When magical warriors invade a Tyrant, they tend to operate in stages.

The first wave consists of remote scouts; these machines use Neverlander technology designed to bait out the defensive and offensive capabilities of the dungeon. Rarely are remote scouts capable of doing any long-term harm to a budding Tyrant, but their endurance makes them ideal for recording data about Malice. The Starkeepers used Honeybees, Stargarden tech developed by the same hivemind Venus came from.

The second wave will typically involve a scout who will record additional data about the rules the Malice abides by before returning to their team. Magical Warriors tend to attack in groups of three or more, with their most robust and fastest unit working as both scout and leader. Mars had experience slaying Malice, and her offensive abilities were second to none, so she was ideal for the job.

Mars veered to a stop in front of the amusement park, knocking down the kickstand of her bike and slipping off. She remembered this place from her childhood; her human mother was less distant back then. She might have even loved Mars. They'd go on all the rides together: the teacups, the log flume, the roller coaster, and the Ferris Wheel. Mars and her mom would have funnel cake and smile.

The amusement park was no longer a place full of smiles; it was a desiccated corpse housing Malice. The roller coaster had holes in its supports, and the log flume was a pool of stagnant water fit only for mosquitoes. The food stands were all shuttered, and the teacups had spider webs sprawling across their interiors. The park looked haunted, which for a particular definition of the word, it was.

Mars popped open the trunk of her bike, pulling off her helmet and stuffing it into the back. Mars retrieved a strange remote, calibrating it carefully and extending the antennae. Hexagonal tiles lining the monitor of the remote flickered to life, giving Mars a good idea of what the Honeybees were looking at now.

The Honeybees swarm had kept their distance from the dungeon once they'd identified it as a Tyrant. Tyrants were far less active than other varieties of Malice; they'd stay in one place and wait for you to come to them. Ultimately, this was a good thing. Mars had been dealing with violent Malice all day, and her reserves were exhausted. Tyrants could be handled at her own pace.

Tyrants needed to be exterminated before they could grow into a real problem, but the day had run long. Mars was tempted to throw in the towel, and if she thought she'd be in over her head, she would. Whatever the Council of Knots were up to, they'd managed to awaken more than a hundred Malice in a single day. That was... unprecedented, to put things lightly.

New York had it worse, by all accounts. She'd heard the city was overrun with Malice, and they'd even lost a powerhouse like Demokitty. Magimaid had contained the flood, but you don't forget that kind of devastation and walk away. At the same time, she hadn't heard anything from Sacramento, Seattle, or Boston; she hoped it would stay that way. No news is good news.

Mars pressed her thumb against the remote. "Barry, Adam, I need a sweep of the perimeter. Check for any signs of life. Evacuating humans before the dungeon can turn them is our number one priority, alright?" Six honeybees from the swarm vibrated in confirmation before heading directly into the hollow structures of the Amusement Park.

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Mars oversaw each screen carefully, but her attention gradually fixated on the House of Mirrors.

One of the bees had wandered in and was now locked in combat with a shadowy version of itself. Neither seemed to hold a particular advantage, but Mars didn't want to give the dungeon too much time to adapt. "Martin, Janet. Go support Barry; he's having trouble in the House of Mirrors."

Six more bees from the swarm buzzed, leaving only three honeybees behind as they flew into the House of Mirrors to deal with the shadowy wasps. "That must be where the heart of your dungeon is. It seems to be the only place you're defending aggressively, Malice. Adam, any signs of human life?"

Adam's three screens beeped negatory. They'd spotted a mattress in the Customer Experience Center, but the room seemed unused. Best to only tell Mars the information she asked for, not unnecessary information.

"Alright, Trudy. Gather everyone up and head into the House of Mirrors. End sweep; look for a big crystal of some kind, and I'll be right behind you." Mars set the monitor down, stretching and shaking out her arms. (That's enough resting.) She snapped her fingers, and a golden helmet popped into existence moments later. Once she slid the helmet on, she lifted a pair of headphones off her collar and popped them into place.

[Roman Sound Engineer][ART 1] - Headphones to block out all sound.

You should look into your problem, Mars. Technology may one day fail you.

"Shove it, N/AS." Mars felt strength course through her body once more as her Planetary Seed [Martian Ridge] activated. A visor slid out from underneath a faceplate, locking into place and tinging her vision gold.

"I don't have a problem. Not as long as I'm wearing these headphones." Slipping the golden cups around her ears, the world went quiet. Just the way she liked it; anything noisier and she might tremble.

She tapped the side of her helmet, and words began to filter in through her visor. Radio chatter from other departments, transcripts of updates sent to her by teammates, and messages from the honeybee swarm. She filtered out the unnecessary information with her mind, limiting herself to visual messages from her team and the monitors on the Honeybees.

Dr. Bright had asked her why she wanted a sound system designed for the deaf; she'd told him that she was hard of hearing.

When Venus had pointed out, correctly, that she was a tonally adept musician with perfect pitch, she also deflected and made up excuses about hating the sound of her own voice. That wasn't exactly a lie; she did dislike her voice, even to the point of getting voice training to change it. It was too deep, too masculine.

But that wasn't why she wore the headphones.

The reason she wore the headphones?

Mars was weak to pretty voices. The voices of girls, especially. The memory of Venus calling her voice lovely this morning made her face heat up. Mars didn't want to say anything to Venus, but those words kept her driven to succeed, exhausted as she was. Holding tight to that feeling, she gasped and fueled herself with the cherished memory for the umpteenth time today. Her Faith reserves began to swell with one-sided love, and she felt ready to fight once more.

It was time to commit some regicide.