Under the Open Sky (CWMGQ Spinoff)

kelllogo · Nov 10, 2019

[-] Plan Honorable Duel
-[-] Accept the duel so long as you can choose the place - somewhere away from all of these summons, they make you nervous.
--[-] Pick a nearby clear-of-summons plot of land in direct sight of Goddess Red, and teleport there.
--[-] Launch an obvious "I am here" flare to indicate your position to the Goddess Red and the Black Knight.
-[-] Panoply to HorrorSlayer, Juggernaut, Slash Hell and Intercept.
--[-] Wait for The Black Knight to arrive, stand your ground, parry their attacks and kill them with your own.
-[-] In case of obvious treachery (direct interference from Goddess Red, her minions, anyone from Unified Darkness, or simply someone having buffed Black Knight to hell and back)
--[-] If Goddess Red or her minions interfere - teleport straight up, launch a Rain of Light - HorrorSlayer - Collateral Damage - Ordnance salvo at the offender, and leave.
--[-] If a generic UD opponent interferes - cut them to ribbons and teleport straight up to reassess the situation.
--[-] If there's something obviously suspicious but not worth immediately reacting, call Goddess Red out on it.

You look across the distance between you and one of the deadliest humans alive. Goddess Red taps her foot. Dark straps writhe around her legs from her dress.

"I'm not going to fight your bodyguard inside the jaws of that thing." you state.

Goddess Red makes a sweeping gesture with her hand, "Pick a spot nearby then. We'll come to you."

There's a cold shiver that leaps down your back. It's what you could hope for, but still chilling to hear.

The top of the hill, where Red made her appearance, slopes off sharply in all directions. One side juts back up into a cliff face, another flattens out towards the hole in the ground that used to be the UD's base of operations, the remaining side goes towards the loosely arranged Unified Light forces. And Goddess Red's vanguard of awful monsters - you count four more multi-headed creatures and more than fifty blob monsters moving about. There's also a bit of a crater where something blasted holes into the stony ground, you suspect a volley of METEORs.

It's in clear enough view. You stop holding the portal open and Shift to stand on a ridge between two smaller craters. A quick reconfiguration sends a blinking stream of shots into the air.

The monster Goddess Red is riding upon works its way out of the hill and crawls along towards you. As it's rushing downslope Goddess Red moves to lean on a large tooth and her Knight jumps out to stand on top of another of the monster's many heads.

Your Panoply glows a soft blue, the glow roiling around the surface everytime it moves. It feels like every part of it has snapped together, waiting for a blow to cause it to explode outward. Waiting for the armored figure to attack you and to smash through her strikes.

You hope you're right about how strong she is.

Red's hydra gets close enough to stretch out a pair of its heads. The Knight steps off to drop onto the ground. Goddess Red contemplates her fingers while she starts taking.

"I'm sure you remember, but if you run or another Magical Girl helps you I'll just have my forces go after that army. If you don't run I won't harm you other than have my Knight fight you."

"Why are you doing this? You're supposed to be a hero." you say while staring down the Knight.

She frowns and glares at you, "I don't want to hear it. Tell the guys prompting you to shut up."

"No one is prompting me. I remember when you saved people, I met Goddess Grey when she saved Toronto from shapeshifting monsters." you mentally reach deep into your Panoply, looking for something that you absorbed a long time ago.

A hilt with a small chunk of blade still attached drops into your hand, you brandish it at Goddess Red, "I fought demons with this sword until it shattered. What have you done?"

Goddess Red blinks, then snarls and raises the middle fingers of both hands at you.

The Black Knight charges forward, you pull the hilt back into your Panoply and jump into the attack.

( Juggernaut Blade: 5000 Base Damage, No Dice, Unreal Strength Negated!, +1250 Reckless Charge +400 Epic Power = 6650 Damage
+100% Overwhelming Presence of Goddess Red
13300 Total Damage

Intercept!
Horrorslayer Ram Panoply: 1056 Base Damage, +356 Dice, +5280 Horrorslayer, +200 Light of Discovery, +320 Prepared for a Charge = 7212 Damage
Horrorslayer Ram Panoply: 1056 Base Damage, +356 Dice, +5280 Horrorslayer, +200 Light of Discovery, +320 Prepared for a Charge = 7212 Damage
Horrorslayer Ram Panoply: 1056 Base Damage, +356 Dice, +5280 Horrorslayer, +200 Light of Discovery, +320 Prepared for a Charge = 7212 Damage
Horrorslayer Ram Panoply: 1056 Base Damage, +356 Dice, +5280 Horrorslayer, +200 Light of Discovery, +320 Prepared for a Charge = 7212 Damage
Horrorslayer Ram Panoply: 1056 Base Damage, +356 Dice, +5280 Horrorslayer, +200 Light of Discovery, +320 Prepared for a Charge = 7212 Damage
36060 Combined Damage
-50% Overwhelming Presence of Goddess Red
18030 Total Damage

Panoply wins
4730 Intercept Damage

Horrorslayer Ram Panoply: 4730 Intercept Damage, +549 Dice, +5280 Horrorslayer, +200 Light of Discovery = 10,759 Damage

The Black Knight: 1000 Resilience, No Dice, -500 Reckless Charge, -750 Juggernaut = 250 Extra Damage

11,009 End Damage

The Black Knight: 15000 - 11009 = 3991 Health)

"You are nothing, nothing! Zoe was right when she called you infuriating."

When your Panoply met the blade of your assailant a storm of light unfolded against her. Pressure knocking her back and leaving a furrow where her boots dragged against the ground. Soft blue light dances over the form of the Knight like flames licking at a piece of paper.

She runs back at you.

A tricky bit of dancing sees the Knight trying to bait an attack to strike against your Panoply when it's extended and you forcing another conflict.

( Juggernaut Blade: 5000 Base Damage, No Dice, Unreal Strength Negated!, +400 Epic Power = 5400 Damage
+100% Overwhelming Presence of Goddess Red
10800 Total Damage

Intercept!

Horrorslayer Ram Panoply: 1056 Base Damage, +634 Dice, +5280 Horrorslayer, +200 Light of Discovery, -211 Awkward Angle = 6959 Damage
Horrorslayer Ram Panoply: 1056 Base Damage, +634 Dice, +5280 Horrorslayer, +200 Light of Discovery, -211 Awkward Angle = 6959 Damage
Horrorslayer Ram Panoply: 1056 Base Damage, +634 Dice, +5280 Horrorslayer, +200 Light of Discovery, -211 Awkward Angle = 6959 Damage
Horrorslayer Ram Panoply: 1056 Base Damage, +634 Dice, +5280 Horrorslayer, +200 Light of Discovery, -211 Awkward Angle = 6959 Damage
Horrorslayer Ram Panoply: 1056 Base Damage, +634 Dice, +5280 Horrorslayer, +200 Light of Discovery, -211 Awkward Angle = 6959 Damage
34795 Combined Damage
-50% Overwhelming Presence of Goddess Red
19398 Total Damage

Panoply wins
6598 Intercept Damage

Horrorslayer Ram Panoply: 6598 Intercept Damage, +79 Dice, +5280 Horrorslayer, +200 Light of Discovery, = 12,517 Damage

The Black Knight: 1000 Resilience, No Dice, +200 Backstep, -750 Juggernaut = 450 Damage Reduction

12,067 End Damage

The Black Knight: 3991 - 12067 = -8076 Health)

Once again the Knight is knocked away. She twists in mid air to catch the ground and pull herself back to her feet. You have your Panoply move you back to the highest point on the ridge.

Goddess Red retracts her hands and composes herself, glaring at you. She reaches out a hand, a shadow (Darkness) drifts down from above with an enchanted stone. Red grasps it as it is offered.

For a tense moment nothing happens.

The jaw of Goddess Red's monster closes.

Black Knight rushes at you again. This time you abandon your earlier habit of waiting for the blow to arrive and send out limbs with your Panoply. Four such limbs grip at the ground and pull you every which direction, forcing the Knight to charge at a more sedate pace.
Then she spins to hack at one of your mobility limbs. You drop the targeted protrusion from your Panoply and use another limb to strike the Black Knight from behind.

The heavy black blade of the Black Knight shatters the solid portion that you left behind in spectacular fashion. Then shatters the shocked stone that makes up the ridge like a blade a hundred times the size. She's then bowled over as your Panoply hits the dark figure square in the back.

(Horrorslayer Ram Panoply: 1056 Base Damage, +226 Dice, +5280 Horrorslayer, +200 Light of Discovery, +211 Rogues do it From Behind = 6973 Damage
Horrorslayer Ram Panoply: 1056 Base Damage, +226 Dice, +5280 Horrorslayer, +200 Light of Discovery, +211 Rogues do it From Behind = 6973 Damage
Horrorslayer Ram Panoply: 1056 Base Damage, +226 Dice, +5280 Horrorslayer, +200 Light of Discovery, +211 Rogues do it From Behind = 6973 Damage
Horrorslayer Ram Panoply: 1056 Base Damage, +226 Dice, +5280 Horrorslayer, +200 Light of Discovery, +211 Rogues do it From Behind = 6973 Damage
Horrorslayer Ram Panoply: 1056 Base Damage, +226 Dice, +5280 Horrorslayer, +200 Light of Discovery, +211 Rogues do it From Behind = 6973 Damage
34565 Combined Damage
-50% Overwhelming Presence of Goddess Red
17433 Total Damage

The Black Knight: 1000 Resilience, No Dice, -750 Juggernaut, -200 Enemy Feint = 50 Damage Reduction

17383 End Damage

The Black Knight: -8706 - 17383 = 15,000 Health)

Sparks fly in every direction from the point where your attacks hit the Knight. The penultimate blow even punctures through her torso, shoving her along.

The odd blue flames lapping at your enemy surge at this. For a moment it looks like this has spelled the end of her attempts. Then she stands back up, all the damage you inflicted falling off her now-uninjured form.

([IMMORTAL OBJECT]

The Black Knight's Health cannot currently be reduced!)

Hey, that's just not fair.

You try to fly upwards, but can't get any lift. When you spotted the stone in Red's grip you half-suspected it was an anti-flying measure. Which leaves another shoe to drop.

A bit of zig-zagging ahead of the Black Knight gives an opening to pulverize the rock under her feet. You then stretch out a hefty chunk of your Panoply to knock her into the path of the shadow that charges out from the maw of the much larger monster. It's clear that the Knight hadn't expected you to be able to see the shadow attacking from behind you, even if she might have noticed by now.

While the attempted ambush goes awry you fire a beam into the mid-point of the shadow while it bats the Black Knight into and through the ground.

(Horrorslayer Ram Panoply: 1056 Base Damage, +247 Dice, +200 Light of Discovery, -100 Snap Shot = 1403 Damage
-50% Overwhelming Presence of Goddess Red
702 Damage

Attacking Shadow: 165 Resilience, No Dice, -123 Juggernaut, -100 Walked Right Into it = 58 Extra Damage

760 End Damage

Attacking Shadow: 750 - 760 = -10 Health)

The shadow falls apart before the violent passage of the Black Knight through the shallow walls of a METEOR crater is truly finished. Stones rain down around you.

That should buy you a few seconds.

"You said a duel! Not that your champion would be invincible!"

"Eat shit and die lightbulb!"

"Ramming Speed!"

You crash into Red's Black Knight as she crests over the ridge and send her flying back to the bottom in a tumble.

([IMMORTAL OBJECT])

"No, I don't think I shall." you retort in a fake accent.

With that the hydra ceases to remain a passive observer. A massive set of teeth snaps for you while the rest dart around you to block of escape avenues.

You have enough warning to rush into the fray and move where the heads have trouble focusing on you. Given enough time you could probably cut this thing apart without too much trouble. Of course there is still the Knight to worry about and whatever else Red has planned for a trick.

Eight of the hydra heads open their mouths and spit out large blob monsters that converge towards you. This has become a difficult situation - the blobs have zero self-preservation and are already moving to trip you up where the hydra jaws can be avoided.

Shifting out feels like it should be okay, but as far as you can see the rest of Red's monster are still somehow staying put. You want to prolong that ...for the next 3 seconds or so.

"Is Goddess Red where you are!?" Commander Black demands over the radio.

"Yes." you answer.

The giant hydra has twisted its heads around enough to have a pair of heads make a broad wedge with blob monsters herding you towards the Black Knight and three other toothy maws.

"Nuke incoming!" Black transmits.

You Shift out of the cage.

900 meters away you test your flight, it appears you've escaped the reach of Red's grounding stone.

Goddess Red's voice booms over the battlefield, "Your hero ran off and forfeited your lives. Now-."

She cuts off.

Something interesting is happening on a hovering fairy platform. You Shift over again.

"Gattai!" a girl covered in magical plates shouts (Super Robots, Will, Myth-Maker)

Steel Monsoon jams her oversized weapon into the side of Judgement Core's oversized weapon.

A blaze of magic surges out from both of them, it gives the sensation of brightness so strongly that you feel like you can see it through your teeth. Cast in this unearthly glow Judgement Core and Steel Monsoon chant together.

"Finale of Ruin"

(MM Roll: 3
Finale of Ruin: 663135 Base Damage, +31167345 No Kill But Overkill!, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +500 Godly Power = 38,461,830 Damage
Finale of Ruin: 663135 Base Damage, +31167345 No Kill But Overkill!, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +500 Godly Power = 45,093,180 Damage
Finale of Ruin: 663135 Base Damage, +31167345 No Kill But Overkill!, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +663135 Rain of Light, +500 Godly Power = 51,724,530 Damage
-50% Overwhelming Presence of Goddess Red
67,637,770 Damage

Spawn of the Apocalypse(x3): ~~3219000 Resilience, +14800 Dice, +400 Epic Existence, -500 Hostile Divinity Effect = 3,233,700 Damage Reduction~~ Attack was Unstoppable!

67,637,770 End Damage
99% Reduction
676,378 Damage
No Mercy! X2 Damage!
1,352,756 Final End Damage

Spawn of the Apocalypse (x3): ??? - 1352756 = -??? Health)

Orbs of potent magic dance over the landscape. You hear the sounds of a hundred thousand gusts of wind blowing over a ruined land. The lesser creatures of the Army of the Apocalypse fall to dust as the effect crescendos and envelops them. Only the great hydras withstand the first chord.

Then all the orbs rush in against the surviving monsters. A hurricane of magic swirls under each hydra, and then a million spears of power fire upwards. A line of destruction splits the sky. Steel Monsoon's weapon burns like a huge sparkler. Judgement Core makes an outraged shout. All the suspended hydra heads begin to shatter, the notes of a million explosions appearing under the hide of the once-imposing monsters making a noise that crowds out all others.

The effect wavers and falls away. As the battered hydras fall to earth you hear a crackle that sounds the way napalm in the morning smells.

"Yes!" Judgement Core cheers, "I can't wait to tell Solid Core how I saved everyone single-handedly!"

"Single-handedly?" asks Steel Monsoon.

"Single-handedly?" asks the plate-wearing Magical Girl.

"Single-handedly?" you ask.

Judgement Core pulls some levers on her cannon while she lets out a growl. The two ends shift slightly and odd circles of magic run through the air around them, the glow dims when the bifurcated gun snaps open a bit further and Steel Monsoon's gun is yanked from her hands. You see it reshape itself into an attached sword for Judgement Core's weapon.

"Hey!" Monsoon protests.

Judgement Core frowns a bit deeper, "It's blocking my sights, I'll fix it."

There's some distressing motion from the holes the combination attack blasted into the stony ground. It appears the spell did not quite bury the hydras, the most active one has already begun to drag itself out. For all that its body and heads are criss-crossed with scars it looks like the recent attack only killed three heads, leaving more than a dozen heads still alive and angry.

"They're still alive" you say.

Steel Monsoon tries to grab at Judgement Core's weapon, "You're making it worse! Let me do it!"

"I know what I'm doing!" Judgement Core spins in place and jumps into the air to escape Monsoon's reach.

"You need to cooperate…" the plated Magic Girl tries to get their attention.

"The monsters aren't dead, hit them again!" you say, more insistently.

Monsoon shouts up at Judgement Core, "You aren't holding it right, there's a part where-."

"Again! Targets are still kicking!" Black's voice directs from Steel Monsoon's Datamine.

Steel Monsoon's weapon wraps over one of the rails of Judgement Core's cannon. Then she pushes in a panel on each rail and works a lever again. This causes Monsoon's sword to reform itself in the middle of the rails. And to almost instantly fly out of the muzzle of the cannon and embed itself deep in a cliff, trailing a broad line of sparks behind it.

"Whoops..."

The plated Magical Girl looks on blankly while Steel Monsoon roars in outrage.

You tune them out as you intently watch the surviving monsters. Each hydra is heading towards a concentration of forces. The closest is moving towards a knot of human and elven troops marching through a passage, a clear path between them and Goddess Red's monster. The next closest is heading for a line of vehicles while a pair of hovertanks fire ineffectually at it. And the furthest by a small margin is about to overrun a group of elven legionnaires, who have left a scattered rearguard to wave their weapons at the giant hydra.

Sakura Saber appears among the elves, just long enough to jump behind a boulder and vanish with a Magic Girl who had taken cover there.

Considering the rough terrain you should try to bring Judgement Core to the passage, if that's closed off most of the Unified Light's forces in the vicinity will be caught between two nigh-unkillable giant hydras. The passage, however, has a moment or three before it's struck -- the elven sacrificial rearguard is almost in biting range. And, to your eyes, it looks like the trucks have been abandoned.

You make a choice, "Judgement! Let's go!"

Judgement Core zooms into the portal you've opened and you follow. Steel Monsoon hasn't even finished voicing her disapproval of Judgement Core's mishap.

"Rail Acceleration!"

Judgement Core slams down a boot on the obsidian pillar you've brought her to while her other boot rests on a just-big-enough platform of pure magic. Sparks fly out of her cannon in such numbers that it appears to be aflame with pure white fire. Your hair stands on end from the energy she radiates.

It's enough to cause a shiver as you contemplate how close you are to a landscape-changing force. You hope you're right about how powerful she is and also hope to be further away from earth-shattering Magical Girls in the future.

The vast bulk of Red's spawn withdraws from its first strike against the elves. Wet blood gleams from the lowest head as a pair of maws draw back to strike at you.

When the first snaps forward Judgement Core places her finger upon her cannon's trigger and half the world is engulfed in furious white bullets. The burst fades, one head of the spawn arcing away in pieces and the other beginning to bellow as it commits to an attack.

Judgement Core fires again, and again a single head is shorn off by her bullets. A cliff face that caught the stray shots becomes progressively more obscured by rock dust.

You spot Judgement Drive about the passage, holding her sword ready and watching her hydra get closer. A shimmer of magic coats the ground under her, that's odd…

The shimmer resolves into a trio of Magical Girls.

(Inevitability, Death, Epic)

One of whom is Magical Girl Madama Morte.

The scene has a change of focus, as if almost everything there has become less real. Madama Morte is, and the Hydras are, and the two are poised against one another. With a wave of Morte's hand the attacking hydra stops dead, in every sense of the word. The crumpling corpse now just a background element against Morte's victory.

Judgement Core fires again, this time her weapon focused into a tight beam that shears a long cut through another hydra head. And a deeper cleave into part of a mountain she hit with part of her arc. If she was trying to impart more force to the rest of the hydra she succeeded with flying colors, the still-alive monster is forced backwards, away from the retreating evlen rearguard.

"No Mercy!" Judgement Core shouts as she destroys another head with cannon fire.

One hydra was mostly unopposed. You spot that a few heads have bits of truck in their jaws. You also spot that a single figure (Guardian, Magic, Legend), cloaked in magical thorns, is raising their sword at a monster that dwarfs them. They gesture atop a truck while an enormous head sweeps in from the side to crush them.

What is he thinking?

...He might survive, you aren't sure how strong that spell is. He might absorb enough force to be knocked clean away.

You prepare to Shift, so as to catch him when the blow lands.

Judgement Core removes another head. More than halfway finished with the beheadings.

The cloak of thorns spikes outward across several meters of air, growing vastly larger as it does. Magic swats away the blow and sends the hydra's head away with vast gashes rent into the lower half and the upper half breaking away in chunks. A monster too large to fit in most sports stadiums is forced to rebalance itself as the force of retaliation sends it reeling.

It doesn't stay off-balance for long. A pair of heads move to slam down on either side of the truck he's perched on. Time to get involved, you Shift to a point above him.

Just as you foresaw. Thorn Warden adjusts his cloak to prepare for blows that fail to strike him, and the force of the hydra heads striking the ground is enough to throw him and the truck he's standing on into the air. He spots you just as he realizes he's airborne and grabs your offered hand.

Your Panoply flows to support you. Thorn Warden weighs more than you can lift unassisted and the upcoming aerial movement is going to exert a lot more force than that.

Inertia yanks Thorn Warden to and fro as you weave through the Spawn's first response. A few seconds of dodging gives you the leeway to climb out of its reach. And a perfect view as Atlantis Ether transports Atlantis Blade and Madama Morte behind the distracted hydra.

"Your Time Has Come."

Life departs the hydra in an instant.

Further back you see Judgement Core blasting a thoroughly decapitated Spawn into paste. You abandon the climb and gently fall back to the ground with your passenger.

Atlantis Ether waves at you with her wand and smiles. Madama Morte gives an unreadable expression. And Atlantis Blade glares at your back as she starts to patrol a circuit around your small gathering.

Thorn Warden clears his throat, you let go of him and let him fall the short distance down, "Thanks Summit. Being chewed on would have made things awkward for me."

"What it would have made you, is dead." Madama Morte waves at the dead hydra, "I would not have held back if your were being chewed up."

Thorn Warden shakes his head, "Please don't. If it ever comes up again, I should be just fine behind my shield. If you see the shielding thorns it means I'm still alive."

You hear a chirp from your datamine and Atlantis Ether's datamine.

"Yay! We won! Now you and I get to help teleport VIPs back to the land of off-duty." Atlantis Ether says to you.

Her joy appears genuine, even if her wording makes you suspect sarcasm.
----

The courtyard of the Magical Girl building is still fairly packed when you transit your third and final group of passengers. Steel Monsoon gives you a thumbs up when you walk to where she's seated.

Flawless Paladin has gone somewhere, you can't see her anywhere.

Judgement Core and Judgement Drive are still in the midst of a curious crowd. You can hear questions shouted at them as the younger one acts out her story.

A handful of officers are marking things on clipboards and a few are chatting with a Magical Girl group.

Space bubbles a bit and Hayate appears with Reinforce, Dusk Rose, and a strange suit of armor holding — correct that, it's Dark Steel holding Fiodur's head up as a trophy.

"Guess who I pulled out of their hidey-hole!"

A weak cheer sounds out.

"Nice to finally win this, but there's going to be a bunch of debriefing soon." Steel Monsoon comments while shifting down in her seat, "And that push beforehand has me feeling a bit worn out already."

Someone holds up a hand to high-five Dark Steel. She switches the hand holding her grisly prize and slaps the offered hand before it can be retracted. You see blood splatter around her and think you hear her laughing at the discomfort of the soldier.

Atlantis Blade walks up to you.

She clears her throat before speaking in a tone pitched to carry, "So Summit, do you think your life is worth—."

"MAGICAL GIRL ATLANTIS BLADE!" Colonel Black bellows, "Summit withdrew because I ordered her to withdraw. Because we had a plan!" he raises an arm at the rest of the group, "Does the rest of the coven understand? That Summit didn't run in cowardice, but followed orders? That I trust her and respect her judgement? I want everyone to make that clear if anyone thinks otherwise!"

Atlantis Blade turns away from you, "I understand Commander." she walks towards Atlantis Ether with a deliberately steady pace.

"I also need to speak with you Summit. Follow." Black moves with an uneven gait towards a shipping container with an antenna perched on top of it.

Once inside he turns sharply, "Until very recently I would have said you had good timing and judgement. What happened that made you think you could fight one of the Goddess Four on your own? Why did you not retreat? I could have used you to set up that trick shot faster."

The sudden change in demeanor makes your stomach drop, "General Manners ordered—."

"She will hear from me as well. The only asshole that gets to micromanage Magical Girls in this base is me." Black crosses his arms.

You swallow and don't say anything for a moment.

He sighs, "Insight must not have informed you. A number of Magical Girls, including Solid Core, Solid Drive, and Goddess White, have been imprisoned by the UD. Insight thinks the UD used pieces of the same prison artifact you are supposed to have broken free of. The traitor Zoe Cross, who is the one that used said item, also thinks the UD trapped our girls inside the same prison artifact you broke out of.

"You must have noticed that Goddess Red wasn't here to protect the UD's forces, she was here for you. She's notoriously idle as a Dark Magical Girl, but was convinced to act against you personally.

"That sort of focus is what I wanted to withdraw you from. And the General hasn't been briefed on any of this yet."

You nod, it seems like the right thing to do, "I held my own?"

"Which means you can expect to meet Goddess Grey in the near future. When Manners offers to place you in False Heaven until the Hope offensive starts you need to tell her no. Signals is already preparing transit options to get you to where Solid Core and the rest are trapped. Once you free them you will be attached to Goddess Gold's unit in hopes of keeping her pointy sister from making you an example."

He taps his foot.

"Oh! Yes Commander. I understand."

"Thank God for that. Everyone has debriefings scheduled, Captain Gupta will let you know where to go."
----

Somehow, someway, Magical Girl Insight had provided a printout of your activities over the operation. You provide minor amendments to a pair of intelligence officers, one an unflappable grey haired lady who takes careful notes and the other a very flappable young man. Thankfully you are finished in slightly less than an hour, without Insight's gift you expect it might have taken three times as long.

You have a message that the General wants to speak with you a few hours from now. Otherwise it looks free, your Datamine has unlocked and given you access to all features.
----

Pick up to Two (2) Options

[X] Interact with someone
-[X] (Who?)
You're supposed to keep your mouth firmly shut about Juggernaut Drive, but otherwise can boast about most of the things you've done. Or ask what they were up to, if you prefer.
(May be selected twice)

[X] Burn off some energy practicing
-[X] (Focus on what?)
Lots of your magic has been acting strange recently. Get some quick practice to become more comfortable with your new limits. Cycling through your energy should also help you feel less out of sorts.

[X] Get some extra sleep
Have the local medics counteract the stimulants and drop your transformation to pass out for a bit. Some less-rushed healing effects should help with the stings and itching.

[X] Help out with vehicle repairs
How did your fixes hold up?

[X] Contemplate a Panoply Form
-[X] (Write-in) What do you want it to do?
The way your Panoply can pass through itself is giving you ideas. (May grant an Ability as a Potrean option, may open an Ability for purchase, gives bonus EXP if neither occurs)

[] Inexpertly hit on Major Roberts
You're just checking up on Juggernaut Drive, really.
----

+300 EXP Unbreakable
+125 EXP Apocalypse Cancelled
+450 EXP Uber-Hydra Triple Kill!
+100 EXP Overshadowed and Slightly Terrified by Madma Morte…

246 + 975 = 1221 EXP

[X] [EXP] EXP Plan?

kelllogo · Jan 16, 2020

[-] Burn off some energy practicing
-[-] Focus on Guardian Touch, that target-by-modifier upgrade looks very promising
[-] Get some extra sleep

Eating was a mistake.

You had decided to grab a crescent roll and some bacon from the food available in the cafeteria. Bread to sooth your gut and bacon because bacon. But an unwelcome fact revealed itself when you swallowed a mouthful, your esophagus was severely irritated below the neck. Probably from having your heart blasted out by Juggernaut Drive.

A groan sputters out once the sensation of swallowing white-hot frozen rusty razor blades subsides. Thankfully it fades to something like a skinned knee quickly, and dulls from there. All the same, you think you'll be putting off food for a bit longer.

Besides, you aren't that hungry.

With a mind towards how you might alter a magical effect you bus your tray back and make your way to one of the practice areas to look for volunteers. Thorn Warden had a cloak of thorny magic that reflected damage back at the attacker, maybe you can make your Guardian Touch spell do that?

As it turns out Thorn Warden is at the practice area you've picked. At the center of a bit of a spectacle, he's holding off Ninja of Light with both hands while Prisma Drake presses against his back. A handful of Magical Girls look on with varying levels of agitation.

"Summit! Little help here!?" he shouts at you.

A doubletake of the scene confirms that he is having his personal space infringed upon. You insert yourself between Ninja of Light and Thorn Warden, draw your Panoply behind you like a wall, stare into Prisma Drake's eye's, catch Ninja in a set of Panoply bars when she vaults over, and let Thorn duck back through an opening.

Ninja of Light swirls in place before tugging at her cage, "Let me out! Let me OUT!"

"I get it, I get it. And I didn't know you already knew Thorn." Prisma Drake says while taking a few steps back.

Ninja of Light breaks a few bars when she swings her weapon at her cage. You contract it tighter to keep her from attacking effectively. "Help!" she shouts.

"Please keep her in there until she apologizes." Thorn Warden comments as he walks over to stand next to you.

One of Ninja's teammates shrugs, her axe still resting on the ground, "You were being more of a pest than persistent, dear."

Ninja hisses and rattles her cage angrily.

"How long have you and Summit been a thing?" Prisma Drake asks while wiggling her eyebrows.

Thorn Warden shoots a sideways glance your way, "She's my sister."

Uh-oh. This is going to make things worse. Why did he say that? You can already see the thought forming in Prisma Drake's head as she draws her hand to her mouth in an apparent case of slow motion.

"My my. It really is the quiet ones isn't it? I never would have suspected Summit to be into pretending to have a sibling. And in public even." she says with mock surprise.

It feels like every drop of warm blood in your body is trying to shove its way into your face.

You start trying to explain things, "Not my brother. I met him once or twice before arriving here. I'm even surprised he remembers me."

"And Prisma Drake pounced because she knows I have no surviving direct relatives." you finish.

Thorn Warden scratches the back of his head and looks away, "Impulse. Don't think belittle of yourself, when you tried to repeat my title it certainly was a sound to remember."

Ninja stops trying to saw through your grip, "You could understand that? It felt like my mind blanked out when he said it."

Shapeless Isle comes running up, "Hey! Let, uh, wie hieß sie nochout… out of the cage!"

"Um, Ninja was the problem…" Floral Glory trails after.

"Please refrain Summit. You make it sound like an exploding speaker." Thorn Warden says.

"Everyone! Behave!" Shapeless Isle shouts while stepping up on a net of chains hanging from nowhere, "Now, what exactly happened?"

Prisma Drake, Warrior of Light, Ninja of Light, and Floral Glory begin talking over one another. The conversation only becomes less intelligible. Not quite what you were interested in, you release Ninja and address Thorn Warden.

"Excuse me. I've been wondering if you could describe how your thorn cloak does the counterattack. One of my spells could use that effect."

Thorn Warden starts to gesture with his hands, then pauses. He then taps his chin and lets out a sound before catching himself again, "Actually, show me your spell first so I have something to compare it to."

"Guardian Touch."

A green cast covers Thorn Warden as the effect settles in. He prods his arm for a moment.

"Right… this is like covering someone in bubble wrap. What you should do is change out the fluffy for an unbearable barrier and wrap a cord of thorns around that. When something hits my shield their own force bounces back from the barrier and they hurt themselves on the thorns."

"Murus Spinas."

One glance at the effect forming tells you enough. His spell draws from a wider range of effects and is also 'shaded' differently. Still, it's enough to give you a target. Maybe if you make the pieces more distinct it will be some progress.

"I died twice today, cut me a break!" Ninja of Light exclaims.

Prisma Drake points at Ninja's forehead, "That doesn't excuse it. Did you want to make it a hat trick?"

You let out a sigh, "Thanks for the tips. I'm leaving because this trial noise is hard to be around."

"Good luck." Thorn Warden waves at you while you fly off.

After a bit of thought you head to the advance fortifications. Forces there have already become sparse, but you find a few bored sentries to serve as test subjects while you try to pick apart how you're casting one of your newer spells.

"Let me see the coins. And just so we are clear, it only counts if blood drips out." the most recent recipient explains.

Then he slams down his utility knife on his resting hand. With said knife slotted into his battle rifle.

Perhaps you should not have picked the ones that looked bored…. Your spell keeps him from harm, but, of course, you don't mention this to them.

"Ha! Like it only brushed me. Not even a scratch."

Around you your Panoply glows a deep purple and leaves floating lights in the air when you move. Something about how it manifests its most spell-focused effects. You fight the reflexive part of spellcasting and carefully strain your magic to the breaking point as you adjust it.

The spell falls apart in tattered strings of magic. No matter, you'll just try that again. It is, after all, why you've arranged your Panoply to support rapid spellcasting.

"Sss." something clicks as you repeat the spell.

Instead of falling apart into nothing the spell stretches out from the first target until it touches another one. Both soldiers appear to have the same full effect applied, although it might be weakened from the split somehow.

You immediately try to make the effect happen with another cast. It fails to apply past your first test subject this time. Next attempt does have a brief outreach that also fails to apply it to anyone else.

After a couple minutes you think you've gotten a handle on how to make the effect have the potential to reach several targets. It still doesn't always apply, you think your spell is somehow too feeble. Maybe there's something you can do to make it stronger?

Fortunately, there is. You aren't sure how you know to set up your Panoply to better conduct your magic into spells, but it does work after a fashion. This makes the barrier your spell leaves much more potent, and you're able to put enough weight into the reaching effect to conduct your spell to the entire group at once. Pushing the number of targets beyond three is too attention and time consuming to be useful in combat, you'll just have to practice more on that.

You recall using this effect before, but now seems like a good time to test it out on the rest of your spells. Much less stressful to know something ahead of time instead of suddenly having a hunch mid-battle.

Most notably, it makes your Ramming Speed spell much faster than it has ever been. About twice as fast as it was before the boost. Almost as fast as you can keep up with, thankfully you have nothing to fear from striking the ground with this spell. You had started to worry about your earliest spell no longer keeping up with how fast you could fly.

Wave Force is hard to see an improvement on. It feels a bit cleaner to use this way, and you expect that means more energy is staying with the bolt of destructive power, but the rocks you are testing this on fall to powder either way.

On a stray thought you try pushing magic into spikes. Moments later you've gotten a new spell, Mana Bolts, figured out. It's… okay you suppose? It hits hard enough when boosted, but the range is lacking and you can already produce magical projectiles with your Panoply.

There's something else you can do, you can just tell. Surrounded by allies also strikes you as a bad time to attempt it. You are also beginning to feel a little worn out from trying to squeeze your magic into new shapes.
----

"Couldn't I just walk?"

When you decided to get some of the recent healing looked over you expected some delay. So you set yourself in a corner and used your Datamine to read over some of your messages, a task complicated by some of them having very long documents attached. And while there had been just over twenty minutes of watching other soldiers shuffled around for minor injuries, the location flew into a more frantic pace just after one of the attendants scanned your ID.

This is surely more fuss than is needed.

The doctor glares at you, "No. Lie down so I can get the monitors set up. This is for your own good."

You do as she says. In short order she has you wearing a gown ("visual inspection of healing boundaries is important"), hooked up to three machines in three places, and administered a foul-tasting fluid followed by a liter of water.

Her demeanor, while clinical, was also overwhelming on the receiving end. It's a relief when she departs and another soldier wheels in. You're also happy to avoid having to swallow anything else, ow.

Judging by the fresh casts on both legs she ran into some trouble recently. She arranges herself next to some of the monitors and makes a comment that you should tell her if you think you're dying.

A little shuffling through your stockpiled items spits out a few more pillows and a better blanket. You curl up and prepare to sleep.
----

The Final Stone

Urist DelerTekkud was the last one left. Less than an hour ago, there were thirteen* dwarves of his generation still alive, serving their solemn duty in the overrun halls of their once proud Fortress of Boatshrieks. They were the first ones born into the glory of their newly elevated Fortress to fight and die, and yet when ten days later**, the warning drums of Too Deep had been sounded and their Overseer had been forced to evacuate after raising the alarm***, they failed. Armed with the Adamant Armaments, they were to be the first line of defense, but instead, they were the last remnants of their kind, and they refused to lay down and die...

Fully a third of them died in those tumultous hours, and half of survivors of disaster followed them since. And yet, their lives' work was nearing completion. Forced to run and hide, to scurry and misdirect, to stand as one against monsters and die alone to let others escape, they worked still to complete the work their predecessors started - and to rebuild their Fortress into something grander. Something that would truly grant them power to retake it from the monsters, and make the Fortress once again open to their Overseer.

There was but one last chamber that needed to be remade - and yet, a fiery abomination had taken residence inside, far greater and more terrible than mere beasts who had dared walk the hallways of their Fortress, its very voice bringing certain doom to the rightful owners of BoatShrieks, and its presence washing over them with the feeling of Evil.

Less than an hour before, the beasts and the abomination grew restless, and the beasts began to move closer to surface. Hoping against bitter experience, Urist DelerTekkud and its brothers-in-arms had moved closer to the chamber, and prepared to lay down their lives to rebuild it beyond its former glory, should the abomination leave.

And leave it did, following the scurrying of the beasts.

Ten brave warriors had laid aside their Adamant Armaments to take up tools of the builders, working at a feverish pace to complete the chamber's remodeling before the abomination returned, while the remaining trio followed the abomination, to see it delayed, redirected, or if all else failed, to force it to roar in fury to warn their brothers-in-arms that the abomination was coming back, even if doing so was deadly to their kind. Two thirds of the chamber were remade as the terrible Roar reached the ears of the ten brave warriors. Three of them grabbed their armaments at once, and ran out of the chamber to meet the abomination.

Three times did the Roar echo through the hallways, and three times did three dwarves take up arms and run out to meet it. Three more times did the Roar echo through the hallways, now closer and louder with every new proclamation of fury. Urist DelerTekkud now knew beyond a shred of doubt - he was the last one left, the final warrior of BoatShrieks, and its only hope for restoration. And as the heavy steps shaking the stones could be felt coming ever closer, so was his life's work coming to a close.

Pulling up the crystal the size of his torso, Urist DelerTekkud had twisted in place to insert it to its rightful place in the very center of the Chamber deep in the bowels of the Fortress. Though he felt the unbearable heat on his back, he ignored it to turn the crystal in the socket and connect it fully to the pedestal it was now resting on. With a final click the crystal slotted into place and began to glow, spreading the light through veins of precious metals, and bringing about the ripples reshaping the very stone they were moving through. As the wave of change had overtaken the chamber, Urist DelerTekkud had smiled, knowing that his life's work was done, and a new generation would be born still, armed with the impregnable Dwemer Armaments.

Then the Roar of the Destroyer had echoed through the chamber, resonating and reflecting wildly. And Urist DelerTekkud knew no more.

LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED

The monsters of BoatShrieks had been riled up successfully, and lured in the direction of the Unified Darkness strongpoints. The nigh-invincible nature of the Crimson's hound had served the team well, and a solitary Balrog bursting through a half-collapsed tunnel had been swiftly dealt with by Summit, before it could so much as utter a single sound. Twice did the team nearly get caught up in the traps of the Fortress, clearly created by minds as demented as they were brilliant (who makes magma rain traps anyway???), but Wiccan's surprisingly attentive absent-mindedness had deposited the team safely within her world, to be returned back with Summit's power a minute later, in a safer location. The mission was on track, the Hound had returned to Crimson's side, and the team was almost ready to leave through the main gate, when four things happened all at once.

A ripple of changes ran through the walls of the entire Fortress, overcoming the group in a blink of an eye and (as Summit watched with her Panoply) continuing outwards. Dozens of waves of (Evil) magic had pulsed from many locations within the Fortress, one far more potent and vile than others. And as that vilest pulse of cessation, of the primal command of ceasing to exist, had washed over the team, Primary Wiccan began to babble.

"The Avatar of the End has appeared! The Herald of the End approaches!.."

Throughout this, Summit has felt this wave of cessation cling to her own magic, eroding and suppressing her in many different ways - making it utterly impossible to empower her Panoply beyond what its very structure could convey, though luckily not preventing its shifting. Eroding her defenses with some fell power, making her far more vulnerable to stronger attacks, to stronger beings, than she was before. And, she noted, shutting down her ability to reach through her Panoply and apply a measure of fixing her body, as she did against the Toxic Horror.

!!!

Then the time slowed, and the instincts shrieked at Summit to move, to not be where she was now. Feeling her only salvation at the very edge of her range, she launched a grappling claw to grab Crimson, locked a few additional ones on Wiccan, then pulled herself and the both of them through Elsewhere as far ahead as she could, pulling them towards and into the ground right as the vile presence flared.

An unspeakably vile beam of energy (Chaos | Corruption | Evil | Darkness | Epic) Summit could only term the Ultimate Evil bloomed right above their backs, coming from behind and slightly below where they were, brushing aside the gate, the massive wall, and what seemed like half of the entire mountaintop it hit even as it missed the Magical Girls, obliterating Crimson's Hound in the process. Primary Wiccan had stopped babbling momentarily, dust and gravel in her mouth, before addressing Anna:

"The Herald has chosen us as Prey and will not stop until we End. We must flee this world and never return, lest he follow us to base! He is too focused to distract, and too strong to let him close there!" Wiccan looked at Summit with widened eyes and wildly dilated pupils. Summit stared at her, also watching both the origin of the beam and her other teammate. Crimson Hood's flesh was bubbling and twisting as her Hound's did before, visibly subjecting her to pain so agonizing Crimson was rendered insensate. Making a split-second decision, Summit turned to face the entrance, giving her answer.

"Grab Crimson and shift away. I'll have to delay it, and lead it to the enemy, or it can turn to our base anyway." Simultaneously, Summit contacted the base to ask for suggestions, and launched herself at the entrance. Her panoply writhed, shifting itself into the same configuration that spelled that solitary Balrog's swift doom, a part of her recognizing the lesser pulses of Evil for what they truly were and preparing herself accordingly.

Herald of the End

Knowing that every second counts, Summit accelerates rapidly to full speed while diving into the mouth of the tunnel made by the vile beam of Ultimate Evil, hoping to catch off-guard the source of the fell power. Tunnels exposed by the blast are noted and discarded, lacking anything approaching the same level of danger. And yet, even the full speed of Summit's rush is insufficient, and the enemy to launches a second beam straightat her. With a wordless scream she launches the orange lightning of Wave Force directly in front of her, relying on the residual power it's leaving behind to protect herself from the destructive energies of the incoming attack.

OUT OF THE WAY!!!

And yet, her instincts screaming at her to dodge, she pushes herself to the very limits, barely clearing the exit of the tunnel to dodge sharply to the side, before a yet another beam of fell power obliterates her, once again burning through the solid rock as it passes.

The next moment Summit is assaulted by the huge monster (Chaos | Corruption | Battle | Evil | Darkness | Epic) in a barrage of claw swipes, tail swings, wing buffets and jaw snaps that tax her skills greatly to deflect or evade. Several times Summit is seemingly presented with what seems like an opportunity to retaliate at the monster, before being forced forced to feint and cockscrew in order to deflect strikes closing in with overwhelming and unstoppable power.

The unrelenting assault continues for several seconds, leaving her no breathing room after she has to evade the twin blasts of fell power coming one after the other.

Feeling the horrific power she is far too familiar with spike again, Summit launches (!!!) a spark of Wave Force straight into the stream of un-light in the creature's mouth. This forces the dragon to sputter, the gathering flares of power abating. Angered, it twists to land a claw strike, but Summit glides along the paw's length before striking it at the joint with a twist and a spin:

The strike barely forces the Ancient Wyrm to stumble, before retaliating with a snap of its teeth, a wing buffet, another swipe from the same paw and a second bite attempt. For the first time, even the immensely empowered Panoply is barely enough to withstand the assault Summit is met with, and yet even pressed she takes advantage of an opportunity to land a strike as she is dodging the tail swipe.

Furious at this strike, the Wyrm turns its head to lash out at the flying pest, before attempting to toss her away with a wing, just as the fell power begins to concentrate in the glowing eyeholes of its skull.

Having noticed the effect previously, Summit once more launches her Wave Force and forces the fell power in the draconic abomination's eyeholes to disperse in the wake of her spell.

HIS LOOKS CAN KILL

Summit passes by the monster's head, deflecting two swift snaps of the wyrm's jaws. At the same time she spots two glimpses of (Fire, Evil, Darkness, Epic) entering the cavern from opposite sides. Recognizing the Balrogs for what they truly are, Summit rushes to confront the fiery titans, her instincts blaring in alarm she didn't feel before.

And her incandescent-white Panoply cleaves through the Balrog that showed up at the mouth of the tunnel she entered the hall through. Summit rushes back to the Wyrm and dives below its belly on her way to the second Balrog. Its demise is as swift and certain as the first one's. Knowing that she is almost out of time, Summit pivots in the air to bring herself to aim at the wyrm's head.

Agitated spacetime left in the wake of the orange lightning once more forces the monstrous creature's unholy power to disperse - but this time, Summit notes that not only did it force the spikes of energy to abate, but also somewhat weakens the shroud of power surrounding it. Pushing herself off of the dragon's snout as it tries to bite her, Summit launches herself at the balrog emerging from the entrance leading deeper into BoatShrieks.

Furious, the draconic abomination launches a string of unstoppable strikes forcing Summit to frantically dance at the edge of utter demise, hemmed in back to the surface-directed tunnel's entrance. Focused on the wyrm's attacks, Summit is unable to react in time to evade a fiery paw landing a strike on her from the tunnel and throwing her back at the Wyrm.

Despite the Balrog's strike, Summit reorients herself in time to launch a wave of agitated spacetime at the Ancient Wyrm once more, finally dispersing the shroud of power the beast had been using to swiftly gather energy to blast her with. The most immediate peril dealt with momentarily, Summit dispatches the last balrog present and takes a moment to reassess the situation.

The chamber, once full of masterful stonework covering the walls and the columns, is now filled with rubble left in the wake of Wyrm's rampage and three - now four - piles of cooling embers. The Balrogs' Evil presence, while still cloying the air, has abated for the moment, betraying their absence in the immediate vicinity. Ancient Wyrm's own pervading promise of ENDING everything it touches, is still going strong, yet with the shroud of lingering power dealt with, the Wyrm's blasts are - temporarily - taken care of. Seemingly effortlessly deflecting yet another of the dragon's strikes, Summit spots the mark left by her previous strikes and angles her movement accordingly.

LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED

"What'd I miss?" Crimson Hood croaked, feeling the writhing of her flesh abate as the Hound separated itself from her, before lifting her up almost gently.
"I should not have doubted the power of the chosen one," was the Primary Wiccan's reply. "Come, see for yourself."
Supported by her Hound, Crimson Hood spared a moment to glance at her surroundings. Somewhat surprisingly, what she saw was a tranquil glade. Turning her head further, she spotted Primary Wiccan, kneeling on the flat outcropping by the center of the glade. Crimson closed the distance, noticing a small pool of water in the middle of the outcropping.

"Why hasn't Summit retreated?" Crimson asked, with Primary Wiccan pointing to the surface of the pool. Crimson got to the other girl's side and glanced into the pool, all questions getting caught in her throat. Below the surface of the water, still despite the gentle wind in the glade, Summit could be seen hacking off a front paw of a colossal draconic skeleton, launching orange lightning straight into the abomination's snapping jaws, then blurring along its elongated neck, several swift strikes collapsing the dragon's spine into fragments in her wake. The monstrosity collapses as the magic previously animating it is finally expended.

"She had no time to retreat, but needed no help to thrive. We can return now that the Herald of the End has been vanquished in single combat. Delusional Illusion" Wiccan stated simply but unhelpfully, shifting herself and her companions back to Millidia.
"I can never figure out which world you refer to when you cast it," Crimson muttered and shook her head, "But it doesn't answer my question. What the hell destroyed my Hound, what the hell was that skeletal dragon, and what was that with the pool - that's new, too."

"That Wyrm was the one that destroyed your Hound, by blasting the tunnel straight to the surface with its power," Primary Wiccan began to explain, pointing to the tunnel in question. As Crimson looked at it, a streak of incandescent-white light darted out of where the gates were, before shifting to orange light and descending to hover by the magical girls. Pausing her explanation, Primary Wiccan greeted their last teammate:

"Welcome back and congratulations, chosen one. We have seen your victory through the scrying pool."

Hearing her words, Summit nods and contacts the command to inform them of the situation. Shortly afterwards, she delivers the orders to her teammates.
\/\/\/\

Elseworlds: Magic Mayhem

Thundering laugh of the chaotic abomination ringing in your ears, you rearrange your Panoply to better conduct magic, even as you launch yourself at your foe. Evading a tide of red power, you reach the bulk of the maelstrom with a vicious cry on your lips:

"Aggressive Absorption!"

The red maelstrom is torn by the arcs of orange energy casting themselves in every direction from you. Just as swiftly, the orange energy forms a net that pulls the torn remnants into yourself like so much chum, invigorating you.

In front of you, the crimson whirlwind begins to churn with fury and power in equal measure, even as orange lightning can be seen dancing around and within.

"You DARE!.." The monster bellows even as you are pushing further in, before its' spell converges on you from all directions:

Enemy's power tries to squish you like a particularly annoying bug, even as your own vehemently objects to the treatment. The attack that by all rights should have crippled your ability to fight is weathered stoically, leaving your entire body feeling like it was one big bruise. You pay it no mind, instead pushing even further in: "Aggressive Absorption!"

Once again, the energy arcs out fron you, carving off another chunk of the maelstrom and breaking whatever grip the enemy power had on you. Your body is soothed by the stolen power even as you stare into the center of the storm.

"I will obliterate you, pest!" the Dark Star directs its entire maelstrom to engulf you, even as a corner of your mind notes the orange lightning ever more prominent, despite the still growing power of the vortex.

The attack is barely half as strong as the contracting sphere the enemy used against you, however the maelstrom itself is rapidly growing even as it tries to tear you apart. You know that it may succeed in time - but with your target in reach it no longer matters! You launch a final wordless ("!!!") assault straight into the core of the vortex, popping another contracting sphere in the process.

The blast of orange lightning destabilizes the maelstrom that emits a deafening shriek, as well as catalyzes the lingering magic that remained behind after your attempts to literally consume the Dark Star. The crimson energy is rapidly overtaken by orange even as it is sloughed off of the core, and for a brief moment all you can see amidst the ringing silence are the remnant traces seeped with chaotic wake of your Wave Force...

Then, through the metaphorical fog, you sense the magic signature of your foe. Diminished, and rapidly moving to the mouth of the flooded tunnel!

*After him!*

The beam of energy your panoply sends at the foe is ignored, the focus on magic enhancement making it insufficient to harm the escaping Dark Star. Before you could shift the configuration into something more potent, Oversoul Priad dives out of sight.

"Summit! Are you still fighting something bigger than you are?" Commander Black's voice demands over radio.

"Enemy routed, initiating pursuit." you reply succinctly.

"Stop! Reconnect with the task force and proceed with the primary objective, Summit. We cannot afford you being led into a trap."

"Acknowledged," you confirm your orders and lift off to find the group.

"The team is 1200 meters due south-east. You did good, Summit," Commander Black gives you his parting words. Feeling warm from his praise, you pull on the fabric of space to disappear, sending a blast of explosive energy at the mouth of the tunnel as an afterthought, collapsing it.
\/\/\/\

~~~~~~~~~~
To Battle The Legend
~~~~~~~~~~

You frown, glancing between grinning faces of Insight and Team GEAR... This would require a bit more subtlety than what you've used recently. Then you explain your own adjustments to the plan. Insight nods and leaves to fetch another invisibility potion (you really need to get some, or better yet learn to emulate the effect with your Panoply), and the Fairy of Team GEAR begins her own tracking spell, even as you make your own preparations.

First, you switch your panoply back to the artillery configuration charged with energies inimical to the Seal, and spread your vial of invisibility potion all over it. Also, you form a holdout pistol and a short blade, inside a holster and a sheathe, and hide them under your garb. Finally, you catch the invisibility potion Insight tossed in your direction, and apply it to yourself right after the human mage of team GEAR enhances you with magic inimical to negative energies.

By the time you're done with making yourself invisible, the Fairy, Lucky, has given you the destination. Nodding, you spin up the Gate while team GEAR performs a last-minute check. Once the portal appears, Team GEAR jumps through, Lucky Star and yourself being the last. Hopefully, if you're made, UD will assume that the transportation was the fairy's fault.

When you come out on the other side, there are no suspicious magical signatures in sight. It seems you haven't been noticed just yet.

"I have eyes on the target," you hear Rodriguez' voice in the comms. Taking this as your cue, you quietly step towards him, even as your own "Acknowledged" is sent to the team's comms.

As you feel yourself shaken, you think: If only it were that simple...

-/DREAM SEQUENCE INTERRUPTED\-

You wake with a groan, looking up to the face of the girl who killed you. Serious expression on her face, Juggernaut Drive tells you: "It's time." You nod and stand up, before pulling on the neck of your outfit to check the glowing seal on your chest. Briefly, your Panoply flickers with blue, before you will it back to orange.

It's been three days since the failed attempt to recover Juggernaut Drive. You were lucky that Judgement Drive and Insight were able to retreat after three Juggernaut Drive was reinforced with three of her own Shadows. You managed to drop Shadows with some effort, but the inexplicable twist of reality had deposited you right into the original's waiting hands. Even though you were resurrected afterwards, the crash from that long, long day had kept you unconscious for almost two days before you were able to wake, despite Goddess Red's impatience.

-/FLASHBACK IDENTIFIED\-

"I won't mince words with you, Summit," Goddess Red spoke softly, despite her emotions being clear, "You died, and were resurrected. I won't lie about it, but here goes. You can't leave except on my orders. You'll be watched at all times, and if you remove the seal, you will fall unconscious, and I will know. I'll simply have to reapply it, so don't even bother. And if you try something stupid? Well, Alex here will keep an eye on you," she motions to your left. You angle your head from whatever it is you're laying on (it's soft, at least), and see Juggernaut Drive standing by the wall. Closing your eyes, you attempt to feel the space around yourself, only to fall short. You know that this is the Seal's fault. You open your eyes and look at the Goddess Red.

"Now that you're ready to listen, here's the deal. You'll go with me to Reluxus and free my sisters from the prison dimension Silver Regent stuck them in. You'll do your best to prevent the others from taking my sisters from me. You may consider yourself, personally, released if we lose or are forced to retreat. You will know when. We go tomorrow, so that you're well rested. Eat some food and go back to sleep, I can see you're too tired to be of much use to me right now."

-/FLASHBACK CONCLUDED\-

You follow Juggernaut Drive, Alex, as she leads you down the corridor to a hall, where a table is served. It seems you've been woken in time for lunch, and you grab some jam and toast to fill your, suddenly grumbling, belly. There are half a dozen magical girls there, including yourself, Alex, and Goddess Red. The latter gives you a once-over, before nodding and continuing with her meal. Half an hour later when everyone has eaten, Goddess Red speaks up:

"Now that you're paying attention, here's the orders. We're travelling to Reluxus in order to free my sisters, Goddess Grey and Goddess White, from a dimensional prison. They won't be alone there - they're sealed with magical girls who will likely oppose us. Your goal is to ensure that they cannot. I don't expect much in the way of outside interference, but those other magical girls will not be easy opponents. Maiden of the West, Red Rose, Solar Radiance, Lunar Radiance and Solid Core will be there, so be careful."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

-/TIME SKIP IDENTIFIED\-

Standing in front of Goddess Red and her group are Team GEAR, Judgement sisters, Goddess Gold and Insight. They don't seem to be making any hostile gestures yet. Judgement Drive makes a step forward with a suggestion on her lips: "We cannot allow you to crack open this prison and kill everyone you don't like, but right now we all have the same goal - to crack this prison open. How about we do that first, and sort everything else later?"

You can see Goddess Red frown, pondering the offer. "Fine. Open the prison, Summit," she finally gives the order, and you hurry to comply, feeling out the surrounding space with your Panoply. Standing in the shadow of Reluxus Supergate makes it more difficult to discern specific elements, even trace amounts of spatial warping from an installation that didn't work for at least four years aren't making it easy. Still, it's necessary to secure your freedom. So you persevere. A minute passes in silence, before you get the first results, Insight noticing and standing up straighter. Another minute passes before you isolate the specifics and manage to get a firm bearing on the dimensional prison's makeup. You take four steps forward and to the left, before raising your arms and gathering energy.

"Wave Force."

Orange Lightning dances across the suddenly-visible multicolored bubble, everyone stepping back as it grows, grows, grows... and pops. Within are the ones you came here to release. Just a little longer now. Three Drives and Two Cores rise into the air, Juggernaut Drive sizing up her teammates and their little sisters with no small amount of menace. The four Goddesses walk towards each other, gathered in the same place (but not together, regrettably) for the first time in half a decade. Some magical girls square themselves across others. Some magical girls step back. You have to do your best to let Goddess Red retrieve her sisters.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

-/POV CHANGE IDENTIFIED\-

Since before she became a magical girl, Shirley admired Red Rose. The Avatar of Victory. The Greatest of Her Generation. #2 of the Old Guard. #10 of the Top Ten magical girls. Someone who could kill even immortals. Someone who would survive even impossible. The oldest magical girl alive, second only to White Soul, slain by her hand.

Then Shirley became a magical girl herself. Not a strong one - but she was smart enough to join Counter Force, and ask for a mentor. She never imagined that it would be Red Rose that would take her on as an apprentice.

Their first mission was enlightening. Even as Shirley herself stayed behind and hid, Red Rose marched onward, the demons falling before her even as she danced between their blows, her evasions and deflections no harder than breathing. An unstoppable spear cutting its path through the battlefield to the champion. Even as Shirley made her way across the bloodstained battlefield, she watched Red Rose dance, her casual deflections causing boulder-shattering blows mean no more than merest of scratches, devastating magic washing across her yet leaving her barely touched, and her spear finding the heart of enemy without error, putting the Dark Magical Girl to death. Shirley was elated and awed, her admiration for Red Rose only growing after witnessing this display of supreme skill.

And when the battle had ended, when the mission was complete, she got to know Amanda. Amanda turned out to be blunt, and stressed. As great as Red Rose's skill had been to make her victory on that bloodstained battlefield a foregone conclusion, Amanda's strength of character was stronger still. Before the combined might of Unified Darkness, she stood unbowed. Despite the loss of all her friends, her will was unbent. In face of uncertain future and the challenges it would yet bring, she was unbroken. In growing to know Amanda better, Shirley had drawn strength of her own.

But today, that godly skill was no longer enough, for Red Rose clashed with someone who could match her, blow by blow, on the field of battle.

Shirley remembered her first meeting with Summit, in the aftermath of Operation Soul Collector - taciturn girl approaching Brilliant Key in order to demonstrate her prowess. It was amusing beyond words, even though, or perhaps especially because, Summit's honed battle instincts had given her enough warning to back off despite lacking any awareness as to her might-have-been opponent's name, fame and significance. Still, Shirley made a note of the girl and her abilities. More importantly, the number of her Affinities told Shirley that the story behind the girl's past was a sordid one, to say the least. It was the memory of this meeting and of Summit's teleportation-based escape that Shirley later latched on, when news of her mentor's disappearance had reached her. She knew enough about Red Rose, Solid Core, and Goddess White - enough that she guessed that killing them all was far more difficult than neutralising them in a different way.

By almost any measure, Operation Soul Collector was a success. Amanda's dead friends, once revived and enslaved, had been recovered - and Shirley knew exactly how important it was for her mentor, for her peace of mind. Her heart, once torn to pieces by White Soul's rampage, was mended anew by Solid Core's efforts, the ever bleeding wound finally soothed. And yet, and yet her damnable pride had pushed Shirley to overreach when presented with the opportunity to tie up a loose end, and recover Alexandria Soft - Juggernaut Drive. And it was Summit who had to pay the price. Who was being forced to pay the price even now.

To see the taciturn girl in Goddess Red's entourage, with glowing red seen through her neckline, was a gut punch. To see her Panoply flicker between orange and light blue, to understand that Summit was well aware of the truth of her situation, yet didn't do anything about it despite her clear desire to do so, managed to push even through Shirley's own emotional detachment, enough to sour the release of her mentor. With only a few words exchanged by the Goddess Four, and the barest of preparations, the open field at the base of Supergate's superstructure became a battleground once more. And on that battleground, Amanda Lee, Red Rose, was challenged by Summit, Anna 'call me Summit, everyone who has called me Anna lately has been an enemy' Sanchez.

Summit had grown since she was first seen by Shirley - she was faster, stronger, and much, much tougher. Fast enough to confront and lock down Red Rose, preventing her from focusing on another opponent. Strong enough to overpower Red Rose's own attacks, forcing her to abandon her attacks to deflect Summit's strikes. The decisive advantage, however, was her spell, Wave Force - no longer a slow-going and cludged-together mess that did only a little less harm to Summit than it did to the intended target - it was now a lightning-fast blast of devastation that distrupted every other spell in its wake.

And though Amanda had long since been the true bane of Dark Magical Girls, shutting down just about any trick they could bring to the fore, she found herself pressed. From the moment Summit seized the initiative, she had gone on an unrelenting offensive, not allowing Red Rose even the slightest amount of breathing room, brushing Red Rose's spear aside all the while sending spikes at her vitals, forcing Amanda to recall her spear to a different position and twirl it, pushing the lethal blows aside. And whenever Red Rose attempted to gain some distance, or launch a spell, orange lightning washed over her, distrupting her spell before it could even form. For all that a single scratch across the Seal would grant Amanda decisive victory, she found that actually scratching Summit was much harder than anticipated.

Shirley took stock of her surroundings. High above, Three Drives and Two Cores were weaving an intricate aerial dance, four against one, Judgement and Solid siblings (and wasn't that a coincidence!) trying to subdue Juggernaut safely while avoiding her blows. The skies themselves were all but torn asunder, with shockwaves of their conflict giving rise to gale-force winds. But, apart from Solid Core's Echo of Peace, none could afford to interfere. Within a hastily erected barrier, Goddess Four (Red's knight included) had their own long-delayed reunion, neither sound nor magic passing outside. They would stay out of this, as was agreed. Maiden of the West and her "daughter", as well as both Radiances, had taken positions around the battlefield, ready to intercept any outside interference. Team GEAR? Those madmen, and Shirley used the term broadly, were occupying the rest of Goddess Red's entourage, pressing the opposing magical girls hard. For a moment, Shirley's sight lingered on the angel, Gabriel, before she turned her gaze elsewhere. On this battlefield, in the midst of Unified Darkness fortifications, the angel's presence was nullified. She would find no help there, not in a timely manner. It was up to her to tip the scales in Amanda's favor.
-/COMBAT SIMULATION INITIATED\-
While Summit stayed close to Red Rose, it didn't mean they were stationary. Quite the opposite, their battle was waged across almost half the battlefield, two high-speed combatants moving about with celerity few could match, almost as a mirror to the battle in the skies. Still, that didn't mean that standing ground wasn't an option. Discreetly activating her communicator, Insight contacted Red Rose:

"Amanda, this is Insight. I'm at the Supergate superstructure. I'll need you to bring Summit there and to hold ground afterwards," Insight was not worried. Both she and Red Rose had trust in each other enough to follow the lead when necessary, and both of them could tell just how the duel between Red Rose and Summit would ultimately go. Less than ten seconds later, Red Rose took position in between the prongs of Reluxus Supergate, while Summit hovered almost within stabbing distance from Red Rose, her weapon shining deceptively calm light blue. In just a few short seconds the battle restarted. Despite knowing that Summit could see all around her, Insight took her chance, launching herself from behind one of the prongs and to Summit's rear.

"Your next words will be..."

"You really should have known better than that, Insight.
___You really should have known better than that, Insight."

Insight pales, even as her own mouth spells out her doom in a resigned tone. Summit deflects Red Rose's desperate charge even as one of her tendrils reshapes itself into a crossbreed of a flyswatter and a corset, molding itself to Insight's body before throwing her, back first, at the very same superstructure she'd been hiding behind. As her body crashes against the superstructure with a crunch of broken bones and her vision fades, she can see Summit distrupt another, desperate spellcasting attempt of Red Rose...

-/COMBAT SIMULATION TERMINATED\-

Shirley winces in phantom pain, berating herself for forgetting, momentarily, about Summit's tendency to retain combat ability through sheer stubborness. Oh, sure, that last hit wouldn't have killed her, not immediately, but it was the only silver lining in the face of her immediate problems. Still, lesson learned, and she could use it. Rather deliberately, Shirley activated her communicator and contacted Red Rose, on a secure channel:

"Amanda, this is Shirley. I'll give you an opening, feint the moment Summit shoots me then strike with the other hand. More on general channel, she needs to know to react properly. Go once I give my location."

Switching to an channel Summit could listen in, Shirley continued: "Amanda, this is Insight. I'm at the Supergate superstructure. I'll need you to bring Summit there and to hold ground afterwards."

Less than ten seconds later, Red Rose was standing in between the two prongs of Reluxus Supergate, while Summit hovered almost in front of her, her weapon shining deceptively peaceful light blue. Taking the opportunity, Insight moved out of cover and ran straight at Summit, while raising her gun.

Summit launched a beam of light at Shirley, just as she predicted. Knowing Summit was both focused on Red Rose, and not aiming for more than a glancing shot, Shirley lunged to the side while bringing her gun in position and shooting one of the tendrils poised to attack Red Rose even as others were moving to deflect her spear - spear that was no longer there, instead vanishing to appear in the other hand and go right through the opening Shirley's calculated shot gave her.

The spear reached Summit's chest even as the tendrils jerked to push it out of the way, causing the spear to scratch a thin line across Summit's chest and the seal alike. Summit's defensive field easily endured the scratch, however the seal was not so fortunate, bursting into dark mud and vanishing altogether. Summit shuddered, but held on, her weapon convulsing before stabilizing in a new form.

~~~~~~~~~~
\/\/\/\

----

You snap awake and your Panoply curls around you defensively.

Juggernaut Drive pauses where she stands, partway into your cubicle. A shrill alarm blares from one of the monitors. Juggernaut's face changes from an expression of concern to one of perplexity.

Ah. You knocked the cables tracking your vitals loose. Only one of the machines considers this a major problem, which feels a little odd now that it's happened. Your minder swats a keypad and the machine stops blaring.

"Uh, hi?" Juggernaut holds up her hand.

"What do you want?"

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" Insight chides as she pokes her head in.

"What do you want?"

Insight claps her hands together and smiles at you, "I wanted Juggernaut to know how you were feeling."

A suspicion creeps up on you and you give it voice, "Were you trying to guilt trip her by showing me in apparent distress?"

"It's clear you aren't feeling up to a visit, so-." Insight is cut off by a bellow from behind her.

"Move!" the doctor from before pushes her way in. For a moment you boggle as she stares down Juggernaut Drive with enough presence to cause one of the most potent Magical Girls you've ever seen to step back out of the way.

"TalkToYouLaterBye-!" Insight says as she darts out of sight, followed shortly by Juggernaut Drive.

The doctor mutters softly as she checks your pupils and pokes at the edges of your healed skin.

You clear your throat as she checks a readout, "Am I ready to leave? I'm supposed to meet General Manners in about an hour."

"No. Erratic actions mean you're due more dramatic intervention to purge those drugs they hopped you up on. I don't care if you were supposed to meet Archangel Michael, you need to stay put."

"What erratic actions?" you ask.

"Yanking all your monitors out for no reason? Does that ring a bell?"

Ah, how to explain this… "I can sense magic. Juggernaut Drive was like having a 5000 watt light turned on in my face when she walked in. And she's absurdly powerful, it was a bit shocking."

She stares you in the eyes. You meet her gaze. After a few seconds she throws her hands up.

"I'll have a friend check you over. Assuming your Magical Girl constitution has you fixed up already I'll permit you to leave."

"That seems a little convoluted.

"Aetius has a gift for tracking intoxication. If she says you're alright I will be fulfilling my duty of making sure you aren't tripping balls from aftereffects. Please carry the monitors and follow me."

You burden your Panoply with the machines in question and follow her. Hallways change in character from vinyl tiles over concrete to large stone bricks. Matching the change is the composition of people going from mostly human to mostly elven, the doors you see also go from flat wood to narrower carved panels. Everything feels much older, except for the pipes running in the upper corner, most of those are still shiny and new.

Those pipes branch out next to doors, where they pass through the wall. Your guide stops at a door, labeled with a wooden slat covered with odd glyphs, and knocks on the door.

"Healer Aetius? Would you be willing to grant me the favor of your discernment? My charge has been affected by many drugs and I am at a loss of how best to treat them."

That's a little odd. You haven't been around your doctor for more than a minute or two but the tone shift stands out.

An elven woman opens the door (Steel). A sleeping baby rests their head on her right shoulder, supported by her right arm. She's clad in a grey dress with a blue apron over it. Another elven baby toddles over to grip at her dress.

"Shelly! I'm always happy to spare a moment for you." Aetius considers you for a moment, "Hmm, you're the puzzle right now? Please stand there for a moment."

She steps a bit closer, looks at your eyes, puts her hand against your neck, and leans in to sniff at you. The elven baby clutching her skirts looks up at you soundlessly.

"Your healers treated you well. She's sober Shelly, heart is a little funny, but otherwise whole in mind and body." she concludes.

Shelly? sighs, "She thinks you're clean. I'll arrange for your discharge, bring the monitors with you to where you entered and someone else will sort them out." with that she turns on her heel and walks away.

You crouch down a bit to get a closer look at the elven toddler, "Are they getting used to not being the youngest?"

Aetius herds the toddler back into her room, "Yuki has never been the youngest. Her twin Gaius was born right after and he's always been younger."

"Oh! They're twins, are they identical?" wait, that was a stupid question, "Nevermind."

The elven mother smiles broadly at that, "You caught yourself quicker than my wife did. When Rukia heard I had given birth she didn't catch her confusion about twins until the next day."

"Oh. If you have a wife where did," you gesture at the children, "come from?"

"The usual place of course. I'm sure a wise human like yourself is well aware of the process."

"I thought the, uh, 'process' needed a boy. Biology and all that." you see a faint blush rising on your face.

Aetius holds her left hand to her heart and makes an exaggerated sigh, "If you were more familiar with Elves you would know that nothing stops a determined heart. Not magic, not demons, and certainly not biology. Once I decided to bear my wife a child it was going to happen."

You don't have anything to reply to that with. And you aren't sure you want to know.

She winks at you after a pause, "I am messing with you. Since my dear Rukia is a hero and I am a healer we arranged for her brother to help us out." she taps her chin, "Presumably you are aware of how that works."

You nod quickly. On a whim you crouch again and wave at the young Yuki, "Hello, I am Magical Girl Summit."

Yuki looks at you briefly before burying her face in her mother's skirt. Aetius pats her head.

"You are intimidating. With a little practice you could probably be very imposing, or less imposing."

"Thank you." you nod and start heading back to the entrance. This particular bit of interaction isn't going your way.

A soldier elf with short hair and a large sword strapped to her back (Fire) jogs past you as you backtrack. A shrill, delighted, voice cries out "mommy!" from behind you. The sound fades as you speed up your pace.

A Fairy (Magic), dressed in a blue outfit you suspect means medic, starts running after you. After taking a turn and confirming the pursuit you turn around and wait for her to catch up. She almost trips as she stops herself, wings fluttering.

"Why are you following me?"

"Oh, well, you see…" she makes some sort of gesture with her hands, "Since you looked unhappy leaving Aetius' room I thought you might have been sad you couldn't spend more time with her kids." she starts twitching in place, "So then I thought: Since we've defeated the UD here you could have your own children now. ...That's what I wanted to tell you."

A fuzzy image pops into your head of a baby sleeping against your shoulder. Followed by dreadful memories and fears. You shake your head.

"Yeah, since the tainted magic only means Fairies can't have children. Humans and Elves should be fine in case you didn't know."

"This is the first I've heard of that."

She waves and starts running off, "That makes sense, sorry! I've got to go make some medicines cold!"

That was odd. You let out a breath and make sure your face is calm when you go to drop off the medical equipment you're carrying.
----

You've gotten a few messages on your Datamine while sleeping off your recent exertions. First there's one form Atlantis Blade that includes the phrase 'perfunctory apology", next is a thank you from Judgement Drive, then a request from Sumire Saber for a spar, Steel Monsoon explaining that Flawless Paladin is on medical leave before providing you with Thorn Warden's contact info, and lastly two messages from Insight - although the second preports to be Magical Girl Twisted Metal.

All simple quick messages, except for Sumire Saber. Recalling how she handled two skilled opponents at once days ago is enough to set you thinking of polite ways to turn her down. Getting smacked around by a fancy lady with a sword wouldn't help your image.

Or perhaps you're just a little bored where you are. You arrived a few minutes ahead of the scheduled time Manners requested, but twenty minutes have passed without her or her adjutant calling you from where you're waiting.

Still waiting…

Another ten minutes tick by. The command post is in a state of measured chaos - mostly about moving small stacks of reports around. You take a moment to consider things, the alloted time for your appointment has passed, should you leave? As part of the Counter Force you shouldn't make demands on officers that aren't either fighting next to you or outsider your team.

Dialing Captain Gupta returns an instant 'this number is not currently available' message. Steel Monsoon has a do-not-disturb message pointing out that she's asleep. Flawless Paladin just has the rings continue unabated. You stop the attempt.

A gurgle echoes from your stomach.

Seeing as the end point of when you are supposed to be here has passed, you don't have a reason to stay. And you do have a reason to be elsewhere to hasten your recovery. You Shift out of the command post.
----

Waving your ID card a fourth time finally generates a happy approval tone. The food vendor lets out a breath and passes you your tray of food. You arrange your Panoply to hold the tray at a convenient point and start eating as you wander up and down Milidia's stores.

Outside the plaza a team of Fairies is re-arranging the ground while a group of Elves set marker posts.

For some reason they are building a beach. Right where a vehicle yard used to be. You take a few more bites of food and keep wandering.

As you return the tray Sumire Saber runs up to you.

"It's hard to catch up to you. Do you have some time to spare?"

How best to handle this? "Yes. I don't think I can justify a vigorous spar right now, however."

Sumire adjusts her stance and raises an eyebrow at you, "I see. Afraid you might learn something? Would it be acceptable if you didn't lift a finger?"

"What do you want?" something about the way she's standing is putting you on edge. It feels like you are under her microscope on a metaphorical dissection table. Like you are watching lightning dance in the clouds before it strikes the ground.

"Who did you learn to fight from? When you fought Goddess Red's Knight it reminded me of someone."

You gesture with your Panoply, stepping behind it a bit in the process, "I am self-taught. Red Rose already mentioned Magical Girl White Soul."

"Is that so. You haven't ever been in a fight with Goddess Grey?"

"Only the aftermath-." a sudden memory intrudes.

Half the monsters are already slain. Grey had flung weapons one at a time when the shape-changing monsters were trying to overwhelm her with large forms. Now the three remaining have somehow abandoned bulk in favor of agility and are rushing in as a group.

Goddess Grey grabs you by the shoulder and pulls you against her. Now she must fight off the trio of assailants literally single-handedly. Your breath hitches inside your chest as the impact nears.

The cloudy sky above you outlines the arm of the goddess as she moves her hand in a complicated shape. A hurricane of bladed instruments appears. Each twitch or motion ending with a new weapon expertly cutting into a foe. The glitter of a thousand edges sparkles on her arm as she stops her attack and raises her fist in triumph, a wide grin on her face. She presses a short sword into your hands with her congratulations, then presses a kiss when you look at the gift…

"-I… once a long time ago." you correct yourself, "Goddess Grey was protecting me while I used my magic to find some monsters."

"I thought so, there's a flourish she likes to use that I noticed you were imitating." Sumire says with a slight nod, "Grey appears to remember you, judging from how much attention you've been getting."

"When I said a long time ago I meant it was before Hope was attacked." you clarify, "Magical Girls were starting to become official celebrities and Grey visited Toronto."

Sumire gets very still and fixes her gaze on you, "You've been a Magical Girl for almost six years? This will not do, as the Grand Poobah of the Magical Girls of Milidia Garrison I demand you commit to further practice. For your own sake as well as the sake of those your junior."

A thought grips you. You don't remember a lot of your time as a Magical Girl clearly. And a part of you doesn't want to remember or relive it to provide lessons, especially not to a group. "Not at the moment. I'm still recovering from earlier and have some other obligations."

You Shift away. Attempt to Shift away, the effect ripples apart uselessly as something pops the bubble of space before it inverts.

"Aha! It does work." Sumire pulls her index finger away from you and neatly holder her hands in front of her.

"What did you do?"

A loose crowd has started to watch the pair of you.

"I'm sure you have a better idea than I do. You should still be able to teleport through that, try it again!"

You Shift- fail to Shift away. Again.

Sumire Saber doesn't appear to be doing anything. You try tugging at the surrounding space experimentally, but the transition from intentions makes a ripple of sorts that covers up traces.

"If you promise to show me everything you've seen Goddess Grey do I'll give you a hint." Sumire offers.

Maybe you can get a sense for what she's doing if you avoid trying to cover yourself with an inverting bubble. You carefully tug space in a rough approximation of Shifting from her direction while keeping the back half clear for future examinations.

The reflections of the tile crawl around when you lose your grip. Sumire mouth drifts into a smug grin.

You've never felt clumsy in your space warping before. It is a little, well, ponderous. If you had a picture of what was happening you expect you could reject the interference. It could be a small and fast yank on a complicated part of the space warping effect, or some sort of burst that brings Sumire's greater existence to disrupt your magic.

Hmm, what else? You clamp down and Halt the surrounding space. Then jump back out of it and release the Halt to permit a Shift. Your Shift falls apart again, but the patterns of Halted space show a trail. A slim thread that went through the thinnest part of the Halted area to get tangled up in your bubble and burst it when pulled.

It isn't good, none of the suspected mechanics were good. She's able to somehow track your progress and dart in just as you've blocked off your own sight. It's not something you would be able to match, you own method would have been to tug the bubble apart and twist the adjacent space into a pattern. This feels like she's showing off how much better she is than you.

"Shoot. I was sloppy there." she drops her smug expression, "Are you alright?"

"I can't stop you from interrupting me."

She raises her hand to point at the sky, "We've barely started this. It's far too early to talk about 'can't'! And what does it feel like I'm doing? That last motion felt heavier, but I don't get much feedback about the space twisting thing."

Sumire steps closer and looks at you intently, "If you explain what you're doing I'll explain what I'm doing."

"I was trying to teleport away."

"That's a goal, like me trying to get you to practice. What are the details? Details are critical. If you ignore the details of your magic you can undermine yourself."

You think things over for a second. Helping Sumire with her experiments is probably less trouble than ignoring her.

"When I prepare to Shift away I have to encase myself with a taunt bubble of space. When I'm in that bubble I can't directly interact outside of it. You were sending a very fast, very fine strand of magic that got tangled up in that bubble, then pulling it back and making the bubble pop. I think. You are fast and precise enough that I can't react to or block the interruption." you explain.

"Ooh, I've got to confess that I didn't sense any of that. I just pushed with a small sword path when your, hmm, intentions went inward." Sumire answers, "You did something when you moved away from me, I could tell that much at least. Felt like I'd brushed my metaphorical knuckles against a metaphorical rock."

"I tried to cover you with a dome of Halted space."

"Cool! What does that entail?"

"Halted is a bit like tying a rubber band around itself so it's all stretched, mostly stretched. I also put a pattern so I can see if something is changing and stop it. It didn't work because as soon as I let go the frozen space melted and could be changed again." you pause for a moment, "Actually it's not like a rubber band. I push space into little clumps and knot those loosely, but it can't be too tight or else I can't reach through it to keep it that way. Which is why the patterns let me push back all the time."

Sumire grins, "So you can hold that for a bit? Set up a field so I can try pushing at it with my magic. Ready?"

You Halt the space around her, see how she likes it, "Go ahead."

An impact against the Halted area appears from her right hand, then her left. It presses and pushes through a little bit of the volume, but peters out before getting far. You do feel it, like having a hammer transfer the blow to your wrist. Sumire Saber touches her sword and slightly unsheathes it, unleashing a very strong push against the Halted area. You deflect and diffuse the larger impact before it reaches a meter away from her.

Everyone around you goes quiet and most start inching away.

"Sorry! Got a little carried away." Sumire apologies, "We should head to an actual practice area. I want to figure out how to teleport!"

Your Datamine starts blaring.

"I should go." you let go of the Halted volume.

Sumire looks a bit embarrassed, "If I made you late you should bring me along."

You aren't sure what she can do about some of the dire-sounding alerts on you Datamine, but maybe she can help? When you Shift out you bring her along.
----

The command post is slightly calmer than it was when you departed. Teleporting in does give you the sensation of being in the eye of a hurricane as you track the people moving around you.

"-minute in case she's around the corner?" someone seated finishes.

"Excuse me?" you announce yourself.

An officer with his back to you jumps up at your words. He spins in place and points an accusative finger. "Magical Girl Summit! Why were you not waiting for an audience as instructed?"

Oh? You are quite sure you were following the appointed time and place. He doesn't seem to think so for some reason. You stare back and wait for him to explain further.

Sumire stomps her foot and the entire room pauses.

"Pardon me, but shouldn't this all go through Commander Black? Or Summit's team leader, uh…" she looks over at you.

"Captain Gupta."

"Right, him. Although he's a bit busy right now so it would have to wait." Sumire finishes.

The officer appears to want to say something, but catches himself. Turning redder all the while.

Sumire tilts her head back with a neck-achingly sharp angle to wink at you, "One of the concessions to being actually superhuman is that the local Magical Girl Commander gets to stand between dummies like Major Ricks here. You still won't make a good impression with anyone if you're skipping out on meetings, sorry about making you late."

"That's not quite it. I was supposed to be here for fifteen minutes about fifty minutes ago. I left to get food since the time was up." you explain, holding up your Datamine to show the relevant instruction.

Sumire goes back to staring at the major, who visibly pales.

A frazzled lieutenant runs into view holding up a clipboard, "Please, for the love of God, let me talk to them instead!"

Major Ricks waves the younger officer at you and walks away briskly. Sumire shifts her gaze.

"Magical Girl S...s-summit. We of the Milidia garrison are quite grateful for your efforts. Even the actions that were out of view are not missed by us. Thank you." she says with a bow, holding the clipboard to her chest.

Lieutenant Mazur pulls up the clipboard to check it and block off her face from Sumire Saber's attention.

"Good enough." Sumire steps back a bit and looks at you instead.

"The General, in recognition for your recent efforts on and off the field of battle, can transfer you to a unit in Heaven's Host for a time. This would allow you to be based inside Heaven, which is quite coveted for a post location. You recent exploits impressed the local Angelic leader, s-, I mean, just put your mark on this document and Angel Laurence will arrange things." Mazur pushes her clipboard towards you.

Sumire Saber whistles, "Heaven is a nice place to visit. Don't forget you haven't told me about Goddess Grey to my satisfaction yet."

The document in question is quite opaque, it lists a request for transfer without anything more than a coded string and a pair of 2-D barcodes to explain destination and origin. You catch yourself before extruding a pen to put to paper.

"I need to make sure Commander Black knows about this before I submit it."

Mazur tries to tug the clipboard back, you let go, "That's fine, I can have it mailed to Black's command. Don't delay, it has to be finished before Laurence departs."

"If Summit doesn't want the transfer can my team have it?" Sumire says.

Mazur lets out a nervous sound.

"I'm kidding. Mostly."

After a pause you address the room, "Does anyone else need something?"

A few people look up before returning attention to papers or tablets. A Fairy with a gold apron flutters upward to display a thumbs-up at you, but goes back to whispering into his phone without saying another word.

"If you are offering…" Sumire chimes in, "You probably noticed there's an artificial beach getting put together? Could I count on you to help me keep order at the officially unofficial beach party that the other Magical Girls are about to throw there?"

"Won't it be a while before that's prepared? And it's rather cold for a beach party."

"Fairy sappers can build it up very quickly once the boundaries are marked. With great balls of fire floating to make it a bit more pleasant to get wet. I'm sure the Elves and Fairies treat this like a party too, the MGs just get dibs on it for the first hour."

"I see. Having to call in someone else to keep order is making me nervous about this event already. How rowdy does it get?"

Sumire holder up her hand with a slight distance between finger and thumb, "Not much at all really. Just some swimming, sunning, and some snacks. The real issue is that it only takes one or two girls to make a huge mess of everything, we behave better when someone's supposed to be watching."

You let yourself relax, "That sounds fine. It's funny that I just got a swimsuit yesterday."
----

Obligatory Beach Interlude!

Choose up to two people to hang out with on the artificial beach
[X] Sumire Saber
[X] Sakura Saber
[X] Night Sky
[X] Angel Feather
[X] Thorn Warden
[X] Shapeless Isle
[X] Floral Glory
[X] Blue Bandit
[X] Prisma Drake
[X] Twisted Metal
[X] Crimson Hood
[X] Steel Monsoon
[X] [Write-in someone I missed]
----

+15 EXP Getting Some Practice In
+10 EXP Drive Wake Up Call
+25 EXP Memories of Grey…
+10 EXP Putting Vital Decisions on hold for a Party
+255 EXP Reflections Through the Kaleidoscope

26 + 315 = 341 EXP

[X] [EXP] EXP Plan?

(A/N: I'm amenable to changes if I've gotten something mixed up from earlier. It's been a while...)

EDIT: Mission selection soon, I wanted a beach episode... You can either try to save Goddess White/Solid Core/Solid Drive or act as a champion for a flight of mustered Angels when they assault Hope. There may be plot repercussions depending on what Summit chooses.

kelllogo · Feb 12, 2020

Steel Monsoon
Night Sky
Twisted Metal

Digging your toes into the sand is briefly pleasant, up until you get past the warm layer on top and hit the colder sand underneath. Dotting the parking-lot-turned-beach are orbs of fire that light up the area and turn the chill Milidia winds into a hot breeze. Shimmers of many colors drift around the magically-generated flames to brighten the place up nicely.

Two dozen Fairies are moving around with purpose, the most notable being a pair wearing heavy outfits with goggles and using long tongs to check the floating orbs of fire. Others are flying around the perimeter or poking at the bottom of the water feature. About the same number of Magical Girls dot the side closer to the plaza. Most of the MGs are relaxing on towels right underneath the fiery light sources. Those not seated are chatting around the tables with snacks.

Even if the human behavior was subdued, the same could not be said for some of the swimsuits. Prisma Drake had a ...minimalist red bikini that flaunted it's fastenings with every step, tied at the front for her top and the sides for her bottom. She's chatting with Thorn Warden, who's wearing dark green trunks. Thorn Warden also has a pair of untransformed MGs talking to him in more standard swimsuits, violet and blue in color.

Sumire Saber rests on a towel. She's wearing a black one-piece that opens up to uncover her upper back, with red and white accents. She's also wearing sunglasses and a belt to keep her sword at her side.

There's a dozing girl next to Sumire, Angel Feather has a white cloth over her face. She's in her Magical Girl form, bracers shining with iridescent light. There's a painful-looking pattern of burn blisters all over her exposed skin, standing out pale against angry-looking Healed skin. You wonder for a bit what happened to her.

Above you the haze of dust and ash hangs thick over the mountain fortress. There's a noticeable boundary where a team of higher-flying Fairies are filtering out the dust. You let your Panoply flow from its present form (a holster around your right thigh) to lift you into the air.

"Excuse me. I am Magical Girl Summit. We are guests here and I need to remind everyone not to destroy or damage this setup. Don't try digging past the sand, letting the water out, or alter the hovering flames." you address everyone.

Sumire raises a finger into the air, "Most of us know the drill. Summit very kindly assumed enforcement today so I could relax, if you have a problem with what she tells you you have a problem with me."

A few girls nod, but the group as a whole appears unsurprised. Sakura Saber appears holding a folding chair in each hand, she sets one up right under an orb and sinks into it. She's still in her Magical Girl form, having changed her usual outfit for a green and white bikini plus tilted skirt.

You land and walk over to the shore. It's been a while since you've had the chance to swim. Link is checking a map by the water while a trio are scratching at the bottom with slender rods.

"Is it safe to swim here?"

Link stares at you blankly for a few seconds, "Yes… don't get too close to the scribers and you can do what you'd like."

You slip in, bending your legs to float in the…

COLD, very cold water! You let out a surprised squawk and thrust yourself out of the water with your Panoply. Droplets fly everywhere, but the large wave you made flattens out with eerie speed. A few of the girls away from the water laugh at the spectacle you've made.

Link hurriedly says something in fairy tongue before catching herself and repeating, "This water will be very cold for a while." she gestures at the floating masses of fire, "Water gets warmer or colder slowly."

You should have just put a toe in first. An urge to shiver is suppressed as you fly over to warm up next to one of the open flames.

"There's someone every time." a girl in 'civilian' form waves at you. She has a black and blue oversized hawaiian shirt worn over a black swimsuit.

There's a card hanging from her sleeve of the right size for an ID card. You can't see what it says because it's facing the wrong way.

"I'm Steel Monsoon. My battle form doesn't cooperate with normal clothes." she says, "You've discovered the biggest factor in why we get to play in the elven beachbox."

"It's filled with water too cold to practice with?"

"Bingo!"

You drift closer to the ground and fold in your Panoply, "Have you seen Flawless Paladin anywhere?"

Monsoon grinds her teeth for a moment, "No. One of the Dark Magical Girls you dragged in said some interesting things about her. Paladin is going through a cross-examination to check on her. Command is really tense ever since a base Earthside ended up having a dozen darksider MGs."

"Ataraxia? I was there actually." you say after a moment of thought.

Steel Monsoon raises her eyebrow, "Were you a secret agent? You act the part of newbie sometimes and other times you have oodles of experience and the full confidence of every lightside spook."

You shake your head and fiddle with the sand using your toes.

"Can you tell me why the Counter Force trusts you implicitly? I've gotten a few tricky worksheets about Flawless Paladin already, but the team Captain says you've got none. Any tips would be nice."

Fuzzy memories dance in your mind's eye: Of staying under the surface of an ocean. Of standing under the open sky while the sun sent light everywhere you could see. Tearing open the wall of a hospital so you could hide. The girl with sad eyes begging you to sleep and accept treatment.
**How I screamed for me to stop and I did not listen
For a moment you thought you remembered something….

"I was, wounded, yes wounded, when I got back to Earth. My mind had been injured and I needed to let others adjust it to stop the pain." you say, voice trembling for a moment, "The Counter Force must have some records of when my mind was treated."

Monsoon covers her mouth, "Oh my God! They adjusted your brain so you couldn't defect?"

That's not right, "No. What they fixed was… I mean, the doctors must have seen that I wouldn't. Somehow. The specifics weren't explained."

"I bet they just made you forget you were a secret agent. Still not something I could do, or want to do."

You mentally run through the items you've Fused. The imprisoning artifact alone is notable, and you have a few other pieces from your escape that would be staggeringly hard to replicate.

Monsoon pulls a brush out of a nearby basket, "Let me fix your hair, the water and your flying made it the wrong kind of messy."

"You don't have to, it doesn't bother me."

"Well it bothers me." Monsoon insists, and says something else so softly you can't make it out.

You relent. Monsoon brushes damp hair away from your face and quickly alters the way it was hanging to her liking. As she's putting the last tuft in order Destined Lightning flies in from above. Raging Heart follows soon after.

The pair of high-flying Magical Girl are wearing similar outfits: a white hoodie (now opened), and a white bikini trimmed with red for Raging Heart and pink trimmed with white for Destined Lightning. They run over to the snack table. You feel a pang of envy watching Destined Lightning's long ponytail flutter behind her.

"And done. Extra fluff for a carefree look. Go forth and frolic. Or keep watch, as the situation dictates." Monsoon says, tossing the brush back into the basket..

"Thank you." it does make you feel a bit better.

Night Sky descends a short while later, in her normal MG outfit and with Reinforce shadowing her. Night Sky wanders into the group chatting with Thorn Warden and asks something about his magic.

A distraction pops up and you scold a girl who had started digging out the sand. She quickly realizes her error, lets you put the dirt and sand back down, and moves closer to the water to collect from a wider area for her sandcastle project. Once that's dealt with Reinforce catches your attention, she makes an 'ok' gesture with her hand, then jams her thumb back to indicate Night Sky.

Clear enough. You take the suggestion and walk over to say hello.

"Eee! Summit, you're swimsuit is great!" Night Sky leaps in place upon spotting you, "It's so shiny, you're like a trophy."

"Thank you. Did the battle go well for you?"

Night Sky looks downcast for a moment, "I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you out, the UD made a bunch of the Balrogs angry. Which is why I was helping the Emissaries kill them off. Oh! I wanted to ask you about the giant monster you were fighting now that we have a moment."

The dots are simple and clear to connect. If Night Sky thinks the UD roused the Balrogs you don't want to correct her right now. On further thought this is something you might want to avoid mentioning near Ninja of Light, taking into account her claim of having died twice.

You hope Insight was right about that mission.

"Which one?" there are two or three monsters that come to mind.

Your response with a question causes a number of the surrounding girls to break into laughter.

"The one where I got frozen in time! You already explained how you fought it, I want to hear about how you think the vortex monster worked. In case there's another one that shows up."

"There is an aftershock from one of my spells that scrambles magic." you begin.

Night Sky waves her arms, "I heard that already! Tell me about what it could do, how I could defeat it."

"It had an odd effect on its surroundings. I think it was spreading itself out during the fight and drawing back in the amplified pieces of itself. There was a bit of a slowdown as it did this, but the vortex of evil magic got much more powerful quickly, sticking around could end with you getting melted down. When Reinforce was fighting it was weak to getting caught by magic effects and couldn't go through solid objects very well."

Night Sky nods, "Catch it and fight from cover?"

"Right. If you have a way to suppress its magic use it. The spike in power was very unpredictable. Reinforce froze you because of a contracting spell it had, cover should work if you're careful. Assuming the next massive vortex of evil corrupting magic has the same magic and abilities." you finish.

"Harumph," Night Sky sags, "The big ones are always showing off some new trick."

"They are, aren't they." you agree.

Night Sky jabs her finger skyward, "We'll do it right back!" after dropping the pose she clasps her hands together and leans towards you, "Speaking of new tricks, I have something that should make someone else more fortunate. May I test it on you?"

You wave an arm to indicate the Magical Girls lounging about, "This isn't the place for practice. We can't leave craters before the elves get to use it."

Night Sky lunges forward and wraps her arms around you, pinning your arms to your side.

"Surprise! now you're getting a hug! I'm glad you fixed the darkness effect before the Dark Star got to us. So you deserve hugs!"

Your legs almost buckle with the added weight as you rebalance. Magical Girl Raging Heart and Reinforce start clapping softly, followed by several more of the standing Magical Girls.

"I can't carry you like this."

"The hugs will continue until morale improves." Night Sky insists.

"That means you need the exercise." Steel Monsoon quips at you.

A few clicks sound from Sakura Saber's Datamine as she takes pictures. An attempt to squirm away ends with you losing your footing and falling into the sand heavily. Night Sky lets go of you and covers her mouth, probably having to do with the loud thunk her jaw made when it impacted with your head.

"Ack, I bit my tongue."

Reinforce pulls Night Sky to her feet, freeing you to stand back up.

"She beauty, she grace, she got a swollen face." Prisma Drake calls out.

"Perhaps you can continue this when our friend isn't busy being the beachguard?" Reinforce suggests to Night Sky.

You dust yourself off a bit, "Sorry, I didn't think you were going to hold on to me all the way to the ground."

Night Sky looks away from everyone.

"Did you forget you could fly, again?" Reinforce asks, her tone making clear she isn't expecting an answer.

Night Sky shudders a bit, then recomposes herself and pulls out a card with a starry background, "Here. Send me a message so I get your number."

"I might not be here for much longer. There have been noises about getting moved elsewhere."

"You should try to get into ACES HIGH. We could use a flying tank and you could use our backup." Night Sky says.

Reinforce keeps her face calm, but holds her fingers out to form an 'x' briefly. An easy enough message to understand.

How to word this? "I'll see what happens."

"Even if that doesn't happen we should still try to be friends. I won't forget you." Night Sky waves as Reinforce nudges her towards the group around the snack table.

A few hardy souls have decided to start swimming. Notably, all three of them are in their transformed state despite their swimsuits. It's probably still cold. Perhaps Night Sky is going to use her magic to warm it up very quickly at some point?

You circle the sandy area a few times to remain visible. Everyone is behaving themselves. Blue Bandit arrives with an elf carrying her on his shoulders. Which isn't notable until Bandit jumps down and pulls off the t-shirt she had been wearing - showing that she was not wearing a wetsuit, but only the shorts that make up the lower part of a wetsuit.

She's actually wearing an almost identical outfit as her boyfriend….

"Blue Bandit! You forgot your top!" you rush over.

Bandit gives a V-sign with her fingers, "I don't need one."

"She's eighteen." Steel Monsoon shouts over, "She has an out for the decency rules the rest of us have."

"Not all of them. As a Lieutenant of the Counter Force it is unbecoming to appear naked in public."

"But you're half-naked now." you protest, face bright red in sympathetic embarrassment.

"Is it percentage based now? 90% of me might be uncovered, but Prisma Drake's bikini is at best half the material. Did you bother her about being 95% naked?"

You back away, literally and figuratively. Blue Bandit is somehow happy to expose herself and the rest of the group isn't disturbed. She strides over to the largest concentration of people and relaxes against her boyfriend while talking.

Thankfully something else appears to take your mind off of it. Twisted Metal skips into the beach, and over the beach, and right onto the water. She proceeds to glide atop the water in a motion part way between ice skating and a motorboat.

"You float now?"

She spins in place on the water with a wide grin, "Yeah! It's a new trick I just figured out. Some part of me always knew I could, so I kept being drawn to water."

Her weapon darts into the water's surface, sending droplets everywhere.

"There's more grace in your movements now, somehow." you comment.

"I know, it's great! And, uh, I really owe you one for not leaving me to drown and things." Twisted Metal fiddles with her scarf. "Both times I lost were from getting sunk, but you refloated me."

"Oh. I'm Magical Girl Summit, how have you been feeling?"

Her weapon lies down to float on the water, "Like the world turned upside-down. Two days ago I was shooting at demons coming over the walls for hours, until all of Goddess Red's choppy dudes ran out and I was holding them off alone. They just kept coming and coming while I fought and hoped someone would be there. Then I got pushed into a canal and wake up next to Red. It's weird everywhere now."

"I know what you mean. No one talks about Goddess Grey or Red and it keeps surprising me." you say.

"Yeah, I'm Magical Girl Twisted Metal by the way. Affinities are Ruin and Metal, just like my name might lead you to suspect."

"I have Discovery, Protection, and Implacable. My magic lets me see what type of magic other things have, among other things."

Twisted Metal nods, "Neat. Anyways, do you think the Counter Force is going to decide to take back Hope any time soon? There were a lot of people like me who were promised peace, and it's an outrage that our world was taken from us."

You think over things, "Something is being planned, I can tell that much."

"Thanks. I'm going to practice my sea legs for a bit. And thank you again for saving me from that crazy mindwarp thingy."

A spray of water sprinkles over you as someone makes a splashy dive. It's actually not that cold now. Twisted spins in place and zooms off. You fly up to keep an eye on the splashes and ensure that no one gets out of hand.

A premonition hits you right before the swimming group expands to more than ten girls. For the next fifteen minutes you zip back and forth, staying close to the most rambunctious action. The subdued attitude dropping away as a few characters show off. Like Blue Bandit kicking off from the shore and skidding along after Twisted Metal, or Sakura Saber generating a huge splash with some sort of super-speed-move, or Raging Heart swimming under the water to tug on legs.

You really think Sakura Saber almost provoked a disastrous escalation. Picking her up and declaring that you were just about ready to throw her quieted things a bit. Thorn Warden had inflated a few inner tubes but left with Prisma Drake hanging off his shoulder after only a couple minutes in the water. Now the swimmers are mostly staying put, holding on to floating tubes in the deeper section and chatting.

Flying another circuit doesn't turn up anything unusual. The snack table is being dismantled and the sand castle flattened out into the dust where it rose from. Angel Feather has stopped napping and is rubbing some sort of ointment over her blistered skin.

"Shouldn't you be in a hospital with burns like that?" you ask.

Feather frowns, "I wasn't burned when I left. Something burned my soul or something and I've just got to wait for it to heal on its own."

"Oh."

The whistles and thundering of the mustering elves signals the rest of the group to pack up from the water. You threaten to have any trash not picked up sent back to the person who littered and comb the sand to level it before leaving yourself.

It's unfair, you think to yourself, that Destined Lightning's hair looks and acts that way. Even wet it still streams behind her gracefully as she flys away.
----

Team GEAR was situated next to a stack of empty shipping containers. Around you the activity of the receiving docks continued as Fairy mages floated some cargo around while trucks lined up for the next portal. The haze of dust smothers the area and a faint burnt smell follows it.

A woman, no, a demon (Fire, Love) in a Counter Force uniform is perched a short distance away. Her wings fluttering behind her, she winks at you and the gesture feels somehow heavy.

Suspicious.

"Is anyone else here?" you ask as you land.

"Insight should be bringing the Judgement sisters and Juggernaut Drive here soon." Michael replies.

"I mean right now."

Lucky Star shakes her head.

The demon jerks her head towards you and shouts, "Don't shoot!"

You keep your expressed weaponry glowing and gesture for Team GEAR to look at the demon. After a few seconds of scanning his surroundings Samael speaks up.

"Captain Jubilant is waiting to deliver a packet of mail." he says, "She's been here since before we arrived, she's fine."

Jubilant waves her empty hands at you and grins nervously, "Hello Summit. It's a pleasure to meet you. The tanks you modified to fly were invaluable to my team."

Her voice is clear and steady despite the contrast to how her wings and tail twitch and wrap around her leg and shoulders.

"Stay put for a moment." you say.

"Does anyone else know about a demon named Jubilant? Perhaps as some sort of officer?" you transmit.

Samael clears his throat, "Earth to Summit, Jubilant is on our side. You can calm down now."

"She may have charmed you." you say, "I need outside confirmation."

Steel Monsoon's voice arrives over the air, "Yeah, Captain Jubilant is a succubus that proves the proverb that Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. She's a tanker officer, so you probably won't see her."

You fold up your expressed weapons and look away from Jubilant, "Which I just got."

"Uh," Lucky Star holds up her hand, "When you said here I didn't consider outside my magic breath. Fey speech uses more distinctions for proximity."

Aquilia looks you in the eyes with a flat expression.

"She wouldn't have been able to hit all of us with anything." Samael begins.

"Right! We are waiting for Insight to arrive so she can explain how Summit will save our Magical Girls." Major Roberts claps his hands

Jubilant waves as she starts striding away, "Goodbye, and thank you for staying observant!"

GEAR does a double-check of their surroundings before settling into the same positions they had before. You have a sense that Samael is glaring at you. Flying in a loose circle around them doesn't change much.

A couple minutes later Judgement Drive descends out of the haze. Judgement Core and Juggernaut Drive (carrying Insight) follow shortly after. Insight jumps out of her ride's arms and gestures for everyone to give her their attention.

"Not too long ago Solid Core, Solid Drive, Goddess White, Carnage, Red Rose, Solar Radiance, Lunar Radiance, Gabriel, Maiden of the West, and Westmaiden's nightmare daughter spearheaded an effort to retake Reluxus. And may I say that I have no idea what Solid Core promised to get a Maiden of the Apocalypse to help us. Before the rest of us could transit with them Goddess Grey engaged, which was halfway expected by her younger sister.

"We lost touch with them for a few eventful minutes. Gabriel re-connected with us to say Solid Core had won, but dropped out of contact before she could answer questions. This time something changed related to the nature of cross-dimensional contact and the portal was withdrawn to avoid a possible counter invasion. Judgement Drive rejected the idea of bringing the rest of us along. Most of the Counter Force shook their heads in disgust and declared Solid Core and the rest MIA.

"I had a different idea of what happened from the start, thanks to my previous contact with Magical Girl Summit." Insight smiles as she pauses.

"Excuse me." you hold up a finger, you want to say something now because you weren't sure what you could have said earlier, besides, you have a fair guess of what happened already, "Magical Girl Zoe… no Silver Regent, either found the artifact that a horrible ugly demon kept me imprisoned within and learned about me in connection with it, or she was tracking me and learned about the prison artifact that way. She must have taken the pieces I left behind and gotten it put back together enough to make it work on Solid Core's group. Which is why she has been trying to kill me for the last couple days - because I've already gotten free of that idea once and could free the rest."

Michael whistles, "Could you go over that again? It sounds like a lot happened here."

"Questions later." Aquilia says with clipped speech.

Insight shrugs, "Wow, the spooks should have just asked you instead of spending hours questioning Silver Regent. That's actually more than I was told. Summit is correct, Summit escaped the very item that was used against us. She is something we know can break out of it, and what's more, Summit is also a mighty and quick Magical Girl. This rescue demands nothing less than the best."

Insight bows with exaggerated manner. Judgement Core runs a hand along her weapon, Judgement Drive folds her arms and gives you a blank look.

"Is this my official mission then?" you ask, things have been less clear than you would prefer.

"Not as such, no. It's a personal time action for you in the records, otherwise we could have left earlier. But this is really important and all the spooks that know about it give it full backing. Like your commander, Achilles Black, for one." Major Roberts says.

A metallic clatter fills the air as a truck attaches a shipping container. The sky above you shimmers as wind pushes the haze at diverging speeds. Insight taps her foot.

"We can begin immediately." Insight says.

There's something she hasn't yet brought up, "What happened to Goddess Grey?"

"We don't know, I believe Goddess White forced her to withdraw." Judgement Drive states.

"You don't give Solid Core enough credit. Half of her team had fought Grey before, the Goddess of Swords is probably dead." Insight rebutes.

Not good, and worse when you think it over.

Michel interjects, "Insight, half of us right now have fought Goddess Grey before."

"I don't recommend it." Juggernaut suggests.

Lucky Star emits a quiet, high-pitched sound.
----

Accept the ~~mission~~Request?

[X][MISSION] Yes
This is about as important as events get. Free the mightiest heroes of the day!

[X][MISSION] No
Can you say deathtrap? This has to be a deathtrap, and you don't remember much about escaping the first time.
-[X][MISSION] Get transfered to False Heaven
-[X][MISSION] Write in something else Summit would rather do
----

Insight knows some people who want to do you favors… (pick one, only relevant if you select her mission, but you can pick one even if you decide against Insight's plan!)

[X][BACKUP] A Pair of Master Fairy Ninja
Sarutobi and Sasuke are highly feared ninja and masters of the fairy arts of stealth. They can't quite keep up with you, so you may have to carry them, something that may crimp their talents.

[X][BACKUP] Angelic Piloted Armored Golems
Armored Golems fielded by False Heaven were legendary before the Children of Nightmares destroyed some of the rare materials the golems relied on. Some wizards in the Counter Force got in touch with the surviving pilots/builders and provided substitutes. Activate a beacon and a pair of mighty Angels will be teleported to fight alongside you!

[X][BACKUP] Judgement Drive and Juggernaut Drive
(Juggernaut Drive = TRUE)
"We need to recover our friends first and foremost. Defending you in this would be impossible if you get us tied up in a fight."

[X][BACKUP] Machine Code's Big Box 'O Mayhem
A baker's dozen of Machine Code's battle robots, with included flight. The weapons systems suffered some kind of issue and these units have grenade launchers to make up for it. Accuracy and ammo supply are rather poor, but you can tow them easily and they would make the best of distractions if you find a target.

[X][BACKUP] The Last Invisibility Vial
Insight shows a pained expression and talks up how much she wants to keep it while giving it to you. It's enough to make you wonder if this is really the best she could do to help.
----

+3 EXP Beachguarding Successful!
+5 EXP Night Sky May Be Hitting On You…
+1 EXP Twisted Metal Backstory Hints
+10 EXP You Already Knew Insight's Big Reveal

261 + 19 = 280 EXP

[X][EXP] EXP Plan?

kelllogo · Apr 24, 2020

[X][MISSION] Yes
[X][BACKUP] Judgement Drive and Juggernaut Drive

"I'll get them out of there, no one deserves to be forgotten in that thing." you say.

Insight gives a thumbs up, "Great! And thank you."

A rumble of a truck starting up drowns out all other sound for a moment before fading into the background.

"I'm coming with you." Juggernaut Drive says, crossing her arms and stiffening her features, "Solid Drive is my friend and she hasn't seen me for years."

Judgement Core steps on a magical platform to gain a few inches of height, "I'll help too, you watched my back earlier. And I was supposed to be helping Solid Core when she dropped out of contact."

"Ahem." Judgement Drive interjects.

"None of us doubt your skills." Major Roberts says, "This is a lot like what happened when Solid Core went on ahead, those skills aren't what's needed at this point."

"I'm not getting left behind again!"

Judgement Drive puts her hand on Judgement Core's arm.

"Juggernaut is faster and has a better sense of when to duck. Once Summit has found the artifact I'll jaunt back so you can save the day again." Judgement Drive says.

Insight covers her mouth with a hand, "No offense JC, but you aren't sneaky. Not the way scouting things out has to be. I'll be right next to you when the rest of us leave for the supergate."

Judgement Core drops back to stand on the ground and slumps a bit, but otherwise doesn't reply.

"You're taking the lead this time?" Aquilia says to Judgement Drive.

Judgement Drive jabs a thumb at Juggernaut Drive, "She's the youngest Drive now, she needs supervision."

"Hey!"

"What goes around comes around."

"Thank you. It will be nice to have some backup for this." you say.

There's a brief lull where no one speaks, then Juggernaut Drive nods.

"No problem. I owe you a favor." she raises a finger at Judgement Drive, "I'm still older by the way. Birthdays are the official way to determine age."

"To put words in our tacitum girl of the hour's mouth, what are we waiting for?" Captain Roberts says.

"Yes. Is there anything else to mention?" you add.

"There is something worth saying again. Summit can spot magic with her eyes, or even through her shapeshifting weapon. If you see her twitch she might see something you can't." Insight says.

Samael fiddles with something on the side of his armor.

Juggernaut lightly punches the inside of her hand, "Let's get going. I want to talk to Solid Drive. Actually, on further thought, could you do the talking once we get there?"

"Certainly." Judgement Drive says over Juggernaut Drive's shoulder.

"Follow me. Everything should be ready for transit." Insight points and starts jogging towards the eastern corner of the stacks.

As the group draws alongside her Insight leans into a sprint, a graceful frenzy with no wasted motion. Team GEAR lags behind a bit while you and the Drives (plus Core) keep pace. You move along a paved path outside the stacked containers and make a sharp turn right towards a cluster of army tents.

Angel Laurence and a much taller angel with his arm in a sling are at the entrance of one of the tents, both too tall to easily fit. Insight eases into a quick walk and Team GEAR catches up as the group moves into earshot.

"Summit is here, we'll discuss this again at a later time." Laurence announces.

The tall angel nods at you with a stony expression as Insight passes through the entrance. Inside Commander Black sits on a desk while the center table has a Lego scene on it, with magical Lego (Planning). Black's prosthetic leg ends in a flipper today instead of his more usual foot, and a soldier (Planning) with a large pointy hat and an enchanted staff leans against the central table.

"Magical Girl Summit! It's good to see you." Black announces, "Before you assist Insight there's a matter I would like to address."

The angel outside says something.

You turn your head to face the exit, "Why can't who be allowed to go free?"

Laurence does a double-take at you.

Black hisses before pointing at the tall angel, "Felix, if I hear you're arguing to have her imprisoned I will have your other arm broken."

"She cannot be allowed to-" Felix is cut off by Laurence jabbing him with an elbow.

"My colleague is merely concerned about the worst case scenario. Feather would benefit from the expert treatment we offer regardless." Laurence says before bowing and flying off, followed by a fuming Felix.

"What was that about?" Juggernaut Drive asks.

Commander Black slumps down a bit, "Another pointless challenge to my command from someone who should know better. As usual."

Insight clears her throat. The Commander claps his hands and stands as straight as he can manage.

"Summit, I am pleased to present to you awards for your recent efforts. First, for your capture of Zoe Cross, who was a formidable enemy of the Akashic Pillar and a spymaster, you have been awarded the Silver Lantern award for decisive heroic actions. Second, for delaying Goddess Red's attack by ruse, skill, and great personal risk, you are awarded another Silver Lantern for conspicuous heroic actions. Third, the Sixth Milidia Legion has declared you a hero of the Legion and of the Elven Empire and produced a banner for you. Lastly, Governor Quinn has seen fit to give you almost two kilograms of gold, for, in her words, delivering the empire's legions out of darkness.

"I've arranged for the value of that gold to be credited directly to your account, by the way. Bounties from outside the Akashic Pillar otherwise go to the unit instead of the soldier, as a rule." Black concludes.

One of the officers presents a tray. There's a leather patch, much like the one Blue Bandit had for her rank insignia, with two fingertip sized awards pinned to it. Next to the patch a tightly-wound narrow flag gleams faintly with magic (Steel), metal plates sewn into the fabric bear symbols you don't recognize. The material of the flag is mainly black with an orange pattern clearly based on your outfit, there's a shimmer effect that makes the black turn green in the light.

"I don't know what to say." you say after a moment.

"What about the rest of us?" Judgement Drive asks.

"That's for Mason to decide, not me. I believe Insight has been arranging things." Commander Black picks up the leather patch, "Hold out your hand."

He places the object in your hand, "When the Counter Force decides to award heroic actions it is not only the action that is considered, but that you have impeccable character and reliability. Wear it proudly, you are one of our best."

"Thank you." you say.

Insight gestures at Judgement Core, "He's just trying to butter her up so she'll risk her life next time."

"You speak too lightly of her deed." Aquila speaks from outside the pavilion, "Summit has been acclaimed for single-handedly delivering an army from destruction. Any place in the Empire that sees her banner will want to hear how she earned it."

"It is the first time I've heard of this." Black points at the banner, "Take it, with the praise of the Sixth Milidia Legion."

When unrolled the banner is almost exactly as long as you are tall. You can feel the magic woven into it resonate with your own, the colors come alive from where you touch it and mimic the patterns of your bodysuit. You place the awards in a labcoat pocket.

Behind you Judgement Drive has a hand on Judgement Core's shoulder, "I think you're amazing." she says softly into her sister's ear.

Black relaxes and sits against the table, "Lee has studied what we know about Solid Core's recent mission."

The man in the wizard hat nods, "Insight knows most of this already, so I'm focusing on what she might have missed. Firstly, Solid Core's group, and yourself when you get there, landed in a warded stasis yard. A leftover from when the CF retreated from Reluxus - it's there because the elven supergate was the best way to move stuff around quickly and Hell hasn't yet broken the wards. You'll need to leave that area quickly before it entangles you.

"Once you're out of the wards it's about three klicks to the supergate. I've got a lego model of it here. Solid Core reached the gate, but was waylaid before Goddess White could reactivate it. Whatever effect hit them hit them while they were in view of the supergate. Free them, get the gate reactivated, and defend the elven forces that will arrive to sync it back into the system."

Lee crouches down, gets a red cooler from the ground, and perches it against the table, "They've been there for more than 24 hours, I think some refreshments would help your goal."

Insight raises a finger, "Why didn't the stasis ward get mentioned earlier? And how did that get set up in the first place?"

"I don't know." Lee shrugs.

"Magical Girl Eternal Hourglass was involved before she vanished. And Goddess White meant the first group could ignore the warding." Commander Black says.

"Should you tell them that?" Lee blurts out.

Black crosses his arms, "It's not a secret that Magical Girls have changed the world, changed worlds, since they appeared. Summit, I'm authorizing you to assist Insight's scheme, but I'm ordering you to stay alive."

"I'll keep her in one piece." Juggernaut says.

"Thank you. Insight, night has fallen on Reluxus and we have a portal ready for you."

You collect the red mini-cooler from Lee as Insight discusses some coded phrases with Black. The Drives and Judgement Core drift outside the pavilion. Insight nods, gestures for you to follow, and runs out as well.
----

After a brief jog past a line of stopped trucks, Insight tells the group at the freight portal that she "Needs to visit Naro-Wumpus". A wave of warm conditioned air washes over your group as you are waved through and into a concrete building with branching corridors.

"Welcome back." an officer with the Signals appearance greets you, "Same place as last time if you please."

Roberts turns left and leads the way past rows of numbered gateways to a large room filled with wires and runed metal pillars. A small raised platform in the middle of the tangle gleams with magic visible to the naked eye. To your vision it shines like an alien star.

A white-beared man in an isolation suit (Space) pokes at the pillars with a reach extender, spinning them carefully on their dials.

Insight rubs her hands together and bobs in place, "You'll want to fly straight up as soon as the transition ends. Counter Force wards use a squished dome to increase ground coverage if they aren't covering a building or trying to block out the sky."

"How will I find where the prison is?" you ask, glancing at the platform.

She holds out her hands in a 'who knows' gesture, "You have a better shot at figuring that out than I do. Look for magic or space warping. If you don't see either check for some kind of ritual site that was recently put together."

Lucky Star backs away from the transmission platform, "What's the plan for us?"

"Same as before, except Judgement Drive is going to hop back to pick us up once Summit gets our friends free." Insight says.

"She's ready to go, squeeze into the center of the platform and I'll trip the switch." the technician announces.

You drift over the wiring and land dead center. Judgement Drive and Juggernaut Drive lock arms with you between them and press against you.

"That's a keeper." Michael says softly as he points his Datamine at you.

"3! 2! 1!"

The contained storm of magic at your feet ceases to be contained, then vanishes.

You kick off from the ground and your Panoply screams as you pull yourself up. All around you armed vehicles make long rows. Glowing lines appear all around you. Further out you count eight huge fortresses hovering in the sky. On the ground a few hundred meters away scores of Dark Stars stand watch.

Even in the brief moment you sense the light around you dimming and reddening. Space itself is rushing towards you in a torrent, making escape from the stasis ward skitter away from you.

Juggernaut kicks against nothing and the three of you rise with impossible acceleration. Light blooms back to full color and brightness as you pass an invisible threshold.

Two locations on the perimeter have glowing blocks with large bowls atop them. You fire a burst at each, expecting these to be signaling devices of some sort. Juggernaut makes a sharp turn.

Next you need to start thinning out the Dark Stars, you have to expect that any of them could sound an alarm on their own. The increased height has only revealed more and more demonic foes arrayed upon the dark fields.

Your attempt to circle around you with a stream of attacks fails, most hit, but the furthest Dark Stars were spared when your projectiles clipped into the stasis area and vanished.

"Hostiles!" Judgement Drive hisses out.

A large Dark Star fires a bright spark of red into the sky. You can feel a ripple as it pushes on the magic around you. It feels like imminent doom. You frantically cast your attention around looking for a place to escape what you expect to strike.

You pry open a portal right in front of Juggernaut Drive, she pulls the rest of you along, hundreds of meters up and away from your present location.

"Whoa." Juggernaut jukes up and down at the change.

"What happened?" Judgement Drive shouts.

The tops of the floating fortresses expel plumes of hostile magic into the air. A huge mass of red energy covers the place you just vacated, bubbling and firey. Then another vast effect strikes a heartbeat later, shadows appearing from nowhere and tearing up everything they touch. Another spell strikes, and another.

"I think they were expecting Goddess Gold." you say.

Judgement Drive looks around, "This was not here last time."

The salvo stops after several seconds. When the effects fade the vehicle depot appears untouched within the warding, but the ground surrounding it has been blasted to bare rock.

Campfires and piles of lesser demons cover the ground for miles, only broken up by a few slopes too steep to lie upon and a swath of land covered with dead vegetation instead. And there must be many powerful demons residing within the hellish fortresses. A faint red glow covers the ground from the largest fortress, which has taken station above a structure that must be the elven supergate.

A low ring sounds as chains hanging from one of the hovering fortresses rattle.

"Hell is empty, all the demons are here." Juggernaut mutters.

"We need to keep moving, follow me." you say.

Juggernaut lets go and the three of you seperate. You set a quick pace and attempt to steer away from the fortresses.

A nerve-wracking minute of flying avoids any obvious tells that you're being looked for. The supergate is crawling with demons of all types. Demonic webs stretch over the gate, anchored to stones that float in the air without support. A location stands out as being more fortified than the rest, a large tent next to a pillar.

You drift back to the Drives, "I see what might be the prison. I'm going to glide in carefully and check it by teleporting in."

Juggernaut frowns, "Please tell me you aren't going to leave us here when a demon comes by asking for papers."

"It's quicker if I'm only teleporting myself. I'll come back once I've scouted it."

"We won't stick around if there's an alarm, just so you know." Judgement Drive chides.

"I'll be careful."

A quick bit of re-configuration lets you glide in with your Panoply black as pitch, and hopefully indistinguishable from the night sky above you. You draw out the teleport to appear inside the webs and patrols, hovering where nothing should have been able to fly unhindered.

An eerie feel makes your back itch. Now that you're closer there's a large crater on the ground. The tent from before is floating above it, yet also staked on solid ground. You descend carefully, passing through where a pillar appeared to be moments before and feeling as though you are both above the ground and within it.

From here you can see up into the tent. A cage of swords holds a sparking fist-sized object, you know instantly upon seeing it that it's what remains of the cage that held you trapped. But below you….

Solid Core's motionless body lies at the bottom of the impossible crater, impaled by nine swords that emanate power. A sword that could defeat any foe if you were to take hold of it. A mesmerizing and intoxicating font of power.

Isn't she supposed to be alive? What's going on?

This is certainly worth a closer look. You extend a tendril of your Panoply to collect it.

"Don't touch that!"

A figure falls out of the tent above you. You know who she is before she reaches the ground (Steel, Infinity, Epic).

Goddess Grey has personally kept watch over the object imprisoning her youngest sister. And whatever this crater may hold.
----

Overclock!
Summit has the opportunity to take one action before Goddess Grey realizes who you are.

Pick one:
[X] Grab and fuse the mystery blade to prepare for a fight!
-[X] Battle tactics? (write-in, feel free to be vague about this)
-CrapCrapCrap-
[X] Start gushing about how she's your hero
-[X] What will you try to negotiate for? (write-in)
You think you have the hilt of the blade she gave you somewhere.
[X] Teleport to the prison cage and attempt to enter it!
Abort! Jump to the mission objective!
[X] Teleport away!
Nope. Nothing more to do here.
[X] Fight Goddess Grey head on. Without grabbing the artifact.
Perhaps you should set yourself on fire and cut off your legs first. She won't expect that!
[X] Something exceedingly clever? (write-in)

(Pioneer) What's going on?
"We have entered an endless recursion of time."

You are presently standing in a crater that does not exist and never had the event that led to its creation occur. The entity manifest in those swords is reaching out and has caught both your soul and Goddess Grey's soul in a snare that reaches across what is and what might have been. If either of you dies without being slain by the blades impaling Solid Core's corpse this encounter will reset back to the moment where Goddess Grey intervened.

You expect your abilities will grant excellent recall of your choices in this encounter. Goddess Grey will have fainter recall, but will still understand you better every restart.

If Summit Fuses The Unknown Blade she will receive an enormous boost in power and she will retain the Fused blade between resets.

Escape conditions:
Get killed via The Unknown Blade
Kill Goddess Grey using The Unknown Blade
Both Magical Girls stop fighting and leave the crater alive
----

Status of Combatants:

Magical Girl Summit: Unharmed, mind racing
Magical Girl Juggernaut Drive: Unharmed, waiting ~300 meters away
Magical Girl Judgement Drive: Unharmed, waiting ~320 meters away

Magical Girl Goddess Grey: Unharmed, dropping in
Hell's Second Legion: On Alert, wary after thinking they swatted an invasion attempt, averaging about 2 demons per square meter
----

+30 EXP Received decorations
+25 EXP Set foot (briefly) on a new world
+9 EXP Successful scouting
+1 EXP Pity about the otherworldly crater

280 + 65 = 345 EXP

[X][EXP] EXP Plan?

kelllogo · Apr 28, 2020

[X] Start gushing about how she's your hero
-[X] What will you try to negotiate for? (write-in)
--[X] Ask why she should't touch the blades.
--[X] Weren't both Solid Core and Goddess Grey supposed to be in the prison with everyone else?
--[X] Try and convince her to let you break the prison since Goddess White should still trapped in it and you're sure despite everything else Goddess Grey still cares for her sister

+--[X] Your sister looked for a specialist to release your sister from the trap they are in, which currently had no known key because the inventor of said trap died. Well then, here I am! Trap defuser Magical Girl Lockpick! Paid by your sister to release your sister from the trap thingy! Now take me to the trap thingy.
(it amused me)
----

Your Panoply limply falls as you stand up straighter. The desolation around you doesn't match Grey's style, but she's well capable of flattening her surroundings. Yet she led with a demand instead of a weapon.

Think, think quickly.

When Goddess Grey touches the ground her skin sparkles with light and a sword longer than she is tall appears in her right hand. Even with her entrance holding all of your focus and attention the weapon just appeared from nowhere as soon as Grey prepared to hold it.

Could she create a weapon that bisected you upon its creation? You don't think so, but also don't want to try to find out.

"Yes, not touching!" you declare.

Grey throws herself between you and the remains of Solid Core, fixing you with a glare.

Steady, try not to act like she's going to cut you. You try to recall if any of the social seminars from your time in the hospital covered situations like this.

"Excuse me, why shouldn't they be touched? Are they yours?"

Goddess Grey relaxes, her gaze softening and the sword dropping from her hand, "What it is, is a disaster. Why are you here?"

"I heard that Goddess White was trapped and thought I could help you by setting her free. You've been my hero for years."

Too much? You tried to be just a bit over exuberant. Could she tell that you were nervous or were you clamping down on your face too hard?

"You must be Summit." Grey frowns slightly and sighs, "I have to apologize for your treatment by the UD."

Your blood turns to ice. It feels like your heart has stopped even as Grey runs a hand over her scalp. Energy pulses through your Panoply as you start a teleport to escape.

Grey's free hand flicks a few caltrops at you, local space ripples as they move and your bubble destabilizes. You try to spear out at her legs, perhaps to knock her off her feet, but she kicks a small bulldozer blade that blocks direct attacks from your weapon.

What follows is the whistle of steel slamming into you as you try to scramble back. Scythe leads to spear, leads to sword, leads to darts. Each blow pushing your closer to your limits in a calculated fashion. Grey pushes her arms and legs at nearly a hundred meters per second, switching gracefully between weapon stances and conjuring the appropriate weapons an instant before the blow lands.

A reprieve gives just enough time to cover yourself with your weapon and attempt to escape again. She fills the air and ground around you with swords, letting the weight of their magic pull the bubble apart.

"Why?" you bark.

Grey blinks at you, her slight frown of concentration steady, "Because Ni will make certain."

She shrieks out a kiai and your perception is filled with the purest force of destruction you've seen.

(Trump Card
Echo
Echo
Echo

55000 Base Damage, +2358 Dice, +15500 ??? +22000 Mercy Kill +400 Epic Power = 95258 Damage
55000 Base Damage, +2358 Dice, +15500 ??? +22000 Mercy Kill +400 Epic Power = 95258 Damage
55000 Base Damage, +2358 Dice, +15500 ??? +22000 Mercy Kill +400 Epic Power = 95258 Damage
55000 Base Damage, +2358 Dice, +15500 ??? +22000 Mercy Kill +400 Epic Power = 95258 Damage

381,032 Unified Damage

To Defy the Gods Triggers!

95258 Total Damage

Magical Girl Summit : 1000 Resilience, +448 Dice, +19051 Reactive Field, +200 Hunkered Down, -400 Armor Damage, -400 Hostile Epic Effect = 19899 Damage Reduction

75359 End Damage
60% Ceaseless Warrior
30144 Final End Damage

Magical Girl Summit: 14500 - 30144 = -15,644 Health

Half the woman she used to be…)
[CASCADE]

"Don't touch that!"

You scream and your Panoply spikes every which way as you process the sensation of being cut in half!

By the time you gather your wits Goddess Grey has dived at you. You try to slow her down, or at least slip away, but she methodically breaks your Panoply apart with her weapons and trips you with an excessive number of chains.

Heat blossoms over your face, you should have done better than this! This is humiliating.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Grey interrogates.

"Whoops?"

She pinches the bridge of her nose, "Ugh. I apologize in advance for this. Ni will have to fix you."

"Wait!"

A huge axe descends…
[CCASCADE]

"Don't touch that!"

"Sorry!" you shout.

You forcibly detach the reaching part of your Panoply and carefully arrange the mass around you. No sharp corners that invite stabs and hold everything compactly so you aren't unbalancing yourself as much when the blows alternate from side to side.

Grey bolts with inhuman speed to interpose herself between you and Solid Core's body. The glare she wears is familiar. As is the large sword in her hand.

Keep talking, that seemed to get you somewhere, "I thought you were trapped in some kind of prison! I wanted to free you!"

Grey opens her mouth, then closes it and blinks a couple times, "Me? Where did you hear that?"

"Zoe." She was supposed to be important, you think.

Grey relaxes and lets her weapon drop, "Good, she can learn. Stabbing her would have caused such a hassle. That makes you Summit, right?"

You nod. "Yes, what happened?"

"My little sister pulled a dirty trick and I very nearly got her and myself killed." Grey does a head tilt to indicate the swords, "This is some sort of shadow of that potential death. Then Zoe started pulling them into the box when I opened the effect."

She sighs and steps closer to put a hand on your Panoply, near the shoulder, "I'm sorry about this, but could you detransform? I need you to be just a little bit expired so Red can bring you back without Zoe's brainwashing."

"Zoe wanted to deliver me to you dead! She never got to do any brainwashing!" you plead.

Grey shakes her head slightly and the next fifteen seconds are full of bladed weapons.
[CAASCADE]

"Don't touch that!"

You spin to face her, "Goddess Grey!"

She lunges and shears off part of your Panoply, you pay it no mind. If you're going to sort this out you need to figure out what she's after, other than rendering you dead to make sure of something.

"I didn't expect to see you here, or her." you continue, gesturing at Solid Core's body.

Grey settles into an aggressive posture and puts the point of her sword close to your neck, "Have we met?"

"Yes! You helped me out years ago when I was a young Magical Girl."

She pulls the point back and raises an eyebrow.

Your face feels a bit numb as you sort through your own thoughts. Is this going to give you bad habits in the future? You need more information now, even if it is already starting to feel less like you are talking to a real person.

"Did you kill her?"

"Almost." she steps towards you, "I don't know your face, and something is odd about you. Who are you?"

Oh! There is something you can use here, something you tucked away long ago. With a thought you extrude the broken hilt into your hand to display.

"You gave me this when we were in Toronto." you exclaim.

Goddess Grey gasps, "That's-What happened to you?"

"A horrible demon locked me up for years." you point towards the prison artifact, "I didn't want to leave you or anyone trapped in there. Do you?"

She shifts from her posturing stance into a more flexible one. All the authority appears to drop out of her face, replaced with an empty look.

"No. I don't want to leave her there Summit."

You start accelerating backwards, this is the part where she kills you.

Grey grits her teeth, "I don't want to do any of this, but I don't have a better option right now!"

A stream of bladed death rushes at you, you weave and duck away from the brunt of it and batter away the largest parts with your Panoply. This action, or rather the awkward configuration it forces your Panoply to assume, slows your flight to a crawl. Goddess Grey adjusts her attacks to push you further down, lunges at you when you dive, and catches you with a long whip-like sword to pull you into the ground.

You hadn't even worked yourself free when she bisects you with an especially potent conjured weapon.
[CCAASCADE]

"Don't touch that!"

The swords puncturing Solid Core's corpse are different. The last time you recall taking them in they felt like a connection to a vast realm of power. Now the dark purple edges, almost black really, echo the pain of death when you look at them. Are the swords laughing at you?

You let your Panoply fall apart around you, "Ah!"

As usual Goddess Grey moves between you and Solid Core's macabre pincushion. This time she keeps hold of her large sword.

"Who are you and why are you here." Grey punctuates her words by poking the blade closer to you with each syllable.

"Sorry! I'm Magical Girl Lockpick, I often get into odd places. Goddess Red found me and wanted me to help fix Zoe's mess?"

She pulls back her weapon, then squints at you, "That doesn't seem right, haven't we met before?"

Something non-committal would be good, "I'm surprised you'd remember me."

"Toronto, before the fall of Hope." Goddess Grey says quietly, an odd polearm with a long spike appearing in her left hand, "Now you're just another Magical Girl who had her heroics shattered by this war. That's why Lockpick didn't appear when we scryed."

You dart your Panoply away from her first stab, catch the next swing away from the point, now crackling with electricity, but she cuts her own weapon with another sword and flicks the spearhead into your Panoply. Contact makes your weapons shatter into harmless dust as it releases a charge. Then Grey conjures a bear trap on a chain to trap a leg while you try to scramble away.

"I don't know what you're doing-" she says while dragging you off your feet, "But stop it, I won't leave you dead for long."

You try to kick away in defiance, but she's much stronger than she looks, "I haven't done anything. Just stop trying to kill me!"

"Do you see anyone else?"

As a matter of fact, you can see a lesser demon running where the ground should have been. The sides of the blasted crater contain only three points of interest, as her gesture demonstrates.

"Solid Core and those blades." you answer.

"I see."

Goddess Grey pulls back on the chain and twirls you through the air by the bear trap around your leg. A tightened loop and release sends you clipping the lip of the crater and bouncing on the ground outside of it. With a sharp tug Grey pulls herself towards you.

"Wait! What do you want? Do I have to die for it!" you shout.

She waits for you to finish talking while looming above you.

"I want people to keep their promises. And there's more going on than you know."

A human-like demon with fierce claws on his left hand points at you, "Just kill her!"

"This is about my satisfaction, not yours!" Grey shouts back.

She's holding a dreadfully familiar, dreadfully powerful sword in her right hand. You start to crawl back while she talks.

It doesn't make a difference. Grey snaps the sword to just above your head.

"You'll be happier this way, I was."
[CAASSCADE]

"Give up Summit!"

That sounds like a cue to re-think your approach. You try to glare at her while thinking as quickly as you can manage about what to do. It appears your glare is not effective.

[CASSCCADE]

"Give up Summit!"
----

[X] [Gehaburn]
-[X] Collect and Fuse
-[X] Don't Touch (1.2x)

[X] Go on the offensive, you badly want to smack a Goddess right now
-[X] Battle tactics? (write-in, feel free to be vague about this)
She knows enough to try breaking your Panoply, but isn't focusing on your teleportation as much.
[X] Keep talking. Something is starting to stick, maybe you can find a working approach.
-[X] Ideas? (write-in)
[X] Teleport away
-[X] To the prison artifact
-[X] Anywhere but here!

[Please refer to Crossworlds 19 for an explanation of what's happening (one threadmark back)]
----

Status of Combatants:

Magical Girl Summit: Reset
Magical Girl Juggernaut Drive: Unaware, waiting ~300 meters away
Magical Girl Judgement Drive: Unaware, waiting ~320 meters away

Magical Girl Goddess Grey: Unharmed, out to get you
----

+30 EXP I Face Death With Renewed Strength!
+20 EXP A Reunion of Sorts
+1 EXP Will You Stop With the Head Slicing Thing!

345 + 51 = 396 EXP

EXP cannot be spent at this time!

kelllogo · Jul 19, 2020

[X] Keep talking. Something is starting to stick, maybe you can find a working approach.
-[X] Be forthright. You are Magical Girl Summit and you have been sent here to help Grey resolve this situation if she lets you. Tell her you were sent here on short notice (which is true) and you need to know the specifics before you can help properly.
--[X] By now you know that something makes the situation reset time and again if you die (apparently), and trying to fight Grey (as you are now) gets you nowhere. If she actually tries to kill you, don't resist futilely. Instead, point out she is being far too hostile, possibly brainwashed or affected by something. Also, tell her you have a spell that disrupts magic in the area if she is worried about something affecting you, so if she could stop pressing on you with her Overwhelming Presence you could prove you aren't a danger to her. If she does let you cast the spell, use Wave Force to do just that, without aiming it at her or the blades...
--[X] Also since, again, fighting her as you are now gets you nowhere, pay some more attention to your surroundings. You're supposed to have a Peerless Explorer given ability to assess the surrounding auras, magical effects and territory effects, lean on it. Is there really nothing but what you've already seen on cursory glance?
--[X] If she still kills you, be more insistent in asking for details. If she's thinking you need Ni's attention, tell her you'd need to know it anyway whether before she drags your corpse to Ni or after, so she could tell you now. If she keeps refusing anyway ask her if there's something wrong going on with this place, besides the swords and the general crater-that-never-was that is.
--[X] You may consider trying to fake Ni's Seal, especially if Grey appears to be less on guard or immediately hostile. Just be aware that this ploy will only work maybe once, if at that. So keep your brainwashed-by-Ni status ambiguous unless you think faking it is sure to help.
--[X] If it keeps going on again and again, tell her that killing you over and over in a goddamn timeloop won't get anyone anywhere. Would she stop for a minute and tell you what is wrong - with this place, with this situation and with Grey herself? Vent a little at her, and maybe try and get her to vent at you.

This got away from me in a few places, June doesn't count as a month in my book and this update got much larger than I first thought.
----

"Can we talk about this?" you ask.

As you speak you push out thin spikes from your Panoply and many more faintly glowing lines of orange light that resemble the magical Panoply limbs. Pushing on the ground gives a burst of speed at an angle from where you had started to fly. Grey leaps and spins on a polearm she embeds in the ground to rush at you faster. She's going at least twice your speed as she flies by with an armful of long pointy things that try to tear away your Panoply.

Having expected this, your mutable weapon shatters mostly harmlessly and Grey must bring herself to a complete stop and accelerate back. She throws a spiked chain that sinks into the crater walls and pulls herself along it while preparing her free hand to swing something large. You catch the huge sword before it sinks past the outermost layers of your weapon, the momentum of the swing pushing you into the ground, and into a roll.

Grey puts on the brakes, leaving a trench where her boots scrape the ground. She drops into a sprinter's stance as she lines up.

"Not now. You probably want to keep doing this until you figure out how to talk me down." as Grey talks she throws a titanic amount of daggers, shuriken, darts, and nets at you with the fingers of one hand.

Only a fraction of the barrage poses any danger, but it is still enough to hinder flying further up. The mass of metal embedded or hanging off your weapon is annoying as well. On the whole, this has gone fairly well. Now to keep watch on where you can go from this according to Grey's reactions.

"Ask anything, I can help you!" you shout.

Grey dives at you, throwing metal with one hand while couching an anti-Panoply lance in the other. You fling back a handful of metal you have on hand at the point while firing at it with a short burst. Grey yanks the point out of the rays and a handful of small weapons appear blocking where the shots would have hit her, but the fancy weapon breaks as the yank causes the point to intersect a shuriken-filled net.

Mighty screeches fill the crater as a pickaxe, scythe, and hoe scrape off parts of your Panoply. You ignore the nuisance hits and deflect a stab from an outrageously large spring-loaded thing.

Grey steps back, flicking her hands against one another and letting out a breath. You compose your Panoply to a more compact, reactive form and tense, preparing for another try at getting airborne.

"Let me see your face."

You let your weapon flow away from your head. Grey steps closer and puts her left hand on your Panoply right next to your chin. That hand has a bladed glove appear, just slightly away from cutting your face with the thumb blade.

"Now tell me what you're trying to do." Grey demands.

"To walk out of here without you trying to kill me." you answer.

She clicks her tongue, then tears your head away with her left hand.
[CASCADDE]

You want to scream in frustration. Goddess Grey is a haughty, overpowered, jerk! She could tell you were telling the truth, you just know she could, and she killed you anyways.

"Give up Summit!"

Some of your previous actions worked out, see how they work with a bit of variation and optimization. Hollow spikes to entice Grey to try breaking your weapon. Maybe you can make it look like you're going to try teleporting. You coil up your Panoply under the surface in preparation for some tricky maneuvers.

An outraged coil of emotion makes your neck feel tight. Best not to speak while you simmer down.

Grey beelines at you, swords in hand and swinging for your weapon. Again, you can't match her acceleration, but once again she breaks the bait spikes without the resistance she expected. You slide away from her, accelerate slightly into flight, and push against the ground with a slender arm of your Panoply.

She erupts a stream of blades that sever the extended parts of your weapon. Normally losing bits and pieces of expressed Panoply leaves you feeling off-balance and blinded. In present circumstances you had the expectation of losing those parts, vision is still being reduced at an alarming rate though. With a snap you feel in your bones the coils erupt from under the surface of your weapon. Physical components shove against the very weapons Grey launched at you, around them the immaterial strands of your Panoply push even harder.

You rocket away with explosive force. Parts of your weapon shatter under the strain you place upon it, even before a fan of guillotine blades pass through it. Minimal concern, you marshal the shattered mess Grey's attacks and your actions have left of your weapon. It feels more responsive than it was a moment ago, even when whole.

Goddess Grey doesn't spend very long standing and throwing nuisance attacks at you. Massive weapons appear around her. First, a huge chain that she pushes herself down with so she can jump after you faster. Before the chain finishes falling she jumps and uses her other arm to pull herself forward on her next weapon, a pike that anchors into the ground, it snaps under the force exerted by the hero of blades. Having picked up speed she produces a third large sword from nowhere to adjust course towards you by pushing with a leg.

That is so cool. She doesn't have to think about what she's doing, just notice that you're flying away and reflexively throw herself into an intercept course. It would be even cooler if she wasn't about to cleave you in twain with a preposterously powerful weapon.

If you were to do this again you think you would try to squeeze space so she was shunted downward right after aiming for you. You hope you're right about Goddess Grey not consciously thinking her actions through.
[CASCADEE]

"Give up Summit!"

Actions repeating themselves is an eerie sensation. You feign a weak point on your weapon and fling yourself away, losing chunks and pieces of your Panoply with almost every action. Letting your weapon fracture was something you had avoided, yet it doesn't have the effects you feared. Not anymore at least.

Grey presents a problem. To push her away you need a solid hit. To get a solid hit an attack must connect. And Grey's reaction to anything within her arm's reach has unreal speed. What you need is to start an attack from long range that strikes her without crossing the intervening distance.

First you need distance, leading Grey around by letting her tear your Panoply off in pieces buys you actions, but she remains dangerously close. Flying isn't building up speed quickly enough. Teleporting has some kind of tell Grey can react to before the bubble forms.

"Ramm…" your spell fizzles.

Goddess Grey has imbued the magic nearby with great weight. Trying to concentrate enough of it to activate a spell makes it spill away from your grasp. Or like a blade that refuses to harm its master.

Even as you find yourself facing the wrong directions you still slide away from Grey's first strike. The following barrage pulverizes most of your Panoply, leaving you effectively motionless as blade after blade hits you.

[CASCCADE]

"Give up Summit!"

You catch the change in magic as it sweeps by. It penetrates through you as Grey announces herself. No opportunity to grab or reserve magic without her steely nature. How is she doing that?

Now is not the time to dwell on that, how can you be faster yourself? Thought races faster than you can get your own weapon to respond, twisting springs in spare moments to make critical future actions faster has gotten you a bit of extra speed.

Could you do multiple things at once? Silly question, of course you can. You do that all the time, an accelerated moment of thinking reveals.

Most of that is balancing your action so the next one is swift. Your Panoply acting like the limbs you had fed to it so long ago. And held carefully to preserve strength at all times. You've already begun to discard guarding your weapon, how much more could you do if you permitted your Panoply to tear itself apart in search of more speed?

A lot more, it turns out. You can turn your weapon inside out and flop to the ground instead of finishing a leap. You think you know how to manage that better, going over it in your head while Goddess Grey swings at you.

[CAASCAADE]

"Give up Summit!"

Grey charges at you, like the prior attempts. You extend hollow spikes that look like you're trying to grab the ground, like the prior attempts. When Grey cuts off the spikes you lean into the blows slightly. Using the force of her attacks to cleave out parts that are large enough to be effective and bound by the non-physical sections of your Panoply. Then you start a teleportation attempt.

Grey somehow notices the effort and muddles the effort by throwing some odd, space-twisting darts at you. As those embed themselves into the surface of your weapon you sweep out at Grey's feet. She stops the attack cold with a sword that appears in her hand. As the impact starts to crumble your weapon it rumbles with a god-awful sound and extends a point at high speed towards her hip.

Grey still reacts to the sudden assault. While her left hand is still cutting through parts of your attack she conjures a curved polearm in her right hand to block the point from striking her.

Which is when your hand starts to really pick up speed as the smallest section of your weapon wrenches your arm around. Air digs against your fingers and bites at the fleshy parts of your palm.

Grey still, somehow, spots that you're moving at her. She's let go of the sword in her left hand and pulled it just far enough from her halo of weapons to produce the odd spear that shatters your Panoply. In the close range there is almost no time between the point appearing and your weapon breaking into an unusable mess.

SLAP!

You feel more than hear the impact of your palm on Goddess Grey's face. Everything seems to both speed up and linger as you tumble into the weapons surrounding her (mostly abandoned by their wielder). For all the force in your elbow, shoulder, and hand the strike appeared to only force Goddess Grey's head to turn slightly.

As you stand back up from your tumble you notice blood welling up from points on your hand.

"I didn't know you could do that." Grey comments in a muted tone.

You gulp, somehow still alive, and turn so you can see her, "Neither did I."

[Flurry discovered!

Set Panoply to Intercept + Priority Boost and gain the option to make immediate reactions at the cost of heavy strain damage or weapon breakage.

Simply put, by having your weapon tear itself apart you can coax it to move rapidly.]

Grey runs a finger over her jaw, where you slapped her. She's turned to watch you, but is otherwise just standing there.

No sense in wasting this opportunity, "I don't know what you're trying to do, but trying to kill one another has gotten us nowhere."

Is that too aggressive? Should you have tried to bring up another subject?

"I didn't let you hit me. And you shouldn't have been able." Grey sighs, "Weren't you fascinated by those things that pretend to be swords? What am I missing?"

You glance at Solid Core's corpse and the blades filling it. And advert your eyes a moment later, those swords hurt to look at.

"When you first appeared you warned me about the swords. It sounded important so I avoided them. I think I'm remembering more than you are." you say.

A shadow with a dozen legs (Chaos) walks on the empty space where the ground would be if not for the crater. Hopefully Grey asks about the memories next.

Grey glances up, then back at you, "For me? Just like that even now? Even after I tried to kill you?"

You nod.

Grey looks away and rubs at her eyes, "Thank you Summit."

This is starting to feel too close to her resuming her attack, "Is there something I can help you with? If you let me cast something I may be able to disrupt the effect."

She smirks at you. With a step she darts an arm under yours and pulls you in for a kiss. You make an undignified squeak and twitch before making yourself relax. After a second she relents and lets you go.

"Hmm, I've actually got a task I need your help to finish." Grey shakes her head once, "Once we wake up it's very important that you follow my instructions. My little sister, no, little sisters, made a huge mess. If I had more time I would have better options, keep that in mind please."

"I'll try. Can I try dispelling things now?"

Grey waves a hand, "No need. I took some time to look things over again. This isn't quite like the last time those damn things tried to get me. Yet another mess I made.."

Before you can say something else Grey throws you into the pavilion and leaps after you. As you both leave the crater your vision goes hazy.
----

You jolt awake. At some point you flew right into the ground? And you're on fire, presently being covered by some fire emitting limb of a car-sized demonic spider. You shake your Panoply violently to clear the flames and skitter along the ground.

Then Grey rushes out of the pavilion. Her presence stuns everyone except for you, diminished not a wit by her not wearing anyt-, no, she's holding a sword.

"You are late. Everyone! Guard!" she commands.

"What is the meaning of this!" a demon runs out after her.

From the pavilion entrance a pink-haired woman with short blunt horns peeks out while fastening a robe around her waist.

"Anna owes me a favor." Grey quips back at the demon.

You've shaken off the fire by now and are complying with Grey's unspoken command. Don't embarrass me.

All around you a commotion has arisen, yet Grey's words changed it from preparing to charge at you to scanning the area around them with intent. How long has this group been under her control? What sort of actions did this group of demons engage in?

Grey walks around the spot where you hit the ground and nods to herself.

A wave of incredible power sweeps over everything. Every one of your senses registers the weight of Goddess Grey's spell. Then Grey disappears.

A little over a second later she reappears at the entrance to her pavilion. She swings a very odd sword into the air in front of her. Juggernaut Drive charges spear-first into the wake of the sword swing and vanishes into motes of light. Judgement Drive follows a moment after, although she appears to have been thrown instead of intentionally moving.

Your heart sinks.

"One more and I'll have the full set!" Grey cheers. The woman from the pavilion steps out and starts wrapping Grey in a robe, grey of course.

The pompous demon, with scales instead of hair and wearing a dark red cloak, moves very close to Grey and points at her.

"What set? And why did you permit Zoe to act if you had Anna's loyalty?"

"That was Juggernaut Drive and Judgement Drive. And if you bothered to ever pay attention you'd know Zoe and I did not get along."

He hisses at the insult, "You go too far."

"No. You do." Grey snaps.

She slams a spear into the dirt so the shaft appears within a centimeter of the demon's face. Then claps her hands and walks closer to you.

"You've probably heard this from Zoe already, but I'll say it again. My little sister and some of the most impressive Magical Girls anywhere got locked inside the prison artifact you broke. I need you to help fix it up enough so it can be transported."

"So you can carry it in your pocket instead of holding it in a cage?" a nervous energy makes you squeeze your fists tight.

There's little doubt in your mind where this is going. What else would anyone want that ...thing for? You push your Panoply behind you so you aren't tempted to brandish it at someone.

"Exactly! Then I can catch-." Grey catches herself mid-sentence.

"So you can own them!"

"No! Nothing like what happened to you. This is so there will still be a group of Magical Girls that want humanity to prosper."

"That you rule!"

"Yes! That I and my sisters rule!" Grey declares.

The demon from before snarls, "From your own mouth you spout treason."

Grey pivots on a heel and snaps back, "Nothing less than I was promised Rat."

Rat, what an appropriate name. The way his gaze falls on you makes your hackles rise. He strides towards you. You take a few steps back and consider taking to the air to avoid him touching you.

"Perhaps." Rat grabs your shoulder, "Permit me to punish her and-"

Focusing your gaze on something still doesn't set it on fire, but not for lack of effort on your part, "Don't touch me."

Grey smirks a bit, "I won't give commands that Anna would rather die than obey. That demeans both of us. You should do what she says."

Rat grabs your other shoulder and tugs you with unnatural strength. Your panoply blazes with brilliant light as it slams down on both of his arms. The jolt is enough for you to tear away from his grip. Another section of your weapon flows up and catches each of Rat's shoulders in a vice.

Whatever this particular demon is made out of is tough indeed. You have to ratchet up the force quite a bit to separate his arms from his body while he screams at the inimical energies you're channeling.

You pull back and start focusing energy for a final strike while the now-disarmed Rat stares in shock at you and his lack of arms. Grey pokes a spear in between the focal point and the stunned Rat.

"That will do."

"Mistress! Save me!" Rat contorts to grovel towards Goddess Grey.

You let the attack dissipate and raise an eyebrow.

"Believe you me, I don't like Rat any more than you do. He's just here to tattle on my actions and an odious coward besides. But his boss is someone I can't offend. Salem! Bring Rat and his arms to some medics. Gold! Show Anna the device."

A few questions run through your head. How much of that was planned? Rat was forgettable next to Goddess Grey. Are you going to live past whatever service Grey asks of you? She appeared willing enough to just kill you and wait for her sister Goddess Red to raise your corpse. How much has she learned about you?

Keeping your mouth shut appears the best course of action right now. What did Solid Core even do to drive her off?

The woman with blunt horns (Luxury) takes a small step towards you and makes a small bow, "Hello Anna. I am called Aura. I assist Goddess Grey and her allies."

Her voice is amazingly pleasant. It brings to mind when your therapist took you on a trip outside the hospital and you ate ice cream while watching cars crawl along the streets of Chicago. It's pleasant, you could happily listen to her read the phone book, but also a clear magical effect.

"Could you tone it down? And call me Summit please." hearing demons and adversaries using your given name all the time is going to make and future civilian actions annoying.

Not that you've done much of anything outside your Magical Girl form in the last week.

Aura bows, "Of course Magical Girl Summit. I shall address you as you prefer, and I'll try to be a little less supernaturally pleasant for you."

Her voice is still nice, but already less compelling.

She puts a hand behind you but does not touch you as she points to the pavilion entrance, "I've sent for the artificers already, the object is just inside as soon as you're ready to begin. You gave us quite a start arriving like you did. Mistress Grey nearly knocked me over."

You glance at the hem of her robe. Aura smirks.

"I know what you're thinking. It was just a backrub." Grey interjects, wagging her finger at you.

You walk as directed. Goddess Grey ruffles Aura's hair and rushes ahead of you, muttering something about clothes.

Past the threshold Aura nudges you (still without contact) to the right. Parts of Marax's prison artifact float inside a cage of swords, sparks falling out of a crack regularly. Another demon sits in mid air (Fire, Pride), her head coated in thick smoke and embers creaking from her neck when she moves. She's wearing dark grey fabric over armor that appears to be made of stone. A tangle of bright purple smoke and orange lines (Mystery, Chaos) is rubbing one of the swords with a rag. Next to you a demon ground commander is setting down a tray laden with jars. He's covered in head to toe in chrome armor that's been polished to a mirror sheen.

The mystery Dark Star drops the rag and the orange lines spin within itself in a chaotic manner, "My my my! I've never seen a Magical Girl with four Affinities before!"

"Contain yourself." the floating demon says with a flat voice.

"Right, right." the Dark Star chirps out, "I am Hub and can't wait to help restore this item."

The orange lines that wander outside the purple haze of his, well, body, are nearly the same color as your Panoply. His shape brings to mind a jellyfish that tries to sweep over a large volume.

The commander stands up straight and thumps a fist to his chest.

"Mistress Grey has gifted me the name of Kakichan. I can sense impending danger and am here to warn you before you injure yourself." the floating demon declares, remaining still in midair.

"And to keep Hub in line" you say.

Aura nods vigorously and Kakichan barks out a laugh.

You consider the location of the entities in the room and the possibility of breaking the artifact and running. Maybe you could grab a chunk and pull the captured girls out of it? Grey had enough control to drop people into the artifact already.

Kakichan shouts in alarm, "Whatever you're about to do is lethally dangerous!"

You haven't even done anything yet…

Aura puts a hand on your shoulder, "You wouldn't betray Mistress Grey's trust?"

Is the correct response a nod or shaking your head? With your backup caught and Goddess Grey likely still in stabbing range it was a bad idea anyway. Not that cooperating looks good either. She was quite willing to kill you and bring your body to Goddess Red earlier and you aren't sure how long her improved mood will last.

"I don't have any fondness for this item." you deflect.

"Neither does Mistress Grey. She was most distraught when her sister was captured within it. Please trust she will use it wisely."

Hub shakes in place and starts darting around you, "Do you have any pieces? I've been stabilizing it by filling in missing chunks but there are some voids that need a larger piece. Never mind the sparks! They aren't as dangerous as they look- oh! But the swords are more dangerous so you have to be careful if you reach in there. I think I know how to make the pieces fit together. The missing parts were missing so I couldn't be sure."

The small Dark Star pauses and collects himself, "Are you listening, Magical Girl?"

"I am using the parts that I have. My weapon might not function properly if I relinquish them." you say.

Actually, hearing yourself say that makes you sure that it wouldn't make a difference. The broken pieces you fused were never going to make a working whole again. How a bit less than half the shards were turned into a functioning object, however shaky, is a mystery.

"You can keep them!" Hub says, "Your parts have diverged and I could never make the item what it once was. With your help I can remake the needed parts and your talent can provide the spark that will allow me to reforge it without shaking the world contained within."

Kakichan fiddles with her elbow, "It was a floating mass of fragments when we started. I don't know what Zoe did to make that work. And I do not wish to know."

Hub had started to focus on Kakichan before her last sentence. He quivers for a moment before picking up the rag he had been using to polish the sword cage.
----

Your first impression of Grey's group of experts had placed Hub at the very bottom as far as danger went. In a rushed fight that may be the case. In other ways he's perfectly terrifying.

In seven minutes he had examined the largest piece you possessed of the prison artifact. You had twisted space at his instructions while he kept throwing a black powder around. He then pulled a replica piece (that differed in shape dramatically) from a jar, rubbed some of the powder on it, ate some sort of mana crystal (Magic), and threw the smoldering replica piece into the sword cage with the rest of the artifact.

When the piece slotted in everything in the room was tugged towards the cage by a sudden force. The silent demon commander braced his feet and put a large hand on the tray of tools to hold it in place. Kakichan and Hub appeared unaffected. And you caught Aura when her feet left the ground.

The odd effect was brought to an end when Goddess Grey vaulted in and tossed a pair of swords at the cage. Gravity returned to normal, barring a sudden urge to move far away from the artifact.

"That's a good sign! Slowly shifting means the insides stay inside." Hub says.

You set Aura back on the ground. She starts thanking you before going quiet.

"And we stayed on the outside. Good job everyone." Grey says.

Hub spins in place and rushes back to the tool tray. Aura gently extracts herself from your grip and waves goodbye.

"That wasn't even ten minutes." you say.

Grey shrugs, "Not really. Hub has been working on it non-stop since he got here."

"That is still rapid speed."

"You should hear what the demons think of a production line. I've watched a 20 foot tall general openly weep after I explained that Earth produces thousands of tanks each year instead of having built up the forces over decades. Artisans like Hub may be quick, but won't spring up in several places"

Hub ahems at you, "Can I see the other pieces you have?"

You extend every other identifiable piece for examination. Hub sprinkles some of his black dust over them and churns within himself.

You take in a deep breath, "What was going on with the crater?"

Grey stares at you, then rubs her forehead, "I thought I knew what was going on when I didn't. How long were you stuck like that?"

"You killed me ten times."

"Oh? I only remember two or three…. Why give up so soon? I would have spent days honing my skills if I were you." Grey says.

"Because the swords hurt worse to be around every time."

"I'm sorry."

Grey taps her fingers on her hip, "I can make it up to you. Want to practice some more? I want to see that trick again."

You shake your head, "That literally involved tearing myself apart."

Grey sighs, leans a bit closer, and flicks her finger against the center of your forehead, "You have a bad attitude."

You bring a hand over the struck area. That hurts! Hub digs out his dust from the rug, taking advantage of the finest strands that make up his body.

"Grom, have you spoken a word yet?" Grey steps over to poke the armored commander with an elbow.

The commander in question shakes his head slowly from side to side.

"Mistress, forgive me, but what you have in mind is dangerous." Kakichan interjects.

"Thank you Little Candle." Grey nods, glancing back at you.

You feel your guts clench up. What was she thinking about? You?

"How did you get the prison away from Marax? He wasn't reasonable." you ask, eager to change the subject.

"Zoe killed him!" Hub blurts out.

"And you killed Zoe. That's all we know now." Grey finishes.

Aura looks through the door, "I can confirm that Marax was unreasonable. Grandmother wanted that item to turn into a personal realm, but Marax threatened to destroy it himself rather than sell it."

Kakichan snorts, "I'm surprised she didn't kill him over that!"

Aura walks in wearing a layered dress that shines iridescently, "She did send some agents after the Boatmen at about the same time. Maybe she meant to kill him and was distracted?"

Sounds like you had a bit of luck there. Whoever Aura's grandmother might be, she's apparently more powerful than Marax was (and did demons even have families? You recall that they didn't). Your flight from Hell was harrowing enough, at least you think it was.

"The gossip can wait for now. Any news?" Grey says.

"The Rat wants a report on our guest. He wants someone to go to him instead of coming back here. There's been a pair of signals from Earth, but no replies."

"Good to hear."

"Can you make a portal for me to throw these through?" Hub asks.

You produce a small shining orb in mid air. Hub begins throwing the pieces through, followed by masses of the black dust that he's used throughout the process.

Goddess Grey starts to say something, then sighs.

"When you said there was a lot going on, can you tell me anything about it?" you ask her.

"Again. I thought I knew what was going on, and I didn't. For years." She starts grinding two knives against one another, producing a grinding noise, "Hub, how much longer?"

"Not much longer. Forty minutes at most!" he chirps.

Hub is alternating between throwing pieces through your portal, throwing dust around, and fiddling with some kind of clay.

"Is that it?" you say.

Grey nods, "I thought it would take more effort. You still need to help me get the artifact out of the cage once Hub finishes."
----

After a few more minutes of fiddling Hub had declared he needed to sinter the components he'd made. Grey had dragged you outside and insisted you try to react ever faster while she watched you. Followed shortly by her tearing your weapon and outfit to shreds with a tide of small blades.

"It's armor that's holding you back. You think your weapon is armor, but it isn't. Or at least it doesn't have to be." Grey lectures.

You don't like the change. Without the solid parts of your Panoply your granted vision is fuzzy and it's harder to hold yourself with your weapon. Speed is mixed as well, it can react faster when you focus, but you can't leverage against other parts of the weapon anymore. Momentum is almost nil this way.

"I lose too much without having it in place." you say.

Grey tosses another trio of javelins, "That's the heart of your weapon. Everytime you move the immaterial part is what reacts first. How did you fail to practice with it for years?"

"It changed on me recently."

"Huh. That sucks." Grey throws three more just as you catch the last set, "Zoe would have probably killed you if it hadn't, so perhaps you're lucky?"

You're pulled off your feet by a sudden yank. Grey also stumbles and falls. Her pavilion topples as well.

The pair of you recover using your weaponry before hitting the ground. Both staring at the still-falling tent.

Aura scrambles out of the entrance, "Hub has completed the project!"

The tent fabric shimmers and vanishes, leaving furniture, rugs, shelves, and the containment cage behind.

"It works!" Hub cackles.

"Great!" Grey cheers, "An-Summit, I'm going to get you some supplies and talk you through dismantling the cage, ok? Grom! Fetch her the supplies!"

You nod. As Grey's crew moves around you start fusing stray javelins to bulk your Panoply back up. It's quite spotty, but you have enough to hold up the box that Grom brings.

As far as plans go you don't have a good one. Grey wants you to expand space on one side of the sword cage so Hub can extract the remade prison artifact. You plan to grab it and teleport away, then just run.

It's missing a lot in terms of dealing with other trinkets Hub may have on hand. And the army of demons. Even the Elven Supergate you're literally on top of feels like something you should be using.

Try to deflect attention, "Grey, do you know what the painful swords were?"

"A bad dream and bad news. It gave me a vision of dying and tried to convince me to take it. That's all I care to know." she answers.

Grey tosses a dozen more swords into the cage, "Summit, dismantle from the northern face if you would. The one with the fewest amount of swords."

You approach the cage, and put a hand close to one of the swords, "Space has gotten a bit tangled here. I need to work from the inside."

You put your hand inside the cage, heart pounding as you hold the bubbles of a desperate teleport in reserve. The empty air resists your intrusion, like cold ice cream resists a scoop. You prepare to shove your hand in with more force-.

Grey swings an oddly-shaped sword near you and the world shifts.

Soft blue light washes over everything from above. Platforms stand tall from below and link to one another with graceful pathways. The interior is not as it was when you last were held within the confines of the prison artifact. Something tugs at you as you fall, reducing terminal velocity to just above a walking pace.

You want to scream. If you hadn't been holding a teleport you may have been able to block the wake that dropped you in here. After a moment of consideration you do scream.

The pavilion from before has fallen, and is hanging over a suspended pathway.

Oh.

That's odd. You can see the same tent lying on a similar pathway along a line. As you descend a bit more you can see yourself flying along the same line. A little bit of directed blinking confirms that you are, in fact, seeing yourself. Curious. This is not at all like the prior layout of twisty little tunnels that occasionally let out to a void.

Solid Drive (you think, she has purple hair) (Purity, Faith, Divinity) emerges from under a broad pathway and flies towards you, her feet kicking off of instant platforms to keep her speed up. You call out to her, but she does not reply. A louder shout boosted by your weapon fails to get her attention, or even produce an echo.

The damping effect on speed must be stopping sound as well. Not perfectly, thankfully. You could still hear yourself talk.

"Countdown start! Core Purge!"

Parts of Solid Drive's leotard fall away and dissolve into motes of light. A heavy weight of light presses against and around, squeezing so tightly that you almost feel that you will be crushed. It loosens its pressure as quickly as it arrived.

"Excuse me?" you ask after failing to think of what just happened.

"It's fine. You're clean. Let's head back to the others and you can tell us what happened." Solid Drive hugs you and pulls you towards the ground at a faster pace than you could fall.

"You're heavy." she mutters at the edge of hearing.

You keep quiet at that. Since the box of tools Goddess Grey gave you outweighs you handily it makes sense she'd say that.

"This place is weird. Everything started melting from the red cliff nightmare into this pillar system a few minutes back." she says.

"Makes sense. Grey had an artificer stabilizing the item a few minutes back."

Solid Drive frowns, "And you just watched?"

You've almost reached the lowest level. The pathways above block out most of the light. A group of Magical Girls, along with Angel Gabriel and some sort of naga girl, are spread out under a particularly broad pathway, watching you descend.

Juggernaut Drive takes to the air and moves to hover above you as you are set down.

"I was hoping to grab the item and run. But Goddess Grey dropped me back in here when I thought I could escape." you explain.

Goddess White nods from where she's sitting, "Desperate hope is often predictable."

Solid Drive sets you down and her bigger? Sister swoops in to hug her.

Oh, you got them mixed up again. Solid Core had flown out alone to collect you. Solid Core happily accepts the embrace.

"Oh how the turntables." Juggernaut Drive says, rattling her spear at you.

"Explain yourself." Judgement drive says, words dripping with fury.

Goddess White stands up, "Enough you two. She offered to speed up progress in hopes of sneaking away to free us. Someone having the option to kill you and raise you as a loyal minion is rather compelling."

Juggernaut nods and lands. Judgement Drive puts her sword away, but keeps glaring at you.

"What's in the box?" Carnage points at you.

Red Rose, who had been glaring at the wall up to this point, looks over at you.

You set the heavy box down, "Some tools? Someone handed it to me and said I'd need it, but not for what."

Some latches open, revealing the box to contain several canteens and bundles of food. As well as a few letters.

A purple-haired girl (Annihilation, Protection, Epic) with a huge shield peeks at the contents.

"Does anyone here trust food from Goddess Grey?" she asks, then her stomach gurgles.

You express out the cooler you had held within your Panoply, "The Counter Force sent some things as well."

Carnage grabs the cooler and opens it. "Yes! I could kiss you right now!"

You step back from the sudden interest in food. Carnage passes the cooler to Red Rose and moves closer to put an arm on your shoulder.

"Excuse-."

Before you can finish Carnage pulls herself closer to plant a kiss. Your heart does a backflip or three and a tingling feeling crawls over your fingers, toes, and lips as Carnage softly brushes against you. The sensation drifts to a maddening low as she lightly drifts away, only to surge back suddenly as she puts a hand on your head to pull you against her. A puff of exhaled air from her nose tickles your face. And then it ends.

You take in a breath and pull your hands up to touch your lips. Carnage winks at you. What the hell was that?

"Carnage and Summit sitting in a tree!" the naga girl chants at the pair of you.

A deep flush crawls up your face, "D-don't get the wrong idea, Carnage just has Love as an Affinity!"

Carnage laughs, ruffles your hair a bit, and leaves to push her way into the group around the cooler.
----

After Goddess White finishes her share of food she takes the lead in a planning session. Specifically, a session about what they're going to have you do, the Drives already being set with tasks.

"I can have a portal to the outside open in six minutes." you interject.

A blonde girl with twintails almost as impressive as her power (Excellence, Sol, Epic) frowns at that, "You need a connection to the outside for that. Judgement tried using her spell for several minutes."

"The whole place almost fell apart!" the shielder girl exclaims.

Adding up the time in your head, yes that seems right, "That was probably Hub adding pieces from the outside."

"Wonderful to hear that she decided to rebuild the box while we're all trapped inside of it." Red Rose grumbles.

"I bought a piece of the outside in with me. And I have broken out of this place before." you say.

White raises an eyebrow, "Why did she toss you in here then?"

You shrug, "I guess she didn't know."

"What if Summit can't escape?" Solid Core asks.

"Then she can use her space warping to help me shatter the whole space in hopes we survive the backlash." White says, "It is proposed that we wait and see if Summit can make good on her claim of escape, any opposed?"

"You don't have to pretend to care about what we think." Carnage says.

Red Rose crosses her arms, "You are out of order."

"No one has voiced opposition, motion carries."

"Solid Core, before we leave can you grant me the empowerment you gave Gabriel?" you say.

"Oh?" Solid Core blinks, "I don't think so? That's just for my …comrades. Not something I can just bestow."

This isn't something you're willing to just ignore, "Can you try? I have had entirely too many attempts on my life recently. Most of them because of you."

"Summit." a woman of almost impossible beauty speaks, "You shouldn't try to bind yourself to something for power. It's hard to fully understand what you give up in that exchange."

Solid Core shrugs, "I'll try, but I don't think it will work."

She flies closer and leans towards your head. You lean back, not wanting yet another awkward scene today.

"Uh, I do need to kiss you. That's how it works."

Carnage whistles at you. Ugh. How do you get tangled up in these situations. You stop moving and let Solid Core peck at you.

There's a feeling like having your hand on a huge creaking structure. Or like having a magical tool focus on you. It fades out and you feel no different.

Goddess White starts discussing battle roles for the other girls. Some buff magic starts getting applied. The silver-haired girl turns into a giant snake in complete disregard for the Evil Overlord list.

"Doesn't look like it took." Solid Core comments.

You take a moment to collect your thoughts. The next few minutes promise to be eventful.

"We need to be careful when the fighting starts. Some of Grey's subordinates are there and I'd feel awful if we hurt Aura." you add, having just thought about the consequences of appearing out of Grey's pocket.

"They are all enemies." Judgement Drive states.

"Aura's there? We've got to be careful!" Juggernaut shouts.

White nods, "Thanks for the heads up. I'll keep her in one piece if I see her."

"I take it she's cute?" Carnage grins.

"No. She's pleasant to be around." you say.

Juggernaut Drive nods, "And she's cute! Aura is just the best!"
----

[Battle Role?]
Goddess White is managing the battle for most of the girls present (The Drives and Gabriel are following Nepgear's lead)

[X] Guardian
You will travel through your portal as soon as everyone else passes through and block the prison artifact from activating with your space halting Ability. With occasional defense of the less sturdy allies as the need arises.

[X] Gatekeeper
You will remain behind so if Grey throws everyone back inside it won't take 9 minutes to open a portal to outside again.

[X] ??? CORE
-[X] Abandon the attempt to link to Solid Core's Core
Trying to force something so vast could be vastly dangerous. It's not worth the risk.
-[X] Try to Link once more and latch on with all your efforts
You need this. The universe has been escalating and this may be your only chance to get ahead of it. No matter what it may cost.
(This may have severe consequences for future events!)

Solid Core's Team:
Magical Girl Solid Core
Magical Girl Solid Drive
Magical Girl Judgement Drive
Magical Girl Juggernaut Drive
Angel Gabriel

Goddess White's Task Force:
Magical Girl Goddess White
Magical Girl Solar Radiance
Magical Girl Lunar Radiance
Maiden of the West
Nightmare of West
Magical Girl Red Rose
Magical Girl Carnage
Magical Girl Summit
----

+400 EXP Ending Enmity Without Outside Aid
+1 EXP Remembering Better Times
+50 EXP A Favor Earned
+15 EXP A Trap Sprung
+1 EXP Once More With Feeling
+25 EXP Prepared to Escape the Briar Patch
+1 EXP Weighing the Soul

396 + 493 = 889 EXP

[X] [EXP] EXP Plan?

kelllogo · Jul 22, 2020

[X] Plan Battlefield Control
-[X] Battle Role: Guardian
-[X] Abandon the attempt to link to Solid Core's Core
----

"Stay behind West and don't let anyone get yanked back in." you repeat White's summary back to her.

Carnage's dragon licks out the cooler you brought. You aren't sure where she was hiding before. Carnage, West, Red Rose, and the naga girl are clutching onto her. Solar Radiance and Goddess White have situated themselves on some of the many heads of the transformed Lunar Radiance. Gabriel and the Drives plus Solid Core are leaning against the wall and making their own plans.

"Is she going to attack the exit point before we pass through?" Red Rose asks.

You shake your head, "There's no visible trace until we pass through."

"Me first!" Solid Core declares.

"Go easy on her to start. I think she may still talk to me." White says.

Solid Core gives a thumbs up.

Red Rose fiddles with her hair, "We'll see."

Carnage hums parts of a tune. Her dragon hums back, badly.

A glowing sphere appears above you. It shimmers and the nearby pillars start to pulse and glow.

"It's open." you say.

Solid Core has already begun to move. Her group locks hands behind her and they all vanish upon her touching the boundary. Lunar Radiance is next. Followed almost instantly by The White Dragon.

Which leaves you. You raise your hand to touch the portal and transit out of this place where you are now all alone.

The sky has started to lighten in the time you spent within Grey's new pocket dimension. Solid Core is picking swords out of her hair. Solid Drive has the haft of a spear stuck in her cleavage, she's thrusting her chest out and sticking out her tongue.

"Enough!" Goddess White shouts.

Grey frowns and pulls the artifact from her pocket. It glows a bright blue and the glow creeps along her arm. Nothing else happens besides the Halted space unraveling slightly at the edges.

"Hub, what happened?"

The small Dark Star raises a tiny tendril from where Judgement Drive is pressing a sword against it, "Summit must have replicated the key."

Maiden of the West jumps to the ground, you duck behind her and the naga girl that followed her.

"I have escaped from inside that thing before." you say.

"But that's impossible!" Hub shouts, "Unless you could-" he starts softly talking in a more rapid fashion.

White stamps her foot, "Is this what you've been listening to for years? That it's impossible?"

Grey looks away from her sister.

"Well?"

"I'm sorry." Grey sighs.

"Great! Gold will be overjoyed to have you back!" Solid Core cheers.

You look over the area you've landed in. There's a quite tall wooden wall with glowing posts sticking out of the top. Kakichan is nearby, having pulled two other human-sized demons down and is staring at your group with embers dancing through the smoke that covers her head. A pair of six-legged golems are pulling heavy carts. The area is about 80 meters by 200 meters with one end hosting a large panel with two pillars feeding into it, clearly some kind of portal.

"Summit, Rat is on the other side of that wall. He'll be here soon, I need you to kill him before he gets here and sounds an alarm." Grey points to one of the narrow walls.

"You're trying to trap us again." Carnage hisses.

Grey tosses the prison artifact to Goddess White, who catches it. The glow fades.

"Why can't you kill this Rat?" Solar Radiance says.

"When he dies his master will know who killed him. Summit has a motive and I need that to cover my tracks if I'm going to make your plan work." Grey says, pointing at the wall again.

"What plan?" Solid Core asks.

White points at you, "Go make some noise. We need a little more time. Everyone else, act inconspicuous."

"How?" Solid Drive asks with an incredulous tone.

No one wants to explain things to you recently. A trend that appears likely to continue. Still, you can't be too upset about the fight with Goddess Grey being cancelled. You Shift through the wall and look around.

Rat is there. He's just started walking away from a group of bulky demons towards a closed sliding door in the wall. You Shift again to intercept him.

"I believe we have unfinished business."

Rat brings up his claws, only to recoil as your Panoply blazes with bright white light, "What!"

"I detest your cruelty and am going to eradicate you for it."

"Grey forbids it! The Dark Lord's eyes are upon me! You dare not strike me!" Rat snarls.

(Darkslayer Panoply: 1600 Base Damage, +794 Dice, +200 Light of Discovery, +8000 Darkslayer, +50 Fury, X9 SMASH! = 95,796 Damage
Darkslayer Panoply: 1600 Base Damage, +794 Dice, +200 Light of Discovery, +8000 Darkslayer, +50 Fury, X9 SMASH! = 95,796 Damage
Darkslayer Panoply: 1600 Base Damage, +794 Dice, +200 Light of Discovery, +8000 Darkslayer, +50 Fury, X9 SMASH! = 95,796 Damage

287,388 Unified Damage

Rat: 2800 Resilience, +45 Dice, -2100 Juggernaut, -100 Scared Shitless of You = 645 Damage Reduction

286,743 End Damage

Rat: 180,000 - 286,743 = -106,743 Health)

The ground around you hums as your Panoply focuses to a point and explodes outwards. Every piece of your weapon is drawn taut into an incredible, overlapping, blow. When the layered attack hits Rat he breaks into chunks, flying along the ground and shedding no blood. A glow erupts from the grass beneath you as the excess energy spills over.

Hundreds of demonic soldiers of all sizes gape at you. The group Rat had been talking with seems to blink as one and they all begin running in different directions away from you.

Were you supposed to do anything else? Some smaller demons overturn a table to duck behind it. A braver soldier type levels an arbalest at you, but his companion pulls his arm back and whispers something to him. Then they start running, first in ones and twos, then all in a mass.

That should do. You Shift back to the rest of the group.

Grey holds the prison artifact up and the remaining golem of burden shimmers into nothing, along with its cart. Solar Radiance has jumped up to peer over the wall. All of Grey's followers have vanished, otherwise everybody is still here -- except for Judgement Drive. You grip space with Halting and shout for White.

"Relax. She's sorting something out." White says.

"She's letting her go." Red Rose has crossed her arms. You notice that her weapon is embedded in one of the walls.

"Grey is going to help us get Goddess Red!" Solid Core grins.

Judgement Drive appears with Team GEAR, Insight, and Judgement Core.

"After all that? How can you trust her?" you say.

White puts her sword over her shoulder, "Summit, Red Rose, this is our chance to prove that we aren't just the forces of Darkness with a different color scheme. You should both know that my older sister won't abandon us, or me."

"Thanks!" Grey salutes White, "And we're going to need all the help we can get, even if you're right."

Lucky Star raises a hand, "Uh, where's the fortresses that need to be blown out of the sky?"

"You're looking more animated." Major Roberts comments to Goddess Grey.

"Did you see where my arm went? I couldn't find it." Michael quips to the same.

"Dancer! You came to see me!" Goddess Grey waves at Roberts, "I'm really sorry, but just like last time I can't spend time with you. Bye bye."

Grey jumps to the panel and pulls something out of her pocket, "Summit, may I?"

You release your hold and stop Halting the area. The pillars emit a haze around them and a large black pane appears in front of Grey. She steps through and the effect instantly ceases. A brilliant spark of light tears through the structure a moment later.

"There." Solar Radiance says assuredly as she lands on the ground, "No one's opening that up easily."

"Where's the Fairy demolition team?" Maiden of the West asks.

Michael points a thumb at Lucky Star, who expresses her wings and flutters them nervously.

"Really?"

"Will you cut that out? We are surrounded." Judgement Drive says with some force.

Insight waves at you, "Summit, over here!"

Red Rose is pointedly looking away from Insight, despite the two standing next to one another. Solar Radiance makes a leap over dozens of meters to softly land on the transformed Lunar Radiance.

"I count 8 enemy fortresses in the air." Solar Radiance begins pointing in several directions while addressing Lucky Star.

"Much blood will be shed soon." Red Rose says softly as you fly closer.

Insight grins with predatory intent, "You're going to help us move around faster. Otherwise we might not be able to keep up with how quickly the others will be killing things."

Red Rose rubs her forehead and calls her spear back to her hand.

"What do you have in mind?" you ask.
----

[The Scourging of Reluxus]

Lucky Star is about to focus more magic than she can handle to bring down the nearby hovering fortresses and any other powerful concentration of force. Solid Core is going to be throwing Starshine around like it's going out of style. And some of the most fearsome Magical Girls alive will shred whoever is left.

This is a mass combat scenario. Solid Core and Goddess White are working together to attack and defend against a force of millions. Which means Summit has a few tasks she can focus on. Red Rose and Insight are working with you, so risks are quite low for most actions. The demons have good reason to be scared of the giant doomsnek and all the destruction the Cores are unleashing.

[X] Pinpoint Strikes
Move Red Rose around to handle any critter that withstands the magical barrage.
(Prevents Solid Core from being interrupted)

[X] Enfilading Fire
There are occasional hills that provide cover from Solid Core's wrath. Blast away the chaff personally and let Red Rose deal with any that survive.
(Significantly increases enemy attrition, as well as Summit's personal kill count)

[X] Aerial Privateering
Insight has heard that one of the floating fortresses was stolen and converted into service. And she thinks she can take control of it.
(Steal a floating demonic fortress)

[X] Play the Objective
The mission has deviated from its original parameters. Until the Elves muster their specialists you are the best suited to examine the Super gate. Capture demands closer attention than Judgment Core or Solid Core bombarding the place.
(Speeds up an Elven Army arriving to occupy the battlefield)

[X] You're Locked in Here, With Me!
Search for any retreat points, Hellgates, dimensional gateways, or magic communication. And destroy them mercilessly.
RISKY
(Reduces the rate that United Darkness forces can withdraw or reinforce. Significantly increases the attrition of powerful demons. 70% chance to trigger a boss fight. (One that Red Rose won't trivialize

, and out of reach of the others, just saying.))

(Barring triggering the boss fight, the next update will lead into the prologue of season 3. This mostly impacts what Summit takes away from this battle. With minor secondary effects.)
----

+25 EXP Even By Our Standards, That Plan Didn't Last Long
+10 EXP Killed a Rat
+50 EXP A Dozen Against Millions

84 + 85= 169 EXP

[X] [EXP] EXP Plan?
----

Flashforward:

Ichi fiddled with a steel yo-yo as she walked along the tracks, "Ah, home sweet home."

The green waters of a lake sparkled next to the deep blue grass of her estate. A hum of generators and heavy equipment echoed from the workshop further back. Some of the horses and cattle in the pasture looked over the other buildings.

And there was the small matter of the occupying forces camped out in and around her estate.

"Commander! Could you gather everyone? I have an announcement to make." she addresses the corpulent demon.

He tilts his neck to look over. The many small demons carrying lines to lift him flutter their wings harder, "I heard your minder has died."

"Disaster. Goddess White escaped the cage and only I am left alive to tell the tale. She only spared me because I am her sister. I want to tell the rest of my followers of their fallen companions."

The commander nodded, "Very well, but make it fast. You have been neglecting your responsibilities. And there has been too much failure. Consider yourself fortunate that you are still favored."

"To hear you talk I'd be more useful dead. Tell Zoe not to make mistakes that I have to clean up. If I hadn't reinforced her scheme those lightbulbs would have gotten free a day ago."

If the large demon had a retort he kept it to himself. Her friends and followers that tended the estate were rounded up in front of the house shortly.

Grey raised a hand and all but the occupying force shimmered and vanished. The artifact in her hand glowing briefly

"Whoops. This thing must still be haywire. I'll go see if Ni knows someone. I should warn her about San and the others getting free too." Ichi said with mock surprise.

The commander would have slouched if his position physically allowed him to slouch further.

After a few moments of silence and a gesture to his forces back he spoke, "You must first strike at Valhalla. A force has mustered in the cracked fortress."

"I'll do that right after. My sister could be in danger!" Ichi cried as she started jogging back to her portal hub.

It was clear from the commander's face that he felt pain was in his future. He stared off into space as the human Goddess of swords departed.
----

Aura glanced up at Grom's signal. Above her more than a hundred people were drifting in the air. She grinned, there was a lot to explain, but Ichi would look out for all of them. And that was the most important thing to communicate.

Aura focused the energy she held to generate glowing letters on the platform. It was, after all, her duty to keep everyone informed.

kelllogo · Jul 26, 2020

[X] You're Locked in Here, With Me!
Search for any retreat points, Hellgates, dimensional gateways, or magic communication. And destroy them mercilessly.
----

"It's about what you expect. We fly around the perimeter and pick off anybody that looks dangerous. Ignore the small fry, they are easy prey without champions." Insight says.

Carnage's dragon softly trills as Insight finishes.

Lucky Star shoots upward. A gust of magic sweeps out, so dense you can almost taste it and your magic senses see only Wind magic. It changes into a tornado that drags up vast amounts of Earth magic into a vortex.

You jump upwards to witness what's happening.

The two closest hovering fortresses have ceased to hover. Bright red liquid stone rains down alongside them as the fall. A house-sized mass of furious earth appears right over the nearest intact fortress and slams into it. From the distance it looks almost gentle. The noise that crashes upon you, having just reached your ears from the earlier METEORs, testifies otherwise.

More and more METEORs rain down in a awe-inspiring barrage. Even after all the fortresses begin falling, the rain of destruction targets concentrations of banners, grouping of towers, and other signs of war material. It's almost too much to believe such a small creature could manage.

No. It is too much. You see dust begin to swirl around Lucky Star, magic crystallizes around her for a moment before dissolving back out, then returns stronger each time she draws in magic for her spell. You put your hand on her shoulder.

The sound has moved far enough back that you can make out what she says, "I think this is my limit."

Lucky Star passes out and falls into the arms of Gabriel, who had already taken flight to catch her, she loops back to solid ground.

Carnage kicks through one of the walls. Solar Radiance and the transformed snake that is Lunar Radiance burst through the opposite wall. Solid Core kicks off of a few conjured panels to take her place in mid-air.

"Starshine! Starshine! Starshine!"

The predawn landscape is lit up brighter than noon sun by a titanic expression of power from Solid Core. Plains covered by stunned demons transform into a blasted landscape as swirling strands of Pure, concentrated, wrath spill out. You see Carnage smash a group of hulking armored demons into paste.

In the distance to the south an mass takes to the air. Closer in there's a charging group that has withstood both a METEOR striking them as well as weathering through Starshine without even taking a scratch to their fluttering banners. They are also moving too fast for comfort, certainly faster than regular legs should carry them.

You dive back down.

"Spotted a problem?" Insight presses herself against your weapon. You extend out a harness for her.

You nod, "A group of demons ran through Lucky's and Solid Core's spells without slowing down."

Red Rose jumps onto your Panoply and puts the flat of her spear against a notch, "I will eliminate the champion. Take me to them."

You push up from the ground and fly past the remaining walls to get a good look at your target. Still running, about 30 seconds away by your estimate. Within reach of your Shifting.

The transit has barely finished when Red Rose jumps from your shoulders, "Sudden Death!"

(Sudden Death: Target is immune to Auto-Kill!)

A crackling energy surrounds Red Rose's spear as it seeks out the heart of the foremost demon. When it strikes the momentum of the entire group stops dead, but only their momentum. The leader, a three meter tall armored demon with crawling darkness over her eyes (Darkness, Blood, Order), swings the banner she holds in her right hand and swats Red Rose aside.

(Standard of the Foremost: 3000 Base Damage, +123 Dice, +600 Easy Target = 3723 Damage

Strength of the Foremost Activates! 605 Soldiers, +15125% Damage

566,826 Total Damage

Magical Girl Red Rose: 750 Resilience, No Dice, +750 Movable Target, +4968 Shell = 6468 Damage Reduction

560,358 End Damage
To Stand Amongst Gods Activates! 99%
To Stand Amongst Gods Activates! 99%
57 Final End Damage

Magical Girl Red Rose: 5000 - 57 = 4943 Health)

Almost without thinking about it you throw an attack of your own at her. A net to slip in past the shockwave and burn the Darkness that comprises her. Even as Red Rose flies away your target drops her banner and her left hand reaches for a blade on her belt.

Something screams for you to escape. You wrench your Panoply to force through a Shift NOW!

(Darkslayer Panoply: Attack Negated by Master Skill!

Flashing Blades Triggers!

Lia: 3000 Base Damage, +109 Dice, +9000 Path of the Damned, +500 Foremost Among the Foremost, X5 Joining Battle = 63,045 Damage

Magical Girl Summit: Target isn't there!

Ceaseless Warrior Activates!
Ceaseless Warrior: +1 ApT)

You appear above where Red Rose brings herself to a halt by stabbing her spear into the earth. A section of ground in front of the demon champion explodes when she touches her sidearm, you didn't even see anything.

A streak of green hair rushing at her, on the other hand, is something you catch. Unlike your attack the demon leader doesn't appear to notice.

When Juggernaut Drive strikes it is decisive. Nothing remains of the champion but mist and every follower within 30 meters was pulverized or killed by the shockwave. Juggernaut departs as quickly as she arrived.

(Perpetual Spear: WayTooMuch Damage

Liliath: WayWayDead)

The survivors of the unit begin to howl. You begin firing at the now-vulnerable targets, raising the pitch and panic substantially.

Red Rose nods at your carnage as she rubs the location where she was struck. Insight makes some unhappy noises about the abrupt Shift layered atop another Shift.

Even as your shots cut them down none of the demonic soldiers hesitate in their attack against you. To the last they charge with spear and sword and no thought of their own survival. Which makes it easy to finish off the fanatics to their final figure with a flourish.

"What did you do? What happened?" Insight asks shakily.

"Juggernaut Drive happened."

"Ah, good thing I brought her along then." Insight swaps her pistol to her other hand so she can rub her forehead.

"Pass me a health patch Insight. I know you equipped yourself." Red Rose says after some careful pokes to her neck and shoulder.

Insight fiddles with her waist pack and pulls out a weakly magical light green card. She flings it at Red Rose, who plucks it out of the air. In a quick motion Red Rose breaks the card with one hand and slaps it against her neck where bruises are starting to form, taking care to yank her hand away as soon as the card attaches to her.

(+100 Health, Red Rose is now at Maximum Health.)

While Solid Core's attacks have continued and blasted the land in a wide swath, at the boundary it falls into loose spokes leaving a large chink of the enemy force still untouched. Shimmering portals have started popping up almost everywhere, scattered among the still living demonic army. It appears that even the coverage you saw before was not the entire force. Wait, those portals aren't discharging foes….

"They're running away." you say. Something burns inside of you as a score of armored commanders dive into a portal before the rays of a Starshine spell eradicate the press of desperate bodies. How dare they escape.

"Yeah, they do that." Insight says, almost talking into your ear, "A human helped a fairy army arrange a way to jump back and forth over dimensions with forces on either side and now everybody does it. Except for humanity, because our tactical portals suck.

"Anyways. Since the dangerous demons are also rulers and don't like sitting in garrison, this lets them yank back their dudes and arrange an offense. And everyone knows Hell's armies are most dangerous at the first charge.

Insight makes a non-committal wave of her hand, "It also makes it a pain to keep track of their infamous units. Another one of those things that makes it take weeks to win or lose open battles."

The array of hellgates makes an oily-type sensation when you feel for it. There's also a prickly, more established point further away. You think. Distance is hard to judge here, it almost feels like all the hellgates are on top of each other..

"Only demons can use those?" you ask.

"Yes." Insight says.

"There's a handful of non-hellgate points. Does that sound important?" you point.

Red Rose jumps on you again, "How far."

"I'm not sure."

"Nix to that. Do the words 'mutual support' mean anything to you." Insight says, pointing at the indent where the previous champion once stood.

"Anything we can do here isn't worth our time." you counter.

Insight groans, "You had better run away from fights as fast as you run into them."

"You didn't get a scratch and I got treated like a baseball, you'll be fine." Red Rose says.

You fling the three of you into a gate and emerge high in the air. Getting your bearings takes a moment, it looks like you're a bit more than 6 kilometers away from your last position, in the direction away from the rising sun. Long shadows are cast on the ground by Solid Core's ongoing assault. Below you the camped footsoldiers rush to portals, emitting a dull roar. A somewhat fancier encampment behind a crumbling wall contains a more interesting assortment of forces.

You count at least 63 Dark Stars, 2 creatures that must be Greater Nightmares, 8 Demons with four or more Affinities, and 1 Magical Girl (Diplomacy, Justice, Myth-Maker) on the ground. With about 300 more varied non-Dark Star individuals that don't present a notable threat.

Further up there are two groups of note in the air. The first is a six winged golem in the shape of a dragon (Chaos, Dragon). The other is a line of black winged demons diving for a hellgate (Darkness, Despair).

Insight starts talking as you consider the best path.

"Each wing joint has a seal to draw magic into the core. Deface all of them-"

"We are spotted." Red Rose barks.

Your Panoply fires a wave of brilliant white energy at the flying demons. As they change from flying monsters to falling remains you Shift atop the golem.

(Darkslayer Panoply: 1600 Base Damage, +309 Dice, +200 Light of Discovery, -400 Dispersed Attack, +8000 Darkslayer, +4968 Shell, +500 Godly Power = 15177 Damage

Angel Slayers (x7): 500 Resilience, +74 Dice, +150 Enough Time to React, -500 Hostile Divinity Effect = 224 Damage Reduction

14,953 End Damage

Angel Slayers (x7): 3000 - 14953 = -11,953 Health)

Red Rose jumps off of you to spin in mid-air and begin running on the beating wings of the golem. After her second step she throws her spear to pierce one glowing glyph and adjust her run. Then she slashes out with the spear back in her hand to shatter two more.

Your own share of glyphs run into a problem. When Red Rose broke the first glyph the golem opened its jaws and an angry, red and white, Dark Star emerged. Your Panoply fires a stream of magic at it, but it counters with a shockwave that makes your rays vanish before destroying it.

When the effect reaches you everything locks up and goes dark momentarily, until your own stream of magic surges back into your weapon.

Insight shoots it.

(Magical Girl Summit: Shell stolen.

Ceaseless Warrior Activates!
Ceaseless Warrior: +2 ApT

Moriarty: 1650 Base Damage, +1008 Dice, +600 Perfect Timing, +4968 Shell, +500 Godly Power = 8744 Damage

Dark Star Pilot: 750 Resilience, +1343 Dice, +1343 Mana Surge, +4968 Shell, -500 Hostile Divinity Effect, +500 Divine Existence = 8404 Damage Reduction

340 End Damage

Dark Star Pilot: 900 - 340 = 560 Health

Moriarty: 1650 Base Damage, +338 Dice, +300 Weak Point Exposed!, +4968 Shell, +500 Godly Power = 7756 Damage

Dark Star Pilot: Resilience Bypassed, +907 Dice, +907 Mana Surge, +4968 Shell, -500 Hostile Divinity Effect, +500 Divine Existence = 6782 Damage Reduction

974 End Damage

Dark Star Pilot: 560 - 974 = -414 Health)

The first shot sends the densest part of the Dark Star flying away from the shock wave. The next hits where the beleaguered mass of magic is attempting to pull itself back together. It unravels into a beautiful stream of red sparks.

Behind you Red Rose destroys the other three glyphs. The golem shudders, slows and stops. Red Rose jumps back to you and climbs back to her perch.

"Got Em!" Insight crows.

Lines of energy appear over your Panoply as you fall with the crippled golem. Power that you intend to shortly use.

Shift.

On the ground almost all the Dark Stars have moved elsewhere. Only 18 remain, the rest having de-assed the area with extreme haste. Baleful light emerges from your Panoply as you target them.

(Summit splits her barrage to attack all nearby targets! -80% Rain of Light Ticks!

Charged Panopy: 1600 Base Damage, +17600 Laser, +284 Dice, +200 Light of Discovery, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light = 22884 Damage
Charged Panopy: 1600 Base Damage, +17600 Laser, +284 Dice, +200 Light of Discovery, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light = 22884 Damage
Charged Panopy: 1600 Base Damage, +17600 Laser, +284 Dice, +200 Light of Discovery, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light = 22884 Damage

68,652 Total Damage

17 Dark Stars perish
43 Fodder Demons perish
5 Elite Demons perish
2 Advisors perish)

Results are mixed. You had hoped to kill all of the spellcasters in one swoop. And the same for the portal that remains open in spite of your hail of projectiles. One of these issues rapidly clears up.

"Sudden Death!"

Red Rose throws her spear into the looming mass of magic. A broad wake of crimson follows and crashes into the Dark Star. When it passes there is not the slightest trace of the being that survived your volley, just

(Sudden Death: Auto-Kill!

Dark Star Prince: Dead)

A girl in a white dress with lace at her sleeves and skirt (Diplomacy, Justice, Myth Maker) stares at you, "Stop! what you are doing is wrong! Why do you do these things!"

I should calm down and talk this through.

How did she avoid getting hurt by your attack? She's right next to a pair of armored commanders. She's holding up a dove of all things. A gut feeling tells you she can't actually hurt you, so you dismiss her for Insight to deal with.

Insight pulls loose while the girl is talking. You wrench space around the portal and fire another stream of shots at it. That does the trick, it shrinks down into a point and spills odd-colored gas to the ground.

Next thing to deal with would be the Nightmare, a beast that's at least 8 meters tall and composed of thick mist. You push off the ground to gain some speed.

"Wave Force!" you fire a bolt of scintillating orange magic into the Nightmare.

(Wave Force: 24000 Base Damage, +114 Dice, +200 Light of Discovery = 24,314 Damage

Tall Mistform Nightmare: Attack was Unstoppable!

Tall Mistform Nightmare: 30000 - 24314 = 5,686 Health)

A spiderweb of magic reveals itself as your spell burns through the nightmare. These aren't key points, not exactly, but it does show where your magic flows quickest through the walking insult to reality. You aim and fire into the densest points with your Panoply

(Barrage Panoply: 1600 Base Damage, +544 Dice, +200 Light of Discovery, +1200 Reality Rending Wake, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light = 19544 Damage
Barrage Panoply: 1600 Base Damage, +544 Dice, +200 Light of Discovery, +1200 Reality Rending Wake, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light = 19544 Damage
Barrage Panoply: 1600 Base Damage, +544 Dice, +200 Light of Discovery, +1200 Reality Rending Wake, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light = 19544 Damage

58,632 Total Damage

Tall Mistform Nightmare: 1200 Resilience, +775 Dice, +117264 False Existence, -88848 Juggernaut, +5863 Resistant to Piercing Effects = 36254 Damage Reduction

22,378 End Damage

Tall Mistform Nightmare 5686 - 22378 = -16692 Health)

Your shots tear it into three dissipating pieces.

Insight points her gun at the mystery Magical Girl. Red Rose weaves away from a large serpent that holds a whip sword in its jaws (Fire, Earth, Steel).

"Say 'I surrender', otherwise c'est la guerre." Insight says.

The girl points up her chin, "I am Magical Girl Honored Envoy, you wouldn't dare shoot me."

Insight shoots her. It feels like something lifts from your mind as the strange girl crumples.

"Sudden Death!" Red Rose shouts.

(Sudden Death: Auto-Kill!

Skin the Wonder Snake: Dead)

Red Rose's spear flies up, crackling with magic and leaving a broad streak. Then it descends upon the snake. Lines of potent magic spiral into the snake in three places before the spear stops its flight sunk into the spine of the demonic snake. When Red Rose calls back her spear the creature does not so much as twitch.

"She had mind powers. And an Ability that could make someone stand still while they get killed by someone else." Insight makes a disgusted face and reloads her weapon.

"RED ROSE!"

A very large demon with wings, large claws, and two heads runs at you (Evil, Time, Blood, Conquest). You level your weapon, but Red Rose holds up a hand at you.

"YOU KILLED MY SONS! I WILL HAVE VENGEANCE!" he bellows.

As he gets closer Red Rose shouts back with a glare, "I don't remember killing your children, I doubt I'll recall killing you. Sudden Death!"

Her spear flies out, covered in deadly magic and heavy with purpose. But it never reaches its target. The world around you dims, and goes almost pitch dark outside a boundary line. What you can see of the space outside is of a world slowed to a standstill. Time magic has sunk into everything, including especially Red Rose, Insight, and yourself.

Red light illuminates you all. Emitted by the frozen spell that never reached the two headed demon.

Red Rose summons her spear back to her hand and throws it at the demon, impaling his left claw.

(Blood Spear: 2000 Base Damage, No Dice, +4968 Shell, +1500 Heroes Kill Monsters, +500 Godly Power = 8968 Damage

Hardpoint: Claws Triggers! Attack ineffective!

Ialemus receives a free action!

Ever-Bloody Claws: Attack Negated by Inhuman Skill!

Ialemus receives 2 free actions! Red Rose Actions reset to zero!

Ever-Bloody Claws: 5400 Base Damage, +1137 Dice, -1200 Glancing Hit, +500 Enraged = 5837 Damage

Magical Girl Red Rose: 750 Resilience, No Dice, -550 WTFHAX!, +500 Resistant to Blood Effects, +4968 Shell = 5668 Damage Reduction

169 End Damage

Magical Girl Red Rose: 5000 - 169 = 4831 Health
Curse applied

The Jaws of Time (Magical Girl Red Rose): 500 Base Damage, No Dice = 500 Damage

Magical Girl Red Rose: Attack was Unstoppable!

Magical Girl Red Rose: 4831 - 500 = 4331 Health)

The winged, two-headed monster surges forward. Claw out and swooping towards Red Rose. She glides along the ground, calling her spear back to almost gently push the attack aside with a clear plan to sink her weapon into his back afterwards.

Just as she's cleared out of his swings something quite strange happens. The demon appears to split into three. One image recovers from the missed swing, one slams into Red Rose with a back handed strike, and the last intones a pernicious sound with one head while the other chants something.

The blow knocks Red Rose off her foot. As she prepares to land all the color drains out of her when the effect of the incantation strikes. You feel something trying to pull the life out of you, but also careful and insidious where it touches. The black blood the claw left on Red Rose's outfit fades away to wisps of smoke, but her own red blood fountains out. She nearly tumbles as she lands.

"Don't let it push you to the boundary!" Insight screams.

She flings an orange card at the demon with one hand and aims with the other. One of the heads looks at the thrown card while he starts moving again, intent on striking Red Rose. The card detonates into a sphere of bright white light. At that same moment Insight fires.

(Moriarty: 1 Base Damage, +561 Dice, +1 Trick Shot, +4968 Shell, +500 Godly Power = 6031 Damage

Ialemus: 800 Resilience, +1661 Dice, +400 Non-Vital Hit Location, -100 Dazzled In One Head, -500 Hostile Divinity Effect = 2261 Damage Reduction

3770 End Damage

Ialemus: 650,000 - 3770 = 646,230 Health)

The demon reels from the light, throwing its wings wide. Insight's shot hits the back of the knee and he stumbles. One head chanting and the other bellowing in pain. Clumps of grass fly from beneath his foot as he tries to keep standing.

"Know this! You have earned the wrath of Ialemus! And it will bring you suffering!"

Everything crawls to a standstill. Insight, Red Rose, the demon that called himself Ialemus. Everything except your thoughts and vision.

It's your move. And once you move so will Ialemus. Possibly more than once if you're careless.
----

A large demon is trying to kill Red Rose, and doing distressingly well so far. It's applied some kind of time bubble that grants it actions whenever any enemy in the bubble acts. Insight thinks leaving the bubble would be bad

Red Rose's KTNXDIE spell is still there. Frozen in time and still trying to reach Ialemus. He's chanting something that you assume is keeping it frozen.

There's a nearby wall that about a sixth of the boundary covers. Otherwise Red Rose is near the center and Insight and Summit are about three fourths of the way to the edge. 80 meter radius or so.

He's got a spell that fires scaling Unstoppable damage at targets that are cursed. With enough reach to fill up the entire boundary. His claws inflict Curse when they hit, and the spell removed the effect when it hit.

Ialemus gets his own turn, but has to spend it channeling the effect that created the boundary.

He doesn't have to attack the person that triggered his action. (Just to make sure this is read, if Summit/Insight acts, Ialemus can attack Red Rose!)

Status of Forces
Magical Girl Summit: Unharmed
Magical Girl Insight: Panicking just a little. +4968 Shell buff
Magical Girl Red Rose: Bloodsoaked but battle ready, 4331 Health. +4968 Shell buff

Ialemus: Only slightly injured. He looks to be one of the tough ones that needs to be torn apart to defeat.
----
GOAL: Prevent any Magical Girls from dying, kill Ialemus

[X] Battle Plan?

Summit's Magical Girl Instincts - The accelerated reactions almost guarantee that melee attacks without Priority Boost will be Intercepted by those oversized claws. And those claws are timelessly durable.
Don't use spells.
This is going to take a bit of time...
----

+10 EXP Juggernaut Drive Flyby
+150 EXP Killed a Bunch of Things
+75 EXP Ialemus Sings His Song of Woe

169 + 235 = 404 EXP

[X] [EXP] EXP Plan?

kelllogo · Jul 29, 2020

[X] Plan One Hit Wonder, melee edition
-[X] General Concerns
--[X] At all times, avoid entering an Intercept Conflict with Ialemus. Avoid casting spells at him, or at all if you can. Move by flying because teleportation may cause him to react.
--[X] Use Prayer of Blades ability to free-negate attacks Ialemus makes at your own allies. Avoid Intercepting his attacks.
--[X] Ask Red Rose to avoid attacking or parrying him. Ask Insight to keep him still (Quantified Combat his actions to zero). You have a plan.
-[X] Actual Plan
--[X] Switch your Panoply to: Shred, Smash, Slash Hell, Priority Boost, Intercept.
---[X] Shred is to rip and tear (autokill). If Ialemus proves resistant to it, switch to Burn.
---[X] Use Priority Boost and Intercept combo to use Flurry - and deliver a single, overwhelmingly fast and strong attack like the one that killed Rat.
--[X] Close into melee range and rip the demon apart with a single strike, so fast he cannot even try to Intercept it. Aim away from his claws as you attack.
--[X] If the battle lasts much longer than expected, shift to stacking damage over time (Burn, Rend), and to using Vampire to sustain yourself. Continue avoiding enemy claws or his attempts to Intercept attacks.

----

There's a splash of Ialemus' black blood hanging in the air. Only a small amount from Insight's bullet scraping along the back of his knee. Still, the physical result outstrips the depletion of his essential vitality. That opens up certain avenues of attack.

Hell Beasts are quite tough when fired upon, but if you can get a good grip on their necks it takes less than a tenth of the force to tear them in half. At which point it dies, regardless of how much vitality it holds.

Huh. That probably applies to yourself after a fashion. Another reason to be thankful that your Magical Girl state dissipates some attacks before they hit you.

He's going to react quickly, or at least you have to assume he will. Your speed needs to be truly overwhelming. If you can get a few good blows right below the ribcage that will set up grabbing organs and pulling them out. If. Speed is going to be everything, any power you can dredge up needs to be magnified by speed.

Urgency ticks higher as you plan out your blow. It's going to use everything you have, every bit of your Panoply, and as much of the physical portion as possible right at the end to get propelled at high speed. A good angle will let you interpose something between the demon and Red Rose. Insight probably has already planned to dive behind you.

You have to make your move. You have to hope you've thought of everything. If this goes well he's not going to move again. Short spikes of your weapon shoot into the ground, detach, and are left being as you push yourself faster along the immaterial threads that connect.

(High-Impulse Panoply: 1 Base Damage, +12 Dice, +200 Light of Discovery, +400 Burst of Speed, +100 Pincer Attack, -200 Flurry Mode, x9 SMASH! = 4617 Damage
High-Impulse Panoply: 1 Base Damage, +12 Dice, +200 Light of Discovery, +400 Burst of Speed, +100 Pincer Attack, -200 Flurry Mode, x9 SMASH! = 4617 Damage
High-Impulse Panoply: 1 Base Damage, +12 Dice, +200 Light of Discovery, +400 Burst of Speed, +100 Pincer Attack, -200 Flurry Mode, x9 SMASH! = 4617 Damage
High-Impulse Panoply: 1 Base Damage, +12 Dice, +200 Light of Discovery, +400 Burst of Speed, +100 Pincer Attack, -200 Flurry Mode, x9 SMASH! = 4617 Damage
~~High-Impulse Panoply: 1 Base Damage, +12 Dice, +200 Light of Discovery, +400 Burst of Speed, +100 Pincer Attack, -200 Flurry Mode, x9 SMASH! = 4617 Damage~~ Hit the claws

600 Strain Damage from Flurry
18,468 Total Damage

Ialemus: 800 Resilience, +1238 Dice, -200 Off-Balance = 1838 Damage Reduction

16,630 End Damage

Ialemus: 646230 - 16630 = 629,600 Health
831 Resilience loss
800 - 831 = -31
Critical Resilience Failure

Magical Girl Summit: 14500 - 600 = 13,900 Health)

He blurs as you start your charge. He steadies himself up with one claw and blinks in fast forward. When the temporal acceleration wears off you're closer by eight meters and he's brought one of his claws up to block your attack.

You let the part of your Panoply that covers you slide off in its entirety. The foothold has ballooned in size behind you and propelled a solid chunk to propagate the lights of orange light. Your hair and labcoat flutter in the wake as the fast-moving mass rockets ahead, leaving its own trail of solid anchors.

The grip on the rocket-propelled Panoply becomes clumsy faster than you anticipated. Everything is already committed, leaving you little option besides trying to surge as much magic as you can call up into the guiding wires.

Ialemus appears calm while your assault sails right towards his outstretched arm. Confident in his strength to withstand you. A shriek of breaking glass and strained metal sounds out as your weapon rips itself apart into six large pieces and a small multitude of grip points. An explosive division that pushes each projectile off course from hitting him into merely bracketing him.

Speed is everything here. You can feel your protective field drain away to keep your weapon, arms and joints intact as you pull force through thin glowing guide wires. It surges tenfold when the pieces hit Ialemus' arm and the tension brings the wayward missiles into a tight curve.

It's not perfect. One part of your attack shatters in mid air. Another is caught by a wild swing from his other claw. The remainder extend barbs just as they impact.

You push with every iota of strength you possess to push the barbs deeper and wider. Time is running short for you. The monster on the other end of your extended weapon begins to act as you feel your capacity to move leave.

So you watch, hanging in mid-air as he reacts. He tries to jolt away, but your outstretched lines hold firm. He howls in pain, then pulls his arms back to pry out your barbs. The first comes free with a slurry of black ichor following.

Then you see horror in his eyes. Breath is failing him as neither head can chant. Red Rose's frozen spell begins to creep towards Ialemus. Voiceless screams fill both mouths as he brings one arm and then another to focus his power and keep the deadly effect at bay. It almost appears to work. Then the magic slips slightly closer and he tries to flap his wings and leap away.

In a tug of war Ialemus loses decisively. A large piece of his torso stays with two of your barbed extensions when he jolted away, a pair of black-coated membranes connected still. He loses coordination from the shock and tumbles onto his back.

The frozen spell returns to life and full potency. Red cuts through both of his claws, turning them into a cloud of bloody specks, then pierces his heart. With his death the dark filter around you vanishes.

Red Rose grunts and brings a hand to her bleeding wounds, scabbing them over with a touch.

"What did you do? What happened?" she asks after taking a breath.

"Summit happened." Insight chirps, "I brought her along for a reason."

You pull back your weapon from the corpse. It's troublesome that the claws were eradicated, you might have been able to use them. The blood spilling out has an odd interaction that is filling the nearby grass with a red color.

"Master! No!" a voice cries out.

More enemies. You lift yourself up and begin firing at the disorganized clumps, not bothering to surround yourself with your Panoply.

You can reach further than you had thought and still hold enough to protect yourself. It feels…

**Open
**Vulnerable
**Exposed

Amazing. Like you're a new person and your mind has taken flight.

Insight runs over to Red Rose. She pulls out a small stack of light green cards.

The demon that first cried out conjured some type of shield to deflect your attacks. You rake over the others with directed shots, a mistake. There's a sensation of dimensional transit from that point and the shield vanishes.

You clench your teeth in frustration and shift your Panoply into a ranged configuration to flatten the structures and harass some of the nearby hellgates for a moment. Orange light sweeps out from four wings as you glide from strands of magical force. After a double check shows no suitable targets you Shift back down to Insight and Red Rose.

"We need to move soon. Before we get targeted." you say. A moment of focus produces platforms for them.

"We are heading back." Red Rose says as she straps into the platform you had intended for Insight.

Insight jumps on the other platform and pantomimes surfing.

"There's another portal location."

"Bring someone else to deal with it."

"Yeah, that's something you couldn't have done an hour ago." Insight says, "Which makes it terrifying for everyone else involved."

You Shift away.

From above the landscape looks almost completely deserted. Hellgates are winking out of existence and the remaining demons are a chaotic jumble of barely-equipped grunts. There's still that oily feeling of active gateways, this place hasn't been abandoned yet.

A few more teleports return you to the center of all of this. A ghostly ring of shields hovers around ground zero. A 50 meter tall ...something, lies lifeless after being nearly shot in half. Lunar Radiance tears apart a crackling red hellgate with the jaws of her giant multi-headed snake form.

Juggernaut Drive, Solid Core, and Judgement Core are running loose circles up in the sky. Solid Drive and Judgement Drive are talking to one another while Goddess White watches and amuses herself by throwing and catching a large stone. Major Roberts, Samael, and Michael have dug themselves a trench, Lucky is presumably resting within it. Gabriel paces a bit back from Goddess White and Aquila is peering through a set of enchanted binoculars.

Maiden of the West and the snake girl aren't in the immediate area.

When you touch ground Red Rose unhooks herself and strides towards Samael's corner of the trench. Insight surries after with a hurried "bye!"

Goddess White gestures you over. You head over. Judgement Drive has her arms crossed and Solid Drive throws up her hands with exasperation.

"Oh. That's a nice look." Gabriel comments.

Solid Drive looks over at you. As does Judgement Drive.

"Good. You'll do. Someone has to start priming this end of the supergate and I have had no luck." Judgement Drive says

"Trying to get someone's attention?" Solid Drive teases, finishing with a bounce in place.

You glance downward momentarily, Insight starts giggling a bit behind you. Followed by Michael's laughter.

"What needs to happen at the supergate? Isn't it destroyed?"

"One, I don't know, that's where you come in. Two, yes and no. Each time a gate is added it's added to every other working gate. You could rebuild the whole system quickly from only one supergate if you controlled the destinations. It's the main reason making more is so damn expensive."

Goddess White chimes in, "Once the gate's mana tap is active the elves can block spells for weeks. Do try to get that working before the Dark Stars overlay an awful vacuum plane on top of us."

"No pressure!" Solid Drive says in a tone that suggests you should feel lots of pressure.
----

Up Next: the Elven Empire and Counter Force seize Reluxus!

Summit's Appearance:

[X] Have your Panoply outstretched and leveraged for faster actions

[X] Go back to having your Panoply coiled around you as armor
----

+1200 EXP Destroyed an Endurance Boss in One Blow
+300 EXP Put the Fear of You Into Many Demons

404 + 1500 = 1904 EXP

[X] [EXP] EXP Plan?
----
A/N: Y'all should thank Faraway-R for making the max-speed plan that avoids Intercept on melee attacks. As well as for making me convince myself to give you a damage bonus for that high speed.

The intended method was to set him on fire and cart Red Rose + Insight around to actually deal damage.

kelllogo · Aug 11, 2020

[X] Have your Panoply outstretched and leveraged for faster actions
----

One could not say that the Elven Supergate had been reduced to the point where no stone lay atop another. It looked like a group had gotten tired of stepping over the broken stones and placed them in loose piles as they were dismantling. There are still some notable features in spite of the demolitions, two black stones near the edges are each big enough to hold three locomotives side-by-side, the edges have been hacked at and the top surface pulverized but they are still largely intact. Also of note is a group of bright steel pillars (Steel) that are growing out of the ground in a hex pattern.

Several of the steel pillars have been shortened, you detect the lingering traces of triggered magic.

"I made sure all the traps were deactivated." Solid Drive says.

"With her face. Your younger sister is a bad influence." Judgement Drive says.

Your younger sister? "My younger sister?"

"My younger sister!" Solid Drive clarifies.

"Bah-dum tish!" Goddess White says.

Aquila runs a hand over the visor of her helmet. Gabriel stands up a bit straighter.

"I heard what Judgement Drive was trying to do." she points at the two large black stones, "Make a connection between the center of those rocks with any method you can. If it's upside down on their end we can just switch the direction."

"Since you are such a perfect fit Judgement Drive gave up and decided to wait for you to do it." Goddess White adds.

"Hey!"

The early morning is washed over with harsh light as Judgement Core fires upon something from the air.

Aquila speaks up, "A fair description. You tried to get me to send a signal instead of persevering yourself."

Judgement Drive shakes her head, "Ugh. There's something wrong with this place and I couldn't figure out why my… why I couldn't make it work. Since you have, in your words, 'outside' with you, I hoped you could tell what was wrong."

You fly to one of the stones and perch near the center. Your lab coat flutters in the breeze as you hold yourself up far enough to avoid touching the ground. A moment's thought and flex of magic generates a glowing sphere portal. Something is off, it feels like it slipped right as you opened it.

A wing of your Panoply stretches out further than is practical to retrieve a loose rock. Whatever is happening to your portal itches in a dangerous way.

"Still no signal." Judgment Drive says, holding a gizmo in her hand that practically drips with magic.

You toss your test stone into the portal. A loud bang erupts from the destination as the stone turns into a cloud of dust.

"Something is definitely interfering." you say.

Space slides back into place as you let your portal diminish to nothing. You crystallise a corridor of space between the notable rocks. Or you try at least. There's an outright absurd volume of potential space tethered between the stones. More and more of it appears when you try to isolate them.

Judgement Drive looks up, "Almost. You're making the readings drop below ambient."

You switch tacks. A bit of reworking leaves a tube around the rocks with the openings on each end as small as you can get them before space starts distorting. With space now either frozen or monitored you carefully start making a very small portal inside the tube.

Something slides in through the opening and coils an effect into your portal. You curse yourself for having missed it the first time around. There's another link layered atop yours and an obscuring effect that makes anything passing through uncertain.

Did something just force a double-slit interference effect while it travels through your portal? Except only to a negative outcome, bad example.

"That's funny." Judgement Drive fiddles with her gizmo.

A few rapid-fire portals, then clamping down on local space lets you grip the interfering effect and pull. It shimmers slightly before evaporating (Horror, Damnation, Space, Despair).

"It's spiking all over the place." Judgement Drive looks up at you.

Goddess White stares at where the shimmer of magic had appeared, "Shit!"

"I think there's an infestation." you begin.

More of the odd strands of space start reaching around. Too far removed to see, just felt through your Panoply.

"It's being guarded!" White shouts while running at you. Aquila starts sprinting to catch up to White.

A purple glow suffused your weapon as you altered it to support rapid spellcasting. Five more sections to isolate and refresh the most strenuous use of your magic output.

"Wave Force!"

The bolt of orange lightning and baleful magic struck at the closest strand. The effect spreads out from the first strand, and then back to all the others. The glowing sparks that usually appear are instead motes of blackness. There's enough bleedthrough that you can start to make out what's been interfering with you.

And it's more than enough to wish you hadn't. Instead of an infestation you're staring at something vast, bigger than you can conceive. No, that's not right. Even this being isn't the smallest gnat compared to Gaia, which flips back around to being on the wrong side of a mountain-sized Nightmare.

Orange lighting erupts from the two large stones. Some passes through you to no effect. Odd. You move out of the affected area.

The strands are shifting. It brings to mind whiskers preceding a hungry jaw. You have your Panoply cover you with a ready chunk of magic and start flying higher up to continue your spells.

Judgement Drive is already flying away at high speed. Gabriel has her sword out and is spinning in place to check her surroundings. Solid Drive charges sword-first through a cluster to no apparent effect.

"Anna! To me!" Goddess White yells.

Your Panoply flaps around and grabs the ground to pull you back. Anything you try to do will go better if you bring one of the Goddess Four along.

Wait. How does she know your name? Something to worry about later. Rubble flies as you drag a wing of your Panoply on the ground to stop next to her.

"Where to?" you say.

Goddess gestures to the ground while holding her sword in both hands, "Right here. I'm going to count down from 10. After I hit 1 cast your biggest spell right at this thing. You too elf."

"Understood." Aquila states, readying an arrow.

"I just made it mad. And I can't reach it from here." you protest.

Solid Drive spins in place and tries to cut apart a glowing strand of the looming monster. To no effect whatsoever besides a lightshow. The false lightning between the key rocks starts spinning and moving chaotically as more space is shoved against itself in the twisted mess your spell left behind.

"Ten! Your spell touched it! Nine!." White says.

"Have faith." Aquila says softly, watching you closely.

"Eight!"

[YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE]

The Exile in Waiting announces itself. You feel a dread knowing gnaw at your mind. Primal fear reacts to dread conclusions. Or tries to, you notice quickly that the sensation arrived without perception.

It's copying something. Presenting a wound in the universe and then pretending to inflict the aftereffects of something else. You hope you never find yourself facing a true example of furious knowledge, how would you not absorb it?

The crackling orange lightning draws the floating motes of darkness in. A tube of vast, compressed distance goes red and blackens as you watch.

"Seven!" Goddess White lets go of her sword with one hand to grab on to you.

You can't see Aquila's expression while she wears her advanced armor. What you can tell is that she is much less attentive than she was a moment ago.

The distance opens up. A streak of utter darkness erupts into the sky further than you can see. Against the early morning it stands out, like the sky itself is broken. Everything in its view goes dim.

The Exile in Waiting isn't here, not really. It is waiting past where flight can carry you, standing beyond transitions through realms. A somewhere that sits atop the supergate and forces it closed. A genius loci in exile that you irritated by pelting it with your spell.

Maybe. A lot of that was slapped into your brain by a magically-backed big fat lie. You do think it's trying to smash you for finding it.

You pull chunks of space taunt through and around the gate to nowhere. It falls apart easily to your interference, but there's enough of it to make the effort pointless. Since it rises up out of sight.

"Six!"

She's speeding up her count.

Solid Drive accelerates to her top speed. And stays put, somehow not moving while having high velocity.

"Five!"

Aquila begins screaming. Gabriel slashes about with both of her swords, stuck a meter in the air from her rush back to the other Magical Girls.

Falling isn't quite the word to explain the attack. It does convey the feeling. The pillar of utter darkness falls and spills out into the places touched by Wave Force. You can't Shift away from the connection and try to wring space to its limits to keep the flow away. At least not while connected to Goddess White.

"Four!"

The dam of blocked space fails. Your Panoply drips out darkness and it covers you.

(Gate to Nothingness: 750000 Damage (Reduced by choice of target!), No Dice = 750000 Damage

Lost and Forgotten: Summit is carrying a place she resided in with her??? Close Enough. Tiggers!

Magical Girl Summit: Auto-Kill)

Sensation fades and you experience a pressure pushing out your very soul. The place you have passed into is impossible for you to live within. Only the feeling of your compromised interior space and protective barrier remains.

You could flail and try to escape. It just seems utterly pointless, any action that doesn't lead to escape will speed your death. A future that seems unlikely to change. Just cling on to life for its own sake.

(Magical Girl Summit: But it Refused

Armor of the Time Lord Activates!)

Goddess White slams you into the ground by her grip on you. Up until it happened you thought she wasn't in contact with you anymore. A blob of darkness consumes itself where you had been.

"Three!"

When things changed from dying in impossible space to being thrown around by one of the Goddess Four eludes you.

The collapsing magic hadn't stopped collapsing. Wind screams around you, faster than anything should be able to force air to move. White braces her feet against the suction. You grab Aquila before she flies in and anchor yourself into the ground.

Small rocks pelt against you in an aerial whirlpool. Larger stones tumble along the ground.

"Two!" you see White shout.

Solid Drive is moving at high speed away from the points of collapse, yet still getting closer. Gabriel is being dragged backwards as she tries to stab into the ground with her sword.

"One!"

No more time for thought.

WEDXATEEVNADEETDH WFROAOTFHR OTCFH EGEO !DWDIESLSL!!

Every void erupts with trees of white spikes. You're engulfed in the energies erupting from the adjacent spot. For all of that…

"It's still alive." you say.

"The jackass was running away as soon as we started. It still has another hole to remember me by."

"What happened?" Aquila taps on your Panoply.

You set her down.

All around you the wind has torn up the landscape. Ripped up dirt drifts to the ground. The steel spikes were ripped away, but the pieces still buried in the ground are emitting showers of white sparks into the air.

"Mental attack. You weren't in your right mind, or left mind even." White says.

Being in the lightning feels warm, but harmless. At least for now.

Solid Drive zips away without a backwards glance.

"Summit? How do you feel?" Goddess White looks you in the eyes.

"I'm fine." you take stock, "I need to pee."

Aquila twists one of her feet, "And I need to rinse off my legs."

White lets go of your shoulder and shrugs, "If that's your pressing concern I shouldn't have anything to worry about. Come back soon please."

Judgement Drive rushes in and stops above you, brandishing her scanner "That was backwards. Do it again the other way."

Goddess White flips her off.
----

By the time you return, and after borrowing a water purification tablet from Insight so Aquila could clean her armor at a pond, Judgement Drive has kickstarted several portals. Fairy crews flitter around reshaping the earth while a stream of Elves and wagons march out of the single active portal with a ramp. The earthwork and enchanted beams stretch out over 200 meters in every direction. Almost to where Goddess Grey had pitched her tent.

The dawn is still dim, and Solid Core still unleashes the occasional blast of violet light in the distance. The cascade of sparks still falling from the aftershocks of the combined spells provides more than enough illumination for the Elven pioneers to set up row after row of shelters. A bit further away a circle of Elves is doing something with a red-hot, levitating chunk of stone. That must have something to do with the mana tap. You start flying over to them to offer aid, your portals would probably help, if nothing else.

Solid Drive rushes to shadow you and signals that she wants to talk. Dropping to a speed that makes the wind in your ears less deafening lets her talk to you, "Goddess White said she needs you to talk with her!"

"About what?"

"How should I know?" Solid Drive shrugs before she shoots off at high speed towards Solid Core.

You pull yourself to a stop, wings seizing onto the air around you, and take a deep breath. It's no less than you've done before, if you think about it. Delivering a quick message and running off without a care.

Something is off. Something about your powers is crawling in an unfamiliar way. You hate it. Whatever it is, you can't quite catch how it flows over anything when you try to pay attention. And the circumstances of being watched by The Exile in Waiting, probably dooming you to be trapped in this dimension until you die or it finds something else to focus on.

White is sitting in a gazebo, which is centered on a pillar of flame and surrounded by a glossy black freshly-created rock surface. Groups of Elves pass the building on one side. Red Rose, Insight, Maiden of the West, her daughter, and the Radiances are also situated there. The giant snake that Lunar Radiance has assumed for her huge form coils around the pillar of flame.

You fly over at a comparative snail's pace. Gabriel glides in before you. Weapon-as-wings flap quietly when you touch ground. A dozen huge heads of the Horror snake turn to glare at you.

White stops talking with Gabriel, "Hey! None of that!"

"Settle down Lu." Red Rose says, exasperation clearly shining through her words.

Lunar Radiance puts most of her heads to rest and does a wide, fang-filled yawn with the remaining glaring head. You stare back. Lunar Radiance coils oddly and draws back from you a bit.

Red Rose stands up and slaps the scales of Lunar Radiance. "Oi! And congratulations Summit, that's a rare talent you've developed."

"What do you need, Goddess White?" you say.

Goddess White taps an empty spot on the stone bench, "Take a seat."

You point at the arriving Elves, "I should be assisting their set up." There, short and to the point.

White nods, "I expected this and have prepared a counter-argument. Gabriel?"

A hiss of static erupts from Gabriel's armor.

"James?" White asks.

You can tell that something is being sent through RF, but you can't make heads or tails of it. Encryption is annoying.

Major Robert's voice comes through, "Magical Girl Summit, this is Major Roberts. Remain on standby until further notice. In fact, you should sit down, have a drink, and even take a nap if you need to, we have enough sentries for now."

You squint your eyes closed and sit next to Goddess White, slouching a bit as you rearrange your Panoply, "What do you want?"

"Really? I want to know how you stayed calm when you perceived the Exile. You also seemed a bit stressed."

Gabriel shuffles in place a bit.

You point your closed eyes up at the pink sky above you, "Gaia was much bigger."

White's smile, which had been trying for a gentle appearance, drops away as she raises and then lowers a finger, "When did you see Gaia? And how the heck did you manage to withstand that?"

"I don't know exactly. I had a dream about seeing ...her, and then forgetting about it. She confirmed it later."

"Gaia would, the bitch…." White trails off, "Convenient, at least."

"It didn't make much difference. That thing got away." you say.

And it's going to hunt you down and kill you, you don't say.

"The Exile in Waiting isn't going to hunt you down. I would have killed it already if it held a grudge. You can expect it to try keeping well away from you, it certainly ran away from me quickly."

Maiden of the West speaks up from where she's been running her fingers through the naga girl's hair, "That sounds right. I got into a fight with it months ago and it ran off quickly once we hurt it."

Red Rose harrumphs, "You are a threat to it, Summit is an annoyance."

"In that case she can teleport into its insides and start really hurting the Exile." White says, finishing with a manic grin.

That sounds unhealthy. Still a better plan than waiting for it to dissolve you.

"How did you know my name?"

Lunar Radiance stops being a snake and starts being a girl leaning against Solar Radiance.

"Grey's little Dark Star dropped your name." Solar Radiance says.

"One of Ichi's minions said it." Goddess White says softly into your ear.

Some time passes without anyone speaking, just the march of boots on stone as the legions arrive. Which intensifies when another portal gets a ramp and walkway. There's a tense feeling as some geysers erupt in the distance and a river of magic starts flowing beneath the black stone pathway.

The pillar of fire that the gazebo is built around changes from a simple flame to a complex braid stretching dozens of meters into the air. Goddess White stands up and removes her cuirass, muttering something about the heat. Lunar Radiance whistles and Solar Radiance shoves Lunar in turn.

Gabriel sits next to you, taller seated than you are standing up, and manifests her wings around her.

White sits down and leans against Gabriel, "I have to apologize to you Summit. I imposed on you because I was afraid you might have decided to worship the Exile."

You sit quietly. You don't think you were stricken by anything when you perceived it, or when it shoved a fake concept into your head. In fact, you're rather certain you aren't.

"Staying calm at first encounter can be a sign that your mind is warping. Those people are always annoying." White says after another pause.

"You'd better not be talking about me." Maiden of the West says, raising an eyebrow, "Shiva and Sil aren't anything like that Nightmare."

"Case in point." Goddess White mouths, almost too quiet for you to hear.

Insight opens her mouth, but shuts it again without saying anything.

"The other symptom is, not to be too judgmental, you appeared agitated. Since I owe you for your aid, is there anything I can do to help?"

A bit of shifting turns your own weapon into a back to recline against, "No."

"OK. Did something happen to a friend? Those medals look shiny new."

That's a weird question, "Not really."

Something clicks as you think things over, "You gave Grey the Prison Artifact. No one but me should have it."

"She needed-" Goddess White sighs, "Sorry. Why do you need to have it? I didn't know."

You try to keep your voice steady, "I almost lost everything in that place. My mother, my home, my hopes, my mind, and nearly my life. No one should be able to imprison and torment anyone in that way ever again."

The sound of stamping feet is the only noise for a moment.

Maiden of the West rubs her chin, "That's awful, if you're willing to do a service for Shiva-Sil I could help you destroy the-"

Lunar Radiance glares at West, "Shut up."

"I could introduce you to people that will help without demanding your soul." Red Rose says.

Lunar crosses her arms, "Really?" she asks Red Rose softly.

"I can get the shit beaten out of me without help from a junior Magical Girl." Red Rose says in response.

Goddess White puts a hand over her heart, "When I next meet my older sister Goddess Grey I will tell her to give you that item. This I promise."

Maiden of the West raises an eyebrow, "Will that actually accomplish anything? I wouldn't hand over a pocket dimension that easily."

"I can be very persuasive." White says.

West snorts, "I'm sure you think that."

Red Rose stands up, putting a hand on her bandages, and brandishes her spear.

"This is friendly, really." West says without moving from her seat.

"See that it stays that way." Red Rose sits down carefully.

Space shakes around you as a large portal activates at the supergate. A few seconds later a caravan of trucks bearing Counter Force markings drives out along a raised road. The first two are tugging helicopters, which begin to spin up even as they're being towed. The cable automatically releases when they take off.

West stands up quickly and grabs her shield, "That means they have parasite gates working. Sorry I can't stay with you longer, but something has come up and I need to report back. Goodbye."

"Bye!" the naga girl waves before rushing after her mother.

Red Rose grimaces as she stands back up, Insight carefully follows her, "I'm going to look for a human medic. These bruises are deep."

She strides towards the center of the growing gate complex, Insight sticking close behind. Insight waves as she goes.

Pairs of Fairies start gliding through the sky in expanding patterns. You see teams of War Angels and other warriors of heaven patrol the skies after them. There's rumble from the ground that hums like a very slow motor. The first rays of daylight hit the top of the still-under-construction supergate.

"I need to start making plans to meet Goddess Red." White sighs, "Getting captured has put everything behind schedule."
----

A tall, gaunt figure wrapped in dark gray rags pointed his club at the demon before him, "This is the one who witnessed Ialemus dying."

The hulking, 20-meters-high headless demon leans a bit closer.

Tass grovels, laying himself out on the floor.

The thin nightmare speaks again in its clear baritone, "Tell the commander what you have told the others."

"He didn't last a second! Anna tore him in half with a single blow!"

The headless figure rumbles.

"No my lord. I do not think so. Forbidden information is all the more sought after."

Tass trembles, looking at the ground.

A few more gurgles escape the large figure.

"My lord is satisfied with your answers. If you tell anyone else be sure to mention that Goddess Grey will soon slay Anna for her deeds." the gaunt figure says.

Tass murmurs rapid thank yous and departs at a rapid pace.

"I shall miss Ialemus too." the gaunt figure announces.

A winged, armored figure descends, "Huwett. I bring ill tidings. The Nightmare fled from its task and the Elves have re-established their supergate while we were blinded. Three other gates are streaming in forces. Grey's liaison is nowhere to be found."

An angry bellow echos off the trees.

"This is most unfortunate. We may have lost our best chance to strike." the gaunt demon says.

"I understood perfectly. What would you have me do?" the messenger bows.
----

[Under the Open Sky Season 2 Epilogue]

----

You jolt awake. When did you fall asleep? You're lying on Gabriel's soft and fluffy wing. Goddess White has her Datamine out (with a privacy effect scrambling your view of the screen). An Elf in gilded armor is standing over you and has just started taking a glowing green sword out of his pack.

That explains the wake up at least.

Goddess White has a finger extended and crackling with spiky white magic. She also has an eyebrow up.

"Let go!" you choke out.

The Elf lets go of the sword like it burned him and shows his empty hands, "My apology hero."

"Care to explain what you were thinking, if anything?" Goddess White asks.

You notice a soft breathing sound from Gabriel. Is her armor holding her upright while she sleeps?

"I am Theodore, when the two-headed beast killed my uncle I took up his sword. As his killer has been slain by another I believe I should no longer carry it and wish to offer it to Magical Girl Summit."

" 'Kay. Summit, you finished a quest, do you want the fancy sword, yes no?"

You shake your head, "I have sufficient weaponry. And little use for a sword."

Theodore bows his head, "Please, I insist you accept it. Even if you only sell Midnight Dawn to someone else I want it to benefit the one who avenged my uncle."

You stand up and hold your hands out. It's simpler to just take it if he wants to make a scene.

Theodore bows his head again and draws out the sword. With exaggerated care he sets it in your hand. You give a slight bow back. He slams a fist to his chest.

"In destroying my uncle's foe, you honored him, his family, and his Empire. I thank you."

"This is a gracious gift. I will put it to good use." you say.

Theodore marches back into the throng of legionnaires. The pathways have grown and expanded during your nap. There are 3 more ramps sorting out traffic from more portals. And an extra wide and heavy structure with water dripping from the sides and small rafts laden by supplies floating down it.

"You're just going to eat that, right?" Goddess White asks.

"Yes." you say, "It would be rude to do so in front of him."

Your Panoply touches the sword and power flows into it as your will forces it to be absorbed. And more power flows. The glow increases in intensity and the effective size wobbles as more and more power enters the sword.

White squints at the gifted sword, "How long does this usually take?"

"Less time."

The intense emerald glow starts to fade as you abandon the attempt to Fuse it directly. You work it into a pocket of your lab coat. Not quite Fused yet, but it should assimilate from there. Just need to let its innate magic fade out and work your own in slowly.

Goddess White gets up to look at your lab coat more closely. After a gesture you push the flap she was interested in over for her to look at. She pokes a hand into the pocket and waggles her fingers on the other side, then does it again in reverse. Satisfied she lets your lab coat drop.

"Pockets must be convenient." she comments as she sits back down and starts poking at her Datamine. "So unfair."

A towel and some water appears out of your storage, you wipe the drool off your chin, "My powers are unfair?"

Goddess White nods, "You can fly, stay transformed indefinitely, sleep in your Magical Girl form, and carry a truckload of stuff with you. So unfair."

Your mind abandons trying to make sense of one of the Goddess Four coveting your own powers. This has been an odd day.
----

Epilogue Actions (Pick 2):

Technically you're assisting Goddess White so she can get around faster. She'll follow you around, so this isn't an issue.

[X] Go watch the equipment being recovered from stasis. How is the Counter Force going about that?

[X] Find Major Roberts and chat with him, figure out what your next mission might be.

[X] Persuade Gabriel to practice against you in a spar. Something to hone your skills and hers…

[X] There's some Elven VIPs hanging around another plaza. See if they can help you figure out some of your Abilities that defend others.

[X] Open portals to nearby Dimensions to freak out Hell's armies. After getting permission, of course.

[X] Glare at people until you know what the weird effect you've unlocked does.

[X] Goddess White mentioned that Lunar Radiance wanted to fight you, but was persuaded by Solar Radiance that she should let Solar fight in her stead in any spar. Sounds like there's some drama there.
-[X] And how do you expect to make a good showing against Solar Radiance? [Write-in]

[X] You have another idea for borrowing strength. The three Drives have Abilities that flow between them and Judgement Drive has a high control over her magic. Ask them to help you by storing some of their power that you can absorb later in a pinch.

[X] There's something you want to try...
-[X] [Write in a combat trick you want codified or an Ability Summit should try to replicate]
----

+200 EXP Routed the Exile (With Goddess White's Help)
+500 EXP The Supergate is Open
+50 EXP Steady-Minded
+5 EXP Waiting for the Next Disaster

244 + 755 = 999 EXP

Under the Open Sky (CWMGQ Spinoff)

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