"Wh- uh." Sakura said as Cadet and Link voiced their concerns. She was pretty quickly bamboozled, trying to think of something to say to counter them. She didn't expect push back on her thoughts. A monster's just a monster? What was that supposed to mean? How could he possibly know that?

Link in particular was in a grumpy mood. Even Nadia joined in. As many people seemed to be coming to the conclusion that monstrous things will stay monstrous, Sakura couldn't help but feel a little angry herself. Instinctively, her eyes fell upon Bella and Rika. Poor Bella. What was it like to be in her shoes? She could hardly imagine.

Fortunately, Miss Fortunate and Peach smoothed things over. In a way that made Sakura blush. Pure heart, precious heart. People said that to her and about her a lot, even before going into Galeem's world. Stuff like that put a lot of pressure on her, y'know!

"Y-yeah. Bella. You've saved our butts twice already. But even if you were no good at fighting, or chose not to fight anymore, that doesn't mean you don't deserve to be a- a person." Sakura said. "You and Rika are also just fun to hang around with. So. I'm not sold on this 'monsters are monsters' thing. Not one bit." She was sitting on the ground, knees drawn up against her, staring out across the deck and to the horizon.

Mister Geralt put it better than she ever could. She pointed up at him and his tall stature. "Yeah! See! I'm being- cognizant." She mouthed the word out, not exactly knowing what it meant. But it sounded smart.

"The nicest, most friendliest guy I know is a big, hairy green jungle man who screams a lot. He's one of my best friends. He loves his mother! Some people think he looks scary- I mean, he's actually pretty adorable if you ask me- but- th-the point is. The point is! Never judge a book by its cover. There." She crossed her legs and her arms, closing her eyes and throwing up her chin indignantly.

"But...yeah. We should be more careful. I don't regret jumping out the first time, though. That's for sure." She opened her eyes and scratched her head, running her fingers through the bow in her hair and her bandana. "By the way. That green guy has big orange hair, and people call him Blanka. But his real name is Mister Jimmy. If we see him, you guys better be nice. He's not a monster. He's the king of the jungle." Sakura said earnestly, a pout in her voice. She gave a pointed look at Link and Ace Cadet. Even if it didn't work out this time, that didn't mean they should just give up.

The rest of the trip got very, very rocky. Fortunately, Sakura had a lot of experience on boats, strengthening her stomach, and...spinning. Lots and lots of spinning. Her inner ear was practicaly immune after a lifetime of Twirling Gale Kicks. When they arrived at their destination Sakura couldn't help but gape. Mouth falling open she stared up at the odd structure, almost tripping over her shoes in the process.

Nadia cleared their entrance, a couple of lousy guards in the way. Probably not even guards. They just looked like random guys. Wacky alien guys, yeah, but they didn't look like they were in uniforms or anything like. She had beaten up a lot of S.I.N's goons and they all had the same uniform on. That was probably a constant throughout the universe. Maybe they could ask them for directions, later. Bowser was doing a very good job of chastising them, in a way that would probably upset the sneaky cat girl, Miss Fortune.

"Yeah. You guys better watch out." Sakura added cheekily, backing up the big man.

At this point Sakura didn't mind the rain- her default state at this point was soaked in water. Her cat ears twitched involuntarily against the rain, her tail curling up against her back.

Once inside, Sakura looked down the massive hole and to the map. "Echo!" She shouted, cupping the sides of her mouth. She stuck her tongue into her cheek, satisfied at the tunnels reception to her call.

The others seemed wary, but Sakura was excited. "This is a lucky break, you guys! We can just walk the rest of the way. No more monsters, or drowning! It'll be like a visit to the aquarium." She said. "The storms only gonna get worse the closer we get to the Guardian." She added. "That Master of Masters lady was super wrong. There's a zillion ways to get across the Bottomless Sea!"

Hands high in the air, Sakura deflated when she realised she had gotten overexcited. Kamek brought up a good point Sakura had forgotten about. Rika and Bella would probably have to be left behind. "Well- um. I mean-" She slapped the sides of her head. "Look at this place! There's gotta be some kind of...train...thingy...that we could use. Right? It's at least worth checking out." She looked over the edge. "This is a lift shaft, right? Where's the lift?" Sakura hopped over to the hologram and began looking for buttons. Maybe one labelled 'lift'. Or 'elevator', if they were American.



"Great." Faden said simply as Joker accepted the 'deal.' It was a win win for both parties. As long as Jesse had enough money to get food and shelter, she was happy. Wouldn't be the first time she had roughed it. Jesse wasn't one for flair or theatrics. She accepted the fancily handed over Tool Gun and began her ritual. Much to her pleasure, the Object of Power was receptive to her. Exactly as she wanted.

The Tool Gun fell into her palm and she took in the options, her eyes alight with the possibilities. This thing was a utilitarian wonder. There were so many situations it could come in useful. Much more imaginative things that just stealing some random art. Not all of it was available to her yet. But it felt good in her hand. Unlike the other Object of Powers she had bonded with, this one stuck around. Probably because it was an actual tool, not just an object with its own paranatural agenda. Interesting. Maybe that would change as she grew more familiar with it and its functions.

As she read over the readout, for a moment it seemed like she forget where she was. "Hmm?" She said, looking up at Joker asking her if she could do it.

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, I can." She replied. To test it out, she pointed the Tool Gun at the ground. With a satisfiyng 'ping', a black balloon appeared on the ground, tethered by a rope. "Kick ass." Jesse said. For the first time since this whole mess started, Jesse felt like she had just gotten a major victory. Hard fought? Maybe not. But certainly welcome.

The redhead nodded. "Panther, Joker, Skull, Mona, and..." She looked to the space ship person. "Alibaba." Jesse said with a small smile.

Jesse fiddled with the options and looked down at the furry thief, pinned by the weight of his own enlarged head. It took her a moment to calibrate.

Faden levelled the Tool Gun at Mona's head and pulled the trigger. His head shrunk back down to a useable size! It shrunk...way too far. Jesse, in her unfamiliarity with the anatomy of the cartoon cat, had shrunk his head down to a proportionally correct size. It fit right between his shoulders, now.

It didn't take long for Jesse to realise the problem. "My mistake." With a moment's thought she fired again, restoring Mona's head to its original size.

"There we go. All better." Jesse opened her jacket and put the Tool Gun safely inside for further use.

Faden rubbed her chin, looking at the Phantom Thieves. If she wasn't careful, this would be the time where they departed. But she still had that itching feeling in the back of her skull. Polaris egged her on. The Director cleared her throat. How was she going to broach this topic? She wasn't even sure what exactly it was she was looking for. There was an inconsistency in the world that she needed solved. It was part of the reason so he come all this way.

"So. Joker." Faden began. "This is going to seem like a stupid question. But have you noticed anything strange going on? Obviously this entire situation is bizarre. But more than just that." She rolled her shoulder.

"Imagine the sound of an air conditioner. You get so used to it, it becomes your new standard for quiet. So when it turns off, you're surprised by what true silence is like." Jesse said, her eyes focused on the middle distance. This was different from the poster on the wall. Bigger. There was nothing to tear down- it was all just noise.

"Sorry. But it's bugging me. Maybe I'm just getting crazier. What are you all planning to do next, if you don't mind me asking?" She made eye contact, her hazel gaze, reddened by Galeem, searching his for an answer to her problem.

---

"I feel like we're all talking about different things using the same word." Link said as Sakura told him about her wild man friend. He glanced over at Bella and felt a pang of guilt over the effect his and the Cadets words had on her. Peach and Ms. Fortune managed to sooth the girl's heart, and that was because Peach was ultimately right: if you weren't a monster after you were freed from Galeem's influence you definitely hadn't been before. He didn't know the whole story behind her and Rika, but he couldn't help but compare the two to the Guardians. Maybe they had been empty vessels, filled with a darker purpose by some unknown Malice. "Sorry, Bella. If you're able to cry like that now you weren't a monster at any point. They're a lot simpler than that. It's like Cadet said, they're more instinct based."

Even Cadet's definition, however, seemed to differentiate from Link's. The way he seemed to consider the little animal that had joined him at his side to be a "monster" proved that. He pointed at it. "That can't be a monster, for example. Because a monster's first instinct would be to eat your leg." Geralt's definition was even stranger to him, because it seemed like in his world there were people that could talk and be reasoned with that somehow counted as a monster. It seemed like some people even considered him to be a monster, which he wasn't sure how to process. Sure, Bowser would be an easy mistake to make before he opened his mouth and told you to knock it off but what about Geralt was particularly monstrous?

“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna kill your friend.” He reassured Sakura’s pouty face. “There’s more to it than just looking scary. It’s an…” He struggled to find a correct way to say this, but the most appropriate way he found was also distressingly understated. “It’s an attitude problem.”

---

As they arrived at the base of the light they had been following they found what looked like an enormous building. What this thing had been built on he had no idea. It wasn’t floating in the water, because it wasn’t moving with the roughness of the sea. He wondered if the complex incorporated the same kid of technology that let the Atomos hang in the air without wings or a propeller. Regardless, he understood technology that was way beyond his understanding when he saw it.

Ms. Fortune was first off the ship, and as he watched her creep along the ground without making a sound above the pitter-patter of rain he couldn't help but smile. Stealthy approaches were always appreciated by him, especially now. He waited for her to give the all clear, and while he did there was some business to take care of. If they were going to be exploring an unknown, quite possible enemy infested, structure he was going to need his legs back. He approached Peach, and after a few moments and a flash of golden light he was back to his old self with the spirit of the abyssal in hand. He stowed it, hoping that it would last long enough that he could fuse again if he suddenly needed to. He couldn't help but feel a little sad at the parting, and wished he had an opportunity to swim like the creatures did without them trying to kill him. While he was managing his inventory he was disappointed to find that the helmet and the other gauntlet had vanished from his collection, no doubt because he had given up the spirit. That meant he had to find another unusual weapon to dazzle the blacksmith sisters with.

Maybe this new gauntlet. He lifted it from the pile of loot he’d gathered earlier, the thing feeling much heavier than his old gauntlets. He could still swing it if he had to, but there was no way he could still throw punches like he could in the battle earlier today. The dark iron armor was also heavy, but no heavier than he had felt before. He glanced over at Geralt, big target Geralt with the big hole in his armor that screamed “stab me here.” Before they disembarked he slapped both armor plates onto the dark iron armor for extra protection and approached the witcher and offered both the armor and cestus. “Hey Geralt. These seem more your size than mine. You want?”

Regardless of how the man answered Link collected the broken sword, lamented the fact that his plane had never returned from its mission, documented his entire stock of weapons, switched out to his normal trousers, and hopped off the ship to follow Princess Peach.

On the way inside he saw the pair in the tent that Ms. Fortune had described as “drunk as skunks.” One looked human, but the other appeared to be some kind of hideous tentacled skull. Both were sleeping very deeply, though, if they could ignore Ms. Fortunes shouts so he didn’t see any reason to take care of them just yet.

They continued on inside, out of the rain and down the stairs right to the edges of a deep hole in the ground. Link whistled as he stepped right to the edge and stared down into the abyss. What on earth could be down there? Not more water, it turned out. Peach got everyone's attention by fiddling with so console, displaying a map of a massive underwater labyrinth. Ms. Fortune and Geralt seemed at a loss as to whether or not they should even go down there, but Link just raised the Shiekah Slate and snapped a picture of the holographic map. Sakura was all for going down there, and Link had to agree that it was probably their best option at this point, but Kamek gave word to fears that were already surfacing in his mind. Bella couldn't walk well, a feeling he was now all too familiar with, and it would necessarily entail leaving Shippy behind. Alone and unprotected on the choppy seas above, with all the monsters. “We need more information.” He said.

He had no objections to Bowser’s idea at all, and followed the king back out into the rain if no one else stopped them. He followed the king into the tent and stood at his side, putting on his best royal bodyguard face as Bowser put on his practiced impression of an irate boss and ready to call a weapon into his hand and swing at one of these two if they were violent instead of smart.

In lieu of others asking for her help, the princess went ahead with her little scouting expedition to find out what was going bump in the night. Asking where the was didn't wind up being necessary, as the princess’s shadowy skipping led her first to a roof, from which the large domed building was immediately an obvious place to start looking, and upon closer inspection the boarded up nature of its lower levels all but confirmed the building to be the place she needed to look.

The Grimleal’s handiwork, or what she assumed might have been their handy work anyway as she wouldn't put suppression of other faiths past them, turned out to be rather sloppy. Sure, it would deter the average person, but if they really wanted to get in, a determined individual could climb up to one of the unbarred windows. Or in Minda’s case, casually floating up there.

The brief thought that this could be a good place to hide out if you were a criminal element was dismissed when runes flared around the window as she passed through, trapping her inside. Her eyes flashed from the runes back to the room she was in, tensing for an attack.

”I swear, if this was some kind of bait and trap thing by whoever made that notice” Minda said to herself under her breath as she slipped into the much more plentiful shadows in the decrepit church. She found a dark corner and waited for a few moments, but whatever had trapped her didn't seem to be coming to investigate who had activated the seal, and so she went to go find her captor instead.

Following the maddening chittering coming from below, she found the likely culprits who had trapped her in with them worshiping an out of place blade stabbed into the altar. The princess had to prevent herself from wrenching (not a thing you want to do while inside a shadow) at the sight of them. Gibbering and dancing unsightly dances before the sword, the things were quadrupedal humans-ish like creatures with massive ballooning eyes growing out the exposed ribs and meat on their backs. The fact that they wore masks and had a giant hand (though admittedly one that grew out of their backs) made Midna feel a little like someone, somewhere, was mocking her.

Part of her wanted to rush in and end their unsightly existence as soon as possible, but no, she told herself, she had to be smart about this. She didn't have her mount (and Minda mentally kicked herself for not asking Sectonia for a status update on the friend finding mission when they were together) or any of the rest of the party around or incoming. Well. maybe if she sat about for long enough someone else would come see why she hadn’t shown up again, but that would be embarrassing.

So, as she had with the robots, Midna left the monsters to their pastime and had a scout around to see if she could find anything to turn the odds in her favor and/or to make sure she hadn't missed any baddies (or like last time friendlies) that might be found in the rest of the building.

Trying to shut out the mad revelry of the vile Nobodies, Midna began her discreet sweep of the building. The half-light that filtered through the cracks and gaps in the boarded-up windows provided ample shadows to skulk through and enough light to see with, although that scattered illumination ultimately fell on little. A perfunctory search turned up nothing of particular interest. Before this building was finally shuttered, everything of value had been removed, if the patterns on the floor and mounts on the stone walls were anything to go by. What few things remains represented the objects too difficult or worthless to bother with, and those meager furnishings of stone and wood offered little to immediately interest a Twilight Princess.

After her initial disappointment Midna gave the interior a second, more thorough look. This time she examined the structure for staircases, cellars, hidden passageways, and so forth, all the secrets that an old, histories building might hide that could not be taken with its deserters. Unlike the Sphinx-topped temple in the row of ruins, however, this structure featured no basement level at all, or else one so inaccessible that its entrance remained totally unknown and its existence unsuggested. Midna did, however, find a small out-cove that would have lain hidden out of view of any worshiper, and inside she came across what appeared to be the remnants of a makeshift camp. A worn bedroll, the long-cold cinders of a campfire cobbled together from dry, left-behind wood, and some trash. It was easy to imagine that she wasn’t the first curious interloper to enter the church to figure out what mysteries had made it their home, but the dust settled over this refuge said that whoever came before her left before her, too. One way or another. The resounding echo of an ecstatic shriek made her shiver even in the ambient warmth.

As she prepared to move on, however, she happened to become aware of an unusual sound. A continuous sort of murmur, more of a hum than words, and it prompted her to look back down. Another moment and she managed to catch a glimpse of something in the halflight, nestled among the ashes of the meager campfire. Almost totally buried in the soft, formless gray, something white scorched black. From the ashes she withdrew a trinket of carved bone. The moment she collected it there came a single sharp note like a stroke of a violin, and the song was gone.

”Well then” Midna said as the crude trinket of (she looked a little close and then cringed as she identified it as) bone floated before her by her will ”That wasn't ominous at all.”

She flicked a hand and a twilight portal opened up, sending the item away to her realm for later. She’d have time to identify it, and the strange sword she’d be acquiring, once she’d dealt with the monsters. It looked like there wasn't anything else in the building of interest. Just a bunch of heavy furniture and what use was that too… the princess paused. And then grinned. She had some preparations to do.

---

The central chamber was a grand one. Once, rows and rows of pews had lined the floor leading up to the now profaned altar, while two long balconies, also striped of seating, lined either wall with doors leading into the back from which they could be accessed. The strange creatures twitched and danced on their hind legs before the long absent congregation, transforming the place of worship into an unholy dance floor in honor of the cursed blade. As she slipped through the shadow onto the balcony and then started to climb the wall, the princess momentarily wondered just how long they’d been at it, and what eldritch power kept them alive through night after night of sleep disrupting revelry. It didn't matter really, because she was about to crash their party and end it once and for all.

Up and up she slipped, all the way up into the high dome adorning the shuttered house of god or gods. There, right above the ape demons, she pulled herself out of the shadow to float above them.

Alongside her half a dozen twilight portals also opened, and proceeded to dump an equal number of furnishings back into the world of light. The pile of sturdy wooden tables, bulky chests and an entire wardrobe (all things left because they were too heavy and which she’d made heavier by filling them with sand from the twilight realm where she could) careened down like bombshells.

”Your little public disturbance ends here!” she announced as the cacophony of her own making rang out. The demons squealed and tried to scatter. Two were only clipped by furnishing or subsequent detonations of sand and splinters, but the third had a chest crash down upon it, burying it in splintered wood and otherworldly sand.

Midna shrugged ”I’ll take one. Now then, who’s next?” she asked, bringing out an entire rusted stove and catching it in her shadow hand.

Before she could toss, however, the pile of wood and sand she thought marked the grave of one of the demons shifted, and the beast hauled itself out. It seemed unharmed except for the fact that ”Ew, gross” that its maske had come off, revealing its hideous face. The monster did not seem to like being exposed either, and quickly grabbed another mask, this one green and round where the first had been brass and humanoid, with its massive hand.

The other two followed suit, discarding their brass masks and, together, the three slammed the green masks in place.

”That’s enough” Minda shouted down at them as they finished their costume change, hurling the stove at the one she’d already hit once. It scrambled away with ungainly agility, stumbling when the stove hit a leg but not faltering. The other two meanwhile, flexed and twitched their arms in inhumane ways, causing one of the awfully eyeballs to squirm up it and into the palm. Then hurled the massive eyeballs up at her in retaliation. Midna floated to the side and slapped one of the slow balls back down at it’s tosser with her shadow hand, while the other smacked into the roof of the dome behind her. Then both exploded. The one she’d returned to sender ragdolled one of the demons, the monster rolling with the blast to reduce injury, while the shock-wave of the one detonating behind Midna destabilized her levitation, causing her to drop uncontrollably down to balcony level before she caught herself. Then more bombs came, the monsters skirmishing away as they hurled the biological explosives. She dropped down to the ground completely, causing the bombs to arc over her.

”Goddesses” she swore as the bombs detonated around her. They were far too close for comfort, and there where more where those came from

Rather than try and run after them, she grabbed the ground with her shadow hand and hauled herself forwards with using it, resting one knee and one foot on the ground in a slide kick and turning the slipperiness she was suffering into speed as she slid across the ground towards one of them, more bombs blasting off behind her.

The demon she was chasing hopped back again and again till it hit the sealed main door to the building, before tossing a quick trio of eye bombs in-front of it, more as mines than as grenades. The sliding princess hit the ground again with her shadow hand, using it to haul her body into the air and vault over the scattered explosives and then sweeping the hand back up and over her body to smash down towards the demon, only for it to reach out and block the blow with its own.

Fist held in its hand, the monster laughed at her with its eerie sounding hyena giggling, only for the princess to lunge down, dragon claws blazing on her own fingers and slamming into its spine, before racking forwards and clawing the mask from its face. The monster shrieked at its face being laid bare again, but couldn't grab for its last mask because when it tried to let go of the fist and retrieve it their situations were reversed with Midna grabbing the monster’s hand with hers as she hacked at it with her claws.

It was ‘saved’ from this when a shower of bombs hailed the two of them, forcing Midna to switch from grabbing the hand to using it as leverage to toss herself aside, leaving the demon to be blasted by the friendly fire. She looked back to the other two that had just reminded her of their existence. One was the bomb thrower, which had pleated her and its friend with explosives while the other was... dancing again?

Too late, Minda realized what it was doing when a purple portal opened up next to the dancer and a fresh, bronze masked demon pulled itself out of whatever infernal pit the monsters called home.

Worse still, the one she thought might have been dealt with instead took the opening it had been given to grab its this and final mask, prompting the two green masked ones, but not the new bronze one, to grab their own masks. This mask was jet back with dozens of red tentacles wriggling around it, and when it slammed home onto the demon’s face it caused their flesh to blackened and their bodies to be pumped full of some red serum, which engorged the hand on their back and drove the freakish things berzerk.

The closest one roared with feverish fury and then charged forward with frightful speed, hand outstretched to grab and crush her, but the princess was already moving, having floated up slightly and then used own hand having grabbed the edge of the left hand side balcony. She hauled herself upwards and at the same time pointed down, opening a portal and more or less smashing a giant wolfos down on top of the monster. The two great beasts fell in a heap, entangled in a pile of gnashing teeth and slashing claws.

The others weren't going to let her get away however, and quickly the two reds charged towards the balcony, leaping up and grabbing the sides before trying to scramble upwards onto it themselves. The closest received a bathtub to the face for its troubles, the sand filled tub smashing it back down before spilling its continents across the floor. The second hauled itself up, only for minda to float off the ground and summon her Vibrava which in the tight space slammed into the ground immediately, bulldozing the entire balcony and causing the floor to crash down under the red that had climbed, as well as down on top of the red that had been smacked by the wolfos (the wolfos had escape back to the twilight realm, the and the demon had just picked itself back up when the roof caved in on it).

The gold one came in while the others were trying to pick themselves up, hopping once and then hurling itself at the princess hovering half the way up the wall, only to smash into that wall with nothing to show for its attack when the princess shrunk into the ever present shadows of the room to get clear of all of them and appeared on the opposite balcony.

Through panting breaths she yelled ”Enough!” and then reached out a hand and ‘pulled’ on the sand scattered around the room, calling it to rise and dance and sing. In a heartbeat a fully fledged sandstorm engulfed the chamber, the aliens sand singing like a choir as it swirled through the abandoned holy place.

The monsters screeched with anger (expert the bronze masked one which seemed to find this funny til it choked on the sand) as they instantly lost track of the imp that had attacked them. They scuttled too and fro before a red explosion of power burst off to one side, prompting them all to charge that spot only to find nothing there as the princess warped through the darkness and danced another dragon dance far from the beasts.

Again and again she danced and they chased, till they caught on and the bronze one directed the red ones to spread out. But she had enough by that point. Orange light flare, illuminating the princess who had cloth ripped from the long gone camper’s bedroll covering her mouth, eyes and one exposed eye to protect them from sand and four dances worth of dragon energy pulsing through her veins. The light itself came from her shadow hand, which slammed into a red masked demon that she’d managed to take by surprise thanks to the sand and darkness obscuring everything to those not borne in it, smashing it into a wall.

The next closest charged, winding up a massive punch as it thundered towards her, only for Midna to punch right back. The two fists slamming into each other, causing a shockwave that briefly cleared the sand in the area and revealed both their sand scarped skin and flesh. Then the power of the interlopers and the might of dragons prevailed over demonic might as Midna’s fist smashed the monster’s fist back, and then bared down on the monster's body with purple claws flaming at the tips.

It slammed down, punching into the beast’s flesh and ten raced forwards, slashing blood gore and causing the red mask to fall off of the monster's face. As with the others, the mask lost some kind of power when removed, which is why, rather than try to retrieve one of the fallen ones the beast tried to skulk away while covering its face. Minda would not have it, and instead grabbed the monster and hurled it at the red one she’d punched, causing the half blind thing to tear at its maskless ally as both struggled to get out of the tangle of limbs they’d been hurled into.

The third came as Minda was trying to reposition, and received a giant wolfos for its trouble which smashed it aside and then vanished into the sandstorm.

Midna backed up, finding herself next to the altar as the punched red and the unharmed bronze both came at her at once. The bronze tried to slash her with its small front hands/feet, and got to beat on Minda’s last bit of furniture (a dresser) instead while Midna kicked off of the the alter to dodge the big arm punch of the red and then slammed her own into its side, smashing it into the altar, destroying both it and that red’s mask. The cursed blade slapped into the wall of the cubby hole the altar had been in and hit the ground, while the maskless one tried to right itself only to be hit by a second swing careening into the dresser and the bronze trying to move around it, the perforation of splinters into its hide being the final straw causing it to burst into dust.

The impact also caused the bronze mask to drop from the summoned one, so it backed off to swap to green as the final red mask came in. It grab-lunged at her and Minda, lacking an altar to use to counteract her slipperiness this time, replied in kind, grabbing the grabbing hand with her own. As the two arm wrestled the green one started to dance again, but this time instead of bringing another in, Minda felt the dance drawing away her dragon dance gained power. One stage. Then two. The grappling match she’d been winning suddenly became more even. Any attempt by either side to use their arms to finish the job would give the other the edge they needed to win the arm wrestling match and slam them into the ground

She jabbed a finger towards the green, causing her vibrava to fly true out of a portal, buzzing over the red and then delivering a mighty crunch to the dancing green one’s exposed underbelly. The mask fell off and when the vibrava disappeared it dropped back down to all fours and started to switch to red. Which meant it would be charging in any second now.

In a moment of desperation, Midna pulled herself to the side using the shared grip with the demon, sliding along the ground and giving up precious edge in the wrestling match in-order to grab the definitely cursed sword. As the final demon charged in to try and grab her as well she pulled herself right up to the one grappling her shadow arm (causing the other one to miss its change and smack into the wall behind her) and rammed the sword into it, the extra range the blade gave over her claws being the edge she needed to avoid getting swiped by it’s own. The monster tried to bite her in retaliation and so she kicked down, instinct causing dragon claws to flare on her slipper exposed but sock covered toes that ended up puncturing into the beast’s neck.

Using her unintentional new foothold she rammed the cursed sword into the demons back over and over with 0 grace or skill until the mask came off and then it burst into ash. No sooner had it fallen than the last red masked one pulled itself out of the heap it had fallen after impacting with the wall and came at her again. Her hand was out of position, but the princess had a new trick now. Dragon claws flared on her feet, affording her extra grip she’d been lacking and letting her just barely toss herself out of the way of the last red one.

The monster wheeled around only to find Minda had vanished into the sand. It jerked too and fro, seeking her, only for the princess to drop down from the ceiling, giant fist slamming straight down on top of it. The mask broke, and then the blade found it again and again till the miserable thing fell.

The sandstorm died down then as the tired princess took a seat on the floor, only to lurch back to her feet when she saw that she wasn't quite done. The monster she’d hurled at one of the other ones had been unmasked, but unlike the others hadn't been put down afterwards.Rather than try and keep fighting however it was just cowering in a corner with its massive hand covering its wretched face.

She swiftly put an end to that.

In the utter ruin she's turned the main chamber of the temple into Minda gathered up the spirits of the monsters, put them and her new, defiantly cursed sword, into the realm of twilight. She’d have to give both the blade and the trinket a proper appraisal later, likely when she crushed the spirits of the demons into items after she’d used them as proof to the quest’s completion. With that out the way, it was time to go see if she could get out of here now, and then find the person who’d pay her 50 gold for taking down some disgustingly tough demons.

After taking a few moments to rest that is.

”Goddesses, I need a bath” she muttered as she sat on the back of the ruined bathtub, her body covered in splinters, sweat, sand, blood and ash. Hopefully she could find somewhere to get one that didn't cost 50 gold.

After leaving the Vizier and the queen’s court, Red continued to follow along with the rest of the group. Big Band continued to come along too which she wasn’t really opposed to. The detective was definitely an interesting man from the looks of it and, judging by his comment to Poppi, had a body and soul inside of him somewhere.

After reuniting with the other members of the group in the market and helping acquire some provisions, they finally meet with Validar’s Grimleal. They entered the temple and it certainly matched the same ominous aura that the vizier himself gave off. At this point it was pretty much set in stone that Validar and his group were not exactly good people, this all seemed very cultish and she’d seen enough of those to know how that goes. The lieutenants didn’t seem to really help with that notion either. A very sinister looking man, a guy that looked like he just crawled out of a grave and a rabbit lady that rivaled Band in size and rivaled Red herself in being ready to take action.

Now normally, Red would take this job regardless of her employers motives. As long as the money is good she doesn’t care what cause she fights for. But now, she was in a group. And she was planning on sticking with them so she decided she’d go with their decision, whatever that may be or whatever moral compass they followed. She didn’t have much to say in the talks especially after hearing how stingy they were with intel (a very big red flag from an employer) so she let Fox and the others take the lead. Which due to the morals of the group took a downward spiral and they ended up leaving and reconvening at the train station for more discussion on how to handle this fun new problem of theirs. Which seemed to be trying to get the resistance's side of the story after tracking them down, but doing some jobs for more coin in the meantime.

Red was gonna see about possibly tracking down the mimic or even the strange thief before Tora came up and asked if she’d like to help deal with the rat problem. “Eh, why not? Sounds like it’ll be some good practice till we get going.” Plus if she was going to travel here she might as well start learning about the other group members instead of just sticking to Midna like glue. What better way to learn about someone than fighting beside them?

'What better way to prove my superiority than fighting with some idiots.' Laharl thought to himself as he eavesdropped on their conversation, that job sounded like a walk in the park and although he was a prince he would do anything to prove he could handle anything even if he had to get his hands dirty. So he approached the crimson hooded mercenary and the Nopon, clearing his throat to get their attention. But since he hadn't announced his intentions earlier, or even cemented himself as part of the group, Tora and Poppi had already gone, and Red after them.

His mood immediately soured, it was one thing to be left behind once but more than once was annoying despite mostly being his fault. Laharl heaved an exasperated sigh as he watched Red disappear round a bend, but he wasn't going to simply let the three go do the job he wanted to do. No it wouldn't do at all to pass up his chance to prove himself capable to lead or at the very least deserve a bit more respect from the others.

So he set off in the direction he could see them heading as he quickly picked up his pace, following the group from behind at a short distance before finally making himself known halfway to the cistern. Laharl sounded exasperated, panting from trying to keep up with the group as they weaved their way through the streets of Al Mamoon. So after a few moments he shouted to get the group's attention "HEY! HEY! DAMN IT WAI-" he was suddenly cut off as his foot snagged his scarf and he tumbled onto the hard ground swearing and cursing his luck, most of his language was quite unpleasant to hear.

Tora and Poppi stopped in their tracks, turning to see the boy that accompanied the group from Parnasse. After sparing her Masterpon a glance Poppi jogged back toward the fallen demon. She came to a stop standing above Laharl and paused for just a moment. This moment marked the first time the two interacted, and Laharl's own ornery nature aside, he was reminded why now more than ever; in her third form Poppi unwittingly managed to cater exactly to several of his weaknesses. Of course, despite her hesitation at his anger she couldn't let a hurt child just lie there, and stooped to offer him her help. "You okay? Need hand?"

He had been about to open his mouth to say something, no doubt rude and derogatory but Laharl couldn't utter anything other than a panicked yelp as he scrambled away from the extremely attractive and heavily endowed robot "N-no don't touch me!" he sounded fearful of Poppi, and as Laharl got up slowly he never let his sights off her "I don't need a hand, I'm a demon!" he said as though it were enough to dissuade her from nearing him, and to those perceptive enough Laharl's body language was nervous and erratic.

Poppi blinked, confused. "Oh. Okay." Sighing inwardly, she could only conclude that she just wasn't equipped to deal with this kid. For the sake of future interaction she made a mental note that 'demons', whatever those might be, did not need hands, then left Laharl to his own devices. Tora shrugged as she returned to him, just fine with writing the ornery boy off, and the two went on their way.

Laharl brushed himself off, still shaken a bit but able to retain a bit of his composure enough to return to being a nuisance but not as much as before. He took a measure of precaution to stay away from Poppi and Tora, opting to take his place by the mercenary's side without a word between Red and the boy as they made their way to the cistern.

The walk into the cistern was otherwise mostly uneventful. Red walked a foot or two behind while the fur ball, evidently named Tora, and his robot companion, Poppi, talked about a few different things. Mostly it seemed to relate to the world they came from so she listened but didn’t add anything. Though she did start getting a bit closer when Poppi used her ice abilities to cool Tora down. She kept her skin completely covered at all times so while she was used to the heat she’d take any relief she could get. When Poppi noticed, she was only too happy to offer Red some diamond dust as well to mitigate the heat that the mercenary’s heavy garb worsened for her.

As Laharl walked with the mercenary he wondered exactly why Red was garbed so heavily, as it made little sense to wear such things in a place such as this. But he assumed she was likely hiding something under the folds of her crimson cloak, something she had to hide. Undoubtedly she was not human, but she would make a perfect demon if she were one.

Unlike the others the heat didn't seem to bother him, his upper body was bare to the elements and the warmth was a welcome sensation that reminded Laharl of the fiery planes in the Netherworld. He would do anything to feel the fires burning around him and to hear his vassalage grovel at his feet. Laharl sighed wistfully at the reminder of his current situation, it was unfortunate indeed that he was a mere boy to these people but soon enough they would see his true colors.

For now he would just listen to their conversation as it continued down into the sewers below, for now there was simply no point to say anything to the others as it seemed words wouldn't prove anything to anyone.

When they finally arrived she was happily surprised to see that it wasn’t some disgusting sewer like she had assumed it would be. And that it was actually kind of pleasant. “Couldn’t help but overhear you two talking about your homeworld on the way over here and I was curious. I heard you talking about Titans or something? And I was curious what the two of you are since I highly doubt either of you are humans.” Red asked the basic questions to the pair as they started looking around the sewer systems for the reported rat problem.

The trio made their way through the ancient cistern at a comfortable pace. With the ample lighting illuminating every corner they could see any potential threat coming from far off, unless something happened to appear from the water, so Tora happily took the extra travel time to tell his inquisitive new friend all about his home. “Yes yes, meh. Tora and Poppi from Alrest, a world that’s one big Cloud Sea. Everyone live on of enormous, super-gigantopon called Titans. They come in all shape and size, walking on four legs or two, or flying over or under cloud sea. Tora live on Titan called Gormott, in city of Torigoth. Until Rex-Rex recognize Tora potential and bring on amazing adventure, that is!” He struck a proud, dramatic pose to make sure Red caught on to how cool he was.

Poppi patted her Masterpon’s head. “Tora is Nopon, and Poppi is Artificial Blade created by Tora. Most Blades come from core crystals, but Poppi come from metal, circuits, and hard work of Masterpon.”

“Meh, meh. So many many days’ hard work...” Tora recollected in a hollow tone. He shuddered and shook his head. Poppi raised an eyebrow at him, and he hurried to stick on an addendum. “All worth it, of course! Tora is engineer and inventor, just like daddypon Tatazo and grampypon Soosoo, and Poppi is Tora’s pride and joy!”

“Aww~!” With a big smile Poppi reached down and scooped Tora up to give him a big squeeze before setting him back down again. For his part, her Masterpon looked rather ruffled and indignant. However much he liked Poppi, it seemed, he did not like being picked up.

The trio made their way across a small bridge and down a curved hallway away from the central cistern chamber, which Tora guessed went in a big loop. He couldn’t think of anything else to say about his own world without getting to extraneous detail, so he turned the question on Red. “What about you, meh?” he asked her. “Friend Red not look like human either. Looks cool but fierce and primal. Like Wulfric!” He remembered the monstrous blade Zeke awakened during the course of his group’s journey, before Galeem. Tora chuckled, his tone somewhat teasing. “Maybe Red big softie on inside like Wulfric too?”

“A sea of clouds huh?” Red could only imagine what that could look like. Endless rolling clouds with apparently giant creatures that acted as countries. “Man all of you guys are making me jealous. You guys and Midna both come from worlds that sound better than mine.”

Tora definitely seemed to be the confident type judging from his actions and speech. Very willing to brag, and if Poppi wasn’t here to counterbalance that she might’ve found him annoying. Though it seemed he had some reason to brag as he created Poppi who seemed to be fully sentient despite also being completely robotic. The only sentient machines they had back in her world had to have someone’s brain put in them. Or at least, that she had seen. Of course that ban on human-like machines made the possibility very unlikely. “So you’re a scientist or engineer of sorts? Definitely useful to have on a team, I'll give you that.”

Eventually the topic transferred over to her which she kind of expected. Though it caught her off guard that he was able to pick up on the fact that she wasn’t human so easily. With his technical skills and now this it seemed that weird speech pattern of his was not indicative of his intelligence and she felt a little bad for assuming so. “You’re right on the mark there. I’m not human, least not anymore.” She debated for a moment wondering if Tora and Poppi would react negatively to her history but figured it’s best to just rip that bandage off like when she told Midna. “I’m something called an Abnormality. Which is basically a really vague term used for a bunch of different monsters that they kept locked up in a facility deep underground. And I had the good fortune of being one of those monsters.” She gave a dry laugh in that last sentence to indicate her sarcasm. “And no, don’t think anyone in their right mind would consider me a softie. Though if you’re comparing this Wulfric guy to me he definitely sounds like someone I’d like to meet.”

Although not the best judge of emotion, Tora picked up on a little of Red’s surprise at him realizing she wasn’t human. Well, humans didn’t have yellow eyes or that sort of charred-looking skin, did they? They again, it occurred to him that she might just be the victim of some horrible accident, and felt a little bad. Luckily for him the mercenary didn’t dwell on it, but instead shed a little light on her world.

She spoke of a clandestine facility for the secure containment of monsters, and of a nebulous ‘they’. Sounded like classical horror or conspiracy material, and not what one expected to hear as someone’s backstory. Poppi looked mournful. “Poppi sorry Red went through that. Locked up in cell somewhere sound like no way to live.”

“Mmm-hmm,” Tora agreed. “Red not seem bad. Probably just misunderstood. People make judgments too quickly, meh.” He stopped, turned to the mercenary, and held one wing over his own chest. “Take Tora for instance. Lots of people look at me and think, aw, cute little Nopon. Funny little team mascot.”

Poppi poked him. “That inaccurate?”

Red couldn’t stop herself from laughing a bit. These two really were innocent if they assumed she was misunderstood after she admitted to what she was. Though she did give a very vague description and it probably was best not to burst their bubble on that. She liked being given the benefit of the doubt like this for a change.

Brushing at his companion’s prodding hand, Tora admitted, “Well, it not totally wrong. But point is, people not take seriously. Nobody look at Nopon and think can be hero. But here Tora is!” He raised a wing into the air, clenched in triumph.

Poppi raised her own fist half-heartedly. “...Hunting vermin?”

“Meeeh,” he sighed. “It just small part of hero journey. We almost to mountain, after all. Soon we have three bosses under belt!”

Crossing her arms, Poppi continued onward, and her Masterpon followed behind. It was about time they got down to business, after all. “Let’s not get ahead of selves. Tora not beat big baddypon if get eaten by rats,” she told him as she went.

“Rats?” Tora looked amused. “Tora beat up ratties any day of week!”

“Hey, every job is a job that needs doing.” Red interjected. “It may not sound particularly hero like but it’s still helping people. Plus we’re getting paid so all the better.” She spoke as she began poking around some of the tunnels. Who knew a supposed rat infestation would be so hard to track down.

They continued to circle around the loop, finding a number of tunnels that led off in different directions. All were too small to allow easy access, so going down any would be an arduous ordeal even without the water flowing the other way--water that Tora could not guarantee the cleanliness of. Instead he looked at the runoff for any traces of an infestation. He spent a while moving along, focused on the streams of liquid, until Poppi tapping on his shoulder made him look up. “Meh? What is it?” When he looked at her she said nothing, but pointed ahead, and when Tora peered that way he realized his searching had been in vain.

Up ahead a black, tarry substance had spread from one of the tunnels to stretch across the main corridor, coagulating into weblike masses and clumps dotted with vile-looking yellow crystals. Near it, verminous creatures writhed aimlessly, and a wriggling, crawling horror suffused by black corruption squirmed on the ground.

Tora blanched. “Meeeh!?” he gasped, disgusted. “What is that? It look infectious!” He pulled out his Variable Saber and turned it on. Its energy beam sprang to life with a vibrant bwowm. “Poppi, switch to fire core. We burn it right out.”

Seemingly in response, however, the corruption shifted. In the middle of the mess a glowing yellow eye opened wide, and it took only a moment to fix on the newcomers. The entire mass seemed to groan, and both the Shadow Vermin and the Crawler became alerted to the exterminators’ presence. Tora steeled himself, wishing it had just been rats all along, and moved in.

And then Tora and Poppi found some sort of strange corruption of sorts. Red smiled under her mask as she looked up and readied her weapons. “But this job just got a lot more interesting than a few rats.”

First things first, she noticed that the corruption on the wall seemed to have some sort of control or communication with the creatures around it so she decided to pour a few bullets into the eye that opened up amongst it. Of course that was no excuse to ignore the minions coming at them too. After being satisfied with the several bullets she fired off she ran after the biggest of them, the horror, and leaped up to bring her axe down on what she was hoping was the creature's head.

A guttural shriek rang out, not just from the eye but the whole mass, as Red's bullets plunged into the orb. A putrescent ocher ichor splashed across black corruption and stone floor alike as the eye squeezed shut. Rather than wait for Tora to take point, however, she threw herself past the rotund guardian to challenge the biggest and most hideous of the verminous spawn. Her axe slid into the crawler's big, rubbery, slimy fore-tentacle without much resistance and parted it from the hole, but if this abomination even had something that she could classify as a head, the fore-tentacle wasn't it.

Laharl had been silent the whole time as he had followed the group through the darkness of the sewer system, now however he couldn't contain himself "Uhahahaha!" the boy laughed loudly drawing attention to himself, a wicked grin dancing upon his expression "I've squashed dissenters more despicable than whatever you are!" Laharl assumed a fighting stance with his fists held forth before the swarm in front of him, then with a flash his fists ignited with the light of burning hellfire before the tide of vermin.



Behind Red, Tora grit his teeth. This was just like back in Parnasse, with the damage-dealers plowing straight into the action before the tank could grab the enemy's attention. This time, however, there wasn't just a single notable foe he could jump in front of and block, but a number of small, potentially contagious monsters that now surrounded his companion. He couldn't spray fire willy-nilly either, lest he scorch Red herself, but he could quit bellyaching and get to work. Tora waddled after Red as quickly as he could with Poppi right behind to channel ether, sweeping aside the vermin with his flame-wreathed energy blade. Its concentrated burning power torched the little freaks in small swathes, allowing Red to worry about just the wretch in front of her.

Unafraid of the risk, Laharl threw himself at the mass of vermin with a sweeping motion of his fist burning several of the vermin caught in the trails of flame his punch delivered and dispatching the creatures that were struck by his blow. One by one each foe that fell to his attack fuelled his power, drawing strength from the defeated vermin. His flames grew brighter and his eyes burnt with determination.



As Tora entered the fray and covered her from the tiny creatures coming up around her. She nodded in appreciation but wordlessly returned her focus to the battle at hand. No matter what impression Red gave off normally during a fight it was clear she always put in all of her effort.

Though she didn’t anticipate what that creature would pull out next.

The crawler in question had flailed its tentacles like heavy whips in an effort to drive Red back toward its kin so they could take her by surprise, but since Tora and Poppi had her back it made its next attack personally. The awful thing reared back into a snakelike position and pulled back its lower membrane, and what Tora saw made him gag. Its entire underside was a vomitous conglomerate of corruption and small, malformed humanoid bodies, scarcely larger than children, and mushed together like sardines. With empty sockets and twisted, yawning faces they stared at Red, limbs weakly waving, and then from the crawler's underside spewed a cloud of nausea-inducing poison.

Laharl seemed unfazed by the vermin biting him but he had to force himself backwards away from the cloud of noxious poison that suddenly spilled from underneath the crawler, he gritted his teeth annoyed by the sickening smell it created. Kicking a few vermin aside with a low growl the boy, clenched his fists tightly as he readied himself to dispatch more of the smaller vermin.

Fortunately his wounds were minor and he was quite resilient to the poison the smaller vermin inflicted on him, so he kept swinging and burning vermin to a crisp while the others dispatched the bigger threat however one still remained...

The crawler's grotesque appearance didn’t bother Red as much as it did her companion. She’d seen far worse creatures back home for this to bother her but that poison gas was gonna cause some problems if she didn’t get out of there. She laid a few rounds into the bottom of the raised-up monstrosity as she scrambled to back up, holding her other arm in front of her face to try and limit her contact as much as she could and hoped the effects were minor.

She backed up to Tora as much as she could. “If you’ve got any good ways of keeping its attention I can get around behind it where that gas will hopefully be unable to reach and I’ll lay into it hard.”

As the mercenary fell back, Tora went in. "That Tora specialty! Here goes!" With the Variable Saber outheld he span around the poison cloud, scorching more of the lesser vermin. Once in range he raked the despicable crawler with a series of fire strikes. He strafed around it to avoid counterattack as he swung, swung, paused, swung, swung, pause, until the foul odor of burnt flesh stung his nose. The crawler did not burst into flame and none of the damage he dealt appeared to be definitive, but he was doing his job. Red could take action unimpeded.

Perfect. Tora was providing just the opportunity that Red needed, plus he was surprisingly good in a fight too. With the distraction In place it wasn’t too hard for Red to get around to the back of the eldritch creature and hopefully avoid the noxious gas. And with this opportunity she practically leaped onto it and started slicing into it as hard as she could, tentacles be damned. If she could get it bleeding then all the better.

A furious barrage of hacks and chops carved chunks from the crawler, whittling it down piece by piece. Even if the freakish thing could have come straight out of a nightmare, it was still a creature of matter at the end of the day, and not an especially quick or durable one at that. The pieces continued to twitch and squirm long after Red parted them from the whole, but soon enough she'd dealt enough damage that the leftovers could inflict more harm. She got off light in comparison, with only a few lashed cuts and a minor poisoning, and Tora fared about the same albeit with a little extra poison in his system.

Still, Tora and Poppi remained alert. The small fry continued to attack, jumping at the intruders in their domain to try and pierce them with stabbing tendrils. With her mechanical reflexes and inorganic nature Poppi lent Tora a hand, and when the pair got enough meter, the Nopon passed the Variable Saber. "Burn away corruption!" Tora called, and Poppi went in. Wings extended from her back as she jetted around, transitioning between fiery slashes and shotgun blasts of concentrated heat. Her assault seared the black corruption, which shrieked and shrank back, until the main eye bulged wide from the pain.

'Now it's time to prove yourself.' Laharl watched the eye, it's pained look a delicious sight for him to take in 'I'll enjoy this so much.' he thought to himself with a malicious grin. Without a second thought he launched himself at the eye with a running start, his fist leaving a trail of flame as he struck the eye with a lethal blow.

The corruption howled as the boy's fist sunk into the eye, his combined heat and strength bursting it in a shower of murky yellow viscera. All around, the black slime scorched by Poppi's efforts retreated. It relinquished the stony ground, stained by its foul presence, foot by foot. A victory--or so it seemed. Tora noticed with furrowed brows that the corruption didn't seem to be dying, but instead retreating. A moment later the oozing darkness fully withdrew into a shelter that lay hidden until now, buried beneath the mass, and as the corruption filled it the heavy stone body began to rise. It heaved itself from the cistern walkway and into the canal with a tremendous splash. A bulky construct of carved stone, dissimilar to the slender metal guardians employed by the Grimleal and out of place with the style of Al Mamoon as a whole, the Corrupted Custodian still loomed over the pest controllers from the canal, corruption weeping from its eyes. Tora's own were wide open in surprise, and he barely rolled in time to avoid an overhead slam that cracked the ground. He slashed at it with the Variable Saber, but the blade of flame did about as much damage as it might to an actual boulder. "Tough customer! Need Poppi Alpha." He warned the others, but as Poppi changed to her defensive form in a whirlwind of ribbons and sparks the Custodian raised its arms to smash the others flat.



With a clear destination in mind Primrose and Panther made short work of the streets between them and the museum the lady thief now knew to be the one from her memory. Sure enough, as it drew near, she found herself staring up at those decadent blocks with the same contempt she felt back then. “Like that pyramid, this gallery -this Palace, really- was born from distorted cognition,” she explained to Primrose as they jogged closer. “This one belonged to a man with a legendary reputation as a painter and mentor, but we found out the truth: that he plagiarized the works of the young students he took in, stealing away their futures. So if we see an old man in a golden robe, don’t be afraid to beat him up!”

After finding the main gate stuck fast the pair came to a momentary standstill. On either side stood crowds of ordinary albeit panicked-looking people, those within eager to get out and those without eager to help, but no amount of manpower seemed able to dislodge the door. Rather than contend with the throng the two hung back by the wall, where a boost from Primrose’s handy Hippowdon got them up and over into the museum’s side garden. For the sake of mobility Panther changed into her Phantom Thief attire upon landing, then hurried toward and around the main building.

They reached the central courtyard just a few moments after Jesse returned Mona’s head to its rightful size, and thus arrived to see the masked feline jumping for joy. It set a jovial mood that instantly put Panther’s worries at ease as she glanced around everyone gathered. Mona, Joker, Skull, and Necronomicon all accounted for, though something was a little different about the alien spaceship she couldn’t quite put her finger on. The last person was a redhead, but as much as Panther missed Futaba, there was no mistaking this woman as both an adult and a stranger. She held a device that took Panther a moment to identify as a weird revolver, but if the others didn’t seem to mind, neither did she. “Hey guys!” she called as she jogged up, waving. “How’s it going?”

“Heya, Panth! Prim!” Skull greeted as the Thieves and their acquaintance turned to face the new arrivals, though for now Skull had eyes for Panther alone. “Whoa, I like the outfit. Makes you look like some kinda priestess.”

Panther laughed. “Oh, is that so? Well, if you’ve got any confessions, I’ll hear ‘em out!”

“H-huh? Now?!” All of a sudden Skull looked a little flustered. “Ain’t that something better said, uh, in private, or something?”

“What?”

“Save it. We’ve got a couple things to take care of, including a job to do,” Joker announced, getting his group’s attention. “First, just to get you two up to speed, we managed to catch this criminal-” He tilted his head at the old scientist, who gave a thin smile. “And apparently he’s worth a whopping thousand gold.”

Panther’s just dropped and her eyes shone. “You for real!? We’re rich!” She wiped the stars from her eyes and composed herself. “And I mean, that’s awesome. I think miss Midna mentioned that bounty, but I never thought there was a snowball’s chance in hell we’d find the guy.”

Thanking Panther with a smile, Joker continued. “Second, this is Jesse Faden, and she was just asking about, well, things.” He then addressed Jesse face-to-face. “And yeah, there’s something strange going on. The world has been engulfed by distortion, a spell placed over every soul. I won’t blame you if you don’t believe me, but that includes you, too. If you want to see the light, I’m afraid we’d have to beat the curse out of you. But that can come later.” He turned until he faced the second part of the Museum of Vanity, its much bigger, opulent, and distorted portion. “Before we do anything else, we Thieves need to search this place. I’ve got a strong suspicion one of our own is trapped here. You can take this man to the palace and hold onto the reward for us if you like, or join us inside while Necronomicon keeps hold of him.”

“So that’s why you came here,” Panther ruminated. “You’re trying to find Yu-, uh, I mean, Fox.” She nodded, eyes determined beneath her mask. “I’m in! If there’s even a chance he’s in there, I’ll gladly go through it again.”

Skull pounded his fists together. “Hell yeah! Let’s leave Madarame a few bruises while we’re at it!”

“Looks like it’s unanimous,” Mona announced as he regarded Jesse and Primrose in turn. “How about you two? Coming with, or heading out?”



When it came time to buckle down and solve the conundrum of the mimic, Sectonia used her newly-gotten knowledge of the area, her own unique abilities, and her royal wit to concoct a simple and effective strategy. It was a sound plan, and one that would have met with eventual but guaranteed success if not for one tiny problem she overlooked, which naturally revealed itself mere minutes into the mission.

As Sectonia lounged around at the outskirts of the operation, awaiting results an antlion returned to her with a long-eared merchant in tow. Even from this distance the irate look on his face was apparent. It took only a moment to spot and identify the big bug that must obviously be in charge of the rest, and the merchant hurried her way. “Hey, these are yours, right? What’s the big idea, sending these things barging into warehouses, hitting all the crates? They’re private property!” he warned her.

Provided the wasp queen promptly went ahead and explained what she was doing, the merchant raised an eyebrow. He took note of both her confusion and her unfamiliarity, taking her to be an outsider, so he crossed his arms and explained. “I guess you must be new in town? Well, ever since the so-called Resistance started pillaging, some Ruin Sentinels got sent over to guard the warehouses. Unauthorized entry provokes them, see? And if the intruder doesn’t leave, they attack. So unless you want your bugs smeared over the cobblestones, you better call them back!”



Trying to shake off the dread that crept over her when she thought of traveling deep underwater, Nadia refocused on her surroundings. Like her the others were trying to figure out this unfamiliar structure and consider the options that lay before them. Some, of course, found it tougher than others. By now Nadia knew she should already expect that, since Geralt came from a time totally devoid of modern technology, he couldn’t make heads or tails of the great shaft at the low point of the seabase. After Sakura tested the acoustic qualities of the pit in a rather endearingly childlike way, Nadia gave the Witcher a hand. “Oh, it’s just an elevator, I think. They’re handy devices that can move ya up and down inside buildings. Just stand on the platform, press a button, and down you go!” she told him. “Just make sure ya hold on, ‘cause this one seems pretty dang unsafe and if you fall off, well...you’re shafted!”

Back toward the main group, discussion briefly turned away from the path ahead to who the heroes might leave behind. From the team lunch Nadia knew that neither former Abyssal, or Link now for that matter, could move around that well on land. Logically speaking Peach could just take the Abyssal from Link, but that hardly solved the whole problem. Shippy, of course, couldn’t even leave the water, much less fit down that elevator shaft.

The same line of thinking occurred to Peach, who preceded Bowser back into the rain. She made for the living vessel, who currently struggled to stay close to the dock without striking it, and waved for the attention of her figurehead. “Hey! “Scuse me! Although we really appreciate all the help so far, there’s a chance we might be able to cross the Bottomless Sea by going beneath. Do you think you’d be able to make it back to Limsa on your own?”

Shippy considered the question seriously. “Maybe. I can avoid any danger I come across, but I would have trouble defending myself if it came to that.” After a brief pause she gave a suggestion of her own. “However, I think I can go underwater myself. I haven’t done it yet but I’m pretty sure I can, since I was given an Abyssal spirit. Although, since it’s only a little Abyssal in me it would be pretty slow, and my composition may not be suited to the water pressure.” Peach took the news into account, but did not expand her options. Monster-infested depths were not something to brave with a shoddy submarine.

Meanwhile, the Koopa King and his Hylian helper had approached the zonked-out guards with a mind to wheedle some information out of them. Nadia watched from the threshold of the seabase so as to put off getting drenched again, and could not help but snicker as Bowser went through an increasingly forceful gamut of methods to wake the two up. Finally, right after he resorted to light slaps, the pair jolted awake to freeze in alarm beneath his glare. With the authority of a man in charge Bowser berated them and their performance, then added a threat to report their misconduct to their supervisor. He spoke and acted with utmost genuineness, but when he relented to await their response, he was taken aback by what they said.

Both babbled their replies in totally unknown languages. The Grineer at least spoke in words, albeit alien ones, but the Scuttler just made indecipherable gurgling and honking noises. Neither seemed eager to try and reach for the small melee weapons, a cleaver and a club respectively, that lay at their feet, but what they told Bowser didn’t exactly help either.

After a few moments of this, a mechanical noise sounded out from behind Nadia, making her jump. She glanced over to where Jr and Sakura fiddled with the terminal’s less-than-perfectly labeled controls. “Nice, you got it working?” But the sudden activation came as much of a surprise to them, which put Nadia on alert. It looked like the confusion with the guards would need to be shelved for the time being. “Uh oh. Guys, someone’s comin’ up!”

She took a few steps back from the edge of the elevator and raised her claws in a fighting stance. Peach readied her weapon and got into position. When the lift arrived a few moments later, it leveled with the floor moaning under the combined weight of a bizarre load of passengers. Rather than jump into a fight, or even move forward at all, the group huddled together for safety, naked fear on their flabby faces. The tension ebbed from Nadia’s muscles as she straightened up. These things didn’t look like they could fight even if they wanted to. They were uniformly about five feet in height and almost as wide as they were tall, pitifully obese mockeries of people with sagging, sallow flesh. For more reasons than that, however, she did not feel comfortable calling them ‘human’. Though there were more than a dozen Nadia could only count three distinct varieties, two bald males and one female with a drab brown bun, and those of each variety were all uncannily identical to one another.

“What are you doing here? Who are you people?” Peach tried asking them, but the strange people only grunted and groaned. Like hogs. The elevator platform creaked beneath them.

A whooping noise went up from a device mountain on the wall and a screen lit up to show an unknown figure in molded sea-green armor that matched the styling of the structure. “Whatever is the matter?” he questioned in a deep, bassy voice. “We haven’t got all day, so get a move on, you...oh?” The yellow lenses in his helmet refocused on the Seekers in the hall. “Well, well, well. As if today wasn’t special enough already. Who might you be?”

Peach hesitated for a moment, but kept in mind everything the others had said. She needed to avoid every fight possible and reason with everyone who seemed at all reasonable. “I’m Princess Peach, and this is my crew,” she told the stranger, borrowing a nautical term. “Who are you? What is this place?”

“I am Tyl Regor, and this is my sealab. But my business here is my own. What do you want?”

“We’re trying to get across the Bottomless Sea to challenge its boss.” Peach Peach kept her tone as polite as she could as she asked, “Would it be possible for you to grant us safe passage beneath the waves?”

“Oho, are you now?” Tyl drawled, sounding amused. “Well, that may be difficult. I am but one of the four lords under the sea, and I hold sway only over my sealab. For now, anyway. We don’t exactly get along, you see. Regardless, the things in these waters are rather powerful, so much so that many could be called a boss, but the boss, hmm...would that I could say it was I, but perhaps you seek the eye of the storm.” His voice betrayed his intrigue. “I...suppose, if you are not here to sabotage my lab or trouble my wondrous Tubemen, it wouldn’t hurt to let you through. In return for a favor, that is.”

Peach put away her weapon. “And what might that be?”

“All in good time. For now, please let my, ah...Guests, pass in peace. I’ve got someone coming to pick them up. Right now, in fact!”

The sound of a horn, long and low, cut through the storm outside. With a glance at Peach and the others Nadia sprinted back up the hallway to stop on the threshold again and peer out across the landing platform through the mist and rain. For a moment she could see nothing but darkness, but a flash of lightning split the heavens, and it illuminated a dark pillar atop a mound--a lone smokestack atop a stony isle, bulling under its own power through the water as it drew ever closer. As baffled as she was intimidated by the impossible sight, Nadia tensed up and watched as the island began to rise. The island became the hat atop a much larger, hulking dome of haphazard metal plates even larger than the sealab’s tower, and Nadia realized it wasn’t an island, but a mammoth ship. As it approached, higher and higher out of the water, a gaping mouth swung open from its front. It came to rest against the sealab’s dock, and within the mouth a portal popped open. Yellow light flooded from within, followed shortly by a narrow bridge extending to the deck. The Guests, as Tyl Regor called them, waddled like herded sheep toward the bridge and made their way up, single file.

“Taken aback?” the sealab’s master chuckled. “It is indeed impressive, though not half as much as my Tubemen. I’ve no doubt that a luxurious stay aboard the Maw would be sweeter -and faster- than plumbing the depths, but my offer still stands. Find me in my atrium below if you’re interested. So long for now~” The screen blinked off, leaving Blue Team to watch the guests climb into the Maw and rethink their options.

Nadia gave a heavy sigh of resignation. “So our choices are, try to sail Shippy through the storm and drown, climb in this weird scary ship and drown, or work our way through four underwater bases and really, really drown. ‘Water’ we waitin’ for, eh?” She crossed her arms and shook her head.

Sakura looked over to Junior, who was 'helping' her interact with the map. He was playing with it, making the hologram go this way and that. "Teehee." She barely surpressed a girlish giggle. Junior was really very cute. But he probably didn't want to hear something like that, so she refocused on her task. Getting close to the console, she rubbed her chin.

"Yup. I definitely have no idea what any of these buttons do." Sakura concluded confidently. Then there was a great mechanical noise. The street fighter blinked in surprise, mouth forming into a small 'o'.

"Did you do that, Junior-kun?" She asked, raising her eyebrows. She turned and awaited whoever was coming up the lift shaft now. What came up disturbed her. These people fit right into the uncanny valley. It was rude to think it, but they looked gross to her. Short, squat, flabby, obviously unhealthy. They reminded her of the tossed out genetic experiments the bad guys back home were always creating.

They looked scared. Peach asked questions, Sakura tried to calm them down. "Uh- it, it's okay. We won't hurt you. What's wrong?" But she didn't get an answer either. It didn't look like they could understand them, or if they could, they couldn't speak any language. Or, at least, one she could recognize.

A man projected himself over a TV screen. Immediately, by the way he talked to these poor creatures, Sakura didn't like him. He cut himself off, but she guessed he was about to insult them. Princess Peach began discussing terms of passage with him. Sakura wasn't sure what to think about this Tyl Regor guy...but he had 'bad dude' written all over him. Especially when he said he wanted a favor, but didn't say what. Yeah, right. That's classic villain material. No way do they want to owe this guy a favor.

Sakura stepped aside, casting a worried glance at the so-called Tubemen. Tube? As in, test tube? She guessed he probably created them...in a tube. That, in her experience, could only mean bad news. It was true that a higher than average percentage of her friend group were genetically modified clones, but the person making the clones was always a bad guy. Only bad guys created life in tubes for their own benefit.

Sakura followed the Guests go, and saw the moving island approach. As it neared, her mouth once again fell open. "Masaka..." She whispered. Tyl Regor confirmed her suspicions- this was the Maw. The massive ship that required a sacrifice to board. The one path that the Master of Masters, the woman she had just dissed aloud, had recommended they take.

"I just had to open my big dumb mouth." Sakura bemoaned. The Maw was also, genuinely intimidating. The poor Tubemen waddled to what looked like their doom.

Tyl Regor left them and Sakura crossed her arms. "Wondrous Tubemen." She said bitterly. "Yeah right. Those are the worst people made in a tube I've ever seen. They're miserable." Now, the Blue Team were left to consider their options. Sakura still hadn't even come up with a real solution to the Bella, Rika, and Shippy problem.

"I mean, heck. What if they just, I dunno, waited here? This place seems safe enough. If those guards could just pass out drinking under a tarp, it can't be that bad. Then we can walk back. Or Junior could set up one of his portals." Sakura suggested.

"And the Maw- I really don't want to go on there. That's bad business. Infact, from what I've been told, it's downright evil. It literally requires human sacrifice as a ticket! This Tyl guy just figured out a loophole by creating things, I bet. If we could, I'd just sink that ship right now and get everyone off." She cast a suspicious look at the massive ship.

"Bella, Rika, Shippy, I think you three would be safer if you just hungout here and looked out for each other while the rest of us moved forward. We take the lift down there, don't owe this creepy scientist a favor and instead just kick his butt, and then we keep going. Through the other three bases until we reach the boss." Sakura used her palm to cut through the air, to illustrate her point, plan, and probably general philosophy in life.

"Anyway. I'd rather challenge the ocean with Shippy and the Atomos then get onboard that spooky, evil ship. The only reason we should go on there is if we want to destroy it, if you ask me." Sakura concluded, crossing her arms, her cat ears pointed straight up.

Though she neither preened or blushed at Panther's compliments, Primrose did wear a smile on her face beneath the dark veil. Even though she and Panther were from completely separate worlds and many times she'd been confused at the blonde's expressions (looking... corn-y...?), in the end Panther was no different from a regular girl. It was nice to just spend time with her, refreshing even. Although, Primrose was sure that beneath their exteriors, that same could be said for the rest of the people in the Yellow Team as well. That inside they were just the same as a normal human. Well... most of them at least.

It was the mention that Primrose reminded her of a big sister that got the most reaction out of the dancer. Her smile softened, and she spent a long time chewing on her own dumpling before she said anything back to the girl.

"Thank you," her voice was quiet and affectionate, "I would be glad if you never had to use that type of trick, but I am happy to teach it all the same. It is much safer than trial and error on your own. And..."

She paused, glancing at Panther from the corner of her eye. A sibling... Primrose couldn't say she know what having one felt like. She had little frame of reference for it either, only Ophilia - and the cleric had her own familial problems going on there. However, if having a younger sibling meant you taught them things and felt protective of them, then she supposed she felt the same way Panther did, even though they'd really known each other for such a short amount of time.

"...well, spending time with you is pleasant." She finished with a casual shrug. Ah Primrose, you are such a soft heart. As much as she tried to keep a stoic appearance, as hollow as she sometimes felt when her grief flooded her mind at full force, she probably would never lose the soft spot she had for kids, especially young women.

The rest of their exploration was peaceful and enjoyable. They finished their free food and walked around the Southern end of the city, chatting. At some point Panther caught sight of something familiar to her, which surprisingly turned out to be the museum that stall tender had mentioned. Another friend might be found there, she'd said. Not Alibaba's other self, but a new one. Perhaps another Shadow...? Well, questions could come later. Primrose nodded. "Another 'Fox?'" she couldn't help but comment, purposefully ignoring the slip of what she assumed was this person's real name. It wasn't the first time she'd heard mention of the Thieve's true names, but if they wanted to keep them concealed then Primrose would oblige.

She followed Panther through the alleys until she made contact with the others, and from there they arrived at the museum.

Vanity is right... The structure stuck out like a sore thumb among it's neighbors, completely at odds with the aesthetic of Al Mamoon. Panther took the time to explain it's origins as they approached. Primrose scoffed, making her feelings about such a man known aloud. "I will keep that in mind."

Since the front entrance was blocked, with some help from her Striker the two women made into the museum another way. The sudden sandstorm that formed helped to mask their actions, though it died out soon after Hippowdon returned to it's dormant state. They found the other Phantom Thieves soon enough - and yet another new face. No man in a golden robe yet. Primrose nodded a greeting to the Thieves and looked over the stranger with them. A human woman, maybe a couple of years older than her. Pretty red hair, and the kind of clothes the dancer had come to associate with "future humans." The kind like the masked teenagers beside them, with foreign technology. She had something like that in her hand, after all. She assessed 'Jesse' while Skull and Panther had their cute, awkward little moment. It was with good reason that the reunion was cut a little short, Joker launching right into a briefing.

"Primrose," she said to Jesse. A brief acknowledgment and introduction, accompanied by an amused smile when Joker mentioned 'beating the curse' out of the woman. Very direct, though just from a cursory look it didn't seem like Jesse was the type to be scared off from something like that. Primrose also noted that it was the second time today someone called her 'Prim.' It wasn't so jarring to hear the second time. Still, no one had called her that nickname since Yusufa, and it brought a weird muddled feeling to the dancer's heart. Overpowering that feeling though was a want to free another friend, and so she stepped towards the Thieves.

"I am a little worried about this situation with the city's two factions, and what might be deeper inside this place." Maybe it was just filled with monsters like the pyramid was, which would be dangerous on it's own - but for all they knew maybe the Resistance had taken up residence inside and wouldn't take so kindly to the group stumbling upon their hideout. They'd have to fill the Thieves in on anything they'd missed as well, regarding that whole conflict. She glanced at Necronomicon, who seemed confident enough that she could keep the criminal constrained there, and at Jesse before she spoke again.

"I will provide support if you will have me," she said. She drew the mask she'd picked up at the market out of her bag, and it's matching accessory. She clipped the watch to her skirt and donned the mask. "Who knew a chance to test this out would come so soon."

Jesse waited politely as Joker met up with his ally, Panther. Then he turned to her and gave her the low-down. The idea that something was once again affecting her mind was a deeply troubling one. So troubling, she didn't want to truly consider it. But all possibilities had to be considered. The idea of getting the 'curse' beat out of her wasn't exactly appealing, either. But, it tracked with her experience. The Hiss also became more vulnerable if you shot it to bits, first. That was just how Resonances worked.

"Well." Jesse said simply, digging the toes of her boot into the dirt. "Great. I'll think about it. Wouldn't be the first time I've put my health on the line for science, though." Jesse thought, remembering the time she put a bullet into her head to get promoted.

"I'd just look real stupid if you guys were trying to mug me, instead." Jesse commented. "Convince me there's some grand world conspiracy, beat the hell out of me and then make off with...my extra hair pins. And my shoes. And I guess, my pocket change." Jesse thought. She didn't actually have that much to steal, now that she thought about it. They couldn't use the Revolver or the Service Weapon. Still, they didn't know that.

"I'll think about it." Jesse concluded, but Polaris was glimmering up a storm.

(Be quiet, you. I know your a fan of just throwing me into the deep end whenever you get the chance. The amount of faith you put in me is both encouraging and annoying. But maybe I don't want to get beat up. Ever think of that?)

One last sassy glimmer from the entity bound to Jesse before going dormant again.

Primrose introduced herself. She was clearly a woman who saw value in aesthetic appeal. Jesse was always a very practical person, so they didn't match up on that front. What they did match up with was very direct and simple introductions.

"Jesse Faden." The Director said to Primrose. "I know he just said that. But still."

"As for the mission-" Jesse began. "Suspicion of kidnapping sounds like a probable cause for searching this place." Jesse glanced over her shoulder at the museum. "Plus, it's been the scene of a crime."

"Plus plus, I really want to see what's inside. Finally, I'm not finished asking about this world-covering distorition effect that..." Jesse glanced over at Primrose. Was she quiet, too? It was getting hard to tell. "Has apparently ensnared me."

"As for my abilities..." Jesse summoned forth her Service Weapon. The sleek pistol twitched idly in her grasp. "This is my gun. It's a good one. Don't try to use it." She warned. "It only likes me." With a wave of her hand she dismissed the gun, the Service Weapon disappearing.

"This is the Tool Gun." She can a sarcastic, appreciative nod toward the scientist. "It does weird stuff. A real eclectic mix. Change the size of things, stick 'em together, summon a balloon." Jesse explained. She thought about explaining her Health Element power, but decided not too. Best not give away her every little secret. Overall she'd gotten better at opening up to people, but best keep a few cards close to her chest.

"I used to be able to do more, but...well. I lost my powers whenever this event began happened. So that's one more point to the theory that there's a distortion effecting me." Jesse summed up. "So, I think we're good to go. Let's search for this missing person. I'll follow your lead, Joker."

”No! Or maybe yes? Is that coming up a good thing?” jr said when accused of activating the lift by Sakura.

”We’re about to find out” Kamek told the prince before everyone squared up to face whatever was emerging from the depths. Turns out that what was coming was a bunch of small and overweight creatures that looked a bit like humans. As human as a certain garlic loving yellow menace perhaps. They had none of Wario’s self confidence however, as they immediately started cowering upon seeing the Blue Team, which caused the troop to drop their guard again.

While this was going on the king was trying and failing to interrogate the drunken guards.

”What. What are you saying? English minions, do you speak it?” Bowser demanded from the mooks he’d slapped awake, but in the end it didn’t really matter as their boss appeared via hologram shortly after, from who’s ire the king may have unintentionally saved them.

”Ah forget it.” the king said to them when the green armored man in charge introduced himself, and then stomped over to join the rest of the team, leaving them to do whatever with themselves. ”Nice place you’ve got here” he added to the talk with Tyl Regor, and again, Bowser was never anything but genuine with these things it was an actual compliment, before listening to what the guy had to say.

They got an offer to trade a favor for access, but they also got a second shot at the option that they’d been trying to avoid, namely the Maw, which reared its ugly head to welcome in the overweight guests Tyl Regor had produced. Unsurprisingly, Sakura was not happy about this and Kamek suspected that most of the others wouldn't be either.

The matter of what they could do about Rika and the rest was still up in the air as well. Sakura offered some suggestions, one of which was Jr paint them a portal out of here.

”I could, but that’d be a one way trip. If there's a whole bunch of these beacons then I won’t be able to make a painting that comes to a specific one. The place I paint has got to be i-coac-... I-cone-... Special. There's only one peach’s castle or smash city or whatever that adventure town was called, so those are easy, but if there's loads of these beacons then the magic won't work. Guess I could try and paint the whole sea, but I’ve no idea where that would make you appear. Maybe back at the river?”

”I could shrink them all to about an eighth of their original size, and then people could carry them. Risky for self explanatory reasons, and Shippy would still be quite large and be a bit trickier to transport” Kamek suggested

“I mean. I don't know if we wanna be a burden like that” Rika said, that being somewhat of the point of her offering to stay behind.

”You’d only be a little burden” Kamek helpful supplied, before steering the topic away from that and onto what their plan should be ”Now as for what we should do-”

”I say we go in and crump whatever creepy things run’s that ‘maw’ ship and take it for ourselves!” The king interrupted, very much onboarded with a warped interpretation he had of Sakura’s not quite suggestion that they destroy the spooky ship.

”Sire, if I may, that may not be a safe idea” Kamek replied

”Yeah it is. Whatever’s in there can't be stronger than the area’s boss, so we can take it no sweat! Then we get a cool spooky ship that can take us anywhere!” the king retorted fearlessly. A little spookiness was nothing to someone who used haunted houses/castles as a line of defense, or at least that's what the king’s bravado told him.

”Because we have been advised not to eat anything in there, food that, if I remember rightly, is supposed to be supernaturally enticing, and, well” Kamek said carefully ” there was that incident with fawful’s super-food that, ah, indicates that you’d be at risk.

”I dont know what you are talking about” Bowser insisted, refusing any knowledge of the time he’d eaten so much fatty food in one sitting that he’d become incredibly overweight, causing him to crashed through, and then get stuck in, the floor.

”I did some interviews to see if we could try and find a way to protect ourselves from future temporary takeovers after the fawful incident, it hadn't worked, it never did ”and the boos can get rather talkative if you know how to deal with them”

”Gah, those leggless jerks! It was all their fault too. They just wouldn't stop serving stuff up” Bowser grumbled.

”You could have just not eaten what was put in front of you, could you not?”

”Look I can't just not...” Bowser began to say, then stopped when Kamek tipped his head to indicate that yes, that was his point.

”Oh. Um. Gah. Well... how about that eye of the storm then?” Bowser said, admitting defeat and changing the subject.

”That does seem to be our target, going by what the Regor fellow let slip yes” Kamek agreed.

”Well. If we know that’s where we’re going, then why don't we just do what Sakura said and fly over the storm to it?”

”Yeah, you could shrink everyone except me so they can all fit on the Atomos, and then we soar over all the storms and stuff and go kick some butt without anybody's help!” Jr butted in, somewhat more hyped about the prospect of being larger than everyone than they were about the potential time saver the trick could provide.

”I’m not sure if it would be that easy. But we could try. Carefully.” Kamek said.

”Feels kinda cheap,” Bowser muttered, having been victim to one to many warp whistles over the years. But it was on the table.

After a minute or two Midna pushed herself off the back of the bathtub. She tried to dust herself off, failed, remembered she still had a rag on her face, removed it, tried to use that to wipe herself down, failed, went and found the rest of the bedroll and finally became slightly presentable.

”Blech. I swear fighting was never this bad before. So gross.“ She complained as she ditched the rags before floating her way back through the halls, finding her entry window and then dropping down out of it, to find that the sound of combat hadn’t gone entirely unnoticed.

”Just dealing with some vermin, nothing to worry about” she told a group of people who approached her, nonchilantly brushing a bit of ash she’d missed off of her shoulder, which didn't do much to improve the fact that she still looked rather worn and grubby ”Don’t suppose you know where I can hand in requests?”

Turned out they did and so, after a few more insistations that everything was fine the princess found a shadow and quickly skipped through them till she reached the commission's office.

She found the facility along the Al Mamoon’s thoroughfare, just shy of the palace itself. Compared to the vast court of officiation housed within, this client-facing facility was no larger than a tollbooth. On the other side of its window sat the lone attendant in the middle of several tireless fans, continuously keeping her cool and comfortable as she worked away at what appeared to be a thankless task. The attendant appeared to be a ordinary-looking woman with glasses in dark professional dress, and the glow of several electronic screens around her cast her face in different lights. Midna arrived to find a small line in place, and one by one each person went up to present an inquiry or request. With incredible dexterity the woman behind the counter tapped on a plastic device before her covered in letters, apparently logging every detail into unseen forms for categorization and addressment.

Once her turn came the battle worn princess drifted up in front of the woman and, after taking a very brief moment to inspect the interesting machines she was using/surrounded, said to her ”Hi. This is the place that handles the quest board requests, right? I’m here about the one about noises in the abandoned temple,”

“Just a moment, ma’am,” the attendant replied, making a conscious effort not to sound bored. She performed some indeterminate action using the devices from beyond Midna’s ken, and in the space of just a few moments turned up just the commission in question, something that could have easily taken minutes of sorting through the document-stacked shelves behind her swiveling chair. “Ah, yes. Mr. Meitenkun’s commission. I’m sure he’ll be happy to hear that he can continued to sleep undisturbed. I have the deposit he left here, provided you can offer some sort of proof as a guarantor that the problem is solved.”

”Here” the princess, who had waited patiently enough for her to finish, said as she lightly tapped the little bit of a shelf of the booth between them with a finger, forming a tiny portal that apperified the four demon spirits she’d collected but not used up for exactly this reason before the woman ”There were three large and frankly disgusting monsters performing some kind of ear grating ritual within. I’m amazed Mr. Meitenkun could get any sleep at all after hearing the sounds they were making. Anyway, they locked me inside the building with them using some kind of magic seal as soon as I entered, so I fought them” she explained, before answering the implicit question as to where the extra one had come from by explaining ''There's four spirits because while fighting them one of them used a dance based ritual to summon yet another of their kind from a portal” before pausing for a moment to see what the woman’s take on her evidence was.

“Mr. Meitenkun is a very heavy sleeper. I had wondered what exactly might be potent enough to keep him up.” The lady quickly registered the new information as Midna delivered it. “Monsters, you say?” She pulled on a thin black glove and took hold of one Nobody spirit with care, holding it close to examine it. “Well. These certainly look dangerous. Rather like some bioweapons I’ve seen. Hands, ribs, giant eyes, the works. And possessing magical abilities too.” Though the attendant gave off the impression of someone very even-keeled, she did not water down the impressed look she wore. It cast the dingy princess in a whole new light. “I suppose the city owes you its thanks for services rendered. If only I could speak for the city. Here is the listed reward.” She unlocked a chest by her feet and counted out fifty gold pieces that she gave to Midna in a small pouch.

Things had sounded promising in terms of getting more out of this than the listed price and then they had fallen rather flat. The slight proud smile she’d had while the sharp eyed woman dissected the threat she’d faced dropped, and she let out the slightest of sighs upon receiving the 50 gold. Then the princess shook her head a fraction to reset her mood. It wouldn't do to direct her disappointment in the merger payment she was getting for risking her life at the working woman herself, it wasn't her, or the original commissioner’s for that matter, fault the reward was so small. So rather than get angry she said ''Thank you, miss..?” and then tapped the desk again to portal the spirits and her cash back to the realm of twilight.

''I don't suppose there is some general bounty for monsters out?” she tried, not expecting much, before adding ''or that you could put a word in with the Vizzar about this? Me and mine are in the midst of negotiating with the man for ownership of a heavily armed train, so anything official on our end of the scales would be helpful” again not expecting much seeing as she suspected Fox was in the midst of planning going under the man’s nose in some way or another.

“You mean the Vizier?” the woman corrected her pronunciation. “Well, I’m not really in a position to talk about negotiations, or how trying to curry favor might go.” She adjusted, then removed her glasses to clean them. “But right now Validar is rewarding people for doing the ‘right thing’. So he might authorize some extra money for your efforts. I can call my boss Eva to tell her you’re looking for extra compensation, if you like?” In a semi-tactful way the secretary let Midna know that she would be acting as a pure middleman in this regard, and not vouching for her.

'Vizier” Minda corrects herself at the woman’s prompting before glancing back to gauge the delay in the queue she was causing and then nodding and asking the woman, who’s name she’d failed to get, to follow up on her suggestion, If it wouldn't be too much trouble?” The princess getting her hopes up just a little but not putting said hopes on the secretary herself.

With just a nod in reply, the attendant reached for yet another device unknown to Midna, a curved piece of metal with a circular attachment on either end, and removed it from its stand. After another couple presses on the stand’s pad she held the thing up to her head, tossing her hair to expose her ear. A buzzing sound began, and while it was in progress she asked, “Name?”

”Minda” she replied, not bothering with the princess honorific.

Another moment more and the buzzing stopped, with the familiar voice of the moody palace skeleton on the line. “Yea? Whatcha want, Ingrid?”

“Hello, Eva. I have someone here named Midna who completed a commission to investigate a disturbance in the old church,” Ingrid told her. “In doing so she fought and killed a few large monsters with magical powers. She wants to request additional compensation for the unforeseen danger and effort.”

“Oh, she does, does she?” Eva yammered, sounding less than surprised. She did not, however, sound upset. “Well, it ain’t my money, and this sounds like just the sahta thing Vali wants people doin’ out theh. What wah they, big?”

Ingrid blinked, coolly recollecting what she’d seen and estimating its scale based off the demon’s biology. “Yes, five hundred pounds at the bare minimum, longer than horses.”

“Scary?”

“They appeared to be grotesque flesh monsters, with exposed bones and bulging eyeballs.”

“Good enough fah me,” Eva decided. “Two hunnad oughta do it. Send ‘em by my office.”

Ingrid Hunnigan replaced the receiver that apparently enabled long-distance communication back on its stand. “You’re authorized to receive two hundred additional gold. I only have deposits here, so you’ll have to go to the palace to be granted the sum from the treasury. Take care now.” She waved at the next person in line.

Now that was more like it, Midna thought. More traipsing around town yes, and it was technically only 50 gold per “head”, but getting some more personal funds was definitely a plus

”You too,” she said to the secretary, before adding ”and thanks for your help” and then swiftly moving out of the way of the others in line and heading for the treasury. She knew where the palace was, and so a few quick shadow skips got her there, then all she needed was to get some directions to the treasury and she’d go get her real pay.

---

The sack hit the desk with a clonk that truly signified its weight, following by the sound of metal sliding against metal within. “Two hunnad gold, all theh,” Eva told Midna. “Nice job, thanks fah doin’ the city a good tahn, yada, yada, yada.” She pushed the reward closer, indicating that the Twilight Princess ought not stick around in the palace’s official court. “Buh bye.”

With this Midna had little issue.

She tapped the bag with a finger and sent it to the twilight ream, gave a rapid fire reply of ”Thank you, your welcome and goodbye” and then she left the palace and hovered up to a a nice secluded rooftop nearby. Taking out her shadow hand to use as a sunshade and using her tail as a little fan while she worked, the princess got to the business of dealing with the spirits of the demons in a place where the seeker’s knowledge couldn't be completed by suspicious Viziers.

The demon's spirits were brought out and crushed, and then the results, along with the sword and trinket, were laid out and examined with a critical, magical, eye to see what, if any, unseen properties they might have.



Though Midna intended to examine each interesting new item in detail, one stood out among all the rest: the cursed sword. In the heat of the battle she hadn’t paid it proper attention, assuming that the disquieting evil aura that just about choked her magic sense a product of the reprehensible Nobodies, but far removed from their presence this sword reeked of dark magic just as bad, if not worse. A part of her recoiled violently from its very touch, as if she’d somehow evaded doom before but grasping it now would surely invite it.

Compared to that, everything else was small hat. Two of the masks gave off a magical aura, but neither anywhere near as dire, and the others seemed purely technological. She picked up a nebulous ominous feeling from the charm along with its low, subtly off-putting song, but what that meant she couldn’t discern.

”Well. You can live in the twilight realm forever” she told the sword, loathing the brief moment she touched it to send it away. She’d thought she could handle dark magics, but that... thing was too much even for her. What madness or arrogance spurred someone to make such a blade she could only shudder to think about.

Really, while the blade was by far the most egregious of the bunch, the rest of the magic items ran a similar thread. The ominousness of the charm was quite as bad, but it was still very suspicious and didn't seem to do anything immediately. Maybe she should keep it on and find out what it did?

”no. No no no no. No. Goddesses I was really stupid to think the horror would be over after I dealt with those things huh” She muttered, and then dismissed the charm as well. All this foul sorcery really was a grim contrast to the sunshine and lively town bustling around below, but also a reminder of the darkness lurking below the surface. There was evil here. She’d been downplaying it in her mind in the name of pragmatism but these things, they were a reminder.

The masks were all creepy as whatever hell the spirits of the creatures had swapped them had come from, but somehow they managed to be not as horrific as the items she’d found around the demons. The blank white mask was only mildly disturbing in principle, but in practice it was somehow the worst. It was also hard as nails and could maybe be used as a shield as a result, but did she really want to try and shield herself with something the size of a face, she thought to herself, unaware that bucklers were, technically, the pinnacle of shield technology. She certainly didn't want to wear it. As the Vizier aptly demonstrated, aesthetics were important.

Worse than the aesthetics, during a touch of mock fighting she did to test the shield idea she found out that that attacking while having it strapped to her arm caused a red flash to light up on her chest that made the bare skin beneath it crawl with an increased sense of vulnerability. Jabbing the spot when it appeared with a finger hurt a lot, and caused a bruise, confirming the sensation. Strapping it to her chest both looked real bad and caused the light to appear on the mask itself which was only something of an improvement. Using the mask as a shield again would let her guard the weak spot, but it would be awkward to do while also striking, especially because she didn't have training in that kind of thing. She also felt like one of those big boss monsters Link would stab in the eye or wherever while doing it, which was not good for her morale.

Also, even if she did trust herself to avoid being stabbed in the chest, she’d still prefer something bigger. A full kite shield like the one she’d had an eye on was a lot easier to use than this little thing, no matter how tough it might be. Then again, it being light was an advantage in and of itself. Of all the items, this one was the one she’d have to think about the most. Rather than keep endlessly mulling it over she decided to check out the other masks.

She wasn't sure how useful the devil mask would be. An intuition told her it would work on ranged spells, but try as she might she couldn't remember the specifics of any she used to know. Testing of that would have to wait till she jogged her memory. Or she could get one of the more traditional mages to test it for her.

As for the final two, she wasn't entirely sure how the technological masks worked, but they seemed like they could be a fancy way to keep you safe from sand inhalation. Much better than the rag she’d used that was for sure. This turned out to be half true. The white one seemed to filter the air, a little toss of sand proved this nicely (and maybe it would even work against finer things?) while the spiky one had two states, one which did nothing helpful while the other made it impossible to breath. She didn't get it, but there were ports on both of them that lead into the mouth and nose section, so maybe there were parts missing? That was unhelpful. Either way, white was better than blades, unless you wanted to headbutt someone.

”Maybe Tora will know how to use them. And be able to make them look less… evil.” she said to herself while looking them over. Cut off parts of the white one, give it a new paint-job, and then slot it into the missing part of the front of the fused shadow? Certainly an option.

An interesting haul from an detached standpoint, a rather skin crawling one from where she was actually standing. There was some dark humor in the fact that technically she now had a free sword and shield that she did not want to use.

”Goddesses,” Minda said, after storing everything for later/forever and standing up to take a look around town to think about what she’d do next, ”I hope everyone else’s jobs weren’t as nightmarish as mine.”

Geralt crossed his arms at Nadia's unnecessary explanation of elevators, shaking his head. "This is like no elevator I've ever seen. Frankly, it might actually be safer than the ones we have." Considering that this elevator was in the middle of a tube and went who-knows how far into the ocean, that was actually saying a lot.

When it activated, Geralt's steel sword left its sheath with a hiss, the Witcher having drawn the blade on instinct, angling the weapon at the elevator shaft as the platform ascended, only for the tension to disappear from his body almost instantly when he saw the mutated, insulting creatures resembling humans. Looking them over, he felt a mixture of pity and anger swelling within him, which paused when they were addressed by the strangely armored man who appeared on the wall. Geralt looked to the others, who reacted as though this was normal.

So he just went with it. Some kind of projection, it seemed. This person referring to the place as their sealab and those...things...as Tubeman made the anger spike as his face fell into a scowl. He didn't like this. It reminded him far too much of the Trials. He remembered how Yen's plan to restore Uma had made the other Wolves feel, especially Lambert. Some secrets were best left forgotten.

Of course, this Tyl Regor person just continued, obviously proud of his accomplishments. And that favor can be me not killing you where you stand, Geralt wanted to say. Wisely, however, he kept his mouth shut and let the others speak.

It seemed they were all of a similar mind. "Frankly, I'd love nothing more to go down there and make sure that monster never creates another 'Tubeman' again, but we've more pressing matters to deal with." Geralt's voice was tense, his words coming quickly and angrily. "I take back what I said yesterday, that ship is clearly the worst option available to us."

He couldn't speak to the merits of the other plans. All he knew was that he wanted to be away from here, as quickly as possible.

Although there were ample reasons to be careful about barging straight into the lion’s share of the distorted gallery, the Phantom Thieves would not be dissuaded from their course, and they were glad for the extra assistance the two women elected to grant them. Primrose’s magical dances, as learned from prior experience, would continue to give them a vital edge in battle, and they’d already caught a glimpse of what the versatile Tool Gun could accomplish in the hands of an amateur. That Jesse would be capable of providing even greater utility, Joker did not doubt. In a brief but almost ceremonious series of motions the dancer equipped her new trinkets, including a mask that made her fit right at home among the Phantom Thieves and left the bare-faced FBC director as the odd woman out. Nevertheless, the entire group -masked and unmasked alike- made for the grand double doors at the far end of the courtyard. The vivid eyes of its swirling peacock feathers stared ruefully down as the intruders as they pushed their way inside.

The minute they stepped into the Museum of Vanity proper, their senses were assailed by the sheer quantity of gold, even in the entry hall. Whether light or dark, be it patterned in staggered squares on the wall or three-winged spiral on the floor, whatever the shade, it was one lustrous color. From countless hanging banners on the walls the goatee-wearing face of an old man stared out, smugly satisfied in his accomplishments. Neither Primrose nor Jesse recognized the Japanese symbols on the banners, but the Thieves evidently did. “Ugh,” Panther groaned. “The only talent that old coot ever had was ripping people off.”

“Stay on your guard, guys.” Mona warned. “We’ve come a long way since this palace but I’d bet you a boatload of sushi it won’t be just how we remembered it.”

Loosening his shoulder, Skull noted, “It’s gotta be in its own little world at least. So we’re free to cut loose, right?”

Joker nodded to both, and at a brisk run, moved forward into a lobby filled with multicolored couches arranged on diagonals among potted plants. Naturally it took only a few moments to run into security. Around the perimeter of the room a few tenebrous, masked guardsmen conducted a semi-professional patrol, pacing along specific routes. There was no sign of any ordinary guests, but on a couple of the couches an equally colorful batch of Tantroni, Suspicioni, and Contrarioni appeared to be in the midst of a heated argument, so the art adorning the walls went unappreciated. If this was anything like he remembered, Joker figured he wouldn’t see anything but Shadows inhabiting this place. On the left and right of the lobby slanted square doorways led in either direction, but a triple row of lasers blocked both.

After a moment's consideration, Joker veered toward the right. “If Madarame has a painter like Fox captive doing his work for him in here, it won’t be out in the open,” he declared. We need to get behind the scenes. Look for staff doors.” While most attention lay on the contentious oni in the middle of the room he led the way to the right. A guard reached the end of its path and turned to head his way, but the dextrous thief darted into cover. How exactly it would conceal him baffled common sense, but somehow he managed to practically disappear into the thin shadow cast by a potted plant, as far as the patrolman was concerned. Even when the guard passed within inches of his shadow it never seemed to notice, as if some supernatural force concealed Joker from its sight or it was just that laser-focused ahead, and it marched right along. Once clear Joker dashed out and made for a vent in the wall, which boasted a conveniently accommodating size. He crouched down and pulled on the grate, but rather than swing open it gave a terrific metallic sound. He winced, knowing it would draw attention. “Difference number one. Vents are sealed.” He glanced at Jesse’s new Tool Gun. “Unless…”

But moving to the next chamber would have to wait. Not only did the two guards come running when they heard the disturbance but the three oni did too. When the monsters ran up the guards melted into pools of shadow, only to reform into a Demon Nut that dragged itself across the flawless floor on muscular gray arms, and a hunting wolf spirit Makami that floated through the air. Together the five monsters faced the six interlopers, letting loose a variety of taunts as they prepared to give them a warm welcome.



In the relative dryness of the open seabase door Nadia forced herself to try and pick the lesser of the evils presented to her. Although absent for the conversation with the black-coated stranger on Inkwell Isle and only tangentially informed by a couple offhand remarks, mostly from Sakura, she got plenty of bad vibes from the Maw all on her own. As best she could tell it was a ship that behaved more like a submarine despite its nonsensical enormity, roundness, and construction. It rounded people up, if the ‘Guests’ that the rather too smooth-sounding Tyl Regor differentiated from the evidently pride-inducing ‘Tubemen’ could be called people, but for what purpose he did not let slip. In fact, his mention of tubes and laboratories made it sound as if he’d raised these waddling things like livestock, which maybe accounted for them being so identical? If Nadia didn’t know better, she would have called them clones. Either way he seemed happy to trade them away as part of some unknown arrangement, and any transaction that involved living beings made Nadia remarkably disinclined to trust either the taker or the purveyor.

That, however, led right back around to the original problem: however sketchy these options were, the team would need to at least confront one of them. Arms crossed and lips pursed, Nadia drummed her foot on the metal floor as her tail swished back and forth. By now she felt pretty confident that her team could handle most any foe thrown at them, but from within the hazardous confines of enemy territory deep below dangerous waters? What if another huge sea monster just decided to bash against the Maw or whatever pipes and structures might be down there? Nadia shivered as the cold wind blew across her wet skin, but not just because of the chill. She decided to listen to what the others had to say.

Leaving Shippy and the Abyssals here would be nice if it worked, but it struck Nadia as irresponsible. “We’re not just gonna leave ‘em here to rot, are we?” she asked. “Plus, is it really safe here? Given the size of this place it’s gotta have a ton of dudes, and even those drunks had weapons. Tyler Gore or whatever his name was could have a field day with ‘em.” It was then that Sakura let fly a few details she apparently knew about the Maw, which soured Nadia’s opinion on the dubious craft even further. “Human sacrifice?” she repeated, bewildered by the sheer laughability of it. No way. No way in hell. And even then she felt only a small portion of the hatred of it that Geralt seemed to. “Pass!”

Bella considered the options given to her, from the practical to the absurd. The very idea of staying put or going home made her unhappy, since that meant turning back on both her newfound friendships and conviction to sulk off somewhere in aimless inaction, all because she couldn’t walk. No. Determination manifested across her features. She wanted to stay and fight the good fight, whatever the risk. But how to achieve that? Kamek’s idea gave her mixed feelings. “Shrinking?” Her mind instantly wandered to who might carry her and how, and her face reddened. “Well. If there’s no other options, then...I’m okay with that. But I’d rather go under my own power.” Bella clenched her fists. “I don’t want to sit around or run away. I can’t just do nothing, knowing you all are out here risking your lives for the sake of everyone. So however I can, I’m coming with you. Even if I have to crawl across the ground, or have my tail drag me.” Her attached leviathan swung around across the surface of the deck with a heavy creaking, as if to show it was more than big and strong enough to get Bella wherever she needed to go.

“There may be another way,” Peach suggested. She held up the Abyssal spirit taken from link, as well as the unclaimed spirit of Chicago. “Both of these spirits could walk. The Abyssal interfered with Link’s ability to do so, but there’s no guarantee that it’ll affect you the same way, and it might be enough to bring you up to par.”

She steadied herself as Bella practically lunged for her. “Please, then! I’ll take them both. As long as I can stay!”

Peach glanced around for any opposition, but there wasn’t a lot of argument that could be made against the Seaplane Tender’s heartfelt plea. To Bella’s relief the princess nodded, saying, “Go ahead right after we wrap up discussion, then. No need to get off track with a lightshow.”

By that time the conversation had taken a violent turn as the party considered employing force, both against the sealab below and against the Maw that loomed so innocently nearby, swallowing the Guests that toddled up its plank one by one. Sakura dismissed negotiation with Tyl in favor of beating her way through the gauntlet of underwater strongholds, while Bowser had a mind to commandeer the Maw. Nadia weighed the possible conquests. “Well, if we’re gonna fight our way, I’d say we’ve got better odds with the lab than that munk of junk,” she declared, twitching an ear at the Maw. “Even if there’s more goons down there and it takes longer, chances are they’re in the same ballpark as those jokers on guard duty. Technology can do some pretty crazy crap, but I’d take a techy place over a magic ship any day of the week. That thing just feels cursed.” She couldn’t boast a sixth sense capable of picking up on such things, but trusted her guts that the Maw was just no good.

Then the idea came up of bypassing both the sealab and the Maw to cruise right over the ocean aboard the Atomos. As much as Nadia liked the idea of just nope-ing right out of this whole dilemma, she somehow doubted that such an approach held water. “That’d be too easy,” she grumbled. “I mean, I’d love it, but no way it’d be that easy. I bet we’d get a mile before some gale-force wind swats us down or sea monster grabs hold.” She rubbed her head with a nervous laugh. “Well, I’m not tryin’ to be paranoid or anything. If you think it’ll work, I’m not gonna just go off on my own. But things always seem to go wrong when people decide to waltz down easy street, right? Like karma, or something.”

Bowser’s proposed assault on the Maw aside, it seemed as though everyone wanted to avoid the hungry vessel at all costs. As far as Nadia was concerned, that made for a pretty clear preference, unless people really considered a skip aboard the Atomos as a karmically acceptable option. She wasn’t about to declare the matter settled, though. Instead she watched as the eager Bella took in the two spirits at once, and transformed in a swirl of light.

Everything about where they were going was absolutely alien to the amphibious swordsman, Glenn had remained silent since Blazermate had mended his wounds from the previous battle but now seeing such a strange place the swordsman was at a loss for words.

Truly was such a feat possible to build a structure at the seas floor? Surely that was madness, such a thing shouldn't be possible! But then again it seemed that beyond the walls of Limsa the world was a much different place with many different places that exist, still though this Tyl fellow must be a madman to think about putting a place to research things in the ocean.

"What'ere tis below," Glenn spoke up finally "Tis naught natural nor safe, we hath best be on our guard." reminding the others that it may not be the best idea to just storm the place beneath the inky sea with no end.

@DracoLunaris

---

Link cocked an eyebrow as the pair of sleeping minions were roused from their drunken slumber and started babbling in an language entirely unknown. "That's new." He said, relaxing as it didn't seem like either of them wanted to go for their weapons. He had just taken it for granted that the two of them would be understandable if they were willing to talk.

The mystery was discarded as a loud whoop cut its way through the rain, drawing their attention back towards the sea lab and the elevator therein. Thinking that the building had finally noticed their intrusion, he stumbled in to catch his first look of the lord of the laboratory and his frightful creations. At the very least the grotesque, bulbous people didn't seem outwardly hostile. If anything they were a bit vacant as they filtered past the seekers toward the doors.

The end of their journey soon appeared, rising out of the sea just off the platform. A monstrous boat the size of the island, a gaping maw hungry for its guests. The man in the green armor confirmed as such. So that was The Maw. Just like that, they were placed at the crossroads.

First, though, there was the matter of Shippy and the Abyssals. Sakura offered the suggestion the Junior could just warp them away, which Junior informed them would be a one way trip. "Even if its one way, I think you should send Shippy home at least. I don't like the idea of leaving her at the mercy of a man willing to feed...something like that." He said, giving a sour look toward The Maw. "Just give me time to go and get all the supplies out of the hold if we do."

Even if he disliked the thing itself, though, he still found himself agreeing with Bowser's plan again. "I say we take take on The Maw. We know hardly anything about either of our options, but there are three things pointing me in that direction. The first is that that monster out there defiantly feels like the greater of two evils and I would really like to put an end to it. The second is if we take The Maw then we're free to go wherever we like. And last, the woman in the black coat must of known about this lab if she knew about the Dead Sea and she still suggested the Maw. If she wants us to succeed, then that means The Maw is likely a safer path than traversing this underwater labyrinth."

He would ultimately bend to party consensus, but he had been of the mind to take the Maw since he had first learned of the option and nothing he had seen today had changed his mind.

Sakura scratched her head as she listened to Junior's explanation of his portal magic. "Iconic?" She offered as he struggled to find the right word. It didn't really make much sense to her, but, it was magic. It probably had a bunch of weird, bizarre limitations like that.

Both of the Abyssals didn't want to be a burden, which Sakura had forgotten to consider. Bella especially wanted to be helpful. Which, Sakura understood. When Ryu was in danger she threw herself into the fray regardless of what would happen. Now she knew how the others felt when she did stupid stuff like that. But, then again, Bella and Rika weren't being stupid. Sakura just didn't want them to get hurt because, well, they couldn't walk.

"Shrinking..? I dunno. I watched a movie about that one time, and it didn't go well. Maybe there's another way?"

Bowser offered a very interesting idea. It wasn't exactly what she had in mind, though. "Well. I guess it's not impossible, but...I mean, I don't know how to sail. Does anyone know how to sail a ship that big? What if it requires, like, human souls as coal or something? It's super duper evil." Sakura watched the Tubemen waddle up the plank. "Poor little guys..."

Kamek and Bowser had a back and forth that made Sakura giggle. "It's okay, Mister Bowser. We all get an appetite sometimes."

"And getting on the Atomos and flying over for a very long time- I know that was my idea. But I agree with Miss Nadia. If all we had to do was fly over the storm, then the Master of Masters lady would have just said so. Plus, that's putting, uh, all of our eggs in one basket. If anything goes wrong, we'll all be in a giant metal box that'll plummet into the sea like a rock." She shook her head, grimacing. "No thanks."

Bella figured out the solution to her problem. She would merge with some spirits. Over time Sakura come around on the entire concept, even if it made people look weird. That wasn't a problem for Bella though! If anything, it just made her look cooler. "Sugoi! How do you feel?" She asked Bella, jogging to her side.

Geralt offered his thoughts, and so did Link and Frog. It looked like the two plans were either taking on the lab, or taking on the Maw. Nobody wanted to ride on Shippy anymore, it seemed, which was good. The sea water was going to get ridiculous and poor Shippy would probably be capsized. "I think Shippy's earned a vacation. She should re-unite with Mister Brineybeard." Sakura said. Despite the fact that the boat could talk now, Sakura kept thinking of her as a pet. She was a vehicle, wasn't she? If she had a captain she probably often didn't want to have much of a say on where she went.

"Well. Either we go down there and beat up some mad scientist, or we go on the Maw and stop it from eating people. Both are pretty heroic things to do and also help us on our goal of getting to the area boss. We really don't know what to expect from either one. That's just how it goes, though. Wouldn't be an adventure without some risks! If all of us wanted to play it safe we would have just stayed home, huh?" Sakura said, smiling anxiously. "As long as we stick together, we'll make it work."




Jesse Faden didn't notice or care that she was the only one with an uncovered face, but her overall aesthetic definitely clashed with the rest of the colorful, masked group.

Skull noted it would be appropriate to cut loose, which was good. At the very least if the shooting did start, her Tool Gun would make non-lethal takedowns exceptionally easy. Just inflate their hands or their arms or whatever- it didn't matter. But the high caliber bullet-less bullets of her Service Weapon would always be more effective.

It seemed Joker wanted to take the silent approach. There were shadowy guards that were familiar in a way to Jesse, and also these weird colorful, very angry demons. The art was actually pretty nice, so it was too bad there was no one inside capable of even looking at it.

Their task remained clear- search and rescue. Joker's stealth was aided by super natural ability, which was good, because otherwise he would have gotten caught. But even that ability couldn't save him as he pulled metal against concrete. Only after making a huge noise did he pause to consider the capabilities of Jesse's Tool Gun, which she had already drawn. The Director frowned.

Bypassing the vent would be pointless, as now they were under attack by a multitude of monsters. No time to escape without getting pursued. Even the guards transformed into a pair of hostile creatures.

Instinctually, Jesse strafed to the side, drawing her sleek Service Weapon from the Astral Plane. It vanished just as quickly as she reached out with her right hand to one of the couches the oni had been sitting on. With a great amount of speed it surged towards Jesse, right through the oni, in prime position to knock their top-heavy forms to the ground. For a brief moment the Director paused as the couch floated next to her.

"Here we go." She said, a small smile on her face as her most useful power made its return. Then she pushed her hand forward and the couch slammed into the oni. Two hits for the price of one- drawing the couch in didn't take Energy, only throwing it out.

Once that was settled the Service Weapon was out. Jesse held its handle in both hands and put the Tantroni in her sights. Semi-automatic pistol fire rang out as she pulled the trigger. No casing or shells were discarded from the Service Weapon, and no physical bullets were fired. Only lethal streaks of light that carved through flesh and concrete with more effeciency than any firearm on her Earth. The noise and the recoil would certainly fool someone who wasn't looking close, though.

Jesse was a mobile gunfighter, continually moving to the left at a brisk pace away from the others. She drilled into the big, colorful targets with her effecient handgun after smacking them twice with a couch.

The princess concurred with freeing those still under Galeem's spell onboard, but mentioned waiting for a safer location. The Cadet nodded but wondered where exactly could be considered safe in the area. Maybe the place with the beacon they were sailing to was was like a weird lighthouse, calling out safety to those trapped on the dark ocean.

As Shippy cut through the water towards their destination, the conversation about monsters carried on. There were a lot of good points brought up, most of all Link's mention that they all seemed to have different definitions of the word. The Ace Cadet let out a long hmmmm sound as he considered that. Of course he didn't think that Rika, Bella or the Bowser family were monsters, since they could talk and think. The others mentioned, Blanka and that wolf man, more than likely the same went for them. Even back in his own world there were plenty of Lynians that no one would consider to monsters, even the more violent and primitive ones. So did other worlds have a much more loose definition? Maybe because most of the population of their worlds didn't have to deal with giant, dangerous, actual monsters on a near daily basis? Even the herbivore monsters could cause some massive damage if they were left unchecked. He didn't voice this thought, though when Link countered that if BB was a monster it would eat his leg, the Cadet laughed.

"If it was big enough it'd definitely try," he said, reaching down to ruffle the tuft of hair on BB's head. The minion snorted and bucked it's horns, shuffling away a little. "This one's a baby. I've seen the adult version and it's straight up vicious."

---

They seemed to make it to the beacon's source in good time, and the red haired hunter had long ago finished his work of stripping the tentacles when they landed and found basically no opposition on the rainy little rock. While Bowser berated the watchmen outside, Cadet ventured in with the rest of them, not wanting to miss whatever it was they found there. Inside he was completely out of his element but at this point taking it in stride and just looking around at the architecture, technology and especially the map that was pulled up. At some point someone activate the lift - or maybe it activated on it's own - and whatever threat the Blue Team thought would emerge turned out to be a group of harmless, sad-looking people.

"Weird place," he muttered. Of course soon after a face appeared on a screen and things got more strange. So there was a labyrinth under the water with a bunch of people, 'bosses,' that they could fight their way through to get to the eye of the storm apparently... or, they could test their luck with the vehicles they had now, Shippy and the Atomos. Shippy did mention she could dive under now, but would that be enough? Or... would they have to take the third option just happened to dock on shore?

As soon as it appeared and Tyl disappeared, the group gathered and launched into a discussion. What should they do? Which way should they go? Finding a way to take down the evil ship from the inside as a few mentioned doing did appeal to the Cadet, even if it was dangerous. Like Nadia though, he wasn't about to try and split the group up. That was probably the worst thing they could do here. It was also probably wishful thinking that they could all make it through on the Atomos. Even with Kamek's offer to shrink them all solving the space issue, what if they were struck down and all stuck tiny? Then they would definitely die.

The hunter scratched at the back of his head, perplexed on what would be best, but he did offer his opinion to the group at large.

"We can't just leave people that are right in front of us, can we? I mean, focusing on what's just best for a few definitely leads to the path of evil. And didn't that lady mention that it came inland sometimes too or something? What if there are people besides those tube guys stuck onboard?" The recent focus on justice the Cadet recently acquired was showing that his opinion had flipped from the day before as well. Where before he was all for finding an alternative route, now he was thinking that the Maw might be the path they should take - if just to try and help those trapped in it. "If we invade the Maw we might be able to save anyone still in there, and bring the captain to justice... plus it's probably the fastest way to get to the storm's center."

He sighed, realizing something while he was speaking. "But we won't be able to help anyone if we all get hurt. I think we can do it if we keep working together! But if everyone thinks it's too dangerous then we'll find another way." He didn't even entertain what might happen if they died on the ship, what with Sakura's eerie comment about the thing running on souls lingering in the air.

---

Mirage found glee in the fact their assault on the weird bone-creature had yielded an easy defeat, but the situation afterwards had been a very messy one full of chaotic scrambling, retreating, and talk amongst the others. Retreating had been a bit of an issue for him, but he reasoned it to himself as 'permanent tactical repositioning' as compared to their goals, it seemed even those creatures were just mooks. Big mooks, yes, but side-content none-the-less. Holstering his weapon, he grew concerned about his little egg friend below, and went down to the hold (which smelled like nothing but bananas for the most part) to check in.

Thankfully, despite the commotion up on deck, things had remained mostly safe down here. Mirage's little nest of loot remained unharmed, with his little egg friend intact. The man plopped down, picking up the egg and looking at it from different angles in his hands. "Man, what a scene." He commented to himself, thinking of the battle. They'd gotten nothing out of it... Or, well, maybe that wasn't entirely true. Mirage noted the size of the egg in his smaller hands, the knowledge of spirits in his mind. He was feeling a bit more comfortable in this new body, though the source behind it was weird to think about. Aw, man. How many people knew how those spirits worked? His expression shifted with concern as he laid the egg back into the makeshift nest, wondering if what was inside was just fated to be a spirit for something else to absorb one day.

Shaking the thought away, Mirage noted that it was more reason to keep it close. With him it wouldn't be fodder for some bigger monster, it'd have a buddy! He'd have a buddy. Though this venture was obviously dangerous, so he'd have to make sure and keep this little guy safe when the time came. Learning more about the world from the Seekers and perhaps seeking strength from Spirits would help him ensure the egg's safety and his own success. He wondered what the others looked like before all of this? He thought a few of them looked weird, but maybe it had been Spirits that did it to them. Considering he was essentially a little pale goblin now, it wasn't a farfetched guess.

"What's going on now?" He questioned, as it began to sound like people were disembarking. Shippy seemed to be in place somewhat, so perhaps they reached that landmark they spotted earlier? Quickly, he patted the egg before making his way back up top, deciding to join the others in case there was another beast to face. Hopefully on dry land, this time!

Popping out, Mirage quickly made his way to join with the others. He mostly observed the surface area, noting Bowser and Link seemed to have the little guards handled, though if there was another threat eyeing them, he'd like to know first. He was a tad concerned with the situation: It seemed they might be able to travel underneath instead of by boat, and that left Shippy in a bit of a predicament. He noted the egg on board, but considered the fact that whatever was ahead would be more dangerous than being along with Shippy. Carrying it everywhere was risky, so maybe it'd be best to keep with Shippy since there was food aboard and everything. Maybe enough the little creature wouldn't cause a problem on board.

Regardless of that answer, the sound of whatever access to the lower part of the structure there was caught Mirage's ear, and he turned with a hand on his weapon at Nadia's word. "I guess the cat's out of the bag that we're here, sheesh." Mirage exclaimed with a slight tiredness, but prepared himself regardless, as there could be a fight coming up that lift.

The weird... Creatures? That emerged from the lift made Mirage confused, but he didn't drop his guard. Though they looked helpless and huddled together out of what he assumed to be fear, he didn't want to risk them springing out at him or anyone else. He let Peach do the questioning, prior maybe thinking of himself as a somewhat intimidating (and handsome) crewmate who'd shoot without hesitation: But these things were equal or a little taller than him now, and that was... Frustrating, for sure. But being short could be deceiving! He was more of a scrapper than they'd assume, right?

Mirage took a step back at the appearance of a strange individual through the use of a machine; A sort of hologram, of subpar quality mind you, but a hologram of someone nonetheless. He listened to the talk of 'four lords' and the talk of passing through without a problem. As Regor asked for a favor in return, Mirage glanced over with a skeptical look. _{"Never good when a guy won't make clear on a favor..."} He commented quietly, before the loud sound of a horn nearly caused his eardrums to burst. Curious and not wanting to stay behind with the weird 'Tubemen', he followed after the group to look at what was happening.

And that was probably not a great idea. As he witnessed a sight that left him (unadmittedly) wanting to cower. He let out an 'Oof'! as one of Tyl Regor's guests bumped him as they made their way directly to the horrifying ship before them, with no hesitation. Tyl Regor then gave them their options, and seemed more than eager to have them board the ship as well. Mirage wanted no part in it, as Nadia joked about their current situation.

The debate went on, with multiple opinions hitting with clear intent. Some of the logic didn't hit Mirage; They seemed to know more about this ship than he did, and Bowser seemed to personally want to take it down. And Link was with him on it. That being said, Sakura seemed to like the idea of kicking that Regor guy in the face. Which wasn't something that Mirage particularly could argue with, but both sides seemed very dangerous.

"I really don't know as much as you guys, but this ship is really giving me some bad vibes." He spoke up, being honest on all fronts. "If that Teal Reegor guy only had those two mooks out here, then maybe he's relying on his location to keep him safe. But we'd have to deal with these other 'Lords' too, possibly, who could be stronger in other ways..." He crossed his arms, feeling conflicted, and a little under informed. "Whatever we do, it's a good idea to make sure Shippy's safe, even if that means sending them back. If we board the Maw or go under the ocean, leaving anyone behind in these conditions is asking to lose 'em." He decided to just leave it at some final thoughts: "If you guys are more informed about this ship, maybe we should raid it to help those inside. I'm kind of in favor of the sea base, but I can't argue if we're leaning towards the boat. Either way, I'm coming along."

'Hah... I hope I don't end up a sacrifice for this ship, or something...' Mirage thought worriedly, still not liking the Maw, but he wasn't about to get left behind due to being stubborn. There were two evils here, and it seemed they could only handle one. This seemed like a big decision, and he wasn't quite sure if he should have a big vote in it, considering his newbie status. Thankfully this situation wasn't too tense; Everyone seemed reasonable with one-another at the moment. So there wasn't as much pressure to choose a path even if he didn't like it, or something.

"Garish," the dancer murmured once everyone had stepped into the gallery. That was really the only word that came to mind when Primrose took in the decor. There also seemed to be portraits of who she assumed to be the curator hanging everywhere. Primrose had no doubt that this must be the same man that Panther had advised her not to be afraid to beat up. Though she doubted that she'd somehow stumble upon him alone, she committed his face to memory all the same.

While they hadn't been there long, Primrose got the impression that the space didn't have many guests, if any at all. That would be perfect if it was the case, so that they could get through with as few run-ins as possible. After all, Primrose was a dancer and really wasn't suited for traditional stealth. It was a good thing too that even though the gallery was a part of the museum outside, it did seem like a separate space altogether. 'Cut loose,' Skull said. They didn't need to try and conceal their actions from the citizens outside.

She hunkered down with the group, surveying the area. Although Mona mentioned it might be different than what he and the other Thieves might expect, they all would still have a much better idea as to the layout and which direction they should head. As it was, Primrose only watched for signs of movement. She kept careful eyes on the monsters she could see while Joker ventured forward. Unfortunately they didn't so much as spot the crew as they did hear Joker's attempt to pry the metal grate from the wall. Now they all approached. Primrose stepped back, putting enough distance between herself and the monsters that she'd have time to perform a dance if she needed.

A group of enemies all at once called for a wide-range spell however, especially when they took the time to taunt first. Primrose wasted no time conjuring her magic, though Jesse was the faster of the two women. When the furniture was ripped from it's spot and hurtling towards Jesse only to stop in midair beside her, Primrose held her breath to make sure that it was the other woman's doing. She had no idea what kind of abilities Jesse really had, but with her clothing and that weapon from earlier Primrose hadn't assumed she had power like that. She breathed out once the couch flung back out. With her usual flare Primrose swept her hand out towards the monsters, focusing on getting as many within the scope of her spell as she could. A deep purple circle formed around the crowd of enemies.

"Stand back. Night Ode!" She called, a brief warning for her allies to avoid the dark ring of magic as it exploded upward in the interior space.

As one might expect, no revelation leaped from the woodwork, but Band played as patiently as he listened. In the shade cast by the awning of the Hound Pits pub the minutes went by to the tune of cozy noontime jazz. Many citizens passed him by, some with a curious glance at the new musician putting a little soul into their lunch breaks. Every now and again someone stopped in front of him to listen, to listen like stethoscopes to a few of the beats from Big Band’s big heart. Fewer still dropped a coin or two in the metal inspector’s hat, but ever so often one fell nonetheless, the first few in silence and those afterward adding a little golden percussion as they clinked off the forerunners. Band cared more for murmurs than money, however, and needed no encouragement to validate the music that flowed through him, so used the clatter of currency in his hat as a way to pass the time.

It was after the eighth coin that something unusual caught his eye. A group of three coming from the south toward the pub. A young man with white hair, glasses, and a coat as red as his eyes that he wore off the shoulders led the trio, while a woman with striking pink hair and a blue overcoat followed behind. Around the two milled a little girl in red with blonde hair and long ears. A strange group with no common denominator save its relative youth, Band observed. They could harbor no conceivable relationship, and even them being friends seemed rather unlikely. Yet the kid displayed no distress, which put a sock in any notion of kidnapping. As the trio passed him by, the little girl turned a face of wonderment his way, but the young man put a hand on her shoulder. “Come on, Klee,” he told her, purposefully not looking Band’s way. “We’re almost there.” She looked sad but allowed herself to be led off into the Hound Pits. Band knew it served as a restaurant as well as a bar, but two youngsters taking a little kid there further solidified his curiosity. He attuned his instruments to listen in.

After a few moments of recalibration, during which he made some meaningless adjustments to his saxophone for the sake of any onlookers, he started up his lowkey song once again, and started to eavesdrop. “....course stupid bird-legs had to go and kick him. What a mess,” he heard what could only be the pink-haired woman saying. “That’s what I appreciate about you, you know. Not going overboard every chance you get.”

“Whatever,” a male voice replied, belonging to the white-haired guy. “You talk about me behind my back too, whenever it’s you and Cass? And keep your voice down, will you? Don’t need anyone figuring out we know her ‘til things blow over.”

A small voice then piped up, which Band guessed came from the little girl. “Um. Mr Mao, can I have some pizza? Back home Jean would let me have some of her pizza from time to time, and it’s my favoritest thing!”

“That’d take too long.” Mao, as the detective noted his name to be, did not sound quite as harsh as he did when talking to his other companion. “We’re just here so miss bubblegum here can wet her whistle.”

“Hey, can’t a girl be thirsty?” Bubblegum protested. Although probably a nickname it worked well enough in Band’s head to identify her by. “My throat was parched from all the running!”

That seemed to annoy Mao even more. “Maybe it’d be fine if you didn’t yack so much, ever think about that?” He took a deep breath and allowed the edge to leave his voice. “Anyway, we’ll come back and have a pizza later, okay Klee? After you hide your treasure.”

“Okay!” That seemed to convince the small girl. Band played on, ruminating over the information as the trio lapsed into relative silence. His instincts told him something wasn’t right about these three after all. Mao and Bubblegum clearly didn’t get along, and only the former seemed to care much about little Klee, unless Mao was somehow in charge. It reeked of forced cooperation, a happenstance arrangement orchestrated by a third party for some purpose. All of a sudden Band felt rather like seeing what Klee’s treasure might be.

A few minutes later the trio left, and after they disappeared around a corner to the south the detective abruptly rose from his kickstand, surprising the woman who’d stopped to listen to him play. “‘Scuse me, sugar. I’ve got giant steps to take.” He took hold of his hat with a mechanical pincer, emptied its contents into his waiting pouch, and then replaced that hat atop his head. After a tip of its brim he was off.

With a veteran’s grace he tailed the strange trio, putting the absolute maximum distance he could afford between them and him at all times. Given his size and distinctive appearance they would absolutely be alerted if they saw him even once, but they never did. Klee’s frolicking kept the others’ attention from wandering too far. He followed them to and a little ways up Al Mammon’s main street. Just before a small building, little more than a tollhouse, by Band’s standards, they split up. Mao and Klee headed down the alley between the tollhouse and neighboring building, while Bubblegum yawned and leaped against the toll house itself in a way that barely made it look like she was guarding the alley.

Band seated himself in the shade of an open-air cafe for discretion.. “Iced tea,” he told the man behind the counter, who nodded and poured him a glass. For a handful of minutes he reflexes, alternating between taking sips and peeps, until he spotted the trio leaving. They headed back the way they came. Band kept cool until the three disappeared from his sight, then dropped a gold piece on the counter and got to his feet. He stomped over to where the strange group separated, noting that the toll house appeared to be some type of small commissions office on the way, and went down the alley.

Sure enough, right behind the building he found some loose tiles sprinkled with dirt. He crouched down and removed the tiles, then dug at the disturbed earth with the edge of a french horn until he found a box. A quick dusting revealed letters scribbled across its top in red paint. “My treasure,” Band read aloud, and with delicate pincers he opened it. He let out a long breath that made his pipes sing. “Tsk. This little girl of mine…”

Inside the box was a bundle of bombs. Unfortunately for him, they appeared to be magical, as they sported no technology of any kind but pulsed red every now and then as they stretched and contracted slightly. Although presented with fascinating evidence he kept a lid on speculation for the time being, and considering that these magic bombs appeared to be primed to go off some time in the near future, thought instead about what to do right now.



Nobody expected combat to begin with the bang it did, courtesy of Jesse. Two of the oni bowled over, as surprised as they were angry, when the woman pulled a couched into them from behind with potent telekinesis. The Thieves watched, impressed, as she then smashed it into the irate ogres’ fronts too, rolling them away with a few brand-new breaks and bruises in the midst of a storm of unintelligible curses. Angriest of all was somehow the untouched Tantroni, but he ran Jesse’s way when he should have been counting his blessings, since she plugged him the next moment with a handful of shots from her Service Weapon. Its bolts blasted black essence from the oni with each hit, dealing significant damage, but if anything the oni got even madder. With a lot more gumption than Jesse gave it credit for, it performed a flying punch to close the distance as she strafed sideways, and struck her arm. It didn’t really hurt, but at its cursed touch Jesse’s temper instantly flared red-hot, but it did not by any means put the two on an equal playing field.

Meanwhile, Primrose called upon her magic with a characteristic dance, strategically waiting just long enough for the bludgeoned oni to get to their feet and run up alongside the Makami and Demon Nut. Then she unleashed her dark magic, blasting all four at once, and the Thieves followed her example. Joker came down with a vertical slash through the Suspicioni’s eyes, Mona dealt a rising slash to the Makami that fluttered its entire paper-like length, and Skull pulled a shotgun from literally nowhere to pump the Demon Nut’s eye full of buckshot. His weapon’s report resounded through the room as the demon swung its muscular arms, landing a glancing blow to Skull’s shoulder. “Ow!”

“Hey, watch the gunfire! We don’t wanna pull reinforcements!” Panther warned him. The Makami lunged for and bit her but dealt only minor damage. After pushing the paper wolf away Panther pulled from her Lamia side to unleash Ominous Words. “Sssuccumb to your dessspair!” she intoned, and a purple wave struck the Makami that stopped it in its tracks. It sagged downward, every ounce of fight gone from its body. Mona wasted no time calling upon Zorro to whip up a concentrated whirlwind, but even after getting torn up by it the Makami didn’t resist as Mona sliced it in half with his scimitar.

As Joker pulled his knife from the disintegrating corpse of the Suspicioni he summoned Arsene to kick its buddy away, but the wily ogre used the weight of its head to dodge out of the way and sock Joker in the guts. “Guh!”

“Nahah! Didn’t like that one, didja?” the Contrarioni taunted.

An impulse rose within Joker’s gorge, as undeniable as vomit, and he couldn’t help but let it out. “I liked it plenty,” he heard himself say. “Arsene!” His Persona went low and punched high in a dizzying uppercut that sent the oni into the air. As it came down Arsene let fly a powerful roundhouse kick that shot the little demon right over Primrose’s head and into the wall behind her where it smacked into one of the Madarame banners and plopped to the ground.

“Nice one, Joker!” Panther called.

Once again he felt himself claim the opposite. “That wasn’t anywhere close to ‘good’,” he told her.

“Uh, okay?” Rather than consider that any further, Panther went to help Skull with the Demon Nut. Though the demon was strong, the boy could take a hit or two, and was using his speed to batter his hard-shelled foe with relentless swings from his pipe. “Dance, Carmen!” At her bidding her own Persona appeared to throw a blazing fireball at the nut and roast it alive.

While it flailed, Skull took his chance to jump forward and stomp on its shell. He reeled back for a full-power overhead swing. “Batter up! Hyah!” With a mighty crack his pipe caved in the front part of the shell, and the monster opened wide. Rather than try to finish it off himself he stepped out of the way to let Panther shoot a fireball of her own into its mouth and torch its innard for good. The demon began to dissolve, and the two thieves shared a high five.

Joker and Mona came over, and provided that both Jesse and Primrose finished the oni they’d been dealt, the team reunited after the brief scuffle. “That went pretty well, huh?” Mona grinned.

“Not even a little,” Joker admonished him, before clapping a hand over his own mouth. Now everyone was looking at him, and it made him want to die inside.

“What are you talking about? You’re being really weird all of a sudden. Did one of them brainwash you or something?”

“No, I’m not!” Joker insisted, pointing toward the ashes of the oni Primrose took care of. “That one must have done something to me.”

Mona rolled his giant eyes. “Hold on a minute. Zorro, use Me Patra!”

“I won’t, let’s go.” Joker declared, but he stayed still, red with embarrassment. As the cat’s Persona cured him, he shook his head, grimacing. “Yuck. That’s a nasty curse.”

Skull nudged him in the ribs. “Hey, at least it was just a curse! Some people just contradict everyone naturally. Ain’t that right, Mona?”

“Uh, no? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Now fully recovered, Joker steered the conversation back on track again. Luckily the party-wide Me Patra cured the Tantroni’s curse on Jesse as well, leaving her as temperate as ever, and Joker looked to her for a hand. “These usually just swivel open. Can we have you no-collide them whenever we go through?” he asked, allowing her to lead the way through the vent.

A short time later, the group reached the next room. They found the vent exit right behind a bench that prevented the grate from being opened, but no-collide worked just as well on the furniture as it did the metal cover. The team emerged to come across a large square room with walls dominated by giant paintings of nature. This apparently necessitated extra security, and the entire room was divided into nine equal subsections by rows of lasers higher than anyone could jump, with just about a foot of clearance between each laser as well as the bottom laser and the floor. Four guards patrolled the room clockwise, walking right through the lasers that promised to zap or at the very least detect anyone without the total immunity they seemingly enjoyed. As for hiding places, Joker could only see benches scattered along the edges and plant pots closer to the center, both of which would stretch his team’s hiding ability. He did notice one other detail, however, and in a whispered voice he relayed it to the others.

“We can go inside those paintings,” he told Primrose and Jesse. He pointed to the wall on the right. Each one depicted a scene of a desert, while those on the left showed a forest, and the far wall an ocean. Corner subsections each featured two, one for each wall that met there. “We’ll be able to move through to any of the same theme.” His gaze narrowed at an employee-access door on the far side. “That’s our goal. Problem is, there’s no painting in the far middle. Lasers in the way. And the guards could probably see us jumping in and out of the paintings.” If only, he reflected, he had his grappling hook. Nevertheless a few ideas swirled in his mind, but he wondered if Jesse might be able to come up with anything using the Tool Gun.





As the prismatic lightshow faded and the dreary, storm-clouded shadow took back over, a transformed Bella was left to blink a few times and shake off the light dizziness that accompanied the change. She noticed that it took a bit more strength to lift her arm, on account of the large gauntlet that now covered it, so that she could run her fingers through the pale yellow, spiral ringlet that lay on her bare shoulder. A moment later she noticed with a start just how much of her now lay bare and how much she now had to bare. “Eep!” She squeaked, hurrying to cover her midriff and chest, which her new gauntlets managed handily.

Nadia couldn’t help but giggle at her bashfulness, although she knew it wasn’t exactly fair of her, being so desensitized to such a state owing to her own manner of garb. She watched Bella redden as Sakura approached, noting the cute dynamic they seemed to have. Still blushing, the Water Princess tried to compose herself and answer the question. “Um...a little, um, exposed. But…” Tentatively Bella took a step forward, and then another. When she set her feet down her knees did not wobble and her legs held firm. Even if she would need a few moments to come to grips with her new sense of balance, she could walk, and the realization brought a joyous smile to her face. “I’m stable! I can move on land! That means...I can be a hero with you guys! Aaaah!” The Abyssal squealed in delight and sized Sakura in a full-bodied hug, squeezing the smaller woman from side to side. Only after a moment did she seem to realize where her auto-pilot had taken her and turn beet red. “Oh! Pardon, pardon!” She released Sakura and scooted back, covering her face in her massive mitts while her leviathan tail scraped back and forth across the deck like a dog’s.

As adorable as the exchange was, Nadia turned her attention away and back to the matter at hand. The last of the Guests disappeared into the nightmare vessel that represented one option, while the hallway behind her led to the other. Although for the moment no consensus had been reached regarding which path to take, everyone seemed in agreement that whichever future lay before them, Shippy was not in it. Nadia added her own agreement to the others’. “Yeah, poor Shippy’s suffered enough. No ifs, ands, or butts a-boat it. I’m sure Briney wants to see her too.”

“Sounds good. I’ll let her know.” Peach confirmed, then headed out across the dock, with her parasol a dainty but appreciated shelter against the rain. She got as close to the spray-spattered edge as she dared before waving to Shippy. “Hey! After talking about our options, we think you deserve a break, and should probably make your way back to Limsa! Please be careful on your way back!”

The figurehead of the living vessel nodded. “Okay, I’ll do that. I can’t wait to see the Captain again. Thank you all for protecting me as best you could, and good luck on the road ahead.” She pulled away from the sealab’s landing pad and took off. In only a few moments Shippy was on her way toward clearer skies and safer waters.

Peach jogged back toward the Sealab’s structure. As she approached, the screen blinked on again, showing the gathered heroes the metallic visage of Tyl Regor once more. “Still lurking at my threshold?” the scientist intoned, seemingly incredulous. “And here I thought you would have decided already, to get out of the rain if nothing else. My offer, after all, was more than fair. If I didn’t know better, I might think you were talking behind my back…hm?”

Suddenly he turned away in response to something offscreen, something that made his relaxed manner go rigid. “Wait, it’s coming now~?” he exclaimed, his voice a little muffled by its direction. “Are you sure!? Then we’ve little choice. Close the bulkheads!”

Just a moment after he gave the command, an alarm went off in the sealab interior, and giant metal plates started to slide together over the elevator shaft. At the same time the front door received an override and began to close as well, alongside reinforced plates. Regor turned to face the Blue Team members once again. “Sorry ladies and gentlemen, today just got a little too interesting for my blood. Now everyone, out of the pool! Unless you fancy being trapped!”

Being in the doorway already, Nadia dodged out of the way of the closing doors and back into the rain with a yowl. Peach hurried out of danger as well, calling, “We can’t all make it inside! Come on!” Spurred on by the knowledge that something was coming, unknown but terrifying enough to put the Sealab into a state of emergency, everyone gathered together in the center of the circular dock with eyes in every direction. After a couple seconds Nadia spotted something that left her with little doubt: a number of enormous red lights that gleamed through the low clouds and rain, growing more intense as their owner got closer and closer. Closer inspection of their movement, however, suggested that they must not actually be that close--instead, the source must be much, much bigger than it appeared at first. A horrible, bone-rattling groaning noise, like the shifting of titanic machinery, swept across the Sealab, and Nadia’s ears flattened against her head in fear.

In the end, she never saw exactly what it was. Nadia only ever caught a glimpse of a mountain of dark metal that made the Sealab’s upper portion look like a toy in comparison, followed by a wave of golden energy that surged outward from the colossus’ body. She was powerless to stop it, but when it struck her it left her surprised, for it exhibited no effect on her body. The same could not be said for the Sealab. At the wave’s touch its lights, systems, and even beacon blinked out. So did all of Blue Team’s electronics, everything with circuitry, including the Atomos and Blazermate herself. The whole area was plunged into darkness, except for a singular source of light: the open mouth of the Maw. Somehow, the accursed vessel was immune to whatever it was that so effectively knocked out all sophisticated technology. Peach screamed at the top of her lungs to be heard over the steely bellow that shook her crew to the core. “The Maw! We gotta take shelter, get to the Maw!”

“Don’t gotta tell me twice!” Nadia ran like her heels had wings, kicking up water with every stride even as her feet scarcely touched the ground. She hurtled up the Maw’s gangplank a moment before it began to retract, forcing the whole party to double-time it to get inside. Bella put her newly strengthened legs to work by sprinting up the ramp, and by the time Peach got there she needed to jump to get onto it as it pulled higher. Only grabbing Blazermate and saving the Atomos (via Kamek’s shrinkage and Bowser’s strength) gave anyone pause as they ran for their lives. Once up the gangplank there lay a short metal catwalk with railings that led straight ahead, and one by one the heroes barreled down its length and threw themselves through the light at the end.

“Oof!” Nadia landed on a slippery wooden floor streaked with rainwater. For once she hadn’t managed to land on her feet, having not known what to expect of the Maw’s interior. The spotlight that faced out through the doors had just about blinded her on the way in, and now that she was past it it cast the rest of the room in darkness. As best she could tell she now sat in some sort of parlor. Portraits lined the walls overlooking plush red sofas of an antiquated style, interspersed with little wooden tables bearing vases, flowerpots, and stoppered jugs. Square lanterns that gave off only a soft yellow glow hung over a long, floral patterned rug that led from one door to the other at the parlor’s far end, beneath a balcony on the floor above. It was a paper screen door oddly enough, the kind that slid open. She found neither hide nor hair of any Guests, but presumed they went through that door. Overall it seemed nice, at least for now, as the Maw’s hideous reputation lay at the very forefront of her mind.

As the last of Blue Team hastened aboard the Maw’s giant mouth slammed shut and the spotlight turned off, leaving nothing but darkness behind them. Nadia got to her feet, hackles raised and wary. The whole vessel began to move, both down and away from the Sealab and the unknown titan alike. She tensed up as the lights flickered, only to inwardly chide herself at being so fidgety. There’s enough to be scared of without jumping at shadows. she thought as her eyes wandered toward the second floor balcony. Then she froze as she realized there was a person there who had not been there before.

Bella gasped as she noticed too, which was enough for everyone to take note. From the balcony a slender woman in a dark brown kimono stood stock-still, her done-up black hair atop a white porcelain mask. Creepy, Nadia observed, and not a good sign of things to come. Though Peach instinctively reached for her boomshot, she composed herself to call up to the unknown figure. “Who are you? Are you the master of the Maw?”

For a moment it looked like her words brooked no reaction. Then, with a dignified slowness, the woman nodded her head once.

Peach swallowed. So this was the person in charge of the ominous vessel that demanded human tithes. This woman certainly gave off an unnatural air already. She wondered if the others would just start attacking, and though she felt the same urge herself she held out a hand to tell them to hold their fire. If this person meant them no harm, and could get them across the Bottomless Sea, it was worth thinking twice about trying to kill her. And didn’t her team just learn not to pick fights in this dangerous place? No matter if the nightmare in question was big or small. They had to see the pragmatism in it, at least for now; justice could wait until later. Peach found her voice. “Pardon our intrusion. We seek passage to the eye of the storm,” she said, only just now wondering for the first time if whatever that titanic thing outside was had actually been the region boss. If the guardian was just the biggest thing around, she had a hard time imagining that it was anything else, but she hoped not nonetheless. “Is...is that alright? We won’t be a bother,” she said weakly, speaking on behalf of the group’s more volatile members.

The Lady remained silent. Nadia thought her head tilted ever so slightly to the side, but a moment later the woman raised her sleeves. Spindly fingers extended from within, and the feral heard the soft clap of hands.

Below her, the paper door slid open wide. Whatever Nadia might have expected, it wasn’t this. Two demonic creatures with the lower halves of snakes slithered through into the main room. The monsters fanned out to either side of the door at a peaceful pace, their hands clasped together innocently, and in the lamplight the heroes got a better look at them. They sported crocodilian flesh, necklaces of threaded skulls, and elaborate hoods. Within the darkness of the hoods were concentric red diamonds in perpetual motion, shrinking toward a single central point. Only after a moment did Nadia realize that she couldn't avert her gaze from the mesmerizing display within one demon’s hood. Panic welled within her as she tried to move, only to find her muscles sluggish and unresponsive. Her sudden energy ebbed away; she felt sleepy, and the others faded from her view. “We’re getting…” she garbled in a daze. “Hypno...tized…” Any moment she felt as if she’d hit the deck, down for the count. But that thought filled her with rage. After all she’d been through, how the hell could she go out like this? With all her strength she dug her teeth into her lip, trying to keep herself awake with the pain.

For a moment she was fighting it, pulling herself back from the brink. Her fingers balled into fists, and she took a step forward. Then the hypnotic diamonds were replaced by beams of scarlet power, blasting each and every member of Blue Team. A strange feeling overtook her, like being immersed in an unknown liquid, and all the fight left her body. The floor fell away beneath her and she began to fall Nadia’s senses were overloaded. She could make sense of nothing. Everything faded to black.

---

How much time went by she couldn’t tell. In the darkness she didn’t move, or think, or dream. She only awoke to the some clatter nearby with a flinch, and groaned as she nestled deeper into her pillow. “Agh, ten more minutes, c’mon…” She settled in with a sigh, ready to nod off again. Then her eyes snapped open.

“Whah!?” she sat bolt upright, rubbing her eyes. As the bleariness cleared, she found herself smack dab in the middle of a big bed in a huge, dome-shaped room. Beyond where she sat she saw books, tables, chairs, pillows, shoes, and other personal objects and furniture of every stripe, heaped around the strange chamber like a giant junkyard of household items, with no visible floor. How far down it went she couldn’t fathom. How she got here she could only begin to recall. “I was...falling? ...Dang, good thing I landed here.” She rubbed her head and scowled as she remembered the demons. “Yowch. These people ain’t kitten around. At least I’m still alive.”

When she checked to make sure, however, she quickly found that something was wrong. Her outfit was different. Her arms, her legs, her everything--it was all short. The cuts in her arms were gone. “What the!?” She leaped to her feet but didn’t rise much. In a state of shocked disbelief she looked herself over, arriving at an indisputable conclusion. “I’m a goddamn kid!” she yowled at an embarrassingly high pitch. “I’m a tot! I’m tiny!” She wore a ratty pint-size t-shirt and shorts, just the sort of refuse that a homeless alleycat couldn’t say ‘no’ to. Nadia held both hands to her head, distraught. “Is this pun-ishment for all my childish jokes!? What the hell!”

“Ms Fortune? Is that you?”

Nadia whipped her head in the direction of the noise. She spotted another child stuck beneath a few cushions, a tiny girl with orange eyes, white skin, white hair, and an equally snow-white dress. A metal creature little bigger than an actual snake reached out from her back, trying to pull her free. “Oh, gosh. You too, Bella? At least it ain’t just me. Hold on!” Pushing aside her predicament, Nadia scampered over to help. She started pushing and pulling on the cushions and quickly found that she had only a four-year-old’s strength. “Crap! I’m crazy weak, dang it. Hang on a moment.”

Bella tried to smile. “Don’t worry. It’s pretty comfortable here actually, so it’s okay if you take a moment.” She extended her own stubby arm to be pulled by, looking mighty perplexed. “What happened to you? You look so...little.”

“Something turned us into kids!” Nadia growled as she took hold of the hand and pulled, her toeclaws ripping into the blanket. “Hey, can you wiggle around or something?”

“I’m trying!”

After discussing bounties and odd jobs, Yoshitsune decided that he'd go to the palace to get more information about those jobs. It seemed most of them still required the use of his swords. The scam artist, though, did not.

After looking closely at the poster, he headed towards the residential district, using a map he found to keep on track. Finding the residential district wasn't hard. Finding the scam artist, however, took some searching.

He spent some time on the hunt checking each street, ally, and park, but whoever it was who didn't want to be found was quick to get scarce upon seeing someone so obviously searching for something out of the ordinary. Eventually, however, something out of the ordinary found him. Just as he rounded a street corner that featured a tall, fancy lamp post, a man dressed head to toe in blue denim sprinted right by him, just barely dodging out of the way of the collision. Yoshitsune got just a split second to look at him, but despite the dyed blond hair it was enough to tell not only that the runner was Japanese, but also that he was absolutely terrified.

"Fraud! Huff! Swindler! Huff! Stop right...huff! ...right there!" Came a bellow from down the street, from the same direction as. The swordman glanced over to see a huge man barreling after the blue-clad backpack-wearer as fast as his legs could take him. With a stunning combo of blond whiskers and pompadour plus cow skull and horseshoe accessories he cut quite a figure, but it was easy to see why this pursuer wasn't gaining ground on his quarry. He swept a hairy arm to the side, gesturing for Yoshitsune to move, lest he be squashed by the onrushing one-man stampede. "Gang way!"

Yoshitsune was quick to pursue the swindler, easily passing him on his wheels. "Stop!" he yelled in Japanese, instinctually reaching for his swords that weren't there. He continued speaking his native tongue to the man, hoping he was right about him, "I can catch you anywhere you run, thief, so I'd think twice about taking another step."

At the new voice the runner looked back over his shoulder, and he did not like his chances when it came to being chased by someone with wheels. "Hey, gimme a break! I didn't do anything illegal!" Nevertheless he grit his teeth and swerved to the left. He entered a narrow alley cluttered with rubbish, a bicycle, and other miscellaneous items sure to be trouble for a pair of tires. Although not in good enough shape to climb up anything he hot-footed it over the junk with respectable speed. As the big man rolled up he realized that the alley was a lost cause and continued onward, headed toward where he thought it would let out.

Yoshitsune, using a modified wall-run ability, was able to speed down the alley at a higher speed and altitude than the man he was chasing. With the first chance, the samurai leapt down in front of the man, trying to block his escape.

Just when the runner was about to escape the alley to freedom, the light at the end became blocked by that crazy wall-riding psycho. But he couldn't turn back now, so rather than slow down or run away he tried to go straight through. He tackled Yoshitsune head-on, and the two men blew out of the alleyway to land on the street in a tangle of limbs. The runner pulled himself free and got halfway to his feet, only to get body-splashed by the big man from before. He went straight down, his back to the pavement, and from his backpack spilled a handful of video tapes. His pursuer knelt down and clapped a big hand onto the fallen man's chest to keep him there, huffed for a moment, and then grabbed one of the tapes. "Ushio!" the fellow began with the miscreant's name. "I thought you were pretty smart, but how 'n the hell d'you think this'd work out?"

Ushio tried to look indignant. "Hey, there's no law against selling animal bang videos! It's educational stuff, you know. Biology!"

"Doggone it Ushio, I don't care how educational it is, you were callin' it 'uncensored porn'!" Unfazed by Ushio's excuses, the big man shook his head in admonishment. "We don't need any dumb, hot-to-trot kids buyin' that crap, an' we don't need anyone sellin' it!" He slammed a fist down on the ground to emphasize his point. "Now cough up the gold you tricked off those kids. I gotta hand it back after I turn ya in!"

With an annoyed look, Ushio reached down and produced a bag of coins. When the big man took it, however, he lashed out with a pair of brass knuckles and caught his pursuer in the side of the head. "Gah!" he grunted, instinctively raising his other hand to the wound as he staggered. Ushio hopped to his feet, preparing to flee.

Yoshitsune climbed back to his feet beside the scam artist, only to jump back in surprise as the huge man knocked him back over. After taking note of Ushio's name and why the other man, who Yoshitsune thought was built much like Benkei, had been chasing him, he sighed and grabbed the dazed Ushio. "You take care of the kids. I'll take him to the guards. Less for you to deal with." Turning back to Ushio, he spoke in Japanese again, "Make one wrong move and I won't hesitate to slam your head to the ground, understand me?" The low growl in his voice showed just how serious the swordsman was.

Instead, Ushio lashed out at Yoshitsune's grasping hand with his brass knuckles. The metal weapon dealt a painful blow to the swordsman's fingers, not breaking anything but still demonstrating that it would take more than words to convince him. "Go soak your head!" he spat.

Using all his speed, he reached for Ushio's head. For the criminal, it would pass in a fraction of a second. The samurai was not only fast but strong enough to deliver on his warning. The next thing Ushio would know is he's laying on the ground and the back of his head is in extreme pain from the impact. Yoshitsune knelt above Ushio, his hand still on the swindler's face. "You were warned," he growled as he stood. "On your feet."

"Guh!" the runner groaned, unable to fully respond thanks to being mildly concussed by his surprise rendezvous with the ground. When Yoshitsune pulled him, however, he did not resist, but stumbled into a standing position.

The big man stepped up at that time, holding the part of his forehead that Ushio's brass knuckle bloodied. "You're a fast one," he complimented Yoshitsune. "Good job. Wasn't thinkin' he'd go for knucks." He crossed his arms as he looked the miscreant up and down. "This guy's Hirotaka Ushio. It's true he didn't break the law, technically, but it's still shady as hell, and someone's itchin' to give 'im a stern talkin'-to." He then faced the swordsman, appraising him. "I'm Goldlewis Dickinson. You can hand 'im in to the Grimleal as long as ya save me a piece of the pie. I went through all the trouble of findin' 'im after all, even if you're the one that bugged 'im. Meet ya there in thirty?"

"Minamoto Yoshitsune," he nodded with a small but friendly smile. "I'll wait for you. Just one question. Where is the Grimleal?"

With his wheels locked, Yoshitsune began walking Ushio to the Grimleal and waited there for his new ally.

A half hour later, Yoshitsune's wait at the temple of Al Mamoon's unloved peacekeepers came to an end. Owing to his new acquaintance's larger-than-life presence he spotted Goldlewis well before the big man trudged up the temple stairs, and with a nod he followed the swordsman inside. It took only a couple minutes for the acolytes on duty to sort the two bounty hunters out and furnish them with their reward: four hundred glittering coins.

Goldlewis was handed the sack, but as he and Yoshitsune turned to leave he immediately began to split it. When he divided the proceeds into two lots, the shares were uneven. He set aside three hundred for himself, and offered his accomplice one hundred coins even. "Here," he said, holding out the pouch containing the portion he felt he owed. "For the help."

Yoshitsune took the coins as he spoke, "Would it not be more fair to split the coins evenly?" While he wasn't really needing the coins, thanks to his own currency, he felt it was dishonorable for the man to short-change him. "Or is there a particular reason you need more coins than I?"

"Not a question of need," Goldlewis explained, eyebrows furrowed. "Question of what's fair. I did all the work of trackin' 'im down, then 'ad to go and find all the kids 'e sold that crap to to give 'em back their money. I appreciate your help, but in the end ya punched 'im once, then dragged 'im over here. So I figure I deserve a li'l more of the reward."

Yoshitsune nodded softly. "I see your point. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time to help catch him. Are you staying in town?" He glanced in the direction of where he'd last seen the group gathered, hoping some of them had been successful with their jobs as well.

With an appreciative smile for his cohort's understanding, Goldlewis completed the split and pocketed the lion's share. "Yeah. Was in Midgar for a hot minute, but with the upcomin' election things got a little too fiery for my tastes, so I hightailed it out here. I've been on the Grimleal's payroll since I came, helpin' 'em 'round town."

"Anything you can tell me about the Grimleal?" he asked, the lack of knowledge being very apparent.

"Grimleal? Well, uh..." Goldlewis stroked his whiskers. He stared off into the middle ground, giving Yoshitsune a good look at his glasses. The left eye was blocked by a black plate, and it bore a red kiss mark. All in all, a stylish substitute for an eyepatch. "They pay me to fix stuff that needs fixin' anyway. Plenty of folks complain 'bout 'em, but I've got nothin' bad to say. Like 'em or not, they'll scratch your back if you scratch theirs."

With a nod and a glance back at the temple, he began heading for the spot where the yellow team split up. "If you want to join the team, we're open"

Although Goldlewis didn't have the foggiest about Yoshitsune's team or who he meant by 'we', he waved the samurai off. "Take care!"

With a wave and a nod, he sped off with his coins back towards the others.

In the end they spent two much time arguing, and the universe decided the timer bar for making the conversation choice had run out and promptly moved on without them. A titan of metal, greater than any of the monster they had seen so far, approached, driving the base they had been thinking about entering into crisis mode and a lock-down, sealing them outside. Worse, they’d just bid goodbye to one transport, and the other, the Atomo’s was reduced to a giant paperweight by some kind of power disrupting all machinery.

ahhhh! Jr yelped as his clown car’s propeller suddenly died and he and Mimkyue where unceremoniously dropped to and then tipped onto the ground. At the same moment Rika also was dropped to the deck as the gauntlets she used to support herself stopped doing so and instead became arm weights. Blazermate had it worst of all as she dropped to the ground, seemingly lifeless. Only the fact that she didn't poof into dust was evidence that she wasn't straight up dead.

Entirely appropriate panic gripped the group as the titan bellowed at them with deafening sound. Peach commanded that they take the only sane course of action: as insane as it was to do so, they should make a run for the Maw.

”But my ship!” jr cried out as he pulled himself out of his car and realized that they might have to abandon the bricked airship to be destroyed by the titan.

”kamek, shrink it. I’ll carry it. Jr help the girls!” Bowser ordered, stomping towards it to do his part of the acction

”But i have to carry my car as well!” Jr retorted as Mimikyue jumped back onto his shoulder

”Put it inside the airship and I’ll shrink everything!” Kamek shouted, an instruction that was quickly followed. The clown car was tossed into the open hangar of the airship and then with an incantation of ”Happening right before your eyes, a ship made a more portable size!” Kamek fired a sparkling bolt out of his wand, which struck the airship and rapidly shrunk it eight-fold to the size of a small car. Then the Koopa king picked up the airship and carried it, and two micro pigs that where now trapped with it, towards the maw. Meanwhile while Jr tired to haul the limp Blazermate along with him wile Kamek, and a copy of himself, grabbed Rika’s two gauntlets and hauled them upward, acting as supports and allowing the woman to run for the maw along with the others.

Possibly with a fair bit of help with their respective cargoes the Koopas just barely made it inside the maw before its entryway slammed shut behind them. There was hardly time to catch their breath however, as while they may have escaped the giant robot, they went out of the woods yet. Indeed perhaps they had just entered the woods, and found them horribly haunted, for awaiting them was the slender mistress of the vessel. Peach attempted to negotiate a peaceful stay upon the vessel and, all burdened down by their various cargoes, the troop didn't stop her or start a fight.

Things seemed to be going well right up until they didn't, which occurred when the rather creepy creatures the lady sent out tuned out to not be chaperons and instead to be hypnotists.

”Oh not again” Kamek managed to groan, before they all whited out.

---

”uurgh” jr complained in response to something bapping his face and then drowsily rolled off of the pillow he’d landed on to try and get away from it. And then kept rolling. And rolling. All the way down the pillow pile till he hit the blanket beneath with an ”oof”

”WHAT! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT MINION? WHERE ARE JUNIOR, AND PEACH, AND AKMEK, AND EVERYONE ELSE!?” Came a voice that was on the edge of throwing a tantrum to which jr was forced to keep listening to as he waited for the stars dancing around his dizzy head to go away.

”Sire, I am Kamek” the person being yelled at insisted, barley audible when compared to the yeller.

”WHAT! NO YOU AREN'T! JUST LOOK AT YOU, YOUR JUST A REGULAR OLD KOOPA CHILD” the angry one retorted.

”Magikoopas do not come pre-wrapped in blue robes when they are delivered by stork you know. You have to earn those through years of study and dedication to the magical... Oh. Oh dear” the far away voice said before fading out and being replaced by a much closer one called out “mikyu?!”

Jr looked to the side and found Mimikyue racing down the pillow pile towards them, though the pokemon was for some reason missing her now distinctive metal parts and looked exactly like she did the day he had caught her. With a final hop down she stopped in front of her trainer, cocked her false head to the side in prepexion and then proceeded to bap him in the face with a shorter long limb again to try and get his attention.

”Yeah yeah, hold your Yoshis, I’m getting up. Nice to see you too Mimi. What happened to your bits?” he asked as he sat up, to which he got a shrug and then a grumpy harumph from the pikachu mimicking pokemon who was very annoyed that her electrical powers had been stolen from her.

Jr, still a little dizzy, waited for a moment for mimi to take her traditional spot on his shoulder and then, not noticing anything amiss with himself, walked round the pillow mountain a bit till he found the source of the voices that had been arguing.

There he found 3 people:

A generic koopa child, standing surprisingly firm despite being yelled at.

Jr’s mirror image, the only difference between him and them being that his double’s bib/bandana was blank, who was doing the yelling.

And sitting passively on the ground while the koopa and doppelganger argued was a small pale human wearing an oil black one-piece swimsuit featuring a white strip on the chest with symbols Jr did not understand written on it (in a style Sakrua might have recognized from her school swim classes if it had been blue) and a wee pair of booties who also had glowing blue eyes, short black hair and had a pair of gauntlets, that looked a lot like bizarre metal sock puppets, covering her hands.

”THEY HAVE TOO! HOW ELSE WOULD YOU TELL THE MAGIC ONES FORM THE NORMAL ONES!” The other Bowser Jr was yelling at the young koopa before jr intervened with a confused ”Um? Hello?”

”Young Master! There you are!” the young koopa gasped and cried out with surprise and delight upon turning to see him while the doppelganger took a few moments to catch on. When they did they too were delighted, calling out ”Junior! There you are” before running over and giving the still perplexed Jr a relieved hug.

”Huh? Who? oh. Papa?” jr said, figuring it out at last as the last of his dizziness went away.

”Yes it does appear we have been de-aged by those awful creatures, as well as having any spirits we have fused with or employed stolen as well. And we have quite possibly been skunk on-top of all that? Or perhaps this palace simply enlarged? Or designed to look like it is enlarged? All of those have been things that I've seen happen, so it’s hard to tell which it is” The Koopa who was ”Kamek?” speculated and then nodded to confirm his identity.

”Also that is Rika over there” Kamek also pointed out. The girl didn't react, prompting the koopa to add ”That’s your name, remember?”

“Oh? Oh right. Hello” the girl who had her name written across her chest said, with a voice lacking much of the personality it had gained over the past 24 hours, before adding simply that “I still can't walk very well”

”Gah, am I going to have to carry everything today!” the mini Bowser complained and then ignored Rika’s insistence that no, it was ok, they could just leave her here if it would make their lives easier as he picked her up and gave her a piggyback ride in an ample demonstration that koopa royalty were just built differently than mere commoners.

”Wait, so why am I still the same?” Jr asked while that was happening.

”It seems we have been set to a specific age rather than having a set number of years taken off. Otherwise I would still be mostly the same while you, well, you wouldn't exist. As it is, I think if we had a measuring tape we would find you would have lost a an inch or two, but that is about it”

”What! Gah those big jerks I’m going to kick their butts so bad next time we see them!” Jr declared, having been immensely proud of every inch he had gained since he’d started measuring himself.

”Well be sure to give them a few kicks from me, as I, like Rika over there, won't be much help in the butt kicking department. I mean, what am I going to do? Slowly walk into them?” the mage made a frustrated sound at the mere thought of relying on such physicality.

”Alright that’s enough dawdling, let’s go find the others!” Bowser announced and, along with his piggybacking cargo who found it in herself to enjoy the ride, started to match off in a random direction in search of the rest of the party. Jr went after him. Then came back, picked up the slow walking turtle that was Kamek and carried him over his free shoulder, much to the formerly old koopa’s protestation, and then together the five of them all went to try and find the rest of the party so that they could try and figure out what in the world they were going to do to get out of this one.