[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/72bEcUi.png[/img][/center]

[hider=BGM][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOT5hI0Svrs[/youtube][/hider]

Stormy winds gathered in intensity, and lightning struck over Penrose. The final battle was upon the Mahou…The battle to save their world.

The Queen of Hearts’ purple eye flashed, and she sidestepped Lily’s arrow with a haphazard slide, her dress grazed by the attack. She followed up by spinning the sword to block Alicia’s barrage of arrows, only to stop when the XXL rocket exploded on her, leaving her with soot and some burn marks. “Insolence!” She turned her eyes to Mariette “Alice, let us not tarry...Young lady!”

Lily watched on with a smile as Mariette finally rebelled against the Queen, and she pumped her fist in catharsis as the mad queen’s visage turned baffled, and then enraged. “What? You would defy your mother? I knew it, you were not my Alice after all, just an impostor…Oh well, I will write an ending where I will reunite with the true Alice!”

While the queen was monologuing as if straight from a book of most common villain cliches, Alex visibly shifted in shape, taking on a wild appearance in his Primal Mode, as did their animal pets. Lily followed suit, and transformed her bow into a staff, channelling her mana into great heights as she applied a magic buff to the Mahou and transformed animals:

[color=fff200]“BLAST PROCESSING!”[/color]

A great magic circle resembling a clock face emerged under her feet, the clock hands resembling jagged lightning bolts as they began spinning faster and faster. In turn, the Mahou felt themselves energized, their speed and agility having been increased significantly.

The animals swept into action, their combined teamwork even surpassing a squad of veteran Mahou in co-ordination. But the Queen was undaunted: at the last second, she dodged the combined pincer attack of Tim and Bob as she leapt back and off the rooftop, baiting the two animals into falling off after her while also diving to avoid Dave’s slicing barrier shots, only to conjure a portal and appear right above Alex, performing a downthrust to destroy Alex’ clone just as he was about to open the door to the Nexus, having also cut through the defensive barriers, though not without some effort on her part.

“No! The Quill To Write…IS MINE!”

She was about to deliver a deadly swipe when her eye once again flashed, and she instead performed a spinning slice against the clumps of wettened Story paper that Su and Mika have launched at her. However, while it was not an effective attack, it allowed Alicia to unleash the Blessed Fairy Bolt on her: the enchanted arrow found its mark, having struck her between the eyes.
The Queen’s head was thrown back, a trickle of blood now pouring down her face…Followed by a bone boulder smashing her and knocking Alex away by the projectile’s landing impact. As if it wasn’t overkill enough, the flattened Queen was then rammed by Penny’s car, scattering the bony sphere into fragments and sending her off the rooftop again along with the car. Ronin and Miko hopped out of the car in an attempt to cleverly steal the Storyslayer from the Queen: however, they missed their opportunity due to the car having pushed the Queen alongside her weapon off the rooftop.

And yet, a sharp eye saw her smiling as she fell into a conjured portal.

Having appeared far above with a single knee down while leaning no the Storyslayer, now bloodied and with her limbs awkwardly bent. She held her forehead with her free hand, while the Storyslayer glowed: holding it forward with a shaky grip, she made an X-motion into the air, and writing made in black flames emerged.

“Sticks and stones may break my bones”

“Swords and lances may pierce my heart”

“My body may be crushed and burnt, scattered into ash”

“But I persist throughout the Story, in eternal life, in immortal blood, to the last page.”

[hider=BGM 2][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne_TrhFVqS0[/youtube][/hider]

The words burned, and then glowed with sickly anti-rainbow colors before fading away. As they did, the Queen’s broken body immediately began to repair, but not because of Reinforcement magic. She breathed deeply, and laughed.

“Hah hah…All I can manage is the shortest little poem…But this should be enough.” She spoke as she ripped out the Blessed Fairy Bolt shaft off of her forehead. However, the wounds have not fully healed, leaving nasty black splotches on her body, as if stained by ink.

Lily was not amused, and pointed accusingly at her.

[color=fff200]“Hey! Did you just write a new rule or something? That’s cheating, and probably bad for the world!”[/color]

“Perhaps…But what is one more plothole but a drop in the inkwell!?” The Queen taunted. “I am now one with the Story itself, my life eternally bound to its pages! You cannot hope to defeat me!”

However, Lily was not listening, as she realized that Mariette had a confrontation with her fellow Asengav girls, eventually leading to an attack from Lea.

[color=fff200]“MARIETTE!”[/color] Lily yelled as, just like before at the mansion battle, she tackled Mariette, this time out of the way of Lea’s venomous punch, causing the two to fall off the rooftop, now in freefall.

[hr]
“Of course, leave it to me!” The Cheshire Cat cheerfully agreed to Connie’s request, and sat down on the command chair. “Nyaow! You’re listening to mya, myaggots!” She took on quite a brash attitude emulating a tough army personality, if a bit hindered by her cat-like speech.

Later, when MDP appeared, having informed of her intent to join the final battle, the Cheshire Cat perked up. “Oh, I can help! I’ll make a cat flap to Covington Tower!” With yet another swish of her magical tail, a cat flap doorway appeared, opening to the rooftop access doorway of Covington Tower.