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True to her name, Storm Witch Stacy had encountered a great many storms during her time as a magical girl (indeed, she had been the cause of no small number of them), but none came close to the strange and terrifying tempest currently engulfing Penrose. [color=MediumAquamarine]“Holy freaking crap!”[/color] she exclaimed as she beheld the shattering of the reality plenum with wide eyes. [color=MediumAquamarine]“This is all [i]kinds[/i] of crazy!”[/color]

[color=9e0039][u]“We have been instructed to reposition ourselves,”[/u][/color] one of the Pennybots told her. [color=9e0039][u]“Do you wish to accompany us?”[/u][/color]

[color=MediumAquamarine]“Sure!”[/color] Stacy confirmed with an enthusiastic smile. [color=MediumAquamarine]“After all, a Magical Girl needs to be where the action is!”[/color]

[color=9e0039][u]“Then please hold tight,”[/u][/color] the Pennybot instructed, before scooping the startled storm witch up in a bridal carry, activating her counter-grav arrays, and shooting off through the tempestuous skies towards Covington Tower.

Back in the tangental reality layer, Stampede Stacy watched as her spectral stampede crashed into the particle cannon, sending its glowing beam shooting skyward into the lightning-covered heavens. [color=MediumAquamarine]“Golly, that sure is one purty light show,”[/color] the undead cowgirl noted as she adjusted the brim of her hat. However, she didn’t have long to admire it, as the (mostly) recovered Oros the Savage proceeded to promptly charge towards her, its toothy maw spread wide. 

[color=MediumAquamarine]“Well, butter me up an’ call me a biscuit!”[/color] Stampede Stacy exclaimed, her eyes going wide even as she began twirling her lightning lasso. [color=MediumAquamarine]“You are one powerfully ugly critter! But ah reckon with a lil’ o’ that ol’ Stampede Stacy magic, ah can break ya in easy as any buckin’ bronco!”[/color] Just as the massive creature was about to plow into her, the cowgirl leapt up, slipped her lighting lasso around its head, and landed atop its back. [color=MediumAquamarine]“Yeehaw! Time ta show ya why ah’m tha Rodeo Queen o’ Ayame High!”[/color]

Yet, even if the threat of Oros the Savage was seemingly in hand, the barbaric beast was not the only foe assailing Stampede Stacy and her three allies. In the blink of an eye, the aptly titled Oros the Swift darted in to deliver a rapid flurry of sword strikes. Before she even knew what was happening, little Crystallis Stacy found herself sliced into a pile of limbs, her decapitated head resting precariously on top. [color=MediumAquamarine]“H-Huh?!”[/color] she wondered. [color=MediumAquamarine]“W-What the…?”[/color]

[color=MediumAquamarine]“Hey! This is no time to be going to pieces, little pal!”[/color] Staycee admonished her. [color=MediumAquamarine]“We’ve still got a crazy cool battle to—”[/color] 

[color=MediumAquamarine]“L-Look out behind you!”[/color] Crystallis Stacy cried, the wall of specters swirling around Staycee slowing the blur that was Oriko Ishii down enough for her to be visible. Even with the warning, the enchanted sword strikes still managed to hit their target, but they struck equally enchanted armor, causing them to merely graze off it.

[color=MediumAquamarine]“So! [i]This[/i] dastardly scamp has returned!”[/color] Staycee exclaimed with a fierce grin. [color=MediumAquamarine]“Well, that’s cool,”[/color] the ectomancer added as she sent a torrent of spirits racing after the lightning-fast Nomad. [color=MediumAquamarine]“My ghost pals were just [i]dying[/i] to play with her again!”[/color] 

As this was taking place, and to her considerable surprise, Saw Blade Stacy’s deluge of neon pink paint had succeeded in subduing Oros the Inventive. [color=MediumAquamarine]“Huh. I can’t believe that actually worked… Oh well!”[/color] she added with a grin as she got to her feet. [color=MediumAquamarine]“Score another one for me!”[/color]

As it transpired, she’d won her fight just in time, as Oros the Shrewd had been sent flying towards her like a tiny, flaming meteor. [color=MediumAquamarine]“Sweet!”[/color] she cheered, the ordinarily alarming sight only causing her grin to broaden. [color=MediumAquamarine]“Bonus round!”[/color] Jumping up, she give the incoming projectile a spinning kick, sending it careening off towards where the (still remarkably functional) particle cannon was firing its beam into the heavens.

Also being fired through the heavens was Stitch ‘Em Up Stacy, who found herself flying across the battlefield, propelled by yet another high-pressure torrent of blood. It wasn’t the strangest thing that had happened to her during a battle, what with the giant cherry popsicle melded to a gelatinous unicycle with prismatic butterfly wings and dozens of cybernetic arms, the giant cotton candy crocodile with crystalline clocks for legs that spit sharp rainbows, and the giant pig made of popcorn skulls and wielding a flaming flail made of teacup tipped spinal cords, but it was pretty close.

Meanwhile, the source of the crimson stream ended up rocketing right into the path of Grimoiric Hearts Stacy’s twin orbs of ball lightning, taking the shots meant for the sharkenbear and getting fried to a crisp in the process. 

[color=MediumAquamarine]“Well, crap…”[/color] the startled Stacy managed to mutter a moment before the unharmed sharkenbear chomped the jaws of one of its shark-headed arms onto one of her patchwork appendages. Simultaneously, the other shark head latched onto one of her legs. Then the chimeric creature began to pull… [color=MediumAquamarine]“Wow, you look even hungrier up close!”[/color] she observed with a grin. [color=MediumAquamarine]“Well, now that you’re at point blank range, let’s try this again!”[/color] she declared, conjuring a sizable lightning orb in her free hand and thrusting it into the creature’s main bear head. [color=MediumAquamarine]“Say ‘aaahh’!”[/color]

Elsewhere, Cyberslime Stacy was sustaining some rather severe emotional damage. Storm Witch Stacy had portaled herself out of the battlefield, Staceella continued to slumber contentedly, and OG Stacy Stitches continued to be gnawed on by one of the teeth balls (she wasn’t really suffering any major harm, in fact, it was really more like a relaxing massage, but she was too tired after unleashing her overcharged Killing Blow to try and escape). This left Cyberslime Stacy alone to face the full force of Oros the Wise’s verbal abuse. 

Now, while she was perhaps one of the most [i]physically[/i] durable of the Stacys, Cyberslime Stacy was also one of the most emotionally fragile, a vulnerability that a manipulative student counselor like Miss Fang was easily able to exploit to the fullest extent. Pulling no punches, Wisdom went right for the proverbial heart, cruelly crushing all of Stacy’s preconceived notions and tearing her delusional worldview to shreds.

[color=MediumAquamarine]“R-Ramona really… h-hates me…?”[/color] Stacy stammered, her expression one of horrified disbelief. [color=MediumAquamarine]“S-She r-really [i]d-doesn’t[/i] enjoy p-playing games with me…? B-But… S-She said it was just because she was s-super busy... S-She said she wanted to h-help me… S-She wanted me to h-have enough money to get my own place, n-not… n-not because she h-hated having me around… R-Right…?”[/color] the gelatinous girl wondered, slimy tears beginning to stream down her translucent face as the awful truth finally began to sink in. The poor nano-slime girl’s ugly crying only got worse as Wisdom’s verbal assault continued. However, just as it was about to reach its traumatizing crescendo, Stitch ‘Em Up Stacy slammed into the student counselor, knocking her away and putting at least a brief stop to her caustic commentary.

After taking a moment to get her bearings, the zombie medic noticed her slimy ally’s plight. [color=MediumAquamarine]“Holy freaking crap! Are you okay, Stacy?!”[/color]

[color=MediumAquamarine]“N-Noooo…”[/color] Cyberslime Stacy replied between anguished sobs. In fact, the poor young woman was so distraught, she didn’t even notice the fact that the woman talking to her was completely covered with blood. [color=MediumAquamarine]“I-I’m s-such a horrible person! A-A t-total [i]loser![/i] N-No one likes me, I’m annoying, I screw everything up, I-I’ll never be a hero, a-and…”[/color]

[color=MediumAquamarine]“Hey, hey…”[/color] Stitch ‘Em Up Stacy told the sobbing slime girl as soothingly as she could, while placing a blood-soaked hand on her shoulder. [color=MediumAquamarine]“It’s gonna be okay. Let’s start by taking a few deep breaths, and then we can talk about why you feel that way,”[/color] the undead medic advised. [color=MediumAquamarine]“Just remember that everything you’re feeling is totally valid, even if all that stuff you said isn't even remotely true. By the way, did you know that intentional breathing exercises date back to ancient times? In fact, over a thousand years ago, yogis in India had already come up with, like,  [i]dozens[/i] of different breathing exercises for different mental states! Not only that, but…”[/color]

While this was transpiring, inside the wreckage of Scylla, Shark Tooth Stacy was facing off against the Oros of Shock and Awe. [color=MediumAquamarine]“Dang, girl, you’re really into some seriously freaky crap, huh?”[/color] the former racing queen remarked as she watched her scantily-clad foe slowly savor the oversized eyeball that constituted a snack for the strange fox woman. In response, Thalia spit out a condensed spray of blood, which Stacy was barely able to avoid thanks to her enhanced reflexes and considerable experience with reading opponents. However, before either pilot could make another move, Scylla’s battered body/head began to roll, sending the cockpit spinning and the two combatants ricocheting around it like pinballs. [color=MediumAquamarine]“Hey! I ain’t the one doin’ this!”[/color] Stacy shot back when Thalia seemed to blame her for their current predicament. [color=MediumAquamarine]“Someone must be screwin’ around outside!”[/color] 

Indeed someone was. After extricating herself from the ruins of Axis Mundai, the abominable automaton known as Alice Parker had begun rolling what was left of Scylla towards Saw Blade Stacy with ever-increasing rapidity. The hyper-advanced nanites suffusing the battlefield served to facilitate this by severing the bizarre Framewerk’s remaining techno-tendrils and morphing the machine’s exterior into a more rounded shape as if its Zinethonium alloy hull was little more than putty.

[color=MediumAquamarine]“Woah!”[/color] the chainsaw-wielding Ars Magi exclaimed when she caught sight of the giant, neon pink head rolling her way. Getting hit by something like that would most assuredly [i]not[/i] be pleasant, but thankfully, avoiding it was a fairly simple matter. After all, with whatever was propelling Scylla’s vision being obstructed by its massive bulk, Stacy only needed to get out of its path, and the misshapen head would just pass her by. 

Back in Penrose proper, Storm Witch Stacy had ascended to the roof of Covington Tower along with the squad of Pennybots, where she was presented with an admittedly rather epic confrontation. [color=MediumAquamarine]“Holy freaking wow! Is this, like, the big crazy cool final boss battle for the universe Doc Zinestine was talkin’ about?!”[/color] she asked in breathless excitement as she watched the gathered magical girls (and boy) launch their various attacks against the Wonderland sovereign. [color=MediumAquamarine]“I’ve got a crazy cool attack, too!”[/color] she declared, aiming her stormy staff at the Queen of Hearts. [color=MediumAquamarine]“I’ll portal that big meanie someplace super awful!”[/color]

Helpfully, there were many windows into other worlds through which she could peer in her search for just the right destination. It wasn’t long before a swirling reality fragment depicting a large gelatinous cylinder filled with numerous other individuals appeared before her. [color=MediumAquamarine]“Holy freaking crap! That looks almost exactly like one of those gelatinous cube things from that D&D book Stacy showed me! That’ll be perfect!”[/color] The tip of her staff crackled with blue lightning, before shooting forth an actinic, portal-generating arc. Unfortunately, another reality fragment moved into the path of the attack, one displaying the very tangental reality layer in which the other Stacys were battling the Oroses. [color=MediumAquamarine]“Oh crap!”[/color] Stacy cried as she watched her Esperverse iteration get sucked through her crackling portal and plunge into the depths of the cyan slime cylinder. [color=MediumAquamarine]“Like, that totally wasn’t what I meant to do!”[/color]