The Medic put his pencil to paper and looked up at the princess expectantly. However, it was the insectoid matriarch who spoke up first, cutting Midna off before she could even open her mouth to speak. The bug queen reiterated what she had said in the rec-room, adding that the hats in this place were actually functional. She described her species as Sectionan, more evidence suggesting her genetic royalty. Despite being answered by the wrong person, the Medic scribbled down her name, species, and status, as well as several notes on experiments to perform on either her or her minions, likely both. Out of habit, he kept his notepad close to his chest, angled so that it was nearly impossible to see what was written without taking it. This automated precaution was entirely unnecessary, however, as he wrote in his mother tongue. On top of that, he wrote in code; the single most well known, yet difficult to decipher code known to man. That was, of course, the dreaded Physician's Scrawl. Even to a native German speaker, the writing appeared as nothing more than unintelligible squiggles.

Princess Midna expanded on Queen Sectionia's promises, explaining that, in this realm, spirits were visible and could, if he was understanding correctly, could be used to craft new weapons, commanded as troops, or even be added to one's self to imbue them with that spirit's abilities. "Fascinating..." the Medic muttered. Surprisingly enough, the medical mercenary was already familiar with both acquiring souls from fallen enemies as well as implanting them into foreign bodies, though he suspected the process was slightly different. This, too, he jotted down. The princess continued, describing herself as a Twili, though the doctor made sure to note that whatever a Twili was, they were not dark skinned imps. She immediately made it clear, however, that he was not to experiment on her, as she apparently had experience with scientists. When she began teasing him, however, his pencil froze. His eyes slowly slid up to meet hers, a single eyebrow raising in perfect unison. While he couldn't quite understand the notion that she'd object to potential improvements, he could still respect it. After all, she was a unique specimen, and it wouldn't do to simply take her apart and hope for the best. What he didn't respect, however, was the tone with which it was said. Social cues weren't exactly his forte, but he had worked with enough arrogant mercenaries to know when he was being talked down to. Any chance of the Medic respecting her wishes was immediately dashed, as he decided then and there that she would be his next research subject. After all, she'd have to sleep sometime... or did she? Exactly one second passed before the Medic returned to his note pad, his scribbling becoming all the more furious.

The Medic opened his mouth to inquire about the princess's method of reproduction when the Heavy began loudly repeating all that the Medic had just said. Rolling his eyes, he turned his attention instead to the android from earlier, choosing to ignore the Heavy's inane rambling. She greeted him politely, a rare privilege in his line of work, before asking him if his Medi-Gun would work on her as well. "Ooh! Vhat great question!" He responded, legitimately impressed by her apparent intelligence. "As a matter of fact, eet does! I'd know, I've healed more disguised spy-bots zan I'd like to admit." He chuckled at her mention of his professional relationship with the Heavy, thanking her quite sincerely for volunteering her and her... friend? Pet? Companion's services. Midna tried to non-verbally communicate that she was also off limits, but the Medic didn't notice. If he had, he'd have simply let out a small laugh. He was no roboticist, that was the Engineer's field of study!

Not too long after, another small, strange creature appeared, this one looking like some sort of cartoon cat... that was also a super hero. It was soon joined by a group of teenagers, dressed slightly less like super heroes, though one of them was dressed more like an Egyptian princess. Along with the children was a beautiful woman accompanied by a wolf with a wooden face. The Medic sighed quietly, choosing to overlook the strangeness of it all. As new as this all was, he was quite accustom to dealing with the absurd at this point. On the bright side, he'd have no shortage of research opportunities. Midna dismissed the wolf, apparently a servant of hers, and it departed through a dark portal. As Midna left to speak to their vulpine team mate, the Medic began making his rounds, collecting as much information from each person as he could. After all, there was always a chance of someone suffering a fatal injury that his Medi-Gun would be unable to heal, and if he ended up having to operate on them, he'd need to know what they have and where it belongs.

Cadet took the frog warrior’s hand with a grin, giving it a quick enthusiastic shake up and down. He wasn’t all too surprised that Frog hadn’t spotted Hat Kid, she could be fast and crafty after all, but the hunter was still glad to accept a guide to her last known location.

“I’m called the Ace Cadet!” he told Frog, mimicking the other’s introduction. That was the title he was most comfortable with anyway. After a brief moment of thinking about how the others addressed him, he added, “Nicknames are okay too.” The sooner the group got back together and up to speed the better, so Cadet didn’t waste any time with the helpful newcomer. “I appreciate your help, Frog. Lead the way!”

"Very well." Frog humbly nodded then turned opposite of the direction he had been planning to go, yet he had Ace Cadet to help now and he believed in doing so he would be doing what his friend Cyrus would have done. "So tis Ace Cadet thine real name or thy honorific?" the amphibian swordsman asked as he walked, staying at Ace Cadet's flank.

"That's the second time I've been asked that today," the young man laughed, recalling his conversation earlier with Kamek at the marketplace. "Where I'm from, everyone goes by titles." He didn't elaborate anymore, if he did he'd be debating with himself if he should be going by "A-Lister" or something since his position change... or picking up a 'normal name,' since apparently the customs in his world were weird. "Doesn't seem like it's that common in other worlds though. Oh, as far as worlds go..."

He looked at Frog. "You're familiar with the city you said, yeah? Are you from Limsa?" Being that the guy was literally part amphibian and surrounded by water in the city, Cadet wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. "Gaurdia twas my home but I hath traveled Limsa for quite a time," he told Ace as Limsa's more bustling city center disappeared from sight. It seemed just like every where else they'd traveling, people are scattered about far from where they originally were from. Still, everyone in Limsa Lominscuttle so far was so welcoming and helpful, no matter if they were true locals or not. It made Cadet feel even more so that the Blue Team's current strategy of dealing with tempest at sea was the right one.

As they drew closer to the Hatchery, they kept up the conversation.

"Are you an adventurer? You've got that groovios sword and armor. Do you know anything about that reviving enemy fleet the navy's been taking on? Or..." A glance out toward the water, through the white brick buildings of city showed a dark and stormy ocean in the distance. "What about the Bottomless Sea?" Following Ace Cadet's gaze the amphibious swordsman looked out to the vast open ocean that looked dark and dangerous. "I hath little to no experience upon the ocean blue," Frog admitted then turned back to Ace and drew his blade. "My sword is Masamune the legendary sword of antiquity," the blade shone in the sunlight and in the reflection Frog saw himself as he was before his transformation for just a second.

While it was unfortunate that Frog couldn't offer insight into their objectives, the topic the warrior quickly switched to was one near and dear to the Cadet's heart: equipment. He let out an oooooh sound, admiring the blade as the pair stopped off to one side of the path they were on. "Do you mind?" The redhead asked, holding his hand out to accept the blade if Frog let him inspect it. Frog held the blade out to Ace but hesitation stayed his hand. "Twas given to me by an old friend," finally he extended it to Ace Cadet. "Thine blade tis my destiny," Frog said as he handed the broadsword over.

Cadet nodded, carefully taking the sword to give it a closer look. It was well made; the blade itself sleek and simple while the hilt and guard had a little more flair to them. Masamune was a solid weapon for sure. Though the hunter wasn't one for equipment sentimentality, he nonetheless handled the sword gently in respect to Frog's feelings about it. When he handed it back to the amphibian warrior, Cadet seemed content, if a bit confused. "That's a nice sword for sure. What do you mean it's your destiny...?"

Frog took the weapon in his gloved hand and gripped the hilt as he slid Masamune back into his scabbard. "Cyrus my mentor and friend bequeathed it to me before he was killed." as they walked Frog slowed his pace and looks to the ocean. "I was to use it in protection of Guardia's royal family but," Frog gestured around them with his hands "Now there is no Guardia and the blade has lost it's twin spirits Masa and Mune." sighing he looped his thumbs through his belt. Cadet nodded along with his explanation. He certainly wasn't the first troubled soul the group had met. Frog's mention of the blade's spirits piqued the Cadet's interest again, and the hunter thought to himself that he'd have to ask about that. A sword being able to be fed spirits would be the most radalos thing ever. However, the warrior made another mention of a royal family, and it brought a certain other royal to his mind. He didn't have time to get distracted over a cool sword and it's tragic backstory, he had a quest to complete!

"Speaking of royal families, I should find Hatty and get back to the princess," Cadet said, more to himself than to Frog. He glanced ahead, finding the path familiar looking - but then again, it was the same pale passage as all the others in Limsa. He looked at Frog before speaking again. "I can introduce you to her if you want, but I don't know if she'd know anything about a masa or a mune."

Frog considered Ace Cadet's offer then nodded "Aye your offer tis gracious I shalt accept it." The amphibious swordsman slowed pace noting the passage ahead. "Thine spirits Masa and Mune arte blade in living form," he explained "Naught thoust typical spirits." Frog said with confidence as he knew that the two entities truly were unique but stopping short of boring the red haired warrior with tales of old the swordsman decided it best he save that story for another time.

The duo approached the Hatchery. From inside, the sounds of various animals could be heard. Squawking, growling... shouting? The voice was muffled through the brick and heavy wooden door, but it definitely sounded like a human being. Frog and Cadet looked at each other, then one quickly opened the door while the other sprang inside. Luckily it didn't seem like there was any particular danger present. Instead, the pair found an upset looking woman surrounded by all kinds of sky traveling wildlife, as well as the girl Cadet had been looking for. Although their barging in was a little awkward, Cadet pushed on through and spoke up, waving to Hat Kid.

"Hey, there you are! We're all gonna meet up, share news." He beckoned the girl over, and should she comply, introductions were in order. "This is Frog, he's gonna come along with us to meet the princess. By the way," he lowered his voice slightly, glancing toward the woman before he looked back at Hat Kid and cupped a hand on one side of his mouth. "Any luck here?"

---

The easy out of the pyramid was a more than welcome end to the thieve's little escapade inside it - and with Naboris quickly approaching, getting back to the group was even easier. Primrose supposed either the advance team succeeded and they were finished with the lakeside battleground now, or they failed and were making a direct getaway. She'd find out soon enough.

As soon as they stepped onto the camel, the wolfos went to reunite with it's master. Mona was also quick to announce their return and introduce Alibaba to the group. The very much expanded group. Mercenaries of all shapes gathered close together, chatting and introducing themselves. Primrose blinked, slow and deliberate. The times of cozy desert car rides were over, now they had a giant construct filled with even larger personalities. I take it they really were successful then, Primrose thought. She glanced backward at Lakeside, where glimpses of people could still be seen and dim noises still sounded. ...in one way or another.

Usually at this time Primrose would go off somewhere like Joker and Alibaba had - stand off to one side, lean against something and think to herself, more than content to leave the spotlight when she wasn't explicitly looking to stand under it. However, she stayed nearby to the others, the original yellow team. Maybe she was just being paranoid, but the newcomers they'd picked up while she was away were not only still under Galeem's control, but up until that point they'd been happy to battle each other over and over. Those facts didn't exactly lend themselves well to being excited for new teammates. Primrose eyed the lot of them, and only felt slightly foolish when everyone that glanced over and met her stare gave her a smile and greeting.

Just slightly. One could never be too careful.

With some healthy suspicion alive and well within Primrose, the dancer followed Mona over to where Midna was settled. "It will be a shame to lose this," she chimed in, sparing a few moments to look around at Naboris' interior. "Mona won't be able to carry all of us anymore either."

As far as "all of us" went, were they going to take this whole group to the mountain? If they left a few with Naboris and tried to send it back to the Alcamoth, would that prove problematic? Surely they couldn't usurp it without that woman, Urbosa's, know-how. If that was the case, sending them away into the waiting arms of a dozens of free people willing to throw hands might be a very good idea.

"If we must abandon it, I think your idea of sending it back is a good one," she said, her brows furrowing slightly from her previous thoughts. Ultimately, giving her opinion is not why she approached the imp though. Primrose willed a smile onto her face before she looked at Midna again. "Thank you, by the way. Your hound was very helpful."

While Midna floated away to speak with Fox, Primrose thought about going to find one of the others that had been at Lakeside to get a more detailed story. Before she could make any move, she was intercepted by a tall, angular, and heavily accented man with a strange contraption on his back. One of the new recruits, gathering "medical information" as it were. He was far from the caregiver Primrose had grown to know during her own travels, and his enthusiasm was a little... creepy. She'd been looked at like she was a piece of meat before, but not quite like this. She hesitated, before releasing a long sigh out through her nose. Beggars can't be choosers... and we could use a healer or two. "Primrose, human female," she said, humoring the man, "Just the usual with me... though I prefer a hands off approach to healing if possible, doctor."

Yes indeed, this 'doctor' was indeed quite offputting indeed. What really made Sectonia weary of him was his apparent lack of, well... personal space? Not in the physical sense, although an offhanded comment from Midna made Sectonia weary of this as well, but just... pure audacity. When approached by the man asking for how her body worked, Sectonia tried her best not to get angry, which to the medic would only be a stern look from the bee queen. "Doctor, it is best not to ask a Queen such questions at this time." He was their healer in this group, and she knew some of the things they had to face, so she couldn't just up and go off on him when in the end he was support at the end of the day. Saying that, she did continue. "My minions on the other hand I don't mind you working on. I have plenty more." This speech was a double meaning, since she caught Midna noticing the doctor's 'interest' in experiments, which Sectonia would rather avoid entirely.

With the medic busy interacting with the phantom troop who had arrived, finding the ally they had been seeking, Sectonia hovered over to Midna and while the medic was preoccupied with the the transforming cat mascot of the group, Sectonia whispered to Midna. "From one royalty to another, We should keep an eye on each other around that one." pointing at the Medic. With that said, she hovered back to look at the others as they traveled to their next destination. Seeing as they were her new 'minions' and unlike hers they had a mind of their own, Sectonia figured it would be best to understand what they all did. Although from the looks of things, she figured what most of them did by their gear. But if they had odd items like a Sandwich made using a Maximum Tomato, they might have hidden talents. Speaking of the sandwich wielding man, Sectonia started with him.

"So 'Heavy', Besides what I saw on the battlefield, is there anything else I should know about what you do?" Sectonia asked Heavy. Out of everyone they had recruited, he seemed to show the queen the most respect, so she started with him. After hearing the Heavy explain himself, Sectonia had one followup question, curious as to the Sandvich he offered earlier. "You ate that earlier, no? How many do you have?" She did take the offered Sandvich, tearing off a small bit to try. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't something she preferred. Sandwiches were not her preferred food, as she preferred much sweater tasting dishes. Sandwiches did exist in Floralia much like the heavy described, although the meats were far different, most likely animals from his land. She would put this preference aside if she needed to eat this maximum tomato substitute in the future. "An interesting Maximum Tomato substitute. Thank You." Sectonia then moved on to the other mercs, giving the other merc who inquired about the item the other half of the Sandvich, the queen having reservations about Maximum Tomatoes, and by proxy, their substitutes.

She listened to the other mercs as they explained what they could do, getting a feel of their capabilities as well. Much like Heavy, they were gruff and big, although one of them tried to keep a bit of grace about him which Sectonia appreciated. Although that being said, ALL of the mercenaries needed a bath Sectonia noticed getting this close to them, something that would need to be remedied when they weren't all in a desert. The last one she got to was the Medic as he was being quite the 'busy bee' himself. While he had already explained his medical knowledge and all of that, Sectonia asked. "And you Doctor. I know of your medical knowledge and healing, but do you have a way to protect yourself on the battlefield? The Medibot we have in another group of ours uses a shield and her fists."

With the party having their next goal, a cliff side being called out by one of the phantom troop, the divine beast made its way there. However many had their concerns as to how they would travel with such a large group without it which was a concern. Some even voiced their concerns that they'd leave this mode of travel behind entirely upon reaching the cliff and bridge that were where they needed to go. Sectonia thought about that alongside the phantom troop, as their method of crossing the desert before the divine beast wouldn't work anymore with their additional members, some being quite heavy. "Hm... We may need to walk it then. Heat will not be an issue." She thought a bit more then said. "You said the area was crumbling? Then staying out of heavy vehicles would be best." She then looked at the heavier mercs thinking about that once again. There was no way she could help them if they fell, so, as everyone started to look at their destination, Sectonia hovered over to Poppi and said. "If one of them falls, it will take us both to rescue them." She wouldn't make a habit to rescue them if they proved to not be worth the effort, but they would at least be given the opportunity to try.

What Sakura had done had not been what Kamek had been trying to get across at all, and yet.

And yet.

Geralt had arrived thanks to Ranger’s lift, giving Sakura all the room she needed to end the fight how she wanted. The grizzled man couldn't bear to watch. Kamek couldn't look away. A part of him thought it was infinitely stupid, to attemt to free something so blatantly monstrous and evil, and yet.

And yet.

Part of him realized that the monstrous ship girl could have been him, or Lord Bowser, or Jr or any one of their minions. He suddenly emphasized with her, where before he’d only wanted the danger to be over.

He could only watch transfixed as the girl approached, hearted the ship and tried to pull her up out of the water, almost scared to move lest it break the spell of peace that fell across the battlefield. As if an errant twitch would prompt the girl to lash out at the vulnerable heroine and gut her in an instant, and yet.

And yet

The moment stretched on, and against all logic, the monster seemed to have been tamed, attempting to rise and softly aid the injured Sakura. It was only when she raised her hand and waved up at the ship, up at him, and called for help that the bout of bystander syndrome that had gripped him was broken.

”It worked?” he said in amazement, before his eyes, freed from staring at the scene, glanced around and caught the sight of Ranger, slowly approaching the ship and the Sakura. He also spotted the other surviving abyssal vessel, the one wearing massive gauntlets and practically nothing else who The End had knocked out with a sleeping dart, being carried helpful thought the sky by his minions towards them.

”Oh no it worked!”

”Yeah it did now could you two old farts stop standing around being useless already! Do you have any idea how annoying it is to have to sit here holding this ship up, unable to do anything but watch and then to have you two just waste time staring like gormless morons or hiding like a boo” Jr yelled, having been unable to do much but move the ship to and from escape vectors as the battle unfolded.

Kamek snapped fully back into reality part through the boy’s rant and then sprung into action he called out, ”Jr get ready to pick them up” as he mounted his broom and then rapidly descended towards the standoff occurring between the princess, who could definitely be seen to be holding Sakura hostage if you were being uncharitable, and Ranger, who had every reason to be bloodthirsty vengeful even without Galeem’s influence.

”Already doing that!” Jr’s call came after him, the ship gradually descending to come down to one side of the ship stand… float off, its bay doors opening up as he did so.

Kamk meanwhile dropped down out of the sky right in between ranger and the Princess, joined by his two remaining clones and one Toady holding the mg armed Tyrant, blocking Ranger’s shot in the process.

”Let’s not do anything stupid please” politely told them as wands and a pig gun where brandished by him and his minions.

”This one is free now. I know that doesnt make sense, but trust me, a violent fog has been lifted from her mind. This can end without any more deaths, just give Sakura’s peace a chance” He told Ranger, who had the red clone facing her, wand brandished yet not quite pointing it at her. If she did try to do something stupid, there was a clear indication that Kamek wasn’t going to let her ruin the success of Sakura’s stupidly brave actions, but he didn't want to directly provoke her either. She was also the only Galeem influenced person left after all, at least the only one awake, (The rest of the retreating ship girls and pursuing abyssals had stayed away from them till now. He wasn’t sure how long that would last but knew that if either group came to them there’d be trouble) and that made her a liability to be handled with care.

”That said I can't say I entirely trust you Princess,” he told her apologetically. For all he knew freeing her form Galeem’s influence had just opened up the possibility for her to be incredibly crafty when pursuing her own survival ”It would be in your best interest to let Sakura walk away, after which my minion here will see to her health and then, should this end well, to yours,” he gestured to the white mage clone who slowly inched closer to provide physical support (if she needed it) and healing to the injured heroine, while keeping his wand still squarely aimed at the princess. The pig gun toting Toady, who hovered above and to the right of him, did the same, though whether the pint sized impromptu appointed marks-minion would be able to hit anything should it need to fire was doubtful.

---

---

---

---

Sephiroth didn't bother waiting for a response from the others, even as his words still hung in the air, deciding to explore the tower instead. Of course he knew he wouldn't be able to go far, as he doubted this group trusted him enough to allow such, so he set course for the nearest map instead. Assuming they even had one that is. It wouldn't do for him to wander about this world blindly after all, and perhaps figuring out the planet's topography would help him identify the most promising paths of attack against the indoctrinated servants of Galeem. That or aid him in his search for a means of accruing more power. Unfortunately, due to the completely unfamiliar layout of the area around him, Sephiroth ended up spending more time wandering about Smash Tower than he did making any real progress towards finding out more about the world. Thus he found himself back where he started, standing along with the others, arms crossed and face marred by the slightest of scowls.

From the helm of Naboris, Fox watched the distance between them and the pyramid gradually shorten one titanic step at a time until they shortly came inbound. Seeing as much for himself, he hardly needed Poppi’s announcement to be aware of the Thieves and Primrose’s impending arrival, and moved preemptively to meet them at the top of the lower deck once they came aboard. As observed, they brought yet another newcomer on with them as well, by the name of Alibaba, which one could surmise as the answer to the question of who they went looking for. The question of how they knew to look there in the first place would be a matter of speculation for anyone who cared. With all of them--plus one--safely accounted for, Fox bade them welcome for their return.

“Good to have you aboard,” he politely directed to Alibaba with a nod. “We’re a long ways from done here. I hope we can count on you for the rest of the mission ahead,” he beseeched Joker and his crew, awaiting any one of their replies before excusing himself to split off from the group on a separate path from Joker, but not before addressing the presented order of what to do with the Divine Beast should they reach an impassable point with it. “Up ahead or later on, we’ll have to get off eventually, but we’ll worry about that when we get to it. Until then, we’ll take it as far as it can go, and go from there on foot if we have to.” As a career fighter pilot, Fox knew as well as anyone the eventuality of needing to step out of the cockpit and hoof it, so the prospect bothered him none. Still, he didn’t consider abandoning Naboris altogether to be in the cards, for it was simply better to have a flagship (or the closest practical equivalent they had to it) for extended transport than not.

With that taken care of for the time being, Fox headed for one of the outer decks at Naboris’ shoulders to secure a forward view of their travel, unimpeded by the actual head of the Beast had he gone there instead. It didn’t take long for Midna to follow and question him on his mood regarding the turnout of their previous side venture, citing the "look" of him as precedent for concern. He was unaware that it 'looked' to be anything at all besides mere self-dismissal to collect one’s thoughts and reassess their progress in the face of the daunting tasks that no doubt lay ahead. Perhaps he wasn’t so keen at burying his discontent beneath the veil of pragmatism as he hoped, or maybe he never was. Certainly, there was no shortage of things for him to be bothered by; further questions, lingering concerns, creeping doubts, relevant memories, but nothing he cared (or felt comfortable) to discuss, preferring not to spend untimely, undue attention on them.

“Do we still have our heading?” he inquired of her regarding their plotted course and destination, maintaining his default stoical bearing as he did. “What can you see from here?” he asked further, hoping and expecting her second set of Beastial eyes would somehow afford her the best lay of the land on their continued travel, and that she may be able to pick out any vital details ahead of their arrival. In light of the questioning, he aimed to present himself not as one dodging a question, but one simply focused on what mattered, looking ahead rather than behind. Which is not to say that he wasn’t doing that. Rather, he was just trying slightly harder to. Either way, he hoped Midna would accept it for an honest answer, and think no more of it.

”You and me kid, we’re going to show them all” Bowser told Marie, as he briefly summoned her to finalize the pact. She still looked like she was possessed by the skullheart, but Bowser didn’t pay the implications much mind other than it meant she’d likely still be a powerful fighter.

”Plus we can do some fun stuff too when we have the time. Ain’t gotta be all peddle to the metal” He got a nod and a smile before she returned to whatever existence Strikers had between summonings and Bowser turned back to the matter at hand. Or. almost did. Blazermate’s question of anime came up, distracting him briefly

”It’s like. Cartoons or something right? I think jr watched one of those, something about catching monsters or something?” Bowser replied, his mind calling up an expy of the Pokemon anime made somewhere in his world, specifically a film he’d watched with Jr one evening not too recently.

”Don’t see what those has to do with what's his face though” he waved his hand towards Sephiroth realizing he didn't know the man’s name, something that was solved a few moments later when the silver haired pretty boy dramatically introduced himself. Now that he wasn't lashing out, the king had to admit the anime guy did have style to spare when it came to bad guy presentation. The small self assured smile brought it down a little bit, but overall it was a good delivery, Bowser thought to himself before realizing he's gotten sidetracked again.

The place was about to explode, now was not the time to be handing out scores for villainous introduction.

”ALRIGHT ALRIGHT LET’S MOVE IT PEOPLE, YES YOU CAN COME SKELETON GUYS I DON'T CARE LETS JUST LEAVE THIS PLACE ALREADY!” He commanded, but fortunately people were already queuing up. Bowser impatiently joined the queue and in relatively short order the teleported had warped them all back to Alcamoth.

”LINKLE GOT TRICKED BY A CURSED ARTIFACT THING CALLED THE SKULLHEART. YOU, CAT GIRL… MISS FORTUNE? IS THAT A PUN? ANYWAY IT COMES FROM YOUR PLACE RIGHT? WELL THEN TELL VANDHAM ABOUT IT AND THEN YOU SEE IF ANY OF THE TROOPS WE HAVE WOULD BE ABLE TO GET RID OF IT SOMEHOW. ALSO HAVE THE MERCENARIES KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR PEOPLE WEARING THE MASTER OF MASTER’S CLOAK IF YOU AREN'T ALREADY. THE THIRTEEN NOBODY'S OR WHATEVER THEY WERE CALLED. ONE OF THEM KIDNAPPED LINKLE BEFORE WE COULD DO ANYTHING TO HELP HER, THE MASSIVE JERK” Bowser commanded, getting a bit more detail over that might be useful to the mercenaries and also hoping someone from some world or other might have a trump card against the skullheart’s corruption that its own world lacked.

All that left was working out what they were going to do while they waited for the city to go kaboom. Likely something that would be hard to miss, so they went exactly going to have to camp up and keep an eye on the place till it did, which left them with plenty of options.

”HOW HARD IS CATCHING UP TO BLUE GONNA BE?” The King asked. Turned out that depended on how their shopping was going. Some of them, including importantly (to Bowser) Junior, had popped back through and acquired a heap of gold from Peach’s vault before heading back to a city in the middle of the ocean they were working out of, similar to how the team had worked out of Lumbridge for a time in the Land of adventure. Apparently they had been looking into acquiring an airship, which Bowser highly approved of.

”Well I don’t know about you but I’m going to the Blue, make sure Junior and Peach and Kamek and everyone else is still good. Then maybe we help them out or mix it up and head for the forest or do some side stuff to power up for a bit? These Spirit’s have worked out great so far, you definitely had the right idea with taking those on earlier than I did” Bowser said, mostly talking to Blazermate. While he did he noticed Sephiroth had come back from wherever he’d wandered off too with a scowl on his face. At first he’d assumed the man had gone to use the bathroom but unless that experience had been incredibly unsatisfied then odds are he hadn't found whatever he was looking for, likely because he’d wandered off arrogantly assuming he knew where to go rather than simply asking.

Bowser had been there before too.

”SO WHERE’S THE MAP BEING KEPT ANYWAY?” Bowser asked for him, saving the fellow villain the embarrassment of asking after failing to find it.

Hat Kid confirmed her intentions to Sky with a nod, and her expression fell a couple of steps when she received answers to her own questions--that being a hard ‘no’ on all accounts. To start, Sky didn’t seem too happy with the child’s idea of crossing the Bottomless Sea on the back of one of her ‘babies’ (her fondness presumably extended even to the likes of the Crow Demon), but tried to reel in her displeasure with the idea as she expressed her concerns, further highlighting the apparent dangers of the child’s target destination. What was that about “dog fights” though? Like, with planes--NOT birds (or bird-like)--or are dogs somehow involved too? Whatever meaning the child took, the avian caretaker seemed oddly versed in the subject either way, but she didn’t have time to worry about dog ethics.

More importantly, it was made abundantly clear that none of them would be able to survive long enough to facilitate a round trip as needed, as expressed from a point of reasonable doubt by Sky herself. Thus, they were deemed unfit and ineligible for the prospective journey over the treacherous Sea, even if their owner were to allow for it. Still, Kid didn’t mean to upset her at all with her request, unaware of what it constituted until then.

“Sowry,” she said simply, coming dangerously close (though not entirely by accident) to cutely bending all of the consonants in her apology. It was right around the time that Sky was making an exception for the Cheepoofs that a familiar from the child’s adventuring party had arrived with a plus one, specifically looking for her. The Ace Cadet announced himself in, waving her down to fill her in on the next step, and introduced her to a frog he picked up along the way. Between owls, penguins, crows, goats, seals, and now frogs, she figured for no particular reason that she could probably do worse as far as new animal species to collaborate get acquainted with.

When asked by Cadet about the fruitfulness of her detour, she simply responded with a shrug and a head shake, but then she caught herself ‘speaking’ too soon and paused, squinting thoughtfully. Leaning in to whisper in the hunter’s ear, she relayed the perils spoken of by the shopkeeper; “saves big enough to drown ships whole, tentacled leviathans,” and something about a nondescript “machine” that some “girl” told her about. Cadet could inquire or investigate further from there if he wanted, but as far as she was concerned, her business there was concluded (albeit empty-handedly). After Ace said his piece in response, Hat Kid would saunter over to the open deck area of the Hatchery where she came in at (in lieu of the door in the closed half) as she made ready to leave back out the same way, in accordance with the assembly call delivered unto her.

“Bye!” She bid Sky adieu as a monosyllabic thanks for her time and unfulfilled business as she leapt from the deck and began making her quick, controlled descent to the port where she last saw everyone to reconvene with them.

To what extent Midna could salvage her new ride in the case abandonment became necessary, Mona could not say at all. Nobody could as far as he could tell, so the cat guessed that the floating muscle-imp liked talking to herself. Not such a strange thing, he knew, when juxtaposed with all he'd borne witness to as of late, and the Phantom Thief felt quite sure things wouldn't be getting any less weird any time soon. He bounded across the stone ridges of the neck of Vah Naboris to clamber atop the six-eyed mask that formed its head. If the Divine Beast's steady stride jostled any less he might have liked to start sunning himself there and then, but since its heavy jaunting seemed a little too liable to send unanchored nappers flying toward the desert below, he contented himself with posing heroically as he kept an eye on the expansive vista ahead.

Tora didn't mark the departure of either Mona nor Midna, focused instead on the Medic as he rendered to Poppi his response. As a matter of fact he would be able to heal Poppi, which roused a welcome 'Hooray!' from Tora. Typical healing, from the doctor's art to restorative potions, conferred no benefit to Blades in his world, but here was a miracle man who'd be able to help no matter which member of the dynamic duo took a beating! And with their stalwart shield all the sturdier, Yellow Team would be all the more free to slap around whomever might cross them. “Meh meh! Tora feel like things just got way easier for team goodypon!”

Soon after conversation turned toward the journey ahead. The new recruits, freed as they were from the confines of either a techno-pyramid or a purgatorial deathmatch, quickly got a grasp of their teammates' objective. It took just one look out of a window from Vah Naboris' double-domed interior to see the majestic eminence that towered above the Sandswept Sky, and indeed much of the World of Light itself. For all their traveling so far, Split Mountain seemed essentially no closer, but the heroes were undeterred. Sectonia ruminated on the perilous area ahead, noting that the larger members of the time might be too much for one of the fliers to catch alone should they fall. Poppi wasn't so sure, however. “Maybe for Sectonia spindly arms. Er, no offense. But even in Alpha mode, Poppi superstrength enough for task.” Smiling, she put her hands on her hips. “Poppi new form have more than enough power to carry two Heavies!”

Without getting up Tora poorly imitated his artificial blade's pose, looking pleased. “That Poppi QT Pi for you! We carry our weight from now on, meh!”

Poppi crossed her arms playfully. “Poppi know this because Poppi have to carry Tora all the time.”

“Hey!”

Areas of rock and ruin became steadily more common as the Divine Beast plodded on. Everyone got a good chance to rest, recuperate, and even recreate during this second stage of the journey. Still, the wait didn't have a chance to become intolerable before the distant barrier visible from the heights of Futaba's Palace became visible not just to the Phantom Thieves' lookout, but the rest of the heroes as well. Though it seemed little at first, Yellow Team knew better than to expect it to stay that way by now, and before too long the wall of standstone loomed dead ahead in the afternoon sun.



Tora exhaled deeply at the sight of it. “Whew! Well, not just stepping over that one, meh.” As best as the Nopon could estimate, Vah Naboris stood at just over half the wall's height. Poppi, Sectonia, and maybe Midna -as well as the Courier if his solo expedition brought him this way already- wouldn't have an issue getting over it. But the rest -including the Divine Beast itself- wouldn't have things quite so easy. At least from here, the mountain did look somewhat closer.

A moment later Poppi flew in through a window and landed to give her report. “It not just wall in way. More like cliff. Desert keep going at wall-top level on other side. See building tops peeking above wall?” She pointed to make sure they did. “As friends can see, bridge heading up in pieces. Bridge may look intact to east, but actually not extend all way to wall, and no way hold up under little titan.” Those present would either need to remember, infer, or wonder what she referred to, that being the Divine Beast. “Poppi also see wildlife. Take look outside if want. Poppi spot two kinds of flat fliers. One with green eyes. Other with person stuck in.. There also buggy dragons, walking heads, leggy worms, and super-nastybug.” What to do with the information she left to Yellow Team's fluffy leader and his fearless advisors, those being everyone else.



The black-iron Ranger regarded Sakura with a stunned expression, half anger, half disbelief, and half-hidden by her newfound half-mask, when the wounded Street Fighter skirted a rolling wave to place make herself an obstacle between the avenger and her foe. “What are you doing?” The question pertained equally to her protection of an enemy and her broken state, but Sakura's disjointed, miserable mutterings failed to explain either. “Whose side are you on? I'm sorry, but even if you helped us, I can't just let that monster...?”

All of a sudden Sakura broke the tension, trying to distract her in an almost comically unconvincing manner. Like a schoolchild. The teacher in Ranger felt condescended to, and she couldn't help but cross her arms in indignation. “You aren't serious. I'm an instructor, you know. Such tricks have no effect on--!”

In the middle of explaining the uselessness of Sakura's attempted diversion, the street fighter threw herself across the surface of the water on a full-on roll. Taken aback, Ranger's hand tightened on the handle of her launcher, but even as a figment of her spirit-altered psyche whispered at her to attack, the shipgirl refused to hurt someone she believed to be an ally still. Sakura, meanwhile, knew she had no choice but to. Her knee struck her fellow naval warrior with surprising force for a woman in such ruinous condition, all the more shocking for Ranger's disbelief that her new acquaintance actually hit her. A split second later, however, she hit the teacher with something altogether different. In just a moment's time the damage was undone, fading along with the unwholesome light in Ranger's visible eye. It turned blue as as sea that reflected clear sky, and went wide as Sakura grabbed Ranger and launched into speech, bolstered in her efforts at explanation by Kamek as he arrived.

Hit by an emotional shock stronger even than the numbed blow to her shoulder, Ranger couldn't help but tear up herself as Sakura wept. Memories forced into dark obscurity by the scorching light of Galeem surged to the forefront, and though she also recalled fighting Abyssals before the extinction, she could bring forth no fragmentary trace of her former fury when she looked upon Seaplane Tender's gentle face. Sakura collapsed into Ranger's arms, their rigging pushed out of the way. She herself might have fallen if the Water Princess didn't arrive just that moment, holding the three up with the weight of her tail as she embraced the others. A still moment passed on the ocean blue, a savior sandwiched comfortably between two former enemies, where they would not allow her to fall. As the Atomos edged closer, Seaplane Tender released the others to Kamek's clones and the safety of the cargo bay, where the healer could begin Sakura's urgent treatment. She remained on the water at a safe distance, a downcast face turned to the magikoopa. “I understand,” she said simply. All her life she'd been fighting without question, mindlessly killing without even a fraction of understanding of what love was. The Friend Heart, by stirring her own, not only woke her to a new world of feeling, but was gradually making her realize the weight of her own misdeeds. “Don't bother healing me, si'l vous plait. Just help her. She is so very hurt...” Her eyes lay on the shifting surface below her, shying away from the smile and gesture given by Sakura as she was carried off. “If you still wish to sink me...I won't resist.” She could feel the weight of eyes on her, though far less heavily than the crawling feeling on her back. More than anything, she wanted to repay the undeserved kindness shown to her by making amends, but how could she, with so much blood on her hands?



Nadia grinned when Bowser realized her nickname was a pun. “Took ya long enough to 'cat'-ch on, ya big doof!” She thought it was funny that everyone continued to allow him to 'lead' them, although given his volume she doubted there being much of an alternative, and she didn't exactly pounce on the role either. Truth be told, she didn't know very much about the Skull Heart, defining as the Skullgirls were in the history of her world. Every so often -seven years or so- a new Skullgirl would appear to terrorize civilization, thanks to making an impure wish on the thing. From what she just witnessed, however, Nadia felt inclined to drop the 'impure' descriptor—that accursed thing would no doubt find a way to twist any wish to disaster. As for getting rid of it...Nadia's expression soured. All it took was a whole lot of force, but it also meant killing Linkle. Though Bowser complained that the Nobody stole her before the heroes could help her, Nadia found herself feeling a little grateful. If they found out that meant killing her, it would have been a day even more rotten than that stinking Gore Nest.

She shared what little she could with one of Vandham's subordinates as King Koopa continued to occupy the mercenary boss's attention. Bowser's declared intention to find his son in the 'Blue' left Nadia wishing she knew where to go herself. The Skull Heart had been all she thought about for...well, ever. Ever since she came here, however long ago that had been. It would be nice to relax for a while, somewhere that didn't reek of undead pestilence or curl her hair with demonic heat. The size, starkness, and technological flavor of Alcamoth didn't do much for a Little Innsmouth girl like her, either. Say...the place Vandham mentioned was on the ocean, wasn't it? Maybe following Bowser to the Blue after a quick catnap wouldn't be so bad after all.

After the big man directed interested parties toward Mercenary HQ to get a look at the map, the group began to disperse. Mr. Bones and Sans sauntered off to see the sights, while Dante led Nero and V off raving about pizza. Nadia watched the short-haired devil hunter go, wondering if he'd turn around to wave to her or say goodbye. Nero, however, did no such thing. With a sigh, the Feral wondered if she registered in his mind as anything more than a friend. Maybe there was someone else...? That mechanic girl, for instance, with whom he seemed close. She couldn't really ask either way. Oh well. For now, with the Skull Heart no longer in sight, she could focus on her new goal: Bowser's. To save the world. And hopefully, wherever she was, Linkle's too.

Mercenaries Gained: Dante, Nero, V, Jak & Daxter, Doom Slayer, Mr. Bones, Skelly, Pandemonica
Player Character Gained: Miss Nadia Fortune





From darkness the Skullgirl and her darkly-clad captor emerged, deposited by the latter's nebulous portal into ankle-deep snow and a stinging chill. The wind raced around the mountain like a pack of wolves and just as viciously bit every inch of exposed skin. Yet it did not pierce the agony devouring her, that horrible hollowness inside her chest and the numb, cruel thing that did not beat within. And when the pain of being emptied died down, and the archer could open her eyes, she saw their crimson luster cast upon the snow, but she did not feel its cold. In her pale form its pervasive grasp found no warmth at all to oppose as the girl tried to come to grips with her new self.

“Hate me if you must, although it was for your own good,” the black-coated photographer was saying from a couple meters away, his sophisticated voice obliged to reach a less smooth volume to beat the keening wind. “And your friends, as well. You've got quite a lot of power now, haven't you? But you're in a volatile state. Well, as much as I would have loved to see you paint an exquisite picture of death for me, we need those heroes well enough to put down more Guardians. You've got your own fight now, I think, though I suppose if you were to destroy this area's Guardian on your own, we would have to thank you. Maybe you'll be the one to save everything after all, hm? Or will you turn this World of Light into one big grave?” Another portal appeared behind him, and he backed up into it. “Ciao!”

A moment later the darkness faded, leaving the Skullgirl alone with the screaming wind, feather-soft snow, and ineffectual cold.

---

---

---

---

Sephiroth felt his scowl fade as directions to the nearest available map were given, his lips working their way into a cocky grin once again. The map could wait for the time being, as could his desire to get a better lay of the land, however. Knowing more about the topography of this strange world he was in was all well and good, but learning how it actually worked would be even better. He'd noticed the strange features that poked and twisted their way out of the other fighter's forms, and heard mention of spirits from the dragon-turtle while they were in the Dead Zone as well, all of which only helped pique what little curiosity he had concerning the matter even more. So, seeing how almost everyone else had gone their separate ways but him, the dragon, and the robot, Sephiroth decided to see if one of them knew more about how things worked here. Or if the machine knew more rather, as given their interactions and the chaos from earlier, he doubted the beast was in the mood to humor him.

"So how do things work around here," Sephiroth asked as he sauntered over to the machine. "I've heard mention of spirits, seen the strange mutations of your comrades, and found myself quite intrigued by them as a result."

He paused midstride with a tsk as he laid a hand upon his chest, taking a step back before shaking his head ever so slightly, as though he had just remembered something extremely important and was chiding himself for his own forgetfulness.

"Ah, but where are my manners?"

Sephiroth leaned forward ever so slightly, gesturing to Blazermate as he did so.

"What, may I ask, is your name?"

@Archmage MC

---

She realized it had been a Linkle Idea the moment the Skull Heart had spoken the word "Almost." In had been the Linklest of all possible ideas, a thought that sped through her brain just before she felt the hateful thing implant itself somewhere in her chest. At first she felt as though she had been punched in the chest strong enough that it should have forced all the air out of her lungs, but that was impossible because she could hear herself still babbling. A cold, nauseous wrongness settled into her core. Her nerves exploded, sending pins and needles dancing across every square inch of her body inside and out as her blood stopped in her veins. She was saying something, but she couldn't understand what it was. She tried to look up at her friends, but all she could see was red. She had fallen, but the feeling of it was swallowed up in the agony building and building in her chest. It felt like parts of her were falling away, sucked down into some endlessly deep pit in big nasty chunks. It was coring her like an apple.

Then, as suddenly as it had started, everything stopped. Nothing moved. No sound came from her throat, even though she new she must be screaming. Was it over? Was she dead? Was that what dying felt like? No. No. The pain was still there, it just wasn't growing. It grew so fast, so exponentially, that even this one moment of agony where it had leveled out was relief to a body that was dreading each coming second.

She heard footsteps. A voice. An laugh. That was all she could process. A hand rested on her shoulder, and the red she saw was swallowed up momentarily by flowing darkness. She felt herself cast into the cold of the snow, but it did nothing to numb her. Like an orchestral performance, the dip in intensity right before the end only served to make the crescendo hit all the harder.

If inflicting pain was an art then the scream the echoed across this snow laden land was a masterpiece.

---

The next time she could hear it wasn't a comforting voice the greeted her. She had been hoping for Bowser, Blazermate, even weird Miss Dante or one of those nice skeletons would have done, but when she turned her head from where she lay crumpled in the snow her eyes cast a bloody red trail across the white towards him. It was with some surprise that she realized she could see again, but regretted that the first thing she saw was one of those black cloaks. Regretted that the first thing she heard was his mocking encouragement over the howl of the wind. She had a lot of power now, did she? She didn't feel powerful. She felt awful.

To her horror she realized that was the only thing she felt.

She was trying to come to terms with that as the black cloak bid her farewell and vanished in that cloud of darkness before she could even decide whether she wanted to kill him or beg him to stay. Left alone on the icy cliff she dragged herself over to one of the walls and sat up against it, tucking her knees into her chest and pulling her cloak tight over them. She didn't know why she did that. She wasn't cold. The drifts of snow around, the biting wind blowing across the mountain face, the snowflakes landing on her face, she couldn't feel any of it. She wasn't sore. She wasn't cold. She wasn't cold!

She didn't cry. Heroes didn't cry. They shed tears. They wept with heroic dignity. They did not cry. Somewhere, in some far off corner of her mind, she thought to thank that black cloak the next time she saw him for dumping her somewhere isolated like this. Somewhere no one could see what she wasn't doing.

"I even broke my promise..." she said, voice hollow as her chest. Twice. Once when she had gotten herself shot up, and once again when she had make her Linkle wish. "Idiot." She said bitterly, burying her face in her knees. "Idiot, idiot, idiot...," And as she said it over and over again she noticed another voice, saying it in tandem. A dark voice, like the kind you would hear lurking just beyond the light of a dying fire. Idiot. Idiot. You are thinking so much. This is what happens when you think too much. Why think? The battlefield is where your legend grows. Your heroic deeds are in the slaying of your enemies. Idiot.

That...made a lot of sense. She had never been good at solving puzzles or finding creative solutions to problems. When she'd fought the big cannon robot she had overthought things and ended up on her back for it. When she had tried to help the bird robot she had just ended up murdering it. When Din had been taken by Galeem she pussy footed around when the correct answer was just fighting her. When an evil glowing skull had offered her a wish she had though she was smart enough to outsmart it. Maybe All she was really good for was killing.

Maybe her greatest heroic deed would be killing this rotten world?

"Idiot." Linkle said, shaking her head. "Idiot. Idiot."

She suddenly raised up one arm and slammed it hard into the center of her chest. "Idiot. Idiot!" Again and again she slammed down. She didn't feel a thing, and was honestly surprised that it didn't beat like a drum. "Idiot! Stupid stupid skull heart! That's what you want? That's what the big deal curse is!? You put me through this and then ask me to do something I was already doing!?!" It was odd, it wasn't the slap slap of flesh on flesh either. Instead it sounded like the tink tink you get when beating metal. What was that? Was she a skeleton now? Or, what, did it make armor for itself to keep her from trying to dig it out with her fingernai-

Oh. Oh no!

She threw open her cloak and desperately clawed for the thing she couldn't even feel she'd been assaulting. She wrapped her finger around the string, pulling up the compass that hung around her neck and pressing her nose to it before heaving a sigh of relief when she realized her hadn't accidentally damaged it. Her compass. Granma's compass. She stared at it for a long while, grasping it like a baby as she watched the needle sway this was and that. "You wouldn't lie to me, would you? You would never lie to me." She said, not entirely to it.

The needle swayed slower and slower, finally coming to a stop to definitively point in a certain direction. It wasn't north, but she didn't know what. All she knew was that it was a direction.

Linkle nodded, took a deep breath she didn't even think she needed anymore, and rose unsteadily to her feet. As she did so the fire of her mind flared up, pushing back the creeping voice of the Skull Heart at least for a time. It was the fire of a dream, an ideal, one clung to with the strength and conviction of a madman. She was going to destroy this world, but not the way this parasite wanted. She was the Hero of Hyrule. She had never heard of any other falling to evil and she didn't intend to be the first. That wasn't her destiny. Her destiny was to kill the sun, and then Ganon. She didn't have time to be a spooky skeleton monster or whatever, she had a job to do!

All you're good for...

"Shut up." She said coldly, done with this dumb voice. As mentally prepared as she was going to get for now, Linkle wiped her eyes for absolutely no particular reason at all and got her first real look at her surroundings. Snow, trees ruins, nothing really interesting. The floating rocks made her wonder whether she was anywhere near Eryth Sea, but, no. Black cloak had told her this place still had a guardian, and that she was alone here. Did that mean this was a new region?

She walked to the only real landmark she could see, the big glowy thing on the edge of the cliff that looked like it had been encased in ice, and tried to get the lay of the land from where she was. It occurred to her that, if this was a new region, she was ahead of everyone for once. Maybe she couldn't beat this areas guardian on her lonesome but she could definitely prepare the way for when the others got here. Maybe she would even find a way to contact everyone.

Boy, wouldn't they be surprised?

Heavy laughed in delight at the sudden surge of attention to which he himself and his beloved Sandvich got from this new crew of Comrades, happily breaking it in two to distribute equally to both Braum and Queen Sectonia like the good Communist he was. Clearly both of them found it just as moist and delicious as Heavy did every time he pulled it out and ate it, sending terrifying fear into the hearts of his enemies with every much of the bread-ham-lettuce combination OF DEATH! To Braum the gigantic Russian bear nodded in agreement, though he had not heard of this longhouse of feasting or the Dwarven Scout's beverages, even for how long he had been around them and killed them. It did not matter, however. Heavy was just happy to be surrounded by these joyous folks who, like himself, found such pleasure in eating as much as killing! "Aha, Heavy will join next time feasting with big Shiel-man and tiny Dwarf-scout! Mind if Medic comes too? Heavy never leaves his Medic behind. Such a big appetite, especially after Medic had that surgery with Heavy…By the way, Medic, rib has not grown back yet. Is that normal?"

As if they had not gathered a big enough group of Comrades to fight…well, fight anyone, Heavy could see the people tiny fury Poppi pointed out in the distance. Heavy had to agree, they did make a stylish escape. Apparently they wanted praise, so Heavy gave them a friendly smile and a wave with his massive hand. Before Heavy could adress these new friends who he hoped to kill more people alongside of, the Russian brute had to answer a certain question of additional skills to the Queen of insects. That, and about his beloved Sandvich of course. "Heavy have endless supply of Sandvich in pocket, but not always live long enough to find out of supply is endless for real. It take time to…what is word, Medic? Respawn? Heavy happy to heal tiny, baby teammates if hurt! Be just like beloved Doktor!" Heavy answered quickly about his source of cullinary healing, quickly thrusting his arm into his vest and checking to see if the Sandvich had indeed respawned. With a shrug he concluded that it had not appeared, pulling out his hand and wiping off some crumbs that had followed his hand. "But Heavy have many talents, as Tzarinna Sectonia observe; Heavy can sing and dance like true Russian, striking fear into enemy cowards and inspire comrades! Heavy can play poker as well, and has played against fury white rabbit, tiny Mexican wrestler doll and normal man. Oh! Heavy knows literature! Be smart, have PhD in Russian literature, be useful in killing enemy." Heavy answered proudly about his abilities, clearly missing what the royal leader had intended him to answer. As an afterthought, Heavy quickly threw in his usual job-description. "Other than being credit to team, Heavy use Sasha to cover for own team and take many damage, while good Medic heal me and charge me. Happy times!"

Slowly the team known as Yellow Team was approaching what some of Heavy's new comrades called a cliff, for reasons Heavy was not certain he had managed to quite catch. He feared not though, knowing his trusted Medic would fill him in when the time came to cause some hurt, so he simply went along the flow. Heavy's ears perked up once their attention was brought to what was not a cliff, but a barrier. A great wall, greater than anything Heavy had seen on any battlefield. It was quite the sight, ruins littered across a desert landscape as far as the eye could see…well perhaps not. After all Heavy and Medic had spent an unknown amount of time fighting over a desert ruin. Anyway, Heavy looked with curiosity at the palace-thingy in the distance, listening with interest to Poppi briefing them on the obsticales in their way. Heavy, resting his head and thinking as hard as his bald head could, hummed for himself. "Hmm…strange animals outside…big wall-cliff…Where is Engineer with teleporter when team need one? Can Heavy throw tiny comrades from bridge to other side, like Dwarf Scout who shoot rope back?" Heavy suggested, perhaps surprisingly to the rest of the team who might have seen him as a simple fighting machine, not a thinker of plans. Whether or not it was a good plan was up to them to decide, Heavy could not think of anything better. Well except for fighting, and that was not going to help here…probably.

The Atimos dipped down, jr carefully lowering its open bay doors down towards the water, trying to get them low enough to be stepped into by the injured ladies and only getting the deck of the cargo bay a bit wet in the process. The white and red clones moved in and took the girls off the Seaplane Tender’s hands, acting as support and bringing them aboard, where a team of Koopa Troopa strikers took over. They’d try to help the pair up to the flight deck where they might be able to sit down in one of the chairs or lay down on the bed found between the bridge and the back exit.

”You could at least help them get upstairs” Jr grumbled to Geralt as he focused on countering the waves lapping against the airship’s side.

The white mage clone went with them, providing light healing that quickly stabilized Skaura, and then began to slowly build both women back up to full health. The toady carrying Tyrant went too, depositing the pig who quickly ran back to its master. The red clone, however, returned. Not as a threat, but to change roles. As Kamek began to speak with the ship girl, he started to conjure a white globe of energy, which he would use to turn it from killer to healer.

The mage didn’t healing upon her once the change was complete however. Forcing her to live wouldn’t help in the long run, he was fairly sure. She had to want it.

”I’ve been where you are now. In Galeem’s world like everyone else, yes, but also before. I was once mind-controlled by the Smithy Gang and bound to their cause. In the end I was even forced to try and kill my own son for them. It was horrible. Sometimes I wake up sweating remembering it. But I know that wasn’t me, and I know that what you were a few minutes ago isn’t who you are now either. Yes, you killed, but it was a fake version of you, or perhaps it’s a version that is now dead and you have replaced it. Either way. You are alive now, free, maybe for the first time. You don't need to forget what you did, or accept forgiveness for it, but you have choice now, to decide who you will be from now on” The old mage said, speaking in a kind grandfatherly tone very few had heard pass his beak ”Please don't throw that away”

He let that sink in as he completed the spell and transformed the clone from red to white, before he spotted something out of the corner of his eye that caused him to try a different approach.

”I will admit that, selfishly, we could use you. To give us information that could help end this war. To use your power to help us fight to the depths of the Bottomless Sea to kill Galeem’s guardian. But we’re not the only ones who need you” Kamek gestured a hand over to the side to where the sleeping abyssal Heavy Cruiser was being unsteadily hauled through the air towards them. The toadies ended up stopping to hover just to the side of where they were speaking

”That heart, that freedom that she gave you? You can do that too, like this,” the old Koopa placed a hand to his shell and drew out a friendheart of his own, demonstrating the ability ”So if you can't find the will to live for yourself right now, then perhaps you can live for them. Your people, who you can set free”

He lowered his hand and returned his focus entirely to her ”Live for them. Live to repay Sakura’s kindness. Live free and for yourself. Do as you wish, but whatever you do, please don’t ever offer up your life like it's worthless again”

He'd said his piece, now it was up to her to decide.

Sakura was a crying mess, absolutely overwhelmed. She was being held up by two people she had freed from Galeem's control. The Water Princess was so much nicer than she was just a few moments ago. And it was because of her. And Ranger was free and friendly, too. Sakura was relieved beyond measure.

(I did it. I really did it! I saved the day! I saved the day for the first time ever! Is this what Ryu feels like every day!? No wonder Zangief poses so much! I would totally be posing right now if I wasn't on the verge of passing out.

...I think everything's gonna be okay.)

"Oh, man," Sakura said quietly. Fortunately, Kamek arrived. She was happy to see that wizard. That wizard and his army of mini wizards. One of them, dressed it white, began casting a spell. Sakura couldn't feel the difference at first but she was sure she would feel better over time.

"Th-thanks, Mister Kamek." She thanked the wizard with a smile. She limp-floated unsteadily towards the Atomos. She looked over her shoulder to see Kamek and the Water Princess talking. She heard what they were saying. Poor Kamek! Poor Water Princess...there was so much sadness in this world. Sakura wanted to shout something encouraging but she couldn't think of anything. They were having a moment, anyway. Sakura was many things, but 'eloquent' was not one of them. Kamek, however, had a way with words. Besides, the idea of shouting made her lungs hurt. She looked over to Ranger, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Do you even have a name? Is it...r-rude to ask shipgirls their name? Seaplane Tender doesn't sound like a real name. Are you, like, Ace Cadet? Where it's just titles?" She asked with a whisper, still curious.

Sakura felt something tick over, and she felt like she wasn't going to get any worse. The blood stopped seeping from her wounds, and she breathed a sigh of relief. That part of her ear was still missing, but it was healed over. Once up the ramp she beelined for the nearest chair and flopped down. For a moment she just closed her eyes and sat back, breathing in deep. After a moment she laughed quietly again, wiping the remaining tears off her face. "Hi Junior!" She called out, voice strained.

"Oh, man. Hey, Mister Geralt." She waved with her good arm towards the witcher. "That was pretty crazy, huh? Phew! So m-much for just a recon mission." She rubbed her eyes. She smiled bright, her teeth still reddened by her own blood. She gave a thumbs up towards the healing Kamek clone.

"I just wish we could have saved all the ship girls. They...they have it rough out here." She coiled her new cat tail in her lap and cast a sympathetic look towards Ranger.

"But, still. I think today was a good day. We figured out one way to stop the Abyssal fleet from regaining numbers- just give 'em all friend hearts!" She said, tired face brightening further with enthusiasm. As her wounds were healed she became more and more able to express herself fully. Now she was sitting up straight in her chair like she usually did.

"Man, I'm tired. And hungry. Do they have white rice where you're from, Mister Geralt? You look like-" She hesitated, finding the right words. "Well, you look like someone from the past of my world, but a fantastical version of the past. I hope that's not rude or anything? I bet you have a lot of cool stories, though, huh? Well, now I do, too." She said proudly. Sakura sat back in her seat. Then, she raised both of her hands, palms outward. She moved them apart as if she were placing the word in mid air.

"The time I jumped out of a flying box, flew on water, fought a princess from the abyss, and saved the day." The headline seemed to read. She smiled, and sniffed. "I'll leave out all the crying, though." She joked. Sakura yawned, stretching out her back and arms like a cat. She leaned back up against the chair and crossed her arms, looking at her two new friends. Her enthusiasm subdued by exhaustion but no less potent.

"I guess I'll get to tell it to Cadet, Peach, and the others, huh? At dinner, I guess." Sakura said. "...You should really try some white rice, Mister Geralt. It's my favorite food. Since I was like, two years old. Or sushi. Sushi is a Japanese speciality. Japan's where I'm from, by the way. Well, it's real name is Nihon, or Nippon. It means sunrise land! Isn't that a great name?" She asked, grinning. Her cheeks were still wet with tears and salt water, and the corners of her mouth were red with dried blood. But the taste of victory was far stronger than the taste of iron. Pain was temporary and ignorable- Sakura didn't want to wallow in it. She wanted to talk with her friends! There were few things she loved more than getting to know more about interesting people.

With Kamek there she knew the Water Princess was okay. And from what she was hearing as she was carried away she knew she couldn't say anything nearly as effective as what he was saying. He said something really sad, too, about his son. Every day she was humbled by the strength of others. She could only hope to try and live up to their example.

Everyone got through the teleporter without a hitch, beating the explosion. Once she could summon the engineer again, Blazermate would tell him to destroy the teleporter on the Dead Zone side so no one took it and accidentally got blown up. Of course, before that happened, Blazermate had to get an ear full from the current director of Smash Tower who gave everyone their missions and whatnot as they had returned in 'failure', which Blazermate took issue with. But before she could say anything about that, Bowser spoke first explaining the situation in his usual loud roary manner. "What he said. Plus the zone is going to blow up soon from a nuke. We can go back after that happens." Blazermate said, her annoyance a bit lessened due to Bowser stealing the show.

Their new recruit, Sephiroth, wandered off apparently just looking for something to do, looking through the new area he found himself in after being freed from galeem or... something? Blazermate was a bit distracted helping Bowser in his argument to notice where he went off to. But after they were done with their little spat with the director, Bowser wanting to go to Blue team to meet up with his kid, Sephiroth approached Blazermate asking her about how the world worked, being free and all. He wasn't the first to ask Blazermate this, and she doubted he'd be the last. Although what got her almost blushing was his little polite bow while asking her name like a samurai, although it looked different without the armor.

"Oh, uhm..." Blazermate started. Seeing as most of the group had dispursed, she hoped she could get a few others in this conversation. Ms. Fortune seemed to be the only other one around who didn't know any of this stuff, so Blazermate dragged her over to take a listen with Sephiroth. "I'm Blazermate, our teams medic bot. But thats what -mate medabots do, so I'm fine with it." She then continued after shyly scratching her faceplate. "So spirits. They're the thing you get when baddies controlled by Galeem are defeated. If you put them into your medal... err heart they give you lots of cool new powers! If you put them in your head, which I just learned recently, you get their knowledge and some changes but not that much. You can bond with them to summon them, with no changes to yourself, or crush them into weapons and such." Blazermate said, summerizing how spirits worked. "When you absorb a spirit, your body changes like me and Bowser there. I'm a medabot, so replacing parts on my body is like, just what I do. And these parts are awesome because I still keep my old parts! Buut they don't work like that for you, so yeah, take care what you take into yourself. Only get the really cool ones with really cool powers!" She continued, then explaining the whole shape changing aspect of them. "But uh, don't just go attacking Galeem people indiscriminately, as some are peaceful and can be your friends later, and usually those ones aren't as strong anyway. Wait for stuff to attack you, or the boss spirits to get the REALLY good stuff. Like this shield arm here, I can make zombies and control them with this! its really cool! Although it twiches a bit and I don't like that... But I haven't played a video game since I got here so thats not suuuch a big deal." Blazermate finished, giving Sephiroth a run down on why not to attack people at random if they were galeem controlled, something Blazermate had learned herself. She also, although poorly, explained that spirits had a detrimental side to them as well.

After having explained everything, Blazermate thought a bit. She looked over the two she had just explained this to and saw that while Ms. Fortune seemed to be totally ready to follow her and Bowser to the blue side thing, Sephiroth looked a bit... lost? He after all was new and this was a lot to take in, so Blazermate said. "Hey do you two wanna come with me and Bowser to the beach? I think thats where Blue team went. There is a casino ran by the literal Devil there, and uh, other cool stuff. I only know about the casino though." Blazermate said, opening the offer up to the other two. Blazermate then noticed how Sephiroth looked at Bowser. Not in any mean way, but a bit... worried? He was just as hard to read as Sectonia, but being nice helped with that so... "Don't worry too much about Bowser. Just be nice to him and he'll be your bestest of bestest friend!" Blazermate said, saying it in an adoring cute voice and giving Bowser a thumbs up. "But uh, yeah. Don't get on his bad side. He can grow giant and punches dragons without a care in the world. He can also take one heck of a beating, although I'd be nice if he didn't get hit sooo much, but makes my job easier I guess..." Blazermate said, probably saying a bit too much but still in a friendly voice. After trailing off, she then continued. "But yeah, you two should totally come. Its a lot better than Yellow team, they are in a desert where sand is. Sand that gets into your joints and takes forever to get out, and I doubt it'd do well for your hair. I wonder how our other person of royalty is doing out there?" Blazermate finished, ready to get going to the next zone.

The Medic walked slow circles around the interior of the non-robotic-robot camel, being sure to stop by each member of Yellow Team. Eet seemz I'll have to buy a new tie. Und gloves. He thought. Yellow had never been his favorite color, but such was the way of things. Even the humans got a free check up, since there was always the possibility that they weren't actually human, but rather some sort of supernatural entity, something the Medic had learned to account for after a few too many Halloween nights. Even if they were fully human, there was no guarantee they hadn't been born with some subtle abnormality, like a heart murmur or asthma. As the Medic made his way back to Sectonia, she gave him a stern look, which he missed, his nose buried in his notes. He did catch her tone, though, one of a leader warning her subjects against deviation. He was quite familiar with this tone. "Very well, zough it vould be much better for me to learn of your inner vorkings before I have to sponge blood back into you, ja?" She once again offered her minions up for experimentation, though upon closer inspection, the Medic wasn't entirely sure what he could do with them. There was a slight mystery as to how the ice that comprised their body could remain solid in this climate without being so cold as to affect the air around them, but that was likely magic. Even if it wasn't, there wasn't much he could do with that knowledge, as living tissue rarely reacted well to extreme cold. The Medic shrugged, letting out a small, high pitched "Hm."

Queen Sectionia then inquired as to the Medic's combat skills. "Vell, as a doctor, mein place eez at my patientz side, ensuring zat zey remain able to perform ze taskz required of zem. However, should somezing go wrong und I must defend myself, I carry vis me zees Syringe Gun!" The Medic explained, holding his primary weapon up for the insect to inspect. "Quite ingenious, no? I did have a crossbow zat dohbled as both veapon UND healing, but somebody used all ze medeecine for eet!" The Medic stated this last fact a bit louder than necessary, shooting an accusatory look at the mercenaries that had accompanied him here. He still didn't know who it had been, but he was confident the Heavy was not the culprit. "I also carry a bonesaw vis me, just in case." He said, turning back to Sectonia. "Ze Mann Co. catalogue sayz eet can cut zrough a femur in tventy-eight seconds, zough I am confident I can reduce zat time by half." He boasted, then leaned in to whisper to her. "Ze trick is too ignore ze patient's screams for anesthetic."

The Heavy was still deeply engaged with the others in a discussion of a culinary nature when he turned and inquired as to the state of his rib. At the mention of missing skeletal tissue, the Medic froze. "Oh, vell, uh, zees zings do take time, ahaha..." was the only response he gave, hoping no one would point out that ribs do not, in fact, grow back. A few moments later, the Heavy had another question, but it was one that pertained to his bologna sandwich, so he didn't bother paying attention. "Ja, ja, das ist gut." He replied dismissively.

The Medic hadn't noticed Poppi leave, but he did note her return, copying down her lack luster descriptions of the desert's native creatures. He'd have to update them himself, should he get the chance. There was much discussion of where they were going and how to get there. Nobody seemed to really have an answer, which the Medic found quite odd, as it seemed obvious to him. Well, the Heavy had an idea, and it was admittedly a good one, though the Medic doubted anyone was willing to be tossed by the gorilla man. "If I may interject," he started, inserting himself into the conversation. "Eet vould seem ve need to reach ze top of zees cliff face, ja? Und our transportation, including eet's head, reaches approximately half way up said cliff, ja?" He waited for someone to put the pieces together. When no one did, he continued. "Vell, depending on how much control Princess Midna has over zees beast, eet vould be easy enough to raise it up on eet's hind legs, place eet's forelimbs on ze cliff for stability, und extend eet's neck. After zat, eet's a simple matter of climbing. Hypozetically speaking, of course." He concluded, pushing his glasses back into place with his middle finger.

---

---

---

---

Sephiroth nodded slowly as he listened to Blazermate's explanation, clasping his hands behind his lower back as he did so. Spirits seemed to be, as far as he could tell anyway, the most valuable thing here in terms of benefits and power. Thus the one-winged angel resolved to find and absorb as many strong ones as he possibly could, though with some care of course. As a perfect being, it wouldn't do for him to marr his true form too much. A balance had to be struck, perhaps by taking spirits into his mind only or as strikers like the machine had said, as he doubted he'd need them as weapons. His Masamune was more than enough in that regard, plus he could upgrade it with Materia as well, assuming he found any during his travels that is. So far the machine's explanation made perfect sense, and gave him quite a few ideas as to how he might get powerful enough to utterly destroy Galeem. It was only when she said not to attack Galeem's people that he was given some pause, his eyebrows raising ever so slightly. Of course this too she explained, and upon hearing it he had to force himself not to laugh. Peaceful or not, the only friends he'd ever had were Genesis and Angeal, with his attitude towards everyone else—even the most loyal of fans—being complete indifference.

And to be honest he wasn't exactly keen on playing nice with something that had just tried to kill him a few minutes prior. Still, he could see some logic in the machine's words. From what he'd felt while under Galeem's influence, weakness aside, Sephiroth knew that the aforementioned puppets would not cease their attacks. Not if they could help it anyway. Thus he deigned to spare the rod and spoil the child, if only so he wasn't swarmed and... overwhelmed while out in the field, the very idea of which still managed to make him sick. Thankfully he didn't have to ponder this unsavory probability for very long, as the machine swiftly broke him from his thoughts with an offer to go to the beach. Apparently to find or meet up with, he wasn't entirely sure, another team. Blue to be exact. Pondering it for a moment, Sephiroth did his best to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of such a move while Blazermate extolled the niceness of her turtle-dragon friend, Bowser and in a rather annoying tone of voice too. Eventually, however, he reached a decision.

"Alright," he said, turning his attention back to Blazermate. "I'll tag along, though you do realize a beach still has plenty of sand right?"

He gave the machine a smile that bordered on patronizing, but wasn't quite there just yet.

@Archmage MC

”LOOK I JUST. I DIDN’T THINK ABOUT IT TILL NOW WE WERE KINDA BUSY” Bowser retorted about him being slow on the uptake on Miss Fortunes’ blatant pun of a name. ”AND THERE WERE A LOT OF PEOPLE'S NAMES TO REMEMBER” he added. There were now, however, less. Just him, the ever reliable Blazermate and probably the bear and bird duo were sticking around from the starting group, while everyone else who'd gone out with them (and come back) went for some R&R. Bowser wanted some too, but he was hoping he could catch some out with the Blue team if they were all OK.

Adding to the long standing members was Miss Fortune, or so he assumed based on the fact that she didn’t wander off, and, judging by snippets of Blazermates’ chatting he caught with his new blastoise ears, Sephiroth might be about to be convinced to come with them. He just groaned loudly when Blazermate talked about him being the 'bestest of bestest friend' of anyone who was nice to him, but it was probably telling that he didn’t butt into her conversation till Sephiroth agreed to come with them.

”YOU STICKING WITH US THEN?” Bowser said, addressing both newcomers and then the old timers as well ”ALRIGHT THEN WE’RE HEADING...” Bowser looked at the map and then talked out loud as he charted the course they’d be taking ”From here” he pointed at the city they were in ”going via painting to peach’s castle” he pointed at the home of the princess he was looking forwards to seeing again ”and then we warp from there out too” he pointed vaguely out at the ocean in the south west and failed to find anything that might be their destination ”somewhere out here” he scratched the back of his head ”or maybe it's this?” he pointed at a city on the coast that he'd assumed was the inkwell isles, ”ANYWAY YEAH. OVER HERE. SOMEWHERE. MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN. PROBABLY JUST WATER AND FLOATING PLATFORMS. FOLLOW ME!”

”SO WHAT’S YOUR DEAL ANYWAY?” He asked Fortune as they started to head down to the lobby where they’d warp to peach’s castle and then out to the place the Blue team where at ”YOUR A CATLADY AND YOU COME TO PIECES,” he vaguely remembered seeing it ”HOWS THAT ALL WORK?”

The trip proved to be relatively uneventful in terms of external events. The camel plodded on, the desert rolled by, and the heat and light bore down relentlessly upon everything outside their cool sanctuary. If there was anything alive in the sandy wastes it gave them a wide berth. Inside there was time for talk and personal development.

---

When Sectonia approached her to have a whispered chat about the Medic, Midna partially agreed with the queen’s assessment of the strange doctor. As some of the most ‘scientifically interesting specimens’ onboard they certainly had reason to worry that the doctor would be interested in experimenting on them, but as he seemed to be a mere, if useful, human Midna, perhaps foolishly, dismissed the threat ”I don’t think he’d be so reckless as to try something because if he does,” Midna jerked her neck violently in a pretty unsubtle hint as to what she intended the doctors fate be should he mess with her, ”but if it helps you sleep at night I’ll watch your back if you’ll watch mine”

”That said, I don’t suppose you have any experience dealing with working with those under the influence before now? Anything I should be careful about” she asked, realizing that if they were having a whispered conversation about this it would be good to check that question she’d been sitting on off the list.

---

”It really will,” the princess agreed with Primrose that it would be incredibly inconvenient to leave the divine beast behind, and she hadn’t even though about the fact that that they’d have issues with transport once they got on top of the cliff.

”Maybe someone would need to go back with it. Keep it safe? Could solve the issue of how cramped Mona’s machine form will get up top” Midna said, unknowingly repeating Primrose’s line of thought. She had time to think it over. They’d have to deal with getting up the cliff in the first place after all.

”Oh? That’s good,” Midna said, slightly surprised by Primrose coming to thank her for lending her one of her Wolfos during her trip into the pyramid as she’d gotten the impression that the woman was usually the standoffish sort, ”I hope you enjoyed the royal ride” she added cheekily before taking a breath and then saying ”your welcome, I’m glad it was useful” It had taken a few moments to work out that if Primrose seemed to be going against her nature to be nice or polite or sociable then it was incredibly unproductive to not try and meet her halfway.

---

Minda tilted her head to one side when Fox first ignored her question about why he’d not looked as happy with the raid as she thought he would have, and then briefly looked annoyed when he pushed forward to more immediate concerns, but then shrugged lightly to herself and let it go. Maybe she’d misread him, he did have a fox’s face for a face after all, or perhaps he just didn’t want to be pushed into talking about whatever had gone down and this was his way of doing that. She could have needled him about, it would have been cathartic to know that the idea she’d been against hadn’t gone perfectly for him, but she decided to drop it and answered his question instead.

”Still heading the right way yes, if that’s what you mean” Midna had never seen a ship larger than a canoe, much less the ocean, so using 'heading' in the way fox had was unfamiliar to her ”and I can’t see much more than what Mona described. Vah Naboris is able to see a lot further, and i think shoot a lot further, but the swinging of that sight makes me want to throw up while we’re moving. Don’t think stopping to take a look will do much good compared to the time it’ll waste. The way looks clear so we’ll see what there is to see when we get there”

---

The rest of the journey was unremarkable. When not thinking about what to do with Naboris or engaging in small talk, Midna tried out her new, more muscular physique, actually gracing the ground with her presence when she found a quiet spot inside the titan to practice walking again. The princess had never really had physical strength before, the princess having been more on her magic, politicking and looks when it came to avenues of power. So it came as a surprise to her just how good it felt to not just be fit but muscular. After finding walking actually possible instead of the absolute pain in her base imp-form she did a little bit of running too and even went and hefted up one of the gears Sectonia had found for good measure.

The niggling new desire to fight was starting to make a lot more sense to the princess and it completely clicked when she took time to call up one of her other Wolfos in-order to play around with her magic finding the perfect size to make it. A bit of leg muscle made a world of difference when riding, with Midna finding that she might be able to use her arms freely rather than using them to cling to the wolf’s fur and leaving everything to the fused shadow’s arm, opening up a whole realm of new possibilities.

”If this is what I can do with one spirit, think of what I could do with more” she told her now slightly larger wolfos mount, before having a thought and adding ”or what you could do”

The possibilities where dawning on her, time would tell how far she'd go.

---

Plodding onward, they eventually found their way to the cliff Mona had warned them about and it was, as he’d predicted, going to be impassable for the Divine beast as the cliff face towered twice as high as their beast. Broken bridges littered the area around it, none reaching all the way up either thanks to their deprecated state or because the top of the cliff wasn't their original destination, one side having risen or sunk due to reasons unknown. Either way, this time Midna was unlikely to find the rest of the bridge laying around for her to bring back, and without twilight breaking into the realm of light it was unlikely she’d have had the strength to do so either, so those looked like they were going to be mostly unhelpful.

She of course could get up without to much issue. It would have been a pain to float up under the blistering sun (he couldn't see any objects at the top who’s shadow she could jump too due to the sheer height) but she could just ride up in Sectonia’s shadow again. It was getting the others up that would be the problem.

The heavy and the medic both had suggestions. The heavy’s to throw people, which Minda could help with but thought was a bit ambitious and risky. The odds of someone going splat were worryingly high. The medics was to have the Divine beast act as a ladder by standing it up on its hind legs.

”Let me just see if...” Midna said before the beast began to move in spot as unseen to the others the giant camel raised one of it's hind legs and tried to stretch it out behind itself ”No, sorry. It’s not flexible enough to stand upright like that. We might be able to get some added height by claiming the front legs up the wall, but not all of it.”

The titan settled back down as she pointed at the Heavy and the Medic ”If we stick your two ideas together it could work, but it would be very risky. Naboris might tip over, you or I might miss a toss. It’s a plan, but maybe a last resort? Also Medic's idea could make carrying people up less of a pain for Poppi and if your up for it, Sectonia, by making the distance shorter”

After weighing in on the proposed plans she offered up her own ”Maybe instead we get some spirit sourced mobility. I’d describe some of the ‘wildlife’ out there as monsters instead, and some of it can fly or maybe climb, so if we get spirits from them we can use their power to lift us up. Or we can tame something? Me and Link once used a Shadow Kargaroc (it’s a big twilight corrupted bird) we beat up to fly up a massive dried up river canyon. Maybe we’d be able to ‘convince’ something out there to help carry you instead if you don’t want to worry about fusing with ugly monsters?”

Geralt ignored Junior's demanding tone, but nonetheless moved to the cargo bay to oversee the new arrival of the Shipgirls and Sakura. His face was cold and stony, having resorted to the 'Resting Witcher Face' Yen sometimes said he used when dealing with something he had little patience for. Needless to say, it was his default expression when not around his friends. "I see you made some friends," Geralt deadpanned as welcome. "Mind introducing us?" Was it terribly petty of him to do this? Yes. But he was unwilling to directly imply that Sakura's plan would fail, or blow up in her face, or get them all killed, unless asked. Especially not to the girl himself. Just the look on her face was such a mixture of emotions that he couldn't bring himself to add the anxiety and nervousness of being unable to trust an ally to the mix. Yet.

He'd managed to hear a few pieces of the conversation, but most importantly, the Abyssal Shipgirl's request that her wounds be tended last, in favor of Sakura and her former adversary's. Her manners were at least better than those of Sectonia, but that bar was so low it was almost insulting to count as a point in her favor.

Pulling himself away and trusting Kamek and the other Shipgirl to not die for the moment it would take for him to be ready to fight, Geralt focused on the now-exhausted Sakura. He knew exactly how she was feeling. As the adrenaline cleared from her mind with immediate danger gone, her muscles would tighten and grow sore, her stomach would tighten, and her breath would shake. Kamek's healing would take care of the worst of it all, he was sure, but the physiological symptoms of fatigue would still run their course, even if on an accelerated pace.

Sakura's words...hurt. Not in any pointed, directed-at-him way, but they reminded him of the silent moments after a job where he reflected on innocent lives lost, foolish lives taken before their time.

And then she asked him about...rice? What in the hells was rice?! And apparently it came in different colors, too! White rice. Was there black rice, brown rice, green rice? Rice. "No, I've never had...rice." The idea that he looked like somebody who came out of a fantastical version of her past was...also odd. More odd than rice, at least.

Now that he thought about it, he did seem to be the one of most technologically lost members of the group. Link and Linkle were about on par, but other than those two, he couldn't quite think of anybody who was as out of place in that respect. "Well, now that you mention that, the rest of you all seem to have some pretty impressive gear, if not on you, than at least where you're from. Isabelle and I did some singing at a bar, and the words came up on the screen in time to the music. It's been...an effort, to keep up."

And Sakura returned to her rice tangent, mentioning how much she liked it, as well as another local specialty from her homeland. "That's a nicer name than what we use, at least. Just call it, 'The Continent.' It's the only real land mass in the world, though, so it fits at least. Plenty of Kingdoms, but...well, Witchers tend not to stick around one place for long. Our kind of work tends to dry up in our presence, on account of the whole monster slaying thing." He sighed, shaking his head. "Always just tell people I'm from Rivia. Worked out in the end, got a Knighthood and the title 'Of Rivia.'" Letting out a little chuckle, he continued. "Really, my home is...was...Kaer Morhen. A castle hidden in the Blue Mountains, where the Wolf School of Witchers sat."

Geralt found himself thinking of Vesemir and Lambert and Eskel, and sighed again. "Ain't much left, now, though that's for the best. Witchers are a thing of the past even back home. Men're taking the world into their own hands, got little use for us anymore." Wanting to avoid the political and social conversation that was about to brew, he changed the subject. "Actually got paid with a box of toffee candy once, though, if we're gonna keep talkin' about food. Would've throttled the who-...the jackass...if it wasn't so damned good." Laughing as he recalled the story, Geralt continued. "Shoulda gone back and gotten the recipe, Yen or I coulda made it for Ciri when we were done with that Wild Hunt business."

And of course it went back to another melancholic topic. "Any other local specialties I should try? Never one to reject a good meal idea. Or a good meal. Especially if it's free."