Temporary

The Highs And Lows Of A Super Powered Society: Establishing The New Normal

@Dead Cruiser 15 man D&D party, let's get it on.

The Highs And Lows Of A Super Powered Society: Establishing The New Normal

I'll put some chips down too - I saw the words "nitty gritty" in relation to the power system this world operates under, and nothing gets me going more.

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

"What a disappointing result," Izo muttered. He remained where he stood as the podiums retracted, arms folded in front of his chest, and gaze locked firmly to Chikako, staring into and through her. "Got anything else to say for yourself? Wanna grovel and prostrate yourself for our forgiveness? Bet it's so hard for you to understand right now how your 'grand master plan' got you caught, isn't it you fucking-"

"Shut your goddamn mouth, Izo. She's already going to be punished. Taunting her further is wrong-"

"Oh, it's wrong, is it? Know what else is wrong? - murder," he snapped, dropping his arms to his sides as he turned to face towards Shirou. In a moment, Izo's stance and attitude shifted; his standard, careless, standoffish posture tightened, his fists clenched and eyebrows furrowed, as though he was preparing for a fight. With his eyes still focused on Shirou, his left hand raised from his side, and his index finger extended, pointing towards the convicted killer. "'Equality must be found and sustained: so as to give is to accept, to inflict is to have inflicted.' Death is the least that she deserves, but she can go into the dark knowing that the last people she'll ever meet hoped for it to be as painful as possible. Now get on with the punishment, Monokuma. Nobody cares what scum like her has to say."

"No, she didn't do it!" in the midst of Izo's shouting, Lilly ran across the room, and wrapped her arms around Chikako. Her eyes held tears much the same, and her voice cracked, as she looked up at Chikako's face, her stature giving her a clear view. "Th-this is just Monokuma lying, right? There's, there's no proof that it was you, i-it could have been anyone and they're working with Monokuma to set you up! Y-you couldn't have done it, we're... supposed to make a girl gang, a-and be friends, even after we escape... right?"

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

With the rise of Elvira's corruptive song, Eden's gaze pulled away from the artifact that hovered mere inches above her flesh. In spite of the rhythmic, pulsating vibrations of the music, she could feel the thrum of the cube through the air, seeping into her void. Artificing was outside her realm of expertise. Judging the quality of a magical construct was beyond her. Still, she could appreciate the craftsmanship that went into making such a thing, from its aesthetic to its purpose.

But the wave of mental interference forced her to focus on other things, other problems. Now that Elvira had made her presence public, it was only a matter of time before someone, Beacon or otherwise, attempted to take her out. The magnitude of the party made hiding in plain sight the most effective infiltration method, for anyone who wanted to stay low profile but maintain a front row seat for persons of interest. It would have been no surprise if someone had already made a move, Eden imagined.

"I suppose it's about that time then," Eden muttered, allowing the cube to float just above a table nearby, beside a medium sized case. She pushed the rising need to devour from her mind, and rolled her shoulders into a stretch. A cloud of black formed around her body, and twisted into a sphere that coated her form in its depth. The single overhead light that gave the room its illumination flickered in response, as its brightness dimmed, absorbed by the void. Her magic flared, bolstering the Psychic defences placed around Hyun's mind to shield her from the influence of the song, and within moments of the darkness appearing, it vanished again, leaving a girl standing in its wake.

The ears atop Eden's head twitched with their newfound freedom, released from the confinement of her sealed form. With a final stretch, the joints in her elbows clicked, and she sighed, allowing her arms to drop against her sides, and into the multilayered frill of her dress. The smoke dissipated from sight quickly, drawn back into her body in all but one place, where it coalesced behind her, in a writhing, half-formed construct. It, too, disappeared, though slowly, sucked away into the blackened armour of a claw, attached to her body from the base of her spine via an arm. It hung above her head for a moment, clenching and unclenching into a fist, until it relaxed, and swung around beside her, moving as though it were the tail of a cat, or the stinger of a scorpion.

"Christine, if you see anyone suspicious around the back rooms, help them navigate back to the party, if you could."

"Guess we're onto part two if she's singing," newly unsealed, Eden stepped to the left of the table, and flicked the metal latches holding the case shut. Held within, exposed to the light above, was a violin and its bow, beautiful polished, with the initials CM engraved into the upper bout. Alongside it was a miniature piano, nestled into the protective material of the case. She carefully removed each piece - placing the piano on the table, beside the artifact, and withdrawing the violin by the neck. As she did, she paused for a moment. The sound of the explosion caught her ear, as did the presence of Mecha-Penny's mind within the venue. "And that's the start of part three. Four shouldn't be too far off, but how about a song to pass the time - hmm, let's see, how about... Cynthia, bitte spielen sechsundzwanzig."

"Ooh, nice choice. Alright, I'm starting now." a voice began from within the piano. Almost immediately, the sound of small gears turning within gently filled the room, overshadowed by Elvira's music, but present nonetheless. Something clicked into place seconds later, and Eden moved the violin upwards, so that her chin laid against the rest, while her other arm placed the bow against the strings. Isolated within the room, encompassing and absorbing the muffled sound of Vi-chan's song, Eden and the piano began to play.

Eden's psychic message reached Christine's ears moments late. She and her clones had already begun to move in on a suspicious individual by the time the words came to her mind. Somebody was making their way to the back rooms, where Eden and the Monster Queens had been stationed. A small unit of five had broken off, led by the real Christine herself, until the target had been surrounded; her duplicates had been spread all throughout the corridors surrounding the main venue, and within moments of the orders being given, the squad had arrived.

"You're Alicia, right?" one of the duplicates called out, as she approached Alicia from the corridor she was walking through. Another walked beside her, blocking off the way forward. At the same time, she could hear the footsteps of more approaching from her rear - another three. With her Third Eye, it was easy to tell which were duplicates; the one approaching from behind, on her leftmost side, was the only real Magical Girl present. "Are you lost? Vi-chan doesn't really want people back here, so if you wouldn't mind returning to the party, we'd appreciate it."

@Flamelord

Somewhere, somehow, Katelyn could feel herself being violated in the mind of another.

A shudder ran along her body as Elvira's song began, clawing at her Mental Mutation in a way that she had seldom felt for years. Beneath her sealed form, Katelyn could feel her wings and tail tugging at the prison of disguise and fabric. Much like her desire for domination, to be in charge, they yearned to feel the air. But in spite of it, she grit her teeth, and drank deep from her glass. An idol song was far from enough to bring her back to that level. She had faced far worse temptation in her life, from Joyce, from Sharr, from Beacon. Elvira was nothing in comparison.

However, as the cloud of black erupted through the venue, she was given no choice. Remaining sealed gave her an apt disguise, and with the aura that surrounded the warehouse, she reckoned that she had nothing to worry about from Third Eye users. But the suit was precious to her, in a sense. It was a memory of her past, where she had come from, painful though it was to remember. She was loathsome to let it be marred with some girl's magic, let alone in such a location.

Rivulets of electricity ran across her body, until the suit transformed moments later until her dress. From beneath the fabric, her yellow scaled wings unfurled fully, encompassing the small space behind her until they touched the wall, and her tail snaked out from her back and down the chair, to circle around her leg out of the way. Katelyn twisted her head in a circle, loosening her neck as best as possible. She grabbed at her water, and finished the glass, before shooting a glance to a nearby bartender, visibly shaken by the outbreak of chaos, to refill it.

"Wh-what do you mean stop her? Surely we've gotta get out of here, right?" Thalia called out to Alex, over the din of the song. Knowing few people, she had stuck with Lily as best as possible for the duration of the rave, but as the rave broke down into madness, her mind became conflicted on what to do. She could feel her Mental Mutation reacting to the magic within it, but the desire that it brought out was unfamiliar - the need to be in control. In the back of her mind, the feeling of her past mutation still lingered. The Vixen still lingered, though barely. She was only familiar with the desire the hunt and kill. And yet another part of her wanted to flee. The Thalia that no longer wanted to fight.

As magical darkness in the form of smoke billowed out in front of her, blocking her view of the rave, a spark of panic lit in Thalia's chest. With no need for oxygen, the smoke had no effect on her as she breathed, but the lack of vision perturbed her. She needed to know what was happening - where people were, what they were doing, what the state of the rave itself was. Without the information readily available, she felt trapped. Unable to escape inevitability. Railroaded.

"I'm gonna get a view from up top! Try and help people get out - if people want to attack the rave, now would be the perfect time!" she shouted towards Alex, Lily, and Sakura, before turning her back, and jumping. A wave of force radiated out from her feet as she left the ground, creating a small explosion of air and a rush of wind that briefly cleared an area of the smoke in its wake. With the aid of magical propulsion, Thalia rapidly reached the roof of the rave, only to spot Mecha-Penny a short distance away, moving in the direction of the stage. With another, small blast directly upwards, she stabilised herself in the air, and then changed directions, exploding towards the rafters directly above the stage, no doubt faster than Penny could swing.

"Penny!" Thalia called. Her shoes skidded across the metal rafter as she came to halt, directly above the stage. Her new magic was handy, she found, especially for navigation and traversing distances. In many ways, she missed the versatility that Beast Magic had afforded her, but the Oddball Specialisation she had found herself in possession of granted many of the same freedoms of movement that Beast enchantments did. In a number of circumstances, it was even better. "What's going on? I-is it Vi-chan causing all this? - I thought this was meant to be a party to show that we're not evil, but this... this isn't right!"

@Ariamis@Card Captor@AtomicNut@Shifter_Master

We Were Human - Marspunk Psychics

"Yeah. Yeah, ya got me," Madison replied slowly, barely halfway down the alleyway before he was forced to stop. He cast a glance behind him, and scanned the mercenaries that had surrounded him with a lax, but inquisitive gaze. Their equipment, their stances, their formation. Compartmentalising pain and distress had always been a strong suit of his; even against odds that far outweighed his own personal capabilities, it was his ability to work around, or through, those situations that set him apart from his peers. He could take stock of a problem, and solve it, quicker than many others could react, knowing how and why certain actions had to be taken, and the best ways in which to go about taking them.

But he wasn't enough of a fool to challenge six fully equipped mercenaries. They were either Bounty Hunters, or Private Military Contractors, but no matter where they fell on the spectrum, their numbers alone left fighting untenable. All Madison had was a backpack of basic supplies and documents, and a pistol. It was a good pistol, loaded with some of the best and most effective ammunition he could acquire, but it was ballistic, and ballistic ammunition was cheap. When every bottom of the barrel Water Bandit carried it, even the lowest grade mercenaries would be wearing bulletproof armour, and Madison could tell with a glance that they were well above that mark. Especially if Danny was willing to trust them.

"How's he doing? Last I heard Cartelli had the whole gang banged up," his tone started light as pulled his finger out from off the trigger, and slid the weapon back into its holster, gaze returning back to their apparent leader. With his left hand freed, Madison steadied himself against the wall to check the wound. His right hand pulled away from his arm, slick with fresh blood, though the pressure had stopped the flow. The wound was still fresh, and with the dirt and debris from the explosion, he imagined it was on the fast track to an infection, but for the moment, the bleeding had ceased. When his hand returned to cover the wound, his tone dropped into something more serious. More professional. "Corpo soldiers have been cracking down on the Square - wouldn't be surprised if there's an Enclave-wide lockdown imposed right about now, knowing Cartelli. If we take a couple shortcuts, we probably won't hit any patrols, but the place is gonna be guarded, heavily. I can get you inside and help transport the shit, but unless you're givin' me a better gun, you lot're on your own in a firefight. Really though anything's better than dyin' back here or out there, so you're on."

@DeadDrop

We Were Human - Marspunk Psychics

Some days were bad. They were made up of circumstances and situations, all of which conspired on thoroughly ruining the course of a day, but Madison typically had ways to cope. Sleep, music, alcohol, occasionally drugs, he had systems built for every potential. When an issue arose, he was prepared to deal with it, that had always been his way of life. Ensuring that nothing occurred off the cuff, not when everybody in the industry sought absolute perfection in their various operations. Did that make him an addict, he wondered; taking what he could get to halt the creeping onset of anxiety.

But some days were worse. Bandits had come across his Fringe safehouse, seemingly by complete accident, but he couldn't be too careful. Regardless of what they took, and that they destroyed the place, but didn't search for the hidden safes, or take the documents that Madison had left unattended on the desk. Regardless of who they were. They represented a greater danger than simple Bandits - ordinarily, they were no issue; he could deal with a Water Bandit party if it came down to it. But if word spread and he remained, it would be game over.

Danger meant pulling favours. Just because he was prepared didn't mean he enjoyed it, not anymore. It had been his third move in two months, and the Neutral Zones were becoming increasingly dangerous for him by the day. It was only a matter of time before he had to relocate to somewhere more difficult to assault, where Water Bandits and Slavers wouldn't, and couldn't, apparate from the mists when his back was turned, blissfully ignorant. Between the location and setup of the safehouse itself, the chance's of run-ins like that were as low as he could get them - that much, Madison was confident of.

He was less than confident on the Enclave of choice, though. New Brazil wasn't the worst Enclave, far from it, and both it and Cartelli had their positives. But the Cartelli Corporation had their eye on Madison's head as well. Bounty or not, it was risk; Cartelli had their negative points too. But he'd had a transport favour lined up since months prior. The Madison from the past had thought it was a good idea - he'd placed part of their small fortune on it. And Madison had long since come to accept that trusting his past self over himself was the best course for everyone involved.

He jolted awake. Light bled past his eyelids, forcing them open, and immediately shut, as he blinked back the haze of sleep that had fallen over him. An acrid smell found his nose, a mix of ash, and sulphur, and blood, and smoke. There had been an explosion - Madison could recognise the smell from anywhere. They couldn't have planned it. They couldn't have known. He attempted to arrange his thoughts, but the build of anxiety forced him to breath, inhaling plumes of debris that led him to choke against the fumes.

The build to sensory overload bubbled over in the form of pain - a sustained, pronounced ache that wracked his person, from his leg and up to his neck. He couldn't place what it was he had hit. He could barely focus on his surroundings, but it had to have been something. Still, he forced himself to his feet. They were targeting him - sitting still was a death sentence, regardless of the distance the blast had flung him. One hand clasped the wall to his right, dragging him to a stand, while the other fingered the clasp on the holster to his pistol, a heavily modified, high calibre ballistic weapon. Most of the modifications were lost on him, but old Madison liked the aesthetic. The sights were cracked from the impact, but against Slavers and Bandits, it would make short work regardless.

For a moment, Madison took stock of his situation. His rucksack had survived, as had his clothes, but the blast wave had dishevelled him. A trickle of blood ran down his left arm, leaving a smear through his jacket that he would be unable to hide. Somehow, he had found himself in an alleyway. The force had flung him through the front glass and out the back of some building. He could see through the crater of the front entrance, the chaos the square had devolved into. Between the soldiers and flames, his fight or flight kicked into action.

Madison began walking as flight won out, his left hand clenched around the grip of the gun, as his right gripped firmly against the wound, halting the blood flow. Each step was staggered and slow, punctuated with resurgences in pain for every movement. Pain that crawled along his spine and into his rightmost knee. He had painkillers in his bag, but he couldn't afford to stop, not yet. Escaping the blast area was his priority, especially with soldiers detaining anyone they found. All he had to do was make it to the safehouse.

We Were Human - Marspunk Psychics

Madison Rytler

◄ 25 ▎ MALE ▎ 5'6" / 1.68m ►

P R O F I L E

---

Somewhere on the line between a smooth talking businessman, and a street urchin robbing the elderly in the street. Madison talks a big game and has the skills to back it up, but wields an even greater sense of narcissism to balance it out. Or at least, he used to. Back in the day he was one of the best in his industries, playing with the greats and the leaders. He could work his way into a deal with some of the best and brightest Mars had to offer, from EE to Cartelli, and everyone was interested in what he had to sell. Information was the name of his game - if you wanted to know something a little more on the risque side than the Glitters could provide, you went to Maddie.

But that ego got in the way. He got too caught up in the thrill of it all, the chase for more and better, that he burnt every bridge he ever built in the pursuit, and ended up at rock bottom. He had the skills, but there are only a few reasons you trust a traitor. They're dangerous. A rabid dog has its uses, but when it bites, you put out down - and Maddie has lived his life since the collapse awaiting the day he'll be shot dead in the street. After everything, he's become paranoid. What was once a drive to understand people for the sake of something to sell has become a need to comprehend their very essence, that which comprises their whole, in case they behold some darker purpose and intend to work against him.

That's not to say he's lost everything that made him him. Madison is still a smooth talker, and still as perceptive as ever. He can bluff himself out of a lot of trouble, and if he can't, he tends to have some backup to deal with the fighting for him. Still, he can hold his own if he has to. He's hurt, and he's killed - you don't get far with the Water Bandits if you don't. And his knowledge of the ins and outs of the various Enclaves remains as impressive as it always was.

Markedly, he makes a versatile ally, and a difficult enemy. The fact he's still alive runs testament as such.

D A Y S - G O N E

---

Maddie was everyone's contact once upon a time. An underclass gutter-rat, with the notion of making something with his life drilled into his head from an early age. He had a usual story - a Glitter for a mother who worked around the clock to support two in a rundown Neutral Zone apartment, and a wannabe Sunburner for a father who got himself killed off the Yuma-North Enclave running a job for The Association. It was nothing to write home about; the kind of life ever other kid on Mars led.

That didn't sit right with a young Madison. He would wonder to himself at night, if the life he and his mother lived was all there was to it. If that was Mars - the slog, the barely getting by, the lack of half a family unit since they were too stupid chasing dreams of a better life than to settle into the monotony. That couldn't be it, he thought. There had to be something else, something out there worth living for. Not a family, not for your own survival.

It started with salvaging. Breaking into abandoned buildings and picking what previous tenants left behind. Tech, furniture, sometimes water. After a few run ins with the Water Bandits he gave up avoiding them, and started running adjacent. A life spent weaving through the tangles of the Neutral Zones boasted a navigational edge - one most Bandits lacked. So he became a spotter, picking high value marks, occasionally running distraction. He got good at it. But then hijacking civilians and holding up lightly guarded transports became too little.

Running the Neutral Enclaves gave Madison a keener understanding of the city layouts than most, and he got involved with the Slavers. A couple months of selling out illegals and mutants turned to an encounter with the Everyman Equity. A couple of years building his rapport enough to get on Ian Everyman's good side accidentally brought him into a contract with the Cartelli Corporation, selling out Water Bandits and other high profile individuals for a small fortune. For a number of years more he developed his connections, acting as full time Information Broker for anyone who paid, and he played every side he could - not for betterment of himself, but because he could. Except playing every side didn't work, outside of as a fast track to getting himself killed.

Three shootouts on the Neutral Edges, two gunshot wounds, and a bounty on his head landed him back at square one; a shitty apartment on too little money to accommodate his exaggerated ego. Not every bridge was burned, but he had enemies among the Water Bandits and the Cartelli Corporation, and half the War Council of the Slavers wanted him dead. The fortune he had built up was blown on PMC protection and erasing his own bounty, as well as smoothing over the damage his reputation with EE had sustained, but with the rest of his enemies, there was nothing he could do but lay low. Even a life as a Glitter was out of the question, with their penchant for information gathering that he had all too well come to be acquainted with.

For all intents and purposes, Maddie was less than where he had started as a child, and somehow he ended up worse off still. He had made a habit of moving between safe houses and abandoned buildings he had retrofitted into bunkers, to keep from being ambushed by Bandits or whoever they sent to finish him off. Hiding beneath the enemies nose gave him a distinct advantage in that regard; he didn't have to fear the Bandit operations within Cartelli territory, and number of his safehouses had been setup around the edges of their Enclaves. Except, on the day of his transfer, on a populated route through Takari Square, he found himself caught in a terror attack.

M E M O R I E S

---

_{Serena Rytler †}

His mother, a former Glitter who died from illness a number of years prior. Her life was as average as one could get, something the past Madison hated, although he saved a soft spot in his heart for his parent, especially after the trials she had been through to maintain that sense of normalcy. Until the fall of his contact web, he had never really missed her so to speak. Now he has never longed for her more.

_{Danny "Oh'Seven" Pinker}

An old Water Bandit associate of Madison's. His nickname originated from a number tattoo across his neck, starting with a zero and a seven. He never actually cleared up where the tattoo came from, or what his life had been before his rise to power, and instead allowed everyone else to speculate on his origins. Supposedly, he was an escapee from a Happy Pets Enclave. The ordeal near broke his mind, the Bandits said, and he was the craziest, and most fearless leader of any Water Bandit group on Mars. It didn't matter how well guarded a transport was, or how high profile their marks were, he'd find a way to make it work. Madison was his lead spotter for a while, until he sold Danny out to a Chapter and watched the group dissolve. Though, some seem to think he escaped, and made his way out into Mutant territory, bent on reclaiming his kingdom.

_{Ian Everyman}

Madison spent a good deal of time working his way into the good books of EE's CEO - more time that he would like to count. They're barely acquaintances, at least on a personal level, but up until the collapse Madison was a trusted information source to the organisation. When Maddie's contact web broke down, and a number of his allies turned on him, Everyman Equities, and Ian himself, were the least affected of his associates, and as such, his tether to the corporation is the only one still in tact, especially after the money he not-so-subtly invested into them to smooth things over.

_{Salazar Torez and The War Council}

At one time, Madison was a friend of the Council, and an acquaintance of Salazar's. His usefulness in bolstering their profits was rewarded with favour, until the fact that he had been playing them came to light. Most of the War Council would have him dead on sight, if not worse.

_{"Laeraur" †}

An old Glitter acquaintance of Madison's. She belonged to the Elven Glitter groups, and was relatively well known among certain circles as a curator of interesting knowledge, especially regarding the Slaver War Council. Madison would often visit her under the guise of pleasure, wherein the two would exchange information, and generally catch up. In many ways she was one of his only friends - a friend caught up in his fall. She was a fighter, and when the Slavers came to collect on the debt she owed for helping a traitor like Madison, she fought up to her last breath.

_{The Cartelli Corporation}

Madison's biggest mistake. Landing in bed with them earned him a good deal of money for the time he operated, but double crossing the biggest conglomerate on Mars never goes well for anyone. Somehow they found out that he was selling some of the inner workings of the corporation to Water Bandits and Slavers, in the same way he was selling them information on the low lives and criminals of the Enclaves. Needless to say they cut all contact with him, and placed a bounty on his head that he could only barely afford to scrub clean. But even without it hanging over him, it's doubtful they forgot the things he did.

₍₎

W A T E R B R A N D

---

_Powers:

A Hydrokinesis adjacent ability, fundamentally rooted less in the control of water, and more in its properties. Madison can sense nearby water sources, and is capable of taking individual water molecules from his surroundings - instantly expanding them into a crystalline substance formed from elements in the air, and manipulation of their molecular properties. He is also capable of reversing the process, and turning the crystals he produces into pure water.

Among other things, this allows him to create incredibly sharp spikes of crystal, which have a greater surface area than the water that makes it up. A single source of water can easily form a shield or wall or spear. Upon using his ability, the individual molecules rapidly undergo crystallisation, which has the side effect of tremendous pressure, which allows for rapid and destructive transformation capable of rending concrete and weak metals at the moment of transition. He is also capable of isolating and crystallising water molecules even after they have bonded with other compounds and elements, allowing him to effectively separate the water from chemicals, making him an incredibly useful resource in a world where water is so readily fought over.

_Limitations:

While being a Hydrokinesis-type ability, being adjacent limits his actual kinetic abilities. He cannot move water itself, merely guide the direction that the crystallisation process with travel in. His range is limited to approximately two hundred and fifty metres (250m), though this extends both above and below ground, affording him control over sewage, water, and other similar kinds of underground pipes. Additionally, water bonded to organic material, or contained within one, such as the human body or vegetation, is uncontrollable, preventing reverse human pincushions.

_Weaknesses:

Mars as a planet has a particularly arid environment, and the air has very little water. As such, without a literal container or source of water, Madison is effectively robbed of his ability. Additionally, due to the nature of the crystals, they are not exceedingly durable, and are at their strongest at the moment of transition from liquid to solid, which gives them their destructive power. Upon full crystallisation, they can be broken fairly easily by gunshots and similar, and the various spikes can readily be broken off by the average human.

We Were Human - Marspunk Psychics

I think I'll give this a shot, though, do you have any plans to make a Discord at this time?

Madison Rytler

◄ 25 ▎ MALE ▎ 5'6" / 1.68m ►

P R O F I L E

---

Somewhere on the line between a smooth talking businessman, and a street urchin robbing the elderly in the street. Madison talks a big game and has the skills to back it up, but wields an even greater sense of narcissism to balance it out. Or at least, he used to. Back in the day he was one of the best in his industries, playing with the greats and the leaders. He could work his way into a deal with some of the best and brightest Mars had to offer, from EE to Cartelli, and everyone was interested in what he had to sell. Information was the name of his game - if you wanted to know something a little more on the risque side than the Glitters could provide, you went to Maddie.

But that ego got in the way. He got too caught up in the thrill of it all, the chase for more and better, that he burnt every bridge he ever built in the pursuit, and ended up at rock bottom. He had the skills, but there are only a few reasons you trust a traitor. They're dangerous. A rabid dog has its uses, but when it bites, you put out down - and Maddie has lived his life since the collapse awaiting the day he'll be shot dead in the street. After everything, he's become paranoid. What was once a drive to understand people for the sake of something to sell has become a need to comprehend their very essence, that which comprises their whole, in case they behold some darker purpose and intend to work against him.

That's not to say he's lost everything that made him him. Madison is still a smooth talker, and still as perceptive as ever. He can bluff himself out of a lot of trouble, and if he can't, he tends to have some backup to deal with the fighting for him. Still, he can hold his own if he has to. He's hurt, and he's killed - you don't get far with the Water Bandits if you don't. And his knowledge of the ins and outs of the various Enclaves remains as impressive as it always was.

Markedly, he makes a versatile ally, and a difficult enemy. The fact he's still alive runs testament as such.

D A Y S - G O N E

---

Maddie was everyone's contact once upon a time. An underclass gutter-rat, with the notion of making something with his life drilled into his head from an early age. He had a usual story - a Glitter for a mother who worked around the clock to support two in a rundown Neutral Zone apartment, and a wannabe Sunburner for a father who got himself killed off the Yuma-North Enclave running a job for The Association. It was nothing to write home about; the kind of life ever other kid on Mars led.

That didn't sit right with a young Madison. He would wonder to himself at night, if the life he and his mother lived was all there was to it. If that was Mars - the slog, the barely getting by, the lack of half a family unit since they were too stupid chasing dreams of a better life than to settle into the monotony. That couldn't be it, he thought. There had to be something else, something out there worth living for. Not a family, not for your own survival.

It started with salvaging. Breaking into abandoned buildings and picking what previous tenants left behind. Tech, furniture, sometimes water. After a few run ins with the Water Bandits he gave up avoiding them, and started running adjacent. A life spent weaving through the tangles of the Neutral Zones boasted a navigational edge - one most Bandits lacked. So he became a spotter, picking high value marks, occasionally running distraction. He got good at it. But then hijacking civilians and holding up lightly guarded transports became too little.

Running the Neutral Enclaves gave Madison a keener understanding of the city layouts than most, and he got involved with the Slavers. A couple months of selling out illegals and mutants turned to an encounter with the Everyman Equity. A couple of years building his rapport enough to get on Ian Everyman's good side accidentally brought him into a contract with the Cartelli Corporation, selling out Water Bandits and other high profile individuals for a small fortune. For a number of years more he developed his connections, acting as full time Information Broker for anyone who paid, and he played every side he could - not for betterment of himself, but because he could. Except playing every side didn't work, outside of as a fast track to getting himself killed.

Three shootouts on the Neutral Edges, two gunshot wounds, and a bounty on his head landed him back at square one; a shitty apartment on too little money to accommodate his exaggerated ego. Not every bridge was burned, but he had enemies among the Water Bandits and the Cartelli Corporation, and half the War Council of the Slavers wanted him dead. The fortune he had built up was blown on PMC protection and erasing his own bounty, as well as smoothing over the damage his reputation with EE had sustained, but with the rest of his enemies, there was nothing he could do but lay low. Even a life as a Glitter was out of the question, with their penchant for information gathering that he had all too well come to be acquainted with.

For all intents and purposes, Maddie was less than where he had started as a child, and somehow he ended up worse off still. He had made a habit of moving between safe houses and abandoned buildings he had retrofitted into bunkers, to keep from being ambushed by Bandits or whoever they sent to finish him off. Hiding beneath the enemies nose gave him a distinct advantage in that regard; he didn't have to fear the Bandit operations within Cartelli territory, and number of his safehouses had been setup around the edges of their Enclaves. Except, on the day of his transfer, on a populated route through Takari Square, he found himself caught in a terror attack.

M E M O R I E S

---

_{Serena Rytler †}

His mother, a former Glitter who died from illness a number of years prior. Her life was as average as one could get, something the past Madison hated, although he saved a soft spot in his heart for his parent, especially after the trials she had been through to maintain that sense of normalcy. Until the fall of his contact web, he had never really missed her so to speak. Now he has never longed for her more.

_{Danny "Oh'Seven" Pinker}

An old Water Bandit associate of Madison's. His nickname originated from a number tattoo across his neck, starting with a zero and a seven. He never actually cleared up where the tattoo came from, or what his life had been before his rise to power, and instead allowed everyone else to speculate on his origins. Supposedly, he was an escapee from a Happy Pets Enclave. The ordeal near broke his mind, the Bandits said, and he was the craziest, and most fearless leader of any Water Bandit group on Mars. It didn't matter how well guarded a transport was, or how high profile their marks were, he'd find a way to make it work. Madison was his lead spotter for a while, until he sold Danny out to a Chapter and watched the group dissolve. Though, some seem to think he escaped, and made his way out into Mutant territory, bent on reclaiming his kingdom.

_{Ian Everyman}

Madison spent a good deal of time working his way into the good books of EE's CEO - more time that he would like to count. They're barely acquaintances, at least on a personal level, but up until the collapse Madison was a trusted information source to the organisation. When Maddie's contact web broke down, and a number of his allies turned on him, Everyman Equities, and Ian himself, were the least affected of his associates, and as such, his tether to the corporation is the only one still in tact, especially after the money he not-so-subtly invested into them to smooth things over.

_{Salazar Torez and The War Council}

At one time, Madison was a friend of the Council, and an acquaintance of Salazar's. His usefulness in bolstering their profits was rewarded with favour, until the fact that he had been playing them came to light. Most of the War Council would have him dead on sight, if not worse.

_{"Laeraur" †}

An old Glitter acquaintance of Madison's. She belonged to the Elven Glitter groups, and was relatively well known among certain circles as a curator of interesting knowledge, especially regarding the Slaver War Council. Madison would often visit her under the guise of pleasure, wherein the two would exchange information, and generally catch up. In many ways she was one of his only friends - a friend caught up in his fall. She was a fighter, and when the Slavers came to collect on the debt she owed for helping a traitor like Madison, she fought up to her last breath.

_{The Cartelli Corporation}

Madison's biggest mistake. Landing in bed with them earned him a good deal of money for the time he operated, but double crossing the biggest conglomerate on Mars never goes well for anyone. Somehow they found out that he was selling some of the inner workings of the corporation to Water Bandits and Slavers, in the same way he was selling them information on the low lives and criminals of the Enclaves. Needless to say they cut all contact with him, and placed a bounty on his head that he could only barely afford to scrub clean. But even without it hanging over him, it's doubtful they forgot the things he did.

₍₎

W A T E R B R A N D

---

_Powers:

A Hydrokinesis adjacent ability, fundamentally rooted less in the control of water, and more in its properties. Madison can sense nearby water sources, and is capable of taking individual water molecules from his surroundings - instantly expanding them into a crystalline substance formed from elements in the air, and manipulation of their molecular properties. He is also capable of reversing the process, and turning the crystals he produces into pure water.

Among other things, this allows him to create incredibly sharp spikes of crystal, which have a greater surface area than the water that makes it up. A single source of water can easily form a shield or wall or spear. Upon using his ability, the individual molecules rapidly undergo crystallisation, which has the side effect of tremendous pressure, which allows for rapid and destructive transformation capable of rending concrete and weak metals at the moment of transition. He is also capable of isolating and crystallising water molecules even after they have bonded with other compounds and elements, allowing him to effectively separate the water from chemicals, making him an incredibly useful resource in a world where water is so readily fought over.

_Limitations:

While being a Hydrokinesis-type ability, being adjacent limits his actual kinetic abilities. He cannot move water itself, merely guide the direction that the crystallisation process with travel in. His range is limited to approximately two hundred and fifty metres (250m), though this extends both above and below ground, affording him control over sewage, water, and other similar kinds of underground pipes. Additionally, water bonded to organic material, or contained within one, such as the human body or vegetation, is uncontrollable, preventing reverse human pincushions.

_Weaknesses:

Mars as a planet has a particularly arid environment, and the air has very little water. As such, without a literal container or source of water, Madison is effectively robbed of his ability. Additionally, due to the nature of the crystals, they are not exceedingly durable, and are at their strongest at the moment of transition from liquid to solid, which gives them their destructive power. Upon full crystallisation, they can be broken fairly easily by gunshots and similar, and the various spikes can readily be broken off by the average human.

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

In a quiet corner to the side of the rave, off beside the bar, but far enough away from the drunk and rowdy Dark Magical Girls, Katelyn held a glass of water, watching the sprawl of individuals attentively, sealed into human form. The heat made it uncomfortable to stay untransformed, but with an outfit she dredged up from a number of years prior, she felt as best disguised as she could without magic. Wearing the old suit brought back memories; she could remember the time Joyce had brought her to a similar sort of party once, a long time ago. She still hated them. The warmth, the alcohol, the volatility, it was a constant storm teetering on the verge of a disaster. For a girl like Joyce whose personality had been built on idiosyncrasy, it was the perfect place. So many people, so much tension, the heat, the connection, the disconnection, the noise - Joyce had thrived in such environments.

Sharr would've liked parties, Katelyn imagined. In spite of her Beacon obligations, a rave completely filled with unique individuals felt like the ideal spot for someone as outgoing and energetic as her. She would have convinced Katelyn to go against all her best wishes, and they would both agree not to touch any kind of alcohol. There would be some socialising, which Sharr would inevitably mess up through her competitiveness, but through it Katelyn would sit on the sidelines, nervous and intimated by the sheer breadth of people present, until Sharr attempted to coax her out onto the main floor, and they would dance for as long as they could.

She smothered the slight smile that grew on her face with a drink. Fantasising about the past was unhealthy at best, but it was becoming distracting. For such a big party with so many high profile Magical Girls present, Beacon would be attracted unequivocally, but they wouldn't be the only ones. A number of other opportunistic girls or groups could make a move. And none more so than the Mint. If they attempted something, Katelyn would be ready. That was her sole purpose.

For all the time she had spent acquainting herself with her new form and abilities, Thalia had neglected preparation for the party, but she still found it within herself to go. Transitioning from one form to another was an ordeal, and learning how to balance without tails had brought its own set of issues, but the clarity that had begun to preside over her mind was more than worth the trouble. With the threat of The Vixen looming over her every thought and action, she had been afraid at times to even go outside, let alone socialise, in case she once again lost control. All around her people died, that was the rule, but the Red Coin had changed that.

She hadn't confirmed whether the Penny's would be attending, but she reasoned that, even if they weren't, it would help her. Thalia's knowledge on the magical population of Penrose was limited at best, but in her new form, nobody would recognise her as The Vixen. It was a chance to meet new people with a fresh slate, free from the mistakes and missteps of her past. But in her wondering, as she entered the venue, she spotted one of the few individuals she could remember. The looked different than the last time they met, with their mannerisms and tone of voice - most people would recognise them anywhere.

"Lily, Alex!" Thalia called out, as she ran up towards them, only to slow her pace as she noticed another girl addressing them. "Uh, s-sorry, if you're in the middle of something. You're the only two I recognise here, eheh. You probably don't recognise me at all though, do you? - I'm Thalia, Penny's friend. We met a few months back, you were looking for someone who could get to the Overcity. I was the foxgirl - I-I used a Red Coin recently. I guess the friendship hug probably isn't valid anymore, but I thought I'd say hi~"

@Ariamis@AtomicNut

Between the party, and one of the many backrooms of the venue, a dozen of Christine's duplicates stood guard. A number of others had been dispersed around the various corridors, providing surveillance, and creating the illusion of blanket protection, but the true density was surrounded around her charge - The Boss, Sasha, and the Monster Queen. They remained stood against walls, and near doors, occasionally patrolling, all to play up the semblance of security. With a room full of volatile Dark Magical Girls, the pretence was less than necessary, but Christine kept it up. Those were her orders.

Three figures occupied a certain backroom. The door, the only way in, had been reinforced with magic, until the metal was tough enough to withstand most blows, and the lock was unpick-able by mundane, and several magical, means. Sasha Kasparov stood beside the door, eyes closed and arms crossed, retreated into her own thoughts until she was needed. Christine considered herself to be Eden's right hand girl, but in reality she was simply a student, at best her protege. Sasha was her true right hand. Since the formation of The Independent, Sasha had been there. She had watched the birth of the modern organisation, and was one of the few who absolutely understood its goals, and the trials it had been through to reach them.

Sat atop a sofa, specially pushed against a wall towards the back of the room for the individual in question, was a girl, hands wrapped around a glass that she continuously drank from. Dozens of bottles of various liquids surrounded her area, from alcohol to water to soft drinks, as per her request. Her name was Hyun Long. For a Monster Queen in Cindy's ranks, Eden had been surprised by how easy she was to recruit. All she needed was to be kept away from the rave proper, kept readily stocked with things to drink, and provided with magical assistance. A bracelet had been wrapped around her wrist, one much more intricate than the circlet and chain that she had used to subdue Thalia, although it carried a similar enchantment. Her urges were strong, but the connection the bracelet sustained made keeping her calm and docile an easy task for someone of Eden's calibre, especially for the service that the girl provided. Out from within the backroom, Hyun projected her Powerful Aura, obscuring the warehouse in a storm of magical energy.

To deal with the Ascendancy surveillance outside, it was perfect to disrupt any Third Eye users. Eden could feel them, their minds. A group of them had clustered atop a building nearby. No alarms had been raised, which meant they were concealing themselves, but not well enough. She had already confirmed their allegiance; a light psychic pressure was enough to get the Spark to respond, just barely. The rumble of the bass ran across her skin from the floor, trickling into her blood. Nobody made a move as The Gourd representative appeared. Eden remained still, looking in the direction of the Ascendancy through the floor, though her eyes drifted to look at the newcomer.

"Yeah, they're done," she replied. She reached into the coat, deep into the leftmost pockets, until her arm nearly disappeared up to the shoulder. With a few moments of rustling, she removed a folder, with a number of blue documents peaking out from the inside. Three pieces of paper, each containing an outline of Mecha-Penny's body, and the three specifications that had been requested; physical, magical, and spiritual. Along with the diagrams were blocks of text, containing Eden's own analysis, observations, and information. "Everything requested's in there."

@ERode

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

Everything had begun to fall into place. Obstacles had fallen in front of her path, but every obstruction she faced had been cleared one after another. There was only a single issue left - The Mint. Al’s request was achievable, but difficult; Penny’s robot half was Beacon aligned, from what her sources found. The Spark she wielded made extracting the information impossible, and kidnapping her was less than easy. Although it had become the only option available, The Boss hated lying with a sustained and continuous passion. The Penrose Independent had been established specifically to combat lying, to prevent the spread of misinformation as best as physically possible, with what limited resources were available.

But if Penny knew the information was for The Mint, she would never give it up. Eden sighed, stood in the centre of a clearing on the outskirts of Penrose City, phone in one hand, and a Red Coin in the other. Penny had already been informed of the location, and Thalia was on her way, though she would arrive later. A night time chill bit the air of the surroundings, though Eden didn’t feel anything. She just stood, waiting.

”Question. Has the designated time yet to be reached?” a robotic voice would call out from behind Eden as the robotic half of Penny crested the lip of the building. Before stopping to survey the environment.

Eden’s head quickly turned in the direction of the voice, the stoic facade she wore as a precedent cracking for a brief moment of surprise. That wasn’t the plan. If she had been paying attention, she would have seen the arrival of both halves coming, but it didn’t cross her mind; she was becoming careless. Her eyes darted across the individual sections of the robot’s body, as she reaffirmed the information she had already gathered. All she could hope was that the data from her Third Eye could fill in enough of the gaps in the mech’s magical construction for Al to be satisfied.

”I wasn’t expecting you,” she replied in kind, turning to face her as she approached. ”She’s on her way, although, well, I had hoped to ask - the other one - some questions. About you. But, since you’re here, guess I’ll have to make do.”

“Early. Acknowledged” Penny would reply turning her flat gaze onto Eden more fully “What inquires do you have?” She would ask simply as she watched the other girl her stance and face showing no emotion. Magically there was very little going on that could be traced, There was a constant hum of Lightning magic surrounding her, and her form seemed to have countless lingering traces of Metal magic. But nothing that pointed as to how it was she was operating.

“Questions? Why are we asking questions?” a familiar voice would call out as the other half of Penny dropped out of the sky. She would look around much as her other half did but had an obvious look of disappointment on her face “Is it to pass the time while we wait for Thalia?”

”Sure, something like that,” once again Eden tilted her head to look towards the new arrival. With the Mecha-Penny present, the lie she had prepared wouldn’t work. She needed something new. ”I’ve been having a special Artifact made for some time now, from an Overcity Artificer called Riley. Recently they… well, kind of fucked me over on a deal, if I’m being honest, and they upped their price. They want to know about how you came to exist, uh… Beacon Penny? Mecha-Penny? - Mecha-Penny sounds good. What you’re made of, how you’re subsisting on half a soul and the Spark, stuff like that. I was hoping you could help me out, one of you, either, both - I’d be in your debt.”

“Penny” The robotic version of the girl in question would reply firmly “My name is Penny” She would give her head a small shake as she refocused on the actual questions that had been posed.

“Pretty sure that she’s made out of simple steel” The human half would answer looking at her robotic counterpart with an unreadable look “Enchanted, duh, but otherwise it’s a normal metal”

“Correct” Robo-Penny would confirm “Soul separation wasn’t done by either of us, so I can’t speak about anything in relation to that” There was also the fact that they weren’t really subsisting, it wasn’t a natural or even magical Split and both of them could tell that their soul was hampered by it and slowly degrading. That wasn’t something either half was going to go about advertising however.

“I don’t know why she ended up with the Spark though” human Penny would ponder aloud.

“Chloe” The Machine half would answer in a deadpan, even though it wasn’t strictly the truth. “What specifications are you inquiring about?”

”If this was Chloe’s work then that explains a lot,” she commented. After a moment's contemplation, Eden took a step towards the robot half, and another, slowly walking her way towards the entity, tracing her form with her gaze. Compared to Penny’s height, Eden only came up to around her chest, and as she stepped up directly before her, hand slightly outstretched between the two, a pair of inquisitive eyes met the robot’s own. ”I’m no Spirit Mage, but I know a fair amount about souls. If this is just enchanted metal - it’s a skilled anchoring job. So this is what the distortions in your voice were about, you were coming apart. Whatever happened, I suppose The Spark bound itself to the least corrupted fragment of your soul, but if that’s the case… this must be awful for you, huh?”

The acknowledgement of knowing Chloe had both of the Penny’s gazes focusing on Eden in different ways. The Machine narrowed her eyes slightly, as she was reanalyzing her. The human wore a more surprised but happy look.

“My voice was being distorted?” The human would ask as she rocked back on her heels as she tried to recall that tidbit. “Don’t recall that, I do recall it feeling terrible as she was becoming more active though. I don’t at the moment however.”

“I am curious as to why you believe that I should be facing duress for the separation.” Mecha Penny would reply “Is it purely to do with my current housing?”

”Because this was a forced split,” tentatively, Eden made a move to place a hand on Penny’s body, if she would allow it. ”Twin Souls are half and half, but that’s a natural split in a magically enriched environment. There’s no way for you or Chloe to recreate that, so she probably just split the soul into halves, didn’t she? Even if you don’t feel the side effects, you’re wounded. A part of you has been removed, believe me I know how that feels and it’s not pleasant. Just tell me what’s going on - you’ll probably explain it to Thalia anyway, won’t you? - I’ll hear it then regardless, but this is important to me.”

The Penny in question would take a step backwards in relation to Eden’s attempt to place a hand on her. Her features never shifted from dull indifference, but the hum of lightning would gather together, vaguely aimed in Eden’s direction. “I acknowledge the fact that my soul is damaged, it was such long before this split.” She would explain slowly as she kept her gaze on Eden. “The Split itself was rather unpleasant as well, and it is my assumption that Chloe ‘cut’ along the already formed division within us rather than simply carve out halfs blindly. Still your assumption is not in error, but I would not describe it as painful, or aweful. Just cold.”

“She patched mine up after” The human Penny would chime in “Spent most of a night working on it. Would that be why I don’t notice anything?” She would ask a concerned look on her face as she peered at her other half.

“What are you trying to determine exactly?” Mecha would ask “You have more information then we do. Neither of us are versed in souls, yet it seems like you are probing for something specific.”

”Hm, that tracks,” despite the build of electricity, Eden made no move to stop approaching, until Penny moved backwards. If she hadn’t, she likely would have continued, even in spite of any voltage Penny might have delivered. But as the robot girl moved away, she retracted her hand slightly, and looked backwards toward the human form. And past her. ”I wanted to scan the magic in your body. With any luck I could map your soul and the damage in the process, but we’re out of time, it seems.

“This is how it’s gonna work,” she turned her back on Mecha-Penny, and began walking towards the human half. As she did, she reached into her coat, pulling out a number of items - a silver circlet, a chain bracelet, and finally, the Red Coin itself. Once they were stood face to face, Eden held them out for Penny to take. ”The chain is for Thalia, the circlet is for you. I’m gonna head off out of sight so she doesn’t immediately freak out, and you’ll give her the chain - it’s designed so I’ll have an easier time connecting my magic to her mind. Problem is, I’m… not exceptionally great at using this magic yet. The circlet is to keep the shutdown command I’m issuing Thalia from putting you down too. Robot half is fine, as long as she keeps up focus on her Spark, but this has to happen quickly. Tell her the chain is from Cindy to keep her stable, hold her down, do whatever you have to so we won’t have to fight her. Got it?”

The more squishy variant of Penny would quickly nod her understanding, slipping the circlet on to her head as she did. Before taking hold of the bracelet and running her thumb over it, she would take a moment to examine the enchantments within the metal of the two objects but would stay where she was, pocketing the Red coin until it was needed.

The less human version would simply move closer to her other half, her platting shifting to hide the Purification amulet she wore within her, near to her heart. Both of them would turn to face the direction that Eden had looked out towards waiting for the moment that they would catch sight of their foxy friend.

Eden nodded. Neither enchantment was particularly complex, but to a Third Eye user, or magically sensitive individual, there were evident traces of a Psychic Specialisation. She glanced back in the same direction she had looked before, through a wall and a little ways into the city, having picked up the trace of Thalia’s mind encroaching on their location. And then she began walking away, quickly vanishing from either Penny’s sight, leaving the two alone.

Minutes passed. Without Eden there to identify how far away Thalia was, neither would be able to tell, until almost five minutes later, when the fox girl emerged from out of the shadows. She was sealed, evident from the lack of her tails, but still a pair of fluffy ears sprouted from atop her head. Her hands were enwrapped in a set of winter gloves, the tops of which bore the design of paws, and had been pushed back to reveal her fingers, which held fast around the familiar white of the Meditation Stone.

”Penny..?” she asked, somewhat timidly. She was clearly not expecting there to be two individuals, and almost immediately she shrunk back a small amount, drawing her hands and the stone closer to her chest.

“Evening Thalia” “Heya Foxy!” They would both speak their greeting at the same instant before giving the other half a look.

“I’m glad to see that the stone has been helping” Mecha Penny would reply with a slight tilt of her head.

“And it’s good to see you again!” the human half said with a smile, timidly stepping closer to Thalia. “Can I give you a hug?” she would ask calmly, slipping the bracelet up her sleeve with her magic.

“Before you get too confused we are both Penny. There was an incident a few days ago that led to us being split.” The machine half would explain not moving from where she stood but there was a small smile on her face as well. “We both wanted to be here in a show of support for you”

“We are still your friend” The human Penny would add before tossing a minor glare at her other half “Even if we don’t agree on much else”

“Not the time nor place”

”You’re… both Penny?” Thalia asked incredulously. Her retracting seemed to end for a moment, and a vague comfort took over her, but there was still an obvious tenseness remaining, as the sudden rush of anxiety flooded her body. But she took another step forward, meeting the human half partway. ”S-sure, uh, yeah, hugs. Hugs are nice. Wh-what do you mean ‘split’..? That’s n-not something that’ll happen to me, right?”

“No” The human Penny would reply, wrapping Thalia in a warm hug. “Not unless you want it to anyway. Magic coins are tricky like that.”

“Our separation is more akin to those who have a Twinned soul” Robo Penny would explain “We are both Penny, or perhaps a better way to put it is that we are each a half of Penny. Such as the logical side” She would point to herself “And the emotional side” She would point to her other half still hugging Thalia gently.

“How have you been?” The human would ask as she slowly walked both her and Thalia closer to her mechanical half. As she walked them over she would silently slide it across to her far hand so that it wouldn’t be as easily noticed and so that she could quickly slip it around Thalia’s wrist if she needed to or pull it out to show it off, depending on how the next little while went. “Haven't heard much from you since we got back.”

”It’s… not been great,” she sheepishly said. As the human half hugged her, Thalia reciprocated warmly, a soft smile cresting her lips as she allowed herself to be walked towards the robot half. But despite the softness in her expression, if the robot half was paying attention, Thalia’s eyes drifted to the side, staring out of her periphery. She had a Third Eye. She could see the magic being used. ”She broke my new phone, a-and I didn’t have enough money to buy another one. S-so I looked for a job to try and keep her docile, and get enough for a new-new phone. I-I just… didn’t want you to think I wasn’t in control…”

“Hey no need for that” The squishy version would say kindly “That’s what we are here for right?”

“On that” Mecha Penny would continue on giving her less rational half a pointed look “Why not pass along the gift from Cindy? You’re forgetting she has Third Eye, it’s not going to be a surprise.” She would go on to say folding her arms across her chest as she did so.

“Huh?” Human Penny would say before recollection dawn upon her a moment later “Ah dang it” she would pout as she raised her off hand and let the delicate looking bracelet slip out of her sleeve to hang in mid air. “I was having fun being able to use magic” She would add sheepishly at being caught out.

“According to her it will help you stay in control long enough to move on to the next step” Machine Penny would explain, profusely being vague in case the Vixen was listening in. She did the same often enough back when she had been in the same situation after all.

”Cindy agreed to help me?” Thalia asked, eyes drawn from the Metal Magic to the Psychic aura the bracelet held. Almost immediately, from the moment she saw the chain, her gaze darted between it, and the two Penny’s. Something was wrong. Despite being Sealed, she pushed away from the hug with uncharacteristically intense strength, and stumbled backwards a few paces, where her hands clasped tight around the meditation stone. It was easy to tell from Thalia’s quickened breathing that a surge of fear had struck her. She scrunched her eyes closed, pulling the stone close to her chest, and stood still, attempting to regulate her breathing. ”I-I’m not gonna run... I’m not gonna run, I don’t want to run. You can’t make me.”

There was a single moment of uncertainty shared between the two Penny’s as Thalia started to panic. Neither had missed the fact that it was seeing the bracelet that caused this incident, but now was not the time to dwell on that. Human Penny would take a large step back as the Machine Penny moved forward “Thalia I am here” She would say softly as she took a step closer to the distraught girl “Focus on the stone and listen to me” She ordered, her voice still soft, stepping closer once again.

While Robo-Penny was taking all the focus, Human Penny magically killed all sound coming from her and slipped behind Thalia. Once she was hidden from sight she slipped one of the links on the bracelet open, turning it into just a simple chain.

“Breath. Once in deeply. Hold it. Then out” Machine Penny would continue walking Thalia through a breathing exercise. To both try and help calm her down and to keep the attention. “Again, deeply. Hold it. Then out.”

At the start of the next repetition Penny would throw the small chain with exceptional accuracy while also guiding it with her magic towards Thalia’s exposed wrist. The open length of chain would wrap around her arm and reseal itself the instant it came into contact with her arm.

Both Penny’s were ready to rush Thalia if needed as a backup plan, but neither of them wanted to hurt her.

Eyes still held shut, Thalia leant into the robot half as she approached, following the breathing instructions to the best of her abilities. In the brief moment of recognising the Psychic Specialisation on the bracelet, The Vixen reacted in fear, but Thalia had no intention of letting that happen. All she had to do was concentrate, she had been cultivating the skill since returning from the beach. Taking time to meditate had helped immensely, but she was sick of being controlled by something other than herself. Even if it was just the emotion driven half of Penny, one of her first asks had been to hug, and Thalia missed it.

In the temporary state between consciousnesses, focussing on herself, and the stone, and Mecha-Penny’s instructions, she only just felt the chain encircle her wrist. In a half second’s loss of focus, her eyes opened, and her full gaze fell upon the bracelet. And then she unsealed. A charred black, sprawling mass of fur erupted from her back, and her clothes fell away to be replaced with her dress. The Meditation Stone fell from her hands, and Thalia leapt back, immediately attempting to distance herself from the Penny’s.

”So that’s what this was?! You were just trying to trap m-” A clawed hand reached out to tear the bracelet free from her wrist as she shouted, but her words were cut short. A sudden looseness struck her body, as every muscle untensed and her limbs went slack, and her eyes unfocussed, until she began to fall forwards. Without being caught, her body was aimed to hit the ground face first.

The machine was prepared for the reaction that came and was right along with Thalia as she tried to gain distance, her eyes glowing from within due to her Spark. One of her spider legs lashed out and caught the meditation stone from mid air as the rest of the all snapped out as the Machine lunged at her to restrain her.

She didn’t halt that action in retaliation to Thalia suddenly dropping, but Robo Penny did catch her with much gentler than she was originally intending to do.

The human half could only watch as everything resolved itself in a few heart beats. She would rock back on to her heels as she looked off in the direction that Eden had vanished in waiting for the enigmatic girl to reappear for a moment before striding closer to Thalia, pulling out the Red Coin as she did.

”That went better than expected,” came a voice from within the human half of Penny’s head. It was easily recognisable as Eden. ”Give me a moment, she’s fighting back a little more than I thought. I’ll have her back in a sec.”

A moment passed. Then a minute. For a moment it almost seemed like she wasn’t waking up at all, but Eden gave no word about any complications or issues. But after two minutes the fox girl let out a groan, reaching up with a gloved hand from wherever she was sat or leant to rub her forehead. Her eyes flitted, as if she had just blinked open into the blazing sun.

”Owww, owowowow… did you hit me with something?” Thalia asked openly, attempting to focus on something, but only vaguely making out the shape of Mecha-Penny.

The Human Penny would be thrown for a loop at hearing Eden in her head and jumped in surprise and nearly pulled the circlet off, before understanding was reached. She would let out a breath and mutter to herself “A little more warning next time would be appreciated.” before moving to sit next to her other half.

The robot half would carefully turn Thalia over so as she sat down so that Thalia was cradled against her softly as they waited. The squishy half would barely make it past the one minute mark before she would once again be up but also currently pacing as well.

The Machine Penny would simply sit still and wait but would quickly reply once Thalia started to come back to her senses “No, but I think that Vixen tried to make an appearance before the bracelet did what it was designed to do.” She would explain as she leaned back a little to give Thalia a bit of space as she tried to focus.

”Bracelet..?” she blinked a number of times more, until the light bled away into colour, and her gaze fell onto her wrist. For a moment, Thalia attempted to hold herself on her own weight, struggling briefly against Penny’s grasp, but almost as quickly as she began, she slumped back into the hold, still visibly reeling from some kind of headache. ”What happened, what do you mean she tried to - a-are you both okay? I-I didn’t… hurt you, r-right?”

“They panicked at the sight of it” Penny would reply making no move to stand, and simply let Thalia continue to rest against her “But before anything could happen It seems to have knocked you out. Not long, a pair of minutes.”

“If it did that to you however it likely did the same, or worse to the Monster.” Her Human half would add as she stopped pacing and came over. “Might be the best time to use the Coin. You feeling up to it?” She would ask as she offered up the Red coin that Eden had given her to hold.

”I-if I use that, it’ll… change me, right?” despite asking, and looking towards the human half and the Coin, the question didn’t appear like one that Thalia needed an answer to. It was affirmation, asking herself if she was ready for it. If she was okay with leaving behind who she was to become something, and someone else. A visible aura of anxiety seemed to wash over her face, a sheen of water glossed over her eyes, and her gloved hands clenched as she stared at the coin with her Third Eye. ”I-I’m gonna miss the tails, eheh… if I do it, then me, I’m never going to see you again, a-am I? It’ll be somebody else… I want her gone, I-I want this to be over, but… I’m gonna miss you…”

“Shh it’s not going to be like that” Penny would sooth the girl gently, surprisingly it was the mechanical one speaking. “It shifts and changes your magic. Not your memories or personality. You are not going anywhere. Vixen is a product of your magic, it changing around will cause her to go away but that is it.” She would explain giving Thaila a light hug “I’ll still be here when you get done with the change I promise.”

The other half of Penny would just be watching her other half with a strange look. But she would agree with her “One of my friends at Beacon used a Red Coin. She looks completely different, with completely different powers and specializations but she is still who she was before the change.” She would smile at the fox girl warmly as explained Jannet’s transformation “So you’ll still be our friend on the other side of this coin, it won’t change that”

”You promise..?” Thalia asked, directed towards both of them. The warmth that both of them shared with her was a far cry from how things were back on the ship. Penny had been reluctant to even get too close, but now both halves were more than willing to deal out embraces. It made her happy, to still have friends in spite of everything, though it didn’t completely dissipate the nervousness that had set it. She reached up and wiped a tear from her eye, and then looked towards the human half. ”A-alright, how… How does this work? I-is there an activating thing? Pass-phrase? D-do I need a safeword?”

“Promise. You just grab hold of it, and focus on what you want it to do” The machine would say to start “The Coin will take care of the rest” Finished the human.

”Hold it, focus, sure, I-I can do that,” with one hand, she gently released herself from the Mecha-Penny’s hug, and with the other, reached over to take the Coin from the human half. In her hand she could feel it, the cold of the metal against her fingertips, but equally the odd power that it contained. With a smile towards the two girls, she took a few steps back, and clutched the Coin tight within her palm. ”Guess this is it… Um… I-I’m sorry, for how much I hurt you. But, th-thank you. For helping me, for, for not giving up on me, I-I… I’ll see you later, Squishy Penny, Optimus Penny,

"I-I love you both," was the last thing either of them would hear, before the space Thalia occupied was engulfed in red lightning. A brilliant, crimson hue radiated out from the centre as Thalia clenched her fists, focussing, holding onto the essence of herself while the Coin shattered and bled into her hand. The space seemed to exude a fervent heat, causing the air around it to ripple, obscuring visibility even further than before. But through the arcs of electricity the silhouette of Thalia could still be seen; the tails that spread and fanned out behind her receded until they were no longer visible, as did the ears atop her head. With every second she seemed to grow thinner, and shorter, losing at least four inches within the span of seconds.

Externally, Thalia could feel nothing. The changes to her height and extra appendages barely registered, but internally, within her anatomy, mind, and soul, she was wracked with pain. More pain than she could describe. Even from within the whirlwind of magic and electricity, it was possible to hear Thalia cry out in agony. A deep seated inferno had lodged within her chest, searing every nerve ending with magic, and feeding back into her soul, rending to its absolute limit. And then it all seemed to stop at once. The pain in her chest transformed into a warm, pulsing calm, spreading to every corner of her body and back, and a strange sense of clarity fell upon her, while in response, the violent surge of energy surrounding her collapsed to a standstill.

Stood where Thalia had been before, was a girl, several inches shorter than her original form. A blue school uniform enshrouded her, covered over with a darker blue jacket, and a red, striped scarf, which caused her shoulder length white-blonde hair to puff out at the sides. She looked around confused, blinking back the light after opening her eyes after what seemed like an eternity. Every breath she took was shaky, and shallow, and she looked like she might fall over or vomit at any second, though she tried her best to remain composed, and upright.

"Is... is it over? Did I do it?" she asked, her voice notably rattled, but calmer, and slightly higher pitched than Thalia's used to be.

In lieu of a normal response a small round drone popped out of Robo-Penny’s shoulder. It would float around the mechanical girl's head for a moment before focusing it’s camera lens on Thalia. A moment, and a few beeps, later it would project a small holographic image above itself of Thalia as she was currently. It wouldn’t take long to learn that it was a real time capture of the girl either.

“I believe that is sufficient enough for an answer” The still sitting Penny would reply with a small smirk.

“Woah..” the squishier Penny would say as she let out a large breath. She had been somewhat worried about how it was going the moment that Thalia started screaming out, but quickly that would be replaced by a wide smile now that her friend was okay. “How do you feel?” She would ask, stepping closer to get a better look at Thalia's new look.

”I… I’m okay. I think? You’re a lot taller than I remember,” she commented, eyeing the drone nervously. As the holograph appeared, she took a step forward towards it, trying to look at herself as best as possible. ”Why did I get fetish wear as my new outfit? Whose idea was?! - ah, ow, ow, that’s really weird, it feels like there’s something, I don’t know, in my chest? Everything feels strange, how am I meant to get used to being short, off balance, and having something in my chest?!”

“Practice” came the pragmatic response from the human Penny as she walked over and poked Thalia in the side “Might also want to try out your magic so that you have an idea what it is now as it might have changed” She would add as she walked around Thalia. Silently she would slap the links on the bracelet as she went and pull it back to her.

“I fail to see how this would constitute fetish wear” the Machine penny would add as she stood up. “Also said embedment could be part of your new physiology” She would offer up as a possibility. After all she had been a fox girl before, what she was now was not yet known.

Either way the drone would hover around Thalia so that she could also get an idea of what she looked like, even as it continued to project in the same location.

”My magic… sure, okay, let’s see how this works,” Thalia echoed, partially attempting to psych herself up for the task. When she first became a Magical Girl under Lothreen, she had known instinctively what kind of magic she had been granted. But this time, she had no idea what to do, except for one thing: summoning her weapon. Thalia concentrated for a moment, focussing on bringing the signature she knew she possessed to her hand, and then released it with a burst of wind enough to blow both Penny’s hair back. With a flex of her palm, and a brief burst of light, a sword formed within her hand, the blade shining faintly with a white and red hue. The length of the metal crackled with electricity, but before she could take it in fully, her free hand clutched at her chest, as a strong, burning pain formed at her core. ”Ow, owowow, that really hurts… why does it hurt so much? I-it’s not meant to, ah, right?”

“I don’t know…” The squishy Penny would reply as she slipped off the circlet now that it was no longer needed.

“Try focusing on the point of pain with your magic, and see if that helps” Offered the machine half as she drew her gaze away from the intricate weapon.

”A-at least I’m not losing control to some animal, huh?” Thalia joked, cracking half a smile at her own poor comedy through gritted teeth. The sound of air being sucked through a small space filled the air and she breathed deep, regulating herself as best as possible amidst the pain in an attempt to halt it. She could feel the warmth - a searing heat deep within her - but as she focussed, even the Penny’s could feel it. The air around her wavered as though on a hot day, in spite of the Penrose cold. ”That helps… I-I think, it’s my magic - causing the pain. It feels like I’m, getting rid of excess heat? This is super weird… U-um, h-how do I look? Dressing like a schoolgirl again, it feels really strange, eheh…”

“I’d say you're looking good” The Penny still subject to hormones would say with a smirk. “I’m not placing what magic would do this though” she would say, more to herself then anything though.

“It’s possible that you have acquired an OddBall set.” the more rational side would offer as she stood up, she had noticed an odd sensation brushing against the Spark. It wasn’t hostile, yet it was still notable as a memetic effect. “Seems that you have a fair amount of work to do to get acquainted with your capabilities.”

”An Oddball?” she echoed. Sword in hand, she turned it over, looking over the blade, and the brilliant shine that surrounded the edge metal. ”Are those the weird abilities that some people have? Must be pretty rare - guess I’m special in some way, right~? Wish I could’ve kept my tails though… I haven’t used pillows in years, there’s no way any of them are as comfy. Um… what, should I do now? You two are my only real friends, s-so, I don’t know what I’m meant to… do, after this.”

“That’s up to you” The machine would say with a small shrug.

“You should come with me back to the sanctuary! I can introduce you to Chloe” The human would say, overriding whatever it was her other half was going to say.

“I would advise against that Idea”

“She’s not that bad!”

“Yes. She is.”

“She took us in!”

”And look how well that’s gone for us!”

“Why don’t you want me to be happy?!”

“Because she doesn’t care about us, especially you!”

And like that the air between the two halves became nearly hostile, They had shown a united front for Thalia while she needed support, but now that reason was gone, and they still held a grudge against each other.

”H-hey, what’s this about?” Thalia asked, incredulously, half stepping forward to put herself between the stares of the two halves, and glancing between each confusedly. A shock of concern crossed over her face as she did, evidently unsure of how to address the situation at hand. ”Who’s Chloe? Is she why you split? C-can you not fight? - I-I can do stuff with both of you, you’re both my friend, but you, you need to explain it to me, okay?”

The Penny’s would step away from each other neither willing to try and go through Thalia. “Chloe is my girlfriend” The human penny would reply as she started pacing, her agitation easy to see even if she did a good job at keeping it out of her voice. “She was the first person that I met that was friendly in the community. She’s not the reason for the Split.”

“She’s a manipulative self serving witch” Fired back the machine half who stayed rooted to her spot, the blaze of red in her eyes told everything that they needed to. “She left us without any word or warning and hardly apologized for it either. But no, she’s not the core for the Split but she is one of the sticking points”

“She also helped us split without hurting us further!”

“Because she wants something from us!”

Rather than responding, the human half would just scoff and return to her pacing.

”You have a girlfriend?” she turned to the human half, a sudden smile having sprouted across her lips. ”Then obviously I wanna meet her~! She, she can’t be that bad, right? I-I’ll meet anybody you want me to as well, Optimus Penny. Eheh, just doing stuff with you both is enough for me.”

The two Penny’s reactions were instant and diametrically opposed. The Human half would giggle and hug Thalia, “Chloe is awesome, you’ll see”

The machine half would let out a snarl, and nearly start pacing herself. “Check. First. At least” She would ground out. She couldn’t exactly tell Thalia not to go with her other half, but she could possibly delay it.

”It’ll be fine, I’m a tough girl~!” she exclaimed, reciprocating the hug warmly. With physical contact, it was easy to tell that Thalia was greatly warmer than before the transformation. Her body seemed to exude heat, substantially more than a normal human body should produce. ”If anything happens, I’ll come find you, okay? But I wouldn’t be a good friend if I didn’t even give her a chance. Plus, I wanna see kind of person you’re into~”

The mechanical half would simply run a hand down her face before sighing “Fine. Just be careful, and be aware that getting a hold of only half of us is difficult. We share the same number at the moment.” Her displeasure at the situation was easy to see but she would back off nevertheless.

Her human half would simply stick out her tongue but not stop smiling. “It might be a few days before you can meet her, she’s going to be busy for the next few days” She would explain “I’ll text you when she’s free and we can meet up.”

"Sure!"

---

"I need a job done. Some patterning. Is that doable, Carpenter?"

"Course. Your place?"

"Yeah."

"I'll be over in an 'our."