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Owner	Pose
Stanley Padgett	Madeline's trip to Lampport itself is... uneventful. The city itself is husk of a midwest Rust Belt city, that's slowly being gentrified into something it wasn't before. The waystation to the rest of the Multiverse is a well appointed terminal not unlike an airport, and getting through it certainly isn't hard for someone who works with the Concord. Attempts to curry tourism from extraversals are on display, but it's likely not the Fantastic Winter Weather (it's rainy and muddy) nor the Scenic Views (it's flat as hell on a big ass river) that Madeline is here for.     A pair of teenagers are waiting at the terminal, looking intently into their phones and trying not to attract attention, except for the fact that Stanley has texted Madeline they were waiting for her. Just a boy and a girl in muted rain gear, waiting for someone at the Terminal.     Don't Mind Us, please.     Stantheman2005: honestly having some fresh eyes is good     Stantheman2005: we need all the help we can get and soon
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Not long after the messages send, the warpgate flares to life and Madeleine steps through. The huntress, in her usual attire, does a stretch or two before grimacing at the weather conditions and looking around for the teenagers. Having not seen the pair in person before, she's going off instinct. Her spear gets a few worried looks as she scans the loose crowd and approaches Stanley and Charlotte.     "Lovely out today, isn't it? Where do we go from here?"
Charlotte Newman	Cnew: If you think so than I'll support you.     The only message Charlotte's contributed to the group chat hangs there in muted blue text. She's thumbing through news aggregate sites with a bored expression, her other hand supporting the big umbrella currently keeping herself and Stanley mostly dry. Overall she could easily be counted off as any ordinary teenager, only really standing out by the fact that she has a sticker-covered baseball bat clipped to the strap of her purse.     When addressed, the girl glances up with red eyes, taking in Madeleine for a long moment. She doesn't lower her phone though greets the woman primly, "It's been a pretty wet winter. Hello, you're miss Madeleine? I'm Charlotte and this is Stanley." Using her umbrella hand, she motions to the boy next to her.     Shifting her posture, Charlotte switches apps on her phone, glancing at it again, "As for where we go from here... Well." She gestures flippantly to those others around, "There's no point being subtle about it; these people don't matter."     Charlotte finishes up what she was doing and swipes her phone down. Beside her, opposite Stanley, a black tear rips open in reality, marked with blocky visual glitches. She ignores the people who get started by this, just motioning for Stanley and Madeleine to go ahead of her.     She is holding the umbrella, after all.
Stanley Padgett	Stanley smiles as he's introduced. It's a good smile. The boy's faded rainbow colored hair shifts as he rakes a damp hand through it, and tries to look... mildly dashing. "For what it's worth, I can tell you that this place is a mess, but you're not going to be able to tell at first glance. But you'll... well. You can feel it on the other side." The boy shifts in place anxiously as Charlotte opens up the portal besides them, and then flashes a slightly manic grin. "You wanted a bit of a look see and maybe some adventure, I think we can accommodate both of those."     He steps through the gateway and evaporates into a cloud of misaligned CRT scans and digital tearing.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine hesitates briefly upon seeing Stanley dissolve into visual glitches. "Are you quite sure this is- oh, nevermind." She carefully steps into the portal...
Charlotte Newman	There's a distinct sensation of Sliding Sideways, the rift in reality deposits Stanley and then Madeleine into a world of mildly reflective black surfaces shot through with neon lines of argon, xenon, helium, and neon. This place is the reverse of the transit station; and itself looks like a stylized, polygonal structure from which smooth monorail trains arrive and leave.     Gaseous specters in the vague shapes of people disembark these trains; none seem to be boarding them to leave, a crowd formed by silent clouds of Argon filing steadily out into seemingly endless obsidian and neon streets. There is signage in no language anyone understands, indicating this or that. A true city on the reverse side of existence.     There is, however, a tension in the air. Wisps of xenon smoke dance around everyone's feet, drifting in low and light from elsewhere in the city. It's the same sort of in-air anxiety one might feel preceding a thunderstorm.     Or in the lulls between fighting during open war.     Charlotte comes through a heartbeat later, shaking rainwater off her umbrella. As the portal closes, she freezes, shooting a look up at the surroundings. Everything *looks* normal, but...     She shoots a look at Stanley, "Do you feel that? How heavy the air is?"
Stanley Padgett	The young man is waiting on this side for Madeline, and he shuffles out of his rain gear, shaking it out and folding it over an arm. "Yeah... I did feel that. This feels... off." He looks up at the sky, at the vaporwave aurora that casts a murky light over the whole of the city, and makes a distasteful noise.     But then he's standing taller, and turning to Madeline. "Welcome to Neon City. We're just coming out of a rather tumultous time here, actually. Miss Rook's other half, the one that can stop time, got caught up here and tangled up with the mechanisms that were granting wishes. And so the city was... stuck for months." He looks up. "I guess everyone getting unstuck is just sort of..."     He waves hands out to his sides. "It's usually oddly peaceful here, save for random nasty Shadow buildups. Or the Wish... spots." Rook didn't want him to call them 'scars'. He's still trying to think up a good replacement term for them. "But basically everything else in the city's other half is here too, with a sort of... mental representation. What people perceive?]"     "But no paper tigers, that we know of."
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine glares at the neon-rainbow sky. "I should hope not. So if you're from the 'normal' side of the city, does that mean... when you're in Lampport, is there a shadow-double of each of you running around Neon City? Have you met them? This side of the terminal's a lot busier so I presume the two halves of a person can be in different locations." A pause. "I wonder if I have a Neon doppelganger... surely not, there's hardly enough of me to be one person as it is. Let alone two," She muses aloud. "Anyway, what do you do here? Or is this just a sightseeing tour today?"
Charlotte Newman	While Stanley explains a bit more about the teens' shared understanding of the Reverse, Charlotte takes a moment to quietly watch the large numbers of shadows leaving the train station, tapping her chin thoughtfully. It's Madeleine's questions that draw her out of it.     "Oh, we have. Stanley and I have a... different relationship with our Shadows than most people here. We've accepted them into ourselves and wield them as part of our power; our Persona." She nods once, "You're correct. Everyone living in Lampport has their own Shadow self. There are a lot more Shadows than there are People though; a fair number of them are cast off and not linked to anyone, just... lingering emotions and traumas that become monsters. But... We haven't really seen any Shadows appear that are linked to outsiders. There was one, but she was a really special, unique case."     "As for what we do here..." the girl drifts off in thought, "...Aside from unraveling harmful wishes, I guess... we beat up untethered Shadows? I trained like that for a long time."
Madeleine Cadrasteia	"So these new arrivals," Madeleine says, thumbing over her shoulder at the trains, "are from people who've just moved to Lampport? Or is somebody importing monsters?"
Stanley Padgett	"And before you joke, yeah, 'come to terms with yourself' seems like a weird way to get powers. But it's more than that." Stanley sighs, and nods towards the exit, and starts walking. As he does so, a saber manifests onto his waist, and he seems to get more alert. "At least, I hope it's more than that. But we've helped... two other people awaken their Personas. It's not an easy or safe process."     "Actually... i'm not sure." Stanley's meandering takes a sudden shift as a wash of xenon shades washes past them. And the wash turns into a rush, into a charge. The exits are open. There are guards: alert, the vague shapes of gas hardening at the edges.     Madeline will catch the whiff of the story first. Militia. These are militia, being called into service. Mustered. A levy. Long spears are the only distinct shape, braced and ready at the fore.     Stanely hesitates, and then starts to trot. "Oh, I don't like this at all."
Charlotte Newman	"I don't...know," Charlotte admits to Madeleine's next question, "If they were detached, they'd be monsters already and attacking us, but..."     She follows along though, lost in thought such that she misses the behavior of the Shadows growing more organized; more fit for purpose. She glances up when he starts moving faster, then quickly shoots a lot across the gaseous figures again, "--Oh."     Charlotte reaches for the bat on her purse strap but doesn't unclip it just yet, "Are the-- Are the *shadows* going to fight? But they're usually pretty harmless, right? Who or what are they even fighting?"     Speeding up, the girl matches Stanley's new pace, "They didn't even fight back against the Ripper..!"
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine pulls her spear off her back and hustles to keep up with the duo. "These don't seem like the harmless kind of shadows," she opines. "Do they normally work together like this? There could be something larger controlling them."
Stanley Padgett	Stanley trots right along with Madeline, and waves to Charlotte, but she's already got her bat out. He's about to explain how this is weird... when they make it to the exit.     And there, jutting up against the Neon City, is a sudden and very abrupt change of scenery. It goes from stoic obsidian and neon and angles- and there's a literal shearing of the background, a smear of CRT haze and drift, and then there's blue grasses and green waters and there's just... a pond sitting there. A children's book's representation of "This Is A Pond". The waters wash gently, and the reeds rustle... and from a stately Victorian door there's a steady, endless march of Frogs Wearing Top Hats trying to get into the Neon City Terminal. All of the Frogs are carrying walking canes, and all of them are making British Frog Noises and all of them are getting into serious fights with militia shades, who are doing their best.     It's frankly a stalemate, if only for the constant rush of Fresh Shades to man the defense.     Stanley blinks a bit, and then looks at Charlotte and then into the Story Book Pond. "Well I don't remember this at all. When the heck did this get here?"
Charlotte Newman	Charlotte comes to a halt as the Pond comes into focus, her brow knit in confusion, "Wait, this shouldn't be possible." She shoots a look at Madeleine, then Stanley, "We gutted the wish machine. There shouldn't be any wishes being granted that could affect the Reverse."     She pauses again, taking a closer look at one of the frog creatures when it gets knocked down nearby. The girl lets out a noise of recognition, "These are-- It's Toppat Toad! The enemies from the event last spring! In the game!"     Bewilderment shifts quickly to anger. Only now does Charlotte unclip her bat, swinging it forward and up onto her shoulder. The single word she speaks contains more venom than even when she was telling Petra to self-immolate: "*NOVATECH.*"     A deep breath, "They found a way to use monsters from their game to invade the Reversal-- and the Shadow denizens are defending it. Like a virus battling the immune system..!"     She shoots a look at their collective guest, "I wouldn't think to ask someone I invited to fight-- neither of us had any idea this was even happening. If they're holding the line--" Her gaze shifts to Stanley, "Should we regroup and come at this when we're more prepared?"
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine eyes the amphibian invaders with deadly seriousness. "This isn't good. Something's probably printing out frogs left and right on the other side of that door, and this city's only got so many bodies to throw in their path. If we can get ahold of a frog I should be able to learn a little more about what we're up against. Just one should do. Think you can manage that?"
Stanley Padgett	"One dead frog thingy, aye aye." Stanley salutes with his sabre, and in an instant the young man is just... gone. There's after images of the Fencer scampering up and over the battlements, flickering in and out, and then-     One of the Toppat Toads in the back line lets out a warbling, dismayed British croaking noise and crumples into a digital static mist.     Stanely is immediately back at Madeline's side, holding up a wad of shadow that's trying to make British Frog Noises but all it can manage is boops and bleeps and twitching. "One dead Toppit Toad. I'm... excited to see what you're about to do here. Sorry if this isn't what you needed, but uh..." He coughs into his hand. "This is the most you get when you kill the Shadows around here. There's not a lot to them other than Strong Emotions. Not that strong emotions aren't solid, but once you... stab em?" He shrugs, and hands it over.
Charlotte Newman	"If we can get ahold of a frog I should be able to learn a little more about what we're up against. Just one should do. Think you can manage that?"     "Without any trouble at all," Charlotte states confidently. Her outline warps as Galatea twists out from within her; a silver and white mechanical humanoid, carved from steel and marble, with glowing points of argon and helium on her torso, arms, and face. Her legs are wrapped tightly in loops of chain, giving the Persona a mermaid-like appearance at first glance.     Stanley's already dashed in, though. Charlotte holds off on anything until he's on his way back with his prize. The girl huffs indignantly, closing her eyes, "I could have..."     While Stanley gives what's left of the shadow to Madeleine, Charlotte folds her arms, eyes closed. Her fingers flick outward just so, "Agidyne."     Galatea reacts by lifting her left arm, hoisting a forearm-mounted cannon into position. With a *CRACK* of a report, the Persona lobs a searing red-orange fireball out over the Froggy line, where it airbursts and fills the ground beneath it with flames.     As she recovers from the recoil, Galatea's outline flickers and glitches for just a second. Charlotte either doesn't notice or doesn't care, opening one eye towards Madeleine instead, "Were you able to figure anything out from that?"
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine raises an eyebrow at Stanley's feat, evidently impressed by the display of speed. "Yes, I can work with this. As long as it was alive once, is dead now, and still has the squishy bits, I can do my thing." The huntress walks a short distance farther away from the front lines and crouches down, pinning the blob of shadow-stuff to the ground with one hand. Her other hand draws a folding hunting knife from her belt, flicks it open, and makes a careful cut down the length of the ex-frog. Pulling it open, she finds... more shadow, surprising nobody.     "Well it hasn't got a liver, but I should still be able to... yes, there!" Madeleine sets down her knife, reaches into the mess, and shudders as the memories of the Toppit Toad rush into her mind...
Stanley Padgett	Stanley smiles at Charlotte as she starts to complain, and then vents her complaint in the form of HOT FIREY DEATH at a bunch of cartoon frogs. Napalming a storybook pond with Endless British Frogs seems somehow appropriate, like they had it coming to them. This is the correct ending for Toppit Toad, even if an endless rush are now coming out of a new door.     Madeline's examination of the 'entrails' of the Shadow... well, they ARE entrails and that thing IS dead, but it was questionably alive to begin with. That said, she completes the ritual, the wad of shadow lets out its last ever digital warble, and something rushes into the Hunter's mind.     A rush, a feeling of relief, as a game fires up, as someone logs in, and starts... interacting. Purchases are made. Rolls are made. There's a banner, a new one, after all that downtime. Thank goodness. Everyone's progress was all messed up by that time quake thing, and there's a rush to get Control Points back under control, get the farms running again.     Payment accepted. Thank you for purchasing Wishing Ambers!
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine regains her senses after a moment. "I think someone's... playing the game, somewhere. Might not even be in Neon City themselves." She looks to Charlotte. "Can you tell me more about what the game is like? Are frog invasions a normal part of the process?"
Charlotte Newman	"Mmm..." Charlotte closes her eyes in thought, keeping her arms folded, "It's... You summon friendly monsters to help take over control points with other players. Then the AI periodically sieges those points, requiring coordinated defense." Eyes opening, she casts a glance aside at the sizzling toad army and their reinforcements.     "There was a special spring event where these frogs replaced all the invading monster types and you could collect special currency to get unique rewards. But these aren't dropping anything, so-- a reused asset..?" A hand unfolds only to cradle her chin, "The game never...really manifested like this in the Reversal before. Not unless someone made a capital-W Wish. And Stanley and I-- with considerable help-- stole the mechanism that made it possible for NovaTech to give those out..."     Eyes closing, the girl sighs, "So they found some other way to mess with the shadow world, I guess... Corporate people will do anything to get more money they don't even need, huh?"
Madeleine Cadrasteia	"I think putting a stop to this might call for a visit to Novatech's Lampport offices, or wherever it is that the game is hosted. While we prepare for that... it may be worth checking in on the game again, to see if Neon City's defenses can be bolstered on Novatech's own playing field."
Stanley Padgett	Stanley looks at Madeline, and the explanation... and then bites his lip. "The whole thing was designed to take energy from somewhere and turn it into Wishes, right?" A fresh wave of Toppit Toads starts to wash out of the Not A Pond and charges for the Terminal. More of the Militia Shades brace for impact, and Stanley lets out a pained noise. "What if they just... turned it all back on. Without the Wishing Box there?"
Charlotte Newman	Madeleine brings up a valid point; enough that Charlotte starts in place with a little "Oh!" She hadn't touched the game since time froze, instead using the version linked to the Velvet Room for her portal summons. That version has nothing to do with NovaTech, after all.     While she pulls her phone back out of her purse, the girl nods along to Stanley's theorizing, "Maybe they turned the game back on without bothering to turn off the wishing engine, either not knowing or not caring that the part that makes that work is no longer there..."     The game boots, playing the cheery opening jingle of the title screen. A few taps later, her Office Lady Witch spouts a pre-recorded greeting line that puts a nostalgic little smile on Charlotte's face. After some rummaging around, the expression fades and she nods.     "'Beta Test Conclusion, Total War Event'." she recites, "All points will become contested through the end of the event. Special rewards for all Beta participants earned through this event are planned to carry over in the full release of the game. Fight against the end of the world as we approach the end of the Reversal's beta period."     Charlotte shoots a look at Stanley.
Stanley Padgett	"Oh we are absolutely going back there." Stanley looks to Madeline. "We are going back there and we are going to turn it all the hell off. Apparently we didn't do a good enough job before."     Stanley hefts his sword, and then nods to Madeline. "Miss Hunter, care to help us assail this foul patch of errant amphibians?"
Madeleine Cadrasteia	A wicked grin spreads on Madeleine's lips as a fresh shower of meteors cross her eyes. "Just say when, Stanley." She rises from her crouch with spear in hand, a beast ready to pounce.
Charlotte Newman	The other two with her seem rarin' for a fight. Stanley's even getting a little Theatrical, which Charlotte can't help but smile a little in response. She taps her bat to her shoulder, lifting her gaze to the new Frog Team, "Well. We did promise you some adventure, didn't we?"     Behind her, Galatea's figure flickers and glitches again; then swings into attack position with her cannon raised at the read, "I'll blast the center. Clean up the sides and force them together, if you would?"
Stanley Padgett	There's a look of glee in Stanley's face, as he claps the nearest pack of shades on the shoulder. At his touch, they become much more solid, firmer, the spears hardening. "You, friends, you're in charge here! Hold the line!" There's a pep in the steps of the shades,and they separate out to give the trio some room to leave, before preparing to receive a charge.     Stanley skips through the line, and then crosses the threshold into the breach once more. The Toppit Toads all make much more Alarmed British Frog Noises at the sudden intrusion, and warble a croaking cry of battle. A swarm of Amphibians rushes Stanley, who starts fending them off and giving the Terminal a breather.     Something on the other side of the Frog Doors rumbles.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine sets off at a run parallel to the battle line, skirting behind the shadow militia. Finding the edge of the spear formation, she leaps into the fray. A Toppit Toad is thrown vertically and caught on Madeleine's upraised spear-tip; the huntress is fighting to shock and awe, rather than kill efficiently. With luck this will drive the toads into Charlotte's line of fire...
Charlotte Newman	With Madeleine running one side and Stanley taking the other, Charlotte braces her feet. Galatea thrashes against her chains, distorting again, while the girl lines up her shot. Suddenly she swings her bat off her shoulder, steps forward, and points with it, "Get ready, my other self... Bufudyne!"     Galatea recovers from whatever possessed her to wriggle and launches another shell; this one blue-white. It bursts as the first one did, raining down a cone of icy shards over a wide area upon the center of the formation.     Of course, just creating space for Stanley and Madeleine to push more frogs around.
Stanley Padgett	Stanley continues his crusade of FROG DEVESTATION, skewering the little twerps as they come, though now that the waves are on their way, he finally releases his own Persona. "COME FORTH, MY OTHER SELF! MERCUTIO!" And a massive vaporwave being in fencing armor and a faceless mask flutters into existance, and starts to sweep its long swords into the crowd of Toppits.     The rumbling on the other side of the doors, though, resolves itself, as Toppits are frozen and battered and tosses aside. A big froggy hand grips the side of a door into reality and smashes it wide, a gaping rend in the fabric of space. And from the gap, crawls a 12 foot tall Frog. But it it not just a Frog. It is the Most British Frog Possible. From a full on suit and coat with tails, to a bristling, well kept mustache, to the massive golden cane, to the tricorn hat.     HARUMPH-ribbit     It even gets an entry card, because of course it does.         TIP TOP TOAD     It HARUMPHS again, and swigs for the fences, batting a group of Toppits at the trio.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine is hit squarely by one of the flying frogs, and comes out of the resulting tumble with a compound bow in hands. She takes aim and looses a series of arrows at the Tip Top Toad, attempting to knock off its silly hat.
Charlotte Newman	Charlotte braces when the Most British Frog Possible breaks out onto the scene. She plants her back foot and swings her bat immediately, catching the first of multiple toppit frogs hurled her way and sending it sailing away with a satisfying *CRACK*. This does not work for the next one which bowls right into her, knocking the girl off her feet.     Galatea hovers up a bit and away, peering down while gathering a crimson aura around her left hand. Charlotte reannounces her presence with a shout, scattering toppits away from on top of her with a sweeping swing and then hurling herself forward with a bounding stride.     "Let's go! Heat Riser!"     Galatea unleashes her gathered energies. Charlotte catches them in her free hand, then grips her bat with both. The uppermost hand sweeps down the weapon, encasing it in a throbbing neon glow.     Madeleine goes for the creature's hat-- and Charlotte is right behind her with a leap, bringing her bat down in a bright neon crescent.
Stanley Padgett	Tip Top Toad rumbles and harumphs and warbles and RIBBITS. The noise wracks the field, as the arrows come flying and indeed Un Hat the Amphibian. That leaves its head GLARINGLY UNPROTECTED from the baseball bat of a RUFFIAN YOUNG LADY. Charlotte's bat makes an extremely satisfying 'thwook-squish' noise at it collides with the Creature's head.     There is a lurch in sensation, a tremolo of cognition, as The Pond shifts and starts to dematerialize. And in its place is just... a control point. Or what one would look like if such a thing existed. A remarkable facsimile of a few long stretches of gaffing tape, done up in inlaid white-pink obsidian, with a X in the middle. TIP TOP TOAD owns this point, it wants this point. It has a burning need to keep this point. It does not know why. It has no idea of what any of this means. It knows it must fight.     Raw desire ripples out of the creature, as it plants its big webby feet, and rears back, and lets out a deafening CROAK. The Aurora Sky Darkens. And then Toppit Toads start to rain from the sky, falling from hundreds of tiny doors that are filling the sky.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine briefly falls to one knee, battered by the onslaught of smaller amphibians. She rises under the rain of cane-blows and clears space around herself with a horizontal sweep of her spear. Battering her way through the tide of toads, she rushes Tip Top and lunges for an ankle strike.
Charlotte Newman	Charlotte kicks off the Tip Top Toad's head after landing her blow, performing a spritely backflip that lands her neatly on her feet with Galatea floating above and behind her, both figures ready for more. The illusion of the Pond flickers and fades, giving the girl pause.     "Is that a..?" The game really IS trying to invade the Shadow World. That's definitely the icon from the in-game map for a control point. Seeing it in person like this feels... very strange. And now it's raining frogs, which is somehow less strange in Charlotte's perspective.     The girl whirls in place and sweeps her free hand. Galate responds in kind. Instead of defending herself, she casts a shield over the formation of argon militia. A shield that, when struck, lashes out at the attacker with pale blue javelins. This leaves Charlotte herself open to be buried under frogs.     When she emerges, there's a faint flicker of blue-white light behind her eyes. Galatea glitches again. Still glowing from the Heat Riser, Charlotte digs in her trailing foot and then lurches forward-- throwing her right arm across her face to shield her eyes in the crook of her elbow-- her trailing arm extended straight back behind her-- lunging into Tip Top Toad's abdomen with the point of her elbow in a patently and inexcusibly uncouth manner.
Stanley Padgett	TIP TOP TOAD croaks and leaps away from Madeline, bounding up into the air and yelping in alarm, the noise getting less and less real and more and more a digital reproduction as this fight is progressing. Unfortunately, the leap puts the beast square in the path of Charlotte's UNCOUTH MANUEVER and the Hatless Amphibian crumples for a moment. The rain of toads stills, and Stanley can be briefly seen scuffling with a wave of standard size Toppits that have manifested behind the lines of the Shades. "I'M GOOD BACK HERE, YOU TWO GOT THIS!"     Tip Top warbles again, and lifts its cane once more, slamming the golden tip into the black slate of the roadbed. It pierces the surface, letting out Neon sparks, and... water is starting to well up out of the cracks. It's trying to reform the breach, clearly. All around Charlotte and Madeline, there's a sudden rush of ~nostalgia~ as the storybook environment tries to reassert itself, tries to get them to all sit down and have a nice cuppa and a nappy nap and... wouldn't it be nice to just let the fight happen around you?
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine staggers, looking to and fro as she struggles to make sense of the situation and throw off Tip Top's compulsion to rest. Slowly, sluggishly, but gradually recovering her focus, she draws her bow and takes aim at the giant toad's foot.
Charlotte Newman	Charlotte recoils from her maneuver, swinging her bat around one-handed into a ready position just as the giant frog slams his cane down. She staggers just from the impact, letting out an unsteady noise while the Pond starts coming back up around the trio.     The sudden urge to be cozy and comfy and warm hits her out of nowhere and the girl falters just a touch, her bat dropping until the tip hits the flickering ground at her feet. Something's-- wrong, though. As it tries to dig into nostalgic memories, all that comes to the front of Charlotte's mind is static. The blank slate of her memory before just over a year ago. It struggles to find things she's nostalgic for.     "Are you pretty familiar with this town? I-- just moved here, so there's a lot I don't know."         "Yeah, sure I will never turn down free food. Grandma always said 'Free is the best spice'.     "You laid hands on my daughter, you son of a bitch."         A DOUBLE PINKY PROMISE. And thus The Pact is Sealed.             "...I just wanted... to be happier, for dad to be happier."     §<<You seem to be <confused/taught wrong>, 'Charlotte Newman'. Those are the same thing.>>§         "I'm not sure what having my own life will be like, but I'm excited to get there."     All that surfaces are thoughts, memories; ideas and words from the last 14 months or so. Things that brought comfort. Things that brought sadness. Things that brought shame. Things that brought awareness. Awakening.     "YOU TWO GOT THIS!"     Charlotte's eyes snap open, flickering with blue-white light again. She lurches out of her listless, dozing posture and thrusts her bat forward, "I think I've had enough people meddling with my memories as it is... Come forth, my other self!"     Galatea is already deployed, but glitches again. Very briefly the entire outline subsumes in pulsating argon and xenon colors. There's a sound of shattering chains as the figure's legs break free. Something swings out; huge and spherical and covered in spikes, whirling around in a wide circle, gathering dangerous amounts of momentum.     "M E G I D O!!"     Suddenly the silhouette lurches forward and down; the orb wrenches out of its orbit and swings down at an oblique angle, slamming into the Tip Top Toad and exploding in a violent burst of pure Allmighty light.
Stanley Padgett	Behind them both, Stanley is just... drowsy eyed. Listless in his attacks. More of the Toppits are landing hits now, as his parries and dodges get sloppy and slow. But they aren't rousing him from whatever it is he's looking at, as Mercutio and his instincts keep him on some sort of... dueling autopilot.     Stanley has too many memories for a kid his age. And he's looking at all of them, as Charlotte manages to catch his rally, and rally herself into a MEGIDO.     The noise rouses him from his stupor, just in time to watch Madeline pin the Tip Top's foot into the black stone. It flails again, the cane stuck in place as the Pond rushes, gushes upwards, looking to overflow the Control Point again. There's holes in the creature now. Raw shadow and energy streams from tears in its surface, showing only the empty shell underneath, strung together with False Narratives and Imagined Nuance. The big thing is running out of tricks, running out of energy. But there is no self for it to save, and it again goes for the attack. Only this time, it's to charge directly into Stanley and the line of defense, and to RIBBIT.
Stanley Padgett	Tip Top Toad does not make it through the line, though. The creature is flailing, ribbiting, dripping code and need and desire, staining the rocks with ichor and emotions. But the Militia Holds.     There, among the Levy of Shades stand Stanley Padgett and Mercutio. Stanley has one of those Xenon Pikes in his grip, and Mercutio has its shoulder down, and they are blocking the creature's entry to the Terminal. Holding it in place. "You've got this! You all have this! We can't let it through!"
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine's attention flicks to Stanley for a moment as he rallies the troops. With an approving nod, she charges, leaping into the air with spear raised for a desperate attack.
Charlotte Newman	In the smoke and debris throw up by the explosive Megido, Charlotte recoils as if she had thrown it herself, determination all over her tired face. Behind her, the silhouette flickers and then resolves back into Galatea amidst distortions and blocky glitchy effects, chained legs and all.     She inhales slowly, then lets it out just as slowly, dragging herself out of the stupor-inducing mental assault as Tip Top Toad's essence starts to fall apart and its grip on her mind weakens. Maintaining her focus becomes less of a strain. Pleasant memories retreat once no longer called unbidden to the front of her thoughts.     She'd dropped her bat at some point, but finds no need to chase after it just yet. With her hands empty, Charlotte digs in again, "Come on, Galatea... We're almost to the end of this-- Heat Riser!"     This time, the gathered crimson energies wrap around Charlotte's hands. The Tip Top Toad charges Stanley-- and Charlotte charges the Tip Top Toad from the opposite side, pinning the beast between them. While the Toad contends with Stanley and the Militia's spears, Charlotte plants her leading foot and swings her hands down, clasping them together, "Stanley! Get ready! I'm serving!"     What follows is a practiced volleyball bump right at the center of the twelve-foot amphibian's back with enough force to knock it upward a few meters. Charlotte follows this with a jump-- her right hand held high. Throwing her entire body into it, the girl volleyball spikes Tip Top Toad right down at a sharp angle; directly into the defense line's polearms.
Stanley Padgett	Madeline is there in time to spear the Great Toad, to hold it in place for Charlotte.     And it's a great bump. Fueled by indignity and obstinance and horror and a burning passion, and all of it focused into that pair of motions. The Extremely British Frog is lifted up, and it flails around, leg tangling and lashing out to try and find some leverage or something to grab and it just cannot find it. And it's just as powerless to stop the spike, Charlotte's right arm coming down, smashing into the creature...     "LINE! BRACE!" Stanley gives the order, and the whole of the Xenon Levy raises its pikes, and the Tip Top Toad is plunged downward, and skewered and shanked and perforated... and it vanishes in a plume of untethered emotions, confusion and rage. There was no one Person's Shadow attached to this. This was not someone's misguided Wish.     Stanley relaxes in place, Mercutio vanishes... and the Shades all just sort of start to filter off into the ether, the whole of the Neon City Terminal slowly falling back to the dim haze of background hustle and bustle, the sort of rugged emotions anyone gets when they're about to travel.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine is nearly out of breath, but not so out of breath as to stop her from staggering over to the control point and slumping down in the center. "Ours now," she breathes, tapping her spear-butt on the ground.
Charlotte Newman	Spiking the Tip Top Toad imparts so much recoil on Charlotte that she's thrown into another backflip, managing to land on her feet with enough force that she almost-- almost falls over. She steadies herself quickly, letting out a relieved breath when the Toad vanishes.     Quickly, Charlotte looks Stanley over, then turns in place to take a look at Madeleine, "Are you both alright?" She glances further back, resting her eyes on Galatea. After a moment, the Persona disappears; fading back into the girl who produced her.     Shifting her eyes to the Shadows, Charlotte murmurs, "On to the next battle for them, huh..."