BrokenPromise

Kurai Majokko: Tsundere Gekido

"I hardly ever run because I never have a reason to!"

— Suki Oyama

Normally Oros didn’t mind being part of these meetings. She rarely got a chance to provide any input, but having a lot of cute girls in one place was never a bad thing. It was rare for anyone to attack at least right off the bat. Magical girls had pretty diverse magic and the chance that one of them could hard counter whatever you did increased with their numbers. Which in turn was an invitation for a chaotic mess that no one really wanted. So usually there was a lot of diplomacy and feeling each other out. Not physically feeling, as that would be weird. At least Oros assumed as much, as people tended to not like it when she tried to touch them. But none of the girls present were interesting enough to look at, or she had seen them countless times before.

And she couldn’t stop worrying about Acid Drop.

Worry that was only going to be heightened by Evil Eye’s next words.

She could feel her chest tighten. Of all the club members that weren’t Willow, Evil Eye seemed like the silliest of the bunch. For her to respond in such a serious manner was more than unnerving. The desire to do something was overflowing and Oros couldn’t stand still anymore. She knew where Tsubomi was supposed to be and the direction Evil Eye was headed in. That was enough information for Oros to track down Acid Drop herself, she reasoned.

"I’ll get her back."

The tips of her tendrils flattened into knives, and with a flick, she sliced her shoulder blades. her wound burst open, which provided Oros with quick acceleration. Oros couldn’t fly and didn't have afterburners that could be flicked on at a moment’s notice. But she could give herself near friction-free movement that only necessitated enough acceleration to get to top speed. After that, not crashing were far more important for maintaining that speed. She made herself more aerodynamic with her blood, wrapping her body with fins and spikes to reduce air drag. Or maybe there was no science going on here, as magic took care of all that for her. Maybe Oros was doing this because it looked really metal. Either way, it wasn’t a trick she employed in the past. She skipped across the rooftops like a stone, sometimes jumping as many as five at a time.

"Forget the goat, where’s the horses?"

— Willow

Even as Evil Eye flew about, Willow’s head stayed perfectly nested on her shoulder. Until she mentioned the location of her phone.

"You’re not going to bring it to me?" She lifted her head up and allowed the rest of the detention club to rush past her, Evil Eye included. "Okay, but you’d better be able to get my band mate back without me. Vocalists don’t grow on trees!" It was unlikely that Evil Eye had heard any of that, but it was unlikely she would have tried any harder, so who really cared?

Cafe Red, now there was an unfortunate set of circumstances. It was a coffee and tea shop that had a wonderful European aesthetic. Apparently the owner had been inspired after a trip to Paris and wanted to theme his new business after an eatery inside a Barnes & Noble. It was quite the undertaking to build. Construction in any part of Japan is prohibitively expensive, but it was worth it in Willow’s honest opinion. The only problem was that the owner didn’t know English as well as he thought he did. So instead of naming his European bookstore themed coffee shop "Cafe Read," it was "Cafe Red." Apparently the exterior was so expensive to build that he didn’t have the money to change the name after the fact, and was forced to work with his faux pas. The interior did tend to have red elements to make up for it, but it was still the funniest story Willow never told. Instead, she’d say it pertained to the red light district that was around in Hibusa’s past. That one even got Suki to blush.

The path to Cafe Red was cleared out by some caustic faeries. Dripping with acid, the little fliers dive bombed the apes before they cleared the way for the feline magical girl. Willow pushed open the doors like she was walking into a saloon. There were several tables by the front window, and many more booths lining the walls. The wooden counter was open all the way across to give patrons a view of the pastries they could eat. In the morning this place would be flooded with sunlight and early commuters, but at this hour the orange light of the sun crept across the walls and became an after school hangout. There were a lot of plants, many of which Willow couldn’t be bothered to identify. Though she figured the plants likely enjoyed their sunny hangout. She plucked a leaf off of one and turned it in her hand, then cast it aside.

There weren’t a lot of people in the cafe, but there were enough to make searching a pain in the ass. Willow turned around to waved to a mogall before plucking a phone off a random student. After a quick scroll, she returned it to his pocket before grabbing another phone. After scrolling, she found something that interested her and the corners of her lips curled up. "I knew I wasn’t the only one who played this!" She scrolled some more and huffed. "Gold Ship is nice, but she’s got nothing on my Kitasan Black. Why don’t I just log in and..." Her thumbs began to move again, tapping the screen that only she could see. A few seconds later, her violin ringtone went off, and her eyes flicked up. More caustic farries appeared at her side as she laid the phone on a nearby table. "You really should have put that on vibrate..."

---

"Frogs and bug zappers are both viable forms of pest removal."

— Bodacious Boleite

"Hmmm?" Boleite was aware Kaeru was nearby, but she hadn’t expected her to speak up. There were plenty of other things to focus on, and she didn’t typically strike up conversations while on a hunt. "Not necessarily. Topaz can land a shot from nearly anywhere." She slowed her pace so that she could speak with Sayuri more easily. "But it’s not impossible. Given the trajectory the arrow landed at, I’d say she’s at least near Hibusa. I know some of the other girls wanted to do something around here, but I didn’t get involved with that. The younger members know enough not to ask me to help with their pranks. But Topaz likes to play recon and support them, so maybe." The scientist could throw a probability out there, but she didn’t.

That was about all the small talk she had room for before more miseria made themselves known. One alleyway was teaming with them, and if sensing a more potent tool was necessary, Boleite switched firing modes. At least that was what it looked like, as four prongs jetted out of the end of her weapon. Electricity arced between the forks, growing brighter and brighter. Eventually the tip got so bright it left after images burning in Kaeru’s eyes. Then with a single shot, the sound of thunder echoed through the town, and a bolt of lightning ripped through the miseria. It didn’t stop with the side street, as it jumped from miseria to miseria, racing up and down buildings and down adjacent streets. Finally the lightning bolt leaped into the sky, as if to return to the hand of Zeus. But it was actually clearing some clustered mogalls out of the sky that had overshadowed the sunset.

"I said I didn’t want them blocking the sunset, and what’s the very next thing they do?" She smiled at her own joke before turning to look at Kaeru’s frogs. They were hard at work cleaning up the miseria in other nooks of the darkened street. After a brief examination, she nodded her head. "Didn’t figure you for the summoning type." She confessed. "Do you like frogs? They seem to like you." It was said that a magical girl is simply one’s ideal self. Their appearance and powers are a reflection of what they strive to be. Perhaps Boleite’s curiosity was what had manifested her Tesla-esque powers.

"Hmm, I wonder if all of those eyes are looking for Topaz." Even though Boleite had cleared the sky a moment ago, there were more of those freaky eyeballs floating off in the same direction. "Come on, we might as well go this way. If the rest of the miseria are going to be anywhere, it’s going to be hanging out around a bunch of magical girls."

---

"Did I arrive at a night club? The music isn’t to my tastes, but the light show ain’t half bad."

— Dazzling Diamond

Diamond had not concerned herself with the normies present. It might have seemed unusual, as a light girl’s mission was to selflessly protect others. Perhaps Diamond was fully aware the creature had been a deliberate trap to protect Tsubomi. She was the proverbial treasure laying in the heart of the dungeon. And once the treasure had been removed, the monster's goal had changed from protection to retrieval.

Diamond eyed the lasers falling on either side of her. They probably could have been a great deal more accurate, but weren’t accurate enough to ensure a hit on Diamond without risking Tsubomi’s well being. As if suddenly noticing that she herself were jeopardizing the girl’s health, she allowed the bat to slide in her hand until she was holding it in the middle.

"Woops."

It wasn’t like she could knock a jawbreaker into that thing’s eyes while carrying Tsubomi. Her bat in general was something best swung with two hands, and was not some primitive club to be held like a neanderthal. But even with her being at a bit of a disadvantage, she felt she had just struck a home run and passed first base. This was an incredibly lucky break and she had proper backup this time.

A finger on her bat uncoiled and she tapped her pocketed cell phone. Her lapel mic popped before going silent. She was connected.

"Topaz, I have sour skittle. Coming up to Fourth street’s second intersection. Sprinkled parfait on my tail. Requesting a napkin."

Her phone crackled to life. "Napkin in bound, tell me when it arrives." Even with the static, the voice was oddly soothing.

Moments later, Diamond came into an intersection. As soon as the monster entered it, she whipped around and dug her shoes into the pavement. The hot asphalt from earlier was wiped off of the bottom of her shoes as she skidded to a halt. As soon as she stopped moving, a hail of golden arrows slammed into the side of the beast’s body. Maybe it popped a few eyes, maybe it didn’t, but it was enough to grant Diamond that left hand turn she needed to make.

"Direct hit, thanks Topaz."

"Not a problem, hun!" she giggled. "You get yourself and that skittle here in one piece, ya hear?"

The left turn was complete. That was second base. Just two more to reach home…

... But in the wake of the creature's destruction, a red blur had followed the trail and was closing in on Diamond's position. Oros was headed towards the intersection and would be at Evil Eye's beast momentarily.

Symphony on High

"You can’t solve everything with magic, Ciri!"

— Amanda

"Heeeeey!" Luna thought back. "See if I eat pizza with-" But she was cut off, perhaps by the developing situation. Which was just as well. Now wasn’t the time for a heart to heart.

"Got it!" Despite being nearly melted by magic, it sounded like Amanda was still doing good. A ball of sand flew out of the hallway and smacked into the side of one weretiger’s head, putting him out instantly. The other one turned and fired down the hallway. It was hard to see what was happening, but Amanda cried out again. Normally guns weren’t very effective tools on monsters, but in the hands of another monster, their chaotic energies often affected their firearms. This was one of the reasons monsters didn’t employ such weapons against espers. But against other monsters? Guns were a viable option again. Given that Maverick had many monsters in its ranks, it made sense to retaliate with armed monsters.

Amanda’s safety aside, Cirilla got her opening and finished her corny one liner just in time to fire on. Between now and the previous fight to acquire Boteg, she had learned a bit about her opponent. Dealing damage was about quantity, not quality, she told herself. It was so simple in retrospect that she wondered how it had escaped her for so long. So she decided to make her next attack really count and go for a quick transplace that would line up Viper for a single, solid blow from a powerful advisory. But only if her armor didn’t eat the spell like it had been doing all of her others.

Just one problem.

While a shadowtouch is a great tactic for instantly inflicting a target with a melody, it does nothing to make transplace melodies activate faster. Viper had about a second and a half to switch places with Ciri, and Ciri had a fraction of that before Regina’s claws batted her from behind. It was fortunate that espers had legendary resistances to monsters, but that didn’t stop Ciri from flying over head. Viper had entirely missed Ciri’s acrobatic performance when she turned to look at her leg, and kicked at the arm that had reached out and grabbed her.

Ciri was about to plant her face on a light fixture when she suddenly swapped places with Viper. Ciri tumbled into a kneeling position, and Viper fell into one.

"Oh? I thought you’d have appreciated the privacy. Very well." Viper stood up and aimed her shotgun at Ciri. "Two versus two."

Ciri had just enough time to roll down the hallway and avoid getting shot in the face. It might have been a bit of a happy accident, but she did manage to move Viper further away from amanda while placing herself closer. It only cost her some dignity and a pretty big bruise. But Regina was moving into frame again, and between Ciri and Amanda was a lone weretiger with a machine gun. Upon noticing her arrival, he turned around and started shoving her back into the hallway. The dragon’s jaw swung open and flames swirled inside its mouth.

"Good news, Ciri!" Luna spoke up in Ciri's mind. "The enemy is retreating back upstairs, so if you lay low, we’ll swing by and pick you up!"

The faint laughter of the nuns were already reaching Ciri’s ears.

South Town Scuffle: Two Wolves (Terry Bogard VS Broken Promise)

Uguu, I had planned on posting this earlier but the weekend was ABSOLUTELY WILD (in a not so good way) and I didn't have as much time to do things as I wanted. So here's my serviceable confirmation that I am still existing.

South Town Scuffle: Two Wolves (Terry Bogard VS Broken Promise)

"In hindsight, trying to copy my opponent’s banner may have been a bad idea."

-Mika Fang

MP: 10/10
Swan Gauge: 78%

Chinatown, Pax Septimus
_{1:28 PM, 3 days ago}

▶︎• ၊၊||၊|။||||။‌‌‌၊|• 3:10
_{Daisuke Ishiwatari – Kill DOG As A Sacrifice To DOG}

Her blades dripped with blood.

Her blades were often clean. Monsters had evolved to stay out of human consciousness, and part of that was leaving no trace of their existence. Their bodies flaked apart like ash when they died, leaving nothing to study. Even the blood on Mika’s blades dissipated when she vanquished what soiled them. But her most recent prey was smart. It knew it couldn’t beat her in a fight, and so it ran. She managed to get a single good swing at the werewolf’s chest before it took off running. A single underling wasn’t worth hunting down, but this one knew things. Mika had slain the other mobsters and if she wanted any more information, she’d have to choke it out of this snitch.

He was fast, and well dressed. His tailcoat fluttered in the wind along with his tail. He bolted over a chain link fence and kept right on running. Mika didn’t let up either. Though clearing a fifteen foot tall fence with a jump was a feat most espers couldn’t accomplish.

Unless they used their magic.

[self][Pull] : no mp cost

She jumped off the ground and extended a hand. A spectral wolf head manifested and took hold of her wrist. Before she could lose momentum, the spirit gave her a firm yank. What had seemed like a troublesome obstacle had been cleared with little effort. The landing would be harder, but she had trained for it. She tucked her head and rolled to her feet instead of smashing her head like a pumpkin. The chase continued.

The werewolf left the back ally and arrived in the middle of busy China Town. It was just late enough that everyone was back at work, but the street stalls were busy serving up raw fish and noodles. The wolf wasn’t hungry for anything but freedom. He shoved his way through the crowd. It wasn’t long before Mika emerged from the back ally. Any other city and a tuxedo wearing werewolf being chased by big red hood and her big bowie knives might cause some people alarm, but not in Pax Septimus. Street performances were commonplace, as were crazy people. They were given a little space, but otherwise it was just another Tuesday morning.

It was only a matter of time before the werewolf lead her into an ambush or managed to shake her completely. She needed to end this chase as fast as possible. She pushed forward and spoke under her breath.

"Speed of an ostrich…"

[Self][Transform][Full Extend] : 2 mp, recover 1, 9/10 left

She could feel the spirits of ostriches entwining with her legs, and she sprinted forward. The werewolf’s lead was starting to shrink. He had parted the crowd like the red sea, which gave Mika a straight shot at him. In a desperate move to delay the inevitable, he ran off the street into a busy road. It was a smart move, actually. Monsters were quite resistant to physical harm, while an esper wasn’t. But this wasn’t Mika’s first rodeo. She approximated his direction, then aimed across the street.

[Beam][Blink] : 1 mp, recover 1, 9/10 left

The werewolf finally bumbled his way across five lanes of traffic, and only got hit by one car. It did absolutely no damage to him but his tailcoat got torn on some bloke’s front bumper. Once he got to the other side, he noticed Mika was leaning up against a building. She took her dagger and demonstrated its sharpness by dragging it along the brick siding. The mortar flaked away under the blade.

"Just tell me what I want to know, and I’ll let you go."

He ran again, not even taking the time to consider the offer. It was the right choice, as Mika never spared monsters.

Not even nice ones.

But the wolf was truly out of options. How could you escape someone who was faster than you, and could teleport on top of it? By appealing to their humanity of course. The werewolf grabbed the nearest person he could and held his claw up to her neck. Another smart move, as they picked the perfect hostage. An old woman who couldn't defend herself, likely a widower, but still with many good years left in her. It wasn’t hard to picture her doing volunteer work or looking after kids, if the tacky craft pieces she was wearing were any indication. The world would be a darker place without her, and Pax Septimus was plenty dark already.

"Now here’s what we’re going to do." He made sure that his claws cut her enough to draw blood. This guy was serious. "You’re going to drop those blades and kick them over to me. And then once I’m sure you can't pursue me anymore, I’m going to leave."

Ah, the classic not-lie. He’ll know Mika can’t pursue him anymore when she’s dead, and the old woman will likely be dead too. It was a play she had seen and she never participated in them. The reality of the situation was that surrendering now would be a death sentence to both of them. Monsters were only monsters, and giving the werewolf what he wanted was always going to be a bad idea. Killing both of them would save far more lives that allowing him to live a second longer. As clever as the wolf had been up to this point, Mika felt like he had just shown the limit of his intelligence. She knew he could be outsmarted now.

Her eyes began to glow as spirits raced up and down her body.

[Spawn][Summon][Multi-Cast] : 4 mp, recover 1, 6/10 left

"Hey! You keep doing that, and I’m going to kill her!" He pressed a second claw into her neck. This one did not cause her to bleed, interestingly enough.

Mika sighed. "I’m just going to heal this scratch your friend gave me earlier." She showed the Werewolf her arm. Sure enough, it had been cut when she had ambushed their pack earlier. "I won’t be able to do it once I-"

"Whatever, just get it over with!"

This was good.He was showing weakness. Or was it confidence? Either way, he felt in control enough to let Mika heal herself. That meant her trick was working.

"You understand, right? Without my weapons…"

"Yea." He growled. "If you drop those weapons, you’ll eventually turn into a harmless human. One I can run away from. Now quit stalling and drop those daggers!"

She held out her hands, loosened her grip, but her weapons never left her hands.

[Projectile][Damage X][Poison][Homing][Avoid][Bend] : 6 mp, 0/10 left

The failed attempt to heal herself had been a successful attempt to call a spirit. A feline entity oversaw the altercation below and knew just what to do. It picked up a spirit puppy with its fangs and cast it towards the werewolf.

The sound of a bark got the wolf to look towards the sky, but it was too late. No matter how the wolf man moved, or how he planned to use his hostage as a shield, the puppy nimbly weaved around it’s prey before latching onto his shoulder. At which point the lovable puppy face ballooned to that of a full grown wolf and bit down. The Wolf man’s arm was severed instantly. He hadn’t even howled in pain before Mika lunged for him. He used his remaining arm to shove the old woman into Mika, who in turn shoved her into a nearby pedestrian. That bite had contained some venom too. He wouldn’t be able to run for long.

But Mika was getting tired of chasing him. In his current state he could harm anyone. He had to know his time was coming, and might go on a rampage just to spite her. Even if he wasn’t worth it, this werewolf was going to get the full brunt of Mika’s powers. Her eyes flashed, destiny aligned itself with her vision, and the unlikely outcome was the only one that would ever happen. All that was left to do was watch it play out.

Pax Septimus was known as the city of blood for a lot of reasons. The gist was that it was plenty cursed. Right now a meteor fell towards the city. It wasn’t big, it barely made the news. But it didn’t burn up in the atmosphere. It hit earth straight on and was cooked down to a fist sized rock. The speed it was moving was so absurdly fast that humans do not have the mind to properly grasp how fast it is.

Normally monsters were quite resistant to physical attacks, but that was like expecting a waterproof phone to survive the deepest depths of the ocean. The stone fell from the sky and struck the werewolf in the knee. The wound was instantly cauterized, but he didn’t have a leg to stand on. He tumbled to the ground and the chase was over.

Mika rolled him onto his back and mounted him. She stuck the tip of her blade into his chest and fretted her brow. "Tell me where Bookman is."

"Why?" the monster groaned. "Y-ou’re just going to kill me anyway!"

Smart boy.

"You don’t know that." She pulled the blade free and stuck it under his remaining arm. "You’re a small fry. I’m looking for a big catch."

"S-crew you!"

"But if this drags on, I’m going to have to hunt down your family." He refocused his gaze, she continued "I know how you guys work, you can’t help but settle down with someone and tell them all of your secrets." She pulled his wallet out of his pants and flipped it open. "Cute family, a shame their father’s a piece of shit."

"And you call us monsters…" He growled. "Bookman went to South Town to settle some business with some debtors. He should be there."

"That’s it?"

"He’s doing something with medicine. Apparently there’s a guy in China Town. That’s all I know."

"Well, that’s a lead anyway."

"So now what? Do you let me go? Let me be a better person for my family?"

"Something like that."

Mika’s knife sunk into his chest. There wasn’t even a whimper when his body turned into ash and blew away. To the onlookers, this was just another part of a performance. A few of them clapped as Mika rose to her feet, but she did not bother to turn and accept the applause.

"I love Red Savior’s performances!" One man said to another. "They’re so visceral and raw!"

"I just think pissed off girls are hot."

Mika took one last look at the photos in the wallet. Maybe there was more information to follow up on, but it sounded like for the first time in a long time, she was going to have to leave the city that took her mother’s life.

…

…

…

Chinatown, South Town
_{1:28 PM}

▶︎• ၊၊||၊|။||||။‌‌‌၊|• 4:21
_{Dorkus64 – Main Menu}

Same minute, same type of locale.

Deja vu?

Couldn’t be, coincidence didn’t exist.

Mika considered trying to keep a low profile by remaining untransformed. However, Bookman was a rather clever fellow and already knew what the real Mika looked like. Better to strut around as Red Savior and be ready if a fight. It wasn’t like anyone had ever stopped her before, and how different could one China town be from another?

Very, apparently.

On paper they should have been the same. Pax Septimus and South Town were hard places that had their share of dangerous individuals. An entity like Red Savior rarely caused a stir in Pax, and the same seemed to be the case in South Town. If there was a difference she could notice, it would be the attitudes surrounding fighting. In Pax Septimus, Mika kept her fighting in the shadows, and tried to make it feel like a street performance when things got out of hand. Nobody liked the idea of a real fight, so they had to make it seem less serious. South Town celebrated fighting, however. Maybe they even worshiped it. They held big fighting tournaments and it was nothing for people to block off traffic to make an improv arena to fight in. Fighting prowess was something to be displayed, not hidden under the veil of a performative art. The fights were real, the pain was real. They delighted in the lack of a script.

When Terry called out to Mika, she hadn’t thought she was the one being singled out. Her eyes went to his finger, then over her shoulder. All she found were rows and rows of eyes that were locked onto her. She grunted, but the sound was totally masked by the crowd’s clapping. They had just seen a great show and they wanted an encore. Her eyes swung back over to Terry as her brain tried to catch up to his words, now knowing that everything he said was intended for her.

It was an interesting arrangement of comments wasn’t it? You called people cutie when you wanted to flatter them, told them they were tough if they’d make strong allies, and asked them if they were looking for a fight if you were itching for a fight yourself. As opposed as all of the comments seemed, Mika believed he meant all of them. It was just one more way the fighting culture of South Town differed from Pax Septimus.

She understood it, but she didn’t agree with it.

"You could say that." She placed a hand on her hip, right above one of her sheathed knives. The unconscious combatant did not escape her notice, nor did the destruction that lead to his eventual knock out. "I don’t suppose you’ve seen a tall, dark skinned man with the head of a sheep and numerous horns?" She held her hand up to her face to stroke an invisible snout. "Has kind of a long face with jagged teeth? Black eyes with cyan irises? Talks with a smooth, velvety voice?" Mika folded her arms. "He’s a lifestyle influencer that goes by the name Bookman." Mika added, as if that suddenly made everything she just said make sense.

Kurai Majokko: Tsundere Gekido

"My banner’s here, but don’t be fooled! I’m not actually doing anything!"

— Suki Oyama

Willow blinked as Hizuki departed for the ground level. "Huh?" She blinked. "When did I bring someone’s parents into anything?" After thinking about it for 0.0003 seconds, she decided there were more interesting things to concern herself with. Willow rested her head on Evil Eye’s shoulder. "So, about my phone… It’s kind of important. I have 79 points of stamina in Pretty Derby and I really don’t want to waste it."

Boleite was all set to go slay miseria when Hizuki descended from the heavens. "Sup?" She looked like she was only half listening to Hizuki, with her eyes scanning for monsters to shoot. "Yup, that silly name belongs to me. Just Boleite is fine." Though her ears, and some of her frizzled hair, seemed to perk up when Hizuki gave her name. "Oh! Are you that girl that keeps crushing on Morganite?" She laughed. "I’m kidding! No need to look so shocked, If anything she’s crushing on you."

Hizuki hadn’t met many of the GEMs, just a few. Of them, Morganite was by far the friendliest. Many of the newbie tips she had received when she was first starting out came straight from the dual shield bearer. They never spent a lot of casual time together, however. Morganite was pretty busy with GEM meetings and missions, which Hizuki had explained she wasn’t too interested in joining. That hadn’t seemed to matter though, as she still dropped by to offer Hizuki assistance or for a quick chat. They hadn’t gotten a chance to talk before she departed the City of Light.

"I don’t imagine she’s going to be too happy when she hears your new allegiance." She pursed her lips and shook her head. "But I guess after the Detention Club used up the last poor girl, they needed a new pet." She dismissed Hizuki with a wave of her hand. "I’m only here for the shrine maiden and anyone who gets in my way. And right now, the miseria are blocking the view of the sunset." They really weren’t, but did that matter? Like a bolt of lightning, Boleite was off.

There weren’t a ton of miseria out today, but every one she killed was one less for the detention club. A group of twelve had just risen out of the street to impede her path. She aimed her weapon at them and a purple jolt of electricity smacked into its head. Immediately afterwards, it forked with crackling thunder and charred them all to ash. Boleite closed her eyes just long enough to rush through them and emerge on the other side. The bottom of her shoes were glowing blue, and she was hovering a few inches off the ground. It felt good to walk up and down the mountain, but when work needed to be done it paid to be efficient.

She continued to surf down the streets, this time allowing herself to spin while she floated along. They always liked to hide in the side streets, as any experienced magical girl knew. She fired down each one she came across, lighting them up with forked lightning and turning the miseria into ash. One homeless man had been caught in her electricity, but the worst thing that happened to him was he got a static shock. That and the hair on his nearly bald head stood up.

She hovered to a stop at the end of the street. There waiting for her was an unusually big miseria. It wasn’t special in any other way. Usually once a night, one or two abnormal miseria would show up to bother everyone. It seemed like the perfect time to test her new attack. The scientist’s weapon spooled up. Several metallic rods extended out of the weapon. Each one lit up with a different colored electricity. The weapon vibrated, lightly smoking in her hands.

Then an arrow came out of nowhere and pierced the creature, reducing it to dust.

"Hmph." Boleite released the trigger, and her weapon quietly reverted to its original shape. The arrow was distinct and hard to miss. Everything from the shaft to the fletching was made of gold, and the arrow’s head was shaped like a heart. "That only counts as one, Topez!" The only response she got back was the wind. More than likely she wasn’t even around here and took that shot from the other side of town.

No point crying over it. There were plenty more miseria to kill and even the score.

---

Nyxia was right. Earthshaker was a powerful magical girl, and likely the strongest one in the club outside of Schrade. She could take an attack from just about anywhere and redirect it to her attacker with extra force. That spoke nothing of her baseline, which was head and shoulders above everyone else in every conceivable way. Morganite on the other hand had displayed the ability to be a nuisance and little more. She was durable, but had displayed no other significant abilities other than manipulating her shields. Perhaps her high tech suit and dual shields hinted at her ability to take a beating, but taking a beating did not win fights. And that was before Earthshaker had slain a giga miseria. She was even stronger now, and her speed was something that even Morganite had not expected. Her eyes went wide, and she kicked herself away from the school as Earthshaker scrambled after her. She paused only briefly to reach for the banner hanging over head, and held it in her clenched fist. It tore at both shields with a single tug. When she lunged for Morganite, the ends of the banner fluttered in the wind like the scarf on a shinobi. Morganite’s shields were returning to her, but she would not be fast enough to block the blow. It seemed like she was going to eat this one.

But then why was she still smiling?

Poor Pearl. Of all the GEMs, she was the most forgettable. She was straight laced and direct, and looked equally unremarkable. Just a scholar in white with a cute hair style. She’d blend right in with any magical girl team you put her on. Much like her namesake, she was plenty valuable even if she didn’t sparkle like the others. She could land a hit on whatever she wanted if it was distracted long enough, and Earthshaker was plenty distracted. She had anticipated someone would attack, and had been funneling mana into her wand in anticipation. It glowed with the warm radiance of the sun, but hurt to look at directly. It would have been easy to notice if anyone anticipated more than one light girl was nearby. Her position beside the school made her impossible to see from the detention club’s window. Her shot was already lined up and Earthshaker’s vulnerable torso was in sight. There was an old adage that cooler heads prevailed, which was something Morganite’s enemies were often reminded of when it was too late.

Shatterscape didn’t need that reminder.

With no time to spare, she attempted to shove Earthshaker out of the way. While she was successful, the attack hit her instead. Everyone was reeling from the experience. Earthshaker from being spun so suddenly, Shatterscape from being blasted, and Pearl from shooting the wrong target. But not Morganite. She had already committed to throwing her shoulder into the charging Earthshaker. Though the hit she landed was only enough to get Shatterscape and Earthshaker to stumble closer to the school. She had pulled back, sensing that something was amiss. Earthshaker hand wanted her to pay the price, and she figured this should have foot the bill and then some.

"Keep da change." Morganite hopped and landed on one of her shields as it cruised past her.

Fear gripped Pearl’s heart. She raised her wand and prepared a second shot, but the distance was closing quick. That was when Morganite’s second shield struck the back of Shatterscape’s leg, causing her crippled form to faceplant into the dirt. Morganite surfed past her and snatched Pearl by the back of her collar. The little scholar nearly lost her hat, but managed to catch it before it flew away.

"W-what was the point of this!?" The condition of Pear’s nerves was reflected in her stammering. "They’re going to chase us."

"I’ll tell ya later, an’ let dem chase." Morganite explained as they flew around the corner. "Diamond and Topez are nearby, n’ if dat’s not enough? We get Boleite, she should be in da town."

But even with those two departing, the magical girls at the club could feel a powerful presence approaching. Specifically, that of a magical girl…

---

Shortly after swatting the "mogall" aside, Kiyo unveiled her ace. It’s mere sight was enough to heat pavement well beyond what the sun would normally do, and trigger mild paranoia. As it heated up around Diamond, she tipped her cap just enough to catch some shade over her eyes.

"I guess I should have anticipated as much." It had been a while since Diamond had fought any dark magical girls. The city of light wasn’t exactly teaming with them, and schemers like the one that was invoking these eyeballs were not a breed you saw often. She had underestimated her opponent. However, it wasn’t like that didn’t go both ways. "I was worried the summer was coming to an end, how fortunate today is so warm."

Diamond pointed at the creature, and M&M-laced cotton candy swirled at her side. It rose into the air like a dying hay devil, leaving behind a popcorn machine. The batter stepped behind it and shoved the contraption with her foot. Even though it hadn’t been turned on, the heat was starting to pop the kernels inside. But the popcorn they generated kept getting bigger. The machine was popping off like crazy, firing off white puffs that were the size of Tsubomi’s head. The hopper was entirely covered, and the roof of the darn thing popped open like a jack in the box. The stray popping kernels wouldn’t be hard for a magical girl to dodge, but the mountain of giant popcorn that had been created would be difficult to see through. Miseria were a priority, dark magical girls were a priority, but the magical girl equivalent of a magnifying glass wasn’t worth wasting time on. If their club was nearby, it would not be wise to get into a protracted fight with a minion.

Diamond turned to Tubomi and sighed. "You’re awfully polite for a dark girl." She wrapped an arm around Tsubomi’s waist and threw her over her shoulder. "I’ll be fine. Let’s find a place where those eyes aren’t present." Then she ran like she had just scored a home run. Only she was carrying her bat and one laid back magical girl.

Symphony on High

"My mom’s dead, but at least she isn’t as disappointed as yours is."

"Bold of you to assume I care what a self-absorbed hag thinks of me. Oh, wait! That’s you."

— Finnegan Vanhorn & Mika Fang

Mika sighed when she saw Ashley retreat further away from the fight. The demon was only going to chase her so far, and then it would be Mika’s problem again. Now felt like a perfectly reasonable time to deploy Binky, a miko, or someone to help. Either Ashley had a lot of faith in her abilities or she was trying to get the two of them killed. Oh well. Hard to complain when Finn was being offered to her as a target.

"Gave up fighting Orion already?" Mika’s arm swirled with spirits. "Or did you want to protect the only girl in the world that doesn’t see you as a creep?"

Okay, at that, Finn couldn’t help blinking in dumbfoundment. His face twisted into a scowl. "You must’ve really lost it if you think it’s like that. And I’m supposed to be the creep here?" He regarded her implications with disgust. "Why not give an actual reason you want to kill me instead of petty grudges?"

What a weird question to be asked in the middle of a fight. He was the one who decided on opposing them. Mika was only goading him on because she was hoping he would try to fight her. But this made it sounded like he was trying to reach out. But what should her answer be? She could tell him the truth, that his careless actions had gotten her mother killed. But that was really just the last straw. It was pure incompetence, not malicious intent. It might not have led to such outrage if things had been different. Maybe if he didn’t spend all of his time moping around while Mika and the other agents were fighting weretigers. Maybe if Ashley and Fritzi didn’t constantly show him preferential treatment at every opportunity. Maybe if he didn’t fuck up his own opperation where they they tackled the dream demon problem he created. Maybe if he hadn’t tried to keep his dream demon problem a secret. Maybe if he didn’t lure all of those girls into a relationship with him, only to get mad at them because he was leading them all on. Maybe if he hadn’t decided to defect to the enemy side. Maybe, maybe, maybe not. It was likely a combination of all of those things. It didn’t matter. There was only one answer Mika was ever going to give in this situation.

"I think the time to talk was before you said you’d break us."

The spirits coalesced into a cat. She pointed her finger ahead the feline hopped off her wrist. But rather than jump like a normal cat, it shot forward at an imperceptible speed. It left a beam of light in its wake. The spirit struck the hull of the mech, but then pierced it and narrowly missed both pilots, before coming out the other side. Some corrosive poison was attempting to eat away at the Mech’s internals.

"Um, sweetheart?" XVIII Morning Dragon Fruit spoke up. "They’re just trying to make you angry so that you’ll slip up, like you did just now. Once I’ve removed their GEMINI brainwashing you can talk to them as much as you like. Deal?"

The Timekeeper groaned, less out of anger, and more out of annoyance. "That will be unnecessary." Regardless, he kept the Mech moving, charging up its own beam to fire back towards Mika and Raven.

The mech was spooling up with power, and both GEMINI agents dove for cover. While they both had magically resistant pillars to hide behind, they were metal pillars. The melody didn’t score a direct hit, but electricity leapt from the pillar and hit Raven. They flew away from the pillar as smoke rose off of their wounds.

"This is more my speed."

Klava swatted the mech on the ass, and the entire thing was covered in a magic resistant bubble. No melody that Mika could manage would be breaking through that. Then she was on the offense again, skating straight for Raven’s position. The tacticool agent didn’t have time to fire, but was able to raise her sword as the two katana wielders came in close proximity to one another.

Mika was about to rush to Raven’s aid, but the mech was stomping its way towards her, puffing its flamethrower menacingly. "Huh." Was Mika’s only response. She tapped the side of her head to open the GEMINI coms system. "Orion? The mech seems to be vulnerable against piercing melodies. Ice witch put some kind of pro-tech-shun on it and I don’t think I can breach it."

The hand continued to close in on Ashley, but she was much too far away to grab. The pillars creaked and the ceiling flexed as the demon reached, but it was a futile effort. Eventually it began to retract its hand, perhaps just a bit faster after Ashley opened fire on it. Though before it disappeared into the ceiling again, an Elroy-shaped light beamed out from the demon’s chest, right over its heart. It did seem like this was just like the Holy Diver.

"Oh, honey?" XVIII Morning Dragon Fruit prodded the inside of the mech. "I gotta say, I hadn’t realized the um, what’s the word I’m looking for, ‘capabilities’ of your little toy here. But I want to ask a not so hypothetical question if you’re willing to hear me out. I know you said that it wasn’t necessary that I bring your old pals to our side, but what if I said I could start doing that right now?" She chuckled. "Like, who would be the funniest person to place on our side right now?"

Finn didn’t need to think long, he turned the mech towards the direction of the intended targets.

"Take their healers out of the equation." He suggested it to Morning. "That should get me a bit of breathing room." Only a little, that was just one out of the three who had the ability to pierce his mech.

"Oh wow, I would have thought you would have liked to fry them both yourself." The TV giggled. "Ah well, miko on miko action it is!"

The mech creaked and shuttered, then bellowed out something that sounded like a mix between static white noise and some creatures howling. The room’s lights flashed a myriad reality of colors, but the spectacle only lasted a few seconds.

Not for Cereza however.

With stiff movements, she notched an arrow, flooded it with mana, and attempted to shoot her sister’s leg off.

Sofron wasn’t about to let a tungsten rod hit him in the forehead along with everything else today. He grabbed one of the construction workers and shoved him in front of the incoming projectile. But as flashy as the melody looked when Marrie cast it, that was it. The rod struck the construction worker’s hard hat without so much as scratching the plastic. Was this some kind of joke?

Normally a blink or transplace melody would give another esper some time to understand what was going on. But the delay melody suppressed the magic completely. He took his eyes off of it and dismissed the attack as a childish attempt to humiliate him.

The fire in his hand intensified, and the cut in his neck began to mend itself back together. The thousand yard stare disappeared with a blink, and Baleful Sofron was baleful again.

"Again!"

With a snap of his fingers, the hallway was filled with burning ash. Marrie’s mana was locked down again, and Sofron could breath easy knowing that any expensive options she was saving up for wouldn’t be able to fire under his curse. This would not have influenced a melody that had been cast ahead of time, however.

The ash made Marrie’s skin itch and peel, but there was no running from it this time. But it was clear Sofron was getting tired of her tricks. His eyes turned into black orbs that perfectly reflected the burning ash around him. He had to be using something strong, something powerful.

The construction workers were numerous, but clumsy. In such a confined space, their improvised clubs weren’t as useful as her short bladed weapon. She got closer to Sofron, but like her, he seemed to be delaying, maintaining at least one guard between them. The guard seemed utterly confused as both fighters half circled around each other, with Marrie occasionally swatting away a troublesome guard at her heels.

Then Sofron threw the guard into the wall and thrust his palm towards Marrie. Three rings of fire orbited his hand like a planet, but wobbled on their axis in an unstable fashion. With a roar, he closed his hand, the rings were severed, and what looked like the start of atomic fusion happening right on top of his knuckles.

---

"Well don’t you look like hot shit meta gaming like nobody’s business. GM! Put an end to this madness! Give their EE stats!"

"Actually, I’ve had specs for their Eclipse here for weeks, I just keep forgetting to upload them."

"You can’t be trusted! I’ll deal with the little ruffian myself!"

— Bookman

While Ayana had stopped talking to listen to Himiko, she didn’t react when her cheeks were pinched and pulled. Eventually her skin snapped back in place with just as much fanfare.

"I’m only telling you what everyone else is going to think." She sighed. "This is so totally a psyops." She removed the batteries and slid them into her pockets.

Pounder relinquished the abacus with a nod and stood back in line. And then they listened. No one commented on Himiko’s words. It was nods of approval or a blank stare across the board. Eventually it came time to address the devil in the room.

"I thought you would have liked to have transformed first." He, too, was avoiding making eye contact like a stupendous badass. Though it had less to do with aesthetics and more to do with the fact that he was going over notes and listening on the phone. "Well first, I think it might be worthwhile to assess how your Endless Eclipse works. They’re all a little different, and it would be a shame if you got yourself in a bind."

BACKUP: Endless Eclipse

A bird with stars floating along its inky black feathers. It is said that its song ended the old world.

GRADE: ?????
BACKUP MELODY: [Unique]
SPECIAL: Himiko may expend 100 points of mana and use one of the following effects.
Eye of Aigorost: Endless Eclipse studies the target and relays information about them, similar to an A rank [Reveal] note.
Ear of Aigorost: Endless Eclipse can let Himiko listen to a location Himiko knows the exact coordinates of for 6 seconds.
Mouth of Aigorost: Endless Eclipse opens a portal to a "maiden" that Himiko can talk to. Once they ask the maiden a question or otherwise speak to her, the maiden responds and then the portal closes. The maiden is random every time and is not guaranteed to have a helpful answer to Himiko’s query. In fact, it is unlikely they will attempt to be helpful at all, and will instead be condescending and rude. However, they will be very attractive, if not cute.

"But if you’re ready to go, I think we can get you where you need to be right about… now…"

…

…

…

Magical Dream Princess, Pink Pounder, Ayana, and Himiko were all standing outside the Golden Trove. It was clear that something big was going on here. Boteg’s wings were barely visible up on the roof, and a second dragon was swiping it’s claws against the side of the building. There were dead and wounded weretigers scattered on the steps, and more monsters and espers funneling into the front. They all looked at each other, none of them sure exactly what transpired.

"Riiiiight." Ayana took a few steps back. "Well, it looks like everyone’s funneling in there like they want to buy the newest flat screen TV. I think I’m quite happy with my boxy, bunny eared one. Hehe, I’ll catch you guys later?"

"Going so soon?"

The next one to speak up was a woman with white hair in a red dress. She was sitting at a table by the corner of the building, tea cup in hand. She looked like she had been talking to an agent, but dismissed them with a wave of her hand.

"V-Vewnmiwwion Vewonica…" Magical Dream Princess slid behind Pink Pounder.

"Himiko Yoshikawa, and the rest of the B-team." She set down her cup beside her saucer. Her tone sounded more amused than anything else. "Somehow I’m not surprised to see you here. Regardless, the operation is far too important to let you take part in. Now would be a good time for you to hop away while I’m busy organizing the Hand’s Downfall. Otherwise you’ll endanger the operation and I’ll be forced to take matters into my own hands."

Hello!

....don’t care in the slightest, I promise)

@ShroomNthusiast

Oh yea and welcome to the mad house. We have a little bit of everything, and quite a few Avatar fans.

Kurai Majokko: Tsundere Gekido

"Everyone wants to see me do combat stuff, so here I go!"

— Suki Oyama

Oros blinked her eyes at the frog priestess. She hadn’t really expected to get acknowledged, and now she was in their weird position where she felt like she should respond with something, but didn’t have anything interesting to add. But while she considered her options, she looked over the froggy magical girl. It was no secret that Oros favored light girls above all others, at least to anyone who payed attention. But she had never looked at Kaeru as a target she could pursue. She always seemed so mad when compared to other light girls. Perhaps that was why she only ever went after her frogs.

One of them had to be a prince.

Some day.

But things were about to get a little bit more complicated. While Kaeru was walking back towards the forest, the lightning magical girl made her presence known. She could feel her heart skip a beat as she came into view. She had seen this girl before, which would have been evident to anyone observing Oros right now. More specifically, it must not have been a great encounter. She took a full step backwards and hid herself behind a nearby mailbox. But this wasn’t enough. Oros needed to totally disappear.

It wouldn’t hurt to run now. There were miseria to hunt, and it didn’t seem like Evil Eye was in any danger. Her nerves forced a smile onto her face, and then she took off into a side street.

But that was where she stopped.

She couldn’t leave now, could she? Oros was sure Evil Eye would have told her if something happened to Tsubomi, but if she left and something did happen to Evil Eye that would be unforgivable. Blood skates formed on her feet, and she kicked off the ground. She hopped from wall to wall, gaining momentum and altitude. Eventually she was able to jump onto a roof, but kept her distance so as to not be seen by those at ground level.

Meanwhile, the mogalls had tracked the monkeys to "Cafe Red," which was a little corner cafe that used to be a bookstore. It was hard to get closer with so many stunted apes around the joint. No sign of a cellphone yet, but it had to be close.

"Fancy names aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. It fits if nothing else." Calling oneself "frog" was a little rough though. That would have been like Boleite referring to herself as "lightning." But at the end of the day, what mattered a lot more was what that name was attached to rather than the name itself. "Taught them a lesson already huh? Well sure, let’s nuke some miseria!"

Boleite was about to walk down a side street and continue her miseria massacre, but she stopped to take one last look at the magical girls flying overhead. She stared at the trio for a few seconds before lifting her finger towards the group. She cocked it like it were a gun, and mouthed "pow" while sharply jerking her finger up.

"Oh god! She’s gonna murder us! Save me, Hizuki!" Willow spun in place.

South Town Scuffle: Two Wolves (Terry Bogard VS Broken Promise)

Slower post rate is fine. Someone else is cruising for a bruising so that should work out.

We did cover that once a week would be fine. Posting more is always good, but sometimes that's all I can manage myself. That, and I have plenty of side projects to occupy my time. It's probably going to be a few posts before anyone gets punched or stabbed, so you have plenty of time to look over our sheets more if you need to.

March of the White Rabbit: A Roll-Your-Own Magical Girl Roleplay

To the North: Conquest of the Scarlet Stranger
Part III

Slay or drive off the Scarlet Stranger and save Penrose from a hostile takeover! We’ve had enough plots involving mind control and giant armies...

Challenge Rating: SSS+

Notes: This hunt can only be undertaken by a party that contains Finn and/or Samantha. Taking someone who has used a red coin is ill-advised as they will fall directly under Garnet Gemini’s control.

The air in the CAPRICORN was tense. Of course Sam would be fiercely determined. Of course Emily would be concerned. But even Bonnie looked a little on edge. Those present couldn’t tell, but her shoulders weren’t as square as they should have been.

”The army is moving quickly and the mission area changes moment to moment. They are zig-zagging on a path for Penrose. We believe the Scarlet Stranger is still growing her army by hitting large cities enroute to her destination. Presently she’s on an open stretch of road, surrounded by magical girls and riding on a giant magical artifact. All we know about the artifact is that it’s called ‘The Wukong’ and seems to enhance the range of her magic. It will be at least a half hour before she reaches the next city, and she could reach Penrose by sunset.” Bonnie folded her arms behind her back.

Emily looked at Samantha, who seemed to be lost in thought. Try as she might, Emily couldn't hide her concern. "Um, I don't imagine we'll reach her before she can influence the next city?" Emily pulled her eyes away from her friend and toward Bonnie. "If she's successfully converted multiple cities by this point... how big are her forces right now? Do we know?"

”The CAPRICORN may seem like a ship, but it’s actually a building attached to a series of portals on ‘sky stones.’ We can deploy you between the army and the next city the moment you are ready.”

"Oh, that's very convenient!" Emily appeared in awe of the CAPRICORN's ability to drop them right where they needed to be, more or less. Despite the tense atmosphere, she seemed somewhat fascinated by the CAPRICORN in general.

The windows on the walls of the room changed to show the army from multiple angles. ”The army has at least a hundred magical girls, though few of them are guarding the Wukong directly. There are several scouting groups, taking point and ensuring that the army can move down its intended path. It's by studying the direction of the scouting armies that we can tell what the Wukong’s next move is going to be. They seem to have some way of communicating with each other, but we are unaware of how they are doing it. They keep touching their fingers to the side of their head, so we assume a form of telepathy. Reports from the city fights indicate that they can communicate very quickly, not unlike a hive mind. If you’re seen by one, you are seen by all.” Bonny nodded. ”I almost forgot to mention, but we do have several volunteers that offered to act as a decoy. You two could access the Wukong directly. For as large as the army is, the Wukong is sparsely defended. But the magical aura from that thing is intense.”

Emily pouted "It sounds like a stealthy approach is gonna be difficult..."

Samantha stared at the windows, silently watching the army with a frown. "...Essentially impossible," she suddenly declared, turning her gaze towards Emily. "The girls in the army can all see each other, even through obstacles. That means they'll see me, too."

"...Then is there no way to reach her without fighting?"

Samantha glanced at the windows again. "I am... unsure. I have no idea how the other agents under her control will act..." Sam admitted, her voice wavering. "...But we have our goal. If they're obstacles to it... then we can't hesitate, even if we have to rough them up a little bit."

"L-lets hope it doesn't have to come to that..." Emily tried to cheer Sam up.

There was a brief moment of silence but Sam broke it by turning to Bonnie and asking her a question. "...Don't suppose we have any clue as to what's in the Wukong, besides, of course, our VIP? Caught sight of any of its defenders, by chance?"

The windows all changed their view to the Wukong. Sam could see it was a massive egg shaped structure on a wagon. There was scaffolding all around it with a pair of stairs that circled around the thing. It was topped with a round platform, sparsely decorated with flags. There was a young girl in a red hood sitting at a table by herself, staring off at the next city. The only thing above the platform was the massive radio tower behind her, which Sam knew Veronica used to broadcast her magicom network.

”The Wukong does not appear to have an interior. A stealthy approach may be possible, especially when the distraction team moves in. But their leader has proven to hold powerful psychic magic. It might be difficult for her to track so many minds in a battle, but she’d definitely notice you once you get too close. As for defenses, one of the magical girls on the Wukong is a monster queen called Blair. She has “abomination” magic, but appears to be a melee power house. Maria is a normal magical girl, armed with a machine gun, but her magic is more for healing. There’s also a ‘Tetrad’ who’s magic is so random we don’t know what to make of it. Then there’s Trixy, who’s some kind of sharp mouthed sniper. Aside from your target, Blair is easily the strongest. But Trixy is the reason why you can’t take an obvious approach. We haven’t seen her miss her target. Not once.”

Samantha didn't seem too surprised. "Yeah, that fits." She turned her attention to Emily, noticing the girl looked very conflicted about something Bonnie just informed them of. "Is there something wrong, Emily?"

Emily took a moment to collect herself and shook her head. "Oh... It's just... this isn't how I wanted to meet Tetrad again..." Her words trailed off as she recalled a fun visit to the Golden Trove. Before Samantha could ask about that, Emily brought up a concern. "Um, how should we approach this? I don't really... fight other Magical Girls, usually..."

Samantha answered hesitantly. "The moment we lose the element of surprise, we should assume the enemy is being relayed my thoughts, so a detailed plan is not advised. Just keep moving, I'll make sure Trixie isn't a threat first, and we save the problem that is Blair for last. We'll need to adjust as we go, but we should leave soon. Are you ready?"

Emily nodded, then turned to Bonnie. "We are ready to go. What portal takes us there?"

”One moment.” Bonnie spoke into her wrist. ”We’re ready, commence the distraction team.” Bonnie waited just a moment for a confirmation before waving her arm. ”This one.”

A portal opened up right underneath both magical girls. They did not fall, as the portal opened up level with the ground. Then the portal shot upwards, and soon Sam and Emily could see the giant tombstone flying into the sky. The portal that they had come out of closed up before the stone flew out of sight. That might have given away their position, but it was one of several other “cloudstones” that had dropped even more magical girls off. Some of which Sam recognized.

”Incoming!”

This would be the first time any of the magical girls present had seen this many magical girls in one place. Garnet Gemini’s one-hundred plus army versus the distraction team the CAPRICORN had mustered. Magical projectiles started flying almost instantly. Though none were quite as potent as the tornado Su started the fight with. It was a dangerous move, and made her the center of attention. She floated backwards as a shockwave erupted in front of her. When it subsided, Lotus and Lexi’s invisibility spells faded and their weapons were locked together. The octopus girl was almost intercepted by one of Lada’s fireballs, but Mika put it out with one of her water cannons. Before she could redirect fire, Tonya (the OG, not mac) bombarded the mint agent with a slew of apples and acorns. It seemed like the distraction team was winning, but that would soon change. Sam could see distant red dots closing in on the battle. Throwing everyone into a single group gave them an initial advantage, but it would become a detriment once the other armies surrounded them. That said, it did make for a potent distraction. Something Sam could confirm when he heard a voice ring out in his head.

All units, converge on our enemies.

The Wukong did not stop moving. It continued to roll forward even with a battle breaking out in front of it.

To be continued…