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It had taken approximately three more infuriating tries for her to get the coveted Sand Dollar, as the first two had been outright failures thanks both to her lack of dexterity and having to juggle the actions and movements of the other participants. On the third and final try however, she'd finally managed to nab it, arising from the pool a victor. Handing it over and promptly having her card stamped, she made her way onto the next attraction, a twisting series of multicolored slides by the looks of things. The walk there was much more enjoyable since it provided a moment of peace in which her adrenaline could die down, though the surrounding humans ruined it somewhat, not to mention the squid people and their water gun fight. There was also the strangely overweight fuzzy creature whose body didn't seem like it should have fit in the center of the inflatable inner tube at all despite its well-measured size, although she didn't pay it more than a cursory glance as it floated about in its pool, passing swiftly by. It was at this point that she also noticed the girl in the basketball cap who was currently poised to dive, to say nothing of the strange look she gave, but the former SOLDIER chalked it up to just another bodily gawk in the long line of ones she'd gotten over the course of her stay here. Moving on, she spared naught but the briefest glance back at the girl as she plummeted from the board to land in the clear waters below, eventually arriving at her destination.

It seemed as though she had quite the climb ahead of her by the looks of things, and a choice between a rock wall or set of stairs. Deciding she'd had enough of clambering over objects for the time being, Sephiroth made her way up the stairs, her pace a light jog that saw her standing proudly at the top within a matter of seconds. Approaching the rather board looking snail, she handed over her stamp card as she requested to use the slides, reading the sign standing nearby as he processed it. Once she'd committed the rules to memory, Sephiroth turned her attention back to the snail just in time for him to motion for her to start her descent down the nearest slide. Striding towards it while doing her best to not get annoyed at the near-constant Sand Dollar retrieval requirements - seriously, how many of those damn things would she have to collect? - Sephiroth situated herself at the mouth of the blue tube. Inhaling ever-so-slightly, she pushed herself down before letting gravity take care of the rest. In all honesty, Sephiroth couldn't deny the fact that she was enjoying herself, the time trial aside. For not only was she making good time so far as the slides went, having already exceeded the minimum count by leaps and bounds, she was also enjoying the sheer lack of fellow competitors. As reluctant as she was to admit it, going down various plastic tubes in a surprisingly controllable manner was actually a lot of fun. What wasn't so fun, however, was the final portion of the challenge...

Finding the Sand Dollar, a task that was proving to be easier said than done.

As a matter of fact, she'd been at it so long that she'd begun to worry she would run out of time, each dive to the bottom of the pool in which the slides released their riders proving more fruitless than the last. And then, much to her infinite chagrin, Sephiroth saw her. The purple haired woman with horns, and general thorn in her side from the last game. She was looking for a Sand Dollar too it seemed, and so close to where Sephiroth herself was too. Close enough that, if she wanted to, she could just reach out and hold her underwater until she stopped moving. She didn't, of course. Wasn't worth the trouble or time, especially given her last defeat, but it was a tempting idea nonetheless. Turning her attention back to the task at hand, Sephiroth increased the speed at which she searched, eliminating the most unviable or obvious spots first before delving into the more obscure ones next. It was in one of these out of the way alcoves that she finally stumbled across it. Grasping it tightly within the palm of her hand, she breached the surface of the relatively crowded pool and began treading water until she reached the side. Pulling herself up and out of the pool, she returned to the snail as quickly as she could, practically sprinting to ensure she remained within the established time limit. At length she made it however, and apparently with time to spare, almost slamming the Sand Dollar down on the startled snail's desk.

Taking a moment to compose herself, she addressed the ride manager in a blunt tone.

"There's your coin. Now give me my stamp."

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A man, looking rather out of place in his layered jacket, shirt, and hoodie combo, strode through the dry streets of the crowded marketplace. The sweltering heat that blanketed the area on account of the blistering sun blazing its way through the deep blue sky above, didn't seem to bother or even hinder the enigmatic figure as he continued his march, deftly weaving through and around the various crowds of people until at last he had reached his destination. That being a small ramshackle stall with an L-shaped clay counter of sorts that had a wooden gate built into its right side which separated the amphibian-looking merchant from their customers. As for the counter itself, its surface was covered in what appeared to be various raw foods and spices, along with the occasional bit of produce or two. These things did not interest the man however, who simply tucked his hands into the pockets of his jacket as he drew close. Lifting his gaze, Alex locked eyes with the vendor, his expression and tone as stoic as ever.

"I'm looking for someone," he said bluntly. "A woman to be specific. She's kind of thin, has silver blue eyes, and short spikey brown hair. Goes by the name Dana. You see anyone like that around anywhere?"

The merchant gave Mercer a blank stare, its expression twisting from unreadable to unamused, before finally settling into pure annoyance. Maybe even rage, although it was kind of hard to tell.

"Listen pal, I ain't a sightseer alright? And I sure as hell don't have the time to waste being one! Now if you're not going to buy somethin..."

The creature crossed its stubby arms, its froglike body rippling as it did so.

"Then beat it! I don't come here for the conversation, understand?"

A corner of Mercer's mouth twitched slightly as he leaned forward, removing his hands from his pockets to plant them squarely on the counter, cracking it with the smallest application of pressure. He flashed the vendor a friendly smile even as chips of clay flaked free to clatter against the sandstone beneath their feet.

"Look, I don't want any trouble alright? I just want some information, that's all."

Alex leaned in even closer, until the two were mere inches apart, his friendly smile ever-present. It didn't reach his eyes however, and his tone was anything but pleasant, sounding as though it had been laced with steel. Although he hadn't made any overt threats, aside from his encroachment a few seconds prior, Mercer's message was crystal clear. Talk, or else there'd be trouble, and not the kind the froglike creature sitting before him would want. He didn't plan on killing the guy of course, there wasn't a need for that after all, but Alex wasn't above roughing him up a bit either. Especially if he didn't want to talk. He'd spent the last couple of months wandering this damn topsy-turvy clusterfuck of a world in search of his sister, with next to no luck as far as leads or clues to her current whereabouts were concerned. To say he was worried was an understatement of the highest degree, for Mercer passed the point of mere worry a long time ago, and as such he didn't mind taking a more intimidation based approach when it came to uncovering information regarding his sister's current location, moral scruples aside. Hell, even knowing her current status would be enough, but most of the people he'd questioned on his way here hadn't seen head or tail of anyone matching her description, and that bothered him greatly. It was one thing to not know where Dana was, but to not know how she was, or if she was even still alive or not... that truly was hell.

Thinking back on it now of course, he hadn't been sure what he'd expected. It's not as if anyone in the other cities actually went anywhere after all. Certainly not as far afield as he had anyway. Merchants however, now they did tend to get around. At least, that's what he hoped anyway. While it made the most sense as far as logic was concerned, Mercer had to remind himself that nothing he'd seen in this world had been logical thus far, least of all himself. He was himself a sentient pile of viral biomass, which hadn't exactly been thought possible in the field of genetic engineering before. Looping back round to the topic of merchants however...

"Are you threatening me pal?" the amphibian asked incredulously, its face settling into an expression of pure rage, though the nearly imperceptible warble in its otherwise steady voice was all Mercer needed to hear to know his message had been received loud and clear. "Get away from my stall before I call the guards!"

"Tsk. I didn't want it to come to this, but if you insist..."

Mercer let out a quiet sigh, the muscles in his hands twitching as the smile left his face. It seemed as though things were about to escalate into a full on brawl at this point, one that would surely end in someone spilling blood if no one intervened...

Bowser grinned arrogantly at the beginning of Mr L’s response to the news then became more and more concerned as he approached metal breakdown, and then was stunned for a moment when the man did a complete 180 and effectively offered his services to the team.

”So. Pretty sure he bit the dust, but then again time and space are a bit weird right now so who knows. Fought a jerk version of me a while back from another time or space or something so yeah. Who knows.” he replied with a shrug regarding before grinning down at the thief with a degree of warmth rather than malice this time.

”I can always use more minions and unlike your old boss people trying to stab me in the back get a face full of spikes. I can always use someone with your, eh heh, talents.” he leaned in and blocked his mouth from view with a hand while jabign a thumb at the gang ”seriously, this lot, they’re strong but they’re a bunch of goody two shoes you know. Be good to have someone underhand on hand if you get what I’m saying” before righting himself before addressing the question of why they were foraging.

”But no there’s towns and we have Peach’s money but… we didn't bring any food again… seriously how do we keep doing that? We have a glorified cargo ship for… never mind.” Bowser sighed, shook his head and dismissed the issue.

”Whatever. More help is always good, so if you want in your welcome aboard” the king said, offering the thief a gloved claw to shake.

Which was about the time Sakura yelled at them to shut up

”Yeah yeah keep your socks on, we’re done here. Lets eat” before stomping over, grabbing some of what was left of the fish, which turned out to be a rather dull tasting mudskipper like thing. Filling but only tasting lightly of flowers which was really weird and not at all to the king’s tastes.

Bowser and Kamek shared a pair of smirks at Sakura’s comments about good guys and Ms fortune’s addendum about bad guys, but went along with it. Jr and Rika were all for it though, giving Sakura a pair of enthusiastic cheers when she was done with her speech.

That optimism, and the stop for brunch, had been well needed, and Bowser said as much to Mirage, when they were preparing to set off, giving the man a friendly clap on the shoulder ”Thanks for stopping us by the way. Definitely needed this. So seeing as you’re joining up, what can you do?”

There was plenty of time for talk about that and other stuff as they journeyed onward, the rest of their trip through the woods turning out to be a pleasant and uninterrupted flight which was, again, sorely needed. When they emerged and got their first view of the Bottomless sea however, things got a little more sour. The lovely woods had been a welcome break after the battlefield, but here they were reminded of just how dangerous the ocean was, and this time it was sea itself and not the monsters that called it home that looked to be the issue.

”That does not look like a good time” Jr noted from the pilot's chair of the Atomos. While Nadia was having doubts about Shippy making it through the storms down below, Jr was having the similar thoughts about flying through the storm. The idea of water walking it also got a dampener when a shoal of sharks appeared and started to form around the lonely little ship below.

”This. Looks grim.” Kamek agreed from his seat situated to the right and behind the prince.

”A bit, but we can handle it!” Bowser declared confidently from the opposite side.

”After the close call with the battle I would advise we take a more cautious approach. Make sure we know what we’re up against rather than blindly, if you’ll forgive the pun, storming into things.” Kamek retorted. That fight had been incredibly stressful for him, and he was still feeling the strain of it even after some rest and recuperation.

”And what boring thing does that entail?” Bowser grumbled, but didn't say no.

“Oh, oh! I can help with that” Rika offered from her own chair, before deploying her two Abyssal Reconnaissance Planes from where they nested in little hangers in her gauntlets. The paper airplane sized craft hovered next to her and then, after she opened the door, dated outside and ahead of the two ships, sending back visual data to the ship girl and letting her spot any threats sooner.



“I’ll give you a warning if I spot anything!” she told them, which got a round of appreciation from the troop. No one wanted to blindly run into more abyssals or worse out here that was for sure.

In terms of where they were headed troop had the same idea as Nadia, turning towards the beacon and sending Rika#’s little planes ahead to see if it was going to be safe/useful to approach.

”A good place to set down and plan our next move” as the mage called it.

”Make a pretty good painting too. All of this would be real cool if we didn't have to go through it” Jr added.

They’d have to see if either were true when they got there.

---

Mirage had just been enjoying the celebrations, until he felt a clap on his shoulder. He turned his head to look at who it was, half of another one of those delicious syrupy bananas in his mouth making him look a little foolish until he realized who it was. He quickly bit the banana and chewed, swallowing it as he listened to the King's appreciation. It was actually a little weird, being thanked by a king, and all. But he wasn't about to shun it, hell no, he'd let that feed his ego a bit for sure. "I'm just glad everything worked out." He responded, thinking back to the Ukazeer and it's child. They managed to avoid a bit of conflict, and were able to help that weird stached' guy too since everyone was in the area. Overall, this felt like a huge success. And since this whole tagging along thing was certified now, he was more than happy as the King asked of his own abilities. Though, people seemed to be getting ready to leave, so the conversation was left alone momentarily as Mirage helped load up the banana hoard so they could set sail.

Mirage also put the leaves to good use; He made a small... Nest, of sorts. For his egg friend. It was just a comfy little out of the way thing, but anyone who saw it would notice it was decorated with the shells he picked up from the beach. Along with that weird heavy rock he found, he figured maybe it'd look enough like a mixture of nest and loot pile to not be bothered. He'd pick the stuff up later, but if they were going to be in a dangerous situation, he wanted to be light and have his hands free. He kept his weaponry and ammunition on him, leaving his tiny stash fancily below as he emerged to talk more with the crew.

As they set sail, Mirage bid farewell to his orangutan friend with a wide wave, the help of the orange fella being greatly appreciated. Thankfully he was pretty lazy by the looks of things, so he wouldn't exactly be trying to tag along or anything. Where they were heading was definitely too dangerous for the lanky-monkey. He would miss his new friend, however. Even if he had many new ones in his place.

He returned to Bowser's question now that they were venturing forth. The peaceful voyage was added to by Mirage showing off his decoy and cloaking capabilities for little tricks and to help educate the crew on what he could do if it was needed, as well as a few trick-of-the-eye 'magics'. He loved to be center stage, and while he was mostly calm up to this point, he was clearly excited and attempting to play the entertainer to be on people's good sides. Not that there was bad intent behind it, though maybe to some it'd come off as a bit too show-boaty. Mirage however was just grinning and having a good time, figuring they could use what smiles they could get before reaching the Bottomless Sea. In the back of his mind, he was honestly scared of what might be out there, but he'd keep a brave confident face. Mirage was brave and confident, after all. A pillar for any fan or Legend to lean on, of course. He'd never shake in his boots at the idea of a sea full of horrid monsters! Nah... Not at all.

Eventually his shenanigans came to an end, and he leaned on the railings to watch the scenery pass by as their trip continued. Crazy, to think he had only shown up today for his vacation, and yet here he was going off on a venture to a hellish sea of monsters. All those resources led him to this opportunity, and it seemed better than just staying at the Guild. Covering much more ground than ever before sounded great: And even if he couldn't find her... Nah, he would. But he'd do some good in the meantime.

---

As they crossed into the boundaries of the Bottomless Sea, Mirage couldn't help himself but to observe the area. Plenty of dead sea creatures, it seemed. Remains were never a good sign, he knew that much. And whatever left them here was surely lurking in some place... Unless they just washed up somehow? Ah, hell, he could think on it some other time. They surely had more current things to worry about anyhow. Like the idea of this storm absolutely clobbering them, right? And as they passed further into the boundaries of this hellhole, he could see why the place was called Bottomless Sea. Jeez, he bet if he fell in here he'd never find the bottom. His thoughts drifted to what could be lurking down there, but that didn't last long as he took note of Nadia pointing out some structure in the distance. His eyes squinted as he looked out, noting the strange beacon in the distance. A sign of life? He wasn't sure how comfortable he was with the idea of there being life out here aside from monsters... They might be some real tough customers. "I don't think we've got better options...' He answered, as he looked for an alternative in a momentary panic. Nope... Just the beacon. Well, darn. At least the storm seemed to be the worst of their worries, right? He thought there'd be a giant sea monster, some alien-armada that'd want them dead, or super treacherous pirates. You know, normal things. But it seemed there was no activity, so he could just chill for a minute and calmly think of...

His eyes shot open at the mention of them already having company. Moving to the back of the ship, he looked out and noticed the sharks himself. Oh, that was just fantastic. He wasn't overly familiar with sharks, but he'd seen the movies! Big teeth, om nom, and such! He wasn't becoming shark food today, and he sure wasn't going to let something impede their progress already. Backing away from the railing, he took a moment to think as his fingers tapped his holster. He could just take some potshots at them, but with them swimming around like they were, that seemed like a big waste of ammo, at least if he missed. His holster-tapping changed to more of a belt-tapping, until he found something on his belt that gave him an idea. Detaching the Arc-Star, he smirked deviously as an idea came to mind. A concern flashed through his head too, however, so he turned to face the crew while twirling the ninja-star looking grenade on one of his fingers.

"If I throw this sucker in, it'll turn those sharks into fish-sticks!" He boasted, wanting to wipe them out quick without hassle. But he had to dip his enthusiasm a bit as he questioned the crew, concern obvious in his tone: "But, uh, would Shippy be okay? It's not that huge of a shock, and it's not like it's a big fleshy boat, right? So it should get these sharks off of us before they decide to gnaw on our big sea-fairing friend or something." A bit of a morbid thought, yeah, but what was a sting to shark teeth tearing the boat apart? He kept twirling the grenade for emphasis that he could do this at a moment's notice once given the okay, trying to show a little resourcefulness to his new crewmates. Imagine what a badass story this would be to tell! He could almost start daydreaming about telling the tale of 'Mirage, that guy who killed a small army of sharks with one grenade...' to a bunch of absolute babes.

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At the newcomer who would introduce himself as Mirage's answered Link let out a deep sigh of relief. The last thing they needed was the Yiga chasing after them, offended that someone had made off with their banana horde. Those peoples obsession with the yellow fruit was only matched by their devotion to Ganon and their grudge against him, none of which he could imagine would lose any of their potency over something as trivial as being thrown into another world. He stared out at the foliage where Mirage had come from one last time as he tossed a few of the bananas he'd grabbed into the helmet. Then again, it wasn't like you could spot them if they didn't want you to. "Well, if you ever meet someone that looks like me..." He reached up and emphatically gave his ears a flick with his finger. "...who really likes bananas, they're an assassin."

He just let that tidbit of info sit as he really started digging into the meal. The fish all had a weird taste to them, but he didn't care. He eagerly ate the entire things, not even bothering to pick the bones like Ms. Fortune. While he ate, Blazermate asked what the plan was and Peach replied that it was just to head for the bottomless sea. He couldn't help but feel the medabot had been probing for something more detailed, but nobody seemed to be in the mood for talking about the next battle just yet so he refrained as well. More importantly, the Cadet vocalized what it seemed like Mirage had been considering. Mirage jumped at the opportunity to join them on their quest, which wasn't something Link quite knew how to feel about. More hands were welcome and he figured anyone all the way out here with only a furry, long-armed, funny faced thing as company might well know how to handle himself. He had the confidence, certainly, if he were coming out with them while knowing about the the bottomless sea. The problem was, Brinybeard had been confident when they had set out as well.

Speaking of Brineybeard, Link's train of thought derailed as Kamek appeared with good news. The Captain was alive and, if not exactly well, safe. A general cheer went up, the feeing welling up in Link hard enough to bring him to his feet to shout "Yes!" before his lack of balance couldn't compensate for the sudden movement and he fell on his back into the sand. From there he listened to Sakura give her short, faltering speech. He clapped anyway as he sat up, grabbing one of the piece of watermelon and chowing down as she said. Every bite sent an explosion of sweetness into his mouth. Goddess's above it tasted so sweet.

The next stretch of time was spend in story telling. The Abyssal with the strange accent, Bella, seemed incredibly interested in their lives and where they had come from. Ms. Fortune happily obliged her, describing where she had grown up and the people that had lived there. As she talked Link felt himself drawn to her description as much as Bella was. As she finished he couldn't help but chuckle nostalgically. "We've got our own version of Dragonian where I come from." He said. "In Hyrule they're called the Zora." He went on, describing the resident fish people of the kingdom, they're bravery, their speed and grace in the water, the expert craftfishship they put into their silver weapon and the magnificent Kingdom they had carved out for themselves in Zora's Domain. The high white pillars rising from the lake, the natural beauty that surrounded them, the literal water beds that they slept floating in, the cascading sound of waterfalls and the light mist those waterfalls caused to hang in the air. "They can swim right up them, that's how fast they are in the water. Even the little children can do it, though you can't judge their age by appearance. Some of those kids are as old as an adult Hylian, they're a long lived people. I first met their prince when he was a little guppy and 100 years on he was..." Link stopped and looked around the fire to get a good comparison. He pointed out the Cadet. "He was about the Cadet's age." He swiveled his finger, turning it on Geralt. "But he was as tall as Geralt. Maybe taller. One of the best people I've ever met, Prince Sidon. Brave. Always smiling."

Link could have sat there and talked about Hyrule for hours, but he didn't want to take up the entire conversation himself. Besides, even a well deserved rest eventually had to come to an end. They had a job to do. As everyone got ready to leave Link threw his remaining fish into the helmet he had set on the fire, watching intently as the odd fish jumped around in the pot before catching what was launched out. He managed to collect four sets of middling quality Copious Seafood Skewers. That would do for a little light healing in a pinch. He simmered one last batch of fruit and set one last set of banana's next to the fire. After blowing them out he awkwardly drunk-walked the resulting roasted bundle over the funny-faced thing. "Here you go." He said, handing them over to Lanky. "Thanks for the help. High tail it if you see anybody in red lurking around where these came from. Take care."

One last person needed something. He stumbled over to where Shippy had anchored herself. He climbed up the side of the ship and back over to the figurehead. Largely unknown to Link, his and the Cadet operated on extremely similar wavelengths. He pulled out the simmered fruit and offered it to her. When she told him she didn't require food, he shook his head and insisted. "You don't just eat because you need too." He said. "Sometimes it makes you feel better. Sometimes its to celebrate. You've got something to celebrate, right?"

He left it with her, climbing up the rest of the way. "If you can't swallow it, spit it in the water. But you should at least taste it."

---

Link spent most of the voyage across the lake listening for the ping of the slate, but once they started moving much faster on the river he stopped paying as much attention. Even if they stumbled on another of those outcroppings it was unlikely that they would be over it for long, or be able to stop once the slate warned them. Either they would get sprayed or they wouldn't. Instead he gathered up all the spirts he'd left on the deck into one of his big hands so no one would accidentally step on them and set Shippy transforming again. As he did he watched as the first of their two new acquaintances demonstrated his abilities. Link felt the pangs of jealousy as Mirage showed off how he could produce a decoy of himself, and his jaw just about hit the floor when the man turned invisible. It was for a short time, of course, but Link's mind reveled in the possibilities of going anywhere completely unseen. It was a power he desperately wanted.

The other guy, Mr. Green as Link had started thinking of him as, he wasn't so sure of. He had been on the cliff with them, so that meant he must have been strong, but the way he was acting was just too weird and the way the Princess and Koopa's were acting around him was even weirder. Did they really not know who that was? Was it rude to ask about it?

Thought on his new crewmates disappeared once the pink fronds of the trees gave way to black sand and the rotting carcasses of sea creatures. A storm raged out in the distance over the inky black water, stirring up the waves even here. The Bottomless Sea. It's gruesomeness certainly lived up to its reputation. The only thing that even seemed somewhat welcoming was the beam of light shooting into the sky a ways off that Ms. Fortune called out. Between them and it; who knews what in this black abyss? As he held himself against the railing on the front of the ship and picked at the Sheikah Slate, resetting what it was tracking from the crystalline outcroppings to the single abyssal he had managed to get a picture of during the battle. Hopefully that would warn them if the things were on their way.

What they attracted first, though, was also called out by Ms. Fortune. Link wandered over to the side and saw the dark shapes she was talking about swimming around the ship. Fish. The biggest fish he had ever seen, in fact. Blue torpedos whose fins cut menacingly through the surface of the water. He took a picture of one as it turned, presenting its side to him and showing off a wide frown full of teeth that made him shutter. It was like seeing Sidon frowning at him.

"They're not so bad." Link called down to her despite this. "At least these don't have cannons strapped to their heads." Compared to the Abyssal Fleet they had sailed through to get here, a few big fish were nothing.

It was the storm that worried him. He heard thunder off in the distance and where there was thunder there must surely be lightning. He looked around at his friends that had absorbed the shipgirls, and winced at the metal that they had strapped to them. If they didn't beat the storm those would be drawing lightning down, along with anything metal on this ship. He looked up at the Atomos as it hovered near them, spotting the door open and two little abyssal planes fly out toward the light. That whole ship was metal, if the wind didn't get it the lightning certainly would. Same went for Shippy, that coating of metal would be riling up the lightning something awful.

Mirage piped up, twirling something in his hand and offering to take care of the beasts (sharks, that's what they were called) surrounding them in one blow. An electric weapon, huh? He was right, that might hurt Shippy as well. He looked from Mirage to, who both seemed to know what the Sharks were. "If these things can damages the ship than we should take them out, but can't we use the cannons on the deck for that?"

"Additionally." He said, addressing specifically to Ms. Fortune. She lived in a seaside town, she should know a thing or two about ocean storms. "How positive are you that we can reach that light before the storm catches us? I'm not a sailor, I don't know." He turned to the group. "What I do know is that storms like that are bad enough on stable ground. If we're not sure we can make it we should go back up the river a ways, drop anchor, and wait for a better window of opportunity. We can afford to be patient if we need too. What we can't afford is to sink. I don't want to see us get battered again because we underestimated the challenge in front of us."

A thought occurred. "Shippy?" He called. "You know yourself better than anyone. Do you think we can make it?"

Regardless, he raised up the hand with the spirits in it and offered it to the group. "Even if we're positive, and we go for it, I'm going to insist everyone who hasn't already got a quick way to move around in the water take one of these into their chest. Just as an extra precaution. We don't know what could blindside us out there." He looked over at Mirage, remembering he hadn't gotten the orientation yet. "You put one of these in your chest, and you'll get some of its traits. I could barely swim before I used one of these."

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Linkle couldn't hide her disappointment on learning that the Lizalfo had just been stuck here and the circumstances were even sadder. Grandma had told her lizards all scattered away at wintertime because of how chilly it got. It shouldn't be any surprise that the same would be true of a Lizalfo, but she had never really thought of them as living creatures until she saw them reading books and bartering like people did.

Still, her face suddenly lit up as Sal laid out his wares. The gun, the fist, the magic wand, any one of those she would have been interested in were it not for the sight of something oh so much more familiar. "Can I?" She asked, reaching forward and with his permission picking up one of the crossbows. Pure white, accented in gold. It weighed a little more than what she was used to, but the weight settled into her hand like a perfectly fitted glove. She plucked the string, and listened excitedly as it vibrated. When she depressed the trigger in a certain way she had done a thousand times before the front of the bow lit up a shining green. She pressed again and the tip gleamed red.

She set it down. Her bows were simple, but these ones were...

"Beautiful." She breathed out. She had to have them, but the price was to much. She hadn't been left with enough spending money. She glanced down at her own crossbows, and held it up for him to see. "I don't have enough money for those, but these do all the same things. Watch." She demonstrated, pulling down the triggers. Green. Red. Green again. Red again. "If I give you these would that make up the difference? If not I have some other stuff you could look at."

Sakura smiled at Cadet, blushing at his little 'aww' noise. Nadia and Junior and everyone were good sports about her speech, she felt like. It really wasn't that good. But Sakura was confident the worst was behind them. Now it was just them, together, on a mission to save the day. No more warzones! Just the team of heroes of from different places. Sakura hoped she could keep up!

With that, it was time to go. Everyone was packed and ready, their bellies full and spirits rejuvinated. It was time to make some real progress! Sakura jogged onto the Atomos and took a seat.

"It feels inevitable that I'm gonna be jumping off this thing." She commented idly, buckling herself in. She found herself once again looking out the windows of the Atomos.

Even from the air, Sakura noticed the Bottomless Sea suddenly begin. A chill ran up and down her spine and a smile spread across her lips. "W-wow." It was beautiful, in a scary kind of way. Awesome, in the truest sense of the word. Like watching a volcano erupt. And then having a street fight right next to said erupting volcano.

"Ooh! Cool ability, Rika." Sakura commented as the clever Abyssal deployed her scouts. "That'll come in handy for sure!" Sakura looked back out the window, cupping her hands against the side of her eyes.

"Looks like there's some sharks down there." Sakura squinted. "Just regular old sharks. I've seen them in aquariums. Sharks don't usually eat people. You're more likely to get crushed by a vending machine then you are to be attacked by a shark. My 'sensei' Hibiki Dan got defeated by a vending machine once." Sakura said.

"To be fair, it was a really annoying vending machine. I've never seen so many snacks get caught between the glass and the little snack shelves." Sakura said. This was...way off track. Sakura slapped the sides of her head.

"Uh. If we want to avoid the storm, we can fly way up, above the clouds. This is like, a space ship, right?" She scratched her head. "After we land on that little island thing, I guess. I don't want us to get separated from Shippy."

Jesse Faden was walking through the empty halls of the Panopticon. The massive, multi-floored room centered around a large tower. Stand there and one could access all of the floors and observe all of them as well. Next to her was Frederick Langston, the grey-haired Supervisor of this Department.

He was...talking. Something about his cat, and his neighbor, Maria. But Jesse was having a hard time paying attention. Her mind wandered to the items in the cells to their right. Heavily fortified doors lead into a side room, and that side room lead into the main cell where the item was kept. A large window made of thick, reinforced glass made the items viewable from the outside.

"Uh huh," Jesse replied distractedly, as she perused the collection of items under her care.

"What about that one?" Jesse pointed to a cell. Inside floated a solitary nylon balloon with the words 'Get Well Soon' written on it. Beneath it was forming a pool of some kid of black substance. "This one's creepy. What's its deal?"

"Well, Director Faden, that's item AI58-KE. A nylon balloon, as you can, uh, see. It's been in there since 2004 and it hasn't stopped floating."

"Cool."

"There's, uh, more, obviously." Langston cleared his throat.

"Oh." Jesse smiled quietly, still looking at the goo beneath the balloon. "I think a balloon that floats forever would be worth containing on it's own. But I'm assuming that weird goo is up to no good."

"No, ma'am." Langston shook his head. "Not at all. It was recovered by Rangers in the Children's Ward of a hospital. They had some dogs there to comfort the sick children. They were all noticeably attracted to the Altered Item and it's goo substance, licking it when they could. That night, the children reportedly heard the dogs parading around the halls, making strange noises. One of them described it as singing."

"Ooh. That is creepy." Jesse made an impressed face.

"All the dogs were found dead in the morning."

"Mm." Jesse grimaced and stopped making her impressed face. "That so."

She cleared her throat. "So, uh. How's your cat?" (I can't believe I just asked him that. Worth it to deflect from my being impressed by a balloon's dog killing abilities.)

"Good! Good. No more separation anxiety since, you know, the unfortunate incident with the Hiss. My neighbor Maria is such a sweetheart, even if her taste in music is somewhat disagreeable.

"Mhm."

"Oh, yeah." They continued on. "Have you listened to any of the free style poetry tapes I sent you? There's some really experimental in there I think you'd dig. You feel me? I really let my soul out on this most recent tape. I genuinely think it will help us bond as Director and Supervisor. Like I do with the Altered Items."

"Oh, uh, yeah, sure Langston."

"You did listen to them?" Excitement lit up his eyes. "What did you think?"

"N-no, I meant I-"

"I see." Langston shut himself down. "That's perfectly alright. You're a busy woman-"

"No, I will listen-"

"It's just you've said that for the last two times I've asked you about them. I even sent you new copies after you 'lost in the other ones in the mail'."

(Has it really been two weeks already?)

"I did. You know how it is. It was, uh, a House Shift. Y'know. Craaazy Oldest House. Real whacky."

Langston sighed. "I understand, Director. Some relationships have to be kept strictly professional. Can't let things like friendship get in the way of good old fashioned Bureau work."

"Uh..." Before Jesse could articulate a response, her radio crackled.

"Jesse," Came Emily Pope's sharp, composed voice, "Please report to Dimensional Research immediately. There's something here that needs your attention."

(Thank God. Get me outta here, Emily.) "Oh, shoot." Jesse said. "We'll have to continue this conversation later, Langston. That sounds pretty serious."

"Indeed. The elevator is back around on the other side of this floor. But don't worry, I have the-" Langston blinked as Jesse Faden leapt over the railing. She turned around, floating over the lethal drop. Turning her head over her shoulder, she called out.

"That's- that's okay I'm good, I've...I've got it handled." Her voice grew more echoey as she drifted away, down, to the Entrance.

Langston took a few steps forward and frowned, watching her go. "Okay, then! I'll just get back to the Entrance by myself. That's fine." He cleared his throat, folding his hands behind his back.

Jesse reached the bottom of the Panopticon and went to the Control Point. Three radio discs in a triangle, pointed at each other and supported on tripods. On the ground a circular pattern was marked in tape. Jesse stood in the center and reached her hand out, connecting with the leylines of the Oldest House. Like following the arteries in a heart, she felt the pull of Dimensional Research. In a pulse of white light she vanished. A few seconds later she reappeared on the other end of the Oldest House, hundreds of feet up and away from the Panopticon.

She jogged through a set of sliding glass doors and into the newly renovated Dimensional Research.

"What're we lookin' at, Emily?" Jesse Faden asks, taking a few steps over to the snappily dressed scientist. In front of them was a massive array of monitors and buttons. To their left and right stretched a row of smart looking men and women in lab coats, operating the machine and managing the readouts.

"Jesse, we've detected a massive dimensional anomaly approaching Earth." Emily reported cheerily.

"From...outside the Oldest House?"

"Yes! An Altered World Event that has a source other than our World, or a Threshold within the Oldest House! Fascinating, isn't it?"

"I suppose." Jesse said, more than a little concerned. "Do we know what it is?"

"All we know is it possesses a never before seen amount of energy. Wanna know what else?"

(Do I?) "Yes."

"According to our calculations, it's heading directly for the Oldest House!"

Jesse would have done a spit-take if she was drinking something. "Wh- you mean it knows we're here?"

"Seems like it."

"Can we do anything to stop it?"

"We're working on it, but our current hypothesis is 'definitely no.'"

"What happens if it hits us?"

"We don't know!" Emily smiled wondrously.

"Where did it come from?"

"We don't know!"

"How long do we have until impact?"

"About 15-20 seconds."

"...Oh."

Emily nodded. "It could be anything from entirely harmless to the extinction of all life on the planet. We're entirely in the dark here, Jesse. It's even worse than the Hiss, because at least that fell within accounted for parameters."

"...Great. Well, I'm not getting my hopes up. Here's hoping for something less than total annihilation."

"Here's hoping!" Emily pushed her clipboard forward in affirmation.

"Man. Did any of the other Directors have to put up with this crap?"

"I don't believe so, no."

"..." Jesse coughed. "It's been twenty seconds, I think."

"I suppose my calculations were off slightly." Emily tipped her head.

"Maybe it won't hit us at all?" And with that, Jesse was consumed by a blinding golden light. Just her luck.

---

Jesse blinked. Emily looked at her. The scientists cleared their throats and reached for coffee mugs that weren't there any more.

"Okay." Jesse furrowed her brow. "What was that?"

"I don't know. Let's check the readout." Emily nodded to an assistant who flicked several switches of unknowable use.

"Sorry, Jesse." Emily apologised. "The readout info is there, but I can't understand it. In one eye and out the other."

"I think you mean in one ear."

"I'm reading it, though."

"Right." Jesse nodded slowly. "How do you mean, then?"

"Well, there's information there. Something just happened to us. But I don't know what it is. The information is there, I just can't understand it. And unlike with the Hiss, it seems you weren't immune to it either. And these," she knocked on the implement on her chest. "Didn't do diddly-squat."

"Seriously? Are we talking about more cognitive manipulation?" Jesse squinted at the unreadable information on display.

"Seems that way." Emily nodded.

(And I'm not even special this time. Perfect. At least I know this it wasn't my fault this time, right?)

"Okay...well, you guys get into the safe rooms. If I haven't contacted you in an hour, resume operations." Jesse said. "There might be something in the Bureau, again." She nodded to a security guard who began organizing the scientists in an orderly fashion.

With a pep in her step the unflappable Emily Pope turned on her heel and speed-walked to her destination.

Jesse reached another Control Point and teleported over to Central Executive. A two storey office room with an empty chamber in the middle. An inverted black pyramid dominated the rooms architecture. Standing at some fold out tables was Simon Arish. He was Head of Security.

"Hey, Director Faden!" He greeted. "Er, I mean- Jesse."

Jesse smiled. "Hey, Arish. Did you feel that?"

"Did I feel like I just lost some time? Yeah. Clarence and Judy here felt it, too. I was hopin' you could give us some answers, boss." Hope glimmered in his eyes.

"Unfortunately, no. I'm in the dark, too. I need you to get everyone into safe rooms for the next hour. There could be something in the Bureau again. We're also going back on lockdown until we've figured this out." Jesse repeated.

Arish signalled for his soldiers to relay the information all around the Oldest House. "Can do. What about you?"

"I'm heading outside. I'm going to see what's up with the rest of New York. Obviously that's not really our jurisdiction, but anything could have happened out there. I'll be right back. If I'm not back in an hour, resume normal operations."

"You will be." Arish reassured her a smile.

"I will." Jesse turned and jumped, preparing to float up to the second storey and get to the lobby. Only as she jumped, she landed right back on the ground. Since she had leaned so far forward into her flight, she stumbled on the carpet and landed on her knees. (What?)

Arish suppressed a chuckle. "You, uh, you okay, boss?"

Her feet and hands looked normal. Jesse hopped up. No flight. Jesse and Arish made eye contact.

"D-...did you just lose your job?" Arish asked, not finding the situation funny anymore.

A little frantically, Jesse opened up the palm of her hand. Silently, the Service Weapon apparated. Both the Director and the Head of Security let out a sigh of relief. The matte black pistol with a yellow-edged cylinder in the chamber had never looked so comforting.

Jesse reached her hand out for a coffee mug, but it didn't come to her like it normally would have. (Something's off. Haven't felt this way in a while.)

The redheaded Director examined her trusty firearm. The barrel, made of a series of floating cubes barely kept in place by an unseen gravity, twitched and shifted as she watched it.

"It's like when I first got the Service Weapon. Whatever just happened, it reset me to factory settings." Jesse commented.

"That sucks. Think you can get 'em back?"

"Probably. I did it last time, so it should be even easier. The more I use the gun and the powers I have, the more acclimated I become. Hypothetically it's just a matter of time." There was a ringing in her ears.

"Hold on. I'm gonna head down to the Hotline. Just get everyone safe, Arish." She said. He gave her a two-fingered, informal salute.

"You got it, boss." He replied. The Director went directly under the inverted black pyramid where the Control Point was, and teleported away. Still in the Executive sector. Red carpet, white walls, brutalist minimalism. A portrait of herself, some potted plants. From somewhere, finnish folk music echoed.

She turned down a hallway. It became stark white and led into a vast room. In it, there was a narrow, railing-less walkway that dropped off into sheer pitch darkness on either side. This walkway led to a glass, soundproof chamber. Within this chamber there was a comfortable looking leather chair, a small table, and a bright red rotary phone. It was ringing. Drrrring. Drrrring.

Jesse walked at her usual pace (12 miles per hour) down the walk way and into the glass-walled room. She sat down and smoothly picked up the phone. She placed the reciever against her ear.

"This is the Director."

In response, there was a myriad of distant, calculating voices, drowning in static. An incomprehensible cacophony that permeated her mind. Enough to drive anyone else mad, drive them to pick up the nearest gun and put a bullet in their head. There was secrets in the static. In her mind's eye she saw somewhere, the inverted black pyramid of impossible size, drifting through a white void. A space so small it becomes infinite, so vast it becomes miniscule. The Board reaches out...

And Jesse, only Jesse, only ever the Director, answers. They spoke to her as follows:

< A Power has Challenged/ Notified The Board >

< Your Directorial Abilities/Responsibilities/Superpowers have been Unwillingly Revoked >

< You have been Reset/Video Game Sequeled >

< We/You will Use/Become the Service Weapon/Point and Click once more >

< Become Acclimated/Gain Experience/Level Up >

< Reap Rewards/Loot of new Realm/World/Server/Dream >

"Wait," Jesse said. "New world? Where are we?"

< NOT IN KANSAS ANY MORE >

Jesse placed the receiver down on the phone with a clank.

(What did they mean by that? Is it possible the entire Oldest House has been translocated? How? This must have something to do with the memory gap and the cognitive dissonance. I need to get to the bottom of this.)

Rubbing her chin, The Director rose from her chair and walked briskly out of Executive and to front offices. There were still a few more hallways to go before they reached the lobby proper and thus, the outside world and any threats that may lay beyond.

Before she could, she saw a squad of four Rangers. Helmets, glass visors and cloth hid their faces, and over their baggy jumpsuits and nylon belts was a Hedron Resonance Amplifier. That would, hopefully, protect them from cognitive threats. Three of them were holding LMGs with drum magazines on the top. Guns of immense fire power meant for putting down interdimensional threats. Needless to say, not your average peashooter. Rangers were highly trained, incredibly skilled guardians of the Earth. (Might sound a little dramatic. But they deserve a little fanfare.) The fourth was holding a hand held rocket launcher. For even bigger targets.

"What are you guys doing here?" Jesse asked. "I told everyone to get into safe rooms."

"Arish told us to meet you here, ma'am. Said you might want or need our help."

(Of course he did. Well, without all my powers I'm basically just a glorified Ranger, anyway.)

"Uh, okay. Sure. Follow me." She gestured with her handgun.

"Right away, ma'am." The squad leader saluted.

With that, they turned the corner and stepped out into the main lobby. It was a two-storey room, with a set of stair cases on the far left and right side that lead downwards. There was an empty receptionist's desk, a security office, and the floor the entire lobby turned into a wide-stepped staircase that led out into a series of double glass doors. On the other side of the glass doors was a grey, lifeless city. Devoid of life.

"That's not New York." Jesse noted.

"No ma'am, it isn't."

"I'll go check it out. You guys stay in the lobby." The Rangers nodded. Jesse walked forward and carefully pushed on the glass. She stepped outside. The Rangers watched her go. She moved forward, onto the sidewalk and into the middle of the street. Her eyes widened and she looked up, way up, at something the Rangers couldn't see. Then she turned around as if noticing something she hadn't before. She sprinted back inside and shut the glass doors behind her.

The guy with the bazooka cleared his throat. "...well?"

"On a scale of one to fucked? We're a solid eight." Jesse exhaled, running a hand through her vibrant red hair. "It's- yeah. Yeah, we're in a totally different place. And we don't know how or why. And there's...scary shit out there. We're going to need to be careful."

"Are we going to be sending out expeditions?"

"Oh, yeah, for sure." Jesse said. There was genuine worry on her face, but a curious, excited light danced behind the Director's dark eyes.

"It's a big city. I'll go out exploring and see if I can find a way out. Get the radar stuff up and running, see if we can orient ourselves." Jesse and the Rangers moved back into the interior of the Oldest House where it was more protected.

(Okay. So. Let's work through this. There's something on the data screen that we can't really understand due to cognitive interference. Let's scan for Resonances.)

"The good news is, I think we're safe in here. The Oldest House itself hasn't been compromised." Jesse said. Soon the entire operation of the Bureau was back up and running once again. Jesse reconvened with Emily in Dimensional Research.

"Okay, Emily, I had an idea. Scan for Resonances. Anything that isn't the normal Earth stuff."

"Right away, Jesse." She inputted a few commands into the device. Somewhere, complicated machinery whirred to life.

"Mhm. Yup. There's something all around us and outside the Bureau. It's affecting everything. There's one small blip near the Foundation."

"That's probably Ahti. He wasn't affected by the Hiss, either."

(Now would be a good time for him to come back from his vacation.)

"Increase the range of the scan. I want to find something that isn't affected by the Resonance. If there isn't, then we'll figure something else out."

"Okay! If anything changes, I'll let you know. But this Resonance seems omni-present. It's affecting all of us right now. That could mean anything. Our current reality could be an illusion. Or this is a shared dream. Or we've all been put into a different dimension. Or, all of this, including myself, is just a figment of your imagination!" Emily said cheerily.

"My working theory is ‘different dimension’. The Oldest House is in a completely different spot. Something reached out from the otherside of a Threshold. This is the largest Altered World Event in the history of the planet no matter what, right?"

"Definitely." Emily grinned. "Exciting times."

---

Results, when they came, were less than ideal. The new, unprecedented Resonance picked up by Bureau instruments permeated the entire city, every nook and cranny, attic and alley, except the Oldest House itself. Invisible, untouchable, unstoppable. Research soon revealed the only variance to be the Resonance’s strength, which appeared to weaken by degrees the farther south it went and strengthen toward the north. After that, however, nothing could be gleaned about the anomaly from afar, so it fell to the expedition teams to brave the unknown city and find out just what lay in store for them.

“Eyes peeled, men.” Sergeant Reeds said, looking up at the skyline around them.

Oppressive, bleak, and neglected formed just a few of the words that described the nightmare they marched out into. Towering buildings teetered and sagged like stacks of wooden blocks assembled by children, and when the Rangers drew close to the buildings they founded them in a terrible state of disrepair. Entire sections were run-down if not collapsed, and there was such an absolute dearth of color and vigor that it seemed at first that the city was abandoned for many years.

But it was not.

At first even the trained Rangers did not identify the contacts, since they were so still, and their shapes weren’t quite right. When they realized thanks to the quiet croaking, they zeroed in on the unknown figures that stood motionless outside a storefront, riveted on an old black-and-white television that gurgled and sang with some ghastly program mostly lost to static.

“Contact.” Corporal Penelope reported, indicating the two to their squad.


“What the hell is wrong with them?” Corporal David asked. “They’re all...fucked up.”

Sergeant Reeds took a few steps closer. “Sir! Ma’am! This is the police.”

The two -an elderly couple judging by their proportions and stoop- did not respond to hails whatsoever, but when David drew close to tap the man on the shoulder, he spun with alarming speed. For a split second the squad received a vision of an utterly deformed face, the flesh swept and distorted into hideous folds like a smudged painting. Then it shrieked, some sort of paralyzing static flowed between it and its victim, and the Rangers lit it up. A withering torrent of gunfire tore the warped human into giblets, but the other did not so much as react until the rounds smashed through the television. At that point she gave a loud, scratchy croak and staggered toward the squad herself, only to meet the same end. Then there was silence--silence, except for the faint utterances of myriad televisions in the background, just barely audible above the light, chilling rain.

Ranger David stumbled back, clutching his head. Supported to his feet by his squadmate, Penelope patted him on the shoulder. “You good?”

“I think so.” He adjusted the straps of his HRA. “Think it’s viral?” He asked.

Penelope studied back towards the TV that the old lady was focused on. His black visor masked his face, the glass lightly dewed by rain drops. “Could be...the eggheads’ll probably wanna get a look at this stuff. But we’re expedition, not retrieval.”

“What the hell were those things, anyway? Ugly bastards.” David asked, looking down at where the two creatures used to be.

Reeds rubbed his chin. “Not sure. They looked like they were people at some point. I think we gotta another Hiss situation on our hands. Maybe if you look at those TV’s for too long, you turn into one?” The veteran Ranger theorized. He was no scientist, but you pick up an instinct for this kind of thing when you’ve dealt with enough paranatural bullshit.

“Seems likely. At least they still go down if you fill ‘em with lead.” David asked. “Thanks for saving my ass.” He got a reassuring slap on the shoulder from the fourth, quieter Ranger.

“Let’s keep moving. We’re due to rendezvous with the Director’s squad in an hour.” The squad leader said. The others nodded, hefted their machine guns with smoking barrels, and pushed on.

“This place is fucked.” David murmured quietly. They took a formation, guns ready to be aimed at any moment, postures low. The squad scanned the environment and moved with methodical precision. Now they weren’t going to take any chances on rescuing or contacting civvies.

As they made their way across the town, their decision only grew more and more wise. Wherever televisions could be found, the Viewers inevitably lurked nearby, as close as they could possibly get. None that the Rangers saw slept, or ate, or did anything but watch, as if the broadcast streaming through those ancient screens was all they needed. The creatures themselves, however, varied. A sizeable portion of them appeared to be humans with bigger heads and shorter limbs than one might expect, facial deformation notwithstanding, but others spanned the whole spectrum of normalcy. There were ordinary-shaped humans, bipedal animals, normal animals, monsters, and more than a few figures that were downright alien. Naturally, the Rangers didn’t get close enough to make out specific details, but they got a good dose of just how many creatures had fallen under the city’s spell when they reached a wide-open area.

“Jesus Christ.” Corporal David said quietly.

First, they saw the Viewers. There was a crowd of them, hundred if not thousands strong, all staring upward at an impossibly massive television set, jammed as if by some titanic hand into a building five stories up from ground level. Just as the others, it displayed nothing more than waves of static, only the barest suggestions of figures visible through the salt-and-pepper haze. The throng of distorted beings before it came in all shapes and sizes, some of them so distinct in appearance -if not for those accursed faces- that they couldn’t possibly just be generic nobodies. As the Rangers scoped out the area, however, they realized that the gathered Viewers represented only the tip of the iceberg. All around the square, from every angle, eager faces were watching. They stared at the tv set from every window, balcony, and rooftop, and with every one of them letting out low, croaking murmurs, there existed in the area a low roar of sound with a profoundly haunting quality.

“This is the worst I’ve ever seen.” Penelope said.

“It’s some regular Poltergeist shit.” David nodded in agreement.

“They aren’t focusing on us, at least. Let’s keep moving. I” Reeds said.

With no need for a chill deeper-reaching than the rain, the squad moved on quickly. No creatures bothered them whatsoever, for they were wholly entertained. Despite its size, the television could not be the source of the anomaly--merely an unusually large outlet. And as they moved farther north in the shadows of monolithic buildings, the Resonance grew stronger still. They knew it because they could feel it. If not for the HRAs strapped onto their bodies they knew they would not have been able to ignore the beckoning allure of the television sets, the wonderful colors, sounds and shapes, dancing before their eyes.

“Don’t look at the TVs for too long. Just in case.” Reeds advised.

“Yeah, David.” Penelope said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“We all know you have an addictive personality.” She smiled.

“Funny. Yeah, I’m not getting hooked on this creepy snow bullshit.”

On the way, no enemies jumped out at them, but fear found them nonetheless. The entire squad jumped when the first body hit the ground out of nowhere, killed instantly on impact and left sprawled out like a ragdoll.

“Wuh!” Penelope startled, pointing her gun at the Viewer. She’d been infront of David, so she didn’t seem him jump, either.

“Go on, P, waste him.” David indicated the dead thing.

Penelope chuckled darkly. “This is grim. They just don’t even care, huh?”

“Watch the windows. Don’t get crushed by a jumper.” Reeds advised.

Viewers continued to fall at odd intervals from the nearby buildings, and when the squad looked upward they found equidistant rows of the things standing on the rooftops, all staring listlessly...and in the same direction. After a time the Rangers saw light ahead, enough to signify a main street, and made for the openness it promised. They were not ready for what they saw.

When they walked out into the mainstreet and looked northward, they beheld an avenue around which the buildings curled like the sides of a tunnel, leading upward and onward. Miles away, higher than any other structure, beneath a circling vortex of clouds, stood a tower. A sheer rectangular prism, black as night, it pierced the heavens, and from its peak reached a pillar topped with a piercing light. It shone across the clouds, the sky, the city, and even without a receiver the Rangers could both hear and feel its Transmission, as clear as day.



Though they could not stop their skin crawling, the trained soldiers steeled themselves to tear their eyes away from the beacon. When their gaze fell back on the streets, however they beheld something else. A twisted, bulbous bulk, wreathed in cables and twisted metal, suspended on spindly, hairy spider legs. Its mass dangled there, an affront against nature, as the glassy eyes of its distended head fixated in the Signal Tower before it.

“It’s…” Penelope trailed off. David swore in awe. The fourth ranger stood in the back, mouth open.

“That.” Reeds levelled a finger at the distant monument to suffering. “Is the Source of the Resonance. Gotta be. And that...” The index finger pointed at the bulbous creature. “Is not our problem. Let’s get back to the Oldest House. We’ve found the source of the Resonance, so we’re good to go.” The Veteran turned and indicated his recruits to travel. The three backed up a few steps before shaking their heads rapidly and turning a cold shoulder to the Signal Tower. There was nothing more to say about it.

---

Bright, floral, a little acidic...vaguely reminiscent of cherry. A light and clear arrangement of complex flavor notes, with a light body and pleasantly warm despite the heat outside. Jesse took a deep sip of her coffee and set it down, holding her head in her hands. Just a few feet away from the welcoming, shady shelter of the little cafe, the late morning sun shone down upon the chessboard tiles, golden bells, and shining turquoise of a splendid city, but by now its wonders did little to quell her unease. Its citizens went about their daily tasks with a stifling mudanity. It was too normal here, and she was well out of her element.

Then again, she couldn’t have possibly stayed in it. That damn Resonance was why she was here. For weeks the Bureau had worked to stabilize its position in the city that for all intents and purposes had no name. Jesse’s organization banged its collective head against the pervasive, indefatigable anomaly they’d taken to calling the Transmission, but for all their efforts they had achieved no progress. No deciphered secrets, no method of counteraction, nothing. The televisions were merely symptoms, and destroying them meant triggering the Viewers. Since the Viewers in any given location invariably numbered higher than appearances might suggest, and more than a few seemed to harbor unusual abilities, a clean sweep had quickly been deemed out of the question. However, the Viewers were the least of the Bureau’s problems. The Rangers weren’t the only ones able to move in the city, as fleeting glimpses of elusive shadows too recurrent to be imagination suggested. Though never under attack, the Bureau was overwhelmed; there seemed to be nothing they could do but hold tight onto what they had, and keep the Transmission out.

Eventually, Jesse decided to look elsewhere. Her journey took her south, out of the nameless city and away from its repugnant Transmission, until that wretched acropolis was just a pale stain on the northern tip of the continent. She traveled a long way, meeting people and creatures of all shapes and sizes. She’d gone through a city much bigger than this, so modern, metropolitan, and painfully normal as to have its own political landscape complete with corporate and ecological underpinning. She found no answers there, and the launch of some kind of feverish election spurred her on her way. And now, after a long and uncomfortable helicopter ride, she was here. Al Mamoon was hot, rather crowded, more than a little foreign to her, and lacking in a few quality of life improvements that city -or rather, modern- life left her taking for granted. But hey, it had good coffee.

And its own problems.

As if she didn’t have enough headaches to deal with, a fresh anomaly had revealed itself. A string of impossible crimes all perpetrated by a single individual, with an appearance described in contradictory terms by various witnesses, who could all allude to just a single unifying characteristic: a gun capable of miraculous things. In the course of his felonies he seemed to be able to attach balloons, wheels, and thrusters, adhere things together, lift and rotate heavy objects, pass through solid walls, alter targets’ size and weight, make copies, set things on fire forever, and mess with lights. An Altered Object of such power couldn’t be ignored, but so far the perpetrator had slipped through her fingers on two occasions. With a sigh, Jesse took another sip of coffee. Of all her worries, at least that one would change today.

(I remember when I could do cool, supernatural stuff.) Jesse thought to herself, staring at the nearly empty bottom of her coffee cup. At least her aim had improved in the interim.

One last sip, and that was all the energy she needed to get her through the morning. If she could just catch this guy and contain that Object of Power, that would get her unstuck from this rut. This AWE was full of so much downtime. She’d been spoiled by the Oldest House. At the very least, this world was full of interesting characters.

Like this guy. A 5’2 humanoid bunny man wearing green pants and absolutely strapped with muscle. He was relaxing with one leg crossed over the other, his black eyes staring into his cup.

“You’ve been looking at me.” He said.

Jesse tried not to startle. (He talks. Hm. Had to order his coffee somehow, I guess.) “Oh. Was I? Sorry.” Jesse averted her eyes, but realised they were in a conversation now so it was probably best to make eye contact.

“I’ve just never seen anyone like you before.” Jesse said. “I don’t mean to, uh, stare. My name’s Jesse.” She said.

The rabbit man seemed to consider her, his right ear twitching. “Turner.” He replied.

“You drink coffee often, Turner?” Jesse asked.

“No. This is my first time. The coffee is... alright. Too many flavors.” He held his cup up between his articulate paws. “Of all the places my travels have taken me too, this is by far the strangest. I’d never seen anyone that looked like you before, either, until suddenly I was surrounded by them.”

“Oh?” (So he’s like...from Zootopia.) “Well. We’re called humans, if you don’t know. There’s kind of a lot of us. What is, uh…your kind, called?”

“I’m a rabbit.” He replied.

“Right.” Jesse lightly slapped her palm on the coffee table. “Shoulda guessed.”

“How would you have guessed that?” Turner asked.

“Oh. We have rabbits in our world.”
“You literally just said you’d never seen anyone that looked like me before.”

“Oh, uh, well, on my world, the rabbits aren’t people. They’re animals. Like pets.”

“Excuse me?” Turner asked, voice sharp.

“Uh, y’know, I should- I should probably go. I’ve got somewhere to be, in like, 15 minutes.” She set the coffee cup down on the table.

“Probably.” Turner said, eyeing her. Clearing her throat, the Director rose and scooted her chair back under the table. She gave a little wave to Turner and quickly walked out of the out door seating area of the coffee shop.

(Nice one, Jesse. That was super racist.) She’d just have to try and move on.

Her next plan of action was to wait for the Paracriminal to reveal himself and ambush. Given the attention-seeking, low damage nature of the crimes, she figured he would go after something flashy and well known. But not too populated. He’d already hit two targets of that description. One of the last places in town that fit his MO was some art museum that looked like it was plucked right out of her world. The Paracriminal was probably going to steal some fancy painting or artifact, or whatever they kept in normal museums. Once there, she approached the fence. An uneven barrier of red-tinged pillars stood before a building that defied all common sense and logic, a garish, ostentatious structure of swirled gold interspersed with bright blue windows. She couldn’t read the giant symbols before it, but she knew they were Japanese. Placing her hand against the wall she tensed up her muscles and held her breath. No luck. Still no flying.

“Ugh.” Jesse turned and crossed her arms, leaning up against the fence. Hopefully he showed up soon. She was getting tired of all this waiting around.

The looks of concern and shock that had hovered on the Koopa King's face left the former member of Count Bleck's group baffled. Why is it so strange to see on that face and why does he feel like he's never seen that kreep so worried? Of course he's never seen the shellhead worried because he's never seen the shellhead in person before that failed meeting! ...but why does that warm grin cast his way feel even stranger?

"I have standards." Mr. L begins as he fusses with his hat a little. "Either you pay me or I'm taking what I feel I've earned from wherever you stash the Coins or treasure or whatever you are using here. And I will find it. I can get into any vault I set my eyes on. But its a bit of a laugh for you to be working on Miss Pink's dime - where is she, anyway, did you stuff her in a cage again? And did that wedding even count? Heh, rather crummy move to be swiping from your wife - but... yeah, how do you not bring any food when you have troops to lead? Or did you eat it all?"

In any case, Mr. L shakes the king's clawed hand before casting an annoyed look at little miss chipper. The lowered tone he uses to speak next isn't to prevent the broad from overhearing him (he wouldn't care what some l-oser thinks about him) but all the dumb shell-for-brained mooks running around might blab and the last thing he needs is to get in a fight so soon while he can't use the Flip magic. ...not that he would. Messing with people is one thing but doing the kind of annoying crap that Dimentio does all the time is something else. "Yeesh, when you said there were some goodie goodies sticking around, you weren't kidding one bit. Yeech, she is like the worst combination of some dizzy princess in a poofy gown and that annoying brat Mimi. All sugar and light and 'oh yeah, we're the good guys and we're gonna win because we have the Star Spirits rooting for us'." For a brief moment, the thief sounded like a completely different person. Bright and cheerful, maybe a little bashful, and absolutely not a smart-mouthed smartass of a prick who seems to take delight in the misery of others.

Mr. L swans past all the unfamiliar faces (and that old geezer who he swears he has met before somewhere... something about purple shrooms and green beans..?) to swipe some of the grub. No sense in drinking all his shakes just yet. Some banana, a bit of the more interesting fruit, some of the fish fish... Good thing that he was wearing gloves or this would be a mess to clean up. Mr. L won't admit it but for seaside grilled stuff it isn't half bad. He could have done a much better job but there's no proper kitchen in sight. And... honestly, there's only so much you can do with a fire.

---

It took Mr. L a bit of time to decide whether to split from the crazy gang to hop up to the metal thing that the koopa's mini-me was in before it could go out of reach. Its not like he couldn't reach it. Mr. L is the best jumper in all the dimensions. Only some crazy super-powered nut could leap beyond the Green Thunder's own bounds.

But its easier just to rest up on the weird ship. Added bonus of getting to laugh at the dumb mooks and junior minions. The man in black had bumped into Little Boy Blue a few times and the weird looks the guy kept giving him was starting to get on his nerves. As was the... odd... impression that he might have met the guy once or twice before. Certainly not this guy with his blue gown but for some reason he keeps thinking of a similar outfit but all in green. Same dorky bird-claw symbol though. It makes his imagination draw up another figure but one in orange-red armor. A... photo? With someone... Mr. L doesn't remember where... ... Tch, if he's really this worked up over some green swordsman and a red space-patrol person then he can always ask the next time they run into one another.

The Green Thunder had been looking around for a place to hang his hat when boredom struck and he headed back up to the open air. He missed the initial announcement but when the idiot in the surfer/paintball fanatic outfit starts to brag about his little do-dad scaring off the sealife, L cracks up laughing at a pathetic claim. "You think that you can handle those things? Even without my Brobot it'd be a snap!" Mr. L snaps his fingers and a... tiny, almost minuscule, spark of electricity lights up in his palm but quickly dies. "... motherless little... It's gotten worse?! Tch, useless little thunder palm trash, whatever, I don't need to zap those oversized fish. I bet neither of you can swim, let alone be able to actually fight those stupid little gill-for-brains off yourself. But you're in luck!" Mr. L gets ready to dive into the water with an almost manic grin. "I can kick their butts from the darkest coldest depths of the Twygz River to the ivory palace in the sky!"

---

Mirage eyed Link as he agreed the sharks needed to be dealt with. Well, yeah, not that he doubted the guy would. But then he pointed out they could just use the cannons, which caused the spinning of the Arc-Star to cease, his lips dipping as he was given a much less ship-endangering solution than the one he presented. His eyes shifted between Link and said cannons, before he quickly re-attached the grenade to his belt. "Y-Y'know, you've got a point, there." He felt defeated, the idea of killing a hoard of sharks with a grenade now passing by. Though a small thought came to mind. "If we shoot them with the cannons, they'll just be mush though, right? If we can take them out without turning them into shark-splatters we could have a lot of shark to eat off of." As much as Mirage loved fruit, he didn't want to live off of just that. Seafood sounded fantastic, and the sharks were probably a lot more consistent than the Luma Pool fish. Or maybe he was just trying to get an excuse to grenade a shark.

This was quickly followed by a laugh from that masked-mustachio. Mirage squinted his eyes at the man, not ready to let that smack talk slide. "Yeah, big-nose. I don't know what a 'Brobot' is but these things pack enough of a punch with their disruptor blasts to stall a small aircraft carrier, so I bet that thing would be toast, too." He retorted, noticing the slight spark in his palm. Mirage recoiled a little from this, but quickly snickered at his discontent with his little electrical mishap. "Don't worry, I'm sure it happens to a lot of guys." He said with amusement, simply deciding to allow this Mr. L guy to boast about how he'd manhandle the sharks. Alright, if he ended up chewed up like the gum his roommate kept putting under the stools at his bar, he could go ahead.

He let that sit, as they carried into conversation about possibly heading back. Now, Mirage wasn't a captain by any means, and he wasn't terribly good with weather, but the situation did look bad. He wasn't exactly taking sides at the moment, but could acknowledge what made sense. "Yeah-hah, sinking would be a huge no-no. I might be a hell of an athlete but I doubt I'd swim out of here alive, even without the sharks. If we can't be quick about this maybe waiting for a good clearing isn't a bad idea."

Having not questioned what Link was carrying up to this point, he was startled by the suggestion the blue-wearing man made. Some of it's traits? Mirage took one into his hands with curiosity, staring at it and tilting his head at the sight of the spirit. -- Spirit. What did that mean? Was it alive? ... Previously alive? The idea of it was strange, perhaps even morbid. He was surprised that over the months, he hadn't seen one at all, that he could remember at least. But if this thing could help ensure he survives in the water if he WERE to fall in... Maybe it was a good idea to use it. And hell, if it meant he could swim better, then that mustached guy could kiss his ass about the whole swimming thing. It'd also make him a lot less paranoid about falling in at any point, though this whole 'trait' obtaining thing wasn't a familiar concept.

"That... Sounds really, really, weird." He told Link flat-out, though he didn't force the Spirit back to the man in any way. Instead, he looked at it and spoke up again. "But you sound really serious, so I'm gonna just take your word on this one. Swimming capabili-- Cappasabilla- Swim-good powers, here I come!"

With a little hesitation, he pressed the Spirit into his chest. His eyes sort of darted between himself and the surrounding crew as if he was worried he might keel over and die or something, a bead of sweat going down his forehead.

"Geralt." Was the simple response to Mirage's statement. "If your experience is as extensive as you say, you'll fit in with us quite well. The Cadet and I are from worlds teeming with monsters of various shapes, sizes, and temperaments. We make our living by hunting them, though his is a much more respected profession than mine." He didn't delve further into the depressing topic that was the treatment Witchers got. There was certainly no need to spoil the celebration.

He listened as Nadia spoke of her old life as well, with Link offering some tidbits of information about an aquatic race of people he knew. Although, something about his comments struck Geralt as odd. "So, how long do Hylians like you live then? Because if one hundred years is enough to be a young adult, but you knew him when he was a young child...that doesn't add up." Geralt had a look of concentration on his face. "Because you're not that old-looking yourself, but you're older than he is." Unless they had access to age-preserving or magic and Link was lucky or important enough to receive it.

When the revelries ended, and the group returned to their respective ships, Geralt found himself...displeased with the current situation. His new size made it rather difficult to fit in places he would have previously. For example, the inside of the Atomos. As it was, he now found himself sitting inside the airship where he previously would have stood, or sat in one of the chairs. But now, none of the accommodations fit him, forcing the Witcher to simply sit in the hold. He wasn't uncomfortable, per se, but it was rather undignified.

The state of the Bottomless Sea itself, however, was a more pressing concern for all present. The turbulent water, the incredibly ominous sky, and that weird green beacon seeming to beckon to them. He didn't exactly have a great vantage point from where he was, but that seemed like as good a place as any to head to. Rika's plan to use her smaller flying ships to do reconnaissance was a good one, and Geralt found himself wishing he had the capability to do so.

Still, the giant gun platform was a nice bonus, even if he hadn't had a chance to really put it to use yet. It seemed like he would be getting the opportunity soon.

If anything united the assorted odd assortment of heroes and hero adjacents split between the airship and the living ship, it was a unilateral dislike for sharks. Even though they were just animals and couldn’t possibly pose a threat to anyone from down in the water, or even to the vessel’s metallic outer hull, Nadia loathed the overgrown fish. After finally escaping the pitched battle in Black Bay the last thing they needed was another run-in with bloodthirsty, vicious, fang-toothed sea monsters that had no right to be as fast as they were.

Out of all of them, the newcomer without so much as a taste of Abyssal gunsmoke spoke up in favor of shark annihilation first. His bravado lasted just a moment though, replaced by worry for Shippy’s wellbeing if subjected to his doohickey’s electrical discharge. While only able to boast a few hours more experience with the vessel than Mirage, Nadia did her best to picture how the ship would react. “Before I give my ‘boat’ of confidence, how big a zap are we talkin’? Must be a heck of a jolt if it could take ‘em all out.” Her attention then got distracted by Rika’s seaplanes flying out from the belly of Atomos, zipping overhead to survey the ocean that lay before them. Another batch of ships, rounder and redder, deployed from Bella’s tail, but rather than sally forth they flanked the Atomos. Since those in the airship did their compatriots the courtesy of keeping pace with Shippy, the Water Princess’s bombers encountered no trouble. It made sense to Nadia; as good as the same sort of bombers used by the Midway Princess had been at finding things, their tendency to blow themselves up on them afterward prevented the retrieval of intel.

The cool air brought on by the storm made Nadia shiver, and for the first time since arriving in the Edge of the Blue she regretted her pragmatically minimal choice of attire. She was glad for the distraction provided be the others, which for the moment entailed using the cannons to dispatch the sharks. With one of the emplacements healed over but not restored, rather like a lost finger, Shippy featured only three cannon batteries, but Nadia figured it would be more than enough to fillet some fish. Why Link felt the need to make her imagine them with mounted guns, she couldn’t say. The hero changed the subject, asking about the storm. “I’m purr-etty sure,” she told him, pointing up at the clouds with a clawlike nail. “Check out that mew-vement. They’re not blowin’ in one direction, they’re swirlin’ around a central point. I’d be shocked if it suddenly shifted our way.”

Peach ruminated on the possibility of retreat, as disappointing as that might be, but waited until the vessel herself could think over the proposed course of action. “I can get there,” Shippy told the crew. “These waves are manageable, as is this wind. If things don’t intensify drastically, I won’t have an issue. If we run into an emergency, I can seal you all inside me and dive underwater for as long as you have air.”

After another moment of thinking, Peach spoke up. “We must tread carefully to prevent further loss of life, and I’m open to the option of retreating when faced with extreme danger. Although taking risks is part of our job, the ocean itself is a totally different foe, and can easily do more damage to our team than either of the Guardians we’ve faced. That said, we can’t run at the first sight of danger. We need to get an idea of what we’re facing out here. Then we can think about alternatives.”

Sakura’s short-range receiver picked up Peach’s loud and clear, relaying what she thought to those aboard the Atomos. Down on Shippy, Nadia felt that the princess point of view was justified. “Yeah, we can make it. We’ll check out that rig or whatever, and see how things pan out.” She started stretching, trying to both limber and warm herself up. That also meant extending her muscles between her segments.elongating her limbs to disproportionate levels as she tried to loosen up. At about that time, Mirage opted to take Link’s advice and accept one of his collected spirits. Nadia snuck a glance as the two made the exchange and saw that the colorful mote held the image of an Abyssal, specifically those nasty, three-in-one pests, the imps. As Mirage took the spirit in and the lightshow began, Nadia could only hope that he didn’t end up growing extra heads.



No extra heads it would appear, but Mirage did shrink a little. Other than that it seemed mostly equipment-based, as if the spirit he’d picked didn’t have a lot of power. Nadia took note that taking in spirits of a different size always seemed to have an impact on one’s own stature. She herself wouldn’t mind being a little taller, since longer reach and more meat to work with would be fine advantages, but scraping the clouds like Geralt? Psh, no way. Not even a little jealous.

Since nobody elected to pulverize the sharks just yet, Shippy retained her hungry escort, but continued onward without issue. When the odd shark drew too close to her prow her giant maw spat a cannonball or two to hurry it on its way. Once she left the shore behind the waves got rougher, moving the whole vessel up and down with each pass. Nadia grabbed hold of the railing, hoping she wouldn’t have any trouble keeping her early lunch down. When she noticed tall crags of rock rising from the ocean ahead, she furrowed her eyebrows. “Wait, I thought this was bottomless? How’s that stuff pokin’ up?”

“Well, when we come across bottomless pits, the sides of the pit extend all the way down, don’t they?” Peach remarked.

Nadia looked confused. “Wait, there’s no such thing as a bottomless pit. Just really, really deep pits.” She flicked a bead of seaspray from her ear. “Then again, this ocean’s probably the same way. Just deeper than anyone’s ever gone.”

The ships were almost halfway to the source of the beacon when Rika’s seaplanes picked something up ahead near where the crags of rock loomed like misshapen monoliths. They discovered the movement of large shapes, then the large shapes themselves. In good time they reported back and allowed the information to circulate, giving the ships a chance to steer around if they so chose, and Peach definitely chose. In due course the Seekers got a good look as the gargantuan territorial dispute unfolding before them. A purple sea monster bigger than both ships combined with just its visible part, sporting a single hateful eye and a head of writhing tentacles, had risen from the depths to challenge the ruler of the precipice. Though much smaller, the monstrosity that lurked upon the crags was far more vicious, lashing out with the hideous deep sea eels that stretched like nightmarish limbs from beneath her dress of fins. No matter how the tentacled one roared and pounded, the nimble horror twisted out of the way and wrenched out another couple chunks of flabby flesh. It had a lot to work through though, and its opponent seemed quite intent on toppling its stony dominion.

As the titans clashed, Nadia watched with wide eyes. Only after a few moments had gone by did she find her words. “Guys. Do you see that thing? The big one. It....it has moobs…” She broke down, unable to hold a straight face any longer, into a giggle fit. Still, for her lack of seriousness she was quite content to not get involved in the awesome struggle, and spectate from a distance instead. Even the sharks took note of it, drawn away from Shippy by the scent of monster blood, but for the most part Nadia missed of the traffic of dark shapes beneath the salty swells.



Just the sight of someone interested in his wares seemed to put Sal in a good mood, so when Linkle requested permission to get hands-on, the salamander gave her the universal go nuts gesture with a nod and waved hand. With only a moment spent glancing at the other items she went straight for the crossbows, savoring every square inch of their elegant, lavish craft. She handled them as if she’d held them all her life, revealing their alternate-fire motion with a casualness that suggested it was quite familiar. It seemed tough to put them back down.

He could tell immediately that she didn’t have enough money, but she launched into negotiations straightaway. If this girl was trying to curb her enthusiasm for the sake of a deal, she was doing a terrible job. Any salesman worth his salt could put her through the wringer, but her genuine appreciation put a toothy smile on Sal’s face, and he laced his scaly fingers together. “Hmm. Well, it’sss not exactly a bargain on my end, given both sssets’ craft and level of wear. I won’t sssay no to ssseeing what else you have, but...I’ll tell you what. It’sss not like they’re doing any good sssitting in my bag. Ssso I’ll make the trade, ssso long as you owe me...a favor.”



Without so much as changing his facial expression the poolside snail attendant at the base of the stairs stamped Sephiroth’s card, filling out all four squares in no particular hurry. He handed the card back, then as the red-haired philanderer from earlier splashed down from the big slide, lifted his walkie-talkie to his mouth. “Clear.” Though he spoke to his opposite number at the top of the slide, Sephiroth took the word to heart, and cleared out before that infuriatingly handsome ginger could make eyes at her again.

Next up on her whirlwind tour of Atlantis Temple was Making Waves, which took place in a circular pool by one wall. This one, it gladdened her to see, had a visible bottom, with neither frogs nor jellyfish obscuring her vision of a spotless floor. She arrived a few moments after a game wrapped up and thus didn’t manage to sneak a peek at what lay in store, but instead needed to wait a minute or two for more guests to gather. She did not raise her hackles when the white-haired surfer man reappeared, nor the bespectacled, maroon-braided woman in her black and orange two-piece, but another familiar face warranted at least an inward groan. Syndra, it seemed, hadn’t had her fill of opposing her. ”Making Waves, huh? You might by two for two so far, but your lucky streak’s finished the moment you’re on the water!”

The snail attendant glanced between the two riled-up women with her eyestalks, nonplussed. “Ahem? May I have your attention?” Once all four were looking her way, she laid out the groundwork. “As you appear to be aware, this is Making Waves. Our most competitive game, a three-on-one slugfest. Take a look.” She pointed at the pool. A shallow bowl a few feet in diameter floated in the center, and three colorful rubber floats surrounded it in a triangle formation. “It’s three against one. The three stay at the edges of the pool, working together to make waves from different angles to try and knock the one off, and the one must stay out of the water for thirty seconds. One stamp for playing, one stamp for winning as the three, one stamp for winning as the one, and one…” she pointed upward, to where a fishing net dangled above the pool. Sand Dollars hung on rubber hooks. “For grabbing a Sand Dollar from up above. Will you risk dunking yourself for the bonus? Who knows…” Sounding less than enthusiastic, the snail held up straws, and Syndra drew the short one. “Alright Miss Lavendar, you’re in the middle. The rest of you, grab a float and get ready to make some waves!”

At that time, the doors of the Temple of Atlantis slid open to admit a small group. The snail receptionist turned their way, saying, “Welcome to the…!”

He was cut off as the frontrunner, a huge, fat man with a blonde mohawk, expelled a loud sigh of relief. “Ahhhhhhhh!” He proceeded to stretch his sweaty arms and air out his pits. “That’s more bloody like it! Air conditionin’, at last. Got a bit dodgy crossin’ that jungle, believe you me! A packet’a crisps’n I can die ‘appy.” Rounding on the snail receptionist, he smacked both hands down on the counter. “Oi, got any food? ‘Ow ‘bout yer bog? I’ve gotta take a real...!”

The young lady behind him gave him and his pits a wide berth, her disdain evident on her features. “Can’t you have even a little decorum?” the elegant girl reproached him, bouncing her blonde curls. “We’re not here to ‘faff about’ as you so often put it, you know. This is a serious matter, Birdie.”

“I know, I know!” Birdie protested. “But I weren’t lyin’, I’ve really gotta…!”

Karin averted her eyes as she held up a hand. “I don’t want to know! If you must, then be quick about it!”

All the while the snail looked dumbfounded, and a little intimidated. “Uh, excuse me…? If you’re not here for the water park...?”

“Afraid not,” another girl added to the reel of interruptions, shaking her giant purple ponytail from side to side. Although already dressed well enough for a day of fun in the pools, her pretty face bore a solemn expression.

The snail glanced at the fourth member of the group hanging back from the other to see a sunken-eyed police officer scanning the water park, then back at Shantae. Anyone who was anyone who lived within a stone’s throw of the Blue knew Limsa Lominscuttle Town’s Half-Genie Hero, so when she came knocking about serious matters, it paid to pay attention. “What is it?”

“We’re looking for an escaped criminal Potentially dangerous,” Shantae told her. “A woman, a little above average height. Long, lilac-white hair. Eyepatch, dark clothing, potentially carrying a longsword. Her trail led near here.”

Shantae could tell by the snail’s fearful expression that she was barking up the right tree. “Oh my gosh, she’s here! She came in about an hour ago. Didn’t come through here or use the emergency exit in the back.” He twiddled his thumbs nervously. “Her clothes were filthy, so she probably changed into a swimsuit. Be careful!”

“Oh?” Shantae crossed her arms, putting on a brave face. Birdie stomped back over, looking more even relieved than before, fixing up his hair with a switchblade comb. One nod from Shantae, however, and he cracked a leering grin. Karin was doing some warm-up stretches, and Officer Nanu looked as grim as he was ready. “You don’t need to worry about us.”

The snail remained quiet for a moment. "Um, okay, but I'm going to notify the fish guards anyway. A few extra eyes won't hurt, right?" The newcomers agreed, and after a quick conversation dispersed in pairs to begin their search of the premises.

---

---

---

---

Sephiroth, still wholly focused on the game before her, took little interest or note of the recent arrivals. As a matter of fact, the only thing she really did a doubletake on was their clothing, as it seemed rather out of place. But perhaps they planned on changing out of it later on or something. In any case, she wasn't too worried about what they might have been up to. She did have her own problems to worry about presently, that being knocking the horned woman off of her platform. Swimming over, Sephiroth took her place on her own little platform at the pool's edge, getting used to the odd balance as the others took their places on platforms of their own. Once everyone was settled however, including her purple haired rival, the game could finally begin. Starting off several of her fellow participants jumped, Sephiroth following suite a few seconds after, the impact of their feet with their platforms creating waves that radiated inwards to strike at Syndra's own. The horned woman managed to weather the storm though, as the waves hadn't been all that strong, her platform quickly stabilizing again following a few subtle rocks. Standing proud she turned her nose up into the air, a smug grin plastered across her face.

"Is that really the best you can do?" she asked, lowering her gaze to stare at Sephiroth specifically. "Shame, I expected more."

While the meaning of Syndra's jab was not lost on her, stoking both personalities she taken into furious action, Sephiroth maintained her cool. This creature was beneath her after all, that much would be proven soon enough. As such, her remarks weren't worth the time of day, let alone a singular thought. Stomping again, she and the other guests sent out another series of waves, ones which were sure to destabilize Syndra's platform if she didn't shift her weight just right. Much to the SOLDIER's surprise however, the horned woman did, avoiding falling into the waters below. Despite this success, something about it just seemed... off, although Sephiroth couldn't say what exactly. Not yet anyway. Still, the discrepancy was enough to see her radar raised, while ensuring it remained that way for the duration of the game. In any case the game wore on, Sephiroth and the other two quests stomping in unison to send out increasingly stronger sets of waves, all of which Syndra somehow managed to survive. It wasn't a flawless survival by any means, but every time it seemed like she was about to stumble and fall she'd manage to right herself, the platform slowly stabilizing beneath her. Other times it appeared as though her platform had simply avoided the brunt of the water entirely, floating about this way or that but never really rocking. It was this unusual behavior, when combined with closer observation, that Sephiroth finally pieced together what was going on.

Syndra was cheating.

Somehow, someway, she must have been controlling the platform. Or at least making it far more stable than it would have otherwise been without her influence. Either way it was annoying, if a little clever. A type of revenge for what she'd done back on the previous ride Sephiroth assumed, as the woman seemed petty enough to stoop to that level rather than accepting both her place and loss to a superior being. An all too human thing to do, even if her rival wasn't actually one herself. At any rate, this simply wouldn't do. It was one thing for Sephiroth to resort to an underhanded method every now and then for the purpose of removing annoyances, but it was another thing entirely for a lesser being to try and do the same to her. Doubling her resolve, Sephiroth bided her time as the other guests sent out more waves, waiting for the moment Syndra attempted to snatch the Sand Dollar as she undoubtedly would. It was only then, when the horned woman's feet had fully left the platform - her body extending upwards into the air as she grasped for the sand colored item - that Sephiroth brought her heel down with extreme force, creating a shockwave powerful enough to send one end of her platform careening up into the air. Syndra regretted going after the Dollar now, that much Sephiroth could see written across her face as she fell back down to earth, legs and arms splayed as the shock and panic of not having semi-stable ground to land on finally set in.

Hand planted on her hip, Sephiroth gave the most wicked of smirks as her rival made impact with the platform. Syndra's body went completely still, minus a few twitches here and there, while her face morphed into an expression lying somewhere between immense pain and total breathlessness. Her lips meanwhile, had formed a silent 'O', as the only sounds she could make were a series of quiet grunts followed by a mewling whimper. A few seconds later and she fell off the edge of the platform, landing in the water below with a tiny plop followed by a massive *SPLASH!* as the platform itself settled back into its horizontal orientation. Breaching the surface face first, the dazed Syndra could do little to stop herself from floating past the gloating Sephiroth, who bent down to give her a consoling pat on the head.

"Look on the bright side..."

She flashed the purple haired woman an amused grin.

"At least you got the Sand Dollar."

Seeing as Blazermate really didn't have much to do, she just observed her team eating and chatting. Bowser and Mr. L, the evil sentai looking fella, seemed to come to an agreement, although what Blazermate could understand from lip reading the big koopa made her laugh a bit. Clearly Bowser had never been in a robattle before with a killabot. Ah well, at least these two were getting along well. Meanwhile Mirage showed his skills off to the group, while Mr. L just seemed to boast about things yet again. With how much boasting and no show the green guy was, Blazermate could only look at him skeptically. Still, finding two new allies was nice and Bowser knew enough about Mr. L to let him help so he couldn't be all bluster and no substance.

"I'm glad everyone is getting along! Always nice to have more people. Just uh, don't get all hurt at once." Blazermate then turned to Mirage and said. "Its a good thing I can tell holograms apart from the real thing thanks to my head part. Otherwise that could be disasterous." She said, wagging her finger at him a bit playfully. She couldn't track the invisibility, but she could guess where he'd go considering how limited it was.

Besides the declaration of alliances and showing off of powers, and of course eating and loading of the ships, not much of note happened and they were off to the next leg of their journey. A stormy looking sea full of carnage and just, ick. "Ok, so we gotta be getting close right? This place is bringing back dead zone vibes." And sure enough, soon some of the locals decided to pay them a visit. Although they were just sharks, some people were worried, others were fine with them.

Mirage's idea did give Blazermate an idea of how to handle the sharks, even if he thought it was silly soon after. Although her plan would have to wait a bit as soon they approached what looked like the boss of the area, more sharks being attracted to all the stuff around. Seeing this as a good time to try her idea Blazermate took one of Mirage's explosives from him, Blazermate said. "Oh this'll be so cool!". With that, she fiddled around with the grenade for a bit until she found out how to arm it, jammed it into one of her zombies, and commanded it to jump off shippy and swim away form the ship. With a moan the zombie did just that, swimming with its weird bone appendages and spines that formed due to its mutations. Some sharks, sensing some new meat, chased after said zombie. The zombie swam only barely slower than the sharks, but they soon got in range and started to bite it, at least as best as they could through all the spines and metal bits. As the sharks started their feeding frenzy, the zombie let off one last moan before it exploded into abyssal contetti, taking a bunch of sharks with it away from Shippy. "That was awesome! Now for Mr. Moobs octo. Man that is just wrong." Blazermate said, summoning the Engineer to build his buildings while starting to overheal everyone for the upcoming fight.

While healing her team, she could feel a different type of energy build up that originated from her healing arm, not her medal. Apparently she had been healing enough with it from their last battle that something got toggled on inside, but it would be a bit before she knew what this was.

As expected, enough of the group (all of them, fortunately) came to their senses to get going again in a timely fashion. Fox stayed off the tracks in wait for the passing train, catching the second cart by its support and swinging aboard. He spent the remainder of the trip to Al Mamoon with naught but the noise of locomotion, the passing scenic view, and his own thoughts to keep him company this time. With a single stop at a snow-water oasis to rehydrate (and thankfully no more storms to brave) on the way, that would be for the next couple of hours left of the morning. Eventually they came within view of their destination, visible out from the last few miles until reaching it, before passing around through its grand walls into the exotic, bustling, surprisingly industrious desert city. An apparent and most impressive takeaway, going by first impressions, was that an eclectic civilization such as it could thrive in a wasteland so far removed from everything (which the railroad infrastructure probably had a great deal to do with). Would that Fox’s own birthworld, Papetoon, had anything resembling...

“We’ve got it from here. Thanks!” Fox offered his parting, genuine word of gratitude to Gnorbu as he and the others began to disembark. Though he clearly didn’t speak for everyone, as far as he was interested, there wasn’t much he could do to help them reach the mountain any faster. (He wondered then, in light of that, what would have been had they followed that woman they met at the desert landing on the initial route up the mountain rather than taking an early detour.) Their mission hardly called for a tour guide, for he hadn’t planned on staying any longer than they had to. Besides, they already had someone on hand who he guessed might know the area.

“You said you were living here before...” he said to his raccoon acquaintance coming up next to him.

“I was,” he replied in short. “Can’t remember why, but… yeah.” Come to think of it, he couldn’t remember much of anything between the world lighting up in Egypt (which might explain him ending up in a desert) and the night before. Any recollection he had of the events leading up to the present were blurry for the most part. The question came to him of what he might have been doing here in the first place, or in Parnasse thereafter. Probably on the run from the law or some other self-appointed body of authority, knowing his luck and track record. He figured with enough time it would come back to him in short order.

“Anything you can tell us about this place? Anything we should know?”

With a shrug, Sly responded “You’re pretty much looking at it,” and gestured outwardly in presentory fashion to the exotic marketplace that lay just ahead. “Might take advantage of it while you’re here,” he suggested as if to politely nudging him into what the world around him had to offer while it lasted; to “live a little” as it were. Fox would politely, tacitly decline by way of silence. There was nothing he could think they might have that he wanted badly enough as to go out of his way for it, nor did he have available any personal funds to make the thought worth entertaining. That wasn’t to say, however, that there wasn’t anything of immediate interest and potential use that might ultimately be worth their time, happening upon said object of interest with their first steps off the train.

What they found within the station was, of course, another train, but heavily armored, outfitted with a number of artillery batteries, including one main cannon (with a cork in it for some reason), presumably faster, by the look of it, and… disappointingly, inoperable. That’s what the avian(?) Conductor had to tell Tora anyway; that it had somehow fallen neglectfully into disrepair. Like Tora, Fox’s attention fell on the train with interest, albeit more quietly, and minus the Nopon’s exuberance and open enthusiasm. A subtle, cocky smirk crossed his lips as he picked up on the gist of Tora’s exchange with the pseudo-bird, and dangerous thoughts began to fill his head. If the city wanted it gone as badly as Tora wanted to make it run, and could manage to make it before day’s end, Fox would more than gladly endorse such an investment. He would know exactly how to put it to good use… provided they could reach the summit with it. That much, they still needed to find out. Sly noticed this arrest of Fox’s attention and the clear expression of thoughts that went with it. He wondered if he should even ask…

Then Tora came running back to the group to issue his plan. Fox, of course, liked this plan! Still, someone had to play devil’s advocate, and this time, as with a few before, that was Poppi. She wasn’t wrong in that there were still other variables to consider, but he figured it would be worth taking care of as many ends of the issue as possible in tandem.

“We’ll take care of that!” By that, he meant he would accompany their resident royalty, their willingness permitting, to the Cowlipha’s Court to see what they could work out in regards to their mission. “Red,” as she heard her call herself, “already has business with her.” As a fellow mercenary himself, he knew she would see her hire and whoever she was with. “I’ll go with her, Midna and the Queen. See if she’ll help us.” He turned then to Tora. “Find one of us if you need anything,” he said simply, “and if we have anyone who can stand to, I think someone should stick with Tora. Help him with whatever he needs.” He looked about his group in the open call for potential volunteers. “The rest of you find what you can while you’re out, and meet back here around sundown.”

“I think I’ll leave the royalty business up to you guys,” Sly interjected. He wasn’t one keen to show his true face--the masked one--to anyone in the public eye who mattered, and would otherwise need a disguise and cover. Incidentally, he wasn’t much good at pulling that off either. “I’m… not too sure not on a ‘wanted’ list here,” he speculated, shifting his gaze around awkwardly. “I’ll see what else I can’t take care of on my end in the meantime. No promises on deadline though.” A thief, after all, did their best work at night. Shouldering his cane, he prepared to set off.

“Just be careful, then. Stay sharp, keep us posted, and try not to get yourself caught.” He ended with a lightly sardonic word of caution regarding whatever crime the thief suspected he may or may not have committed. Sly affirmed with a parting nod and casual cane salute before disappearing over the train carts with a single floating bound, and with that, the party broke off in their respective directions. For Fox, that meant finding Red and Midna, wherever they took off to. Short of finding them within the city, he would simply wait them out shortly outside of the palace proper to intercept them and accompany them in. She was bound to show up there eventually.

---

---

---

---

Back out in the late morning sun, tensions mounted in the northwest court. A mysterious man and a fractious frog had been upping the ante in terms of indignation, the bets piling closer and closer to outrage, and it was about to cash out. Their squabble hardly went unnoticed, but while most of the shoppers shied away from the escalating conflict, someone couldn’t turn a blind eye. Mercer became aware of a slight tremor in the ground, and acutely aware of it getting stronger, until an enormous shadow fell over him. A smooth, bass voice, deep and rich as a vat of Al Mamoon coffee, addressed him firmly but without malice, compounded by a smooth metal echo. “Is there a problem, sir?”

When Mercer turned, he found himself dwarfed by a titan of a man, seven feet and seven inches of beige trench coat and lovingly polished bronze in the approximate build of a city bell. Glassy eyes stared down at him from beneath a fine inspector’s cap, and above a steely breathing apparatus. Ben “Big Band” Birdland made no extra effort to look intimidating, but he didn’t exactly need to, and his presence certainly exerted an effect on the shopkeeper.

“Yeah, this creep just waltzed on up and started pesterin’ me with questions, disturbin’ my business, then got all uppity when I told him to beat it!” the frog complained.

Mercer crossed his arms, looking the larger man up and down briefly before responding.

”I’m looking for someone. Figured the people around here could help.”

He cast a glance back at the vendor from over his shoulder.

”I guess I was wrong.”

The big man looked between the irate pair. “Then locked horns won’t do you a lick of good,” he told Mercer before tilting his head a touch. “Maybe we can help each other instead, if you’re in the mood. I’m on the beat for someone myself, a little girl with a big hat and bigger attitude, God bless the child. Peacock’s the name. Ring any bells?” Turning away from the stall so as to leave the perturbed frog to his business, he left his suggestion that Mercer should follow implicit.

Mercer shook his head as he trudged along, leaving the amphibious shopkeeper behind without so much as a second thought.

"Name doesn't ring any bells as far as I'm aware. Still, you help me find who I'm looking for and I'll help you."

There was the briefest moment of silence before Mercer spoke again.

"Other than a hat, a name, and an attitude, does this Peacock kid you're looking for have any unusual features? Anything that I should be on the lookout for?"

Perhaps it was a stupid question given the sheer amount of diversity and strangeness in this new world, the hybrid of instrument and man standing before him being only one example of such out of many, but Alex thought it an important thing to ask nonetheless.

“See for yourself.” After steering himself and the conversation into an alcove out of the way of foot traffic, Band opened a small split in his coat and produced a tiny, spindly mechanical arm with padded claws, no thicker than a permanent marker. Between the wedges of soft cloth was clutched a color photograph of a young scamp with six eyes and a steely grin. Once Mercer got a chance to take a look, he retracted the arm back into his coat. “How ‘bout you? Who’s got you moanin’?”

Mercer tucked his hands into his pants pockets.

"My sister, Dana. I've been looking for her for the past couple of months now, with little success. Seems people don't move about that often, so I figured I'd ask some of the vendors, see if they'd heard anything."

He gave Band a small shrug.

"As you can see, that didn't go too well."

Though the two had left the near-altercation behind, this guy seemed eager to tread the same ground. He neglected to offer any description of his sister, so Band let that lie. “Well, forget all that jazz,” the detective advised him. “If your way of askin’ makes people see red, you’re never gonna get the green. You got a name, watermelon man?”

Mercer lifted his gaze ever so slightly.

"Mercer. Alex Mercer. What about you? You got a name?"

“Me?” The huge man extended another claw from his coat that reached up to tip his porkpie hat by the brim. “I’m all there is of the most real. They call me Big Band.”

Alex nodded, "So, where's the last place you saw this kid at?"

Shaking his head, Band replied, “Don’t mean a thing. Kid can teleport. Left me a note about some unusual suspects, tellin’ me to boogie straight out here, and I just rolled in on the blue train yesterday. If squat’s what you’ve got, all I can say is keep an eye out, ‘case we meet again.” He rolled his neck to get out the cricks and then did a quick visual sweep of the bazaar, as if he meant to pick his charge out of the crowd, but something else hit him. “That said, we could set our sights higher. Straight to the big cheese, no chaser. If anyone can send us on our way, it's the queen of this place, hmm?”

Mercer raised an eyebrow, though the movement was obscured by his hood.

"This place has a queen?"

Band looked mildly amused, feeling like this guy must be even newer here than he. “Uh-huh. The Cowlipha everyone’s mooin’ about. That palace over yonder ain’t for show. Heard from a little birdie she’s more interested in cheese than her own subjects, but if we find our way to the in crowd we might just get a clue.”

"Hmm. Sounds like a plan. I'll follow you there though. This city's still foreign to me."

“Deed I do,” Band confirmed, getting into action. He set himself in a stance facing the exit where the bazaar rejoined the city proper. After a deep inhale, he blew into his mouthpiece. A stream of lines like musical staff, dotted with notes, flowed from the bronze contraption that protruded from his back. Everyone in the vicinity could hear what sounded like a giant saxophone as Big Band propelled himself across the ground. “Gang way!” he called between puffs. “Slow train rollin’!” In such a manner he cleared a speedy path to the palace.

Jogging after him, as a full on sprint would have been much too fast, Alex followed Band along the path he'd cleared. Eventually slowing to a halt as his guide drew closer to the palace steps themselves.

Once Bowser and his little masked friend made up, the atmosphere measurably improved. While the impromptu jungle feast of fish and fruit wound down, people took to telling stories about their lives and worlds back before everything was smashed together. A few days ago the Cadet would probably have had a hard time picturing what a Dagonian looked like, but as Nadia spun her tale he thought he had a pretty good picture in mind, considering all the different kinds of people he'd met already. This remained true for the Zora that Link described, though the time frame confused him. He was pretty sure he was older than Link, or at least he'd thought he was as the blonde looked on the younger side. Maybe they lived a really long time?

He compared the races of Zora and Hylian to one of his own world's, the Wyverians. How they shared they shared the same body shape and pointed ears of Hylians and could live for an incredibly long time, but differing in the shapes of their legs, hands and feet. He mentioned that a full grown Wyverian could range from "about the size of Hat Kid" to "bigger than Geralt and Bowser combined," citing the master of the Dundorma "His Immenseness" as an example that certainly lived up to his name. He didn't go into much more detail about his world or role, Geralt having summed it up pretty well, but he did tell Bella a little about the Research Commission and how they went to an unknown island and ended up learning a lot, similar to her experience on land. He was just as interested to hear what the others had to say, and spent most of the rest of the time listening.

When it was time to leave, the hunter helped load the remaining bananas into the hold and re-equipped himself, gathering up the weaponry he'd left on deck and strapping them all back on. Though he was feeling good after both the rest stop and the news from Limsa, as the sky gradually grew dark and the stench of animal corpses began to hit his nose the feeling began to fade. He was still confident, and more determined than ever, but the stormy sea in front of them wasn't exactly a mood maker.

"Wow, it really drops off," the Cadet said, staring down into the water and not seeing anything that looked like a sand bar or sea shelf. Just blackness below. Probably to be expected, given the name of the place. He glanced up at the beam of light Nadia pointed out, and finding no reason to protest heading there he just nodded and turned his attention back to the water. There was nary a fish to be seen... except the big toothy ones. Sharqs, huh? Their teeth and skin could be pretty useful, but the way the new recruits were going about dealing with them, it made it seem like they wanted to make soup out of them.

"You want to jump in there?" The Cadet laughed, looking over at Mr. L. The little guy had no weapon and it looked like his magic wasn't working, and he still wanted to fist fight the sharqs? He was gutsy all right. "Do that and Urugaaner. If you guys want a sharq so bad you can just fish it up normally, otherwise it'll just turn into a spirit anyway."

There was a more important discussion going on besides how to deal with the sharq issue, that being if they'd be able to make it through the swell. A slow and steady approach was the popular suggestion, and the Cadet couldn't disagree. Upon hearing that Shippy would be able to dive underwater now and gave her railing an encouraging pat. That skill would probably come in handy soon. He glanced up at the Atomos, noting tiny little flying abyssals flying around and away from it. "I guess if we have to dive, they can go up above the storm?"

Well, they'd deal with planning later once they reached the beacon. For now they sailed on, though treated to a light show courtesy of Mirage's fusion. Nothing changed too much about him, but Link was probably right in that it'd help the guy in the water. Hopefully no one got thrown overboard anytime soon, though.

When notice of a giant sea monster battle reached them, the Cadet got himself a front row seat right at the edge of the ship as they passed. He folded his arms on the railing and rested his head on top of them, watching with all the eagerness of... well, watching a giant monster fight. Who could resist being a spectator to that? Those eels looked like they would be tough to tangle with, and that big one with the eye looked like it could make some great water repelling equipment. Sadly with the sharqs swarming there was no way he'd be able to snag any of the body parts that fell from it, they tore into the fallen pieces of flesh way too fast. When one of Blazermate's zombies staggered off the ship next to him, the Cadet looked back her curiously - then it exploded, showering him with sea water and ashes. He shook his head vigorously to rid his fluffier hair of spirit remains.

---

Mirage thought he'd gone blind, but soon enough his vision came back as the whole lightshow shtick with the Spirit stopped. He blinked away the odd feeling rocking his mind, as he observed his surroundings and noticed they were... Off. Specifically when he looked at Link. The man in blue had been shorter than him moments ago, but suddenly he was inches taller. And as he shot his view around the vessel, he noticed the height of everything around him seemed to change. A part of him wanted to be a dunce and assume everything got bigger, but no... As he looked down, and noticed himself closer to the deck than before, it was obvious the Spirit had made him smaller. "So much for being tall and handsome..." He complained, observing his body and noting the paler complexion, too. He looked like a total shut-in, that was embarrassing. He worked hard to keep his skin nice, and now look at him! Pasty white. Like some sort of vampire.

And his duds! The attire change was dark and kind of edgy, went with the pale skin at least, but his goggles were what caught his attention. It was like some sort of armored piece now, that'd protect him from some head trauma! But by the look of it, it was still wearable over his eyes. He slid them down, noting if he decided to keep them on, they'd hamper his wider vision a bit. But nothing was getting past this and into his eyes! "This whole height thing's a bummer, but these new goggles are pretty dope!" He said enthusiastically, trying to find a bright side in this mild mess he'd brought himself into. He also took note of his mental state; He didn't feel different, per se, but he wasn't as scared of the water as he was before. Link must've been right about the swimming capabilities of the Spirit. Though to what extent he could swim, he wasn't sure. He wasn't terribly keen on finding out what exactly his own capabilities were with the waters so full of danger.

"If... A pit was bottomless, wouldn't there just be a hole in the planet?" Mirage released a thought at Nadia and Peach's discussion, as he continued to fiddle around with his new apparel. Mirage spent a little time trying to adjust to his surprisingly stubby new body, doing some jumps and stretches to see it was just as well-built as before, just smaller. What were the odds of him pulling that little devil out of Link's small collection? Yikes, he wasn't sure if he liked this change but if it increased his chances of surviving, then he'd take it. That big unicorn-man, Geralt, he must've done something like this too. Link made it clear he did as well-- And he bet King Bowser didn't look how he did without something like this happening to him, too. So obviously it wasn't as weird in their situation, right? He needed to adapt to folks like these if he was going to make any strides, that was for sure! But at the same time... He sure hoped people didn't start joking about this.

Mirage had mostly been focusing on himself up until a presence appeared in the distance; Figures, large ones, in the water. Mirage approached the railing, which he felt a lot shorter next to than before, and looked out. He squinted his eyes as if to get a better view from it, and almost fell over backwards as his vision suddenly shifted. Regaining his composure, he looked back out to sea and could see the situation more clearly. More... Closely. Blinking, he pulled up the armored plate and noticed his vision return to normal, before putting it back over his eyes and seeing the zoomed vision. This thing had utility and offered protection? He wasn't going to pass up on that. "What the hell[ is that?!" He exclaimed, looking at the large purple sea monster. His eyes shot to the second one, noting they were fighting. Which in his opinion was a relief, because they both looked dangerous at hell. He backed away from the railing, pulling his armored goggles back atop his forehead so he wouldn't have as much detail for the big purple guy getting his fat chewed off. It was a gruesome fight, the gore was attracting the sharks, if those things came over here they'd all die! And--



Mirage was losing his shit instantly, joining Nadia's amusement. His arms wrapped around his gut as he noticed that the purple sea monster indeed had moobs, laughing as it drained away the seriousness for a moment as he watched on as the two monsters fought. "Ahah, oh man, if those eels aim high enough that's gonna be one hell of a nipple-cripple." He remarked, tears almost forming in his eyes as he watched on, completely losing his train of thought from a moment ago. Probably for the better thanks to a purr-fectly timed comment.

Unfortunately, this also distracted Mirage enough for Blazermate to pinch one of his grenades, the man snapping out of his laughter as he looked towards the robot with confusion. "Hey, hey! what're you doing with that?" He questioned, quickly following after her with a mixture of concern and curiosity. His eyes shot open as she shoved it into one of her undead minions, Mirage hearing the grenade's sound of being armed.

"Uh, shoo! Go, zombie-ship thing, go!" He urged, about ready to punt the damn thing off the boat but it seemed to go on it's own. He stood beside Blazermate, watching the zombie attract the sharks as it lead them, and itself, to an inevitable death. The explosion was forceful, turning the zombie into a rain of bits and pieces that littered the waters and sent a large electric shock through the surrounding water, and the sharks that had followed what they thought was a free meal. "Fair thee well, zamboni." He said, offering a half-assed salute to the falling bits of Abyssal. He dropped his hand and found himself laughing a little at Blazermate's enthusiasm over the whole thing. "Not a bad move at all, I guess between the carnival tricks and becoming undead bomb vests these zombies ain't have bad." He complimented, though he wasn't about to start offering these corpses high-fives, or nothing. He was just lucky to have avoided the splash zone, unlike Ace Cadet over there. Eugh.

This robo-chick was pretty quick to focus on her next task, though. She went from laughing at zombie confetti to focusing on the moob monster very fast, and he saw something that left him utterly speechless: She summoned some guy out of thin air. Not only did she do that, but he was seemingly beating the hell out of some toolboxes with a wrench, which was somehow constructing whatever was inside them. What in the world? As a man of the engineering trade himself, this was incredible! But the concept of it was beyond him. He thought about questioning the summoned individual, but he ended up pulled from that as he noticed some sort of... Beam, Blazermate was shooting at him now. He winced and took a step back, though after a few seconds she seemed to go and shoot it at other members of the crew, as well. Nobody seemed to be treating it as weird or harmful, and he felt pretty good himself, at the moment. What was that?! She was just full of surprises! But they were pleasant ones that seemed to help, so in exchange for the empowering beam, he offered her a thumbs up with a grin on his pale face.

After their bout Red and Midna had headed towards the market and, as luck would have it seeing as they had made no attempt to organise a meet up spot, stumbled across the other ladies of the group who had decided to check out the local markets as well.

As they window shopped Midna was reminded as to why she used to think fighting wasn’t a fun and/or noble pastime when her arms and gut started aching from being repeatedly punched and kicked and bruises started forming. The loss, and possible demise, of their comrades out in the desert now and a physical sting to it, as without the Medic there was no simple way for her to recover from those injuries. She was pretty sure friend hearting only worked once as a recovery method which put that option right out.

”It wouldn’t hurt if I hadn’t been hit in the first place. Or could block better?” she muttered to herself, first as deprecation, then thoughtfully, and at that point she knew what she wanted to look for in the market. It was a shame they didn't have any money.

”Guess we could always go back out? Or just wander out of town and punch monsters till they drop something interesting. Or find work.”

Midna had also had a more, nefarious idea of course. She’d done what she had to before finding Link, who could just cut grass and get rupees. How that had worked she had no idea. But if there was skulduggery to be done it would be best done at night when she could just seek through the plentiful shadows.

For now there were too many people about, which was in and of itself interesting, because wow. Just. So many people. Humans abound and even the somewhat familiar sight of a Goron of all things. A very familiar sight in fact. After wracking her brains for a bit she realised she recognised the store and its owner from her time with Link. Same stuff on sale and everything, the wooden shield was particularly distinct thanks to its highly stylised depiction of the hylian eagle. Least that's what she thought it was. The princess was caught for a moment reminiscing about how annoyed Link had been that he lost his one of a kind Ordon Shield and had to replace it with one of those. And then replace that one with another and then another. They were good sturdy things, but they went up like kindling if you so much as waved fire around them.

It was a shame that, while she recognised the shop keeper he wouldn’t recognise her as she’d been I the hero of hyrle’s shadow at the time. Not that that would make him give out things for free. Link might be balling their asses out of hot water. Or hot lava. But he still had to buy each one of those replacement shields.

”So. Anyone had any ideas on things they want and how to get money for them?” she asked once she’d finished reminiscing.

"Like I said, there are plenty of ways to make money in a large city," Primrose said, gazing around the marketplace. She'd been surprised when Red and Midna bumped into them, but it was pleasantly so. "Your ice idea is a good one, Poppi. There will always be a need for that."

With a quick smile Primrose also motioned for the girls to gather and peek into her bag, as she opened it to be reveal a sizeable chunk of gemstone. "As far selling things go, I do have this..."

To protect it from the prying eyes of strangers and opportunists, she closed the bag soon after.

"If nothing else, I am confident I could make good coin so long as I have a stage." After all, she supposed it was her trade now, and she’d done it a few times during her first adventure. Primrose didn't have anything specific in mind she wanted to buy, she was only on the lookout for things that seemed useful - and to chat up shopkeepers to gather information if possible.

Poppi nodded in a businesslike manner. Even if the group lacked funds at the moment, their rejoined members and varied talents meant they could make money without too much trouble. “Sounds good. If Primrose find jeweler willing to buy, that can be good start. Poppi estimate that high-class, high-security shop like jeweler likely within central structure.” She glanced at the temple in the center of the bazaar, then at the steady crowd of people streaming into and out of it. If the statue atop the structure represented a god, surely it must be a god of commerce, with no objections about trade being done in its domain. “Poppi try to figure out how much to ask for ice and if can set up shop here. Or…” Once again, the artificial blade tapped her chin, thinking. “Maybe Poppi accompany Primrose. With changing elements, can provide you special effects, give extra flare!” She put her hands on her hips as she smiled, proud of her idea, and the dancer smiled back at her softly.

”I suppose I could see if these” she flicked one of the baubles hanging from her fragment of the fused shadow ”are worth anything. Not sure what they are made of though.”

It was a little embarrassing, but she was pretty sure she’d wind up relying on the others for money making. Magic and princessly skills had a lot of uses, but when it came time to make a quick rupee, she was struggling. Not exactly a thing she’d had to do after all, she had people for that… Well, why not leave it to the professionals then and she could take a higher level approach.

”Here, Prim, catch” she said to the dancer as she made a quick effort to decouple the two orbs from her helmet and then tossing them to her. Momentarily caught off guard by the nickname, Primrose nearly missed the baubles thrown her way. She fixed Midna with a cloudy expression before the imp continued on. ”See if these are worth anything. While you're at it I’m going to see if we can scout out what we need for once you're done. Warm clothes for one, because going up that mountain, dressed like this?” she indicated to their light and breezy desert fitting attire ”Good way to freeze to death. More food and water too. Healing stuff if they sell it.” she involuntarily rubbed one of her arms that was starting to bruise as she mentioned that ”Mountain navigating gear if that is something that exists. You know maybe we should ask Braum about this kind of trip, I think he mentioned about being from somewhere cold?”

”I could always conjure another gemstone.” Sectonia said, joining up with the others after finding out that the phantom thieves didn’t actually take the items they had found earlier, finding the food far more valuable. Which was fair, but was really bothersome.

Poppi couldn’t imagine Tora getting cold after the Nopon traipsed through the snows of frigid Tantal with only minor complaints, but if things got dicey she could always switch to her fire core. Like Pyra did for Nia back then she could serve as a living radiator for her Masterpon, and neither minded getting close. With neither need for nor expertise with cold-weather equipment, then, she would leave that to her compatriots. In the meantime she would try to earn some money. Now that she thought about it she wasn’t actually that eager to participate in a public performance in front of strangers, even as special effects, so her earlier idea seemed a lot more inviting. Before she could sell ice she needed to figure out what it sold for, as well as who might buy it. Drinks came to mind, since who could say no to a revitalizing cold drink in a hot desert? Maybe manual laborers could use a cooldown, too. A plan in mind, Poppi nodded again. “Okay. Poppi decide pursue career in ice-making. This way!”

---

She walked off into the bazaar, refreshments in mind. A place with such a specialization would surely want shade and shelter, both for the sake of ingredients and customers, and she could only imagine that providing relief from the desert heat would make for good business. Altogether she felt pretty confident that those factors landed her prospective target inside the central temple, right alongside the marketplace’s premier jeweler, if indeed it had one. That put Primrose and Poppi on the same track, and the artificial blade was glad for the accompaniment of someone with a little more worldly wisdom than herself. The pair joined the stream of civilians pouring into the bazaar’s shady sanctum, and once inside, found is just as splendid as Poppi imagined. Her guess that the most high-profile shops resided in here had been spot-on. Compared to noisy, bustling activity outside, this place fostered a more measured, orderly air. Her optics roved for only a second before she spotted an establishment in the business of gemstones.

Starlight Memories was the name of the shop occupying one of the six interior slots, nestled snugly into a lamp-lit corner on the right. The crystals and jewelry on display caught and refracted the light in dazzling fashion, and the dark eyes of the statuesque woman who minded the place gleamed almost as bright. Poppi hoped for her allies’ sake that she had a mind to buy. She looked around and, sure enough, found her own objective. Cromdo’s Fountain occupied the central left slot, taking the form of a large bar around a series of prep stations brimming with bottles. A squat, red-furred fellow in a tie seemed to be in charge, barking out orders to a couple of owlish assistants. Poppi walked right up past the patrons, waving at the boss. “Pardon me!”

“Huh?” The fuzzy tube glanced at her. “What can I getcha for, toots?”

“Am Poppi,” the artificial blade corrected, thinking he mistook her for someone else. “And Poppi wondered if you want buy ice?”

A dubious squint flew her way. “Ice? Buy?! What ‘dyou…?”

“Yes, ice!” Poppi said, raising up her hand palm-up. She pumped ether through her elemental core and into her hand, causing frozen crystals to sprout like weeds from thin air. As cool mist seeped gently to the floor she held it up for the creature to see.

He saw it alright, and couldn’t quite hide the luster in his yellow eyes. “Ooh…” he muttered, thinking of the possibilities. Smoothies, shaved ice, popsicles, refreshment galore! And if she could make it, she had to be cheaper than those grunts risking life and limb to climb up Freezeezy Peak. His eyes narrowed as he prepared to bargain. “Now there’s a neat trick. Huh, well, say I was buyin’. How much ya askin’?”

Poppi kept a straight face. “As...much as you think worth!”

“Ohoho, really?” The wily beast smirked, eyebrows wiggling. “How about thirty...uh, twenty, no, fifteen gold a pound! How’s that sound, ‘uh? You ain’t gonna get better than that, toots!”

Poppi frowned, clueless as to how much that meant around here. She extended her hand to shake on it. “...Okay, that fine!”

Wearing a grin ear to ear, the bartender clapped Poppi’s hand in his own fuzzy mitt while taking her ice crystal in his other. “That’s what I likes to hear! Hohohoo, boy, I’m gonna make a killin’, or my name ain’t Cromdo Face!” He jumped down to drag over a cooler twice as big as he was and kick it open. “Fill ‘er up!”

Meanwhile, once Poppi and Primrose separated, the latter made her way over the jeweler. She was sure that Poppi would be successful, if not from the necessity of ice in a desert town then because the blade had a very nice smile. Open expressions like that drew people in. So, confident in the other girl, Primrose stepped into the corner shop with the hopes she could find her own success.

"Good morning," she greeted the shopkeeper coolly, her eyes sliding over the wares laid out for sale. Earrings, circlets, necklaces... Primrose wouldn't mind picking something up for herself. "I may be interested in buying. I also have some things to sell."

The Gerudo shopkeeper kept her arms crossed, but gave a firm nod. “Then it sounds like we’ve got business with one another. Everything I’ve got is on display, so if you’re selling, mind doing me the same courtesy?” From close up, Primrose could see a couple objects of particular craftsmanship among the various standard yet still gorgeous items. One of them, labeled the Tiara of the Oracle, offered sizeable bonuses to the armor, magic damage, and healing of a priest or similarly faith-based specialist. There were amber earrings for defense and a ruby tiara for cold weather resistance. A tough-looking wolf amulet lacked the others’ ostentatiousness but promised to aid in the detection of evil. A paired pocketwatch and mask of exquisite design, with gemstone teardrops, increased energy recharge and critical rate plus damage separately but increased the power of super attacks if together. On a plush purple cushion rested the Cobra Bracelet, its label describing an enchantment that provided immunity to poison. Many of the items attracted her gaze, but before she could speak again the queen of Floralia appeared over her shoulder.

”Do you craft these yourself?” Sectonia said, looking over the more magically inclined of the jewelery. This was certainly a shop for her! But without her kingdom’s funds…

Isha kept a level gaze as she inspected the giant insect. “Yes, as a matter of fact. Most of them anyway, since we do some resale. Any catch your eye?”

Sensing she was a little out of her element, Panther looked between her two companions. “Er, I’ll leave this to you. I need to find some new clothes anyway. Hopefully made for the desert.” She looked around as she muttered to herself. “And hopefully they’ll take gil since it’s basically gold anyway…” With a last wave Panther disappeared into the crowd and left the jeweler to the others.

Sectonia looked over the items, getting a sense of the magic from each one. Some she saw useful for some of her minions. Those earrings that increased defense looked like something Tora could use. The most powerful item of the bunch seemed to be the one that none of them use, a more simple looking metal crown that only responded to holy abilities. While she wasn’t exactly fond of the designs, preferring something with a bit more flower, the items sold as a pair spoke to her the most. And the poison immunity looked like it’d benefit anyone all things considered. The other two items didn’t seem like she’d have a use for them with her antillions covering the cold and ‘detecting evil’ not that useful overall in a world where everything could be after you at the drop of a hat.

”I’m interested in these two items myself, with seeing some use for these other two.” Sectonia said, pointing at the pair of magic boosting items for herself, and the other two items she figured would do well for her minions.

”Although much like was said, we would be bartering. I can offer raw gemstone resources if you are interested.” She said, being civil. Sectonia was hoping that she’d be interested in the gemstone platforms Sectonia could summon, but if not she did have that scarab she could barter with.

The shopkeeper did not appear hostile to the possibility. “Gemstones, hm? Well, we’ll need to examine them first to determine their value. What type are they? Cut or uncut? And how’s the clarity?”

”Cut but large enough that you can cut your own bits off of them. Clarity is very good, no clouds at all.” Sectonia said. After all, she wouldn’t have any cloudy gems herself! ”We would need to step outside however for me to show you, they are… quite large.” Considering how large her gemstones were, one should elicit some response.

Raising her eyebrow, the shopkeeper gave her a dubious look, but leaned and called into the shop’s backroom. “Hey, Cara! Someone’s here who says she has very large, very clear, already cut gemstones to sell us. Want to take a look?”

After a moment another Gerudo lady arrived to look Sectonia up and down. The thought that the scary-looking bug might be trying to trick her came to mind, but with so many witnesses around she couldn’t possibly mean violence. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to check it out,” Cara admitted, and consented to leaving Starlight Memories in Isha’s hands while she followed Sectonia outside. Once out in the sun she looked around, trying to find the product.

With her offer graciously taken, Sectonia flew out of the store with the gerudo shopkeeper and looked for a good open spot to summon a gemstone platform. With the market floor quite full, she turned her eyes to the air above, and began the summoning ritual. From a giant magic circle it appeared. It was a large cut ruby with a flat top and basic star cut for its bottom, the gem hovering by its own magic. Large was a bit of an understatement, as Sectonia could comfortably lay down on this thing. ”Here you are. Interested?” The bee queen said, gesturing to the gem platform.

While the onlookers gaped with awe, Cara looked nothing but annoyed. She bore the sort of exasperation that one might feel if a complete newbie was trying to tell her how to do her job. “Is this a prank? We can’t use that ridiculous thing. Even putting aside the sheer impracticality of it, if it’s something you can just make out of thin air, it has no value because supply is infinite. Might as well be a chunk of colored glass.’ She shook her head, unconvinced.

Sectonia figured this was going to happen, as unlike who Poppi had to deal with, this person was a lot more practical about magic. It would make a lovely eye catcher, but overall it was fairly easy to shatter with strong enough magic as it was. ”It is quite beautiful though, place this over your shop and you will be the talk of the town, even more so than you are right now.” Sectonia said, salvaging the situation that was, essentially, a long shot as it was anyway. She did have the other object, the capture scarab, that’d she’d offer if she couldn’t get anything for her handiwork. It was such a shame that it would be a bigger pain to do what she’d prefer to do....

“It’s not just my shop in there,” Cara explained, arms crossed. “It’s five others, plus it’d be visible across the whole bazaar. If you wanna pitch it as a public decoration, you’ll have to get the city to buy it from you.” She tried not to look cross. “Sorry. I should get back to the shop.”

Sectonia sighed. This was most certainly not her strong suit. With another wave and a portal she dismissed the gemstone, much to the disappointment of the crowd and followed the gerudo back to the shop. Hopefully the others would have better luck. Meanwhile...

"Well." Primrose let out a soft puff of air through her nose as Cara and Sectonia left the building. She didn't watch them leave for very long, turning her attention back to the remaining shop keep. She gave the Gerudo an expression that feigned sheepishness, one that said hey, what can you do? Then, she produced Midna's earrings and the chunk of topaz from her bag.

"I may not have a giant gemstone, but I do have these. A fine quality matched pair of a unique material, and a large uncut topaz." She appeared effortlessly confident about the baubles Midna gave her despite not knowing a thing about them. They might as well be painted rocks for all she knew, but of course she didn't let any of her doubts show through. After a moment of internal deliberation she produced another item, a palm-sized stone that shone with a luster the color of a stormy sky. ”This is a thunder soulstone. Not only is it pretty, it is imbued with lightning magic.”

Isha took the items one at a time and looked them over, determining their clarity and hardness. The topaz she did not spend long examining, but was set down after a nod. She spent more time with the earrings and could not ultimately divine their composition, as the material shared a number of traits with amber other than their color. “Five hundred for the topaz. I will value the earrings as amber, and give you three hundred for the pair. As for this…” When she the soulstone close to her head, she felt its power, both against her skin and causing strands of her hair to stand on end. “I am not versed in magic, but I can feel the lightning. Much stronger than topaz. Quite the find...I would say a thousand two hundred is a fair price.”

"More than fair," Primrose agreed, and she hoped that was actually the case. She accepted the payment.

"I hope you don't mind some small talk as I browse," the dancer said, glancing at Isha before checking the price tags on a few items - namely the ruby tiara and the matching mask and watch. "We are travelers, just arrived in Al Mamoon. What is the city like? And we've heard mention of it's ruler, what of her?"

With Primrose’s coinpurse cracked she was no longer a stranger, but a customer, so Isha was glad to chat with her. “It’s tough to imagine now, but apparently this used to be a pretty sleepy city. Lowlah, the Cowlipha you’ve heard of, wasn’t like she is now, but she was still far more liked as a celebrity than she was respected as a leader. Don’t mean to speak ill of her; that’s just the way it is. It’s only in the last month or two that things started changing in a big way. After Lowlah became...well, obsessed with cheese, the vizier took over.” She crossed her arms. “He was a priest or something before. Not a lot of people like him, and he does just kinda give you the creeps, but I guess he knows his stuff. The city just keeps getting bigger and better. There’s some growing pains, but just about everyone’s gotten a little richer.”

"I see... he certainly sounds competent. I wonder why the poor reputation." Primrose tilted her head slightly, looking to the jeweler for more answers. "And really, cheese? Was that... expected?"

“Cheese? Well, she always liked it. But then it just sort of became her everything. As for the vizier...” Isha shrugged, holding her hands as if to say what do you want me to tell you? “You’ll know when you see him. If he’s not trying to look like the most evil guy in existence, it’s a really unfortunate accident. He’s not shy about making hard decisions either, you know, shutting things down, layoffs, replacements, relocations, punishing crime. I guess since it’s not an elected position, he cares more about accountability than being liked. Which is pretty admirable, I guess. I sure wouldn’t want to be in his shoes. Heck, most people downright call him the ‘Evil Vizier’ or ‘Evil Chancellor’. Takes a discerning eye to see what he’s actually achieving behind the scenes.” She tapped her temple. Perhaps she figured that those bright eyes of hers could see the purity in people as well as they did crystals. “Speaking of, anything catch yours?”

"These." She tucked the information given to her about the Cowlipha and her vizier away for now and motioned to the two pieces she'd been looking the most discerningly at. Midna had mentioned something to protect against the cold, and this tiara claimed to do just that. Though she could use her pyromancy to warm herself up, surely someone could use it. And the mask, well... she thought she'd seen Sectonia take an interest in it, but the mask itself brought the Phantom Thieves to mind. It wasn't really her color, but she could get some use out of it herself too. Maybe she'd get a giggle out of Panther while wearing it. Though she didn't exactly have a "super move," might as well pick up the paired item as well.

Isha nodded, pleased, and took the artifacts to wrap up for her customer. “Very good. The Ruby Tiara, useful for trips to Freezeezy peak but otherwise in low demand, given the gemstone involved. Two fifty. The Royal Masque and Royal Pocketwatch of the incomplete Noblesse Oblige collection. A good paired purchase. Seven and eight hundred, respectively. A total of seventeen hundred and fifty.” She smiled conspiratorially. “In other words, you’re walking away with a profit of two fifty yourself. What a steal, hm?”

"Certainly." Primrose took note of the word 'incomplete' and couldn't help but ask after the missing items. "I take it the masque and watch are part of your resale stock. How many more make up the set?" Sectonia was interested in this too, deciding to just hover around after her little offer was shot down as it was clear to her this was more of a thing for her minions to handle.

“Oh, those?” Ishe shrugged. “The guy who brought them in didn’t find the other pieces, is all. If you do happen to find at least two of the three remaining pieces though, it’s supposed to give an even better set bonus. Call that a little extra wisdom from someone in the know.” She winked and handed Primrose her bag. “There you go! May these starlight memories never fade.”

"Thank you. For the jewelry and the information." With a gracious nod Primrose collected her purchase and turned to leave the shop. She looked at Sectonia, making sure the queen bee's business was done there as well. It seemed like her offer was shot down, if the second shopkeeper returning empty handed was anything to go by.

"Something to keep an eye out for, hm?" she said, indicating the package in her hands that apparently held two pieces from a set of five. "I don't have much use for both of the items, and this watch would look good with your new suit..." If Sectonia was interested, Primrose would part with it. The queen was strong, and if it would make her a little stronger that wouldn't hurt at all. The dancer did want to power herself up a little though, and intended on keeping the masque either way.

"Shall we go collect Poppi and Panther? Maybe meet back up with the boys as well."

As it turned out, Poppi and Panther were waiting a few feet behind them, still inside the shade of the mercantile temple but out of the way of the foot traffic. Thanks to Panther’s new garb recognizing her took a moment longer than usual, so she ended up waving. “Hey, check this out!” She flourished her new cloak, all smiles. “It’s super light and soft, and breathes super good! Way better for being in the desert than my school clothes, especially since these actually fit now.” That said, it looked as if she’d clawed part of the outfit open at the top for some extra breathing room. Even if it worked better than her old gear, this dress hadn’t been designed for what the Naga spirit endowed her with. Still, the girl seemed to be in excellent spirits, and with her waist-length hair spilling from the sides of her new hood rather than done up in pigtails she managed to look more mature, as well. “There was this clearance sale,” she continued. “Some sort of church closed down and they were trying to sell off their extra stuff. I’m not exactly, like, a priestess or anything, but I’ll take what I can get, right? It was an awesome bargain!”

Poppi looked down at her shriveled moneybag. “Still take most of gold from Poppi ice sale…”

Primrose smiled appreciatively at the girl. Her new clothes and hairstyle reminded the dancer of the cleric she'd traveled with, astonishingly so. She guessed all kinds of clergy wore similar clothing, even those from different worlds. "Is that so? It looks very good on you, you could pass as nobility."

Panther beamed. “You think so!? That’s so cool! Thank you!”

Poor Poppi. Though there was most likely more gold where that came from, Primrose spoke up again to take the blade's mind off of her generous donation of Panther's new clothes. "The jeweler you found had quite the selection. If you get the chance you should visit it later, there were some items with useful enchantments."

Primrose carefully unwrapped her bag and withdrew the royal masque, turning it over in one hand before donning it. She struck a simple pose with one hand poised just below her chin, accentuating her face and the mask that now sat on it. "How do I look?"

“Awesome! It totally suits you!” Panther stepped forward to admire the intricate artifact. “The blue and white against your red outfit really brings the eye to your face. Oh wait, I just realized! With that, you’re already pretty much a Pha...uh...” Catching herself just in time, she lowered her voice to a whisper to keep bystanders from hearing. “Phantom Thief.” She giggled and straightened back up, brushing hair out of her face.

"I admit your outfits may have influenced the purchase," the dancer confided. When she removed the new accessory and tucked it safely back into her bag it was clear she was pleased with it.

The general good mood extended to Poppi, who looked cheerful even though she took up the role of getting things back on track. Since Primrose had most of the group’s funds, she handed her own sack over to the Dancer, adding the spare hundred within to the total. “Friends not done shopping, right? What else we need for last part of trip, again?”

"Food, warmth, healing," Primrose listed, recalling what was said earlier. She told them that she'd picked up something to protect against cold mountain temperatures, but it was something only one person could wear. Better than nothing she supposed. She also made mention of the Cowlipha, Lowlah's cheese obsession once the topic of food was brought up. ”I’m sure the rest will not be too hard to find.”

”I can handle the warmth problem. Fire antillions can keep us warm.” Sectonia didn’t really comment at Poppi’s ice thing. It was something the Queen could do too, but with her ice antillions out trying to find the missing mercs, that was off the table for now. ”As for this ‘cheese’ obsession. That I can say is something I have not partaken in. Considering how smelly that food product can be, well… I don’t expect anything beautiful there.”

Panther raised her hand. “Oh, I can help keep us warm up there! Fire’s like my thing, now more than ever since I don’t have to rely on Carmine completely. Joker could help too, since he got the other snake lady.”

Although Poppi couldn’t say if fire would be an adequate replacement for warm clothes, the amount of Seekers packing firepower convinced her that problem at least was under control. “That leave food and healing then.”

“Got you there too!” Panther stuck her tongue out, enjoying all the attention. “Mona Zorro is great at healing, and Carmine can do it too, in a pinch. I guess if there’s like, health potions around or something, that would come in hand though. Food’s what we need I guess.”

”Being in my presence also heals you. But it isn’t something that will be as useful in combat as say, Blazermate or the doctor’s medi guns.” Sectonia said. ”As for food. I could really use something fruity. Although I’m not sure we’ll even find that here.’

Poppi’s olfactory sensors told her that the shoppers wouldn’t need to look long for food. “Sound like plan. Attuning sensors to food now. Just follow Poppi!”

(back at camp)

Bowser was momentarily confused about Mr L asking about Peach, before realizing that, unlike him, everyone else would have trouble realizing that the Princess was well, herself, and not some other random human. He, of course, was never going to lose track of his love, which made the marriage comment sting a little.

He pointed her out ”That’s her now. Cool, isn’t she. There’s this whole fusing with spirits thing going on you’ll pick it up soon enough. I’m not going over it again for the dozenth time.” Bowser told him, and considering Mirage ended up trying it out later it looked like his laziness in not explaining the deal would not suffer much consequence

”Same deal as when we were handling you, just with a much bigger party. And no Mario this time, dunno where the guy’s run off to but it ain't here. So don't worry, you see something you want money for, we can cover it, no problem,” He explained regarding their working relationship ”and yeahhhh the whole marriage thing didn’t stick. Some kind of legal mumbo jumbo. Tired it again later and wound up possessed by Mario and then stranded on the moon for my troubles. It's a long story. Real odyssey of a tale”

After giving the man a raised eyebrow and nothing more when he broke character to join in Sakura’s cheer the two parted ways, L joined the mooks on Shippy while Bowser re-boarded the Troop’s airship.

---

(above stormy seas)

As they started crossing the outskirts of the stormy skies hanging above the bottomless ocean (literally bottomless apparently, which was, in a way, comfortably familiar for the troop) Jr handled it well enough. In fact the ride was better than it had been before they left the forest because Jr was focused on flying and not being distracted by trying to get a look down at Mirage’s party tricks.

Still, he could feel the wind tugging at the ship already, and the lighting arching across the sky in the distance made him flinch just a minute amount every time it struck. Both he and Kamek were hard at work racking their brains as to how on earth they were going to get through that when Sakura suggested a solution that was blindingly obvious in hindsight and yet neither of the Koopas had come close to it.

Just don't go into the storm, and instead go over it.

”That… huh”

”How did I not think of that” Kamek muttered to himself

”I mean. It's an airship not a spaceship but yeah, we can probably go that high up? High enough to not get zapped anyway, might still be windy but I can handle that If we were going past” Jr said, while thinking it over ”Coming down will still be a pain, but better just up and down than through it all the way. Dunno about going through the cloud cover tho, or how we’d know where we’d want to be coming down in the first place ”

”We could repeatedly send scouts down perhaps. My clones as they are easily replaceable rather than people.”

”Ah why bother. Just go find the Eye of the storm. That’s where I'd hang out if I were the boss of this area. Maybe build a cool castle in the middle of the ocean, have like, storm pirates and sea monsters guarding it. Super defensible and you get great stormy ambiance for your epic final showdown without worrying about having to repair the castle every time it gets zapped by lightning” Bowser informed then from where he was relaxing in the back.

”...”

”....”

”What? I mean. I guess it would be kinda cheap to just bypass everything like that” Bowser said thoughtfully

”That’s not… never mind” Kamek shook his head and then got back to business ”We can add that to the list of things to try, carefully, once we are safely to the island.”

“So about that ‘safely’ part” Rika said, who had one of her scout planes sitting on her arm like it was a bird and had been holding an ear to ‘listen’ to what it had found. “Might be a problem coming up”

---

Thanks to the former Abyssal girl’s scouting, the party where well warned (the girl informing the navel contingent by shouting “big monster’s fighting up ahead, follow us round it” down at Shippy) of the brawl going on, and so adjusted their path to take them past the fight rather than through it.

The battle turned out to be between a giant kraken person, a classic boss monster with a big obvious eye weak spot and everything, and a smaller nippier fish/eel person who was darting to and fro chomping at it. She was the only one who had done damage, but that was probably because it would take only one hit for the titan to do her in.

”Egh, things are not looking good for that big guy huh?” Bowser noted. He’d been there and from experience with being the big guy that the little guy was running rings around he could safely say that the tentacled titan’s days were numbered.

”Doing a number on the little guy’s island though” jr noted, before yelling ”Come on just get one good hit in you big squid!” at the big guy, not that the monster could hear him.

“Wait, are we rooting for the big monster?” Rika asked them. The front of the ship was getting a bit crowded now with spectators.

”Eh kinda? Doesn't really matter who wins though. Two things that might try and kill us attacking each other instead? Works for us” Bowser replied right before the sharksplosion happened and interrupted them.

”Wow! What was that? Are we under attack?” Jr asked, banking the ship around to try and get a better eye on the place the detonation had happened, and pointing them towards the monster fight as a result.

A quick examination of the situation found a lot less sharks about, one less zombie, and Blazerate setting up her minion's gear for combat and over-healing everyone while Mirage was more concerned with her activity than the surrounding area, and Ace was busy trying to dry himself off.

That was a lot of mixed signals.

Jr, Bowser and Rika all where on edge and mentally, or physically, gearing up for a fight, before the still rather tired Kamek helpful suggested ”Perhaps we should check with those on the boat what is going on?”

”Huh? Oh, right. Good idea” Bowser agreed, before stomping through the back of the ship, onto the deck and over to the side with Rika, guns at the ready, acting as an escort.

”Hey. You lot. What’s all the commotion about? Just leave the big guy to fight the little guy or whatever. It's not our problem.” Bowser yelled at them

“Little girl” Rika corrected him

”Huh?”

“She’s a little girl not a little guy. Hang on.” she called one of her planes over, which zipped back to the ship from where it had been scouting as quickly as could be and then landed on her wrist. She raised it to her ear and listened to it as the bottom jawless thing flapped its tongue about for a moment before explaining loudly “little girl, just a bit bigger than that hat wearing kid? Also she has giant eels coming out from under her fin dress and she’s all scaly and has big sharp teeth so still a monster just a-”

It was at this point she noticed Bowser had jumped down already, his heavy impact with the water splashing the Cadet with seawater again, before floating back to the surface.

Rika shrugged, and then leapt after him. Apparently they were getting involved after all.

As soon as Yoshitsune had asked for directions to a smithy, Midna piped up with the concern of currency. Yoshitsune, though it wasn’t much, did have a coin purse with a little over 100 coins in it. Holding up the bag, following Primrose’s additional comment, he listened intently to the conductor’s directions. “Thank you.” he said with a low bow before rushing off in the direction he’d been told.

Finding the foundry wasn’t too hard. Discussing the broken blade and payment, though, was a bit annoying for both the samurai and the particular smith he spoke with, but it was dealt with swiftly and with agreeable terms for both.

Although the smith personally recommended replacing the decimated weapon rather than trying to repair it, and could not boast expertise with this kind of blade, Yoshitsune made how much the sword meant to him very clear. In the end the full restoration would run him five hundred and fifty gold pieces, require the sort of metal with which it was originally made unless the samurai decided otherwise, and need his remaining blade as a reference to model the reforged one after. It would also take at least a day, since the smith had a lot of work to do.

Yoshitsune showed the Smith the coins he had and was happily surprised when he lowered the price with his larger coins.

Having time to wander the market, though feeling naked without his father's swords, he began looking at the various stalls. He’d pass his allies every now and then and give them a small greeting. He was trying to relax, though he still seemed awkward.

If was here he saw Laharl. “You were in the town of sweets. Nice to see you decided to join us. I don’t think I ever got your name.”