] sure didn’t last long,”[/color] Nykannis snorted. [color=DarkMagenta]“The dolphin kept the Penrose Pack out of commission for three fucking [i]months[/i], and this stupid shark couldn’t even manage more than a [i]week![/i] Still, it’s nice to see that my little Ashley’s finally settled into her role as team leader. Yesss,”[/color] the Monarch of Mad Science added with an approving smirk before taking a sip of her glowing, yellowy-green beverage. [color=DarkMagenta]“There’s nothing quite like seeing someone live up to their potential, wouldn’t you agree?”[/color]

[color=MediumSlateBlue][i]“Indeed, Doctor,”[/i][/color] the polyhedral technorune-covered brain of Xozooth the Xorcerer concurred from where it hovered next to the Mad Scientist Supreme. [color=MediumSlateBlue][i]“Guiding a promising apprentice to the poly-plenumic pinnacles of personal perfection is a most rewarding experience, to be sure, although, I am unsure if is correct to bestow such a title upon young Miss Avenir at the present juncture.”[/i][/color]

[color=DarkMagenta]“Perhaps not yet,”[/color] Nykannis conceded. [color=DarkMagenta]“But I’m certain she won’t disappoint me like certain [i]others[/i] have. Just give it time.”[/color] 

[color=MediumSlateBlue][i]“Speaking of time, is that not your friend down there?”[/i][/color] Xozooth inquired.

[color=DarkMagenta]“Yeah, that’s Jen,”[/color] Nykannis confirmed. [color=DarkMagenta]“Though she goes by [i]Alice[/i] now, of all fucking names…”[/color]

[color=MediumSlateBlue][i]“She seems to be performing quite capably,”[/i][/color] the polymathemagician observed.

[color=DarkMagenta]“Well, I’d certainly [i]hope[/i] so,”[/color] the mad scientist replied, rolling her eyes. [color=DarkMagenta]“If she had access to her [i]full[/i] power, she could’ve wiped the ocean floor with those idiots in less than a second. As it is, she’s given the Pax Septimus Pack the chance they’ve been waiting for, which I’m pretty sure is the only reason she even went to that shithole in the first place,”[/color] Nykannis explained. [color=DarkMagenta]“Y’know, get everything back to ‘normal’ so that her favorite failure can make his ‘triumphant’ return.”[/color]

[color=MediumSlateBlue][i]“If I am not mistaken, the return of the status quo there benefits [i]you[/i] as well,”[/i][/color] Xozooth noted. 

[color=DarkMagenta]“It sure does,”[/color] Nykannis responded with a smirk. [color=DarkMagenta]“And so does ‘Alice’s’  little ‘business trip’. That, coupled with Olivia’s earlier visit, should pretty much guarantee the Caustic Bovines show up in time for Kate’s impending photo shoot.”[/color]

[color=MediumSlateBlue][i]“From what I gather, these ‘Caustic Bovines’ are powerful in the extreme, even for poly-plenumic entities. Are you not concerned for Miss Carson’s safety?”[/i][/color]

[color=DarkMagenta]“She’s got her new pets to protect her,”[/color] Nykannis replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. [color=DarkMagenta]“But if for some reason they [i]aren’t[/i] enough, well…”[/color] the mad scientist’s mouth curled into a maniacal grin. [color=DarkMagenta]“You should know by now that I [i]always[/i] have a contingency plan.”[/color]

[color=MediumSlateBlue][i]“Such as for the event the copies you made of the various Oros iterations fail to overcome Miss Asimov and her allies?”[/i][/color]

[color=DarkMagenta]“[i]Exactly.[/i]”[/color]

The pair watched as Oros the Mad appeared to leap to her own death, but this development didn’t perturb Nykannis in the slightest.

[color=DarkMagenta]“Guess I gave them a bit [i]too[/i] much autonomy,”[/color] she remarked. Of course there was always the chance this was some ploy to set up some form of surprise strike, but even if that wasn’t the case and The Mad truly [i]had[/i] just decided to commit suicide, most of the other Oroses were fairing rather well, especially, and most importantly, Osiris, who was directly engaged with the preposterously powerful Penny Prime herself. [color=DarkMagenta]“At least Oros the Overlord has yet to let me down. She’s really holding her own against the Tin Titan there, as expected of the work of [i]my[/i] unparalleled super-scientific genius! Nyahahahaha!”[/color]

[color=MediumSlateBlue][i]“Sadly, the same cannot be said for the brave souls opposing the Queen of Hearts,”[/i][/color] Xozooth observed with a hint of melancholy.

[color=DarkMagenta]“Yeah, they’re insanely outmatched and [i]then[/i] some,”[/color] Nykannis agreed as the view on the central display focused on where the headless body of Janet/Kaylie/Whatever-she-was-called-now lay on the rain-slicked rooftop. [color=DarkMagenta]“Even Miss ‘Keeper of the Keys, Champion of Champions, and Grand Magistrate’s own personally chosen Guardian of the Nexus’ was finished off in one stroke, though that [i]particular[/i] development shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone with half a brain.”[/color]

[color=MediumSlateBlue][i]“Based upon previously observed uses of her blade, it is quite probable that the Guardian was not slain by the Queen of Hearts’ attack,”[/i][/color] Xozooth pointed out.

[color=DarkMagenta]“Whatever the case, she’s out of action for the rest of the fight,”[/color] Nykannis replied. [color=DarkMagenta]“Obviously she couldn’t manage to maintain enough protagonist power to be more than a one-note set piece. And speaking of set pieces, those mirror traps are quite the melodramatic little sideshow, aren't they? Well, I imagine that was the [i]intent[/i] at least,”[/color] the mad scientist added with a derisive sneer. [color=DarkMagenta]“Still, I’m so very pleased to see that Penny has enough genre savviness and general narrative knowledge to avoid getting stuck in one herself. After all,”[/color] she continued, her toothy grin broadening as a new screen depicting a figure floating in a glowing tube overlapped all the others. [color=DarkMagenta]“The proverbial curtain will rise on [i]that[/i] particular scene soon enough…”[/color]