[Center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/Rl7cktP.png[/img] [Sub].:⋮[Eyes wide]⋮:.[/Sub] [hider=Summary] (24) | (21) | (21) | (6) | (4) (Metal & Lightning & Gravity) | (Regen & Prime) (Bile) | (Tooth and Claw) | (Elemental) | (Enhanced Uniform) | (Immortality) (Monstrous Metamorph) | (Legacy) | (Enhanced Weapon) | (Dual Weapon) | (Gifted) (Awareness) | (Intuition) (ManaFont)|Solo (Redirected Magic) | (Second spec) | (Transport) (Broken reincarnation) | (Nonstandard limbs) [/hider][/Center] [sub]Nowhere At All[/sub] Osirus’s S.W.A.R.M shield reviled the true danger of Penny’s counter and it wasn’t the shrapnel nor the bolas. No, it the slime flung out with the concussive blast. As that slime, which had splattered across the Scorpion of Destruction and parts of the S.W.A.R.M. Shield was a gray wash. Corrosive self-replicating nanites, designed to counter machine entities and regenerators, by consuming and growing more numerous. The lasting effects against Osirus would be minimal. Penny’s gray wash was simplistic in comparison. All it did was break down what it came into contact into more gray wash. But it was aggressive in that hard coded directive. All the Osiris would need to do is disconnect a limited fraction of the contacted nanites from her own swarm and she would be untouched. The Scorpion was another matter however, and it had more pressing matter to deal with as well. As when Scorpion of Destruction moved to intercept the incoming hammer swing, there was a familiar sound of electric whining, soon followed by the telltale sound of a gauss discharge. There was no projectile though, as this time it wasn’t Penny firing off another round from her internalized Breath Weapon. No, instead at the moment of discharge her hammer lit up as a its internal Ion engine flared to life. Lending a sudden boost of speed and momentum to her swing as Penny brought the weapon down. Shifting her localized gravity as well, she would hit the scorpion like a meteor. Penny herself was left flat footed after her strike as well. Though it was clear she would rally fast. [color=9e0039][u][b]“So Nykannis is at least treating you to Black box protocols. Shame.”[/b][/u][/color] Nevertheless, as Osiris gained a clear angle on Penny’s back. She would noticed a gleaming red circle just above Penny’s shoulder blades, one that was tracking her movements. [hr] [sub]Alone?[/sub] Mariette’s request vexed Penny. She knew the pick was important. But part of her had been expecting that it would have been able to be passed off whenever needed due to Mariettes portals. It’s why she carried it on her prime body. As at least that way it was always safe. But that body was occupied. Away from Penrose. Then [b]It[/b] happened. Reality cracked. [hr] [sub]With Everyone[/sub] As the world started to fall apart the storm that had overtaken Penrose refused to abate. If anything, it seemed to grow stronger. Lightning flashed near constantly, the rumbling cracks of thunder echoing non-stop. The keen eyed would notice a figure that would flit into view in the space between lightning strikes. Titanic in size, but vague in detail. Only the outline of a person. And if one paid close attention to the thunder, it would almost sound like laughter. [hr] [sub]With the Twins[/sub] [color=9e0039][u][b]“Let’s do this then”[/b][/u][/color] Penny would state before turning and taking off. She wasn’t fast enough to lose the twins, but that didn’t mean they didn’t need to move fast to keep up. Around them, they witnessed the Bastion shifting and remolding itself. New passageways, staircases, and doors folding out of the metal giving them an unbroken straight path. Something Penny normally did softly, and quietly, but time was of the essence. It took only a few moments for the three of them reach the end of their sprint. And on the deck of the Bastion stood the vehicle that they would ride down to the tower. A [url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f4/OtokarCobraII.jpg/960px-OtokarCobraII.jpg]modified Otokar Coba II[/url]. The doors to the armored car flew open letting them jump in, with Penny taking the wheel. Miko and Ronin barely had time to grab their seat belts before Penny floored it. Sending them all racing off the edge of the Bastion and down towards the tower. [hr] [sub]Mid air[/sub] Lightning cradled the falling car. Acting almost as guild rails, and even a road. Though only in flashes and short instances. Not that the driver noticed, no Penny’s attention was drawn to the far horizon where things twisted and rippled into incomprehensibility. It looked familiar in a way she didn’t have the words to explain, comfortable and terrible in ways she couldn’t understand. And then she heard the laughter intermingled with the storm guiding her down to the tower. And in the flashes she saw him. Laat’AlOfan, The End of the Cycle. Shaking his head in mocking mirth. [hr] [sub]In the Storm[/sub] [Center][i][h3][color=9e0b0f]You Think Too Simply My Daughter. It Is No Fault Of Yours, You Are Still Young. So Here Is A Hint.[/color][/h3][/i][/Center] Lightning would strike the Bastion. Passing though it harmlessly. And carry on until it struck the falling Car. The Core of that lightning strike was black, but glittering with speckled spots of white. But it was there in gone to fast for anyone to truly capture how it looked. [hr] [sub]Penrose[/sub] Across the city, each and every Penny bot would suddenly gasp. The controls slipping away from the operators for a moment. [color=9e0039][u][b]“Oh. That simplifies things.”[/b][/u][/color] They would all say at once, never once stopping in the actions they had been assigned. [color=9e0039]“Sorry about that, returning temporary privileges”[/color] The bots would say once again as the operators once again gained control. What ever it was that happened, that momentary loss seemed to have improved all of the Penny bots in Penrose. [hr] [sub]Covington Tower[/sub] The lightning strike that passed through the Bastion and struck the car carrying Miko, Ronin, and Penny did not destroy the car. No energized it, and carried them down faster than gravity would normally allow. The car was projectile in its own right, falling, aimed, guided towards the Queen of Hearts herself. [color=9e0039][u][b]“We are coming in hot! Brace for impact or jump!”[/b][/u][/color] Penny would call out to the other passengers in the car. Internally she couldn’t help but laugh along with the storm. She really had been thinking too simply. But that didn’t matter now. [color=9e0039][i]‘One divine ice pick coming right up’[/i][/color] She mused to herself, the subtle weight of its divinity pressing against her as it always did. [hr] [sub]Nowhere At All[/sub] Unnoticed by all save the Mad Queen herself, was Penny's Meta-textual significance slid down ever so slightly. It would change nothing, not in anything more significant then a rounding error. Elsewhere, A Penny in a car would jump dramatically. One simply a bot, now it held stake over the Penny fighting against Osiris. But only by so much as that Penny dropped. It was the Bastion that loomed above all Penny variants that roamed about now. Cradled in the Final Storm, sung a lullaby by the thunder.