The Transition (ConceptTopic, 11)

From Compile Worlds

CW2 Segment 1 is the first real segment of Compile Worlds 2, much contrary to what the previous arcs SHAME and the Gathering had stated all those months ago! It starts in Episode 53, and follows the escapades of Lagnus and Witch...er...Mitsuki, as they wander around and get involved with the mysterious disappearance of the main protagonist Arle Nadja!

Characters

Being the start of a new segment and a new season, the characters have been completely rearranged. Witch and Lagnus emerge as prominent characters, with Satan, Jan, and Draco forming a "Happy Horned people's Family" of antagonists, enslaving Arle Nadja in their dungeon. Seriri, Schezo, and Mikki also return to the spotlight after being deprived of it for the later half of Compile Worlds 1. Keiji has hinted at the return of Eltia as well, albeit in a more sinister depiction than before. Conversely, Chao has hinted at Lord Marcus' possible return through Satan's Diary.

New cameos Patchouli Knowledge and the Infomaniac appear to serve the role of magic policemen for some reason, being employed by the Magical Jail to arrest the rising amount of muffin thieves invading the Madou world.

Episodes

The Magician and the Muffins

We start off in Episode 53 with Witch putzing around in the middle of nowhere, seeming aimless, when she spots Lagnus, although she fails to recognize him in kid-form and laughs at him. When Lagnus yells at her, she insists she doesn't know him and introduces herself as Mitsuki, throwing Lagnus off as he had never bothered to learn her real name. Soon though, the plot thickens when Wi--Mitsuki, begins grumbling about Arle the dangerous serial muffin thief! Wait, that can't be right can it?? Lagnus protests and demands Witch divulge her location, but she cannot remember that either, much to Lagnus' dismay. The giggling blonde suggests she might be in muffin jail...or rather, Magic Jail, to atone for her heinous pastry pilfering crimes! In no place to argue, Lagnus is dragged along to create star-shaped holes in the side of the jail with her. Patchouli appears and scolds Lagnus and Marisa for breaking the wall that Mikki, or her faker, had just fixed. After questioning how she could still be 16 after 20 years of being in Puyo games, Witch corrects Patchouli and exuberantly demands for her snacks. The ruckus causes the Librarian to burst through the door like a normal person and join in the arguement, claiming that Arle is also a book thief on top of being a serial muffin thief. She takes Lagnus and Witch to see Arle in her boring cell....

...only to find an empty room with a deactivated portal. The Librarian wanders off to search the Library-Muffin-Magic-Jail for Arle, when she suddenly appears from the portal. She calls for help, but unfortunately, her calls fall on the deaf ears of Witch, who just wants her damn muffins. The portal closes as Arle is dragged into it, shouting about being kidnapped. And there's only one person who would kidnap Arle! So they immedeatly barge into Satan's Castle, where Arle calls out to them through the floor. Insisting that it's only his bad plumbing, Satan kindly shows him to the dungeon, revealing he had no books, muffins, Arles, or Mikkis....just a frekkin frog. Nohoho offers $1000 to be freed, and Lagnus obliges, taking the money and making Witch escort him out, insisting he can deal with Satan on his own. However, after realizing he can't fight in his kidish body, Satan Juggernauts the hell out of him and kicks him out.

Meanwhile, in the dungeon below the dungeon, we are treated to Jan yanking Arle's chains rather literally. Satan gloats that with his DIAMONDS and muffins, that he will be the main antagonist, with no Angols or Ecolos to get in his way. While Satan makes plans for his wedding with Arle, she insists that she'd rather be married to Jan and be locked up in a dungeon forever, to which Jan is oblivious to. Satan insists that things must go his way, and dismisses Jan in order to attempt to convince Arle of his ways. Without her magic, Arle is helpless but to yell at Satan and try to trick him, but to no avail. She weeps as Satan locks her back up, insisting he'll have his way.

Back with WitchMitsuwhatver the fuck she is, we see her run into Schezo Wegey, who is enjoying his time without Arle. Soon, they contemplate together that Arle is hoarding the muffins just to piss them off and starve them, so they attempt to go buy the ever-so-covetted Million Yen Muffin before it is stolen. Much to their chagrin though, it had just been robbed from the window by the time they get there. Grabbing onto the Zoomstick Broomstick, they give chase, and find Doppelganger Arle with the muffin. However, being the total color-blind dingbats they are, Witch and Schezo insist that she is the real Arle, pulling a Sonic Adventure 2 and declaring to The Infomaniac that Arle has stolen the MYM. In an effort to cheer them up, the Infomaniac declares that changing flowers will solve their problem, except not really, and leaves Witch and Schezo to starve in town.

Fishy Yuusha Rice

Meanwhile, in Episode 54, Nohoho is frantically panicking about having to take out a second mortgage against his not-so-secret casino and go bankrupt from not making good cart sales, when Strigina Reuiss saves the day by buying a long list of unnamed toxic substances from the frekkin' frog. Meanwhile Lagnus arrives, only to be patronized by Stringy Rice, who already knows about Arle's capture and is more of the "sit and watch people suffer" type of gal, poofing away without being helpful because being half-mage with witch mom is suffering. Anyway, the Color Changer of 1000 appears to cause some brief lols by making Lagnus pink, and then he too vanishes. Lagnus and Mikki team up and set out to look for more help in fending off Satan, like, finally.

At Mermaid's Lake, Seririrrrrrrrrrrrrr...r...r... is singing a song about her former love interest and how she was swept up by a girl with UTAU hair. Seriri once again mopes about how she gets absolutely no spotlight in the wake of Arle, and, to be fair, the last several arcs of Compile Worlds 1 really did kinda keep her out of the action. Isn't it sad, Seriri? Anyway, Seriri spreads rumors that Arle is also stealing coconuts to make an army of coconut bras with, which Lagnus neither confirms nor denies. After mentioning that she's so fucking done with Draco, she finally agrees to join forces with Lagnus and Mikki, noting that her powers granted to her by Unda would go to waste otherwise.

By the reports of a random pedestrian, the party travels to Kickback Town, where they are greeted by a rampaging Dragon burning it to the ground, and that's NO good!. Dragon easily pushes the rag tag heroes around though, and it is only Mikki who ends the Dragon's shenanigans. The Dragon reveals itself to be Jan, who was disguised as it to commit nefarious deeds without getting in trouble. She promptly accuses the three of being muffin theives, getting them sent to magical jail by the Infomaniac. They easily escape by putting more star-shaped holes into the walls with Mikki's lolzy latin though, and they sneak out in shackles hoping to continue their quest...!

A mission for the sake of Dinner

In Episode 55, we are treated to Nanako strolling into the brand new Suzurian Shopping District built in the Madou World after the events of The Gathering. Ringo, Maguro and Risukuma greet her, and, having nothing better to do, make some chit-chat with her. In the midst of their chatting, Chitose mysteriously appears to chastise Ringo for not doing her job, and then runs off in a hurry, pleading that "they never saw her there". Risukuma and Nanako comment on how odd her behavior was, but Ringo is in no mood to explain, so she moves the subject right along to Risukuma's face. The pedobear's story causes Nanako to reminiscent about the old days, which in turn makes Risu want to feel up her persocom ears somehow. The digi-girl takes off toward the Holy Dinner Shrine before anyone can say much more though.

Nanako arrives at the shrine, being greeted by SU_Tempest Feli. The two converse about how they haven't found a shrine maiden yet, which is kind of silly, since most shrines already have one. Feli has devined that they will eventually find one, but for now their shrine remains maidenless. After some more tea-time-chatter, Feli causally brings up a decline in Arle's presence that she's noticed for weeks. Revealing her location to be Satan's Castle, it doesn't take long for Nanako to put two and two together. Lemres swoops in with convenient timing, and Feli once again ascends into White Feli form, being entrusted by The King once more to carry out the holy powers of Dinner!!!

With Nanako and Lemres off to scout for maidens again, Feli flies to Satan's Castle and finds Arle sadly hanging on the wall in silence. Arle opens her eyes and can't believe Feli has recovered from what she did to her. Feli is disturbed to find out that Arle can no longer use even her basic spells, and quickly gets her the hell out of Satan's Castle, claiming the shrine will be safer. On the way there, however, they are intercepted by MitsuWitch and Schezo, who suspect her even more now that she has "a cute loli" sidekick. Arle and Feli attempt to clear her innocence, but the perverted duo wont have it, insisting that Satan isn't smart enough to recognize the true value of muffins, much less the Million Yen Muffin. They take their leave, deciding that they aren't worth their time. Arriving back at the shrine, Arle makes one of her witty comments about how un-shrine like the shrine is. The pair then muses over who could've taken Arle's power and set these bizarre events into motion...

Angolian Apple of an Antagonistic Intention

Episode 56 brings us back to Lagnus and co. flopping away from Magic Jail, still hand cuffed and unable to do much. Luckily, Lagnus is able to lead them to a nearby village, where Tech happens to be standing around looking cool with his Techno Buster. He notices them and wonders why they're shackled, After learning that they were convicted of muffin thievery, he happily torches the handcuffs off of them, knowing that the police force of Muffin Town is somewhat obsessed. Tech explains that it'd be a bad idea to go into Muffin Town due to a mass hysteria over the thievery of the Million Yen Muffin, and once again the accusation of Arle being a muffin thief is tossed around, this time by the ever-so-jealous Seriri. Lagnus dismisses the mermaid and actually states the group's mission to the boy clad in pink. Tech volunteers to take them to the Muffin Town shrine, and Mikki wonders if this can be done without running into a boss monster and failing a fight again. Tech says he has a giant arm-cannon™ though, so it's totally okay!

At the shrine, there is an unfamiliar pedestal upon which a Golden Apple sits. Lagnus hastily eats it without a second thought, and the fruit's amazing regenerative properties restore Lagnus' strentgh. The brave warrior then totally ditches the crew at the shrine, saying he'll need much stronger allies if he wants to take on Satan and free Arle. Seriri takes the time to whine about karma being a bitch to her once again, with Tech and Mikki reassuring her that only Arle is in danger of being a dangerous muffin fugitive at the moment. AND THEN SUDDENLY ANGOL IS PLACING HIS STAIRS AND THROWING HIS PIK...er...actually he just appears and reveals he lied the Golden Apple at the shrine. Angol states he wanted to test the myth of the Golden Apple's regenerative capabilities, explaining that it brings withered travelers to full health again with consumption, and berrates Mikki's apothecary knowledge in the process. Explaining that he placed it in the shrine to lure a weary traveler into eating it for his experiment, he claims to have merely stumbled across the apple one his travels and takes his leave, probably because Mikki scared him away with her annoying questions just like Popoi.

A Generation 1 of Shrine Maidens

Meanwhile, Lemres and Nanako return to the Holy Dinner Shrine, their search for the shrine maiden in vain. However, it was revealed that she was actually there all along, and that Arle and Feli had taken the time to talk to her. They also quickly state that the divine powers of dinner have been used for evil!! Well, as evil as defiling the dignity of the shrine is concerned. Angol's name is dispensed into the dialogue as a culprit, echoing the the Amalgamation's own ominous forshadowing of Angol's evil intentions. Nanako, however, is just happy to meet the shrine maiden and wants to celebrate, even if the maiden is angoled angered. THe Maiden, whose name still has not been spoken, suggests that they should resort to cannibalism and eat Angol for dinner, while Lemres pleas that they just eat lots of candy instead. They all settle on Kuang Steak, and the maiden reveals her name to be Aoi Azuri, like, finally. Apparently though, introductions are boring, because Arle becomes narcoleptic and passes out on the floor, and everyone baws over her cute sleeping face. After some more Satan related banter, the gang decides the best course of action is to visit the other shrines, starting with the one in Muffin Town. Feli is left behind to stay with the sleeping Arle while the rest of them set off for adventure. Isn't it sad, Feli?

Right in front of the shrine, they bump into Schezo and Mitsiku... erm... Mitsuki, who are there to chow down on some of Midori's Delicious Muffins™. Schezo quickly notices however that they are joined by that "damn bitch" Nanako and her party consisting of Lemres and Aoi. After questioning the whereabouts of the muffin thief, Tech and Seriri slink out of the shrine and ask what's with the sudden gathering outside the shrine. Soon, accusations that Arle is a serial muffin thief go flying everywhere, and Nanako and Lemres become uneasy with talking to the crazy magicians... until Midori Mizuri herself shows up and pacifies everyone with muffins in nuclear muffin paper! Mitsy and Schezo stuff themselves while Midori wonders why someone left a Golden Apple on her shrine. Aoi soon reveals however that the Golden Apple was a fraud; Angol had used the Dinner Shrine to engolden it before placing it on the Muffin Shrine's grounds. Nanako is surprised that Midori doesn't know who either Arle nor Angol are, considering that both of them own potato farms right next to the shrine that they sell her stew potatoes from. Midori becomes enraged learning that not only has Angol been committing sin against the shrines, but also that her Million Yen Muffin has been stolen. Mitsuki boldly declares that Arle must be brought back for Muffin Trial against the almighty muffin miko herself, though she's practically the only one. Tech and Midori ask to accompany the traveling party to the shrine in the Suzuri District to gain more information on the events at hand. Meanwhile, Seriri, Mitsuki, and Schezo stay behind and gorge on magic muffins in their wake. Mikki also follows the group, miraculously fed up with the Pervert couple, but that's irrelevant.

At the Suzuri Shrine, they are welcomed by none other than... Eltia?!?! Midori praises her rather green wardrobe and haircolor, and then the actual shrine maiden, Akai Suzuri, introduces herself and her assistants Chitose (and Eltia apparently). Nanako however, is paralyzed in shock that Eltia has suddenly risen from her grave, Tech noticing her uneasiness. They begin another round of 20 questions, starting with where the hell is the shrine's apple. After learning that Lagnus has eaten the apple, Chitose tries to shoo the party away, but she is silenced by Akai, though in a less stern manner than previous characters have silenced thier cute loli assistants. After mentioning Angol's name, Eltia has a moment of temporary insanity, and then quietly excuses herself before she mysteriously vanishes in the move to Keiji's VPS. Conveniently, Ringo appears just when Eltia has taken her leave, to avoid any awkward "OH MY GOD YOU AREN'T DEAD" reunions. Suddenly everyone throws lavish compliments at Ringo's UTAU hair, which delights her...until Nanako compares it to Arle's sleepy face and ticks her off. Lemres pipes in, saying that they still don't know where Arle's power has gone despite figuring out that Angol has disgraced all three shrines. Yada Yada Blah Blah another ten minutes of banter and Akai reveals she has the true MYM thief in a secret dungeon.

In the dungeon is indeed Doppelganger Arle, chained to the wall and gagged ala Satan's Castle. Midori has a good screaming at Doppel, then it is revealed that Doppel has also had her power absorbed. By whom, is still not clear, but it's fairly obvious that whoever it is wanted Arle's power times two (as if she wasn't already the most powerful sorceress in the fucking universe after the last arc). Suddenly however, an Angolian Air Fleet battleship attacks the shrine with missiles, destroying the surrounding foliage and buildings. At the hull of the ship is Jesus Gypsum who demands to have the shrine's entire supply of apples handed over to Angol, else the shrine shall be obliterated. However, the gang defends the shrine, and Unda appears out of nowhere, ditching her stuttering moe personality for a badass one momentarily, and deals mortal damage to the airship, allowing Akai and Chitose to take Gypsum hostage as she goes back to Eldora as quickly as she came. The gang goes their own ways after peace has returned, now knowing that whatever is going on with Satan, Arle, Angol and Eltia is of a grave urgency...

Midori returns to Muffin Town, clearing Arle's name and revealing the true thief, and places the Million Yen Muffin in it's proper place, absentmindedly ignoring the fact that she kind of lost a window two episodes ago. After seeing Mitsuki and Schezo's dedication to it, she hires them as body guards for the muffin while she attends her shrine maiden duties, Seriri doing nothing particularly useful. As the sun sets on an extremely eventful day in the Madou World, Angol contemplates where Fake Arle has disappeared to. He also muses on her advanced technological knowledge and biological knowledge that created the abomination that was Neo Angol, and whether this knowledge could produce a new biosynthetic era of technological advancements that he could pioneer. He also reveals a grudge against Fake Arle for using him as the basis of her twisted experiments and vows to take her knowledge and get his vengeance against her at any cost. The episode ends on an omnious note of Angol wondering where Gypsum is with his would-be golden apple farms...