Temporary

You Can Become a Hero!

Kyoko Amori

Future Hero Costume

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Personal Dossier

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_Name

Amori, Kyoko
_{猗森 許個}

_Age

14

_Origin

Arakawa, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan

_{Physical Description}

Standing at around five foot four, Kyoko appears to be about as human as you could get. Physically, at least from the outset, she doesn't appear abnormal in any particular way - she's just an average, white haired girl. Her eyes have a piercing red, which contrasts heavily against the sheer white of her hair, and despite neither being truly biological, neither appear that way at first glance. It's only up close that the differences start to appear: that her hair is in fact made of tightly wound follicles to create the illusion of volume, or that her pupils seem to lead much deeper into her skull than eyes really should. Beneath her clothes, obvious markings run across her body where her synthetic skin was applied, accentuated with a white to provide a detailed pattern for her hero costume. And on her back, just below her neck, leading directly to where the spine should be, resides a socket, out of which extends her charging cable.

_{Characterization}

• Inquisitive
• Inexperienced
• Diligent
• Empathetic
• Dutiful
• Artistic
• Earnest

_{Personal History}

Kyoko was the unlikely product of a mother whose Quirk could produce energy like a generator, and a Hero of a father whose Quirk allowed him to extensively modify his body. Her Quirk was obvious from the beginning - the fact that she lacked flesh. At first, her parents were mortified. They wondered if something was wrong, if their Quirks had somehow mixed to create a defect in their child. Instead they were contacted by research organisations across Japan, and then the globe, requesting the chance to study their daughter, a miracle of science born out of nature. They were reluctant at first, as any parent would be, but as the time grew closer to where their daughter would have to attend school, they had to make a decision. Between their jobs, as a technician and Hero respectively, neither could afford to home-school her.

So they made the decision to agree to an offer, but only one locally. Tokyo Denki University was close to their home, and their offer superseded many made by global organisations, placing it as their number one choice. From then on Kyoko was educated by their professors - the bio-cybernetics of her body were tested extensively for the years she remained there, and a great deal of time was spent detailing the breadth of her abilities, both physical and mental. It was Tokyo Denki University that provided her with her server databank, allowing her to process things at much greater speeds, and never worry about expending too much energy thinking.

However, Kyoko came to the conclusion, after all the tests and studies, that being a subject for all her life would never help. It had been conditioned into her from a young age, that complying with the institution would give her the chance to help potentially millions of people. That she could do something that few people in the entire history of the world managed to achieve. But she could never see the fruits of her labour. Days of time had been spent learning, and helping her professors develop brand new technology to help Heroes, the ill, and the disabled, but she never felt as though she was helping.

A foreign doctor from Germany, Doctor King Schultz, helped convince her to make the change. He had been researching her ability to repair when charging, and the subsequent ability to overcharge the regenerative abilities to extend the wires out from her body. But he could see that she struggled with her inaction. And so he pushed her to become a Hero. It was him who provided the synthetic skin, allowing her to play the part of a normal teenage girl for the first time in her life.

Though, he recommended U.A., and told her to give Ishin Academy a pass if she could help it. Kyoko disagreed. The rigid atmosphere, and tough regiment - to her, they were quintessential to becoming a Hero. The figures showed the opposite, considering U.A. continually beat them out on the top spot, but that didn't disuade her. If anything, it only strengthened her resolve. Somehow.

_{Character Development & Conceptualization}

Kyoko is a bit of a break from the characters I often find myself playing. She's a human who became a machine, and has been studied extensively for the good of humankind, but in her mind, just being a specimen under a microscope isn't good enough. It's not too common that I find myself just running a decent person, somebody who would happily give up on certain ambitions for the chance to become closer to others. Somebody who is passionate in their goals for altruistic reasons, and desires to accomplish them in a way becoming of a member of society.

A lot of Kyoko's development will come in the form of learning. She isn't naive, as the trope tends to be in regards to cyborgs in various mediums, but rather inexperienced; she has the absolute capacity to learn anything she needs to, regardless of the subject matter, it's simply that she hasn't needed to yet. Most of her interactions in the past have been between her parents, or the researchers at the University, and therefore her social attitudes aren't fully developed. Friendship has a different connotation to her, as does spending time with someone. She's not going to go around innocently making lewd comments, and then becoming incredibly flustered when her blunder is explained, but there'll definitely be some fish out of water going on, at least for a while.

But, at the end of it all, Kyoko is a question - is this the future of Heroes? Will we one day outsource our protection to machines? Kyoko may have been born all the same as a human child, but in the end she became more, or perhaps, less than that - is she a precedent to be set, a warning to be stated, or just another leaf in an ever branching tree. If she can be a Hero, can't anyone? - and at the same time, if she can be a Hero, then who can't?

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Abilities & Talents

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_{Quirk Type}

Mutation

_{Quirk Description}

Kyoko's Quirk, [ Mainframe ], transforms her body into the living definition of a robot. Rather than blood and bone, she is made up of millions of bio-cybernetic wires, which replace her organs and cardio-pulmonary system. She does not naturally produce an epidermic layer, but rather a light, hardened metal exoskeleton, that protects the incredibly delicate inner workings of her body. As part of this mutation, Kyoko does not need to eat, breath, or sleep, but rather be plugged into mains electricity to charge herself.

As part of losing most of her weight, Kyoko's body is greatly lighter than a standard humans, contributing to the ability to run at greater speeds than normal. However, this conversely results in physical weakness, as she is much more easily lifted and thrown around by strong combatants, or great forces. Additionally, when not overcharged, her physical strength is considerably lacking - her exoskeleton provides durability so she can survive attacks, but it does not equate to a raw strength improvement outright. She is also weak to electromagnetic interference, which causes mild to severe migraines when applied nearby, though she is immune to mind altering Quirks, including brainwashing, as her mind runs off a computer server, where a data backup of her personality and memories are stored, granting her an increased calculation ability.

Her internal battery can store up to four days worth of function, not including her additional features. As part of this battery, she is capable of inducing electrical shocks through skin-to-skin contact, while electricity directly applied to her from an external source replenishes her charge. Moreover, she can expend a sizeable portion of stored energy to overcharge her exoskeleton, providing sudden bursts of strength and speed beyond her natural capabilities. The exchange rate is roughly equivalent to half a day for thirty minutes of overcharge. Should Kyoko's battery run dry, she will enter a form of Safe Mode, running off a backup battery with a much lower capacity, roughly equivalent to four hours. In this mode she is physically weaker, but none-essential system are completely shut down, allowing for greater efficiency in overcharging, while she single-mindedly searches for a power source to drain from, and regain standard operating procedures.

_{Special Move - Security Grid:}

Kyoko can extend her wires into surfaces, such as asphalt roads, or the walls of buildings. By doing so, she is capable of creating a sensory grid that expands outwards from the wire to encompass the entirety of its nearby surroundings. Although typically unhelpful, since Kyoko is required to remain in one place to maintain the connection, it can be useful for detecting incoming ambushes, or for mapping the layouts and number of individuals inside buildings of interesting, especially for breaching missions.

_{Other Talents & Attributes}

Google: Technically still part of her Quirk, but Kyoko can readily access Google thanks to the server her brain is directly connected to. This allows her to accomplish calculation and comprehension tasks much quicker than standard humans, though not to a degree that out-excels sheer intelligence boosting Quirks, such as IQ.

Synthetic Skin: A set of artificially manufactured skin, which has incredibly similar properties to flesh. In order to compensate for her natural lack of skin, her previous facility provided her with a synthetic layer, so that she could fit in better with human populations. If one was unaware, they would be unable to distinguish her from a normal girl upon meeting her for the first time. This skin has the added benefit of being particularly flexible, as well as resistant to cutting and heat, so she it at minimal risk of having it be destroyed. It is also incredibly water repellent, and capable of blocking the areas of her body that might otherwise have allowed in water, such as the servos in her joints.

Technology Enthusiast: Kyoko has always been enthralled by the wonders of modern technology, ever since her first days at the institution. Access to the internet merely made her more curious, and as such, she has a fairly heavy soft spot for those that work on creating support items for Heroes. One of her main intentions in entering a Hero Course was to one day set up a manufacturing business with her identity as branding, to entice gifted minds to help her create a more technologically advanced tomorrow.

Skilled Craftsman: However, she is not just interested in technology; she is fairly good at developing it herself, too. During her time at the institution, she assisted in many research and development projects, mostly thanks to her incredible processing power. She could render models in minutes what some equipment could only do in hours, and her ability to precisely and quickly measure quantities made in her invaluable to the production teams.

Patch Notes v1.1 - April 2nd, 2020:

• Changed Characterisation wording, from "Tenacious" to "Dutiful".

Patch Notes v1.2 - April 5th, 2020:

• Changed age from 15 to 14 for better age diversity.

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

Eden Campbell and Al Scarpe

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A man, massive in height, broad of shoulder, sat upon the bench of a public playground, watching as a monochromatic girl swung back and forth on the swing set, her gothic attire perfectly suiting the dreary weather. Neither of them made any sound, and the world was dominated by the creaking of chains, the roar of a distant plane. Peaceful; this was how the world should be. He adjusted the multitude of white roses pinned to his suit, clicking his head at disapproval when a couple wilted petals fell out of their own accord, before shaking his head.

“Well, Eden Campbell, was it? Or do you prefer Cynthia Martell? Heard ya got quite an interesting proposition for me, so...go on ahead. Whatcha need ol’ Sharpe for?”

”That name of mine has started making the rounds, huh?” Eden replied. She took her seat beside Al, the large, patchwork coat that hallmarked her human disguise creasing slightly as she sat. ”Suppose that’s four years of work keeping things quiet for nothing then. I wanted to source this locally, rather than turn to you, but apparently my specialists just aren’t special enough for this. As of the past two months, I’ve come into a large collection of magical energy - I need a receptacle that can safely accept it, and convert it into a spell of the users choosing, and I need it within the next week. You think that’s possible?”

“Secrets tend ta be easier spread than sealed, yeah.” Al Sharpe chuckled slightly, reclining further against the bench. “And the Mint’s settling back here now, so don’t worry yer pretty little head over whether or not you’re supporting local businesses, darlin’.” Another laugh. The bench creaked as the man’s body shook with mirth. Settling down after a moment. Al Sharpe brushed a couple of white petals off his suit, before turning his inhuman gaze fully onto the magical girl.

“As for this little receptacle o’ yours...suppose this is fer the rave?”

”And after,” out of her periphery Eden could see him looking her over, though she didn’t turn to look back in kind. Hands in her pockets, leaning backwards into the bench, her own gaze resided firmly on the girl at the swings. ”Collecting large quantities of Magical Energy isn’t much good if I can’t use it. There’ll probably be quite a bit of fighting in the near future, and a lot of energy to collect. An easy way to use it all’d be nice. How much of my soul’s that gonna cost me, eh?”

“Militarizing so eagerly?” Al Sharpe shook his head, more bemused than disappointed. “Always a tragedy to see journalists having to take sides, and doing so in such a drastic manner.” The giant tapped one of the spikes protruding from the side of his head, sparks pinging off it on contact, before saying, “Souls aren’t exactly a product the Mint’s interested in, unfortunately, ‘specially not one so cheap as yours…”

The Mint broker removed his finger from the spike, resting instead upon the head of one of his wooden puppets. He stroked it carefully, and the doll rattled, arms flailing in a panic. Though it damaged his roses, the squirming of these little toys always did bring a smile to Al Sharpe’s face. Didn’t count for much though, when everything did. “Remind me, Eden, how many magical girls does the PI employ again?”

”As of late,” she pulled a hand from her pockets, and reached deeply into her coat. ”Thirty one agents are employed. The Ascendancy has managed to both cull and boost our numbers.”

“Enough for a full class,” he replied. “Well, these sorts of receptacles are usually things only large organizations get to play with, y’see. If I were to get one of my...associates to craft something of that magnitude for the PI, hm…” With a snap of his fingers, Al Sharpe popped the head off one of his dolls, instantly ending its squirming. He rolled it between his fingers gently, molding it into a perfect sphere, before flicking it off into the frost-covered wood chips of the playground.

“Say, Eden, how ‘bout just working under the Mint?”

”Sorry, I don’t sign with record labels,” Eden retorted. Visibly she rummaged through the pocket for a number of moments, attempting to find something lost within its depths. Then she stopped, as if she’d found the things she was looking for, and withdrew her hand - empty, holding nothing. ”Should I be offended that you don’t consider us a large organisation? I mean, you could always come work for me instead - at least you won’t have to meet in places like this, but I guess you’re not much of a gambling man, are you? You’re too happy with where you are. So, what would you take instead?”

“Thirty-one girls is a club at best, not an organization,” Al Sharpe said, “Thought a playground would suit y’all just fine.” He laughed at that, a joke with no real threat behind it, before sitting up properly. “Being honest though, the PI becoming a subset of the Mint is the most generous offer I can give. We do watch out for the interests of our own, after all.”

“As for what else I’d take...it honestly feels out of your league, y’know? As far as track records go, the PI doesn’t exactly have the reputation to handle anything the Mint can’t do alone.” A shrug, a smirk. “Of course, you’re free to prove me wrong, but something like that will have to be done...beyond whatever deal we’re to broker regarding your receptacle.”

"Is that right?" for the first time since the meeting began, and she sat on the bench, Eden looked towards Al Sharpe. The gaze itself was apathetic, but somewhere deep behind it she was scanning him, taking in his every aspect, understanding him, at least on a physical level. She leant forwards, resting her elbows on her knees, and looked up into the giant man's eyes. "From what I hear, The Mint's got a lot of outstanding problems, don't they? Agents and Coin Brokers running off to join The Cradle, Chloe Irving's doing whatever she feels like, Veronica's off the grid completely and consorting with Beacon. If you wouldn't mind saying, The Vermin Killer's Mint, ain't he? - and he couldn't even take out Shion successfully. If it were my agents fucking up so consistently, well... honestly, I'd be disappointed, y'know? I'm not exactly sure what kind of third rate Magical Girls you employ over there, but see, when we do a job, we do it properly. 'Doesn't have the reputation', have you been paying attention lately? Or did you miss the Janet Howell Trial, which we had out as public knowledge within hours of its conclusion. I'll ask again - what will it cost?"

“So you’ve reported on a trial; congratulations,” Al Sharpe responded. With his eyes and face the way they were, it was hard to tell what sort of expression was hidden behind the constant smile of his. “Any news agency could have gotten that done, and your work elsewhere has been...unsatisfactory, no? The Mint’s got its hands on quite a few things these days; can’t exactly be bothered dealing with pests who’ve isolated themselves in a single city, y’know?”

A pause, a tilting of the head. Whatever machinery was within Al Sharpe’s skull was creaking now. “But I appreciate your gumption, if nothing else, Eden, so I’ll give you a chance to do something...bigger than merely printing local publications every month or two. Test the viability of dealing with your ‘professional’ group of middle school children.” Sparks bounced off the spikes again, as Al Sharpe toyed with another one of his dolls. “What do you think of Penny?”

"Penny Asimov," she echoed, sliding back against the rest of the bench, finished with her attempt at persuasion, or intimidation. She had no intention of fighting it further, not when he wasn't half wrong in the first place. For as strong as Eden herself was, The Penrose Independent was a drop in the pond. As she thought, she reached into her coat once more, delving into the opposite pocket from before, and fished out a small folder, labelled with Penny's name. She quickly undid the binding, to reveal a number of pictures. Some dated back to the Graveyard and further, but many were seemingly from The Beach. "Physically, she's probably the most powerful Magical Girl I've ever seen. One of the most connected in Penrose, too. She's allied with Beacon, Cindy Ford, and about a dozen other girls, including myself, though she's pretty heavily connected to Alicia Hayden and Chloe Irving mainly, especially since she's dating the latter. She's had dealings with Veronica in the past as well.

"Personally I think she's valuable - a bit too volatile maybe, but valuable, mainly as a combat asset," the assessment was truthful, if only thanks to her nature. She wouldn't have been surprised if The Mint already knew everything she was saying, but she wasn't interested in lying, or giving half-cocked information. "If you're looking for weaknesses, well, she's prone to overreacting, and is pretty weak magically. Course, you've got her girlfriend and other connections, and there's a Monster Girl called Thalia Alvoy who she's relatively attached to. I also noticed some audio distortion in a conversation I had with her the other day, so it's possible she's becoming more Corrupted."

“Oh, I don’t care about ‘common’ information, Eden. Really, I don’t care much about her at all.” Al Sharpe’s eyes flickered briefly towards the child still playing on the swings. “But y’see, I have it on good authority that Penny was recently...split in half. Human on one side, machine on the other side. And I also happen to know a...pervert of sorts that’s quite interested in divine machinery.”

The doll squirmed, shook, until its limbs were rattled out of its joints.

“Let’s call it a down payment. Either bring the machine, incapicitated, or bring accurate blueprints of its construction on all three levels: magical, physical, and spiritual. I usually wouldn’t give any sort of time limit for such work, but considering how pertinent this rave is...” The giant chuckled. “Once you’ve completed this assignment, the receptacle’s yours, and we’ll discuss the terms of your mortgage. Does that sound fair, or would you prefer, now, to just join in on ol’ Sharpe’s family business?”

”Figured as much,” Eden redid the binding on the folder, and slid it back into her pocket. This had gone poorly. Almost every moment since she sat down had been one fuck up after another. And now she was stuck between two less-than-ideal offers. She hadn’t known about Penny’s split, that alone was enough to beat herself up over, but the rest of the meeting was simply further punishment. ”Blueprints on her construction? That should be fairly easy. I’ll have them drafted in three days, and have them delivered by the fourth - to The Bowery, unless you’ve got somewhere else in mind?”

“Hrm...just send me a message; I’ll have someone collect. Now, for the contract…”

Al Sharpe motioned towards the girl on the swing, and the monochrome girl immediately hopped off, striding over at a controlled, graceful pace. Producing a matchbox from her frilly sleeves, she slid it open, before extracting a scroll, too large to naturally fit in such a container. Dark red script filled the yellowed parchment, already filled with the terms that Al Sharpe had just come up with. With a nod of her head, the girl handed the contract over to Eden for her inspection, before withdrawing a simple dagger from the matchbox as well.

Al Sharpe took it this time, slicing open his thumb. A greenish ichor seeped out. He wiped the blade with the cuff of his suit, stuck it into the bench, and pressed his bloodied thumb against the bottom of the parchment.

He motioned again.

“Go on ahead. Let’s seal the deal, eh?”

Without a sound, Eden pulled the blade from the wood of the bench, and drew it across her thumb. A black, viscous substance pooled within the open wound, and slowly began to spill down towards her palm, until she pressed it into the parchment. For as far as she could read, the terms were exactly as had been laid out in the conversation. This was a deal she could make, at least in relative comfort. Though, it was still The Mint she was dealing with.

Once two thumbprints, both made of inhuman blood, were made upon the parchment, the edges of it began to char, before the entire document dissolved to ash. Still rubbing his thumb, Al Sharpe stood up and said, with a tip of his hat, “Well, it’s been a pleasure, Eden. Hope ya prove me wrong, but we’ll just hafta see about that, won’t we?”

”Yeah. We’ll see,” Eden reciprocated the gesture with a tip to the bill of her cap. She remained seated, watching Al stand and prepare to leave. Just two more stages, and she would be ready. ”See ya around, Al.”

“Mhmm.”

And with that, the giant strode off, humming a song under his breath.

The gothic girl remained where she was for a moment, before bowing once towards Eden and dissolving to dust.

---

In the meanwhile

It was a few days from the Split as Penny was starting to refer to the incident. She had been spending a fair bit of her free time simply assisting in the day to day operations of keeping the Sanctuary running. Her physicality was less than it used to be, but her magical ability went from laughable to simply megar so that was still something she was able to do to help in the expansion of the place.

At the moment however she wasn’t working on that, nor was she about to go out on another patrol which she would do from time to time, nor was she off to try and track down any more leads on Sammy. She needed to hear back from her other half before she could do that. No, today she was looking for Cindy. As Penny had just remembered her deal with Eden.

“Cindy!” Penny would call out cheerfully when she finally found the regal monstergirl “Do you have a moment to talk?”

Cindy was overseeing the construction of a new tunnel when she noticed Penny calling out to her. “Goblina, take over from us,” she ordered ,and the smaller monster girl saluted.
She stepped to the sidelines to speak with the newly-changed dark magical girl.
“I currently do. Now, speak your mind, Penny.”

“Do you know much about the PI?” Penny would ask “I had a run in with them a couple days before you made your proclamation. They gave me some information in an attempt to help me track down Thalia again in return for a favor.” She would explain briefly “Well their boss, a girl by the name of Eden Campbell got a hold of me recently and wanted to cash in the favor. I was happy to agree as it was a really simple one. She wants to meet and talk business with you.” She would explain as she looked around at the tunnel still in construction.

“At least one of the things she wanted to talk about was getting a hold of a Red Coin to try and help Thalia, as her Monstrous half has gone kinda psycho”

Cindy had a tense look as she heard certain topics brought, most reactive to the mention of Thalia.
"The fox girl? I have received reports of one running amok in town, killing anything that comes too close. Thus, we have kept our distance." She tapped a finger on her chin, or the electric energy equivalent of one. "Tell Eden to meet me on top of the Town Hall at Dawn. I also have business to discuss with her."

---

AND

Dawn had come, but Eden had arrived early. Despite her predilection to remain disguised, making her way up onto the roof had been an easy task; humans tended not to question things when presented with paperwork and identification, of which she and The Penrose Independent had access to in abundance. Magical resources had been stretched thin with The Ascendancy crawling every street of Penrose, but the mundane resources she had access to never dried up.

She had taken her perch on the edge, legs held over the side and allowed to dangle freely in the open air. Even if she was affected by the cold of the night, the thick coat she made her motif kept out the worst of it. With her collar turned up, her form was obscured from behind, save the red-purple hair that leaked out from under her cap. Eden stayed sat, for an hour, waiting for dawn and the meeting to arrive, looking out over Penrose City.

”Should be about time.”

Eden saw as a streak of electricity raced across the sky. As it came closer, she would see it had the shape of a humanoid female, her eyes intense as they looked upon her.
She slowly floated down, landing on the rooftop with a small crackle of static.
“Eden Campbell, I presume?” The mass of living electromagnetic energy approached the disguised girl with a smile. “I am Cindy, Queen of Penrose. I have heard from Penny that you sought an audience with me on the matters of business.
Now, what business would it be that you desire?” She asked.

”Yup, hiding my name isn’t gonna do me any good anymore,” she sighed. Her head tilted to look behind her, over her shoulder and towards Cindy. A living mass of lightning - as far as Monstrous Mutations went, she was easily one of the most curious Eden had come across. Her eyes trained on Cindy’s, scanning her face and body with a quiet intensity. ”We never got a chance to speak back when you first arrived. This probably would’ve been worth doing a long time ago - but I could do with your help.

“Things are… difficult, at the moment. The Ascendancy has been hurting some good people,” as she spoke, Eden looked back out across the city. For a moment she paused, and then lifted herself up off the edge of the roof. She began walking, towards Cindy, hair fluttering slightly in the breeze. ”Good people that thought I’d protect them. I want to do something about it - fight back against The Ascendancy - but with my numbers, I’m not sure I’d win. But you might. If you’d be willing to accept, The Penrose Independent will back your claim on Penrose, and join you in the war that’s coming.”

Cindy's expression, though a bit difficult to read due to her nature, still showed enough doubt for Eden to recognize. "I did not think the local news would wish to wage war against a fearsome power like the Ascendancy. Then again, they do rob the futures of everyone they meet, yours included. Based on what my people have spoken, you employ monster kind among others, without bias. That is commendable."
She looked to the distance. "I do wonder if your intentions are limited to revenge and freedom. Regardless, your offer is a welcome one." She offered a hand to shake. "I am willing to enter an alliance. However, I must first ask what you want from me besides assistance in the war to come?"

”Dunno if it’s commendable,” as Cindy looked past her, Eden stepped up before her, eyeing the handshake with vague curiosity. She didn’t often accept handshakes. But this one she did. ”Call my intentions a debt. To an old friend, and her dream. We - I, am a Monster Girl. It’d be hypocritical if I didn’t hire the ones who need my security the most. On that note, there’s another debt I need to clear, to Penny. She probably already gave you the details, but I need a Red Coin for a girl named Thalia - she came to you on the night you claimed Queenship. I owe Penny, and to that end, I’ve pledged to help save her friend.”

Eden felt a small jolt of electricity as she shook hands with Cindy, followed by a pleasant tingle; based on Cindy’s attentive look, it might have been a test of hers to gauge her reaction.
“Regardless, you provide hope to the downtrodden and the outcast. That is something that can’t be denied. As for Thalia, I do remember her; she is truly a misfortunate soul, burdened with grief and rage.” She nodded at the request. “I see. I can grant this boon, to honor your debt to Penny.” She then reached into her body, and brought out a sealed plastic bag. She opened it, and took out a coin of a vivi crimson hue: the Red Coin.
“However,” she then spoke, holding the coin on her palm. “In return, you will swear fealty to me as my vassal, and work for the good of monsterkind. For this night, and all nights to come.”

”Swear fealty, right,” with her fingerless gloves, only a small area of her hand made contact with Cindy’s body. But for it all, there was no reaction; not a single, subtle twitch or change. But, for the first time in any of her meetings that week, Eden managed a small laugh. Something heartfelt, borne of a memory that she closed her eyes on to remember. ”I haven’t had to pledge my allegiance to someone since Primary, Christ. No time like the present to try again though, I guess. My name is Eden Campbell.

“And you are my Queen,” at the end of the statement, she stepped back a small distance. Her right foot moved in front of her left, and her right arm moved horizontally across her chest. It was a more masculine bow, but Eden had no intention of lifting her coat like a dress. When she came back upright, she made half a move to reach for the Coin, though not fully committing, to allow Cindy to make it easier, and obvious that it was allowed. ”Not sure if there’s, like, any sort of Rites I’ve gotta take or anything. I’ve already bowed once, that’d better be all there is to it."

Cindy seemed very pleased with the courteous gesture that Eden displayed. She opened her palm, allowing Eden to take the Red Coin. "The Rites you shall perform next are those you choose yourself, to dedicate yourself to the crown." She smiled, and closed her palm. "I expect great things from you, Eden Campbell. But be warned; if you are to ever cross me...The Queen's blade shall be swift in taking your head off."

”Well, I suppose that’s some assurance,” Eden replied half-heartedly, eyes locked to the Red Coin she now held. Her eyes flicked across it rapidly, as though she were reading something, but for the moments of silence where she held it, her pupils remained unfocused. She wasn’t reading the power of the Coin - she was feeling it. Within a number of seconds, she turned to look back at Cindy, as she slid the coin into the depths of her coat’s inner pockets. ”If you don’t mind there’s one other thing I wanted to ask about. There are Monster Girls with - I don’t know how to describe it, the ability to project their auras as something tangible. The Bates had it, and surrounded the graveyard in it, but it wasn’t Specialisation based. I’m pretty sure it’s something innate, found in certain kinds of individuals. Do you have anyone like that serving you?”

Cindy put her hands to her hips, deep in thought. “Hmm...I have only seen Monster Queens possess that kind of power. They are ones who have dared to dip into the hellish gifts of the Ebon Mint even further. Most are overtaken by the power, and lose their minds. But a few have had the resolve to take it as their own. There is one such individual among my people. However, she is a reclusive one, seemingly afraid of losing herself to her wildness. I can arrange a meeting with them if you desire one.”

”If you wouldn’t mind, that’d be great,” she pushed her hands into her outer pockets, and leant against a large vent entrance nearby. ”But just so you know, if she agrees to help, I’ll want her at the party. I’ll keep her safe, and I’ll have Thalia give me her Meditation Stone so she isn’t so tense, but the first shots are probably going to happen there. When the time comes, I hope your people are ready to defend themselves.”

“...What makes you think so?” Cindy’s eyes sparked with electricity. “Why do you think violence will break out at the coming rave?”

”Why do you make it sound like it won’t?” Eden’s hands withdrew from her pockets, and crossed in front of her chest. For a moment, her gaze once again lingered on the skyline. ”There’s nothing too bold for The Ascendancy, and I have it on good authority that there’s an individual in their ranks who can nullify magic. Beacon has to attack for the same reason the party has to happen, frankly an assault is guaranteed; if we’re not ready then the war’s gonna start and end before we can even fight back.”

Cindy frowned. “So my suspicions were correct after all...There have been rumors circulating that Koothe Beacon has found the location.. However, I will personally make sure it won’t end in a riot. The party is meant to unite our hearts, and steel our resolve, not cause chaos and carnage!” She tapped her foot, and tiny sparks flew from the floor. “But what you mentioned is very intriguing. How much do you know of what is happening in Penrose? If you are to work as my vassal, you shall indulge the information you possess to your queen.”

”Honestly? Not as much as I’d like,” her foot began to tap, ever so slightly, against the roof of the town hall, which one of her index fingers began to match. The constant questioning was becoming tiring - all Eden had hoped for was a concise meeting, but it could never be that simple. And based on the way Cindy made no comments about being ready to fight, Eden couldn’t help but begin to agree with Elvira’s assessment. But even then, she reached into one of her pockets, and pulled out a photograph. It wasn’t exceptionally clear, and appeared slightly marred in interference or static, but it displayed the appearances of Leena and FanFan. ”The Penrose Independent has an agreement with Elvira, so we’ll be providing additional security in case things get out of hand. But if you want to help prevent a one-sided fight - one of these two girls has some magic nullification ability. If The Ascendancy attacks the party, they’ll be there, and the chances of anyone getting out unharmed go down massively. I’d say that’s probably the most valuable information I can give you, ‘cause stopping them is top priority.”

Cindy took the photograph, taking a closer look. "I see...They look very powerful. I recommend you exercise the utmost caution when dealing with them. Thank you for your hard work." She placed the photo in the plastic bag, and stuffed it inside her. "Well then, I must take my leave; if what you say is true, there will be a confrontation, and it is one I don't intend to lose. Therefore, our forces must be prepared. Let us stay connected for the future. Goodbye." She launched up into the sky, accelerating herself through electromagnetic forces far into the city.

”What do you think?” Eden asked aloud, remaining where she stood leant against the unit, watching Cindy vanish into the night. One more thing, she thought. And the stage would be set. There was no reply to her question, but she continued speaking regardless. ”She has spirit. Not sure that translates to being a good ruler, but we’ll see soon, I guess. At least she advocates helping everyone - you were big on that, I bet you two’d get along. Well… except for the whole hierarchy bit. Just hope she doesn’t fuck this up me.”

She pushed against the unit with her back, hand slipping into her pockets, as she began to walk, and whistle.

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

and

and

~ Before The Split ~

Quietly on behind Miriam, The Boss turned, and stepped towards the access door. A mere few steps passed before Penny’s reply flashed across her face from the blue lit screen in her hand, drawing her attention, and pausing her gait for a moment. Deftly, her numb fingers took to drawing out a reply. With each keypress, her steps quickened, until she reached the door - her left hand outstretched to push it inwards, allowing a flood of white-flourescent light to leak onto the exposed rooftop.

The very space at the top of the stairs, of the access corridor to the roof of a financial building just beyond the centre of the city, bathed in artificial light, bent and rended. The light flickered and dimmed, and finally darkened, the bulb shorted out by a cloud of black that wafted beneath the door and swallowed the stairwell atop which The Boss stood.

enter

I’m very well acquainted with the owner of a restaurant in Western Penrose, called The Nerine Vista. It’s a short walk from the Beth Lamnnid Memorial Library - it’ll look closed, but the door is open. I’ll have the chef on standby, so we can eat, and talk.

Unknown Number

I can be there shortly.

Penny

Penny would send back as a response before pulling up a digital map of Penrose and plotting out her course. “Right, I’m off” Penny would say aloud turning to Valerie “As I said feel free to tag along shouldn’t be an issue” She would say with a shrug “And before I forget” She’d Ping the other android’s system with a simple message “My number in case you want to get a hold of me later”

Afterwards she’d jump onto the nearby roof and set off at a reasonable pace, slightly above a jog over all. She was fine after all, no need to go racing off to get away from this alleyway. She was fine.

_{01001100 01101001 01100101 01110011 00100000 01001100 01101001 01100101 01110011 00100000 01001100 01101001 01100101 01110011 00100000}

"O...kay..." Valerie hesitated to leave Penny to go by herself. She had detected traces of corruption from the other android, making her worried. Not wanting to take any chances, she followed behind her.

Located in Western Penrose, The Nerine Vista only a short walk from the centre of the city, across the road and northwards on from the local library. Technically, it stood as one of the finer dining experiences in Penrose City. The exterior boasted an elegant aesthetic - a primary red colour scheme trimmed and framed in gold. Above a number of large, darkened windows that obscured the interior of the restaurant, a large nameplate sat, with the name 'The Nerine Vista', written out in cursive, gold on red, punctuated on its rightmost side from the entrance with a flowering lily.

To the ordinary, it merely appeared as a restaurant, but to the magically keen, or a Third Eye user, a number of immediate magical enchantments were obvious from the outside. The darkened windows had an illusion placed over the top of them, obfuscating view in, but allowing those inside to look out on the world in peace. And at the front. just past the main darkened glass doors, was a plaque, reading bold and obvious in golden foil "The Nerine Vista is Open". That too had been obfuscated, overlayed with a “closed” sign, to keep the mundane from entering accidentally, though the door itself remained unlocked.

"Well this is the place" Penny would say as she gave it a look over, somewhat suprised at the fact it was a more upscale local, with a shrug she would venture inside. After all she was fine, no need to stop, she could handle this, she was fine.

On the inside, the chill of the Penrose day was taken over by a pleasant warmth. The restaurant floor itself felt rustic, but never deviated from the upper class presentation it gave on the first outlook; several dozen, large round tables covered the space, partially set, each meticulously covered in a burgundy tablecloth, outlined by a golden seam that tapered at each corner into a fabric gold decoration. Two wooden, delicately carved chairs had been sat polar opposite from each other, backed by rich, dark brown leather, intersected at various angles with golden thread, leading to a yellow-gold diamond design at its centre. And on the walls hung various objects - by the double doors that no doubt led to the kitchen, among the numerous art pieces that lined the room, a sword sat mounted to the wall, in a beautiful, black and silver sheath.

A fire had been lit of the opposite end of the chamber, illuminating the restaurant beyond even the half dozen silver and crystal chandeliers, candle-lighting the floor from above. Above the fireplace sat a frame, a painting, of the Earth from orbit, splintered and cracked like a window pain, and illuminated from above by a brilliant white star. And at the centre of the room, by a table kept at slight distance from the rest, was a girl. She was short, at least relatively so. Purple-red hair emerged from beneath her striped fabric newsboy hat, and the collar of her coat, which, upturned, rose partway up the back of her neck. The coat itself ran down almost to her knees, and appeared to be a heavy thing; bulky, covered in buckles and buttons, and nearly multicoloured with the number of patchwork repairs that had been done. A pair of fingerless gloves adorned each of her hands, which took to setting the table for two guests - a set of cutlery, a napkin, a small plate, a glass and a sizeable, leather bound menu. As she worked, the girl whistled, a gentle and vaguely sombre melody, seemingly inattentive to the arrival of her guest.

"Exc҉use me" Penny would call out once she had given the place a look over. She had realized that she didn't know who she was looking for, just thier name. "We are looking for Eden?" she would explain once she got the other girl, who she assumed was the waitress, attention.

"See you found the place alright," the girl replied, back turned to the two as she took to laying a glass, left-most side of the plate. For a moment she drew back, taking in the state of the table, and then she turned towards the door, satisfied with the layout. Her eyes fell on Penny first, but quickly flicked towards Valerie. "Who's the new girl? Last I heard, Beacon Agents aren't meant to wander the streets with Monster Girls in tow."

"Valerie Williams." she introduced herself, extending a hand out for Eden to shake. "Don't worry, I only work under a lesser force. Just happened to have ended up like this by chance." the android pointed to herself with her free hand.

"And how many Beacon members do you know are also Monstergirls?" Penny would ask quirking an eyebrow at Eden. "I'm not very big on the 'No working with monstergirl's' part of Beacon's Vows as it's more or less impossible for me to follow it." She would go on to say as she re-examined the girl in front of her.

"Regardless, Valerie just helped me out. Not going to just cut and run after that" She would say as she moved to the table, keeping an eye on Eden as she went. After all if the Vixen was scared of her that was more then enough reason to stay on her guard.

_{01011001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01101011 01100101 01100101 01110000 00100000 01101100 01111001 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 01110010 00100000 01110011 01100101 01101100 01100110}

"We'll need another chair, then," she commented. Her eyes scanned Valerie's outstretched hand for a moment, until she turned, ignoring the gesture, to pull a chair from one of the other, nearby tables. She gestured for the two of them to sit, and stepped off towards the double doors, which automatically swung open, despite the lack of a visible sensor near them, leading into the vast kitchen. A few moments passed, of near silence, before they swung open in the opposite direction, revealing the girl once more, carrying the necessary table set deftly between her hands. "If anything happens with her, I hope you'll take responsibility.

"But we'll deal with that if it comes," as she spoke, she took to setting Valerie's own place. Within a minute, a near exact replica of the other two places had been erected, with the heavy, leather bound menu placed square in front of her. Almost immediately, she took her own seat, directly across from Penny, and just to Valerie's left, ninety degrees around the circular table. "We haven't talked since before the beach, right? That mess was a whole lot to unpack, so many different people talking and what not - but apparently you had a fairly eventful two months, at least. I heard Thalia was there, too, did you see her?"

"As far as I am aware we hadn’t talked even before then" Penny would reply as Eden sat down "But yeah I meet up with Thalia. She spoke about you briefly as well" She would go on leaning back in her chair "Over all it was a pretty decent couple of days. Why do you bring it up?" So far Penny was getting the feeling that Eden didn't do anything with a reason to do such. Which wasn't too surprising considering that Eden ran a business but Penny tended to be weary of those types on principal.

_{01001110 01101111 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01100100 01101111 01101110 00100111 01110100 00101100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100001 01110100 00100111 01110011 00100000 01101101 01100101 00101100 00100000 01111001 01100101 01110100 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101110 01110100 01101001 01101110 01110101 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01101001 01100111 01101110 01101111 01110010 01100101 00100000 01101101 01100101}

"Right, right, names and faces, I still haven't introduced myself; I'm Eden," she looked from Penny to Valerie with the statement, her exposed fingertips lightly rapping against the tabletop in a vaguely rhythmic manner. With each word, the neutral expression and apathetic, hard eyes she wore faded away into something softer, until a faint smile crested her face. "I'm the co-founder, and current head, of The Penrose Independent. Before we get into any real business talk, feel free to order, on the house. Though I suppose you're both robots, aren't you? - well, take a look through the menu anyway, if you want something to eat, the chef's on standby."

"Well, I'm an android, and I can eat. But half the time, I don't really need to." Valerie explained, looking through the menu. "Do you suggest anything?" she asked Eden.

"Technically I'm a cyb̸o̡rg" Penny would reply as she looked over the menu. She avoided looking at any option that had meat in it, not because anything was wrong, no she was fine. She just wasn't in the mood for that, it wasn't like the sensation of eating someone else was lingering in the back of her mind. She was fine.

_{01001001 00100111 01101101 00100000 01101110 01101111 01110100 00100000 01100111 01101111 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01101100 01100101 01110100 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01110011 01101001 01101101 01110000 01101100 01111001 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 01100111 01100101 01110100 00100000 01110111 01101000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110000 01110000 01100101 01101110 01100101 01100100}

"I'll go with the Fettuccine Alfredo" She'd say after a moment, "Water to drink"

"Sure, cyborg," Eden echoed, her attention momentarily pulled from Valerie's words onto Penny. As she looked, she made no effort to hide the intention of her gaze; it had reverted in an instant to the sharp, and piercing, eyes she wore before, as though she were performing a detailed scan of Penny's body and face from across the table. "Fettuccine Alfredo, not a bad choice. As for you, Valerie... There's the pan seared duck breast I had added, with a reduced red wine and gooseberry sauce. Sasha wasn't sure how well it'd work on the menu, but she's become fairly well known for it since we opened, so it's gotta be worth something, right?"

"Hm, sounds good. I'll have that." Valerie nodded.

"So you mentioned that you wanted to call in that favor" Penny would say calmly as she leaned back into her chair meet Eden's gaze. The apparent scrutiny serving as a grounding rod allowing her to focus on the here and now.

_{01010100 01101000 01100001 01110100 00100111 01110011 00100000 01100010 01100101 01100011 01100001 01110101 01110011 01100101 00100000 01001001 00100000 01100100 01101111 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01110100 01110010 01110101 01110011 01110100 00100000 01101000 01100101 01110010}

"What did you have in mind?"

"I felt bad, about the whole favour thing," she replied, standing from her seat. From each guest Eden took their glasses, and carried them off to a nearby table, where a pitcher of water sat. As she lifted it, the ice cubes clinked against the glass, breaking the sudden silence while she poured. "Don't get me wrong, I still need your help with something, but I'm not so much of a cunt where I'd call it a favour anymore. I just wanted something that I could use on you later. I'm asking about Thalia - well, I'm asking if there's anything I can do to help with that situation. It's partially my fault anyway."

"I..." Penny took a breath and tried to let go of the tension she was holding on too "I don't know. We had a long discussion back at the Beach, and even got a text from her now that we are back here, but I havn't seen her yet so I'm not really sure what she needs at the moment" Penny would explain "And from what I hear your the reason she came to me at all, so what makes you say that it was your fault to begin with?"

"Good question..." Eden said. She remained silent for a few moments, watching the water drain from the pitcher, and into the glass that had been Penny's, until it reached the same point as Valerie's had. When she lifted them once more, she did so gently; the movements on the return were ever so slightly more cautious, as though she feared spilling a single drop, until she slid the glasses back in front of the places they belonged to. "Let's just say, I didn't stop this situation as early as I could of. I had to threaten her - did she tell you that? I was watching you fighting in the Graveyard when she came by again. I don't like threatening people, but she's too familiar to individuals I've worked with before. It was either scare her back to you, or kill her. I want you to think of us as friends, Penny, that's why I'm offering this - if you need help with something after this, I'll see what I can do."

"I see..." Penny would answer as she parsed the information given to her. her hands wrapping around the glass of water passed to her as she thought it over "She did mention something like that. Thing is she tried the second route first" Penny would say quietly, careful to not increase her grip on the glass infront of her, as it would easily shatter if she did. "The Vixen took over her for quite some time as well, hard to say if you really talked with Thalia much"

_{01010111 01100101 00100000 01100001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01101000 01100101 01100001 01100100 01100101 01100100 00100000 01101001 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110011 01100001 01101101 01100101 00100000 01100100 01101001 01110010 01100101 01100011 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01101001 01100110 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 01110010 00100000 01101110 01101111 01110100 00100000 01100011 01100001 01110010 01100101 01100110 01110101 01101100}

Penny winced slightly "Do... Do you know of anyway to help someone in Thalia's postion?"

"Mmm, potentially," she began. Her coat folded as she slid into the chair once more, and rested her elbows on the table, crossing her hands in front of her mouth for a moment of thought. In the seconds that past, an abrupt sound emerged from the kitchen, as the double doors that connected the two rooms swung open, revealing a heavy set woman, grey-white hair held beneath a chef's hat, and clothed in a full body chef's apron, carrying two plates on one arm, and a glass in the other hand.

"Fettuccine Alfredo for Ms. Asimov, duck breast for Ms. Valerie," the woman announced, bearing a thick, deep seated Russian accent. She moved the starter plates from in front of the two, and placed the plates near dead centre at the place. Every step was made clockwise around the table - to Penny first, then Valerie, then placing the bubbling glass of black liquid in front of Eden, and finally back around and into the kitchen. "Please enjoy the meal."

"Can't say I'm an expert, but in the end, the issue will be corruption based," Eden continued. She reached forward, and took the glass in her hand - a large pint glass, filled almost fully with cola. "Her corruption is fighting against her. The Vixen is probably some kind of security mechanism put in place to prevent her from being damaged or purified, but somewhere along the line she let it in too far, and it developed its own sense of self on a schema of her personality. The fastest way to fix it would be purification, but there's no chance The Ascendancy lets her live, in which case - I never got my hands on one, but a Red Coin might scramble the corruption enough as to where she can take control again. I could... force her into shutdown, and restart her in a safe mode of sorts, where Thalia is the one in control. It'd only last for a little until The Vixen realises her host isn't disabled, but it could be enough for her to use a Coin. If I can find one."

Penny would sit back and ponder the information given to her. Some of it rang true, the metamorph being a security measure from being damaged fit in line with her own triggers after all. But the purification defense didn’t really fit, unless Thalia own psyche was more damaged then Penny’s currently was. And didn’t that thought send a shiver of dread down her mechanical spine.

Still the matter of a Red coins was much easier after all “I-“
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Penny would take a drink from her water before trying again “I know where you might be able to get one. Cindy currently has a stock of them, getting in touch with her you should be able to work something out.” Penny herself had no doubt that the Red coins could fix such an issue, but she didn’t need to use hers yet. She was still fine after all, perfectly fine.

"Well that works out perfectly," she set her glass down, after a number of sip. "That favour I needed from you was all about Cindy Ford. I gotta speak to her on a few things, but I doubt she'll just meet me if I rock up to your hideout uninvited. I know you two have an arrangement, so I was hoping you could, well, introduce me, I guess, maybe vouch for my intergrity, something like that. I'm pretty sure Cindy and Thalia are already acquainted as well, she might just agree to give up a Coin on principle. What do you say?"

"Not really mine anymore but I get what you mean" Penny would hedge while she though about the offer. She couldn't see any reason why not to agree to this, plus it was a rather simple way to pay off the debt. So with a internal shrug "Sure I could do that. It'll take a day or two I think" She would muse aloud, not fully sure of what her own standing was when it came to the selfproclaimed Queen. Besides there was the issue of the Spark tracking her as well to deal with first.

"How do you want me to get a hold of you when I've got it set up?"

"A day or two is perfect," she lifted the glass to her lips once more, and for a few seconds drank deeply from it. When she reemerged, she placed the glass back gently, and sighed. "If you could just send me a text, that'd be fine. I'll let you know if she agrees to give up one of her coins, and if she does, then, I guess we'll discuss what to do about Thalia at a later date. Thank you, genuinely. With all that said and done... I have to make some preperations.

"Valerie, I'm sorry about this. I wasn't expecting anyone other than Penny, so you've been a bit left out. Before I leave you both to eat," Eden reached into the large, bulky jacket that made up the main part of her attire. The sheer size obscured most of her true physicality, leaving everything below the neck and above the knees a mystery. Her hand seemed to disappear into the left breast, venturing into a pocket of dubious contents, and when it returned, it held a business card. 'The Penrose Independent. Keeping the Truth Truthful', covered neatly in a myriad of contact numbers and addresses, which she handed to the android. "I don't know your position or standing with your Patron and the rest of Penrose, but if you need somewhere to work, we're always hiring."

"Oh?" Valerie grabbed the business card. "Huh, I was actually going to offer you my services, if you ever needed me. I am the hacker of my group, after all." With a wink, the android had added herself onto Eden's contacts, and vice versa.

Penny would nod "I'll contact you when I can" she would say before tuning her attention to her food. After all it would be rude to just leave it with out eating.

"I'm glad to hear it, both of you. If you'll excuse me," with a nod to each of them, she stood from the table, grabbing and pulling the glass with her to quickly finish the remaining liquid. The moment the last drop emptied, she placed it back on the table, and began walking towards the door, until, just at the entrance, Eden turned to look back at them. "Penny. As a friend. Don't go to the party. And... if there's anyone in Beacon you care about, make sure they steer clear too."

Before either of the two girls could answer, she pulled the door ajar, and ducked out into the cold of Penrose City.

---

and

Vi sat in her chair, nervously drumming on her desk with her fingers as she waited for the PI to show up. After discussing a few things with Chloe, she had at least agreed this would be the best course of action. The other girl still wanted to make no appearances herself, it seemed. Content to hide while others carried out her dirty work.

Ugh, she loathed to admit it but she was no different from her, in the end. Always hiding behind a computer screen. At least she wouldn't have to do much decision making this time herself. Divina had graciously 'offered' her help. Honestly, she was more terrified of that moth woman than she was Chloe. There was something unsettling about watching a human sized creature stare at a lightbulb like it was normal. Not to mention the repeated attempts at psychic shenanigans. Mostly that.
A small red blip from a motion sensor activated on one of her many security cameras tore her away from the thoughts. That was them, likely. Vi sighed, grinding her teeth for a moment as she worked up her usual persona.

“Alright, Vi, Shooooowww time!~” The magical girl got up from her chair and moved to where she had her setup. She put on her usual hat, quickly checking her hair, nails, and making sure she was presentable. She wouldn't physically be there, but she'd be able to see them and they her, at least. She had an image to uphold.

The PI members would easily find their way into the warehouse that Vi had directed them too. Old machinery sat abandoned, a rusted testament to whatever this place had once been used for. After a moment of inspection, they'd have found the entire place to be empty...the only thing they’d notice that anyone had been here recently was a number of still functioning security cameras seemingly monitoring them.

The sound of a car pulling up outside the warehouse filled the nearby surroundings. It drove up slowly, drawing near to the entrance, until the slight whine of the breaks followed, and the engine cut to silence. Divina could feel the presence of two minds approaching the warehouse, which in turn exited the vehicle, and made their way inside the building, where they began to talk.

”Above,” one of the voices said. It was feminine, clearly, with a slight, obviously non-American accent behind it, and moved around the room with its wielder. The girl in question made her way through the warehouse in the direction of the individual, pointedly glancing into each security camera as they appeared, while she looked through the various pieces of machinery. ”There’s only one nearby, though. Not sure why they’d give up their home field advantage, but we’ll see.”

”This is definitely the place?” the second voice was rougher, though still belonging to a woman. A heavy Russian accent bolstered the words, thick and deeply ingrained in her vocal cords.

”Can’t say I’ve come across too many abandoned warehouses with people in the ceiling, not since becoming a Magical Girl anyway. Always up for new adventures though.”

Above, they were being watched. If they'd have looked up they'd have noticed what looked to be an incredibly large moth of some sort hanging by some old windows on the roof of the warehouse. It currently had their back to them, but upon hearing them enter the moth swiveled its head around, eyeing them curiously for a few seconds. Hm, so that was the Penrose Independent.

Just as the woman finished speaking, the moth girl released her grip on the glass window, letting herself fall to the ground. Fuzzy, moth like wings slowed her descent until her feet gently hit the ground.

“Hmm...so you're the Penrose Independent.” The girl said, her wings wrapping themselves around her like a giant cloak. Her large eyes stared at both of them intently. “I humbly welcome you to this little stage.” The moth turned her head back and forth between the two of them. “I apologize for the late greeting. I was...sun gazing. Such a bright, pretty thing isn't it?~” She giggled lightly before getting back on topic. “Ahem...apologies.”

There was something oddly unsettling about her gaze, and the other girls would probably feel like their thoughts might not entirely be safe. She was likely going to try and read their minds through the duration of their conversation.

“I am Divina. A humble servant and currently helping Miss Vi.”

”Sasha, wait in the car,” the shorter girl said. Even with the moth just behind her, she didn’t turn to look. She remained in place, watching as Sasha nodded cautiously, eyes trained on the newcomer, and made her way out of the warehouse. The girl who called herself Divina was still the only person around, besides Sasha. Nobody else was present. When she had sufficiently confirmed the fact, she finally turned, her gaze immediately drawn to the moth girl. For a moment she said nothing, and simply looked; while Divina’s gaze was unsettling, The Boss’s was piercing, as she scanned the breadth of the moth girl’s body in a matter of moments. ”You’re the only one here, so I’m guessing Elvira’s phoning in from home? Kinda would’ve preferred to meet whoever’s actually running all this, but whatever - you got somewhere to take me?”

“So impatient.” Divina replied lazily, a small smile forming on her pale face, seemingly entirely unconcerned with the boss' gaze. “And so cautious. Afraid, perhaps? No need to, really. I'm a harmless little moth that just wants to comfort those less fortunate.” She tilted her head to the side slightly as she watched the one named Sasha leave. Well, that was fine, as long as she didn't draw attention to the place.

“Smart, too. I suppose being the leader of an organization such as yours means you need to be, hm?” A small hint of disdain could be heard in the moth girls voice as she turned, motioning for the PI to follow. “Elvira is...hm, shall we say, has to think about the consequences of leaving her home, you see. She doesn't trust you, and until she does it is unlikely she will meet you in person. You understand, of course? With all the horrible things happening, one can only be certain in the comfort of the familiar.” The moth walked over to a particularly out of place seeming wall with a large machine situated in front of it. It seemed mostly real, but the boss would likely easily see that the entire thing seemed to be nothing but a well crafted Illusion.

“Vi has put a lot of work into it. This place, you know.” A small blast of psychic energy was seemingly enough for her to disturb the illusion and cause it to vanish, revealing a set of stairs leading below. “I think it's a sign she's willing to trust you somewhat. There's a basement. Fairly large. Vi normally holds her little parties there.”

For the whole of the walk behind Divina, The Boss said nothing. Not a word escaped her, for all of Divinas’ questions and comments. She focussed on what she could see. Hear. Feel. The tour through the warehouse became an echo chamber with each step, until they reached the wall. For as potent and well constructed the illusion may have been, The Boss saw and registered it from the moment it came into view. She analysed it, deconstructed it, and glimpsed clean through it within a matter of moments in her gaze. But she also watched Divina’s psychic blast, which cleanly dissipated the facade.

”This is it, then?” she asked aloud, almost rhetorically. The moment the illusion was visibly gone, The Boss stepped around and in front of Divina, and crossed the distance down to the second step. No effort was made to stop for her escort. She simply continued heading down. ”Elvira isn’t in charge of this. There’s somebody else above you both - so why is she afraid? Not like her dying would get me anywhere, and if you lot were concerned about being interrogated for information, why leave someone here as a tour guide? First impressions, this ain’t adding up, Divina.”

“I wonder...is there such a thing as being too smart?” Divina idly asked as they reached the end of the stairs. “Well, it's not my place to judge...for now. I am simply here to ensure things go...smoothly.” Opening one last door, the sight would likely at least cause one to pause for a moment had they not known what they were getting into. The underground complex fit the 'party club' aesthetic. Neon lights, though currently unlit lined the walls, the only source of lights being large industrial tubes hanging on the ceiling. Upon the back wall, a large stage was situated, rows upon rows of screens attached to the wall, with numerous cables and speakers with it. The dance floor would at least be able to hold dozens of people comfortably. A bar stocked with drinks was situated near the entrance. Several side hallways led off, likely to some other rooms or perhaps, other venues.

“But perhaps, if someone else was orchestrating this, they simply wish to remain anonymous...in case things go bad, hm? As the head of an organization like yours...you should know, information in situations is always vital.”

“Ey ey, that's enough Divina! No need to spill more juicy gossip than ya have too!” Every single screen situated on the back wall flashed to life – revealing the face of a grinning Vi in her usual getup. A muted song played through the speakers in the clubroom.

“Apologies, Vi.” Divina bowed her head lightly.

“Hmph, so you're the PI's boss, huh? Wow, I guess not not everyone looks like they're big business, huh. Color me unimpressed, boss lady.”

”Is openly showing my power a requirement?” The Boss queried in response. Her expectations for the place hadn’t been low by any stretch of the imagination, but the actual quality of the venue surprised her, at least for a moment. As the monitors switched on, she began to walk the length of the room - nearer the front where Elvira would no doubt stand, by the bar to see what had already been prepared. All the while she did, The Boss scanned the room, checking in every corner. ”This hat and coat were given to me by a close friend. They give me my image. I suppose this place is your image, then? It’ll do nicely, you don’t have a back room or anything, do you? We’re gonna need somewhere to set up our equipment soon enough, somewhere people not involved in planning can’t see it.”

“Wow, askin' a girl to show her secrets so readily.” Vi chuckled. “We haven't agreed on anything yet, have we boss lady? So slow up a second 'kay? We got stuff to discuss before you go addin' anything to my systems.”

“Vi, perhaps, if you could, we are on a rather tight schedule...”

“Divina, who's in charge here? Me, that's who. I can't have her boomer hands all over my tech. No telling what sorta ew stuff she'd do to it.” Divina glanced towards the monitors, a small frown forming on her lips. If the boss happened to look back for a moment she'd have noticed one of Divina's eyes had been gone completely insect like – a series of compound eyes staring at the monitor briefly.

“...ugh, Divina, girl, can you please keep your creepiness to yourself. Nobody wants to see that.” Vi took a few steps backwards. “Alright, how's about this. You don't have to show me your abilities, but you will tell me what exactly it is you'll be doing before you go breaking anything.”

”I thought Christine made that pretty clear?” she called back from the bar. Her arms and fingerless lay outstretched across the surface, and her legs crossed in front as she leaned against the counter. ”Security, in a sense. The Ascendancy is bound to show up to this, there’s basically no chance they don’t - but there’s no real way to guarantee how many they’ll send. But if, I don’t know, The Penrose Independent, a group who they know has Beacon members among them, and have in the past leaked things like the Janet Trial within hours of it concluding? And then, maybe, there’s an anonymous tip, which tells them exactly where the party is being held. We’ll just set up my scanner in the back room, if you have one, and it’ll give me a constant location update for any and all Beaconers that appear near this building. And, I mean, as a show of good faith, we’ll provide you with some funding as well - in case there’s anything you haven’t been able to upgrade or buy yet.”

“That's it? That's all? Man, you're pretty dense aren't ya?” Vi replied with a completely unimpressed look. “I don't care if Beacon shows up. They wanna show up? What are they gonna do, attack us all? Use that brain of yours for once and do some thinking.” A smug, malevolent grin formed on Vi's features. “Let Beacon come. If I wanted them not too, I wouldn't have advertised it so publicly.”
Divina glanced between the two of them idly.

“...Elvira,” She fluttered her wings quietly. “Stop being so obtuse.”

“...ugh, right. Whatever, Moth-man.” Vi scoffed. “I don't want Security. What I want is manpower. Funds. Resources.”

”This,” The Boss sighed, her gaze drifting towards Divina. Her grip on the bar abruptly tightened, until she pushed herself up and off, and began walking across the room towards the monitors. ”This is why I wanted to meet whoever’s in charge of you both. Cause you really haven’t given me much to work with until right now. The point is that we both want something - very clearly those goals aren’t the same, but working together makes them more achievable. But when you sit behind a fucking screen, and give me no indication of what you actually want until I push you for it, then we’ve got a problem. Security is quite literally just my baseline - you want money? Sure, we’ve got plenty. You want manpower? I have a meeting with Cindy Ford that will align her faction with The Penrose Independent. Everything you want is within my power to give, but you’ve gotta fucking ask for it.”

“Pfft, ahahahaha!” Vi began laughing, holding her stomach and nearly doubling over from whatever she found humorous. “Oh that's great...really, really, great! I see. That makes sense then.” Her laughter immediately died down as she violently grabbed the camera, the same malevolent smirk returning as she fixed the PI's boss with her glare. “You got nothin' for me. For Us. Cindy Ford? Weak old grandma, that's what she is. She doesn't have the balls to do anything other than hide and wait for beacon to come knocking. Me? I'll give the rest of us hope to fight for-”

“ELVIRA.” Divina interrupted the other magical girl, a long, drawn out sigh coming from the moth girl. “That. Is...enough.”

“...ah, right right, save it for the party.” Vi narrowed her eyes at the PI. “You want to know what I want so badly? Finally feel like I'm not constantly in danger of dying from the Beacon, Mint, or some other fuck off organization that wants use me or anyone else. And I'm going to make that happen.” Divina had shifted from staring at Elvira towards the Boss now.

”Use you? Is that what you think this is?” The Boss stopped firmly in the centre of the room, her gaze moved and transfixed away from Divina and onto the monitors. Her hands slid into her pockets, attempting to look as peaceful, and non-threatening, as possible. ”People join The Penrose Independent for safety. So they can have somewhere to belong. So they can earn money when their Patron doesn’t care enough about them. And Beacon? They hurt a lot of good people who work with me. Whatever your angle is, it’s not on their side. My side, though? We’re going to destroy The Ascendancy, and if you feel like being part of that, then I don’t recommend fighting me. I really don’t want to hurt any of you, but I will if you make me, cause this party is the best opportunity any of us are gonna get for this.”

“Let me put it like this.” Vi replied with a snarl. “You're either with me, or against me. And when this party happens...well, Beacon the Mint, anyone, won't be able to stop us.”

“...simply put,” Divina continued. “The morning after the party, whether Cindy, you, or anyone else helps...we'll take the fight to Beacon.”

“Not gonna lie, it'll be a pretty terrible time for everyone, but we're tired of being pushed around, and I'm going to give those of us who are hope...and we're going to smash the ascendancy harder than people smash the like button on my videos. So...is the PI with us, or not?”

”If you’re hellbent on this being your side?” her stance loosened with Vi’s final question. As collected as she attempted to appear outwardly, inside The Boss was prepared to transform at a moments notice. With access to her full range of abilities, dealing with a girl of Divina’s calibre would have been no trouble at all, but taking a hit still sealed would have been less than ideal. ”Then sure, we’re on your side. Still gonna need full access to the venue and any side rooms you might have. I’ll send a couple of girls over later to check for a good place to put the device, hopefully where it won’t interfere with anything you’ve got going on. That alright with you?”

“...you know what, fine.” Vi said with a sigh. “Do whatever you want. Divina, you know where everything is. Unless you all need me, I'm gonna go get myself a spa treatment. Ugh, all this stress is going to give me wrinkles...” With that, the monitor cut off, but the cameras were likely still recording them.

“I apologize for Vi's...behavior.” Divina replied with a sigh. She had been ready to flee at the first sign of trouble, not having to want any sort of conflict out of this. She had a bigger job to do than babysit someone like Elvira. “She can be quite abrasive. If you'll follow me, I'll show you to the back rooms...but I ask you not to wander too much.” With a motion, the moth began leading Boss down one of the side hallways. “...though I do have to wonder what your goal in all of this is, hm?”

Danganronpa Alternate: Apologies to Hope (Reboot) [Deader than Disco]

"Weren't you guys using Hiroki's cabin?" Lilly asked abruptly as Maiya's recap trailed off. A finger raised towards her lips, partially obscured halfway up the palm by her jacket, as she looked towards the floor, momentarily paused in thought. "I thought I saw you guys go in there one night when me and Flare were walking back. At least, I think so, I might be misremembering, hehe."

"If that's true, then," Shirou piped up, his gaze falling to his right, onto Ayu, before flicking across the room to where Momoe stood for a brief moment, "Did either of you hear anything last night - specifically you, Ayu? That cabin is directly opposite where the murder occurred, the two of you would have had the best chance of hearing anything that happened in there."

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

Dealing with people like Elvira grated on Christine's patience. As a Reporter, a higher up within The Penrose Independent, and The Boss's protege, patience had been something The Boss had spent a deal of time instilling in her. When it came to finding the news, it paid to be steady, never to rush, but also never to waver. Undue excitement had been the downfall of many successful journalists throughout the years, but the most successful of them all took their time to research, and understand every facet of their quarry, and story, before pouncing on it. To be stalwart, and cunning, and patient - they were three of the key tenants to a successful career in journalism.

Yet even with that, those virtues were tested the more she interacted with Vi-chan. Ellie sat below her, reading eat word with bated breath, chewing on her nails for anxiety support following each message and reply. Her constant fear, Christine could feel, was mingled with a thinly veiled excitement. It was probably the girl's first proper experience and interaction with Elvira outside of Glimmr streams and the like. How a person could like someone as obviously abrasive and inconsiderate confused her.

But more than that, Elvira was terrible at getting to the point. Every other word was inane and pointless to the overall conversation, and the fact she assumed The Boss had entered into the negotiations believing that attacking Beacon was their only, or true, goal spoke volumes about her as a person. She was bad at lying, bad at negotiating in general - half of Christine's mind wanted nothing more than to take control of planning the party entirely. Ellie and Mary could likely create a convincing virtual replica of Elvira's personality to keep the hype flowing, while the minds behind the party would be at least a dozen times smarter than the one currently in charge. Things would go exponentially smoother if that were the reality she lived in, Christine imagined.

C: Sure.
C: Time, place, whatever you're into.
C: It'll be my Boss attending, not me, but did you have anywhere in mind already?
C: Just so you're aware, this chat will be wiped and unrecoverable after I close it, so if you need time to think, feel free.
C: We're kinda running on a deadline though, so maybe not too free.

@Rune_Alchemist

The Boss stood atop a roof, watching the Penrose skyline from above. The edges of her boots crested the edge of the building, her eyes trained on the street below, past the toes of her shoes, and through her windswept, purple-red hair. Amongst the various areas and districts of Penrose City, The Boss had chosen one of the highest buildings around to call her perch. Especially at its height, a frigid breeze lashed at her exposed face and neck, and worked its way down her clothes, beneath the coat, to chill her from the inside out.

But in spite of the weather, the view the building afforded The Boss was something more than to be grateful for. A vast, open picture of the city, once bustling with hundreds of thousands of people, blissful, and ignorant, and solemnly unaware. Now, though, it had run quiet. Though plans had been set to reopen The Nerine Vista, the evacuation of the city had left it untenable; those who had remained, weren't going out to eat. Few were leaving their homes at all. Sascha had been left free to fulfil other duties within The Penrose Independent, but still the absence of her restaurant operating for business interred a slight and deep seated sorrow.

"Ey, Boss," a voice called out behind her, accompanied with the subtle closing of the access door to the roof. Miriam Aconnel stepped out into the cool, sealed within her human disguise. Within moments of the chill reaching through her jacket, she fished into the depth of her pockets, and retrieved a packet of cigarettes, and a metal lighter. "Swear the whole 'brooding Super Villain watching the city from the top of a big ol' building' shtick's been done to death. You consider branching out at all? - I hear standing in bus stops while it rains and watching people and brooding is a pretty untapped market, 's all I'm saying here."

As she finished speaking, Miriam lifted the cigarette to he lips, and flicked the lighter open. Her thumb pulled back across the flint, once, twice, each time the sparks blown out from their metal container and into the wind. The third strike left her brow creased. Her frustration burgeoned on anger with the fourth, and then fifth, but Miriam's harsh, irate expression softened as her Boss approached. Her gaze flitted between the shorter girl, and her hand as it reached into her pocket, and produced a box of matches.

"Am I not allowed to just enjoy the view?" the first strike yielded nothing, but with the second strike, the match lit up in flame. Miriam half leant forward into the warmth, grasping the cigarette with one hand while the other pocketed the lighter, and allowed the fire to ignite the tip before she breathed deeply in the smoke. "I got bored so I came up here. It's a bit fucking cold, but it's nice. What are you doing up her, hmm? Last time I checked, you were supposed to be working with Rebecca. Or did you just decide to swing buy and kiss your Boss's ass?"

"Whaaat? I wouldn't dream of it~! Not ever," Miriam retorted. With her words, a dense cloud of white smoke poured from her lips, mingling with the visible mist from her own breath. She sighed, taking a moment to centre herself once more, and with a number of steps, past The Boss, took her own place at the edge of the roof. A sudden, painful, but ethereally quiet shriek resonated from where Miriam stood, the sound echoing across the stone roof, quiet enough to barely be heard, but soul piercingly loud simultaneously. Her human disguise fell away in the blink of an eye. Behind her, the cat tail she called her pride, black along its length until it tapered into a white tip, stretched as though contained tightly for a dozen hours, as she herself reached into the air, accompanied with the audible clicks of her bones and joints stretching and loosing out. "Since things have been quiet, Sascha had my team take over some of the priority surveillance. Just had a fight conclude a little ago - sounded like some locals and Ascendancy chumps got into it with some more Liches. Wasn't much interesting about it, except Kenny said... I'm not really sure, she said there was some kind of, magic disrupting field? - knocked out Mary's tether to SB-02, and all the magic shit on it got shorted for a while. Backup footage was mostly intact, but the audio's kinda messed up, and she lost the photo-arcane recordings for when it was in the radius."

A grave expression crossed The Boss's face. Her eyes trained the tile work of the rooftop, drawing her gaze along the lines with her furrowed brow, while Miriam stood in silence, watching, and smoking. Some kind of Nullification Magic was the worst news yet. She hadn't been able to personally observe it - they wouldn't have any relevant data on its sheer capability, but she had to assume the worst, at least until she could get an accurate read on it. Worst case scenario, she assumed, would be nullifying her tether. If it were merely limited to spells she could cope, but The Boss had never come across an individual with the power to mitigate others, and what she could do was fundamentally different; she consumed magic, but it still occurred. The way Miriam had described it - if it really could break Mary's connection to the drones - then it was abject cancellation.

"Have Kennedy send me the recordings - magical and mundane," she finally replied. Miriam dragged upon her cigarette once more, exhaling the stream of white through pursed lips, and watched the trail travel and vanish but a few feet away into the wind. When her head tilted down again, she nodded, tossed the cigarette over the edge of the rooftop, and walked away, back to the access door, and down into the building proper. The moment she disappeared, The Boss produced a touch screen cellphone from an inside right pocket. The wind bit deep into her bare fingers, unprotected by the fingerless gloves she had made a trademark, numbing them slightly, as she navigated to her contacts, and opened up the messaging app - to an individual she had never texted before.

Hi there, Penny. My name is Eden, head of The Penrose Independent - I received your number from Olympia after your last meeting. I'd like to meet, sometime soon, if possible, and discuss that favour of yours.

Unknown Number

@Shifter_Master

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

Compared to the state of the website, the protection that backed it was more than simply impressive. The Surveyor App alone had for nearly a year been the pride of The Penrose Independent. Initially, the app had been completely cut off from the internet. It had been set up to be operational only when in Penrose City, piggybacking off celltowers and other signals, and fed through a central server hidden somewhere within one of The PI’s numerous controlled locations. Mary’s insistence that it was too insecure, though, and her desire to create the SurveyorBoard, led to the development of a new system

With The Boss’s backing she devised a comprehensive messaging and tracking service for every member, backed by a complex web of failsafes and security measures which rendered the software nearly impervious to external interference. Dozens of tests had been performed on the app since its inception, down to hacking from some of Beacon’s own software when The PI’s presence had been more prominent within it. Elvira’s surface level checks, she would find, yielded only a single scrap of information - whoever programmed it clearly wasn’t an ameteur.

C: My name is Christine, a Reporter for The Penrose Independent.
C: Apologies for the state of the site.
C: The system's still in its alpha, and Mary's design choices aren't as good as her programming skills.
C: To cut to the chase, my Boss is preparing something. She thinks this party is an excuse to pick a fight with Beacon.
C: In which case we’re looking for a meeting with either you, or whoever you work for, to better discuss the details.
C: But, elevator pitch:
C: The PI will be publically announced as sponsors for the party - we'll provide funding and equipment, and handle the security, including pest control.

At the final keystroke, Christine felt a buzz against her pocket. A message from Shion. Ellie looked over in curiosity, her eyes trained on the edge of the phone from her chair, trying to catch the message across the slant of the screen, in case in was bad news, or some change in their mission.

But Christine’s poker face had always been strong. The Boss has taken her on as a half protege, and unlike some of her peers, a great deal of time had been invested in training her for the role. Internally she attempted to evaluate and parse the information she had been given, but face never changed as she typed out her reply. Bounty? A ‘Vermin Killer’?

Never heard of them.
Did you get any other details about this bounty, or did they only mention that you had one?

@Rune_Alchemist@DarkwolfX37

Danganronpa Alternate: Apologies to Hope (Reboot) [Deader than Disco]

"You didn't split up even once?" Lilly asked, speaking for the first time since the Trial had begun. She pushed her whole body weight against the tabletop, leaning down and and swinging her legs behind her as she spoke. "Flare and me used it every day. She's really nice, but... hehe, I wouldn't wanna be stuck to her for the whole day."

"Can the two of you vouch for each other? According to the Monokuma File, the murder definitely took place over the night," with a begrudging look of resignation, Shirou glanced towards Izo. He had been an irritation since the moment the motive was announced, and in some ways even prior - but Shirou had to admit, that, among others, he wouldn't have come up with the idea. In no way could he come to like Izo, or forgive his insufferable attitude, but his usefulness in a Class Trial wasn't to be understated. "Unless you can prove each other's - or even your own - innocence, either of you could have used your pair's twenty minute separation, and made use of Monokuma's loophole-"

"Nah, there's no need for that," Izo piped up from across the room.

"Excuse me?"

"They might as well just come out, we've got 'em cornered," he continued. Izo slumped against the desk, leaning on his elbows for support as he stared across the room. Where he addressed the room and the campers with a jovial and nonchalant tone before, his carefree attitude had faded away into something more straightforward, and cold. "C'mon, tell us. Why the fuck did you kill her, Hiroki?"

Danganronpa Alternate: Apologies to Hope (Reboot) [Deader than Disco]

and

"Maiya's the killer, Monokuma's the killer," called Izo from across the hall, as he shifted his sitting position to rest his head over the partition and look down on Aurel, "You planning on just accusing everyone in the damn room, lady? Aurel, buddy, c'mon, you gotta give us more than loud noises. We're gonna have to listen to some crackhead like Snow or Shirou if you do-"

"Do you never have anything useful to contribute?!" Shirou snapped, bringing his palm down hard on the table. "Every other word out of your mouth is a joke, while a girl is dead, and we only barely have half of us ruled out as suspects! At least Snow is attempting to help the group, but you've given us nothing."

"Christ, alright, calm down, I was getting to it," Izo replied. His neutral expression faded into a smile, and he turned his head to his right, towards Monokuma's chair, "Tough crowd, am I right? Say, what was that thing you said not to worry about again Hiroki? - 'your timer would reset at midnight' or something like that? Hey Monokuma, if two people were unlinked when midnight came rolling around, what'd happen to their timers?"

"Huh? Why do you ask that?" Monokuma pulled away to lean against the back of his chair, placing his left paw against the white side of his mouth. Izo didn't say anything. With Monokuma's question in the air, he stayed sat, silent, just looking at him, until the bear sat forward again and pointed down at him with one paw, while gripping the armrest with his right. "Your cuffs are already off, so you don't need to worry about that anymore, alright?! Geez!"

"Ah, well, okay then, I guess that clears it up. Sorry guys, thought I had a good idea, but I sure wasn't expecting Monokuma to be so biased towards the killer. Guess we're all gonna be punished, huh?"

"Oh, so I'm biased now, huh? That's how it is?" In response, Monokuma sat back into his chair a short ways. But as he did, the bear flashed a grin across the hall to bear his fangs, not in a threatening manner, but in vague, thinly veiled amusement. "Well then, I suppose that if a student wasn't with their partner by the time midnight rolls around, their timer would reset like normal. As long as they make it back to their partner twenty minutes after that, I wouldn't have to punish them."

"And there it is folks!" Izo's smile widened to a grin in much the same vein as Monokuma's. He swung back around his desk, standing to address the rest of the captives. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, may I present that the blood on Naomi's sheets was hours dry by the time it was found. The suspect list just expanded to anyone who didn't use their twenty minute separation yesterday - which, Shirou and I did. Who wants to go next?"

A Game of Desire

This is totally my aesthetic. If you're still open and accepting, I'd love to take a crack at this.

Danganronpa Alternate: Apologies to Hope (Reboot) [Deader than Disco]

and

"Don't really like what you're suggestin' there lady," Izo chimed in from Momoe's left, with a tilt in his accent, and a subtle smirk across his lips. He had stood silent for most of the trial thus far, watching, listening. Not thinking too much. He had his ideas - though he hadn't gotten to see if they were right firsthand, he was still confident. As he spoke, he pulled himself up to sit on the pseudo-desk and slouch against the divider. No matter which way she'd been sliced, the truth would come out regardless. Plant the seeds, Izo reasoned, and the others would take care of it for him. "'Cause, I mean, I was out all night drinking with Monokuma. Ain't that right fuzzball?"

"Could you take this seriously for once, Izo?" came Shirou's voice, from across the room, nearly opposite to him. It was loud - angry, almost. Probably the most annoyed the hero had sounded since they arrived at the camp, cutting off Izo's wink towards the throne with his temper. "Yes, you're right, Momoe. I think I mentioned this a few days ago, but I wake up at five every morning to train. The time limit's caused my route to increase my pace a bit, but each morning I run along the path to the main gate and back. As far as I could tell, Izo hasn't left the cabin on any of the days we've been together, so I believe he's innocent."

"Actually, while we're on the subject of 'where people were' and all that," began Izo again. Shirou shot a cold glare across the room at him, spreading the width of his smirk even further. Everyone in the room had been going in circles since they started, barely anything had been contributed, and nearly everyone had spoken. He hadn't wanted to do any work, but they had made it hard not to speak up. His gaze fell to Shirou's right, onto Snow. Unlike the rest of the trial, the look was hard, as though it stared clean through her and beyond, dissecting her being from the outside-in without remorse. "Any idea where your girlfriend was last night? That blood all over your bed must have been hours old, the lock on your door was forced, and she's got a bloody fishhook in her hand? - pfft, well, sounds like we've got a beat of the ol' cheatskie-doodle happenin' here folks. You didn't even notice she was missing, or dead! Some lover you are, huh?"